Time to re-think rural development?

(2004) Time to re-think rural development? EuroChoices Vol. 3 No. 2 pp.33-40

Rapid serological diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori:a need for caution and re-evaluation

Screening for Helicobacter pylori in dyspeptic patients may improve selectivity for gastroscopy. Rapid serological tests based on ELISA technique are cheap, readily available and simple to use in the clinical setting. However local evaluation is essential in order to validate these techniques. Fifty-six dyspeptic patients (aged less than 45 yr) had a rapid serological test (Helisal) performed prior to gastroscopy. At gastroscopy H. pylori status was assessed using culture and histology. The Helisal sensitivity was 80 per cent, specificity 82 per cent. Screening patients with the Helisal test would have missed 6 patients with peptic ulcer disease and 2 with oesophagitis. The Helisal test did not perform satisfactorily as a screening test in selection of patients for gastroscopy.

Re-Envisioning the Artist Hero Through Two Cole Porter Biopics

Songwriter Cole Porter is unusual in having had two biopics based on his life: Night and Day (1946) starring Cary Grant, and De-Lovely (2004), starring Kevin Kline. The differences in the treatment of the character of Cole Porter between the films are striking, and indicate a change in the way that society envisions its artists, and the very act of creativity. Night and Day was conceived partly as a showcase of Porter's songs, but also as a means of providing inspiration to soldiers returning wounded from World War II, based on Porter's recovery from a traumatic riding accident. It depicts Porter as an everyman following a trajectory of achievement, from having little to great success, which was positioned as easy to emulate. De-Lovely, on the other hand, is about the relationship between Porter and his wife Linda, and the way that his creativity was influenced by his changing relationships with various people. Drawing on the work on biopics of scholars such as G.F.Custen, together with research into the shifting ideas of how creativity operates and is popularly understood, this article uses these biopics as case studies to examine the representation of changing concepts of the artist and the act of creativity through Hollywood film. It also considers how these changing conceptions and representations connect to shifts in American society.

Autologous limbal transplantation in patients with unilateral corneal stem cell deficiency

Aim - To describe a surgical technique for autologous limbal stem cell transplantation and the outcome of a series of patients with unilateral stem cell deficiency. Methods - A report of six consecutive patients who underwent autologous limbal stem cell transplantation is presented. The primary diagnosis included alkali burn (n = 3), conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (n = 1), recurrent pterygium (n = 1), and contact lens induced keratopathy (n = 1). The autologous transplanted tissue consisted of peripheral cornea, limbus, and conjunctiva obtained from the contralateral eye. Three of the above patients underwent penetrating keratoplasty in association with autolimbal transplantation. A significant modification to established techniques was the close monitoring of conjunctival epithelial migration in the immediate postoperative period. If conjunctival epithelium threatened to migrate on to the corneal surface, it was mechanically removed at the slit lamp and prevented from crossing the limbus. This was required in three patients. Results - The mean follow up was 18.8 months. The outcome was satisfactory in all cases: a stable corneal surface was restored and there was a substantial improvement in vision and symptoms. One patient had a primary failure of the corneal allograft associated with glaucoma, and 6 months later developed a retinal detachment. No complications were noted in the donor eye with the exception of one patient who developed filamentary keratitis along the edge of the donor site. Conclusion - Autologous limbal transplantation with corneal, limbal, and conjunctival carriers was found to be useful for ocular surface reconstruction, over a mid-term follow up, in patients with unilateral stem cell deficiency. Close monitoring of the migration of conjunctival epithelium in the immediate postoperative period, and preventing it from crossing the limbus, ensured that the corneal surface was re-epithelialised exclusively from epithelial cells derived from the transplanted limbal tissue. This approach should improve the success of this procedure.

Sample size in studies on diagnostic accuracy in ophthalmology:A literature survey

Aim: To assess the sample sizes used in studies on diagnostic accuracy in ophthalmology. Design and sources: A survey literature published in 2005. Methods: The frequency of reporting calculations of sample sizes and the samples' sizes were extracted from the published literature. A manual search of five leading clinical journals in ophthalmology with the highest impact (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology and British Journal of Ophthalmology) was conducted by two independent investigators. Results: A total of 1698 articles were identified, of which 40 studies were on diagnostic accuracy. One study reported that sample size was calculated before initiating the study. Another study reported consideration of sample size without calculation. The mean (SD) sample size of all diagnostic studies was 172.6 (218.9). The median prevalence of the target condition was 50.5%. Conclusion: Only a few studies consider sample size in their methods. Inadequate sample sizes in diagnostic accuracy studies may result in misleading estimates of test accuracy. An improvement over the current standards on the design and reporting of diagnostic studies is warranted.

Re-organisation of the cytoskeleton during developmental programmed cell death in Picea abies embryos

Cell and tissue patterning in plant embryo development is well documented. Moreover, it has recently been shown that successful embryogenesis is reliant on programmed cell death (PCD). The cytoskeleton governs cell morphogenesis. However, surprisingly little is known about the role of the cytoskeleton in plant embryogenesis and associated PCD. We have used the gymnosperm, Picea abies , somatic embryogenesis model system to address this question. Formation of the apical-basal embryonic pattern in P. abies proceeds through the establishment of three major cell types: the meristematic cells of the embryonal mass on one pole and the terminally differentiated suspensor cells on the other, separated by the embryonal tube cells. The organisation of microtubules and F-actin changes successively from the embryonal mass towards the distal end of the embryo suspensor. The microtubule arrays appear normal in the embryonal mass cells, but the microtubule network is partially disorganised in the embryonal tube cells and the microtubules disrupted in the suspensor cells. In the same embryos, the microtubule-associated protein, MAP-65, is bound only to organised microtubules. In contrast, in a developmentally arrested cell line, which is incapable of normal embryonic pattern formation, MAP-65 does not bind the cortical microtubules and we suggest that this is a criterion for proembryogenic masses (PEMs) to passage into early embryogeny. In embryos, the organisation of F-actin gradually changes from a fine network in the embryonal mass cells to thick cables in the suspensor cells in which the microtubule network is completely degraded. F-actin de-polymerisation drugs abolish normal embryonic pattern formation and associated PCD in the suspensor, strongly suggesting that the actin network is vital in this PCD pathway.

‘Preparing Social Workers for Practice: Re-evaluating Student Learning Needs’

Among the key developmental priorities that have been identified in the current process of reform taking place in social work in the UK is the need to improve social work students' preparedness to meet the challenges they will encounter in practice. This paper contributes to the current debate about this issue by reporting a research study that focused on final year undergraduates' experience of academic and practice learning and considered the impact of demographic factors, including age, gender, disability, previous experience and qualifications, on their perceptions of preparedness. The results indicate that students were satisfied with most aspects of preparatory teaching and learning. However, the findings also highlight areas in which students' preparation could be further enhanced, including their skills in dealing with conflict and managing risk. The results suggest that social work programmes should not overly depend on practice learning to prepare students to address the challenges presented by increasingly complex working environments and that educators need to work closely in collaboration with employing partners to ensure that the curriculum keeps up to date with the changing learning needs of practitioners.

Re-analysis of microarray data reveals insights into altered transcriptional activity of TH17 and TReg signalling in psoriasis

Identifying differential expression of genes in psoriatic and healthy skin by microarray data analysis is a key approach to understand the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Analysis of more than one dataset to identify genes commonly upregulated reduces the likelihood of false positives and narrows down the possible signature genes. Genes controlling the critical balance between T helper 17 and regulatory T cells are of special interest in psoriasis. Our objectives were to identify genes that are consistently upregulated in lesional skin from three published microarray datasets. We carried out a reanalysis of gene expression data extracted from three experiments on samples from psoriatic and nonlesional skin using the same stringency threshold and software and further compared the expression levels of 92 genes related to the T helper 17 and regulatory T cell signaling pathways. We found 73 probe sets representing 57 genes commonly upregulated in lesional skin from all datasets. These included 26 probe sets representing 20 genes that have no previous link to the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis. These genes may represent novel therapeutic targets and surely need more rigorous experimental testing to be validated. Our analysis also identified 12 of 92 genes known to be related to the T helper 17 and regulatory T cell signaling pathways, and these were found to be differentially expressed in the lesional skin samples.