SBMS: A Visual Exploration of Liberian Identity

This article explores the use of visuals by missionaries and social scientists to communicate their encounters in sub-Saharan Africa. It offers an alternative perspective by incorporating the Sight Beyond My Sight (SBMS) visual research methodology created by Gabriel Tait. SBMS is a participant research method that employs photography as a way to understand culture and identity. The implications of this body of work, and the method it provides, presents a much-needed contextual lens for missionaries, visual ethnographers, and general persons who are interested in communicating their contexts in partnership with the cultures they are encountering and impacting. The implication of this work is a more accurate representation of the identities of the people they are working alongside

Depletion of mitochondria in mammalian cells through enforced mitophagy

Mitochondria are not only the 'powerhouse' of the cell; they are also involved in a multitude of processes that include calcium storage, the cell cycle and cell death. Traditional means of investigating mitochondrial importance in a given cellular process have centered upon depletion of mtDNA through chemical or genetic means. Although these methods severely disrupt the mitochondrial electron transport chain, mtDNA-depleted cells still maintain mitochondria and many mitochondrial functions. Here we describe a straightforward protocol to generate mammalian cell populations with low to nondetectable levels of mitochondria. Ectopic expression of the ubiquitin E3 ligase Parkin, combined with short-term mitochondrial uncoupler treatment, stimulates widespread mitophagy and effectively eliminates mitochondria. In this protocol, we explain how to generate Parkin-expressing, mitochondria-depleted cells from scratch in 23 d, as well as offer a variety of methods for confirming mitochondrial clearance. Furthermore, we describe culture conditions to maintain mitochondrial-depleted cells for up to 30 d with minimal loss of viability, for longitudinal studies. This method should prove useful for investigating the importance of mitochondria in a variety of biological processes

Cancer therapy-induced PAFR ligand expression: any role for caspase activity?

No abstract available

Agroecologia e tecnologia social como caminhos para o desenvolvimento rural integral: Uma aproximação

From both an empirical and theoretical-conceptual perspective, Social Technology (TS) can be understood as the technology that best aligns with the proposal to solve social problems: first, TS enables the process of social construction of technology, that is, the social actors who will use the technology participate in its construction. Moreover, rather than guaranteeing profit-making goals, it is aimed at solving social problems and, among them, social exclusion. The TS is aligned with the theme of rural development, for the criticizing the social problems generated by capitalism, and by criticizing its environmental unsustainability. In addition, discussions about rural development during the 1990s marked the differentiation between family farming (often small) and large farming - an essential element to show the importance of developing public policies for family farming. Agroecology also takes a critical stand against the problems generated by capitalism, emphasizing that the model of large agriculture, with its profit objectives, is not in line with the sustainability proposal. In contrast, it is the small family farmers who have been devoting themselves to developing alternative farming practices that align with the proposal of a sustainable society (from the economic, environmental, social, etc.) perspective.Tanto sob a perspectiva empírica, como teórico-conceitual, a Tecnologia Social (TS) pode ser entendida como aquela tecnologia que melhor se alinha à proposta de resolver os problemas sociais: primeiro, a TS possibilita o processo de construção social da tecnologia, isto é, os atores sociais que utilizarão a tecnologia participam da construção da mesma. Além disso, ao invés de garantir os objetivos de geração de lucro, ela é voltada para resolver problemas sociais e, dentre estes, a exclusão social. A TS se alinha à temática do desenvolvimento rural, tanto pela crítica aos problemas sociais gerados pelo capitalismo, como, pela crítica a sua insustentabilidade ambiental. Além disso, as discussões sobre o desenvolvimento rural, durante a década de 1990 marcaram a diferenciação entre a agricultura familiar (geralmente, pequena) e a grande agricultura – elemento essencial para mostrar a importância de se desenvolver políticas públicas para a agricultura familiar. A Agroecologia também se posiciona criticamente contra os problemas gerados pelo capitalismo, destacado que o modelo da grande agricultura, com seus objetivos de lucro, não se alinha à proposta de sustentabilidade. Em contraposição, é são os pequenos agricultores familiares que vêm se dedicando a desenvolver práticas agrícolas alternativas, que se alinham à proposta de uma sociedade sustentável (sob a perspectiva econômica, ambiental, social, etc.)

Early vocabulary development in deaf native signers: a British Sign Language adaptation of the communicative development inventories

Background: There is a dearth of assessments of sign language development in young deaf children. This study gathered age-related scores from a sample of deaf native signing children using an adapted version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI (Fenson et al., 1994). Method: Parental reports on children’s receptive and expressive signing were collected longitudinally on 29 deaf native British Sign Language (BSL) users, aged 8–36 months, yielding 146 datasets. Results: A smooth upward growth curve was obtained for early vocabulary development and percentile scores were derived. In the main, receptive scores were in advance of expressive scores. No gender bias was observed. Correlational analysis identified factors associated with vocabulary development, including parental education and mothers’ training in BSL. Individual children’s profiles showed a range of development and some evidence of a growth spurt. Clinical and research issues relating to the measure are discussed. Conclusions: The study has developed a valid, reliable measure of vocabulary development in BSL. Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary acquisition in native and non-native signers

Reflexive research with mothers and children victims of domestic violence

Aim This methodological paper outlines a participatory and reflexive research approach in the context of in‐depth, small‐scale and preliminary qualitative research conversations with a vulnerable population. Developing a participatory and reflexive methodology The project involved developing in‐depth research conversations with three mothers and their children who had experienced domestic violence. Underpinned by poststructural feminism and relational ethics, a participatory approach to facilitate informal, nondefensive, participant‐centred conversational spaces for the women and children was developed. Creating both the relational medium and the dialogical processes through which to engage with the women and children prompted multiple and complex challenges for the research team. Some members of the research team had prior experience of domestic violence, generating implications for ethical and reflexive research practice. Implications for research practice The study highlights the complexities and challenges of developing a participatory approach with vulnerable populations including the quandaries faced, the importance of critical reflexivity during in‐depth qualitative inquiry and the value of utilising a project steering group to support research governance. All members of the research team were emotionally impacted by the research work and the relational engagement with participants. A collaborative, peer‐supervisory approach to support the researchers, the research processes – and, ultimately, the participants – was essential. Two case vignettes are included to exemplify researcher experiences

Mitochondrial permeabilization engages NF-κB-dependent anti-tumour activity under caspase deficiency

Apoptosis represents a key anti-cancer therapeutic effector mechanism. During apoptosis, mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) typically kills cells even in the absence of caspase activity. Caspase activity can also have a variety of unwanted consequences that include DNA damage. We therefore investigated whether MOMP-induced caspase-independent cell death (CICD) might be a better way to kill cancer cells. We find that cells undergoing CICD display potent pro-inflammatory effects relative to apoptosis. Underlying this, MOMP was found to stimulate NF-κB activity through the downregulation of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. Strikingly, engagement of CICD displays potent anti-tumorigenic effects, often promoting complete tumour regression in a manner dependent on intact immunity. Our data demonstrate that by activating NF-κB, MOMP can exert additional signalling functions besides triggering cell death. Moreover, they support a rationale for engaging caspase-independent cell death in cell-killing anti-cancer therapies

Long-term efficacy of first-line ibrutinib treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in patients with TP53 aberrations : a pooled analysis from four clinical trials

TP53 aberrations [del(17p) or TP53 mutation] predict poor survival with chemoimmunotherapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). We evaluated long-term efficacy and safety of first-line ibrutinib-based therapy in patients with CLL bearing TP53 aberrations in a pooled analysis across four studies: PCYC-1122e, RESONATE-2 (PCYC-1115/16), iLLUMINATE (PCYC-1130) and ECOG-ACRIN E1912. The pooled analysis included 89 patients with TP53 aberrations receiving first-line treatment with single-agent ibrutinib (n = 45) or ibrutinib in combination with an anti-CD20 antibody (n = 44). All 89 patients had del(17p) (53% of 89 patients) and/or TP53 mutation (91% of 58 patients with TP53 sequencing results available). With a median follow-up of 49·8 months (range, 0·1-95·9), median progression-free survival was not reached. Progression-free survival rate and overall survival rate estimates at four years were 79% and 88%, respectively. Overall response rate was 93%, including complete response in 39% of patients. No new safety signals were identified in this analysis. Forty-six percent of patients remained on ibrutinib treatment at last follow-up. With median follow-up of four years (up to eight years), results from this large, pooled, multi-study data set suggest promising long-term outcomes of first-line ibrutinib-based therapy in patients with TP53 aberrations. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01500733, NCT01722487, NCT02264574 and NCT02048813)

Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the Subaru Telescope: Overview, recent progress, and future perspectives

PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Proceeding of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201