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Extensive Knowledge (extensive + knowledge)
Selected AbstractsDeveloping an intelligent system for teaching pre-tender cost estimating of office building projectsCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1 2001Qiping Shen Abstract Pre-tender cost estimating of office building projects requires extensive knowledge and expertise. Due to the lack of design information in the early design stages, it is extremely difficult for cost engineers or quantity surveyors to arrive at an accurate cost estimate. This paper presents the design and testing of a knowledge-based system that enables students to learn cost estimating of building projects in the conceptual design stages. The system, embedded with knowledge from experts, has been proved to be a very useful teaching and learning tool. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 9: 26,36, 2001 [source] Transnationalism as a Motif in Family StoriesFAMILY PROCESS, Issue 4 2005Elizabeth Stone Ph.D. Family stories have long been recognized as a vehicle for assessing components of a family's emotional and social life, including the degree to which an immigrant family has been willing to assimilate. Transnationalism, defined as living in one or more cultures and maintaining connections to both, is now increasingly common. A qualitative study of family stories in the family of those who appear completely "American" suggests that an affiliation with one's home country is nevertheless detectable in the stories via motifs such as (1) positively connotated home remedies, (2) continuing denigration of home country "enemies," (3) extensive knowledge of the home country history and politics, (4) praise of endogamy and negative assessment of exogamy, (5) superiority of home country to America, and (6) beauty of home country. Furthermore, an awareness of which model,assimilationist or transnational,governs a family's experience may help clarify a clinician's understanding of a family's strengths, vulnerabilities, and mode of framing their cultural experiences. [source] Three novel thiopurine S-methyltransferase allelic variants (TPMT*20, *21, *22) , association with decreased enzyme function,,HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 9 2006Elke Schaeffeler Abstract The genetic polymorphism of the thiopurine S-methyltransferase, TPMT, comprises at least 21 alleles causing three distinct drug metabolism phenotypes termed normal/high, intermediate, and deficient methylators. In consequence, adverse drug reactions may occur if standard doses of thiopurines are applied routinely. Genetic prediction of the methylator phenotype as a basis for dose selection requires the extensive knowledge of single nucleotide polymorphisms occurring naturally in the population. Here we describe three novel missense variants in the TPMT gene which were associated with an intermediate red blood cell TPMT activity in three Caucasians. The following alleles were designated: TPMT*20 (c.712A>G), *21 (c.205C>G), and *22 (c.488G>C). No further genetic variations in remaining coding regions as well as the 5,flanking region of TPMT were identified. These sequence variants are present in highly conserved nucleotide positions of the TPMT gene throughout various mammalian species and in zebra fish, and are predicted to be intolerant when the functional consequences of variations were analyzed using SIFT (Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant) algorithm. In Caucasians the occurrence of these genetic variants appears to be extremely rare since none of these alleles were identified in a randomly selected control population of 1048 individuals. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Nursing Diagnosis in Medical-Surgical PatientsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 2003Márcia Paschoalina Volpato PURPOSE. To identify nursing diagnoses identified in patients in a medical-surgical unit. METHODS. Data were collected through interviews and physical examination of 60 patients on a female ward in order to formulate NANDA diagnoses. The data collection tool was based on Gordon's 11 Functional Health Patterns. Four researchers with medical-surgical nursing expertise reached the nursing diagnosis through consensus. FINDINGS. A total of 338 diagnoses were identified from 49 different categories. Nineteen categories were identified in more than 10% of the sample: risk for infection (58%), pain (50%), constipation (42%), activity intolerance (35%), sleep pattern disturbance (28%), altered physical mobility (27%), impaired skin integrity (27%), fatigue (25%), sexual pattern dysfunction (23%), anxiety (23%), risk for ineffective manipulation of therapeutic regimen (20%), risk for trauma (20%), risk for impaired skin integrity (18%), ineffective coping (18%), altered nutrition: more than body requirements (12%), impaired communication (12%), urinary incontinence (10%), fluid volume excess (10%), and altered nutrition: less than body requirements (10%). The most frequent diagnoses related to Health Functional Patterns were identified in health control and perception, with 28% of the 338 formulated diagnoses, activity-exercise and nutritional-metabolic with 20% each. CONCLUSIONS. There was great diversity in the quality of the reported needs in the studied sample, which demands extensive knowledge and a wide range of abilities to identify needs as well as implement care in the affected patients. Studies such as this one will enhance delineation of the nursing knowledge base in order to justify allocation of human resources in specific areas. [source] Cancer stem cells: Cell culture, markers, and targets for new therapiesJOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2009Candace A. Gilbert Abstract A cancer stem cell (CSC) is defined as an undifferentiated cell with the ability to self-renew, differentiate to multiple lineages and initiate tumors that mimic the parent tumor. In this review, we focus on glioblastomas, describing recent progress and problems in characterizing these cells. There have been advances in CSC culture, but tumor cell heterogeneity has made purification of CSCs difficult. Indeed, it may be that CSCs significantly vary from tumor to tumor. We also discuss the proposal that CSCs are resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and play a major role in repopulating tumors following treatment. To overcome their resistance to conventional therapies, we may be able to use our extensive knowledge of the signaling pathways essential for stem cells during development. These pathways have potential as targets for new glioblastoma therapies. Hence, although there is an ongoing debate on the nature of CSCs, the theory continues to suggest new ideas for both the lab and the clinic. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 1031,1038, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Impact of shade on the spatial distribution of Sahlbergella singularis in traditional cocoa agroforestsAGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Régis Babin 1Shade management is commonly considered to be an effective pest management strategy for cocoa mirids, yet shade management recommendations are not based on extensive knowledge of the mirid ecology in traditional cocoa agroforests. 2The main objectives of the present study were an assessment of the impact of shade on the spatial distribution of mirid populations and thus the evaluation of shade management strategies. 3Mirid densities were measured and shade was characterized for three plots located in three different agroecological zones in the Centre region of Cameroon. Mirid densities generally followed a negative binomial law. Geostatistical procedures were used to characterize spatial distribution of mirid density. Light conditions were assessed using hemispherical photography. 4Populations of Sahlbergella singularis were highly aggregated in the plots. Semivariance analysis and kriging visualized the spatial dependence of mirid densities. Clearly distinguishable mirid pockets of 20,30 adjacent infested cocoa trees were identified in two of the three plots. 5The high diversity of shade tree species and the large variability in density and size of shade trees resulted in a considerable heterogeneity of plot light conditions. Percentage transmitted light varied in the range 9.4,80.1% in the most heterogeneous plot. 6For two of the three plots, mirid pockets were aggregated in those areas where light transmission was highest. In the third plot, relatively high mirid densities and the presence of an alternative host resulted in a more homogeneous distribution. The importance of these findings for improved mirid control is discussed. [source] The musculotendinous system of an anguilliform swimmer: Muscles, myosepta, dermis, and their interconnections in Anguilla rostrataJOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Nicole Danos Abstract Eel locomotion is considered typical of the anguilliform swimming mode of elongate fishes and has received substantial attention from various perspectives such as swimming kinematics, hydrodynamics, muscle physiology, and computational modeling. In contrast to the extensive knowledge of swimming mechanics, there is limited knowledge of the internal body morphology, including the body components that contribute to this function. In this study, we conduct a morphological analysis of the collagenous connective tissue system, i.e., the myosepta and skin, and of the red muscle fibers that sustain steady swimming, focusing on the interconnections between these systems, such as the muscle-tendon and myosepta-skin connections. Our aim is twofold: (1) to identify the morphological features that distinguish this anguilliform swimmer from subcarangiform and carangiform swimmers, and (2) to reveal possible pathways of muscular force transmission by the connective tissue in eels. To detect gradual morphological changes along the trunk we investigated anterior (0.4L), midbody (0.6L), and posterior body positions (0.75L) using microdissections, histology, and three-dimensional reconstructions. We find that eel myosepta have a mediolaterally oriented tendon in each the epaxial and hypaxial regions (epineural or epipleural tendon) and two longitudinally oriented tendons (myorhabdoid and lateral). The latter two are relatively short (4.5,5% of body length) and remain uniform along a rostrocaudal gradient. The skin and its connections were additionally analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The stratum compactum of the dermis consists of ,30 layers of highly ordered collagen fibers of alternating caudodorsal and caudoventral direction, with fiber angles of 60.51 ± 7.05° (n = 30) and 57.58 ± 6.92° (n = 30), respectively. Myosepta insert into the collagenous dermis via fiber bundles that pass through the loose connective tissue of the stratum spongiosum of the dermis and either weave into the layers of the stratum compactum (weaving fiber bundles) or traverse the stratum compactum (transverse fiber bundles). These fiber bundles are evenly distributed along the insertion line of the myoseptum. Red muscles insert into lateral and myorhabdoid myoseptal tendons but not into the horizontal septum or dermis. Thus, red muscle forces might be distributed along these tendons but will only be delivered indirectly into the dermis and horizontal septum. The myosepta-dermis connections, however, appear to be too slack for efficient force transmission and collagenous connections between the myosepta and the horizontal septum are at obtuse angles, a morphology that appears inadequate for efficient force transmission. Though the main modes of undulatory locomotion (anguilliform, subcarangiform, and carangiform) have recently been shown to be very similar with respect to their midline kinematics, we are able to distinguish two morphological classes with respect to the shape and tendon architecture of myosepta. Eels are similar to subcarangiform swimmers (e.g., trout) but are substantially different from carangiform swimmers (e.g., mackerel). This information, in addition to data from kinematic and hydrodynamic studies of swimming, shows that features other than midline kinematics (e.g., wake patterns, muscle activation patterns, and morphology) might be better for describing the different swimming modes of fishes. J. Morphol., 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Pivotal role of early B-cell factor 1 in development of striatonigral medium spiny neurons in the matrix compartmentJOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 10 2008Mary Kay Lobo Abstract The mammalian striatum plays a critical function in motor control, motor and reward learning, and cognition. Dysfunction and degeneration of the striatal neurons are implicated in major neurological and