Combining parenting and economic strengthening programmes to reduce violence against children: a cluster randomised controlled trial with predominantly male caregivers in rural Tanzania caregivers

Introduction: Parenting programmes may reduce risk of violence against children and improve child wellbeing. However, additional economic support may be necessary in highly-deprived rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, delivering programmes within farmer groups may increase male caregiver recruitment and engagement. Methods: A parallel cluster randomised controlled trial examined the combined and separate effects of parenting and economic strengthening programmes on reducing violence against children ages 0 to 18 years in farming communities in Tanzania (N=248 families; 63% male caregivers). Eight villages were randomly assigned to four conditions (2:2:2:2): 1) 12-session parenting programme (N=60); 2) agribusiness training (N=56); 3) parenting and agribusiness combined (N=72); 4) control (N=60). Parent-report, child-report, and early childhood observation assessments were conducted at baseline, mid-treatment, and post-treatment. Primary outcomes were child maltreatment and parenting behaviour. Secondary outcomes included corporal punishment endorsement, parenting stress, parent/child depression, child behaviour, economic wellbeing, and child development (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02633319). Results: At post-treatment, parents and children receiving the combined interventions reported less maltreatment (parents: IRR=0.40, 95%CI [0.24,0.65]; children: IRR=0.40, 95%CI [0.17,0.92]). Parents reported reduced endorsement of corporal punishment (Dw=-0.43, 95%CI [-0.79,0.07]) and fewer child behaviour problems (Dw=-0.41, 95%CI [-0.77,-0.05]). Parents in parenting-only villages reported less abuse (IRR=0.36, 95%CI [0.21,0.63]) and fewer child behaviour problems (Dw=-0.47, 95%CI [-0.84,-0.11]). Parents in agribusiness-only villages reported fewer child behaviour problems (Dw=-0.43, 95%CI [-0.77,-0.08]) and greater household wealth (Dw=0.57, 95%CI [0.08,1.06]). However, children in agribusiness-only villages reported increased physical abuse (IRR=2.26, 95%CI [1.00,5.12]) and less positive parenting (Dw=-0.50, 95%CI [-0.91,-0.10]). There were no other adverse effects. Conclusion: Parent training may be the active ingredient in reducing maltreatment in farmer groups with majority male caregivers, while agribusiness training programmes may have unintended negative consequences on children when delivered alone. Locating parenting support in existing farmer groups can engage a much higher proportions of fathers than stand-alone programmes

Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 69. 61-120

Improving our understanding of magma plumbing and storage remains one of the major challenges for petrologists and volcanologists today. This is especially true for explosive volcanoes, where constraints on magma plumbing are essential for predicting dynamic changes in future activity and thus for hazard mitigation. This study aims to investigate the magma plumbing system at Anak Krakatau; the post-collapse cone situated on the rim of the 1883 Krakatau caldera. Since 1927, Anak Krakatau has been highly active, growing at a rate of ∼8 cm/week. The methods employed are a.) clinopyroxene-melt thermo-barometr

Expression of DC-SIGN and DC-SIGNR on human sinusoidal endothelium: a role for capturing hepatitis C virus particles.

Hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells are unique among endothelial cells in their ability to internalize and process a diverse range of antigens. DC-SIGNR, a type 2 C-type lectin expressed on liver sinusoids, has been shown to bind with high affinity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) E2 glycoprotein. DC-SIGN is a closely related homologue reported to be expressed only on dendritic cells and a subset of macrophages and has similar binding affinity to HCV E2 glycoprotein. These receptors function as adhesion and antigen presentation molecules. We report distinct patterns of DC-SIGNR and DC-SIGN expression in human liver tissue and show for the first time that both C-type lectins are expressed on sinusoidal endothelial cells. We confirmed that these receptors are functional by demonstrating their ability to bind HCV E2 glycoproteins. Although these lectins on primary sinusoidal cells support HCV E2 binding, they are unable to support HCV entry. These data support a model where DC-SIGN and DC-SIGNR on sinusoidal endothelium provide a mechanism for high affinity binding of circulating HCV within the liver sinusoids allowing subsequent transfer of the virus to underlying hepatocytes, in a manner analogous to DC-SIGN presentation of human immunodeficiency virus on dendritic cells

Gesture and naming therapy for people with severe aphasia: a group study

In this study, the authors (a) investigated whether a group of people with severe aphasia could learn a vocabulary of pantomime gestures through therapy and (b) compared their learning of gestures with their learning of words. The authors also examined whether gesture therapy cued word production and whether naming therapy cued gestures

Ethnicity and consumption: South Asian food shopping patterns in Britain 1947-75

Authors' draft version also available on University of Surrey e-print repository. Final version published by Sage and available at http://joc.sagepub.com/This article reviews the literature that explores the relationship between ethnic identities and food consumption, with particular reference to business management studies. It focuses on the food shopping practices of south Asians in Britain in the period 1947 to 1975, to illustrate the need for more historically contextualized studies that can provide a more nuanced exploration of any interconnections between ethnic identity and shopping behaviour. The article draws on a reasonably long-standing interest in ethnicity and consumption in marketing studies, and explores the conceptual use of acculturation within this literature. The arguments put forward are framed by recent interdisciplinary studies of the broader relationship between consumption and identity, which stress the importance of contextualizing any influence of ethnic identifications through a wider consideration of other factors including societal status, gender and age, rather than giving it singular treatment. The article uses a body of empirical research drawn from recent oral histories, to explore how these factors informed everyday shopping practices among south Asians in Britain. It examines some of the shopping and wider food provisioning strategies adopted by early immigrants on arrival in Britain. It considers the interaction between the south Asian population and the changing retail structure, in the context of the development of self-service and the supermarket. Finally, it demonstrates how age, gender and socioeconomic status interacted with ethnic identities to produce variations in shopping patterns

