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Throughout most of the last century, both political Right (1) and Left (2) were unified, a rare occurrence in itself, in their opposition to the decriminalization of marijuana. By 2023, [...]

Objectives The objective of the study was to evaluate the factors associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress in mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Cross-sectional study conducted with mothers of children and adolescents living in Brazil, who answered an online questionnaire containing sociodemographic variables and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised. The Poisson regression model with robust variance was used to identify the factors associated with posttraumatic stress. Results A percentage of 83.82% of mothers reported an overload in caring for their children during the pandemic. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms was 39.05%, and this condition was associated with younger age, living in the northern region of the country, using medications, presenting neuropsychiatric comorbidities and being little/more or less satisfied with life. Conclusions for Practice The mental health situation of mothers during and after the pandemic must be monitored, in order to guarantee public policies capable of optimizing the coping with the situation., Author(s): Nayara Ribeiro Slompo [sup.1] , Aline Martins Alves [sup.1] , Sergio Chociay Junior [sup.2] , Guilherme Tosi Feitosa [sup.1] , Edirlei Machado dos Santos [sup.3] , Bruna Moretti Luchesi [...]

This study examined the developmental outcomes of children who have experienced maltreatment, identifying three distinct classes: children with socioemotional problems, children with competency delay, and children with socioemotional problems and competency delay. The findings highlight the importance of understanding each group's unique characteristics and challenges to inform targeted interventions and support systems. Future research should explore the interplay between environmental factors, caregiver characteristics, and child development as the basis for tailored, effective interventions., Social-emotional development (SED) is a fundamental process that begins at birth, encompassing the formation of close relationships, management and communication of emotions, and interaction with the environment. SED is crucial [...]

Extensive studies have shown that childhood psychological maltreatment causes harmful effects. However, positive psychologists indicate that an absence of negative outcomes does not guarantee that there will be coinciding positive outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction). The mechanisms underlying the association of childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction are relatively underexplored. To address the gap, this study examined the mediating role of internalizing problems between childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction and the moderating role of social support (i.e., psychological and instrumental support from significant social relationships) between internalizing problems and life satisfaction among emerging adults. A total of 346 Chinese young adults were recruited (M.sub.age = 22.49, SD.sub.age = 0.96; 236 females and 110 males) to complete self-report measures of demographics, childhood psychological maltreatment, internalizing problems, social support, and life satisfaction. The results showed that (a) the prevalence rate of childhood psychological maltreatment was 46.5% in the present sample, (b) internalizing problems fully mediated the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and life satisfaction, and (c) social support moderated the relationship between internalizing problems and life satisfaction. These findings could provide some fresh avenues for psychological interventions of young adults suffering from childhood psychological maltreatment. Limitations and implications are discussed., Author(s): Angyang Li [sup.1] , Shuo Wang [sup.2] , Xiangping Liu [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.20513.35, 0000 0004 1789 9964, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, [...]

This study investigates whether students with intellectual disability (ID) alone differ from students with combined individual disability and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their recognition of emotions. The ability to recognise emotions does not mean that students automatically know how to react to these emotions. Differences in performance on recognition and reaction tasks are examined. Participants were 20 primary 6 students who had ID with ASD and 20 primary 6 students who had ID without ASD from four special schools. The testing and training materials were adapted from a local teaching package. The results showed that both groups exhibited similar performance patterns in recognition tasks. Students with comorbid ASD exhibited inferior performance in tasks requiring reactions to complex emotions., Author(s): Fuk-chuen Ho [sup.1] , Cici Sze-ching Lam [sup.1] , Sing-kai Lo [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.419993.f, 0000 0004 1799 6254, The Education University of Hong Kong, , Tai Po, [...]

: Objective: This study aimed to explore regular gamblers’ perceptions of the social acceptance and cultural accommodation of gambling in Australia, which are two dimensions of the normalisation of gambling. Methods: Qualitatively focused online survey with 363 adults in New South Wales and Victoria who gambled in a typical month. Open‐text responses about the link between gambling and Australian culture were interpreted using reflexive thematic analysis to construct themes from the data. Results: Gambling was perceived to be a culturally significant part of Australian life due to existing traditions, the perception that gambling was central to the Australian identity, and perceived economic benefits. Participants considered that gambling was a common and socially accepted activity that was embedded in the activities of social networks. Participants also stated that gambling products, venues and marketing were embedded in everyday environments, although some believed that the embedding of gambling in society was harmful. Conclusion and public health implications: This study demonstrated that regular gamblers largely viewed gambling as being a socially accepted and culturally accommodated activity in Australia. There is scope for governments to develop comprehensive programs to denormalise gambling, including learning from research, evidence and experience in other areas of public health., It is now widely recognised that gambling poses a threat to public health through a range of serious health and social harms.[sup.1] Approximately $25 billion is lost on gambling in [...]

