bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of smoking and diet on glycated haemoglobin and 'pre-diabetes’ categorisation: a cross-sectional analysis
Authors: Vlassopoulos Antonis , Lean Michael EJ , Combet Emilie
Published: October 2013

Background

The new HbA1c criteria for diagnosis of pre-diabetes have been criticised for misdiagnosis. It is possible that some elevation of HbA1c is not driven by hyperglycaemia. This study assesses associations of HbA1c, commonly assumed to relate solely to glucose concentration, with (i) smoking, a major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and (ii) fruit & vegetables consumption associated with improved redox status.

Methods

One-way ANOVA, Chi-squared and multivariate linear regressions, adjusted for all known confounders were used to explore associations of HbA1c with self-reported smoking status and fruit & vegetables consumptions in the Scottish Health Surveys 2003–2010, among individuals without known diabetes and HbA1c < 6.5%.

Results

Compared to non-smokers (n = 2831), smokers (n = 1457) were younger, consumed less fruit & vegetables, had lower physical activity levels, lower BMI, higher HbA1c and CRP (p < 0.05). HbA1c was higher in smokers by 0.25 SDs (0.08%), and 0.38 SDs higher (0.14%) in heavy smokers (>20 cigarettes/day) than non-smokers (p < 0.001 both). Smokers were twice as likely to have HbA1c in the 'pre-diabetic’ range (5.7-6.4%) (p < 0.001, adj.model). Pre-diabetes and low grade inflammation did not affect the associations. For every extra 80 g vegetable portion consumed, HbA1c was 0.03 SDs (0.01%) lower (p = 0.02), but fruit consumption did not impact on HbA1c, within the low range of consumptions in this population.

Conclusion

This study adds evidence to relate smoking (an oxidative stress proxy) with protein glycation in normoglycaemic subjects, with implications for individuals exposed to ROS and for epidemiological interpretation of HbA1c.
New colorimetric screening assays for the directed evolution of fungal laccases to improve the conversion of plant biomass
Authors: Pardo Isabel , Chanagá Xiomara , Vicente Ana Isabel , Alcalde Miguel , Camarero Susana
Published: October 2013

Background

Fungal laccases are multicopper oxidases with huge applicability in different sectors. Here, we describe the development of a set of high-throughput colorimetric assays for screening laccase libraries in directed evolution studies.

Results

Firstly, we designed three colorimetric assays based on the oxidation of sinapic acid, acetosyringone and syringaldehyde with λmax of 512, 520 and 370 nm, respectively. These syringyl-type phenolic compounds are released during the degradation of lignocellulose and can act as laccase redox mediators. The oxidation of the three compounds by low and high-redox potential laccases evolved in Saccharomyces cerevisiae produced quantifiable and linear responses, with detection limits around 1 mU/mL and CV values below 16%. The phenolic substrates were also suitable for pre-screening mutant libraries on solid phase format. Intense colored-halos were developed around the yeast colonies secreting laccase. Furthermore, the oxidation of violuric acid to its iminoxyl radical (λmax of 515 nm and CV below 15%) was devised as reporter assay for laccase redox potential during the screening of mutant libraries from high-redox potential laccases. Finally, we developed three dye-decolorizing assays based on the enzymatic oxidation of Methyl Orange (470 nm), Evans Blue (605 nm) and Remazol Brilliant Blue (640 nm) giving up to 40% decolorization yields and CV values below 18%. The assays were reliable for direct measurement of laccase activity or to indirectly explore the oxidation of mediators that do not render colored products (but promote dye decolorization). Every single assay reported in this work was tested by exploring mutant libraries created by error prone PCR of fungal laccases secreted by yeast.

Conclusions

The high-throughput screening methods reported in this work could be useful for engineering laccases for different purposes. The assays based on the oxidation of syringyl-compounds might be valuable tools for tailoring laccases precisely enhanced to aid biomass conversion processes. The violuric assay might be useful to preserve the redox potential of laccase whilst evolving towards new functions. The dye-decolorizing assays are useful for engineering ad hoc laccases for detoxification of textile wastewaters, or as indirect assays to explore laccase activity on other natural mediators.
Antagonistic effect of alkaloids and saponins on bioactivity in the quinine tree (Rauvolfia caffra sond.): further evidence to support biotechnology in traditional medicinal plants
Authors: Milugo Trizah K , Omosa Leonida K , Ochanda James O , Owuor Bethwell O , Wamunyokoli Fred A , Oyugi Julius O , Ochieng Joel W
Published: October 2013

Background

The Quinine tree (Rauvolfia caffra) is used as a medicinal plant among traditional communities in many countries to manage tumors and other diseases associated with oxidative stress. To validate indigenous knowledge and possibly position this herb for technology uptake and utilization, we established the level of antioxidant activity in R. caffra, and probed for the presence of associated phytochemicals.

Methods

Antioxidant activity was determined on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) while major phytochemicals were identified by multiple tests on methanol fractions.

Results

R. caffra showed promise as a cure, with antioxidant activity comparable to the commercially used drug quercetin (R. caffra = 79.7% ±1.9; quercetin = 82.6% ± 2.0). However, we found two phytochemicals with possible antagonistic effect: co-occurrence of alkaloids and saponins significantly reduced antioxidant activity (alkaloids only = 63%; alkaloids plus saponins = 15%; steroids, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides = 82%), thus alkaloids and saponins should be exclusive to each other in drug formulations.

Conclusions

Antagonistic relationship among phytochemicals would affect the efficacy of crude extracts as used in traditional medicine. Unlike in herbal medicine, use of modern biotechnology in extraction, purification and design of optimal combinations will ensure efficient drug formulations with optimum bioactivity and minimum toxicity. Metabolic pathway engineering under a controlled environment may optimize availability of desired compounds.
Disrupting rhythms in Plasmodium chabaudi: costs accrue quickly and independently of how infections are initiated
Authors: O’Donnell Aidan J , Mideo Nicole , Reece Sarah E
Published: October 2013

Background

In the blood, the synchronous malaria parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi, exhibits a cell-cycle rhythm of approximately 24 hours in which transitions between developmental stages occur at particular times of day in the rodent host. Previous experiments reveal that when the timing of the parasite’s cell-cycle rhythm is perturbed relative to the circadian rhythm of the host, parasites suffer a (~50%) reduction in asexual stages and gametocytes. Why it matters for parasites to have developmental schedules in synchronization with the host’s rhythm is unknown. The experiment presented here investigates this issue by: (a) validating that the performance of P. chabaudi is negatively affected by mismatch to the host circadian rhythm; (b) testing whether the effect of mismatch depends on the route of infection or the developmental stage of inoculated parasites; and, (c) examining whether the costs of mismatch are due to challenges encountered upon initial infection and/or due to ongoing circadian host processes operating during infection.

Methods

The experiment simultaneously perturbed the time of day infections were initiated, the stage of parasite inoculated, and the route of infection. The performance of parasites during the growth phase of infections was compared across the cross-factored treatment groups (i e, all combinations of treatments were represented).

Results

The data show that mismatch to host rhythms is costly for parasites, reveal that this phenomenon does not depend on the developmental stage of parasites nor the route of infection, and suggest that processes operating at the initial stages of infection are responsible for the costs of mismatch. Furthermore, mismatched parasites are less virulent, in that they cause less anaemia to their hosts.

Conclusion

It is beneficial for parasites to be in synchronization with their host’s rhythm, regardless of the route of infection or the parasite stage inoculated. Given that arrested cell-cycle development (quiescence) is implicated in tolerance to drugs, understanding how parasite schedules are established and maintained in the blood is important.
An integrated strategy for efficient vector construction and multi-gene expression in Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Wagner Jeffrey C , Goldfless Stephen J , Ganesan Suresh M , Lee Marcus CS , Fidock David A , Niles Jacquin C
Published: October 2013

Background

The construction of plasmid vectors for transgene expression in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, presents major technical hurdles. Traditional molecular cloning by restriction and ligation often yields deletions and re-arrangements when assembling low-complexity (A + T)-rich parasite DNA. Furthermore, the use of large 5′- and 3′- untranslated regions of DNA sequence (UTRs) to drive transgene transcription limits the number of expression cassettes that can be incorporated into plasmid vectors.

Methods

To address these challenges, two high fidelity cloning strategies, namely yeast homologous recombination and the Gibson assembly method, were evaluated for constructing P. falciparum vectors. Additionally, some general rules for reliably using the viral 2A-like peptide to express multiple proteins from a single expression cassette while preserving their proper trafficking to various subcellular compartments were assessed.

Results

Yeast homologous recombination and Gibson assembly were found to be effective strategies for successfully constructing P. falciparum plasmid vectors. Using these cloning methods, a validated family of expression vectors that provide a flexible starting point for user-specific applications was created. These vectors are also compatible with traditional cloning by restriction and ligation, and contain useful combinations of commonly used features for enhancing plasmid segregation and site-specific integration in P. falciparum. Additionally, application of a 2A-like peptide for the synthesis of multiple proteins from a single expression cassette, and some rules for combinatorially directing proteins to discrete subcellular compartments were established.

Conclusions

A set of freely available, sequence-verified and functionally validated parts that offer greater flexibility for constructing P. falciparum vectors having expanded expression capacity is provided.
The effect of clustering on lot quality assurance sampling: a probabilistic model to calculate sample sizes for quality assessments
Authors: Hedt-Gauthier Bethany L , Mitsunaga Tisha , Hund Lauren , Olives Casey , Pagano Marcello
Published: October 2013

Background

Traditional Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) designs assume observations are collected using simple random sampling. Alternatively, randomly sampling clusters of observations and then individuals within clusters reduces costs but decreases the precision of the classifications. In this paper, we develop a general framework for designing the cluster(C)-LQAS system and illustrate the method with the design of data quality assessments for the community health worker program in Rwanda.

Results

To determine sample size and decision rules for C-LQAS, we use the beta-binomial distribution to account for inflated risk of errors introduced by sampling clusters at the first stage. We present general theory and code for sample size calculations.

The C-LQAS sample sizes provided in this paper constrain misclassification risks below user-specified limits. Multiple C-LQAS systems meet the specified risk requirements, but numerous considerations, including per-cluster versus per-individual sampling costs, help identify optimal systems for distinct applications.

Conclusions

We show the utility of C-LQAS for data quality assessments, but the method generalizes to numerous applications. This paper provides the necessary technical detail and supplemental code to support the design of C-LQAS for specific programs.
Comprehensive profiling of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded miRNA species associated with specific latency types in tumor cells
Authors: Yang Hong-Jie , Huang Tie-Jun , Yang Chang-Fu , Peng Li-Xia , Liu Ran-Yi , Yang Guang-Da , Chu Qiao-Qiao , Huang Jia-Ling , Liu Na , Huang Hong-Bing , Zhu Zhen-Yu , Qian Chao-Nan , Huang Bi-Jun
Published: October 2013

Background

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an etiological cause of many human lymphocytic and epithelial malignancies. EBV expresses different genes that are associated with three latency types. To date, as many as 44 EBV-encoded miRNA species have been found, but their comprehensive profiles in the three types of latent infection that are associated with various types of tumors are not well documented.

Methods

In the present study, we utilized poly (A)-tailed quantitative real-time RT-PCR in combination with microarray analysis to measure the relative abundances of viral miRNA species in a subset of representative lymphoid and epithelial tumor cells with various EBV latency types.

Results

Our findings showed that the miR-BHRF1 and miR-BART families were expressed differentially in a tissue- and latency type-dependent manner. Specifically, in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues and the EBV-positive cell line C666-1, the miR-BART family accounted for more than 10% of all detected miRNAs, suggesting that these miRNAs have important roles in maintaining latent EBV infections and in driving NPC tumorigenesis. In addition, EBV miRNA-based clustering analysis clearly distinguished between the three distinct EBV latency types, and our results suggested that a switch from type I to type III latency might occur in the Daudi BL cell line.

Conclusions

Our data provide a comprehensive profiling of the EBV miRNA transcriptome that is associated with specific tumor cells in the three types of latent EBV infection states. EBV miRNA species represent a cluster of non-encoding latency biomarkers that are differentially expressed in tumor cells and may help to distinguish between the different latency types.
A new piece in the puzzle of the novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus
Authors: Lee Raphael Tze Chuen , Gunalan Vithiagaran , Van Thanh Dac , Le Ly Thi , Eisenhaber Frank , Maurer-Stroh Sebastian
Published: October 2013

Reviewers

This article was reviewed by Prof Xiufan Liu (nominated by Dr Purificacion Lopez-Garcia) and Prof Sandor Pongor.

Using phylogenetic analysis on newly available sequences, we characterize A/chicken/Jiangsu/RD5/2013(H10N9) as currently closest precursor strain for the NA segment in the novel avian-origin H7N9 virus responsible for an outbreak in China. We also show that the internal segments of this precursor strain are closely related to those of the presumed precursor for the HA segment, A/duck/Zhejiang/12/2011(H7N3), which indicates that the sources of both HA and NA donors for the reassortant virus are of regional and not migratory-bird origin and highlights the role of chicken already in the early reassortment events.
Ovarian Sertoli–Leydig cell tumors: MRI findings and pathological correlation
Authors: Cai Song-Qi , Zhao Shu-Hui , Qiang Jin-Wei , Zhang Guo-Fu , Wang Xue-Zhen , Wang Li
Published: October 2013

Background

To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (SLCT).

Methods

The clinical, MRI and pathological findings of five cases of SLCT were reviewed retrospectively. MRI appearances of tumors including laterality, shape and size, architecture, wall, septa and vegetation, signal intensity and contrast-enhancement pattern were evaluated and correlated with pathological findings.

Results

Two tumors were solid which appeared as low signal intensity on T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and moderate on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) with multiple small cysts in one of them. The remaining three SLCT were multilocular cystic with the irregularly thickened wall and septa, and with solid area and mural nodules in one of them. The cystic components had the same signal intensity as urine. All the solid components were intensely enhanced after administration of contrast medium. All five tumors were pathologically intermediate differentiation and at FIGO stage I.

Conclusions

SLCT demonstrate variable MRI morphological appearances. However, the irregularly thickened wall and septa, the moderate T2WI signal intensity and obvious enhancement in the solid components are three MRI features.
Analysis of bortezomib inhibitor docked within the catalytic subunits of the Plasmodium falciparum 20S proteasome
Authors: Sridhar Settu , Bhat Gayathri , Guruprasad Kunchur
Published: October 2013

The three-dimensional fold of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) 20S proteasome is similar to yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae 20S proteasome. The twenty eight subunits complex corresponding to two copies of seven distinct α and seven distinct β subunits shares >35% sequence identity with equivalent subunits of the yeast 20S proteasome. Bortezomib (Velcade®) – a known inhibitor of the three catalytic subunits; β1, β2, β5 of the yeast 20S proteasome can bind in the equivalent subunits of the Pf 20S proteasome and is in agreement with experimental results. The model defines the binding mode of the bortezomib inhibitor within the catalytic subunits of the Pf 20S proteasome and provides the structural basis for the design of Pf 20S proteasome-specific inhibitors. The substitutions associated within the catalytic subunits of Pf 20S proteasome relative to yeast 20S proteasome; Thr21-Ser, Thr22-Ser, Thr31-Ser, Thr35-Asn, Ala49-Ser (in β1 subunit), Ser20-Ala, Gln22-Glu (β2) and Thr21-Ser, Ala22-Met, Gln53-Leu (β5) may influence the relative caspase-like, tryptic-like and chymotryptic-like activities of the Pf 20S proteasome. The plasmodia-specific 'large’ insert comprising fifty four amino acid residues (in β1 subunit) of the Pf 20S proteasome is distant from the catalytic sites.
Bronchopleural fistula following M. abscessus infection 11 years after lobectomy for lung cancer
Authors: Inayama Mami , Shinohara Tsutomu , Yoshida Mitsuteru , Hino Hiroyuki , Hatakeyama Nobuo , Ogushi Fumitaka
Published: October 2013

Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a potentially fatal complication of lung cancer resection surgery that occurs during the healing process of the bronchial stump. However, the vulnerability of the healed surgical wound to overlapping acquired airway destruction has not yet been determined in detail. We herein present a case of fatal BPF following Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) infection, which occurred 11 years after right upper lobectomy for lung cancer. The findings of the present study suggest that patients with M. abscessus pulmonary disease in which airway destruction is progressing towards the bronchial stump of previous lobectomy should be considered for early completion pneumonectomy to prevent fatal BPF.
Elevated serum anti-flagellin antibodies implicate subclinical bowel inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis: an observational study
Authors: Wallis Dinny , Asaduzzaman Arundip , Weisman Michael , Haroon Nigil , Anton Ammepa , McGovern Dermot , Targan Stephan , Inman Robert
Published: October 2013

Introduction

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) share genetic and clinical features. IBD is associated with the presence of antibodies to a variety of commensal microorganisms including anti-Saccharomyces cerevesiae antibodies (ASCA), antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), anti-I2 (associated with anti-Pseudomonas activity), anti-Eschericia coli outer membrane porin C (anti-OmpC) and anti-flagellin antibodies (anti-CBir1). Subclinical intestinal inflammation may be present in up to 65% of patients with AS. This study evaluated the presence of antimicrobial antibodies in patients with AS alone, patients with AS and concomitant IBD (AS-IBD) and a control group of patients with mechanical back pain (MBP).

Methods

Sera were tested by ELISA for ASCA IgG and IgA, anti-OmpC, anti-CBir1 and ANCA in 76 patients with AS alone, 77 patients with AS-IBD and 48 patients with MBP. Antibody positivity rates, median quantitative antibody levels and the proportion of patients with antibody levels in the 4th quartile of a normal distribution were compared between the three groups of patients.

Results

Patients with AS alone demonstrated higher anti-CBir1 antibody positivity rates and median antibody levels than MBP patients. Anti-CBir1 positivity in AS was associated with elevation of acute phase reactants. AS-IBD patients demonstrated elevated responses when compared to AS alone for ASCA, anti-OmpC and anti-CBir1. Quartile analysis confirmed the findings.

Conclusions

These data suggest that adaptive immune responses to microbial antigens occur in AS patients without clinical IBD and support the theory of mucosal dysregulation as a mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of AS.
Assessment of antibody-dependent respiratory burst activity from mouse neutrophils onPlasmodium yoeliimalaria challenge outcome
Authors: Llewellyn David , de Cassan Simone C , Williams Andrew R , Douglas Alexander D , Forbes Emily K , Adame-Gallegos Jaime R , Shi Jianguo , Pleass Richard J , Draper Simon J
Published: October 2013

New tools are required to expedite the development of an effective vaccine against the blood-stage infection with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. This work describes the assessment of the ADRB assay in a mouse model, characterizing the functional interaction between antimalarial serum antibodies and FcRs upon neutrophils. We describe a reproducible, antigen-specific assay, dependent on functional FcR signaling, and show that ADRB activity is induced equally by IgG1 and IgG2a isotypes and is modulated by blocking FcR function. However, following immunization of mice with the blood-stage vaccine candidate antigen MSP142, no measurable ADRB activity was induced against PEMS and neither was vaccine efficacy modulated against Plasmodium yoelii blood-stage challenge in γ−/− mice compared with WT mice. In contrast, following a primary, nonlethal P. yoelii parasite challenge, serum from vaccinated mice and nonimmunized controls showed anti-PEMS ADRB activity. Upon secondary challenge, nonimmunized γ−/− mice showed a reduced ability to control blood-stage parasitemia compared with immunized γ−/− mice; however, WT mice, depleted of their neutrophils, did not lose their ability to control infection. Thus, whereas neutrophil-induced ADRB against PEMS does not appear to play a role in protection against P. yoelii rodent malaria, induction of ADRB activity after challenge suggests that antigen targets of anti-PEMS ADRB activity remain to be established, as well as further supporting the observation that ADRB activity to P. falciparum arises following repeated natural exposure.
DAPK2 positively regulates motility of neutrophils and eosinophils in response to intermediary chemoattractants
Authors: Geering Barbara , Stoeckle Christina , Rožman Saša , Oberson Kevin , Benarafa Charaf , Simon Hans-Uwe
Published: October 2013

