Hero stories: A coping strategy for a child who has autism

This paper explores Hero Stories, a different narrative approach developed to support a child with autism to gain self-control and allow him to navigate his world as a competent and capable learner. It examines the development and use of 'Hero Stories books' as a strategy for assisting a child with autism to cope with stressful situations within the home and school, and explores how these stories can contribute to enhancing a child's sense of themselves as thinkers and powerful learners, in charge of their lives

Pengelolaan Tanah dalam Pengetahuan Lokal dan Praktik Pertanian Berkelanjutan pada Masyarakat Arfak, Papua Barat

Lahan sebagai salah satu faktor produksi membutuhkan pengelolaan yang baik terutama di daerah Pegunungan Arfak yang bertopografi ekstrem. Keanekaragaman hayati yang tinggi di sini menjadikan wilayah ini sebagai daerah konservasi dan iklimnya membuat Pegunungan Arfak menjadi sentra produksi sayuran dataran tinggi di Provinsi Papua Barat. Penelitian di kampung Indud, Ubesia dan Taigei, ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan bagaimana petani Arfak menerapkan pengetahuan lokal mereka, yakni konsep igya ser hanjob dalam mengelola tanah guna mendukung usaha tani sayuran dataran tinggi yang berkelanjutan. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode induktif dan teknik studi kasus untuk mendokumentasikan pengetahuan dan pengalaman 30 orang petani Arfak dalam sistem usahatani sayuran dataran tinggi yang dipilih dengan teknik snowball. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara (individu dan kelompok) dan pengamatan. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa pengelolaan tanah berkelanjutan dalam kegiatan usaha tani sayuran dataran tinggi berbasis pada konsep ekologi masyarakat Arfak, yakni igya ser hanjob. Konsep ini mengatur wilayah kelola yang tepat untuk keperluan pertanian subsisten dan menjamin keberlanjutan lingkungan serta keberlanjutan pangan bagi keluarga. Konsep ekologis tersebut disosialisasikan secara turun temurun oleh perempuan sebagai salah satu penjaga pengetahuan lokal masyarakat Arfak. Namun, dalam kenyataannya terdapat ancaman terutama pemekaran wilayah dan proses transfer pengetahuan terhadap praktik pertanian subsisten yang berkelanjutan berdasarkan konsep ekologi masyarakat Arfak.   Kata kunci: Igya ser hanjob, masyarakat adat arfak, pertanian berkelanjutan, pengetahuan loka

Hemostatic Status of Pre and Post Intracoronary Injection of Peripheral Blood Stem Cells in Patients with Recent Myocardial Infarction

Aim: to investigate hemostatic parameter changes, such as platelet aggregation, blood and plasma viscosity, prothrombin time, APTT, CRP and fibrinogen, before and after administration of stem cell therapy. Methods: a total of 24 patients were enrolled. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) were harvested and injected into the infarct-related artery after 5 consecutive days of G-CSF administration. Recombinant human erythropoietin was administered at the time of intracoronary PBSCs injection. Results: we were able to evaluate 11 from 24 of patients regarding hemostatic status pre–post stem cell injection. There were no significant difference between baseline vs 3 months in spontaneous aggregation (p=0.350), PT (p=0.793), aPTT (p=0.255) and TT (p=0.254). There were also no significant difference between baseline vs 3 months in plasma viscosity (p=0.442) and blood viscosity (p=0.843). Nevertheless the patient who had their blood and plasma viscosity above or below normal laboratory range return to normal level after the treatment. Both PT and APTT also show normalization value. Both Fibrinogen and CRP level show significant decrease between baseline and 3 months after treatment (p=0.009) and (p=0.04) respectively. Conclusion: combined G-CSF and EPO based-intracoronary infusion of PBSCs may open new perspective in the treatment of hypercoagulable state post AMI

Hemostatic Status of Pre and Post Intracoronary Injection of Peripheral Blood Stem Cells in Patients with Recent Myocardial Infarction

Aim: to investigate hemostatic parameter changes, such as platelet aggregation, blood and plasma viscosity, prothrombin time, APTT, CRP and fibrinogen, before and after administration of stem cell therapy. Methods: a total of 24 patients were enrolled. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) were harvested and injected into the infarct-related artery after 5 consecutive days of G-CSF administration. Recombinant human erythropoietin was administered at the time of intracoronary PBSCs injection. Results: we were able to evaluate 11 from 24 of patients regarding hemostatic status pre–post stem cell injection. There were no significant difference between baseline vs 3 months in spontaneous aggregation (p=0.350), PT (p=0.793), aPTT (p=0.255) and TT (p=0.254). There were also no significant difference between baseline vs 3 months in plasma viscosity (p=0.442) and blood viscosity (p=0.843). Nevertheless the patient who had their blood and plasma viscosity above or below normal laboratory range return to normal level after the treatment. Both PT and APTT also show normalization value. Both Fibrinogen and CRP level show significant decrease between baseline and 3 months after treatment (p=0.009) and (p=0.04) respectively. Conclusion: combined G-CSF and EPO based-intracoronary infusion of PBSCs may open new perspective in the treatment of hypercoagulable state post AMI. Key words: coagulation, platelet aggregation, myocardial infarction, hypercoagulatio

