Exploring Health-Promoting Attributes of Plant Proteins as a Functional Ingredient for the Food Sector : A Systematic Review of Human Interventional Studies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Characteristics of child fatalities that occur in the context of current or past intimate partner violence:A scoping review

PurposeChildhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem worldwide. In addition to directly observing or indirectly experiencing IPV, children may be killed because of IPV. To date, research on child IPV-related deaths exists in various, disconnected areas of scholarship, making it difficult to understand how IPV contributes to child fatalities. As such, this scoping review located and synthesized research on child fatalities that resulted from IPV, seeking to understand the state of global research concerning the prevalence and circumstances of IPV-related child fatalities.MethodsUsing a combination of keywords and subject terms, we systematically searched PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, PubMed, and seven research repositories. We located empirical studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals that reported findings concerning children (aged 0–17) who were killed because of IPV and/or people who killed children due to IPV. Among 9,502 de-duplicated records, we identified 60 articles that met review inclusion criteria. We extracted and synthesized information concerning research methods, circumstances and consequences of the fatalities, characteristics of people who committed IPV-related homicide of a child, and characteristics of children who died because of IPV.ResultsStudies were published from 1986–2022 and analyzed data from 23 countries. Most studies did not focus exclusively on IPV-related child homicides, and overall, studies reported sparse information concerning the contexts and circumstances of such fatalities. There were two predominant and distinct groups of children killed due to IPV: children killed by a parent or other adult caregiver and adolescents killed by an intimate partner. It was often difficult to ascertain whether the demographic characteristics of individuals who kill a child in the context of IPV and other contextual details might be similar to or different from child fatalities that occur under different circumstances or for other motivations.ConclusionsThis review highlighted that children die because of IPV. Findings indicated that such fatalities, while maybe difficult to predict, are often preventable if earlier intervention is made available and professionals are alert to key circumstances in which fatality risk is high. Future research and practice efforts should attend to understanding child fatalities resulting from IPV to identify critical intervention points and strategies that will save children’s lives

Communicable Ulcerative Colitis Induced by T-bet Deficiency in the Innate Immune System

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been attributed to overexuberant host immunity or the emergence of harmful intestinal flora. The transcription factor T-bet orchestrates inflammatory genetic programs in both adaptive and innate immunity. We describe a profound and unexpected function for T-bet in influencing the behavior of host inflammatory activity and commensal bacteria. T-bet deficiency in the innate immune system results in spontaneous and communicable ulcerative colitis in the absence of adaptive immunity and increased susceptibility to colitis in immunologically intact hosts. T-bet controls the response of the mucosal immune system to commensal bacteria by regulating TNF-α production in colonic dendritic cells, critical for colonic epithelial barrier maintenance. Loss of T-bet influences bacterial populations to become colitogenic, and this colitis is communicable to genetically intact hosts. These findings reveal a novel function for T-bet as a peacekeeper of host-commensal relationships and provide new perspectives on the pathophysiology of IBD

Dendritic cell expression of the transcription factor T-bet regulates mast cell progenitor homing to mucosal tissue

The transcription factor T-bet was identified in CD4+ T cells, and it controls interferon γ production and T helper type 1 cell differentiation. T-bet is expressed in certain other leukocytes, and we recently showed (Lord, G.M., R.M. Rao, H. Choe, B.M. Sullivan, A.H. Lichtman, F.W. Luscinskas, and L.H. Glimcher. 2005. Blood. 106:3432–3439) that it regulates T cell trafficking. We examined whether T-bet influences homing of mast cell progenitors (MCp) to peripheral tissues. Surprisingly, we found that MCp homing to the lung or small intestine in T-bet−/− mice is reduced. This is reproduced in adhesion studies using bone marrow–derived MCs (BMMCs) from T-bet−/− mice, which showed diminished adhesion to mucosal addresin cellular adhesion molecule–1 (MAdCAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule–1 (VCAM-1), endothelial ligands required for MCp intestinal homing. MCp, their precursors, and BMMCs do not express T-bet, suggesting that T-bet plays an indirect role in homing. However, adoptive transfer experiments revealed that T-bet expression by BM cells is required for MCp homing to the intestine. Furthermore, transfer of WT BM-derived dendritic cells (DCs) to T-bet−/− mice restores normal MCp intestinal homing in vivo and MCp adhesion to MAdCAM-1 and VCAM-1 in vitro. Nonetheless, T-bet−/− mice respond vigorously to intestinal infection with Trichinella spiralis, eliminating a role for T-bet in MC recruitment to sites of infection and their activation and function. Therefore, remarkably, T-bet expression by DCs indirectly controls MCp homing to mucosal tissues

Stay calm! Regulating emotional responses by implementation intentions: assessing the impact on physiological and subjective arousal

