Taking Responsibility to Create a Trauma and Social Justice-Informed Workforce

This conceptual paper describes the efforts to address curriculum deficits related to the preparation of graduates across multiple service fields for their work in high-poverty communities. Faculty members from various programs jointly facilitated a high-impact simulation designed to ascertain its impact on students’ perceptions and personal biases toward disadvantaged community members. This mixed methods study used Yun and Weaver’s (2010) Short Form of the Attitude Toward Poverty Scale, as well as focus groups. Quantitative data indicated that participants held more positive attitudes towards individuals struggling with poverty after completing the simulation. The overarching themes concerning college students’ attitudes about poverty indicated paradigm shifts in their personal thinking and professional behavior in the workforce, as well as empathy regarding the cycle of poverty and the extremely hard decisions that are necessary when experiencing poverty. These findings are important for facilitating learning about the social injustices that can ensue from poverty. The study comes at a time of a pandemic when online learning is at its height and poverty is intensifying

Helix 8 is the essential structural motif of mechanosensitive GPCRs

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are versatile cellular sensors for chemical stimuli, but also serve as mechanosensors involved in various (patho)physiological settings like vascular regulation, cardiac hypertrophy and preeclampsia. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying mechanically induced GPCR activation have remained elusive. Here we show that mechanosensitive histamine H-1 receptors (H(1)Rs) are endothelial sensors of fluid shear stress and contribute to flow-induced vasodilation. At the molecular level, we observe that H(1)Rs undergo stimulus-specific patterns of conformational changes suggesting that mechanical forces and agonists induce distinct active receptor conformations. GPCRs lacking C-terminal helix 8 (H8) are not mechanosensitive, and transfer of H8 to non-responsive GPCRs confers, while removal of H8 precludes, mechanosensitivity. Moreover, disrupting H8 structural integrity by amino acid exchanges impairs mechanosensitivity. Altogether, H8 is the essential structural motif endowing GPCRs with mechanosensitivity. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for a better understanding of the roles of mechanosensitive GPCRs in (patho)physiology

To sleep or not to sleep, that is the question: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of post-trauma sleep on intrusive memories of analog trauma

Distressing intrusive memories of a traumatic event are one of the hallmark symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Thus, it is crucial to identify early interventions that prevent the occurrence of intrusive memories. Both, sleep and sleep deprivation have been discussed as such interventions, yet previous studies yielded contradicting effects. Our systematic review aims at evaluating existing evidence by means of traditional and individual participant data (IPD) meta-analyses to overcome power issues of sleep research. Until May 16th, 2022, six databases were searched for experimental analog studies examining the effect of post-trauma sleep versus wakefulness on intrusive memories. Nine studies were included in our traditional meta-analysis (8 in the IPD meta-analysis). Our analysis provided evidence for a small effect favoring sleep over wakefulness, log-ROM = 0.25, p < .001, suggesting that sleep is associated with a lower number of intrusions but unrelated to the occurrence of any versus no intrusions. We found no evidence for an effect of sleep on intrusion distress. Heterogeneity was low and certainty of evidence for our primary analysis was moderate. Our findings suggest that post-trauma sleep has the potential to be protective by reducing intrusion frequency. More research is needed to determine the impact following real-world trauma and the potential clinical significance

Anaphylactic shock depends on endothelial Gq/G11

Anaphylactic shock is a severe allergic reaction involving multiple organs including the bronchial and cardiovascular system. Most anaphylactic mediators, like platelet-activating factor (PAF), histamine, and others, act through G protein–coupled receptors, which are linked to the heterotrimeric G proteins Gq/G11, G12/G13, and Gi. The role of downstream signaling pathways activated by anaphylactic mediators in defined organs during anaphylactic reactions is largely unknown. Using genetic mouse models that allow for the conditional abrogation of Gq/G11- and G12/G13-mediated signaling pathways by inducible Cre/loxP-mediated mutagenesis in endothelial cells (ECs), we show that Gq/G11-mediated signaling in ECs is required for the opening of the endothelial barrier and the stimulation of nitric oxide formation by various inflammatory mediators as well as by local anaphylaxis. The systemic effects of anaphylactic mediators like histamine and PAF, but not of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), are blunted in mice with endothelial Gαq/Gα11 deficiency. Mice with endothelium-specific Gαq/Gα11 deficiency, but not with Gα12/Gα13 deficiency, are protected against the fatal consequences of passive and active systemic anaphylaxis. This identifies endothelial Gq/G11-mediated signaling as a critical mediator of fatal systemic anaphylaxis and, hence, as a potential new target to prevent or treat anaphylactic reactions

Dynamik als Leitprinzip zur Revitalisierung des Leipziger Auensystems

10 Thesen zur Revitalisierung der Leipziger Aue, eine Vision, ein konkreter Maßnahmenkatalog mit Karte zu Dynamisierungsoptionen und ein Ausblick mit Realisierungsvorschläge

Transmission of molecularly undetectable circulating parasite clones leads to high infection complexity in mosquitoes post feeding.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections often comprise multiple distinct parasite clones. Few datasets have directly assessed infection complexity in humans and mosquitoes they infect. Examining parasites using molecular tools may provide insights into the selective transmissibility of isolates. Using capillary electrophoresis genotyping and next generation amplicon sequencing, we analysed complexity of parasite infections in human blood and in the midguts of mosquitoes that became infected in membrane feeding experiments using the same blood material in two West African settings. Median numbers of clones in humans and mosquitoes were higher in samples from Burkina Faso (4.5, interquartile range 2-8 for humans; and 2, interquartile range 1-3 for mosquitoes) than in The Gambia (2, interquartile range 1-3 and 1, interquartile range 1-3, for humans and mosquitoes, respectively). Whilst the median number of clones was commonly higher in human blood samples, not all transmitted alleles were detectable in the human peripheral blood. In both study sample sets, additional parasite alleles were identified in mosquitoes compared with the matched human samples (10-88.9% of all clones/feeding assay, n = 73 feeding assays). The results are likely due to preferential amplification of the most abundant clones in peripheral blood but confirm the presence of low density clones that produce transmissible sexual stage parasites