bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Meis1 regulates the metabolic phenotype and oxidant defense of hematopoietic stem cells
Authors: Kocabas Fatih , Zheng Junke , Thet Suwannee , Copeland Neal G. , Jenkins Nancy A. , DeBerardinis Ralph J. , Zhang Chengcheng , Sadek Hesham A.
Published: September 2012

The role of Meis1 in leukemia is well established, but its role in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) remains poorly understood. Previously, we showed that HSCs use glycolytic metabolism to meet their energy demands. However, the mechanism of regulation of HSC metabolism, and the importance of maintaining this distinct metabolic phenotype on HSC function has not been determined. More importantly, the primary function of Meis1 in HSCs remains unknown. Here, we examined the effect of loss of Meis1 on HSC function and metabolism. Inducible Meis1 deletion in adult mouse HSCs resulted in loss of HSC quiescence, and failure of bone marrow repopulation after transplantation. While we previously showed that Meis1 regulates Hif-1α transcription in vitro, we demonstrate here that loss of Meis1 results in down-regulation of both Hif-1α and Hif-2α in HSCs. This resulted in a shift to mitochondrial metabolism, increased reactive oxygen species production, and apoptosis of HSCs. Finally, we demonstrate that the effect of Meis1 knockout on HSCs is entirely mediated through reactive oxygen species where treatment of the Meis1 knockout mice with the scavenger N-acetylcystein restored HSC quiescence and rescued HSC function. These results uncover an important transcriptional network that regulates metabolism, oxidant defense, and maintenance of HSCs.
Evolution, substrate specificity and subfamily classification of glycoside hydrolase family 5 (GH5)
Authors: Aspeborg Henrik , Coutinho Pedro M , Wang Yang , Brumer Harry , Henrissat Bernard
Published: September 2012

Background

The large Glycoside Hydrolase family 5 (GH5) groups together a wide range of enzymes acting on β-linked oligo- and polysaccharides, and glycoconjugates from a large spectrum of organisms. The long and complex evolution of this family of enzymes and its broad sequence diversity limits functional prediction. With the objective of improving the differentiation of enzyme specificities in a knowledge-based context, and to obtain new evolutionary insights, we present here a new, robust subfamily classification of family GH5.

Results

About 80% of the current sequences were assigned into 51 subfamilies in a global analysis of all publicly available GH5 sequences and associated biochemical data. Examination of subfamilies with catalytically-active members revealed that one third are monospecific (containing a single enzyme activity), although new functions may be discovered with biochemical characterization in the future. Furthermore, twenty subfamilies presently have no characterization whatsoever and many others have only limited structural and biochemical data. Mapping of functional knowledge onto the GH5 phylogenetic tree revealed that the sequence space of this historical and industrially important family is far from well dispersed, highlighting targets in need of further study. The analysis also uncovered a number of GH5 proteins which have lost their catalytic machinery, indicating evolution towards novel functions.

Conclusion

Overall, the subfamily division of GH5 provides an actively curated resource for large-scale protein sequence annotation for glycogenomics; the subfamily assignments are openly accessible via the Carbohydrate-Active Enzyme database at http://www.cazy.org/GH5.html.
Cis-regulatory signatures of orthologous stress-associated bZIP transcription factors from rice, sorghum and Arabidopsis based on phylogenetic footprints
Authors: Xu Fuyu , Park Myoung-Ryoul , Kitazumi Ai , Herath Venura , Mohanty Bijayalaxmi , Yun Song Joong , de los Reyes Benildo G
Published: September 2012

Background

The potential contribution of upstream sequence variation to the unique features of orthologous genes is just beginning to be unraveled. A core subset of stress-associated bZIP transcription factors from rice (Oryza sativa) formed ten clusters of orthologous groups (COG) with genes from the monocot sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and dicot Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The total cis-regulatory information content of each stress-associated COG was examined by phylogenetic footprinting to reveal ortholog-specific, lineage-specific and species-specific conservation patterns.

Results

The most apparent pattern observed was the occurrence of spatially conserved ‘core modules’ among the COGs but not among paralogs. These core modules are comprised of various combinations of two to four putative transcription factor binding site (TFBS) classes associated with either developmental or stress-related functions. Outside the core modules are specific stress (ABA, oxidative, abiotic, biotic) or organ-associated signals, which may be functioning as ‘regulatory fine-tuners’ and further define lineage-specific and species-specific cis-regulatory signatures. Orthologous monocot and dicot promoters have distinct TFBS classes involved in disease and oxidative-regulated expression, while the orthologous rice and sorghum promoters have distinct combinations of root-specific signals, a pattern that is not particularly conserved in Arabidopsis.

