Glycoproteins and Memory Formation in the Day-Old Chick

Passive avoidance training in day-old chicks results in a cascade of biochemical, physiological and morphological events lasting for at least 24 hrs after training. One of these steps is an increase in fucose incorporation into synaptic plasma membrane (SPM) glycoproteins, which also occurs in other animal species and learning tasks. In order to identify these fucosylated glycans, the glycosylation profile of chicken synaptic plasma membrane (SPM) glycoproteins has been investigated. N- and O-linked glycans were released from delipidated pure SPMs by automated hydrazinolysis and fluorescently labelled with 2-aminobenzamide. Labelled glycans were separated according to their size, charge or hydrophilic profile by gel filtration and high-performance liquid chromatography. In the charged glycan fraction, sialylated, sulphated and phosphorylated glycans were detected, whereas the neutral glycan profile was dominated by oligomannosidic structures. Two of the most abundant complex type oligosaccharides have been sequenced. The neutral glycan profiles from trained and quiet chicks did not show any difference, however there were indications of possible learning related changes in the charged glycan fraction. In addition to learning related changes, another analysis investigating the biochemical correlates of neural plasticity using the dark-hatching paradigm was performed. A decrease in sialic acid content in the P2 fraction of dark-hatched chicks was noted, which is tentatively attributed to the undersialylation of small, possibly O-linked glycans

Glycan analysis of the chicken synaptic plasma membrane glycoproteins - a major synaptic N-glycan carries the LewisX determinant

The majority of plasma membrane components are glycosylated. It is now widely accepted that this post-translational modification is crucial during the establishment, maintenance and function of the nervous system. Despite its significance, structural information about the glycosylation of nervous system specific glycoproteins is very limited. In the present study the major glycan structure of the chicken synaptic plasma membrane (SPM) associated glycoprotein glycans were determined. N-glycans were released by hydozinnolysis, labelled with 2-aminobenzam,ide, treated with neuraminidase and subsequently fractionated by size exclusion chromatography. Individual fractions were characterized by combination of high-pressure liquid chromatography, exoglicosidase treatment or reagent array analysis method (RAAM). In addition to oligomannose-type glycans, core-fucosylated complex glycans with biantennary bisecting glycans carrying the LewisX epitope were most abundant. The overall chicken glycan profile was strikingly similar to the rat brain glycan profile. The presence of the LewisX determinant in relatively large proportions suggests a tissue-specific function for these glycans

Why People Are Moving to Suburbia (and Beyond): Examining the Pull Factor in the Fox Valley

Communities across the United States are growing and changing at an unprecedented pace. The Fox Valley of Wisconsin is no exception to the rapid population growth and development that often occurs in an unplanned manner and evokes terms like sprawl and leapfrog construction. The rapid suburban, exurban, and rural evolution is fueled not only by broad economic factors but also localized characteristics that push residents from the city and pull residents to suburbia. This article describes research that investigated the pull factors in six suburban Fox Valley, Wisconsin communities and discusses resulting implications for Extension programming

‘I create therefore I virtually exist’: digital content creation, virtual consumption, and motivation in Second Life

User-generated content (UGC) has been receiving increasing attention given its spread throughout digital media platforms and applications. Previous research focusing on Web 2.0 based platforms highlighted linkages with personal characteristics, user attitudes, and social as well as individual motivators. Interestingly, UGC has not been addressed on other platforms such as 3D virtual worlds, and the purpose of the current study is to fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, we explore virtual content creation within the particular 3D virtual world of Second Life, via comparing key demographic, usage and motivational attributes of creator versus non-creator residents. Results revealed differential patterns as a function of age, gender and usage. Digital content creators were also more likely to purchase goods reflecting stability, expand greater financial resources on the Second Life Marketplace, and while acknowledging greater difficulty in ease of use, reported higher esteem and self-actualization. Implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guest editorial: Globalization and the convergence of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship

This Special Issue of the Management Research Review comprises a selection of the best papers presented at the 2014 annual conference of the International Management Research Academy (IMRA) co-organized with the Global Business School at the Kean University Union campus in New Jersey, USA. The theme of the conference centered on “Globalization and the convergence of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship”, with the aim of bringing together a diverse and multi-disciplinary group of scholars and practitioners from across emerged, emerging and frontier markets. The conference received 108 extended abstracts involving 239 authors from 31 countries, of which 31 proposals were rejected in the first round, leaving a total of 76 submissions to be invited for presentation. The conference attracted a number of leading academics and practitioners, including the keynote addresses by Dr. Raj Shaj, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Telemed Ventures; Joseph Sheridan, President and Chief Operating Officer of Wakefern Food Corporation; Dr. Dawood Farahi, President of Kean University; and Dr. Michael Cooper, Dean of the Global Business School at Kean University. While the keynote speakers uniformly highlighted the need for forward-looking and entrepreneurial leaders with global and multicultural perspectives, the selected conference presentations provided valuable examples and demonstrated ways in which the convergence of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship could offer significant competitive advantage to any business in our increasingly globalized environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Spiritualitas di kalangan kaum muda kampus : studi kasus mahasiswa ahlith thariqah al-mu’tabarah an-nahdhiyah UIN Walisongo Semarang

Spiritualitas adalah sesuatu hal yang berhubungan dengan hati nurani seseorang, sehingga ia mampu memahami perkara yang terjadi dalam hidupnya. Salah satu cara agar spiritualitas meningkat adalah dengan mengikuti thariqah yang dibimbing langsung secara lahir dan batin oleh Syaikh atau Guru Mursyid. Karena thariqah bertujuan untuk menghilangkan sifat lupa kepada Allah, sehingga selalu merasa dilihat dan diawasi oleh Allah. Namun, thariqah yang merupakan salah satu ajaran agama Islam, dijauhi dan ditakuti oleh anak muda, khususnya mahasiswa. Stigma bahwa ahli thariqah membuat mundur umat dan hanya berdzikir tanpa bekerja, semakin menambah rasa takut mahasiswa untuk masuk thariqah. Penelitian ini berdasarkan rumusan masalah : 1) Bagaimana Kegiatan Tarekat Anak Mahasiswa Ahlith Thariqah Al-Mu'tabarah An-Nahdliyyah UIN Walisongo Semarang 2) Sejauh mana kontribusi Anak Matan dalam pembentukan spiritualitas kaum muda kampus di UIN Walisongo Semarang. Penelitian ini merupakan jenis penelitian kualitatif, di mana penelitian yang disusun tidak melalui prosedur statistik, tetapi non stastik/non matematik. Data penelitian ini dihimpun melalui penelitian lapangan dari wawancara yang selanjutnya di analisis dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif naratif, dengan cara menggambarkan peran organisasi Matan bagi pembentukan spiritualitas kaum muda kampus/mahasiswa di UIN Walisongo Semarang. Hasil penelitian ini diperoleh dari hasil jawaban oleh informan bahwa peran MATAN bagi pembentukan spiritualitas kaum muda kampus/mahasiswa UIN Walisongo Semarang sangatlah dominan. Melalui kegiatan-kegiatan Matan ini, sedikit banyak pasti mengalami perubahan spiritualitas dalam diri mereka. Matan sendiri adalah sebuah organisasi ketarekatan yang ditujukan kepada para kaum muda kampus/mahasiswa dalam pembentukan spiritualitasnya. Namun, masih banyak para kaum muda kampus di UIN Walisongo Semarang yang belum mengerti dan mengetahui apa dan bagaimana organisaisi Matan. Sejalan, kesimpulan di atas maka diharapkan skripsi yang berjudul "Spiritualitas Di Kalangan Kaum Muda Kampus : Studi Kasus Mahasiswa Ahlith-Thariqah Al-Mu'tabarah An-Nahdliyyah UIN Walisongo Semarang" dapat memberikan informasi empiris tentang kegiatan ketarekatan terhadap para kaum muda atau mahasiswa

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the assessment of frontal function in obsessive-compulsive patients: An event-related potential study

The most consistent finding across the studies in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the deficit in tasks involving shifting in cognitive set. The cognitive operations needed to perform the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), searching for a new category and the consolidation of the correct classification category, are closely related to shifting cognitive set. This work aimed to study whether patients with OCD present difficulties in shifting cognitive set and to examine the topographical distribution of brain electrical changes and their temporal dynamics during the performance of the WCST. For this purpose, we selected 18 nondepressed OCD patients. The effects of clomipramine treatment on these variables were also assessed. Both behavioural and neuroelectric data supported the idea that OCD patients have an impaired capacity for shifting cognitive set. This deficit was interpreted as being due to problems in inhibitory control, as a consequence of a dysfunction in an inhibitory pathway in the prefrontal cortex. This would explain the poor performance of OCD patients in the WCST in terms of their inability to inhibit or suppress previous incorrect responses. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether shifting cognitive set is an enduring ''trait'' marker or a finding that fluctuates with changes in the clinical state. Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in the characteristics o

Genetic Interactions Between Drosophila sialyltransferase and β1,4-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-A Genes Indicate Their Involvement in the Same Pathway

Sialylated glycans play a prominent role in the Drosophila nervous system where they are involved in the regulation of neural transmission. However, the functional pathway of sialylation in invertebrates, including Drosophila, remains largely unknown. Here we used a combination of genetic and behavioral approaches to shed light on the Drosophila sialylation pathway. We examined genetic interactions between Drosophila sialyltransferase (DSiaT) and β1,4-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (β4GalNAcT) genes. Our results indicated that β4GalNAcTA and DSiaT cooperate within the same functional pathway that regulates neural transmission. We found that β4GalNAcTA is epistatic to DSiaT. Our data suggest an intriguing possibility that β4GalNAcTA may participate in the biosynthesis of sialylated glycans

General topic: applications of transgenic rabbits in biomedical research - based on literature search

[EN] Transgenic rabbits are widely used as a model organism for biomedical research, and the transgenic rabbit system is especially valuable because it fills an important niche between laboratory mice and larger domesticated mammals. In order to describe the current status and development trends of the use of transgenic rabbits in biomedical research precisely, we performed a quantitative analysis of the published data, collected by searching biomedical databases. Currently, there are about 217 papers related to transgenic rabbits, originating from 22 countries. The number of publications has slowly increased over time, reaching its peak in 2004 and 2007. Approximately one third of the publications come from the USA, and one quarter come from Japan. The USA, Japan and France were the top three producers of publications related to transgenic rabbits. These publications mainly focused on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the study of therapeutic protein bioreactors. Approximately 19 transgenic rabbit lines have been established for the study of CVD, and 20 recombinant proteins have been produced from transgenic rabbit milk or blood. The remaining publications largely focused on virology and immunology, diabetes mellitus, cancer, and genetics. These publications provide new insights into the mechanisms responsible for the development of human disease and shed light on the management of some genetic disorders. Thus, this quantitative review of the literature reveals that transgenic rabbits play an increasingly important role in biomedical research.This work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 30900526)Zhao, S.; Wei, K.; Yu, Q.; Li, Y.; Cheng, F.; Wang, Y.; Yang, P.... (2010). General topic: applications of transgenic rabbits in biomedical research - based on literature search. World Rabbit Science. 18(3). doi:10.4995/wrs.2010.727918