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Summary: Motivation: Multi‐stakeholder dialogues (MSDs) are a popular tool to promote good governance in the global south, but it remains unclear whether they actually bring about the deeper benefits they are designed to achieve, namely better government responsiveness and higher public confidence in political institutions. Niger is one of the least developed countries in the world and one where citizens consistently report low confidence in government. Purpose: We test the impact of MSDs on government responsiveness and public confidence in political institutions in Niger. Specifically, we test whether MSDs in communes focused on education and health improve relations between citizens and leaders, make processes more representative, and increase resources for local service delivery. We test whether MSDs improve citizen perceptions of government: legitimacy, responsiveness, democracy, and honesty. We test whether they increase citizen participation, including through petitions and messaging. Methods and approach: Randomized controlled trial and surveys. Findings: MSDs had virtually no positive impact on any of the 10 tests we conducted, with no appreciable improvements in local political leadership or in citizen engagement with, and confidence in, the state and its services. The null results may arise from the limited time the MSDs were run, or they may reflect the extremely difficult conditions for better local governance seen in Niger. Policy implications: The findings, though possibly discouraging for policy implementers, provide a valuable opportunity to contemplate how multi‐stakeholder frameworks might be made more effective and whether to prioritize alternative frameworks for democracy and development in countries like Niger. MSDs may be worth continuing in combination with other interventions, or simply in the interest of an inclusive, ethical approach to development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess potential filtration mechanisms, scanning electron microscopy was used in a comprehensive quantification and analysis of the morphology and surface ultrastructure for all five branchial arches in the ram suspension‐feeding fish, American shad (Alosa sapidissima, Clupeidae). The orientation of the branchial arches and the location of mucus cells on the gill rakers were more consistent with mechanisms of crossflow filtration and cross‐step filtration rather than conventional dead‐end sieving. The long, thin gill rakers could lead to a large area for the exit of water from the oropharyngeal cavity during suspension feeding (high fluid exit ratio). The substantial elongation of gill rakers along the dorsal‐ventral axis formed d‐type ribs with a groove aspect ratio of 0.5 and a Reynolds number of approximately 500, consistent with the potential operation of cross‐step filtration. Mucus cell abundance differed significantly along the length of the raker and the height of the raker. The mucus cell abundance data and the observed sloughing of denticles along the gill raker margins closest to the interior of the oropharyngeal cavity suggest that gill raker growth may occur primarily at the raker tips, the denticle bases, and the internal raker margins along the length of the raker. These findings will be applied in ongoing experiments with 3D‐printed physical models of fish oral cavities in flow tanks, and in future ecological studies on the diet and nutrition of suspension‐feeding fishes. Research Highlights: The morphology of American shad mouths is consistent with models of crossflow and cross‐step filtration rather than dead‐end sieving. The rib‐and‐groove arrangements of gill rakers in herrings and sardines may function as filtration engineering structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The function of the skin as a barrier protects underlying tissues from infection, desiccation, chemicals, and mechanical stress. Disruption of this function results in increased transepidermal water loss or TEWL and is associated with conditions like atopic dermatitis and other chronic skin diseases. Moisturizers have been shown to improve these conditions through restoration of the integrity of the stratum corneum, acting as a barrier to water loss and replacement of skin lipids and other compounds. Also, moisturizers are commonly used to reduce fine lines and make skin appear smooth and soft. While many products make extensive claims of skin rejuvenation, many of the beneficial effects of these products are actually due to the moisturizers they contain: ingredients like glycerin, petrolatum, and dimethicone. Some newer formulations like prescription-device moisturizers, which received 510 K approval on the basis of reducing TEWL, are significantly more expensive than traditional moisturizers and recent literature does not indicate that they are more effective than their over-the-counter counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lindane is an organochloride pesticide, first introduced as a scabicide for human use in the 1950s (1). Because of its low cost and efficacy, it quickly became a first-line treatment for scabies and head lice, but not long after its use became widespread, its safety was called into question, primarily regarding its neurotoxic effects. We intend to show through review of the literature and databases that lindane has been associated with numerous severe and fatal adverse reactions. This review will summarize 67 cases of adverse reactions and deaths associated with the medical use of lindane. Many of the most serious events and fatalities occurred in pediatric and geriatric populations. We concede that toxicity frequently arises from misuse, but labeled usage of lindane caused 43% of the serious adverse reactions of this review. Moreover, the numerous instances of lindane misuse elucidate the importance of clear labeling and instructions, especially with a product with a narrow therapeutic index. Therefore, this report attempts to elucidate the dangers of lindane as a medical treatment for scabies and head lice by providing a comprehensive review of all documented adverse drug reactions since its introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by thickened ventricular walls and reduced ventricular chamber volume, is a common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. Most inherited forms result from mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins. METHODS Histologic analysis identified embryonic cardiac hypertrophy in dark-like mutant mice. BrdU analysis was performed to measure proliferation and cardiomyocytes were isolated to measure cell size. The dark-like mutation was identified by positional cloning. RESULTS The dark-like mutation causes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy due to loss-of-function of peptidase d ( Pepd), which encodes prolidase, a cytosolic enzyme that recycles proline for collagen re-synthesis. Prolidase deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disease in humans with a broad phenotypic spectrum not reported to include heart defects, but a conserved role for prolidase in heart development was confirmed by morpholino knockdown in zebrafish. We tested the hypothesis that loss of prolidase function disrupts collagen-mediated integrin signaling and determined that the levels of several key integrin transducers were reduced in the hearts of dark-like mutant embryos. CONCLUSIONS This work identifies dark-like mice as a model of prolidase deficiency that will be valuable for studying the role of proline metabolism in normal physiology and disease processes, and suggests that integrin signaling may regulate the onset of hypertrophic cardiac growth. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of individual chemoreceptor (CR) genes in Caenorhabditis elegans is regulated by multiple environmental and developmental cues, possibly enabling C. elegans to modulate its sensory responses. We had previously shown that KIN-29, a member of the salt-inducible kinase family, acts in a subset of chemosensory neurons to regulate the expression of CR genes, body size and entry into the alternate dauer developmental stage. Here, we show that KIN-29 regulates these processes by phosphorylating the HDA-4 class II histone deacetylase (HDAC) and inhibiting the gene repression functions of HDA-4 and an MEF-2 MADS domain transcription factor. MEF-2 binds directly to the CR gene regulatory sequences, and is required only to repress but not activate CR gene expression. A calcineurin phosphatase antagonizes the KIN-29/MEF-2-regulated pathway to modulate levels of CR gene expression. Our results identify KIN-29 as a new regulator of MEF2/HDAC functions in the nervous system, reveal cell-specific mechanisms of action of this pathway in vivo and demonstrate remarkable complexity in the regulation of CR gene expression in C. elegans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]