Untersuchungen zur Expression ausgewählter Stammzellgene an embryonalen Geweben und Tumoren

HMGA2 and miRNAs of C19MC and miR-371-3 are mainly expressed in embryonic tissues. Reexpression of these genes can be found in different types of tumours. The influence of the above mentioned genes on development and growth was investigated in placentas and testicular germ cell tumours, which mimic embryonic development. Invasive growth is a characteristic of placentas and tumours. Therefore, analysis of the underlying regulation processes in placental development might help to understand the induction of invasive behavior in tumours. In this thesis, investigation of spontaneous and induced abortions and of full-term placentas revealed increasing expression of miRNAs of C19MC with the progression of pregnancy. According to literature, this seems to be related to the regulation of invasive growth of trophoblast cells. Particularly the expression level of miRNAs of the miR-371-3 cluster showed strong interindividual differences. This was not caused by the site of the placenta where the sample has been taken from. Additionally, interindividual differences in expression of miR-371a-3p were also observed in serum samples. It remains to be elucidated whether or not they affect processes during prenatal life. Since there were no differences in expression of spontaneous compared to induced abortions, the miRNAs examined do not play an obvious role in miscarriage events. Investigations conducted in this thesis revealed high HMGA2 expression in first trimester placentas followed by a decline to a baseline level which can be observed until birth. High HMGA2 expression correlated with the low oxygen environment in the uterus in early pregnancy which is known to be a requirement for the proliferation of trophoblast cells. Hence, HMGA2 might function as a proliferation factor in this context. No difference in expression of spontaneous compared to induced abortions could be detected. This indicates that HMGA2 has no obvious role in spontaneous abortions. The stem cell factor HMGA2 was mainly detected in stromal cells of placental villi. This is in concordance with the previous finding that stem cell are located in the stroma of placental villi. Another interesting result of this thesis was the finding that in trophoblast cells HMGA2 is located mostly in the cytoplasma. Cytoplasmatic expression might be related to extravillous differentiation of cytotrophoblast as shown for HMGA1. While physiological expression of HMGA2 is mainly restricted to embryonic tissues and stem cells, reexpression can be observed in different types of tumours. Due to the fact that testicular germ cell tumours mimic embryonic tissues, HMGA2 expression was measured in different types of postpubertal testicular germ cell tumours. Tumours comprising of only one subgroup could be distinguished by qRT PCR expression levels. In frequently found mixed tumours, classification via HMGA2 expression is less distinct. By using HMGA2 immunohistochemistry subgroups could be distinguished. To establish HMGA2 in clinical application, the investigation should be extended on a larger sample. HMGA2 staining showed promising results in detecting choriocarcinoma components. Convincing evidence was found for HMGA2 as an appropriate marker for the detection of yolk sac components

Global Trade Impacts: Addressing the Health, Social and Environmental Consequences of Moving International Freight Through Our Communities

Examines freight transportation industry trends; the impact of global trade on workers, the environment, and health in both exporting and importing countries; and organizing strategies and policy innovations for minimizing the damage and ensuring health

Re-Envisioning the Los Angeles River: An NGO and Academic Institute Influence the Policy Discourse

During the past decade, the L.A. River has become a subject of intense re-examination, a major topic of policy debate, and a new kind of environmental icon. It has increasingly come to symbolize the quest to transform the built urban environment from a place seen as representing violence and hostility for communities and for Nature, to one of rebirth and opportunity. To re-envision the Los Angeles River as a place of community and ecological revitalization rather than an exclusive and dangerous flood channel fenced off from the communities that surround it provides a powerful message of renewal for urban rivers and the quality of urban life. It also provides lessons of how institutional and policy changes can be influenced by the ability to frame an issue, whether in relation to its historical context, its environmental and economic aspects, or its relationship to the broader discussion of land use at the local and regional level. This article explores some of the influences on that process of reexamination. It includes a discussion of the roles of a community-oriented academic entity (the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute) and a non-profit organization (theFriends of the Los Angeles River) whose long-standing mission has been to enable policymakers and residents alike to rediscover this urban River. We also reflect on how the changing discourse around the River helped advocates mobilize support and influence policies in support of community and ecological revitalization

Logistic regression models to predict solvent accessible residues using sequence- and homology-based qualitative and quantitative descriptors applied to a domain-complete X-ray structure learning set

A working example of relative solvent accessibility (RSA) prediction for proteins is presented. Novel logistic regression models with various qualitative descriptors that include amino acid type and quantitative descriptors that include 20- and six-term sequence entropy have been built and validated. A domain-complete learning set of over 1300 proteins is used to fit initial models with various sequence homology descriptors as well as query residue qualitative descriptors. Homology descriptors are derived from BLASTp sequence alignments, whereas the RSA values are determined directly from the crystal structure. The logistic regression models are fitted using dichotomous responses indicating buried or accessible solvent, with binary classifications obtained from the RSA values. The fitted models determine binary predictions of residue solvent accessibility with accuracies comparable to other less computationally intensive methods using the standard RSA threshold criteria 20 and 25% as solvent accessible. When an additional non-homology descriptor describing Lobanov–Galzitskaya residue disorder propensity is included, incremental improvements in accuracy are achieved with 25% threshold accuracies of 76.12 and 74.45% for the Manesh-215 and CASP(8+9) test sets, respectively. Moreover, the described software and the accompanying learning and validation sets allow students and researchers to explore the utility of RSA prediction with simple, physically intuitive models in any number of related applications

