Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to understand neuropeptide biology and regulation

Funding was provided by a Wellcome Trust ISSF starting grant (105625/Z/14/Z), Medical Research Scotland (PhD-719-2013), GW Pharmaceuticals (PhD-719-2013 - S.5242.001) and the BBSRC (BB/J012343/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Weaving of Tapestries: Shakespeare\u27s use of Ovid in The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare weaves Ovidian mythological references throughout The Taming of the Shrew to create parallels between Katherine and Philomela from book six of the Metamorphoses. Shakespeare uses Ovid\u27s Metamorphoses to highlihgt examples of a suffering woman, and to show that she is not only present in a tragety, such as Titus Andronicus, but also in a comedy. Through a close analysis of the text, it becomes apparent that Katherine experiences the same situations that Philomela endures. However, Philomela is able to escape her tragety through a trandformation, but Katherine has to endure her own tragic narrative while the characters around her are living in a comedy. Shakespeare uses Ovidian mythological references to highlight parallels exhibited between Lavinia from Titus Andronicus and Kathrine from The Taming of the Shrew to Philomela in book six of the Metamorphoses by comparing how they overcame their tragic circumstances and how they were able to tell their story to find personal justice. Katherine and Lavina were from different worlds but connected by the loss of freedom of speech and their attempts to overcome their new disability. Both women mirror Ovid\u27s Philomela due to her loss of speech but also for the tapestry she wove to tell her story. Katherine\u27s ability to weave language the reflected her true feelings into a speech to prove to her husband she had been tames, reflects the emotion that Philomela wove into her tapestry. Shakespeare also wove Ovidian mythological references into these literary tapesries to connect contrasting characters and show the reader that the play on language can disguise the truth

Improving the Development of Student\u27s Research Questions and Hypotheses in an Introductory Business Research Methods Course

In an introductory research methods course, students often develop research questions and hypotheses that are vague or confusing, do not contain measurable concepts, and are too narrow in scope or vision. Because of this, the final research projects often fail to provide useful information or address the overall research problem. A Lesson Study approach was used to develop a new lesson that models the development of research questions and hypotheses and provides multiple opportunities for students to practice this skill. Two tools were also developed to help students navigate this process, and the learning outcomes of the lesson were clearly defined. To assess the effectiveness of this lesson 122 research proposals generated by student research teams before and after implementation of the new lesson were evaluated using a grading rubric based on the learning outcomes. There were statistically significant improvements in three of the five learning outcomes

Earthworm Presence in Northern Forests: Impact on Distribution of Soil Carbon within Aggregate Fractions

Growing concerns over climate change is driving research aimed at determining ways of retaining soil carbon (C) within managed northeastern forests. Earthworms are exotic to the state of Vermont and the current extent of earthworm community presence in the state\u27s forests, as well as the long term impact these communities will have on soil C storage, is still unknown. Current research suggests that earthworms have conflicting effects on the C cycle of soils, simultaneously enhancing mineralization through soil mixing, while protecting C through the stabilization of microaggregate (mA) structures. The mA soil fraction represents a pool of physically stable structures capable of maintaining occluded C for long periods of time. To date, studies investigating earthworm effects on mA formation and occluded C have rarely been done in undisturbed forest soils. Earthworms were found in 10 of 18 forest sites utilized in a statewide Vermont earthworm survey, and community presence correlated with thinner forest floor depths. For 8 sites, the impact of earthworm presence on the quantity of C within water stable mA was investigated. Earthworm presence correlated with greater total C in the top 20 cm of mineral soil, highlighting the relocation of the forest floor noted in all 18 sites. A small, but significant, decrease was noted in the proportion of bulk soil mA, however through C enrichment from the forest floor, there was a significant increase in the pool of mA-associated C. A paired mesocosm study was also conducted, utilizing the endogeic earthworm species Aporrectodea tuberculata, placed in an earthworm-free, undisturbed forest soil. Findings from this study corroborated the correlations noted in the field with significant, though small, decreases in the proportion of bulk soil mA. The larger macroaggregate fraction was increased by about 4 times under earthworm influence. The C enrichment of mA structures occluded within the macroaggregate fraction accounted for approximately 95% of the total increase in mA-associated C, and 50% of the total C integrated into the mineral soil. It can be assumed that the C preferentially occluded within the mA structures by earthworm ingestion will experience longer mean residence time relative to bulk soil C. We conclude that, for the forest soils investigated, earthworm communities decreased the proportion of mA slightly but that the pool of physically stabilized C was increased through mA turnover. Forest soils usually experience low soil mixing and therefore typically contain high proportions of mA, though the quantity of C within these structures varies. Due to mA restructuring within the earthworm gut, it is unlikely that earthworm community expansions will alter the proportion of mA in forest soils, however the quantity of C present within these structures is likely to increase. The individual site investigated in the controlled study was particularly low in mineral soil C, and therefore the long-term presence of earthworms would likely result in an increase to mineral C storage. However, this result may not be applicable for forests with high levels of mineral soil C prior to earthworm invasion

The difficult conversation : a qualitative evaluation of the ‘Eat Well Move More’ family weight management service

Objective The Eat Well Move More (EWMM) family and child weight management service is a 12-week intervention integrating healthy eating and physical activity education and activities for families and children aged 4–16. EWMM service providers identified low uptake 12 months prior to the evaluation. The aims of this study were to describe referral practices and pathways into the service to identify potential reasons for low referral and uptake rates. Results We conducted interviews and focus groups with general practitioners (GPs) (n = 4), school nurses, and nursing assistants (n = 12). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. School nurses highlighted three main barriers to making a referral: parent engagement, child autonomy, and concerns over the National Child Measurement Programme letter. GPs highlighted that addressing obesity among children is a ‘difficult conversation’ with several complex issues related to and sustaining that difficulty. In conclusion, referral into weight management services in the community may persistently lag if a larger and more complex tangle of barriers lie at the point of school nurse and GP decision-making. The national prevalence of, and factors associated with this hesitation to discuss weight management issues with parents and children remains largely unknown

Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviour intentions for three bowel management practices in intensive care: effects of a targeted protocol implementation for nursing and medical staff.

Background Bowel management protocols have the potential to minimize complications for critically ill patients. Targeted implementation can increase the uptake of protocols by clinicians into practice. The theory of planned behaviour offers a framework in which to investigate clinicians’ intention to perform the behaviour of interest. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing a bowel management protocol on intensive care nursing and medical staffs’ knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behaviour intentions, role perceptions and past behaviours in relation to three bowel management practices. Methods A descriptive before and after survey using a self-administered questionnaire sent to nursing and medical staff working within three intensive care units before and after implementation of our bowel management protocol (pre: May – June 2008; post: Feb – May 2009). Results Participants had significantly higher knowledge scores post-implementation of our protocol (pre mean score 17.6; post mean score 19.3; p = 0.004). Post-implementation there was a significant increase in: self-reported past behaviour (pre mean score 5.38; post mean score 7.11; p = 0.002) and subjective norms scores (pre mean score 3.62; post mean score 4.18; p = 0.016) for bowel assessment; and behaviour intention (pre mean score 5.22; post mean score 5.65; p = 0.048) for administration of enema. Conclusion This evaluation, informed by the theory of planned behaviour, has provided useful insights into factors that influence clinician intentions to perform evidence-based bowel management practices in intensive care. Addressing factors such as knowledge, attitudes and beliefs can assist in targeting implementation strategies to positively affect clinician behaviour change. Despite an increase in clinicians’ knowledge scores, our implementation strategy did not, however, significantly change clinician behaviour intentions for all three bowel management practices. Further research is required to explore the influence of opinion leaders and organizational culture on clinicians’ behaviour intentions related to bowel management for intensive care patients

Decades of Delay: EPA Leadership Still Lacking in Protecting America's Great River

This report demonstrates the continuing failure of EPA's voluntary approach and the continuing and growing threats of unregulated nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. EPA has the power and the duty to act to require reasonable, common-sense regulations to address the growing scourge of nutrient pollution, and it should do so. Once again, MRC calls upon EPA to remedy this state of affairs, specifically recommending that EPA:Develop numeric phosphorus criteria for each of the eight states that have yet to adopt them, and numeric nitrogen criteria for all 10 states.Require states to assess their waters for nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and to prioritize TMDL development and implementation planning accordingly.Increase oversight of the state NPDES programs to ensure that both narrative and numeric nutrient criteria are implemented through limits in permits, including the use of Water Quality Based Effluent Limits (WQBELs) where appropriate.Disapprove TMDLs that lacking reasonable assurance that nonpoint source reductions are likely to occur and lack monitoring and timelines to ensure that planned reductions actually take place. Further, EPA needs to provide oversight to ensure consistency among EPA Regions in TMDL review and approval (especially in Regions 4 and 6.)Ensure that states' Nutrient Reduction Strategies contain implementation plans detailing point and nonpoint source reductions needed, responsible parties, funding mechanisms, milestones, measurement metrics, and reasonable timelines.Require states under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act to identify programs and practices for controlling nonpoint sources of pollution to the maximum extent possible

What evidence is there on the effectiveness of different models of delivering urgent care? A rapid review

Objective The purpose of the evidence synthesis is to assess the nature and quality of the existing evidence base on delivery of emergency and urgent care services and identify gaps that require further primary research or evidence synthesis. Methods We have conducted a rapid framework-based evidence synthesis approach. Five separate reviews were conducted linked to themes in the NHS England review. A general and five theme specific database searches were conducted for the years 1995-2014. Relevant systematic reviews and additional primary research papers were included with narrative assessment of evidence quality was conducted for each review. Results The review was completed in six months. In total 45 systematic reviews and 102 primary research studies have been included across all 5 reviews. The key findings for each reviews were 1) Demand - there is little empirical evidence to explain increases in demand for urgent care, 2) Telephone triage - Overall, these services provide , appropriate and safe decision making with high patient satisfaction but required clinical skill mix and effectiveness in a system is unclear , 3) extended paramedic roles have been implemented in various health settings and appear to be successful at reducing transports to hospital, making safe decisions about the need for transport and delivering acceptable, cost-effective care out of hospital. 4)ED – The evidence on co-location of GP services with ED indicates there is potential to improve care. The attempt to summarise the evidence about wider ED operations proved to be too complex and further focused reviews are needed. 5) There is no empirical evidence to support the design and development of urgent care networks. Limitations Although there is a large body of evidence on relevant interventions much of it is weak with only very small numbers of randomised controlled trials identified. Evidence is dominated by single site studies many of which were uncontrolled. Conclusions The evidence gaps of most relevance to the delivery of services are 1) more detailed understanding and mapping of the characteristics of demand to inform service planning, 2) assessment of the current state of urgent care network development and evaluation of effectiveness of different models, and 3) Expanding the current evidence base on existing interventions that are viewed as central to delivery of the NHS England plan by assessing the implications of increasing interventions at scale and measuring costs and system impact. It would be prudent to develop a national picture of existing pilot projects or interventions in development to support decisions about research commissioning