Relationship Functioning and Gut Microbiota Composition among Older Adult Couples.

An emerging area of research extends work on couple functioning and physical health to gut health, a critical marker of general health and known to diminish with age. As a foray into this area, we conducted a pilot study to (1) determine the feasibility of remote data collection, including a fecal sample, from older adult couples, (2) examine within-couple concordance in gut microbiota composition, and (3) examine associations between relationship functioning and gut microbiota composition. Couples (N = 30) were recruited from the community. The participants' demographic characteristics were as follows: M (SD) age = 66.6 (4.8), 53% female, 92% White, and 2% Hispanic. Two of the couples were same-sex. All 60 participants completed self-report measures and supplied a fecal sample for microbiome analysis. Microbial DNA was extracted from the samples, and the 16S rRNA gene V4 region was amplified and sequenced. The results indicated that individuals shared more similar gut microbial composition with their partners than with others in the sample, p < 0.0001. In addition, individuals with better relationship quality (greater relationship satisfaction and intimacy and less avoidant communication) had greater microbial diversity, p < 0.05, a sign of healthier gut microbiota. Further research with a larger and more diverse sample is warranted to elucidate mechanisms.

Association of mobile health (mHealth) use with health status and COVID-19-related concerns by people with mobility impairments.

PURPOSE: Mobile health (mHealth) technology has increased dramatically in the wake of the pandemic. Less research has focused on people with mobility impairing (PMI) disabilities. This study determined the prevalence of mHealth use among PMI adults during the COVID-19 escalation and examines demographic, health and COVID-19 concerns correlates. METHODS: PMI adults (N = 304) completed an online survey investigating mHealth use and COVID-19 concerns related to food access in June of 2020. Smartphone and mHealth use were measured with an adapted version of the survey used in the Pew Internet & American Life project. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were conducted to determine associations of demographics, health status, and COVID-19 concerns with mHealth use. About two-thirds (N = 201) of the sample were mHealth users (owned a smartphone and engaged in health-promoting behaviors with the smartphone; e.g., sought online information, tracked health behaviors, used patient portals). RESULTS: Having hypertension was associated with higher mHealth use, and having higher COVID-19 concerns about food access was associated with higher mHealth use. Those who used mHealth were also more engaged with smartphone apps for communication, services, and entertainment. Only the association between educational attainment and mHealth use remained significant after adjusting for other covariates in multivariable logistic regression models. DISCUSSION: PMIs continue to need support in the use of mHealth technology to help maximize access to potentially important tools for rehabilitation and health management. There is a need to continue to investigate mHealth and its applications for people with disabilities.Implications for RehabilitationMany people with mobility impairing disabilities may be missing opportunities for mHealth rehabilitation and healthcare.COVID-19 has widened existing gaps in access and use of mHealth technology among people with mobility impairing disabilities.Focused education is needed to help people with disabilities exploit the full range of services of their smartphones to increase access to care, social connectivity, and other important goods and services to enhance rehabilitation and health management.

Smart Walk: A Culturally Tailored Smartphone-Delivered Physical Activity Intervention for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction among African American Women.

This article reports the results of Smart Walk: a randomized pilot trial of an 8-month culturally tailored, smartphone-delivered physical activity (PA) intervention for African American women with obesity. Sixty participants (age range = 24−49 years; BMI range = 30−58 kg/m2) were randomized to the Smart Walk intervention (n = 30) or a wellness comparison intervention (n = 30). Results supported the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention, as demonstrated by participant retention (85% at 4 months and 78% at 8 months), Smart Walk app use, and intervention satisfaction (i.e., 100% of PA participants completing the intervention [n = 24] reported they would recommend it to friend). Smart Walk participants also reported greater increases in moderate-to-vigorous PA (4-month between-arm difference in change [b] = 43.3 min/week; p = 0.018; Cohen's d = 0.69; 8-month b = 56.6 min/week; p = 0.046; d = 0.63) and demonstrated clinically relevant, although not statistically significant (p-values > 0.05), baseline to 4 months improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (b = 1.67 mL/kg/min; d = 0.40), systolic blood pressure (b = −3.33 mmHg; d = 0.22), diastolic blood pressure (b = −4.28 mmHg; d = 0.37), and pulse wave velocity (b = −0.46 m/s; d = 0.33). Eight-month cardiometabolic outcomes followed similar trends, but had high rates of missing data (45−53%) due to COVID-19 restrictions. Collectively, findings demonstrated favorable outcomes for acceptability and feasibility, while also highlighting key areas for refinement in future research.

A Self-Immolative Fluorescent Probe for Selective Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease.

Existing tools to detect and visualize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) suffer from low selectivity, poor cell permeability, and high cytotoxicity. Here we report a novel self-immolative fluorescent probe (MP590) for the highly selective and sensitive detection of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). This fluorescent probe was prepared by connecting a Mpro-cleavable peptide (N-acetyl-Abu-Tle-Leu-Gln) with a fluorophore (i.e., resorufin) via a self-immolative aromatic linker. Fluorescent titration results show that MP590 can detect Mpro with a limit of detection (LoD) of 35 nM and is selective over interferents such as hemoglobin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), thrombin, amylase, SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro), and trypsin. The cell imaging data indicate that this probe can report Mpro in HEK 293T cells transfected with a Mpro expression plasmid as well as in TMPRSS2-VeroE6 cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that MP590 can both measure and monitor Mpro activity and quantitatively evaluate Mpro inhibition in infected cells, making it an important tool for diagnostic and therapeutic research on SARS-CoV-2.

Leveraging a public-public partnership in Los Angeles County to address COVID-19 for children, youth, and families in underresourced communities.

There is growing concern about the mental health and social impact of COVID-19 on underresourced children, youth, and families given widespread social disruption, school closures, economic impact, and loss of lives. In this commentary we describe how an existing public-public partnership between a large county mental health department and a state university responded to COVID-19. This partnership, originally designed to address workforce needs, rapidly pivoted to support providers through a trauma- and resilience-informed approach to mitigating adverse mental health effects among youth and families in Los Angeles County. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).