The impact of experiential avoidance on the relationships among military sexual trauma, excessive behaviors, and health-related outcomes in female veterans

Military Sexual Trauma (MST) as defined in United States Public Law, refers to inappropriate sexual conduct, assault, or harassment experienced by a military service member during his or her course of active duty or active duty for training (38 U.S.C. § 1720D). MST has emerged as a distinct form of trauma, resulting in different and often more severe sequelae than other forms of civilian sexual assault and/or non-sexual trauma. This study sought to explore the potential moderating and mediating roles of experiential avoidance on the relationship between MST and health outcomes in an attempt to identify a unifying mechanism through which poor outcomes were more likely to emerge or become amplified. Participants included 65 female veterans seeking treatment through the women’s health clinic located within the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (VAAAHS). Eligible participants completed a series of questionnaires assessing for the presence of trauma exposure, including MST, experiential avoidance, and potential outcomes such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, physical health concerns, and engagement in excessive/problem behaviors. Within this sample, 29.2% of respondents endorsed exposure to MST. Subsequent mediation and moderation analyses were computed and it was determined that experiential avoidance partially mediated the relationship between MST exposure and PTSD symptomatology. Furthermore, levels of experiential avoidance, PTSD, anxiety, and physical health concerns varied as a result of trauma exposure type (i.e., MST, civilian sexual assault/childhood sexual abuse, or non-sexual trauma). These findings support the hypothesis that MST exposure is associated with poorer post-trauma functioning across a variety of symptoms measures. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the presence of experiential avoidance may impact post-trauma functionality. Implications for the treatment of MST are discussed

Assessing Attitudes Towards Tobacco Advertising in Winooski, VT

Introduction. Smoking rates are 15% in Vermont and higher in low-income populations. Winooski, Vermont is vulnerable to high tobacco use rates given that 23.6% of Winooski residents live below the poverty line. Tobacco advertising, which has been shown to have a direct, dose-dependent association with youth tobacco use, is highly prevalent in stores in Winooski.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1091/thumbnail.jp

Factors Leading to Adolescent Drug Abuse in Winooski

Introduction. This study collaborated with the Winooski Coalition for a Safe and Peaceful Community (WCSPC) in order to identify underlying risk factors for initiating drug use in adolescents, ages 13-18 in Winooski, Vermont by implementing focus groups with community stakeholders and agencies.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1198/thumbnail.jp

Assessing Barriers to Healthy Food Access in Winooski, VT

Introduction: • The local food environment plays an important role in defining the health of the neighborhood and is an important determinant of resident’s dietary intakes. • Specifically, food availability, affordability, and accessibility have been linked to diet quality and various health outcomes. • Fresh fruits and vegetables are markers for nutritional diets. Grocery stores and super markets tend to have better quality fruits and vegetables, greater variety and better affordability than convenient stores that tend to have more prepared and higher calorie foods. • People who live in neighborhoods with better access to supermarkets tend to have a greater daily intake of fruits and vegetables. • Increased distance from supermarkets is negatively associated with healthy food intake in a study of pregnant women. • “Food deserts” are areas that are devoid of a local supermarket where residents have a limited ability to purchase affordable healthy foods. They have become an emergent problem in the United States. This paucity of supermarkets in these areas combined with lack of private or convenient transportation among poorer residents may contribute to health disparities across socioeconomic classes. • The town of Winooski, VT has a population of 7,267. Although there are local food markets and convenient stores within the town, Winooski lacks a larger grocery store. • Insufficient public transportation and inadequate pedestrian sidewalks make it more difficult for residents to access supermarkets located in other towns.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1078/thumbnail.jp

Exploring the spectral diversity of low-redshift Type Ia supernovae using the Palomar Transient Factory

