Expressed Emotion in the Family: A Meta-Analytic Review of Expressed Emotion as a Mechanism of the Transgenerational Transmission of Mental Disorders

Background High Expressed Emotion (HEE) has been identified as a risk factor for the exacerbation and course of mental illness. EE has been investigated as a caregiver's response to an offspring's problem behavior and pathology. The present meta-analysis regards EE from a transgenerational perspective and as one mechanism that might explain the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders. Method We identified a total of 13 studies relying on 16 independent samples of parent-child dyads of parents with a mental illness and healthy controls; these were included in our analysis. Results were synthesized into one effect size per sample; meta-regression on additional effects of parental diagnostic category, child mental illness, and child age were also applied. Results Parents with a mental illness are classified as HEE significantly more often. Effects were established for high criticism, albeit of small size (OR = 1.45), although they become stronger whenever offspring exhibit mental illness themselves (OR = 2.82). Conclusion The current study highlights the dearth of studies on EE in families in which a parent has a mental illness and its effects on their children. Our findings highlight EE as a potential mechanism for attributing the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders, especially for the EE-variable criticism, indicating dysfunctional parent-child interactions. Systematic Review Registration http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019117609, identifier: CRD42019117609.Peer Reviewe

Leave Me Alone With Your Symptoms! Social Exclusion at the Workplace Mediates the Relationship of Employee's Mental Illness and Sick Leave

Although a substantial part of employees suffers from a mental illness, the work situation of this population still is understudied. Previous research suggests that people with a mental illness experience discrimination in the workplace, which is known to have detrimental effects on health. Building on the stereotype content model and allostatic load theory, the present study investigated whether employees with a mental illness become socially excluded at the workplace and therefore show more days of sick leave. Overall, 86 employees diagnosed with a mental disorder were interviewed and completed online-surveys. Path analyses supported the hypotheses, yielding a serial mediation: The interview-rated severity of the mental disorder had an indirect effect on the days of sick leave, mediated by the symptomatic burden and the social exclusion at the workplace. In the light of the costs associated with absenteeism the present paper highlights the harmfulness of discrimination. Organizations and especially supervisors need to be attentive for signs of exclusion within their teams and try to counteract as early as possible

Leave Me Alone With Your Symptoms! Social Exclusion at the Workplace Mediates the Relationship of Employee's Mental Illness and Sick Leave

Although a substantial part of employees suffers from a mental illness, the work situation of this population still is understudied. Previous research suggests that people with a mental illness experience discrimination in the workplace, which is known to have detrimental effects on health. Building on the stereotype content model and allostatic load theory, the present study investigated whether employees with a mental illness become socially excluded at the workplace and therefore show more days of sick leave. Overall, 86 employees diagnosed with a mental disorder were interviewed and completed online-surveys. Path analyses supported the hypotheses, yielding a serial mediation: The interview-rated severity of the mental disorder had an indirect effect on the days of sick leave, mediated by the symptomatic burden and the social exclusion at the workplace. In the light of the costs associated with absenteeism the present paper highlights the harmfulness of discrimination. Organizations and especially supervisors need to be attentive for signs of exclusion within their teams and try to counteract as early as possible

A new topical panthenol-containing emollient: Results from two randomized controlled studies assessing its skin moisturization and barrier restoration potential, and the effect on skin microflora

Purpose: Two randomized, intra-individual comparison studies were performed in healthy subjects to evaluate the skin moisturization and barrier restoration potential of a new topical panthenol-containing emollient (NTP-CE) (Study 1), and its effect on skin microflora (Study 2). Methods: In Study 1 (N = 23), two skin areas, one challenged with 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution and one unchallenged, were treated with NTP-CE for 3 weeks. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin hydration, and intercellular lipid lamellae (ICLL) organization were measured at regular intervals during the study. In Study 2 (N = 20), quantitative bacterial cultures were obtained over 6 h from a skin area undergoing wash stress with 10% SDS with subsequent single application of NTP-CE. Results: In Study 1, mean AUC for TEWL reduction from baseline was more pronounced with NTP-CE compared with control (−168.36 vs. −123.38 g/m2/h, p = 0.023). NTP-CE use was also associated with statistically significant improvements in stratum corneum hydration and an increase in mean ICLL length from baseline (day 22: 120.61 vs. 35.85 nm/1000 nm2, p < 0.001). In Study 2, NTP-CE use had no negative impact on bacterial viability. Conclusions: NTP-CE use has favorable and lasting effects on barrier function and repair as well as skin hydration without negatively influencing bacterial viability

STAT activation status differentiates leukemogenic from non-leukemogenic stem cells in AML and is suppressed by arsenic in t(6;9)-positive AML

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by an aberrant self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and a block in differentiation. The major therapeutic challenge is the characterization of the leukemic stem cell as a target for the eradication of the disease. Until now the biology of AML-associated fusion proteins (AAFPs), such as the t(15;17)-PML/RARα, t(8;21)-RUNX1/RUNX1T1 and t(6;9)-DEK/NUP214, all able to induce AML in mice, was investigated in different models and genetic backgrounds, not directly comparable to each other. To avoid the bias of different techniques and models we expressed these three AML-inducing oncogenes in an identical genetic background and compared their influence on the HSC compartment in vitro and in vivo. These AAFPs exerted differential effects on HSCs and PML/RARα, similar to DEK/NUP214, induced a leukemic phenotype from a small subpopulation of HSCs with a surface marker pattern of long-term HSC and characterized by activated STAT3 and 5. In contrast the established AML occurred from mature populations in the bone marrow. The activation of STAT5 by PML/RARα and DEK/NUP214 was confirmed in t(15;17)(PML/RARα) and t(6;9)(DEK/NUP214)-positive patients as compared to normal CD34+ cells. The activation of STAT5 was reduced upon the exposure to Arsenic which was accompanied by apoptosis in both PML/RARα- and DEK/NUP214-positive leukemic cells. These findings indicate that in AML the activation of STATs plays a decisive role in the biology of the leukemic stem cell. Furthermore we establish exposure to arsenic as a novel concept for the treatment of this high risk t(6;9)-positive AML

Virucidal Activity of World Health Organization-Recommended Formulations Against Enveloped Viruses, Including Zika, Ebola, and Emerging Coronaviruses.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published 2 alcohol-based formulations to be used in healthcare settings and for outbreak-associated infections, but inactivation efficacies of these products have not been determined against (re-)emerging viruses. In this study, we evaluated the virucidal activity of these WHO products in a comparative analysis. Zika virus (ZIKV), Ebola virus (EBOV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as (re-)emerging viral pathogens and other enveloped viruses could be efficiently inactivated by both WHO formulations, implicating their use in healthcare systems and viral outbreak situations