bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physicochemical and biological characterization of nanocomposites made of segmented polyurethanes and Cloisite 30B
Authors: Moo-Espinosa JI , Solís-Correa R , Vargas-Coronado R , Cervantes-Uc JM , Cauich-Rodríguez JV , Owen P Quintana , Aguilar-Santamaría MA , Gutiérrez Mar Fernández , del Barrio J San Román
Published: June 2013

Nanocomposites were prepared with segmented polyurethanes and Cloisite 30B by either solution mixing or in situ polymerization and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity were assessed with lymphocytes while cell viability was measured by the methyl tetrazolium assay using fibroblasts. It was found that in situ polymerization rendered exfoliated nanocomposites with higher glass transition temperature, tensile modulus and thermal stability compared to nanocomposites obtained by solution mixing. The mitotic index of lymphocytes was significantly reduced at high clay concentrations (6 wt% and 10 wt%), while fibroblast viability improved in the presence of extract obtained after days 2 and 7.
A dual-modal magnetic nanoparticle probe for preoperative and intraoperative mapping of sentinel lymph nodes by magnetic resonance and near infrared fluorescence imaging
Authors: Zhou Zhengyang , Chen Hongwei , Lipowska Malgorzata , Wang Liya , Yu Qiqi , Yang Xiaofeng , Tiwari Diana , Yang Lily , Mao Hui
Published: June 2013

The ability to reliably detect sentinel lymph nodes for sentinel lymph node biopsy and lymphadenectomy is important in clinical management of patients with metastatic cancers. However, the traditional sentinel lymph node mapping with visible dyes is limited by the penetration depth of light and fast clearance of the dyes. On the other hand, sentinel lymph node mapping with radionucleotide technique has intrinsically low spatial resolution and does not provide anatomic details in the sentinel lymph node mapping procedure. This work reports the development of a dual modality imaging probe with magnetic resonance and near infrared imaging capabilities for sentinel lymph node mapping using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (10 nm core size) conjugated with a near infrared molecule with emission at 830 nm. Accumulation of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in sentinel lymph nodes leads to strong T2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging contrast that can be potentially used for preoperative localization of sentinel lymph nodes, while conjugated near infrared molecules provide optical imaging tracking of lymph nodes with a high signal to background ratio. The new magnetic nanoparticle based dual imaging probe exhibits a significant longer lymph node retention time. Near infrared signals from nanoparticle conjugated near infrared dyes last up to 60 min in sentinel lymph node compared to that of 25 min for the free near infrared dyes in a mouse model. Furthermore, axillary lymph nodes, in addition to sentinel lymph nodes, can be also visualized with this probe, given its slow clearance and sufficient sensitivity. Therefore, this new dual modality imaging probe with the tissue penetration and sensitive detection of sentinel lymph nodes can be applied for preoperative survey of lymph nodes with magnetic resonance imaging and allows intraoperative sentinel lymph node mapping using near infrared optical devices.
Who is in and who is out? A risk-based conceptualization of insiders and outsiders
Authors: Schwander Hanna , Häusermann Silja
Published: June 2013

With the post-industrialization and flexibilization of European labour markets, research on social and economic correlates of labour market vulnerability and weak labour market attachment is growing. Part of this literature conceptualizes these correlates in terms of dualization and insider–outsider divides in an attempt to explore their political implications: this article is written in order to contribute to this strand of research. In this article, we propose a conceptualization and measurement of labour market insiders and outsiders, based on their respective risk of being atypically employed or unemployed. We propose both a dichotomous measure of insiders/outsiders and a continuous measure of the degree of an individual’s ‘outsiderness’. We argue that such risk-based measures are particularly suited for research on the policy preferences and political implications of insider–outsider divides. On the basis of EU-SILC and national household panel data, we provide a map of dualization across different countries and welfare regimes. We then explore the correlates of labour market vulnerability – that is, outsiderness – by relating it to indicators of income and upward job mobility, as well as labour market policy preferences. The results consistently confirm an impact of labour market vulnerability, indicating a potential for a politicization of the insider/outsider conflict.
The popular legitimacy of European healthcare systems: A multilevel analysis of 24 countries
Authors: Missinne Sarah , Meuleman Bart , Bracke Piet
Published: June 2013

This paper provides an empirical study of the between-individual and between-country differences in the popular legitimacy of European healthcare systems. In order to explain two dimensions of popular legitimacy (satisfaction and support for state responsibility), we assess the impact of self-interest motives (income and personal health), ideology (egalitarianism) and institutional arrangements (level of service provision, and private and government health expenditure). For this purpose, data from the European Social Survey Round 4 (ESS-4, 2008–2009) are analysed by means of multilevel models. Universal high support for state responsibility is found, while satisfaction varies considerably, with particularly low levels found in Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries. It appears that individuals are not guided by self-interest motives and ideology alone. In addition to these factors interacting, the results suggest that state-provided healthcare might be in everyone’s interest. Introducing a patient perspective could advance our understanding of healthcare legitimacy.
Is the neighbour’s grass greener? Comparing family support in Lithuania and four other New Member States
Authors: Salanauskaite Lina , Verbist Gerline
Published: June 2013

