Supervision of Maori doctoral students: A descriptive report

This report follows up a previous paper that outlined the goals and plans of a research project that focused on both theoretical and cultural questions regarding the supervisory process for Māori doctoral students (McKinley, Grant, Middleton, Irwin, & Williams, 2007). The major goal of the project is to enhance understanding of the teaching and learning process of supervision for students and supervisors, particularly around issues of culture that arise in research methodologies and practices. This paper reports on the completed project by providing further operational background, design features, the nature of the student and supervisor samples and a summary of interview findings. The results show that there are indeed distinctive issues arising within the supervision of Māori doctoral students. Some of these are to do with both pleasures and challenges found in the supervision relationship, while others relate to the kinds of projects the students undertake. Many projects for example, push at the disciplinary boundaries of Western knowledge and are often rooted in a political desire to enhance the everyday lives of Māori. Yet others are connected to identity formation processes that concern many Māori during their years as doctoral students. A central message for supervisors from this work is that the supervision of Māori doctoral students may require unfamiliar forms of engagement but that these are likely to be deeply rewarding in many different ways

The Obesity Paradox in Cancer—Moving Beyond BMI

Body mass index (BMI) and simple counts of weight are easy and available tools in the clinic and in research. Recent studies have shown that cancer patients with low-normal BMI (or those with weight loss) have worse outcomes than obese patients. These results suggest that obesity has a protective effect and has been termed the ‘obesity paradox’. In this commentary, we discuss hypothetical explanations and take a step beyond BMI or simple weights alone to present other useful and more specific body composition metrics such as muscle tissue mass, visceral, and subcutaneous fat mass. Body composition is highly variable between individuals with significant differences seen between various races and ages. Therefore, it is critical to consider that patients with the exact same BMI can have significantly different body compositions and different outcomes. We encourage further studies to examine body composition beyond BMI and to use other body composition metrics to develop individualized treatments and intervention strategies

Development of a Novel Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for the Sensitive Detection of Schistosoma Japonicum in Human Stool

Background Elimination and control of Schistosoma japonicum, the most virulent of the schistosomiasiscausing blood flukes, requires the development of sensitive and specific diagnostic tools capable of providing an accurate measurement of the infection prevalence in endemic areas. Typically, detection of S. japonicum has occurred using the Kato-Katz technique, but this methodology, which requires skilled microscopists, has been shown to radically underestimate levels of infection. With the ever-improving capabilities of next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic analysis tools, identification of satellite sequences and other highly repetitive genomic elements for use as real-time PCR diagnostic targets is becoming increasingly common. Assays developed using these targets have the ability to improve the sensitivity and specificity of results for epidemiological studies that can in turn be used to inform mass drug administration and programmatic decision making. Methodology/Principal findings Utilizing Tandem Repeat Analyzer (TAREAN) and RepeatExplorer2, a cluster-based analysis of the S. japonicum genome was performed and a tandemly arranged genomic repeat, which we named SjTR1 (Schistosoma japonicum Tandem Repeat 1), was selected as the target for a real-time PCR diagnostic assay. Based on these analyses, a primer/probe set was designed and the assay was optimized. The resulting real-time PCR test was shown to reliably detect as little as 200 ag of S. japonicum genomic DNA and as little as 1 egg per gram of human stool. Based on these results, the index assay reported in this manuscript is more sensitive than previously published real-time PCR assays for the detection of S. japonicum. Conclusions/Significance The extremely sensitive and specific diagnostic assay described in this manuscript will facilitate the accurate detection of S. japonicum, particularly in regions with low levels of endemicity. This assay will be useful in providing data to inform programmatic decision makers, aiding disease control and elimination efforts

Occupational Therapy for Adults With Cancer: Why It Matters

Adults with cancer may be at risk for limitations in functional status and quality of life (QOL). Occupational therapy is a supportive service with the specific mission to help people functionally engage in life as safely and independently as possible with the primary goal of improving QOL. Unfortunately, for people with cancer, occupational therapy remains underused. The overall purpose of this review is to provide an understanding of what occupational therapy is and its relevance to patients with cancer, highlight the reasons to refer, and, last, provide general advice on how to access services

Kidney cell electrophoresis in space flight: Rationale, methods, results and flow cytometry applications

Cultures of human embryonic kidney cells consistently contain an electrophoretically separable subpopulation of cells that produce high levels of urokinase and have an electrophoretic mobility about 85 percent as high as that of the most mobile human embryonic kidney cells. This subpopulation is rich in large epithelioid cells that have relatively little internal structure. When resolution and throughput are adequate, free fluid electrophoresis can be used to isolate a broad band of low mobility cells which also produces high levels of plasminogen activators (PAs). In the course of performing this, it was discovered that all electrophoretic subpopulations of cultured human embryonic kidney cells produce some PAs and that separate subpopulations produce high quantities of different types of PA's. This information and the development of sensitive assays for this project have provided new insights into cell secretion mechanisms related to fibrinolysis. These advances would probably not have been made without the NASA program to explore fundamental questions of free fluid electrophoresis in space

Genome sequences of six Phytophthora species associated with forests in New Zealand

In New Zealand there has been a long association of Phytophthora diseases in forests, nurseries, remnant plantings and horticultural crops. However, new Phytophthora diseases of trees have recently emerged. Genome sequencing has been performed for 12 Phytophthora isolates, from six species: Phytophthora pluvialis, Phytophthora kernoviae, Phytophthora cinnamomi, Phytophthora agathidicida, Phytophthora multivora and Phytophthora taxon Totara. These sequences will enable comparative analyses to identify potential virulence strategies and ultimately facilitate better control strategies. This Whole Genome Shotgun data have been deposited in DDBJ/ENA/GenBank under the accession numbers LGTT00000000, LGTU00000000, JPWV00000000, JPWU00000000, LGSK00000000, LGSJ00000000, LGTR00000000, LGTS00000000, LGSM00000000, LGSL00000000, LGSO00000000, and LGSN0000000

Improved PCR-Based Detection of Soil Transmitted Helminth Infections Using a Next-Generation Sequencing Approach to Assay Design

The soil transmitted helminths are a group of parasitic worms responsible for extensive mor- bidity in many of the world’s most economically depressed locations. With growing empha- sis on disease mapping and eradication, the availability of accurate and cost-effective diagnostic measures is of paramount importance to global control and elimination efforts. While real-time PCR-based molecular detection assays have shown great promise, to date, these assays have utilized sub-optimal targets. By performing next-generation sequencing- based repeat analyses, we have identified high copy-number, non-coding DNA sequences from a series of soil transmitted pathogens. We have used these repetitive DNA elements as targets in the development of novel, multi-parallel, PCR-based diagnostic assays