Urban tourism and population change: Gentrification in the age of mobilities

The prepandemic unbridled growth of tourism has triggered a significant debate regarding the future of cities; several authors suggest that neighbourhood change produced by tourism should be conceived as a form of gentrification. Yet research on population shifts—a fundamental dimension of gentrification—in such neighbourhoods is scarce. Our exploration of the Gòtic area in Barcelona, using quantitative and qualitative techniques, reveals a process of population restructuring characterised by a decrease of long-term residents and inhabited dwellings, and the arrival of young and transnational gentrifiers that are increasingly mobile and form a transient population. We then use some insights from the mobilities literature to make sense of these results. In the gentrification of the Gòtic, the attractiveness of the area for visitors and for a wider palette of transnational dwellers feeds one another, resulting in an uneven negotiation whereby more wealthy and ‘footloose’ individuals gain access and control of space and housing over less mobile and more dependent populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment on Peripheral and Central Markers of Aging

BACKGROUND: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) and are used clinically to help restore peripheral insulin sensitivity in Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Interestingly, long-term treatment of mouse models of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) with TZDs also has been shown to reduce several well-established brain biomarkers of AD including inflammation, oxidative stress and Abeta accumulation. While TZD\u27s actions in AD models help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying their potentially beneficial effects in AD patients, little is known about the functional consequences of TZDs in animal models of normal aging. Because aging is a common risk factor for both AD and T2DM, we investigated whether the TZD, pioglitazone could alter brain aging under non-pathological conditions. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used the F344 rat model of aging, and monitored behavioral, electrophysiological, and molecular variables to assess the effects of pioglitazone (PIO-Actos® a TZD) on several peripheral (blood and liver) and central (hippocampal) biomarkers of aging. Starting at 3 months or 17 months of age, male rats were treated for 4-5 months with either a control or a PIO-containing diet (final dose approximately 2.3 mg/kg body weight/day). A significant reduction in the Ca2+-dependent afterhyperpolarization was seen in the aged animals, with no significant change in long-term potentiation maintenance or learning and memory performance. Blood insulin levels were unchanged with age, but significantly reduced by PIO. Finally, a combination of microarray analyses on hippocampal tissue and serum-based multiplex cytokine assays revealed that age-dependent inflammatory increases were not reversed by PIO. CONCLUSIONS: While current research efforts continue to identify the underlying processes responsible for the progressive decline in cognitive function seen during normal aging, available medical treatments are still very limited. Because TZDs have been shown to have benefits in age-related conditions such as T2DM and AD, our study was aimed at elucidating PIO\u27s potentially beneficial actions in normal aging. Using a clinically-relevant dose and delivery method, long-term PIO treatment was able to blunt several indices of aging but apparently affected neither age-related cognitive decline nor peripheral/central age-related increases in inflammatory signaling

Emergent organization and responsive technologies in crisis: Creating connections or enabling divides

I articulate and employ a situational boundary-making approach to study the emergence of organization and technology at a shelter during Hurricane Katrina. My analysis of qualitative data shows how emergent organization occurred at the shelter as situational entanglements consisting of three main elements: a salient moment in time, key actors, and boundary-making practices. Key actors' responses to salient moments in time enacted both distinction and dependency between organizational and technological actors, resulting in a divided organization. This analysis extends emergent approaches by showing how organization and technology are situationally organized and emerges through the (in)determinacy of meaning. Implications are also discussed for disaster managers to assess the success and failure of technology during a response. © The Author(s) 2012

Advancing the use of noncoding RNA in regulatory toxicology: Report of an ECETOC workshop

The European Centre for the Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) organised a workshop to discuss the state-of-the-art research on noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) as biomarkers in regulatory toxicology and as analytical and therapeutic agents. There was agreement that ncRNA expression profiling data requires careful evaluation to determine the utility of specific ncRNAs as biomarkers. To advance the use of ncRNA in regulatory toxicology, the following research priorities were identified: (1) Conduct comprehensive literature reviews to identify possibly suitable ncRNAs and areas of toxicology where ncRNA expression profiling could address prevailing scientific deficiencies. (2) Develop consensus on how to conduct ncRNA expression profiling in a toxicological context. (3) Conduct experimental projects, including, e.g., rat (90-day) oral toxicity studies, to evaluate the toxicological relevance of the expression profiles of selected ncRNAs. Thereby, physiological ncRNA expression profiles should be established, including the biological variability of healthy individuals. To substantiate the relevance of key ncRNAs for cell homeostasis or pathogenesis, molecular events should be dose-dependently linked with substance-induced apical effects. Applying a holistic approach, knowledge on ncRNAs, 'omics and epigenetics technologies should be integrated into adverse outcome pathways to improve the understanding of the functional roles of ncRNAs within a regulatory context

‘Sell[ing] what hasn’t got a name’: An exploration of the different understandings and definitions of ‘community engagement’ work in the performing arts

