A comparison of active learning and direct instruction on college students enrolled in two classes of introductory photography

The purpose of this study was to learn about teaching methods and their effects on achievement and skill. The problem was to investigate the effects of both active learning and direct instruction (lecture/demonstration) on students\u27 ability to produce a continuous tone, ten step gray scale, black and white photographic print. The researcher arranged for a college instructor of photography to teach two intact classes of General Photography using the two instructional methods. The objectives for both classes were the same. Each student in both groups completed eight photographic assignments. After twelve (12) weeks of instruction and studio/lab work, each student in both groups was then asked to produce one criterion print. Those prints were rated by two photography experts using a five point Likert scale. Each photograph was evaluated by both judges and each print was assigned a score from one to five for range of tone. The data were organized into a one dimensional design for differences. A t-test for independent samples was used to determine the mean difference between experimental and control groups. There was no statistically significant difference found for type of instruction

Chemical ear peeling: a simple technique for the treatment of chronic external otitis: how we do it

[NFew conditions encountered by otolaryngologists are as frustrating as chronic otitis externa and recurrent exacerbation presents a special challenge for the attending physician. The disease may be extremely therapy-resistant: a great many patients report chronic suffering from otitis externa with inadequate and inefficacious treatment attempts.1 Current medical treatment is based on topical application of steroids, antibiotics and external auditory canal cleansing.2 Moreover, there are no long-term outcome data on medical management.3 In this study we present, showing the short- and longterm clinical outcomes, a new, safe and simple therapeutic technique for the management of chronic otitis externa: chemical ear peeling (CEP).o abstract available

First-Trimester Follistatin-Like-3 Levels in Pregnancies Complicated by Subsequent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: To determine whether maternal levels of follistatin-like-3 (FSTL3), an inhibitor of activin and myostatin involved in glucose homeostasis, are altered in the first trimester of pregnancies complicated by subsequent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Research Design and Methods: This was a nested case-control study of subjects enrolled in a prospective cohort of pregnant women with and without GDM ($\geq$2 abnormal values on a 100-g glucose tolerance test at ~28 weeks of gestation). We measured FSTL3 levels in serum collected during the first trimester of pregnancy. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the risk of GDM. Results: Women who developed GDM (n = 37) had lower first-trimester serum levels of FSTL3 compared with women who did not (n = 127) (median 10,789 [interquartile range 7,013-18,939] vs. 30,670 [18,370-55,484] pg/ml, P < 0.001). When subjects were divided into tertiles based on FSTL3 levels, women with the lowest levels demonstrated a marked increase in risk for developing GDM in univariate (odds ratio 11.2 [95% CI 3.6-35.3]) and multivariate (14.0 [4.1-47.9]) analyses. There was a significant negative correlation between first-trimester FSTL3 levels and ~28-week nonfasting glucose levels (r = -0.30, P < 0.001). Conclusions: First-trimester FSTL3 levels are associated with glucose intolerance and GDM later in pregnancy

Evoluzione morfologica del P.S.I. allevato in Italia

Viene valutata la morfologia del Puro Sangue Inglese mediante misurazioni che sono state confrontate con quelle ottenute nel 1958 in un lavoro simile ottenendo interessanti informazioni sull'evoluzione di questa razza

Acetyl salmon endorphin-like and interrenal stress response in male gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata

The present study investigates the role of melanotrope proopiomelanocortinderived peptide in the interrenal stress response to different stressors in male gilthead sea bream, Sparus aur ata. Plasma cortisol and acetyl salmon endorphin (acetyl s-EP), as well as pituitary acetyl s-EP contents, were measured during two stress paradigms: (a) long-term (l-month) confinement and crowding, and (b) short-term (60-min) confinement, crowding, and manipulation. In addition, naltrexone, a highly specific opioid receptor antagonist, was employed in some experimental groups to evaluate the adaptability of the opioid response to interrenal stress. In the long-term (I-month) confinement and crowding, higher plasma cortisol levels and acetyl s-EP concentrations than in the control group were found. However, although plasma cortisol levels significantly increased in both types of stress paradigm, a significant rise in plasma acetyl s-EP was observed only in the case of confinement plus crowding. These data seem to suggest a direct correlation of acetyl s-EP plasma levels exclusively in cases of specific stress, and support previous observations about the different nature of the pituitary-interrenal stress response in salmonids and in mammals. The results obtained in the short-term (60-min) experiments demonstrate the double activation of both the opioid and corticotrope systems when manipulation plus crowding was applied

Autonomic and neuroendocrine responses to stress in patients with functional hypothalamic secondary amenorrhea.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of women affected by functional hypothalamic secondary amenorrhea (FHSA) or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to adapt to stress. DESIGN: Controlled clinical study. Setting: University hospital. PATIENT(s): Thirty-one patients affected by FHSA, 29 patients with PCOS, and 30 eumenorrheic women. INTERVENTION(s): The subjects took the Stroop Color Word (Stroop CW) test and underwent blood sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(s): Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and serum cortisol levels. RESULT(s): The healthy controls had better Stroop CW scores than patients with FHSA. Serum cortisol levels significantly increased during Stroop CW with respect to the baseline in patients with FHSA or PCOS but not in the healthy controls. The SBP, DBP, and HR of the controls as well as SBP and DBP of patients with PCOS were significantly higher than those measured in patients with FHSA both at the baseline and during Stroop CW. CONCLUSION(s): Patients with FHSA do not cope as well as healthy patients, and their autonomic response to stress is worse than both controls and patients with PCOS

DEFICIT OF GALANIN-LIKE IMMUNOSTAINING IN THE MEDIAN-EMINENCE OF ADULT HYPOTHYROID RATS

In this paper we describe the modification of the galanin (GAL)-like immunostaining in the hypothalamus of rats, which were made hypothyroid at 52 days after birth. On 21st day after the surgical ablation of the thyroid gland, the staining of the GAL-immunoreactive fibers in the median eminence decreased and on the 84th day disappeared almost totally. The GAL-immunoreactive distribution in other areas of the hypothalamus, e.g. the anterior hypothalamus and the dorsomedial nucleus, is only slightly affected by the absence of thyroid hormones, whereas the GAL-staining of medulla oblongata (vagal complex) is equal in both control and hypothyroid rats. In hypothyroid colchicine-treated rats, we were unable to stain GAL-immunoreactive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Oxytocin- and vasopressin-like material was present in the magnocellular neurons and the staining pattern in hypothyroid rats was the same as that of control animals. Our data show a marked reduction in the expression of the GAL-like immunoreactivity of the PVN and median eminence of adult hypothyroid rats. The possible role of this deficit in the pathogenesis of the GH secretion impairment that is observed in hypothyroid rats is discussed

Expression of pro-opiomelanocortin gene in human ovarian tissue

The high concentration of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides in human follicular fluid, which is several times higher than in plasma, suggested a local expression of the POMC gene. This has previously been observed in the animal ovaries. Peripheral POMC-like mRNAs are not translated in POMC-derived peptides but recent evidence supports the presence of a small amount of full-length transcript in human testes and lymphocytes. The purpose of this study was to test two hypotheses: firstly, that there is a different pattern of POMC mRNA expression in the human ovary of fertile and post-menopausal women, and secondly that there is a tissue-specific localization of POMC transcript. Northern blot analysis showed that a potential relationship exists between POMC gene expression and the reproductive age of a woman, and that POMC mRNA has a tissue-specific localization. The expression of POMC messenger in the ovarian parenchyma collected from women of fertile age and in the germinative follicles appeared higher than that observed in samples from post-menopausal women. No signals were detected in corpora lutea. In conclusion, we believe that the physiological role of the POMC gene in the human ovary remains an unsolved problem, necessitating more sensitive methods of mRNA detection as well as further studies in vitro