bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Christopher Marlowe, Individualist
Authors: Kocher Paul
Published: March 2013

The literary detectives have had their way with Marlowe in recent years. Hotson, Eccles, and others have made brilliant discoveries about his turbulent career and his mysterious death under the dagger of Ingram Frizer in the inn at Deptford. But, for all that, we are not much wiser in the central literary problem, which is to understand his plays in relation to his complex personality. The present essay intends to explore in a general way the main areas of that problem and to offer a provisional hypothesis.
Robert Fergusson and Eighteenth-Century Scotland
Authors: Roy James
Published: March 2013

Robert Fergusson was born in Edinburgh on September 5, 1751. His father, William Fergusson, was a clerk; his mother was Elizabeth Forbes, youngest daughter of John Forbes, gentleman, of Templeton, Kildrummy. By birth William Fergusson was his wife's social equal, but, being a younger son, he had to earn his living, and was first bound apprentice to a merchant in Aberdeen.
Reviews
Authors: Randall Helen , Stirk S. D. , Havelock E. A. , Kirkconnell Watson , Shore B. E.
Published: March 2013

Northrop Frye, Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake, reviewed by Helen W. Randall

Felix A. Voigt, Gerhart Hauptmann der Schlesier, reviewed by S. D. Stirk

E.T. Owen, The Story of the Iliad, reviewed by E. A. Havelock

Josheph T. Shipley, ed., Encyclopedia of Literature, reviewed by Watson Kirkconnell

Wilhelm Schmidt, Rassen und Völker in Vorgeschichte und Geschichte des Abendlandes, reviewed by Watson Kirkconnell

John Somerville, Soviet Philosophy, reviewed by B. E. Shore

Maurice J. Shore, Soviet Education, reviewed by B. E. Shore
The Rhetoric of T. H. Huxley
Authors: Houghton Walter
Published: March 2013

For anyone so obviously devoted to controversy and propaganda, Huxley enjoyed a reputation for candour and sincerity that seems almost incredible. We can scarcely believe that the self-appointed champion of science, writing in an age of bitter religious controversy, and endowed with both pugnacity and a flair for style, could have resisted the temptation to use rhetorical sophistries of one kind or another. And use them he did, and with all the more success because, by great good luck, he had managed to acquire a reputation for simple honesty and plain speech which disarmed the usual caution of critics, as well as of general readers, on approaching polemical literature.
Reviews
Authors: Woodhouse  , Brady  , MacLean Kenneth , MacMillan Sir Ernest , Keenleyside  , Boeschenstein  , Woodside
Published: March 2013

B. Rajan, Paradise Lost and the Seventeenth Century Reader, reviewed by A. S. P. Woodhouse

Michael Roberts and A. E. G. Trollip, The South African Opposition, 1939-1945: An Essay in Contemporary History, reviewed by A. Brady

Ernest Samuels, The Young Henry Adams, reviewed by Kenneth MacLean

Robert Manson Myers, Handel's Messiah: A Touchstone of Taste, reviewed by Sir Ernest MacMillan

Arthur Hutchings, Delius: A Critical Biography, reviewed by Sir Ernest MacMillan

Fiorello H. LaGuardia, The Making of an Insurgent: An Autobiography: 1882-1919, reviewed by H. L. Keenleyside

H. A. Reyburn, Nietzsche: The Story of a Human Philosopher, reviewed by H. Boeschenstein

Arnold J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial, reviewed by M. ST. A. Woodside
Tennyson's Idylls
Authors: Priestley
Published: March 2013

One of the most persistent heresies in Tennyson criticism is the belief that the Idylls are literature of escape. Ever since Carlyle, with his usual vigour and not unusual critical myopia, greeted the first group with remarks about "finely elaborated execution,” "inward perfection of vacancy," and "the lollipops were so superlative," the myth has persisted that the poems are mere tapestry-work, "skilfully wrought of high imaginings, faery spells, fantastic legends, and mediaeval splendours ... suffused with the Tennysonian glamour of golden mist, ... like a chronicle illuminated by saintly hands ..."; "a refuge from life"; "a mediaeval arras" behind which Tennyson fled from I'the horrors of the Industrial Revolution." The Idylls are so far from being escape that they represent one of Tennyson's most earnest and important efforts to deal with major problems of his time. Their proper significance can only be grasped by a careful reading, not of separate idylls, but of the complete group in its final form. The misunderstandings by critics have, I think, arisen largely from the reading of detached idylls, a habit encouraged by Tennyson's mode of composition and publication.
Sorel Revisited
Authors: Meisel James
Published: March 2013

The name of George Sorel, whom Benedetto Croce called the only original thinker socialism has had besides Marx, is fairly well established by now. The Author of the Reflections on Violence has achieved text-book stature; even the most casual survey of representative digests in the field of political theory will bear out that assertion. But whether the understanding of Sorel’s work is on a par with his still growing reputation is one question; another is whether Sorel’s teaching is still alive, or merely a paragraph is a closed chapter of recent intellectual history. knows no Latin and less Greek.
Patmore's Theory and Hopkins' Practice
Authors: Stobie Margaret
Published: March 2013

It is remarkable that often the near past is the most obscure period of history. This hooded quality of the proximate is exemplified in the fate of the prosody of Hopkins. Bridges, publishing Hopkins’ poems thirty years after his death, comments: “it was an idiosyncrasy of this student’s mind to push everything to its logical extreme, and take pleasure in a paradoxical result; as may be seen in his prosody where a simple theory seems to be used only as a basis for unexampled liberty.” Taken up with later theories which were engaging the interests of pets in 1918, Bridges did not bother to mention what the “simple theory” was, although by his tone he must have been familiar with it. It was left for Mr. Harold Whitehall, in 1944, discover that this theory was the so-called dipodic theory which had first been announced by Patmore.
Final Causes in the Age of Reason
Authors: McRae Robertt
Published: March 2013

The story has often enough been told of how the seventeenth-century founders of modern science repudiated the use of final causes, of purposes, ends or aims, in the explanation of physical phenomena. The scientist's concern was with how nature worked, to seek out those "inexorable and immutable laws," as Galileo called them, which govern natures operations. The reasons why, or the purposes of nature, were no longer any part of the scientist's business. Nature cares nothing, says Galileo, "whether her abstruse reasons ... be or be not exposed to the capacity of men." Descartes is no less clear on the point. He lays it down that "we shall not seek for the reason of natural things from the end which God or nature has set before him in their creation; for we should not take so much upon ourselves as to believe that God could take us into his counsels." Galileo and Descartes are agreed that nature's purposes are inscrutable. Bacon adds another reason for excluding them from inquiry, namely, that final causes are useless for the production of works, which for him is the true aim of natural science. "The inquisition of final causes," he tells us, "is sterile, and like a virgin consecrated to God, produces nothing."
Poetry
Authors: Brown
Published: March 2013

Reviews of poetry published in Canada in 1949.
Fiction
Authors: Bissell Claude
Published: March 2013

Reviews of fiction published in Canada in 1949.
Freud and the Christian Message: Outline of a Sythesis
Authors: Stewart David
Published: March 2013

In the interests of a new ethic, I am concerned in this paper with the outline of some possible common ground for the Christian message and the psychology of Freud. The price of such a synthesis is not high if it is borne in mind that I refer here to the Christ of the gospels, not of Christian theology, and to Freud, the psychologist, not the theologian of Future of an Illusion. It is assumed that to see them thus is to see them not only in their proper roles, but in the only light that shows common ground.
Reviews
Authors: MacLean Kenneth , Helleiner Karl , Vickers G.S. , McIlwraith T.F.
Published: March 2013

John Ward Ostrom, ed., The Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, in two volumes, reviewed by Kenneth MacLean

Feliks Gross, ed., European Ideologies: A Survey of 20th Century Political Ideas, reviewed by Karl F. Helleiner

Joan Evans, English Art, 1307-1461, reviewed by G.S. Vickers

E.M. Butler, Ritual Magic, reviewed by T. F. McIlwraith
The Central Theme of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Authors: Schanzer Ernest
Published: March 2013

Most readers of A Midsummer Night's Dream appear to be under the erroneous impression that the main events of the play take place on Midsummer Night. For this misapprehension Shakespeare himself is at least partiy responsible. He seems to have had a fondness for giving baffling or misleading titles to his plays. Why Love's Labour's Lost, we ask; why As You Like It? So it is with A Midsummer Night's Dream. I have never seen it remarked upon by a critic that the central incidents of the play actually take place on Walpurgisnight (the Eve of May-day), as is made clear by Theseus' remarks in Act IV, where he expresses his belief that the lovers have come to the wood early that morning to observe the rites of May-day (IV, 1, 135 ff.). Walpurgisnight is one of the two main nights of the year for witchcraft and every form of magic. The other is Midsummer Night (St. John's Eve). Both nights are therefore particularly well fitted to provide the time-setting for the supernatural events in the wood. Moreover, Midsummer Night is traditionally connected with flower magic; certain herbs and flowers gathered during that night were supposed to possess various wonderworking powers. This may well account for Shakespeare's use of Dian's bud and Cupid's flower instead of some other magical agent. Why, then, did Shakespeare call the play A Midsummer Night's Dream and not A Walpurgisnight's Dream? Partly, I think, because of the flower magic associated with Midsummer Night and also, perhaps, because of the various superstitions connected with maidens' dreams on that night. Shakespeare seems to be saying that the events in the wood that take place under the influence of the magic flower are like the dreams of lovers on Midsummer Night.
Social Studies
Authors: Brady Alexander
Published: March 2013

Reviews of books about social studies published in Canada in 1955.
Canada, The Land and the People
Authors: Careless
Published: March 2013

Reviews of books about The Canadian land and people published in Canada in 1955.
War Books
Authors: Maclean Hugh
Published: March 2013

Reviews of war books published in Canada in 1955.
Literary and Philosophical Studies
Authors: Neel Boyd , Saunders  , Buchanan  , McDougall  , MacLure Millar , Coburn Kathleen , Harris
Published: March 2013

Reviews of special works published in Canada in 1955.
Periodical Writing
Authors: MacLure Millar
Published: March 2013

Reviews of periodical writing published in Canada in 1955.
Reading Other People's Diaries
Authors: Hassam Andrew
Published: March 2013

The question I want to address is this: if I find two books lying side by side on a library table, the first a manuscript diary evidently left by the person who has just vacated my seat, the other a published diary lifted from the shelves, why is my reaction to the idea of reading the first different from my reaction to the second? Why would I hesitate to open even a page of the tattered notebook yet feel no guilt at all about reading every sentence of the published work? Of course others may not share my scruples, may even abandon the reading they intended to spend a happy few hours (secretly) reading the notebook. But whatever their choice, I would guess most people finding themselves in my position would discriminate between their reading of these two books. It is this difference I want to account for.
An Inconvenient Indefiniteness: George Eliot, Middlemarch, and Feminism
Authors: Thomas Jeanie
Published: March 2013

In Middlemarch, during one of those tender and tense conversations of farewell between Dorothea and Will that take place after Casaubon's death, George Eliot lets her heroine confess, "'I used to despise women a little for not shaping their lives more, and doing better things.'" Dorothea admits that she has learned to think differently, having experienced "'the unexpected way in which trouble comes, and ties our hands, and makes us silent when we long to speak.'" Some of George Eliot's deepest insights about life are expressed through Dorothea's evolving understanding of limitation. But they are misconstrued by many modern feminist critics who, echoing Dorothea's original bias, despise George Eliot for not allowing her character to shape her life more and do better things. It is this breach between George Eliot and many of her feminist readers that I wish to address, in order to make a gesture towards healing it. For I believe that George Eliot's feminist credentials are strong, and that the considerable amount of conflict between her and her critics stems not from any significant difference of opinion about women's constrained lives or the numerous forces that maintain them, but rather from a different understanding of the processes of change. George Eliot's perspective, let me say from the outset, is conservative, but she is no less committed thereby to a fuller life for women, as well as men, than are her current feminist detractors, whose cause she has supposedly betrayed.
A Poet Young and Old—W. B. Yeats
Authors: Smith
Published: March 2013

In the death of William Butler Yeats at the age of seventy-three the English-speaking world has lost its greatest poet, one who invites comparison with the most admired poetic figures of the past and demands an attention as searching and as rewarding as we are glad to offer Donne or Blake. Like these men, Yeats was a great poet because he was a great man. He was a personal force, vigorous, uncompromising, and intelligent, a refutation of the popular notion of the poet as a pale, ineffectual creature, turbulent, distracted, and adorable. From the beginning of his career he took an active part in controversy and public affairs, and his work in founding and guiding the Abbey Theatre testifies to the practical energy with which he threw himself into the hurly-burly struggle for the recognition of the true place of art in the life of Ireland. But it was mainly in his poetry (and by being in it most completely himself) that Yeats showed how style and every other excellence of literature must arise out of character in active contact with life.
Royal Commissions in the Dominion: A Note on Current Political Practice
Authors: Brady
Published: March 2013

The above quotation has a significant application for Canada in 1939. A consequence of the contemporary agitation of opinion concerning our institutions, expressed in the newspapers and on the platform, has been a critical concentration upon the costs of government; among them the costs of the many royal commissions zealously appointed by premiers in recent years. Singularly naive and ill-informed as are some of the current criticisms on the structure and processes of democratic government, it is difficult to deny the right of a citizen to ask questions, even when they border on the absurd, and the question whether royal commissions have a useful function, or whether their achievements are worth the recent expenditure upon them, is far from absurd in view of the fact that the costs of federal royal commissions in the last six years have well exceeded one million dollars. The expenses of some of the principal commissions have been:
Biocompatibility of pristine graphene for neuronal interface
Authors: Sahni Deshdeepak , Jea Andrew , Mata Javier A. , Marcano Daniela C. , Sivaganesan Ahilan , Berlin Jacob M. , Tatsui Claudio E. , Sun Zhengzong , Luerssen Thomas G. , Meng Shiyun , Kent Thomas A. , Tour James M.
Published: March 2013

Object

Graphene possesses unique electrical, physical, and chemical properties that may offer significant potential as a bioscaffold for neuronal regeneration after spinal cord injury. The purpose of this investigation was to establish the in vitro biocompatibility of pristine graphene for interface with primary rat cortical neurons.

Methods

Graphene films were prepared by chemical vapor deposition on a copper foil catalytic substrate and subsequent apposition on bare Permanox plastic polymer dishes. Rat neuronal cell culture was grown on graphene-coated surfaces, and cell growth and attachment were compared with those on uncoated and poly-d-lysine (PDL)-coated controls; the latter surface is highly favorable for neuronal attachment and growth. Live/dead cell analysis was conducted with flow cytometry using ethidium homodimer-1 and calcein AM dyes. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels—indicative of cytotoxicity—were measured as markers of cell death. Phase contrast microscopy of active cell culture was conducted to assess neuronal attachment and morphology.

Results

Statistically significant differences in the percentage of live or dead neurons were noted between graphene and PDL surfaces, as well as between the PDL-coated and bare surfaces, but there was little difference in cell viability between graphene-coated and bare surfaces. There were significantly lower LDH levels in the graphene-coated samples compared with the uncoated ones, indicating that graphene was not more cytotoxic than the bare control surface. According to phase contrast microscopy, neurons attached to the graphene-coated surface and were able to elaborate long, neuritic processes suggestive of normal neuronal metabolism and morphology.

Conclusions

Further use of graphene as a bioscaffold will require surface modification that enhances hydrophilicity to increase cellular attachment and growth. Graphene is a nanomaterial that is biocompatible with neurons and may have significant biomedical applications.
Risk factors and rates of bone flap resorption in pediatric patients after decompressive craniectomy for traumatic brain injury
Authors: Bowers Christian A. , Riva-Cambrin Jay , Hertzler Dean A. , Walker Marion L.
Published: March 2013

Object

Decompressive craniectomy with subsequent autologous cranioplasty, or the replacement of the native bone flap, is often used for pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who have a mass lesion and intractable intracranial hypertension. Bone flap resorption is common after bone flap replacement, necessitating additional surgery. The authors reviewed their large database of pediatric patients with TBI who underwent decompressive craniectomy followed by bone flap replacement to determine the rate of bone flap resorption and identify associated risk factors.

