Support of parenting in undergraduate medical training in New Zealand.

Purpose: This research assessed support for parents studying undergraduate medicine at a New Zealand medical school and identified requirements for additional support.

Method: Support documentation was sourced from Student Affairs and university and medical school websites. The Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand Medical Students Outcome and Longitudinal tracking Project was retrospectively examined for data specific to medical student parents.

In Vivo Quantitation of Estrogen Receptor β Subtype Expression in Ovarian Surface Epithelium Using Immunofluorescence Profiling and Confocal Microscopy.

Immunohistochemistry using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue, chromogen label, and light microscopy has traditionally been used to semiquantify estrogen receptor (ER) to guide diagnosis and management of breast cancer. Quantitation of ER for this purpose currently only assesses levels of the ER-alpha subtype. Considerable variability in results reported has been due to protocol and fixation variability, intraobserver and interobserver variability, and different scoring systems and thresholds for scoring ER positivity.

Xenobiotics and the Glucocorticoid Receptor.

Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) is present in virtually every human cell type. Representing a nuclear receptor superfamily, GR has several different isoforms essentially acting as ligand-dependent transcription factors, regulating glucocorticoid-responsive gene expression in both a positive and a negative manner. Although the natural ligand of the Glucocorticoid Receptor, glucocorticoids (GC) represent only some of the multiple ligands for GR.

Repeat estradiol exposure differentially regulates protein expression patterns for estrogen receptor and E-cadherin in older mouse ovarian surface epithelium: implications for replacement and adjuvant hormone therapies?

Background: Estrogen replacement therapy increases risk for ovarian epithelial cancer, a cancer of mainly older women, yet the response of older ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) to repeat estrogen exposure overtime has not been studied. We have previously reported significant reductions in estrogen receptor (ER) protein expression, particularly the ERβ1 isoform, in older mouse OSE following a single depot estradiol injection. The current study examined OSE from older mice following a single, and repeat estradiol injection, given 14 days apart over 28 days.

Novel approaches to quantify estradiol-induced loss of ERβ1 protein in older mouse ovarian surface epithelium: new tools to assess the role of ER protein subtypes in predisposing to ovarian epithelial cancer?

Loss of estrogen receptor-beta (ERβ) occurs in ovarian epithelial cancer (OEC), a cancer of mainly older women. OEC is linked epidemiologically to hormone replacement therapy, predominantly with estrogen-only formulations. This study introduces a novel, non-biased method to quantify levels of estradiol-induced loss of ERβ1 protein, and defines, for the first time, normal OSE expression patterns for ERα and ERβ1 with advancing age.