The influence of dogs on the physical activity and social network of the owners: A qualitative study.

The effect of dog ownership on the physical activity and social network of the owners is getting more attention nowadays. Dogs may be able to positively influence risk factors for preventing non-communicable diseases. The basis for this qualitative study is mainly established on a literature study and the data gathered is derived from two focus group interviews followed by six detailed individual interviews. From the gathered data it can be concluded that the influence of dogs on the physical activity and social network needs to be viewed from a comprehensive framework based on three environments: the social, physical and policy environment. Besides the main environmental structures, a more in depth structure can be seen to influence the intention to walk and social network. The characteristics of the dog, the characteristics of the owner, the personal beliefs and the bond between owner and dog, are mentioned to influence the key perceptions. These key perceptions are the motivation and obligation to walk with the dog, the social support provided by the dog and the perceived barriers and benefits. Dogs are said to be able to positively influence these perceptions of the owner, which enables dogs to maintain the owners’ walking behavior. The point that dogs can positively influence some key factors of current mental and physical health problems, raises the possibility to develop a dog intervention. Both owners and non-owners may benefit from dog interventions. However before starting with the development of an intervention, it is important to examine the needs of the population. A needs assessment study would be a good first step in the development process of a dog intervention and if the results are positive, a concrete plan for a dog intervention can be made

The construction and operation of a nuclear magnetic resonance probe

LD2668 .T4 1962 P7

The auto industry: slowdown in sales, stall in jobs

Automobile industry and trade ; Unemployment

The drive to improve : a quantitative study of the relationship between professional learning communities and teacher motivation

"July 2014."Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Cynthia MacGregor.Includes vita.This paper explored the perceived level of Professional Learning Community (PLC) implementation in secondary schools in Missouri who participate in the State Professional Learning Communities Project (PLCP) based upon a quantitative survey given to teachers. The components studied were derived from the work of Oliver, Hipp, and Huffman (2003) and further refined by Guerin (2008). It also quantitatively explored teachers' self-perceived level of motivation when viewed through Pink's (2009) conceptual framework of intrinsic motivation which includes autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Finally, the research looked for correlations between the perceived implementation of PLC components and teacher motivation and used multiple regression techniques to determine a predictive model to show which component of PLCs can be expected to produce the highest levels of teacher motivation. The research determined that teachers who participated in the study rated the PLC components of Supportive Conditions--Structures the highest and Shared Personal Practice the lowest based upon their mean scores. The motivational factors of mastery and purpose were rated similarly while autonomy was determined to be significantly lower. Correlational analysis determined that the PLC component of Supportive Conditions--Relationships was most highly correlated with each of the motivational subscales. Further, Supportive Conditions--Relationships was also found in each of the regression models used to predict autonomy, mastery, and purpose. These findings support previous research related to the decreasing levels of autonomy found in the education profession. Further, the significance of professional relationships was supported by this research. School leaders could interpret these findings as evidence for the importance of allowing teachers choice (autonomy) when possible in order to facilitate their level of motivation. One could also interpret the results of this study as an indication to spend the necessary time to invest in professional relationIncludes bibliographical references (pages 127-136)

There’s a middle ground, you know:partnering with low-socioeconomic status families in health promotion

Intergenerational poverty, where children from poor households do not seem to escape from poverty later in life, is becoming more visible in society. About 8% of Dutch families have a low income. Some specific regions, such as the southern part of the Netherlands, score worse on well-being, participation and poverty outcomes. This study focuses on enhancing the situation of low socioeconomic status (SES) families with children under the age of eighteen living in the municipality Vaals. Although strengthening the position of low-SES families is seen as important, recruiting and retaining them within defined interventions to enhance their well-being has been found difficult. This research describes studies that create equal partnerships in order to bring together the best of professional expertise and local talent. Activities were carried out providing information and suggestions to enhance partnership processes with low-SES families in the future. Funded by NutsOhra (grant number 31963254N

Intraflagellar transport delivers tubulin isotypes to sensory cilium middle and distal segments.

Sensory cilia are assembled and maintained by kinesin-2-dependent intraflagellar transport (IFT). We investigated whether two Caenorhabditis elegans α- and β-tubulin isotypes, identified through mutants that lack their cilium distal segments, are delivered to their assembly sites by IFT. Mutations in conserved residues in both tubulins destabilize distal singlet microtubules. One isotype, TBB-4, assembles into microtubules at the tips of the axoneme core and distal segments, where the microtubule tip tracker EB1 is found, and localizes all along the cilium, whereas the other, TBA-5, concentrates in distal singlets. IFT assays, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis and modelling indicate that the continual transport of sub-stoichiometric numbers of these tubulin subunits by the IFT machinery can maintain sensory cilia at their steady-state length

T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK): an emerging target for cancer-specific therapeutics

