Reviews: Vera L. Zolberg’s Constructing a Sociology of the Arts

Book review for Constructing a Sociology of the Arts, Vera L. Zolberg, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990

Our Neighbours’ Understanding of Art: A Class Field Study

Most people believe that taste in art is highly individual, that one person’s opinion is as good as another. However, the literature on art and art education usually reflects the assumptions and values of the established authorities –art critics, historians, and aesthetic philosophers. It is assumed that, With varying degrees of success, schools and colleges pass on a set of cultural values which reflect the dominant culture of society ... \u27 Jones, p. 135). Other institutions, such as museums, also promote these values. However, Johnson\u27s study of socialization in art museum tours found that docents and visitors both emphasized the validity of personal preference. One docent explained, \u27Ideas of why you like it are absolutely as valid as anybody else\u27s. And there\u27s, you know, there\u27s (sic) no law that says that you should like this kind of art (Johnson, 1981, p. 62)

Anxiety and Depression in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are thought to be at disproportionate risk of developing mental health comorbidities, with anxiety and depression being considered most prominent amongst these. Yet, no systematic review has been carried out to date to examine rates of both anxiety and depression focusing specifically on adults with ASD. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the rates of anxiety and depression in adults with ASD and the impact of factors such as assessment methods and presence of comorbid intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis on estimated prevalence rates. Electronic database searches for studies published between January 2000 and September 2017 identified a total of 35 studies, including 30 studies measuring anxiety (n = 26 070; mean age = 30.9, s.d. = 6.2 years) and 29 studies measuring depression (n = 26 117; mean age = 31.1, s.d. = 6.8 years). The pooled estimation of current and lifetime prevalence for adults with ASD were 27% and 42% for any anxiety disorder, and 23% and 37% for depressive disorder. Further analyses revealed that the use of questionnaire measures and the presence of ID may significantly influence estimates of prevalence. The current literature suffers from a high degree of heterogeneity in study method and an overreliance on clinical samples. These results highlight the importance of community-based studies and the identification and inclusion of well-characterized samples to reduce heterogeneity and bias in estimates of prevalence for comorbidity in adults with ASD and other populations with complex psychiatric presentations

CK2 Phosphorylation of Schistosoma mansoni HMGB1 Protein Regulates Its Cellular Traffic and Secretion but Not Its DNA Transactions

parasite resides in mesenteric veins where fecundated female worms lay hundred of eggs daily. Some of the egg antigens are trapped in the liver and induce a vigorous granulomatous response. High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1), a nuclear factor, can also be secreted and act as a cytokine. Schistosome HMGB1 (SmHMGB1) is secreted by the eggs and stimulate the production of key cytokines involved in the pathology of schistosomiasis. Thus, understanding the mechanism of SmHMGB1 release becomes mandatory. Here, we addressed the question of how the nuclear SmHMGB1 can reach the extracellular space. eggs of infected animals and that SmHMGB1 that were localized in the periovular schistosomotic granuloma were phosphorylated.We showed that secretion of SmHMGB1 is regulated by phosphorylation. Moreover, our results suggest that egg-secreted SmHMGB1 may represent a new egg antigen. Therefore, the identification of drugs that specifically target phosphorylation of SmHMGB1 might block its secretion and interfere with the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis

Book Review

Rohfeld, Rae Wahl, (Ed.). (1990). Expanding access to knowledge: Continuing higher education. Washington, DC: National University Continuing Education Association, 265 pages. $16.95, paperback,$29.95 hardcover. </jats:p

Coalescing beneficial host and deleterious antiparasitic actions as an antischistosomal strategy

Conventional approaches for antiparasitic drug discovery center upon discovering selective agents that adversely impact parasites with minimal host side effects. Here, we show that agents with a broad polypharmacology, often considered ‘dirtier’ drugs, can have unique efficacy if they combine deleterious effects on the parasite with beneficial actions in the host. This principle is evidenced through a screen for drugs to treat schistosomiasis, a parasitic flatworm disease that impacts over 230 million people. A target-based screen of a Schistosoma serotoninergic G protein coupled receptor yielded the potent agonist, ergotamine, which disrupted worm movement. In vivo, ergotamine decreased mortality, parasite load and intestinal egg counts but also uniquely reduced organ pathology through engagement of host GPCRs that repressed hepatic stellate cell activation, inflammatory damage and fibrosis. The unique ability of ergotamine to engage both host and parasite GPCRs evidences a future strategy for anthelmintic drug design that coalesces deleterious antiparasitic activity with beneficial host effects. © Chan et al

Schistosome egg granulomas and hepatic expression of TNF-alpha are dependent on immune priming during parasite maturation.

Abstract Granulomatous inflammation is key to the pathogenesis of many infectious diseases, including hepatic schistosomiasis. The granulomas that form around schistosome eggs trapped in the liver of infected hosts were thought to be induced primarily, if not exclusively, by egg Ags. We now show that the maturation of adult worms, before the production of eggs, primes local immune responses key to granuloma formation. When parasite eggs are injected into the livers of naive animals, only a minimal, nongranulomatous, inflammatory response results. However, if eggs are injected into the livers of mice previously infected with single-sex adult worms, granuloma formation is restored. Granuloma formation is also restored if mice are presensitized with adult worm homogenates or with eggs themselves before egg injection into the liver. These sensitization studies confirm that an Ag or Ags are shared between different stages of the schistosome life cycle and that immune priming by these Ag(s) is necessary for hepatic granuloma formation. Models of infection that isolate the effects of worms from those of eggs confirm that each of these life cycle stages induces a unique pattern of cytokine expression. Hepatic expression of TNF-alpha, a major cytokine signal for granuloma formation, is a reaction to adult worms, not eggs. TNF-alpha may mediate immune priming necessary for granuloma development since injection of purified TNF-alpha alone restores formation of granulomas in the livers of naive mice injected with eggs.</jats:p