THE INFLUENCE OF STRESS AND SOCIAL SUPPORT ON PARENTING BEHAVIORS AMONG LOW-INCOME FAMILIES: MEDIATIONAL PATHWAYS TO CHILDREN’S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Economic stress been shown to compromise children’s social development and undermine parenting behaviors in mothers of young children. A separate literature suggests that social support may attenuate the negative effects of maternal stress on parenting behaviors. Guided by the Family Stress Model and the Stress Buffering Model, this study examined the indirect pathways from maternal experiences of stress (economic and parenting) to children’s social competencies and behavior problems longitudinally in a sample of children from the Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES). It also tested the moderating effects of two types of social support (instrumental and emotional) on the negative association between stressors (economic and parenting) and children’s social skills. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) results demonstrated support for the Family Stress Model, such that economic stress (at age 1) was longitudinally and indirectly related to children’s social competencies and problem behaviors (at age 3) via observed maternal sensitivity (at age 2). That is, higher levels of economic stress were related to elevated levels of behavior problems and lower levels of social competencies because it increased parenting stress and decreased maternal sensitivity. However, there was no evidence that social support moderated the association between either type of stress and parenting. Findings are discussed in light of policy and programmatic efforts to broaden support of families and children by incorporating services that promote sensitive parent-child interactions and reduce maternal parenting stress

Temporal Decline in Pathogen-Mediated Release of Methyl Salicylate Associated With Decreasing Vector Preference for Infected Over Uninfected Plants

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is the vector of the phytopathogenic bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), that causes citrus greening. Diaphorina citri is attracted to methyl salicylate (MeSA) emitted by CLas-infected citrus. MeSA is catalyzed from salicylic acid (SA) by salicylic acid methyl transferase (SAMT). In addition, salicylate hydroxylase, an enzyme that degrades SA and suppresses host plant defense, is unregulated in CLas-infected as compared with uninfected citrus. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that CLas-induced plant volatile emissions and SAMT expression may decrease over time following CLas infection. We first identified the putative Citrus sinensis SAMT (CsSAMT) that methylates SA to MeSA. Thereafter we compared changes in SAMT expression and volatile expression between uninfected citrus, citrus recently (< 6 months) infected with CLas, and citrus infected with CLas for a long (>1 year) duration. Emission of MeSA increased in citrus recently infected with CLas, whereas both MeSA emissions and SAMT expression decreased in long-infected citrus as compared with uninfected controls. Also, there was a significant decrease in release of limonene from citrus infected >1 year, and a concomitant increase in release of β-caryophyllene in both recent and long-infected citrus as compared with controls. In behavioral assays, D. citri preferred settling on asymptomatic citrus recently infected with CLas over uninfected or long-infected citrus trees. The odor of citrus recently infected with CLas was more attractive to D. citri than the odor of uninfected or long-infected citrus. There was an association between the preference for citrus odor of recently infected plants and an increase of MeSA release following CLas infection. Overall, our study demonstrated pulsed changes in citrus odor release following CLas infection. We hypothesize that allocation of resources to plant defense in citrus decreases as a function of huanglongbing disease symptom progression. These changes affected the behavior of the CLas vector. Our study confirms previous reports demonstrating that plant defenses boosted following phytopatogen infection tend to decrease over time. Implications on the CLas epidemic are discussed

An mHealth Intervention to Improve Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Knowledge Among Young Black Women in Family Planning Clinics: Development and Usability Study.

