"We're Going to Book This for You": Threats to Informed Decision-Making in the Down Syndrome Determination Experience.

Objectives: To identify and describe threats to informed decision-making at key junctures of the Down syndrome (DS) determination experience.

Methods: We conducted 32 narrative interviews with 42 participants (10 couples and 22 individuals). Participants relayed their stories of receiving their child's or a prospective child's DS determination.

"We're in the same book, but we're in different parts of the book": Dominant and sub-group narratives of life following a Down syndrome determination.

Parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) were interviewed about if their experiences raising their children matched their initial assumptions about parenting a child with DS. A dominant narrative was identified, wherein most parents described initially having negative assumptions, which did not come to fruition; parenting their child was not very different from parenting a typical child. There was also a sub-group of participants who disputed the dominant narrative; parenting their child was challenging and the dominant narrative marginalizes that experience.

A needs assessment on addressing environmental health issues within reproductive health service provision: Considerations for continuing education and support.

Background: This needs assessment was initially undertaken to explore the beliefs and knowledge of nurses and physicians about the impact of environmental toxicants on maternal and infant health, as well as to describe current practice and needs related to addressing environmental health issues (EHI).

Methods: One hundred and thirty-five nurses (n = 99) and physicians (n = 36) working in Saskatchewan completed an online survey. Survey questions were designed to determine how physicians and nurses think about and incorporate environmental health issues into their practice and means of increasing their capacity to do so.

Is Any Press Good Press? The Impact of Media Portrayals of Infertility on Young Adults' Perceptions of Infertility.

Objective: Infertility is an issue of current concern across North America. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada advocates for public education regarding infertility issues. Public education is supposed to be a fundamental objective of news media.

alpha4 phosphoprotein interacts with EDD E3 ubiquitin ligase and poly(A)-binding protein.

Mammalian alpha4 phosphoprotein, the homolog of yeast Tap42, is a component of the mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR) pathway that regulates ribogenesis, the initiation of translation, and cell-cycle progression. alpha4 is known to interact with the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2Ac) and to regulate PP2A activity. Using alpha4 as bait in yeast two-hybrid screening of a human K562 erythroleukemia cDNA library, EDD (E3 isolated by differential display) E3 ubiquitin ligase was identified as a new protein partner of alpha4.

Characterization of a novel, cytokine-inducible carboxypeptidase D isoform in haematopoietic tumour cells.

CPD-N is a cytokine-inducible CPD (carboxypeptidase-D) isoform identified in rat Nb2 T-lymphoma cells. The prototypic CPD (180 kDa) has three CP domains, whereas CPD-N (160 kDa) has an incomplete N-terminal domain I but intact domains II and III. CPD processes polypeptides in the TGN (trans-Golgi network) but the Nb2 CPD-N is nuclear.

Characterization of (123)I-iodo-alpha-methyltyrosine transport in rat lymphoma cells.

(123)I-Iodo-alpha-methyltyrosine (IMT) transport into lymphomas has not been fully characterized. In rat Nb2-11C and Nb2-Sp lymphoma cell lines, linear uptake of (123)I-IMT occurred rapidly within 5-10 min. Eadie-Hoftee plots of (123)I-IMT uptake gave apparent Km's of 8.

Implication of alpha4 phosphoprotein and the rapamycin-sensitive mammalian target-of-rapamycin pathway in prolactin receptor signalling.

A prolactin (PRL)-responsive 3'-end cDNA encoding rat alpha4 phosphoprotein was previously isolated from a rat lymphoma cDNA library. Rat alpha4 is a homologue of yeast Tap42 and is a component of the mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway that stimulates translation initiation and G1 progression in response to nutrients and growth factors. In the present study, the full-length rat alpha4 cDNA was obtained by 5'-RACE and the 1023 bp open reading frame predicted a 340 amino acid protein of 39.

Identification and nuclear localization of a novel prolactin and cytokine-responsive carboxypeptidase D.

A full-length, PRL-inducible complementary DNA (cDNA) encoding a novel, nuclear-targeted carboxypeptidase D isoform (designated CPD-N) was identified in the rat PRL-dependent Nb2-11C and PRL-independent Nb2-Sp lymphoma cell lines by differential display. The CPD-N cDNA (3751 bp) has 99% (3582/3583) homology with rat carboxypeptidase D (CPD; 4377 bp). In comparison to the rat CPD cDNA (ORF of 4134 bp; 180-kDa protein), CPD-N was shorter by approximately 600 bases but contained 148 unique bases at the 5'-end to give an ORF of 3399 bp.

Malignant progression of rat Nb2 lymphoma cells: chromosomal alterations and metastatic properties.

Cultured rat pre-T Nb2 lymphoma cell lines have provided a useful model for tumor progression of T-cell cancers. Comparative analysis of the non-metastatic, prolactin (PRL)-dependent parental Nb2-U17 line and its PRL-independent and/or metastatic sublines, can be used in a search for progression-related genomic alterations. In the present study, the PRL-dependent, cloned Nb2-11C and PRL-independent Nb2-Sp sublines were used to examine development of metastatic ability and PRL independence relative to chromosomal alterations.

The metabolic disposition of [methoxy-14C]-labelled trans-anethole, estragole and p-propylanisole in human volunteers.

1. The metabolic fates of the naturally occurring food flavours trans-anethole and estragole, and their synthetic congener p-propylanisole, have been investigated in human volunteers using the [methoxy-14C]-labelled compounds. The doses used were close to those encountered in the diet, 1 mg, 100 micrograms and 100 micrograms respectively.

Influence of dose and sex on the disposition and hepatic effects of cinnamyl anthranilate in the B6C3F1 mouse.

Cinnamyl anthranilate is a synthetic food flavouring and fragrance agent, formerly used at very low levels. There is currently some concern over the potential risk to man from its use, since it has been found to cause liver tumours in mice, following the administration of very large doses. This paper reports studies of its disposition and hepatic effects in B6C3F1 mice in relation to dose.

Metabolism of anethole. II. Influence of dose size on the route of metabolism of trans-anethole in the rat and mouse.

The effect of dose size on the metabolism of trans-anethole was investigated in rodents over the dose range 0.05-1500 mg/kg. trans-[methoxy-14C]Anethole was administered to female Wistar rats by gavage and to male CD-1 mice by ip injection.

Metabolism of anethole. I. Pathways of metabolism in the rat and mouse.

The metabolic fate of the naturally occurring food flavouring trans-anethole has been investigated in rats and mice. A single 50-mg/kg dose of trans-[methoxy-14C]anethole was given orally to female Wistar albino rats and by ip injection to male CD-1 mice. The major routes of elimination of 14C were the urine and expired air (as 14CO2).

The metabolism of p-propylanisole in the rat and mouse and its variation with dose.

We have studied the metabolism of the synthetic flavouring p-propylanisole in rats and mice and investigated the variation in its metabolism with dose. [methoxy-14C]-p-Propylanisole was given to female Wistar albino rats orally and male CD-1 mice ip at doses ranging from 0.05-1500 mg/kg body weight (0.