bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How membranes organize during seed germination: three patterns of dynamic lipid remodelling define chilling resistance and affect plastid biogenesis
Authors: YU XIAOMEI , LI AIHUA , LI WEIQI 
Published: December 2014

AbstractImbibitional chilling injury during germination causes agricultural losses, but this can be overcome by osmopriming. It remains unknown how membranes reorganize during germination. Herein, we comparatively profiled changes of membrane lipids during imbibition under normal and chilling temperatures in chilling‐tolerant and ‐sensitive soybean seeds. We found three patterns of dynamic lipid remodelling during the three phases of germination. Pattern 1 involved a gradual increase in plastidic lipids during phases I and II, with an abrupt increase during phase III. This abrupt increase was associated with initiation of photosynthesis. Pattern 3 involved phosphatidic acid (PA) first decreasing, then increasing, and finally decreasing to a low level. Patterns 1 and 3 were interrupted in chilling‐sensitive seeds under low temperature, which lead a block in plastid biogenesis and accumulation of harmful PA, respectively. However, they were rescued and returned to their status under normal temperature after polyethylene glycol osmopriming. We specifically inhibited phospholipase D (PLD)‐mediated PA formation in chilling‐sensitive seeds of soybean, cucumber, and pea, and found their germination under low temperature was significantly improved. These results indicate that membranes undergo specific and functional reorganization of lipid composition during germination and demonstrate that PLD‐mediated PA causes imibibitional chilling injury.
Critical Perspectives on Digital Health Technologies
Authors: Lupton Deborah 
Published: December 2014

AbstractDiscussions of digital health technologies in the popular media and the medical and public health academic literature frequently comment on how these technologies might offer new or improved ways of delivering health care, conducting health promotion activities and monitoring public health. Following the presentation of an overview of the range of digital health technologies that are currently in use, I review the work of researchers in the field of critical digital health studies who have addressed their broader social, cultural and political dimensions. The discussion focuses on four major topics: health and medical websites and platforms; telemedicine and telehealth; the politics of digital health; and digitised embodiment. I end with identifying some important directions for future research in critical digital health studies.
Slight Expectations: Making Sense of the “Me Me Me” Generation
Authors: Silva Jennifer M. 
Published: December 2014

AbstractCurrent scholarship on the transition to adulthood focuses on the declining importance of role transitions, such as school completion or marriage, in subjective definitions of adulthood. Recent research finds that in place of traditional markers, young adults emphasize individualistic or psychological attributes as indicators of achieving adulthood. Some scholars and popular writers have interpreted this shift toward personal markers of growth as a sign of narcissism, self‐absorption, and lack of a collective sense of responsibility. Drawing on 100 interviews with working‐class young men and women, I argue that these characterizations of young adults fail to take into account the larger cultural and social context of declining job security, rising inequality, and falling institutional trust. By situating young adults' individualistic, self‐focused accounts of adulthood within the framework of declining loyalty in work, distrust in institutions, and diminishing social support, I demonstrate that working‐class Millennials' use of individualistic criteria of adulthood can be better understood as a strategy for coming to terms with the impossibility of traditional sources of meaning and self‐worth such as work or family.
Internet and the Political Public Sphere
Authors: Rasmussen Terje 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThe article addresses the main theory of the political public sphere generally, and the role of the Internet and Internet‐based media in the theory specifically. It first reviews briefly the initial social research on the Internet in the 1990s concerning political participation. After a presentation of Jürgen Habermas' theory of the contemporary public sphere, it proceeds to discuss the main problems concerning the Internet as a platform or infrastructure for public debate: segmentation and concentration. It argues that a general conclusion is that the public sphere differentiates and become more complex. A key task for future research, it argues, is to investigate the complex connections between Internet publics and mass media publics.
Social Disputes over GMOs: An Overview
Authors: Motta Renata 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThis review provides an overview of social research on genetically modified crops (GM crops), also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Academic inquiry on the social disputes over the future of agriculture biotechnology has multiplied since the mid‐1990s, when the first seeds were approved for market commercialization. This essay identifies and describes five prominent analytical approaches to explain public controversies over GMOs: the political economy of food and agriculture, social studies on science, democracy theory, research on corporations and hegemony, and social movement and peasant studies. This overview concludes by arguing that these different strains, although each privileging one analytical dimension and one level of analysis, converge in (i) the definition of the relevant explanatory factors, (ii) in the identification of the various levels of analysis – global, transnational, national and local – involved in the issue and (iii) in the prognostic that social disputes over GMOs are likely to remain a topic of public and scholar interest in the near future.
Social Movement Theory and the “Modern Day Tea Party”
Authors: Pullum Amanda 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThe rise of the Tea Party movement took many political observers by surprise, but social movement theory can help us to understand how the Tea Party began. Frustration with the federal government's plans for economic recovery, combined with opposition to President Obama's election, morphed into nationwide protests and a vocal presence in the 2010 midterm elections. This paper uses the Tea Party as an example to illustrate social movement life cycles, explaining relevant theories, their application to the movement in each phase of its development, and areas in which the Tea Party challenges current literature on social movements. Social movement theory is discussed as a tool that is constantly being honed as new research increases our understanding of how movements develop and function.
Cerebral autoregulation index at high altitude assessed by thigh‐cuff and transfer function analysis techniques
Authors: Subudhi Andrew W. , Grajzel Katalin , Langolf Robert J. , Roach Robert C. , Panerai Ronney B. , Davis John E. 
Published: December 2014

New Findings
What is the central question of this study?
Whether cerebral autoregulation (CA) is impaired at high altitude and associated with acute mountain sickness remains controversial. We sought to compare two of the most common methods to assess dynamic CA in subjects who ascended to 3424 m and acclimatized.

What is the main finding and its importance?
We found that CA was reduced at 3424 m when assessed by the classic thigh‐cuff inflation–deflation technique, but not when evaluated by transfer function analysis. These findings suggest that the cerebral vasculature of healthy individuals may become less able to buffer a large, abrupt drop in arterial blood pressure, while still maintaining the ability to regulate slow rhythmical oscillations, during periods of moderate hypoxaemia.

AbstractThe occurrence and implications of changes in cerebral autoregulation (CA) at high altitude are controversial and confounded by differences in methods used to assess CA. To compare two of the most common methods of dynamic CA assessment, we studied 11 young, healthy sea‐level residents (six females and five males; 20.5 ± 2.3 years old) as they ascended to 3424 m and acclimatized over 13 days. A common autoregulation index (ARI) was calculated from the following: (i) transfer function analysis (TFA ARI) of resting oscillations in arterial blood pressure (ABP; finger plethysmography) and middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv; transcranial Doppler); and (ii) MCAv responses following large, abrupt reductions in ABP using the classic thigh‐cuff technique (Cuff ARI). Symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) were monitored using the Lake Louise AMS Questionnaire. Cuff ARI scores decreased (P = 0.021) as subjects ascended from low (4.7 ± 1.5) to high altitude (3.2 ± 1.6) and did not change after 13 days of acclimatization (2.9 ± 1.3). The TFA ARI scores were not affected by ascent or acclimatization to 3424 m. Neither Cuff nor TFA ARI scores were correlated with AMS symptoms. These findings suggest that the cerebral vasculature of healthy individuals may become less able to buffer large step changes in ABP, while still maintaining the ability to regulate slow rhythmical oscillations, during periods of moderate hypoxaemia. Given the inherent differences in the autoregulatory stimulus between methods, multiple assessment techniques may be needed to clarify the implications of changes in cerebrovascular regulation at high altitude.
Refinement of analgesia following thoracotomy and experimental myocardial infarction using the Mouse Grimace Scale
Authors: Faller Kiterie M. E. , McAndrew Debra J. , Schneider Jurgen E. , Lygate Craig A. 
Published: December 2014

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?
There is an ethical imperative to optimize analgesia protocols for laboratory animals, but this is impeded by our inability to recognize pain reliably. We examined whether the Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS) provides benefits over a standard welfare scoring system for identifying a low level of pain in the frequently used murine surgical model of myocardial infarction.

