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"Wright, Ann"
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Parrots of the wild : a natural history of the world's most captivating birds
\"A synthetic account of the diversity and ecology of wild parrots, distilling knowledge from the author's own research and from her review of more than 2,400 published scientific studies. The text covers parrots' evolutionary history, foraging, mating, and social behavior, innate intelligence, and conservation status. The book is enhanced by an array of illustrations, including photos of parrots taken exclusively in their natural habitat\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Reframing Professional Development through Understanding Authentic Professional Learning
Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders across all professions. However, despite changes in response to research findings about how professionals learn, many professional development practices still focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. In exploring reasons for the continuation of didactic practices in professional development, this article critiques the usual conceptualization of professional development through a review of recent literature across professions. An alternative conceptualization is proposed, based on philosophical assumptions congruent with evidence about professional learning from seminal educational research of the past two decades. An argument is presented for a shift in discourse and focus from delivering and evaluating professional development programs to understanding and supporting authentic professional learning.
Journal Article
Corumination, interpersonal stress generation, and internalizing symptoms: Accumulating effects and transactional influences in a multiwave study of adolescents
This multiwave longitudinal study investigated potential transactional and accumulating influences among corumination, interpersonal stressors, and internalizing symptoms among a sample of early and middle adolescents (N = 350; 6th–10th graders). Youth completed self-report measures of corumination at Times 1, 2, and 4, and negative life events, internalizing symptoms (general depressive, specific anhedonic depressive, anxious arousal, general internalizing), and externalizing problems at all four time points (5 weeks between each assessment across 4 months). Results supported hypotheses. First, baseline corumination predicted prospective trajectories of all forms of internalizing symptoms but not externalizing problems. Second, baseline corumination predicted generation of interpersonal-dependent, but not interpersonal-independent or noninterpersonal stressors. Third, interpersonal-dependent events partially mediated the longitudinal association between baseline corumination and prospective internalizing symptoms. Fourth, a transactional, bidirectional set of associations was supported in that initial internalizing symptoms and stressors predicted later elevations in corumination, and in turn, corumination predicted later symptoms through the mediating role of interpersonal stressors to complete both streams in the transactional chain of influence. Fifth, girls and older adolescents exhibited higher corumination, but neither age nor sex moderated any associations. These findings are discussed within a transactional, developmental cascade model.
Journal Article
Conservative surgical approach towards placenta accreta spectrum disorders for uterine preservation
Objective
We previously described a technique for repair of the myometrial defect at repeat Caesarean section which increases residual myometrial thickness thereby potentially reducing future niche-related complications. Here we describe how this technique can be modified for use for placenta accreta spectrum disorders, in line with emerging evidence that this is more a disorder of myometrial deficiency than morbid adherence.
Design
The surgical performance of peripartum hysterectomy was compared with that of the modified technique in all women having repeat Caesarean delivery for placenta accreta spectrum disorder in a tertiary unit in Singapore between December 2019 and October 2021.
Methods
Modification of the original technique involved the systematic delivery of the placenta starting from its most posterior attachment after uterine exteriorization. This is followed by the identification, mobilization, and apposition of the boundaries of myometrial defects as described previously.
Results
Ten women had Caesarean hysterectomy and ten had Caesarean section using the modified approach. Age and gestational age at delivery were similar for the two groups. Women in the modified technique group had had fewer prior Caesarean sections and had a lower body mass index. Operating time, estimated blood loss and need for transfusion were all lower in the myometrial repair group but without statistical significance. There were no visceral injuries in the repair group but there was one bladder injury in the hysterectomy group.
Conclusion
The modified approach provides an effective alternative to peripartum hysterectomy with favourable surgical profile and allows uterine conservation with restoration of myometrial thickness.
Journal Article
Crash caesarean section audit: an important tool for an obstetric unit to ensure safe quality care
Background
Crash caesarean section (CCS) aims to achieve delivery within 30 min of decision in potentially life-threatening situations for mother, baby or both but is not without risk. Auditing CCS in any unit providing surgical delivery is important to ensure compliance with the recommended guideline while ensuring validity of indication for surgery and maintaining safe care. Here we present the results of a retrospective audit of CCS in a busy tertiary maternity unit in Singapore looking at the DDI and validity for surgery and reporting on outcomes.
Method
Maternal demographics and antenatal details of mothers delivered by CCS in the preceding 4 weeks, collected from the patient’s electronic medical records, along with perinatal events leading to the CCS were presented at a monthly meeting attended by obstetricians of all grades. The decision to delivery interval (DDI) was noted and management scored with respect to appropriateness of operative indication from 1 (appropriate) – 3 (not appropriate). The outcome of cases with a score > 1.5 was scrutinised for areas of care which might have had a negative impact on final outcome.
Results
One hundred and forty-eight CCS were identified. Twenty-one cases (14.2%) scored > 1.5. All CCS were performed within the recommended 30 min with a mean of 10.2 min. There were 15 maternal complications, 1 birth injury and 4 perinatal deaths. The top 3 indications for surgery were non-reassuring fetal status (83/148), cord prolapse (15/148) and placental abruption (10/148). Sixty-eight babies were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), 36 to the special care nursery (SCN) and 49 went to the general ward.
