bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Body Awareness in Performer Training: The Hidden Legacy of Gertrud Falke-Heller (1891–1984)
Authors: Loukes Rebecca
Published: April 2012

Explaining this work is like trying to explain how a strawberry tastes to someone

who has never tasted a strawberry.

Gertrud Falke-Heller 1980

This statement may resonate with many who practice, teach, or write about dance and movement training and performance, but it is particularly apt in relation to the work of Gertrud Falke-Heller (1891–1984). Her extraordinary career spanned almost sixty years, and she worked with some of the most influential figures in European modern dance and performance, including Rudolph Laban, Mary Wigman, and Kurt Jooss. The training she developed, based mainly on the work of German body awareness pioneer Elsa Gindler (1885–1961), did not have a name, and little documentation about it exists. After an early career as a performer in Hamburg, Falke-Heller taught this form of training for Ballet Jooss at Dartington Hall in the 1930s. She developed her work after World War II with psychiatric patients in a variety of hospitals in England and Scotland and died at her home in London in 1984. In an interview given four years before her death, Falke-Heller lists the following questions and concerns that underpinned her work in the many different contexts to which it has been applied:

The body awareness in the sitting, standing, walking, lying down in all human functioning. What is expressive movement? Where does it start to be really interesting? And where is it empty? Then also the space—the dynamic in the room. That's what I was always interested in from the beginning. (Falke-Heller 1980)
Searching for Dialogue in Dance Education: A Teacher's Story
Authors: Anttila Eeva
Published: April 2012

In this article, based on my dissertation, “A Dream Journey to the Unknown: Searching for Dialogue in Dance Education” (2003), I will describe several qualities, or themes, related to dialogue. These ideas may facilitate dialogue in dance education and bear significance for reflecting the nature of dialogical education more generally. In addition, my intent is to uncover the personal nature of my search for dialogue. Before describing the themes, I briefly outline the research process.

The process began in 1997 when I was invited to take part in an art education project that was situated in an elementary school in Helsinki, Finland. I was aware that I was about to turn back to something that I thought I had already left behind. I had recently completed another study concerning my own dance teaching practice (1996). I had joined the so-called teacher research movement with a desire to understand the dynamics of the teaching and learning situation in the context of dance from an experiential point of view.
Dance Studies/Cultural Studies
Authors: Morris Gay
Published: April 2012

In the mid-1990s several articles appeared in the dance literature calling for a greater alliance between dance scholarship and cultural studies. More recently, dance scholarship has come to be labeled “dance studies,” suggesting that such a link has occurred. Since interdisciplinarity is a key element of cultural studies, it is appropriate to investigate interdisciplinarity in dance studies by examining dance's relationship to cultural studies. This genealogical task, though, is not as straightforward as it might seem. Cultural studies' relationship to the disciplines has not been stable over its half-century of existence. Interdisciplinarity, tied so closely to cultural studies' idea of its own freedom and political mission, has proved difficult to hang onto—so difficult, in fact, that today some consider the field to be in crisis. To complicate matters further, dance and cultural studies developed along different paths; consequently, interdisciplinarity within dance studies is not always conceptualized in the way it is in cultural studies. Cultural studies was initially meant as a political and social intervention that purposefully avoided creating theories of its own, while dance research, long tied to the disciplines of history and anthropology, not only adopted many of the theories and methods of these fields but also developed theories and methods of its own as an aid in analyzing the human body in motion. Where and how, then, do dance and cultural studies meet on the grounds of interdisciplinarity? This is not an idle question; cultural studies has had a major impact on arts and humanities scholarship, and as cultural studies reaches a critical moment of reexamination, new questions arise as to the role of interdisciplinarity, both in cultural studies and in the fields it has so profoundly influenced.
Kine-Phonesis: The Sonic Dancer in Relay
Authors: Plumb Emily
Published: April 2012

The sounds that emanate from the dancers as they begin to crumble toward the floor spews from their bodies in loud painful moans; they reach upwards only to fall back to the ground. A unified group gesture—the initial formulaic but also functional gesture of French baroque declamation—disintegrates into disjointed formations and chaotic noise. Sounds echo off the small performance space, amplifying and confusing the tumultuous din. I do not know how or when the moans become words, but the words resist my understanding because they are being uttered in at least six different languages. Breath. Movement. Sound. Every relay between them starts out in a delicate gesture that is then vocalized, as it appears to fragment. I hear whispers and words out of context. Soon all of the dancers are in vocal spasm. I keep waiting for the music to begin to play.

It is the final showing of a voice and movement class in the dance M.A. program at Freie Universiteit, Berlin. Students are working with choreographer Mark Franko and his assistant Alessandro Rumié on the sonic elements of their own bodies to create a sound score in place of music. The fragments of sound found in Relay (2008) are artifacts. The dancers excavated text from various sources and in a variety of languages.
Dialogues: Writing Dance
Authors: Malnig Julie , Nugent Ann , Satin Leslie
Published: April 2012

The articles that follow in this section developed out of an improvised dance and papers presented by a panel of scholars based in the United States and the United Kingdom at the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) 2008 conference at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.
Martha Graham's House of the Pelvic Truth: The Figuration of Sexual Identities and Female Empowerment
Authors: Bannerman Henrietta
Published: April 2012

Martha Graham writes in her autobiography Blood Memory that she was bewildered, or, as she puts it “bemused,” when she heard how dancers referred to her school as “the house of the pelvic truth” (Graham 1991, 211). We might perhaps agree with Graham that this is not the best description for a highly respected center of modern dance training; neither does it match Graham's image as an awe-inspiring and exacting teacher, nor does it suit the seriousness with which her tough technique is regarded. But the house of the pelvic truth does chime with stories about Graham's often frank method of addressing her students. She is reputed to have told one young woman not to come back to the studio until she had found herself a man. At other times she would tell her female students, “you are simply not moving your vagina” (211). Add to this other stories about the men in the company suffering from “vagina envy” (211), and it can be readily understood that the goings-on in the Graham studio gave rise to its nickname, “house of the pelvic truth.”

In British dance circles of the 1960s, it was not rumors of the erotic that attracted most of us to Graham's work or persuaded us to travel to New York in search of the Graham technique. There was little in the way of contemporary dance training in Britain at this time, and we had been mesmerized by the beautiful and rather chaste film A Dancer's World (1957), in which Graham pronounces: a dancer is not a phenomenon … not a phenomenal creature.… I think he is a divine normal. He does what the human body is capable of doing. Now this takes time…it takes about ten years of study. This does not mean he won't be dancing before that time, but it does take the pressure of time, so that the house of the body can hold its divine tenant, the spirit. (1962, 24)
The Body as Archive: Will to Re-Enact and the Afterlives of Dances
Authors: Lepecki André
Published: April 2012

Laurence Louppe once advanced the intriguing notion that the dancer is “the veritable avatar of Orpheus: he has no right to turn back on his course, lest he be denied the object of his quest” (Louppe 1994, 32). However, looking across the contemporary dance scene in Europe and the United States, one cannot escape the fact that dancers—contrary to Orpheus, contrary to Louppe's assertion—are increasingly turning back on their and dance history's tracks in order to find the “object of their quest.” Indeed, contemporary dancers and choreographers in the United States and Europe have in recent years been actively engaged in creating re-enactments of sometimes well-known, sometimes obscure, dance works of the twentieth century. Examples abound: we can think of Fabian Barba's Schwingende Landschaft (2008), an evening-length piece where the Ecuadorian choreographer returns to Mary Wigman's seven solo pieces created in 1929 and performed during Wigman's first U.S. tour in 1930; of Elliot Mercer returning in 2009 and 2010 to several of Simone Forti's Construction Pieces (1961/62), performing them at Washington Square Park in New York City; or Anne Collod's 2008 return to Anna Halprin's Parades and Changes (1965), among many other examples.
Foraminifera from the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Isla Marambio (Seymour Island), Antarctic Peninsula
Authors: Gaździcki Andrzej , Majewski Wojciech
Published: April 2012

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are described for the first time from the early Eocene of West Antarctica. They come from the lower member (Telm1) of the La Meseta Formation of Isla Marambio (Seymour Island). Two distinctive assemblages, dominated by Nonionellina, Nonionella, Globocassidulina, and Eilohedra, as well as by Globocassidulina, Cribroelphidium, Guttulina, and Lobatula, indicate restricted, shallow marine, nearshore conditions. Their most characteristic species show distinct affinities with Eocene faunas of New Zealand and Patagonia, as well as with stratigraphically younger Antarctic foraminiferal communities.
Increasing breeding success of an Endangered penguin: artificial nests or culling predatory gulls?
Authors: PICHEGRU LORIEN
Published: April 2012

Drastic recent decreases in numbers of the ‘Endangered’ African Penguin Spheniscus demersus highlight the need for conservation efforts to reverse this trend. Habitat reduction due to former guano scraping forces penguins to breed in surface nests, which are vulnerable to predation by Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus and to extreme weather events. Here I compare gull predation and the success of penguins breeding in surface nests and two types of artificial nests, before (2009) and after (2010–2011), the removal of predatory gulls from Bird Island, South Africa. Both culling gulls and providing artificial nests improved penguin chick survival, but post-culling chick survival was lower in surface nests than in artificial nests, suggesting a major impact of weather on chick mortality. Success of artificial nests was design-dependent, with poor hatching success in fibreglass burrows (probably due to high ambient temperatures), but nests under 50 cm cement pipes cut in half had the highest breeding success. Therefore, appropriately designed artificial nests can enhance African Penguin breeding success, shielding them from both predation and extreme weather events. Where implementing such nests is constrained, controlling Kelp Gulls can also enhance penguin production, especially during years of low food availability when the vulnerability of chicks to predation is exacerbated. Such a strategy would, however, require ongoing management, as territories freed by culled gulls are constantly filled with new individuals. The alarming trend in African Penguin numbers justifies robust conservation strategies, although these should also be concomitant with limiting oil spills and increasing food availability around their colonies.
Financial development and sectoral output growth in nineteenth-century Germany
Authors: Diekmann Katharina , Westermann Frank
Published: April 2012

