Growth-hormone-stimulated dentinogenesis in Lewis dwarf rat molars

In dentinogenesis, certain growth factors, matrix proteoglycans, and proteins are directly or indirectly dependent on growth hormone. The hypothesis that growth hormone up-regulates the expression of enzymes, sialoproteins, and other extracellular matrix proteins implicated in the formation and mineralization of tooth and bone matrices was tested by the treatment of Lewis dwarf rats with growth hormone over 5 days. The molar teeth were processed for immunohistochemical demonstration of bone-alkaline phosphatase, bone morphogenetic proteins-2 and -4, osteocalcin, osteopontin, bone sialoprotein, and E11 protein. Odontoblasts responded to growth hormone by more cells expressing bone morphogenetic protein, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and osteopontin. No changes were found in bone sialoprotein or E11 protein expression. Thus, growth hormone may stimulate odontoblasts to express several growth factors and matrix proteins associated with dentin matrix biosynthesis in mature rat molars.

Navigating the muddy waters of the research into single sex classrooms in co-educational middle years settings

Establishing single sex classes within co-educational sites is an option that Australian schools are again exploring. To date Australia has experienced three ‘waves’ of interest in establishing single sex classes, the first focused on equitable education opportunities for girls (Alloway & Gilbert, 1997), the second centered on boys’ literacy and engagement (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1998) and this current wave focuses on perceived difference between the sexes in co-educational classrooms (Protheroe, 2009; Gurian, Stevens & Daniels, 2009). With the intersection of middle schooling movement, focusing on learner centered classrooms (Pendergast & Bahr, 2010) and current educational agendas aimed at improving student performance and measurable learning outcomes (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008), it is understandable that schools are exploring such student grouping options. However, after thirty years of international research into the efficacy of single sex classes in co-educational settings, the results still remain unclear. This paper seeks to navigate the ‘muddy waters’ of this body of research and suggests a framework to help guide school communities through the decision-making process associated with considering single sex classes.

Hormone-dependent bacterial growth persistence and biofilm formation - A pilot study investigating human follicular fluid collected during IVF cycles

Human follicular fluid, considered sterile, is aspirated as part of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. However, it is easily contaminated by the trans-vaginal collection route and little information exists in its potential to support the growth of microorganisms. The objectives of this study were to determine whether human follicular fluid can support bacterial growth over time, whether the steroid hormones estradiol and progesterone (present at high levels within follicular fluid) contribute to the in vitro growth of bacterial species, and whether species isolated from follicular fluid form biofilms. We found that bacteria in follicular fluid could persist for at least 28 weeks in vitro and that the steroid hormones stimulated the growth of some bacterial species, specifically Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp. Streptococcus spp. and E. coli. Several species, Lactobacillus spp., Propionibacterium spp., and Streptococcus spp., formed biofilms when incubated in native follicular fluids in vitro (18/24, 75%). We conclude that bacteria aspirated along with follicular fluid during IVF cycles demonstrate a persistent pattern of growth. This discovery is important since it can offer a new avenue for investigation in infertile couples.

Signal transduction mechanisms underlying growth hormone receptor action

Our understanding of the mechanisms of action of GH and its receptor, the GHR, has advanced significantly in the last decade and has provided some important surprises. It is now clear that the GH-GHR axis activates a number of inter-related signalling pathways, not all of which are dependent on the intracellular tyrosine kinase, JAK2 as originally postulated. JAK2-independent pathways, mediated via the Src family kinases, together with a number of negative regulators of GH signalling and emerging cross-talk mechanisms with other growth factor receptors, provide a complex array of mechanisms that are capable of fine-tuning responses to GH in a cell context dependent manner. Additionally, it is also now clear that GH and the GHR can translocate to the nucleus of target cells and initiate, as yet not well defined, nuclear responses. Continued emphasis on elucidation of these complex mechanisms is critical to provide further insights into the diverse physiological and pathophysiological effects of GH.

Feminist criminologies’ contribution to understandings of sex, gender, and crime

This chapter provides an overview of the contribution of feminist criminologies to understandings of the complex intersections between sex, gender and crime. Dozens of scholars and activists have participated in these debates over the past four decades. For our contribution to this handbook, we interviewed ten distinguished scholars whose contributions are recognized internationally. Through the commentary provided by these scholars, this chapter examines some of the distinctive contributions of feminism to our knowledge about sex, gender, and crime, as well as some of the challenges it continues to face in the field of criminology. We conclude that feminist work within criminology continues to face a number of lingering challenges, most notably in relation to the struggle to maintain relevance in a world where concerns about gender inequality are marginalized and considered as historical relics not contemporary issues; where there are on-going tensions around the best strategies for change, as well as difficulties in challenging distorted representations of female crime and violence; and where a backlash, anti-feminist politics seeks to discredit explanations that draw a link between sex, gender, and crime. This chapter critically reviews these lingering challenges—locating feminist approaches (of which there are many) at the centre and not the periphery of advancing knowledge about gender, sex, and crime.

Social moralities and discursive constructions of female sex offenders

This article explores legal, scholarly and social responses to women identified as sex offenders. While much has been written on the male paedophile, rapist and sex offender, little research has been done on the role of gender and sexuality in sex offending. This article examines the ways in which the female sex offender is currently theorized and the discourses surrounding policy, legislative and media responses to their crimes. We identify contradictory public discourses where perceptions of female child abusers in particular often succumb to moral panic, in spite of many such offenders being given lenient sentences for their crimes. An examination of the discursive construction of female child abusers suggests that these contradictions are informed by underlying assumptions concerning harm and subjectivity in sex crimes. In exploring these contradictions we illustrate the ways in which such discourses are impacted by social moralities, and how social moralities construct offender and victim subjectivities differently, based on differences in gender, age and sexuality.

An intervention to improve motivation for homework

A repeated measures design, with randomly assigned intervention and control groups and multiple sources of information on each participant, was used to examine whether changing the method of delivery of a school’s homework program in order to better meet the students’ needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence would lead to more positive student attitudes to homework and whether there would also be a positive change in overall motivation. The participants were 104 male students aged 10 to 12 years who attended a single sex high school. There was no overall intervention effect on motivation; however, the intervention appeared to have a protective effect on the quality of motivation.

Determination of creep behaviour of concrete made by brick chips in Bangladesh

Concrete made of brick chips as coarse aggregate are extensively used in Bangladesh for construction of different types of structures from residential and commercial buildings to industrial complex. As creep is influenced among many factors including the constituents’ materials, relative humidity and temperature, it is essential to examine the creep behavior for Bangladeshi brick chips made concrete in Bangladeshi environment. In this work, investigation on the behaviour of creep in concrete of same grade made with brick chips collected from various locations under single stage loading was done. With these investigations, a formula was derived to get theoretical creep values for 24 MPa brick chips made concrete in Bangladeshi environment.

Self-determination theory as applied to the design of a software learning system using whole-body controls

Whole-body computer control interfaces present new opportunities to engage children with games for learning. Stomp is a suite of educational games that use such a technology, allowing young children to use their whole body to interact with a digital environment projected on the floor. To maximise the effectiveness of this technology, tenets of self-determination theory (SDT) are applied to the design of Stomp experiences. By meeting user needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness our aim is to increase children's engagement with the Stomp learning platform. Analysis of Stomp's design suggests that these tenets are met. Observations from a case study of Stomp being used by young children show that they were highly engaged and motivated by Stomp. This analysis demonstrates that continued application of SDT to Stomp will further enhance user engagement. It also is suggested that SDT, when applied more widely to other whole-body multi-user interfaces, could instil similar positive effects.

On the statistical determination of optimal camera configurations in large scale surveillance networks

The selection of optimal camera configurations (camera locations, orientations etc.) for multi-camera networks remains an unsolved problem. Previous approaches largely focus on proposing various objective functions to achieve different tasks. Most of them, however, do not generalize well to large scale networks. To tackle this, we introduce a statistical formulation of the optimal selection of camera configurations as well as propose a Trans-Dimensional Simulated Annealing (TDSA) algorithm to effectively solve the problem. We compare our approach with a state-of-the-art method based on Binary Integer Programming (BIP) and show that our approach offers similar performance on small scale problems. However, we also demonstrate the capability of our approach in dealing with large scale problems and show that our approach produces better results than 2 alternative heuristics designed to deal with the scalability issue of BIP.

Back to the future : prohibiting surrogacy for singles, same-sex and shorter-term heterosexual couples in Queensland

This article considers the regulatory position concerning altruistic surrogacy in Queensland, focusing on the intended changes to the current legal framework announced by the government in June 2012. The previous government had made significant progress by reforming surrogacy laws in 2010. However, that progress is at risk of being reversed. The proposed changes to the law would make it a criminal offence to enter into an altruistic surrogacy arrangement for certain individuals or couples. If enacted, the offence would only apply in altruistic surrogacy cases where the intended parent or parents are either single, in a same-sex relationship, or are in a heterosexual relationship of less than two years. Moreover, if enacted, the offence would apply extra-territorially. The authors argue that these changes represent a retrograde step for the law and urge the government to reconsider. This is based on the fact that they are out of step with current social attitudes, are contrary to the spirit of anti-discrimination laws, and that they are unjustified in terms of child welfare concerns.

The development of a new method for the determination of concentrations of carbonaceous gases using a non-dispersive infrared sensor

An analytical method for the detection of carbonaceous gases by a non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR) has been developed. The calibration plots of six carbonaceous gases including CO2, CH4, CO, C2H2, C2H4 and C2H6 were obtained and the reproducibility determined to verify the feasibility of this gas monitoring method. The results prove that squared correlation coefficients for the six gas measurements are greater than 0.999. The reproducibility is excellent, thus indicating that this analytical method is useful to determinate the concentrations of carbonaceous gases.

The deep trauma of secondary victimisation : parents of sex offenders

The publication of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) introduced the notion that a life-threatening illness can be a stressor and catalyst for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Since then a solid body of research has been established investigating the post-diagnosis experience of cancer. These studies have identified a number of short and long-term life changes resulting from a diagnosis of cancer and associated treatments. In this chapter, we discuss the psychosocial response to the cancer experience and the potential for cancer-related distress. Cancer can represent a life-threatening diagnosis that may be associated with aggressive treatments and result in physical and psychological changes. The potential for future trauma through the lasting effects of the disease and treatment, and the possibility of recurrence, can be a source of continued psychological distress. In addition to the documented adverse repercussions of cancer, we also outline the recent shift that has occurred in the psycho-oncology literature regarding positive life change or posttraumatic growth that is commonly reported after a diagnosis of cancer. Adopting a salutogenic framework acknowledges that the cancer experience is a dynamic psychosocial process with both negative and positive repercussions. Next, we describe the situational and individual factors that are associated with posttraumatic growth and the types of positive life change that are prevalent in this context. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research in a therapeutic context and the directions of future posttraumatic growth research with cancer survivors. This chapter will present both quantitative and qualitative research that indicates the potential for personal growth from adversity rather than just mere survival and return to pre-diagnosis functioning. It is important to emphasise however, that the presence of growth and prevalence of resilience does not negate the extremely distressing nature of a cancer diagnosis for the patient and their families and the suffering that can accompany treatment regimes. Indeed, it will be explained that for growth to occur, the experience must be one that quite literally shatters previously held schemas in order to act as a catalyst for change.

The association between motivation in school physical education and self-reported physical activity during Finnish junior high school : a self-determination theory approach

The main purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the role of motivational climates, perceived competence and motivational regulations as antecedents of self-reported physical activity during junior high school years. The participants included 237 Finnish students (101 girls, 136 boys) that were 13 years old at the first stage of the study. Students completed the motivational climate and perceived competence questionnaires at Grade 7, motivation towards physical education questionnaire at Grade 8, and self-reported physical activity questionnaire at Grade 9. A path analysis revealed a path from task-involving motivational climate via perceived competence and intrinsic motivation to self-reported physical activity. Perceived competence and intrinsic motivation were statistically significant mediators between task-involving motivational climate and self-reported physical activity. This finding supports the four-stage causal sequence model of motivation.