Identification of motifs that function in the splicing of non-canonical introns

The enrichment of specific intronic splicing enhancers upstream of weak PY tracts suggests a novel mechanism for intron recognition that compensates for a weakened canonical pre-mRNA splicing motif

Maria Auxiliadora Hospital in Lima, Peru as a model for neurosurgical outreach to international charity hospitals

A myriad of geopolitical and financial obstacles have kept modern neurosurgery from effectively reaching the citizens of the developing world. Targeted neurosurgical outreach by academic neurosurgeons to equip neurosurgical operating theaters and train local neurosurgeons is one method to efficiently and cost effectively improve sustainable care provided by international charity hospitals. The International Neurosurgical Children’s Association (INCA) effectively improved the available neurosurgical care in the Maria Auxiliadora Hospital of Lima, Peru through the advancement of local specialist education and training. Neurosurgical equipment and training were provided for the local neurosurgeons by a mission team from the University of California at San Diego. At the end of 3 years, with one intensive week trip per year, the host neurosurgeons were proficiently and independently applying microsurgical techniques to previously performed operations, and performing newly learned operations such as neuroendoscopy and minimally invasive neurosurgery. Our experiences may serve as a successful template for the execution of other small scale, sustainable neurosurgery missions worldwide

A methodological quest for systematic literature mapping

This article develops an approach to systematic literature mapping that can contribute to advancing housing knowledge and theory in three ways. At a basic level, it informs more systematic, balanced and transparent literature reviews than currently performed in housing studies. As a self-contained project, it unravels research gaps, highlights where rich evidence already exists, and indicates changing conceptual approaches. Lastly, as an opening stage to evidence reviews, it informs the review’s questions, directions and dimensions. Our approach to literature mapping systematically identifies and explores a comprehensive but non-exhaustive literature related to a broad academic or policy theme. We have adapted established methodological approaches from systematic reviews to our much broader aims and shorter timeframe. By reflecting on five projects, we detail the methodological process so that it could be replicated or adapted in future studies. Besides reflecting on the systematic and less biased retrieval of relevant literature―pertinent to any academic project―we present insights into synthesising its temporal, geographical, conceptual and thematic trends. We also reflect on some inevitable methodological challenges faced in this process of translation of aims into the narration of findings, which have a wider currency across the social sciences

School toilets : queer, disabled bodies and gendered lessons of embodiment

In this paper we argue that school toilets function as one civilising site (Elias, 1978) in which children learn that disabled and queer bodies are out of place. This paper is the first to offer queer and crip perspectives on school toilets. The small body of existing school toilet literature generally works from a normative position which implicitly perpetuates dominant and oppressive ideals. We draw on data from Around the Toilet, a collaborative research project with queer, trans and disabled people (aroundthetoilet.wordpress.com) to critically interrogate this work. In doing this we consider ‘toilet training’ as a form of ‘civilisation’, that teaches lessons around identity, embodiment and ab/normal ways of being in the world. Furthermore, we show that ‘toilet training’ continues into adulthood, albeit in ways that are less easily identifiable than in the early years. We therefore call for a more critical, inclusive, and transformative approach to school toilet research

Congenital anomalies in low- and middle-income countries: the unborn child of global surgery.

Surgically correctable congenital anomalies cause a substantial burden of global morbidity and mortality. These anomalies disproportionately affect children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to sociocultural, economic, and structural factors that limit the accessibility and quality of pediatric surgery. While data from LMICs are sparse, available evidence suggests that the true human and financial cost of congenital anomalies is grossly underestimated and that pediatric surgery is a cost-effective intervention with the potential to avert significant premature mortality and lifelong disability

Approaches to link RNA secondary structures with splicing regulation

In higher eukaryotes, alternative splicing is usually regulated by protein factors, which bind to the pre-mRNA and affect the recognition of splicing signals. There is recent evidence that the secondary structure of the pre-mRNA may also play an important role in this process, either by facilitating or by hindering the interaction with factors and small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) that regulate splicing. Moreover, the secondary structure could play a fundamental role in the splicing of yeast species, which lack many of the regulatory splicing factors present in metazoans. This review describes the steps in the analysis of the secondary structure of the pre-mRNA and its possible relation to splicing. As a working example, we use the case of yeast and the problem of the recognition of the 3-prime splice site.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure