Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments of a non-Julian calendar for informing a child in determining daily intervals preceding a date of significance. A preferred multilayer embodiment comprises a lower layer having a first top surface; an upper layer disposed above said lower layer and having a second top surface; a plurality of polygonal tabs formed in said upper layer, said tabs having a front surface and a back surface, said tabs being movable from a closed to an open position; a printed artistic design or image disposed on said second top surface; a plurality of printed unique designators disposed on said second top surface, one unique designator being located on the front surface of each tab, the printed unique designators functioning to define the order in which the tabs are to be opened; and a plurality of printed message/activity areas, one printed message/activity area being revealed by the movement of a tab from a closed position to an open position.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for treating a patient suffering from the disease sarcoglycan-deficient limb-girdle muscular dystrophy by gene replacement therapy. Sarcoglycan gene replacement therapy produces extensive long-term expression of the sarcoglycan species which restores the entire sarcoglycan complex, results in the stable association of alph&agr;-dystroglycan with the sarcolemma, and eliminates the morphological markers of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for determining a specific defective sarcoglycan species in the tissue of a patient. The method involves culture of muscle cells obtained from the patient, and the independent introduction of expression vectors encoding each of the sarcoglycan species, &agr;, &bgr;, &ggr;, and &dgr;, into the cultured cells with subsequent assaying for restoration of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex.