Implementation of the ars moriendi model in palliative home care: a pilot study

Background: Assessing the spiritual well-being of palliative patients is often perceived as difficult by professional caregivers. Previous research has shown that general practitioners would appreciate a directive for spiritual conversations, if this tool were not too structured and not too religious, and provided it proved to be useful in clinical practice. Aim: To investigate the experiences of professional caregivers and patients with the ars moriendi model as a directive for spiritual conversations in palliative home care. Method: Qualitative semi-structured interview pilot study in Flanders Results: All professional caregivers (n = 7) experienced the ars moriendi model as a useful directive to talk about spirituality at the end of life. They stressed the importance of adjusting the questions to each patient, and of spreading the spiritual conversation over several contacts. The palliative patients (n = 4) appreciated the conversation and advised the caregivers to show an open attitude, to spend enough time on their spiritual well-being, and to follow them in their spiritual process. Both caregivers and patients emphasized the importance of a trusting relationship to establish spiritual conversations. Conclusion: Flemish professional caregivers experienced the ars moriendi model as useful for supporting spiritual conversations, provided that the model is used in a spontaneous and intuitive way, according to the needs of the patient. Palliative patients are stimulated by the questions in the model to think about their spiritual needs and resources. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2013.status: publishe

Composition and stage dynamics of mitochondrial complexes in Plasmodium falciparum.

Our current understanding of mitochondrial functioning is largely restricted to traditional model organisms, which only represent a fraction of eukaryotic diversity. The unusual mitochondrion of malaria parasites is a validated drug target but remains poorly understood. Here, we apply complexome profiling to map the inventory of protein complexes across the pathogenic asexual blood stages and the transmissible gametocyte stages of Plasmodium falciparum. We identify remarkably divergent composition and clade-specific additions of all respiratory chain complexes. Furthermore, we show that respiratory chain complex components and linked metabolic pathways are up to 40-fold more prevalent in gametocytes, while glycolytic enzymes are substantially reduced. Underlining this functional switch, we find that cristae are exclusively present in gametocytes. Leveraging these divergent properties and stage dynamics for drug development presents an attractive opportunity to discover novel classes of antimalarials and increase our repertoire of gametocytocidal drugs

Composition and stage dynamics of mitochondrial complexes in Plasmodium falciparum

Our current understanding of mitochondrial functioning is largely restricted to traditional model organisms, which only represent a fraction of eukaryotic diversity. The unusual mitochondrion of malaria parasites is a validated drug target but remains poorly understood. Here, we apply complexome profiling to map the inventory of protein complexes across the pathogenic asexual blood stages and the transmissible gametocyte stages of Plasmodium falciparum. We identify remarkably divergent composition and clade-specific additions of all respiratory chain complexes. Furthermore, we show that respiratory chain complex components and linked metabolic pathways are up to 40-fold more prevalent in gametocytes, while glycolytic enzymes are substantially reduced. Underlining this functional switch, we find that cristae are exclusively present in gametocytes. Leveraging these divergent properties and stage dynamics for drug development presents an attractive opportunity to discover novel classes of antimalarials and increase our repertoire of gametocytocidal drugs. Applying complexome profiling, Evers et al. unravel the composition of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complexes in P. falciparum asexual and sexual blood stages. Abundance of these complexes differs between both stages, supporting the hypothesis that a mitochondrial metabolic switch is central to gametocyte development and functioning