Impacts of Peer Support on Coping and Cortisol Levels for Women Affected by Domestic Violence and Coercive Control.

Purpose: Gendered domestic violence and coercive control are prevalent public heath concerns in Canada with dire consequences for survivors. Peer support groups may address and reduce negative impacts of domestic violence and coercive control on women's stress, coping, safety, and alliances with social support network members, the focus of this study.

Methods: A one-group, pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of Growth Circle, a 14-week peer support program offered at an agency serving women affected by domestic violence in a major western Canadian city.

En-bloc Auriculectomy for Removal of a Large Pinna-Based Ear Mass in a Horse.

A 15-year-old Pony of America (POA) gelding presented for evaluation of a large mass present on the right external pinna. Based on gross appearance, the right ear mass was suspected to be neoplastic. The most likely differential diagnosis was that of a fibroblastic sarcoid.

A pilot study on the effect of fat loading on the gastrointestinal tract of healthy dogs.

Objective: To assess the effect of a high fat meal (fat loading) on gastrointestinal motility and the appearance of intestinal villi using video capsule endoscopy and ultrasound.

Materials And Methods: Four healthy staff-owned dogs were included in a prospective blinded crossover study. Dogs had initial baseline video capsule endoscopy to measure gastrointestinal transit times and allow for visual assessment of intestinal mucosa.

Influence of plate type and placement on the immobilization of bilateral equine mandibular osteotomies: Ex vivo study.

Objective: To determine the influence of plate fixation (locking or dynamic compression) and the site of application (ventral [V] or ventrolateral [VL]) on the resistance to bending of transverse mandibular fractures.

Study Design: Ex vivo, simple randomized study.

Sample Population: Mandibles harvested from adult equine cadavers (n = 18).

Metabolic syndrome is associated with exposure to organochlorine pesticides in Anniston, AL, United States.

The Anniston Community Health Survey, a cross-sectional study, was undertaken in 2005-2007 to study environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and organochlorine (OC) pesticides and health outcomes among residents of Anniston, AL, United States. The examination of potential risks between these pollutants and metabolic syndrome, a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors (i.e.

Prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke alters later-life antitumor cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity via possible changes in T-regulatory cells.

Epidemiological studies suggest that maternal smoking increases the incidence in the progeny of certain childhood cancers. Our previous study in mice demonstrated the feasibility of such an association by demonstrating that prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) elevated the incidence of transplanted tumors and reduced cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity in juvenile male offspring. The current study extends these findings by investigating the relationship between CS-induced CTL suppression and effects on regulators of effector T-cell activity, such as T-regulatory (Treg; CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+) cells and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β.

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure and diabetes: results from the Anniston Community Health Survey.

Background: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) manufactured in Anniston, Alabama, from 1929 to 1971 caused significant environmental contamination. The Anniston population remains one of the most highly exposed in the world.

Objectives: Reports of increased diabetes in PCB-exposed populations led us to examine possible associations in Anniston residents.

17β-Estradiol (E-2) administration to male (NZB × SWR)F₁ mice results in increased Id(LN)F₁-reactive memory T-lymphocytes and accelerated glomerulonephritis.

While it has been shown that estradiol treatment accelerates the onset of lupus nephritis with autoantibody production and kidney damage in both male and female lupus-prone mice, the specific mechanism(s) involved are unknown. Our previous work has shown that alterations in Id(LN)F(1)-reactive T cells and Id(LN)F(1)+ antibodies correlated closely with the onset of autoimmune nephritis in female F(1) progeny of SWR and NZB (SNF(1)) mice, supporting a critical role for the Id(LN)F(1) idiotype in the development of disease. Since male SNF(1) mice normally do not develop nephritis, we tested whether administration of 17β-estradiol (E-2) to male SNF(1) mice would increase Id(LN)F(1) IgG levels and autoreactive T cells, and further, induce nephritis.

Identification of stage-specific gene modulation during early thymocyte development by whole-genome profiling analysis after aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, implicated as an important modulator of the immune system and of early thymocyte development. We have shown previously that AHR activation by the environmental contaminant and potent AHR agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) leads to a significant decline in the percentage of S-phase cells in the CD3(-)CD4(-)CD8(-) triple-negative stage (TN) 3 and TN4 T-cell committed thymocytes 9 to 12 h after exposure. In the more immature TN1- or TN2-stage cells, no effect on cell cycle was observed.

The induction of the lupus phenotype by estrogen is via an estrogen receptor-alpha-dependent pathway.

In order to investigate the roles of ER subtypes in the estrogen-induced lupus phenotype, ERalpha-deficient (ERalpha(-/-)) and wild-type mice (WT) were injected monthly with estradiol (E-2) starting at 8 weeks. In WT mice, E-2 treatment induced a lupus phenotype, with accelerated death and increased kidney damage, as well as Th2-type serum cytokine and autoantibody production. In contrast, only minimal changes were observed in ERalpha(-/-) mice after E-2 treatment.

Estrogen signaling is not required for prostatic bud patterning or for its disruption by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.

Estrogens play an important role in prostatic development, health, and disease. While estrogen signaling is essential for normal postnatal prostate development, little is known about its prenatal role in control animals. We tested the hypothesis that estrogen signaling is needed for normal male prostatic bud patterning.

Using nutrition for intervention and prevention against environmental chemical toxicity and associated diseases.

Background: Nutrition and lifestyle are well-defined modulators of chronic diseases. Poor dietary habits (such as high intake of processed foods rich in fat and low intake of fruits and vegetables), as well as a sedentary lifestyle clearly contribute to today's compromised quality of life in the United States. It is becoming increasingly clear that nutrition can modulate the toxicity of environmental pollutants.

Functional analysis of SPINDLY in gibberellin signaling in Arabidopsis.

The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) SPINDLY (SPY) protein negatively regulates the gibberellin (GA) signaling pathway. SPY is an O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) with a protein-protein interaction domain consisting of 10 tetratricopeptide repeats (TPR). OGTs add a GlcNAc monosaccharide to serine/threonine residues of nuclear and cytosolic proteins.

Effects of prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke on offspring tumor susceptibility and associated immune mechanisms.

Epidemiologic evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to intact (unfractionated) cigarette smoke (CS) increases the incidence of cancer in the offspring. A toxicology study was carried out to examine the effects and underlying mechanisms of prenatal exposure to mainstream cigarette smoke (MCS) on offspring resistance to tumor challenge and surveillance mechanisms critical for the recognition and destruction of tumors. Pregnant B6C3F1 mice were exposed by inhalation to MCS for 5 days/week (4 h/day from gestational day 4 to parturition).

Improving the nutritional value of Golden Rice through increased pro-vitamin A content.

"Golden Rice" is a variety of rice engineered to produce beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) to help combat vitamin A deficiency, and it has been predicted that its contribution to alleviating vitamin A deficiency would be substantially improved through even higher beta-carotene content. We hypothesized that the daffodil gene encoding phytoene synthase (psy), one of the two genes used to develop Golden Rice, was the limiting step in beta-carotene accumulation. Through systematic testing of other plant psys, we identified a psy from maize that substantially increased carotenoid accumulation in a model plant system.

Cell proliferation arrest within intrathymic lymphocyte progenitor cells causes thymic atrophy mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor.

Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, in lymphocytes by the immunosuppressive environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8,-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) has been shown to cause thymic atrophy in every species studied. We set out to identify the specific hemopoietic cellular populations in which the AHR was activated to lead to thymic atrophy and to determine the effect of AHR activation in those cellular populations. Initially, we examined whether AHR activation in intrathymic dendritic cells could mediate TCDD-induced thymic atrophy.

Bcl2-independent chromatin cleavage is a very early event during induction of apoptosis in mouse thymocytes after treatment with either dexamethasone or ionizing radiation.

We have quantified the emergence of early chromatin breaks during the signal transduction phase of apoptosis in mouse thymocytes after treatment with either ionizing radiation or dexamethasone. Dexamethasone at 1 microM can induce significant levels of DNA breaks (equivalent to the amount induced directly by 7.5 Gy ionizing radiation) within 0.

A role for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in cardiac physiology and function as demonstrated by AhR knockout mice.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand activated transcription factor, is the receptor for the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in tobacco smoke, polychlorinated biphenyls, and the environmental pollutant, dioxin. To better understand the role of the AhR in the heart, echocardiography, invasive measurements of aortic and left ventricular pressures, isolated working heart preparations, as well as morphological and molecular analysis were used to investigate the impact of AhR inactivation on the mouse heart using the AhR knockout as a model. Cardiac hypertrophy is an early phenotypic manifestation of the AhR knockout.

Mixed chimeric hematopoietic stem cell transplant reverses the disease phenotype in canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency.

The genetic disease canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (CLAD) is characterized by recurrent, severe bacterial infections, typically culminating in death by 6 months of age. CLAD is due to a mutation in the leukocyte integrin CD18 subunit, which prevents surface expression of the CD11/CD18 leukocyte integrin complex. We demonstrate that stable mixed donor:host hematopoietic chimerism, achieved by a non-myeloablative bone marrow transplant from a histocompatible littermate, reverses the disease phenotype in CLAD.

Spinal deformities in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Spinal deformities in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are often observed in intensive farming systems and result in production losses. Many putative factors have been implicated with the formation of spinal deformities in larger salmon. This condition has been described as broken back syndrome, curvy back disease, and short tails.

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin causes alterations in lymphocyte development and thymic atrophy in hemopoietic chimeras generated from mice deficient in ARNT2.

It is well established that dioxins cause a variety of toxic effects and syndromes including alterations of lymphocyte development. Exposure to the prototypical dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) leads to severe thymic atrophy in all species studied. It has been shown that most of this toxicity is due to TCDD binding to and activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR).

Proinflammatory properties of coplanar PCBs: in vitro and in vivo evidence.

So-called coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as other environmental contaminants that are aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists, may compromise the normal functions of vascular endothelial cells by activating oxidative stress-sensitive signaling pathways and subsequent proinflammatory events critical in the pathology of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. To test this hypothesis, porcine endothelial cells were exposed to PCB 153 and to three coplanar PCBs (PCB 77, PCB 126, or PCB 169). In contrast to PCB 153, which is not a ligand for the Ah receptor (AhR), all coplanar PCBs disrupted endothelial barrier function.