Some aspects of therapy on a girl's psychiatric ward

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 195

Learning Networks Matter: Challenges to Developing Learning-Based Competence in Mango Production and Post-Harvest in Andhra Pradesh, India

This discussion paper explores aspects of innovation systems ideas in the analysis of mango production and export by smallscale farmers in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The paper shows how despite favourable agro-ecological conditions and being the largest international mango producer, India still struggles to build momentum in rapidly emerging export markets. An analysis of the sector's recent history combined with an empirical account of inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral linkage patterns among stakeholder groups appears to provide the basis for remedial policy suggestions. Most of these relate to aspects of integrated technology development and innovation management.innovation, innovation systems, mango, high-value, national competence, learning networks, South Asia, India

COMPETITIVENESS IN THE LIGHT OF SPORTS HABITS

Munkám során arra voltam kíváncsi, hogy régiónk lakosainak fittségi állapota hogyan viszonyul a magyarországi átlagos értékhez, illetve egy másik, kulturális és történelmi hagyományait tekintve eltérő hazai régióhoz. Annak megértése érdekében, hogy ezen fittségi állapot milyen okok miatt alakul ki, illetve annak milyen felnőtt és időskori következményei lesznek az adott populáció sportolási szokásainak szempontjából, kérdőíves felmérésekben vizsgáltam az Észak-alföldi régió lakosainak ilyen irányú szokásait. Arra kerestem választ, hogy melyek azok a tényezők, amik a sportolás iránti igényt meghatározzák, illetve melyek azok a visszatartó okok, amelyek miatt egyesek keveset, vagy egyáltalán nem sportolnak. Munkám további részében, annak felderítésére, hogy a fiatalkori szervezett sportolás milyen infrastrukturális és anyagi támogatottsággal rendelkezik, Magyarország sportiskolai rendszerét vizsgáltam. Megállapítottam, hogy a fiatalok egészségmagatartásának fejlesztése egyrészt elengedhetetlen a jövő egészséges generációjának felneveléséhez, másrészt, hogy ennek szükséges az országos méretű intézményi kereteit kialakítani.During my research work, I wanted to learn how the fitness status of the inhabitants of the region I live in correlates with the average Hungarian values and also with those of another Hungarian region which is different in terms of cultural and historical traditions. In order to understand the causes of the given fitness status, as well as the resulting consequences in adult and old age from the aspect of the sports habits of the given population, I carried out questionnaire surveys focusing on the respective habits of the inhabitants of the North Great Plain region. I was looking for the factors which determine people’s need to do sports and also the causes which keep certain people from doing enough or any sports. In the rest of my work, I examined the sports school system of Hungary in order to explore the infrastructural and financial background of organised sports at young age. I concluded that the development of the health behaviour of youngsters is indispensable from the aspect of raising a healthy future generation and that it is needed to develop the necessary country-wide institutional framework.d

Bioluminescent Francisella tularensis SCHU S4 enables non-invasive tracking of bacterial dissemination and the evaluation of antibiotics in an inhalational mouse model of tularaemia

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Hall CA, Flick-Smith HC, Harding SV, Atkins HS, and Titball RW. 2016. "A bioluminescent Francisella tularensis SCHU S4 strain enables noninvasive tracking of bacterial dissemination and the evaluation of antibiotics in an inhalational mouse model of tularemia", Antimicrob Agents Chemother 60:7206–7215. The version of record is available online at doi:10.1128/AAC.01586-16. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) enables real-time, noninvasive tracking of infection in vivo and longitudinal infection studies. In this study, a bioluminescent Francisella tularensis strain, SCHU S4-lux, was used to develop an inhalational infection model in BALB/c mice. Mice were infected intranasally, and the progression of infection was monitored in real time using BLI. A bioluminescent signal was detectable from 3 days postinfection (3 dpi), initially in the spleen and then in the liver and lymph nodes, before finally becoming systemic. The level of bioluminescent signal correlated with bacterial numbers in vivo, enabling noninvasive quantification of bacterial burdens in tissues. Treatment with levofloxacin (commencing at 4 dpi) significantly reduced the BLI signal. Furthermore, BLI was able to distinguish noninvasively between different levofloxacin treatment regimens and to identify sites of relapse following treatment cessation. These data demonstrate that BLI and SCHU S4-lux are suitable for the study of F. tularensis pathogenesis and the evaluation of therapeutics for tularemia.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The creation of effective learners using an autarchic study method

The aim of this study is to assess whether universities are meeting the needs of marketing students and consequently the needs of the corporate marketing sector. A comparison is made between marketing classes using a specific technology of study called an autarchic system, and those classes not using this method. As part of this analysis the study investigates the application of self-determination theory and psychological needs&nbsp; satisfaction. The basic needs scale, comprising two constructs; Control and Caring was adapted and used to evaluate students\u27 perception of subjects using autarchic study system and those not utilising this methodology. The study used a multi-method approach consisting of a literature review, a qualitative phase involving in-depth interviews with marketing teaching staff and focus groups with marketing students and a survey of students. An adapted version of the basic psychological needs scale was included in a questionnaire that was administered to a convenience sample of 441 students. ANOVAlMANOVA and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The pedagogy used in a conventional university setting is detailed and contrasted with the autarchic learning system. Findings strongly indicate students become far more able as learners when they have the knowledge of the types of learning barriers, they are coached to recognise the barrier when it occurs and apply the appropriate remedy as researched in this paper. These findings are of interest to educators, students, and industry as all sectors face significant social and financial losses because individuals are unable to duplicate instructions, maintain currency and plan tactically and strategically.<br /

Establishing a culture of research practice in an academic library: an Australian case study

The purpose of this paper is to describe the establishment of a Research Working Group at Flinders University Library, a mid-sized teaching and research university located in South Australia. The group was founded to encourage staff to develop a more reflective, research-oriented and evidence-based professional practice initially for a three year term. This paper comes at about two years into the pilot and provides an interim report of the group’s experiences and achievements

The percutaneous absorption of soman in a damaged skin porcine model and the evaluation of WoundStat™ as a topical decontaminant

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate a candidate haemostat (WoundStat™), down-selected from previous in vitro studies, for efficacy as a potential skin decontaminant against the chemical warfare agent pinacoyl methylfluorophosphonate (Soman, GD) using an in vivo pig model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An area of approximately 3 cm2 was dermatomed from the dorsal ear skin to a nominal depth of 100 µm. A discrete droplet of 14C-GD (300 µg kg-1) was applied directly onto the surface of the damaged skin at the centre of the dosing site. Animals assigned to the treatment group were given a 2 g application of WoundStat™ 30 s after GD challenge. The decontamination efficacy of WoundStat™ against GD was measured by the direct quantification of the distribution of 14C-GD, as well as routine determination of whole blood cholinesterase and physiological measurements. RESULTS: WoundStat™ sequestered approximately 70% of the applied 14C-GD. Internal radiolabel recovery from treated animals was approximately 1% of the initially applied dose. Whole blood cholinesterase levels decreased to less than 10% of the original value by 15 min post WoundStat™ treatment and gradually decreased until the onset of apnoea or until euthanasia. All treated animals showed signs of GD intoxication that could be grouped into early (mastication, fasciculations and tremor), intermediate (miosis, salivation and nasal secretions) and late onset (lacrimation, body spasm and apnoea) effects. Two of the six WoundStat™ treated animals survived the study duration. CONCLUSIONS: The current study has shown that the use of WoundStat™ as a decontaminant on damaged pig ear skin was unable to fully protect against GD toxicity. Importantly, the findings indicate that the use of WoundStat™ in GD contaminated wounds would not exacerbate GD toxicity. These data suggest that absorbent haemostatic products may offer some limited functionality as wound decontaminants.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Target mRNA inhibition by oligonucleotide drugs in man

Oligonucleotide delivery in vivo is commonly seen as the principal hurdle to the successful development of oligonucleotide drugs. In an analysis of 26 oligonucleotide drugs recently evaluated in late-stage clinical trials we found that to date at least half have demonstrated suppression of the target mRNA and/or protein levels in the relevant cell types in man, including those present in liver, muscle, bone marrow, lung, blood and solid tumors. Overall, this strongly implies that the drugs are being delivered to the appropriate disease tissues. Strikingly we also found that the majority of the drug targets of the oligonucleotides lie outside of the drugable genome and represent new mechanisms of action not previously investigated in a clinical setting. Despite the high risk of failure of novel mechanisms of action in the clinic, a subset of the targets has been validated by the drugs. While not wishing to downplay the technical challenges of oligonucleotide delivery in vivo, here we demonstrate that target selection and validation are of equal importance for the success of this fiel

Not just fat : investigating the proteome of cetacean blubber tissue

Mammalian adipose tissue is increasingly being recognized as an endocrine organ involved in the regulation of a number of metabolic processes and pathways. It responds to signals from different hormone systems and the central nervous system, and expresses a variety of protein factors with important paracrine and endocrine functions. This study presents a first step towards the systematic analysis of the protein content of cetacean adipose tissue, the blubber, in order to investigate the kinds of proteins present and their relative abundance. Full depth blubber subsamples were collected from dead-stranded harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) (n = 21). Three total protein extraction methods were trialled, and the highest total protein yields with the lowest extraction variability were achieved using a RIPA cell lysis and extraction buffer based protocol. Extracted proteins were separated using 1D Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and identified using nanoflow Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization in tandem with Mass Spectrometry (nLC-ESI–MS/MS). A range of proteins were identified (n = 295) and classed into eight functional groups, the most abundant of which were involved in cell function and metabolism (45%), immune response and inflammation (15%) and lipid metabolism (11%). These proteins likely originate both from the various cell types within the blubber tissue itself, and from the circulation. They therefore have the potential to capture information on the cellular and physiological stresses experienced by individuals at the time of sampling. The importance of this proteomic approach is two-fold: Firstly, it could help to assign novel functions to marine mammal blubber in keeping with current understanding of the multi-functional role of adipose tissue in other mammals. Secondly, it could lead to the development of a suite of biomarkers to better monitor the physiological state and health of live individuals though remote blubber biopsy sampling.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe