Angiotensin II Treatment Induces Reorganization and Changes in the Lateral Dynamics of Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor in the Plasma Membrane Elucidated by Photoactivated Localization Microscopy Combined with Image Spatial Correlation Analysis.

The mechanisms by which angiotensin II type 1 receptor is distributed and the diffusional pattern in the plasma membrane (PM) remain unclear, despite their crucial role in cardiovascular homeostasis. In this work, we obtained quantitative information of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) lateral dynamics as well as changes in the diffusion properties after stimulation with ligands in living cells using photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM) combined with image spatial-temporal correlation analysis. To study the organization of the receptor at the nanoscale, expansion microscopy (ExM) combined with PALM was performed.

Fidelity and the impact of patient safety huddles on teamwork and safety culture: an evaluation of the Huddle Up for Safer Healthcare (HUSH) project.

Background: The Patient Safety Huddle (PSH) is a brief multidisciplinary daily meeting held to discuss threats to patient safety and actions to mitigate risk. Despite growing interest and application of huddles as a mechanism for improving safety, evidence of their impact remains limited. There is also variation in how huddles are conceived and implemented with insufficient focus on their fidelity (the extent to which delivered as planned) and potential ways in which they might influence outcomes.

Falcarindiol Purified From Carrots Leads to Elevated Levels of Lipid Droplets and Upregulation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-γ Gene Expression in Cellular Models.

Falcarindiol (FaDOH) is a cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory polyacetylenic oxylipin found in food plants of the carrot family (Apiaceae). FaDOH has been shown to activate PPARγ and to increase the expression of the cholesterol transporter ABCA1 in cells, both of which play an important role in lipid metabolism. Thus, a common mechanism of action of the anticancer and antidiabetic properties of FaDOH may be due to a possible effect on lipid metabolism.

Sustaining the commitment to patient safety huddles: insights from eight acute hospital ward teams.

Background: A recent initiative in hospital settings is the patient safety huddle (PSH): a brief multidisciplinary meeting held to highlight patient safety issues and actions to mitigate identified risks.

Aim: The authors studied eight ward teams that had sustained PSHs for over 2 years in order to identify key contributory factors.

Methods: Unannounced observations of the PSH on eight acute wards in one UK hospital were undertaken.

Integrating a newly developed BAC-based physical mapping resource for Lolium perenne with a genome-wide association study across a L. perenne European ecotype collection identifies genomic contexts associated with agriculturally important traits.

Background And Aims: Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) is the most widely cultivated forage and amenity grass species in temperate areas worldwide and there is a need to understand the genetic architectures of key agricultural traits and crop characteristics that deliver wider environmental services. Our aim was to identify genomic regions associated with agriculturally important traits by integrating a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-based physical map with a genome-wide association study (GWAS).

Methods: BAC-based physical maps for L.

A comprehensive microbiological safety approach for agarose encapsulated porcine islets intended for clinical trials.

Background: The use of porcine islets to replace insulin-producing islet β-cells, destroyed during the diabetogenic disease process, presents distinct challenges if this option is to become a therapeutic reality for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. These challenges include a thorough evaluation of the microbiological safety of the islets. In this study, we describe a robust porcine islet-screening program that provides a high level of confidence in the microbiological safety of porcine islets suitable for clinical trials.

Implementation of Genomic Prediction in Lolium perenne (L.) Breeding Populations.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is one of the most widely grown forage grasses in temperate agriculture. In order to maintain and increase its usage as forage in livestock agriculture, there is a continued need for improvement in biomass yield, quality, disease resistance, and seed yield.

Psychotic-like experiences and their cognitive appraisal under short-term sensory deprivation.

Aims: This study aimed to establish and compare the effects of brief sensory deprivation on individuals differing in trait hallucination proneness.

Method: Eighteen participants selected for high hallucination proneness were compared against 18 participants rating low on this trait. The presence of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), and participants' cognitive appraisals of these, was evaluated in three different settings: at baseline, in a "secluded office" environment, and in light-and-sound sensory deprivation.

Cost-effective master cell bank validation of multiple clinical-grade human pluripotent stem cell lines from a single donor.

Standardization guidelines for human pluripotent stem cells are still very broadly defined, despite ongoing clinical trials in the U.S., U.

Defining critical thoughts.

Nursing education has long struggled to define critical thinking and explain how the process of critical thinking fits into the context of nursing. Despite this long time struggle, nurses and nurse educators continue to strive to foster critical thinking skills in nursing students as intuitively most nurses believe that critical thinking is necessary to function competently in the workplace. This article explores the most recent work of Dr.

Psychotic-like experiences, appraisals, and trauma.

This study examined some of the predictions made by cognitive models of psychosis, specifically the potential contribution of appraisals and trauma to the development of "need for care." Two groups reporting psychotic-like experiences with and without a "need for care" were compared on types of experiences, appraisals of these experiences, distress, and trauma. Both groups reported similar overall levels of psychotic-like experiences, but were characterized by distinct types of experiences.

AFLP analysis and improved phytoextraction capacity of transgenic gshI-poplar clones (Populus x canescens L.) for copper in vitro.

Clone stability and in vitro phytoextraction capacity of vegetative clones of P. x canescens (2n = 4x = 38) including two transgenic clones (ggs11 and lgl6) were studied as in vitro leaf disc cultures. Presence of the gshI-transgene in the transformed clones was detected in PCR reactions using gshI-specific primers.

Woundcare Research for Appropriate Products (WRAP): validation of the TELER method involving users.

Woundcare Research for Appropriate Products (WRAP) is a novel collaboration WRAP between industry and clinicians, funded by the Engineering and Physical Research Sciences Council. WRAP objectives included the development and testing of methodologies to identify patients' and clinicians' needs with respect to wound dressings for exudate management. The management of exudate was the focus because it was demonstrated to be the pivotal problem for patients and clinicians in a study of malignant wounds, and is a recurring problem in other wound types.

Detection of infectious bovine polyomavirus.

Bovine polyomavirus (BPyV) is a member of the Polyomaviridae, a virus that was originally thought to be of simian origin but was later shown to be of bovine origin, the primate cultures having been contaminated through the use of foetal bovine serum. The significance of this agent to the biotechnology industry cannot be underestimated. The presence of BPyV in serum batches poses a serious risk for the contamination of human therapeutic products.

Applications of quantitative PCR in the biosafety and genetic stability assessment of biotechnology products.

High throughput screening, increased accuracy and the coupling of real-time quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) to robotic set-up systems are beginning to revolutionise biotechnology. Applications of Q-PCR within biotechnology are discussed with particular emphasis on the following areas of biosafety and genetic stability testing: (a) determination of the biodistribution of gene therapy vectors in animals; (b) quantification of the residual DNA in final product therapeutics; (c) detection of viral and bacterial nucleic acid in contaminated cell banks and final products; (d) quantification of the level of virus removal in process validation viral clearance studies; (e) specific detection of retroviral RT activity in vaccines with high sensitivity; and (f) transgene copy number determination for monitoring genetic stability during production. Methods employed for Q-PCR assay validation as required in ICH Topic Q2A Validation of Analytical Methods: Definitions and Terminology (1st June 1995) are also reviewed.

A critical ethnographic approach to facilitating cultural shift in midwifery.

Objective: to improve understanding of local midwifery morale, inform development and reorganisation of a maternity unit, and enhance midwifery involvement in strategic planning.

Participants: a randomised stratified sample of 20 midwives working in a UK National Health Service (NHS) hospital and its surrounding community area.

Method: within a critical ethnographic framework, focus groups were tape-recorded and transcribed, and analysed using a thematic content analysis approach.

High throughput detection of retrovirus-associated reverse transcriptase using an improved fluorescent product enhanced reverse transcriptase assay and its comparison to conventional detection methods.

The development and application of a novel, sensitive TaqMan fluorescent probe-based product enhanced RT test (F-PERT) for the detection of retrovirus are described. The assay allows discrimination between the amplification signals generated by genuine positive signals that result from retroviral RT activity and the RT-like activity from DNA polymerases. The RT-like activity from DNA polymerases was suppressed by the addition of activated calf-thymus DNA with no reduction in the RT activity.

Differential regulation of AP-1 and novel TRE-specific DNA-binding complexes during differentiation of oligodendrocyte-type-2-astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cells.

AP-1 is an ubiquitous transcription factor which is composed of the Jun and Fos proto-oncogene proteins and is thought to play a role in both cell proliferation and differentiation. We have used an immortal, bipotential oligodendrocyte-type-2 astrocyte progenitor cell line (O-2A/c-myc) which can differentiate into oligodendrocytes or type-2 astrocytes in vitro, to investigate whether AP-1 DNA-binding activity fluctuates during glial cell differentiation. Unexpectedly, DNA-mobility shift assays using a TRE-containing oligonucleotide derived from the promoter of the glial-specific gene, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP/AP-1), revealed that O-2A/c-myc progenitor cells were devoid of conventional AP-1 DNA-binding complexes.

Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of the nahA gene from Porphyromonas gingivalis indicates that beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase is an outer-membrane-associated lipoprotein.

Porphyromonas gingivalis has been implicated in human periodontal diseases. It expresses a number of exoglycosidase enzymes capable of hydrolysing host proteoglycan residues. As a first stage to explore the role of these enzymes in periodontal tissue damage, the nahA gene of P.