Methods

A retrospective cohort chart review was performed to identify long-term survivors who underwent decompressive craniectomy for severe TBI with bone flap replacement from January 1, 1996, to December 31, 2011. The risk factors investigated in a univariate statistical analysis were age, sex, underlying parenchymal contusion, Glasgow Coma Scale score on arrival, comminuted skull fracture, posttraumatic hydrocephalus, bone flap wound infection, and freezer time (the amount of time the bone flap was stored in the freezer before replacement). A multivariate logistic regression model was then used to determine which of these were independent risk factors for bone flap resorption.

Results

Bone flap replacement was performed at an average of 2.1 months after decompressive craniectomy. Of the 54 patients identified (35 boys, 19 girls; mean age 6.2 years), 27 (50.0%) experienced bone flap resorption after an average of 4.8 months. Underlying parenchymal contusion, comminuted skull fracture, age ≤ 2.5 years, and posttraumatic hydrocephalus were significant, or nearly significant, on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis identified underlying contusion (p = 0.004, OR 34.4, 95% CI 3.0–392.7), comminuted skull fractures (p = 0.046, OR 8.5, 95% CI 1.0–69.6), posttraumatic hydrocephalus (p = 0.005, OR 35.9, 95% CI 2.9–436.6), and age ≤ 2.5 years old (p = 0.01, OR 23.1, 95% CI 2.1–257.7) as independent risk factors for bone flap resorption.

Conclusions

After decompressive craniectomy for pediatric TBI, half of the patients (50%) who underwent bone flap replacement experienced resorption. Multivariate analysis indicated young age (≤ 2.5 years), hydrocephalus, underlying contusion as opposed to a hemispheric acute subdural hematoma, and a comminuted skull fracture were all independent risk factors for bone flap resorption. Freezer time was not found to be associated with bone flap resorption.
Placement of thoracic transvertebral pedicle screws using 3D image guidance
Authors: Nottmeier Eric W. , Pirris Stephen M.
Published: March 2013

Object

Transvertebral pedicle screws have successfully been used in the treatment of high-grade L5–S1 spondylolisthesis. An advantage of transvertebral pedicle screws is the purchase of multiple cortical layers across 2 vertebrae, thereby increasing the stability of the construct. At the lumbosacral junction, transvertebral pedicle screws have been shown to be biomechanically superior to pedicle screws placed in the standard fashion. The use of transvertebral pedicle screws at spinal levels other than L5–S1 has not been reported in the literature. The authors describe their technique of transvertebral pedicle screw placement in the thoracic spine using 3D image guidance.

Methods

Twelve patients undergoing cervicothoracic or thoracolumbar fusion had 41 thoracic transvertebral pedicle screws placed across 26 spinal levels using this technique. Indications for placement of thoracic transvertebral pedicle screws in earlier cases included osteoporosis and pedicle screw salvage. However, in subsequent cases screws were placed in patients undergoing multilevel thoracolumbar fusion without osteoporosis, particularly near the top of the construct. Image guidance in this study was accomplished using the Medtronic StealthStation S7 image guidance system used in conjunction with the O-arm. All patients were slated to undergo postoperative CT scanning at approximately 4–6 months for fusion assessment, which also allowed for grading of the transvertebral pedicle screws.

Results

No thoracic transvertebral pedicle screw placed in this study had to be replaced or repositioned after intraoperative review of the cone beam CT scans. Review of the postoperative CT scans revealed all transvertebral screws to be across the superior disc space with the tips in the superior vertebral body. Six pedicle screws were placed using the in-out-in technique in patients with narrow pedicles, leaving 35 screws that underwent breach analysis. No pedicle breach was noted in 34 of 35 screws. A Grade 1 (< 2 mm) medial breach was noted in 1 screw without clinical consequence. Solid fusion was observed across 25 of 26 spinal levels that underwent transvertebral screw placement including 7 spinal levels located at the top of a multilevel construct.

Conclusions

This report describes the authors' initial in vivo experience with the 3D image-guided placement of 41 thoracic transvertebral pedicle screws. Advantages of thoracic transvertebral screws include the purchase of 2 vertebral segments across multiple cortical layers. A high fusion rate was observed across spinal levels in which transvertebral screws were placed. A formal biomechanical study is needed to assess the biomechanical advantages of this technique and is currently being planned.
Cantharidin Impedes Activity of Glutathione S-Transferase in the Midgut of Helicoverpa armigera Hübner
Authors: Khan Rashid , Liu Ji , Rashid Maryam , Wang Dun , Zhang Ya
Published: March 2013

Previous investigations have implicated glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) as one of the major reasons for insecticide resistance. Therefore, effectiveness of new candidate compounds depends on their ability to inhibit GSTs to prevent metabolic detoxification by insects. Cantharidin, a terpenoid compound of insect origin, has been developed as a bio-pesticide in China, and proves highly toxic to a wide range of insects, especially lepidopteran. In the present study, we test cantharidin as a model compound for its toxicity, effects on the mRNA transcription of a model Helicoverpa armigera glutathione S-transferase gene (HaGST) and also for its putative inhibitory effect on the catalytic activity of GSTs, both in vivo and in vitro in Helicoverpa armigera, employing molecular and biochemical methods. Bioassay results showed that cantharidin was highly toxic to H. armigera. Real-time qPCR showed down-regulation of the HaGST at the mRNA transcript ranging from 2.5 to 12.5 folds while biochemical assays showed in vivo inhibition of GSTs in midgut and in vitro inhibition of rHaGST. Binding of cantharidin to HaGST was rationalized by homology and molecular docking simulations using a model GST (1PN9) as a template structure. Molecular docking simulations also confirmed accurate docking of the cantharidin molecule to the active site of HaGST impeding its catalytic activity.
Controllable Active Micro Droplets Merging Device Using Horizontal Pneumatic Micro Valves
Authors: Jamshaid Afshan , Igaki Masaya , Yoon Dong , Sekiguchi Tetsushi , Shoji Shuichi
Published: March 2013

We present an active droplet merging device, which can merge various sizes of micro droplets in different numbers by using pneumatically controlled horizontal PDMS microvalves. The merging part consists of a main and side channels separated by a pillar array. The pillar array structure is contained within a microfuidic channel. The function of the pillar array provides a bypass path to the continuous flow (oil) inside the merging chamber. Droplets are successfully generated within the channel and achieve merging by controlling the selective different numbers and diameters of droplets through varying the flow resistance of main and side channel. In the merging chamber, a droplet will enter and slow down its movement. It will wait and then merge with the sequential droplets. These experiments demonstrate that such a merging device can controllably select and adjust the distance between the different adjacent micro droplets without any generation of sister droplets in the side channel. The device has no desynchronization problems. Thus, it can be applied for efficiently mixing the droplets in various diameters and numbers without changing the structure of the merging chamber. Hence, this device can be a more effective choice when applying microfluidics to chemical and biological applications.
Notch Signaling-Mediated Neural Lineage Selection Facilitates Intrastriatal Transplantation Therapy for Ischemic Stroke by Promoting Endogenous Regeneration in the Hippocampus
Authors: Yang Tao , Liu Ling-Yun , Ma Yuan-Yuan , Zhang Wei
Published: March 2013

Acquisition of highly efficient neural differentiation based on understanding of initial lineage commitment of human embryonic stem (hES) cells remains a challenge. This study describes a simple three-stage protocol to induce hES cells into neural lineage cells using a 2-week coculture with murine bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) PA6 followed by a 2-week propagation culture in PA6-conditioned medium and an additional 2-week selection culture in chemically defined neurobasal medium. This protocol generated a relatively high yield of neural lineage cells without mesodermal and endodermal lineage cell contamination. Notably, we demonstrated that PA6 coculture can significantly enhance the expression level of Notch signaling components and promote neural lineage entry of hES cell derivatives. Manipulation of Notch signaling can boost or suppress neural differentiation of hES cell derivatives, suggesting that Notch signaling may underlie the PA6-mediated neural induction. In vivo studies demonstrated that derived neural cells could improve the cognitive function of ischemic stroke rats. Intrastriatal human neural cell grafts were noted to migrate to damaged cerebral regions, enhance basic fibroblast growth factor production in the hippocampus, and restore the pyramidal neuron density and morphology in the hippocampal CA1 region, although only a small number of human donor cells were present in the hippocampus, suggesting that donor cells can boost hippocampal reconstruction by promoting the endogenous regeneration process. These findings demonstrate a pivotal role for Notch in hES cell fate determination and that manipulation of Notch signaling is therefore likely to be a key factor in taking command of hES cell lineage choice. This study suggested the potential of utilizing PA6 coculture to imitate the embryonic niche for hES cell neural induction via Notch signaling and a high application potential of BMSC-involved protocol, which can yield a whole lineage of human neural cells to promote endogenous regeneration in the hippocampus upon transplantation for potential therapy of ischemic stroke.
Human Amnion Epithelial Cells Mediate Lung Repair by Directly Modulating Macrophage Recruitment and Polarization
Authors: Tan Jean L. , Chan Siow Teng , Wallace Euan M. , Lim Rebecca
Published: March 2013

Human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) have been shown to modulate inflammation and restore normal lung structure and respiratory function following bleomycin challenge in immune-competent mice. These effects are exerted despite a lack of significant engraftment of hAECs, suggesting that immunomodulatory effect mechanisms are at play. In this study, using the bleomycin model of injury, we explored the interactions between hAECs and macrophages. We administered 4 million hAECs intraperitoneally to C57Bl6 mice 24 h following a bleomycin challenge. Using FACS analysis and qPCR, we showed that hAEC administration significantly reduced macrophage infiltration into the lungs and that the majority of the pulmonary macrophages were of the M2 phenotype. Using bone marrow-derived macrophages, we then showed that hAEC-conditioned media could alter macrophage polarization, migration, and phagocytosis, without affecting macrophage survival or proliferation in vitro. This study provides the first evidence that hAECs directly influence macrophage behavior in a proreparative manner and suggests that hAECs are able to mediate these effects independently of other immune cell types.
In Vitro Maturation of Viable Islets from Partially Digested Young Pig Pancreas
Authors: Lamb Morgan , Laugenour Kelly , Liang Ouwen , Alexander Michael , Foster Clarence E. , Lakey Jonathan R. T.
Published: March 2013

