A Characterization of the Corticosterone-Binding-Globulin in the Plasma of the Duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

BiologyMaster of Arts (M.A.

The new class in Vietnam

PhDVietnam has posted impressive gains in growth of output, exports and poverty reduction over the last twenty years. The standard explanation of this sustained success views Vietnam‟s transition from socialism to capitalism as an extension of markets and removal of obstacles to their efficient operation. This view of transition is based on a particular view of the origins of capitalism, in which capitalism emerges due to the expansion of trade, technology and the removal of obstacles to the natural tendencies of human interaction. However, this view of the origins of capitalism cannot explain the uniqueness of capitalism as a distinct historical social formation. A Marxist framework will be used, stressing the emergence of a new social division of labour based on the emerging class relation between capital and labour. This transformation forces a shift to accumulation through the market, requiring capitalists to operate under the market imperative in order to survive. This will be combined with Djilas (1957) and the concept of communist bureaucracies as a New Class in order to investigate the emergence of capitalism in Vietnam. The research question is how does the appearance and reproduction of the New Class provide insight into the development of a specifically Vietnamese capitalism? Data on Vietnam‟s largest 200 firms will be analyzed through the New Class lens to explore the transformation occurring in Vietnam

TigerPlace, a State-Academic-Private Project to Revolutionize Traditional Long Term Care

This is a preprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the Journal of Housing for the Elderly 2008, copyright Taylor & Francis. Journal of Housing for the Elderly is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0276-3893&volume=22&issue=1&spage=66 DOI:10.1080/02763890802097045The Aging in Place Project at the University of Missouri (MU) required legislation in 1999 and 2001 to be fully realized. An innovative home health agency was initiated by the Sinclair School of Nursing specifically to help older adults age in place in the environment of their choice. In 2004, an innovative independent living environment was built and is operated by a private long term care company, as a special facility where residents can truly age in place and never fear being moved to a traditional nursing home unless they choose to do so. With care provided by the home care agency with registered nurse care coordination services, residents receive preventative and early illness recognition assistance that have markedly improved their lives. Evaluation of aging in place reveal registered nurse care coordination improves outcomes of cognition, depression, activities of daily living, incontinence, pain, and shortness of breath as well as delaying or preventing nursing home placement. Links with MU students, faculty, and nearly every school or college on campus enrich the lives of the students and residents of the housing environment. Research projects are encouraged and residents who choose to participate are enjoying helping with developing cutting technology to help other seniors age in place.The authors wish to acknowledge the organizations and staff who made the AIP project possible: Americare of Sikeston, MO; TigerPlace staff; Sinclair Home Care staff; MU Sinclair School of Nursing faculty and deans; MU administration; Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services staff; Missouri state legislature (in particular, Tim Harlan of Columbia, MO); and all the friends and families who have supported those who implemented this pioneering effort

Telomerase Activation and Rejuvenation of Telomere Length in Stimulated T Cells Derived from Serially Transplanted Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Telomeres shorten in hematopoietic cells, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), during aging and after transplantation, despite the presence of readily detectable levels of telomerase in these cells. In T cells, antigenic stimulation has been shown to result in a marked increase in the level of telomerase activity. We now show that stimulation of T cells derived from serially transplanted HSC results in a telomerase-dependent elongation of telomere length to a size similar to that observed in T cells isolated directly from young mice. Southern analysis of telomere length in resting and anti-CD3/CD28 stimulated donor-derived splenic T cells revealed an increase in telomere size by ∼7 kb for the population as a whole. Stimulation of donor-derived T cells from recipients of HSCs from telomerase-deficient mice did not result in regeneration of telomere length, demonstrating a dependence on telomerase. Furthermore, clonal anti-CD3/CD28 stimulation of donor-derived T cells followed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of telomeric signal intensity showed that telomeres had increased in size by ∼50% for all clonal expansions. Together, these results imply that one role for telomerase in T cells may be to renew or extend replicative potential via the rejuvenation of telomere length

