Teaching journalism in Oman: Reflections after the Arab Spring

Between 2005–2011, the New Zealand Tertiary Education Consortium (NZTEC) was contracted to the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in the Sultanate of Oman. This long-term, long-distance off-shore education contract committed four New Zealand universities to providing degrees in four discipline areas (as well as English language support) within the Omani Colleges of Applied Science. As part of this process, AUT University’s Bachelor of Communication Studies was redeveloped for delivery in Oman. This case study will focus on the Journalism major and in particular the nature of the courses within this major, the difficulties encountered in re-developing them and the challenge of delivering them under these particular circumstances in this particular time frame. The wider picture of the type of journalism practised in Oman; what is expected of—or indeed possible for― journalists in that society; and journalism as a force for democracy in Arab countries will also be briefly discussed

Project Illumine: The History and Writing of Women in Early Modern England and Ireland

Project Illumine is a digital site that provides open-access, deeply researched teaching materials to middle school, high school, and college educators. It addresses a critical need to bridge the gap in teaching early women’s history by providing high-quality, standards-based materials that introduce students to the history and genres of writing produced by women in early modern England and Ireland. The dissertation enriches and expands students’ understanding of the diversity of women’s identities, literacies, and cultural impacts in early modern England and Ireland. Project Illumine was designed based on data collected during an IRB-approved qualitative study with North Carolina educators. Upon publication, it was presented to middle school, high school, and community college educators as part of a program hosted by UNC World View, an organization dedicated to global education and to connecting educators (particularly those in North Carolina) with UNC researchers. Educators attending this program affirmed their strong desire to bring early modern women’s histories into their classrooms, particularly those of underrepresented voices and cultures. Educators stressed the value and usefulness of Project Illumine’s resources, noting the diversity of lessons and projects applicable to different grade levels. Project Illumine also includes a space for educators to collaborate and to share how they have incorporated early modern women’s history into their own classrooms. Project Illumine sheds light on the accomplishments of early modern women left behind by history books and encourages other educators to light the way for students to engage with this history.Doctor of Philosoph

Dynein Modifiers in C. elegans: Light Chains Suppress Conditional Heavy Chain Mutants

Cytoplasmic dynein is a microtubule-dependent motor protein that functions in mitotic cells during centrosome separation, metaphase chromosome congression, anaphase spindle elongation, and chromosome segregation. Dynein is also utilized during interphase for vesicle transport and organelle positioning. While numerous cellular processes require cytoplasmic dynein, the mechanisms that target and regulate this microtubule motor remain largely unknown. By screening a conditional Caenorhabditis elegans cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain mutant at a semipermissive temperature with a genome-wide RNA interference library to reduce gene functions, we have isolated and characterized twenty dynein-specific suppressor genes. When reduced in function, these genes suppress dynein mutants but not other conditionally mutant loci, and twelve of the 20 specific suppressors do not exhibit sterile or lethal phenotypes when their function is reduced in wild-type worms. Many of the suppressor proteins, including two dynein light chains, localize to subcellular sites that overlap with those reported by others for the dynein heavy chain. Furthermore, knocking down any one of four putative dynein accessory chains suppresses the conditional heavy chain mutants, suggesting that some accessory chains negatively regulate heavy chain function. We also identified 29 additional genes that, when reduced in function, suppress conditional mutations not only in dynein but also in loci required for unrelated essential processes. In conclusion, we have identified twenty genes that in many cases are not essential themselves but are conserved and when reduced in function can suppress conditionally lethal C. elegans cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain mutants. We conclude that conserved but nonessential genes contribute to dynein function during the essential process of mitosis

Wildlife Trade and Human Health in Lao PDR: An Assessment of the Zoonotic Disease Risk in Markets.

