Eclectic Group Research Articles

The nuclear periphery

In recent years, definitions of the nuclear periphery have become increasingly blurred with the realization that nuclear envelope (NE) and nuclear pore complex (NPC) components interact with and influence the behavior of both nuclear and cytoplasmic structures. The Minisymposium on the Nuclear Periphery reflected this evolving outlook by bringing together an eclectic group of researchers working on a variety of problems related to the biology of the NE/NPC. A. Szymborska (Ellenberg laboratory, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg) described how emerging techniques in superresolution light microscopy can be used to define the disposition of NPC components with precision in the range of nanometers. This approach permitted the first visualization of the radial substructure of the NPC by light microscopy and was able to resolve distinct members of an NPC subcomplex (the Nup107-160/Y complex). This has provided new insights into the orientation of this complex within the NPC. L. Lu (Kirchhausen laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston) raised the controversial issue of how NPCs become incorporated into the reforming NE at the end of mitosis. Using a combination of three-dimensional live-cell imaging and electron microscope tomography, he showed that newly segregated chromatids become coated by planar membrane sheets derived from the peripheral endoplasmic reticulum prior to NPC assembly. This suggests that mitotic and interphase NPC assembly may follow similar pathways (Lu et al., 2011 ). D. Osorio (Gomes laboratory, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris) described a small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based screen that revealed a role for Ndc1, an NPC membrane protein, in the positioning of the nucleus relative to the centrosome during fibroblast migration. His data indicate that the interaction of Ndc1 with Sun2, a constituent of LINC (LInker of the Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton) complexes might regulate nuclear positioning and cell migration. D. Hu (Vallee laboratory, Columbia University, New York) focused on the cell cycle–dependent nuclear oscillation in neural progenitor cells. This process, termed interkinetic nuclear migration (INM), involves dynein-driven migration of the nucleus toward the apical surface of the neocortex in G2 (Tsai et al., 2010 ). Interestingly, in vivo siRNA-mediated depletion of factors previously implicated in dynein recruitment to the NE during G2 in nonneuronal cells, namely BicD2 (Splinter et al., 2010 ) and Nup133 (Bolhy et al., 2011 ), successively impaired INM in G2. These findings strongly support a role for dynein recruitment to the NE in apical nuclear migration during INM and provide insight into the mechanism of cell cycle control. H. Horn (Stewart laboratory, Institute of Medical Biology, Singapore) reported on the role of nesprin-4 (Nesp4), an outer nuclear membrane protein and LINC complex component. Nesp4 functions as an adaptor for kinesin-1 and is expressed in certain epithelial cells, including hair cells of the inner ear (Roux et al., 2009 ). Derivation of Nesp4-deficient mice reveals that this protein is required for the basal positioning of nuclei in outer hair cells. In the absence of Nesp4, outer hair cells are lost through apoptosis, resulting in progressive hearing loss. Y. Kim (Zheng laboratory, Carnegie Institute for Science, Baltimore) unexpectedly reported that lamin B1− and B2− double-knockout embryonic stem cells (ESCs), despite expressing no other type of lamin (A/C or B3), are indistinguishable from wild-type cells and are fully capable of differentiating toward the trophectoderm lineage. Furthermore, gene-expression analyses revealed that B-type lamins are not required for the silencing of their bound genes that are required for lineage specification in differentiating ESCs. Remarkably, lamin B double-knockout mice develop to term, albeit with defects in multiple organs (Kim et al., 2011 ). Clearly, this study is going to change our view of nuclear lamina function in both health and disease. Taken together, the studies described in this minisymposium impact a number of areas of cell and developmental biology. There is little doubt that they will provide the foundation for future work in this rapidly evolving field. We look forward to seeing the fruits of this work at future ASCB meetings.

Efficacy of eclectic group counseling in addressing stress among Thai police officers in terrorist situations

This study aims to develop the eclectic group counseling intervention for Thai police officers to reduce the risk of developing symptoms of poor mental health while deploying in terrorist situations. We predicted that eclectic group counseling would significantly reduce high scores of anxiety, depression, social dysfunction, physical symptoms, hostility, phobic anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity. Our eclectic group counseling included the interactive model of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, religious interventions, mandala drawing, and Reality Therapy. The design is an experiment-controlled trial with 42 participants (The experiment = 20, the control = 22; Thai-Buddhists = 32, Thai-Muslims = 10). Their mean age was 35.64 ± 9.99 ranging from 23 to 54 year olds. They were selected from 416 police officers derived by cluster random sampling using Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition, the General Health Questionnaire Thai version, and the Symptom Checklist 90. The data were analyzed by two-way MANOVA and ANOVA. The results supported the hypothesis.

Reading instruction affects the cognitive skills supporting early reading development

This study examined the cognitive skills associated with early reading development when children were taught by different types of instruction. Seventy-nine children (mean age at pre-test 4;10 (.22 S.D.) and post-test 5;03 (.21 S.D.)) were taught to read either by an eclectic approach which included sight-word learning, guessing from context and analytic phonics, or by a synthetic phonics approach, where children were taught solely to sound and blend letters to read unfamiliar words. The results illustrated differences in the skills supporting children's word reading based on their method of reading instruction. For the eclectic group, pre-test letter knowledge, vocabulary and rhyming skills predicted later reading ability, whereas for the synthetic phonics group, letter knowledge, phonemic awareness and memory span predicted later reading skill. The results suggest that children will draw upon different cognitive skills when reading if they are taught to use different word recognition strategies.

Parent inclusion in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention: The influence of parental stress, parent treatment fidelity and parent-mediated generalization of behavior targets on child outcomes

Although early intensive behavior interventions have been efficient in producing positive behavior outcome in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, there is a considerable variety in the children's progress. Research has suggested that parental and treatment factors are likely to affect children's response to treatment. The purpose of the current study was to examine the interrelating factors that impact children's progress, highlighting the influence of parent inclusion in treatment provision captured by parental stress, how faithfully the parents followed the treatment protocols and the intensity of treatment provided at home. Twenty-four children received cross-setting staff- and parent-mediated EIBI, including continuous parent training and supervision. A comparison group of 20 children received eclectic intervention. Standardized tests were carried out by independent examiners at intake and after six months. The intervention group outperformed the eclectic group in measures of autism severity, developmental and language skills. Parent training and constant parent-mediated treatment provision led to reduced challenging behaviors from the children, increased treatment fidelity and child direct behavior change as measured by performance in correct responding on behavior targets. Variables of treatment progress and potential predictors of child outcome were analyzed in detail and mapped with regard to their relationships drawn from multiple regression analysis. Particularly, the study highlights an association between parental stress and staff treatment fidelity that interferes with decision making in treatment planning and consequently with positive behavior outcome. Such results provide important scientific and clinical information on parental and treatment factors likely to affect a child's response to treatment.

Psychoanalysis, Anti-semitism and the Miser

Book synopsis: Responding to the trauma of the current global financial crisis, this book brings together an eclectic group of psychoanalysts, philosophers, cultural theorists and historians to debate the links between psychology, money and economic crashes. It issues a double challenge - to economists who define economic behaviour as necessarily rational and self-interested, while relegating other models of monetary thought to psychopathology; and to psychoanalysts who find it hard to confront the economics of their own profession as a business, while neuroticising and biologising any economic behaviour that exceeds their own unspoken yardstick of 'commonsensical' financial self-interest. Contributors to this book investigate issues as diverse as: the century-old divorce between psychological and economic explanations of human behaviour and current efforts to repair it; the gender-politics, ethics and psychology of economists' attempts to explain today's rolling crisis in money markets; psychoanalytic theories of financial investment, risk and the 'jouissance' of devastating loss; the rise and cataclysmic fall of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme; the squandering of fortunes on rubbishy art in times of financial crisis; the attraction of Deleuzian speculation versus Freudian investment; the nexus between political economy and libidinal economy; the mystifying effects of treating 'the market' as a subject capable of 'speaking', 'reacting' and 'punishing'; and the fate of desire in postmodern, hyper-commoditised culture.

