Regulation of the NCX1 Gene in the Normal and Hypertrophied Myocardium

The sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX1) plays a major role in calcium efflux, and therefore, in calcium homeostasis in the heart. The exchanger mRNA and protein is rapidly upregulated within one hour of pressure overload. In this work, the exchanger has been shown to be upregulated by persistent pressure overload for at least one to two weeks. The 5\u27 end of the NCX1 gene has been characterized in order to examine transcriptional regulation of the cardiac promoter. Four feline NCX1 isoforms of the 5\u27 untranslated region have been cloned: one from brain (Br1), one from kidney (K1), and two from heart (H1 and H2). Each isoform is expressed in a tissue specific manner. Seven unique clones of the alternatively spliced portion of the NCX1 intracytoplasmic loop have been identified in libraries from feline heart, brain, liver and kidney. These also exhibit tissue specific expression. Three are unique to brain. Three clones are expressed in kidney; one of these three is exclusively expressed in fetal kidney. Two isoforms are expressed in heart: one is unique to heart, and the other is predominately expressed in kidney. Both cardiac exchanger loop isoforms are upregulated for at least one to two weeks under continuous pressure overload. The 5\u27-end of the feline NCX1 gene has been cloned. The four tissue specific 5\u27untranslated regions are encoded by three alternatively spliced exons that have been mapped to nonoverlapping genomic clones. Exons K1 and Br1 lie on the same 13 Kb genomic clone separated by approximately 1 Kb. H1 has been mapped to a separate upstream 15 Kb genomic clone. Exon 2, the first common exon which encodes the translational start site, is found on a separate downnstream 17 Kb genomic clone. The K1 and Br1 isoforms each have unique promoters. The two heart isoforms, H1 and H2, share a single cardiac promoter. Primer extension has been used to map three transcriptional start sites for the cardiac promoter at 131, 139, and 143 bp 5\u27 of the AUG. These sites have been confirmed by S1 nuclease protection assays. A DNA fragment containing 2000 bp of cardiac 5\u27 flanking region, exon HI, and 67 bp of intron drives expression in cardiocytes, but not mouse L cells. Through deletion analysis, a fragment of the 5\u27 flanking region from -184 to +200 has been determined to be the minimal promoter sufficient to drive expression and alpha-adrenergic induction in cardiocytes. At least one enhancer has been detected between -2000 and 1054, and another between +22 and + 112. One or more negative elements exist between -1054 and -184. Further study will lead to identification of specific positive and negative elements involved in transcriptional control of the NCX1 gene

War memorials in organizational memory: a case study of the Bank of England

Nation-states are not the only bodies to have invested in memory-building through the construction of war memorials. This article moves the analysis on from nation-states to firms. It undertakes an analysis of war memorials built by the Bank of England. At the close of World War I, the Bank of England was not yet a nationalized company. Yet, it still, like many other organizations, engaged in this process of memorialization. We show that businesses closely followed the habits of nation-states when it came to commemorating war. The building of monuments and the ceremonies, which took place around them assigned values to the imagined communities, groups and nations. These events continue to the present day

How far does the apple fall from the tree? The size of English bank branch networks in the nineteenth century

After the Bank Charter Act in 1833, English banks could branch nationally without legal or geographical restriction. It has been previously thought that despite this freedom, early English joint-stock banks predominantly began as single units. Drawing upon a new dataset, this article maps the growth of branch banking, the size of bank networks and their geographical location and spread. It demonstrates that banks pursued branching strategies against the intentions of regulators and were successful in forming large and complex networks. However, ultimately, the majority settled for local, district and multi-regional structures, as opposed to national structures

Visualizing organizational identity: the history of a capitalist enterprise

This article examines the context in which firms reflect on their own history in order to help form their organizational identity. By undertaking research in business archives, it shows that external change is as important as an internal transition in understanding shifts in the way an organization understands its past. We trace the messages communicated internally through paintings of past chairmen and senior staff when they were displayed inside the head office of Lloyds Bank during the 1960s and 1970s. These portraits generated interest and were an effective means of non-verbal communication which provoked a discussion about the purpose, values and norms in the firm’s past, present, and future. The objects retold the story of the bank’s success as a privately owned family firm in the midst of on-going political debates inside the Labour party about the nationalization of large banking companies. With the portraits in place, they recognized the bank’s history as a capitalist enterprise. The pictures legitimized the tradition of private ownership, helped to form organizational identity, and set future obligations that would see its continuation in what was a period of potential change

Constructing corporate identity before the corporation: fashioning the face of the first English joint stock banking companies through portraiture

This article considers how the joint-stock banks established trust within the local marketplace. We undertake a new investigation of pictures of senior bank management. Building on the expansion of the art market in the nineteenth century, joint-stock banks used portraits as a public and visual mechanism to commemorate their successes and accomplishments. Portraiture, as a well-established art form, provided enterprises with a historical legacy that for many did not, as yet, exist. Through the use of portraiture, banks attempted to solidify their identity and add to the sitter’s social standing, as well as signal the new organization’s reputation for high culture, prestige, and professionalism to those who viewed these artworks. These illustrations personified the company and gave a human face to the early joint-stock economy

Bella y sus manchas

Victoria Rodrigo, PhD- Serie Leamos’ EditorProfessor of Spanish World Languages and Cultures DepartmentGeorgia State Universityhttps://scholarworks.gsu.edu/wcl_leamos/1001/thumbnail.jp