Publications by authors named "Townley A"

Climate change education is both important and challenging. Prior research suggests that many secondary school science teachers in the United States were conveying "mixed messages" to students that legitimized scientifically unwarranted explanations of recent global warming. In this paper, we focus on US climate education at the middle school level and assess whether teacher attention to recent global warming, and whether the messages conveyed to students, changed between 2014 and 2019.

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Mitochondria cover several functions within the cell, including an influence on the transcription of nuclear genes. Recent work by Tigano et al. (2021) in Nature has identified a pathway of mitochondrial retrograde communication in which the nucleus senses aberrations in the mtDNA to drive the innate immune response.

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Survivin (also known as BIRC5) is a cancer-associated protein that is pivotal for cellular life and death - it is an essential mitotic protein and an inhibitor of apoptosis. In cancer cells, a small pool of survivin localises to the mitochondria, the function of which remains to be elucidated. Here, we report that mitochondrial survivin inhibits the selective form of autophagy called 'mitophagy', causing an accumulation of respiratory-defective mitochondria.

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Analysis of cellular energetics is central to understanding metabolic diseases including diabetes and cancer. The two most commonly used methods to monitor cellular respiration are the Seahorse-XF system, and Glo™ assays, which are considered "gold standards". These commercial methods measure energetics indirectly and require considerable financial investment.

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Background: Enacting knowledge translation (KT) in healthcare settings is a complex process that requires organizational facilitation. In addition to addressing organizational-level barriers, targeting individual-level factors such as KT competencies are a necessary component of this aim. While literature on KT competency training is rapidly growing, there has been little exploration of the potential benefits of training initiatives delivered from an intra-organizational perspective.

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Though high numbers of children with cerebral palsy experience chronic pain, it remains under-recognized. This paper describes an evaluation of implementation supports and adoption of the (the Toolbox) to enhance pain screening and assessment practices within a pediatric rehabilitation and complex continuing care hospital. A multicomponent knowledge translation strategy facilitated Toolbox adoption, inclusive of a clinical practice guideline, cerebral palsy practice points and assessment tools.

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Article Synopsis
  • The review focuses on treatments for skin-related complications in children with gastrostomy and gastrojejunostomy tubes, analyzing issues like infection, hypergranulation, and gastric leakage.
  • A systematic search found 25 peer-reviewed articles, highlighting a variety of treatments and revealing a lack of consensus on best practices, particularly for managing infections.
  • The authors emphasize the need for more research on the effectiveness of treatment strategies to guide clinical practice in pediatric care.
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The effects of a selective bradykinin 1 receptor antagonist, compound A, were evaluated in a canine model of acute inflammatory model of arthritis. Despite detection of the B receptor in canine type B synoviocytes using a fluorescent ligand, oral administration of compound A (9 and 27 mg/kg) did not improve weight bearing of dogs injected intra-articularly with IL-1β in a force plate analysis. Analysis of the synovial fluid of IL-1β-treated dogs indicated high levels of bradykinin postchallenge.

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Survivin (also known as BIRC5) is a cancer-associated protein that exists in several locations in the cell. Its cytoplasmic residence in interphase cells is governed by CRM1 (also known as XPO1)-mediated nuclear exportation, and its localisation during mitosis to the centromeres and midzone microtubules is that of a canonical chromosomal passenger protein. In addition to these well-established locations, survivin is also a mitochondrial protein, but how it gets there and its function therein is presently unclear.

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Stroke rehabilitation is a progressive, dynamic, goal-orientated process aimed at enabling a person with impairment to reach their optimal physical, cognitive, emotional, communicative, social and/or functional activity level. After a stroke, patients often continue to require rehabilitation for persistent deficits related to spasticity, upper and lower extremity dysfunction, shoulder and central pain, mobility/gait, dysphagia, vision, and communication. Each year in Canada 62,000 people experience a stroke.

