bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biphasic force response to iso-velocity stretch in airway smooth muscle
Authors: Norris Brandon A. , Lan Bo , Wang Lu , Pascoe Christopher D. , Swyngedouw Nicholas E. , Paré Peter D. , Seow Chun Y.
Published: August 2015

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) in vivo is constantly subjected to oscillatory strain due to tidal breathing and deep inspirations. ASM contractility is known to be adversely affected by strains, especially those of large amplitudes. Based on the cross-bridge model of contraction, it is likely that strain impairs force generation by disrupting actomyosin cross-bridge interaction. There is also evidence that strain modulates muscle stiffness and force through induction of cytoskeletal remodeling. However, the molecular mechanism by which strain alters smooth muscle function is not entirely clear. Here, we examine the response of ASM to iso-velocity stretches to probe the components within the muscle preparation that give rise to different features in the force response. We found in ASM that force response to a ramp stretch showed a biphasic feature, with the initial phase associated with greater muscle stiffness compared with that in the later phase, and that the transition between the phases occurred at a critical strain of ∼3.3%. Only strains with amplitudes greater than the critical strain could lead to reduction in force and stiffness of the muscle in the subsequent stretches. The initial-phase stiffness was found to be linearly related to the degree of muscle activation, suggesting that the stiffness stems mainly from attached cross bridges. Both phases were affected by the degree of muscle activation and by inhibitors of myosin light-chain kinase, PKC, and Rho-kinase. Different responses due to different interventions suggest that cross-bridge and cytoskeletal stiffness is regulated differently by the kinases.
Cytochrome redox states and respiratory control in mouse and beef heart mitochondria at steady-state levels of hypoxia
Authors: Harrison David K. , Fasching Mario , Fontana-Ayoub Mona , Gnaiger Erich
Published: August 2015

Mitochondrial control of cellular redox states is a fundamental component of cell signaling in the coordination of core energy metabolism and homeostasis during normoxia and hypoxia. We investigated the relationship between cytochrome redox states and mitochondrial oxygen consumption at steady-state levels of hypoxia in mitochondria isolated from beef and mouse heart (BHImt, MHImt), comparing two species with different cardiac dynamics and local oxygen demands. A low-noise, rapid spectrophotometric system using visible light for the measurement of cytochrome redox states was combined with high-resolution respirometry. Monophasic hyperbolic relationships were observed between oxygen consumption, JO2, and oxygen partial pressure, Po2, within the range <1.1 kPa (8.3 mmHg; 13 μM). P50 j(Po2at 0.5· Jmax) was 0.015 ± 0.0004 and 0.021 ± 0.003 kPa (0.11 and 0.16 mmHg) for BHImt and MHImt, respectively. Maximum oxygen consumption, Jmax, was measured at saturating ADP levels (OXPHOS capacity) with Complex I-linked substrate supply. Redox states of cytochromes aa3and c were biphasic hyperbolic functions of Po2. The relationship between cytochrome oxidation state and oxygen consumption revealed a separation of distinct phases from mild to severe and deep hypoxia. When cytochrome c oxidation increased from fully reduced to 45% oxidized at 0.1 Jmax, Po2was as low as 0.002 kPa (0.02 μM), and trace amounts of oxygen are sufficient to partially oxidize the cytochromes. At higher Po2under severe hypoxia, respiration increases steeply, whereas redox changes are small. Under mild hypoxia, the steep slope of oxidation of cytochrome c when flux remains more stable represents a cushioning mechanism that helps to maintain respiration high at the onset of hypoxia.
Mimetismo e metamorfose
Authors: Mata Larissa Costa da
Published: August 2015

Este texto aborda a dança na série “Os gatos de Roma / Notas para a reconstrução de um mundo perdido” (1957/1958) de Flávio de Carvalho (1899-1973) à luz da filosofia nietzschiana e das considerações de Roger Caillois (1913-1978) sobre o mimetismo em O mito e o homem (1938). Em Caillois e em Carvalho, o mimetismo propõe uma alternativa à mimese ao produzir uma instância comum entre a arte e a ciência e ao aproximar elementos tão distantes quanto o corpo e o ambiente. Na transformação mimética e na dança, o sujeito se oferece no trânsito entre si e o outro, o seu organismo e o meio. Esta reflexão também sugere uma leitura do “Ensaio sobre o ritual da serpente” (1923) de Aby Warburg (1866-1929) a partir da hipótese de que os três intelectuais compartilharam uma visão do primitivo como dança, como um instante prestes a emergir na forma de pathos e de enfermidade.
Golpes de Memória: usos políticos de Olavo Bilac no século XX
Authors: Hansen Patrícia Santos
Published: August 2015

Este trabalho tem como objetivo expor em, linhas gerais o processo de enquadramento político da memória do poeta Olavo Bilac ao longo do século XX no Brasil. Começo com o esboço de uma imagem de si que Bilac tentou legar à sua audiência em textos, palestras e atos públicos na maturidade, fortemente associada ao engajamento na campanha cívica em prol do serviço militar obrigatório. Em seguida, enfoco as apropriações mais importantes das suas ideias e de sua imagem, ressaltando especialmente os sentidos sobrepostos por indivíduos e grupos de orientações políticas diversas em momentos-chave da história política brasileira no século XX. Por fim, procuro ressaltar alguns desvios em relação às posições assumidas nos últimos esforços de autorrepresentação de Bilac enquanto homem público, provocados pelos significados adicionados à sua imagem em outros contextos.
Todos entoam: o cancionista e seus parceiros
Authors: Matos Cláudia Neiva de
Published: August 2015

