University of Bergen

About: University of Bergen is a education organization based out in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 17106 authors who have published 52492 publications receiving 2009844 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitetet i Bergen & Universitas Bergensis.

Bully/victim problems in school: Facts and intervention

Abstract: Bully/victim problems among school children are a matter of considerable concern in Scandinavia and, more recently, in a number of other countries as well. Estimates based on the author’s large-scale surveys indicate that some 9% of the students in grades 1 through 9 are fairly regular victims of bullying and that 6–7% engage in bullying others with some regularity. It is argued that it is a fundamental democratic right for a child to be spared the oppression and repeated humiliation implied in bullying. The author has developed a school-based intervention programme against bullying, the effects of which were evaluated in 42 schools over a period of two years. Analyses indicate that the frequency of bully/victim problems decreased by 50–70%. In addition, the prevalence of antisocial behaviours in general such as vandalism, theft, drunkenness and truancy showed a substantial drop. The main content of the “core” programme as well as its key principles are presented. The overriding goal of the programme can be described as a “restructuring of the social environment”. The programme emphasizes behaviours and attitudes characterized by a combination of positive involvement from teachers and parents, firm limits to unacceptable behaviour (“we dont accept bullying in our class/school”), and consistent use of non-hostile non-corporal sanctions on rule violations. Explanations of the positive results include changes in the opportunity and reward “structures” for bullying behaviour.

CD133 negative glioma cells form tumors in nude rats and give rise to CD133 positive cells.

Abstract: CD133 is a cell surface marker expressed on progenitors of haematopoietic and endothelial cell lineages. Moreover, several studies have identified CD133 as a marker of brain tumor-initiating cells. In this study, human glioblastoma multiforme biopsies were engrafted intracerebrally into nude rats. The resulting tumors were serially passaged in vivo, and monitored by magnetic resonance imaging. CD133 expression was analyzed at various passages. Tumors initiated directly from the biopsies expressed little or no CD133, and showed no contrast enhancement suggesting an intact blood-brain barrier. During passaging, the tumors gradually displayed more contrast enhancement, increased angiogenesis and a shorter survival. Real-time qPCR and immunoblots showed that this was accompanied by increased CD133 expression. Primary biopsy spheroids and xenograft tumors were subsequently dissociated and flow sorted into CD133 negative and CD133 positive cell populations. Both populations incorporated BrdU in cell culture, and expressed the neural precursor marker nestin. Notably, CD133 negative cells derived from 6 different patients were tumorgenic when implanted into the rat brains. For 3 of these patients, analysis showed that the resulting tumors contained CD133 positive cells. In conclusion, we show that CD133 negative glioma cells are tumorgenic in nude rats, and that CD133 positive cells can be obtained from these tumors. Upon passaging of the tumors in vivo, CD133 expression is upregulated, coinciding with the onset of angiogenesis and a shorter survival. Thus, our findings do not suggest that CD133 expression is required for brain tumor initiation, but that it may be involved during brain tumor progression.

Ecology: managing evolving fish stocks.

Abstract: Evolutionary impact assessment is a framework for quantifying the effects of harvest-induced evolution on the utility generated by fish stocks