A proof-of-concept study testing the factor structure of the Stop Signal Task: overlap with substance use and mental health symptoms.

Background: Research utilizing experimental tasks usually does not report estimates of internal reliability of measurement. However, modern measurement theories conceptualize reliability as sample dependent indicating that reliability should be empirically demonstrated in the samples used to make inferences.Objectives: Test whether confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) estimates of reliability can be applied to a commonly used task measuring response inhibition (the Stop Signal Task) to predict substance use (alcohol and cannabis) and mental health symptoms.Methods: Thirty-seven participants between the ages of 18-20 (72% female; 16% Asian, 3% Native American, 11% Black or African American, 59% White; 32% Latino/a/x) were recruited via social media advertisement and attended a laboratory visit. The Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT) was calculated as the outcome for three experimental blocks and used as indicators in a CFA.Results: CFA suggests the task yields reliable scores; factor loadings were statistically significant (p < .05) and substantial (standardized loadings ranged from .74 to .94). However, reliability increased across experimental blocks and error was non-trivial (ranging from 50% to 12% of the variance). The inhibition factor predicted higher maximum number of drinks consumed (ß = .37, p < .05), higher frequency of cannabis use (ß = .39, p < .05), and more cannabis use occasions within using days (ß = .40, p < .05), as well as facets of mental health (anxious/depression, attention, and anxiety problems; all p's < .05).Conclusion: Results support the utility of CFA to test for reliability of measurement, with the ability to inhibit dominant responses serving as a transdiagnostic correlate of substance use and mental health problems.

Use of the BACtrack Skyn alcohol biosensor: Practical applications for data collection and analysis.

AIMS: Alcohol biosensors, including the BACtrack Skyn, provide an objective and passive method of continuously assessing alcohol consumption in the natural environment. Despite the many strengths of the Skyn, six key challenges in the collection and processing of data include (1) identifying consumed alcohol; (2) identifying environmental alcohol; (3) identifying and determining the source of missing or invalid data; (4) achieving high participant adherence; (5) integrating Skyn and self-report data; and (6) implications for statistical inference. In this report we outline these challenges, provide recommendations to address them and identify future needs. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Procedures from several laboratory and field-based pilot studies are presented to demonstrate practical recommendations for Skyn use. Data from a pilot study including a 7-day ecological momentary assessment period are also presented to evaluate effects of environmental alcohol on BACtrack Skyn readings. CONCLUSIONS: To address challenges in the collection and processing of data from the BACtrack Skyn alcohol biosensor, researchers should identify goals in advance of data collection to anticipate the processing necessary to interpret Skyn data. The Transdermal Alcohol Sensor Data Macro (TASMAC) version 2.0 software can help to process data rapidly; identify drinking events, missing data and environmental alcohol; and integrate the sensor with self-report data. Thorough participant orientation and regular contact in field studies can reduce missing data and enhance adherence. Many recommended methods for Skyn use are applicable to other alcohol sensors and wearable devices.

Affective and physiological response to a novel parent-adolescent conflict stressor.

Few laboratory paradigms exist that expose adolescents to conflict that might commonly be experienced in parent-adolescent relationships. Given the continued importance of parent-adolescent relationships on adolescent development, as well as the changing expectations in these relationships, we examined the effect of a novel parent-adolescent conflict paradigm on physiological and affective response in a sample of 52 adolescents. The parent-adolescent conflict stressor (PACS) involved adolescent participants (50% girls; M = 14.75, SD = 0.88) watching a 12-minute scripted video that asked youth to imagine that they were the teenager in the video, which consisted of parent and adolescent actors having discussions about conflict in their relationship and solving this conflict in either a positive, typical, or hostile manner. Cortisol, alpha amylase, and self-report of negative and positive affect were collected at baseline, following the video, and during a recovery period. Heart rate also was taken continuously while adolescents watched the videos. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses indicated significant linear change in alpha amylase and linear and quadratic change in negative affect to the PACS. There also was a significant linear and quadratic change in heart rate during the portion of the video where teens and parents discussed issues of personal responsibility. The PACS marks a preliminary but important first step in developing a parent-adolescent conflict paradigm that can be used across studies to understand the impact of parent-adolescent conflict on affective and physiological markers associated with stress response.

A new approach to mentoring for research careers: the National Research Mentoring Network.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effective mentorship is critical to the success of early stage investigators, and has been linked to enhanced mentee productivity, self-efficacy, and career satisfaction. The mission of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is to provide all trainees across the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity, and culture within mentoring relationships, and more broadly the research workforce. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and activities of NRMN. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: NRMN serves as a national training hub for mentors and mentees striving to improve their relationships by better aligning expectations, promoting professional development, maintaining effective communication, addressing equity and inclusion, assessing understanding, fostering independence, and cultivating ethical behavior. Training is offered in-person at institutions, regional training, or national meetings, as well as via synchronous and asynchronous platforms; the growing training demand is being met by a cadre of NRMN Master Facilitators. NRMN offers career stage-focused coaching models for grant writing, and other professional development programs. NRMN partners with diverse stakeholders from the NIH-sponsored Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), as well as organizations outside the DPC to work synergistically towards common diversity goals. NRMN offers a virtual portal to the Network and all NRMN program offerings for mentees and mentors across career development stages. NRMNet provides access to a wide array of mentoring experiences and resources including MyNRMN, Guided Virtual Mentorship Program, news, training calendar, videos, and workshops. National scale and sustainability are being addressed by NRMN "Coaches-in-Training" offerings for more senior researchers to implement coaching models across the nation. "Shark Tanks" provide intensive review and coaching for early career health disparities investigators, focusing on grant writing for graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and junior faculty. IMPLICATIONS: Partners from diverse perspectives are building the national capacity and sparking the institutional changes necessary to truly diversify and transform the biomedical research workforce. NRMN works to leverage resources towards the goals of sustainability, scalability, and expanded reach.

Concepciones en los usuarios de un servicio odontológico público sobre salud-enfermedad bucal / Conceptions users of a public dental service on oral health-disease

Introducción: el estudio y análisis de la salud no debe excluir la trama de concepciones, creencias, significados y percepciones que los sujetos poseen, construidos sobre la base de su interacción social. Objetivo: identificar las concepciones de la salud/enfermedad bucal en usuarios de un servicio odontológico público. Método: investigación descriptiva, transversal, de campo y fuente viva. Se seleccionó muestra de conveniencia (50 pacientes) de acuerdo a los criterios de inclusión: Personas entre los 18 a 60 años y más. Ambos sexos, que asistieran durante el mes de octubre de 2012 al Servicio Odontológico del Ambulatorio Sur-Veritas del Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales; Maracaibo, Zulia , Venezuela. Las variables del estudio fueron: salud/enfermedad bucal, atención del profesional de la odontología, y edentulismo. Se empleó un cuestionario semi-estructurado y se aplicaron técnicas de análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo a los datos obtenidos. Resultados: la significación de estar sano de la cavidad bucal estuvo vinculada a la ausencia de la enfermedad (53 por ciento). El 82 por ciento de los usuarios señaló la buena presencia, imagen y belleza como uno de los mayores beneficios de tener buena salud bucal. Expresaron el 74 por ciento de los entrevistados que lo que más les afectaba de tener una enfermedad bucal era los gastos en tratamientos rehabilitadores. El 76 por ciento manifestó que su experiencia con la atención del profesional de la odontología fue buena. El 58 por ciento asoció el edentulismo con fealdad, y descuido personal, y 42 por ciento lo vinculó a la vejez. Conclusiones: las concepciones de la salud-enfermedad bucal de los individuos de este estudio resultaron muy vinculadas con la estética en sus referentes de belleza e imagen; aun cuando se encontraron avances respecto a reconocer a la salud bucal como un componente de la salud general(AU)

Introduction: the study and analysis of health cannot exclude the plot of concepts, beliefs, meanings and perceptions that patients have, built on the basis of their social interaction. Objective: to identify the oral health/disease conceptions on the users of a public dental service. Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out.A convenience sampling was applied. The sample was constituted by 50 patients, from 18 to 60 and more years of age, which attended to the dental service of the Ambulatorio Sur-Veritas of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute, Maracaibo ­ Zulia state, Venezuela; during October 2012. The variables defined for this study were: Oral health/disease, dentistry professional's attention and edentulism. A semi-structured questionnaire was used and quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were applied. Results: the significance of having a healthy oral cavity was strongly linked to the absence of disease (53 percent). 82 percent of users stood out the good presence, image and beauty as one of the greatest benefits of having a good oral health. 74 percent of the respondents expressed that the expenses implied in the rehabilitation treatments were the thing that most affected them about having an oral disease. 76 percent of users said that their experience with the dentistry professional's attention was good. Regarding edentulism 58 percent associated it with ugliness, disgust or personal carelessness, and 42 percent linked it to old age. Conclusions: the conceptions about oral health/disease of the individuals considered in this study were strongly associated with aesthetics in its relating of beauty and image; even though advances were found with respect to recognize oral health as a component of general health(AU)

Decreased levels of both Stat1 and Stat3 in T lymphocytes from mice bearing mammary tumors.

BACKGROUND: Lymphocytes from tumor-bearing animals have been shown to lack antitumor function. The objective of this study was to investigate the status of the signal transducers, Stat1 and Stat3, in T lymphocytes of animals bearing D1-DMBA-3 mammary tumors and to elucidate if any alterations in these signal transducers can be explained by the presence of tumor-derived factors and correlated with the lack of antitumor function in these cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: T Lymphocytes from spleens of normal and tumor-bearing mice were purified and assayed for the presence of Stat1 and Stat3 by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: It was found that levels of both Stat1 and Stat3 were reduced in T lymphocytes of tumor-bearers not only in their active, phosphorylated form but in total protein levels. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that during mammary tumor progression, alteration of various transcription factors may contribute to the down-regulation of immune function.

Antitumor effects of Mucin 1/sec involves the modulation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator and signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 expression in tumor cells.

Expression of the transmembrane isoform of Mucin 1 (MUC1/TM) in an aggressive murine mammary tumor line, DA-3, does not alter tumor development and metastasis, leading to death of the host. However, tumor cells expressing a secreted isoform of MUC1 (MUC1/sec) fail to develop tumors in immunocompetent mice. The rejection of MUC1/sec-expressing tumor cells is immunologically mediated, as, initially, innate cells and, ultimately, T cells are required. After gene array analysis, and confirmation at the protein level, it was discovered that MUC1/sec-expressing tumor cells (DA-3/sec) have a significant reduction in expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) relative to the parental tumor line and tumor cells expressing MUC1/TM. The serine protease uPA has been found to be involved in growth-promoting signaling, angiogenesis, and induction of matrix remodeling leading to metastasis. Although the tumor-promoting Stat3 transcription factor was unaltered in these tumor cells, the tumor-suppressive and IFN-responsive signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (Stat1) is dramatically up-regulated in DA-3/sec cells. In addition, treatment of various murine and human cell lines with conditioned medium containing MUC1/sec results in up-regulation of Stat1. DA-3/sec tumor cells are also sensitized to the antiproliferative effects of IFN-gamma. Furthermore, transfection of the Stat1 gene into DA-3 tumor cells leads to a down-regulation of uPA and delays tumor progression. Thus, Stat1 up-regulation in DA-3/sec cells seems to play a significant role in the mechanism(s) by which rejection of tumor cells expressing MUC1/sec may be occurring.

GM-CSF up-regulates the expression of CCL2 by T lymphocytes in mammary tumor-bearing mice.

MCP-1/CCL2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1/CC chemokine ligand 2) is a beta or CC chemokine that is expressed by a variety of cell types, including fibroblasts, endothelial, smooth muscle, and glial cells. In addition, cells involved in immunity, such as monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, and eosinophils have also been shown to express this chemoattractant. Using a murine model of the D1-DMBA-3 mammary adenocarcinoma, we demonstrated the unique production of CCL2 by splenic T lymphocytes from tumor-bearing animals. Because this tumor produces GM-CSF, and this factor is also up-regulated in the B lymphocytes of tumor-bearing mice, we looked at the ability of GM-CSF to induce CCL2 production by T cells. Treatment of normal and tumor bearers' T cells with GM-CSF resulted in an increased secretion of this chemokine. This up-regulation was seen with or without stimulation by Concanavalin A, although these treatments were additive in their effects. The induction of CCL2 was studied at the molecular level by analyzing the effect(s) of a variety of physiological and pharmacological agents on cultured T cells. These results suggest that the tumor-derived factor GM-CSF activates various signaling pathways within splenic T cells to up-regulate CCL2 expression.

Diseño de protocolo para el uso adecuado de dispositivos y métodos en oxigenoterapia no invasiva en la unidad de terapia intensiva Hospital Obrero CNS / Protocol design for the appropriate use of devices and methods in oxigenoterapia non invasiva in the unit of therapy intensive Hospital Obrero CNS

La correcta función celular requiere de un suministro adecuado de oxígeno que satisfaga las necesidades metabólicas, normalmente cerca de el 97 por ciento del oxígeno es conducido desde los pulmones a los tejidos es transportado en combinación química con la hemoglobina en los hematies, el 3 por ciento restante circula en el plasma. La oxigenoterapia ofrece una diversidad de dispositivos los cuales se prescriben en litros por minutos, en forma de concentración de oxígeno inspirado, en porcentaje de oxígeno FiO2. La administración de oxígeno se realiza mediante dos categorías: sistemas abiertos con alto y bajo flujo y sistemas cerrados de bajo flujo. Durante la administración del oxígeno se debe tomar en cuenta los efectos indeseables, y complicaciones, como cualquier fármaco ya que los pulmones están diseñados a trabajar con concentraciones del 21 por ciento de oxígeno con alguna adaptabilidad a concentraciones superiores