The effectiveness of a cross-setting complementary staff- and parent-mediated early intensive behavioral intervention for young children with ASD

We compared the effects of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) and eclectic intervention in children with ASD on autism severity, developmental performance, adaptive behavior, language skills and challenging behaviors. Twelve children received cross-setting staff- and parent-mediated EIBI of centre-based one-to-one and play sessions as well as home-based sessions, including continuous parent training and supervision. A comparison group of 10 children received eclectic intervention. Standardized tests were carried out independent examiners at intake and after 6 months. The groups were equivalent on key variables at intake. The intervention group outperformed the eclectic group in measures of autism severity, developmental and language skills. Scores on adaptive behaviors revealed comparable changes in both treatment groups. Furthermore, the intervention group reduced challenging behaviors, a progress facilitated by parents that achieved treatment fidelity and gained competence to manage challenging behavior functions. Descriptive data of treatment progress showed that parental treatment provision and treatment fidelity gains indicated differential child progress in outcomes and skill mastery in learning environments. Our results show the effectiveness of a staff- and parent-mediated EIBI program for children with ASD. These findings highlight the importance of generalization across settings and persons for improving functional behavior in various learning environments that result in reduced problem behaviors and increased language and communication skills.

P03-161 - Self-concept clarity and symptoms of neurosis fluctuations during the psychotherapeutic process and the effectiveness of psychotherapy

IntroductionThe process-outcome studies present ambiguous results concerning the fluctuations of psychopathological symptoms during psychotherapy. We also know that self-concept clarity is connected with the level of psychological functioning (Campbell et al, 1996), but no research is available exploring the dynamics of this variable in psychotherapy.AimsThe study was designed to find if the intensity of fluctuation of the self-concept clarity and symptoms of neurosis during psychotherapy was connected with positive outcome.MethodsAll participants were in a program of 8–12 week intensive eclectic group psychotherapy. 85 patients with a diagnosis of neurosis and/or personality disorders filled in questionnaires measuring the self-concept clarity and symptoms of neurosis every 2 weeks. Additionally the features of neurotic personality were measured. The root mean square error (RMSE) of log-linear regression for each participant is the indicator of fluctuations.ResultsThere is a positive correlation between the fluctuation of the self-concept clarity during psychotherapy and the symptom reduction at the end of the therapy for all patients (r = 0,24). Among the subgroup of patients with high initial self-concept clarity and high intensity of neurotic personality features this correlation was notably high (r = 0,53). No statistically significant correlations were found concerning the fluctuation of neurosis symptoms.ConclusionsFluctuations of the self-concept clarity during psychotherapy are thought to be beneficial for patients with neurosis and personality disorders - particularly for those integrated around their disturbed personality. This observation is discussed in the perspective of the integrated dynamic systems model of change in psychotherapy (Hayes, Strauss, 1998).

The Irish, the Virgin Mary and Proclus of Constantinople

An analysis of an eclectic group of five specific attributes of the Virgin Mary in four Old-Irish texts not later than the end of the eighth century: the Old-Irish tract on the Mass in the Stowe Missal, Cain Adomnain, Cu Chuimne’s Hymnum in laudem S. Mariae, and Blathmac’s poems to the Virgin. These texts bear striking similarities to abstract ideas from the East, notably those in the Mariological writings of Proclus, bishop of Constantinople. Here I explicate the unique character of each attribute, beginning with Proclus’ formulation and liturgical use, and compare them to their Irish counterparts. I also discuss how the Irish came to know his writings.

