Enhancing supports to children of incarcerated parents: Introducing trauma informed training to church mentors.

A child who has a parent incarcerated is likely to experience a number of life challenges including school failure, poverty, substance abuse, and justice system involvement. The negative outcomes associated with having a parent incarcerated disproportionately expose children to adverse childhood events (ACE's) which have been associated with higher morbidity and mortality. However, engagement with caring adults who can provide both practical and spiritual mentorship can increase a child's resilience and buffer the impact of these negative outcomes. Church-based mentors have the capacity to provide support to this population when adequately trained in trauma-informed responses. This study describes Camp Agape California (CAC), a church-based mentoring program for children with an incarcerated parent. Specifically, this study describes the development and implementation of a trauma focused mentorship training purposed to equip church members to better meet the needs of this vulnerable population. Seventy-six volunteer mentors from various churches participated in the training and completed the post-training survey. Results suggest that the trauma informed training was effective at increasing knowledge and self-efficacy and was identified as being relevant to the mentor role. Implications for the utility of church-based mentorship for vulnerable populations are explored.

Prenatal Depressive Symptoms, Self-Rated Health, and Diabetes Self-Efficacy: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes leads to risk for pregnant persons and their fetuses and requires behavioral changes that can be compromised by poor mental health. Poor self-rated health (SRH), a reliable predictor of morbidity and mortality, has been associated with depressive symptoms and lower self-efficacy in patients with diabetes. However, it is unclear whether SRH mediates the association between depressive symptoms and self-efficacy in pregnant patients with diabetes and whether the healthcare site moderates the mediation. Thus, we sought to test these associations in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of pregnant individuals diagnosed with diabetes from two clinical settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was an observational, cross-sectional study of 137 pregnant individuals diagnosed with diabetes at two clinical study sites. Participants self-administered a demographic questionnaire and measures designed to assess depressive symptoms, SRH in pregnancy, and diabetes self-efficacy. A moderated mediation model tested whether these indirect effects were moderated by the site. RESULTS: The results show that SRH mediated the association between depressive symptoms and diabetes self-efficacy. The results also showed the site moderated the mediating effect of SRH on depressive symptoms and diabetes self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the role of clinical care settings can help inform when and how SRH mediates that association between prenatal depressive symptoms and self-efficacy in diabetic patients.

Sensitization of depressive-like behavior is attenuated by disruption of prostaglandin synthesis days following brief early attachment-figure isolation.

Childhood psychological trauma appears to sensitize stress-related neuroinflammatory systems to increase later vulnerability for depression and other stress-related mental disorders. Isolation of guinea pig pups from the maternal attachment figure for 3 h in threatening surroundings leads to a sensitization of inflammatory-mediated, depressive-like behavior and fever during later isolations. A previous study found the non-selective COX inhibitor naproxen administered before the initial isolation moderated depressive-like behavior and its sensitization. Here, we examined effects of naproxen given following early isolation. Male and female guinea pig pups surgically implanted with telemetry devices to measure core temperature were isolated for 3 h on 2 consecutive days near weaning (first isolation Day 20-24). Several days later, they began 4 consecutive days of injection with either saline vehicle or 10 or 20 mg/kg naproxen prior to a third isolation in early adolescence, that is, 10 days after their first isolation. Across the first two isolations, depressive-like behavior and fever sensitized. Both doses of naproxen attenuated depressive-like behavior during the third isolation. Fever was unaffected. Results suggest prostaglandin mediation of sensitization of depressive-like behavioral, but not febrile, responses to subsequent isolation. Findings also support further study of anti-inflammatory treatments to mitigate lasting consequences of early-attachment disruption.

Clinical evaluation of the acuitas® AMR gene panel for rapid detection of bacteria and genotypic antibiotic resistance determinants.

Urinary tract infections are leading causes of hospital admissions. Accurate and timely diagnosis is important due to increasing morbidity and mortality from antimicrobial resistance. We evaluated a polymerase chain reaction test (Acuitas AMR Gene Panel with the Acuitas Lighthouse Software) for detection of 5 common uropathogens (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis) and antibiotic resistance genes directly from urine for prediction of phenotypic resistance. Overall percent agreement was 97% for semiquantitative detection of uropathogens versus urine culture using a cut-off of 104 colony forming units per mL urine. Overall accuracy was 91% to 93% for genotypic prediction of common antibiotic resistance harbored by E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. mirabilis.

Central oxytocin alters cortisol and behavioral responses of guinea pig pups during isolation in a novel environment.

The neuropeptide oxytocin plays key roles in social bonding and stress reduction, and thus appears to be a likely mediator of maternal buffering of infant stress responses. In the guinea pig, the presence of the mother in a threatening environment buffers cortisol elevations as well as active (vocalizing) and passive (e.g. crouching) responses typical of isolation in this species; yet, effects of OT in guinea pig pups under any conditions have not been reported. Here, we examined the ability of intracerebroventricular (ICV) OT to moderate plasma cortisol levels and behavior in guinea pig pups isolated in a brightly lit, novel environment, and the ability of a highly selective OT antagonist (OTA) to reduce buffering by the mother. We found that ICV OT moderated cortisol levels and vocalizations, but increased time spent in the crouched stance, particularly in females. In addition, OT modulated other ongoing behaviors in a sex-dependent fashion. In females, OT reduced duration of walking and rearing, and increased time spent quiet, while in males OT increased duration of rearing. OTA, however, was without effect on cortisol levels or behavior. These findings, including sex differences in response, extend results from other species to the guinea pig. Further, while demonstrating that exogenous OT is sufficient to reduce biobehavioral stress responses typical of isolated guinea pig infants, the results suggest that endogenous OT is not necessary for maternal buffering of infant responses in this species.

Total synthesis of herbimycin A.

[structure: see text] Herbimycin A (HA) belongs to a class of antibiotics known as the benzoquinoid ansamycins. Members of this class have shown promising biological activity as Hsp90 inhibitors. An enantioselective synthesis of HA is described, employing asymmetric syn-crotylation methodology to introduce the C10, C11, C14, and C15 stereocenters. The C6-C7 stereocenters were introduced using Brown's alpha-pinene-derived gamma-methoxy allylborane reagent. The C12 stereocenter was established by diastereoselective hydroboration.