Conclusions

Patterns of cis-regulatory conservation imply that each ortholog has distinct signatures, further suggesting that they are potentially unique in a regulatory context despite the presumed conservation of broad biological function during speciation. Based on the observed patterns of conservation, we postulate that core modules are likely primary determinants of basal developmental programming, which may be integrated with and further elaborated by additional intrinsic or extrinsic signals in conjunction with lineage-specific or species-specific regulatory fine-tuners. This synergy may be critical for finer-scale spatio-temporal regulation, hence unique expression profiles of homologous transcription factors from different species with distinct zones of ecological adaptation such as rice, sorghum and Arabidopsis. The patterns revealed from these comparisons set the stage for further empirical validation by functional genomics.
Phase I study of miriplatin combined with transarterial chemotherapy using CDDP powder in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Kamimura Kenya , Suda Takeshi , Tamura Yasushi , Takamura Masaaki , Yokoo Takeshi , Igarashi Masato , Kawai Hirokazu , Yamagiwa Satoshi , Nomoto Minoru , Aoyagi Yutaka
Published: September 2012

Background

There is no standard therapeutic procedure for the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with poor hepatic reserve function. With the approval of newly developed chemotherapeutic agent of miriplatin, we have firstly conducted the phase I study of CDDP powder (DDP-H) and miriplatin combination therapy and reported its safety and efficacy for treating unresectable HCC in such cases. To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) for the combination of transarterial oily chemoembolization (TOCE) and transarterial chemotherapy (TAC) using miriplatin and DDP-H for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Transarterial chemotherapy using DDP-H was performed through the proper hepatic artery targeting the HCC nodules by increasing the dose of DDP-H (35–65 mg/m2) followed by targeting the HCC nodules by transarterial oily chemoembolization with miriplatin.

Results

A total of nine patients were enrolled in this study and no DLT was observed with any dose of DDP-H in all cases in whom 80 mg (median, 18–120) miriplatin was administered. An anti-tumour efficacy rating for partial response was obtained in one patient, while a total of four patients (among eight evaluated) showed stable disease response, leading to 62.5% of disease control rate. The pharmacokinetic results showed no further increase in plasma platinum concentration following miriplatin administration.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that a combination of DDP-H and miriplatin can be safely administered up to their respective MTD for treating HCC.

Trial registration

This study was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR000003541).
The identification of a spontaneous 47, XX, +21/46, XY chimeric fetus with male genitalia
Authors: Lee Kuei-Fang , Hsu Chun-Shuo , Kuo Pao-Lin , Chen Jing-Liang , Jiang Yuan-Hong , Liu Ingrid Y
Published: September 2012

Background

Approximately 30 sex-chromosome discordant chimera cases have been reported to date, of which only four cases carried trisomy 21. Here, we present an additional case, an aborted fetus with a karyotype of 47,XX, +21/46,XY.

Case presentation

Autopsy demonstrated that this fetus was normally developed and had male genitalia. Major characteristics of Down syndrome were not observed except an enlarged gap between the first and second toes. Karyotyping of tissues cultured from the fetus revealed the same chimeric chromosomal composition detected in the amniotic fluid but with a different ratio of [47,XX,+21] to [46,XY]. Further short tandem repeat analysis indicated a double paternal contribution and single maternal contribution to the fetus, with the additional chromosome 21 in the [47,XX,+21] cell lineage originating from the paternal side.

Conclusion

We thus propose that this chimeric fetus was formed via the dispermic fertilization of a parthenogenetic ovum with one (Y) sperm and one (X,+21) sperm.
Anti-infectivity of camel polyclonal antibodies against hepatitis C virus in Huh7.5 hepatoma
Authors: EL-Fakharany Esmail M , Abedelbaky Nawal , Haroun Bakry M , Sánchez Lourdes , Redwan Nezar A , Redwan Elrashdy M
Published: September 2012

Purpose

To extend the study of the camel milk proteins which have antiviral activity against HCV, camel naïve polyclonal IgGs, α-lactalbumin were purified from camel milk and their anti-HCV effect was examined using PBMCs and Huh7.5 cell-lines. They were compared with the activity of human polyclonal IgGs and camel lactoferrin and casein.

Material and methods

Three types of experiments were performed on PBMCs and HuH7.5 cell. HCV was directly incubated with the purified proteins and then mixed with both cell types, or the proteins were incubated with the cells and then exposed to HCV, or the HCV pre-infected cells were treated with the proteins to inhibit intracellular replication. The proteins were added to cells or virus at different concentrations and time intervals.

Results

Pretreated PBMCs and Huh7.5 cells with milk proteins were not protected when exposed to HCV infection. The direct interaction between HCV and camel IgGs and camel lactoferrin (cLf) led to a complete inhibition of HCV entry into cells, while casein, α-lactalbumin and human IgGs failed to inhibit HCV entry at any tested concentration. Camel IgGs showed ability to recognize HCV peptides with a significant titer (12 × 103) in comparison with human IgGs which failed to do it. Camel lactoferrin was capable of inhibiting the intracellular HCV replication at concentrations of 0.25-1.25 mg/ml.

