Differential expression of microRNAs in bovine papillomavirus type 1 transformed equine cells

Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) types 1 and 2 play an important role in the pathogenesis of equine sarcoids (ES), the most common cutaneous tumour affecting horses. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that regulate essential biological and cellular processes, have been found dysregulated in a wide range of tumours. The aim of this study was to identify miRNAs associated with ES. Differential expression of miRNAs was assessed in control equine fibroblasts (EqPalFs) and EqPalFs transformed with the BPV-1 genome (S6-2 cells). Using a commercially available miRNA microarray, 492 mature miRNAs were interrogated. In total, 206 mature miRNAs were differentially expressed in EqPalFs compared with S6-2 cells. Aberrant expression of these miRNAs in S6-2 cells can be attributed to the presence of BPV-1 genomes. Furthermore, we confirm the presence of 124 miRNAs previously computationally predicted in the horse. Our data supports the involvement of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of ES

A relativistic helical jet in the gamma-ray AGN 1156+295

We present the results of a number of high resolution radio observations of the AGN 1156+295. These include multi-epoch and multi-frequency VLBI, VSOP, MERLIN and VLA observations made over a period of 50 months. The 5 GHz MERLIN images trace a straight jet extending to 2 arcsec at P.A. -18 degrees. Extended low brightness emission was detected in the MERLIN observation at 1.6 GHz and the VLA observation at 8.5 GHz with a bend of about 90 degrees at the end of the 2 arcsecond jet. A region of similar diffuse emission is also seen about 2 arcseconds south of the radio core. The VLBI images of the blazar reveal a core-jet structure with an oscillating jet on a milli-arcsecond (mas) scale which aligns with the arcsecond jet at a distance of several tens of milli-arcseconds from the core. This probably indicates that the orientation of the jet structure is close to the line of sight, with the northern jet being relativistically beamed toward us. In this scenario the diffuse emission to the north and south is not beamed and appears symmetrical. For the northern jet at the mas scale, proper motions of 13.7 +/-3.5, 10.6 +/- 2.8, and 11.8 +/- 2.8 c are measured in three distinct components of the jet (q_0=0.5, H_0=65 km /s /Mpc are used through out this paper). Highly polarised emission is detected on VLBI scales in the region in which the jet bends sharply to the north-west. The spectral index distribution of the source shows that the strongest compact component has a flat spectrum, and the extended jet has a steep spectrum. A helical trajectory along the surface of a cone was proposed based on the conservation laws for kinetic energy and momentum to explain the observed phenomena, which is in a good agreement with the observed results on scales of 1 mas to 1 arcsec.Comment: 19 pages with 18 figures. Accepted for publication in the A&

Adult beginner distance language learner perceptions and use of assignment feedback

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be classified into three groups: those who use feedback strategically by integrating it into the learning process and comparing it with, for example, informal feedback from interaction with native speakers, those who take note of feedback, but seem not to use it strategically, and those who appear to take little account of either marks or feedback. The first group proved to be the most confident and most likely to maintain their motivation in the longer term. The conclusion discusses some of the pedagogical and policy implications of the findings

Different classical hydrogen-bonding patterns in three salicylaldoxime derivatives, 2-HO-4-XC6H3C=NOH (X = Me, OH and MeO)

The crystal structures of three salicyaldoxime compounds, namely 2-hy-droxy-4-methyl-benzaldehyde oxime, C8H9NO2, 1, 2,4-di-hydroxy-benzaldehyde oxime, C7H7NO3, 2, and 2-hy-droxy-4-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime, C8H9NO3, 3, are discussed. In each compound, the hydroxyl groups are essentially coplanar with their attached phenyl group. The inter-planar angles between the C=N-O moieties of the oxime unit and their attached phenyl rings are 0.08 (9), 1.08 (15) and 6.65 (15)° in 1, 2 and 3, respectively. In all three mol-ecules, the 2-hy-droxy group forms an intra-molecular O-H⋯N(oxime) hydrogen bond. In compound (1), inter-molecular O-H(oxime)⋯O(hydrox-yl) hydrogen bonds generate R22(14) dimers, related by inversion centres. In compound 2, inter-molecular O-H(oxime)⋯O(4-hy-droxy) hydrogen bonds generate C9 chains along the b-axis direction, while O-H(4-hydrox-yl)⋯O(2-hydrox-yl) inter-actions form zigzag C6 spiral chains along the c-axis direction, generated by a screw axis at 1, y, 1/4: the combination of the two chains provides a bimolecular sheet running parallel to the b axis, which lies between 0-1/2 c and 1/2-1 c. In compound 3, similar C9 chains, along the b-axis direction are generated by O-H(oxime)⋯O(4-meth-oxy) hydrogen bonds. Further weaker, C-H⋯π (in 1), π-π (in 2) and both C-H⋯π and π-π inter-actions (in 3) further cement the three-dimensional structures. Hirshfeld surface and fingerprint analyses are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Crystal structures and Hirshfeld surfaces of four methoxybenzaldehyde oxime derivatives, 2-MeO-XC6H3C=NOH (X = H and 2-, 3- and 4-MeO): different conformations and hydrogen-bonding patterns

