An Attempt to Elk it Cardiac Orienting and Defense Responses in the Newborn to Two Types of Facial Stimulation

Cardiac and behavioral reactivity of the human newborn to facial stimulation eliciting approach and escape responses were compared in order to test the distinction between cardiac orienting and defensive reactions. Each infant received 8 trials each of check stimulation (stroking near the mouth) and ear stimulation (pinch on the ear lobe). HR response to both tactile stimuli were accelerations of different amplitude when motor responses were also present. When no overt behavioral response was observed, stroking on the check elicited cardiac deceleration while ear stimulation again elicited acceleration. Thus, cardiac orienting was demonstrated in newborns when a rooting stimulus was presented that did not elicit overt head turning. The HR response to ear stimulation on trials unaccompanied by observed movements was a larger acceleration than to cheek stimulation when movement was present. This finding suggests that movement itself does not produce the observed HR increase, but rather that central processing of the signal value of the stimulus determines both overt and cardiac responding.     

APC from mice harbouring the filarial nematode, Brugia malayi, prevent cellular proliferation but not cytokine production

Specific T cell hyporesponsiveness and depressed antibody productionis a key feature of human infection with the filarial nematodes,Brugia malayi and Wuchereria bancrofti Despite this immune suppression,responses indicative of T_h2 subset activation are present, includingunusually high levels of specific lgG4. We tested the possibilitythat infection with filarial nematodes causes a reduction inthe co-stimulatory or antigen-presenting capacity of macrophagesresulting in a failure to activate specific T cells. Adherentperitoneal exudate cells (PEC) from mice implanted with adultB. malayi were used to present antigen to the conalbumin-specificT cell clone, D10.G4. Proliferation of the D10 cells at evenbackground levels was completely blocked by the presence ofimplant-derived adherent PEC. However, cytokine production bythese cells in response to antigen was intact, and thus PECfrom implanted mice are capable of functionally processing andpresenting antigen. The elicitation of a suppressive cell populationwas specific for live adults as cells from mice implanted withdead adult parasites effectively stimulated D10 proliferation.The block in cellular proliferation is not due to the productionof factors typically associated with macrophage suppressionsuch as nitric oxide, prostaglandins or catalase. These observationsare consistent with the T cell hyporesponsiveness seen in humancases of patent Brugia infection and may provide a murine modelfor the immune suppression seen in lymphatic filariasis.     

Introduction: The Quest for Birth Equity and Justice—Now is the Time

Maternal and Child Health Journal -     

Associations Between LGBTQ-Affirming School Climate and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Adolescents

Prevention Science - Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts sexual minority adolescents at rates equal to or greater than the rate it impacts heterosexual adolescents. We investigated whether...     

Discrimination Trends and Mental Health Among Native- and Foreign-Born Latinos: Results from National Surveys in 2004 and 2013

Prevention Science - We examined national trends and mental health correlates of discrimination among Latinos in the USA. We used data from two nationally representative surveys based on the...     

Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Mortality and Allocate Palliative Care for Older Patients With Hip Fracture

ObjectivesTo evaluate a machine learning model designed to predict mortality for Medicare beneficiaries aged >65 years treated for hip fracture in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs).DesignRetrospective design/cohort analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility–Patient Assessment Instrument data.Setting and ParticipantsA total of 17,140 persons admitted to Medicare-certified IRFs in 2015 following hospitalization for hip fracture.MeasuresPatient characteristics include sociodemographic (age, gender, race, and social support) and clinical factors (functional status at admission, chronic conditions) and IRF length of stay. Outcomes were 30-day and 1-year all-cause mortality. We trained and evaluated 2 classification models, logistic regression and a multilayer perceptron (MLP), to predict the probability of 30-day and 1-year mortality and evaluated the calibration, discrimination, and precision of the models.ResultsFor 30-day mortality, MLP performed well [acc = 0.74, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) = 0.76, avg prec = 0.10, slope = 1.14] as did logistic regression (acc = 0.78, AUROC = 0.76, avg prec = 0.09, slope = 1.20). For 1-year mortality, the performances were similar for both MLP (acc = 0.68, AUROC = 0.75, avg prec = 0.32, slope = 0.96) and logistic regression (acc = 0.68, AUROC = 0.75, avg prec = 0.32, slope = 0.95).Conclusion and ImplicationsA scoring system based on logistic regression may be more feasible to run in current electronic medical records. But MLP models may reduce cognitive burden and increase ability to calibrate to local data, yielding clinical specificity in mortality prediction so that palliative care resources may be allocated more effectively.     

Correction to: Health Literacy Within a Diverse Community-Based Cohort: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a typo in co-author name.