Aid Activities Research Articles

Characterization of Pulmonary Fibroblast Response to Aspergillosis fumigatus Exposure and Clinical Implications on the Development of Invasive Aspergillosis

Aspergillosis fumigatus(AF) is a ubiquitous environmental mold that spreads by producing airborne conidia (spores). Playing a crucial role in the recycling of environmental carbon and nitrogen, A. fumigatus is inhaled abundantly by animals and humans alike. Unfortunately, it is also responsible for one of the worst life‐threatening pneumonias known as invasive aspergillosis with a mortality rate above 30%, even with treatment. Healthy individuals that are immunocompetent can quickly clear inhaled AF spores before their germination via immune cells. However, in immunocompromised individuals the inability to clear the fungus allows the spores to germinate releasing a plethora of proteolytic enzymes as they infiltrate the tissue resulting in severe damage to the lung. Recent studies have shown that the proper response of the immune system hinges upon complex cellular cross‐talk between resident interstitial cells and circulating immune cells. Tissue resident fibroblasts, which are responsible for the production and maintenance of the extracellular matrix (ECM), have been recently suggested to play a pivotal role in regulating immune response. We hypothesize that A. fumigatus‐induced damage to the lungs would result in activation of pulmonary fibroblasts (PFs) and aid in protective inflammatory response. Utilizing our recently developed in vivo cre‐loxP lineage tracing mouse models we have interrogated and manipulated all activated lung fibroblasts during AF infection, clearing, and reinfection. Data from our lab shows that PFs can be activated following acute inhalation of AF spores even when they are cleared from the lungs of immunocompetent mice before pathological tissue damage occurs. Furthermore, repeated AF infections which are pathologically asymptomatic result in the accumulation of activated PFs. Here we show for the first time that fibroblast activation occurs in both transient and chronic pulmonary infections revealing a role in the immunomodulatory response and subsequent development of pulmonary disease.

AID ACTIVITIES OF LODZ PARISHES BELONGING TO TWO CURRENTS OF CHRISTIANITY – CATHOLICISM AND EVANGELISM. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Charity and mercy, that is, selfless help to another person who is in need, are key concepts and commands in Christianity. However, these ordinances apply not only to individuals, but also to the church institutions that constitute local parishes at the lowest level of the organizational hierarchy. The largest religion in Poland in terms of the number of followers is Christianity. Its biggest groups in relation to its followers are Catholics (almost 94% of the Poles) and Protestants (in various factions, including almost a million Poles). Institutions belonging to both fractions carry out numerous aid activities on a national scale. However, comparative research at the micro level, i.e. on the example of individual cities, is rarely undertaken. The aim of the article is to characterize the aid activities carried out by parishes in Lodz belonging to two currents of Christianity – Catholicism and Protestantism. In particular, I intend to show the differences in the aid activities of the two denominations and determine their reasons.

IRF4 deficiency vulnerates B-cell progeny for leukemogenesis via somatically acquired Jak3 mutations conferring IL-7 hypersensitivity

The processes leading from disturbed B-cell development to adult B-cell progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) remain poorly understood. Here, we describe Irf4−/− mice as prone to developing BCP-ALL with age. Irf4−/− preB-I cells exhibited impaired differentiation but enhanced proliferation in response to IL-7, along with reduced retention in the IL-7 providing bone marrow niche due to decreased CXCL12 responsiveness. Thus selected, preB-I cells acquired Jak3 mutations, probably following irregular AID activity, resulting in malignant transformation. We demonstrate heightened IL-7 sensitivity due to Jak3 mutants, devise a model to explain it, and describe structural and functional similarities to Jak2 mutations often occurring in human Ph-like ALL. Finally, targeting JAK signaling with Ruxolitinib in vivo prolonged survival of mice bearing established Irf4−/− leukemia. Intriguingly, organ infiltration including leukemic meningeosis was selectively reduced without affecting blood blast counts. In this work, we present spontaneous leukemogenesis following IRF4 deficiency with potential implications for high-risk BCP-ALL in adult humans.

AIDS and the city: bathhouses, emplaced empathy and the de-sexualization of San Francisco

AbstractThis article traces territorial and discursive shifts in the landscape of homosexuality in San Francisco during the AIDS pandemic. I argue that a ‘de-sexualization’ of the urban landscape occurred, which I trace in debates about bathhouse closures (1983–85) and in the analysis of ARC/AIDS Vigil, a downtown activist encampment (1985–95). I trace ‘de-sexualization’ in the development of divergent forms of ‘emplaced empathy’ and the professionalization of AIDS activism between 1983 and 1990. Bathhouse iconography and associated affective forms of protest highlighted sex and eroticism, whereas representations of homosexuality at the Vigil highlighted the iconographies of domesticity and death.

Monitoring global development aid with machine learning

Monitoring global development aid provides important evidence for policymakers financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To overcome the limitations of existing monitoring, we develop a machine learning framework that enables a comprehensive and granular categorization of development aid activities based on their textual descriptions. Specifically, we cluster the descriptions of ~3.2 million aid activities conducted between 2000 and 2019 totalling US$2.8 trillion. As a result, we generated 173 activity clusters representing the topics of underlying aid activities. Among them, 70 activity clusters cover topics that have not yet been analysed empirically (for example, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and maternal health care). On the basis of our activity clusters, global development aid can be monitored for new topics and at new levels of granularity, allowing the identification of unexplored spatio-temporal disparities. Our framework can be adopted by development finance and policy institutions to promote evidence-based decisions targeting the SDGs. The sheer scale of global development aid projects and funding can be almost impenetrable for researchers and policymakers to derive broad trends, let alone specific topics. This machine learning analysis looks at 3.2 million separate aid activities over the past two decades to find clusters and categories for better targeting of development funds.

Black Mass; or, a Billion Plagues and More

Abstract This essay asks how we are to think the ethics of Black Lives Matter protest amid conditions of contagion in the summer of 2020. It argues that the multitude instantiated in these events didn't simply tolerate the biomedical damage that could result from such proximity, but that it stakes a claim for the ethical virtue of exposure and vulnerability. That these viral commonwealths apprehend not exactly Covid itself, but the risk of infection, as a figure for the historicity of Blackness under the necropolitics of medical apartheid and social death. In order to stage this counterintuitive valorization of risk, the essay examines the barebacking and bug chasing subcultures that emerged during the late 1990s. These communities, too, sourced means of filiation, intimacy, and minoritized historicity from their identification with—and desire for—HIV. Thinking these movements together also allows an overdue retelling of AIDS activism through the intersectional lens of a contemporary queer diaspora.

Erased by Respectability: The Intersections of AIDS, Race, and Gender in Black America

Abstract This article explores gender's relationship with white supremacy and respectability politics and the intersectional impact of the three on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Black community from the 1980s to 2000. The demonization of gay white men and erasure of white women from the HIV/AIDS epidemic evidenced that white supremacy does not distribute its privilege equally. Through a juxtaposition of my interview with HIV/AIDS advocate Ruselle Miller-Hill, a formerly incarcerated Black woman living with AIDS, and well-known AIDS activist and survivor Rae Lewis-Thornton, I examine the impact of internal gendered respectability politics in the Black community. The article also examines how these respectability politics painted Black women as the victims of duplicitous bisexual Black men to protect the former's respectability at the expense of their sexual autonomy.

Associations between adverse childhood experiences and adulthood substance use among lesbians

Objective: To investigate the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and substance use behaviors among lesbians to provide a scientific basis for high-risk population identification and formulation of targeted intervention measures. Methods: Lesbians who participated in routine AIDS voluntary counseling, testing services, activities, and peer recommendations were recruited from July to December 2018, with the help of LesPark in Beijing. Convenient sampling method was used. Demographic characteristics, ACE, and substance use behaviors of subjects were investigated using an online platform powered by www.wjx.cn. Subsequently, the associations between ACE and adulthood substance use behaviors were evaluated using the logistic regression model. The SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 294 lesbians were recruited in the study, 81.3% (239/294) of them were lesbians, and 18.7% (55/294) were bisexuals. Besides, 55.8% (164/294) of subjects reported they had had ACE, with proportions of lesbians experiencing abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction as 33.3% (98/294), 24.5% (72/294), and 32.7% (96/294), respectively. 55.1% (162/294) of the lesbians reported they had smoked in the past 30 days, 11.2% (33/294) reported having drug-use behavior in the past three months, and 22.8% (67/294) claimed drinking alcohol weekly. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that lesbians with ACE were at high risks to smoke (OR=1.87, 95%CI: 1.13-3.08), drink (OR=2.13, 95%CI: 1.18-3.84), and use drugs (OR=3.33, 95%CI: 1.29-8.61) in adulthood. Moreover, lesbians with childhood family dysfunction were at higher risk of smoking cigarettes (OR=2.60, 95%CI: 1.46-4.62) and drinking alcohol (OR=2.65, 95%CI: 1.44-4.87). At the same time, those with abuse experience were at higher risk of drug use (OR=3.17, 95%CI: 1.26-7.96). Conclusions: Substance use behaviors, including cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and drugs use, were common among lesbians. Positive associations were found between ACE and adulthood substance use behaviors.

AIDS activism from the beginning

On March 10, 1987, playwright Larry Kramer gave a lecture at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York (NY, USA). “ In five years time, half of you will be dead”, he told the audience. He urged the crowd to take action. It had been six devastating years since the New York Times headline, “rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals” (homeless communities in New York had known about a wasting syndrome they called “the dwindles” for even longer, and they had established a nickname for pneumocystis pneumonia).

How to guarantee food supply during pandemics? Rethinking local food systems from peri-urban strategic agents’ behaviour: The case study of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a warning for the world’s current food system, especially in urban contexts with global food dependence. This article aims to analyse the food system behaviour of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (in the northeast of Spain) during the first stage of the pandemic by deepening the behaviour of different peri-urban agricultural areas in which local food supply is promoted. Semi-structured interviews to 11 entities and institutions located in the peri-urban area of the BMR based on its productive and management profile have been carried out from March to May 2020. The results obtained highlight the socio-economic, environmental, and health perspective of food supply during the pandemic. Main results show 1) shortcomings in the operation and logistics of the metropolitan food system; 2) the complicity between the local producer and the urban consumer through new sales and distribution initiatives, 3) the role of peri-urban agricultural areas for ensuring food supply and land preservation, and 4) the need to initiate cooperation and mutual aid activities between the different agents involved in the food system. Furthermore, agents underlined the need for rethinking the agroeconomic model to strengthening the producer-consumer nexus and promoting local food policy based on food sustainability, sovereignty, and governance.

AID FOR AFRICA AS ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY POLISH NGOs: LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

This article tackles the issue of aid for African states. Africa is one of the poorest continents, with many people living on the verge of poverty and suffering from malnutrition or famine. Hence, the humanitarian aid provided to the people of this continent is of particular importance. In Poland, such aid activities undertake entities defined in the Polish legal system as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs also conduct many other kinds of activities. The Act on public benefit and volunteer work is an example of creating legal mechanisms for the functioning of civil society in the legal system to provide international aid to those it needs. Assisting other societies is important for modern civil society the same as political or economic cooperations are. The role of NGOs operating in health protection, education, or entrepreneurship areas is crucially important. The authors of this paper discuss the issue of the said aid provided by selected Polish NGOs. The article aims to determine the extent and scope of the assistance to African countries provided by the NGOs, based on the respondents' experiences, whether such assistance is necessary, and what form it should take.

A Litany of Saints: Remembering the Early Years of HIV/AIDS Activism in the First Year of a New Pandemic

With the emergence of COVID-19 in the U.S., many LGBTQ people found ourselves reflecting upon the early years of HIV/AIDS and how our communities responded to the lack of robust federal and state response to this preceding public health crisis. As the leaders of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center (BSC) in eastern Pennsylvania became a central resource for our community sharing up-to-date information about COVID-19 and organizing vaccine clinics, they also recognized the historic nature of this moment as many elders in our community consistently tried to make sense of the current crisis by contemplating their past AIDS activism and organizing. In March of 2020, BSC staff and archivists received grant funding to conduct an oral history project called "40 Years of Public Health in the LGBTQ Community: Collecting and Curating Local LGBTQ Health Experiences From HIV/AIDS to COVID-19," which recorded both timely commentary on the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ people and memories of HIV/AIDS organizing that seemed urgent and relevant to our contemporary moment. Offering excerpts from oral histories collected in 2020, this piece explores how COVID-19 spurred LGBTQ people in the Lehigh Valley to share stories about communal grief, health inequity, political responses to pandemics, and organizing to support the health of minoritized communities.

RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE READINESS OF FUTURE CORRECTIONAL EDUCATORS FOR VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

Theoretical generalizations of the main research results were made and a practical solution to the research problem of preparing future correctional teachers for volunteer activities with children with special educational needs was presented. It was determined that the volunteer activity of students – future correctional teachers is an integral part of their professional training. It is in the role of volunteers that students get their first active experience of interacting with children with special educational needs. The aggravation of current social problems and the lack of a perfect system of providing the necessary services to vulnerable sections of the population, including children with special educational needs, contribute to the activation of voluntary aid. The problem of involving student youth in volunteering sounds quite acute. After all, according to scientists, student age is “determining”, because it is during this period that the worldview of an individual is formed. Volunteering directly affects the formation of student values. In addition, the involvement of young people in volunteer activities allows improving their professional training. At the first stage of the research, the analysis of the educational and professional program “Special Education (Oligophrenopedagogy)” of the first (bachelor’s) level of education in the specialty 016 “Special Education” was carried out. The analysis of educational and professional programs was carried out on the subject of the presence of disciplines in them, which include the study of the peculiarities of the implementation of volunteer activities in special education. At the second stage of the experiment, a questionnaire was conducted among students studying in the specialty 016 “Special Education”. The survey was conducted anonymously. By ensuring complete anonymity, the questionnaire method makes it possible to more effectively investigate the problem and its moral and ethical aspects. The survey program proposed by us is a continuous study in terms of complete coverage, part-time in terms of the researcher’s communication method with respondents, and mass in terms of the number of respondents. When creating the questionnaire, we took into account the principles of its construction. At the beginning, there is an introductory part, which states who conducts the survey and for what purpose, includes instructions for filling it out, and information on how to return the completed questionnaire.

Społeczny rynek współczucia, targi o współczucie i społeczna przestrzeń zinstytucjonalizowanej bezkarności. Kryzysy humanitarne w Polsce w latach 2021–2022

Centralnym pojęciem artykułu jest współczucie, analizowane jako zjawisko społeczne i kategoria, która może znaleźć zastosowanie w interpretacjach indywidualnych i zbiorowych zachowań oraz postaw. W sporach światopoglądowych, jakie toczą się obecnie w przestrzeni publicznej, ujawnia się mechanizm znany w socjologii z analiz biedy i wykluczenia społecznego – a mianowicie podział na zasługujących na współczucie i tych, którym współczucia odmówić należy. Uzasadnienia tego podziału, odwołujące się do sfery aksjologicznej, ujawniają się także ze szczególną ostrością w sytuacji kryzysów humanitarnych – tego na granicy polsko-białoruskiej oraz tego spowodowanego powtórną agresją Rosji wobec Ukrainy, w różnym stosunku do „bliższych” i „dalszych” Obcych. Stoję na stanowisku, że uzasadnienia odwołujące się do kategorii współczucia, zawarte w poznawczym komponencie postaw, tworzą społeczny rynek współczucia, konceptualizowany jako przestrzeń, w której odbywają się dyskursywne w swym charakterze targi o współczucie. Jednocześnie uzasadnienia te stanowią podstawę praktyk społecznych, zarówno działań o charakterze pomocowym i ratowniczym jednostek, samoorganizujących się grup identyfikujących się ze społeczeństwem obywatelskim oraz organizacji pozarządowych odwołujących się do wartości wspólnoty i humanitas, jak i formalnych oraz nieformalnych działań anormatywnych podejmowanych przez aktorów społecznych w społecznej przestrzeni (zinstytucjonalizowanej) bezkarności.

THE ROLE AND PLACE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AID FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED FAMILIES DURING MARTIAL LAW

The purpose of the article is to analyze the organization of the system of psychological aid to internally displaced families who have experienced crises (combat operations). The article generalizes scientific and methodological sources devoted to particularities of the organization of psychological aid to internally displaced families during martial law. The components of the system of mental health development and psychosocial support, which would contribute to the organization of self-help, adaptation and the formation of resistance to stress factors in the affected population, are specified. The author provides an example of the organization of psychological support for children and adults from the above-mentioned category, which includes psychological first aid and enrichment activities aimed at improving psychosocial resistance to stress in children, in particular, strengthening the role of positive activities, developing skills to manage psychological reactions, promoting positive thinking, and restoring supportive social ties. The primary objective of educational training with internally displaced families is to enhance the social-psychological response of children and their families affected by the crisis, reduce the social-psychological consequences of trauma, and ensure stable access to psychological help. In the context of a military conflict, timely first psychological aid becomes relevant. Such help is offered to people who have just or recently experienced traumatic events and have a negative mental state. Experts note that such help can be provided by everyone who is nearby, and not only by specialists through professional consultations. Psychological first aid involves providing the injured person with emotional, physical, and social support, strengthening the sense of security. First of all, internally displaced families want to meet their basic needs and access relevant services and assistance in solving their new problems. The most common needs are finding temporary housing, food, water, sanitation, renewing health care services for people with injuries or chronic diseases, or long-term health disorders, re-establishing contact with loved ones and friends, and accessing a special kind of support regarding the culture or religion of these people.

The passing of an AIDS Activist: in memorium, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu

The passing of an AIDS Activist: in memorium, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu

Empowerment in Social Workers and Academic Teachers Training

The modern world is currently facing new social threats, which pose a challenge to the existing aid systems. Circumstances like intensive migration processes or the uncertain situation resulting from ongoing military conflicts cause increased cultural differences, which intensify the marginalisation and social exclusion of minority groups. The Acting in Context by Training the Trainers in Social Empowerment (ACTTE) project was prepared to respond to emerging needs. The project was implemented in a consortium of 4 universities and 4 NGOs from Poland, France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. The main goals of the project were: (1) development of tools for intervention work (toolbox) based on the Empowerment concept (emphasising increased control over one’s own life, self-confidence, and one’s abilities, and social integration among recipients of aid activities) for employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with marginalised and socially excluded people as well as academic teachers educating future educators and social workers, (2) developing competencies/skills in DPA (Developing the Power to Act) – an approach using the concept of Empowerment in people participating in training (both NGO employees and academic teachers). The article focuses on the project’s implementation process.

Praktyka pracy socjalnej jako komunikacja międzykulturowa

Social Work Practice as Intercultural Communication In this essay I take a look at the theory of intercultural communication. I try to find inspirations for social work practice in the texts of the most important Polish scholars dealing with this topic. I point out that the application potential of research on intercultural communication goes beyond the field of cross-cultural education and aid activities for migrants and national minorities. Referring to Leszek Korporowicz, I consider intercultural space to go beyond the sphere of contacts between people of different national and ethnic identities. This approach allows me to look at the contact between the client and the social worker as a form of intercultural communication.

Psychological First Aid of Batstate U Lemery Student Organizations

In academe, Psychological First Aid contributes substantially to assist those with emotional distress. Its goal is to be supportive of stress-related reactions, so the researchers were prompted to assess the psychological first aid of BatState-U Lemery student organizations. To achieve the purpose, profile variables were identified in terms of age, sex, department, and college as well as the activities facilitated by student organizations that foster psychological first aid core values. Moreover, the effectiveness of the psychological first aid activities of the students’ organization was also assessed in terms of contact and engagement, safety and comfort, stabilization, information gathering, current needs and concerns, practical assistance, connection with social support, information in coping and linkage with collaborative service. The significant difference in the respondent’s assessment of the affected variables when grouped according to their profile was also determined. Specifically, this study utilized descriptive method research which was participated by 291 students of the said campus. The study utilized the sampling method of research and used a survey questionnaire as the main data gathering instrument through Google Forms. Data collected were tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using statistical treatment such as weighted mean and independent t-test. Findings revealed that the majority of the respondents belonged to the age bracket of 20-22, female, and from the College of Accountancy and Business Economics. The webinar was the activity of BatStateU Lemery student organizations that mostly fostered Psychological First Aid Core Values to the students while culminating activity was least fostered. All Psychological First Aid Core values were effectively used and fostered by the student organizations of BatStateU Lemery. Consequently, there was no significant relationship between the profile of respondents in terms of age, sex, and college department in the psychological first aid core values. Thus, a strategy plan for Student Organizations and Activities (SOA) was recommended to strengthen and foster Psychological First Aid to the students.

Działalność konspiracyjna Żydów w Krakowie jako reakcja na niemiecką politykę Zagłady

This article presents a detailed history of what the underground resistance of Krakow’s Jews consisted of during the Second World War. It incorporates examples of different types of passive resistance applied as well as the history of illegal organisations that undertook aid activities and Jewish partisan actions. The activities of the partisans in the Krakow forests is scrutinised, together with how contact networks and the production of illegal documents were organised. The article contains a comprehensive analysis of the greatest military achievement of Krakow Jews, known as “attack on Bohemia”, which was remembered as a momentous occasion. Finally, the article shows the evo-lution of the idea of resistance to the Germans and their anti-Jewish policy among Jewish youth.