Adverse Childhood Experiences and Alcohol Use among Black College Students: Examining the Mediating Roles of Depression and Coping Drinking Motives.

Background: Over the past two decades, research has linked adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to adult health-risk behaviors such as excessive alcohol use. Yet, few have investigated health-risk behaviors among Black college students. Research suggests that Black college students are at lower risk for hazardous drinking patterns, yet ACEs appear to alter the drinking patterns of Black students. Other studies have also shown depressive symptoms and coping-motivated drinking to predict greater alcohol consumption for this ethnic group. Objective: The current study investigated the relationship between ACEs and hazardous patterns of drinking, including frequency of alcohol use, binge, and heavy drinking episodes, using a sample of 282 Black students attending a historically black college/university (HBCU). Results: Depressive symptoms and coping drinking motives were tested as serial mediators between ACEs and the three drinking patterns. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of ACEs on the frequency of alcohol use, binge, and heavy drinking episodes, through depressive symptoms and coping drinking motives. Depressive symptoms also independently mediated the relationship between ACEs and heavy drinking episodes. Conclusion: The finding suggested that drinking perhaps serves as a maladaptive coping strategy to address underlying early life stress and depression for Black students.

Gender differences in the interaction effect of community resources and attitudes toward seeking professional help on posttraumatic stress, depression, and posttraumatic growth.

The current study examined the gender differences in the interaction effect of community resources and attitudes toward seeking professional help in predicting posttraumatic stress, depression, and posttraumatic growth for female and male survivors of Hurricane Harvey. Participants were 413 adults who reported directly experiencing Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on August 26, 2017. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants approximately 16 months after the hurricane via an online survey. Among men, significant interaction effects of community resources and attitudes toward seeking help on posttraumatic stress, depression, and posttraumatic growth were found even after statistically controlling for age, educational attainment, income, marital status, and racial minority status. Among women, no interaction effects were found. Women with open attitudes toward seeking psychological treatment experienced higher posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth, and higher resources were positively associated with growth. The current study raises important implications on gender differences on community resources and attitudes toward seeking professional help after a hurricane.

Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Fabricated in Dissolvable 3D-Printed Molds for Patient-Specific Craniofacial Bone Regeneration.

The current gold standard treatment for oral clefts is autologous bone grafting. This treatment, however, presents another wound site for the patient, greater discomfort, and pediatric patients have less bone mass for bone grafting. A potential alternative treatment is the use of tissue engineered scaffolds. Hydrogels are well characterized nanoporous scaffolds and cryogels are mechanically durable, macroporous, sponge-like scaffolds. However, there has been limited research on these scaffolds for cleft craniofacial defects. 3D-printed molds can be combined with cryogel/hydrogel fabrication to create patient-specific tissue engineered scaffolds. By combining 3D-printing technology and scaffold fabrication, we were able to create scaffolds with the geometry of three cleft craniofacial defects. The scaffolds were then characterized to assess the effect of the mold on their physical properties. While the scaffolds were able to completely fill the mold, creating the desired geometry, the overall volumes were smaller than expected. The cryogels possessed porosities ranging from 79.7% to 87.2% and high interconnectivity. Additionally, the cryogels swelled from 400% to almost 1500% of their original dry weight while the hydrogel swelling did not reach 500%, demonstrating the ability to fill a defect site. Overall, despite the complex geometry, the cryogel scaffolds displayed ideal properties for bone reconstruction.

Novel bioprinting method using a pectin based bioink.

One major challenge of bioprinting is to develop a viable bioink to act as an extracellular matrix. This study investigated a novel method for bioprinting using a pectin based bioink. Besides pectin, Pluronic® F-127 was incorporated into the bioink to obtain the desired shape during the initial bioprinting process at 37∘C. Once an object was printed it was treated with Ca2+ (pectin cross-linker) to create the final tissue/organ structure. The results indicated that pectin/Pluronic® F-127 is a potential bioink. Moreover, this methodology provides a novel and fast approach for bioprinting.

Effect of synbiotic therapy on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia in critically ill patients: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of enteral Synbiotic 2000 FORTE (a mixture of lactic acid bacteria and fibre) on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in critically ill patients. DESIGN: Prospective, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial. SETTING: Tertiary referral centre, general Adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU). PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: 259 enterally fed patients requiring mechanical ventilation for 48 h or more were enrolled. INTERVENTION: All patients were enterally fed as per a standard protocol and randomly assigned to receive either synbiotic 2000 FORTE (twice a day) or a cellulose-based placebo for a maximum of 28 days. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Treatment group (n = 130) was well matched with placebo group (n = 129) for age (mean 49.5 and 50 years, respectively) and APACHE II score (median 17 for both). Oropharyngeal microbial flora and colonisation rates were unaffected by synbiotics. The overall incidence of VAP was lower than anticipated (11.2%) and no statistical difference was demonstrated between groups receiving synbiotic and placebo in the incidence of VAP (9 and 13%, P = 0.42), VAP rate per 1,000 ventilator days (13 and 14.6, P = 0.91) or hospital mortality (27 and 33%, P = 0.39), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Enteral administration of Synbiotic 2000 FORTE has no statistically significant impact on the incidence of VAP in critically ill patients.