Ortelius\u27s Map of the World and Homann\u27s Ship Model Map

Abraham Ortelius and Johann Baptist Homann were very successful cartographers who benefitted from the rising trend in curiosity cabinets during the Renaissance. Ortelius lived from 1527-1598 and was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and Homann became famous in Nuremberg, Germany during his life from 1663-1724. [excerpt

Immunochemical analysis of illegal steroid growth promoters in cattle

Steroid hormones and their analogues can be used as growth promoters in cattle. The use of these substances is banned in the EU, and hence each member state must ensure that cattle are not being dosed with these drugs. This study focuses on the immunochemical detection of three steroidal growth promoters, ethynylestradiol (EE), diethylstilbestrol (DES) and trenbolone (TR). Polyclonal antibodies were raised against EE and TR. The anti-TR antibodies were applied to two competitive ELISA formats, producing assays as sensitive as other reported systems while needing very little pre-treatment of the bile samples. The anti-EE antibodies were also applied to these ELISA systems and also used to develop a biosensor-based assay using a BIAcore 3000®. These assays allowed the detection of EE at low ng ml"1 quantities in bovine bile. As an alternative antibody supply the production of scFv antibody fragments was investigated. Two naive phage display libraries, one murine and one human, were panned for the presence of binding fragments specific for the target steroid molecules. A number o f pre-immunised libraries were also constructed and selected against the antigens of interest. None of the approaches provided specific clones that could be used as immunoreagents in analysis. An investigation into the reduction of the incubation time required to perform a competitive ELISA was carried out. This method was shown to be effective for some of the polyclonal antibodies tested. The successful assays were applied to a prototype rapid ELISA machine. The ability of this device to detect low quantities of steroids in both a single and mixed sample was studied. A preliminary, prototype assay for the detection of two separate steroid growth promoters in a single sample was shown

Information, Design, and Support OH MY!

Overview of the teaching and learning support services available in the Lamson Learning Commons. -Pedagogy and course design -Research and information literacy -Instructional Technology -Writin

Learning about 21st century skills and progressive education through practitioner research

Professional development of teachers is fundamental to making changes in classroom practices, yet it is often conducted by outside experts with little understanding of the actual day-to-day context of the school. In order for changes in practice to be long lasting, a shift away from viewing teaching as a technical endeavour toward teaching as a craft is examined in this study. A participatory and collaborative model of practitioner research was used to empower a group of teachers. The school where this research was conducted is a small, independent school that adheres to progressive beliefs and values. Its small classes and responsive curriculum made it possible to implement significant changes to practice. This collaborative approach of practitioner research has come into even greater focus in the 21st Century where the skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and character (the 5Cs) are seen as central to education. Contemporary life requires this diverse set of the 5Cs because citizens will require more than content knowledge to engage with complex and ambiguous problems. Practitioners at this school where this research was conducted were able identify and implement changes in practice through cyclical reflection and action utilizing Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR). The theoretical framework of social constructivism and interpreted through Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) was an effective way to examine and interpret the complex and sometimes elusive teaching outcomes and practices to school communities. This study connected the practical experiences of teaching and the theories underpinning progressive education to better understand the difficulties of articulating 21st Century skills to a school community in a society heavily influenced by neo- liberalism. The importance of this approach was evident as the group of practitioners first had to take the time to understand collectively their shared views on teaching and learning and then were able to identify problems or issues in their practice that interfered with their goals. The findings from this study reveal that teachers can make meaningful changes in their practice when given a platform, administrational support, and authentic power to enact the changes they identify. Through the study a framework was developed utilising the three pillars of product, process and power as necessary elements for change, and teacher empowerment in this context. It appears that unresolvable tensions are important elements of progressive education and although CPAR provides a structure to connect the academic and practical experience of teaching it cannot solve all the tensions that exist. Findings demonstrated how these tensions contributed to the continuation of the cycles of practitioner research. The democratic nature of CPAR empowered the teachers who participated to share their insights and deeper understandings with the wider community. Dialogue and authenticity appear to drive the engagement of participants and were key elements for successful practitioner research in this context. The fruits of this study included an enhanced capability of teachers to cope with uncertainty in a way that is coherent with the aims of progressive education. Some of the capabilities demonstrated were: a deeper understanding of how to articulate and document the development of 21st Century skills; a shift in the culture; and a building of community in the practitioners who participated. This research contributes to the understanding of teacher learning in the context of 21st Century skill

Occurrence of lactational mastitis and medical management: a prospective cohort study in Glasgow

