University of Calgary

About: University of Calgary is a education organization based out in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 44284 authors who have published 104970 publications receiving 3669161 citations. The organization is also known as: U of C & UCalgary.

Long‐term pharmacotherapy for obesity and overweight

Abstract: This review assessed the long-term benefits and risks of approved anti-obesity drugs in clinical trials of 1 to 4 years duration. Sixteen orlistat (10,631 patients), 10 sibutramine (2623 patients) and four rimonabant (6635 patients) studies were examined. High drop-out rates (30% to 40%) were a limitation of nearly all studies. Compared to placebo, all three drugs reduced weight by around five kg or less and orlistat reduced the number of high-risk patients who developed diabetes. No data to show that any of the three drugs lowers the risk of death or cardiovascular disease were found. The most prominent side effects were gastrointestinal for orlistat, cardiovascular for sibutramine (raised blood pressure and/or pulse rate) and psychiatric for rimonabant (mood disorders). In Europe, rimonabant is contraindicated for patients with severe depression and/or patients who are treated with antidepressive medications. Rimonabant is furthermore not recommended for patients with other untreated psychiatric conditions. The authors conclude that: 1. average weight losses with current anti-obesity agents appear modest but may be of clinical benefit, and 2. better studies designed to examine mortality and cardiovascular morbidity are required to fully evaluate any potential benefit of such agents.

Self-Benefit versus Other-Benefit Marketing Appeals: Their Effectiveness in Generating Charitable Support:

Abstract: Despite the growing need, nonprofit organization marketers have not yet fully delineated the most effective ways to position charitable appeals. Across five experiments, the authors test the prediction that other-benefit (self-benefit) appeals generate more favorable donation support than self-benefit (other-benefit) appeals in situations that heighten (versus minimize) public self-image concerns. Public accountability, a manipulation of public self-awareness, and individual differences in public self-consciousness all moderate the effect of appeal type on donor support. In particular, self-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers' responses are private in nature; in contrast, other-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers are publicly accountable for their responses. This effect is moderated by norm salience and is related to a desire to manage impressions by behaving in a manner consistent with normative expectations. The results have important managerial implications, suggest...

Mobile group II introns.

Abstract: Mobile group II introns, found in bacterial and organellar genomes, are both catalytic RNAs and retrotransposable elements. They use an extraordinary mobility mechanism in which the excised intron RNA reverse splices directly into a DNA target site and is then reverse transcribed by the intron-encoded protein. After DNA insertion, the introns remove themselves by protein-assisted, autocatalytic RNA splicing, thereby minimizing host damage. Here we discuss the experimental basis for our current understanding of group II intron mobility mechanisms, beginning with genetic observations in yeast mitochondria, and culminating with a detailed understanding of molecular mechanisms shared by organellar and bacterial group II introns. We also discuss recently discovered links between group II intron mobility and DNA replication, new insights into group II intron evolution arising from bacterial genome sequencing, and the evolutionary relationship between group II introns and both eukaryotic spliceosomal introns and non-LTR-retrotransposons. Finally, we describe the development of mobile group II introns into gene-targeting vectors, "targetrons," which have programmable target specificity.

Lithoprobe leads to new perspectives on continental evolution

Abstract: Lithoprobe, Canada’s national earth science research project, was established in 1984 to develop a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the northern North American continent. With rocks representing 4 b.y. of Earth history, the Canadian landmass and offshore margins provide an exceptional opportunity to gain new perspectives on continental evolution. Lithoprobe’s 10 study areas span the country and geological time. A pan-Lithoprobe synthesis will bring the project to a formal conclusion in 2003. Each transect involves an integrated, collaborative, multidisciplinary scientific program. Two transects are highlighted here. The first, across southern British Columbia, illustrates elements of evolution of the Canadian Cordillera and the Cascadia subduction zone. A key result is that crustal rocks of accreted terranes are detached from their subducting lithosphere and attached as thin flakes to the craton. Accretion at Cascadia is characterized by both underplating and duplexing of old oceanic crust below the backstop and near-surface thrusting to form an accretionary wedge. The second, a lithospheric section across the southeastern Superior province of Quebec, provides direct evidence for plate tectonics in the Late Archean. Complementary studies indicate that the northdipping collisional subduction zone(s?) imaged by reflection data stepped southward with time. Postcollisional modification of the lower crust occurred across the southern part of the region. INTRODUCTION— THE LITHOPROBE PROJECT Canada, with its diverse geology spanning 4 b.y. of Earth history, is unique in providing the opportunity to investigate continental evolution over an immense time period. The country is a mosaic of tectonic elements forming a complex jigsaw puzzle representing continental growth, destruction, and reorganization. Lithoprobe is providing the opportunity to address fundamental questions, with global implications, on how the current continental configuration was established and what tectonic processes were involved. The project began in 1984 and will end in 2003. Understanding the tectonic development of northern North America requires collaborative application of multiple Earth Science disciplines to acquire comprehensive two-dimensional knowledge of units at the surface, as well as information in the third (depth) and fourth (time) dimensions. Lithoprobe brings together these ingredients in a series of 10 study areas (transects; Fig. 1), focused on geological features of Canada that represent globally significant tectonic processes. The study areas span the country from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, from the northern United States to the Yukon and NorthLithoprobe Leads to New Perspectives on Continental Evolution Ron M. Clowes, Lithoprobe, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada, clowes@lithoprobe.ubc.ca Fred A. Cook, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada John N. Ludden, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, Cedex, France CENTER SCTION SA Bkstore ewest Rleases Figure 1. Location of Lithoprobe transects on a simplified tectonic element map of northern North America; MRS is mid-continent rift system. Transects: SC—Southern Cordillera; AB—Alberta Basement; SNORCLE—Slave–Northern Cordillera Lithospheric Evolution; THOT—Trans-Hudson Orogen; WS—Western Superior; KSZ—Kapuskasing Structural Zone; GL—Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE); AG—Abitibi-Grenville; LE—Lithoprobe East; and ECSOOT—Eastern Canadian Shield Onshore-Offshore. Cdillera Wopmay