256 research outputs found
Optimal combinations of acute phase proteins for detecting infectious disease in pigs
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Fantastic Architecture and the Building of Europe in Valerio Evangelisti's Eymerich Fiction
No full textConcomitant with the horizontal expansion of EU territory through physical and political enlargement is a genealogy narrative, which emphasizes the ostensible roots of Europeanness in classical antiquity and Christianity. In the face of this sanitized genealogy, which lies at the heart of the European constitutional project, a range of alternative and more inclusive narratives circulate in contemporary European popular fiction. This paper focuses on a series of fantasy novels by the Italian author Valerio Evangelisti, featuring Inquisitor Eymerich as hero-investigator. In his highly popular novels, Evangelisti seeks to uncover layers of shared historical memory untainted with post-Enlightenment rhetoric.
The central architectural tropes of Evangelisti’s imaginary world are those of a castle and a convent, epitomizing the temporal and sacral power in European history. Each isolated from its outside environment and built on layer upon layer of subterranean chambers and corridors, the castle and the convent conceal a past quite different from the one championed in the official European genealogy. Memories of pagan worship and Islamic or Judaic learning – banished from the official rhetoric – continue to thrive, dark and threatening, in the subterranean strata of Evangelisti’s European edifice. Evangelisti thus provides an incisive critique of the official European story of origin, which threatens to suppress any alternative visions of European history or unorthodox avenues for European identity formation
African origin of the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax.
No full textPlasmodium vivax is the leading cause of human malaria in Asia and Latin America but is absent from most of central Africa due to the near fixation of a mutation that inhibits the expression of its receptor, the Duffy antigen, on human erythrocytes. The emergence of this protective allele is not understood because P. vivax is believed to have originated in Asia. Here we show, using a non-invasive approach, that wild chimpanzees and gorillas throughout central Africa are endemically infected with parasites that are closely related to human P. vivax. Sequence analyses reveal that ape parasites lack host specificity and are much more diverse than human parasites, which form a monophyletic lineage within the ape parasite radiation. These findings indicate that human P. vivax is of African origin and likely selected for the Duffy-negative mutation. All extant human P. vivax parasites are derived from a single ancestor that escaped out of Africa
Cooling rates of neutron stars and the young neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant
No full textWe explore the thermal state of the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant using the recent result of Ho & Heinke that the thermal radiation of this star is well described by a carbon atmosphere model and the emission comes from the entire stellar surface. Starting from neutron star cooling theory, we formulate a robust method to extract neutrino cooling rates of thermally relaxed stars at the neutrino cooling stage from observations of thermal surface radiation. We show how to compare these rates with the rates of standard candles – stars with non-superfluid nucleon cores cooling slowly via the modified Urca process. We find that the internal temperature of standard candles is a well-defined function of the stellar compactness parameter x=rg/R, irrespective of the equation of state of neutron star matter (R and rg are circumferential and gravitational radii, respectively). We demonstrate that the data on the Cassiopeia A neutron star can be explained in terms of three parameters: f?, the neutrino cooling efficiency with respect to the standard candle; the compactness x; and the amount of light elements in the heat-blanketing envelope. For an ordinary (iron) heat-blanketing envelope or a low-mass (? 10?13 M?) carbon envelope, we find the efficiency f?? 1 (standard cooling) for x? 0.5 and f?? 0.02 (slower cooling) for a maximum compactness x? 0.7. A heat blanket containing the maximum mass (?10?8 M?) of light elements increases f? by a factor of 50. We also examine the (unlikely) possibility that the star is still thermally non-relaxe
Effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on fasting and postprandial inflammation-related parameters in obese subjects with normal glucose tolerance and in obese subjects with type 2 diabetes
No full textBackground: Obesity is characterized by low grade inflammation and an altered secretion of inflammatory cytokines from the adipose tissue. Weight loss has shown to reduce inflammation; however, changes in cytokine profiles during massive weight loss are not well described. The present study explored the hypothesis that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) reduces circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, while increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines in obese subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and in obese normal glucose tolerant (NGT) subjects. Methods: Thirteen obese subjects with T2D [weight; 129 +/- 14 kg, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c); 7.0 +/- 0.9%, body mass index (BMI); 43.2 +/- 5.3 kg/m(2), mean +/- SD] and twelve matched obese NGT subjects [weight; 127 +/- 15 kg, HbA1c; 5.5 +/- 0.4%, BMI; 41.5 +/- 4.8 kg/m(2), mean +/- SD] were examined before, one week, three months, and one year after surgery. Interleukin (IL)-6, leptin, adiponectin, IL-8, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), and the incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were measured in the fasting state and during a liquid meal. Insulin resistance was evaluated by HOMA-IR. Results: Weight loss did not differ between the two groups. Before surgery, HbA1c was higher and HOMA-IR lower in T2D patients, however, converged to the values of NGT subjects one year after surgery. Circulating cytokine concentrations did not differ between the two groups at any time point. One week after surgery, circulating IL-6 and IL-8 were increased, while adiponectin and leptin were reduced compared with pre-surgical concentrations. Three months after surgery, IL-8 was increased, leptin was reduced, and no change was observed for IL-6, TGF-beta, and adiponectin. One year after surgery, concentrations of IL-6, TGF-beta, and leptin were significantly reduced compared to before surgery, while adiponectin was significantly increased. Conclusions: One year after RYGB, fasting concentrations of IL-6 and leptin were reduced, while no changes were observed in IL-8. TGF-beta was decreased and adiponectin increased in both T2D and NGT obese subjects. This study is the first to examine IL-8 and TGF-beta in obese subject after RYGB. Resolution of inflammation could offer a potential explanation for the health improvement associated with major weight loss after bariatric surgery
Perinatal asphyxia: current status and approaches towards neuroprotective strategies, with focus on sentinel proteins
No full textArtículo de publicación ISIDelivery is a stressful and risky event menacing
the newborn. The mother-dependent respiration has to be
replaced by autonomous pulmonary breathing immediately
after delivery. If delayed, it may lead to deficient oxygen
supply compromising survival and development of the
central nervous system. Lack of oxygen availability gives
rise to depletion of NAD? tissue stores, decrease of ATP
formation, weakening of the electron transport pump and
anaerobic metabolism and acidosis, leading necessarily to death if oxygenation is not promptly re-established.
Re-oxygenation triggers a cascade of compensatory biochemical
events to restore function, which may be accompanied
by improper homeostasis and oxidative stress.
Consequences may be incomplete recovery, or excess reactions
that worsen the biological outcome by disturbed
metabolism and/or imbalance produced by over-expression
of alternative metabolic pathways. Perinatal asphyxia has
been associated with severe neurological and psychiatric sequelae with delayed clinical onset. No specific treatments
have yet been established. In the clinical setting, after
resuscitation of an infant with birth asphyxia, the emphasis is
on supportive therapy. Several interventions have been
proposed to attenuate secondary neuronal injuries elicited by
asphyxia, including hypothermia. Although promising, the
clinical efficacy of hypothermia has not been fully demonstrated.
It is evident that new approaches are warranted. The
purpose of this review is to discuss the concept of sentinel
proteins as targets for neuroprotection. Several sentinel
proteins have been described to protect the integrity of the
genome (e.g. PARP-1; XRCC1; DNA ligase IIIa; DNA
polymerase b, ERCC2, DNA-dependent protein kinases).
They act by eliciting metabolic cascades leading to (i) activation
of cell survival and neurotrophic pathways; (ii) early
and delayed programmed cell death, and (iii) promotion of
cell proliferation, differentiation, neuritogenesis and synaptogenesis.
