This study examined the role of family-level risk factors contributing to the sex trafficking of minors and identified effective strategies for family-based interventions following identification. The focus was on understanding how familial dynamics influence vulnerability and post-trafficking recovery.

The research utilized a qualitative approach based on thirty in-depth interviews with social service and criminal justice professionals operating in a metropolitan area in the U.S. Midwest. Participants shared their perspectives and case-based experiences involving families of trafficked minors. A research team conducted inductive thematic analysis of the transcribed and audio-recorded interviews. The data coding process followed multiple phases, beginning with open coding and followed by selective co-coding to identify dominant patterns and themes related to family risk factors and intervention needs.

Professionals reported that many parents lacked awareness of their child's involvement in trafficking and failed to recognize critical warning signs. Several familial risk factors emerged, including histories of child sexual abuse and parental substance use disorders, both of which were prevalent prior to trafficking and persisted afterward, complicating recovery. Additionally, families frequently faced barriers in accessing essential services such as housing, healthcare, and food security. Post-identification, many families struggled to offer supportive relationships and establish consistent caregiving structures, which are critical for the child's rehabilitation and protection from retrafficking.

Effective family-based intervention strategies must include educational initiatives to inform family members about sex trafficking, efforts to strengthen emotional support within the family unit, and the promotion of stable caregiving routines. Interventions should also ensure tailored access to mental health services, substance use treatment, and basic needs resources. These supports are essential not only for the survivor's recovery but also to enhance the family's capacity to prevent future trafficking incidents.

Veterans experiencing homelessness are clinically complex, often requiring myriad Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services to manage their health and social service needs. Conditions common among these Veterans, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), may impact their VA service use; nonetheless, examination of the intersection of TBI and service use among Veterans experiencing homelessness remains understudied.

Electronic medical record data for 1,088,328 Veterans identified as experiencing homelessness who were accessing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) services from 2005 to 2024 were examined. Crude and adjusted models were conducted to examine VA service use based on documented TBI diagnosis.

In total, 12.7% of Veterans experiencing homelessness had a documented TBI diagnosis. TBI diagnosis was associated with increased frequency across all VHA service use settings. Associations appeared most robust in VA rehabilitative, mental health, and emergency service settings.

Veterans experiencing homelessness with TBI histories appear to access several VHA services to manage their health and social service needs. Given this, interdisciplinary approaches (e.g. VA Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams) are likely pragmatic for these Veterans. Further dissemination and evaluation of the utility of brain health-informed care within novel VHA service settings (e.g. justice programs, emergency services) may hold merit.

To develop and validate dual breath-hold Look-Locker inversion recovery (Dual 3DLL) MRI for 3D whole-kidney T₁ quantification using dictionary matching.

Dual 3DLL employs two breath-hold Look-Locker prepared acquisitions using nonselective adiabatic inversion in conjunction with 3D balanced SSFP readouts at three inversion times for each breath-hold. Retrospective registration of T₁-weighted images was implemented to reduce misalignment between two breath-holds. For T₁ quantification, Bloch equation-based dictionary matching was applied. Dual 3DLL was validated in phantoms using inversion recovery spin-echo (IRSE) based T₁ mapping as a reference and in 11 healthy subjects, where 2D MOLLI-based renal T₁ mapping was used as a reference.

Validation in the phantom showed an agreement between Dual 3DLL and IRSE (precision: coefficient of variation = 2.5%, relative error compared to IRSE: 4.3% ± 2.0%). The human feasibility study demonstrated the clinical applicability of Dual 3DLL. Averaged T₁ derived from whole-kidney coverage Dual 3DLL was in accordance with that of 2D MOLLI (renal cortex: T_{1,Dual 3DLL} = 1413.41 ± 114.73 ms, T_1,MOLLI = 1394.39 ± 58.01 ms; medulla: T_{1,Dual 3DLL} = 1827.48 ± 108 ms, T_1,MOLLI = 1843.67 ± 91.54 ms). The coefficients of variation between T₁ obtained from Dual 3DLL and MOLLI were 6.1% for the renal cortex and 4.4% for the medulla.

This study demonstrates the feasibility of 3D whole kidney T₁ mapping using dual breath-hold Look-Locker T₁-weighting in conjunction with balanced SSFP readouts and dictionary matching, and provides a technical foundation for improving our understanding of renal (patho-)physiology.

Theoretical models identify stress-induced transient disruptions in the capacity to mentalize as a risk marker for psychosis yet there is little research that takes into account the context dependence of mentalizing and psychotic processes. To increase ecological validity, we investigated how mentalizing and psychotic experiences were concurrently and longitudinally associated in the flow of daily life, hypothesizing that mentalizing difficulties would predict both concurrent and subsequent presentations of psychotic experiences.

An analogue sample responded to self-report assessments of situational stress, momentary mentalizing difficulties in understanding one's feelings, negative affect and psychotic experiences, using a 1-week experience sampling schedule with eight measurement points per day. Concurrent and lagged associations between mentalization, negative affect and psychotic experiences were estimated via linear mixed effects and vector autoregressive modelling.

The analysed sample (n = 43) identified as 63% female, 21% male and 16% non-binary with all participants aged between 18 and 38 years. Thirty per cent of the sample self-reported a personal history of psychosis, and 37% were receiving mental health support. Significant concurrent and cross-lagged associations of positive effect sizes were identified between mentalizing difficulties and psychotic experience severity.

Mentalizing capacity may decline under stress and accordingly influence the severity and persistence of psychotic experiences. Our small sample size and the gender distribution may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should integrate interview- or performance-based metrics of mentalizing ability into longitudinal designs enabling more extensive examination of different domains of mentalizing difficulties and psychotic experiences.

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience sleep problems. Although various pharmacological, behavioral, and physical interventions have demonstrated efficacy in improving sleep among children with ASD, the relative effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear.

We will conduct a systematic literature search to identify randomized controlled trials that evaluate the efficacy of pharmacological (e.g., melatonin), psychological (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy), and physical (e.g., bright light therapy) interventions for sleep problems in children with ASD. We will search PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, major trial registries, and regulatory agency websites. We will assess the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 (RoB 2.0) tool for primary outcome and the Risk Of Bias due to Missing Evidence in Network meta-analysis (ROB-MEN) tool for the bias due to missing network evidence. A network meta-analysis (NMA) will be performed to compare the included interventions. The primary outcome will be sleep onset latency, while secondary outcomes will include other sleep variables, all-cause dropouts, and sleep disturbances assessed using standardized measures. We will assess confidence in NMA(CINeMA).

Our NMA aims to provide evidence-based insights into the effectiveness of sleep interventions for clinicians, children with ASD, and their caregivers. This information will help guide treatment decisions and improve the quality of life for children with ASD and their families.

PROSPERO CRD42024592795.

To evaluate the safety and effect on clinical outcomes of depression of Beckley Psytech Ltd (BPL)-003, an intranasal formulation of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder (MDD) with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Twelve participants with TRD were enrolled in a 12-week, open-label, phase 2a trial. Safety of a single intranasal dose of 10 mg BPL-003 was assessed through clinical evaluations, treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and Readiness for Discharge Questionnaire (RDQ). Key depression-related assessments were Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score change from baseline, percentage of responders, and participants in remission on Days 2, 8, 29, 57 and 85 post-dose.

All participants completed the trial; 2 females, 10 males, aged 31-55 years. Nine (75.0%) participants had 18 treatment-related TEAEs; 8 mild, 9 moderate and 1 severe (increased blood pressure, which returned to baseline within the observation period), with nausea and nasal discomfort the most frequently reported. Ten participants were ready after their first RDQ (nominal time 90 minutes post-dose). Median time from dosing to discharge readiness was 98 minutes (range 95-167). There was a mean decrease in MADRS total score from baseline of 12.2-13.0 points across all timepoints between Days 2 and 85; most participants (10/11) were responders, and 7 were in remission at ⩾1 post-dose timepoint.

Results confirmed the safety profile of BPL-003 in a TRD population. A rapid and sustained reduction in MADRS score was observed over 12 weeks, suggesting BPL-003 could be beneficial in TRD, warranting investigation in larger controlled trials.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical need to strengthen healthcare systems and optimize resource allocation planning during times of disruption and crisis. This retrospective, single-center, cross-sectional study included 33,158 admissions for patients ≤ 17 years old admitted to the Children's Hospital (CH) between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. Data was abstracted using Vizient Clinical Data Base and the internal data warehouse. A Poisson regression model was implemented to compare admission diagnosis patterns during the pre- and intra-pandemic phases. CH SARS-CoV-2 prevalence rate was 0.1% in 2020 and 0.5% in 2021. There was a decrease in overall admissions to the CH (p < 0.01) and PICU (p < 0.01) at the onset of the pandemic. There were significant and variable differences in admission patterns for certain infectious and seizure-related diagnoses. The CH experienced an increase in certain specific mental health diagnoses. Seasonality was noted for viral bronchiolitis during the pre-pandemic phase, but was disrupted during the intra-pandemic phase. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the number and pattern of admissions, despite low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in our hospital. These changes may be secondary to COVID-19 community mitigation strategies. Results can inform anticipated patterns during future pandemics.