Feasibility of the Implementation of Tools for Heart Failure Risk Prediction: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.

Background: The 2022 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association heart failure (HF) guidelines recommended the use of multivariable risk equations to guide HF prevention. However, this strategy has not been prospectively assessed.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the feasibility of risk-based prevention of HF.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Tracheostomized Patients With and Without COVID-19.

Unlabelled: Outcomes of tracheostomized patients with COVID-19 are seldomly investigated with conflicting evidence from the existing literature.

Objectives: To create a study evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on tracheostomized patients by comparing clinical outcomes and weaning parameters in COVID-19 positive and negative cohorts.

Design Setting And Participants: A retrospective observational cohort study of 604 tracheostomized patients hospitalized in 16 ICUs in New York City between March 9, 2020, and September 8, 2021.

Corrigendum: Rationale and Design of a Pharmacist-led Intervention for the Risk-Based Prevention of Heart Failure: The FIT-HF Pilot Study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2021.

Rationale and Design of a Pharmacist-led Intervention for the Risk-Based Prevention of Heart Failure: The FIT-HF Pilot Study.

Given rising morbidity, mortality, and costs due to heart failure (HF), new approaches for prevention are needed. A quantitative risk-based strategy, in line with established guidelines for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease prevention, may efficiently select patients most likely to benefit from intensification of preventive care, but a risk-based strategy has not yet been applied to HF prevention. The Feasibility of the Implementation of Tools for Heart Failure Risk Prediction (FIT-HF) pilot study will enroll 100 participants free of cardiovascular disease who receive primary care at a single integrated health system and have a 10-year predicted risk of HF of ≥5% based on the previously validated Pooled Cohort equations to Prevent Heart Failure.

Impact of Duration of N-Acetylcysteine in Non-Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Failure.

Objectives: Studies of the use of IV N-acetylcysteine in the management of non-acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure have evaluated various dosing regimens. The only randomized trial studying this application described a 72-hour regimen. However, observational studies have reported extended duration until normalization of international normalized ratio.

A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver-Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity.

Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear.

Group Treatment of Fecal Incontinence: A Description of an Interdisciplinary Intervention.

Introduction: Approximately 5% of children in the United States have chronic fecal incontinence. Unfortunately, standard medical management of fecal incontinence fails in 20% to 60% of cases. A combined medical-behavioral model is often recommended in these cases.

Behavioral inhibition and activation as a modifier process in autism spectrum disorder: Examination of self-reported BIS/BAS and alpha EEG asymmetry.

The Modifier Model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests that phenotypic variability within ASD is rooted in modifier processes, such as the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS). Among a sample of 53 adolescents with ASD, this study examined associations between (a) self-reported BIS/BAS and frontal and parietal alpha electroencephalogram asymmetry and whether these indices related to (b) ASD severity (via the Autism Quotient), and/or (c) co-occurring anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (via Youth Self Report and Child Behavior Checklist). Findings showed that alpha asymmetry was associated with self-reported BAS scores, such that greater BAS was related to greater right-frontal hemisphere activation and relatively greater left-parietal hemisphere activation.

Social difficulties in youth with autism with and without anxiety and ADHD symptoms.

Social difficulties inherent to autism spectrum disorder are often linked with co-occurring symptoms of anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study sought to examine the relation between such co-occurring symptoms and social challenges. Parents of adolescents with autism (N = 113) reported upon social challenges via the social responsiveness scale (SRS) and anxiety and ADHD symptomatology via the Child Behavior Checklist.

Examining the Links Between Challenging Behaviors in Youth with ASD and Parental Stress, Mental Health, and Involvement: Applying an Adaptation of the Family Stress Model to Families of Youth with ASD.

Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) poses unique challenges that may impact parents' mental health and parenting experiences. The current study analyzed self-report data from 77 parents of youth with ASD. A serial multiple mediation model revealed that parenting stress (SIPA) and parental mental health (BAI and BDI-II) appears to be impacted by challenging adolescent behaviors (SSIS-PBs) and, in turn, affect parental involvement (PRQ), controlling for social skills (SSIS-SSs).

Changes in Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents with ASD Completing the PEERS Social Skills Intervention.

Depression is a common concern among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is often associated with social skills and relationship challenges. The present data, from a randomized controlled trial, examined the effect of PEERS on self-reported depressive symptoms via the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) among 49 adolescents with ASD. Findings revealed that many CDI subscale scores declined (p's < 0.

Brief Report: Does Gender Matter in Intervention for ASD? Examining the Impact of the PEERS Social Skills Intervention on Social Behavior Among Females with ASD.

