Elder

An essay and travelogue of a quest to uncover the legacy of the Vikings and how their influence affected the Celts and other civilizations on their path throughout history, Elder looks at one view of a group of people and considers the multiplicity of identity stripped from it. On the journey, the film follows the Vikings presence throughout Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, extracting it from each site to be coupled with less dominant cultural memory. A personal diary dissecting history and heirlooms, Elder considers history carved as a monument, vulnerable to the erosions of time and truth

Amygdala and Emotional Modulation of Multiple Memory Systems

Stress and anxiety can either enhance or impair memory, and the direction of the effect partially depends on the type of memory being affected. Behavioral or pharmacological stressors typically impair cognitive memory mediated by the hippocampus, but enhance stimulus-response habit memory mediated by the dorsolateral striatum. Evidence also indicates that the effect of emotion on different kinds of memory critically depends on a modulatory role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA). BLA modulation of multiple memory systems may be achieved through its glutamatergic projections to other brain regions, which may enhance stress hormone activity, modulate competition between memory systems, and alter synaptic plasticity. The neurobiology underlying the emotional modulation of multiple memory systems may be relevant to understand the impact of emotional arousal on the development and expression of human psychopathologies characterized by maladaptive habitual behaviors (e.g., drug addiction and relapse)

Control of InGaAs facets using metal modulation epitaxy (MME)

Control of faceting during epitaxy is critical for nanoscale devices. This work identifies the origins of gaps and different facets during regrowth of InGaAs adjacent to patterned features. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) near SiO2 or SiNx led to gaps, roughness, or polycrystalline growth, but metal modulated epitaxy (MME) produced smooth and gap-free "rising tide" (001) growth filling up to the mask. The resulting self-aligned FETs were dominated by FET channel resistance rather than source-drain access resistance. Higher As fluxes led first to conformal growth, then pronounced {111} facets sloping up away from the mask.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Allosteric modulation of beta1 integrin function induces lung repair in animal model of emphysema.

Emphysema is a progressive lung disease characterised by loss of lung parenchyma with associated functional changes including decreased tissue elastance. Here we report beta1 integrin is a novel target for tissue repair and regeneration in emphysema. We show a single dose of a monoclonal antibody against beta1 integrin induced both functional and structural reversal of elastase-induced lung injury in vivo, and we found that similar matrix remodelling changes occurred in human lung tissue. We also identified a potential mechanism of action as this allosteric modulation of beta1 integrin inhibited elastase-induced caspase activation, F-actin aggregate formation and changes in cellular ATP levels. This was accompanied by maintenance of beta1?integrin levels and inhibition of caveolin-1 phosphorylation. We propose that allosteric modulation of beta1 integrin-mediated mechanosensing prevents cell death associated with lung injury and progressive emphysema, thus allowing cells to survive and for repair and regeneration to ensue

Determination of Nanoparticle Localisation Within Subcellular Organelles in Vitro Using Raman Spectroscopy

Ease of sample preparation, narrow spectral bandwidth and minimal influence from water are features of Raman spectroscopy which make it a powerful, label-free way to study a wide range of biological structures and phenomena. In this context, given the concerns over their toxicology arising from their increased production and use, evaluation of nanoparticle uptake and localisation in biological systems and determination of the mechanisms of subcellular interaction and trafficking can provide long-term solutions for nanotoxicology, and potential strategies for nanomedicine. In this study, Raman spectroscopy is explored to monitor the sequential trafficking of nanoparticles through subcellular organelles in-vitro and to establish the spectroscopic signatures of those organelles. A549 human lung carcinoma cells were exposed to 40 nm carboxylate-modified and fluorescently-labelled polystyrene nanoparticles for 4, 12 and 24hrs. Raman spectroscopy was applied to nanoparticle exposed cells to determine the localisation within cellular compartments. Confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy (CLSM) with different organelle staining kits confirmed the localisation of the nanoparticles in organelles at the chosen exposure periods and co-localization was quantified using ImageJ with the JACoP colocalisation plugin. To confirm nanoparticle localisation and elucidate the spectroscopic signatures of the different subcellular organelles, a combination of K-means clustering (KMCA) and Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to the Raman spectroscopic maps. The study showed the applicability of the techniques for elucidation of the localisation of polystyrene nanoparticles within the cell as well as determination of their local environment, differentiating the spectral signatures of intracellular compartments such as endosomes, lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum, in a completely label free manner

Mouse models of colorectal cancer as preclinical models.

In this review, we discuss the application of mouse models to the identification and pre-clinical validation of novel therapeutic targets in colorectal cancer, and to the search for early disease biomarkers. Large-scale genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling of colorectal carcinomas has led to the identification of many candidate genes whose direct contribution to tumourigenesis is yet to be defined; we discuss the utility of cross-species comparative 'omics-based approaches to this problem. We highlight recent progress in modelling late-stage disease using mice, and discuss ways in which mouse models could better recapitulate the complexity of human cancers to tackle the problem of therapeutic resistance and recurrence after surgical resection.REM, SJAB, MJA and DJA are funded by Cancer Research UK.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.20150003

The relationship between tooth size discrepancy and archform classification in orthodontic patients

Background: To determine the relationship between clinically significant tooth size discrepancies (TSD) and archform classification in orthodontic patients. Material and Methods: Two hundred and forty consecutive sets of pre-treatment orthodontic study models were scanned and landmarked. All models had permanent teeth erupted from first molar to first molar in both arches. Sixty sets of images were classified into two groups of 30 according to the presence (group 1) or absence (group 2) of a clinically significant overall or anterior TSD (>2 SD from Bolton’s original means). Mean upper and lower archforms were created for each group using a fourth degree polynomial curve. Upper and lower archforms in each group were classified as square, tapering or ovoid; their distribution was analysed using the Fisher test with a 5% level of significance. To evaluate the intra-operator error when determining archform type, the 60 archforms were re-classified by the same operator two weeks later. The unweighted Kappa statistic at 95% confidence intervals was used to determine the similarity of the classification on the two occasions. Results: Reproducibility of the classification of archform was very good (unweighted Kappa statistic of 0.83 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.73, 0.93). There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of archform type between group 1 and group 2 for the upper ( p =0.3305) or lower ( p =0.6310) arches. Conclusions: The presence of a clinically significant TSD and archform classification do not appear to be related

Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to conduct a global-scale field experiment in greater than 1000 river and riparian sites. We found that Earth’s biomes have distinct carbon processing signatures. Slow processing is evident across latitudes, whereas rapid rates are restricted to lower latitudes. Both the mean rate and variability decline with latitude, suggesting temperature constraints toward the poles and greater roles for other environmental drivers (e.g., nutrient loading) toward the equator. These results and data set the stage for unprecedented “next-generation biomonitoring” by establishing baselines to help quantify environmental impacts to the functioning of ecosystems at a global scale