bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of four hypocaloric diets containing different levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup on weight loss and related parameters
Authors: Lowndes Joshua , Kawiecki Diana , Pardo Sabrina , Nguyen Von , Melanson Kathleen J , Yu Zhiping , Rippe James M
Published: August 2012

Background

The replacement of sucrose with HFCS in food products has been suggested as playing a role in the development of obesity as a public health issue. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of four equally hypocaloric diets containing different levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Methods

This was a randomized, prospective, double blind trial, with overweight/obese participants measured for body composition and blood chemistry before and after the completion of 12 weeks following a hypocaloric diet. The average caloric deficit achieved on the hypocaloric diets was 309 kcal.

Results

Reductions were observed in all measures of adiposity including body mass, BMI,% body fat, waist circumference and fat mass for all four hypocaloric groups, as well as reductions in the exercise only group for body mass, BMI and waist circumference.

Conclusions

Similar decreases in weight and indices of adiposity are observed when overweight or obese individuals are fed hypocaloric diets containing levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup typically consumed by adults in the United States.
MicroRNA-98 and microRNA-214 post-transcriptionally regulate enhancer of zeste homolog 2 and inhibit migration and invasion in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Huang Sheng-Dong , Yuan Yang , Zhuang Chong-Wen , Li Bai-Ling , Gong De-Jun , Wang Shu-Gang , Zeng Zhi-Yong , Cheng He-Zhong
Published: August 2012

Background

The enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) was found to be overexpressed and associated with tumor metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). On the other hand, it was reported that miR-26a, miR-98, miR-101, miR-124, miR-138 and miR-214 could inhibit the expression of EZH2 in some tumors. However, the role of miRNAs in the regulation of EZH2 expression in human ESCC has not been documented. The aim of this study was to determine the role of these miRNAs in the regulation of tumor metastasis via EZH2 overexpression in human ESCC.

Methods and results

The expression of these miRNAs and EZH2 mRNA were examined by qPCR and the expression of EZH2 protein was detected by western blot. The role of these miRNAs in migration and invasion was studied in ESCC cell line (Eca109) transfected with miRNA mimics or cotransfected with miRNA mimics and pcDNA-EZH2 plasmid (without the 3’-UTR of EZH2). Through clinical investigation, we found that miR-98 and miR-214 expression was significantly lower in ESCC tissues than in matched normal tissues, and the expression level of miR-98 and miR-214 was inversely correlated to EZH2 protein expression and the clinical features such as pathological grade, tumor stage and lymph node metastasis in ESCC. In Eca109 cells, overexpression of miR-98 and miR-214 significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of ESCC cells, which was reversed by transfection of EZH2.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that decreased expression of miR-98 and miR-214 might promote metastasis of human ESCC by inducing accumulation of EZH2 protein.
Reducing harm from HIV/AIDS misconceptions among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: A cross sectional analysis
Authors: Robertson Angela M , Ojeda Victoria D , Nguyen Lucie , Lozada Remedios , Martínez Gustavo A , Strathdee Steffanie A , Patterson Thomas L
Published: August 2012

Background

HIV prevalence is increasing among female sex workers (FSWs) in Mexico’s Northern border region, who experience multiple occupational risks. Improving vulnerable populations’ education, empowerment, and access to preventive services are important components of harm reduction strategies. Given the increasing interest in adapting harm reduction principles from drug use to sex work and other public health responses to the HIV epidemic, we used a sex work harm reduction framework to guide our investigation of FSWs’ HIV knowledge.

Methods

From 2004–2006, FSWs aged ≥18 years in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez participated in a behavioral intervention study and completed structured interviews. Measures included HIV knowledge assessment and factors within each domain of our theoretical framework for sex work harms: (1) socio-demographic factors that may lead to sex work, (2) sex work characteristics and behaviors that may lead to harm, and (3) mutually reinforcing harms that lead to sex work and result from it (e.g., drug abuse). Negative binomial regression identified factors independently associated with suboptimal HIV knowledge (i.e., incorrect responses during the HIV knowledge assessment).

Results

Among 924 FSWs, the median proportion of incorrect responses was nearly one third (28% incorrect). Examination of item responses revealed misconceptions regarding specific transmission and prevention mechanisms, including prevention of mother to child transmission. Suboptimal HIV knowledge was independently associated with older age, lower education, living in Tijuana (vs. Ciudad Juarez), inconsistent condom use for vaginal sex with male clients, and lacking prior HIV testing.

Conclusions

Our application of a sex work harm reduction framework to the study of FSWs’ HIV knowledge is an important first step in enhancing HIV prevention efforts in Northern Mexican border cities. Our findings imply that interventions should identify and discredit local HIV misconceptions to improve knowledge of specific HIV transmission routes and self-protective strategies (e.g., condom negotiation). Interventions will require materials appropriate for women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and may benefit from innovative harm reduction approaches such as peer education and outreach.
A cross sectional assessment of health related quality of life among patients with Hepatitis-B in Pakistan
Authors: ul Haq Noman , Hassali Mohamed Azmi , Shafie Asrul A , Saleem Fahad , Aljadhey Hisham
Published: August 2012

Objective

The study aims to assess Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among Hepatitis B (HB) patients and to identify significant predictors of the HRQoL in HB patients of Quetta, Pakistan.

Methods

A cross sectional study by adopting European Quality of Life scale (EQ-5D) for the assessment of HRQoL was conducted. All registered HB patients attending two public hospitals in Quetta, Pakistan were approached for study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic and disease related characteristics of the patients. HRQoL was scored using values adapted from the United Kingdom general population survey. EQ-5D scale scores were compared with Mann–Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test. Standard multiple regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of HRQoL. All analyses were performed using SPSS v 16.0.

Results

Three hundred and ninety HB patients were enrolled in the study. Majority of the participants (n = 126, 32.3%) were categorized in the age group of 18-27 years (36.07 ± 9.23). HRQoL was measured as poor in the current study patients (0.3498 ± 0.31785). The multivariate analysis revealed a significant model (F10, 380 = 40.04, P < 0.001, adjusted r2 = 0.401). Educational level (β = 0.399, p = 0.025) emerged as a positive predictor of HRQoL. Age, gender, occupation, income and locality were not predictive of better quality of life in HB patients.

Conclusions

Hepatitis B has an adverse affect on patients’ well-being and over all HRQoL. The study findings implicate the need of health promotion among HB patients. Improving the educational status and imparting disease related information for the local population can results in better control and management of HB.
The tumor suppressor gene RBM5 inhibits lung adenocarcinoma cell growth and induces apoptosis
Authors: Shao Chen , Zhao Lijing , Wang Ke , Xu Wei , Zhang Jie , Yang Baoxue
Published: August 2012

Background

The loss of tumor suppressor gene (TSG) function is a critical step in the pathogenesis of human lung cancer. RBM5 (RNA-binding motif protein 5, also named H37/LUCA-15) gene from chromosome 3p21.3 demonstrated tumor suppressor activity. However, the role of RBM5 played in the occurrence and development of lung cancer is still not well understood.

Method

Paired non-tumor and tumor tissues were obtained from 30 adenocarcinomas. The expression of RBM5 mRNA and protein was examined by RT-PCR and Western blot. A549 cell line was used to determine the apoptotic function of RBM5 in vitro. A549 cells were transiently transfected with pcDNA3.1-RBM5. AnnexinV analysis was performed by flow cytometry. Expression of Bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PAPP proteins in A549 lung cancer cells and the A549 xenograft BALB/c nude mice model was determined by Western blot. Tumor suppressor activity of RBM5 was also examined in the A549 xenograft model treated with pcDNA3.1-RBM5 plasmid carried by attenuated Salmonella typhi Ty21a.

Result

The expression of RBM5 mRNA and protein was decreased significantly in adenocarcinoma tissues compared to that in the non-tumor tissues. In addition, as compared to the vector control, a significant growth inhibition of A549 lung cancer cells was observed when transfected with pcDNA3.1-RBM5 as determined by cell proliferation assay. We also found that overexpression of RBM5 induced both early and late apoptosis in A549 cells using AnnexinV/PI staining as determined by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the expression of Bcl-2 protein was decreased, whereas the expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and PARP proteins was significantly increased in the RBM5 transfected cells; similarly, expression of decreased Bcl-2 and increased cleaved caspase-3 proteins was also examined in the A549 xenograft model. More importantly, we showed that accumulative and stable overexpression of RBM5 in the A549 xenograft BALB/c nude mice model significantly inhibited the tumor growth rate in vivo as compared to that in the control.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates that RBM5 can inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells and induce apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo, which suggests that RBM5 might be used as a potential biomarker or target for lung cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy. Moreover, we propose a novel animal model set up in BALB/c nude mice treated with attenuated Salmonella as a vector carrying plasmids to determine RBM5 function in vivo.
Shape of snack foods does not predict snack intake in a sample of preschoolers: a cross-over study
Authors: Boyer Lauren E , Laurentz Sara , McCabe George P , Kranz Sibylle
Published: August 2012

Background

In the past decade, the proportion snacking has increased. Snack foods consumed are predominantly not nutritious foods. One potential venue to increase children’s diet quality is to offer healthy snack foods and we explored if shaped snack foods would lead to increased consumption.

Methods

We investigated the consumption of high-fiber snacks (banana bread, pancakes, and sandwiches) served either in normal (round, square) or shaped (heart, hands, animals) form to preschoolers 2–5 years old attending a local child care center (n = 21). The 9 weeks long, prospective, cross-over intervention study was designed to expose each child repeatedly to each snack in each shape (4 times per snack). Snacks were served as morning or afternoon snack and caretakers’ reports were used to account for the child’s consumption of a meal preceding the study snack (breakfast or lunch).

Results

There was no significant difference in snack consumption between the shaped and normal snacks. However, the mean energy intake from snacks was significantly greater for Caucasian children compared with Asian children. Further, Asian children consumed much less banana bread than the other two snacks. Overall, children who had not eaten breakfast or lunch prior to the morning or afternoon snack ate significantly more calories from the snacks (84.1 kcal, p-value < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Findings of this study confirm previous research that the shape of the foods does not affect snack consumption in children. However, we also report two unexpected findings: a) the strong interaction between ethnicity and snack consumption and b) that Asian children consumed much less banana bread than Caucasian children. The role of children’s ethnic background profoundly affects snack preference and must be considered in the study of children’s eating behaviors and in interventions to promote healthy eating habits.
Providing perfect forward secrecy for location-aware wireless sensor networks
Authors: Chen Chi-Tung , Huang Shu-Yan , Lin Iuon-Chang
Published: August 2012

Sensor nodes are resource-constrained, such as low battery life, computation, bandwidth and memory, so traditional public key schemes are impractical in wireless sensor networks. In the previous schemes, symmetric cryptography is the most common method used in sensor nodes. How to distribute keys into every sensor node is an important issue in many applications for hierarchical sensor networks. Once adversaries compromise a sensor node, they can obtain all information from the sensor’s memory, such as keying material. The revocation of compromised sensor nodes is also a necessary but troublesome operation. These compromised sensor nodes may lead to the compromise of the entire network. In this article, we present an efficient approach to establish security links between each sensor node/cluster head and its neighbor/member. Our scheme only requires small memory size for each cluster head and sensor node, and it can also ensure perfect forward secrecy via changing session key in every transmission.
The random access NUM with multiclass traffic
Authors: Vo Phuong L , Lee Sungwon , Hong Choong Seon
Published: August 2012

In this article, we consider the network utility maximization (NUM) problem for the random access network with multiclass traffic. The utilities associated with the users are not only concave, but also nonconcave functions. Consequently, the random access NUM problem becomes more difficult to solve. Based on the successive approximation method, we propose an algorithm that jointly controls the rate and the persistent probability of the users. The proposed algorithm converges to a suboptimal solution to the original problem which also satisfies the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions. We also generalize the framework so that a broader choice of utility functions can be applied.
Power spectrum optimization for interference mitigation via iterative function evaluation
Authors: Dahrouj Hayssam , Yu Wei , Tang Taiwen
Published: August 2012

Power spectrum optimization is a well-known difficult nonconvex optimization problem for which only local optimality can typically be assured. This paper unifies several classes of local optimization methods and proposes efficient and new methods for power spectrum optimization by observing that methods for reaching the local optimal points can often be expressed in the form of an iterative function evaluation. This proposed new approach is based on the fact that the gradient of the objective function is zero at a local optimum, and that different manipulations of the optimality condition can then lead to different power update equations. As a practical application, this paper examines the benefit of dynamic power spectrum optimization for interference mitigation in a wireless backhaul network in which remote radio units are deployed to serve mobile users in areas with high data traffic demand. The remote radio units, called remote terminals (RT), are connected to access nodes (AN) via orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) over a fixed bandwidth with one RT active in each frequency tone. The system performance is thus limited by internode interference solely, and no intranode interference. This paper shows that iterative function evaluation based methods provide a significant improvement in the overall network throughput in this setting as compared to a conventional network with fixed transmit power spectrum. The proposed methods have computationally fast convergence and can be implemented in a distributed fashion assuming reasonable amount of internode information exchange. Further, some of the proposed methods can be implemented asynchronously at each AN, which makes them amenable to practical utilization.
Existence and uniqueness of solution for a class of nonlinear fractional differential equations
Authors: Ma Shichang , Xu Yufeng , Yue Wei
Published: August 2012

In this paper, we present some new existence and uniqueness results for nonlinear fractional differential equations with a kind of general irregular boundary condition in Banach space by using a fixed-point theorem and contraction mapping principle. Moreover, the boundary condition is extended, therefore, some conclusions from other references are special cases of our results.

MSC:26A33, 34A08.
Generalized stability of classical polynomial functional equation of order n
Authors: Eungrasamee Tippaporn , Udomkavanich Patanee , Nakmahachalasint Paisan
Published: August 2012

We study a general n th order polynomial functional equation

Δ
y
n

f
(
x
)
=
n
!
f
(
y
)

on linear spaces and prove its generalized stability.

MSC:39B52, 39B82.
Opposing effects of Notch-signaling in maintaining the proliferative state of follicle cells in the telotrophic ovary of the beetle Tribolium
Authors: Bäumer Daniel , Ströhlein Nadi M , Schoppmeier Michael
Published: August 2012

Introduction

Establishment of distinct follicle cell fates at the early stages of Drosophila oogenesis is crucial for achieving proper morphology of individual egg chambers. In Drosophila oogenesis, Notch-signaling controls proliferation and differentiation of follicular cells, which eventually results in the polarization of the anterior-posterior axis of the oocyte. Here we analyzed the functions of Tribolium Notch-signaling factors during telotrophic oogenesis, which differs fundamentally from the polytrophic ovary of Drosophila.

Results

We found Notch-signaling to be required for maintaining the mitotic cycle of somatic follicle cells. Upon Delta RNAi, follicle cells enter endocycle prematurely, which affects egg-chamber formation and patterning. Interestingly, our results indicate that Delta RNAi phenotypes are not solely due to the premature termination of cell proliferation. Therefore, we monitored the terminal/stalk cell precursor lineage by molecular markers. We observed that upon Delta RNAi terminal and stalk cell populations were absent, suggesting that Notch-signaling is also required for the specification of follicle cell populations, including terminal and stalk precursor cells.

Conclusions

We demonstrate that with respect to mitotic cycle/endocycle switch Notch-signaling in Tribolium and Drosophila has opposing effects. While in Drosophila a Delta-signal brings about the follicle cells to leave mitosis, Notch-signaling in Tribolium is necessary to retain telotrophic egg-chambers in an “immature” state. In most instances, Notch-signaling is involved in maintaining undifferentiated (or preventing specialized) cell fates. Hence, the role of Notch in Tribolium may reflectthe ancestral function of Notch-signaling in insect oogenesis.

The functions of Notch-signaling in patterning the follicle cell epithelium suggest that Tribolium oogenesis may - analogous to Drosophila - involve the stepwise determination of different follicle cell populations. Moreover, our results imply that Notch-signaling may contribute at least to some aspects of oocyte polarization and AP axis also in telotrophic oogenesis.
Non structural protein of avian influenza A (H11N1) virus is a weaker suppressor of immune responses but capable of inducing apoptosis in host cells
Authors: Mukherjee Sanjay , Majumdar Shamik , Vipat Veena C , Mishra Akhilesh C , Chakrabarti Alok K
Published: August 2012

Background

The Non-Structural (NS1) protein of Influenza A viruses is an extensively studied multifunctional protein which is commonly considered as key viral component to fight against host immune responses. Even though there has been a lot of studies on the involvement of NS1 protein in host immune responses there are still ambiguities regarding its role in apoptosis in infected cells. Interactions of NS1 protein with host factors, role of NS1 protein in regulating cellular responses and apoptosis are quite complicated and further studies are still needed to understand it completely.

Results

NS1 genes of influenza A/Chicken/India/WBNIV2653/2008 (H5N1) and A/Aquatic bird/India/NIV-17095/2007(H11N1) were cloned and expressed in human embryonic kidney (293T) cells. Microarray based approach to study the host cellular responses to NS1 protein of the two influenza A viruses of different pathogenicity showed significant differences in the host gene expression profile. NS1 protein of H5N1 resulted in suppression of IFN-β mediated innate immune responses, leading to down-regulation of the components of JAK-STAT pathway like STAT1 which further suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines like CXCL10 and CCL5. The degree of suppression of host immune genes was found considerable with NS1 protein of H11N1 but was not as prominent as with H5N1-NS1. TUNEL assay analyses were found to be positive in both the NS1 transfected cells indicating both H5N1 as well as H11N1 NS1 proteins were able to induce apoptosis in transfected cells.

Conclusions

We propose that NS1 protein of both H5N1 and H11N1 subtypes of influenza viruses are capable of influencing host immune responses and possess necessary functionality to support apoptosis in host cells. H11N1, a low pathogenic virus without any proven evidence to infect mammals, contains a highly potential NS1 gene which might contribute to greater virus virulence in different gene combinations.
Methods of staining and visualization of sphingolipid enriched and non-enriched plasma membrane regions of Arabidopsis thaliana with fluorescent dyes and lipid analogues
Authors: Blachutzik Jörg O , Demir Fatih , Kreuzer Ines , Hedrich Rainer , Harms Gregory S
Published: August 2012

Background

Sterols and Sphingolipids form lipid clusters in the plasma membranes of cell types throughout the animal and plant kingdoms. These lipid domains provide a medium for protein signaling complexes at the plasma membrane and are also observed to be principal regions of membrane contact at the inception of infection. We visualized different specific fluorescent lipophilic stains of the both sphingolipid enriched and non-sphingolipid enriched regions in the plasma membranes of live protoplasts of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Results

Lipid staining protocols for several fluorescent lipid analogues in plants are presented. The most emphasis was placed on successful protocols for the single and dual staining of sphingolipid enriched regions and exclusion of sphingolipid enriched regions on the plasma membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts. A secondary focus was placed to ensure that these staining protocols presented still maintain cell viability. Furthermore, the protocols were successfully tested with the spectrally sensitive dye Laurdan.

Conclusion

Almost all existing staining procedures of the plasma membrane with fluorescent lipid analogues are specified for animal cells and tissues. In order to develop lipid staining protocols for plants, procedures were established with critical steps for the plasma membrane staining of Arabidopsis leaf tissue and protoplasts. The success of the plasma membrane staining protocols was additionally verified by measurements of lipid dynamics by the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technique and by the observation of new phenomena such as time dependent lipid polarization events in living protoplasts, for which a putative physiological relevance is suggested.
Correlation of serum C-reactive protein, white blood count and neutrophil percentage with histopathology findings in acute appendicitis
Authors: Xharra Shefki , Gashi-Luci Lumturije , Xharra Kumrije , Veselaj Fahredin , Bicaj Besnik , Sada Fatos , Krasniqi Avdyl
Published: August 2012

Background

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies. Accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis is based on careful history, physical examination, laboratory and imaging investigation. The aim of the study is to analyze the role of C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood count (WBC) and Neutrophil percentage (NP) in improving the accuracy of diagnosis of acute appendicitis and to compare it with the intraoperative assessment and histopathology findings.

