Placing light-grown Lemma gibba L. G-3 into the dark results in a changed pattern of protein synthesis. Although the amount of protein in the tissue and the over-all rate of incorporation of I8'Slmethionine into protein does not significantly decline during four days of darkness, the rate of synthesis of three polypeptides declines dramatically. One of these polypeptides is the chlorophyil a/b-binding protein and the two others are the large and small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase. The changed rates of synthesis of the two subunits were examined after transitions of plants from light to dark and dark to light. The in vivo synthesis of both subunits, while declining to a low level during four days of darkness, increases rapidly upon retuming the plants to white ight. In addition, the level of poly(A) mRNA coding for the precursor pobpeptide of the small subunit of the enzyme falls to a low level in the dark and increases rapidly in response to white light. The increase in translatable mRNA for the small subunit is rapid enough to account for a major part of the increased synthesis of this subunit.Light affects the synthesis of a number of plant enzymes. One such enzyme is RuBP2 carboxylase, the major soluble protein in chloroplasts. One molecule of this enzyme (mol wt -550,000) contains eight large and eight small subunits. The large subunit is coded and synthesized in chloroplasts, whereas the small subunit is coded in the nucleus. This small subunit is synthesized in the cytoplasm as a precursor polypeptide from which a 4,000-to 8,000-dalton portion (depending on the species) is cleaved from the N-terminal end before it is transported into and assembled in the chloroplasts into the holoenzyme (9, 15). We have extended our earlier report (32) on the effects of white light and darkness on the level of translatable mRNA for the small subunit and on the rate of synthesis of both subunits of the enzyme in Lemna by looking at the time course of these changes and characterizing them in more detail through the use of immunoprecipitation.Studies with a number of species of higher plants have shown that the activity of RuBP carboxylase increases during greening of etiolated tissue (e.g. 14, 23) and phytochrome action is involved in regulation of this increase in some species (5,12

BackgroundThe objective of Heart Health NOW (HHN) is to determine if primary care practice support—a comprehensive evidence-based quality improvement strategy involving practice facilitation, academic detailing, technology support, and regional learning collaboratives—accelerates widespread dissemination and implementation of evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in small- to medium-sized primary care practices and, additionally, increases practices’ capacity to incorporate other evidence-based clinical guidelines in the future.Methods/designHHN is a stepped wedge, stratified, cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effect of primary care practice support on evidence-based CVD prevention, organizational change process measures, and patient outcomes. Each practice will start the trial as a control, receive the intervention at a randomized time point, and then enter a maintenance period 12 months after the start of the intervention. The intervention will be randomized to practices in one of four strata defined by region of the state (east or west) and degree of practice readiness for change. Seventy-five practices in each region with a high degree of readiness will be randomized 1:1:1 in blocks of 3 sometime prior to month 8 to receive the intervention at month 9, 11, or 12. An additional 75 practices within each region that have a low degree of readiness or are recruited later will be randomized 1:1 in blocks of 2 prior to month 13 to receive the intervention at month 14 or 16. The sites will be ordered within each strata based on time of enrollment with the blocking based on this ordering. Evaluation will examine the effect of primary care practice support on (1) practice-level delivery of evidence-based CVD prevention, (2) patient-level health outcomes, (3) practice-level implementation of clinical and organizational changes that support delivery of evidence-based CVD prevention, and (4) practice-level capacity to implement future evidence-based clinical guidelines.DiscussionResults will indicate whether primary care practice support is an effective strategy for widespread dissemination and implementation of evidence-based clinical guidelines in primary care practices. Discernible reductions in cardiovascular risk in 300 practices covering over an estimated 900,000 adult patients would likely lead to prevention of thousands of cardiovascular events within 10 years.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02585557Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13012-015-0348-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

IntroductionSmoke-free policies can effectively protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in multiunit housing. We surveyed all affordable multiunit housing properties in North Carolina to determine the statewide prevalence of smoke-free policies and to identify predictors of smoke-free policies.MethodsRepresentatives of affordable housing properties in North Carolina completed a mailed or online survey during June through October 2013. The primary outcome measure was presence of a smoke-free policy, defined as prohibiting smoking in all residential units. We used χ2 analysis and multivariate logistic regression to identify correlates of smoke-free policies.ResultsOf 1,865 eligible properties, responses were received for 1,063 (57%). A total of 16.5% of properties had policies that prohibited smoking in all residential units, while 69.6% prohibited smoking in indoor common areas. In multivariate analysis, an increase in the number of children per unit was associated with a decrease in the odds of having a smoke-free policy at most properties. Newer properties across all company sizes were more likely to have smoke-free policies. Accessing units from interior hallways predicted smoke-free policies among medium-sized companies.ConclusionMore smoke-free policies in affordable multiunit housing are needed to protect vulnerable populations, particularly children, from SHS exposure. Public health professionals should continue to educate housing operators about SHS and the benefits of smoke-free policies at all properties, including older ones and ones where units are accessed from outside rather than from an interior hallway.

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Housing operators' concerns about enforcement, legal issues, and loss of market share associated with smoke-free policies are largely unfounded among affordable housing properties in North Carolina. Public health professionals should use messaging strategies that refute these concerns to encourage more properties to adopt smoke-free policies.