Social connections and wellbeing amongst Chinese asylum seeking and refugee families in Glasgow: A qualitative study

The impact of social connections on refugees’ wellbeing has been well established in previous refugee studies. However, the impact on Chinese asylum seekers’ and refugees’ (ASRs) wellbeing has rarely been studied. This study aimed to understand what living a good life means to Chinese ASRs in Glasgow and how social connections help to achieve wellbeing for individuals and families. The study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to guide inquiry, a methodology that examines lived experience in detail. Data collection was conducted in Glasgow in three phases utilizing individual interviews, family interviews, and a participatory exercise. Thematic analysis and IPA were adopted for data analysis. First, the study explored the wellbeing constructs of 25 ASRs through interviews; second, participatory research was employed to understand participants’ social connection patterns in three groups with a total of 15 participants. Finally, an in-depth study was conducted to determine how the five families define and understand wellbeing, with an investigation of their perceived pathways to achieve those goals. The findings show children’s education, social connections with friends and family, competency in the English language and staying healthy are key facilitators for attaining wellbeing. The study also revealed that Chinese ASRs have limited knowledge and awareness of social services, and a lack of opportunity to interact and give help in host community. In general, the ASRs live in isolation, with limited support or channels to achieve all the elements of a good life they have envisaged. The data from the family interviews suggest that each family’s division of labour, and bonding relationships with their own ethnic group and Chinese ethnic agencies, which act as bridges, are key pathways to living a good life. This study presents evidence on the importance of social connection to ASRs’ wellbeing. Findings of the research suggest that policy makers and service providers should design more programmes and services to facilitate interaction among Chinese ARSs, their host community and social service providers to more effectively assist refugees in the resettlement process. Key words: Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, social connections, wellbeing, resettlemen

Two levels for definiteness

Theoretical and Experimental Linguistic

Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with an increased rate of diabetes.

ObjectiveChronic infections could be contributing to the socioeconomic gradient in chronic diseases. Although chronic infections have been associated with increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and cardiovascular disease, there is limited evidence on how infections affect risk of diabetes.Research design and methodsWe examined the association between serological evidence of chronic viral and bacterial infections and incident diabetes in a prospective cohort of Latino elderly. We analyzed data on 782 individuals aged >60 years and diabetes-free in 1998-1999, whose blood was tested for antibodies to herpes simplex virus 1, varicella virus, cytomegalovirus, Helicobacter pylori, and Toxoplasma gondii and who were followed until June 2008. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the relative incidence rate of diabetes by serostatus, with adjustment for age, sex, education, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and cholesterol levels.ResultsIndividuals seropositive for herpes simplex virus 1, varicella virus, cytomegalovirus, and T. gondii did not show an increased rate of diabetes, whereas those who were seropositive for H. pylori at enrollment were 2.7 times more likely at any given time to develop diabetes than seronegative individuals (hazard ratio 2.69 [95% CI 1.10-6.60]). Controlling for insulin resistance, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 did not attenuate the effect of H. pylori infection.ConclusionsWe demonstrated for the first time that H. pylori infection leads to an increased rate of incident diabetes in a prospective cohort study. Our findings implicate a potential role for antibiotic and gastrointestinal treatment in preventing diabetes

Identification of errors introduced during high throughput sequencing of the T cell receptor repertoire

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent advances in massively parallel sequencing have increased the depth at which T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires can be probed by >3log10, allowing for saturation sequencing of immune repertoires. The resolution of this sequencing is dependent on its accuracy, and direct assessments of the errors formed during high throughput repertoire analyses are limited.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analyzed 3 monoclonal TCR from TCR transgenic, Rag^-/-mice using Illumina^®sequencing. A total of 27 sequencing reactions were performed for each TCR using a trifurcating design in which samples were divided into 3 at significant processing junctures. More than 20 million complementarity determining region (CDR) 3 sequences were analyzed. Filtering for lower quality sequences diminished but did not eliminate sequence errors, which occurred within 1-6% of sequences. Erroneous sequences were pre-dominantly of correct length and contained single nucleotide substitutions. Rates of specific substitutions varied dramatically in a position-dependent manner. Four substitutions, all purine-pyrimidine transversions, predominated. Solid phase amplification and sequencing rather than liquid sample amplification and preparation appeared to be the primary sources of error. Analysis of polyclonal repertoires demonstrated the impact of error accumulation on data parameters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Caution is needed in interpreting repertoire data due to potential contamination with mis-sequence reads. However, a high association of errors with phred score, high relatedness of erroneous sequences with the parental sequence, dominance of specific nt substitutions, and skewed ratio of forward to reverse reads among erroneous sequences indicate approaches to filter erroneous sequences from repertoire data sets.</p

Impact of flood on rural population and strategies for mitigation: A case study of Darbhanga district, Bihar state, India

Floods are one of the most disastrous acts of nature and impact human life in multiple ways. Damages by floods in rural areas are more severe compared to urban counterparts due to poverty, limited infrastructures and access to resources and health care services. The Province of Bihar in India, with a population of 104.1 million, has 76 per cent of the population living under recurring threat of floods. In 2008, Bihar experienced severe floods in the northern region that affected more than 2.3 million people; and in 2013, they affected more than 5.9 million in 3768 villages across 20 rural districts. Floods damage property, infrastructure and further decreases access to health care and social services. This paper draws from the data collected for the primary author’s master’s thesis, along with his personal experience on floods as an inhabitant of a flooded community. It outlines the impact of floods in the rural areas of Bihar and highlights the continuous marginalization and exclusion of flood-affected communities. This paper will raise awareness of the issue and call for global support to advocate for more effective flood mitigation strategies