‘Targeted’ or ‘biological’ cancer treatments rely on differential gene expression between normal tissue and cancer, and genetic changes that render tumour cells especially sensitive to the agent being applied. Problems exist with the application of many agents as a result of damage to local tissues, tumour evolution and treatment resistance, or through systemic toxicity. Hence, there is a therapeutic need to uncover specific clinical targets which enhance the efficacy of cancer treatment whilst minimising the risk to healthy tissues. T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) is a MAPKK-like kinase which plays a role in cell cycle regulation and mitotic progression. As a consequence, TOPK expression is minimal in differentiated cells, although its overexpression is a pathophysiological feature of many tumours. Hence, TOPK has garnered interest as a cancer-specific biomarker and biochemical target with the potential to enhance cancer therapy whilst causing minimal harm to normal tissues. Small molecule inhibitors of TOPK have produced encouraging results as a stand-alone treatment in vitro and in vivo, and are expected to advance into clinical trials in the near future. In this review, we present the current literature pertaining to TOPK as a potential clinical target and describe the progress made in uncovering its role in tumour development. Firstly, we describe the functional role of TOPK as a pro-oncogenic kinase, followed by a discussion of its potential as a target for the treatment of cancers with high-TOPK expression. Next, we provide an overview of the current preclinical progress in TOPK inhibitor discovery and development, with respect to future adaptation for clinical use

Overexpression of POLQ Confers a Poor Prognosis in Early Breast Cancer Patients

Depletion of POLQ (DNA polymerase theta) has recently been shown to render tumour cells more sensitive to radiotherapy whilst having little or no effect on normal tissues. This finding led us to investigate whether tumours that overexpress POLQ are associated with an adverse outcome. We therefore correlated the clinical outcomes of two retrospective series of patients with early breast cancer with the expression levels of POLQ, as determined by microarray gene expression analysis. We found that a significant number of tumours overexpressed POLQ and that overexpression was correlated with ER negative disease (p=0.047) and high tumour grade (p=0.004), both of which are associated with poor clinical outcomes. POLQ overexpression was associated with poor relapse free survival rates on both univariate (HR 5.80; 95% CI, 2.220 to 15.159; p<0.001) and multivariate analysis (HR 8.086; 95% CI 2.340 to 27.948 p=0.001). Analysis of other published clinical series confirmed that POLQ overexpression is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The poor prognosis associated with POLQ is independent of other clinical or pathological features. The mechanism that causes this adverse outcome remains to be elucidated but may in part arise from resistance to adjuvant treatment. These findings, combined with the limited normal tissue expression of POLQ, make it a very appealing target for possible clinical exploitation

With whom are you dealing? Using social network analysis as a tool to strengthen service delivery structures for low socioeconomic status populations

Background: Health disparities between populations with different socioeconomic status (SES) are increasing. Although a wide variety of support service organizations and arrangements are in place, no general overview of this social network, its reach, and harmonization of services surrounding low-SES populations are available. The present participatory health research study examined the current network structure and the utility of using social network analysis (SNA) as a tool to improve service delivery structures. Design and methods: We applied a mixed-methods study design. An online-questionnaire was used to examine the relationships among organizations assumed to support low-SES individuals in the municipality of Vaals, the Netherlands. In addition, semi-structured interviews and a networking session were used to examine the current network structure and to explore opportunities for improvement. Results: The SNA revealed a weak network structure, and all interviewed professionals mentioned that the current structure should be improved. Participants indicated that a first step would be to install a central information system. Conclusions: SNA can be a useful tool to gain more in-depth insights into the relations within a service delivery network. The professionals were assisted in discovering new organizations that could help them reach low SES populations and in harmonizing and improving their service delivery

NVP-BEZ235 and NVP-BGT226, dual phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors, enhance tumor and endothelial cell radiosensitivity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is activated in tumor cells and promotes tumor cell survival after radiation-induced DNA damage. Because the pathway may not be completely inhibited after blockade of PI3K itself, due to feedback through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), more effective inhibition might be expected by targeting both PI3K and mTOR inhibition.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>We investigated the effect of two dual PI3K/mTOR (both mTORC1 and mTORC2) inhibitors, NVP-BEZ235 and NVP-BGT226, on SQ20B laryngeal and FaDu hypopharyngeal cancer cells characterised by EGFR overexpression, on T24 bladder tumor cell lines with H-Ras mutation and on endothelial cells. Analysis of target protein phosphorylation, clonogenic survival, number of residual γH2AX foci, cell cycle and apoptosis after radiation was performed in both tumor and endothelial cells. In vitro angiogenesis assays were conducted as well.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both compounds effectively inhibited phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR and S6 target proteins and reduced clonogenic survival in irradiated tumor cells. Persistence of DNA damage, as evidenced by increased number of γH2AX foci, was detected after irradiation in the presence of PI3K/mTOR inhibition, together with enhanced G2 cell cycle delay. Treatment with one of the inhibitors, NVP-BEZ235, also resulted in decreased clonogenicity after irradiation of tumor cells under hypoxic conditions. In addition, NVP-BEZ235 blocked VEGF- and IR-induced Akt phosphorylation and increased radiation killing in human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human dermal microvascular dermal cells (HDMVC). NVP-BEZ235 inhibited VEGF-induced cell migration and capillary tube formation in vitro and enhanced the antivascular effect of irradiation. Treatment with NVP-BEZ235 moderately increased apoptosis in SQ20B and HUVEC cells but not in FaDu cells, and increased necrosis in both tumor and endothelial all cells tumor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study demonstrate that PI3K/mTOR inhibitors can enhance radiation-induced killing in tumor and endothelial cells and may be of benefit when combined with radiotherapy.</p