Resistance Narratives in Documentaries: A Narrative Rhetorical Analysis on \u3ci\u3eGMO OMG\u3c/i\u3e

This paper explores the elements of narrative within the documentary GMO OMG that contribute to the persuasion and motivation of audiences in food activist films. A narrative rhetorical analysis was used to identify the artifact, its objective and them main elements that contributed to the narrative. The analysis found that narrator perspective, thematic message, and audience were powerful in creating a resistance narrative within the documentary. Additionally the film used an anthropocentric perspective to engage and motivate audience members. This perspective emphasized that the use of GMO based seeds threatens the “American Dream,” leading into the final call to consumer-based action. The film is a key example of the power of combining the communicative tactics of documentaries and social movements

Resistance Narratives in Documentaries: A Narrative Rhetorical Analysis on \u3ci\u3eGMO OMG\u3c/i\u3e

This paper explores the elements of narrative within the documentary GMO OMG that contribute to the persuasion and motivation of audiences in food activist films. A narrative rhetorical analysis was used to identify the artifact, its objective and them main elements that contributed to the narrative. The analysis found that narrator perspective, thematic message, and audience were powerful in creating a resistance narrative within the documentary. Additionally the film used an anthropocentric perspective to engage and motivate audience members. This perspective emphasized that the use of GMO based seeds threatens the “American Dream,” leading into the final call to consumer-based action. The film is a key example of the power of combining the communicative tactics of documentaries and social movements

Molecular evolution of the vesicle coat component βCOP in Toxoplasma gondii

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44 (2007): 1284-1294, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.031.Coatomer coated (COPI) vesicles play a pivotal role for multiple membrane trafficking steps throughout the eukaryotic cell. Our focus is on βCOP, one of the most well known components of the COPI multi-protein complex. Amino acid differences in βCOP may dictate functional divergence across species during the course of evolution, especially with regards to the evolutionary pressures on obligate intracellular parasites. A bioinformatic analysis of βCOP amino acid sequences was conducted for 49 eukaryotic species. Cloning and sequence analysis of the Toxoplasma gondii βCOP homologue revealed several amino acid insertions unique to T. gondii and one C-terminal insertion that is unique to apicomplexan parasites. These findings led us to investigate the possibility that βCOP experienced functional divergence during the course of its evolution. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis revealed a tree consistent with pan eukaryote distribution and long-branch lengths were observed among the apicomplexans. Further analysis revealed that kinetoplast βCOP underwent the most amount of change, leading to perhaps an overall change of function. In comparison, T. gondii exhibited subtle yet specific amino acid changes. The amino acid substitutions did not occur in the same places as other lineages, suggesting that TgβCOP has a role specific to the apicomplexans. Our work identifies forty-eight residues that are likely to be functionally important when comparing apicomplexan, kinetoplastid, and fungal βCOP.KMH is an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Infectious Disease; SLP was supported by an NIH training grant (NIH/NIAID/TMP T 32 7030); AGM was supported by the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Program in Global Infectious Diseases, also funded by the Ellison Medical Foundation

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Exploring the functional soil-microbe interface and exoenzymes through soil metaexoproteomics

Functionally important proteins at the interface of cell and soil are of potentially low abundance when compared with commonly recovered intracellular proteins. A novel approach was developed and used to extract the metaexoproteome, the subset of proteins found outside the cell, in the context of a soil enriched with the nitrogen-containing recalcitrant polymer chitin. The majority of proteins recovered was of bacterial origin and localized to the outer membrane or extracellular milieu. A wide variety of transporter proteins were identified, particularly those associated with amino-acid and phosphate uptake. The metaexoproteome extract retained chitinolytic activity and we were successful in detecting Nocardiopsis-like chitinases that correlated with the glycoside hydrolase family 18 (GH18) chi gene data and metataxonomic analysis. Nocardiopsis-like chitinases appeared to be solely responsible for chitinolytic activity in soil. This is the first study to detect and sequence bacterial exoenzymes with proven activity in the soil enzyme pool

Cognitive Rehabilitation for Neurocognitive Late Effects in Adult Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Feasibility and Case-Series Study

Neurocognitive late effects following the diagnosis and treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) commonly include impaired executive functions (EFs), with negative consequences for one’s health-related quality of life and mental health. However, interventions for EF impairments are scarce. Thus, the aims of this study were to (1) explore the feasibility and acceptability of the cognitive rehabilitation program Goal Management Training (GMT) and (2) examine whether GMT is associated with positive outcomes across cases of ALL survivors with EF complaints. Four participants (median age 31.5 years) underwent nine GMT modules in a total of five group sessions. Rehabilitation was focused on compensatory strategies to improve real-life EFs. Participants were evaluated at 2-week and 6-month follow-ups. Evaluation of feasibility and acceptability included adherence, a semi structured interview, self-reports, and safety. Additionally, therapists’ experience with implementation was evaluated. Outcome measures included self-reports and neurocognitive tests of attention, EF, and processing speed. All participants completed GMT and rated the intervention as useful, suitable, and satisfactory. The reliable change index showed improved daily life EFs (two participants) and neurocognitive performance (three participants) at 6-month follow-up. Additionally, all participants improved on a “real-life” task involving EF. A future randomized controlled trial is recommended

Cognitive Rehabilitation for Neurocognitive Late Effects in Adult Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Feasibility and Case-Series Study

Neurocognitive late effects following the diagnosis and treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) commonly include impaired executive functions (EFs), with negative consequences for one’s health-related quality of life and mental health. However, interventions for EF impairments are scarce. Thus, the aims of this study were to (1) explore the feasibility and acceptability of the cognitive rehabilitation program Goal Management Training (GMT) and (2) examine whether GMT is associated with positive outcomes across cases of ALL survivors with EF complaints. Four participants (median age 31.5 years) underwent nine GMT modules in a total of five group sessions. Rehabilitation was focused on compensatory strategies to improve real-life EFs. Participants were evaluated at 2-week and 6-month follow-ups. Evaluation of feasibility and acceptability included adherence, a semi structured interview, self-reports, and safety. Additionally, therapists’ experience with implementation was evaluated. Outcome measures included self-reports and neurocognitive tests of attention, EF, and processing speed. All participants completed GMT and rated the intervention as useful, suitable, and satisfactory. The reliable change index showed improved daily life EFs (two participants) and neurocognitive performance (three participants) at 6-month follow-up. Additionally, all participants improved on a “real-life” task involving EF. A future randomized controlled trial is recommended