Conceptualizing cultures of violence and cultural change

The historiography of violence has undergone a distinct cultural turn as attention has shifted from examining violence as a clearly defined (and countable) social problem to analysing its historically defined 'social meaning'. Nevertheless, the precise nature of the relationship between 'violence' and 'culture' is still being established. How are 'cultures of violence' formed? What impact do they have on violent behaviour? How do they change? This essay examines some of the conceptual aspects of the relationship between culture and violence. It brings together empirical research into nineteenth-century England with recent research results from other European contexts to examine three aspects of the relationship between culture and violence. These are organised under the labels 'seeing violence', 'identifying the violent' and 'changing violence'. Within a particular society, narratives regarding particular kinds of behaviour shape cultural attitudes. The notion 'violence' is thus defined in relation to physically aggressive acts as well as by being connected to other kinds of attitudes and contexts. As a result, the boundaries between physical aggression which is legitimate and that which is illegitimate (and thus 'violence') are set. Once 'violence' is defined, particular cultures form ideas about who is responsible for it: reactions to violence become associated with social arrangements such as class and gender as well as to attitudes toward the self. Finally, cultures of violence make efforts to tame or eradicate illegitimate forms of physical aggression. This process is not only connected to the development of new forms of power (e.g., new policing or punishment strategies) but also to less tangible cultural influences which aim at changing the behaviour defined as violence (in particular among the social groups identified as violent). Even if successful, this three-tiered process of seeing violence, identifying the violent and changing violence continues anew, emphasising the ways that cultures of violence develop through a continuous process of reevaluation and reinvention

Renal Safety of a Tenofovir-Containing First Line Regimen: Experience from an Antiretroviral Cohort in Rural Lesotho

Current guidelines contraindicate TDF use when creatinine clearance (CrCl) falls below 50 ml/min. We report prevalence of abnormal renal function at baseline and factors associated with abnormal renal function from a community cohort in Lesotho

Functional Genomics Unique to Week 20 Post Wounding in the Deep Cone/Fat Dome of the Duroc/Yorkshire Porcine Model of Fibroproliferative Scarring

Background: Hypertrophic scar was first described over 100 years ago; PubMed has more than 1,000 references on the topic. Nevertheless prevention and treatment remains poor, because 1) there has been no validated animal model; 2) human scar tissue, which is impossible to obtain in a controlled manner, has been the only source for study; 3) tissues typically have been homogenized, mixing cell populations; and 4) gene-by-gene studies are incomplete.Methodology/Principal Findings: We have assembled a system that overcomes these barriers and permits the study of genome-wide gene expression in microanatomical locations, in shallow and deep partial-thickness wounds, and pigmented and non-pigmented skin, using the Duroc( pigmented fibroproliferative)/Yorkshire( non-pigmented non-fibroproliferative) porcine model. We used this system to obtain the differential transcriptome at 1, 2, 3, 12 and 20 weeks post wounding. It is not clear when fibroproliferation begins, but it is fully developed in humans and the Duroc breed at 20 weeks. Therefore we obtained the derivative functional genomics unique to 20 weeks post wounding. We also obtained long-term, forty-six week follow-up with the model.Conclusions/Significance: 1) the scars are still thick at forty-six weeks post wounding further validating the model. 2) the differential transcriptome provides new insights into the fibroproliferative process as several genes thought fundamental to fibroproliferation are absent and others differentially expressed are newly implicated. 3) the findings in the derivative functional genomics support old concepts, which further validates the model, and suggests new avenues for reductionist exploration. in the future, these findings will be searched for directed networks likely involved in cutaneous fibroproliferation. These clues may lead to a better understanding of the systems biology of cutaneous fibroproliferation, and ultimately prevention and treatment of hypertrophic scarring.The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation ResearchThe National Institutes of HealthThe Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Burn FoundationThe Northwest Burn FoundationUniv Washington, Dept Surg, Div Plast Surg, Seattle, WA 98195 USAIowa State Univ, Dept Anim Sci, Ames, IA USAUniv Washington, Dept Biostat, Seattle, WA 98195 USAMahidol Univ, Ramathibodi Hosp, Dept Surg, Bangkok 10700, ThailandUniv Washington, Dept Environm & Occupat Hlth Sci, Seattle, WA 98195 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Plast Surg, Dept Surg, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Plast Surg, Dept Surg, São Paulo, BrazilThe National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research: H133G050022The National Institutes of Health: 1R21GM074673The National Institutes of Health: 5U54GM062119-09Web of Scienc

Description of familial keloids in five pedigrees: evidence for autosomal dominant inheritance and phenotypic heterogeneity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Familial keloids have been reported, having either autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive inheritance. We wished to determine the inheritance pattern and phenotype of keloids among multigenerational families, as a prelude to a positional mapping strategy to identify candidate genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied three African American families, one Afro-Caribbean family and one Asian-American family. Phenotyping including assessing all patients for the presence, distribution, and appearance of keloids, together with the timing of keloid onset and provocative factors. The clinical trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00005802).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Age of keloid onset varied considerably within families, but commonly occurred by the second decade. The fraction of affected individuals was 38%, 45%, 62%, 67% and 73% among the five families respectively. Keloid severity and morphology differed within and between families. A novel finding is that certain families manifest keloids in distinct locations, with one family showing an excess of extremity keloids and two families showing an excess of axilla-groin keloids.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Familial keloids appear to most commonly manifest autosomal dominant or semidominant inheritance, and there may be familial patterns of keloid distribution.</p

Restored Agricultural Wetlands in central Iowa: Habitat Quality and Amphibian Response

