Threading, Stitching, and Storytelling: Using CBPR and Blackfoot Knowledge and Cultural Practices to Improve Domestic Violence Services for Indigenous Women

This article discusses a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project at two women’s emergency shelters in rural southwestern Alberta. The CBPR project aimed to improve shelter services on and off reserve in our area by engaging the voices of Indigenous women who had experienced domestic violence. The project’s methods were participatory appraisal and arts-based work re-imagined through Blackfoot cultural practices of storytelling and shawl making. The project created a rare safe space where thirteen Blackfoot women emphasised DV services should provide opportunities to connect with family and community and role model Blackfoot knowledge. Role modelling traditional knowledges aids developing life and parenting skills, opening up pathways for Indigenous women to more positive, secure futures. These women’s recommendations impelled this article to challenge the individualized case management model and discourses of cultural competence dominating Canadian DV services, which isolate and marginalize Indigenous women when they seek help. We highlight resources existing in Blackfoot communities to manage and prevent violence by protecting and facilitating Indigenous women’s connections to their communities and cultures, and offer ways to utilize these more effectively in service settings

Longitudinal Changes in Physical Activity Engagement and Mental Health Outcomes in a Sample of Digital Mental Health Platform Users

Research has demonstrated a bidirectional relationship between physical activity and well-being, anxiety, and depression. PURPOSE: We examined this relationship in a sample of employees with access to a digital mental health care platform. METHODS: Adults (n=755, 57% female; 41% BIPOC; M age= 34±9 years) receiving employer-sponsored digital mental health care completed an online survey at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Data were collected on duration of physical activity engagement (IPAQ), well-being (WHO-5), anxiety (GAD-7) and depression (PHQ-9) symptoms, and self-reported impact of mental health issues on physical activity. We analyzed baseline correlations between physical activity and mental health, and conducted longitudinal analyses of the relationship between changes in activity and changes in mental health. RESULTS: Across the full sample, engagement in physical activity at baseline was positively correlated with baseline well-being (r= 0.11, pr= -0.14, pp= 0.18). Almost half (47.3%; n= 357) of participants were ‘inactive’, i.e., not meeting the recommended weekly minimum of at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity. At 3-month follow-up, this inactive group increased physical activity an average of 60 minutes per week (pppR2= 0.014, pR2= 0.009, pp= 0.22). Moreover, self-reported negative impact of mental health issues on physical activity engagement decreased over time (pCONCLUSION: Employees using a digital mental health platform improved in mental health outcomes and mental health was perceived to be less of a barrier to activity over time. Initially inactive members had the added benefit of increasing physical activity. The association between physical activity and mental health outcomes highlights the importance of considering physical health factors in the holistic treatment of mental health conditions

Participatory co-creation of an adapted physical activity program for adults with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury

BackgroundResearch about using physical activity (PA) to improve health, quality of life, and participation after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is receiving growing attention. However, best-practices for maintaining PA participation after TBI have yet to be defined. In this context, a team of researchers and stakeholders with a moderate-to-severe TBI (including program participants and peer mentors) participated in a co-creation process to optimize a 9-month, 3-phased, community-based, adapted PA program named TBI-Health.PurposeThe study aimed to provide a detailed account of the participation in and co-creation of a new TBI-Health Program to enhance sport and exercise participation for adults with moderate-to-severe TBI. Specifically, we carried out an in-depth exploration of the perceived experiences and outcomes of users over one cycle of the program to assist the co-creation process.MethodsAn interpretive case study approach was used to explore the experiences and outcomes of the participatory co-creation within and across phases of the TBI-Health program. A purposeful sample of fourteen adults with moderate-to-severe TBI (program participants n = 10; peer mentors n = 4) were involved in audio-recorded focus groups after each program phase. Reflexive thematic analyses within and across the phases identified three higher-order themes.ResultsProgram Participation included barriers, facilitators, sources of motivation and suggested modifications to optimize the program; Biopsychosocial Changes highlighted perceived physical, psychological, and social outcomes, by self and others, that resulted from program participation; PA Autonomy emphasized transitions in knowledge, sex- and gender-related beliefs, and abilities related to exercise and sport participation.ConclusionsStudy findings suggest the TBI-Health program can increase autonomy for and reduce barriers to PA for adults with moderate-to-severe TBI, which results in increased PA participation and important physical, psychological, and social benefits. More research is needed about the TBI-Health program with larger samples

Serine/threonine acetylation of TGFbeta-activated kinase (TAK1) by Yersinia pestis YopJ inhibits innate immune signaling

The Gram-negative bacteria Yersinia pestis, causative agent of plague, is extremely virulent. One mechanism contributing to Y. pestis virulence is the presence of a type-three secretion system, which injects effector proteins, Yops, directly into immune cells of the infected host. One of these Yop proteins, YopJ, is proapoptotic and inhibits mammalian NF-kappaB and MAP-kinase signal transduction pathways. Although the molecular mechanism remained elusive for some time, recent work has shown that YopJ acts as a serine/threonine acetyl-transferase targeting MAP2 kinases. Using Drosophila as a model system, we find that YopJ inhibits one innate immune NF-kappaB signaling pathway (IMD) but not the other (Toll). In fact, we show YopJ mediated serine/threonine acetylation and inhibition of dTAK1, the critical MAP3 kinase in the IMD pathway. Acetylation of critical serine/threonine residues in the activation loop of Drosophila TAK1 blocks phosphorylation of the protein and subsequent kinase activation. In addition, studies in mammalian cells show similar modification and inhibition of hTAK1. These data present evidence that TAK1 is a target for YopJ-mediated inhibition

Biochemical adaptations of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium support a metabolic ecosystem in the vertebrate eye

Here we report multiple lines of evidence for a comprehensive model of energy metabolism in the vertebrate eye. Metabolic flux, locations of key enzymes, and our finding that glucose enters mouse and zebrafish retinas mostly through photoreceptors support a conceptually new model for retinal metabolism. In this model, glucose from the choroidal blood passes through the retinal pigment epithelium to the retina where photoreceptors convert it to lactate. Photoreceptors then export the lactate as fuel for the retinal pigment epithelium and for neighboring Mu ̈ ller glial cells. We used human retinal epithelial cells to show that lactate can suppress consumption of glucose by the retinal pigment epithelium. Suppression of glucose consumption in the retinal pigment epithelium can increase the amount of glucose that reaches the retina. This framework for understanding metabolic relationships in the vertebrate retina provides new insights into the underlying causes of retinal disease and age-related vision loss

Ultralong C100 Mycolic Acids Support the Assignment of Segniliparus as a New Bacterial Genus

Mycolic acid-producing bacteria isolated from the respiratory tract of human and non-human mammals were recently assigned as a distinct genus, Segniliparus, because they diverge from rhodococci and mycobacteria in genetic and chemical features. Using high accuracy mass spectrometry, we determined the chemical composition of 65 homologous mycolic acids in two Segniliparus species and separately analyzed the three subclasses to measure relative chain length, number and stereochemistry of unsaturations and cyclopropyl groups within each class. Whereas mycobacterial mycolate subclasses are distinguished from one another by R groups on the meromycolate chain, Segniliparus species synthesize solely non-oxygenated α-mycolates with high levels of cis unsaturation. Unexpectedly Segniliparus α-mycolates diverge into three subclasses based on large differences in carbon chain length with one bacterial culture producing mycolates that range from C58 to C100. Both the overall chain length (C100) and the chain length diversity (C42) are larger than previously seen for mycolic acid-producing organisms and provide direct chemical evidence for assignment of Segniliparus as a distinct genus. Yet, electron microscopy shows that the long and diverse mycolates pack into a typical appearing membrane. Therefore, these new and unexpected extremes of mycolic acid chemical structure raise questions about the modes of mycolic acid packing and folding into a membrane

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

An endemic plant and the plant-insect visitor network of a dune ecosystem

Network theory increasingly is used to quantify and evaluate mutualistic interactions, such as those among plants and their flower-visiting insects or pollinators. Some plant species have been shown to be important in community structure using network metrics; however, the roles of plant taxa, particularly rare species, are not well understood. Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri), a threatened endemic of Great Lakes shorelines, flowers late-June to early-August, when other floral resources may be less abundant or unavailable. We performed 10 min insect visitor observations on all insect pollinated plants in 44–10 m by 10 m plots at Sturgeon Bay, northern lower MI, USA, during C. pitcheri flowering and recorded plant species, number of open flowers, species of insect visiting, and number of visits by insects. Pitcher's thistle received 18.2% of all 600 recorded visits, 61.1% more than the next most visited plant. Pitcher's thistle also received visits from 22 of the 59 different insect species in the network, twice as many as the next most visited plant species. Species-level network analysis metrics showed that Pitcher's thistle was most generalized, with greatest species strength, betweenness, and connectance scores of any other plant taxon, demonstrating network topological importance. Pitcher's thistle received significantly more insect visits relative to its abundance that did any other plant species. Therefore, conservation of C. pitcheri and of other rare taxa, particularly in xeric and low diversity systems, can be significant beyond species-level management and may extend to conservation of the plant-insect community.Joyner Open Access Publishing Support Fun