Traditional aromatherapy in the clinical context of a therapeutic community for the treatment of substance use disorders

Western medicine and psychotherapy have historically overlooked the potential of engaging the sense of smell for therapeutic purposes. However, in other medical traditions, such as that of the Peruvian Amazon, specific therapeutic interventions based on the use of aromatic plants are commonly performed in conjunction with other healing modalities. Traditional specialized healers locally known as perfumeros conduct such healing sessions. This research describes how this kind of traditional Amazonian aromatherapy is used in the context of Takiwasi center, a therapeutic community specialized in the treatment of substance use disorders. Participant observation was carried out by shadowing the healers in charge of specific aromatherapy sessions including the so-called plant baths, sahumerio, and saunas. Additionally, semi structured interviews were conducted with several members of Takiwasi’s therapeutic staff, and non-peer reviewed publications and audio-video materials present in the Takiwasi archive were consulted and used as original data for this research. Data on users that received a plant bath from July 2019 to February 2021, were also acquired and discussed. The cosmology beyond this kind of traditional aromatherapy includes concepts such as “energetic body” and “spiritual entities”, opening the discussion on something beyond the mere materialistic aspect of aromatic chemistry and pharmacology

MPV17 does not control cancer cell proliferation

MPV17 is described as a mitochondrial inner membrane channel. Although its function remains elusive, mutations in the MPV17 gene result in hepato-cerebral mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome in humans. In this study, we show that MPV17 silencing does not induce depletion in mitochondrial DNA content in cancer cells. We also show that MPV17 does not control cancer cell proliferation despite the fact that we initially observed a reduced proliferation rate in five MPV17-silenced cancer cell lines with two different shRNAs. However, shRNA-mediated MPV17 knockdown performed in this work provided misguiding results regarding the resulting proliferation phenotype and only a rescue experiment was able to shed definitive light on the implication of MPV17 in cancer cell proliferation. Our results therefore emphasize the caution that is required when scientific conclusions are drawn from a work based on lentiviral vector-based gene silencing and clearly demonstrate the need to systematically perform a rescue experiment in order to ascertain the specific nature of the experimental results

Detecting the Onset of Strain Localization Using Two‐Dimensional Wavelet Analysis on Sandstone Deformed at Different Effective Pressures

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Grant Number: NE/N003063/1Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The HCV Envelope Glycoprotein Down-Modulates NF-kappa B Signalling and Associates With Stimulation of the Host Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway

Following acute HCV infection, the virus establishes a chronic disease in the majority of patients whilst few individuals clear the infection spontaneously. The precise mechanisms that determine chronic HCV infection or spontaneous clearance are not completely understood but are proposed to be driven by host and viral genetic factors as well as HCV encoded immunomodulatory proteins. Using the HIV-1 LTR as a tool to measure NF-κB activity, we identified that the HCV E1E2 glycoproteins and more so the E2 protein down-modulates HIV-1 LTR activation in 293T, TZM-bl and the more physiologically relevant Huh7 liver derived cell line. We demonstrate this effect is specifically mediated through inhibiting NF-κB binding to the LTR and show that this effect was conserved for all HCV genotypes tested. Transcriptomic analysis of 293T cells expressing the HCV glycoproteins identified E1E2 mediated stimulation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response pathway and upregulation of stress response genes such as ATF3. Through shRNA mediated inhibition of ATF3, one of the components, we observed that E1E2 mediated inhibitory effects on HIV-1 LTR activity was alleviated. Our in vitro studies demonstrate that HCV Env glycoprotein activates host ER Stress Pathways known to inhibit NF-κB activity. This has potential implications for understanding HCV induced immune activation as well as oncogenesis

Systems medicine and integrated care to combat chronic noncommunicable diseases

We propose an innovative, integrated, cost-effective health system to combat major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular, chronic respiratory, metabolic, rheumatologic and neurologic disorders and cancers, which together are the predominant health problem of the 21st century. This proposed holistic strategy involves comprehensive patient-centered integrated care and multi-scale, multi-modal and multi-level systems approaches to tackle NCDs as a common group of diseases. Rather than studying each disease individually, it will take into account their intertwined gene-environment, socio-economic interactions and co-morbidities that lead to individual-specific complex phenotypes. It will implement a road map for predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine based on a robust and extensive knowledge management infrastructure that contains individual patient information. It will be supported by strategic partnerships involving all stakeholders, including general practitioners associated with patient-centered care. This systems medicine strategy, which will take a holistic approach to disease, is designed to allow the results to be used globally, taking into account the needs and specificities of local economies and health systems