Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis yesterday and today

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that mainly affects joints. It is the most common form of inflammatory joint disease, and the second commonest joint disease, osteoarthritis being the commonest. The overall prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis has generally been given as 1% - with females outnumbering males in a ratio of 3-4:1, although there is some evidence that the incidence of the disease is decreasing. 1 Apart from this, the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis is not the same throughout the world. It is quite rare in less developed rural parts of the world - thus one study in Nigeria failed to find one single case.2 Studies in Europe have shown that there is a gradient in the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis, starting from a low prevalence in the South (e.g. Italy 0.31%)3 to a higher prevalence in the North (e.g. Finland 0.8%)4 While no formal epidemiological studies on rheumatoid arthritis have been carried out in Malta, a total of approximately 600 patients with the disease are followed up at the Rheumatology Clinic at St. Luke's Hospital, giving a prevalence of 0.16%.peer-reviewe

Identification of dothistromin biosynthetic pathway genes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Molecular Genetics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Dothistromin is a polyketide-derived toxic secondary metabolite produced by the filamentous fungus Dothistroma pini which causes the disease Dothistroma needle blight in Pinus radiata. Dothistromin is considered to be an important component in the disease process, although its exact function is yet to be identified. By isolating and identifying genes involved in dothistromin biosynthesis, and subsequently obtaining mutants blocked or altered in the synthesis of dothistromin, the role of this toxin in pathogenicity will be able to be assessed. Dothistromin is structurally related to the mycotoxins, aflatoxin (AF) from Aspergillus parasiticus and A. flavus, and sterigmatocystin (ST) from A. nidulans. Three intermediates in the ST and AF biosynthetic pathways (averantin, averufin, and versicolorin B) are thought to also be intermediates dothistromin biosynthesis. Due to these similarities, cloned AF pathway genes were used as heterologous probes in Southern hybridisation analysis to provide a direct method for identifying dothistromin biosynthetic genes. A fragment of the A. parasiticus nor-1 gene, encoding a reductase involved in the conversion of norsolorinic acid (NA) to averantin (AVN) in the AF biosynthetic pathway, was used as a probe to detect a region of sequence similarity to D. pini genomic DNA. A D. pini genomic library was then constructed and screened, resulting in clone λCGN2. However, Southern hybridisation analysis suggested that this clone did not contain a homologue of the nor-1 gene from A. parasiticus. A fragment of the Aspergillus parasiticus ver-1 gene, encoding a reductase involved in the conversion of versicolorin A (VA) to ST in the AF biosynthetic pathway, was also used as a probe to detect a region of sequence similarity to D. pini genomic DNA. The D. pini genomic library was then screened. Two clones, λCGV1 and λCGV2, were isolated and Southern hybridisation analysis confirmed that these clones contained sequences hybridising to the A. parasiticus ver-1 gene fragment. Fragments of these clones which hybridised were then sequenced and compared to the GenBank database. The amino acid coding sequence of a 0.8 kb SalI region from clone λCGV1 exhibited a high degree of similarity with the A. nidulans verA and A. parasiticus ver-1 genes, involved in the ST and AF biosynthetic pathways, and the Magnaporthe grisea ThnR, and Colletotrichum lagenarium Thr1 genes, involved in melanin biosynthesis. This data suggested a ver-1 homologue is present in the D. pini genome. Limited sequence analysis of a 2.1 kb region from clone λCGV2 suggested that a second independent copy of a ver-1-like gene may also be present in the genome

Adjustment Policies in Europe

This paper is focussed on a set of policies, some specifically agricultural, others taking the form of special provisions within, or exceptions to, economy wide measures that affect adjustment in the agricultural sector in a selection of European countries. The policies are those that affect entry to and exit from the sector and cover measures affecting both land and labour. These are predominantly taxation and social security measures (including specifically agricultural early retirement schemes), and the plethora of other laws and regulations that control land purchase, lease and conversion. The choice of countries has been determined mainly by the availability of information (France, Germany, Ireland, Norway), but those singled out for detailed treatment are generally those where there is significant intervention with a view to directing the movement of resources in and out of the sector. The paper will describe the measures and will attempt a qualitative assessment of their likely effects in a trade liberalisation or reform context. Before the country sections are embarked on, the paper describes some of the cultural, historical and structural features that are important to understanding the "adjustment" debate in Europe.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Desktop multimedia environments to support collaborative distance learning

Desktop multimedia conferencing, when two or more persons can communicate among themselves via personal computers with the opportunity to see and hear one another as well as communicate via text messages while working with commonly available stored resources, appears to have important applications to the support of collaborative learning. In this paper we explore this potential in three ways: (a) through an analysis of particular learner needs when learning and working collaboratively with others outside of face-to-face situations; (b) through an analysis of different forms of conferencing environments, including desktop multimedia environments, relative to their effectiveness in terms of meeting learner needs for distributed collaboration; and (c) through reporting the results of a formative evaluation of a prototype desktop multimedia conferencing system developed especially for the support of collaborative learning. Via these analyses, suggestions are offered relating to the functionalities of desktop multimedia conferencing systems for the support of collaborative learning, reflecting new developments in both the technologies available for such systems and in our awareness of learner needs when working collaboratively with one other outside of face-to-face situations

From "Adjuncts" to "Subjects" parental involvement in a working-class community

This paper focuses on a project of parental involvement in a state primary school located in a predominantly working-class area in Malta. The authors are two of the project's coordinators. The paper reviews the international literature on parental participation in schools, gives an account of the socio-economic context of the school, and foregrounds, through empirical data culled from transcribed semi-structured interviews, the voices of parents, administrators, school-council members and teachers. The paper argues that, if this project is to develop into a genuine exercise in democratic participation, parents must begin to be conceived of not as 'adjuncts', but 'subjects'. The parents interviewed in this empirical work see themselves as such, and derive confidence from the fact that their claims and recommendations are translating into concrete developments.peer-reviewe

Diluted wine in new bottles : the key messages of the EU memorandum (on lifelong learning)

This paper provides a critical exposition of the six key messages of the EU Memorandum on Lifelong Learning introduced in 2001. It concludes that the memorandum is to be seen against against an economic backdrop characterised by a market-oriented definition of social viability. As educational change is becoming increasingly linked to the discourse of efficiency, competitiveness, cost effectiveness and accountability, socio-economic inequalities and corresponding asymmetrical relations of power continue to intensify. In general, the Memorandum is found wanting in its analysis of the effects of neo-liberal, socio-economic policies on educational change.peer-reviewe

An instrument for assessing primary students' knowledge of information graphics in mathematics

Information graphics have become increasingly important in representing, organising and analysing information in a technological age. In classroom contexts, information graphics are typically associated with graphs, maps and number lines. However, all students need to become competent with the broad range of graphics that they will encounter in mathematical situations. This paper provides a rationale for creating a test to measure students’ knowledge of graphics. This instrument can be used in mass testing and individual (in-depth) situations. Our analysis of the utility of this instrument informs policy and practice. The results provide an appreciation of the relative difficulty of different information graphics; and provide the capacity to benchmark information about students’ knowledge of graphics. The implications for practice include the need to support the development of students’ knowledge of graphics, the existence of gender differences, the role of cross-curriculum applications in learning about graphics, and the need to explicate the links among graphics