Painting the Way Forward: An Ecological Cultural Visual Analysis of Anti-VAW Public Art in Rural Ecuador.

Despite efforts within Ecuador to combat violence against women (VAW), the country still claims some of the highest rates of violence in the Americas. In this study, we complete a cultural visual analysis of anti-VAW public art in a small Ecuadorian city. Visual data is examined and interpreted by way of the social-ecological model (SEM). Specifically, our analysis considers how murals engage with the depiction of (a) VAW, (b) agentic responses to VAW, and (c) the different layers of the SEM. Our analysis identifies four specific strategies for constructing public art messaging to help achieve freedom from VAW.

Food Insecurity Leading to Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome Managed Successfully with Endoscopic Gastrojejunostomy Stent.

BACKGROUND Food insecurity describes the lack of adequate and reliable access to food due to insufficient resources. The condition affects over one-quarter of the world's population and is exacerbated by factors such as conflicts, climate variability, rising costs of nutritious food, and economic slumps; these challenges are amplified by poverty and inequality. Food insecurity is associated with many negative health outcomes, such as iron deficiency anemia, poor oral health, and stunting of growth in children. CASE REPORT We present the case of a patient who had significant weight loss related to food insecurity then developed a rare adverse health outcome: superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome. SMA syndrome is a condition in which reduction in the angle formed by the proximal SMA and aorta, most commonly from decreased mesenteric fat in the setting of significant weight loss, leads to compression of the third portion of the duodenum and resulting bowel obstruction. The patient underwent successful treatment with a novel approach: endoscopic placement of a gastrojejunostomy stent. CONCLUSIONS Food insecurity remains a wide-ranging public health issue that can have direct impact on the clinical outcomes of individuals. We describe SMA syndrome as a rare adverse outcome in a food insecure individual, adding to the growing list of health consequences associated with this condition. We also highlight endoscopic placement of a gastrojejunostomy stent as an emerging alternative to surgical treatment of SMA syndrome. The success of the procedure in this patient adds to the body of evidence supporting its efficacy and safety profile for this population.

Geographic Expansion of Japanese Encephalitis Virus to Australia: Neuroinflammatory Sequelae and Consideration of Immunomodulation.

We report a child from Southern Australia (New South Wales) who presented during a La Niña event with encephalopathy and acute flaccid paralysis. Magnetic resonance imaging suggested Japanese encephalitis (JE). Steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin did not improve symptoms. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) resulted in rapid improvement and tracheostomy decannulation. Our case illustrates the complex pathophysiology of JE, its' geographic expansion into Southern Australia and potential use of TPE for neuroinflammatory sequelae.

Intersectionality is not a footnote: Commentary on Roberts and Rizzo (2021).

In this brief commentary on Roberts and Rizzo (2021), the authors contend that intersectionality is essential to understanding and combatting American racism. Epistemic exclusion of intersectionality, which is rampant in psychology, limits the discipline's capacity to scientifically capture the complexity of racism and to promote inclusive antiracist efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Strong, Silent (Gender) Type: The Strong Black Woman Ideal, Self-Silencing, and Sexual Assertiveness in Black College Women.

Women are socialized to endorse femininity scripts mandating that they prioritize others' needs and engage in self-silencing behaviors. Further, Black women may also endorse the strong Black woman (SBW) ideal, by which they are expected to selflessly meet the needs of their family and community and, as such, may embrace self-silencing in their interpersonal relationships. In a sample of 597 Black undergraduate and graduate college women, we tested whether: (1) self-silencing and SBW ideal endorsement would be independently, inversely associated with three dimensions of sexual assertiveness-communication assertiveness, refusal assertiveness, and pleasure-focused assertiveness; and (2) the association between self-silencing and sexual assertiveness would be stronger among Black women who endorse the SBW ideal. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that self-silencing was negatively linked to all dimensions of sexual assertiveness; SBW ideal endorsement was associated with lower levels of communication and pleasure-focused assertiveness. As expected, SBW ideal endorsement moderated the association between Black women's engagement in self-silencing and two dimensions of sexual assertiveness. Self-silencing was associated with less communication and pleasure-focused assertiveness regardless of their level of SBW endorsement. Findings highlight the complexities of Black women's desire to fulfill expectations to be strong, assertive, and/or compliant and silent. Interventions to promote Black women's sexual health should address sexual assertiveness and feminine silencing norms.

Examination of the nutritional composition of alternative beef burgers available in the United States.

Alternative meat products provide help to reduce the consumption of meat; however, consumers are concerned with the nutritional quality of the novel and traditional plant-based burgers. The objective is to analyse the nutritional profile of commercially available burgers in the U.S. in the categories of beef, imitation, and veggie. We generated a database of burger products by investigating Mintel and company websites, which resulted in the inclusion of imitation (n = 28), veggie (n = 89), and conventional beef (n = 41) burgers. We analysed the nutritional composition (serving size, kcal, macro and micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals) across the three burger types. Beef burgers provided significantly more calories, fat (total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol), and protein while providing less sodium and fibre compared to alternative burgers. As consumers begin to make conscious decisions to reduce meat consumption, either for health or sustainability reasons, they need to be aware that these products are not nutritionally equivalent.

Upstream Machine Learning in Radiology.

Machine learning (ML) and Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to dramatically improve radiology practice at multiple stages of the imaging pipeline. Most of the attention has been garnered by applications focused on improving the end of the pipeline: image interpretation. However, this article reviews how AI/ML can be applied to improve upstream components of the imaging pipeline, including exam modality selection, hardware design, exam protocol selection, data acquisition, image reconstruction, and image processing. A breadth of applications and their potential for impact is shown across multiple imaging modalities, including ultrasound, computed tomography, and MRI.

Mapping pollution exposure and chemistry during an extreme air quality event (the 2018 Kilauea eruption) using a low-cost sensor network.

Extreme air quality episodes represent a major threat to human health worldwide but are highly dynamic and exceedingly challenging to monitor. The 2018 Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone eruption (May to August 2018) blanketed much of Hawai'i Island in "vog" (volcanic smog), a mixture of primary volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas and secondary particulate matter (PM). This episode was captured by several monitoring platforms, including a low-cost sensor (LCS) network consisting of 30 nodes designed and deployed specifically to monitor PM and SO2 during the event. Downwind of the eruption, network stations measured peak hourly PM2.5 and SO2 concentrations that exceeded 75 µg m-3 and 1,200 parts per billion (ppb), respectively. The LCS network's high spatial density enabled highly granular estimates of human exposure to both pollutants during the eruption, which was not possible using preexisting air quality measurements. Because of overlaps in population distribution and plume dynamics, a much larger proportion of the island's population was exposed to elevated levels of fine PM than to SO2 Additionally, the spatially distributed network was able to resolve the volcanic plume's chemical evolution downwind of the eruption. Measurements find a mean SO2 conversion time of ∼36 h, demonstrating the ability of distributed LCS networks to observe reaction kinetics and quantify chemical transformations of air pollutants in a real-world setting. This work also highlights the utility of LCS networks for emergency response during extreme episodes to complement existing air quality monitoring approaches.

"Pretty hurts": Acceptance of hegemonic feminine beauty ideals and reduced sexual well-being among Black women.

Although women are expected to idealize and achieve hegemonic feminine beauty standards such as being slender and lighter skinned, few studies have examined how women's investment in achieving these restrictive feminine appearance ideals may influence their sexual attitudes and behaviors. Even less is known about Black women. We surveyed 640 Black college women to test hypotheses that endorsement of hegemonic beauty ideals would be positively associated with four dimensions of negative sexual affect (sexual guilt, shame, emotional distancing, and self-consciousness) and negatively associated with two dimensions of sexual agency (sexual assertiveness and satisfaction). Correlation and regression analyses showed that hegemonic beauty ideal acceptance was linked with greater sexual guilt, shame, emotional distancing, and sexual self-consciousness in addition to lower levels of sexual assertiveness and satisfaction. Findings highlight how endorsing restrictive, hegemonic standards of beauty is associated with Black women's reduced sexual affect and sexual agency.

Analysis of deep complex-valued convolutional neural networks for MRI reconstruction and phase-focused applications.

PURPOSE: Deep learning has had success with MRI reconstruction, but previously published works use real-valued networks. The few works which have tried complex-valued networks have not fully assessed their impact on phase. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to fully investigate end-to-end complex-valued convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for accelerated MRI reconstruction and in several phase-based applications in comparison to 2-channel real-valued networks. METHODS: Several complex-valued activation functions for MRI reconstruction were implemented, and their performance was compared. Complex-valued convolution was implemented and tested on an unrolled network architecture and a U-Net-based architecture over a wide range of network widths and depths with knee, body, and phase-contrast datasets. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated that complex-valued CNNs with complex-valued convolutions provided superior reconstructions compared to real-valued convolutions with the same number of trainable parameters for both an unrolled network architecture and a U-Net-based architecture, and for 3 different datasets. Complex-valued CNNs consistently had superior normalized RMS error, structural similarity index, and peak SNR compared to real-valued CNNs. CONCLUSION: Complex-valued CNNs can enable superior accelerated MRI reconstruction and phase-based applications such as fat-water separation, and flow quantification compared to real-valued convolutional neural networks.

Prospective Deployment of Deep Learning in MRI: A Framework for Important Considerations, Challenges, and Recommendations for Best Practices.

Artificial intelligence algorithms based on principles of deep learning (DL) have made a large impact on the acquisition, reconstruction, and interpretation of MRI data. Despite the large number of retrospective studies using DL, there are fewer applications of DL in the clinic on a routine basis. To address this large translational gap, we review the recent publications to determine three major use cases that DL can have in MRI, namely, that of model-free image synthesis, model-based image reconstruction, and image or pixel-level classification. For each of these three areas, we provide a framework for important considerations that consist of appropriate model training paradigms, evaluation of model robustness, downstream clinical utility, opportunities for future advances, as well recommendations for best current practices. We draw inspiration for this framework from advances in computer vision in natural imaging as well as additional healthcare fields. We further emphasize the need for reproducibility of research studies through the sharing of datasets and software. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2.

An argument for bad psychology: Disciplinary disruption, public engagement, and social transformation.

How might core values of psychology impede efforts to promote public psychology? We identify some of the ways the discipline's aspirations for publicly engaged science are undermined by its norms, particularly when engaging with communities affected by historically entrenched, structural inequalities. We interrogate what makes for "good" psychology, including methodological and ethical norms that are used to maintain scientific integrity and police the boundaries of the discipline. We suggest that some of the discipline's classical tenets and contemporary movements may produce structural, epistemic barriers to the production of science and practice that enhance the public good. Reflecting critically on the rise of implicit bias training in institutional diversity efforts as a case study, we consider how evidence-based efforts to intervene in social problems on behalf of the so-called public interest can inadvertently reproduce or exacerbate extant inequities. We turn to various social movements' reclamation of what counts as "bad" to imagine a psychology that refuses to adjust itself to racism and structural inequality. We argue that much of what psychologists might characterize as "bad" should not be viewed as antithetical to the very best kind of psychological practice, particularly trailblazing work that reimagines the relationship between psychologists and society. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Troponin in critical care patients and outcomes.

Myocardial infarction is common in the critically unwell population with pre-existing cardiovascular disease and is associated with a greater overall mortality. This article explores guidelines for diagnosing myocardial infarction, and research into the use of troponin as both a diagnostic and prognostic tool. Currently, the majority of patients in the intensive care unit with acute myocardial infarction go unrecognised. The underlying cause is predominantly oxygen supply-demand imbalance, therefore identifying those at risk is important as there is the potential to modify elements of their care and reduce their overall mortality.

Following Their Lead? Connecting Mainstream Media Use to Black Women's Gender Beliefs and Sexual Agency.

Although media exposure has emerged as a significant predictor of consumers' sexual decision making, less is known about the mechanisms involved and about the dynamics of these relations for adults, in general, and for African American adults, in particular. To address these gaps, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test whether heterosexual Black women's endorsement of traditional gender and sexual roles mediates connections between their consumption of four mainstream media (music videos, reality TV programming, movies, and women's magazines) and three dimensions of their sexual well-being (sexual assertiveness, sexual inhibition, and sexual deception). We surveyed 594 heterosexual Black women aged 17 to 55 who were undergraduate and graduate students at two universities (one historically Black university and one predominantly White institution). Results confirmed expectations, such that greater media consumption was associated with greater support of traditional gender and sexual roles; in turn, endorsing these roles predicted lower levels of sexual assertiveness, greater sexual inhibition, and more frequent use of sexual dishonesty to retain a partner. We discuss implications of these findings for psychology and sexuality research and also for Black women's sexual relationships.

Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes of Varying Size Lead to DNA Methylation Changes That Correspond to Lung Inflammation and Injury in a Mouse Model.

Diversity in physicochemical properties of engineered multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) increases the complexity involved in interpreting toxicity studies of these materials. Studies indicate that epigenetic changes could be at least partially involved in MWCNTs-induced pro-inflammatory and fibrotic lung pathology. Therefore, we examined distinct methylation changes in response to MWCNTs of varied sizes to identify potential epigenetic biomarkers of MWCNTs exposure and disease progression. C57BL/6 mice were exposed via oropharyngeal instillation to a single dose (50 µg) to one of three differently sized MWCNTs: "narrow short" (NS), "wide short" (WS), and "narrow long" (NL). Vehicle-treated control mice received dispersion media (DM) only. Whole lung lavage fluid (LLF) and lung tissue were collected 24 h and 7 days postexposure to evaluate pro-inflammatory cytokines, epigenetic, or histological responses at acute and subchronic intervals, respectively. Luminometric methylation assay and pyrosequencing were used to measure global DNA methylation as well as promoter methylation of inflammation and fibrosis-related genes, respectively. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay, while airway thickening and interstitial collagen accumulation were measured in 7-day lung tissue using laser scanning cytometry. Distinct patterns of methylation (i.e., IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α) among the different sized MWCNTs at 24 h postexposure corresponded to some pro-inflammatory cytokine measurements from whole LLF. Fibrosis-related gene, Thy-1, was significantly hypermethylated after exposures to WS and NL MWCNTs, while only NL MWCNTs induced significantly lower global DNA methylation. After 7 days, a hierarchy in airway thickness and interstitial collagen deposition was observed: NS < WS < NL. However, only airway thickness was significantly greater in the WS and NL MWCNTs-exposed groups than the DM-exposed group. These data suggest that methylation changes could be involved in the initial immune response of inflammation and tissue remodeling that precedes lung disease in response to different MWCNTs sizes.

Benefit of Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy in Pediatric Patients with Dyssynergic Defecation Constipation.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic constipation is a common childhood problem and often caused or worsened by abnormal dynamics of defecation. The aim of this study was to assess the benefit of pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT), a novel treatment in pediatrics for the treatment of chronic constipation with dyssynergic defecation. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 69 children seen at a pediatric neurogastroenterology program of a large tertiary referral center for chronic constipation and dyssynergic defecation, determined by anorectal manometry and balloon expulsion testing. We compared the clinical outcome of patients who underwent PFPT (n = 49) to control patients (n = 20) whom received only medical treatment (laxatives/stool softeners). Additionally, characteristics of the treatment group were analyzed in relation to therapeutic response. RESULTS: Thirty-seven (76%) of the patients who received physical therapy had improvement in constipation symptoms, compared to 5 (25%) of the patients on conservative treatment (p < 0.01). Additionally, patients who received pelvic physical therapy had fewer hospitalizations for cleanouts (4 vs. 25%, p = 0.01) and -colonic surgery than those that were treated with medical therapy exclusively (0 vs. 10%, p = 0.03). Among the patients who received physical therapy, those that suffered from anxiety and/or low muscle tone had a higher response rate (100%). There were no adverse effects from the intervention. CONCLUSION: The new field of pediatric PFPT is a safe and effective intervention for children with dyssynergic defecation causing or contributing to chronic constipation, particularly in children whose comorbidities include anxiety and low -muscle tone.

Distribution of fipronil in humans, and adverse health outcomes of in utero fipronil sulfone exposure in newborns.

Fipronil is a highly effective insecticide with extensive usages; however, its distribution and toxic/health effects in the human population after chronic exposure have not yet been clearly identified. Our objectives were to determine the levels of serum fipronil and fipronil sulfone, a primary fipronil metabolite, in a general and sensitive human population using a birth cohort of parent-infant triads in Korea. We further investigated whether in utero exposure to fipronil and fipronil sulfone can affect health outcomes in newborn infants. Blood and umbilical cord blood from 169 participants, 59 mother-neonate pairs and 51 matching biological fathers, were collected; serum fipronil and fipronil sulfone (both blood and cord blood) and serum thyroid hormones (cord blood) were measured. Demographic, physiological, behavioral, clinical, and socioeconomic data for each participant were collected via a one-on-one interview and a questionnaire survey. Fipronil sulfone was detected in the serum of mothers, fathers, and infantile cord blood, while fipronil itself was not. Maternal fipronil sulfone levels were correlated to those of matched biological fathers and newborn infants. Adjusted analyses identified significant associations between parental fipronil sulfone levels and household income. Infantile fipronil sulfone levels were significantly associated with both maternal and paternal levels as well as maternal pre-pregnant BMI. Furthermore, infantile fipronil sulfone levels were inversely associated with cord blood T3 and free T3 levels as well as 5-min Apgar scores of newborn infants. Serum fipronil sulfone was detected in a specific population of mother-neonate pairs and their matched biological fathers in a manner suggestive of regular exposure to fipronil among urban residents. The findings also suggest that serum fipronil sulfone placentally transfers to the fetus and affects infantile adverse health outcomes. This is a first of its kind study; therefore, future studies are warranted.

LINE-1 hypomethylation is associated with radiation-induced genomic instability in industrial radiographers.

Global DNA hypomethylation is proposed as a potential biomarker for cancer risk associated with genomic instability, which is an important factor in radiation-induced cancer. However, the associations among radiation exposure, changes in DNA methylation, and carcinogenesis are unclear. The aims of this study were (1) to examine whether low-level occupational radiation exposure induces genomic DNA hypomethylation; and (2) to determine the relationships between radiation exposure, genomic DNA hypomethylation and radiation-induced genomic instability (RIGI) in industrial radiographers. Genomic DNA methylation levels were measured in blood DNA from 40 radiographers and 28 controls using the LINE-1 pyrosequencing assay and the luminometric methylation assay. Further, the micronucleus-centromere assay was performed to measure aneuploidy of chromosomes 1 and 4 as a marker of delayed RIGI. Genomic DNA methylation levels were significantly lower in radiographers than those in controls. LINE-1 hypomethylation was not significantly correlated with recent 1-year, recent 3-year, or total cumulative radiation doses in radiographers; however, LINE-1 hypomethylation significantly correlated with the cumulative radiation dose without recent 3-year exposure data (D3dose, r = -0.39, P < 0.05). In addition, LINE-1 hypomethylation was a significant contributor to aneuploidy frequency by D3dose (F (2, 34) = 13.85, P < 0.001), in which a total of 45% of the variance in aneuploidy frequency was explained. Our results provide suggestive evidence regarding the delayed effects of low-dose occupational radiation exposure in radiographers and its association with LINE-1 hypomethylation; however, additional studies using more subjects are needed to fully understand the relationship between genomic DNA hypomethylation and RIGI. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 60: 174-184, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Global cities and cultural diversity: challenges and opportunities for young people's nutrition.

Childhood obesity is a common concern across global cities and threatens sustainable urban development. Initiatives to improve nutrition and encourage physical exercise are promising but are yet to exert significant influence on prevention. Childhood obesity in London is associated with distinct ethnic and socio-economic patterns. Ethnic inequalities in health-related behaviour endure, underpinned by inequalities in employment, housing, access to welfare services, and discrimination. Addressing these growing concerns requires a clearer understanding of the socio-cultural, environmental and economic contexts of urban living that promote obesity. We explore opportunities for prevention using asset based-approaches to nutritional health and well-being, with a particular focus on adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds living in London. We focus on the important role that community engagement and multi-sectoral partnership play in improving the nutritional outcomes of London's children. London's children and adolescents grow up in the rich cultural mix of a global city where local streets are characterised by diversity in ethnicities, languages, religions, foods, and customs, creating complex and fluid identities. Growing up with such everyday diversity we argue can enhance the quality of life for London's children and strengthen their social capital. The Determinants of young Adult Social well-being and Health longitudinal study of about 6500 of London's young people demonstrated the positive impact of cultural diversity. Born to parents from over a hundred countries and exposed to multi-lingual households and religious practices, they demonstrated strong psychological resilience and sense of pride from cultural straddling, despite material disadvantage and discrimination. Supporting the potential contribution of such socio-cultural assets is in keeping with the values of social justice and equitable and sustainable development. Our work signals the importance of community engagement and multisectoral partnerships, involving, for example, schools and faith-based organisations, to improve the nutrition of London's children.

Perinatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is associated with changes in DNA methylation that precede the adult onset of lung disease in a mouse model.

Prenatal and early-life environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure can induce epigenetic alterations associated with inflammation and respiratory disease. The objective of this study was to address the long-term epigenetic consequences of perinatal ETS exposure on latent respiratory disease risk, which are still largely unknown. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to prenatal and early-life ETS; offspring lung pathology, global DNA, and gene-specific methylation were measured at two adult ages. Significant alterations in global DNA methylation and promoter methylation of IFN-γ and Thy-1 were found in ETS-exposed offspring at 10-12 and 20 weeks of age. These sustained epigenetic alterations preceded the onset of significant pulmonary pathologies observed at 20 weeks of age. This study suggests that perinatal ETS exposure induces persistent epigenetic alterations in global DNA, as well as IFN-γ and Thy-1 promoter methylation that precede the adult onset of fibrotic lung pathology. These epigenetic findings could represent potential biomarkers of latent respiratory disease risk.