"Stay home so this can be over:" A national study of youth perspectives on social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social distancing is an important public health recommendation that has been implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Infections are rising among younger populations, but relatively little is known about youth social distancing behavior. Our qualitative study aims to examine youth engagement with social distancing and elucidate the reasons why guidelines are followed and broken. Members of the national MyVoice Text Message Cohort (aged 14-24) were surveyed from April 24 to April 30, 2020, through an open-ended text message poll. Responses were inductively coded and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Of the 944 youth who responded (response rate = 81.2%), 95% self-reported social distancing. However, 62% recalled instances of themselves or others breaking the guidelines and 19% expressed misconceptions about the rules. Notably, 14% of youth said they would encourage their friends to social distance by telling them it will accelerate a return to normal life. Feelings of social isolation were the most frequently cited (55%) negative impact of social distancing. Overall, responses from youth indicate significant variation in the interpretation of social distancing guidelines. Public health communications may need to address several critical misconceptions which impact the social distancing behaviors of youth. Further, safe methods for youth to interact with peers during periods of social distancing are necessary to prevent mental health impacts and to ensure adherence to social distancing guidelines.

The Role of Medical Student Government in Responding to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 outbreak has sown clinical and administrative chaos at academic health centers throughout the country. As COVID-19-related burdens on the health care system and medical schools piled up, questions from medical students far outweighed the capacity of medical school administrators to respond in an adequate or timely manner, leaving students feeling confused and without clear guidance. In this article, incoming and outgoing executive leaders of the University of Michigan Medical School Student Council and medical school deans outline the specific ways they were able to bridge the gap between medical students and administrators in a time of crisis. To illustrate the value of student government during uncertain times, the authors identify the most pressing problems faced by students at each phase of the curriculum-preclerkship, clerkship, and postclerkship-and explain how Student Council leadership partnered with administrators to find creative solutions to these problems and provide guidance to learners. They end by reflecting on the role of student government more broadly, identifying 3 guiding principles of student leadership and how these principles enable effective student representation.

Self-Management of Health Care Among Youth: Implications for Policies on Transitions of Care.

PURPOSE: Transitions from pediatric to adult health care are important milestones for youth. In surveys, providers report that youth lack the motivation or skills to manage their care independently, a prerequisite for successful transitions. To assess the validity of this belief, we surveyed youth regarding their current and desired level of involvement in their care. METHODS: In 2017-2018, we conducted a national text message survey of youth aged 14-24 years. The survey included three open-ended questions assessing participants' independence on three health care tasks (scheduling appointments, attending appointments, and picking up prescriptions) and one open-ended question assessing their desire to be more, less, or equally involved in their care as they are now. We qualitatively analyzed free-text responses to identify themes. RESULTS: Among 1,214 eligible participants, 805 (66.3%) completed all four questions and were included in the sample. Forty-one percent of youth reported wanting to be more involved in their care. Among young adults aged 18-24 years, 22% were not fully independent on the three health care tasks and reported wanting to be less involved or equally as involved as they are currently. CONCLUSION: Many youth should be viewed as partners in health care transitions instead of as barriers, but some youth are at high risk for failed transitions. Policymakers and providers should promote routine screening of youth for their current levels of engagement in care and desire to be more involved.

Curcumin directly inhibits the transport activity of GLUT1.

Curcumin, a major ingredient in turmeric, has a long history of medicinal applications in a wide array of maladies including treatment for diabetes and cancer. Seemingly counterintuitive to the documented hypoglycemic effects of curcumin, however, a recent report indicates that curcumin directly inhibits glucose uptake in adipocytes. The major glucose transporter in adipocytes is GLUT4. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of curcumin in cell lines where the major transporter is GLUT1. We report that curcumin has an immediate inhibitory effect on basal glucose uptake in L929 fibroblast cells with a maximum inhibition of 80% achieved at 75 µM curcumin. Curcumin also blocks activation of glucose uptake by azide, glucose deprivation, hydroxylamine, or phenylarsine oxide. Inhibition does not increase with exposure time and the inhibitory effects reverse within an hour. Inhibition does not appear to involve a reaction between curcumin and the thiol side chain of a cysteine residue since neither prior treatment of cells with iodoacetamide nor curcumin with cysteine alters curcumin's inhibitory effects. Curcumin is a mixed inhibitor reducing the Vmax of 2DG transport by about half with little effect on the Km. The inhibitory effects of curcumin are not additive to the effects of cytochalasin B and 75 µM curcumin actually reduces specific cytochalasin B binding by 80%. Taken together, the data suggest that curcumin binds directly to GLUT1 at a site that overlaps with the cytochalasin B binding site and thereby inhibits glucose transport. A direct inhibition of GLUT proteins in intestinal epithelial cells would likely reduce absorption of dietary glucose and contribute to a hypoglycemic effect of curcumin. Also, inhibition of GLUT1 activity might compromise cancer cells that overexpress GLUT1 and be another possible mechanism for the documented anticancer effects of curcumin.