bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coal River’s Last Mountain
Authors: Wishart Ryan
Published: November 2012

A failed proposal to substitute wind energy for mountaintop removal coal mining provides a valuable case study illustrating the weakness of theoretical approaches that neglect class relations and the analytical strength of Marxist ecology for understanding the processes of environmental degradation. The latter’s strength is shown in its illumination of the ways in which class relations in the coalfields are tied to capitalism’s metabolic rift and how this rift shapes political struggle and developmental path dependencies. Using Marx’s approach of successive abstractions, the interrelated drivers and consequences of mountaintop removal mining in the Coal River Valley are analyzed from three vantage points: the perspective of ecology, of capital, and of human development. The destructiveness involved in this type of coal production reveals the ways in which capitalism depends on an après moi le déluge regime, discounting the future, and thus barring sustainable human development.
Talking (or Not) About Family Health History in Families of Latino Young Adults
Authors: Corona Rosalie , Rodríguez Vivian , Quillin John , Gyure Maria , Bodurtha Joann
Published: November 2012

Although individuals recognize the importance of knowing their family’s health history for their own health, relatively few people (e.g., less than a third in one national survey) collect this type of information. This study examines the rates of family communication about family health history of cancer, and predictors of communication in a sample of English-speaking Latino young adults. A total of 224 Latino young adults completed a survey that included measures on family communication, cultural factors, religious commitment, and cancer worry. We found that few Latino young adults reported collecting information from their families for the purposes of creating a family health history (18%) or sharing information about hereditary cancer risk with family members (16%). In contrast, slightly more than half of the participants reported generally “talking with their mothers about their family’s health history of cancer.” Logistic regression results indicated that cancer worry (odds ratio [OR] = 2.31; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08-4.93), being female (OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.02-8.08), and being older (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.01-1.76) were associated with increased rates of collecting information from family members. In contrast, orientation to the Latino culture (OR = 2.81; 95% CI = 1.33-5.94) and religious commitment (OR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.02-2.32) were associated with increased rates of giving cancer information. Results highlight the need for prevention programs to help further general discussions about a family’s history of cancer to more specific information related to family health history.
New Developments in Undergraduate Education in Public Health
Authors: Barnes Michael D. , Wykoff Randy , King Laura Rasar , Petersen Donna J.
Published: November 2012

The article provides an overview of efforts to improve public health and health education training and on the potential use of Critical Component Elements (CCEs) for undergraduate health education programs toward more consistent quality assurance across programs. Considered in the context of the Galway Consensus Conference, the authors discuss the need for consistency in health education and public health quality assurance and curricular development. They discuss emerging quality assurance trends in relation to newly approved CCEs by the Association of Schools of Public Health after being developed by the Framing the Future Task Force: The Second 100 Years for Public Health. The CCE development process is discussed including its consideration as a tool program, which can be used to develop or refine undergraduate health education professional preparation programs. The authors suggest that CCEs should be “cross-walked” against existing health education undergraduate-level competencies. The authors conclude that CCEs may serve the long-term health education goal of accreditation for undergraduate health education and promote the tradition of strong undergraduate health education within a broader framework of public health and health promotion.
Theorizing musical childhoods with illustrations from a study of girls’ karaoke use at home
Authors: Young Susan
Published: November 2012

Information and insights concerning children’s everyday musical practices in the middle years of childhood are beginning to develop across a number of disciplines, but as yet they are fragmented and have had little impact on music education practice. There is a need to find a conceptual framework capable of integrating information from different disciplines, including the psycho-pedagogical perspectives that have tended hitherto to be the dominating perspectives in education. In this article I propose that childhood studies, specifically drawing on the theoretical perspective of Alan Prout, offer a conceptual framework for this purpose. Accordingly, musical childhoods are conceived as ‘assemblages’ constituted by biological, material/technological and social elements. The discussion in this article was motivated and is illustrated by a small-scale study that investigated singing with karaoke, in particular karaoke video games, at home among children aged between 6 and 11 years living in a rural area of the UK.
Civil society or ‘comprador class’, participation or parroting?
Authors: Kamruzzaman Palash
Published: November 2012

