Ethical and Transformative Scholarly Public Engagement: Pitfalls, Possibilities and Promises.

At its core, public engagement is geared toward transformative ends - to change the world for the better. Yet, the means are also critical. Scholars who engage communities and public processes should do so ethically, in ways that comport with core values.

"It changed my whole entire thinking": Identifying narrative elements in medical affidavit writing for asylum seekers.

The medical affidavit is critically significant for asylum seekers. Studies have shown that asylum seekers applying with a medical affidavit (versus without a medical affidavit) have double the success rate. There are many training resources for clinician-evaluators on the interviewing process, but little instruction exists on the affidavit writing process.

The kinase ITK controls a Ca-mediated switch that balances T17 and T cell differentiation.

The balance of proinflammatory T helper type 17 (T17) and anti-inflammatory T regulatory (T) cells is crucial for immune homeostasis in health and disease. The differentiation of naïve CD4 T cells into T17 and T cells depends on T cell receptor (TCR) signaling mediated, in part, by interleukin-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK), which stimulates mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and Ca signaling. Here, we report that, in the absence of ITK activity, naïve murine CD4 T cells cultured under T17-inducing conditions expressed the T transcription factor Foxp3 and did not develop into T17 cells.

Adaptive immune cells are necessary for SARS-CoV-2-induced pathology.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing the ongoing global pandemic associated with morbidity and mortality in humans. Although disease severity correlates with immune dysregulation, the cellular mechanisms of inflammation and pathogenesis of COVID-19 remain relatively poorly understood. Here, we used mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 strain MA10 to investigate the role of adaptive immune cells in disease.

Facilitated Asynchronous Online Learning to Build Public Health Strategic Skills.

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic spurred significant government investments for hiring public health workers. There are clear opportunities to help build capacities among both current and incoming public health workers, closing well-elucidated skill gaps.

Objective: To report on the development process, methods used, and outcomes seen from a point-in-time public health workforce capacity-building initiative, Public Health Essentials (PHE) .

Degrading the signal amplifier: ITK as a target for targeted protein degradation.

In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Jiang and colleagues show for the first time that the Tec kinase ITK can be targeted using PROTAC approaches. This new modality has implications for the treatment of T cell lymphomas, but also potentially for the treatment of T cell-mediated inflammatory diseases, that depend on ITK signaling.

ITK signaling regulates a switch between T helper 17 and T regulatory cell lineages via a calcium-mediated pathway.

The balance of pro-inflammatory T helper type 17 (Th17) and anti-inflammatory T regulatory (Treg) cells is crucial in maintaining immune homeostasis in health and disease conditions. Differentiation of naïve CD4 T cells into Th17/Treg cells is dependent upon T cell receptor (TCR) activation and cytokine signaling, which includes the kinase ITK. Signals from ITK can regulate the differentiation of Th17 and Treg cell fate choice, however, the mechanism remains to be fully understood.

Effective differentiation of double negative thymocytes requires high fidelity replication of mitochondrial DNA in an age dependent manner.

One of the most proliferative periods for T cells occurs during their development in the thymus. Increased DNA replication can result in increased DNA mutations in the nuclear genome, but also in mitochondrial genomes. A high frequency of mitochondrial DNA mutations can lead to abnormal mitochondrial function and have negative implications on human health.

Residential urban food environment profiles and diet outcomes among adults in Brooklyn, New York: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To assess the clustering properties of residential urban food environment indicators across neighbourhoods and to determine if clustering profiles are associated with diet outcomes among adults in Brooklyn, New York.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Five neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, New York.

Contraception and Healthcare Utilization by Reproductive-Age Women Who Use Drugs in Rural Communities: a Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Women who use drugs (WWUD) have low rates of contraceptive use and high rates of unintended pregnancy. Drug use is common among women in rural U.S.

ITK independent development of Th17 responses during hypersensitivity pneumonitis driven lung inflammation.

T helper 17 (Th17) cells develop in response to T cell receptor signals (TCR) in the presence of specific environments, and produce the inflammatory cytokine IL17A. These cells have been implicated in a number of inflammatory diseases and represent a potential target for ameliorating such diseases. The kinase ITK, a critical regulator of TCR signals, has been shown to be required for the development of Th17 cells.

Child Lead Screening Behaviors and Health Outcomes Following the Flint Water Crisis.

Background: There is little research on lead (Pb) screening behaviors and outcomes and possible health sequelae of children in Flint, Michigan in the years following the city's 2014 water crisis, which included widespread tap water contamination with elevated levels of heavy metals and other environmental contaminants.

Methods: Between June and November 2019, we collected and analyzed cross-sectional data on Flint children's demographics and self-report of screenings of blood lead levels (BLLs) and results and various potential water contamination-related health symptoms and outcomes. We calculated descriptive statistics to summarize the prevalence of health outcomes and screenings in children, and fit multivariable models using generalized estimating equations to characterize the association between baseline traits and health symptoms and outcomes in children.

Eosinophils are dispensable for development of MOG-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) represents the mouse model of multiple sclerosis, a devastating neurological disorder. EAE development and progression involves the infiltration of different immune cells into the brain and spinal cord. However, less is known about a potential role of eosinophil granulocytes for EAE disease pathogenesis.

Approaches to Addressing Nonmedical Services and Care Coordination Needs for Older Adults.

Objective: Non-medical services care coordination for daily activities of living is crucial in improving older adults' health and enabling them to age in place, but little is known about specific practices and barriers in this space.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 41 professionals serving older adults in greater Chicago, Illinois-which consists of diverse urban, suburban, and semi-rural communities-to contextualize non-medical services needs and care coordination processes.

Results: In-home care, home-delivered meals, non-emergency transportation, and housing support were cited as the most commonly needed services, all requiring complex coordination support.

How urban and rural built environments influence the health attitudes and behaviors of people who use drugs.

Research suggests that the built environment is associated with drug use. However, there is limited scholarship focusing on specific features of the built environment that influence drug use behaviors, experiences, and patterns and how risk factors for drug use are placed in distinctive urban and rural settings. Applying Neely and Samura's conceptual theory that describes space as contested, fluid and historical, interactional and relational, and defined by inequality and difference, we assessed data from semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted between 2019 and 2020 with consumers at syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in an urban location (New York City) and a rural location (southern Illinois).

The blueprint of disaster: COVID-19, the Flint water crisis, and unequal ecological impacts.

COVID-19 is unique in the scope of its effects on morbidity and mortality. However, the factors contributing to its disparate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic effects are part of an expansive and continuous history of oppressive social policy and marginalising geopolitics. This history is characterised by institutionally generated spatial inequalities forged through processes of residential segregation and neglectful urban planning.

A Population-Based Assessment of Physical Symptoms and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adults Following the Flint Water Crisis.

Little is known about the physical and mental health outcomes of adults in the low-income, predominantly Black city of Flint, Michigan, following the city's water crisis which began in April 2014 after austerity policies led to the city switching its water source. We investigate these dynamics using data from a longitudinal community-based cohort in Flint. Between June and November 2019, surveys were administered at nine public sites across Flint.

Stigmatize the use, not the user? Attitudes on opioid use, drug injection, treatment, and overdose prevention in rural communities.

Stigma is a known barrier to treating substance use disorders and dramatically diminishes the quality of life of people who use drugs (PWUD) nonmedically. Stigma against PWUD may be especially pronounced in rural areas due to their decreased anonymity and residents' limited access, or resistance, to "neutralizing" information on factors associated with drug use. Stigma often manifests in the attitudes of professionals whom stigmatized individuals regularly interact with and often materially impact.

They are Essential Workers Now, and Should Continue to Be: Social Workers and Home Health Care Workers during COVID-19 and Beyond.

During COVID-19, social workers can ensure safe and quality care for older adults through advocacy and support of home health care workers.