Food Access, Availability, and Affordability in 3 Los Angeles Communities, Project CAFE, 2004-2006

Introduction Racial/ethnic minority communities are at increasingly high risk for chronic diseases related to obesity. Access to stores that sell affordable, nutritious food is a prerequisite for adopting a healthful diet. The objective of this study was to evaluate food access, availability, and affordability in 3 nonoverlapping but similar low-income communities in urban Los Angeles, California. Methods Using a community-based participatory research approach, we trained community members to conduct a food assessment to 1) map the number and type of retail food outlets in a defined area and 2) survey a sample of stores to determine whether they sold selected healthful foods and how much those foods cost. We used descriptive statistics to summarize findings. Results Of the 1,273 food establishments mapped in the 3 neighborhoods, 1,023 met the criteria of “retail food outlet.” The most common types of retail food outlets were fast-food restaurants (30%) and convenience/liquor/corner stores (22%). Supermarkets made up less than 2% of the total. Convenience/liquor/corner stores offered fewer than half of the selected healthful foods and sold healthful foods at higher prices than did supermarkets. Conclusions Access to stores that sell affordable healthful food is a problem in urban Los Angeles communities. Healthful food strategies should focus on changing food environments to improve overall community health

Global Trade Impacts: Addressing the Health, Social and Environmental Consequences of Moving International Freight through Our Communities

As ports and goods movement activity expands throughout the United States, a major challenge is how to make the adverse impacts of freight transportation a more central part of economic development, policy and planning discussions and transportation decision making. In 2009, faculty and staff from the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute of Occidental College and from the environmental health sciences and regional equity programs of the University of Southern California (USC) began a study of this evolving global trade and freight transportation system, focusing on areas in the United States where the system is expanding and where community, labor and social justice groups have begun to challenge the system. Funded by The Kresge Foundation, the purpose of the study – which resulted in this report – was to provide an overview of the growth and scale of the goods movement industries and the shift from a production to a distribution economy. At the same time, the study documents examples of organizing and policy approaches that have injected important considerations of health, labor, and community impacts into decisionmaking and identified new directions so that local and regional communities can better address what is happening in their backyards due to these shifts

Risk for Engagement in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Children and Adolescents

Although NSSI engagement is a growing public health concern, little research has documented the developmental precursors to NSSI in longitudinal studies using youth samples. This study aimed to expand upon previous research on groups of NSSI engagement in a population-based sample of youth using multi-wave data. Moreover, this study examined whether chronic peer and romantic stress, the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), parenting behaviors, and negative attributional style predicted the NSSI group membership as well as the role of sex and grade. Participants were 549 youth in beginning in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades at the baseline assessment. NSSI was assessed across 7 waves of data. Chronic peer and romantic stress, 5-HTTLPR, parenting behaviors, and negative attributional style were assessed at baseline. Growth mixture models, conducted to test the latent trajectory of NSSI groups did not converge. Three NSSI groups were manually created according to classifications that were determined a priori. NSSI groups included: no NSSI (85.1%), episodic NSSI (8.5%), and repeated NSSI (6.4%). Chronic peer and romantic stress, sex, and grade differentiated the no NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups and the episodic NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups. Specifically, higher levels of stress, being female, and being in higher grades related to repeated NSSI. 5-HTTLPR differentiated the no NSSI vs. repeated NSSI groups, such that carrying the short allele of 5-HTTLPR related to repeated NSSI. Exploratory analyses revealed that the relationship between attributional style and NSSI group was moderated by grade. This study suggests chronic interpersonal peer and romantic stress is an important factor placing youth at greater risk for repeatedly engaging in NSSI

Strength based nursing: caring for the whole person

Strengths-Based Nursing (SBN) is an integrated value-driven approach based on a philosophy of care to guide actions. It consists of eight values which guide nursing practice to promote care of the whole person and family.  SBN promotes empowerment, collaborative partnership, innate health and healing, authentic relationships while focusing on enhancing and developing strengths to cope with challenges and minimize, contain or circumvent that which is not working.Our poster will illustrate the basics of SBN and how it can be utilized in the promotion of whole person care.Conclusion: SBN has enlarged our perspective, broadened our skilled-know how, and opened us to new ways of caring for persons and families dealing with cancer. It has also given us insights into our nursing practices and illustrates the importance these eight values have in supporting development of whole person care