72 research outputs found
Caspase inhibitors affect the kinetics and dimensions of tracheary elements in xylogenic Zinnia (<it>Zinnia elegans</it>) cell cultures
No full textAbstract Background The xylem vascular system is composed of fused dead, hollow cells called tracheary elements (TEs) that originate through trans-differentiation of root and shoot cambium cells. TEs undergo autolysis as they differentiate and mature. The final stage of the formation of TEs in plants is the death of the involved cells, a process showing some similarities to programmed cell death (PCD) in animal systems. Plant proteases with functional similarity to proteases involved in mammalian apoptotic cell death (caspases) are suggested as an integral part of the core mechanism of most PCD responses in plants, but participation of plant caspase-like proteases in TE PCD has not yet been documented. Results Confocal microscopic images revealed the consecutive stages of TE formation in Zinnia cells during trans-differentiation. Application of the caspase inhibitors Z-Asp-CH2-DCB, Ac-YVAD-CMK and Ac-DEVD-CHO affected the kinetics of formation and the dimensions of the TEs resulting in a significant delay of TE formation, production of larger TEs and in elimination of the 'two-wave' pattern of TE production. DNA breakdown and appearance of TUNEL-positive nuclei was observed in xylogenic cultures and this was suppressed in the presence of caspase inhibitors. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge this is the first report showing that caspase inhibitors can modulate the process of trans-differentiation in Zinnia xylogenic cell cultures. As caspase inhibitors are closely associated with cell death inhibition in a variety of plant systems, this suggests that the altered TE formation results from suppression of PCD. The findings presented here are a first step towards the use of appropriate PCD signalling modulators or related molecular genetic strategies to improve the hydraulic properties of xylem vessels in favour of the quality and shelf life of plants or plant parts.</p
Policing serious public disorder: the search for principles, policies and operational lessons. [In two volumes]
No full textThe paper examines the influence of central government on the police response to serious public disorder; the effectiveness or otherwise of the law and the way in which it is used by the police in their response to such disorder, and searches for sone principles which need to be followed if the police are to maintain the general support of the communities in which they are required to act. Some comparisons are made, and differences highlighted, between the police commander in his response to serious public disorder, once it has broken out, and the military commander in battle. But, guided by lessons from history, the paper principally concentrates on the environment in which the operational police commander is required to act in responding to actual or potential serious public disorder, pointing out that he is dependant for his success on firstly, an effective system of command and control; secondly, on an intelligence system which feeds relevant and accurate information on which he can make sound and informed decisions; and thirdly, the physical resources, e.g. personnel and equipment, and the approved tactics which enable him to restore public tranquility once disorder has broken out. But before he can use the physical resources effectively, he must have a sound strategy for dealing with actual or potential disorder
Medicine, religion and the judiciary: a re-evaluation of the surgeon's position in the community, 1600-1699.
No full textAppetite for Mazzards: Referencing History in the Pliny’s HN 15. 102
No full textThe following analysis concerns Pliny’s excursus on mazzard (sweet cherry) cultivation in
Rome in the Book 15 of the Historia naturalis. Pliny links their introduction and spread to the
conquests of the Roman army under the command of illustrious general and bon vivant L. Licinius
Lucullus. The confrontation of Pliny’s narrative with other sources, as well as with the
findings of contemporary researchers, indicate that Lucullus could not have been the first discoverer
of the mazzard and the chronological information Pliny gives should be treated with
special caution. Most relevantly, Athenaeus of Naucratis invoked the same tradition, according
to which Lucullus was also the author of the name of the mazzard (Greek κεράσια, Latin
cerasia), to mock the tendency of the Romans to attribute Greek achievements to themselves.
Pliny’s embellished argument, however, aligns perfectly with his Romanocentric and imperialist
world picture. As an eminent historian, naturalist and official of the Roman Empire, he
used certain passages in his immense encyclopaedia as a departure point to present idealistically
the successes of the Roman army and its culture-forming role. In this context, Pliny’s
description of the discovery and spread of mazzard cultivation serves as another illustration
of the genius of the Romans and the power of their empire.The
following article was created as a result of the research project PRELUDIUM 9, financed by the National
Science Centre, Poland (no. 2015/17/ N/HS3/00014). The paper is a modified and expanded version of the
author’s research outcomes presented in a dispersed form in his doctoral dissertation, published in Polish
as Historia w rzymskiej literaturze erudycyjnej: Od Warrona do Kassjodora [History in Roman Erudite Literature.