TATIT, Luiz. Todos entoam: ensaios, conversas e lembranças. 2. ed. São Paulo, Ateliê Editorial, 2014, 421 p.
Brain Arterial Diameters as a Risk Factor for Vascular Events
Authors: Gutierrez Jose , Cheung Ken , Bagci Ahmet , Rundek Tatjana , Alperin Noam , Sacco Ralph L. , Wright Clinton B. , Elkind Mitchell S. V.
Published: August 2015

Background

Arterial luminal diameters are routinely used to assess for vascular disease. Although small diameters are typically considered pathological, arterial dilatation has also been associated with disease. We hypothesize that extreme arterial diameters are biomarkers of the risk of vascular events.

Methods and Results

Participants in the Northern Manhattan Study who had a time‐of‐flight magnetic resonance angiography were included in this analysis (N=1034). A global arterial
Z
‐score, called the brain arterial remodeling (BAR) score, was obtained by averaging the measured diameters within each individual. Individuals with a BAR score <−2 SDs were considered to have the smallest diameters, individuals with a BAR score >−2 and <2 SDs had average diameters, and individuals with a BAR score >2 SDs had the largest diameters. All vascular events were recorded prospectively after the brain magnetic resonance imaging. Spline curves and incidence rates were used to test our hypothesis. The association of the BAR score with death (
P
=0.001), vascular death (
P
=0.02), any vascular event (
P
=0.05), and myocardial infarction (
P
=0.10) was U‐shaped except for ischemic stroke (
P
=0.74). Consequently, incidence rates for death, vascular death, myocardial infarction, and any vascular event were higher in individuals with the largest diameters, whereas individuals with the smallest diameters had a higher incidence of death, vascular death, any vascular event, and ischemic stroke compared with individuals with average diameters.

Conclusions

The risk of death, vascular death, and any vascular event increased at both extremes of brain arterial diameters. The pathophysiology linking brain arterial remodeling to systemic vascular events needs further research.
Introduction
Authors: Farrelly Nicholas , Gabusi Giuseppe
Published: August 2015

Myanmar has recently sought a new path for its development, one that includes a constitutional framework, new executive and legislative institutions, greater civil and political freedoms, and the gradual liberalisation of the economy. To help understand the recent history of Myanmar’s transitions, this special issue of the European Journal of East Asian Studies offers six articles that analyse the changes from a variety of perspectives and different appropriate theoretical approaches. From democratisation to the army’s role, from new economic challenges to renewed peace efforts, from the complex interaction with China to historical tensions with India, this diverse set of articles helps clarify the extent to which Myanmar is enjoying a renaissance. The country has peculiar advantages but is also limited by geography, poverty and political history. To forge a new culture of consistent popular participation in democratic life will not be easy or cheap. However, with wise leadership, economic ambition and popular participation the country could become one of Asia’s great democratic and social successes.
Myanmar and India
Authors: Chacko Priya , Davis Alexander E.
Published: August 2015

Since the 1990s, India and Myanmar have sought rapprochement through geo-economic strategies and discourses. The results, however, have been largely underwhelming. This paper offers an explanation for why this has been the case. We argue that the two geo-economic strategies deployed—sub-regionalism and diaspora-driven trade and investment—require the emergence of particular types of deterritorialised and denationalised citizenship regimes which facilitate the mobilisation of provincial capital and diasporic capital. The development of such social forces in India and Myanmar have been stifled by the persistence of older ‘regimes of citizenship’ associated with geopolitical strategies based on territoriality and pre-existing social hierarchies. In Myanmar, the emphasis on ‘Bamar’ identity has led to a hierarchical citizenship regime which marginalises people of Indian origin. While deterritorialised forms of citizenship have emerged in India as the government seeks to harness the economic power of the Indian diaspora, the target of its policies has been the more socially privileged diaspora settled in the West. Moreover, India’s Northeast has long been constructed as being culturally distinct and prone to ‘disloyalty’ which hinders sub-regionalism. Hence, transforming the relationship requires not just greater political will or technocratic policy changes, but addressing the long-held national anxieties and social hierarchies which underpin India and Myanmar’s regimes of citizenship.
Typification of the Linnaean name Aphyllanthes monspeliensis (Asparagaceae)
Authors: FERRER-GALLEGO PEDRO PABLO
Published: August 2015

The monotypic genus Aphyllanthes Linnaeus (1753: 294) (Asparagaceae Juss.) is distributed through the Western Mediterranean region, from Northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Morocco) to Southeastern and Southwestern Europe (Italy, Balearic Islands, France, Portugal, Sardegna and Spain) (Webb 1980, Rico 2013).
Massonia bakeriana (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new pustulate species from the Northern Cape Province (South Africa)
Authors: Pinter Michael , Martínez Azorín Mario , Crespo Manuel B. , Wetschnig Wolfgang
Published: August 2015

