Healthcare career intervention with youth in a predominantly Latinx rural community: a pilot study of a creative approach.

The present study discusses a pilot intervention for youth in a predominantly Latinx rural community in the U.S. The intervention incorporated multimodal creative activities into the social cognitive career theory-based healthcare career program. Participants (N = 75) were assessed for healthcare career self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests (pre-/post-intervention). Their healthcare career task self-efficacy and interests scores significantly increased overall. By race/ethnicity groups, however, only White students reported an increase in healthcare interests, and only students of color an increase in healthcare career task self-efficacy. This provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the proposed intervention. Implications for services and research are discussed.

Intervention de carrière dans le domaine des soins de santé auprès des jeunes dans une communauté rurale à prédominance latine: Une étude pilote d'une approche créative La présente étude porte sur une intervention pilote destinée aux jeunes d'une communauté rurale à prédominance latine aux États-Unis. L'intervention a intégré des activités créatives multimodales dans le programme de carrière en soins de santé basé sur la théorie sociale cognitive des carrières. Les participant·e·s (N = 75) ont été évalué·e·s sur leur sentiment d'efficacité personnelle dans les soins, leurs attentes en matière de résultats et leurs intérêts (avant et après l'intervention). Les résultats du sentiment d'efficacité personnelle des tâches et des intérêts de leur carrière dans le domaine de la santé ont augmenté de manière significative dans l'ensemble. Toutefois, par groupe racial ou ethnique, seul·e·s les étudiant·e·s blancs ont signalé une augmentation de leurs intérêts pour les soins de santé, et seul·e·s les étudiant·e·s de couleur ont signalé une augmentation de leur sentiment d'efficacité personnelle dans les tâches liées aux soins de santé. Cela fournit des preuves préliminaires de l'efficacité de l'intervention proposée. Les implications pour les services et la recherche sont discutées.

Intervención en la carrera de atención médica con jóvenes en una comunidad rural predominantemente latina: un estudio piloto de un enfoque creativo El presente estudio analiza una intervención piloto para jóvenes en una comunidad rural predominantemente latina en los EE. UU. La intervención incorporó actividades creativas multimodales en el programa de carrera de atención médica basado en el enfoque socio-cognitivo de la carrera. Se evaluó a los participantes (N = 75) en cuanto a la percepción de la autoeficacia para la carrera sanitaria, las expectativas de resultados y los intereses (antes y después de la intervención). Sus puntuaciones de percepción de autoeficacia e intereses en las tareas de la carrera sanitaria aumentaron significativamente en general. Sin embargo, por grupos de raza / etnia, solo los estudiantes blancos mostraron un aumento en los intereses relacionados con la atención médica, y solo en los estudiantes de color se observó un incremento en la percepción de autoeficacia para las tareas profesionales de la salud. Esto proporciona evidencia preliminar de la efectividad de la intervención propuesta. Se discuten las implicaciones para los servicios y la investigación.

Does the group in group psychotherapy matter? A meta-analysis of the intraclass correlation coefficient in group treatment research.

OBJECTIVE: Over the last 3 decades, group treatment researchers have become increasingly knowledgeable of the impact of within-group dependency on analyses of group treatment data and of mutual influence processes that occur within therapy groups. Despite these advancements, there remains a lack of consensus on the magnitude of mutual influence, or group effects, in group treatment research. As such, this study sought to estimate the size of group effects on members' posttreatment outcomes by meta-analyzing the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) in group treatment research. In addition, we tested several moderators of the ICC, including outcome type, outcome reactivity, outcome specificity, group format, treatment length, and group size. METHOD: Using robust variance estimations, we meta-analyzed 169 effect sizes from 37 group treatment studies. RESULTS: Findings indicated an average ICC of 0.06. Group size, group format, treatment length, outcome specificity, and outcome type did not significantly moderate the ICC; however, we did find evidence to suggest that the ICC varies as a function of outcome reactivity, with observer-rated outcome measures resulting in the largest ICC. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that interdependence in group treatment research is an important concept both theoretically and statistically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Racial trauma, microaggressions, and becoming racially innocuous: The role of acculturation and White supremacist ideology.

Acculturation theories often describe how individuals in the United States adopt and incorporate dominant cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors such as individualism and self-reliance. Theorists tend to perceive dominant cultural values as "accessible to everyone," even though some dominant cultural values, such as preserving White racial status, are reserved for White people. In this article, the authors posit that White supremacist ideology is suffused within dominant cultural values, connecting the array of cultural values into a coherent whole and bearing with it an explicit status for White people and people of color. Consequently, the authors frame acculturation as a continuing process wherein some people of color learn explicitly via racism, microaggressions, and racial trauma about their racial positionality; White racial space; and how they are supposed to accommodate White people's needs, status, and emotions. The authors suggest that acculturation may mean that the person of color learns to avoid racial discourse to minimize eliciting White fragility and distress. Moreover, acculturation allows the person of color to live in proximity to White people because the person of color has become unthreatening and racially innocuous. The authors provide recommendations for research and clinical practice focused on understanding the connections between ideology, racism, microaggressions and ways to create psychological healing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Correction: Long-term persistence and function of hematopoietic stem cell-derived chimeric antigen receptor T cells in a nonhuman primate model of HIV/AIDS.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006753.].

Long-term persistence and function of hematopoietic stem cell-derived chimeric antigen receptor T cells in a nonhuman primate model of HIV/AIDS.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cells have emerged as a powerful immunotherapy for various forms of cancer and show promise in treating HIV-1 infection. However, significant limitations are persistence and whether peripheral T cell-based products can respond to malignant or infected cells that may reappear months or years after treatment remains unclear. Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells (HSPCs) are capable of long-term engraftment and have the potential to overcome these limitations. Here, we report the use of a protective CD4 chimeric antigen receptor (C46CD4CAR) to redirect HSPC-derived T-cells against simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection in pigtail macaques. CAR-containing cells persisted for more than 2 years without any measurable toxicity and were capable of multilineage engraftment. Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) treatment followed by cART withdrawal resulted in lower viral rebound in CAR animals relative to controls, and demonstrated an immune memory-like response. We found CAR-expressing cells in multiple lymphoid tissues, decreased tissue-associated SHIV RNA levels, and substantially higher CD4/CD8 ratios in the gut as compared to controls. These results show that HSPC-derived CAR T-cells are capable of long-term engraftment and immune surveillance. This study demonstrates for the first time the safety and feasibility of HSPC-based CAR therapy in a large animal preclinical model.

Perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood among men experiencing homelessness.

This study explored the perceptions of fatherhood held by 11 men living in a homeless shelter. Using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill, 2012), we investigated perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood among fathers experiencing homelessness. Participants described (a) their perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood and changes resulting from homelessness, (b) physical and psychological challenges of being a father experiencing homelessness, and (c) expectations of homeless fathers. The fathers generally expressed feelings of low self-esteem related to their perceived difficulty fulfilling the role of providers for their family; however, they also adapted their view of fatherhood to include roles suited to their situation, such as that of guide, teacher, and role model. Suggestions are made for clinicians in helping fathers navigate and develop these roles, and limitations and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Targeting type I interferon-mediated activation restores immune function in chronic HIV infection.

Chronic immune activation, immunosuppression, and T cell exhaustion are hallmarks of HIV infection, yet the mechanisms driving these processes are unclear. Chronic activation can be a driving force in immune exhaustion, and type I interferons (IFN-I) are emerging as critical components underlying ongoing activation in HIV infection. Here, we have tested the effect of blocking IFN-I signaling on T cell responses and virus replication in a murine model of chronic HIV infection. Using HIV-infected humanized mice, we demonstrated that in vivo blockade of IFN-I signaling during chronic HIV infection diminished HIV-driven immune activation, decreased T cell exhaustion marker expression, restored HIV-specific CD8 T cell function, and led to decreased viral replication. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) in combination with IFN-I blockade accelerated viral suppression, further decreased viral loads, and reduced the persistently infected HIV reservoir compared with ART treatment alone. Our data suggest that blocking IFN-I signaling in conjunction with ART treatment can restore immune function and may reduce viral reservoirs during chronic HIV infection, providing validation for IFN-I blockade as a potential therapy for HIV infection.

Stem-cell Based Engineered Immunity Against HIV Infection in the Humanized Mouse Model.

With the rapid development of stem cell-based gene therapies against HIV, there is pressing requirement for an animal model to study the hematopoietic differentiation and immune function of the genetically modified cells. The humanized Bone-marrow/Liver/Thymus (BLT) mouse model allows for full reconstitution of a human immune system in the periphery, which includes T cells, B cells, NK cells and monocytes. The human thymic implant also allows for thymic selection of T cells in autologous thymic tissue. In addition to the study of HIV infection, the model stands as a powerful tool to study differentiation, development and functionality of cells derived from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Here we outline the construction of humanized non-obese diabetic (NOD)-severe combined immunodeficient (SCID)-common gamma chain knockout (cγ(-/-))-Bone-marrow/Liver/Thymus (NSG-BLT) mice with HSCs transduced with CD4 chimeric antigen receptor (CD4CAR) lentivirus vector. We show that the CD4CAR HSCs can successfully differentiate into multiple lineages and have anti-HIV activity. The goal of the study is to demonstrate the use of NSG-BLT mouse model as an in vivo model for engineered immunity against HIV. It is worth noting that, because lentivirus and human tissue is used, experiments and surgeries should be performed in a Class II biosafety cabinet in a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) with special precautions (BSL2+) facility.

Cocaine-mediated impact on HIV infection in humanized BLT mice.

Cocaine abuse has been shown to have broad-ranging effects on human immunity. With regards to HIV infection, in vitro studies have shown that cocaine enhances infection of stimulated lymphocytes. Moreover, cohort studies in the pre- and post-HAART era have linked stimulant abuse with increased HIV pathogenesis. The latter data, however, have been undermined by a series of confounding factors underscoring the importance of controlled in vivo models to fully assess the impact of cocaine use and abuse on HIV infection and pathogenesis. Here, we have infected humanized mice with HIV-1 following acute cocaine exposure to assess the impact on infection. Stimulant exposure resulted in increased inflammatory cytokine expression, accelerated HIV infection, while blunting effector function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These data demonstrate cocaine's multifactorial impact on HIV infection that extends beyond high-risk behavior.