Conclusion

Camel milk naïve polyclonal IgGs isolated from camel milk could inhibit the HCV infectivity and demonstrated strong signal against its synthetic peptides. Lactoferrin inhibit the HCV infectivity started from 0.25 mg/ml. However, α-lactalbumin, human IgGs and casein failed to demonstrate any activity against HCV infectivity.
A randomized controlled trial of qigong for fibromyalgia
Authors: Lynch Mary , Sawynok Jana , Hiew Chok , Marcon Dana
Published: September 2012

Introduction

Fibromyalgia is difficult to treat and requires the use of multiple approaches. This study is a randomized controlled trial of qigong compared with a wait-list control group in fibromyalgia.

Methods

One hundred participants were randomly assigned to immediate or delayed practice groups, with the delayed group receiving training at the end of the control period. Qigong training (level 1 Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong, CFQ), given over three half-days, was followed by weekly review/practice sessions for eight weeks; participants were also asked to practice at home for 45 to 60 minutes per day for this interval. Outcomes were pain, impact, sleep, physical function and mental function, and these were recorded at baseline, eight weeks, four months and six months. Immediate and delayed practice groups were analyzed individually compared to the control group, and as a combination group.

Results

In both the immediate and delayed treatment groups, CFQ demonstrated significant improvements in pain, impact, sleep, physical function and mental function when compared to the wait-list/usual care control group at eight weeks, with benefits extending beyond this time. Analysis of combined data indicated significant changes for all measures at all times for six months, with only one exception. Post-hoc analysis based on self-reported practice times indicated greater benefit with the per protocol group compared to minimal practice.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that CFQ, a particular form of qigong, provides long-term benefits in several core domains in fibromyalgia. CFQ may be a useful adjuvant self-care treatment for fibromyalgia.

Trial registration

clinicaltrials.gov NCT00938834.
FGF receptors 1 and 2 are key regulators of keratinocyte migration in vitro and in wounded skin
Authors: Meyer Michael , Müller Anna-Katharina , Yang Jingxuan , Moik Daniel , Ponzio Gilles , Ornitz David M. , Grose Richard , Werner Sabine
Published: September 2012

Efficient wound repair is essential for the maintenance of the integrity of the skin. The repair process is controlled by a variety of growth factors and cytokines, and their abnormal expression or activity can cause healing disorders. Here, we show that wound repair is severely delayed in mice lacking fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) 1 and 2 in keratinocytes. As the underlying mechanism, we identified impaired wound contraction and a delay in re-epithelialization that resulted from impaired keratinocyte migration at the wound edge. Scratch wounding and transwell assays demonstrated that FGFR1/2-deficient keratinocytes had a reduced migration velocity and impaired directional persistence owing to inefficient formation and turnover of focal adhesions. Underlying this defect, we identified a significant reduction in the expression of major focal adhesion components in the absence of FGFR signaling, resulting in a general migratory deficiency. These results identify FGFs as key regulators of keratinocyte migration in wounded skin.
Dock mediates Scar- and WASp-dependent actin polymerization through interaction with cell adhesion molecules in founder cells and fusion-competent myoblasts
Authors: Kaipa Balasankara Reddy , Shao Huanjie , Schäfer Gritt , Trinkewitz Tatjana , Groth Verena , Liu Jianqi , Beck Lothar , Bogdan Sven , Abmayr Susan M. , Önel Susanne-Filiz
Published: September 2012

The formation of the larval body wall musculature of Drosophila depends on the asymmetric fusion of two myoblast types, founder cells (FCs) and fusion-competent myoblasts (FCMs). Recent studies have established an essential function of Arp2/3-based actin polymerization during myoblast fusion, formation of a dense actin focus at the site of fusion in FCMs, and a thin sheath of actin in FCs and/or growing muscles. The formation of these actin structures depends on recognition and adhesion of myoblasts that is mediated by cell surface receptors of the immunoglobulin superfamily. However, the connection of the cell surface receptors with Arp2/3-based actin polymerization is poorly understood. To date only the SH2-SH3 adaptor protein Crk has been suggested to link cell adhesion with Arp2/3-based actin polymerization in FCMs. Here, we propose that the SH2-SH3 adaptor protein Dock, like Crk, links cell adhesion with actin polymerization. We show that Dock is expressed in FCs and FCMs and colocalizes with the cell adhesion proteins Sns and Duf at cell–cell contact points. Biochemical data in this study indicate that different domains of Dock are involved in binding the cell adhesion molecules Duf, Rst, Sns and Hbs. We emphasize the importance of these interactions by quantifying the enhanced myoblast fusion defects in duf dock, sns dock and hbs dock double mutants. Additionally, we show that Dock interacts biochemically and genetically with Drosophila Scar, Vrp1 and WASp. Based on these data, we propose that Dock links cell adhesion in FCs and FCMs with either Scar– or Vrp1–WASp-dependent Arp2/3 activation.
The Nramp (Slc11) proteins regulate development, resistance to pathogenic bacteria and iron homeostasis in Dictyostelium discoideum
Authors: Peracino Barbara , Buracco Simona , Bozzaro Salvatore
Published: September 2012

