Researching peers and disaster vulnerable communities: an insider perspective

Conducting research among peers and communities that a researcher also serves may be both daunting and rewarding. Researching peers may make the researcher feel uncomfortable raising certain questions that are sensitive or that could be construed to be testing their competencies. This paper is inclined more towards showing that it is advantageous to be an insider, whose position can facilitate collection of information that could not have been accessed, or revealed to an outsider. The paper reports on fieldwork conducted in a low-income country in Sub-Sahara Africa as part of a doctoral study with communities affected by disasters and those that work with such communities. The paper demonstrates the complexities of conducting such research and provides some insights that may be useful to insiders, outsiders or “in-betweeners” embarking on fieldwork in low-income countries and among vulnerable population struggling with manifold stresses and shocks

Association of plasma miR-122 level with hepatocellular injury.

<p>The extent of hepatocellular necrosis and inflammation was scored + (closed circle), ++ (closed triangle), and +++ (closed square) by histopathological examination, and was compared with the plasma ALT (A) and miR-122 (B) levels in rats administered 1000 mg/kg (high dose) or 500 mg/kg (low dose) of APAP with fasting, low dose of APAP without fasting, and CMC (as a control).</p

Plasma ALT, AST or T-Bil levels and histopathological changes of liver in rat models of hepatocellular injury induced by the administration of APAP (n = 6–8) or MP (n = 6) (A); cholestasis induced by the administration of ANIT, or BDL (n = 5) (B); steatosis or steatohepatitis induced by feeding of HFD (n = 5) or MCDD (n = 5) (C); and fibrosis induced by the administration of CCl4 (n = 6) (D).

<p>Data are mean ± SD. Significantly different from control group (*<i>P</i><0.05 and **<i>P</i><0.01). Liver sections were stained with HE for all models (original magnification×200) and Oil red O for the chronic liver injury models (original magnification×400). CV: Central vein; P: Portal region; BD: Bile duct.</p

The miRNAs whose expressions were changed in hepatocellular injury, cholestasis and steatosis.

<p>The miRNAs whose expressions were changed in hepatocellular injury, cholestasis and steatosis.</p

Time-dependent changes of plasma ALT and miR-122 levels in individual rat orally administered 1000 mg/kg of APAP (n = 6) with fasting (A) or 300 mg/kg MP (n = 5) (B).

<p>Graphs with magnified abscissa are also shown. The miR-122 levels represent relative value to control.</p

The miRNAs whose expressions were changed only in the given model of liver injury.

<p>The miRNAs whose expressions were changed only in the given model of liver injury.</p

Number of miRNAs whose expressions were detected and changed with liver injury in rat plasma.

<p>The total number of miRNAs on the array system is 585.</p><p>APAP: acetaminophen; MP: methapyrilene; ANIT: α-naphthyl isothiocyanate; BDL: bile duct ligation; StdD: standard diet; HFD: high fat diet; MCDD: methionine choline-deficient diet.</p

Stability of miR-16, miR-122 or miR-21 in rat (A) or human (B) plasma.

<p>Plasma samples from 2 non-treated male rats or 9 male healthy subjects were pooled and incubated at 4°C, room temperature (RT) or 37°C. Data represent copy numbers per one µL of plasma. Data are mean ± SD of triplicate determination (n = 3).</p

Up- or down-regulated miRNAs in hepatocellular injury models (A), cholestasis models (B), and chronic liver injury models (C).

<p>Venn diagram shows the number of changed miRNAs. The numbers in the parenthesis are the numbers of miRNAs whose expressions were specifically changed only in the given models. Heat map of 67 miRNAs in all models, which were commonly up-regulated with necrosis and inflammation (D).</p

Hierarchical clustering of plasma miRNA expression profiles in rats with liver injury (A) and the fold changes between the injury model and control (B).

<p>The levels were clustered by using Cluster 3.0 software (complete linkage) and visualized by using MapleTree software. Data are presented as 40-Ct (A) and log₂ (B) value.</p