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This study aims to improve our understanding of social entrepreneurs' careers through narrative analysis of their life stories. Narratives are an important part of the study of career-related transitions, as they form, revise, and reconstruct identities, and drive agency. For this purpose, 24 in-depth semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted with Israeli social entrepreneurs. The findings point out a process which takes place in different spheres and moulds the life story of a social entrepreneur: the personality sphere; the family sphere, including family dynamics and significant childhood experiences; the social sphere, including formative events outside the family; and the moral sphere, which includes attitudes and ideologies. The entirety of spheres generates a consistent meta-narrative which promotes a theoretical integration between psychoanalytical and existential psychological theories and offers a deeper understanding of how and why people become social entrepreneurs.

We assessed the humoral and cellular response to the fourth BNT162b2 mRNA COVID‐19 vaccine dose in patients with CLL. A total of 67 patients with CLL and 85 age matched controls tested for serologic response and pseudo‐neutralization assay. We also tested the functional T‐cell response by interferon gamma (IFNγ) to spike protein in 26 patients. Two weeks after the fourth vaccine antibody serologic response was evident in 37 (55.2%) patients with CLL, 20 /22 (91%) of treatment naïve, and 9/32 (28%) patients with ongoing therapy, compared with 100% serologic response in age matched controls. The antibody titer increased by 10‐fold in patients with CLL, however, still 88‐folds lower than age matched controls. Predictors of better chances of post fourth vaccination serologic response were previous positive serologies after second, third, and pre‐fourth vaccination, neutralizing assay, and treatment naïve patients. T‐cell response improved from 42.3% before the fourth vaccine to 84.6% 2 weeks afterwards. During the time period of 3 months after the fourth vaccination, 14 patients (21%) developed COVID‐19 infection, all recovered uneventfully. Our data demonstrate that fourth SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination improves serologic response in patients with CLL to a lesser extent than healthy controls and induces functional T‐cell response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships between exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), as well as posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and somatic syndromes, have recently been exemplified. Exposure to PTEs can also set in motion complex psychological processes such as pain catastrophizing that is associated with PTSS and somatic syndromes. However, the specific moderating role of pain catastrophizing in these links remains relatively unexamined. The present study aims to assess a moderated mediation model in which catastrophizing will moderate the indirect effect of exposure to PTEs on the number of somatic symptoms and chronic pain severity via PTSS, among individuals with somatic syndromes. A volunteers' sample of 175 Israeli adults with varied somatic symptoms responded to online validated self-report questionnaires in a cross-sectional designed study. Participants' self-reported PTSS rates (57.1%) were high. PTSS and pain catastrophizing, but not exposure to PTEs, were related to chronic pain severity. Interestingly, a moderated mediation analysis indicated that the indirect effect of catastrophizing in the relation between exposure to PTEs and the number of somatic symptoms via PTSS existed only among those with high levels of catastrophizing. The present study highlights the assumption that functional somatic syndromes (FSS) have much in common. Our findings support a moderated mediation model that begins with exposure to PTEs that leads to PTSS, which in turn increase the number of somatic symptoms. Higher levels of pain catastrophizing might attenuate this indirect link by affecting the interpretation of PTSS and create a vulnerability to more somatic symptoms. Thus, changes in cognitive-sensory processing in the form of catastrophic thinking can affect psychobiological processes and heighten sensitivity to stimuli arising in the body and should be considered as possible target for future research and psychological interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The contribution of psychological risk factors to the intensification of pain experienced among individuals with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is relatively under-studied. The present study aims to explore associations between FMS-related somatic symptom severity and two personality tendencies: anxiety sensitivity (AS) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP). Furthermore, the relative contributions of these personality tendencies are examined vis-à-vis the experience of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and the psychopathology of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Methods A volunteer sample of 117 Israeli adults with FMS responded to online validated self-report questionnaires regarding their PTEs, PTSS, somatic symptom severity, FMS, AS, and SPP in a cross-sectional study. Results Participants' self-reported PTSS rates (61.5%) were high. AS and SPP were positively related to somatic symptom severity. Interestingly, we found that PTSS positively predicted the severity of somatic symptoms above and beyond the contributions of AS and