1,063 research outputs found
What does it take to recruit and retain senior women faculty?
Get PDFeLife deputy editor Fiona M Watt recounts some of her personal experiences as a senior female academic in a male-dominated environment
Building Breastfeeding Research Relations and Beyond: An Interview With Fiona Dykes
No full textProfessor Fiona Dykes is Professor Emerita of Maternal and Infant Health at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom (UCLAN). Fiona has a particular interest in the global, sociocultural, and political influences upon infant and young child feeding practices; her methodological expertise is in ethnography and other qualitative research methods. She founded the Maternal and Infant Nutrition and Nurture Unit (MAINN) in 2000 which she led until she retired from her full-time professorship in 2020. Fiona established the associated MAINN Conference in 2007. The MAINN conference is a 3 day, international, peer reviewed event held bi-annually in the United Kingdom and, more recently, in alternate years overseas (Sydney, Australia; Falun, Dalarna, Sweden; and Florida, United States). The conference draws together key researchers in the field of infant and young child feeding from around the world. Fiona was a founding member of the journal Maternal and Child Nutrition. She is author of Breastfeeding in Hospital: Mothers, Midwives and the Production Line (Routledge) and co-author, with Dr Tanya Cassidy, of Banking on Milk: An Ethnography of Donor Human Milk Relations (Routledge). She is also joint editor of several books including Infant and Young Child Feeding: Challenges to Implementing a Global Strategy (Wiley-Blackwell) and Ethnographic Research in Maternal and Child Health (Routledge). This interview was conducted on April 20, 2023, by Dr. Tanya Cassidy, and is based on a verbatim transcription and edited for readability
Handbook of biochemistry and molecular biology / edited by Roger L. Lundblad, Fiona M. Macdonald.
No full textIncludes bibliographical references and index.Book fair 2013.xvii, 1080 p. :Edited by renowned protein scientist and bestselling author Roger L. Lundblad, with the assistance of Fiona M. Macdonald of CRC Press, this fourth edition of the Handbook of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology represents a dramatic revision -- the first in two decades -- of one of biochemistry's most referenced works. This edition gathers a wealth of information not easily obtained, including information not found on the web." "Offering a molecular perspective not available 20 years ago, it provides physical and chemical data on proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Presented in an organized, concise, and simple-to-use format, this popular reference allows quick access to the most frequently used data. Covering a wide range of topics, from classical biochemistry to proteomics and genomics, it also details the properties of commonly used biochemicals, laboratory solvents, and reagents." "Just a small sampling of the wealth of information found inside the handbook" : "Buffers and buffer solutions" -- "Heat capacities and combustion levels" -- "--Reagents for the chemical modification of proteins" -- "Comprehensive classification system for lipids" -- "Biological characteristics of vitamins" -- "A huge variety of UV data" -- "Recommendations for nomenclature and tables in biochemical thermodynamics" -- "Guidelines for NMR measurements for determination of high and low pka values" -- "Viscosity and density tables" -- "Chemical and physical properties of various commercial plastics" -- "Generic source-based nomenclature for polymers" -- "Therapeutic enzyme
Corrigendum:Common genetic variation drives molecular heterogeneity in human iPSCs (Nature (2017) 546 (370-375) DOI: 10.1038/nature22403)
No full textIn this Article, the authors Fiona M. Watt and Richard Durbin should also have been included as 'jointly supervising' authors, and authors Oliver Stegle and Daniel J. Gaffney should also have been noted as 'equally contributing' authors. In addition, the Author Contributions section should have included the sentence: 'H.K. and A.G. contributed equally to this work; O.S. and D.J.G. contributed equally to this work', as further clarification. The original Article has been corrected online.</p
Translational control of stem cell function
No full textStem cells are characterized by their ability to self-renew and differentiate into many different cell types. Research has focused primarily on how these processes are regulated at a transcriptional level. However, recent studies have indicated that stem cell behaviour is strongly coupled to the regulation of protein synthesis by the ribosome. In this Review, we discuss how different translation mechanisms control the function of adult and embryonic stem cells. Stem cells are characterized by low global translation rates despite high levels of ribosome biogenesis. The maintenance of pluripotency, the commitment to a specific cell fate and the switch to cell differentiation depend on the tight regulation of protein synthesis and ribosome biogenesis. Translation regulatory mechanisms that impact on stem cell function include mTOR signalling, ribosome levels, and mRNA and tRNA features and amounts. Understanding these mechanisms important for stem cell self-renewal and differentiation may also guide our understanding of cancer grade and metastasis.</p
Elaine M. Alexander: 2023 Cook Prize Gold Medal Acceptance Speech
No full textAuthor Elaine M. Alexander gives an acceptance speech for Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep, illustrated by Fiona Fogg (Candlewick)https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cook/1007/thumbnail.jp
Myosin 10 is involved in murine pigmentation
Get PDFMyosins are molecular motors that are well known for their role in cell movement and contractile functions. Although extensively studied in muscle physiology, little is known about the function of myosins in mammalian skin. As part of the Sanger Institute Mouse Genetics Project, we have identified a role for Myo10 in pigmentation, with a phenotype unlike those of Myo5a or Myo7a. Adult mice homozygous for a disrupted Myo10 allele on a C57BL/6N background displayed a high degree of penetrance for white patches on their abdomen and dorsal surface. Forepaw syndactyly and hind paw syndactyly were also observed in these mice. Tail epidermal wholemounts showed a complete lack of melanocytes in the hair follicles and interfollicular epidermis. Myo10 has previously been implicated in human pigmentation. Our current study reveals involvement of Myo10 in murine skin pigmentation
How many focus markers are there in Konkomba?
Get PDFThis article discusses the divergent status of the two particles lé and lá in the grammar of Konkomba, a Gur language (Niger-Congo) of the Gurma subgroup. While previous studies claim that both particles are focus markers, this author argues that only the particle lá should be analyzed as a pure pragmatic device. Distributional studies suggest that the use of particle lé, on the other hand, is only required under specific focus conditions, and primarily represents a syntactic device
Mimicking the topography of the epidermal-dermal interface with elastomer substrates
Get PDFIn human skin the interface between the epidermis and dermis is not flat, but undulates. The dimensions of the undulations change as a function of age and disease. Epidermal stem cell clusters lie in specific locations relative to the undulations; however, whether their location affects their properties is unknown. To explore this, we developed a two-step protocol to create patterned substrates that mimic the topographical features of the human epidermal-dermal interface. Substrates with negative patterns were first fabricated by exposing a photocurable formulation to light, controlling the topographical features (such as diameter, height and center-to-center distance) by the photomask pattern dimensions and UV crosslinking time. The negative pattern was then translated to PDMS elastomer to fabricate substrates with 8 unique surface topographies on which primary human keratinocytes were cultured. We found that cells were patterned according to topography, and that separate cues determined the locations of stem cells, differentiated cells and proliferating cells. The biomimetic platform we have developed will be useful for probing the effect of topography on stem cell behaviour.</p
Macrophage infiltration and alternative activation during wound healing promote MEK1-induced skin carcinogenesis
No full textMacrophages are essential for the progression and maintenance of many cancers, but their role during the earliest stages of tumor formation is unclear. To test this, we used a previously described transgenic mouse model of wound-induced skin tumorigenesis, in which expression of constitutively active MEK1 in differentiating epidermal cells results in chronic inflammation (InvEE mice). Upon wounding, the number of epidermal and dermal monocytes and macrophages increased in wildtype and InvEE skin, but the increase was greater, more rapid, and more sustained in InvEE skin. Macrophage ablation reduced tumor incidence. Furthermore, bioluminescent imaging in live mice to monitor macrophage flux at wound sites revealed that macrophage accumulation was predictive of tumor formation; wounds with the greatest number of macrophages at day 5 went on to develop tumors. Gene expression profiling of flow-sorted monocytes, macrophages, and T cells from InvEE and wildtype skin showed that as wound healing progressed, InvEE macrophages altered their phenotype. Throughout wound healing and after wound closure, InvEE macrophages demonstrated sustained upregulation of several markers implicated in alternative macrophage activation including arginase-1 (ARG1) and mannose receptor (CD206). Notably, inhibition of ARG1 activity significantly reduced tumor formation and epidermal proliferation in vivo, whereas addition of L-arginase to cultured keratinocytes stimulated proliferation. We conclude that macrophages play a key role in early, inflammation-mediated skin tumorigenesis, with mechanistic evidence suggesting that ARG1 secretion drives tumor development by stimulating epidermal cell proliferation. These findings highlight the importance of cancer immunotherapies aiming to polarize tumor-associated macrophages towards an antitumor phenotype.</p
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