As part of a taxonomic revision of the genus Massonia, a new species, M. bakeriana, is here described from the Northern Cape (South Africa). This species is at first sight similar to M. echinata and M. mimetica, but it differs in vegetative, floral, and molecular characters as well as by its ecology and distribution. A complete morphological description of the new species and data on biology, habitat, and distribution are presented.
Gynochthodes leonardii: a novel species of Morindeae-Rubiaceae from Palawan, Philippines
Authors: Chavez Jayson , Venturina Russell Evan L , Alejandro Grecebio Jonathan D
Published: August 2015

Gynochthodes leonardii, a new taxon from vegetations on ultramafic substrates in the northern and central regions of Palawan province, Philippines is described and illustrated. It is superficially similar to G. bartlingii but is readily recognized by the induments on its vegetative and reproductive structures, sulcate and lenticeled branches, scarious and deciduous stipules, 3–9 capitula in an inflorescence, and shorter corolla tubes.
The correct gender of Schinus (Anacardiaceae)
Authors: Zona Scott
Published: August 2015

Species of the genus Schinus Linnaeus (1753) (Anacardiaceae) are native to the Americas but are found in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world, where they are cultivated as ornamentals or crops (“pink peppercorns”) or they are invasive weeds.  Schinus molle L. (1753: 388) is a cultivated ornamental tree in Australia, California, Mexico, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean, and elsewhere (US Forest Service 2015). In Hawaii, Florida, South Africa, Mascarene Islands, and Australia, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (1820: 399) is an aggressively invasive pest plant, costing governments millions of dollars in damages and control (Ferriter 1997).
Weighted Analog Technique for Intensity and Intensity Spread Predictions of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones
Authors: Tsai Hsiao-Chung , Elsberry Russell L.
Published: August 2015

A situation-dependent intensity and intensity spread prediction technique for the Atlantic called the Weighted Analog Intensity Atlantic (WAIA) is developed using the same procedures as for a similar technique for the western North Pacific that is operational at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. These simple techniques are based on rankings of the 10 best historical track analogs to match the official track forecast and current intensity. A key step is the development of a bias correction to eliminate an overforecast bias. The second key step is a calibration of the original intensity spread among the 10 analogs to achieve a probability of detection of about 68% at all forecast intervals, which it is proposed would be an appropriate intensity spread for the National Hurricane Center (NHC) official intensity forecasts. The advantages of WAIA as an operational intensity forecast product for Atlantic tropical cyclones are described in terms of mean absolute errors, sample-mean biases, and geographic distributions of WAIA versus various guidance products available at NHC. Specific attention is given to the four guidance products that are included in the intensity consensus (ICON) technique that is the most skillful of all the products. Evidence is given that WAIA would be an independent, and more likely skillful at longer forecast intervals, technique to include in ICON. Consequently, WAIA would likely lead to improved NHC intensity forecasts at 4–5-day intervals.
Can We Stop Antibiotic Therapy When Signs and Symptoms Have Resolved in Diabetic Foot Infection Patients?
Authors: Chu Yuejie , Wang Chao , Zhang Jinghang , Wang Penghua , Xu Jun , Ding Min , Li Xiwen , Hou Xiaoli , Feng Shuhong , Li Xuemei
Published: August 2015

The study aimed to investigate whether we can stop antibiotic therapy when signs and symptoms have resolved in diabetic foot infection (DFI) patients with different grades of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and those without PAD, and to determine whether the severity of PAD and infection has an effect on antibiotic therapy duration. A prospective randomized controlled trial of DFI patients was carried out. Patients were randomized into 2 groups when signs and symptoms had resolved: continuing antibiotics group (CAG) and discontinuing antibiotics group (DAG). The recurrence and clinical outcomes were recorded. The recurrence rate of mild infection with mild/moderate PAD was similar in the 2 groups. Compared with CAG, the recurrence rate of mild infection with severe PAD was higher in DAG ( P = .030), also for moderate/severe infection with PAD (mild/moderate [ P = .032]; severe [ P = .008]). No difference was found in the 2 groups (either mild or moderate/severe) for those without PAD. The clinical outcomes of mild infection in patients were similar in the 2 groups. For moderate/severe infection, the healing rate was higher (73.3% vs 48.3%), and the rate of minor/major amputation and death was lower (23.8% vs 49.4%; 6.9% vs 20.7%; 2.0% vs 13.8%) in the CAG. When the clinical signs and symptoms of infection have resolved, it might be appropriate to stop antibiotics for DFI patients without PAD, and also for patients with mild infection with mild/moderate PAD. For patients with mild infection with severe PAD and moderate/severe infection with PAD, we should perhaps continue antibiotic treatment. Continuing antibiotic therapy could improve clinical outcomes for patients with moderate/severe infection.
Cortical Stimulation Concurrent With Skilled Motor Training Improves Forelimb Function and Enhances Motor Cortical Reorganization Following Controlled Cortical Impact
Authors: Jefferson Stephanie C. , Clayton Elyse Renee , Donlan Nicole A. , Kozlowski Dorothy Annette , Jones Theresa A. , Adkins DeAnna Lynn
Published: August 2015

Background. Electrical and magnetic brain stimulation can improve motor function following stroke in humans, rats, and nonhuman primates, especially when paired with rehabilitative training (RT). Previously, we found in rodent stroke models that epidural electrical cortical stimulation (CS) of the ipsilesional motor cortex (MC) combined with motor RT enhances motor function and motor cortical plasticity. It was unknown whether CS following experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI) would have similar effects. Objective. To test the effects of CS combined with motor training after moderate/severe TBI on behavioral outcome and motor cortical organization. Methods. Following unilateral controlled cortical impact (CCI) over the caudal forelimb area of the MC in adult male rats, forelimb reach training was administered daily for 9 weeks concurrently with subthreshold, 100-Hz monopolar CS or no-stimulation control procedures. The rate and magnitude of behavioral improvements and changes in forelimb movement representations in the injured MC as revealed by intracortical microstimulation were measured. Results. CCI resulted in severe motor impairments persisting throughout the 9 weeks of training in both groups, but CS-treated animals had significantly greater behavioral improvements. CS also increased wrist motor cortical representation, one of the main movements used in the training task, when compared with RT alone. However, the overall recovery level was modest, leaving animals still extremely impaired. Conclusions. These data suggest that CS may be useful for improving rehabilitation efficacy after TBI but also raise the possibility that the CS parameters that are highly effective following stroke are suboptimal after moderate/severe TBI.
Sporadic colorectal cancer: Studying ways to an end
Authors: Rosa Isadora , Fidalgo Paulo , Filipe Bruno , Albuquerque Cristina , Fonseca Ricardo , Chaves Paula , Pereira António D
Published: August 2015

Introduction

Although colorectal cancer (CRC) has often been regarded as a single entity, different pathways may lead to macroscopically similar cancers. These pathways may evolve into a patchy colonic field defect that we aimed to study in consecutive CRC patients.

Methods

In a single‐center, observational, prospective study, consecutive CRC patients were included if surgery and a perioperative colonoscopy were planned. Personal and familial history data were collected. Tumors were studied for microsatellite instability (MSI) status, DNA repair protein expression (DRPE) and presence of BRAF and/or APC mutations. Macroscopically normal mucosa samples were tested for APC mutations. Presence and location of synchronous and metachronous adenomas and patient follow‐up were analyzed. The association of two categorical variables was tested through the Fisher’s exact test (SPSS 19).

Results

Twenty‐four patients (12 male, mean age 69 years) were studied. High‐grade MSI (MSI‐H) was found in eight tumors—these were significantly more common in the right colon (p  = 0.047) and more likely to have an altered DRPE (p  = 0.007). BRAF mutation was found in two of six tested MSI‐H tumors. APC gene mutations were found in nine of 16 non‐MSI‐H tumors and absent in normal mucosa samples. There was a nonsignificant co‐localization of CRC and synchronous adenomas and a significant co‐localization (p  = 0.05) of synchronous and metachronous adenomas.

Discussion

Sporadic CRCs evolve through distinct pathways, evidenced only by pathological and molecular analysis, but clinically relevant both for patients and their families. In non‐MSI‐H tumors, the expected APC gene mutations were not detected by the most commonly used techniques in a high number of cases. More studies are needed to fully characterize these tumors and to search for common early events in normal mucosa patches, which might explain the indirect evidence found here for a field defect in the colon.
Age, atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes reduce human mesenchymal stromal cell-mediated T-cell suppression
Authors: Kizilay Mancini Ozge , Shum-Tim Dominique , Stochaj Ursula , Correa José A. , Colmegna Inés
Published: August 2015

To this end human MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue and the MSC:CD4+ T-cell suppression was assessed in a co-culture system. In summary, this study demonstrates that advanced age, atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus reduce the functional potency of MSCs. Optimizing the criteria for the selection of MSC donors could enhance the results of cell-based therapies.
How to fight long-term unemployment: lessons from Germany
Authors: Spermann Alexander
Published: August 2015

The number of long-term unemployed in Germany has stagnated at around one million for several years. Despite excellent labour market conditions, the long-term unemployment rate is well above the OECD average. Therefore, the “carrot and stick” principle of Hartz reforms is in clear need of further development. The author proposes an overall concept for preventing and reducing long-term unemployment and long-term basic income receipt. An important element is an activation strategy for the long-term unemployed and long-term basic income recipients that implies interim target setting and requires more and better trained case managers in the job centres.

Jel codes:J31; J38
Acceptance and commitment therapy as a web-based intervention
for depressive symptoms: Randomised controlled trial
Authors: Pots Wendy T. M. , Fledderus Martine , Meulenbeek Peter A. M. , ten Klooster Peter M. , Schreurs Karlein M. G. , Bohlmeijer Ernst T.
Published: August 2015

Background

Depression is a highly prevalent disorder, causing a large burden of
disease and substantial economic costs. Web-based self-help interventions
seem promising in promoting mental health.

Aims

To compare the efficacy of a guided web-based intervention based on
acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with an active control
(expressive writing) and a waiting-list control condition (Netherlands
Trial Register NTR1296).

Method

Adults with depressive symptoms from the general population were
randomised to ACT (n = 82), expressive writing
(n = 67) or waiting-list control (n
= 87). The main outcome was reduction in depressive symptoms assessed
with the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression scale.

Results

Significant reductions in depressive symptoms were found following the
ACT intervention, compared with the control group (Cohen's
d = 0.56) and the expressive writing intervention
(d = 0.36). The effects were sustained at 6-month and
12-month follow-up.

Conclusions

Acceptance and commitment therapy as a web-based public mental health
intervention for adults with depressive symptoms can be effective and
applicable.
“The English Nation at Bantam”: Corporate Process in the East India Company's First Factory
Authors: Barbour Richmond
Published: August 2015

Focusing on the London East India Company's (EIC) first trading center abroad, the factory in Bantam on Java, this essay explores corporate traumas and divisions of interest in this protoglobal organization that illuminate ongoing volatilities in global capitalism. The factory papers, which include the neglected “Journal of John Saris on the Clove,” reward attention today for the light they shed on fundamental challenges of transnational trafficking. The essay calls for a return to the manuscripts of the EIC archive, whose printed materials were edited, in the main, by proto- and late-imperial scholars. A catastrophe-tolerant joint-stock body that was granted legal personhood by royal charter in 1600, the EIC tested a defining predicament of incorporation: that the corporate body outlives its personnel. Bantam's lethality to company employees disclosed the parasitic tendencies of this process. Mariners and factors on fixed salaries risked and were far likelier to lose their lives than shareholders their high-yielding speculations. The loss during the first voyage of Jacobean England's greatest merchant ship and crew in Bantam shocked England's maritime and mercantile communities and ignited rancorous debate over the human, material, and environmental costs of the East Indian trade. Without superfluxes of maritime and mercantile labor and vigorous management of public relations in England, the cash-poor EIC probably would not have survived its first generation.
Alexander Hamilton, the Mughal War, and the Critique of the East India Company
Authors: Markley Robert
Published: August 2015

Arguably the most influential account of South and Southeast Asia published in Britain before the mid-eighteenth century, Alexander Hamilton's New Account of the East-Indies (1727) has been ignored or marginalized by recent historians of the British East India Company. Hamilton spent thirty-five years in the East Indies as an independent trader, spoke several Asian languages, and offers the only eyewitness account in many cases of critical episodes of British interactions with merchants, officials, and rulers from Arabia to China. This essay examines Hamilton's account of the end of the Mughal War (1686–89) in which the East India Company suffered a humiliating defeat—one that is marginalized or unconvincingly explained away in the EIC's official correspondence. In contrasting Hamilton's narrative to the special pleading of Josiah Child, the director of the company during the war, and John Ovington, a company employee, this essay explores the transcultural complexities of trade and civility in South Asia at the end of the seventeenth century.
Foreign Doctors at the Imam's Court: Medical Diplomacy in Yemen's Coffee Era
Authors: Um Nancy
Published: August 2015

This article brings together the trade records of the Dutch and English East India Companies' merchants, chronicles in Arabic, and a published French travel narrative to shed light on an overlooked phenomenon, that of early modern medical diplomacy to Qasimi Yemen during the early eighteenth century. In this era foreign merchants flocked to the southern Arabian Peninsula, many with the interest of procuring coffee, a commodity that was then still difficult to purchase elsewhere. Along with them came doctors and ships' surgeons, who were called on to treat Yemen's imam al-Mahdi Muhammad (d. 1718), who suffered from many ailments in the last years of his rule. This study illustrates that these episodes of early modern cross-cultural health care were not peripheral or secondary to the large-scale political interests of overseas envoys or the immediate commercial involvements of foreign merchants but rather tightly intertwined with them. In addition to documenting heretofore unremarked upon events, the larger objective of this study is to investigate the role foreigners played as both agents of exchange and recorders of events in Yemen's early modern history.
Old-Age Style: The Case of Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)
Authors: Calico Joy H.
Published: August 2015

This article argues that misreadings of Theodor W. Adorno undermine some musicological research on late musical style, particularly with regard to the works of Arnold Schoenberg. It considers alternatives in the forms of exile (Edward Said), old-age style (Stuart Taberner), and disabled style (Joseph Straus) for Schoenberg's very late oeuvre, a body of work characterized by diatonically inflected dodecaphony and overt communication with the audience.
Aging, Late Style, and Untimeliness in Recent Literary Fiction by Martin Walser
Authors: Taberner Stuart
Published: August 2015

Many of Martin Walser's early works describe the triumph of conformity over subjectivity. From the early 1990s, however, Walser's characters begin to develop a stubborn insistence on self-expression, and this externalizes their author's “late style.” In a series of extraordinarily diverse novels and collections of aphorisms, Walser elaborates what Edward W. Said calls in On Late Style (2006) an aesthetic of “intransigence, difficulty and unresolved contradiction,” which subordinates history, contemporary realities, and political correctness to the awkwardly otherworldly sensibilities of a set of protagonists who no longer care whether they are in step with their time. In The Moment of Love (Der Augenblick der Liebe, 2004), Final Flowering (Angstblüte, 2006), and A Man in Love (Ein liebender Mann, 2008), in particular, Walser presents characters who are politically incorrect, provocatively immoral, and even deliberately deviant. In this way Walser declares his own untimeliness and his own “late” rejection of what he sees as the normative authority of contemporary social and political discourse.
A hypermorphic epithelial beta-catenin mutation facilitates intestinal tumorigenesis in mice in response to compounding WNT-pathway mutations
Authors: Buchert Michael , Rohde Franziska , Eissmann Moritz , Tebbutt Niall , Williams Ben , Tan Chin Wee , Owen Alexander , Hirokawa Yumiko , Gnann Alexandra , Orend Gertraud , Orner Gayle , Dashwood Rod H. , Heath Joan K. , Ernst Matthias , Janssen Klaus-Peter
Published: August 2015

Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway occurs in a vast majority of colorectal cancers. However, the outcome of the disease strongly varies from patient to patient, even within the same tumor stage. This heterogeneity is governed in large parts by the genetic makeup of individual tumors and the combination of oncogenic mutations.

To express throughout the intestinal epithelium a degradation resistant β-catenin (Ctnnb1) which lacks the first 131 amino acids, we inserted an epitope-tagged ΔN(1-131)-β-catenin encoding cDNA as a knockin transgene into the endogenous gpA33 gene locus in mice. The resulting gpA33ΔN-Bcat mice show increased constitutive Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation that shifts the cell fate towards the Paneth cell lineage in pre-malignant intestinal epithelium. Furthermore, 19% of all heterozygous and 37% of all homozygous gpA33ΔN-Bcat mice spontaneously develop aberrant crypt foci and adenomatous polyps, at frequencies and latencies akin to that observed in sporadic colon cancer in humans. Consistent with this, the Wnt target genes, MMP7 and Tenascin-C, which are expressed highest in benign human adenomas and early tumor stages, were up-regulated in pre-malignant tissue of gpA33ΔN-Bcat mice, but not those Wnt target genes associated with excessive proliferation (i.e Cdnn1, c-myc). We also detected diminished expression of membrane-associated α-catenin and increased intestinal permeability in gpA33ΔN-Bcat mice under challenged conditions, providing a potential explanation for the observed mild chronic intestinal inflammation and increased susceptibility to azoxymethane and mutant Apc-dependent tumorigenesis. Collectively, our data indicate that epithelial expression of ΔN(1-131)-β-catenin in the intestine creates an inflammatory microenvironment and cooperates with other mutations in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway to facilitate and promote tumorigenesis.
OTX2 exhibits cell context-dependent effects on cellular and molecular properties of human embryonic neural precursors and medulloblastoma cells
Authors: Kaur Ravinder , Aiken Christopher , Morrison Ludivine Coudière , Rao Radhika , Del Bigio Marc R. , Rampalli Shravanti , Werbowetski-Ogilvie Tamra
Published: August 2015

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant primary pediatric brain tumor and is currently divided into 4 subtypes based on different genomic alterations, gene expression profiles and response to treatment: WNT, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), Group 3 and Group 4. This extensive heterogeneity has made it difficult to assess the functional relevance of genes to malignant progression. For example, expression of the transcription factor, Orthodenticle homeobox2 (OTX2) is frequently dysregulated in multiple MB variants; however, its role may be subtype-specific. We recently demonstrated that neural precursors derived from transformed human embryonic stem cells (trans-hENs), but not their normal counterparts (hENs), resemble Groups 3 and 4 MB in vitro and in vivo. Here, we tested the utility of this model system as a means of dissecting the role of OTX2 in MB using gain and loss of function studies in hENs and trans-hENs respectively. Parallel experiments with MB cells revealed that OTX2 exerts tumor suppressive effects on hEN and SHH MB cells by regulating growth, self-renewal and migration in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. This was accompanied by decreased expression of pluripotent genes such as SOX2 and was supported by overexpression of SOX2 in OTX2+ SHH MB and hENs that resulted in significant rescue of self-renewal and cell migration. In contrast, OTX2 is oncogenic and promotes self-renewal of trans-hENs and Groups 3 and 4 MB independent of pluripotent gene expression. Our results demonstrate a novel role for OTX2 in self-renewal and migration of hENs and MB cells and reveal a cell context-dependent link between OTX2 and pluripotent genes. Our study underscores the value of hESC derivatives as alternatives to cell lines and heterogeneous patient samples for investigating the contribution of key developmental regulators to MB progression.
An evolutionary perspective on signaling peptides: toxic peptides are selected to provide information regarding the processing of the propeptide, which represents the phenotypic state of the signaling cell
Authors: Harris Keith Daniel , Barzilai Ari , Zahavi Amotz
Published: August 2015

