Bridging Opportunities in Human Health Services

The Campus to Community project aims to develop facilitated, in-depth site visits for VCU faculty and staff interested in exploring human health services opportunities in the Richmond community. The site visit experience will provide exposure to various community organizations specializing in human health, essentially creating a “bridge” between VCU’s campus and these facilities. This initiative is intended to motivate employees to action within the Richmond community by enabling them to observe first-hand the services that these organizations provide, learn more about the organizations’ missions, and engage in meaningful interactions with representatives on site. Likewise, it will allow Richmond community organizations to discuss unique needs and opportunities for partnerships with VCU

Peace Through Agrarian Justice

Postwar countries in Africa are among the poorest. In the countries of the Mano River region (Liberia, Sierra Leone) agrarian injustice emerges as a major cause of both poverty and conflict. Serious efforts are needed to improve the labour, land and property rights of rural women and young people if the long-term causes of these conflicts are to be mitigated and agricultural development opportunities enhanced

VCU-UNITE: Identifying Recognition Mechanisms for University-Community Engagement

The aims of the project were to determine what process would be appropriate to recognize significant contributions of university and community partners to joint community engagement projects. Our view was that several different award ceremonies exist in VCU, none of which are well attended and suggesting that this form of recognition may not be a high priority for participants. Thus, we sought to determine the awareness and extent of involvement of VCU faculty, staff and students in community engagement projects, and to find out what format of recognition process would be appealing to both university and community participants. We gathered this information through surveys and focus groups, analyzed the data and determined that university and community partners had differing views on what types of recognition would be desirous. Next, we designed a web portal through which nominations could be made by members of the university and by the community. We propose a streamlined nomination and online review process, leading to a quarterly award consisting of a letter of thanks from the Division of Community Engagement, and a photograph and narrative placed on the VCU website. Recipients of quarterly awards would automatically compete for an annual award, such as P&T credit or additional community leave time (university), or a scholarship, a plaque, or recognition at a VCU event (community)

The relationship between Type D personality and insomnia

Objectives: Type D personality is characterized by the combination of social inhibition and negative affectivity. This study examined the relationship between Type D personality and insomnia symptoms amongst a sample of the general-population. Methods: Adults from the general-population (n = 392) completed online measures of Type D personality (DS14) and insomnia severity. Results: Individuals with the Type D personality trait reported significantly greater symptoms of insomnia relative to Non-Type Ds. Moreover, insomnia-symptoms were independently related to negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) and the Type D interaction (i.e. synergistic product of SI and NA). Linear regression analysis determined that NA but not SI significantly predicted insomnia symptoms after controlling for age and sex. However, after accounting for the Type D interaction, negative affectivity remained the only significant predictor of insomnia-symptoms. Conclusions: The Type D personality type appears to be related to insomnia-symptoms, both as a categorical and dimensional construct. These outcomes support prior research evidencing that whilst Type D personality is related to poor sleep in adolescents, NA appears to be the main contributor

The relationship between type D personality and insomnia

Objectives: Type D personality is characterized by the combination of social inhibition and negative affectivity. This study examined the relationship between Type D personality and insomnia symptoms amongst a sample of the general-population. Methods: Adults from the general-population (n = 392) completed online measures of Type D personality (DS14) and insomnia severity. Results: Individuals with the Type D personality trait reported significantly greater symptoms of insomnia relative to Non-Type Ds. Moreover, insomnia-symptoms were independently related to negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) and the Type D interaction (i.e. synergistic product of SI and NA). Linear regression analysis determined that NA but not SI significantly predicted insomnia symptoms after controlling for age and sex. However, after accounting for the Type D interaction, negative affectivity remained the only significant predictor of insomnia-symptoms. Conclusions: The Type D personality type appears to be related to insomnia-symptoms, both as a categorical and dimensional construct. These outcomes support prior research evidencing that whilst Type D personality is related to poor sleep in adolescents, NA appears to be the main contributor

The relationship between insomnia symptoms and the dark triad personality traits

This study examined the relationship between the dark triad personality traits and insomnia symptoms amongst a sample of the general-population. Four hundred and seventy-five individuals completed online measures of dark triad personality traits (SD3) and insomnia severity. Symptoms of insomnia were independently related to Machiavellianism and psychopathy, but not narcissism in univariate analyses. Moreover, linear regression analysis determined that psychopathy and sex, but not Machiavellianism, significantly predicted insomnia symptoms. These outcomes contribute to the limited research examining the dark triad personality traits in relation to symptoms of insomnia. The disturbed sleep presented amongst those high in psychopathy may be due to deficits in emotion regulation which serve to accentuate maintaining factors of insomnia (i.e. negatively toned cognitive activity)

