Introduction
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a ...spouse in the context of forced marriage or the extraction of organs.
Research into the mental health impact of trafficking has consistently found high rates of mental health problems, most commonly depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
While there is some evidence that these factors can contribute the diagnosis of PTSD, exposure to trauma is the most important feature in the development of PTSD.
Other Mental Health Problems in victims of
Trafficking:
1.
Dissociative disorders
2.
Substance-related disorders
3.
Complex trauma
Objectives
Although mental health problems among victims of trafficking have been shown to be high, recovery without treatment is rare, particularly in those who have developed PTSD.
Where there is comorbidity, recovery often does not occur even when rehabilitation has been attempted. This is unsurprising given the multiplicity of trauma that victims of trafficking have experienced, which often includes trauma prior to the trafficking situation.
Methods
Evidence-Based Therapeutic Treatment Options for PTSD:
Some evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptakeinhibitors can effectively complement the psychotherapeutictreatment of PTSD as well as other anxiety and mooddisorders.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Exposure therapy
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
Results
In the absence of research pertaining to the mental health treatment of victims of human trafficking, mental health professionals working with this population must educate themselves on the evidence based research related to the treatment of common diagnoses and similarly marginalized populations to ensure proper provision of the best mental health care possible.
Conclusions
Among the most devastating mental health consequences for victims of any crime can be the destruction of basic life assumptions; that one is safe from harm, one is a good and decent person, and the world is meaningful and just. For victims of human trafficking, mental health problems can be compounded by the misconceptions about and limited understanding of the issue of human trafficking.
Additionally, lack of social support and stigmatization by friends, family, and social institutions can exacerbate victims mental health conditions.
Psychologically process the trauma they have experienced. However, until these studies are conducted and their results made available, mental health practitioners can base treatment options for this population on existing research findings and interventions found to be successful with other similarly victimized populations.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
•A coupled piezoelectric and electromagnetic hybrid energy harvester is proposed for broader energy harvesting.•A simplified 2-DoF analytical model is developed which provides a good approximation to ...the experimental results.•Parametric studies are carried out to determine the influence of mechanical and electrical parameters on the harvested power.•The present hybrid model can widen the operating bandwidth and it generates high current and high voltage simultaneously.
A hybrid energy harvester combining piezoelectric and electromagnetic transduction mechanisms is designed to harvest vibration energy. The system comprises of a cantilever beam PZT harvester and a magnetic mass hung through a spring at the free end. The beam with PZT harvests energy using piezoelectric effect while the hanging mass oscillates through a copper coil to harvest electromagnetic energy. This paper studies power harvested from the hybrid harvester under harmonic excitation using experimental and analytical evaluations. Comparisons are made with the standalone piezoelectric and electromagnetic harvesters under similar excitation environment. The study shows that the present hybrid harvester can harvest energy at a broad range of frequencies. Furthermore, a few parametric studies are carried out to understand the device output performance. The bandwidth of the harvester and the power harvested within the bandwidth can be designed based on the stiffness of the system and also by changing the electromechanical coupling coefficient. Studies reported also show that bandwidth of harvester can also be increased by increasing the magnetic mass.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
AIMS: Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for animals and humans but toxic at high levels. Soil Se concentration is highly variable. Selenium toxicity occurs in areas with seleniferous soils, ...while Se deficiency is prevalent in low-Se areas. Selenium-accumulating crop plants may be used to extract Se from seleniferous soils and provide dietary Se in low-Se areas. METHODS: In this study, Se accumulator, Brassica juncea (Indian mustard), was tested for its capacity to extract Se from naturally seleniferous soil (~8 mg Se kg⁻¹of soil) collected from west Fort Collins, CO, USA. Two Se-tolerant bacterial consortia (G1 and G2, 4–5 bacterial strains in each) were tested for their effects on plant growth and Se accumulation. RESULTS: B. juncea accumulated Se to 711 mg kg⁻¹dry weight (DW) in leaves, 276 mg kg⁻¹DW in pod husk and 358 mg kg⁻¹DW in seeds. Plants inoculated with consortium G1 showed significantly increased growth (dry biomass, seed weight) compared to control plants and G2-inoculated plants. G2-Inoculated plants showed reduced photosynthesis and stomatal conductance compared to control plants and G1-inoculated plants, as well as reduced Se accumulation in leaf and seed tissues. Sulfur levels were not affected by inoculation. Non-protein thiol levels were significantly elevated in G2-inoculated plants. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, B. juncea may be used to extract Se from seleniferous soil for the production of Se-enriched plant material, and inoculation with bacterial consortium G1 further enhances the efficiency of this process by stimulating plant growth.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a life-threatening respiratory disease with a high case fatality rate; however, its risk factors remain unclear. We aimed to explore the ...influence of demographic factors, clinical manifestations and underlying comorbidities on mortality in MERS-CoV patients. Retrospective chart reviews were performed to identify all laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-COV infection in Saudi Arabia that were reported to the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia between 23 April 2014 and 7 June 2016. Statistical analyses were conducted to assess the effect of sex, age, clinical presentation and comorbidities on mortality from MERS-CoV. A total of 281 confirmed MERS-CoV cases were identified: 167 (59.4%) patients were male and 55 (20%) died. Mortality predominantly occurred among Saudi nationals and older patients and was significantly associated with respiratory failure and shortness of breath. Of the 281 confirmed cases, 160 (56.9%) involved comorbidities, wherein diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, end-stage renal disease and chronic kidney disease were significantly associated with mortality from MERS-CoV and two or three comorbidities significantly affected the fatality rates from MERS-CoV. The findings of this study show that old age and the existence of underlying comorbidities significantly increase mortality from MERS-CoV.
Plants are extensively used in traditional medicine, and several plant antimicrobial peptides have been described as potential alternatives to conventional antibiotics. However, after more than four ...decades of research no plant antimicrobial peptide is currently used for treating bacterial infections, due to their length, post-translational modifications or high dose requirement for a therapeutic effect . Here we report the design of antimicrobial peptides derived from a guava glycine-rich peptide using a genetic algorithm. This approach yields guavanin peptides, arginine-rich α-helical peptides that possess an unusual hydrophobic counterpart mainly composed of tyrosine residues. Guavanin 2 is characterized as a prototype peptide in terms of structure and activity. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis indicates that the peptide adopts an α-helical structure in hydrophobic environments. Guavanin 2 is bactericidal at low concentrations, causing membrane disruption and triggering hyperpolarization. This computational approach for the exploration of natural products could be used to design effective peptide antibiotics.
Protein kinases regulate cellular activities and make up over 60% of oncoproteins and proto-oncoproteins. Among these kinases, FLT3 is a member of class III receptor tyrosine kinase family which is ...abundantly expressed in individuals with acute leukemia. Our previous oxindole-based hit has a particular affinity toward FLT3 (IC
= 2.49 μM) and has demonstrated selectivity towards FLT3 ITD-mutated MV4-11 AML cells, with an IC
of 4.3 μM. By utilizing the scaffold of the previous hit, sixteen new compounds were synthesized and screened against NCI-60 human cancer cell lines. This leads to the discovery of a potent antiproliferative compound, namely
, with an average GI
value against leukemia and colon cancer subpanels equalling 3.39 and 5.97 µM, respectively. Screening against a specific set of 10 kinases that are associated with carcinogenesis indicates that compound
has a potent FLT3 inhibition (IC
= 36.21 ± 1.07 nM). Remarkably, compound
was three times more effective as a CDK2 inhibitor (IC
= 8.17 ± 0.32 nM) compared to sunitinib (IC
= 27.90 ± 1.80 nM). Compound
