This article presents current aspects of transvascular exchange for solutes and water in the microcirculation. Also discussed are various concepts concerning the modulation of the barrier in inflammatory-like states, as well as information describing the receptor-operated channels in endothelial cells and their processing.

The field of mediation tend to shift as practitioners and theorists make new recommendations concerning how the mediation practice should be conducted. The United Nations play a crucial role in this, its work involves providing training and guidance for new mediators through various arms of their system. This thesis is analyzing the 2010 publication A Manual for UN Mediators: Advice from UN Representatives and Envoys to identify which skills and strategies they are recommending, through Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six step approach to thematic analysis, connecting to the social constructionist paradigm. According to social constructionism, all mediation practices are based on ideological or value premises. Therefore, the identified recommendations are analyzed and discussed at the level of underlying ideologies. In particular, through the lenses of a problem-solving and transformative approach to mediation. Resultingly, a total of 12 themes relating to recommended mediation strategies and skills are identified, with both approaches to mediation being identified in the themes relating to the strategies and discussed within this regard.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global health problem that is associated with wide range of diseases, including atherosclerosis and Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) disease. Hepatic inflammation can cause cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation (liver failure) and cancer. Recent research now looks at the chronic systemic effects and inter-organ communication between atherosclerosis potentially promoting the development of NAFL. The resolution of inflammation is regulated naturally in the body by specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). Immunoresolvents like ⍹6-derived Lipoxin A4 are suggested as a therapeutic strategy to overcome chronic inflammation and disease. In this study we investigated the therapeutic potential of Lipoxin A4 (LXA4) in cholesterol fed rabbit model of hypercholesterolemia, with atherosclerotic plaques and confined vascular endothelial injury and its effect on the progression of NAFL. OBJECTIVE: This is a continuation of studies pioneered in the Hamilton lab and an extension of the recent study by Taylor et. al in 201811 linking aortic plaque and liver disease. We will now investigate the therapeutic potential of Lipoxin A4 on lipid-rich atherosclerotic plaques in cholesterol fed rabbits and its effect on the progression of NAFL to NASH. METHODS: In vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measured aortic atherosclerotic inflammation (with plaque Gd-enhancement), plaque size (vessel wall area), and composition, within rabbits fed normal chow or a 1% cholesterol-enriched diet. Biomarkers in the blood were monitored in the rabbits, with follow-up by histology, which included Masson’s trichrome staining. Light Microscopy was used for liver imaging. Ex vivo MRI, T1W imaging was used to quantify VWA (vessel wall area), with Image J programming. RESULTS: Cholesterol-fed rabbits with and without aortic injury developed hypercholesterolemia, NAFL, and atherosclerotic plaques in the aorta. Elevated plasma gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT; p =0.014) and the ratio of liver enzymes aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (AST/ALT; p = 0.033) confirmed the progression of steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Histological images showed less fibrosis in those rabbits fed 1% CHOL diet with injury treated with LipoxinA4, when compared to 1% CHOL diet and injury alone. The plasma biomarkers showed a decrease in cholesterol (79%) and triglycerides (49.9%) in those rabbits given LXA4 therapy. The LXA4 treated 1% CHOL diet with injury group showed a marked decrease in the aorta vessel wall area when compared to the 1% CHOL diet with injury, without treatment; as seen in ex vivo, MRI T1W imaging. CONCLUSION: Lipoxin implementation in cholesterol fed rabbits that have localized regions of highly inflamed aortic atherosclerotic plaques, may contribute to the attenuation on the progression of NAFL to NASH as seen in histology and plasma biomarkers including; cholesterol and triglycerides. Lipoxin as a therapeutic has an effect on treating atherosclerotic plaques and attenuating atherosclerosis progression.

Les composants cellulaires sont constamment exposés à un stress oxydatif, lié à l’environnement et au métabolisme cellulaire. Les espèces réactives de l’oxygène produites par ce stress induisent de nombreuses lésions dans l’ADN, telles que l’oxydation des bases, la formation de sites abasiques ou la cassure de brins d’ADN. Ces dommages sont corrigés par un panel de systèmes de réparation, qui jouent un rôle critique dans la survie cellulaire et dans la prévention de pathologies telles que les maladies neurodégénératives ou le cancer. La modification de bases est le type de dommage le plus abondant, généré spontanément ou par des agents exogènes. Notre laboratoire s’intéresse ainsi au système de réparation par excision de base (BER), qui élimine les bases nucléotidiques altérées. Des études antérieures ont montré la formation « d’usines de réparation du BER » suite à des traitements induisant l’oxydation des bases dont la forme la plus courante est la 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). Dans le cas de cette lésion mutagène, l’assemblage du complexe BER dépend du recrutement d’OGG1 à la chromatine, l’enzyme qui reconnaît et excise la 8-oxoG. Cependant, ce recrutement ne nécessite pas la reconnaissance de la 8-oxoG, indiquant que d’autres signaux interviennent pour initier la réparation de la 8-oxoG par OGG1. Un crible à haut débit a été réalisé dans des cellules humaines pour rechercher des protéines impliquées dans le recrutement d’OGG1. Deux complexes ont été identifiés, les cohésines et le médiateur de la transcription.Dans ce projet de recherche, nous avons exploré le rôle de ces protéines dans la relocalisation d’OGG1 suite à un stress oxydatif. Nos études ont tout d’abord permis d’identifier des protéines essentielles au recrutement d’OGG1 : les protéines formant l’anneau de cohésines (SMC1, SMC3 et RAD21), plusieurs sous-unités du médiateur dont MED14, ainsi que le module CDK (MED12, MED13, Cycline C et CDK8). De plus, ces protéines sont nécessaires pour le recrutement d’OGG1 tout au long du cycle cellulaire. Nos résultats montrent que la relocalisation d’OGG1 sur la chromatine est liée à sa fonction de réparation de la 8-oxoG. Nous avons d’autre part montré que deux sous-unités du médiateur (MED12 et CDK8) sont relocalisées dans l’euchromatine, comme OGG1, de façon dépendante du corps du médiateur et des cohésines. Enfin, l’association d’OGG1 avec ses partenaires a été validée par microscopie FLIM-FRET et co-immunoprécipitation dans des conditions de stress oxydatif.En conclusion, ces résultats montrent pour la première fois un lien entre la réparation des bases oxydées et les complexes du médiateur et des cohésines, tous deux connus pour leur participation à d’autres voies de réparation de l’ADN. L’identification des mécanismes moléculaires et de nouveaux facteurs impliqués dans la réparation des bases oxydées pourrait fournir à terme des éléments essentiels pour la prise en charge de maladies telles que le cancer ou les maladies neurodégénératives. / Our laboratory focuses on the base excision repair (BER) mechanism that is responsible for the removal of damaged bases in DNA. Oxidative DNA damage is generated spontaneously by the endogenous metabolism of the cells or induced exogenously by chemical or physical agents. Our aim is to understand how BER complexes are assembled in the context of the cell nucleus in response to genotoxic stress. We previously found that after treatments generating oxidized bases into cellular DNA BER complexes are assembled on the chromatin. In the case of the 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) mutagenic lesion, assembly of the BER complex depends on the recruitment to the chromatin of OGG1, the DNA glycosylase that recognizes and excises the lesion. Surprisingly, characterization of OGG1 mutants that are not able to recognize 8-oxoG showed that the recruitment of this initiator protein does not require the recognition of the damaged base. This suggests that there are other mechanisms that allow recruitment of the enzyme to chromatin and thus initiation of the repair of the 8-oxoG by the BER. We performed a high-throughput siRNA screen in human cells to identify proteins required for the recruitment of OGG1 to chromatin. Among the candidates issued from the screen, two groups of proteins were selected for further study: members of the mediator and cohesin complexes.In this project, we explored the role of these proteins in OGG1 relocalization after an oxidative stress. Our studies confirmed the requirement of essential proteins for OGG1 recruitment: cohesins subunits (SMC1, SMC3 and RAD21), mediator subunits including the central protein MED14, and CDK subunits (MED12, MED13, Cyclin C and CDK8). Requirement of all these proteins is independent of the cell cycle. Furthermore we show that recrutement of OGG1 is essential for its 8-oxoG repair function. Microscopy studies revealed recruitment and colocalization of two mediator subunits (MED12 and CDK8) with OGG1 on euchromatin domains after an oxidative stress. Finally, the association between OGG1 and its partners, specifically after an oxidative stress, was validated by FLIM-FRET microscopy and co-immunoprecipitation.To conclude, these results show for the first time a link between repair of oxidized bases and mediator and cohesin complexes, both of them being already involved in other DNA repair pathways. The identification of molecular mechanisms and new factors involved in the repair of oxidized bases may ultimately provide new elements for the management of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between adolescent premarital sexual attitudes, motivations, behavior, and cognitive style (style of decision-making process). A review of the literature indicated that deviant behaviors among youth are related to one another and that they are also related to ego identity and cognitive style. No previous study had specifically examined sexual behavior, attitudes, and motivations in relation to cognitive style. A self-report questionnaire was employed to gather information about cognitive style and sexual behaviors, attitudes, and motivations. The sample was comprised of 579 university students ages 17 to 25 from Utah and Arizona. The dependent variables were sexual attitudes, motivations, and behaviors. The independent variable, cognitive style, was measured with Berzonsky's Cognitive Style Inventory. As hypothesized, a notable difference was shown between the diffuse-oriented and norm-oriented youth . Diffuse-oriented individuals tended to be more sexually active and more liberal and flippant in their attitudes about this behavior, and cited more external consequences for sexual activity than norm-oriented individuals, who were more abstinent and more conservative in their attitudes. Information-oriented individuals recognized positive internal consequences for sexual behavior beyond that of the norm-oriented and diffuse-oriented. Frequency of contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents was not significantly different across the cognitive ·styles. Limitations and recommendations were discussed.

Eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis catalyzed by the RNA Polymerase II is the central and critical process for the regulation of gene expression. Several decades of research unearthed many details about this essential process of high complexity and dynamic. The mediator complex turned out to be crucial for the regulation of Pol II mediated transcription, especially the process of initiation. It functions as an interface between the general transcription machinery and multiple DNA binding transcriptional regulators. Binding these regulators via its tail module and binding the polymerase II via its head module, the mediator forms a bridge between upstream activating sequences and the core promotor and initiates the assembling of the Pre-Initiation complex consisting of the polymerase II and the general transcription factors. However, particularly the last years of research suggest the mediator complex within many other functions including transcription elongation, gene looping and chromatin remodeling. Considering the facts, that the mediator (a) consist of 25 subunits, which are partially flexible associated, (b) shows a flexible intrinsic structure and (c) is highly and dynamically phosphorylated it becomes easy to imagineplausible that the mediator complex meets all this functions, by serving as a transcriptional platform. In context of this thesis, and it was possible to “illustrate” the mediator within its versatile tasks and functions by presenting the most comprehensive analysis of the Mediator complex interactome to date. By optimizing the conditions of cell lysis and co-immunoprecipitation it was possible to preserve even transient and labile protein-protein interactions. The use of metabolic labeling (15N) in the control experiment, allowed us to distinguish between specific and non-specific captured proteins. In combination with high performance mass spectrometry, more than 400 proteins and even complete protein complexes interacting with the mediator complex could be identified, naming RNA-Polymerase II, all general transcription factors the SAGA complex, chromatin remodeling complexes and highly acetylated histones. Furthermore, many candidates where identified playing a role in co-transcriptional processes of mRNA, such as splicing, mRNA-decapping, mRNA transport and decay. This analysis not only confirmed several interactions , already can be found in the literature, but furthermore provide clear evidence, that mediator complex interacts not only with the RNA-Polymerase II, but also with the RNA Polymerase I and III. Next to the high numbers of potential known and unknown interacting proteins, it could be shown, that the interactome is highly dynamic and sensitive to detergent. / Die Synthese der mRNA durch die RNA-Polymerase II ist der zentrale und kritische Prozess im Rahmen der Transkriptionsregulation Protein-kodierender Gene. Viele Jahrzehnte der intensiven Erforschung brachten viele Details über diesen Mechanismus zu Tage, der von einer unglaublichen Komplexität und Dynamik geprägt ist. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass der Mediatorkomplex eine zentrale Rolle bei der Regulation der Polymerase II-abhängigen Transkription spielt, im Besonderen der Initiation. In der Funktion einer Schnittstelle verknüpft er die allgemeine Transkriptionsmaschinerie mit den Gen- spezifischen Transkriptionsregulatoren. Durch die Interaktion des Schwanzmoduls mit diesen Regulatoren und der Interaktion des Kopfmoduls mit der Polymerase II verbindet er wie eine Brücke die oberhalb des Promotors liegenden Aktivatorsequenzen mit dem Kernpromotor und initiiert so die Ausbildung des Pre-Initiationskomplexes. Darüber hinaus mehren sich gerade in den letzten Jahren die Hinweise darauf, dass der Mediator auch noch an anderen Prozessen der Transkription beteiligt ist. Zu diesen gehören z.B. die Elongation, die Ausbildung von Genschlaufen oder auch der Umbau der Chromatinstruktur. In Anbetracht der Tatsachen, dass der Mediator (a) aus bis zu 25 Untereinheiten mit flexibler Zusammensetzung besteht, (b) eine flexible Struktur besitzt und (c) umfassend und dynamisch über posttranslationale Modifikationen modifiziert ist, erscheint es durchaus möglich, dass der Mediator all diese Funktionen ausfüllt und die Rolle einer allgemeinen Transkriptionsplattform einnimmt. Im Zusammenhang mit dieser Dissertationsschrift ist es gelungen, den Mediator innerhalb all dieser Funktionen „abzubilden“ und die bisher umfassendste Interaktomanalyse dieses Komplexes zu präsentieren. Durch die optimierten Bedingungen der Zelllyse und Co-Immunopräzipitation, gelang es auch transiente Interaktionspartner zu isolieren. Durch das metabolische Markieren der Wildtypkontrolle konnten außerdem unspezifische und spezifische Interaktionen eindeutig voneinander unterschieden werden. Über 400 Proteine wurden als signifikante Interaktionspartner des Mediators identifiziert. Viele dieser Proteine konnten als vollständige Komplexe zusammengefasst werden, z.B die RNA-Polymerase II, alle allgemeinen Transkriptionsfaktoren, der SAGA-Komplex, viele Komplexe des Chromatin Remodelings und stark acetylierte Histone. Viele weitere Interaktionspartner spielen zudem eine Rolle bei der co-transkriptionalen Prozessierung der mRNA, wie z.B dem Splicing, dem mRNA-decapping oder Abbau. Darüber hinaus gibt es starke Hinweise darauf, dass der Mediator auch mit der Polymerase I und III interagiert und an der ribosomalen Biogenese beteiligt ist. Weitere Analysen zeigten, dass das Interaktom zudem hochdynamisch ist

Microbial-influenced corrosion (MIC) has been widely recognized as a significant economic and environmental problem in the oil and gas industry. MIC can be classified into two types based on the mechanisms: the extracellular electron transfer MIC (EET-MIC) and the metabolite MIC (M-MIC). The first includes electroactive bacteria that facilitate EET, while the latter includes bacteria that secrete corrosive metabolites. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) is believed to cause EET-MIC in carbon steel, a widely used metal in the oil and gas industry. In previous electroactive bacteria studies, nanowires have been shown to facilitate EET by acting as electron mediators. This study investigates the use of magnetite nanowires as electron mediators to accelerate EET-MIC of C1020 by Desulfovibrio vulgaris. The addition of 40 ppm (w/w) nanowires to carbon steel incubated with D. vulgaris, corrosive SRB species, for seven days resulted in 45% weight loss and 57% deeper pitting of carbon steel. Furthermore, electrochemical measurements of open circuit potential, linear polarization resistance and potentiodynamic polarization were found to be parallel with weight loss and pitting results. Therefore, these findings highlight the possibility of using magnetic nanowires as an electron mediator with high efficiency and selectivity to EET-MIC for future MIC studies and applications.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24909号 / 農博第2572号 / 新制||農||1102(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科森林科学専攻 / (主査)教授 髙野 俊幸, 教授 上髙原 浩, 教授 河本 晴雄 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

There is a divide between the fields of Conflict Resolution (CR) and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that impacts on the transfer of knowledge and skills. This is the central hypothesis investigated and confirmed through analysis of the literatures of the two fields, the responses to a questionnaire to practitioners, and autoethnographic interrogation. A generational analysis of authors is combined with the results of a (N=28) questionnaire with practitioners from both fields. This delineates the divide in the theory and literature as well as how those operating in each field identify, conceptualise mediation and what they read. The autoethnography explores the fundamental impact of on conflict role definitions generally and the mediator specifically. It then looks at the impact of crossing the ADR/CR divide on mediation practice, highlighting the necessity for practitioners of a ‘both and’ approach to skills/ knowledge and attitude/qualities. This leads to the consideration of a framework for mediator competence across the ADR/CR divide. The interaction of the mediators’ normative project and the ability of parties to self-determine is explored practically and ethically. This highlights a range of issues with expectations mediation and mediators and foregrounds the impact on the mediator of the mediator role. It ends with a call for further research using innovative methodologies, such as autoethnography, that illuminate mediation as a relational process.

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