Conservation of engrailed-like homeobox sequences during vertebrate evolution

AbstractThe Drosophila melanogaster developmental gene engrailed (en) is a member of a distinct subfamily of homeobox genes with a wide phylogenetic distribution. Here we report the use of reduced stringency polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify and clone 8 genes related to en from 5 vertebrate species, including representatives of the most ancient vertebrate lineages. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence comparisons between mouse, toad, zebrafish, lamprey and hagfish genes reveal extensive evolutionary conservation, and suggests that 2 en-like genes have been retained in most vertebrate lineages

Global Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions are a popular method for enabling the business processes required to compete in advent of globalisation. The textiles industry’s global customer base has specific cost and availability needs that are forcing suppliers to become more sophisticated in the management of manufacturing and where this is becoming increasingly dependent upon the successful choice and implementation of IT. Case evidence highlights how globalisation pressured a firm to align organisation structures with business processes and business strategy with IT strategy in order to compete. It also shows the complexity that the choice of an ERP solution brings to implementation

The Influence of Legacy Information Systems on Business Process Change Strategies

Business Process Change (BPC) is cited as a generic concept that is enabled by IT yet the influence of legacy information systems upon this receives little attention in the associated literatures. Case study evidence shows that BPC strategies are influenced by the state of legacy information systems in addition to those commonly recognised as stemming from business pressures and strategic vision. More importantly, the paper shows that BPC is not generic, that there are in fact dimensions to business process change and that these need to be carefully utilised in the light of legacy information systems in order to affect change successfully

Cloning of segment polarity gene homologues from the unsegmented brachiopod Terebratulina retusa (Linnaeus)

AbstractWe have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify, clone and sequence homologues of the Drosophila segment polarity genes engrailed (en), cubitus interruptus Dominant (ciD) and wingless (wg) from the genome of the brachiopod, Terebratulina retusa (Linnaeus). The deduced translation products of brachiopod en and ciD share high levels of sequence identity with their Drosophila homologues. The brachiopod wg-related clone is divergent from Drosophila wg, although clearly a member of the wg/Wnt gene family. These results indicate that structural diversity of Drosophila segment polarity genes has been evolutionarily conserved in a divergent, ancient and unsegmented animal phylum

Squeezed state metrology with Bragg interferometers operating in a cavity

Bragg interferometers, operating using pseudospin-1/2 systems composed of two momentum states, have become a mature technology for precision measurements. State-of-the-art Bragg interferometers are rapidly surpassing technical limitations and are soon expected to operate near the projection noise limit set by uncorrelated atoms. Despite the use of large numbers of atoms, their operation is governed by single-atom physics. Motivated by recent proposals and demonstrations of Raman gravimeters in cavities, we propose a scheme to squeeze directly on momentum states for surpassing the projection noise limit in Bragg interferometers. In our modeling, we consider the unique issues that arise when a spin squeezing protocol is applied to momentum pseudospins. Specifically, we study the effects of the momentum width of the atomic cloud and the coupling to momentum states outside the pseudospin manifold, as these atoms interact via a mode of the cavity.Weshow that appreciable levels of spin squeezing can be demonstrated in suitable parameter regimes in spite of these complications. Using this setting, we show how beyond mean-field techniques developed for spin systems can be adapted to study the dynamics of momentum states of interacting atoms. Our scheme promises to be feasible using current technology and is experimentally attractive because it requires no additional setup beyond what will be required to operate Bragg interferometers in cavities

Admission to NICU in air is more likely if nasal High Flow is used for stabilisation in preterm babies compared to face mask CPAP

Objective. To examine the success of stabilisation and the short term outcomes from the routine use of nasal high flow (nHF) on an unselected cohort of babies in the delivery room (DR). Design. Retrospective single-centre study Setting. Single-centre neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) Patients. Infants born at < 32 weeks gestation Interventions. Stabilisation and transfer to NICU of an unselected cohort of babies using nHF Main outcome measures. Success of stabilisation defined by successful transfer on nHF and clinical measures of stability at admission to NICU, including oxygen requirement, admission temperature, surfactant requirement, short term outcomes and whether infants were sustained on nHF by 72 hours of age. Results. There were 133 eligible babies. 54 were commenced on nHF in the DR (Group A), 47 were stabilised by face mask CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) (Group B), 26 were intubated (Group C); 6 required only minimal respiratory support (Group D). Median maturity varied between the groups (Group A 27+5 weeks, Group B 30 weeks, Group C 26+2 weeks, Group D 31+5). 72% of Group A and 75% of Group B remained on nHF for 72 hours (P=0.82). Fewer babies received surfactant in Group A versus Group B (29% vs 35%; P=0.67), however groups were not matched for maturity differences and Group A were significantly less mature and of lower birthweight (both P<0.001). Group A were significantly more likely to be in air at admission than Group B (P=0.03). Conclusion. Preterm babies can be successfully stabilised and sustained on nHF. The use of nHF for immediate stabilisation appears to be effective and, in this study, led to significantly more babies being in air on admission to the NICU compared to face mask CPAP stabilisation

Validation of the Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID) Questionnaire and its potential as a single-item outcome measure in clinical practice

OBJECTIVES: The Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID) Questionnaire is a recently developed patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) of disease impact in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). We set out to assess the validity in an independent cohort of patients, estimate the minimally important difference for improvement and explore the potential of individual components of the PsAID in clinical practice.METHODS: Data were collected prospectively for a single-centre cohort of patients with PsA. Construct validity was assessed by Spearman correlation with other PROMs and reliability by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) at 1 week. Sensitivity to change at 3 months was determined by the standardised response mean (SRM) in those patients with active disease requiring a change in treatment.RESULTS: A total of 129 patients (mean ±SD age 52.1±13.3, 57% women, disease duration 10.2±8 years) completed the baseline questionnaires and assessments. The mean baseline PsAID12 score was 3.92±2.26 with an ICC of 0.91 (95%CI 0.87 to 0.94). The SE of measurement was 0.51 and the minimal detectable change was 1.41. There was strong correlation (r≥0.70) with most of the PROMs studied and moderate correlation with clinical outcomes (r=0.40-0.57). The SRM of the PsAID12 was 0.74 (95%CI 0.45 to 0.97). There was strong correlation with individual PsAID items and their corresponding PROM questionnaires (r≥0.67).CONCLUSION: The PsAID is a reliable, feasible and discriminative measure in patients with PsA. The good responsiveness of the PsAID and strong correlation of individual items with other PROMS represent an opportunity to reduce questionnaire burden for patients in studies and clinical practice.</p

Rights, 'right on' or the right thing to do? A critical exploration of young people's engagement in participative social work research

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the participative processes of a research project with young people that was overtly ‘participative’ in its aim. In doing so it attempts to contribute to debates about participative research. In this paper we join with others in critiquing the notion that research which aims to be participative is necessarily more enabling for participants, is ethically or morally superior to other types of research or produces ‘better’ research. Nonetheless, we argue that participatory research can make a central contribution, in providing an ethical, epistemological and political framework and in the potential for rich ‘findings’. We understand participative research with children and young people to mean that which involves participants in some of the process of research, such as question-setting, research design, ethical review, data generation, analysis or dissemination rather than simply providing data through more or less engaging methods. We understand participation as not being something just about children or about children in opposition to adults, but as part of a complex inter-subjective relationship between adults and children (where both adults and children are being encouraged to step outside normative generational roles). An analysis of participation can potentially examine microexchanges between adults and children, between children, and between adults, as well as a broader picture. In what follows we argue that, whilst the discipline of childhood studies has engaged critically with the notion of children’s participation in society, there has been less critical discussion, and perhaps indeed some complacency, about the claims made for participatory research with children