Amphibians are declining throughout the United States and worldwide due, partly, to habitat loss. Conservation practices on the landscape restore wetlands to denitrify tile drainage effluent and restore ecosystem services. Understanding how water quality, hydroperiod, predation, and disease affect amphibians in restored wetlands is central to maintaining healthy amphibian populations in the region. We examined the quality of amphibian habitat in restored wetlands relative to reference wetlands by comparing species richness, developmental stress, and adult leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) survival probabilities to a suite of environmental metrics. Although measured habitat variables differed between restored and reference wetlands, differences appeared to have sub-lethal rather than lethal effects on resident amphibian populations. There were few differences in amphibian species richness and no difference in estimated survival probabilities between wetland types. Restored wetlands had more nitrate and alkaline pH, longer hydroperiods, and were deeper, whereas reference wetlands had more amphibian chytrid fungus zoospores in water samples and resident amphibians exhibited increased developmental stress. Restored and reference wetlands are both important components of the landscape in central Iowa and maintaining a complex of fish-free wetlands with a variety of hydroperiods will likely contribute to the persistence of amphibians in this landscape

Renal function in HIV-infected children and adolescents treated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and protease inhibitors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Kidney disease is an important complication in HIV infected people, and this may be related to infection or antiretroviral therapy (ART). Our aim is to assess renal function in HIV infected paediatric patients, who may be particularly affected and are likely to take ART for longer than adults, and investigate the long term role of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF) alone or co-administered with Ritonavir-boosted Protease Inhibitors (PI).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Serum creatinine, phosphate and potassium levels, with estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR), had been prospectively evaluated for 2 years in a cohort of HIV infected children and adolescents (age 9-18) on ART, and data analyzed according to the exposure to TDF or simultaneous TDF and PI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Forty-nine patients were studied (57% female, mean age 14). Sixty-three percent were treated with ART containing TDF (Group A), and 37% without TDF (Group B); 47% with concomitant use of TDF and PI (Group C) and 53% without this combination (Group D). The groups didn't differ for age, gender or ethnicity. The median creatinine increased in the entire cohort and in all the groups analyzed; eGFR decreased from 143.6 mL/min/1.73 m²at baseline to 128.9 after 2 years (<it>p </it>= 0.006) in the entire cohort. Three patients presented a mild eGFR reduction, all were on TDF+PI. Phosphatemia decreased significantly in the entire cohort (<it>p </it>= 0.0003) and in TDF+PI group (<it>p </it>= 0.0128) after 2 years. Five patients (10%) developed hypophosphatemia (Division of Acquired Immune Deficiency AE grade 1 or 2), and four of them were on TDF+PI.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Renal function decrease and hypophosphatemia occur over time in HIV infected children and adolescents on ART. The association with co-administration of TDF and PI appears weak, and further studies are warranted.</p

Do real interest rates converge across Latin american countries?

In this study, we apply the Sequential Panel Selection Method (SPSM), pro- posed by Chortareas and Kapetanios (Journal of Banking and Finance 33:390–404, 2009), to investigate and assess the non-stationary properties of the real interest rate parity (RIRP) for fourteen Latin American countries. Utilizing the SPSM, we can classify the entire panel into a group of stationary series and a group of non-stationary series. We clearly identify how many and which series in the panel are stationary processes and provide robust evidence that clearly indicate RIRP holds true for ten countries. Our findings note that these countries’ real interest rate convergence is a mean reversion toward RIRP equilib- rium values in a non-linear way. Our results have important policy implications for these Latin American countries under study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Antipsychotic withdrawal symptoms: Phenomenology and pathophysiology

The authors review the literature discribing non-dyskinetic antipsychotic withdrawal phenomena. Withdrawal of these agents can cause nausea, emesis, anorexia, diarrhea, rhinorrhea, diaphoresis, myalgia, paresthesia, anxiety, agitation, restlessness, and insomnia. Psychotic relapse is often presaged by increased anxiety, agitation, restlessness and insomnia, but the temporal relationship of these prodromal symptoms to reduction in the dosage or discontinuation of neuroleptics distinguishes them from the effects of abrupt withdrawal.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65190/1/j.1600-0447.1988.tb05116.x.pd

Nano-Stenciled RGD-Gold Patterns That Inhibit Focal Contact Maturation Induce Lamellipodia Formation in Fibroblasts

Cultured fibroblasts adhere to extracellular substrates by means of cell-matrix adhesions that are assembled in a hierarchical way, thereby gaining in protein complexity and size. Here we asked how restricting the size of cell-matrix adhesions affects cell morphology and behavior. Using a nanostencil technique, culture substrates were patterned with gold squares of a width and spacing between 250 nm and 2 µm. The gold was functionalized with RGD peptide as ligand for cellular integrins, and mouse embryo fibroblasts were plated. Limiting the length of cell-matrix adhesions to 500 nm or less disturbed the maturation of vinculin-positive focal complexes into focal contacts and fibrillar adhesions, as indicated by poor recruitment of α5-integrin. We found that on sub-micrometer patterns, fibroblasts spread extensively, but did not polarize. Instead, they formed excessive numbers of lamellipodia and a fine actin meshwork without stress fibers. Moreover, these cells showed aberrant fibronectin fibrillogenesis, and their speed of directed migration was reduced significantly compared to fibroblasts on 2 µm square patterns. Interference with RhoA/ROCK signaling eliminated the pattern-dependent differences in cell morphology. Our results indicate that manipulating the maturation of cell-matrix adhesions by nanopatterned surfaces allows to influence morphology, actin dynamics, migration and ECM assembly of adhering fibroblasts