bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Angiography Provides Collateral Circulation and Hemodynamic Information in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Hernández-Pérez María , Puig Josep , Blasco Gerard , Pérez de la Ossa Natalia , Dorado Laura , Dávalos Antoni , Munuera Josep
Published: December 2015

Background and Purpose—

Contrary to usual static vascular imaging techniques, contrast-enhanced dynamic magnetic resonance angiography (dMRA) enables dynamic study of cerebral vessels. We evaluated dMRA ability to assess arterial occlusion, cerebral hemodynamics, and collateral circulation in acute ischemic stroke.

Methods—

Twenty-five acute ischemic stroke patients with proximal anterior circulation occlusion underwent dMRA on a 3T scanner within 12 hours of symptoms onset. Diffusion weighted imaging,
T
max
6 s lesion volumes and hypoperfusion intensity ratio as volume of
T
max
>6 s/volume of
T
max
>10 s were measured. Site and grade of occlusion (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction criteria) were evaluated on time-of-flight MRA and dMRA. Leptomeningeal collaterality (American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology/Society of Interventional Radiology [ASITN/SIR] Scale) and asymmetries in venous clearance were assessed exclusively on dMRA. Collateral filling was dichotomized into incomplete (ASITN/SIR 0–2) or complete (ASITN/SIR 3–4).

Results—

On dMRA, site of occlusion was M1 in 21 patients, tandem internal carotid artery/M1 in 2 and tandem internal carotid artery/terminal internal carotid artery in 2 patients. Three tandem occlusions were not detected on time-of-flight–MRA. All patients had Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 0 to 1 on time-of-flight–MRA, but three of them had Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 2 on dMRA. Complete collateral filling (n=12, 48%) was associated with smaller diffusion weighted imaging lesion volume (
P
=0.039), smaller hypoperfused volume (
P
=0.018), and lower hypoperfusion intensity ratio (
P
=0.006). Patients with symmetrical clearance of transverse sinuses (52%) were more likely to have complete collateral filling (
P
=0.015).

Conclusions—

As a fast, direct, feasible, noninvasive, and reliable method to assess site of occlusion, collateral circulation and hemodynamic alterations, dMRA provides profound insights in acute stroke.
Radiosurgery for Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations in A Randomized Trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (ARUBA)-Eligible Patients
Authors: Ding Dale , Starke Robert M. , Kano Hideyuki , Mathieu David , Huang Paul , Kondziolka Douglas , Feliciano Caleb , Rodriguez-Mercado Rafael , Almodovar Luis , Grills Inga S. , Silva Danilo , Abbassy Mahmoud , Missios Symeon , Barnett Gene H. , Lunsford L. Dade , Sheehan Jason P.
Published: December 2015

Background and Purpose—

The benefit of intervention for patients with unruptured cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) was challenged by results demonstrating superior clinical outcomes with conservative management from A Randomized Trial of Unruptured Brain AVMs (ARUBA). The aim of this multicenter, retrospective cohort study is to analyze the outcomes of stereotactic radiosurgery for ARUBA-eligible patients.

Methods—

We combined AVM radiosurgery outcome data from 7 institutions participating in the International Gamma Knife Research Foundation. Patients with ≥12 months of follow-up were screened for ARUBA eligibility criteria. Favorable outcome was defined as AVM obliteration, no postradiosurgery hemorrhage, and no permanently symptomatic radiation–induced changes. Adverse neurological outcome was defined as any new or worsening neurological symptoms or death.

Results—

The ARUBA-eligible cohort comprised 509 patients (mean age, 40 years). The Spetzler–Martin grade was I to II in 46% and III to IV in 54%. The mean radiosurgical margin dose was 22 Gy and follow-up was 86 months. AVM obliteration was achieved in 75%. The postradiosurgery hemorrhage rate during the latency period was 0.9% per year. Symptomatic and permanent radiation–induced changes occurred in 11% and 3%, respectively. The rates of favorable outcome, adverse neurological outcome, permanent neurological morbidity, and mortality were 70%, 13%, 5%, and 4%, respectively.

Conclusions—

Radiosurgery may provide durable clinical benefit in some ARUBA-eligible patients. On the basis of the natural history of untreated, unruptured AVMs in the medical arm of ARUBA, we estimate that a follow-up duration of 15 to 20 years is necessary to realize a potential benefit of radiosurgical intervention for conservative management in unruptured patients with AVM.
„Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman / Souvenir, Talisman, Toy” (wystawa w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Krakowie, 2013 rok, kuratorka: Erica Lehrer)
Authors: Cała Alina
Published: December 2015

Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman / Souvenir, Talisman, Toy (an exhibition in Cracow’s Ethnographic Museum, 2013, prepared by Erica Lehrer)The article is a review of the exhibition Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman / Souvenir, Toy, Talisman, which opened at the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Cracow on 30 June 2013, during the Jewish Culture Festival. The exhibition was curated by Erica Lehrer. Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman / Souvenir, Talisman, Toy (wystawa w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Krakowie, 2013 rok, kuratorka: Erica Lehrer)Jest to recenzja wystawy Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman / Souvenir, Talisman, Toy, która została otwarta podczas Festiwalu Kultury Żydowskiej w Muzeum Etnograficznym im. Seweryna Udzieli w Krakowie 30 czerwca 2013 roku. Jej kuratorem była Erica Lehrer.
Historia Afroniemców
Authors: Krawczyk-Onyibe Judyta
Published: December 2015

