Menopause leads to elevated expression of macrophage-associated genes in the aging frontal cortex: rat and human studies identify strikingly similar changes.

BACKGROUND The intricate interactions between the immune, endocrine and central nervous systems shape the innate immune response of the brain. We have previously shown that estradiol suppresses expression of immune genes in the frontal cortex of middle-aged ovariectomized rats, but not in young ones reflecting elevated expression of these genes in middle-aged, ovarian hormone deficient animals. Here, we explored the impact of menopause on the microglia phenotype capitalizing on the differential expression of macrophage-associated genes in quiescent and activated microglia. METHODS We selected twenty-three genes encoding phagocytic and recognition receptors expressed primarily in microglia, and eleven proinflammatory genes and followed their expression in the rat frontal cortex by real-time PCR. We used young, middle-aged and middle-aged ovariectomized rats to reveal age- and ovariectomy-related alterations. We analyzed the expression of the same set of genes in the postcentral and superior frontal gyrus of pre- and postmenopausal women using raw microarray data from our previous study. RESULTS Ovariectomy caused up-regulation of four classic microglia reactivity marker genes including Cd11b, Cd18, Cd45 and Cd86. The change was reversible since estradiol attenuated transcriptional activation of the four marker genes. Expression of genes encoding phagocytic and toll-like receptors such as Cd11b, Cd18, C3, Cd32, Msr2 and Tlr4 increased, whereas scavenger receptor Cd36 decreased following ovariectomy. Ovarian hormone deprivation altered the expression of major components of estrogen and neuronal inhibitory signaling which are involved in the control of microglia reactivity. Strikingly similar changes took place in the postcentral and superior frontal gyrus of postmenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS Based on the overlapping results of rat and human studies we propose that the microglia phenotype shifts from the resting toward the reactive state which can be characterized by up-regulation of CD11b, CD14, CD18, CD45, CD74, CD86, TLR4, down-regulation of CD36 and unchanged CD40 expression. As a result of this shift, microglial cells have lower threshold for subsequent activation in the forebrain of postmenopausal women

Effect of Cd on the iron re-supply-induced formation of chlorophyll-protein complexes in cucumber

Cd induced changes in the accumulation of chlorophyll-protein complexes were studied during the iron induced re-greening of iron deficient cucumber plants to see how the Cd-induced alterations develop during the thylakoid biogenesis, and whether the altered development of chlorophyll-protein complexes and the changed iron metabolism are connected. Treatment with 1 μM Cd resulted in strong decrease in iron content of leaves compared to the controls, but Cd could not be detected in the leaves. It was accompanied with strong retardation of chlorophyll synthesis and biogenesis of chlorophyll-protein complexes, particularly photo-system I, the amount of which even decreased at the later period of greening. During the re-greening, the actual efficiency of photosystem II and CO2 fixation capacity recovered totally and partially, respectively. It was concluded that both retardation of the biogenesis of the complexes due to iron and chlorophyll deficiency and degradation processes affecting mainly photosystem I were involved in Cd induced changes in the pattern of chlorophyll-protein complexes

A kínai felzárkózás gazdaságpolitikai és geopolitikai vonatkozásai 1949-től 2007-ig

1. A XXI. századi globalizáció biztonságpolitikai szempontjainak összefoglalása után arra a következtetésre jutottunk, hogy a globális partnerség névvel illetett hatalomgyakorlási rend szolgálhatja ezek szigorú kontrollálását, normalizálását. Ezt a munkamegosztást többek között Kissinger koevolúció-elméletével is összevetettük, és azok lényegi azonossága mellet érveltünk. 2. A kínai eszmetörténeti hagyomány szerepe kapcsán kiemelten foglalkoztunk a frakcióharc mechanizmusával és a konfuciánus, a taoista és a legista örökséggel. Az irányzatokat egyesével vizsgálva mutattuk be, hogy egyik sem tagadja a piaci mechanizmusokat, összhangba hozhatóak azzal. A frakcióharcot illetően kiemeltük, hogy az nem csupán tagadja a plurális berendezkedést, hanem meg is előzheti annak kialakulását. Mivel a politikai rend és stabilitás fenntartható formáinak forrásai (konfucianizmus, taoizmus) mellett radikális (legizmus) irányzatok is részét képviselik a kínai hagyománynak ezért a frakcióharc állandó kérdése leírható ezen koncepciók relatív pozícióinak dinamikus alakulásaként is. 3. A Mao-korszak dominánsan a legista hatalomfilozófiát tükrözi, ám számos elem mégis azt a hagyományos látásmódot tükrözte, ami előtte évezredekig meghatározta a kínai döntéshozatalt. A Mao-korszakban a gazdaságpolitikának úgy a belső, mint a külső szempontjainál az egyik meghatározó alakítója a konfuciánus-taoista rendeszmény volt. Ezeket a tényezőket önmagukban és összefüggéseikben is elemeztük, illetve külön esettanulmányként részletesen kitértünk az 1956-os magyarországi események, valamint a hozzá közeli egyéb meghatározó biztonságpolitikai vonatkozású folyamatok hatására a kínai döntéshozatalra. 4. A reform és nyitás korszakának gazdaságpolitikai fordulatait részben maga Mao készítette elő a politikai erőviszonyok alapvető átalakításával halála előtt. Kína kormányzásában mindinkább azon elvek vették át a vezető szerepet, melyek a globális partnerség intézményrendszerének is megfelelnek. 5. Az 1992-2007-es periódusban egyszerre volt jelen a politikai rend alakítását a piac kezébe adó kapitalista, valamint a piac irányítását a központi döntéshozóknál tartó kínai magaskultúra ideológiája. Itt értek össze az 1949-2007-es korszakot átható folyamatok, melyekben egyszerre volt jelen a kínai magaskultúrával való vitatkozás és annak mind tisztább, közvetlenebb követése. Ennek eredményeként napjainkban a világrendi víziók is ebből a vitából táplálkoznak Kínában. A vizsgált időszak gazdaságpolitikai programjának így tulajdonképpen nem csak kiterjesztése, de szerves következményeit jelentik a nemzetközi rend kínai értelmezései, amelyeket több helyütt a nemzetközi kapcsolatok kínai iskoláiként hivatkozzák. Ezeket az alábbi csoportosításban tárgyaltuk: A. Radikális megközelítések a. az extrém idealista irányvonal b. a tiszta realista értelmezés B. Mérséklet megközelítések a. a neo-tianxiaizmus b. A Csin-dinasztia előtti korszak öröksége c. A Kína-model

Ghrelin Decreases Firing Activity of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Neurons in an Estrous Cycle and Endocannabinoid Signaling Dependent Manner.

The orexigenic peptide, ghrelin is known to influence function of GnRH neurons, however, the direct effects of the hormone upon these neurons have not been explored, yet. The present study was undertaken to reveal expression of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) in GnRH neurons and elucidate the mechanisms of ghrelin actions upon them. Ca(2+)-imaging revealed a ghrelin-triggered increase of the Ca(2+)-content in GT1-7 neurons kept in a steroid-free medium, which was abolished by GHS-R-antagonist JMV2959 (10µM) suggesting direct action of ghrelin. Estradiol (1nM) eliminated the ghrelin-evoked rise of Ca(2+)-content, indicating the estradiol dependency of the process. Expression of GHS-R mRNA was then confirmed in GnRH-GFP neurons of transgenic mice by single cell RT-PCR. Firing rate and burst frequency of GnRH-GFP neurons were lower in metestrous than proestrous mice. Ghrelin (40nM-4μM) administration resulted in a decreased firing rate and burst frequency of GnRH neurons in metestrous, but not in proestrous mice. Ghrelin also decreased the firing rate of GnRH neurons in males. The ghrelin-evoked alterations of the firing parameters were prevented by JMV2959, supporting the receptor-specific actions of ghrelin on GnRH neurons. In metestrous mice, ghrelin decreased the frequency of GABAergic mPSCs in GnRH neurons. Effects of ghrelin were abolished by the cannabinoid receptor type-1 (CB1) antagonist AM251 (1µM) and the intracellularly applied DAG-lipase inhibitor THL (10µM), indicating the involvement of retrograde endocannabinoid signaling. These findings demonstrate that ghrelin exerts direct regulatory effects on GnRH neurons via GHS-R, and modulates the firing of GnRH neurons in an ovarian-cycle and endocannabinoid dependent manner

Modern Constructions of China’s Exceptionalism in International Relations

This research attempts to identify manifestations self-perception of exceptionalism in China’s long history and explain why and how different types of exceptionalism have arisen in modern periods. Analyses are historical as well as theoretical. It explores how international structure has interacted with perceptions of history and culture to produce three distinctive, yet related, types of exceptionalism in contemporary China. While not determinative, constructs of exceptionalism can suggest policy dispositions, and by being an essential part of China’s worldview, they can become an important source for policy ideas and offer the aspects for the ostensible construction of Chinese theories of international relations

Comparison of the effects of Pb treatment on thylakoid development in poplar and cucumber plants

Pb (10 to 100 uM ) effects on the development of thylakoids were investigated in Fe-EDTA an d Fe-citrate grown cucumber and poplar to compare the symptoms in different plant species. Increased chlorophyll content of leaves appeared either in PSII core or LHCII depending on the treatment. Lowering of the chlorophyll content, however, was accompanied by decrease in PSI and LHCII, and relatively high stability of PSII core. PSII efficiency and C02 fixation were mostly unchanged or decreased moderately, but rise in the non-photochemical quenching was observed in all kinds of treatment. While Pb could not be detected and Mn content decreased in poplar leaves, changes in photosynthetic parameters paralleled with the Pb content in cucumber, and increase in Fe, Mn, and Ca content was measured. The direct effects of Pb or oxidative stress may evoke the changes in cucumber, while Pb induced Mn deficiency seems to play a role in poplar. Alterations in the composition of thylakoids were probably triggered by regulatory processes, which optimise the structure and function under stress conditions

TEACHING (ENGLISH) IN MULTICULTURAL CLASSES

In this essay I intend to present how I got interested in the topic of cross-cultural studies related to language teaching. I would like to share my experience in this field and some of my thoughts and ideas I developed during my ten years teaching multilingual classes. As I faced an entirely different classroom situation. I started to read about the topic of learning styles in different cultures and investigated how they related to my students' performance. The more I dealt with the topic, the more aware I became of the necessity that if we wanted to fulfil our task - to bring about good results in a relatively short time - we should build into our in-service teacher development programme this - for us new - aspect of language teaching. With the appearance of genuine multilingual/multicultural classes, the need for teacher developed materials to be used in such groups and for further studies in this field became more and more demanding. I strongly believe that teachers involved in this work have to know how culture and language relate to each other, what are the implications of the interference of the native language with the language being studied for the teaching/learning process. The nature of the culture shock our students experience must be understood by the teachers in order to help the students overcome it and thus bring about better results. To overcome the obstacles caused by the culture shock, it is essential to deal with the topic of cultural awareness, to find ways how the teachers can assist the students in this struggle. To achieve our educational goals, it is necessary to investigate the nature and com- ponents of intercultural communication, to develop intercultural communication strategies to help our students live and study in the multicultural environment of TUB. I feel it is indispensable to explore the issues mentioned above and many others not touched upon here if we want to help our students to the best of our abilities. I also belive that such studies go beyond the job as they can promote better and mutual understandig between nations