“Real-Life Situations in the United States” A Cross-Cultural Handbook

People traveling in the United States as tourists, on business, or for study often lack confidence in dealing with everyday real-life situations, such as ordering food in a restaurant, buying tickets in the bus stations, using public transportation and communication systems. This handbook presents very simple but important information for first time travelers. It also contains lots of cultural information. In this handbook, I have used a series of dialogues in each lesson which provide appropriate vocabulary and phrases. My intention in presenting these dialogues is also to familiarize newcomers with the kind of language spoken differently by people of different occupations. For example: I have tried to include sentences similar to those a cab driver would speak. The second and third part of each lesson is focused on illustrating cultural aspects through comprehension and open discussion topics. This handbook can be used in training centers as a text for travelers or it can also be used as an information booklet by individuals

Cognition in prostate cancer patients before undergoing androgen deprivation therapy and elderly males

Deleterious cognitive effects of testosterone deprivation in prostate cancer (PC) patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy have been reported. However, due to methodological limitations of past research, there is mixed consensus of the cognitive domains affected. The current study therefore aimed to assess cognition before ADT through a comprehensive battery of cognitive and neuroimaging investigations which previous undertakings have lacked. A cross sectional study of 30 ageing PC patients before ADT and 29 age and intelligence matched healthy controls underwent neuropsychological and neuroimaging investigations. While there were generally no differences, some significant differences were revealed where patients had higher testosterone levels and better spatial reasoning accuracy compared to controls suggesting some compensatory effect of testosterone in patients. A second study was conducted to assess the reliability of cognition in controls in a longitudinal six month study. Controls were confirmed to have reliable and stable cognition with intact underlying neural correlates confirming their appropriateness for future longitudinal assessments in PC patients. In conclusion, this research facilitated development and management of cognition in PC patients before therapy. If side-effects can be resolved before therapy, then they may be prevented during ADT. Moreover, it provides a basis for a longitudinal future research

Antioxidant Capacity of Fresh and Dry Leaf Extracts of Sixteen Scutellaria Species

The antioxidant capacity of 16 Scutellaria species was examined using Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay. Total polyphenol, antioxidant capacity estimation and flavonoid content measurements were conducted on fresh and air dried leaf extracts. The highest total polyphenol content was obtained in dry leaf extracts of S. ocmulgee at 732.41 67 mg/g of gallic acid equivalent. Dry leaf extracts of S. ocmulgee registered 2480.93 μmol/g of Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity and the highest total flavonoid content with 200.63 μg/mL from fresh leaf extracts of S. alpina. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), a common herb with known high antioxidant potential, was used as a standard for comparison with the Scutellaria species

Discovering, recovering, and covering-up Canada: Tracing historical citizenship discourses in K–12 and adult immigrant citizenship education

In Canada, cultural diversity has always been a contested cornerstone of citizenship and of citizenship education. In the last decade, a number of provinces, including Alberta and Ontario, have published citizenship and character education documents and social studies curricula in which ideas of cultural diversity are central and shape dominant understandings of nationhood. Meanwhile, the federal government produced its own citizenship education text: a study handbook for adult immigrants taking the citizenship test. Recognizing an interesting opportunity to compare how citizenship and diversity are presented to youth and to adult immigrants, we offer a critical analysis of the extent to which current discourses reflect, revise, or reassert those that were prominent in the past. We find that within educational curricula, liberal social justice discourses are taking a background to those that promote social cohesion and a narrow vision of Canadian identity and history and that de-emphasize progressive ideals of engaging with difference and committing to social action policies. At the provincial K–12 level, a neoliberal understanding of individual development and economic rationales is dominant, while at the federal level, there is also a shift toward neoconservatism that recovers the imperial roots of Canadian citizenship ideals while covering up the strong history of equity, diversity, and civic action

Optimization of Micropropagation Protocol for Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum L.)

Micropropagation of Lycium barbarum cv. 'Ningxia N1' was achieved. The cultures were by initiated by axenical seed germination. The highest shoot proliferation was obtained on the MS media with 1.33 or 2.22 µM benzyl adenine, gelled with wheat starch as an agar alternative. The treatments with 2.22 µM benzyl adenine ensured proliferation rates superior to the ones with 1.33 μM benzyl adenine, but the latter provided longer and more robust shoots. Use of large microcuttings as an explant onto the multiplication media ensured higher in vitro explant survival, higher number of shoots regeneration and more vigorous plantlets. The microcuttings inserted vertically into the media yielded superior growth and multiplication as compared to the microcuttings placed horizontally. The non-rooted, elongated shoots from the treatment 1.33 μM benzyl adenine were either rooted in vitro on a hormone-free MS medium with starch or used for direct ex vitro rooting and acclimatization. The optimal number of microcuttings/vessel for in vitro rooting was 40 and the rooted plantlets were efficiently acclimatized ex vitro by three methods: float hydroculture in floating cell trays, floating perlite, and in Jiffy7 pellets

Establishing a Developmentally Appropriate fMRI Paradigm Relevant to Presurgical Mapping of Memory in Children

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an established eloquent cortex mapping technique that is now an integral part of the pre-operative work-up in candidates for epilepsy surgery. Emerging evidence in adults with epilepsy suggests that material-specific fMRI paradigms can predict postoperative memory outcomes, however these paradigms are not suitable for children. In pediatric age, the use of memory fMRI paradigms designed for adults is complicated by the effect of developmental stages in cognitive maturation, the impairment experienced by some people with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and the normal representation of memory function during development, which may differ from adults. We present a memory fMRI paradigm designed to activate mesial temporal lobe structures that is brief, independent of reading ability, and therefore a novel candidate for use in children. Data from 33 adults and 19 children (all healthy controls) show that the paradigm captures the expected leftward asymmetry of mesial temporal activation in adults. A more symmetrical pattern was observed in children, consistent with the progressive emergence of hemispheric specialisation across childhood. These data have important implications for the interpretation of presurgical memory fMRI in the pediatric setting. They also highlight the need to carefully consider the impact of cognitive development on fMRI tools used in clinical practice

Accumulation and Histochemical Localization of Cadmium in Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Leaf and Root Tissue

As anthropogenic activities have facilitated the spread of heavy metals into the environment, plants have been identified that may have the ability to tolerate exposure to high levels of these metals. Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has been suggested as potentially having the ability to accumulate elevated concentrations of some contaminants from soils, including cadmium (Cd), a heavy metal that has been linked to serious health risks to humans. Therefore, there is an interest to document the ability of hemp to tolerate exposure to Cd to determine if there is a risk when products for medicinal consumption are made from the hemp plant. The objectives of this study were to perform histochemical localization of Cd at the cellular level and document potential changes in plant tissues in response to hemp exposure. Plants were grown in hydroponic solutions for 4 weeks and then exposed to either 0 or 10 mg·L−1 Cd for 17 days and harvested. There were no differences in dry weights (dw) of leaves, stems, and roots among treated and control 17 days after treatment (DAT). However, plants exposed to 10 mg·L−1 Cd had Cd concentrations of 1448.0 mg·kg−1 dw in roots and 23.2 mg·kg−1 dw in leaves at 17 DAT, whereas Cd was not detected in roots or leaves of control plants. On staining with dithizone, Cd was primarily localized in leaf epidermis, mesophyll, and trichomes, and in root rhizodermis, cortex, and pericycle in hemp plants exposed to 10 mg·L−1 Cd. Image analysis was able to further quantify these results based on area stained. Our results suggest that Cd is primarily accumulated throughout hemp roots, with lesser amounts translocated to the leaves, where it may be localized in the epidermis and trichomes