Does Public Health Policy Matter?: Explaining Variation in COVID-19 Outcomes Across the 50 States

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted debate about what factors cause wide variations in mortality and infection rates across the United States and raised questions about what can be done to limit the spread of future outbreaks. In the comparative international politics literature, there are four explanations that determine how well a country can contain outbreaks: leadership, state capacity, demographics, and state culture. Currently, there are no studies that show a comprehensive evaluation of what has caused variations in mortality rate among the fifty states. This study aims to examine state variation among the 50 states in the U.S. and its influence on Covid-19 infection and mortality rate. The study will utilize a mixed-method approach to determine which factors have the most impact on mortality and infection rate. Using a multivariate and case study analysis, I aim to show how the four explanations predicted the pandemic case and death rates. In the findings of this study, I found that several factors, including Republican party control, urbanization, and race, predicted a state’s Covid-19 outcomes. The purpose of this study is to urge states to repair weaknesses in pandemic response plans, address structural discrimination within the healthcare system, and facilitate national cooperation that will better equip states with the ability to contain an outbreak

Uncontrolled eating in adolescents : the role of impulsivity and automatic approach bias for food

Obesity is a global problem reaching epidemic proportions and can be explained by unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles. Understanding the psychological processes underlying unhealthy eating behaviour is crucial for the development of effective obesity prevention programmes. Dual-process models implicate the interplay between impaired cognitive control and enhanced automatic responsivity to rewarding food cues as key risk factors. The current study assessed the influence of four different components of trait impulsivity (reflecting impaired cognitive control) and automatic approach bias for food (reflecting automatic responsivity to food) on uncontrolled eating in a large sample (N = 504) of young adolescents. Of the four impulsivity factors, negative urgency was found to be the strongest predictor of uncontrolled eating. Interestingly, we found that lack of premeditation was a key risk factor for uncontrolled eating, but only when approach bias for food was high, supporting a dual-process model. Lack of perseverance showed a similar interactive pattern to a lesser degree and sensation-seeking did not predict uncontrolled eating. Together, our results show that distinct components of trait impulsivity are differentially associated with uncontrolled eating behaviour in adolescents, and that automatic processing of food cues may be an important factor in modulating this relationship

A cyclic peptide inhibitor of HIF-1 heterodimerization that inhibits hypoxia signaling in cancer cells

Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a heterodimeric transcription factor that acts as the master regulator of cellular response to reduced oxygen levels, thus playing a key role in the adaptation, survival and progression of tumors. Here we report cyclo-CLLFVY, identified from a library of 3.2 million cyclic hexapeptides using a genetically encoded high-throughput screening platform, as an inhibitor of the HIF-1α/HIF-1β protein-protein interaction in vitro and in cells. The identified compound inhibits HIF-1 dimerization and transcription activity by binding to the PAS-B domain of HIF-1α, reducing HIF-1-mediated hypoxia response signaling in a variety of cell lines, without affecting the function of the closely related HIF-2 isoform. The reported cyclic peptide demonstrates the utility of our high-throughput screening platform for the identification of protein-protein interaction inhibitors, and forms the starting point for the development of HIF-1 targeted cancer therapeutics

Primary-secondary school transition under Covid-19: Exploring the perceptions and experiences of children, parents/guardians, and teachers

The transition from primary to secondary school is a major life event for eleven-year-old children in the United Kingdom, where they face simultaneous changes. Following the outbreak of Covid-19, transfer children face additional uncertainty on top of this. Negotiation of the multiple challenges, combined with the reduced support associated with Covid-19, could have a negative impact on children’s school adjustment and mental health. Given the rapidity of changes associated with Covid-19, there are key empirical and practical gaps on how best to support children as they negotiate these two key events. To date, there is no published research which has explored the experiences of transfer children, and that of their parents and teachers during this time. The present research aimed to narrow this research gap by answering the research question: What are parents’, children’s, and teachers’ experiences of primary-secondary school transition during Covid-19? This research used a series of UK wide surveys to gather data from 101 Year 7 children, 88 Year 7 parents, 26 primary school teachers, and 40 secondary school teachers using a mixture of open and closed questions. The data were analysed using Thematic Framework Analysis, taking an inductive-open coding approach. All three stakeholders reported negative impacts of Covid-19 on the transition, for example, in terms of missed opportunities. There were also many comments about the emotional impact of Covid-19 on children, parents, and teachers. Numerous strategies were reported that were used to meet children’s needs pre and post-transition, highlighting areas of good practice, along with practical suggestions for how to approach transition in the future. The study has identified ways that transition can be managed more effectively, thus, having short term implications in providing an evidence base to support transfer children this year, and long-term implications for future transition years

