bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Framing of the North Korean Six-Party Talks by Chinese and North Korean News Agencies: Communist Propaganda and National Interests
Authors: Jang Won Yong , Hong Junhao , Frederick Edward
Published: January 2017

This article examines the subtle differences in news coverage of the Six-Party Talks by China's Xinhua news agency and North Korea's Korean Central News Agency from 2003 to 2007. The news agencies are the targets of propaganda from the various interests involved in the North Korean nuclear issue. The focus is on how the agencies framed the issue and whether the frames adopted by each reflected its country's dominant ideology and national interests. It was found that the two news agencies adopted frames for the issue that were consistent with the dominant ideology in their respective nations.
Making Media Participatory
Authors: Spurgeon Christina , Edmond Maura
Published: January 2017

In 2002, Media International Australia published a special issue on Citizens' Media (no. 103). It profiled new academic work that was reinvigorating research into alternative and community-interest media. Contributions to that issue explored new possibilities for community media policy and argued that critical participatory media provided a crucial link between media studies and broader agendas in political theory and democratic debate. In this issue, we refresh this debate with a collection of articles from new and established researchers that consider the use of critical perspectives in participatory digital culture, which has flourished with the growth of consumer markets for digital media technologies.
Public Service Media and Social TV: Bridging or Expanding Gaps in Participation?
Authors: Hutchinson Jonathon
Published: January 2017

The public service media (PSM) remit requires the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to provide for minorities while fostering national culture and the public sphere. Social media platforms and projects – specifically ‘social TV’ – have enabled greater participation in ABC content consumption and creation; they provide opportunities for social participation in collaborative cultural production. However it can be argued that, instead of deconstructing boundaries, social media platforms may in fact reconstruct participation barriers within PSM production processes. This article explores ABC co-creation between Twitter and the # 7DaysLater television program, a narrative-based comedy program that engaged its audience through social media to produce its weekly program. The article demonstrates why the ABC should engage with social media platforms to collaboratively produce content, with # 7DaysLater providing an innovative example, but suggests skilled cultural intermediaries with experience in community facilitation should carry out the process.
Children's Media Making, but Not Sharing: The Potential and Limitations of Child-Specific Diy Media Websites
Authors: Grimes Sara , Fields Deborah A.
Published: January 2017

From drawing pictures to making home movies, children have long produced their own, do-it-yourself (DIY) media at the individual and local scales. Today, children's DIY media creation increasingly takes place online, using digital technologies and tools that allow them to not only produce but also share their ideas with the world. This article relays findings from the first stages of a three-year inquiry project into the opportunities and challenges associated with the rise of children's online DIY media: an extensive media scan to identify websites and an in-depth content analysis of the terms and conditions, privacy policies and overall site designs. Among our key findings is the discovery that a narrow emphasis on making and a systematic disregard for the crucial role of sharing predominate the current children's online DIY media environment. Furthermore, corporate ownership claims and a lack of features aimed at enabling user interaction often diminish the sites' potential to advance children's cultural rights and educational opportunities. We conclude that a disproportionate emphasis on making as a form of individualised learning has led to an undermining of crucial dimensions of children's DIY media.
Moving beyond Evidence: Participatory Online Documentary Practice within the Poetic Framework of Cowbird
Authors: Frankham Bettina
Published: January 2017

The growth of user contribution as a form of interaction within online documentary projects is causing a shift in the way screen-based documentary is conceived. Viewers become participants, taking on greater agency in forming the experience of the work as they engage by contributing personal responses to the exploration of a subject. Rather than being fixed works with definite beginnings and endings, these online collaborative documentaries operate as portals, encouraging communities to gather around themes, events or areas of interest. While the diversity of contributions promises rich conceptual renderings, a significant challenge lies in the question of how to create a coherent media entity out of aggregated content that may be contradictory, complex and constantly changing. The online storytelling platform Cowbird establishes a social media space that engages a range of aesthetic, structural and organisational techniques to facilitate the sequenciation of diverse sources into multi-vocal chronicles of experience. Cowbird initiatives, such as the Pine Ridge Community Storytelling Project, where individual accounts of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were published as a mosaic collection alongside a feature article about the reservation in National Geographic magazine, suggest alternative modes of exchange between old and new media. This article examines the visual, structural and interaction design of Cowbird to explore how this complex and changeful format works to stimulate poetic and affective webs of connection. It is my contention that the system of multilinear engagement employed on Cowbird enables an emergent approach to documentary that can accommodate a nuanced and shifting range of individual responses.
Transformative Times: Australian Journalists' Perceptions of Changes in Their Work
Authors: Hanusch Folker
Published: January 2017

Numerous studies have pointed to the fact that journalism in most industrialised societies is undergoing a particularly intensive period of transformation. Yet, while many scholars have studied how news organisations are changing, comparatively few studies have inquired into how journalists themselves are experiencing the changes in their work brought on by the technological, economic and cultural transformations. Based on a representative study of Australian journalists, this article reports on their perceptions of changes in a variety of influences on and aspects of their work over the past five years. It finds that journalists say change has been most notable in audience interactions and technological innovation, while economic changes are somewhat less strong. Importantly, they are also very concerned about an increase in sensationalism and a drop in journalistic standards and the credibility of journalism. Results are also compared across different organisational contexts.
Media Sport: Practice, Culture and Innovation
Authors: Hutchins Brett , Meese James , Podkalicka Aneta
Published: January 2017

This article introduces the special issue on Media Sport: Practice, Culture and Innovation, and outlines the overall objectives and focus of the eight collected essays. The tripartite of ‘practice, culture and innovation’ encapsulates emerging themes in the study of media sport that connect with core (inter-)disciplinary concerns in and around communications and media studies: (1) media practice and what people do in relation to media; (2) the role of television, digital platforms, social networking, mobile media, apps and wearable media devices in the constitution of media cultures; and; (3) how both these issues relate to broadly articulated conceptions and processes of innovation. These articles add to a rich tradition of media sport research that stretches back four decades, as well as two previous special issues of Media International Australia published on sports media (in 1995 and 2011). They also continue the important process of renewing this tradition by the inclusion of new and established researchers based in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and Spain, and analytical perspectives that draw selectively upon media studies, television studies, cultural studies, media anthropology, social psychology and economics.
Practices of Media Sport: Everyday Experience and Audience Innovation
Authors: Meese James , Podkalicka Aneta
Published: January 2017

Media sport has a long history as a significant site of media innovation, and existing work in media and cultural studies has explored how media sport, technological innovation and regulatory frameworks interact. However, this work often focuses on how major actors such as broadcasting organisations, sporting bodies and telecommunications companies mediate sport. As a complementary strategy to this ‘top-down’ analysis, we approach media sport through the lens of practice, which allows us to understand everyday forms of engagement with, and consumption of, media sport in a clearer fashion. The article analyses existing policy discourses and social commentaries centred on the targeted ‘high-quality’ or ‘high-tech technological’ innovation, and argues that users of sports media are also motivated by series of cultural rewards and varied tradeoffs that do not map neatly onto industrial categories of quality or media consumption trends.
Social Media and Niche Sports: The Netball Anz Championship and Commonwealth Games on Twitter
Authors: Vann Portia , Woodford Darryl , Bruns Axel
Published: January 2017

This article analyses and compares Twitter activity for the niche sport of netball over the 2013 trans-Tasman ANZ Championship competition and the international Commonwealth Games event in 2014. Patterns within the Twitter data that were discovered through an analysis of the 2013 ANZ Championship season are considered in terms of the Commonwealth Games, and thus compared between a quasi-domestic and an international context. In particular, we highlight the extent to which niche sports such as netball attempt to capitalise on the opportunities provided by social media, and the challenges involved in coordinating event-specific hashtags, such as the #netball2014 hashtag promoted by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Interdependencies of demand for international air transportation and international tourism
Authors: Divisekera Sarath
Published: January 2017

This article analyses the interdependency of demand for two of the leading traded services globally: international travel (transportation) and international tourism. Based on the Almost Ideal Demand System, the study models transport and tourism demand simultaneously for a range of countries: Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. Overall, tourism demand is found to be more expenditure and price-elastic than is the demand for transport services to the same destination. The cross-price elasticities indicate significant interdependencies of demand between transport and tourism, and between destinations. Overall, the cross-price elasticities confirm the complementarity between transport demand and tourism demand. However, in the cases of the UK demand for the United States and the US demand for the United Kingdom, substitutability between the two demand types is found.
The relationship among tourism, poverty, and economic development in developing countries
Authors: Kim Namhyun , Song HakJun , Pyun Ju Hyun
Published: January 2017

This study investigates the relationship among tourism, poverty, and economic development in developing countries. The empirical model is set up using unbalanced panel observations for 69 developing countries for the period 1995–2012. The findings show that tourism has heterogeneous effects on the poverty ratio in terms of a country’s income per capita: the positive effect of tourism on poverty alleviation switches to being negative after a certain threshold of a country’s income level. The results of this study indicate that only the least developed countries (those with an income per capita below international dollar 3400) have benefited from the tourism industry in terms of reducing their poverty ratios.
Tourism intensity impact on satisfaction with life of German residents
Authors: Tokarchuk Oksana , Gabriele Roberto , Maurer Oswin
Published: January 2017

Tourism researchers as well as policy makers are interested in knowing the impact of tourism on residents’ life. Recent studies address this issue by looking at residents’ quality of life measures. These studies, however, are based on convenience sample with investigation that is usually limited to one single destination at a given point of time. Socioeconomic characteristics of individuals have strong effect on the perception of tourism impact. In the present study, we investigate the impact of tourism intensity on residents’ satisfaction with life using the theoretical framework of the bottom-up spillover theory. The analysis is based on a representative socioeconomic panel of German households over a period from 2000 to 2011. The analysis conducted involves the whole country distinguishing tourism destinations at administrative districts level. The empirical models suggest that tourism intensity and well-being of employed and unemployed residents present nonlinear U-shaped relationship. For low tourism intensities, residents’ well-being is weakly affected while for higher intensities, the positive effect is stronger.
A closer look at the relationships between panic attacks, emergency department visits and non-cardiac chest pain
Authors: Foldes-Busque Guillaume , Denis Isabelle , Poitras Julien , Fleet Richard P , Archambault Patrick , Dionne Clermont E
Published: January 2017

This study examined the prevalence of emergency department visits prompted by panic attacks in patients with non-cardiac chest pain. A validated structured telephone interview was used to assess panic attacks and their association with the emergency department consultation in 1327 emergency department patients with non-cardiac chest pain. Patients reported at least one panic attack in the past 6 months in 34.5 per cent (95% confidence interval: 32.0%–37.1%) of cases, and 77.1 per cent (95% confidence interval: 73.0%–80.7%) of patients who reported panic attacks had visited the emergency department with non-cardiac chest pain following a panic attack. These results indicate that panic attacks may explain a significant proportion of emergency department visits for non-cardiac chest pain.
Ethnographic perspectives on global mental health
Authors: Jain Sumeet , Orr David M. R.
Published: January 2017

The field of Global Mental Health (GMH) aims to influence mental health policy and practice worldwide, with a focus on human rights and access to care. There have been important achievements, but GMH has also been the focus of scholarly controversies arising from political, cultural, and pragmatic critiques. These debates have become increasingly polarized, giving rise to a need for more dialogue and experience-near research to inform theorizing. Ethnography has much to offer in this respect. This paper frames and introduces five articles in this issue of Transcultural Psychiatry that illustrate the role of ethnographic methods in understanding the effects and implications of the field of global mental health on mental health policy and practice. The papers include ethnographies from South Africa, India, and Tonga that show the potential for ethnographic evidence to inform GMH projects. These studies provide nuanced conceptualizations of GMH's varied manifestations across different settings, the diverse ways that GMH's achievements can be evaluated, and the connections that can be drawn between locally observed experiences and wider historical, political, and social phenomena. Ethnography can provide a basis for constructive dialogue between those engaged in developing and implementing GMH interventions and those critical of some of its approaches.
European integration as a peace project
Authors: Birchfield Vicki L , Krige John , Young Alasdair R
Published: January 2017

Using the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s justification for awarding the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU) as a foil, this article examines the EU through the prism of being a peace project. It contends that European integration reflects a Wilsonian liberalism approach to building peace, which emphasizes free trade and democracy, but with a distinctly European twist; an additional emphasis on functional integration and institutionalization, as well as a regional focus. It also identifies three themes that run through the contributions to the special section. First, there has been a strong dialectic between the internal and external dimensions of security in the European integration project from the outset. In some ways, these have been reinforcing, but in others, they have been contradictory. Second, the European peace project has passed though successive, if often overlapping, chronological phases. These phases have been defined by different security challenges that called for different policy approaches. Russian aggression and jihadi terrorism characterize the most recent phase. The third theme is that, despite the changes in terms of threats and policies, there has been a remarkable consistency in two reinforcing respects: the persistent tension among the member states about closer integration with respect to the external security, and the tendency of the EU to emphasize institution building and to neglect strategy. The article concludes with a dialogic introduction to the individual contributions.
New concepts for the ventilation of shopping centers: Reducing air change rate, applying active chilled beams and elevating cold water supply temperature
Authors: Mathis Paul , Freitag Henning , Hegemann Daniela , Schmidt Martin , Müller Dirk
Published: January 2017

New concepts of removing the cooling loads in shopping centres are presented in a multi-disciplinary study. In air-quality experiments, we found that the air change rate (ACR) in shops can be reduced significantly, while still maintaining acceptable air quality. Dilution curves of typical odour-intensive retail goods were measured, which show that ACRs can be reduced down to 1.75 h−1 without impacting odour perception significantly. Then, the standard ventilation systems were replaced by air–water systems, namely active chilled beams, which allow for a combined supply of fresh air and heat removal via the water circuit. To realize low ACRs in the shops, experimental studies for developing high-induction active chilled beam systems are presented. Finally, CFD simulations were conducted in a generic shop. Aspects like room air flow, odour propagation and thermal comfort were investigated. The cold water supply was assumed to be generated in a renewable way, leading to high cold water supply temperatures. Feasible ventilation configurations with ACRs as low as 1.1 h−1 have been identified without deteriorating either air quality or thermal comfort. Primary energy consumption was assessed according to German standards and was reduced by up to 67% with the presented approach.
European integration as a moral economy: Greek technocrats amidst capitalism-in-crisis
Authors: Gkintidis Dimitrios
Published: January 2017

This article engages in the ongoing anthropological discussion on the concept of ‘moral economy’ and opts for its multileveled use. It affirms the concept’s suitability for grasping class-specific sets of moral values and considerations on the economy, as well as universalized moral frameworks through which the economy is commonly addressed by both dominated and dominant classes. In dealing with such universalized moral economies, it is suggested that our analysis should critically address the symbolic construction of the economy as an essentially moral process. The value of such a focus lies in analyzing and historicizing the recurrence of epistemologies that deny the centrality of structural oppositions in capitalism and, rather, place emphasis on moral categories, such as fairness, intentionality, and obligation. This multileveled understanding and use of the concept of moral economy can help us to further comprehend the delineation of neoliberalism in European space and the moral reformulation of the political economy of capitalism-in-crisis. The article is based on ethnographic material addressing the course of action taken by Greek technocrats specialized in the policies and cohesion funds of the European Union.
Speculating on childhood and time, with Michael Ende’s Momo (1973)
Authors: Duhn Iris
Published: January 2017

Childhood and time are closely linked concepts in education. Childhood as a modern domain is a cornerstone of the human narrative of being in time, with birth as the beginning and death as the end. A newborn child marks new beginnings and hope for the future, and geopolitically early childhood education is now seen as a cornerstone for building the economic wealth of nations. This perception of childhood and time as leading to better futures has come under scrutiny at a time when futures seem less and less predictable due to increasing economic, environmental, social, political and cultural pressures and tensions. This article explores childhood and time as concepts to speculatively imagine time as rhythm that creates differentiations with the aim of cutting time loose from linearity and causality. Michael Ende’s fairy-tale novel Momo (1973) offers possibilities for imagining time in its materiality and assists in speculative imaginings of time as rhythm that generates spaces for another, less causal and linear sense of time in early childhood education.
(Re)defining “good teaching”: Teacher performance assessments and critical race theory in early childhood teacher education
Authors: Michael Luna Sara
Published: January 2017

Using three tenents of Critical Race Theory, this study examines the influence of edTPAs on diverse early childhood pre-service teachers in a graduate program. Findings suggest that (1) Color-blind admissions policy and practice were at odds with edTPA’s perceived academic language demands; (2) A tension emerged between financial demands of edTPA and the constraints of immigrant and linguistically diverse students; and (3) edTPA rubrics and requirements required students of color to write and rewrite their teaching selves to match the external standard.
Diminished Heme Oxygenase Potentiates Cell Death: Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate Mediates Oxidative Stress
Authors: Malaguarnera Lucia , Quan Shuo , Pilastro M. Rosaria , Abraham Nader G. , Kappas Attallah
Published: January 2017

Pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) is a metal-chelating compound that exerts both pro-oxidant and antioxidant effects and is widely used as an antitumor and anti-inflammatory agent. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a redox-sensitive-inducible protein that provides efficient cytoprotection against oxidative stress. Because it has been reported that several angiogenic stimulating factors upregulating HO-1 in endothelial cells cause a significant increase in angiogenesis, we investigated the effect of PDTC on cell proliferation and angiogenesis and the effect of overexpression and underexpression of HO-1. The evaluation of PDTC (20 or 50 μM) in endothelial cells resulted in significant increase in HO-1 mRNA and protein ( P < 0.001), but a decrease in cell proliferation. Pretreatment of endothelial cells with SnCl2 (10 μM), an inducer of HO-1 attenuated the PDTC-mediated decrease in cell proliferation ( P < 0.05). In contrast, pretreatment with SnMP, an inhibitor of HO activity, magnified the inhibiting effect of PDTC on cell proliferation. Upregulation of HO-1 gene expression by retrovirus-mediated delivery of the human HO-1 gene also attenuated the PDTC-induced decrease in cell proliferation. Underexpression of HO-1, by delivery of the human HO-1 in antisense orientation, enhanced the PDTC-mediated decrease in cell proliferation. The decrease, by PDTC, in proliferation of cells underexpressing HO-1 is related to an increase in O−2 production. Collectively, these results demonstrate that upregulation of HO-1 was able to attenuate the PDTC-mediated cell proliferation, but was unable to reverse the high concentration of PDTC-induced decrease in angiogenesis.
Generation of Heme Oxygenase-1-Transgenic Rats
Authors: Braudeau C. , Bouchet D. , Toquet C. , Tesson L. , Ménoret S. , Iyer S. , Laboisse C. , Willis D. , Jarry A. , Buelow R. , Anegon I. , Chauveau C.
Published: January 2017

