Contempt, sympathy and romance': lowland perceptions of the Highlands and the clearances during the famine years, 1845-1855

This thesis examines Lowland public opinion towards the Highlanders in mid-nineteenth century Scotland. It explores attitudes present in the contemporary newspaper press, and shows that public opinion was divided by three basic perceptions: 'contempt', 'sympathy' and 'romance'. An analysis of the main newspaper files demonstrates that during the Famine years up to the Crimean War, the most prevalent perception was that of contempt, regarding the Gaels as an 'inferior' and often 'useless' race. The study also describes the battle which sympathetic journalists fought against this majority perception, and shows their disillusionment at what they saw at the time was a hopeless struggle. Within the same period, romanticised views are also examined in the light of how the Highlands were increasingly being turned into an aristocractic playground as well as reservation park for tourists, and a theme for pre-'Celtic Twilight' poets and novelists. Through the examination of various attitudes in the press, the thesis also presents the major issues debated in the newspapers relating to the Highlands. It draws attention to the fact that the question of land had already become a point of contention, thirty years before the 1880s land reform movement. The study concludes that in all the three sections of public opinion expressed in the press the Highlanders were seen as essentially a different race from the Lowlanders. This thesis aims to work within the so far unexplored field of newspaper materials in the mid-nineteenth century, showing the uniqueness, power and richness of these sources for the evaluation of the range of Scottish public opinion. (DXN008,523

Pathway analysis and transcriptomics improve protein identification by shotgun proteomics from samples comprising small number of cells - a benchmarking study

BACKGROUND: Proteomics research is enabled with the high-throughput technologies, but our ability to identify expressed proteome is limited in small samples. The coverage and consistency of proteome expression are critical problems in proteomics. Here, we propose pathway analysis and combination of microproteomics and transcriptomics analyses to improve mass-spectrometry protein identification from small size samples. RESULTS: Multiple proteomics runs using MCF-7 cell line detected 4,957 expressed proteins. About 80% of expressed proteins were present in MCF-7 transcripts data; highly expressed transcripts are more likely to have expressed proteins. Approximately 1,000 proteins were detected in each run of the small sample proteomics. These proteins were mapped to gene symbols and compared with gene sets representing canonical pathways, more than 4,000 genes were extracted from the enriched gene sets. The identified canonical pathways were largely overlapping between individual runs. Of identified pathways 182 were shared between three individual small sample runs. CONCLUSIONS: Current technologies enable us to directly detect 10% of expressed proteomes from small sample comprising as few as 50 cells. We used knowledge-based approaches to elucidate the missing proteome that can be verified by targeted proteomics. This knowledge-based approach includes pathway analysis and combination of gene expression and protein expression data for target prioritization. Genes present in both the enriched gene sets (canonical pathways collection) and in small sample proteomics data correspond to approximately 50% of expressed proteomes in larger sample proteomics data. In addition, 90% of targets from canonical pathways were estimated to be expressed. The comparison of proteomics and transcriptomics data, suggests that highly expressed transcripts have high probability of protein expression. However, approximately 10% of expressed proteins could not be matched with the expressed transcripts.The cost of this publication was funded by Vladimir Brusic. (Vladimir Brusic)Published versio

Flexible use of CCR5 in the absence of CXCR4 use explains the immune deficiency in HIV-1 infected children

n/

Parameters in panoramic radiography for differentiation of radiolucent lesions

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to establish parameters in panoramic radiography for interpretation of unilocular radiolucent lesions, and to compare the accuracy of diagnoses given by examiners before and after using these parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In Part I, 12 specialists analyzed 24 images and the diagnostic criteria used by each examiner to make correct diagnoses were used to build a list of basic radiographic parameters for each pathology (ameloblastoma, keratocystic odontogenic tumor, dentigerous cyst, and idiopathic bone cavity). In Part II, this list was used by 6 undergraduate students (Un), 8 recently graduated dentists (D), 3 oral pathologists, 3 stomatologists, 3 oral radiologists, and 3 oral surgeons to diagnose the corresponding pathologies in the other set of 24 panoramic radiographs (T2). The same analysis occurred without using this list (T1). The method of generalized estimating equations (GEE) was used in order to estimate the probability of making a correct diagnosis depending on the specialty of the examiner, type of lesion, and moment of the evaluation, T1 or T2 (before or after they had access to the list of parameters, respectively). RESULTS: Higher values were obtained for the probability (GEE) of making a correct diagnosis on T2; the group Un presented the highest improvement (14.6 %); no differences between the probabilities were observed either between Un and D, or among the different groups of specialists. CONCLUSIONS: The use of panoramic radiographic parameters did allow improving the diagnostic accuracy for all groups of examiners

Comparison between cone-beam and multislice computed tomography for identification of simulated bone lesions