BACKGROUND: Young Black women between the ages of 18 and 24 years are disproportionately impacted by HIV, yet they have a low self-perception of HIV risk and limited exposure to prevention strategies. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a safe and effective biomedical HIV prevention strategy for those at risk for HIV infection, but uptake has been slow among cisgender women. Family planning clinics are a primary source of health care access for young women, providing an ideal opportunity to integrate PrEP information and care into existing clinic practices. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use a multistage, community-engaged process to develop a mobile health app and to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the app. METHODS: Using user-centered design, the In the Loop app was developed in collaboration with a community advisory board of young Black women. This study employed a multistage design, which included community-engaged app development, user testing, and evaluation of the app's feasibility and acceptability. A pre- and postdesign was used to assess the impact of the app on PrEP knowledge immediately after app use. Descriptive statistics (eg, mean, SD, and percentage values) were used to describe the sample, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was used to detect changes in PrEP knowledge before and immediately after using the app. RESULTS: A total of 50 sexually active, young Black women, aged 18-24 (mean 21, SD 1.9) years, were enrolled in this study. Analysis comparing scores before and immediately after use of the app revealed a significant increase in PrEP content knowledge scores on a 7-item true or false scale (z=-6.04, P<.001). Overall, participants considered the In the Loop app feasible and acceptable to use while waiting for a family planning visit. The majority of participants (n=46, 92%) agreed that they would recommend In the Loop to friends to learn more about PrEP. Participants rated the overall quality of the app 4.3 on a 1-5 scale (1=very poor and 5=very good). Of 50 participants, 40 (80%) agreed that the app was easy to use, and 48 (96%) agreed that they found the information in the app easy to understand. Finally, 40 (80%) agreed that they had enjoyed using the app while waiting for their family planning visit. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that young Black women waiting for family planning visits found the In the Loop app to be feasible and acceptable. This study demonstrates the value of engaging young Black women in the app design process. As family planning clinics are a primary source of health care access for young women, they provide an ideal setting to integrate PrEP information and care into existing clinic practices. Next steps in the development of the In the Loop app include implementing user-suggested improvements and conducting efficacy testing in a randomized controlled trial to determine the app's impact on PrEP uptake

NURTURE: Development and pilot testing of a novel parenting intervention for mothers with histories of an eating disorder: Nurture Pilot Testing

To describe the treatment development and pilot testing of a group parenting intervention, NURTURE (Networking, Uniting, and Reaching out To Upgrade Relationships and Eating), for mothers with histories of eating disorders

Affordable Essential Oils for Management of the Asian Citrus Psyllid

Plant essential oils are commonly used to manage insects; they are widely available and some are inexpensive.&nbsp; In this research we have selected five botanical oils costing less than $100 US per kilogram, to evaluate for repellency to Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), the insect vector of the causal pathogens of huanglongbing.&nbsp; In olfactometer assays, fir oil was repellent; clove and camphor oils were attractive; and litsea and citronella oils elicited no response from ACP females.&nbsp; In no-choice settling experiments, neither the low nor high fir oil treatment deterred ACP from settling.&nbsp; Subsequently, ACP were presented with a choice test between control plants and fir oil plants with a single dose of fir oil contained in a polyethylene vial.&nbsp; In this case, ACP disproportionately settled on control plants, avoiding fir oil baited trees completely.&nbsp; Finally, we conducted a field trial using yellow sticky traps baited with a high or low dose of clove or camphor oil deployed from seven mL polyethylene vials.&nbsp; We expected that the botanical oil baited yellow traps would catch more ACP than unbaited controls.&nbsp; There was no significant increase in trap capture over the course of our experiment in male, female, or total ACP capture.&nbsp; We hypothesize that this result may have been caused by sub-optimal release rates or the overriding visual cue elicited by yellow sticky traps. Our ongoing experiments are designed to improve the behavioral activity of release devices for these essential oils, which may have practical utility for ACP management

Repellent Activity of Botanical Oils against Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae)

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is the insect vector of the pathogen causing huanglongbing. We selected three botanical oils to evaluate behavioral activity against D. citri. In laboratory olfactometer assays, fir oil was repellent to D. citri females, while litsea and citronella oils elicited no response from D. citri females. In choice settling experiments, D. citri settled almost completely on control plants rather than on plants treated with fir oil at a 9.5 mg/day release rate. Therefore, we conducted field trials to determine if fir oil reduced D. citri densities in citrus groves. We found no repellency of D. citri from sweet orange resets that were treated with fir oil dispensers releasing 10.4 g/day/tree as compared with control plots. However, we found a two-week decrease in populations of D. citri as compared with controls when the deployment rate of these dispensers was doubled. Our results suggest that treatment of citrus with fir oil may have limited activity as a stand-alone management tool for D. citri and would require integration with other management practices

Decreased nest mortality for the Carolina diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin centrata) following removal of Raccoons (Procyon lotor) from a nesting beach in Northeastern Florida

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) can account for \u3e 90% of nest failures of the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) in some areas. Previous studies have demonstrated that predator removal can decrease predation of turtle nests, thus increasing nest survivorship. We removed Raccoons from an island beach used by Diamondback Terrapins for nesting in northeastern Florida. Prior to predator removal, Raccoons depredated 53.5% of monitored nests and 80% of all nests found in 1997 and 50.9% of monitored nests and 76.0% of all nests found in 2000 on this island beach. We removed 29 Raccoons between February and September 2005 and monitored Diamondback Terrapin nesting from 25 April to 31 October 2005. Nest predation by Raccoons dropped to 12.0% and the overall predation rate fell to 17.2%. We again monitored the nesting beach in 2006 without predator removal. Nest predation by Raccoons was once again very high, claiming 86.7% of monitored nests and over 70.0% of all the nests found. © 2012. Eric C. Munscher. All Rights Reserved

Development and performance of prototype serologic and molecular tests for hepatitis delta infection

Abstract Worldwide, an estimated 5% of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected people are coinfected with hepatitis delta virus (HDV). HDV infection leads to increased mortality over HBV mono-infection, yet HDV diagnostics are not widely available. Prototype molecular (RNA) and serologic (IgG) assays were developed for high-throughput testing on the Abbott m2000 and ARCHITECT systems, respectively. RNA detection was achieved through amplification of a ribozyme region target, with a limit of detection of 5 IU/ml. The prototype serology assay (IgG) was developed using peptides derived from HDV large antigen (HDAg), and linear epitopes were further identified by peptide scan. Specificity of an HBV negative population was 100% for both assays. A panel of 145 HBsAg positive samples from Cameroon with unknown HDV status was tested using both assays: 16 (11.0%) had detectable HDV RNA, and 23 (15.7%) were sero-positive including the 16 HDV RNA positive samples. Additionally, an archival serial bleed panel from an HDV superinfected chimpanzee was tested with both prototypes; data was consistent with historic testing data using a commercial total anti-Delta test. Overall, the two prototype assays provide sensitive and specific methods for HDV detection using high throughput automated platforms, allowing opportunity for improved diagnosis of HDV infected patients

Early emergence of anti-HCV antibody implicates donor origin in recipients of an HCV-infected organ

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroconversion among HCV-uninfected transplant recipients from HCV-infected (NAT+/Antibody+) or HCV-exposed (NAT-/Antibody+) donors has been reported. However, the origin of anti-HCV antibody and the implications of seroconversion remain unknown. We longitudinally tested plasma from HCV-uninfected kidney (n = 31) or heart transplant recipients (n = 9) of an HCV NAT+ organ for anti-HCV antibody (both IgG and IgM isotypes). Almost half of all participants had detectable anti-HCV antibody at any point during follow-up. The majority of antibody-positive individuals became positive within 1-3 days of transplantation, and 6 recipients had detectable antibody on the first day posttransplant. Notably, all anti-HCV antibody was IgG, even in samples collected posttransplant day 1. Late seroconversion was uncommon (approximate to 20%-25% of antibody+ recipients). Early antibody persisted over 30 days in kidney recipients, whereas early antibody dropped below detection in 50% of heart recipients within 2 weeks after transplant. Anti-HCV antibody is common in HCV-uninfected recipients of an HCV NAT+ organ. The IgG isotype of this antibody and the kinetics of its appearance and durability suggest that anti-HCV antibody is donor derived and is likely produced by a cellular source. Our data suggest that transfer of donor humoral immunity to a recipient may be much more common than previously appreciated