Film-making and Police-minority Relations: Slovenian Police and Roma in Shanghai Gypsy

After experiencing riots involving police and a Roma village, a community in north-eastern Slovenia hosted the million-dollar production of a major motion picture, Shanghai Gypsy (2012), which focuses on Roma and criminal justice themes. Several current Slovenian police officers played the role of police while local Roma were ‘extras’ as Roma villagers. This research explored the meaning of cooperating on production of the film for participants from two groups formerly in conflict. The current study consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted approximately 18 months after the film was produced with a sample of participants. We hypothesized that the film participants were able to interact with each other in ways that opened up new modes of communication, improved interpersonal relationships, and aided mutual understanding. Participants indicated that the film was regarded as a powerful means of generating Roma cultural awareness. Both police and Roma tended to downplay the intensity of the original conflict, yet often offered stories and anecdotes that seemed to indicate that relations between the groups had indeed improved as a result of their participation in the film

Opposing actions of TGFbeta1 and FGF2 on growth, differentiation and extracellular matrix accumulation in prostatic stromal cells.

TGFbeta 1 and FGF2 are autocrine growth factors in prostatic stroma and are elevated in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a disease characterized by enlargement of the stromal compartment of the prostate. TGFbeta1 has a biphasic effect on proliferation of prostatic stromal cells, inducing proliferation at low doses (< 1 ng/ml), but inhibiting growth above 1 ng/ml. This study investigated the role of TGFP 1 and FGF2 on growth factor bioavailability and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation synthesis in cultured prostatic stromal cells. Real-Time-PCR showed that TGFbeta1 expression is auto-inductive, whereas FGF2 is auto-repressive. FGF2 also induced TGFbeta1 secretion in the absence of increased TGFbeta1 mRNA expression. TGFbeta1 and FGF2 have opposing actions on Type 1 collagen expression, a finding confirmed by Western blotting. The bioavailability of TGFbeta1 regulated by FGF2 may represent part of a negative feedback mechanism controlling stromal growth, differentiation and ECM. Dysregulation of this pathway in favour of TGFbeta1 bioactivity may exacerbate BPH