Condensation of the plasma membrane at the site of T lymphocyte activation

After activation, T lymphocytes restructure their cell surface to form membrane domains at T cell receptor (TCR)–signaling foci and immunological synapses (ISs). To address whether these rearrangements involve alteration in the structure of the plasma membrane bilayer, we used the fluorescent probe Laurdan to visualize its lipid order. We observed a condensation of the plasma membrane at TCR activation sites. The formation of ordered domains depends on the presence of the transmembrane protein linker for the activation of T cells and Src kinase activity. Moreover, these ordered domains are stabilized by the actin cytoskeleton. Membrane condensation occurs upon TCR stimulation alone but is prolonged by CD28 costimulation with TCR. In ISs, which are formed by conjugates of TCR transgenic T lymphocytes and cognate antigen-presenting cells, similar condensed membrane phases form first in central regions and later at the periphery of synapses. The formation of condensed membrane domains at T cell activation sites biophysically reflects membrane raft accumulation, which has potential implications for signaling at ISs

La resolución de problemas y la educación en ciencias naturales

Esta investigación se centrará en la delimitación de los conceptos problema y resolución de problemas, así como en una aproximación a los tipos de problemas, en el marco de esta línea del Programa Interinstitucional de Doctorado en Educación, en el área de Ciencias Naturales

Negotiation in strategy making teams : group support systems and the process of cognitive change

This paper reports on the use of a Group Support System (GSS) to explore at a micro level some of the processes manifested when a group is negotiating strategy-processes of social and psychological negotiation. It is based on data from a series of interventions with senior management teams of three operating companies comprising a multi-national organization, and with a joint meeting subsequently involving all of the previous participants. The meetings were concerned with negotiating a new strategy for the global organization. The research involved the analysis of detailed time series data logs that exist as a result of using a GSS that is a reflection of cognitive theory

Impact of Scottish vocational qualifications on residential child care : have they fulfilled the promise?

This article will present findings from a doctoral study exploring the impact of 'SVQ Care: Promoting Independence (level III)' within children's homes. The study focuses on the extent to which SVQs enhance practice and their function within a 'learning society'. A total of 30 staff were selected from seven children's homes in two different local authority social work departments in Scotland. Each member of staff was interviewed on four separate occasions over a period of 9 months. Interviews were structured using a combination of repertory grids and questions. Particular focus was given to the assessment process, the extent to which SVQs enhance practice and the learning experiences of staff. The findings suggest that there are considerable deficiencies both in terms of the SVQ format and the way in which children's homes are structured for the assessment of competence. Rather than address the history of failure within residential care, it appears that SVQs have enabled the status quo to be maintained whilst creating an 'illusion' of change within a learning society

A Simple Mathematical Model for Wound Closure Evaluation

The incidence of ulcers associated to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases every year. We introduce and explore a new mathematical algorithm to evaluate wound-healing in foot ulcers associated to T2DM. Fifteen patients (nine women and six men), mean age of 70 6 16 years were included. The evolution of their wounds followed-up for a period of 18–45 days. According to the Wagner grading system the ulcers were grade I (5 patients), grade II (9 patients), and grade III (1 patient). Clinically, the type of the ulcers was neuroischemic (12 patients) and neuropathic (3 patients). A new parameter is introduced, the ‘‘continuous linear healing rate’’ Dc that was more accurate with higher values and requires less quantifications than usual formulas to make a wound-healing projection.This research has been supported by FONDECYT Regular 1150899, the Programa Semilla, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México-Universidad Austral debChile, grant numbers 3338/2012 FS, and FS-2012-01, and the Regional Government of Los Ríos, Chile, grant numbers FIC-R 2011 and 12-117

If the shoe fits : Development of an on-line tool to aid practitioner/patient discussions about 'healthy footwear'

Background: A previous study highlighted the importance of footwear to individuals' sense of their identity, demonstrating that shoes must 'fit' someone socially, as well as functionally. However, unhealthy shoes can have a detrimental effect on both foot health and mobility. This project utilises qualitative social science methods to enable podiatrists to understand the broader contribution of footwear to patients' sense of themselves and from this an online toolkit was developed to aid footwear education. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six podiatrists/shoe-fitters and 13 people with foot pathologies, some of whom also completed shoe diaries. These were supplemented with some follow-up interviews and photographs of participants' own shoes were taken to allow in-depth discussions. Results: Four areas related to 'fit' were identified; practicalities, personal, purpose and pressures, all of which need to be considered when discussing changes in footwear. These were incorporated into an online toolkit which was further validated by service users and practitioners in a focus group. Conclusion: This toolkit can support podiatrists in partnership with patients to identify and address possible barriers to changing footwear towards a more suitable shoe. Enabling patients to make healthier shoe choices will help contribute to improvements in their foot health and mobility

Transnational Criminal Law or the Transnational Legal Ordering of Corruption?

To date, “transnational criminal law” has been the dominant paradigm for explaining and mapping rules on corruption in the international legal literature. Transnational criminal law is presented as a system of law descending from multilateral crime control treaties or a field or order that emerges through international political processes of regime formation. Transnational criminal lawyers identify and describe cross-border legal rules, and seek to evaluate them against liberal norms of democratic governance and individual civil and political human rights. This Article details the limits of transnational criminal conceptions of “anticorruption” through a study of proposed changes to Australian laws on corporate foreign bribery. Drawing on primary and secondary documentary sources, domestic and international, it shows that the emerging antipodean rules are only partially transnational, as that term is understood in transnational criminal law theory. Likewise, multilateral “suppression conventions” and related soft laws are but one impetus for the proposed changes to Australian federal anticorruption legislation. Rather, as the transnational legal ordering literature suggests, a recursive process appears to be at work between international organizations and local legislators, as well as transnational non-state actors, both charities and businesses. This process is marked by moments of borrowing from (former) patrons, the US and the UK. However, it is also punctuated by themes of modernization, economic efficiency, and reputation. In addition, Australian anti-corruption activities may result not just in changes to national criminal law, but also in the development of “new” – and controversial – techniques of governance

Sports Corruption: Sporting Autonomy, Lex Sportiva and the Rule of Law

An apparent escalation in on-field corruption (doping and match-fixing) in professional sports has led to increasing numbers of athletes facing bans and a loss of livelihood as a consequence of decisions taken by sporting tribunals, as part of a regulatory system referred to as lex sportiva. This has led to challenges in domestic courts from athletes over the lawfulness and fairness of these proceedings (for example Pechstein and Kaneria). These challenges to the legitimacy of lex sportiva (and to the principle of the autonomy of sport) echo Foster’s (2003) critique of lex sportiva/global sports law as: "a cloak for continued self-regulation by international sports federations…a claim for non-intervention by both national legal systems and by international sports law… [which] opposes a rule of law in regulating international sport." The paper considers what is the ‘rule of law’ that regulates on-field corruption, and concludes that it is a complex web of law, since sports governing bodies now share with the state many aspects of the sanctioning of on-field corruption. The paper considers how the doctrine of ‘the autonomy of sport’ has informed the development of lex sportiva in regard to athlete corruption, and the competing claims of private sports law and national legal systems over the regulation of athlete corruption

Late Gadolinium Enhancement Amount as an Independent Risk Factor for the Incidence of Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Stage C or D Heart Failure

Background: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a risk factor for poor prognosis in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) of the myocardium on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) represents MF. We examined whether the LGE amount increases the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with stage C or D heart failure (HF). Methods: Eighty-four consecutive patients with stage C or D HF, either ischemic or non-ischemic, were enrolled. Comprehensive clinical and CMR evaluations were performed. All patients were followed up for a composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, heart transplantation, and cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D).Results: LGE was present in 79.7% of the end-stage HF patients. LGE distribution patterns were mid-wall, epi-myocardial, endo-myocardial, and the morphological patterns were patchy, transmural, and diffuse. During the average follow-up of 544 days, 13 (15.5%) patients had endpoint events: 7 patients cardiac death, 2 patients heart transplantation, and 4 patients underwent CRT-D implantation. On univariate analysis, LGE quantification on cardiac magnetic resonance, blood urine nitrogen, QRS duration on electrocardiogram, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) on CMR had the strongest associations with the composite endpoint events. However, on multivariate analysis for both Model I (after adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index) and Model II (after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, renal function, QRS duration, and atrial fibrillation on electrocardiogram, the etiology of HF, LVEF, CMR-LVEDD, and CMR-LVEDV), LGE amount was a significant risk factor for composite endpoint events (Model I 6SD HR 1.037, 95%CI 1.005–1.071, p = 0.022; Model II 6SD HR 1.045, 95%CI 1.001–1.084, p = 0.022). Conclusion: LGE amount from high-scale threshold on CMR increased the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events for patients in either stage C or D HF