Review Article - “What you see is what you get”?

A Review of Michel Peillon and Eamonn Slater (eds.), 1998. Encounters with Modern Ireland: a Sociological Chronicle, 1995-96. x+183pp. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. ISBN 1-872002-59-5 IR £12 (pbk).

Idiopathic scoliosis and pineal lesions in Australian children

PURPOSE: To determine whether treatment of pineal lesions in children is associated with development of idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: 38 boys and 10 girls with pineal lesions were identified. Their mean age at presentation was 10 years. The pineal pathology varied from cysts and epidermoid to teratoma, germinoma, pineocytoma, and glioblastoma. Treatment ranged from biopsy/extirpation to radiotherapy. RESULTS: 12 patients died. No scoliosis was found in any females or any of the deceased. Two boys had scoliosis: one had a 12-degree right upper thoracic curve with 32-degree kyphosis and the other had a 60-degree right thoracolumbar idiopathic curve, requiring a 2-stage arthrodesis. CONCLUSION: Pineal ablation is not related to the development of idiopathic scoliosis in humans

Extra-ordinary in ordinary language

This study reports an empirical and theoretical investigation of everyday language. It discusses the speech of teachers and pupils in a school classroom, from a 'phenomenological' point of view. In recent years, mutually contradictory phenomenological theories of language have been developed, based upon the works of Schutz and Sartre, whose essentialist readings of Husserl's explorations in consciousness have been trans¬ lated into theories for the description of everyday speech. Garfinkel's 'ethnomethodology' follows Schutz in portraying everyday speakers as sustaining in their talk the appearance of a shared ' intersubjectivity' or social order, which he and they presume to be real. On this "optimistic" view, a social world shared with others is inescapable. Laing's 'existential psychiatry' follows Sartre in portraying everyday speakers as sustaining in their talk the appearance of a unique "subjectivity1 or psychological self, which he and they presume to be real. On this 'pessimistic' view, a social world shared with others is unattainable. In contrast, my approach follows Husserl's attempt to suspend belief in any reality other than that which appears. I aspire thereby to be 'realistic'. My approach throws into relief relations between words which are invisible when attention is focussed on the things to which words refer. I analyse spoken utterances into clauses or quasi-clausal units which I call 'pictures1. Within the speech of a single individual, and more generally, samenesses and differences can be established between pic¬ tures on the basis of grammatical structure (form), and vocabulary (content). In the present study, personal pro¬ nouns have been especially important for this purpose. On this basis 'realms' can be distinguished within everyday speech 'inhabited' by specific personal pronouns, and endowed with stable properties, which it is the task of linguistic phenomenology to investigate

Monoclonal antibodies indicate low-abundance links between heteroxylan and other glycans of plant cell walls.

The derivation of two sensitive monoclonal antibodies directed to heteroxylan cell wall polysaccharide preparations has allowed the identification of potential inter-linkages between xylan and pectin in potato tuber cell walls and also between xylan and arabinogalactan-proteins in oat grain cell walls. Plant cell walls are complex composites of structurally distinct glycans that are poorly understood in terms of both in muro inter-linkages and developmental functions. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are versatile tools that can detect cell wall glycans with high sensitivity through the specific recognition of oligosaccharide structures. The isolation of two novel MAbs, LM27 and LM28, directed to heteroxylan, subsequent to immunisation with a potato cell wall fraction enriched in rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) oligosaccharides, is described. LM27 binds strongly to heteroxylan preparations from grass cell walls and LM28 binds to a glucuronosyl-containing epitope widely present in heteroxylans. Evidence is presented suggesting that in potato tuber cell walls, some glucuronoxylan may be linked to pectic macromolecules. Evidence is also presented that suggests in oat spelt xylan both the LM27 and LM28 epitopes are linked to arabinogalactan-proteins as tracked by the LM2 arabinogalactan-protein epitope. This work extends knowledge of the potential occurrence of inter-glycan links within plant cell walls and describes molecular tools for the further analysis of such links.This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007-2013) under the WallTraC project (Grant Agreement number 263916). (This article reflects the authors’ views only and the European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein). The work was also supported by the United Kingdom Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC, Grant BB/K017489/1). JX acknowledges support from the Chinese Scholarship Council, TAT from a BBSRC studentship and MGR from the Danish Strategic Research Council and The Danish Council for Independent Research, Technology and Production Sciences as part of the GlycAct project (FI 10-093465). We acknowledge kind gifts of enzymes from Harry Gilbert and oligosaccharides from Sanna Koutaniemi. We thank Theodora Tryfona for mass spectrometry analysis.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00425-015-2375-

Cancer Control in Member Countries of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—A status report & Istanbul Declaration by the First Ladies of OIC

Cancer is a global public health concern with 14 million new cases and 8 million deaths per year About 52% of new cancer cases and 59% of 8.2 million deaths in the world occur in OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) countries. For many years cancer were not listed among the health priorities around the globe. The increasing rates in terms of both incidence and mortality with associated healthcare and societal costs have forced countries to invest more in cancer control in different ways from prevention to treatment. In this context and following the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit 2015 held in Istanbul in November the first ladies of OIC countries met in Istanbul in April 14th, 2016 upon the invitation by First lady of Turkey, H.E. Mrs. Erdogan, during the OIC summit. The Istanbul declaration aims to draw attention to the cancer control in the OIC countries to demonstrate the high level support for cancer control programs across the region and encourage all governmental and non-governmental stake-holders to take action for further progress in cancer control from prevention to care. This article summarizes the burden of cancer within the region and presents the İstanbul Declaration by OIC Countries

Monoclonal antibodies directed to fucoidan preparations from brown algae

Cell walls of the brown algae contain a diverse range of polysaccharides with useful bioactivities. The precise structures of the sulfated fucan/fucoidan group of polysaccharides and their roles in generating cell wall architectures and cell properties are not known in detail. Four rat monoclonal antibodies, BAM1 to BAM4, directed to sulfated fucan preparations, have been generated and used to dissect the heterogeneity of brown algal cell wall polysaccharides. BAM1 and BAM4, respectively, bind to a non-sulfated epitope and a sulfated epitope present in the sulfated fucan preparations. BAM2 and BAM3 identified additional distinct epitopes present in the fucoidan preparations. All four epitopes, not yet fully characterised, occur widely within the major brown algal taxonomic groups and show divergent distribution patterns in tissues. The analysis of cell wall extractions and fluorescence imaging reveal differences in the occurrence of the BAM1 to BAM4 epitopes in various tissues of Fucus vesiculosus. In Ectocarpus subulatus, a species closely related to the brown algal model Ectocarpus siliculosus, the BAM4 sulfated epitope was modulated in relation to salinity levels. This new set of monoclonal antibodies will be useful for the dissection of the highly complex and yet poorly resolved sulfated polysaccharides in the brown algae in relation to their ecological and economic significance

Family satisfaction following spinal fusion in Rett syndrome

PURPOSE: We evaluated family satisfaction following spinal fusion in girls with Rett syndrome. METHODS: Families participating in the population-based and longitudinal Australian Rett Syndrome Database whose daughter had undergone spinal fusion provided data on satisfaction overall, care processes and expected changes in health and function. Content analysis of responses to open-ended questions was conducted. RESULTS: Families reported high levels of overall satisfaction and consistently high ratings in relation to surgical and ICU care. Outstanding clinical care and the development of strong partnerships with clinical staff were much appreciated by families, whereas poor information exchange and inconsistent care caused concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Family satisfaction is an important outcome within a patient-centred quality of care framework. Our findings suggest strategies to inform the delivery of care in relation to spinal fusion for Rett syndrome and could also inform the hospital care of other children with disability and a high risk of hospitalization

A nanostructural view of the cell wall disassembly process during fruit ripening and postharvest storage by atomic force microscopy

Background: The mechanical properties of parenchyma cell walls and the strength and extension of adhesion areas between adjacent cells, jointly with cell turgor, are main determinants of firmness of fleshy fruits. These traits are modified during ripening leading to fruit softening. Cell wall modifications involve the depolymerisation of matrix glycans and pectins, the solubilisation of pectins and the loss of neutral sugars from pectin side chains. These changes weaken the cell walls and increase cell separation, which in combination with a reduction in cell turgor, bring about textural changes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to characterize the nanostructure of cell wall polysaccharides during the ripening and postharvest storage of several fruits. This technique allows the imaging of individual polymers at high magnification with minimal sample preparation. Scope and approach: This paper reviews the main features of the cell wall disassembly process associated to fruit softening from a nanostructural point of view, as has been provided by AFM studies. Key findings and conclusions: AFM studies show that pectin size, ramification and complexity is reduced during fruit ripening and storage, and in most cases these changes correlate with softening. Postharvest treatments that improve fruit quality have been proven to preserve pectin structure, suggesting a clear link between softening and pectin metabolism. Nanostructural characterization of cellulose and hemicellulose during ripening has been poorly explored by AFM and the scarce results available are not conclusive. Globally, AFM could be a powerful tool to gain insights about the bases of textural fruit quality in fresh and stored fruits