Māori women and intimate partner violence: Some sociocultural influences

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has recently been acknowledged as a worldwide phenomenon, with approximately one in four intimate relationships containing some form of violence. This study explores the interaction between relationship dynamics, IPV and whānau and community influences. We completed narrative interviews with two Māori women in December 2010. Our findings confirm the results of earlier studies which have found that childhood experiences of violence, actual or witnessed, have a powerful effect that reverberate within adult lives and into the formation of intimate relationships. Our interviews show that Māori whānau and women are textured by the same patriarchal expectations that privilege men in the Pākehā world. We also found that seeking help from whānau to escape a violent relationship may not be the most welcomed course of action. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions

Transforming the Gardiner Expressway: A Vision for Personal Rapid Transit in 2015

Urban infrastructure has long been regarded as the lifeblood to any city, essential to urban communities. A successful city cannot exist without a successful infrastructure, and as a city matures, its system must adapt. Modern urban development and, in particular, the proliferation of urban expressways over the past half a century, has led to a greater fragmentation, and even segregation, of certain parts of the city, as well as unprecedented traffic growth that has strained the capacity of urban transportation systems. Cities around the world now confronted by the consequences of urban expressways must begin to rectify their situations. In Downtown Toronto stands the Gardiner Expressway. Envisioned in the 1950s as part of a larger highway network, resistance to highway planning and growing interest in public transit a decade later left the Gardiner a liability in the urban infrastructure ? well traveled but disjointed, isolated from the waterfront, which is its immediate context, and congested with automobiles. On many levels, it continues to be a detriment to the city as a whole. This thesis recognizes transportation infrastructure as vital to Toronto's overall development and looks to enhance that development by transforming the Gardiner Expressway into a viable and responsive transit interface, stimulating new, integrated systems of mobility. Conceived within the parameters of Toronto's Official Plan, the project uses a ten-year phasing strategy that involves policy planning, urban transit coordination, and includes the implementation of Personal Rapid Transportation [PRT] technology and a 7. 5 km elevated bicycle path. Seamless movement is achieved by inter-modal transit nodes and direct waterfront access. Bridging the city and the waterfront, the proposed transit initiatives specifically respond at various urban scales to increasing waterfront density, commuting patterns, land uses, and new developments. It is anticipated that the success of this revitalized system will lead other cities to reassess the capabilities of their own urban infrastructures

Are workers close to cities paid higher non-agricultural wages in rural China?

In the present study, we investigate whether workers close to cities are paid higher non-agricultural wages than workers in outlying rural areas. We find that workers close to urban areas not only benefit from more opportunities to engage in non-agricultural activities, but also from better paid jobs. In addition, distance exhibits a strongly nonlinear impact. Distance always has a negative impact on wages but the effect is more detrimental, the closer the village is to the urban center. We also find evidence of urban hierarchy effects: workers living close to bigger cities are paid higher wages. Finally, we provide evidence on the transmission channels at work.Remoteness;regional labor market;China Codes;wages

mGluR5 antagonism inhibits cocaine reinforcement and relapse by elevation of extracellular glutamate in the nucleus accumbens via a CB1 receptor mechanism.

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) antagonism inhibits cocaine self-administration and reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this action are poorly understood. Here we report a presynaptic glutamate/cannabinoid mechanism that may underlie this action. Systemic or intra-nucleus accumbens (NAc) administration of the mGluR5 antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP) dose-dependently reduced cocaine (and sucrose) self-administration and cocaine-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. The reduction in cocaine-taking and cocaine-seeking was associated with a reduction in cocaine-enhanced extracellular glutamate, but not cocaine-enhanced extracellular dopamine (DA) in the NAc. MPEP alone, when administered systemically or locally into the NAc, elevated extracellular glutamate, but not DA. Similarly, the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant, elevated NAc glutamate, not DA. mGluR5s were found mainly in striatal medium-spiny neurons, not in astrocytes, and MPEP-enhanced extracellular glutamate was blocked by a NAc CB1 receptor antagonist or N-type Ca++ channel blocker, suggesting that a retrograde endocannabinoid-signaling mechanism underlies MPEP-induced glutamate release. This interpretation was further supported by our findings that genetic deletion of CB1 receptors in CB1-knockout mice blocked both MPEP-enhanced extracellular glutamate and MPEP-induced reductions in cocaine self-administration. Together, these results indicate that the therapeutic anti-cocaine effects of mGluR5 antagonists are mediated by elevation of extracellular glutamate in the NAc via an endocannabinoid-CB1 receptor disinhibition mechanism

GOing Forward With the Cardiac Conduction System Using Gene Ontology

The cardiac conduction system (CCS) comprises critical components responsible for the initiation and coordination of the action potential. Aberrant CCS development can cause conduction abnormalities, including sick sinus syndrome and atrioventricular and bundle branch blocks. Gene Ontology (GO; http://geneontology.org/) is an invaluable global bioinformatics resource which can provide structured, computable knowledge describing the functions of gene products. Many gene products are known be involved in CCS development; however, this information is not comprehensively captured by GO. Our study aimed to describe the specific roles of essential proteins that have been reported in the literature to be involved with development and/or function of the CCS. 14 proteins were prioritised for GO annotation which led to the curation of 15 peer-reviewed primary experimental articles using carefully selected GO terms. 152 descriptive GO annotations, including those describing sinoatrial node and atrioventricular node development were created and submitted to the GO Consortium database. A functional enrichment analysis of the 35 proteins known to have a role in CCS confirmed that this work has improved the in silico interpretation of this CCS dataset. Our contribution to the GO database may help elucidate the key mechanisms involved in CCS disorders as previous annotation projects have focussed predominantly on development of the heart rather than that of the CCS. This work may improve future heart disease investigations applying high-throughput methods such as genome-wide association studies analysis, proteomics and transcriptomics

Mapping the journey from epistemic mistrust in depressed adolescents receiving psychotherapy

Although the theory of epistemic trust has started informing research in clinical populations and in psychotherapy, no study has yet explored the phenomenon of epistemic trust and mistrust in depressed adolescents receiving psychotherapy. The present study aims to address this gap by creating a typology of depressed adolescents’ experiences regarding their different journeys through the course of psychotherapy in relation to issues of epistemic trust and mistrust over a 2-year period. This study is based on a post-hoc analysis of interview data collected for a broader purpose. A total of 45 semi-structured interviews at 3 time points were conducted with 15 adolescents (80% female; M age = 15.28, SD = 1.79) who entered treatment with indications of epistemic mistrust or hypervigilance. These interviews were qualitatively analysed using Ideal Type Analysis. Three distinct journeys of adolescents’ experiences were identified. Some experienced a shift from epistemic mistrust to epistemic trust which seemed to be associated with the experience of therapy; other adolescents also showed a shift but did not consider it as an outcome of therapy; and finally, some adolescents reported continued mistrust over the 2-year period. An interpersonal component within or beyond therapy may be the key to breaking the vicious cycle of epistemic mistrust and generating epistemic trust; but not all depressed adolescents in therapy achieve this. Particular attention should be drawn to depressed adolescents who have difficulty making use of therapy and/or their broader social environment. Psychological interventions may need to openly address their issues of mistrust in early sessions as epistemic mistrust or hypervigilance may hinder paths to learning both within and beyond therapy. Treatments that intervene at the level of the wider social system are encouraged

Bioprosthetic Heart Valves: Upgrading a 50-Year Old Technology

Prosthetic heart valves have been commonly used to address the increasing prevalence of valvular heart disease. The ideal prosthetic heart valve substitute should closely mimic the characteristics of a normal native heart valve. Despite the development of various interventions, an exemplary valve replacement does not exist. This review provides an overview of the novel engineering valve designs and explores emergent immunologic insights into age-dependent structural valve degeneration (SVD)