<i>The Exiles</i> (review)

Reviewed by: The Exiles Josh Glick (bio) The Exiles (1961); DVD distributed by Milestone Films, 2009 Shot between 1958 and 1961, just before urban renewal initiatives razed much of Los Angeles’s downtown core, The Exiles offers stirring views of a now nonexistent Bunker Hill neighborhood and a complex portrait of a small group of Native Americans struggling to negotiate their identities within the city. Milestone Films’s two-disc Premiere Edition DVD contains a meticulous restoration of director Kent Mackenzie’s 1961 release and a wealth of supplementary materials that provide insight into its production and the broader historical context in which it was conceived. After playing on the international festival circuit and then receiving limited nontheatrical distribution through Pathé Contemporary in 1964, The Exiles resurfaced in 2003 when Thom Andersen featured some of its scenes in his epic compilation documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself. The evocative sampling (included on the DVD) piqued the interests of Milestone’s Cindi Rowell, who located the only existing 35mm print of The Exiles at the University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Cinema Archive. Rowell and USC archivist Valarie Schwan took the negative to UCLA Film & Television Archive preservationist Ross Lipman, who, with the help of original crew member John Morrill and such companies as Fotokem, Audio Mechanics, and NT Audio, performed the restoration. The resulting viewing experience attests to their labor. Sharp black-and-white tonal contrasts register the graceful night photography of cinematographers Erik Daarstad, Robert Kaufman, Morrill, and Mackenzie. Voice-over monologues, intertwined with the blistering rock and roll music of the Revels, give the overall sound design an intimate and visceral quality. Selections from the supplementary materials ground the origins of Mackenzie’s filmmaking in his student years at USC. It was there that he completed Bunker Hill–1956, a short documentary about a community of pensioners in Los Angeles and the municipal construction plans that threatened to displace them. Additionally, the inclusion of the four drafts of the script for Bunker Hill–1956 reveals the project’s development, from the initial treatment that describes the atmosphere of the locale to the final release script that focuses on the residents expressing their commitment to the homes they have made for themselves and their anxieties over having to move. Mackenzie began working on The Exiles following graduation. Among the items on the DVD that directly relate to the film is his master’s thesis, submitted to USC in 1964. The document does much to elucidate the film’s path to production. After reading an article in Harper’s Magazine about the difficulties of contemporary Native Americans in the United States, Mackenzie envisioned making an educational film about the move of an Apache family from Arizona to Los Angeles through the controversial Relocation Program. The document “The Exiles Funding Proposal,” also on the DVD, details Mackenzie’s initial research into the venture. The practicalities of making the film, combined with his own desire to steer clear of a didactic model of documentary, led him to embark on a cinematic project that explored the nightly social activities of a group of Native Americans in and around Bunker Hill and Main Street. The thesis also provides a better understanding of how Mackenzie and his crew, drawing [End Page 166] from an eclectic group of directors such as Robert Flaherty, Sidney Meyers, and Vittorio De Sica, pursued an innovative mode of stylized realism. Their production method involved location shooting and the use of nonactors (who had a large amount of input into their own lines), while at the same time planning scenes and editing to ensure thematic unity for the overall film. The six drafts and the final script provide a more nuanced sense of the later stages of the film’s evolution and reveal the various permutations of the title, from The Trail of the Thunderbird to The Exiles. The multivocal audio commentaries on the DVD feature crew members such as Daarstad, filmmakers such as Charles Burnett, writer– director Sherman Alexie, and Milestone cofounder Dennis Doros. They reinforce the notion that Mackenzie was deeply invested in all aspects of production, while also emphasizing the film’s highly collaborative aspects. Both the crew...

Extracellular signals that define distinct and coexisting cell fates inBacillus subtilis

The soil-dwelling bacterium Bacillus subtilis differentiates into distinct subpopulations of specialized cells that coexist within highly structured communities. The coordination and interplay between these cell types requires extensive extracellular communication driven mostly by sensing self-generated secreted signals. These extracellular signals activate a set of sensor kinases, which respond by phosphorylating three major regulatory proteins, Spo0A, DegU and ComA. Each phosphorylated regulator triggers a specific differentiation program while at the same time repressing other differentiation programs. This allows a cell to differentiate in response to a specific cue, even in the presence of other, possibly conflicting, signals. The sensor kinases involved respond to an eclectic group of extracellular signals, such as quorum-sensing molecules, natural products, temperature, pH or scarcity of nutrients. This article reviews the cascades of cell differentiation pathways that are triggered by sensing extracellular signals. We also present a tentative developmental model in which the diverse cell types sequentially differentiate to achieve the proper development of the bacterial community.