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Triglycerides and cholesterol are essential for life in most organisms. Triglycerides serve as the principal energy storage depot and, where vascular systems exist, as a means of energy transport. Cholesterol is essential for the functional integrity of all cellular membrane systems.

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The correct formation of primary cilia is central to the development and function of nearly all cells and tissues. Cilia grow from the mother centriole by extension of a microtubule core, the axoneme, which is then surrounded with a specialized ciliary membrane that is continuous with the plasma membrane. Intraflagellar transport moves particles along the length of the axoneme to direct assembly of the cilium and is also required for proper cilia function.

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Many microtubule motors have been shown to couple to endosomal membranes. These motors include dynein in addition to many different kinesin family members. Sorting nexins (SNXs) are central to the organization and function of endosomes.

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Epithelial morphogenesis is directed by interactions with the underlying extracellular matrix. Secretion of collagen and other matrix components requires efficient coat complex II (COPII) vesicle formation at the endoplasmic reticulum. Here, we show that suppression of the outer layer COPII component, Sec13, in zebrafish embryos results in a disorganized gut epithelium.

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The basic mechanisms underlying the formation of coated vesicles are now defined in considerable detail. This article highlights recent developments in our understanding of the problem of exporting large macromolecular cargo such as procollagen from the endoplasmic reticulum and discusses the implications that this has for cell and tissue organisation and human disease.

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The COPII coat assembles on endoplasmic reticulum membranes to coordinate the collection of secretory cargo with the formation of transport vesicles. During COPII assembly, Sar1 deforms the membrane and recruits the Sec23-Sec24 complex (Sec23/24), which is the primary cargo-binding adaptor for the system, and Sec13-Sec31 (Sec13/31), which provides a structural outer layer for vesicle formation. Here we show that Sec13 depletion results in concomitant loss of Sec31 and juxtanuclear clustering of pre-budding complexes containing Sec23/24 and cargo.

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The selective export of proteins and lipids from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is mediated by the coat protein complex II (COPII) that assembles onto the ER membrane. In higher eukaryotes, COPII proteins assemble at discrete sites on the membrane known as ER exit sites (ERES). Here, we identify Sec16 as the protein that defines ERES in mammalian cells.

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The English HCV lookback programme has identified some individuals with transfusion-transmitted HCV infection. The path from the collection of donations from HCV-infected donors to the identification of infected recipients was constructed. The probability of different outcomes at each branch was derived from data collected during this programme.

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Article Synopsis
  • A nine-locus STR multiplex system called GenePrint PowerPlex 2.1, developed by Promega, was tested alongside the Penta D locus to improve human identification accuracy.
  • The system incorporates highly variable DNA loci and can work with the previously established PowerPlex 1.1 system, sharing some loci for quality control.
  • Validation studies across seven laboratories confirmed the PowerPlex 2.1/Penta D system's efficiency, reproducibility, and reliability for forensic DNA testing, aligning with FBI quality assurance standards.
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To assess the safety and potential health consequences of long-term methadone maintenance treatment, we identified 111 male patients admitted to methadone maintenance treatment between 1965 and 1968, still enrolled in 1980 and in continuous treatment for at least 10 years. We were able, between 1980 and 1985, to examine patients or review records of 110 patients (99%). Most medical diagnoses, symptomatic complaints, physical examination findings and laboratory test results occurred with similar frequency in the long-term methadone maintenance patients and in a group of 56 long-term heroin addicts.

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2069 Rh(D)-negative women in their first pregnancy received 100 micrograms doses of anti-D immunoglobulin at 28 and 34 weeks' gestation and a further dose at delivery if the infant was Rh(D)-positive. The antibody status was determined at 28 weeks, 34 weeks, at delivery, and 6 months after delivery. The findings were compared with those in a control group of 2000 Rh(D)-negative primigravidae who gave birth to Rh(D)-positive infants and received the standard post-delivery injection of anti-D immunoglobulin.

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