Assessing the Need and Receptivity for an Integrated Healthy Sexual and Dating Relationships Intervention for Community College Students

Background: In emerging adulthood, youth often become involved in more serious romantic relationships. However, many lack the skills to avoid an unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection (STI), and to ensure a healthy dating relationship. Community college students serve nearly half of all undergraduate students in the United States; yet, community colleges typically lack resources for sexual health promotion. Purpose: To assess the need and receptivity for a web-based integrated healthy sexual and dating relationships intervention among community college students. Methods: In summer 2016, we partnered with three community colleges in South Central Texas to conduct an online survey of students’ sexual behaviors and dating relationships, and usability testing of activities from an integrated, web-based healthy sexual and dating relationship intervention. Results: Online survey participants (n=271) were 70% female, 38% Hispanic, 24% White, 17% Black, and 16% Asian; 20% self-identified as sexual minority; mean age was 20.8 years (SD = 2.05). Participants reported high rates of sexual risk behavior including sex without a condom or an effective birth control method, low use of long-acting reversible contraception, frequent use of emergency contraception, and low use of dual protection to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Two-thirds reported experiencing any type of dating violence perpetration or victimization in the past year. Usability testing participants (n=14) were 86% female, 42% Hispanic, 50% Asian/Pacific Islander, 14% Black, and 7% White; 71% were sexually experienced; mean age was 20.7 years (SD = 1.64). The web-based activities were highly rated in terms of usability parameters, and positively impacted short-term psychosocial outcomes related to condom use, accessing contraceptive health services, and constructive interpersonal conflict resolution. Conclusion: Findings underscore the high need and receptivity for an integrated healthy sexual and dating relationship web-based intervention among community college students, an understudied subgroup of youth in emerging adulthood

Health-Related Quality of Life and Recovery Capital Among Recovery Residents Taking Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in Texas

BACKGROUND: Recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD) includes improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and is supported by recovery capital (RC). Little is known about RC and HRQOL among recovery residents taking medication for OUD. We described HRQOL and RC and identified predictors of HRQOL. METHODS: Project HOMES is an ongoing longitudinal study implemented in 14 recovery homes in Texas. This is a cross-sectional analysis of data from 358 participants\u27 on HRQOL (five EQ-5D-5L dimensions-mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression) and RC (Assessment of Recovery Capital scores) collected from April 2021 to June 2023. Statistical analyses were conducted using T-, Chi-squared, and Fisher\u27s exact tests. RESULTS: Most participants were 35 years/older (50.7%), male (58.9%), non-Hispanic White (68.4%), heterosexual (82.8%), and reported HRQOL problems, mainly anxiety/depression (78.4%) and pain/discomfort (55.7%). Participants who were 35 years/older [mean (SD) = 42.6 (7.3)] were more likely to report mobility and pain/discomfort problems than younger participants. Female participants were more likely to report pain/discomfort problems than male participants. Sexual minorities were more likely to report anxiety/depression problems than heterosexual participants. Married participants and those in committed relationships were more likely to report problems conducting self-care than single/never-married participants. Comorbid conditions were associated with mobility, pain/discomfort, and usual activities problems. Most participants reported high social (65.4%), personal (69.0%), and total (65.6%) RC. Low personal RC was associated with mobility (aOR = 0.43, CI = 0.24-0.76), self-care (aOR = 0.13, CI = 0.04-0.41), usual activities (aOR = 0.25, CI = 0.11-0.57), pain/discomfort (aOR = 0.37, CI = 0.20-0.68), and anxiety/depression (aOR = 0.33, CI = 0.15-0.73) problems. Low total RC was associated with problems conducting self-care (aOR = 0.20, CI = 0.07-0.60), usual activities (aOR = 0.43, CI = 0.22-0.83), pain/discomfort problems (aOR = 0.55, CI = 0.34-0.90), and anxiety/depression (aOR = 0.20, CI = 0.10-0.41) problems. Social RC was not associated with HRQOL. CONCLUSION: Personal and total RC and comorbid conditions predict HRQOL. Although the opioid crisis and the increasing prevalence of comorbidities have been described as epidemics, they are currently being addressed as separate public health issues. Our findings underscore the importance of ensuring residents are provided with interprofessional care to reduce the burden of comorbidities, which can negatively impact their OUD recovery. Their RC should be routinely assessed and enhanced to support their recovery and improve HRQOL

A model for studying the energetics of sustained high frequency firing

Regulating membrane potential and synaptic function contributes significantly to the energetic costs of brain signaling, but the relative costs of action potentials (APs) and synaptic transmission during high-frequency firing are unknown. The continuous high-frequency (200-600Hz) electric organ discharge (EOD) of Eigenmannia, a weakly electric fish, underlies its electrosensing and communication. EODs reflect APs fired by the muscle-derived electrocytes of the electric organ (EO). Cholinergic synapses at the excitable posterior membranes of the elongated electrocytes control AP frequency. Based on whole-fish O2 consumption, ATP demand per EOD-linked AP increases exponentially with AP frequency. Continual EOD-AP generation implies first, that ion homeostatic processes reliably counteract any dissipation of posterior membrane ENa and EK and second that high frequency synaptic activation is reliably supported. Both of these processes require energy. To facilitate an exploration of the expected energy demands of each, we modify a previous excitability model and include synaptic currents able to drive APs at frequencies as high as 600 Hz. Synaptic stimuli are modeled as pulsatile cation conductance changes, with or without a small (sustained) background conductance. Over the full species range of EOD frequencies (200–600 Hz) we calculate frequency-dependent “Na+-entry budgets” for an electrocyte AP as a surrogate for required 3Na+/2K+-ATPase activity. We find that the cost per AP of maintaining constant-amplitude APs increases nonlinearly with frequency, whereas the cost per AP for synaptic input current is essentially constant. This predicts that Na+ channel density should correlate positively with EOD frequency, whereas AChR density should be the same across fish. Importantly, calculated costs (inferred from Na+-entry through Nav and ACh channels) for electrocyte APs as frequencies rise are much less than expected from published whole-fish EOD-linked O2 consumption. For APs at increasingly high frequencies, we suggest that EOD-related costs external to electrocytes (including packaging of synaptic transmitter) substantially exceed the direct cost of electrocyte ion homeostasis.BJ and JEL thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca) for funding. MRM acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (https://www.nsf.gov/) (grants IOS1257580 and IOS1350753). CEM acknowledges support from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (www.ohri.ca). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. APC funded, in part, by University of Oklahoma Libraries Open Access Fund.Ye

Methodological Standardization for the Pre-Clinical Evaluation of Renal Sympathetic Denervation

Transcatheter ablation of renal autonomic nerves is a viable option for the treatment of resistant arterial hypertension; however, structured pre-clinical evaluation with standardization of analytical procedures remains a clear gap in this field. Here we discuss the topics relevant to the pre-clinical model for the evaluation of renal denervation (RDN) devices and report methodologies and criteria toward standardization of the safety and efficacy assessment, including histopathological evaluations of the renal artery, periarterial nerves, and associated periadventitial tissues. The pre-clinical swine renal artery model can be used effectively to assess both the safety and efficacy of RDN technologies. Assessment of the efficacy of RDN modalities primarily focuses on the determination of the depth of penetration of treatment-related injury (e.g., necrosis) of the periarterial tissues and its relationship (i.e., location and distance) and the effect on the associated renal nerves and the correlation thereof with proxy biomarkers including renal norepinephrine concentrations and nerve-specific immunohistochemical stains (e.g., tyrosine hydroxylase). The safety evaluation of RDN technologies involves assessing for adverse effects on tissues local to the site of treatment (i.e., on the arterial wall) as well as tissues at a distance (e.g., soft tissue, veins, arterial branches, skeletal muscle, adrenal gland, ureters). Increasing experience will help to create a standardized means of examining all arterial beds subject to ablative energy and in doing so enable us to proceed to optimize the development and assessment of these emerging technologies

Effects of steroids and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition on circumferential strain in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study utilizing cardiovascular magnetic resonance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Steroid use has prolonged ambulation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and combined with advances in respiratory care overall management has improved such that cardiac manifestations have become the major cause of death. Unfortunately, there is no consensus for DMD-associated cardiac disease management. Our purpose was to assess effects of steroid use alone or in combination with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotension receptor blocker (ARB) on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) derived circumferential strain (ε_cc).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used CMR to assess effects of corticosteroids alone (Group A) or in combination with ACEI or ARB (Group B) on heart rate (HR), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), mass (LVM), end diastolic volume (LVEDV) and circumferential strain (ε_cc) in a cohort of 171 DMD patients >5 years of age. Treatment decisions were made independently by physicians at both our institution and referral centers and not based on CMR results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients in Group A (114 studies) were younger than those in Group B (92 studies)(10 ± 2.4 vs. 12.4 ± 3.2 years, p < 0.0001), but HR, LVEF, LVEDV and LVM were not different. Although ε_ccmagnitude was lower in Group B than Group A (-13.8 ± 1.9 vs. -12.8 ± 2.0, p = 0.0004), age correction using covariance analysis eliminated this effect. In a subset of patients who underwent serial CMR exams with an inter-study time of ~15 months, ε_ccworsened regardless of treatment group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results support the need for prospective clinical trials to identify more effective treatment regimens for DMD associated cardiac disease.</p

Hyperfine Spectroscopy of Isotopically Engineered Group-IV Color Centers in Diamond

A quantum register coupled to a spin-photon interface is a key component in quantum communication and information processing. Group-IV color centers in diamond (SiV, GeV, and SnV) are promising candidates for this application, comprising an electronic spin with optical transitions coupled to a nuclear spin as the quantum register. However, the creation of a quantum register for these color centers with deterministic and strong coupling to the spin-photon interface remains challenging. Here, we make first-principles predictions of the hyperfine parameters of the group-IV color centers, which we verify experimentally with a comprehensive comparison between the spectra of spin active and spin neutral intrinsic dopant nuclei in single GeV and SnV emitters. In line with the theoretical predictions, detailed spectroscopy on large sample sizes reveals that hyperfine coupling causes a splitting of the optical transition of SnV an order of magnitude larger than the optical linewidth and provides a magnetic-field insensitive transition. This strong coupling provides access to a new regime for quantum registers in diamond color centers, opening avenues for novel spin-photon entanglement and quantum sensing schemes for these well-studied emitters