Knockdown of OLA1, a regulator of oxidative stress response, inhibits motility and invasion of breast cancer cells

To explore the role of a novel Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) in cancer metastasis, small interference RNA (siRNA) was used to knockdown the protein, and the cells were subjected to in vitro cell migration and invasion assays. Knockdown of OLA1 significantly inhibited cell migration and invasion in breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The knockdown caused no changes in cell growth but affected ROS production. In wound-healing assays, decreased ROS in OLA1-knockdown cells were in situ asso-ciated with the cells' decreased motile morphology. Further, treatment of N-acetylcysteine, a general ROS scavenger, blunted the motility and invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 cells, similar to the effect of OLA1-knockdown. These results suggest that knock-down of OLA1 inhibits breast cancer cell migration and invasion through a mechanism that involves the modulation of intracel-lular ROS levels.     

Mother As Donor,Hero or Villain: New Sides of The Mother’s Image in Sergey Sedov’s “Fairy Tales About Mums”

A new model of society in post-Soviet Russia introduced novel family patterns to everyday life as well as to children’s literature, with traditional parent and children’s functions becoming subject to rethinking. The tendency to reconsider parental functions can be observed in texts from different genres, but it appears most overtly in modern fairy tales which, on the one hand, link modernity with the national folkloric code but, on the other, aim to overcome the code. Unlike many contemporary Russian authors for children, who leave little narrative space for parents, Sergey Sedov makes the mother central to his “Fairy Tales About Mums.” He describes various situations in which this figure regains the depth and comprehensiveness of a Jungian Great Mother Archetype. The author combines different fairy tales, cultural stereotypes and literary themes to create the image of a new mother who possesses various roles, some of which place her in opposition to the gender stereotype of patriarchal Russian folklore. This article uses structural, typological and motive methods of analysis to trace the transformation of the mother’s image from the traditional folktale canon to determine its activity-related and axiological aspects and to analyse various manifestations of the mother in terms of the tales’ semantic and aesthetic integrity.     

SCAR分子标记监测菌群中的哈茨木霉

研究目的：开发具有种属特异性序列特征性扩增区域（SCAR）标记物来监测哈茨木霉在其入侵的试验菌群中的定殖和生长,为哈茨木霉应用于生物防治等生态和生物技术中提供支撑。 创新要点：多种木霉属真菌能与各种微观和宏观的生物有机体建立相互作用。利用这些相互作用,木霉可做为原生种群的入侵物种而用于生物防治。本文通过使用试验菌群为研究模型,利用随机扩增多态性DNA（RAPD）技术和序列特征性扩增区域（SCAR）标记物来监测菌群中哈茨木霉的生长状态。 研究方法：利用随机扩增多态性DNA（RAPD）技术,从16个10聚体引物进行多态性筛选,其中1个引物扩增出对应哈茨木霉的条带。对该条带进行克隆测序,并设计5个20-23聚体引物。成功利用引物对2F2／2R2和2F2／2R3278分别特异性地扩增出哈茨木霉BpTloa菌株278bp和448bp的DNA片段。同时,用这两个引物对14个哈茨木霉菌株和几种不同的真菌菌株进行特异性对照试验,也只成功扩增出哈茨木霉菌株。此外,使用真菌DNA混合物和试验真菌群的DNA为模板,采用实时聚合酶链式反应（PCR）对引物对2F2／2R2进行评估。当仅使用100份SCAR标记物或哈茨木霉仅占整个菌群的0．1％时,仍能检测出哈茨木霉。 重要结论：本研究所建立的SCAR分子标记能有效监测菌群中的哈茨木霉的定殖和生长,具有较高特异性、灵敏度和准确度。     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Well‐Being of Ghanaian Children in Transnational Families

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well‐being outcomes—self‐rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment—of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12–21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well‐being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors—being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate—that may decrease child well‐being.     

Fitting derivational morphophonology into a developmental model of reading

Oral language is the foundation on which literacy initially builds. Between early developing oral language skills and fluent reading comprehension emerge several types of metalinguistic ability, including phonological and morphological awareness. In this study, a developmental sequence is proposed, beginning with receptive language followed by phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and a new metalinguistic task measuring oral morphophonological accuracy (MPA), followed by decoding and culminating in reading comprehension. MPA is a measure of accurate primary stress placement in the production of derived words with non-neutral, stress changing suffixes (e.g., -ity). A path analysis with data from 76 third graders was used to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of these variables. The developmental model was confirmed, and a metalinguistic continuum, with MPA emerging after both PA and MA, was supported. Decoding and receptive language were the best unique predictors of reading comprehension. Surprisingly, MPA was more important to decoding than was PA, whereas MA was only indirectly implicated in both decoding and reading comprehension.     

Platelet satellitism in infectious disease?

Background

Platelet satellitism is a phenomenon of unknown etiology of aggregating platelets around polymorphonuclear neutrophils and other blood cells which causes pseudothrombocytopenia, visible by microscopic examination of blood smears. It has been observed so far in about a hundred cases in the world.

Case subject and methods

Our case involves a 73-year-old female patient with a urinary infection. Biochemical serum analysis (CRP, glucose, AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, bilirubin, sodium, potassium, chloride, urea, creatinine) and blood cell count were performed with standard methods on autoanalyzers. Serum protein fractions were examined by electrophoresis and urinalysis with standard methods on autoanalyzer together with microscopic examination of urine sediment. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, blood culture and urine culture tests were performed with standard methods.

Results

Due to typical pathological values for bacterial urinary infection, the patient was admitted to the hospital. Blood smear examination revealed phenomenon, which has persisted for three weeks after the disease has been cured. Blood smears with EDTA as an anticoagulant had platelet satellitism whereas the phenomenon was not observed in tubes with different anticoagulants (Na, Li-heparin) and capillary blood.

Discussion

We hypothesize that satellitism was induced by some immunological mechanism through formation of antibodies which have mediated platelets binding to neutrophil membranes and vice versa. Unfortunately we were unable to determine the putative trigger for this phenomenon. To our knowledge this is the second case of platelet satellitism ever described in Croatia.Key words: blood platelets, thrombocytopenia, EDTA, urinary infection     

Play-based art activities in early years: teachers’ thinking and practice

The present study reports findings on pre-service teachers’ thinking during planning and implementing play-based art activities. ‘Thinking’ (in the present study) is informed by discourses emphasising art teaching and learning in relation to play and theoretical assumptions conceptualising planning as ‘practice of knowing’. Pre-service teachers’ thinking was explored through: (a) a tool ‘sk?ptikó’ (a series of questions), created by the researchers to initiate inquiry during planning and provide evidence about participants’ ‘practice of knowing’, and (b) a semi-structured interview using the method of photo-elicitation. Classroom observation, researchers’ reflective notes, document analysis (‘sk?ptikó’) and photographs were used in conjunction with data gathered from semi-structured interviews to confirm the findings. The findings suggest that there is a relationship between pre-service early childhood teachers’ thinking (planning) and practice (implementation). The rationale behind their decisions appears to compete with their thinking on philosophical/moral choices (knowing why). The notion of space has been challenged through artistic practices incorporating ‘play’, while art activities were characterised as playful, reinforcing active learning. The study highlights the significance of thinking through documentation, as this was found to contribute to reflective pedagogical practices.