This study aimed to analyze the prevalence, risk factors and relation to the acculturation of psychoactive substance abuse in adults living in North Cyprus (NC). Method: Data was collected from 1064 people who were living in NC using multiple stepped stratified random sampling method between April-May 2018. Socio-demographic information form, Model Europe Survey and Acculturation Attitudes Scale were used as study instruments. 2018 data were compared with 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2017 studies in which the same survey and method were used. Results: Five hundred and forty five participants were male and 519 female. Also, 33.6% of the participants were between the ages of 18-29, 58% of participants were born in Cyprus, 38.2% were university graduate or above and 48.2% of the participants were living with their spouses. According to the study, the prevalence of cigarette usage at least once in a lifetime was 64.9%, alcohol 74.5%, other psychoactive substance (OPS) 11.4% and illicit substance (IS) 9.0%. Being under 25 years of age, Turkey-born, not religious, using alcohol and cigarettes and experiencing drunkenness constituted the risk factors of IS users. Marginalization scores were lower both for drug users born in Turkey and NC. Discussion: It was observed that both OPS and IS usage have increased in the last 15 years. Cannabis, synthetic cannabinoid and ecstasy are more widely used. It was also observed that OPS is more used among those who cannot create a marginal response to acculturation stress. In prevention programs and treatments, sociocultural characteristics should be considered., Author(s): Mehmet Çakici [sup.1] , Gizem Yesil Dirisu [sup.1] , Meryem Karaaziz [sup.1] , Ayse Buran [sup.1] , Ebru Çakici [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Arts and Science Faculty, Department of [...]

Whilst much research has explored the possible causes and consequences of gambling, Gamblers Anonymous (GA) - one of the most accessed forms of support for gamblers - has been largely overlooked and, to date, only a few studies have explored how members experience this programme. Core to GA is the social interaction between members. From March 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced GA to move their meetings online. The present qualitative study therefore explored how GA members experienced these online meetings in the absence of actual face to face interactions with others. Individual telephone or video call interviews (n = 21) were carried out with members of GA in the UK and analysed using Thematic Analysis. The results described three main themes: (1) 'practicalities of GA in lockdown', which highlighted the practical benefits of online meetings such as more opportunity to attend different meetings, which in turn expanded participants' perspectives and social networks; (2) 'the importance of relationships in GA', reflecting strong and enduring social networks that were created, maintained, and strengthened by feelings of solidarity; and (3) 'therapeutic elements of the meetings', such as psychological contract making which helped participants to stay abstinent. Transcending these themes was a tension between individual versus group identity with interviewees reporting a shift to focusing more on their own needs rather than those of the group. Overall, whilst still providing a lifeline during COVID-19 and offering some practical benefits, the online GA meetings were not able to completely replicate the value individuals gained from face to face meetings. This transition also resulted in disruptions both to group dynamics and to individual interactions within each group, ultimately resulting in participants behaving more individualistically and less collectively than in face-to-face meetings., Author(s): Katy L. Penfold [sup.1] , Jane Ogden [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5475.3, 0000 0004 0407 4824, School of Psychology, University of Surrey, , GU2 7XH, Guildford, UK Introduction The [...]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, reports to child abuse and neglect hotlines have dropped significantly across the United States. Yet, during this same period, calls to domestic violence hotlines have increased. The purpose of this study was to examine if there have been measurable changes in domestic violence-related reports to child abuse and neglect hotlines. Using administrative child protection records from California, we plotted counts and proportions of child maltreatment reports with and without domestic violence allegations before and through the onset of school closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We used an interrupted time series analysis to evaluate whether or not there was a change in domestic violence allegations in child protection reports corresponding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We document that during the first two quarters of 2020 there was a 14.3% drop in the overall number of child protection reports. Despite a decline in maltreatment reporting overall, there was a 25% increase in the proportion of reports with allegations of domestic violence. Our findings suggest both the count and composition of reports to child protection agencies were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current analyses also showcase the seasonality of CPS reports generally, and reports with DV allegations, specifically., Author(s): Rebecca Rebbe [sup.1] , Vivian H. Lyons [sup.2] [sup.3] , Daniel Webster [sup.4] , Emily Putnam-Hornstein [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.42505.36, 0000 0001 2156 6853, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of [...]

