A Note on Serum Nucleotidase Determinations

Peer Reviewe

Microarray-based ultra-high resolution discovery of genomic deletion mutations

BACKGROUND: Oligonucleotide microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) offers an attractive possible route for the rapid and cost-effective genome-wide discovery of deletion mutations. CGH typically involves comparison of the hybridization intensities of genomic DNA samples with microarray chip representations of entire genomes, and has widespread potential application in experimental research and medical diagnostics. However, the power to detect small deletions is low. RESULTS: Here we use a graduated series of Arabidopsis thaliana genomic deletion mutations (of sizes ranging from 4 bp to ~5 kb) to optimize CGH-based genomic deletion detection. We show that the power to detect smaller deletions (4, 28 and 104 bp) depends upon oligonucleotide density (essentially the number of genome-representative oligonucleotides on the microarray chip), and determine the oligonucleotide spacings necessary to guarantee detection of deletions of specified size. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings will enhance a wide range of research and clinical applications, and in particular will aid in the discovery of genomic deletions in the absence of a priori knowledge of their existence

Oral health and pathology: a macrophage account.

Macrophages are present in healthy oral mucosa and their numbers increase dramatically during disease. They can exhibit a diverse range of phenotypes characterised as a functional spectrum from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory (regulatory) subsets. This review illustrates the role of these subsets in the oral inflammatory disease lichen planus, and the immunosuppressive disease oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We conclude that the role of macrophages in driving progression in oral disease identifies them as potential therapeutic targets for a range of oral pathologies

Two Decades of Income Inequality in Britain: The Role of Wages, Household Earnings and Redistribution

We study earnings and income inequality in Britain over the past two decades, including the period of relatively 'inclusive' growth from 1997 to 2004, and the Great Recession. We focus on the middle 90%, where trends have contrasted strongly with the 'new inequality' at the very top. Household earnings inequality has risen, driven by male earnings-although a 'catch-up' of female earnings did hold down individual earnings inequality and reduce within-household inequality. Nevertheless, net household income inequality fell due to deliberate increases in redistribution, the tax and transfer system's insurance role during the Great Recession, falling household worklessness, and rising pensioner incomes

Co-design, neighbourhood sharing, and commoning through urban living labs

This paper examines the role of co-design methods in catalysing neighbourhood sharing and commoning in European cities. Through the comparative analysis of two design-mediated Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Bagneux/Paris and Poplar/London, the paper explores how neighbourhood sharing of goods, spaces, and experiences are sustained in two different contexts. The paper then presents a co-design framework which was implemented in both cities, catalysing new sharing projects and relations in support of urban commons. We conclude that nesting co-design practices within ‘civic-organic’ ULLs can help to foster productive long-term relations between communities and academic partners based on mutual trust and help to initiate new sharing practices in the neighbourhoods of study. We argue that co-design methods are generative in this space, flattening knowledge hierarchies, supporting action on the ground, and developing situated responses to local needs

The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for All of America’s Children

Broad policy decisions in education can be framed around a simple question: Do the benefits to society of investing in an educational strategy outweigh the costs? We provide an answer for those individuals who currently fail to graduate from high school. The present cohort of 20-year olds in the US today includes over 700,000 high school dropouts, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. We investigate the economic consequences of improving their education. First, we identify five leading interventions that have been shown to raise high school graduation rates; and we calculate their costs and their effectiveness. Second, we add up the lifetime public benefits of high school graduation. These include higher tax revenues as well as lower government spending on health, crime, and welfare. (We do not include private benefits such as higher earnings). Next, we compare the costs of the interventions to the public benefits. We find that each new high school graduate would yield a public benefit of $209,000 in higher government revenues and lower government spending for an overall investment of$82,000, divided between the costs of powerful educational interventions and additional years of school attendance leading to graduation. The net economic benefit to the public purse is therefore $127,000 per student and the benefits are 2.5 times greater than the costs. If the number of high school dropouts in this age cohort was cut in half, the government would reap$45 billion via extra tax revenues and reduced costs of public health, of crime and justice, and in welfare payments. This lifetime saving of $45 billion for the current cohort would also accrue for subsequent cohorts of 20-year olds. If there is any bias to our calculations, it has been to keep estimates of the benefits conservative. Sensitivity tests indicate that our main conclusions are robust: the costs to the nation of failing to ensure high school graduation for all America’s children are substantial. Educational investments to raise the high school graduation rate appear to be doubly beneficial: the quest for greater equity for all young adults would also produce greater efficiency in the use of public resources

The public returns to public educational investments in African-American males

This paper calculates the public savings (financial benefits) from greater public investments in the education of African-American males. Over one-fifth of each age cohort of black males in US is not a high school graduate. We identify five interventions that would—based on credible research—increase the graduation rate; we also report the public cost of each intervention. We then calculate the lifetime public benefits in terms of increased tax revenues and lower spending on health and crime. In present values, for a black male aged 20, these public benefits amount to $256,700 per new graduate and the median intervention would cost only$90,700. The benefit/cost ratio is 2.83. Simply equating the high school graduation rate of black males with that of white males would yield public savings of $3.98 billion for each age cohort. These results suggest that increased investments in education for black males at risk of dropping out of high school should be an economic priority

Toward Better College Course Placement: A Guide to Launching a Multiple Measures Assessment System

Drawing on lessons from 10 Minnesota and Wisconsin colleges that piloted multiple measures systems for placing students into developmental and college-level courses, this guide from CCRC and MDRC provides recommendations for other colleges interested in implementing or testing their own multiple measures systems. Beginning with the rationale behind changing assessment practices, the guide outlines what a multiple measures assessment system is, what it takes to get started, the personnel involved, and the costs that may be incurred in the design and planning processes. Recent evidence suggests that relying on traditional placement tests misplaces substantial numbers of students, with many going into developmental education who could have been successful in college-level courses. Multiple measures placement systems that use alternative measures alongside the traditional tests will potentially provide more accurate results and better student outcomes. Still, practitioners may be hesitant to change their current practices, skeptical about the measures used, or unsure where to start. The information in this guide addresses these concerns and provides recommendations for how to approach each step of the implementation process

Radical urban classrooms: civic pedagogies and spaces of learning on the margins of institutions

This paper investigates the relationship between “civic pedagogy” and institutions, through three case studies: the Live Works Castlegate Co-Production at the University of Sheffield; a Collective Design Pedagogy at Muktangan School, India; and the School for Civic Action at the Tate Exchange. The projects aim to build citizens’ agency with transformative urban potential by engaging civic pedagogy using different scales, perspectives, and resources: as engagement with schools, higher education institutions, and art practices. Using Pelin Tan's definition of urgent pedagogies as a framework, this paper investigates the alternative alliances, trans-territorial solidarities, and transversal methodologies of each project, comparing and contrasting methods and techniques. We discuss the potential for a shared decentralisation of learning associated with institutions, by engaging with the urban environment and communities, and propose a series of codependent practices for the initiation and sustenance of civic pedagogy for geographers interested in urban learning and education