Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Therapy Approaches Provided To Traumatized Refugee Children, Esther Ekeh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The study examined various trauma treatments provided to traumatized refugee children and evaluated their effectiveness. Interviews were conducted with five mental health professionals, comprising two males and three females. The professionals included a psychologist at Caritas, a coordinator at Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), a manager of an international non-governmental organization (NGO), a clinical psychologist at the Happiness Again Project, and a psychologist at an NGO. All interviews were conducted in person. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. The findings revealed that play therapy and group therapy emerged as the most effective trauma treatments for traumatized refugee …

An Exploration Of The Social And Economic Factors That Influence The Mental Health Of Lgbtq College Students, Alexandria Mh Fossum

Senior Theses

LGBTQ individuals face a much higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and mental health issues than their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts. The added academic pressures of college introduce a unique set of challenges that LGBTQ students face. This thesis includes a review of academic literature and data examining the intersections between social isolation, institutional discrimination, and financial insecurity and the effects they have on the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ college students. The paper is accompanied by a documentary consisting of a set of interviews of LGBTQ college students, giving a more personal insight into the multitude of factors that affect their …

Sensing Fear: Fast And Precise Threat Evaluation In Human Sensory Cortex, Wen Li, Andreas Keil

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Animal models of threat processing have evolved beyond the amygdala to incorporate a distributed neural network. In human research, evidence has intensified in recent years to challenge the canonical threat circuitry centered on the amygdala, urging revision of threat conceptualization. A strong surge of research into threat processing in the sensory cortex in the past decade has generated particularly useful insights to inform the reconceptualization. Here, synthesizing findings from both animal and human research, we highlight sensitive, specific, and adaptable threat representations in the sensory cortex, arising from experience-based sculpting of sensory coding networks. We thus propose that the human …

Sexual Health And Relationship Abuse Interventions In Pediatric Primary Care: A Systematic Review, Susheel Kant Khetarpal, Sarah Tiffany-Appleton, Erin E Mickievicz, Romina L Barral, Kimberly A Randell, Jeff R Temple, Elizabeth Miller, Maya I Ragavan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Supporting adolescents in developing healthy relationships and promoting sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is an important responsibility of pediatric primary care providers. Less is known about evidence-based interventions in pediatric settings focused on healthy relationships and SRH.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to describe SRH and healthy relationship/adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) interventions for pediatric primary care over the past 20 years. Eligible articles were original research on an SRH-focused or ARA-focused intervention, conducted in-person within pediatric primary care or school-based health centers specifically for middle or high school-aged adolescents. Data abstracted from included articles included intervention description, content, …

Well-Being Content Inclusion In Pharmacy Education Across The United States And Canada, Elizabeth Buckley, Simi Gunaseelan, Benjamin D Aronson, Heidi N Anksorus, Victoria Belousova, Tram B Cat, Kristine M Cline, Stacey D Curtis, Christina E Deremer, David Fuentes, Mckenzie S Grinalds, Seena L Haines, Hannah E Johnson, Karen Kopacek, Jessica M Louie, Nkem P Nonyel, Natasha Petry, Shawn Riser Taylor, Suzanne C Harris, Cheryl A Sadowski, Anandi V Law

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective. To describe the landscape of well-being content inclusion across schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States and Canada through identification of content implementation, incorporation, and assessment.

Methods. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to all accredited schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States (n=143) and Canada (n=10). Survey questions included curricular and cocurricular timing, frequency, assessment strategies, and support for well-being initiatives, using a framework of eight dimensions (pillars) of wellness to categorize content.

Results. Descriptive data analyses were applied to 99 completed surveys (65%), 89 (62%) in the United States and 10 (100%) in Canada. …

Just-In-Time Decision Making: Preliminary Findings Of A Goals Of Care Rapid Response Team, Donna S Zhukovsky, Yvonne Heung, Parema Enriquez, Nelda Itzep, Zhanni Lu, Nico Nortje, Penny Stanton, Angelique Wong, Eduardo Bruera

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic placed the issue of resource utilization front and center. Our comprehensive cancer center developed a Goals of Care Rapid Response Team (GOC RRT) to optimize resource utilization balanced with goal-concordant patient care.

OBJECTIVES: Primary study objective was to evaluate feasibility of the GOC RRT by describing the frequency of consultations that occurred from those requested. Secondary objectives included adherence to consultation processes in terms of core team member participation and preliminary efficacy in limiting care escalation.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients referred to GOC RRT (3/23/2020-9/30/2020). Analysis was descriptive. Categorical variables were …

Evaluating The Causal Effect Of Tobacco Smoking On White Matter Brain Aging: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis In Uk Biobank, Chen Mo, Jingtao Wang, Zhenyao Ye, Hongjie Ke, Song Liu, Kathryn Hatch, Si Gao, Jessica Magidson, Chixiang Chen, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, L Elliot Hong, Tianzhou Ma, Shuo Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for impaired brain function, but its causal effect on white matter brain aging remains unclear. This study aimed to measure the causal effect of tobacco smoking on white matter brain aging.

DESIGN: Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using two non-overlapping data sets (with and without neuroimaging data) from UK Biobank (UKB). The group exposed to smoking and control group consisted of current smokers and never smokers, respectively. Our main method was generalized weighted linear regression with other methods also included as sensitivity analysis.

SETTING: United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS: The study cohort included 23 …

Experiences Of Counselors Who Assist Women In Midlife Who Display Depressive Symptoms: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Carla Tovar

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I present a transcendental phenomenological study conducted with 12 counselors who worked with women in midlife who displayed depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences, clinical and personal, of licensed professional counselors (LPCs) who worked with women in midlife who displayed depressive symptoms. Through the study, I sought to recognize the essence and themes that emerged from these LPCs who worked with this population. Moreover, this study was designed to obtain a better understanding of how these LPCs managed their feelings and thoughts, how they helped when working with these women, …

Development And Pilot Testing Of Internet-Delivered, Family-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Anxiety And Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders In Autistic Youth, Andrew G Guzick, Sophie C Schneider, Amanda B Perozo Garcia, Minjee Kook, Rebecca L Greenberg, David Riddle, Morgan Mcneel, Servando Rodriguez-Barajas, Michelle Yang, Blake Upshaw, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Cognitive behavioral therapy adapted for autistic youth with anxiety and/or OCD has a strong evidence base, but few have access. A 12-week family-based, Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) program for 7-15 year-old autistic youth with anxiety and/or OCD was developed as a potential method to address this problem. Quantitative and qualitative feedback from stakeholders (parents, youth, clinicians) was gathered on an initial draft of content before conducting a pilot trial. This feedback suggested high quality, engagement, usability, and informativeness of the material. Suggestions were incorporated into the treatment program that was tested in a pilot trial. Eight families were randomized …

Things That Make You Go Hmm: Myths And Misconceptions Within Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Samuel D Spencer, Jordan T Stiede, Andrew D Wiese, Andrew G Guzick, Matti Cervin, Dean Mckay, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

The past four decades have yielded a robust body of evidence supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) as a gold-standard treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) across the lifespan. Exposure and response prevention (E/RP) has been identified as a key component of this approach. Despite robust research support for CBT with E/RP, several myths and misconceptions continue to proliferate in both research and practice settings. Such myths and misconceptions are concerning, as they lack empirical basis, may hinder widespread dissemination and implementation of CBT for OCD, and run contrary to the practice of evidence-based psychological medicine. Focusing on …

Cigarette Smoke Condensate Induces Centrosome Clustering In Normal Lung Epithelial Cells, Jose Thaiparambil, Chandra S Amara, Subrata Sen, Nagireddy Putluri, Randa El-Zein

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Unlike normal cells, cancer cells frequently have multiple centrosomes that can cluster to form bipolar mitotic spindles and allow for successful cell division. Inhibiting centrosome clustering, therefore, holds therapeutic promise to promote cancer cell-specific cell death.

METHODS: We used confocal microscopy, real-time PCR, siRNA knockdown, and western blot to analyze centrosome clustering and declustering using normal lung bronchial epithelial and nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. Also, we used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software to identify novel pathways associated with centrosome clustering.

RESULTS: In this study, we found that exposure to cigarette smoke condensate induces centrosome amplification and clustering in …

Association Of Clinical Outcomes And Connectivity In Awake Versus Asleep Deep Brain Stimulation For Parkinson Disease, Ron Gadot, Nora Vanegas Arroyave, Huy Dang, Adrish Anand, Ricardo A Najera, Lisa Yutong Taneff, Steven Bellows, Arjun Tarakad, Joseph Jankovic, Andreas Horn, Ben Shofty, Ashwin Viswanathan, Sameer A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease (PD) is traditionally performed with awake intraoperative testing and/or microelectrode recording. Recently, however, the procedure has been increasingly performed under general anesthesia with image-based verification. The authors sought to compare structural and functional networks engaged by awake and asleep PD-DBS of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and correlate them with clinical outcomes.

METHODS: Levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), pre- and postoperative motor scores on the Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III (MDS-UPDRS III), and total electrical energy delivered (TEED) at 6 months were retroactively assessed in patients with PD who …

Interactive Mobile Application For Parkinson’S Disease Deep Brain Stimulation (Map Dbs): An Open-Label, Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial, Gordon Duffley, Aniko Szabo, Barbara J Lutz, Emily C Mahoney-Rafferty, Christopher W Hess, Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora, Pamela Zeilman, Kelly D Foote, Shannon Chiu, Michael H Pourfar, Clarisse Goas Cnp, Jennifer L Wood, Ihtsham U Haq, Mustafa S Siddiqui, Mitra Afshari, Melissa Heiry, Jennifer Choi, Monica Volz, Jill L Ostrem, Marta San Luciano, Nicki Niemann, Andrew Billnitzer, Daniel Savitt, Arjun Tarakad, Joohi Jimenez-Shahed, Camila C Aquino, Michael S Okun, Christopher R Butson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD), but its efficacy is tied to DBS programming, which is often time consuming and burdensome for patients, caregivers, and clinicians. Our aim is to test whether the Mobile Application for PD DBS (MAP DBS), a clinical decision support system, can improve programming.

METHODS: We conducted an open-label, 1:1 randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial comparing six months of SOC standard of care (SOC) to six months of MAP DBS-aided programming. We enrolled patients between 30 and 80 years old who received DBS to treat idiopathic PD at six …

Construction Of Semi-Supervised Spatial Projections To Identify The Source Of Beta- And High Frequency Oscillations In Parkinson’S Disease, Luciano R F Branco, Ashwin Viswanathan, Arjun Tarakad, Nuri F Ince

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Traditional deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD) targets the placement of DBS leads into subthalamic nucleus (STN). Extraction of neurobiomarkers from STN local field potential activity can be used for the optimization of DBS. Beta (12-30 Hz) and high frequency oscillations (200-450 Hz, HFO) of STN and their phase-amplitude coupling have been previously correlated with symptom severity in PD. The typical approach is to take bipolar derivations of electrode contacts in order to enhance recordings of local brain activity and suppress noise levels. This approach can often cancel the signals in correlated neighboring contacts and create ambiguity …

Approaching Object Acceleration Differentially Affects The Predictions Of Neuronal Collision Avoidance Models, Fabrizio Gabbiani, Thomas Preuss, Richard B Dewell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The processing of visual information for collision avoidance has been investigated at the biophysical level in several model systems. In grasshoppers, the (so-called) [Formula: see text] model captures reasonably well the visual processing performed by an identified neuron called the lobular giant movement detector as it tracks approaching objects. Similar phenomenological models have been used to describe either the firing rate or the membrane potential of neurons responsible for visually guided collision avoidance in other animals. Specifically, in goldfish, the [Formula: see text] model has been proposed to describe the Mauthner cell, an identified neuron involved in startle escape responses. …

Colonization Of Patients Hospitalized At Orthopedic Department Of Tertiary Hospital In Uganda With Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacterales, Jules Bizimana, Jerome Ndayisenga, Henry Kajumbura, Phillip Mulepo, Najjuka Florence Christine

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Beta-lactamase production remains the most contributing factor to beta-lactam resistance. Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) are associated with risk factors both in hospital and community settings.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the incidence and risk factors for intestinal carriage of ESBL-PE among patients admitted to orthopedic ward of Mulago National Referral Hospital, and to analyze the acquisition of ESBL-PE during hospital stay and associated factors.

METHODS: We screened 172 patients aged 18 years old and above who got admitted to the orthopedic ward of Mulago National Referral Hospital between May to July 2017. Stool samples or rectal swabs were collected at admission, …

Pilot Clinical Trial Of Macimorelin To Assess Safety And Efficacy In Patients With Cancer Cachexia, Megan Herodes, Lindsey J Anderson, Samuel Shober, Ellen A Schur, Solomon A Graf, Nicola Ammer, Ramiro Salas, Marco Marcelli, Jose M Garcia

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Cancer cachexia is associated with reduced body weight, appetite and quality of life (QOL) with no approved treatments. Growth hormone secretagogues like macimorelin have potential to mitigate these effects.

METHODS: This pilot study assessed the safety and efficacy of macimorelin for 1 week. Efficacy was defined a priori as 1-week change in body weight (≥0.8 kg), plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 (≥50 ng/mL) or QOL (≥15%). Secondary outcomes included food intake, appetite, functional performance, energy expenditure and safety laboratory parameters. Patients with cancer cachexia were randomized to 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg macimorelin or placebo; outcomes were assessed non-parametrically.

RESULTS: …

Selecting Dcd Recipients Using Predictive Indices, Saif Ganni, Greta Handing, Adrish Anand, Spencer Barrett, Nhu Thao Nguyen Galvan, Christine O'Mahony, John A Goss, Ronald T Cotton, Abbas Rana

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

UNLABELLED: Donation after circulatory death (DCD) allografts might represent one of the largest untapped sources of liver allografts. Our aim was to identify independent recipient risk factors that predict mortality in DCD allograft recipients to preselect optimal candidates for successful transplantation. Furthermore, we compared the application of our newly constructed DCD Recipient Selector Index (RSI) score to previously developed models to determine superiority in predicting recipient survival.

METHODS: Using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database, we performed univariate and multivariate retrospective analyses on 4228 DCD liver allograft recipients.

RESULTS: We identified 8 significant factors and incorporated them into the …

A Critical Analysis Of Discrepancies In Behavioral Health Program Ratings By Evidence-Based Practice Registers For Behavioral Health, Miranda Jade Lee-Easton

Dissertations

Decision makers in the behavioral health disciplines are under increasing pressure to identify and implement evidence-based practices (EBPs). These decision makers often do not have the time or expertise to assess primary studies of program efficacy or effectiveness. They could benefit from tools to assist them in identifying and implementing EBPs. One tool is an evidence-based practice register (EBPR). Prior studies have documented that when multiple EBPRs rate a given program, they may come to seemingly conflicting program ratings. The prior research concerning the reason for these conflicts is sparse. The purpose of the present study is to understand how …

Efficacy Of A Relaxation Scenario In Virtual Reality For The Comorbid Symptoms Of Anxiety And Asthenia In A General Hospital Setting: A Pilot Comparative Randomized Open-Label Study, Taisiya А Lepilkina, Allan G Beniashvili, Roman A Cheremin, Natalya G Malyukova, Margarita A Morozova, Mikhail A Bogdanov, Denis S Burminsky, Sergei S Potanin, Svetlana V Rodkina, George E Rupchev, Margarita N Eip

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Patients in general hospitals often display concomitant signs of mental maladjustment: low mood, anxiety, apathy, asthenia, all of which can have a negative impact on the course of the underlying disease and the recovery process. One of the non-pharmacological approaches that has gained wider acceptance in medical practice in recent years is the use of procedures based on virtual reality.

AIM: Assess the efficacy of the new domestic, virtual reality application Flow as relates to symptoms of anxiety and asthenia in patients undergoing inpatient treatment.

METHODS: The study was open-label and had a comparison group; the patients were assigned …