We present an investigation of the optical spectra of 264 low-redshift (z < 0.2) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory, an untargeted transient survey. We focus on velocity and pseudo-equivalent width measurements of the Si II 4130, 5972, and 6355 A lines, as well those of the Ca II near-infrared (NIR) triplet, up to +5 days relative to the SN B-band maximum light. We find that a high-velocity component of the Ca II NIR triplet is needed to explain the spectrum in ~95 per cent of SNe Ia observed before -5 days, decreasing to ~80 per cent at maximum. The average velocity of the Ca II high-velocity component is ~8500 km/s higher than the photospheric component. We confirm previous results that SNe Ia around maximum light with a larger contribution from the high-velocity component relative to the photospheric component in their Ca II NIR feature have, on average, broader light curves and lower Ca II NIR photospheric velocities. We find that these relations are driven by both a stronger high-velocity component and a weaker contribution from the photospheric Ca II NIR component in broader light curve SNe Ia. We identify the presence of C II in very-early-time SN Ia spectra (before -10 days), finding that >40 per cent of SNe Ia observed at these phases show signs of unburnt material in their spectra, and that C II features are more likely to be found in SNe Ia having narrower light curves.Comment: 18 page, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

PTF11iqb: Cool supergiant mass loss that bridges the gap between Type IIn and normal supernovae

PTF11iqb was initially classified as a TypeIIn event caught very early after explosion. It showed narrow Wolf-Rayet (WR) spectral features on day 2, but the narrow emission weakened quickly and the spectrum morphed to resemble those of Types II-L and II-P. At late times, Halpha emission exhibited a complex, multipeaked profile reminiscent of SN1998S. In terms of spectroscopic evolution, we find that PTF11iqb was a near twin of SN~1998S, although with weaker interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) at early times, and stronger CSM interaction at late times. We interpret the spectral changes as caused by early interaction with asymmetric CSM that is quickly (by day 20) enveloped by the expanding SN ejecta photosphere, but then revealed again after the end of the plateau when the photosphere recedes. The light curve can be matched with a simple model for weak CSM interaction added to the light curve of a normal SN~II-P. This plateau requires that the progenitor had an extended H envelope like a red supergiant, consistent with the slow progenitor wind speed indicated by narrow emission. The cool supergiant progenitor is significant because PTF11iqb showed WR features in its early spectrum --- meaning that the presence of such WR features in an early SN spectrum does not necessarily indicate a WR-like progenitor. [abridged] Overall, PTF11iqb bridges SNe~IIn with weaker pre-SN mass loss seen in SNe II-L and II-P, implying a continuum between these types.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRA

Early Radio and X-Ray Observations of the Youngest Nearby Type Ia Supernova PTF 11kly (SN 2011fe)

On 2011 August 24 (UT) the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) discovered PTF11kly (SN 2011fe), the youngest and most nearby Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in decades. We followed this event up in the radio (centimeter and millimeter bands) and X-ray bands, starting about a day after the estimated explosion time.We present our analysis of the radio and X-ray observations, yielding the tightest constraints yet placed on the pre-explosion mass-loss rate from the progenitor system of this supernova. We find a robust limit of Ṁ ≾ 10^(−8)(w/100 km s^(−1))M_☉ yr^(−1) from sensitive X-ray non-detections, as well as a similar limit from radio data, which depends, however, on assumptions about microphysical parameters. We discuss our results in the context of single-degenerate models for SNe Ia and find that our observations modestly disfavor symbiotic progenitor models involving a red giant donor, but cannot constrain systems accreting from main-sequence or sub-giant stars, including the popular supersoft channel. In view of the proximity of PTF11kly and the sensitivity of our prompt observations, we would have to wait for a long time (a decade or longer) in order to more meaningfully probe the circumstellar matter of SNe Ia

LSQ13ddu: a rapidly evolving stripped-envelope supernova with early circumstellar interaction signatures

