Explanatory Models and Mental Health Treatment: Is Vodou an Obstacle to Psychiatric Treatment in Rural Haiti?

Vodou as an explanatory framework for illness has been considered an impediment to biomedical psychiatric treatment in rural Haiti by some scholars and Haitian professionals. According to this perspective, attribution of mental illness to supernatural possession drives individuals to seek care from houngan-s (Vodou priests) and other folk practitioners, rather than physicians, psychologists, or psychiatrists. This study investigates whether explanatory models of mental illness invoking supernatural causation result in care-seeking from folk practitioners and resistance to biomedical treatment. The study comprised 31 semi-structured interviews with community leaders, traditional healers, religious leaders, and biomedical providers, 10 focus group discussions with community members, community health workers, health promoters, community leaders, and church members; and four in-depth case studies of individuals exhibiting mental illness symptoms conducted in Haiti's Central Plateau. Respondents invoked multiple explanatory models for mental illness and expressed willingness to receive treatment from both traditional and biomedical practitioners. Folk practitioners expressed a desire to collaborate with biomedical providers and often referred patients to hospitals. At the same time, respondents perceived the biomedical system as largely ineffective for treating mental health problems. Explanatory models rooted in Vodou ethnopsychology were not primary barriers to pursuing psychiatric treatment. Rather, structural factors including scarcity of treatment resources and lack of psychiatric training among health practitioners created the greatest impediments to biomedical care for mental health concerns in rural Haiti.     

Two new genera of nematode (Oxyurida,Hystrignathidae) parasites of Passalidae (Coleoptera) from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Two new genera and species parasitizing passalid beetles from the Democratic Republic of Congo are described. Kongonema meyeri gen. n. sp. n. is characterized by having females with the cervical cuticle unarmed, first cephalic annule cone-like and truncate, sub-cylindrical procorpus and genital tract didelphic-amphidelphic. The males of Kongonema meyeri gen. n. sp. n. have the procorpus sub-cylindrical, the dorsal cuticle of the tail end thickened, a single large, median mammiform pre-cloacal papilla and a pair of small, pre-cloacal, sub-lateral papillae at a short distance before the level of the cloaca. Lubanema decraemerae gen. n. sp. n. is characterized by the body markedly fusiform, cuticle unarmed and strongly annulated, procorpus sub-cylindrical, isthmus as a constriction between procorpus and basal bulb, genital tract monodelphic-prodelphic and the posterior end rounded with a very short tail appendage.     

Comparative suitability of CFDA‐SE and rhodamine 6G for in vivo assessment of leukocyte‐endothelium interactions

Intravital fluorescence microscopy (IVM) is a predestined tool for investigating the fate of leukocytes during the process of leukocyte recruitment. In the present study, the commonly used dye for this purpose, rhodamine 6G, and carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFDA‐SE) were compared for leukocytes labelling with respect to suitability for IVM studies. Their potential in labelling different leukocytes subpopulations as well as their fluorescence intensities were assessed by flow cytometry revealing distinct differences between both dyes. These differences had a profound impact on their application for in vivo imaging of leukocyte‐endothelium interactions. In summary, CFDA‐SE revealed superior in labelling leukocytes for in vivo microscopy with respect to image quality. In addition, we could show the efficiency of CFDA‐SE also under disease condition in an animal model of sepsis. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Hystrignathus dearmasi sp. n. (Oxyurida, Hystrignathidae), first record of a nematode parasitizing a Panamanian Passalidae (Insecta, Coleoptera)

Hystrignathus dearmasi sp. n. (Oxyurida: Hystrignathidae) is described from an unidentified passalid beetle (Coleoptera: Passalidae) from Panama. It resembles Hystrignathus cobbi Travassos & Kloss, 1957 from Brazil, by having a similar form of the cephalic end, extension of cervical spines and absence of lateral alae. It differs from the latter species by having the body shorter, the oesophagus and tail comparatively larger, the vulva situated more posterior and the eggs ridged. This species constitutes the first record of a nematode parasitizing a Panamanian passalid.     

CtrA controls cell division and outer membrane composition of the pathogen Brucella abortus

Brucella abortus is a pathogen infecting cattle, able to survive, traffic, and proliferate inside host cells. It belongs to the Alphaproteobacteria, a phylogenetic group comprising bacteria with free living, symbiotic, and pathogenic lifestyles. An essential regulator of cell cycle progression named CtrA was described in the model bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. This regulator is conserved in many alphaproteobacteria, but the evolution of its regulon remains elusive. Here we identified promoters that are CtrA targets using ChIP‐seq and we found that CtrA binds to promoters of genes involved in cell cycle progression, in addition to numerous genes encoding outer membrane components involved in export of membrane proteins and synthesis of lipopolysaccharide. Analysis of a conditional B. abortus ctrA loss of function mutant confirmed that CtrA controls cell division. Impairment of cell division generates elongated and branched morphologies, that are also detectable inside HeLa cells. Surprisingly, abnormal bacteria are able to traffic to the endoplasmic reticulum, the usual replication niche of B. abortus in host cells. We also found that CtrA depletion affected outer membrane composition, in particular the abundance and spatial distribution of Omp25. Control of the B. abortus envelope composition by CtrA indicates the plasticity of the CtrA regulon along evolution.     

Batwanema gen. n. and Chokwenema gen. n. (Oxyurida,?Hystrignathidae), new nematode genera?as parasites of Passalidae (Coleoptera) from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Two new genera and species parasitizing passalid beetles from the Democratic Republic of Congo are described. Batwanema congo gen. n. et sp. n. is characterized by having females with the cervical cuticle armed with scale-like projections, arranged initially in rows of eight elements that gradually divide and form pointed spines toward the end of the spiny region, two cephalic annuli, clavate procorpus and genital tract monodelphic-prodelphic. Two Malagasian species of Artigasia Christie, 1934 were placed in this genus as B. latum (Van Waerebeke, 1973) comb. n. and B. annulatum (Van Waerebeke, 1973) comb. n. Chokwenema lepidophorum gen. n. et sp. n. is characterized by having females with the cervical cuticle armed with scale-like projections, arranged initially in rows of eight elements (similar to Batwanema) that divide gradually, forming spines; a single cephalic annule cone-like, truncated, moderately inflated; procorpus sub-cylindrical and genital tract didelphic-amphidelphic.     

Binding investigation and preliminary optimisation of the 3-amino-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-one core for the development of new Fyn inhibitors

Fyn tyrosine kinase inhibitors are considered potential therapeutic agents for a variety of human cancers. Furthermore, the involvement of Fyn kinase in signalling pathways that lead to severe pathologies, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, has also been demonstrated. In this study, starting from 3-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-ylamino)-6-methyl-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-one (VS6), a hit compound that showed a micromolar inhibition of Fyn (IC₅₀?=?4.8?μM), we computationally investigated the binding interactions of the 3-amino-1,2,4-triazin-5(2H)-one scaffold and started a preliminary hit to lead optimisation. This analysis led us to confirm the hypothesised binding mode of VS6 and to identify a new derivative that is about 6-fold more active than VS6 (compound 3, IC₅₀?=?0.76?μM).     

Reflechi twòp—Thinking Too Much: Description of a Cultural Syndrome in Haiti’s Central Plateau

A rich Haitian ethnopsychology has been described, detailing concepts of personhood, explanatory models of illness, and links between mind and body. However, little research has engaged explicitly with mental illness, and that which does focuses on the Kreyòl term fou (madness), a term that psychiatrists associate with schizophrenia and other psychoses. More work is needed to characterize potential forms of mild-to-moderate mental illness. Idioms of distress provide a promising avenue for exploring common mental disorders. Working in Haiti’s Central Plateau, we aimed to identify idioms of distress that represent cultural syndromes. We used ethnographic and epidemiologic methods to explore the idiom of distress reflechi twòp (thinking too much). This syndrome is characterized by troubled rumination at the intersection of sadness, severe mental disorder, suicide, and social and structural hardship. Persons with “thinking too much” have greater scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory. “Thinking too much” is associated with 8 times greater odds of suicidal ideation. Untreated “thinking too much” is sometimes perceived to lead to psychosis. Recognizing and understanding “thinking too much” may allow early clinical recognition and interventions to reduce long-term psychosocial suffering in Haiti’s Central Plateau.     

On some Cuban species of the genus Longior Travassos & Kloss, 1958 (Oxyurida, Hystrignathidae), with description of a new species

Longior zayasi Coy, García & Alvarez, 1993 is established as incertae sedis because the males (declared as the holotype) are inconsistent with the generic diagnosis, particularly in relation to the morphology of the head and tail. Thus, the females of Longior zayasi species (which agree with the generic diagnosis) are renamed and re-described as Longior longior Morffe & García sp. n. We also described males found in the sample and considered as conspecific with the new species. A comparative table with the measurements of the most of the records of Longior longior is given. The male of Longior similis Morffe, García & Ventosa, 2009 is described from the type locality of the species and compared with the known males of the genus. A key to the females of the Cuban Longior is given.     

Native gel analysis of macromolecular protein complexes in cultured mammalian cells

Native gel electrophoresis enables separation of cellular proteins in their non‐denatured state. In experiments aimed at analysing proteins in higher order or multimeric assemblies (i.e. protein complexes) it offers some advantages over rival approaches, particularly as an interface technology with mass spectrometry. Here we separated fractions from HEK293 cells by native electrophoresis in order to survey protein complexes in the cytoplasmic, nuclear and chromatin environments, finding 689 proteins distributed among 217 previously described complexes. As expected, different fractions contained distinct combinations of macromolecular complexes, with subunits of the same complex tending to co‐migrate. Exceptions to this observation could often be explained by the presence of subunits shared among different complexes. We investigated one identified complex, the Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2), in more detail following affinity purification of the EZH2 subunit. This approach resulted in the identification of all previously reported members of PRC2. Overall, this work demonstrates that the use of native gel electrophoresis as an upstream separating step is an effective approach for analysis of the components and cellular distribution of protein complexes.