Cultural Representations of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Background/Objective: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by unstable interpersonal relationships, impulsivity, and self-harm. There are many distinct stressors that predispose individuals to develop BPD or engage in self-harm behaviors. The objective of this systematic review was to compare methods of self-harm and psychological stressors in BPD across different cultures. Methods: A PubMed database search was conducted with the goal of capturing all articles (n = 22) that discussed methods of self-harm in BPD in any culture. Data extracted from the articles included methods of self-harm, psychological stressors, sample size, rurality, geographical location, and proportion of males to females. Results: Key differences were noted in the methods of self-harm. Eastern nations (n = 5) reported higher rates of self-poisoning (60%) than Western nations (11%). Western nations (n = 9) reported higher rates of skin-mutilating behavior (100%) than Eastern nations (80%). Two of the articles included participants from rural settings, one in the Sundarban region of India and the other in Mississippi. Notably, the Sundarban region reported the highest rate of poisoning (93%) whereas the Mississippi region reported high rates of skin mutilation. Differences were also noted in psychological stressors as the rates of interpersonal problems were higher in Western than in Eastern nations. Conclusions: Additional research should be conducted into the presentation of BPD in different cultures. An improved understanding of the cultural presentations of BPD could improve diagnosis and treatment in various populations.

Multiparameter urine analysis for quantitative bladder cancer surveillance of orthotopic xenografted mice.

The human-derived orthotopic xenograft mouse model is an effective platform for performing in vivo bladder cancer studies to examine tumor development, metastasis, and therapeutic effects of drugs. To date, the surveillance of tumor progression in real time for orthotopic bladder xenografts is highly dependent on semi-quantitative in vivo imaging technologies such as bioluminescence. While these imaging technologies can estimate tumor progression, they are burdened with requirements such as anesthetics, specialized equipment, and genetic modification of the injected cell line. Thus, a convenient and non-invasive technology to quantitatively monitor the growth of bladder cancer in orthotopic xenografts is highly desired. In this work, using a microfluidic chemiluminescent ELISA platform, we have successfully developed a rapid, multiparameter urine-based and non-invasive biomolecular prognostic technology for orthotopic bladder cancer xenografts. This method consists of two steps. First, the concentrations of a panel of four urinary biomarkers are quantified from the urine of mice bearing orthotopic bladder xenografts. Second, machine learning and principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms are applied to analyze the urinary biomarkers, and subsequently, a score is assigned to indicate the tumor growth. With this methodology, we have quantitatively monitored the orthotopic growth of human bladder cancer that was inoculated with low, medium, and high cancer cell numbers. We also employed this method and performed a proof of principle experiment to examine the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of the EGFR inhibitor, dacomitinib.