This article critically looks at the interfaces between the ideal notions of civil society and participation within the remit of Bangladesh’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) formulation process. On the one hand, the idea of civil society has been likened to a renaissance and is often considered to be the most likely route out of development ‘problems’, particularly in the poor countries. Dominant development discourses have scripted the liberal interpretation of civil society as the only game in town. However, on the other hand, as a consequence of growing criticism on the failure of top-down development approach in the late-1960s, and throughout most of the 1970s, there was a sudden upsurge of interest that ordinary citizens might have a part to play in the development process. A generalized consensus took shape that people’s participation in projects is an important component of development programmes and a means to their success and hence participation has turned out to be a ‘new paradigm’ of development. The PRSP framework, that precepts a romantic marriage between civil society and participation, was foisted by two major International Financial Institutions (IFIs) as a condition of further debt and other development assistance for all poor countries. Participation from ‘all relevant stakeholders’ including civil society was trumpeted as a significant policy shift from previous development prescriptions of these IFIs. This article presents observation from 36 semi-structured interviews with civil society representatives including key people who prepared and finalized the PRSP of Bangladesh and the review of six daily national papers (September 2004 to October 2005). This piece argues that, in theory, participation can be manifested as the ‘key’ for development, but in practice, participation can be an iron hand in a velvet glove. Participation can turn into parroting and often resemble similar views that are ‘expected’ and required to validate external framework. Moreover, through such process of mainstreaming participation, an interest group within the civil society can emerge who has the technical knack of producing development policy according to donor recipe with some flavour of participation. This work therefore asks whether civil society and participation should be used as technologies of social control or as anti-hegemonic and anti-clientelistic forces in order to empowering marginalized members of the society.
Improving the quality of development assistance
Authors: Prowse Martin , Camfield Laura
Published: November 2012

While randomized experiments can be valuable tools in evaluating aid effectiveness, research designs limit the role of qualitative methods to ‘field visits’ or description of contexts. This article suggests expanding the role of qualitative methods and highlights their advantages and limitations relative to survey methods. It reviews a range of qualitative methods and suggests that life histories are compatible with the internal and external validity criteria of randomized experiments. It illustrates this with a case study of their proposed use in an evaluation of the promotion of Jatropha curcas, a second-generation biofuel, in Malawi.
Gender-based violence: Young women’s experiences in the slums and streets of three sub-Saharan African cities
Authors: Oduro Georgina Yaa , Swartz Sharlene , Arnot Madeleine
Published: November 2012

Using a social ecological approach (Bronfenbrenner) to violence and including Hobsbawm’s historical analysis of the collective uses of violence, this article shows how gender-based violence is experienced and used. Drawing on three distinct studies in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, it shows the commonalities and divergence of young people’s experiences of violence. It links the microsystems of school, community, street and family with the larger macrosystems of poverty, government policies, power relations and structural violence. This approach highlights the relationship between the forms of gender-based violence, youth experience, and the marginalized and deprived habitats in which our research was conducted. Violence experienced by young women is shown to be linked to the ways in which young men use violence as vehicles of revenge and retribution, a desire for respect, expression of love of a mother, control over female sexuality and, ultimately, assertion of collective notions of masculinity on the street and in sprawling urban settlements. We conclude by attempting to identify what is needed to challenge the violence inflicted by poverty on young people, especially young women, the denial of their rights, and the violence they inflict on themselves and others.
An Initial Evaluation of the Teacher–Child Interaction Direct Observation System
Authors: Sutherland Kevin S. , Conroy Maureen A. , Vo Abigail , Abrams Lisa , Ogston Paula
Published: November 2012

Children who engage in chronic problem behavior can present challenges for their early childhood teachers, and are more likely to develop negative relationships with these and other adults with whom they interact. Unfortunately, children who develop negative relationships with their teachers early in their school careers are more likely to have later academic and behavioral problems than children who have positive, supportive relationships. The salience of interactions between teachers and young children highlights the need for interventions that target building positive teacher–child interactions and increase the likelihood that these interactions are developmentally appropriate and supportive of children’s emotional and behavioral growth, as well as assessment tools to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The purpose of this article is to describe the Teacher–Child Interaction Direct Observation System ( TCIDOS), an observation system designed to capture teacher and child behaviors during classroom interactions to evaluate the effectiveness of a classroom-based intervention targeting improvements in teacher–child interaction patterns. Following a description of our conceptual framework and the development of the TCIDOS, we discuss preliminary reliability findings and future research directions as well as challenges inherent to collecting direct observational data in classroom settings.
Clinical leadership characteristics confirmed
Authors: Stanley David
Published: November 2012

Aims

This paper compares the results of two studies conducted by the same researcher into the attributes and characteristics of clinical leaders.

Background

The two studies used an almost identical questionnaire; however, they were conducted 6 years apart, in different counties, with different health care staff (nurses and paramedics), made up of very different gender ratios. The initial study was larger and focused on more than describing clinical leader attributes; however, this was the principle focus of the second study.

Findings

The findings from both studies offer very similar results and describe clear insights into the attributes health professionals seek in clinical leaders. The research findings are remarkably similar given the differences in professional group, gender variations, country differences and time span.

Conclusions

Leaders are followed because there is a match between the leaders values and beliefs and their actions. People identify with the leaders values and follow them if they are reflected in the leaders’ actions. Clinical leader characteristics are approachability, clinical competence, being supportive, acting as mentors or role models, being visible in practice, directing and helping people, inspiring confidence, having effective communication skills and behaving with integrity. Vision and creativity were less evidently sought or identified as a clinical leader characteristic.
Adaptive condition-based maintenance decision framework for deteriorating systems operating under variable environment and uncertain condition monitoring
Authors: Huynh Khac Tuan , Barros Anne , Bérenguer Christophe
Published: November 2012

The present article deals with the efficient use of different types of monitoring information in optimizing condition-based maintenance decision making for a deteriorating system operating under variable environment. The degradation phenomenon of a system is the fatigue crack growth that is modeled by a physics-based stochastic process. The environment process is assumed to be modeled by a time-homogenous Markov chain with finite state space. We suppose that the environmental condition is observed perfectly, while the crack depth can be assessed imperfectly through a non-destructive ultrasonic technique. As such, two kinds of indirect information are available on the system at each inspection time: environmental covariate and diagnostic covariate. Based on this set of information, two condition-based maintenance strategies adaptive to environmental conditions are developed. In the first one, the adaptation scheme is time-based, while in the second, it is condition-based. These maintenance strategies are compared one with another and to a classical non-adaptive one to point out the performances of each adaptation scheme and hence the appreciation of using different information sources in maintenance decision making.
Commercial activities and the promotion of health in schools
Authors: Raine Gary
Published: November 2012

Many companies nowadays consider schools to be an important setting for marketing to children. However, important concerns can be raised from a health promotion perspective about the potential negative impact of commercial activities on the health and well-being of pupils. As this discussion paper will demonstrate, some commercial activities raise concerns in relation to physical health and obesity, not only by potentially undermining formal curriculum messages, but also through the active promotion of specific products, particularly those high in fat, sugar or salt. Nonetheless, the issues raised by commercial activities are not solely limited to effects on physical health. By allowing commercial activities, schools risk instilling in pupils consumer-orientated values. This is significant as such values have been linked to the development of poor health and well-being. Furthermore, the presence in schools of commercial activities will also militate against informed decision-making and be disempowering. There is also evidence that business-sponsored teaching materials can contain biased and misleading information. The potential negative impacts of commercial activities are inconsistent with goals in relation to the promotion of health and the principles of health-promoting schools.
RETRACTED: Preventative and Therapeutic Role of Probiotics in Various Allergic and Autoimmune Disorders: An Up-to-Date Literature Review of Essential Experimental and Clinical Data
Authors: Özdemir Öner
Published: November 2012

“Preventative and Therapeutic Role of Probiotics in Various Allergic and Autoimmune Disorders: An Up-to-Date Literature Review of Essential Experimental and Clinical Data,” by Öner Özdemir, Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, April 2013 (18:2), doi: 10.1177/2156587212461279 .

This article has been retracted due to unattributed overlap with material from other sources and due to duplicate publication.

The unattributed excerpts in the article were taken from the following sources: Ouwehand AC. Antiallergic effects of probiotics. J Nutr. 2007;137(3 suppl 2):794S–797S. Saavedra JM. Use of probiotics in pediatrics: rationale, mechanisms of action, and practical aspects. Nutr Clin Pract. 2007;22:351–365. doi:10.1177/0115426507022003351. Rook GA, Brunet LR. Microbes, immunoregulation, and the gut. Gut. 2005;54:317–320. doi:10.1136/gut.2004.053785. Michail S. The role of probiotics in allergic diseases. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2009;5:5. doi:10.1186/1710-1492-5-5. The author also published the following works that include significant unattributed excerpts from the article: Özdemir Ö, Erol AY. Preventative and therapeutic probiotic use in allergic skin conditions: experimental and clinical findings. BioMed Res Int. 2013;2013:932391. doi:10.1155/2013/932391. Özdemir Ö. The role of probiotics in atopic dermatitis prevention and therapy. In: Esparza-Gordillo J, Dekio I, eds. Atopic Dermatitis: Disease Etiology and Clinical Management. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech; 2012:353–386. doi:10.5772/25301.
A Sociobehavioral Model of Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Providers, Products, and Practices: Findings From the 2007 National Health Interview Survey
Authors: Upchurch Dawn M. , Rainisch Bethany K. Wexler
Published: November 2012

This study tested a modification of the Andersen behavioral model of health services use to assess the effects of predisposing factors, enabling resources, need, and personal health practices on the use of complementary and alternative medicine providers, products, and practices in the past 12 months. Data were from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (n = 23 149 adults). Prevalence estimates and logistic regression results were weighted and adjusted for complex sample design. Overall, 16.6% used providers, 18.8% products, and 22.2% practices. There were significant associations in the expected directions between variables in each domain of the model and each type of complementary and alternative medicine use. There were also notable differences in patterns across types: for example, income was more strongly associated with use of providers. The findings support the potential usefulness of a modified health services approach to better understand differences in types of complementary and alternative medicine use.
Landless: Meanings and Transformations of a Collective Action Category in Brazil
Authors: Rosa Marcelo C.
Published: November 2012

This article identifies the historical process through which the social category of the ‘landless’ was produced in Brazil, as well as the subsequent growth of a social movement claiming this category, between 1960 and 1980. The article analyzes two moments in which the landless appear, the first being the governorship of Leonel Brizola in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in the 1960s; and the second, the occupations that occurred in the same state between 1978 and 1980, culminating in the birth of the MST (Landless Rural Workers’ Movement). These cases demonstrate that collective action involving the landless shaped government responses and, furthermore, that the mobilization of the category has presupposed the mobilization of the state.
Dual role of HupF in the biosynthesis of [NiFe] hydrogenase in Rhizobium leguminosarum
Authors: Albareda Marta , Manyani Hamid , Imperial Juan , Brito Belén , Ruiz-Argüeso Tomás , Böck August , Palacios Jose-Manuel
Published: November 2012

Background

[NiFe] hydrogenases are enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of hydrogen into protons and electrons, to use H2 as energy source, or the production of hydrogen through proton reduction, as an escape valve for the excess of reduction equivalents in anaerobic metabolism. Biosynthesis of [NiFe] hydrogenases is a complex process that occurs in the cytoplasm, where a number of auxiliary proteins are required to synthesize and insert the metal cofactors into the enzyme structural units. The endosymbiotic bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum requires the products of eighteen genes (hupSLCDEFGHIJKhypABFCDEX) to synthesize an active hydrogenase. hupF and hupK genes are found only in hydrogenase clusters from bacteria expressing hydrogenase in the presence of oxygen.

Results

HupF is a HypC paralogue with a similar predicted structure, except for the C-terminal domain present only in HupF. Deletion of hupF results in the inability to process the hydrogenase large subunit HupL, and also in reduced stability of this subunit when cells are exposed to high oxygen tensions. A ΔhupF mutant was fully complemented for hydrogenase activity by a C-terminal deletion derivative under symbiotic, ultra low-oxygen tensions, but only partial complementation was observed in free living cells under higher oxygen tensions (1% or 3%). Co-purification experiments using StrepTag-labelled HupF derivatives and mass spectrometry analysis indicate the existence of a major complex involving HupL and HupF, and a less abundant HupF-HupK complex.

Conclusions

The results indicate that HupF has a dual role during hydrogenase biosynthesis: it is required for hydrogenase large subunit processing and it also acts as a chaperone to stabilize HupL when hydrogenase is synthesized in the presence of oxygen.
HvCKX2 gene silencing by biolistic or Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in barley leads to different phenotypes
Authors: Zalewski Wojciech , Orczyk Wacław , Gasparis Sebastian , Nadolska-Orczyk Anna
Published: November 2012

Background

CKX genes encode cytokinin dehydrogenase enzymes (CKX), which metabolize cytokinins in plants and influence developmental processes. The genes are expressed in different tissues and organs during development; however, their exact role in barley is poorly understood. It has already been proven that RNA interference (RNAi)-based silencing of HvCKX1 decreased the CKX level, especially in those organs which showed the highest expression, i.e. developing kernels and roots, leading to higher plant productivity and higher mass of the roots [1]. The same type of RNAi construct was applied to silence HvCKX2 and analyze the function of the gene. Two cultivars of barley were transformed with the same silencing and selection cassettes by two different methods: biolistic and via Agrobacterium.

Results

The mean Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiency of Golden Promise was 3.47% (±2.82). The transcript level of HvCKX2 in segregating progeny of T1 lines was decreased to 34%. The reduction of the transcript in Agrobacterium-derived plants resulted in decreased CKX activity in the developing and developed leaves as well as in 7 DAP (days after pollination) spikes. The final phenotypic effect was increased productivity of T0 plants and T1 lines. Higher productivity was the result of the higher number of seeds and higher grain yield. It was also correlated with the higher 1000 grain weight, increased (by 7.5%) height of the plants and higher (from 0.5 to 2) numbers of spikes.

The transformation efficiency of Golden Promise after biolistic transformation was more than twice as low compared to Agrobacterium. The transcript level in segregating progeny of T1 lines was decreased to 24%. Otherwise, the enzyme activity found in the leaves of the lines after biolistic transformation, especially in cv. Golden Promise, was very high, exceeding the relative level of the control lines. These unbalanced ratios of the transcript level and the activity of the CKX enzyme negatively affected kernel germination or anther development and as a consequence setting the seeds. The final phenotypic effect was the decreased productivity of T0 plants and T1 lines obtained via the biolistic silencing of HvCKX2.

