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Mitosis induces cellular rearrangements like spindle formation, Golgi fragmentation, and nuclear envelope breakdown. Similar to certain retroviruses, nuclear delivery during entry of human papillomavirus (HPV) genomes is facilitated by mitosis, during which minor capsid protein L2 tethers viral DNA to mitotic chromosomes. However, the mechanism of viral genome delivery and tethering to condensed chromosomes is barely understood. It is unclear, which cellular proteins facilitate this process or how this process is regulated. This work identifies crucial phosphorylations on HPV minor capsid protein L2 occurring at mitosis onset. L2’s chromosome binding region (CBR) is sequentially phosphorylated by the master mitotic kinases CDK1 and PLK1. L2 phosphorylation, thus, regulates timely delivery of HPV vDNA to mitotic chromatin during mitosis. In summary, our work demonstrates a crucial role of mitotic kinases for nuclear delivery of viral DNA and provides important insights into the molecular mechanism of pathogen import into the nucleus during mitosis. Human papillomavirus (HPV) coopts mitosis for nuclear entry by tethering the viral DNA to mitotic chromosomes, a process facilitated by the viral minor capsid protein L2. Here, Rizzato et al. show that L2 contains conserved phosphorylation motifs within the chromosome-binding region and provide evidence that host master mitotic kinases CDK1 and PLK1 sequentially mediate phosphorylation of L2 at mitosis onset to allow timely tethering of viral DNA to mitotic chromosomes.

Cultural immersion exercises, used often in counselor education, can effectively challenge student biases and encourage interaction with persons outside of the student’s own community or comfort zone. Through such exercises students belonging to minoritized groups may choose to address biases they hold for members of dominant groups who have discriminated against them, yet this dynamic has not been adequately studied. A thematic narrative analysis of student journal entries during a cultural immersion experience illuminated distinct qualities of their developmental processes. Implications for how counselor educators can support minoritized students’ growth in cultural responsiveness (and self-care) through such immersion experiences are emphasized.

Commitment to anti-racism and multicultural and social justice counseling competence (MSJCC) are lifelong pursuits that require practice. With a multiple case study design, we analyzed relevant processes and outcomes of a six-month group for counselors invested in continuing this development. Group meetings regularly included mindfulness exercises, reviewing anti-racist material assigned for discussion, and setting actionable goals for advocacy. Results indicated that development in MSJCC action self-efficacy differed across participants, whereas development in mindfulness was more consistently positive. Themes in action goals displayed an emphasis on knowledge-oriented, internal actions as opposed to externally observable, advocacy and activism behaviors. Finally, group members reported higher average positive affect relative to negative affect. Implications for continuing counselors’ developmental trajectory in anti-racism in the field are discussed.

Background The prevalence and health consequences of eating disorders and weight stigmatization have prompted increasing discussion of potential policy actions to address these public health issues. The present study aimed to assess support for policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigmatization among the general public and relevant health professionals. Methods An Internet survey was fielded to a national sample of 944 US adults and 1,420 members of professional organizations specializing in eating disorders to examine their support for 23 potential policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigma. Participants also rated policy actions according to their potential for positive impact and feasible implementation. Results Support for the majority of health and social policies was high in both samples. For example, strategies to 1) improve school-based health curriculum to include content aimed at preventing eating disorders, 2) require training for educators and health providers on the prevention and early identification of eating disorders, and 3) implement school-based anti-bullying policies that that protect students from being bullied about their weight, were supported by over two-thirds of participants. Conclusions Our findings suggest that both health and social policy actions will be important in broader policy initiatives to address eating disorders and weight stigma.

Predictors of broaching race for trainees and professionals (N = 85) seeing clients were examined in a correlational design. Results showed multicultural competence was a strong positive predictor of broaching, color blindness was a moderate negative predictor, and interpersonal communication as a predictor was mediated by multicultural competence. Demographics and experience were also studied to guide recommendations for broaching.

Cultural immersion is a critical educational activity for developing greater cultural responsiveness. Analyzing journal entries written by students throughout their cultural immersion, we identified students' motivations, learning processes, and outcomes. Findings suggested developmental pathways that may assist counselor educators in stimulating meaningful student reflection across their immersion experiences.

This article examines whether adolescent females involved in the juvenile justice system, who were never gang members but have had boyfriends who were gang members, are at higher risk for negative psychological, relationship and sexual risk outcomes compared to their counterparts. Data were collected from a convenience sample of African American adolescent females involved in the juvenile justice system, age 13–17, currently incarcerated in a short-term detention facility in Georgia (N = 137). Multiple logistic regression models controlling for age and SES documented that having a gang-involved boyfriend was associated with a greater risk for emotional and physical abuse, depression, PTSD, drug use, diminished perceived life chances and a variety of sexual risk predictors, such as decreased relationship control, partner infidelity, shorter time to sex with a casual sexual partner and reduced likelihood of HIV testing. These findings suggest that these women should be included in early prevention and intervention initiatives traditionally targeted at youth involved in gangs.

State anti-bullying laws have been enacted across the United States to address bullying both by and of youths. Although these statutes can provide critical protection to youth, there is debate about whether such laws should enumerate protected classes of youth. Weight-based bullying is an increasingly prevalent form of harassment and it has been overlooked in policy initiatives. Enumeration in existing laws might help protect overweight victims. As no research has examined this issue, we conducted a national survey of American adults (N= 1155) to assess public opinion about enactment of anti-bullying laws that vary according to whether or not they enumerate distinguishing characteristics. Our results demonstrated substantial public agreement (ranging from 2/3 to 3/4 of participants) with enactment of state and federal anti-bullying laws that enumerate distinguishing characteristics, including physical appearance and weight, which are currently absent in most statutes. Our evidence can inform policy and legal approaches to protect youth effectively from bullying.

One out of nine African-American men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, resulting in many African-American women losing their primary romantic partners to incarceration. Research suggests that partner incarceration may contribute to increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); however, factors associated with women’s decisions to begin new sexual partnerships following partner incarceration (i.e., separational concurrency) have not been well studied. This study examined the social context relevant to initiating separational concurrency, following incarceration of a primary male partner. Cross-sectional secondary data analysis of 6-month follow-up data from the CHAT Project, a social-network based HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention study in Baltimore, MD, USA. Participants were N  = 196 African-American women, who reported ever having had a partner who was incarcerated for at least 6 months during the relationship. The majority (81.5 %) of women were unemployed with a mean age of 41.7 years. Over half of the sample (59.5 %) reported having used crack or heroin at least once in the previous 12 months; 48.5 % of the women had experienced physical abuse, with over half of the sample reporting a lifetime history of emotional abuse (54.6 %). Separational concurrency, defined as answering yes to the item, “While [your] partner was incarcerated, did you have any other sexual partners?,” was the primary outcome measure. After adjusting for age, drug use and unemployment the multiple logistic regression model found that women who reported a history of physical or emotional abuse were over two times as likely to report separational concurrency than women without an abuse history [adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 2.24; 95 % CI, 1.24, 4.05; p  = .007 and AOR, 2.44; 95 % CI, 1.33, 4.46; p  = .004, respectively]. Individuals who reported a higher number of drug-using sex partners (AOR, 2.49; 95 % CI, 1.4, 4.5; p  = .002), sex exchange partners (AOR, 4.0; 95 % CI, 1.8 8.9; p  = .001), and sexual partners who engaged in concurrency (AOR: 2.67; 95 % CI: 1.5, 4.8; p  = .001) were significantly more likely to report separational concurrency. Conversely, participants who reported more female kin in their social networks (AOR, .808; 95 % CI, .67, .97; p  = .025), having known network members a longer time (AOR, .997; 95 % CI, .993, .999; p  = .043), and higher levels of trust for network members (AOR, .761; 95 % CI, .63, .92; p  = .005) were significantly less likely to report separational concurrency. Results of this study demonstrate that social network characteristics may be crucial to understanding separational concurrency among African-American urban women who have lost a partner to incarceration. Social network and other resource-based interventions, which provide instrumental, social, and economic resources to women who have experienced the loss of a partner to incarceration, may be important tools in empowering women and helping to reduce the disproportionate burden of STIs/HIV among low income, African-American women.

Evidence suggests that men with recent histories of incarceration are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual activity, however there is limited research exploring how having been recently released from prison might impact men's sexual risk behaviours or sexual partnering. This qualitative study explores the ways in which exposure to incarceration impacts the dynamics of sexual partnering among recently released Black men in Baltimore, USA. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 recently released Black men between 21-45 years of age living in the city. Data were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive approaches. Participants reported that women living in the neighbourhoods to which they returned found recently released men to be highly desirable sexual partners because they offered increased potential for sexual gratification, were perceived as healthier than other sexual partners in their communities and represented opportunities for attaining financial stability and the potential for establishing romantic partnerships. As a result, men reported they had more opportunities for sex and more power to negotiate sex with women. Recently released Black men's perceptions of their own sexual desirability among women raise important implications regarding power in the sexual relationships of recently released men that may increase HIV- and sexually transmitted infection-related risk for recently released men and their sexual partners.