"For me, the anorexia is just a symptom, and the cause is the autism” – Investigating restrictive eating disorders in autistic women

Autistic women are overrepresented among people in treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The current study aimed to: (1) better understand how AN develops and persists in autistic individuals from the perspective of autistic women, parents and healthcare professionals; (2) derive a theoretical model of restrictive eating difficulties in autism. We conducted 44 semi-structured interviews and used Thematic Analysis to identify patterns of meaning across the data. Themes related to sensory sensitivities, social interaction and relationships, sense of self and identity, difficulties with emotions, thinking styles, and a need for control and predictability. We developed a model of potential autism-specific mechanisms underlying restrictive eating difficulties. This study generated novel insights, which have the potential to inform treatment adaptations following empirical testing

Evaluating a universal emotional-centred intervention to improve children's emotional well-being over primary-secondary school transition

The transition from primary to secondary school is a critical period for children, which, for most children involves stress and anxiety (Jindal-Snape et al., 2020). If negotiated poorly, this transition can have a significant negative impact on children’s short- and long-term well-being and mental health (White, 2020). Despite this, efforts to improve children’s emotional experiences of primary-secondary school transition are minimal in research and face challenges in practice. Very few interventions focus on supporting children’s emotional well-being and these are limited in number, sustainability, and reach. Talking about School Transition (TaST) is a universal, emotional-centred teacher-led support intervention, which was developed to fill this gap in the literature. The evaluation of TaST consisted of a longitudinal questionnaire-based design investigating the efficacy of TaST in improving 143 Year 6 (aged 10 and 11 year old) children’s coping efficacy and adjustment. It was assessed using the outcome variables: Emotional Symptoms, Peer Problems, Coping Efficacy and Transition Worries, in addition to a qualitative process evaluation. Results suggest that TaST had immediate positive implications for participating children who showed a significantly greater reduction in Transition Worries once at secondary school, compared to control group children. TaST has implications for educational practice and policy in elucidating the importance of supporting children’s emotional well-being over this period and demonstrating the viability and success of implementing emotional-centred support intervention in practice

Re-valuation of annual cytology using HPV self-sampling to upgrade prevention (REACH UP): A feasibility study in women living with HIV in the UK

Introduction: Current UK guidelines for cervical cancer screening are based on the assumption that most women living with HIV (WLWH) are also high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive. We aimed to provide data on prevalence of HR-HPV in WLWH in the UK and to assess feasibility and acceptability of HR-HPV self-sampling in this group. // Methods: Women living with HIV attending six HIV services in London/south of England, with no history of cervical cancer, were enrolled. Participants self-collected a vaginal swab for the detection of HR-HPV, completed a survey about sexual/gynaecological history, attitudes towards annual screening and perception of HR-HPV self-sampling, and were asked to have their annual cervical smear. // Results: In all, 67 women were included: 86.5% were of black ethnicity, the median (range) age was 47 (24–60) years, median CD4 T-cell count was 683 cells/µL [interquartile range (IQR): 527–910], and 95.4% had viral load ≤ 50 copies/mL. All performed the vaginal swab. Eighteen (27%) had no cervical smear results; none of these women attended HIV services where this was routinely offered. No cervical samples were positive for HR-HPV. Three-quarters (75.8%) of participants reported adherence to annual screening, with only one woman (1.5%) attending irregularly. On visual analogue scales (from 0 to 100), median (IQR) acceptability and necessity of smear tests were 100 (75–100) and 100 (85–100), respectively. // Conclusions: Our results suggest that the prevalence of HR-HPV in WLWH in the UK may be low. Self-sampling seems to be acceptable, suggesting, if validated, its potential role in supporting less frequent smear testing and improving screening uptake in WLW

An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing: Version 0.5 (Draft for Comment)

Background: At the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) Membership Meeting at the 2017 Library Publishing Forum in Baltimore, Maryland, the community discussed how the LPC can respond to the current political climate. The discussion was wide-ranging, but kept coming back to the importance of library values and our responsibility as library publishers to center our publishing practice around them. A number of those present offered to devise a way for the conversation to continue beyond the Forum. That group included Marilyn Billings, Jason Boczar, Rebel Cummings-Sauls, Harrison W. Inefuku, Joshua Neds-Fox, Matt Ruen, Emily Stenberg, and Monica Westin, who proposed a task force to tackle the issues raised. This task force was charged with creating an Ethical Framework for Library Publishing . From July of 2017 to June of 2018, the task force members (listed on the title page as authors of this document) identified the topics to be covered in the framework, and then worked in subgroups to review the literature on those topics and identify existing resources of particular relevance to the community of library publishers. The subgroups then drafted the sections you see in this document. Throughout this process, they worked iteratively to devise a structure and format for the framework—a challenging task, and one for which there were many inspirations, but no clear models. In the end, they decided that the most effective structure for the document would break each section into an introduction , a scope statement , a review of existing resources , and a set of recommendations for library publishers. Some sections also include a note about new resources that are needed and/or further readings on the topic. Context: library publishing and ethics: Academic libraries have entered the publishing space due to changes in ways of disseminating information and in response to faculty members’ desire to control their own publishing destiny. This work has been enabled by the emergence of open source or low-cost technologies for publishing, but the motivations for it are broad and deep—for example, library publishers are also deeply engaged with emerging forms of scholarship (and emerging disciplines) that do not yet have a voice within the traditional publishing environment. These motivations often include a desire for increased openness and sustainability in the scholarly communication landscape. Unlike commercial publishers and traditional presses, the work of library publishers is largely funded through existing library budgets without a profit motive. The goal is instead to increase the impact of scholarship created by faculty and students affiliated with an institution and to disseminate that scholarship as broadly as possible, by emphasizing open access as a means of distribution. Because these publishing activities for academic libraries are a relatively recent endeavor, education and training for librarians as publishers is not fully established and thus one of the objectives for preparing this guide. Publishing as a role for librarians is increasing in importance for all academic libraries and is not limited to just research libraries, but also includes community colleges and four-year undergraduate institutions. Library publishers are also uniquely positioned to look beyond traditional prestige publishing priorities to partner with faculty, students, and organizations in order provide services such as data preservation and engage in publishing as pedagogy. As relative newcomers to the world of publishing, libraries are able to draw on a wealth of resources and expertise developed by more established players. To avoid reinventing the wheel, this document is structured primarily around existing resources. The framework pulls together existing publishing codes of ethics (many of which are included in the Publishing Practice section), along with resources from librarianship and other related fields, and contextualizes them for library publishers. The recommendations in each section attempt to distill a wealth of knowledge and guidance into a small set of actionable steps meant to answer the question, “But how do I get started?” They are by no means the only steps to be taken in these areas, but they may help library publishers begin to incorporate these important ethical considerations into their work. Future plans for the framework From the beginning of this project, the taskforce designed An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing to be an iterative document, more formal than a wiki but less so than a monograph or white paper. The founding group of authors worked on the framework with an understanding that every topic could not be covered, especially with a goal to create a document in less than a year. This framework was always envisioned as a starting place. In light of an iterative approach, we have decided to call this version 1 from the outset. The definitive version of An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing will always be the most current version. Versioning the document will also help make visible the historical transition. Version 2, the taskforce hopes, can be started by a new group of library publishing professionals with new views and ideas. In this way, we hope, An Ethical Framework for Library Publishing will never be a static, antiquated document created only from the viewpoint of a small group of people. It can, and should, be a community project

Could Public Restrooms Be an Environment for Bacterial Resistomes?

PMCID: PMC3547874This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited