335 research outputs found
Recombinant human osteopontin expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana stimulates osteogenesis related genes in human periodontal ligament cells.
No full textTissue engineering aims to utilise biologic mediators to facilitate tissue regeneration. Several recombinant proteins have potential to mediate induction of bone production, however, the high production cost of mammalian cell expression impedes patient access to such treatments. The aim of this study is to produce recombinant human osteopontin (hOPN) in plants for inducing dental bone regeneration. The expression host was Nicotiana benthamiana using a geminiviral vector for transient expression. OPN expression was confirmed by Western blot and ELISA, and OPN was purified using Ni affinity chromatography. Structural analysis indicated that plant-produced hOPN had a structure similar to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN. Biological function of the plant-produced hOPN was also examined. Human periodontal ligament stem cells were seeded on an OPN-coated surface. The results indicated that cells could grow normally on plant-produced hOPN as compared to commercial HEK cell-produced hOPN determined by MTT assay. Interestingly, increased expression of osteogenic differentiation-related genes, including OSX, DMP1, and Wnt3a, was observed by realtime PCR. These results show the potential of plant-produced OPN to induce osteogenic differentiation of stem cells from periodontal ligament in vitro, and suggest a therapeutic strategy for bone regeneration in the future
Suburbs, Immigrants and Ethnicity. Autobiographical Novels of Algerian Immigrants in France as an Attempt of Emancipation from Ethnic Discrimination Discourse
No full textThe article applies to three autobiographical novels written in the 1980s and 1990s by citizens of France, second generation Algerian immigrants. The authors of these novels widely relate to their own experience of life in the suburbs of French cities. The protagonists are young people who on the one hand feel French and demand acceptance, and on the other experience acts of discrimination. Moreover, their relationship to traditional Algerian culture is also ambivalent. The place with which they identify themselves is not France, in spite of the citizenship, nor Algeria, in spite of the origin, but their own district, which is a place where they live their everyday life. The author of the article analyzes the chosen novels through the perspective of the republican model of integration which excludes recognition of ethnic origin of the citizens. The article, referring to M. Foucault’s theory of heterotopia, argues that although the novels in question sensitize French readers to the various social questions, they, paradoxically, support the typical thinking of the republican model
Powieść autobiograficzna jako dokument osobisty i podobny do pamiętników konkursowych materiał badań socjologicznych
No full textTyt. z nagłówka.Bibliogr. s. 57-60.Artykuł przedstawia wybrane argumenty na rzecz traktowania w socjologii powieści autobiograficznych jako dokumentów osobistych. W pierwszej kolejności omawia założenia metody (perspektywy) biograficznej. Mogą one mieć zastosowanie w analizach socjologicznych wykorzystujących zarówno treść pamiętników (autobiografii, wspomnień) pisanych w ramach konkursów organizowanych przez socjologów, jak i powieści autobiograficznych publikowanych na rynku książki. Tradycja badań opierających się na pamiętnikach konkursowych związana jest w dużej mierze z socjologią polską i takimi badaczami jak F. Znaniecki, J. Chałasiński, W. Grabski, L. Krzywicki, J. Szczepański czy Z. Dulczewski. W drugiej części artykułu autor nawiązuje do wcześniejszych ustaleń i stara się powiedzieć, dlaczego powieści autobiograficzne mogą być wykorzystywane jako materiał badań społecznych. W kilku punktach prezentuje podobieństwa między wskazanymi w tytule dwoma rodzajami narracji. Stwierdza, że podstawową cechą dokumentów osobistych jest spełnianie kryterium prawdopodobieństwa (respektowane zarówno w przypadku pamiętników konkursowych, jak i powieści autobiograficznych). Pozwala to badaczowi m.in. na wnioskowanie o postawach i wartościach kategorii społecznych, do których należy autor dokumentu i które jednocześnie opisane są w dokumencie.The article presents selected arguments in favor of treatment of autobiographical novels in sociology as personal documents. Firstly, the assumptions of the biographical method (or biographical perspective) are demonstrated. All of them can be applied in social sciences analysis using both diaries (autobiographies, memories) written in competitions organized by sociologists and autobiographical novels published in the book market. As it is known, the tradition of research on competition diaries is related to the names of sociologists such as F. Znaniecki, J. Chalasinski, W. Grabski, L. Krzywicki, J. Szczepanski and Z. Dulczewski. Secondly, the author of the article makes an attempt to answer why autobiographical novels can be used in social science research. For this purpose, the author points out the similarities between both of the above-mentioned types of narration. At the end, it is presented why the probability criterion (met by both the competition diaries and autobiographical novels) is the most important feature in the study of personal documents. This criterion gives the researcher the opportunity to discuss, among others, the attitudes and values of social categories which include the author of the document and which also are described in the document.Dostępny również w formie drukowanej.SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: metoda biograficzna, pamiętniki konkursowe, powieści autobiograficzne, autobiografie, fikcja, dokumenty osobiste. KEYWORDS: biographical method, competition diaries, autobiographical novels, autobiographies, fiction, personal documents
Adventure and Exile. Two kinds of migration experience, one challenge of urban policy
No full textThe paper presents two sociological approaches to the migration experience. In the first approach, which corresponds to Georg Simmel’s essay The Philosophy of adventure, migration is regarded as an adventure. In the second approach, which was particularly explored by Abdelmalek Sayad (La double absence), migration is experienced as an exile. However, “adventure” and “exile” describe two different model situations of the migrant’s experience; they both cause the presence of homesickness and the lack of feeling that the inhabited space is a new home. This is why the migrant’s experience of adventure or of exile is treated in the paper as a challenge for every city policy. In the context of contemporary theories (like the metamodernism of Vermeulen and van den Akker), the author of the paper presents the propositions of urban policy which could meet the migrants’ needs and make them real members of the urban community
In vitro immunoregulatory effects of lithium in healthy volunteers
No full textExamined the in vitro effects of lithium carbonate on the unstimulated and lipolysaccharide (LPS)?+?phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF?) and interferon-? (IFN?), and negative immunoregulatory cytokines or proteins, such as IL-10 and the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA)
Liquid identity? The identifications of French people of Algerian descent in the autobiographical novels
No full textWydział Nauk SpołecznychW pracy podjęto studia socjologiczne nad zjawiskiem identyfikacji rozpatrywanej jako element tożsamości i definiowanej jako stwierdzenie o czyjejś przynależności do określonej kategorii społecznej. Przeprowadzone w pierwszej części rozważania teoretyczne pozwoliły na wyróżnienie w każdorazowo dokonywanej identyfikacji stałe elementy takie jak: podmiot identyfikujący i identyfikowany, sytuacja oraz nazwa i argument identyfikacji. Zaproponowane pojęcia, zwłaszcza nazwy i argumentu, zostały wykorzystane w badaniu empirycznym poświęconym Francuzom algierskiego pochodzenia. Autor pokazuje społecznie definiowane, choć zmienne i zależne od sytuacji, relacje między poczuciem przynależności dzieci imigrantów algierskich do kategorii Francuzów lub Algierczyków a identyfikacjami innego rodzaju: państwowymi i narodowymi okresu kolonialnego, współczesnymi identyfikacjami z rodziną i z religią, identyfikacjami z kategorią migrantów, z przestrzenią (przedmieścia) oraz z identyfikacjami klasowymi. Podstawowy materiał badawczy stanowiły literackie, nacechowane autobiograficznie teksty pisane prozą (powieści autobiograficzne). Wyniki przeprowadzonych analiz jakościowych i ilościowych (analiza treści) zostały skonfrontowane z wynikami innych badań przeprowadzonych w latach 90. i 2000., w tym z reprezentatywnymi dla populacji Francuzów algierskiego pochodzenia badaniami ankietowymi z 2008 r.The dissertation is a sociological study of the phenomenon of identification. It is considered here as an element of identity and defined as a statement about one’s membership of a particular social category. Theoretical considerations carried out in the first part of the dissertation allowed to indicate the elements of every identification: the identifying subject, the identified subject, the situation, the name of identification and the argument of identification. Proposed concepts, especially the concept of the name and of the argument, has been used in empirical research devoted to the French of Algerian descent (FAD). The author describes the socially defined, variable and dependent upon the situation relationships between FAD’s national (French or Algerian) identifications and identifications of another kind: the identifications inherited from the colonial period, modern family and religion identifications, identifications connected with the category of migrants, with the space (suburbs of a city) and with the social class. Basic research material were literary texts containing autobiographical content (autobiographical novels). The results of the qualitative and quantitative content analysis were compared with the results of other studies carried out in the 1990s and 2000s, including the qualitative data from the representative survey conducted in France in 2008
The new 5-HT hypothesis of depression : cell-mediated immune activation induces indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, which leads to lower plasma tryptophan and an increased synthesis of detrimental tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs), both of which contribute to the onset of depression
No full textAbstract: This paper reviews the body of evidence that not only tryptophan and consequent 5-HT depletion, but also induction of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and the detrimental effects of tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs) play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. IDO is induced by interferon (IFN)\u3b3, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-\u3b1, lipopolysaccharides and oxidative stress, factors that play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. TRYCATs, like kynurenine and quinolinic acid, are depressogenic and anxiogenic; activate oxidative pathways; cause mitochondrial dysfunctions; and have neuroexcitatory and neurotoxic effects that may lead to neurodegeneration. The TRYCAT pathway is also activated following induction of tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) by glucocorticoids, which are elevated in depression. There is evidence that activation of IDO reduces plasma tryptophan and increases TRYCAT synthesis in depressive states and that TDO activation may play a role as well. The development of depressive symptoms during IFN\u3b1-based immunotherapy is strongly associated with IDO activation, increased production of detrimental TRYCATs and lowered levels of tryptophan. Women show greater IDO activation and TRYCAT production following immune challenge than men. In the early puerperium, IDO activation and TRYCAT production are associated with the development of affective symptoms. Clinical depression is accompanied by lowered levels of neuroprotective TRYCATs or increased levels or neurotoxic TRYCATs, and lowered plasma tryptophan, which is associated with indices of immune activation and glucocorticoid hypersecretion. Lowered tryptophan and increased TRYCATs induce T cell unresponsiveness and therefore may exert a negative feedback on the primary inflammatory response in depression. It is concluded that activation of the TRYCAT pathway by IDO and TDO may be associated with the development of depressive symptoms through tryptophan depletion and the detrimental effects of TRYCATs. Therefore, the TRYCAT pathway should be a new drug target in depression. Direct inhibitors of IDO are less likely to be useful drugs than agents, such as kynurenine hydroxylase inhibitors; drugs which block the primary immune response; compounds that increase the protective effects of kynurenic acid; and specific antioxidants that target IDO activation, the immune and oxidative pathways, and 5-HT as well
Cognitive values of the category of the individual’s social identity
No full textIn the article, the author raises the question of what we can get to know or rather what social phenomena we can reach thanks to the studies on the individual’s social identity. The author adopts three essential features of sociological meaning of social identity: concentration on the consciousness part of life, subjective research orientation and the relational character of the individual’s social identity. Cognitive values are presented in the form of explicitly articulated questions, which are posed when we research on the identity of the individual in itself and when it helps to discover the other social phenomena, such as systems of values, mechanisms of the social exclusion-inclusion and mechanisms of the social diversity.
Irena Machaj, Walory poznawcze kategorii tożsamości społecznej jednostki [Cognitive values of the category of the individual’s social identity] edited by E. Smolarkiewicz, J. Kubera, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo” vol. XLIV: Tożsamość i identyfikacje. Propozycje teoretyczne – doświadczenia badawcze [Identity and identifications. Theoretical proposals – research experiences], Poznań 2017, pp. 17-31, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271.
Multiple antidepressant potential modes of action of curcumin: A review of its anti-inflammatory, monoaminergic, antioxidant, immune-modulating and neuroprotective effects
No full textCurcumin is the principal curcuminoid of the popular Indian spice turmeric and has attracted increasing attention for the treatment of a range of conditions. Research into its potential as a treatment for depression is still in its infancy, although several potential antidepressant mechanisms of action have been identified. Research completed to date on the multiple effects of curcumin is reviewed in this paper, with a specific emphasis on the biological systems that are compromised in depression. The antidepressant effects of curcumin in animal models of depression are summarised, and its influence on neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine is detailed. The effects of curcumin in moderating hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal disturbances, lowering inflammation and protecting against oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, neuroprogression and intestinal hyperpermeability, all of which are compromised in major depressive disorder, are also summarised. With increasing interest in natural treatments for depression, and efforts to enhance current treatment outcomes, curcumin is presented as a promising novel, adjunctive or stand-alone natural antidepressant
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