Political Party Transitions in Post-Conflict States: How Political Parties Reacted and Adapted During Democratic Transitions in Cambodia, El Salvador and Mozambique

This study argues that political parties in the post-conflict period are adaptable to and capable of changing roles as states transition to peacetime settings. In the aftermath of war in El Salvador, Cambodia and Mozambique and during a democratic transition, changes in political party structures and attitudes, and the influence of external actors emerged as significant factors in the way political parties adapted. National and international political contexts, ideological differences and war time political party origins played a part in incumbent and insurgent political parties\u27 behaviors and electoral successes in the aftermath of war, which has ultimately affected the democratic transition, in some cases undermining. This study demonstrates the nuance of democratic transition, how each individual case is unique and the importance of internal actors during the transition period and after

Got milk? Understanding the farm milk effect in allergy and asthma prevention

Cow's milk is a major component of most of our diets, but concerns about its ingestion have been in and out of public health dialogues for decades. Raw milk has long been associated with numerous foodborne illnesses and outbreaks due to enteric and opportunistic bacteria such as Brucella, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia, Campylobactor species, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli species.1,2Mycobacterium bovis infection was transmitted to humans following drinking unpasteurized milk from infected cows, causing tuberculosis and scrofula.3 Pasteurization, in which milk is heated to 161°F for at least 15 seconds and then cooled, was intended to reduce or eliminate the microbial content, thus decreasing the risk for serious bacterial infections and prolonging the shelf life.4 Since the 1920s, universal pasteurization of milk and milk products has lessened significantly the incidence of these serious infections.3,5 At the start of the obesity epidemic in the United States in the 1980s, milk was drawn into the public spotlight when the fat in whole milk was considered partly responsible for weight gain and the associated metabolic and cardiovascular complications. When the 1995 US Department of Agriculture guidelines recommended switching from whole milk to reduced-fat milk,6 consumption of whole milk plummeted in favor of low-fat varieties

Understanding root causes of asthma: Perinatal environmental exposures and epigenetic regulation

A common explanation for the origins and rising prevalence of asthma is that they involve complex interactions between hereditary predispositions and environmental exposures that are incompletely understood. Yet, emerging evidence substantiates the paradigm that environmental exposures prenatally and during very early childhood induce epigenetic alterations that affect the expression of asthma genes and, thereby, asthma itself. Here, we review much of the key evidence supporting this paradigm. First, we describe evidence that the prenatal and early postnatal periods are key time windows of susceptibility to environmental exposures that may trigger asthma. Second, we explain how environmental epigenetic regulation may explain the immunopathology underlying asthma. Third, we outline specific evidence that environmental exposures induce epigenetic regulation, both from animal models and robust human epidemiological research. Finally, we review some emerging topics, including the importance of coexposures, population divergence, and how epigenetic regulation may change over time. Despite all the inherent complexity, great progress has been made toward understanding what we still consider reversible asthma risk factors. These, in time, may impact patient care

Exploring the Experiences of Emerging Adulthood Among Rural Appalachian Students

Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage that has risen out of a need to recontextualize the lives of individuals aged 18-29 years old in modern times. Sometimes described as a prolonged period of adolescence, emerging adulthood presents unique challenges and opportunities as individuals launch from adolescence and begin to assume more adult roles. Early research on this developmental period details five themes that commonly prevail the lives of emerging adults: identity exploration, feeling in-between, being self-focused, exploring possibilities, andinstability (Arnett, 2000). Though previous studies suggest that these themes remain fairly consistent despite the heterogeneity of the emerging adult population (Arnett et al., 2014; Baggio et al., 2017), there is a call for greater exploration of these themes and how they present based upon different demographic variables. To date, the experiences of rural Appalachian emerging adults have not been examined through the context of these themes. This gap presents an opportunity to explore the rich nuances of Appalachian culture, including its focus on social support and its impact on student success (Hand & Payne, 2008) and emotional well-being (Gottron, 2020). Participants of this study were college students (N = 296, mean age = 20.13) in northeast Tennessee. Participants answered a series of standard questionnaires and several open-ended questions about transitioning to adulthood. The present study examines the written responses to two open-ended questions: What have you most enjoyed about becoming an adult? and What is most stressful about becoming an adult? Two raters coded these responses based on their applicability to the aforementioned themes of emerging adulthood. Chi square analyses examined the presence of these themes in relation to geographic region (rural, urban, suburban). Positive endorsement of being self-focused differed by the area in which one grew up, X2(2, 277) = 13.34, p = .001. Post-hoc analyses with a Bonferonni-corrected alpha (p = .008) examined group differences. Individuals from rural areas reported being self-focused more positively compared to students from suburban or urban areas (p = .002). Due to the strong family commitments often associated with rural culture (Hand & Payne, 2008), rural emerging adults may perceive the ability to focus on their own priorities and goals, rather than that of their family members, as the most salient benefit of growing older. Additionally, these findings suggest that future discussions surrounding Arnett’s theory of emerging adulthood requires further nuance when considering region-specific cultural differences. Understanding where and why the experiences of individuals from rural areas may be different is key as educators and faculty continue to find ways to support the success of their students

