Symbolic meanings and e-learning in the workplace: The case of an intranet-based training tool

This article contributes to the debate on work-based e-learning, by unpacking the notion of ‘the learning context’ in a case where the mediating tool for training also supports everyday work. Users’ engagement with the information and communication technology tool is shown to reflect dynamic interactions among the individual, peer group, organizational and institutional levels. Also influential are professionals’ values and identity work, alongside their interpretations of espoused and emerging symbolic meanings. Discussion draws on pedagogically informed studies of e-learning and the wider organizational learning literature. More centrally, this article highlights the instrumentality of symbolic interactionism for e-learning research and explores some of the framework’s conceptual resources as applied to organizational analysis and e-learning design. </jats:p

Sarcomere Formation Occurs by the Assembly of Multiple Latent Protein Complexes

The stereotyped striation of myofibrils is a conserved feature of muscle organization that is critical to its function. Although most components that constitute the basic myofibrils are well-characterized biochemically and are conserved across the animal kingdom, the mechanisms leading to the precise assembly of sarcomeres, the basic units of myofibrils, are poorly understood. To gain insights into this process, we investigated the functional relationships of sarcomeric protein complexes. Specifically, we systematically analyzed, using either RNAi in primary muscle cells or available genetic mutations, the organization of myofibrils in Drosophila muscles that lack one or more sarcomeric proteins. Our study reveals that the thin and thick filaments are mutually dependent on each other for striation. Further, the tension sensor complex comprised of zipper/Zasp/α-actinin is involved in stabilizing the sarcomere but not in its initial formation. Finally, integrins appear essential for the interdigitation of thin and thick filaments that occurs prior to striation. Thus, sarcomere formation occurs by the coordinated assembly of multiple latent protein complexes, as opposed to sequential assembly

Associations between outdoor temperature and markers of inflammation: a cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Associations between ambient temperature and cardiovascular mortality are well established. This study investigated whether inflammation could be part of the mechanism leading to temperature-related cardiovascular deaths.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population consisted of a cohort of 673 men with mean age of 74.6 years, living in the greater Boston area. They were seen for examination roughly every 4 years, and blood samples for inflammation marker analyses were drawn in 2000-2008 (total of 1254 visits). We used a mixed effects model to estimate the associations between ambient temperature and a variety of inflammation markers (C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, soluble Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1, soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukins -1β, -6 and -8). Random intercept for each subject and several possible confounders, including combustion-related air pollution and ozone, were used in the models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found a 0 to 1 day lagged and up to 4 weeks cumulative responses in C-reactive protein in association with temperature. We observed a 24.9% increase [95% Confidence interval (CI): 7.36, 45.2] in C-reactive protein for a 5°C decrease in the 4 weeks' moving average of temperature. We observed similar associations also between temperature and soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (4.52%, 95% CI: 1.05, 8.10, over 4 weeks' moving average), and between temperature and soluble Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (6.60%, 95% CI: 1.31, 12.2 over 4 weeks' moving average). Penalized spline models showed no deviation from linearity. There were no associations between temperature and other inflammation markers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Cumulative exposure to decreased temperature is associated with an increase in inflammation marker levels among elderly men. This suggests that inflammation markers are part of intermediate processes, which may lead to cold-, but not heat-, related cardiovascular deaths.</p

Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins induce IL-8 secretion by human nasal epithelial cells

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus produces a set of proteins which act both as superantigens and toxins. Although their mode of action as superantigens is well understood, little is known about their effects on airway epithelial cells. METHODS: To investigate this problem, primary nasal epithelial cells derived from normal and asthmatic subjects were stimulated with staphylococcal enterotoxin A and B (SEA and SEB) and secreted (supernatants) and cell-associated (cell lysates) IL-8, TNF-α, RANTES and eotaxin were determined by specific ELISAs. RESULTS: Non-toxic concentrations of SEA and SEB (0.01 μg/ml and 1.0 μg/ml) induced IL-8 secretion after 24 h of culture. Pre-treatment of the cells with IFN-γ (50 IU/ml) resulted in a further increase of IL-8 secretion. In cells from healthy donors pretreated with IFN-γ, SEA at 1.0 μg/ml induced release of 1009 pg/ml IL-8 (733.0–1216 pg/ml, median (range)) while in cells from asthmatic donors the same treatment induced significantly higher IL-8 secretion – 1550 pg/ml (1168.0–2000.0 pg/ml p = 0.04). Normal cells pre-treated with IFN-γ and then cultured with SEB at 1.0 μg/ml released 904.6 pg/ml IL-8 (666.5–1169.0 pg/ml). Cells from asthmatics treated in the same way produced significantly higher amounts of IL-8 – 1665.0 pg/ml (1168.0–2000.0 pg/ml, p = 0.01). Blocking antibodies to MHC class II molecules added to cultures stimulated with SEA and SEB, reduced IL-8 secretion by about 40% in IFN-γ unstimulated cultures and 75% in IFN-γ stimulated cultures. No secretion of TNF-α, RANTES and eotaxin was noted. CONCLUSION: Staphylococcal enterotoxins may have a role in the pathogenesis of asthma