Structurally similar short peptides often serve as signals in diverse signaling systems. Similar peptides affect diverse physiological pathways in different species or even within the same organism. Assuming that signals provide information, and that this information is tested by the structure of the signal, it is curious that highly similar signaling peptides appear to provide information relevant to very different metabolic processes. Here we suggest a solution to this problem: the synthesis of the propeptide, and its post-translational modifications that are required for its cleavage and the production of the mature peptide, provide information on the phenotypic state of the signaling cell. The mature peptide, due to its chemical properties which render it harmful, serves as a stimulant that forces cells to respond to this information. To support this suggestion, we present cases of signaling peptides in which the sequence and structure of the mature peptide is similar yet provides diverse information. The sequence of the propeptide and its post-translational modifications, which represent the phenotypic state of the signaling cell, determine the quantity and specificity of the information. We also speculate on the evolution of signaling peptides. We hope that this perspective will encourage researchers to reevaluate pathological conditions in which the synthesis of the mature peptide is abnormal.
Understanding how older adults living in deprived neighbourhoods address ageing issues
Authors: Bielderman Annemiek , Schout Gert , Greef Mathieu de , Schans Cees van der
Published: August 2015

Older adults living in deprived areas are at risk of developing frailty and becoming care dependent. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how community-dwelling, older adults living in deprived neighbourhoods address ageing issues. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were community-dwelling (independently living), aged 65 years and older, not dependent on care, and living in a socioeconomically deprived urban neighbourhood in the northern part of the Netherlands. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method. Our findings emphasise the resourcefulness of these older adults when coping with apparent adversities. Simultaneously, the findings convey deficits concerning knowledge about ageing and health. Despite this, it appeared that these older adults possess an optimistic view of life, accept their situation, and are content with the capacities they still possess. Perspectives on how older adults address ageing issues are important for developing leads for nursing practice. Nurses will be challenged to recognise the coping strategies of older adults, particularly considering their deficits in health knowledge. The results of this study may serve as a basis for community nurses to manage care for older adults in deprived neighbourhoods.
Assessing the skills of home care workers in helping older people take their prescribed medications
Authors: Smyth Elizabeth EJ
Published: August 2015

The Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland applied a modified version of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to assess the skills of home care workers in assisting older people taking prescribed medications. In Northern Ireland, home care workers are care workers employed by health and social care trusts or private agencies. The application of the model has developed the skills of this staff group, improved the relationship between the commissioner and provider, significantly reduced the time spent by community nurses in individual training and assessment, and enhanced the patient experience for those taking medication. Overall, the application of this model has provided assurances to the Trust board, the executive director of nursing, and operational directors that home care workers are competent in assisting older people in this high-risk activity.
Understanding the Code: the duty of candour
Authors: Griffith Richard
Published: August 2015

A key recommendation of the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry ( Francis, 2013 ) was to establish a culture of openness in all health services through a duty of candour. A professional duty of candour is a key requirement of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's revised Code (2015). It requires all district nurses to be candid with patients about any errors in their care and treatment. District nurses working in England are also subject to a statutory duty of candour imposed on their employer by the Care Quality Commission. In this article, the author considers the organisational and professional duties of candour and their effect on a district nurse's practice.
Open to new ideas?
Authors: Cartwright Eva
Published: August 2015

Effective teaching assistants are those who are active learners themselves, who can take a step back to objectively judge their achievements and make improvements.
‘This is a cage for migrants’: the rise of racism and the challenges for social work in the Greek context
Authors: Teloni Dimitra-Dora , Mantanika Regina
Published: August 2015

Greece has been an emblematic case for the European Union’s implementation of anti-immigration securitisation and externalisation. These policies have been translated into non-tolerance and intimidation towards certain populations, which, in turn, has resulted in more and more violent forms of the rejection of migration, which has become mainstream. Parallel to this are racist attacks, pogroms and acts of violence committed by neo-Nazi groups. On the other hand, a growing anti-racist movement has emerged in the form of human rights defence and solidarity networks and anti-racist resistance. This article aims to show the ways in which the rise of situations of rejection and racism have come to challenge the work of social workers and to understand how social work can be rearticulated with regard to its core values of social change and social justice, the antithesis of the profession’s traditional ‘neutrality’ and ‘culture of silence’.
Lesestrategien für digitale Medien
Authors: Wanning Berbeli
Published: August 2015

Der Beitrag beschreibt die Struktur von Hypertexten und erklärt die zusätzlichen Kompetenzen, die das nicht-lineare bzw. performative Lesen im Vergleich zum herkömmlichen Lesen erfordert. Daraus ergeben sich Einblicke in die spezifischen Lesevorgänge der literarischen Form des Hypertextes (Hyperfiction). Hier kommt es auf den dynamischen Zusammenhang von gelesenem Text, Lesestrategien und lesender Person an. Ein Ausblick sowie eine kritische Einschätzung schließen den Beitrag ab.
Pupylation-dependent and -independent proteasomal degradation in mycobacteria
Authors: Imkamp Frank , Ziemski Michal , Weber-Ban Eilika
Published: August 2015

