3,788 research outputs found
Mutations in the Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida type III secretion system affect Atlantic salmon leucocyte activation and downstream immune responses
No full textDeletion mutants of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida were used to determine the effect of the type three secretion system (TTSS) on Atlantic salmon anterior head kidney leucocytes (AHKL). One strain had a deletion in the outer membrane pore gene, ascC; and the other in three effector genes: aopO, aopH and aexT (we call this strain Δaop3). Host cell invasion success and 24h survival were depressed in ΔascC, as was 24h survival of Δaop3, when compared to the wild type strain. Challenge of AHKLs with A449 or TTSS mutants stimulated expression of the inflammatory mediators IL-8, IL-1 and TNFα at two bacterial concentrations (A600 0.1, 0.01). Expression of IL-12 was not stimulated in ΔascC challenged cells, whereas A449 and Δaop3 challenge resulted in an up-regulation of IL-12 in AHKLs, 2- and 4-fold higher than PBS, respectively. Only the wild type strain elicited a significant increase in IL-10 expression (5.5× at A600 0.1). Inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) and arginase (I+II) genes were also significantly up-regulated upon exposure to all strains. However, iNOS:arginase ratio was elevated in the effector mutant challenge. These results suggest that A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida may enhance survival within the host cell through polarization of macrophages/leucocytes to an alternative, rather than classical, activation state. Furthermore, the short-term survival and lack of T-cell signalling cytokine stimulation in ΔascC, may help explain its inefficiency at providing protection to subsequent wild type challenge.ID: S1050464809002988; M3: Article; Accession Number: S1050464809002988; Author: Mark D. Fast (a, ∗); Author: Brenda Tse (b); Author: Jessica M. Boyd (c); Author: Stewart C. Johnson (d); Affiliation: School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000, USA; Affiliation: Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Affiliation: Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada; Keyword: Aeromonas salmonicida; Keyword: Type three secretion system; Keyword: Atlantic salmon; Keyword: SHK-1; Keyword: Gene expression; Keyword: Inflammation; Keyword: Activation; Keyword: Interleukin-1β; Keyword: (IL-1β); Keyword: Interleukin-10; Keyword: Interleukin-12; Number of Pages: 8; Language: English;Source type: Electronic(1
A within‐individual study of interpersonal conflict as a work stressor: Dispositional and situational moderators
No full textFocusing on interpersonal conflict as a work stressor, the authors used a within-subjects research design to examine the effect of conflict episodes on employees' negative affect on the job. The roles of agreeableness and social support in moderating the negative effects of conflict episodes were also examined. A two-week experience-sampling study revealed that interpersonal conflict influenced employees' intraindividual fluctuations in negative affect. As predicted, agreeableness and social support influenced individuals' patterns of affective responses to conflict, such that conflict was more strongly associated with negative affect for agreeable employees, and for those with lower levels of social support at work. Overall, the results suggest that both personality (agreeableness) and context (social support) significantly moderate the affective implications of interpersonal conflict at work. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Hybrid sources: depictions of garments in postcolonial textile art
No full textIn today's atmosphere of globalisation - through positive agents such as communication networks as well as negative ones such as the refugee crisis - the national and cultural identities projected by dress embrace increasingly complex influences. Postcolonial theory and its attention to material culture, hybrid identities, and the ensuing Diaspora has influenced the work of contemporary artists worldwide. Contemporary artists working with textiles use the garment shape, as a motif and sculptural form rather than a functional peice of clothing, to express the complex results of colonisation. Common to all the works discussed here is an attempt to negotiate conflicts between language, culture and history that the postcolonial world must reconcile. Examples are drawn from work by Sue Blanchfield, Michael Parekowhai, Erica Spitzer Rasmussen, Elaine Reicheck, Doris Salcedo, Yinka Shonibare and Susan Stockwell
Sustainable development: mapping different approaches
No full textSustainable development, although a widely used phrase and idea, has many different meanings and therefore provokes many different responses. In broad terms, the concept of sustainable development is an attempt to combine growing concerns about a range of environmental issues with socio-economic issues. To aid understanding of these different policies this paper presents a classification and mapping of different trends of thought on sustainable development, their political and policy frameworks and their attitudes towards change and means of change. Sustainable development has the potential to address fundamental challenges for humanity, now and into the future. However, to do this, it needs more clarity of meaning, concentrating on sustainable livelihoods and well-being rather than well-having, and long term environmental sustainability, which requires a strong basis in principles that link the social and environmental to human equity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Toward the control of the creation of mixed monolayers on glassy carbon surfaces by amine oxidation
No full textA versatile and simple methodology for the creation of mixed monolayers on glassy carbon (GC) surfaces was developed, using an osmium–bipyridyl complex and anthraquinone as model redox probes. The work consisted in the electrochemical grafting on GC of a mixture of mono-protected diamine linkers in varying ratios which, after attachment to the surface, allowed orthogonal deprotection. After optimisation of the deprotection conditions, it was possible to remove one of the protecting groups selectively, couple a suitable osmium complex and cap the residual free amines. The removal of the second protecting group allowed the coupling of anthraquinone. The characterisation of the resulting surfaces by cyclic voltammetry showed the variation of the surface coverage of the two redox centres in relation to the initial ratio of the linking amine in solution
Sharing privacy-sensitive access to neuroimaging and genetics data: a review and preliminary validation
No full textThe growth of data sharing initiatives for neuroimaging and genomics represents an exciting opportunity to confront the “small N” problem that plagues contemporary neuroimaging studies while further understanding the role genetic markers play in the function of the brain. When it is possible, open data sharing provides the most benefits. However, some data cannot be shared at all due to privacy concerns and/or risk of re-identification. Sharing other data sets is hampered by the proliferation of complex data use agreements (DUAs) which preclude truly automated data mining. These DUAs arise because of concerns about the privacy and confidentiality for subjects; though many do permit direct access to data, they often require a cumbersome approval process that can take months. An alternative approach is to only share data derivatives such as statistical summaries—the challenges here are to reformulate computational methods to quantify the privacy risks associated with sharing the results of those computations. For example, a derived map of gray matter is often as identifiable as a fingerprint. Thus alternative approaches to accessing data are needed. This paper reviews the relevant literature on differential privacy, a framework for measuring and tracking privacy loss in these settings, and demonstrates the feasibility of using this framework to calculate statistics on data distributed at many sites while still providing privacy.This document is protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. It is reproduced with permission.Peer reviewe
Aspects of D-Branes as BPS monopoles
No full textWe investigate some of the properties of D-brane configurations which behave as BPS monopoles. The two D-brane configurations we will study are the enhançon and D-strings attached to D3-branes.We will start by investigating D3-branes wrapped on a K3 manifold, which are known as enhançons. They look like regions of enhanced gauge symmetry in the directions transverse to the branes, and therefore behave as BPS monopoles. We calculate the metric on moduli space for n enhançons, following the methods used by Ferrell and Eardley for black holes. We expect the result to be the higher-dimensional generalisation of the Taub-NUT metric, which is the metric on moduli space for n BPS monopoles. Next we will study D-strings attached to D3-branes; the ends of the D-strings behave as BPS monopoles of the world volume gauge theory living on the D3-branes. In fact the D-string/D3-brane system is a physical realisation of the ADHMN construction for BPS monopoles. We aim to test this correspondence by calculating the energy radiated during D-string scattering, working with the non-Abelian Born-Infeld action for D-strings. We will then compare our result to the equivalent monopole calculation of Manton and Samols
What is the Effect of Social Rhythm Disrupting Events on Mood in Individuals with Bipolar Disorder?
No full textThe social zeitgeber hypothesis suggests that life events have the capacity to lead to the onset of affective episodes in those vulnerable to bipolar disorder via biological and social rhythm disruption. However, few studies have systematically evaluated the role of life events that disrupt social routines in the exacerbation of mood symptoms. This report examined the effect of social rhythm disrupting (SRD) events on recurrence during preventative treatment in a sample of 82 patients with bipolar disorder who achieved remission from an acute episode, and assessed whether treatment assignment (interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) vs. intensive clinical management (ICM)) moderated this effect. We also examined the effect of short term (STC) and long term (LTC) threat (unpleasant) events. Recurrence was determined by blinded senior psychiatrists who were not otherwise involved in the conduct of the study and who were asked to determine whether the participant met Research Diagnostic Criteria for a new affective episode. Life events were measured with the Bedford College Life Events and Difficulty Schedule (LEDS) and were rated for degree of SRD and threat. Chi-square tests, Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, and Cox proportional hazards models showed that patients who had a recurrence were more likely to experience independent SRD, STC, and LTC events prior to recurrence than those who survived the two-year preventative phase without a recurrence, and this event occurred closer in time to recurrence than to a corresponding non-recurrence point in the non-recurrence group. In contrast, events that were rated for SRD and threat were not more likely to occur among individuals experiencing a recurrence than events rated for threat only. Nor did such a combined event occur more closely in time to a recurrence than events rated for threat only. Last, among those who experienced an SRD event, those who received preventative IPSRT were more likely to have a recurrence than those who received preventative ICM. Future studies should focus on the types of SRD events that are related to mood worsening, as well as on novel methods of examining these scientific aims that make use of longitudinal datasets
Rural natives’ perceptions of strengths and challenges in their communities
No full textThis brief uses two sources of data to explore how Native Americans view the current socioeconomic and environmental state of their communities and their future within them—the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) surveys and focus groups with Native leaders in one rural state. The data help to illustrate how the Native experience is both similar to, and unique from, that of other rural Americans. While the findings reported by author Jessica Ulrich-Schad illustrate that there are significant challenges facing Native people, they also show that strengths and opportunities continue to exist in Indian Country and that Natives remain firmly attached to their Native identities, culture, and natural environment
Vitamin D status in cats with cardiomyopathy
No full textBackground Low vitamin D concentrations have been associated with advanced heart disease and poorer outcomes in people and dogs. Vitamin D status typically is assessed by serum 25(OH)D concentration. However, cats also produce notable amounts of a C‐3 epimer of 25(OH)D (3‐epi).
Hypothesis/Objectives Determine if vitamin D status, estimated by 25(OH)D3 alone or combined with 3‐epi (summation vitD), is lower in cats with cardiomyopathy (CM) compared to clinically normal (N) cats and if indicators of disease severity are associated with vitamin D status.
Animals Privately owned cats, 44 with CM and 56 N.
Methods Cross‐sectional observational study using clinical and echocardiographic findings, diet history, and serum 25(OH)D3 and 3‐epi measurements.
Results Cat age was negatively related to vitamin D status. Summation vitD was lower in CM cats (median = 47.1 ng/mL) compared to N cats (median = 58.65 ng/mL) both before (P = .03) and after (P = .04) accounting for age. However, 25(OH)D3 became nonsignificant between CM and N cats after age was included. Summation vitD was related positively to survival time and fractional shortening (FS), but negatively to left atrial enlargement (LAE) severity, both before and after accounting for age. For 25(OH)D3 alone, only survival time and FS remained significant after including age.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance We report 25(OH)D3 and 3‐epi concentrations in CM and N cats. Age had an important (negative) relationship to vitamin D status. After accounting for age, summation vitD was lower in CM cats. Vitamin D status was related positively to survival time and FS, but negatively to LAE severity.This is the published version of the following article: Ware, Wendy A., Lisa M. Freeman, John E. Rush, Jessica L. Ward, Andrew J. Makowski, and Min Zhang. "Vitamin D status in cats with cardiomyopathy." Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. (2020). DOI: 10.1111/jvim.15833. Posted with permission.</p
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