Door locks, wall stickers, fireplaces: Assemblage Theory and home (un)making in Lewisham’s temporary accommodation

This paper explores resident experiences of life in PLACE/Ladywell, a “pop‐up” social housing scheme in London providing temporary accommodation for homeless families. Specifically, we consider barriers to, and assertions of, homemaking in this temporary setting through fixtures and fittings—a door lock, wall stickers, and a fireplace. The paper utilises assemblage thinking to understand homemaking within these time‐limited and constrained circumstances. Despite their seeming banality, fixtures and fittings offer a material, politicised, and lively means of studying the attempted and thwarted production of home by residents living in PLACE/Ladywell. The absence of door locks reduces parents’ ability to maintain privacy and intimate relations; restrictions on hanging pictures and other decorative measures are circumvented by the use of wall stickers; and a defiant decorative fireplace establishes a sense of home in a temporary setting. Together, these objects constitute vital elements in negotiations between fixity and impermanence in temporary accommodation

Loss of RhoB Expression Enhances the Myelodysplastic Phenotype of Mammalian Diaphanous-Related Formin mDia1 Knockout Mice

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis and hyperplastic bone marrow. Complete loss or interstitial deletions of the long arm of chromosome 5 occur frequently in MDS. One candidate tumor suppressor on 5q is the mammalian Diaphanous (mDia)-related formin mDia1, encoded by DIAPH1 (5q31.3). mDia-family formins act as effectors for Rho-family small GTP-binding proteins including RhoB, which has also been shown to possess tumor suppressor activity. Mice lacking the Drf1 gene that encodes mDia1 develop age-dependent myelodysplastic features. We crossed mDia1 and RhoB knockout mice to test whether the additional loss of RhoB expression would compound the myelodysplastic phenotype. Drf1−/−RhoB−/− mice are fertile and develop normally. Relative to age-matched Drf1−/−RhoB+/− mice, the age of myelodysplasia onset was earlier in Drf1−/−RhoB−/− animals—including abnormally shaped erythrocytes, splenomegaly, and extramedullary hematopoiesis. In addition, we observed a statistically significant increase in the number of activated monocytes/macrophages in both the spleen and bone marrow of Drf1−/−RhoB−/− mice relative to Drf1−/−RhoB+/− mice. These data suggest a role for RhoB-regulated mDia1 in the regulation of hematopoietic progenitor cells

Oral epithelial cell sheets engraftment for esophageal strictures after endoscopic submucosal dissection of squamous cell carcinoma and airplane transportation

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) permits en bloc removal of superficial oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, post-procedure stricture is common after ESD for widespread tumours, and multiple endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD) procedures are required. We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of endoscopic transplantation of tissue-engineered autologous oral mucosal epithelial cell sheets that had been transported by air over a distance of 1200?km in controlling postprocedural oesophageal stricture. Ten patients who underwent complete circular or semicircular ESD for ESCC were transplanted with cell sheets. The safety of the entire process including cell sheet preparation, transport, ESD and cell sheet transplantation was assessed. The incidence of oesophageal stricture, number of EBD sessions, and time until epithelialization were investigated. Each ESD was successfully performed, with subsequent cell sheet engrafting carried out safely. Following cell sheet transplantation, the luminal stenosis rate was 40%, while the median number of EBD sessions was 0. The median post-ESD ulcer healing period was rather short at 36 days. There were no significant complications at any stage of the process. Cell sheet transplantation and preparation at distant sites and transportation by air could be a safe and promising regenerative medicine technology

Flow cytometry analysis of erythroid precursors in mouse bone marrow and spleen.

<p>Each point on the scatter plots represents data from a single mouse (o = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^+/−; ▪ = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^−/−) <i>A</i>. Scatter plot showing the percentage of CD71⁺ cells from the bone marrow and spleen of mice (* denotes <i>P</i>≤0.05). <i>B</i>. Percentage of TER-119+ cells from the bone marrow and spleen of mice (* denotes <i>P</i>≤0.05). <i>C</i>. Percentage of cells undergoing S phase from the bone marrow and spleen of mice (** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.01).</p

Flow cytometry analysis of mouse bone marrow and splenic cells.

<p><i>A</i>. Scatter plot showing the percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes from bone morrow. Open shapes represent <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^+/− mice and filled shapes represent <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^−/− mice (** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.01; *** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.001). <i>B</i>. Scatter plot showing the percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes from mice splenic single-cell suspensions. Legend is the same as in <i>A</i> (** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.01). <i>C</i>. Percentage of F4/80⁺, CD11b⁺, and CD29⁺ cells from the bone marrow and spleen of mice (* denotes <i>P</i>≤0.05; ** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.01) (o = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^+/−; ▪ = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^−/−).</p

Empowering features and outcomes of homeless interventions: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

The purpose of this systematic review and narrative synthesis was to identify homeless interventions with empowering features, and evaluate their effectiveness for developing the psychological empowerment of services users. To identify and evaluate intervention studies we combined the theoretical frameworks of empowering settings and psychological empowerment (PE). Our conceptualization of psychological empowerment included intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components. After systematic searching and screening, 38 studies were included for review. Interventions with empowering features included supported housing, case management, skills and knowledge acquisition, and mutual support. Interventions that were competency-building and that provided and developed support were effective for the intrapersonal PE component. Interventions that were collaborative and competency-building were effective for the behavioral PE component. Weak evidence suggested that interventions with empowering features may be effective for the interactional PE component. Findings of this review align the empirical evidence for homeless interventions with theoretical conceptions of empowering features and outcomes. Findings may be applied to the design and implementation of homeless interventions to incorporate empowering features and to improve services users’ outcomes in psychological empowerment

Peripheral blood from <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^−/− mice show age-dependent abnormalities.

<p><i>A</i>. Peripheral blood smears stained with Wright-Giemsa from 400-day-old mice. Left and center panels are images at 40x; right panels are 60x. <i>B</i>. Total WBC count from peripheral blood. <i>C</i>. Platelet numbers from peripheral blood CBC analysis. In both <i>B</i> and <i>C</i>, each point on scatter plot represents data from a single mouse (o = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^+/−; ▪ = <i>Drf1</i>^−/−<i>RhoB</i>^−/−) (** denotes <i>P</i>≤0.01).</p

Gene expression profiling reveals potential prognostic biomarkers associated with the progression of heart failure

Abstract BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Here, we identify biologically relevant transcripts that are significantly altered in the early phase of myocardial infarction and are associated with the development of post-myocardial infarction HF. METHODS: We collected peripheral blood samples from patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI): n = 111 and n = 41 patients from the study and validation groups, respectively. Control groups comprised patients with a stable coronary artery disease and without a history of myocardial infarction. Based on plasma NT-proBNP level and left ventricular ejection fraction parameters the STEMI patients were divided into HF and non-HF groups. Microarrays were used to analyze mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from the study group at four time points and control group. Microarray results were validated by RT-qPCR using whole blood RNA from the validation group. RESULTS: Samples from the first three time points (admission, discharge, and 1 month after AMI) were compared with the samples from the same patients collected 6 months after AMI (stable phase) and with the control group. The greatest differences in transcriptional profiles were observed on admission and they gradually stabilized during the follow-up. We have also identified a set of genes the expression of which on the first day of STEMI differed significantly between patients who developed HF after 6 months of observation and those who did not. RNASE1, FMN1, and JDP2 were selected for further analysis and their early up-regulation was confirmed in HF patients from both the study and validation groups. Significant correlations were found between expression levels of these biomarkers and clinical parameters. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated a good prognostic value of the genes chosen. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates an altered gene expression profile in PBMCs during acute myocardial infarction and through the follow-up. The identified gene expression changes at the early phase of STEMI that differentiated the patients who developed HF from those who did not could serve as a convenient tool contributing to the prognosis of heart failure