The tight regulation of granulocyte chemotaxis is crucial for initiation and resolution of inflammation. Here, we show that DAPK2, a Ca2+/CaM-sensitive serine/threonine kinase known to modulate cell death in various cell types, is a novel regulator of migration in granulocytes. We demonstrate that human neutrophils and eosinophils express DAPK2 but unlike other leukocytes, no DAPK1 or DAPK3 protein. When DAPK activities were blocked by inhibitors, we found that neither granulocyte lifespan nor phagocytosis was affected. However, such pharmacological inactivation of DAPK activity abolished motility of granulocytes in response to intermediary but not end-target chemoattractants ex vivo. The defect in chemotaxis in DAPK2-inactive granulocytes is likely a result of reduced polarization of the cells, mediated by a lack of MLC phosphorylation, resulting in radial F-actin and pseudopod formation. As neutrophils treated with DAPKi also showed reduced recruitment to the site of inflammation in a mouse peritonitis model, DAPK2 may be a novel target for anti-inflammatory therapies.
Protein kinase Darkener of apricot and its substrate EF1γ regulate organelle transport along microtubules
Authors: Serpinskaya Anna S. , Tuphile Karine , Rabinow Leonard , Gelfand Vladimir I.
Published: October 2013

Regulation of organelle transport along microtubules is important for proper distribution of membrane organelles and protein complexes in the cytoplasm. RNAi-mediated knockdown in cultured Drosophila S2 cells demonstrates that two microtubule-binding proteins, a unique isoform of Darkener of apricot (DOA) protein kinase and its substrate, translational elongation factor EF1γ negatively regulate transport of several classes of membrane organelles along microtubules. Inhibition of transport by EF1γ requires its phosphorylation by DOA on Serine 294. Together, our results indicate a new role for two proteins that have not been previously implicated in regulation of the cytoskeleton. These results further suggest that the biological role of some of the proteins binding to the microtubule track is to regulate cargo transport along these tracks.
Gα73Β is a downstream effector of JAK/STAT signalling and a regulator of Rho1 inDrosophilahaematopoiesis
Authors: Bausek Nina , Zeidler Martin P.
Published: October 2013

JAK/STAT signalling regulates multiple essential developmental processes including cell proliferation and haematopoiesis while its inappropriate activation is associated with the majority of myeloproliferative neoplasias and numerous cancers. Furthermore, high levels of JAK/STAT pathway signalling have also been associated with enhanced metastatic invasion by cancerous cells. Strikingly, gain-of-function mutations in the single Drosophila JAK homologue, Hopscotch, result in haemocyte neoplasia, inappropriate differentiation and the formation of melanised haemocyte-derived ‘tumour’ masses; phenotypes that are partly orthologous to human gain-of-function JAK2-associated pathologies. Here we show that Gα73B, a novel JAK/STAT pathway target gene, is necessary for JAK/STAT-mediated tumour formation in flies. In addition, while Gα73Β does not affect haemocyte differentiation, it does regulate haemocyte morphology and motility under non-pathological conditions. We show that Gα73Β is required for constitutive, but not injury-induced, activation of Rho1 and for the localisation of Rho1 into filopodia upon haemocyte activation. Consistent with these results, we also show that Rho1 interacts genetically with JAK/STAT signalling, and that wild-type levels of Rho1 are necessary for tumour formation. Our findings link JAK/STAT transcriptional outputs, Gα73Β activity and Rho1-dependent cytoskeletal rearrangements/cell motility and therefore connect a pathway associated with cancer with a marker indicative of invasiveness. As such, we suggest a mechanism via which JAK/STAT pathway signalling may promote metastasis.
Phosphorylation regulates VCIP135 function in Golgi membrane fusion during the cell cycle
Authors: Zhang Xiaoyan , Zhang Honghao , Wang Yanzhuang
Published: October 2013