The Dictyostelium discoideum genome harbors two genes encoding members of the Nramp superfamily, which is conserved from bacteria (MntH proteins) to humans (Slc11 proteins). Nramps are proton-driven metal ion transporters with a preference for iron and manganese. Acquisition of these metal cations is vital for all cells, as they act as redox cofactors and regulate key cellular processes, such as DNA synthesis, electron transport, energy metabolism and oxidative stress. Dictyostelium Nramp1 (Slc11a1), like its mammalian ortholog, mediates resistance to infection by invasive bacteria. We have extended the analysis to the nramp2 gene, by generating single and double nramp1/nramp2 knockout mutants and cells expressing GFP fusion proteins. In contrast to Nramp1, which is recruited to phagosomes and macropinosomes, the Nramp2 protein is localized exclusively in the membrane of the contractile vacuole, a vesicular tubular network regulating cellular osmolarity. Both proteins colocalize with the V-H+-ATPase, which can provide the electrogenic force for vectorial transport. Like nramp1, nramp2 gene disruption affects resistance to Legionella pneumophila. Disrupting both genes additionally leads to defects in development, with strong delay in cell aggregation, formation of large streams and multi-tipped aggregates. Single and double mutants display differential sensitivity to cell growth under conditions of iron overload or depletion. The data favor the hypothesis that Nramp1 and Nramp2, under control of the V-H+-ATPase, synergistically regulate iron homeostasis, with the contractile vacuole possibly acting as a store for metal cations.
Creating a Practice-Based Research Network From Scratch: Where Do I Begin?
Authors: Hayes Holly , Burge Sandra
Published: September 2012

Background: As of today, 50% of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)-funded Academic Health Centers are engaging community clinicians through the practice-based research network (PBRN) mechanism, which has been identified as a best practice by the CTSA National Leadership. A PBRN is an organization of community clinicians who work together with researchers to answer meaningful questions that will improve patient care. Methods: This paper outlines the steps that were led to success during the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio's journey of developing four PBRNs over 3 years: (1) identifying network directors; (2) deciding who to include; (3) obtaining recruitment lists; (4) sending out mailers; (5) hosting the first PBRN meeting; (6) gaining institutional review board (IRB) approval; (7) launching a simple study; (8) returning the findings; and (9) formalizing the PBRN and moving forward. Results: CTSAs will continue to seek ways to effectively engage community members in the clinical translation process. Conclusions: PBRNs are a promising laboratory for generating research questions directly from clinicians, conducting meaningful research, and then disseminating the findings to the larger community to accelerate positive change.
Assessing an Intervention to Improve Clinical Trial Perceptions Among Predominately African-American Communities in South Carolina
Authors: Ford Marvella , Wahlquist Amy , Blake Rashell , Green CoDanielle , Streets June , Fuller Ebonie , Johnson Erica , Jefferson Melanie , Etheredge James , Varner Heidi , Johnson Shannon , Glover Saundra , Turner David , Garrett-Mayer Elizabeth
Published: September 2012

Background: African Americans (AA) are not well-represented in cancer clinical trials despite having significantly higher cancer mortality rates than their European-American (EA) counterparts. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a program to improve perceptions of cancer clinical trials among AA. Methods: The program was conducted in a convenience sample of 195 participants (75.4% AA) who lived in counties with high racial disparities in cancer mortality rates and who were recruited by community partners. The 30-minute program, part of a larger 3.5-hour cancer education program, was developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI). It was modified to include additional pictures of AA, AA-specific cancer mortality data, and information about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the resulting improved participant protection measures. Measures: The seven-item Attitudes to Randomized Trial Questionnaire (ARTQ) was used to evaluate changes in trial perceptions from pre- to posttest. Additional survey items assessed general demographic characteristics. Results: Slightly more than half of the participants had at least a college diploma (54.4%), 45.1% were married/living as married, 53.3% were female, and 45.6% had an annual household income of less than $40,000. For each ARTQ item, most participants who had less favorable perceptions of trials at pretest changed to more positive perceptions at posttest ( p < .001). Conclusions: Providing cancer clinical trial information led to more positive perceptions of cancer clinical trials. In future studies, the program could be used to help potential trial participants make informed decisions about participation; trial enrollment rates could then be evaluated.
Let's Get Healthy! Health Awareness Through Public Participation in an Education and Research Exhibit
Authors: Marriott Lisa K. , Cameron William E. , Purnell Jonathan Q. , Cetola Stephano , Ito Matthew K. , Williams Craig D. , Newcomb Kenneth C. , Randall Joan A. , Messenger Wyatt B. , Lipus Adam C. , Shannon Jackilen
Published: September 2012

Background: Health information technology (HIT) offers a resource for public empowerment through tailored information. Objective: Use interactive community health events to improve awareness of chronic disease risk factors while collecting data to improve health. Methods: Let's Get Healthy! is an education and research program in which participants visit interactive research stations to learn about their own health (diet, body composition, blood chemistry). HIT enables computerized data collection that presents participants with immediate results and tailored educational feedback. An anonymous wristband number links collected data in a population database. Results and Lessons Learned: Communities tailor events to meet community health needs with volunteers trained to conduct research. Participants experience being a research participant and contribute to an anonymous population database for both traditional research purposes and open-source community use. Conclusions: By integrating HIT with community involvement, health fairs become an interactive method for engaging communities in research and raising health awareness.
Results From an Intervention to Improve Rural Home Food and Physical Activity Environments
Authors: Kegler Michelle C. , Alcantara Iris , Veluswamy J. K. , Haardörfer Regine , Hotz James A. , Glanz Karen
Published: September 2012

