The English Reformation as reflected in the life and works of Thomas Becon 1512-1567

Few contemporary verdicts have been more completely reversed than that passed by his fellow reformers and protestant countrymen upon Thomas Becon. From the scant mention which his life and works now receive at the hands of historians it would hardly be inferred that he was, in his day, a prolific writer of religious tracts and treatises, some of which were for many years 'best -sellers'; a popular preacher whose vigorous sermons were greatly esteemed by those of his own persuasion; and a zealous, if occasionally somewhat uncertain, supporter of the Reformation in England.Nevertheless, the neglect into which Thomas Becon has been allowed to fall is undeserved and regrettable, and to attempt to redress it is no mere antiquarian labour. He has a claim upon our attention as a vigorous, effective, and influential protagonist of the protestant cause, as a typical English re- formed churchman of the period, and as a colourful personality in whose life and works the course and character of the English Reformation is mirrored. It is the object of this study to try to rescue his name from its unmerited oblivion, and to give some account of his part in the reformat- ion of the Church in England.At the outset it should be said that not least among the difficulties with which the biographer of Thomas Becon has to contend are the elusiveness of his subject and the paucity of the material at his disposal. The latter is not only meagre (which may partly account for the neglect Becon has suffered) but often confused or inaccurate. He appears, perhaps advisedly, to have been reticent about his activities at certain periods, and tells us little of his early life; he is silent upon family matters (apart from mentioning the names of his children) and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, made no will. To the comparatively few facts which can be gleaned from his writings, official and other contemporary records acid but little, and several periods of his life are particularly obscure. Although frequently involved in important events, he seems to have remained in the background; hence, as in the case of the Frankfort 'troubles', his precise views and actions cannot always be easily ascertained. Allowance has to be made for the anti -catholic prejudices of certain early memoir writers and historians, who tend to exaggerate his importance. Finally, the many different spellings of his name causes confusion, which is increased by his finding it necessary at one time in his career to adopt the pseudonym Theodore Basil[ le] . Some biographers have complicated this problem by mistaking Thomas Becon for a younger contemporary, John, who was a member of St. John' s College, Cambridge, and became Chancellor of Norwich.Not only has this study provided an opportunity to correct many of the errors which have thus arisen, and which have been perpetuated by uncritical copying, but information is also presented for the first time which throws new light upon the question of Becon's ordination. In addition, much material already accessible in printed records but hitherto unused has been included. Since they are now little known, I have taken the liberty of quoting somewhat freely from his works, and have described the contents of all of them; citations, wherever possible, are from the Parker Society edition, but for some works not included therein the folio or another early edition has been used. Where lack of data has compelled me, I have not hesitated to suggest what has seemed to me, after careful consideration, the most prob- able course of events; such reconstructions have served to bridge the many gaps in the story of Becon's life, and I hope that in every case it will be perfectly clear what is factual and what conjectural. I have tried, and I trust successfully, to avoid writing yet another account of the English. Reformation, and have confined myself simply to such events and ideas as are reflected in Becon's life and works

Change of direction in the biomechanics of atherosclerosis

The non-uniform distribution of atherosclerosis within the arterial system has been attributed to pro-atherogenic influences of low, oscillatory haemodynamic wall shear stress (WSS) on endothelial cells (EC). This theory is challenged by the changes in lesion location that occur with age in human and rabbit aortas. Furthermore, a number of point-wise comparisons of lesion prevalence and WSS have failed to support it. Here we investigate the hypothesis that multidirectional flow-characterized as the average magnitude of WSS components acting transversely to the mean vector (transWSS)-plays a key role. Maps of lesion prevalence around aortic branch ostia in immature and mature rabbits were compared with equivalent maps of time average WSS, the OSI (an index characterizing oscillatory flow) and transWSS, obtained from computational simulations; Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated for aggregated data and 95% confidence intervals were obtained by bootstrapping methods. Lesion prevalence correlated positively, strongly and significantly with transWSS at both ages. Correlations of lesion prevalence with the other shear metrics were not significant or were significantly lower than those obtained for transWSS. No correlation supported the low, oscillatory WSS theory. The data are consistent with the view that multidirectional near-wall flow is highly pro-atherogenic. Effects of multidirectional flow on EC, and methods for investigating them, are reviewed. The finding that oscillatory flow has pro-inflammatory effects when acting perpendicularly to the long axis of EC but anti-inflammatory effects when acting parallel to it may explain the stronger correlation of lesion prevalence with transWSS than with the OSI

Human cardiac pericytes are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection

COVID-19 is associated with serious cardiovascular complications, with incompletely understood mechanism(s). Pericytes have key functions in supporting endothelial cells and maintaining vascular integrity. We demonstrate that human cardiac pericytes are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection in organotypic slice and primary cell cultures. Viral entry into pericytes is mediated by endosomal proteases, and infection leads to up-regulation of inflammatory markers, vasoactive mediators, and nuclear factor kappa-B-dependent cell death. Furthermore, we present evidence of cardiac pericyte infection in COVID-19 myocarditis patients. These data demonstrate that human cardiac pericytes are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest a role for pericyte infection in COVID-19

Metabolic syndrome in rural Australia:An opportunity for primary health care

Objective: To measure the impact of a 6-month home-based behaviour change intervention on reducing the risk of chronic disease as determined by metabolic syndrome status and cardiovascular risk score, and discuss implications for primary care in rural areas. Design: A two-arm randomised controlled trial of rural adults. Setting: The rural town of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Participants: Participants (n = 401) aged 50-69 years who were classified with or at risk of metabolic syndrome and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 201) or waitlisted control (n = 200) group. Interventions: A 6-month intervention program incorporating goal setting, self-monitoring and feedback, with motivational interviewing was conducted. Main outcome measures: Change in metabolic syndrome status and cardiovascular risk. Results: Significant improvements in metabolic syndrome status and cardiovascular disease risk score (−0.82) were observed for the intervention group relative to control group from baseline to post-test. Conclusion: This home-based physical activity and nutrition intervention reduced participants' risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years by 1%. Incorporating such prevention orientated approaches in primary care might assist in reducing the burden of long-term chronic diseases. However, for realistic application in this setting, hurdles such as current national health billing system and availability of resources will need to be considered

Medical Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes: A Consensus Algorithm for the Initiation and Adjustment of Therapy: A consensus statement of the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes

The consensus algorithm for the medical management of type 2 diabetes was published in August 2006 with the expectation that it would be updated, based on the availability of new interventions and new evidence to establish their clinical role. The authors continue to endorse the principles used to develop the algorithm and its major features. We are sensitive to the risks of changing the algorithm cavalierly or too frequently, without compelling new information. An update to the consensus algorithm published in January 2008 specifically addressed safety issues surrounding the thiazolidinediones. In this revision, we focus on the new classes of medications that now have more clinical data and experience

The Cell Cycle Regulated Transcriptome of Trypanosoma brucei

Progression of the eukaryotic cell cycle requires the regulation of hundreds of genes to ensure that they are expressed at the required times. Integral to cell cycle progression in yeast and animal cells are temporally controlled, progressive waves of transcription mediated by cell cycle-regulated transcription factors. However, in the kinetoplastids, a group of early-branching eukaryotes including many important pathogens, transcriptional regulation is almost completely absent, raising questions about the extent of cell-cycle regulation in these organisms and the mechanisms whereby regulation is achieved. Here, we analyse gene expression over the Trypanosoma brucei cell cycle, measuring changes in mRNA abundance on a transcriptome-wide scale. We developed a “double-cut” elutriation procedure to select unperturbed, highly synchronous cell populations from log-phase cultures, and compared this to synchronization by starvation. Transcriptome profiling over the cell cycle revealed the regulation of at least 430 genes. While only a minority were homologous to known cell cycle regulated transcripts in yeast or human, their functions correlated with the cellular processes occurring at the time of peak expression. We searched for potential target sites of RNA-binding proteins in these transcripts, which might earmark them for selective degradation or stabilization. Over-represented sequence motifs were found in several co-regulated transcript groups and were conserved in other kinetoplastids. Furthermore, we found evidence for cell-cycle regulation of a flagellar protein regulon with a highly conserved sequence motif, bearing similarity to consensus PUF-protein binding motifs. RNA sequence motifs that are functional in cell-cycle regulation were more widespread than previously expected and conserved within kinetoplastids. These findings highlight the central importance of post-transcriptional regulation in the proliferation of parasitic kinetoplastids

A MAP6-Related Protein Is Present in Protozoa and Is Involved in Flagellum Motility

In vertebrates the microtubule-associated proteins MAP6 and MAP6d1 stabilize cold-resistant microtubules. Cilia and flagella have cold-stable microtubules but MAP6 proteins have not been identified in these organelles. Here, we describe TbSAXO as the first MAP6-related protein to be identified in a protozoan, Trypanosoma brucei. Using a heterologous expression system, we show that TbSAXO is a microtubule stabilizing protein. Furthermore we identify the domains of the protein responsible for microtubule binding and stabilizing and show that they share homologies with the microtubule-stabilizing Mn domains of the MAP6 proteins. We demonstrate, in the flagellated parasite, that TbSAXO is an axonemal protein that plays a role in flagellum motility. Lastly we provide evidence that TbSAXO belongs to a group of MAP6-related proteins (SAXO proteins) present only in ciliated or flagellated organisms ranging from protozoa to mammals. We discuss the potential roles of the SAXO proteins in cilia and flagella function