The Golgi apparatus in mammalian cells consists of stacks that are often laterally linked into a ribbon-like structure. During cell division, the Golgi disassembles into tubulovesicular structures in the early stages of mitosis and reforms in the two daughter cells by the end of mitosis. VCIP135 (Valosin-containing protein p97/p47 complex interacting protein, p135), an essential factor involved in p97-mediated membrane fusion pathways, is required for postmitotic Golgi cisternae regrowth and Golgi structure maintenance in interphase. However, how VCIP135 function is regulated in the cell cycle remains unclear. Here we report that VCIP135 depletion by RNA interference (RNAi) results in Golgi fragmentation. VCIP135 function requires membrane association and p97 interaction, both of which are inhibited in mitosis by VCIP135 phosphorylation. We found that wild type VCIP135 but not its phosphomimetic mutants rescues Golgi structure in VCIP135-depleted cells. Our results demonstrate that VCIP135 phosphorylation regulates its Golgi membrane association and p97 interaction, and thus contributes to the tight control of the Golgi disassembly and reassembly process during the cell cycle.
Health-weighted Composite Quality Metrics Offer Promise to Improve Health Outcomes
in a Learning Health System
Authors: Braithwaite Scott , Stine Nicholas
Published: October 2013

Health systems sometimes adopt quality metrics without robust supporting evidence
of improvements in quality and/or quantity of life, which may impair rather than
facilitate improved health outcomes. In brief, there is now no easy way to measure how
much “health” is conferred by a health system. However, we argue that this goal is
achievable. Health-weighted composite quality metrics have the potential to measure
“health” by synthesizing individual evidence-based quality metrics into a summary
measure, utilizing relative weightings that reflect the relative amount of health
benefit conferred by each constituent quality metric. Previously, it has been
challenging to create health-weighted composite quality metrics because of
methodological and data limitations. However, advances in health information technology
and mathematical modeling of disease progression promise to help mitigate these
challenges by making patient-level data more accessible and more actionable for use.
Accordingly, it may now be possible to use health information technology to calculate
and track a health-weighted composite quality metric for each patient that reflects the
health benefit conferred to that patient by the health system. These health-weighted
composite quality metrics can be employed for a multitude of important aims that improve
health outcomes, including quality evaluation, population health maximization, health
disparity attenuation, panel management, resource allocation, and personalization of
care. We describe the necessary attributes, the possible uses, and the likely
limitations and challenges of health-weighted composite quality metrics.
Ways Decision Makers Can Use Evidence to Improve Patient Outcomes in Learning
Health Systems: A Message from the Guest Editor
Authors: Aubry Wade
Published: October 2013

A learning health system is one in which clinical information and research are
continually used to improve the processes, outcomes, and quality of care. No matter
which definition of comparative effectiveness research (CER) or patient-centered
outcomes research (PCOR) is preferred, there is nearly universal agreement that a core
feature of these research efforts is the need to engage decision makers, such as
patients, providers, and policymakers, in prioritizing and defining research that
addresses and resolves important evidence gaps to improve patient care and outcomes. In
this set of eGEMs papers focused on decision-making, leaders in scientific fields with
an interest in developing the next generation of CER, PCOR, and quality improvement (QI)
studies share their perspectives on the potential applications, as well as the short-and
longterm challenges, of using electronic clinical data (ECD) to address health care
information needs within a learning health system. This commentary introduce eGEMs’
first special issue, which was developed through a series of conversations with leading
experts, as well as an open call for papers in early summer 2013. The six papers
presented represent a first set of papers on decision makers and decision-making using
these new data, with other papers (to follow) being currently under development to add
to the perspectives provided here.
A fairy tale is more than just a fairy tale
Authors: Zipes Jack
Published: October 2013

In focusing on the interaction between various mediations of the fairy tale, Zipes refutes dichotomies of print vs oral controversies that scholars – especially Willem de Blécourt in Tales of Magic, Tales of Print (2011) and Ruth Bottigheimer in Fairy Tales: A New History (2009) – have been promoting to paint a misinformed history of fairy tales as having literary (rather than oral) origins. Zipes changes the terms of the debate by arguing that researchers should turn their attention to recent sophisticated and innovative theories of storytelling, cultural evolution, human communication and memetics to see how fairy tales enable us to understand why we are disposed towards them and how they ‘breathe’ life into our daily undertakings.
The narrowing of literacy
Authors: Barrs Myra
Published: October 2013

A succinct history of the rise of synthetic phonics and the fall of literacy, from the late 1970s to 2012 in the UK. Includes discussion on how government reports, from the 1975 Bullock Report to the 2009 Rose Report, contributed to the ascendance of phonics as the only legislated method of reading instruction.
Review
Authors: Salmon Andy
Published: October 2013

Night Thoughts, the Surreal Life of the Poet David Gascoyne, Robert Fraser (2012) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 496 pp., ISBN: 019958140, h/bk, £30.00
‘Reiterative divergence’: Reflections on Maurice Ssendak’s Bumble-Ardy and Kenzaburô Ôe’s reimagining of Outside Over There
Authors: Joseph Michael
Published: October 2013

