bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Connecting tumor genomics with therapeutics through multi-dimensional network modules
Authors: Webber James T. , Ranall Max V. , Kaushik Swati , Bandyopadhyay Sourav
Published: October 2016

Recent efforts have catalogued genomic, transcriptomic, epigenetic and proteomic changes in tumors, but connecting these data with effective therapeutics remains a challenge. In contrast, cancer cell lines can model therapeutic responses but only partially reflect tumor biology. Bridging this gap requires new methods of data integration to identify a common set of pathways and molecular events. Using MAGNETIC, a new method to integrate molecular profiling data using functional networks, we identify 219 gene modules in TCGA breast cancers that capture recurrent alterations, reveal new roles for H3K27 tri-methylation and accurately quantitate various cell types within the tumor microenvironment. We show that a significant portion of gene expression and methylation in tumors is poorly reproduced in cell lines due to differences in biology and microenvironment and MAGNETIC identifies therapeutic biomarkers that are robust to these differences. This work addresses a fundamental challenge in pharmacogenomics that can only be overcome by the joint analysis of patient and cell line data.
UNC-5 (UNC5) mediates neuronal outgrowth patterning inCaenorhabditis elegansby regulating UNC-40 (DCC) asymmetric localization
Authors: Limerick Gerard , Tang Xia , Lee Won Suk , Mohamed Ahmed , Al-Aamiri Aseel , Wadsworth William G.
Published: October 2016

Neurons extend processes that vary in number, length, and direction of outgrowth. Extracellular cues help determine outgrowth patterns. InCaenorhabditis elegans,neurons respond to the extracellular UNC-6 (netrin) cue via UNC-40 (DCC) and UNC-5 (UNC5) receptors. Previously we presented evidence that UNC-40 asymmetric localization at the plasma membrane is self-organizing and that UNC-40 can localize and mediate outgrowth at randomly selected sites. We also postulate that the process is statistically dependent,i.e.if the probability of outgrowth at one site changes then the probability at another site(s) must also change. Over time, the direction of outgrowth activity fluctuates across the membrane. A probability distribution describes the likelihood of outgrowth in each direction. Random walk modeling predicts that the degree to which the direction of outgrowth fluctuations affects the outward displacement of the membrane. We predict that extracellular cues create patterns of outgrowth by differentially affecting the degree to which the direction of outgrowth activity fluctuates along the membrane. This produces different rates of outgrowth along the surface and creates patterns of extension. Here we present evidence that UNC-5 (UNC5) receptor activity regulates UNC-40 asymmetric localization and the patterning of outgrowth. We show thatunc-5mutations alter UNC-40 asymmetric localization and the patterns of outgrowth that neurons develop. Genetic interactions suggest UNC-5 acts through the UNC-53 (NAV2) cytoplasmic protein to regulate UNC-40 asymmetric localization in response to both the UNC-6 and EGL-20 (wnt) extracellular cues.
When the informal is the formal, the implicit is the explicit
Authors: Joyner Armstrong Cosette M. , Hustvedt Gwendolyn , LeHew Melody L.A. , Anderson Barbara G. , Hiller Connell Kim Y.
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to provide an account of the student experience at a higher education institution known for its holistic approach to sustainability education.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study was conducted at Green Mountain College (GMC), an environmental liberal arts school in Poultney, VT; 55 students participated in focus group interviews.

Findings

Students articulate that the most valuable gains that manifest at GMA are a variety of new capacities for science literacy, anthropological appreciation, the triple bottom line, a sense of place, systems, empathic decision-making and reasoning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and practical techniques supporting self-sufficiency. Prompting these emergent outcomes was a philosophy of practice at Green Mountain College, which included place-based techniques, empowerment, personalization, community ecology and charting polarity. Many students described their seeming metamorphosis as uncomfortable, and some felt isolated from the outside paradigm.

Research limitations/implications

A key implication of the study’s findings is that in a holistic setting, the line between the informal and formal curriculum are significantly blurred and what is implicitly communicated through university practices and values is what most transforms the students’ explicit understanding of sustainability.

Practical implications

Sustainability education is far more than technique, far more than what a lone instructor can manifest in students. While the persistence of individual faculty members is important, this evidence suggests that the fertile conditions for transformation may be more fruitful when faculty members work together with a collective sense of responsibility and a well-articulated paradigm.

Originality/value

The advantage of the present study is that it examines the perceived impact of a focus on sustainability across curricula and school by considering the educational environment as a whole. The experiences of students from many different majors who are involved in a holistic, sustainability-infused curriculum at a university with a history of successful post-graduation job placements in the sustainability field are explored here.
Combining forces
Authors: Munro Alison , Marcus Jean , Dolling Katie , Robinson John , Wahl Jennifer
Published: October 2016

Purpose

This paper describes the sustainability partnership between the City of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia (UBC) and, in particular, the co-curricular Greenest City Scholars graduate student internship program, which has been developed by the two organizations. Through the program, UBC graduate students work on projects at the City that help to advance sustainability targets. The paper aims to explore the successes, challenges and lessons learned from the program.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study uses literature and document review, observations, program participant evaluation surveys and project impact survey feedback.

Findings

The Greenest City Scholars program model has contributed to the sustainability goals at UBC and the City of Vancouver and has supported the partnership between the two organizations. The program has grown over its five-year history and is considered to be a central part of the partnership. Breadth of student participants from across the university and high participation from City departments have been achieved. The model is now being adapted to be delivered within other partnerships.

Practical implications

The experiences presented in this case study can help other higher education institutions understand how a co-curricular graduate student work experience program could help to bolster their own sustainability partnerships.

Originality/value

This paper makes a contribution by providing insight into the use of a graduate student program to advance the goals of a university–community sustainability partnership.
Campus prosociality as a sustainability indicator
Authors: Waring Timothy M. , Sullivan Abigail V. , Stapp Jared R.
Published: October 2016

Purpose

Prosociality may in part determine sustainability behavior. Prior research indicates that pro-environmental behavior correlates with prosocial attitudes, and separately, that prosociality correlates with social support in homes and communities. Therefore, prosociality may constitute a keystone variable linking human well-being with pro-environmental behavior. The purpose of the paper is to test this conjecture.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from a multi-year student survey at the University of Maine on environmental behavior, prosociality and experienced social support are used. A two-stage least-squares regression is applied to explore the relationships between these variables, and sub-scale analysis of the pro-environmental responses is performed. Additionally, spatial statistics for the student population across the state are computed.

Findings

The data corroborate previous findings and indicates that social support within a community may bolster the prosociality of its members, which in turn may increase pro-environmental behaviors and intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Cross-sectional data do not permit the imputation of causality. Self-reported measures of behavior may also be biased. However, student prosociality surveys may provide an effective and low-cost sustainability metric for large populations.

Social implications

The results of this study corroborate prior research to suggest that pro-environmental and prosocial behaviors may both be enhanced by bolstering social support efforts at the community level.

Originality/value

It is suggested that prosociality could become a keystone sustainability indicator. The study’s results extend the understanding of the connections between prosociality, social support and pro-environmental behavior. The results of this study suggest that efforts to simultaneously improve the well-being and environmental status might focus on building prosociality and social support systems at the community level.
Start your own revolution: agency and action of the Riot Grrrl network
Authors: Kaltefleiter Caroline K.
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Riot Grrrl activist network in the USA and highlight historical anarchist actions of the Washington, DC chapter by examining the nexus of feminism and anarchism on a continuum of youth activism, and by paying attention to anti-war campaigns, food distribution programs, free clinics and girl culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper historically contextualizes Riot Grrrl within the Situationist International literature and cultural resistance as well as Donna Harraway’s work on cultural workers. Ethnographic work incorporates participant observation and semi-structured interviews as well as textual analysis of rare Riot Grrrl artifacts. Focus is given to the production of zines as mechanisms for communicating and deconstructing anarcho-grrrl culture.

Findings

This paper charts the influence of Riot Grrrl with particular attention to anti-war demonstrations to contemporary activist projects that illustrate tenants of anarchism such as non-hierarchical leadership, direction action, cooperation, mutual aid and volunteerism.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on the Riot Grrrl network in the USA, with a focus on the Washington, DC chapter. Subsequent Riot Grrrl chapters emerged around the world and future research might attend to regional impact these groups made in their communities.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper resides not only in its ethnographic approach to the essence of being a Riot Grrrl, but also includes the author’s own reflections of involvement in this girl-centered activist collective. Further, the author acknowledges Los Angeles performance artist Exene Cervanka, whose anti-war writing and activist work was influential to the Riot Grrrl movement. This essay examines actions to (re)organize, and to disrupt preferred meanings and interpretations of organization and protest so as to mobilize knowledge and to affect authentic social change. This paper commemorates the 25th anniversary of Riot Grrrl and the Mount Pleasant Riots.
Consensus and activism through collective exchanges: a focus on El Cambalache, Mexico
Authors: Araujo Erin
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how consensus decision making serves as a foundation for organizing an alternative economy while the agency of the economic project itself organizes participants because it serves to distribute resources as people need them and foment a community of sharing based on the concept that as individuals we are lacking but as a community we have enough. The paper asserts that as activists looking to foment change, alternative economic projects in themselves are actors in organizing community building and resistance to capitalism.

Design/methodology/approach

El Cambalache (The Swap in English), located in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, is an exchange-based money-less economy that trades unwanted items as well as knowledge, abilities and skills that one wants to share. The project receives anything; specifically used, broken and/or unwanted electronics as well as just about anything else that one might possess. In exchange people provide laptop maintenance classes, language exchange, land to be worked, rooms, gardening services, objects, stories, etc. The rules in this money-less non-capitalist economy organize participation through one exchange or many.

