bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negotiating British Muslim identity: Everyday concerns of practicing Muslims in London
Authors: Sartawi Mohammed , Sammut Gordon
Published: December 2012

In situations of cultural change and dislocation, and driven by both a desire to integrate and to preserve cultural identity, Muslims in Britain draw on several sources of cultural knowledge when making sense of their worlds and negotiating their identities. In this article, we present findings from an ethnographic study that demonstrate negotiations of Islamic identities in Britain as they resort to imams for religious advice to resolve everyday challenges. Drawing on social representations and dialogical-self theories, we observe how first-generation British Muslims attempt to negotiate meanings invested in objectifications implicated in everyday situations by drawing on the different sources of social knowledge that they identify with. We argue that the interobjective negotiation of different sources of cultural knowledge also entails identity negotiations resulting from the different positions taken with regards to the objectifications implicated. These identity negotiations also reflect the interplay between identity processes that maintain collective identifications and others that are individuating. The findings show that the experience of cultural change and the tensions that may arise between aspects of different cultures are also reflected and experienced within the self. These may sometimes be difficult to cope with and resolve.
The sound of history and acoustic memory: Where psychology and history converge
Authors: Müller Jürgen
Published: December 2012

Historians have reconstructed the past mainly by the study of texts; only recently have they turned their attention to the analysis of images. They have abstained almost entirely, however, from using their ears when exploring the past: they have been content with the sound of silence. This can be explained in part by the scarcity of authentic acoustic sources which have existed only for the time period since about 1900. Historical studies focusing on the function of listening in the past, the soundscapes of earlier epochs and the significance of acoustic signals are rare. This article attempts to sketch the social and cultural meaning of listening and the impact of our perception of sounds on our view of the world; it shows what historians can hear of the past and what remains inaudible; it discusses the effects of the inaudibility of the past on our historical understanding; and finally it presents some new perspectives for historical research dealing with the history of listening, with historical soundscapes and their meaning.
The noise of the time machine: The “history of sound” as a mediated experience
Authors: Loredo-Narciandi José Carlos , Castro-Tejerina Jorge
Published: December 2012

Taking Jürgen Müller’s (2012) article The sound of history and acoustic memory: Where psychology and history converge as a starting point, we make a critical reflection about the way in which sound has been represented in history and the many ways in which the intersection between sound and history has been understood. We centre our critique on two components of Müller’s work. The first of these is a bias according to which the past is seen as a reality that can be accessed directly, as if one could travel back in time. The second is the mixture of different aspects in the definition of the historiography of sound, including levels, methods, objects and very disparate subjects under study. We suggest that the experience of the past is necessarily mediated by the conditions of the present, and the work of historiography is always subject to certain intentions.
The art of noise: Comment on The sound of silence
Authors: Zittoun Tania
Published: December 2012

This article explores a possible cultural psychology of sounds, or rather, constitutes a call for an inclusion of sounds as part of our analysis of people’s daily experience. The reflection is based on social sciences as well as on artists’ work on the limits of sounds. The argument is, first, that soundscapes are as much constitutive of our experience as the spatial and material components of our lived spaces. Second, sound can be considered as specific semiotic system; as such, a cultural psychology has to examine experienced sounds, as one modality of social meaning-making and personal sense-making. Third, if sounds are organized as semiotic systems, then a developmental approach can be defined. Fourth, empirical implications are highlighted; the proposal here is to combine people’s perspectives on perceived sounds, the semiotic resources on which they draw to make sense of them, the location of these sounds in actual sociocultural settings and the relations between these various perspectives.
The rarity of silence – or – what can we hear from history
Authors: Maslov Kirill S
Published: December 2012

The present article gives a short analysis of emerging of historical knowledge and its relations to human senses. People are re-constructing history using different cognitive strategies and different approaches to how to use our ability to see, to hear and to touch. People are historically deaf and disabled – we cannot hear an enormous part of our history, and in terms of understanding the world we may learn from really disabled persons – who are fully capable to create images of the surrounding reality accurately and adequately. During the past decades, due to the great development of technology, we have become more powerful in recording and re-constructing our reality – but what have we lost? Proliferation of sounds creates noise and is a big disturbance in some situations – we change our psychological way of being more rapidly than our physiology could accept that change. A myriad of sounds in the present gives us cause to search for the same domain in the past and to describe it in terms of sounds and hearing. Sometimes we do not have enough will and wish to hear our contemporary that we extend our vision and our hearing into the past – but what can we hear from that?
The future of femme: Notes on femininity, aging and gender theory
Authors: Walker Lisa
Published: December 2012

