If Mothers Had Their Say: Research-Informed Intervention Design for Empowering Mothers to Establish Smoke-Free Homes

The Empowering Mothers to Establish Smoke-free Homes (EMESH) project developed in response to an interdisciplinary health team seeking effective interventions for reducing/eliminating the environmental tobacco smoke exposure of infants with compromised respiratory status. Two study phases that informed the EMESH intervention design are described. Phase I involved semi-structured interviews with 20 caretakers of infants diagnosed with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). In Phase II, 75 randomly selected medical records of infants with BPD were reviewed to explore the family demographics and staff behavior regarding environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) interventions. Interview results suggest that families are open to partnering with social workers and interdisciplinary team members in addressing infants’ ETS exposure, families’ unique circumstances indicate a need for tailored interventions, and the use of self-efficacy and decisional balance tools are feasible options. Results from the medical records review indicate that many families are economically vulnerable and reside in regions where smoking is common. There is a paucity of staff documentation regarding ETS conversations and interventions, indicating that these conversations may not take place. Together these results suggest a two-pronged approach in the next phases of EMESH: staff training in hosting and documenting ETS conversations and a tailored, parent-driven set of intervention options.     

A pilot project of school‐based intervention integrating drama and language awareness

Background: To help immigrant and refugee adolescents experiencing a severe academic delay cope with adversity, a school‐based intervention combining drama workshops and language awareness activities was piloted in two classrooms. Method: A qualitative analysis of participant observations was performed and the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire and its Impairment Supplement was administered before and after the intervention. The observations were carried out in two Montreal high schools serving an underprivileged neighbourhood of immigrants, involving two classrooms of underschooled adolescents (n = 27) and two classes of similarly underschooled adolescents chosen among other teachers interested in the intervention, who accepted to participate as a comparison group (n = 28). Results: The adolescents shared their experiences of adversity and felt empowered by the workshops. Self‐reported impairment decreased in the intervention groups. Conclusion: The protective effect of creative language activities for immigrant and refugee youth should be further investigated.     

Slime mold uses an externalized spatial “memory” to navigate in complex environments

Spatial memory enhances an organism’s navigational ability. Memory typically resides within the brain, but what if an organism has no brain? We show that the brainless slime mold Physarum polycephalum constructs a form of spatial memory by avoiding areas it has previously explored. This mechanism allows the slime mold to solve the U-shaped trap problem—a classic test of autonomous navigational ability commonly used in robotics—requiring the slime mold to reach a chemoattractive goal behind a U-shaped barrier. Drawn into the trap, the organism must rely on other methods than gradient-following to escape and reach the goal. Our data show that spatial memory enhances the organism’s ability to navigate in complex environments. We provide a unique demonstration of a spatial memory system in a nonneuronal organism, supporting the theory that an externalized spatial memory may be the functional precursor to the internal memory of higher organisms.     

Histological and transcriptional study of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in uninvolved skin,acute pinpoint lesions and established psoriasis plaques: An approach of vascular development chronology in psoriasis

BackgroundDysregulation of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis could participate in psoriasis pathogenesis. Analysis of nascent psoriasis lesions should help at identifying early vascular anomalies.ObjectiveTo analyse vascular development, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis markers expression in uninvolved skin in psoriatic patients (N), early psoriasis lesions or pinpoints (PP) and psoriasis plaques (PSO).MethodsSkin biopsies were taken in 17 patients in N and in PSO and/or PP. The mRNA steady-state level of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis markers was measured by RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed for von Willebrand factor, podoplanin, Ki-67 and VEGFR3. Blood (BV) and lymphatic (LV) vessels expansion was measured by computer-assisted morphometry.ResultsClinical and epidermal aspects indicated that PP are intermediate between N and PSO. While total BV area was already increased in PP similarly to PSO as compared to N, LV area in PP was intermediate between N and PSO. Mean LV size was identical in N and PP and increased in PSO, mean BV size in PP being intermediate between N and PSO. VEGF-A 189 variant was increased in PP as compared to N and PSO. As compared to N, angiogenesis markers (VEGF-A isoforms, PlGF, VEGFR2, NRP-1), VEGF-C and NRP-2 were similarly increased in PP and PSO. Keratin 16 and the lymphangiogenesis markers (VEGFR3, prox-1) were intermediate in PP.ConclusionThese data suggest that the expansion of lymphatic vessels occurs after blood vascular development in psoriasis. Expansion of BV in PP could be followed by vessel enlargement during progression to PSO, in parallel with a decreased VEGF-A 189/VEGF-A 121 balance in plaques.     

Refining the Baveno VI elastography criteria for the definition of compensated advanced chronic liver disease

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Increased HLA A1 and diminished HLA A3 in lymphocytic colitis compared to controls and patients with collagenous colitis

Lymphocytic colitis is a newly described chronic diarrheal disorder. Although its etiology is unknown, the possibility has been raised that autoimmunity may play a role in both lymphocytic and collagenous colitis, a similar clinicopathologic illness. The frequencies of HLA class I and class II antigens were examined in 24 white patients with lymphocytic colitis and in 47 white patients with collagenous colitis. Frequencies in these two disorders were compared to control white populations and to each other. An increased frequency of HLA-A1 was noted in 16 of 24 lymphocytic colitis patients (66.6%) compared with 1089 of 3942 controls (27.6%) (P<0.005; relative risk 5.2). Furthermore, HLA-A3 was found in decreased frequency in lymphocytic colitis patients: 0 of 24 (0%) compared with 1017 of 3942 controls (25.8%) (P<0.05; relative risk 0.0). Collagenous colitis patients had no significant deviation from control frequencies of HLA antigens. In lymphocytic colitis, there was no significant increase in B8 or DR3 antigens, which are found in linkage disequilibrium with A1 and associated with many autoimmune diseases. Moreover, the frequency of autoimmune-associated class I HLA antigens was not increased in lymphocytic colitis. Statistically significant differences existed between lymphocytic and collagenous colitis in HLA-A1, A3, Bw6, and B7 antigen frequencies. The HLA patterns noted previously in other gastrointestinal disorders, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, were not apparent in lymphocytic or collagenous colitis. HLA typing provides further evidence that lymphocytic colitis is a distinct form of chronic intestinal inflammatory disease associated with HLA class I phenotypes.Presented in part at the American Gastroenterological Association in May 1988 and published with preliminary data in a previous article (reference 1).Supported in part by The National Foundation for Ileitis and Colitis, by an institutional grant from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and by outpatient GCRC grant RR00722.     

Association of Long-Term Diet Quality with Hippocampal Volume: Longitudinal Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Diet quality is associated with brain aging outcomes. However, few studies have explored in humans the brain structures potentially affected by long-term diet quality. We examined whether cumulative average of the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) score during adult life (an 11-year exposure period) is associated with hippocampal volume.