On Being Precarious

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Deirdre Flynn

In this essay, I reflect on my experience of part-time, fixed term, zero-hour, short-term, and unpaid contracts in academia. Precarious contracts are one of the biggest challenges facing our industry as neo-liberal values rule our institutions, impacting our teaching, research, and quality of life.

Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Sarfati ◽  
Blandine Bouchaud ◽  
Marie-Christine Hardy-Baylé

Summary: The cathartic effect of suicide is traditionally defined as the existence of a rapid, significant, and spontaneous decrease in the depressive symptoms of suicide attempters after the act. This study was designed to investigate short-term variations, following a suicide attempt by self-poisoning, of a number of other variables identified as suicidal risk factors: hopelessness, impulsivity, personality traits, and quality of life. Patients hospitalized less than 24 hours after a deliberate (moderate) overdose were presented with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression and Impulsivity Rating Scales, Hopelessness scale, MMPI and World Health Organization's Quality of Life questionnaire (abbreviated versions). They were also asked to complete the same scales and questionnaires 8 days after discharge. The study involved 39 patients, the average interval between initial and follow-up assessment being 13.5 days. All the scores improved significantly, with the exception of quality of life and three out of the eight personality traits. This finding emphasizes the fact that improvement is not limited to depressive symptoms and enables us to identify the relative importance of each studied variable as a risk factor for attempted suicide. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as in particular the nongeneralizability of the sample and setting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 512-522
Author(s):  
Xian Li ◽  
Long Xia ◽  
Xiaohui Ouyang ◽  
Qimuge Suyila ◽  
Liya Su ◽  
...  

<P>Background: Despite new agent development and short-term benefits in patients with Colorectal Cancer (CRC), metastatic CRC cure rates have not improved due to high rates of oxaliplatin resistance and toxicity. There is an urgent need for effective tools to prevent and treat CRC and reduce morbidity and mortality of CRC patients. Exploring the effects of bioactive peptides on the antitumor to CRC was of vital importance to the clinical application. </P><P> Objective: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic impact of Anticancer Bioactive Peptides (ACBP) on anticancer effect of oxaliplatin (LOHP) in human colorectal cancer xenografts models in nude mice. </P><P> Methods: HCT-116 cells were cultured in vitro via CCK-8 assays and the absorbance was measured at 450 nm. Apoptosis and cell cycle were assessed by Flow Cytometry (FCM) in vitro. HCT-116 human colorectal cancer cells inoculated subcutaneously in nude mice of treatment with PBS (GG), ACBP, LOHP, ACBP+LOHP (A+L) in vivo. The quality of life was assessed by dietary amount of nude mice, the weight of nude mice, inhibition rates, tumor weight and tumor volume. Immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR method was conducted to determine the levels of apoptosisregulating proteins/genes in transplanted tumors. </P><P> Results: ACBP induced substantial reductions in viable cell numbers and apoptosis of HCT116 cells in combined with LOHP in vitro. Compared with the control GG group, ACBP combined low dose oxaliplatin (U) group demonstrated significantly different tumor volume, the rate of apoptosis, the expression levels of Cyt-C, caspase-3,8,9 proteins and corresponding RNAs (P<0.05). The expression of pro-apoptotic proteins in the cytoplasm around the nucleus was significantly enhanced by ACBP. Short term intermittent use of ACBP alone indicted a certain inhibitory effect on tumor growth, and improve the quality of life of tumor bearing nude mice. </P><P> Conclusion: ACBP significantly increased the anti-cancer responses of low dose oxaliplatin (L-LOHP), thus, significantly improving the quality of life of tumor-bearing nude mice.</P>


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessie W. October ◽  
Amy H. Jones ◽  
Hannah Greenlick Michals ◽  
Lauren M. Hebert ◽  
Jiji Jiang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Raúl Méndez ◽  
Vicent Balanzá‐Martínez ◽  
Sussy C. Luperdi ◽  
Itziar Estrada ◽  
Ana Latorre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 867-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haidar Salimi Dafsari ◽  
Luisa Weiß ◽  
Monty Silverdale ◽  
Alexandra Rizos ◽  
Prashanth Reddy ◽  
...  

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