Evidence for 28 genetic disorders discovered by combining healthcare and research data

De novo mutations in protein-coding genes are a well-established cause of developmental disorders. However, genes known to be associated with developmental disorders account for only a minority of the observed excess of such de novo mutations. Here, to identify previously undescribed genes associated with developmental disorders, we integrate healthcare and research exome-sequence data from 31,058 parent–offspring trios of individuals with developmental disorders, and develop a simulation-based statistical test to identify gene-specific enrichment of de novo mutations. We identified 285 genes that were significantly associated with developmental disorders, including 28 that had not previously been robustly associated with developmental disorders. Although we detected more genes associated with developmental disorders, much of the excess of de novo mutations in protein-coding genes remains unaccounted for. Modelling suggests that more than 1,000 genes associated with developmental disorders have not yet been described, many of which are likely to be less penetrant than the currently known genes. Research access to clinical diagnostic datasets will be critical for completing the map of genes associated with developmental disorders

Defining Research to Improve Health Systems

Robert Terry and colleagues present working definitions of operational research, implementation research, and health systems research within the context of research to strengthen health systems

Development and validation of the Self-Regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire for adults

Background Eating self-regulatory capacity can help individuals to cope with the obesogenic environment and achieve, as well as maintain, a healthy weight and diet. At present, there is no comprehensive, reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing this capacity and measuring change in response to self-regulation interventions in adults. This paper reports the development of the Self-regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (SREBQ) for use in UK adults, and presents evidence for its reliability and construct validity. The development of the SREBQ involved generation of an item pool, followed by two pilot studies (Samples 1 and 2) and a test of the questionnaire’s underlying factor structure (Sample 3). The final version of the SREBQ was then assessed for reliability and construct validity (Sample 4). Results Development of the SREBQ resulted in a 5-item questionnaire. The face validity was satisfactory, as assessed by the pilot studies. The factor structure analysis (Sample 3) suggested that it has a single underlying factor, which was confirmed in a second sample (Sample 4). The SREBQ had strong construct validity, showing a positive correlation with general measures of self-regulation. It was also positively correlated with motivation and behavioural automaticity, and negatively correlated with food responsiveness and emotional over-eating (p < 0.001). It showed good discriminant validity, as it was only weakly associated with satiety responsiveness, food fussiness and slowness in eating. Conclusions The SREBQ is a reliable and valid measure for assessment of eating self-regulatory capacity in the general UK adult population

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Identifies New Disease Loci

A genome-wide association study was performed to identify genetic factors involved in susceptibility to psoriasis (PS) and psoriatic arthritis (PSA), inflammatory diseases of the skin and joints in humans. 223 PS cases (including 91 with PSA) were genotyped with 311,398 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and results were compared with those from 519 Northern European controls. Replications were performed with an independent cohort of 577 PS cases and 737 controls from the U.S., and 576 PSA patients and 480 controls from the U.K.. Strongest associations were with the class I region of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The most highly associated SNP was rs10484554, which lies 34.7 kb upstream from HLA-C (P = 7.8×10−11, GWA scan; P = 1.8×10−30, replication; P = 1.8×10−39, combined; U.K. PSA: P = 6.9×10−11). However, rs2395029 encoding the G2V polymorphism within the class I gene HCP5 (combined P = 2.13×10−26 in U.S. cases) yielded the highest ORs with both PS and PSA (4.1 and 3.2 respectively). This variant is associated with low viral set point following HIV infection and its effect is independent of rs10484554. We replicated the previously reported association with interleukin 23 receptor and interleukin 12B (IL12B) polymorphisms in PS and PSA cohorts (IL23R: rs11209026, U.S. PS, P = 1.4×10−4; U.K. PSA: P = 8.0×10−4; IL12B:rs6887695, U.S. PS, P = 5×10−5 and U.K. PSA, P = 1.3×10−3) and detected an independent association in the IL23R region with a SNP 4 kb upstream from IL12RB2 (P = 0.001). Novel associations replicated in the U.S. PS cohort included the region harboring lipoma HMGIC fusion partner (LHFP) and conserved oligomeric golgi complex component 6 (COG6) genes on chromosome 13q13 (combined P = 2×10−6 for rs7993214; OR = 0.71), the late cornified envelope gene cluster (LCE) from the Epidermal Differentiation Complex (PSORS4) (combined P = 6.2×10−5 for rs6701216; OR 1.45) and a region of LD at 15q21 (combined P = 2.9×10−5 for rs3803369; OR = 1.43). This region is of interest because it harbors ubiquitin-specific protease-8 whose processed pseudogene lies upstream from HLA-C. This region of 15q21 also harbors the gene for SPPL2A (signal peptide peptidase like 2a) which activates tumor necrosis factor alpha by cleavage, triggering the expression of IL12 in human dendritic cells. We also identified a novel PSA (and potentially PS) locus on chromosome 4q27. This region harbors the interleukin 2 (IL2) and interleukin 21 (IL21) genes and was recently shown to be associated with four autoimmune diseases (Celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, Grave's disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis)