Missed opportunities to improve food security for pregnant people: a qualitative study of prenatal care settings in Northern New England during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Food insecurity during pregnancy has important implications for maternal and newborn health. There is increasing commitment to screening for social needs within health care settings. However, little is known about current screening processes or the capacity for prenatal care clinics to address food insecurity among their patients. We aimed to assess barriers and facilitators prenatal care clinics face in addressing food insecurity among pregnant people and to identify opportunities to improve food security among this population. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study among prenatal care clinics in New Hampshire and Vermont. Staff and clinicians engaged in food security screening and intervention processes at clinics affiliated with the Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN) were recruited to participate in key informant interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify prominent themes in the interview data. Results: Nine staff members or clinicians were enrolled and participated in key informant interviews. Key barriers to food security screening and interventions included lack of protocols and dedicated staff at the clinic as well as community factors such as availability of food distribution services and transportation. Facilitators of screening and intervention included a supportive culture at the clinic, trusting relationships between patients and clinicians, and availability of clinic-based and community resources. Conclusion: Prenatal care settings present an important opportunity to identify and address food insecurity among pregnant people, yet most practices lack specific protocols for screening. Our findings indicate that more systematic processes for screening and referrals, dedicated staff, and onsite food programs that address transportation and other access barriers could improve the capacity of prenatal care clinics to improve food security during pregnancy

Detailed transcriptome atlas of the pancreatic beta cell

BACKGROUND: Gene expression patterns provide a detailed view of cellular functions. Comparison of profiles in disease vs normal conditions provides insights into the processes underlying disease progression. However, availability and integration of public gene expression datasets remains a major challenge. The aim of the present study was to explore the transcriptome of pancreatic islets and, based on this information, to prepare a comprehensive and open access inventory of insulin-producing beta cell gene expression, the Beta Cell Gene Atlas (BCGA). METHODS: We performed Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing (MPSS) analysis of human pancreatic islet samples and microarray analyses of purified rat beta cells, alpha cells and INS-1 cells, and compared the information with available array data in the literature. RESULTS: MPSS analysis detected around 7600 mRNA transcripts, of which around a third were of low abundance. We identified 2000 and 1400 transcripts that are enriched/depleted in beta cells compared to alpha cells and INS-1 cells, respectively. Microarray analysis identified around 200 transcription factors that are differentially expressed in either beta or alpha cells. We reanalyzed publicly available gene expression data and integrated these results with the new data from this study to build the BCGA. The BCGA contains basal (untreated conditions) gene expression level estimates in beta cells as well as in different cell types in human, rat and mouse pancreas. Hierarchical clustering of expression profile estimates classify cell types based on species while beta cells were clustered together. CONCLUSION: Our gene atlas is a valuable source for detailed information on the gene expression distribution in beta cells and pancreatic islets along with insulin producing cell lines. The BCGA tool, as well as the data and code used to generate the Atlas are available at the T1Dbase website (T1DBase.org).Journal Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

“That never happened”: Adults' discernment of children's true and false memory reports.

Adults’ evaluations of children’s reports can determine whether legal proceedings are undertaken and whether they ultimately lead to justice. The current study involved 92 undergraduates and 35 laypersons who viewed and evaluated videotaped interviews of 3- and 5-year-olds providing true or false memory reports. The children’s reports fell into the following categories based on a 2 (event type: true vs. false) × 2 (child report: assent vs. denial) factorial design: Accurate reports, false reports, accurate denials, and false denials. Results revealed that adults were generally better able to correctly judge accurate reports, accurate denials, and false reports compared to false denials: For false denials, adults were, on average, “confident” that the event had not occurred, even though the event had in fact been experienced. Participant age predicted performance. These findings underscore the greater difficulty adults have in evaluating young children’s false denials compared to other types of reports. Implications for law-related situations in which adults are called upon to evaluate children’s statements are discussed

T1DBase: integration and presentation of complex data for type 1 diabetes research

T1DBase () [Smink et al. (2005) Nucleic Acids Res., 33, D544–D549; Burren et al. (2004) Hum. Genomics, 1, 98–109] is a public website and database that supports the type 1 diabetes (T1D) research community. T1DBase provides a consolidated T1D-oriented view of the complex data world that now confronts medical researchers and enables scientists to navigate from information they know to information that is new to them. Overview pages for genes and markers summarize information for these elements. The Gene Dossier summarizes information for a list of genes. GBrowse [Stein et al. (2002) Genome Res., 10, 1599–1610] displays genes and other features in their genomic context, and Cytoscape [Shannon et al. (2003) Genome Res., 13, 2498–2504] shows genes in the context of interacting proteins and genes. The Beta Cell Gene Atlas shows gene expression in β cells, islets, and related cell types and lines, and the Tissue Expression Viewer shows expression across other tissues. The Microarray Viewer shows expression from more than 20 array experiments. The Beta Cell Gene Expression Bank contains manually curated gene and pathway annotations for genes expressed in β cells. T1DMart is a query tool for markers and genotypes. PosterPages are ‘home pages’ about specific topics or datasets. The key challenge, now and in the future, is to provide powerful informatics capabilities to T1D scientists in a form they can use to enhance their research

The effectiveness of a low-intensity problem-solving intervention for common adolescent mental health problems in New Delhi, India: protocol for a school-based, individually randomized controlled trial with an embedded stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled recruitment trial

Background Conduct, anxiety and depressive disorders account for over 75% of the adolescent mental health burden globally. The current protocol will test a low-intensity problem-solving intervention for school-going adolescents with common mental health problems in India. The protocol also tests the effects of a classroom-based sensitization intervention on the demand for counselling services in an embedded recruitment trial. Methods We will conduct a two-arm individually randomized controlled trial in six Government-run secondary schools in New Delhi. The targeted sample is 240 adolescents in grades 9-12 with persistent, elevated mental health symptoms and associated impact. Participants will receive either a brief problem-solving intervention delivered over 3 weeks by lay counsellors (intervention), or enhanced usual care comprised of problem-solving booklets (control). Self-reported adolescent mental health symptoms and idiographic problems will be assessed at 6 weeks (co-primary outcomes) and again at 12 weeks post-randomization. In addition, adolescent-reported impact of mental health difficulties, perceived stress, mental wellbeing and clinical remission, as well as parent-reported adolescent mental health symptoms and impact scores, will be assessed at 6 and 12 weeks post-randomization. We will also complete a parallel process evaluation, including estimations of the costs of delivering the interventions. An embedded recruitment trial will apply a stepped-wedge, cluster (class)-randomized controlled design in 70 classes across the six schools. This will evaluate the added impact of a classroom-based sensitization intervention over school-level recruitment sensitization activities on the primary outcome of referral rate into the host trial (i.e. the proportion of adolescents referred as a function of the total sampling frame in each condition of the embedded recruitment trial). Other outcomes will be the proportion of referrals eligible to participate in the host trial, proportion of self-generated referrals, and severity and pattern of symptoms among referred adolescents in each condition. Power calculations were undertaken separately for each trial. A detailed statistical analysis plan will be developed separately for each trial prior to unblinding. Discussion Both trials were initiated on 20 August 2018. A single research protocol for both trials offers a resource-efficient methodology for testing the effectiveness of linked procedures to enhance uptake and outcomes of a school-based psychological intervention for common adolescent mental health problems

A Cholinergic-Regulated Circuit Coordinates the Maintenance and Bi-Stable States of a Sensory-Motor Behavior during Caenorhabditis elegans Male Copulation

Penetration of a male copulatory organ into a suitable mate is a conserved and necessary behavioral step for most terrestrial matings; however, the detailed molecular and cellular mechanisms for this distinct social interaction have not been elucidated in any animal. During mating, the Caenorhabditis elegans male cloaca is maintained over the hermaphrodite's vulva as he attempts to insert his copulatory spicules. Rhythmic spicule thrusts cease when insertion is sensed. Circuit components consisting of sensory/motor neurons and sex muscles for these steps have been previously identified, but it was unclear how their outputs are integrated to generate a coordinated behavior pattern. Here, we show that cholinergic signaling between the cloacal sensory/motor neurons and the posterior sex muscles sustains genital contact between the sexes. Simultaneously, via gap junctions, signaling from these muscles is transmitted to the spicule muscles, thus coupling repeated spicule thrusts with vulval contact. To transit from rhythmic to sustained muscle contraction during penetration, the SPC sensory-motor neurons integrate the signal of spicule's position in the vulva with inputs from the hook and cloacal sensilla. The UNC-103 K+ channel maintains a high excitability threshold in the circuit, so that sustained spicule muscle contraction is not stimulated by fewer inputs. We demonstrate that coordination of sensory inputs and motor outputs used to initiate, maintain, self-monitor, and complete an innate behavior is accomplished via the coupling of a few circuit components