From Varro to Cassiodorus] (Kraków 2019). Translation of the presented paper into English was
financed from the resources of the Priority Research Area “Heritage” of the Jagiellonian University within
the framework of the “Excellence Initiative — Research University” programme. The author is supported by
the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP)
Aspects of the history of the Catholic gentry of Yorkshire from the Pilgrimage of Grace to the First Civil War
No full textThis study looks at the responses of the Yorkshire Catholic gentry to the immense
changes to their religious landscape in the early modem period, between 1536 and
1642. It examines how they continued to adhere to the Catholic religion, despite all
attempts first to induce and then compel conformity and highlights the ways in which
they managed to survive and prosper throughout the period, demonstrating that
previously neglected groups such as women and younger sons had a crucial role to
play in this process. The overwhelming theme to their actions was one of pragmatism,
rather than the heroic and self-destructive behaviour that was much admired by earlier
historians who wanted to identify martyrs to the Catholic cause.
The areas that are to be examined reflect both public and private gentry activities. In
the public sphere the Yorkshire gentry's part in the rebellions of the Tudor and Stuart
eras are studied along with their rejection of plots. The importance of marriage as an
early modem tool for building alliances and social advancement is acknowledged and
the impact that a continuing adherence to Catholicism had on this is considered. The
gentry and the church are examined through a study of the Catholic gentry's
involvement with their local parishes, their reaction to the dissolution and their
continuing adherence to monasticism, as shown through their devotion to English
orders on the continent. To reflect the changes that were occurring in this period
Catholic involvement in education, the law and medicine are also explored showing
that the Catholic community was not isolated from the wider society. Lastly the role
of Catholic women is given specific consideration in order both to redress the
imbalance in previous studies and due to the crucial role that women played in the
continuation of the Catholic community within Yorkshire
Drug Assisted Sexualised Assault in the UK: A Feminist, Discursive - Narrative Exploration of the Experiences of Women and Professionals
No full textThis research was concerned with drug assisted sexualised assault(hereafter referred to as DASA*)in the UK. Sexual assault has been
highlighted by the Home Office as a top priority and a recent consultation document(Home Office, 2000)recognises that different forms of rape
have come to the attention of the public over the last ten years, for example, date rape, drug rape and male rape. However studies relating to DASA in the UK are extremely limited and therefore relatively little is known empirically or conceptually about the phenomenon. The research
had a number of aims: 1) To explore the discourses within the accounts of professionals when discussing their experiences of providing services to survivors of DASA. 2) To explore how survivors perceive their experiences of being subjected to DASA. 3) To explore how discourses
around rape and DASA relate to survivors’ accounts of their experiences after the assault. 4) To contribute towards the development of a
conceptual understanding of DASA in terms of experience and ‘recovery’. A total of ten interviews were carried out with individual women about their understandings and experiences of DASA. The sample included survivors, policewomen, counsellors and managers of sexual assault
services. A discursive analysis based on a ‘macro approach’ (Foucault, 1972) was carried out on the interviews with professionals. The analysis
highlighted the ways in which the ‘tellability’ (Livesey, 2002) of DASA may be undermined by a number of current dominant discourses reflected in
the accounts of professionals. Analysis of the interviews with survivors took a narrative approach in that the interviews were analysed for the ways in which women storied themselves within their accounts (Taylor, Gilligan and Sullivan, 1996). There were a number of ways in which the survivors interviewed seemed to be constrained by dominant cultural resources relating to sexualised violence. These survivors were not,
however, constituted by these dominant resources but rather sought to resist them in a number of ways. This provides a challenge to discourses
around sexualised violence as having a permanently devastating impact on women’s lives, suggesting that women can and do move on to regain
control over their lives after having been subjected by men to DASA.
* The author was reluctant to abbreviate drug assisted sexualised assault to DASA - to
do so may contribute to the ‘hidden’ nature of this form of violence against women.
However the decision was made to use the DASA abbreviation in order to improve the
readability of the text
Are lay people good at recognising the symptoms of schizophrenia?
No full text©2013 Erritty, Wydell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the general public’s perception of schizophrenia symptoms and the need to seekhelp for symptoms. The recognition (or ‘labelling’) of schizophrenia symptoms, help-seeking behaviours and public
awareness of schizophrenia have been suggested as potentially important factors relating to untreated psychosis.
Method: Participants were asked to rate to what extent they believe vignettes describing classic symptoms (positive and
negative) of schizophrenia indicate mental illness. They were also asked if the individuals depicted in the vignettes required help or treatment and asked to suggest what kind of help or treatment.
Results: Only three positive symptoms (i.e., Hallucinatory behaviour, Unusual thought content and Suspiciousness) of schizophrenia were reasonably well perceived (above 70%) as indicating mental illness more than the other positive or negative symptoms. Even when the participants recognised that the symptoms indicated mental illness, not everyone recommended professional help.
Conclusion: There may be a need to improve public awareness of schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms, particularly regarding an awareness of the importance of early intervention for psychosis
Long-Term Aspects of Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Treated With Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy: A 5-Year Longitudinal Follow-up and Comparison with a Normal Population Cohort
No full text© 2019 The Author(s) Purpose: Knowledge of long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy is scarce. Methods and Materials: HRQOL in 126 patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy was followed longitudinally from diagnosis to 5 years after treatment with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer's QLQ-C30, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer's Head and Neck Cancer Module, and the M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory. The survivors' HRQOL was compared with an age- and sex-matched normal population cohort. Results: At 5 years, 73 of the 95 surviving patients had completed the study. Significant reductions in general pain (29 vs 12), head and neck (HN) pain (22 vs 14), and feeling ill (20 vs 10) were found, and emotional functioning (70 vs 83) and global quality of life (67 vs 74) improved, compared with baseline values. Conversely, dry mouth (19 vs 56), senses (8 vs 27), teeth problems (10 vs 22), opening mouth (19 vs 56), and sticky saliva (15 vs 40) were markedly worse, although significant improvements had occurred over time after treatment. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory scores >80 at 5 years indicated good swallowing function. In a subgroup analysis, dry mouth and senses were significantly better in patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Comparison to a normal population cohort's HRQOL shows that the study group experienced a wide array of symptoms affecting their quality of life. Conclusions: The results of this large, long-term follow-up study show that a majority of patients report a reasonable quality of life 5 years after treatment and that there seems to be continuous improvement over time. Comparison with a normal population cohort, however, underlines the fact that classical side effects remain, even with improved radiation techniques. Additional emphasis on normal-tissue-sparing radiation therapy is warranted, with close attention devoted to HRQOL outcomes
Serum Level of Metalloproteinase in Patients Infected with Helicobacter Pylori in Ardabil
No full textBackground & Objectives: Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs), a member of photolytic enzyme family, degrade the extra cellular matrix. MMPs have very important roles in physiological and pathological processes. It has been reported that MMPs concentration increase in malignancies such as stomach, breast, colon, lung, head and neck cancers. Infection with Helicobacter pylori is risk factor for gastric cancer and may increase the serum level of MMP-9. The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of MMP-9 in sera of patients infected with H. pylori.
Methods: In a descriptive-experimental study, apparent healthy individuals who were refereed for stool and blood tests were randomly selected and their stools and sera samples were collected. A questionnaire containing age, sex, smoking and special diseases in family and type of their diseases was filled for every volunteer. The sera collected immediately after blood sampling and stored in -70oC until used. The concentration of MMP-9 was assessed using ELISA. Stool samples were used for detection of H. pylori antigen.
Results: H. pylori positive, negative and equivocal volunteers were 52.38%, 29.76% and 17.85%, respectively. Differences between MMP-9 concentration and H. pylori negative and positive groups were not significant (p =0.25). A significant increase in MMP-9 concentration was found in sera from drivers in compare with housewives.
Conclusion: Although there was an increase in serum concentration of MMP-9 in H. pylori infected person, differences between H. pylori negative and positive groups were not significant. The raised concentration of MMP-9 in drivers may arise from difference in their health condition in compare with the housewives. This study suggests that MMP-9 level in serum may increase before initiation of gastric cancer in H. pylori infected individuals
Private devotion in England on the eve of the Reformation illustrated from works printed or reprinted in the period 1530-40
No full textThis is the first attempt to provide a detailed description of the different types of devotional literature (excluding all liturgical books, biblical translations, doctrinal and polemic works, saintS lives and sermons) available in print to English readers in the years immediately preceding England's break with Rome. It shows that there were far more Catholic works of devotion, many of them written or printed for the first time 1520 - 35, than has previously been recognized. It is also clear that this flourishing literature came to a sudden and decisive end in 1535, although the tradition lived on unofficially to be taken up by the English Recusants. The leading themes of this traditional literature are indicated in chapters on treatises about confession and prayer, the mass, the life and Passion of Christ, on tribulation, death and the Last Things, while more general teaching about the Christian life addressed to religious, contemplatives and lay people, and the humanist and Protestant contribution to this literature is also discussed. The treatises are doctrinally sound and on the whole advocate moderation and common-sense; they avoid many of the weaknesses of popular non-literary devotion, including the Marioleatry and excessive morbidity for which the late middle ages are often condemned. Some of the weaknesses of the Catholic tradition are suggested by comparison with the more rational and secular attitudes of Christian humanist , authors, notably Erasmus, available during the 1530s. The Protestants, whose treatises become increasingly common, despite official censorship, during the decade until they dominate its second half, carry the humanist~ reform much further, and break with the Catholic Church. Traditional devotional topics and audiences are displaced by doctrinal and biblical teaching addressed to lay people. The Bible replaces the Church's authority and there is more emphasis on the spiritual and social dimensions of religion
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