Building Citizens: Empire, Asia and the Australian Settlement

Australia's diplomatic and political relationship with Asia has been the basis on which the boundaries and membership of its political community have been constructed. This essay uses the example of the Australian Settlement as a strategy of citizenship and state building located within the political framework of an imperial association. Hence, the narrative of Australian Settlement depended on a notion of freedom – a civic identity – in a liberal imperial association and set against a racial order within her immediate region. This dual sovereignty became especially important as a middle power ‘mask’ of the state. This paper argues that these middle power ideas with respect to Australia's position in a liberal imperial association provided the basis for an eclectic group of individuals to develop innovative ideas about Australia's role in the Asia-Pacific that anticipated ideas of Asian engagement.

Multispecies Coastal Shelf Recovery Plan: A Collaborative, Ecosystem‐Based Approach

AbstractThis article explains the integration of an ecosystem into a collaborative management plan to restore New England's depleted multispecies groundfish stocks and decimated coastal fishery. Applying lessons learned from Maine's successful fishery for lobsters Homarus americanus, the Downeast Groundfish Initiative (an eclectic group of fishermen, scientists, and concerned individuals) created a new groundfish management approach designed to nest seamlessly within existing federal and state management systems and be compatible with a total allowable catch (TAC) approach, though it does not require TAC as the primary management tool. The plan resolves fine‐scale issues affecting the fishery's biological productivity and addresses the economic, social, and cultural factors confronting fishing communities. The inadequacy of systemwide assessments in detecting local changes in marine ecosystems led to the creation of smaller, contiguous coastal shelf management units each of which encompasses the subpopulation of a key species such as Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Each unit would have an inshore core layer encompassing the species' spawning grounds and nursery habitats while providing a limited, small‐scale fishery for local fishermen using selective, habitat‐friendly gear. A buffer layer outside the core area that brackets coastal shelf migration routes would also support a fishery using all legal gear types but with constraints, and an outer layer would provide a fishery operating under current federal regulations. The core and buffer areas would be collaboratively managed to enhance local stock recovery by local advisory councils of fishermen functioning under state administration and regional council oversight. The coastal shelf plan synchronizes the needs of coastal ecosystems and fishermen by restoring species diversity and protecting critical habitats while rebuilding commercial stocks. The approach can create robust, sustainable fisheries for all user groups, resolve equity issues among fishermen, and revitalize the economies of fishing communities of all sizes.

Thinking Critically About Security Studies

The Geopolitics of American Insecurity: Terror, Power and Foreign Policy. Edited by Francois Debrix, Mark J. Lacy. London and New York: Routledge, 2009. 222 pp., $140.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-415-46042-2). The Geopolitics of American Insecurity: Terror, Power, and Foreign Policy is the inaugural volume in the New Security Studies series sponsored by PRIO and edited by J. Peter Burgess. The series promises state-of-the-art theoretical and empirical work that addresses the “new challenges to security scholarship.” The first volume in the series gathers together 11 essays, which are introduced by the book's editors, Francois Debrix and Mark J. Lacy. In their introduction, the editors claim that the essays “all seek to provide warnings about the future of US foreign policy” (p. 8). However, the book is not a work of foreign policy analysis. Rather, the chapters are written by an eclectic and interdisciplinary group of critical theorists who seek to contribute to security studies. Interestingly, only two of the 13 contributors are women scholars. The unifying theme is a critique of US foreign policy, specifically (but not exclusively) directed at the George W. Bush administration. This critique largely takes shape through the conviction that government (with the aid of business and media) manipulates citizens into submission. The authors of the chapters approach their subject in different ways: four chapters present theoretical arguments, chapters four can be characterized loosely as political/historical case studies, and three comment on TV, film, or the arts. It might have been logical to divide the volume into three parts that each contain chapters that use a similar mode of inquiry, but this is not the …

"Bright Star" Vietnam Moving into Unchartered Territory

Though it may not contain the known reserve base or production rates of neighboring Indonesia or Malaysia, Vietnam nonetheless has emerged as a "bright star" in Southeast Asia. So says Bob Fryklund, IHS vice president of global E&P critical information analysis, who adds that both proven reserves and daily production are expected to increase appreciably as the nation's eclectic group of operators move into more exotic plays. "For years in Vietnam, everybody just worked a couple of basins. Now, with the country wide open, companies are working all these other unexplored basins. Traditionally, they tended to focus on just the basement play, which was all fractured, but some of it was carbonates, some of it was granitic-type rock, and some of it was volcanic rock. Now, clastic plays are starting to pan out and some of those will move out into the deeper water," he said. To date, Vietnam has proven oil reserves of approximately 600 million bbl, which Fryklund predicts will reach 1 billion bbl with the fields that came on line in late 2008 and those scheduled to begin production this year and early next year. State operator PetroVietnam, however, says the results of earlier studies suggest that total offshore and onshore reserves could be as high as 6.5 to 8.5 billion bbl of oil and 75 to 100 Tcf of natural gas. Figures from the US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration show that the nation's production rate, which is entirely from offshore, is 283,000 BOPD, compared to 943,000 and 601,000 BOPD for Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively. Between existing fields, those expected to come on line over the next 2 years, and prospects for frontier plays, research analyst Business Monitor International predicts that Vietnam oil production will increase by 6.5% between 2008 and 2018, peaking at 400,000 BOPD next year. Gas production, it predicts, will rise from the estimated 10 billion m3 produced in 2008 to 27 billion m3 in 2018. According to IHS, last year a total of 31 exploratory wells were spudded, of which 16 were classified as wildcats. The 2008 drilling campaign technically resulted in six discoveries, but the actual count is eight when the two wells spudded the previous year are taken into account. "Vietnam certainly is not a giant in Southeast Asia like Indonesia and Malaysia, but its [reserves] are respectable and will be very important as the country continues to grow," Fryklund said.

Innovations in coloproctology

It is hard to add to the eloquent and well-researched remarks already made independently by Kodner [1], Boffi [2], and Amato [3] regarding the ethical imperatives of new technologies within our field, but with respect to the PPH and STARR controversies, we are all missing the point a little. As trained coloproctologists, our duty with the introduction of ‘new’ technologies lies in their translation to ‘old’ situations. Here, the lessons learned from the institution of laparoscopic techniques should inform our practice. Are the indications for the utilization of the new procedure the same, are the contraindications similar, are the complications comparative and is there no ‘neosymptomatology’ induced which is difficult to treat or even life-threatening? I must confess, on all these grounds that both PPH and STARR fail these tests. In this regard, the arguments Dr. Herold makes recently in our own journal as to whether a post-PPH syndrome exists are moot [4]. The task for colorectal surgeons is the preoperative definition of subgroups of patients likely to functionally fare badly after anorectal and colorectal surgeries and this can only be achieved by adequate case randomization and trial design. Because some clinicians do not see a problem clearly does not mean that it does not exist. I don’t routinely counsel my office patients with large or circumferential haemorrhoids about the potential for a colostomy or of intractable proctalgia when I see them to discuss elective haemorrhoidectomy and there is very little in the available literature at the moment that is likely to make me change my mind to incorporate treatments where such counselling will be necessary. Coloproctological associations must respond proactively to the ‘demand’ for untried and improperly represented techniques and we should apply the same stringent guidelines to data interpretation and utility that we would normally apply to any peer-reviewed process or activity. The problem here is not our linkage to industry; that is part and parcel of any scientific meeting. The problem is our acceptance as serious and influential societies of data that is uninterpretable and relatively poorly planned. In this respect, particularly in the eclectic group of patients presenting with functional bowel disorders, the search for the ‘holy grail’ of a ‘one-operation-fits-all’ approach where over 90% of patients present with a multiplicity of pelvic floor and perineal soft-tissue pathology places us in a uniquely vulnerable situation. Historically, the interpretation of data as it applied to the UK Large Bowel Project [5] in the 1980s, that of the PROSPER rectal prolapse trial [6] and now the operative outcome data of the European STARR registry [7] are always going to be difficult (if not impossible) to interpret and use in any practical sense for individual patient decision-making. All these data will do is provide us with representative standards for morbidity and mortality of the different procedures; something we already know without patient randomization. If this is accepted we have to use our own powerful societies as accrediting bodies for data acquisition and trialling. In Australia, Professor Guy Maddern’s passionate introduction of the Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures-Surgical (ASERNIP-S) section of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has been a case in point; [8] designed to monitor and regulate the introduction and accrediting of new surgical techniques into old working places as it were. I would propose that our A. P. Zbar (&) The Universities of New England and Newcastle, Tamworth, NSW, Australia e-mail: apzbar@yahoo.com

