Better Mental Health Service Provision for Somali Youth: Overcoming the Barriers

It is estimated that there are over 50,000 Somali refugees currently living in Minnesota, making Minnesota the largest resettlement location for Somalis in the United States (World Relief Minnesota, 2013). Research has shown that refugees, including the Somali community, experience higher rates of mental health concerns and seek less mental health treatment than any group. This phenomenon is even more prominent in refugee youth (Ellis, Lincoln, Charney, Ford-Paz, Benson & Strunin, 2010). There is a gap in the current research on Somali youth mental health and how to overcome the current barriers to treatment. This study examines the data from eight qualitative interviews with human service personnel with experience working with Somali youth. These interviews explored the participants’ understanding of Somali youth mental health, the Somali cultural view of mental health and its treatment, current barriers that keep Somali youth out of the mental health service delivery system, and strategies to overcome those barriers in order to provide better mental health services for Somali youth. The themes from the data suggest that it is critical to understand the Somali worldview, as well as the unique stressors Somali youth face, in order to engage in more effective mental health treatment with this population. The data also identifies current barriers, as well as various approaches to overcoming those barriers. The implications of this research may be used to inform micro level practice changes for human service personnel, as well as mezzo and macro level policy changes within our mental health service delivery system

Better Mental Health Service Provision for Somali Youth: Overcoming the Barriers

It is estimated that there are over 50,000 Somali refugees currently living in Minnesota, making Minnesota the largest resettlement location for Somalis in the United States (World Relief Minnesota, 2013). Research has shown that refugees, including the Somali community, experience higher rates of mental health concerns and seek less mental health treatment than any group. This phenomenon is even more prominent in refugee youth (Ellis, Lincoln, Charney, Ford-Paz, Benson & Strunin, 2010). There is a gap in the current research on Somali youth mental health and how to overcome the current barriers to treatment. This study examines the data from eight qualitative interviews with human service personnel with experience working with Somali youth. These interviews explored the participants’ understanding of Somali youth mental health, the Somali cultural view of mental health and its treatment, current barriers that keep Somali youth out of the mental health service delivery system, and strategies to overcome those barriers in order to provide better mental health services for Somali youth. The themes from the data suggest that it is critical to understand the Somali worldview, as well as the unique stressors Somali youth face, in order to engage in more effective mental health treatment with this population. The data also identifies current barriers, as well as various approaches to overcoming those barriers. The implications of this research may be used to inform micro level practice changes for human service personnel, as well as mezzo and macro level policy changes within our mental health service delivery system

Physiological Differences in Stress Reactivity between Morning and Evening Chronotypes

Morning and evening chronotypes (circadian preference) differ on several factors, such as stress response and sleep quality. Previous cardiovascular findings support the assumption that evening types exhibit a greater response to stress. Previous cortisol literature, in contrast, suggests that morning types have a greater response to stress. The two measures have not yet been investigated together in relation to chronotypes. The study explores differences in cardiac measures (heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV)) as well as salivary cortisol in morning and evening types at baseline and under stress at different times of the day (7-11 AM or 4-7 PM). Students (n = 53) were pre-screened for chronotype preference. Participants provided salivary samples and completed a computerized mental arithmetic task while HR was recorded. Heart rate significantly increased from baseline during the task, and HRV significantly decreased. Evening types had significantly higher cortisol concentrations in the morning session, and significantly higher performance in the evening session. The interaction of chronotype and testing time did not reach significance for any of the dependent variables. General patterns partially support the idea that evening types may exhibit higher stress markers that could impair task performance

Cultivating Empathy: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Service-Learning Course

In “Thinking Critically, Acting Justly,” Naomi Yavneh Klos suggests that the key questions for honors education and social justice are first “how to engage our highest-ability and most motivated students in questions of justice” and second “how honors can be a place of access, equity, and excellence in higher education.” These goals are both important and complementary; achieving the latter helps achieve the former. Honors education creates a fruitful space for inclusion where the knowledge and experience of diverse students develop skills oriented toward justice for the whole community. Making honors a place of access and equity prompts deeper engagement in questions of justice for all. Particularly in its emphasis on interdisciplinary and experiential learning, honors education creates, as Yavneh Klos writes, opportunities to “develop an understanding of the world in its complexities [and to] listen and engage [across difference].” Honors also prompts students to learn from the intersections of experience, recognize assumptions based in privilege, and challenge the notion that justice is about helping distant others. Through these practices, honors education is particularly well-positioned to cultivate empathy, a necessary foundation of social justice education. We base our conclusions about building empathy in honors education on our experience team-teaching an experiential, interdisciplinary course focused on mass incarceration in the University of New Mexico Honors College. Titled “Locked Up: Incarceration in Question,” the two-semester course integrated methodologies and approaches from sociology and art, fostering interdisciplinary inquiry into the historic roots and contemporary practices of incarceration. The aim of the class was to cultivate empathetic and engaged citizens, both caring about the world around them and prepared to create change in their communities. During the fall semester, students examined mass incarceration as a civil rights issue and explored how art allows us to both construct meaning and communicate knowledge about injustice. This class prepared students for service learning projects during the spring semester, when student groups worked with community partners to provide requested services. During the activities of both semesters, students came to destabilize the false dichotomy between themselves—often relatively privileged students in their state’s flagship university—and individuals directly impacted by the injustices of the carceral apparatus. Students found such complexities also mirrored in their own lives

