Structural Racism in Behavioral Health Presentation and Management.

Nia is a first-grade student with a history of trauma who was brought in by ambulance to the pediatric emergency department for "out of control behavior" at school. This is the first of multiple presentations to the emergency department for psychiatric evaluation, stabilization, and management throughout her elementary and middle school years. Several of the visits resulted in admission to the inpatient pediatric service, where she "boarded" while awaiting transfer to an inpatient psychiatric facility. At times, clinical teams used involuntary emergency medications and physical restraints, as well as hospital security presence at the bedside, to control Nia's behavior. Nia is Black and her story is a case study of how structural racism manifests for an individual child. Her story highlights the impact of adultification bias and the propensity to mislabel Black youth with diagnoses characterized by fixed patterns of negative behaviors, as opposed to recognizing normative reactions to trauma or other adverse childhood experiences-in Nia's case, poverty, domestic violence, and Child Protective Services involvement. In telling Nia's story, we (1) define racism and discuss the interplay of structural, institutional, and interpersonal racism in the health care, education, and judicial systems; (2) highlight the impact of adultification bias on Black youth; (3) delineate racial disparities in behavioral health diagnosis and management, school discipline and exclusion, and health care's contributions to the school-to-prison pipeline; and finally (4) propose action steps to mitigate the impact of racism on pediatric mental health and health care.

Evaluating foundational professional development training for trauma-informed approaches in schools.

Trauma-informed schools reflect a national movement toward implementing organizational practices and systems-change strategies that support trauma-exposed individuals. Although frameworks for trauma-informed schools delineate key features for navigating implementation processes, methods of installing these features in schools require additional study. Although foundational professional development (FPD) training is often utilized to prepare schools for implementing trauma-informed approaches, few researchers have examined whether such training influences factors known to promote implementation success: staff knowledge of and perceptions of acceptability for these approaches. The current study utilized a pre-post design to evaluate a 2-day FPD training as a tool for enhancing teacher knowledge of trauma-informed approaches prior to implementation. The study also examined whether gains in knowledge following the training were associated with teacher perceptions of acceptability of trauma-informed approaches and whether perceived alignment of trauma-informed approaches with existing school norms and practices, or system fit, moderated that relationship. Participants included 183 teachers from six schools who completed the training. Knowledge was assessed at pre- and posttraining, and perceptions of acceptability and system fit were assessed at posttraining. Results indicated significant knowledge growth following the training. Among teachers who perceived better system fit, knowledge growth was associated with increased acceptability for trauma-informed approaches. However, among teachers perceiving less system fit, knowledge growth was associated with decreased acceptability. Implications for the installation and implementation of trauma-informed approaches in schools are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A Pilot Trial of Mindfulness Meditation Training for ADHD in Adulthood: Impact on Core Symptoms, Executive Functioning, and Emotion Dysregulation.

OBJECTIVE: Mindfulness meditation training is garnering increasing empirical interest as an intervention for ADHD in adulthood, although no studies of mindfulness as a standalone treatment have included a sample composed entirely of adults with ADHD or a comparison group. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of mindfulness meditation for ADHD, executive functioning (EF), and emotion dysregulation symptoms in an adult ADHD sample. METHOD: Adults with ADHD were stratified by ADHD medication status and otherwise randomized into an 8-week group-based mindfulness treatment ( n = 11) or waitlist group ( n = 9). RESULTS: Treatment feasibility and acceptability were positive. In addition, self-reported ADHD and EF symptoms (assessed in the laboratory and ecological momentary assessment), clinician ratings of ADHD and EF symptoms, and self-reported emotion dysregulation improved for the treatment group relative to the waitlist group over time with large effect sizes. Improvement was not observed for EF tasks. CONCLUSION: Findings support preliminary treatment efficacy, though require larger trials.

Negative urgency and emotion regulation predict positive smoking expectancies in non-smoking youth.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the study was to better understand early risk for positive smoking expectancies, which have been shown to be consistent predictors of smoking initiation among youth. Two affect-based risk factors-negative urgency and emotion dysregulation-associated with smoking behaviors among youth, were examined for unique and interactive effects on positive smoking expectancies among substance-naïve youth. METHODS: Participants were 61 10-14-year-old children with virtually no drug use (less than 5 substance use incidents across the lifetime), who were drawn from the community. RESULTS: Both negative urgency and emotion dysregulation were significantly associated with positive social facilitation smoking expectancies. Further, negative urgency was significantly related to positive social facilitation smoking expectancies at higher levels of emotion dysregulation (b=.09, p=.001). CONCLUSION: The findings provide evidence that both emotion dysregulation and negative urgency are positively associated with positive social-related smoking expectancies among a sample of 10-14-year-olds. Children who are emotionally dysregulated and who act rashly in response to negative emotions appear more likely to endorse beliefs regarding the socially enhancing effects of smoking, suggesting that these youth may be at high risk for smoking initiation.

