Community Violence and Trauma: The Influence of Child Abuse, Bullying, and Intimate Partner Violence

Community violence exposure is associated with a myriad of physical and mental health problems and adjustment difficulties (Fowler, Tompsett, Braciszewski, Jacques-Tiura & Baltes, 2009; Senn, Walsh & Carey, 2016 ; Voisin, Chen, Fullilove & Jacobson, 2015). However, the research that investigates the adult mental health consequences of community violence exposure within the context of other potentially traumatic events is still emerging (Walling, Eriksson, Putman & Foy, 2011; Kennedy, Bybee & Greeson, 2014 ). This dissertation responds to this gap in the literature. This study investigated the interrelationships among violence exposures in community, school, family and intimate relationships and PTSD symptoms. The study also examined whether child abuse, intimate partner violence and school bullying moderated the relationship between community violence exposure and PTSD. The researcher collected data from 499 undergraduate students using a demographic questionnaire, the Trauma Symptom Checklist -40 (Briere & Runtz, 1989), the Survey of Exposure to Community Violence (SECV; Richters & Saltzman, 1990), the Retrospective Bully Questionnaire (RBQ; Schäfer, et al,2004), the Composite Abuse Scale (Hegarty, Bush, Sheehan, 2005) and the Early Trauma Inventory-Self Report (ETI-SR; Bremner, Bolus & Mayer, 2007). Bivariate correlations revealed significant, positive correlations between PTSD and community violence exposure (r =.264, p \u3c .01), school bullying (r = .242, p \u3c .01), intimate partner violence (r = .327, p \u3c .01) and child abuse (r = .292, p \u3c .01). Community violence, child abuse, intimate partner violence and school bully significantly predicted the variance in PTSD symptoms. The study found that child abuse, intimate partner violence and school bullying scores were (β = -.000, t (216) = -.027, p \u3e.01) not substantial moderators for the relationship between community violence and PTSD with this sample F(211) = 8.067, p \u3c .01, R2 = .192 ) . Demographic differences in PTSD symptoms and community violence exposure were observed

Current velocity and catch efficiency in sampling settlement-stage larvae of coral-reef fishes

Light traps and channel nets are fixed-position devices that involve active and passive sampling, respectively, in the collection of settlement-stage larvae of coral-reef fishes. We compared the abundance, taxonomic composition, and size of such larvae caught by each device deployed simultaneously near two sites that differed substantially in current velocity. Light traps were more selective taxonomically, and the two sampling devices differed significantly in the abundance but not size of taxa caught. Most importantly, light traps and channel nets differed greatly in their catch efficiency between sites: light traps were ineffective in collecting larvae at the relatively high-current site, and channel nets were less efficient in collecting larvae at the low-current site. Use of only one of these sampling methods would clearly result in biased and inaccurate estimates of the spatial variation in larval abundance among locations that differ in current velocity. When selecting a larval sampling device, one must consider not only how well a particular taxon may be represented, but also the environmental conditions under which the device will be deployed

Testes de vigor na avaliação da qualidade fisiológica de sementes de cenoura / Vigor tests in the physiological quality evaluation of carrot seeds

A aplicação de testes de vigor de sementes tem sido fundamental para determinação da qualidade fisiológica de forma rápida e eficaz. Conduziu-se este trabalho, com o objetivo de avaliar a eficiência de testes de vigor para determinação da qualidade fisiológica de sementes de cenoura.  Determinou-se em seis lotes de sementes de cenoura, cultivar Brasília o teor de água e realizou-se os testes de germinação, índice da velocidade de germinação, germinação a baixa temperatura e índice da velocidade de germinação a baixa temperatura, emergência e índice de emergência, envelhecimento acelerado e com solução salina. Os testes aplicados são eficientes na separação dos lotes de sementes de cenoura em níveis de vigor

Crystal Structure of a Charge Engineered Human Lysozyme Having Enhanced Bactericidal Activity

Human lysozyme is a key component of the innate immune system, and recombinant forms of the enzyme represent promising leads in the search for therapeutic agents able to treat drug-resistant infections. The wild type protein, however, fails to participate effectively in clearance of certain infections due to inherent functional limitations. For example, wild type lysozymes are subject to electrostatic sequestration and inactivation by anionic biopolymers in the infected airway. A charge engineered variant of human lysozyme has recently been shown to possess improved antibacterial activity in the presence of disease associated inhibitory molecules. Here, the 2.04 Å crystal structure of this variant is presented along with an analysis that provides molecular level insights into the origins of the protein's enhanced performance. The charge engineered variant's two mutated amino acids exhibit stabilizing interactions with adjacent native residues, and from a global perspective, the mutations cause no gross structural perturbations or loss of stability. Importantly, the two substitutions dramatically expand the negative electrostatic potential that, in the wild type enzyme, is restricted to a small region near the catalytic residues. The net result is a reduction in the overall strength of the engineered enzyme's electrostatic potential field, and it appears that the specific nature of this remodeled field underlies the variant's reduced susceptibility to inhibition by anionic biopolymers

Recent Emergence of Dengue Virus Serotype 4 in French Polynesia Results from Multiple Introductions from Other South Pacific Islands

BACKGROUND: Infection by dengue virus (DENV) is a major public health concern in hundreds of tropical and subtropical countries. French Polynesia (FP) regularly experiences epidemics that initiate, or are consecutive to, DENV circulation in other South Pacific Island Countries (SPICs). In January 2009, after a decade of serotype 1 (DENV-1) circulation, the first cases of DENV-4 infection were reported in FP. Two months later a new epidemic emerged, occurring about 20 years after the previous circulation of DENV-4 in FP. In this study, we investigated the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of the introduction, spread and genetic microevolution of DENV-4 in FP. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Epidemiological data suggested that recent transmission of DENV-4 in FP started in the Leeward Islands and this serotype quickly displaced DENV-1 throughout FP. Phylogenetic analyses of the nucleotide sequences of the envelope (E) gene of 64 DENV-4 strains collected in FP in the 1980s and in 2009-2010, and some additional strains from other SPICs showed that DENV-4 strains from the SPICs were distributed into genotypes IIa and IIb. Recent FP strains were distributed into two clusters, each comprising viruses from other but distinct SPICs, suggesting that emergence of DENV-4 in FP in 2009 resulted from multiple introductions. Otherwise, we observed that almost all strains collected in the SPICs in the 1980s exhibit an amino acid (aa) substitution V287I within domain I of the E protein, and all recent South Pacific strains exhibit a T365I substitution within domain III. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study confirmed the cyclic re-emergence and displacement of DENV serotypes in FP. Otherwise, our results showed that specific aa substitutions on the E protein were present on all DENV-4 strains circulating in SPICs. These substitutions probably acquired and subsequently conserved could reflect a founder effect to be associated with epidemiological, geographical, eco-biological and social specificities in SPICs

PROGRAMA DE AÇÃO SÓCIO-EDUCATIVA NA COMUNIDADE - PASEC

UNIVERSIDADE DO VALE DO RIO DOS SINO

Nutrition for the ageing brain: towards evidence for an optimal diet

As people age they become increasingly susceptible to chronic and extremely debilitating brain diseases. The precise cause of the neuronal degeneration underlying these disorders, and indeed normal brain ageing remains however elusive. Considering the limits of existing preventive methods, there is a desire to develop effective and safe strategies. Growing preclinical and clinical research in healthy individuals or at the early stage of cognitive decline has demonstrated the beneficial impact of nutrition on cognitive functions. The present review is the most recent in a series produced by the Nutrition and Mental Performance Task Force under the auspice of the International Life Sciences Institute Europe (ILSI Europe). The latest scientific advances specific to how dietary nutrients and non-nutrient may affect cognitive ageing are presented. Furthermore, several key points related to mechanisms contributing to brain ageing, pathological conditions affecting brain function, and brain biomarkers are also discussed. Overall, findings are inconsistent and fragmented and more research is warranted to determine the underlying mechanisms and to establish dose-response relationships for optimal brain maintenance in different population subgroups. Such approaches are likely to provide the necessary evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform about new dietary recommendations on how to prevent cognitive decline

The Development of Language Learning Strategies

This article discusses the strategy repertoires and strategy development of six English children who learned foreign languages at primary school. My study differs from mainstream research in that it focuses on young children and on the development of their strategies, draws on sociocultural theory and uses ethnographic methods. My findings show that the six children developed a range of strategies over the course of a calendar year in spite of receiving no direct strategy instruction. The primary classroom encouraged learner autonomy and stimulated children to reflect on their learning which, in turn, enabled them to refine their strategies

Breast Cancer Risk From Modifiable and Nonmodifiable Risk Factors Among White Women in the United States

An improved model for risk stratification can be useful for guiding public health strategies of breast cancer prevention

Twenty-seven-year time trends in dementia incidence in Europe and the United States: The Alzheimer Cohorts Consortium

OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in the incidence of dementia between 1988 and 2015. METHODS: This analysis was performed in aggregated data from individuals >65 years of age in 7 population-based cohort studies in the United States and Europe from the Alzheimer Cohort Consortium. First, we calculated age- and sex-specific incidence rates for all-cause dementia, and then defined nonoverlapping 5-year epochs within each study to determine trends in incidence. Estimates of change per 10-year interval were pooled and results are presented combined and stratified by sex. RESULTS: Of 49,202 individuals, 4,253 (8.6%) developed dementia. The incidence rate of dementia increased with age, similarly for women and men, ranging from about 4 per 1,000 person-years in individuals aged 65-69 years to 65 per 1,000 person-years for those aged 85-89 years. The incidence rate of dementia declined by 13% per calendar decade (95% confidence interval [CI], 7%-19%), consistently across studies, and somewhat more pronouncedly in men than in women (24% [95% CI 14%-32%] vs 8% [0%-15%]). CONCLUSION: The incidence rate of dementia in Europe and North America has declined by 13% per decade over the past 25 years, consistently across studies. Incidence is similar for men and women, although declines were somewhat more profound in men. These observations call for sustained efforts to finding the causes for this decline, as well as determining their validity in geographically and ethnically diverse populations