Cultural Diversity, Spirituality, and End-of-Life Care

The aims of this essay are to explore the connection between spirituality and diversity and to propose ways end-of-life care providers can usefully respond to their culturally varied patients and, in so doing, acknowledge the spiritual dimensions of that work

Beyond a Good Death: The Anthropology of Modern Dying

Reviewed by Nancy Chambers

The Role of Cultural Anthropology in the Education of Social Service Personnel

Anthropology contributes to the education of social work students through its emphasis on the role of culture and of social context in the delivery of social services. Examples are provided with special emphasis on child abuse and protective services. While anthropology has traditionally been associated with the study of minorities, its role in the critique of other social work concerns is suggested

What is community development?

A discussion paper presented at a conference on Community Development with special reference to rural development, at a conference organized by the Institute of Adult Education, August 1962.Community development has become almost as popular a subject of international discussion as the problems of Africa. It is the new technique which is taking the under-developed (better known as the developing) areas of the world by storm. In Central Africa it was introduced in Northern Rhodesia some years ago, in Nyasaland it is being actively pursued and in Southern Rhodesia it is being officially talked aoout. It is thus a very live issue for the Rhodesias and Nyasalanu. Some see community development as a piece of government policy, and up to a point it is. Community development projects usually depend on government support and are most successfully accomplished where the government has the confidence of the people. But to think of community development simply in terms of official policy is to lose the real essence of the idea. In a final summing-up to the Conference, Professor T. Paterson of the Royal College of Science and Technology reminded his audience that community development is a means towards achieving a greater end. True, it produces many material manifestations which are of immense practical value. But much more important is the spirit it engenders within the community itself—a spirit which enables nations and communities to discover their real strength. In Central Africa it could be a means whereby petty prejudices are forgotten and a genuine spirit of community fostered amongst all people

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Murine Retrovirus-Induced AIDS Inhibit T- and B-Cell Responses In Vitro That Are Used To Define the Immunodeficiency

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have been characterized in several disease settings, especially in many tumor systems. Compared to their involvement in tumor microenvironments, however, MDSCs have been less well studied in their responses to infectious disease processes, in particular to retroviruses that induce immunodeficiency. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the development of a highly immunosuppressive MDSC population that is dependent on infection by the LP-BM5 retrovirus, which causes murine acquired immunodeficiency. These MDSCs express a cell surface marker signature (CD11b Gr-1 Ly6C ) characteristic of monocyte-type MDSCs. Such MDSCs profoundly inhibit immune responsiveness by a cell dose- and substan- tially inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-dependent mechanism that is independent of arginase activity, PD-1–PD-L1 ex- pression, and interleukin 10 (IL-10) production. These MDSCs display levels of immunosuppressive function in parallel with the extent of disease in LP-BM5-infected wild-type (w.t.) versus knockout mouse strains that are differentially susceptible to patho- genesis. These MDSCs suppressed not only T-cell but also B-cell responses, which are an understudied target for MDSC inhibi- tion. The MDSC immunosuppression of B-cell responses was confirmed by the use of purified B responder cells, multiple B-cell stimuli, and independent assays measuring B-cell expansion. Retroviral load measurements indicated that the suppressive Ly6Glow/ Ly6C CD11b -enriched MDSC subset was positive for LP-BM5, albeit at a significantly lower level than that of non- fractionated splenocytes from LP-BM5-infected mice. These results, including the strong direct MDSC inhibition of B-cell re- sponsiveness, are novel for murine retrovirus-induced immunosuppression and, as this broadly suppressive function mirrors that of the LP-BM5-induced disease syndrome, support a possible pathogenic effector role for these retrovirus-induced MDSCs