Conclusion
Regular audit of CCS for DDI and validity of surgical indication with the inclusion of perinatal outcomes is an important tool in improving quality of care ensuring compliance with guidelines while maintaining safety of care by identification and correction of deficiencies.
Journal Article
Development of a Curved, Stratified, In Vitro Model to Assess Ocular Biocompatibility
To further improve in vitro models of the cornea, this study focused on the creation of a three-dimensional, stratified, curved epithelium; and the subsequent characterization and evaluation of its suitability as a model for biocompatibility testing.
Immortalized human corneal epithelial cells were grown to confluency on curved cellulose filters for seven days, and were then differentiated and stratified using an air-liquid interface for seven days before testing. Varying concentrations of a commercial ophthalmic solution containing benzalkonium chloride (BAK), a known cytotoxic agent, and two relevant ocular surfactants were tested on the model. A whole balafilcon A lens soaked in phosphate buffered saline (BA PBS) was also used to assess biocompatibility and verify the validity of the model. Viability assays as well as flow cytometry were performed on the cells to investigate changes in cell death and integrin expression.
The reconstructed curved corneal epithelium was composed of 3-5 layers of cells. Increasing concentrations of BAK showed dose-dependent decreased cell viability and increased integrin expression and cell death. No significant change in viability was observed in the presence of the surfactants. As expected, the BA PBS combination appeared to be very biocompatible with no adverse change in cell viability or integrin expression.
The stratified, curved, epithelial model proved to be sensitive to distinct changes in cytotoxicity and is suitable for continued assessment for biocompatibility testing of contact lenses. Our results showed that flow cytometry can provide a quantitative measure of the cell response to biomaterials or cytotoxic compounds for both the supernatant and adherent cell populations. As a specifically designed in vitro model of the corneal epithelium, this quantitative model for biocompatibility at the ocular surface may help improve our understanding of cell-material interactions and reduce the use of animal testing.
Journal Article
Combining Comparative Proteomics and Molecular Genetics Uncovers Regulators of Synaptic and Axonal Stability and Degeneration In Vivo
Degeneration of synaptic and axonal compartments of neurons is an early event contributing to the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel \"top-down\" approach for identifying proteins and functional pathways regulating neurodegeneration in distal compartments of neurons. A series of comparative quantitative proteomic screens on synapse-enriched fractions isolated from the mouse brain following injury identified dynamic perturbations occurring within the proteome during both initiation and onset phases of degeneration. In silico analyses highlighted significant clustering of proteins contributing to functional pathways regulating synaptic transmission and neurite development. Molecular markers of degeneration were conserved in injury and disease, with comparable responses observed in synapse-enriched fractions isolated from mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD) and spinocerebellar ataxia type 5. An initial screen targeting thirteen degeneration-associated proteins using mutant Drosophila lines revealed six potential regulators of synaptic and axonal degeneration in vivo. Mutations in CALB2, ROCK2, DNAJC5/CSP, and HIBCH partially delayed injury-induced neurodegeneration. Conversely, mutations in DNAJC6 and ALDHA1 led to spontaneous degeneration of distal axons and synapses. A more detailed genetic analysis of DNAJC5/CSP mutants confirmed that loss of DNAJC5/CSP was neuroprotective, robustly delaying degeneration in axonal and synaptic compartments. Our study has identified conserved molecular responses occurring within synapse-enriched fractions of the mouse brain during the early stages of neurodegeneration, focused on functional networks modulating synaptic transmission and incorporating molecular chaperones, cytoskeletal modifiers, and calcium-binding proteins. We propose that the proteins and functional pathways identified in the current study represent attractive targets for developing therapeutics aimed at modulating synaptic and axonal stability and neurodegeneration in vivo.
Journal Article
Design and application of synthetic 17B-HSD13 substrates reveals preserved catalytic activity of protective human variants
Several hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 17-beta 13 variants have previously been identified as protective against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) fibrosis, ballooning and inflammation, and as such this target holds significant therapeutic potential. However, over 5 years later, the function of 17B-HSD13 remains unknown. Structure-aided design enables the development of potent and selective sulfonamide-based 17B-HSD13 inhibitors. In order to probe their inhibitory potency in endogenous expression systems like primary human hepatocytes, inhibitors are transformed into synthetic surrogate substrates with distinct selectivity advantages over substrates previously published. Their application to cells endogenously expressing 17B-HSD13 enables quantitative measures of enzymatic inhibition in primary human hepatocytes which has never been reported to date. Application to multiple cellular systems expressing the protective human variants reveals that the most prevalent IsoD variant maintains NAD-dependent catalytic activity towards some but not all substrates, contradicting reports that the truncation results in loss-of-function.
Several 17B-HSD13 variants have been identified as protective against NASH/MASH. However the protein’s endogenous function is unknown. Here authors describe sulfonamide-based inhibitors and synthetic substrates, then apply to multiple cellular systems revealing that the most prevalent IsoD variant maintains NAD-dependent catalytic activity.
Journal Article