Transgender Healthcare Teaching in the Undergraduate Medical School Curriculum

With increasing recognition of the diverse and specific needs of transgender individuals in a health care setting, lack of knowledge, poor attitudes and prejudice towards transgender patients can result in this population being afraid to access medical care. Educating medical students early in their career in a sensitive and inclusive manner could help change these attitudes. It has been shown that medical undergraduates and post-graduates often feel unprepared or uncomfortable in caring for transgender patients due to lack of training and experience2-4. The aim of this study was to address this through introduction of basic transgender healthcare education into the University of Glasgow undergraduate medical curriculum, with the goal of implementing further interactive and fully inclusive teaching

Analysis of LIGO data for gravitational waves from binary neutron stars

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binary systems in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. The analysis uses data taken by two of the three LIGO interferometers during the first LIGO science run and illustrates a method of setting upper limits on inspiral event rates using interferometer data. The analysis pipeline is described with particular attention to data selection and coincidence between the two interferometers. We establish an observational upper limit of $\mathcal{R}<$1.7 \times 10^{2}$per year per Milky Way Equivalent Galaxy (MWEG), with 90coalescence rate of binary systems in which each component has a mass in the range 1--3$M_\odot$.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Differentiation potential of intestinal mesenchyme and its interaction with epithelial cells: a study using beta-galactosidase-expressing fibroblast lines

Rat intestinal fibroblast lines (F1:G9 and A1:F1) differing in their potential to support intestinal mucosal development were marked with reporter genes to investigate their differentiation potential. The fibroblasts were transfected with plasmids expressing either beta-galactosidase (with or without a nuclear localisation signal) or green fluorescent protein (GFP). Transfection using Tfx50 or Fugene was more efficient than electroporation. The expression of beta-galactosidase was more stable and stronger than GFP. Cells were optimally labelled using the plasmid pL27B-GAL, and sub-clones with a strong and uniform nuclear expression of beta-galactosidase were isolated. These clones expressed beta-galactosidase even after prolonged passage in the absence of selection. The beta-galactosidase tagged lines (F1:G9gal and A1:F1gal) retained the morphological characteristics, viability and differentiation properties of the parental non-transfected lines. In co-culture with a colorectal tumour cell line Caco-2, the F1:G9gal and A1:F1gal cells differed in their morphological organisation but this did not change their expression of smooth muscle alpha-actin

Transgender Healthcare Teaching in the Undergraduate Medical School Curriculum

With increasing recognition of the diverse and specific needs of transgender individuals in a health care setting, lack of knowledge, poor attitudes and prejudice towards transgender patients can result in this population being afraid to access medical care. Educating medical students early in their career in a sensitive and inclusive manner could help change these attitudes. It has been shown that medical undergraduates and post-graduates often feel unprepared or uncomfortable in caring for transgender patients due to lack of training and experience2-4. The aim of this study was to address this through introduction of basic transgender healthcare education into the University of Glasgow undergraduate medical curriculum, with the goal of implementing further interactive and fully inclusive teaching