Findings

Consensus decision making is an effective method for engaging in non-hierarchical research projects.

Originality/value

This project contributes to research in heterodox economies by presenting an original project with a new suggestion for exchange value as an inclusive process of exchange among participants in the economy. It also provides evidence that consensus decision making can be a useful and productive method for research.
Czech civil sector face-to-face with freelance activism
Authors: Frič Pavol , Vávra Martin
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer following question: what is the relationship between member activism performed through civil society organizations (CSOs) and individualized freelance activism (in form of online activism, everyday making, political consumerism or checkbook activism) independent of organizational framework? Is it a relationship of mutual competition or support?

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis is carried out on data from 2009 questionnaire-based survey on volunteering, representative for adult Czech population. The data set allowed the authors to relate member activism with freelance activism and in case of member activism distinguish the type of organization and the level of its professionalization.

Findings

Dominant pattern the authors identified in data is mutual support of both types of volunteering documented by significant overlap of these forms of public engagement. The most striking is the overlap for active members of new advocacy NGOs and the weakest for traditional clubs. Regression analysis shows that on an individual level “mixed activism” (compared with “pure freelance activism”) is linked with higher education and higher confidence in civic organizations.

Originality/value

The civil practice of individualized freelance activism was described and analysed by various authors as an activity of specific types of activist, but there has not yet been any research giving reflection on such a large scale of freelance activism types as in the analysis. The authors set them together in contrast to the member (collective, organized) form of civic activism and also took into account the influence of professionalization and type of CSOs.
Impact of an international workplace learning placement on personal and professional development
Authors: Davies Kerryn , Curtin Michael , Robson Kristy
Published: October 2016

Background/aim

Workplace learning (WPL) placements are a mandatory part of occupational therapy courses. There is some evidence that suggests WPL placements in international settings are beneficial for students’ learning, and personal and professional development. The aim of this study was to explore the impact an international WPL placement in Vietnam had on the perceived personal and professional development of a group of Australian occupational therapy graduates.

Methods

Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore the perceptions of how participation in the Charles Sturt University School of Community Health's Vietnam placement influenced the personal and professional development of occupational therapy graduates. Individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with nine graduates who participated in the Vietnam placement when they were final year occupational therapy students. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim and individually analysed to identify key themes.

Findings

Two major themes emerged from the analysis: becoming resourceful, resilient and confident, and becoming respectful of difference. The participants indicated that participation in the Vietnam placement had a positive impact on their personal and professional development.

Conclusion

Participants indicated that the Vietnam placement enabled them to develop their resourcefulness, resilience, reasoning skills, cultural competence, confidence and independence, beyond what they felt would have achieved on a domestic placement. For these reason these participants found the placement a beneficial and worthwhile experience.
The effectiveness of the TEACCH approach in supporting the development of communication skills for learners with severe intellectual disabilities
Authors: Butler Cathal
Published: October 2016

This research focused on whether a TEACCH‐based approach could be effective in helping to develop the communication skills of older learners with Severe Intellectual Disabilities, to enhance their ability to communicate, to enhance their abilities to live independent lives, and to take part in discussions about their future. A TEACCH based approach was implemented in a class in a special school, attended by six students, aged over 16, all of whom had Severe Intellectual Disabilities. Using a pre‐post quasi‐experimental design P‐Scale data and IEP targets were used as measures of progress for communication skills. These were supplemented by regular researcher observations of the communication skills of the students. Staff were also asked to regularly measure the frequency and effectiveness of communication skills. Parents were also interviewed. P‐scale and IEP targets indicated some progress being made across the two years. The results from research and staff observation were more striking however, indicating the development of frequent and effective communication skills across the two years. Importantly, these communications were occurring spontaneously, rather than being the result of conversations initiated by staff. Parents had noticed changes in their children's communication, but remained concerned about their prospects for the future. This research showed that a TEACCH‐based method can be effective in developing communication skills in learners with Severe Intellectual Disabilities. The extent of the effectiveness remains unclear however, as the school‐based methods for assessing progress for these learners (mainly p‐scales) remain problematic.
Harry Potter and the paradox of the ‘expert’
Authors: Griffiths Dominic
Published: October 2016

In this article, Dominic Griffiths reflects upon the current cultural gap between those who locate themselves as working ‘on the inside’ of the world of ‘special educational needs’ and the ‘inclusion movement’ and those who might be describe as ‘mainstream classroom teachers’. Griffiths warns of the dangers of the dangers of ‘enculturation’ of the ‘insiders’ which can lead to communal visions of mainstream teachers as ‘barriers to inclusion’. Equally, from ‘outsider’ perspectives, the world of special and inclusive education may be perceived as ‘mysterious’, hidden in a fog of arcane acronyms and populated by specialist ‘experts’. The author calls for a conscious demystification of this world and an active reaching out to and nurturing of mainstream colleagues without whom, he argues, the inclusion project cannot succeed.
Persistent Retinal Iron in Abusive Head Trauma
Authors: Bais Babette , Karst Wouter A. , Kubat Bela , Verdijk Robert M.
Published: October 2016