In this article we re-evaluate the hypothesis that the development of the financial sector was an essential factor behind economic growth in nineteenth-century Germany. We apply a structural VAR framework to a new annual data set from 1870 to 1912 that was initially compiled by Walther Hoffmann (1965). With respect to the literature, the distinguishing characteristic of our analysis is the focus on different sectors in the economy and the interpretation of the findings in the context of a two-sector growth model. We find that all sectors were affected significantly by shocks from the banking system. Interestingly, this link is the strongest in sectors with small or non-tradable-goods-producing firms, such as construction, services, transportation and agriculture. In this regard, the growth patterns in nineteenth-century Germany are similar to those in today's emerging markets.
The use of a self-expandable stent with a self-expandable stent graft in a Fontan baffle
Authors: Choi Eun Young , Lee Kyung Suk , Song Jin-young
Published: April 2012

Intravascular or intracardiac stenosis occurs in various congenital heart diseases or after surgical repair. Although balloon angioplasty is the first option for relieving stenosis, frequently restenosis occurs because of elastic recoil or kingking component. The use of a self-expandable stent and covered stent in congenital heart disease has been reported for selected cases. In general, they have been performed for coarctation of the aorta or aortic aneurysm. We now report successful implantation of a self-expandable stent with a self-expandable covered stent graft in a case of lateral tunnel dehiscence with stenosis after a Fontan operation.
Florida Current meandering and evolution of cyclonic eddies along the Florida Keys Reef Tract: Are they interconnected?
Authors: Kourafalou Vassiliki H. , Kang HeeSook
Published: April 2012

The Florida Current (FC) is the branch of the Gulf Stream system within the Straits of Florida, connected to the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico. Cyclonic, cold‐core eddies travel along this oceanic current system, entering the Straits of Florida in the vicinity of the Dry Tortugas and evolving along the Florida Keys island chain and coral reefs. The development of the high‐resolution (∼900 m) hydrodynamic model Florida Straits, South Florida, and Florida Keys (FKeyS), nested within a Gulf of Mexico model (both based on the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model), has enabled new findings in eddy variability. Together with high‐resolution (∼1 km) ocean color imagery, multiyear model archives have been employed to study the changes in the position of the FC front and the relationship with eddy evolution. It was found that eddy interactions and transformations are common, with multiple eddy cells within individual eddies or new cells emerging from existing vortices. Features in the Dry Tortugas area previously thought to be semipermanent are shown to be frequently transformed and/or replenished. A mechanism of local cyclogenesis is also proposed. Incoming eddies interact with and influence the downstream propagation of previous eddies. Systems of eddies, rather than individual vortices, can form the elongated features observed between the FC front and the Atlantic Florida Keys Shelf. Topography plays an important role in eddy dissipation or growth. A close synergy between eddy evolution and FC meandering is revealed. The results have implications on the connectivity of remote coastal and reef ecosystems.
The pro‐metastatic role of bone marrow‐derived cells: a focus on MSCs and regulatory T cells
Authors: Koh Bong Ihn , Kang Yibin
Published: April 2012

Several bone marrow‐derived cells have been shown to promote tumour growth and progression. These cells can home to the primary tumour and become active components of the tumour microenvironment. Recent studies have also identified bone marrow‐derived cells—such as mesenchymal stem cells and regulatory T cells—as contributors to cancer metastasis. The innate versatility of these cells provides diverse functional aid to promote malignancy, ranging from structural support to signal‐mediated suppression of the host immune response. Here, we review the role of mesenchymal stem cells and regulatory T cells in cancer metastasis. A better understanding of the bipolar nature of these bone marrow‐derived cells in physiological and malignant contexts could pave the way for new therapeutics against metastatic disease.
Fiber optic displacement sensor with a large extendable measurement range while maintaining equally high sensitivity, linearity, and accuracy
Authors: Lee Yeon-Gwan , Kim Yoon-Young , Kim Chun-Gon
Published: April 2012

This paper presents a fiber optic displacement sensor composed of a transmissive grating panel, a reflection mirror, and two optical fibers as a transceiver. The proposed fiber optic displacement sensor guarantees a stable reflected signal acquisition for application in real industrial fields. Through a parametric study of the grating pitch of the transmissive grating panel, the signal-to-noise ratio, linearity, resolution, accuracy error, and sensitivity of the proposed sensor were investigated. The measured bidirectional movement demonstrated a peak to peak accuracy of 10.5 μm, high linearity of 0.9996, resolution of 3.1 μm at the full bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio of 27.7, and high sensitivity of 31.8 μm/rad during a movement of 16 004.0 μm using the transmissive grating panel, which had a grating pitch of 200 μm. Even for an extended measurement range, the proposed scheme enables the same accuracy, linearity, and sensitivity to be maintained when compared with conventional laser displacement sensors and fiber optic displacement sensors.
One-photon band gap engineering of borate glass doped with ZnO for photonics applications
Authors: Abdel-Baki Manal , Abdel-Wahab Fathy A. , El-Diasty Fouad
Published: April 2012

