Caenorhabditis Elegans Exhibits Morphine Addiction-like Behavior via the Opioid-like Receptor NPR-17

Addiction has become a profound societal problem worldwide, and few effective treatments are available. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is an excellent invertebrate model to study neurobiological disease states. C. elegans reportedly developed a preference for cues that had previously been paired with addictive drugs, similar to place conditioning findings in rodents. Moreover, several recent studies discovered and reported the existence of an opioid-like system in C. elegans. Still unclear, however, is whether C. elegans exhibits addictive-like behaviors for opioids, such as morphine. In the present study, we found that C. elegans exhibited dose-dependent preference for morphine using the conditioned chemosensory-cue preference (CCP) test. This preference was blocked by co-treatment with the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. C. elegans also exhibited aversion to naloxone-precipitated withdrawal from chronic morphine exposure. The expression of morphine-induced CCP and morphine withdrawal were abolished in worms that lacked the opioid-like receptor NPR-17. Dopamine-deficient mutant (cat-2 (e1112)) worms also did not exhibit morphine-induced CCP. These results indicate that the addictive function of the opioid system exists in C. elegans, which may serve as a useful model of opioid addiction.

Motives, Supporting Activities, and Selection Criteria of Social Impact Incubators: An Experimental Conjoint Study

Social impact incubators (SIIs) are a new type of incubator that support social enterprises (SEs) in their early business stages to foster and develop their hybrid objectives. However, research on SIIs is still scarce, and little is known about SIIs’ motives, supporting activities, and selection criteria. In investigating 71 SII decision-makers, we find the societal duty motive stated as “most important,” while the financial motive is stated as “least important.” Furthermore, we identify the authenticity of the founding team and the importance of the societal problem addressed as SIIs’ most important selection criteria. However, significant heterogeneity exists within the group of SIIs with regard to their selection criteria. In particular, SIIs with strong innovation and societal duty motives stand out and differ in their SE selection criteria from other SIIs. Our results extend prior research on SIIs and contribute to the discussion on the selection criteria of SE supporters.

Online harassment in Japan: Dissecting the targeting of a female journalist

Harassment on the Internet, particularly on social media such as Twitter, has reached a level where it can, without exaggeration, be characterised as a real-world societal problem in Japan. However, studies on this phenomenon in the Japanese language environment, especially adopting a victim-centric perspective, are rare. In this paper, we incorporated the concept of online harassment and reviewed existing studies about online harassment from Japan and abroad. We then conducted a detailed case analysis of the “flaming” of a female journalist and those who targeted her on Twitter. Based on our analysis, we observed that there were three layers of users who targeted the journalist: influencers, users who responded to the instigation by influencers, and trolls. Each harassed the journalist, but in a different manner. Given Japan’s particular difficulty of imposing domestic regulations on social media companies that are mostly from abroad, we propose and describe possible measures that individuals and their employers should consider taking.

The Immunomodulatory Effects of Social Isolation in Mice are Linked to Temperature Control

Living in isolation is considered an emerging societal problem that negatively affects the physical wellbeing of its sufferers in ways that we are just starting to appreciate. This study investigates the immunomodulatory effects of social isolation in mice, utilising a two-week program of sole cage occupancy followed by the testing of immune-inflammatory resilience to bacterial sepsis. Our results revealed that mice housed in social isolation showed an increased ability to clear bacterial infection compared to control socially housed animals. These effects were associated with specific changes in whole blood gene expression profile and an increased production of classical pro-inflammatory cytokines. Interestingly, equipping socially isolated mice with artificial nests as a substitute for their natural huddling behaviour reversed the increased resistance to bacterial sepsis. These results further highlight the ability of the immune system to act as a sensor of our living conditions and to respond in a compensatory fashion to external challenges that might threaten the survival of the host.

Graves' disease: pathophysiological aspects and considerations about using the chemometric analysis in the study of the disease

Graves’ disease is an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism). Thyroid disorders are a societal problem of great public concern because of their high prevalence. This problem can affect the well-being and quality of life of patients. The predisposing factors leading to this disease are not yet fully established and are likely to be interconnected in a complex way.  Chemometric analysis allows for the detection of specific relationships between the medical parameter measurements obtained from the patients in an observation group, and the identification of patterns of similarity between these patients. It is not commonly used in clinical trials; however, it can provide reliable information which may help in creating more successful, individualised treatment strategies for established groups (patterns) of patients. The aim of this review is to summarize the latest knowledge about the risk factors for Graves’ disease and considerations about using the chemometric analysis in the study of the disease.

On which common ground to build? Transferable knowledge across cases in transdisciplinary sustainability research

To support societal problem solving, transdisciplinary research (TDR) uses knowledge co-production focusing on relevance and validity in a studied case and its particular social–ecological context. In the first instance, the resulting situated knowledge seems to be restricted to these single cases. However, if some of the knowledge generated in TDR could be used in other research projects, this would imply that there is a body of knowledge representing this special type of research. This study used a qualitative approach based on the methodology of grounded theory to empirically examine what knowledge is considered transferable to other cases, if any. 30 leaders of 12 Swiss-based TDR projects in the field of sustainable development were interviewed, representing both academia and practice. The transferable knowledge we found consists of the following: (1) Transdisciplinary principles, (2) transdisciplinary approaches, (3) systematic procedures, (4) product formats, (5) experiential know-how, (6) framings and (7) insights, data and information. The discussion of TDR has predominantly been focusing on transdisciplinary principles and approaches. In order to take knowledge co-production in TDR beyond an unmanageable field of case studies, more efforts in developing and critically discussing transferable knowledge of the other classes are needed, foremost systematic procedures, product formats and framings.

Betrokken vertwijfeling: een intersectionele analyse van partnergeweld in de huisartsenpraktijk

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major societal problem with significant healthcare implications. The consequences of this kind of violence result in victims (and perpetrators) regularly needing healthcare. Various structural barriers can prevent victims from accessing services or result in inadequate responses to their needs. International research shows that general practitioners can play an important role in tackling IPV but that they also are confronted with various difficulties themselves. Drawing on seventeen in-depth interviews with general practitioners in Flanders, we discuss in this article the experiences of GPs who come across IPV in their health care practice. We use an intersectional approach to better understand the difficulties GPs face by looking at the complexity underlying these cases and by exploring GPs’ understanding of vulnerabilities of marginalised groups. A thematic data analysis was applied. Using a number of case studies, we found that GPs are confronted with various structural barriers that complicate the care of patients who are victims of IPV. This gives rise to alternative care strategies, which are based on a sentiment of ‘involved incertitude’.

An Outcome-Centered Comparative Analysis of Counter-Human Trafficking Coalitions in the Global South

A recurring set of questions in the multidisciplinary literature on interorganizational collaboration concerns the relationships between collaboration structures, processes, activities, and outcomes for the coalition as well the societal problem(s) the coalition seeks to address. These questions apply to counter-human trafficking coalitions as well. This mixed-method study helps address several gaps in extant scholarship via a comparative analysis of three nationally-scoped, counter-human trafficking coalitions comprised of nonprofit organizations operating in Global South countries. The key finding is that constructive leadership practices explain positive outcomes in ways that structures and activities do not. Implications are articulated for coalition leaders.

Genome Editing in Livestock, Complicity, and the Technological Fix Objection

Genome editing in livestock could potentially be used in ways that help resolve some of the most urgent and serious global problems pertaining to livestock, including animal suffering, pollution, antimicrobial resistance, and the spread of infectious disease. But despite this potential, some may object to pursuing it, not because genome editing is wrong in and of itself, but because it is the wrong kind of solution to the problems it addresses: it is merely a ‘technological fix’ to a complex societal problem. Yet though this objection might have wide intuitive appeal, it is often not clear what, exactly, the moral problem is supposed to be. The aim of this paper is to formulate and shed some light on the ‘technological fix objection’ to genome editing in livestock. I suggest that three concerns may underlie it, make implicit assumptions underlying the concerns explicit, and cast some doubt on several of these assumptions, at least as they apply to the use of genome editing to produce pigs resistant to the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome and hornless dairy cattle. I then suggest that the third, and most important, concern could be framed as a concern about complicity in factory farming. I suggest ways to evaluate this concern, and to reduce or offset any complicity in factory farming. Thinking of genome editing’s contribution to factory farming in terms of complicity, may, I suggest, tie it more explicitly and strongly to the wider obligations that come with pursuing it, including the cessation of factory farming, thereby addressing the concern that technological fixes focus only on a narrow problem.

Striving ‘Against All Odds’ to Reduce Prejudice toward Immigrants and Refugees

The recent public and political response to immigration and refugee asylum around the world reveals that prejudice toward migrants remains a preeminent societal problem. In response to the growing political unrest towards migrants, The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) developed the web-based video game, Against All Odds, which has players take on the role of a refugee and experience the struggles they go through. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to investigate the potential of intergroup contact using a video game (i.e., Against All Odds) in changing attitudes toward migrant populations—specifically, refugees. In addition, this study explores four potential affordances of the media in the contact space that may mediate the change.