Myosin light chain kinase-driven myosin II turnover regulates actin cortex contractility during mitosis.

Force generation by the molecular motor myosin II (MII) at the actin cortex is a universal feature of animal cells. Despite its central role in driving cell shape changes, the mechanisms underlying MII regulation at the actin cortex remain incompletely understood. Here we show that myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) promotes MII turnover at the mitotic cortex.

Precise Tuning of Cortical Contractility Regulates Cell Shape during Cytokinesis.

The mechanical properties of the actin cortex regulate shape changes during cell division, cell migration, and tissue morphogenesis. We show that modulation of myosin II (MII) filament composition allows tuning of surface tension at the cortex to maintain cell shape during cytokinesis. Our results reveal that MIIA generates cortex tension, while MIIB acts as a stabilizing motor and its inclusion in MII hetero-filaments reduces cortex tension.

A simple and flexible high-throughput method for the study of cardiomyocyte proliferation.

Cardiac muscle cells lack regenerative capacity in postnatal mammals. A concerted effort has been made in the field to determine regulators of cardiomyocyte proliferation and identify therapeutic strategies to induce division, with the ultimate goal of regenerating heart tissue after a myocardial infarct. We sought to optimize a high throughput screening protocol to facilitate this effort.

Effective Strategies to Spread Redesigning Care Processes Among Healthcare Teams.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe how spread strategies facilitate the successful implementation of the Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) program and their impact on healthcare workers and patients in a major Canadian healthcare organization.

Design: This study used a qualitative and descriptive design with focus groups and individual interviews held in May 2014. Participants included managers and healthcare providers from eight TCAB units in a university health center in Quebec, Canada.

Transforming Care at the Bedside: managers' and health care providers' perceptions of their change capacities.

Background: The Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) project engages frontline health care providers as the leaders of change and improvement efforts in their work environment. This study explored how health care providers and managers from three TCAB units in a university-affiliated health care center perceived the development of their change capacities following their involvement in this program.

Method: This descriptive, qualitative study involved focus groups and individual interviews.

The effect of transforming care at the bedside initiative on healthcare teams' work environments.

Background: Different initiatives have been implemented in healthcare organizations to improve efficiency, such as transforming care at the bedside (TCAB). However, there are important gaps in understanding the effect of TCAB on healthcare teams' work environments.

Aim: The specific aim of the study is to describe findings regarding the TCAB initiative effects on healthcare teams' work environments.

A qualitative interpretive study exploring parents' perception of the parental role in the paediatric intensive care unit.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perception of the parental role in a tertiary care Canadian university affiliated hospital's paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Research Methodology: A descriptive interpretive design was used with a purposive heterogeneous sample to reflect the range of children and parents normally admitted to the PICU. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven parents.

Applications and extensions of Chao's moment estimator for the size of a closed population.

This article revisits Chao's (1989, Biometrics45, 427-438) lower bound estimator for the size of a closed population in a mark-recapture experiment where the capture probabilities vary between animals (model M(h)). First, an extension of the lower bound to models featuring a time effect and heterogeneity in capture probabilities (M(th)) is proposed. The biases of these lower bounds are shown to be a function of the heterogeneity parameter for several loglinear models for M(th).