This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background Lactational mastitis is a painful, debilitating condition that if inappropriately managed, may lead women to discontinue breastfeeding prematurely. The aim of this paper is to report the incidence of mastitis in the first six months postpartum in a Scottish population, its impact on breastfeeding duration and to describe the type and appropriateness of the support and management received by affected women from health professionals. Methods A longitudinal study of 420 breastfeeding women was undertaken in Glasgow in 2004/05. Participants were recruited and completed a baseline questionnaire before discharge from hospital. Cases of mastitis were reported either directly to the researchers or were detected during regular follow-up telephone interviews at weeks 3, 8, 18 and 26. Women experiencing mastitis provided further information of their symptoms and the management and advice they received from health professionals. Results In total, 74 women (18%) experienced at least one episode of mastitis. More than one half of initial episodes (53%) occurred within the first four weeks postpartum. One in ten women (6/57) were inappropriately advised to either stop breastfeeding from the affected breast or to discontinue breastfeeding altogether. Conclusion Approximately one in six women is likely to experience one or more episodes of mastitis whilst breastfeeding. A small but clinically important proportion of women continue to receive inappropriate management advice from health professionals which, if followed, could lead them to unnecessarily deprive their infants prematurely of the known nutritional and immunological benefits of breast milk

Insights into the complexity of presentation and management of patients: The sport and exercise physician’s perspective

Objectives: Sport and Exercise Physicians represent a relatively new specialty focusing on exercise in complex diseases including musculoskeletal diseases. Our objective was to describe the characteristics, type and complexity of patient presentations, their management strategies and referral information in Australian practice. Methods: A cross-sectional study including a cohort of 11 senior Sport and Exercise Physicians in Australia studied all new patient consultations within an 8-week period. Data were analysed relating to presentation, referral source, follow-up referrals, and patient management strategies. Results: Data from 419 patients were recorded. The majority, 97% (n=406), had musculoskeletal conditions, 53% (n=222) had one or more associated comorbidities and 47% (n=195) had ongoing symptoms for \u3e 12 months. Most patients, 82% (n=355), were referred by general practitioners. Prior consultations included physiotherapy 72% (n=301) and orthopaedic 20% (n=85). A multidisciplinary network of referrals from Sport and Exercise Physicians was observed, including 210 referrals to 9 allied health specialities and 61 referrals to 17 medical specialities. Over 74% (n=311) of patients received exercise-based intervention as part of the treatment plan, including 57% (n=240) physician managed exercise interventions. Conclusion: Our work shines a light on the nature and complexity of the role of Sport and Exercise Physicians in an Australian practice context. Findings will assist in implementing measures to promote patient care at the community level in managing musculoskeletal conditions. Sport and exercise medicine stakeholders and government policy makers can use this information in developing appropriate programmes to support patients and create integrated sport and exercise medicine services for the community

Rosiglitazone is a superior bronchodilator compared to chloroquine and beta-adrenoceptor agonists in mouse lung slices

BACKGROUND: Current therapy for relieving bronchoconstriction may be ineffective in severe asthma, particularly in the small airways. The aim of this study was to further characterise responses to the recently identified novel bronchodilators rosiglitazone (RGZ) and chloroquine (CQ) under conditions where β-adrenoceptor agonist efficacy was limited or impaired in mouse small airways within lung slices. METHODS: Relaxation to RGZ and CQ was assessed following submaximal methacholine (MCh) pre-contraction, in slices treated overnight with either RGZ, CQ or albuterol (ALB) (to induce β-adrenoceptor desensitization), and in slices treated with caffeine/ryanodine in which contraction is associated with increases in Ca(2+) sensitivity in the absence of contractile agonist-induced Ca(2+) oscillations. Furthermore, the effects of RGZ, CQ, ALB and isoproterenol (ISO) on the initiation and development of methacholine-induced contraction were also compared. RESULTS: RGZ and CQ, but not ALB or ISO, elicited complete relaxation with increasing MCh pre-contraction and maintained their potency and efficacy following β-adrenoceptor desensitization. RGZ, CQ and ALB maintained efficacy following overnight incubation with RGZ or CQ. Relaxation responses to all dilators were generally maintained but delayed after caffeine/ryanodine. Pre-treatment with RGZ, but not CQ, ALB or ISO, reduced MCh potency. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the superior effectiveness of RGZ in comparison to CQ and β-adrenoceptor agonists as a dilator of mouse small airways. Further investigation of the mechanisms underlying the relatively greater efficacy of RGZ under these conditions are warranted and should be extended to include studies in human asthmatic airways