Retinal hemosiderin deposition is a histologic indicator of sustained hemorrhage but cannot be used to precisely estimate the elapsed time since an episode of trauma. A 5‐month‐old male infant was admitted to hospital after acute deterioration. Examination revealed encephalopathy, subdural hematomas, and retinal hemorrhages consistent with abusive head trauma (AHT). At the age of 3, he was readmitted to hospital with spontaneous osteopenic fracture of the right femur. The patient deteriorated and died after unsuccessful resuscitation. Ophthalmopathological investigation showed atrophy of the retina and optic nerve and hemosiderin deposition in both eyes. Retinal hemosiderin deposition is currently generally assumed to disappear within 6–8 weeks after the occurrence of hemorrhage in AHT. This case report describes an infant with bilateral retinal hemosiderin depositions due to hemorrhages sustained from AHT occurring 32 months prior to death. Implications of this finding for the interpretation of retinal hemosiderin depositions in AHT are discussed.
Expressed microRNA associated with high rate of egg production in chicken ovarian follicles
Authors: Wu N. , Gaur U. , Zhu Q. , Chen B. , Xu Z. , Zhao X. , Yang M. , Li D.
Published: October 2016

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a highly conserved class of small noncoding RNA about 19–24 nucleotides in length that function in a specific manner to post‐transcriptionally regulate gene expression in organisms. Tissue miRNA expression studies have discovered a myriad of functions for miRNAs in various aspects, but a role for miRNAs in chicken ovarian tissue at 300 days of age has not hitherto been reported. In this study, we performed the first miRNA analysis of ovarian tissues in chickens with low and high rates of egg production using high‐throughput sequencing. By comparing low rate of egg production chickens with high rate of egg production chickens, 17 significantly differentially expressed miRNAs were found (P < 0.05), including 11 known and six novel miRNAs. We found that all 11 known miRNAs were involved mainly in pathways of reproduction regulation, such as steroid hormone biosynthesis and dopaminergic synapse. Additionally, expression profiling of six randomly selected differentially regulated miRNAs were validated by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR). Some miRNAs, such as gga‐miR‐34b, gga‐miR‐34c and gga‐miR‐216b, were reported to regulate processes such as proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and metastasis and were expressed differentially in ovaries of chickens with high rates of egg production, suggesting that these miRNAs have an important role in ovary development and reproductive management of chicken. Furthermore, we uncovered that a significantly up‐regulated miRNA—gga‐miR‐200a‐3p—is ubiquitous in reproduction‐regulation‐related pathways. This miRNA may play a special central role in the reproductive management of chicken, and needs to be further studied for confirmation.
Nature, Economy, and Equity: Sacred Water, Profane Markets
Authors: Gaffney Mason
Published: October 2016

Numerous conflicts over natural resources can be overcome by restoring reciprocity between public and private sectors of the economy. Chapter 1 reviews two competing forms of environmentalism: one that accommodates business interests by giving public resources to them, and one that sacralizes the bond between society and nature by protecting both environmental quality and social equity. Chapter 2 discusses problems around the world that can be traced to mismanagement of natural resources, including land grabs and poverty. It also reveals a natural confluence between environmental, economic, and social concerns. Chapter 3 shows problems created by California's water tenure laws. California's 19th century equitable solution (the Wright Act) is examined, along with inequities in legal regimes of India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the Philippines. Chapter 4 is a case study of how water laws have affected one river in California's Central Valley by preventing efficient water use. Chapter 5 shows why “water markets,” the standard panacea offered by most economists, have failed to improve either the efficiency or equity of water allocations in California and why such schemes are likely to fail for other natural resources. The missing element in such plans is a method of creating reciprocity by compensating the public, as the original owners of all natural resources. Chapter 6 concludes with four principles derived from the foregoing analysis.
From Contention to Co‐governance: The Case of the Right to Inhabit Movement in Rome (2000–2013)
Authors: Sehtman Alejandro
Published: October 2016

Based on interviews with activists and local government officials and on secondary data, this paper analyzes the development and effects of the Roman Right to Inhabit Movement (RIM) from its origins till 2014. The first section describes the origins and characteristics of the new housing question in Rome. The second presents a brief genealogy of the RIM, paying special attention to how it has framed the housing question. The third describes the activities of the RIM by focusing on its interplay with the city politics and administration and the resulting changes in the housing policy of the city of Rome. The fourth section analyzes the modes of state regulation and of political articulation of the housing question that these transformations have brought about. The final section argues that these emerging arrangements are a significant example of how new forms of social protection are being created by urban movements after the neoliberal erosion of the welfare mechanisms.
Alternative Food Economies and Transformative Politics in Times of Crisis: Insights from the Basque Country and Greece
Authors: Calvário Rita , Kallis Giorgos
Published: October 2016

