Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders Among Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites by Immigration Status.

OBJECTIVE: To compare prevalence rates of alcohol, nicotine, and other drug use and major psychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder, persistent depression, bipolar I disorder, agoraphobia, social and specific phobias, and antisocial, schizotypal, and borderline personality disorders) between US-born and foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites and between early entry versus later-entry foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. METHODS: Data were derived from face-to-face interviews in the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (N = 36,309). RESULTS: US-born Mexican Americans and US-born non-Hispanic whites were at greater risk (P < .05) of alcohol, nicotine, and any drug use and their associated disorders and other DSM-5 psychiatric disorders relative to their foreign-born counterparts. US-born non-Hispanic whites were more likely (P < .05) to use substances and develop many psychiatric disorders relative to US-born Mexican Americans. Foreign-born Mexican Americans < 18 years old at immigration were at greater risk of drug use, drug use disorders, and nicotine use disorder compared with foreign-born Mexican Americans ≥ 18 years old at immigration. Foreign-born non-Hispanic whites < 18 years old at immigration were more likely to use substances and to develop many psychiatric disorders relative to foreign-born non-Hispanic whites ≥ 18 years old at immigration. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the findings of this study support the healthy immigrant hypothesis and adverse role of acculturation for US-born and foreign-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Further research is warranted on immigration status and age at arrival into the United States and those processes underlying differential exposure to substances and development of psychiatric conditions. An understanding of these processes can be invaluable to clinicians in guiding culturally sensitive and informed prevention and intervention efforts.

Understanding bamboo flowering based on large-scale analysis of expressed sequence tags.

Unlike other plants, bamboo (Bambusoideae) flowering is an elusive physiological phenomena, because it is unpredictable, long-periodic, gregarious, and uncontrollable; also, bamboo plants usually die after flowering. The flowering mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana, a eudicot model species, is well established, but it remains unknown in bamboo species. We found 4470 and 3878 expressed sequence tags in the flower bud and vegetative shoot cDNA libraries, respectively, of the bamboo species, Bambusa oldhamii. Different genes were found expressed in bamboo flower buds compared to vegetative shoots, based on the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences functional categorization; flowering-related genes were also identified in this species. We also identified Arabidopsis flowering-specific homologs that are involved in its photoperiod in this bamboo species, along with autonomous, vernalization and gibberellin-dependent pathways, indicating that bamboos may have a similar mechanism to control floral transition. Some bamboo expressed sequence tags shared high similarity with those of rice, but others did not match any known sequences. Our data lead us to conclude that bamboo may have its own unique flowering genes. This information can help us understand bamboo flowering and provides useful experimental methods to study the mechanisms involved.

Immigration and lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

BACKGROUND: There exist no national prevalence data on specific DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders among foreign-born and US-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. OBJECTIVE: To present nationally representative data on the prevalence of DSM-IV lifetime psychiatric disorders among foreign-born and US-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites. DESIGN: Face-to-face survey conducted in the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. SETTING: The United States and District of Columbia, including Alaska and Hawaii. PARTICIPANTS: Household and group-quarters residents, aged 18 years and older (n = 43 093). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of DSM-IV substance use disorders and mood and anxiety disorders. RESULTS: With few exceptions, foreign-born Mexican Americans and foreign-born non-Hispanic whites were at significantly lower risk (P<.05) of DSM-IV substance use and mood and anxiety disorders compared with their US-born counterparts. Although the risk of specific psychiatric disorders was similar between foreign-born Mexican Americans and foreign-born non-Hispanic whites, US-born Mexican Americans were at significantly lower risk (P<.05) of psychiatric morbidity than US-born non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS: Data favoring foreign-born Mexican Americans with respect to mental health may extend to foreign-born non-Hispanic whites. Future research among foreign-born and US-born Mexican Americans and the foreign-born and US-born of other origins and descents is needed to understand what appears to be the protective effects of culture and the deleterious effects of acculturation on psychiatric morbidity in the United States.

Radionuclide bolus angiography: a technique for verification of brain death in infants and children.

Fifteen infants and children, 11 of whom had clinical brain death and four of whom were comatose, were evaluated with the radionuclide bolus study and electroencephalography. Clinical criteria for brain death included: (1) absence of spontaneous respirations, (2) absence of cephalic reflexes, and (3) unresponsiveness. Results demonstrated complete correlation among clinical examination, EEG, and radionuclide study in 79% of cases. An approach to the evaluation of the infant or child with possible brain death is outlined utilizing serial examinations, radionuclide bolus study, and electroencephalography. The radionuclide bolus study appears to be a safe, rapid, portable technique which can be used for this purpose in infants and children.