Background: Ecological models of healthy eating and physical activity emphasize the influence of behavioral settings such as homes and worksites in shaping behavior. Research on home environments suggests that both social and physical aspects of the home may impact physical activity and healthy eating. Objective: Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, the Emory Prevention Research Center (EPRC), Cancer Coalition of South Georgia, and the EPRC's Community Advisory Board (CAB) designed and tested a coach-based intervention to make the home environment more supportive of healthy eating and physical activity for rural adults. Methods: The 6-week intervention consisted of a tailored home environment profile, goal-setting, and behavioral contracting delivered through two home visits and two telephone calls. The study used a quasi-experimental design with data collected via telephone interviews at baseline, 2 and 4 months post-baseline. Ninety households ( n = 90) completed all three telephone interviews. Results: Multilevel models indicated that intervention households reported significant improvements in household food inventories, purchasing of fruit and vegetables, healthier meal preparation, meals with the TV off, and family support for healthy eating, relative to comparison households. Intervention households also reported increased exercise equipment and family support for physical activity relative to comparison households. Percent of fat intake decreased significantly, but no changes were observed for fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, or weight among intervention relative to comparison households, although trends were generally in a positive direction. Conclusion: Coaching combined with a focus on the home environment may be a promising strategy for weight gain prevention in adults.
Leveraging Community-Academic Partnerships to Improve Healthy Food Access in an Urban, Kansas City, Kansas, Community
Authors: Mabachi Natabhona M. , Kimminau Kim S.
Published: September 2012

Background: Americans can combat overweight (OW) and obesity by eating unprocessed, fresh foods. However, all Americans do not have equal access to these recommended foods. Low-income, minority, urban neighborhoods in particular often have limited access to healthy resources, although they are vulnerable to higher levels of OW and obesity. Objective: This project used community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles to investigate the food needs of residents and develop a business plan to improve access to healthy food options in an urban, Kansas City, Kansas, neighborhood. Methods: Partner community organizations were mobilized to conduct a Community Food Assessment survey. The surveys were accompanied by flyers that were part of the communication engagement strategy. Statistical analysis of the surveys was conducted. We engaged low-income, minority population (40% Latino, 30% African American) urban communities at the household level. Results: Survey results provided in-depth information about residents' food needs and thoughts on how to improve food access. Results were reported to community members at a town hall style meeting. Lessons Learned: Developing a strategic plan to engage a community and develop trust is crucial to sustaining a partnership particularly when working with underserved communities. This project demonstrates that, if well managed, the benefits of academic and community partnerships outweigh the challenges thus such relationships should be encouraged and supported by communities, academic institutions, local and national government, and funders. Conclusion: A CBPR approach to understanding an urban community's food needs and opinions is important for comprehensive food access planning.
Community Capacity Building and Sustainability: Outcomes of Community-Based Participatory Research
Authors: Hacker Karen , Tendulkar Shalini A. , Rideout Catlin , Bhuiya Nazmim , Trinh-Shevrin Chau , Savage Clara P. , Grullon Milagro , Strelnick Hal , Leung Carolyn , DiGirolamo Ann
Published: September 2012

Background: For communities, the value of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is often manifested in the outcomes of increased capacity and sustainable adoption of evidence-based practices for social change. Educational opportunities that promote discourse between community and academic partners can help to advance CBPR and better define these outcomes. Objectives: This paper describes a community-academic conference to develop shared definitions of community capacity building and sustainability related to CBPR and to identify obstacles and facilitators to both. Methods: "Taking It to the Curbside: Engaging Communities to Create Sustainable Change for Health" was planned by five Clinical Translational Science Institutes and four community organizations. After a keynote presentation, breakout groups of community and academic members met to define community capacity building and sustainability, and to identify facilitators and barriers to achieving both. Groups were facilitated by researcher-community partner teams and conversations were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis for thematic content was conducted by a subset of the planning committee. Results: Important findings included learning that (1) the concepts of capacity and sustainability were considered interconnected; (2) partnership was perceived as both a facilitator and an outcome of CBPR; (3) sustainability was linked to "transfer of knowledge" from one generation to another within a community; and (4) capacity and sustainability were enhanced when goals were shared and health outcomes were achieved. Conclusions: Community capacity building and sustainability are key outcomes of CBPR for communities. Co-learning opportunities that engage and mutually educate both community members and academics can be useful strategies for identifying meaningful strategies to achieve these outcomes.
Evaluating Community-Based Participatory Research to Improve Community-Partnered Science and Community Health
Authors: Hicks Sarah , Duran Bonnie , Wallerstein Nina , Avila Magdalena , Belone Lorenda , Lucero Julie , Magarati Maya , Mainer Elana , Martin Diane , Muhammad Michael , Oetzel John , Pearson Cynthia , Sahota Puneet , Simonds Vanessa , Sussman Andrew , Tafoya Greg , Hat Emily White
Published: September 2012