Purpose: One of the central questions in speech production research is to what degree certain structures have an inherent difficulty and to what degree repeated encounter and practice make them easier to process. The goal of this article was to determine the extent to which frequency and sonority distance of consonant clusters predict production difficulties. Method: We used a tongue twister paradigm to elicit speech errors on syllable-initial German consonant clusters and investigated the relative influences of cluster frequency and sonority distance between the consonants of a cluster on production accuracy. Native speakers of German produced pairs of monosyllabic pseudowords beginning with consonant clusters at a high speech rate. Results: Error rates decreased with increasing frequency of the consonant clusters. A high sonority distance, on the other hand, did not facilitate a cluster's production, but speech errors led to optimized sonority structure for a subgroup of clusters. In addition, the combination of consonant clusters in a stimulus pair has a great impact on production accuracy. Conclusion: These results suggest that both frequency of use and sonority distance codetermine production ease, as well as syntagmatic competition between adjacent sound sequences., Speech production is a highly efficient and automatized process. In everyday communication, speakers produce an average of four to six syllables per second (Reetz & Jongman, 2009), and speech errors, [...]

We examined the relationship between the Early start Denver model (ESDM) intervention and mu rhythm attenuation, an EEG paradigm reflecting neural processes associated with action perception and social information processing. Children were assigned to either receive comprehensive ESDM intervention for two years, or were encouraged to pursue resources in the community. Two years after intervention, EEG was collected during the execution and observation of grasping actions performed by familiar and unfamiliar agents. The ESDM group showed significantly greater attenuation when viewing a parent or caregiver executing a grasping action, compared with an unfamiliar individual executing the same action. Our findings suggest that the ESDM may have a unique impact on neural circuitry underlying social cognition and familiarity., Author(s): Benjamin Aaronson [sup.1] , Annette Estes [sup.2] , Sally J. Rogers [sup.3] , Geraldine Dawson [sup.4] , Raphael Bernier [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.34477.33, 0000000122986657, Department of Pediatrics, University [...]

Social impairments are a core feature of autism-spectrum disorders. However, there is a considerable variability in these impairments. Most autistic individuals show large impairments in social functioning but some autistic individuals show small impairments in social functioning. The variability of these impairments has been attributed to the presence or absence of alexithymia. To address this issue, we capitalized on the fact that alexithymic and autistic traits are broadly distributed in the population. This allowed us to investigate how alexithymic and autistic traits affect social functioning in healthy individuals. Healthy individuals showed impairments on a resource-allocation task that were due to alexithymic but not autistic traits. These findings suggest that alexithymic rather than autistic traits impair prosocial behavior across the autism-spectrum., Author(s): Alexander Lischke [sup.1] [sup.2] , Harald J. Freyberger [sup.3] , Hans J. Grabe [sup.3] , Anett Mau-Moeller [sup.4] , Rike Pahnke [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.461732.5, Department of Psychology, [...]

Early nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSEs) in childhood or adolescence have been linked to elevated risk for adjustment problems and later victimization in some research, whereas others find little or no [...]

Despite challenges in social communication skills people with ASD often display strengths in visual processing. Aerial photography analysis is an occupation reliant on strong visual processing skills that matches this unique profile. We investigated basic-vision and 'real-life' visual tasks in 20 cognitively-able young adults with ASD and 20 typically-developed (TD) 'gamers'. Basic-vision tests included Visual-Search, Embedded-Figures, and Vigilance; 'real-life' tests included aerial-photograph detection and identification. Groups performed equally well, and did not differ significantly on any tasks. The study demonstrates strong visual skills in people with ASD in basic and 'real-life' settings, and supports the idea that they may be well suited for employment in occupations that demand high visual perception skills such as aerial photography analysis., Author(s): Hadas Marciano [sup.1] [sup.2] , Eynat Gal [sup.3] , Ruth Kimchi [sup.4] , Darren Hedley [sup.5] , Yael Goldfarb [sup.3] , Yoram S. Bonneh [sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.18098.38, [...]

