Wrap around analysis of the affordances and constraints for girls with physical disabilities participating in physical activities /

This is a qualitative study exploring the physical activity patterns of a group of women with physical disabilities through their lifespan. In-depth interviews were done with a group of 6 women aged 1 9 to 3 1 . The data were analyzed via content and demographic strategies. Participants in this study reported that their physical activity patterns and their experiences related to their physical activity participation changed over their lives. They were most physically active in their youth (under 14 years of age) and as they reached high school age (over 14 years of age) and to the present time, they have become less physically active. They also reported both affordances and constraints to their physical activity participation through their lifespan. In their youth, they reported affordances such as their parents' assistance, an abundance of available physical activity opportunities, and independent unassisted mobility, as all playing an important factor in their increased youth physical activity. In adulthood, the participants' reported less time, fewer opportunities for physical activity, and reliance on power mobility as significant constraints to their physical activity. The participants reported fewer constraints to being physically active in their youth when compared to adulthood. Their reasons for participation in physical activity changed from fun and socialization in their youth instead of for maintenance of health, weight, and function in adulthood. These affordances, constraints and reasons for physical activity participation were supported in the literature.

Vascularized Bone Grafts for Upper Limb Reconstruction: Defects at the Distal Radius, Wrist, and Hand

Vascularized bone grafts have been successfully applied for the reconstruction of bone defects at the forearm, distal radius, carpus, and hand. Vascularized bone grafts are most commonly used in revision cases in which other approaches have failed. Vascularized bone grafts can be obtained from a variety of donor sites, including the fibula, the iliac crest, the distal radius (corticocancellous segments and vascularized periosteum), the metacarpals and metatarsals, and the medial femoral condyle (corticoperiosteal flaps). Their vascularity is preserved as either pedicled autografts or free flaps to carry the optimum biological potential to enhance union. The grafts can also be transferred as composite tissue flaps to reconstruct compound tissue defects. Selection of the most appropriate donor flap site is multifactorial. Considerations include size matching between donor and defect, the structural characteristics of the graft, the mechanical demands of the defect, proximity to the donor area, the need for an anastomosis, the duration of the procedure, and the donor site morbidity. This article focuses on defects of the distal radius, the wrist, and the hand. (J Hand Surg 2010;35A:1710-1718. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.)

The Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (PRI) Grant Program Iowa Department of Correctional Services, January 2, 2007

The Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Department of Human Rights, Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP) entered into a contract for services from January 2, 2007 to June 30, 2008 for the purposes of assisting in the evaluation component for the two-year Prison Re-Entry Initiative (PRI) grand awarded to the DOC by the U.S. Office of Justice Programs. The PRI grant period ran from July 2006 through June 2008 and included two primary components. First, all PRI participants returning to Polk County would participate in a Lifeskills curriculum offered through the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) at four Iowa prison institutions located at Mitchellville, Newton, Fort Dodge and Rockwell City. Second, all PRI participants returning to Polk County would be referred to The Directors Council (TDC) for cmmunity-based wrap-around services.

Passive and Active Grasping with a Prehensile Robot End-Effector

This report presents a design of a new type of robot end-effector with inherent mechanical grasping capabilities. Concentrating on designing an end-effector to grasp a simple class of objects, cylindrical, allowed a design with only one degree of actuation. The key features of this design are high bandwidth response to forces, passive grasping capabilities, ease of control, and ability to wrap around objects with simple geometries providing form closure. A prototype of this mechanism was built to evaluate these features.

Self-assembled columns of fullerene

Columnar mesophases based on alternating triphenylene and hexaphenyltriphenylene moieties are exceptionally stable and able to accommodate bulky side-chain substituents within the alkyl chain continuum between the columns. This paper presents a system in which the triphenylene bears a fullerene on its side-chain and the hexaphenyltriphenylene equivalent is the aza-derivative hexakis(4-nonylphenyl)dipyrazino[2,3-f : 2'3'-h] quinoxalene, PDQ9. The mesophase formed was identified as hexagonal columnar (Col(h)) by X-ray diffraction (a = 25.2 angstrom and c = 3.5 angstrom) but, in addition to the expected peaks, there is indication of a two-dimensional hexagonal superlattice with d-spacing 59 angstrom. This superlattice is believed to arise from ordering of the fullerenes within the liquid crystal matrix. It can be explained on the assumption that, to maximise fullerene-fullerene contact, the fullerenes form chains which wrap around the central column in every group of seven columns of the triphenylene : PDQ9 Col(h) array.

Modelling the cabling of rope systems

This paper presents a theoretical model of the torsional characteristics of parallel multi-part rope systems. In such systems, the ropes may cable, or wrap around each other, depending on the combination of applied torque, rope tension, length and spacing between the rope parts. Cabling constitutes a failure that might be retrievable but as such can seriously affect the performance of the rope system. The torsional characteristics of the system are very different before and after cabling, and theoretical models are given for both situations. Laboratory tests were performed on both two and four rope systems, with measurements being made of torque at rotations from 0 to 360 deg. Tests were run with different rope spacings, tensions and lengths and the results compared with predictions from the theoretical model. The conclusion from the test results was that the theoretical model predicts both the pre- and post-cabling torsional behaviour with an acceptable level of accuracy.

Distinct localization of T cell Agrin during antigen presentation - evidence for the expression of Agrin receptor(s) in antigen-presenting cells

Agrin is over-expressed by activated and autoimmune T cells, and synergizes with the T cell receptor (TCR) to augment cell activation. In the present study, we show that Agrin accumulates to distinct areas of the plasma membrane and that cell activation causes its redistribution. During antigen presentation, Agrin primarily accumulates to the periphery of the mature immunological synapse, mostly in lamellipodia-like protrusions that wrap around the antigen-presenting cell and, conversely, anti-Agrin sera induced a significant redistribution of TCR at the plasma membrane. We also provide evidence for the expression of Agrin receptors in peripheral blood monocytes, dendritic cells and a fraction of B cells. Interestingly, interferon-a treatment, which induces the expression of Agrin in T cells, also augmented Agrin binding to monocytes. Stimulation of monocytes with recombinant Agrin induced the clustering of surface receptors, including major histocompatibility complex class II, activation of intracellular signalling cascades, as well as enhanced dsRNA-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-a. Collectively, these results confirm the location of Agrin at the immunological synapse between T cells and antigen-presenting cells and justify further characterization of its receptors in the immune system.

MICROFIBRILS - NEGLECTED COMPONENTS OF PRESSURE-BEARING TENDONS

Some tendons wrap around joints and receive compressive forces besides transferring the tension forces from muscle to bone. These tendons develop a fibrocartilaginous structure which enables them to withstand pressure. This article describes the existence and distribution of microfibrils (or preelastic fibers) in the pressure-bearing tendons of rabbits and dogs by the application of histochemical assays and transmission electron microscopy. Rabbit and dog tendons possess no mature elastic fibers. The rabbit tendon exhibits some response to Weigert's method prior to oxidation which indicates the existence of the so-called elaunin fibers, especially in the pressure zone. Oxidation with peracetic acid or oxone discloses intricate aspects of the oxytalan fiber distribution in both tension and pressure zones of the dog and rabbit tendons. Bundles of 12 nm microfibrils were demonstrated in the rabbit tendon by electron microscopy after fixation in the presence of tannic acid. The existence of preelastic fibers in the pressure-bearing tendons has been neglected and they are assumed to have importance in the microarchitecture of the tissue and in the ability of the tendon to support tension and compression forces.