There are many studies that compare the accuracy of multislice (MSCT) and cone beam (CBCT) computed tomography for evaluations in the maxillofacial region. However, further studies comparing both acquisition techniques for the evaluation of simulated mandibular bone lesions are needed. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of MSCT and CBCT in the diagnosis of simulated mandibular bone lesions by means of cross sectional images and axial/MPR slices. Lesions with different dimensions, shape and locularity were produced in 15 dry mandibles. The images were obtained following the cross sectional and axial/MPR (Multiplanar Reconstruction) imaging protocols and were interpreted independently. CBCT and MSCT showed similar results in depicting the percentage of cortical bone involvement, with great sensitivity and specificity (p < 0.005). There were no significant intra- or inter-examiner differences between axial/MPR images and cross sectional images with regard to sensitivity and specificity. CBCT showed results similar to those of MSCT for the identification of the number of simulated bone lesions. Cross sectional slices and axial/MPR images presented high accuracy, proving useful for bone lesion diagnosis.(FAPESP) São Paulo Research Foundation(CAPES) Coordination for the Advancement of Higher Education Personne

Prevalência do defeito ósseo de desenvolvimento da mandíbula em exames de tomografi a computadorizada por feixe cônico

The developmental bone defect of the mandible is a bone cavity presenting as a well-defi ned, radiolucent lesion, located in the posterior region of the mandible, just below the inferior dental canal and above the mandibular base. It is asymptomatic, has a greater predilection for males, and a prevalence between 0.1% and 0.48%. The aim of this study was to conduct a review of the literature on the prevalence of this bone defect and compare the literature data to that of an assessment conducted of routine cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) scans from a radiological clinic. The use of diagnostic resources such as cone-beam volumetric tomography was also highlighted. CBCT routine scans taken from July 1st, 2012 to September 27, 2012 were retrieved from the digital archives of a private dental radiology clinic and evaluated, for a total of 1,344 CBCT images. Stafne’s cavity was observed In 22 cases (0.16%). Among the 19 male cases, 15 were Type I, 3 were Type II and 1 was Type III, according to Ariji’s classifi cation.5 All of the 3 female cases (the male-to-female ratio was 6.33:1) were Ariji Type I. The fi ndings of this study were consistent with those from the literature consulted, in that the highest prevalence rates were observed for unilateral, Ariji Type I lesions and in the male gender.O defeito ósseo de desenvolvimento da mandíbula (DODM) é uma cavidade óssea que se apresenta como uma lesão radio lúcida de limites definidos e corticalizados. É assintomático, apresenta uma maior predileção pelo gênero masculino, e tem uma prevalência de 0.1% a 0.48%. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma revisão de literatura com o intuito de ampliar o conhecimento a respeito da prevalência desse defeito ósseo e comparar os dados da literatura com os obtidos por meio de uma avaliação de 1344 exames de rotina realizados por meio da tomografia computadorizada de feixe cônico (TCFC) recuperados dos arquivos de uma clínica privada de radiologia odontológica. As imagens foram analisadas no período de 1o de julho de 2012 a 27 de setembro de 2012. Foram observados 22 casos de DODM (0,16%), sendo que 19 casos eram do gênero masculino, totalizando 15 casos do Tipo I, 3 casos do Tipo II e 1 caso do Tipo III de Ariji.5 Foram também encontrados 3 casos do gênero feminino, todos classificados como Tipo I de Ariji, equivalendo a uma proporção entre os gêneros masculino e feminino de 6,33:1. Os resultados encontrados no presente estudo foram compatíveis com os relatados na literatura consultada. Constatou-se uma maior prevalência de lesões unilaterais, Tipo I de Ariji e envolvendo o gênero masculino

LINE-1 expression in cancer correlates with p53 mutation, copy number alteration, and S phase checkpoint

Retrotransposons are genomic DNA sequences that copy themselves to new genomic locations via RNA intermediates; LINE-1 is the only active and autonomous retrotransposon in the human genome. The mobility of LINE-1 is largely repressed in somatic tissues but is derepressed in many cancers, where LINE-1 retrotransposition is correlated with p53 mutation and copy number alteration (CNA). In cell lines, inducing LINE-1 expression can cause double-strand breaks (DSBs) and replication stress. Reanalyzing multiomic data from breast, ovarian, endometrial, and colon cancers, we confirmed correlations between LINE-1 expression, p53 mutation status, and CNA. We observed a consistent correlation between LINE-1 expression and the abundance of DNA replication complex components, indicating that LINE-1 may also induce replication stress in human tumors. In endometrial cancer, high-quality phosphoproteomic data allowed us to identify the DSB-induced ATM-MRN-SMC S phase checkpoint pathway as the primary DNA damage response (DDR) pathway associated with LINE-1 expression. Induction of LINE-1 expression in an in vitro model led to increased phosphorylation of MRN complex member RAD50, suggesting that LINE-1 directly activates this pathway