The crystal structures of four (E)-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime derivatives, namely (2-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime, 1, 2,3-di-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime, 2, 4-di-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime, 3, and 2,5-di-meth-oxy-benzaldehyde oxime, 4, are discussed. The arrangements of the 2-meth-oxy group and the H atom of the oxime unit are s-cis in compounds 1-3, but in both independent mol-ecules of compound 4, the arrangements are s-trans. There is also a difference in the conformation of the two mol-ecules in 4, involving the orientations of the 2- and 5-meth-oxy groups. The primary inter-molecular O-H(oxime)⋯O(hy-droxy) hydrogen bonds generate C(3) chains in 1 and 2. In contrast, in compound 3, the O-H(oxime)⋯O(hy-droxy) hydrogen bonds generate symmetric R22(6) dimers. A more complex dimer is generated in 4 from the O-H(oxime)⋯O(hy-droxy) and C-H(2-meth-oxy)⋯O(hy-droxy) hydrogen bonds. In all cases, further inter-actions, C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π or π-π, generate three-dimensional arrays. Hirshfeld surface and fingerprint analyses are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students

James Hutton’s geological tours of Scotland : romanticism, literary strategies, and the scientific quest

This article explores a somewhat neglected part of the story of the emergence of geology as a science and discourse in the late eighteenth century – James Hutton’s posthumously published accounts of the geological tours of Scotland that he undertook in the years 1785 to 1788 in search of empirical evidence in support of his theory of the Earth and that he intended to include in the projected third volume of his Theory of the Earth of 1795. The article brings some of the assumptions and techniques of literary criticism to bear on Hutton’s scientific travel writing in order to open up new connections between geology, Romantic aesthetics and eighteenth-century travel writing about Scotland. Close analysis of Hutton’s accounts of his field trips to Glen Tilt, Galloway and Arran, supplemented by later accounts of the discoveries at Jedburgh and Siccar Point, reveals the interplay between desire, travel and the scientific quest and foregrounds the textual strategies that Hutton uses to persuade his readers that they share in the experience of geological discovery and interpretation as ‘virtual witnesses’. As well as allowing us to revisit the interrelation between scientific theory and discovery, this article concludes that Hutton was a much better writer than he has been given credit for and suggests that if these geological tours had been published in 1795 they would have made it impossible for critics to dismiss him as an armchair geologist

Free energy of colloidal particles at the surface of sessile drops

The influence of finite system size on the free energy of a spherical particle floating at the surface of a sessile droplet is studied both analytically and numerically. In the special case that the contact angle at the substrate equals $\pi/2$ a capillary analogue of the method of images is applied in order to calculate small deformations of the droplet shape if an external force is applied to the particle. The type of boundary conditions for the droplet shape at the substrate determines the sign of the capillary monopole associated with the image particle. Therefore, the free energy of the particle, which is proportional to the interaction energy of the original particle with its image, can be of either sign, too. The analytic solutions, given by the Green's function of the capillary equation, are constructed such that the condition of the forces acting on the droplet being balanced and of the volume constraint are fulfilled. Besides the known phenomena of attraction of a particle to a free contact line and repulsion from a pinned one, we observe a local free energy minimum for the particle being located at the drop apex or at an intermediate angle, respectively. This peculiarity can be traced back to a non-monotonic behavior of the Green's function, which reflects the interplay between the deformations of the droplet shape and the volume constraint.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figure

Taking up the cudgels against gay rights? Trends and trajectories in African Christian theologies on homosexuality

Against the background of the HIV epidemic and the intense public controversy on homosexuality in African societies, this article investigates the discourses of academic African Christian theologians on homosexuality. Distinguishing some major strands in African theology, that is, inculturation, liberation, women’s and reconstruction theology, the article examines how the central concepts of culture, liberation, justice, and human rights function in these discourses. On the basis of a qualitative analysis of a large number of publications, the article shows that stances of African theologians are varying from silence and rejection to acceptance. Although many African theologians have taken up the cudgels against gay rights, some “dissident voices” break the taboo and develop more inclusive concepts of African identity and African Christianity