What is the main finding and its importance?
Low‐level pain, responsive to analgesia, was detected by MGS but not standard methods. In this model, most of the pain is attributable to the thoracotomy, excepted in mice with very large infarcts. This approach represents a model for assessing postsurgical analgesia in rodents.
The Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS) was developed for assessing pain severity, but the general applicability to complex postsurgical pain has not been established. We sought to determine whether the MGS provides benefits over and above a standard welfare scoring system for identifying pain in mice following experimental myocardial infarction. Female C57BL/6J mice (n = 60), anaesthetized with isoflurane, were subjected to thoracotomy with ligation of a coronary artery or sham procedure. A single s.c. dose of buprenorphine (1.1 mg kg−1) was given at the time of surgery and pain assessed at 24 h by MGS and a procedure‐specific welfare scoring system. In some animals, a second dose of 0.6 mg kg−1 buprenorphine was given and pain assessment repeated after 30 min. The MGS was scored from multiple photographs by two independent blinded observers with good correlation (r = 0.98). Using the average MGS score of both observers, we identified a subset of mice with low scores that were not considered to be in pain by the welfare scoring system or by single observer MGS. These mice showed a significant improvement with additional analgesia, suggesting that this low‐level pain is real. Pain attributable to the myocardial injury, as opposed to thoracotomy, persisted at 24 h only in mice with large infarcts >40%. In conclusion, the use of a multi‐observer, post hoc version of the MGS is a sensitive tool to assess the efficacy of postsurgical analgesic protocols. Following surgical induction of myocardial infarction, we identified a significant proportion of mice that were in low‐level pain at 24 h that were not identified by other assessment methods.
Sleep deprivation alters thyroid hormone economy in rats
Authors: Rodrigues Nayana Coutinho , da Cruz Natália Santos , de Paula Nascimento Cristine , da Conceição Rodrigo Rodrigues , da Silva Alba Cenélia Matos , Olivares Emerson Lopes , Marassi Michelle Porto 
Published: December 2014

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?
The relationship between the thyroid system and sleep deprivation has seldom been assessed in the literature, and mounting evidence exists that sleep disturbances influence human lifestyles. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis and thyroid hormone metabolism in sleep‐deprived and sleep‐restricted rats.

What is the main finding and its importance?
Central hypothyroidism and high thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3′‐triiodothyronine (T3) activation in brown adipose tissue were observed following sleep deprivation. Sleep‐restricted rats exhibited normal thyroid‐stimulating hormone and T4 concentrations despite increased circulating T3. Sleep recovery for 24 h did not normalize the high T3 concentrations, suggesting that high T3 is a powerful counterregulatory mechanism activated following sleep deprivation.

Modern life has shortened sleep time, and the consequences of sleep deprivation have been examined in both human subjects and animal models. As the relationship between thyroid function and sleep deprivation has not been fully investigated, the aim of this study was to assess the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis and thyroid hormone metabolism following paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and sleep restriction (SR) in rats. The effects of a 24 h rebound period were also studied. Male Wistar rats (200–250 g, n = 10 per group) were subjected to sleep deprivation via the modified multiple platform method. Rats were assigned to the following seven groups: control, PSD for 24 or 96 h, 24 or 96 h of sleep deprivation with rebound (PSD24R and PSD96R), SR for 21 days (SR21) and SR21 with rebound (SR21R). Blood samples were collected to determine the 3,5,3′‐triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and thyroid‐stimulating hormone concentrations. Brown adipose tissue iodothyronine deiodinase type 2 (D2) activity was also evaluated. Body weight gain was dramatically reduced (by ∼50–100%) in all sleep‐deprived and sleep‐restricted rats; rebound restored this parameter in only the PSD24R group. The serum TSH and T4 concentrations decreased, whereas T3 increased in both the PSD24 and PSD96 groups compared with control animals (P < 0.05). Only PSD24R and PSD96R normalized T4 and thyroid‐stimulating hormone concentrations, respectively, independently of the higher circulating T3 concentrations (∼20–30%) noted in all groups compared with control animals (P < 0.05). Brown adipose tissue D2 activity increased in the PSD 24 and 96 h groups (∼10 times), and PSD24R was more effective than PSD96R at restoring basal brown adipose tissue D2 activity. Our data suggest that thyroid hormone metabolism adapts to sleep deprivation‐induced hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid alterations and increases T4 to T3 activation peripherally, thereby increasing circulating T3 in rats.
Exogenous interleukin‐10 attenuates hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury in mice
Authors: Li Huai‐Dong , Zhang Qing‐Xiang , Mao Zhi , Xu Xing‐Jie , Li Nai‐Yi , Zhang Hui 
Published: December 2014

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?
It is not known whether treatment with interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) attenuates hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury in mice.

What is the main finding and its importance?
Our results showed that exogenous IL‐10 treatment alleviated hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury in mice, possibly by regulating neutrophil recruitment and the subsequent generation of cytokines, nitric oxide and matrix metalloproteinases.

Lung injury caused by breathing air enriched with oxygen continues to be a major problem in clinical medicine. Here, we investigated the therapeutic role of interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) in hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury in mice. In the first experiment, mice were exposed to room air or 95% O2 and treated with IL‐10 simultaneously. In the second experiment, wild‐type mice and IL‐10−/− mice were exposed to room air or 95% O2. Exogenous IL‐10 treatment attenuated hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury, evidenced by a reduced ratio of lung weight to body weight, ratio of lung wet weight to dry weight, cell numbers and protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and cell death. Interleukin‐10 treatment markedly prolonged the survival of mice during oxygen exposure. Interleukin‐10 treatment reduced the activity of myeloperoxidase and mRNA levels of interleukin‐6, tumour necrosis factor‐α and macrophage inflammatory protein 2, suppressed nuclear factor‐κB activation and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthnase expression and nitric oxide formation in lungs of mice exposed to hyperoxia. Interleukin‐10 treatment suppressed activities of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 and reduced lung permeability in mice during oxygen exposure. Furthermore, absence of IL‐10 aggravated hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury and reduced the duration of survival of mice during oxygen exposure, which was attenuated by treatment with IL‐10. In conclusion, our results show that exogenous IL‐10 treatment alleviates hyperoxia‐induced acute lung injury in mice, possibly by regulating neutrophil recruitment and the subsequent generation of cytokines, nitric oxide and matrix metalloproteinases. This suggests that IL‐10 treatment may be a promising therapeutic strategy to reduce lung injury in patients exposed to hyperoxia.
Quantifying inter‐species differences in contractile function through biophysical modelling
Authors: Tøndel Kristin , Land Sander , Niederer Steven A. , Smith Nicolas P. 
Published: December 2014

Key points
To facilitate translation of data from animal models into clinical applications, it is important to analyse and quantify the differences and relevance of specific physiological mechanisms between species.
We propose a novel approach for the quantification of inter‐species differences in terms of biophysical model parameters and apply this to elucidate the differences in cardiac contraction mechanisms between mouse, rat and human.
Our results indicate that the parameters related to the sensitivity and cooperativity of calcium binding to troponin C and the activation and relaxation rates of tropomyosin/crossbridge binding kinetics differ most significantly between mouse, rat and human.
Our results predict crossbridge binding to be slowest in human and fastest in mouse.
AbstractAnimal models and measurements are frequently used to guide and evaluate clinical interventions. In this context, knowledge of inter‐species differences in physiology is crucial for understanding the limitations and relevance of animal experimental assays for informing clinical applications. Extensive effort has been put into studying the structure and function of cardiac contractile proteins and how differences in these translate into the functional properties of muscles. However, integrating this knowledge into a quantitative description, formalising and highlighting inter‐species differences both in the kinetics and in the regulation of physiological mechanisms, remains challenging. In this study we propose and apply a novel approach for the quantification of inter‐species differences between mouse, rat and human. Assuming conservation of the fundamental physiological mechanisms underpinning contraction, biophysically based computational models are fitted to simulate experimentally recorded phenotypes from multiple species. The phenotypic differences between species are then succinctly quantified as differences in the biophysical model parameter values. This provides the potential of quantitatively establishing the human relevance of both animal‐based experimental and computational models for application in a clinical context. Our results indicate that the parameters related to the sensitivity and cooperativity of calcium binding to troponin C and the activation and relaxation rates of tropomyosin/crossbridge binding kinetics differ most significantly between mouse, rat and human, while for example the reference tension, as expected, shows only minor differences between the species. Hence, while confirming expected inter‐species differences in calcium sensitivity due to large differences in the observed calcium transients, our results also indicate more unexpected differences in the cooperativity mechanism. Specifically, the decrease in the unbinding rate of calcium to troponin C with increasing active tension was much lower for mouse than for rat and human. Our results also predicted crossbridge binding to be slowest in human and fastest in mouse.
Disrupted hippocampal sharp‐wave ripple‐associated spike dynamics in a transgenic mouse model of dementia
Authors: Witton Jonathan , Staniaszek Lydia E. , Bartsch Ullrich , Randall Andrew D. , Jones Matthew W. , Brown Jonathan T. 
Published: December 2014

Key points
High frequency (100–250 Hz) neuronal oscillations in the hippocampus, known as sharp‐wave ripples (SWRs), synchronise the firing behaviour of groups of neurons and play a key role in memory consolidation.
Learning and memory are severely compromised in dementias such as Alzheimer's disease; however, the effects of dementia‐related pathology on SWRs are unknown.
The frequency and temporal structure of SWRs was disrupted in a transgenic mouse model of tauopathy (one of the major hallmarks of several dementias).
Excitatory pyramidal neurons were more likely to fire action potentials in a phase‐locked manner during SWRs in the mouse model of tauopathy; conversely, inhibitory interneurons were less likely to fire phase‐locked spikes during SWRs.
These findings indicate there is reduced inhibitory control of hippocampal network events and point to a novel mechanism which may underlie the cognitive impairments in this model of dementia.
AbstractNeurons within the CA1 region of the hippocampus are co‐activated during high frequency (100–250 Hz) sharp‐wave ripple (SWR) activity in a manner that probably drives synaptic plasticity and promotes memory consolidation. In this study we have used a transgenic mouse model of dementia (rTg4510 mice), which overexpresses a mutant form of tau protein, to examine the effects of tauopathy on hippocampal SWRs and associated neuronal firing. Tetrodes were used to record simultaneous extracellular action potentials and local field potentials from the dorsal CA1 pyramidal cell layer of 7‐ to 8‐month‐old wild‐type and rTg4510 mice at rest in their home cage. At this age point these mice exhibit neurofibrillary tangles, neurodegeneration and cognitive deficits. Epochs of sleep or quiet restfulness were characterised by minimal locomotor activity and a low theta/delta ratio in the local field potential power spectrum. SWRs detected off‐line were significantly lower in amplitude and had an altered temporal structure in rTg4510 mice. Nevertheless, the average frequency profile and duration of the SWRs were relatively unaltered. Putative interneurons displayed significantly less temporal and phase locking to SWRs in rTg4510 mice, whilst putative pyramidal neurons showed increased temporal and phase locking to SWRs. These findings indicate there is reduced inhibitory control of hippocampal network events and point to a novel mechanism which may contribute to impairments in memory consolidation in this model of dementia.