Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Neurological Care in the United States.

The burden of neurological disease is increasing globally. In the United States, this burden is disproportionally greater for Black and Latino communities who have limited access to neurological care. Health services researchers have attempted to identify racial and ethnic disparities in neurological care and possible solutions. This article reviews the most current literature on racial and ethnic disparities in commonly encountered neurological conditions, including Stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, and Migraine. Disparities exist in disease incidence, diagnosis, access to care, treatment, outcomes, and representation in epidemiologic studies and clinical trials. Many of the disparities observed in neurological care in the United States are a consequence of longstanding racist and discriminatory policies and legislation that increase risk factors for the development of neurological disease or lead to disparities in accessing quality neurological care. Therefore, additional efforts on the legislative, community health, and healthcare system levels are necessary to prevent the onset of neurological disease and achieve equity in neurological care.

Association of applicant demographic factors with medical school acceptance.

BACKGROUND: Medical school acceptance rates in the United States (US) have been lower for applicants who identify as Underrepresented-in-Medicine (UiM) compared to non-UiM applicants. The gap between UiM and no-UiM groups is narrowing in recent years. Less well-studied are associations of acceptance decisions with family income and parental education. This study's purpose is to evaluate the relationships between medical school acceptance and family income, parental education status, racial/ethnic background, Grade Point Average (GPA), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score, and participation in extracurricular activities. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of first-time US medical school applicants between 2017 and 2020. Acceptance rates for first-time applicants were calculated for first-generation (FG), low-income (LI), and UiM applicants. Associations of these attributes with MCAT scores, science GPAs, and seven categories of extracurricular activities were evaluated. Regression analyses estimated associations between acceptance to medical school with all variables with and without interaction terms (FG*URM, LI*URM, FG*LI). RESULTS: The overall acceptance rate for first-time applicants from 2017-2020 was 45.3%. The acceptance rates among FG, LI and UiM applicants were 37.9%, 39.6% and 44.2%, respectively. In univariable logistic regression analyses, acceptance was negatively associated with being FG (OR: 0.68, CI: 0.67-0.70), LI (OR: 0.70, CI: 0.69-0.72), and UiM (OR: 0.95, CI: 0.93-0.97). In multivariable regression, acceptance was most strongly associated with science GPA (OR: 7.15, CI: 6.78-7.54 for the highest quintile) and UiM (OR: 5.56, CI: 5.48-5.93) status and MCAT score (OR: 1.19, CI: 1.18-1.19), FG (OR: 1.14, CI: 1.10-1.18), and most extracurricular activities. Including interaction terms revealed a negative association between acceptance and LI (OR:0.90, CI: 0.87-0.94) and FG was no longer significant (OR:1.10, CI:0.96-1.08). CONCLUSIONS: Collectively these results suggest medical school admissions committees may be relying on holistic admission practices. While MCAT and GPA scores continue to predict acceptance, individuals from racially and ethnically UiM backgrounds have favorable odds of acceptance when controlling for MCAT and GPA. However, these positive associations were not seen for low-income and first-generation applicants. Additional preparation for college and the MCAT for these latter groups may help further diversify the medical profession.

Each one, teach one: Critical history as counterstories, antiracist affordances, and cues for belonging.

Recently, there have been several calls for psychologists to dismantle systemic racism within the field (e.g., Buchanan et al., 2021; Dupree & Boykin, 2021; Wilcox et al., 2022). In this article, we discuss why incorporating critical histories into psychology curricula can be beneficial to this effort. We focus on three potential pathways: critical histories provide counterstories that challenge racist narratives, critical histories promote contexts that encourage antiracism practices (antiracist affordances), and critical histories can signal identity safety and belonging. To adequately integrate critical histories into psychology curricula, we make three recommendations. First, create and support a departmental curriculum that engages critical histories in the field of psychology at the undergraduate and graduate level (we offer some example topics and readings). Second, based on our own training experiences, we recommend that psychology graduate programs facilitate opportunities to take interdisciplinary courses that cover the history of race and racism in domestic and/or global contexts. Finally, we recommend funding research and supporting student projects that produce critical histories in psychology to expand the knowledge base of our field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Complete mitochondrial genome of the introduced Indian walking stick Carausius morosus (Lonchodidae, Insecta) from California.

We present the complete mitochondrial genome of Carausius morosus from Salinas, CA. The mitochondrial genome of C. morosus is circular, AT rich (78.1%), and 16,671 bp in length. It consists of 13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNA, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes and is identical in gene content to Carausius sp.