bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Queensland, 1859
Authors: Evans Raymond
Published: August 2016

It has been observed elsewhere that Queensland, as a self-governing colony, did not ‘arise like the sun at an appointed time’ within an Empire on which the sun never set. Rather, to paraphrase British historian E.P. Thompson in another context, ‘It was present at its own making.’ December 1859 was only a moment of disjuncture according to certain political, administrative and fiscal effects. As a society, as a culture, Queensland was already in full and exuberant existence, having carved out a sense of its own intrusive perpetuity over a preceding period of some 35 years from both the lands of others and the labours of mostly convict, emancipated and indentured men and women. And these in turn marked the Antipodean sequel to ‘blue water’ Imperialism – trans-oceanic nomads drawn by the hazy promise of land on foreign shores or projected unwillingly there by the logic of their metropolitan transgressions. People of many nations, of ‘interacting, sometimes colluding, sometimes colliding cultures’, from its generative convicts, soldiers, penal commandants and manifold Aboriginal peoples to its waged workers, squatters, selectors, merchants and administrators, were in effect this colonial society in embryo, both formed and in process of formation. Only a name for the place was now lacking. Although small, isolated and stunted, this was nevertheless a multi-faceted, diverse and unequally graded social order, cloaked only one-dimensionally in the mantle of Britishness and Christianity. What follows are some observations about this conceptually unstable sense of consonance and divergence and the coincident business of simultaneously being and becoming.
Robert Burns in Colonial Queensland
Authors: Buckridge Patrick
Published: August 2016

Worldwide, 25 January 2009 was celebrated as the 250th birthday of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–96). The anniversary celebrations will continue all through this year, however, as the Scottish Parliament has proclaimed – in recognition of Burns' powerfully unifying significance – that 2009 will be a ‘Year of Homecoming’ for all those Scots, or Scottish descendants, who compose the great intellectual, economic and social diaspora that has emanated from this tiny, harsh and indomitable country over the last 300 years.
Ian Calder McKay was Here
Authors: Ransome Alison
Published: August 2016

In 1983, more or less mid-career as it turned out to be in the light of his early death, Ian McKay summarised his intentions as a potter:

I try to make simple pots that people will enjoy using. The traditions I draw on for inspiration are mainly Japanese and what could loosely be called ‘the Cardew’ tradition. In practice for me this amounts to forms that are a clear statement of the pot's function, and very simple glaze recipes using the maximum of hand collected local materials – so that the pots may speak for themselves and give pleasure unspoiled by too much intrusion of the potter's own personality.
Celebrating in the Streets
Authors: McKay Judith
Published: August 2016

The arrival of Queensland's first Governor on 10 December 1859 was an occasion for celebration; in the words of Brisbane's newspaper, ‘never was welcome given with heartier zest’. As Sir George Bowen stepped ashore at a temporary landing stage in the Botanic Gardens, he was greeted with an ornamental arch, a semicircular frame covered in flowers and greenery, bearing words of welcome. This ‘triumphal arch’, as it was called, was the creation of Andrew Petrie, a pioneer settler and building contractor, and Walter Hill, the Curator of the Gardens. It was to be the first of hundreds of similar arches erected throughout Queensland for almost a century. They were a regular feature of public celebrations until relatively recent times, marking the arrivals and travels of Governors, occasional visits by royalty, the opening of major roads, railways and bridges, and, to a lesser extent, historical milestones. They ranged from grand, highly decorated structures – often the work of professional designers – erected in the metropolis for royal visits to simple arches of greenery, put up by even the smallest regional communities for special occasions, such as welcoming visiting Governors. This paper takes a closer look at these curious structures and the symbolism behind them for, as Stephen Alomes observes, public rituals provide valuable insights into Australian life, revealing contradictions between imperial loyalties and burgeoning nationalism, indigenous and derivative, traditional and modern.
The Centrepiece of Colonial Queensland's Celebration and Commemoration of Royalty and Empire
Authors: McConnel Katie
Published: August 2016

Her Majesty's birthday was right royally celebrated last evening by His Excellency the Governor on the occasion of the annual birthday ball at government house. ‘Royalty’ and ‘Empire’ were, throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, of supreme significance to all the Australian colonies. While each colony was well integrated within the Imperial framework, they remained largely reliant on the economic and geopolitical management of the British Empire. Though different colonial/national identities developed in Australia, the colonies' economic, military and diplomatic dependence on Britain strongly orientated them towards the Queen and ‘home’. Colonial Governors served as the vital link between the colonies and both the Imperial government and the Queen of the British Empire. Appointed by Britain and entrusted with the same rights, powers and privileges as the Queen, the role of Governor was one of great influence and authority.
Celebrating Her First Half-Century
Authors: Scott Joanne , Laurie Ross
Published: August 2016