History of Afro-GermansThe purpose of article History of Afro-Germans is to shad more light on the history of Afro-Germans of the last eight decades. I raise here issues like: social inclusion and exclusion, national affiliation, acceptance, self-identification and social categorization, stigmatization, discrimination based on racial background. I describe how this group has been perceived by the White majority of Germans, and activities of Afro-Germans that influenced change of their status and image in Germany. Based on a theoretical analysis, the following results reflect an incremental development in the recognition of Afro-Germans in Germany. Whereas the first generation of the 1940’s had been labelled as “occupation kids” not recognized by the majority of German society as member of it, rather as unwanted souvenir of Allies soldiers, the youngest generation in the meantime enjoys almost all rights included in being a German citizen. Historia AfroniemcówHistoria Afroniemców to artykuł, którego celem jest rzucić światło na historię Afroniemców na przestrzeni ostatnich ośmiu dekad. Poruszam w nim takie zagadnienia, jak: inkluzja i ekskluzja społeczna, przynależność narodowa, akceptacja, autoidentyfikacja i kategoryzacja społeczna oraz stygmatyzacja i dyskryminacja na tle rasowym. Opisuję sposób postrzegania Afroniemców przez białą większość Niemców, jak i działania samej mniejszości wpływające na zmianę jej statusu i wizerunku w Niemczech. Na podstawie teoretycznej analizy dostępnych materiałów stwierdzam, iż doszło do stopniowego postępu w kwestii akceptacji Afroniemców. Mam na uwadze, że pierwsza generacja nazywana „dziećmi okupacji” nie była uznawana za część społeczeństwa niemieckiego, raczej za niechcianą „pamiątkę” po alianckich żołnierzach, tymczasem najmłodsza generacja cieszy się prawie pełnią praw, jakie przysługują niemieckiemu obywatelowi.
Mesoscale modeling of S-2 Glass/SC-15 epoxy composites: 3D-weave architecture
Authors: Carpenter Alexander J , Chocron Sidney , Anderson Charles E
Published: December 2015

The addition of Z-yarns to an S-2 glass composite can increase the material's resistance to interlayer delamination and damage. However, the presence of the Z-yarns also complicates the resulting constitutive behavior, as multiple individual failure mechanisms (e.g. yarn/matrix delamination, yarn breakage) may occur before the overall ultimate failure of the composite is reached. A mesoscale model of a 3D-weave composite was created to provide insights into these processes. Material models for the yarns, matrix, and interfaces were previously developed for a similar plain-weave composite. These were combined with a complicated unit cell geometry that could be used to construct specimen meshes that closely matched the physical characteristics of the 3D-weave composite. Numerical simulations conducted using this model can reproduce most aspects of the load–displacement curves and the observed failure mechanisms from tension, torsion, and delamination tests.
Screen Trauma: Visual Media and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Pinchevski Amit
Published: December 2015

Recent studies in psychiatry reveal an acceptance of trauma through the media. Traditionally restricted to immediate experience, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is now expanding to include mediated experience. How did this development come about? How does mediated trauma manifest itself? What are its consequences? This essay addresses these questions through three cases: (1) ‘trauma film paradigm’, an early 1960s research program that employed films to simulate traumatic effects; (2) the psychiatric study into the clinical effects of watching catastrophic events on television, culminating with the September 11 attacks; (3) reports on drone operators who exhibit PTSD symptoms after flying combat missions away from the war zone. The recognition of mediated trauma marks a qualitative change in the understanding of media effects, rendering the impact literal and the consequences clinical. What informs recent speculations about the possibility of trauma through media is a conceptual link between visual media and contemporary conceptions of trauma.
Angiomyolipoma with minimal fat: differentiation of morphological and enhancement features from renal cell carcinoma at CT imaging
Authors: Sung Chang Kyu , Kim See Hyung , Woo Sungmin , Moon Min Hoan , Kim Sang Youn , Kim Seung Hyup , Cho Jeong Yeon
Published: December 2015

Background

Angiomyolipoma (AML) with minimal fat may mimic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and is difficult to distinguish from RCC with imaging studies alone. Precise diagnostic strategies have been explored to discern AML with minimal fat from RCC.

Purpose

To compare the morphological and enhancement features of AML with minimal fat with those of size-matched RCC on computed tomography (CT).

Material and Methods

Our study included 143 pathologically proved renal tumors (29 AML with minimal fat: mean diameter, 2.5 cm; range, 1.2–4 cm; 114 RCC: mean diameter, 2.8 cm; range, 1.3–4 cm). All patients underwent biphasic helical CTs. Two radiologists retrospectively evaluated the morphological (i.e. non-round and round appearances, with or without capsule) and enhancement features (i.e., wash-out, gradual, or prolonged). For the parameters that had statistically significance between the two groups, we calculated the positive and negative predictive values by using the univariate χ2 test. P < 0.05 indicated a significant difference.

Results

AML with minimal fat showed a non-round appearance without a capsule ( n = 24, 83%) and prolonged enhancement ( n = 20, 69%). The positive and negative predictive values of the non-round appearance without capsule for differentiating AML with minimal fat from RCC were 82.8% and 95.6%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values of prolonged enhancement were 62.5% and 90.8%, respectively. These features were valuable predictors for AML with minimal fat from RCC.

Conclusion

CT images with non-round shape without capsule and prolonged enhancements may be used to differentiate AML with minimal fat from RCC.
Concept Inventing
Authors: Doucet Thomas
Published: December 2015

Among most individuals and nations, peace is upheld as a supreme value (Rummel, 1981). Throughout the ages peace has been conceptualized in many ways–from an essentialist perspective to a secular perspective based on utility, prosperity, and justice, where individuals aim to improve conditions by creating a network that aspires to living together harmoniously with concern for one another. Though there is no standard definition of peace, the concept has been accepted as a determinant of health in view of prevalent disparities and in light of optimizing justice that both influence the health of individuals and societies. Hence, shedding light on the phenomenon of feeling peaceful through concept inventing would enhance understanding of peace as a value.
Ethics and Defining Cultural Competence
Authors: Milton Constance L.
Published: December 2015

Global ethics calls upon the discipline of nursing to critically evaluate personal and culture-based beliefs to nurture professionalism in relationships and improve health disparities. What does it potentially mean to provide nurse services based on culture and cultural competence? This article begins a discussion of potential ethical questions that surround the concept of culture and potential implications for education and practice from a nursing theoretical perspective.
Intention in Nursing Practice
Authors: Sofhauser Cynthia
Published: December 2015

The purpose of this column is to explore the meaning of intention in nursing practice and distinguish it from the concept of intentionality. The notion that nurses engage in a purposeful act of setting intention prior to delivery of nursing care is introduced, and nursing implications for setting intention in practice is offered.
Health As Expanding Consciousness
Authors: Stec Mary W.
Published: December 2015

Clinical reasoning has been identified as a necessary skill to practice nursing. Multiple studies suggested that a gap exists between the education of nurses and their ability to transition into practice. Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness and research as paxis methodology was used to collect and analyze data of seven senior baccalaureate nursing students. Patterns of individual and across participants revealed the emergence of patterns of relating, knowing, and clinical decision-making as contributing to the evolving pattern of clinical reasoning. The findings of this study were consistent with Newman’s theory and support the theoretical framework and methodology.
On Being a Father or Sibling in Light of the Humanbecoming Family Model
Authors: Baumann Steven L. , Braddick Marybeth
Published: December 2015

The following article provides an updated discussion on two Parse grounded exploratory descriptive studies in light to her recently added humanbecoming family model. The comments of the fathers and siblings from the studies reveal that family life is unpredictable and that family relationships are paradoxical evolutional emergences of shifting hopes and dreams. The humanbecoming family model provided a useful way to consider fathering and being a sibling, as unexpected unfoldings of joy-sorrow reveal purposeful new possibilities. It guides health professionals to avoid the imposition of their views on what is best for the family in favor of bearing witness to the suffering and disappointments that unfold in family life. It is important to remain open to families’ sources of meaning, courage, and hope in the moment.
More Thoughts about Names in Nursing
Authors: Fawcett Jacqueline
Published: December 2015

This essay addresses the names used for nursing academic units and journals. Discussion focuses on questions about nursing (or nursology) as a health profession and the redundancy of combining the term, nursing, with terms about health used by many colleges, schools, divisions, and departments, as well as by some journals.
Rogers’ Science of Unitary Human Beings
Authors: Phillips John R.
Published: December 2015

Rogers’ development of her science is discussed along with purpose and meaning of changes that she made over a period of years. Explication of her science and her characteristics highlight how she went beyond the frontier of science. A new theory derived from her science shows the significance of the unity of pandimensional awareness and integral presence. Speculation is made of the universe energyspirit as a uniton.
Optimal synthesis of four-bar motion generator linkages using circular proximity function
Authors: Hadizadeh Kafash Sahand , Nahvi Ali
Published: December 2015

In this paper, a new objective function named circular proximity function (CPF) is proposed for the synthesis of four-bar motion generator linkages. This function is designed to measure the similarity of a group of points in Cartesian space to a circular curve. This function lowers the number of optimization variables to only two variables reducing the computational cost significantly. The optimization process has been carried out by the method of Differential Evolution (DE). Four case studies have been investigated in this study to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed method.
Dynamic response of a locomotive with AC electric drives to changes in friction conditions
Authors: Liu Sheng , Tian Ye , Daniel William JT , Meehan Paul A
Published: December 2015

