338 research outputs found
The impact of pregnancy on peak flow values in women with asthma
No full textAsthma is the most common respiratory complication of pregnancy and affects approximately four per cent of all pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to establish normative data regarding how peak flow values change during gestation in pregnant women with asthma. Eighteen pregnant women with asthma were recruited and completed dally logs throughout their pregnancies. The findings suggest there is a difference in peak flow values in different trimesters. Specifically peak flow values were highest in the second trimester with significant differences between the second and third trimesters. While the sample size is small it does provide longitudinal data that suggest changes in asthma as the pregnancy progresses. This study represents a logical next step in identifying the impact of pregnancy on asthma.Peer reviewe
Peak Flow Values by Gestation in Women with Asthma
No full textAsthma is one of the most common medical complications of pregnancy. Control of asthma is associated with improved perinatal outcomes compared with pregnancies of women whose asthma is not controlled. Peak flow measures have been recommended to determine the status of asthma yet norms for peak flow values in women with asthma are missing from the literature. The purpose of this prospective, longitudinal study was to determine average peak flow values in pregnant women with asthma. Forty three women were recruited into the study prior to the twentieth week of pregnancy. Demographic data including age, ethnic background, and number of pregnancies were collected. Type and severity of asthma, medications used for asthma, and past hospitalizations for asthma was recorded. Peak flow values increased across the three trimesters. Significant differences were found in peak flow values between the first and third trimesters (>0.001) and the second and third trimesters (>0.007). Findings from the present study contradict those of studies on pregnant women without asthma. Since hormonal levels change during pregnancy and hormones are thought to influence the status of asthma, the interaction of hormonal changes of pregnancy and asthma warrant further study.Peer reviewe
Appendix1_IMed_FU_Questionnaire_revised – Supplemental material for Self-reported Improvement in Side Effects and Quality of Life With Integrative Medicine in Breast Cancer Patients
No full textSupplemental material, Appendix1_IMed_FU_Questionnaire_revised for Self-reported Improvement in Side Effects and Quality of Life With Integrative Medicine in Breast Cancer Patients by Carolin C. Hack, Janina Hackl, Nina B. M. Hüttner, Hanna Langemann, Judith Schwitulla, Svenja Dietzel-Drentwett, Peter A. Fasching, Matthias W. Beckmann and Anna-Katharin Theuser in Integrative Cancer Therapies</p
The Role of Coordination and Cooperation for Bt-maize cultivation in Brandenburg, Germany
No full textSince 2006, several varieties of transgenic Bt-maize are approved for commercial cultivation in Germany. The German regulatory framework for growing these crops comprises ex-ante regulations as well as ex-post liability rules to protect conventional and organic farming from possible negative side effects of transgenic plants and to ensure co-existence. Public regulation is also suspected to impose additional costs to those farmers who intend to plant Bt-maize. We address the question how Bt-maize growing farmers perceive the additional costs of regulation and whether coordination or cooperation takes place in order to diminish these costs. In 2006, we carried out a case study in the Oderbruch region (Brandenburg, Germany) comprising eight Bt-maize growing farmers and six adjacent neighbours. The predominantly large farms chose intrafarm coordination to manage the construction of buffer zones within their own fields and to avoid the planting of Bt-maize close to their neighbours. Inter-farm coordination or cooperation with adjacent farmers was not regarded necessary to achieve co-existence.Coordination, Cooperation, Bt-maize, Crop Production/Industries,
Faculty Perception of Bullying in Schools of Nursing
No full textAims: This paper is a report of a study of conducted to determine the prevalence of bullying among faculty members in Schools or Colleges of Nursing.
Background: The issue of bullying of nursing faculty in the academic setting is of interest in terms of recruitment, retention, job satisfaction, and the overall quality of the work environment.
Method: This cross-sectional, descriptive study of faculty in three northeastern states of the U.S. was carried out in 2010. The Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised was used to survey faculty members in Schools of Nursing who award a baccalaureate degree (or higher) in nursing.
Results: 473 faculty members met the inclusion criteria and responded to the NAQ-R. An iterative exploratory principal components analysis with orthogonal rotation was performed. Thirteen of the original 22 items were retained to measure the experiences of negative acts in the nursing faculty workplaces. The mean total score for the 13 item instrument was 17.90 (SD 6.07) and ranged from 13 to 56. The resulting components structure produced three clear subscales identifying the experiences of: Verbal abuse, Physical abuse, and Devaluing. The revised 13 item instrument had a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.88. Experiences of bullying were reported in 169 of the 473 (36%) respondents. A significant correlation was found between meeting frequency and the report of bullying (r = 0.18, p ≤ 0.001). Administrators and senior faculty were more likely than expected to be the perpetrators of bullying.
Discussion: If the leaders are identified as bullies, the environment cannot be perceived as supportive and healthy. These unhealthy environments may have serious consequences related to retaining nursing faculty.Peer reviewe
A dance or a marriage? The relationship between education and the law in South Africa some personal observations from two vantage points
No full textThis article deals with the debate in education and law circles about the convergence of the two fields of knowledge in an area conveniently called education law. It recognises that there is no universal acknowledgement of the existence of such a discipline.
Although the article does not present a full scale analysis of the relationship between education and law, it does present some views emerging from the existence and functioning of two organisations in South Africa namely the South African Education Law Association (SAELA) and the Interuniversity Centre for Education Law and Policy (CELP). Both of the organisations aim to promote education law research and training. In light of the existing literature the relationship is likened to a marriage of convenience or a dance in which the quality of the relationship between the two fields varies.
The author examines and concurs with opinions that there are grounds to support the notion that a discrete field of inquiry named education law does exist in South Africa. However, the relationship still needs to be developed for the field to mature as an academic discipline. Among the problems that have to be addressed are the lack of interest in universities (especially law faculties at former English universities) in this field, the subsequent imbalance between educators and jurists active in the field and the failure of educational administrators to abide by the law even if they are aware of what the law requires. Added to this failure is a lack of knowledge among administrators of education law and the presence of a phenomenon termed the use of imagined power among them.
The article concludes that there are indications that the relationship between education and the law can lead to the development and promotion of a discrete field of law named education law
Schistosoma mansoni: tyrosine-kinase signaling in reproductive organs and actin-promoter analyses in a transgene model
No full textDer humanpathogene Parasit Schistosoma mansoni zeigt ein im Tierreich nahezu einmaliges biologisches Phänomen - die vom Männchen beeinflusste Maturation des Weibchens. Während der Paarung werden Signalkaskaden im Weibchen initiiert, die Proliferations- und Differenzierungsprozesse in den Reproduktionsorganen steuern.
Um die zugrunde liegenden molekularen Prozesse besser zu verstehen, wurden in unserer Arbeitsgruppe Gene kloniert und charakterisiert, die für Signalmoleküle kodieren. Darunter befand sich die zelluläre Syk-Kinase SmTK4, die Yeast Two-Hybrid (YTH)-Analysen zur Folge über ihre Tandem-SH2-Domäne an die Src-Kinase SmTK6, sowie schwächer auch an die Src-Kinase SmTK3 binden kann. Da darüber hinaus die Transkripte der drei Kinasegene im Ovar und den Testes co-lokalisieren, wurden Interaktionen ihrer Translationsprodukte in diesen Geweben angenommen.
Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit konnte die vermutete Interaktion von SmTK4 und SmTK6 über Co-Immunopräzipitationsexperimente bestätigt werden. Über YTH-Analysen wurde für SmTK6 ebenfalls eine Interaktion mit SmTK3 nachgewiesen. Daher wird postuliert, dass die drei cytoplasmatischen Tyrosinkinasen SmTK3, SmTK4 und SmTK6 in Form eines Kinasekomplexes vorliegen. Weiterhin wurde über YTH-Analysen ein neues, transmembranes Mucin identifiziert, dessen C-Terminus mit der SH2-Domäne der Src-Kinase SmTK6 interagiert.
Als potentielle upstream - Interaktionspartner des postulierten Kinasekomplexes wurden der in dieser Arbeit entdeckte Integrinrezeptor Smbeta-Int1 sowie die bereits bekannte Rezeptortyrosinkinase SmRTK1 gefunden. Quantitativen YTH-Analysen zu Folge konnten die drei Tyrosinkinasen SmTK3, SmTK4 und SmTK6 über ihre Protein-Interaktionsdomänen in unterschiedlicher Stärke an die jeweiligen intrazellulären C-Termini dieser Rezeptoren binden, wobei SmTK3 die stärkste Bindung an Smbeta-Int1 und SmTK6 die stärkste Bindung an SmRTK1 aufwies.
Aufgrund der identifizierten Interaktionen von Smbeta-Int1 und SmRTK1 mit SmTK4, SmTK3 bzw. SmTK6 und der Co-Lokalisation ihrer Gentranskripte im Ovar und den Testes adulter S. mansoni, ist in der vorliegenden Arbeit eine multifaktorielle Signalkaskade in diesen Geweben postuliert worden. Die Kooperation von Smbeta-Int1 mit SmRTK1 und/oder dem transmembranen Mucin führt zur Aktivierung von SmTK6, an deren Regulation vermutlich auch SmTK3 beteiligt ist. Durch die aktive SmTK6 wird SmTK4 rekrutiert und aktiviert, die ihrerseits bislang noch unbekannte Effektormoleküle phosphoryliert. Als ein potentieller downstream - Bindungspartner konnte bereits das Hitzeschockprotein-Homolog Smp40 identifiziert werden.
Um Hinweise auf die funktionelle Bedeutung von SmTK4 zu erhalten, wurden Inhibitor- und RNAi-Experimente durchgeführt. Mit Hilfe einer whole mount - Färbetechnik in Verbindung mit konfokaler Mikroskopie gelang der Nachweis phänotypischer Veränderungen im Ovar und den Testes adulter Schistosomen, die entweder mit dem Syk-Kinase-spezifischen Inhibitor Piceatannol oder mit SmTK4-spezifischen dsRNA-Molekülen behandelt worden waren. Mit beiden Anätzen wurden übereinstimmende Effekte auf die Spermatogenese (Ausbleiben reifer, elongierter Spermien) und die Oogenese (erhöhte Anzahl maturer Oocyten) festgestellt.
In parallel durchgeführten Experimenten zur Charakterisierung eines Promotors, der möglicherweise konstitutiv aktiv ist, wurden über 3 kb der 5 -Region des Kandidatengens Aktin (SmAct1) in silico identifiziert. Bis zu 1,5 kb große Varianten der 5 -Region wurden für die Konstruktion von GFP-Reportergenvektoren verwendet und in Particle Bombardment - Experimenten zur Erzeugung transient transgener Schistosomen eingesetzt. Konfokal-mikroskopische Untersuchungen sowie molekulare Analysen über RT-PCRs zeigten, dass ein 445 bp-Fragment der SmAct1-5 -Region für die Transkriptionsinitiation in Adulten und Larven von S. mansoni ausreicht. In der 5 -Region des SmAct1-Gens wurde eine für Promotoren von Aktin-Genen charakteristische Anordnung aus TATA-, CArG- und CAAT-Boxen identifiziert, welche zwischen Invertebraten und Vertebraten funktionell konserviert zu sein scheint. Das gewebespezifische Auftreten von GFP-Signalen in Tegument, Parenchym und Muskeln von Adulten sowie in verschiedenen, aber nicht allen Geweben von Sporocysten deutet darauf hin, dass es sich bei SmAct1 entgegen der vorausgehenden Annahme nicht um ein konstitutiv exprimiertes Gen handelt.The human parasite Schistosoma mansoni shows a nearly unique biological phenomenon - the male influenced maturation of the female. During paring, the male initiates signal transduction processes in the female, which govern proliferation and differentiation processes in the reproductive organs.
To better understand the underlying molecular processes, several genes encoding signal transduction molecules were identified and characterized in our work group. Among these the Syk-family kinase SmTK4 was found, which interacts with the Src-kinase SmTK6 and also but weaker with the Src-kinase SmTK3, as indicated by yeast two-hybrid analyses. Since the transcripts of the three kinase genes co-localize in the ovary and testes, interactions of the translation products were assumed in these tissues.
In this thesis, the postulated interaction of SmTK4 and SmTK6 could be confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation experiments. By yeast two-hybrid analyses, an interaction of SmTK6 with SmTK3 could be shown as well. Thus, it was postulated that these three cytoplasmatic tyrosine kinases SmTK3, SmTK4 and SmTK6 probably form a kinase complex. Furthermore, by the yeast two-hybrid analyses a new transmembrane mucin-like protein was identified, whose C-terminal part interacts with the SH2-domain of the Src-kinase SmTK6.
Putative upstream interaction partners of the postulated kinase complex are the integrine receptor Smbeta-Int1, which was detected in this thesis, and the already known receptor tyrosine kinase SmRTK1. According to quantitative yeast two-hybrid analyses all three tyrosine kinases SmTK3, SmTK4 and SmTK6 were able to bind with different affinities to the respective intracellular parts of both receptors by their protein-interaction domains. SmTK3 revealed strongest binding to Smbeta-Int1 whereas SmTK6 was the strongest binding partner of SmRTK1.
Due to the identified interactions of Smbeta-Int1 and SmRTK1 with SmTK3, SmTK4 or SmTK6, and on the basis of the co-localization of their gene transcripts in the ovary and the testes of adult S. mansoni, a multi factorial signaling cascade was postulated in these tissues. The interplay of Smbeta-Int1 with SmRTK1 and/or the transmembrane mucin leads to the activation of SmTK6, a process in which SmTK3 is probably also involved. Activated SmTK6 recruits and activates SmTK4, which phosphorylates so far unknown effector molecules. As one potential downstream binding partner, the heatshock-protein homologue Smp40 was identified.
To elucidate the function of signaling pathways SmTK4 is involved in, inhibitor studies and RNAi experiments were performed. Using a whole-mount staining technique in combination with confocal microscopy, phenotypical changes were detected in the ovary and testes of adult schistosomes, which were treated with Piceatannol (Syk-kinase specific inhibitor) or dsRNA (SmTK4-specific). With both approaches corresponding effects on spermatogenesis (absence of mature, elongated sperms) and oogenesis (increased number of mature oocytes) were discovered.
In parallel experiments aiming to characterize a promoter, which may be constitutively active, about 3 kb of the 5 region of the candidate gene actin (SmAct1) were identified in silico. Fragments up to 1.5 kb of this 5 region were used for GFP-reporter gene constructing and employed in particle bombardment experiments to generate transiently transgenic schistosomes. A 445 bp fragment was found to be sufficient for transcription initiation in adults or larvae from S. mansoni as confirmed by confocal microscopy and RT PCR experiments. An actin-gene characteristic assembly of TATA, CArG, and CAAT boxes was identified, which seems to be functionally conserved between vertebrates and invertebrates. The tissue-specific appearance of GFP signals in the tegument, parenchyma and muscles of adults as well as in several, but not all tissues of sporocysts, indicated that contrary to first assumptions the SmAct1 gene is not constitutively expressed
PSYNDEX Tests Review für ADAFI - ADAPTIVER FIGURENFOLGEN-LERNTEST
No full textThis is a PSYNDEX Tests Review of ADAFI - ADAPTIVER FIGURENFOLGEN-LERNTEST. PSYNDEX Tests Reviews are written in German and describe and evaluate psychological and educational tests used in the German-speaking countries. PSYNDEX Tests is offered by the Leibniz Institute for Psychology as open access documentation.Das ist ein PSYNDEX Tests Review zu ADAFI - ADAPTIVER FIGURENFOLGEN-LERNTEST. PSYNDEX Tests Reviews beschreiben und bewerten zentrale psychologische und pädagogische Testverfahren, die in den deutschsprachigen Ländern eingesetzt werden, nach einem standardisierten Raster. PSYNDEX Tests wird durch das Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie als Open Access Dokumentation angeboten.publishedVersio
Islamic Law, Adat and State Law Franz Von Benda-Beckmann on Systems of Property and Inheritance in Minangkabau
No full textFranz von Benda-Beckmann is a famous figure in the field of legal pluralism. He is one among scholars who propose to understand the plurality of norms in a society. Among his many works, those on Minangkabau are well-known in the study of Anthropology of Law (Rechtsethnologie). This article attempts to analyse his ideas in a book entitled Property in Social Continuity: Continuity and Change in the Maintenance of Property Relationships through Time in Minangkabau, West Sumatra published in 1979. It has its relevance in the seminar Anthropology of Islamic Law, especially when the book talked about the pluralistic situation of laws in Minangkabau on problems of property and inheritance. Because the book is predominantly about Minangkabau adat, the author focuses on adat's relation with Islamic law and more specifically on the problem of inheritance which has been a source of much “competition” between both systems to regulate the society
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