A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic (Early Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, UK, with implications for Late Jurassic ichthyosaur diversity

A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur, Thalassodraco etchesi gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Dorset, UK is described. The specimen, a partial, articulated skull and anterior thorax in the Etches Collection of Kimmeridge, Dorset, is exceptionally well preserved on a slab of laminated coccolith limestone and has been expertly prepared. It comprises a near complete skull in articulation with associated anterior vertebral column and dorsal ribs, complete pectoral girdle, fully exposed left forelimb, and some elements of the right forelimb. Other elements present, including an ischiopubis are preserved on separate slabs. Presumed rapid burial of the anterior portion of the specimen in the coccolith substrate has preserved a number of ossified ligaments lying across the vertebral column and associated ribs as well as stomach contents and decayed internal organs. Aspects of the dentition, skull roof bones and the forelimb configuration distinguishes the new specimen from previously described Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs. Autopmorphies for T. etchesi include a large rounded protuberance on the supratemporal bone; a thin L-shaped lachrymal, with a steeply curved posterior border; ~ 70 teeth on the upper tooth row, and deep anterior dorsal ribs. A well resolved phylogenetic analysis shows T. etchesi as a member of a basal clade within Ophthalmosauridae comprising Nannopterygius, Gengasaurus, Paraophthalmosaurus and Thalassodraco. The new specimen adds to the diversity of the Ichthyopterygia of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation and emphasises the important contribution of amateur collectors in palaeontology

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Access to Care among Children: How Does Medicaid Do in Closing the Gaps?

While Medicaid and the Children\u27s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have become increasingly important sources of health coverage for low-income children in all racial and ethnic groups, the program plays an especially large role for children of color, who are more likely than white children to be low-income. In 2007, Medicaid and CHIP covered nearly one in five white children, but roughly two in five African American and Hispanic children. As policymakers engaged in health reform consider the merits of public and private approaches to expanding coverage, this report provides an assessment of Medicaid\u27s relative impact on racial and ethnic disparities in access. The analysis compared health care access for white, African American and Hispanic children who were privately insured, uninsured, or enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. Key findings include: Racial and ethnic disparities in access to care were no more likely among children enrolled in Medicaid than among privately insured children. Insurance coverage – both private and Medicaid – often improved access for children in each racial and ethnic group, but generally did not significantly narrow racial and ethnic disparities in their access to health care. This report analyzes data for more than 15,000 children from the 2003 and 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative household survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Propionibacterium acnes bacteriophages display limited genetic diversity and broad killing activity against bacterial skin isolates.

UnlabelledInvestigation of the human microbiome has revealed diverse and complex microbial communities at distinct anatomic sites. The microbiome of the human sebaceous follicle provides a tractable model in which to study its dominant bacterial inhabitant, Propionibacterium acnes, which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of the human disease acne. To explore the diversity of the bacteriophages that infect P. acnes, 11 P. acnes phages were isolated from the sebaceous follicles of donors with healthy skin or acne and their genomes were sequenced. Comparative genomic analysis of the P. acnes phage population, which spans a 30-year temporal period and a broad geographic range, reveals striking similarity in terms of genome length, percent GC content, nucleotide identity (>85%), and gene content. This was unexpected, given the far-ranging diversity observed in virtually all other phage populations. Although the P. acnes phages display a broad host range against clinical isolates of P. acnes, two bacterial isolates were resistant to many of these phages. Moreover, the patterns of phage resistance correlate closely with the presence of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat elements in the bacteria that target a specific subset of phages, conferring a system of prokaryotic innate immunity. The limited diversity of the P. acnes bacteriophages, which may relate to the unique evolutionary constraints imposed by the lipid-rich anaerobic environment in which their bacterial hosts reside, points to the potential utility of phage-based antimicrobial therapy for acne.ImportancePropionibacterium acnes is a dominant member of the skin microflora and has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of acne; however, little is known about the bacteriophages that coexist with and infect this bacterium. Here we present the novel genome sequences of 11 P. acnes phages, thereby substantially increasing the amount of available genomic information about this phage population. Surprisingly, we find that, unlike other well-studied bacteriophages, P. acnes phages are highly homogeneous and show a striking lack of genetic diversity, which is perhaps related to their unique and restricted habitat. They also share a broad ability to kill clinical isolates of P. acnes; phage resistance is not prevalent, but when detected, it appears to be conferred by chromosomally encoded immunity elements within the host genome. We believe that these phages display numerous features that would make them ideal candidates for the development of a phage-based therapy for acne

Social Media Use and Access to Digital Technology in US Young Adults in 2016.

BACKGROUND: In 2015, 90% of US young adults with Internet access used social media. Digital and social media are highly prevalent modalities through which young adults explore identity formation, and by extension, learn and transmit norms about health and risk behaviors during this developmental life stage. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to provide updated estimates of social media use from 2014 to 2016 and correlates of social media use and access to digital technology in data collected from a national sample of US young adults in 2016. METHODS: Young adult participants aged 18-24 years in Wave 7 (October 2014, N=1259) and Wave 9 (February 2016, N=989) of the Truth Initiative Young Adult Cohort Study were asked about use frequency for 11 social media sites and access to digital devices, in addition to sociodemographic characteristics. Regular use was defined as using a given social media site at least weekly. Weighted analyses estimated the prevalence of use of each social media site, overlap between regular use of specific sites, and correlates of using a greater number of social media sites regularly. Bivariate analyses identified sociodemographic correlates of access to specific digital devices. RESULTS: In 2014, 89.42% (weighted n, 1126/1298) of young adults reported regular use of at least one social media site. This increased to 97.5% (weighted n, 965/989) of young adults in 2016. Among regular users of social media sites in 2016, the top five sites were Tumblr (85.5%), Vine (84.7%), Snapchat (81.7%), Instagram (80.7%), and LinkedIn (78.9%). Respondents reported regularly using an average of 7.6 social media sites, with 85% using 6 or more sites regularly. Overall, 87% of young adults reported access or use of a smartphone with Internet access, 74% a desktop or laptop computer with Internet access, 41% a tablet with Internet access, 29% a smart TV or video game console with Internet access, 11% a cell phone without Internet access, and 3% none of these. Access to all digital devices with Internet was lower in those reporting a lower subjective financial situation; there were also significant differences in access to specific digital devices with Internet by race, ethnicity, and education. CONCLUSIONS: The high mean number of social media sites used regularly and the substantial overlap in use of multiple social media sites reflect the rapidly changing social media environment. Mobile devices are a primary channel for social media, and our study highlights disparities in access to digital technologies with Internet access among US young adults by race/ethnicity, education, and subjective financial status. Findings from this study may guide the development and implementation of future health interventions for young adults delivered via the Internet or social media sites

Impact of Developmental Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Offspring Number and Birth Weight

Impact of Developmental Cigarette Smoke Exposure on Offspring Number and Birth Weight Megan Jacobs, Isaiah Burciaga, Katelyn Chism, Selma Podbicanin, Julia Corman, Anna-Lee Harris, Rachel Neal, Cynthia Corbitt University of Louisville, Department of Biology Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. Kentucky has the second highest rate of maternal smoking in the country at 15.7%, though the true number is most likely higher due to false self-reports. Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy permanently alters intrauterine growth, limits oxygen and nutrient delivery, and is correlated with low birth weight, premature birth, and birth defects. In addition to nicotine, cigarettes contain toxins including cadmium, benzene, arsenic, and formaldehyde. This project focuses on the effects of prenatal cigarette exposure on offspring weight and litter size. We developed a murine model of developmental cigarette exposure utilizing Marlboro Red Cigarettes, as they are the most popular cigarette brand in the world. Female mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 3 hrs/day starting at 4 days prior to mating and continuing until delivery. At birth, offspring number and general health metrics were collected. No significant differences between our exposure groups were found for litter size or litter weight. This outcome differs from the parent model of 6 hrs/day of CSE, after which low birth weight is exhibited. It should be noted that there was a failed litter of 2 pups from both the sham and CSE groups and that 7 of the mice did not become pregnant, so our sample size is lower than what is typically required to find statistically significant effects of CSE on birth weight in the parent model