To what extent can a country’s effectiveness in reducing child poverty be attributed to the size of family cash transfers (that is, both benefits and tax advantages) or to their design? In this paper, we disentangle the importance of each of these two factors, focusing on the family support system in Lithuania and comparing it with four other new member states. Both single parent and large families are increasingly susceptible to poverty in Lithuania. This contrasts with other former communist countries, namely Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, which protect these family types much better. This paper examines whether their family transfer systems would achieve similar results in Lithuania. We employ the EUROMOD microsimulation tax-benefit model to swap family policies across countries and test whether size or design has greater effects on child poverty reduction in Lithuania. Hungarian, Slovenian and Czech policies would considerably improve the poverty situation among large families. Single parent families would only gain if Lithuanian spending on family transfers increased radically. Estonian policies would lead to mixed results: small gains for large families and losses for single parent families.
Welfare regime and inter-household food provision: The case of Cyprus
Authors: Minas Christos , Jacobson David S. , McMullan Caroline
Published: June 2013

There are three main aims of this paper. The first is to identify the role, if any, of the family in the provision of food between households. Second, the paper addresses the paradox of food at home in Cyprus appearing to be less shared than takeaway food. Third, the paper attempts to answer the question as to why older households spend more per person on food at home than younger households. These three aims are approached through the perspective of the literature on welfare regimes. The empirical part of the paper is based on qualitative research using purposive sampling to select cases. The findings are that the family is important in inter-household food provision/consumption, and that this explains both the paradox of food at home being less shared than takeaways and the relatively high expenditure of older households on home-prepared food. There is both familiocracy and de-commodification in food in Cyprus.
The institutional logic of images of the poor and welfare recipients: A comparative study of British, Swedish and Danish newspapers
Authors: Larsen Christian Albrekt , Dejgaard Thomas Engel
Published: June 2013

The article investigates how the poor and welfare recipients are depicted in British, Danish and Swedish newspapers. The study was inspired by American media studies that have documented a negative stereotypic way of portraying the poor and welfare recipients, especially when they are African Americans. The article argues that there is an institutional welfare regime logic behind the way the poor and welfare recipients are depicted in the mass media. It is not only a matter of race. This argument is substantiated by showing that the poor and welfare recipients are (1) also depicted negatively in a liberal welfare regime, the UK, where most of the poor and welfare recipients are perceived to be white, and (2) depicted positively in two social-democratic welfare regimes, Sweden and Denmark, where the poor and welfare recipients have increasingly come to be perceived as non-white, especially in Denmark. The empirical analyses are based on a sample of 1750 British, 1750 Danish and 1750 Swedish newspapers covering the period from 2004 to 2009.
Multiple identities and crime: A study of Antillean women and girls in the Netherlands
Authors: Althoff Martina
Published: June 2013

The concept of intersectionality refers to the constructionist approach, which considers gender, class and race as categories of social inequality that cannot be added together but that intersect and construct each other. Social categories construct the social identities that affect what motivates people and how they operate. The question is how multiple identities come together in the context of crime? The paper reports the findings of a qualitative study that explored the concept of intersectionality when analysing crime. The study analysed the court files of Antillean women and girls living in the Netherlands and tried to find an explanation for their crime patterns in their struggle with their identity.
Heterogeneity in victim participation: A new perspective on delivering a Victim Impact Statement
Authors: Lens Kim M.E. , Pemberton Antony , Bogaerts Stefan
Published: June 2013

A central question in the debate about victim participation in criminal justice procedures is which instrument available to victims ‘works’. The purpose of the present study was to examine which factors contribute to the likelihood of victims delivering a Victim Impact Statement (VIS). We extend previous research in two important regards. First, we examined victims’ perspectives on the purposes and function of the VIS. Consistent with previous research (for example, Roberts and Erez, 2004), we reveal a distinction between impact-related and expression-related use of VISs. However, this study adds a third component to the existing literature: the anticipation of negative consequences. Second, we examined which factors influence the likelihood of delivering a VIS and found three variables to be positively associated: posttraumatic stress symptoms, the type of crime, and the time of victimization. Against expectations, victims’ perspectives did not make a unique contribution to the model. Based on these findings, we argue that what is called for is a more heterogeneous approach to the study of procedural instruments available to victims.
Societal vulnerability and adolescent offending: The role of violent values, self-control and troublesome youth group involvement
Authors: Vettenburg Nicole , Brondeel Ruben , Gavray Claire , Pauwels Lieven J.R.
Published: June 2013

The present study aims at testing the relationship between societal vulnerability and self-reported offending using the Belgian data of the second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2). Societal vulnerability is a much-discussed covariate of adolescent offending. We test the hypotheses that violent values, self-control and troublesome youth group involvement are key mechanisms that mediate the relationship between societal vulnerability and offending. We found an indirect path of societal vulnerability for offending through violent values, self-control and troublesome youth group involvement, but there remains also a direct impact. The implications of these findings for policy and future studies of offending are addressed.
Policing for democracy or democratically responsive policing? Examining the limits of externally driven police reform
Authors: Aitchison Andy , Blaustein Jarrett
Published: June 2013

This paper engages with literatures on democratic policing in established and emerging democracies and argues for disaggregating democratic policing into two more precise terms: policing for democracy and democratically responsive policing. The first term captures the contribution of police to securing and maintaining wider democratic forms of government, while the second draws on political theory to emphasize arrangements for governing police actors based on responsiveness. Applying two distinct terms helps to highlight limitations to external police assistance. The terms are applied in an exploratory case study of 15 years of police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The paper highlights early work securing the necessary conditions for political democracy in BiH but argues that subsequent interventions dominated by the European Union undermine responsiveness. A recent United Nations Development Programme project suggests that external actors can succeed in supporting democratically responsive policing where they do not have immediate security interests at stake.
Correlates of war? Towards an understanding of nativity-based variation in immigrant offending
Authors: Beckley Amber L.
Published: June 2013

This study uses Swedish register data to assess the impact of war in the home country on the individual likelihood of registered violent crime among young male immigrants in Stockholm, Sweden. War in the home country during a migrant’s residence is significantly related to a higher likelihood of registration for a violent crime. However, these results were not sustained in a sensitivity analysis, which considered serious property crime. Analysis of the history of war in the home country produces effects opposite to those predicted, with more years of war reducing the likelihood of violent crime. These findings indicate that war is capturing other factors, within the home or the receiving country, that may be related to violent crime.
Tarnished memory: ‘Emily’s Story’ and my family tree
Authors: Collins Felicity
Published: June 2013

What kind of memory-work is generated in settler nations when historians, archivists and television producers shed light on the family tree? What happens to the faithfulness, or reliability, of memory when we imagine the past through compelling figures and scenes that resonate with childhood memories? Why do we need our ancestors, our close relations, to be good, to be better than the history we inherit from them? At stake here, for memory studies, is not the familiar set of tensions between historical truth, empathetic unsettlement and unreliable memory, but the relation between memory, recognition and imagination, or what Terdiman calls the bipolar vocation of memory: ‘to remain focused on the facts and simultaneously to spin off into fantasy’. To probe memory’s bipolar vocation in the decentring of settler subjectivity in Australia, this article begins with the interplay of memory and recollection provoked by ‘Emily’s story’, recounted in McKenna’s award-winning book, Looking for Blackfellas’ Point. It then turns to chastened recognition and the otherness of the past in the Australian version of the UK television format, Who do you think you are? It concludes with Ricoeur and the positing of incognito forgiveness as an alternative to the exoneration of our close relations from the barely hidden crimes of the past – foundational crimes that trouble the politics of reconciliation in settler-colonial nations.
The flood of associations
Authors: Gibson Ross
Published: June 2013

This essay examines natural and artificial signifiers in a tract of colonised land in south-east Australia. The essay asks how do country and human consciousness mingle to fashion each other in long processes of remembrance? How does the present loom out of the past across generations, ecologies and geographies, within communities formed by actively remembering individual psyches? Language is one of these ways. Therefore, the essay pays attention to the form of its writing.
Media and popular modernism around the Pacific War: An inter-Asian story
Authors: Morris Meaghan
Published: June 2013

Across much of the Asia-Pacific today, the smart phone, the tablet and the laptop or home personal computer are vying with the humble TV set not only to promote new models of lifestyle and to distribute communal and national stories but also to circulate other people’s stories and ways of life, complicating notions of heritage and cultural affinity. The proliferation of media technologies and their rapid spread across populations hitherto remote from or hostile to each other has transformed the conditions for the practice as well as the study of memory in this region as elsewhere. Yet, there are precedents for these developments; ‘new waves’ of media culture responded to technological change, colonial conflict, war, revolution and the growing influence of Hollywood across the Asia-Pacific region after the Pacific War. In Australia, one such ‘wave’ was a boom in travel writing from the 1930s to the 1950s, and another was the ‘new Australian cinema’ of the 1970s and early 1980s. Drawing on work in progress about Ernestine Hill, a mid-twentieth-century writer preoccupied with technology, this article suggests that asking how ‘old’ media have circulated ‘new’ memories of community in the past also opens up a way of situating old Australian national stories in a regional frame today.
Crumbs of memory: Tracing the ‘more-than-representational’ in family memory
Authors: Tumarkin Maria
Published: June 2013

