Exploring shame, mental health, compassion, identity, and help-seeking in Black women who have experienced sexual violence

Background: Women of African and Caribbean descent are more likely to experience sexual violence than their counterparts and less likely to access mental health support post-sexual violence. Black women navigate a distinct sociopolitical and cultural context that creates a unique intrapsychic and systemic experience of sexual violence. This can impact their mental health, identity, feelings of shame and help-seeking experiences, however, there has been little empirical exploration of this within the UK. Aims: To investigate the associative, predictive, and moderating relationships between shame (internal and external), self-concept, self-compassion, psychological distress, and psychological wellbeing in Black women who have experienced sexual violence. To explore how Black women understand their identity in relation to sexual violence and the factors that hinder and facilitate help-seeking experiences. Methods: A mixed-methods design was employed to quantitatively explore relationships between shame (internal and external), self-concept, self-compassion, psychological distress, and psychological wellbeing via an online survey (N= 37). Five participants took part in semi-structured interviews to discuss identity and helpseeking experiences post-sexual violence. Results: Higher levels of shame were associated with lower psychological wellbeing. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with and predicted higher levels of wellbeing. However, self-compassion did not moderate the relationship between external shame and psychological distress. The 'Strength Paralleling Vulnerability' and ' "Not Designed for Us" ' themes showed help-seeking experiences were influenced by narratives of strength and obstructed by systemic barriers. Conclusions: The quantitative findings suggest that Black women’s psychological wellbeing is particularly compromised following sexual violence. The 'strong Black woman' narrative can influence Black women's sense of identity and help-seeking. Help-seeking experiences were shown to be complex, silencing and influenced by sociocultural and political factors. The study’s findings have multilevel systemic clinical, policy and research implications

Continuum Contributions to the SDO/AIA Passbands During Solar Flares

Data from the Multiple EUV Grating Spectrograph (MEGS-A) component of the Extreme Ultraviolet Experiment (EVE) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) were used to quantify the contribution of continuum emission to each of the EUV channels of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), also on SDO, during an X-class solar flare that occurred on 2011 February 15. Both the pre-flare subtracted EVE spectra and fits to the associated free-free continuum were convolved with the AIA response functions of the seven EUV passbands at 10 s cadence throughout the course of the flare. It was found that 10-25% of the total emission in the 94A, 131A, 193A, and 335A passbands throughout the main phase of the flare was due to free-free emission. Reliable measurements could not be made for the 171A channel, while the continuum contribution to the 304A channel was negligible due to the presence of the strong He II emission line. Up to 50% of the emission in the 211A channel was found to be due to free-free emission around the peak of the flare, while an additional 20% was due to the recombination continuum of He II. The analysis was extended to a number of M- and X-class flares and it was found that the level of free-free emission contributing to the 171A and 211A passbands increased with increasing GOES class. These results suggest that the amount of continuum emission that contributes to AIA observations during flares is more significant than that stated in previous studies which used synthetic, rather than observed, spectra. These findings highlight the importance of spectroscopic observations carried out in conjunction with those from imaging instruments so that the data are interpreted correctly.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Current trends in the use of residential child care in Scotland

The survey was planned to examine how local authority residential care units were currently being used and to provide data relating to current issues in the use of residential child care. These issues were identified by Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) staff as they provided training and development work with agencies across Scotland, and others have been part of wider professional and political concerns. They include matters such as the increasing numbers of children being admitted to care because of parentaldrug misuse. There is also anecdotal evidence about increasing numbers of seriously disturbed younger children having to be admitted to residential care because their difficulties preclude them being cared for in a foster home placement, or who had experienced a number of foster placement breakdowns. SIRCC provides a ‘Placement Information Service’ and over the past few years there has been a steady stream of enquiries from social workers looking for a ‘therapeutic placement’ for a younger child. There were also reports of sibling groups still being regularly split up on admission due to lack of places and a general reporting of a shortage of places. Noteworthy also has been the continued high level of emergency placements. As there has been a gradual reduction in residential places over the past 10 to15 years and as residential care is perceived to be an expensive resource it is important to understand what kinds of admissions are putting such pressure on existing resources. The survey therefore requested information about a wide range of topics related to admission to residential care including: age at admission length of stay; previous placement; whether placement was planned or not;whether siblings groups were kept together or not; whether the child was in full-time education or not; the reasons for admission including parental drug misuse; whether the placement was the placement of choice of the socialworker or residential services manager. The survey also asked respondents to give a broad measure of the effectiveness of the placement. It was hoped that the data might supplement the Looked After Children (LAC) statistics that are published annually by the Scottish Executive (SE), based onreturns from local authorities

The orphan receptor GPR35 contributes to angiotensin II–induced hypertension and cardiac dysfunction in mice

BACKGROUND: The orphan receptor G protein–coupled receptor 35 (GPR35) has been associated with a range of diseases, including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure. To assess the potential for GPR35 as a therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease, this study investigated the cardiovascular phenotype of a GPR35 knockout mouse under both basal conditions and following pathophysiological stimulation. METHODS: Blood pressure was monitored in male wild-type and GPR35 knockout mice over 7–14 days using implantable telemetry. Cardiac function and dimensions were assessed using echocardiography, and cardiomyocyte morphology evaluated histologically. Two weeks of angiotensin II (Ang II) infusion was used to investigate the effects of GPR35 deficiency under pathophysiological conditions. Gpr35 messenger RNA expression in cardiovascular tissues was assessed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in blood pressure, cardiac function, or cardiomyocyte morphology in GPR35 knockout mice compared with wild-type mice. Following Ang II infusion, GPR35 knockout mice were protected from significant increases in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure or impaired left ventricular systolic function, in contrast to wild-type mice. There were no significant differences in Gpr35 messenger RNA expression in heart, kidney, and aorta following Ang II infusion in wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Although GPR35 does not appear to influence basal cardiovascular regulation, these findings demonstrate that it plays an important pathological role in the development of Ang II–induced hypertension and impaired cardiac function. This suggests that GPR35 is a potential novel drug target for therapeutic intervention in hypertension

Low-density polybenzimidazole foams for thermal insulation and fire protection

Fire-resistant and nonsmoking foam can be prepared in desirable density range of 24 to 50 kg/cu m by controlled thermal crosslinking of polybenzimidazole prepolymer. Reproducible foams of specific density can be produced by controlling volative content and melting temperature of prepolymer