Psychiatric Interventions with Burned Children

This paper reviews the literature and identifies etiologic and management factors in the care of the burned child. It was provoked by direct involvement with two sisters, seriously burned under similar circumstances, each at age two. Their suffering is shared by approximately 500,000 children each year. Despite the enormity of the problem, psychological evaluation and treatment interventions are still not routinely incorporated into the care of these children and their caregivers. The authors hope to encourage psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to become more involved in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and clinical investigation of the burned child

Community Health Workers and Medicaid Managed Care in New Mexico

We describe the impact of community health workers (CHWs) providing community-based support services to enrollees who are high consumers of health resources in a Medicaid managed care system. We conducted a retrospective study on a sample of 448 enrollees who were assigned to field-based CHWs in 11 of New Mexico’s 33 counties. The CHWs provided patients education, advocacy and social support for a period up to 6 months. Data was collected on services provided, and community resources accessed. Utilization and payments in the emergency department, inpatient service, non-narcotic and narcotic prescriptions as well as outpatient primary care and specialty care were collected on each patient for a 6 month period before, for 6 months during and for 6 months after the intervention. For comparison, data was collected on another group of 448 enrollees who were also high consumers of health resources but who did not receive CHW intervention. For all measures, there was a significant reduction in both numbers of claims and payments after the community health worker intervention. Costs also declined in the non-CHW group on all measures, but to a more modest degree, with a greater reduction than in the CHW group in use of ambulatory services. The incorporation of field-based, community health workers as part of Medicaid managed care to provide supportive services to high resource-consuming enrollees can improve access to preventive and social services and may reduce resource utilization and cost

Report from the “What is Open?” Workgroup

The scholarly community’s current definition of “open” captures only some of the attributes of openness that exist across different publishing models and content types. Open is not an end in itself, but a means for achieving the most effective dissemination of scholarship and research. We suggest that the different attributes of open exist along a broad spectrum and propose an alternative way of describing and evaluating openness based on four attributes: discoverable, accessible, reusable, and transparent. These four attributes of openness, taken together, form the draft “DART Framework for Open Access.” This framework can be applied to both research artifacts as well as research processes. We welcome input from the broader scholarly community about this framework

ER Stress Inhibits Liver Fatty Acid Oxidation while Unmitigated Stress Leads to Anorexia-Induced Lipolysis and Both Liver and Kidney Steatosis

The unfolded protein response (UPR), induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, regulates the expression of factors that restore protein folding homeostasis. However, in the liver and kidney, ER stress also leads to lipid accumulation, accompanied at least in the liver by transcriptional suppression of metabolic genes. The mechanisms of this accumulation, including which pathways contribute to the phenotype in each organ, are unclear. We combined gene expression profiling, biochemical assays, and untargeted lipidomics to understand the basis of stress-dependent lipid accumulation, taking advantage of enhanced hepatic and renal steatosis in mice lacking the ER stress sensor ATF6α. We found that impaired fatty acid oxidation contributed to the early development of steatosis in the liver but not the kidney, while anorexia-induced lipolysis promoted late triglyceride and free fatty acid accumulation in both organs. These findings provide evidence for both direct and indirect regulation of peripheral metabolism by ER stress

Cumulative Socioeconomic Status across the Life Course and Subclinical Athersclerosis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between individual-level and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) across the life course and subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods Participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (n = 12,332) were queried about individual-level SES and residential addresses across the life course. Individual-level measures were scored and summed to obtain a summary score (I-CumSES), whereas residential addresses were geocoded and linked to census data to obtain a summary neighborhood z score (N-CumSES) to evaluate the association of SES with intima-media thickness (IMT) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Results A 1-SD lower I-CumSES was associated with greater mean IMT in each race–sex group and greater odds of PAD in white men (odds ratio [OR], 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99–1.64), white women (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.02–1.36), and black women (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.00–1.76). Compared with the highest tertile of N-CumSES, the lowest tertile was associated with greater mean IMT among whites, but was not associated with PAD for whites or blacks. When I-CumSES and N-CumSES were considered simultaneously, associations remained for only I-CumSES and were attenuated after adjustment for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Conclusions Lower cumulative individual-level SES across the life course was associated with a greater burden of subclinical atherosclerosis, and this association was mediated in part by CVD risk factors.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57757/1/Cumulative Socioeconomic Status across the Life Course and Subclinical Atherosclerosis.pd

Crafting, Communality, and Computing: Building on Existing Strengths To Support a Vulnerable Population

In Nepal, sex-trafficking survivors and the organizations that support them have limited resources to assist the survivors in their on-going journey towards reintegration. We take an asset-based approach wherein we identify and build on the strengths possessed by such groups. In this work, we present reflections from introducing a voice-annotated web application to a group of survivors. The web application tapped into and built upon two elements of pre-existing strengths possessed by the survivors -- the social bond between them and knowledge of crafting as taught to them by the organization. Our findings provide insight into the array of factors influencing how the survivors act in relation to one another as they created novel use practices and adapted the technology. Experience with the application seemed to open knowledge of computing as a potential source of strength. Finally, we articulate three design desiderata that could help promote communal spaces: make activity perceptible to the group, create appropriable steps, and build in fun choices.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'20

Barley, oats, triticale, wheat (Hordeum vulgare, Avena sativa, Triticosecale X, Triticum aestivum)

Cereal grains are grasses and may have a prostrate, semierect, or erect physical stature. All have fibrous root systems. Barley, oats, triticale, and wheat are each comprised of hundreds of varieties whose growth characteristics vary considerably.Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Cereal rye (Secale cereale L.)

Cereal rye is an erect annual grass with greenish blue, flat blades and an extensive fibrous root system. It resembles wheat, but usually is taller (3–5 ft) and tillers less. Flowering is induced by 14 hours of light in spring.Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

ER stress-regulated translation increases tolerance to extreme hypoxia and promotes tumor growth

Tumor cell adaptation to hypoxic stress is an important determinant of malignant progression. While much emphasis has been placed on the role of HIF-1 in this context, the role of additional mechanisms has not been adequately explored. Here we demonstrate that cells cultured under hypoxic/anoxic conditions and transformed cells in hypoxic areas of tumors activate a translational control program known as the integrated stress response (ISR), which adapts cells to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Inactivation of ISR signaling by mutations in the ER kinase PERK and the translation initiation factor eIF2α or by a dominant-negative PERK impairs cell survival under extreme hypoxia. Tumors derived from these mutant cell lines are smaller and exhibit higher levels of apoptosis in hypoxic areas compared to tumors with an intact ISR. Moreover, expression of the ISR targets ATF4 and CHOP was noted in hypoxic areas of human tumor biopsy samples. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that activation of the ISR is required for tumor cell adaptation to hypoxia, and suggest that this pathway is an attractive target for antitumor modalities