Male Gonadal Differentiation and the Paedomorphic Evolution of the Testis in Teleostei

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Molecular characteristics of fibroblast growth factor–fibroblast growth factor receptor–heparin-like glycosaminoglycan complex

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family plays key roles in development, wound healing, and angiogenesis. Understanding of the molecular nature of interactions of FGFs with their receptors (FGFRs) has been seriously limited by the absence of structural information on FGFR or FGF–FGFR complex. In this study, based on an exhaustive analysis of the primary sequences of the FGF family, we determined that the residues that constitute the primary receptor-binding site of FGF-2 are conserved throughout the FGF family, whereas those of the secondary receptor binding site of FGF-2 are not. We propose that the FGF–FGFR interaction mediated by the ‘conserved’ primary site interactions is likely to be similar if not identical for the entire FGF family, whereas the ‘variable’ secondary sites, on both FGF as well as FGFR mediates specificity of a given FGF to a given FGFR isoform. Furthermore, as the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1 (IL-1) and FGF-2 share the same structural scaffold, we find that the spatial orientation of the primary receptor-binding site of FGF-2 coincides structurally with the IL-1β receptor-binding site when the two molecules are superimposed. The structural similarities between the IL-1 and the FGF system provided a framework to elucidate molecular principles of FGF–FGFR interactions. In the FGF–FGFR model proposed here, the two domains of a single FGFR wrap around a single FGF-2 molecule such that one domain of FGFR binds to the primary receptor-binding site of the FGF molecule, while the second domain of the same FGFR binds to the secondary receptor-binding site of the same FGF molecule. Finally, the proposed model is able to accommodate not only heparin-like glycosaminoglycan (HLGAG) interactions with FGF and FGFR but also FGF dimerization or oligomerization mediated by HLGAG.

A computationally directed screen identifying interacting coiled coils from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Computational methods can frequently identify protein-interaction motifs in otherwise uncharacterized open reading frames. However, the identification of candidate ligands for these motifs (e.g., so that partnering can be determined experimentally in a directed manner) is often beyond the scope of current computational capabilities. One exception is provided by the coiled-coil interaction motif, which consists of two or more α helices that wrap around each other: the ligands for coiled-coil sequences are generally other coiled-coil sequences, thereby greatly simplifying the motif/ligand recognition problem. Here, we describe a two-step approach to identifying protein–protein interactions mediated by two-stranded coiled coils that occur in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Coiled coils from the yeast genome are first predicted computationally, by using the multicoil program, and associations between coiled coils are then determined experimentally by using the yeast two-hybrid assay. We report 213 unique interactions between 162 putative coiled-coil sequences. We evaluate the resulting interactions, focusing on associations identified between components of the spindle pole body (the yeast centrosome).

Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. /

"Letter from Wendell Phillips, Esq.": pages [xiii]-xvi.

Investigating the Effect of Histone H4 Sumoylation on Chromatin Structure and Function

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Distinct types of glial cells populate the Drosophila antenna

Background: The development of nervous systems involves reciprocal interactions between neurons and glia. In the Drosophila olfactory system, peripheral glial cells arise from sensory lineages specified by the basic helix- loop- helix transcription factor, Atonal. These glia wrap around the developing olfactory axons early during development and pattern the three distinct fascicles as they exit the antenna. In the moth Manduca sexta, an additional set of central glia migrate to the base of the antennal nerve where axons sort to their glomerular targets. In this work, we have investigated whether similar types of cells exist in the Drosophila antenna. Results: We have used different P( Gal4) lines to drive Green Fluorescent Protein ( GFP) in distinct populations of cells within the Drosophila antenna. Mz317:: GFP, a marker for cell body and perineural glia, labels the majority of peripheral glia. An additional similar to 30 glial cells detected by GH146:: GFP do not derive from any of the sensory lineages and appear to migrate into the antenna from the brain. Their appearance in the third antennal segment is regulated by normal function of the Epidermal Growth Factor receptor and small GTPases. We denote these distinct populations of cells as Mz317- glia and GH146- glia respectively. In the adult, processes of GH146- glial cells ensheath the olfactory receptor neurons directly, while those of the Mz317- glia form a peripheral layer. Ablation of GH146- glia does not result in any significant effects on the patterning of the olfactory receptor axons. Conclusion: We have demonstrated the presence of at least two distinct populations of glial cells within the Drosophila antenna. GH146- glial cells originate in the brain and migrate to the antenna along the newly formed olfactory axons. The number of cells populating the third segment of the antenna is regulated by signaling through the Epidermal Growth Factor receptor. These glia share several features of the sorting zone cells described in Manduca.