Background: Since 2007, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Policy Research Center (PRC) has partnered with the Universities of New Mexico and Washington to study the science of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Our goal is to identify facilitators and barriers to effective community-academic partnerships in American Indian and other communities, which face health disparities. Objectives: We have described herein the scientific design of our National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study (2009-2013) and lessons learned by having a strong community partner leading the research efforts. Methods: The research team is implementing a mixed-methods study involving a survey of principal investigators (PIs) and partners across the nation and in-depth case studies of CBPR projects. Results: We present preliminary findings on methods and measures for community-engaged research and eight lessons learned thus far regarding partnership evaluation, advisory councils, historical trust, research capacity development of community partner, advocacy, honoring each other, messaging, and funding. Conclusions: Study methodologies and lessons learned can help community-academic research partnerships translate research in communities.
Baptism in the New Testament and Its Cultural Milieu: A Response to Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church
Authors: Holladay Carl R.
Published: September 2012

This review focuses on the first 200 pages of Everett Ferguson's Baptism in the Early Church : Part 1, "Antecedents to Christian Baptism," and Part 2, "Baptism in the New Testament." One critical question raised by Ferguson's treatment is how historical and theological (doctrinal) perspectives should be related to each other. While Ferguson recognizes the pivotal role of the baptism John preached and administered, this essay further emphasizes John's originality. Jesus' baptism by John posed a problem for early Christians. Was it a unique event, an example for Jesus' disciples to emulate, or a problem that had to be explained? The four gospels tend to portray Jesus' baptism as sui generis , although Matthew portrays it as an exemplum for early Christians to follow. Ferguson's treatment of Pauline texts relating to baptism underplays the significance of the "mystical" and corporate dimensions of his baptismal theology, especially as it relates to en Christō . Greater nuance is needed to differentiate Paul's understanding of the baptismal benefit of "death to sin" as opposed to "forgiveness of sins." In Ferguson's treatment of baptism in Acts, his effort to distinguish sharply between "baptism in the Holy Spirit," i.e. dramatic outpourings of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2, 10-11, 8.17-18, and 19.6), and other believers' reception of the Holy Spirit poses some difficulties. Rather than separating the treatment of baptism in Luke and Acts, some dimensions of Luke's baptismal theology can be seen more clearly by observing how literary thematic connections, e.g., between John the Baptist and Jesus, are developed in the two-volume work.
A Comparison of Searching Functionality of a VuFind Catalogue Implementation and the Traditional Catalogue
Authors: Skinner Debra G.
Published: September 2012

As of spring semester 2010, Georgia Southern University began using a VuFind implementation as the default access to the library catalogue on the library Web page while maintaining a secondary link to the traditional Voyager "classic" catalogue. VuFind is an open-source product that has been adopted and adapted by all the state universities and colleges in the state of Georgia. For approximately ten years, Georgia libraries have used Voyager as their catalogue, and it remains available to users as the "classic" search option. This report examines the local VuFind implementation compared to the more traditional Voyager implementation, emphasizing the differences in the searching capabilities of each.
Imperial Embraces and Ethnic Challenges: The Politics of Jewish Identity in the Bohemian Lands
Authors: Kieval Hillel J.
Published: September 2012

During the last three decades of the nineteenth century Czech nationalist politicians sharply criticized the cultural choices and political allegiances of the Jewish population of the Bohemian lands. The Jews’ linguistic practices, educational strategies, and voting patterns—the critics charged—demonstrated that they had taken sides in the increasingly heated struggle for power between Czech and German activists, lending their support to a presumed project for German linguistic and cultural hegemony. This article examines the origins of Jewish political culture in the Bohemian lands in the context of the late-Enlightenment imperial project that aimed to modernize Jewish institutions and create Jewish imperial subjects through education to the high culture of the state. This acculturation was assumed to require a German linguistic complexion, but its political ideology and loyalties were imperial—and liberal—not national. What ethnic politicians of the late nineteenth century were demanding of Jews in their midst amounted to a reduction of perspective, a shift from the imperial to the local and from state to nation. Many Jews in the Bohemian lands, in fact, met this demand, having learned the need to articulate individual and collective identity in national terms. The Czech Jewish movement was one result; so, too, was Prague Zionism.
Not Judging by Appearances: The Role of Genotype in Jewish Law on Intersex Conditions
Authors: Gray Hillel
Published: September 2012

