The effects of the interaction of animals with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and their families [abstract]

The CDC estimates that one in 110 children receive a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) annually. Pet dogs have been found to be a social catalyst and service dogs have demonstrated measurable benefits for children with ASD. Given that 39% of American households have a dog, this survey investigates the perceived benefits and barriers of having a dog in a family with a child with ASD

Evaluating Terrorist and Extremist Reintegration Programming: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review focuses on the evaluation of programs or interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists. Though a robust literature describing such interventions exists, it has long been recognized that more data are needed on the effectiveness of programs designed to facilitate reintegration. Thus, the objective of this review is to present an overview of academic and grey literature on the evaluation of programming designed to facilitate the deradicalization, disengagement, rehabilitation, and/or reintegration of terrorists and/or extremists. Our initial queries yielded 271 seemingly relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature articles, but after a more robust screening we determined that only 37 of those articles directly related to the evaluation of interventions. These articles are presented by evaluation design (e.g., quantitative, qualitative); we also review the evaluation mechanisms (e.g., survey, interviews, note review), study design (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental), data types (i.e., quantitative or qualitative), and findings. Finally, we include ten articles discussing theory of program evaluation. Though the review is limited to available data (e.g., not including unpublished evaluations or government evaluations), we conclude by discussing the state of program evaluation relating to interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists, and offering several recommendations for how to improve evaluation methods and overcome barriers to evaluation.   AcknowledgementsThis project was made possible by funding and support from the National Institute of Justice (Applying a Developmental Evaluation Approach to Address Community Safety and Health Challenges of Reintegration Programs in the USA - Award Number 2019-ZA-CX-001). The content of this manuscript, as well as the views and discussions expressed, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of any of the above institutions, nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prescribing of opioid and opioid use disorder medications within an academic medical center in California

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare operations affecting many patients with chronic pain and substance use disorder. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on opioid and opioid use disorder (OUD) medication prescribing practices within a large academic health system in southern California.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients who received a prescription for chronic opioids or therapy for OUD between November 1, 2019 and September 1, 2020. The date range was divided into five specific time periods during the pandemic: November through December 2019 (pre-COVID and reference period), January through February 2020 (early COVID), March through April 2020 (policy/guidance change period), May through June 2020 (early post-guidance period), and July through August 2020 (late post-guidance period). The primary outcome was change in morphine milligram equivalents (MME) prescribed. Secondary outcomes included encounter type, mode of prescription ordering, naloxone prescriptions, and urine drug screen obtainment.ResultsThe cohort included 100 patients divided among the designated time periods. Seventy-percent of patients received opioids for chronic non-malignant pain and 10% received therapy for OUD. Although there were numerical increases in MMEs prescribed, no significant changes were seen in the MMEs prescribed at any timepoint relative to the pre-COVID timeframe despite reduced in-person visits, increased video and telephone encounters and increased electronic prescription utilization. Subgroup analyses of those with chronic pain only or OUD had similar findings.ConclusionIt appears that, generally, prescribing practices were sustained despite the various phases of the pandemic including transitions to and from telemedicine

Determinants of trends in neonatal, post-neonatal, infant, child and under-five mortalities in Tanzania from 2004 to 2016

Background: Under-five mortality is still a major health issue in many developing countries like Tanzania. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending preventable child deaths in Tanzania, a detailed understanding of the risk factors for under-five deaths is essential to guide targeted interventions. This study aimed to investigate trends and determinants of neonatal, post-neonatal, infant, child and under-five mortalities in Tanzania from 2004 to 2016. Methods: The study used combined data from the 2004–2005, 2010 and 2015–2016 Tanzania Demographic and Health Surveys, with a sample of 25,951 singletons live births and 1585 under-five deaths. We calculated age-specific mortality rates, followed by an assessment of trends and determinants (community, socioeconomic, individual and health service) of neonatal, postneonatal, infant, child and under-five mortalities in Cox regression models. The models adjusted for potential confounders, clustering and sampling weights. Results: Between 2004 and 2016, we found that neonatal mortality rate remained unchanged, while postneonatal mortality and child mortality rates have halved in Tanzania. Infant mortality and under-five mortality rates have also declined. Mothers who gave births through caesarean section, younger mothers (< 20 years), mothers who perceived their babies to be small or very small and those with fourth or higher birth rank and a short preceding birth interval (≤2 years) reported higher risk of neonatal, postneonatal and infant mortalities. Conclusion: Our study suggests that there was increased survival of children under-5 years in Tanzania driven by significant improvements in postneonatal, infant and child survival rates. However, there remains unfinished work in ending preventable child deaths in Tanzania