This paper discusses the six pages of free-form drawing in the middle of Maurice Sendak’s Bumble-Ardy, in terms of Japanese Nobel laureate Kenzaburô Ôe’s idea of ‘reiterative divergence,’ by which ‘meaning emerges [within a text] from the progression of slight variations’. I contextualize my cross-cultural borrowing by discussing Ôe’s analysis of Sendak’s Outside Over There, and exploring its revelatory and interpretive functions within Ôe’s novel, The Changeling. Beginning from the premise that Sendak is affirming his art as a mode of self-expression and self-revelation for which he has created both private and cultural symbols that he repeats and varies, I reference Sendak’s published interviews in an attempt to identify areas of significant personal interest—such as death, music, art, the purpose and function of artistic expression, sexuality and love. I also provide textual evidence for the claim that Outside Over There provides the Ur-text for this centre cut of Bumble-Ardy; As an example of reiterative divergence as a mode of critical explication, I advance an original interpretation of Outside Over There, suggesting that the central meaning of the text lies in Ida’s need to come to terms with the loss of her father, a mirror image of Sendak’s own yearning for a ‘lost’ daughter.
Picturing words: Creating illustration for a novel
Authors: Smy Pam
Published: October 2013

This article explores the visual research undertaken by an illustrator in response to a manuscript written for children by the author, Linda Newbery, published by David Fickling Books in 2010. In response to the text, the illustrator documents the variety of forms in which imagery for publication is researched and created, with emphasis on the role that the sketchbook can play as a research tool for the illustrator.
Textual travels and transformations: Or, a tale of two lives of The Beginning, Progress and End of Man (1650)
Authors: Reid-Walsh Jacqueline
Published: October 2013

Based on archival research, this essay traces the travels and transformations in a little known, religious flap book The Beginning, Progress and End of Man, circulating as both a published and home-produced text for around two hundred years. Composed as a strip with flaps that could be turned up or down either with or against the grain of the narrative, it contains simple rhymes with crude woodcut images. Directed to a wide audience, including children, it was first published in England during the Civil War, and occasionally re-published in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In the late eighteenth century it traveled to America, was reworked into a book format and repurposed as a literacy text for a gendered child audience. It continued to be published for another hundred years. In both counties children made their own versions as domestic activities.
Youth, Facebook and politics in South Africa
Authors: Bosch Tanja
Published: October 2013

Social networking sites, Facebook in particular, are growing in popularity in South Africa. With the increasing affordability of mobile handsets, users are able to access the mobile Internet and connect via mobile social networking applications. This article explores how Facebook is used by South African youth, with particular reference to their political participation and involvement. Research has shown the declining involvement of young people in political processes, particularly since democratic elections in 1994. This is an international trend, with a general global rise of political apathy and decreased news consumption among youth. However, Facebook and other new media applications widely used by young people have been seen as a potential vehicle to re-engage youth in political debate. The potential usefulness of such applications for creating networked publics and mobilizing political action was highlighted recently during the Arab Spring; and conversely, Facebook and Twitter have been used (e.g. in the United States) to target potential youth voters. The notion of e-democracy has raised the potential of the Internet to enhance political action and activism. The article draws on a national quantitative survey and Cape Town-based focus groups with South African youth in order to explore the links between Facebook use and political participation. The article argues that youth are engaging with alternative forms of political subactivism that work at the margins of the dominant public sphere.
Facebook and public debate: An informal learning tool for the youth
Authors: Hyde-Clarke Nathalie
Published: October 2013

The purpose of this article is to introduce and assess the effectiveness of Facebook as an informal learning tool in a postgraduate Communication Studies course, and whether it may be used to facilitate greater public debate around the role of the media and democracy in South Africa. A group of postgraduate students at the University of Johannesburg were encouraged to engage in online discussions using Media Works, a Facebook group designed by Media Monitoring Africa. The duration of the assignment was six weeks and was run from 13 August to 21 September 2012. Each week new topics related to the role of the media in society were identified for discussion. Although all were familiar with Facebook, students adopted a more academic approach and thereby unintentionally worked contrary to the more informal conversational mechanisms associated with this social network site. This article considers the comments posted during this period and the students’ perceptions of the experience, and thus explores the potential offered and challenges posed by using Facebook as an informal learning tool to encourage public debate at the postgraduate level.
Prepaid social media and mobile discourse in South Africa
Authors: Walton Marion , Leukes Pierrinne
Published: October 2013

Broad adoption of social network sites and mobile messaging in South Africa has made many-to-many communication increasingly accessible. This article tackles ongoing issues of differentiated access to and use of mobile communication, and particularly the specific digital materialities involved in mobile-centric access to the Internet. Specific local patterns of adoption and participation are sketched, in particular the influence of differential commodification of mobile communication, the tiered functionality of phones and cost saving through avoidance of high prepaid data tariffs. We present three distinctive case studies of mobile political discourse during The Spear controversy in May 2012 – activists’ MXit profiles, a popular Facebook group, the New Political Forum, and Facebook status updates posted from mobile applications. Both community dynamics in the Facebook group and the limited use of mobile link-sharing in the status updates suggest that commodified communication can stifle certain kinds of mobile participation in public discourse. While mobile use has expanded access to online political discourse, computer and smartphone users occupy a strategic position in a broader social media ecology, where Facebook updates connect with instant messaging, everyday talk and Google and Facebook rankings, where increasingly the question is not only ‘who speaks’, but also ‘who gets heard’.
Selective believability: A perspective on Africans’ interactions with global media
Authors: Abubakar Abdullahi Tasiu
Published: October 2013

The transformation of the media landscape, facilitated by advances in communications technologies, has changed the dynamics of media-audience relationship and posed new challenges to reception research. Perhaps nowhere is this as profound as it is in transnational audience studies, for cross-cultural interactions have never been wider. This article attempts to highlight a new perspective on African audiences’ engagement with global media and point to new postulates in audience research. It briefly reviews key reception theories, ranging from the effects tradition to active audience paradigm and encoding-decoding model. It then offers a case study on Northern Nigerians’ interactions with international media, particularly the BBC World Service, to unveil the patterns and consequences of such interactions. The mainly Muslim Northern Nigerians were found to be high consumers of western media products, especially the BBC’s, but with high level of selectivity. Although they regard BBC as the most credible broadcaster that aids their understanding of international affairs and influences their everyday lives, they still see it as a western ideological instrument that portrays the West positively and depicts the Islamic world and Africa negatively. The findings reveal patterns and particularities of postcolonial audiences’ consumption of transnational media that suggest new theoretical postulates in reception research. They indicate the audiences’ tendency to exhibit a phenomenon of ‘selective believability’ in their interactions with international media. They also highlight the mediating roles of religion, culture, ideology and other extra-communication factors in such interactions, and identify the dynamics of credibility and believability. Credibility appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for believability in audiences’ consumption of dissonant messages.
Two New Case Reports of Propofol Abuse and a Pattern Analysis of the Literature
Authors: Welliver Mark D , Bertrand Anita , Garza Jennifer , Baker Kathy
Published: October 2013

Propofol has become the most widely used sedation and anesthetic drug worldwide. Previously it was thought to lack abuse and dependence potential.  Increased awareness of actual propofol abuse cases, however, is providing greater understanding of the associated (or perceived) motivations and rewards of propofol abuse.  We report the details of two new propofol abuse cases including the motivations for choosing this drug, abuse practices, subjective experiences, and outcomes.  An exploration of reported objective and subjective patterns in propofol abuse case reports was conducted using a modified  process of thematic (pattern) analysis. These patterns include: healthcare providers are the most frequent propofol abusers, hospital drug diversion is a primary access, abuse regimens consist of frequent injections, there often exists underlying psychological unrest, typically there is a history of prior drug and alcohol abuse, abusers are seeking relief from anxiety and stress along with restful sleep, abusers report a craving desire, death is frequently an outcome, and rehabilitation programs can be effective treatments. We conclude restrictive control of propofol is necessary to better monitor and control its abuse.
The Doctor of Nursing Practice: A Sentiment Analysis and Credential Correlation
Authors: Lewis Matthew , Welliver Mark D , Leach Stephen
Published: October 2013

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree is gaining interest within the nursing profession but not without debate. A review of the literature regarding the DNP demonstrates that the debate focuses on academic, clinical, and professional practice issues of nursing. The multiple debate points and positive and negative perspectives leads one to ask, “do author degree credentials correlate with positive or negative sentiment regarding the DNP?”The points of debate surrounding the DNP were identified from the literature and adapted into a sentiment analysis tool. The tool was used for the extraction of positive or negative sentiment from 90 pieces of DNP and practice doctorate related literature. The positive or negative sentiment expressed by each author was correlated with their credentials. No particular sentiment was found that correlated with non-DNP credentialed authors. However, a correlation was identified between DNP credentialed authors and the expression of positive sentiment toward the DNP.
Selected African American First-Time Teenage Mothers' Perceptions of Nurse Caring Behaviors During The Postpartum Period
Authors: Potter Danita Renae , Condon Esther H. , Montgomery Arlene J. , Muhammad Toni Sims , McGee Zina T.
Published: October 2013

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe African American teen mothers’ perceptions of nurse caring behaviors during the postpartum period in a rural southern state. African Americans have unique cultural needs; thus, it is critical for the science of nursing to explore and describe African American teenage mothers’ perceptions of nurse caring behaviors during the postpartum period. By exploring and describing African American first-time teenage mothers’ perceptions of nurse caring behaviors, the researcher will help nursing science gain insight into how to facilitate and enhance postpartum care for young families. An exploratory descriptive design was used and descriptive analyses were conducted on demographic characteristics and CBA subscales to answer the research question:  How do African American first-time teenage mothers describe nursing behaviors and identify the most important nursing behaviors that they received during the postpartum period?  Findings indicated that there was statistical significance for the independent variable, decision making for your health, and the Caring Behaviors Assessment (CBA) subscales of humanism/faith-hope/sensitivity (p = 0.050), human needs assistance (p = 0.052), and the demographic characteristics. The analysis revealed attentive to needs was a common theme.