Lithium tungsten borate glass of the composition (0.56-x)B2O3–0.4Li2O–xZnO–0.04WO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1 mol. %) is prepared for photonics applications. The glass is doped with ZnO to tune the glass absorption characteristics in a wide spectrum range (200–2500 nm). Chemical bond approach, including chemical structure, electronegativity, bond ionicity, nearest-neighbor coordination, and other chemical bonding aspect, is used to analyze and to explain the obtained glass properties such as: transmittance, absorption, electronic structure parameters (bandgap, Fermi level, and Urbach exciton-phonon coupling), Wannier free excitons excitation (applying Elliott’s model), and two-photon absorption coefficient as a result of replacement of B2O3 by ZnO.
A microfluidic platform for controlled biochemical stimulation of twin neuronal networks
Authors: Biffi Emilia , Piraino Francesco , Pedrocchi Alessandra , Fiore Gianfranco B. , Ferrigno Giancarlo , Redaelli Alberto , Menegon Andrea , Rasponi Marco
Published: April 2012

Spatially and temporally resolved delivery of soluble factors is a key feature for pharmacological applications. In this framework, microfluidics coupled to multisite electrophysiology offers great advantages in neuropharmacology and toxicology. In this work, a microfluidic device for biochemical stimulation of neuronal networks was developed. A micro-chamber for cell culturing, previously developed and tested for long term neuronal growth by our group, was provided with a thin wall, which partially divided the cell culture region in two sub-compartments. The device was reversibly coupled to a flat micro electrode array and used to culture primary neurons in the same microenvironment. We demonstrated that the two fluidically connected compartments were able to originate two parallel neuronal networks with similar electrophysiological activity but functionally independent. Furthermore, the device allowed to connect the outlet port to a syringe pump and to transform the static culture chamber in a perfused one. At 14 days invitro, sub-networks were independently stimulated with a test molecule, tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin known to block action potentials, by means of continuous delivery. Electrical activity recordings proved the ability of the device configuration to selectively stimulate each neuronal network individually. The proposed microfluidic approach represents an innovative methodology to perform biological, pharmacological, and electrophysiological experiments on neuronal networks. Indeed, it allows for controlled delivery of substances to cells, and it overcomes the limitations due to standard drug stimulation techniques. Finally, the twin network configuration reduces biological variability, which has important outcomes on pharmacological and drug screening.
Smallest separation of nanorods from physical vapor deposition
Authors: Zhou L. G. , Huang Hanchen
Published: April 2012

In catalysis applications, it is desirable to have nanorods of smaller diameter. However, if the separation of nanorods is smaller than their diameter, nanorods will merge to become dense films. The separation of nanorods derives from the separation of nucleating clusters on the substrate. This letter reports a theory of the smallest separation of nanorods. This theory is in closed form and is verified by accompanying lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The theoretical prediction of transition from nanorods to dense films—when the separation of nanorods is smaller than their diameter—is in good agreement with in-house experimental observation.
Bistability in silicon microring resonator based on strain induced by a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate thin film
Authors: Sebbag Y. , Goykhman I. , Desiatov B. , Nachmias T. , Yoshaei O. , Kabla M. , Meltzer S. E. , Levy U.
Published: April 2012

We demonstrate bistability in a submicron silicon optical phase shifter based on the photoelastic effect. The strain magnitude is electrically controlled by a piezoelectric thin film placed on top of the device. The hysteresis behavior of the piezoelectric response shows potential application as bistable device independent of the optical intensity.
Azidothymidine and other chain terminators are mutagenic for template-switch-generated genetic mutations
Authors: Seier Tracey , Zilberberg Gal , Zeiger Danna M. , Lovett Susan T.
Published: April 2012

The accumulation of mutations causes cell lethality and can lead to carcinogenesis. An important class of mutations, which are associated with mutational hotspots in many organisms, are those that arise by nascent strand misalignment and template-switching at the site of short repetitive sequences in DNA. Mutagens that strongly and specifically affect this class, which is mechanistically distinct from other mutations that arise from polymerase errors or by DNA template damage, are unknown. Using
Escherichia coli
and assays for specific mutational events, this study defines such a mutagen, 3′-azidothymidine [zidovudine (AZT)], used widely in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. At sublethal doses, AZT has no significant effect on frame shifts and most base-substitution mutations. AT-to-CG transversions and deletions at microhomologies were enhanced modestly by AZT. AZT strongly stimulated the “template-switch” class of mutations that arise in imperfect inverted repeat sequences by DNA-strand misalignments during replication, presumably through its action as a chain terminator during DNA replication. Chain-terminating 2′-3′-didehydro 3′-deoxythymidine [stavudine (D4T)] and 2′-3′-dideoxyinosine [didanosine (ddI)] likewise stimulated template-switch mutagenesis. These agents define a specific class of mutagen that promotes template-switching and acts by stalling replication rather than by direct nucleotide base damage.
Structural diversity in social contagion
Authors: Ugander Johan , Backstrom Lars , Marlow Cameron , Kleinberg Jon
Published: April 2012

The concept of contagion has steadily expanded from its original grounding in epidemic disease to describe a vast array of processes that spread across networks, notably social phenomena such as fads, political opinions, the adoption of new technologies, and financial decisions. Traditional models of social contagion have been based on physical analogies with biological contagion, in which the probability that an individual is affected by the contagion grows monotonically with the size of his or her “contact neighborhood”—the number of affected individuals with whom he or she is in contact. Whereas this contact neighborhood hypothesis has formed the underpinning of essentially all current models, it has been challenging to evaluate it due to the difficulty in obtaining detailed data on individual network neighborhoods during the course of a large-scale contagion process. Here we study this question by analyzing the growth of Facebook, a rare example of a social process with genuinely global adoption. We find that the probability of contagion is tightly controlled by the number of connected components in an individual's contact neighborhood, rather than by the actual size of the neighborhood. Surprisingly, once this “structural diversity” is controlled for, the size of the contact neighborhood is in fact generally a negative predictor of contagion. More broadly, our analysis shows how data at the size and resolution of the Facebook network make possible the identification of subtle structural signals that go undetected at smaller scales yet hold pivotal predictive roles for the outcomes of social processes.
Aging impairs intermediate-term behavioral memory by disrupting the dorsal paired medial neuron memory trace
Authors: Tonoki Ayako , Davis Ronald L.
Published: April 2012

How the functional activity of the brain is altered during aging to cause age-related memory impairments is unknown. We used functional cellular imaging to monitor two different calcium-based memory traces that underlie olfactory classical conditioning in young and aged
Drosophila
. Functional imaging of neural activity in the processes of the dorsal paired medial (DPM) and mushroom body neurons revealed that the capacity to form an intermediate-term memory (ITM) trace in the DPM neurons after learning is lost with age, whereas the capacity to form a short-term memory trace in the α′/β′ mushroom body neurons remains unaffected by age. Stimulation of the DPM neurons by activation of a temperature-sensitive cation channel between acquisition and retrieval enhanced ITM in aged but not young flies. These data indicate that the functional state of the DPM neurons is selectively altered with age to cause an age-related impairment of ITM, and demonstrate that altering the excitability of DPM neurons can restore age-related memory impairments.
Type II membrane protein CD69 regulates the formation of resting T-helper memory
Authors: Shinoda Kenta , Tokoyoda Koji , Hanazawa Asami , Hayashizaki Koji , Zehentmeier Sandra , Hosokawa Hiroyuki , Iwamura Chiaki , Koseki Haruhiko , Tumes Damon J. , Radbruch Andreas , Nakayama Toshinori
Published: April 2012

Memory T-helper (Th) lymphocytes are crucial for the maintenance of acquired immunity to eliminate infectious pathogens. We have previously demonstrated that most memory Th lymphocytes reside and rest on stromal niches of the bone marrow (BM). Little is known, however, regarding the molecular basis for the generation and maintenance of BM memory Th lymphocytes. Here we show that CD69-deficient effector CD4 T lymphocytes fail to relocate into and persist in the BM and therefore to differentiate into memory cells. Consequently, CD69-deficient CD4 T cells fail to facilitate the production of high-affinity antibodies and the generation of BM long-lived plasma cells in the late phase of immune responses. Thus, CD69 is critical for the generation and maintenance of professional memory Th lymphocytes, which can efficiently help humoral immunity in the late phase. The deficit of immunological memory in CD69-deficient mice also highlights the essential role of BM for the establishment of Th memory.
RNA ligase RtcB splices 3′-phosphate and 5′-OH ends via covalent RtcB-(histidinyl)-GMP and polynucleotide-(3′)pp(5′)G intermediates
Authors: Chakravarty Anupam K. , Subbotin Roman , Chait Brian T. , Shuman Stewart
Published: April 2012

A cherished tenet of nucleic acid enzymology holds that synthesis of polynucleotide 3′-5′ phosphodiesters proceeds via the attack of a 3′-OH on a high-energy 5′ phosphoanhydride: either a nucleoside 5′-triphosphate in the case of RNA/DNA polymerases or an adenylylated intermediate A(5′)pp(5′)N– in the case of polynucleotide ligases. RtcB exemplifies a family of RNA ligases implicated in tRNA splicing and repair. Unlike classic ligases, RtcB seals broken RNAs with 3′-phosphate and 5′-OH ends. Here we show that RtcB executes a three-step ligation pathway entailing (
i
) reaction of His337 of the enzyme with GTP to form a covalent RtcB-(histidinyl-N)-GMP intermediate; (
ii
) transfer of guanylate to a polynucleotide 3′-phosphate to form a polynucleotide-(3′)pp(5′)G intermediate; and (
iii
) attack of a 5′-OH on the –N(3′)pp(5′)G end to form the splice junction. RtcB is structurally
sui generis
, and its chemical mechanism is unique. The wide distribution of RtcB proteins in bacteria, archaea, and metazoa raises the prospect of an alternative enzymology based on covalently activated 3′ ends.
Simultaneous inhibition of two regulatory T-cell subsets enhanced Interleukin-15 efficacy in a prostate tumor model
Authors: Yu Ping , Steel Jason C. , Zhang Meili , Morris John C. , Waitz Rebecca , Fasso Marcella , Allison James P. , Waldmann Thomas A.
Published: April 2012

IL-15 has potential as an immunotherapeutic agent for cancer treatment because of its ability to effectively stimulate CD8 T cell, natural killer T cell, and natural killer cell immunity. However, its effectiveness may be limited by negative immunological checkpoints that attenuate immune responses. Recently a clinical trial of IL-15 in cancer immunotherapy was initiated. Finding strategies to conquer negative regulators and enhance efficacy of IL-15 is critical and meaningful for such clinical trials. In a preclinical study, we evaluated IL-15 combined with antibodies to block negative immune regulator cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in an established murine transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP)-C2 prostate tumor model. IL-15 treatment resulted in a significant prolongation of survival in tumor-bearing animals. Coadministration of anti-PD-L1 or anti-CTLA-4 singly with IL-15 did not improve animal survival over that of IL-15 alone. However, simultaneous administration of IL-15 with anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-L1 was associated with increased numbers of tumor antigen-specific tetramer-positive CD8 T cells, increased CD8 T-cell tumor lytic activity, augmented antigen-specific IFN-γ release, decreased rates of tumor growth, and improved animal survival compared with IL-15 alone. Furthermore, triple combination therapy was associated with inhibition of suppressive functions of CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells and CD8+CD122+regulatory T cells. Thus, simultaneous blockade of CTLA-4 and PD-L1 protected CD4 and/or CD8 T-cell activity from these regulatory T cells. Combining the immune stimulatory properties of IL-15 with simultaneous removal of two critical immune inhibitory checkpoints, we showed enhancement of immune responses, leading to increased antitumor activity.
Biocompatible fluorescent zein nanoparticles for simultaneous bioimaging and drug delivery application
Authors: Girija Aswathy Ravindran , Sivakumar Balasubramanian , Brahatheeswaran Dhandayudhapani , Fukuda Takahiro , Yoshida Yasuhiko , Maekawa Toru , Sakthi Kumar D
Published: April 2012

We report the synthesis of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded biocompatible fluorescent zein nanoparticles. Zein is the storage protein in corn kernels that has a variety of unique characteristics and functionalities that makes zein valuable in various commercial applications. It is classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We synthesized zein nanoparticles of around 800 nm in size and conjugated with quantum dot ZnS:Mn. The nanoparticle was in turn encapsulated with the drug 5-FU. The luminescent properties of these nanoparticles were studied by using fluorescence microscopy. The nanoparticles were characterized and the drug release profile was studied. The biocompatibility of zein nanoparticle and the cytotoxicity with drug-loaded nanoparticle was studied in L929 and MCF-7 cell lines. The nanoparticles were successfully employed for cellular imaging. In vitro drug release studies were also performed. The biocompatibility of the nanoparticle showed that nanoparticles at higher concentrations are compatible for cells and are expected to be promising agents for the targeted delivery of drugs in the near future.
From conjugacy classes in the Weyl group to unipotent classes, II
Authors: Lusztig G.
Published: April 2012

Let

G
G

be a connected reductive group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic

p
p

. In an earlier paper we defined a surjective map

Φ

p

\Phi _{p}

from the set

W
_

\underline {W}

of conjugacy classes in the Weyl group

W
W

to the set of unipotent classes in

G
G

. Here we prove three results for

Φ

p

\Phi _{p}

. First we show that

Φ

p

\Phi _{p}

has a canonical one-sided inverse. Next we show that

Φ

0

=
r

Φ

p

\Phi _{0}=r\Phi _{p}

for a unique map

r
r

. Finally, we construct a natural surjective map from

W
_

\underline {W}

to the set of special representations of

W
W

which is the composition of

Φ

0

\Phi _{0}

with another natural map and we show that this map depends only on the Coxeter group structure of

W
W

.
Never Tell: Dynamics of Secrecy in Philippe Grimbert's
Un secret
Authors: Hand Seán
Published: April 2012

Philippe Grimbert's 2004 novel
Un secret
brings together first-person identification, Holocaust-related memory, and psychoanalytic investigation, around the story of the secret circumstances preceding the narrator's birth and upbringing. The article first reviews the story's wartime revelations and their progressive unfolding. It then focuses, via a contrast between the psychoanalytic concepts of introjection and incorporation, on those residual features of the story that seem to resist psychological resolution. While making reference throughout to key theoretical discussions of Holocaust representation, the article next centres on recent philosophical objections to the supposed unrepresentability of Holocaust memory, and on how Grimbert's work might elucidate these arguments. The article then concludes with a consideration of those detailed yet fundamental moments in the work when secrecy nonetheless persists beyond any articulation or representation of loss and sacrifice.
Inflammation‐mediated genomic instability: roles of activation‐induced cytidine deaminase in carcinogenesis
Authors: Shimizu Takahiro , Marusawa Hiroyuki , Endo Yoko , Chiba Tsutomu
Published: April 2012

