Evidence for a migratory capability of rat Kupffer cells to portal tracts and hepatic lymph nodes

The present study concerns the migratory ability of Kupffer cells in the rat. Phagocytic cells were labeled with colloidal carbon or gold, these markers being administered intravenously either into a tail vein, which resulted in generalized reticuloendothelial uptake, or in low dose into the portal vein, which produced uptake by Kupffer cells alone. Cells containing marker were observed in the portal tracts and in hepatic lymph nodes from 1 to 3 days after injection into the portal vein. The direct movement of single marker particles to the portal tracts could be excluded. Since injection of marker into the portal vein labeled Kupffer cells exclusively, whereas blood cells, splenic and bone marrow macrophages remained unlabeled, the labeled cells in the portal tracts and hepatic lymph nodes appeared to be former Kupffer cells migrating which had migrated to these sites.     

Cultural Identity Among Afghan and Iraqi Traumatized Refugees: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Mental Health Care Professionals

Cultural identity in relation with mental health is of growing interest in the field of transcultural psychiatry. However, there is a need to clarify the concept of cultural identity in order to make it useful in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to unravel the complexity and many layers of cultural identity, and to assess how stress and acculturation relate to (changes in) cultural identity. As part of a larger study about cultural identity, trauma, and mental health, 85 patients from Afghanistan and Iraq in treatment for trauma-related disorders were interviewed with a Brief Cultural Interview. The interviews were analysed through qualitative data analysis using the procedures of grounded theory. The analysis resulted in three domains of cultural identity: personal identity, ethnic identity and social identity. Within each domain relationships with stress and acculturation were identified. The results offer insight into the intensity of changes in cultural identity, caused by pre-and post-migration stressors and the process of acculturation. Based on the research findings recommendations are formulated to enhance the cultural competency of mental health workers.