Demographic Factors and Attitudes towards Mental Health Medication Treatments among Latinxs

Attitudes towards mental health medications vary, however negative perceptions are often born of normative cultural values, stigma, and religious fatalism,1-3 as well as overall demographic characteristics such as gender, nativity, and primary language.4,5 Further research suggests many Latinx adults fear negative outcomes from adhering to medication for mental health treatment, such as dependence and side effects and, instead, would prefer psychotherapy over psychopharmacology.1,2 Lastly, a lack of health literacy,6 culturally appropriate treatments and information,7 as well as barriers to care also have shown to impact attitudes towards mental health medication treatments among Latinxs.8 To date, little attention has been given to the attitudes towards mental health treatments that will either facilitate or impede using medication treatments for mental health. This qualitative study therefore explores the demographic factors and attitudes towards mental health medication treatment among 20 adult Latinxs (45% Puerto Rico, 20% El Salvador, 10% Guatemala, 10% Honduras, 15% other). Using thematic analysis, results indicated that Latinxs held positive, negative, and neutral attitudes toward mental health medication treatments. Participants who were neutral tended to be more open to treatment, however, still hesitant, indicating medication treatment as a last resort or would engage in it only if recommended by someone they trust (i.e., medical doctor or religious leader). Positive attitudes towards medication treatment were split between it being easier to take medication than talk to someone about one\u27s problems, or the opposite; it is easier to talk to a stranger (i.e., mental health provider) than to someone who is close and trusted (i.e., religious leader). Positive attitudes were also supported through trust in medical professionals. Negative attitudes towards receiving mental health medication treatment were more cultural such that individuals suffering from mental illness should be strong enough to get through it on their own, or that one should trust in God to heal you. The participants who held negative attitudes reported more mistrust in medical professionals, including mental health providers and psychological treatment methodology. Demographically, there were no clear trends in the data for variables such as gender, age, primary language, or educational attainment. However, there was a pattern of attitudes for those who identified with a religion (n=15). Of those who identified with either Catholicism or Christianity, 60% held negative attitudes. The participants who identified with no religion (n=4) all held positive attitudes towards medication for mental health treatment. Additional research and practical implications are therefore discussed. 1. Ailinger, R. L., Martyn, D., Lasus, H., & Lima Garcia, N. (2010). The effect of a cultural intervention on adherence to latent tuberculosis infection therapy in Latino immigrants. Public Health Nursing, 27(2), 115-120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00834.x 2. Batalova, J., & Zong, J. (2016). Language diversity and English proficiency in the United States. Migration Information Source. 3. Eisenman, D. P., Meredith, L. S., Rhodes, H., Green, B. L., Kaltman, S., Cassells, A., & Tobin, J. N. (2008). PTSD in Latino patients: illness beliefs, treatment preferences, and implications for care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(9), 1386–1392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0677-y 4. Green, B. L., Watson, M. R., Kaltman, S. I., Serrano, A., Talisman, N., Kirkpatrick, L., & Campoli, M. (2017). Knowledge and preferences regarding antidepressant medication among depressed Latino patients in primary care. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 205(12), 952–959. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000754 5. Interian, A., Martinez, I. E., Guarnaccia, P. J., Vega, W. A., & Escobar, J. I. (2007). A qualitative analysis of the perception of stigma among Latinos receiving antidepressants. Psychiatric services, 58(12), 1591–1594. doi:10.1176/ps.2007.58.12.1591 6. Moreno, O., & Cardemil, E. (2018). Religiosity and well-being among Mexican-born and U.S.-born Mexicans: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 6(3), 235–247, https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000099 7. Moreno, O., Nelson, T., & Cardemil, E. (2017) Religiosity and attitudes towards professional mental health services: analysing religious coping as a mediator among Mexican origin Latinas/os in the southwest United States, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20:7, 626-637, doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1372735 8. Peeters, B., Van Tongelen, I., Boussery, K., Mehuys, E., Remon, J. P., & Willems, S. (2011). Factors associated with medication adherence to oral hypoglycaemic agents in different ethnic groups suffering from type 2 diabetes: a systematic literature review and suggestions for further research. Diabetic medicine: A journal of the British Diabetic Association, 28(3), 262–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03133.x 9. Shattell, M. M., Hamilton, D., Starr, S. S., Jenkins, C. J., & Hinderliter, N. A. (2008). Mental health service needs of a Latino population: A community-based participatory research project. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29(4), 351–370. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840801904316 10. Zuniga J. A. (2012). Medication adherence in Hispanics to latent tuberculosis treatment: a literature review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14(1), 23–29, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-010-9393-