Chronic inflammation is a strong risk factor for the development of cancer. Many previous studies have demonstrated that a transcriptional factor, nuclear factor (NF)‐κB, plays an important role in the association between inflammation and cancer development, particularly tumor promotion and tumor progression. Although it is well recognized that cancer develops via stepwise accumulation of genetic aberrations, the mechanisms underlying the generation of these genetic alterations in normal epithelial cells under inflammatory conditions are not known. We recently demonstrated that pathogenic bacterial or viral factors and the subsequent inflammatory reactions lead to the aberrant expression of a DNA mutator enzyme, activation‐induced cytidine deaminase (AID), in various epithelial cells via NF‐κB activation, which causes the accumulation of genetic alterations in tumor‐related genes. AID activation is widely observed in gastrointestinal tissues with cancer‐associated inflammation, such as chronic viral hepatitis, Helicobacter pylori‐related gastritis, Barrett's esophagus and inflammatory bowel disease. Furthermore, a deficiency of endogenous AID expression reduces both accumulation of somatic mutations in tumor‐related genes and tumor incidence in a mouse model of inflammation‐associated cancer development. These findings strongly suggest that AID plays an integral role in inflammation‐associated carcinogenesis and is therefore a potential target molecule for the prevention and treatment of cancers. (Cancer Sci 2012; 103: 1201–1206)
Arecoline downregulates levels of p21 and p27 through the reactive oxygen species/mTOR complex 1 pathway and may contribute to oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Ji Wen‐Tsai , Yang Sheng‐Ru , Chen Jeff Yi‐Fu , Cheng Ya‐Ping , Lee Ying‐Ray , Chiang Ming‐Ko , Chen Hau‐Ren
Published: April 2012

Arecoline, the major alkaloid of areca nut, has been shown to cause strong genotoxicity and is considered a potential carcinogen. However, the detailed mechanism for arecoline‐induced carcinogenesis remains obscure. In this study, we noticed that the levels of p21 and p27 increased in two oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines with high confluence. Furthermore, when treated with arecoline, elevated levels of p21 and p27 could be downregulated through the reactive oxygen species/mTOR complex 1 (ROS/mTORC1) pathway. Although arecoline decreased the activity of mTORC1, the amounts of autophagosome‐like vacuoles or type II LC3 remained unchanged, suggesting that the downregulation of p21 and p27 was independent of autophagy‐mediated protein destruction. Arecoline also caused DNA damage through ROS, indicating that the reduced levels of p21 and p27 might facilitate G
1/S transition of the cell cycle and subsequently lead to error‐prone DNA replication. In conclusion, these data have provided a possible mechanism for arecoline‐induced carcinogenesis in subcytolytic doses in vivo. (Cancer Sci 2012; 103: 1221–1229)
A preliminary survey of epiphytes in some tree canopies in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Batke Sven P.
Published: April 2012

The vertical distribution of the density and richness of vascular and nonvascular epiphytes on some mature trees was studied in two 1 km2 plots in Miombo Woodland in Zambia (n = 20) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) (n = 20). The aim was to assess the diversity of arboreal epiphytes and to investigate general distribution patterns of epiphytes along some individual mature phorophytes. Species richness was low on both sampling sites (24 in D.R.C. and nineteen in Zambia) with Orchidaceae being the richest family. Epiphyte density for both sampling plots was high with 92% of the available surface area being occupied. Lichens showed the highest density of 67.2% followed by moss 18.4%, orchids 7.9% and ferns 6.5%. Species richness and density showed a clear zonation within the canopy. Richness and density peaked in the upper and mid‐canopy and was positively correlated with available surface area, branch aspect and to some extent bark pH, but not with bark texture. This study demonstrated that tree canopies can harbour a diversity of epiphyte species, and the findings constitute baseline information in such environments.
Review article: fructose in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Yilmaz Y.
Published: April 2012

Background

The role of excess fructose intake in the pathogenesis of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently received increasing attention, but the pathophysiology of this relationship has been only partly elucidated.

Aim

To provide an overview of the potential role played by fructose in the pathogenesis of NAFLD by focusing on both indirect and direct harmful effects.

Methods

Experimental and clinical studies which investigated the relation of fructose with NAFLD are reviewed.

Results

Several factors may potentially contribute to fructose‐induced NAFLD, including the induction of the metabolic syndrome, copper deficiency, bacterial translocation from the gut to the liver, the formation of advanced glycation endproducts and a direct dysmetabolic effect on liver enzymes.