Conclusion

The phenotypic result, which was higher productivity of silenced lines obtained via Agrobacterium, confirms the hypothesis that spatial and temporal differences in expression contributed to functional differentiation. The applicability of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation for gene silencing of developmentally regulated genes, like HvCKX2, was proven. Otherwise low productivity and disturbances in plant development of biolistic-silenced lines documented the unsuitability of the method. The possible reasons are discussed.
Association of soluble endothelial protein C receptor plasma levels and PROCR rs867186 with cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular events in coronary artery disease patients: The Athero Gene Study
Authors: Kallel Choumous , Cohen William , Saut Noémie , Blankenberg Stefan , Schnabel Renate , Rupprecht Hans J , Bickel Christoph , Munzel Thomas , Tregouet David-Alexandre , Morange Pierre-Emmanuel
Published: November 2012

Background

Blood coagulation is an essential determinant of coronary artery disease (CAD). Soluble Endothelial Protein C Receptor (sEPCR) may be a biomarker of a hypercoagulable state. We prospectively investigated the relationship between plasma sEPCR levels and the risk of cardiovascular events (CVE).

Methods

We measured baseline sEPCR levels in 1673 individuals with CAD (521 with acute coronary syndrome [ACS] and 1152 with stable angina pectoris [SAP]) from the AtheroGene cohort. During a median follow up of 3.7 years, 136 individuals had a CVE. In addition, 891 of these CAD patients were genotyped for the PROCR rs867186 (Ser219Gly) variant.

Results

At baseline, sEPCR levels were similar in individuals with ACS and SAP (median: 111 vs. 115 ng/mL respectively; p=0.20). Increased sEPCR levels were found to be associated with several cardiovascular risk factors including gender (p=0.006), soluble Tissue Factor levels (p=0.0001), diabetes (p=0.0005), and factors reflecting impaired renal function such as creatinine and cystatin C (p<0.0001). sEPCR levels were not significantly associated with the risk of CVE (median: 110 and 114 ng/mL in individuals with and without future CVE respectively; p=0.68). The rs867186 variant was found to explain 59% of sEPCR levels variability (p<10-200) but did not associate with CVE risk.

Conclusion

Our findings show that in patients with CAD, circulating sEPCR levels are related to classical cardiovascular risk factors and renal impairment but are not related to long-term incidence of CVE.
The characteristics of serious suicide attempters in Japanese adolescents- comparison study between adolescents and adults
Authors: Kawashima Yoshitaka , Ito Takao , Narishige Ryuichiro , Saito Takuya , Okubo Yoshiro
Published: November 2012

Background

Suicide is the leading cause of death among Japanese adolescents, and they may commit suicide differently from adults. However, there are few studies in medical-based data concerning adolescent patients seriously attempting suicide. We aimed to explore the characteristics of serious suicide attempts in Japanese adolescents, comparing them with those in adults.

Methods

We investigated adolescents who seriously attempted suicide and were treated at the Critical Care Medical Center (CCMC) of Nippon Medical School Hospital between 2000 and 2010, and we compared them with adult suicide attempters treated during 2009. We retrospectively studied medical records and collected clinical data and socio-demographic factors, including age, sex, psychiatric symptoms or diagnosis, methods of suicide attempt, motives for suicide attempt, previous deliberate self-harm, previous psychiatric history, parent loss experience, and previous psychiatric history in the family.

Results

Adolescent attempters were 15 males and 44 females, 13 to 18 years old (mean 16.39). Adult attempters were 37 males and 65 females, 19 to 79 years old (mean 39.45). In comparison to adult attempters, adolescent attempters were more frequently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), had more school problems and parent loss experience, but they had less financial problems. Gender differences between adolescents and adults were examined, and male adolescent attempters were found to be more frequently diagnosed with schizophrenia and had less financial problems than their adult counterparts, while female adolescent attempters were more frequently diagnosed with BPD, had more school problems and parent loss, but they had less previous psychiatric history than their adult counterparts.

Conclusions

Our findings indicated that adolescent attempters were more frequently diagnosed with BPD and had more school problems and parent loss experience but had less financial problems. Additionally, in male adolescent attempters, identifying patients with schizophrenia seemed important, as it was their most frequent psychiatric diagnosis. For female adolescents, adequately assessing family function and interpersonal conflicts seemed important, as they were more often diagnosed with BPD and had more school and family problems.
Lipopolysaccharide treatment suppresses spontaneously developing ankylosing enthesopathy in B10.BR male mice: The potential role of interleukin-10
Authors: Capkova Jana , Hrncir Tomas , Kubatova Alena , Tlaskalova-Hogenova Helena
Published: November 2012

Background

Ankylosing enthesopathy (ANKENT) is an animal model of human ankylosing spondylitis. ANKENT is an inflammatory disease affecting the ankle and tarsal joints of the hind limbs in susceptible mouse strains. In the disease, the participation of intestinal microbiota components was suggested. Therefore, we attempted to increase the incidence of ANKENT by systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a component of bacterial cellular walls and stimulates inflammatory processes.