Although the majority of emerging infectious diseases can be linked to wildlife sources, most pathogen spillover events to people could likely be avoided if transmission was better understood and practices adjusted to mitigate risk. Wildlife trade can facilitate zoonotic disease transmission and represents a threat to human health and economies in Asia, highlighted by the 2003 SARS coronavirus outbreak, where a Chinese wildlife market facilitated pathogen transmission. Additionally, wildlife trade poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Therefore, the combined impacts of Asian wildlife trade, sometimes termed bush meat trade, on public health and biodiversity need assessing. From 2010 to 2013, observational data were collected in Lao PDR from markets selling wildlife, including information on volume, form, species and price of wildlife; market biosafety and visitor origin. The potential for traded wildlife to host zoonotic diseases that pose a serious threat to human health was then evaluated at seven markets identified as having high volumes of trade. At the seven markets, during 21 observational surveys, 1,937 alive or fresh dead mammals (approximately 1,009 kg) were observed for sale, including mammals from 12 taxonomic families previously documented to be capable of hosting 36 zoonotic pathogens. In these seven markets, the combination of high wildlife volumes, high risk taxa for zoonoses and poor biosafety increases the potential for pathogen presence and transmission. To examine the potential conservation impact of trade in markets, we assessed the status of 33,752 animals observed during 375 visits to 93 markets, under the Lao PDR Wildlife and Aquatic Law. We observed 6,452 animals listed by Lao PDR as near extinct or threatened with extinction. The combined risks of wildlife trade in Lao PDR to human health and biodiversity highlight the need for a multi-sector approach to effectively protect public health, economic interests and biodiversity

Chinese Land Reclamation in the South China Sea: Implications and Policy Options

This report assesses legal, military/operational, and diplomatic implications of the reclamation and construction activity. It surveys U.S. and Chinese statements on the situation, provides a history of reclamation activity by other nations including the United States and other South China Sea claimants, and discusses U.S. strategy and potential options for U.S. policymakers

Population variation in ovarian function

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30638/1/0000280.pd

Social support and high resilient coping in carers of people with dementia

High resilience is associated improved carer outcomes. Both individual factors and the availability of social support have been linked with resilience. This study was conducted to compare socio-demographic characteristics and the availability of social support for carers with low and high resilient coping, and identify if any domain of social support predicted high resilient coping in informal carers of people with dementia. The participants in this cross sectional survey included 108 informal carers of people with dementia. Findings showed the availability of emotional/informational support was most likely to predict resilient coping and tangible support the least likely. However, when controlling for all covariates, only gender predicted high resilient coping, individual social support domains were no longer significant. Therefore, as no single domain of social support has a significantly greater influence on resilient coping, therefore service providers should enable carers to build a wide, multi-function support network

Hand2 delineates mesothelium progenitors and is reactivated in mesothelioma.

The mesothelium lines body cavities and surrounds internal organs, widely contributing to homeostasis and regeneration. Mesothelium disruptions cause visceral anomalies and mesothelioma tumors. Nonetheless, the embryonic emergence of mesothelia remains incompletely understood. Here, we track mesothelial origins in the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) using zebrafish. Single-cell transcriptomics uncovers a post-gastrulation gene expression signature centered on hand2 in distinct LPM progenitor cells. We map mesothelial progenitors to lateral-most, hand2-expressing LPM and confirm conservation in mouse. Time-lapse imaging of zebrafish hand2 reporter embryos captures mesothelium formation including pericardium, visceral, and parietal peritoneum. We find primordial germ cells migrate with the forming mesothelium as ventral migration boundary. Functionally, hand2 loss disrupts mesothelium formation with reduced progenitor cells and perturbed migration. In mouse and human mesothelioma, we document expression of LPM-associated transcription factors including Hand2, suggesting re-initiation of a developmental program. Our data connects mesothelium development to Hand2, expanding our understanding of mesothelial pathologies

Hsp90 orchestrates transcriptional regulation by Hsf1 and cell wall remodelling by MAPK signalling during thermal adaptation in a pathogenic yeast

Acknowledgments We thank Rebecca Shapiro for creating CaLC1819, CaLC1855 and CaLC1875, Gillian Milne for help with EM, Aaron Mitchell for generously providing the transposon insertion mutant library, Jesus Pla for generously providing the hog1 hst7 mutant, and Cathy Collins for technical assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD