The Michigan infant mental health home visiting model

Selma Fraiberg’s pioneering work with infants, toddlers, and families over 40 years ago led to the development of a field in which professionals from multiple disciplines learned to work with or on behalf of infants, very young children, their parents, and the relationships that bind them together. The intent was to promote social and emotional health through enhancing the security of early developing parent–child relationships in the first years of life (Fraiberg, 2018). Called infant mental health (IMH), practitioners from fields of health, education, social work, psychology, human development, nursing, pediatrics, and psychiatry specialize in supporting the optimal development of infants and the developing relationship between infants and their caregivers. When a baby is born into optimal circumstances, to parents free of undue economic and psychological stressors and who are emotionally ready to provide care and nurturing for an infant’s needs, an IMH approach may be offered as promotion or prevention, with the goal of supporting new parent(s) in developing confidence in their capacity to understand and meet the needs of the tiny human they are coming to know and care for. However, when parental history is fraught with abandonment, loss, abuse or neglect, or the current environment is replete with economic insecurity, threats to survival due to interpersonal or community violence, social isolation, mental illness, or substance abuse, the work of the IMH therapist may require intervention or intensive treatment and becomes more psychotherapeutic in nature. The underlying therapeutic goal is to create a context in which the baby develops within the environment of a parent’s nurturing care without the psychological impingement that parental history of trauma or loss or current stressors such as isolation, poverty, or the birth of a child with special needs, can incur.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154911/1/imhj21838_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154911/2/imhj21838.pd

STUDIES OF PHYSIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE ARTHROPOD SECRETIONS: X. SEX PHEROMONE OF THE EASTERN SPRUCE BUDWORM, CHORISTONEURA FUMIFERANA (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE)

The sex pheromone of the female eastern spruce budworm was identified as trans-11-tetradecenal by a combination of electroantennogram techniques, laboratory bioassays, and chemical analysis. Subsequent field trapping showed that this compound is a potent attractant for both male Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.) and C. occidentalis Free, thus supporting its identification as a sex pheromone of the eastern spruce budworm and suggesting that it is also a major component in the pheromone system of C. occidentali

Infant mental health home visiting therapists- fidelity to the Michigan IMH- HV model in community practice settings

Implementation research suggests that fidelity to a therapeutic model is important for enhancing outcomes, yet can be difficult to achieve in community practice settings. Furthermore, few published studies have reported on characteristics of treatment fidelity. The present study examined fidelity to the Infant Mental Health Home Visiting (IMH- HV) model among 51 therapists with a range of experience practicing in community settings across the state of Michigan. IMH therapists completed fidelity checklists after every session with participating families to track use of 15 treatment strategies central to the IMH- HV model across the 12- month study period. Results indicated that the most commonly endorsed components utilized in home visits were developmental guidance and infant- parent psychotherapy, followed by the provision of emotional support. Use of IMH- HV components did not vary over time for the entire sample; however, patterns of strategies used showed somewhat more variability among more experienced therapists and when serving higher risk families. Findings demonstrate that IMH- HV therapists report a range of adherence to the model in community settings, with greatest fidelity to several model core components. Ongoing training in the flexible use of all core strategies may further enhance fidelity and contribute to positive outcomes for caregivers and their children receiving IMH- HV services.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154900/1/imhj21839.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154900/2/imhj21839_am.pd

Synthesis and Structural Diversification of Circularly Polarised Luminescence Active, Helically Chiral, “Confused” N,N,O,C‐BODIPYs**

Helically chiral boron-chelated dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes are known to exhibit solution phase circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), but examples are limited to a few synthetically accessible molecular architectures. We report a B−N chelation, SNAr, Suzuki cross-coupling, B−O chelation cascade reaction for the synthesis of understudied helically chiral, N,N,O,C-boron chelated, “confused” BODIPYs, from readily accessible 3,5-dibromo-BODIPY starting materials. Using this approach we have prepared a series of helically chiral “confused” BODIPYs with variation of the 3,5-subsitutents. Following resolution by chiral HPLC, absolute stereochemistry was assigned through comparison of the experimental and calculated ECD spectra, and solution phase chiroptical properties including CPL were determined (|glum| from 2.1 to 3.7×10−3; BCPL from 11.3 to 27.2)

Infant mental health home visiting therapists- reflective supervision self- efficacy in community practice settings

In recent years, there has been an increase in the research on reflective supervision, including the development of tools designed to measure reflective practice in the context of reflective supervision. The Reflective Supervision Self- Efficacy Scale for Supervisees (RSSESS) is a self- report measure that has been used in previous evaluations and is designed to assess perceived reflective practice self- efficacy for Infant Mental Health- Home Visiting (IMH- HV) therapists. Properties of the RSSESS including factor structure and reliability are explored in a first study that lays the foundation for the use of the RSSESS in an IMH- HV evaluation in the State of Michigan. IMH- HV therapists completed the RSSESS at 4 time points over a 12- month period and also completed a Clinician Profile Form that included questions about their IMH background and their work experience, including job satisfaction and burnout. Results indicated that the RSSESS is a reliable tool to measure change in reflective practice skills. IMH- HV therapists demonstrated growth in their use of reflective practice skills with families and their observational skills over the 12- month period. In addition, results indicated correlations between reflective supervision self- efficacy and job satisfaction as well as burnout.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154909/1/imhj21834.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154909/2/imhj21834_am.pd

Chemical Defence in a Millipede: Evaluation and Characterization of Antimicrobial Activity of the Defensive Secretion from Pachyiulus hungaricus (Karsch, 1881) (Diplopoda, Julida, Julidae)

The chemical defence of the millipede Pachyiulus hungaricus is reported in the present paper, in which a chemical characterization is given and antimicrobial activity is determined. In total, independently of sex, 44 compounds were identified. All compounds belong to two groups: quinones and pentyl and hexyl esters of long-chain fatty acids. The relative abundances of quinones and non-quinones were 94.7% vs. 5.3% (males) and 87.3% vs. 12.7% (females), respectively. The two dominant quinones in both sexes were 2-methyl-1,4,-benzoquinone and 2-methoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone. Antibacterial and antifungal activity of the defensive secretion was evaluated in vitro against seven bacterial strains and eight fungal species. With the aid of a dilution technique, the antimicrobial potential of the secretion and high sensitivity of all tested strains were confirmed. The lowest minimum concentrations of these compounds (0.20-0.25 mg/mL) were sufficient for inhibition of Aeromonas hydrophila, Listeria monocytogenes and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The growth of eight tested fungal species was inhibited by slightly lower concentrations of the secretion, with Fusarium equisetias the most sensitive fungus and Aspergillus flavus as the most resistant. Values of MIC and MFC in the employed microdilution assay ranged from 0.10 to above 0.35 mg/m L. The given extract contains antimicrobial components potentially useful as therapeutic agents in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries