Neuroimmune Interactions: a Bidirectional Flow that Leads to Health and Disease

The Vedic philosophy deals with harmony and balance between the mind and the body as well as interactions with nature. This ancient approach to health and well-being is being more and more appreciated in part as we understand the intimate relationship between the immune system, our major defense mechanism and the nervous system. Like other organ systems, the immune system is dependent on the central nervous system (CNS) and the endocrine system in its role for effective defense against foreign and domestic invaders.

Demographics of having a gun in the home in Columbia, SC as reported by women primary care patients

Objectives. To determine demographic correlates of having one or more guns in the household of women primary care patients in the southern USA. ^ Methods. All participants in this cross-sectional study were women aged 18-65 who were insured by either Medicaid or a managed care provider and had ever had an intimate sexual relationship with a male partner that lasted at least three months. Prevalence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using stratified analyses for having a gun in the home and the following demographic factors: age, race, educational attainment, marital status, employment status, and alcohol/drug use. ^ Results. Twenty six percent of households had at least one gun and 6.5% had 3 or more guns. The following demographic characteristics of women were associated with having a gun in the household: age (>40) (prevalence rate ratio [PRR] = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1–1.8); White race (PRR = 1.89; 95% CI = 1.61–2.27); currently being employed (PRR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.22–2.44); higher education; and being insured by an HMO (PRR = 1.92; 95% CI = 1.47–2.50). Neither the partner's unemployment nor his substance use was associated with having a gun. While White households were more likely to have a gun, the same correlates of gun ownership held for both White and African-American households; being married or living as married and higher socio-economic status (i.e. HMO insurance and being employed) were strongly correlated with gun in the household. The following were correlated with having multiple guns in the household: White race (p < 0.0001); increased age (p = 0.005); being currently married or living as married (p < 0.0001); and HMO insured status (p < 0.0001). Among those households with at least one gun, White race and married or currently living as married were associated with having 2 or more guns relative to one gun in the household. ^ Conclusions. Currently living with a man and being of higher socio-economic status were strong correlates of household gun ownership among both Whites and African-Americans. Substance use was not associated with household gun ownership. ^

Is sexual intimacy among older adults positively associated with mental well-being?

Background. The elderly population aged 60 and above is increasing rapidly throughout the world. The aging process affects physical health of individuals, which in turn affects sexuality and sexual activity. However, many elderly adults continue to engage in one or more forms of sexual activities well into their 70s, 80s, and even in 90s. Despite the widespread stereotypes, misconceptions, and negative attitudes surrounding sexuality in elderly adults, it has been found to be an important aspect of the health of the elderly. However, association between the frequency of sexual activity and mental well being among older adults has not been documented in the literature. ^ Methods. To test the hypotheses that mental well being indicators such as depression, anxiety, and stress were inversely associated with greater frequency of sexual intimacy, a secondary data analysis was conducted using the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) using multivariate logistic regression. The NSHAP was a population-based study that was conducted on a national scale including 1455 men and 1550 women aged 57-85.^ Results. Approximately 1430 (54.1%) of the total population reported being sexually intimate in the past 12 months whereas 1481 (45.9%) participants reported that they did not perform any sexual activity in the past 12 months. In addition, approximately 895(31.1%) participants reported engaging in sexual activity ≥ 2-3 times per month with 665 (78.9%) of these participants reported performing vaginal intercourse only, 14(2.0%) oral sex only, and 89(10.5%) reported performing both vaginal intercourse and oral sex. Controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, frequently (≥2-3 times per month) sexually active participants showed lower odds ratio of depression (OR= 0.60; 95%CI = 0.46, 0.78), anxiety (OR= 0.67; 95% CI= 0.53, 0.86), and stress (OR=0.73; 95% CI = 0.6, 0.88) compared to those who had less frequent sexual activity or who had no sexual activity in the past 12 months.^ Conclusion. Lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress appear to be associated with greater frequency of sexual activity. Public health interventions should focus on educating elderly adults about their sexual health and how to seek medical help for their sexual problems. Public health professionals should also be educated on how to best assess sexual needs of the elderly adults.^

Social support, health status and health services utilization among the noninstitutionalized elderly: An analysis of the Supplement on Aging to the 1984 national health interview survey

The association between Social Support, Health Status, and Health Services Utilization of the elderly, was explored based on the analysis of data from the Supplement on Aging to the National Health Interview Survey, 1984 (N = 11,497) using a modified framework of Aday and Andersen's Expanded Behavioral Model. The results suggested that Social Support as operationalized in this study was an independent determinant of the use of health services. The quantity of social activities and the use of community services were the two most consistent determinants across different types of health services use.^ The effects of social support on the use of health services were broken down into three components to facilitate explanations of the mechanisms through which social support operated. The Predisposing and Enabling component of Social Support had independent, although not uniform, effects on the use of health services. Only slight substitute effects of social support were detected. These included the substitution of the use of senior centers for longer stay in the hospital and the substitution of help with IADL problems for the use of formal home care services.^ The effect of financial support on the use of health services was found to be different for middle and low income populations. This differential effect was also found for the presence of intimate networks, the frequencies of interaction with children and the perceived availability of support among urban/rural, male/female and white/non-white subgroups.^ The study also suggested that the selection of appropriate Health Status measures should be based on the type of Health Services Utilization in which a researcher is interested. The level of physical function limitation and role activity limitation were the two most consistent predictors of the volume of physician visits, number of hospital days, and average length of stay in the hospital during the past year.^ Some alternative hypotheses were also raised and evaluated, when possible. The impacts of the complex sample design, the reliability and validity of the measures and other limitations of this analysis were also discussed. Finally, a revised framework was proposed and discussed based on the analysis. Some policy implications and suggestions for future study were also presented. ^

Patterns of homicide Houston: Texas, 1987

The situational and interpersonal characteristics of homicides occurring in Houston, Texas, during 1987 were investigated. A total of 328 cases were ascertained from the linking of police computer data, medical examiner's records, and death certificate information. The medical examiner's records contained all of the ascertained cases. The comparability ratio between the medical examiner's records and police and vital statistic data was 1.03 and 0.966, respectively. Data inconsistencies were found between the three information sources on Spanish surname, age, race/ethnicity, external cause of death coding, alcohol and drug involvement, weapon/method used, and Hispanic immigration status. Recommendations for improving the quality of homicide information gathered and for linking homicide surveillance systems were made.^ Males constituted 82% of all victims. The age-adjusted homicide rate for Blacks was 31.1 per 100,000 population, for Hispanics 19.2, and for Anglos 5.4. Among males, Blacks had an age-adjusted rate of 54.5, Hispanics, 31.0, and Anglos 7.5. Among females, Blacks had an age-adjusted rate of 9.3, Hispanics 6.1, and Anglos 3.1. Black males, ages 25-34, had the highest homicide rate, at 96.5.^ Half of all homicides occurred in a residence. Among Hispanic males, homicides occurred most often in the street. Firearms were used to commit 64% of the homicides. Arguments preceded 58% of all cases. Nearly two-thirds of the victims knew their assailant. Only 15% of males compared to 62% of females were killed by a spouse, an intimate acquaintance, or a family member. Blacks (93%) and Hispanics (88%) were more likely than Anglos (70%) to have been killed by persons of the same race/ethnicity. Nearly three-fourths of all Houston Hispanic homicide victims were foreign born.^ Alcohol was detected in 47% of the victims tested. Nearly one-third of those tested had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) greater than 100 mg%. Males (53%) were more likely than females (20%) to have positive BACs. Hispanic males (64%) were more likely to have detectable BACs than either Black (51%) or Anglo (44%) males.^ Illegal drugs were detected in 20% of the victims tested. One-fourth of the victims who tested positive for drugs had more than one drug in their system at death. The stimulant cocaine was the most commonly detected drug, comprising 53% of all illegal drugs identified.^ Recommendations for the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of homicide and for future homicide research are made. ^

Domestic Violence Resources for Women Receiving Intensive Family Preservation Services

Intimate partner violence is a common correlate of child abuse and neglect and often is not addressed in family preservation services. In many cases, the ideologies of family preservationists and advocates for women 's safety can be at odds. This article presents a study of a collaborative model of intervention, utilizing family preservation workers and community resource practitioners working with domestic violence as group facilitators. The study utilizes a pretest, post-test design to evaluate a domestic violence resource group for women who were concurrently receiving intensive family preservation services. The study examines the effect of the program on participants' self-perceptions regarding self-esteem, independence, goals, social isolation, and assertiveness. Caseworker perceptions of client characteristics also are evaluated, and qualitative responses of the effects of the program are included.

Procedimientos de construcción del espacio en Fuego en Casabindo, de Héctor Tizón

En Fuego en Casabindo (1969), Héctor Tizón configura una imagen poética del espacio de la Puna porque pretende re-crear ese mundo afectivamente a través de su memoria. Este espacio escritural no está configurado desde una visión objetiva sino desde la afectividad del que lo vivió y amó, desde la experiencia íntima y personal. Los espacios en Fuego en Casabindo no son referenciales, sino que asumen valores afectivos, tienen gran importancia en el andamiaje constructivo del relato y determinan un tipo de lectura de la novela, la lectura poética.

La literatura y la vida: los Cuadernos de Carmen Martín Gaite

Afirma el estudioso José Romera Castillo que en el período que va de 1975 hasta nuestros días han ido apareciendo (o se han rescatado) en España escritos diarísticos diversos en calidad y modalidad. Voy a insistir sobre esta calificación de “diversa modalidad" para analizar los diarios de la escritora española Carmen Martín Gaite (1925-2000), publicados en el año 2001 y 2005 con los títulos Cuadernos de todo y Visión de Nueva York, respectivamente. Estas colecciones de escritos íntimos aparecidas póstumamente, reafirman la poética de la autora, presente de manera implícita en sus novelas y desarrollada en sus libros de ensayos e investigación. La intrincada relación entre literatura y vida, presente siempre en toda su producción, se manifiesta con toda claridad en estos textos, que revelan la continuidad de su labor de escritora en cada momento de su vida y la coherencia de su ideario.

Stabat Mater: : dolor, gozo y sublimación en la búsqueda de una identidad

“Stabat Mater" propone la historia de una joven que sufre por el dolor del abandono en su niñez. Cecilia, la protagonista de esta novela de carácter intimista, transcurre los días de su existencia en forma trágica y rutinaria. Su pena no tiene consuelo ni respuestas: su madre la abandonó en un orfanato veneciano y, a diferencia de la suerte corrida por otras jóvenes, posteriormente nadie la reclamó ni fue por ella. Las clases de música impartidas en el orfanato son su único –aunque monótono– consuelo. Pero un factor inesperado cambiará el tedio en pasión: el mismo maestro Antonio Vivaldi se hará cargo de dichas lecciones. Él enseñará a Cecilia y a sus compañeras la música del universo todo, con los matices más profundos, sutiles y estremecedores jamás imaginados. A través de esta vivencia, determinante en el ánimo de la joven, esta construirá su futuro, un destino erigido a partir de recuerdos dolorosos, pero resignificado y sublimado en función de la experiencia vivida.

“Idolatrado ancón" : identificación con la nación panameña desde la subjetividad femenina de los versos de Amelia Denis de Icaza

Ciento diez años más tarde de la separación de Panamá de Colombia y con el advenimiento del centenario de la apertura del Canal en 2014 es posible observar que la obra de Amelia Denis de Icaza muestra cómo la poeta romántica panameña, desde una perspectiva femenina, inaugura en 1906 la articulación de la fisura como rasgo característico de la identidad nacional de Panamá. Denis de Icaza inicia el lamento y la crítica por la presencia norteamericana en el Istmo con su poema “Al Cerro Ancón". En sus versos, la autora expresa su desagrado por la nueva realidad de ocupación territorial por fuerzas imperialistas y al mismo tiempo enciende el deseo por recuperar lo perdido, representándolo todo en el iconográfico accidente geográfico del Cerro Ancón. Esta nueva presencia extranjera y las consecuencias que se desprenden de tal ocupación trascienden el imaginario panameño a lo largo del siglo XX y más allá. Denis de Icaza, desde su espacio privado y con su voz intimista problematiza la situación canalera dentro del imaginario panameño, y se convierte en líder de la travesía que enrumbará al discurso istmeño en torno a la búsqueda y promoción por la soberanía en la totalidad del territorio nacional.

(Table 1) Stable isotope data of chemoherm carbonates at Hydrate Ridge on the Cascadia continental margin

Two active chemoherm build-ups growing freely up into the oceanic water column, the Pinnacle and the South East-Knoll Chemoherms, have been discovered at Hydrate Ridge on the Cascadia continental margin. These microbially-mediated carbonate formations rise above the seafloor by several tens of meters and display a pinnacle-shaped morphology with steep flanks. The recovered rocks are pure carbonates dominated by aragonite. Based on fabric and mineralogic composition different varieties of authigenic aragonite can be distinguished. Detailed visual and petrographic investigations unambiguously reveal the involvement of microbes during the formation of the carbonates. The fabric of the cryptocrystalline and fibrous aragonite can be described as thrombolitic. Fossilized microbial filaments in the microcrystalline aragonite indicate the intimate relationship between microbes and carbonates. The strongly 13C-depleted carbon isotope values of the samples (as low as -48.1 per mill PDB) are characteristic of methane as the major carbon source for the carbonate formation. The methane-rich fluids from which the carbonates are precipitated originate most probably from a gas reservoir below the bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) and rise through fault systems. The d18O values of the aragonitic chemoherm carbonates are substantially higher (as high as 5.0 per mill PDB) than the expected equilibrium value for an aragonite forming from ambient seawater (3.5 per mill PDB). As a first approximation this indicates formation from glacial ocean water but other factors are considered as well. A conceptual model is presented for the precipitation of these chemoherm carbonates based on in situ observations and the detailed petrographic investigation of the carbonates. This model explains the function of the consortium of archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria that grows on the carbonates performing anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) and enabling the precipitation of the chemoherms above the seafloor surrounded by oxic seawater. Beggiatoa mats growing on the surface of the chemoherms oxidize the sulfide provided by sulfate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane within an oxic environment. The contact between Beggiatoa and the underlying microbial consortium represents the interface between the overlying oxic water column and an anoxic micro-environment where carbonate formation takes place.

Compañeros de ruta, reencuentro de ex presos políticos cordobeses

El propósito de este trabajo es investigar los motivos, anhelos, sueños, deseos que llevan a un grupo de entre 20 y 25 ex presos políticos a reunirse semanalmente en el local del sindicato Luz y Fuerza, Córdoba. Optamos por entrevistar a quienes daban la sensación de ser más participativos o más explícitos, en la elección procuramos que hubiesen casi por igual miembros de las dos organizaciones mayoritarias en el pasado: Montoneros y Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores. El celo a la hora de elegir se entronca con las subculturas que emergieron de las organizaciones. Otro aspecto observado es la cuestión de género, mujeres y hombres, equitativamente incorporados, se constituyeron en narradores.2 En la ciudad mediterránea hubo alrededor de dos mil detenidos por causas políticas a partir de la dictadura que iniciara Jorge Rafael Videla. La curiosidad social es acicateada por el número exiguo de ex-represaliados que constituyen la comisión de presos políticos, que entre otras tareas peticiona ante las autoridades solicitando reivindicaciones a raíz de su condición de ex detenidos, organizan eventos sociales y políticos, gestionan los ex centros de detención convertidos en "museos de la memoria", impulsan los juicios contra los ex represores, editan publicaciones. Concurrimos a las reuniones semanales, a asados, "locreadas"; empleamos en las investigaciones la observación participante. La participación se dio en eventos, en compartir ruedas de mate en la casa de los entrevistados, íntimas ruedas de café, por un fenómeno de indexicalidad en relación con el discurso ideológico pudimos avanzar en la profundidad de la conversación. Además, de las entrevistas en profundidad, analizamos material periodístico y material escrito por los detenidos; cuando la emoción del entrevistado dificultaba la conversación, en algunos casos nos remitieron a elaboraciones suyas sobre la situación planteada.. Nos favoreció, en el trabajo, el hecho de haber participado en la vida política, y el tener familiares que lucharon junto a los ex-represaliados. A pesar de ello no fue fácil llegar a subjetividades que hacía largo tiempo se hallaban abroqueladas. Mead e Erving Goffman nos acompañaron en el camino de reconocimiento de los selfs en la dramaturgia montada en el local de Luz y Fuerza

Nacimiento y evolución de los partidos políticos bonaerenses

El peso político de los hombres de la provincia de Buenos Aires dentro del concierto nacional, ha sido y es de significación. A partir de 1880, pese a las íntimas relaciones que tuvieron los partidos provinciales con sus respectivas conducciones nacionales, los primeros tomaron varias veces, caminos no siempre coincidentes con las segundas. Gran parte de los hombres que habrían de tener principal participación en el manejo político de la provincia y la nación en los últimos años del siglo XIX y primeros treinta del XX, se formaron, como así también su ideología y moral política, en el devenir de las tres presidencias posteriores a Pavón. El presente trabajo pretende estudiar básicamente las ideas y acciones de un grupo de aquellos que integraron el autonomismo y que habrían de descollar en los años posteriores a 1880.

La publicidad de lo íntimo. El Epistolario Sentimental de la revista Para Ti (1924-1933)

Para Ti, el semanario femenino de Editorial Atlántida apareció en el mercado en 1922 como una revista de servicios multipropósitos. El presente artículo se propone estudiar el Epistolario Sentimental, columna que intentaba dar respuesta a los conflictos del corazón. Esta sección constituyó un lugar para hablar de temas que en el resto de la revista no se trataban. Así, la sexualidad, la sensualidad, los deseos y los conflictos familiares ingresaron en el mundo de Para Ti y de su público a través de un canal marginal. En este sentido, el Epistolario Sentimental constituye un espacio privilegiado para analizar tensiones y cambios en las costumbres y la moral

La herencia de jacobinismo en la deducción fichteana del cuerpo propio y del derecho a la existencia. Metafísica y política en el Fundamento del derecho natural

En este trabajo procuro complementar los estudios sobre el Fundamento del derecho natural que sólo reconstruyen la deducción metafísica del cuerpo sin referencia a sus consecuencias sociales y económicas, y las interpretaciones puramente histórico-contextuales del derecho a la existencia, mostrando la relación íntima que Fichte establece entre estos dos momentos de su teoría