Subjective assessment of listening environments in university classrooms: Perceptions of students,"

A questionnaire is developed to evaluate perception of the listening environment by university students. The objectives were to develop a questionnaire-based measurement tool, derive a measure of perceived classroom-listening quality, use the questionnaire to investigate factors that enhance, impair, or do not affect perceived listening quality, and consider the implications for classroom design. The questionnaire was administered to over 5700 students in 30 classrooms at one university. Physical and acoustical measurements were also performed in each classroom. The questionnaire included items that recorded aspects of student perception, as well as individual, course-, and instructor-specific factors. Responses to 19 perception items generated a perception of listening ease ͑PLE͒ score for each student and a classroom-average score. Decreased PLE was associated with women, English-second-language students, those with hearing impairment, students not interested in the course material, and those who found the material difficult. Increased PLE was associated with higher speech transmission index, acceptable lighting, temperature and seating, better instructor voice, increased visual-aid use, and easier course material. Results indicate that PLE is a useful measure of student perception of the classroom-listening environment, and that optimal classroom acoustical design must take into consideration "in-use" conditions, as well as classroom physical characteristics

Regulation of mammalian gastrin/CCK receptor (CCK2R) expression in vitro and in vivo

The gastrin/CCK receptor (CCK2R) mediates the physiological functions of gastrin in the stomach, including stimulation of acid secretion and cellular proliferation and migration, but little is known about the factors that regulate its expression. We identified endogenous CCK2R expression in several cell lines and used luciferase promoter–reporter constructs to define the minimal promoter required for transcription in human gastric adenocarcinoma, AGS, and rat gastric mucosa, RGM1, cells. Consensus binding sites for SP1, C/EBP and GATA were essential for activity. Following serum withdrawal from RGM1 and AR42J cells, endogenous CCK2R mRNA abundance and the activity of a CCK2R promoter–reporter construct were significantly elevated. Transcription of CCK2R was also increased in AGS-GR and RGM1 cells by gastrin through mechanisms partly dependent upon protein kinase C (PKC) and mitogen/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK). Gastrin significantly increased endogenous CCK2R expression in RGM1 cells, and CCK2R protein expression was elevated in the stomach of hypergastrinaemic animals. In mice with cryoulcers in the acid-secreting mucosa, CCK2R expression increased progressively in the regenerating mucosa adjacent to the ulcer repair margin, evident at 6 days postinjury and maximal at 13 days. De novo expression of CCK2R was observed in the submucosa beneath the repairing ulcer crater 6–9 days postinjury. Many of the cells in mucosa and submucosa that expressed CCK2R in response to cryoinjury were identified as myofibroblasts, since they coexpressed vimentin and smooth muscle α-actin but not desmin. The data suggest that increased CCK2R expression might influence the outcome of epithelial inflammation or injury and that the response may be mediated in part by myofibroblasts

Comparative Effects of Di(n-Butyl) Phthalate Exposure on Fetal Germ Cell Development in the Rat and in Human Fetal Testis Xenografts

Background: Phthalate exposure induces germ cell effects in the fetal rat testis. Although experimental models have shown that the human fetal testis is insensitive to the steroidogenic effects of phthalates, the effects on germ cells have been less explored.Objectives: We sought to identify the effects of phthalate exposur on human fetal germ cellsin a dynamic model and to establish whether the rat is an appropriate model for investigatingsuch effects.Methods: We used immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to examine Sertoli and germ cell markers on rat testes and human fetal testis xenografts after exposure to vehicle or di(n‑butyl) phthalate (DBP). Our study included analysis of germ cell differentiation markers, proliferation markers, and cell adhesion proteins.Results: In both rat and human fetal testes, DBP exposure induced similar germ cell effects, namely, germ cell loss (predominantly undifferentiated), induction of multinucleated gonocytes(MNGs), and aggregation of differentiated germ cells, although the latter occurred rarely in the human testes. The mechanism for germ cell aggregation and MNG induction appears to be loss of Sertoli cell–germ cell membrane adhesion, probably due to Sertoli cell microfilament redistribution.Conclusions: Our findings provide the first comparison of DBP effects on germ cell number, differentiation, and aggregation in human testis xenografts and in vivo in rats. We observed comparable effects on germ cells in both species, but the effects in the human were muted compared with those in the rat. Nevertheless, phthalate effects on germ cells have potential implications for the next generation, which merits further study. Our results indicate that the rat is a human-relevant model in which to explore the mechanisms for germ cell effects

Value of eight-amino-acid matches in predicting the allergenicity status of proteins: an empirical bioinformatic investigation

The use of biotechnological techniques to introduce novel proteins into food crops (transgenic or GM crops) has motivated investigation into the properties of proteins that favor their potential to elicit allergic reactions. As part of the allergenicity assessment, bioinformatic approaches are used to compare the amino-acid sequence of candidate proteins with sequences in a database of known allergens to predict potential cross reactivity between novel food proteins and proteins to which people have become sensitized. Two criteria commonly used for these queries are searches over 80-amino-acid stretches for >35% identity, and searches for 8-amino-acid contiguous matches. We investigated the added value provided by the 8-amino-acid criterion over that provided by the >35%-identity-over-80-amino-acid criterion, by identifying allergens pairs that only met the former criterion, but not the latter criterion. We found that the allergen-sequence pairs only sharing 8-amino-acid identity, but not >35% identity over 80 amino acids, were unlikely to be cross reactive allergens. Thus, the common search for 8-amino-acid identity between novel proteins and known allergens appears to be of little additional value in assessing the potential allergenicity of novel proteins

An Association of Cancer Physicians' strategy for improving services and outcomes for cancer patients.

The Association of Cancer Physicians in the United Kingdom has developed a strategy to improve outcomes for cancer patients and identified the goals and commitments of the Association and its members.The ACP is very grateful to all of its members who have expressed views on the development of the strategy and to the sponsors of our workshops and publications, especially Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer SupportThis is the final version of the article. It was first available from Cancer Intelligence via http://dx.doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2016.60

Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities

Este artículo contiene 7 páginas, 3 figuras, 1 tabla.The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems, where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator, but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earth’s ecosystems.We acknowledge funding from the Smithsonian Institution and the Tula Foundation.Peer reviewe

The Future of Blue Carbon Science

The term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence. To help prioritise future research, we assembled leading experts in the field to agree upon the top-ten pending questions in BC science. Understanding how climate change affects carbon accumulation in mature BC ecosystems and during their restoration was a high priority. Controversial questions included the role of carbonate and macroalgae in BC cycling, and the degree to which greenhouse gases are released following disturbance of BC ecosystems. Scientists seek improved precision of the extent of BC ecosystems; techniques to determine BC provenance; understanding of the factors that influence sequestration in BC ecosystems, with the corresponding value of BC; and the management actions that are effective in enhancing this value. Overall this overview provides a comprehensive road map for the coming decades on future research in BC science