Serotonin 5-HT\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e receptor activation prevents allergic asthma in a mouse model

© 2015 the American Physiological Society. Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the lung characterized by airways hyper-responsiveness (AHR), inflammation, and mucus hyperproduction. Current main-stream therapies include bronchodilators that relieve bronchoconstriction and inhaled glucocorticoids to reduce inflammation. The small molecule hormone and neurotransmitter serotonin has long been known to be involved in inflammatory processes; however, its precise role in asthma is unknown. We have previously established that activation of serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2A receptors has potent anti-inflammatory activity in primary cultures of vascular tissues and in the whole animal in vasculature and gut tissues. The 5-HT2A receptor agonist, (R)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine [(R)-DOI] is especially potent. In this work, we have examined the effect of (R)-DOI in an established mouse model of allergic asthma. In the ovalbumin mouse model of allergic inflammation, we demonstrate that inhalation of (R)-DOI prevents the development of many key features of allergic asthma, including AHR, mucus hyperproduction, airways inflammation, and pulmonary eosinophil recruitment. Our results highlight a likely role of the 5-HT2 receptors in allergic airways disease and suggest that 5-HT2 receptor agonists may represent an effective and novel small molecule-based therapy for asthma

Sport in the city: measuring economic significance at the local level

In many cities throughout Europe, sport is increasingly being used as a tool for economic revitalisation. While there has been a growth in literature relating to the specific economic impacts of sports-led development, including professional sport facilities, teams, and sport events, limited research has been undertaken on the contribution of the whole sport sector to output and employment. In the United Kingdom (UK), studies have focused on evaluating sport-related economic activity at the national level, yet despite the increasing use of sport for local economic development little research has been undertaken at the city level. To address this situation, this article uses the National Income Accounting framework to measure the economic importance of sport in Sheffield, UK. It shows that the value-added in 1996/97 was 165.61m or 4.11% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), approximately twice the amount predicted from current national estimates. It is argued that this can primarily be explained by previous studies under-estimating the economic importance of sport, largely due to methodological differences. It goes on to suggest that future research on the significance of sport should be undertaken at the local level to provide policymakers with information at the spatial level where regeneration programmes are being implemented.</p

Franchising as a Strategy for Combining Small and Large Group Advantages (Logics) in Social Entrepreneurship:A Hayekian Perspective

This article develops a Hayekian perspective on social franchising that distinguishes between the end-connected logic of the small group and the rule-connected logic of the big group. Our key claim is that mission-driven social entrepreneurs often draw on the small-group logic when starting their social ventures and then face difficulties when the process of scaling shifts their operations toward a big-group logic. In this situation, social franchising offers a strategy to replicate the small group despite systemwide scaling, to mobilize decentrally accessible social capital, and to reduce agency costs through mechanisms of self-selection and self-monitoring. By employing a Hayekian perspective, we are thus able to offer an explanation as to why social franchising is a suitable scaling strategy for some social entrepreneurship organizations and not for others. We illustrate our work using the Ashoka Fellow Wellcome

Does the perception of fairness and standard of care in the health system depend on the field of study? Results of an empirical analysis

Background: The main challenge in the context of health care reforms and priority setting is the establishment and/or maintenance of fairness and standard of care. For the political process and interdisciplinary discussion, the subjective perception of the health care system might even be as important as potential objective criteria. Of special interest are the perceptions of academic disciplines, whose representatives act as decision makers in the health care sector. The aim of this study is to explore and compare the subjective perception of fairness and standard of care in the German health care system among students of medicine, law, economics, philosophy, and religion. Methods: Between October 2011 and January 2012, we asked freshmen and advanced students of the fields mentioned above to participate in a paper and pencil survey. Prior to this, we formulated hypotheses. The data were analysed by micro econometric regression techniques. Results: Data from 1,088 students were included in the study. Medical students, freshmen, and advanced students perceive the standard of care significantly as being better than non-medical students. Differences in the perception of fairness are not significant between the freshmen of the academic disciplines; however, they increase with the number of study terms. Besides the field of study, further variables such as gender and health status have a significant impact on perceptions. Conclusions: Our results show that there are differences in the perception of fairness and standard of care between academic disciplines, which might influence the interdisciplinary discussion on health care reforms and priority setting.Leibniz University Hannover/Wege in die Forschung I

Unique Phase Transition on Spin-2 Triangular Lattice of Ag2MnO2

Ag2MnO2 is studied as a possible candidate compound for an antiferromagnetic XY spin model on a triangular lattice. In spite of the large Curie-Weiss temperature of -430 K found in magnetic susceptibi-lity, Mn3+ spins with S = 2 do not undergo a conventional long-range order down to 2 K probably owing to the geometrical frustration and two dimensionality in the system. Instead, a unique phase transition is found at 80 K, where specific heat exhibits a clear sign of a second-order phase transition, while magnetic susceptibility changes smoothly without a distinct anomaly. We think that this transition is related to the chirality degree of freedom associated with a short-range order, which has been expected for the classical XY spin model on a triangular lattice. On further cooling, spin-glass-like behavior is observed below 22 K, possibly corresponding to a quasi-long-range order.Comment: to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, Vol. 77, No.

Insensitivity of chloroplast gene expression to DNA methylation

Presence and possible functions of DNA methylation in plastid genomes of higher plants have been highly controversial. While a number of studies presented evidence for the occurrence of both cytosine and adenine methylation in plastid genomes and proposed a role of cytosine methylation in the transcriptional regulation of plastid genes, several recent studies suggested that at least cytosine methylation may be absent from higher plant plastid genomes. To test if either adenine or cytosine methylation can play a regulatory role in plastid gene expression, we have introduced cyanobacterial genes for adenine and cytosine DNA methyltransferases (methylases) into the tobacco plastid genome by chloroplast transformation. Using DNA cleavage with methylation-sensitive and methylation-dependent restriction endonucleases, we show that the plastid genomes in the transplastomic plants are efficiently methylated. All transplastomic lines are phenotypically indistinguishable from wild-type plants and, moreover, show no alterations in plastid gene expression. Our data indicate that the expression of plastid genes is not sensitive to DNA methylation and, hence, suggest that DNA methylation is unlikely to be involved in the transcriptional regulation of plastid gene expression

Enhancing methane production from lignocellulosic biomass by combined steam‑explosion pretreatment and bioaugmentation with cellulolytic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii

Background: Biogas production from lignocellulosic biomass is generally considered to be challenging due to the recalcitrant nature of this biomass. In this study, the recalcitrance of birch was reduced by applying steam-explosion (SE) pretreatment (210 °C and 10 min). Moreover, bioaugmentation with the cellulolytic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii was applied to possibly enhance the methane production from steam-exploded birch in an anaerobic digestion (AD) process under thermophilic conditions (62 °C). Results: Overall, the combined SE and bioaugmentation enhanced the methane yield up to 140% compared to untreated birch, while SE alone contributed to the major share of methane enhancement by 118%. The best methane improvement of 140% on day 50 was observed in bottles fed with pretreated birch and bioaugmentation with lower dosages of C. bescii (2 and 5% of inoculum volume). The maximum methane production rate also increased from 4-mL CH4/ g VS (volatile solids)/day for untreated birch to 9-14-mL CH4/ g VS/day for steam-exploded birch with applied bioaugmentation. Bioaugmentation was particularly effective for increasing the initial methane production rate of the pretreated birch yielding 21-44% more methane than the pretreated birch without applied bioaugmentation. The extent of solubilization of the organic matter was increased by more than twofold when combined SE pretreatment and bioaugmentation was used in comparison with the methane production from untreated birch. The beneficial effects of SE and bioaugmentation on methane yield indicated that biomass recalcitrance and hydrolysis step are the limiting factors for efficient AD of lignocellulosic biomass. Microbial community analysis by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed that the microbial community composition was altered by the pretreatment and bioaugmentation processes. Notably, the enhanced methane production by pretreatment and bioaugmentation was well correlated with the increase in abundance of key bacterial and archaeal communities, particularly the hydrolytic bacterium Caldicoprobacter, several members of syntrophic acetate oxidizing bacteria and the hydrogenotrophic Methanothermobacter. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the potential of combined SE and bioaugmentation for enhancing methane production from lignocellulosic biomass

Downscaling Climate Change Impacts, Socio-Economic Implications and Alternative Adaptation Pathways for Islands and Outermost Regions

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the future scenarios of climate change and management concerns associated with climate change impacts on the blue economy of European islands and outermost regions. The publication collects major findings of the SOCLIMPACT project’s research outcomes, aiming to raise social awareness among policy-makers and industry about climate change consequences at local level, and provide knowledge-based information to support policy design, from local to national level. This comprehensive book will also assist students, scholars and practitioners to understand, conceptualize and effectively and responsibly manage climate change information and applied research. This book provides invaluable material for Blue Growth Management, theory and application, at all levels. This first edition includes up-to-date data, statistics, references, case material and figures of the 12 islands case studies. ¨Downscaling climate change impacts, socio-economic implications and alternative adaptation pathways for Islands and Outermost Regions¨ is a must-read book, given the accessible style and breadth and depth with which the topic is dealt. The book is an up-to-date synthesis of key knowledge on this area, written by a multidisciplinary group of experts on climate and economic modelling, and policy design