The association between intimate partner violence, alcohol and depression in family practice

Background: Depressive symptoms, intimate partner violence and hazardous drinking are common among patients attending general practice. Despite the high prevalence of these three problems; the relationship between them remains relatively unexplored. Methods: This paper explores the association between depressive symptoms, ever being afraid of a partner and hazardous drinking using cross-sectional screening data from 7667 randomly selected patients from a large primary care cohort study of 30 metropolitan and rural general practices in Victoria, Australia. The screening postal survey included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Fast Alcohol Screening Test and a screening question from the Composite Abuse Scale on ever being afraid of any intimate partner. Results: 23.9% met criteria for depressive symptoms. A higher proportion of females than males (20.8% vs. 7.6%) reported ever being afraid of a partner during their lifetime (OR 3.2, 95%CI 2.5 to 4.0) and a lower proportion of females (12%) than males (25%) were hazardous drinkers (OR 0.4; 95%CI 0.4 to 0.5); and a higher proportion of females than males (20.8% vs. 7.6%) reported ever being afraid of a partner during their lifetime (OR 3.2, 95%CI 2.5 to 4.0). Men and women who had ever been afraid of a partner or who were hazardous drinkers had on average higher depressive symptom scores than those who had never been afraid or who were not hazardous drinkers. There was a stronger association between depressive symptoms and ever been afraid of a partner compared to hazardous drinking for both males (ever afraid of partner; Diff 6.87; 95% CI 5.42, 8.33; p < 0.001 vs. hazardous drinking in last year; Diff 1.07, 95% CI 0.21, 1.94; p = 0.015) and females (ever afraid of partner; Diff 5.26; 95% CI 4.55, 5.97; p < 0.001 vs. hazardous drinking in last year; Diff 2.23, 95% CI 1.35, 3.11; p < 0.001), even after adjusting for age group, income, employment status, marital status, living alone and education level. Conclusions: Strategies to assist primary care doctors to recognise and manage intimate partner violence and hazardous drinking in patients with depression may lead to better outcomes from management of depression in primary care

Protein-protein interactions in the RPS4/RRS1 immune receptor complex

Plant NLR (Nucleotide-binding domain and Leucine-rich Repeat) immune receptor proteins are encoded by Resistance (R) genes and confer specific resistance to pathogen races that carry the corresponding recognized effectors. Some NLR proteins function in pairs, forming receptor complexes for the perception of specific effectors. We show here that the Arabidopsis RPS4 and RRS1 NLR proteins are both required to make an authentic immune complex. Over-expression of RPS4 in tobacco or in Arabidopsis results in constitutive defense activation; this phenotype is suppressed in the presence of RRS1. RRS1 protein co-immunoprecipitates (co-IPs) with itself in the presence or absence of RPS4, but in contrast, RPS4 does not associate with itself in the absence of RRS1. In the presence of RRS1, RPS4 associates with defense signaling regulator EDS1 solely in the nucleus, in contrast to the extra-nuclear location found in the absence of RRS1. The AvrRps4 effector does not disrupt RPS4-EDS1 association in the presence of RRS1. In the absence of RRS1, AvrRps4 interacts with EDS1, forming nucleocytoplasmic aggregates, the formation of which is disturbed by the co-expression of PAD4 but not by SAG101. These data indicate that the study of an immune receptor protein complex in the absence of all components can result in misleading inferences, and reveals an NLR complex that dynamically interacts with the immune regulators EDS1/PAD4 or EDS1/SAG101, and with effectors, during the process by which effector recognition is converted to defense activation

RNA Interference Mediated Inhibition of Dengue Virus Multiplication and Entry in HepG2 Cells

Background: Dengue virus-host cell interaction initiates when the virus binds to the attachment receptors followed by endocytic internalization of the virus particle. Successful entry into the cell is necessary for infection initiation. Currently, there is no protective vaccine or antiviral treatment for dengue infection. Targeting the viral entry pathway has become an attractive therapeutic strategy to block infection. This study aimed to investigate the effect of silencing the GRP78 and clathrin-mediated endocytosis on dengue virus entry and multiplication into HepG2 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: HepG2 cells were transfected using specific siRNAs to silence the cellular surface receptor (GRP78) and clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway. Gene expression analysis showed a marked down-regulation of the targeted genes (87.2%, 90.3%, and 87.8 % for GRP78, CLTC, and DNM2 respectively) in transfected HepG2 cells when measured by RT-qPCR. Intracellular and extracellular viral RNA loads were quantified by RT-qPCR to investigate the effect of silencing the attachment receptor and clathrin-mediated endocytosis on dengue virus entry. Silenced cells showed a significant reduction of intracellular (92.4%) and extracellular viral RNA load (71.4%) compared to non-silenced cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed a marked reduction of infected cells (89.7%) in silenced HepG2 cells compared to non-silenced cells. Furthermore, the ability to generate infectious virions using the plaque assay was reduced 1.07 log in silenced HepG2 cells

The life and scientific work of William R. Evitt (1923-2009)

Occasionally (and fortunately), circumstances and timing combine to allow an individual, almost singlehandedly, to generate a paradigm shift in his or her chosen field of inquiry. William R. (‘Bill’) Evitt (1923-2009) was such a person. During his career as a palaeontologist, Bill Evitt made lasting and profound contributions to the study of both dinoflagellates and trilobites. He had a distinguished, long and varied career, researching first trilobites and techniques in palaeontology before moving on to marine palynomorphs. Bill is undoubtedly best known for his work on dinoflagellates, especially their resting cysts. He worked at three major US universities and spent a highly significant period in the oil industry. Bill's early profound interest in the natural sciences was actively encouraged both by his parents and at school. His alma mater was Johns Hopkins University where, commencing in 1940, he studied chemistry and geology as an undergraduate. He quickly developed a strong vocation in the earth sciences, and became fascinated by the fossiliferous Lower Palaeozoic strata of the northwestern United States. Bill commenced a PhD project on silicified Middle Ordovician trilobites from Virginia in 1943. His doctoral research was interrupted by military service during World War II; Bill served as an aerial photograph interpreter in China in 1944 and 1945, and received the Bronze Star for his excellent work. Upon demobilisation from the US Army Air Force, he resumed work on his PhD and was given significant teaching duties at Johns Hopkins, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He accepted his first professional position, as an instructor in sedimentary geology, at the University of Rochester in late 1948. Here Bill supervised his first two graduate students, and shared a great cameraderie with a highly motivated student body which largely comprised World War II veterans. At Rochester, Bill continued his trilobite research, and was the editor of the Journal of Paleontology between 1953 and 1956. Seeking a new challenge, he joined the Carter Oil Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during 1956. This brought about an irrevocable realignment of his research interests from trilobites to marine palynology. He undertook basic research on aquatic palynomorphs in a very well-resourced laboratory under the direction of one of his most influential mentors, William S. ‘Bill’ Hoffmeister. Bill Evitt visited the influential European palynologists Georges Deflandre and Alfred Eisenack during late 1959 and, while in Tulsa, first developed several groundbreaking hypotheses. He soon realised that the distinctive morphology of certain fossil dinoflagellates, notably the archaeopyle, meant that they represent the resting cyst stage of the life cycle. The archaeopyle clearly allows the excystment of the cell contents, and comprises one or more plate areas. Bill also concluded that spine-bearing palynomorphs, then called hystrichospheres, could be divided into two groups. The largely Palaeozoic spine-bearing palynomorphs are of uncertain biological affinity, and these were termed acritarchs. Moreover, he determined that unequivocal dinoflagellate cysts are all Mesozoic or younger, and that the fossil record of dinoflagellates is highly selective. Bill was always an academic at heart and he joined Stanford University in 1962, where he remained until retiring in 1988. Bill enjoyed getting back into teaching after his six years in industry. During his 26-year tenure at Stanford, Bill continued to revolutionise our understanding of dinoflagellate cysts. He produced many highly influential papers and two major textbooks. The highlights include defining the acritarchs and comprehensively documenting the archaeopyle, together with highly detailed work on the morphology of Nannoceratopsis and Palaeoperidinium pyrophorum using the scanning electron microscope. Bill supervised 11 graduate students while at Stanford University. He organised the Penrose Conference on Modern and Fossil Dinoflagellates in 1978, which was so successful that similar meetings have been held about every four years since that inaugural symposium. Bill also taught many short courses on dinoflagellate cysts aimed at the professional community. Unlike many eminent geologists, Bill actually retired from actively working in the earth sciences. His full retirement was in 1988; after this he worked on only a small number of dinoflagellate cyst projects, including an extensive paper on the genus Palaeoperidinium

Work-life balance policies in high performance organisations: A comparative interview study with millennials in Dutch consultancies

The literature on work-life balance primarily focuses on how individuals cope with high work demands. This study, however, investigates how young professionals experience the work-life balance support offered by organisations. Twenty-four millennial consultants were interviewed to explore their perceptions of work-life balance and organisational support policies in an extreme work context. Twelve consultants worked for strategy houses with an average working week of around 60 hours, while the other 12 worked for general management consultancies with average working weeks of roughly 50 hours. Our comparative findings suggest that overall work-life balance perceptions stay positive in both settings. In strategy houses, where work pressures are highest, reported policies and practices go beyond health programmes, training and coaching, which are the most common work-life balance measures. Strategy houses monitor their consultants’ work-life balance experience weekly, provide options to outsource components of the work, and offer multiple forms of compensation. These further policies are much appreciated. Despite these positive assessments, we also observe an increase of negative work-life balance experiences due to the higher work pressures at strategy houses. There is, therefore, some ambiguity in the work-life balance perceptions of consultants, who recalibrate what are ‘normal’ work demands and reframe and refocus on the bright side of work life. Such occupational ideologies indicate a ‘dirty work’ experience