The kinases MSK1 and MSK2 act as negative regulators of Toll-like receptor signaling

The kinases MSK1 and MSK2 are activated 'downstream' of the p38 and Erk1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinases. Here we found that MSK1 and MSK2 were needed to limit the production of proinflammatory cytokines in response to stimulation of primary macrophages with lipopolysaccharide. By inducing transcription of the mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase DUSP1 and the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10, MSK1 and MSK2 exerted many negative feedback mechanisms. Deficiency in MSK1 and MSK2 prevented the binding of phosphorylated transcription factors CREB and ATF1 to the promoters of the genes encoding interleukin 10 and DUSP1. Mice doubly deficient in MSK1 and MSK2 were hypersensitive to lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxic shock and showed prolonged inflammation in a model of toxic contact eczema induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. Our results establish MSK1 and MSK2 as key components of negative feedback mechanisms needed to limit Toll-like receptor-driven inflammation.</p

Experience and Challenges from Clinical Trials with Malaria Vaccines in Africa.

Malaria vaccines are considered amongst the most important modalities for potential elimination of malaria disease and transmission. Research and development in this field has been an area of intense effort by many groups over the last few decades. Despite this, there is currently no licensed malaria vaccine. Researchers, clinical trialists and vaccine developers have been working on many approached to make malaria vaccine available.African research institutions have developed and demonstrated a great capacity to undertake clinical trials in accordance to the International Conference on Harmonization-Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) standards in the last decade; particularly in the field of malaria vaccines and anti-malarial drugs. This capacity is a result of networking among African scientists in collaboration with other partners; this has traversed both clinical trials and malaria control programmes as part of the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP). GMAP outlined and support global strategies toward the elimination and eradication of malaria in many areas, translating in reduction in public health burden, especially for African children. In the sub-Saharan region the capacity to undertake more clinical trials remains small in comparison to the actual need.However, sustainability of the already developed capacity is essential and crucial for the evaluation of different interventions and diagnostic tools/strategies for other diseases like TB, HIV, neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases. There is urgent need for innovative mechanisms for the sustainability and expansion of the capacity in clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa as the catalyst for health improvement and maintained

Predicting factors of abusive head trauma in infants within a child maltreatment population

Research into the predictors of child physical abuse has shown that caregivers that have perpetrated child physical abuse experience internalizing mental health concerns (stress, emotional distress, anxiety, and depression) more often than other caregivers. Domestic violence within the household is also related to caregivers who have perpetrated child physical abuse, as well as their own childhood abuse and neglect. Studies have also shown that younger caregivers are more likely than older caregivers to commit child physical abuse. With bountiful research on child physical abuse, there is very little on Shaken Baby Syndrome or Abusive Head Trauma (AHT). The current study examined the relationship between diagnosed mental illness of the caregiver, a presence of domestic violence, caregiver age, caregiver sex, marital status, number of children within the household and AHT, using the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4) archival dataset on 12,694 abused or maltreated children collected by the Children's Bureau and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families that took place in 2005 and 2006. This study found that caregivers aged 25 and younger are more likely to contribute to abusive head trauma than caregivers aged 26 and older and families with 2 or less children have a higher likelihood of abusive head trauma occurring within them than families with 3 or more children. There was no significance found in a relationship between abusive head trauma and mental illness within the caregiver, domestic violence within the household, marital status, or sex of the caregiver

Treatment of hypertension in rural Cambodia: results of a 6-year programme

This study was aimed to describe the outcomes of a hypertension treatment programme in two outpatient clinics in Cambodia. We determined proportions of patients who met the optimal targets for blood pressure (BP) control and assessed the evolution of mean systolic and diastolic BP (SBP/DBP) over time. Multivariate analyses were used to identify predictors of BP decrease and risk factors for LTFU. A total of 2858 patients were enrolled between March 2002 and June 2008 of whom 69.2% were female, 30.5% were aged >/=64years and 32.6% were diabetic. The median follow-up time was 600 days. By the end of 2008, 1642 (57.4%) were alive-in-care, 8 (0.3%) had died and 1208 (42.3%) were lost to follow-up. On admission, mean SBP and DBP were 162 and 94 mm Hg, respectively. Among the patients treated, a significant SBP reduction of 26.8 mm Hg (95% CI: 28.4-25.3) was observed at 6 months. Overall, 36.5% of patients reached the BP targets at 24 months. The number of young adults, non-overweight patients and non-diabetics reaching the BP targets was more. Older age (>64 years), uncontrolled DBP (>/=90 mm Hg) on last consultation and coming late for the last consultation were associated with LTFU, whereas non-diabetic patients were 1.5 times more likely to default than diabetics (95% CI: 1.3-1.7). Although the definite magnitude of the BP decrease due to antihypertension medication over time cannot be assessed definitely without a control group, our results suggest that BP reduction can be obtained with essential hypertension treatment in a large-scale programme in a resource-limited setting