Banner News

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1431/thumbnail.jp

Reconstructed human keloid models show heterogeneity within keloid scars

Keloid scars are often described as having an actively growing peripheral margin with a regressing centre. The aim of this study was to examine the possible heterogeneity within keloids and the involvement of different regions within and around keloid scars in the pathogenesis, using an in vitro keloid scar model. In vitro skin models were constructed from keratinocytes and fibroblasts from normal skin and different regions within and around keloid scars: periphery, centre, and (adjacent) surrounding-normal-skin regions. Additionally, fibroblasts were isolated from the superficial-central and deep-central regions of the keloid and combined with central keratinocytes. All keloid regions showed increased contraction compared to normal skin models, particularly in central regions. Myofibroblasts were present in all keloid regions but were more abundant in models containing central-deep keloid fibroblasts. Secretion of anti-fibrotic HGF and extracellular matrix collagen IV gene expression was reduced in the central deep keloid compared to normal skin. No significant differences between peripheral and central regions within keloids were observed for inflammatory cytokine CCL20, CCL27, CXCL8, IL-6 and IL-18 secretion. Parameters for surrounding-normal-skin showed similarities to both non-lesional normal skin and keloids. In conclusion, a simple but elegant method of culturing keloid-derived keratinocytes and fibroblasts in an organotypic 3D scar model was developed, for the dual purpose of studying the underlying pathology and ultimately testing new therapeutics. In this study, these tissue engineered scar models show that the central keloid region shows a more aggressive keloid scar phenotype than the periphery and that the surrounding-normal-skin also shares certain abnormalities characteristic for keloids

Stakeholder narratives on trypanosomiasis, their effect on policy and the scope for One Health

Background This paper explores the framings of trypanosomiasis, a widespread and potentially fatal zoonotic disease transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina species) affecting both humans and livestock. This is a country case study focusing on the political economy of knowledge in Zambia. It is a pertinent time to examine this issue as human population growth and other factors have led to migration into tsetse-inhabited areas with little historical influence from livestock. Disease transmission in new human-wildlife interfaces such as these is a greater risk, and opinions on the best way to manage this are deeply divided. Methods A qualitative case study method was used to examine the narratives on trypanosomiasis in the Zambian policy context through a series of key informant interviews. Interviewees included key actors from international organisations, research organisations and local activists from a variety of perspectives acknowledging the need to explore the relationships between the human, animal and environmental sectors. Principal Findings Diverse framings are held by key actors looking from, variously, the perspectives of wildlife and environmental protection, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, and veterinary and public health. From these viewpoints, four narratives about trypanosomiasis policy were identified, focused around four different beliefs: that trypanosomiasis is protecting the environment, is causing poverty, is not a major problem, and finally, that it is a Zambian rather than international issue to contend with. Within these narratives there are also conflicting views on the best control methods to use and different reasoning behind the pathways of response. These are based on apparently incompatible priorities of people, land, animals, the economy and the environment. The extent to which a One Health approach has been embraced and the potential usefulness of this as a way of reconciling the aims of these framings and narratives is considered throughout the paper. Conclusions/Significance While there has historically been a lack of One Health working in this context, the complex, interacting factors that impact the disease show the need for cross-sector, interdisciplinary decision making to stop rival narratives leading to competing actions. Additional recommendations include implementing: surveillance to assess under-reporting of disease and consequential under-estimation of disease risk; evidence-based decision making; increased and structurally managed funding across countries; and focus on interactions between disease drivers, disease incidence at the community level, and poverty and equity impacts

Perturbations in the carbon budget of the tropics

The carbon budget of the tropics has been perturbed as a result of human influences. Here, we attempt to construct a ‘bottom-up’ analysis of the biological components of the budget as they are affected by human activities. There are major uncertainties in the extent and carbon content of different vegetation types, the rates of land-use change and forest degradation, but recent developments in satellite remote sensing have gone far towards reducing these uncertainties. Stocks of carbon as biomass in tropical forests and woodlands add up to 271 ± 16 Pg with an even greater quantity of carbon as soil organic matter. Carbon loss from deforestation, degradation, harvesting and peat fires is estimated as 2.01 ± 1.1 Pg annum(−1); while carbon gain from forest and woodland growth is 1.85 ± 0.09 Pg annum(−1). We conclude that tropical lands are on average a small carbon source to the atmosphere, a result that is consistent with the ‘top-down’ result from measurements in the atmosphere. If they were to be conserved, they would be a substantial carbon sink. Release of carbon as carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning in the tropics is 0.74 Pg annum(−1) or 0.57 MgC person(−1) annum(−1), much lower than the corresponding figures from developed regions of the world