Bridging or Bonding: An Organizational Framework for Studying Social Capital in Kindergartens.

The article develops our understanding of social capital by analyzing social capital as an organizational phenomenon. The analysis is based on qualitative data consisting of interviews and documents obtained from six different kindergartens in Norway. Kindergartens are used as a "prism" through which we can understand how social capital is formed-and the mechanisms that shape the development of various forms of networks within welfare organizations. More specifically we look at drop-in kindergartens. The specific purpose of these kindergartens is to provide open and inclusive arenas that promote integration and community. We find that the kindergartens vary in the degree to which they succeed in building bridging forms of networks and communities. Using concepts from organizational theory and Wenger's (1998) theory of communities of practice, we find that formal organizational factors such as ownership, organizational goals, profiling, location, and educational content impact the formation of bridging forms of social capital. The composition of the user groups and the user groups' motivation for participating most clearly affect the conditions for community formation. The composition of the user groups is the result of a number of organizational factors and organizational mechanisms. Kindergartens that have a heterogeneous user group, and a user group with a community orientation (Morse 2006), are more successful at creating bridging types of social networks.

Time-dependent effects of systemic lipopolysaccharide injection on regulators of antioxidant defence Nrf2 and PGC-1α in the neonatal rat brain.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Both excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation are associated with oxidative stress. One transcription factor, nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and one transcription cofactor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), increase the endogenous antioxidant defence and can thus modulate neuronal cell death. Here, we investigated the temporal effects (after 24 and 72 h) of systemic (i.p.) administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the cerebral Nrf2 and PGC-1α systems. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seven-day-old rat pups were injected with LPS (0.3 mg/kg). After 24 h, the protein levels of γ-glutamylcysteine ligase modulatory subunit, γ-glutamylcysteine ligase catalytic subunit, Nrf2, PGC-1α and manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) were increased in parallel with decreased levels of Keap1. These effects were correlated with an increased level of phosphorylated Akt and elevated acetylation of histone 4. In contrast, 72 h following LPS, a decrease in the components of the Nrf2 system in parallel with an increase in Keap1 was observed. The down-regulation after 72 h correlated with phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, while there were no changes in PGC-1α and MnSOD protein levels or the acetylation/methylation pattern of histones. CONCLUSION: Systemic LPS in neonatal rats induced time-dependent changes in brain Nrf2 and PGC-1α that correlated well with the protective effect observed after 24 h (pre-conditioning) and the deleterious effects observed after 72 h (sensitizing) of systemic LPS reported earlier. Collectively, the results point towards Nrf2 and PGC-1α as a possible mechanism behind these effects.

The Nrf2-inducible antioxidant defense in astrocytes can be both up- and down-regulated by activated microglia:Involvement of p38 MAPK.

The effects of microglia-conditioned medium (MCM) on the inducible Nrf2 system in astrocyte-rich cultures were investigated by determination of glutathione (GSH) levels, γglutamylcysteine ligase (γGCL) activity, the protein levels of Nrf2, Keap1, the modulatory subunit of γGCL (γGCL-M) and activated MAP kinases (ERK1/2, JNK and p38). Microglia were either cultured for 24 h in serum-free culture medium to achieve microglia-conditioned medium from non-activated cells (MCM(0) ), used as control condition, or activated with different concentrations (0.1-1,000 ng mL(-1) ) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to produce MCM(0.1-1,000) . Acute exposure (24 h) to MCM(100) increased GSH, γGCL activity, the protein levels of γGCL-M, Nrf2, and activated JNK and ERK1/2 in astrocyte-rich cultures. In contrast, treatment with MCM(10) for 24 h decreased components of the Nrf2 system in parallel with activation of p38 MAPK. Stimulation of the Nrf2 system by tBHQ was partly intact after 24 h but blocked after 72 h treatment with MCM(10) and MCM(100) . This down-regulation after 72 h correlated with activation of p38 MAPK and lack of ERK1/2 and JNK activation. The negative effects were partly reversed by an inhibitor of p38 which restored tBHQ mediated protection against oxidative stress. In conclusion, the study showed a negative effect of MCM(10) on the inducible anti-oxidant defense in astrocyte-rich cultures at both 24 and 72 h that correlated with activation of p38 and was partly reversed by a p38 inhibitor. A transient protective effect of MCM(100) on astrocyte-rich cultures against H(2)O(2) toxicity was observed at 24 h which coincided with activation of JNK and ERK1/2.

Mutation screening of melatonin-related genes in patients with autism spectrum disorders.

BACKGROUND: One consistent finding in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a decreased level of the pineal gland hormone melatonin and it has recently been demonstrated that this decrease to a large extent is due to low activity of the acetylserotonin O-methyltransferase (ASMT), the last enzyme in the melatonin synthesis pathway. Moreover, mutations in the ASMT gene have been identified, including a splice site mutation, that were associated with low ASMT activity and melatonin secretion, suggesting that the low ASMT activity observed in autism is, at least partly, due to variation within the ASMT gene. METHODS: In the present study, we have investigated all the genes involved in the melatonin pathway by mutation screening of AA-NAT (arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase), ASMT, MTNR1A, MTNR1B (melatonin receptor 1A and 1B) and GPR50 (G protein-coupled receptor 50), encoding both synthesis enzymes and the three main receptors of melatonin, in 109 patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A cohort of 188 subjects from the general population was used as a comparison group and was genotyped for the variants identified in the patient sample. RESULTS: Several rare variants were identified in patients with ASD, including the previously reported splice site mutation in ASMT (IVS5+2T>C). Of the variants affecting protein sequence, only the V124I in the MTNR1B gene was absent in our comparison group. However, mutations were found in upstream regulatory regions in three of the genes investigated, ASMT, MTNR1A, and MTNR1B. CONCLUSIONS: Our report of another ASD patient carrying the splice site mutation IVS5+2T>C, in ASMT further supports an involvement of this gene in autism. Moreover, our results also suggest that other melatonin related genes might be interesting candidates for further investigation in the search for genes involved in autism spectrum disorders and related neurobehavioral phenotypes. However, further studies of the novel variants identified in this study are warranted to shed light on their potential role in the pathophysiology of these disorders.

Possible association between the androgen receptor gene and autism spectrum disorder.

Autism is a highly heritable disorder but the specific genes involved remain largely unknown. The higher prevalence of autism in men than in women, in conjunction with a number of other observations, has led to the suggestion that prenatal brain exposure to androgens may be of importance for the development of this condition. Prompted by this hypothesis, we investigated the potential influence of variation in the androgen receptor (AR) gene on the susceptibility for autism. To this end, 267 subjects with autism spectrum disorder and 617 controls were genotyped for three polymorphisms in exon 1 of the AR gene: the CAG repeat, the GGN repeat and the rs6152 SNP. In addition, parents and affected siblings were genotyped for 118 and 32 of the cases, respectively. Case-control comparisons revealed higher prevalence of short CAG alleles as well as of the A allele of the rs6152 SNP in female cases than in controls, but revealed no significant differences with respect to the GGN repeat. Analysis of the 118 families using transmission disequilibrium test, on the other hand, suggested an association with the GGN polymorphism, the rare 20-repeat allele being undertransmitted to male cases and the 23-repeat allele being overtransmitted to female cases. Sequencing of the AR gene in 46 patients revealed no mutations or rare variants. The results lend some support for an influence of the studied polymorphisms on the susceptibility for autism, but argue against the possibility that mutations in the AR gene are common in subjects with this condition.