Substitute Site Measures in a Varying Parameter Model with Application to Recreational Fishing

This paper employs a varying parameter travel cost model to determine the economic valuation of fishing trips and catch for a sample of Long Island anglers. Substitution measures in the model are characterized in terms of the number and the quality of proximate alternative sites. This treatment of substitution as a site rather than an individual characteristic helps to define a site's uniqueness and in addition provides a feasible means of capturing substitution effects when measures of substitution at an individual level are not available. Per trip consumer surplus and changes in consumer surplus due to catch changes are computed and distinguished by controls for the availability and quality of substitute sites. Consumer surplus and the valuation of changes in catch are found to be substantially lower when controlling for substitution effects which is in agreement with most previous studiesSite Substitution, Varying Parameter, Travel Cost Model, Recreational Fishery Valuation, Environmental Economics and Policy,

The PROVe study: US real-world experience with chlormethine/mechlorethamine gel in combination with other therapies for patients with mycosis fungoides cutaneous T-cell lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Chlormethine/mechlorethamine gel is a skin-directed therapy for patients with mycosis fungoides cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Currently, real-world data on chlormethine gel are lacking. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to analyze the effect of chlormethine gel in combination with other therapies on efficacy, safety, and health-related quality of life in a real-world setting. METHODS: This prospective, observational study enrolled adult patients actively using chlormethine gel. Patients were monitored for up to 2 years during standard-of-care clinic visits. No specific visit schedules or clinical assessments, with the exception of patient-completed questionnaires, were mandated because of the expected variability in practice patterns. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients with stage IA-IB disease receiving chlormethine + topical corticosteroids + other with ≥ 50% decrease in body surface area from baseline to 12 months. Response was assessed at each visit using by-time analysis, which investigates the trend to treatment response and allows assessment of response over time. Health-related quality of life was assessed with the Skindex-29 questionnaire. RESULTS: In total, 298 patients were monitored. At 12 months post-treatment initiation, 44.4% (chlormethine + topical corticosteroids + other) and 45.1% (patients receiving chlormethine + other treatment) of efficacy-evaluable patients were responders. By-time analysis demonstrated that peak response occurred (chlormethine + other; 66.7%) at 18 months. There was a significant correlation between responder status and lower post-baseline Skindex-29 scores. CONCLUSIONS: This real-world study confirmed that chlormethine gel is an important therapeutic option for patients with mycosis fungoides and contributes to reducing the severity of skin lesions and improving health-related quality of life

Differentiation and fiber type-specific activity of a muscle creatine kinase intronic enhancer

Background: Hundreds of genes, including muscle creatine kinase (MCK), are differentially expressed in fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers, but the fiber type-specific regulatory mechanisms are not well understood. Results: Modulatory region 1 (MR1) is a 1-kb regulatory region within MCK intron 1 that is highly active in terminally differentiating skeletal myocytes in vitro. A MCK small intronic enhancer (MCK-SIE) containing a paired E-box/myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) regulatory motif resides within MR1. The SIE's transcriptional activity equals that of the extensively characterized 206-bp MCK 5'-enhancer, but the MCK-SIE is flanked by regions that can repress its activity via the individual and combined effects of about 15 different but highly conserved 9- to 24-bp sequences. ChIP and ChIP-Seq analyses indicate that the SIE and the MCK 5'-enhancer are occupied by MyoD, myogenin and MEF2. Many other E-boxes located within or immediately adjacent to intron 1 are not occupied by MyoD or myogenin. Transgenic analysis of a 6.5-kb MCK genomic fragment containing the 5'-enhancer and proximal promoter plus the 3.2-kb intron 1, with and without MR1, indicates that MR1 is critical for MCK expression in slow- and intermediate-twitch muscle fibers (types I and IIa, respectively), but is not required for expression in fast-twitch muscle fibers (types IIb and IId). Conclusions: In this study, we discovered that MR1 is critical for MCK expression in slow- and intermediate-twitch muscle fibers and that MR1's positive transcriptional activity depends on a paired E-box MEF2 site motif within a SIE. This is the first study to delineate the DNA controls for MCK expression in different skeletal muscle fiber types

Experimental Dissection of the Lytic Replication Cycles of Herpes Simplex Viruses in vitro

Herpes simplex viruses type 1 and type 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) produce lifelong infections and are highly prevalent in the human population. Both viruses elicit numerous clinical manifestations and produce mild-to-severe diseases that affect the skin, eyes, and brain, among others. Despite the existence of numerous antivirals against HSV, such as acyclovir and acyclovir-related analogs, virus variants that are resistant to these compounds can be isolated from immunosuppressed individuals. For such isolates, second-line drugs can be used, yet they frequently produce adverse side effects. Furthermore, topical antivirals for treating cutaneous HSV infections usually display poor to moderate efficacy. Hence, better or novel anti-HSV antivirals are needed and details on their mechanisms of action would be insightful for improving their efficacy and identifying specific molecular targets. Here, we review and dissect the lytic replication cycles of herpes simplex viruses, discussing key steps involved in cell infection and the processes that yield new virions. Additionally, we review and discuss rapid, easy-to-perform and simple experimental approaches for studying key steps involved in HSV replication to facilitate the identification of the mechanisms of action of anti-HSV compounds

Preliminary Evaluation of Slaughter Value and Carcass Composition of Indigenous Sheep and Goats from Traditional Production System in Tanzania

The aim of the pilot study was to evaluate slaughter characteristics and carcass composition of indigenous long fat tailed sheep and Small East African goats purchased from the auction markets slaughtered at 1.5 to 2 yrs of age and 20 kg to 25 kg live weight. The animals were slaughtered according to halal standard procedures. The left half carcasses were jointed into eight wholesale joints, and dissected into muscles, fat and bone, which were weighed separately. Sheep had greater (p<0.05) slaughter BW (22.29 kg vs 20.50 kg) and empty BW (20.17 kg vs 18.67 kg) than goats (p<0.05). Dressing percentages were lower (p<0.001) in sheep than goats when carcass weight was expressed as percentage of slaughter BW (42.31% and 47.15%) and empty BW (46.75% and 51.79%). Sheep carcasses had lower (p<0.001) proportion (66.18% vs 71.64%) of muscles and higher (p<0.001) proportion of fat (7.41% vs 3.44%) than goat carcasses. Sheep had proportionally lighter (p<0.001) shoulder (18.89% vs 22.68%) and heavier (p<0.05) proportion of chump (7.916% vs 6.76%) and main rib (8.12% vs 7.07%). Sheep had more (p<0.001) muscles in the leg (28.83% vs 27.08%) and main rib (7.62% vs 6.36%) than goats. Sheep had less (p<0.001) muscles (20.28% vs 23.56%) in shoulder joints when expressed as percentage of total muscle of carcasses. It is concluded that there are differences in sheep and goat both in terms of carcass and joint yields and composition. The present study also implies that there is need to consider setting different meat cuts and prices for these cuts when one takes into account the differences in muscle distribution within joints in sheep and goats

Aging Alters Functionally Human Dermal Papillary Fibroblasts but Not Reticular Fibroblasts: A New View of Skin Morphogenesis and Aging

Understanding the contribution of the dermis in skin aging is a key question, since this tissue is particularly important for skin integrity, and because its properties can affect the epidermis. Characteristics of matched pairs of dermal papillary and reticular fibroblasts (Fp and Fr) were investigated throughout aging, comparing morphology, secretion of cytokines, MMPs/TIMPs, growth potential, and interaction with epidermal keratinocytes. We observed that Fp populations were characterized by a higher proportion of small cells with low granularity and a higher growth potential than Fr populations. However, these differences became less marked with increasing age of donors. Aging was also associated with changes in the secretion activity of both Fp and Fr. Using a reconstructed skin model, we evidenced that Fp and Fr cells do not possess equivalent capacities to sustain keratinopoiesis. Comparing Fp and Fr from young donors, we noticed that dermal equivalents containing Fp were more potent to promote epidermal morphogenesis than those containing Fr. These data emphasize the complexity of dermal fibroblast biology and document the specific functional properties of Fp and Fr. Our results suggest a new model of skin aging in which marked alterations of Fp may affect the histological characteristics of skin

CD133 Positive Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma Stem-Like Cell Population Is Enriched in Rhabdospheres

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in a number of solid tumors, but not yet in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most frequently occurring soft tissue tumor in childhood. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify and characterize a CSC population in RMS using a functional approach. We found that embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (eRMS) cell lines can form rhabdomyosarcoma spheres (short rhabdospheres) in stem cell medium containing defined growth factors over several passages. Using an orthotopic xenograft model, we demonstrate that a 100 fold less sphere cells result in faster tumor growth compared to the adherent population suggesting that CSCs were enriched in the sphere population. Furthermore, stem cell genes such as oct4, nanog, c-myc, pax3 and sox2 are significantly upregulated in rhabdospheres which can be differentiated into multiple lineages such as adipocytes, myocytes and neuronal cells. Surprisingly, gene expression profiles indicate that rhabdospheres show more similarities with neuronal than with hematopoietic or mesenchymal stem cells. Analysis of these profiles identified the known CSC marker CD133 as one of the genes upregulated in rhabdospheres, both on RNA and protein levels. CD133+ sorted cells were subsequently shown to be more tumorigenic and more resistant to commonly used chemotherapeutics. Using a tissue microarray (TMA) of eRMS patients, we found that high expression of CD133 correlates with poor overall survival. Hence, CD133 could be a prognostic marker for eRMS. These experiments indicate that a CD133+ CSC population can be enriched from eRMS which might help to develop novel targeted therapies against this pediatric tumor

Factors influencing the use of information and communication technologies in accessing livestock information: A Case of Kinondoni and Morogoro Urban Districts, Tanzania

Journal of Continuing Education and Extension, 2014; 5(1): 545-676This paper presents findings of a study on the extent to which different Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used by urban and peri-urban livestock keepers and factors that affect their use in accessing information on livestock. A mixed method approach was used to collect data for assessing the extent of using ICTs for livestock production and marketing in Kinondoni and Morogoro urban Districts. The findings revealed that most urban livestock keepers (94.1%) used different ICTs to access livestock information. Mobile phones were most frequently used (92.1%) compared to radio (21.7%), television (24.6%) and the internet (2.4%). Several . factors affected the use of ICTs in accessing livestock information, some of which are: limited awareness about relevant radio and television programmes on livestock keeping, high cost of communication using mobile phones and internet services, and computer illiteracy. The study concludes that urban livestock keepers use different ICTs, but there are many impeding factors limiting the potential of this technology for improving livestock production. The study recommends improving telecommunications services to facilitate better access to information using ICTs. Livestock keepers also need to be sensitized to use ICTs, which should also be integrated into extension services to improve access making it easier and cheaper to acquire information