‘I’m a red-blooded male’: Understanding men’s experiences of domestic abuse through a feminist lens

The ways in which gendered expectations of women are used to maintain power and control by male perpetrators of domestic abuse are now well understood. It is also increasingly recognised that men can be victims of domestic abuse. This has led to calls to de-gender theories of violence and abuse, and arguments that the feminist theories which underpin many interventions are outdated. We draw on the experiences of 344 men using a helpline for male victim–survivors of domestic abuse to show that patriarchal constructions of relationships, femininity and masculinity, which underpin women’s experiences of domestic abuse by men are also central to understanding men’s experiences of domestic abuse by women. We propose that men’s victimisation by women perpetrators is not incompatible with feminist understandings of domestic abuse. Rather, that the influence of patriarchal norms in men’s victimisation accentuates the importance of gender in understanding and responding to domestic abuse

An exploratory study of engagement in a technology-supported substance abuse intervention

BACKGROUND: The continuing gap between the number of people requiring treatment for substance use disorders and those receiving treatment suggests the need to develop new approaches to service delivery. Meanwhile, the use of technology to provide counseling and support in the substance abuse field is exploding. Despite the increase in the use of technology in treatment, little is known about the impact of technology-supported interventions on access to services for substance use disorders. The E-TREAT intervention brings together the evidence-based practice of Motivational Interviewing and theories of Persuasive Technology to sustain clients' motivation to change substance use behaviors, provide support for change, and facilitate continuity across treatment settings. METHODS: This study used descriptive statistics, tests of statistical significance, and logistic regression to explore the characteristics and perceptions of the first 157 people who agreed to participate in E-TREAT and the predictors of their active engagement in E-TREAT services. In addition, responses to open-ended questions about the participants' experiences with the intervention were analyzed. RESULTS: The data reveal that clients who engaged in E-TREAT were more likely than those who did not engage to be female, have children and report a positive relationship with their recovery coach, and were less likely to have completed treatment for a substance use disorder in the past. A majority of people engaging in E-TREAT reported that it was helpful to talk with others with similar problems and that the program assisted them in developing a sense of community. CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that technology-assisted interventions hold promise in expanding access to treatment for substance use disorders especially for women and parents. Further, the characteristics of the relationship with a coach or helper may be critical to engagement in technology-supported interventions. Additional investigation into ways technology may be useful to enhance treatment access for certain subgroups is needed

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Disinfection by-product minimisation by organic and inorganic precursor removal

A matrix of 18 synthetic waters with variable water quality parameters (alkalinity, natural organic matter (NOM), and halide concentration) was prepared. The DBP formation potential of these 18 samples was examined both before treatment, after enhanced coagulation (EC) and after a sequential treatment using EC followed by either powdered activated carbon (PAC), granular activated carbon (GAC), silver-impregnated activated carbon (SIAC), or MIEXesin. The study shows that natural organic matter (NOM) concentration is greatly reduced with EC, and further reduced by each secondary treatment. Halide adsorption was not possible with EC or PAC, however, MIEXnd GAC had some halide adsorption capacity. SIAC exhibited the greatest halide removal (average 99% adsorption). Total DBP formation was reduced by EC, and further reduced by each secondary treatment process, however, specific highly brominated DBPs increased in concentration with each successive treatment step in all cases except after SIAC treatment. The more highly brominated DBPs may be of a greater public health concern than their chlorinated counterparts, therefore, in salinity-impacted waters, halide removal is desirable.Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of EnvironmentFull Tex