Clinical and Forensic Outcomes from the Illinois Mental Health Juvenile Justice Initiative

To address the mental health needs of youths who are arrested and detained in Illinois, an initiative was designed and implemented that identified youths with psychotic or affective disorders, linked them to community services, and monitored their cases. This study assessed whether such linkage is possible and whether it improves clinical and forensic outcomes. METHODS: Under the initiative, court staff refer youths who may have a mental illness to a clinical liaison. If the youth is eligible for the program, the liaison works with the family to develop a community-based action plan. For the analysis presented here, the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Mental Health Scale (CANS-MH) and the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) were used to assess outcomes among 314 youths who had completed the program at the time of the study. School and forensic outcomes were also monitored. RESULTS: Seventy-five percent of the youths were successfully linked to at least one mental health or community service. A comparison of average CANS-MH dimension scores at enrollment and program completion indicated that youths\u27 emotional problems decreased considerably within three months of referral. CAFAS scores six months after enrollment improved across nearly all dimensions. Home, community, and school functioning were significantly improved from baseline. Only 42 percent of the youths were rearrested, compared with a statewide rate of 72 percent of detained youths. CONCLUSIONS: By linking youths with significant mental health needs to existing community-based services, it appears possible both to ameliorate psychopathology and to reduce delinquency

BurstCube: A CubeSat for gravitational wave counterparts

BurstCube aims to expand sky coverage in order to detect, localize, and rapidly disseminate information about gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). BurstCube is a\u276U\u27 CubeSat with an instrument comprised of 4 Cesium Iodide (CsI) scintillators coupled to arrays of Silicon photo-multipliers (SiPMs) and will be sensitive to gamma-rays between 50 keV and 1 MeV. BurstCube will assist current observatories, such as Swift and Fermi, in the detection of GRBs as well as provide astronomical context to gravitational wave (GW) events detected by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. BurstCube is currently in its development phase with a launch readiness date in early 2022

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Patient-Reported Quality of Supportive Care Among Patients With Colorectal Cancer in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System

High-quality supportive care is an essential component of comprehensive cancer care. We implemented a patient-centered quality of cancer care survey to examine and identify predictors of quality of supportive care for bowel problems, pain, fatigue, depression, and other symptoms among 1,109 patients with colorectal cancer

Clonal Haematopoiesis and Risk of Chronic Liver Disease

Chronic liver disease is a major public health burden worldwide1. Although different aetiologies and mechanisms of liver injury exist, progression of chronic liver disease follows a common pathway of liver inflammation, injury and fibrosis2. Here we examined the association between clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and chronic liver disease in 214,563 individuals from 4 independent cohorts with whole-exome sequencing data (Framingham Heart Study, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, UK Biobank and Mass General Brigham Biobank). CHIP was associated with an increased risk of prevalent and incident chronic liver disease (odds ratio = 2.01, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) [1.46, 2.79]; P \u3c 0.001). Individuals with CHIP were more likely to demonstrate liver inflammation and fibrosis detectable by magnetic resonance imaging compared to those without CHIP (odds ratio = 1.74, 95% CI [1.16, 2.60]; P = 0.007). to assess potential causality, Mendelian randomization analyses showed that genetic predisposition to CHIP was associated with a greater risk of chronic liver disease (odds ratio = 2.37, 95% CI [1.57, 3.6]; P \u3c 0.001). In a dietary model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, mice transplanted with Tet2-deficient haematopoietic cells demonstrated more severe liver inflammation and fibrosis. These effects were mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome and increased levels of expression of downstream inflammatory cytokines in Tet2-deficient macrophages. In summary, clonal haematopoiesis is associated with an elevated risk of liver inflammation and chronic liver disease progression through an aberrant inflammatory response

Community Preferences for the Allocation &Donation of Organs - The PAraDOx Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transplantation is the treatment of choice for people with severe organ failure. However, demand substantially exceeds supply of suitable organs; consequently many people wait months, or years to receive an organ. Reasons for the chronic shortage of deceased organ donations are unclear; there appears to be no lack of 'in principle' public support for organ donation.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The PAraDOx Study examines community preferences for organ donation policy in Australia. The aims are to 1) determine which factors influence decisions by individuals to offer their organs for donation and 2) determine the criteria by which the community deems the allocation of donor organs to be fair and equitable. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to assess community preferences for organ donation and allocation.</p> <p>Focus group participants from the general community, aged between 18-80, will be purposively sampled to ensure a variety of cultural backgrounds and views on organ donation. Each focus group will include a ranking exercise using a modified nominal group technique. Focus groups of organ recipients, their families, and individuals on a transplant waiting list will also be conducted.</p> <p>Using the qualitative work, a discrete choice study will be designed to quantitatively assess community preferences. Discrete choice methods are based on the premise that goods and services can be described in terms of a number of separate attributes. Respondents are presented with a series of choices where levels of attributes are varied, and a mathematical function is estimated to describe numerically the value respondents attach to different options. Two community surveys will be conducted in approximately 1000 respondents each to assess community preferences for organ donation and allocation. A mixed logit model will be used; model results will be expressed as parameter estimates (β) and the odds of choosing one option over an alternative. Trade-offs between attributes will also be calculated.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>By providing a better understanding of current community preferences in relation to organ donation and allocation, the PAraDOx study will highlight options for firstly, increasing the rate of organ donation and secondly, allow for more transparent and equitable policies in relation to organ allocation.</p

Acquired resistance to oxaliplatin is not directly associated with increased resistance to DNA damage in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000, a newly established oxaliplatin-resistant sub-line of the neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS

The formation of acquired drug resistance is a major reason for the failure of anti-cancer therapies after initial response. Here, we introduce a novel model of acquired oxaliplatin resistance, a sub-line of the non-MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS that was adapted to growth in the presence of 4000 ng/mL oxaliplatin (SK-N-ASrOXALI4000). SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells displayed enhanced chromosomal aberrations compared to SK-N-AS, as indicated by 24-chromosome fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Moreover, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were resistant not only to oxaliplatin but also to the two other commonly used anti-cancer platinum agents cisplatin and carboplatin. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells exhibited a stable resistance phenotype that was not affected by culturing the cells for 10 weeks in the absence of oxaliplatin. Interestingly, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells showed no cross resistance to gemcitabine and increased sensitivity to doxorubicin and UVC radiation, alternative treatments that like platinum drugs target DNA integrity. Notably, UVC-induced DNA damage is thought to be predominantly repaired by nucleotide excision repair and nucleotide excision repair has been described as the main oxaliplatin-induced DNA damage repair system. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were also more sensitive to lysis by influenza A virus, a candidate for oncolytic therapy, than SK-N-AS cells. In conclusion, we introduce a novel oxaliplatin resistance model. The oxaliplatin resistance mechanisms in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells appear to be complex and not to directly depend on enhanced DNA repair capacity. Models of oxaliplatin resistance are of particular relevance since research on platinum drugs has so far predominantly focused on cisplatin and carboplatin