Queensland's Jubilee Carnival of 1909 was, according to Australia's Governor-General, Lord Dudley, ‘the principal and most prominent feature in the series of festivities by which the people of Queensland are seeking to celebrate the jubilee of their existence’. Indeed, with the exception of the Carnival, the ‘series of festivities’ was rather lack-lustre, offering relatively little of substance to excite the attention of contemporaries or of later commentators. Offering a distraction from the political instability of the era – between 1907 and 1909, voters had gone to the state polls three times – the Jubilee Carnival reaffirmed and reinvigorated a story that had been told and retold each year at Brisbane's showgrounds for more than three decades. The particular power of the Carnival did not, therefore, derive from its status as a unique event that commemorated a defining moment in Queensland's development: the separation from New South Wales and the beginning of self-government in 1859. Instead, the significance of the Jubilee Carnival as the centrepiece of the 1909 celebrations depended on its effective alignment with Queensland's largest annual event, the Brisbane Exhibition, and on the resulting connections between the Carnival, the Exhibition and a narrative of successful colonisation that had been celebrated each year since the inaugural Brisbane Exhibition of 1876. For many non-Indigenous Queenslanders, it was a compelling story that resolutely ignored the unsavoury aspects of the state's past and present in favour of an uplifting account of a society in which perseverance, applied to nature's bounty in the interests of the British Empire, was rewarded. It was, above all, a story of progress – that most powerful of talismans for settler societies. The Jubilee Carnival thus reiterated a familiar story; in so doing, it confirmed the iconic status of the capital city's annual agricultural show and positioned the show's host, the National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (NAIAQ), as one of the state's most important organisations.
Cilento's Centenary
Authors: Ginn Geoffrey A.C.
Published: August 2016

The 1959 celebration of the Centenary of self-government in Queensland presented organisers with an opportunity to showcase the state at large, together with its character and potential. Public works – a supremely tangible stamp of governmental achievement – were foremost in two new facilities for approved culture and recreation: the new library on William Street and the Brisbane City Council's Centenary Pool on Gregory Terrace. Abiding links with Britain were evoked by the royal visit of Princess Alexandra, a service in Westminster Abbey and the ‘Centenary voyage’ of a British immigrant ship. Other aspects of the program celebrated Queenslanders simply being Queenslanders. Day-to-day events from local carnivals and festivals to sporting competitions were embraced by the Centennial organisers. The resulting celebrations revealed a state in transition, its abiding affection for royalty and the ties of Empire happily coexisting with a new relish for American leisure culture. They reveal more than that when we consider the execution of Centenary activities in more detail, and particularly those that sought to present an account of how and why the state had come to be as it was. The 1959 celebrations provided a moment when, in the full light of public interest and attention, a ‘sense of the past’ was mobilised in both formal and informal terms in an attempt to account definitively for the Queensland historical experience.
Introduction to 'Tom Hurstbourne or A Squatter's Life'
Authors: Buckridge Patrick
Published: August 2016

My first reaction on reading Tom Hurstbourne or A Squatter's Life was surprise. When I first met them, the novel's editors, Gerard Benjamin and Gloria Grant had been very forthcoming about how they came by the manuscript - an intriguing saga in itself. However (and I hope they don't mind me saying this), I remember that they were deliberately a bit cagey about what the book was like as a work of fiction. What little they did say led me to expect something like a pioneering saga, with a straightforward life-narrative, probably beginning with the hero's childhood in the Old Country, then moving quickly to the Australian outback where the hero would undergo a series of challenges, hardships and adventures, suffering a bit along the way but emerging more or less triumphant at the end, sometimes with a wife, children and extensive landholdings. Quite a few Australian novels of this kind were published in the second half of the nineteenth century, and even more in the early decades of the twentieth - books like Miles Franklin's All That Swagger, Mary Durack's Kings in Grass Castles, Brian Penton's Landtakers, Roy Connolly's Southern Saga, Jeanie Gunn's We of the Never Never, and many others by lesser known authors.
Researching ABC Rockhampton TV, 1963-85
Authors: Cryle Denis , Hunt Christina , Quinn Ross
Published: August 2016

In 1963, Rockhampton was chosen by the Australian Broadcasting Commission to become its first television station in Queensland. ABC Rockhampton TV belonged to a select number of outlets that, in the days before aggregation and extensive networking, gathered and broadcast their own news and local programs to regional viewers. This article details the unearthing and preservation of records vital to this research, and uses these to document the highs and lows of the Rockhampton station. We argue that the history of ABC Rockhampton TV forms a neglected chapter in the 'getting of regional television' and the production of local content, and provides an account ofthe early operations ofthe organisation from its inception in 1963, an overview of its achievements and an explanation of the reasons for its abrupt demise in the mid-1980s. Additionally, we identify the achievements of particular programs and staff members, and acknowledge the personal tragedies that dogged the station and its community in the closing phase.
Lyall Ford, 'Roads in the Wilderness: Development of the Main Road Network in Far North Queensland - the First 100 Years', Brisbane: Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads, 2009, ISBN 9 7819 2071 9081, 405 pp., $40.00
Authors: Richards Jonathan
Published: August 2016

Lyall Ford, Roads in the Wilderness: Development ofthe Main Road Network in Far North Queensland - the First 100 Years, Brisbane: Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads, 2009, ISBN 9 7819 2071 9081, 405 pp., $40.00
Queensland Literary Culture in the Long Decade After Joh
Authors: Glover Stuart
Published: August 2016

