Family Well-Being: A Complex Challenge Worth Pursuing

Issue Editor, Susan Landry\u27s point of view and summary of the articles in Family Well-Being and Social Environments

Who Participates in an Internet-Based Research Program for Mothers of Infants? A Secondary Prevention Research Study Among Low-Income Families

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the participation rates and factors associated with nonparticipation among mothers living in low-income households who were invited to join a parent-education and -support research program delivered via the Internet with professional support. Methods: Four hundred and seventy-seven mothers of infants were contacted via a variety of recruitment methods, including presentations at clinics/classes, direct mailings, print advertisement, and Internet posts. Research staff attempted to contact these mothers by phone, to assess their eligibility, and interest in participation. For those who were eligible but declined participation, we assessed reasons for declining and collected demographic information. Results: Seventy-four percent of those eligible agreed to participate in the program. Statistical tests comparing participants and decliners on demographic variables found no significant differences on mother’s age and marital status. There was a significant difference on baby’s age due to many decliners in the prenatal period. Mothers were an average age of 28 years and most were married (65.6%). Our sample of low-income participants was diverse with a large number of Latina mothers. Approximately half had a high-school diploma or less but 84% reported being moderately or very comfortable using a computer and half had a computer at home

Children’s Quantification with Every Over Time

This article looks closely at two types of errors children have been shown to make with universal quantification—Exhaustive Pairing (EP) errors and Underexhaustive errors—and asks whether they reflect the same underlying phenomenon. In a large-scale, longitudinal study, 140 children were tested 4 times from ages 4 to 7 on sentences involving the universal quantifier every. We find an interesting inverse relationship between EP errors and Underexhaustive errors over development: the point at which children stop making Underexhaustive errors is also when they begin making EP errors. Underexhaustive errors, common at early stages in our study, may be indicative of a non-adult, non-exhaustive semantics for every. EP errors, which emerge later, and remain frequent even at age 7, are progressive in nature and were also found with adults in a control study. Following recent developmental work (Drozd and van Loosbroek 2006; Smits 2010), we suggest that these errors do not signal lack of knowledge, but may stem from independent difficulties appropriately restricting the quantifier domain in the presence of a salient, but irrelevant, extra object

Identification of recruitment and retention strategies for rehabilitation professionals in Ontario, Canada: results from expert panels

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Demand for rehabilitation services is expected to increase due to factors such as an aging population, workforce pressures, rise in chronic and complex multi-system disorders, advances in technology, and changes in interprofessional health service delivery models. However, health human resource (HHR) strategies for Canadian rehabilitation professionals are lagging behind other professional groups such as physicians and nurses. The objectives of this study were: 1) to identify recruitment and retention strategies of rehabilitation professionals including occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech language pathologists from the literature; and 2) to investigate both the importance and feasibility of the identified strategies using expert panels amongst HHR and education experts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A review of the literature was conducted to identify recruitment and retention strategies for rehabilitation professionals. Two expert panels, one on <it>Recruitment and Retention </it>and the other on <it>Education </it>were convened to determine the importance and feasibility of the identified strategies. A modified-delphi process was used to gain consensus and to rate the identified strategies along these two dimensions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 34 strategies were identified by the <it>Recruitment and Retention </it>and <it>Education </it>expert panels as being important and feasible for the development of a HHR plan for recruitment and retention of rehabilitation professionals. Seven were categorized under the <it>Quality of Worklife and Work Environment </it>theme, another seven in <it>Financial Incentives and Marketing</it>, two in <it>Workload and Skill Mix</it>, thirteen in <it>Professional Development </it>and five in <it>Education and Training</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the results from the expert panels, the three major areas of focus for HHR planning in the rehabilitation sector should include strategies addressing <it>Quality of Worklife and Work Environment</it>, <it>Financial Incentives and Marketing </it>and <it>Professional Development</it>.</p

Talk, trust and time: a longitudinal study evaluating knowledge translation and exchange processes for research on violence against women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Violence against women (VAW) is a major public health problem. Translation of VAW research to policy and practice is an area that remains understudied, but provides the opportunity to examine knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) processes in a complex, multi-stakeholder context. In a series of studies including two randomized trials, the McMaster University VAW Research Program studied one key research gap: evidence about the effectiveness of screening women for exposure to intimate partner violence. This project developed and evaluated KTE strategies to share research findings with policymakers, health and community service providers, and women's advocates.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A longitudinal cross-sectional design, applying concurrent mixed data collection methods (surveys, interviews, and focus groups), was used to evaluate the utility of specific KTE strategies, including a series of workshops and a day-long Family Violence Knowledge Exchange Forum, on research sharing, uptake, and use.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participants valued the opportunity to meet with researchers, provide feedback on key messages, and make personal connections with other stakeholders. A number of factors specific to the knowledge itself, stakeholders' contexts, and the nature of the knowledge gap being addressed influenced the uptake, sharing, and use of the research. The types of knowledge use changed across time, and were specifically related to both the types of decisions being made, and to stage of decision making; most reported use was conceptual or symbolic, with few examples of instrumental use. Participants did report actively sharing the research findings with their own networks. Further examination of these second-order knowledge-sharing processes is required, including development of appropriate methods and measures for its assessment. Some participants reported that they would not use the research evidence in their decision making when it contradicted professional experiences, while others used it to support apparently contradictory positions. The online wiki-based 'community of interest' requested by participants was not used.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mobilizing knowledge in the area of VAW practice and policy is complex and resource-intensive, and must acknowledge and respect the values of identified knowledge users, while balancing the objectivity of the research and researchers. This paper provides important lessons learned about these processes, including attending to the potential unintended consequences of knowledge sharing.</p

