bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards a History of Aboriginal Education in New South Wales
Authors: Huggonson David
Published: November 2015

A common misapprehension still prevalent in Australia is that traditional Aboriginal society had no organized educational system. This misapprehension seems based on the ethnocentric concept of British nationalism reinforced by the belief that Christianity was sacrosanct and provided an unassailable moral code. When coupled with the profit motive of capitalism, this belief justified the wholesale destruction of Aboriginal society (Rowley 1970, Reynolds 1981). Prior to European contact most of the instruction of children was carried out by women, and both sexes gained a detailed knowledge of their physical environment. Women were also responsible for the complete spiritual instruction of girls and of boys up to the age of puberty. A boy’s uncle assumed a mentor role during his adolescence (Cowlishaw, 1981). These educational methods were successful in that children were prepared for the particular way of life of their tribe, and there were very few ‘drop outs’, or failures in this system (Hart, 1969).

The tragic deaths of the British explorers, Burke and Wills, demonstrated the worthlessness which the Europeans attached to Aboriginal knowledge. Burke habitually chased Aboriginal people away from his camp with his revolver (Woolf, 1974). The earlier explorer, Charles Sturt had been saved from death by scurvy because the surgeon, John Browne, fed him salt bush berries after observing the Yandruwandra people collecting and eating this source of Vitamin C.

The British believed English to be the language of enlightenment and viewed the 633, (Reed 1969) different Aboriginal languages and dialects as immoral and primitive. The British made little attempt to learn any Aboriginal languages and the fact that the languages did not exist in a written form further enforced the view of their worthlessness. Contemporary linguistic studies show Aboriginal languages are grammatically complex and that most species of plants and animals to be found in a tribe’s country were represented in their language’s detailed vocabulary (Robertson, 1983). Obviously, if Burke and Wills had been less impatient and arrogant they would not have perished even in the arid lands of Central Australia. They could have survived by developing a rapport with local Aborigines. However, if one’s object is to take possession of a people’s land by exterminating them, it is better to view them psychologically as sub-human or a relic from a different evolutionary era, as many social Darwinists did, than to develop an empathy with them (Fromm, 1942).
Teaching and Learning in Focus at Yalata Community School
Authors: McGavisk Colin
Published: November 2015

This article seeks to formalise and link my perception of the Yalata Aboriginal community’s expressed values and objectives with their relationship to practice at Yalata Aboriginal School.

The values expressed here are those outlined by the Aboriginal community; they reflect the community’s felt needs. The process of establishing such needs is open-ended and dynamic, not static. Those needs are expressed through opinions based on experience and resulting legitimate emotion. The community consciousness is now grounded in an emotional strength of purpose that demands the skill to survive well, built on years of frustration and degradation.

The stipulated values can be translated into realisable objectives achievable through appropriate teaching/learning practices.

This article seeks to identify those expressed community values (principles of worth), as related to the Yalata Community School, develop them as a series of attainable objectives, and discuss ways those objectives may be met. Further, it asks the questions, “What are the values/felt needs of the community” and “How does the school try to reflect these values?”
The Social Construction of Policy Feedback: Incarceration, Conservatism, and Ideological Change
Authors: Dagan David , Teles Steven M.
Published: November 2015

Over the last decade, in a major switch in position, conservatives have embraced the cause of reducing prison populations in the states and, increasingly, at the national level. The long-term crime decline and the increasing antistatism of the Republican Party contributed to this change, but it also has an important cognitive component: Policy makers have become more open to evidence of the damaging effects of mass incarceration. In contrast to previous studies, our case shows that such policy “feedback” only functions politically when a signal about a policy consequence is assigned valence and intensity by policy makers, whose calculations are heavily structured by the demands of party coalitions. On issues in which no core coalition member has a major stake, feedback can be tipped from reinforcing to undermining and vice versa, but this process depends on the efforts of entrepreneurs to change the way information is processed. In a highly polarized environment, opening policy makers to previously ignored evidence requires the cultivation of a reform cadre composed of ideological standard-bearers who can vouch for the orthodoxy of the new position.
Multilevel developmental approaches to understanding the effects of child maltreatment: Recent advances and future challenges
Authors: Pollak Seth D.
Published: November 2015

Recent research in the field of child maltreatment has begun to shed new light on the emergence of health problems in children by emphasizing the responsiveness of developmental processes to children's environmental and biological contexts. Here, I highlight recent trends in the field with an emphasis on the effects of early life stress across multiple levels of developmental domains.
Intergenerational transmission of maltreatment: A multilevel examination
Authors: Leve Leslie D. , Khurana Atika , Reich Emily B.
Published: November 2015

Despite the commonly held belief that there is a high degree of intergenerational continuity in maltreatment, studies to date suggest a mixed pattern of findings. One reason for the variance in findings may be related to the measurement approach used, which includes a range of self-report and official indicators of maltreatment and both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. This study attempted to shed light on the phenomenon of intergenerational continuity of maltreatment by examining multiple indicators of perpetration of maltreatment in young adults and multiple risk factors across different levels within an individual's social ecology. The sample included 166 women who had been placed in out-of-home care as adolescents (>85% had a substantiated maltreatment incident) and followed into young adulthood, and included three waves of adolescent data and six waves of young adult data collected across 10 years. The participants were originally recruited during adolescence as part of a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of the Treatment Foster Care Oregon intervention. Analyses revealed weak to modest associations among the three indicators of perpetration of maltreatment in young adulthood, that is, official child welfare records, self-reported child welfare system involvement, and self-reported maltreatment (r= .03–.51). Further, different patterns of prediction emerged as a function of the measurement approach. Adolescent delinquency was a significant predictor of subsequent self-reported child welfare contact, and young adult partner risk was a significant predictor of perpetration of maltreatment as indexed by both official child welfare records and self-reported child welfare contact. In addition, women who were originally assigned to the intervention condition reported perpetrating less maltreatment during young adulthood. Implications for measurement and interventions related to reducing the risk for intergenerational transmission of risk are discussed.
Cortisol profiles: A test for adaptive calibration of the stress response system in maltreated and nonmaltreated youth
Authors: Peckins Melissa K. , Susman Elizabeth J. , Negriff Sonya , Noll Jennie , Trickett Penelope K.
Published: November 2015

Throughout the life span, exposure to chronic stress such as child maltreatment is thought to contribute to future dysfunction of the stress response system (SRS) through the process of adaptive calibration. Dysfunction of the SRS is associated with numerous health and behavior problems, so it is important to understand under what conditions and what time frame adaptive calibration occurs. The present study tested for adaptive calibration of the SRS in a sample of maltreated (n = 303) and nonmaltreated (n = 151) youth during the important developmental period of adolescence. Data were used from Waves 2, 3, and 4 of a larger study of the consequences of maltreatment on health and well-being. At each time point, participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test for Children and provided a baseline and four poststressor saliva samples to measure cortisol reactivity. Adaptive calibration was tested by performing a latent profile analysis using the five samples of salivary cortisol provided at each time point, and testing whether maltreatment status predicted the likelihood of profile membership at Time 2, Time 3, and Time 4. Three cortisol profiles emerged from the data at each time point (blunted, moderate, and elevated), and results indicated that maltreated youth were more likely than nonmaltreated youth to present with the blunted cortisol profile compared to the moderate and elevated profiles at Time 2 and Time 3, even after controlling for recent exposure to violence and trauma. At Time 4, there was no longer a difference in profile membership between maltreated and nonmaltreated youth, suggesting adaptive calibration may be a lengthy process requiring a period of years to become evident. Overall, the findings provide support for adaptive calibration and offer insight into the conditions under which adaptive calibration occurs.
Symptoms of major depressive disorder subsequent to child maltreatment: Examining change across multiple levels of analysis to identify transdiagnostic risk pathways
Authors: Shenk Chad E. , Griffin Amanda M. , O'Donnell Kieran J.
Published: November 2015

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition in the child maltreatment population. However, not all children who have been maltreated will develop MDD or MDD symptoms, suggesting the presence of unique risk pathways that explain how certain children develop MDD symptoms when others do not. The current study tested several candidate risk pathways to MDD symptoms following child maltreatment: neuroendocrine, autonomic, affective, and emotion regulation. Female adolescents (N= 110; age range = 14–19) were recruited into a substantiated child maltreatment or comparison condition and completed a laboratory stressor, saliva samples, and measures of emotion regulation, negative affect, and MDD symptoms. MDD symptoms were reassessed 18 months later. Mediational modeling revealed that emotion regulation was the only significant indirect effect of the relationship between child maltreatment and subsequent MDD symptoms, demonstrating that children exposed to maltreatment had greater difficulties managing affective states that in turn led to more severe MDD symptoms. These results highlight the importance of emotion dysregulation as a central risk pathway to MDD following child maltreatment. Areas of future research and implications for optimizing prevention and clinical intervention through the direct targeting of transdiagnostic risk pathways are discussed.
Lower structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus is associated with a history of child maltreatment and future psychological vulnerability to stress
Authors: Hanson Jamie L. , Knodt Annchen R. , Brigidi Bartholomew D. , Hariri Ahmad R.
Published: November 2015

The experience of child maltreatment is a significant risk factor for the development of later internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety. This risk is particularly heightened after exposure to additional, more contemporaneous stress. While behavioral evidence exists for such “stress sensitization,” little is known about the mechanisms mediating such relationships, particularly within the brain. Here we report that the experience of child maltreatment independent of recent life stress, gender, and age is associated with reduced structural integrity of the uncinate fasciculus, a major white matter pathway between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, in young adults. We further demonstrate that individuals with lower uncinate fasciculus integrity at baseline who subsequently experience stressful life events report higher levels of internalizing symptomatology at follow-up. Our findings suggest a novel neurobiological mechanism linking child maltreatment with later internalizing symptoms, specifically altered structural connectivity within the brain's threat-detection and emotion-regulation circuitry.
Aboriginal Education at Walgett Primary School
Authors: Craddock L.J.
Published: November 2015

Across Australia many exciting developments are occuring in Aboriginal education. This section of the journal is planned so that teachers throughout the country can share with each other their thinking and their innovations, so that good ideas and successful practices can spread. In this issue we present a variety of reports.

