1,816 research outputs found
A Myelin Proteolipid Protein-LacZ Fusion Protein Is Developmentally Regulated and Targeted to the Myelin Membrane in Transgenic Mice
Transgenic mice were generated with a fusion gene carrying a portion of the murine myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) gene, including the first intron, fused to the E. coli LacZ gene. Three transgenic lines were derived and all lines expressed the transgene in central nervous system white matter as measured by a histochemical assay for the detection of β-galactosidase activity. PLP-LacZ transgene expression was regulated in both a spatial and temporal manner, consistent with endogenous PLP expression. Moreover, the transgene was expressed specifically in oligodendrocytes from primary mixed glial cultures prepared from transgenic mouse brains and appeared to be developmentally regulated in vitro as well. Transgene expression occurred in embryos, presumably in pre- or nonmyelinating cells, rather extensively throughout the peripheral nervous system and within very discrete regions of the central nervous system. Surprisingly, beta-galactosidase activity was localized predominantly in the myelin in these transgenic animals, suggesting that the NH_2-terminal 13 amino acids of PLP, which were present in the PLP-LacZ gene product, were sufficient to target the protein to the myelin membrane. Thus, the first half of the PLP gene contains sequences sufficient to direct both spatial and temporal gene regulation and to encode amino acids important in targeting the protein to the myelin membrane
The SF36 as an outcome measure of services for end stage renal failure
OBJECTIVE: —To evaluate the use of the short
form 36 (SF36) as a measure of health
related quality of life of patients with end
stage renal failure, document the results,
and investigate factors, including mode of
treatment, which may influence it.
DESIGN: Cross sectional survey of patients
with end stage renal failure, with the
standard United Kingdom version of the
SF36 supplemented by specific questions
for end stage renal failure.
SETTING: A teaching hospital renal unit.
Subjects and methods—660 patients
treated at the Sheffield Kidney Institute by
haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and
transplantation. Internal consistency, percentage
of maximal or minimal responses,
SF36 scores, effect sizes, correlations
between independent predictor variables
and individual dimension scores of the
SF36. Multiple regression analysis of the
SF36 scores for the physical functioning,
vitality, and mental health dimensions
against treatment, age, risk (comorbidity)
score, and other independent variables.
RESULTS: A high response rate was
achieved. Internal consistency was good.
There were no floor or ceiling effects other
than for the two “role” dimensions. Overall
health related quality of life was poor
compared with the general population.
Having a functioning transplant was a significant
predictor of higher score in the
three dimensions (physical functioning,
vitality, and mental health) for which
multiple regression models were constructed.
Age, sex, comorbidity, duration
of treatment, level of social and emotional
support, household numbers, and hospital
dialysis were also (variably) significant
predictors.
CONCLUSIONS: The SF36 is a practical and
consistent questionnaire in this context,
and there is evidence to support its
construct validity. Overall the health related
quality of life of these patients is
poor, although transplantation is associated
with higher scores independently of
the effect of age and comorbidity. Age,
comorbidity, and sex are also predictive of
the scores attained in the three dimensions
studied. Further studies are required
to ascertain whether altering those
predictor variables which are under the
influence of professional carers is associated
with changes in health related quality
of life, and thus confirm the value of this
outcome as a measure of quality of care
Extent of regretted sexual intercourse among young teenagers in Scotland: a cross sectional survey
No abstract available
Impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers on NHS registered conceptions and terminations: final results of cluster randomised trial
<b>Objective</b>: To assess the impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers compared with conventional education in terms of conceptions and terminations registered by the NHS.
Design Follow-up of cluster randomised trial 4.5 years after intervention.
<b>Setting</b>: NHS records of women who had attended 25 secondary schools in east Scotland.
<b>Participants</b>: 4196 women (99.5% of those eligible).
<b>Intervention</b>: SHARE programme (intervention group) v existing sex education (control group).
<b>Main outcome measure</b>: NHS recorded conceptions and terminations for the achieved sample linked at age 20.
<b>Results</b>: In an "intention to treat" analysis there were no significant differences between the groups in registered conceptions per 1000 pupils (300 SHARE v 274 control; difference 26, 95% confidence interval –33 to 86) and terminations per 1000 pupils (127 v 112; difference 15, –13 to 42) between ages 16 and 20.
<b>Conclusions</b>: This specially designed sex education programme did not reduce conceptions or terminations by age 20 compared with conventional provision. The lack of effect was not due to quality of delivery. Enhancing teacher led school sex education beyond conventional provision in eastern Scotland is unlikely to reduce terminations in teenagers
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics contains 10 lessons that reintroduce an ethical dimension to economics in the tradition of Adam Smith, who believed ethical considerations were central to life. Utilizing these innovative instructional materials your students will learn about the important role ethics and character play in a market economy and how, in turn, markets influence ethical behavior.
The lessons do more than illustrate how ethical conduct improves an economy. They actively involve the students through simulations, group decision making, problem solving, classroom demonstrations and role playing. The lessons encourage students to think critically about ethical dilemmas.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1072/thumbnail.jp
History and Psychology: Shall the Twain Ever Meet?
As all detectives (fictional or real) know, every story contains at least an element of truth, and the most likely is usually the most truthful. Those trying to cover their tracks know or discover to their dismay that interrogators use that principle to their own advantage. Early in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the disguised Huck realizes this simple reality when he first returns to town after his faked death and “pumps” Mrs. Judith Loftus for information: “Somehow it didn’t seem to me that I said it [his name] was Mary before,” Huck relates; “seemed to me I said it was Sarah; so I felt sort of cornered, and was afeared maybe I was looking it, too.” ([Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, nd], p. 56). Huck’s outlandish fabrications always land him in trouble. As Jack Higgins has the redoubtable Liam Devlin note of his “cover” in The Eagle Has Flown, “the best kind of lie is the one that sticks closest to the truth.”(p.165, 1991).
Various disciplines have various methods, or tools, for assessing truth and thus telling likely stories to explain the facts at hand. Again as all good detectives know, the more tools at one’s disposal, the greater the probability of ascertaining and constructing a credible account of the world. This article urges adding the tool of historical methodology to students’ research repertories. Our urging is based on our conceptions of the scholar as detective, of man as human, of student as scholar, of history and psychology as disciplines, of cognition, and of research. Some of this may sound heretical; we ask your indulgence and your assent that heresies contain some element of truth
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics contains 10 lessons that reintroduce an ethical dimension to economics in the tradition of Adam Smith, who believed ethical considerations were central to life. Utilizing these innovative instructional materials your students will learn about the important role ethics and character play in a market economy and how, in turn, markets influence ethical behavior.
The lessons do more than illustrate how ethical conduct improves an economy. They actively involve the students through simulations, group decision making, problem solving, classroom demonstrations and role playing. The lessons encourage students to think critically about ethical dilemmas.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1072/thumbnail.jp
Major Powers and Militarized Conflict
This article attempts to answer the question of why major powers engage in more active foreign policy behaviors than minor powers. It does so by comparing two explanations for the increased conflict propensity of major powers. The first explanation focuses on major powers’ observable capabilities, while the second stresses their different behavior. We incorporate both into an ultimatum model of conflict in which a state’s cost of conflict consists of both observable and behavioral components. Using data from the period from 1870 to 2001, we empirically illustrate the observable and behavioral differences between major and minor powers. We then utilize a decomposition model to assess the relative significance of the two explanations. The results suggest that most of the difference in conflict propensity between major and minor powers can be attributed to observable differences
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