Smoking motivation in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder using the Wisconsin inventory of smoking dependence motives.

INTRODUCTION: Smokers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differ from smokers without ADHD across a range of smoking outcomes (e.g., higher prevalence rates of smoking, faster progression to regular smoking, and greater difficulty quitting). Moreover, ADHD as a disorder has been characterized by deficits in fundamental motivational processes. To date, few studies have examined how motivation for smoking might differ between nicotine-dependent individuals with and without ADHD. The goal of this study was to assess whether specific smoking motivation factors differentiate smokers with and without ADHD as measured by an empirically derived self-report measure of smoking motivations. METHODS: Smokers with (n = 61) and without (n = 89) ADHD participated in a range of laboratory and clinical studies that included the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM). RESULTS: A series of one-way analysis of covariances statistically controlling for age and race indicated that smokers with ADHD scored higher on the following WISDM subscales than their non-ADHD peers: automaticity, loss of control, cognitive enhancement, cue exposure, and negative reinforcement. Smokers in the non-ADHD group yielded higher scores on the social- environmental goads WISDM subscale. No group by gender interactions emerged. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smokers with ADHD report different motives for smoking than smokers without ADHD. Clarifying the role of these motivational factors has implications for smoking prevention and treatment.

Evaluation of an algorithm based on peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cell and CD34+ cell concentrations to optimize peripheral blood progenitor cell collection by apheresis.

BACKGROUND: Quantification of peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ cells is commonly used to plan peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) collection but is time-consuming. Sysmex has developed a hematology analyzer that can quickly identify a population of immature hematopoietic cells (HPCs) according to cell size, cell density, and differential lysis resistance, which may indicate the presence of PBPCs in PB. This prospective study has evaluated the potential of such method to predict the PBPC mobilization. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 141 patients underwent PBPC mobilization. PB HPCs and PB CD34+ cells were simultaneously quantified with a hematology analyzer (SE2100, Sysmex) and flow cytometry, respectively. The number of blood volumes processed was then based on PB CD34+ cell concentration. RESULTS: The optimal PB HPC level able to predict a minimal level of 10 x 10(6) PB CD34+ cells per L was 5 x 10(6) per L with positive and negative predictive values of 0.93 and 0.36 percent, respectively. For this cutoff point, sensitivity and specificity were 0.81 and 0.65, respectively. The median number of blood volumes processed according to the PB CD34+ cell count allowed us to perform only one apheresis procedure for a majority of patients. CONCLUSION: PB HPC quantification is very useful to quickly determine the initiation of PBPC apheresis especially for patients with higher concentrations. For patients exhibiting a lower HPC count (<5 x 10(6)/L), other parameters such as a CD34 test may be needed. Such a policy associated with a length of apheresis adapted to the richness in the PB CD34+ cells allows for optimizing the organization of centers with an improvement in patient comfort and economical savings.

Fatal inflammatory hypophysitis.

A young female patient presented as an acute medical emergency with hypoglycaemia. Investigations revealed panhypopituitarism and an inflammatory pituitary mass. An antibody screen was negative for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies with cytoplasmic distribution (cANCA). Pituitary histology showed lymphocytic infiltration and a few Langerhan's cells. The pituitary mass rapidly expanded to involve the optic nerves and led to bilateral blindness. Later, the patient developed diarrhoea, a vasculitis rash, scleritis, and proteinuria. In subsequent investigations cANCA became positive. The patient responded to steroids and cyclophosphamide treatment and remained in partial remission for six months before dying of severe sepsis. This is the first description of Wegener's granulomatosis presenting with acute anterior pituitary failure in the absence of other organ involvement and negative serology.

Tetracycline-regulated secretion of human (pro)insulin following plasmid-mediated transfection of human muscle.

Long-term secretion of insulin by host muscle following transduction with an insulin gene construct offers the potential of gene therapy for diabetes without immunosuppression. Clinical implementation will be dependent on proof of principle in human tissue and a system for safely regulating basal insulin levels. Liposomal co-transfection with a tetracycline-responsive wild type human preproinsulin (pTRE-hppI1) or mutant construct (pTRE-hppI4), in which PC2 and PC3 cleavage sites were altered to form tetrabasic consensus sites for furin, together with pTet-off (coding for a transactivating protein) was evaluated in the C2C12 mouse myoblast cell line and human myoblasts following establishment in primary culture. In the absence of tetracycline, (pro)insulin secretion in C2C12 and human myoblasts transfected with tetracycline-responsive hppI1 and hppI4 constructs was comparable to that following transfection with equivalent constructs under the control of a constitutively active cytomegaloviral promoter. Percentage processing to mature insulin was <5% in C2C12 and human myoblasts transfected with pTet-off/pTRE-hppI1 but >90% in C2C12 cells and 45-60% in human myoblasts on transfection with pTet-off/pTRE-hppI4. Incremental dose-responsive suppression of proinsulin secretion was demonstrated in C2C12 and human myoblasts expressing pTet-off/pTRE-hppI1 following incubation with tetracycline (0-100 microg/ml) for up to 72 h. Reversibility was confirmed following tetracycline withdrawal. Dose-responsive tetracycline-inducible repression of mature insulin secretion was confirmed in C2C12 cells following transfection with pTet-off/pTRE-hppI4. Regulation of human proinsulin biosynthesis and secretion has been attained in vivo following plasmid-mediated gene transfer to rat skeletal muscle and oral tetracycline administration. In conclusion, processing to mature insulin has been confirmed following plasmid-mediated gene transfer to human muscle in addition to in vitro- and in vivo-regulated human proinsulin secretion employing the safe and well-tolerated antibiotic, tetracycline.

Low failure rate of fixed administered activity of 400 MBq 131I with pre-treatment with carbimazole for thyrotoxicosis: the Gateshead Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Thyrotoxicosis is associated with significant morbidity, therefore adequate control of the disease is paramount. The outcome of treatment of thyrotoxicosis using radioiodine shows variable failure rates depending, amongst other things, on the administered activity of radioiodine and the use of anti-thyroid drugs. Thus, management should follow an evidence based protocol, which has a low failure rate. METHOD: We prospectively analysed the outcome of treatment using our Gateshead protocol of a fixed administered activity of radioiodine therapy (400 MBq) given to 201 patients (including 140 with Graves' disease, 48 with toxic multinodular goitre (TMNG) and 13 with toxic nodule) followed up for a median period of 12 months (range, 6-77 months). Carbimazole was discontinued in patients rendered euthyroid 16 days prior to radioiodine. No routine anti-thyroid drugs or thyroxine were given following radioiodine unless hypothyroidism or thyrotoxicosis occurred. RESULTS: Following the Gateshead protocol led to a failure rate of 6.5% (eight females with Graves' disease, four females with TMNG and one female with toxic nodule), 29% euthyroidism and 64% hypothyroidism. The rates of hypothyroidism for women and for men were: in Graves' disease 77% and 79%, in TMNG 29% and 75%, in toxic nodule 42% and 0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations show that withholding an antithyroid drug in excess of just over 2 weeks prior to administering a fixed administered activity of radioiodine in patients with thyrotoxicosis leads to the lowest reported failure rate, irrespective of the underlying cause. One possible mechanism for this could be the avoidance of drug induced radio-resistance.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A: an unusual clinical presentation and association with renal dysplasia.

We report what we believe to be the first case of a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN 2A) and renal dysplasia associated with an RET 634 mutation. The proband presented at the age of 29 with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), bilateral pheochromocytomas, and primary hyperparathyroidism. Screening of family members identified the syndrome in his father. Both the proband and his father carry RET 634 germline mutation resulting in cysteine to arginine amino acid substitution. The proband had a left nephrectomy at the age of 10 years. Histologic examination of the resected kidney revealed severe dysplasia. His father had normal renal tract on ultrasonography. The proband's clinical presentation was unusual, and initially thought to be an atypical pneumonia. Surgical management after pharmacologic alpha- and beta-blockage consisted of bilateral adrenalectomy, total thyroidectomy, and subtotal parathyroidectomy as a single procedure.