This paper describes the rapidly evolving and unusual supernova LSQ13ddu, discovered by the La Silla-QUEST survey. LSQ13ddu displayed a rapid rise of just 4.8 ± 0.9 d to reach a peak brightness of −19.70 ± 0.02 mag in the LSQgr band. Early spectra of LSQ13ddu showed the presence of weak and narrow HeI features arising from interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). These interaction signatures weakened quickly, with broad features consistent with those seen in stripped-envelope SNe becoming dominant around two weeks after maximum. The narrow HeI velocities are consistent with the wind velocities of luminous blue variables but its spectra lack the typically seen hydrogen features. The fast and bright early light curve is inconsistent with radioactive ⁵⁶Ni powering but can be explained through a combination of CSM interaction and an underlying ⁵⁶Ni decay component that dominates the later time behaviour of LSQ13ddu. Based on the strength of the underlying broad features, LSQ13ddu appears deficient in He compared to standard SNe Ib

Female Genital Mutilation. Information for Health-Care Professionals Working in Ireland.

AkiDwA, the African and Migrant Women’s Network in Ireland, developed this resource as part of a project funded by the Office of the Minister for Integration, examining the health-care needs of women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in their countries of origin and who now reside in Ireland. As the project developed in 2008, it became apparent that there were few resources for health-care professionals working in Ireland encountering these women, who may have very specific and urgent health-care needs. As a result of successful collaboration between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s MSc Women\u27s Health course director and students, and the coordinator of the Migrant Women\u27s Health Services Project in AkiDwA, key information on FGM and related health-care needs was researched and developed. Irish FGM-prevalence statistics were collated during 2008 and are also contained in this resource. It is envisaged that this resource will be useful to a range of health-care professionals in a broad spectrum of possible settings. The removable image sheet is designed to be used with a patient or client to illustrate FGM typologies and FGM prevalence across Africa. This resource would not have been completed without the active participation and assistance of the AkiDwA FGM Health Forum members (listed below), the board and staff of AkiDwA, the significant contribution from the RCSI, and the courageous women who have endured FGM and are seeking supports and services in Ireland

SN 2020jgb: A Peculiar Type Ia Supernova Triggered by a Massive Helium-Shell Detonation in a Star-Forming Galaxy

The detonation of a thin ($\lesssim$$0.03\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$) helium shell (He-shell) atop a $\sim$$1\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ white dwarf (WD) is a promising mechanism to explain normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), while thicker He-shells and less massive WDs may explain some recently observed peculiar SNe Ia. We present observations of SN 2020jgb, a peculiar SN Ia discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Near maximum light, SN 2020jgb is slightly subluminous (ZTF $g$-band absolute magnitude $M_g$ between $-18.2$ and $-18.7$ mag depending on the amount of host galaxy extinction) and shows an unusually red color ($g_\mathrm{ZTF}-r_\mathrm{ZTF}$ between 0.4 and 0.2 mag) due to strong line-blanketing blueward of $\sim$5000 $\r{A}$. These properties resemble those of SN 2018byg, a peculiar SN Ia consistent with a thick He-shell double detonation (DDet) SN. Using detailed radiative transfer models, we show that the optical spectroscopic and photometric evolution of SN 2020jgb are broadly consistent with a $\sim$$0.95\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ (C/O core + He-shell; up to $\sim$$1.00\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ depending on the total host extinction) progenitor ignited by a thick ($\sim$$0.13\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$) He-shell. We detect a prominent absorption feature at $\sim$1 $\mu\mathrm{m}$ in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of SN 2020jgb, which could originate from unburnt helium in the outermost ejecta. While the sample size is limited, similar 1 $\mu\mathrm{m}$ features have been detected in all the thick He-shell DDet candidates with NIR spectra obtained to date. SN 2020jgb is also the first subluminous, thick He-shell DDet SN discovered in a star-forming galaxy, indisputably showing that He-shell DDet objects occur in both star-forming and passive galaxies, consistent with the normal SN Ia population.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Updated to accepted version (ApJ