Sensory issues are highly prevalent in autism and previous findings support a relationship between questionnaires of sensitivity and autistic symptoms and traits, whereas studies that examine this relationship through behavioural assessments of sensitivity are less consistent. The current study explores these differences and suggests that behavioural thresholds for sensitivity and subjective sensitivity are distinct constructs. One hundred and eighteen adults completed a visual and auditory detection task and questionnaires on sensory processing and autistic traits. Visual thresholds and subjective visual sensitivity were not correlated, but both were related to autistic traits. Auditory thresholds and subjective auditory sensitivity were also unrelated. Overall, sensitivity is highly associated with autistic traits, however, behavioural and questionnaire assessments lack convergent validity and therefore, likely assess distinct constructs., Author(s): S. E. Schulz [sup.1] [sup.2] , R. A. Stevenson [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.39381.30, 0000 0004 1936 8884, Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, , London, Canada (2) [...]

Impoverished capacity for social inference is one of several symptoms that are common to both agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This research compared the ability of 14 adults with AgCC, 13 high-functioning adults with ASD and 14 neurotypical controls to accurately attribute social meaning to the interactions of animated triangles. Descriptions of the animations were analyzed in three ways: subjective ratings, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, and topic modeling (Latent Dirichlet Allocation). Although subjective ratings indicated that all groups made similar inferences from the animations, the index of perplexity (atypicality of topic) generated from topic modeling revealed that inferences from individuals with AgCC or ASD displayed significantly less social imagination than those of controls., Author(s): Tiffany Renteria-Vazquez [sup.1] , Warren S. Brown [sup.1] [sup.2] , Christine Kang [sup.1] , Mark Graves [sup.1] , Fulvia Castelli [sup.3] , Lynn K. Paul [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.4] Author [...]

According to national surveys, more than 85% of U.S. adults have consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetime, and about 70% did so in the last year. (1) Most [...]

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a widely utilized nonpsychoactive cannabinoid available as an over-the-counter supplement, a component of medical cannabis, and a prescriptive treatment of childhood epilepsies. In vitro studies suggest CBD may inhibit a number of drug-metabolizing enzymes, including carboxylesterase 1 (CES1). The aim of this study was to evaluate effect of CBD on the disposition of the CES1 substrate methylphenidate (MPH). Methods: In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 12 subjects ingested 750 mg of CBD solution, or alternatively, a placebo solution twice daily for a 3-day run-in period followed by an additional CBD dose (or placebo) and a single 10 mg dose of MPH and completed serial blood sampling for pharmacokinetic analysis. MPH and CBD concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Results: The C[sub.max] (mean ± CV) for the CBD group and placebo group was 13.5 ± 43.7% ng/mL and 12.2 ± 36.4% ng/mL, respectively. AUC[sub.inf] (ng/mL*h) for the CBD group and placebo group was 70.7 ± 32.5% and 63.6 ± 25.4%, respectively. The CBD AUC[sub.0-8h] (mean ± CV) was 1,542.2 ± 32% ng/mL*h, and C[sub.max] was 389.2 ± 39% ng/mL. When compared to MPH only, the geometric mean ratio (CBD/control, 90% CI) for AUC[sub.inf] and C[sub.max] with CBD co-administration was 1.09 (0.89, 1.32) and 1.08 (0.85, 1.37), respectively. Discussion/Conclusion: Although the upper bound of bioequivalence was not met, the mean estimates of AUC and C[sub.max] ratios were generally small and unlikely to be of clinical significance. Keywords: Cannabidiol, Drug interaction, Carboxylesterase, Methylphenidate, Carboxylesterase 1, Cannabis, Author(s): John S. Markowitz [a]; Ludmila De Faria [b]; Qingchen Zhang [a]; Philip W. Melchert [a]; Reginald F. Frye [a]; Brandon O. Klee [a]; Yuli Qian [a] Introduction The use [...]