This article begins by contextualizing the author's experience as an aging femme trying to locate herself in relation to the representation of the femme as lesbianism’s “bad girl.” From the point of view of the femme at midlife, it analyzes the construction of the femme as the gender performative subject with agency in opposition to an imagined “mainstream,” heterosexual woman whose gender identity is determined by her internalization of beauty culture. The article calls for a rethinking of how femme theory conceptualizes femininity, with particular attention to how current articulations of femme identity are indebted to voluntarist discourses of subjectivity traced through the feminist sex wars, theories of gender performativity, and subcultural studies of style.
Safe sex and the aesthetics of gay men’s HIV/AIDS prevention in Australia: From Rubba me in 1984 to F**k me in 2009
Authors: Leonard William
Published: December 2012

This article offers a selective review of the history of gay men’s HIV/AIDS prevention in Australia. It argues that from the outset of the epidemic, those working in gay men’s HIV prevention in Australia developed a new health education aesthetic, a safe-sex aesthetic, which packaged safe-sex information in ways that were sex positive and appealing to the target audience. At the same time, it presented safe sex as constitutive of a shared gay male identity, based on an ethics of mutual care and support. This aesthetic has proven immensely flexible in responding to and accommodating changes in the epidemic and gay male community over the past 25 years. However, it has led to attacks by conservative groups that gay men’s HIV prevention has been less about prevention and more about promoting homosexuality. This article concludes that a safe-sex aesthetic was ahead of its time, modelling best-practice health promotion nearly a decade before it became official public health policy in Australia.
‘I’m putting a lid on that desire’: Celibacy, choice and control
Authors: Terry Gareth
Published: December 2012

Sex is constructed as an important (even essential) part of ‘normal’ adult functioning, and for men in particular. While sexual abstinence may often be valued among adolescents, ‘celibacy’ among adults is considered problematic, associated with losses in health, well-being and general quality of life. Despite this, for various reasons, some people choose to deliberately avoid sexual activity (often conflated with coitus) with another person, even though they might continue to desire it. This article presents interview data detailing nine men’s accounts of their choice to be ‘celibate’ or deliberately giving up sex for a period of time. Using thematic analysis, it presents two primary themes. First, that sex (despite the choice to be celibate) is still an imperative, and second, that celibacy becomes necessary as sex itself can be constructed as a problem. The analysis also examines how accounts of ‘choice’ and ‘control’ are used to define celibacy as a form of resistance to the power of the male sex-drive discourse, and yet simultaneously build upon hegemonic forms of masculine sense making such as a self-control, autonomy, and in some cases outright misogyny.
A Smart Workspace Supporting a Healthy Life in Pre-elderly Households
Authors: Cho Myung Eun , Kim Mi Jeong , Kim Jeong Tai
Published: December 2012

In development of ageing-friendly environments, the evolving social and technical requirements of the elderly have often not been adequately taken into account. A more in-depth understanding of the needs, preferences and social and technical dispositions of the pre-elderly (late 40s and 50s) would provide an enhanced perspective regarding the usability of smart environments. The pre-elderly would have different characteristics from those who are elderly at present. They are more skilled than the present-day elderly at using information technologies such as email, social networking services and smart phones. As they continue to age, the pre-elderly will need environments equipped with smart technologies for use in self-development and professional work. This is especially the case, as it is anticipated that the elderly of the future will have high levels of health and activity. This study involved intensive interviews with several double-income couples in their 40s. The couples’ future desires and requirements for enabling technologies and smart home workspaces were identified. A conceptual framework for a smart workspace was developed based on a first interview with each participating couple. This framework was verified by feedback derived from a second interview. In conclusion, a direction for the design of a smart workspace was proposed.
Scenario-Based Smart Services for Single-Person Households
Authors: Lee Hyunsoo , Park Sung Jun , Lim Hae Won , Kim Jeong Tai
Published: December 2012

Single-person household has to undergo various difficulties because of living alone. This study proposes smart services with which the difficulties undergone by single-person household can be solved. For proposing this kind of service, configuration method of sensors and devices is quite important. Requirement or life style of single-person household provides important basis for constituting this kind of sensor. In order to raise the habitability of single-person household, construction of smart service environment equipped with adequate sensors is essential. Smart service environment should elastically be responded to the life style of any single-person household. The method adopted for designing smart type service environment in this study was a scenario-based smart service design. Scenario-based service design can provide the tool which may positively reflect behaviour and life style of a single-person household. In addition, flexible mutual consensus between the resident and a single-person household can be realised on the basis of this design.
Thin Flooring Panel Development for Energy Efficiency of an Ondol Heating System
Authors: Son Kiyoung , Kim Sunkuk , Kim Jeong Tai
Published: December 2012

According to a Seoul Housing Corporation report, due to low heat conductivity of wood insulation, management difficulties have occurred in wood flooring panels, one of the main panels used in the Korean Ondol heating system used in Korean housing. Although many researchers have studied flooring panels to date, they have not sufficiently addressed heat conductivity and bending resistance improvements. This research aims to improve heat conductivity of conventional panels, developing thin flooring panels for better heating energy conduction. The panel that this research proposes would provide economic benefits by decreasing the panel thickness. In addition, improvement in bending resistance was found to prevent wood shrinkage. A comparison with conventional panels shows a 30% increase in heat conductivity, and 7.2% reduction of energy consumption. The panel that this research proposes will be applicable effectively to the Korean Ondol system.
Race and racism in Internet Studies: A review and critique
Authors: Daniels Jessie
Published: December 2012

Race and racism persist online in ways that are both new and unique to the Internet, alongside vestiges of centuries-old forms that reverberate significantly both offline and on. As we mark 15 years into the field of Internet studies, it becomes necessary to assess what the extant research tells us about race and racism. This paper provides an analysis of the literature on race and racism in Internet studies in the broad areas of (1) race and the structure of the Internet, (2) race and racism matters in what we do online, and (3) race, social control and Internet law. Then, drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, including Hall’s spectacle of the Other and DuBois’s view of white culture, the paper offers an analysis and critique of the field, in particular the use of racial formation theory. Finally, the paper points to the need for a critical understanding of whiteness in Internet studies.
‘Why bother seeing the world for real?’: Google Street View and the representation of a stigmatised neighbourhood
Authors: Power Martin J , Neville Patricia , Devereux Eoin , Haynes Amanda , Barnes Cliona
Published: December 2012

We examine how an Irish stigmatised neighbourhood is represented by Google Street View. In spite of Google’s claims that Street View allows for ‘a virtual reflection of the real world to enable armchair exploration’ (McClendon, 2010). We show how it is directly implicated in the politics of representations. We focus on the manner in which Street View has contributed to the stigmatisation of a marginalised neighbourhood. Methodologically, we adopt a rhetorical/structuralist analysis of the images of Moyross present on Street View. While Google has said the omissions were ‘for operational reasons’, we argue that a wider social and ideological context may have influenced Google’s decision to exclude Moyross. We examine the opportunities available for contesting such representations, which have significance for the immediate and long-term future of the estate, given the necessity to attract businesses into Moyross as part of the ongoing economic aspect of the regeneration of this area.
The big one: The epistemic system break in scholarly monograph publishing
Authors: Pochoda Phil
Published: December 2012

A system of scholarly monograph publishing, primarily under the auspices of university presses, coalesced only 50 years ago as part of the final stage of the professionalization of US institutions of higher education. The resulting analogue publishing system supplied the authorized print monographs that academic institutions newly required for faculty tenure and promotion. That publishing system – as each of its components – was bounded, stable, identifiable, well ordered, and well policed. As successive financial shocks battered both the country in general and scholarly publishing in particular, just a decade after its final formation, the analogue system went into extended decline. Finally, it is now giving way to a digital scholarly publishing system whose configuration and components are still obscure and in flux, but whose epistemological bases differ from the analogue system in almost all important respects: it will be relatively unbounded and stochastic, composed of units that are inherently amorphous and shape shifting, and marked by contested authorization of diverse content. This digitally driven, epistemic system shift in scholarly publishing may well be an extended work in progress, since the doomed analogue system is still fiscally dominant with respect to monographs, and the nascent digital system has not yet coalesced around a multitude of emerging digital affordances.
The impact of communicating digital technologies: How information and communication technology journalists conceptualize their influence on the audience and the industry
Authors: Geiß Stefan , Jackob Nikolaus , Quiring Oliver
Published: December 2012

Information technology is ever-changing. Information and communication technology (ICT) journalists play a significant part in diffusing, explaining and interpreting these new technologies and in forging the societal understanding of future trends, influencing both their audience and the developers they cover. They are important gatekeepers and their coverage is – most likely – decisive for the success or failure of new products. To explore this function of ICT journalism, an online survey of 102 ICT journalists in Germany was conducted, including 32 journalists in managing roles. This study focuses on two research questions: (a) how do ICT journalists perceive their relationship to and their effects on the audience; (b) how do journalists perceive their relationship with and their effects on ICT manufacturers? Our findings suggest that ICT journalists picture themselves in a key role as clandestine deciders who shape the audience’s consuming behaviour, as well as developers’ strategies for designing products.
Exploring old and new media: Comparing military blogs to Civil War letters
Authors: Shapiro Seth , Humphreys Lee
Published: December 2012