Widely known to promote broader involvement in the processes which define the arts and culture (Webster, 1997), community engagement work in the performing arts — despite employing a set of commonly recognised norms — has tended to be conceptualised differently both historically and contemporarily. Drawing on ethnographic research — particularly semi-structured qualitative interview accounts of numerous British practitioners with a track record of work in the sector, the article explores these different conceptualisations. The article finds that it is the actual ‘work that matters’ and not what it is named, and that the diversity of understandings and definitions among sectoral practitioners is reflective of evolving thinking, values and practice, something that may be destabilising for better or worse

Different expressions of the same mode: a recent dialogue between archaeological and contemporary drawing practices

In this article we explore what we perceive as pertinent features of shared experience at the excavations of an Iron Age Hillfort at Bodfari, North Wales, referencing artist, archaeologist and examples of seminal art works and archaeological records resulting through inter-disciplinary collaboration. We explore ways along which archaeological and artistic practices of improvisation become entangled and productive through their different modes of mark-making. We contend that marks and memories of artist and archaeologist alike emerge interactively, through the mutually constituting effects of the object of study, the tools of exploration, and the practitioners themselves, when they are enmeshed in the cross-modally bound activities. These include, but are not limited to, remote sensing, surveying, mattocking, trowelling, drawing, photographing, videoing and sound recording. These marks represent the co-signatories: the gesture of the often anonymous practitioners, the voice of the deposits, as well as the imprint of the tools, and their interplay creates a multi-threaded narrative documenting their modes of intra-action, in short our practices. They occupy the conceptual space of paradata, and in the process of saturating the interstices of digital cognitive prosthetics they lend probity to their translations in both art form and archive

Thermoregulation and fluid balance during a 30-km march in 60-versus 80-year-old subjects

The presence of impaired thermoregulatory and fluid balance responses to exercise in older individuals is well established. To improve our understanding on thermoregulation and fluid balance during exercise in older individuals, we compared thermoregulatory and fluid balance responses between sexagenarians and octogenarians during prolonged exercise. Forty sexagenarians (60 ± 1 year) and 36 octogenarians (81 ± 2 year) volunteered to participate in a 30-km march at a self-selected pace. Intestinal temperature (T in) and heart rate were recorded every 5 km. Subjects reported fluid intake, while urine output was measured and sweat rate was calculated. Octogenarians demonstrated a lower baseline T in and a larger exercise-induced increase in T in compared to sexagenarians (1.2 ± 0.5 °C versus 0.7 ± 0.4 °C, p  0.05). These results suggest that thermoregulatory responses deteriorate with advancing age, while fluid balance is regulated appropriately during a 30-km walking march under moderate ambient conditions

Embryonic and adult isoforms of XLAP2 form microdomains associated with chromatin and the nuclear envelope

Laminin-associated polypeptide 2 (LAP2) proteins are alternatively spliced products of a single gene; they belong to the LEM domain family and, in mammals, locate to the nuclear envelope (NE) and nuclear lamina. Isoforms lacking the transmembrane domain also locate to the nucleoplasm. We used new specific antibodies against the N-terminal domain of Xenopus LAP2 to perform immunoprecipitation, identification and localization studies during Xenopus development. By immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), we identified the embryonic isoform XLAP2γ, which was downregulated during development similarly to XLAP2ω. Embryonic isoforms XLAP2ω and XLAP2γ were located in close association with chromatin up to the blastula stage. Later in development, both embryonic isoforms and the adult isoform XLAP2β were localized in a similar way at the NE. All isoforms colocalized with lamin B2/B3 during development, whereas XLAP2β was colocalized with lamin B2 and apparently with the F/G repeat nucleoporins throughout the cell cycle in adult tissues and culture cells. XLAP2β was localized in clusters on chromatin, both at the NE and inside the nucleus. Embryonic isoforms were also localized in clusters at the NE of oocytes. Our results suggest that XLAP2 isoforms participate in the maintenance and anchoring of chromatin domains to the NE and in the formation of lamin B microdomains

Oxidation of DJ-1 Induced by 6-Hydroxydopamine Decreasing Intracellular Glutathione

DJ-1, the causative gene of a familial form of Parkinson's disease (PD), has been reported to undergo preferential oxidation of the cysteine residue at position 106 (Cys-106) under oxidative stress; however, details of the molecular mechanisms are not well known. In the present study, mechanisms of DJ-1 oxidation induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) were investigated by using SH-SY5Y cells. The treatment of these cells with 6-OHDA caused an obvious acidic spot sift of DJ-1 due to its oxidation. However, when catalase, which is an hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-removing enzyme, was added during the treatment, it failed to prevent the oxidation induced by 6-OHDA, suggesting that electrophilic p-quinone formed from 6-OHDA, but not H2O2, was responsible for the DJ-1 oxidation. Benzoquinone, another electrophilic p-quinone, also induced DJ-1 oxidation. The intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels were significantly decreased by 6-OHDA, irrespective of the presence or absence of catalase. The inhibition of GSH synthesis by buthionine sulfoximine resulted in a decrease in GSH levels and enhancement of DJ-1 oxidation. The pretreatment of cells with N-acetyl-cysteine prevented the loss of intracellular GSH and subsequently DJ-1 oxidation induced by 6-OHDA. Collectively, these results suggest that electrophilic p-quinone formed from 6-OHDA induces DJ-1 oxidation by decreasing intracellular GSH