Silence Research Articles

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNATIONAL REGULATION OF COPING WITH MARINE POLLUTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Using analytical-descriptive method, this paper has assessed the effectiveness of international regulation of coping with marine pollution in international law. The findings suggest that international regulations, due to inefficiency, silence on some issues related to marine pollution, and the rule of law has failed to deal with the marine pollution as they should. Given that more than two-thirds of marine pollution enters the sea from land, and due to the failure and shortcomings of existing international law, it seems that codifying domestic legislation in this regards is a necessity. Actually, this does not mean to ignore the International Regulations. Although the solutions to combat pollution from land based sources is to guarantee and codify national regulation, these issues should take place at the international level, in the form of an enforceable legal requirements to the mobilize and coordinate countries and to make them accept these requirements in order to take action to prevent the pollution, so as to prevent its geopolitical consequences. This requires the change of this gap in the international law of the seas to serious global demand and demand, which is threatening human life in the future. Moreover, the existing international laws require strong enforcement in order to be effective and the establishment of an international environmental criminal court can meet this need.

Advances in research on disease diagnosis related circulating miRNAs

MicroRNA(miRNA) is one of the non-coding RNAs with approximate 21 nucleotides in size, which can target messenger RNA(mRNA) to silence gene expression post-transcriptionally. Recent studies have shown that miRNAs play important roles in many physiological and pathological processes, including signal transduction, stem cell differentiation, tumor genesis and development, infection and immunity. Circulating miRNAs are ubiquitous and highly stable, and their profiles are specifically deregulated in different disease processes, thus having the potent to be novel biomarkers for disease diagnosis, prognosis evaluation and treatment assessment. At the same time, it will be the challenge to explore disease-associated miRNA profiles for the development of future molecular diagnostics, as well as to establish standard procedures in detection and effective external quality assessment.(Chin J Lab Med, 2016, 39: 139-144) Key words: MicroRNAs; Biological Markers; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Quality Control

Effects of silencing MTA1 gene by RNA interference on invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma.

The study aimed at the silence effect of MAT1 gene and proteins in Ishikawa cell of human endometrial carcinoma cell line through RNAi mediated by siRNA and also discussed the effect of MTA1 gene silence on the invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma. According to the principle of designing siRNA sequence, siRNA aiming at MTA1 gene (MTA1-siRNA) and siRNA used for negative control (Control-siRNA) were designed and synthesized and Ishikawa cell was transfected by transfection reagents. RT-PCR method as well as western blot was used, respectively, to detect the MTA1 mRNA and protein expression of stably transfected cells. Transwell method and scarification experiment were adopted to detect the invasion and metastasis of Ishikawa cells. The expression results of MTA1 on the levels of mRNA and protein showed that the expression level in transfected MTA1-siRNA group was obviously lower than that in non-transfected group and transfected control-siRNA group (p <0.05), while there was no significant difference between non-transfected group and transfected control-siRNA group (p > 0.05). Effective interference on the expression of MTA1 gene remarkably lowered the invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma Ishikawa cells. RNAi aiming at MTA1 can effectively inhibit the expression of MTA1 in endometrial carcinoma Ishikawa cells and the effective silence of MTA1 can weaken the invasion and metastasis of Ishikawa cells, which provides a new strategy for gene therapy of endometrial carcinoma and an experimental basis for inhibiting the invasion and metastasis of endometrial carcinoma.

From migrants to the duty of breaking the silence

From migrants to the duty of breaking the silence

THE MOTIF OF GOTHICISM IN THE SECRET AGENT BY JOSEPH CONRAD

The stereotype utilization of a fear-causing beast in dark abyss teams up with Gothicism in a general sense. The ever-articulated elements of black horror are claimed to be transformed into the dynamics and requirements of modern life. Claimed to have a critical eye on traditional Gothicism, Joseph Conrad appears to be provocative for the re-analysis of gothic tendencies in his novels. If the objective of horror fiction stipulates the involvement of dangerous and gloomy imprisonment of a victim, we can well also expect such darkness injected into a ‘spy novel’ like The Secret Agent (1907). This paper, thus, deals with the elements of Gothicism such as darkness, silence, domesticity, psychological violence as reflected in the novel, which could be labeled as quite different from the mainstream. Keywords: horror, violence, provocation, darkness, urban, murder.

Silencing Speech with Pornography

The aim of this paper is to offer a map of the dynamics through which pornography may silence women’s illocutions. Drawing on Searle’s speech act theory, I will take illocutionary forces as sets of conditions for success. The different types of silencing, I claim, originate from the hearer’s missed recognition of a specific component of the force of the speaker’s act. In addition to the varieties already discussed in literature (which I label essential, authority, and sincerity silencing), I shall finally consider another kind of silencing produced by the failure to acknowledge the speaker’s words as serious (seriousness silencing).

Shame, Guilt, and Silence in Wahiba Khiari's Nos silences

Shame, Guilt, and Silence in Wahiba Khiari's Nos silences

Lessons in Silence: Power, Diversity, and the Educationalisation of Silence

Lessons in Silence: Power, Diversity, and the Educationalisation of Silence

Epiphanies of Mystery: On Hearing the Music of Silence at the Boundaries of Tradition

Epiphanies of Mystery: On Hearing the Music of Silence at the Boundaries of Tradition

Veterinarians need support to break the silence

Veterinarians need support to break the silence

Silence the Silence. Making Sense of Music Beyond Consumption and Contemplation

La musique est une forme d’art. Nous l’admirons en tant que telle, nous la considérons comme importante et nous la contemplons, c’est-à-dire que nous l’écoutons avec une ferveur sereine. Mais dans notre société actuelle, la musique est également un produit de consommation quotidienne. Nous vivons aujourd’hui avec un fond musical quasi omniprésent et nous utilisons la musique comme accompagnement de nos activités quotidiennes. La musique est un moyen de « faire taire le silence ». Elle débarrasse l’esprit du sentiment d’ennui, de solitude et d’inquiétude. Pour comprendre comment la musique fonctionne dans nos esprits, nous devons dépasser cette approche. La musique est un processus mental qui nous permet de percevoir certaines structures sonores comme porteuses de sens. Ces processus mentaux renvoient probablement à des aspects fondamentaux de la compréhension et de la reconnaissance que nous avons de l’existence d’autrui. La musique reflète le fait que nous habitons tous le même monde. Cet article corrobore ce fait en s’appuyant sur la discussion de découvertes théoriques en psychologie de la musique et sur les preuves apportées par la pratique artistique et pédagogique de la musique.

The antidepressant and neuroprotective effect mediated by TREK-1 potassium channel

Objective Recently, the role of TREK-1 in anti-depression and neuroprotection was demonstrated definitely. In this paper, a systematic review about the functional structure of TREK-1 as well as the underlying mechanisms which involved in depression resistance and nerve protection was made for purpose of providing new ideas for the treatment of clinical diseases. Methods The electronic search of Medline/PubMed, CNKI, CBM and Wanfang Data were performed to collect the introduction of TREK-1 and the studies of depression and nerve protection in which TREK-1 participated from inception of each database to October 2015, besides the relevant references of the included studies were also retrieved. Results 30 studies were included in this paper. 14 studies were about the interpretation of TREK-1's structure, distribution and the regulatory factors, and the number of researches regarding the involvement of TREK-1 in anti-depression and neuroprotection was 13 and 7 respectively. Based on these studies, it was easily to conclude that inhibition or blocking of TREK-1 channels can produce obvious antidepressant effect, however, activation of TREK-1 channels will induce the dilation of local cerebral vascular and silence hyperactive neurons. Conclusion Some achievements about the antidepressant and neuroprotective effect of TREK-1 channels in vivo have been made gratifyingly, thus future research should focus on exploring the best TREK-1activation ratio in different brain regions to gain the best balance between anti-depression and neuroprotection. Key words: TREK-1; Depressive disorder; Stroke; Epilepsy

Expression of silence information regulator 1 (Sirt1) in B cells in peripheral venous blood of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus

Objective To investigate alterations in epigenetic regulation in B cells in subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE). Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from the peripheral venous blood of SCLE patients and healthy donors with density gradient centrifugation. B cells were isolated with CD19 micro beads and protocols provided by the manufacturer. Total RNAs were isolated with RNA kits. The expressions of silence information regulator 1 (Sirt1) mRNA were investigated with quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results The levels of Sirt1 mRNA were significantly increased in SCLE B cells relative to healthy controls (P< 0.01). Conclusions Histone modifications appear abnormal in B cells in SCLE. Key words: Lupus erythematosus, systemic/ME/GE; Sirtuins/ME/GE; B-lymphocytes

Silence, expressive and significant matter

Significacio, expressio i comunicacio no tenen perque anar sempre conjuntament. No obstant, el silenci audiovisual, com a recurs i com a contrast psicoperceptiu, pot ser significatiu, pot ser una expressio i pot ser comunicacio. El silenci audiovisual es significatiu perque forma part del mon i es perceptible; tot allo que es perceptible pot ser interpretat i rebre un sentit. Igualment, tambe es significatiu perque, malgrat la seva ambiguitat, pot remetre a un sentit diferent d’ell mateix. El silenci es expressio perque es l’exterioritzacio d’un pensament o d’una sensacio sota una forma sensible, perceptible, novament. La voluntarietat de la seva emissio reforca la idea del silenci com a expressio, i mes encara en el context d’un producte audiovisual. El silenci es comunicacio perque forma part del missatge comunicatiu i, fins i tot quan no es vol dir res, amb un silenci, es comunica. El silenci audiovisual es comunicacio perque vol fer particip a un tercer d’un sentit transportat per ell. Malgrat la possible incomprensio, el silenci audiovisual matisa els codis del seu context. El silenci audiovisual, mes que com a codi, es mes adient entendre’l com a materia expressiva i en l’ambit de la parla, mes que no pas de la llengua, en el context audiovisual o linguistic.

Talk does not cost lives, silence does

Talk does not cost lives, silence does

The Perspective of the Indigenous Winners, the Silence of the Indigenous Losers

The Perspective of the Indigenous Winners, the Silence of the Indigenous Losers

Effects of shRNA-mediated silence of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 on the invasion and metastasis of ovarian carcinoma cell line OVCAR3

Objective To evaluate the expression of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT-1) in ovarian cancer cell lines, and to investigate the biological effects of down-regulated MALAT-1 on OVCAR3 cells. Methods qRT-PCR analysis was used to examine the expression level of MALAT-1 gene in ovarian cancer cells, including ES-2, A2780, SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cell lines. For functional research, four shRNA oligos specially targeting MALAT-1 and a empty vector were designed and constructed into pGPU6/GFP/Neo, then transfected into OVCAR3 cells. qRT-PCR was used to confirm the effective suppression of MALAT-1. Changes of proliferation and adhesion of cells were analyzed by CCK-8 and adhesion assays. Wound-healing, transwell migration and invasion assays were used to examine migration and invasion of MALAT-1-silencing cells in vitro. Results The expression of MALAT-1 gene in OVCAR3 cells was high, and qRT-PCR results confirmed successfully the knockdown of MALAT-1 after transient transfection. After successful suppression of MALAT-1, the proliferation, wound-healing and adhesion ability in vitro were inhibited to some degree. In transwell migration assay, the number of migration cells in MALAT-1-silencing group was 52.17 ± 4.48, which is much less than that in the negative and control groups (286.50 ± 12.23 and 295.67±6.96, respectively). In invasion assay, the number of invasion cells passing the transwell membrane in MALAT-1-silencing group (37.33±2.40) was also decreased significantly, compared to that in the negative and control groups (239.00±15.72 and 222.67±20.85, P< 0.05). Conclusions shRNA-mediated silence of MALAT-1 can effectively inhibit the proliferation, adhesion, migration and invasion abilities of ovarian cancer cell line OVCAR3 in vitro, indicating MALAT-1 is expected to be a target gene for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Key words: Ovarian neoplasms; Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1; Neoplasm invasiveness; Neoplasm metastasis; RNA interference

Effect of LINGO-1 gene silencing on movement function of EAE mice

To explore the effect of LINGO-1 silencing on movement function of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice. EAE was established by induction of MOG35-55 in female C57/BL6 mice. Then female EAE mice (n=105) were completely randomly divided into 5 groups: group A (n=21): 5 µl 5×10(9) Tu/ml lentiviral vectors encoding LINGO-1shRNA (LV/LINGO-1-shRNA) by intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection, group B (n=21): 5 µl 5×10(8)Tu/ml LV/LINGO-1-shRNA by ICV injection, group C (n=21): 5 µl 5×10(7) Tu/ml LV/LINGO-1-shRNA by ICV injection, group D (n=21): 5 µl LVCON053 by ICV injection and group E (n=21): untreated.The movement function was scored and the expression of LINGO-1 protein was detected by Western blot on day 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 30 after ICV among different groups. Luxol fast blue staining was performed to know about conditions of myelin sheath on day 30. The expression of LINGO-1 in EAE mouse was obviously downregulated ever since day 7 after LV/LINGO-1-shRNA implantation.Group B and C achieved the most reduction of LINGO-1 expression (1.99±0.13, 2.08±0.10, P<0.05, P<0.01). Simultaneously, the movement functional score of group A, B and C was lowered at different levels from day 7 (3.11±0.13, 2.42±0.13, 2.96±0.10 vs 3.56±0.15, 3.87±0.12, P<0.01, P<0.01, P<0.05), with the most marked decrease in group B. The densities of myelin sheaths in group A and B were higher than untreated group on day 30 (0.72±0.09, 0.83±0.11 vs 0.56±0.10, P<0.05, P<0.01). LV/LINGO-1shRNA by ICV injection is an effective method to silence LINGO-1 expression. LINGO-1 silencing could ameliorate motor function and promote formation of myelin sheaths. But the effects do not enhance with the increase of LV/LINGO-1-shRNA dose.

Protective effects of Purα on rat hippocampus DNA damage induced by epilepsy

To investigate the protective effects of Purα protein on rat hippocampus DNA damage induced by epilepsy and the effects of Purα protein on the repair of DNA damage. The Purα overexpressing and siRNA lentiviruses were packaged in vitro and the high tittered virion was injected into rat hippocampus guided by stereotaxic apparatus. 14 days later after the lentivirus injection, epileptic onset is induced by intraperitoneal injection of pilocarpine. The experimental animals were executed 1 hour after the epileptic onset and the hippocampus samples were collected for immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting assay was used to examine the pertinent protein expression to investigate the protective effects of Purα on DNA damage and repair. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that γH2AX, a signal protein of DNA damage, expressed in rat hippocampal CA1 region. 20 slides of rat hippocampal CA1 region with the same background and position were chosen for γH2AX positive staining cell analysis with image analysis software iPP6.0 and the cells with positive staining were selected to evaluate the average optical density. Compared with empty vector group (0.40 ± 0.11) and control group (0.42 ± 0.05), the number of positive staining cells in Purα overexpression group (0.15 ± 0.05) was significantly decreased (P < 0.01), while the number increased in Purα silence group (0.68 ± 0.06) (P < 0.01). Western blotting analysis showed, compared with empty vector group (0.93 ± 0.11) and control group (1.00 ± 0.00), that the expression levels of proteins related to the DNA repair such as parp-1, was much lower in Purα overexpression group (0.17 ± 0.09), while it increased in Purα silence group (P < 0.01). The DNA damage can occur in the early stage of epilepsy onset, and Purα protein can protect the DNA damage caused by epilepsy and also participate in the repair process of DNA damage.

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique and its application in site-directed genome modification of animals.

CRISPR/Cas system, which uses CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) to guide Cas nuclease to silence invading nucleic acids, is self-defense system against exogenous virus or plasmid in bacteria and archaea. Through molecular modification, the typeⅡCRISPR/Cas system has become a highly efficient site-directed genome editing technique, which is simpler than zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator like effector nucleases (TALENs) and easier to be designed and applied. In this review, we summarize the evolutionary history of CRISPR/Cas9 system, the working principle and modification process of type Ⅱ CRISPR/Cas and its application in animal genome modification. We also analyze the existing problems and improvement program of the CRISPR/Cas9 system as well as its application prospect combined with successful cases, which may provide innovative perspectives on improving animal traits and establishing animal models of human diseases.