Ansiedad en tiempos de pandemia y su relación con la agresividad en el personal policial de la U.S.E. Puno, 2021

El actual estudio tuvo por finalidad determinar la correlación entre ansiedad en tiempos de pandemia con la agresividad en el personal policial de la U.S.E. Puno. Por consiguiente, el estudio es correlacional y de diseño no experimental; para lo cual, se contó con la participación de 132 efectivos policiales de ambos sexos, sin embargo, el sexo predominante fue el de los hombres; cabe mencionar que se empleó dos instrumentos con sus respectivas propiedades psicométricas (validez y confiabilidad) para recabar la información pertinente; los cuales son: La Escala de Ansiedad de Zung y el Cuestionario de Agresión de Buss y Perry (versión española). En efecto se encontró que, existe relación positiva y altamente significativa entre las variables de estudio, esto se ve reflejado con un rs = 0.48, esto quiere decir que, a mayor ansiedad mayor es la agresividad en el personal policial de la U.S.E. Puno, 2021

Ultrafast Hole Transfer from (6,5) SWCNT to P3HT:PCBM Blend by Resonant Excitation

Nowadays, SWCNTs are envisaged to enhance the charge separation or transport of conjugated polymer-fullerene derivatives blends. In this work we studied, by means of ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, three components blends in which commercially available SWCNTs are added to the standard bulk heterojunction. We explored three different configurations that give rise to diverse interfacing scenarios. We found strong evidence of a direct hole transfer from photoexcited SWCNTs to the P3HT polymer. The transfer efficiency depends on the interface configuration. It is the highest for the blend where we achieve closer contact between the (6,5) SWCNTs and the polymer. When the polymer blend is deposited on top of the nanotube film or the nanotube film is deposited onto the polymer blend, the process is slowed down due to less or missing interfacing of the carbon nanotubes with the polymer chains. Additionally we demonstrate a cascading effect in the electron path, which stabilizes charge separation by further transferring the electron left behind by hole transfer to the polymer to the adjacent (7,5) SWCNTs. Our results highlight the potential of semiconducting SWCNTs to improving the performance of organic solar cells

High prevalence of food sensitization among adults with allergic diseases who live in the Guadalajara metropolitan area

Background: The prevalence of food sensitization in adults shows differences owing to geographic, regional and cultural circumstances. Objective: To identify the prevalence and factors associated with food sensitization in adults with allergic diseases. Methods: Cross-sectional study, where medical records of adult patients with any allergic disease and who tested positive to airborne allergens on at least one skin test were reviewed. Age, sex, underlying allergic disease and skin test result were recorded. Statistical analyses included food sensitization prevalence with the corresponding confidence intervals (CI), as well as a multivariate analysis to determine associated factors. Results: We included 258 patients with a mean of 36 years of age; 75 % were of the female sex. The most common underlying condition was allergic rhinitis (59 %). The prevalence of food sensitization was 37 % (95 % CI, 31.5-43.3) and it did not vary significantly according to sex or allergic disease in question. The most sensitizing food was soybeans (44.8 %), and associated factors were sensitization to cat dander (OR = 1.8; 95 % CI, 1.03-3.2) and 5 or more positive skin tests (OR = 4.3, 95 % CI 2.3-8.1). Conclusions: The prevalence of food sensitization in people with allergic disease was 40 %. Further studies are required to determine its prevalence in the general population

Evaluation of ELISA-Based Multiplex Peptides for the Detection of Human Serum Antibodies Induced by Zika Virus Infection across Various Countries

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus with a positive-sense RNA genome, which are generally transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. ZIKV infections could be associated with neurological sequelae that, and otherwise produces similar clinical symptoms as other co-circulating pathogens. Past infection with one member of the Flavivirus genus often induces cross-reactive antibodies against other flaviruses. These attributes complicate the ability to differentially diagnose ZIKV infection from other endemic mosquito-borne viruses, making it both a public health issue as well as a diagnostic challenge. We report the results from serological analyses using arbovirus-specific peptides on 339 samples that were previously collected from 6 countries. Overall, we found that our multiplexed peptide-based ELISA was highly efficient for identifying ZIKV antibodies as early as 2 weeks post infection, and that it correlates with microneutralization, plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNTs) and commercial tests for ZIKV in previously characterized samples. We observed that seropositivity varied by patient cohort, reflecting the sampling period in relation to the 2015–2016 ZIKV outbreak. This work evaluates the accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of our peptide-based ELISA method for detecting ZIKV antibodies from geographically diverse regions. These findings can contribute to ongoing serological methods development and can be adapted for use in future studies