A paucity of research has been conducted to examine the effect of social skills intervention on females with ASD. Females with ASD may have more difficulty developing meaningful friendships than males, as the social climate can be more complex (Archer, Coyne, Personality and Social Psychology Review 9(3):212-230, 2005). This study examined whether treatment response among females differed from males.

A Replication and Extension of the PEERS® for Young Adults Social Skills Intervention: Examining Effects on Social Skills and Social Anxiety in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Young adults with ASD experience difficulties with social skills, empathy, loneliness, and social anxiety. One intervention, PEERS® for Young Adults, shows promise in addressing these challenges. The present study replicated and extended the original study by recruiting a larger sample (N = 56), employing a gold standard ASD assessment tool, and examining changes in social anxiety utilizing a randomized controlled trial design.

Brief Report: Assessment of Intervention Effects on In Vivo Peer Interactions in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a randomized controlled trial of a social skills intervention, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39(4): 596-606, 2009), by coding digitally recorded social interactions between adolescent participants with ASD and a typically developing adolescent confederate. Adolescent participants engaged in a 10-min peer interaction at pre- and post-treatment.

Parent and family outcomes of PEERS: a social skills intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with increased family chaos and parent distress. Successful long-term treatment outcomes are dependent on healthy systemic functioning, but the family impact of treatment is rarely evaluated. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) is a social skills intervention designed for adolescents with high-functioning ASD.

Electroencephalogram coherence in children with and without autism spectrum disorders: decreased interhemispheric connectivity in autism.

Electroencephalogram coherence was measured in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and control children at baseline and while watching videos of a familiar and unfamiliar person reading a story. Coherence was measured between the left and right hemispheres of the frontal, parietal, and temporal-parietal lobes (interhemispheric) and between the frontal and parietal lobes in each hemisphere (intrahemispheric). A data-reduction technique was employed to identify the frequency (alpha) that yielded significant differences in video conditions.

A replication and extension of the PEERS intervention: examining effects on social skills and social anxiety in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

This study aimed to evaluate the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39(4):596-606, 2009). PEERS focuses on improving friendship quality and social skills among adolescents with higher-functioning ASD.

Measuring the plasticity of social approach: a randomized controlled trial of the effects of the PEERS intervention on EEG asymmetry in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

This study examined whether the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Social skills for teenagers with developmental and autism spectrum disorders: The PEERS treatment manual, Routledge, New York, 2010a) affected neural function, via EEG asymmetry, in a randomized controlled trial of adolescents with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a group of typically developing adolescents. Adolescents with ASD in PEERS shifted from right-hemisphere gamma-band EEG asymmetry before PEERS to left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry after PEERS, versus a waitlist ASD group. Left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry was associated with more social contacts and knowledge, and fewer symptoms of autism.

Rescue of fragile X syndrome phenotypes in Fmr1 KO mice by the small-molecule PAK inhibitor FRAX486.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited form of autism and intellectual disability and is caused by the silencing of a single gene, fragile X mental retardation 1 (Fmr1). The Fmr1 KO mouse displays phenotypes similar to symptoms in the human condition--including hyperactivity, repetitive behaviors, and seizures--as well as analogous abnormalities in the density of dendritic spines. Here we take a hypothesis-driven, mechanism-based approach to the search for an effective therapy for FXS.

Regulation of synaptic structure and function by FMRP-associated microRNAs miR-125b and miR-132.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that suppress translation of specific mRNAs. The miRNA machinery interacts with fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which functions as translational repressor. We show that miR-125b and miR-132, as well as several other miRNAs, are associated with FMRP in mouse brain.

Inhibition of p21-activated kinase rescues symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most commonly inherited form of mental retardation and autism, is caused by transcriptional silencing of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene and consequent loss of the fragile X mental retardation protein. Despite growing evidence suggesting a role of specific receptors and biochemical pathways in FXS pathogenesis, an effective therapeutic method has not been developed. Here, we report that abnormalities in FMR1 knockout (KO) mice, an animal model of FXS, are ameliorated, at least partially, at both cellular and behavioral levels, by an inhibition of the catalytic activity of p21-activated kinase (PAK), a kinase known to play a critical role in actin polymerization and dendritic spine morphogenesis.

Calcium channel and NMDA receptor activities differentially regulate nuclear C/EBPbeta levels to control neuronal survival.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) promotes the survival of cerebellar granule neurons by enhancing calcium influx through L-type calcium channels, whereas NMDA receptor-mediated calcium influx can lead to excitotoxic death. Here we demonstrate that L and NMDA receptor channel activities differentially regulate the transcription factor C/EBPbeta to control neuronal survival. Specifically, we show that L channel-dependent calcium influx results in increased CaMKIV activity, which acts to decrease nuclear C/EBPbeta levels.