Comparing new media to older media can help identify fundamental uses and perceived effects of communication technology. This study analyzes one soldier’s milblog (military blog) and one Civil War soldier’s letters and diaries to understand how milblogs compare to older forms of soldier correspondence. Despite the overt distinction in technical systems utilized, this analysis demonstrated that the communications through the milblog and letters/diaries share tremendous similarities. In composing their correspondence through these distinct media, each soldier maintained similar anxieties over technological affordances, perceptions of their audience, and motivations for corresponding. Though there were certainly differences in style and content, little that was done or accomplished via the milblog was without direct precedent in the Civil War letters and diaries.
Developing and regulating casinos: The case of Singapore
Authors: Henderson Joan C
Published: December 2012

This paper discusses selected attributes of casinos and their role as visitor attractions within the context of Singapore. The reasons behind the recent introduction of casinos there as components of large-scale integrated resort projects, the consequences of the move and attempts to manage adverse social impacts are explained. A case study approach is employed, making use of data in the public domain. Information provided by commercial enterprises, official agencies and media reports is supplemented by personal observation. There is evidence of the commercial success of the casinos and integrated resorts as a whole, indicative of the achievement of desired economic returns. Concerns about the costs to society persist and government has put in place a system of regulation in an attempt to limit damage, the efficacy of which is still being tested. The study illuminates the dictates, processes and parties involved in setting up and operating casino facilities, expectations of them and their various effects. It also provides insights into endeavours to promote responsible gambling.
The problem of free-riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution
Authors: Hall David , Buzwell Simone
Published: December 2012

The increase in popularity of group work in higher education has been accompanied by an increase in the frequency of reports of students not equally contributing to work within the groups. Referred to as ‘free-riders’, the effect of this behaviour on other students can make group work an unpleasant experience for some. Of most frustration to students is receiving the same mark as their fellow non-contributing group members despite producing much of the group’s work. Identifying free-riding behaviour early on in a project can help reduce the impact it has on other group members. What can also be identified is that free-riding behaviour is not necessarily due to apathy or a deliberate attempt to do as little work as possible. Numerous underlying reasons can lead a student to not contribute equally to a group even if he or she is willing. This study involved surveying students (N = 205) from all faculties of an Australian university and asking them of their attitudes towards group work. Free-text responses from the students were thematically analysed, and results showed that free-riding was the greatest concern across all disciplines.
Light Rail: All change please! A post-structural perspective on the global mushrooming of a transport concept
Authors: Lagendijk Arnoud , Boertjes Sophia
Published: December 2012

An important contribution of post-structural thinking to planning theory has been the elaboration of fluid and inclusive approaches to planning. Yet, this openness only presents one face of post-structural thinking. Drawing on assemblage theory, this article presents a conceptual journey to discuss the creativity as well as fixity of an emerging planning concept, namely, that of Light Rail. As a case, local ambitions for Light Rail investment in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, are situated in global processes of circulation of ideas and practices, and an expanding world of ‘Light Rail’. In the analysis, the concepts of ‘coding’, ‘diagram’, ‘attractor’, ‘distributed agency’ and ‘territorialization’ are used to understand how a planning concept like Light Rail builds local capacities and proliferates globally.
Social work and the arts: Images at the intersection
Authors: Sinding Christina , Warren Rachel , Paton Cathy
Published: December 2012

This article considers social work engagement with the arts. We are interested in claims made in the social work literature about why art matters (or should matter) to social work, and about what art achieves for people and communities and ideas. We focus in particular on the images and metaphors at play in descriptions of arts-informed social work projects. Our intent is to offer a framework for understanding what social work communities think (and hope, and imagine) happens when we take up the arts in education, practice and research.
Coping with parental death as seen from the perspective of children who attended a grief camp
Authors: McClatchey Irene Searles , Wimmer Jane S
Published: December 2012

In this qualitative case study researchers interviewed 16 parentally bereaved children and their 11 surviving parents in order to conceptualize the emotional impact of losing a parent to death and to understand the possible influence of one bereavement program’s attempt to address these issues. An inductive constant comparative method was used to identify themes which were enriched through deductive computer assisted analysis. Themes presented by children and parents are discussed in terms of the emotional impact of the death and the influence of the program on each issue. Themes revealed were Sadness, Anger, Being Set Apart, Worries, Trauma, and Contemplation of Suicide.
There and Back Again
Authors: Gillespie Greg , Crouse Darren
Published: December 2012

This essay examines the aesthetic construction of nostalgia in the cover art of the Advanced Adventures, a series of tabletop fantasy role-playing modules published by Expeditious Retreat Press between 2006 and 2011. The art of these modules reveals a genre and period-specific set of aesthetic codes with distinct subcultural rules of application. In order to construct a sense of nostalgia, the cover art highlights the representation of adventurers, monsters, and dungeon environments within a unique visual style reminiscent of the early Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) aesthetic from the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The Advanced Adventures use nostalgia ideologically as a form of homage to early D&D, to assert the values of old-school gaming, and to chart a new direction for classic fantasy role-playing that challenges the style of play espoused by the current fourth edition of D&D (4E) published by Wizards of the Coast.
The Contingent Effect of Race in Juvenile Court Detention Decisions
Authors: Thomas Shaun A. , Moak Stacy C. , Walker Jeffery T.
Published: December 2012

Race and racial stereotypes have long been recognized as influencing the formal social control of youth. Recent analyses have moved beyond identifying disproportionate minority contact (DMC) and toward assessing the contingencies under which race has a lesser or greater impact on juvenile court outcomes. While often confounded, the racial threat and symbolic threat perspectives offer conceptually distinct explanations for DMC. The racial threat perspective proposes that racial disparities in sanctioning are at least partly the result of perceptions among Whites that the minority group threatens their economic and political hegemony. Alternatively, the symbolic threat perspective proposes that intergroup inequality fosters perceptions that minorities are a threat to middle class norms, values, and standards motivating Whites to discriminate. The current study employs hierarchical generalized linear modeling to discern the salience of these two perspectives to understanding racial bias in preadjudication detention. To do this, we merge county-level Census data with data on nearly a decade’s worth of delinquency cases in one Southeastern state. Our results offer limited support for the racial threat perspective but strongly support the symbolic threat perspective in indicating that the impact of race on detention is contingent upon interracial socioeconomic inequality in the community at large.
Trust in Doctors
Authors: Guffey Thomas , Yang Philip Q.
Published: December 2012

Prior research yields mixed results about black–white difference in trust in their doctors, and existing studies are often based on nonrepresentative, local, or cross-sectional samples. Using data from the 1998, 2002, and 2006 General Social Surveys—nationally representative samples—and ordinary least squares regression, this study reexamines this issue. It was expected that blacks are less likely to trust their doctors than whites either before or after controlling for other predictors of trust and that there was no significant change in this relationship over the time period under study. The results indicate that blacks were less likely to trust their doctors than whites only in 2002, but not in 1998 and 2006. This finding suggests that, even with the same source of data, empirical support for the claim about the less trust of blacks in doctors than whites is less robust than conventional belief, and it calls for additional, careful reexamination.
High-dimensional immunomonitoring models of HIV-1–specific CD8 T-cell responses accurately identify subjects achieving spontaneous viral control
Authors: Ndhlovu Zaza M. , Chibnik Lori B. , Proudfoot Jacqueline , Vine Seanna , McMullen Ashley , Cesa Kevin , Porichis Filippos , Jones R. Brad , Alvino Donna Marie , Hart Meghan G. , Stampouloglou Eleni , Piechocka-Trocha Alicja , Kadie Carl , Pereyra Florencia , Heckerman David , De Jager Philip L. , Walker Bruce D. , Kaufmann Daniel E.
Published: December 2012

Key Points

Immune monitoring models integrating multiple functions of HIV-1–specific CD8 T cells distinguish controllers from subjects with progressive HIV-1 infection. This strategy may have important applications in predictive model development and immune monitoring of HIV-1 vaccine trials.
Genome-wide study of methotrexate clearance replicates SLCO1B1
Authors: Ramsey Laura B. , Panetta John C. , Smith Colton , Yang Wenjian , Fan Yiping , Winick Naomi J. , Martin Paul L. , Cheng Cheng , Devidas Meenakshi , Pui Ching-Hon , Evans William E. , Hunger Stephen P. , Loh Mignon , Relling Mary V.
Published: December 2012

Key Points

A genome-wide study of the association of over 5 million SNPs with methotrexate clearance in 1279 patients treated with HDMTX in multicenter COG trials 9904 and 9905. We replicated the finding that inherited variations in SLCO1B1 are the most important genetic variations influencing methotrexate clearance.
Enhanced normal short-term human myelopoiesis in mice engineered to express human-specific myeloid growth factors
Authors: Miller Paul H. , Cheung Alice M. S. , Beer Philip A. , Knapp David J. H. F. , Dhillon Kiran , Rabu Gabrielle , Rostamirad Shabnam , Humphries R. Keith , Eaves Connie J.
Published: December 2012

Key Points

NSG-3GS mice support enhanced clonal outputs from human short-term repopulating cells (STRCs) without affecting their engrafting efficiency. Increased human STRC clone sizes enable their more precise and efficient measurement by peripheral blood monitoring.
De novo reconstruction of the Toxoplasma gondii transcriptome improves on the current genome annotation and reveals alternatively spliced transcripts and putative long non-coding RNAs
Authors: Hassan Musa A , Melo Mariane B , Haas Brian , Jensen Kirk D C , Saeij Jeroen P J
Published: December 2012

Background

Accurate gene model predictions and annotation of alternative splicing events are imperative for genomic studies in organisms that contain genes with multiple exons. Currently most gene models for the intracellular parasite,Toxoplasma gondii, are based on computer model predictions without cDNA sequence verification. Additionally, the nature and extent of alternative splicing inToxoplasma gondiiis unknown. In this study, we usedde novotranscript assembly and the published type II (ME49) genomic sequence to quantify the extent of alternative splicing inToxoplasmaand to improve the currentToxoplasmagene annotations.

