Search

The actin cytoskeleton is a well-known player in most vital cellular processes, but comparably little is understood about how the actin assembly machinery impacts programmed cell death pathways. In the current study, we explored roles for the human Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) family of actin nucleation factors in DNA damage-induced apoptosis. Inactivation of each WASP-family gene revealed that two of them, JMY and WHAMM, are necessary for rapid apoptotic responses. JMY and WHAMM participate in a p53-dependent cell death pathway by enhancing mitochondrial permeabilization, initiator caspase cleavage, and executioner caspase activation. JMY-mediated apoptosis requires actin nucleation via the Arp2/3 complex, and actin filaments are assembled in cytoplasmic territories containing clusters of cytochrome c and active caspase-3. The loss of JMY additionally results in significant changes in gene expression, including upregulation of the WHAMM-interacting G-protein RhoD. Depletion or deletion of RHOD increases cell death, suggesting that RhoD normally contributes to cell survival. These results give rise to a model in which JMY and WHAMM promote intrinsic cell death responses that can be opposed by RhoD. Author summary: The actin cytoskeleton is a collection of protein polymers that assemble and disassemble within cells at specific times and locations. Cytoskeletal regulators called nucleation factors ensure that actin polymerizes when and where it is needed, and many of these factors are members of the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) family. Humans express 8 WASP-family proteins, but whether the different factors function in programmed cell death pathways is not well understood. In this study, we explored roles for each WASP-family member in apoptosis and found that a subfamily consisting of JMY and WHAMM is critical for a rapid pathway of cell death. JMY-mediated actin assembly in the cytoplasm is necessary for its pro-apoptotic function. Furthermore, the loss of JMY results in changes in gene expression, including a dramatic upregulation of the small G-protein RhoD, which appears to contribute to cell survival. Collectively, our results point to the importance of JMY and WHAMM in driving intrinsic cell death responses plus a distinct function for RhoD in maintaining cell viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of borderlands implies a boundary demarcating a crossing to/from an unfamiliar territory. It is a productive metaphor for dual-status academics – those employed in academic roles in universities who concurrently undertake doctoral studies. We argue that dual-status academics dwell in an extended form of boundary crossing, potentially to-ing and fro-ing several times a day, inducing unforeseen impacts on identities. Having previously reported the structures that frame this boundary crossing, here we re-analyse an existing data set for the visceral: the stories of code-switching, of peripheral existence and of agentic purpose. Our data indicate that dual-status academics adopt a transactional approach to doctoral supervision that results in a 'fight or flight' response to the emotional and relationship challenges these borderlands present, with implications for how academics manage colleague supervision, both as supervisor and supervisee. Our study leads us to recommend tailored institutional and supervisory support pedagogies for these academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction, which may benefit all academic staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaphors used by higher education teachers in their narratives of academic life provide insight into aspects of academic identity. Drawing on an international study of leader/follower dynamics, the teachers’ narratives reveal how academics interpret their interactions with leaders; the perceived distance between expectations and experience, and the subsequent impact on motivations. Applying Bourdieu's ‘thinking tools’ of field, habitus and capital as an analytical framework for revealing participants’ conceptualisations of academia enriches our understanding of how workplace ideals are perceived to resonate with academic reality. Metaphors used by teachers indicate both alignment and dissonance between expectations of leaders and the reality of being led. The study recognises the effect of experiences with leaders on identity and how followers can be effectively proactive. Using these findings we posit that the wider organisational aspects of identity which may trouble newer academics could be addressed through guided theoretical and conceptual critique. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New lecturers may find the notion of academic identity difficult to grasp, yet it potentially provides them with a means of revealing issues of self, career and work-life balance. In this paper, we introduce an innovative research strategy and democratic research framework which have enabled us to explore new lecturers’ academic identities in self-revelatory ways. This collaborative inquiry was undertaken by two teaching staff and four former students of a postgraduate certificate in higher education professional practice at a UK post-92 university. Through our innovative research strategy, one’s academic identity is conceptualised as the map of an island featuring actual or potential personal characteristics, qualities and interests. The visual metaphors and clustering of these attributes, together with individuals’ reflective commentaries on creating their own academic identity maps, lead us tentatively to characterise four alternative expressions of identity: themultifaceted whole, thelayered self, theinterlinked selfand thefragmented self. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Product-based analysis (PBA) is a new way of modelling the strategic direction of an educational development centre (EDC). It was developed within an English EDC to complement other strategic techniques, providing a means of visualizing the overall strategy. This critique of PBA is set in the context of global university reforms, restructurings and economic constraints that EDCs mirror in miniature. The case for PBA is demonstrated through two exemplars, one retrospective, the other applied to the same group, now dispersed several years on, as it sets out a collaborative strategy to address the future uncertainties shared by many EDCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale educational development initiatives are widely used to trial and introduce change. One such is the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) initiative in England, now drawing to a close. An interim evaluation of this initiative revealed some excellent practice but no major impact. As CETLs strive to gain or sustain funding, their need to evidence their impact gains importance. This article considers the notion of impact and contends that the audience dictates the meaning and measurement of the term. It reviews the evolution and trialling of an innovative tool, the 'influence wheel', which attempts to show selected aspects of impact graphically as an interactive web page. Developed through an action research project funded by the Centre for Inter-professional e-Learning (CIPeL CETL), the tool employs the doughnut graph facility within Microsoft Office Excel in a novel way. The tool models CIPeL's influence at local, national and international levels. A small-scale evaluation of the tool found that it communicated aspects of impact effectively despite issues of usability and data completeness. The particular context is illustrative of how the influence wheel can be used. The tool has potential to reflect alternative understandings of impact, and may therefore be of interest to others in further and higher education seeking to communicate project achievements visually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through reflection on the First International iPED Conference 2006, and its overarching theme of 'Pedagogical Research and Academic Identities', this paper considers the achievement of the wider aims of the conference, which were to facilitate dialogue between researchers in order to explore the conference themes collaboratively, and to provide networking opportunities which would enable participants to build alliances. The abstracts for all papers mentioned are available via the conference website www.coventry.ac.uk/iped2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the literature acknowledges the central role of academics in internationalization of the curriculum (IoC), little has been published regarding training of academic developers themselves to support IoC initiatives. However, higher education institutions around the globe are responding to strategic demands for IoC that prepare students as global citizens. We employed qualitative research synthesis to identify journal articles that consider academic development to support IoC. Despite their diversity, we found common themes in the five selected studies. We weave these themes with Betty Leask's five-stage model of the IoC process, and Cynthia Joseph's call for a pedagogy of social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing expectation that academic staff in higher education institutions (HEIs) will be qualified to doctoral level can mean that doctoral study must be juggled alongside administration, teaching, and academic duties. Many academics study in their own institutions. We wished to explore their perspectives on (i) how the two roles, of being an academic as well as a doctoral candidate, interact or not and (ii) the influences and resources at play in navigating the processes. The qualitative study explored staff experiences in two HEIs in the United Kingdom and one in New Zealand. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework, we identified the contradictions within and between academic life and doctoral candidature activity systems. However, we focus on the tools and rules that frame daily academic life and doctoral study, and suggest remodelling systems to be kinder to academic staff brave enough to engage in doctoral study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The actin cytoskeleton impacts practically every function of a eukaryotic cell. Historically, the best-characterized cytoskeletal activities are in cell morphogenesis, motility, and division. The structural and dynamic properties of the actin cytoskeleton are also crucial for establishing, maintaining, and changing the organization of membrane-bound organelles and other intracellular structures. Such activities are important in nearly all animal cells and tissues, although distinct anatomical regions and physiological systems rely on different regulatory factors. Recent work indicates that the Arp2/3 complex, a broadly expressed actin nucleator, drives actin assembly during several intracellular stress response pathways. These newly described Arp2/3-mediated cytoskeletal rearrangements are coordinated by members of the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (WASP) family of actin nucleation-promoting factors. Thus, the Arp2/3 complex and WASP-family proteins are emerging as crucial players in cytoplasmic and nuclear activities including autophagy, apoptosis, chromatin dynamics, and DNA repair. Characterizations of the functions of the actin assembly machinery in such stress response mechanisms are advancing our understanding of both normal and pathogenic processes, and hold great promise for providing insights into organismal development and interventions for disease. • The Arp2/3 complex and WASP-family proteins are actin nucleation factors with emerging roles in the cytoplasm and nucleus. • New functions for the Arp2/3 complex and WASP-family members are in autophagy, apoptosis, chromatin dynamics, and DNA repair. • Determining how the cytoskeleton responds to cell stress holds promise for understanding organismal development and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]