Psychosocial benefits and costs of activism among female migrant domestic workers in southern Spain.

Economic migrant women often experience oppressive living and working conditions in the receiving societies. Activism is a liberatory behavior these women may employ to transform such situations. This study explores the activism experience of female migrant domestic workers from Latin America settled in southern Spain, in terms of its psychosocial benefits and costs. A purposeful sample of eleven activist migrant women engaged in a grassroots organization of domestic workers and eight members of social organizations supporting their activities were interviewed in-depth individually. After a qualitative content analysis approach to the data, the study presents activism as a community engagement behavior with benefits such as the strengthening of social ties, sense of community, opportunities for sharing stories of oppression, and psychological empowerment. Activism also emerged as a demanding activity requiring high investments in time by activists and producing interpersonal conflicts, hopelessness, and burnout in some cases. Such costs may pose limits to its potential to produce well-being and liberation, implying challenges for research, intervention, and activism sustainability.

Transforming growth factor-ß plasma levels and its role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive muscle paralysis. Respiratory complications are the main cause of death in ALS. For this reason, initial respiratory status and its decline over disease progression are strong independent predictors of survival. Riluzole, a glutamatergic neurotransmission inhibitor, is the only drug that has shown to extend survival. Therefore, both novel molecular biomarkers and treatment strategies are needed. Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) family cytokines are important regulators of cell fate affecting both neurogenesis and neurodegeneration. Several studies demonstrate that TGF-ß signalling protects neurons from glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity, a recognized mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS. Recent studies report dysregulations of the TGF-ß system as a common feature of neurodegenerative disorders. The upregulation of this system has been linked with ALS progression. We have quantified TGF-ß1, TGF-ß2 and TGF-ß3 serum levels in 23 ALS patients and 12 healthy controls, our preliminary results support the hypothesis that TGF-ß3 levels can be a marker disease severity ALS. Further results are necessary to confirm this hypothesis.