In the Walgett Primary School there are 256 children who fit into the category of part-Aboriginal. This is 49.2% of the total school enrolment. In 1970 it was 42.9% and this 6.3% increase represents the trend in Walgett over the past few years. For quite some time teachers in Walgett have been conscious of the need to do something special for the Aboriginal children. Successive teachers and administrators have approached the problem with typically varying degrees of dedication, and always with what we might term a “conventional approach”. Predictably, results varied, and as late as 1969 35% of Aboriginal children left the primary stage either substantially or totally illiterate. This state of affairs was attributed to a degree of mental deficiency which some believed to be genetic. I shall return to this fallacy later.

During 1969 a number of factors contributed to a change in attitude, and consequently in approach, and since then marked advances have been made. It would hardly be appropriate to examine these in detail here, but certain points can be made with a degree of certainty.
Aboriginal Adults as Classroom Assistants
Authors: Dyer Wayne
Published: November 2015

Increasing attention has been given in recent years to the effects of various factors upon the academic achievement of ethnic minority group children. In those Australian states where there are schoolswith significantly large proportions of Aboriginal children, special programs have been devised and implemented.

The Department of Education in Queensland has been involved throughout the past decade in the development and refinement of both techniques and materials designed to foster the academic attainments of Aboriginal children. One program involved the employment of Aboriginal adults from a local community to work along side of teachers in and out of the classrooms as para-professional teachers’ assistants. This program is currently in the ninth month of a twelve month pilot study in the Cherbourg Community School.

The role of these assistants is regarded as being essentially mediatory. Primarily the objective has been to increase the degree of home/school and parent/teacher contact with a view to closing the knowledge and understanding gap existing between the school and the community generally. It is hoped to increase parental awareness and appreciation of the aims, ideals, and processes operating within the school environment. Conversely, it is hoped to acquaint the teachers with a more thoroughgoing understanding of the cultural, socio-economic, and familial backgrounds of the children they teach.

In implementing the project it has been considered that changes within the school itself can have only limited effect on the educational development of children, and that the ultimate success of any intervention program depends on the involvement of the children’s families.
Some Aspects of Aboriginal Education in Western Australia
Authors: McGowan Malcolm
Published: November 2015

The author of this article wishes to point out that his comments are taken from his own direct experiences involved in the Aboriginal situation in West Australian Schools. They are not necessarily, therefore, the views of the West Australian Education Department.

It appears that there are several groups when one talks about Aboriginal children in general in Australia. Any person who has any Aboriginal blood is termed an Aboriginal. These groups have different hereditary and environmental backgrounds and thus give differing responses to stimuli.

In Western Australia, Aboriginals are of either country or town origin. There are vast differences between a third generation town Aboriginal and one who has only just walked in from the desert. Again one must differentiate between town and mission Aboriginals and also between the full blood and the part Aboriginal. The situation is s vast that one can speak about Aboriginals and their education in Western Australian Schools, only in general terms.

School can have a tremendous influence on the Aboriginal child. It can be a sanctuary or a place which he tries to avoid. The task of the educator is to make school interesting, yet a useful means of conveyance into 1973. Personal experiences indicate that success lies in motivation – kindness and interest. There is a broad spectrum for Aboriginal children in academic and social achievement. Many are school leaders, have high reading ages and excel in dance, music, sport, art, crafts and written work. Under ideal situations it appears that many Aboriginal children have greater potential than some white children. There must then be other factors which cause Aboriginals to fail to make full use of their talents and abilities.
Some Aspects of Home-School Relations
Authors: Syme D.J.
Published: November 2015

Our school has 30% of culturally different children of Aboriginal ancestry,. This, in a primary school population of 180, represents a significant proportion. This group can be, and is, defined by colour of skin, facial features, and different life style. Membership of this group is decided both by public opinion and by other members of the group.

Our town with a population of some 600 people is representative of many small rural communities with a significant proportion of people of Aboriginal descent. Some of these families, about 30%, live in houses provided by the Aboriginal and Island Affairs Department which are of comparable standard to those of the white people in the town. The remainder live in shanty type settlements which are common to such towns and which are usually located on the town outskirts.
Aboriginal Teacher Aides: Benefits and Utilization
Authors: Cameron C.
Published: November 2015

There are many benefits gained by employing Aboriginal Teacher Aides. These include:

1. (a) The employment of such people as Yvonne Walker at this school, to undertake work of an experimental nature, in teaching untried courses in language to Aboriginal children.

(b) The self-respect gained by Aboriginal people in working with teachers in responsible organizations.

(c) The decreased reliance on Social Services and consequent upsurge in desire to obtain responsible positions. (One Aboriginal person recently asked me if the Police Department have aides).

(d) The efforts made by employed aides to attempt to standardize their social interaction through accepting norms in dress and general conduct.
The Graylands Teachers’ College Study
Authors: Perth W.A.
Published: November 2015

At an In-Service Course for Teachers of Aboriginal children held in Perth in February 1973, Mr. D. Ibbotson reported on the study being conducted by his College. In this study, teachers in the State were asked to provide information relating to their pupils, on

(a) general difficulties and problems of language, behaviour, attendance, organization, parental support (or lack of it).

(b) problems, interest and successful ways and means in curriculum areas of Spoken English, Written English, Mathematics.

Teachers were also asked to comment on curriculum areas of greatest and least success.
Education for What?
Authors: McMaster J.
Published: November 2015

Let me first explain my situation. All the people in Duchess are involved in some way or another with the Queensland Railways. Duchess is a railway town, supported by the Queensland Railways and existing only because of them. The majority of settlers are Islanders, with a few Aboriginals. These people live harmoniously side by side. All the fathers have jobs. The children thus have the necessary monetary backing to encourage development. These people are not poor, though their conditions may indicate otherwise. All the children are clothed reasonably well, and fed reasonably well. Most of the children are scrupulously clean.

It is wise to keep in mind the fact that regardless of what my successes and failures are, each one of us has a special situation, which differs vastly from everyone else’s. It is therefore necessary for us to be continually trying, adapting, and changing, in order to achieve any measure of success.

In the small school, the teacher is faced with a number of problems which perhaps appear unique or magnified by virtue of the fact that he is on his own. Multiple grades, voluminous workloads multiple cultures, remoteness and lack of finance are amongst the greatest problems facing me personally, and no doubt many of you at present. But the small school also offers unique opportunities to teachers to experiment and implement new ideas and methods. The relative freedom of working alone offers unlimited scope for development in every field. Numbers are fewer, and parental contact is more practical and rewarding. In every field our freedom to work is limited only by our capacity. I believe that the small schools are more effective amongst these people, simply by virtue of the fact that contact and discussions with both parents and children are more intimate, and therefore more successful. Of course, initially they are shy, but eventually we can reach them, and once their confidence is gained, they will make every attempt to help us. This is a big advantage to have, and very necessary if any program is to achieve success.
Community Involvement in Aboriginal Schools
Authors: McClay D.J. , Bucknall J.R.
Published: November 2015

The following paper is based on experiences gained in schools in North East Arnhem Land. While it is likely that the situations as described are applicable to other areas, the authors do not claim that there will always be direct comparisons. Too often the wider Australian community regards Aboriginals as one people with one set of common needs whereas even limited experience soon reveals a great diversity amongst these people in terms of language, customs and environment and consequently a great diversity of needs and necessary solutions.

In schools throughout Australia the desirability of and need for community involvement become more apparent every day. To quote the Karmel report Schools in Australia,

“After almost one hundred years of public schooling a reappraisal of the relationship of the school to the wider society is taking place in Australia, as it is in most industrialized nations. The isolation of schools is being questioned as is also the idea that education should be confined to formal institutions and concentrated heavily upon those who have not yet entered employment.”

We have now reached the stage where the desirability of community involvement in education can be taken by most as a self evident truth and we can look”back in wonder at the times when such an idea was radical or not even considered.

In Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory the opportunities for involving the community in the school are probably greater than in the wider Australian society. For example, the families are easy to contact, they are generally open to suggestion and they do not have preconceived notions as to the “proper” way in which a school should be run. However, too often we have taken community involvement to mean the fund raising activities of Parents’ Committees and left the real problems of initiating genuine involvement well alone. (The activities of the School Council at Hermannsburg are a notable exception; there may be others).
A Comparative Study of the Self-Concepts of Urban and Rural Reserve-Dwelling Aboriginal Children and Non-Aboriginal Urban Children
Authors: Finch N.G.
Published: November 2015

Do Aboriginal children feel competent and confident in the school setting? Where do these feelings, positive or negative, originate?

Do teachers believe these children are competent and worthy? Does it matter what the teachers think?

Does a child’s concept of himself influence his success in the school setting?

Can schools help Aboriginal children feel more positively about themselves?

The following research report is not directly addressed to all of the above questions, but is an interesting study which compares the self-concepts of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.
Activities in a Small Remote School
Authors: Manwarring R.C.
Published: November 2015

How can teachers in small remote schools develop a meaningful and attractive program for their pupils and for the Community? How can they help their pupils to develop self-confidence and self-esteem?

In the following article, Mr. Manwarring puts forward a number of very insightful suggestions.
The Significance of a Home/Preschool Liaison Teacher in a Community Preschool
Authors: Howlett Eric D.
Published: November 2015

The Carpentaria Kindergarten is the Community Preschool Centre at Normanton, in north-west Queensland. It was established in 1970 under the auspices of the Anglican Church with financial assistance from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Canberra. Of the fifty children enrolled approximately 80% are of Aboriginal descent. All children in the town are encouraged to attend after their third birthday. The younger children attend three afternoons a week, while the older children attend five morning sessions a week. In most cases children have two years of preschool education before they enter the primary school.

The preschool is an instrument of integration in this community which has a 50% Aboriginal population. It is recognized that the principle of community integration is based on the movement of different types within a community together, with each group making a real contribution. Consequently the Aboriginal people must not disappear in a process of absorption, but move into the total community with a definite identity. The preschool plays a very real and definite support role in this process of integration in the following ways:
Race Bias in Social Studies
Authors: Spalding Ian
Published: November 2015

This is the second article in the series by Mr. Spalding. After reading it, most teachers will feel the need to scrutinize carefully the books currently in use in their classrooms.

In the next issue, Mr. Spalding will write about the transmission and reinforcement of prejudice.
Secondary School Adjustment and Employment Opportunities
Authors: Hall R.J.
Published: November 2015

Most of the discussion on the topic of Aboriginal education until recently has largely focused on primary education, and not without ample justification. This is without doubt the crucial stage in education. But, as the primary section becomes increasingly more successful with its Aboriginal pupils, so it becomes increasingly imperative for secondary education to respond adequately to this new challenge. The exact nature of this challenge is the concern of many teachers involved.
An Inquiry Study about Australian Aboriginals
Authors: Simpson M.
Published: November 2015

In the following article, Miss Simpson outlines an inquiry study about Aboriginal Australians that she developed and followed with her sixth grade pupils.

Readers of the Journal who teach classes composed of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children may well decide to try out Miss Simpson’s approach.

Those readers who teach in schools with a predominantly Aboriginal enrolment might like to reverse the emphasis and mount an inquiry study about non-Aboriginal Australians.
Language and Reading
Authors: Fleming J.
Published: November 2015

Mr. Fleming reports on two approaches – one with a group of young children and one with a group of older non-readers.
What Education Means to Me: An Aboriginal’s Perspective
Authors: Widders Terry
Published: November 2015

Mr. Widders was born and raised in a total Aboriginal family-society. Leaving Armidale High School at 15, he spent several years in various jobs before becoming a student at Armidale Teachers College. This paper was presented to the Fourteenth Annual Conference of The Australian College of Education, at the University of Sydney in May, 1973 and is reproduced here with kind permission of the author and The Australian College of Education.
Aboriginal Culture Classes at Balgo Hills School
Authors: Buegge E.R.
Published: November 2015

There is much discussion today of the need in education to recognize the culturally pluralistic situation in which many Aboriginal children find themselves. Balgo Hills school shows one effective way of implementing this recognition. What approaches are being taken in other schools in Australia?
Visual Hallucinations in Older People: Appraisals but not Content or Phenomenology Influence Distress
Authors: Lai Stephanie , Bruce Vicki , Collerton Daniel
Published: November 2015

Background: A previous study (Gauntlett-Gilbert and Kuipers, 2005) has suggested that distress associated with complex visual hallucinations (CVHs) in younger adults with psychosis may more strongly relate to appraisals of meaning than to the content of the hallucination. However, visual hallucinations are most commonly seen in the disorders of later life, where this relationship has not been investigated. Aim: To establish if there is a relationship between appraisals of CVHs and distress in older, non-psychotic people with CVHs. Method: All variables were measured using a semi-structured interview and were compared between a high distress group (n = 16) and a low distress group (n = 19). Results: The high distress group rated their hallucinations as more malevolent and omnipotent, with greater negative implications for physical and mental health. There was no significant difference between groups on ratings of hallucination content (independently rated), frequency, awareness or control. Conclusion: Appraisals of CVHs are linked to distress.
Setting the Stage for a Global Science of Atmospheric Rivers
Authors: Dettinger Michael , Ralph F. , Lavers David
Published: November 2015

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography International Atmospheric Rivers Workshop; La Jolla, California, 15–17 June 2015
MITF and c-Jun antagonism interconnects melanoma dedifferentiation with pro-inflammatory cytokine responsiveness and myeloid cell recruitment
Authors: Riesenberg Stefanie , Groetchen Angela , Siddaway Robert , Bald Tobias , Reinhardt Julia , Smorra Denise , Kohlmeyer Judith , Renn Marcel , Phung Bengt , Aymans Pia , Schmidt Tobias , Hornung Veit , Davidson Irwin , Goding Colin R. , Jönsson Göran , Landsberg Jennifer , Tüting Thomas , Hölzel Michael
Published: November 2015

Inflammation promotes phenotypic plasticity in melanoma, a source of non-genetic heterogeneity, but the molecular framework is poorly understood. Here we use functional genomic approaches and identify a reciprocal antagonism between the melanocyte lineage transcription factor MITF and c-Jun, which interconnects inflammation-induced dedifferentiation with pro-inflammatory cytokine responsiveness of melanoma cells favouring myeloid cell recruitment. We show that pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α instigate gradual suppression of MITF expression through c-Jun. MITF itself binds to the c-Jun regulatory genomic region and its reduction increases c-Jun expression that in turn amplifies TNF-stimulated cytokine expression with further MITF suppression. This feed-forward mechanism turns poor peak-like transcriptional responses to TNF-α into progressive and persistent cytokine and chemokine induction. Consistently, inflammatory MITFlow/c-Junhigh syngeneic mouse melanomas recruit myeloid immune cells into the tumour microenvironment as recapitulated by their human counterparts. Our study suggests myeloid cell-directed therapies may be useful for MITFlow/c-Junhigh melanomas to counteract their growth-promoting and immunosuppressive functions.
Assembling an alkyl rotor to access abrupt and reversible crystalline deformation of a cobalt(II) complex
Authors: Su Sheng-Qun , Kamachi Takashi , Yao Zi-Shuo , Huang You-Gui , Shiota Yoshihito , Yoshizawa Kazunari , Azuma Nobuaki , Miyazaki Yuji , Nakano Motohiro , Maruta Goro , Takeda Sadamu , Kang Soonchul , Kanegawa Shinji , Sato Osamu
Published: November 2015

Harnessing molecular motion to reversibly control macroscopic properties, such as shape and size, is a fascinating and challenging subject in materials science. Here we design a crystalline cobalt(II) complex with an n-butyl group on its ligands, which exhibits a reversible crystal deformation at a structural phase transition temperature. In the low-temperature phase, the molecular motion of the n-butyl group freezes. On heating, the n-butyl group rotates ca. 100° around the C–C bond resulting in 6–7% expansion of the crystal size along the molecular packing direction. Importantly, crystal deformation is repeatedly observed without breaking the single-crystal state even though the shape change is considerable. Detailed structural analysis allows us to elucidate the underlying mechanism of this deformation. This work may mark a step towards converting the alkyl rotation to the macroscopic deformation in crystalline solids.
Graphene wrinkling induced by monodisperse nanoparticles: facile control and quantification
Authors: Vejpravova Jana , Pacakova Barbara , Endres Jan , Mantlikova Alice , Verhagen Tim , Vales Vaclav , Frank Otakar , Kalbac Martin
Published: November 2015

Controlled wrinkling of single-layer graphene (1-LG) at nanometer scale was achieved by introducing monodisperse nanoparticles (NPs), with size comparable to the strain coherence length, underneath the 1-LG. Typical fingerprint of the delaminated fraction is identified as substantial contribution to the principal Raman modes of the 1-LG (G and G’). Correlation analysis of the Raman shift of the G and G’ modes clearly resolved the 1-LG in contact and delaminated from the substrate, respectively. Intensity of Raman features of the delaminated 1-LG increases linearly with the amount of the wrinkles, as determined by advanced processing of atomic force microscopy data. Our study thus offers universal approach for both fine tuning and facile quantification of the graphene topography up to ~60% of wrinkling.
Differential regulation of receptivity in two uterine horns of a recipient mouse following asynchronous embryo transfer
Authors: Li Shi-Jie , Wang Tong-Song , Qin Fu-Niu , Huang Zhu , Liang Xiao-Huan , Gao Fei , Song Zhuo , Yang Zeng-Ming
Published: November 2015

Receptivity is a limited time in which uterine endometrium can establish a successful dialogue with blastocyst. This study was to investigate the effect of asynchronous embryo transfer on uterine receptivity in mice. Embryos under different stages were transferred into two oviduct sides of a recipient mouse on day 1 of pseudopregnancy. Our results showed the asynchronously transferred embryos can implant in all groups. Compared to zygote-transfer group, the length of implanted embryos is longer in 8-cell embryo- or blastocyst-transfer group. The levels of Snail and COX-2 immunostaining in blastocyst-transfer group are significantly stronger than that in zygote-transfer group. Embryos in blastocyst-transfer group migrate faster than that in zygote-transfer group within uterus. Blastocysts are in a state of developmental delay after they are transferred into oviducts and they are reactivated and implanted rapidly in uterus. The developmental rate to newborn in zygote-transfer group is obviously higher than that in blastocyst-transfer group, suggesting that a delay in embryo development and implantation will lead to a decrease of litter size. These results indicated that the window of implantation is differentially regulated in two uterine horns of a recipient by embryos at different stages.
Strong Optomechanical Coupling in Nanobeam Cavities based on Hetero Optomechanical Crystals
Authors: Huang Zhilei , Cui Kaiyu , Li Yongzhuo , Feng Xue , Liu Fang , Zhang Wei , Huang Yidong
Published: November 2015

Nanobeam cavities based on hetero optomechanical crystals are proposed. With optical and mechanical modes separately confined by two types of periodic structures, the mechanical frequency is designed as high as 5.88 GHz. Due to the optical field and the strain field concentrated in the optomechanical cavity and resembling each other with an enhanced overlap, a high optomechanical coupling rate of 1.31 MHz is predicted.
Different neural circuitry is involved in physiological and psychological stress-induced PTSD-like “nightmares” in rats
Authors: Yu Bin , Cui Su-Ying , Zhang Xue-Qiong , Cui Xiang-Yu , Li Sheng-Jie , Sheng Zhao-Fu , Cao Qing , Huang Yuan-Li , Xu Ya-Ping , Lin Zhi-Ge , Yang Guang , Song Jin-Zhi , Ding Hui , Zhang Yong-He
Published: November 2015

Posttraumatic nightmares are a core component of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mechanistically linked to the development and maintenance of this disorder, but little is known about their mechanism. We utilized a communication box to establish an animal model of physiological stress (foot-shock [FS]) and psychological stress (PS) to mimic the direct suffering and witnessing of traumatic events. Twenty-one days after traumatic stress, some of the experimental animals presented startled awakening (i.e., were startled awake by a supposed “nightmare”) with different electroencephalographic spectra features. Our neuroanatomical results showed that the secondary somatosensory cortex and primary auditory cortex may play an important role in remote traumatic memory retrieval in FS “nightmare” (FSN) rats, whereas the temporal association cortex may play an important role in PS “nightmare” (PSN) rats. The FSN and PSN groups possessed common emotion evocation circuits, including activation of the amygdala and inactivation of the infralimbic prefrontal cortex and ventral anterior cingulate cortex. The decreased activity of the granular and dysgranular insular cortex was only observed in PSN rats. The present results imply that different types of stress may cause PTSD-like “nightmares” in rodents and identified the possible neurocircuitry of memory retrieval and emotion evocation.
Electrical Double Layer Capacitance in a Graphene-embedded Al2O3 Gate Dielectric
Authors: Ki Min Bok , Kim Seong K. , Jun Kim Seong , Ho Kim Sung , Kang Min-A , Park Chong-Yun , Song Wooseok , Myung Sung , Lim Jongsun , An Ki-Seok
Published: November 2015

Graphene heterostructures are of considerable interest as a new class of electronic devices with exceptional performance in a broad range of applications has been realized. Here, we propose a graphene-embedded Al2O3 gate dielectric with a relatively high dielectric constant of 15.5, which is about 2 times that of Al2O3, having a low leakage current with insertion of tri-layer graphene. In this system, the enhanced capacitance of the hybrid structure can be understood by the formation of a space charge layer at the graphene/Al2O3 interface. The electrical properties of the interface can be further explained by the electrical double layer (EDL) model dominated by the diffuse layer.
Smart protein biogate as a mediator to regulate competitive host-guest interaction for sensitive ratiometric electrochemical assay of prion
Authors: Yu Peng , Zhang Xiaohua , Zhou Jiawan , Xiong Erhu , Li Xiaoyu , Chen Jinhua
Published: November 2015

A novel competitive host-guest strategy regulated by protein biogate was developed for sensitive and selective analysis of prion protein. The methylene blue (MB)-tagged prion aptamer (MB-Apt) was introduced to the multiwalled carbon nanotubes-β-cyclodextrins (MWCNTs-β-CD) composites-modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode through the host-guest interaction between β-CD and MB. In the absence of prion, MB-Apt could be displaced by ferrocenecarboxylic acid (FCA) due to its stronger binding affinity to β-CD, resulting in a large oxidation peak of FCA. However, in the presence of prion, the specific prion-aptamer interaction drove the formation of protein biogate to seal the cavity of β-CD, which hindered the guest displacement of MB by FCA and resulted in the oxidation peak current of MB (IMB) increased and that of FCA (IFCA) decreased. The developed aptasensor showed good response towards the target (prion protein) with a low detection limit of 160 fM. By changing the specific aptamers, this strategy could be easily extended to detect other proteins, showing promising potential for extensive applications in bioanalysis.
One-dimensional sawtooth and zigzag lattices for ultracold atoms
Authors: Zhang Ting , Jo Gyu-Boong
Published: November 2015

We describe tunable optical sawtooth and zigzag lattices for ultracold atoms. Making use of the superlattice generated by commensurate wavelengths of light beams, tunable geometries including zigzag and sawtooth configurations can be realised. We provide an experimentally feasible method to fully control inter- (t) and intra- (t′) unit-cell tunnelling in zigzag and sawtooth lattices. We analyse the conversion of the lattice geometry from zigzag to sawtooth and show that a nearly flat band is attainable in the sawtooth configuration by means of tuning the lattice parameters. The bandwidth of the first excited band can be reduced up to 2% of the ground bandwidth for a wide range of lattice setting. A nearly flat band available in a tunable sawtooth lattice would offer a versatile platform for the study of interaction-driven quantum many-body states with ultracold atoms.
Stroma-associated master regulators of molecular subtypes predict patient prognosis in ovarian cancer
Authors: Zhang Shengzhe , Jing Ying , Zhang Meiying , Zhang Zhenfeng , Ma Pengfei , Peng Huixin , Shi Kaixuan , Gao Wei-Qiang , Zhuang Guanglei
Published: November 2015

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGS-OvCa) has the lowest survival rate among all gynecologic cancers and is hallmarked by a high degree of heterogeneity. The Cancer Genome Atlas network has described a gene expression-based molecular classification of HGS-OvCa into Differentiated, Mesenchymal, Immunoreactive and Proliferative subtypes. However, the biological underpinnings and regulatory mechanisms underlying the distinct molecular subtypes are largely unknown. Here we showed that tumor-infiltrating stromal cells significantly contributed to the assignments of Mesenchymal and Immunoreactive clusters. Using reverse engineering and an unbiased interrogation of subtype regulatory networks, we identified the transcriptional modules containing master regulators that drive gene expression of Mesenchymal and Immunoreactive HGS-OvCa. Mesenchymal master regulators were associated with poor prognosis, while Immunoreactive master regulators positively correlated with overall survival. Meta-analysis of 749 HGS-OvCa expression profiles confirmed that master regulators as a prognostic signature were able to predict patient outcome. Our data unraveled master regulatory programs of HGS-OvCa subtypes with prognostic and potentially therapeutic relevance and suggested that the unique transcriptional and clinical characteristics of ovarian Mesenchymal and Immunoreactive subtypes could be, at least partially, ascribed to tumor microenvironment.
Elevated GRP78 expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer
Authors: Niu Zheyu , Wang Mengyi , Zhou Li , Yao Lutian , Liao Quan , Zhao Yupei
Published: November 2015

Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is a member of the heat-shock protein 70 family. We evaluated the expression of GRP78 using tissue microarray-based immunohistochemistry in tumor tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues from 180 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. The associations between the expression levels of GRP78, clinicopathological factors and overall survival were evaluated. The results showed that the expression of GRP78 was significantly higher in PDAC cells than in normal pancreatic duct cells within adjacent nontumor tissues (p < 0.05). The increased expression of GRP78 in the tumor tissues was significantly correlated with a higher T-stage (p < 0.05) and a shorter overall survival (OS, p < 0.05). In an in vitro study, the regulation of GRP78 in the PDAC cell lines affected the proliferation, migration and invasion of PDAC cells through the regulation of CyclinD1, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4, CDK6, phospho-signal transducer, activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3), janus kinase 2 (JAK2), ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA), Rho-associated kinase 1 (ROCK1) and sterile alpha motif domain containing protein 4 (Smad4). The present data suggest that GRP78 plays a crucial role in the proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells and may be a suitable prognostic marker in PDAC.
On-chip optical mode exchange using tapered directional coupler
Authors: Zhang Zhonglai , Hu Xiao , Wang Jian
Published: November 2015

We present an on-chip optical mode exchange between two multiplexed modes by using tapered directional couplers on silicon-on-insulator platform. The device consisting of mode multiplexing and mode exchange is compact with relatively large fabrication error tolerance. The simulation results show efficient higher order mode excitation and mode exchange. A low excess loss less than 0.5 dB and high extinction ratio larger than 15 dB over 10 nm wavelength range from 1535 to 1545 nm are achieved.
Physiological Function of Rac Prophage During Biofilm Formation and Regulation of Rac Excision in Escherichia coli K-12
Authors: Liu Xiaoxiao , Li Yangmei , Guo Yunxue , Zeng Zhenshun , Li Baiyuan , Wood Thomas K. , Cai Xingsheng , Wang Xiaoxue
Published: November 2015

Rac or rac-like prophage harbors many genes with important physiological functions, while it remains excision-proficient in several bacterial strains including Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. Here, we found that rac excision is induced during biofilm formation and the isogenic stain without rac is more motile and forms more biofilms in nutrient-rich medium at early stages in E. coli K-12. Additionally, the presence of rac genes increases cell lysis during biofilm development. In most E. coli strains, rac is integrated into the ttcA gene which encodes a tRNA-thioltransferase. Rac excision in E. coli K-12 leads to a functional change of TtcA, which results in reduced fitness in the presence of carbenicillin. Additionally, we demonstrate that YdaQ (renamed as XisR) is the excisionase of rac in E. coli K-12 and that rac excision is induced by the stationary sigma factor RpoS through inducing xisR expression. Taken together, our results reveal that upon rac integration, not only are new genes introduced into the host, but also there is a functional change in a host enzyme. Hence, rac excision is tightly regulated by host factors to control its stability in the host genome under different stress conditions.