Why and how do alternative economies emerge, how do they develop and what is their contribution, if any, to transformative politics? Alternative economies proliferate in the countries worse hit by economic crisis and austerity, such as Spain or Greece. Yet the existing literature is stuck in a counter‐productive division between celebration and critique. We move beyond this division applying philosopher Daniel Bensaïd's understanding of politics to two alternative food economies, one in the Basque Country and one in Greece. We illuminate the activist strategies and specific conjunctures within which the two alternatives emerged and explain how they develop in the face of political‐economic barriers. Alternative economies, we conclude, can be transformational when they are inserted in activist strategies directed to extend conflict, social struggles and challenge the capital–state nexus.
OWNERSHIP, CONTROL, AGENCY AND RESIDUAL CLAIMS IN HEALTHCARE: INSIGHTS ON COOPERATIVES AND NON‐PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: CORDERY Carolyn , HOWELL Bronwyn
Published: October 2016

Many issues surrounding healthcare entities’ performance can be traced to their governance and ownership. Increasingly, public services are being provided by non‐profit organizations and/or cooperatives, particularly in the healthcare sector. This is not unproblematic. We draw on the conceptual separation of ownership and control, and the notion of firm ownership to derive a taxonomy of dimensions along which a contractual‐ and property rights theory of the firm can be structured, in order to determine the nature of firms’ differences. We utilize the taxonomy to illustrate important distinctions between non‐profit and cooperative firms in the primary healthcare sector and propose testable hypotheses. Funders and regulators must recognise the differences between these firms, if public funding of healthcare is to achieve the expected outcomes.
The eco‐island trap: climate change mitigation and conspicuous sustainability
Authors: Grydehøj Adam , Kelman Ilan
Published: October 2016

Small islands worldwide are increasingly turning to conspicuous sustainability as a development strategy. Island spatiality encourages renewable energy and sustainability initiatives that emphasise iconicity and are undertaken in order to gain competitive advantage, strengthen sustainable tourism or ecotourism, claim undue credit, distract from failures of governance or obviate the need for more comprehensive policy action. Without necessarily contributing significantly to climate change mitigation, the pursuit of eco‐island status can raise costs without raising income, distract from more pressing social and environmental problems, lead to competitive sustainability and provide green cover behind which communities can maintain unsustainable practices. We argue that eco‐islands do not successfully encourage wider sustainable development and climate change mitigation. Instead, island communities may place themselves in eco‐island traps. Islands may invest in inefficient or ineffective renewable energy and sustainability initiatives in order to maintain illusory eco‐island status for the benefit of ecotourism, thereby becoming trapped by the eco‐label. Islands may also chase the diminishing returns of ever‐more comprehensive and difficult to achieve sustainability, becoming trapped into serving as eco‐island exemplars. We conclude by arguing that island communities should pursue locally contextualised development, potentially focused on climate change adaptation, rather than focus on an eco‐island status that is oriented toward place branding and ecotourism.
Pain‐processing abnormalities in bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, and schizophrenia: A novel trait marker for psychosis proneness and functional outcome?
Authors: Minichino Amedeo , Delle Chiaie Roberto , Cruccu Giorgio , Piroso Serena , Di Stefano Giulia , Francesconi Marta , Bersani Francesco Saverio , Biondi Massimo , Truini Andrea
Published: October 2016

Objectives

Overlapping neural system dysfunctions, mainly involving the secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior insular cortex (AIC), seem to be related to both pain‐perception abnormalities and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). Laser‐evoked potentials (LEPs) were used to investigate pain‐perception and central pain‐processing abnormalities in SCZ, bipolar I disorder (BD‐I), and bipolar II disorder (BD‐II), and to evaluate their relationship with history of psychosis, and social‐cognitive and functional impairments.

Methods

Twenty patients with SCZ, 17 patients with BD‐I, and 21 patients with BD‐II who were all under similar pharmacological treatment underwent clinical, functional, and neuro‐psychological assessment. LEPs were analyzed in patients and 19 healthy subjects (HS). LEPs elicit responses reflecting the activity of the S2 (N1 wave) and the ACC/AIC cortices (N2/P2 complex). A four‐group ANOVA was conducted between patients and HS to compare pain‐perceptive thresholds (PThs), N1, and N2/P2‐LEP components.

Results

Compared to HS: (i) patients with SCZ showed pain‐processing and pain‐perception abnormalities, as revealed by significantly higher PTh (P<.01), and lower N1 (P<.01) and N2/P2 (P<.01) amplitudes, (ii) patients with BD‐I showed only pain‐processing abnormalities, as revealed by significantly lower N1 (P<.05) and N2 (P<.01) amplitudes; and patients with BD‐II did not differ for any of the LEP variables investigated. N1 and N2 amplitudes negatively correlated to history of psychosis (P<.01), social‐cognition (P<.05), and real‐world functioning (P<.01) measures in the whole group of patients.

