A matter of life and death: knowledge about the body and concept of death in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Background: An increased awareness of how people with intellectual disabilities (ID) understand death and dying is necessary in supporting life-long learning, post-bereavement support and planning end-of-life care. Previous research suggests that adults with ID have a limited or 'patchy' understanding of the basic biological components of death. However, the relationship between biological understanding of how the body works and conceptualisation of death remains unexplored in this population.

Splicing analysis of unclassified variants in COL2A1 and COL11A1 identifies deep intronic pathogenic mutations.

UK NHS diagnostic service sequence analysis of genes generally examines and reports on variations within a designated region 5' and 3' of each exon, typically 30 bp up and downstream. However, because of the degenerate nature of the splice sites, intronic variants outside the AG and GT dinucleotides of the acceptor and donor splice sites (ASS and DSS) are most often classified as being of unknown clinical significance, unless there is some functional evidence of their pathogenicity. It is now becoming clear that mutations deep within introns can also interfere with normal processing of pre-mRNA and result in pathogenic effects on the mature transcript.

Stickler syndrome and the vitreous phenotype: mutations in COL2A1 and COL11A1.

Stickler syndrome is a dominantly inherited disorder affecting the fibrillar type II/XI collagen molecules expressed in vitreous and cartilage. Mutations have been found in COL2A1, COL11A1 and COL11A2. It has a highly variable phenotype that can include midline clefting, hearing loss, premature osteoarthritis, congenital high myopia and blindness through retinal detachment.

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.

Background: The role of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the prevention and treatment of the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 60 years, but is widely sold and used as both a preventive and therapeutic agent.

Objectives: To discover whether oral doses of 0.2 g or more daily of vitamin C reduces the incidence, duration or severity of the common cold when used either as continuous prophylaxis or after the onset of symptoms.

High efficiency of mutation detection in type 1 stickler syndrome using a two-stage approach: vitreoretinal assessment coupled with exon sequencing for screening COL2A1.

Stickler syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous disorder that affects the ocular, skeletal, and auditory systems. To date three genes, COL2A1, COL11A1, and COL11A2, encoding the heterotypic type II/XI collagen fibrils present in vitreous and cartilage have been shown to have mutations that result in Stickler syndrome. As systemic features in this disorder are variable we have used an ophthalmic examination to differentiate those patients with a membranous vitreous phenotype associated with mutations in COL2A1, from other patients who may have mutations in other genes.

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.

Background: The role of oral vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the prevention and treatment of the common cold has been a subject of controversy for at least sixty years. Public interest in the topic continues to be high and vitamin C continues to be widely sold and used as a preventive and therapeutic agent for this common ailment.

Objectives: To discover whether oral vitamin C in doses of 200 mg or more daily, reduces the incidence, duration or severity of the common cold when used either as continuous prophylaxis or after the onset of cold symptoms.

Regulation of IGF-I and porcine oviductal secretory protein (pOSP) secretion into the pig oviduct in the peri-ovulatory period, and effects of previous nutrition.

The mechanisms regulating oviduct function were investigated. In Experiment 1, porcine oviductal secretory protein (pOSP) mRNA, and pOSP and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) in oviductal flushings, decreased through the peri-ovulatory period. In Experiment 2, higher plasma steroids in oviductal veins, ipsilateral (INT), rather than contralateral (OVX), to the remaining ovary in unilaterally ovariectomized gilts, were associated with higher pOSP in INT oviductal flushings.

Feed restriction and insulin treatment affect subsequent luteal function in the immediate postovulatory period in pigs: progesterone production in vitro and messenger ribonucleic acid expression for key steroidogenic enzymes.

Progesterone production and release in vitro, and mRNA expression for key steroidogenic enzymes, were studied in luteal tissue recovered in the immediate postovulatory period from cyclic gilts allocated to one of three treatments: moderate feed restriction during the first (RH) or second week of the estrous cycle, with (HR+I) or without (HR) concomitant injections of long-acting insulin. Time of feed restriction affected neither progesterone production or release, nor mRNA expression for several key steroidogenic enzymes. However, luteal tissue from RH but not from HR gilts responded to LH stimulation by increasing progesterone production and release (P: < 0.

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.

Background: The role of oral ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the prevention and treatment of colds remains controversial despite many controlled trials. There have also been a number of efforts to synthesize and/or overview the results of these trials, and controversy over what these overviews tell us.

Objectives: The objective of this review was to answer the following two questions: (1) Does regular high dosage supplementation with vitamin C reduce the incidence of colds? (2) Does taking vitamin C in high doses at the onset of a cold have a therapeutic effect?

Search Strategy: This review currently deals only with published trials from two previously published reviews by Kleijnen 1989 and Hemila 1992.

Bnm1, a Brassica pollen-specific gene.

cDNA and genomic clones of a new pollen-specific gene, Bnm1, have been isolated from Brassica napus cv. Topas. The gene contains an open reading frame of 546 bp and a single intron of 362 bp.

Isolation and long-term culture of human preantral follicles.

Objective: To isolate intact preantral follicles from the human ovary for in vitro studies.

Procedure: Premenopausal human ovary was digested by a mixture of collagenase and deoxyribonuclease (DNase) for 1 hour at 37 degrees C and for 36 hour at 4 degrees C. Intact preantral follicles at classes 1 and 2 were isolated and cultured for up to 120 hours in a serum-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (GIBCO, Grand Island, NY) with ITS+ (insulin, transferrin, selenium, linoleic acid, and bovine serum albumin; Collaborative Research, Bedford, MA) with or without FSH.

The escalating cesarean section rate: a 25 year experience at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The cesarean section rate at our medical center has increased gradually from 9.1% in 1965 to 21.9% in 1989, which is lower but similar to national trends.