133 research outputs found
Christian international volunteering:unpacking motivations and engagements with poverty, injustice and inequality
Perceived Financial Management Problems of Rural, Low-income Families in the Family Training Center Program
Housing, Design, and Consumer Resource
The Many Faces of Science and Engineering
In this highly visual session, we will share with delegates our Many Faces of Science and Engineering multi-media campaign at Manchester Metropolitan University. The aim of the ongoing campaign is to showcase the diversity of talent across the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The âFacesâ are mostly Man Met students, staff or alumni with a couple of more well-known individuals thrown in too. Through the Many Faces campaign, we are inspiring our students, helping to raise aspirations and confidence and show everyone that they belong in our Faculty, no matter what their ethnicity, disability, gender, sexuality or background
Young peopleâs priorities for the self-management of distress after stoma surgery due to inflammatory bowel disease: a consensus study using online nominal group technique
Abstract Introduction: The aim of this study was to gain consensus among young people with a stoma due to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on the priorities for the content of an intervention for the self-management of stoma-related distress. The current identification and management of distress in young people with a stoma is often sub-optimal in clinical settings and there is a need for improved support resources.Methods: Two consensus group meetings were carried out via online video conferencing, using Nominal Group Technique. Participants generated, rated on a Likert scale and discussed, topics for inclusion in a future self-management intervention.Results: Nineteen young people, aged 19-33, with a stoma due to IBD took part in one of two group meetings. Participants were located across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Twenty-nine topics were generated by participants, seven of which reached consensus of >80%, that is, a mean of >5.6 on a 7-point Likert scale. These were: receiving advice from young people with lived experience of stoma surgery; advice on/ addressing concerns about romantic relationships, sex and intimacy; information about fertility and pregnancy related to stoma surgery; stoma âhacksâ, e.g. useful everyday tips regarding clothing, making bag changes easier etc.; reflecting on and recognising own emotional response to surgery; tips on managing the stoma during the night; and processing trauma related to the illness and surgery journey.Conclusions: Findings extend previous research on young peopleâs experiences of stoma surgery, by generating consensus on young peoplesâ priorities for managing distress related to surgery and living with a stoma. These priorities include topics not previously reported in the literature, including the need for information about fertility and pregnancy. Findings will inform the development of a self-management resource for young people with an IBD stoma and have relevance for the clinical management of stoma-related distress in this population.<br/
Parkinson's disease biomarkers: perspective from the NINDS Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program
Biomarkers for Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis, prognostication and clinical trial cohort selection are an urgent need. While many promising markers have been discovered through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Parkinson's Disease Biomarker Program (PDBP) and other mechanisms, no single PD marker or set of markers are ready for clinical use. Here we discuss the current state of biomarker discovery for platforms relevant to PDBP. We discuss the role of the PDBP in PD biomarker identification and present guidelines to facilitate their development. These guidelines include: harmonizing procedures for biofluid acquisition and clinical assessments, replication of the most promising biomarkers, support and encouragement of publications that report negative findings, longitudinal follow-up of current cohorts including the PDBP, testing of wearable technologies to capture readouts between study visits and development of recently diagnosed (de novo) cohorts to foster identification of the earliest markers of disease onset
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Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Microglia throughout the Mouse Lifespan and in the Injured Brain Reveals Complex Cell-State Changes.
Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, rapidly change states in response to their environment, but we lack molecular and functional signatures of different microglial populations. Here, we analyzed the RNA expression patterns of more than 76,000 individual microglia in mice during development, in old age, and after brain injury. Our analysis uncovered at least nine transcriptionally distinct microglial states, which expressed unique sets of genes and were localized in the brain using specific markers. The greatest microglial heterogeneity was found at young ages; however, several states-including chemokine-enriched inflammatory microglia-persisted throughout the lifespan or increased in the aged brain. Multiple reactive microglial subtypes were also found following demyelinating injury in mice, at least one of which was also found in human multiple sclerosis lesions. These distinct microglia signatures can be used to better understand microglia function and to identify and manipulate specific subpopulations in health and disease
Cosmological Constraints from the Clustering of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 Luminous Red Galaxies
We present the power spectrum of the reconstructed halo density field derived
from a sample of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Seventh Data Release (DR7). The halo power spectrum has a direct connection to
the underlying dark matter power for k <= 0.2 h/Mpc, well into the quasi-linear
regime. This enables us to use a factor of ~8 more modes in the cosmological
analysis than an analysis with kmax = 0.1 h/Mpc, as was adopted in the SDSS
team analysis of the DR4 LRG sample (Tegmark et al. 2006). The observed halo
power spectrum for 0.02 < k < 0.2 h/Mpc is well-fit by our model: chi^2 = 39.6
for 40 degrees of freedom for the best fit LCDM model. We find \Omega_m h^2 *
