Philanthropy and the Regeneration of Community Democracy

The underlying assumption among foundations of all kinds has been that productive change comes from technical intervention through programs and services. However, various pressures, including frustration with results that all too often seem superficial and disappointing, have led to growing interest in something beyond traditional approaches. This different approach -- variously described as community or civic capacity building, community-based problem solving, democratic institution building, comprehensive community change, and so on -- is sometimes met with skepticism. This report is intended to give greater assurance that this "other" course for communities with support from philanthropy is indeed possible

Outcome Predictors in Prosthetic Joint Infections - Validation of a risk stratification score for Prosthetic Joint Infections in 120 cases

IntroductionEven though predictive risk classifications are a widely accepted tool to define a suitable treatment protocol a classification is still missing considering the difficulty in treating the causative pathogen antibiotically in prosthetic joint infections.MethodsTreatment outcomes in 120 patients with proven prosthetic joint infections in hip and knee prostheses were regressed on time of infection, systemic risk factors, local risk factors and the difficulty in treating the causing pathogen. The main outcome variable was “definitely free of infection” after two years in a logistic regression model.Results66 male and 54 female patients, with a mean age at surgery of 68.3 years ±12.0 and a mean BMI of 26.05±6.21 were included in our survey and followed for 29.0 ± 11.3 months. We found a significant association (p<0.001) between our score and the outcome parameters evaluated.ConclusionThese results show that our score is an independent predictor for the cure rate in prosthetic joint infections and that there is a statistically significant, sizable decrease in cure rate with an increase in score. It might help to provide extra care if needed

The nexin-dynein regulatory complex subunit DRC1 is essential for motile cilia function in algae and humans

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is characterized by dysfunction of respiratory cilia and sperm flagella and random determination of visceral asymmetry. Here, we identify the DRC1 subunit of the nexin-dynein regulatory complex (N-DRC), an axonemal structure critical for the regulation of dynein motors, and show that mutations in the gene encoding DRC1, CCDC164, are involved in PCD pathogenesis. Loss-of-function mutations disrupting DRC1 result in severe defects in assembly of the N-DRC structure and defective ciliary movement in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and humans. Our results highlight a role for N-DRC integrity in regulating ciliary beating and provide the first direct evidence that mutations in DRC genes cause human disease