Engaging Ethical Issues Associated with Research and Public Health Interventions During Humanitarian Crises: Review of a Dialogic Workshop

Compte-rendu / ReviewLe 7 novembre 2014, l’atelier intitulé Humanitarian Health Ethics Workshop a été tenu à l’Université McGill, à Montréal. Hébergé conjointement par le Consortium de recherche sur l’équité en santé de Montréal et le Humanitarian Health Ethics Network, l’événement comprenait six présentations et une discussion extensive entre les participants, incluant des chercheurs du Canada, de Haïti, de l’Inde, de la Suisse et des États-Unis. Les participants étaient de diverses disciplines, soit l’anthropologie, la bioéthique, la médecine, l’ergothérapie, la philosophie, la physiothérapie, les sciences politiques, l’administration et la santé publique. L’objectif de l’atelier était de créer un forum de discussion entre experts et praticiens qui s’intéressent à l’éthique dans la prestation de soins de santé, en recherche et dans les interventions de santé publique en cours de crise humanitaire. Ce compte rendu résume les présentations, les thèmes clés qui ont émergé des discussions de la journée et identifie des pistes de recherches futures.On November 7th, 2014 the Humanitarian Health Ethics Workshop was held at McGill University, in Montreal. Co-hosted by the Montreal Health Equity Research Consortium and the Humanitarian Health Ethics Network, the event included six presentations and extensive discussion amongst participants, including researchers from Canada, Haiti, India, Switzerland and the US. Participants had training in disciplines including anthropology, bioethics, medicine, occupational therapy, philosophy, physical therapy, political science, public administration and public health. The objective of the workshop was to create a forum for discussion amongst scholars and practitioners interested in the ethics of healthcare delivery, research and public health interventions during humanitarian crises. This review is a summary of the presentations given, key themes that emerged during the day’s discussions, and avenues for future research that were identified

The practices and expectations for reporting ethical considerations in disaster research publications

This thesis had two main objectives. The first is to analyze the state of ethical transparency in disaster research literature from 2003 to 2012. To achieve this, I present the results of a scoping review conducted of health-related disaster research publications in low-to-middle income countries (LMIC). I examine practices and norms related to the reporting of ethical considerations and research ethics methods in disaster research articles. Key questions underlying the inquiry include the following: How often do researchers mention obtaining informed consent and research ethics committee approval in their published work? How much detail do researchers provide regarding research ethics methods and challenges they faced while conducting research? How have these trends changed over the years? The second objective of my thesis is to examine norms and expectations regarding ethics reporting in disaster research literature, and to articulate why, and to what degree, ethical transparency should be expected in publications of disaster research. This objective is accomplished with a discussion of ethical transparency and how it assists with increasing reliability and credibility of disaster research findings.Cette thèse avait deux objectifs principaux. Le premier est d'analyser l'état de la transparence éthique dans la littérature de recherche sur les catastrophes de 2003 à 2012. Pour y parvenir, je présente les résultats d'une revue de la portée des publications de recherche sur les catastrophes dans les pays à revenu faible à moyen. J'étudie les pratiques et les normes relatives à la déclaration des considérations éthiques et des méthodes d'éthique de la recherche dans les articles de recherche sur les catastrophes. Les questions clés qui sous-tendent l'enquête sont les suivantes: À quelle fréquence les chercheurs mentionnent-ils avoir obtenu le consentement éclairé et l'approbation du comité d'éthique de la recherche dans leurs travaux publiés? Dans quelle mesure les chercheurs fournissent-ils des détails sur les méthodes d'éthique de la recherche et les défis auxquels ils sont confrontés lorsqu'ils mènent des recherches? Comment ces tendances ont-elles changé au fil des ans? Le deuxième objectif de ma thèse est d'examiner les normes et les attentes en matière de rapports sur l'éthique dans la littérature sur les catastrophes et d'expliquer pourquoi et dans quelle mesure une transparence éthique devrait être attendue dans les publications de recherche sur les catastrophes. Cet objectif est atteint avec une discussion sur la transparence éthique et comment elle contribue à accroître la fiabilité et la crédibilité des résultats de la recherche en cas de catastrophe

Co-inoculated Biopriming with Trichoderma, Pseudomonas and Rhizobium Improves Crop Growth in Cicer arietinum and Phaseolus vulgaris

Abstract A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of three rhizosphere competent microbial strains, viz., Pseudomonas fluorescens OKC, Trichoderma asperellum T42 and Rhizobium sp. RH4, individually and in combination in bioprimed seeds of chickpea and rajma. Seeds were sown in pots and fields and the results demonstrated that bioprimed seeds showed higher germination percentage, and better plant growth in both the crops compared to non-bioprimed control plants. It was also observed that the combined application of the microbes enhanced seed germination and plant growth better than their individual application. Among the combinations all combinations comprising of Trichoderma showed better results compared to the others and the triple microbial combination demonstrated best results in terms of seed germination and seedling growth in both chickpea and rajma. Highlights • Germination of chickpea and rajma seeds were higher in combined application of Trichoderma, Pseduomonas and Rhizobium • Seedling growth enhanced in triple microbe treatmen

Earthquakes to floods: A scoping review of health-related disaster research in low- and middle-income countries

this is a list of all 582 research articles included in our scoping revie

Caveolin-1 and Lipid Microdomains Regulate Gs Trafficking and Attenuate Gs/Adenylyl Cyclase Signaling

Lipid rafts and caveolae are specialized membrane microdomains implicated in regulating G protein-coupled receptor signaling cascades. Previous studies have suggested that rafts/caveolae may regulate β-adrenergic receptor/Gαs signaling, but underlying molecular mechanisms are largely undefined. Using a simplified model system in C6 glioma cells, this study disrupts rafts/caveolae using both pharmacological and genetic approaches to test whether caveolin-1 and lipid microdomains regulate Gs trafficking and signaling. Lipid rafts/caveolae were disrupted in C6 cells by either short-term cholesterol chelation using methyl-β-cyclodextrin or by stable knockdown of caveolin-1 and -2 by RNA interference. In imaging studies examining Gαs-GFP during signaling, stimulation with the βAR agonist isoproterenol resulted in internalization of Gαs-GFP; however, this trafficking was blocked by methyl-β-cyclodextrin or by caveolin knockdown. Caveolin knockdown significantly decreased Gαs localization in detergent insoluble lipid raft/caveolae membrane fractions, suggesting that caveolin localizes a portion of Gαs to these membrane microdomains. Methyl-β-cyclodextrin or caveolin knockdown significantly increased isoproterenol or thyrotropin-stimulated cAMP accumulation. Furthermore, forskolin- and aluminum tetrafluoride-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity was significantly increased by caveolin knockdown in cells or in brain membranes obtained from caveolin-1 knockout mice, indicating that caveolin attenuates signaling at the level of Gαs/adenylyl cyclase and distal to GPCRs. Taken together, these results demonstrate that caveolin-1 and lipid microdomains exert a major effect on Gαs trafficking and signaling. It is suggested that lipid rafts/caveolae are sites that remove Gαs from membrane signaling cascades and caveolins might dampen globally Gαs/adenylyl cyclase/cAMP signaling

Outcome of donor-derived TAA-T cell therapy in patients with high-risk or relapsed acute leukemia post allogeneic BMT

Patients with hematologic malignancies relapsing after allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation (BMT) have limited response to conventional salvage therapies, with an expected 1-year overall survival (OS) of \u3c20%. We evaluated the safety and clinical outcomes following administration of a novel T-cell therapeutic targeting 3 tumor-associated antigens (TAA-T) in patients with acute leukemia who relapsed or were at high risk of relapse after allogeneic BMT. Lymphocytes obtained from the BMT donor were manufactured to target TAAs WT1, PRAME, and survivin, which are over-expressed and immunogenic in most hematologic malignancies. Patients received TAA-T infusions at doses of 0.5 to 4 × 107/m2. Twenty-three BMT recipients with relapsed/refractory (n = 11) and/or high-risk (n = 12) acute myeloid leukemia (n = 20) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 3) were infused posttransplant. No patient developed cytokine-release syndrome or neurotoxicity, and only 1 patient developed grade 3 graft-versus-host disease. Of the patients who relapsed post-BMT and received bridging therapy, the majority (n = 9/11) achieved complete hematologic remission before receiving TAA-T. Relapsed patients exhibited a 1-year OS of 36% and 1-year leukemia-free survival of 27.3% post-TAA-T. The poorest prognosis patients (relapsed \u3c6 months after transplant) exhibited a 1-year OS of 42.8% postrelapse (n = 7). Median survival was not reached for high-risk patients who received preemptive TAA-T posttransplant (n = 12). Although as a phase 1 study, concomitant antileukemic therapy was allowed, TAA-T were safe and well tolerated, and sustained remissions in high-risk and relapsed patients were observed. Moreover, adoptively transferred TAA-T detected by T-cell receptor V-β sequencing persisted up to at least 1 year postinfusion. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02203903

Abstracts of Scientifica 2022

This book contains the abstracts of the papers presented at Scientifica 2022, Organized by the Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India, held on 12–13 March 2022. This conference helps bring researchers together across the globe on one platform to help benefit the young researchers. There were six invited talks from different fields of Physiotherapy and seven panel discussions including over thirty speakers across the globe which made the conference interesting due to the diversity of topics covered during the conference. Conference Title:  Scientifica 2022Conference Date: 12–13 March 2022Conference Location: Sancheti Institute College of PhysiotherapyConference Organizer: Sancheti Institute College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, Indi