Value Added: Integrating NSBE Jr. Chapters Into High School Mathematics and Science Curricula

Research studies show that Georgia\u27s present and future workforce is unprepared for the scientific and technological challenges facing them. Georgia\u27s middle and high school students lag far behind the national average in science and math scores. Specifically: The Fordham Foundation gave Georgia a grade F\u27 in science. Over half of Georgia 8th grade students scored at the lowest science achievement level in the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress study. One out of every four Georgia high school students fails the science portion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test on his or her first attempt. Georgia ranked dead last nationally in Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores in 2002. As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported GK-12 program, the Student and Teacher Enhancement Partnership (STEP) Program, Georgia Tech has initiated partnerships with three metro-area high schools with high percentages of under-represented minorities. These three schools have historically performed substantially even worse than Georgia does as a whole. They are primarily African-American schools (87-99% black) that draw from a mixture of middle and lower income neighborhoods where 33-43% of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Both the average cumulative SAT scores (between 852 and 902 for the three schools) and percent of students scoring 3 or higher on the Advanced Placement exams (between 11% and 15%) are substantially below the state averages of 991 (SAT) and 52% (A.P. passing rate), making them low performers in a low performing state. This low academic performance level effectively closes off the opportunity for most of these students to pursue careers in science and engineering. Georgia Tech is the premier engineering institution in the southeast United States, and is a leader in educating minority engineers. However of the over 7,500 applications received for admission to the university in 1997, only 34 came from these three local high schools, with the majority (23) submitted by students from a Mathematics and Science Magnet Program. Though 61% of all applicants to Georgia Tech that year were accepted, only 35% of the applicants (12) from these majority African-American schools were offered admission, and only seven chose to come. Six of these seven enrolled in schools within the College of Engineering. Once at Georgia Tech, underrepresented minority students perform slightly poorer academically than the institute average (1st year cumulative GPA of 2.7 for minorities, vs. 2.8 for the institute as a whole in 2001), and the graduation rate lags behind the institute average. However minority students who participate in the minority academic support programs offered by the university ultimately graduate at a rate that equals their majority peers. Therefore the pipeline of minority engineers is not limited primarily by the success rate of students enrolled at institutions such as Georgia Tech—it is dramatically limited by the low achievement of students in our minority K-12 schools, by the low number of students applying for admission, and by the low acceptance rate. One strategy, discussed in this paper, to help change these current facts is by increasing the presence of black engineers at these schools by implementing junior chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

Low sputum MMP-9/TIMP ratio is associated with airway narrowing in smokers with asthma

Asthmatic smokers have poor symptom control and accelerated decline in lung function. A reduced ratio of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9/tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in nonsmokers with asthma has been implicated in airway remodelling. We tested the hypothesis that sputum MMP-9 activity/TIMPs ratios are reduced in smokers compared with never-smokers with asthma and are associated with reduced lung function and altered computed tomography (CT) measures of airway wall dimensions.<p></p> Lung function, airway dimensions by CT, and induced sputum concentrations (and activity) of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 and -2 were measured in 81 asthmatics and 43 healthy subjects (smokers and never-smokers). Respiratory epithelial MMP9 and TIMP mRNA was quantified in 31 severe asthmatics and 32 healthy controls.<p></p> Sputum MMP-9 activity/TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 ratios, and nasal epithelial MMP9/TIMP1 and MMP9/TIMP2 expression ratios were reduced in smokers with asthma compared with never-smokers with asthma. Low sputum ratios in asthmatic smokers were associated with reduced post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity ratio and segmental airway lumen area.<p></p> The association of a low sputum MMP-9 activity/TIMP-1 ratio with persistent airflow obstruction and reduced CT airway lumen area in smokers with asthma may indicate that an imbalance of MMP-9 and TIMPs contributes to structural changes to the airways in this group

Clinical validity of plasma and urinary desmosine as biomarkers for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseasa

Background Although an increased concentration of degraded elastin products in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been reported for many years, its clinical validity and utility remain uncertain due to technical difficulties, small study groups and the unknown relationship between exacerbation and elastin degradation. The objectives of this study were to determine the validity of urinary and blood total desmosine/isodesmosine in patients with COPD and asthma and to evaluate their relationship to exacerbation status and lung function

An observational study of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in cystic fibrosis

Acknowledgements This work was supported by awards from the University of Aberdeen Development Trust and (TMRC INF_AU_124) from the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration — a consortium made up of the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the four associated NHS Health Boards (Grampian, Tayside, Lothian and Greater Glasgow & Clyde), Scottish Enterprise and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. We would like to acknowledge the help of Mrs Irene Pucci who collected the paediatric samples in Aberdeen, Mrs Gillian Moir who processed the sputum and blood samples in Aberdeen, and Nicola Stevens and Dr Anna Tommasi who were involved in the collection and processing of samples in Dundee.Peer reviewedPostprin

Sputum matrix metalloproteinase-12 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma:Relationship to disease severity

<br>Background:</br> <p> Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-12 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. The influence of disease severity on sputum MMP-12 concentrations and activity is not known.</p> <br>Objectives:</br> <p> We sought to examine the relationship between disease severity assessed by means of lung function and computed tomography (CT) and induced sputum MMP-12 concentrations and activity in patients with asthma and COPD.</p> <br>Methods:</br> <p> In 208 subjects (109 asthmatic patients, smokers and never smokers, mild, moderate, and severe; 53 patients with COPD, smokers and exsmokers, mild, moderate, and severe; and 46 healthy control subjects, smokers and never smokers), we measured induced sputum MMP-12 concentrations (ELISA) and enzyme activity (fluorescence resonance energy transfer), sputum cell MMP12 mRNA expression (quantitative PCR [qPCR]), diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (Dlco), and CT assessment of emphysema (percentage of low-attenuation areas at less −950 Hounsfield units)</p> <br>Results:</br> <p> Sputum MMP-12 concentrations are greater in patients with COPD and smokers with asthma than in healthy nonsmokers (P = .003 and P = .035, respectively) but similar to those seen in healthy smokers. In patients with COPD, disease severity, when measured by means of CT-assessed emphysema, but not by means of spirometry or Dlco values, is directly associated with sputum MMP-12 concentrations and activity. In the asthma groups there is no significant association between disease severity and sputum MMP-12 concentrations or activity.</p> <br>Conclusions:</br> <p> Sputum MMP-12 concentrations and activity in patients with COPD are directly associated with the extent of emphysema measured by means of CT. This finding supports a role for MMP-12 in the pathogenesis of COPD and might suggest that blocking MMP-12 activity in patients with COPD could prevent the further development of emphysema.</p&gt

Selection of A Human Chromosome-21 Enriched Yac Sub-library Using A Chromosome-specific Composite Probe

The subdivision Of total genomic human yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) libraries into specific chromosome clone collections will greatly facilitate the construction of an integrated genetic, physical and transcriptional map of the genome. We report the isolation of 388 YAC clones from a human library with an average insert size of 620 kilobases (kb) by the hybridization of a composite chromosome 21 probe to a high-density array of YAC clones. Roughly half of these clones hybridize to chromosome 21 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. These clones represent a twofold coverage of the chromosome. The technique offers the potential of sub-dividing whole genomic YAC libraries into their chromosomal elements to produce high-resolution tools for genome mapping