Cytoplasmic lipid droplets are important organelles in nearly every eukaryotic and some prokaryotic cells. Storing and providing energy is their main function, but they do not work in isolation. They ...respond to stimuli initiated either on the cell surface or in the cytoplasm as conditions change. Cellular stresses such as starvation and invasion are internal insults that evoke changes in droplet metabolism and dynamics. This review will first outline lipid droplet assembly and then discuss how droplets respond to stress and in particular nutrient starvation. Finally, the role of droplets in viral and microbial invasion will be presented, where an unresolved issue is whether changes in droplet abundance promote the invader, defend the host, to try to do both. The challenges of stress and infection are often accompanied by changes in physical contacts between droplets and other organelles. How these changes may result in improving cellular physiology, an ongoing focus in the field, is discussed.
This review offers a concise summary of our current view of how cytoplasmic lipid droplets respond to cellular stresses and pathogen invasion, and cross‐talk with other organelles in order to maintain energy balance and cellular physiology.
Emerging Long COVID research indicates the condition has major population health consequence. Other chronic conditions have previously been associated with functional and mental health challenges - ...including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide ideation, substance use and lower life satisfaction.
This study explores correlations between self-reported Long COVID, functional and mental health challenges among a random community-based sample of people (n = 655) aged 20-50 years who contracted COVID-19 prior to vaccination in a Texas county. A random sample of eligible participants was mailed a link to participate in a semi-structured questionnaire. Participant responses, including open-ended responses regarding their experience following COVID-19, were paired with health system data.
Long COVID was associated with increased presence of depression (13% increase), anxiety (28% increase), suicide ideation (10% increase), PTSD (20% increase), and decreased life satisfaction and daily functioning. Structural equation modeling, controlling for sociodemographic variables and imposing a theoretical framework from existing chronic disease research, demonstrated correlations between Long COVID and higher PTSD, suicide ideation and lower life satisfaction were mediated by higher daily functional challenges and common mental disorders.
Basic and applied, interdisciplinary research is urgently needed to characterize the population-based response to the new challenge of Long COVID.
Hundreds of millions of people suffer anxiety disorders globally, demonstrating need for scalable and effective interventions. Adverse childhood experiences contribute to this mental health burden. ...The stress-buffering hypothesis, which posits social factors moderate prior adversity and subsequent mental health outcomes, provides one theoretical avenue to consider observations that group-based microfinance programs improve social capital.
We investigate associations between adverse childhood experiences, generalized anxiety among adults and social capital associated with participation in a group-based microfinance program in rural Kenya. Adult participants (n = 400 women) responded to standardized measures of childhood adversity in June 2018, group-affiliated social capital and generalized anxiety in June 2019. Cumulative adverse childhood experiences predicted higher anxiety, which was statistically moderated by the presence of group-affiliated interpersonal trust. This study is the first to find social capital associated with participation in a group-based microfinance program statistically moderates expected associations between adverse childhood experiences and adult generalized anxiety. Future study should be conducted using a cluster-randomized control design to further assess the potential of this intervention method to ameliorate associations between past adversity and current mental health.
•Adverse childhood experiences contribute to the high global burden of adult anxiety.•Population-based interventions are required to mitigate the adult effects of ACEs.•Group-based microfinance programs increase social capital with under-explored benefits.•Social capital moderates ACEs and adult anxiety among rural Kenyans.•Research should explore of economic, social and mental health synergies.
Patient satisfaction after total hip (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a core outcome selected by the Outcomes Measurement in Rheumatology. Up to 20% of THA/TKA patients are dissatisfied. ...Improving patient satisfaction is hindered by the lack of a validated measurement tool that can accurately measure change.
The psychometric properties of a proposed satisfaction instrument, consisting of 4 questions rated on a Likert scale, scored 1-100, were tested for validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change using data collected between 2007 and 2011 in an arthroplasty registry.
We demonstrated construct validity by confirming our hypothesis; satisfaction correlated with similar constructs. Satisfaction correlated moderately with pain relief (TKA ρ = 0.61, THA ρ = 0.47) and function (TKA ρ = 0.65, THA ρ = 0.51) at 2 years; there was no correlation with baseline/preoperative pain/function values, as expected. Overall Cronbach’s alpha >0.88 confirmed internal consistency. Test-retest reliability with weighted kappa ranged 0.60-0.75 for TKA and 0.36-0.56 for THA. Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score/Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores quality of life improvement (>30 points) corresponds to a mean satisfaction score of 93.2 (standard deviation, 11.5) after THA and 90.4 (standard deviation, 13.8) after TKA, and increasing relief of pain and functional improvement increased the strength of their association with satisfaction. The satisfaction measure has no copyright and is available free of cost and represents minimal responder burden.
Patient satisfaction with THA/TKA can be measured with a validated 4-item questionnaire. This satisfaction measure can be included in a total joint arthroplasty core measurement set for total joint arthroplasty trials.
Introduction
Millions of children and youth live on city streets across the globe, vulnerable to substance use, abuse, material and structural neglect. Structural resilience, the re-establishment of ...access to structural goods within a society such as housing, education, and healthcare following some interruption, provides an orientation for research and interventional efforts with street-involved children and youth (SICY). Further, a structural resilience framework supports organizing interactions between levels and sectors of a socio-ecology.
Methods
Following the expressed interests of Kenyan SICY, and consistent with emerging policy interests at national and global levels, we assess reintegration trajectories of Kenyan SICY (
n
= 227) participating in a new program intervention and model. The intervention combines two coordinated, parallel programs – one focused on the rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and resocialization of SICY, and the other focused on empowering families and communities to provide better care for children and youth who are reintegrating from life on the streets to the broader community. Data were collected and analyzed from multiple stages across SICY involvement with the intervention.
Results
We found 79% of SICY participants reintegrated with the broader community, and 50% reintegrated with families of origin and returned to school. Twenty-five percent of participants reintegrated to a boarding school, polytechnical school, or began a business. Probability of reintegrating successfully was significantly improved among participants whose families participated in the family- and community-oriented program, who were younger, with less street-exposure, expressed more personal interests, and desired to reintegrate with family.
Discussion
To our knowledge, these are the first quantitative data published of successful reintegration of SICY to the broader, non-institutionalized community in any low- or middle-income country. Future research should (1) identify factors across socio-ecological levels and sectors contributing to health and developmental outcomes of reintegrated children and youth, (2) mechanisms to support SICY for whom the interventional strategy did not work, (3) methods to prevent street-migration by children and youth, and (4) system development to coordinate follow-up and relevant investment by institutions, organizations and community leaders to continue reintegration work.
Sleep quality is essential to biopsychosocial functioning, yet there remains limited longitudinal research on sleep and mental or social well-being within low- or middle-income countries. This study ...utilised longitudinal cohort data from a community-based empowerment programme in Meru County, Kenya to assess cross-lagged correlations between sleep disturbance, social support, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Participants (n = 373; 92% women; age range 18-86 years) who reported more sleep disturbance at T1 reported significantly more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and significantly less social support at T2 (average 11 weeks later), controlling for all within-time correlations across measures, within-measure correlations across time, and sociodemographic background characteristics. The findings are consistent with research across high-income countries, underscoring the need for more contextualised research into sleep behaviours across low- and middle-income countries. The findings may inform interventions to increase mental and social well-being within Kenya.
Stable catalysts are essential to address energy and environmental challenges, especially for applications in harsh environments (for example, high temperature, oxidizing atmosphere and steam). In ...such conditions, supported metal catalysts deactivate due to sintering—a process where initially small nanoparticles grow into larger ones with reduced active surface area—but strategies to stabilize them can lead to decreased performance. Here we report stable catalysts prepared through the encapsulation of platinum nanoparticles inside an alumina framework, which was formed by depositing an alumina precursor within a separately prepared porous organic framework impregnated with platinum nanoparticles. These catalysts do not sinter at 800 °C in the presence of oxygen and steam, conditions in which conventional catalysts sinter to a large extent, while showing similar reaction rates. Extending this approach to Pd–Pt bimetallic catalysts led to the small particle size being maintained at temperatures as high as 1,100 °C in air and 10% steam. This strategy can be broadly applied to other metal and metal oxides for applications where sintering is a major cause of material deactivation.Nanoparticle catalysts can be highly active, but are susceptible to deactivation due to sintering under operational conditions. The Pt and Pd–Pt catalysts synthesized here are stable under demanding reaction conditions with temperatures as high as 1,100 °C.
African Americans in the United States undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) less often than whites, in part because of lower expectations among African Americans for successful surgery. Whether this ...lower expectation is justified is unknown. Our objective is to compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and satisfaction after TKA between African Americans and whites.
A systematic review of English language articles using Medline, the Cochrane register, Embase (April 21, 2015), and a hand search of unlisted disparities journals was performed. Search terms included total knee replacement, quality of life, outcomes, and satisfaction. High-quality cohort studies that examined HRQOL in African Americans and white adults 6 months or more after TKA were included.
Of the 4781 studies screened by title, and 346 by abstract, 7 studies included race in their analysis. Results included 5570 TKA patients, 4077 whites (89%), and 482 (11%) blacks. Because studies used different outcome measures and were inconsistent in their adjustment for confounders, we could not perform a quantitative synthesis of results. In 5 studies, US blacks had worse pain, in 5 worse function, and in 1 less satisfaction 6 months to 2 years after TKA.
US blacks may derive less benefit from TKA than whites as measured by HRQOL, pain, function, and satisfaction. Many studies assessing predictors of patient-related TKA outcomes fail to analyze race as a variable, which limited our study. More studies assessing the effect of race and socioeconomic factors on TKA outcome are needed.
The identification of neurobiological markers that predict individual predisposition to pain are not only important for development of effective pain treatments, but would also yield a more complete ...understanding of how pain is implemented in the brain. In the current study using electroencephalography (EEG), we investigated the relationship between the peak frequency of alpha activity over sensorimotor cortex and pain intensity during capsaicin-heat pain (C-HP), a prolonged pain model known to induce spinal central sensitization in primates. We found that peak alpha frequency (PAF) recorded during a pain-free period preceding the induction of prolonged pain correlated with subsequent pain intensity reports: slower peak frequency at pain-free state was associated with higher pain during the prolonged pain condition. Moreover, the degree to which PAF decreased between pain-free and prolonged pain states was correlated with pain intensity. These two metrics were statistically uncorrelated and in combination were able to account for 50% of the variability in pain intensity. Altogether, our findings suggest that pain-free state PAF over relevant sensory systems could serve as a marker of individual predisposition to prolonged pain. Moreover, slowing of PAF in response to prolonged pain could represent an objective marker for subjective pain intensity. Our findings potentially lead the way for investigations in clinical populations in which alpha oscillations and the brain areas contributing to their generation are used in identifying and formulating treatment strategies for patients more likely to develop chronic pain.
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•Relationship between EEG peak alpha frequency and prolonged pain is examined.•PAF during pain-free state correlated with prolonged pain intensity 40 min later.•PAF change from pain-free to prolonged pain correlated with reported pain intensity.•PAF and PAF changes could represent distinct mechanisms predicting pain sensitivity.
This study explores the role of spirituality as a coping mechanism for poor social conditions in childhood, asking whether spirituality moderates poor childhood social conditions and suicide ...ideation, self-rated health and collective self-esteem among young Kenyan men. Measured outcomes were worse among men who recalled fewer memories of relational warmth and safety in childhood, and better among men who reported higher spirituality. Consistent with the "religion as attachment" framework, spirituality significantly moderated associations between suicide ideation, self-rated health and childhood relational warmth and safety. Contrary to expectations, the association between low childhood warmth and safety and collective self-esteem was exacerbated, rather than compensated for, by higher spirituality. We consider whether "a safe harbor" may exist for people higher in spirituality to accept and critique social arrangements, and whether such a situation might illuminate another way spirituality compensates for poor social environments.
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