Local Genomic Adaptation of Coral Reef-Associated Microbiomes to Gradients of Natural Variability and Anthropogenic Stressors

Holobionts are species-specific associations between macro- and microorganisms. On coral reefs, the benthic coverage of coral and algal holobionts varies due to natural and anthropogenic forcings. Different benthic macroorganisms are predicted to have specific microbiomes. In contrast, local environmental factors are predicted to select for specific metabolic pathways in microbes. To reconcile these two predictions, we hypothesized that adaptation of microbiomes to local conditions is facilitated by the horizontal transger of genes responsible for specific metabolic capabilities. To test this hypothesis, microbial metagenomes were sequenced from 22 coral reefs at 11 Line Islands in the central Pacific that together span a wide range of biogeochemical and anthropogenic influences. Consistent with our hypothesis, the percent cover of major benthic functional groups significantly correlated with particular microbial taxa. Reefs with higher coral cover had a coral microbiome with higher abundances of Alphaproteobacteria (such as Rhodobacterales and Sphingomonadales), whereas microbiomes of algae-dominated reefs had higher abundances of Gammaproteobacteria (such as Alteromonadales, Pseudomonadales, and Vibrionales), Betaproteobacteria, and Bacteriodetes. In contrast to taxa, geography was the strongest predictor of microbial community metabolism. Microbial communities on reefs with higher nutrient availability (e.g., equatorial upwelling zones) were enriched in genes involved in nutrient-related metabolisms (e.g., nitrate and nitrite ammonification, Ton/Tol transport, etc.). On reefs further from the equator, microbes had more genes encoding chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosystems I/II. These results support the hypothesis that core microbiomes are determined by holobiont macroorganisms, and that those core taxa adapt to local conditions by selecting for advantageous metabolic genes

Variability and host density independence in inductions-based estimates of environmental lysogeny.

Temperate bacterial viruses (phages) may enter a symbiosis with their host cell, forming a unit called a lysogen. Infection and viral replication are disassociated in lysogens until an induction event such as DNA damage occurs, triggering viral-mediated lysis. The lysogen-lytic viral reproduction switch is central to viral ecology, with diverse ecosystem impacts. It has been argued that lysogeny is favoured in phages at low host densities. This paradigm is based on the fraction of chemically inducible cells (FCIC) lysogeny proxy determined using DNA-damaging mitomycin C inductions. Contrary to the established paradigm, a survey of 39 inductions publications found FCIC to be highly variable and pervasively insensitive to bacterial host density at global, within-environment and within-study levels. Attempts to determine the source(s) of variability highlighted the inherent complications in using the FCIC proxy in mixed communities, including dissociation between rates of lysogeny and FCIC values. Ultimately, FCIC studies do not provide robust measures of lysogeny or consistent evidence of either positive or negative host density dependence to the lytic-lysogenic switch. Other metrics are therefore needed to understand the drivers of the lytic-lysogenic decision in viral communities and to test models of the host density-dependent viral lytic-lysogenic switch

Life History Response of Mediterranean Fruit Flies to Dietary Restriction

The purpose of this study was to investigate medfly longevity and reproduction across a broad spectrum of diet restriction using a protocol similar to those applied in most rodent studies. Age-specific reproduction and age of death were monitored for 1,200 adult males and 1,200 females, each individually maintained on one of 12 diets from ad libitum to 30% of ad libitum. Diet was provided in a fixed volume of solution that was fully consumed each day, ensuring control of total nutrient consumption for every fly. Contrary to expectation and precedence, increased longevity was not observed at any level of diet restriction. Among females, reproduction continued across all diet levels despite the cost in terms of increased mortality. Among males, life expectancy exceeded that of females at most diet levels. However, in both sexes, mortality increased more sharply and the pattern of survival changed abruptly once the diet level fell to 50% of ad libitum or below, even though the energetic demands of egg production has no obvious counterpart in males. We believe that a more complete picture of the life table response to dietary restriction will emerge when studies are conducted on a wider range of species and include both sexes, more levels of diet, and the opportunity for mating and reproduction

Perlecan (HSPG2) promotes structural, contractile, and metabolic development of human cardiomyocytes

Perlecan (HSPG2), a heparan sulfate proteoglycan similar to agrin, is key for extracellular matrix (ECM) maturation and stabilization. Although crucial for cardiac development, its role remains elusive. We show that perlecan expression increases as cardiomyocytes mature in vivo and during human pluripotent stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs). Perlecan-haploinsuffient hPSCs (HSPG2+/−) differentiate efficiently, but late-stage CMs have structural, contractile, metabolic, and ECM gene dysregulation. In keeping with this, late-stage HSPG2+/− hPSC-CMs have immature features, including reduced ⍺-actinin expression and increased glycolytic metabolism and proliferation. Moreover, perlecan-haploinsuffient engineered heart tissues have reduced tissue thickness and force generation. Conversely, hPSC-CMs grown on a perlecan-peptide substrate are enlarged and display increased nucleation, typical of hypertrophic growth. Together, perlecan appears to play the opposite role of agrin, promoting cellular maturation rather than hyperplasia and proliferation. Perlecan signaling is likely mediated via its binding to the dystroglycan complex. Targeting perlecan-dependent signaling may help reverse the phenotypic switch common to heart failure

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020