Speaking Out

Why can we not take action now? I asked myself this question when, as a program coordinator for the Women’s Center I decided to take part in the Vagina Monologues because I wanted to change them- monologues that are centered on the experiences of white, upper-class cis-gender women. [excerpt

Reforming the Culture of Partiality: Diffusing the Battle of the Experts in Western Water Wars

An empirical study was conducted to assess the need for reform concerning expert witness testimony in Western United States water cases; and to assess the receptiveness of judicial and quasi-judicial officers to various reforms that have been proposed or adopted in England, Australia and other jurisdictions

Determinants of equity in utilization of maternal health services in Butajira, Southern Ethiopia

Background: Equity in public health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain a full health potential and no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential. The health policy of Ethiopia emphasizes universal access for all segments of population. This study was done to assess the determinants of equity in the provision and utilization of primary maternal health care services in Meskan and Mareko Woredas, Southern Ethiopia.Methods: The study is community-based, case control study among 190 randomly selected cases [households with pregnant mothers who received at least one Antenatal Care (ANC) visit from a health facility and 191 controls [households with pregnant mothers who did not received ANC from a health facility] in Butajira Rural Health Program site of Meskan and Mareko Woredas.Results: Among all socio-demographic and socio-economic factors assessed to be determinants of utilization of maternal health services, only place of residence (being an urban (X2=9.96, p<0.01)), average annual income level of more than 1000 birr (X2=6.67, p<0.05), mothers having some education (X2=8.57, p<0.05), and walking distance from a health facility <1hour (X2=4.96, p<0.05), were significantly associated with being able to receive ANC during pregnancy as confirmed by the review of health services records.Conclusion: This study revealed that place of residence, average annual income, mothers’ education, distance from a health facility were determinants in the utilization public health programs. Providing outreach services for people in low utilization areas and enhancing awareness for utilization of maternal and child health services are recommended

A Brief Overview of Issues Addressed by EJHD Publications (Including Index)

Background: The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development (EJHD) has been in print for twenty five years now. On the occasion of its silver jubilee anniversary, it may be of interest to reflect on its activities and the possible impacts it has made on health development of the country.Objective: To highlight the major issues that have been addressed by the Ethiopian Journal of Health Development during its publication in the last 25 yearsMethods: Going through the index of articles published during the 25 years of the Journal’s existence and comparing them with the original objectives of the Journal and achievements made in the major health policy and programs of the country.Results: A total of 704 articles were published in the EJHD between its first issue in July 1984 and Volume 22 No3 of 2008. Among these 577 are original articles, 14 are review articles and the rest include: brief reports, special reports, updates, opinions, news, book reviews, letters to the editor and editorials. In addition, the Journal has published abstracts of papers presented at the third (38) and fourth (46) annual conferences of the Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA) in 1992 and 1993.Conclusions: Overall, publications in the EJHD seem to reflect issues that are relevant to the Ethiopian health sector and its programs. However, the extent to which the publications have addressed health sector issues as well as the original objectives of the journal needs to be revisited for strengthened future action that meaningfully impact policies and programs

Free recall test experience potentiates strategy-driven effects of value on memory.

People tend to show better memory for information that is deemed valuable or important. By one mechanism, individuals selectively engage deeper, semantic encoding strategies for high value items (Cohen, Rissman, Suthana, Castel, & Knowlton, 2014). By another mechanism, information paired with value or reward is automatically strengthened in memory via dopaminergic projections from midbrain to hippocampus (Shohamy & Adcock, 2010). We hypothesized that the latter mechanism would primarily enhance recollection-based memory, while the former mechanism would strengthen both recollection and familiarity. We also hypothesized that providing interspersed tests during study is a key to encouraging selective engagement of strategies. To test these hypotheses, we presented participants with sets of words, and each word was associated with a high or low point value. In some experiments, free recall tests were given after each list. In all experiments, a recognition test was administered 5 minutes after the final word list. Process dissociation was accomplished via remember/know judgments at recognition, a recall test probing both item memory and memory for a contextual detail (word plurality), and a task dissociation combining a recognition test for plurality (intended to probe recollection) with a speeded item recognition test (to probe familiarity). When recall tests were administered after study lists, high value strengthened both recollection and familiarity. When memory was not tested after each study list, but rather only at the end, value increased recollection but not familiarity. These dual process dissociations suggest that interspersed recall tests guide learners' use of metacognitive control to selectively apply effective encoding strategies. (PsycINFO Database Recor

The Sodium Channel B4-Subunits are Dysregulated in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Drug-Resistant Patients

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common type of partial epilepsy referred for surgery due to antiepileptic drug (AED) resistance. A common molecular target for many of these drugs is the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC). The VGSC consists of four domains of pore-forming α-subunits and two auxiliary β-subunits, several of which have been well studied in epileptic conditions. However, despite the β4-subunits’ role having been reported in some neurological conditions, there is little research investigating its potential significance in epilepsy. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to assess the role of SCN4β in epilepsy by using a combination of molecular and bioinformatics approaches. We first demonstrated that there was a reduction in the relative expression of SCN4B in the drug-resistant TLE patients compared to non-epileptic control specimens, both at the mRNA and protein levels. By analyzing a co-expression network in the neighborhood of SCN4B we then discovered a linkage between the expression of this gene and K+ channels activated by Ca2+, or K+ two-pore domain channels. Our approach also inferred several potential effector functions linked to variation in the expression of SCN4B. These observations support the hypothesis that SCN4B is a key factor in AED-resistant TLE, which could help direct both the drug selection of TLE treatments and the development of future AED

Mitofusins and OPA1 Mediate Sequential Steps in Mitochondrial Membrane Fusion

Mitochondrial fusion requires the coordinated fusion of the outer and inner membranes. Three large GTPases—OPA1 and the mitofusins Mfn1 and Mfn2—are essential for the fusion of mammalian mitochondria. OPA1 is mutated in dominant optic atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease of the optic nerve. In yeast, the OPA1 ortholog Mgm1 is required for inner membrane fusion in vitro; nevertheless, yeast lacking Mgm1 show neither outer nor inner membrane fusion in vivo, because of the tight coupling between these two processes. We find that outer membrane fusion can be readily visualized in OPA1-null mouse cells in vivo, but these events do not progress to inner membrane fusion. Similar defects are found in cells lacking prohibitins, which are required for proper OPA1 processing. In contrast, double Mfn-null cells show neither outer nor inner membrane fusion. Mitochondria in OPA1-null cells often contain multiple matrix compartments bounded together by a single outer membrane, consistent with uncoupling of outer versus inner membrane fusion. In addition, unlike mitofusins and yeast Mgm1, OPA1 is not required on adjacent mitochondria to mediate membrane fusion. These results indicate that mammalian mitofusins and OPA1 mediate distinct sequential fusion steps that are readily uncoupled, in contrast to the situation in yeast