120 research outputs found
Mutations at specific atp6 codons which cause human mitochondrial diseases also lead to male sterility in a plant
No full textAbstractDefects in the human mitochondrial genetic system result in some diseases. These disorders are the result of rearrangements or point mutations in mitochondrial genes. In higher plants mutations and rearrangements in the mitochondrial DNA are believed to cause cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), a mitochondrially inherited inability to produce viable pollen. In sorghum, formation of CMS is strongly correlated with anther-specific loss of mitochondrial atp6 RNA editing. Here we show that this loss of atp6 RNA editing mimics point mutations at codons that cause severe disorders in humans. We conclude that (i) loss of RNA editing in sorghum anthers probably causes CMS, (ii) similarities exist in the onset of mitochondrial dysfunction in plant and human tissues, and (iii) the evolutionary appearance of RNA editing provided a mechanism to compensate for otherwise lethal point mutations
Restoring hope in the present for congregations in the context of prolonged numerical decline
No full textThis project is a practical theological investigation into a congregation which has experienced remarkable and prolonged numeric decline. The author observes that while ultimate hope in God’s future remains, practical hope in the present has diminished. The project brings previously underutilized resources on the psychology of hope into conversation with a Christian theology of hope, including what forces work against hope and what conditions allow it to grow. It then offers practical strategies to restore a wholistic operative theology of hope in the congregation or others like it, thus allowing them to more fully live out Christian life and ministry
Optical fiber with improved moisture resistance, U.S. Patent 5,214,734
No full textAn optical fiber which is enclosed within a polymeric jacket. At least a portion of the jacket material comprises a particulate material which is at least partially soluble in water, such that a solution can be formed which has reduced reactivity toward the optical fiber, relative to pure water. An amount of such material is incorporated in the jacket, sufficient to delay the expected onset of accelerated fiber fatigue in a standard fatigue test by at least a factor of 2 relative to an otherwise similar fiber enclosed within a jacket which is free of the particulate material
Adjunctive treatment with oral AKL1, a botanical nutraceutical, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
No full textClaire Brockwell,1 Sundari Ampikaipakan,1,2 Darren W Sexton,1 David Price,3,4 Daryl Freeman,5 Mike Thomas,6 Muzammil Ali,4 Andrew M Wilson1,21Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; 2Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust, Norwich, UK; 3Academic Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK; 4Research in Real Life, Cambridge, UK; 5Mundesley Medical Centre, Mundesley, Norwich, UK; 6Primary Care Research, Aldermoor Health Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UKPurpose: The objective of this pilot trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of AKL1, a patented botanical formulation containing extracts of Picrorhiza kurroa, Ginkgo biloba, and Zingiber officinale, as add-on therapy for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic cough.Patients and methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled male and female patients >18 years old with COPD and Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) score of <18. The 10-week study period comprised a 2-week single-blind placebo run-in period followed by add-on treatment with AKL1 or placebo twice daily for 8 weeks. The primary study endpoint was the change from week 0 to week 8 in cough-related health status, as assessed by the LCQ.Results: Of 33 patients enrolled, 20 were randomized to AKL1 and 13 to placebo. Patients included 19 (58%) men and 14 (42%) women of mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 67 (9.4) years; 15 (45%) patients were smokers and 16 (49%) were ex-smokers. The mean (SD) change from baseline in LCQ score at 8 weeks was 2.3 (4.9) in the AKL1 group and 0.6 (3.7) in the placebo group, with mean difference in change of 1.8 (95% confidence interval: –1.5 to 5.1; P=0.28). The St George's Respiratory Questionnaire score improved substantially in the AKL1 treatment group by a mean (SD) of –7.7 (11.7) versus worsening in the placebo group (+1.5 [9.3]), with mean difference in change of –9.2 (95% confidence interval: –19.0 to 0.6; P=0.064). There were no significant differences between treatment groups in change from baseline to week 8 in other patient-reported measures, lung function, or the 6-minute walk distance.Conclusion: Further study is needed with a larger patient population and over a longer duration to better assess the effects of add-on therapy with AKL1 in COPD.Keywords: Leicester Cough Questionnaire, anti-inflammatory, Picrorhiza kurroa, Ginkgo biloba, Zingiber officinal
Evaluation of inhaler technique and achievement and maintenance of mastery of budesonide/formoterol Spiromax (R) compared with budesonide/formoterol Turbuhaler (R) in adult patients with asthma: the Easy Low Instruction Over Time (ELIOT) study
No full textFunding Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R & D, Inc. (Frazer, PA). Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Peer reviewe
\u3ci\u3eIn Search of Nella Larsen: A Biography of the Color Line\u3c/i\u3e by George Hutchinson (Book Review)
No full textWith In Search of Nella Larsen, George Hutchinson makes the third major attempt to provide a biography of the elusive Harlem Renaissance author Nella Larsen (1891-1964), the mulatto daughter of immigrants from Denmark and the Danish West Indies whose life and fiction were shaped largely by her mixed emotions about her racial heritage and her feelings of abandonment by her white mother, stepfather, and sister. In his introduction, Hutchinson makes much of the errors of prior Larsen biographers Charles R. Larson (Invisible Darkness: Jean Toomer and Nella Larsen [1993]) and Thadious M. Davis (Nella Larsen, Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance: A Woman\u27s Life Unveiled [1994]), charging that they overlooked important information that he will provide and that they pathologized Larsen in a pattern not atypical of the way children from interracial families had often been misunderstood (3). At times he seems to actually gloat over his own discoveries, as he points to a document previously unknown to scholars (65). Conversely, he sometimes makes use of previous scholars\u27 work without even mentioning their names in the text, though he does meticulously document all borrowings in footnotes. A gracious recognition of the contributions of Larson and Davis is, however, found at the end of the book, where Hutchinson generously acknowledges, Had it not been for the two previous biographies of Nella Larsen, by Charles R. Larson and Thadious M. Davis, I would never have undertaken this project. I owe them a lot (592)
Understanding the mobility and retention of uranium and its daughter products
No full textKnowledge of the behavior of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials derived through the decay of U and its daughter products, and their subsequent fractionation, mobilization and retention, is essential to develop effective mitigation strategies and long-term radiological risk prediction. In the present study, multiple state-of-the-art, spatially resolved micro-analytical characterization techniques were combined to systematically track the liberation and migration of radionuclides (RN) from U-bearing phases in an Olympic Dam Cu flotation concentrate following sulfuric-acid-leach processing. The results highlighted the progressive dissolution of U-bearing minerals (mainly uraninite) leading to the release, disequilibrium and ultimately upgrade of daughter RN from the parent U. This occurred in conjunction with primary Cu-Fe-sulfide minerals undergoing coupled-dissolution reprecipitation to the porous secondary Cu-mineral, covellite. The budget of RN remaining in the leached concentrate was split between RN still hosted in the original U-bearing minerals, and RN that were mobilized and subsequently sorbed/precipitated onto porous covellite and auxiliary gangue mineral phases (e.g. barite). Further grinding of the flotation concentrate prior to sulfuric-acid-leach led to dissolution of U-bearing minerals previously encapsulated within Cu-Fe-sulfide minerals, resulting in increased release and disequilibrium of daughter RN, and causing further RN upgrade. The various processes that affect RN (mobility, sorption, precipitation) and sulfide minerals (coupled-dissolution reprecipitation and associated porosity generation) occur continuously within the hydrometallurgical circuit, and their interplay controls the rapid and highly localized enrichment of RN. The innovative combination of tools developed here reveal the heterogeneous distribution and fractionation of the RN in the ores following hydrometallurgical treatment at nm to cm-scales in exquisite detail. This approach provides an effective blueprint for understanding of the mobility and retention of U and its daughter products in complex anthropogenic and natural processes in the mining and energy industries.Rahul Ram, Nicholas D. Owen, Chris Kalnins, Nigel J. Cook, Kathy Ehrig, Barbara Etschmann, Mark Rollog, Weng Fu, James Vaughan, Allan Pring, Mark I. Pownceby, Nigel Spooner, Ruth Shaw, Daryl Howard, Anthony M. Hooker, David Ottaway, Danielle Questiaux, Joël Brugge
Day hospital treatment of emotional dysregulation: a quantitative analysis
No full textBackground: The literature provides evidence of numerous treatment models with varying effectiveness for this population of patients. The Short-term Assessment and Treatment (STAT) program has been operating at Health Sciences Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba is based on the principles of dialectical and cognitive behavior therapy. The STAT program is a five-week day hospital program that treats patients with emotional dysregulation.
Method: The STAT program was examined using a quantitative analysis of naturalistic pre-pos-intervention model between September 2020 through February 2021. All individuals admitted to the STAT program were invited via email to participate in a research project and provided a link to the online survey. Participants were asked to complete two self-report surveys; the DERS and SCL90-R; and a demographics survey prior to beginning the STAT program and following completion of the program. Fourteen participants completed the survey at Time 1 and 2 and 14 only completed the self-report surveys at Time 1.
Results: The clients reported statistically significant improvements from Time 1 to Time 2 on several variables. Consistent with other literature examining a similar patient population, participants experienced an improvement in obsessive compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, hostility, and phobic anxiety and all subscales of the DERS except lack of emotional awareness (LEMAW).
Conclusion: There is some evidence to assert that the STAT program was effective in reducing emotional dysregulation. The participants reported improvements in the expected subscales from Time 1 to Time 2. Despite the pandemic and shift of the STAT program to virtual care, participants reported that they experienced improvements in emotional awareness, mood, and emotion regulation. None of the previously cited literature used a virtual care model. The results of this study may be an indication of the adaptability of DBT to virtual care treatment model."Clinical trial #NCT04280614."Includes bibliographical references (pages 42-49)."In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Psychiatric Nursing.
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