Materials and methods

This investigation was a prospective double blinded clinical study. The study was done on 173 patients surgically treated for acute appendicitis. The WBC, NP, and measurement of CRP were randomly collected pre-operatively from all involved patients. Macroscopic assessment was made from the operation. Appendectomy and a histopathology examination were performed on all patients. Gross description was compared with histopathology results and then correlated with CRP, WBC, and NP.

Results

The observational accuracy was 87,3%, as compared to histopathological accuracy which was 85.5% with a total of 173 patients that were operated on. The histopathology showed 25 (14.5%) patients had normal appendices, and 148 (85.5%) patients had acutely inflamed, gangrenous, or perforated appendicitis. 52% were male and 48% were female, with the age ranging from 5 to 59 with a median of 19.7. The gangrenous type was the most frequent (52.6%). The WBC was altered in 77.5% of the cases, NP in 72.3%, and C-reactive protein in 76.9% cases. In those with positive appendicitis, the CRP and WBC values were elevated in 126 patients (72.8%), whereas NP was higher than 75% in 117 patients (67.6%). Out of 106 patients with triple positive tests, 101 (95.2%) had appendicitis. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values of the 3 tests in combination were 95.3%, 72.2%, and 95.3%, respectively.

Conclusion

The raised value of the CRP was directly related to the severity of inflammation (p-value <0.05). CRP monitoring enhances the diagnostic accuracy of acute appendicitis. The diagnostic accuracy of CRP is not significantly greater than WBC and NP. A combination of these three tests significantly increases the accuracy. We found that elevated serum CRP levels support the surgeon's clinical diagnosis.
Late decompressive craniectomyafter traumatic brain injury: neurological outcome at 6 months after ICU discharge
Authors: Cianchi Giovanni , Bonizzoli Manuela , Zagli Giovanni , di Valvasone Simona , Biondi Simona , Ciapetti Marco , Perretta Lucia , Mariotti Furio , Peris Adriano
Published: August 2012

Introduction

The choice of optimal treatment in traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients is a challenge. The aim of this study was to verify the neurological outcome of severe TBI patients treated with decompressive craniectomy (early < 24 h, late > 24 h), compared to conservative treatment, in hospital and after 6-months.

Methods

A total of 186 TBI patients admitted to the ICU of the Emergency Department of a tertiary referral center (Careggi Teaching Hospital, Florence, Italy) from 2005 through 2009 were retrospectively studied. Patients treated with decompressive craniectomy were divided into 2 groups: “early craniectomy group” (patients who underwent to craniectomy within the first 24 hours); and “late craniectomy group” (patients who underwent to craniectomy later than the first 24 hours). As a control group, patients whose intracranial hypertension was successfully controlled by medical treatment were included in the “no craniectomy group”.

Results

Groups included 41 patients who required early decompressive craniectomy, 21 patients treated with late craniectomy (7.7 days after trauma, on average), and 124 patients for whom intracranial hypertension was successfully controlled through conservative treatment. Groups were comparable in age and trauma/critical illness scores, except for a significantly higher Marshall score in early craniectomized patients. The Glasgow Outcome Scale was comparable between groups at ICU, at the time of hospital discharge and at 6 months.

Conclusions

In our sample, a late craniectomy in patients with refractory intracranial hypertension produced a comparable 6-months neurological outcome if compared to patients responder to standard treatment. This data must be reproduced and confirmed before considering as goal-treatment in refractory intracranial hypertension.
Roles of CREB in the regulation of FMRP by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in cingulate cortex
Authors: Wang Hansen , Morishita Yoshikazu , Miura Daiki , Naranjo Jose R , Kida Satoshi , Zhuo Min
Published: August 2012

Background

Fragile X syndrome is caused by lack of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) due to silencing of the FMR1 gene. The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in the central nervous system contribute to higher brain functions including learning/memory, mental disorders and persistent pain. The transcription factor cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) is involved in important neuronal functions, such as synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival. Our recent study has shown that stimulation of Group I mGluRs upregulated FMRP and activated CREB in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a key region for brain cognitive and executive functions, suggesting that activation of Group I mGluRs may upregulate FMRP through CREB signaling pathway.

Results

In this study, we demonstrate that CREB contributes to the regulation of FMRP by Group I mGluRs. In ACC neurons of adult mice overexpressing dominant active CREB mutant, the upregulation of FMRP by stimulating Group I mGluR is enhanced compared to wild-type mice. However, the regulation of FMRP by Group I mGluRs is not altered by overexpression of Ca2+-insensitive mutant form of downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM), a transcriptional repressor involved in synaptic transmission and plasticity.

Conclusion

Our study has provided further evidence for CREB involvement in regulation of FMRP by Group I mGluRs in ACC neurons, and may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of fragile X syndrome.
Oocyte-like cells induced from mouse spermatogonial stem cells
Authors: Wang Lu , Cao Jinping , Ji Ping , Zhang Di , Ma Lianghong , Dym Martin , Yu Zhuo , Feng Lixin
Published: August 2012

Background

During normal development primordial germ cells (PGCs) derived from the epiblast are the precursors of spermatogonia and oogonia. In culture, PGCs can be induced to dedifferentiate to pluripotent embryonic germ (EG) cells in the presence of various growth factors. Several recent studies have now demonstrated that spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) can also revert back to pluripotency as embryonic stem (ES)-like cells under certain culture conditions. However, the potential dedifferentiation of SSCs into PGCs or the potential generation of oocytes from SSCs has not been demonstrated before.

Results

We report that mouse male SSCs can be converted into oocyte-like cells in culture. These SSCs-derived oocytes (SSC-Oocs) were similar in size to normal mouse mature oocytes. They expressed oocyte-specific markers and gave rise to embryos through parthenogenesis. Interestingly, the Y- and X-linked testis-specific genes in these SSC-Oocs were significantly down-regulated or turned off, while oocyte-specific X-linked genes were activated. The gene expression profile appeared to switch to that of the oocyte across the X chromosome. Furthermore, these oocyte-like cells lost paternal imprinting but acquired maternal imprinting.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate that SSCs might maintain the potential to be reprogrammed into oocytes with corresponding epigenetic reversals. This study provides not only further evidence for the remarkable plasticity of SSCs but also a potential system for dissecting molecular and epigenetic regulations in germ cell fate determination and imprinting establishment during gametogenesis.
Differential effects of Th1 versus Th2 cytokines in combination with hypoxia on HIFs and angiogenesis in RA
Authors: Larsen Helene , Muz Barbara , Khong Tak L , Feldmann Marc , Paleolog Ewa M
Published: August 2012

Introduction

Hypoxia and T-helper cell 1 (Th1) cytokine-driven inflammation are key features of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and contribute to disease pathogenesis by promoting angiogenesis. The objective of our study was to characterise the angiogenic gene signature of RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) in response to hypoxia, as well as Th1 and T-helper cell 2 (Th2) cytokines, and in particular to dissect out effects of combined hypoxia and cytokines on hypoxia inducible transcription factors (HIFs) and angiogenesis.

Methods

Human angiogenesis PCR arrays were used to screen cDNA from RA FLS exposed to hypoxia (1% oxygen) or dimethyloxalylglycine, which stabilises HIFs. The involvement of HIF isoforms in generating the angiogenic signature of RA FLS stimulated with hypoxia and/or cytokines was investigated using a DNA-binding assay and RNA interference. The angiogenic potential of conditioned media from hypoxia-treated and/or cytokine-treated RA FLS was measured using an in vitro endothelial-based assay.

Results

Expression of 12 angiogenic genes was significantly altered in RA FLS exposed to hypoxia, and seven of these were changed by dimethyloxalylglycine, including ephrin A3 (EFNA3), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), adipokines angiopoietin-like (ANGPTL)-4 and leptin. These four proangiogenic genes were dependent on HIF-1 in hypoxia to various degrees: EFNA3 >ANGPTL-4 >VEGF >leptin. The Th1 cytokines TNFα and IL-1β induced HIF-1 but not HIF-2 transcription as well as activity, and this effect was additive with hypoxia. In contrast, Th2 cytokines had no effect on HIFs. IL-1β synergised with hypoxia to upregulate EFNA3 and VEGF in a HIF-1-dependent fashion but, despite strongly inducing HIF-1, TNFα suppressed adipokine expression and had minimal effect on EFNA3. Supernatants from RA FLS subjected to hypoxia and TNFα induced fewer endothelial tubules than those from FLS subjected to TNFα or hypoxia alone, despite high VEGF protein levels. The Th2 cytokine IL-4 strongly induced ANGPTL-4 and angiogenesis by normoxic FLS and synergised with hypoxia to induce further proangiogenic activity.

Conclusion

The present work demonstrates that Th1 cytokines in combination with hypoxia are not sufficient to induce angiogenic activity by RA FLS despite HIF-1 activation and VEGF production. In contrast, Th2 cytokines induce angiogenic activity in normoxia and hypoxia, despite their inability to activate HIFs, highlighting the complex relationships between hypoxia, angiogenesis and inflammation in RA.
ASE Address 2011: An Ethnohistory of Things: Or, How to Treat California's Canastromania
Authors: Usner Daniel
Published: August 2012

Canastromania was a word coined by Smithsonian curator Otis Tufton Mason to capture the early twentieth-century fascination with American Indian basketry. Presented as the American Society for Ethnohistory presidential address at the epicenter of this collecting craze—Pasadena, California—this essay high-lights the basket business of a Pasadena dealer named Grace Nicholson. The study of material things has long been a vital part of ethnohistory, especially for understanding the influence of colonial commerce on indigenous societies. When applied to the movement of baskets and other objects from Indian communities a century ago—into private and public collections, for aesthetic and scientific purposes—an ethnohistorical approach finds intersections of exchange within Nicholson's extensive correspondence that reveal a complex web of relationships among buyers and sellers.
Fire Rock: Navajo Prohibitions against Gambling
Authors: Schwarz Maureen T.
Published: August 2012

Shortly after Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, casinos started appearing on reservations across North America and generating billions of dollars for some formerly destitute tribes. Despite general enthusiasm about gaming in Indian country, the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American nation in the United States, was one of the last holdouts against gaming until quite recently. Some Navajos voiced concerns over the danger of compromising sovereignty through state gaming compacts. Others feared that gaming would attract social ills to their communities. Among those who opposed gaming on what can be termed traditional grounds, many reiterated age-old prohibitions against excess, warnings about witchcraft, statements about the importance of family, fundamental tensions between the simultaneous desire for personal agency and the need for group consensus—which operate within the framework of strong interdictions against any person attempting to control another—and narratives from Navajo oral tradition about a deity known as The Gambler that focus on the dangers of gambling and the various forms of “enslavement” it can cause. It is relevant that Navajo elders and traditionalists focused heavily on this concern because, although Congress ignored it when passing the IGRA, subsequent research reveals that due to the treatment they have received historically, colonized or previously colonized peoples have a greater risk of developing problematic relationships with gambling than members of the conquering populations.
Imaging Islamic Identity: Negotiated Norms of Representation in British-Muslim Picture Books
Authors: Janson Torsten
Published: August 2012

This study analyzes Islamic children’s picture books that were originally produced as a means of religious socialization for Muslim communities in Britain but today are created for a global Islamic market. Particular attention is devoted to the visual norms of the books produced by one of the pioneering publishers of Islamic children’s literature, the Islamic Foundation. The books reveal creative processes of negotiation in their visual programs, which oscillate between the aesthetic standards of Euro-American picture-book traditions and Islamic artistic practices of visual representation. While the books produced during the formative period of the 1980s remained faithful to a strict interpretation of Sunni orthodox norms of representation that shied away from depicting animate beings, children’s literature published from the late 1990s onward has abandoned such pictorial restrictions. More recent figural representations are nevertheless balanced by more subtle ways of underscoring the particularly Islamic character of the picture books. Rather than bluntly imposing visual or theological norms, today’s illustrated children’s books promote religious socialization by relying on a careful selection of key narrative themes and visual symbols.
From Triple Jeopardy to Intersectionality: The Feminist Perplex
Authors: Aguilar Delia D.
Published: August 2012

This essay focuses on the contradictory state of feminism today, showing how the transformations feminism has undergone since the inception of the women’s liberation movement in the late 1960s have manifested accommodations to changes in the broader political arena. To illustrate this, Aguilar’s article traces the evolution of “intersectionality,” a central concept in feminism, from the “triple jeopardy” slogan of the second wave. It makes evident that while intersectionality recounts and mimics the triple jeopardy motif propounded by US third world women it has, in fact, successfully been emptied of its revolutionary content. This essay argues that such evisceration characterizes contemporary US feminism. To resolve this quandary, Aguilar proposes that sharper analytical tools be deployed to comprehend a larger social totality than what prevailing discourse offers and that creative energies be channeled into the building of a revolutionary social movement.
Memory Work as Resistance: Eritrean and Sudanese Women in Conflict Zones
Authors: Hale Sondra
Published: August 2012

Using field data from Eritrea and Sudan, Hale’s essay interprets women’s political memory work in contemporary conflict situations as forms of resistance. Few approaches are more epistemologically generative in analyzing conflict than the politics of memory in which, by recounting conflict situations through various renderings, those engaged try to override, cancel out, and morally supersede their adversaries’ renditions. People try to colonize each other’s pasts, and men try to colonize women’s versions of conflicts. Some strategies for colonizing the memory of violent conflicts involve annihilating culture; dislocating people from their homeland; and trying to shape and control the lives, bodies, and voices of women. In various Sudanese and Eritrean conflict situations, not only do competing ethnic groups and people with differing modes of economy remember their encounters differently, so do women and men. During conflict situations, men may try to recapture stories of the homeland through the bodies of women, a provocative process that sometimes leads to gender-based violence (e.g., Darfur, Sudan) or, by contrast, to gender-blind ideology (e.g., in Eritrea). By substituting their own poetics, women resist a biopolitics in which their bodies are used as a symbolic means of dramatizing conflicts. They have had to replace the everyday, for now, with a politics, polemics, and poetry that allows them to resist.
Activists, Lobbyists, and Suicide Bombers: Lessons from the Palestinian Women’s Movement
Authors: Amireh Amal
Published: August 2012