Conclusions

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study comparing central pain processing in patients with SCZ, BD‐I, and BD‐II. Our results suggest that pain‐processing abnormalities may represent a novel locus of interest for research investigating trait markers of the psychosis spectrum.
The role of apolipoprotein N‐acyl transferase, Lnt, in the lipidation of factor H binding protein of Neisseria meningitidis strain MC58 and its potential as a drug target
Authors: da Silva R A G , Churchward C P , Karlyshev A V , Eleftheriadou O , Snabaitis A K , Longman M R , Ryan A , Griffin R
Published: October 2016

Background and Purpose

The level of cell surface expression of the meningococcal vaccine antigen, Factor H binding protein (FHbp) varies between and within strains and this limits the breadth of strains that can be targeted by FHbp‐based vaccines. The molecular pathway controlling expression of FHbp at the cell surface, including its lipidation, sorting to the outer membrane and export, and the potential regulation of this pathway have not been investigated until now. This knowledge will aid our evaluation of FHbp vaccines.

Experimental Approach

A meningococcal transposon library was screened by whole cell immuno‐dot blotting using an anti‐FHbp antibody to identify a mutant with reduced binding and the disrupted gene was determined.

Key Results

In a mutant with markedly reduced binding, the transposon was located in the lnt gene which encodes apolipoprotein N‐acyl transferase, Lnt, responsible for the addition of the third fatty acid to apolipoproteins prior to their sorting to the outer membrane. We provide data indicating that in the Lnt mutant, FHbp is diacylated and its expression within the cell is reduced 10 fold, partly due to inhibition of transcription. Furthermore the Lnt mutant showed 64 fold and 16 fold increase in susceptibility to rifampicin and ciprofloxacin respectively.

Conclusion and Implications

We speculate that the inefficient sorting of diacylated FHbp in the meningococcus results in its accumulation in the periplasm inducing an envelope stress response to down‐regulate its expression. We propose Lnt as a potential novel drug target for combination therapy with antibiotics.

Linked Articles

This article is part of a themed section on Drug Metabolism and Antibiotic Resistance in Micro‐organisms. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.14/issuetoc
Perceived treatment barriers and experiences in the use of services for obsessive–compulsive disorder across different ethnic groups: a thematic analysis
Authors: Kolvenbach Sarah , Fernández de la Cruz Lorena , Mataix‐Cols David , Patel Natasha , Jassi Amita
Published: October 2016

Background

Patients from ethnic minority backgrounds are underrepresented in clinical settings. Factors like cost of treatment, poor knowledge of the health system, geographic availability of services, lack of mental health literacy, differences in health beliefs, and social barriers have been identified as reasons for these inequalities. The aim of this study was to identify and compare barriers that parents from different ethnic groups face when accessing specialist services for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) for their children.

Method

Ten parents from White backgrounds and 10 from ethnic minority backgrounds were recruited from the National and Specialist OCD, BDD, and Related Disorders Clinic for Young People, London, United Kingdom. They were interviewed about their opinions and experiences when accessing treatment.

Results

Using thematic analysis, several common barriers for both groups were identified. These included a lack of knowledge of OCD, lack of resources within the health system, previous negative experiences, lack of trust in the mental health system, lack of time and financial issues, no support out of hours, bullying, and inconvenient location of services. In addition, there were several barriers that were endorsed by ethnic minority groups but not by the parents from White backgrounds, namely stigma and discrimination from within their communities, shame and denial, a general lack of trust in the health system by their cultural group, different beliefs about mental health issues, and discrimination from within the system.

Conclusions

Policy‐makers and clinicians should be aware of the additional barriers minority patients may face in accessing treatment and should support interventions designed to overcome them.
Anticipatory Eye Movements While Watching Continuous Action Across Shots in Video Sequences: A Developmental Study
Authors: Kirkorian Heather L. , Anderson Daniel R.
Published: October 2016

Eye movements were recorded as 12‐month‐olds (n = 15), 4‐year‐olds (n = 17), and adults (n = 19) watched a 15‐min video with sequences of shots conveying continuous motion. The central question was whether, and at what age, viewers anticipate the reappearance of objects following cuts to new shots. Adults were more likely than younger viewers to make anticipatory eye movements. Four‐year‐olds responded to transitions more slowly and tended to fixate the center of the screen. Infants’ eye movement patterns reflected a tendency to react rather than anticipate. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that adults integrate content across shots and understand how space is represented in edited video. Results are interpreted with respect to a developing understanding of film editing due to experience and cognitive maturation.
Innate and humoral recognition of the products of cell death: differential antigenicity and immunogenicity in lupus
Authors: Arora P , Malik M , Sachdeva R , Saxena L , Das J , Ramachandran V G , Pal R
Published: October 2016

While apoptotic debris is believed to constitute the original antigenic insult in lupus (which is characterized by a time-dependent diversification of autoreactivity), whether such debris and autoantibodies specifically recognizing its constituents mediate differential effects on innate and humoral responses in lupus-prone mice is currently unknown. Apoptotic blebs (as opposed to cellular lysate) enhanced preferentially the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) from bone marrow precursors drawn from lupus-prone mice. Murine, somatically mutated, apoptotic cell-reactive immunoglobulin (Ig)G monoclonal antibodies demonstrated enhanced recognition of DCs and also displayed a prominent lupus strain-specific bias in mediating DC maturation. Further, immunization of such antibodies specifically in lupus-prone mice resulted in widespread humoral autoreactivity; hypergammaglobulinaemia (a hallmark of systemic autoimmunity) was observed, accompanied by enhanced antibody titres to cellular moieties. Induced antibodies recognized antigens distinct from those recognized by the antibodies employed for immunization; in particular, nephritis-associated anti-double stranded (ds) DNA antibodies and neonatal lupus-associated anti-Ro60 antibodies were elicited by a non-dsDNA, non-Ro60 reactive antibody, and Sm was a favoured target. Further, only in lupus-prone mice did such immunization enhance the kinetics of humoral anti-self responses, resulting in the advanced onset of glomerulosclerosis. These studies reveal that preferential innate and humoral recognition of the products of cell death in a lupus milieu influence the indices associated with autoimmune pathology.
Foxc2CreERT2 knock‐in mice mark stage‐specific Foxc2‐expressing cells during mouse organogenesis
Authors: Amin Mohammed Badrul , Miura Naoyuki , Uddin Mohammad Khaja Mafij , Islam Mohammod Johirul , Yoshida Nobuaki , Iseki Sachiko , Kume Tsutomu , Trainor Paul A. , Saitsu Hirotomo , Aoto Kazushi
Published: October 2016

Foxc2, a member of the winged helix transcription factor family, is essential for eye, calvarial bone, cardiovascular and kidney development in mice. Nevertheless, how Foxc2‐expressing cells and their descendent cells contribute to the development of these tissues and organs has not been elucidated. Here, we generated a Foxc2 knock‐in (Foxc2CreERT2) mouse, in which administration of estrogen receptor antagonist tamoxifen induces nuclear translocation of Cre recombinase in Foxc2‐expressing cells. By crossing with ROSA‐LacZ reporter mice (Foxc2CreERT2; R26R), the fate of Foxc2 positive (Foxc2+) cells was analyzed through LacZ staining at various embryonic stages. We found Foxc2+cell descendants in the supraoccipital and exoccipital bone in E18.5 embryos, when tamoxifen was administered at embryonic day (E) 8.5. Furthermore, Foxc2+ descendant cranial neural crest cells at E8–10 were restricted to the corneal mesenchyme, while Foxc2+ cell derived cardiac neural crest cells at E6–12 were found in the aorta, pulmonary trunk and valves, and endocardial cushions. Foxc2+ cell descendant contributions to the glomerular podocytes in the kidney were also observed following E6.5 tamoxifen treatment. Our results are consistent with previous reports of Foxc2 expression during early embryogenesis and the Foxc2CreERT2 mouse provides a tool to investigate spatiotemporal roles of Foxc2 and contributions of Foxc2+ expressing cells during mouse embryogenesis.
Functional Synergy Between Postural and Visual Behaviors When Performing a Difficult Precise Visual Task in Upright Stance
Authors: Bonnet Cédrick T. , Szaffarczyk Sébastien , Baudry Stéphane
Published: October 2016

Previous works usually report greater postural stability in precise visual tasks (e.g., gaze‐shift tasks) than in stationary‐gaze tasks. However, existing cognitive models do not fully support these results as they assume that performing an attention‐demanding task while standing would alter postural stability because of the competition of attention between the tasks. Contrary to these cognitive models, attentional resources may increase to create a synergy between visual and postural brain processes to perform precise oculomotor behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated a difficult searching task and a control free‐viewing task. The precise visual task required the 16 young participants to find a target in densely furnished images. The free‐viewing task consisted of looking at similar images without searching anything. As expected, the participants exhibited significantly lower body displacements (linear, angular) and a significantly higher cognitive workload in the precise visual task than in the free‐viewing task. Most important, our exploration showed functional synergies between visual and postural processes in the searching task, that is, significant negative relationships showing lower head and neck displacements to reach more expended zones of fixation. These functional synergies seemed to involve a greater attentional demand because they were not significant anymore when the cognitive workload was controlled (partial correlations). In the free‐viewing task, only significant positive relationships were found and they did not involve any change in cognitive workload. An alternative cognitive model and its potential subtended neuroscientific circuit are proposed to explain the supposedly cognitively grounded functional nature of vision–posture synergies in precise visual tasks.
Patchy distribution and low effective population size raise concern for an at‐risk top predator
Authors: Rutledge Linda Y. , Desy Glenn , Fryxell John M. , Middel Kevin , White Bradley N. , Patterson Brent R.
Published: October 2016

