bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Science and the freedom movement
Authors: Sinha Jagdish N.
Published: December 2015

The intellectual interconnection between professional scientists and the National Movement offers a most interesting field of study. The assumption that is tested in this article is that the ideological horizons of Indian scientists changed over the period as much as the aims and objects of the National Movement; and both the changes reacted on each other, ending with M.N. Saha’s anxiety to reshape the whole world.
The Ghalla Dher Movement: Agrarian agitation in North-West Frontier Province during the first Congress ministry, 1937–39
Authors: Shah Sayed Wiqar Ali
Published: December 2015

The Ghalla Dher movement which surfaced during the first Congress ministry in the N-WFP of British India not only affected the government but also the regional and trans-regional politics of the time. It gained widespread sympathy and generated discussion on an all-India level. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this movement and thereby help to provide a new and deeper understanding of the politics in the N-WFP, during late colonial rule.
Nationalist response to Agrarian conflict: Dr Rajendra Prasad and peasant politics in Bihar in the 1930s
Authors: Sharma G.P.
Published: December 2015

The Congress in Bihar was faced with a dilemma: Was it to concentrate on the struggle against British rule, or also take on the zamindars, to keep its peasant supporters satisfied. Unlike Uttar Pradesh (UP) where the Congress under Nehru’s influence took an increasingly anti-zamindar position, the Bihar Congress leadership, under Rajendra Prasad, opposed any peasant take-over of the Congress and tried to keep zamindars on the Congress bandwagon. This divergence was reflected in the differing pace of agrarian reform in UP and Bihar before as well as after Independence.
Exhibiting masculine identity through circus in colonial Bengal
Authors: Chatterjee Amitava
Published: December 2015

The stereotype of the ‘effeminate’ Bengali babu, much promoted by the colonial official and semi-official discourse, provoked a reaction among middle-class Bengalis to prove the falseness of this perception by promoting physical culture among Bengali youth. The circus was one arena in which physical and acrobatic feats could be displayed. So first there came akharas, and then the modern circus, in which Bengalis collaborated with, as well as challenged European practitioners. Circus thus attained an eminent position as a medium of entertainment in late colonial Bengal, which later on it ceased to hold.
Writing Indian prehistory and history and the societal dimension
Authors: Paddayya K.
Published: December 2015

In India there is a lamentable absence of planned historical writing, and in such writing as there is, a social perspective, in which the past’s links with the present are grasped, is often lacking. The ‘People’s History of India’ represents a welcome step; but it too makes substantive concessions to conventional archaeology and history. The titles Prehistory and Indus Civilization themselves are indicative of such concessions. Societies with modest archaeological remains are as important for us as those with more substantive ones. We need also to work back from how our people today live and think, in the manner of H.D. Sankalia and D.D. Kosambi.
Book Review: Noboru Karashima, ed., A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations
Authors: Jha D.N.
Published: December 2015

Noboru Karashima, ed., A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations (New Delhi: Oxford University Press), 2014, pp. xxi + 396 (double-columned), 130 Illustrations, 30 maps, ₹ 995.
Book Review: Tadd Fernée, Enlightenment and Violence: Modernity and Nation-making
Authors: Rothermund Dietmar
Published: December 2015

Tadd Fernée, Enlightenment and Violence: Modernity and Nation-making (New Delhi: SAGE Publications), 2014, pp. xvii + 386, ₹ 995.
Book Review: Sabyasachi Dasgupta, In Defence of Honour and Justice: Sepoy Rebellions in the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Dutta Manas
Published: December 2015

Sabyasachi Dasgupta, In Defence of Honour and Justice: Sepoy Rebellions in the Nineteenth Century (New Delhi: Primus Books), 2015, pp. x + 143, ₹ 79, ISBN: 978-93-84082-06-2.
KIT D816V–mutated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in indolent systemic mastocytosis are associated with disease progression
Authors: Garcia-Montero Andres C. , Jara-Acevedo Maria , Alvarez-Twose Ivan , Teodosio Cristina , Sanchez-Muñoz Laura , Muñiz Carmen , Muñoz-Gonzalez Javier I. , Mayado Andrea , Matito Almudena , Caldas Carolina , Morgado Jose M. , Escribano Luis , Orfao Alberto
Published: December 2015

Key Points

Acquisition of the KIT D816V mutation in an early pluripotent progenitor cell confers ISM cases a greater risk for disease progression. Despite the early acquisition of the KIT mutation, onset of clinical symptoms of ISM is often delayed to middle adulthood.
Anti-IgE treatment, airway inflammation and remodelling in severe allergic asthma: current knowledge and future perspectives
Authors: Samitas Konstantinos , Delimpoura Vasiliki , Zervas Eleftherios , Gaga Mina
Published: December 2015

Asthma is a disorder of the airways involving various inflammatory cells and mediators and characterised by bronchial hyperresponsiveness, chronic inflammation and structural alterations in the airways, also known as remodelling. IgE is an important mediator of allergic reactions and has a central role in allergic asthma pathophysiology, as it is implicated in both the early and late phase allergic response. Moreover, clinical and mechanistic evidence has lately emerged, implicating IgE in the development of airway remodelling. The use of monoclonal antibodies targeting IgE, such as omalizumab, has proven very effective in improving respiratory symptoms and quality of life, while reducing asthma exacerbations, emergency room visits and the use of systemic corticosteroids in allergic severe asthma. These effects are believed to be mainly mediated by omalizumab's inhibitory effect on the initiation and further propagation of the allergic inflammation cascade. However, there is evidence to suggest that anti-IgE treatment remains effective long after it has been discontinued. In part, these findings could be attributed to the possible ameliorating effects of anti-IgE treatment on airway remodelling. In this review, we discuss recent findings supporting the notion that anti-IgE treatment modulates the complex immune responses that manifest clinically as asthma and ameliorates airway remodelling changes often observed in allergic severe asthma phenotypes.
Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis: review of the 1022 cases reported worldwide
Authors: Castellana Giuseppe , Castellana Giorgio , Gentile Mattia , Castellana Roberto , Resta Onofrio
Published: December 2015

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease characterised by the widespread intra-alveolar accumulation of minute calculi called microliths. It is caused by mutation of theSLC34A2gene encoding the type IIb sodium phosphate cotransporter in alveolar type II cells. The present study explores the epidemiological, familial, genetic, clinical, diagnostic, radiological and therapeutic aspects with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of this uncommon disease.

We searched articles on PAM published up to December 2014 and 544 papers were found, accounting for 1022 cases.

PAM is present in all continents and in many nations, in particular in Turkey, China, Japan, India, Italy and the USA. Familiality is frequent. The clinical course is not uniform and the causes of this clinical variability seem to be largely nongenetic. The optimal diagnostic procedure is the association of chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) with bronchoalveolar lavage, but a chest radiograph may suffice in families in which a case has already been diagnosed. Moreover, chest radiography and HRCT allow the classification of the evolutionary phase of the disease and its severity. At present lung transplantation is the only effective therapy. However, better knowledge of the gene responsible offers hope for new therapies.
Imaging the heart in pulmonary hypertension: an update
Authors: Grünig Ekkehard , Peacock Andrew J.
Published: December 2015

Noninvasive imaging of the heart plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary hypertension (PH), and several well-established techniques are available for assessing performance of the right ventricle, the key determinant of patient survival. While right heart catheterisation is mandatory for establishing a diagnosis of PH, echocardiography is the most important screening tool for early detection of PH. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) is also a reliable and practical tool that can be used as part of the diagnostic work-up. Echocardiography can measure a range of haemodynamic and anatomical variables (e.g.pericardial effusion and pulmonary artery pressure), whereas CMRI provides complementary information to echocardiographyviahigh-resolution, three-dimensional imaging. Together with echocardiography and CMRI, techniques such as high-resolution computed tomography and positron emission tomography may also be valuable for screening, monitoring and follow-up assessments of patients with PH, but their clinical relevance has yet to be established. Technological advances have produced new variants of echocardiography, CMRI and positron emission tomography, and these permit closer examination of myocardial architecture, motion and deformation. Integrating these new tools into clinical practice in the future may lead to more precise noninvasive determination of diagnosis, risk and prognosis for PH.
Under pressure: pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease
Authors: Farber Harrison W. , Gibbs Simon
Published: December 2015

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with left heart disease (PH-LHD) is the most common type of PH, but its natural history is not well understood. PH-LHD is diagnosed by right heart catheterisation with a mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥25 mmHg and a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure >15 mmHg. The primary causes of PH-LHD are left ventricular dysfunction of systolic and diastolic origin, and valvular disease. Prognosis is poor and survival rates are low. Limited progress has been made towards specific therapies for PH-LHD, and management focuses on addressing the underlying cause of the disease with supportive therapies, surgery and pharmacological treatments. Clinical trials of therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with PH-LHD have thus far been limited and have provided disappointing or conflicting results. Robust, long-term clinical studies in appropriate target populations have the potential to improve the outlook for patients with PH-LHD. Herein, we discuss the knowledge gaps in our understanding of PH-LHD, and describe the current unmet needs and challenges that are faced by clinicians when identifying and managing patients with this disease.
Right heart catheterisation: best practice and pitfalls in pulmonary hypertension
Authors: Rosenkranz Stephan , Preston Ioana R.
Published: December 2015

Right heart catheterisation (RHC) plays a central role in identifying pulmonary hypertension (PH) disorders, and is required to definitively diagnose pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Despite widespread acceptance, there is a lack of guidance regarding the best practice for performing RHC in clinical practice. In order to ensure the correct evaluation of haemodynamic parameters directly measured or calculated from RHC, attention should be drawn to standardising procedures such as the position of the pressure transducer and catheter balloon inflation volume. Measurement of pulmonary arterial wedge pressure, in particular, is vulnerable to over- or under-wedging, which can give rise to false readings. In turn, errors in RHC measurement and data interpretation can complicate the differentiation of PAH from other PH disorders and lead to misdiagnosis. In addition to diagnosis, the role of RHC in conjunction with noninvasive tests is widening rapidly to encompass monitoring of treatment response and establishing prognosis of patients diagnosed with PAH. However, further standardisation of RHC is warranted to ensure optimal use in routine clinical practice.
ERS statement on the multidisciplinary respiratory management of ataxia telangiectasia
Authors: Bhatt Jayesh M. , Bush Andrew , van Gerven Marjo , Nissenkorn Andreea , Renke Michael , Yarlett Lian , Taylor Malcolm , Tonia Thomy , Warris Adilia , Zielen Stefan , Zinna Shairbanu , Merkus Peter J.F.M.
Published: December 2015

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare, progressive, multisystem disease that has a large number of complex and diverse manifestations which vary with age. Patients with A-T die prematurely with the leading causes of death being respiratory diseases and cancer. Respiratory manifestations include immune dysfunction leading to recurrent upper and lower respiratory infections; aspiration resulting from dysfunctional swallowing due to neurodegenerative deficits; inefficient cough; and interstitial lung disease/pulmonary fibrosis. Malnutrition is a significant comorbidity. The increased radiosensitivity and increased risk of cancer should be borne in mind when requesting radiological investigations. Aggressive proactive monitoring and treatment of these various aspects of lung disease under multidisciplinary expertise in the experience of national multidisciplinary clinics internationally forms the basis of this statement on the management of lung disease in A-T. Neurological management is outwith the scope of this document.
Native extracellular matrix preserves mesenchymal stem cell “stemness” and differentiation potential under serum-free culture conditions
Authors: Rakian Rubie , Block Travis J. , Johnson Shannan M. , Marinkovic Milos , Wu Junjie , Dai Qiuxia , Dean David D. , Chen Xiao-Dong
Published: December 2015

Introduction

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) for clinical use should not be grown in media containing fetal bovine serum (FBS), because of serum-related concerns over biosafety and batch-to-batch variability. Previously, we described the preparation and use of a cell-free native extracellular matrix (ECM) made by bone marrow cells (BM-ECM) which preserves stem cell properties and enhances proliferation. Here, we compare colony-forming ability and differentiation of MSCs cultured on BM-ECM with a commercially available matrix (CELLstart™) and tissue culture plastic (TCP) under serum-free conditions.

Methods

Primary MSCs from freshly isolated bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells or passaged MSCs (P1) were grown in serum-containing (SCM) or serum-free (SFM) media on BM-ECM, CELLstart™, or TCP substrates. Proliferation, cell composition (phenotype), colony-forming unit replication, and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) responsiveness were compared among cells maintained on the three substrates.

Results

Proliferation of primary BM-MSCs was significantly higher in SCM than SFM, irrespectively of culture substrate, suggesting that the expansion of these cells requires SCM. In contrast, passaged cells cultured on BM-ECM or CELLstart™ in SFM proliferated to nearly the same extent as cells in SCM. However, morphologically, those on BM-ECM were smaller and more aligned, slender, and long.

Cells grown for 7 days on BM-ECM in SFM were 20–40 % more positive for MSC surface markers than cells cultured on CELLstart™. Cells cultured on TCP contained the smallest number of cells positive for MSC markers. MSC colony-forming ability in SFM, as measured by CFU-fibroblasts, was increased 10-, 9-, and 2-fold when P1 cells were cultured on BM-ECM, CELLstart™, and TCP, respectively. Significantly, CFU-adipocyte and -osteoblast replication of cells grown on BM-ECM was dramatically increased over those on CELLstart™ (2X) and TCP (4-7X). BM-MSCs, cultured in SFM and treated with BMP-2, retained their differentiation capacity better on BM-ECM than on either of the other two substrates.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that BM-ECM provides a unique microenvironment that supports the colony-forming ability of MSCs in SFM and preserves their stem cell properties. The establishment of a robust culture system, combining native tissue-specific ECM and SFM, provides an avenue for preparing significant numbers of potent MSCs for cell-based therapies in patients.
Existence of solutions of first-order differential equations via a fixed point theorem for discontinuous operators
Authors: Sestelo Rubén Figueroa , Pouso Rodrigo López
Published: December 2015

We use a recent Schauder-type result for discontinuous operators in order to look for solutions for first-order differential equations subject to initial functional conditions. We show how this abstract fixed-point result allows us to consider a nonlinearity which can be strongly discontinuous. Some examples of applications and comparison with recent literature are included.
Common coupled fixed point theorems for θ-ψ-contraction mappings endowed with a directed graph
Authors: Suantai Suthep , Charoensawan Phakdi , Lampert Tatjana Aleksic
Published: December 2015

In this paper, we present some existence and uniqueness results for coupled coincidence point and common fixed point of θ-ψ-contraction mappings in complete metric spaces endowed with a directed graph. Our results generalize the results obtained by Kadelburg et al. (Fixed Point Theory Appl. 2015:27, 2015, doi:10.1007/s11590-013-0708-4). We also have an application to some integral system to support the results.
Complete genome of Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain UFB2, a soil bacterium with antibacterial activity against bacterial canker pathogen of tomato
Authors: Deng Peng , Wang Xiaoqiang , Baird Sonya M. , Lu Shi-En
Published: December 2015

Strain UFB2 was isolated from a soybean field soil in Mississippi and identified as a member of Pseudomonas chlororaphis. Strain UFB2 has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against common soil-borne pathogens. Plate assays showed that strain UFB2 was especially efficient in inhibiting the growth of Clavibacter michiganensis 1–07, the causal agent of the devastating bacterial canker of tomato. Here, the complete genome sequence of P. chlororaphis strain UFB2 is reported and described. The strain UFB2 genome consists of a circular chromosome of 6,360,256 bp of which 87.86 % are protein-coding bases. Genome analysis revealed multiple gene islands encoding various secondary metabolites such as 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol. Further genome analysis will provide more details about strain UFB2 antibacterial activities mechanisms and the use of this strain as a potential biocontrol agent.
Complete genome sequence of Salinicoccus halodurans H3B36, isolated from the Qaidam Basin in China
Authors: Jiang Kai , Xue Yanfen , Ma Yanhe
Published: December 2015

Salinicoccus halodurans H3B36 is a moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from a sediment sample of Qaidam Basin at 3.2 m vertical depth. Strain H3B36 accumulate Nα-acetyl-α-lysine as compatible solute against salinity and heat stresses and may have potential applications in industrial biotechnology. In this study, we sequenced the genome of strain H3B36 using single molecule, real-time sequencing technology on a PacBio RS II instrument. The complete genome of strain H3B36 was 2,778,379 bp and contained 2,853 protein-coding genes, 12 rRNA genes, and 61 tRNA genes with 58 tandem repeats, six minisatellite DNA sequences, 11 genome islands, and no CRISPR repeat region. Further analysis of epigenetic modifications revealed the presence of 11,000 m4C-type modified bases, 7,545 m6A-type modified bases, and 89,064 other modified bases. The data on the genome of this strain may provide an insight into the metabolism of Nα-acetyl-α-lysine.
Mental state decoding impairment in major depression and
borderline personality disorder: Meta-analysis
Authors: Richman Mara J. , Unoka Zsolt
Published: December 2015

Background

Patients with major depression and borderline personality disorder are
characterised by a distorted perception of other people's intentions.
Deficits in mental state decoding are thought to be the underlying cause
of this clinical feature.

Aims

To examine, using meta-analysis, whether mental state decoding abilities
in patients with major depression and borderline personality disorder
differ from those of healthy controls.

Method

A systematic review of 13 cross-sectional studies comparing Reading in
the Mind of the Eyes Test (RMET) accuracy performance of patients with
major depression or borderline personality disorder and healthy
age-matched controls (n = 976). Valence scores, where
reported, were also assessed.

Results

Large significant deficits were seen for global RMET performance in
patients with major depression (d =–0.751). The positive
RMET valence scores of patients with depression were significantly worse;
patients with borderline personality disorder had worse neutral scores.
Both groups were worse than controls. Moderator analysis revealed that
individuals with comorbid borderline personality disorder and major
depression did better than those with borderline personality disorder
alone on accuracy. Those with comorbid borderline personality disorder
and any cluster B or C personality disorder did worse than borderline
personality disorder alone. Individuals with both borderline personality
disorder and major depression performed better then those with borderline
personality disorder without major depression for positive valence.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the relevance of RMET performance in patients
with borderline personality disorder and major depression, and the
importance of considering comorbidity in future analysis.
Case study of posts before and after a suicide on a Swedish
internet forum
Authors: Westerlund Michael , Hadlaczky Gergö , Wasserman Danuta
Published: December 2015

Websites and discussion forums have become an important and sometimes
controversial source of information on suicide. Using a case report, our aim
was to examine the responses, attitudes and beliefs that were communicated
on a forum before, during and after a suicide act. We undertook two related
analyses: a qualitative investigation of the messages that were posted
before the suicide and a combined qualitative–quantitative analysis of the
messages posted during and after the suicide. Nearly half the posted
messages before the suicide encouraged the victim to complete the suicidal
act, and a surprising number of posts after the suicide expressed
excitement, although around half of the posts considered the suicide to be
tragic. It is of great importance to increase awareness of suicide signals
and understanding about how to respond to individuals who communicate
suicide intentions on different forums on the internet.
Out of sight, out of mind
Authors: Brooker Charles G. D. , Brown Martin
Published: December 2015

As a result of the psychiatric hospital closure programme the use of private
sector facilities for those needing longer-term care and support has
increased. However, local rehabilitation services may be a better solution
than out of area treatment.
Ending lethal discrimination against people with serious mental
illness
Authors: Taggart Holly , Bailey Sue
Published: December 2015

Each year in England 33 000 people diagnosed with a serious mental illness
(SMI) die from causes that could have been avoided. Our
mental-health-specific Atlas of Variation is the first to
demonstrate the extent to which these inequalities and inequities affect
mortality nationally.
Verbatim–100 Words
Authors: Brunskill David
Published: December 2015

‘Word for word’ examples should be revered for their subjective purity and
revealing potential. Traditionally, forms of verbatim include the written:
letters, poems, diaries and notes; and the spoken: audio, video and digital
recordings. However, they also encompass accurately recorded and transcribed
interviews and increasingly include modern forms of communication: email and
social media outputs such as tweets, threads and wall postings. Even more
abstract forms of personal expression and representation: painting, music,
dance, sculpture etc., while usually regarded as visual arts in the first
instance, may also share valuable potential as a gateway into elusive
personal worlds of interest.
ECT practices in Iraq: a national audit
Authors: Alhemiary Nesif , Ali Zainab , Abbas Mohammed J.
Published: December 2015

Aims and method

This national audit examined practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Iraq against local standards. Data were collected by a questionnaire sent to heads of departments or medical directors in the 10 Iraqi hospitals which provide ECT and by examining case notes of all patients who had ECT in the first 6 months of 2013.

Results

Of the 26 psychiatric hospitals in Iraq, 10 provide ECT. There were some resource shortcomings in the ECT clinics (e.g. only 2 had a minimum of 2 rooms and all had no EEG monitoring). During the audit period, 251 patients had ECT. The mean age was 36.2 years and 51.8% were males. Bilateral ECT was used in all cases, general anaesthesia in 77.15%. The main indication for ECT was schizophrenia, followed by severe depression, resistant mania, catatonia and others.

Clinical implications

More work is needed to ensure all patients receive modified ECT. ECT is still used widely for schizophrenia. This needs further exploration and training.
Newspaper reporting of homicide-suicide and mental illness
Authors: Flynn Sandra , Gask Linda , Shaw Jenny
Published: December 2015

Aims and method

To explore the portrayal of homicide-suicide in newspaper articles, particularly how mental illness was reported. We carried out a qualitative study in England and Wales (2006–2008). Data from newspaper articles obtained via the LexisNexis database were used to examine a consecutive series of 60 cases.

Results

A fascination with extreme violence, vulnerable victims and having someone to blame made homicide-suicides newsworthy. Some offenders were portrayed in a stereotypical manner and pejorative language was used to describe mental illness. The findings showed evidence of inaccurate and speculative reference to mental disorder in newspaper reports.

Clinical implications

The media should avoid speculation on people's mental state. Accurate reporting is essential to reduce stigma of mental illness, which may in turn encourage people to seek help if they experience similar emotional distress.
Mobile telephone apps in mental health practice: uses, opportunities and challenges
Authors: Marley Justin , Farooq Saeed
Published: December 2015

Smartphones are used by patients and clinicians alike. Vast numbers of software applications (apps) run on smartphones and carry out useful functions. Clinician- and patient-oriented mental health apps have been developed. In this article, we provide an overview of apps that are relevant for mental health. We look at clinician-oriented apps that support assessment, diagnosis and treatment as well as patient-oriented apps that support education and self-management. We conclude by looking at the challenges that apps pose with a discussion of possible solutions.
YouTube and ‘psychiatry’
Authors: Gordon Robert , Miller John , Collins Noel
Published: December 2015

YouTube is a video-sharing website that is increasingly used to share and disseminate health-related information, particularly among younger people. There are reports that social media sites, such as YouTube, are being used to communicate an anti-psychiatry message but this has never been confirmed in any published analysis of YouTube clip content. This descriptive study revealed that the representation of ‘psychiatry’ during summer 2012 was predominantly negative. A subsequent smaller re-analysis suggests that the negative portrayal of ‘psychiatry’ on YouTube is a stable phenomenon. The significance of this and how it could be addressed are discussed.
Everybody's Poetry
Authors: Lor Prathna
Published: December 2015

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter serve millions of people who populate digital space with autobiographical avatars and simulacra. Digital selves are curated, edited, and maintained in a perpetual process of digitizing life experience in order to produce an imagined life. The emergence of social media poetics — and, specifically, what I term digital realism — demonstrates the use of the confessional mode in social media. Digital realism gives name to a process of literary production that obscures the lines between life and writing. In this essay, I explore how digital realism operates in the work of multimedia artist Steve Roggenbuck (b. 1987), which draws out and capitalizes on the contradictions of self-fashioning through affective modes of sincerity and failure, in order to explore the limits of popular accessibility that social media platforms and poetics purport to offer.
Application and simplified proof of a sharp L2 extension theorem
Authors: Ohsawa Takeo
Published: December 2015

As an application of a sharp L2 extension theorem for holomorphic functions in Guan and Zhou, a stability theorem for the boundary asymptotics of the Bergman kernel is proved. An alternate proof of the extension theorem is given, too. It is a simplified proof in the sense that it is free from ordinary differential equations.
Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies and the Question of Postcolonial Modernism
Authors: Stasi Paul
Published: December 2015

This essay takes up the relationship between modernism and postcolonialism through a comparison of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim and Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies. What Conrad understands as a crisis in narrative form is, I argue, a function of his understanding of history as the absolute incompatibility of modernity and tradition, the West and the rest. This is best seen in his inability to narrate the story of those “unconscious pilgrims of an exacting belief” that occupy the absent center of his text, precisely those subjects who are the focus of Ghosh's story of a repurposed slave ship transporting a group of indentured servants to Mauritius. Incommensurability is thus the object of Ghosh's critique, part of the imperial ideology his text works to undermine through its development of a universal history that emerges out of its multiple narrative structure. Sea of Poppies represents less a return to modernism, then, than the development of a new form of realism, one produced through a dialectical overcoming of the particular understanding of history that undergirds one aspect of modernist aesthetic form.
Crane's Speech Figures and the Making of Whilomville's Monster
Authors: Zirulnik Martin
Published: December 2015

Odd phrases—certain vaguely humorous idiomatic figures of speech—are far too instrumental in the narrative development of Crane's fiction to be considered incidental, though their precise role remains obscure. At times, particular phrases and figures even seem to exert a surreal or supernatural agency over Crane's fictional terrain. Accounting for these in terms of fairly conventional modes of realism and naturalism, critics often presume that Crane's plotting works to literalize clichés of common speech and thus to reveal, in a manner of action, social significance latent in a manner of speaking. I argue, however, that rather than using narrative to literalize figurative phrases, ironically displaying hidden social mechanisms, Crane's fiction is directly concerned with the processes by which such phrases are themselves born and naturalized in narration. These rhetorical processes counterpose conventional modes of novelistic figuration against the historical and social developments of actual speech figures. Alongside brief discussions of The Red Badge of Courage (1895) and Crane's shorter fiction, this essay traces in detail the figurative process of The Monster (1898). Published just at the historical moment when the phrase losing face was entering common usage in English, The Monster confronts the invention and spread of this figure (and others) in novelistic terms, as a post-Reconstruction small-town tragedy. Ultimately, the processes by which phrases are made and come to preside destructively over more familiar narrative patterns suggest an irresolvable formal conflict in Crane's literary naturalism, with broader implications for the relationship between narrative and rhetoric in the novel form.
Still Life in Frankenstein
Authors: Neel Alexandra
Published: December 2015

This article examines the spaces still life in Frankenstein, arguing that Mary Shelley draws on this rich visual tradition from its humblest manifestations in the painting of food to its most conceptual in its explorations of light, human perception, and death. Following Norman Bryson's directive of “looking at the overlooked,” this essay explores the creature's relationship to food, self-maintenance, and creatural existence with a special focus on what Joanna Woodall calls the “spaces of still life,” including the kitchen, the artist's studio, and the camera obscura. The essay attempts to answer the seemingly mundane questions of why the monster talks about food at moments of high drama or why the novel is littered with so many “disembodied eyes,” to borrow Jay Clayton's phrase. In part, I argue the creature's development is a kind of art appreciation class where he learns to make distinctions of taste in reading various environments and scenes. The essay interprets Victor Frankenstein's artistic and scientific endeavors as a form of history painting that cannot rid itself of the “debased” genre of still life, namely, rhyparography (the painting of waste and filth). Indeed, all art practice in Frankenstein becomes tied to death and remains—whether it is the anatomical drawing recoded as vanitas or the creature's literal tableaux vivants turned nature morte. In this way, Shelley's philosophical novel on the values of domestic work and affection gets expressed precisely through the genre of still life.
Analysis of neural progenitors from embryogenesis to juvenile adult inXenopus laevisreveals biphasic neurogenesis and continuous lengthening of the cell cycle
Authors: Thuret Raphaël , Auger Hélène , Papalopulu Nancy
Published: December 2015

Xenopus laevis is a prominent model system for studying neural development, but our understanding of the long-term temporal dynamics of neurogenesis remains incomplete. Here, we present the first continuous description of neurogenesis in X.laevis, covering the entire period of development from the specification of neural ectoderm during gastrulation to juvenile frog. We have used molecular markers to identify progenitors and neurons, short-term bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation to map the generation of newborn neurons and dual pulse S-phase labelling to characterise changes in their cell cycle length. Our study revealed the persistence of Sox3-positive progenitor cells from the earliest stages of neural development through to the juvenile adult. Two periods of intense neuronal generation were observed, confirming the existence of primary and secondary waves of neurogenesis, punctuated by a period of quiescence before metamorphosis and culminating in another period of quiescence in the young adult. Analysis of multiple parameters indicates that neural progenitors alternate between global phases of differentiation and amplification and that, regardless of their behaviour, their cell cycle lengthens monotonically during development, at least at the population level.
Apical constriction and epithelial invagination are regulated by BMP activity
Authors: Jidigam Vijay K. , Srinivasan Raghuraman C. , Patthey Cedric , Gunhaga Lena
Published: December 2015

Epithelial invagination is a morphological process in which flat cell sheets transform into three-dimensional structures through bending of the tissue. It is accompanied by apical constriction, in which the apical cell surface is reduced in relation to the basal cell surface. Although much is known about the intra-cellular molecular machinery driving apical constriction and epithelial invagination, information of how extra-cellular signals affect these processes remains insufficient. In this study we have established several in vivo assays of placodal invagination to explore whether the external signal BMP regulates processes connected to epithelial invagination. By inhibiting BMP activity in prospective cranial placodes, we provide evidence that BMP signals are required for RhoA and F-actin rearrangements, apical constriction, cell elongation and epithelial invagination. The failure of placode invagination after BMP inhibition appears to be a direct consequence of disrupted apical accumulation of RhoA and F-actin, rather than changes in cell death or proliferation. In addition, our results show that epithelial invagination and acquisition of placode-specific identities are two distinct and separable developmental processes. In summary, our results provide evidence that BMP signals promote epithelial invagination by acting upstream of the intracellular molecular machinery that drives apical constriction and cell elongation.
Src64 controls a novel actin network required for proper ring canal formation in the Drosophila male germline
Authors: Eikenes Åsmund Husabø , Malerød Lene , Lie-Jensen Anette , Sem Wegner Catherine , Brech Andreas , Liestøl Knut , Stenmark Harald , Haglund Kaisa
Published: December 2015

In many organisms, germ cells develop as cysts in which cells are interconnected via ring canals (RCs) as a result of incomplete cytokinesis. However, the molecular mechanisms of incomplete cytokinesis remain poorly understood. Here, we address the role of tyrosine phosphorylation of RCs in the Drosophila male germline. We uncover a hierarchy of tyrosine phosphorylation within germline cysts that positively correlates with RC age. The kinase Src64 is responsible for mediating RC tyrosine phosphorylation, and loss of Src64 causes a reduction in RC diameter within germline cysts. Mechanistically, we show that Src64 controls an actin network around the RCs that depends on Abl and the Rac/SCAR/Arp2/3 pathway. The actin network around RCs is required for correct RC diameter in cysts of developing germ cells. We also identify that Src64 is required for proper germ cell differentiation in the Drosophila male germline independent of its role in RC regulation. In summary, we report that Src64 controls actin dynamics to mediate proper RC formation during incomplete cytokinesis during germline cyst development in vivo.
Brg1 coordinates multiple processes during retinogenesis and is a tumor suppressor in retinoblastoma
Authors: Aldiri Issam , Ajioka Itsuki , Xu Beisi , Zhang Jiakun , Chen Xiang , Benavente Claudia , Finkelstein David , Johnson Dianna , Akiyama Jennifer , Pennacchio Len A. , Dyer Michael A.
Published: December 2015

Retinal development requires precise temporal and spatial coordination of cell cycle exit, cell fate specification, cell migration and differentiation. When this process is disrupted, retinoblastoma, a developmental tumor of the retina, can form. Epigenetic modulators are central to precisely coordinating developmental events, and many epigenetic processes have been implicated in cancer. Studying epigenetic mechanisms in development is challenging because they often regulate multiple cellular processes; therefore, elucidating the primary molecular mechanisms involved can be difficult. Here we explore the role of Brg1 (Smarca4) in retinal development and retinoblastoma in mice using molecular and cellular approaches. Brg1 was found to regulate retinal size by controlling cell cycle length, cell cycle exit and cell survival during development. Brg1 was not required for cell fate specification but was required for photoreceptor differentiation and cell adhesion/polarity programs that contribute to proper retinal lamination during development. The combination of defective cell differentiation and lamination led to retinal degeneration in Brg1-deficient retinae. Despite the hypocellularity, premature cell cycle exit, increased cell death and extended cell cycle length, retinal progenitor cells persisted in Brg1-deficient retinae, making them more susceptible to retinoblastoma. ChIP-Seq analysis suggests that Brg1 might regulate gene expression through multiple mechanisms.
Cardiac contraction activates endocardial Notch signaling to modulate chamber maturation in zebrafish
Authors: Samsa Leigh Ann , Givens Chris , Tzima Eleni , Stainier Didier Y. R. , Qian Li , Liu Jiandong
Published: December 2015

Congenital heart disease often features structural abnormalities that emerge during development. Accumulating evidence indicates a crucial role for cardiac contraction and the resulting fluid forces in shaping the heart, yet the molecular basis of this function is largely unknown. Using the zebrafish as a model of early heart development, we investigated the role of cardiac contraction in chamber maturation, focusing on the formation of muscular protrusions called trabeculae. By genetic and pharmacological ablation of cardiac contraction, we showed that cardiac contraction is required for trabeculation through its role in regulating notch1b transcription in the ventricular endocardium. We also showed that Notch1 activation induces expression of ephrin b2a (efnb2a) and neuregulin 1 (nrg1) in the endocardium to promote trabeculation and that forced Notch activation in the absence of cardiac contraction rescues efnb2a and nrg1 expression. Using in vitro and in vivo systems, we showed that primary cilia are important mediators of fluid flow to stimulate Notch expression. Together, our findings describe an essential role for cardiac contraction-responsive transcriptional changes in endocardial cells to regulate cardiac chamber maturation.
Dynamic microRNA-101a and Fosab expression controls zebrafish heart regeneration
Authors: Beauchemin Megan , Smith Ashley , Yin Viravuth P.
Published: December 2015

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world owing to the limited regenerative capacity of the mammalian cardiovascular system. In lieu of new muscle synthesis, the human heart replaces necrotic tissue with deposition of a noncontractile scar. By contrast, the adult zebrafish is endowed with a remarkable regenerative capacity, capable of de novo cardiomyocyte (CM) creation and scar tissue removal when challenged with an acute injury. In these studies, we examined the contributions of the dynamically regulated microRNA miR-101a during adult zebrafish heart regeneration. We demonstrate that miR-101a expression is rapidly depleted within 3 days post-amputation (dpa) but is highly upregulated by 7-14 dpa, before returning to uninjured levels at the completion of the regenerative process. Employing heat-inducible transgenic strains and antisense oligonucleotides, we demonstrate that decreases in miR-101a levels at the onset of cardiac injury enhanced CM proliferation. Interestingly, prolonged suppression of miR-101a activity stimulates new muscle synthesis but with defects in scar tissue clearance. Upregulation of miR-101a expression between 7 and 14 dpa is essential to stimulate removal of the scar. Through a series of studies, we identified the proto-oncogene fosab (cfos) as a potent miR-101a target gene, stimulator of CM proliferation, and inhibitor of scar tissue removal. Importantly, combinatorial depletion of fosab and miR-101a activity rescued defects in scar tissue clearance mediated by miR-101a inhibition alone. In summation, our studies indicate that the precise temporal modulation of the miR-101a/fosab genetic axis is crucial for coordinating CM proliferation and scar tissue removal during zebrafish heart regeneration.
Morphogen rules: design principles of gradient-mediated embryo patterning
Authors: Briscoe James , Small Stephen
Published: December 2015

The Drosophila blastoderm and the vertebrate neural tube are archetypal examples of morphogen-patterned tissues that create precise spatial patterns of different cell types. In both tissues, pattern formation is dependent on molecular gradients that emanate from opposite poles. Despite distinct evolutionary origins and differences in time scales, cell biology and molecular players, both tissues exhibit striking similarities in the regulatory systems that establish gene expression patterns that foreshadow the arrangement of cell types. First, signaling gradients establish initial conditions that polarize the tissue, but there is no strict correspondence between specific morphogen thresholds and boundary positions. Second, gradients initiate transcriptional networks that integrate broadly distributed activators and localized repressors to generate patterns of gene expression. Third, the correct positioning of boundaries depends on the temporal and spatial dynamics of the transcriptional networks. These similarities reveal design principles that are likely to be broadly applicable to morphogen-patterned tissues.
The formins FHOD1 and INF2 regulate inter- and intra-structural contractility of podosomes
Authors: Panzer Linda , Trübe Leona , Klose Matthias , Joosten Ben , Slotman Johan , Cambi Alessandra , Linder Stefan
Published: December 2015

Podosomes are actin-rich adhesion structures that depend on Arp2/3 complex-based actin nucleation. We now report the identification of the formins FHOD1 and INF2 as novel components and additional actin-based regulators of podosomes in primary human macrophages. FHOD1 surrounds the podosome core and is also present at podosome-connecting cables, whereas INF2 localizes at the podosome cap structure. Using a variety of microscopy-based methods, including a semiautomated podosome reformation assay, measurement of podosome oscillations, FRAP analysis of single podosomes, and structured illumination microscopy, both formins were found to regulate different aspects of podosome-associated contractility, with FHOD1 mediating actomyosin contractility between podosomes, and INF2 regulating contractile events at individual podosomes. Moreover, INF2 was found to be a critical regulator of podosome de novo formation and size. Collectively, we identify FHOD1 and INF2 as novel regulators of inter- and intra-structural contractility of podosomes. Podosomes thus present as one of the few currently identified structures, which depend on the concerted activity of both Arp2/3 complex and specific formins and may serve as a model system for the analysis of complex actin architectures in cells.
A hundred introductions to semiotics, for a million students: Survey of semiotics textbooks and primers in the world
Authors: Kull Kalevi , Bogdanova Olga , Gramigna Remo , Heinapuu Ott , Lepik Eva , Lindström Kati , Magnus Riin , Moss Rauno Thomas , Ojamaa Maarja , Pern Tanel , Põhjala Priit , Pärn Katre , Raudmäe Kristi , Remm Tiit , Salupere Silvi , Soovik Ene-Reet , Sõukand Renata , Tønnessen Morten , Väli Katre
Published: December 2015

In order to estimate the current situation of teaching materials available in the field of semiotics, we are providing a comparative overview and a worldwide bibliography of introductions and textbooks on general semiotics published within last 50 years, i.e. since the beginning of institutionalization of semiotics. In this category, we have found over 130 original books in 22 languages. Together with the translations of more than 20 of these titles, our bibliography includes publications in 32 languages. Comparing the authors, their theoretical backgrounds and the general frames of the discipline of semiotics in different decades since the 1960s makes it possible to describe a number of predominant tendencies. In the extensive bibliography thus compiled we also include separate lists for existing lexicons and readers of semiotics as additional material not covered in the main discussion. The publication frequency of new titles is growing, with a certain depression having occurred in the 1980s. A leading role of French, Russian and Italian works is demonstrated.