TL;DR - communicating in the age of social media

This thesis uses a literature review and post analyzation to explore Facebook and Twitter as methods of communicating. This thesis examines social media history, genre, and rhetorical aspects

Directed percolation effects emerging from superadditivity of quantum networks

Entanglement indcued non--additivity of classical communication capacity in networks consisting of quantum channels is considered. Communication lattices consisiting of butterfly-type entanglement breaking channels augmented, with some probability, by identity channels are analyzed. The capacity superadditivity in the network is manifested in directed correlated bond percolation which we consider in two flavours: simply directed and randomly oriented. The obtained percolation properties show that high capacity information transfer sets in much faster in the regime of superadditive communication capacity than otherwise possible. As a byproduct, this sheds light on a new type of entanglement based quantum capacity percolation phenomenon.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Cytochrome P450 mRNA expressions along with in vitro differentiation of hepatocyte precursor cells from fetal, young and old rats.

Non-differentiated cells are attractive targets for cell therapy. During liver regeneration oval cells intensively proliferate and differentiate extending their metabolic activity. Hepatic cytochromes P450 (CYPs) can be linked either with metabolic activation of toxic compounds or drug metabolism. We investigated the differentiation and biotransformative potential of non-differentiated cells in primary cell cultures isolated from livers of fetuses (16-days-old), young (4-months-old) and old (20-months-old) rats. Under the conditions of experimental hepatocarcinogenesis, adult rats were fed for three weeks with CDE diet. Liver cells were cultured and precursor cells were differentiated to hepatocytes following induction with sodium butyrate (SB) or dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) in culture on MesenCult medium. We identified a number of cells expressing Thy-1, CD34, alpha-fetoprotein, cytokeratines--CK18 or CK19 and glutathione transferases--GSTpi or GSTalpha. In vitro differentiation of these cells, isolated from CDE-treated rats begun earlier as compared to non-treated ones. Age-dependent changes in the cell differentiation sequence, as well as CYPmRNA expression sequence accompanying precursor cells differentiation, were also observed. mRNA expression of CYP1A2, CYP2B1/2 and CYP3A1 was higher in the cells of young rats, but in the case of CYP2E1--in the cells of old rats. It was concluded that both proliferation and differentiation potential of oval cells, decreased with age

Infant Gaze During Mother-Infant Face-to-Face Interaction

Numerous research studies have examined mother-infant face-to-face interactions. A common goal of these studies has been to identify the characteristics of both the mother and the infant that affect social interaction. One area of theory and research has focused specifically on the communication patterns that develop in the mother-infant dyad; both the verbal and nonverbal aspects of this relationship have been investigated. Past research studies have also demonstrated that nearly one third of early parent-infant interactions can be considered play which is defined as social interactions that occur when the infant is alert and the caregiver's needs have been met (Stern, 1974; Field 1979). Based on this definition, play represents a unique set of social interactions that may vary among individuals and as a result contribute to individual differences in social development. Roggman and Peery (1989) suggest that patterns of parent-infant play may develop very early and are specific to the gender of both the infant and the parent. If this is true, then some gender differences which occur later in a child's development may begin in infancy during these early parent-infant interactions. As a result, gender-related variation in parent infant interaction may contribute to the beginning of differential socialization for males and females (Roggman & Peery, 1989). The main purpose of the current research was to improve understanding of early social interactions, specifically mother-infant play interactions during the first six months of life. Past research has suggested that gender affects infant completion of studies involving changes in a mother's pace of interaction, but has failed to examine the relationship of age in conjunction with gender (Burlie, 1992). In addition, infant gender has been shown to alter the gaze behaviors of mothers (Roggman & Peery, t989). Stem (1974) stated that gaze behavior is important in maternal satisfaction with play interactions. Therefore, the specific purpose of this research is to analyze infant gaze behaviors during mother-infant face-to-face interaction, looking specifically at the effects of infant gender, infant age, and change in maternal pacing on infant gaze behaviors. Infant gaze differs for boys and girls. In normal play situations, three- and four month- old girls gazed longer at their mothers than boys did (Fogel, Toda & Kawai, 1988; Roggman & Peery, 1989). This research indicates that females are more attentive during normal play than males. However, a study done by Tronick & Cohn (1989) found that sons are more likely than daughters to match behavior states with their mothers. They also reported that sons are more synchronized with their mothers than daughters at six and nine months. Although, the data also suggest that daughters are synchronized at three months (Tronick & Cohn, 1989). These results are supported by Burlie's 1992 study in which three-month-old females were unable to return to normal play behavior once the mother slowed down her play behavior and as a result broke the synchrony of the interaction. The present study investigated how gaze behaviors vary across gender, and how these differences vary with the age of the infant Research shows that the amount of time infants spend gazing at their mothers changes with age. Gaze behaviors usually increase from birth up until three or four months of age when the behavior begins to decrease. At six months the infant's focal environment increases to include objects which decreases the amount of time that the infant spends gazing at the mother (Cohn & Tronick, 1987; Stack & Muir, 1990). As a result, sixmonth- olds may not be as sensitive to changes in their mother's behavior. The present study will examine gaze behaviors in infants who are one to six months of age. Previous studies on infant gaze behaviors have not focused on the 1 to 2 month age range. As a result, this study will provide insight into some of the earliest gaze behaviors as well as the more complex gaze behaviors which develop along with the infant's visual-motor system

