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Background: The hypothalamus is central to many hormonal and autonomous nervous system pathways. Emerging evidence indicates that these pathways may be disrupted in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Yet, few studies have examined the volumes of hypothalamic subunits in these patient groups. We compared hypothalamic subunit volumes in individuals with psychotic disorders to healthy controls., Study Design: We included 344 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SCZ), 340 patients with bipolar disorders (BPD), and 684 age- and-sex-matched healthy controls (CTR). Total hypothalamus and five hypothalamic subunit volumes were extracted from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using an automated Bayesian segmentation method. Regression models, corrected for age, age2, sex, and segmentation-based intracranial volume (sbTIV), were used to examine diagnostic group differences, interactions with sex, and associations with clinical symptoms, antipsychotic medication, antidepressants and mood stabilizers., Study Results: SCZ had larger volumes in the left inferior tubular subunit and smaller right anterior-inferior, right anterior-superior, and right posterior hypothalamic subunits compared to CTR. BPD did not differ significantly from CTR for any hypothalamic subunit volume, however, there was a significant sex-by-diagnosis interaction. Analyses stratified by sex showed smaller right hypothalamus and right posterior subunit volumes in male patients, but not female patients, relative to same-sex controls. There was a significant association between BPD currently taking antipsychotic medication and the left inferior tubular subunits volumes., Conclusions: Our results show regional-specific alterations in hypothalamus subunit volumes in individuals with SCZ, with relevance to HPA-axis dysregulation, circadian rhythm disruption, and cognition impairment., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.)

Innovative, patient-centered interventions that employ novel educational methods are needed to address the burden of diabetes in the growing Latino population. Objective of this study was to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and perceived utility of photovoice in a diabetes self-management intervention for Latinos. Thirty-seven adults with diabetes attended a church-based self-management education program that included a photovoice exercise where participants were asked to take photographs to illustrate their successes and challenges in diabetes management. Participants discussed their photographs in the group classes and evaluated the exercise in an exit survey. Photographs and discussion notes were analyzed for prevalent themes. We measured participant participation in the photovoice activity, content of photographs, themes of the discussions that were prompted by the photographs in class, and participants' satisfaction with the photovoice exercise. Of the 37 participants, 70% took photos and 65% shared them in class. Photos depicted family, social gatherings, diet, exercise, the neighborhood, diabetes supplies and medications, and home life. Almost all the group discussions involved aspects of social support, including giving advice, empathizing, or providing motivation for self-care to one another. Eighty-six percent reported learning how to better manage their diabetes from others' photos; 93% noted sharing photos made them feel connected to the group. In a diabetes self-management education program, photovoice was well received by Latino adults and provided a vehicle to receive and provide social support in self-care. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov with identifier NCT01288300., (© Society of Behavioral Medicine 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

According to the Migration Policy Institute (2019), as of 2017 the USA was home to approximately 44 million immigrants, the largest number of immigrants in the world. Most of these immigrants relocate from Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, El Salvador, Vietnam, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Since 2017, there have been increased reports of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interventions toward immigrants, especially at and near previously delineated "safe areas" such as medical facilities, as immigrants sought health care. Currently, health care providers are reporting delays and reductions in health care seeking by immigrants. This increases risks of untreated health problems for the immigrants themselves as well as their communities. To protect the health of immigrants, and the general public, the Society of Behavioral Medicine joins the American College of Physicians (2011) and the American Medical Association (2017) in recommending that Congress impose restrictions on ICE interventions in or around medical facilities., (© Society of Behavioral Medicine 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The Society of Behavioral Medicine supports the inclusion of gender and sexual minorities in all local, state, and national tobacco prevention and control activities. These activities include surveillance of tobacco use and cessation activities, targeted outreach and awareness campaigns, increasing access to culturally appropriate tobacco use dependence treatments, and restricting disproportionate marketing to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities by the tobacco industry, especially for mentholated tobacco products.

Background: Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated associations between smaller auditory cortex volume and auditory hallucinations (AH) in schizophrenia. Reduced cortical volume can result from a reduction of either cortical thickness or cortical surface area, which may reflect different neuropathology. We investigate for the first time how thickness and surface area of the auditory cortex relate to AH in a large sample of schizophrenia spectrum patients., Methods: Schizophrenia spectrum (n = 194) patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Mean cortical thickness and surface area in auditory cortex regions (Heschl's gyrus [HG], planum temporale [PT], and superior temporal gyrus [STG]) were compared between patients with (AH+, n = 145) and without (AH-, n = 49) a lifetime history of AH and 279 healthy controls., Results: AH+ patients showed significantly thinner cortex in the left HG compared to AH- patients (d = 0.43, P = .0096). There were no significant differences between AH+ and AH- patients in cortical thickness in the PT or STG, or in auditory cortex surface area in any of the regions investigated. Group differences in cortical thickness in the left HG was not affected by duration of illness or current antipsychotic medication., Conclusions: AH in schizophrenia patients were related to thinner cortex, but not smaller surface area of the left HG, a region which includes the primary auditory cortex. The results support that structural abnormalities of the auditory cortex underlie AH in schizophrenia., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe dose regimens, dose escalation and clinical outcomes in TNF-α inhibitor (TNFi)-naive patients with PsA treated with infliximab in routine rheumatology care., Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study based on the nationwide Danish Rheumatologic Database (DANBIO) and Center for Rheumatology Research (ICEBIO) registries. Stratified by country, characteristics of patients treated with ≤3 mg infliximab/kg body weight, 3-5 mg/kg or ≥5 mg/kg every 8 weeks were described. Outcomes were evaluated by ACR 20%, 50% and 70% (ACR20/50/70) responses and European League Against Rheumatism good response after 6 months, disease activity after 12 months, Kaplan-Meier plots and regression analyses., Results: Four hundred and sixty-two patients (376 Danish, 86 Icelandic) received treatment with infliximab. In Danish patients, the starting dose was ≤3 mg/kg in 110 patients (29%), 3-5 mg/kg in 157 (42%), ≥5 mg/kg in 38 (10%) and unregistered in 71 (19%). In Icelandic patients, corresponding numbers were 64 (74%), 17 (27%), 0 (0%) and 5 (6%). Patients with a higher body weight received lower doses per kilogram. Danish patients received higher doses than Icelandic patients at baseline [median 3.1 (interquartile range 3.0-3.8) vs 2.3 (2.1-2.9) mg/kg, P < 0.05] and after 12 months [3.3 (3.0-4.5) vs 2.9 (2.2-3.5) mg/kg, P < 0.0001]. After 12 months, 58% of Danish and 66% of Icelandic patients maintained treatment. Danish patients had shorter drug survival than Icelandic patients (1183 vs 483 days). In univariate analyses stratified by country, time until dose escalation, response rates, drug survival and 1-year's disease activity were independent of starting dose. Drug survival was shorter among patients not receiving concomitant MTX., Conclusion: In clinical practice, > 70% of Icelandic and Danish PsA patients treated with infliximab received sustained doses below the 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks recommended in international guidelines. Lower starting doses did not affect drug survival or response., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: In order to search for novel antibacterial compounds we used a previously developed screening strain designed specifically to discover inhibitors of the bacterial initiator protein, DnaA. This strain (SF53) is not viable at 30 degrees C due to overinitiation. Therefore, compounds that are able to restore growth to SF53 cells are likely to cause either partial or complete inhibition of DnaA function. In this study we used SF53 cells to screen the Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds (LOPAC)., Methods: An SF53 screen of LOPAC in 384-well plates was performed. The effects of compounds identified as positive were studied further by growth assays specific for replication proteins as well as an in vitro assay of the activity of purified DNA gyrase., Results: One of the compounds that tested positive in this screening was the benzazepine derivate (+/-)-6-chloro-PB hydrobromide (S143). We found that the substance did not target DnaA directly, but that it most probably reduces overinitiation by inhibiting DNA gyrase. Benzazepines have not previously been reported as gyrase inhibitors., Conclusions: These findings indicate that a screening with SF53 will be able to identify compounds that also target other replication proteins (in addition to DnaA). Screening of LOPAC with SF53 cells led to the discovery of a novel DNA gyrase inhibitor.

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for the determination of ethylglucuronide (EtG) in oral fluid. Sample clean-up was achieved by solid-phase extraction with a Hyper-SEP SAX column. Negative ionization was performed in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Two transitions were monitored for the analyte and one for the internal standard EtG-d(5). The calibration range was 4.4-222 ng/mL. The recovery of the analyte ranged from 86 to 99%, and the between-assay precisions ranged from 5 to 9% RSD. The limit of quantification was found to be 4.4 ng/mL. The concentration of EtG in oral fluid collected 2-14 h after a moderate alcohol intake varied from 13.3 to 57.7 ng/mL.

Serum/blood (S/B) concentration ratios for ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) are missing from the literature, and the aim of this study was to determine these ratios in samples from patients at admission to an alcohol rehabilitation clinic. Two blood samples were collected simultaneously, and EtG and EtS were analyzed in whole blood and serum, respectively, using a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Separate calibration standards were prepared in both whole blood and serum for the calculation of whole blood and serum concentrations, respectively. Thirteen pairs of serum and whole blood were analyzed. The median S/B value for EtG was 1.69, and the range was 1.33-1.90. For EtS, the median S/B ratio was 1.30, and the range was 1.08-1.47. The S/B ratio was significantly lower for EtS than for EtG (p < 0.001). The higher concentrations of EtG and EtS in serum than in whole blood have to be considered when whole blood results obtained from forensic toxicology are compared to serum or plasma results from clinical laboratories.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pathophysiological role of reciprocal facilitation between antagonistic motoneuron pools in spasticity. The soleus H-reflex was conditioned by prior stimulation of the peroneal nerve in 15 healthy subjects, six hemiplegic patients and 11 spinal cord injured (SCI) patients. The hemiplegic patients were tested from soon after the onset of hemiplegia and up to 2 years later. Whereas stimulation of the peroneal nerve produced short-latency inhibition of the soleus H-reflex in healthy subjects, it produced facilitation in spastic SCI and hemiplegic patients. This facilitation was demonstrated to have a low threshold compatible with activation of group I afferents and was most likely mediated by an oligosynaptic (reciprocal) excitatory pathway. The facilitation appeared in parallel with the development of hyperactive Achilles tendon reflexes, which was the only clinical finding that could be correlated positively with the facilitation. It is suggested that the appearance of reciprocal excitation plays a role in the pathophysiology of spasticity.