Relax, Don't RAN Translate It

The (GGGGCC)n repeat expansion in C9orf72, which is the most common cause of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is translated through repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation. In this issue of Neuron, Cheng et al. (2019) report that the helicase DDX3X, which unwinds (or relaxes) RNA, suppresses RAN translation and toxicity

Skin bleaching: A neglected form of injury and threat to global skin

Skin bleaching is the use of creams, gels, or soaps to lighten the skin and is known to cause a number of injuries, many of which are potentially life-threatening. Despite the growing body of research identifying the harmful effects of skin bleaching, this topic has received little attention in the field of public health. This study provides a literature review of the current research documenting health risks associated with skin bleaching. Articles pertaining to skin bleaching practices and their health consequences were extracted from databases that publish research in the biomedical, public health, and social science literatures. Twenty-two articles that met search criteria were analysed and thematically coded using a priori research questions examining: (1) harms caused by skin bleaching, (2) alignment with accepted definitions of injury, and (3) suggestions for prevention and intervention. Results indicate skin bleaching poses a serious public health risk and threat to skin safety. Researchers have called for increased governmental and individual/community intervention to address this growing problem. Limitations of the study include the small number of scholarly publications on the topic, limited epidemiological study of the topic, and various selection biases in individual articles that may skew results. Keywords: skin safety, skin bleaching, skin lightening, injury prevention, literature review, public healt

Collaborative Leadership in Public Library Service Development

Findings from the formative evaluation of a national public library development initiative in England are discussed, with a focus on the practice and impact of collaborative leadership. A Realistic Evaluation approach was used in the study, enabling a nuanced assessment of the initiative’s contexts, mechanisms and outcomes in relation to its core objectives. These included testing innovative, partnership approaches to library service delivery, encouraging greater synergy between libraries and the arts and other public and commercial sectors. Evaluation findings are subsequently contextualised using a conceptual framework drawn from critical management studies on collaborative advantage. Data show that the initiative was an effective catalyst for enhanced collaborative leadership in the public library sector, including the development of a cross-sector community of practice, with evidence of collective ownership and decision making. The relative collaborative advantages of the initiative are underpinned by evidence on the unique value of public library services to collaborating organisations and sectors. Outcomes are of relevance to a range of public services and governing bodies with reference to shared strategic objectives with other sectors and services and collaborative leadership learning and practice. There are implications relating to the public value of library services and how this can potentially be enhanced via collaborative leadership approaches to service design and delivery. This is especially pertinent given current cross-government policy drivers towards integrated public services. The research makes an original contribution to contemporary debates on cultural value in considering the cross-sector role and impact of collaborative leadership

Tuning protein mechanics through an ionic cluster graft from an extremophilic protein.

Proteins from extremophilic organisms provide excellent model systems to determine the role of non-covalent interactions in defining protein stability and dynamics as well as being attractive targets for the development of robust biomaterials. Hyperthermophilic proteins have a prevalence of salt bridges, relative to their mesophilic homologues, which are thought to be important for enhanced thermal stability. However, the impact of salt bridges on the mechanical properties of proteins is far from understood. Here, a combination of protein engineering, biophysical characterisation, single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations directly investigates the role of salt bridges in the mechanical stability of two cold shock proteins; BsCSP from the mesophilic organism Bacillus subtilis and TmCSP from the hyperthermophilic organism Thermotoga maritima. Single molecule force spectroscopy shows that at ambient temperatures TmCSP is mechanically stronger yet, counter-intuitively, its native state can withstand greater deformation before unfolding (i.e. it is mechanically soft) compared with BsCSP. MD simulations were used to identify the location and quantify the population of salt bridges, and reveal that TmCSP contains a larger number of highly occupied salt bridges than BsCSP. To test the hypothesis that salt-bridges endow these mechanical properties on the hyperthermophilic CSP, a charged triple mutant (CTM) variant of BsCSP was generated by grafting an ionic cluster from TmCSP into the BsCSP scaffold. As expected CTM is thermodynamically more stable and mechanically softer than BsCSP. We show that a grafted ionic cluster can increase the mechanical softness of a protein and speculate that it could provide a mechanical recovery mechanism and that it may be a design feature applicable to other proteins

Valuing family carers: the impact of House of Memories as a museum-led dementia awareness programme

This article discusses the value of museums in dementia care practice. The methods used are as follows: (1) quantitative profiling of participants’ care responsibilities; (2) standardised measures of subjective well-being and care burden; (3) participant observation; and (4) qualitative feedback. The results from the data show: (1) increased dementia awareness; (2) improved subjective well-being; (3) increased engagement with museums, and (4) improved capacity for critical, reflective and creative care practice. The conclusion of the article is that the research contributes to scholarly understanding of care practice, training and development by exploring the relationship between cultural intermediation, emotions and affect, and their value in health and social care