SPP. Conclusions The present study supports the assumption that psychological risk factors may affect the expression of somatic symptoms and the interpretation of pain stimulus arising in the body that might eventually be experienced as excessively painful. The study also suggests that above and beyond psychological risk factors, PTSS may express a high predominance and affect pain perception among participants with FMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Acne scars are one of the most difficult disorders to treat in dermatology. The optimal treatment system will provide minimal downtime resurfacing for the epidermis and non-ablative deep volumetric heating for collagen remodeling in the dermis. A novel therapy system (EndyMed Ltd., Cesarea, Israel) uses phase-controlled multi-source radiofrequency (RF) to provide simultaneous one pulse microfractional resurfacing with simultaneous volumetric skin tightening. Methods. The study included 26 subjects (Fitzpatrick's skin type 2-5) with moderate to severe wrinkles and 4 subjects with depressed acne scars. Treatment was repeated each month up to a total of three treatment sessions. Patients' photographs were graded according to accepted scales by two uninvolved blinded evaluators. Results. Significant reduction in the depth of wrinkles and acne scars was noted 4 weeks after therapy with further improvement at the 3-month follow-up. Conclusion. Our data show the histological impact and clinical beneficial effects of simultaneous RF fractional microablation and volumetric deep dermal heating for the treatment of wrinkles and acne scars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have examined the trafficking of synaptotagmin (Syt) I and II in the mast cell line rat basophilic leukemia (RBL- 2H3). We demonstrate that both Syt I and Syt II travel through the plasma membrane and require endocytosis to reach their final intracellular localization. However, N- or C-terminal tagging of Syt II, but not of Syt I, prevents its internalization, trapping the tagged protein at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, a chimeric protein comprising a tagged luminal domain of Syt II fused with the remaining domains of Syt I also localizes to the plasma membrane, whereas a chimera consisting of tagged luminal domain of Syt I fused with Syt II colocalizes with Syt I on secretory granules. We also show that endocytosis of both Syt I and Syt II is strictly dependent on 0-glycosylation processing, whereby 0-glycosylation mutants of either protein fail to internalize and remain at the plasma membrane. Our results indicate that the luminal domains of Syt I and Syt II govern their internalization capacity from the plasma membrane and identify O-glycosylation as playing a crucial role in Syt trafficking in non-neuronal secretory cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the investigation of a Burkholderia pseudomallei strain isolated from the urine of a 56-year-old male returning from a recreational trip to Thailand. The patient initially presented with fever and chills, and lobar as well as bladder and prostate involvement was demonstrated on imaging. Treatment first involved trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, the backbone of melioidosis therapy, but was discontinued upon the discovery of resistance to the drug through antimicrobial sensitivity testing via broth microdilution. Further analysis included genomic sequencing, immunotyping, and phenotypic assessment, including virulence testing in an animal model. Results indicated that this strain is a distinct, novel variant with antigenic similarity to other Thai strains displaying high virulence, with a significantly low murine intranasal lethal dose 50% inoculum. The emergence of such a strain, particularly if prevalent in tourist destinations in Thailand, could pose a substantial public health risk, highlighting the need for ongoing vigilance among infectious disease specialists and clinical microbiologists.

Objectives: The contribution of psychological risk factors to the intensification of pain experienced among individuals with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is relatively under-studied. The present study aims to explore associations between FMS-related somatic symptom severity and two personality tendencies: anxiety sensitivity (AS) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP). Furthermore, the relative contributions of these personality tendencies are examined vis-à-vis the experience of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and the psychopathology of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)., Methods: A volunteer sample of 117 Israeli adults with FMS responded to online validated self-report questionnaires regarding their PTEs, PTSS, somatic symptom severity, FMS, AS, and SPP in a cross-sectional study., Results: Participants' self-reported PTSS rates (61.5%) were high. AS and SPP were positively related to somatic symptom severity. Interestingly, we found that PTSS positively predicted the severity of somatic symptoms above and beyond the contributions of AS and SPP., Conclusions: The present study supports the assumption that psychological risk factors may affect the expression of somatic symptoms and the interpretation of pain stimulus arising in the body that might eventually be experienced as excessively painful. The study also suggests that above and beyond psychological risk factors, PTSS may express a high predominance and affect pain perception among participants with FMS., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)