This article concerns itself with exploring some of the ways in which we can move beyond the ‘cognitive bias’ within social memory studies. A key obstacle to engaging with the kinds of manifestations of remembering that cannot be reduced to intentional and conscious articulations or representations of the mediated past is a deeply entrenched opposition between representational and non-representational (or declarative and non-declarative) mnemonic practices. It strikes me that this opposition is, at least partially, a product of early thinking on memory and trauma, in which affect and representation were opposed to each other, and the notion of non-representational memory was subsumed in the idea of the traumatic. In this article, I intend to try out the idea of ‘more-than-representational’ coined in the field of human geography to reach out to mnemonic processes and practices that operate on various levels not fully reducible to cognition, with the products of these processes exceeding representational form (rather than being completely outside or beyond it).
Prisoners of war of the Japanese: War and memory in Australia
Authors: Twomey Christina
Published: June 2013

This article reflects on the place of prisoners of war of the Japanese in Australian memory of World War II. It examines the return to prominence of prisoners of war memory in the 1980s and places this phenomenon in the context of the memory boom and the attention accorded to difficult or traumatic memories. By exploring the relationship between Australian war memories and debates about Indigenous suffering, it suggests that cosmopolitan memory cultures form an important conceptual link between them. Recognising prisoners of war memory as an example of traumatic memory allows us to move beyond an analysis bounded by the nation state, and to argue that instead of seeing it as emerging in competition with other contemporary memories focused on the suffering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it shares some elements in common with them.
Sites of segregation/sites of memory: Remembrance and ‘race’ in Australia
Authors: Nugent Maria
Published: June 2013

This article considers the interplay between Aboriginal people’s remembrances about race relations in rural mid-twentieth-century Australia and the frames of remembrance provided by the American Civil rights movement. It takes as its focus two key Australian sites of racial segregation – country town cinemas and public swimming pools – to explore the ways in which since, and in no small part due to, the desegregationist politics of the 1960s they have become prominent sites of public memory. Drawing on three examples from a range of media – art, film and published memoirs – the article traces the ways in which different ways of narrating and remembering these ‘twisted spaces’ contributes to and makes possible alternative and at times unsettling interpretations of experiences and histories of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people during what is commonly referred to as the ‘assimilation era’.
Memory and materiality
Authors: Schlunke Katrina
Published: June 2013

This article explores the idea of memory effects, that is, memory and materiality as intertwined producers of something we can call memory effects. This article argues that memory is an ‘effect’ produced through and with materiality, rather than something only produced by a human-centred consciousness. Through an exploration of the scale of memory in the shapes of a tiny Captain Cook painted on a matchbox and a giant Captain Cook, which stands as ‘Big Cook’ in Cairns in northern Queensland (Australia), new paths of perception and connection that may better account for the circulations and translations of memory are established. To think of memory as having a scale is to see memory as always simultaneously physical and temporal. These are memory effects. To think memory as memory effects is to give memory a key place not just in orders of concatenating events that we may over-determine as ‘national’ but as an order of perception given to us by the things themselves.
Memory and history in twenty-first century Australia: A survey of the field
Authors: Darian-Smith Kate , Hamilton Paula
Published: June 2013

This essay surveys the fields of oral history and memory studies in Australia since the publication of the landmark volume Memory and History in Twentieth-Century Australia in 1994. It argues that the practice of oral history has been central to memory studies in Australia, and explores key texts relating to the memory and commemoration of war, colonialism, Indigenous histories, trauma and witnessing in Australian society.
‘The place where we live’: Memory, mirrors and The Secret River
Authors: Radstone Susannah
Published: June 2013

For the psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott, living takes place at the intersection of inner and outer worlds, in a space riven by destructiveness and enlivened by love, play and repair. Working with Winnicott’s understandings of empathy and play, this essay explores creative writing’s prompting of a recognition of the not-yet-past, as it suffuses the place where we live. This essay focuses on the rancorous debates among historians and critics that followed the publication of Kate Grenville’s The Secret River, a novel about Australia’s settler-colonial past. After pointing to the centrality of empathy within these debates, the essay examines Winnicott’s exploration of destructiveness as the precursor to empathy and reparation. The essay continues by examining the different modes of acknowledged and disavowed empathy associated with historiography and fiction, exploring, in particular, The Secret River’s engagement of empathy. The essay concludes by suggesting that Grenville’s work of ‘historical’ fiction ‘contributes’ (in Winnicott’s terms) by provoking an awareness that the violence that was part of Australia’s settler-colonialist history cannot be simply consigned to the past but lives on – and requires recognition – in the place that is Australia today.
Soul music dreaming: The Sapphires, the 1960s and transnational memory
Authors: Kennedy Rosanne
Published: June 2013

In memory studies, concepts of cosmopolitan, transnational and transcultural memory have been identified as a means of studying mnemonic symbols, cultural forms and cultural practices that cross national, ethnic and territorial borders. However, what do these concepts deliver for memory work that originates in an ‘off-centre’ location such as Australia, where outsiders often lack an understanding of the history and cultural codes? A recent Indigenous Australian film, The Sapphires, set in 1968, provides an opportunity to consider some of the claims that are made for the transnational travels of memory. The film tells the story of an Aboriginal girl group that travels to Vietnam to perform for the American troops. I discuss the mnemonic tropes and transcultural carriers of memory, particularly soul music, that enable this popular memory to circulate nationally and internationally. While global tropes and icons of the 1960s can be imported into Australia, and used to construct Australian cultural memory and identity, how effectively does cultural memory travel transnationally from Australia?
Genetic variation and relationships of seven sturgeon species and ten interspecific hybrids
Authors: Zhang Xiaomin , Wu Wenhua , Li Linmiao , Ma Xufa , Chen Jinping
Published: June 2013

Background

Sturgeon cultivation is important for both industry and aquaculture in China. To date, more than 17 species or strains have been farmed for fillets and caviar production. Crossbreeding among different sturgeon species is frequent and the F2 hybrids are fertile. However, large-scale farming can have negative impacts on wild populations i.e. escape of exotic sturgeons and must be taken into consideration. Escape of exotic sturgeons can cause severe ecological problems, including threatening native sturgeon species once the exotic varieties become established or hybridize with native individuals. However, little is known about their genetic resources and variation.

Methods

Genetic diversity and introgression of seven sturgeon species were analyzed using mitochondrial DNAcytochrome oxidase subunit I(COI) and nine microsatellite markers. This study included 189 individuals from seven sturgeon species and 277 individuals from ten lineages of F2 hybrid strains.

Results

MtDNACOIsequences (632 bp long) were generated from 91 individuals across the 17 sturgeon strains and produced 23 different haplotypes. Haplotype diversity was high (h = 0.915 ± 0.015) and nucleotide diversity was low (π = 0.03680 ± 0.00153) in the seven sturgeon species and ten interspecific hybrids. Phylogenetic analyses resulted in almost identical tree topologies, and different haplotype structures were mainly related with sturgeons of different female parents. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that 81.73% of the genetic variance was due to matrilineal differences, while 9.40% resulted from strain variation. Pairwise Fst values obtained with POLYSAT software, were high among strains and ranged from 0.031 to 0.164. Admixture analysis assigned seven distinct groups and ten genotypes of admixed clusters composed of hybrid strains using STRUCTURE when assuming K = 7.

Conclusions

The interspecific mtDNA gene tree corresponded to the expected taxonomic divisions. These relationships were also supported by the results from the microsatellite analysis and contributed to unambiguously identify seven sturgeon species and ten F2 hybrid strains from sturgeon farms in China. Moreover, we found that introgressive hybridization is pervasive, exists in both purebred and hybrid sturgeons, and may reflect widespread mismanagement in sturgeon breeding in China.
Contribution of nucleosome binding preferences and co-occurring DNA sequences to transcription factor binding
Authors: He Ximiao , Chatterjee Raghunath , John Sam , Bravo Hector , Sathyanarayana B K , Biddie Simon C , FitzGerald Peter C , Stamatoyannopoulos John A , Hager Gordon L , Vinson Charles
Published: June 2013

Background

Chromatin plays a critical role in regulating transcription factors (TFs) binding to their canonical transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Recent studies in vertebrates show that many TFs preferentially bind to genomic regions that are well bound by nucleosomes in vitro. Co-occurring secondary motifs sometimes correlated with functional TFBS.

Results

We used a logistic regression to evaluate how well the propensity for nucleosome binding and co-occurrence of a secondary motif identify which canonical motifs are bound in vivo. We used ChIP-seq data for three transcription factors binding to their canonical motifs: c-Jun binding the AP-1 motif (TGAC/GTCA), GR (glucocorticoid receptor) binding the GR motif (G-ACA---T/CGT-C), and Hoxa2 (homeobox a2) binding the Pbx (Pre-B-cell leukemia homeobox) motif (TGATTGAT). For all canonical TFBS in the mouse genome, we calculated intrinsic nucleosome occupancy scores (INOS) for its surrounding 150-bps DNA and examined the relationship with in vivo TF binding. In mouse mammary 3134 cells, c-Jun and GR proteins preferentially bound regions calculated to be well-bound by nucleosomes in vitro with the canonical AP-1 and GR motifs themselves contributing to the high INOS. Functional GR motifs are enriched for AP-1 motifs if they are within a nucleosome-sized 150-bps region. GR and Hoxa2 also bind motifs with low INOS, perhaps indicating a different mechanism of action.

Conclusion

Our analysis quantified the contribution of INOS and co-occurring sequence to the identification of functional canonical motifs in the genome. This analysis revealed an inherent competition between some TFs and nucleosomes for binding canonical TFBS. GR and c-Jun cooperate if they are within 150-bps. Binding of Hoxa2 and a fraction of GR to motifs with low INOS values suggesting they are not in competition with nucleosomes and may function using different mechanisms.
The duration of gastrin treatment affects global gene expression and molecular responses involved in ER stress and anti-apoptosis
Authors: Selvik Linn-Karina M , Fjeldbo Christina S , Flatberg Arnar , Steigedal Tonje S , Misund Kristine , Anderssen Endre , Doseth Berit , Langaas Mette , Tripathi Sushil , Beisvag Vidar , Lægreid Astrid , Thommesen Liv , Bruland Torunn
Published: June 2013

Background

How cells decipher the duration of an external signal into different transcriptional outcomes is poorly understood. The hormone gastrin can promote a variety of cellular responses including proliferation, differentiation, migration and anti-apoptosis. While gastrin in normal concentrations has important physiological functions in the gastrointestine, prolonged high levels of gastrin (hypergastrinemia) is related to pathophysiological processes.

Results

We have used genome-wide microarray time series analysis and molecular studies to identify genes that are affected by the duration of gastrin treatment in adenocarcinoma cells. Among 403 genes differentially regulated in transiently (gastrin removed after 1 h) versus sustained (gastrin present for 14 h) treated cells, 259 genes upregulated by sustained gastrin treatment compared to untreated controls were expressed at lower levels in the transient mode. The difference was subtle for early genes like Junb and c-Fos, but substantial for delayed and late genes. Inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide was used to distinguish between primary and secondary gastrin regulated genes. The majority of gastrin upregulated genes lower expressed in transiently treated cells were primary genes induced independently of de novo protein synthesis. This indicates that the duration effect of gastrin treatment is mainly mediated via post-translational signalling events, while a smaller fraction of the differentially expressed genes are regulated downstream of primary transcriptional events. Indeed, sustained gastrin treatment specifically induced prolonged ERK1/2 activation and elevated levels of the AP-1 subunit protein JUNB. Enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed genes suggested that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and survival is affected by the duration of gastrin treatment. Sustained treatment exerted an anti-apoptotic effect on serum starvation-induced apoptosis via a PKC-dependent mechanism. In accordance with this, only sustained treatment induced anti-apoptotic genes like Clu, Selm and Mcl1, while the pro-apoptotic gene Casp2 was more highly expressed in transiently treated cells. Knockdown studies showed that JUNB is involved in sustained gastrin induced expression of the UPR/ER stress related genes Atf4, Herpud1 and Chac1.

Conclusion

The duration of gastrin treatment affects both intracellular signalling mechanisms and gene expression, and ERK1/2 and AP-1 seem to play a role in converting different durations of gastrin treatment into distinct cellular responses.
Genetic variability of mutans streptococci revealed by wide whole-genome sequencing
Authors: Song Lifu , Wang Wei , Conrads Georg , Rheinberg Anke , Sztajer Helena , Reck Michael , Wagner-Döbler Irene , Zeng An-Ping
Published: June 2013

Background

Mutans streptococci are a group of bacteria significantly contributing to tooth decay. Their genetic variability is however still not well understood.

Results

Genomes of 6 clinical S. mutans isolates of different origins, one isolate of S. sobrinus (DSM 20742) and one isolate of S. ratti (DSM 20564) were sequenced and comparatively analyzed. Genome alignment revealed a mosaic-like structure of genome arrangement. Genes related to pathogenicity are found to have high variations among the strains, whereas genes for oxidative stress resistance are well conserved, indicating the importance of this trait in the dental biofilm community. Analysis of genome-scale metabolic networks revealed significant differences in 42 pathways. A striking dissimilarity is the unique presence of two lactate oxidases in S. sobrinus DSM 20742, probably indicating an unusual capability of this strain in producing H2O2 and expanding its ecological niche. In addition, lactate oxidases may form with other enzymes a novel energetic pathway in S. sobrinus DSM 20742 that can remedy its deficiency in citrate utilization pathway.

Using 67 S. mutans genomes currently available including the strains sequenced in this study, we estimates the theoretical core genome size of S. mutans, and performed modeling of S. mutans pan-genome by applying different fitting models. An “open” pan-genome was inferred.

Conclusions

The comparative genome analyses revealed diversities in the mutans streptococci group, especially with respect to the virulence related genes and metabolic pathways. The results are helpful for better understanding the evolution and adaptive mechanisms of these oral pathogen microorganisms and for combating them.
Comparative genomic analysis of six bacteria belonging to the genus Novosphingobium: insights into marine adaptation, cell-cell signaling and bioremediation
Authors: Gan Han Ming , Hudson André O , Rahman Ahmad Yamin Abdul , Chan Kok Gan , Savka Michael A
Published: June 2013

Background

Bacteria belonging to the genus Novosphingobium are known to be metabolically versatile and occupy different ecological niches. In the absence of genomic data and/or analysis, knowledge of the bacteria that belong to this genus is currently limited to biochemical characteristics. In this study, we analyzed the whole genome sequencing data of six bacteria in the Novosphingobium genus and provide evidence to show the presence of genes that are associated with salt tolerance, cell-cell signaling and aromatic compound biodegradation phenotypes. Additionally, we show the taxonomic relationship between the sequenced bacteria based on phylogenomic analysis, average amino acid identity (AAI) and genomic signatures.

Results

The taxonomic clustering of Novosphingobium strains is generally influenced by their isolation source. AAI and genomic signature provide strong support the classification of Novosphingobium sp. PP1Y as Novosphingobium pentaromaticivorans PP1Y. The identification and subsequent functional annotation of the unique core genome in the marine Novosphingobium bacteria show that ectoine synthesis may be the main contributing factor in salt water adaptation. Genes coding for the synthesis and receptor of the cell-cell signaling molecules, of the N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) class are identified. Notably, a solo luxR homolog was found in strain PP1Y that may have been recently acquired via horizontal gene transfer as evident by the presence of multiple mobile elements upstream of the gene. Additionally, phylogenetic tree analysis and sequence comparison with functionally validated aromatic ring hydroxylating dioxygenases (ARDO) revealed the presence of several ARDOs (oxygenase) in Novosphingobium bacteria with the majority of them belonging to the Groups II and III of the enzyme.

Conclusions

The combination of prior knowledge on the distinctive phenotypes of Novosphingobium strains and meta-analysis of their whole genomes enables the identification of several genes that are relevant in industrial applications and bioremediation. The results from such targeted but comprehensive comparative genomics analysis have the potential to contribute to the understanding of adaptation, cell-cell communication and bioremediation properties of bacteria belonging to the genus Novosphingobium.
Enriched environment and masticatory activity rehabilitation recover spatial memory decline in aged mice
Authors: Mendes Fabíola de Carvalho Chaves de Sique , de Almeida Marina Negrão Frota , Felício André Pinheiro Gurgel , Fadel Ana Carla , Silva Diego de Jesus , Borralho Thaíssa Gomes , da Silva Rodrigo Perez , Bento-Torres João , Vasconcelos Pedro Fernando da Costa , Perry Victor Hugh , Ramos Edson Marcos Leal Soares , Picanço-Diniz Cristovam Wanderley , Sosthenes Marcia Consentino Kronka
Published: June 2013

Background

To measure the impact of masticatory reduction on learning and memory, previous studies have produced experimental masticatory reduction by modified diet or molar removal. Here we induced spatial learning impairment in mice by reducing masticatory activity and then tested the effect of a combination of environmental enrichment and masticatory rehabilitation in recovering spatial learning at adulthood and in later life. For 6 months (6M) or 18 months (18M), we fed three groups of mice from postnatal day 21 respectively with a hard diet (HD) of pellets; pellets followed by a powdered, soft diet (HD/SD, divided into equal periods); or pellets followed by powder, followed by pellets again (HD/SD/HD, divided into equal periods). To mimic sedentary or active lifestyles, half of the animals from each group were raised from weaning in standard cages (impoverished environment; IE) and the other half in enriched cages (enriched environment; EE). To evaluate spatial learning, we used the Morris water maze.

Results

IE6M-HD/SD mice showed lower learning rates compared with control (IE6M-HD) or masticatory rehabilitated (IE6MHD/SD/HD) animals. Similarly, EE-HD/SD mice independent of age showed lower performance than controls (EE-HD) or rehabilitated mice (EE-HD/SD/HD). However, combined rehabilitation and EE in aged mice improved learning rate up to control levels. Learning rates did not correlate with swim speed.

Conclusions

Reduction in masticatory activity imposed on mice previously fed a hard diet (HD/SD) impaired spatial learning in the Morris water maze. In adults, masticatory rehabilitation recovered spatial abilities in both sedentary and active mice, and rehabilitation of masticatory activity combined with EE recovered these losses in aged mice.
Perception of quality of care among residents of public nursing-homes in Spain: a grounded theory study
Authors: Rodríguez-Martín Beatriz , Martínez-Andrés María , Cervera-Monteagudo Beatriz , Notario-Pacheco Blanca , Martínez-Vizcaíno Vicente
Published: June 2013

Background

The quality of care in nursing homes is weakly defined, and has traditionally focused on quantify nursing homes outputs and on comparison of nursing homes’ resources. Rarely the point of view of clients has been taken into account. The aim of this study was to ascertain what means “quality of care” for residents of nursing homes.

Methods

Grounded theory was used to design and analyze a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with a theoretical sampling including 20 persons aged over 65 years with no cognitive impairment and eight proxy informants of residents with cognitive impairment, institutionalized at a public nursing home in Spain.

Results

Our analysis revealed that participants perceived the quality of care in two ways, as aspects related to the persons providing care and as institutional aspects of the care’s process. All participants agreed that aspects related to the persons providing care was a pillar of quality, something that, in turn, embodied a series of emotional and technical professional competences. Regarding the institutional aspects of the care’s process, participants laid emphasis on round-the-clock access to health care services and on professional’s job stability.

Conclusions

This paper includes perspectives of the nursing homes residents, which are largely absent. Incorporating residents’ standpoints as a complement to traditional institutional criteria would furnish health providers and funding agencies with key information when it came to designing action plans and interventions aimed at achieving excellence in health care.
Functional characterisation of human cells harbouring a novel t(2p;7p) translocation involving TNS3 and EXOC6Bgenes
Authors: Ludwig Desiree , Carter Jessica , Smith James R , Borsani Giuseppe , Barlati Sergio , Hafizi Sassan
Published: June 2013

Background

Tensin3 is an intracellular cytoskeleton-regulating protein, the loss of which is associated with increased cell motility, as has been observed in some human cancers. A novel chromosomal translocation, t(2;7)(p13;p12), present in a patient with a complex syndromic phenotype, directly involves Tensin3 (TNS3) andEXOC6Bgenes. This translocation could impair the expression of Tensin3 and ExoC6B proteins, and potentially produce two novel fusion transcripts. In the present study, we have investigated the expression and phenotypic features of these potential products in cultured cells from the proband.

Methods

Skin fibroblasts isolated from the proband as well as an age-matched control were grown in cell culture. Cells were used for quantitative RT-PCR, western blot and immunofluorescent confocal microscopy, which determined Tensin3 gene and protein expression. Phase-contrast and confocal microscopy additionally revealed cellular phenotype differences. A scratch wound assay monitored by live cell imaging measured cellular migration rates.

Results

The levels of Tensin3 at both mRNA and protein levels were lower in proband cells versus control fibroblasts. Proband cells displayed broader and shorter morphologies versus control fibroblasts, and immunofluorescent staining revealed additional Tensin3 expression along cytoskeletal filaments and the cell periphery only in control fibroblasts. In addition, proband fibroblasts showed a significantly higher migration rate than control cells over 24 h.

Conclusions

The phenotypic changes observed in proband cells may arise fromTNS3haploinsufficiency, causing partial loss of full-length Tensin3 protein. These results further expose a role for Tensin3 in cytoskeletal organisation and cell motility and may also help to explain the syndromic features observed in the patient.
Induction of chromosome instability and stomach cancer by altering the expression pattern of mitotic checkpoint genes in mice exposed to areca-nut
Authors: Kurkalang Sillarine , Banerjee Atanu , Ghoshal Nitin , Dkhar Hughbert , Chatterjee Anupam
Published: June 2013

Background

There are strong indications for a causal association between areca-nut consumption and cancers. In Meghalaya, India, the variety of areca-nut is used as raw and unprocessed form whose chemical composition and pharmacological actions have been reported. Yet we know little on the initial pathway involved in areca-nut associated carcinogenesis since it is difficult to assess its effects on genetic alterations without interference of other compounding factors. Therefore, present study was undertaken in mice to verify the ability of raw areca-nut (RAN) to induce cancer and to monitor the expression of certain genes involved in carcinogenesis. This study was not intended to isolate any active ingredients from the RAN and to look its action.

Methods

Three groups of mice (n = 25 in each) were taken and used at different time-points for different experimental analysis. The other three groups of mice (n = 15 in each) were considered for tumor induction studies. In each set, two groups were administered RAN-extract ad libitum in drinking water with or without lime. The expression of certain genes was assessed by conventional RT-PCR and immunoblotting. The mice were given the whole RAN-extract with and without lime in order to mimic the human consumption style of RAN.

Results

Histological preparation of stomach tissue revealed that RAN induced stomach cancer. A gradual increase in the frequency of precocious anaphase and aneuploid cells was observed in the bone marrow cells with a greater increment following RAN + lime administeration. Levels of p53, Bax, Securin and p65 in esophageal and stomach cells were elevated during early days of RAN exposure while those of different mitotic checkpoint proteins were downregulated. Apoptotic cell death was detected in non-cancerous stomach cells but not in tumor cells which showed overexpression of Bax and absence of PARP.

Conclusion

Present study suggested (a) RAN induces stomach cancer, however, presence of lime promoted higher cell transformation and thereby developed cancer earlier, (b) perturbations in components of the chromosome segregation machinery could be involved in the initial process of carcinogenicity and (c) the importance of precocious anaphase as a screening marker for identification of mitotic checkpoint defects during early days.