Aim

Understanding carnivore distribution is important for management decisions that aim to restore naturally regulated ecosystems and preserve biodiversity. Eastern Wolves, a species at risk in Canada, are centralized in Algonquin Provincial Park and their ability to disperse and establish themselves elsewhere is limited by human‐caused mortality associated with hunting, trapping and vehicle collisions. Here, we refine our understanding of Eastern Wolf distribution and provide the first estimates of their effective population size.

Location

Southern Ontario and Gatineau Quebec.

Methods

We used non‐invasive samples, as well as blood samples archived from other research projects, collected between 2010 and 2014 to generate autosomal microsatellite genotypes at 12 loci for 98 Canis individuals. We utilized Bayesian and multivariate clustering analyses to identify Eastern Wolves in regions that were previously unsampled. Both linkage disequilibrium and temporal approaches were used to estimate effective population size of Eastern Wolves.

Results

Assignment tests identified 34 individuals as Eastern Wolves, primarily in or near two provincial parks: Killarney and Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands. Eastern Coyotes were identified in Bon Echo Provincial Park, Frontenac Provincial Park and Gatineau Park, whereas many of the samples were admixed among the different Canis types. Effective population size (Ne) estimates ranged from 24.3 to 122.1 with a harmonic mean of 45.6.

Main conclusions

The identification of Eastern Wolves in the regions of Killarney and Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Parks extends the range of Eastern Wolves north of the French River and southward into previously unidentified regions. The effective population size is low and raises concerns for long‐term persistence of this threatened carnivore; estimates are dangerously close to critical values recommended for short‐term persistence. These results provide important information for upcoming Eastern Wolf recovery plans associated with federal and provincial endangered species legislation.
Birds and alien species dispersal: on the need to focus management efforts on primary introduction pathways – comment on Reynolds et al. and Green
Authors: Solarz Wojciech , Najberek Kamil , Pociecha Agnieszka , Wilk‐Woźniak Elżbieta
Published: October 2016

Two articles published in Diversity and Distributions (Green, ; Reynolds et al., ) demonstrate the role of waterbirds in dispersing alien species and claim that this phenomenon has been largely neglected. Setting out priorities for the future, they focus on the need to improve our understanding of the problem if it is to be successfully managed. We argue that birds are vectors of the secondary spread of alien species already introduced by human agency, rather than the pathway of their primary introduction. The challenge presented by unaided dispersal pathways, such as birds, will not be significantly reduced by future advances in our understanding of their mechanisms. The three‐stage hierarchical approach, recommended by the Convention on Biological Diversity, remains the best management option for biological invasions, irrespective of the level of knowledge about their pathways.
Investigating looking and social looking measures as an index of infant violation of expectation
Authors: Dunn Kirsty , Bremner J. Gavin
Published: October 2016

Accumulated looking time has been widely used to index violation of expectation (VoE) response in young infants. But there is controversy concerning the validity of this measure, with some interpreting infant looking behaviour in terms of perceptual preferences (Cohen & Marks, ; Haith, ). The current study aimed to compare the use of looking time with a recently used measure of social looking (Walden et al., ) in distinguishing between 6‐month‐old infants’ response to novelty/familiarity and a condition in which the object was covertly switched for a different object. Following habituation, infants showed more social looking in response to the object‐switch condition than the novel object change, whereas the more commonly used accumulated looking time measure did not distinguish between the two, showing an increase for both. Thus, social looking is a more valid measure of infant VoE than looking time.
Tracing trajectories of audio‐visual learning in the infant brain
Authors: Kersey Alyssa J. , Emberson Lauren L.
Published: October 2016

Although infants begin learning about their environment before they are born, little is known about how the infant brain changes during learning. Here, we take the initial steps in documenting how the neural responses in the brain change as infants learn to associate audio and visual stimuli. Using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNRIS) to record hemodynamic responses in the infant cortex (temporal, occipital, and frontal cortex), we find that across the infant brain, learning is characterized by an increase in activation followed by a decrease. We take this U‐shaped response as evidence of repetition enhancement during early stages of learning and repetition suppression during later stages, a result that mirrors the Hunter and Ames model of infant visual preference. Furthermore, we find that the neural response to violations of the learned associations can be predicted by the shape of the learning curve in temporal and occipital cortex. These data provide the first look at the shape of the neural response during audio‐visual associative learning in infancy establishing that diverse regions of the infant brain exhibit systematic changes across the time‐course of learning.