Entity versus property: tracking the nature, genesis and role of stem cells in cancer

The CNIO Cancer Conference on Stem cells and cancer took place between 23 and 25 February in Madrid, Spain, and was organized by E Fuchs, M Blasco, E Batlle & M Perez‐Moreno. ![][1] See Glossary for abbreviations used in this article Decades after the elegant and groundbreaking experiments on the reversibility of the normal and tumorigenic phenotypes of germ cells and teratocarcinomas, and on vertebrate cloning and reprogramming by nuclear transfer (reviewed in Solter et al , 2006; Gurdon & Melton, 2008), the nature of stemness, cell plasticity and reprogramming is at the forefront of biology. Stem‐cell research promises to alter the face of medicine and our sense of self forever. The CNIO Conference on Stem cells and cancer brought together an eclectic group of scientists to address the genesis, role and nature of stem cells in normal physiology, development and cancer. In her opening remarks, E. Fuchs (New York, NY, USA) suggested, for the purpose of the meeting, that the definition of a stem cell should include any cell that is able both to self‐renew and to generate more differentiated cells. Over the subsequent three days, it became clear that no marker or set thereof can unequivocally identify a stem cell. In other words, stemness is a property rather than an entity. Here, we review a selection of presentations that—owing to space limitations—cannot be fully representative, but which nonetheless highlight some of the exciting topics presented at the meeting. An important question is how stem cells regulate the balance between symmetric and asymmetric division, and between self‐renewal and differentiation. Neural stem cells in Drosophila divide asymmetrically (Fig 1), segregating cell‐fate determinants that block further stem‐cell division and that instead induce differentiation. Mutations that disrupt this asymmetric segregation have been shown to cause tumours, as both daughter cells continue to proliferate … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif

From Great Women to Top Girls : Pageants of Sisterhood in British Feminist Theater

Caryl Churchill's groundbreaking play Top Girls (1982) opens with a fleeting fantasy of transnational, transhistorical sisterhood as an eclectic group of eminent women, historical and fictional, gather to celebrate an apparent feminist victory--the promotion of a contemporary, high-powered businesswoman to a management position previously held by men. Sixty years earlier, at height of British women's suffrage movement, similarly fantastic gatherings of notable women from various nations and centuries were staged in support of women's rights. Like Top Girls, Pageant of Great Women (1909) and Women's Coronation Procession (1911) revived famous women from history and drew them into a contemporary feminist cause. By bringing together women from different time periods and geographic locations, all three productions present their audiences with a spectacle of female solidarity extending across national, cultural, and class boundaries. These pageants of sisterhood enact a fundamental feminist principle; as feminist theorist Rosi Braidotti observes, the recognition of a of commonality among women ... is foundation stone that allows for feminist position or standpoint to be articulated. (1) In dramatizing this bond of commonality, however, these productions express a feminist ideal more than they do a material reality; all three performances of united sisterhood signs of strain, though with different degrees of self-awareness. My purpose in this essay is to consider how British feminist productions with largely female casts from both ends of twentieth century appropriated elements of pageantry to create a vision of sisterhood responsive to feminism of their day. I begin with two suffrage-era productions that exploit modern pageant revival to garner support for a feminist cause: Cicely Hamilton's pageant play Pageant of Great Women, first performed in November 1909 at a large fundraising event for Actresses' Franchise League, and massive Women's Coronation Procession of 17 June 1911, whose purpose was to show strength of demand to win Votes for Women in Coronation year. (2) I then turn to a more recent feminist play, Caryl Churchill's Top Girls from 1982, whose opening act incorporates elements of pageantry reminiscent of suffrage pageants as colorful historical women gather around a dinner table in a spectacle that might at first appear to represent female solidarity across cultures and history, but which soon dissolves into conflict and chaos. Placing these somewhat disparate moments in British feminist theater in dialogue with one another brings out revealing convergences and discrepancies in their uses of women's history, particularly their representations of women's power and martyrdom, and in their constructions of sisterhood. Anticipating some of concerns of transnational feminism, Churchill's dystopian vision of fractured sisterhood throws into relief suffrage pageants' fantasy of universal, united sisterhood by encouraging attention to national, ideological, and class differences that must be elided to achieve such idealized visions of female solidarity. Despite her attentiveness to differences among women, however, Churchill does not deny possibility of sisterhood altogether, but uses Brechtian methods to suggest its possibility beyond social conditions represented in play. All three productions, to varying degrees, reveal tensions between potent feminist ideal of united sisterhood and material differences and disparities among women that ideal seeks to overcome. I. Cicely Hamilton's Pageant of Great Women, 1909 Pageant of Great Women exploited for feminist purposes pageant revival sweeping Britain and United States in first decade of twentieth century. Launched by Louis Napoleon Parker's large-scale historical pageant celebrating twelve hundredth anniversary of town of Sherbourne in 1905, modern pageant movement was a deliberate return to Renaissance pageantry inspired by late nineteenth-century arts and crafts movement. …

What is the Next Trend in Usage Statistics in Libraries?

In answering the question “What is the next trend in usage statistics in libraries?” an eclectic group of respondents has presented an assortment of possibilities, suggestions, complaints and, of c...

Playing the past: history and nostalgia in video games

Playing the Past brings together an eclectic group of young scholars to examine the complementary notions of history and nostalgia as they are expressed through video games and in gaming culture. By focusing on specific games (e.g., Ms. Pac-Man and JFK: Reloaded), historical periods and media ecologies, these essays collectively take an in depth look at the related topics of nostalgia for classic gaming, gaming and histories of other media, and representations of real history in video games.

Physical methods for investigating structural colours in biological systems

Many biological systems are known to use structural colour effects to generate aspects of their appearance and visibility. The study of these phenomena has informed an eclectic group of fields ranging, for example, from evolutionary processes in behavioural biology to micro-optical devices in technologically engineered systems. However, biological photonic systems are invariably structurally and often compositionally more elaborate than most synthetically fabricated photonic systems. For this reason, an appropriate gamut of physical methods and investigative techniques must be applied correctly so that the systems' photonic behaviour may be appropriately understood. Here, we survey a broad range of the most commonly implemented, successfully used and recently innovated physical methods. We discuss the costs and benefits of various spectrometric methods and instruments, namely scatterometers, microspectrophotometers, fibre-optic-connected photodiode array spectrometers and integrating spheres. We then discuss the role of the materials' refractive index and several of the more commonly used theoretical approaches. Finally, we describe the recent developments in the research field of photonic crystals and the implications for the further study of structural coloration in animals.