Methods used for protein extraction

Methods used for protein extractio

Citizens are happier in countries where the government intervenes more frequently in the economy

What types of public policy promote greater happiness among citizens? Patrick Flavin, Alexander C. Pacek and Benjamin Radcliff present results from an analysis of survey data across 21 industrialised democracies between 1981 and 2007. They find that in countries where governments intervene more frequently in the economy there is a higher degree of self-reported happiness among citizens. They note that while these findings cannot strictly be taken as evidence that social democratic policies are better in a normative sense overall, the results suggest that more research is required on the impact of a country’s political context on the happiness of its citizens

Stages of development and injury: an epidemiological survey of young children presenting to an emergency department

<p><b>Background:</b> The aim of our study was to use a local (Glasgow, west of Scotland) version of a Canadian injury surveillance programme (CHIRPP) to investigate the relationship between the developmental stage of young (pre-school) children, using age as a proxy, and the occurrence (incidence, nature, mechanism and location) of injuries presenting to a Scottish hospital emergency department, in an attempt to replicate the findings of a recent study in Kingston, Canada.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> We used the Glasgow CHIRPP data to perform two types of analyses. First, we calculated injury rates for that part of the hospital catchment area for which reasonably accurate population denominators were available. Second, we examined detailed injury patterns, in terms of the circumstances, mechanisms, location and types of injury. We compared our findings with those of the Kingston researchers.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> A total of 17,793 injury records for children aged up to 7 years were identified over the period 1997–99. For 1997–2001, 6,188 were used to calculate rates in the west of the city only. Average annual age specific rates per 1000 children were highest in both males and females aged 12–35 months. Apart from the higher rates in Glasgow, the pattern of injuries, in terms of breakdown factors, mechanism, location, context, and nature of injury, were similar in Glasgow and Kingston.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> We replicated in Glasgow, UK, the findings of a Canadian study demonstrating a correlation between the pattern of childhood injuries and developmental stage. Future research should take account of the need to enhance statistical power and explore the interaction between age and potential confounding variables such as socio-economic deprivation. Our findings highlight the importance of designing injury prevention interventions that are appropriate for specific stages of development in children.</p&gt

Organising care, practice and participative research : Papers from the cognitive decline partnership centre

Non peer reviewe

Expression microarray analysis of papillary thyroid carcinoma and benign thyroid tissue: emphasis on the follicular variant and potential markers of malignancy

The most common sub-variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the so-called follicular variant (FVPTC), which is a particularly problematic lesion and can be challenging from a diagnostic viewpoint even in resected lesions. Although fine needle aspiration cytology is very useful in the diagnosis of PTC, its accuracy and utility would be greatly facilitated by the development of specific markers for PTC and its common variants. We used the recently developed Applied Biosystems 1700 microarray system to interrogate a series of 11 benign thyroid lesions and conditions and 14 samples of PTC (six with classic morphology and eight with follicular variant morphology). TaqMan® reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the expression portfolios of 50 selected transcripts. Our data corroborates potential biomarkers previously identified in the literature, such as LGALS3, S100A11, LYN, BAX, and cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44). However, we have also identified numerous transcripts never previously implicated in thyroid carcinogenesis, and many of which are not represented on other microarray platforms. Diminished expression of metallothioneins featured strongly among these and suggests a possible role for this family as tumour suppressors in PTC. Fifteen transcripts were significantly associated with FVPTC morphology. Surprisingly, these genes were associated with an extremely narrow repertoire of functions, including the major histocompatibility complex and cathepsin families

Problem gambling: a suitable case for social work?

Problem gambling attracts little attention from health and social care agencies in the UK. Prevalence surveys suggest that 0.6% of the population are problem gamblers and it is suggested that for each of these individuals, 10–17 other people, including children and other family members, are affected. Problem gambling is linked to many individual and social problems including: depression, suicide, significant debt, bankruptcy, family conflict, domestic violence, neglect and maltreatment of children and offending. This makes the issue central to social work territory. Yet, the training of social workers in the UK has consistently neglected issues of addictive behaviour. Whilst some attention has been paid in recent years to substance abuse issues, there has remained a silence in relation to gambling problems. Social workers provide more help for problems relating to addictions than other helping professions. There is good evidence that treatment, and early intervention for gambling problems, including psycho-social and public health approaches, can be very effective. This paper argues that problem gambling should be moved onto the radar of the social work profession, via inclusion on qualifying and post-qualifying training programmes and via research and dissemination of good practice via institutions such as the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Keywords: problem gambling; addictive behaviour; socia

Suppression of cancer stemness p21-regulating mRNA and microRNA signatures in recurrent ovarian cancer patient samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malignant ovarian disease is characterised by high rates of mortality due to high rates of recurrent chemoresistant disease. Anecdotal evidence indicates this may be due to chemoresistant properties of cancer stem cells (CSCs). However, our understanding of the role of CSCs in recurrent ovarian disease remains sparse. In this study we used gene microarrays and meta-analysis of our previously published microRNA (miRNA) data to assess the involvement of cancer stemness signatures in recurrent ovarian disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Microarray analysis was used to characterise early regulation events in an embryonal carcinoma (EC) model of cancer stemness. This was then compared to our previously published microarray data from a study of primary versus recurrent ovarian disease. In parallel, meta-analysis was used to identify cancer stemness miRNA signatures in tumor patient samples.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Microarray analysis demonstrated a 90% difference between gene expression events involved in early regulation of differentiation in murine EC (mEC) and embryonic stem (mES) cells. This contrasts the known parallels between mEC and mES cells in the undifferentiated and well-differentiated states. Genelist comparisons identified a cancer stemness signature set of genes in primary versus recurrent data, a subset of which are known p53-p21 regulators. This signature is present in primary and recurrent or in primary alone but essentially never in recurrent tumors specifically. Meta-analysis of miRNA expression showed a much stronger cancer stemness signature within tumor samples. This miRNA signature again related to p53-p21 regulation and was expressed prominently in recurrent tumors. Our data indicate that the regulation of p53-p21 in ovarian cancer involves, at least partially, a cancer stemness component.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We present a p53-p21 cancer stemness signature model for ovarian cancer. We propose that this may, at least partially, differentially regulate the p53-p21 mechanism in ovarian disease. Targeting CSCs within ovarian cancer represents a potential therapeutic avenue.</p

Coumarins and pyranocoumarins, potential novel pharmacophores for inhibition ofmeasles virus replication

A series of coumarin and pyranocoumarin analogues were evaluated in vitro for antiviral efficacy against measles virus (MV), strain Chicago. Of the 22 compounds tested for inhibition, six were found to have selectivity indices greater than 10. These were compounds 5-hydroxy-7-propionyloxy- 4-propylcoumarin (2a), 5,7-bis(tosyloxy)-4- propylcoumarin (7); 5-hydroxy-4-propyl-7-tosyloxy- coumarin (8); 6,6-dimethyl-9-propionyloxy-4- propyl-2H,6H-benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b′]dipyran-2-one (9); 6,6-dimethyl-9-pivaloyloxy-4-propyl-2H,6Hbenzo[ 1,2-b:3,4-b′]dipyran-2-one (10); and 7,8-cis- 10,11,12-trans-4-propyl-6,6,10,11-tetramethyl- 7,8,9-trihydroxy-2H,6H,12H-benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b′:5,6- b′′]tripyran-2-one (18). Three of the active drugs were propyl coumarin analogues (2a, 7 and 8), two were dipyranone or chromeno-coumarins (9 and 10), and one was a benzotripyranone with a coumarin nucleus (18). Some appeared to be rather specific and potent inhibitors of MV with EC50 values ranging from 0.2 to 50 μg/ml and the majority of the EC50 values being less than 5 μg/ml. The compounds inhibited an additional nine strains of MV, and in virucidal tests the drugs did not physically disrupt the virion to inhibit virus replication. The inhibitory activity for one of the compounds tested (7) was somewhat dependent on virus concentration and it was still active when added to cells up to 24 h after virus exposure. When used in combination with ribavirin, compound 7 appeared not to profoundly affect the antiviral efficacy of ribavirin or its cell-associated toxicity. However, a slightly antagonistic MVinhibitory effect was observed at the highest concentration of ribavirin used in combination with most concentrations of compound 7 tested. This and related compounds may be valuable leads in the development of a potent and selective class of MV inhibitors that could be used in future in the clinic