Locomotive traction control behaviour and its dynamic impacts on rails and vehicles have not been comprehensively investigated in respect to transient conditions. Such transient traction behaviour could be more significant than steady state behaviour in determining dynamic traction performance and track degradation (i.e. squat/corrugation formation, etc.). In order to study this effect, detailed numerical simulations are performed to investigate a locomotive’s dynamic response to a change in contact conditions. In particular, creep response, vibration of the locomotive, and dynamic normal and traction forces are determined using a developed full-scale dynamics model of a locomotive. The model includes a detailed representation of the AC motor dynamics, which has not been considered in previous works. The results show that the detailed model is capable of simulating the dynamic fluctuations in creep and traction forces that are not considered in simpler models. Such transient responses may cause damage to the track and vehicle components.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome following pembrolizumab therapy for relapsed Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Authors: LaPorte Justin , Solh Melhem , Ouanounou Serge
Published: December 2015

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is characterized by a group of central nervous system related symptoms. Diagnosis is usually made by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Common causes can be arterial hypertension, sepsis, autoimmune disorders, and medications. We report PRES in a relapsed Hodgkin’s Lymphoma patient after a dose of pembrolizumab.
Mechanical characterization of natural biodegradable sandwich materials
Authors: Bach Matthew R , Chalivendra Vijaya B , Alves Clovis , Depina Elson
Published: December 2015

Natural biodegradable sandwich materials were fabricated and mechanical characterization was performed under flexural and impact loading conditions. The sandwich structure consists of hardwood as face plates, mushroom foam as a core, and natural glue as an adhesive. Two different hardwood layers were used to investigate the effect of thickness and the stiffness on the flexural and impact properties. Under impact loads, two different projectile velocities were employed to understand their effect on energy absorption of the sandwich materials. It was found that the sandwich made using high stiffness wood panels showed improved flexural properties as well as maximum energy absorption at higher impact velocities. The damage of front and rear sides of impact specimens was analyzed to understand the effect of impact velocity on damage zone. The damage area on the rear side of the specimen decreased significantly with high stiffness wood face plates at lower projectile velocity. The increase is energy absorption is better supported by the increase in damage area on both front and rear sides of sandwich materials at higher projectile velocity. Both flexural properties and energy absorption demonstrated great promise to use these sandwich structures for structural load bearing applications.
Investigation of the effect of friction stir processing parameters on temperature and forces of Al–Si aluminum alloys
Authors: Akbari Mostafa , Khalkhali Abolfazl , Keshavarz Seyyed Mohammad Ebrahim , Sarikhani Ehsan
Published: December 2015

Temperature and forces in friction stir processing (FSP) induced by process input parameters play a critical role in successful welding. In this investigation, the effect of the process parameters on the axial and longitudinal forces and temperature history of the process were investigated. The temperature distribution during the FSP was determined by placing thermocouples in the workpiece and measuring the temperature during the process. The tool forces were investigated experimentally using an especially designed load measuring system. The pin shape, rotational speed and traverse speed were the parameters taken into consideration. It was observed that increase in tool traverse speed or decrease in rotational speed leads to increase in both tool axial and longitudinal forces.
Structural behaviour of pultruded fibre composites guardrail system under horizontal loading
Authors: Manalo Allan , Pac Mac
Published: December 2015

Fibre composite guardrails are increasingly being used to ensure safety of workers from fall-from-height incidents due to its high strength, high corrosion resistance and low maintenance. In this study, the structural behaviour of pultruded glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) guardrail was evaluated following AS1657-1992. GFRP guardrail systems mounted on top and side of a steel beam with different joint connectors are loaded horizontally to top of the guardrail post and to the middle of the guardrail member. The results showed that the guardrail system with joints connected with either polypin or rivets combined with epoxy exhibited 20% higher failure load and almost double the stiffness than those connected using polypin or rivets alone. The side-mounted guardrail failed due to failure of the base connector while the guardrail mounted on top of the beam failed at the joints indicating that the structural behaviour of GFRP guardrail system is affected mainly by the type of joints.
Lessons from filial piety: Do we need ‘memorial social work’ for the dead and their families?
Authors: Park Hong-Jae
Published: December 2015

Death is often a taboo topic and, consequently, there is a reluctance to address matters such as the cultural importance of after-life reputations and ancestor remembrance in the social work field. Reflecting on filial piety studies with Korean participants, this article aims to call attention to such death-related issues and their implications for end-of-life, palliative social work practice and research. The term ‘memorial social work’ is used to help practitioners broaden the scope and quality of social work associated with people who have died and their surviving families. The discussion in this paper includes issues related to filial piety and attitudes towards ageing parents, ancestor honour and remembrance and family continuity. The areas to which memorial social work are particularly pertinent are suggested for further development.
Radial access for cerebrovascular procedures: Case report and technical note
Authors: Satti Sudhakar R , Vance Ansar Z , Sivapatham Thinesh
Published: December 2015

Background

Advantages of radial access over brachial/axillary or femoral access have been well described for several decades and include decreased cost, patient preference, and decreased major access site complications. Despite these advantages, radial access is rarely employed or even considered for neurointerventional procedures. This attitude should be reconsidered given several recent large, randomized, controlled trials from the cardiovascular literature proving that radial access is associated with statistically lower costs, decreased incidence of myocardial infarctions, strokes, and even decreased mortality. Radial access is now considered the standard of care for percutaneous coronary interventions in most US centers. Although radial access has been described for neurovascular procedures in the past, overall experience is limited. The two major challenges are the unique anatomy required to access the cerebral vasculature given very acute angles between the arm and craniocervical vessels and limitations in available technology.

Methods

We present a simplified approach to radial access for cerebrovascular procedures and provide a concise step-by-step approach for patient selection, ultrasound-guided single-wall access, recommended catheters/wires, and review of patent hemostasis. Additionally, we present a complex cerebrovascular intervention in which standard femoral access was unsuccessful, while radial access was quickly achieved to highlight the importance of familiarity with the radial approach for all neurointerventionalists.

Results

We have found that the learning curve is not too steep and that the radial access approach can be adopted smoothly for a large percentage of diagnostic and interventional neuroradiologic procedures.

Conclusions

Radial access should be considered in all patients undergoing a cerebrovascular procedure.
Detailed reconstruction of the nervous and muscular system of Lobatocerebridae with an evaluation of its annelid affinity
Authors: Kerbl Alexandra , Bekkouche Nicolas , Sterrer Wolfgang , Worsaae Katrine
Published: December 2015

Background

The microscopic worm group Lobatocerebridae has been regarded a ‘problematicum’, with the systematic relationship being highly debated until a recent phylogenomic study placed them within annelids (Curr Biol 25: 2000-2006, 2015). To date, a morphological comparison with other spiralian taxa lacks detailed information on the nervous and muscular system, which is here presented forLobatocerebrum riegerin. sp. based on immunohistochemistry and confocal laser scanning microscopy, supported by TEM and live observations.

Results

The musculature is organized as a grid of longitudinal muscles and transverse muscular ring complexes in the trunk. The rostrum is supplied by longitudinal muscles and only a few transverse muscles. The intraepidermal central nervous system consists of a big, multi-lobed brain, nine major nerve bundles extending anteriorly into the rostrum and two lateral and one median cord extending posteriorly to the anus, connected by five commissures. The glandular epidermis has at least three types of mucus secreting glands and one type of adhesive unicellular glands.

Conclusions

No exclusive “annelid characters” could be found in the neuromuscular system of Lobatocerebridae, except for perhaps the mid-ventral nerve. However, none of the observed structures disputes its position within this group. The neuromuscular and glandular system ofL. riegerin. sp. shows similarities to those of meiofaunal annelids such as Dinophilidae and Protodrilidae, yet likewise to Gnathostomulida and catenulid Platyhelminthes, all living in the restrictive interstitial environment among sand grains. It therefore suggests an extreme evolutionary plasticity of annelid nervous and muscular architecture, previously regarded as highly conservative organ systems throughout metazoan evolution.
Human mesenchymal stem cells target adhesion molecules and receptors involved in T cell extravasation
Authors: Benvenuto Federica , Voci Adriana , Carminati Enrico , Gualandi Francesca , Mancardi Gianluigi , Uccelli Antonio , Vergani Laura
Published: December 2015

Introduction

Systemic delivery of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) seems to be of benefit in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) sustained by migration of T cells across the brain blood barrier (BBB) and subsequent induction of inflammatory lesions into CNS. MSC have been found to modulate several effector functions of T cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of MSC on adhesion molecules and receptors on T cell surface that sustain their transendothelial migration.

Methods

We used different co-culture methods combined with real-time PCR and flow cytometry to evaluate the expression both at the mRNA and at the plasma-membrane level of α4 integrin, β2 integrin, ICAM-1 and CXCR3. In parallel, we assessed if MSC are able to modulate expression of adhesion molecules on the endothelial cells that interact with T cells during their transendothelial migration.

Results

Our in vitro analyses revealed that MSC: (i) inhibit proliferation and activation of both peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and CD3+-selected lymphocytes through the release of soluble factors; (ii) exert suppressive effects on those surface molecules highly expressed by activated lymphocytes and involved in transendothelial migration; (iii) inhibit CXCL10-driven chemotaxis of CD3+ cells; (iv) down-regulated expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells.

Conclusions

Taken together, these data demonstrate that the immunosuppressive effect of MSC does not exclusively depends on their anti-proliferative activity on T cells, but also on the impairment of leukocyte migratory potential through the inhibition of the adhesion molecules and receptors that are responsible for T cell trafficking across BBB. This could suggest a new mechanism through which MSC modulate T cell responses.
Two Forkhead transcription factors regulate cardiac progenitor specification by controlling the expression of receptors of the fibroblast growth factor and Wnt signaling pathways
Authors: Ahmad Shaad M. , Bhattacharyya Pritha , Jeffries Neal , Gisselbrecht Stephen S. , Michelson Alan M.
Published: December 2015

Cardiogenesis involves the coordinated regulation of multiple biological processes by a finite set of transcription factors (TFs). Here we show that the Forkhead TFs, Checkpoint suppressor homologue (CHES-1-like) and Jumeau (Jumu), which govern cardiac progenitor cell divisions by regulating Polo kinase activity, play an additional, mutually redundant role in specifying the cardiac mesoderm (CM) since eliminating the functions of both Forkhead genes in the same embryo results in defective hearts with missing hemisegments. This process is mediated by the Forkhead TFs regulating the fibroblast growth factor receptor Heartless (Htl) and the Wnt receptor Frizzled (Fz): CHES-1-like and jumu exhibit synergistic genetic interactions with htl and fz in CM specification, thereby implying function through the same genetic pathways, and transcriptionally activate the expression of both receptor-encoding genes. Furthermore, ectopic overexpression of either htl or fz in the mesoderm partially rescues the defective CM specification phenotype in embryos lacking both Forkhead genes. Together, these data emphasize the functional redundancy that leads to robustness in the cardiac progenitor specification process, and illustrate the pleiotropic functions of Forkhead TFs in different aspects of cardiogenesis.
Genes implicated in stem-cell identity and temporal-program are directly targeted by Notch in neuroblast tumours
Authors: Zacharioudaki Evanthia , Housden Benjamin E , Garinis George , Stojnic Robert , Delidakis Christos , Bray Sarah
Published: December 2015

Notch signalling is involved in a multitude of developmental decisions and its aberrant activation is linked to many diseases, including cancers. One such example is the neural stem cell tumours that arise from constitutive Notch activity in Drosophila neuroblasts. To investigate how hyper-activation of Notch in larval neuroblasts leads to tumours, we combined results from profiling the upregulated mRNAs and mapping the regions bound by Su(H) (the core Notch pathway transcription factor). This identified 246 putative direct Notch targets. These genes were highly enriched for transcription factors (TFs) and overlapped significantly with a previously identified regulatory programme dependent on the proneural transcription factor Asense. Included were genes associated with the neuroblast maintenance and self-renewal programme that we validated as Notch regulated in vivo. Another group were the so-called temporal transcription factors, which have been implicated in neuroblast maturation. Normally expressed in specific time windows, several temporal transcription factors were ectopically expressed in the stem cell tumours, suggesting that Notch had reprogrammed their normal temporal regulation. Indeed, the Notch-induced hyperplasia was reduced by mutations affecting two of the temporal factors, which, conversely, were sufficient to induce mild hyperplasia on their own. Altogether the results suggest that Notch induces neuroblast tumours by promoting directly the expression of genes that contribute to stem cell identity and by re-programming the expression of factors that could regulate maturity.
Pdx1 regulates pancreas tubulogenesis and E-cadherin expression
Authors: Marty-Santos Leilani , Cleaver Ondine
Published: December 2015

Current efforts in developing diabetes treatments focus on in vitro generation of functional beta cells for cell replacement therapies; however, these attempts have only been partly successful as factors involved in islet formation remain incompletely understood. The embryonic pancreas, which gives rise to beta cells, undergoes early epithelial rearrangements, including transient stratification of an initially monolayered epithelium, followed by microlumen formation and later resolution into branches. Within the epithelium, a multipotent progenitor cell (MPC) population is specified, giving rise to three important lineages: acinar, ductal and endocrine. Pdx1 is a transcription factor required for pancreas development and lineage specification, however few Pdx1 targets that regulate pancreatogenesis have been identified. We find that pancreatic defects in Pdx1−/− embryos initiate at the time when the progenitor pool is specified and the epithelium should resolve into branches. Pdx1−/− microlumen diameters expand aberrantly, resulting in failure of epithelial tubulogenesis and ductal plexus formation. Pdx1−/− epithelial cell proliferation is decreased and the MPC pool is rapidly lost. We identify two conserved Pdx1 binding sites in the Epithelial cadherin (E-cad) promoter, and show that Pdx1 directly binds and activates E-cad transcription. In addition, Pdx1 is required in vivo for maintenance of E-cad expression, actomyosin complex activity and cell shape. These findings demonstrate a novel link between regulators of epithelial architecture, specification of pancreatic cell fate and organogenesis.
C-Raf promotes Angiogenesis during Normal Growth Plate Maturation
Authors: Liu Eva S. , Raimann Adalbert , Chae Byongsoo Timothy , Martins Janaina S. , Baccarini Manuela , Demay Marie B.
Published: December 2015

Extracellular phosphate plays a critical role in growth plate maturation by inducing Erk1/2 phosphorylation, leading to hypertrophic chondrocyte apoptosis. The Raf kinases induce Mek1/2 and Erk1/2 phosphorylation, however a role for Raf kinases in endochondral bone formation has not been identified. Ablation of both A- and B-Raf in chondrocytes does not alter growth plate maturation. Because C-Raf phosphorylation is increased by extracellular phosphate and C-Raf is the predominant isoform expressed in hypertrophic chondrocytes, chondrocyte-specific C-Raf knockout mice (C-Raf f/f;Col II-Cre+) were generated to define a role for C-Raf in growth plate maturation. In vivo studies demonstrated that loss of C-Raf in chondrocytes leads to expansion of the hypertrophic layer of the growth plate with decreased p-Erk1/2 immunoreactivity and impaired hypertrophic chondrocyte apoptosis. However, cultured hypertrophic chondrocytes from these mice did not exhibit impairment of phosphate-induced Erk1/2 phosphorylation.

