Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE/UNASSIGNED:Understanding public policy makers' priorities for addressing youth substance use and the factors that influence these priorities can inform the dissemination and implementation of strategies that promote evidence-based decision making. This study characterized the priorities of policy makers in substance use agencies of U.S. states and counties for addressing youth substance use, the factors that influenced these priorities, and the differences in priorities and influences between state and county policy makers. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:In 2020, a total of 122 substance use agency policy makers from 35 states completed a Web-based survey (response rate=22%). Respondents rated the priority of 14 issues related to youth substance use and the extent to which nine factors influenced these priorities. Data were analyzed as dichotomous and continuous variables and for state and county policy makers together and separately. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:The highest priorities for youth substance use were social determinants of substance use (87%), adverse childhood experiences and childhood trauma (85%), and increasing access to school-based substance use programs (82%). The lowest priorities were increasing access to naloxone for youths (49%), increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder among youths (49%), and deimplementing non-evidence-based youth substance use programs (41%). The factors that most influenced priorities were budget issues (80%) and state legislature (69%), federal (67%), and governor priorities (65%). Issues related to program implementation and deimplementation were significantly higher priorities for state than for county policy makers. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:These findings can inform the tailoring of dissemination and implementation strategies to account for the inner- and outer-setting contexts of substance use agencies.

OBJECTIVE:Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for accidental injuries, but little is known about age-related changes in early childhood. We predicted that ADHD would be associated with greater frequency and volume of accidental injuries. We explored associations between ADHD and injury types and examined age-related changes within the preschool period. METHODS:Retrospective chart review data of 21,520 preschool children with accidental injury visits within a large pediatric hospital network were examined. We compared children with ADHD (n = 524) and without ADHD (n = 20,996) on number of injury visits by age, total number of injury visits, injury volume, and injury type. RESULTS:Children with ADHD averaged fewer injury visits at age 3 and 90% more visits at age 6. Children with ADHD had injury visits in more years during the 3-6 age. There were no differences in injury volumes. Among patients with an injury visit at age 3, children with ADHD had 6 times the probability of a subsequent visit at age 6. At age 3, children with ADHD were estimated to have 50% fewer injury visits than children without ADHD, but by age 6, children with ADHD had an estimated 74% more injury visits than children without ADHD. Risk for several injury types for children with ADHD exceeded that for patients without ADHD by at least 50%. CONCLUSIONS:Early identification and treatment of preschool ADHD following accidental injury may prevent subsequent injuries. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed with emphasis on the maintenance of parental monitoring into the older preschool years.

Increasing evidence supports a link between maternal prenatal cannabis use and altered neural and physiological development of the child. However, whether cannabis use relates to altered human brain development prior to birth, and specifically, whether maternal prenatal cannabis use relates to connectivity of fetal functional brain systems, remains an open question. The major objective of this study was to identify whether maternal prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) is associated with variation in human brain hippocampal functional connectivity prior to birth. Prenatal drug toxicology and fetal fMRI data were available in a sample of 115 fetuses [43 % female; mean age 32.2 weeks (SD = 4.3)]. Voxelwise hippocampal connectivity analysis in a subset of age and sex-matched fetuses revealed that PCE was associated with alterations in fetal dorsolateral, medial and superior frontal, insula, anterior temporal, and posterior cingulate connectivity. Classification of group differences by age 5 outcomes suggest that compared to the non-PCE group, the PCE group is more likely to have increased connectivity to regions associated with less favorable outcomes and to have decreased connectivity to regions associated with more favorable outcomes. This is preliminary evidence that altered fetal neural connectome may contribute to neurobehavioral vulnerability observed in children exposed to cannabis in utero.

A major challenge in designing large-scale, multi-site studies is developing a core, scalable protocol that retains the innovation of scientific advances while also lending itself to the variability in experience and resources across sites. In the development of a common Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) protocol, one of the chief questions is "is fetal MRI ready for prime-time?" While there is agreement about the value of prenatal data obtained non-invasively through MRI, questions about practicality abound. There has been rapid progress over the past years in fetal and placental MRI methodology but there is uncertainty about whether the gains afforded outweigh the challenges in supporting fetal MRI protocols at scale. Here, we will define challenges inherent in building a common protocol across sites with variable expertise and will propose a tentative framework for evaluation of design decisions. We will compare and contrast various design considerations for both normative and high-risk populations, in the setting of the post-COVID era. We will conclude with articulation of the benefits of overcoming these challenges and would lend to the primary questions articulated in the HBCD initiative.

