Outcomes of Pregnancy in Women with Congenital Heart Disease: A Single Center Experience in Korea

Pregnancy outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease have not been fully assessed in Korea. Forty-nine pregnancies that occurred in 34 women with congenital heart disease who registered at our hospital between September 1995 and April 2006 were reviewed. Spontaneous abortions occurred in two pregnancies at 6+1 and 7 weeks, and another two underwent elective pregnancy termination. One maternal death in puerperium occurred in a woman with Eisenmenger syndrome. Maternal cardiac complications were noted in 18.4%, pulmonary edema in 16.3%, symptomatic arrhythmia in 6.1%, deterioration of New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class by ≥2 in 2.0%, and cardiac death in 2.0%. Independent predictors of adverse maternal cardiac events were an NYHA functional class of ≥3 (odds ratio [OR], 20.3), right ventricular dilation (OR, 21.2), and pulmonary hypertension (OR, 21.8). Neonatal complications occurred in 22.4% of pregnancies and included preterm delivery (16.3%), small for gestational age (12.2%), and neonatal death (2.0%). Independent predictors of adverse neonatal events were pulmonary hypertension (OR, 6.8) and NYHA functional class ≥3 (OR, 23.0). Pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease was found to be significantly associated with maternal cardiac and neonatal complications. Pre-pregnancy counseling and multidisciplinary care involving cardiologists and obstetricians are recommended for women with congenital heart disease contemplating pregnancy

Translation Zone(s): A Stuttering: An Experiential Approach to Linguistic Hospitality

This essay outlines the potential of artistic research for engaging audiences in cultural literacy and linguistic hospitality, which according to Paul Ricoeur occurs “where the pleasure of dwelling in the other’s language is balanced by the pleasure of receiving the foreign word at home” (10). It builds upon Emile Benveniste’s (1969) and Jacques Derrida’s (1997, 2000) transcultural etymological investigation of hospitality which is central to Alison Phipps’ ethical, socially oriented ethnographic praxis. Focusing on the use of a sensory and reflexive methodology in Translation Zone(s): A Stuttering, a participatory arts research project-developed during an Arts and Humanities Research Council Cultural Engagement Fellowship-this essay aims to extol the value of adopting an experimental approach to language, to embrace “not knowing” as a constructive methodological strategy and to extend the scope of research within this area to encompass other epistemological fields. The project is recontexualised in the aftermath of the United Kingdom’s EU referendum (2016) and looks towards the possibilities that the affective nature of art affords, considering how it could be used to encourage a critical debate about language and counteract the increasingly nationalist rhetoric and identity politics associated with being a native English speaker

Elucidating Cellular Impacts of Hsp-independent CHIP Ubiquitination on Proteostasis

C-terminus of Heat-shock protein-70 interacting protein (CHIP) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase canonically known to mark misfolded Heat shock protein (Hsp) clients for degredation. A recent publication from the Craik lab demonstrated CHIP can directly interact with numerous proteins outside of Hsps. While the authors demonstrate the occurrence of Hsp-independent CHIP interactions in cells and that CHIP can ubiquitinate substrates without chaperones in biochemical assays, they were unable to show Hsp-independent substrate ubiquitination in cells. Successful demonstration of CHIP’s Hsp-independent enzymatic activity in cellular contexts could elucidate molecular underpinnings of multiple disease states, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and viral infections, as well as provide insights into the feasibility using Hsp-independent CHIP interactions for targeted degradation of proteins. Chapter 1 describes recombinant antibodies that function as CHIP inhibitors. These were shown to have distinct epitopes and were able to inhibit both CHIP substrate binding and ubiquitination. When reformatted into scFvs for intracellular expression, some antibodies can still bind to CHIP. The recombinant antibodies can be used to examine molecular mechanisms of CHIP interactions in disease states and enable structural studies. In chapter 2, a predicted, Hsp-independent, CHIP interaction with the viral protein ORF28 was examined. Data indicates this interaction occurs in cells, and preliminary results show this interaction may be a mechanism of host protein regulation. Further studies will allow for non-biased identification of interactors and determination of the impacts of these interactions on viral replication. Chapter 3 is a distinct effort from the rest of this thesis, driven by the continued need for the novel of COVID-19 antivirals. Stable, BSL2 models of SARS-CoV-2 replication (replicons) are needed to facilitate the screening and development of small molecule inhibitors, as well as probe the biology of SARS-CoV-2 replication in a non-BSL-3 lab. While multiple designs were attempted and gave some success in generating lines, none had enough assay window to successfully screen for compounds

Range-Wide Patterns of Greater Sage-Grouse Persistence

Aim Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a shrub-steppe obligate species of western North America, currently occupies only half its historical range. Here we examine how broad-scale, long-term trends in landscape condition have affected range contraction. Location Sagebrush biome of the western USA. Methods Logistic regression was used to assess persistence and extirpation of greater sage-grouse range based on landscape conditions measured by human population (density and population change), vegetation (percentage of sagebrush habitat), roads (density of and distance to roads), agriculture (cropland, farmland and cattle density), climate (number of severe and extreme droughts) and range periphery. Model predictions were used to identify areas where future extirpations can be expected, while also explaining possible causes of past extirpations. Results Greater sage-grouse persistence and extirpation were significantly related to sagebrush habitat, cultivated cropland, human population density in 1950, prevalence of severe droughts and historical range periphery. Extirpation of sagegrouse was most likely in areas having at least four persons per square kilometre in 1950, 25% cultivated cropland in 2002 or the presence of three or more severe droughts per decade. In contrast, persistence of sage-grouse was expected when at least 30 km from historical range edge and in habitats containing at least 25% sagebrush cover within 30 km. Extirpation was most often explained (35%) by the combined effects of peripherality (within 30 km of range edge) and lack of sagebrush cover (less than 25% within 30 km). Based on patterns of prior extirpation and model predictions, we predict that 29% of remaining range may be at risk. Main Conclusions Spatial patterns in greater sage-grouse range contraction can be explained by widely available landscape variables that describe patterns of remaining sagebrush habitat and loss due to cultivation, climatic trends, human population growth and peripherality of populations. However, future range loss may relate less to historical mechanisms and more to recent changes in land use and habitat condition, including energy developments and invasions by non-native species such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and West Nile virus. In conjunction with local measures of population performance, landscape-scale predictions of future range loss may be useful for prioritizing management and protection. Our results suggest that initial conservation efforts should focus on maintaining large expanses of sagebrush habitat, enhancing quality of existing habitats, and increasing habitat connectivity