Results

We used high-throughput RNA-sequencing data to assemble full-length transcripts, independently of a reference genome, followed by gene annotation based on the ME49 genome. We assembled 13,533 transcripts overlapping with known ME49 genes in ToxoDB and then used this set to; a) improve the annotation in the untranslated regions of ToxoDB genes, b) identify novel exons within protein-coding ToxoDB genes, and c) report on 50 previously unidentified alternatively spliced transcripts. Additionally, we assembled a set of 2,930 transcripts not overlapping with any known ME49 genes in ToxoDB. From this set, we have identified 118 new ME49 genes, 18 novelToxoplasmagenes, and putative non-coding RNAs.

Conclusion

RNA-seq data andde novotranscript assembly provide a robust way to update incompletely annotated genomes, like theToxoplasmagenome. We have used RNA-seq to improve the annotation of severalToxoplasmagenes, identify alternatively spliced genes, novel genes, novel exons, and putative non-coding RNAs.
CD11b+Ly6C++Ly6G- cells show distinct function in mice with chronic inflammation or tumor burden
Authors: Källberg Eva , Stenström Martin , Liberg David , Ivars Fredrik , Leanderson Tomas
Published: December 2012

Background

S100A9 has been shown to be important for the function of so called Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC). Cells with a similar phenotype are also involved in pro-inflammatory processes, and we therefore wanted to investigate the gene expression and function of these cells in animals that were either subjected to chronic inflammation, or inoculated with tumors.

Methods

CD11b+Ly6C++and Ly6G+cells were isolated from spleen, tumor tissue or inflammatory granulomas. S100A9, Arginase 1 and iNOS gene expression in the various CD11b+cell populations was analyzed using Q-PCR. The suppressive activity of the CD11b+cell populations from different donors was studied in co-culture experiments.

Results

S100A9 was shown to be expressed mainly in splenic CD11b+Ly6C+G+cells both at the RNA and protein level. Arginase I and iNOS expression could be detected in both CD11b+Ly6C+Ly6G+and CD11b+Ly6C+G-/C++G-derived from tumors or a site of chronic inflammation, but was very low in the same cell populations isolated from the spleen. CD11b+cells isolated from mice with peritoneal chronic inflammation were able to stimulate T lymphocytes, while CD11b+cells from mice with peritoneal tumors suppressed T cell growth.

Conclusion

An identical CD11b+Ly6C++G-cell population appears to have the ability to adopt immune stimulatory or immune suppressive functions dependent on the presence of a local inflammatory or tumor microenvironment. Thus, there is a functional plasticity in the CD11b+Ly6C++G-cell population that cannot be distinguished with the current molecular markers.
Proline is required for male gametophyte development in Arabidopsis
Authors: Mattioli Roberto , Biancucci Marco , Lonoce Chiara , Costantino Paolo , Trovato Maurizio
Published: December 2012

Background

In crosses between the proline-deficient mutant homozygous for p5cs1 and heterozygous for p5cs2 (p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2), used as male, and different Arabidopsis mutants, used as females, the p5cs2 mutant allele was rarely transmitted to the outcrossed progeny, suggesting that the fertility of the male gametophyte carrying mutations in both P5CS1 and P5CS2 is severely compromised.

Results

To confirm the fertility defects of pollen from p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2 mutants, transmission of mutant alleles through pollen was tested in two ways. First, the number of progeny inheriting a dominant sulfadiazine resistance marker linked to p5cs2 was determined. Second, the number of p5cs2/p5cs2 embryos was determined. A ratio of resistant to susceptible plantlets close to 50%, and the absence of aborted embryos were consistent with the hypothesis that the male gametophyte carrying both p5cs1 and p5cs2 alleles is rarely transmitted to the offspring. In addition, in reciprocal crosses with wild type, about 50% of the p5cs2 mutant alleles were transmitted to the sporophytic generation when p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2 was used as a female, while less than 1% of the p5cs2 alleles could be transmitted to the outcrossed progeny when p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2 was used as a male. Morphological and functional analysis of mutant pollen revealed a population of small, degenerated, and unviable pollen grains, indicating that the mutant homozygous for p5cs1 and heterozygous for p5cs2 is impaired in pollen development, and suggesting a role for proline in male gametophyte development. Consistent with these findings, we found that pollen from p5cs1 homozygous mutants, display defects similar to, but less pronounced than pollen from p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2 mutants. Finally, we show that pollen from p5cs1 p5cs2/P5CS2 plants contains less proline than wild type and that exogenous proline supplied from the beginning of another development can partially complement both morphological and functional pollen defects.

