Gathering community perspectives to inform the design of autism-friendly music-making workshops for wellbeing

Many autistic people report experiencing social isolation, a recognized risk factor for poor psychological wellbeing. Promoting social inclusion is therefore a vital yet complex task. Community-based creative activities such as music groups can improve individuals’ sense of social connection and reduce the experience of social isolation. However, limited literature is available that describes autistic people’s perspectives about how to foster successful engagement in these creative and inclusive group opportunities. This project aims to gather perspectives from autistic individuals aged between 18 to 25 years to inform the design of autism-friendly music-making workshops for wellbeing. This co-design project involved a research team comprizing autistic and non-autistic academics, and an advisory group that included autistic young adults and autism advocates. Together, we designed an online survey and structured interview questions to gauge autistic people’s preferences for engagement in group-based music activities. There were 30 responses to the online survey questions which collected demographic information, opinions about group music-based activities, and views about ways to best support access and participation in the local community. In addition, five structured interviews were conducted with survey participants who volunteered to provide in-depth follow-up responses. Survey data are presented descriptively, and interview data underwent inductive thematic analysis. Participants described being motivated to join music-making workshops offered in the community and proposed various ways to improve accessibility. The qualitative themes from the survey free text and interviews suggest that both environmental and social factors work together to create a sense of safety and inclusion. In particular, a welcoming atmosphere and acceptance of diversity were expected from the workshop facilitator and group members. These findings have important implications for the co-production of future music-making workshops for the wellbeing of autistic people

Endurance of SN 2005ip after a decade: X-rays, radio, and H-alpha like SN 1988Z require long-lived pre-supernova mass loss

SN2005ip was a TypeIIn event notable for its sustained strong interaction with circumstellar material (CSM), coronal emission lines, and IR excess, interpreted as shock interaction with the very dense and clumpy wind of an extreme red supergiant. We present a series of late-time spectra of SN2005ip and a first radio detection of this SN, plus late-time X-rays, all of which indicate that its CSM interaction is still strong a decade post-explosion. We also present and discuss new spectra of geriatric SNe with continued CSM interaction: SN1988Z, SN1993J, and SN1998S. From 3-10 yr post-explosion, SN2005ip's H-alpha luminosity and other observed characteristics were nearly identical to those of the radio-luminous SN1988Z, and much more luminous than SNe1993J and 1998S. At 10 yr after explosion, SN2005ip showed a drop in H$\alpha$ luminosity, followed by a quick resurgence over several months. We interpret this variability as ejecta crashing into a dense shell located at around 0.05 pc from the star, which may be the same shell that caused the IR echo at earlier epochs. The extreme H-alpha luminosities in SN2005ip and SN1988Z are still dominated by the forward shock at 10 yr post-explosion, whereas SN1993J and SN1998S are dominated by the reverse shock at a similar age. Continuous strong CSM interaction in SNe~2005ip and 1988Z is indicative of enhanced mass loss for about 1e3 yr before core collapse, longer than Ne, O, or Si burning phases. Instead, the episodic mass loss must extend back through C burning and perhaps even part of He burning.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figs. accepted in MNRA

Altered resting state neuromotor connectivity in men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: A MAPP: Research Network Neuroimaging Study.

Brain network activity associated with altered motor control in individuals with chronic pain is not well understood. Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a debilitating condition in which previous studies have revealed altered resting pelvic floor muscle activity in men with CP/CPPS compared to healthy controls. We hypothesized that the brain networks controlling pelvic floor muscles would also show altered resting state function in men with CP/CPPS. Here we describe the results of the first test of this hypothesis focusing on the motor cortical regions, termed pelvic-motor, that can directly activate pelvic floor muscles. A group of men with CP/CPPS (N = 28), as well as group of age-matched healthy male controls (N = 27), had resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans as part of the Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network study. Brain maps of the functional connectivity of pelvic-motor were compared between groups. A significant group difference was observed in the functional connectivity between pelvic-motor and the right posterior insula. The effect size of this group difference was among the largest effect sizes in functional connectivity between all pairs of 165 anatomically-defined subregions of the brain. Interestingly, many of the atlas region pairs with large effect sizes also involved other subregions of the insular cortices. We conclude that functional connectivity between motor cortex and the posterior insula may be among the most important markers of altered brain function in men with CP/CPPS, and may represent changes in the integration of viscerosensory and motor processing

Behavioral Health in Rural America: Understanding Citizen Perceptions and Willingness to Respond to Community Needs

Amid nationwide efforts to address behavioral health needs, rural communities often face unique challenges and a lack of resources. This study presents a bottom-up approach used by one rural community in the Midwest to respond to their needs regarding mental health and substance use. A survey instrument was developed from interviews with community stakeholders and disseminated in both online and paper formats. The survey sought to understand citizen perspectives regarding quality of life, barriers to treatment, and willingness to engage in efforts to address the community’s needs. Data from 1,303 respondents (71.5% women, 54.7% income \u3c$42,000) were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses. Results indicate that cost of treatment, shame, and lack of privacy were a barrier for most citizens’ treatment-seeking behavior. In addition, many citizens were willing to engage in strategies to address the community’s needs, including increased county spending, forming a neighborhood watch, and donating money. Differences associated with gender and income emerged across perceptions and willingness to support efforts. Implications for community efforts are discussed

Social context and the psychobiology of posttraumatic stress

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41211/1/galea_social context and psychobiology_2006.pd

Hispanic Ethnicity and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder after a Disaster: Evidence from a General Population Survey after September 11,2001

PURPOSE: To assess ethnic differences in the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a disaster, and to assess the factors that may explain these differences. METHODS: We used data from a representative survey of the New York City metropolitan area (n = 2616) conducted 6 months after September 11, 2001. Linear models were fit to assess differences in the prevalence of PTSD between different groups of Hispanics and non-Hispanics and to evaluate potential explanatory variables. RESULTS: Hispanics of Dominican or Puerto Rican origin (14.3% and 13.2%, respectively) were more likely than other Hispanics (6.1%) and non-Hispanics (5.2%) to report symptoms consistent with probable PTSD after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Dominicans and Puerto Ricans were more likely than persons of other races/ethnicities to have lower incomes, be younger, have lower social support, have had greater exposure to the September 11 attacks, and to have experienced a peri-event panic attack upon hearing of the September 11 attacks; these variables accounted for 60% to 74% of the observed higher prevalence of probable PTSD in these groups. CONCLUSION: Socio-economic position, event exposures, social support, and peri-event emotional reactions may help explain differences in PTSD risk after disaster between Hispanic subgroups and non-HispanicsPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40349/2/Galea_Hispanic Ethnicity and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder_2004.PD

Multi-Messenger Astronomy with Extremely Large Telescopes

The field of time-domain astrophysics has entered the era of Multi-messenger Astronomy (MMA). One key science goal for the next decade (and beyond) will be to characterize gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino sources using the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These studies will have a broad impact across astrophysics, informing our knowledge of the production and enrichment history of the heaviest chemical elements, constrain the dense matter equation of state, provide independent constraints on cosmology, increase our understanding of particle acceleration in shocks and jets, and study the lives of black holes in the universe. Future GW detectors will greatly improve their sensitivity during the coming decade, as will near-infrared telescopes capable of independently finding kilonovae from neutron star mergers. However, the electromagnetic counterparts to high-frequency (LIGO/Virgo band) GW sources will be distant and faint and thus demand ELT capabilities for characterization. ELTs will be important and necessary contributors to an advanced and complete multi-messenger network.Comment: White paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Surve

Common and low Frequency variants in MERTK are independently associated with multiple sclerosis susceptibility with discordant association dependent upon HLA-DRB1*15:01 status

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The risk of developing MS is strongly influenced by genetic predisposition, and over 100 loci have been established as associated with susceptibility. However, the biologically relevant variants underlying disease risk have not been defined for the vast majority of these loci, limiting the power of these genetic studies to define new avenues of research for the development of MS therapeutics. It is therefore crucial that candidate MS susceptibility loci are carefully investigated to identify the biological mechanism linking genetic polymorphism at a given gene to the increased chance of developing MS. MERTK has been established as an MS susceptibility gene and is part of a family of receptor tyrosine kinases known to be involved in the pathogenesis of demyelinating disease. In this study we have refined the association of MERTK with MS risk to independent signals from both common and low frequency variants. One of the associated variants was also found to be linked with increased expression of MERTK in monocytes and higher expression of MERTK was associated with either increased or decreased risk of developing MS, dependent upon HLA-DRB1*15:01 status. This discordant association potentially extended beyond MS susceptibility to alterations in disease course in established MS. This study provides clear evidence that distinct polymorphisms within MERTK are associated with MS susceptibility, one of which has the potential to alter MERTK transcription, which in turn can alter both susceptibility and disease course in MS patients