5 research outputs found
Seasonal Plasticity in GABA\u3csup\u3eA\u3c/sup\u3e Signaling is Necessary for Restoring Phase Synchrony in the Master Circadian Clock Network
No full textAnnual changes in the environment threaten survival, and numerous biological processes in mammals adjust to this challenge via seasonal encoding by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). To tune behavior according to day length, SCN neurons display unified rhythms with synchronous phasing when days are short, but will divide into two sub-clusters when days are long. The transition between SCN states is critical for maintaining behavioral responses to seasonal change, but the mechanisms regulating this form of neuroplasticity remain unclear. Here we identify that a switch in chloride transport and GABAA signaling is critical for maintaining state plasticity in the SCN network. Further, we reveal that blocking excitatory GABAA signaling locks the SCN into its long day state. Collectively, these data demonstrate that plasticity in GABAA signaling dictates how clock neurons interact to maintain environmental encoding. Further, this work highlights factors that may influence susceptibility to seasonal disorders in humans
Masculinity on the run: history, nation and subjectivity in contemporary mainland Chinese cinema
No full textThe study investigates representations of masculinities in modern Mainland Chinese cinema from the early reform period to the year 2000. It argues that masculinities from this era are `on the run'; that is, male protagonists' ambiguous relationships with dominant discourses of nation, history and new formulations of subjectivity cause them either to flee from Maoist collective identity categories or more actively to move towards discourses of the sovereignty of the individual brought into China with the `opening up' policies enacted after the Chairman's death. The social and cultural upheavals represented in these films create an atmosphere of uncertainty in which little is solid or settled: for example, although filmmakers may represent their male protagonists rushing from ideas of Maoist manhood, these ambitions and identity figurations, active in the public imagination for so long, still structure male identity, and even male rebellion, acting as reins pulling at the individual agency male filmmakers may try so hard to trace on screen. The result is a recent history of
representation in which male characters stand as symbols for their nation's central dilemma, as it wavers between a collective past and an unknown (both exciting and threatening) future.
Whereas images of women have been analysed (especially those in the Fifth Generation cinema of the 1980s and 1990s), their male counterparts on the Chinese cinema screen have been largely ignored. This study redresses this imbalance and interprets the representation of men on screen through gender theory, cultural studies, and sources on Chinese society. The main chapters of the study concentrate on versions or expressions of masculinities, reflecting a society that has expressed its revolutionary aims through human models. The introduction to each chapter provides a contextualisation of the manner in which masculinities have been configured in other contemporary representational fields and will explain the relevance of the discussed ideas of masculinity in China's recent past. This study contributes both to conceptions of film and gender in China, and will widen the scope of cross-cultural
theorisations of masculinities
Influences on the nature and performance of contracts for primary care : case studies from Southern Africa
No full textContracts are promoted as a tool which governments can use to involve the private health care sector
in the delivery of public sector services. In low and middle income (LMIC) countries they have been
suggesteda s a useful meansb oth for involving the private sectora nd for controlling it. However,
evidence from developed countries suggests that the nature of contractual relationships with the
public sector can be highly complex and that they may not always operate as envisaged by marketbased
economic theory. Very little evidence is available from the different setting of low or middle
income countries.
This research examined the nature of three different contractual relationships for primary care
services in South Africa and Lesotho. A principally qualitative, case study approach, drawing on
ideas from new institutional economics, was used to examine the broad context in which these
contracts were set, and formal and informal controls upon their operation. A broad framework of
factors for the analysis of contractual relationships was used throughout the study and to increase the
generalisability of the case study findings. Theories about the varied shape and possible
incompleteness of contracts were used as the basis for an examination of formal and informal
controls on the operation of contracts in an LMIC setting.
The contracts examined were all found to be incomplete and reliant on external factors to determine
the way in which they operateda nd the natureo f the contractuarl elationship. Primaryc are services
were observed to be both difficult to specify in a contract and very problematic to monitor. The role
of factors such as market competition, the nature of the provider, informal monitoring, trust and
dependence were each highlighted in the results of the case studies. The importance of taking such
factors into account, and recognising the highly variable nature of contracts likely to arise in different
settings, were key findings of the study. These findings support a more cautious approach to some of
the expectations placed on contracting in low and middle income settings, but also highlight its
potential value when approached appropriately
Genetic Ablation of Fgf23 or Klotho Does not Modulate Experimental Heart Hypertrophy Induced by Pressure Overload
No full textLeft ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) ultimately leads to heart failure in conditions of increased cardiac pre- or afterload. The bone-derived phosphaturic and sodium-conserving hormone fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) and its co-receptor Klotho have been implicated in the development of uremic LVH. Using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in gene-targeted mouse models, we examine the role of Fgf23 and Klotho in cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction induced by pressure overload. TAC profoundly increases serum intact Fgf23 due to increased cardiac and bony Fgf23 transcription and downregulation of Fgf23 cleavage. Aldosterone receptor blocker spironolactone normalizes serum intact Fgf23 levels after TAC by reducing bony Fgf23 transcription. Notably, genetic Fgf23 or Klotho deficiency does not influence TAC-induced hypertrophic remodelling, LV functional impairment, or LV fibrosis. Despite the profound, aldosterone-mediated increase in circulating intact Fgf23 after TAC, our data do not support an essential role of Fgf23 or Klotho in the pathophysiology of pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy.© The Author(s) 201