psychiatric disorders. The vast majority of striatal neurons are medium spiny neurons (MSNs). MSNs can be further subdivided into distinct subtypes based on their physical localization in the striatal patch vs. matrix compartments and based on their axonal projections and marker gene expression (i.e., striatonigral MSNs vs. striatopallidal MSNs). Despite our extensive knowledge on the striatal cytoarchitecture and circuitry, little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling the development of the MSN subtypes in the striatum. Early B-cell factor 1 (Ebf1) is a critical transcription factor implicated in striatal MSN development. One study shows that Ebf1 is critical for the differentiation of MSNs in the matrix, and our separate study demonstrates that Ebf1 is selectively expressed in the striatonigral MSNs and is essential for their postnatal differentiation. In the present study, we further validate the striatonigral MSN deficits in Ebf1,/, mice using multiple striatonigral MSN reporter mice. Moreover, we demonstrate that the striatonigral MSN deficits in these mice are restricted to those in the matrix, with relative sparing of those in the patch. Finally, we demonstrate that Ebf1 deficiency also results in reduced expression of another striatonigral-specific transcription factor, zinc finger binding protein 521 (Zfp521), which is a known Ebf1 functional partner. Overall, our study reveals that Ebf1 may play an essential role in controlling the differentiation of the striatonigral MSNs in the matrix compartment. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sports Medicine and School Nurses: A Growing Need for Further Education and Appropriate ResourcesJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 1 2006Cynthia S. Knight The use of exercise as a prerequisite for conditioning and proper treatment of injuries was first documented in early Greek civilization with the establishment of the Olympics. Today, sports by their very nature invite injury. In 2000, 2.5 million students participated in varsity sports with 750,000 injuries recorded. These numbers do not account for sports activities outside school or leisure activities. Another area of potential injury is physical education class. These classes are large with limited supervision and encompass students of varying age and abilities. Nurses do not have an extensive knowledge of injury prevention or assessment in their basic nursing education. School nurses, as a subspecialty within nursing, are expected to keep up with the requirements of the adolescent and pediatric populations as well basic nursing skills. Due to work schedules and limited resources for continuing education, school nurses are not afforded much time or benefits to attend classes that would teach them skills needed to assess athletic-type injuries. School nurses need printed resources specific to their setting to help fill this void. Recognizing this need, Sports Medicine Techniques for the School-Based Nurse is a manual in process that will help fill this void. Being developed specifically for school nurses, the manual will provide information on prevention, evaluation, and management of athletic-type injuries commonly seen in the school nurse's office. (J Sch Health. 2006;76(1):8-11) [source] Daphnia comes of age: an ecological model in the genomic eraMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 7 2008SARAH SCHAACK Abstract Scientists in various subdisciplines of biology have long relied on model organisms to push the frontiers of knowledge forward as far as possible in their specific field. Today, interdisciplinary science requires model organisms that can push our understanding on multiple frontiers and help us formulate and address more complex questions. Members of the genus Daphnia represent just such an interdisciplinary model. Daphnia are aquatic microcrustaceans (also known as waterfleas) that have long been central to the study of ecology and toxicology and have recently been developed as a genomic model. A recent survey of both nuclear and mitochondrial markers in populations of the Daphnia pulex complex from high-altitude lakes in South America (Mergeay et al. 2008, this issue) provides an excellent example of how genetic data and ecological information can be used to push the boundaries of our understanding in molecular ecology. In this species complex, extensive hybridization has occurred resulting in polyploidization and, consequently, asexuality. Their data reveal high levels of genetic diversity, incongruence in phylogenetic signal among genomes (nuclear and mitochondrial), cryptic species in the complex, and a new model for the historical spread of the species throughout the Americas. Their data indicate that genome-level changes have occurred in this species which have profound consequences in an ecological context, the implications of which can be more fully appreciated because of our extensive knowledge of the ecology and natural history of the genus Daphnia. [source] The Business of Emergency Medicine: A Nonclinical Curriculum Proposal for Emergency Medicine Residency ProgramsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 9 2009Thomas Falvo DO Abstract Over the course of their postgraduate medical education, physicians are expected not only to acquire an extensive knowledge of clinical medicine and sound procedural skills, but also to develop competence in their other professional roles as communicator, collaborator, mediator, manager, teacher, and patient advocate. Although the need for physicians to develop stronger service delivery skills is well recognized, residency programs may underemphasize formal training in nonclinical proficiencies. As a result, graduates can begin their professional careers with an incomplete understanding of the operation of health care systems and how to utilize system resources in the manner best suited to their patients' needs. This article proposes the content, educational strategy, and needs assessment for an academic program entitled The Business of Emergency Medicine (BOEM). Developed as an adjunct to the (predominantly) clinical content of traditional emergency medicine (EM) training programs, BOEM is designed to enhance the existing academic curricula with additional learning opportunities by which EM residents can acquire a fundamental understanding of the nonclinical skills of their specialty. [source] | |||||||||||||