25 - Identification of Scn1a, Scn2a, and Scn8a in Mammalian Sexual Structures

Ion channels are important membrane bound proteins that are responsible for the the activation and initiation of action potentials in excitable cells. Alterations in function of these channels by mutations have been identified as a cause of several neurological conditions such as epilepsy, ataxia, migraines, and spasms. These conditions are known as channelopathies. Of particular interest is the role that these proteins play in sexual arousal and orgasms. 40-53 percent of American women report sexual dysfunction experienced as loss of libido, lack of arousal, anorgasmia, and sexual pain. In addition, sexual dysfunction is often reported by women with epilepsy and it is often exacerbated by antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Specifically, common AEDs such as carbamazepine and phenytoin have been reported to impair sexual arousal in patients. This suggests that voltage-gated ion channels genes are good candidate genes for exploring sexual dysfunction conditions. In this study we sought to first examine the specific ion channels present in female C57BL/6 mouse reproductive structures. We looked at three common voltage gated sodium channels found in the central nervous system: Scn1a, Scn2a, and Scn8a. Using the RT-PCR profiler array for neuronal ion channels, we determined the relative expression of these ion channels in crude dissections of mouse sexual organs such as the clitoris, vaginal canal and urethra. Single RT-PCR was then used to confirm the results. Transcripts with ≥ 2 fold differences were considered significant. Our results indicates that Scn8a is expressed in female sexual structures, suggesting its role in arousal and/or in the generation of orgasms and the potential for therapeutic intervention

Self-repair ability of evolved self-assembling systems in cellular automata

Self-repairing systems are those that are able to reconfigure themselves following disruptions to bring them back into a defined normal state. In this paper we explore the self-repair ability of some cellular automata-like systems, which differ from classical cellular automata by the introduction of a local diffusion process inspired by chemical signalling processes in biological development. The update rules in these systems are evolved using genetic programming to self-assemble towards a target pattern. In particular, we demonstrate that once the update rules have been evolved for self-assembly, many of those update rules also provide a self-repair ability without any additional evolutionary process aimed specifically at self-repair

Analizando el impacto de talleres de programación en escuelas con respecto al ingreso de alumnos en carreras de informática

La falta de vocaciones en carreras universitarias relacionadas a la Informática es una problemática a nivel mundial. Para enfrentar este problema se han aplicado diferentes estrategias, tales como el dictado de talleres sobre temáticas afines, en establecimientos educativos, especialmente a nivel secundario. La presente línea de investigación se enfoca en la evaluación del impacto que han tenido dichos talleres con respecto al objetivo de incrementar la matrícula de alumnos ingresantes a carreras vinculadas con la Informática, en particular, en la Universidad Nacional de San Luis.Eje: Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Analizando el impacto de talleres de programación en escuelas con respecto al ingreso de alumnos en carreras de informática

La falta de vocaciones en carreras universitarias relacionadas a la Informática es una problemática a nivel mundial. Para enfrentar este problema se han aplicado diferentes estrategias, tales como el dictado de talleres sobre temáticas afines, en establecimientos educativos, especialmente a nivel secundario. La presente línea de investigación se enfoca en la evaluación del impacto que han tenido dichos talleres con respecto al objetivo de incrementar la matrícula de alumnos ingresantes a carreras vinculadas con la Informática, en particular, en la Universidad Nacional de San Luis.Eje: Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Analizando el impacto de talleres de programación en escuelas con respecto al ingreso de alumnos en carreras de informática

La falta de vocaciones en carreras universitarias relacionadas a la Informática es una problemática a nivel mundial. Para enfrentar este problema se han aplicado diferentes estrategias, tales como el dictado de talleres sobre temáticas afines, en establecimientos educativos, especialmente a nivel secundario. La presente línea de investigación se enfoca en la evaluación del impacto que han tenido dichos talleres con respecto al objetivo de incrementar la matrícula de alumnos ingresantes a carreras vinculadas con la Informática, en particular, en la Universidad Nacional de San Luis.Eje: Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

The appropriation of hegemonic masculinity within selected research on men's health

Connell's hegemonic masculinity thesis (HMT) has occupied a relatively dominant position within contemporary research exploring the lives of men. Messerschmidt has conducted a review of recent literature that purports to use HMT, he describes in detail some of the ways Connell's work has been appropriated. Taking Messerschmidt's lead, this paper explores a small selection of men's health research that employ HMT as a central organising theme. Such a narrow focus and limited sample enables the theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions of engagements with Connell's work to be critically explored in detail. This paper provides colleagues with clear examples of ways in which reified and reductive account of masculinity, are still being reproduced in contemporary analyses of men's lives. In calling for researchers to critically reflect upon their usage of Connell's thesis in more detail, my aim is to increase the subtlety and sophistication of such works. A further hope is that by highlighting specific examples of the need to appraise the relevance and adequacy of HMT as a conceptual frame of lived experiences, we might encourage researchers to access the multitude of different theoretical positions that speak to the lives of men

Exploring New Models for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: The Heart Outcomes Prevention and Evaluation 4 (HOPE 4) Canada Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: There is a gap between evidence and practice in the management of cardiovascular (CV) risk. Previous research indicated benefits from community-based, multi-faceted interventions to screen, diagnose, and manage CV risk in people with hypertension. METHODS: The Heart Outcomes Prevention and Evaluation 4 Canada pilot study (HOPE 4) was a quasi-experimental pre-post interventional study, involving one community each in Hamilton, Ontario and Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Individuals aged ≥50 years with newly diagnosed or poorly controlled hypertension were included. The intervention was comprised of: (i) simplified diagnostic/treatment algorithms implemented by community health workers (firefighters in British Columbia and community health workers in Ontario) guided by decision support and counselling software; (ii) recommendations for evidence-based CV medications and lifestyle modifications; and (iii) support from family/friends to promote healthy behaviours. The intervention was developed as part of the international Heart Outcomes Prevention and Evaluation 4 Canada pilot study trial and adapted to the Canadian context. The primary outcome was the change in Framingham Risk Score 10-year CV disease risk estimate between baseline and 6 months. RESULTS: Between 2016 and 2017, a total of 193 participants were screened, with 37 enrolled in Surrey, and 19 in Hamilton. Mean age was 69 years (standard deviation 11), with 54% female, 27% diabetic, and 73% with a history of hypertension. An 82% follow-up level had been obtained at 6 months. Compared to baseline, there were significant improvements in the Framingham Risk Score 10-year risk estimate (30.6% vs 24.7%, P < 0.01), and systolic blood pressure (153.1 vs 136.7 mm Hg, P < 0.01). No significant changes in lipids or healthy behaviours were noted. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive approach to health care delivery, using a community-based intervention with community health workers, supported by mobile-health technologies, has the potential to significantly reduce cardiovascular risk, but further evaluation is warranted

"A few good men": Public sector audit in the Swan River Colony, 1828-1835

The appointment of the Auditor General to undertake public sector audit is the primary instrument used to safeguard public finances in most contemporary Westminster-based democracies. It is axiomatic that the independence of the Auditor General from executive government is a critical element in ensuring the effectiveness of the role, yet this separation is a relatively recent phenomenon. Those responsible for nineteenth century public sector audit in the Australian colonies operated in what would today be considered an unacceptable environment, with little, if any, independence from the executive arm of government. Yet, while several other Australian colonies suffered from the mismanagement of government finances, there is nothing to show that the Swan River Colony experienced much more than clerical errors and minor administrative oversights. In this article, we explore the extent to which satisfactory public financial management in the Swan River Colony occurred as a result of both good financial management systems (in the context of the era) and the appointment of competent and ethical administrators – “a few good men”

The tyranny of the male preserve

Within this paper I draw on short vignettes and quotes taken from a two-year ethnographic study of boxing to think through the continuing academic merit of the notion of the male preserve. This is an important task due to evidence of shifts in social patterns of gender that have developed since the idea was first proposed in the 1970s. In aligning theoretical contributions from Lefebvre and Butler to discussions of the male preserve, we are able to add nuance to our understanding of how such social spaces are engrained with and produced by the lingering grasp of patriarchal narratives. In particular, by situating the male preserve within shifting social processes, whereby certain men’s power is increasingly undermined, I highlight the production of space within which narratives connecting men to violence, aggression and physical power can be consumed, performed and reified in a relatively unrestricted form. This specific case study contributes to gender theory as an illustration of a way in which we might explore and understand social enclaves where certain people are able to lay claim to space and power. As such, I argue that the notion of the male preserve is still a useful conceptual, theoretical and political device especially when considered as produced by the tyranny of gender power through the dramatic representation and reification of behaviours symbolically linked to patriarchal narrations of manhood