Targeting of household air pollution: interpretation of RESPIRE

An estimated 3 million infants and children younger than 5 years die every year from pneumonia in developing countries.1 Exposure to household air pollution emitted from biomass fuels has been implicated in about a third of these cases.2 Observational and case-control studies have reported an association between exposure to household air pollution and lower respiratory tract infections.3 However, until now, no randomised controlled intervention trials had been done in children. In The Lancet, Kirk R Smith and colleagues of the Randomised Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects (RESPIRE) report a randomised trial that aimed to reduce household air pollution and its subsequent effects on early childhood pneumonia. 4 The RESPIRE trial, which was undertaken in the Guatemalan highlands from 2002–04, introduced chimney stoves (planchas) in homes using traditional wood fires for cooking. 534 homes with pregnant women or infants younger than 4 months were randomly assigned to either planchas or control (traditional wood fires); the primary outcome was the reduction of physician-diagnosed pneumonia in children with use of standardised criteria. Study participants were followed up until 18 months of age, with weekly visits by fieldworkers, and subsequent referral to local physicians who were masked to intervention status for the assessment and diagnosis of pneumonia

Tools for live imaging of active Rho GTPases in Xenopus

Rho family GTPases are signaling molecules that orchestrate cytoskeletal dynamics in a variety of cellular processes. Because they effect localized changes to the cytoskeleton only in their active (GTP‐bound) conformation, the ability to monitor the active state of Rho GTPases in space and time is critical for understanding their function. Here, we summarize popular tools used for live imaging of active Rho GTPases, outlining advantages and drawbacks of these approaches. Additionally, we highlight key features of the Xenopus laevis embryo that make it well‐suited for epithelial cell biology and discuss how application of Rho activity reporters in the Xenopus laevis embryo led to the discovery of a novel phenomenon, junctional Rho flares.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136041/1/dvg22998_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136041/2/dvg22998.pd

Environmental Epigenetics and Asthma: Current Concepts and Call for Studies

Recent studies suggest that epigenetic regulation (heritable changes in gene expression that occur in the absence of alterations in DNA sequences) may in part mediate the complex gene-by-environment interactions that can lead to asthma. The variable natural history of asthma (i.e., incidence and remission of symptoms) may be a result of epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, covalent histone modifications, microRNA changes, and chromatin alterations, after early or later environmental exposures. Findings from multiple epidemiologic and experimental studies indicate that asthma risk may be modified by epigenetic regulation. One study suggested that the transmission of asthma risk may occur across multiple generations. Experimental studies provide substantial in vitro data indicating that DNA methylation of genes critical to T-helper cell differentiation may induce polarization toward or away from an allergic phenotype. Despite this initial progress, fundamental questions remain that need to be addressed by well-designed research studies. Data generated from controlled experiments using in vivo models and/or clinical specimens collected after environmental exposure monitoring are limited. Importantly, cohort-driven epigenetic research has the potential to address key questions, such as those concerning the influence of timing of exposure, dose of exposure, diet, and ethnicity on susceptibility to asthma development. There is immense promise that the study of environmental epigenetics will help us understand a theoretically preventable environmental disease

Indiana Nonprofits: Scope and Community Dimensions

This report presents new data on the size, composition, and distribution of paid employment over the 1995-2011 time period in Indiana's private nonprofit organizations in a broad range of industries traditionally dominated by for-profit industries. Nonprofit organizations make significant contributions to the quality of life for the residents of Indiana and are a major force in the state's economy. This is particularly the case for the industries where nonprofits play a major role, such as health care, social assistance, education, arts, culture and recreation, and membership associations. However, very little is known about the large number of nonprofits that are scattered across virtually all other industries in Indiana where for-profit establishments dominate. This report provides an overview of nonprofit employment in all the other "minor" nonprofit industries

Is breast cancer a result of epigenetic responses to traffic-related air pollution? A review of the latest evidence

Environmental toxicants can exert adverse health effects via epigenetic regulation. We conducted a review of studies assessing traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure and breast cancer (BC) risk, and the evidence for epigenetic mediation. 14 epidemiological studies demonstrated associations between TRAP exposure and BC risk, in which a total of 26 comparisons were assessed. 11 of these comparisons reported a positive association; whereas 15 comparisons were negative. Five publications linked TRAP exposure to epigenetic alterations in genes that may be related to BC risk. One animal study provided evidence of TRAP-treatment inducing breast tumorigenesis. Associations between TRAP components polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and BC risk were more consistent. While evidence for epigenetic regulation remains limited, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposures may alter methylation of breast tumorigenic genes (e.g., EPHB2, LONP1). Future epigenomic studies with environmental measures are needed to interrogate the relationship between TRAP and BC risk

Prenatal maternal diet affects asthma risk in offspring

Recently, epigenetic-mediated mechanisms — which involve heritable changes in gene expression in the absence of alterations in DNA sequences — have been proposed as contributing to asthma. In this issue of the JCI, Hollingsworth and colleagues report on the effect of prenatal maternal dietary intake of methyl donors on the risk of allergic airway disease in offspring in mice and show that these effects involve epigenetic regulation (see the related article beginning on page 3462). Supplementation of the maternal diet with methyl donors was associated with greater airway allergic inflammation and IgE production in F1 and, to some extent, F2 progeny. Site-specific differences in DNA methylation and reduced transcriptional activity were detected. If these findings are confirmed, a new paradigm for asthma pathogenesis may be emerging