The effects of a nerve growth-promoting protein on the integument of PET mice

A factor which specifically stimulates the growth of sensory and sympathetic nerve cells has been under investigation for a number of years. This factor, originally isolated in 1951, from mouse sarcomas 37 and 180, was named the nerve growth factor . Its action was first shown in vivo by inoculating the sarcoma into chick embryos and subsequently in vitro by culturing chick ganglia and mouse sarcoma together. In the years immediately following the initial discovery, much more potent sources of NGF were found in the salivary glands and salivary secretions of a variety of species. These include rattle snake venom, and the saliva and salivary glands of the mouse. It was not until a partially purified fraction of NGF from the mouse submaxillary gland was injected into newborn mice that non-neural effects were observed. Among the non-neural changes noted was a failure of hair to grow although the purified NGF did not produce this effect. Cohen showed that the non-neural effects were due to an epidermal growth factor, later renamed epithelial growth factor by Jones, which was different from the NGF though present in the same starting material. It was the purpose of this research to qualitatively explore the effects of purified NGF on the integument and specifically on pigmentation by melanocytes in mice of the PET strain

The place of physical activity in the WHO Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity

In an effort to reduce the global burden of non-communicable disease, the World Health Organization released a Global Strategy for Diet and Physical Activity in May 2004. This commentary reports on the development of the strategy and its importance specifically for physical activity-related work of NGOs and researchers interested in increasing global physical activity participation. Sparked by its work on global efforts to target non-communicable disease prevention in 2000, the World Health Organization commissioned a global strategy on diet and physical activity. The physical activity interest followed efforts that had led to the initial global "Move for Health Day" in 2002. WHO assembled a reference group for the global strategy, and a regional consultation process with countries was undertaken. Underpinning the responses was the need for more physical activity advocacy; partnerships outside of health including urban planning; development of national activity guidelines; and monitoring of the implementation of the strategy. The consultation process was an important mechanism to confirm the importance and elevate the profile of physical activity within the global strategy. It is suggested that separate implementation strategies for diet and physical activity may be needed to work with partner agencies in disparate sectors (e.g. urban planning for physical activity, agriculture for diet). International professional societies are well situated to make an important contribution to global public health by advocating for the importance of physical activity among risk factors; developing international measures of physical activity and global impacts of inactivity; and developing a global research and intervention agenda

ParticipACTION: A mass media campaign targeting parents of inactive children; knowledge, saliency, and trialing behaviours

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In late 2007, Canada's ParticipACTION national physical activity mass media campaign was re-launched, with an initial campaign targeting parents of elementary school-aged children. The campaign informed them about the risks of physical inactivity for children and youth. The purpose of this study was to assess campaign awareness and understanding following the campaign, and to identify whether exposure to this campaign was likely associated with behaviour change.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A convenience sample of 1,500 adults was recruited though an existing panel (n = 60,000) of Canadian adults to participate in online surveys. Initial campaign exposure included "prompted" and "unprompted" recall of specific physical activity messages from the 2007 ParticipACTION campaign, knowledge of the benefits of PA, saliency, and initial trial behaviours to help their children become more active.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One quarter of respondents showed unprompted recall of specific message content from the ParticipACTION campaign, and prompted recall was 57%. Message recall and understanding was associated with knowledge about physical activity, and that in turn was related to high saliency. Saliency was associated with each of the physical activity-related trial behaviours asked.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Campaign awareness and understanding was high following this ParticipACTION campaign, and was associated with intermediate campaign outcomes, including saliency and trial behaviours. This is relevant to campaign evaluations, as it suggests that an initial focus on influencing awareness and understanding is likely to lead to more substantial change in campaign endpoints.</p

Mobility Clinic Team Composition: Optimizing Care for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

INTRODUCTION Specialized interprofessional primary care-based Mobility Clinics represent a significant opportunity to improve spinal cord injury (SCI) care, however, there are no gold standards to inform team composition. This study explored the ideal mix of skill sets and competencies for Mobility Clinics. METHODS Twelve individual interviews were conducted with primary care and rehabilitation clinicians and individuals from professional associations representing nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physicians, physician assistants, and recreation therapists. Participants received briefing notes on the Mobility Clinic care model and roles of each discipline within this model. Questions were asked related to discipline specific scope of practice, ideal team composition to meet consumer needs, and opportunities for expanding and sharing discipline roles. RESULTS Discipline specific role descriptions within the Mobility Clinic were perceived to be comprehensive and accurate; in some cases additional activities were suggested for some disciplines. Suggestions were made for cross discipline sharing of tasks (e.g., some social worker activities can be assumed by occupational therapists, OT or nurse practitioners, NPs). Recommendations for core team members included a physician, nurse, OT, exercise therapist, and a representative from a SCI-specific community service, with linkages to specialists or interprofessional rehabilitation teams for consultation support. Potential roles were described for disciplines not currently represented in this care model (nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, physician assistants, recreation therapists). CONCLUSION As there exists a critical balance of optimizing care and availability of resources, this study informs appropriate Mobility Clinic team composition, adaptable within the context of existing human resources

What does authenticity and neolocalism mean to craft brewery visitors? Insights from the Midwest and the Great Plains

The global rise in craft beer produced by small and independent brewers has precipitated the development of craft beer tourism. Two concepts, neolocalism and authenticity, have emerged as critical for understanding the craft beer experience. However, established research on these topics, particularly from the consumer perspective, are still quite limited. To fulfill this gap, this study conducted 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews and observations in breweries located in the Midwest and Great Plains regions to explore the meaning of authenticity and neolocalism to craft brewery visitors. Analysis resulted in nine major themes, including 1) beer itself, 2) beer production, 3) brewery accessibility, 4) brewery design, 5) vibes of brewery, 6) brewery services, 7) brewery place identity, 8) community engagement, and 9) local ownership. These findings enhance our conceptual understanding of neolocalism and authenticity from the craft beer visitors\u27 perspective. Potential implications and an agenda for future research are discussed

The rise and fall of Australian physical activity policy 1996 – 2006: a national review framed in an international context

Background: This paper provides an historical review of physical activity policy development in Australia for a period spanning a decade since the release of the US Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health in 1996 and including the 2004 WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. Using our definition of 'HARDWIRED' policy criteria, this Australian review is compared with an international perspective of countries with established national physical activity policies and strategies (New Zealand, Canada, Brazil, Scotland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Finland). Methods comprised a literature and policy review, audit of relevant web sites, document searches and surveys of international stakeholders. Results: All these selected countries embraced multi-strategic policies and undertook monitoring of physical activity through national surveys. Few committed to policy of more than three years duration and none undertook systematic evaluation of national policy implementation. This Australian review highlights phases of innovation and leadership in physical activity-related policy, as well as periods of stagnation and decline; early efforts were amongst the best in the world but by the mid-point of this review (the year 2000), promising attempts towards development of a national intersectoral policy framework were thwarted by reforms in the Federal Sport and Recreation sector. Several well received reviews of evidence on good practices in physical activity and public health were produced in the period but leadership and resources were lacking to implement the policies and programs indicated. Latterly, widespread publicity and greatly increased public and political interest in chronicdisease prevention, (especially in obesity and type 2 diabetes) have dominated the framework within which Australian policy deliberations have occurred. Finally, a national physical activity policy framework for the Health sector emerged, but not as a policy vision that was inclusive of the other essential sectors such as Education,Transport, Urban Planning as well as Sport and Recreation. Conclusion: Despite some progression of physical activity policy in the decade since 1995/6, this review found inconsistent policy development, both in Australia and elsewhere. Arguably, Australia has done no worse than other countries, but more effective responses to physical inactivity in populations can be built only on sustainable multi-sectoral public health policy partnerships that are well informed by evidence of effectiveness and good practice. In Australia and elsewhere prerequisites for success are political support, long-term investment and commitment to program implementation and evaluation. An urgent priority is media and political advocacy for physical activity focussed on these factors

A prospective phase I dose-escalation trial of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) as an alternative to cytoreductive nephrectomy for inoperable patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Background: Cytoreductive nephrectomy is thought to improve survival in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). As many patients are ineligible for major surgery, we hypothesized that SABR could be a safe alternative. Methods: In this dose-escalation trial, inoperable mRCC patients underwent SABR targeting the entire affected kidney. Toxicity (CTCAE v3.0), quality of life (QoL), renal function, and tumour response (RECIST v1.0) were assessed. Results: Twelve patients of mostly intermediate (67%) or poor (25%) International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) prognostic class, median KPS of 70%, and median tumour size of 8.7 cm (range: 4.8-13.8) were enrolled in successive dose cohorts of 25 (n = 3), 30 (n = 6), and 35 Gy (n = 3) in 5 fractions. SABR was well tolerated with 3 grade 3 events: fatigue (2) and bone pain (1). QoL decreased for physical well-being (p = 0.016), but remained unchanged in other domains. SABR achieved a median tumour size reduction of - 17.3% (range: + 5.3 to - 54.4) at 5.3 months. All patients progressed systemically and median OS was 6.7 months. Crude median follow-up was 5.8 months. Conclusions: In non-operable mRCC patients, renal-ablative SABR to 35 Gy in 5 fractions yielded acceptable toxicity, renal function preservation, and stable QoL. SABR merits further prospective investigation as an alternative to cytoreductive nephrectomy

Relations between subdomains of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, and quality of life in young adult men

LR: 20180312; CI: (c) 2017; JID: 9111504; OTO: NOTNLM; 2017/10/25 00:00 [accepted]; 2017/11/03 06:00 [pubmed]; 2017/11/03 06:00 [medline]; 2017/11/03 06:00 [entrez]; ppublishTo assess the relationship between physical activity (PA) in work, transport, domestic, and leisure-time domains (with sitting time included) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among young adult men. The long version of IPAQ and SF-36 Health Survey were used to assess PA and HRQoL, respectively, in 1425 voluntary 20- to 40-year-old Finnish male participants. Participants were divided into tertiles (MET-h/week): Lowest tertile (100 MET-h/week). The IPAQ domain leisure-time PA predicted positively the Physical Component Summary (PCS) (=0.11, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.16) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) (=0.11, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.16) dimensions. Occupational PA predicted negative relationships in the PCS (=-0.13, 95% CI: -0.19 to -0.07), and sitting time predicted negative relationships in the MCS dimension (=-0.13, 95% CI: -0.18 to -0.07). In addition, a linear relationship was found between total PA level (including sitting time) and all of the IPAQ domains (Peer reviewe

ParticipACTION: Awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults - Examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model

ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM), this campaign should influence physical activity through intermediate mediators such as beliefs and intention. Also, when such media campaigns occur, knowledge gaps often develop within the population about the messages being conveyed. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine the current awareness of ParticipACTION campaigns among Canadians; (b) confirm if awareness of the ParticipACTION initiative varied as a function of levels of education and household income; and, (c) to examine whether awareness of ParticipACTION was associated with physical activity related beliefs, intentions, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) as suggested by the HOEM. Specifically, we tested a model including awareness of ParticipACTION (unprompted, prompted), outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and physical activity status. A population-based survey was conducted on 4,650 Canadians over a period of 6 months from August, 2007 to February, 2008 (response rate = 49%). The survey consisted of a set of additional questions on the 2007 Physical Activity Monitor (PAM). Our module on the PAM included questions related to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to test the knowledge gap hypotheses and to examine whether awareness was associated with physical activity related beliefs (i.e., outcome expectations, self-efficacy), intention, and LTPA. All analyses included those respondents who were 20 years of age and older in 2007/2008 (N = 4424). Approximately 8% of Canadians were still aware of ParticipACTION unprompted and 82% were aware when prompted. Both education and income were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION were greater if they were more educated and reported higher income. Awareness of ParticipACTION was also associated with outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and LTPA status. Awareness of ParticipACTION is associated with LTPA. Knowledge gaps in awareness are associated with level of education and household income. Thus, future promotion campaigns should include specific strategies to target different segments of the population, especially people who are living in deprived conditions with lower levels of education

Construction of repeat-free fluorescence in situ hybridization probes

FISH probes are generally made out of BAC clones with genomic DNA containing a variable amount of repetitive DNA that will need to be removed or blocked for FISH analysis. To generate repeat free (RF) Probes without loss in genomic coverage, a random library is made from BAC clones by whole-genome amplification (WGA). Libraries are denatured in the presence of excess C0t-1 DNA and allowed to re-anneal followed by digestion of all double-stranded elements by duplex-specific nuclease (DSN). Selective amplification of all elements not containing repetitive sequences is realized by a sequential amplification. The final RF products can be re-amplified and used as a stock for future probe production. The RF probes have a lower background, the signal intensity build up is faster and there is no need for blocking DNA. The signal to background ratio of the RF was higher as compared to repeat containing probes