Parents Behind Bars: What Happens to Their Children?

Children do not often figure in discussions of incarceration, but new research finds more than five million U.S. children have had at least one parent in prison at one time or another -- about three times higher than earlier estimates that included only children with a parent currently incarcerated. This report uses the National Survey of Children's Health to examine both the prevalence of parental incarceration and child outcomes associated with it.Previous research has found connections between parental incarceration and childhood health problems, behavior problems, and grade retention. It has also been linked to poor mental and physical health in adulthood

Persistent demographic differences in colorectal cancer screening utilization despite Medicare reimbursement

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer screening is widely recommended, but often under-utilized. In addition, significant demographic differences in screening utilization exist. Insurance coverage may be one factor influencing utilization of colorectal cancer screening tests. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of claims for outpatient services for Washington state Medicare beneficiaries in calendar year 2000. We determined the proportion of beneficiaries utilizing screening fecal occult blood tests, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or double contrast barium enema in the overall population and various demographic subgroups. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relative odds of screening in different demographic groups. RESULTS: Approximately 9.2% of beneficiaries had fecal occult blood tests, 7.2% had any colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, or barium enema (invasive) colon tests, and 3.5% had invasive tests for screening indications. Colonoscopy accounted for 41% of all invasive tests for screening indications. Women were more likely to receive fecal occult blood test screening (OR 1.18; 95%CI 1.15, 1.21) and less likely to receive invasive tests for screening indications than men (OR 0.80, 95%CI 0.77, 0.83). Whites were more likely than other racial groups to receive any type of screening. Rural residents were more likely than urban residents to have fecal occult blood tests (OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.17, 1.23) but less likely to receive invasive tests for screening indications (OR 0.89; 95%CI 0.85, 0.93). CONCLUSION: Reported use of fecal occult blood testing remains modest. Overall use of the more invasive tests for screening indications remains essentially unchanged, but there has been a shift toward increased use of screening colonoscopy. Significant demographic differences in screening utilization persist despite consistent insurance coverage

Transcriptional Profiling of Human Brain Endothelial Cells Reveals Key Properties Crucial for Predictive In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Models

Brain microvascular endothelial cells (BEC) constitute the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which forms a dynamic interface between the blood and the central nervous system (CNS). This highly specialized interface restricts paracellular diffusion of fluids and solutes including chemicals, toxins and drugs from entering the brain. In this study we compared the transcriptome profiles of the human immortalized brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 and human primary BEC. We identified transcriptional differences in immune response genes which are directly related to the immortalization procedure of the hCMEC/D3 cells. Interestingly, astrocytic co-culturing reduced cell adhesion and migration molecules in both BECs, which possibly could be related to regulation of immune surveillance of the CNS controlled by astrocytic cells within the neurovascular unit. By matching the transcriptome data from these two cell lines with published transcriptional data from freshly isolated mouse BECs, we discovered striking differences that could explain some of the limitations of using cultured BECs to study BBB properties. Key protein classes such as tight junction proteins, transporters and cell surface receptors show differing expression profiles. For example, the claudin-5, occludin and JAM2 expression is dramatically reduced in the two human BEC lines, which likely explains their low transcellular electric resistance and paracellular leakiness. In addition, the human BEC lines express low levels of unique brain endothelial transporters such as Glut1 and Pgp. Cell surface receptors such as LRP1, RAGE and the insulin receptor that are involved in receptor-mediated transport are also expressed at very low levels. Taken together, these data illustrate that BECs lose their unique protein expression pattern outside of their native environment and display a more generic endothelial cell phenotype. A collection of key genes that seems to be highly regulated by the local surroundings of BEC within the neurovascular unit are presented and discussed

Introducing Educational Attainment to the Poststratification Adjustment in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides national estimates of substance use and mental health among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. Since Quarter 4 of 2020, multimode (web and in-person) data collection has been employed in NSDUH. Adult web respondents had higher levels of educational attainment than adult in-person respondents, and educational attainment is often correlated with survey outcomes in NSDUH. To correct the imbalance of the educational attainment distributions across survey modes, educational attainment was added as a covariate to the poststratification adjustment in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 NSDUH weighting. Educational attainment proportions calculated from 1-year American Community Survey (ACS) data were used to derive control totals for the main effect and two-way interactions of educational attainment by demographic variables and by state. Two approaches for calculating educational attainment proportions, marginal distribution and cell distribution, were compared for accuracy across domains and summation of subdomains. The impact of excluding the institutionalized population and the active-duty military population from the 1-year ACS data was also investigated and is discussed