To Whom It May Concern: Support-Seeking within Letters of Stigmatized College Students in the Southeast U.S.

Individuals with stigmatized identities have been shown to have more negative health outcomes and shorter life expectancy than individuals who don’t carry a stigmatized label. One factor that acts as a buffer to protect stigmatized individuals against negative outcomes is support. However, how an individual seeks support can have an impact on whether they receive it. This study attempted to discover if the anticipation of either acceptance or rejection affected the type of support-seeking present in letters written by college students with either concealable or visible stigmatized identities. Results indicated stigmatized individuals displayed significantly more indirect support seeking in their letters when they were in the rejection condition compared to those in the acceptance condition. No significant condition or stigma type differences were found when examining seeking behaviors with a quantitative survey. However, a posthoc analysis revealed a significant interaction between stigma type and condition for indirect support-seeking. Those with a visible stigma reported more indirect seeking in the acceptance condition

Genetic pre-screening for glaucoma in population-based epidemiology:protocol for a double-blind prospective screening study within Lifelines (EyeLife)

BACKGROUND: Early detection of glaucoma is paramount to maintain patients' eyesight, however glaucomatous vision loss tends to begin in the periphery with up to 50% of patients unaware they are affected. Because glaucomatous vision loss is permanent, screening appears attractive, but currently is not cost-effective. Therefore we aim to investigate the utility of genetic pre-screening for glaucoma in a population-based setting, called EyeLife. METHODS: EyeLife adopts a double blind prospective design with contrasting groups. Selected participants (n = 1600) from the Lifelines cohort are 55 years of age or older, and of either the highest or lowest 20% of the genetic risk distribution for glaucoma. We obtained a highly curated list of genetic variants from the literature to obtain each participants' genetic risk for glaucoma. Participants will undergo comprehensive ophthalmic screening. The primary outcome is the relative risk of glaucoma given a high genetic risk compared to a low genetic risk. DISCUSSION: If genetic pre-screening is successful, it will increase the yield of a glaucoma screening program by focusing on high-risk individuals. This, in turn, may improve long-term visual health of middle-aged and elderly people. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Ethics approval was obtained on January 31, 2019, and the study was retrospectively registered with the Netherlands Trial Register ( NL8718 ) on the 17th of June, 2020

Two simple and rapid methods based on maximum diameter accurately estimate large lesion volumes in acute stroke

Background: We compared two simple and rapid diameter-based methods (ABC/2, od-value) in terms of their accuracy in predicting lesion volume >70 ml and >100 ml. Methods: In 238 DWI images of ischemic stroke patients from the AXIS2 trial, maximum lesion diameter and corresponding maximum orthogonal diameter were measured. Estimation of infarct volume based on od-value and ABC/2 calculation was compared to volumetric assessments. Results: Accuracy of od-value and ABC/2 was similar for >70 ml (92.0 vs. 87.4) and >100 ml (92.9 vs. 93.3). ABC/2 overestimated lesion volume by 29.9%, resulting in a lower specificity. Conclusions: Od-value is a robust tool for patient selection in trials

Experience of midwives in providing care to labouring women in varied healthcare settings: A qualitative study

Background: Midwives are essential to timely, effective, family-centred care. In South Africa, patients have often expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of midwifery care. Negative interpersonal relationships with caregivers, lack of information, neglect and abandonment were consistent complaints. Less is known about how midwives experience providing care. Aim: This research explored and described the experiences of midwives in providing care to labouring women in varied healthcare settings. Setting: Midwives practicing in the Gauteng province, South Africa, in one of three settings: private hospitals, public hospitals or independent maternity hospital. Methods: A convenience sample of midwives (N = 10) were interviewed. An exploratory and descriptive design, with individual semi-structured interviews conducted, asked a primary question: ‘How is it for you to be a midwife in South Africa?’ Transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic coding. Results: Five themes were found: proud to be a midwife, regulations and independent function, resource availability, work burden and image of the midwife. Conclusion: Midwives struggle within systems that fail to allow independent functioning, disallowing a voice in making decisions and creating change. Regardless of practice setting, midwives expressed frustration with policies that prevented utilisation consistent with scope of practice, as well as an inability to practice the midwifery model of care. Those in public settings expressed concern with restricted resource appropriation. Similarly, there is clear need to upscale midwifery education and to establish care competencies to be met in providing clinical services. Contribution: This research provides evidence of the midwifery experience with implications for needed health policy change

Die Geschäftstätigkeit dauerhaft verantwortlich gestalten

Mit dem CSR-Preis zeichnet die Bundesregierung erstmalig Unternehmen aus, die sich auf den Weg gemacht haben, ihre Geschäftstätigkeit dauerhaft sozial, ökologisch und ökonomisch verträglich zu gestalten. Dabei werden die Unternehmen mit einer innovativen Methodik bewertet

Compassion fatigue in nurses : A metasynthesis

Abstract: To interpret the body of qualitative work focusing on compassion fatigue to distil a common understanding that could then be applied to nursing care. Background: Complex demands place extraordinary stress on nurses struggling to work in overburdened healthcare systems. The result can be the inability to care well for others, leading to compassion fatigue, burnout and increased numbers leaving the profession. Metasynthesis offers a means of more fully illuminating compassion fatigue and further understanding of practices which might reduce its negative consequences..

Radiosensitization of breast cancer cells with a 2-methoxyestradiol analogue affects DNA damage and repair signaling in vitro

Radiation resistance and radiation-related side effects warrant research into alternative strategies in the application of this modality to cancer treatment. Designed in silico to improve the pharmacokinetics and anti-cancer properties of 2-methoxyestradiol, 2-ethyl-3-O-sulfamoyl-estra- 1,3,5(10)16-tetraene (ESE-16) disrupts microtubule dynamics and induces apoptosis. Here, we investigated whether pre-exposure of breast cancer cells to low-dose ESE-16 would affect radiation-induced deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage and the consequent repair pathways. MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and BT-20 cells were exposed to sub-lethal doses of ESE-16 for 24 h before 8 Gy radiation. Flow cytometric quantification of Annexin V, clonogenic studies, micronuclei quantification, assessment of histone H2AX phosphorylation and Ku70 expression were performed to assess cell viability, DNA damage, and repair pathways, in both directly irradiated cells and cells treated with conditioned medium. A small increase in apoptosis was observed as an early consequence, with significant repercussions on long-term cell survival. Overall, a greater degree of DNA damage was detected. Moreover, initiation of the DNA-damage repair response was delayed, with a subsequent sustained elevation. Radiation-induced bystander effects induced similar pathways and were initiated via intercellular signaling. These results justify further investigation of ESE-16 as a radiation-sensitizing agent since pre-exposure appears to augment the response of tumor cells to radiation.The National Research Foundation (NRF), NRF Thuthuka, NRF Incentive, Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), CANSA UP, the Research Committee (School of Medicine) of the University of Pretoria (RESCOM), the Struwig-Germeshuysen Trust, the Research Development Program from the University of Pretoria, and the Medical Research Council.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijmsPhysiologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein