bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Accumulation of inorganic polyphosphate enables stress endurance and catalytic vigour in Pseudomonas putida KT2440
Authors: Nikel Pablo I , Chavarría Max , Martínez-García Esteban , Taylor Anne C , de Lorenzo Víctor
Published: May 2013

Background

Accumulation of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP), a persistent trait throughout the whole Tree of Life, is claimed to play a fundamental role in enduring environmental insults in a large variety of microorganisms. The share of polyP in the tolerance of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida KT2440 to a suite of physicochemical stresses has been studied on the background of its capacity as a host of oxidative biotransformations.

Results

Cells lacking polyphosphate kinase (Ppk), which expectedly presented a low intracellular polyP level, were more sensitive to a number of harsh external conditions such as ultraviolet irradiation, addition of β-lactam antibiotics and heavy metals (Cd2+ and Cu2+). Other phenotypes related to a high-energy phosphate load (e.g., swimming) were substantially weakened as well. Furthermore, the ppk mutant was consistently less tolerant to solvents and its survival in stationary phase was significantly affected. In contrast, the major metabolic routes were not significantly influenced by the loss of Ppk as diagnosed from respiration patterns of the mutant in phenotypic microarrays. However, the catalytic vigour of the mutant decreased to about 50% of that in the wild-type strain as estimated from the specific growth rate of cells carrying the catabolic TOL plasmid pWW0 for m- xylene biodegradation. The catalytic phenotype of the mutant was restored by over-expressing ppk in trans. Some of these deficits could be explained by the effect of the ppk mutation on the expression profile of the rpoS gene, the stationary phase sigma factor, which was revealed by the analysis of a P
rpoS
 → rpoS‘-’lacZ translational fusion. Still, every stress-related effect of lacking Ppk in P. putida was relatively moderate as compared to some of the conspicuous phenotypes reported for other bacteria.

Conclusions

While polyP can be involved in a myriad of cellular functions, the polymer seems to play a relatively secondary role in the genetic and biochemical networks that ultimately enable P. putida to endure environmental stresses. Instead, the main value of polyP could be ensuring a reservoire of energy during prolonged starvation. This is perhaps one of the reasons for polyP persistence in live systems despite its apparent lack of essentiality.
Characterizing Pv ARP, a novel Plasmodium vivax antigen
Authors: Moreno-Pérez Darwin A , Saldarriaga Ambar , Patarroyo Manuel A
Published: May 2013

Background

Plasmodium vivax continues to be the most widely distributed malarial parasite species in tropical and sub-tropical areas, causing high morbidity indices around the world. Better understanding of the proteins used by the parasite during the invasion of red blood cells is required to obtain an effective vaccine against this disease. This study describes characterizing the P. vivax asparagine-rich protein (Pv ARP) and examines its antigenicity in natural infection.

Methods

The target gene in the study was selected according to a previous in silico analysis using profile hidden Markov models which identified P. vivax proteins that play a possible role in invasion. Transcription of the arp gene in the P. vivax VCG-1 strain was here evaluated by RT-PCR. Specific human antibodies against Pv ARP were used to confirm protein expression by Western blot as well as its subcellular localization by immunofluorescence. Recognition of recombinant Pv ARP by sera from P. vivax- infected individuals was evaluated by ELISA.

Results

VCG-1 strain Pv ARP is a 281-residue-long molecule, which is encoded by a single exon and has an N-terminal secretion signal, as well as a tandem repeat region. This protein is expressed in mature schizonts and is located on the surface of merozoites, having an apparent accumulation towards their apical pole. Sera from P. vivax-infected patients recognized the recombinant, thereby suggesting that this protein is targeted by the immune response during infection.

Conclusions

This study showed the characterization of Pv ARP and its antigenicity. Further assays orientated towards evaluating this antigen’s functional importance during parasite invasion are being carried out.
Effectiveness of nutrition training of health workers toward improving caregivers’ feeding practices for children aged six months to two years: a systematic review
Authors: Sunguya Bruno F , Poudel Krishna C , Mlunde Linda B , Shakya Prakash , Urassa David P , Jimba Masamine , Yasuoka Junko
Published: May 2013

Background

Nutrition training of health workers can help to reduce child undernutrition. Specifically, trained health workers might contribute to this end through frequent nutrition counseling of caregivers. This may improve child-feeding practices and thus reduce the risk of undernutrition among children of counseled caregivers. Although studies have shown varied impacts of health workers’ nutrition training on child feeding practices, no systematic review of the effectiveness of such intervention has yet been reported. Therefore, we conducted this study to examine the effectiveness of nutrition training for health workers on child feeding practices including feeding frequency, energy intake, and dietary diversity among children aged six months to two years.

Methods

We searched the literature for published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs using medical databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Knowledge, and through WHO regional databases. Our intervention of interest was nutrition training of health workers. We pooled the results of the selected trials, evaluated them using the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria, and calculated the overall effect size of the intervention in meta-analyses.

Results

Ten RCTs and cluster RCTs out of 4757 retrieved articles were eligible for final analyses. Overall, health workers’ nutrition training improved daily energy intake of children between six months and two years of age. The pooled evidence from the three studies reporting mean energy intake per day revealed a standardized mean difference (SMD) of 0.76, 95% CI (0.63-0.88). For the two studies with median energy intake SMD was 1.06 (95% CI 0.87-1.24). Health workers’ nutrition training also improved feeding frequency among children aged six months to two years. The pooled evidence from the three studies reporting mean feeding frequency showed an SMD of 0.48 (95% CI 0.38-0.58). Regarding dietary diversity, children in intervention groups were more likely to consume more diverse diets compared to their counterparts.

Conclusion and recommendations

Nutrition training for health workers can improve feeding frequency, energy intake, and dietary diversity of children aged six months to two years. Scaling up of nutrition training for health workers presents a potential entry point to improve nutrition status among children.
Assessing equity of healthcare utilization in rural China: results from nationally representative surveys from 1993 to 2008
Authors: Zhou Zhongliang , Su Yanfang , Gao Jianmin , Campbell Benjamin , Zhu Zhengwei , Xu Ling , Zhang Yaoguang
Published: May 2013

Background

The phenomenon of inequitable healthcare utilization in rural China interests policymakers and researchers; however, the inequity has not been actually measured to present the magnitude and trend using nationally representative data.

Methods

Based on the National Health Service Survey (NHSS) in 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008, the Probit model with the probability of outpatient visit and the probability of inpatient visit as the dependent variables is applied to estimate need-predicted healthcare utilization. Furthermore, need-standardized healthcare utilization is assessed through indirect standardization method. Concentration index is measured to reflect income-related inequity of healthcare utilization.

Results

The concentration index of need-standardized outpatient utilization is 0.0486[95% confidence interval (0.0399, 0.0574)], 0.0310[95% confidence interval (0.0229, 0.0390)], 0.0167[95% confidence interval (0.0069, 0.0264)] and −0.0108[95% confidence interval (−0.0213, -0.0004)] in 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008, respectively. For inpatient service, the concentration index is 0.0529[95% confidence interval (0.0349, 0.0709)], 0.1543[95% confidence interval (0.1356, 0.1730)], 0.2325[95% confidence interval (0.2132, 0.2518)] and 0.1313[95% confidence interval (0.1174, 0.1451)] in 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008, respectively.

Conclusions

Utilization of both outpatient and inpatient services was pro-rich in rural China with the exception of outpatient service in 2008. With the same needs for healthcare, rich rural residents utilized more healthcare service than poor rural residents. Compared to utilization of outpatient service, utilization of inpatient service was more inequitable. Inequity of utilization of outpatient service reduced gradually from 1993 to 2008; meanwhile, inequity of inpatient service utilization increased dramatically from 1993 to 2003 and decreased significantly from 2003 to 2008. Recent attempts in China to increase coverage of insurance and primary healthcare could be a contributing factor to counteract the inequity of outpatient utilization, but better benefit packages and delivery strategies still need to be tested and scaled up to reduce future inequity in inpatient utilization in rural China.
Assessing potential spatial accessibility of health services in rural China: a case study of Donghai county
Authors: Hu Ruishan , Dong Suocheng , Zhao Yonghong , Hu Hao , Li Zehong
Published: May 2013

Introduction

There is a great health services disparity between urban and rural areas in China. The percentage of people who are unable to access health services due to long travel times increases. This paper takes Donghai County as the study unit to analyse areas with physician shortages and characteristics of the potential spatial accessibility of health services. We analyse how the unequal health services resources distribution and the New Cooperative Medical Scheme affect the potential spatial accessibility of health services in Donghai County. We also give some advice on how to alleviate the unequal spatial accessibility of health services in areas that are more remote and isolated.

Methods

The shortest traffic times of from hospitals to villages are calculated with an O-D matrix of GIS extension model. This paper applies an enhanced two-step floating catchment area (E2SFCA) method to study the spatial accessibility of health services and to determine areas with physician shortages in Donghai County. The sensitivity of the E2SFCA for assessing variation in the spatial accessibility of health services is checked using different impedance coefficient valuesa. Geostatistical Analyst model and spatial analyst method is used to analyse the spatial pattern and the edge effect of potential spatial accessibility of health services.

Results

The results show that 69% of villages have access to lower potential spatial accessibility of health services than the average for Donghai County, and 79% of the village scores are lower than the average for Jiangsu Province. The potential spatial accessibility of health services diminishes greatly from the centre of the county to outlying areas. Using a smaller impedance coefficient leads to greater disparity among the villages. The spatial accessibility of health services is greater along highway in the county.

Conclusions

Most of villages are in underserved health services areas. An unequal distribution of health service resources and the reimbursement policies of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme have led to an edge effect regarding spatial accessibility of health services in Donghai County, whereby people living on the edge of the county have less access to health services. Comprehensive measures should be considered to alleviate the unequal spatial accessibility of health services in areas that are more remote and isolated.
In-depth mass spectrometric mapping of the human vitreous proteome
Authors: Aretz Sebastian , Krohne Tim U , Kammerer Kerstin , Warnken Uwe , Hotz-Wagenblatt Agnes , Bergmann Marion , Stanzel Boris V , Kempf Tore , Holz Frank G , Schnölzer Martina , Kopitz Jürgen
Published: May 2013

Mapping of proteins involved in normal eye functions is a prerequisite to identify pathological changes during eye disease processes. We therefore analysed the proteome of human vitreous by applying in-depth proteomic screening technologies. For ethical reasons human vitreous samples were obtained by vitrectomy from “surrogate normal patients” with epiretinal gliosis that is considered to constitute only negligible pathological vitreoretinal changes. We applied different protein prefractionation strategies including liquid phase isoelectric focussing, 1D SDS gel electrophoresis and a combination of both and compared the number of identified proteins obtained by the respective method. Liquid phase isoelectric focussing followed by SDS gel electrophoresis increased the number of identified proteins by a factor of five compared to the analysis of crude unseparated human vitreous. Depending on the prefractionation method proteins were subjected to trypsin digestion either in-gel or in solution and the resulting peptides were analysed on a UPLC system coupled online to an LTQ Orbitrap XL mass spectrometer. The obtained mass spectra were searched against the SwissProt database using the Mascot search engine. Bioinformatics tools were used to annotate known biological functions to the detected proteins. Following this strategy we examined the vitreous proteomes of three individuals and identified 1111 unique proteins. Besides structural, transport and binding proteins, we detected 261 proteins with known enzymatic activity, 51 proteases, 35 protease inhibitors, 35 members of complement and coagulation cascades, 15 peptide hormones, 5 growth factors, 11 cytokines, 47 receptors, 30 proteins of visual perception, 91 proteins involved in apoptosis regulation and 265 proteins with signalling activity. This highly complex mixture strikingly differs from the human plasma proteome. Thus human vitreous fluid seems to be a unique body fluid. 262 unique proteins were detected which are present in all three patient samples indicating that these might represent the constitutive protein pattern of human vitreous. The presented catalogue of human vitreous proteins will enhance our understanding of physiological processes in the eye and provides the groundwork for future studies on pathological vitreous proteome changes.
Clinical implication of the BRAFV600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma
Authors: Kim Yong-Seok , Kim Jeong-Soo , Bae Ja-Seong , Park Woo-Chan
Published: May 2013

Background

The BRAFV600E mutation is the most common genetic alteration in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In recent studies, the BRAFV600E mutation has been associated with poor clinicopathological characteristics, such as lymph node metastasis, extrathyroidal extension, and advanced stage. However, other studies have failed to establish an association between the BRAFV600E mutation and clinicopathological features. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the BRAFV600E mutation and its clinicopathological factors at a single institution.

Methods

A total of 327 consecutive patients with PTC were enrolled in this study and underwent thyroid surgery at Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital between February 2010 and December 2011.

BRAFV600E mutation analysis was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based amplification of DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tumour specimens.

Results

The BRAFV600E mutation was detected in the tumours of 241 (73.7%) patients. Lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and multifocality were not significantly associated with the BRAFV600E mutation. However, larger tumour size, extrathyroidal extension, histologic type (classic type), and concurrent Hashimoto’s thyroiditis were associated with the BRAFV600E mutation in the univariate analysis, although no clinicopathological features were associated with the BRAFV600E mutation in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

There was no idependent prognostic factor associated with BRAFV600E mutation status in this study. The BRAFV600E mutation is unlikely to serve as a prognostic factor for PTC.
Voluntary Movements as a Possible Non-Reflexive Pain Assay
Authors: Cho Hawon , Jang Yongwoo , Lee Byeongjun , Chun Hyeyoun , Jung Jooyoung , Kim Sung Min , Hwang Sun Wook , Oh Uhtaek
Published: May 2013

Background

The quantification of pain intensity in vivo is essential for identifying the mechanisms of various types of pain or for evaluating the effects of different analgesics. A variety of behavioral tests for pain measurement have been devised, but many are limited because animals are physically restricted, which affects pain sensation. In this study, pain assessment was attempted with minimal physical restriction, and voluntary movements of unrestrained animals were used to evaluate the intensities of various types of pain.

Results

The number of times animals reared or total distances traveled was measured using a motion-tracking device and found to be markedly reduced in carrageenan-induced inflammatory, acetic acid-induced visceral, and streptozotocin-induced neuropathic pain tests. These two voluntary movement parameters were found to be highly correlated with paw withdrawal latency from irradiating heat. In addition, these parameters were markedly reversed by morphine and by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in inflammatory pain models. These parameters were also useful to detect hypoalgesia in TRPV1−/− mice.

Conclusions

These results suggest that parameters of voluntary movement, such as, number of rearing and total distance moved, are effective indicators of pain intensity for many types of pain and that they can be used to evaluate degree of pain perception.
cWords - systematic microRNA regulatory motif discovery from mRNA expression data
Authors: Rasmussen Simon H , Jacobsen Anders , Krogh Anders
Published: May 2013

Background

Post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression by small RNAs and RNA binding proteins is of fundamental importance in development of complex organisms, and dysregulation of regulatory RNAs can influence onset, progression and potentially be target for treatment of many diseases. Post-transcriptional regulation by small RNAs is mediated through partial complementary binding to messenger RNAs leaving nucleotide signatures or motifs throughout the entire transcriptome. Computational methods for discovery and analysis of sequence motifs in high-throughput mRNA expression profiling experiments are becoming increasingly important tools for the identification of post-transcriptional regulatory motifs and the inference of the regulators and their targets.

Results

cWords is a method designed for regulatory motif discovery in differential case–control mRNA expression datasets. We have improved the algorithms and statistical methods of cWords, resulting in at least a factor 100 speed gain over the previous implementation. On a benchmark dataset of 19 microRNA (miRNA) perturbation experiments cWords showed equal or better performance than two comparable methods, miReduce and Sylamer. We have developed rigorous motif clustering and visualization that accompany the cWords analysis for more intuitive and effective data interpretation. To demonstrate the versatility of cWords we show that it can also be used for identification of potential siRNA off-target binding. Moreover, cWords analysis of an experiment profiling mRNAs bound by Argonaute ribonucleoprotein particles discovered endogenous miRNA binding motifs.

Conclusions

cWords is an unbiased, flexible and easy-to-use tool designed for regulatory motif discovery in differential case–control mRNA expression datasets. cWords is based on rigorous statistical methods that demonstrate comparable or better performance than other existing methods. Rich visualization of results promotes intuitive and efficient interpretation of data. cWords is available as a stand-alone Open Source program at Github https://github.com/simras/cWords and as a web-service at: http://servers.binf.ku.dk/cwords/.
Autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens as biomarkers in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Authors: Dai Liping , Lei Ningjing , Liu Mei , Zhang Jian-Ying
Published: May 2013

Tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) recognized by cellular and/or humoral effectors of the immune system are attractive targets for diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to human cancer. Different approaches can be used to comprehensively characterize and validate the identified TAA/anti-TAA systems, which are potential biomarkers in cancer immunodiagnosis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. The high fatality rate of HCC within one year after its detection might be partly attributed to a lack of diagnostic methods that enable the early detection. Our previous studies have shown that novel autoantibodies can appear which are not detected prior to pre-malignant conditions during transition from chronic liver disease to HCC. The hypothesis we advance is the transition to malignancy can be associated with autoantibody response to certain cellular proteins that might have some role in tumorigenesis. We propose that the information that the cancer patient’s immune system is conveying in the form of autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) should be utilized to a greater extent in identifying early signs of tumorigenesis. In this review, we will focus on the important features of TAA and the possibility that autoantibodies to TAAs can be used as biomarkers in immunodiagnosis and prognosis of HCC.
Gene expression responses in Suaeda salsa after cadmium exposure
Authors: Cong Ming , Lv Jiasen , Liu Xiaoli , Zhao Jianmin , Wu Huifeng
Published: May 2013

Coastal line is now polluted by many kinds of sewage including heavy metals discharged by intensive human activities. Cadmium is a nonessential heavy metal for organisms and can cause many kinds of adverse effect on the organisms. Suaeda salsa, a pioneer halophyte in intertidal zone of the Bohai coast, was proved to have cadmium-tolerant capacity. Given that, S. salsa was suggested as a potential coastal bio-indicator plant for cadmium contamination in the intertidal zone. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the responsive mechanism of S. salsa to cadmium since few studies focus on this subject till now. In the present study, six genes were selected to investigate the variation profiles of mRNA expression by fluorescent real-time quantitative PCR, including those involved in myo-inositol synthesis, redox reaction, salt-tolerant reaction. Results showed that cadmium exposure significantly modulate the mRNA expressions of MIPS, Nhx1, CAT2, GST, Prx Q genes. It suggested that cadmium exposure exerted an oxidative stress on S. salsa, disturbed Na+ homeostasis across membranes and interfered with the metabolism of inositol. In addition, CAT2 gene could be used as a gene marker in S. salsa to indicate cadmium pollution.
Archipelagic Diaspora, Geographical Form, and Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Authors: Roberts Brian Russell
Published: May 2013

Drawing a distinction between culturally oriented and formally oriented geographical approaches to American literary studies, this essay frames Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) as engaging with the geographical form and spatial materiality of the vast archipelago that W. E. B. DuBois, in his description of the planetary color line, referred to as “the islands of the sea.” The insular spaces upon which the novel relies include Key West, Palm Beach, the Caribbean, Hellas, the Malay Archipelago, and others. Each of these spaces exerts parallax influence upon Their Eyes's creation of the horizon-space that Janie, the novel's protagonist, uses to animate her geographical search for the unpresentable. Attentiveness to the novel's varied reliances on insular and archipelagic forms helps make accessible Their Eyes's investments in critiquing and ironizing the geoformally oriented underpinnings of US sovereignty. Finally, the essay suggests that cultivating a new geographical formalism—in complement to literary studies that rely on cultural geography—lends pivotal modes of legibility to literary texts as well as to reading practices. These modes of legibility have specific implications for the notion of diaspora as well as for the intense critical readings and rereadings Their Eyes has received during recent decades.
Kulikov surfaces form a connected component of the moduli space
Authors: Chan Tsz On Mario , Coughlan Stephen
Published: May 2013

We show that the Kulikov surfaces form a connected component of the moduli space of surfaces of general type withpg= 0 andK2= 6. We also give a new description for these surfaces, extending ideas of Inoue. Finally, we calculate the bicanonical degree of Kulikov surfaces and prove that they verify the Bloch conjecture.
The Brauer–Manin pairing, class field theory, and motivic homology
Authors: Yamazaki Takao
Published: May 2013

For a smooth proper variety over a p-adic field, its Brauer group and abelian fundamental group are related to higher Chow groups by the Brauer–Manin pairing and class field theory. We generalize this relation to smooth (possibly nonproper) varieties, using motivic homology and a variant of Wiesend’s ideal class group. Several examples are discussed.
The Novel as Climate Model: Realism and the Greenhouse Effect inBleak House
Authors: Taylor Jesse Oak
Published: May 2013

Climate change cannot be experienced, only imagined. While we can experience the weather at any given moment, climate refers to the aggregation of weather patterns over time and thus can be accessed only through models and projections. This presents both a crisis and an opportunity for ecocriticism, which has often privileged immersive experience and a relatively simplistic view of the referentiality of language, particularly realism, known as “ecomimesis.” Reading Charles Dickens's Bleak House alongside the artificial climates contained in Victorian glasshouses, this article argues that Dickens's novel serves to model the metropolis as a space of artificial nature, in which everything, including the weather, bears the traces of human influence. This provides a means to reevaluate the status of realism in an artificial climate, in which the laws of nature cease to delimit the bounds of the real. Rather than simply arguing for the novel as a representation of the London climate, however, it argues for the novel as a model, materializing the urban climate in its formal atmosphere—those apparently trivial or insignificant details often held responsible only for creating the effect of the real. Thus Roland Barthes's formulation of the “reality effect” is revised in keeping with a metaphor first used in the nineteenth century to conceptualize the workings of Earth's atmosphere: the “greenhouse effect.”
Pamela's Hands: Political Intangibility and the Production of Manners
Authors: Heffernan Julian Jimenez
Published: May 2013

This article examines the centrality of the motif of the hand in Samuel Richardson's Pamela. By underscoring the structural salience of the hand-derived notions of maintenance, command, manumission, manufacture and manners, the article seeks to prove that the novel plots a political transit from barbarism to civilization. This claim is advanced through the convergence of three interpretive strategies: a close reading of the novel that tracks the literal and figurative presence of the hand; direct confrontation with texts of political theory, with special emphasis on Thomas Hobbes and John Locke; and the use of contemporary phenomenology on touch by Jean-Luc Nancy and Jacques Derrida. The resulting interpretation identifies Pamela as a “chiropractress” who resorts to the religious violence of the miracle in order to neutralize the patriarchal hand and obtain political intangibility. Still, the true miracle in the novel is the reformation caused by the girl's superfluous writing. By thus staging a fable of domestication through verbal manners, Pamela contributes, decisively but problematically, to the consolidation of domestic fiction. Both the residual omnipresence of the patriarchal hand and the exorbitance of the handmaid's manners attest to the defective containment of the political by the domestic.
Mindless Modernism
Authors: Gang Joshua
Published: May 2013

What would modernist fiction look like if it were mindless and had no access to mental states? While modernism is often understood as a psychological turn inward, this article shows how introspective psychology competed against other psychological discourses—and how writers such as Samuel Beckett theorized a modernism without introspection. In his essays “Dante … Bruno … Vico … Joyce” (1929) and Proust (1930), Beckett argued that the psychological interiority of high modernist fiction could be attributed to nonmental and behavioristic causes. And in his novel Murphy (1936), he suggested that novelistic form belied the unknowability of mental states. To Beckett, the novel's ability to know other minds was itself fictional; the representation of character minds, he contended, should be subjected to the same psychological laws as real people. Beckett's early writings, then, ask us to reconsider how we understand literature's historical and logical relationship to psychology. Following Beckett's lead, this article concludes by asking us to imagine what the modernist novel—as well as contemporary criticism—would look like if we stopped taking the introspective mind for granted.
Bonfire of the Vanities: Pleasure, Theory, Shakespeare
Authors: McEleney Corey
Published: May 2013

This essay critiques the rhetorical and ideological strategies by which aesthetic pleasure has been devalued in both Renaissance and contemporary humanism. Through a close reading of Shakespeare's Richard II, the essay shows how the abjection of vain (both narcissistic and futile) pleasures lubricates the play's ideological machinery. It demonstrates further that, as a play, Richard II is itself a manifestation of the forms of vain pleasure that the dramatic world within the play aims to scapegoat. This reading of Shakespeare's play is framed by an argument against commonplace narratives about the legacy of deconstructive theory. Just as Shakespeare's second tetralogy reinforces the submission of pleasure to use and vanity to virtue, so have critics tended to redeem the forms of pleasure for which deconstruction has been routinely vilified. Because the demand for ethical responsibility reinscribes antifeminist and homophobic energies, it is worth reexamining the abjection of vanity on which the Western socioethical sphere depends for its force.
Yugoslavia Redux: Promises, Pique, and More Despair for Tidy Minds
Authors: Brock Peter
Published: May 2013

Despite the dreadful wars — and the comparable horrors of uncertain “peace” — and against the background of an almost religious knack for recurring Balkan catastrophe, there are warnings that hostilities are reviving in the former Yugoslav republics of Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and their substates. Kosovo has redeclared its “independence” for the second time in four years. Ethnic Hungarians are stretching their “autonomy” and prodding for secession in Vojvodina — or will it be “Vojvodinia?” — as former UN peace-keepers (among others) deal with cancer caused by depleted uranium in the former killing fields. Inner migration of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons temporarily plugged holes in Serbia’s negative population growth in the midst of a continuous exodus to Europe and anywhere else. Numerous signs point to the potential for renewed and ongoing difficulties in this most difficult of regions. This essay provides an overview of the gathering clouds.
“Art Is Something Born”: The Rise and Fall of the Kokuga Society (1918 – 28) and the Emergence of the Kokuten Style
Authors: Szostak John
Published: May 2013

In this essay, I examine Nihonga exhibition collectives in early twentieth-century Japan, focusing on two central questions: what effect did they have on discourse regarding the practice and exhibition of Nihonga painting, and how did artists' affiliation with successful exhibition collectives impact their careers and professional agendas? At the center of the study is the Kokuga Society (Kokuga Sōsaku Kyōkai), a Nihonga collective active from 1918 to 1928, and its associated exhibition, the Kokuten, which it promoted as a progressive alternative to the official exhibition salon sponsored by the Japanese government. Through the example of the Kokuga Society, we learn how Japanese exhibition collectives functioned at this time to promote art and exhibition reform, to stimulate critical discourse on Nihonga's modernist potential, and to enhance the professional status of participating artists.
New Art Collectives in the Service of the War: The Formation of Art Organizations during the Asia-Pacific War
Authors: Kaneko Maki
Published: May 2013

This article explores Japanese artists' proactive engagement with wartime politics through the formulation of patriotic art associations during the Asia-Pacific War (1937 – 45). The main foci of this investigation are three artist collectives formed in response to the outbreak of war and the advent of the mass mobilization policy: the Army Art Association (Rikugun Bijutsu Kyōkai), the Women Artists Service Corps (Jōryū Bijutsuka Hōkōtai), and the Art Unit for Promoting the Munitions Industry (Gunju Seisan Bijutsu Suishintai). Although these three collectives were all created under the banner of promoting Japan's imperialist war, the actual motives behind the foundation of and participation in these patriotic art associations varied to a significant degree, depending on the artists' political/economic standings, age, gender, and the ever-changing conditions of the war. Carefully contemplating these sociopolitical factors, whether imposed upon or internalized by the artists, illuminates how artists from time to time actively committed to the war effort in order to pursue their own benefits. By closely examining the formulation and activities of these patriotic art associations, this article reveals how the alliances between artists and Japan's wartime state were formed, not only through top-down control but also as a result of a multilateral reciprocity, thereby exploring how artists played a proactive role in forming the wartime cultural landscape.
DNA Repair Under Stress
Authors: Johnson R. T. , Collins A. R. S. , Squires Shoshana , Mullinger Ann M. , ELLIOTT G. C. , Downes C. S. , Rasko I.
Published: May 2013

When the excision repair process of eukaryote cells is arrested by inhibitors of repair synthesis including hydroxyurea (HU), l-β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (araC) or aphidicolin, major cellular changes follow the accumulation of repair-associated DNA breaks. These changes, each of which reflects more or less severe cellular stress, include cycle delay, chromosome behaviour, fall in NAD level, the development of double-stranded DNA breaks, rapid chromosome fragmentation and cell killing. Disruption of the repair process by agents such as araC after therapeutic DNA damage may, therefore, have some potential value in cancer treatment. The extreme cellular problems associated with the artificial arrest of repair may have their subtler counterparts elsewhere, and we discuss several systems where delays in the completion of excision repair in the absence of repair synthesis inhibitors have marked repercussions on cell viability. We also show that the average completion time of an excision repair patch varies according to the state of cell culture, and that completion time is extended after treatment with insulin or following trypsin detachment. Under certain growth conditions ultraviolet irradiation followed by mitogenic stimulation results in double-stranded DNA breakage and additional cell killing, and we discuss these data in the light of protocols that have been used successfully to transform human or rodent cells in vitro. Finally, we consider whether the rejoining of DNA breaks accumulated by repair synthesis inhibitors is a valid model system for studying ligation, and show that this protocol provides an extremely sensitive assay for most incision events and, thereby, a means for discriminating between normal human cells on the one hand, and Cockayne’s Syndrome cells and their heterozygotes on the other.

‡Present address: Genetics Institute, Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O.B. 501, Szeged, Hungary.
Toxicity, Mutagenesis and Stress Responses Induced in Escherichia Coli by Hydrogen Peroxide
Authors: Linn Stuart , Imlay James A.
Published: May 2013

Two modes of killing of Escherichia coli by hydrogen peroxide can be distinguished. Mode-one killing is maximal at 1–2MM; at higher concentrations the killing rate is approximately half- maximal and is independent of H2O2 concentration but first order with respect to exposure time. Mutagenesis and induction of a phage lambda lysogen are similarly affected by H2O2 concentration, with reduced levels of response above 1–2 mM-H2O2. Mutagenesis is not affected by inactivation of umuC. Mode-one killing requires active metabolism during the H2O2 challenge and it results in sfiM-independent filamentation of both cells that survive and those that are killed by the challenge. This mode of killing is enhanced in xth, polA, recA and recB strains; however, it is unaffected by mutations in the nth, uvrA, uvrB, uvrC, uvrD, rep, gyrA, htpR and rel loci. Mode- one killing is normal in strains totally lacking catalase activity (katE, katG), glutathione reductase (gor) or glutathione synthetase (gshB), but enhanced in a strain lacking NADH dehydrogenase (ndh). Mode-one killing is accelerated by the presence of CN− or by an unidentified function that is induced by anoxic growth and is under the control of the fnr locus. A strain carrying both xth and recA mutations and certain polA mutants appear to undergo spontaneous mode-one killing only under aerobic conditions. Taken together, these observations imply that mode-one killing results from DNA damage that normally occurs at a low, non-lethal level during aerobic growth. Models for the resistance to mode-one killing at doses above l–2mM-H2O2 will be discussed.

Mode-two killing occurs at high concentrations of H2O2 and longer times. It does not require active metabolism, and cells that are killed do not filament, although survivors demonstrate a dosedependent growth lag followed by a period of filamentation. Mode-two killing is accompanied by enhanced mutagenesis, but strains with DNA repair defects were not observed to be especially sensitive to this mode of killing.
Strategies to Analyse Mutagenesis in Mammalian Cells Using Simian Virus 40 or Shuttle Vectors
Authors: Menck Carlos F. M. , James Michael R. , Gentil Alain , Sarasin Alain
Published: May 2013

The use of exogeneous DNA probes, which replicate extrachromosomally, is proposed in order to study spontaneous and induced mutagenesis in mammalian cells. Simian virus 40 has already proved to be very useful, since it has provided much important information in this field. Recently, several shuttle vectors have been designed for this purpose; however, it seems that these molecules have high spontaneous mutation frequencies when replicating in mammalian cells. We have developed new alternative systems, such as Epstein-Barr virus-based shuttle vectors that can be episomally maintained in human cells. Furthermore, we have constructed packageable shuttle vectors, which appear to be stable in the host cell and thus suitable for analysis of mutagenesis.
A Gamma-Ray-Resistant Derivative of an Ataxia Telangiectasia Cell Line Obtained Following DNA-Mediated Gene Transfer
Authors: Green Michael H. L. , Lowe Jill E. , Arlett Colin F. , Harcourt Susan A. , Burke Julian F. , James Michael R. , Lehmann Alan R. , Povey Susan M.
Published: May 2013

Genomic DNA from normal human or mouse cells was transfected together with the selectable marker gpt into the simian virus 40-transformed ataxia telangiectasia fibroblast line, AT5BIVA. From a series of experiments involving over 400000 clones selected for the gpt marker, one unambiguously radiation-resistant clone (clone 67) was recovered following selection with repeated cycles of gamma irradiation.

The normal level of radiation resistance of clone 67 has been maintained for at least 11 months in the absence of further selection by radiation. The resistant clone contains one copy of the gpt gene. Its DNA synthesis following gamma-irradiation is inhibited to an extent intermediate between that of ataxia telangiectasia and normal cells.

Three out of four thioguanine-resistant derivatives of clone 67 have either lost or do not express the gpt sequence and show almost the same sensitivity to gamma irradiation as the original AT5BIVA line. This suggests that the radiation resistance of clone 67 may be linked to the gpt sequence and may have arisen as a consequence of the transfection, rather than as the result of an independent mutation to radiation resistance.
Properties and Mechanism of Action of Eukaryotic 3-Methyladenine-DNA Glycosylases
Authors: Helland D. E. , Male R. , Haukanes B. I. , Olsen L. , Haugan I. , Kleppe K.
Published: May 2013

3-Methyladenine-DNA glycosylase activities have been identified in all eukaryotic cell systems studied. Some of the results from these studies are reviewed here. The enzymes possess molecular weights between 24 ×101 and 34 ×101, they have a broad pH optimum at approximately pH 8, require double-stranded DNA and act in the absence of any cofactors. The enzyme can excise several different methylated bases from DNA such as 3-methyladenine, 7-methylguanine and 3-methylguanine.

The specific activity of this DNA glycosylase in mouse L-cells was found to be a function of the proliferative state of the cell. In vitro quantification of this DNA repair activity in synchronized mouse L-cells suggests that it is regulated within a defined temporal sequence prior to the onset of DNA replication.

Using DNA fragments of defined sequences it was observed that the efficiency of removal of the methylated bases is sequence-dependent.
The legvme-rhizobium symbiosis: a cell surface interaction
Authors: Robertson J. G. , Wells B. , Brewin N. J. , Wood E. , Knight C. D. , Downie J. A.
Published: May 2013

This review will examine the early stages of infection of legume roots by strains of Rhizobium that induce nitrogen-fixing nodules. The object is to show that, at least in terms of ultrastructure, the interactions between the plant and the rhizobia occur at the cell surface interface between these organisms. This situation exists at all stages, from the time the bacteria attach to the surface of the root hairs to the time they occur as the nitrogen-fixing form in the cytoplasm of the nodule cells, enclosed by peribacteroid membranes.
The cytoskeleton underlying side walls and cross walls in plants: molecules and macromolecular assemblies
Authors: Lloyd C. W. , Clayton L. , Dawson P. J. , Doonan J. H. , Hulme J. S. , Roberts I. N. , Wells B.
Published: May 2013

Plant cells organize their growth by reinforcing side walls during interphase (causing them to elongate) and by positioning and orienting the cross wall at cytokinesis. In the first part of this presentation we review progress made in identifying different cytoskeletal components that underlie side walls and that are involved in the deposition of the cross wall.

During interphase, the cortical microtubule arrays co-distribute with an antigen recognized by a ‘universal’ monoclonal antibody to intermediate filaments.

Using rhodaminyl-lysine-phalloidin no F-actin could be detected at the cortex but endoplasmic, axial cables were found. The cytokinetic apparatus -the phragmoplast -contains microtubules and we find that F-actin and the intermediate filament antigen also co-distribute with this array.

We describe the three-dimensional arrangement of microtubules forming the interphase array in cells enlarging by both tip-growth and intercalary growth. In root hairs of higher plants and in apical cells of the filamentous stage of moss Physcomitrella patens, microtubules (MT) are detected at the apices and it is suggested from this that fragmentation of microtubules and absence of MTs from the tip are preparation artefacts.

Using human serum from a scleroderma patient, possible microtubule nucleating sites are detected in meristematic cells; these segregate with the broad spindle poles and they surround the nucleus during early interphase -implying a peri-nuclear origin for the cortical MT array.

The interphase microtubule array is described in terms of a dynamic helical model, which proposes : that the MT array is an integral complex; that microtubules form helices ; that helices can change their pitch -the array converting to the various conformations.
The use of anti-synthetic peptide antibodies to study the v-erb b protein from chicken and rat cells transformed by avian erythroblastosis virus
Authors: Gullick W. J. , Marsden J. J. , Downward J. , Waterfield M. D.
Published: May 2013

Two site-specific anti-peptide antisera have been produced that efficiently recognize the native form of the v-erb B protein from avian erythroblastosis virus(AEV)-infected chicken erythroblasts and fibroblasts, and from AEV-transformed mammalian cells. Since the antibodies were generated against synthetic sequences, the immunoprecipitations could be performed in the presence or absence of immunizing peptide, permitting the specifically precipitated proteins to be identified from background non-specifically adsorbed proteins. We confirmed that immobilized v-erb B protein from cell lysates of unlabelled AEV-infected chicken erythroblasts became labelled upon incubation with [γ−32P]ATP. In addition we demonstrated for the first time that v-erb B from mammalian cells became labelled under the same conditions. These results suggest that the v-erb B protein may possess intrinsic kinase activity. The reagents described should permit further investigations as to whether this activity plays a role in maintaining cellular transformation.
Phosphoinositides and cell proliferation
Authors: Berridge Michael J. , Brown Kenneth D. , Irvine Robin F. , Heslop John P.
Published: May 2013

Certain growth factors act by stimulating the hydrolysis of inositol lipids to yield putative second messengers such as diacylglycerol (DG) and inositol trisphosphate (IP3). One function of the former is to stimulate C-kinase, which may act by switching on a sodium/hydrogen exchanger to induce the increase in pH that appears to have a permissive effect on DNA synthesis. Studies on Swiss 3T3 cells have revealed that growth factors stimulate an increase in two separate isomers of IP3. In addition to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate there was a large increase in inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate. While the former functions to elevate intracellular calcium, which has been implicated in the control of growth of many different cell types, the function of the latter is unknown. Since the 1,3,4 isomer turns over very slowly, it may control long-term events and thus could play a role in cell growth.

There are other growth factors such as insulin and epidermal growth factor (EGF), which apparently do not work through the inositol lipids but they may initiate ionic events similar to those just described for calcium-mobilizing receptors. The bifurcating signal pathway based on IP3/Ca2+ and DG/C-kinase provides an interesting framework within which to consider the mode of action of oncogenes.