78 research outputs found
Occupational performance measures for health and wellbeing: research and practice
It is an honour to act as guest editors for this special issue of the British Journal of Occupational Therapy (BJOT), containing current research and concerns about occupational performance from Australia, Chile, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. Occupational performance, the ‘doing of meaningful activities, tasks, and roles through complex interaction between the person and the environment’ (Baum et al 2011), is important for occupational therapists. It describes our unique role and people’s ability to engage in meaningful activities, tasks, and roles that support both their participation in daily life and their sense of wellbeing (Christiansen and Baum 2005)
Life After Debt: Results of the National Student Loan Survey Selected Text From the Final Report
Popular opinion holds that education debt significantly affects borrower decisions. The assumption is that indebtedness may cause borrowers to drop out of college, cancel plans for graduate school, or change career plans. Former students might delay the purchase of a home or car, postpone plans for marriage or a family, or live with parents after graduating because of their repayment options. To test this hypothesis, Nellie Mae, a student loan originator and secondary market for federal and private education loans, conducted the National Student Loan Survey (NASLS). The objective of the NASLS was to determine both indebtedness levels for all education loans (federal and private) and the effect that debt has on decision making, lifestyles and consumer behavior. Because Nellie Mae also conducted similar surveys in 1987 and 1991, there are comparative data that track changes in both borrower attitudes and behavior. While the 1997 study shows significant increases in borrowers reporting that they delayed decisions and activities, the evidence does not support the idea that debt levels affect major life decisions. Rather, these decisions are determined by age, income, marital status, or possibly factors not gathered through this type of survey. Nonetheless, average student debt levels have risen dramatically, and some students are using greater proportions of their incomes for the monthly student loan payment than is considered reasonable by most financial standards. A majority of borrowers report that student loans provided critical access to higher education. For the most part, borrowers are satisfied with the education they received and feel that their investment, through loans, was worth it both for personal growth and for career preparation
Globular Cluster Systems in Brightest Cluster Galaxies: Bimodal Metallicity Distributions and the Nature of the High-Luminosity Clusters
We present new (B,I) photometry for the globular cluster systems in eight
Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), obtained with the ACS/WFC camera on the
Hubble Space Telescope. In the very rich cluster systems that reside within
these giant galaxies, we find that all have strongly bimodal color
distributions All the BCGs show population gradients, with much higher relative
numbers of red clusters within 5 kpc of their centers, consistent with their
having formed at later times than the blue, metal-poor population. A striking
new feature of the color distributions emerging from our data is that for the
brightest clusters (M_I < -10.5) the color distribution becomes broad and less
obviously bimodal. we suggest that it may be a characteristic of many BCGs.
Furthermore, the blue (metal-poor) clusters become progressively redder with
increasing luminosity, following a mass/metallicity scaling relation Z ~
M^0.55. We argue that these GCS characteristics are consistent with a
hierarchical-merging formation picture in which the metal-poor clusters formed
in protogalactic clouds or dense starburst complexes with gas masses in the
range 10^7 - 10^10 M_Sun, but where the more massive clusters on average formed
in bigger clouds with deeper potential wells where more pre-enrichment could
occur.Comment: 48 pages, 24 Figures, PDF, Submitted to Astrophys.J. and refereed.
For complete pdf file with better figures, see:
http://physwww.mcmaster.ca/%7Eharris/Preprints.htm
Renal Allograft Survival in Transplant Recipients with Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73852/1/j.1600-6143.2003.30111.x.pd
The Hubble Deep Field South Flanking Fields
As part of the Hubble Deep Field South program, a set of shorter 2-orbit
observations were obtained of the area adjacent to the deep fields. The WFPC2
flanking fields cover a contiguous solid angle of 48 square arcminutes.
Parallel observations with the STIS and NICMOS instruments produce a patchwork
of additional fields with optical and near-infrared (1.6 micron) response.
Deeper parallel exposures with WFPC2 and NICMOS were obtained when STIS
observed the NICMOS deep field. These deeper fields are offset from the rest,
and an extended low surface brightness object is visible in the deeper WFPC2
flanking field. In this data paper, which serves as an archival record of the
project, we discuss the observations and data reduction, and present SExtractor
source catalogs and number counts derived from the data. Number counts are
broadly consistent with previous surveys from both ground and space. Among
other things, these flanking field observations are useful for defining slit
masks for spectroscopic follow-up over a wider area around the deep fields, for
studying large-scale structure that extends beyond the deep fields, for future
supernova searches, and for number counts and morphological studies, but their
ultimate utility will be defined by the astronomical community.Comment: 46 pages, 15 figures. Images and full catalogs available via the
HDF-S at http://www.stsci.edu/ftp/science/hdfsouth/hdfs.html at present. The
paper is accepted for the February 2003 Astronomical Journal. Full versions
of the catalogs will also be available on-line from AJ after publicatio
The Global Durum Wheat Panel (GDP): An International Platform to Identify and Exchange Beneficial Alleles
Representative, broad and diverse collections are a primary resource to dissect genetic diversity and meet pre-breeding and breeding goals through the identification of beneficial alleles for target traits. From 2,500 tetraploid wheat accessions obtained through an international collaborative effort, a Global Durum wheat Panel (GDP) of 1,011 genotypes was assembled that captured 94-97% of the original diversity. The GDP consists of a wide representation of Triticum turgidum ssp. durum modern germplasm and landraces, along with a selection of emmer and primitive tetraploid wheats to maximize diversity. GDP accessions were genotyped using the wheat iSelect 90K SNP array. Among modern durum accessions, breeding programs from Italy, France and Central Asia provided the highest level of genetic diversity, with only a moderate decrease in genetic diversity observed across nearly 50 years of breeding (1970-2018). Further, the breeding programs from Europe had the largest sets of unique alleles. LD was lower in the landraces (0.4 Mbp) than in modern germplasm (1.8 Mbp) at r 2 = 0.5. ADMIXTURE analysis of modern germplasm defined a minimum of 13 distinct genetic clusters (k), which could be traced to the breeding program of origin. Chromosome regions putatively subjected to strong selection pressure were identified from fixation index (F st ) and diversity reduction index (DRI) metrics in pairwise comparisons among decades of release and breeding programs. Clusters of putative selection sweeps (PSW) were identified as co-localized with major loci controlling phenology (Ppd and Vrn), plant height (Rht) and quality (gliadins and glutenins), underlining the role of the corresponding genes as driving elements in modern breeding. Public seed availability and deep genetic characterization of the GDP make this collection a unique and ideal resource to identify and map useful genetic diversity at loci of interest to any breeding program
Spermatogenesis-Specific Features of the Meiotic Program in Caenorhabditis elegans
In most sexually reproducing organisms, the fundamental process of meiosis is implemented concurrently with two differentiation programs that occur at different rates and generate distinct cell types, sperm and oocytes. However, little is known about how the meiotic program is influenced by such contrasting developmental programs. Here we present a detailed timeline of late meiotic prophase during spermatogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans using cytological and molecular landmarks to interrelate changes in chromosome dynamics with germ cell cellularization, spindle formation, and cell cycle transitions. This analysis expands our understanding C. elegans spermatogenesis, as it identifies multiple spermatogenesis-specific features of the meiotic program and provides a framework for comparative studies. Post-pachytene chromatin of spermatocytes is distinct from that of oocytes in both composition and morphology. Strikingly, C. elegans spermatogenesis includes a previously undescribed karyosome stage, a common but poorly understood feature of meiosis in many organisms. We find that karyosome formation, in which chromosomes form a constricted mass within an intact nuclear envelope, follows desynapsis, involves a global down-regulation of transcription, and may support the sequential activation of multiple kinases that prepare spermatocytes for meiotic divisions. In spermatocytes, the presence of centrioles alters both the relative timing of meiotic spindle assembly and its ultimate structure. These microtubule differences are accompanied by differences in kinetochores, which connect microtubules to chromosomes. The sperm-specific features of meiosis revealed here illuminate how the underlying molecular machinery required for meiosis is differentially regulated in each sex
The James Webb Space Telescope Mission
Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies,
expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling
for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least .
With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000
people realized that vision as the James Webb Space Telescope. A
generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of
the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the
scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000
team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image
quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief
history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing
program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite
detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space
Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure
Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial
Background:
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke.
Methods:
We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515.
Findings:
Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group.
Interpretation:
In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Funding:
GlaxoSmithKline
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