It is proposed that sentinel proteins can be used as
markers for characterising long-term effects of perinatal
asphyxia, and as targets for novel therapeutic development
and innovative strategies for neonatal care.Contract grant sponsors: FONDECYT-Chile
(contracts: 1080447; 11070192; 1070699) (MH-M, PM, DB, LL);
CONICYT/DAAD (contract: 137829-May-2009) (PJG-H; MH-M);
Fogarty International Center-NIH (contract: 1R03TW007810-01A1
(LL); Regione Autonoma della Sardegna for Scientific Cooperation
between Italy and Chile (Italy) (contract: 19/96-2003) (MM,
MHM); Atlantic Innovation Fund (Canada) (contract: 181780);
BMBF (NGFN ? TP9) and DAAD (415/alechile) (PJ G-H)
Environmental Remediation of High-Level Nuclear Waste in Geological Repository: Modified Computer Code Creates Ultimate Benchmark in Natural Systems
No full textIsolation of high-level nuclear waste in permanent geological repositories has been a major concern for over 30 years due to the migration of dissolved radio nuclides reaching the water table (10,000-year compliance period) as water moves through the repository and the surrounding area. Repositories based on mathematical models allow for long-term geological phenomena and involve many approximations; however, experimental verification of long-term processes is impossible. Countries must determine if geological disposal is adequate for permanent storage. Many countries have extensively studied different aspects of safely confining the highly radioactive waste in an underground repository based on the unique geological composition at their selected repository location. This paper discusses two computer codes developed by various countries to study the coupled thermal, mechanical, and chemical process in these environments, and the migration of radionuclide. Further, this paper presents the results of a case study of the Magma-hydrothermal (MH) computer code, modified by the author, applied to nuclear waste repository analysis. The MH code verified by simulating natural systems thus, creating the ultimate benchmark. This approach based on processes similar to those expected near waste repositories currently occurring in natural systems.</jats:p
Rising plasma nociceptin level during development of HCC: A case report
No full textAIM: Although liver cirrhosis is a predisposing factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), relatively few reports are available on HCC in primary biliary cirrhosis. High plasma nociceptin (N/OFQ) level has been shown in Wilson disease and in patients with acute and chronic pain.
METHODS: We report a follow-up case of HCC, which developed in a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis. The tumor appeared 18 years after the diagnosis of PBC and led to death within two years. Alfa fetoprotein and serum nociceptin levels were monitored before and during the development of HCC. Nociceptin content was also measured in the tumor tissue.
RESULTS: The importance and the curiosity of the presented case was the novel finding of the progressive elevation of plasma nociceptin level up to 17-fold (172 pg/mL) above the baseline (9.2 +/- 1.8 pg/mL) parallel with the elevation of alpha fetoprotein (from 13 ng/mL up to 3 480 ng/mL) during tumor development. Nociceptin content was more than 15-fold higher in the neoplastic tissue (0.16 pg/mg) than that in the tumor-free liver tissue samples (0.01 pg/mg) taken during the autopsy.
CONCLUSION: Results are in concordance with our previous observation that a very high plasma nociceptin level may be considered as an indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma
Profiling microRNAs in lung tissue from pigs infected with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae
No full textBackground: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-protein-coding genes that play a crucial regulatory role in mammalian development and disease. Whereas a large number of miRNAs have been annotated at the structural level during the latest years, functional annotation is sparse. Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) causes serious lung infections in pigs. Severe damage to the lungs, in many cases deadly, is caused by toxins released by the bacterium and to some degree by host mediated tissue damage. However, understanding of the role of microRNAs in the course of this infectious disease in porcine is still very limited. Results: In this study, the RNA extracted from visually unaffected and necrotic tissue from pigs infected with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae was subjected to small RNA deep sequencing. We identified 169 conserved and 11 candidate novel microRNAs in the pig. Of these, 17 were significantly up-regulated in the necrotic sample and 12 were down-regulated. The expression analysis of a number of candidates revealed microRNAs of potential importance in the innate immune response. MiR-155, a known key player in inflammation, was found expressed in both samples. Moreover, miR-664-5p, miR-451 and miR-15a appear as very promising candidates for microRNAs involved in response to pathogen infection. Conclusions: This is the first study revealing significant differences in composition and expression profiles of miRNAs in lungs infected with a bacterial pathogen. Our results extend annotation of microRNA in pig and provide insight into the role of a number of microRNAs in regulation of bacteria induced immune and inflammatory response in porcine lung
POLICY SPACE: WHAT, FOR WHAT, AND WHERE?
No full textThe paper examines how developing countries can use existing policy space, and enlarge it, without opting out of international commitments. It argues that: (i) a meaningful context for policy space must extend beyond trade policy and include macroeconomic and exchange-rate policies that will achieve developmental goals more effectively; (ii) policy space depends not only on international rules but also on the impact of international market conditions and policy decisions taken in other countries on the effectiveness of national policy instruments; and (iii) international integration affects policy space through several factors that pull in opposite directions; whether it increases or reduces policy space differs by country and type of integration.
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