National Attiyeh Benevolent Society Convention Programs

Programs for its 1962 and 1976 conventions, both held in Fargo, N.D. and sponsored by the Fargo chapter. The booklets include photographs of various family members, especially the 1976 program

Assessing the quality of services offered to gifted students in Al Ain schools from the perspective of teachers and students

The development of gifted students' abilities depends on the quality of services provided by the school. Therefore, special attention should be paid to this issue in the curricula and the work of teachers.This study seeks to identify the level of services offered to gifted students in grades 4-10 in Al Ain schools from the perspective of both teachers and students. The sample of the study consisted of (804) students, divided into two groups by grade level. The second part of the study sample consisted of (310) teachers from different disciplines. The results showed that there was a low level of awareness of what constituted gifted programs and curricula. In regard to teachers, the results showed that the level of services offered was complicated by difficulty in appropriately identifying assistance and needed training. To make situation different it’s possible to organize training courses for teachers in the field of detection and evaluation of gifted students; introduce enrichment programs for gifted students; encourage involvement of gifted students in local and international academic programs and in general pay more attention to the gifted children

The Attitudes of Working Mothers Towards the Negative Aspects of Working for Long Periods of Time on Behavioral Counseling for Their Children

The study aimed to identify the negative aspects or impact of mothers working outside the home over extensive periods on the behavioral counseling of their children. The study was done from the point of view of working mothers in the United Arab Emirates (Al-Ain region). The study utilized an analytically descriptive method to achieve its goals on an intended sample that consisted of (314) working mothers via a questionnaire consisting of (30) items. The tool was applied after it exhibited acceptable validity and reliability; the data was processed using arithmetic means, standard deviations and statistical tests appropriate to the study questions and their variables. The negative effects of mothers working for long periods outside the home that resulted in a need for behavioral remediation for their children came to a moderate degree on the scale. The results of the study also showed that there were statistically significant differences between the average answers of the study sample owing to the variable differences of age, educational qualification, private/public sector type, monthly income, and number of children in the family. There were no statistically significant differences in regards due to the disadvantages of being a working mother and its effect on the need for behavioral counseling of children due to the total number of daily working hours. Based on the results, the study recommends the necessity of adopting social policies that would provide more time for the working mother to care for her children in all sectors, provided that they are officially legislated policies

Evaluation of Norepinephrine Transporter Expression and Metaiodobenzylguanidine Avidity in Neuroblastoma: A Report from the Childrens Oncology Group.

Purpose. (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is used for the diagnostic evaluation of neuroblastoma. We evaluated the relationship between norepinephrine transporter (NET) expression and clinical MIBG uptake. Methods. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (N = 82) and immunohistochemistry (IHC; N = 61) were performed for neuroblastoma NET mRNA and protein expression and correlated with MIBG avidity on diagnostic scans. The correlation of NET expression with clinical features was also performed. Results. Median NET mRNA expression level for the 19 MIBG avid patients was 12.9% (range 1.6-73.7%) versus 5.9% (range 0.6-110.0%) for the 8 nonavid patients (P = 0.31). Median percent NET protein expression was 50% (range 0-100%) in MIBG avid patients compared to 10% (range 0-80%) in nonavid patients (P = 0.027). MYCN amplified tumors had lower NET protein expression compared to nonamplified tumors (10% versus 50%; P = 0.0002). Conclusions. NET protein expression in neuroblastoma correlates with MIBG avidity. MYCN amplified tumors have lower NET protein expression

Quality control in microarray assessment of gene expression in human airway epithelium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microarray technology provides a powerful tool for defining gene expression profiles of airway epithelium that lend insight into the pathogenesis of human airway disorders. The focus of this study was to establish rigorous quality control parameters to ensure that microarray assessment of the airway epithelium is not confounded by experimental artifact. Samples (total n = 223) of trachea, large and small airway epithelium were collected by fiberoptic bronchoscopy of 144 individuals and hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays. The pre- and post-chip quality control (QC) criteria established, included: (1) RNA quality, assessed by RNA Integrity Number (RIN) ≥ 7.0; (2) cRNA transcript integrity, assessed by signal intensity ratio of GAPDH 3' to 5' probe sets ≤ 3.0; and (3) the multi-chip normalization scaling factor ≤ 10.0.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 223 samples, all three criteria were assessed in 191; of these 184 (96.3%) passed all three criteria. For the remaining 32 samples, the RIN was not available, and only the other two criteria were used; of these 29 (90.6%) passed these two criteria. Correlation coefficients for pairwise comparisons of expression levels for 100 maintenance genes in which at least one array failed the QC criteria (average Pearson r = 0.90 ± 0.04) were significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than correlation coefficients for pairwise comparisons between arrays that passed the QC criteria (average Pearson r = 0.97 ± 0.01). Inter-array variability was significantly decreased (p < 0.0001) among samples passing the QC criteria compared with samples failing the QC criteria.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the aberrant maintenance gene data generated from samples failing the established QC criteria, we propose that the QC criteria outlined in this study can accurately distinguish high quality from low quality data, and can be used to delete poor quality microarray samples before proceeding to higher-order biological analyses and interpretation.</p

Primary carcinoid tumors of the liver

Background: Primary carcinoid tumors of the liver are uncommon and rarely symptomatic. The diagnosis of primary hepatic etiology requires rigorous workup and continued surveillance to exclude a missed primary. Case Presentation: We present a case of a 62-year-old female with a primary hepatic carcinoid tumor successfully resected, now with three years of disease-free follow-up. We present a review of the current literature regarding the diagnosis, pathology, management, and natural history of this disease entity. Conclusion: Primary carcinoid tumors of the liver are rare, therefore classifying their nature as primary hepatic in nature requires extensive workup and prolonged follow-up. All neuroendocrine tumors have an inherent malignant potential that must be recognized. Management remains surgical resection, with several alternative options available for non-resectable tumors and severe symptoms. The risk of recurrence of primary hepatic carcinoid tumors after resection remains unknown