Entrepreneurs’ age, institutions, and social value creation goals: a multi-country study

This study explores the relationship between an entrepreneur's age and his/her social value creation goals. Building on the lifespan developmental psychology literature and institutional theory, we hypothesize a U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to create social value through their ventures, such that younger and older entrepreneurs create more social value with their businesses while middle age entrepreneurs are relatively more economically and less socially oriented with their ventures. We further hypothesize that the quality of a country’s formal institutions in terms of economic, social, and political freedom steepen the U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurs’ age and their choice to pursue social value creation as supportive institutional environments allow entrepreneurs to follow their age-based preferences. We confirm our predictions using multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions on a sample of over 15,000 entrepreneurs (aged between 18 and 64 years) in 45 countries from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data. The findings are robust to several alternative specifications. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for theory and practice, and we propose future research directions

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Self-improvement, community improvement : North Carolina Sorosis and the women's club movement in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1895-1950

The Progressive Era ushered in a new importance for women’s associations with an increase in municipal housekeeping that centered on education, health, social services and other civic concerns. Prior to the Progressive Era, women’s clubs across America focused on the self-improvement of their members through the study of art, literature, and other cultural pastimes. North Carolina Sorosis was part of the nationwide emergence of women’s clubs during the Progressive Era. Organized womanhood provided a safe location to break down traditional roles of women and expanded women’s influence in the public sphere. The women’s club movement established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to improve society. Clubs provided them with the vehicle to enter the public sphere and to transform, define, and shape public policy. North Carolina Sorosis contributed to Wilmington’s social and cultural infrastructure by creating parks, museums, libraries, and schools. For the women of Sorosis, the club provided an opportunity to become a powerful source of change in Wilmington. Members developed political skills by working with city officials even before women gained the right to vote. Sorosis members also acquired leadership experience and developed financial skills by sponsoring fund-raisers and by creating and maintaining museums, libraries and other civic institutions. These changes in women’s clubs during the Progressive Era were exemplified with the clubhouse boom. The last chapter of this thesis focuses on the North Carolina Sorosis Clubhouse. The Sorosis clubhouse, like so many clubhouses across America, was established through the hard work, talent, and efficacy of women willing to undertake financial, managerial, organizational, and bureaucratic responsibilities on levels unprecedented prior to the Progressive Era. The women of Sorosis and thousands of clubwomen across the nation demonstrated, to themselves and to their communities, women’s potential at these tasks. The clubhouse was recognized across the nation as an expression of pride and power for clubwomen. To build, design, and purchase clubhouses represented the effort of women’s clubs to combine civic responsibilities with more traditional social roles. Clubwomen believed the city could become homelike and as domestic housekeepers they attempted to blur the lines between public and private space. This act enabled them to cross these lines and enter into the city’s public spaces. The very success of the clubwomen contributed to a decline in the power and influence of the clubwoman. Sorosis was no longer the driving force of change in Wilmington after World War II. Much of the work Sorosis had accomplished including the founding of the first free public library, establishing Greenfield Lake Park, organizing a night school for Delgado Mill Workers, sponsoring milk stations and baby clinics was turned over to the city for upkeep. With the professionalization of libraries, museums, social work, and other public institutions, the clubwomen lost their control and influence on the social and cultural growth and direction of Wilmington. As a result, North Carolina Sorosis reverted to once again functioning as a social club for women. Nevertheless, the institutions that Sorosis created remain central to the social and cultural vibrancy of present-day Wilmington

What we learned along the way: Librarian experiences from k-12 and how they aid in university library instruction

This article shares the perspectives of two former high school and middle school librarians who moved into academic libraries. The move from the K–12 sector to higher education offered them unique insights into working with first-year students as they started their college careers. Existing literature discusses the importance of collaboration between high school and academic librarians. The authors of this article have firsthand experience of how students work in the middle and high school realm, and they demonstrate how to apply that knowledge and experience with college students

Embracing the Future

In April 2015, the iPad turned five years old. For those of us in libraries, the tablet revolution sparked by the iPad ushered in a period of excitement and exploration (see AL, Mar./Apr. 2013, p. 20). We wondered how tablets might change the way we engage with our users. We understood that these devices held great promise for enhancing teaching and learning opportunities, access, and reference and circulation services