This essay offers an overview of the recent history of the Palestinian women’s movement beginning with the first intifada (1988-93), passing through the post-Oslo years, and ending with Al Aqsa Intifada (2000–present) in order to highlight the silences of this movement regarding issues of sexuality, militarization, and religion. Amireh argues that these silences were justified by a hegemonic national prioritization paradigm that evaded dealing with women’s issues and by a smear campaign conducted against women activists and NGOs by a vocal Islamist movement that, unlike the secular national movement, places gender and sexuality at the center of its transformative project.
Identifying the Disadvantaged: Official Poverty, Consumption Poverty, and the New Supplemental Poverty Measure
Authors: Meyer Bruce D , Sullivan James X
Published: August 2012

We discuss poverty measurement, focusing on two alternatives to the current official measure: consumption poverty, and the Census Bureau's new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) that was released for the first time last year. The SPM has advantages over the official poverty measure, including a more defensible adjustment for family size and composition, an expanded definition of the family unit that includes cohabitors, and a definition of income that is conceptually closer to resources available for consumption. The SPM's definition of income, though conceptually broader than pre-tax money income, is difficult to implement given available data and their accuracy. Furthermore, income data do not capture consumption out of savings and tangible assets such as houses and cars. A consumption-based measure has similar advantages but fewer disadvantages. We compare those added to and dropped from the poverty rolls by the alternative measures relative to the current official measure. We find that the SPM adds to poverty individuals who are more likely to be college graduates, own a home and a car, live in a larger housing unit, have air conditioning, health insurance, and substantial assets, and have other more favorable characteristics than those who are dropped from poverty. Meanwhile, we find that a consumption measure compared to the official measure or the SPM adds to the poverty rolls individuals who are more disadvantaged than those who are dropped. We decompose the differences between the SPM and official poverty and find that the most problematic aspect of the SPM is the subtraction of medical out-of-pocket expenses from SPM income. Also, because the SPM poverty thresholds change in an odd way over time, it will be hard to determine if changes in poverty are due to changes in income or changes in thresholds. Our results present strong evidence that a consumption-based poverty measure is preferable to both the official income-based poverty measure and to the Supplemental Poverty Measure for determining who are the most disadvantaged.
The New Demographic Transition: Most Gains in Life Expectancy Now Realized Late in Life
Authors: Eggleston Karen N , Fuchs Victor R
Published: August 2012

The share of increases in life expectancy realized after age 65 was only about 20 percent at the beginning of the 20th century for the United States and 16 other countries at comparable stages of development; but that share was close to 80 percent by the dawn of the 21st century, and is almost certainly approaching 100 percent asymptotically. This new demographic transition portends a diminished survival effect on working life. For high-income countries at the forefront of the longevity transition, expected lifetime labor force participation as a percent of life expectancy is declining. Innovative policies are needed if societies wish to preserve a positive relationship running from increasing longevity to greater prosperity.
Who Suffers During Recessions?
Authors: Hoynes Hilary , Miller Douglas L , Schaller Jessamyn
Published: August 2012

In this paper, we examine how business cycles affect labor market outcomes in the United States. We conduct a detailed analysis of how cycles affect outcomes differentially across persons of differing age, education, race, and gender, and we compare the cyclical sensitivity during the Great Recession to that in the early 1980s recession. We present raw tabulations and estimate a state panel data model that leverages variation across U.S. states in the timing and severity of business cycles. We find that the impacts of the Great Recession are not uniform across demographic groups and have been felt most strongly for men, black and Hispanic workers, youth, and low-education workers. These dramatic differences in the cyclicality across demographic groups are remarkably stable across three decades of time and throughout recessionary periods and expansionary periods. For the 2007 recession, these differences are largely explained by differences in exposure to cycles across industry-occupation employment.
The European Sovereign Debt Crisis
Authors: Lane Philip R
Published: August 2012

The origin and propagation of the European sovereign debt crisis can be attributed to the flawed original design of the euro. In particular, there was an incomplete understanding of the fragility of a monetary union under crisis conditions, especially in the absence of banking union and other European-level buffer mechanisms. Moreover, the inherent messiness involved in proposing and implementing incremental multicountry crisis management responses on the fly has been an important destabilizing factor throughout the crisis. After diagnosing the situation, we consider reforms that might improve the resilience of the euro area to future fiscal shocks.
Public Debt Overhangs: Advanced-Economy Episodes Since 1800
Authors: Reinhart Carmen M , Reinhart Vincent R , Rogoff Kenneth S
Published: August 2012

We identify the major public debt overhang episodes in the advanced economies since the early 1800s, characterized by public debt to GDP levels exceeding 90 percent for at least five years. Consistent with Reinhart and Rogoff (2010) and most of the more recent research, we find that public debt overhang episodes are associated with lower growth than during other periods. The duration of the average debt overhang episode is perhaps its most striking feature. Among the 26 episodes we identify, 20 lasted more than a decade. The long duration belies the view that the correlation is caused mainly by debt buildups during business cycle recessions. The long duration also implies that the cumulative shortfall in output from debt overhang is potentially massive. These growth-reducing effects of high public debt are apparently not transmitted exclusively through high real interest rates, as in eleven of the episodes, interest rates are not materially higher.