Jewish communities have always had children with intersex conditions, which involve atypical anatomic, chromosomal, or gonadal sex. In the last several decades, Orthodox rabbis have issued ad hoc rulings to assign sex to children and adults with intersex conditions. However, rabbinic texts reflect disunity over whether to assign gender, for the purposes of Jewish law, according to outward appearance or chromosomal makeup. This rabbinic controversy has been exacerbated by an increasingly complicated medical picture. Endocrinologists have diagnosed more than two dozen intersex conditions, across nine overarching congenital types. Such complexity makes it difficult for rabbis to make across-the-board decisions about gender assignment. This essay examines how rabbinic law may change because gender cannot be assigned consistently by chromosomal sex—despite the prevalence of this formulaic criterion in rabbinic opinions. Consequently, Jewish legal reasoning is poised to shift from a static reliance on chromosomal sex. The essay also considers the implications of this trajectory on Jewish law towards sex change surgery and transsexuals.
The Menorah Journal and Shaping American Jewish Identity: Culture and Evolutionary Sociology
Authors: Kaufman Matthew
Published: September 2012

The study of the popularization of science sheds light on how particular ethnic and religious communities engage with science. To gain a properly nuanced view, this study must extend to include nonscientific journals that address those communities. The Menorah Journal , an influential English-language American Jewish publication, serves as a case in point. The Menorah Journal ’s use of evolutionary sociology in articles during its peak from 1915 to 1929 reveals that the American culture of scientific inquiry forms the backdrop to the Menorah Journal’ s push to construct a Jewish American identity based not upon religion or nationalism, but upon ethnicity. In the pages of the Menorah Journal , prominent intellectuals drew upon neo-Darwinism, orthogenesis, and neo-Lamarckism to address the challenges facing Judaism in America from an empirical, positivist vantage point, and to articulate an approach towards an American Jewish cultural renaissance. This paper situates the Journal within the context of contemporary American cultural reactions to progressivism, Deweyan pragmatism, neo-Darwinian and neo-Lamarckian evolutionism, and the social sciences, and presents case-studies that offer a detailed analysis of articles by Mordecai Kaplan, Leon Simon, Kaufmann Kohler, Simon Dubnow, and Isaac Baer Berkson. Evolutionary sociology, it will be seen, is a key element in the Menorah Journal ’s efforts to foster a Jewish cultural renaissance. Analyzing how the Menorah Journal deployed evolutionary sociology thus offers a fresh perspective from which to explore issues of Americanization, identity, and cultural vitality.
Documenting domesticity in Aguaviva and Extranjeras
Authors: Shepherd N. Michelle
Published: September 2012

The documentary films Aguaviva (2005) by Pujol and Extranjeras/Foreign Women (2005) by Taberna, feature women immigrants in twenty-first century Spain. Aguaviva presents the title village's bold initiative to counter depopulation while Extranjeras shows an array of immigrant women living
in Madrid. Gender difference structures the immigrants' narratives, manifest in the centrality of domesticity to both films. In addition, these narratives of immigration have a concern for 'the real', specifically with presenting their Spanish audiences with a putatively 'accurate reflection'
of the truth of immigration. The films' documentary format satisfies the audience's desire for visual information about immigration. This tendency towards realism runs counter to the construction of a fantasy about the immigrant Other in favour of veracity and transparency. This desire to
capture the immigrant 'as is', however, veils the elements of fantasy and the collective imagining of Otherness that also inform the films despite their aspirations to re-present the Spanish social milieu through documentary realism. This article studies the documentary form central to both
Aguaviva and Extranjeras and the concomitant questions of representation that function in documentary films that claim to present the world objectively. Further, this article assesses the manner in which immigrant women are incorporated into Spanish sociality in the films, which, as mentioned,
underscore the primacy of the private sphere and domesticity for the assimilation of women immigrants.
The delayed emergence of italian Welsh narratives, or class and the commodification of ethnicity?
Authors: Wren-Owens Liz
Published: September 2012

In 2005, over a century after Italians began to settle in Wales, a body of texts emerged that could be read as the first examples of Italian Welsh narrative. This article seeks to introduce and analyse this writing, exploring whether it represents a delayed expression of ethnic identity,
or whether the texts are more usefully read comparatively, as part of wider cultural trends. These include the commodification of Italian-ness in the commercial sector in Wales and internationally, and transnational debates surrounding the interplay between class and ethnicity, with a particular
focus on the impact of a subaltern Celtic identity, and its correlation with the working class, in British hierarchies.
(Re)constructing the self: Diasporic identity, spaces of alterity and narrative reconstruction in Van Cauwelaert's One-Way
Authors: Beck Gerard
Published: September 2012

In the perennial debate over identity and how the self is shaped, globalization, multiculturalism and transnational migration are three powerful modern forces that have radically changed the ontological discourse about the nature of the individual. While identity is often characterized
as an essence, a tangible quality, studies in social sciences point out that it is in fact a constructed entity, constantly shaped by socio historical, cultural and human factors. Through a narratological examination of Van Cauwelaert's acclaimed novel One-Way (1994), this article examines
the complex relationships between personal identity and diasporic migration, their impact upon the construction of the self and the narrative, and the spaces of alterity they create when they collide. The cognitive dissonance that Aziz, Jean-Pierre and Valérie experience as they endeavour
to find and maintain a stable sense of self through their diasporic migrations underlines the fluidity of the modern self, and reveals geographical and psychological spaces of alterity bound only by imagination. This article illustrates how these spaces of alterity, created by the constant
tension between the local and the global, the familiar and the unknown, the self and the Other, provide the necessary narratological, psychological and geographical breadth to realize the full extent of the modern self, and emphasizes the growing insight in social sciences that transnational
ties do not interfere with a sense of regional or national identity.
Spatial allegories of democratic pluralism in Laurent Cantet's Entre les Murs
Authors: Lykidis Alex
Published: September 2012

Entre les Murs/The Class (Laurent Cantet 2008) is one in a long line of critically acclaimed French films to address the social and political dynamics of contemporary immigrant experience. The film's focus on a multicultural suburban high school has fuelled ongoing debates about the
ability of the French public education system to accommodate the interests of the nation's diverse population. While much of the critical response to Entre les Murs has focused on its realism, this article addresses the allegorical significance of the film's primary narrative spaces - the
classroom, faculty rooms and the playground - in the context of contemporary French immigra-tion policies, definitions of citizenship and mechanisms of political governance. The ambivalent representation of cultural particularism in Entre les Murs is discussed in relation to the self-legitimating
ideologies of French Republicanism, while the tension in the film between individualism and institutional analysis is set against discourses of objectivity long associated with art cinema.
Izzat and the gaze of culture
Authors: Peart Kirandeep Kaur
Published: September 2012

It is the aim of this article to make visible a range of hitherto neglected factors that contribute to the representation of the South Asian woman in British film. Cultural factors such as the law of izzat remain limited in theoretical frameworks, making the subject only partially visible.
South Asian cultural identity is addressed through language, music, clothing and memory; each contributing to the visibility of the South Asian female on-screen. Using the popular British Asian film by Gurinder Chadha Bhaji on the Beach (1993) to address the current visibility of the subject,
the seemingly simplistic identity of the South Asian female is questioned. The presence of 'narrative ruptures' contained within some of the material addressed combined with theoretical understandings of the diaspora produce a more nuanced understanding of the subject. Through postcolonial,
film and cultural studies, an analysis of visibility has recognized the need to integrate cultural laws such as izzat into readings of British Asian and South Asian film. By illustrating the codes that have limited the subject's visibility, the once invisible will become visible and a new
theoretical understanding gained.
Beyond italian borders: Amara Lakhous and the Mediterranean alternative
Authors: Mazzara Federica
Published: September 2012

This article aims at investigating the possibility of talking about a 'Mediterranean alternative' in a cultural and literary horizon. In particular, it will explore the Italian case, whose Mediterranean heredity has recently been rediscovered through the contributions of those writers
who come from other Mediterranean countries and challenge the borders of western idiosyncratic realities, like the Italian one. This article will analyse the case of Amara Lakhous, a contemporary Algerian-Italian writer, whose work transgresses the bounded Italian national culture by questioning
its bounded view and by offering a new transnational gaze, within a world literature framework.
‘Proposition’: To reconsider the non-singing character and the songless moment
Authors: Lockitt Matthew
Published: September 2012

An inherently musical form, musical theatre illuminates key dramatic moments as music rises up and characters gain expression through song. It has been argued that characters denied access to this fundamental form of expression are dramatically inferior to their singing counterparts.
The purpose of this article is to reconsider the dramatic function of the non-singing or songless character. Viewed through the Nietzschian concepts of the objective and the subjective, derived from his understanding of the Apollonian and the Dionysian, non-singing characters fulfil a specific
dramatic need. It is my contention that songless characters maintain an awareness of the dramatic stakes and therefore do not succumb to the subjective space of song. A variety of cases considered by scholars who have contemplated the issue of the non-singing character will be introduced,
then reconsidered through a Nietzschian lens, demonstrating the dramatic implications of this objective repositioning.
There’s no escaping nostalgia: The 1987 London version of Follies
Authors: Jubin Olaf
Published: September 2012

The Follies that opened in London’s West End in 1987 was very different from the 1971 Broadway original – James Goldman had completely rewritten his book and Stephen Sondheim had replaced or changed several of his songs. But although the West End production ran longer than
the one in New York and won every important theatre award in Britain, the 1987 version has not been produced or revived anywhere as later productions all went back to the original book. This article provides a detailed comparison between the two libretti and analyses changes in character,
plot and structure in order to judge how far the claims that the London show was ‘more optimistic’ and ‘less surreal’ are justifiable. It also investigates whether some of the rewrites that bring the London Follies closer to a traditional book musical may have been
instigated and necessitated by the show’s original reception in New York as well as by the reputation the 1971 staging had gained throughout the years. The original production, swiftly hailed as ‘legendary’, still is an inevitable reference point for every new mounting of
Follies while the London version is usually seen as no more than another folly on the thorny path to a workable version of this musical classic. Such a comparative evaluation is partly due to the very same nostalgia that the show exposes as both foolish and dangerous.