The Wnts, a family of secreted glycoprotein ligands, act through the frizzled (Fz) receptor, a family of seven-transmembrane (7TM) receptor proteins, to mediate intracellular signaling pathways that regulate cell fate determination, cell migration, or both. Whereas many molecular components of the Wnt signal transduction cascade have been identified, it remains unclear how the signal is transduced from the Fz receptors to the cytoplasm. To address this important question, a membrane-based yeast two-hybrid (MbY2H) screen was performed to identify potential Fz-interacting proteins. For this screen, the Frizzled7 (Fz7) protein was used as the bait and a mouse brain library was used the prey. This screen identified resistance to inhibitors of cholinesterase 8 homolog A (Ric8A), a 542–amino acid cytoplasmic protein, along with other proteins as putative Fz7-binding proteins. Ric8A had been studied previously in C. elegans and D. melanogaster for its function in regulating asymmetric cell division as a receptor-independent guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Gα proteins. Additional studies in M. musculus and X. laevis further uncovered a role for this protein during gastrulation and neurulation; however, the mechanisms by which Ric8A regulated these processes remained unclear. In this thesis, I show Ric8A to be a bona fide binding partner for both Fz7; that Ric8A can also bind to the phosphoprotein Dishevelled (Dvl); and that both its interaction with Fz7 and Dvl is Wnt-regulated. The spatial and temporal mRNA expression pattern of the Xenopus homologue of Ric8A suggests a potential role in regulating Wnt signaling. The Xenopus homologue of Ric8A was cloned and gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches in Xenopus uncovered a role for Ric8A in gastrulation and neural tube closure. Additionally, we found inhibition of Ric8A function mechanistically prevents activation of Rac1 which is required downstream of Wnt/Fz signaling during gastrulation. Overall, this study uncovers a novel regulator of Wnt signaling during early development / Biology

No / During the subprime crisis, the FDIC has shown, once again, laxity in resolving and closing insolvent institutions. Ronn and Verma (1986) call the tolerance level below which a bank closure is triggered the regulatory policy parameter. We derive a model in which we make this parameter stochastic and bank-specific to infer the stock market view of the regulatory capital forbearance value. For 565 U.S. listed banks during 1990 to 2012, the countercyclical forbearance fraction in capital, most substantial in recessions, could represent 17%, on average, of the market valuation of bank equity and could go as high as 100%.

Forskning visar att människor ofta fyller i minnet utifrån sina erfarenheter och scheman. Vidare visar forskning att vittnen påverkar varandras minnen. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om vittnen som enbart fick se effekter av ett brott drog slutsatser om att de sett brottet samt om sådana bakåtriktade slutsatsfel påverkas av diskussioner. Vidare undersöktes om deltagarnas Need for closure påverkade benägenheten att göra slutsatsfel. Fyrtioåtta deltagare presenterades för en film som visade effekten av ett brott. En vecka senare minnestestades deltagarna antingen efter att de diskuterat med ett medvittne eller inte. Resultatet visade inga effekter av medvittne för slutsatsfel. Vidare erhölls inget samband mellan Need for closure och felaktiga minnen. Begränsningar som deltagarnas goda förutsättningar vid tillfället för inkodning som skiljer sig från vid autentiska brott diskuteras vidare.

Cette étude pilote évalue le coût et des éléments d'efficacité du traitement conventionnel d'un ulcère du pied diabétique et de la combinaison de la thérapie par pression négative combiné à un pansement d'argent nanocristallin, de manière rétrospective, à partir des dossiers archivés. Cette étude coût-conséquence s'effectue selon la perspective du système public de soins de santé durant la période d'hospitalisation. Des analyses de survie pour des événements récurrents ont également été effectuées afin d'évaluer l'efficacité du traitement combiné par rapport au traitement conventionnel concernant le risque d'amputation. Seize personnes présentant un ulcère du pied diabétique sévère se détériorant, admises dans un même hôpital de la Montérégie ont été incluses dans l'étude. Tous les patients identifiés entre 2003 et 2007, traités par la combinaison de la thérapie par pression négative et du pansement d'argent nanocristallin ont été inclus (n = 5). Les autres patients ont été traités de façon conventionnelle (n = 5). Un troisième groupe a fait l'objet d'une évaluation au moyen de la combinaison, mais après une amputation (n = 6). Tous les frais hospitaliers disponibles ont été inclus dans les calculs à un niveau de précision le plus élevé possible. Les résultats de notre recherche dévoilent que, sur un suivi moyen d'environ trois ans, le coût moyen du traitement d'un ulcère du pied diabétique sévère s'élève à 71 420,98 $ pour le groupe des patients traités de façon conventionnelle et à 78 771,10 \$ pour le groupe traité par la combinaison. Pour tous les groupes confondus, le coût du traitement local de la plaie représente environ 4 % du coût total alors que les frais reliés à l'hospitalisation en représentent 60 %. De plus, les résultats des analyses de survie montrent un risque significatif six fois moins élevé de subir une amputation lorsque le patient reçoit le traitement combiné par rapport au traitement conventionnel. Nos résultats se démarquent de ceux publiés jusqu'à maintenant, par une méthode de calcul la plus précise possible. Les résultats nous permettent de conclure que le traitement combiné représente une minime partie du coût total du traitement par rapport aux frais hospitaliers et permet d'éviter des amputations.

BACKGROUND:There is an association between cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale (PFO). The optimal treatment strategy for secondary prevention remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to analyze aggregate data examining the safety and efficacy of transcatheter device closure versus standard medical therapy in patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke.METHODS:A search of published data identified 3 randomized clinical trials for inclusion. The primary outcome was a composite end-point of death, stroke and transient-ischemic attack (TIA). Pre-defined subgroup analysis was performed with respect to baseline characteristics including age, sex, atrial septal aneurysm and shunt size. Data was synthesized using a random effects model and results presented as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).RESULTS:A cohort of 2,303 patients with a history of cryptogenic stroke and PFO were randomized to device closure (n=1150) and medical therapy (n=1153). Mean follow-up was 2.5years. Transcatheter closure was not superior to medical therapy in the secondary prevention of stroke or TIA in intention-to-treat analysis (HR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.43 to 1.01 / p=0.056). However, the results were statistically significant using per-protocol analysis (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.98 / p=0.043). Males had significant benefit with device closure (HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.96 / p=0.038).CONCLUSIONS:In this meta-analysis, using intention-to-treat analysis, transcatheter device closure of PFO was not superior to standard medical therapy in the secondary prevention of cryptogenic stroke. Transcatheter closure was superior using per-protocol analysis.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Dong Li / Wayne Nafziger / The dissertation includes three essays on development and regional economics. Son preference prevails among Indian couples. I test the hypothesis that women who bear sons experience an elevated status within the household, which translates into their increased role in decision-making. The first essay empirically examines the issue. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey, I find that women who have given birth to at least one son show greater participation in the household’s financial decisions as well as other decisions in a household. Presence of a senior member in the household, however, reduces the women’s relative household bargaining strength. The second essay examines the wage differentials of natives, naturalized citizens, and immigrants on the basis of gender, and for the latter two categories, on the basis of region of origin. This paper argues that the assimilation effect for naturalized citizens should be stronger than that for immigrants since a naturalized citizen, on an average, spends more than 15 years in the country, much higher than immigrants. I find that immigrants experience higher increase in wages than naturalized citizens with longer stay in the United States. The essay concludes that this trend in wages cannot be explained by the assimilation argument alone. We also report that naturalized citizens command higher returns to higher education than immigrants. The third essay explores issues in regional economics. Kansas has the third largest public highway miles and one of the highest miles per person in the country. Due to declining rural population, counties lack the required tax base and fiscal health to support their large ailing rural road infrastructure. The average farm size is increasing and so is the size of vehicles using the rural roads. This paper suggests removing some rural low volume roads from the county road network as one option. I study three Kansas counties to analyze the cost-benefit of reducing low volume road miles. I find that rural counties will be able to save money by closing some low volume roads.

The cannabinoid partial agonist BAY 59-3704 has been identified as an attractive target to explore structure-activity relationships at cannabinoid receptors for the development of a therapeutic agent for psychostimulant addiction. This thesis will describe the studies associated with the optimization of a palladium-catalyzed oxidative ring closure reaction for the synthesisof dibenzofuran analogues from substituted diaryl ethers. These dibenzofurans are viewed as rigid analogues of BAY 59-3704 and will provide useful information about molecular interactions at cannabinoid receptors. The scope and limitations of the palladium-catalyzed oxidative ring closure reaction as it relates to the synthesis of the target dibenzofuran analogues will be presented.