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression protects cells from a variety of cellular insults and inhibits inflammation. However, its role in the regulation of immune responses has not yet been clearly established. We generated HO-1 transgenic rats to directly test the impact of HO-1 on the different immune mechanisms. To temporally control the expression of HO-1, we used a one-plasmid tetracycline (tet)-inducible system. This plasmid contains the H-2Kb promoter, which transcribes the tet transactivator (tTA) and expression of a human HO-1 cDNA is obtained in the absence of tetracycline. The DNA construct was microinjected into one-cell rat embryos and mothers and pups were maintained with tetracycline. Eight transgenic founders were obtained. Analysis of transgene expression in the absence of tet showed that 2 lines (12.4 and 12.6) expressed HO-1 mRNA in several organs (as detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) and at the protein level only in the thymus. Expression levels of transgene-derived HO-1 increased after withdrawal of tet compared with transgenic rats maintained with tet, as detected by analysis of mRNA levels by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Gross examination and histopathological analysis of several organs in both lines showed no anomalies. Thymocytes and splenocytes of both lines showed normal cell subpopulations and allogeneic proliferation compared with controls. Systemic immune responses against cognate antigens were normal in both lines, as evaluated by the proliferation of lymph node cells and the production of antibodies against keyhole limpet hemocyanin after immunization. Animals from line 12.6 rejected transplanted allogeneic hearts with the same kinetics as controls. In conclusion, short-term induction of HO-1 overexpression did not modify immune responses compared to those of control non-transgenic animals.
Endothelial Protection by Pentaerithrityl Trinitrate: Bilirubin and Carbon Monoxide as Possible Mediators
Authors: Oberle Stefanie , Abate Aida , Grosser Nina , Hemmerle Anke , Vreman Hendrik J. , Dennery Phyllis A. , Schneider Heinz T. , Stalleicken Dirk , Schröder Henning
Published: January 2017

Pentaerithrityl tetranitrate (PETN) is a long-acting donor of nitric oxide (NO) and has recently been characterized as an antianginal agent that, in contrast with other nitric acid esters, does not induce oxidative stress and is therefore free of tolerance. Moreover, animal experiments have revealed that PETN actively reduces oxygen radical formation in vivoand specifically prevents atherogenesis and endothelial dysfunction. Because heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has been described as an antiatherogenic and cytoprotective gene in the endothelium, our aim was to investigate the effect of the active PETN metabolite pentaerithrityl trinitrate (PETriN) on HO-1 expression and catalytic activity in endothelial cells. Endothelial cells derived from human umbilical vein were incubated with PETriN (0.01–1 mM) for 8 hr. PETriN increased HO-1 mRNA and protein levels in a concentration-dependent fashion up to 3-fold over basal levels. Elevation of HO-1 protein was accompanied by a marked increase in catalytic activity of the enzyme as reflected by enhanced formation of both carbon monoxide and the endogenous antioxidant, bilirubin. Pretreatment of endothelial cells with PETriN or bilirubin at low micromolar concentrations protected endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-mediated toxicity. HO-1 induction and endothelial protection by PETriN were not mimicked by isosorbide dinitrate, another long-acting nitrate. The present study demonstrates that the active PETN metabolite, PETriN, stimulates mRNA and protein expression as well as enzymatic activity of the antioxidant defense protein, HO-1, in endothelial cells. Increased HO-1 expression and ensuing formation of bilirubin and carbon monoxide may contribute to and explain the specific antioxidant and antiatherogenic actions of PETN.
Alterations in Heme Oxygenase/Carbon Monoxide System in Pulmonary Arteries in Hypertension
Authors: Ndisang Joseph Fomusi , Wang Rui
Published: January 2017

Enhancement of the heme oxygenase/carbon monoxide (HO/CO) system has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in young (8 weeks), but not in adult (20 weeks) spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats. The reasons for this selective effect still remain puzzling. We investigated the effects of hemin on the HO/CO system of the pulmonary artery (PA) in SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at different ages and evaluated the hemin-dependent changes in sGC and cGMP pathways. Hemin administration resulted in an evident reduction of BP (from 148.6 ± 3.2 to 125.8 ± 2.6 mmHg, P < 0.01) in young, but not in prehypertensive (4 weeks) or adult SHR or WKY rats at all ages. Coadministration of the HO inhibitor, chromium mesoporphyrin, with hemin, cancelled the BP-lowering effect of hemin. Remarkably, lower expression levels of HO-1, HO-2, and sGC paralleled with reduced HO activity and cGMP content were observed in PA from 8-week SHR rats, but not from adult SHR or WKY rats of all ages. Interestingly, hemin treatment restored these deficiencies, although the expression level of non-inducible HO-2 protein remained unchanged. We conclude that in young and prehypertensive SHR rats, an impaired HO/CO-sGC/cGMP system in the PA might be indicative of the pathogenesis and development of hypertension. In contrast, the HO/CO system in the PA of adult SHR rats was upregulated as a compensatory reaction to elevated BP and desensitization of the downstream targets of the sGC/cGMP pathway occurred.
Heme Oxygenase-1 Gene Expression Attenuates Angiotensin II-Mediated DNA Damage in Endothelial Cells
Authors: Mazza Francesco , Goodman Alvin , Lombardo Gabriella , Vanella Angelo , Abraham Nader G.
Published: January 2017

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the conversion of heme to biliverdin with the release of iron and carbon monoxide. HO-1 is inducible by inflammatory conditions, which cause oxidative stress in endothelial cells. Overexpression of human HO-1 in endothelial cells may have the potential to provide protection against a variety of agents that cause oxidative stress. We investigated the physiological significance of human HO-1 overexpression using a retroviral vector on attenuation of angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated oxidative stress. Comet and glutathione (GSH) levels were used as indicators of the levels of oxidative stress. Comet assay was performed to evaluate damage on DNA, whereas GSH levels were measured to determine the unbalance of redox potential. Pretreatments with inducers, such as heme 10 μM, SnCl210 μM, and inhibitors, such as tin-mesoporphyrin 10 μM was followed by treatment with Ang II 200 ng/ml. Pretreatment with heme or SnCl2provoked significant reductions ( P < 0.01) of tail moment in the comet assay. Opposite effects were evident by pretreatment for 16 hr with tin-mesoporphyrin. A decrease in tail moment levels was found in human endothelial cells transduced with the human HO-1 gene. The addition of Ang II (200 ng/ml) to human dermal microvessel endothelial cel1-1 for 16 hr resulted in a significant ( P < 0.05) reduction of GSH contents control endothelial cells but not in endothelial cells transduced with HO-1 gene. The results presented indicated that stimulation or overexpression of HO-1 attenuated DNA damages caused by exposures of Ang II.
Immunization Against Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Fusion Proteins Does Not Decrease Prostate Cancer in the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma Mouse Prostate Model
Authors: Hill Richard E. , de Avila David M. , Bertrand Kevin P. , Greenberg Norman M. , Reeves Jerry J.
Published: January 2017

This study was undertaken to test the effect of immunization against luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) fusion proteins on the development and progression of prostate cancer in the transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP) model. Two LHRH fusion proteins, ovalbumin with seven LHRH peptides (OV-LHRH-7), and thioredoxin with seven LHRH peptides (TH-LHRH-7) were used in a cocktail vaccine. Two groups of male TRAMP mice were immunized with the cocktail. Primary immunizations were at either 4 or 8 weeks of age. LHRH immunized mice ( n = 19) were compared with castrated ( n = 19) and intact mice ( n = 18) for testosterone concentration, tumor weight, and lifespan. Immunization against LHRH in the TRAMP mice resulted in significant production of antibodies to LHRH compared with surgically castrated and intact control mice. Testicular weight was significantly reduced in the LHRH immunized groups compared with intact control mice. Serum testosterone was reduced ( P < 0.05) in the immunized mice compared with intact control mice and was not different from that of castrated mice ( P > 0.05). Tumor weight was variable and inconsistent throughout all treatment groups. Lifespan was not increased by immunization against LHRH or castration. Intact control mice (lived the longest (227 ± 11 days), whereas immunized mice lived 206 ± 11 days and castrated mice lived 213 ± 13 days. Tumors from immunized TRAMP mice appeared more aggressive than tumors of castrated and intact mice, as demonstrated by 35% expression of gross lung tumors in the immunized mice whereas none were observed in the castrated or intact TRAMP mice. Prostate cancer is initially dependent upon androgens for growth and development, but cells have the ability to escape androgen dependence and progress to an androgen independent state, which was evident in this study. The TRAMP mouse model immunized against LHRH may have utility in future studies and treatments of the androgen independent prostate cancer.
Hydrogen Peroxide Inhibits Insulin Signaling in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Authors: Gardner Carla D. , Eguchi Satoru , Reynolds Cherilynn M. , Eguchi Kunie , Frank Gerald D. , Motley Evangeline D.
Published: January 2017

Both insulin resistance and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been reported to play essential pathophysiological roles in cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. However, the mechanistic link between ROS, such as H2O2and insulin resistance in the vasculature, remains undetermined. Akt, a Ser/Thr kinase, mediates various biological responses induced by insulin. In this study, we examined the effects of H2O2on Akt activation in the insulin-signaling pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). In VSMCs, insulin stimulates Akt phosphorylation at Ser473. Pretreatment with H2O2concentration- and time-dependently inhibited insulin-induced Akt phosphorylation with significant inhibition observed at 50 μM for 10 min. A ROS inducer, diamide, also inhibited insulin-induced Akt phosphorylation. In addition, H2O2inhibited insulin receptor binding partially and inhibited insulin receptor autophosphorylation almost completely. However, pretreatment with a protein kinase C inhibitor, GF109203X (2 μM), for 30 min did not block the inhibitory effects of H2O2on insulin-induced Akt phosphorylation, suggesting that protein kinase C is not involved in the inhibition by H2O2. We conclude that ROS inhibit a critical insulin signal transduction component required for Akt activation in VSMCs, suggesting potential cellular mechanisms of insulin resistance, which would require verification in vivo.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: An Assessment of the Field
Authors: West James R. , Blake Charles A.
Published: January 2017

Fetal exposure to alcohol is the major known cause of mental retardation in the Western world. For more than half of the 20th century, the placenta was widely believed to be an effective barrier against environmental agents. The discovery that offspring of pregnant women who were exposed to German measles or administered thalidomide were often malformed raised awareness that teratogens could be any environmental agent, including viruses and drugs, that caused abnormal development. Alcohol was not identified as a teratogen until the 1970s. Fetal exposure to alcohol can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is characterized by specific physical traits and central nervous system dysfunctions. The development of animal model systems has facilitated our study of the effects of fetal alcohol exposure and the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in alcohol-induced abnormal development. Despite our current understanding of the effects of fetal alcohol exposure, the occurrence of FAS and associated fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is still widespread and the associated health-care costs are staggering. This symposium provides an up-to-date analysis of fetal exposure to alcohol and FAS. It is directed not only to investigators working in the field but to a diverse group of scientists working in the biological and biomedical fields to stimulate cross-disciplinary awareness, interest, and collaboration.
Genesis of Alcohol-Induced Craniofacial Dysmorphism
Authors: Sulik Kathleen K.
Published: January 2017

The initial diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in the United States was made because of the facial features common to the first cohort of patients. This article reviews the development of an FAS mouse model whose craniofacial features are remarkably similar to those of affected humans. The model is based on short-term maternal treatment with a high dosage of ethanol at stages of pregnancy that are equivalent to Weeks 3 and 4 of human gestation. At these early stages of development, alcohol’s insult to the developing face is concurrent with that to the brain, eyes, and inner ear. That facial and central nervous system defects consistent with FAS can be induced by more “realistic” alcohol dosages as illustrated with data from an oral alcohol intake mouse model in which maternal blood alcohol levels do not exceed 200 mg/dl. The ethanol-induced pathogenesis involves apoptosis that occurs within 12 hrs of alcohol exposure in selected cell populations of Day 7, 8, and 9 mouse embryos. Experimental evidence from other species also shows that apoptosis underlies ethanol-induced malformations. With knowledge of sensitive and resistant cell populations at specific developmental stages, studies designed to identify the basis for these differing cellular responses and, therefore, to determine the primary mechanisms of ethanol’s teratogenesis are possible. For example, microarray comparisons of sensitive and resistant embryonic cell populations have been made, as have in situ studies of gene expression patterns in the populations of interest. Studies that illustrate agents that are effective in diminishing or exacerbating ethanol’s teratogenesis have also been helpful in determining mechanisms. Among these agents are antioxidants, sonic hedgehog protein, retinoids, and the peptides SAL and NAP.
A Review of Epidemiologic Studies of Tomatoes, Lycopene, and Prostate Cancer
Authors: Giovannucci Edward
Published: January 2017

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. Preventable measures for this malignancy are not well established. Among potentially beneficial natural compounds is the carotenoid lycopene, which is derived largely from tomato-based products. Recent epidemiologic studies have suggested a potential benefit of this carotenoid against the risk of prostate cancer, particularly the more lethal forms of this cancer. Five studies support a 30% to 40% reduction in risk associated with high tomato or lycopene consumption, three are consistent with a 30% reduction in risk, but the results were not statistically significant, and seven were not supportive of an association. The largest relevant dietary study, a prospective study in male health professionals found that consumption of two to four servings of tomato sauce per week was associated with about a 35% risk reduction of total prostate cancer and a 50% reduction of advanced (extraprostatic) prostate cancer. Tomato sauce was by far the strongest predictor of plasma lycopene levels in this study. In the largest plasma-based study, very similar risk reductions were observed for total and advanced prostate cancer for the highest versus lowest quintile of lycopene. Other studies, mostly dietary case-control studies, have not been as supportive of this hypothesis. The reasons for these inconsistencies are unclear, but in three of the seven null studies, tomato consumption or serum lycopene level may have been too low to observe an effect. Because the concentration and bioavailability of lycopene vary greatly across the various food items, dietary questionnaires vary markedly in their usefulness of estimating the true variation in tissue lycopene concentrations across individuals. To optimize the interpretation of future findings, the usefulness of the questionnaire to measure lycopene levels in a population should be directly assessed. Although not definitive, the available data suggest that increased consumption of tomatoes and tomato-based products may be prudent.
Effects of Lycopene Supplementation in Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer
Authors: Kucuk Omer , Sarkar Fazlul H. , Djuric Zora , Sakr Wael , Pollak Michael N. , Khachik Fred , Banerjee Mousumi , Bertram John S. , Wood David P.
Published: January 2017

Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse association between dietary intake of lycopene and prostate cancer risk. We conducted a clinical trial to investigate the biological and clinical effects of lycopene supplementation in patients with localized prostate cancer. Twenty-six men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer were randomly assigned to receive a tomato oleoresin extract containing 30 mg of lycopene (n = 15) or no supplementation (n = 11) for 3 weeks before radical prostatectomy. Biomarkers of cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed by Western blot analysis in benign and cancerous prostate tissues. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring the Peripheral blood lymphocyte ONA oxidation product 5-hydroxymethyl-deoxyuridine (5-OH-mdU). Usual dietary Intake of nutrients was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Prostatectomy specimens were evaluated for pathologic stage, Gleason score, volume of cancer, and extent of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Plasma levels of lycopene, insulin-like growth factor-1, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, and prostate-specific antigen were measured at baseline and after 3 weeks of supplementation or observation. After intervention, subjects in the intervention group had smaller tumors (80% vs 45%, less than 4 ml), less involvement of surgical margins and/or extra-prostatic tissues with cancer (73% vs 18%, organ-confined disease), and less diffuse involvement of the prostate by high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (33% vs 0%, focal involvement) compared with subjects in the control group. Mean plasma prostate-specific antigen levels were lower in the intervention group compared with the control group. This pilot study suggests that lycopene may have beneficial effects in prostate cancer. Larger clinical trials are Warranted to investigate the potential preventive and/or therapeutic role of lycopene in prostate cancer.
Lycopene, Tomatoes, and the Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease
Authors: Rao A. V.
Published: January 2017

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the primary causes of death in the Western world. The emphasis so far has been on the relationship between serum cholesterol levels and the risk of CHD. More recently, oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is also considered to play an important part in the etiology of this disease. Oxidation of the circulating low-density lipoprotein (LDLox) is thought to play a key role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and CHD. According to this hypothesis, macrophages inside the arterial wall take up the LDLoxand initiate the process of plaque formation. Dietary antioxidants such as vitamin E and ß-carotene have been shown in In vitro studies to prevent the formation of LDLoxand their uptake by microphages. In a recent study, healthy human subjects ingesting lycopene, a carotenoid antioxidant, in the form of tomato juice, tomato sauce, and oleoresin soft gel capsules for 1 week had significantly lower levels of LDLoxcompared with controls. The antioxidant effects of lycopene have also been shown in four other human trials, including one where lycopene consumption reduced the levels of breath pentane. However, in one recent study, dietary supplementation with ß-carotene but not with lycopene was shown to inhibit LDL oxidation. The sources of lycopene used in most of these studies were either tomato products or lycopene extracted from tomatoes containing other carotenoids in various proportions. Therefore, it is not possible to attribute the effects solely to lycopene. Mechanisms other than the antioxidant properties of lycopene have also been shown to reduce the risk of CHD. Lycopene was shown to inhibit the activity of an essential enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis in an in vitro and a small clinical study suggesting a hypocholesterolemic effect. Other possible mechanisms include enhanced LDL degradation, LDL particle size and composition, plaque rupture, and altered endothelial functions. Recent epidemiological studies have also shown an inverse relationship between tissue and serum levels of lycopene and mortality from CHD, cerebrovascular disease, and myocardial infraction. However, the most impressive population-based evidence comes from a multicenter case-control study where subjects from 10 European countries were evaluated for relationship between antioxidant status and acute myocardial infarctions. After adjusting for a range of dietary variables, only lycopene levels but not ß-carotene were found to be protective. At present, the role of lycopene in the prevention of CHD is strongly suggestive. Although the antioxidant property of lycopene may be one of the principal mechanism for its effect, other mechanisms may also be responsible. Controlled clinical and dietary intervention studies using well-defined subject populations and disease end points must be undertaken in the future to provide definitive evidence for the role of lycopene in the prevention of CHD. Mechanistic studies must also be initiated to understand the mode of lycopene action.