Bile-induced damage in Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is an enteric pathogen that can replicate within bile, yet this capability differs between strains. This project analyzed whether the pathogenic potential of the strain affects the ability to resist bile. We tested this hypothesis by examining the effect of bile on the morphology of a virulent strain (EGD-e) and an avirulent strain (HCC23) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Our data showed that exposure to bile greatly impacted the growth of HCC23. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses indicated that bile affects the cell envelope of EGD-e and HCC23 differently. Our results suggest that differences exist in the ability of EGD-e and HCC23 to survive and replicate in the presence of bile. We propose that the virulence capability of L. monocytogenes directly correlates to its ability to resist the detergent properties of bile

The Role of Trauma in Disparities for Cancer-Related Health: A Call to Action

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. In this brief report, we describe the current literature on interpersonal trauma (i.e., sexual abuse and intimate partner violence) and cancer. Concordant with the general population, between 20% and 50% of cancer patients have experienced interpersonal trauma. Experiences with interpersonal trauma not only appear to increase risk for developing cancer, but may also act as a roadblock to accessing appropriate preventive testing and to receiving adequate support during cancer care. Healthcare providers can play an important role in making cancer-related care more trauma-informed

Continuing oncologic care in the wake of an environmental disaster

BACKGROUND: Chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, have overtaken communicable disease as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, despite the substantial toll these diseases have on populations, patients suffering from these illnesses are often overlooked in the aftermath of an environmental disaster. Without proper disaster preparedness, these populations are often left vulnerable: without access to disease-modifying treatments or life-saving therapies. OBJECTIVE: This is a proposed disaster event health initiative for incorporating oncology care into disaster relief services worldwide. This study hypothesizes that with increased access to providers, resources, and cancer therapies during a disaster event, interruptions in patient oncology care will be minimized. METHODS: This disaster event health initiative consists of a detailed proposal for deploying a specialized oncology unit alongside traditional disaster response teams in an effort to decrease interruptions in patient oncology care. Depending on the severity of the disaster, available adjunct healthcare facilities, potential length of stay, most commonly used cancer therapies, and traditional patient: provider ratios, this proposal will inform the oncology unit assembly. Study measurables, such as how many patients seen, cancer diagnoses encountered, and most frequently used cancer therapies, will be collected using a standardized form. In addition, information regarding perceived patient satisfaction will be collected. System variable measures will be analyzed using frequency and average means whereas qualitative information will be coded for emerging themes. These measures of initiative efficacy will be used to revise and optimize future unit deployments. CONCLUSION: Worldwide morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, are steadily increasing. When acute environmental disasters strike, access to essential healthcare resources is disrupted, leaving these vulnerable populations without life-saving therapies they desperately need. These interruptions in cancer treatment plans result in poorer, long-term patient outcomes, compounding the effects of the disaster situation. By deploying a specialized oncology unit with disaster response teams during the initial recovery process, interruptions in cancer care will be minimized, ultimately decreasing long-term morbidity and mortality outcomes in this vulnerable patient population

“I\u27ll do whatever as long as you keep telling me that I’m important”: A case study illustrating the link between adolescent dating violence and sex trafficking victimization

Background: Approximately 10% of U.S. high school-attending youth are physically abused by a dating partner each year. Many sequelae of dating violence have been documented, but the dating violence literature is lacking information about commercial sexual exploitation as a possible outcome of an abusive dating relationship. Conversely, scholarship on sex trafficking victimization has documented that some girls are enticed into sex work by exploitative partners who initially pretend to be dating partners, but the research lacks specificity about why and how the girls become vulnerable to these destructive relationships. This case series chronicles the experiences of four women who were commercially sexually exploited in the U.S. as minors, identifies common themes cross their narratives, and organizes these themes into a proposed framework for understanding a possible pathway from safety to unsafe dating to sex trafficking victimization. Methods: We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with four adult women who had firsthand experience as victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. Participants were recruited through an organization that serves sex trafficking survivors. A constructivist grounded approach was used for data analysis. Participants’ narratives are presented, as well as illustrative quotes that typify each of the primary themes identified. Results: There were six primary themes that emerged from the cases’ narratives. Factors that made girls vulnerable to entering into abusive dating relationships and subsequently to experiences as sex trafficked minors included: (1) feeling physically unattractive and unimportant; (2) lacking examples of healthy relationships; (3) experiencing sexual abuse that caused subsequent dissociation and emotional debilitation; (4) being flattered by romantic gestures early in an abusive dating relationship and becoming emotionally attached; (5) gaining confidence from dating someone with higher social status; and (6) experiencing short-term satisfaction from out-earning other sex workers. Secondary themes that merit further investigation included having conflicts with guardians, engaging in criminal behavior at the request of their dating partner, and developing substance dependence that made it difficult to exit sex work. Discussion: Findings support the conclusions that one pathway into commercial sexual exploitation for minors is via dating partners, and that some minors are motivated to engage in sex work out of devotion to their dating partners rather than fear of violent retribution. A proposed framework for understanding how youth become vulnerable to sexual exploitation by a dating partner includes pre-dating, early phase dating, and late phase dating factors. Some pre-dating factors, for example, include feeling insecure, being bullied by peers, and having conflict with a guardian. Early phase dating factors include being impressed by the high social status of a new love interest and romantic gestures. Late phase dating factors include engaging in criminal activity to please the dating partner, and being physically, sexually, financially and emotionally abused. Additional empirical research that replicates and expands the proposed framework is encouraged, with the long-term objective of improving both dating violence and sexual exploitation prevention initiative

The 30 Million–Word Gap Relevance for Pediatrics

As many as 40% to 50% of the children pediatric clinicians serve are growing up in low-income households. Among the myriad physical and mental health sequelae of early adversity and toxic stress, language development appears to be one area particularly vulnerable to the stressors associated with poverty. The effects of poverty on language development have been documented in children as young as 9 months, becoming more clinically evident by 24 months.1 The consequences of early adversity–related language delays may be profound, leading to later learning delays, school failure, and lifelong social and economic consequences.2 This income-related gap in children’s language development has been linked in numerous studies to the quantity and quality of language input children receive from their parents, family members, and caregivers. Hart and Risley3 carried out the landmark study documenting this influence of children’s early environments on their later vocabulary growth. They observed that young children from low-income families heard approximately 600 words per hour compared with 2100 words per hour for children from high-income families. Extrapolating from this hourly discrepancy data, they estimated that by the time children reached age 4 years, those from higher-income families were likely to have heard roughly 30 million more words than low-income children. In addition, lower-income parents have been observed to use fewer complex sentences and rare vocabulary words, ask fewer questions of children, and use more prohibitives and directives—language that tells children what to do and not do—rather than pose comments that might elicit conversation. This qualitative and quantitative difference in language exposure, the “word gap,” is significant in that it often leads to later disparities in children’s academic achievement via effects not only on language development2 but also on cognitive processing1 and building self-regulation skills.4 Numerous community-based interventions have been shown to be effective in improving children’s language learning environments and outcomes.5 Some of the largest-scale endeavors include Providence Talks (a program in which low-income families with young children in Providence, Rhode Island, are given audio-recording technology that provides feedback about how many words their children hear every day), Georgia’s Talk to Me Baby program, and the Talking Is Teaching initiative of Too Small to Fail. However, some recent commentators have criticized the emphasis placed on word gap initiatives, with opposition to the “simplistic” approach of focusing on number of words spoken as a solution to poverty’s health effects as well as concern for implicit bias in the way researchers describe low-income and minority parenting.6 We argue that emphasis on the word gap in pediatric practice is not only appropriate but also a valuable tool for partnering with families and teaching trainees

Trafficking and Domestic Violence: Where Are We and Where Are We Going

Editors explain their view on the intersection of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic violence

Changes in Maternal Insight During an Attachment-Based Dyadic Intervention

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1022/thumbnail.jp

Characteristics of Esophageal Cancer Cases in Tanzania.

PurposeAge-standardized incidence rates for esophageal cancer (EC) in East Africa have been reported as disproportionately high compared with the worldwide incidence of nine per 100,000 population. This study aimed to characterize EC cases seen at Muhimbili National Hospital and Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.MethodsDemographic, clinical, and treatment variables were abstracted from charts of patients who received care for a diagnosis of EC at one or both institutions between 2011 and 2013. Categorical data were summarized as frequency counts and percentages. Continuous data were presented as medians and ranges. To compare men and women, Pearson's χ2 and two-sample t tests were applied.ResultsSeven hundred thirty-eight unique cases of EC were identified, of whom 68% were men and the median age was 60 years (range, 19 to 95 years). Notably, 93 cases (13%) were ≤ 40 years old at diagnosis. Squamous cell carcinoma was the dominant histology, comprising 90% of cases with documented histopathology. However, 34% of cases with a diagnosis of EC were not pathologically confirmed. The stage was documented as locoregional in 4% of cases, locally advanced in 20% of cases, metastatic in 14% of cases, and unknown in 63% of cases. Of 430 patients who received treatment at Ocean Road Cancer Institute, 76% were treated with radiation, 44% were treated with chemotherapy, 3% underwent a cancer-related surgical procedure, and 10% of cases received no cancer-directed therapy. The median overall survival for all patients was 6.9 months (95% CI, 5.0 to 12.8), regardless of stage at presentation.ConclusionBetween 2011 and 2013, cases of EC represented a large clinical burden at both institutions

Physical health outcomes of childhood exposure to intimate partner violence: A systematic review.

A Systematic Review Physical Health Outcomes of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/117/2/e278 located on the World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND. Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are at increased risk for adverse mental and behavioral health sequelae, as has been documented by both systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Studies addressing the physical health impact of childhood IPV exposure, however, have not been summarized in a manner that might facilitate additional hypothesis-driven research and accelerate the development of targeted interventions

Research inequity in the plant sciences

Do all plant biologists worldwide have equal access to novel methods, enabling them to be equally productive, publish, and receive credit for their research? Or does reduced access to cutting-edge techniques in countries with lower financial resources create an inequity for researchers located there? Such disparities and biases do exist within our discipline and must be addressed if we are to move forward as a more just society. Applications in Plant Sciences has taken steps to address this important issue of research inequity, as outlined below. We now call upon the entire botanical community—researchers, editors and reviewers, funding agencies, and publishers—to work together toward a more equitable environment for all researchers around the world