Implementation intention (IMP) has recently been highlighted as an effective emotion regulatory strategy (Schweiger Gallo et al., 2009). Most studies examining the effectiveness of IMPs to regulate emotion have relied on self-report measures of emotional change. In two studies we employed electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) in addition to arousal ratings (AR) to assess the impact of an IMP on emotional responses. In Study 1, 60 participants viewed neutral and two types of negative pictures (weapon vs. non-weapon) under the IMP “If I see a weapon, then I will stay calm and relaxed!” or no self-regulatory instructions (Control). In Study 2, additionally to the Control and IMP conditions, participants completed the picture task either under goal intention (GI) to stay calm and relaxed or warning instructions highlighting that some pictures contain weapons. In both studies, participants showed lower EDA, reduced HR deceleration and lower AR to the weapon pictures compared to the non-weapon pictures. In Study 2, the IMP was associated with lower EDA compared to the GI condition for the weapon pictures, but not compared to the weapon pictures in the Warning condition. AR were lower for IMP compared to GI and Warning conditions for the weapon pictures

Building Cohesion in Distributed Telemedicine Teams Findings from the Department of Veterans Affairs National Telestroke Program

Background: As telemedicine adoption increases, so does the importance of building cohesion among physicians in telemedicine teams. For example, in acute telestroke services, stroke specialists provide rapid virtual stroke assessment and treatment to patients at hospitals without stroke specialty care. In the National Telestroke Program (NTSP) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a virtual (distributed) hub of stroke specialists throughout the country provides 24/7 consultations nationwide. We examined how these specialists adapted to distributed teamwork, and we identied cohesion-related factors inprogram development and support. Methods: We conducted a case study of the stroke specialists employed by the NTSP. Semi-structured, condential interviews with stroke specialists in the virtual hub were recorded and transcribed. We explored the extent to which these specialists had developed a sense of shared identity and teamcohesion, and we identied factors in this development. Using a qualitative approach with constant comparison methods, two researchers coded each interview transcript independently using a shared codebook. We used matrix displays to identify themes, with special attention to team cohesion, communication, trust, and satisfaction. Results: Of 13 specialists with at least 8 months of NTSP practice, 12 completed interviews; 7 had previously practiced in telestroke programs in other healthcare systems. Interviewees reported high levels of trust and team cohesion, sometimes even more with their virtual colleagues than with local colleagues. Factors facilitating perceived team cohesion included a weekly case conference call, a sense of transparency in discussing challenges, engagement in NTSP development tasks, and support from the NTSP leadership. Although lack of in-person contact was associated with lower cohesion, annual in-person NTSP meetings helped mitigate this issue. Despite technical challenges in establishing a new telehealth system within existing national infrastructure, providers reported high levels of satisfaction with the NTSP.Conclusion: A virtual telestroke hub can provide a sense of team cohesion among stroke specialists at a level comparable with a standard co-located practice. Engaging in transparent discussion of challenging cases, reviewing new clinical evidence, and contributing to program improvements may promotecohesion in distributed telemedicine teamsThis work was funded by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Rural Health (016ORH), VHA Office of Specialty Care, VA Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Precision Monitoring Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUE 15-280). Funding sources had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or manuscript writing. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Program for climate-smart livestock systems. Country stocktake: Kenya

This is one of a series of documents that summarises information relating to the livestock sector in the three PCSL countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda). Prevailing livestock systems and their baseline performance in Kenya are summarised first, followed by a summary of what is known about the impacts of climate change on livestock production and livestock systems. Section 4 briefly summarises some recent research on adaptation and mitigation options for livestock systems in Kenya. Section 5 considers some of the work that has been done to date on projections for the livestock sector to the middle of the century. Section 6 considers the national livestock and climate change policy environment. The paper concludes with a consideration of system intervention points and major gaps in knowledge, to help guide project activities in Kenya

Program for climate-smart livestock systems. Country stocktake: Ethiopia

This is one of a series of documents that summarises information relating to the livestock sector in the three PCSL countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda). Prevailing livestock systems and their baseline performance in Ethiopia is summarised first, followed by a summary of what is known about the impacts of climate change on livestock production and livestock systems. Section 4 briefly summarises some recent research on adaptation and mitigation options for livestock systems in Ethiopia. Section 5 considers some of the work that has been done to date on projections for the livestock sector to the middle of the century. Section 6 considers the national livestock and climate change policy environment. The paper concludes with a consideration of system intervention points and major gaps in knowledge, to help guide project activities in Ethiopia

Program for climate-smart livestock systems. Country stocktake: Uganda

This is one of a series of documents that summarises information relating to the livestock sector in the three Program for Climate-Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL) project countries (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda). Prevailing livestock systems and their baseline performance in Uganda are summarised first, followed by a summary of what is known about the impacts of climate change on livestock production and livestock systems. Section 4 briefly summarises some recent research on adaptation and mitigation options for livestock systems in Uganda. Section 5 considers some of the work that has been done to date on projections for the livestock sector to the middle of the century. Section 6 considers the national livestock and climate change policy environment. The paper concludes with a consideration of system intervention points and major gaps in knowledge, to help guide project activities in Uganda