Abstract Previous studies have shown variation in the prevalence and incidence of psychosis across immigrant groups, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Stress related to ...acculturation may increase risk for psychosis among immigrant groups. In this study we examine the association between acculturative stress and psychotic-like experiences in a sample of Latino- and Asian-American immigrants to the United States in the National Latino and Asian American Study (n = 2434). Acculturative stress was associated with visual and auditory hallucinations among Asians, but only with hearing voices among Latinos. Increased risk for psychotic-like experiences among Latinos was primarily associated with younger age of immigration. Acculturative stress appears to be a promising candidate mechanism explaining the relationship between immigration and psychosis, particularly among Asian Americans. Ethnic differences may reflect variability between groups that integrate more readily into the host culture and those that are subject to greater discrimination and environmental adversity.
In the US, there is a growing number of older Latinx communities. Qualitative approaches such as narrative inquiry may be fruitful endeavors to elucidate their lived experiences. However, older ...Latinx communities, including sexual minorities, are disproportionately exposed to social, health, and historical challenges that may result in exposure to potentially traumatic events (e.g. discrimination, illness, grief, etc.). The recognition of high rates of exposure to potentially traumatic events among participants has led to the recommended adoption of Trauma Informed (TI) principles for use in non-trauma specific research. At present, there are limited examples and discussions about the implementation of TI principles in qualitative research and our literature review yielded no discussion of the use of TI principles in narrative inquiry or with older Latinx communities. In this manuscript, we advocate for the adoption of TI principles when engaging in narrative inquiry with older Latinx adults. Second, we discuss examples of TI guided practices we employed while conducting the Palabras Fuertes study of life history narratives with older Latino immigrant gay men living in New York City. Finally, based on these experiences, we provide recommendations for incorporating TI into future narrative research with older Latinx communities.
IMPORTANCE: Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death, especially among individuals with psychotic disorders, and may also be common among nonclinical populations of adults with subthreshold ...psychotic experiences. Understanding this association has the potential to critically bolster suicide prevention efforts. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between 12-month suicidality and 12-month psychotic experiences and to test the hypotheses that psychotic experiences are associated with increased prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts during the concurrent period and with greater severity of suicidal behavior. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional survey data were drawn from a large general population-based sample of households in the United States identified through the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (2001-2003). Adult household residents (n = 11,716) were selected using a clustered multistage sampling design with oversampling of racial/ethnic minority groups. Logistic regression models were adjusted for potential demographic confounders and co-occurring DSM-IV mental health conditions. EXPOSURES: Twelve-month psychotic experiences assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, version 3.0 psychosis screen. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Twelve-month suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. RESULTS: Respondents reporting psychotic experiences were more likely to report concurrent suicidal ideation (odds ratio OR, 5.24; 95% CI, 2.85-9.62) and suicide attempts (OR, 9.48; 95% CI, 3.98-22.62). Most respondents with psychotic experiences (mean SE, 65.2% 4.2%) met criteria for a DSM-IV depressive, anxiety, or substance use disorder. Among respondents with suicidal ideation, those with psychotic experiences were likely to make an attempt during the concurrent 12-month period (OR, 3.49; 95% CI, 1.05-11.58) when adjusting for co-occurring psychiatric disorders. In contrast, depressive (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 0.62-4.52), anxiety (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 0.40-6.09), and substance use disorders (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 0.24-11.17) did not reliably identify those at risk for attempts among respondents with suicidal ideation. The mean (SE) 12-month prevalence of suicide attempts among individuals reporting ideation and psychotic experiences and meeting criteria for any psychiatric disorder was 47.4% (10.9%) compared with 18.9% (4.8%) among those with just ideation and a disorder. Psychotic experiences were especially prevalent among individuals reporting severe attempts and may account for nearly one-third of attempts with intent to die (population attributable risk, 29.01%) in the United States annually. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Assessment of psychotic experiences among individuals with suicidal ideation has potential clinical and public health utility in reducing the prevalence of suicide attempts, particularly attempts with intent to die.
In India, social determinants of health, including poverty, domestic violence, and inadequate social support disproportionately affect women, leaving them more vulnerable to depression than men. We ...conducted a metaethnography to synthesize qualitative data from 13 studies (1987–2017) that explored women’s experiences and perceptions of depression in India. We used a feminist standpoint to critically examine how gender shapes these experiences and perceptions. Indian women’s experiences of depression were embedded in their social worlds. Women perceived interpersonal conflict, caregiving burden, domestic violence, financial insecurity, adverse reproductive events and widowhood as causes of depression. Women used cultural expressions to describe physical, emotional, and cognitive distress. The detrimental impact of discriminatory social conditions, gender inequalities, and traditional gender roles on Indian women’s mental health highlights the need for gender-sensitive mental health research and practice that can attend to women’s sociocultural context and promote values of gender equality and social justice.
Operating 6,800 feet underground at the SNOLAB facility in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the dilution refrigerator-cooled SuperCDMS SNOLAB (Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search at the Sudbury Neutrino ...Observatory Laboratory) experiment has been designed for maximum cryogenic up-time and remote operations. A key element in achieving these goals is a pair cold traps in the helium circulation stream of the dilution refrigerator; the first operating near liquid nitrogen temperatures and the second operating near liquid helium temperatures. Previous experience with the CDMS experiment, located underground at the Soudan Under-ground Laboratory, has given significant operational experience with dilution refrigerator cold traps and has solidified the demand of a system of dual cold traps. Unlike the CDMS-era system, the new SuperCDMS system will feature a cryocooler powered liquid nitrogen re-liquefying system (as opposed to regular under-ground re-filling of cold trap dewars using portable nitrogen dewars) and a cryogen-free 4 K cold trap, which eliminates the need for a bath of liquid helium.
ObjectivePsychosis-like experiences may be clinically significant given their demonstrated associations with concurrent psychological distress and the later development of diagnosable psychotic ...disorders. Prior studies of treatment for psychosis-like experiences have yielded conflicting results. The aims of this study were to investigate help seeking and need for care among individuals with psychosis-like experiences in a large general population sample.MethodsData from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (N=10,541) were used to examine help-seeking behaviors among survey respondents who reported psychosis-like symptoms over a 12-month period. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated for a variety of help-seeking variables, with control for demographic factors and co-occurring psychiatric conditions.ResultsAmong the 10,541 respondents, 3.4% reported a psychosis-like experience in the past 12 months. Respondents who reported psychosis-like experiences were more than twice as likely as those who did not to seek treatment. Those who reported such experiences but who did not seek treatment were more likely to have felt the need for or to have been encouraged by others to seek treatment and less likely to have felt that they had no psychiatric problem. Associations with unmet need for care were largely attributable to co-occurring psychiatric disorders.ConclusionsRespondents with psychosis-like experiences had elevated rates of help seeking, as well as significant unmet clinical need among those not in treatment.
•The divertor DRGA for ITER will measure neutral gas composition in the pumping ducts during plasma.•System must respond in timescales relevant to compositional changes in the divertor plasma.•It is ...shown that times can vary from 1 to 6s for fuel (H2, D2, T2) up to 50s for He (fusion reaction ash).•It is shown that present design delivers ∼ 1s response even via an 8m long sampling pipe sampling.•Response time validated with VacTran® over anticipated the 0.1–10Pa pressure range in the ducts.
One of the ITER diagnostics having reached an advanced design stage is a diagnostic RGA for the divertor, i.e. residual gas analysis system for the ITER divertor, which is intended to sample the divertor pumping duct region during the plasma pulse and to have a response time compatible with plasma particle and impurity lifetimes in the divertor region. Main emphasis is placed on helium (He) concentration in the ducts, as well as the relative concentration between the hydrogen isotopes (mainly in the form of diatomic molecules of H, D, and T). Measurement of the concentration of radiative gases, such as neon (Ne) and nitrogen (N2), is also intended. Numerical modeling of the gas flow from the sampled region to the cluster of analysis sensors, through a long (∼8m long, ∼110mm diameter) sampling pipe originating from a pressure reducing orifice, confirm that the desired response time (∼1s for He or D2) is achieved with the present design.
OBJECTIVE: Korean Americans' access to mental health services may be limited because of differences in their views of mental illness compared with Westerners, unfamiliarity with treatment methods, ...and cultural associations of social stigma with mental problems. This study used data from an urban outpatient clinic to assess the effects of a ten-week psychoeducational intervention for Korean Americans with chronic mental illness. METHODS: Forty-eight Korean-American adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that provided a culturally sensitive psychoeducational group program in addition to individual supportive therapy or a control group that offered only individual supportive therapy. The two groups were compared on pre- and posttreatment measures of psychiatric symptoms, attitudes about and understanding of mental illness, and coping skills. The experimental psychoeducational treatment group was expected to show lower symptom severity, greater understanding of mental illness leading to a decreased perception of stigma, and greater coping skills after the intervention than the control group. Comparisons were made with repeated-measures analysis of covariance with the effects of gender and education controlled for. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the psychoeducational group showed significantly reduced symptom severity and perception of stigma and greater coping skills immediately after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a culturally sensitive psychoeducational intervention is a useful short-term treatment modality for Korean Americans with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) and maltreatment have long-term negative impacts on survivors, including older adults. Yet, limited qualitative examinations of how these experiences impact the lives of ...older adults exists and even fewer among older Latino gay men. We drew data from life-history narratives the first author conducted with five Spanish speaking older Latino gay men in New York City. Our analyses were guided by an Ecological Model, a Suffering lens, and our clinical social work experience with older adults, sexual minorities and people of color. All participants reported sexual experiences prior to the age of 15 and possible emotional and physical maltreatment. Yet, not all participants perceived these experiences as abuse. Our findings indicate how cultural, linguistic and contextual factors may affect disclosure and coping. Despite the fact that CSA and maltreatment occurred decades ago, these early experiences affected long-term psychosocial functioning. Our findings support a need for future research and clinical practice that considers the subjective perceptions of childhood sexual experiences and maltreatment and how these relate to psychosocial functioning in Latino gay men during older adulthood.
The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment is a direct detection dark matter experiment intended for deployment to the SNOLAB underground facility in Ontario, Canada. With a ...payload of up to 186 germanium and silicon crystal detectors operating below 15 mK, the cryogenic architecture of the experiment is complex. Further, the requirement that the cryostat presents a low radioactive background to the detectors limits the materials and techniques available for construction, and heavily influences the design of the cryogenics system. The resulting thermal architecture is a closed cycle (no liquid cryogen) system, with stages at 50 and 4 K cooled with gas and fluid circulation systems and stages at 1 K, 250 mK and 15 mK cooled by the lower temperature stages of a large, cryogen-free dilution refrigerator. This paper describes the thermal design of the experiment, including details of the cooling systems, mechanical designs and expected performance of the system under operational conditions.
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