Protective-restoring to maintain self integrity : a grounded theory of the human experience of dog relinquishment

Dog relinquishment or ‘getting rid of the dog’ is common practice in Australia and other countries where dogs are kept as pets. Each year thousands of dogs are relinquished for a variety of reasons. While losing a pet through death can be as devastating for some people as the death of a loved human, little is known about the human impact of losing a dog through relinquishment. This qualitative study sought to explore the experience of dog relinquishment from the perspectives of a Western Australian sample of 21 relinquishers, 10 adults who had experienced dog relinquishment in childhood and 15 animal welfare workers. Data, collected via semistructured interviews, were transcribed verbatim and analysed in accord with Straussian grounded theory methodology, an inductive, interpretative methodology, utilising the constant comparative method. The substantive grounded theory of ‘protective-restoring to maintain self integrity in the face of a self disturbing experience’ that was generated from an interpretative analysis of the data, describes the human experience of dog relinquishment as one of psychological, social and moral conflicts that challenged participants self and social image. The theory proposes that those who experience dog relinquishment personally or professionally experience a disturbed self integrity (i.e., a sense of cognitive and emotional unease). Five conditions, identified as threats to self integrity, were found to contribute to participants’ sense of unease, namely the culture of relinquishment, a crisis of conscience, a fear of losing face, losing faith and losing the dog. Variation in participants’ experience was accounted for by individual and social conditions that influenced the type, intensity, frequency and duration of their unease. Participants’ experience of dog relinquishment was characterised by one or more of three types of unease, namely, cognitive dissonance, psychological stress and grief, which were dealt with through a process identified as protective-restoring. The continuous four phase process of protective-restoring involved recognition, identification, assessment and counteraction of threats to self integrity. Its aim was to protect participants from further threats and to restore their self integrity. Six types of strategies were identified that participants employed during the counteracting phase of the protective-restoring process, namely, self enhancing, blaming, impact reducing, emotional management, avoiding and blocking. Strategies employed were not always successful and in some circumstances increased rather than reduced the unease of participants. Further the strategies sometimes contributed to the unease of others. These findings indicate that the human experience of dog relinquishment is multidimensional and complex. Further, given its potential to detrimentally impact the mental health and wellbeing of large numbers of adults and children, dog relinquishment is an experience that should not be trivialised or ignored. As well as contributing to the human-animal interaction body of knowledge, the substantive theory that has emerged from this research could be used to inform the development of a screening tool to identify those who are likely to be negatively impacted by dog relinquishment. Further, the theory could also be used to inform the development of interventions that could be used to assist adults and children to deal with the negative impact of dog relinquishment

Elucidation of xenobiotic metabolism pathways in human skin and human skin models by proteomic profiling

Human skin has the capacity to metabolise foreign chemicals (xenobiotics), but knowledge of the various enzymes involved is incomplete. A broad-based unbiased proteomics approach was used to describe the profile of xenobiotic metabolising enzymes present in human skin and hence indicate principal routes of metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. Several in vitro models of human skin have been developed for the purpose of safety assessment of chemicals. The suitability of these epidermal models for studies involving biotransformation was assessed by comparing their profiles of xenobiotic metabolising enzymes with those of human skin

Historic Black Lives Matter: Archaeology as Activism in the 21st Century

May 19, 2015 would have been Malcolm X’s 90th birthday, and fifty years after his assassination we are still dealing with the ghosts of slavery, Jim Crow, and the manifestations of institutionalized racism. While much progress was made from the Civil Rights Movement, we still have far to go. This past year brought the topics of slavery, civil rights, and racism back into the mainstream. These stories are not new for those of us who work tirelessly to chronicle these historical and contemporary narratives in an attempt to educate the public about Black history. The “New Civil Rights Movement” launched with #Blacklivesmatter campaigns and has drawn international attention to our long and shameful history of racism and violence in the United States. The recent anniversaries offer a revived platform for the “perfect storm” to discuss race and repair. This issue and the current trajectory of ADAN are dedicated to race, archaeology, and activism. Issue 1 is co-authored by Kelley Deetz (Issue 1 ADAN Editor) and Guest Editors Ellen Chapman and Ana Edwards. The Full Issue is in one PDF and contains the articles, commentary and media links related to preservation efforts in Richmond, Virginia

A mouse model of autism implicates endosome pH in the regulation of presynaptic calcium entry.

Psychoactive compounds such as chloroquine and amphetamine act by dissipating the pH gradient across intracellular membranes, but the physiological mechanisms that normally regulate organelle pH remain poorly understood. Interestingly, recent human genetic studies have implicated the endosomal Na+/H+ exchanger NHE9 in both autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Plasma membrane NHEs regulate cytosolic pH, but the role of intracellular isoforms has remained unclear. We now find that inactivation of NHE9 in mice reproduces behavioral features of ASD including impaired social interaction, repetitive behaviors, and altered sensory processing. Physiological characterization reveals hyperacidic endosomes, a cell-autonomous defect in glutamate receptor expression and impaired neurotransmitter release due to a defect in presynaptic Ca2+ entry. Acute inhibition of synaptic vesicle acidification rescues release but without affecting the primary defect due to loss of NHE9

Skills and Smart Specialisation: The role of Vocational Education and Training in Smart Specialisation Strategies

The Smart Specialisation approach has been part of EU regional innovation policy since 2010 and yet the role of skills and vocational education and training in implementing Smart Specialisation Strategies has only recently attracted attention. Despite being raised in earlier policy documents, it was the 2017 Communication on Strengthening Innovation in Europe's Regions, drawing on experience of implementing smart specialisation in practice, which illustrated its significance for regional innovation policy. In the proposals for Cohesion Policy post 2020, education and skills for innovation are important priorities. Therefore, this technical report is timely since it explores trends in Vocational Education and Training (VET), looks at where it has contributed to Smart Specialisation in specific cases, and highlights elements to consider in regional strategies.JRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Blueprints for Successful Communities: How the Georgia Conservancy Promotes More Livable Places

Every day 130 new residents arrive at the doorstep of the Atlanta metropolitan region, which includes 10 counties, two area codes, and 417 census tracts. The metro area reaches northward toward Chattanooga, and the area between the two cities has been called "CHATLANTA" by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. By the year 2020, this region will add approximately 1.2 million people and expand its current boundaries by 500,000 additional acres. As Georgia's population continues to grow, a new way of thinking, new strategies, and new partnerships will be needed to manage the growth. The Georgia Conservancy, in partnership with the Urban Land Institute, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, the Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation recently launched an ambitious initiative known as Blueprints for Successful Communities to foster public education and facilitate a process for creating successful communities in Georgia. The project was developed to help individuals and groups determine alternative ways of building communities that are truly livable

Dopamine dysregulation in a mouse model of paroxysmal nonkinesigenic dyskinesia.

Paroxysmal nonkinesigenic dyskinesia (PNKD) is an autosomal dominant episodic movement disorder. Patients have episodes that last 1 to 4 hours and are precipitated by alcohol, coffee, and stress. Previous research has shown that mutations in an uncharacterized gene on chromosome 2q33-q35 (which is termed PNKD) are responsible for PNKD. Here, we report the generation of antibodies specific for the PNKD protein and show that it is widely expressed in the mouse brain, exclusively in neurons. One PNKD isoform is a membrane-associated protein. Transgenic mice carrying mutations in the mouse Pnkd locus equivalent to those found in patients with PNKD recapitulated the human PNKD phenotype. Staining for c-fos demonstrated that administration of alcohol or caffeine induced neuronal activity in the basal ganglia in these mice. They also showed nigrostriatal neurotransmission deficits that were manifested by reduced extracellular dopamine levels in the striatum and a proportional increase of dopamine release in response to caffeine and ethanol treatment. These findings support the hypothesis that the PNKD protein functions to modulate striatal neuro-transmitter release in response to stress and other precipitating factors