Conclusions

Our data show that the development of the male gametophyte carrying mutations in both P5CS1 and P5CS2 is severely compromised, and indicate that proline is required for pollen development and transmission.
Activating GENeral practitioners dialogue with patients on their Agenda (MultiCare AGENDA) study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
Authors: Altiner Attila , Schäfer Ingmar , Mellert Christine , Löffler Christin , Mortsiefer Achim , Ernst Annette , Stolzenbach Carl-Otto , Wiese Birgitt , Scherer Martin , van den Bussche Hendrik , Kaduszkiewicz Hanna
Published: December 2012

Background

This study investigates the efficacy of a complex multifaceted intervention aiming at increasing the quality of care of GPs for patients with multimorbidity. In its core, the intervention aims at enhancing the doctor-patient-dialogue and identifying the patient’s agenda and needs. Also, a medication check is embedded. Our primary hypothesis is that a more patient-centred communication will reduce the number of active pharmaceuticals taken without impairing the patients’ quality of life. Secondary hypotheses include a better knowledge of GPs about their patients’ medication, a higher patient satisfaction and a more effective and/or efficient health care utilization.

Methods/design

Multi-center, parallel group, cluster randomized controlled clinical trial in GP surgeries. Inclusion criteria: Patients aged 65–84 years with at least 3 chronic conditions. Intervention: GPs allocated to this group will receive a multifaceted educational intervention on performing a narrative doctor-patient dialogue reflecting treatment targets and priorities of the patient and on performing a narrative patient-centred medication review. During the one year intervention GPs will have a total of three conversations à 30 minutes with the enrolled patients. Control: Care as usual. Follow-up per patient: 14 months after baseline interview. Primary efficacy endpoints: Differences in medication intake and health related quality of life between baseline and follow-up in the intervention compared to the control group. Randomization: Computer-generated by an independent institute. It will be performed successively when patient recruitment in the respective surgery is finished. Blinding: Participants (GPs and patients) will not be blinded to their assignment but will be unaware of the study hypotheses or outcome measures.

Discussion

There is growing evidence that the phenomenon of polypharmacy and low quality of drug use is substantially due to mis-communication (or non-communication) in the doctor patient interaction. We assume that the number of pharmaceutical agents taken can be reduced by a communicational intervention and that this will not impair the patients’ health-related quality of life. Improving communication is a core issue of future interventions, especially for patients with multimorbidity.

Trial registration

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN46272088.
Actinomycetoma in SE Asia: the first case from Laos and a review of the literature
Authors: Rattanavong Sayaphet , Vongthongchit Sivay , Bounphamala Khamhou , Vongphakdy Phouvong , Gubler Jacques , Mayxay Mayfong , Phetsouvanh Rattanaphone , Elliott Ivo , Logan Julie , Hill Robert , Newton Paul N , Dance David
Published: December 2012

Background

Mycetoma is a chronic, localized, slowly progressing infection of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues caused either by fungi (eumycetoma or implantation mycosis) or by aerobic actinomycetes (actinomycetoma). It is acquired by traumatic implantation, most commonly in the tropics and subtropics, especially in rural agricultural communities. Although well recognized elsewhere in Asia, it has not been reported from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos).

Case presentation

A 30 year-old female elementary school teacher and rice farmer from northeast Laos was admitted to Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, with a massive growth on her left foot, without a history of trauma. The swelling had progressed slowly but painlessly over 5 years and multiple draining sinuses had developed. Ten days before admission the foot had increased considerably in size and became very painful, with multiple sinuses and discharge, preventing her from walking. Gram stain and bacterial culture of tissue biopsies revealed a branching filamentous Gram-positive bacterium that was subsequently identified as Actinomadura madurae by 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. She was treated with long-term co-trimoxazole and multiple 3-week cycles of amikacin with a good therapeutic response.