Studies performed to reconcile the discrepancy between the in vitro and in vivo hypertrophic chondrocyte phenotypes revealed normal chondrocyte differentiation in C-Raf f/f;Col II-Cre+ mice and lack of compensatory increase in expression of A-Raf and B-Raf. However, VEGF immunoreactivity in the hypertrophic chondrocytes of C-Raf f/f;Col II-Cre+ mice was significantly reduced, associated with increased ubiquitination of VEGF protein. Thus C-Raf plays an important role in growth plate maturation by regulating vascular invasion, which is critical for replacement of terminally differentiated hypertrophic chondrocytes by bone.
Genetic analysis of Runx2 function during intramembranous ossification
Authors: Takarada Takeshi , Nakazato Ryota , Tsuchikane Azusa , Fujikawa Koichi , Iezaki Takashi , Yoneda Yukio , Hinoi Eiichi
Published: December 2015

Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) is an essential transcriptional regulator of osteoblast differentiation and its haploinsufficiency leads to cleidocranial dysplasia because of a defect in osteoblast differentiation during bone formation through intramembranous ossification. The cellular origin and essential period for Runx2 function during osteoblast differentiation in intramembranous ossification remain poorly understood. Paired related homeobox 1 (Prx1) is expressed in craniofacial mesenchyme, and Runx2 deficiency in Prx1+-derived cells (Runx2prx1−/− mice) resulted in defective intramembranous ossification. Runx2 was heterogeneously expressed in Prx1-green fluorescent protein (GFP)+ cells located at the intrasutural mesenchyme in the calvaria of transgenic mice expressing GFP under the control of the Prx1 promoter. Double-positive cells for Prx1-GFP and stem cell antigen-1 (Sca1) (Prx1+Sca1+ cells) in the calvaria expressed Runx2 at lower levels and were more homogeneous and primitive as compared with Prx1+Sca1− cells. Osterix (Osx) is another transcriptional determinant of osteoblast lineages expressed by osteoblast precursors; therefore, Osx is highly expressed by Prx1−Runx2+ cells at the osteogenic front and on the surface of mineralized bone in the calvaria. Runx2 deficiency in Osx+-derived cells (Runx2osx−/− mice) resulted in severe defects in intramembranous ossification. These findings indicate that the essential period of Runx2 function on intramembranous ossification would begin at the Prx1+Sca1+ mesenchymal stem cell stage and end at the Osx+Prx1−Sca1− osteoblast precursor stage.
Ahead of its Time . . . Or, Right on Time?: The Role of the Sister Formation Conference for American Women Religious
Authors: Coburn Carol K.
Published: December 2015

The Sister Formation Conference (SFC) looms large when historians look at the development of and changes in American religious life in the second half of the twentieth century. The SFC goal: “to integrate the spiritual, intellectual, professional, and social elements in the life of a religious” was considered “radical” by some, but its ultimate influence was profound in the lives of many American sisters and their communities. This grassroots, semi-autonomous organization of women religious predates, by almost a decade, the tumultuous upheavals and changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council and the secular women’s movement of the 1960s. Analyzing the mid- to late-twentieth century, particularly the post-World War II era, is significant not only for the history of Catholic sisters but all American women. Consequently, the story of the Sister Formation Conference is an important piece to understanding religious life in the twentieth century – if not the twenty-first century. The beginnings of the SFC happened during a time (1950s) that most historians of American women consider to be a decade burdened by a return to traditional and stereotypic gender expectations and oppressive, if not regressive, attitudes about women’s role in society. This paper will describe the SFC origins, its major accomplishments, and the “big picture” – or where the SFC fits into the larger context of the history of American women religious and American women’s history.
C. L. R. James and the Aesthetics of Sport
Authors: Mellette Justin
Published: December 2015

While scholars have long written about the importance cricket played in C. L. R. James’s intellectual development, particularly the ways in which the sport affected his views on race and colonialism, less attention has been paid to James’s aesthetic philosophy of sports, chiefly, his belief that cricket is a form of art as outlined in Beyond a Boundary . This article examines the ways in which James’s social and political beliefs are inextricably connected with his aesthetic appreciation and evaluation of sports through a discussion of Beyond a Boundary as well as his cricket reporting, ultimately showing that by analyzing politics and aesthetics in conjunction, we gain a broader perspective on James’s writings on cricket.
In Absentia Parentis : Confronting the Uncanny Orphan in Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach
Authors: Curtis James M.
Published: December 2015

Since the publication of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, there has been tremendous growth in the adult readership of children’s literature. Despite the tendency of some critics to scorn children’s literature as adult fare, I believe that the adult reading experience of children’s texts can have deep-rooted psychological benefits. Using both childhood developmental theory and Freud’s concept of the uncanny, I show how orphan figures in children’s literature uncover these developmental dilemmas from our childhood and how conventions of the fantasy genre create a narrative that allows adult readers the opportunity to reprocess fundamental psychological processes left behind in childhood.
Mental Tempests, Seas of Trouble: The Perturbations of Shakespeare’s Pericles
Authors: Roychoudhury Suparna
Published: December 2015

This essay considers how two early modern commonplaces, the “sea of troubles” and the “tempest of the mind,” helped to sustain the period’s exploration of human subjectivity--of the experience of suffering, in particular. While the former trope depicts the human subject as tossed by tumultuous waves, the latter takes the subject to be the source of tempest and tumult. The polyvalent maritime storm, through which selfhood is imagined as both water-tossed and water-like, asks whether it is possible to be a pragmatic agent while remaining at the mercy of emotion. The question is investigated at length in Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” a drama about a father who suffers at sea and a daughter who belongs mysteriously to it. The conceptual metaphors binding mind and water are borne out at length by the play’s central characters, both of whom comprehend themselves and their adversities in relation to the sea: Pericles’s self-allegorizing emerges as a counterpoint to unmanageable inward passions, and Marina combats the sordid realities of a shoreline underworld by fashioning a mythology of sea-birth. Shakespeare stages the fluidity with which human beings own and disown their perturbations—a fluidity apparently inscribed in the most intuitive oceanic commonplaces of the English Renaissance.
Nervous Figures: Enlightenment Neurology and the Personified Mind
Authors: Keiser Jess
Published: December 2015

This essay attempts to account for the role of figurative language in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century writings on the brain. By focusing on a host of novels, poems, plays, and medical texts, I argue that figurative language allowed early neurologists to give the appearance that they had solved a scientific and philosophical problem: how does mere matter think? By using figures like personification, and by thereby granting human characteristics like will and emotion to the active but otherwise dumb matter that constituted the human brain, early neurologists made it possible to conceive--at least in their own writing--how strictly unthinking nerves and flesh could produce the lively effects of the conscious, reasoning mind.
Elsewhere, in A(r)cadia: On Reading Cordelia Stanwood’s Bird Notebooks in the 21St Century
Authors: Werner Marta L.
Published: December 2015

Between 1905 and 1953, Cordelia Stanwood composed almost daily observations of the birds and landscape of Ellsworth, Maine. These observations are preserved in fifty-six notebooks Stanwood originally carried with her into the field. For the naturalist, the significance of Stanwood’s notebooks lies most evidently in the contribution they make to the larger ornithological record of the Northeastern United States; for the textuist, conversely, their value inheres in the “chaotic account” of data collection they offer and the questions they raise about authorship, intentionality, and the poetics of writing. In the process of tracing Stanwood’s peripatetic movements across a remote area of Maine as they are recorded in the still more out-of-the-way space of her unpublished notebooks, this essay engages a series of interrelated questions: What kind of textual home did they offer Stanwood? How did they both shelter her and enable her departure from them? Do the notebooks, in which the writing “I” appears only to mark the empty space in the text where the world—i.e., the manifold flow of bird notes, sky colors, and other data—speaks, constitute an alternative form of autobiography, or point to autobiography’s end in a post-lyrical écriture d’oiseaux? How do they express the “sound” of the enjambment of the 19th and 20th centuries?
The Jewish Jesus: Conversation, Not Conversion
Authors: Garber Zev
Published: December 2015

My reasoning for emphasizing the Jewishness of Jesus is straightforward and transforming: dialogue, celebrating uniqueness. As a practicing Jew who dialogues with Christians, I have learned to respect the covenantal role that Christians understand to be the way of the scriptural Jesus in their confessional lives. Also, Jew and Christian in dialogical encounter with select biblical texts can foster mutual understanding and respect as well as personal change and growth within their faith affirmation. Moreover, interfaith study of Scriptures respects differences, requires that the participants transcend the objectivity and data-driven detachment of standard academic approaches, and encourages students at all levels to enter into an encounter with Torah and Testament without paternalism, parochialism, and prejudice. Issues in Jesus education reflect the interweaving of theology and history. My dvar Yeshua responds to the “conversation, not conversion” imperative, in ways that are different from exclusively piloted agendas (such as those found in ecclesiastical outreach and synagogue separatism).
“Our Virgin Friends and Wives”?: Female Sexual Subjectivity in Yona Wallach’s Poetry
Authors: Ziv Amalia
Published: December 2015

Yona Wallach introduced to Hebrew poetry an innovative discourse on gender and sexuality. The article claims that one of the issues that preoccupied Wallach throughout her poetic career was that of female sexual subjectivity, of the ways in which a woman can occupy the position of a sexual subject. From the outset, her approach to this question was radically different from that of her predecessors in Hebrew poetry, and the answers she devised changed with the evolution of her poetics, leading her eventually to a performative understanding of gender that anticipated formulations generated by feminist and queer thought in the 1990s. Beginning with a comparison of Wallach’s “Cornelia” to Dahlia Ravikovitch’s “Mechanical Doll” that highlights the refusal of the former to identify with the traditional feminine position of objectification and victimization, the paper proceeds to show her appropriation of a male voice in order to produce sexual discourse. In her later poetry Wallach develops an understanding of gender as non-dichotomous, performative, and fluid, one that enables her to produce sexual discourse in the first person feminine. This understanding receives overt expression in her didactic poems, but it is also enacted performatively in the sexual fantasy poems of the book Wild Light .