Food for Thought: A Strengths-Based Approach to Examining the Biomedical and Psychological Health of Latino Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers in Georgia

Inherent in their living and working conditions, Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers (MSFWs) are exposed to a multitude of environmental and psychosocial stressors that make them susceptible to adverse health outcomes. Utilizing a resilience framework, the current study examined both the physical and psychological health functioning of MSFWs in Georgia, a state heavily reliant on farm worker labor where relatively few research studies with MSFWs have been conducted to date. Based on a sample of 120 Latino, male, MSFWs in South Georgia, results indicated that approximately 1 out of 3 farm workers were at risk for iron-deficiency anemia. Similar to other psychological health studies conducted with MSFWs located in the Eastern U.S., the prevalence rate of depression in the current sample was elevated. MSFW stress was found to be a risk factor for psychological health and positive well-being and accurate farm worker expectations were found to be assets associated with better psychological health outcomes. Farm worker expectations was also found to be a protective factor for physical health such that having accurate expectations buffered the relationship between MSFW stress and adverse biomedical health. Results show the usefulness of the resilience framework, and highlight the importance of establishing prevention, intervention, and policy efforts for MSFWs that aim to increase assets and minimize risk in this population

Chittenden County Child Care Providers & Conflict Implementing Sick Child Guidelines

Introduction: Nationwide, 61% of children under age five are enrolled in a form of non-parental care. Problems arise when a child becomes sick and is not able toattend daycare or has to be sent home. Parents must either miss work to care for their child or find someone else to care for them. Since there is stress surrounding taking time off, and because the criteria used to exclude children from child care can be ambiguous, parents may feel that their child doesn’t need to be sent home. Each child care provider has to set up exclusion criteria that meet state licensing requirements. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) developed exclusion guidelines specifically for childcare settings in 2006, but most daycare providers and pediatricians are unaware of its existence. Conflicts occur when there are differences in opinion on the child’s health status between the child care provider and the parents or the child’s pediatrician.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1023/thumbnail.jp

Back to Business and (Re)employing Workers? Labor Market Activity During State COVID-19 Reopenings

We study the effect of state reopening policies on a large set of labor market indicators through May 2020 to: (1) understand the recent increase in employment using longitudinal as well as cross-sectional data, (2) assess the likely trajectory of reemployment going forward, and (3) investigate the strength of job matches that were disrupted by COVID-19. Estimates from event studies and difference-in-difference regressions suggest that some of the recent increases in employment activity, as measured by cellphone data on work-related mobility, internet searches related to employment, and new and continuing unemployment insurance claims, were likely related to state reopenings, often predating actual reopening dates somewhat. We provide suggestive evidence that increases in employment stem from people returning to their prior jobs: reopenings are only weakly related to job postings, and longitudinal CPS data show that large shares of the unemployed-on-layoff and employed-but-absent in April who transitioned to employment in May remain in the same industry or occupation. Longitudinal CPS estimates further show declines in reemployment probabilities with time away from work. Taken together, these estimates suggest that employment relationships are durable in the short run, but raise concerns that employment gains requiring new employment matches may not be as rapid.Weinberg gratefully acknowledges support from UL1 TR002733 and R24 HD058484

Fungal iron availability during deep seated candidiasis is defined by a complex interplay involving systemic and local events

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Unique Population of Ventral Tegmental Area Neurons Inhibits the Lateral Habenula to Promote Reward

Lateral habenula (LHb) neurons convey aversive and negative reward conditions through potent indirect inhibition of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopaminergic neurons. While VTA dopaminergic neurons reciprocally project to the LHb, the electrophysiological properties and the behavioral consequences associated with selective manipulations of this circuit are unknown. Here, we identify a novel inhibitory input to the LHb arising from a unique population of VTA neurons expressing dopaminergic markers. Optogenetic activation of this circuit resulted in no detectable dopamine release in LHb brain slices. Instead, stimulation produced GABA-mediated inhibitory synaptic transmission, which suppressed the firing of postsynaptic LHb neurons in brain slices and increased the spontaneous firing rate of VTA dopaminergic neurons in vivo. Furthermore, in vivo activation of this pathway produced reward-related phenotypes that were dependent on intra-LHb GABAA receptor signaling. These results suggest that non-canonical inhibitory signaling by these hybrid dopaminergic-GABAergic neurons act to suppress LHb output under rewarding conditions

Expression of Snail2 in long bone osteosarcomas correlates with tumour malignancy

Snail2 is a marker of malignancy in epithelial tumours; however, in sarcomas, it is not known if this protein is present. Here we examine the expression of Snail2 in one type of sarcoma, osteosarcoma, and explore its relationship to tumour grade, subtype and anatomical location in cases of long bone and cranial bone osteosarcoma. Long bone osteosarcomas typically have a much greater metastatic capability and a poorer prognosis. We find that Snail2 is expressed in the three main subtypes of long bone osteosarcoma—osteoblastic, chondroblastic and fibroblastic. Regression analysis showed that Snail 2 expression was statistically correlated with tumour grade (p = 0.014) in all of these subtypes. Snail2 was only expressed in high-grade cranial bone osteosarcomas, suggesting a link between Snail2 expression and metastasis. This is the first time Snail2 has been associated with any sarcoma, and this study shows that Snail2 may be a useful prognostic marker for this disease

Nanomedical Theranostics in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. New diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are needed to mitigate this public health issue. Advances in nanotechnology have generated innovative strategies for diagnosis and therapy in a variety of diseases, foremost in cancer. Based on these studies, a novel concept referred to as nanomedical theranostics, or the combinatory application of nanoparticulate agents to allow diagnostic therapy, is being explored to enable image-guided, personalized, or targeted treatment. Preclinically, theranostics have been gradually applied to CVD with several interesting and encouraging findings. This article summarizes studies and challenges of nanotheranostic strategies in CVD. It also evaluates nanotheranostic strategies that may potentially be utilized to benefit patients