Estradiol, Progesterone, and Transforming Growth Factor α Regulate Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 (IGFBP3) Expression in Mouse Endometrial Cells

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) Is Involved in the proliferation of mouse and rat endometrial cells in a paracrine or autocrine manner. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) modulates actions of IGFs directly or indirectly. The present study aimed to determine whether IGFBP3 is Involved In the regulation of proliferation of mouse endometrial cells. Mouse endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells were isolated, and cultured In a serum free medium. IGF1 stimulated DNA synthesis by endometrial epithelial and stromal cells, and IGFBP3 Inhibited IGF1-induced DNA synthesis. Estradiol-17 beta (E2) decreased the Igfbp3 mRNA level in endometrial stromal cells, whereas It Increased the Igf1 mRNA level. Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) significantly decreased IGFBP3 expression at both the mRNA and secreted protein levels in endometrial stromal cells. Progesterone (134) did not affect the E2-induced down-regulation of Igfbp3 mRNA expression in endometrial stromal cells, although P4 alone increased Igfbp3 mRNA levels. The present findings suggest that in mouse endometrial stromal cells E2 enhances IGF1 action through enhancement of IGF1 synthesis and reduction of IGFBP3 synthesis, and that TGF alpha affects IGF1 actions through modulation of IGFBP3 levels

Child and Family Therapy Process: Concordance of Therapist and Observational Perspectives

The objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of outpatient mental health services delivered in community-based outpatient clinics, comparing information obtained from two different sources, therapists serving children and families, and observational coders viewing tapes of the same treatment sessions. Videotaped therapy sessions were rated by therapists and independent coders regarding goals and strategies pursued during each session. Sixty-three sessions were taped of outpatient care provided to 18 children and their caregivers by 11 therapists. Children were 4–13 years old and families were receiving services at least in part due to reported child behavior problems, confirmed by ratings from the Child Behavior Checklist and Conners Parent Rating Scale—Revised. Analyses assessed the frequency, type, and intensity of goals and strategies pursued in therapy sessions from both therapist and observational coders’ perspectives. Reliability of observer ratings and correspondence between therapist and observer reports were also examined. The reliability of observational coding of goals and strategies was moderate to good, with 76% of 39 codes having ICCs of .5 or greater. Therapists reported pursuing 2.5 times more goals and strategies per session, on average, than identified by observational coders. Correspondence between therapists and coders about the occurrence of specific goals and strategies in treatment sessions was low, with 20.5% of codes having a Kappa of .4 or higher. Substantial differences exist in what therapists and independent coders report as occurring in outpatient treatment sessions. Both perspectives suggest major differences between the content of services provided in community-based outpatient clinics and the structure of evidence-based programs, which emphasize intense pursuit of a small number of goals and strategies in each treatment session. Implications of the findings for quality improvement efforts in community-based mental health care settings are discussed

Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Analysis of Sphaerexochine Trilobites

BACKGROUND: Sphaerexochinae is a speciose and widely distributed group of cheirurid trilobites. Their temporal range extends from the earliest Ordovician through the Silurian, and they survived the end Ordovician mass extinction event (the second largest mass extinction in Earth history). Prior to this study, the individual evolutionary relationships within the group had yet to be determined utilizing rigorous phylogenetic methods. Understanding these evolutionary relationships is important for producing a stable classification of the group, and will be useful in elucidating the effects the end Ordovician mass extinction had on the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the group. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cladistic parsimony analysis of cheirurid trilobites assigned to the subfamily Sphaerexochinae was conducted to evaluate phylogenetic patterns and produce a hypothesis of relationship for the group. This study utilized the program TNT, and the analysis included thirty-one taxa and thirty-nine characters. The results of this analysis were then used in a Lieberman-modified Brooks Parsimony Analysis to analyze biogeographic patterns during the Ordovician-Silurian. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The genus Sphaerexochus was found to be monophyletic, consisting of two smaller clades (one composed entirely of Ordovician species and another composed of Silurian and Ordovician species). By contrast, the genus Kawina was found to be paraphyletic. It is a basal grade that also contains taxa formerly assigned to Cydonocephalus. Phylogenetic patterns suggest Sphaerexochinae is a relatively distinctive trilobite clade because it appears to have been largely unaffected by the end Ordovician mass extinction. Finally, the biogeographic analysis yields two major conclusions about Sphaerexochus biogeography: Bohemia and Avalonia were close enough during the Silurian to exchange taxa; and during the Ordovician there was dispersal between Eastern Laurentia and the Yangtze block (South China) and between Eastern Laurentia and Avalonia

Urban Health: Evidence, Challenges, and Directions

Urbanization is one of the most important demographic shifts worldwide during the past century and represents a substantial change from how most of the world’s population has lived for the past several thousand years. The study of urban health considers how characteristics of the urban environment may affect population health. This paper reviews the empirical research assessing urban living’s impact on population health and our rationale for considering the study of urban health as a distinct field of inquiry. The key factors affecting health in cities can be considered within three broad themes: the physical environment, the social environment, and access to health and social services. The methodologic and conceptual challenges facing the study of urban health, arising both from the limitations of the research to date and from the complexities inherent in assessing the relations among complex urban systems, disease causation, and health are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40323/2/Galea_Urban Health - Evidence, Challenges, and Directions_2005.pd

IAEA Workshop and Field Trial at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site

In March 1994, members of the International Safeguards Department in the National Security Program Office (NSPO) hosted an environmental monitoring field trial workshop for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. The workshop was held at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site and its primary purpose was to train the inspectors in the techniques needed for effective environmental sample collection and handling. The workshop emphasized both sampling theory and practice. First, detailed techniques for swipe, vegetation, soil, biota, and water-associated sampling were covered in the classroom. Subsequently, the inspectors were divided into three groups for actual sample collection in and around the K-25 locale. The collected samples were processed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Network of Analytical Laboratories using established analytical techniques. This activity is part of the IAEA ``Programme 93+2 in. assessment of measures to enhance IAEA safeguards

Environmental Monitoring for Detection of Uranium Enrichment Operations: Comparison of LEU and HEU Facilities

In 1994, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) initiated an ambitious program of worldwide field trials to evaluate the utility of environmental monitoring for safeguards. Part of this program involved two extensive United States field trials conducted at the large uranium enrichment facilities. The Paducah operation involves a large low-enriched uranium (LEU) gaseous diffusion plant while the Portsmouth facilities include a large gaseous diffusion plant that has produced both LEU and high-enriched uranium (HEU) as well as an LEU centrifuge facility. As a result of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, management of the uranium enrichment operations was assumed by the US Enrichment Corporation (USEC). The facilities are operated under contract by Martin Marietta Utility Services. Martin Marietta Energy Systems manages the environmental restoration and waste management programs at Portsmouth and Paducah for DOE. These field trials were conducted. Samples included swipes from inside and outside process buildings, vegetation and soil samples taken from locations up to 8 km from main sites, and hydrologic samples taken on the sites and at varying distances from the sites. Analytical results from bulk analysis were obtained using high abundance sensitivity thermal ionization mm spectrometers (TIMS). Uranium isotopics altered from the normal background percentages were found for all the sample types listed above, even on vegetation 5 km from one of the enrichment facilities. The results from these field trials demonstrate that dilution by natural background uranium does not remove from environmental samples the distinctive signatures that are characteristic of enrichment operations. Data from swipe samples taken within the enrichment facilities were particularly revealing. Particulate analysis of these swipes provided a detailed ``history`` of both facilities, including the assays of the end product and tails for both facilities

Progress in MPC and A upgrades at Luch

Luch, a MINATOM facility, has been engaged in both scientific research and uranium processing for fifty years. Since the spring of 1996, Luch has participated in a program of US/Russia Cooperation in Nuclear MPC and A Upgrades. The program began with planning for immediate upgrades in MPC and A, with en emphasis on physical protection. In addition, US and Luch experts exchanged technical data during a number of workshops, to establish a common understanding of available MPC and A tools and equipment. Site characterizations and vulnerability assessments were then prepared by Luch, to form the basis for the current program of methodical upgrades in all areas of MPC and A. Access control, alarms and alarm communications are being improved as part of this program. Control of nuclear material is being enhanced through improvements in material monitoring and in transportation security when nuclear material is moved between buildings on the Luch site. A comprehensive, site-wide computer network for Luch was designed during a recent workshop. Acquiring and installing this computer system, complete with COREMAS software, is currently in progress. Nuclear material analysis will be improved through NDA techniques using Canberra InSpector systems. The planned upgrades in nuclear MPC and A will reinforce safeguards over large quantities of HEU at Luch

Data from: Evolution and spread of glyphosate resistance in Conyza canadensis in California

Recent increases in glyphosate use in perennial crops of California, USA, are hypothesized to have led to an increase in selection and evolution of resistance to the herbicide in Conyza canadensis populations. To gain insight into the evolutionary origins and spread of resistance and to inform glyphosate resistance management strategies, we investigated the geographical distribution of glyphosate resistance in C. canadensis across and surrounding the Central Valley, its spatial relationship to groundwater protection areas (GWPA), and the genetic diversity and population structure and history using microsatellite markers. Frequencies of resistant individuals in 42 sampled populations were positively correlated with the size of GWPA within counties. Analyses of population genetic structure also supported spread of resistance in these areas. Bayesian clustering and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) analyses revealed multiple independent origins of resistance within the Central Valley. Based on parameter estimation in the ABC analyses, resistant genotypes underwent expansion after glyphosate use began in agriculture, but many years before it was detected. Thus, diversity in weed control practices prior to herbicide regulation in GWPA probably kept resistance frequencies low. Regionally coordinated efforts to reduce seed dispersal and selection pressure are needed to manage glyphosate resistance in C. canadensis