The Biomechanics of Keratorefractive Surgery

Corneal biomechanics is the study of the mechanical properties and responses of the cornea. The cornea’s remarkable transparency and strength allow it to contain the intraocular pressure, serve as a protective layer and act as the major refracting surface of the eye. The shape of the cornea, and hence its refractive properties, is directly determined by its ultrastructural and biomechanical properties. In keratorefractive surgery the aim is to alter the cornea’s refractive power by changing its shape. In the early days of laser vision correction it was assumed that the postoperative change in corneal shape was determined directly by the pattern of tissue ablation.1 Now it is clear that this is an oversimplification because biomechanical and wound healing changes also influence final corneal shape.2 This is illustrated by the hyperopic shift that typically occurs following phototherapeutic keratectomy, a procedure that a simple shape subtraction theory would predict to be refractively neutral. Like all technical subjects biomechanics has its own language and this complicates understanding for the non-specialist. The purpose of this article is not to review biomechanical theory in general or even to describe all that is known about corneal biomechanics but rather to provide the reader with an understanding of the most clinically relevant concepts and principles so enabling an appreciation of how this important subject can impact on clinical practice

Using antibodies to understand the complexities of plant cell walls

The rigid structures at the surface of plant cells are some of the most structurally complex & mechanically robust sets of biomaterials in nature. Given the dominance of plants on land, these cell walls are highly abundant and are a major repository of fixed carbon and form the bulk of the Earth's biomass.  Plant cell walls and their component polymers are used extensively for food, textiles, paper, lumber and industrial polymers as well as a sustainable form of bioenergy. Our research interests are focused on plant cell walls in relation to plant cell development & growth as well as their use in applied & industrial contexts. We are specifically interested in developing tools to understand primary cell wall structures & architectures in relation to cell adhesion, cell expansion & the differentiation of plant cells. We are also interested in secondary cell wall structures and properties in growing plants as well as in relation to their use as industrial fibres. Our lab maintain, and continue to develop, a panel of rat hybridoma & phage display monoclonal antibodies to plant cell wall glycans to help in our studies of cell walls and for the imaging of cell wall molecular architectures. We also use carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) from microbial glycoside hydrolases as molecular probes for cell wall polymers. Immunochemistry is a major tool in our strategies and procedures to explore cell wall properties and functions. Our antibodies and CBMs are also being assembled for use in high throughput, systematic procedures for cell wall analyses including epitope detection chromatography (EDC) which uses our panels of molecular probes and detection tools for chromatographic separations of cell wall matrix glycans.Departamento de Biología Vegetal. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Newsletter: Know News Vol. 6, No. 7.

Newsletter from Know Inc. including annual feminist gift catalog, October- November 1975

Pamphlet: Consciousness Raising

Goals and guidelines for Consciousness Raising Groups. NOW major local projects: Consciousness raising groups

Catalog: Pamphlets For Holiday Reading and Giving

List of feminist literature pamphlets available from Know, Inc

Federal, State and Provincial Interplay Regarding Cross-Border Environmental Pollution

environmental protection--Canada and United State

An update on the human and animal enteric pathogen Clostridium perfringens

Clostridium perfringens, a rapid-growing pathogen known to secrete an arsenal of >20 virulent toxins, has been associated with intestinal diseases in both animals and humans throughout the past century. Recent advances in genomic analysis and experimental systems make it timely to re-visit this clinically and veterinary important pathogen. This Review will summarise our understanding of the genomics and virulence-linked factors, including antimicrobial potentials and secreted toxins of this gut pathogen, and then its up-to-date clinical epidemiology and biological role in the pathogenesis of several important human and animal-associated intestinal diseases, including pre-term necrotising enterocolitis. Finally, we highlight some of the important unresolved questions in relation to C. perfringens-mediated infections, and implications for future research directions

AM symbiotic traits can be selected using conventional breeding methods in durum wheat

Non-Peer ReviewedThe management of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis, could improve plant’s efficiency of fertilizer use. The development and function of an AM symbiosis is largely controlled by the genotype of the host plant. Thus, it may be possible to improve crop nutrient use efficiency by the selection of genotypes with improve symbiotic effectiveness. Variability in the AM symbiotic development of durum wheat genotypes must be present in breeder plant material for a breeding program to be effective. We tested in the greenhouse under two levels of fertility, the hypothesis that durum wheat genotypes representative of five mapping populations vary in their ability to form the AM symbiosis. We found variations in the influence of the commercial AM fungus Glomus intraradices on root colonization, nutrition, and yield of durum wheat. This variation indicates that it is possible to select durum genotypes for improved symbiosis formation using conventional breeding methods

Tweeting the Meeting: An In-Depth Analysis of Twitter Activity at Kidney Week 2011

In recent years, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) has increased its efforts to use its annual conference to inform and educate the public about kidney disease. Social media, including Twitter, has been one method used by the Society to accomplish this goal. Twitter is a popular microblogging service that serves as a potent tool for disseminating information. It allows for short messages (140 characters) to be composed by any author and distributes those messages globally and quickly. The dissemination of information is necessary if Twitter is to be considered a tool that can increase public awareness of kidney disease. We hypothesized that content, citation, and sentiment analyses of tweets generated from Kidney Week 2011 would reveal a large number of educational tweets that were disseminated to the public. An ideal tweet for accomplishing this goal would include three key features: 1) informative content, 2) internal citations, and 3) positive sentiment score. Informative content was found in 29% of messages, greater than that found in a similarly sized medical conference (2011 ADA Conference, 16%). Informative tweets were more likely to be internally, rather than externally, cited (38% versus 22%, p<0.0001), thereby amplifying the original information to an even larger audience. Informative tweets had more negative sentiment scores than uninformative tweets (means −0.162 versus 0.199 respectively, p<0.0001), therefore amplifying a tweet whose content had a negative tone. Our investigation highlights significant areas of promise and improvement in using Twitter to disseminate medical information in nephrology from a scientific conference. This goal is pertinent to many nephrology-focused conferences that wish to increase public awareness of kidney disease

New Ideas for Motivating and Engaging Science Undergraduates in a Context-Based Learning Environment: Enhancing the Transition From University Classroom to Professional Practice.

Textbook-based instruction with a strong focus on comprehensive coverage of content delivered in a traditional lecture format has been the mainstay of most undergraduate medical microbiology teaching approaches. Laboratory classes, when conducted, are often an add-on and as such students view as disparate what should be integrated components. In developing a capstone unit in the Medical Laboratory Science program at QUT we have implemented a number of strategies which have bridged the gap between the lecture 'content' experience and the practice of medical microbiology. As a result we have seen not only a transformation in the learning experiences of our students, but in the way we teach as well. To begin with, the objective is not to cover every aspect of content, but to ensure that the students connect in such a way that they are both informed and engaged. Underpinning this strategy is the development and refinement of critical thinking and complex reasoning skills to a high degree. Both are important for these capstone students if they are to successfully transition into professional clinical practice, industry or research where such skills are not only highly valued, but an integral part of daily work practices. A formal lecture format where facts are conveyed in a one-dimensional way has been replaced by an informal tutorialstyle setting where students are encouraged both to answer questions and to ask questions related to the topic under discussion and to the case scenario(s) which are posed. Case scenarios reinforce and challenge the student's fundamental knowledge and understanding of medical microbiology while promoting critical-thinking and complex reasoning skills. One novel approach is the use of a "role playing exercise" where students assume the role of a general practitioner and the lecturer is a patient in their consulting room. This exercise explores both the key concept of patient presentation and reinforces the role and importance of the diagnostic microbiologist in infectious disease diagnosis. As part of this active learning engagement, students compile a Report Form and in doing so not only sleuthe out the identity of the diseasecausing agent, but provide recommendations for patient management and further follow-up. Instructor feedback is embedded into the Report Form so that the student can be provided with immediate feedback on their progress. Technology integration is also a valuable part of a context-based learning environment, especially since the workplace is technology-driven. We are developing an electronic resource of digital images/video which visually replicates many of the media, reagents, equipment and techniques used in a routine microbiology laboratory. In our approach, learning experiences are scaffolded upon the "lecture-laboratory continuum". This integration is supported by a "Learning and Teaching Guide" which is part of the student's instructional toolkit. Underpinning the pedagogy is an emphasis on developing skills and attributes directly applicable to the workplace (e.g., pathology or research laboratories) or career pathways (e.g., postgraduate medicine) of these particular students. Many of the strategies used successfully in our approach could be readily translated to other science streams