Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Protective Mechanisms for Depression among Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth: Empirical Findings, Issues, and Recommendations

We (1) review empirical studies that report findings regarding putative protective mechanisms when exposed to risk of depression in African American and Hispanic adolescents; (2) identify key protective mechanisms for different risk contexts that garner empirical support; (3) synthesize the mechanisms identified as protective against depression among racial/ethnic minority adolescents; and (4) discuss improved methods for advancing understanding of resilience against depression in minority youth. The studies were selected from PsycINFO searches that met the following inclusion criteria: participants between 12 and 21&nbsp;years of age, inclusions of racial/ethnic minority members, examining protection through an interaction with a risk factor, and outcome measures of depression, depressed mood, or depressive symptomatology. We found 39 eligible studies; 13 of which included multiple racial/ethnic groups. The following were supported as protective mechanisms, at least preliminarily, for at least one racial/ethnic group and in at least one risk context: employment, extracurricular activities, father–adolescent closeness, familism, maternal support, attending predominately minority schools, neighborhood composition, non-parent support, parental inductive reasoning, religiosity, self-esteem, social activities, and positive early teacher relationships. To investigate protective mechanisms more comprehensively and accurately across individual, social, and community levels of influence, we recommend incorporating multilevel modeling or multilevel growth curve analyses and large diverse samples

Measurement of the mass difference and relative production rate of the Ωb− and Ξb− baryons

The mass difference between the Ω − b and Ξ − b baryons is measured using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9     fb − 1 , and is found to be m ( Ω − b ) − m ( Ξ − b ) = 248.54 ± 0.51 ( stat ) ± 0.38 ( syst )     MeV / c 2 . The mass of the Ω − b baryon is measured to be m ( Ω − b ) = 6045.9 ± 0.5 ( stat ) ± 0.6 ( syst )     MeV / c 2 . This is the most precise determination of the Ω − b mass to date. In addition, the production rate of Ω − b baryons relative to that of Ξ − b baryons is measured for the first time in p p collisions, using an LHCb dataset collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6     fb − 1 . Reconstructing beauty baryons in the kinematic region 2 &lt; η &lt; 6 and p T &lt; 20     GeV / c with their decays to a J / ψ meson and a hyperon, the ratio f Ω − b f Ξ − b × B ( Ω − b → J / ψ Ω − ) B ( Ξ − b → J / ψ Ξ − ) = 0.120 ± 0.008 ( stat ) ± 0.008 ( syst ) , is obtained, where f Ω − b and f Ξ − b are the fragmentation fractions of b quarks into Ω − b and Ξ − b baryons, respectively, and B represents the branching fractions of their respective decays