Methods

ANKENT occurrence, serum cytokine profiles, spleen cellular composition and in vitro cytokine response to LPS were analysed in LPS-treated and control LPS-untreated B10.BR male mice.

Results

Contrary to expectations, LPS treatment decreased the incidence of ANKENT in LPS-treated group compared to control LPS-untreated group. Flow cytometry analysis of splenocytes showed an increased percentage of macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils and a decreased percentage of B cells, T cells and T helper cells in LPS-treated males following LPS administration. In addition, LPS-treated males had significantly elevated IL-6 and IL-10 serum levels. At 20–22 weeks after the final LPS application, splenocytes from LPS-treated mice were more susceptible to in vitro LPS stimulation than those of the controls and produced significantly higher levels of TNFα and IL-6.

Conclusions

Repeated systemic stimulation with microbial component lipopolysaccharide in early adulthood significantly reduced the incidence of ANKENT in B10.BR mice and this finding can support the “hygiene hypothesis”. In LPS-treated mice, the innate immunity parameters and the level of anti-inflammatory IL-10 cytokine were significantly increased. Nevertheless, the immunological mechanism of the LPS protective effect remains unclear.
The characteristics of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells and their effect on glioma
Authors: Zhang She-Hong , Xiang Ping , Wang He-Yong , Lu You-Yi , Luo Yan-Li , Jiang Hao
Published: November 2012

Background

EPCs were isolated primarily in 1997 by Asahara et al. and recent studies indicated that bone-marrow-derived EPCs contributed little to the endothelium of tumor vessels. Tumors of the CNS system demonstrate various features of angiogenesis.

Methods

EPCs derived from rat bone marrow were isolated and cultured in M199 medium without any induced factors. EPCs were studied using immunohistochemical staining, Flow cytometry and culture under three-dimensional condition to determine EPCs’ characteristics in vitro. We also established an animal model by injecting EPCs marked with Hoechst 33342 into the back of BALB/c nude mice and performed hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and immunofluorescent staining to study EPCs’ features in vivo. To research effect of EPCs on glioma, animals bearing tumors model with C6 glioma were established. About 27 day after injection, we performed immunohistochemical staining and Immunofluorescence staining.

Results

Our results showed that EPCs derived from rat bone marrow appeared typical morphological characteristics and were positive of CD34, CD133, KDR and CD31 antigens at different time in vitro under the special M199 medium without any induced factors. The percentage of cells that expressed CD133 decreased gradually. In brief, the present study showed that EPCs derived from rat bone marrow differentiated into ECs in medium the without any induced factors and formed tubular structures in three-dimensional circumstances. Animal experiments suggested that EPCs differentiated into ECs and other else non-endothelial cells, and that EPCs contributed M199 of glioma.

Discussion

These findings provides some novel results about biological characteristics of EPCs in vivo and ex vivo, and an update on the effect of EPCs on glioma and which would be helpful for the overall understanding of EPCs and make EPCs to be implied on the clinical therapy.
Cox-Maze III procedure with valvular surgery in an autopneumonectomized patient
Authors: Wi Jin Hong , Min Ho-Ki , Kang Do Kyun , Jun Hee Jae , Hwang Youn-Ho , Kim Dong-Kie , Kim Hyun Kuk , Jang Hang Jea , Rhee Il
Published: November 2012

Destructive pulmonary inflammation can leave patients with only a single functional lung, resulting in anatomical and physiological changes that may interfere with subsequent cardiac surgeries. Such patients are vulnerable to perioperative cardiopulmonary complications. Herein, we report the first case, to our knowledge, of an autopneumonectomized patient who successfully underwent a modified Cox-Maze III procedure combined with valvular repairs. The three major findings in this case can be summarized as follows: (1) a median sternotomy with peripheral cannulations, such as femoral cannulations, can provide an optimal exposure and prevent the obstruction of vision that may occur as a result of multiple cannulations through a median sternotomy; (2) a modified septal incision combined with biatrial incisions facilitate adequate exposure of the mitral valve; and (3) the aggressive use of intraoperative ultrafiltration may be helpful for the perioperative managements as decreasing pulmonary water contents, thereby avoiding the pulmonary edema associated with secretion of inflammatory cytokines during a cardiopulmonary bypass. We also provide several suggestions for achieving similar satisfactory surgical outcomes in patients with a comparable condition.
Expression analysis of calmodulin and calmodulin-like genes from rice, Oryza sativa L.
Authors: Chinpongpanich Aumnart , Limruengroj Kampon , Phean-o-pas Srivilai , Limpaseni Tipaporn , Buaboocha Teerapong
Published: November 2012

Background

In plants, a large family of calmodulin (CaM) and CaM-like (CML) proteins transduce the increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations by binding to and altering the activities of target proteins, and thereby affecting the physiological responses to a vast array of stimuli. Here, transcript expression analysis of Cam and CML gene family members in rice (Oryza sativa L.) was extensively examined.

Results

Cam and CML genes in rice exhibited differential expression patterns in tissues/organs. Under osmotic stress and salt stress, expression of OsCam1-1, OsCML4, 5, 8, and 11 was induced with different kinetics and magnitude. OsCML4 and 8 mRNA levels significantly increased by 3 h after treatment and remained elevated for at least 24 h while expression of OsCam1-1, OsCML5 and 11 was up-regulated as early as 1–3 h before rapidly returning to normal levels. Several cis-acting elements in response to abiotic stresses, including DREs (important promoter elements responsive to drought, high salt, and cold stress), were detected in the 5′ upstream regions of these genes. The observed induction of the GUS activity of transgenic rice plants via the OsCam1-1 promoter appeared to be biphasic and dependent on the severity of salt stress.

Conclusions

Large OsCam and OsCML gene family members likely play differential roles as signal transducers in regulating various developmental processes and represent important nodes in the signal transduction and transcriptional regulation networks in abiotic stresss responses mediated by the complex Ca2+ signals in plants, which are rich in both spatial and temporal information.
Translational health research: perspectives from health education specialists
Authors: Mata Holly J , Davis Sharon
Published: November 2012

The phrase “from bench to bedside to curbside” is a common definition of translational research among health disparities researchers. Health Education Specialists can make important contributions to the field of clinical translational medicine, particularly in light of U.S. health care reform and a renewed emphasis on medical home or health care home models.

Health Education Specialists have the training and experience to engage in and facilitate translational research, as well as the opportunity to learn from the translational efforts of other professions and enhance our research, practice, and community partnerships through translational efforts. In this paper, a Translational Health Education Research framework for health education researchers is suggested to foster increased translational efforts within our profession as well as to promote interdisciplinary collaborations to translate a variety of health‐related research. A conceptual framework adapted from translational health disparities research that highlights the level and scope of translational research necessary for changes in practice and policy is also provided.
An open prospective study of amikacin pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients during treatment with continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration
Authors: D’Arcy Deirdre M , Casey Eoin , Gowing Caitriona M , Donnelly Maria B , Corrigan Owen I
Published: November 2012

Background

The objectives of the current study were to determine amikacin pharmacokinetics in patients undergoing treatment with continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and to determine whether peak and trough concentration data could be used to predict pharmacokinetic parameters. An open prospective study was undertaken, comprising five critically ill patients with sepsis requiring CVVHDF.

Methods

Peak and trough plasma concentrations and multiple serum levels in a dosage interval were measured and the latter fitted to both a one- and two-compartment model. Blood and ultrafiltrate samples were collected and assayed for amikacin to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters; total body clearance (TBC), elimination rate constant (k) and volume of distribution (Vd). The concentration of amikacin in ultrafiltrate was used to determine the clearance via CVVHDF. CVVHDF was performed at prescribed dialysate rates of 1-2l h-1 and ultrafiltration rate of 2l h-1. Blood was pumped at 200ml/min using a Gambro blood pump and Hospal AN69HF haemofilter. Amikacin dosing was according to routine clinical practice in the Intensive Care Unit.

Results

The multi serum level study indicated that the one compartment model was adequate to characterize the pharmacokinetics in these patients suggesting that peak and trough plasma level data may be used to estimate individual patient pharmacokinetic parameters and to optimise individual patient dosing during treatment with CVVHDF. CVVHDF resulted in an amikacin k of 0.109+/−0.025 h, t1/2 of 6.74 +/− 1.69h, TBC of 3.39+/−0.817 h-1, and Vd of 31.4 +/− 3.27. The mean clearance due to CVVHDF of 2.86 l h-1 is similar to the creatinine clearance of 2.74 +/−0.4 lh-1. Amikacin was significantly cleared by CVVHDF, and its half life in patients on CVVHDF was approximately 2–3 times that reported in subjects without renal impairment and not undergoing haemodiafiltration for any reason.

Conclusions

CVVHDF contributes significantly to total clearance of amikacin. The use of pharmacokinetic parameter estimates obtained from two steady state serum-drug concentrations (peak and trough) can be used to guide individualised dosing of critically ill patients treated with CVVHDF. This is considered a useful strategy in this patient cohort, particularly in avoiding the risk of underdosing.
“The Persnicketiness of Memory”: Jonathan Safran Foer's Audaciously Imaginative Jewish Memorial Book
Authors: Bollinger Heidi E.
Published: November 2012

This article argues that Jonathan Safran Foer's postmodern Holocaust novel Everything Is Illuminated constitutes a fictional Jewish memorial book. Earlier critics have emphasized the magical realist elements of Everything Is Illuminated but have overlooked the influence of the Jewish memorial book, a literary genre both testimonial and folkloric, on Foer's depiction of shtetl life and its destruction during the Holocaust. Jewish memorial books, encyclopedic record books composed by Holocaust survivors, memorialize, with deep nostalgic longing, the lost inhabitants and culture of their annihilated ancestral villages. Foer's inventive adaptation of the genre exemplifies and problematizes the efforts of survivors' descendants to memorialize a culture they never experienced firsthand. Through the novel's superlative and even absurd representations of the shtetl, Foer tests the ability of fiction to function as an imaginative form of testimony. To traverse the spatial and temporal distance between the Holocaust descendant and the buried shtetl life, Foer's fictional Jewish memorial book represents time as fluid and history as provisional: in Everything Is Illuminated the past is as open-ended and unresolved as the future. This provisional sense of history creates spaces where the descendant-writer can gain a limited imaginative access to the past.
Polo-mediated phosphorylation of Maelstrom regulates oocyte determination during oogenesis in Drosophila
Authors: Pek Jun Wei , Ng Bing Fu , Kai Toshie
Published: November 2012

In Drosophila, Maelstrom is a conserved component of the perinuclear nuage, a germline-unique structure that appears to serve as a site for Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) production to repress deleterious transposons. Maelstrom also functions in the nucleus as a transcriptional regulator to repress the expression of microRNA-7, a process that is essential for the proper differentiation of germline stem cells. In this paper, we report another function of Maelstrom in regulating oocyte determination independently of its transposon silencing and germline stem cell differentiation activities. In Drosophila, the conserved serine 138 residue in Maelstrom is required for its phosphorylation, an event that promotes oocyte determination. Phosphorylation of Maelstrom is required for the repression of the pachytene checkpoint protein Sir2, but not for transposon silencing or for germline stem cell differentiation. We identify Polo as a kinase that mediates the phosphorylation of Maelstrom. Our results suggest that the Polo-mediated phosphorylation of Maelstrom may be a mechanism that controls oocyte determination by inactivating the pachytene checkpoint via the repression of Sir2 in Drosophila ovaries.
Transcription factor AP-2γ is a core regulator of tight junction biogenesis and cavity formation during mouse early embryogenesis
Authors: Choi Inchul , Carey Timothy S. , Wilson Catherine A. , Knott Jason G.
Published: November 2012

The trophectoderm epithelium is the first differentiated cell layer to arise during mammalian development. Blastocyst formation requires the proper expression and localization of tight junction, polarity, ion gradient and H2O channel proteins in the outer cell membranes. However, the underlying transcriptional mechanisms that control their expression are largely unknown. Here, we report that transcription factor AP-2γ (Tcfap2c) is a core regulator of blastocyst formation in mice. Bioinformatics, chromatin immunoprecipitation and transcriptional analysis revealed that Tcfap2c binds and regulates a diverse group of genes expressed during blastocyst formation. RNA interference experiments demonstrated that Tcfap2c regulates genes important for tight junctions, cell polarity and fluid accumulation. Functional and ultrastructural studies revealed that Tcfap2c is necessary for tight junction assembly and paracellular sealing in trophectoderm epithelium. Aggregation of control eight-cell embryos with Tcfap2c knockdown embryos rescued blastocyst formation via direct contribution to the trophectoderm epithelium. Finally, we found that Tcfap2c promotes cellular proliferation via direct repression of p21 transcription during the morula-to-blastocyst transition. We propose a model in which Tcfap2c acts in a hierarchy to facilitate blastocyst formation through transcriptional regulation of core genes involved in tight junction assembly, fluid accumulation and cellular proliferation.
In vivo evidence for the crucial role of SF1 in steroid-producing cells of the testis, ovary and adrenal gland
Authors: Buaas F. William , Gardiner Jennifer R. , Clayton Sally , Val Pierre , Swain Amanda
Published: November 2012

Adrenal and gonadal steroids are essential for life and reproduction. The orphan nuclear receptor SF1 (NR5A1) has been shown to regulate the expression of enzymes involved in steroid production in vitro. However, the in vivo role of this transcription factor in steroidogenesis has not been elucidated. In this study, we have generated steroidogenic-specific Cre-expressing mice to lineage mark and delete Sf1 in differentiated steroid-producing cells of the testis, the ovary and the adrenal gland. Our data show that SF1 is a regulator of the expression of steroidogenic genes in all three organs. In addition, Sf1 deletion leads to a radical change in cell morphology and loss of identity. Surprisingly, sexual development and reproduction in mutant animals were not compromised owing, in part, to the presence of a small proportion of SF1-positive cells. In contrast to the testis and ovary, the mutant adult adrenal gland showed a lack of Sf1-deleted cells and our studies suggest that steroidogenic adrenal cells during foetal stages require Sf1 to give rise to the adult adrenal population. This study is the first to show the in vivo requirements of SF1 in steroidogenesis and provides novel data on the cellular consequences of the loss of this protein specifically within steroid-producing cells.