The use of RNAi and transgenics to develop viral disease resistant livestock.

The possibility of genetically engineering poultry to make them resistant to avian influenza is attracting attention and has now become a real possibility with improved methods for genetic modification and the emergence of RNAi as an antiviral strategy. In order to test this possibility, we have generated transgenic mice that express RNAi molecules targeting a conserved region of the influenza A NP gene and are testing these mice for resistance to influenza infection. Transgenes were initially developed that express short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting multiple influenza A viral genes. The shRNAs were tested for inhibition of H1N1 PR8 virus in vitro. Two potent shRNAs that target the NP and PA genes were chosen for lentiviral mediated generation of transgenic mice. Transgenic founders for the NP shRNA construct and also a negative control shRNAtargeting EGFP were generated. The constitutive expression of the shRNA molecules in a range of tissue types including lung, was confirmed and so far stable transmission of the RNAi transgenes from the F0 to F3 generation has been observed. Resistance to influenza infection in these transgenic mice is now being confirmed.

How do health care education and training professionals learn about the environment?

Preparing for the health care system of the future includes the ability to abstract information from relevant sectors of the environment. This study looked at the way health care educators scan the environment and the relationship of scanning behavior to management style. Results indicate that education and training professionals focus on the regulatory and customer sectors of the environment more than the technological and sociopolitical sectors.

Environmental-scanning behavior among private practice physical therapy firms.

This study examined the extent to which private practice physical therapy firms focused on specific environmental sectors in the process of making business decisions. Furthermore, the relationship between scanning behavior and both entrepreneurship level (high, middle, low) and direct-access status (complete, partial, none) were analyzed. The sample consisted of 450 randomly selected private practice decision makers (eg, owners, chief executive officers) from throughout the United States. Data were gathered using a mailed, structured questionnaire. Physical therapy private practices were found to differentially attend to environmental sectors with the customer sector ranked the highest followed, in descending order, by the technological, regulatory, socio-cultural-political, competitive, and economic sectors. In addition, firms in the high-level entrepreneurship group scanned the technological and marketing (customer, competitive) environments to a significantly greater degree than did the middle- and low-level groups. Direct-access status had no effect on scanning behavior.

Isokinetic strength training: comparison of daily and three times weekly patterns.

Isokinetic exercise programs were compared as to the number of times per week subjects performed the exercise. Isokinetic exercise of the right knee extensors was performed on 23 female subjects between the ages of 18 and 24 who had no history or evidence of knee pathology. Pre- and post-tests included maximum isometric and isokinetic torque measurements of both the right and left knee extensors. Weekly strength testing was also done. One group performed the isokinetic exercise (3 sets, 8 repetitions per set at 10 rpm) daily for five days; one group performed the same isokinetic exercise protocol every other day, three times per week. The experimental period lasted six consecutive weeks. Strength gains of the exercised leg were significant in both groups but no significant differences in strength gains were found between the two groups after a period of six weeks of exercise, supporting the rationale for offering exercise programs three times weekly. In addition, strength gain curves were plotted weekly for the six week period. The average strength gain curves for both exercise groups as tested isometrically or isokinetically showed a decrease in strength between the second and the third week, which was not statistically significant but which was consistent in all subjects.

Physical therapy management of patients through cross modality.

Cross modality is a method for channeling therapeutic services from various health disciplines (modalities) through a single therapist who provides direct treatment and care. A pilot project at the University of Michigan's Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation and Related Disabilities tested this method in three mental retardation institutions. The ward attendant was designated as the primary therapist. The project staff included a physical therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, and nutritionist who taught ward attendants selected evaluation and treatment procedures. In theory, cross modality broadens the role of the institutional physical therapist to include teaching, monitoring of physical therapy services, and consulting with an institutional cross modality team which includes therapists (physical, occupational, speech), a dietitian, nurse(s), supervisor(s), and ward attendants. In practice, the therapist's attitude toward cross modality and the receptiveness of the ward attendant determine, the success of cross modality in any setting.