Cross-species comparison of metabolite profiles in chemosensory epithelia: an indication of metabolite roles in chemosensory cells

Journal ArticleComparative studies of chemosensory systems in vertebrates and invertebrates have greatly enhanced our understanding of anatomical and physiological constraints of chemical detection. Immunohistochemical comparisons of chemosensory systems are difficult to make across species due to limited cross-reactivity of mammalian-based antibodies. Immunostaining chemosensory tissues with glutaraldehyde-based antibodies generated against small metabolites in combination with hierarchical cluster analyses provide a novel approach for identifying and classifying cell types regardless of species. We used this "metabolite profiling" technique to determine whether metabolite profiles can be used to identify cell classes within and across different species including mouse, zebrafish, lobster and squid. Within a species, metabolite profiles for distinct cell classes were generally consistent. We found several metabolite-based cell classifications that mirrored function or receptor protein-based classifications. Although profiles of all six metabolites differed across species, we found that specific metabolites were associated with certain cell types. For example, elevated levels of glutathione were characteristic of nonsensory cells from vertebrates, suggesting an antioxidative role in non-neuronal cells in sensory tissues. Collectively, we found significantly different metabolite profiles for distinct cell populations in chemosensory tissue within all of the species studied. Based on their roles in other systems or cells, we discuss the roles of L-arginine, L-aspartate, L-glutamate, glycine, glutathione, and taurine within chemosensory epithelia

Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) and Good Nutrition.

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MANGANESE STIMULATES ADHESION AND SPREADING OF MOUSE SARCOMA I ASCITES CELLS

Adhesion of Sarcoma I cells (SaI) to untreated or to serum-treated glass was examined by layering 51Cr-labeled cells on the substrate for 20 min at 34°C and determining the glass-bound radioactivity after the monolayers were rinsed. Adhesion to untreated glass proceeded in sodium chloride-imidazole-potassium medium (SIK) without added divalent cations, whereas SaI adhered maximally to the serum-coated substrate only in the presence of 50 µM or more Mn. Divalent Mg, Ca, Co, Ni, or Zn were inactive or minimally active. Mn-stimulated adhesion was sharply temperature dependent, reversible upon removal of Mn, and inhibited by Ca as well as by cytochalasin B, vinblastine, or tetracaine. Adhesion of SaI in SIK did not ensue when cells or the coated substrate were pretreated with Mn and washed in SIK before the adhesion assays. Microscope observations showed that Mn induced the formation of cell processes, ruffles, and veils, and that SaI spread on the uncoated or serum-coated substrate when exposed to Mn. Cells withdrew veils and processes and rounded up when postincubated in Mn-free medium. Formation of cell processes and spreading was inhibited by cytochalasin B, vinblastine, or tetracaine. Manganese-induced adhesion seems to require the participation of microtubules and microfilaments and may be mediated by an effect of Mn on Ca fluxes. The results support the role of cell processes and spreading in cell-to-substrate adhesion

Local Family Circles and Suburban Social Life in Ireland (NIRSA) Working Paper Series. No.43.

This paper presents some findings from a research project that sought to generate an empirical account of the texture of social life in new Irish suburbs, through a comparative analysis of four suburban areas. The paper focuses on differences in the structure of family and kinship relations in different kinds of suburbs, and suggests some ways in which those differences are linked to levels of attachment to place amongst couples with young children. We found that, in new Irish suburbs, many families continue to have access to family circles in the locality or nearby. They rely more on kin for everyday social support when their children are very young, but the extent to which they increase their reliance on neighbours as children reach primary school age varies according to the socio-demographic composition of the suburb where they live

This progressive production: Agency, durability and keeping it contemporary

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts, 17(5), 71-77, 2012 [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13528165.2012.728447.Tino Sehgal is a Berlin based Anglo-German conceptual artist who creates ‘constructed situations’; a process whereby he hands over the delivery of the work to selected ‘interpreters’ or in the case of the Tate Modern (London) 2012 commission, to ‘participants’, who he rehearses and supports to carry out the instructions which embody his vision. Each time a Sehgal work is presented, it is animated by those he has asked and paid to participate, for an audience who are often called upon to engage with a question or conversation. In taking this approach, Sehgal explicitly rejects the idea of the artist as a making of objects. However, unlike the sorts of transitory and ephemeral works of art created in the 1970s which were a deliberate challenge to the commodification of art and by extension the artist, Sehgal constructs situations for other reasons which will be explored in this article. This article will also start to consider how dependence on interpreters or participants extends, transforms or circumscribes authorial control. It will begin to consider the extent to which the construction of live artworks that potentially exceed the life time and certainly the physical presence of the maker represent long-term duration. Does such an approach extend the field of influence and the potential for lasting impact? What impact does duration have on the re-enactor/interpreters capacity to comply with the artist's instructions and what investment do they have in embodying another's artistic vision, particularly if they are required to do so for an extended period of time

Pictures of the past : Benjamin and Barthes on photography.

This paper explores the key moments in Benjamin’s and Barthes’s analyses of the cultural significance of the photograph. For Benjamin these are; the optical unconscious, the transmission of aura, the representation of cultural and political decay and proto-surrealist political commentary. For Barthes they are; the techniques of the photographer, the studium, the punctum and the ecstasy of the image. These rather different approaches to photography reveal a common concern with history. Both authors have written about the nature of historical understanding and photography has provided both with a powerful metaphor. What emerges from their analyses of photographs is that each evokes a double moment of historical awareness; of being both in the present and in the past. For Benjamin this is the ‘spark of contingency’ with which the aura of past existence shines in the present. For Barthes it is the ‘ça-a-été’, the emotional stab of awareness that what is present and visible in the photograph is irretrievably lost in the past

Exploring sustainability and object attachment with Patagonia apparel: “I love my daughter, I love my son, I love my wife, I love the wilderness, and I love this hat”

The omni-channel Worn Wear program, part of which includes the Stories We Wear (SWW) blog, is an experiential marketing initiative of Patagonia, Inc. Customers are encouraged to take pride in the signs of wear on their apparel and to share their adventure stories through the SWW blog. Informed by previous research regarding consumer-object relations (Lastovicka & Sirianni, 2011) and attachment theory (Schifferstein & Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, 2008), this study sought to understand why authors of the SWW blog extend the lifespan of their garments. Our analysis of the SWW blog has enhanced understanding of consumer relationships with their garments and benefits businesses seeking to expand sustainability as part of their brand identity and to improve customer engagement. Findings include expanded knowledge of object consumer relations and consumerproduct attachment with implications for sustainability, brand love, and digital marketing

Evaluative feedback and the need for cognition

Research in social psychology has shown that individuals differ in the way they process information. For example, a central processing approach, consisting of an analytic consideration of relevant arguments, characterizes people high in need for cognition. Individuals low in need for cognition, on the other hand, tend to be swayed by the peripheral aspects of a communication. The need for cognition is broadly defined as a motivation to engage in cognitively challenging activities. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of evaluative feedback on people's need for cognition, as measured by the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS), and by the subjects' performance on a cognitive task. We found that, compared to people low in need for cognition, individuals who reported a high need for cognition were less affected by feedback and generated a higher number of arguments for and against an issue. We discussed the practical as well as the theoretical implications of these findings