Bacteria make use of compartmentalizing protease complexes, similar in architecture but not homologous to the eukaryotic proteasome, for the selective and processive removal of proteins. Mycobacteria as members of the actinobacteria harbor proteasomes in addition to the canonical bacterial degradation complexes. Mycobacterial proteasomal degradation, although not essential during normal growth, becomes critical for survival under particular environmental conditions, like, for example, during persistence of the pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis in host macrophages or of environmental mycobacteria under starvation. Recruitment of protein substrates for proteasomal degradation is usually mediated by pupylation, the post-translational modification of lysine side chains with the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein Pup. This substrate recruitment strategy is functionally reminiscent of ubiquitination in eukaryotes, but is the result of convergent evolution, relying on chemically and structurally distinct enzymes. Pupylated substrates are recognized by the ATP-dependent proteasomal regulator Mpa that associates with the 20S proteasome core. A pupylation-independent proteasome degradation pathway has recently been discovered that is mediated by the ATP-independent bacterial proteasome activator Bpa (also referred to as PafE), and that appears to play a role under stress conditions. In this review, mechanistic principles of bacterial proteasomal degradation are discussed and compared with functionally related elements of the eukaryotic ubiquitin-proteasome system. Special attention is given to an understanding on the molecular level based on structural and biochemical analysis. Wherever available, discussion of in vivo studies is included to highlight the biological significance of this unusual bacterial degradation pathway.
Effect of Various Concentration of β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes Containing trans-Cinnamaldehyde by Molecular Self-Assembly
Authors: Jo Yeon-Ji , Cho Han-Seul , Choi Mi-Jung , Min Sang-Gi , Chun Ji-Yeon
Published: August 2015

β-Cyclodextrin inclusion complexes with trans-Cinnamaldehyde (β-CD–CIN) were manufactured with various self-assembly conditions. The encapsulation efficiency of the β-CD–CIN was >90%. Interestingly, the β-CD–CIN had high retention of CIN (>80%) during assembling time at higher β-CD concentration. CIN was released fastest from lowest β-CD–CIN and molar ratio of CIN. In the microscopic observations, higher-concentration β-CD complexes were larger and more easily aggregated. Many individual particles became aggregated or combined with each other to form a single particle. The concentrations of the wall material and core material as well as the self-assembly or storage time affected characteristics of the inclusion complexes.
Chebyshev polynomials and best approximation of some classes of functions
Authors: Eslahchi Mohammad R. , Dehghan Mehdi , Amani Sanaz
Published: August 2015

In this research using properties of Chebyshev polynomialswe explicitly determine the best uniform polynomial approximation of some classes of functions. In this way we present some new theorems about the best approximation of these classes.
Numerical quadrature for computing of singular integrals
Authors: Stašek Petr , Kofron Josef , Najzar Karel
Published: August 2015

The paper is concerned with the superconvergence of numerical evaluation of Hadamard finite-part integral. Following the works [6-9], we studied the second-order and the third-order quadrature formulae of Newton-Cotes type and introduced new rules. The rule for the second-order gives the same convergence rate as the rule [6] but in more general cases, the rule for the third-order gives better results than the rule in [9] In this work, first we mention the main results on the superconvergence of the Newton-Cotes rules, we mention trapezoidal and Simpson’s rules and then we introduce a rule based on the cubic approximation. In the second part we describe important error estimates and in the last section we demonstrate theoretical results by numerical examples.
Simulation of tsunami waves generated by submarine landslides in the Black Sea
Authors: Khakimzyanov Gayaz S. , Gusev Oleg I. , Beizel Sofya A. , Chubarov Leonid B. , Shokina Nina Yu.
Published: August 2015

Numerical technique for studying surface waves appearing under the motion of a submarine landslide is discussed. This technique is based on the application of the model of a quasi-deformable landslide and two shallow water models, namely, the classic (dispersion free) one and the completely nonlinear dispersive model of the second hydrodynamic approximation. Numerical simulation of surface waves generated by a large model landslide on the continental slope of the Black Sea near the Russian coast is performed. It is shown that the dispersion has a significant impact on the picture of propagation of tsunami waves on sufficiently long paths.
Prediction of Plant Height inArabidopsis thalianaUsing DNA Methylation Data
Authors: Hu Yaodong , Morota Gota , Rosa Guilherme J M , Gianola Daniel
Published: August 2015

Prediction of complex traits using molecular genetic information is an active area in quantitative genetics research. In the postgenomic era, many types of -omic (e.g., transcriptomic, epigenomic, methylomic, and proteomic) data are becoming increasingly available. Therefore, evaluating the utility of this massive amount of information in prediction of complex traits is of interest. DNA methylation, the covalent change of a DNA molecule without affecting its underlying sequence, is one quantifiable form of epigenetic modification. We used methylation information for predicting plant height (PH) in Arabidopsis thaliana nonparametrically, using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) regression. Also, we used different criteria for selecting smaller sets of probes, to assess how representative probes could be used in prediction instead of using all probes, which may lessen computational burden and lower experimental costs. Methylation information was used for describing epigenetic similarities between individuals through a kernel matrix, and the performance of predicting PH using this similarity matrix was reasonably good. The predictive correlation reached 0.53 and the same value was attained when only preselected probes were used for prediction. We created a kernel that mimics the genomic relationship matrix in genomic best linear unbiased prediction (G-BLUP) and estimated that, in this particular data set, epigenetic variation accounted for 65% of the phenotypic variance. Our results suggest that methylation information can be useful in whole-genome prediction of complex traits and that it may help to enhance understanding of complex traits when epigenetics is under examination.