Different Modes of Retrovirus Restriction by Human APOBEC3A and APOBEC3G In Vivo

The apolipoprotein B editing complex 3 (A3) cytidine deaminases are among the most highly evolutionarily selected retroviral restriction factors, both in terms of gene copy number and sequence diversity. Primate genomes encode seven A3 genes, and while A3F and 3G are widely recognized as important in the restriction of HIV, the role of the other genes, particularly A3A, is not as clear. Indeed, since human cells can express multiple A3 genes, and because of the lack of an experimentally tractable model, it is difficult to dissect the individual contribution of each gene to virus restriction in vivo. To overcome this problem, we generated human A3A and A3G transgenic mice on a mouse A3 knockout background. Using these mice, we demonstrate that both A3A and A3G restrict infection by murine retroviruses but by different mechanisms: A3G was packaged into virions and caused extensive deamination of the retrovirus genomes while A3A was not packaged and instead restricted infection when expressed in target cells. Additionally, we show that a murine leukemia virus engineered to express HIV Vif overcame the A3G-mediated restriction, thereby creating a novel model for studying the interaction between these proteins. We have thus developed an in vivo system for understanding how human A3 proteins use different modes of restriction, as well as a means for testing therapies that disrupt HIV Vif-A3G interactions.United States. Public Health Service (Grant R01-AI-085015)United States. Public Health Service (Grant T32-CA115299 )United States. Public Health Service (Grant F32-AI100512

CD40 Is Essential in the Upregulation of TRAF Proteins and NF-KappaB-Dependent Proinflammatory Gene Expression after Arterial Injury

Despite extensive investigations, restenosis, which is characterized primarily by neointima formation, remains an unsolved clinical problem after vascular interventions. A recent study has shown that CD40 signaling through TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6) plays a key role in neointima formation after carotid artery injury; however, underlying mechanisms are not clearly elucidated. Because neointima formation may vary significantly depending on the type of injury, we first assessed the effect of CD40 deficiency on neointima formation in 2 injury models, carotid artery ligation and femoral artery denudation injury. Compared with wild-type mice, CD40 deficiency significantly reduced neointima formation and lumen stenosis in two different models. Further, we investigated the mechanism by which CD40 signaling affects neointima formation after arterial injury. In wild-type mice, the expression levels of CD40, several TRAF proteins, including TRAF1, TRAF2, TRAF3, TRAF5, and TRAF6, as well as total NF-kB p65 and phospho-NF-kB p65, in the carotid artery were markedly upregulated within 3–7 days after carotid ligation. Deficiency of CD40 abolished the injury-induced upregulation of TRAFs including TRAF6 and NF-kB-p65 in the injured vessel wall. Further, CD40−/− mice showed a significant decrease in the recruitment of neutrophils (at 3, 7d) and macrophages (at 7, 21d) into injured artery; this effect was most likely attributed to inhibition of NF-kB activation and marked downregulation of NF-kB-related gene expression, including cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6), chemokines (MCP-1), and adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, VCAM-1). Moreover, neutrophil recruitment in a model of thioglycollate-induced peritonitis is impaired in CD40-deficient mice. In vitro data revealed that CD40 deficiency blocked CD40L-induced NF-kB p65 nuclear translocation in leukocytes. Altogether, our data identified for the first time that CD40 is essential in the upregulation of TRAF6, NF-kB activation, and NF-kB-dependent proinflammatory genes in vivo. Our findings firmly established the role for CD40 in neointima formation in 2 distinct injury models

Single-cell RNAseq identifies clonally expanded antigen-specific T-cells following intradermal injection of gold nanoparticles loaded with diabetes autoantigen in humans

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been used in the development of novel therapies as a way of delivery of both stimulatory and tolerogenic peptide cargoes. Here we report that intradermal injection of GNPs loaded with the proinsulin peptide C19-A3, in patients with type 1 diabetes, results in recruitment and retention of immune cells in the skin. These include large numbers of clonally expanded T-cells sharing the same paired T-cell receptors (TCRs) with activated phenotypes, half of which, when the TCRs were re-expressed in a cell-based system, were confirmed to be specific for either GNP or proinsulin. All the identified gold-specific clones were CD8+, whilst proinsulin-specific clones were both CD8+ and CD4+. Proinsulin-specific CD8+ clones had a distinctive cytotoxic phenotype with overexpression of granulysin (GNLY) and KIR receptors. Clonally expanded antigen-specific T cells remained in situ for months to years, with a spectrum of tissue resident memory and effector memory phenotypes. As the T-cell response is divided between targeting the gold core and the antigenic cargo, this offers a route to improving resident memory T-cells formation in response to vaccines. In addition, our scRNAseq data indicate that focusing on clonally expanded skin infiltrating T-cells recruited to intradermally injected antigen is a highly efficient method to enrich and identify antigen-specific cells. This approach has the potential to be used to monitor the intradermal delivery of antigens and nanoparticles for immune modulation in humans