Research indicates that survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) face substantial stigma and discrimination, with varying impacts based on demographic factors such as race and income. This study ...explored perceived discrimination among 88 IPV survivors across different racial backgrounds and income levels in mental health settings. Participants completed a mixed‐method electronic survey assessing discrimination experiences related to survivor status, income, and race within mental health treatment. Results revealed high levels of perceived discrimination based on survivor status among both racially minoritized and majoritized survivors. However, racially minoritized survivors reported greater racial discrimination and associated stress within mental healthcare settings. Regardless of income level, all survivors reported significant discrimination experiences. Qualitative analysis highlighted factors perceived as helpful or unhelpful within mental health settings. This study underscores the need for further research on socioeconomic influences on stigma experiences among IPV survivors and suggests implications for provider training to better support survivors, especially those from diverse racial backgrounds.
Free radicals generated within subcellular compartments damage macromolecules which lead to severe structural changes and functional alterations of cellular organelles. A manifestation of free ...radical injury to biological membranes is the process of lipid peroxidation, an autooxidative chain reaction in which polyunsaturated fatty acids in the membrane are the substrate. There is considerable evidence that damage to polyunsaturated fatty acids tends to reduce membrane fluidity. However, adequate levels of fluidity are essential for the proper functioning of biological membranes. Thus, there is considerable interest in antioxidant molecules which are able to stabilize membranes because of their protective effects against lipid peroxidation. Melatonin is an indoleamine that modulates a wide variety of endocrine, neural and immune functions. Over the last two decades, intensive research has proven this molecule, as well as its metabolites, to possess substantial antioxidant activity. In addition to their ability to scavenge several reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, melatonin increases the activity of the glutathione redox enzymes, that is, glutathione peroxidase and reductase, as well as other antioxidant enzymes. These beneficial effects of melatonin are more significant because of its small molecular size and its amphipathic behaviour, which facilitates ease of melatonin penetration into every subcellular compartment. In the present work, we review the current information related to the beneficial effects of melatonin in maintaining the fluidity of biological membranes against free radical attack, and further, we discuss its implications for ageing and disease.
Use of preformed metal‐organic polyhedra (MOPs) as supermolecular building blocks (SBBs) for the synthesis of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) remains underexplored due to lack of robust ...functionalized MOPs. Herein we report the use of polycarboxylate cuboctahedral RhII‐MOPs for constructing highly‐connected MOFs. Cuboctahedral MOPs were functionalized with carboxylic acid groups on their 12 vertices or 24 edges through coordinative or covalent post‐synthetic routes, respectively. We then used each isolated polycarboxylate RhII‐MOP as 12‐c cuboctahedral or 24‐c rhombicuboctahedral SBBs that, upon linkage with metallic secondary building units (SBUs), afford bimetallic highly‐connected MOFs. The assembly of a pre‐synthesized 12‐c SBB with a 4‐c paddle‐wheel SBU, and a 24‐c SBB with a 3‐c triangular CuII SBU gave rise to bimetallic MOFs having ftw (4,12)‐c or rht (3,24)‐c topologies, respectively.
Two different post‐synthetic routes have been followed to functionalize pre‐synthesized RhII‐based cuboctahedral metal–organic polyhedra (MOPs) with carboxylic acid groups, either on their 12 metal sites (vertices) or on their 24 linkers (edges). Such isolated MOPs serve as highly connected (12‐c and 24‐c) supermolecular building blocks, for the formation of two new bimetallic RhCu‐MOF structures.
The transfer of nanoparticles between immiscible phases can be driven by externally triggered changes in their surface composition. Interestingly, phase transfers can enhance the processing of ...nanoparticles and enable their use as vehicles for transporting molecular cargo. Herein we report extension of such phase transfers to encompass porous metal–organic polyhedra (MOPs). We report that a hydroxyl-functionalized, cuboctahedral Rh(II)-based MOP can be transferred between immiscible phases by pH changes or by cation-exchange reactions. We demonstrate use of this MOP to transport coordinatively bound cargo between immiscible layers, including into solvents in which the cargo is insoluble. As proof-of-concept that our phase-transfer approach could be used in chemical separation, we employed Rh(II)-based MOPs to separate a challenging mixture of structurally similar cyclic aliphatic (tetrahydrothiophene) and aromatic (thiophene) compounds. We anticipate that transport of coordinatively bound molecules will open new avenues for molecular separation based on the relative coordination affinity that the molecules have for the Rh(II) sites of MOP.
Astrocyte heterogeneity is increasingly recognized, but still little is known about juxtavascular astrocytes with their somata directly adjacent to blood vessels, despite their importance after brain ...injury. As juxtavascular astrocytes originate from common progenitor cells, that is, have a clonal origin, they may intrinsically differ from other, non‐juxtavascular astrocytes. To explore this, we examined the electrophysiological properties of these groups of astrocytes and the underlying ion channels. Using brain slices of BAC Aldh1l1‐eGFP transgenic mice with astrocytes labeled by GFP expression, we compared juxtavascular and non‐juxtavascular astrocytes in the somatosensory cortex by means of whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings and immunohistochemical staining. Prior to injury, juxta‐ and non‐juxtavascular astrocytes exhibit comparable electrophysiological properties with characteristic mostly passive conductance and a typical negative resting membrane potential. Immunohistochemical analysis of K+ channels showed that all astrocytes were Kir4.1+, but revealed an intriguing difference for Kv4.3. The expression of Kv4.3 in sibling astrocytes (non‐juxtavascular, juxtavascular and pial) was dependent on their ontogenetic origin with lowest levels in juxtavascular astrocytes located in upper cortical layers. After traumatic brain injury (TBI), we found profound changes in the electrophysiological type of astrocytes with a predominance of non‐passive properties and this pattern was significantly enriched in juxtavascular astrocytes. This was accompanied by pronounced down‐regulation of Kir4.1 in proliferating astrocytes, which was significantly more in juxtavascular compared to non‐juxtavascular astrocytes. Taken together, TBI induces profound differences in electrophysiological properties between juxtavascular and non‐juxtavascular astrocytes that might be related to the preponderance of juxtavascular astrocyte proliferation.
Main Points
Juxtavascular astrocytes exhibit largely standard passive electrophysiological properties.
Heterogeneity in Kv4.3 expression in astroglial clones of cerebral cortex upper layers.
TBI increases the fraction of electrophysiologically non‐passive, Kir4.1‐negative juxtavascular astrocytes.
Background
Improvements in treatment of head‐and‐neck cancer (HNC) have resulted in improved long‐term survival rates so there is a growing interest in long‐term consequences.
Objective
The aim was ...to perform a smartphone‐based assessment to analyse the upper airway dysfunction‐related symptoms in HNC 1 year after radiotherapy (RT) during social distancing due to COVID‐19.
Methods & Procedures
Smartphone‐based assessment on upper airway function 1 year after RT was performed. Upper airway functions include perceived impact of voice on quality of life (Voice Handicap Index, VHI‐30), swallowing (Functional Oral Intake, FOIS; and Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire, SWAL‐QOL) and sleep‐disordered breathing (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) assessments. Additionally, quality of life was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire.
Outcomes & Results
The HNC group presented worse results in the VHI‐30 scale, in the three subscales (p < 0.001). Swallowing function also presented worse results in the HNC group, with a lower score in the FOIS questionnaire (p < 0.001) and a poorer score in the SWAL‐QOL (p < 0.001). Regarding to the sleep‐disordered breathing, the HNC group presented poorer scores in all subscales (p < 0.05). The HNC group also presented worse scores in quality of life.
Conclusion
Our findings showed that HNC survivors presented a poorer upper airway function and a worse quality of life. This population needs to be systematically screened for those function impairments.
WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS
What is already known on the subject
Head‐and‐neck cancer radiotherapy treatment is anatomically related to the upper airway, involved in several functions such as breathing, swallowing and speech that could be affected by the treatment. Public health restrictions caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic have made it difficult, and in many cases impossible, to see patients in person and complete assessments that are often crucial to improve their approach. Telephone interviews appear to be largely equivalent to face‐to‐face interviews, which could solve these problems.
What this paper adds to existing knowledge
The aim of this study was to perform a smartphone‐based assessment to analyse the upper airway dysfunction‐related symptoms in head‐and‐neck cancer survivors 1 year after radiotherapy treatment. Our findings showed that head‐and‐neck cancer survivors who have been treated with radiotherapy presented a poorer upper airway function, with subjective speech and voice problems, swallowing and sleep‐disordered breathing compared to a control group matched for age and sex 1 year after the treatment.
What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?
The results of this study will allow a better approach to treatment of head‐and‐neck cancer survivors.
Background
Chemotherapy‐induced adverse effects are an unresolved nightmare. In preclinical studies in rats, the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) improved some of the side effects caused by ...cisplatin, but its effects in other models of chemotherapy‐treated animals are not well known. The aim of this study was to test if MSG may improve some of the adverse effects induced by vincristine in rats.
Methods
Young male Wistar rats were exposed or not to MSG (4 g L−1) in drinking water from week 0 till 1 week after treatment (week 3). Rats received two cycles of five daily intraperitoneal (ip) injections (Monday to Friday, weeks 1 and 2) of either saline (2 mL kg−1) or vincristine (0.1 mg kg−1). Gastrointestinal motility was measured in vivo by radiological methods after the first and tenth ip administrations. On week 3, the threshold for mechanical somatic and colorectal sensitivity was recorded using Von Frey filaments applied to the paws and an intracolonic balloon, respectively. Finally, samples of the terminal ileum and distal colon were histologically evaluated in sections.
Key Results
Vincristine reduced body weight gain, food intake, and upper gastrointestinal transit, caused somatic (but not visceral) hypersensitivity and increased the thickness of the submucosal and muscle layers of the small intestine. In vincristine‐treated animals, MSG partially prevented gastrointestinal dysmotility and reduced visceral sensitivity but did not improve structural alterations of the small intestine.
Conclusions & Inferences
MSG could be used as an adjuvant to conventional treatments to improve some gastrointestinal dysfunctions caused by chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy with vincristine (VC) causes gastrointestinal dysmotility, neuropathic pain, and intestinal histological damage. The addition of the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) to the drinking water prevents gastrointestinal motility alterations and decreases colorectal sensitivity in rats treated with this antitumor drug.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders and is characterized by compromised social interactions, reduced verbal communication, stereotyped repetitive ...behaviors, restricted interests, and sensory abnormalities. Yet absent from the knowledge base is information about sensory abnormalities related to pain experiences. Exploring the pain experiences of people with ASD may provide occupational therapy practitioners with a baseline to determine areas of need and effective interventions.
To conduct a systematic review of the literature to summarize current evidence from case-control studies comparing sensory abnormalities with regard to pain experiences of people diagnosed and not diagnosed with ASD.
A systematic literature search of the CINAHL, Cochrane, MEDLINE (PubMed), OTseeker, and Web of Science databases, using MeSH terms and broad keywords.
A search was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the risk of bias of the included studies.
A total of 27 case-control studies involving 865 people with ASD and 864 control participants were included. Several methods were used to explore pain experiences, such as threshold detection or pain threshold.
The results indicate that people with ASD may have an abnormal sensory experience with regard to pain sensitivity. Occupational therapy practitioners should develop an intervention to focus on pain. What This Article Adds: This study adds to the body of literature indicating that people with ASD have sensory abnormalities with regard to pain experiences. Results highlight the need for occupational therapy interventions to focus on pain experiences.
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