Lipids and membrane-associated proteins in autophagy

Autophagy is essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and its dysfunction has been linked to various diseases. Autophagy is a membrane driven process and tightly regulated by membrane-associated proteins. Here, we summarized membrane lipid composition, and membrane-associated proteins relevant to autophagy from a spatiotemporal perspective. In particular, we focused on three important membrane remodeling processes in autophagy, lipid transfer for phagophore elongation, membrane scission for phagophore closure, and autophagosome-lysosome membrane fusion. We discussed the significance of the discoveries in this field and possible avenues to follow for future studies. Finally, we summarized the membrane-associated biochemical techniques and assays used to study membrane properties, with a discussion of their applications in autophagy.

Investigation of experiences of childbirth among spouses of primiparas / 中华护理杂志

Objective To describe experiences of childbirth among spouses of primiparas.Methods Both questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were utilized in this study.Totally 135 expectant fathers were recruited from one tertiary obstetrics and gynecology hospital.Fathers' Experiences of Childbirth Questionnaire developed by Katri was used to collect data.Eighteen fathers were invited to participate the interviews.Results The mean scores of childbirth experiences were (4.36±0.32) for feelings about the staff and the environment,(4.32±0.37) for feelings about the birth of his child,(3.74±0.43) for feelings concerning his wife,and (3.58±0.58) for father's own feelings.Four themes were extracted from the interviews,including concern about wife and child,information and support,feelings about the care and the environment,self-consciousness.Conclusion Fathers' feelings about the staff and the environment are the most satisfactory dimension in childbirth experiences.The helpless feelings caused by labor pain should be responded by medical stuff.