Enzymatic transhalogenation of dendritic RGD peptide constructs with the fluorinase

We thank EPSRC and the Scottish Imaging Network (SINAPSE) for grants. DO’H thanks the Royal Society for a Wolfson Research Merit Award and ST is grateful to the John and Kathleen Watson Scholarship for financial support. We are grateful to Dr Catherine Botting and Dr Sally Shirran of the St Andrews Mass Spectrometry Service for MALDI-MS acquisitions. We also thank Dr Sally Pimlott of the University of Glasgow for the use of radiochemistry facilities. Open access via RSC Gold for Gold.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Whose Responsibility Is It to Develop and Extend Practice Education Beyond Professional Training?

Practice education has historically focused on the development of learners’ skills in the prequalification period. This article argues that generic skills exist which could be extended to the development of skills in other qualified professional staff and in direct care staff who may lack professional qualifications. It points to the crucial link between education, supervision and governance and notes the absence of much good practice. It argues that commissioners of services may need to be educated in the contribution these skills can make to high-quality health and social care provision

Perceived Attractiveness of Two Types of Altruist

Empirical evidence has demonstrated that in long-term romantic contexts altruists are favoured over non-altruists. Costly signalling theory suggests that altruism informs observers that cooperating with the altruist is beneficial. This paper distinguishes between types of altruism to investigate if there is a differential effect on desirability across types. Using dating advertisements, participants (observers) received information about a considerate altruist, heroic altruist or neutral character and then rated their attraction to the character in a range of romantic and non-romantic contexts. It was hypothesised that both considerate and heroic characters would be rated by observers as more desirable than the neutral advert in long-term romantic contexts and that there would be a difference in desirability scores between the considerate and heroic characters. The results of study 1 showed that considerate altruists were significantly more desirable than the neutral advert in long-term romantic contexts, but heroic altruists did not differ significantly from neutral or considerate characters. Study 2 did not find the same pattern of results across the whole sample – but younger participants did demonstrate the same preference for considerate altruists over a neutral character in long-term romantic contexts. The findings are discussed in the context of the sex difference in mate preferences where females more than males desire qualities that signal resource acquisition. Overall, these findings suggest that considerate altruism signals good character traits to observers, such as kindness, which could indicate parenting ability and characters who signal these traits will have increased reproductive success because they are more desirable and therefore have access to more/better quality reproductive mates. Furthermore, the results suggest that considerate and heroic altruism may be distinct, and that considerate altruism is the more desirable type of altruism

The Potential of Cacao Agribusiness for Poverty Alleviation in West Sumatra

The cacao industry has played an important role in terms of export earnings and employment opportunities in Indonesia since 1980s. It is the main source of income for more than one million smallholder farmers in Indonesia, who are considered poor. Most planted areas of cacao are in Eastern Indonesia; however, cacao production has developed in Western Indonesia recently, with West Sumatra designated as the area of central production. Due to the importance of cacao industry in the Indonesian economy, there is a big opportunity to explore the potential of the industry in poverty alleviation. The study uses the participatory impact pathway analysis (PIPA) method. It is a new approach to formulate a development strategy and policies proposed by the Institutional Learning and Change. This approach is used because it: (1) covers impact analysis in order to investigate the potential contribution of cacao agribusiness development to poverty alleviation, which is not covered by other participatory approaches; and (2) can be used to identify stakeholders‟ relationships for cacao agribusiness development. The use of PIPA in this study involves various tools: a participatory workshop, surveys and semi-structured interviews. Problems facing the cacao industry were identified through the workshop, including low yields and price and price instability. Lack of knowledge by farmers of agronomic practices and low quality of seedlings were considered to be the main causes of low yields by the participants. Low price of cacao beans was thought to be mainly caused by low quality of cacao beans while lack of cooperation between farmers and the village cooperative and lack of a farmers‟ association were considered to be the main factors affecting price instability. Farmer survey data results show slightly different priorities from the workshop. Most cacao farmers disagreed on the problem of low yields and low price of cacao beans but a high proportion agreed on the problem of price instability and confirmed that cacao farmers face a problem of low quality of cacao beans. Most farmers do not know the cause of price instability, while improper fermentation was agreed as the main factor causing the low quality of cacao beans.agribusiness economics and management, international development, farm management., Agribusiness, Farm Management, International Development,

Novel technique for reversing phrenic nerve paresis secondary to interscalene brachial plexus block

Interscalene brachial plexus block is the reference analgesic technique for shoulder surgery. Phrenic nerve palsy with hemidiaphragmatic paresis is an established complication that results in symptomatic dyspnoea in a small number of subjects, and is poorly tolerated. Established management is supportive and assumes that, once administered, the duration of the block is unalterable. A case is presented of saline washout as a rescue measure for severe dyspnoea due to phrenic nerve palsy following interscalene brachial plexus block. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case of this method used to reverse a single-injection brachial plexus block.Keywords: brachial plexus block, diaphragm, local anaesthetics, phrenic nerv

Binding of αvβ3 Integrin-Specific Radiotracers Is Modulated by Both Integrin Expression Level and Activation Status

Open Access via Springer Compact Agreement Acknowledgements We are very grateful to Prof. Calderwood (Yale University, USA) for providing the THD DNA construct, Dr. Massimiliano Baldassarre (University of Aberdeen) for useful discussions on integrin regulation and Charlie Taylor for helping to optimise the THD transfection experiments. We thank the NHS Grampian Endowment Fund for funding this research and CRANES and the Roland Sutton Academic Trust for financial support for AA.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessing risks of invasion through gamete performance: farm Atlantic salmon sperm and eggs show equivalence in function, fertility, compatibility and competitiveness to wild Atlantic salmon

Adaptations at the gamete level (a) evolve quickly, (b) appear sensitive to inbreeding and outbreeding and (c) have important influences on potential to reproduce. We apply this understanding to problems posed by escaped farm salmon and measure their potential to reproduce in the wild. Farm Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are a threat to biodiversity, because they escape in large numbers and can introgress, dilute or disrupt locally adapted wild gene pools. Experiments at the whole fish level have found farm reproductive potential to be significant, but inferior compared to wild adults, especially for males. Here, we assess reproductive performance at the gamete level through detailed in vitro comparisons of the form, function, fertility, compatibility and competitiveness of farm versus wild Atlantic salmon sperm and eggs, in conditions mimicking the natural gametic microenvironment, using fish raised under similar environmental conditions. Despite selective domestication and reduced genetic diversity, we find functional equivalence in all farm fish gamete traits compared with their wild ancestral strain. Our results identify a clear threat of farm salmon reproduction with wild fish and therefore encourage further consideration of using triploid farm strains with optimized traits for aquaculture and fish welfare, as triploid fish remain reproductively sterile following escape

New standard: not just BS(i)

New standard: not just BS(i

Clinical value of 3'-deoxy-3'-[18F]fluorothymidine-positron emission tomography for diagnosis, staging and assessing therapy response in lung cancer

Funding This review was supported by funding provided by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Cultural Bureau in London, UK. We also gratefully acknowledge Friends of Anchor for their generous financial support of our research. Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analyses during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Peer reviewedPublisher PD