The apparent resuscitation of Queensland print and literary culture in the decade after the fall of Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen in 1987 and the National Party in 1989 can be seen to be the product of three factors: an over-statement of the dereliction of literary life in Queensland under Bjelke-Petersen, and perhaps a corresponding overstated case for its contemporary recovery; the effectiveness of government and institutional mechanisms of support; and the professional development and networking of writers and other print culture agents. Together, these factors have contributed to a transformation of the profile and scale of literary activity in Queensland and to a renegotiation of the place of Queensland literature in the national context.
Living in the End Time
Authors: McKay Belinda
Published: August 2016

Despite the current preoccupation with globalisation, literary criticism remains heavily focused on national cultures. In the context of Australian literature, comparisons are regularly made with the literatures of other British Commonwealth nations, but surprisingly infrequently with that ofBritain's first and most successful colony, the United States. This article explores thematic and cultural connections between the work of American-born modernist poet and novelist H.D. (1886-1961) and the Australian-born postmodern novelist Janette Turner Hospital (born 1942). It suggests that the transnational phenomenon of ecstatic Protestantism, which originated in northern Europe and was disseminated widely around the globe along the channels of commerce and colonisation, has been a key influence in shaping the literary imaginations of these writers. Indeed, Protestantism - far from being a spent or reactive force - continues to generate new forms of modernity as its emphasis on transformation is exported from somewhat inward-looking religious communities into broader cultural domains.
Radical Media in the Deep North
Authors: Knight Alan
Published: August 2016

Brisbane used to be called the Deep North. It spoke of a place where time passed slowly in the summer heat, where rednecks ran the parliament and the press, blacks died from beatings and the police thought themselves above the law. Even though Brisbane is situated in the bottom southeast quarter of the great northern state of Queensland, its sobriquet represented a state of mind.
BrisBAMN!?
Authors: Althofer Jayson
Published: August 2016

I had been under the impression that there was only one Brisbane. — Steele Rudd

In 1921, Jack Lindsay wrote from Brisbane of Nietzsche's assertion ‘that the academic virtue is sleep, i.e., narcotisation’. A common academic and non-academic indulgence in remembering Brisbane is the narcotic of Queensland's extreme difference: a state of exceptional boredom and brutality. It is widely assumed that, for most of its history, Queensland was a sleepy backwater; its capital the country town described by a late nineteenth century visitor: ‘Brisbane is quite a pretty town, to be sure, but it bores you to death.’ Dismissive characterisations of Queensland coarsened as a result of Bjelke-Petersen's ascendency. If you were not bored to death by its cultural wastelands, you could be beaten close to it in the boorish badlands patrolled by his pigs. The crazed Dane fed the chooks while watching cranes rise over this animal farm, apparently untouchable in his Elsinore:

The rest of the country often thought [Queenslanders] a bit peculiar: a maverick state, populated by politically backward ‘banana benders’ who chose a crank … to rule them. These rather offensive stereotypes helped in turn to sustain a political myth that the government was somehow unique in its reactionary politics — even ‘fascist’ — making Petersen impossible to defeat or dislodge.
Helen Gregory, 'Expressions of Mercy: Brisbane's Mater Hospitals 1906–2006', St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2006, ISBN 9 7807 0223 5520, 389 pp., $35.00
Authors: Black Carmel
Published: August 2016

Helen Gregory, Expressions of Mercy: Brisbane's Mater Hospitals 1906–2006, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2006, ISBN 9 7807 0223 5520, 389 pp., $35.00
The 'Queensland School Reader'
Authors: Taylor Sandra
Published: August 2016

The Queensland School Reader series occupies a special place in the childhood memories of many Queenslanders, evoking mixed reactions from those who used them. The Readers were significant because in Queensland schools they were used, virtually unaltered, for close to fifty years. They were central to the early school experiences of at least two generations of Queensland children - central because for many years other sources of reading material were scarce - particularly in isolated areas. Consequently, teachers based much of their teaching on the Readers which, in turn, were carefully “rationed” out in small doses to ensure that they lasted the allotted time. Other sources, such as The School Paper, were used as supplements but textbooks were in short supply, particularly during the Great Depression and war years.
'Gaywaves'
Authors: Van Amsterdam Niels
Published: August 2016

The early to mid-1980s were a time of great uncertainty about HIV/AIDS. As a gay male you were avoided, homophobia ran rife and social activities such as Gayskate, a social event held at the Red Hill skate arena, came to an end through fear. Efforts aimed at HIV/AIDS education were also severely thwarted by the state government, so much so that instead of cooperation we got the ‘Perverts and Deviants Act’.
Queensland's Queer Press
Authors: Robinson Shirleene
Published: August 2016

Since the 1970s, there has been a strong and active gay and lesbian press in the southern parts of Australia. This press emerged later in Queensland than in the southern states but today it reaches many queer Queenslanders and performs a vital and multifaceted role. While this press provides essential representation and visibility for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) population of Queensland, it also embodies a number of tensions inherent in this community. This article charts the development and history of the print media run by and for the queer community of Queensland, particularly focusing on the two major GLBTIQ periodicals currently available in Queensland. These are Queensland Pride, published monthly, and Q News, published fortnightly. The article explores the conflicts that exist in that queer print media, arguing that Queensland's queer press has struggled to adequately represent what has become an increasingly multifarious and diverse GLBTIQ ‘community’.
It's Moments Like These You Need 'Mint'
Authors: Thomson Sheona
Published: August 2016

This paper produces the first mapping of ostensibly ‘lesbian’ spaces in Brisbane, focusing on lesbian bars and/or clubs. While cultural geographers have long noted the increased presence of ‘queerness’ within urban built environments, including how articulations of queerness within the built environment impact on the usage of those spaces both by queers and non-queers, few have applied this work to Queensland's capital. This paper addresses the gap. To do so, I begin contextually by ‘overviewing’ how queer space has tended to be ‘mapped’ in existing scholarship. I then consider how lesbian space, in particular, is mediated through interpersonal networks, queer media and, increasingly, virtual spaces. The point of this is to consider how lesbians go about the process of finding each other, and of finding community, through and in the spaces of Brisbane's built environment. Finally, and with these contexts in place, I move on to a brief case study of the three incarnations of one lesbian bar in Brisbane: namely, Mint cocktail bar. This case study raises a series of questions, including what, if any, are the aesthetic characteristics of these spaces? How are they contextualised within, and how do they interact with, the broader built environment? And what, ultimately, might these spatial interactions reveal about ideologies of sexuality within the built environment of Brisbane?
Dame Sybil Von Thorndyke and the Queen's Birthday Balls
Authors: Moore Clive
Published: August 2016

Dame Sybil is one of Brisbane's most famous drag personas. In 1962 Dame Sybil was one of the founders of Brisbane's annual Queen's Birthday Ball, the longest continuously running annual gay celebration in the world. The balls have become extravagant dance parties, far removed from their humble origins in a house at Mt Tamborine. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, gays and lesbians were a persecuted minority who held private house parties and preferred to stay out of sight. The groundbreaking Queen's Birthday Balls were an important part of the cultural and political ‘coming out’ of the modern queer community. It is difficult to appreciate the importance of the balls as ever more popular meeting places where Brisbane's gay and straight worlds mingled. Now the dance parties are attended by thousands of mainly young people, and rigid gender and sexual boundaries have become less obvious. The venues have changed over the years, moving through various nightclubs in Fortitude Valley and most recently to the Ekka pavilions. They are replete with great stage performances and wonderful costumes. With Dame Sybil and some of the original partygoers in attendance, the Queen's Birthay Balls remain a special marker of Brisbane's not-so-accepting past and the resilience of the city's gay subculture.
Irish Poets in Colonial Brisbane
Authors: Buckridge Patrick
Published: August 2016

This paper compares the literary careers of two Irish immigrant-poets who lived and wrote for a significant part of their lives in nineteenth-century Brisbane, using the comparison to explore some of the different ways in which Irish literary tradition could reinvent itself in a new physical and cultural environment. Early Brisbane is not an especially fertile field for the study of Irish-Australian literary writing, perhaps surprisingly, given the strong Irish presence in Brisbane society during the first half of the twentieth century. One explanation may be that whereas the Irish had a strong presence in the military and the labouring classes in the Moreton Bay Colony, the institutions of government, public education and the press — the chief nurseries of Culture in most settler societies — were dominated by the English and Scottish.
Shaping a Regional Identity
Authors: Taylor Cheryl
Published: August 2016

Stories, anecdotes, and descriptive articles were the earliest publications, following the main wave of colonisation in the 1860s, to bring Queensland north and west of Proserpine to the attention of the national and international community. Such publications were also the main vehicle of an internal mythology: they shaped the identity of the inhabitants, diversified following settlement, and their sense of the region. The late date of settlement compared with south-eastern Australia meant that frontier experience continued both as a lived reality and as mythology well into the twentieth century. The self-containment of the region as actual and exemplary frontier was breached only with the arrival of television and university culture in the 1950s and 1960s.
'I Have My Own History'
Authors: Muller Vivienne
Published: August 2016

It has become a commonplace to note that women writers in Australia have historically produced their work in a literary and social context that has largely been regarded as a male domain. Second wave feminism in the wake of the counter-cultural movements of the sixties and seventies, together with the developments in poststructuralist theories have contested this privileged intellectual space and triggered new ways of looking at literary history, the relations between production and consumption, and the significance of gender, race and class in literary analysis (Ferrier 1992:1). This chapter deals with a number of texts written by Queensland women in the latter part of the twentieth century, and thus is concerned principally with the many ‘configurations of female subjectivity’ (Ferrier 1998:210) and self-definition that Elaine Showalter saw as belonging to the third phase of women's writing. However as this is a chapter about women writers writing in and about Queensland, it will also be interested in narrative representations of women's experiences of the local place and culture, in which gendered relationships are always implicated.
Interpreting the Historical Landscape of Brisbane's Cubberla and Witton Creek Catchments
Authors: Trotter Robin
Published: August 2016

This study establishes an interpretive framework for historical landscape studies by exploring a specific suburban area in Brisbane and its changing landscape from European colonisation to the present day.
Effect of high pressure treatment on the aging characteristics of Chinese liquor as evaluated by electronic nose and chemical analysis
Authors: Zhu S. M. , Xu M. L. , Ramaswamy H. S. , Yang M. Y. , Yu Y.
Published: August 2016

Several high pressure (HP) treatments (100–400 MPa; 15 and 30 min) were applied to Chinese “Junchang” liquor, and aging characteristics of the liquor were evaluated. Results from the principal component analysis and the discriminant factor analysis of E-Nose demonstrated that HP treatment at 300 and 400 MPa resulted in significant (p < 0.05) changes in aroma components of the liquor. An increase in total ester content and a decrease in total acid content were observed for all treated samples (p < 0.05), which was verified by gas chromatography analysis. In addition, a slight decrease in alcohol content was found for HP treatment at 400 MPa for 30 min. These changes and trends were in accordance with the natural aging process of Chinese liquor. However, HP treatment caused a slight increase in solid content, which might be somewhat undesirable. Sensory evaluation results confirmed that favorable changes in color and flavor of Chinese liquor were induced by HP treatment; however, overall gaps still existed between the quality of treated and six-year aged samples. HP treatment demonstrated a potential to accelerate the natural aging process for Chinese liquor, but long term studies may be needed further to realize the full potential.
Fimbriatols A–J, Highly Oxidized ent-Kaurane Diterpenoids from Traditional Chinese Plant Flickingeria fimbriata (B1.) Hawkes
Authors: Ding Gang , Fei Jiaodong , Wang Jing , Xie Yong , Li Rongtao , Gong Ningbo , Lv Yang , Yu Changyuan , Zou Zhongmei
Published: August 2016

Fimbriatols A–J (1–10), ten new ent-kaurane diterpenoids possessing differently highly oxidized sites, were isolated from Flickingeria fimbriata (B1.) Hawkes. The structures of these new compounds were determined by HRESI-MS, NMR, CD spectra and X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 displayed moderately inhibitory ratio (48.5%) compared with the positive compound NSC-87877 (81.6%) at the concentration of 0.022 μg/mL. Compounds 7–10 possess 3, 4-seco-ent-kaurane skeleton containing a disaccharide moiety with an unusual linkage at C-2′ to C-1′′ instead of the common linkage at C-6′ to C-1′′, and this is the first report in 600 more ent-kauranes found in nature, which might be originated from ent-kaurane diterpenoids through post-modified reactions of Baeyer-Villiger oxygenation and glycosylation.
Interference in transcription of overexpressed genes by promoter-proximal downstream sequences
Authors: Turchinovich A. , Surowy H. M. , Tonevitsky A. G. , Burwinkel B.
Published: August 2016

Despite a high sequence homology among four human RNAi-effectors Argonaute proteins and their coding sequences, the efficiency of ectopic overexpression of AGO3 and AGO4 coding sequences in human cells is greatly reduced as compared to AGO1 and AGO2. While investigating this phenomenon, we documented the existence of previously uncharacterized mechanism of gene expression regulation, which is manifested in greatly varying basal transcription levels from the RNApolII promoters depending on the promoter-proximal downstream sequences. Specifically, we show that distinct overexpression of Argonaute coding sequences cannot be explained by mRNA degradation in the cytoplasm or nucleus, and exhibits on transcriptional level. Furthermore, the first 1000–2000 nt located immediately downstream the promoter had the most critical influence on ectopic gene overexpression. The transcription inhibiting effect, associated with those downstream sequences, subsided with increasing distance to the promoter and positively correlated with promoter strength. We hypothesize that the same mechanism, which we named promoter proximal inhibition (PPI), could generally contribute to basal transcription levels of genes, and could be mainly responsible for the essence of difficult-to-express recombinant proteins. Finally, our data reveal that expression of recombinant proteins in human cells can be greatly enhanced by using more permissive promoter adjacent downstream sequences.
Mapping epigenetic changes to the host cell genome induced by Burkholderia pseudomallei reveals pathogen-specific and pathogen-generic signatures of infection
Authors: Cizmeci Deniz , Dempster Emma L. , Champion Olivia L. , Wagley Sariqa , Akman Ozgur E. , Prior Joann L. , Soyer Orkun S. , Mill Jonathan , Titball Richard W.
Published: August 2016

The potential for epigenetic changes in host cells following microbial infection has been widely suggested, but few examples have been reported. We assessed genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation in human macrophage-like U937 cells following infection with Burkholderia pseudomallei, an intracellular bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of human melioidosis. Our analyses revealed significant changes in host cell DNA methylation, at multiple CpG sites in the host cell genome, following infection. Infection induced differentially methylated probes (iDMPs) showing the greatest changes in DNA methylation were found to be in the vicinity of genes involved in inflammatory responses, intracellular signalling, apoptosis and pathogen-induced signalling. A comparison of our data with reported methylome changes in cells infected with M. tuberculosis revealed commonality of differentially methylated genes, including genes involved in T cell responses (BCL11B, FOXO1, KIF13B, PAWR, SOX4, SYK), actin cytoskeleton organisation (ACTR3, CDC42BPA, DTNBP1, FERMT2, PRKCZ, RAC1) and cytokine production (FOXP1, IRF8, MR1). Overall our findings show that pathogenic-specific and pathogen-common changes in the methylome occur following infection.
Excitation Light Dose Engineering to Reduce Photo-bleaching and Photo-toxicity
Authors: Boudreau Colton , Wee Tse-Luen , Duh Yan-Rung , Couto Melissa P. , Ardakani Kimya H. , Brown Claire M.
Published: August 2016

It is important to determine the most effective method of delivering light onto a specimen for minimal light induced damage. Assays are presented to measure photo-bleaching of fluorophores and photo-toxicity to living cells under different illumination conditions. Turning the light off during part of the experimental time reduced photo-bleaching in a manner proportional to the time of light exposure. The rate of photo-bleaching of EGFP was reduced by 9-fold with light pulsing on the micro-second scale. Similarly, in living cells, rapid line scanning resulted in reduced cell stress as measured by mitochondrial potential, rapid cell protrusion and reduced cell retraction. This was achieved on a commercial confocal laser scanning microscope, without any compromise in image quality, by using rapid laser scan settings and line averaging. Therefore this technique can be implemented broadly without any software or hardware upgrades. Researchers can use the rapid line scanning option to immediately improve image quality on fixed samples, reduce photo-bleaching for large high resolution 3D datasets and improve cell health in live cell experiments. The assays developed here can be applied to other microscopy platforms to measure and optimize light delivery for minimal sample damage and photo-toxicity.
A high-resolution map of the gut microbiota in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): A basis for comparative gut microbial research
Authors: Gajardo Karina , Rodiles Ana , Kortner Trond M. , Krogdahl Åshild , Bakke Anne Marie , Merrifield Daniel L. , Sørum Henning
Published: August 2016

Gut health challenges, possibly related to alterations in gut microbiota, caused by plant ingredients in the diets, cause losses in Atlantic salmon production. To investigate the role of the microbiota for gut function and health, detailed characterization of the gut microbiota is needed. We present the first in-depth characterization of salmon gut microbiota based on high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene’s V1-V2 region. Samples were taken from five intestinal compartments: digesta from proximal, mid and distal intestine and of mucosa from mid and distal intestine of 67.3 g salmon kept in seawater (12–14 °C) and fed a commercial diet for 4 weeks. Microbial richness and diversity differed significantly and were higher in the digesta than the mucosa. In mucosa, Proteobacteria dominated the microbiota (90%), whereas in digesta both Proteobacteria (47%) and Firmicutes (38%) showed high abundance. Future studies of diet and environmental impacts on gut microbiota should therefore differentiate between effects on mucosa and digesta in the proximal, mid and the distal intestine. A core microbiota, represented by 22 OTUs, was found in 80% of the samples. The gut microbiota of Atlantic salmon showed similarities with that of mammals.
Rbfox2 function in RNA metabolism is impaired in hypoplastic left heart syndrome patient hearts
Authors: Verma Sunil K. , Deshmukh Vaibhav , Nutter Curtis A. , Jaworski Elizabeth , Jin Wenhao , Wadhwa Lalita , Abata Joshua , Ricci Marco , Lincoln Joy , Martin James F. , Yeo Gene W. , Kuyumcu-Martinez Muge N.
Published: August 2016

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a fatal congenital heart disease in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped, impairing the systemic circulation. Underdeveloped left ventricle exerts biomechanical stress on the right ventricle that can progress into heart failure. Genome-wide transcriptome changes have been identified at early stages in the right ventricle (RV) of infants with HLHS, although the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the RNA binding protein Rbfox2, which is mutated in HLHS patients, is a contributor to transcriptome changes in HLHS patient RVs. Our results indicate that majority of transcripts differentially expressed in HLHS patient hearts have validated Rbfox2 binding sites. We show that Rbfox2 regulates mRNA levels of targets with 3’UTR binding sites contributing to aberrant gene expression in HLHS patients. Strikingly, the Rbfox2 nonsense mutation identified in HLHS patients truncates the protein, impairs its subcellular distribution and adversely affects its function in RNA metabolism. Overall, our findings uncover a novel role for Rbfox2 in controlling transcriptome in HLHS.
Macromolecular crowding explains overflow metabolism in cells
Authors: Vazquez Alexei , Oltvai Zoltán N.
Published: August 2016

Overflow metabolism is a metabolic phenotype of cells characterized by mixed oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) and fermentative glycolysis in the presence of oxygen. Recently, it was proposed that a combination of a protein allocation constraint and a higher proteome fraction cost of energy generation by OxPhos relative to fermentation form the basis of overflow metabolism in the bacterium, Escherichia coli. However, we argue that the existence of a maximum or optimal macromolecular density is another essential requirement. Here we re-evaluate our previous theory of overflow metabolism based on molecular crowding following the proteomic fractions formulation. We show that molecular crowding is a key factor in explaining the switch from OxPhos to overflow metabolism.
Arsenite-loaded nanoparticles inhibit PARP-1 to overcome multidrug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Authors: Liu Hanyu , Zhang Zongjun , Chi Xiaoqin , Zhao Zhenghuan , Huang Dengtong , Jin Jianbin , Gao Jinhao
Published: August 2016

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the highest incidences in cancers; however, traditional chemotherapy often suffers from low efficiency caused by drug resistance. Herein, we report an arsenite-loaded dual-drug (doxorubicin and arsenic trioxide, i.e., DOX and ATO) nanomedicine system (FeAsOx@SiO2-DOX, Combo NP) with significant drug synergy and pH-triggered drug release for effective treatment of DOX resistant HCC cells (HuH-7/ADM). This nano-formulation Combo NP exhibits the synergistic effect of DNA damage by DOX along with DNA repair interference by ATO, which results in unprecedented killing efficiency on DOX resistant cancer cells. More importantly, we explored the possible mechanism is that the activity of PARP-1 is inhibited by ATO during the treatment of Combo NP, which finally induces apoptosis of HuH-7/ADM cells by poly (ADP-ribosyl) ation suppression and DNA lesions accumulation. This study provides a smart drug delivery strategy to develop a novel synergistic combination therapy for effectively overcome drug- resistant cancer cells.
Mutations in the TMCO3 Gene are Associated with Cornea Guttata and Anterior Polar Cataract
Authors: Chen Peng , Hao Xiaodan , Li Wenfeng , Zhao Xiaowen , Huang Yusen
Published: August 2016

