Epstein-Barr virus transcription factor Zta acts through distal regulatory elements to directly control cellular gene expression

Lytic replication of the human gamma herpes virus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an essential prerequisite for the spread of the virus. Differential regulation of a limited number of cellular genes has been reported in B-cells during the viral lytic replication cycle. We asked whether a viral bZIP transcription factor, Zta (BZLF1, ZEBRA, EB1), drives some of these changes. Using genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to next-generation DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) we established a map of Zta interactions across the human genome. Using sensitive transcriptome analyses we identified 2263 cellular genes whose expression is significantly changed during the EBV lytic replication cycle. Zta binds 278 of the regulated genes and the distribution of binding sites shows that Zta binds mostly to sites that are distal to transcription start sites. This differs from the prevailing view that Zta activates viral genes by binding exclusively at promoter elements. We show that a synthetic Zta binding element confers Zta regulation at a distance and that distal Zta binding sites from cellular genes can confer Zta-mediated regulation on a heterologous promoter. This leads us to propose that Zta directly reprograms the expression of cellular genes through distal elements

The challenges of communicating research evidence in practice: perspectives from UK health visitors and practice nurses

<p>Background: Health practitioners play a pivotal role in providing patients with up-to-date evidence and health information. Evidence-based practice and patient-centred care are transforming the delivery of healthcare in the UK. Health practitioners are increasingly balancing the need to provide evidence-based information against that of facilitating patient choice, which may not always concur with the evidence base. There is limited research exploring how health practitioners working in the UK, and particularly those more autonomous practitioners such as health visitors and practice nurses working in community practice settings, negotiate this challenge. This research provides a descriptive account of how health visitors and practice nurses negotiate the challenges of communicating health information and research evidence in practice.</p> <p>Methods: A total of eighteen in-depth telephone interviews were conducted in the UK between September 2008 and May 2009. The participants comprised nine health visitors and nine practice nurses, recruited via adverts on a nursing website, posters at a practitioner conference and through recommendation. Thematic analysis, with a focus on constant comparative method, was used to analyse the data.</p> <p>Results: The data were grouped into three main themes: communicating evidence to the critically-minded patient; confidence in communicating evidence; and maintaining the integrity of the patient-practitioner relationship. These findings highlight some of the daily challenges that health visitors and practice nurses face with regard to the complex and dynamic nature of evidence and the changing attitudes and expectations of patients. The findings also highlight the tensions that exist between differing philosophies of evidence-based practice and patient-centred care, which can make communicating about evidence a daunting task.</p> <p>Conclusions: If health practitioners are to be effective at communicating research evidence, we suggest that more research and resources need to be focused on contextual factors, such as how research evidence is negotiated, appraised and communicated within the dynamic patient-practitioner relationship.</p&gt

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Badera Al Mohammad,1 Monther A Gharaibeh2 1Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan; 2Department of Special Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, 13133, JordanCorrespondence: Badera Al Mohammad, Radiology Technology, Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan, Email [email protected]: The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is considered the most commonly injured ligament of the knee. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become an indispensable imaging tool and modality of choice for assessing and managing knee conditions. This article outlines an effective MRI imaging technique that improves the diagnostic accuracy of ACL injuries of the knee, covering the appropriate pulse sequences and optimal imaging planes. Furthermore, the article provides a comprehensive review of the appearance of complete and partial ACL tears on MRI in the acute and chronic phases. In addition, it identifies and illustrates the primary MRI signs (signs related to the absence or abnormal visualization of the ACL fibers) and secondary MRI signs (signs related to the mechanism of injury or associated knee injuries) of ACL injury.Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament, magnetic resonance imaging, partial ACL tear, complete ACL tea

EFFECT OF GIBBERELLIC ACID ON SEED GERMINATION PERCENTAGE AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF TWO CASSIA SPECIES

The experiment was conducted in the plastic-house of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape at the College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Mosul, Iraq during the period of 10/4/2018 and 31/1/2019 on two species of Cassia. Seeds were planted each seed depth twice the length of the seed in a plastic bowl (8 cm height, 6 cm diameter) full with a medium consisting of perlite, peat moss and sand with 1:1:1 (v/v/v) ratio. The developing seedling were then transferred to plastic pots with a diameter of 15 cm and a height of 12 cm in the same agricultural medium and transplanted into the plastic house after germination. The experiment was carried out by using two factors in split-plot design within randomized complete block design (RCBD). The first factor was two species of Cassia: Cassia surattenesis and Cassia siamea, while the second factor was soaking seeds in gibberellic acid at three levels of (0, 500 and 1000 mg L-1) for 48 hrs. The results showed that C. surattensis was superior in all seedling traits except for the leaf area, which was higher than C. siamea. Gibberellic acid had an important role in improving seedling properties and when used at (1000 mg L-1) on C. siamea the seedling height and leaf area were increased. There were no significant differences in both species of Cassia in some traits including seedling height. C. surattensis was characterized by its ability to flower in November after the appearance of flower buds at the beginning of the same month. Species differed in their tolerance to environmental conditions C. surattensis survived under cold waves, however, C. siamea was unable to survive under the same conditions in January

Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?

International audienc

The presence of tumour-associated lymphocytes confers a good prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: an immunohistochemical study of tissue microarrays

Background Tumour-associated lymphocytes (TALs) have been linked with good prognosis in several solid tumours. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of CD3, CD8 and CD20 positive lymphocytes in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Methods After histological re-evaluation of the tumours of 81 patients who underwent surgical resection for exclusively pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, tissue micro-arrays (TMA) were constructed and immunohistochemistry was performed for CD3, CD8 and CD20. The number of lymphocytes within specific tumour compartments (i.e. stromal and intratumoural) was quantified. X-tile software (Yale School of Medicine, CT, USA) was used to stratify patients into 'high’ and 'low’ for each of the lymphocytes stained and their association with survival. Receiver operating curves (ROC) were constructed to evaluate the association between the TALs, alone and in combination, with clinicopathological features. Results CD3 and CD8 positive lymphocytes were associated with grade of tumour differentiation. The presence of intratumoural CD3 positive cells was associated with improved survival (p = 0.028), and intratumoural and stromal CD3 in combination also correlated with improved survival (p = 0.043). When CD20 positive lymphocyte levels were high, survival improved (p = 0.029) and similar results were seen for CD20 in combination with intratumoural CD3 (p = 0.001) and stromal CD8 (p = 0.013). Conclusions This study has shown a correlation between the presence of TALs and survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

The Degree of Effectiveness of the Educational Decision-Making Process among the Principals of Zarqa Kasbah Schools from the Teachers\u27 Point of View درجة فاعلية عملية اتخاذ القرارات التربوية لدى مديري مدارس تربية قصبة الزرقاء من وجهة نظر المعلمين

Abstract: The study aimed at identifying the degree of effectiveness of the educational decision-making process of the principals of Zarqa Kasbah from the teachers\u27 point of view. It, also, studied the effect of variables on the response of the sample of the study. The study used the descriptive survey methodology. The tool of the study consisted of (14) items, and the validity and reliability of the tool was confirmed. The study was applied on a sample of (375) male and female teachers, who were chosen by a simple random method. The study proved the following results: the degree of effectiveness of educational decision-making process of the principals of Zarqa Kasbah education school from the teachers’ point of view, was medium. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences at the level (0.05\u3ea) in the mean. Responses of the study sample subjects about the effectiveness of the educational decision-making process of the school principals of Zarqa Kasbah education schools, from the teachers \u27viewpoint. These differences were due to the variables of gender and academic qualification. Moreover, it indicated that there were no statistically significant differences due to the variables of years of experience and specialization. In light of the proved results, the study recommended a set of recommendations, the most important of which are: increasing the participation of teachers in the school decision­ making process, in the way that reflected in the raising the effectiveness of educational decisions. ملخص: هدفت الدراسة التعرف إلى درجة فاعلية عملية اتخاذ القرارات التربوية لدى مديري مدارس تربية قصبة الزرقاء من وجهة نظر المعلمين ودراسة أثر المتغيرات في استجابة افراد عينة الدراسة، واستخدمت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي المسحي وتم تطوير أداة دراسة تكونت من (14) فقرة وتم التأكد من صدق الأداة وثباتها. وطبقت الدراسة على عينة بلغت (375) معلماً ومعلمة وتم اختيارهم بالطريقة العشوائية البسيطة وتوصلت الدراسة إلى النتائج الآتية: إن درجة فاعلية عملية اتخاذ القرارات التربوية لدى مديري مدارس تربية قصبة الزرقاء من وجهة نظر المعلمين جاءت متوسطة، بينما دلت النتائج إلى وجود فروق ذات دلالة احصائية عند مستوى (0.05≥α) في متوسط استجابات أفراد عينة الدراسة عن فاعلية عملية اتخاذ القرارات التربوية لدى مديري مدارس تربية قصبة الزرقاء من وجهة نظر المعلمين تعزى لمتغير الجنس والمؤهل العلمي بينما دلت إلى عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة احصائية تعزى لمتغيري سنوات الخبرة والتخصص. وفي ضوء نتائج الدراسة أوصت الدراسة بمجموعة من التوصيات من أهميها: زيادة مشاركة المعلمين في عملية اتخاذ القرارات المدرسية بالشكل الذي ينعكس على زيادة فاعلية القرارات التربوية