Neuronal differentiation of embryonic stem cells

AbstractNeuronal differentiation from totipotent precursors in vitro, is thought to require two signals: first a biophysical state (cellular aggregation) followed by a biochemical signal (retinoic acid treatment). In investigating the properties of retinoic acid-differentiated embryonic stem cell lines. However, we noted that retinoic acid treatment without prior aggregation, is sufficient to induce expression of the neuronal markers GAP-43 and NF-165. In agreement, immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of GAP-43 positive cells in these embryonic stem cell monolayers after three days of retinoic acid (RA) treatment. Furthermore an NF-165 positive subpopulation of cells was clearly observed after 4–5 days of RA treatment. The expression of these neuronal markers coincided with the appearance of electrically excitable cells, as assayed with whole cell patch clamp recording. We conclude that for neuronal differentiation of totipotent embryonic stem cells in vitro, one biochemical signal, i.e. retinoic acid treatment, is sufficient

Linearization of CIF Through SOS

Linearization is the procedure of rewriting a process term into a linear form, which consist only of basic operators of the process language. This procedure is interesting both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. In particular, a linearization algorithm is needed for the Compositional Interchange Format (CIF), an automaton based modeling language. The problem of devising efficient linearization algorithms is not trivial, and has been already addressed in literature. However, the linearization algorithms obtained are the result of an inventive process, and the proof of correctness comes as an afterthought. Furthermore, the semantic specification of the language does not play an important role on the design of the algorithm. In this work we present a method for obtaining an efficient linearization algorithm, through a step-wise refinement of the SOS rules of CIF. As a result, we show how the semantic specification of the language can guide the implementation of such a procedure, yielding a simple proof of correctness.Comment: In Proceedings EXPRESS 2011, arXiv:1108.407

Patient coaching in secondary care:healthcare professionals' views on target group, intervention and coach profile

Background: Not all patients are able to communicate effectively during consultations with medical specialists. Patient coaching has shown to be effective for enhancing communication. Objective: We aimed to get healthcare professionals' views on target groups for patient coaching, on supportive elements in patient coaching and on the necessary qualifications and profile of a patient coach, to further our knowledge on the concept of patient coaching as supportive intervention for patients in consultations with medical specialists. Methods: We chose a qualitative research design and interviewed 18 healthcare professionals (six medical specialists, four family physicians, four community nurses and four nurse specialists/physician assistants) and analysed the verbatim transcripts using Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven. After a short introduction of the global concept of patient coaching and presentation of patients' perceived barriers, two interviewers structured the interview around three research questions: which patients could benefit from a patient coach, what should such a coach do and who could act like such a coach? Results: Participants describe patients who could benefit from patient coaching as generally vulnerable (e.g. older age, insufficiently accompanied, lower socioeconomic status, co-morbidity and cognitive problems) but also patients who are situationally vulnerable (e.g. elicited by bad news). Patient coaching should comprise emotional and instrumental support, aiming at reducing stress and improving the processing of medical information. Patient coaching should start from the patient's home and include preparing questions, navigating to and in the hospital, recording information during the consultation, checking understanding and recalling information. Patient coaches should have at least basic medical knowledge and a higher education. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals believe that patient coaching by a trained professional with medical knowledge could be beneficial to patients who are stressed when visiting a medical specialist. Future research should involve the views of patients on patient coaching, focus on investigating to what extent patient coaching is able to reduce stress and support a patient in processing medical information and the preferred patient coach's profile

He Puts Out His Hand. You Put Out Your Hand. Emerging, Urban, Aboriginal Theatre-Makers. What Does it Take to Emerge?

The largest percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia live in Sydney. Despite this large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, there is there is very little recorded evidence of a prominent artistic presence of Aboriginal theatre-makers who are creating new, contemporary expressions of urban culture. From 2007-2011, PACT centre for emerging artists (PACT) created a series of Aboriginal-specific opportunities and programs for emerging, urban, Aboriginal theatre-makers who were interested in experimenting in new methods of creation and exploring their urban, lived experience. These opportunities generated a small, critical mass of Aboriginal theatre-makers. The program was in many aspects successful, however it also faced various challenges and misunderstandings. When one of the participating artists, Björn Stewart, presented a new performance work that expressed confusion, dislike and a sense of manipulation in the opportunities he was being offered as an artist by various organisations, it highlighted that perhaps the opportunities being offered to these theatre-makers were not what was perceived as being needed, and that there are varying motivations, agendas and expectations behind such opportunities by those providing them. This study identifies three key stakeholders who contribute to different points of the development of opportunities and new Aboriginal works: the funding body, the arts organisation and the artists. Using PACT’s Aboriginal-specific opportunities as a case study, this research set out to discover: (i) if current opportunities being offered to urban, emerging, Aboriginal theatre-makers are effective; (ii) what are the stakeholders’ perceptions about what is required; and most importantly, (iii) do these perceptions align with each other, and if not, what is the impact on Sydney, urban, emerging Aboriginal theatre-makers? To date, there has been no record of emerging, urban, theatre-makers having been consulted or given the opportunity to voice what they believe an emerging, urban, Aboriginal theatre-maker requires to “emerge”. This study begins that record

Applicability of evidence from previous systematic reviews on immunotherapy in current practice of childhood asthma treatment:a GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) systematic review

Objective Because most children with asthma now use inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), the added benefit of immunotherapy in asthmatic children needs to be examined. We re-assessed the effectiveness of subcutaneous (SCIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in childhood asthma treatment focusing on studies with patient-relevant outcome measures and children using ICS. Methods We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to systematically search and appraise the evidence using predefined critical patient-relevant outcomes (asthma symptoms, asthma control and exacerbations). We searched to retrieve systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials on immunotherapy for asthma in children (1960-2017). We assessed the quality of the body of evidence with GRADE criteria. Results The quality of the evidence for SCIT was very low due to a large risk of bias and indirectness (dated studies in children not using ICS). No effect of SCIT was found for asthma symptoms; no studies reported on asthma control. For asthma exacerbations, studies favoured SCIT. We have little confidence in this effect estimate, due to the very low quality of evidence. For SLIT, quality of the evidence was very low due to a large risk of bias, indirectness and imprecision. The outcome 'asthma symptoms' could not be calculated due to lack of standardisation and large clinical heterogeneity. Other predefined outcomes were not reported. Conclusion The beneficial effects of immunotherapy in childhood asthma found in earlier reviews are no longer considered applicable, because of indirectness (studies performed in children not being treated according to current asthma guidelines with ICS). There was absence of evidence to properly determine the effectiveness or lack thereof of immunotherapy in asthma treatment in children with IC

On the Identification of High Mass Star Forming Regions using IRAS: Contamination by Low-Mass Protostars

We present the results of a survey of a small sample (14) of low-mass protostars (L_IR < 10^3 Lsun) for 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission performed using the ATNF Parkes radio telescope. No new masers were discovered. We find that the lower luminosity limit for maser emission is near 10^3 Lsun, by comparison of the sources in our sample with previously detected methanol maser sources. We examine the IRAS properties of our sample and compare them with sources previously observed for methanol maser emission, almost all of which satisfy the Wood & Churchwell criterion for selecting candidate UCHII regions. We find that about half of our sample satisfy this criterion, and in addition almost all of this subgroup have integrated fluxes between 25 and 60 microns that are similar to sources with detectable methanol maser emission. By identifying a number of low-mass protostars in this work and from the literature that satisfy the Wood & Churchwell criterion for candidate UCHII regions, we show conclusively for the first time that the fainter flux end of their sample is contaminated by lower-mass non-ionizing sources, confirming the suggestion by van der Walt and Ramesh & Sridharan.Comment: 8 pages with 2 figures. Accepted by Ap

Influenza A viruses are transmitted via the air from the nasal respiratory epithelium of ferrets

Human influenza A viruses are known to be transmitted via the air from person to person. It is unknown from which anatomical site of the respiratory tract influenza A virus transmission occurs. Here, pairs of genetically tagged and untagged influenza A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and A/H5N1 viruses that are transmissible via the air are used to co-infect donor ferrets via the intranasal and intratracheal routes to cause an upper and lower respiratory tract infection, respectively. In all transmission cases, we observe that the viruses in the recipient ferrets are of the same genotype as the viruses inoculated intranasally, demonstrating that they are expelled from the upper respiratory tract of ferrets rather than from trachea or the lower airways. Moreover, influenza A viruses that are transmissible via the air preferentially infect ferret and human nasal respiratory epithelium. These results indicate that virus replication in the upper respiratory tract, the nasal respiratory epithelium in particular, of donors is a driver for transmission of influenza A viruses via the air