ICIRAS: Research and reconciliation with indigenous peoples in rural health journals.

AIM: We aim to promote discussion about an Indigenous Cultural Identity of Research Authors Standard (ICIRAS) for academic journal publications. CONTEXT: This is based on a gap in research publishing practice where Indigenous peoples' identity is not systematically and rigorously flagged in rural health research publications. There are widespread reforms, in different research areas, to counter the reputation of scientific research as a vehicle of racism and discrimination against the world's Indigenous peoples. Reflecting on these broader movements, the editorial teams of three rural health journals-the Australian Journal of Rural Health, the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine, and Rural and Remote Health-recognised that Indigenous peoples' identity could be embedded in authorship details. APPROACH: An environmental scan (through a cultural safety lens where Indigenous cultural authority is respected, valued, and empowered) of literature was undertaken to detect the signs of inclusion of Indigenous peoples in research. This revealed many ways in which editorial boards of Journals could systematically improve their process so that there is 'nothing about Indigenous people, without Indigenous people' in rural health research publications. CONCLUSION: Improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples worldwide requires high quality research evidence. The philosophy of cultural safety supports the purposeful positioning of Indigenous peoples within the kaleidoscope of cultural knowledges as identified contributors and authors of research evidence. The ICIRAS is a call-to-action for research journals and institutions to rigorously improve publication governance that signals "Editing with IndigenUs and for IndigenUs"

Comparative genetic analysis: the utility of mouse genetic systems for studying human monogenic disease

One of the long-term goals of mutagenesis programs in the mouse has been to generate mutant lines to facilitate the functional study of every mammalian gene. With a combination of complementary genetic approaches and advances in technology, this aim is slowly becoming a reality. One of the most important features of this strategy is the ability to identify and compare a number of mutations in the same gene, an allelic series. With the advent of gene-driven screening of mutant archives, the search for a specific series of interest is now a practical option. This review focuses on the analysis of multiple mutations from chemical mutagenesis projects in a wide variety of genes and the valuable functional information that has been obtained from these studies. Although gene knockouts and transgenics will continue to be an important resource to ascertain gene function, with a significant proportion of human diseases caused by point mutations, identifying an allelic series is becoming an equally efficient route to generating clinically relevant and functionally important mouse models

Ex situ diet influences the bacterial community associated with the skin of red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas)

Amphibians support symbiotic bacterial communities on their skin that protect against a range of infectious pathogens, including the amphibian chytrid fungus. The conditions under which amphibians are maintained in captivity (e.g. diet, substrate, enrichment) in ex situ conservation programmes may affect the composition of the bacterial community. In addition, ex situ amphibian populations may support different bacterial communities in comparison to in situ populations of the same species. This could have implications for the suitability of populations intended for reintroduction, as well as the success of probiotic bacterial inoculations intended to provide amphibians with a bacterial community that resists invasion by the chytrid fungus. We aimed to investigate the effect of a carotenoid-enriched diet on the culturable bacterial community associated with captive red-eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas) and make comparisons to bacteria isolated from a wild population from the Chiquibul Rainforest in Belize. We successfully showed carotenoid availability influences the overall community composition, species richness and abundance of the bacterial community associated with the skin of captive frogs, with A. callidryas fed a carotenoid-enriched diet supporting a greater species richness and abundance of bacteria than those fed a carotenoid-free diet. Our results suggest that availability of carotenoids in the diet of captive frogs is likely to be beneficial for the bacterial community associated with the skin. We also found wild A. callidryas hosted more than double the number of different bacterial species than captive frogs with very little commonality between species. This suggests frogs in captivity may support a reduced and diverged bacterial community in comparison to wild populations of the same species, which could have particular relevance for ex situ conservation projects

Search for resonant production of second-generation sleptons with same-sign dimuon events in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for resonant production of second-generation sleptons ( μ˜L , ν˜μ ) via the R-parity-violating coupling λ′211 to quarks, in events with two same-sign muons and at least two jets in the final state. The smuon (muon sneutrino) is expected to decay into a muon and a neutralino (chargino), which will then decay into a second muon and at least two jets. The analysis is based on the 2016 data set of proton-proton collisions at s√=13TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1 . No significant deviation is observed with respect to standard model expectations. Upper limits on cross sections, ranging from 0.24 to 730 fb , are derived in the context of two simplified models representing the dominant signal contributions leading to a same-sign muon pair. The cross section limits are translated into coupling limits for a modified constrained minimal supersymmetric model with λ′211 as the only nonzero R-parity violating coupling. The results significantly extend restrictions of the parameter space compared with previous searches for similar models

Histone Deacetylase 9 couples neuronal activity to muscle chromatin acetylation and gene expression

International audienceElectrical activity arising from motor innervation influences skeletal muscle physiology by controlling the expression of many muscle genes, including acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subunits genes. How electrical activity is converted into a transcriptional response remains largely unknown. We show that motor innervation controls chromatin acetylation in skeletal muscle and that histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) is a signal-responsive transcriptional repressor, which is down-regulated upon denervation, with consequent up-regulation of chromatin acetylation and AChR expression. Forced expression of HDAC9 in denervated muscle prevents up-regulation of activity-dependent genes and chromatin acetylation by linking MEF2 and class I HDACs. Conversely, HDAC9 null mice are supersensitive to denervation-induced changes in gene expression and display chromatin hyperacetylation, and delayed perinatal downregulation of myogenin, an activator of AChR genes. These findings reveal a molecular mechanism to account for the control of chromatin acetylation by presynaptic neurons and activity-dependent regulation of skeletal muscle genes by motor innervation