The influence of visual flow and perceptual load on locomotion speed

Visual flow is used to perceive and regulate movement speed during locomotion. We assessed the extent to which variation in flow from the ground plane, arising from static visual textures, influences locomotion speed under conditions of concurrent perceptual load. In two experiments, participants walked over a 12-m projected walkway that consisted of stripes that were oriented orthogonal to the walking direction. In the critical conditions, the frequency of the stripes increased or decreased. We observed small, but consistent effects on walking speed, so that participants were walking slower when the frequency increased compared to when the frequency decreased. This basic effect suggests that participants interpreted the change in visual flow in these conditions as at least partly due to a change in their own movement speed, and counteracted such a change by speeding up or slowing down. Critically, these effects were magnified under conditions of low perceptual load and a locus of attention near the ground plane. Our findings suggest that the contribution of vision in the control of ongoing locomotion is relatively fluid and dependent on ongoing perceptual (and perhaps more generally cognitive) task demands

Systematic review of the evidence relating FEV1 decline to giving up smoking

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rate of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) decline ("beta") is a marker of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk. The reduction in beta after quitting smoking is an upper limit for the reduction achievable from switching to novel nicotine delivery products. We review available evidence to estimate this reduction and quantify the relationship of smoking to beta.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Studies were identified, in healthy individuals or patients with respiratory disease, that provided data on beta over at least 2 years of follow-up, separately for those who gave up smoking and other smoking groups. Publications to June 2010 were considered. Independent beta estimates were derived for four main smoking groups: never smokers, ex-smokers (before baseline), quitters (during follow-up) and continuing smokers. Unweighted and inverse variance-weighted regression analyses compared betas in the smoking groups, and in continuing smokers by amount smoked, and estimated whether beta or beta differences between smoking groups varied by age, sex and other factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Forty-seven studies had relevant data, 28 for both sexes and 19 for males. Sixteen studies started before 1970. Mean follow-up was 11 years. On the basis of weighted analysis of 303 betas for the four smoking groups, never smokers had a beta 10.8 mL/yr (95% confidence interval (CI), 8.9 to 12.8) less than continuing smokers. Betas for ex-smokers were 12.4 mL/yr (95% CI, 10.1 to 14.7) less than for continuing smokers, and for quitters, 8.5 mL/yr (95% CI, 5.6 to 11.4) less. These betas were similar to that for never smokers. In continuing smokers, beta increased 0.33 mL/yr per cigarette/day. Beta differences between continuing smokers and those who gave up were greater in patients with respiratory disease or with reduced baseline lung function, but were not clearly related to age or sex.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The available data have numerous limitations, but clearly show that continuing smokers have a beta that is dose-related and over 10 mL/yr greater than in never smokers, ex-smokers or quitters. The greater decline in those with respiratory disease or reduced lung function is consistent with some smokers having a more rapid rate of FEV₁decline. These results help in designing studies comparing continuing smokers of conventional cigarettes and switchers to novel products.</p

A case of mistaken identity

What went wrong between the UK media and a report on 'multi-ethnic' Britain

Direct and indirect effects of age on interoceptive accuracy and awareness across the adult lifespan

Various aspects of physical and mental health have been linked to an individual’s ability to perceive the physical condition of their body (‘interoception’). In addition, numerous studies have demonstrated a role for interoception in higher-order cognitive abilities such as decision-making and emotion processing. The importance of interoception for health and typical cognitive functioning has prompted interest in how interoception varies over the lifespan. However, few studies have investigated interoception into older adulthood, and no studies account for the set of physiological changes that may influence task performance. The present study examined interoception from young to very late adulthood (until 90 years of age) utilising a self-report measure of interoception (Study One) and an objective measure of cardiac interoception (Study Two). Across both studies interoception decreased with age, and changes in interoceptive accuracy were observed which were not explained by accompanying physiological changes. In addition to a direct effect of age on interoception, an indirect effect of ageing on cardiac interoceptive accuracy mediated by body mass index (BMI) was found, such that ageing was associated with increased BMI which was, in turn, associated with reduced interoceptive accuracy. Such findings support and extend previous research demonstrating interoceptive decline with advancing age, and highlight the importance of assessing whether decreasing interoceptive ability is responsible for some aspects of agerelated ill-health and cognitive impairment