Communities and Local Government and Work and Pensions Committees. Oral evidence: Future of Supported Housing, 27th February, 2017. Transcript of evidence session.

Evidence given on 27th February, 2017 by Dr Jonathan Hobson to Commons Joint Select Committee inquiry on the Future of Supported Housing. Evidence based on work by Dr Jon Hobson, Dr Kenny Lynch, Pauline Dooley

Supported housing in Global Austerity: Local Providers Fears for the Future in Gloucestershire, England

Shelter is a key component of an individual’s well-being and as a consequence is an area of policy development that cuts across national policies including welfare, health and social. Supported housing is a sub-set of the wider category of social housing, offering support services intended to help people with a range of challenges live as independently as possible . This paper is based on case study research in an English county that has a diverse range of rural and urban contexts. The analysis draws on evidence gathered mainly from interviews with decision-makers representing the largest supported housing providers in the region across a range of specialisms and needs provision. The research demonstrates that supported housing professionals have a range of concerns for the future of supported housing provision. Respondents reported that reforms to welfare payments and funding of housing support is creating great concern for the organisations and the fracturing of services meant it was increasingly difficult to offer comprehensive coverage in the county. However, the housing professionals also discussed a range of innovative and entrepreneurial responses to these uncertainties. This paper concludes that on the one hand there is a real and pressing threat of increased residualisation within the sector and within services for these most vulnerable groups reduced in both their scope and coverage. While on the other hand, those organisations able to operate more flexibly, and who were communicating effectively with local authorities, felt they had the best chance to respond to uncertainty in the policy landscape

Communities and Local Government and Work and Pensions Committees. Oral evidence: Future of Supported Housing, 27th February, 2017. Transcript of evidence session.

Evidence given on 27th February, 2017 by Dr Jonathan Hobson to Commons Joint Select Committee inquiry on the Future of Supported Housing. Evidence based on work by Dr Jon Hobson, Dr Kenny Lynch, Pauline Dooley

“They are not the ones facing a life changing choice”: Public Attitudes to Anti-Reproductive Choice (“Pro-Life”) Protests

The presence of Pro-Life protests outside reproductive choices providers has become a source of tension in recent years in the UK (Hayes & Lowe 2015), although elsewhere in the world it has been a matter of public debate for far longer (Albert 2005; Finer & Fine 2013). Given this, it is surprising that there has been little research on the issue either in the UK or elsewhere beyond discussions of jurisprudence, political philosophy and healthcare decision making (see also Benyon-Jones 2017). This research was based on the idea that a better understanding of the impact of seeing ‘Pro-Life’ protests by wider members of the public would help inform both discussions about buffer zones and ongoing discussions about safety and impact of the increasing Americanization of British Pro-Life protests

Therapeutic depletion of CCR8+ tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells elicits antitumor immunity and synergizes with anti-PD-1 therapy.

BACKGROUND: Modulation and depletion strategies of regulatory T cells (Tregs) constitute valid approaches in antitumor immunotherapy but suffer from severe adverse effects due to their lack of selectivity for the tumor-infiltrating (ti-)Treg population, indicating the need for a ti-Treg specific biomarker. METHODS: We employed single-cell RNA-sequencing in a mouse model of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) to obtain a comprehensive overview of the tumor-infiltrating T-cell compartment, with a focus on ti-Treg subpopulations. These findings were validated by flow cytometric analysis of both mouse (LLC-OVA, MC38 and B16-OVA) and human (NSCLC and melanoma) tumor samples. We generated two CCR8-specific nanobodies (Nbs) that recognize distinct epitopes on the CCR8 extracellular domain. These Nbs were formulated as tetravalent Nb-Fc fusion proteins for optimal CCR8 binding and blocking, containing either an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC)-deficient or an ADCC-prone Fc region. The therapeutic use of these Nb-Fc fusion proteins was evaluated, either as monotherapy or as combination therapy with anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD-1), in both the LLC-OVA and MC38 mouse models. RESULTS: We were able to discern two ti-Treg populations, one of which is characterized by the unique expression of Ccr8 in conjunction with Treg activation markers. Ccr8 is also expressed by dysfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, but the CCR8 protein was only prominent on the highly activated and strongly T-cell suppressive ti-Treg subpopulation of mouse and human tumors, with no major CCR8-positivity found on peripheral Tregs. CCR8 expression resulted from TCR-mediated Treg triggering in an NF-κB-dependent fashion, but was not essential for the recruitment, activation nor suppressive capacity of these cells. While treatment of tumor-bearing mice with a blocking ADCC-deficient Nb-Fc did not influence tumor growth, ADCC-prone Nb-Fc elicited antitumor immunity and reduced tumor growth in synergy with anti-PD-1 therapy. Importantly, ADCC-prone Nb-Fc specifically depleted ti-Tregs in a natural killer (NK) cell-dependent fashion without affecting peripheral Tregs. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our findings highlight the efficacy and safety of targeting CCR8 for the depletion of tumor-promoting ti-Tregs in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy

Social Vulnerabilities Conference 2020: post conference report

The Social Vulnerabilities Research Group represents research carried out across a range of Social Sciences disciplines, in particular members of the Human Geography, Sociology, and Criminology communities. The research group emphasizes the importance and application of interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the challenges facing vulnerable people in different contexts. The 2020 conference, hosted virtually during the pandemic, showcases work from staff and research students working with the Social Vulnerabilities group

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Reward Versus Nonreward Sensitivity of the Medial Versus Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Relates to the Severity of Depressive Symptoms

BackgroundThe orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is implicated in depression. The hypothesis investigated was whether the OFC sensitivity to reward and nonreward is related to the severity of depressive symptoms.MethodsActivations in the monetary incentive delay task were measured in the IMAGEN cohort at ages 14 years (n = 1877) and 19 years (n = 1140) with a longitudinal design. Clinically relevant subgroups were compared at ages 19 (high-severity group: n = 116; low-severity group: n = 206) and 14.ResultsThe medial OFC exhibited graded activation increases to reward, and the lateral OFC had graded activation increases to nonreward. In this general population, the medial and lateral OFC activations were associated with concurrent depressive symptoms at both ages 14 and 19 years. In a stratified high-severity depressive symptom group versus control group comparison, the lateral OFC showed greater sensitivity for the magnitudes of activations related to nonreward in the high-severity group at age 19 (p = .027), and the medial OFC showed decreased sensitivity to the reward magnitudes in the high-severity group at both ages 14 (p = .002) and 19 (p = .002). In a longitudinal design, there was greater sensitivity to nonreward of the lateral OFC at age 14 for those who exhibited high depressive symptom severity later at age 19 (p = .003).ConclusionsActivations in the lateral OFC relate to sensitivity to not winning, were associated with high depressive symptom scores, and at age 14 predicted the depressive symptoms at ages 16 and 19. Activations in the medial OFC were related to sensitivity to winning, and reduced reward sensitivity was associated with concurrent high depressive symptom scores

An Overview of 9/11 Experiences and Respiratory and Mental Health Conditions among World Trade Center Health Registry Enrollees

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61276/1/farfel m, digrande l, brackbill r, galea s, overview of 9-11 experiences and respiratory and mental haelth conditions.pd