(n_s/0.96)^0.13 = 0.141^{+0.009}_{-0.012} for a power law primordial power
spectrum with spectral index n_s and \Omega_b h^2 = 0.02265 fixed, consistent
with CMB measurements. The halo power spectrum also constrains the ratio of the
comoving sound horizon at the baryon-drag epoch to an effective distance to
z=0.35: r_s/D_V(0.35) = 0.1097^{+0.0039}_{-0.0042}. Combining the halo power
spectrum measurement with the WMAP 5 year results, for the flat LCDM model we
find \Omega_m = 0.289 +/- 0.019 and H_0 = 69.4 +/- 1.6 km/s/Mpc. Allowing for
massive neutrinos in LCDM, we find \sum m_{\nu} < 0.62 eV at the 95% confidence
level. If we instead consider the effective number of relativistic species Neff
as a free parameter, we find Neff = 4.8^{+1.8}_{-1.7}. Combining also with the
Kowalski et al. (2008) supernova sample, we find \Omega_{tot} = 1.011 +/- 0.009
and w = -0.99 +/- 0.11 for an open cosmology with constant dark energy equation
of state w.Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures, submitted to MNRAS. The power spectrum and a
module to calculate the likelihoods is publicly available at
http://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/toolbox/lrgdr/ . v2 fixes abstract formatting
issu
The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Book 2018
(Abridged) This is the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 2018 book. It is
intended as a concise reference guide to all aspects of the scientific and
technical design of MSE, for the international astronomy and engineering
communities, and related agencies. The current version is a status report of
MSE's science goals and their practical implementation, following the System
Conceptual Design Review, held in January 2018. MSE is a planned 10-m class,
wide-field, optical and near-infrared facility, designed to enable
transformative science, while filling a critical missing gap in the emerging
international network of large-scale astronomical facilities. MSE is completely
dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy of samples of between thousands and
millions of astrophysical objects. It will lead the world in this arena, due to
its unique design capabilities: it will boast a large (11.25 m) aperture and
wide (1.52 sq. degree) field of view; it will have the capabilities to observe
at a wide range of spectral resolutions, from R2500 to R40,000, with massive
multiplexing (4332 spectra per exposure, with all spectral resolutions
available at all times), and an on-target observing efficiency of more than
80%. MSE will unveil the composition and dynamics of the faint Universe and is
designed to excel at precision studies of faint astrophysical phenomena. It
will also provide critical follow-up for multi-wavelength imaging surveys, such
as those of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gaia, Euclid, the Wide Field
Infrared Survey Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Next Generation
Very Large Array.Comment: 5 chapters, 160 pages, 107 figure
Histone H3 Localizes to the Centromeric DNA in Budding Yeast
During cell division, segregation of sister chromatids to daughter cells is achieved by the poleward pulling force of microtubules, which attach to the chromatids by means of a multiprotein complex, the kinetochore. Kinetochores assemble at the centromeric DNA organized by specialized centromeric nucleosomes. In contrast to other eukaryotes, which typically have large repetitive centromeric regions, budding yeast CEN DNA is defined by a 125 bp sequence and assembles a single centromeric nucleosome. In budding yeast, as well as in other eukaryotes, the Cse4 histone variant (known in vertebrates as CENP-A) is believed to substitute for histone H3 at the centromeric nucleosome. However, the exact composition of the CEN nucleosome remains a subject of debate. We report the use of a novel ChIP approach to reveal the composition of the centromeric nucleosome and its localization on CEN DNA in budding yeast. Surprisingly, we observed a strong interaction of H3, as well as Cse4, H4, H2A, and H2B, but not histone chaperone Scm3 (HJURP in human) with the centromeric DNA. H3 localizes to centromeric DNA at all stages of the cell cycle. Using a sequential ChIP approach, we could demonstrate the co-occupancy of H3 and Cse4 at the CEN DNA. Our results favor a H3-Cse4 heterotypic octamer at the budding yeast centromere. Whether or not our model is correct, any future model will have to account for the stable association of histone H3 with the centromeric DNA
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Urban signals in high-resolution weather and climate simulations: role of urban land-surface characterisation
Two urban schemes within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator
(JULES) are evaluated oïŹine against multi-year ïŹux observations in the densely
built-up city centre of London and in suburban Swindon (UK): (i) the 1-tile slab
model, used in climate simulations, (ii) the 2-tile canopy model MORUSES (Met
OïŹceâReading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme), used for numerical weather pre-
diction over the UK. OïŹine, both models perform better at the suburban site,
where diïŹerences between the urban schemes are less pronounced due to larger
vegetation fractions. At both sites, the outgoing short- and longwave radiation is
more accurately represented than the turbulent heat ïŹuxes. The seasonal varia-
tions of model skill are large in London, where the sensible heat ïŹux in autumn and
winter is strongly under-predicted if the large city-centre magnitudes of anthro-
pogenic heat emissions are not represented. The delayed timing of the sensible heat ïŹux in the 1-tile model in London results in large negative bias in the morning.
The partitioning of the urban surface into canyon and roof in MORUSES improves
this as the roof-tile is modelled with a very low thermal inertia, but phase and
amplitude of the gridbox-averaged ïŹux critically depend on accurate knowledge of
the plan-area fractions of streets and buildings. Not representing non-urban land-
cover (e.g. vegetation, inland water) in London results in severely under-predicted
latent heat ïŹuxes. Control runs demonstrate that the skill of both models can be
greatly improved by providing accurate land-cover and morphology information
and using representative anthropogenic heat emissions, which is essential if the
model output is intended to inform integrated urban services
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