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Cyanobacteria have adapted to survive in a variety of environments and have been found globally. Toxin-producing cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) have been increasing in frequency worldwide and pose a threat to drinking and recreational water. In this study, the prevalence, impact of CHABs and mitigation efforts were reviewed, focusing on the Lake Erie region and Ohio’s inland lakes that have been impacted heavily as an example so that the findings can be transferrable to other parts of the world that face the similar problems due to the CHABs in their freshwater environments. This paper provides a basic introduction to CHABs and their toxins as well as an overview of public health implications including exposure routes, health effects, and drinking water issues, algal bloom advisory practices in Ohio, toxin measurements results in Ohio public water supplies, and mitigation efforts.

An emerging approach for investigating patient perspectives of their illness is the use of drawings. This scoping review consolidates findings from current literature regarding the use of drawings to explore patients' perceptions and experiences of their illness and treatment. Electronic databases (Medline, PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO, Cinahl, Art Index and Scopus) and reference lists were searched to identify published English language studies using participant-generated drawings to explore adults' perceptions and experiences of their illness and treatment. Using the scoping methodological framework, data were analyzed with respect to each study's design, key findings and implications. Thirty-two studies were identified and these reflected diversities in both health conditions and methods of data collection and analysis. Participants' drawings revealed new, insightful knowledge about patients' perceptions, beliefs and experiences of their condition and were associated with clinical and psychological markers of health. Drawing was a powerful adjunct to traditional data collection approaches, and demonstrated potential benefits for participants. This review provides detailed insights and guidance on the use of drawings in research and clinical practice. Drawing is a novel and potentially valuable technique for exploring patients' perceptions and experiences about their illness and treatment. Advancing the methodology and applicability of drawings in this area will assist in the future development of this technique, with benefits for the patient, researcher and health care professional alike.

Severe asthma, depression and anxiety often co-exist and increase disease burden. Currently there are no published studies investigating severe asthma and psychological comorbidity using arts-based methodology. We aimed to (i) illustrate the individual experience of adults living with severe asthma, with and without symptoms of depression and/or anxiety and (ii) to explore common characteristics depicted in artworks between those groups. A qualitative arts-based study was conducted. Adults with severe asthma were categorised into two groups according to Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores (<8 on either subscale [SA-D/A] (N=15) or (≥8 on one or both subscales [SA+D/A] (N=15). Art thematic analysis was undertaken using a hybrid approach. The Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation was used to examine frequencies in artworks. Participants with severe asthma alone and severe asthma with depression/anxiety were of older age (median 67 and 63 years respectively). There was greater asthma QoL impairment in participants with psychological comorbidity than without (4.7 ± 8.3 versus 5.8 ± 0.85, =<0.01). Analysis of art works identified three themes: (1) \"darkness\" depicting misery, isolation and sadness; (2) \"impacts\" describing physical and social consequences; and (3) \"resilience\" illustrating acceptance and perseverance of living with all three conditions. Art-based research in severe asthma facilitates detailed exploration of intimate and individual experiences. Darkness, impacts and resilience are common themes emerging from artworks. Understanding these experiences may help guide assessment and treatment of psychological comorbidity in the clinic.

In the Chx10-null ocular retardation ($or^{J}$) mouse, retinal progenitor cell (RPC) proliferation is impaired, and bipolar neurons, a late born cell type, fail to differentiate. It is unclear whether Chx10 is required to maintain proliferation throughout retinogenesis or whether the bipolar cell defect is an indirect effect of growth arrest. We show that Chx10 is dispensable for late-stage RPC proliferation but is essential to promote bipolar cell genesis in place of rods. Ectopic Chx10 expression drove bipolar instead of rod cell differentiation without affecting division. Converting Chx10 to an activator impaired bipolar cell differentiation, implying that repression is important for Chx10 activity. In the Chx10 null$or^{J}$retina, only a small fraction of cells expressing mutated Chx10 mRNA were rods, but this fraction increased after$p27^{Kip1}$inactivation, which partially rescues proliferation. Most significantly, acute Chx10 knockdown in the postnatal retina promoted rods in place of bipolar neurons without affecting division. Thus, Chx10 directly controls bipolar cell genesis by inhibiting rod differentiation independent of its temporally limited early effect on RPC proliferation.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) perspectives of asthma through their drawings, and their responses when viewing patients’ drawings of their experiences of asthma.DesignA qualitative exploratory study with a purposive, convenience sample of participants. Participants were asked to first express their perspectives of asthma in a drawing, which was followed by a review of drawings made by patients with asthma.SettingPrimary and tertiary HCPs from Sydney, Australia.ParticipantsTwenty-three HCPs from a range of health professions.ResultsThe HCPs illustrated their perspective of asthma through drawings which were largely biomedically framed, depicting physiological and clinical aspects of asthma. In contrast, their discussion around the patients’ drawings centred on the person more than the condition. The patients’ drawings triggered the HCPs to revisit their personal expectations of their patients’ illness experience; prompted differing degrees of acknowledgement and empathy regarding the patient experience; and encouraged clinical reflexivity.ConclusionsOur findings provide support for the educational application of patients’ drawings in bringing HCPs closer to the patient lived experience. The drawings fostered deeper insight into patient perspectives of asthma and stimulated critical reflection on current healthcare practices.

The mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) includes an alternative oxidase (AOX) that may control the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). ROS and RNS act as signaling intermediates in numerous plant processes, including stomatal movement. The role of AOX in controlling ROS and RNS concentrations under both steady‐state and different stress conditions was evaluated using Nicotiana tabacum plants lacking AOX as a result of RNA interference. A potential functional implication of changes in ROS and RNS homeostasis was also evaluated by examining stomatal function. The leaves of nonstressed AOX knockdowns maintained concentrations of H₂O₂ and nitric oxide (NO) normally seen in wildtype plants only under stress conditions. Further, guard cell NO amounts were much higher in knockdowns. These guard cells were altered in size and were less responsive to NO as a signal for stomatal closure. This, in turn, compromised the stomatal response to changing irradiance. The results reveal a role for AOX in stomata. A working model is that guard cell AOX respiration maintains NO homeostasis by preventing over‐reduction of the ETC, particularly during periods when high concentrations of NO acting as a signal for stomatal closure may also be inhibiting cyt oxidase respiration.

The literature has identified promising findings regarding the application of arts-based initiatives to enhance healthcare professional (HCP) training. Research shows that drawings offer a window into the authentic, insider view of health and illness, with potential to be a platform for healthcare student and HCP learning. In addition, drawings may also have a place in health communication. Our previous work provides support for the educational application of patients’ drawings in bringing HCPs closer to the patient’s lived experience. Subsequently, this study aimed to explore university educators’ opinions regarding the implementation of drawings as an educational tool for higher education healthcare students. The objective of this study was to explore pathways for using drawings as an art form in an educational context, and provide recommendations for developing curricula and resources for further evaluation. Findings from focus group interviews with nine university educators revealed support for the use of drawings as a novel medium as they offer rich insights into the patient’s perspective while encouraging creative and critical thinking. Key perceived benefits were that drawings foster student appreciation of (1) the holistic impact of illness, (2) the importance of patients’ priorities and (3) the value of learning from the patient. Patients’ drawings of their experiences would offer needed opportunities for students to explicitly reflect about the ‘person’ holistically rather than view the patient as a ‘biomedical problem’. Shifting students’ perspectives and possible assumptions to be better aligned with and appreciative of the patient’s experiences was noted as central to adopting a person-centred approach to healthcare practice. Our findings suggest that incorporating drawings, or indeed other art forms, as educational tools would be a valuable addition to the health curricula.

Background Few treatment options exist for patients with metastatic melanoma, resulting in poor prognosis. One standard treatment, dacarbazine (DTIC), shows low response rates ranging from 15 to 25 percent with an 8-month median survival time. The development of targeted therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action may improve patient outcome. Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) such as Shiga-like Toxin 1 (SLT-1) represent powerful scaffolds for developing selective anticancer agents. Here we report the discovery and properties of a single chain ribosome-inactivating protein (scRIP) derived from the cytotoxic A subunit of SLT-1 (SLT-1A), harboring the 7-amino acid peptide insertion IYSNKLM (termed SLT-1A IYSNKLM ) allowing the toxin variant to selectively target and kill human melanoma cells. Results SLT-1A IYSNKLM was able to kill 7 of 8 human melanoma cell lines. This scRIP binds to 518-A2 human melanoma cells with a dissociation constant of 18 nM, resulting in the blockage of protein synthesis and apoptosis in such cells. Biodistribution and imaging studies of radiolabeled SLT-1A IYSNKLM administered intravenously into SCID mice bearing a human melanoma xenograft indicate that SLT-1A IYSNKLM readily accumulates at the tumor site as opposed to non-target tissues. Furthermore, the co-administration of SLT-1A IYSNKLM with DTIC resulted in tumor regression and greatly increased survival in this mouse xenograft model in comparison to DTIC or SLT-1A IYSNKLM treatment alone (115 day median survival versus 46 and 47 days respectively; P values < 0.001). SLT-1A IYSNKLM is stable in serum and its intravenous administration resulted in modest immune responses following repeated injections in CD1 mice. Conclusions These results demonstrate that the evolution of a scRIP template can lead to the discovery of novel cancer cell-targeted compounds and in the case of SLT-1A IYSNKLM can specifically kill human melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo .

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases regulates the interaction of many DNA damage and repair factors with sites of DNA strand lesions. The interaction of these factors with poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) is mediated by specific domains, including the recently identified PAR-binding zinc finger (PBZ) domain. However, the mechanism governing these interactions is unclear. To better understand the PBZ-PAR interaction, we performed a detailed examination of the representative PBZ-containing protein involved in the DNA damage response, aprataxin polynucleotide-kinase-like factor (APLF), which possesses two tandem PBZ domains. Here we present structural and biochemical studies that identify Y381/Y386 and Y423/Y428 residues in the conserved C(M/P)Y and CYR motifs within each APLF PBZ domain that are critical for the interaction with the adenine ring of ADP-ribose. Basic residues (R387 and R429 in the first and second PBZ domains, respectively) coordinate additional interactions with the phosphate backbone of ADP-ribose, suggesting that APLF binds to multiple ADP-ribose residues along PAR polymers. These C(M/P)Y and CYR motifs form a basic/hydrophobic pocket within a variant zinc finger structure and are required for APLF recruitment to sites of DNA damage in vivo.

In anticipation of the then forthcoming Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy, a consortium of professionals from Canadian university libraries surveyed researchers on their research data management (RDM) practices, attitudes, and interest in data management services. Data collected from three surveys targeting researchers in science and engineering, humanities and social sciences, and health sciences and medicine were compiled to create a national dataset. The present study is the first large-scale survey investigating researcher RDM practices in Canada, and one of the few recent multi-institutional and multidisciplinary surveys on this topic. This article presents the results of the survey to assess researcher readiness to meet RDM policy requirements, namely the preparation of data management plans (DMPs) and data deposit in a digital repository. The survey results also highlight common trends across the country while revealing differences in practices and attitudes between disciplines. Based on our survey results, most researchers would have to change their RDM behaviors to meet Tri-Agency RDM policy requirements. The data we gathered provides insights that can help institutions prioritize service development and infrastructure that will meet researcher needs.