Fostering the Professional Development of Saudi Female Students: Implications for Educators in Apparel and Textiles Programs in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was to identify the skills and knowledge needed for Saudi women to succeed in the apparel retail industry (ARI). This study is essential to develop an apparel merchandising (AM) program for the apparel and textiles (AT) discipline in Saudi Arabia. It is important to prepare Saudi women for new careers in the apparel industry and provide alternative options for apparel and textiles students to choose from besides apparel design and textile science

Fostering the Professional Development of Saudi Female Students: Implications for Educators in Apparel and Textiles Programs in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was to identify the skills and knowledge needed for Saudi women to succeed in the apparel retail industry (ARI). This study is essential to develop an apparel merchandising (AM) program for the apparel and textiles (AT) discipline in Saudi Arabia. It is important to prepare Saudi women for new careers in the apparel industry and provide alternative options for apparel and textiles students to choose from besides apparel design and textile science.</p

Program outcomes in youth justice outcomes: the PLUS+ program review

This report provides a methodology to assess the outcomes of rehabilitation programs that are delivered to young offenders in South Australia. A method of assessing change is described that can be applied across a number of different programs, but is illustrated in relation to one particular program, the PLUS+ program. PLUS+ is a group-based cognitive skills program which employs cognitive-behavioural methods of problem-solving, skills-training, and self-management to rehabilitate young offenders. It is one of the most intensive and best established programs to have been implemented in South Australia. Based on a review of this program a number of recommendations are made to enhance the future delivery and evaluation of PLUS+

Continuous Clonal Labeling Reveals Small Numbers of Functional Stem Cells in Intestinal Crypts and Adenomas

Lineage-tracing approaches, widely used to characterize stem cell populations, rely on the specificity and stability of individual markers for accurate results. We present a method in which genetic labeling in the intestinal epithelium is acquired as a mutation-induced clonal mark during DNA replication. By determining the rate of mutation in vivo and combining this data with the known neutral-drift dynamics that describe intestinal stem cell replacement, we quantify the number of functional stem cells in crypts and adenomas. Contrary to previous reports, we find that significantly lower numbers of "working" stem cells are present in the intestinal epithelium (five to seven per crypt) and in adenomas (nine per gland), and that those stem cells are also replaced at a significantly lower rate. These findings suggest that the bulk of tumor stem cell divisions serve only to replace stem cell loss, with rare clonal victors driving gland repopulation and tumor growt

Photoacoustic imaging is a novel tool to measure finger artery structure and oxygenation in patients with SSc

Abstract Systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related digital ischaemia is a major cause of morbidity, resulting from a combination of microvascular and digital artery disease. Photoacoustic imaging offers a newly available, non-invasive method of imaging digital artery structure and oxygenation. The aim of this study was to establish whether photoacoustic imaging could detect and measure vasculopathy in digital arteries, including the level of oxygenation, in patients with SSc and healthy controls. 22 patients with SSc and 32 healthy controls (HC) underwent photoacoustic imaging of the fingers. Vascular volume and oxygenation were assessed across eight fingers at the middle phalanx. In addition, oxygenation change during finger occlusion was measured at the non-dominant ring finger and the vascular network was imaged along the length of one finger for qualitative assessment. There was no statistically significant difference in vascular volume between patients with SSc and HC (mean of eight fingers; SSc, median 118.6 IQR [95.0–130.5] vs. HC 115.6 [97.8–158.9]) mm3. However, baseline oxygenation (mean 8 fingers) was lower in SSc vs. HC (0.373 [0.361–0.381] vs. 0.381 [0.373–0.385] arbitrary sO2 units respectively; p = 0.03). Hyperaemic oxygenation response following occlusion release was significantly lower in SSc compared to HC (0.379 [0.376–0.381] vs. 0.382 [0.377–0.385]; p = 0.03). Whilst vascular volume was similar between groups, digital artery oxygenation was decreased in patients with SSc as compared to HC, indicative of functional deficit. Photoacoustic imaging offers an exciting new method to image the vascular network in patients with SSc and the possibility to capture oxygenation as a functional measure

Phospho-regulation of ATOH1 Is Required for Plasticity of Secretory Progenitors and Tissue Regeneration.

The intestinal epithelium is largely maintained by self-renewing stem cells but with apparently committed progenitors also contributing, particularly following tissue damage. However, the mechanism of, and requirement for, progenitor plasticity in mediating pathological response remain unknown. Here we show that phosphorylation of the transcription factor Atoh1 is required for both the contribution of secretory progenitors to the stem cell pool and for a robust regenerative response. As confirmed by lineage tracing, Atoh1+ cells (Atoh1(WT)CreERT2 mice) give rise to multilineage intestinal clones both in the steady state and after tissue damage. In a phosphomutant Atoh1(9S/T-A)CreERT2 line, preventing phosphorylation of ATOH1 protein acts to promote secretory differentiation and inhibit the contribution of progenitors to self-renewal. Following chemical colitis, Atoh1+ cells of Atoh1(9S/T-A)CreERT2 mice have reduced clonogenicity that affects overall regeneration. Progenitor plasticity maintains robust self-renewal in the intestinal epithelium, and the balance between stem and progenitor fate is directly coordinated by ATOH1 multisite phosphorylation.Cancer Research UK Welcome Trust Rosetrees Trust Stoneygate Trus

Deletion of GSK-3β in mice leads to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy secondary to cardiomyoblast hyperproliferation

Based on extensive preclinical data, glycogen synthase kinase–3 (GSK-3) has been proposed to be a viable drug target for a wide variety of disease states, ranging from diabetes to bipolar disorder. Since these new drugs, which will be more powerful GSK-3 inhibitors than lithium, may potentially be given to women of childbearing potential, and since it has controversially been suggested that lithium therapy might be linked to congenital cardiac defects, we asked whether GSK-3 family members are required for normal heart development in mice. We report that terminal cardiomyocyte differentiation was substantially blunted in Gsk3b–/– embryoid bodies. While GSK-3α–deficient mice were born without a cardiac phenotype, no live-born Gsk3b–/– pups were recovered. The Gsk3b–/– embryos had a double outlet RV, ventricular septal defects, and hypertrophic myopathy, with near obliteration of the ventricular cavities. The hypertrophic myopathy was caused by cardiomyocyte hyperproliferation without hypertrophy and was associated with increased expression and nuclear localization of three regulators of proliferation — GATA4, cyclin D1, and c-Myc. These studies, which we believe are the first in mammals to examine the role of GSK-3α and GSK-3β in the heart using loss-of-function approaches, implicate GSK-3β as a central regulator of embryonic cardiomyocyte proliferation and differentiation, as well as of outflow tract development. Although controversy over the teratogenic effects of lithium remains, our studies suggest that caution should be exercised in the use of newer, more potent drugs targeting GSK-3 in women of childbearing age