From classroom tutor to hypertext adviser: An evaluation

This paper describes a three‐year experiment to investigate the possibility of making economies by replacing practical laboratory sessions with courseware while attempting to ensure that the quality of the student learning experience did not suffer. Pathology labs are a central component of the first‐year medical undergraduate curriculum at Southampton. Activities in these labs had been carefully designed and they were supervised by lab demonstrators who were subject domain experts. The labs were successful in the eyes of both staff and students but were expensive to conduct, in terms of equipment and staffing. Year by year evaluation of the introduction of courseware revealed that there was no measurable difference in student performance as a result of introducing the courseware, but that students were unhappy about the loss of interaction with the demonstrators. The final outcome of this experiment was a courseware replacement for six labs which included a software online hypertext adviser. The contribution of this work is that it adds to the body of empirical evidence in support of the importance of maintaining dialogue with students when introducing courseware, and it presents an example of how this interaction might be achieved in software

Spatial and temporal distribution of solar radiation in Louisiana

The purpose of this study is to examine temporal and spatial trends in surface global horizontal solar radiation in Louisiana using a 30-year dataset (1961-1990) of the four stations in Louisiana from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRD) and a 6-year dataset (2001-2006) of the 25 stations in the Louisiana Agriclimatic Information System (LAIS). Three of the four NSRD stations exhibit a downward linear trend in surface solar radiation over the 30-year period of record, similar to the global trends uncovered in previous studies. Only one station exhibits a slightly upward trend. Surface solar radiation exhibits a positive correlation with maximum temperature but a negative correlation with minimum temperature. A higher solar radiation transmissivity in summer is found in Shreveport than at the three sites in southern Louisiana, despite a more direct sun angle in the south. Southeastern Louisiana (represented by New Orleans) is found to have lower transmissivity values than southwestern Louisiana (represented by Lake Charles), probably because of the stronger influence of large water bodies in the southeast. A summertime slump in transmissivity is found at all NSRD stations for a ‘normal’ averaged year. Data from the NSRD were used to validate data values from each LAIS station. While most LAIS stations have inadequate data, at least in some sections of the six-year time series, some stations appear adequate for future research applications

Turystyka luksusowa i turystyka wysokiej klasy – kluczowe zagadnienia i trendy

The article aims to familiarise the reader with the concept of luxury tourism (high-end tourism), trace relevant global consumer trends and to look at the relationship between luxury tourism and sustainable development. The authors rely on the literature that refers to the concept of luxury or high-end tourism, strategic documents published by supranational and national tourism organizations, and a pilot comparative analysis of selected tourist products from the luxury tourism sector. The article is for illustrative purposes only.Artykuł ma na celu przybliżenie pojęcia „turystyka luksusowa”, prześledzenie trendów konsumenckich na świecie w odniesieniu do tego typu turystyki oraz pochylenie się nad związkiem turystyka luksusowa – zrównoważony rozwój. Autorzy opierają się na literaturze przedmiotu, dokumentach strategicznych publikowanych przez międzynarodowe i narodowe organizacje turystyczne oraz na pilotażowej analizie porównawczej ofert wybranych usługodawców z sektora turystyki luksusowej. Artykuł ma charakter poglądowy

ATR Kinase Inhibition Protects Non-cycling Cells from the Lethal Effects of DNA Damage and Transcription Stress

ATR (ataxia telangiectasia and Rad-3-related) is a protein kinase that maintains genome stability and halts cell cycle phase transitions in response to DNA lesions that block DNA polymerase movement. These DNA replication-associated features of ATR function have led to the emergence of ATR kinase inhibitors as potential adjuvants for DNA-damaging cancer chemotherapeutics. However, whether ATR affects the genotoxic stress response in non-replicating, non-cycling cells is currently unknown. We therefore used chemical inhibition of ATR kinase activity to examine the role of ATR in quiescent human cells. Although ATR inhibition had no obvious effects on the viability of non-cycling cells, inhibition of ATR partially protected non-replicating cells from the lethal effects of UV and UV mimetics. Analyses of various DNA damage response signaling pathways demonstrated that ATR inhibition reduced the activation of apoptotic signaling by these agents in non-cycling cells. The pro-apoptosis/cell death function of ATR is likely due to transcription stress because the lethal effects of compounds that block RNA polymerase movement were reduced in the presence of an ATR inhibitor. These results therefore suggest that whereas DNA polymerase stalling at DNA lesions activates ATR to protect cell viability and prevent apoptosis, the stalling of RNA polymerases instead activates ATR to induce an apoptotic form of cell death in non-cycling cells. These results have important implications regarding the use of ATR inhibitors in cancer chemotherapy regimens

PostExcision Events in Human Nucleotide Excision Repair

The nucleotide excision repair system removes a wide variety of DNA lesions from the human genome, including photoproducts induced by ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths of sunlight. A defining feature of nucleotide excision repair is its dual incision mechanism, in which two nucleolytic incision events on the damaged strand of DNA at sites bracketing the lesion generate a damage-containing DNA oligonucleotide and a single-stranded DNA gap approximately 30 nucleotides in length. Although the early events of nucleotide excision repair, which include lesion recognition and the dual incisions, have been explored in detail and are reasonably well understood, the fate of the single-stranded DNA gaps and excised oligonucleotide products of repair have not been as extensively examined. In this review, recent findings that address these less-explored aspects of nucleotide excision repair are discussed and support the concept that postincision gap and excised oligonucleotide processing are critical steps in the cellular response to DNA damage induced by UV light and other environmental carcinogens. Defects in these latter stages of repair lead to cell death and other DNA damage signaling responses and may therefore contribute to a number of human disease states associated with exposure to UV wavelengths of sunlight, including skin cancer, aging and autoimmunity

The histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A alters the pattern of DNA replication origin activity in human cells

Eukaryotic chromatin structure limits the initiation of DNA replication spatially to chromosomal origin zones and temporally to the ordered firing of origins during S phase. Here, we show that the level of histone H4 acetylation correlates with the frequency of replication initiation as measured by the abundance of short nascent DNA strands within the human c-myc and lamin B2 origins, but less well with the frequency of initiation across the β-globin locus. Treatment of HeLa cells with trichostatin A (TSA) reversibly increased the acetylation level of histone H4 globally and at these initiation sites. At all three origins, TSA treatment transiently promoted a more dispersive pattern of initiations, decreasing the abundance of nascent DNA at previously preferred initiation sites while increasing the nascent strand abundance at lower frequency genomic initiation sites. When cells arrested in late G(1) were released into TSA, they completed S phase more rapidly than untreated cells, possibly due to the earlier initiation from late-firing origins, as exemplified by the β-globin origin. Thus, TSA may modulate replication origin activity through its effects on chromatin structure, by changing the selection of initiation sites, and by advancing the time at which DNA synthesis can begin at some initiation sites

Do Our Graduates Know What companies Are Seeking In An Employee, and, Perhaps More Importantly, Do We?

University marketing faculty teach and embrace a concept referred to as the Marketing Concept, which places an emphasis on customer needs as a central focus in managing the marketing effort. Understanding customer needs through marketing research is thus essential to the process. If college marketing programs are to prepare students for their customers, the companies that hiring these students, the question then follows: do college marketing faculty and college marketing graduates know what qualities employers are seeking? This exploratory study reports the results of a survey of employers who were attending a Career Fair at a Southeastern US state university which addresses this question

Medication taking in people with hip and knee osteoarthritis: An analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent condition seen across primary care services. Although evidence‐based guidelines have encouraged the prescription of medications, including analgesics, for this population, there remains uncertainty as to which types of individuals actually take prescribed or over‐the‐counter medications. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there is a difference in characteristics between people who take medicines for OA compared with those who do not. Methods: A cross‐sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) cohort was undertaken. Individuals who reported hip and/or knee OA pain were included. Data on medication taking were self‐reported and collected as part of the ELSA data collection programme. Logistic regression analyses were undertaken to determine the relationship between potential predictors (demographic, pathology‐specific, psychological, social and functional) and whether individuals took medications for their OA symptoms. Results: A total of 654 participants reported OA: 543 medicine takers and 111 nontakers. Individuals who had access to a car (odds ratio [OR]: 56.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.35 to 941.36), those with a greater duration of hip pain (OR: 5.79; 95% CI: 1.40 to 24.0) and those who achieved 10 chair raises at greater speed (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.14) were more likely to take OA medicines. Conclusions: The study identified predictors for medication taking in individuals with hip and/or knee OA. Strategies are now warranted to provide better support to these individuals, to improve health and well‐being for this long‐term, disabling condition

Evaluation and Comparison of Overland Flow and Slow Rate Systems to Upgrade Secondary Wastewater Lagoon Effluent

To evaluate the effectiveness of overland flow treatment in upgrading secondary wastewater lagoon effluent, three 15 x 36 m plots on a 2.5 percent slope were constructed and sown for a high density vegetative cover using Reed Canary grass. Wastewater was applied to the upper end of each plot at rates of 7.5, 15, and 22.5 cm/wk. Results from the overland flow system investigation were compared with similar data obtained the preceding year from an existing slow rate land application system on an adjacent site. Secondary effluent from the same lagoon system was applied to the slow rate system study area. After evaluating influent and effluent water quality characteristics from both systems, site specific efficiencies were detailed. Overland flow as a tertiary treatment process may not be suitable to satisfy future discharge standards because of the minimum biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids effluent concentrations that are attainable. Overland flow could be used as a nitrification-dentrification process if land costs were sufficiently low. The flow rate system can be an excellent tertiary treatment method if the groundwater is protected and no subsurface water collection and discharge is required. If a discharge is required, organic carbon and nutrient concentartions might be unacceptable depending upon initial site soil conditions