Isolation of islets from market-sized pigs is costly, with considerable islet losses from fragmentation occurring during isolation and tissue culture. Fetal and neonatal pigs yield insulin unresponsive islet-like cell clusters that become glucose-responsive after extended periods of time. Both issues impact clinical applicability and commercial scale-up. We have focused our efforts on a cost-effective scalable method of isolating viable insulin-responsive islets. Young Yorkshire pigs (mean age 20 days, range 4–30 days) underwent rapid pancreatectomy (<5 min) and partial digestion using low-dose collagenase, followed by in vitro culture at 37°C and 5% CO2 for up to 14 days. Islet viability was assessed using FDA/PI or Newport Green, and function was assessed using a glucose-stimulated insulin release (GSIR) assay. Islet yield was performed using enumeration of dithizonestained aliquots. The young porcine (YP) islet yield at dissociation was 12.6 ± 2.1 × 103 IEQ (mean ± SEM) per organ and increased to 33.3 ± 6.4 × 103 IEQ after 7 days of in vitro culture. Viability was 97.3 ± 7% at dissociation and remained over 90% viable after 11 days in tissue culture ( n = ns). Glucose responsiveness increased throughout maturation in culture. The stimulation index (SI) of the islets increased from 1.7 ± 2 on culture day 3 to 2.58 ± 0.5 on culture day 7. These results suggest that this method is both efficient and scalable for isolating and maturing insulin-responsive porcine islets in culture.
Ex Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Transplanted Hepatocytes in a Rat Model of Acute Liver Failure
Authors: Puppi Juliana , Modo Michel , Dhawan Anil , Lehec Sharon C. , Mitry Ragai R. , Hughes Robin D.
Published: March 2013

Hepatocyte transplantation is being evaluated as an alternative to liver transplantation. However, the fate of hepatocytes after transplantation is not well defined. The aims of the study were to improve hepatocyte labeling in vitro using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) and to perform in vivo experiments on tracking labeled cells by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Human and rat hepatocytes were labeled in vitro for 16 h with clinically approved SPIOs (12.5 μg Fe/ml) and protamine sulfate (3 μg/ml) as a transfection agent. Increased cellular iron uptake was obtained, and cell viability and function were shown not to be affected by labeling. Labeled cells (2,000/μl) could be detected on T2-weighted images in vitro using a 7T MR scanner. In a rat model of acute liver failure (ALF), female recipients received intrasplenic transplantation of 2 × 107 male rat hepatocytes 28–30 h after intraperitoneal injection of d-galactosamine (1.2 g/kg). There were four groups ( n = 4 each): vehicle injection, injection of freshly isolated cells labeled with CM-DiI, injection of cultured cells labeled with CM-DiI, and injection of cultured cells labeled with both SPIOs and CM-DiI. Ex vivo T2*-weighted gradientecho images at 7T MRI were acquired at day 7 post-ALF induction. Six days after transplantation, SPIOs were detected in the rat liver as a decrease in the MRI signal intensity in the surviving animals. Histologically, most of the SPIOs were located in Kupffer cells, indicating clearance of labeled hepatocytes. Furthermore, labeled cells could not be detected in the liver by the fluorescent dye or by PCR for the Y-chromosome ( Sry-2 gene). In conclusion, optimum conditions to label human hepatocytes with SPIOs were established and did not affect cell viability or metabolic function and were sufficient for in vitro MRI detection. However, the clearance of hepatocytes after transplantation limits the value of MRI for assessing long-term hepatocyte engraftment.
Lack of CD47 on Donor Hepatocytes Promotes Innate Immune Cell Activation and Graft Loss: A Potential Barrier to Hepatocyte Xenotransplantation
Authors: Navarro-Alvarez Nalu , Yang Yong-Guang
Published: March 2013

We have previously shown that interspecies incompatibility of CD47 plays an important role in triggering rejection of xenogeneic hematopoietic cells by macrophages. However, whether CD47 incompatibility also induces rejection of nonhematopoietic cellular xenografts remains unknown. Herein, we have addressed this question in a mouse model of hepatocyte transplantation in which CD47-/-hepatocytes were used to resemble xenografts for CD47 incompatibility. We show that intrasplenic transplantation of CD47-/-, but not wild-type (WT) hepatocytes, into partially hepatectomized syngeneic WT mice resulted in a rapid increase in Mac-1+cells with an activation phenotype (i.e., Mac-1+CD14+and Mac-1+CD16/32high), compared to nontransplant controls. In addition, CD47-/-hepatocytes were more severely damaged than WT hepatocytes as indicated by the greater AST and ALT serum levels in these mice. Furthermore, long-term donor hepatocyte survival and liver repopulation were observed in mice receiving WT hepatocytes, whereas CD47-/-hepatocytes were completely rejected within 2 weeks. These results suggest that CD47 on donor hepatocytes prevents recipient myeloid innate immune cell activation, hence aiding in graft survival after hepatocyte transplantation. Thus, CD47 incompatibility is likely to present an additional barrier to hepatocyte xenotransplantation.
A new species of Stenodiplosis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on florets of the invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) and its effects on seed production
Authors: Ahee Jordan E. , Sinclair Bradley J. , Dorken Marcel E.
Published: March 2013

A new species of gall midge, Stenodiplosis phragmicola Sinclair and Ahee (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is described. The host plant, Phragmites australis (Cavanilles) Trinius ex Steudel (Poaceae), is a tall, widely distributed emergent aquatic macrophyte. An introduced subspecies of the plant is considered invasive in North America (although a native subspecies also occurs). Insect specimens were collected during September 2010 and 2011 from the florets of common reed at 12 sites around Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Preliminary data on ecological interactions between the plant and the insect are presented. Out of 2400 florets sampled, 9.5% were host to larvae of S. phragmicola. Three sites had much higher rates of infestation, with between 20% and 30% florets, and up to 100% of sampled shoots containing fly larvae. The largest stands in the sample all hosted fly populations and there was a positive association between the reproductive output of P. australis stands (measured as the average inflorescence mass per stand) and the proportion of shoots per stand containing larvae. The occurrence of S. phragmicola on the native subspecies of P. australis is also documented. Insects that consume reproductive structures of the common reed have not previously been reported from the plant's introduced range in North America.
Observational evidence of climate change on extreme events over East Africa
Authors: Ngaina Joshua , Mutai Bethwel
Published: March 2013

Examination of trend patterns of rainfall and temperature extremes over East Africa (EA) was based on graphical, regression and Mann-Kendall test approaches, while perturbations of rainfall, sunspot activity (SA) and southern oscillation index (SOI) extremes were computed using moving average methods. Annual total rainfall generally decreased with heavy and extreme precipitation rates confined within short spells during wet days. Observed maximum temperature extremes increased while minimum temperature extremes decreased with a statistically significant rise in the number of hot days and warm nights and a decrease in number of cool days and cold nights. However, space-time pattern of observed changes were not well organized. Perturbations of rainfall, SA and SOI indicated that extreme values were changing with increasing frequency and magnitude. Similarities in observed rainfall over EA illustrated the existence of homogeneous zones of climate change clustered as either coastal (with SA dominant), lake Victoria (unique to both SA and SOI), dry continental (SOI) or wet continental areas (both SA and SOI dominant).
In vitro antiplasmodial and cytotoxic properties of some medicinal plants from western Burkina Faso
Authors: Sanon Souleymane , Gansane Adama , Ouattara Lamoussa P. , Traore Abdoulaye , Ouedraogo Issa N. , Tiono Alfred , Taramelli Donatella , Basilico Nicoletta , Sirima Sodiomon B.
Published: March 2013

Background: Resistance of malaria parasites to existing drugs complicates treatment, but an antimalarial vaccine that could protect against this disease is not yet available. It is therefore necessary to find new effective and affordable medicines. Medicinal plants could be a potential source of antimalarial agents. Some medicinal plants from Burkina Faso were evaluated for their antiplasmodial and cytotoxic properties in vitro.Methods: Crude dichloromethane, methanol, water-methanol, aqueous and alkaloids extracts were prepared for 12 parts of 10 plants. Chloroquine-resistant malaria strain K1 was used for the in vitro sensibility assay. The Plasmodium lactacte dehydrogenase technique was used to determine the 50% inhibitory concentration of parasites activity (IC50). The cytotoxic effects were determined with HepG2 cells, using the tetrazolium-based colorimetric technique, and the selectivity index (SI) was calculated.Results: Sixty crude extracts were prepared. Seven extracts from Terminalia avicenoides showed IC50 < 5 µg/mL. The IC50 of dichloromethane, methanol, aqueous and alkaloids extracts ranged between 1.6 µg/mL and 4.5 µg/mL. Three crude extracts from Combretum collinum and three from Ficus capraefolia had an IC50 ranging between 0.2 µg/mL and 2.5 µg/mL. Crude extracts from these three plants had no cytotoxic effect, with SI > 1. The other plants have mostly moderate or no antimalarial effects. Some extracts from Cordia myxa, Ficus capraefolia and Opilia celtidifolia showed cytotoxicity, with an SI ranging between 0.4 and 0.9.Conclusion: Our study showed a good antiplasmodial in vitro activity of Terminalia avicenoides, Combretum collinum and Ficus capraefolia. These three plants may contain antiplasmodial molecules that could be isolated by bio-guided phytochemical studies.
Plant nematodes in South Africa. 11. Checklist of plant nematodes of the protected areas of KwaZulu-Natal
Authors: Marais Mariette , Swart Antoinette
Published: March 2013

Nematodes are some of the most abundant soil organisms and are an essential part of soil ecology. These organisms are used as indicator organisms and can be linked to soil health. Biological collections contain vast amounts of data, with the National Collection of Nematodes housed at the Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Council being no different. During the digitising of the collection a number of unpublished records of plant nematodes reported from protected areas in KwaZulu-Natal were found in the South African Plant-Parasitic Nematode Survey database. A total of 222 plant nematode species belonging to 39 genera were reported from the province, with only 94 of these species reported from the protected areas and 172 and 159 species reported from uncultivated (outside the protected areas) and cultivated areas, respectively. Only nine species, Criconema silvum, Criconema talanum, Helicotylenchus marethae, Ogma dracomontanum, Ogma louisi, Ogma ueckermanni, Paralongidorus deborae, Trichodorus rinae and Xiphinemella marindae were described from protected areas, whilst O. dracomontanum, P. deborae and T. rinae were subsequently also reported from other provinces. Conservation implications: A higher degree of diversity of nematodes was observed in the unprotected areas of the province. The observation suggests that nematode fauna, and by implication also other invertebrates, are not adequately protected.
Comparison of pathogenic domains of rabies and African rabies-related lyssaviruses and pathogenicity observed in mice
Authors: Kgaladi Joe , Nel Louis H. , Markotter Wanda
Published: March 2013

Several lyssavirus species occur in Africa (Rabies virus, Lagos bat virus, Mokola virus, Duvenhage virus, Shimoni bat virus and Ikoma lyssavirus), displaying a high sequence diversity between isolates belonging to the same species. There is limited information about comparative pathogenesis of these African lyssaviruses and this precludes authoritative opinion on the potential public and veterinary health impact. In this study, an analysis of representative African lyssaviruses attempted to correlate viral genomic sequence similarities and differences with the corresponding pathogenic profiles observed in mice. The study demonstrated that the virus isolates evaluated could be lethal to mice when introduced intramuscularly and that different isolates of the same lyssavirus species differ in their virulence. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), viral RNA was detected in brain tissue, but no viral RNA was detected in the salivary glands or blood of mice that succumbed to infection. Comparison of known pathogenic domains indicated that pathogenicity is likely to be dependent on multiple domains. Cumulatively, our results re-emphasised the realisation that the pathogenicity of a lyssavirus species cannot be deduced based on studies of only a single isolate of the species or a single pathogenic domain.
A model for uranium mobility in groundwater in the Grand Pré region, Nova Scotia, Canada
Authors: Samolczyk Mary A. , Spooner Ian S. , Stanley Cliff R.
Published: March 2013

Elevated levels of uranium that surpass maximum allowable concentrations have been recognized in some well water samples throughout Nova Scotia. In this study we examine the influence of redox conditions and regional geology on the mobility of uranium in groundwater in the Grand Pré region, located in the eastern end of the Annapolis-Cornwallis Valley in southwestern Nova Scotia. The study site is underlain by carbon-rich shale and arkosic sandstone of the Late Mississippian Horton Bluﬀ Formation and the arenaceous sandstone of the Triassic Wolfville Formation. Water samples from drilled wells were analyzed on site for various water quality parameters (pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen) and in the laboratory to determine alkalinity and cation (72) and major anion (9) concentrations.

Several samples exceeded Health Canada (2011) limits for uranium (20 μg/L) with values up to 50.8 μg/L and aesthetic objectives (AO) for iron (up to 605 μg/L), manganese (up to 2.28 mg/L) and other cations. Data show that diﬀerent redox conditions occur in the study area. The geospatial arrangement of the chemical data suggests that the lithology of the underlying aquifer strongly influences the availability of uranium in groundwater. Reduced groundwater in Horton Bluﬀ sandstone typically contains elevated concentrations of Fe 2+ and Mn 2+ , whereas groundwater containing high concentrations of U is found primary in oxidizing environments in quartz arenite sandstone units in the Wolfville Formation.

Consumption of groundwater in the Grand Pré region may pose a health risk; however, the level of risk remains unknown. This study emphasizes that in the area of Grand Pré, water that is considered aesthetically undesirable (containing high Fe and Mn) may pose less of a health risk (low U) than waters that are aesthetically pleasing.
Provenance of the Lower Carboniferous Horton Group, Petit-de-Grat Island, Nova Scotia, as revealed by detrital zircon ages
Authors: Force Eric R. , Barr Sandra M.
Published: March 2013

A quartz sandstone bed in a dominantly conglomeratic section in the central part of the Lower Carboniferous Horton Group on Petit-de-Grat Island, offshore southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, contains detrital zircon grains with ages ranging from mid-Devonian to Archean. The similarity of the Devonian and Neoproterozoic age spectrum to ages of igneous units in the adjacent Avalonian Mira terrane, in particular the Coastal belt, indicates that it was the main source area. This interpretation is supported by the similarity of the Neoproterozoic and older detrital zircon age spectrum to that of the detrital zircon age spectrum in a Cambrian sandstone unit from the Mira terrane. This interpretation indicates post-depositional dextral fault motion between the Isle Madame area and the Coastal belt.RésuméUne couche de grès quartzeux repérée dans une section principalement conglomératique dans la partie centrale du groupe de Horton du Carbonifère inférieur sur l’île Petit-de-Grat, au sud de l’île du Cap-Breton, en Nouvelle- Écosse, contient des grains de zircon détritique dont l’âge va du Dévonien moyen à l’Archéen. La similitude du spectre d’âge du Dévonien et du Néoprotérozoïque avec celui des unités ignées trouvées dans le terrane Mira d’Avalon adjacent, en particulier la ceinture côtière, indique qu’il s’agit de la région source principale. Cette interprétation est étayée par la similitude du spectre d’âge du zircon détritique du Néoprotérozoïque et de périodes plus anciennes avec celui du zircon détritique trouvé dans une unité de grès du Cambrien provenant du terrane Mira. Cette interprétation indique un mouvement postsédimentaire d’une faille dextre entre la région de l’île Madame et la ceinture côtière.[Traduit par la redaction]
On the spectral characterization of manifolds
Authors: Connes Alain
Published: March 2013

We show that the first five of the axioms we had formulated on spectral triples suffice (in a slightly stronger form) to characterize the spectral triples associated to smooth compact manifolds. The algebra, which is assumed to be commutative, is shown to be isomorphic to the algebra of all smooth functions on a unique smooth oriented compact manifold, while the operator is shown to be of Dirac type and the metric to be Riemannian.