Prevalence and Distribution of Ranavirus in Amphibians From

Several infectious diseases are threatening amphibian species worldwide and have resulted in massmortality events across the globe. An emerging group of viral pathogens (ranaviruses) are documented to cause die-offs in amphibian populations worldwide, including in several regions of the U.S. Unfortunately, large gaps remain in our understanding of the distribution of this systemic pathogen in the U.S., including within the state of Oklahoma. To address this gap in our understanding, we carried out surveys of this infectious pathogen across 14 sites in seven southeastern Oklahoma counties in spring 2015, screening 17 amphibian species from this region. Using liver and tail tissue samples collected from individual amphibians, we screened for the presence and infection load of ranavirus. Of the 390 samples, 84 (21.5%) tested positive for ranavirus, with infection prevalence varying among species surveyed. Notably, the family Bufonidae had no samples that tested positive for ranavirus, whereas the remaining families had an infection prevalence ranging from 14–50%. Despite an overall infection prevalence of 21.5%, we detected no clinical signs of ranavirosis and all sampled individuals appeared outwardly healthy. These results provide data on the geographic and host distribution of ranavirus in southeastern Oklahoma, as well as the first documented cases of the pathogen in three species of anurans: Gastrophryne carolinensis (Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad), G. olivacea (Western Narrow-mouthed Toad), and Pseudacris fouquettei (Cajun Chorus Frog). With widespread ranavirus infection, there is potential for transmission from abundant, widespread species to more vulnerable, state-threatened amphibians

Evaluating Terrorist and Extremist Reintegration Programming: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review focuses on the evaluation of programs or interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists. Though a robust literature describing such interventions exists, it has long been recognized that more data are needed on the effectiveness of programs designed to facilitate reintegration. Thus, the objective of this review is to present an overview of academic and grey literature on the evaluation of programming designed to facilitate the deradicalization, disengagement, rehabilitation, and/or reintegration of terrorists and/or extremists. Our initial queries yielded 271 seemingly relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature articles, but after a more robust screening we determined that only 37 of those articles directly related to the evaluation of interventions. These articles are presented by evaluation design (e.g., quantitative, qualitative); we also review the evaluation mechanisms (e.g., survey, interviews, note review), study design (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental), data types (i.e., quantitative or qualitative), and findings. Finally, we include ten articles discussing theory of program evaluation. Though the review is limited to available data (e.g., not including unpublished evaluations or government evaluations), we conclude by discussing the state of program evaluation relating to interventions designed to deradicalize, disengage, rehabilitate, and/or reintegrate terrorists and/or extremists, and offering several recommendations for how to improve evaluation methods and overcome barriers to evaluation

VOTING BEHAVIOR IN 2022 NATIONAL ELECTION: A CAUSAL-COMPARATIVE AND CORRELATIONAL STUDY

The core of this study is the voting behavior of college students in the 2022 elections. It made use of the causal-comparative and correlational research designs to compare the voting behaviors of the respondents in terms of age and sex, and to determine the strength and direction of the relationship between the variable characteristics of the political candidates and the variable political process with respect to their influence on voting behavior. It included as respondents 41 purposively chosen Social Studies students of Notre Dame of Midsayap College. They were 18 to 23 years old, mostly females, and were all registered voters. Data were gathered through an online survey. Findings revealed that having a degree was considered by the respondents as a very important personal characteristic for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, while being a member of a well-known family was considered by them as unimportant. Being honest and trustworthy was also considered by the respondents as a very important leadership characteristic for the said candidates. Meanwhile, being clear in their priorities is a political process that is very much likely to influence the respondents in choosing their president and vice-president while the giving of money or goods to voters is unlikely to influence them. Similarly, candidates being talked about in their locality is a political process that is likely to influence the respondents in choosing those candidates. The endorsement of candidates by a local leader is a political process that is likely to influence them in choosing those candidates, while endorsement by a church is very unlikely to influence them. Results bared that there is no significant difference on the voting behavior of the respondents with respect to their age and sex. Finally, there is a moderately strong positive relationship between the characteristics of the political candidates and the political process as to their influence on the voting behavior of the respondents, and such a relationship is highly significant.  Article visualizations

Hospitalization and Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella Outbreaks, 1984–2002

Few studies have evaluated the health consequences of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella strains associated with outbreaks. Among 32 outbreaks occurring in the United States from 1984 to 2002, 22% of 13,286 persons in 10 Salmonella-resistant outbreaks were hospitalized, compared with 8% of 2,194 persons in 22 outbreaks caused by pansusceptible Salmonella strains (p<0.01)

Why do women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care? A qualitative investigation with women attending maternity services

Background Despite the importance attributed to good pre-pregnancy care and its potential to improve pregnancy and child health outcomes, relatively little is known about why women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care. We sought to gain insight into why women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care. Methods We carried out 20 qualitative in-depth interviews with pregnant or recently pregnant women who were drawn from a survey of antenatal clinic attendees in London, UK. Interviewees were purposively sampled to include high and low investors in pre-pregnancy health and care, with variation in age, partnership status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. Data analysis was conducted using the Framework method. Results We identified three groups in relation to pre-pregnancy health and care: 1) The “prepared” group, who had high levels of pregnancy planning and mostly positive attitudes to micronutrient supplementation outside of pregnancy, carried out pre-pregnancy activities such as taking folic acid and making changes to diet and lifestyle. 2) The “poor knowledge” group, who also had high levels of pregnancy planning, did not carry out pre-pregnancy activities and described themselves as having poor knowledge. Elsewhere in their interviews they expressed a strong dislike of micronutrient supplementation. 3) The “absent pre-pregnancy period” group, had the lowest levels of pregnancy planning and also expressed anti-supplement views. Even discussing the pre-pregnancy period with this group was difficult as responses to questions quickly shifted to focus on pregnancy itself. Knowledge of folic acid was poor in all groups. Conclusion Different pre-pregnancy care approaches are likely to be needed for each of the groups. Among the “prepared” group, who were proactive and receptive to health messages, greater availability of information and better response from health professionals could improve the range of pre-pregnancy activities carried out. Among the “poor knowledge” group, better response from health professionals might yield greater uptake of pre-pregnancy information. A different, general health strategy might be more appropriate for the “absent pre-pregnancy period” group. The fact that general attitudes to micronutrient supplementation were closely related to whether or not women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care was an unanticipated finding and warrants further investigation.This report is independent research commissioned and funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme Pre-Pregnancy Health and Care in England: Exploring Implementation and Public Health Impact, 006/0068

Synthesis, characterization, DNA binding, topoisomerase inhibition, and apoptosis induction studies of a novel cobalt(III) complex with a thiosemicarbazone ligand

In this study, 9-anthraldehyde-N(4)-methylthiosemicarbazone (MeATSC) 1 and [Co(phen)(OCO)]Cl·6HO 2 (where phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) were synthesized. [Co(phen)(OCO)]Cl·6HO 2 was used to produce anhydrous [Co(phen)(HO)](NO)3. Subsequently, anhydrous [Co(phen)(HO)](NO)3 was reacted with MeATSC 1 to produce [Co(phen)(MeATSC)](NO)·1.5HO·CHOH 4. The ligand, MeATSC 1 and all complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FT IR, UV-visible, and multinuclear NMR (H, C, and Co) spectroscopy, along with HRMS, and conductivity measurements, where appropriate. Interactions of MeATSC 1 and complex 4 with calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) were investigated by carrying out UV-visible spectrophotometric studies. UV-visible spectrophotometric studies revealed weak interactions between ctDNA and the analytes, MeATSC 1 and complex 4 (K = 8.1 × 10 and 1.6 × 10 M, respectively). Topoisomerase inhibition assays and cleavage studies proved that complex 4 was an efficient catalytic inhibitor of human topoisomerases I and IIα. Based upon the results obtained from the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay on 4T1-luc metastatic mammary breast cancer cells (IC = 34.4 ± 5.2 μM when compared to IC = 13.75 ± 1.08 μM for the control, cisplatin), further investigations into the molecular events initiated by exposure to complex 4 were investigated. Studies have shown that complex 4 activated both the apoptotic and autophagic signaling pathways in addition to causing dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ). Furthermore, activation of cysteine-aspartic proteases3 (caspase 3) in a time- and concentration-dependent manner coupled with the ΔΨ, studies implicated the intrinsic apoptotic pathway as the major regulator of cell death mechanism