The L Pack: Addressing the Sexual Health Needs of Young Lesbians

Concerns about the sexual health of women who identify as other than heterosexual have been highlighted in numerous research reports, yet access to information, advice and services remains limited within Northern Ireland. In response to this, a group of young women have produced a sexual health resource (‘‘The L Pack’’) specifically for those who identify as lesbian or bisexual. This article discusses the issue of lesbian sexual health and the rationale for the production of The L Pack. Drawing upon discussions with the young women involved and the various partners, it outlines the participatory process of producing information for young women by young women, the meaning and value of this and the nature of learning for all involved. Illustrating feminist and related principles through practice examples, the article outlines how the project moved from a focus on individual learning to one where the young women involved gained the knowledge, skills and confidence to take their learning to their peers and others.

Effects of breed and production system on lameness parameters in dairy cattle

The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Norwegian (N) dairy cattle genotypes on lameness parameters in dairy cattle within different production systems over the first 2 lactations. Following calving, HF (n = 39) and N (n = 45) heifers were allocated to 1 of 3 systems of production (high level of concentrate, low level of concentrate, and grass-based). High-and low-concentrate animals were continuously housed indoors on a rotational system so that they spent similar amounts of time on slatted and solid concrete floors. Animals on the grass treatment grazed from spring to autumn in both years of the study, so that most animals on this treatment grazed from around peak to late lactation. Claw health was recorded in both hind claws of each animal at 4 observation periods during each lactation as follows: 1) -8 to 70 d postcalving, 2) 71 to 150 d postcalving, 3) 151 to 225 d postcalving, and 4) 226 to 364 d postcalving. Sole lesions, heel erosion, axial wall deviation, sole length of the right lateral hind claw (claw length), right heel width, and right lateral hind heel height were recorded as well as the presence of digital dermatitis. The N cows had lower (better) white line and total lesion scores than HF cows. Cows on the high-and low-concentrate treatments had better sole and total lesion scores than cows on the grass treatment. The HF cows had better locomotion scores than N cows. Breed and production system differences were observed with respect to claw conformation, including claw length, heel width, and heel height. Digital dermatitis was associated with worse sole lesion scores and interacted with production system to influence white line lesion scores and maximum heel erosion scores. This study shows that genetic, environmental, and infectious factors are associated with hoof pathologies in dairy cows.

Effects of epibiotic algae on the survival, biomass and recruitment of mussels, Mytilus L. (Bivalvia : Mollusca)

Habitats composed of living 'ecosystem engineers', such as mussels, are subject to direct and indirect interactions with organisms that live among them. These interactions may affect the presence and structure of habitat, and hence, the associated taxa. We examined the direct effects of epibiotic algae on the Survival, biomass and recruitment of mussels (Mytilits L.) on the west coast of Ireland. A field experiment showed that the presence of epibiotic fucoid algae reduced the likelihood of survival of mussels during storms. We also found that the strength of attachment of mussels did not increase in the presence of epibionts. Another in situ experiment revealed that the presence of ephemeral epibiotic algal mats had no effect on the biomass of host mussels, suggesting no effect on mussel growth or production. The abundance of small mussels (

Association of LETM1 and MRPL36 Contributes to the Regulation of Mitochondrial ATP Production and Necrotic Cell Death

Leucine zipper/EF hand-containing transmembrane-1 (LETM1) is a mitochondrial inner membrane protein that was first identified in Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, and was deleted in nearly all patients with the syndrome. LETM1 encodes for the human homologue of yeast Mdm38p, which is a mitochondria-shaping protein of unclear function. Here, we describe LETM1-mediated regulation of mitochondrial ATP production and biogenesis. We show that LETM1 overexpression can induce necrotic cell death in HeLa cells, in which LETM1 reduces mitochondria) biogenesis and ATP production. LETM1 acts as an anchor protein and associates with mitochondrial ribosome protein L36. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of LETM1 reduced mitochondrial mass and expression of many mitochondrial proteins. LETM1-mediated inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis enhanced glycolytic ATP supply and activated protein kinase B activity and cell survival signaling. The expression levels of LETM1 were significantly increased in multiple human cancer tissues compared with normals. These data suggest that LETM1 serves as an anchor protein for complex formation with the mitochondrial ribosome and regulates mitochondrial biogenesis. The increased expression of LETM1 in human cancer suggests that deregulation of LETM1 is a key feature of tumorigenesis. [Cancer Res 2009;69(8):3397-404]

Effect of target slaughter weight on production efficiency, carcass traits and behaviour of restrictively-fed gilts and intact male finisher pigs

The effect of 3 slaughter weights (85.95 or 105 kg) on performance and carcass traits of 481 pigs in single-gender groups of 13 (18 groups of gilts and 19 groups of intact males) was evaluated. Pigs (39.5 +/- 3.3 kg) were fed a liquid diet 3 times daily in a long trough. The behaviour of pigs slaughtered at 105 kg was recorded at 50, 60 and 70 days after the start of the experiment (5 groups of gilts and 4 groups of intact males). Behaviour (active, inactive, feeding) and posture (standing, lying, dog-sitting) of all pigs was recorded at 5-min intervals for 30 min prior to and 1 h after each feeding event. Slaughtering pigs at 95 kg and 105 kg delayed production by 7 and 16 days, respectively, compared to slaughtering at 85 kg (P0.05). Muscle depth increased with increasing slaughter weight (P

Production and Evaluation of Antibodies and Phage Display-Derived Peptide Ligands for Immunomagnetic Separation of Mycobacterium bovis

This study describes the development and optimization of an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) method to isolate Mycobacterium bovis cells from lymph node tissues. Gamma-irradiated whole M. bovis AF2122/97 cells and ethanol-extracted surface antigens of such cells were used to produce M. bovis-speci?c polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies in rabbits and mice. They were also used to generate M. bovis-speci?c peptide ligands by phage display biopanning. The various antibodies and peptide ligands obtained were used to coat MyOne tosyl-activated Dynabeads (Life Technologies), singly or in combination, and evaluated for IMS. Initially, M. bovis capture from Middlebrook 7H9 broth suspensions (concentration range, 10 to 10⁵ CFU/ml) was evaluated by IMS combined with an M. bovis-speci?c touchdown PCR. IMS-PCR results and, subsequently, IMS-culture results indicated that the beads with greatest immunocapture capability for M. bovis in broth were those coated simultaneously with a monoclonal antibody and a biotinylated 12-mer peptide. These dually coated beads exhibited minimal capture (mean of 0.36% recovery) of 12 other Mycobacterium spp. occasionally encountered in veterinary tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic laboratories. When the optimized IMS method was applied to various M. bovis-spiked lymph node matrices, it demonstrated excellent detection sensitivities (50% limits of detection of 3.16 and 57.7 CFU/ml of lymph node tissue homogenate for IMS-PCR and IMS-culture, respectively). The optimized IMS method therefore has the potential to improve isolation of M. bovis from lymph nodes and hence the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis.

Production of ultracollimated bunches of multi-MeV electrons by 35 fs laser pulses propagating in exploding-foil plasmas

Very collimated bunches of high energy electrons have been produced by focusing super-intense femtosecond laser pulses in submillimeter under-dense plasmas. The density of the plasma, preformed with the laser exploding-foil technique, was mapped using Nomarski interferometry. The electron beam was fully characterized: up to 10(9) electrons per shot were accelerated, most of which in a beam of aperture below 10(-3) sterad, with energies up to 40 MeV. These measurements, which are well modeled by three-dimensional numerical simulations, validate a reliable method to generate ultrashort and ultracollimated electron bunches. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

High power laser production of short-lived isotopes for positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful diagnostic/imaging technique requiring the production of the short-lived positron emitting isotopes C-11, N-13, O-15 and F-18 by proton irradiation of natural/enriched targets using cyclotrons. The development of PET has been hampered due to the size and shielding requirements of nuclear installations. Recent results show that when an intense laser beam interacts with solid targets, megaelectronvolt (MeV) protons capable of producing PET isotopes are generated. This report describes how to generate intense PET sources of C-11 and F-18 using a petawatt laser beam. The work describing the laser production of F-18 through a (p,n) O-18 reaction, and the subsequent synthesis of 2-[F-18] is reported for the first time. The potential for developing compact laser technology for this purpose is discussed.