Identity and pregnancy in conflict?: an examination of sexual minority women using qualitative description.

While there is growing documentation of pregnancy among sexual minority women, little research has focused on their perceptions and experiences of conflict between sexual minority identity and pregnancy. Because of this, this study used Social Identity Theory and qualitative descriptive analysis to explore the following questions: do sexual minority women perceive sexual minority identity and pregnancy as in conflict; and if so, from where does this conflict arise and how do sexual minority women experience it? Participants included 21 lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and other non-heterosexual cisgender women, a third of whom had previously been pregnant. Themes captured internally located conflict, including participants who saw pregnancy as irrelevant and those who experienced pregnancy as acceptable for sexual minority women; imposed conflict from healthcare contexts, including both health provider assumptions and imposed conflict on reproductive autonomy; and ambivalence. Overall, few participants noted internalised conflict between their sexual minority identity and pregnancy. Instead, sexual minority women experienced ambivalence or imposed conflict between their sexual minority identities and pregnancy from their health providers, although this imposed conflict was not limited to sexual orientation.

Metabolite profiling and pharmacokinetic evaluation of hydrocortisone in a perfused three-dimensional human liver bioreactor.

Endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is known to cause liver injury primarily involving inflammatory cells such as Kupffer cells, but few in vitro culture models are applicable for investigation of inflammatory effects on drug metabolism. We have developed a three-dimensional human microphysiological hepatocyte-Kupffer cell coculture system and evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of glucocorticoids on liver cultures. LPS was introduced to the cultures to elicit an inflammatory response and was assessed by the release of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor α. A sensitive and specific reversed-phase-ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry method was used to evaluate hydrocortisone disappearance and metabolism at near physiologic levels. For this, the systems were dosed with 100 nM hydrocortisone and circulated for 2 days; hydrocortisone was depleted to approximately 30 nM, with first-order kinetics. Phase I metabolites, including tetrahydrocortisone and dihydrocortisol, accounted for 8-10% of the loss, and 45-52% consisted of phase II metabolites, including glucuronides of tetrahydrocortisol and tetrahydrocortisone. Pharmacokinetic parameters, i.e., half-life, rate of elimination, clearance, and area under the curve, were 23.03 hours, 0.03 hour(-1), 6.6 × 10(-5) l⋅hour(-1), and 1.03 (mg/l)*h, respectively. The ability of the bioreactor to predict the in vivo clearance of hydrocortisone was characterized, and the obtained intrinsic clearance values correlated with human data. This system offers a physiologically relevant tool for investigating hepatic function in an inflamed liver.

Photopatterning of hydrogel scaffolds coupled to filter materials using stereolithography for perfused 3D culture of hepatocytes.

In vitro models that recapitulate the liver's structural and functional complexity could prolong hepatocellular viability and function to improve platforms for drug toxicity studies and understanding liver pathophysiology. Here, stereolithography (SLA) was employed to fabricate hydrogel scaffolds with open channels designed for post-seeding and perfused culture of primary hepatocytes that form 3D structures in a bioreactor. Photopolymerizable polyethylene glycol-based hydrogels were fabricated coupled to chemically activated, commercially available filters (polycarbonate and polyvinylidene fluoride) using a chemistry that permitted cell viability, and was robust enough to withstand perfused culture of up to 1 µL/s for at least 7 days. SLA energy dose, photoinitiator concentrations, and pretreatment conditions were screened to determine conditions that maximized cell viability and hydrogel bonding to the filter. Multiple open channel geometries were readily achieved, and included ellipses and rectangles. Rectangular open channels employed for subsequent studies had final dimensions on the order of 350 µm by 850 µm. Cell seeding densities and flow rates that promoted cell viability were determined. Perfused culture of primary hepatocytes in hydrogel scaffolds in the presence of soluble epidermal growth factor (EGF) prolonged the maintenance of albumin production throughout the 7-day culture relative to 2D controls. This technique of bonding hydrogel scaffolds can be employed to fabricate soft scaffolds for a number of bioreactor configurations and applications.

Sampling strategies among studies of barriers to abortion in the United States: A scoping review of abortion access research.

OBJECTIVES: Understanding barriers to abortion care is particularly important post-Dobbs. However, many abortion access studies recruit from abortion-providing facilities, which overlook individuals who do not present for clinic-based care. To our knowledge, no studies have reviewed research recruitment strategies in the literature or considered how they might affect our knowledge of abortion barriers. We aimed to identify populations included and sampling methods used in studies of abortion barriers in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: We used a scoping review protocol to search five databases for articles examining US-based individuals' experiences accessing abortion. We included English-language articles published between January 2011 and February 2022. For included studies, we identified the sampling strategy and population recruited. RESULTS: Our search produced 2763 articles, of which 71 met inclusion criteria. Half of the included papers recruited participants at abortion-providing facilities (n = 35), while the remainder recruited from online sources (n = 14), other health clinics (n = 10), professional organizations (n = 8), abortion funds (n = 2), community organizations (n = 2), key informants (n = 2), and an abortion storytelling project (n = 1). Most articles (n = 61) reported information from people discussing their own abortions; the rest asked nonabortion seekers (e.g., physicians, genetic counselors, attorneys) about barriers to care. CONCLUSIONS: Studies of abortion barriers enroll participants from a range of venues, but the majority recruit people who obtained abortions, and half recruit from abortion clinics. IMPLICATIONS: As abortion access becomes constrained and criminalized in the post-Roe context, our findings indicate how investigators might recruit study participants from a variety of settings to fully understand the abortion seeking experience.

Understanding the Implementation of Informal Meditation Practice in a Smartphone-Based Intervention: A Qualitative Analysis.

Objectives: Informal practice (i.e., brief meditation practices incorporated spontaneously into daily activities) may be important for increasing the efficacy and accessibility of meditation-based interventions (MedBIs). However, the facilitators and barriers to engaging in informal practice are largely unknown. The current study aimed to investigate factors associated with the implementation of informal practice. Method: Participants were drawn from a randomized trial testing the effects of 5- versus 15-min daily meditation practice in a 4-week smartphone-delivered meditation training. Qualitative interviews on informal practice were conducted with 17 participants (mean age: 37.12 years; 82.35% female; 52.94% non-Latinx White) following the intervention. Given that prior knowledge on this topic is limited, inductive content analysis was utilized to characterize participants' experiences in relation to implementing informal practice. Results: Four overarching categories emerged from the data, namely (a) reported benefits of informal practice, (b) integration of informal practice, (c) perceived barriers to informal practice, and (d) recommended facilitators of informal practice. Conclusion: This study underscores the importance of addressing barriers and facilitators (e.g., providing personalized app features, reminders, social support, and repeating intervention content) to encourage individuals' informal practice. Findings provide suggestions for methods to increase engagement in informal practice, which may, in turn, increase the accessibility and effectiveness of MedBIs. Preregistration: The larger trial from which the qualitative interview participants were drawn was preregistered through clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05229406) and the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/fszvj/?view_only=039b14ccbf8848bd99808c983070b635). The qualitative analyses reported here were not preregistered.

Expert participation in 25 years of Wisconsin abortion policymaking.

OBJECTIVE: State-level abortion restrictions grew considerably in number over the last two decades. This study examines the scope of expert testimony given in legislative committee hearings at which these laws are first debated. STUDY DESIGN: We gathered 265 testimonies given by experts at Wisconsin legislative committee hearings on 34 abortion bills from 1995 to 2019. We coded testimonies to identify testifiers' ideological leaning and source of expertise. We conducted descriptive analyses of testifiers' participation. RESULTS: Experts with anti-abortion rights views testified more often than experts with pro-abortion rights views (2.1 vs 1.4 testimonies per expert). Experts with an activism background testified more often than experts in medicine (2.5 vs 1.3 testimonies per expert). Anti-abortion activist experts represented the largest proportion of testimonies (32%) but the smallest proportion of testifiers (16%). Pro-abortion rights medical experts gave the fewest testimonies (24%) relative to their proportion of testifiers (31%). The number of testimonies given by pro-abortion rights activist experts remained stable over the study period. Testimonies given by all other kinds of experts were more numerous in recent years. CONCLUSIONS: The experts who testify most frequently tend to espouse anti-abortion views and have backgrounds in activism rather than healthcare. These repeat testifiers may have more opportunities to build relationships with legislators and thus influence policy. Anti-abortion rights activist experts' outsized role in legislative hearings, especially in recent years, should concern advocates of evidence-based reproductive health policy. Medical experts may be deterred from giving testimony by logistical or other structural barriers in the legislative process. IMPLICATIONS: The family planning field should conduct more research on the role of experts in abortion policymaking. Future studies should examine testifiers in other states and identify barriers pro-abortion medical experts may face to testifying, as these experts are key for creating evidence-based abortion policy.

When the political is professional: Civil disobedience in psychology.

Activists use civil disobedience as a means of putting social justice into practice. Psychologists can engage in civil disobedience to enact psychology's ethical principles, support marginalized communities, promote social welfare, and contest injustice. Drawing from the work of minoritized scholars within and outside of psychology, the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code, social constructionism, intersectionality, and social justice movements, our article aims to empower psychologists to understand and use civil disobedience and advocates for expanding civil disobedience in the profession. Because psychologists' identities and contexts will inform their own civil disobedience, we utilize a social justice issue germane to our own work supporting transgender people as an exemplar where our ethical principles would conflict with law; thus, warranting civil disobedience. This example concerns Ohio House Bill 658, which, if enacted, would have mandated that psychologists "immediately notify, in writing, each of [a] child's parents if the child shows symptoms of gender dysphoria or otherwise demonstrates a desire to be treated in a manner opposite of the child's biological sex." We return to Ohio HB 658 and explore other contemporary social justice issues throughout to reveal how psychologists can conceptualize and enact civil disobedience in pursuit of transformative change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).