The comparison of multipotential for differentiation of progenitor mesenchymal-like stem cells obtained from livers of young and old rats.

The presence of stem cells differentiating to hepatocytes and cholangiocytes has been previously reported in livers of young rats. Here, we have isolated, cultured, and characterized mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from livers of young and old rats and tested their multipotential for differentiation. The mesenchymal stem cells in liver sections were identified by the presence of markers, respectively for primary stem cells Thy-1 and CD34, for differentiation to early cholangiocytes GST and CK19, and for differentiation to hepatocytes GSTalpha and CK18. Ki67 was detected as the cell proliferation marker. Cells isolated from livers of either age group were tested in a culture for their viability following storage and were characterized for the presence of most of the markers detected in cells in situ. The results revealed age-dependent changes in the number of recovered primary MSCs. In both age groups we have observed cells changing under differentiating conditions to liver cell lineages, such as cholangiocytes and hepatocytes, as well as to non-liver cells such as adipocytes, astrocytes, neuroblasts, and osteoblasts. Our data revealed that from the livers of rats 20 months and older the primary MSCs could be isolated and expanded; however, they were significantly fewer, even though their differentiation multipotential was preserved. The mechanism involved in the differentiation of liver MSCs seemed to depend on a constellation of signals in Notch signalling pathways. Thus, our results support the idea of potential use of liver as a source of MSCs, not only for liver reconstruction but also for cell therapy in general

Expression and co-expression of surface markers of pluripotency on human amniotic cells cultured in different growth media

Objectives: Despite constant advances in the field of biology and medical application of human embryonic stem cells, the molecular mechanism of pluripotency remains largely unknown. So far, definitions of pluripotent stem cells (SC) have been based on a limited number of antigenic markers and have not allowed for unambiguous determination of the homogeneity of each subpopulation. Moreover, the use of some crucial pluripotency markers such as SSEA-3 and SSEA-4 has recently been questioned due to the possibility that the pattern of surface glycans may be changed depending on the content of the cell culture medium. Aim: Quantitative analysis of amniotic SC subpopulations cultured in different media, based on the following pluripotency surface markers: SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81 expression and co-expression. Material and methods: Immunofluorescence and fluorescence microscopy were used to identify and localize S.C. within a normal human placenta at term. The number of SSEA-4+, SSEA-3+, TRA-1-60+ and TRA-1-81+ cells and cells with co-expression of the above mentioned markers, cultured in media containing different protein supplements of animal origin, was counted by flow cytometry. Results and conclusions: Cells with characteristics of embryonic SC were identified in the amniotic epithelium and the chorion, but not in the decidua basalis. Amniotic epithelium contained various types of SC, with SSEA-4+ as the most numerous. Disproportion in the number of SSEA-4+, SSEA-3+, TRA-1-60+ and TRA-1-81+ cells and cells characterized by co-expression of these antigens, as well as lack of quantitative differences between S.C. subpopulations cultured in different media, was observed. In conclusion, the amniotic epithelium is composed of SC at different stages of the development but human amnion might become an alternative source of SSEA-4+ embryonic-like SC. The composition of the evaluated media, characterized by different content of animal-derived proteins, does not influence the number of cells identified within the SC subpopulations