Local translation can provide a rapid, spatially targeted supply of new proteins in distal dendrites to support synaptic changes that underlie learning. Learning and memory are especially sensitive to manipulations of translational control mechanisms, particularly those that target the initiation step, and translation initiation at synapses could be a means of maintaining synapse specificity during plasticity. Initiation predominantly occurs via recruitment of ribosomes to the 5' mRNA cap by complexes of eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs), and the interaction between eIF4E and eIF4G1 is a particularly important target of translational control pathways. Pharmacological inhibition of eIF4E-eIF4G1 binding impairs formation of memory for aversive Pavlovian conditioning as well as the accompanying increase in polyribosomes in the heads of dendritic spines in the lateral amygdala (LA). This is consistent with a role for initiation at synapses in memory formation, but whether eIFs are even present near synapses is unknown. To determine whether dendritic spines contain eIFs and whether eIF distribution is affected by learning, we combined immunolabeling with serial section transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM) volume reconstructions of LA dendrites after Pavlovian conditioning. Labeling for eIF4E, eIF4G1, and eIF2α - another key target of regulation - occurred in roughly half of dendritic spines, but learning effects were only found for eIF4E, which was upregulated in the heads of dendritic spines. Our results support the possibility of regulated translation initiation as a means of synapse-specific protein targeting during learning and are consistent with the model of eIF4E availability as a central point of control. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION:COVID-19 affects multiple organ systems causing substantial long-term morbidity. The implications of the Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly for primary care, remain unknown. This cross-sectional study examines new symptoms reported at primary care encounters during three post-acute follow-up intervals after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS:Electronic health record data from the NYU Langone COVID Deidentified Dataset were queried for adults with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, and then restricted to those with a new ICD-10-CM code documented at a post-acute COVID-related primary care follow-up >14 days after testing positive. New diagnoses and the corresponding Clinical Classifications Software Refined categories were assessed at the following intervals: 0.5-3 months ("subacute"), 3-6 months ("prolonged"), and 6-9 months ("persistent"). RESULTS:Out of 3,154 patients, a new ICD-10-CM code was documented among 499 patients (∼16%). Respiratory complaints, including cough, shortness of breath, dyspnea, and hypoxemia, were most common. Malaise and fatigue were reported consistently among 10-13% of patients at all three time-intervals. Musculoskeletal pain, circulatory symptoms, and sleep-wake disorders were also observed at primary care follow-up. CONCLUSION:This cross-sectional study provides support of a post-acute COVID syndrome, demonstrating that patients continue to experience symptoms after the acute infection period. Extensive follow-up data allowed for examining new symptoms up to 9 months after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Understanding of the course of multi-organ post-acute sequelae is restricted by cross-sectional study design limitations. Standardized, sequelae-related ICD-10-CM codes to specify the type and duration of post-acute COVID-related symptoms would enable better monitoring of the growing number of SARS-CoV-2 infection survivors.

BACKGROUND:Evidence increasingly suggests that ASD manifests differently in females than males. Previous reviews investigating sex/gender differences in social interaction and social communication have focused at the level of broad constructs (e.g. comparing algorithm scores from pre-existing diagnostic instruments) and have typically reported no significant differences between males and females. However, a number of individual studies have found sex/gender differences in narrow construct domains. METHODS:We conducted a systematic review and random effects model meta-analyses (in January 2019 and updated January 2020) that investigated sex/gender differences in narrow construct measures of social communication and interaction in autistic and nonautistic children and adolescents, and adults. Study quality was appraised using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS, BMJ Open, 6, 2016, 1). RESULTS:Across 16 studies (including 2,730 participants), the analysis found that female (vs. male) individuals with ASD had significantly better social interaction and social communication skills (SMD = 0.39, p < .001), which was reflective of a similar sex/gender profile in nonautistic individuals (SMD = 0.35, p < .001). Nonautistic males had significantly better social interaction and communication than males with ASD (SMD = 0.77, p < .001). Nonautistic females also had significantly better social interaction and communication than females with ASD (SMD = 0.72, p  <.001). Nonautistic males had better social interaction and communication than females with ASD, though this difference was not significant (SMD = 0.30, p = .07). CONCLUSIONS:This systematic review and meta-analysis highlighted important sex/gender differences in social interaction and communication for individuals with ASD, likely not captured by pre-existing diagnostic instruments, which potentially contribute to the under recognition of autism in females, and may need to be reflected in the diagnostic process.