Perceived effectiveness and barriers to physical therapy services for families and children with Friedreich ataxia.

Purpose: To describe the frequency, type, and perceived effectiveness of physical therapy interventions for children with Friedreich ataxia (FA); identify barriers to therapy; and solicit advice from parents.

Method: Parents of 30 children with FA participated in semistructured interviews. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data.

Heat shock transcription factor 2 is not essential for embryonic development, fertility, or adult cognitive and psychomotor function in mice.

Members of the heat shock factor (HSF) family are evolutionarily conserved regulators that share a highly homologous DNA-binding domain. In mammals, HSF1 is the main factor controlling the stress-inducible expression of Hsp genes while the functions of HSF2 and HSF4 are less clear. Based on its developmental profile of expression, it was hypothesized that HSF2 may play an essential role in brain and heart development, spermatogenesis, and erythroid differentiation.