(Dis)joint(ed) action, reciprocity, and professional status: an ethnographic investigation of two UKCC CL4 awards

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Coach education research has focused on studying coaches’ perspectives about coach education programmes with limited studies investigating the practices of other key stakeholders involved in programme design and delivery (e.g. managers, educators). The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactions and practices of coaches, coach educators, and coach education managers in two contexts of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate Coach Level 4 (UKCC CL4) award. Over a period of 18 months, ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with 53 participants, comprising of 250 h of participant observations and informal conversations, as well as 51 semi-structured interviews. Symbolic interactionist writing by Blumer ([1946]. The field of collective behavior. In A. McClung Lee (Ed.), New outline of the principles of sociology (pp. 167–169). New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc.; [1969]. Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.), Mead ([2015]. Mind, self & society–The definitive edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.), and Strauss ([1997]. Mirrors and masks: The search for identity. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.) was utilised to make sense of the processes, relations, and tensions created by the UKCC CL4 award. The themes explore consequences and challenges of novel collaborations between course organisers from Governing Bodies (GB) and Higher Education institutions (HEi), opportunities and issues arising when university lecturers mediate theoretical course content for practitioner cohorts, and the value of postgraduate study to coaches’ professional lives

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling after subcutaneous, intravenous and buccal administration of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine in conscious cats

The aim of this study was to describe the joint pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model and evaluate thermal antinociception of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine (Simbadol™) in cats

The role of Probiotics in allergic diseases

Allergic disorders are very common in the pediatric age group. While the exact etiology is unclear, evidence is mounting to incriminate environmental factors and an aberrant gut microbiota with a shift of the Th1/Th2 balance towards a Th2 response. Probiotics have been shown to modulate the immune system back to a Th1 response. Several in vitro studies suggest a role for probiotics in treating allergic disorders. Human trials demonstrate a limited benefit for the use of probiotics in atopic dermatitis in a preventive as well as a therapeutic capacity. Data supporting their use in allergic rhinitis are less robust. Currently, there is no role for probiotic therapy in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Future studies will be critical in determining the exact role of probiotics in allergic disorders

Dynamics of Macrophage Trogocytosis of Rituximab-Coated B Cells

Macrophages can remove antigen from the surface of antibody-coated cells by a process termed trogocytosis. Using live cell microscopy and flow cytometry, we investigated the dynamics of trogocytosis by RAW264.7 macrophages of Ramos B cells opsonized with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. Spontaneous and reversible formation of uropods was observed on Ramos cells, and these showed a strong enrichment in rituximab binding. RAW-Ramos conjugate interfaces were highly enriched in rituximab, and transfer of rituximab to the RAW cells in submicron-sized puncta occurred shortly after cell contact. Membrane from the target cells was concomitantly transferred along with rituximab to a variable extent. We established a flow cytometry-based approach to follow the kinetics of transfer and internalization of rituximab. Disruption of actin polymerization nearly eliminated transfer, while blocking phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity only resulted in a delay in its acquisition. Inhibition of Src family kinase activity both slowed acquisition and reduced the extent of trogocytosis. The effects of inhibiting these kinases are likely due to their role in efficient formation of cell-cell conjugates. Selective pre-treatment of Ramos cells with phenylarsine oxide blocked uropod formation, reduced enrichment of rituximab at cell-cell interfaces, and reduced the efficiency of trogocytic transfer of rituximab. Our findings highlight that dynamic changes in target cell shape and surface distribution of antigen may significantly influence the progression and extent of trogocytosis. Understanding the mechanistic determinants of macrophage trogocytosis will be important for optimal design of antibody therapies

Magnetic Anisotropic Energy Gap and Strain Effect in Au Nanoparticles

We report on the observation of the size effect of thermal magnetization in Au nanoparticles. The thermal deviation of the saturation magnetization departs substantially from that predicted by the Bloch T3/2-law, indicating the existence of magnetic anisotropic energy. The results may be understood using the uniaxial anisotropy Heisenberg model, in which the surface atoms give rise to polarized moments while the magnetic anisotropic energy decreases as the size of the Au nanoparticles is reduced. There is a significant maximum magnetic anisotropic energy found for the 6 nm Au nanoparticles, which is associated with the deviation of the lattice constant due to magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Revisiting Date and Party Hubs: Novel Approaches to Role Assignment in Protein Interaction Networks

The idea of 'date' and 'party' hubs has been influential in the study of protein-protein interaction networks. Date hubs display low co-expression with their partners, whilst party hubs have high co-expression. It was proposed that party hubs are local coordinators whereas date hubs are global connectors. Here we show that the reported importance of date hubs to network connectivity can in fact be attributed to a tiny subset of them. Crucially, these few, extremely central, hubs do not display particularly low expression correlation, undermining the idea of a link between this quantity and hub function. The date/party distinction was originally motivated by an approximately bimodal distribution of hub co-expression; we show that this feature is not always robust to methodological changes. Additionally, topological properties of hubs do not in general correlate with co-expression. Thus, we suggest that a date/party dichotomy is not meaningful and it might be more useful to conceive of roles for protein-protein interactions rather than individual proteins. We find significant correlations between interaction centrality and the functional similarity of the interacting proteins.Comment: 27 pages, 5 main figures, 4 supplementary figure

Domestic horses (Equus caballus) discriminate between negative and positive human nonverbal vocalisations

The ability to discriminate between emotion in vocal signals is highly adaptive in social species. It may also be adaptive for domestic species to distinguish such signals in humans. Here we present a playback study investigating whether horses spontaneously respond in a functionally relevant way towards positive and negative emotion in human nonverbal vocalisations. We presented horses with positively- and negatively-valenced human vocalisations (laughter and growling, respectively) in the absence of all other emotional cues. Horses were found to adopt a freeze posture for significantly longer immediately after hearing negative versus positive human vocalisations, suggesting that negative voices promote vigilance behaviours and may therefore be perceived as more threatening. In support of this interpretation, horses held their ears forwards for longer and performed fewer ear movements in response to negative voices, which further suggest increased vigilance. In addition, horses showed a right-ear/left-hemisphere bias when attending to positive compared with negative voices, suggesting that horses perceive laughter as more positive than growling. These findings raise interesting questions about the potential for universal discrimination of vocal affect and the role of lifetime learning versus other factors in interspecific communication

Identification of 2,4-Disubstituted Imidazopyridines as Hemozoin Formation Inhibitors with Fast-Killing Kinetics and In Vivo Efficacy in the Plasmodium falciparum NSG Mouse Model

A series of 2,4-disubstituted imidazopyridines, originating from a SoftFocus Kinase library, was identified from a high throughput phenotypic screen against the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Hit compounds showed moderate asexual blood stage activity. During lead optimization, several issues were flagged such as cross-resistance against the multidrug-resistant K1 strain, in vitro cytotoxicity, and cardiotoxicity and were addressed through structure–activity and structure–property relationship studies. Pharmacokinetic properties were assessed in mice for compounds showing desirable in vitro activity, a selectivity window over cytotoxicity, and microsomal metabolic stability. Frontrunner compound 37 showed good exposure in mice combined with good in vitro activity against the malaria parasite, which translated into in vivo efficacy in the P. falciparum NOD-scid IL-2Rγnull (NSG) mouse model. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest inhibition of hemozoin formation as a contributing mode of action

Observation of an Exotic S=+1S=+1 Baryon in Exclusive Photoproduction from the Deuteron

In an exclusive measurement of the reaction $\gamma d \to K^+ K^- p n$, a narrow peak that can be attributed to an exotic baryon with strangeness $S=+1$ is seen in the $K^+n$ invariant mass spectrum. The peak is at $1.542\pm 0.005$ GeV/c$^2$ with a measured width of 0.021 GeV/c$^2$ FWHM, which is largely determined by experimental mass resolution. The statistical significance of the peak is $5.2 \pm 0.6 \sigma$. The mass and width of the observed peak are consistent with recent reports of a narrow $S=+1$ baryon by other experimental groups.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure