Staphylococcus aureus–associated Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Ambulatory Care

The rise in visits to outpatient and emergency departments for skin and soft tissue infections may reflect the emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

肥育牛の肉質と血液成分の関係について

In fattened steers of Holstein breed correlation coefficients between factors of the carcass, and between roast grade and size of selected body parts were studied. Study of correlation between roast grade and levels of serumal components of blood taken at slaughter was carried out in the steer above mentioned. Roast grade had minus significant correlation to fat cover depth and daily gain, and plus significant correlation to hips width and thurls width. Correlations between roast grade and concentration of blood serum magnesium or cholesterol were shown, but not significant. There were significant minus correlations between roast grade and concentrations of TP, Al, Gl, Ca, Ca/Mg in the serum. Ratio of Mg/ (Ca+P+Mg) had a significant positive correlation to roast grade. When grouped by sire, steers group with low daily gain had generally a high quality of roast

AAC Penhold Canada Prairie Spring Red Wheat

AAC Penhold, an awned hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, yielded significantly more grain than 5700PR while maturing 2 days earlier, and 7.5 cm shorter stature. The seed size was significantly larger than 5700PR and 5701PR, with a test weight significantly heavier than both checks. AAC Penhold expressed resistance to prevalent races of leaf rust and common bunt, and moderate resistance to fusarium head blight and stem rust. AAC Penhold had higher grain and flour protein than the checks and improved Hagberg Falling Number, amylograph viscosity, and water absorption. AAC Penhold is eligible for grades of the market class, Canada Prairie Spring Red wheat

Synchronization modulation increases transepithelial potentials in MDCK monolayers through Na/K pumps

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

System differentiation in England: the imposition of supply and demand

This chapter describes changing state and sector policy in relation to differentiation and how it has emerged in the English HE context: specifically, the attempts to concentrate the highest qualified applicants and the most prestigious institutions in a 'premium' market segment; the significance of the growing involvement of private providers; and the rise of the ‘student-as-consumer’ and 'value for money' in recent government policy discourse (e.g. the White Papers Students at the Heart of the System (DBIS 2011a) and Success as a Knowledge Economy (DBIS 2016). The chapter situates the development of a market hierarchy (in the form of a vertical differentiation of institutions, Archer 2007) following the demise of the university-polytechnic binary system in 1992 (Further and Higher Education Act, HMSO 1992). This co-existed for several years with the institutional diversity often celebrated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (e.g. HEFCE 1994; 2000) that can be conceptualised as the horizontal differentiation of valued types of higher education provision and provider (e.g. part-time or vocationally orientated). The introduction of market mechanisms, in various stages beginning with the 2004 Higher Education Act (DfES 2004) and the introduction of variable tuition fees, coincided with the publication of institutional league tables from 2005. Taken together, these have reinforced a hierarchical system in which all institutions and courses are henceforth differentiated only by reference to a set of criteria dominated by the entry requirements demanded, and the amount of research carried out by the institution. Given the implications of the most recent legislation – the Higher Education and Research Act (HMSO 2017) this hierarchy is likely to be matched by one signalled by tuition fee levels, as new cheaper 'challenger' institutions come to the market

Interaction between hedgehog signalling and PAX6 dosage mediates maintenance and regeneration of the corneal epithelium

PURPOSE: To investigate the roles of intracellular signaling elicited by Hedgehog (Hh) ligands in corneal maintenance and wound healing. METHODS: The expression of Hedgehog pathway components in the cornea was assayed by immunohistochemistry, western blot and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in wild-type mice and mice that were heterozygous null for the gene encoding the transcription factor, paired box gene 6 (Pax6). Corneal epithelial wound healing and cell migration assays were performed after pharmacological upregulation and downregulation of the hedgehog pathway. Reporter mice, mosaic for expression of the gene encoding β-galactosidase (LacZ), were crossed to Pax6(+/-) mice, mice heterozygous for the gene encoding GLI-Kruppel family member GLI3, and Pax6(+/-)Gli3(+/-) double heterozygotes, to assay patterns of cell migration and corneal epithelial organization in vivo. RESULTS: Corneal epithelial wound healing rates increased in response to application of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), but only in mice with wild-type Pax6 dosage. Downregulation of Hedgehog signalling inhibited corneal epithelial cell proliferation. Pax6(+/-) corneal epithelia showed increased proliferation in response to exogenous Shh, but not increased migration. Desert hedgehog (Dhh) was shown to be the major endogenous ligand, with Shh detectable only by RT-PCR and only after epithelial wounding. The activity of phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase-γ (PI3Kγ) was not required for the increased migration response in response to Shh. Nuclear expression of the activator form of the transcription factor Gli3 (which mediates Hh signalling) was reduced in Pax6(+/-) corneal epithelia. Pax6(+/-)Gli3(+/-) double heterozygotes showed highly disrupted patterns of clonal arrangement of cells in the corneal epithelium. CONCLUSIONS: The data show key roles for endogenous Dhh signalling in maintenance and regeneration of the corneal epithelium, demonstrate an interaction between Pax6 and Hh signalling in the corneal epithelium, and show that failure of Hh signalling pathways is a feature of Pax6(+/-) corneal disease that cannot be remedied pharmacologically by addition of the ligands

A rigorous approach to investigating common assumptions about disease transmission: Process algebra as an emerging modelling methodology for epidemiology

Changing scale, for example the ability to move seamlessly from an individual-based model to a population-based model, is an important problem in many fields. In this paper we introduce process algebra as a novel solution to this problem in the context of models of infectious disease spread. Process algebra allows us to describe a system in terms of the stochastic behaviour of individuals, and is a technique from computer science. We review the use of process algebra in biological systems, and the variety of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques available. The analysis illustrated here solves the changing scale problem: from the individual behaviour we can rigorously derive equations to describe the mean behaviour of the system at the level of the population. The biological problem investigated is the transmission of infection, and how this relates to individual interaction

Global nomads, cultural chameleons, strange ones or immigrants? An exploration of Third Culture Kid terminology with reference to the United Arab Emirates

© The Author(s) 2019. The term ‘Third Culture Kid’ (TCK) is commonly used to denote children living in a host culture other than their passport culture during their developmental years. However, its meaning in relation to other terminology referring to a similar concept is a source of interest for many stakeholders. This paper opens up opportunities for further exploring and critiquing the definition of TCK, and opening this up to case studies within the context of the United Arab Emirates and more widely. It is critical to clarify the terminology in light of unprecedented levels of international migration throughout the world. This paper reviews the meaning of culture in relation to TCKs, and explores the meaning of the TCK concept as well as a number of other terms used as alternatives to TCK. A contextualization of the literature follows in relation to the researchers’ own lived experiences in the United Arab Emirates. The term TCK can be seen as part of the general stock of theoretical concepts. This paper acknowledges that it cannot catch all nuances of migrant children in the global context