163 research outputs found
Developing Healthy Kids in Healthy Communities: Eight Evidence-based Strategies for Preventing High-risk Behaviour.
Australian youth engage in behaviour that threatens their health and wellbeing. National surveys report that about a third of young Australians have tried an illicit drug. High rates of substance use and risky sexual behaviour among young Australians suggest that effective prevention efforts based on empirical evidence need to be expanded. Church-associated organisations are an untapped resource that could be used to improve the health and welfare of young people. We describe eight evidence-based elements to consider in designing strategies to prevent high-risk behaviour in young people
Gravitational ultrarelativistic spin-orbit interaction and the weak equivalence principle
It is shown that the gravitational ultrarelativistic spin-orbit interaction
violates the weak equivalence principle in the traditional sense. This fact is
a direct consequence of the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations in the frame of
reference comoving with a spinning test particle. The widely held assumption
that the deviation of a spinning test body from a geodesic trajectory is caused
by tidal forces is not correctComment: 12 page
Spin-gravity coupling and gravity-induced quantum phases
External gravitational fields induce phase factors in the wave functions of
particles. The phases are exact to first order in the background gravitational
field, are manifestly covariant and gauge invariant and provide a useful tool
for the study of spin-gravity coupling and of the optics of particles in
gravitational or inertial fields. We discuss the role that spin-gravity
coupling plays in particular problems.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur
Competitiveness and communication for effective inoculation byRhizobium, Bradyrhizobium and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi
After a short summary on the ecology and rhizosphere biology of symbiotic bacteria and vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhiza fungi and their application as microbial inocula, results on competitiveness and communication are summarized. Stress factors such as high temperature, low soil pH, aluminium concentrations and phytoalexins produced by the host plants were studied withRhizobium leguminosarum bv.phaseoli andRhizobium tropici onPhaseolus beans. Quantitative data for competitiveness were obtained by usinggus + (glucoronidase) labelled strains, which produce blue-coloured nodules. ForPhaseolus-nodulating rhizobia, a group specific DNA probe was also developed, which did not hybridize with more than 20 other common soil and rhizosphere bacteria. Results from several laboratories contributing to knowledge of signal exchange and communication in theRhizobium/Bradyrhizobium legume system are summarized in a new scheme, including also defense reactions at the early stages of legume nodule initiation. Stimulating effects of flavonoids on germination and growth of VA mycorrhiza fungi were also found. A constitutive antifungal compound in pea roots, -isoxazolinonyl-alanine, was characterized
Isoform Heterogeneity of the Human Gephyrin Gene (GPHN), Binding Domains to the Glycine Receptor, and Mutation Analysis in Hyperekplexia
Gephyrin (GPHN) is an organizational protein that clusters and localizes the inhibitory glycine (GlyR) and GABAA receptors to the microtubular matrix of the neuronal postsynaptic membrane. Mice deficient in gephyrin develop a hereditary molybdenum cofactor deficiency and a neurological phenotype that mimics startle disease (hyperekplexia). This neuromotor disorder is associated with mutations in the GlyR α1 and β subunit genes (GLRA1 and GLRB). Further genetic heterogeneity is suspected, and we hypothesized that patients lacking mutations in GLRA1 and GLRB might have mutations in the gephyrin gene (GPHN). In addition, we adopted a yeast two-hybrid screen, using the GlyR β subunit intracellular loop as bait, in an attempt to identify further GlyR-interacting proteins implicated in hyperekplexia. Gephyrin cDNAs were isolated, and subsequent RT-PCR analysis from human tissues demonstrated the presence of five alternatively spliced GPHN exons concentrated in the central linker region of the gene. This region generated 11 distinct GPHN transcript isoforms, with 10 being specific to neuronal tissue. Mutation analysis of GPHN exons in hyperekplexia patients revealed a missense mutation (A28T) in one patient causing an amino acid substitution (N10Y). Functional testing demonstrated that GPHNN10Y does not disrupt GlyR-gephyrin interactions or collybistininduced cell-surface clustering. We provide evidence that GlyR-gephyrin binding is dependent on the presence of an intact C-terminal MoeA homology domain. Therefore, the N10Y mutation and alternative splicing of GPHN transcripts do not affect interactions with GlyRs but may affect other interactions with the cytoskeleton or gephyrin accessory proteins
First international descriptive and interventional survey for cholesterol and non-cholesterol sterol determination by gas- and liquid- chromatography–Urgent need for harmonisation of analytical methods
Serum concentrations of lathosterol, the plant sterols campesterol and sitosterol and the cholesterol metabolite 5α-cholestanol are widely used as surrogate markers of cholesterol synthesis and absorption, respectively. Increasing numbers of laboratories utilize a broad spectrum of well-established and recently developed methods for the determination of cholesterol and non-cholesterol sterols (NCS). In order to evaluate the quality of these measurements and to identify possible sources of analytical errors our group initiated the first international survey for cholesterol and NCS. The cholesterol and NCS survey was structured as a two-part survey which took place in the years 2013 and 2014. The first survey part was designed as descriptive, providing information about the variation of reported results from different laboratories. A set of two lyophilized pooled sera (A and B) was sent to twenty laboratories specialized in chromatographic lipid analysis. The different sterols were quantified either by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection, gas chromatography- or liquid chromatography-mass selective detection. The participants were requested to determine cholesterol and NCS concentrations in the provided samples as part of their normal laboratory routine. The second part was designed as interventional survey. Twenty-two laboratories agreed to participate and received again two different lyophilized pooled sera (C and D). In contrast to the first international survey, each participant received standard stock solutions with defined concentrations of cholesterol and NCS. The participants were requested to use diluted calibration solutions from the provided standard stock solutions for quantification of cholesterol and NCS. In both surveys, each laboratory used its own internal standard (5α-cholestane, epicoprostanol or deuterium labelled sterols).
Main outcome of the survey was, that unacceptably high interlaboratory variations for cholesterol and NCS concentrations are reported, even when the individual laboratories used the same calibration material. We discuss different sources of errors and recommend all laboratories analysing cholesterol and NCS to participate in regular quality control programs
DNA methylation of the IGF2/H19 imprinting control region and adiposity distribution in young adults
Origin and preservation of bacteriohopanepolyol signatures in Sphagnum peat from Bissendorfer Moor (Germany)
The effects of using technology to enhance and enrich music instruction
Blended learning can be used to enhance and enrich student learning in the music classroom, but the ways in which technology is being implemented into these classrooms is not always labeled as a blended learning environment which makes it difficult to find research that specifically pertains to its use in the music classroom. This review examines the effect of blended learning on student motivation and collaboration in the music classroom as well as the ways in which blended learning can be used to create a more student-centered learning environment in music. Future research into expanding technology integration and the use of blended learning environments at the primary level was recommended
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