McGill University

About: McGill University is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 72688 authors who have published 162565 publications receiving 6966523 citations. The organization is also known as: Royal institution of advanced learning & University of McGill College.

Endotoxin-tolerant Mice Have Mutations in Toll-like Receptor 4 (Tlr4)

Abstract: Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provokes a vigorous, generalized proinflammatory state in the infected host. Genetic regulation of this response has been localized to the Lps locus on mouse chromosome 4, through study of the C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCr inbred strains. Both C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCr mice are homozygous for a mutant Lps allele (Lpsd/d) that confers hyporesponsiveness to LPS challenge, and therefore exhibit natural tolerance to its lethal effects. Genetic and physical mapping of 1,345 backcross progeny segregating this mutant phenotype confined Lps to a 0.9-cM interval spanning 1.7 Mb. Three transcription units were identified within the candidate interval, including Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4), part of a protein family with members that have been implicated in LPS-induced cell signaling. C3H/HeJ mice have a point mutation within the coding region of the Tlr4 gene, resulting in a nonconservative substitution of a highly conserved proline by histidine at codon 712, whereas C57BL/ 10ScCr mice exhibit a deletion of Tlr4. Identification of distinct mutations involving the same gene at the Lps locus in two different hyporesponsive inbred mouse strains strongly supports the hypothesis that altered Tlr4 function is responsible for endotoxin tolerance.

Explaining the Role of User Participation in Information System Use

Abstract: Even though user participation in information system development has long been considered to be a critical factor in achieving system success, research has failed to clearly demonstrate its benefits. This paper proposes user involvement as an intervening variable between user participation and system use. Embedding the constructs of participation and involvement into the theoretical framework of Fishbein and Ajzen, a model is developed and tested in a field study of information system projects. Several key findings emerge from the study. User participation and user involvement represent two distinct constructs, with participation leading to involvement, and involvement mediating the relationship between participation and system use. The critical dimension of user participation is overall responsibility. The role of user participation and involvement is different, depending upon whether system use is mandatory or voluntary.

Farming the planet: 1. Geographic distribution of global agricultural lands in the year 2000

Abstract: million km 2 of cropland (12% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface) and 28.0 (90% confidence range of 23.6–30.0) million km 2 of pasture (22%) in the year 2000.