Non-medical prescription drug use (NMPDU) is common among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) nationwide, with 14.4% reporting misuse in the past year. Little is known about characteristics of college students using NMPDU, including other substance use, such as hookah and tobacco, gender identity, and self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between hookah and tobacco use, gender identity, and self-efficacy and NMPDU among college students. College students from two universities completed phone interviews. Of the 275 college students interviewed (response rate 86%), 56% were female, and 75% were Caucasian. Variables included NMP-DU, other substance use (hookah, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco), gender, perceived social norms of NMPDU, and self-efficacy. Logistic regression was performed using a priori dependent variables. Lifetime NMPDU was endorsed by 24% of respondents, and participants most commonly reported misusing prescription stimulants. Lifetime consumption of hookah (p Keywords non-medical prescription drug use, hookah, prescription stimulants, opioids, college students, Introduction In the United States, 14.4% of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) reported misusing prescription drugs in the past year (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2018). Prescription opioids are [...]

This qualitative study is a follow-up to an initial large-scale case study on the implementation of a co-taught curriculum in one California teacher preparation program. In a continuation of the initial case study, this follow-up study examined faculty perceptions of the necessary course attributes, resources, and attitudes for a successful university-level co-teaching experience in a preservice teacher education program. Nineteen faculty interviews were analyzed and included in this study utilizing cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to understand individual faculty perceptions in the context of the larger activity system of co-teaching. Results indicate that faculty perceived necessary course attributes in a co-taught course to include equal representation of special education and general education faculty; increased use of constructivist pedagogical methods; use ofteam teaching, parallel teaching, and station-based co-teaching models; and partnerships based on openness, flexibility, trust, and willingness to compromise. Faculty perceived barriers to co-teaching success to be lack of both time and funding. Differing perceptions of co-teaching implementation existed between adjunct faculty and full faculty and between special education and general education faculty., Introduction This qualitative study is a follow-up to an initial large-scale case study on the implementation of a co-taught curriculum in one California teacher preparation program. In a continuation of [...]

Medical marijuana (MMJ) is currently legal in 35 US states, with an estimated 3.6 million state-legal medical cannabis patients. Although there are currently over 440,000 MMJ patients in the state of Florida, there are limited data on their demographics, reasons and patterns of use, and successes or failures of treatment. The goal of this study is to examine the demographics, perceptions, and use of medical cannabis among patients in Florida, as well as their perceptions of the quality of information received from physicians and dispensaries. One hundred and fifty-seven MMJ patients completed an online survey regarding their characteristics and use. Patients in Florida shared many characteristics with patients in other states, such as race, use frequency, and administration technique. Patients most commonly used MMJ to treat their symptoms of anxiety, pain, and stress and reported great therapeutic effectiveness. A majority (65%) of patients also reported either a reduction or total discontinuation of at least one prescription or over-the-counter drug. The findings highlight the need to further investigate the use of MMJ as a viable treatment for pain and anxiety and to improve access of quality cannabis information to patients, physicians, and dispensary employees. Keywords: Florida, Medical marijuana, Survey, Demographics, Opioids, Education, Author(s): Martha S. Rosenthal (corresponding author) [a]; R. Nathan Pipitone [b] Introduction Humans have used cannabis medicinally for at least 5,000 years [1]. Popular for centuries in Asia and Africa, [...]

Background: Evidence for a potential link between air pollution and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is inconsistent, and the modified effect of genetic susceptibility on the relationship between air pollution and RA has not been well studied. Objective: Using a general population cohort from the UK Biobank, this study aimed to investigate the associations between various air pollutants and the risk of incident RA and to further estimate the impact of combined exposure to ambient air pollutants on the risk of developing RA under the modification effect of genetic predisposition. Methods: A total of 342,973 participants with completed genotyping data and who were free of RA at baseline were included in the study. An air pollution score was constructed by summing the concentrations of each pollutant weighted by the regression coefficients with RA from single-pollutant models to assess the combined effect of air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) with diameters [less than or equal to]2.5 [micro]m (P[M.sub.2.5]), between 2.5 and 10 [micro]m (P[M.sub.2.5-10]), and Results: During a median follow-up time of 8.1 y, 2,034 incident events of RA were recorded. The HRs (95% CIs) of incident RA per interquartile range increment in P[M.sub.2.5], P[M.sub.2.5-10], P[M.sub.10], N[O.sub.2], and N[O.sub.x] were 1.07 (1.01,1.13), 1.00 (0.96,1.04), 1.01 (0.96,1.07), 1.03 (0.98,1.09), and 1.07 (1.02, 1.12), respectively. We also found a positive exposure-response relationship between air pollution score and RA risk ([p.sub.Trend] = 0.000053). The HR (95% CI) of incident RA was 1.14 (1.00,1.29) in the highest quartile group compared with the lowest quartile group of the air pollution score. Furthermore, the results of the combined effect of air pollution score and PRS on the RA risk showed that the risk of RA incidence in the highest genetic risk and air pollution score group was almost twice that of the lowest genetic risk and air pollution score group [incidence rate (IR)per 100,000 person-years: 98.46 vs. 51.19, and HR = 1.73 (95% CI: 1.39, 2.17) vs. 1 (reference)], although no statistically significant interaction between the air pollution and genetic risk for incident RA was found ([p.sub.Interaction] >0.05). Discussion: The results revealed that long-term combined exposure to ambient air pollutants might increase the risk of RA, particularly in those with high genetic risk. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10710, Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systematic autoimmune disorder characterized by progressive joint erosion that leads to severe disability. (1) As one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases, [...]

ABSTRACT Background and Aims: The analgesic role of gabapentinoids following thoracic surgeries is not clear. In this study, we evaluated the benefits of gabapentinoids for pain management in patients undergoing thoracic onco-surgery in terms of opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) sparing effect. We also compared pain scores (PSs), number of days of active surveillance by the acute pain service team, and side effects associated with gabapentinoids. Methods: After ethics-committee approval, data were retrieved retrospectively from clinical sheets, an electronic database, and nurses' charts from a tertiary cancer care hospital. Propensity score matching was performed for six covariates, that is, age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists grading, surgical approach, analgesia modality, and worst PS in the first 24 hours performed. A total of 272 patients were grouped into group N (not given gabapentinoids, n = 174) and group Y (given, n = 98). Results: The median opioid consumption in terms of fentanyl equivalent by group N was 800 µg [inter-quartile range (IQR): 280-900], and the median opioid consumption by group Y was 400 µg (IQR: 100-690) (p = 0.001). The median number of rescue doses of NSAIDs administered to group N was 8 (IQR = 4-10), and the median number of rescue doses to group Y was 3 (IQR = 2-5) (p = 0.001). No difference was found in subsequent PS and for the number of days under acute pain service surveillance for either group. Group Y had an increased incidence of giddiness compared to group N (p = 0.006), with a relative reduction in post-operative nausea and vomiting scores (p = 0.32). Conclusion: Gabapentinoids used following thoracic onco-surgeries result in a significant reduction in concomitant use of NSAIDs and opioids. There is an increased incidence of dizziness with the use of these drugs. Keywords: Adverse effects, gabapentin, pain management, pregabalin, Author(s): Dhanashri R. Karkhanis (corresponding author) [1]; Sumitra G. Bakshi [1]; Jigeeshu V. Divatia [1]; Sadhana Kannan [1] INTRODUCTION Thoracotomy is associated with high pain scores (PSs) in the post-operative [...]

This paper describes the development, methodology, methods and final data resource for the Family and Community Safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (FaCtS) Study. Improving family and community safety is a priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations, and governments, but to date insufficient appropriate evidence has underpinned action. The FaCtS Study aims to improve understanding of family and community safety and violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led and governed study, 18 communities covering very remote, remote, regional and urban areas self-nominated to participate. Although a single approach will not work for the diverse range of communities, FaCtS data provide valuable insight to inform a broad range of effective community, policy and service responses to support family and community safety and to improve service provision for those exposed to or involved in violence. The study also serves as an exemplar of ethical research, demonstrating the application of community-based action research principles, reciprocity and local data ownership. To maximise the benefit that can come from the study, anonymised data will be available to communities, academics, services and government agencies for approved research purposes under Indigenous data governance arrangements., This paper describes the development, methodology, methods and final data resource for the Family and Community Safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (FaCtS) Study. Improving family and community [...]

Tuberculosis (TB) was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Assembly in 2014, and the development of an ambitious global strategy to eliminate TB by 2035 soon followed [...]