This study is based on doctors' experiences of the changing conditions in the workplace from a profession to the ongoing deprofessionalisation. Former studies suggests that medical professionals have undergone deprofessionalisation in the form of social changes. Our purpose with this paper is to find out the doctors’ experiences of the changing conditions. The empirical data consists of ten interviews with ten different doctors regarding their worklife experience from the medical profession.    The result indicate patterns of deprofessionalisation based on three social changes: 1. Knowledge society – the relationship between the doctor and the patient has changed because of the patient’s rights and the information society, which has led to the weakening of the doctors' exclusivity of the knowledge base. 2. New Public Management – new reforms in the form of bureaucracy and market management has entered the profession, and it has led to the weakening of the profession’s autonomy. 3. The attributes of the medical profession – the doctor’s coat has been a clear status symbol and distinction between doctors and outsiders, and the removal of the doctor’s coat has led to the reduced status of the profession.

Le concept de décloisonnement, est élaboré à partir d'une réflexion sur la complexité des enjeux culturels, notamment, lorsqu'une pluralité de cultures, coexiste et se confronte dans un espace commun. L'étude, le développement et la discussion du décloisonnement sont issus d’une généalogie de la culture et des cultures dans l'histoire des idées, notamment à travers les Sophistes, Las Casas, Montaigne, Rousseau, Volney et Lévi-Strauss et par une analyse historique des concepts de nomos, coutume, et civilisation. Le décloisonnement est bâti autour de trois pôles : décentrement, pluralité et hiérarchie affaiblie ou reconfigurée. La pertinence du concept est testée en regard des rencontres interculturelles et de leurs significations. A partir d'observations historiques, sociologiques et philosophiques, le décloisonnement est rattaché à un cloisonnement initial dans un équilibre sous tension constante et nécessaire. Aux principes absolus du couple ouverture/fermeture est substitué le décloisonnement/cloisonnement. Les dynamiques étudiées sont inévitablement antagonistes et complémentaires. Les tensions, apories et contradictions rencontrées conduisent à l'élaboration d'une triple balance des concepts et aspects trans- inter- et multi- culturels. La triple balance pose la nécessité d'un équilibre entre la pluralité intérieure et la transculturalité dans une perspective de dialogues et de rencontres. La notion conclusive de proximétrie pose la recherche nécessaire d'une mesure des distances culturelles, d'où procède un art délicat du discernement d'un équilibre dans le décloisonnement culturel. / The concept of Dis-closure is based on a reflection on the complexity of cultural confrontations in an intercultural space. The study, development and discussion of the concept of Dis-closure stem from a genealogy of culture in the history of ideas, notably through the Sophists, Las Casas, Montaigne, Rousseau, Volney and Lévi-Strauss and by a historical analysis of the concepts of nomos, custom, and civilization. The Dis-closure is built around three poles: decentralization, plurality and hierarchy weakened or reconfigured. The relevance of the concept is tested in a selection of different cultural fields. On the basis of historical, sociological and philosophical observations, the Dis-closure is related to an initial partitioning in an equilibrium under constant and necessary tension. The absolute principles of Openness / Closeness are substituted with Dis-closure / Closure. The dynamics studied are inevitably antagonistic and complementary. The tensions, aporias and contradictions encountered lead to the development of a triple balance of trans-, Inter- and Multi-cultural poles. The triple balance raises the need for an equilibrum between inner plurality and transculturality in a perspective of dialogues and encounters. The conclusive notion of proximetry poses the necessary search for a measure of cultural distances, their degrees and qualities, from which proceeds a delicate art of discerning a balance in a cultural Dis-closed context.

This thesis explores the ways that certain artists-including Joseph Conrad, Alan Moore, Richard Attenborough, and Francis Ford Coppola-break from their inherited traditions in order to speak from an alternative perspective to western discourse. Conventional narrative formulas prescribe that meaning will be revealed in a definitive end, but all of the texts discussed reveal other avenues through which it is discerned. In Heart of Darkness, the tension between two divergent narratives enables Conrad to speak beyond his social context and imperialist limitations to demonstrate that identity is socially constructed. In Watchmen, Moore breaks from comic convention to illustrate ways meaning may be ascertained despite the lack of plot ends. The third chapter explores the ways that Attenborough and Coppola subvert technical and plot conventions to resist static constitutions of identity endemic to Hollywood film. The several texts discussed subvert the Self/Other duality by suggesting alternatives to the western narrative model. / by Adam Berzak. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.