Genetics and gender: Breeding decisions in Somaliland

Peer Revie

Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa: Guidelines for documenting plans supporting a breeding program

This document is designed to assist partners of the project ‘Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa (PROGEBE)’ in structuring a document detailing the plans behind their national-level animal breeding programs. It, however, will also be useful to others documenting breeding plans for developing country livestock production systems, outside of this specific project

Scholars Portal: The Canadian Experience

This is a presentation about the Scholars Portal, which is a suite of shared information resources and services centrally managed by a consortium of 20 university libraries in Ontario, Canada (OCUL)

Karen Marshall Keynote Letter

A letter from Karen Marshall,a keynote speaker for the Symposiu

Newcastle Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) care study : a randomised controlled trial (funded by the National Institute for Health Research)

PhD ThesisTitle - Randomised controlled trial (RCT) to identify if cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with respiratory nurses reduces anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). (Trial Registration - ISCRCTN55206395). Introduction Anxiety and depression are common comorbidities in COPD. The aim of this research is to identify if CBT delivered by respiratory nurses reduces anxiety in a large COPD population. Methods Study Design – Prospective RCT. Sample Size - 112 for each arm were required. Approach – 1,518 patients were approached: 279 were recruited. Randomisation –Electronic randomisation was used. Intervention – CBT with a respiratory nurse plus self-help leaflets. Comparison – Self- help leaflets. Main Outcomes -Primary outcome was symptoms of anxiety. Secondary outcomes were depression and quality of life. Data collection – was undertaken by nurses blinded to treatment allocation. Results The groups were well matched at baseline. The CBT intervention achieved clinical and statistically significant change for all outcomes: HADS-Anxiety group mean change of 3.4 (SD 4.20) p=<0.001 CI 2.62- 4.17; HADS-Depression 2.20 (SD 3.62) p=<001, CI 1.53 – 2.87; CAT 2.7 (SD 6.36) p=< 0.001, CI 1.49 – 3.88 and EQ-5D utility group mean change of 0.08 (SD 0.31) p=0.007, CI - 0.14 - -0.02 at 3 months. The leaflet group achieved a clinical and significant reduction in group mean change of 1.9 (SD 3.80) p= <0.001, CI 1.19 - 2.55 in HADS-Anxiety and CAT 2.06 (SD 5.34) p=<0.001, CI 1.09 – 3.04. The HADS-Depression group mean change was only statistically significant 1.07 (SD 3.55) p=0.001, CI 0.44 – 1.71. The EQ-5D utility scores group mean change of - 0.003 (SD 0.31) p= 0.09 CI -0.06 – 0.05 which did not reach statistical or clinical significance. Conclusion Overall the CBT intervention was superior to the leaflet intervention. Funded by: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

From Momentum to Movement: Developing a Unified Strategy to Support Family Caregivers Across the Nation

The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) presents From Momentum to Movement: Developing a Unified Strategy to Support Family Caregivers Across the Nation.This report is aligned with NAC's mission of building partnerships in advocacy that improve the lives of family caregivers. In 2019, NAC convened its Annual Conference of Caregiver Advocates to explore the need for a unified strategy to address family caregiving as a public health issue. By amplifying feedback from that conference and engaging the collective expertise of the National Caregiver Advocacy Collaborative, as well as several advocates involved with state caregiving plans at various stages of development, NAC continues its mission of building out partnerships to advance the goal of a unified caregiving strategy to support family caregivers across the nation.From Momentum to Movement represents the first iteration of a living document and compilation of resources to help guide advocates in developing statewide caregiving strategies that address community-level needs. This report presents a strategic process to foster the development of actionable goals in new state plans. It also includes core policy recommendations in person-centered domains intended to coordinate alignment across key global, national, and state-level priorities and to strengthen movement toward a robust, unified caregiving strategy for caregivers across the lifespan.Click "Download" to access this resourc

Finding Time for Federal Habeas Corpus: Carey v. Saffold

This Note begins by looking at the history of the writ of habeas corpus in the United States. There is a brief overview of the background and history of the AEDPA, specifically targeting the changes the AEDPA made to the law of federal habeas corpus. Next, the habeas corpus procedure in California is reviewed. Finally, this Note explains the Supreme Court’s decision in Carey v. Saffold, focusing on the Court’s policy rationale and what the lack of support for habeas corpus means for the future of the writ

Structural polymorphism of amyloidogenic peptides

The folding of a protein from a linear chain of amino acids into its functional native state is one of the most widely investigated yet enigmatic events to take place in the natural world. An ever‐increasing number of proteins and peptides are known to fold, or “misfold”, into protease‐resistant amyloid fibrils that share a common cross‐β structure, despite having no apparent sequence homology. Self‐assembly of particular proteins or peptides into amyloid is believed to be the molecular basis of many diseases, including Alzheimer's Disease, Type II diabetes and the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. More recent evidence suggests a functional, non‐pathogenic role for amyloid in certain organisms, which has inspired its use as a biomaterial. In order to understand these diseases and exploit amyloid for industrial use using a bottom‐up design approach, detailed knowledge of the assembly process and structure of amyloid is required. Many short peptides are known to assemble into amyloid‐like fibres in vitro that have very similar properties to those formed in vivo. These “model systems” can give deeper insight into what triggers, drives and influences self‐assembly. Furthermore, they can provide more detailed structural information than is often obtained from larger amyloid‐forming proteins. Using two short peptides (the yeast prion fragment GNNQQNY and the designed peptide KFFEAAAKKFFE), which form amyloid-like microcrystals that have been structurally characterised previously, the roles of particular residues in assembly and structure were investigated. Results reveal that aromatic residues are fundamental determinants of assembly and may contribute to polymorphic propensity. Furthermore, non‐aromatic sequence changes can have dramatic effects on fibril morphology both at a macromolecular level and in the underlying peptide packing arrangement. Structural variations were found between amyloid‐like fibres and microcrystals formed from the same peptide, which has implications for how to examine amyloid structure in the future. The balance of conditions required for proteins or peptides to adopt specific conformations is very fine. Polymorphism may be an inherent property of amyloidogenic proteins and peptides and detailing the structural intricacies of each form will be essential from both a biomedical and industrial perspectiv

The relationship between amyloid structure and cytotoxicity

Self-assembly of proteins and peptides into amyloid structures has been the subject of intense and focused research due to their association with neurodegenerative, age-related human diseases and transmissible prion diseases in humans and mammals. Of the disease associated amyloid assemblies, a diverse array of species, ranging from small oligomeric assembly intermediates to fibrillar structures, have been shown to have toxic potential. Equally, a range of species formed by the same disease associated amyloid sequences have been found to be relatively benign under comparable monomer equivalent concentrations and conditions. In recent years, an increasing number of functional amyloid systems have also been found. These developments show that not all amyloid structures are generically toxic to cells. Given these observations, it is important to understand why amyloid structures may encode such varied toxic potential despite sharing a common core molecular architecture. Here, we discuss possible links between different aspects of amyloidogenic structures and assembly mechanisms with their varied functional effects. We propose testable hypotheses for the relationship between amyloid structure and its toxic potential in the context of recent reports on amyloid sequence, structure, and toxicity relationships

Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa: Guidelines for the replication and improvement of the N’Dama cattle breeding program of The Gambia

This document is designed to assist countries partnered to the project ‘Sustainable Management of Globally Significant Endemic Ruminant Livestock in West Africa’ (PROGEBE www.progebe.net) in the development of plans for N’Dama cattle within breed improvement programs, following the 3-tier (nucleus/multiplier/ commercial) model of The Gambia. The document proceeds as follows. First some background information is given including the broad steps to developing an animal breeding program (based on FAO 2010), as well as a basic overview of a 3-tier breeding program. Second, The Gambia breeding program is described from both a historical perspective and in terms of its current activities. Third, detailed guidelines are given in relation to the replication/improvement of the breeding program, with a number of specific recommendations made. Finally issues which will be critical to the success of the program—including human capacity, breeding program sustainability, and scale of operation—are discussed in some detail. It should be noted that underlying assumptions to this document are that a) within-breed genetic improvement of N’Dama cattle is an appropriate livestock development intervention within the PROGEBE countries, and that b) the 3-tier model of The Gambia is the most appropriate genetic improvement and dissemination model to implement. This document does not discuss these issues further, as it is understood that the PROGEBE country partners are already committed to establishing such breeding programs. It should also be stressed that this document does not replace the need for country-level capacity in terms of trained people for genetic improvement programs to design and oversee their N’Dama breeding activities. Instead this document should be considered reference material, from which the country-level animal breeders/ quantitative geneticists and other stake-holders can draw on in designing their specific breeding plans