ANT goes dispositif: Überlegungen zu einer methodischen Verschränkung von Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie und Dispositivanalyse

This article examines methodological problems in Foucault's 'dispositif' analysis and Latour's actor-network theory. In order to address the question of the two methods' compatibility, the paper does not start from Foucault's 'dispositif', but from discourse theory. It is argued that the former is grounded in the latter, and that Latour's ANT — both in its initial as well as in its recent form (as formulated in the 'Modes of Existence') — is based on an underlying and implicit Foucauldian discourse logic. In a second step, the 'dispositif' analysis is introduced on the basis of what could be called Foucault's problem, i.e., the question of how to categorize 'dispositifs'. The article shows that ANT has a similar problem that Latour tries to solve by introducing his 'modes of existence'. A combined reading of the two approaches, the author finally states, can very fruitfully contribute to cultural analysis

Organisationsaufstellung - eine Methode der Explizierung von verborgenem Wissen

Grundlegende Aspekte der Interventionsmethode der Organisationsaufstellung werden erörtert. Dabei wird zunächst eingeführt in das praktische Vorgehen und die damit verfolgten Ziele. Dann werden ausgewählte Ergebnisse einer Evaluationsstudie vorgestellt. Abschließend wird der Frage nachgegangen, auf welche Weise die Methode der Organisationsaufstellung wirkt. Dabei wird in die Überlegung eingeführt, dass es sich bei der Aufstellung um eine Methode der "Explizierung von verborgenem Wissen" handelt.The article deals with the method "organisation setting". First it gives an overview over the approach and the aims of it. Then it presents the results of an evaluation study. At least it considers the question how the method works. Concerning this point it develops the idea of "organization setting" as a method of explicating tacit knowledge

Impact of Physical Fitness on Cognitive Performance in Patients at a Memory Clinic

Objective: To examine the impact of cardiovascular and motor fitness on cognitive performance in subjects interested in the prevention and early recognition of Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Methods: The data of 388 participants of a respective project aged between 50 and 85 years were evaluated. Classification of the participants into the groups of “no cognitive impairment” (NCI), “mild cognitive impairment of the amnestic type” (MCIa), and “mild AD” (mAD) was performed by neuropsychological assessment, history of third party, and further clinical, laboratory, or imaging investigations. Subjective memory impairment (SMI) and cognitive blackouts were recorded. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was assessed by means of the 2-min step test and motor fitness (MF) by means of the 30-s chair-stand test. Results: CRF and MF were reduced in participants with MCIa and mAD. They were negatively correlated with the score for cognitive blackouts. In the group of 50- to 60-year-old nondemented participants those with low CRF and MF performed poorer in various cognitive domains, had a higher score for cognitive blackouts, and more frequently SMI. Conclusion: Low CRF and MF are associated with cognitive impairment. This applies even in 50- to 60-year-old nondemented subjects without marked physical morbidity. These findings support the potential usefulness of physical exercise for dementia prevention

Mentoring beim Übergang in die berufliche Ausbildung am Beispiel des Ada-Lovelace-Projekts

"In Deutschland erzielen Mädchen inzwischen durchschnittlich bessere Schulabschlüsse und weisen zumindest bis in die Hochschule etwas erfolgreichere Bildungsverläufe auf als Jungen. Allerdings scheinen Mädchen und junge Frauen ihre erworbenen Qualifikationen und Kompetenzen beim Übergang in den Arbeitsmarkt nicht so gut nutzen zu können. Ihr Berufswahlspektrum ist deutlich enger und sie wählen eher Berufe mit schlechteren Karrierechancen und geringerer Bezahlung als Jungen. Hier setzen Berufseinstiegsmentorings an, die allerdings meistens beim Übergang von der Hochschule in den Beruf und selten beim Übergang in eine berufliche Ausbildung unterstützen. Genau das ist aber die Zielsetzung des Zweigs 'Ausbildung' im 'Ada-Lovelace- Projekt', in dem es darum geht, Mädchen insbesondere zur Wahl eines Berufs im naturwissenschaftlich-technischen und IT-Bereich zu ermutigen. Besonderheiten, Chancen und Grenzen eines solchen Mentoring-Angebots sollen anhand dieses Beispiels dargestellt und über Ergebnisse zweier durchgeführter Evaluationsstudien soll berichtet werden." (Autorenreferat)"In Germany, girls achieve better average results in their final school examinations and are more successful than boys in their college and university courses. It appears, however, that girls and young women are unable to take full advantage of their superior educational credentials when entering the job market. Women are faced with a narrower field of career choices and they tend to select occupations with lower salaries and fewer opportunities for career advancement. At the transitional point between college or university and work, job entry mentoring is often used to help people get jobs, but it is rarely used to support the transitions involving occupational training. This article presents the latter type by the example of the 'occupational education' branch of the 'Ada-Lovelace-Project', professional mentoring designed to encourage girls to choose a job in a scientific, technical or IT-related field. Special features, prospects and limitations of this form of mentoring will be described, and accounts of two studies currently in progress will be given." (author's abstract

Бюллетень новых поступлений за август 2016 года

Background: Astrocyte elevated gene 1 (AEG-1), an important oncogene, has been shown to be overexpressed in several types of cancers. In colorectal cancer (CRC), the protein level of AEG-1 is up-regulated in tumour tissue compared to normal mucosa, showing prognostic significance. Since little is known about the transcriptional level of AEG-1 expression and its biological pathway in CRC the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship of AEG-1 mRNA expression, the protein level and clinicopathological variables as well as its biology pathway in CRC. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMaterial and methods: The mRNA expression of AEG-1 was analysed by qPCR in fresh frozen patient samples including 156 primary tumours, along with the corresponding normal mucosa, and in five colon cancer cell lines, SW480, SW620, KM12C, KM12SM and KM12L4a. AEG-1 protein expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded materials from 74 distant normal mucosa, 107 adjacent mucosa, 158 primary tumour, 35 lymph node metastasis and 9 liver metastasis samples. In addition, the AEG-1 protein expression was elucidated in the cell lines by Western blot. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: The lymph node metastatic cell line SW620 had a significantly higher AEG-1 mRNA (0.27 +/- 0.02) expression compared to the primary tumour cell line SW480 (0.17 +/- 0.04, p = 0.026). AEG-1 expression at the mRNA level and/or the protein level was significantly up-regulated gradually from normal mucosa to primary CRC, and then to lymph node metastasis and finally to liver metastasis (p andlt; 0.05). There were significant associations of AEG-1 mRNA expression with tumour location (p = 0.047), as well as mRNA and protein expression with the tumour stage (p andlt; 0.03). Furthermore AEG-1 protein expression was positively related to biological variables including NF-kappa B, p73, Rad50 and apoptosis (p andlt; 0.05). less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion: AEG-1 is up-regulated, at the mRNA and the protein level, during CRC development and aggressiveness, and is related to tumour location and stage. It may play its role in CRC through the NF-kappa B signaling pathway.Funding Agencies|Swedish Cancer Foundation||Swedish Research Council||Health Research Council in the South-East of Sweden||</p

ADAM17-mediated EGFR ligand shedding directs macrophage-promoted cancer cell invasion

Macrophages in the tumor microenvironment have a substantial impact on tumor progression. Depending on the signaling environment in the tumor, macrophages can either support or constrain tumor progression. It is therefore of therapeutic interest to identify the tumor-derived factors that control macrophage education. With this aim, we correlated the expression of A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase (ADAM) proteases, which are key mediators of cell-cell signaling, to the expression of protumorigenic macrophage markers in human cancer cohorts. We identified ADAM17, a sheddase upregulated in many cancer types, as a protein of interest. Depletion of ADAM17 in cancer cell lines reduced the expression of several protumorigenic markers in neighboring macrophages in vitro as well as in mouse models. Moreover, ADAM17-/- educated macrophages demonstrated a reduced ability to induce cancer cell invasion. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics and ELISA, we identified heparin-binding EGF (HB-EGF) and amphiregulin, shed by ADAM17 in the cancer cells, as the implicated molecular mediators of macrophage education. Additionally, RNA-Seq and ELISA experiments revealed that ADAM17-dependent HB-EGF ligand release induced the expression and secretion of CXCL chemokines in macrophages, which in turn stimulated cancer cell invasion. In conclusion, we provide evidence that ADAM17 mediates a paracrine EGFR-ligand-chemokine feedback loop, whereby cancer cells hijack macrophages to promote tumor progression.</p

Dicer and miRNA in relation to clinicopathological variables in colorectal cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dicer is aberrantly expressed in several types of cancers. Applying real-time PCR, we detected the expression of Dicer mRNA in normal mucosa (n = 162), primary colorectal cancer (CRC) (n = 162) and liver metastasis (n = 37), and analysed the relationship between Dicer expression and clinicopathological features. We also correlated the expression of Dicer mRNA to the miRNA expression of miR-141, miR-200a, miR-200b, mir-200c and miR-429 in liver metastases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>RT-PCR and qPCR were used to analyse the Dicer expression in normal mucosa, primary tumour and liver metastasis by using the High Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit and TaqMan™^®Gene Expression assays for <it>Dicer </it>and <it>GAPDH</it>. RT-PCR and qPCR were used to detect miRNA expression in liver metastases by utilizing TaqMan^®MicroRNA Reverse Transcription Kit and TaqMan^®miRNA Assays. Statistical analyses were performed with STATISTICA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Dicer expression in rectal cancer (3.146 ± 0.953) was higher than in colon cancer (2.703 ± 1.204, P = 0.018). Furthermore the Dicer expression was increased in primary tumours (3.146 ± 0.952) in comparison to that in normal mucosa from rectal cancer patients (2.816 ± 1.009, P = 0.034) but this is not evident in colon cancer patients. Dicer expression in liver metastases was decreased in comparison to that of either normal mucosa or primary tumour in both colon and rectal cancers (P < 0.05). Patients with a high Dicer expression in normal mucosa had a worse prognosis compared to those with a low Dicer expression, independently of gender, age, tumour site, stage and differentiation (P < 0.001, RR 3.682, 95% CI 1.749 - 7.750). In liver metastases, Dicer was positively related to miR-141 (R = 0.419, P = 0.015).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Dicer is up-regulated in the early development of rectal cancers. An increased expression of Dicer mRNA in normal mucosa from CRC patients is significantly related to poor survival independently of gender, age, tumour site, stage and differentiation.</p

Historisches oder mediales Apriori? Versuch einer terminologischen Rejustierung

This paper deals with the difference between the historical a priori and the media a priori, arguing that, contrary to Friedrich Kittler, the notion of a media-technological a priori cannot substitute the historical a priori. However, conceiving media as conditions for knowledge, thought and opinion, the author argues that the media a priori should be perceived as an existential condition for the mediation between the self, the other and the world. After discussing Foucault's dispositif and referring to recent research on media dispositifs, the paper shows that power, knowledge and media are interrelated and co-dependent. The author finally suggests combining the historical, the media and the strategical a priori into a new, more inclusive concept

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 in relation to colorectal cancer development and radiotherapy response

The incidence and death rate for colorectal cancer (CRC) decreased during the last decades as a result of improved diagnosis and treatment. However, CRC is still the third most common cancer in the world, and is responsible for about 700 000 deaths per year worldwide. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms of the disease, and to find molecular markers in order to further improve prognosis, and to develop new treatment strategies. Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), encoded by the MTDH gene, is upregulated in a variety of cancers. AEG-1 is involved in cell survival, proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis,  angiogenesis, and apoptosis. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of AEG-1 in CRC development and the impact of AEG-1 on the response of radiation treatment. The AEG-1 expression, analysed in different CRC patient cohorts in paper I and III, was increased in the tumour tissue compared with the normal mucosa, and higher in the lymph node and liver metastases. Expression analyses in normal and cancer cell lines confirmed these results. In paper II, sequencing of the complete coding sequence of the MTDH gene in 356 patients revealed 50 single nucleotide variants of which 29 were novel. Eight exonic variants were detected, including three frameshift variants which were probably pathogenic, and two missense variants located in functional protein regions. There was no correlation of the MTDH variants or AEG-1 expression with the patient survival. In paper III, we also investigated the impact of AEG-1 on the response to radiation treatment. AEG-1 knockdown decreased the cellular survival upon radiation in several colon cancer cell lines. The AEG-1 expression was furthermore analysed in patients, which were randomised to either surgery alone or preoperative radiotherapy (RT), followed by surgery. The rectal cancer patients with high AEG-1 expression treated with RT had a significantly higher risk of developing distant recurrence and had a worse disease free survival, likely due to the metastasis promoting properties of AEG-1. In paper IV, the impact of AEG-1 knockdown and radiation on migration and invasion was analysed in colon cancer cell lines in vitro  and in a novel zebrafish model in vivo. AEG-1 knockdown decreased migration and invasion, and radiation-enhanced migration and invasion in the cell lines tested. In conclusion, our data suggest that AEG-1 is involved in CRC development, while MTDH gene variants probably not have a high clinical importance in CRC. Furthermore, AEG-1 is a promising radiosensitising target and a valuable prognostic marker in CRC. We further showed that AEG-1 knockdown inhibits migration and invasion, as well as radiation-enhanced cell migration and invasion