Journal of African Christian Biography: v. 4, no. 1

A publication of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography with U.S. offices located at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University. This issue focuses on: 1. Introducing African Christian Biography. 2. Modern African Church History and the Streetlight Effect. 3. Both African and Christian. 4. Musicians and Composers in African Christianity. 5. Yared. 6. John Knox Bokwe. 7. Recent Print and Digital Resources Related to Christianity in Africa. 8. Guidelines for Article Contributors. 9. Suggested Interview Guidelines and Questions. 10. Guidelines for Book Reviewers

The Offer of Advanced Imaging Techniques Leads to Higher Acceptance Rates for Screening Colonoscopy : a Prospective Study

BACKGROUND: Colonoscopy plays a fundamental role in early diagnosis and management of colorectal cancer and requires public and professional acceptance to ensure the ongoing success of screening programs. The aim of the study was to prospectively assess whether patient acceptance rates to undergo screening colonoscopy could be improved by the offer of advanced imaging techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overall, 372 randomly selected patients were prospectively included. A standardized questionnaire was developed that inquired of the patients their knowledge regarding advanced imaging techniques. Second, several media campaigns and information events were organized reporting about advanced imaging techniques, followed by repeated evaluation. After one year the evaluation ended. RESULTS: At baseline, 64% of the patients declared that they had no knowledge about new endoscopic methods. After twelve months the overall grade of information increased significantly from 14% at baseline to 34%. The percentage of patients who decided to undergo colonoscopy because of the offer of new imaging methods also increased significantly from 12% at baseline to 42% after 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Patients were highly interested in the offer of advanced imaging techniques. Knowledge about these techniques could relatively easy be provided using local media campaigns. The offer of advanced imaging techniques leads to higher acceptance rates for screening colonoscopies

Qualitative Robustness of Bootstrap Approximations for Kernel Based Methods

status: publishe

Loss of Cofilin 1 Disturbs Actin Dynamics, Adhesion between Enveloping and Deep Cell Layers and Cell Movements during Gastrulation in Zebrafish

During gastrulation, cohesive migration drives associated cell layers to the completion of epiboly in zebrafish. The association of different layers relies on E-cadherin based cellular junctions, whose stability can be affected by actin turnover. Here, we examined the effect of malfunctioning actin turnover on the epibolic movement by knocking down an actin depolymerizing factor, cofilin 1, using antisense morpholino oligos (MO). Knockdown of cfl1 interfered with epibolic movement of deep cell layer (DEL) but not in the enveloping layer (EVL) and the defect could be specifically rescued by overexpression of cfl1. It appeared that the uncoordinated movements of DEL and EVL were regulated by the differential expression of cfl1 in the DEL, but not EVL as shown by in situ hybridization. The dissociation of DEL and EVL was further evident by the loss of adhesion between layers by using transmission electronic and confocal microscopy analyses. cfl1 morphants also exhibited abnormal convergent extension, cellular migration and actin filaments, but not involution of hypoblast. The cfl1 MO-induced cell migration defect was found to be cell-autonomous in cell transplantation assays. These results suggest that proper actin turnover mediated by Cfl1 is essential for adhesion between DEL and EVL and cell movements during gastrulation in zebrafish