The role of relative salience in processing of hierarchical stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined in this study. Participants with ASD and typically developing controls performed a Navon letters task under conditions of global salience, local salience or equal salience of both levels. Results revealed no group differences in level of processing (global or local) and no local bias for ASD. Rather, both groups showed better performance when targets were more salient compared to when distractors were more salient. Importantly, participants with ASD exhibited increased sensitivity to salience at the distractor level. We conclude that inconsistent findings in the context of global/local processing in ASD may stem from such exaggerated salience effects., Author(s): Ayelet Baisa [sup.1] , Carmel Mevorach [sup.2] , Lilach Shalev [sup.1] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.12136.37, 0000 0004 1937 0546, School of Education, Tel-Aviv University, , P.O.B. 39040, Ramat [...]

INTRODUCTION Alcohol use is associated with tremendous social and economic costs and contributes to 5% of the global disease burden. (1) Most of the costs are due to excessive drinking [...]

Women with dense breasts have an increased lifetime risk of malignancy that has been attributed to a higher epithelial density. Quantitative proteomics, collagen analysis, and mechanical measurements in normal tissue revealed that stroma in the high-density breast contains more oriented, fibrillar collagen that isstifferand correlates with higher epithelial cell density. microRNA (miR) profiling of breast tissue identified miR-203 as a matrix stiffness-repressed transcript that is downregulated by collagen density and reduced in the breast epithelium of women with high mammographie density. Culture studies demonstrated that ZNF217 mediates a matrix stiffness- and collagen density-induced increase in Akt activity and mammary epithelial cell proliferation. Manipulation of the epithelium in a mouse model of mammographie density supported a causal relationship between stromal stiffness, reduced miR-203, higher levels of the murine homolog Zfp217, and increased Alct activity and mammary epithelial proliferation. ZNF217 was also increased in the normal breast epithelium of women with high mammographie density, correlated positively with epithelial proliferation and density, and inversely with miR-203. The findings identify ZNF217 as a potential target toward which preexisting therapies, such as the Akt inhibitor triciribine, could be used as a chemopreventive agent to reduce cancer risk in women with high mammographie density., Introduction High mammographie density (MD) associates with elevated lifetime risk of malignancy (1-4). Every 3% to 6% increase in MD corresponds to a 10% increase in relative risk for breast [...]

INTRODUCTION Biologic sex is an important determinant of health and disease. Over the past several decades, research has revealed sex differences in the epidemiology, risk, clinical manifestations, pathophysiology, and progression [...]

This paper examines the usefulness of crowdsourced relative to professional forecasts for natural gas storage changes. We find that crowdsourced forecasts are less accurate than professional forecasts on average. We investigate possible reasons for this inferior performance and find evidence of a greater divergence of opinions and a lower incorporation of publicly available information among crowd analysts. We further show that crowdsourced consensus forecast does not influence the market's expectation of gas storage changes beyond what is already contained in professional consensus forecast, suggesting that crowdsourced forecasts provide little new information. Overall, our results indicate that the incremental usefulness of crowdsourced forecasts for gas market stakeholders is very limited. Keywords: Analyst, Forecast, Crowdsourcing, Natural Gas Inventory, EIA, 1. INTRODUCTION Inventory information is of critical importance in natural gas price discovery because it measures the supply and demand fundamentals directly. In line with the theory of storage of [...]

We evaluated the impact of the implementation of a requirement that zolpidem prescriptions be obtained via secured forms (April 2017) on zolpidem and other hypnotics use in France. We conducted a time-series analysis on data from the French national health care system, from January 1, 2015 to January 3, 2018, for all reimbursed hypnotics. An important and immediate decrease in zolpidem use (-161,873 defined daily doses [DDD]/month; -215,425 to -108,323) was evidenced, with a concomitant raise in zopiclone use (+64,871; +26,925 to + 102,817). These findings suggest that the change in zolpidem prescribing policies was effective, but has resulted in a shift from zolpidem to zopiclone. Further interventions are needed to decrease hypnotics' overuse in France. Key words: zolpidem; hypnotics and sedatives; health policy; drug prescriptions; ambulatory care; interrupted time-series analysis https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2556., INTRODUCTION Benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines hypnotics are used widely worldwide. (1) Along with opioids, these drugs are monitored particularly for their potential for misuse, abuse, dependency, and serious adverse effects. Over [...]

Accumulating studies have reported facial emotion recognition or facial perception impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To clarify the specificity of the emotion recognition impairment, this study examined the relationships between facial emotion recognition and facial perception abilities in ASD. Twenty-two adolescents with high-functioning ASD (20 males) and 22 typically developing (TD) adolescents (16 males) aged 11-18 years undertook a facial emotion labeling task and a facial perception test. We found that adolescents with ASD had deficits in recognizing negative facial expressions, which correlated with both facial perception deficits and severity of social impairment. In addition, the emotion recognition deficits remained after adjusting for facial perception performance. Thus, our findings suggest an emotion-specific impairment in facial emotion recognition in ASD., Author(s): Michael K. Yeung [sup.1] [sup.2] , Tsz L. Lee [sup.2] , Agnes S. Chan [sup.2] [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.14709.3b, 0000 0004 1936 8649, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, [...]

There is a lack of information on early childhood inclusive education and the parental perspectives towards the inclusion of autistic children in Kuwait. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives and experiences amongst mothers of young autistic children regarding the inclusion of their children in general education kindergarten settings. Focus group and individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with (n = 34) Kuwaiti mothers of children with (ASD). The study participants were of the opinion that the behaviours unique to (ASD) can only be managed in highly structured special education settings. The themes that emerged from the interviews demonstrate that the general view amongst the study participants is that the inclusive educational model will not meet the autistic children's needs., Author(s): Raghad Mutabbakani [sup.1] , Carol Callinan [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.36511.30, 0000 0004 0420 4262, School of Education, University of Lincoln, , Brayford Pool, LN6 7TS, Lincoln, UK Introduction [...]

Globally, chronic pain is a major therapeutic challenge and affects more than 15% of the population. As patients with painful terminal diseases may face unbearable pain, there is a need for more potent analgesics. Although opioid-based therapeutic agents received attention to manage severe pain, their adverse drug effects and mortality rate associated with opioids overdose are the major concerns. Evidences from clinical trials showed therapeutic benefits of cannabis, especially delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinoids reduced neuropathic pain intensity in various conditions. Also, there are reports on using combination cannabinoid therapies for chronic pain management. The association of cannabis dependence and addiction has been discussed much and the reports mentioned that it can be comparatively lower than other substances such as nicotine and alcohol. More countries have decided to legalise the medicinal use of cannabis and marijuana. Healthcare professionals should keep themselves updated with the changing state of medical cannabis and its applications. The pharmacokinetics and safety of medical cannabis need to be studied by conducting clinical research. The complex and variable chemically active contents of herbal cannabis and methodological limitations in the administration of cannabis to study participants, make the clinical research difficult., Author(s): Mari Kannan Maharajan [sup.1], Yu Jing Yong [sup.2], Hong Yang Yip [sup.2], Sze Shee Woon [sup.2], Kar Mon Yeap [sup.2], Khai Yeng Yap [sup.2], Shuen Chi Yip [sup.2], Kai [...]

Diminished attending to faces may contribute to the impairments in emotion recognition and expression in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an attention modification intervention designed to attenuate deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER). During the 10-session experimental treatment, children (n = 8) with ASD watched dynamic videos of people expressing different emotions with the facial features highlighted to guide children's attention. Children and their parents generally rated the treatment as acceptable and helpful. Although FER improvement was not apparent on task-based measures, parents reported slight improvements and decreased socioemotional problems following treatment. Results suggest that further research on visual attention retraining for ASD, within an experimental therapeutic program, may be promising., Author(s): Andrea Trubanova Wieckowski [sup.1] , Susan W. White [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.438526.e, 0000 0001 0694 4940, Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, , 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA (2) [...]

Although impairment in sensory integration is suggested in the autism spectrum (AS), empirical evidences remain equivocal. We assessed the integration of low-level visual and tactile information within and across modalities in AS and typically developing (TD) individuals. TD individuals demonstrated increased redundancy gain for cross-modal relative to double tactile or visual stimulation, while AS individuals showed similar redundancy gain between cross-modal and double tactile conditions. We further observed that violation of the race model inequality for cross-modal conditions was observed over a wider proportion of the reaction times distribution in TD than AS individuals. Importantly, the reduced cross-modal integration in AS individuals was not related to atypical attentional shift between modalities. We conclude that AS individuals displays selective decrease of cross-modal integration of low-level information., Author(s): Geneviève Charbonneau [sup.1] , Armando Bertone [sup.2] [sup.3] , Marie Véronneau [sup.1] [sup.7] , Simon Girard [sup.1] , Maxime Pelland [sup.1] [sup.8] , Laurent Mottron [sup.4] , Franco Lepore [...]