Conclusions

Experimentally‐increased fructose intake recapitulates many of the pathophysiological characteristics of the metabolic syndrome in humans, which may in turn lead to NAFLD. However, the majority of experimental studies tend to involve feeding excessively high levels of fructose (60–70% of total energy intake) which is not reflective of average human intake. Hopefully, the combination of in vivo, in vitro and genetic research will provide substantial mechanistic evidence into the role of fructose in NAFLD development and its complications.
Meta‐analysis on the association between non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug use and ovarian cancer
Authors: Ni Xiaojian , Ma Jingjing , Zhao Yingchun , Wang Ying , Wang Shui
Published: April 2012

AIM Animal and in vitro studies suggest that the use of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be associated with reduced risk for ovarian cancer. However, results from these studies have been inconsistent. The aim of our study was to review and summarize the evidence provided by longitudinal studies on the association between NSAID use and ovarian cancer risk.

METHODS A comprehensive literature search for articles published up to December 2011 was performed. Prior to performing a meta‐analysis, the studies were evaluated for publication bias and heterogeneity. Relative risk (RR) or odds ratios (OR) were calculated.

RESULTS Seventeen reports (13 case–control studies, one clinical trial and three cohort studies), published between 1998 and 2011 were identified. There was no evidence of an association between aspirin use and ovarian cancer risk based on a random‐effects model (RR = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82, 1.01) or a fixed‐effects model (RR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.87, 1.01). Similarly, we did not find strong evidence of an association between non‐aspirin NSAID use and ovarian cancer using a random‐effects model (RR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.74, 1.08) or a fixed‐effects model (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.76, 0.98). Furthermore, our analysis did not show a strong association between frequency or duration of non‐aspirin‐NSAID use and ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that there is no strong evidence of an association between aspirin/NA‐NSAID use and ovarian cancer. However, this subject deserves further investigation.
Crossing no man's land: a specialist support service for parents with learning disabilities
Authors: Tarleton Beth , Porter Sue
Published: April 2012

This paper discusses the key role played by a specialist Parents with Learning Disabilities team in supporting parents with learning disabilities who are involved with child protection services. This team is recognized as working through three levels of relationships to enable parents to engage firstly with this service and then with services concerned with the welfare of their children. The team also promotes positive multi‐agency relationships. The service is praised, by parents, for its respectful, trusting yet honest and challenging relationships and was also respected and trusted by child protection workers, who are sure of the team's commitment to the welfare of the children and who see them as central to the support that is provided to parents with learning disabilities. Parents who have previously had children removed are engaged with children's services and being supported to parent by this service which is living out the principles of positive support for this group of parents discussed in the Good Practice Guidance on Working with Parents with Learning Disabilities (Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills) and Finding the Right Support (2006).
Social workers' perspectives on parental engagement when children are at risk in Romanian society
Authors: Popoviciu Salomea , Birle Delia , Popoviciu Ioan , Bara Daniel
Published: April 2012

This paper presents the findings of a study that looked at social workers' perspectives on parental engagement in making the difficult choice of either taking the child into care or keeping the family together. The paper first explores the specific context of children at risk in Romanian society and explains that in this middle‐income nation there is an absence of evidence‐based risk assessment tools, which prompts social workers to use their own ‘common sense’ risk assessment indicators. The findings of this small‐scale, non‐representative study on several public non‐voluntary child protection services in Romania suggest that social workers' perceptions of specific dimensions of parental engagement in non‐voluntary child protection may influence service delivery decisions and outcomes.
IL‐17 eliminates therapeutic effects of oral tolerance in murine airway allergic inflammation
Authors: Kawakami H. , Koya T. , Kagamu H. , Kimura Y. , Sakamoto H. , Yamabayashi C. , Furukawa T. , Sakagami T. , Miyabayashi T. , Hasegawa T. , Suzuki E. , Narita I.
Published: April 2012

Background

Oral tolerance is a classically used strategy for antigen‐specific systemic immunotherapy. However, the roles of IL‐17 in modification of oral tolerance are not yet understood.

Objective

To define the effects of IL‐17 on the modification of oral tolerance, the effects of transfer of Th17 cells, administration of IL‐17 or anti‐IL‐17 antibody (αIL‐17Ab) to a murine allergic airway inflammation model were investigated.

Methods

Mice sensitized to and challenged with OVA, received OVA feeding, followed by OVA challenges. Transfer of Th17 cells, administration of IL‐17 or αIL‐17Ab were executed during OVA feeding. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), airway inflammation, Th2 cytokine response and lung pathology were assessed.

Results

Administration of IL‐17 as well as transfer of Th17 cells aggravated AHR and airway allergic inflammation as compared with the findings in mice subjected to OVA feeding alone, whereas administration of αIL‐17Ab ameliorated AHR and airway eosinophilia. The effects of Th17 transfer were presumably attributable to augmentation of endogenous IL‐6 production in gut. The number of Foxp3‐positive regulatory T (Treg) cells in lungs and Payer's patches was increased in the OVA fed mice, whereas the number of these cells was decreased in the mice subjected to OVA feeding + Th17 cell transfer. Neutralization of IL‐6 by monoclonal antibody in the mice subjected to OVA feeding + transfer of Th17 cells restored the effects of oral tolerance.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance

These data suggest that IL‐17 may inhibit the induction of tolerance to antigen through, at least in part augmenting IL‐6 production, thereby suppressing the expansion of Treg cells.