The molecular basis for cornea guttata and anterior polar cataract remains idiopathic in most cases. In this study, our aim was to identify the disease-associated gene in Chinese patients with these conditions. Patients with the conditions from two Chinese families and ten sporadic patients, were investigated. Genome-wide linkage and exome sequencing analyses showed transmembrane and coiled-coil domain 3 (TMCO3) as the disease candidate gene for a coding heterozygous mutation c.41C > T, resulting in a P14L amino acid change that co-segregated with the disease phenotype as discovered in Family A. TMCO3 belongs to the monovalent cation: protein antiporter 2 transporter family, a moderately large group whose members all share a very similar function under normal physiological conditions. The gene is expressed in the human cornea, lens capsule and choroid-retinal pigment epithelium. This study reveals, for the first time, that mutations in TMCO3 are associated with cornea guttata and anterior polar cataract, warranting further investigation into the pathogenesis of this disorder.
Lack of Dependence of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall Extremes on Temperature: An Observational Evidence
Authors: Vittal H. , Ghosh Subimal , Karmakar Subhankar , Pathak Amey , Murtugudde Raghu
Published: August 2016

The intensification of precipitation extremes in a warming world has been reported on a global scale and is traditionally explained with the Clausius-Clapeyron (C-C) relation. The relationship is observed to be valid in mid-latitudes; however, the debate persists in tropical monsoon regions, with the extremes of the Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall (ISMR) being a prime example. Here, we present a comprehensive study on the dependence of ISMR extremes on both the 2 m surface air temperature over India and on the sea surface temperature over the tropical Indian Ocean. Remarkably, the ISMR extremes exhibit no significant association with temperature at either spatial scale: neither aggregated over the entire India/Tropical Indian Ocean area nor at the grid levels. We find that the theoretical C-C relation overestimates the positive changes in precipitation extremes, which is also reflected in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) simulations. We emphasize that the changing patterns of extremes over the Indian subcontinent need a scientific re-evaluation, which is possible due to availability of the unique long-termin-situdata. This can aid bias correction of model projections of extremes whose value for climate adaptation can hardly be overemphasized, especially for the developing tropical countries.
Effect of WC/Co coherency phase boundaries on Fracture toughness of the nanocrystalline cemented carbides
Authors: Xie Hongxian , Song Xiaoyan , Yin Fuxing , Zhang Yongguang
Published: August 2016

The effect of coherency WC/Co phase boundaries on the fracture toughness of the nanocrystalline WC-Co cemented carbides is studied by MD simulation method. The simulation results show that the nanocrystalline WC-Co cemented carbides with coherency WC/Co phase boundaries has higher fracture toughness than that without coherency WC/Co phase boundaries. Moreover, the mechanism of why coherency WC/Co phase boundaries can improve the fracture toughness of the nanocrystalline cemented carbides is also investigated. It is found the fact that the separation energy of the coherent WC/Co phase boundary is larger than that of the incoherent WC/Co phase boundaries is the main reason for this excellent mechanical property.
Self-Printing on Graphitic Nanosheets with Metal Borohydride Nanodots for Hydrogen Storage
Authors: Li Yongtao , Ding Xiaoli , Zhang Qingan
Published: August 2016

Although the synthesis of borohydride nanostructures is sufficiently established for advancement of hydrogen storage, obtaining ultrasmall (sub-10 nm) metal borohydride nanocrystals with excellent dispersibility is extremely challenging because of their high surface energy, exceedingly strong reducibility/hydrophilicity and complicated composition. Here, we demonstrate a mechanical-force-driven self-printing process that enables monodispersed (~6 nm) NaBH4 nanodots to uniformly anchor onto freshly-exfoliated graphitic nanosheets (GNs). Both mechanical-forces and borohydride interaction with GNs stimulate NaBH4 clusters intercalation/absorption into the graphite interlayers acting as a ‘pen’ for writing, which is accomplished by exfoliating GNs with the ‘printed’ borohydrides. These nano-NaBH4@GNs exhibit favorable thermodynamics (decrease in ∆H of ~45%), rapid kinetics (a greater than six-fold increase) and stable de-/re-hydrogenation that retains a high capacity (up to ~5 wt% for NaBH4) compared with those of micro-NaBH4. Our results are helpful in the scalable fabrication of zero-dimensional complex hydrides on two-dimensional supports with enhanced hydrogen storage for potential applications.
Multifaceted chelating μ-(η3:η3-antifacial)-(cis-C4R2H2) coordination motif in binuclear complexes
Authors: Liu Cham-Chuen , Chan Michael C. W. , Lo Po-Kam , Lau Kai-Chung , Yiu Shek-Man
Published: August 2016

A novel μ-C4R2H2 core structure (formed by an unprecedented redox-neutral C(sp2)–C(sp2) coupling process) displays adaptable coordination and accommodates different metal sizes, and is sufficiently robust to promote interesting catalytic reactivity at the bimetallic sites.
Multiscale excited state lifetimes of protonated dimethyl aminopyridines
Authors: Soorkia Satchin , Broquier Michel , Grégoire Gilles
Published: August 2016

The photodynamics of protonated ortho and para dimethylaminopyridine molecules has been investigated over 9 orders of magnitude through time-resolved two-color photofragmentation spectroscopy.
The synthesis of a bifunctional copper metal organic framework and its application in the aerobic oxidation/Knoevenagel condensation sequential reaction
Authors: Miao Zongcheng , Luan Yi , Qi Chao , Ramella Daniele
Published: August 2016

A novel one-pot aerobic oxidation/Knoevenagel condensation reaction system is developed employing a Cu(ii)/basic bifunctional metal–organic framework (MOF) as the catalyst.
Palladium-catalysed direct thiolation and selenation of aryl C–H bonds assisted by directing groups
Authors: Iwasaki Masayuki , Nishihara Yasushi
Published: August 2016

Recent advances on transition-metal-catalyzed direct chalcogenation of C–H bonds with disulfides and diselenides are summarized.
Three powerful dinuclear metal–organic catalysts for converting CO2 into organic carbonates
Authors: Zhao Dan , Liu Xiao-Hui , Shi Zhuang-Zhi , Zhu Chen-Dan , Zhao Yue , Wang Peng , Sun Wei-Yin
Published: August 2016

Hydroxyl/amino-functionalized dinuclear metal catalysts show high catalytic activity for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and epoxides under mild conditions.
Utilizing biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) to synergistically toughen polymer blends without sacrificing stiffness
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Zhang Jun , Tian Tingsheng
Published: August 2016

Biodegradable poly (butylene succinate) toughens polymer blend without sacrificing stiffness.
HfO2nanodots incorporated in TiO2and its hydrogenation for high performance dye sensitized solar cells
Authors: Laishram Devika , Shejale Kiran P. , Sharma Rakesh K. , Gupta Ritu
Published: August 2016

HfO2nanodots are incorporated in TiO2and hydrogenated together resulting in a photoelectrode material with a bandgap of 2.4 eV. The material exhibits interesting optical properties that are best suited for solar applications.
Enhanced supercapacitive performances of functionalized activated carbon in novel gel polymer electrolytes with ionic liquid redox-mediated poly(vinyl alcohol)/phosphoric acid
Authors: Seok Jang Hyun , Justin Raj C. , Lee Won-Gil , Chul Kim Byung , Hyun Yu Kook
Published: August 2016

Functionalized activated carbon supercapacitors were fabricated using [EMIM]BF4 mediated PVA/H3PO4 gel polymer electrolytes. The ionic-liquid [EMIM]BF4 addition in PVA/H3PO4 gel polymer electrolyte demonstrated excellent supercapacitor performances.
Vapor-phase preparation of single-crystalline thin gold microplates using HAuCl4 as the precursor for plasmonic applications
Authors: Wang Xuejiao , Chen Yiqin , Zhu Xupeng , Li Zhiqin , Shang Zhengang , Duan Huigao
Published: August 2016

Vapor-phase preparation of single-crystalline thin gold microplates and their application in defining high-quality plasmonic nanostructures.
High mechanical and pressure sensitive dielectric properties of graphene oxide doped PVA nanocomposites
Authors: Rathod Sunil G. , Bhajantri R. F. , Ravindrachary V. , Naik Jagadish , Kumar D. J. Madhu
Published: August 2016

Tunable ac conductivity of 2 wt% GO doped PVA with applied pressures and TEM image of graphene oxide.
Facile high-yield synthesis of unsymmetric end-off compartmental double Schiff-base ligands: easy access to mononuclear precursor and unsymmetric dinuclear complexes
Authors: Schmidt Markus , Görls Helmar , Plass Winfried
Published: August 2016

Novel approach to unsymmetric end-off compartmental ligands with a selective high-yield synthesis and access to unsymmetric dinuclear complexes.
Structural and electronic determinants of flavonoid binding to human serum albumin: an extensive ligand-based study
Authors: Rimac Hrvoje , Debeljak Željko , Šakić Davor , Weitner Tin , Gabričević Mario , Vrček Valerije , Zorc Branka , Bojić Mirza
Published: August 2016

The most prominent features responsible for binding of flavonoid aglycones to the IIA region of human serum albumin (HSA) were determined based onin vitrofluorescence measurements and density functional theory calculations.
Probe for simultaneous membrane and nucleus labeling in living cells and in vivo bioimaging using a two-photon absorption water-soluble Zn(ii) terpyridine complex with a reduced π-conjugation system
Authors: Tian Xiaohe , Zhang Qiong , Zhang Mingzhu , Uvdal Kajsa , Wang Qin , Chen Junyang , Du Wei , Huang Bei , Wu Jieying , Tian Yupeng
Published: August 2016

A two-photon absorption water-soluble Zn(ii) probe for simultaneous membrane nucleus live cell imaging and its potential for blood-brain barrier staining.