was further analyzed by means of docking and molecular dynamics simulation for CDK2 and FLT3 active sites which provided a rational for the observed strong inhibition of kinases. These results suggest a novel structural scaffold candidate that simultaneously inhibits CDK2 and FLT3 and gives encouragement for further development as a potential therapeutic for leukemia and colon cancer.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article investigates the possibility of piezoelectric energy harvesters as energy scavenging devices in highway bridges. The structural vibration due to the motion of a load (vehicle) on the ...bridge is considered as the source of energy generation for the harvester. The energy generated in this way can be useful for wireless sensor networks for structural health monitoring of bridges by reducing or even eliminating the need for battery replacement/recharging. A highway bridge model with a moving point load is investigated and a linear single-degree-of-freedom model is used for the piezoelectric energy harvester. Two types of harvesters, namely, the harvesting circuit with and without an inductor, have been considered and the energy generated for a single vehicle has been estimated. These results may be used, together with traffic statistics, to obtain the variation of average power and thus, for a given application, help to design the energy management system.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Nanoparticles are small scale substances (<100
nm) used in biomedical applications, electronics, and energy production. Increased exposure to nanoparticles being produced in large-scale industry ...facilities elicits concerns for the toxicity of certain classes of nanoparticles. This study evaluated the effects of silver-25
nm (Ag-25) nanoparticles on gene expression in different regions of the mouse brain. Adult-male C57BL/6N mice were administered (i.p.) 100
mg/kg, 500
mg/kg or 1000
mg/kg Ag-25 and sacrificed after 24
h. Regions from the brain were rapidly removed and dissected into caudate nucleus, frontal cortex and hippocampus. Total RNA was isolated from each of the three brain regions collected and real-time RT-PCR analysis was performed using Mouse Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Defense Arrays. Array data revealed the expression of genes varied in the caudate nucleus, frontal cortex and hippocampus of mice when treated with Ag-25. The data suggest that Ag-25 nanoparticles may produce neurotoxicity by generating free radical-induced oxidative stress and by altering gene expression, producing apoptosis and neurotoxicity.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the cancers that grow most aggressively. The challenges in AML management are huge, despite many treatment options. Mutations in FLT3 tyrosine kinase receptors ...make the currently available therapies less responsive. Therefore, there is a need to find new lead molecules that can specifically target mutated FLT3 to block growth factor signaling and inhibit AML cell proliferation. Our previous studies on FLT3-mutated AML cells demonstrated that β-elemene and compound
showed strong inhibition of proliferation by blocking the mutated FLT3 receptor and altering the key apoptotic genes responsible for apoptosis. Furthermore, we hypothesized that both β-elemene and compound
could be therapeutically effective. Therefore, combining these drugs against mutated FLT3 cells could be promising. In this context, dose-matrix combination-based cellular inhibition analyses, cell morphology studies and profiling of 43 different apoptotic protein targets via combinatorial treatment were performed. Our studies provide strong evidence for the hypothesis that β-elemene and compound
combination considerably increased the therapeutic potential of both compounds by enhancing the activation of several key targets implicated in AML cell death.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) is a member of the sirtuin protein family, which includes lysine deacylases that are NAD
-dependent and organize several biological processes. Different forms of cancer have been ...associated with dysregulation of SIRT2 activity. Hence, identifying potent inhibitors for SIRT2 has piqued considerable attention in the drug discovery community. In the current study, the Natural Products Atlas (NPAtlas) database was mined to hunt potential SIRT2 inhibitors utilizing in silico techniques. Initially, the performance of the employed docking protocol to anticipate ligand-SIRT2 binding mode was assessed according to the accessible experimental data. Based on the predicted docking scores, the most promising NPAtlas molecules were selected and submitted to molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, followed by binding energy computations. Based on the MM-GBSA binding energy estimations over a 200 ns MD course, three NPAtlas compounds, namely NPA009578, NPA006805, and NPA001884, were identified with better ΔG
towards SIRT2 protein than the native ligand (SirReal2) with values of - 59.9, - 57.4, - 53.5, and - 49.7 kcal/mol, respectively. On the basis of structural and energetic assessments, the identified NPAtlas compounds were confirmed to be steady over a 200 ns MD course. The drug-likeness and pharmacokinetic characteristics of the identified NPAtlas molecules were anticipated, and robust bioavailability was predicted. Conclusively, the current results propose potent inhibitors for SIRT2 deserving more in vitro/in vivo investigation.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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