Symptomatic identities: lovesickness and the nineteenth-century British novel

Lovesickness is a common malady in British literature, but it is also an illness that has been perceived and diagnosed differently in different eras. The nineteenthcentury British novel incorporates a lovesickness that primarily affects women with physical symptoms, including fever, that may end in a female character's death. The fever of female lovesickness includes a delirium that allows a female character to play out the identity crisis she must feel at the loss of a significant relationship and possibly of her social status. Commonly conflated with a type of female madness, the nineteenthcentury novelists often focus less on the delirium and more on the physical symptoms of illness that affect a female character at the loss of love. These physical symptoms require physical care from other characters and often grant the heroine status and comfort. Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Charles Dickens all use subtle variations in lovesickness to identify the presence or absence of a female character's virtue. Jane Austen established lovesickness as a necessary experience for female characters, who choose only if they reveal or conceal their symptoms to a watchful public. Elizabeth Gaskell established both a comic socially constructed lovesickness in which a female character can participate if she is aware of popular culture and a spontaneous lovesickness that affects socially unaware female characters and leads to death. Charles Dickens establishes lovesickness as culturally pervasive by writing a female character who stages lovesickness for the purpose of causing pain to others and a female character who is immune to lovesickness and the rhetoric of love, yet is consistently spoken into others' love stories. Lovesickness becomes a barometer of the soul in several nineteenthcentury novels by which we read a heroine's virtue or lack of virtue and the depth of her loss

The Physiological and Perceived Impact of Wearing a Face Mask During Maximal Exercise

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the expectation of facemasks in fitness facilities during exercise. However, the physiological and perceptual responses of wearing a facemask during exercise has not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of facemasks on selected physiological and subjective variables during exercise.  Using a crossover design, males (n =8) and females (n=7) and were randomly assigned to (1) a surgical facemask, (2) a cloth face mask, and (3) no mask and completed Bruce Protocol maximal graded treadmill tests 48 hrs apart. Collected data included heart rate (HR), oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2), rating of perceived dyspnea (DYS), perceived rate of exertion (RPE) and time to exhaustion (TTE). No significant (p>0.05) differences were found for HR or SpO2 at any of the treadmill stages. DYS was higher with both masks compared to no mask, but only significant (p < 0.05) between the cloth and no mask conditions in stages 2 and 3. RPE was greater in both mask conditions compared to no masks, but only significantly greater between the cloth mask and no mask conditions in stage 3. No significant differences were found for TTE among the conditions. Wearing face masks during exercise and has little effect on HR, SpO2, or TTE. However, facemasks may negatively influence DYS and RPE contributing to feelings of exhaustion. Participants should be made aware that the discomfort of wearing a mask during exercise will not hamper performance

Effects of a Respiratory Resistance Mask on Forced Expiratory Volume at 1s (FEV1), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and the Ratio of FEV1/FVC Lung Function following High Intensity Training (HIT)

Training masks (TMs), marketed as simulated altitude training devices, suggest increased workout capacity, intensity tolerance and recovery. The claim is that the training mask improves respiratory power and breathing mechanics by strengthening the respiratory muscles through breathing resistance provided by the TM. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a commercially manufactured TM in conjunction with bicycle ergometry, high intensity training (HIT) on selected lung function parameters. Volunteers (N=16) participated in this study and were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental group wore the TM with progressive increased respiratory resistance and the control group wore the TM with no respiratory resistance. To determine lung function, pre- and post-test assessments consisted of forced expiratory volume at 1s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), the ratio of FEV1/FVC. Additionally, to determine the TMs effectiveness of maximal oxygen consumption pre- and post-time to failure during a maximum treadmill test was performed. Training was completed on a cycle ergometer on 3d/wk for 4 wks. Participants exercised at 85% of HRmax with a pedal rate of 100-120 rpm at individually set resistance levels. Training sessions consisted of 10 bouts of 30s exercise followed by 30s of active recovery for a total time of 10 minutes. The respiratory resistance for the experimental group progressively increased over the training period. Repeated measures ANOVAs yielded significant between group difference in FVC (p = 0.02) but not for FEV1 or maximum treadmill time. In conclusion, TMs in combination with HIT failed to improve lung function but created sufficient resistance to strengthen the muscles in respiratory ventilation