Developmentally regulated mitochondrial biogenesis and cell death competence in maize pollen.

BACKGROUND: Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited failure to produce functional pollen that most commonly results from expression of novel, chimeric mitochondrial genes. In Zea mays, cytoplasmic male sterility type S (CMS-S) is characterized by the collapse of immature, bi-cellular pollen. Molecular and cellular features of developing CMS-S and normal (N) cytoplasm pollen were compared to determine the role of mitochondria in these differing developmental fates. RESULTS: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling revealed both chromatin and nuclear fragmentation in the collapsed CMS-S pollen, demonstrating a programmed cell death (PCD) event sharing morphological features with mitochondria-signaled apoptosis in animals. Maize plants expressing mitochondria-targeted green fluorescent protein (GFP) demonstrated dynamic changes in mitochondrial morphology and association with actin filaments through the course of N-cytoplasm pollen development, whereas mitochondrial targeting of GFP was lost and actin filaments were disorganized in developing CMS-S pollen. Immunoblotting revealed significant developmental regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis in both CMS-S and N mito-types. Nuclear and mitochondrial genome encoded components of the cytochrome respiratory pathway and ATP synthase were of low abundance at the microspore stage, but microspores accumulated abundant nuclear-encoded alternative oxidase (AOX). Cytochrome pathway and ATP synthase components accumulated whereas AOX levels declined during the maturation of N bi-cellular pollen. Increased abundance of cytochrome pathway components and declining AOX also characterized collapsed CMS-S pollen. The accumulation and robust RNA editing of mitochondrial transcripts implicated translational or post-translational control for the developmentally regulated accumulation of mitochondria-encoded proteins in both mito-types. CONCLUSIONS: CMS-S pollen collapse is a PCD event coincident with developmentally programmed mitochondrial events including the accumulation of mitochondrial respiratory proteins and declining protection against mitochondrial generation of reactive oxygen species.

Containment of Ebola and Polio in Low-Resource Settings Using Principles and Practices of Emergency Operations Centers in Public Health.

Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) have been credited with driving the recent successes achieved in the Nigeria polio eradication program. EOC concept was also applied to the Ebola virus disease outbreak and is applicable to a range of other public health emergencies. This article outlines the structure and functionality of a typical EOC in addressing public health emergencies in low-resource settings. It ascribes the successful polio and Ebola responses in Nigeria to several factors including political commitment, population willingness to engage, accountability, and operational and strategic changes made by the effective use of an EOC and Incident Management System. In countries such as Nigeria where the central or federal government does not directly hold states accountable, the EOC provides a means to improve performance and use data to hold health workers accountable by using innovative technologies such as geographic position systems, dashboards, and scorecards.

HIV-Related Stigma Among Healthcare Providers in the Deep South.

Stigma towards people living with HIV (PLWH) in healthcare settings is a barrier to optimal treatment. However, our understanding of attitudes towards PLWH from healthcare providers' perspective in the United States is limited and out-of-date. We assessed HIV-related stigma among healthcare staff in Alabama and Mississippi, using online questionnaires. Participants included 651 health workers (60 % White race; 83 % female). Multivariate regression suggests that several factors independently predict stigmatizing attitudes: Protestant compared to other religions (ß = 0.129, p ≤ 0.05), White race compared to other races (ß = 0.162, p ≤ 0.001), type of clinic (HIV/STI clinic: ß = 0.112, p ≤ 0.01), availability of post-exposure prophylaxis (yes: ß = -0.107, p ≤ 0.05), and perceptions of policy enforcement (policies not enforced: ß = 0.058, p = p ≤ 0.05). These findings may assist providers wishing to improve the quality care for PLWH. Enforcement of policies prohibiting discrimination may be a useful strategy for reducing HIV-related stigma among healthcare workers.

Cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A cross-sectional study.

Cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) in humans and mouse disease models. Obesity and DM are a well-established independent risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most prevalent liver disease globally. The effects of cannabis use on NAFLD prevalence in humans remains ill-defined. Our objective is to determine the relationship between cannabis use and the prevalence of NAFLD in humans. We conducted a population-based case-control study of 5,950,391 patients using the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Nationwide Inpatient Survey (NIS) discharge records of patients 18 years and older. After identifying patients with NAFLD (1% of all patients), we next identified three exposure groups: non-cannabis users (98.04%), non-dependent cannabis users (1.74%), and dependent cannabis users (0.22%). We adjusted for potential demographics and patient related confounders and used multivariate logistic regression (SAS 9.4) to determine the odds of developing NAFLD with respects to cannabis use. Our findings revealed that cannabis users (dependent and non-dependent) showed significantly lower NAFLD prevalence compared to non-users (AOR: 0.82[0.76-0.88]; p<0.0001). The prevalence of NAFLD was 15% lower in non-dependent users (AOR: 0.85[0.79-0.92]; p<0.0001) and 52% lower in dependent users (AOR: 0.49[0.36-0.65]; p<0.0001). Among cannabis users, dependent patients had 43% significantly lower prevalence of NAFLD compared to non-dependent patients (AOR: 0.57[0.42-0.77]; p<0.0001). Our observations suggest that cannabis use is associated with lower prevalence of NAFLD in patients. These novel findings suggest additional molecular mechanistic studies to explore the potential role of cannabis use in NAFLD development.

Intimate partner violence and forced migration during pregnancy: Structural constraints to women's agency.

Little is known about migration during pregnancy related to intimate partner violence (IPV). In this paper, we examine issues of agency in relation to pregnant women's migrations in a high HIV prevalence area of Kenya. We qualitatively explored forced migration among pregnant women, using data from in-depth interviews, focus groups and IPV screening forms. To quantitatively examine migration during pregnancy, we analysed data from a prospective study of 614 pregnant women. The qualitative data revealed that women had varied responses to violence in pregnancy, with some being able to leave the marital home voluntarily as a strategy to escape violence. Others were 'sent packing' from their marital homes when they dared to exercise autonomy, in some cases related to HIV status. Quantitative analyses revealed that pregnant women who migrated were more educated, less likely to be living with a partner and had fewer children than other women. Migration among pregnant women in Kenya illustrates the complexity of understanding women's agency in the context of IPV. The findings indicate that there is not a dichotomy between 'victim' and 'agent', but rather a complex dynamic between and within pregnant women, who may sequentially or simultaneously experience aspects of victimhood and/or agentic response.

Adaptation and Implementation of an Intervention to Reduce HIV-Related Stigma Among Healthcare Workers in the United States: Piloting of the FRESH Workshop.

HIV-related stigma has been shown to have profound effects on people living with HIV (PLWH). When stigma is experienced in a healthcare setting, negative health outcomes are exacerbated. We sought to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a healthcare setting stigma-reduction intervention, the Finding Respect and Ending Stigma around HIV (FRESH) Workshop, in the United States. This intervention, adapted from a similar strategy implemented in Africa, brought together healthcare workers (HW) and PLWH to address HIV-related stigma. Two pilot workshops were conducted in Alabama and included 17 HW and 19 PLWH. Participants completed questionnaire measures pre- and post-workshop, including open-ended feedback items. Analytical methods included assessment of measures reliability, pre-post-test comparisons using paired t-tests, and qualitative content analysis. Overall satisfaction with the workshop experience was high, with 87% PLWH and 89% HW rating the workshop "excellent" and the majority agreeing that others like themselves would be interested in participating. Content analysis of open-ended items revealed that participants considered the workshop informative, interactive, well-organized, understandable, fun, and inclusive, while addressing real and prevalent issues. Most pre- and post-test measures had good-excellent internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.70 to 0.96) and, although sample sizes were small, positive trends were observed, reaching statistical significance for increased awareness of stigma in the health facility among HW (p = 0.047) and decreased uncertainty about HIV treatment among PLWH (p = 0.017). The FRESH intervention appears to be feasible and highly acceptable to HW and PLWH participants and shows great promise as a healthcare setting stigma-reduction intervention for US contexts.