Social and healthcare workers are more vulnerable to stress than many other occupations (Dollard, Winefield, & Winefield, 2003). Within this population, high stress levels predict lower job satisfaction and standards of care, as well as more somatic issues, absenteeism, depression, illness and burnout (Aiken et al.
Accumulating evidence indicates that reduced fecundity associated with endometriosis reflects a failure of embryonic receptivity. Microdomains composed of endometrial gap junctions, which facilitate cell-cell communication, may be implicated. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of connexin (Cx) 43 block human endometrial cell differentiation in vitro and conditional uterine deletion of Cx43 alleles cause implantation failure in mice. The aim of this study was to determine whether women with endometriosis have reduced eutopic endometrial Cx43. Cx26 acted as a control. Endometrial biopsies were collected from age, race and cycle phase-matched women without (15 controls) or with histologically confirmed endometriosis (15 cases). Immunohistochemistry confirmed a predominant localization of Cx43 in the endometrial stroma, whereas Cx26 was confined to the epithelium. Cx43 immunostaining was reduced in eutopic biopsies of endometriosis subjects and western blotting of tissue lysates confirmed lower Cx43 levels in endometriosis cases, with Cx43/β-actin ratios=.4±1.5 in control and =1.2±0.3 in endometriosis biopsies (P<0.01). When endometrial stromal cells (ESC) were isolated from endometriosis cases, Cx43 levels and scrape loading-dye transfer were reduced by ∼45% compared with ESC from controls. In vitro decidualization of ESC derived from endometriosis versus control subjects resulted in lesser epithelioid transformation and a significantly reduced up-regulation of Cx43 protein (1.2±0.2- versus 1.7±0.4-fold, P<0.01). No changes in Cx26 were observed. While basal steady-state levels of Cx43 mRNA did not differ with respect to controls, ESC from endometriosis cases failed to manifest a response to hormone treatment in vitro. In summary, eutopic endometrial Cx43 concentrations in endometriosis cases were <50% those of controls in vivo and in vitro, functional gap junctions were reduced and hormone-induced Cx43 mRNA levels were blunted.
The aims of the current study were (i) to explore the flexibility and generalizability of non-arbitrary relational contextual control in human participants and (ii) to provide a simple empirical model of pragmatic verbal analysis, a key element in the relational frame theory approach to problem solving. Participants were trained to respond to abstract shapes as cues for responding in accordance with non-arbitrary relations of sameness, difference and opposition. Next, sameness, difference and opposition relational responding was brought under additional contextual control by arbitrary B1-B3 stimuli, such that, depending on the B stimulus presented, relational responding was applied to one of three distinct physical dimensions of multidimensional shapes. Equivalence training and testing was then provided such that participants showed derived relations between the B stimuli and three novel arbitrary C stimuli. Two additional cues were then trained such that they occasioned comparative (more/less) relations. A final test showed that the C stimuli exerted contextual control over physical dimensions in the novel context of more/less/same non-arbitrary relational responding. These findings provide a simple, preliminary model of pragmatic verbal analysis.
BackgroundAs eHealth interventions prove both efficacious and practical, and as they arguably overcome certain barriers encountered by traditional face-to-face treatment for chronic pain, their number has increased dramatically in recent times. However, there is a dearth of research that focuses on evaluating and comparing the different types of technology-assisted interventions. This is a protocol for a systematic review that aims to evaluate the eHealth modalities in the context of psychological and non-psychological (other than non-drug) interventions for chronic pain.Methods/designWe will search the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL: The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with more than 20 participants per trial arm that have evaluated non-drug psychological or non-psychological interventions delivered via an eHealth modality and have pain as an outcome measure will be included. Two review authors will independently extract data and assess the study suitability in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool. Studies will be included if they measure at least one outcome variable in accordance with the IMMPACT guidelines (i.e. pain severity, pain interference, physical functioning, symptoms, emotional functioning, global improvement and disposition). Secondary outcomes will be measures of depression and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A network meta-analysis will be conducted based on direct comparisons to generate indirect comparisons of modalities across treatment trials, which will return rankings for the eHealth modalities in terms of their effectiveness.DiscussionMost trials that use an eHealth intervention to manage chronic pain typically use one modality. As a result, little evidence exists to support which modality type is the most effective. The current review will address this gap in the literature and compare the different eHealth modalities used for technology-assisted interventions for chronic pain. With the growing reliance and use of technology as a medium for delivering treatment for chronic conditions more generally, it is imperative that research identify the most efficacious eHealth modalities and systematically identify the most important features of such treatment types, so they may be replicated and used for research and in the provision of care.Trial registrationPROSPERO, CRD42016035595 Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-017-0414-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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