Conclusion

We report the first patient with actinomycetoma from Laos. The disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic skin and bone infections in patients from rural SE Asia.
Brain computer tomography in critically ill patients - a prospective cohort study
Authors: Purmer Ilse M , van Iperen Erik P , Beenen Ludo F M , Kuiper Michael J , Binnekade Jan M , Vandertop Peter W , Schultz Marcus J , Horn Janneke
Published: December 2012

Background

Brain computer tomography (brain CT) is an important imaging tool in patients with intracranial disorders. In ICU patients, a brain CT implies an intrahospital transport which has inherent risks. The proceeds and consequences of a brain CT in a critically ill patient should outweigh these risks. The aim of this study was to critically evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of brain CT in ICU patients.

Methods

In a prospective observational study data were collected during one year on the reasons to request a brain CT, expected abnormalities, abnormalities found by the radiologist and consequences for treatment. An “expected abnormality” was any finding that had been predicted by the physician requesting the brain CT. A brain CT was “diagnostically positive”, if the abnormality found was new or if an already known abnormality was increased. It was “diagnostically negative” if an already known abnormality was unchanged or if an expected abnormality was not found. The treatment consequences of the brain CT, were registered as “treatment as planned”, “treatment changed, not as planned”, “treatment unchanged”.

Results

Data of 225 brain CT in 175 patients were analyzed. In 115 (51%) brain CT the abnormalities found were new or increased known abnormalities. 115 (51%) brain CT were found to be diagnostically positive. In the medical group 29 (39%) of brain CT were positive, in the surgical group 86 (57%), p 0.01. After a positive brain CT, in which the expected abnormalities were found, treatment was changed as planned in 33%, and in 19% treatment was changed otherwise than planned.

Conclusions

The results of this study show that the diagnostic and therapeutic yield of brain CT in critically ill patients is moderate. The development of guidelines regarding the decision rules for performing a brain CT in ICU patients is needed.
Ternary complex structures of human farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase bound with a novel inhibitor and secondary ligands provide insights into the molecular details of the enzyme’s active site closure
Authors: Park Jaeok , Lin Yih-Shyan , De Schutter Joris W , Tsantrizos Youla S , Berghuis Albert M
Published: December 2012

Background

Human farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) controls intracellular levels of farnesyl pyrophosphate, which is essential for various biological processes. Bisphosphonate inhibitors of human FPPS are valuable therapeutics for the treatment of bone-resorption disorders and have also demonstrated efficacy in multiple tumor types. Inhibition of human FPPS by bisphosphonates in vivo is thought to involve closing of the enzyme’s C-terminal tail induced by the binding of the second substrate isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). This conformational change, which occurs through a yet unclear mechanism, seals off the enzyme’s active site from the solvent environment and is essential for catalysis. The crystal structure of human FPPS in complex with a novel bisphosphonate YS0470 and in the absence of a second substrate showed partial ordering of the tail in the closed conformation.

Results

We have determined crystal structures of human FPPS in ternary complex with YS0470 and the secondary ligands inorganic phosphate (Pi), inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), and IPP. Binding of PPi or IPP to the enzyme-inhibitor complex, but not that of Pi, resulted in full ordering of the C-terminal tail, which is most notably characterized by the anchoring of the R351 side chain to the main frame of the enzyme. Isothermal titration calorimetry experiments demonstrated that PPi binds more tightly to the enzyme-inhibitor complex than IPP, and differential scanning fluorometry experiments confirmed that Pi binding does not induce the tail ordering. Structure analysis identified a cascade of conformational changes required for the C-terminal tail rigidification involving Y349, F238, and Q242. The residues K57 and N59 upon PPi/IPP binding undergo subtler conformational changes, which may initiate this cascade.

Conclusions

In human FPPS, Y349 functions as a safety switch that prevents any futile C-terminal closure and is locked in the “off” position in the absence of bound IPP. Q242 plays the role of a gatekeeper and directly controls the anchoring of R351 side chain. The interactions between the residues K57 and N59 and those upstream and downstream of Y349 are likely responsible for the switch activation. The findings of this study can be exploited for structure-guided optimization of existing inhibitors as well as development of new pharmacophores.
Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Fu Yili , Li Hui , Tian Bo , Hu Bin
Published: December 2012

Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma characterized by the growth of uterine leiomyoma in the lung is a very rare disease. We herein report the case of a 46-year-old asymptomatic woman who underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy for her multiple uterine leiomyomas 5 years ago, with the presence of multiple shadows in her chest roentgenogram during the regular check-up. Chest computerized tomography (CT) showed multiple solitary nodules in both lungs. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with a wedge resection of the lesion was performed. Histopathologically, the pulmonary nodule was composed of benign smooth muscle cells and demonstrated low mitotic activity and absence of necrosis. Immunohistochemical staining for smooth muscle actin (SMA) and Desmin were extremely positive. CD10, CD117 and S-100 were negative in the tumor cells. Positive immunoreactivity for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) were detected. The pathological diagnosis was pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma.