The effects of ultraviolet B radiation on immune responses to {\it Borrelia burgdorferi}, the causative agent of Lyme disease

Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, in addition to being carcinogenic, is also immunosuppressive. Immunologically, UVB induces suppression locally, at the site of irradiation, or systemically, by inducing the production of a variety of immunosuppressive cytokines. Systemic effects include suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to a variety of antigens (e.g. haptens, proteins, bacterial antigens, or alloantigens). One of the principal mediators of UV-induced immune suppression is the T helper-2 (Th2) cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10); this suggests that UV irradiation induces suppression by shifting the immune response from a Th1 (cellular) to a Th2 (humoral) response. These "opposing" T helper responses are usually mutually exclusive, and polarized Th1 or Th2 responses may lead to either protection from infection or increased susceptibility to disease, depending on the infectious agent and the route of infection.^ This study examines the effects of UVB irradiation on cellular and humoral responses to Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the causative agent of Lyme disease (LD) in both immunization and infectious disease models; in addition, it examines the role of T cells in protection from and pathology of Bb infection. Particular emphasis is placed on the Bb-specific antibody responses following irradiation since UVB effects on humoral immunity are not fully understood. Mice were irradiated with a single dose of UV and then immunized (in complete Freund's adjuvant) or infected with Bb (intradermally at the base of the tail) in order to examine both DTH and antibody responses in both systems. UVB suppressed the Th1-associated antibodies IgG2a and IgG2b in both systems, as well as the DTH response to Bb in a dose dependent manner. Injection of anti-IL-10 antibody into UV-irradiated mice within 24 h after UV exposure restored the DTH response, as well as the Th1 antibody (IgG2a and IgG2b) response. In addition, injecting recombinant IL-10 mimicked some of the effects of UV radiation.^ Bb-specific Th1 T cell lines (BAT2.1-2.3) were generated to examine the role of T cells in Lyme borreliosis. All lines were CD4$\sp+,$ $\alpha\beta\sp+$ and proliferated specifically in response to Bb. The BAT2 cell lines not only conferred a DTH response to naive C3H recipients, but reduced the number of organisms recovered from the blood and tissues of mice infected with Bb. Furthermore, BAT2 cell lines protected mice from Bb-induced periarthritis. ^

Temperature-Time History of Subducted Continental-Crust, Mount Olympos Region, Greece

In the Mt. Olympos region of northeastern Greece, continental margin strata and basement rocks were subducted and metamorphosed under blueschist facies conditions, and thrust over carbonate platform strata during Alpine orogenesis. Subsequent exposure of the subducted basement rocks by normal faulting has allowed an integrated study of the timing of metamorphism, its relationship to deformation, and the thermal history of the subducted terrane. Alpine low-grade metamorphic assemblages occur at four structural levels. Three thrust sheets composed of Paleozoic granitic basement and Mesozoic metasedimentary cover were thrust over Mesozoic carbonate rocks and Eocene flysch; thrusting and metamorphism occurred first in the highest thrust sheets and progressed downward as units were imbricated from NE to SW. 40Ar/39Ar spectra from hornblende, white mica, and biotite samples indicate that the upper two units preserve evidence of four distinct thermal events: (1) 293–302 Ma crystallization of granites, with cooling from >550°C to <325°C by 284 Ma; (2) 98–100 Ma greenschist to blueschist-greenschist transition facies metamorphism (T∼350–500°C) and imbrication of continental thrust sheets; (3) 53–61 Ma blueschist facies metamorphism and deformation of the basement and continental margin units at T<350–400°C; (4) 36–40 Ma thrusting of blueschists over the carbonate platform, and metamorphism at T∼200–350°C. Only the Eocene and younger events affected the lower two structural packages. A fifth event, indicated by diffusive loss profiles in microcline spectra, reflects the beginning of uplift and cooling to T<100–150°C at 16–23 Ma, associated with normal faulting which continued until Quaternary time. Incomplete resetting of mica ages in all units constrains the temperature of metamorphism during continental subduction to T≤350°C, the closure temperature for Ar in muscovite. The diffusive loss profiles in micas and K-feldspars enable us to “see through” the younger events to older events in the high-T parts of the release spectra. Micas grown during earlier metamorphic events lost relatively small amounts of Ar during subsequent high pressure-low temperature metamorphism. Release spectra from phengites grown during Eocene metamorphism and deformation record the ages of the Ar-loss events. Alpine deformation in northern Greece occurred over a long time span (∼90 Ma), and involved subduction and episodic imbrication of continental basement before, during, and after the collision of the Apulian and Eurasian plates. Syn-subduction uplift and cooling probably combined with intermittently higher cooling rates during extensional events to preserve the blueschist facies mineral assemblages as they were exhumed from depths of >20 km. Extension in the Olympos region was synchronous with extension in the Mesohellenic trough and the Aegean back-arc, and concurrent with westward-progressing shortening in the external Hellenides.

The Nile perch invasion in Lake Victoria: cause or consequence of the haplochromine decline?

We review alternative hypotheses and associated mechanisms to explain Lake Victoria’s Nile perch takeover and concurrent reduction in haplochromines through a (re)analysis of long term climate, limnological and stock observations in comparison with size-spectrum model predictions of co-existence, extinction and demographic change. The empirical observations are in agreement with the outcomes of the model containing two interacting species with life-histories matching Nile perch and a generalized haplochromine. The dynamic interactions may have depended on size related differences in early juvenile mortality: mouth-brooding haplochromines escape predation mortality in early life stages, unlike Nile perch that have miniscule planktonic eggs and larvae. In our model predation on the latter by planktivorous haplochromine fry act as a stabilizing factor for co-existence, but external mortality on the haplochromines would disrupt this balance in favor of Nile perch. To explain the observed switch, mortality on haplochromines would need to be much higher than the fishing mortality that can be realistically re-constructed from observations. Abrupt concomitant changes in algal and zooplankton composition, decreased water column transparency, and widespread hypoxia from increased eutrophication most likely caused haplochromine biomass decline. We hypothesize that the shift to Nile perch was a consequence of an externally caused, climate triggered, decrease in haplochromine biomass and associated recruitment failure rather than a direct cause of the introduction.

Literary Encounters of Fundamentalism: A Case Book

Literature, literary interpretation and criticism have always had an interestingly paradoxical relationship with fundamentalism: fundamentalisms are generally built on texts, which can be sacred and exclusive, and on a claim to exclusive authority for interpretation. Therefore they tend to see the cornucopian profusion of texts and interpretations so typical of Western concepts of Literature as a threat; a circumstance which has been widely exploited by writers and critics to engage with fundamentalism on its home turf. The volume addresses the cultural given that the term ‘fundamentalism’ has acquired such wide-spread currency, at least in the West. In their various approaches, the contributions examine what fundamentalism has come to signify for those who use the term so extensively and so indiscriminately; and they try to establish what this implies for reaching more productive and positive positions in negotiating fundamentalisms. In doing so, the contributors offer investigations of literary approaches to fundamentalism across a wide range of important contemporary discourses and from a number of cultural perspectives. Readers will expand their understanding of the significance of fundamentalism, and of the value of literature as a highly specialized medium for explorations in this field.

Effects of a Transdiagnostic Internet Intervention («velibra») for Anxiety Disorders in Primary Care: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Internet-based cognitive behavioral self-help treatment (ICBT) for anxiety disorders has shown promising results in several trials, but there is yet a lack of studies of ICBT in „real world” primary care settings. In this randomized controlled trial we recruited participants through general practitioners. The aim of the study was to examine whether treatment-as-usual (TAU) in primary care settings plus ICBT is superior to TAU alone in reducing anxiety symptoms and other outcome measures among individuals meeting diagnostic criteria of a least one of three anxiety disorders (social anxiety disorder, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder). 150 adults fulfilling diagnostic criteria for a least one of the anxiety disorders according to a diagnostic interview are randomly assigned to one of the two conditions: TAU plus ICBT versus TAU. Randomization is stratified by primary disorder, medication (yes/no) and concurrent psychotherapy. ICBT consists of a transdiagnostic and tailored Internet-based self-help program for several anxiety disorders which also includes cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I). Primary outcomes are symptoms of disorder-specific anxiety measures and diagnostic status after the intervention (9 weeks). Secondary outcomes include primary outcomes at 3-month follow-up and secondary measures such as general symptomatology, depression, quality of life, adherence to ICBT and satisfaction with ICBT. The study is currently being completed. Primary results along with results for specific subgroups (e.g. primary diagnosis, concurrent medication and/or psychotherapy) will be presented and discussed.

BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF BINDING PARTNERS OF TWO HSP70 CO-CHAPERONES IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

Cells are exposed to a variety of environmental and physiological changes including temperature, pH and nutrient availability. These changes cause stress to cells, which results in protein misfolding and altered cellular protein homeostasis. How proteins fold into their three-dimensional functional structure is a fundamental biological process with important relevance to human health. Misfolded and aggregated proteins are linked to multiple neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease and cystic fibrosis. To combat proteotoxic stress, cells deploy an array of molecular chaperones that assist in the repair or removal of misfolded proteins. Hsp70, an evolutionarily conserved molecular chaperone, promotes protein folding and helps maintain them in a functional state. Requisite co-chaperones, including nucleotide exchange factors (NEFs) strictly regulate and serve to recruit Hsp70 to distinct cellular processes or locations. In yeast and human cells, three structurally non-related cytosolic NEFs are present: Sse1 (Hsp110), Fes1 (HspBP1) and Snl1 (Bag-1). Snl1 is unique among the cytosolic NEFs as it is localized at the ER membrane with its Hsp70 binding (BAG) domain exposed to the cytosol. I discovered that Snl1 distinctly interacts with assembled ribosomes and several lines of evidence indicate that this interaction is both independent of and concurrent with binding to Hsp70 and is not dependent on membrane localization. The ribosome-binding site is identified as a short lysine-rich motif within the amino terminus of the Snl1 BAG domain distinct from the Hsp70 interaction region. In addition, I demonstrate ribosome association with the Snl1 homolog in the pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans and localize this putative NEF to a perinuclear/ER membrane, suggesting functional conservation in fungal BAG domain-containing proteins. As a first step in determining specific domain architecture in fungal BAG proteins, I present the preliminary steps of protein purification and analysis of the minimal Hsp70 binding region in in both S.cerevisiae and C. albicans Snl1. Contrary to previous in vitro evidence which showed the Fes1 NEF to interact with both cytosolic Hsp70s, Ssa and Ssb, Fes1 is shown to interact specifically with Ssa when expressed under normal cellular conditions in S. cerevisiae. This is the first reported evidence of Hsp70 binding selectivity for a cytosolic NEF, and suggests a possible mechanism to achieve specificity in Hsp70-dependent functions. Taken together, the work presented in this dissertation highlights the striking divergence among Hsp70 co-chaperones in selecting binding partners, which may correlate with their specific roles in the cell.

Social Workers' Perceptions of Family Preservation Programs

The passage of the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997, with its focus on child safety and concurrent planning, has presented family preservation workers with new challenges and new opportunities. Twenty volunteers from a large comprehensive social service agency were interviewed to determine their experiences with two models of family preservation—Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Traditional Family Preservation Service (TFPS) or practice as usual. Workers from both programs were able to articulate values consistent with family preservation as important strengths of the programs— keeping families together and empowering families for example. Information from referring agencies was described as variable and not especially useful when working with seriously troubled families, especially as it related to risk and child safety. Both groups indicated that the jargon of family preservation had permeated their agencies, and that working with other agencies was at times a challenge, though for different reasons. Finally, despite some reservations about the effectiveness of short-term treatment with families that face serious challenges, both groups of workers were generally satisfied with family preservation as an approach to practice.

Tutaque sit inter inprobos innocentia : aspectos teóricos e práticos sobre os limítes da autoridade régia no reino hispano-visigodo de Toledo segundo as fontes júridicas e conciliares do reinado de Chintila (636-640).

Las construcciones teóricas elaboradas a lo largo de la Antigüedad Tardía buscaban, en su gran mayoría, poner en destaque la autoridad y el poder que deberían ser ejercidos por el rey en el espacio geográfico de su reino. Además de la evidente herencia del pensamiento político clásico romano, que ya apuntaba la supremacía teórica del magistrado o del princeps respecto al cuerpo social y político, el modelo cristiano del princeps christianus sacratissimus, que se construye a partir del siglo IV, ofrecía la perspectiva de que el gobernante debería imponer las leyes para hacer valer la justicia a los inocentes. Tales ideas se mantuvieron en el reino hispanovisigodo de Toledo y para tanto tenemos indicios en las fuentes isidorianas, conciliares y leges antiquas. Sin embargo, la antitesis entre teoría y el ejercicio práctico del poder se presenta muy claramente en las disputas nobiliarias afectando directamente el poder del rey y todas sus atribuciones. Es el caso del reinado de Chintila (636-640), en el cuál la ley tenía como principal objetivo la protección de los grupos de apoyo político del monarca.

El trabajo de derribar antinomias : los intentos de Helmut Plessner y Talcott Parsons

La relación entre comunidad y sociedad puede rastrearse de los orígenes de la sociología hasta la actualidad. Fue un punto central en el pensamiento de la segunda generación de padres fundadores -Durkheim, Tönnies, Weber-, lo fue luego en la sociología de Talcott Parsons, y es aún un fuerte centro de debate entre las diversas corrientes contemporáneas, tanto dentro de la sociología como en las ciencias políticas y la filosofía. En este sentido, la relación comunidad-sociedad continúa hasta el día de hoy suscitando polémicas e inspirando numerosos y sugerentes trabajos. No obstante, si bien en sus diferentes tratamientos presenta incontables diferencias, un elemento común es analizar la relación como dos polos excluyentes y antitéticos. Este trabajo se propone describir cómo dos pensadores provenientes de corrientes diferentes como Talcott Parsons y Helmut Plessner buscaron pensar ambos conceptos -comunidad y sociedad- no cómo elementos excluyentes, sino como dimensiones necesarias y presentes en todo nivel de la vida humana. Así, la intención es demostrar cómo dichos autores lograron integrar ambas dimensiones, a la vez que advertir sobre las consecuencias y dificultades de los intentos de superación o eliminación de esta relación.

El pensamiento binario y sus salidas : hibridez, pluricultura, paridad y mestizaje

Tal como lo han analizado autores contemporáneos como E. Grüner, E. Lander y A. Mbembe, la forma que adopta el pensamiento occidental es binaria, es decir que se encuentra constituida por dos categorías exclusivas y excluyentes, por pares antagónicos, por polos opuestos. Binaria asimismo es la construcción de las identidades en Occidente, sean éstas identidades de género, de clase, étnicas o políticas. En el presente trabajo nos concentraremos en las teorizaciones de algunos autores del pensamiento poscolonial que, al cruzar las dimensiones ontológica, epistemológica y política de las cosmovisiones y de las identidades, aportaron elementos para la deconstrucción de este binarismo. H. Bhabha, R. Segato, R. Paiva y G. Anzaldúa delinearon, a nuestro entender, posibles salidas a esta cosmovisión identitaria, muy especialmente a través de sus conceptos clave de 'hibridez', pluricultura', 'paridad' y 'mestizaje'.

La interactividad interpretativa : dispositivos y narrativas

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo aportar reflexiones a los cambios y mutaciones producidos por las nuevas Tecnologías de la Comunicación y el Conocimiento (TIC), en los productos paradigmáticos de la “comunicación intencional", desde una mirada que abarca las transformaciones de los relatos y las competencias de un nuevo modelo de destinatario. Antes de la aparición de las tecnologías de reproducción y comunicación pública, (anteriormente llamada “comunicación de masas"), existieron dispositivos, fuera del circuito de la cultura escrita, que apelaban a emisores y destinatarios con competencias que excedían la interpretación del escrito.

La construción del fraude y los partidos políticos en la Argentina de los años treinta

En este trabajo se reconstruye la trayectoria del régimen fraudulento durante el gobierno de Agustín Justo (1932-1938). Las acciones coercitivas desplegadas por los caudillos durante la jornada electoral fueron su rasgo más evidente, pero la instrumentación del fraude tuvo alcances más profundos. A lo largo de esta experiencia, el ejercicio abierto de la coerción sobre el principal partido opositor y el avasallamiento de los derechos de la ciudadanía fueron acompañados por la reorganización del Estado en un sentido que quebró la relación de equilibrio entre los poderes a través de la subordinación del Poder Judicial y el Legislativo a las directivas del elenco gobernante. En este texto se identifican las prácticas y las decisiones desplegadas por los partidos políticos del campo opositor y del oficialista en relación con este proceso.

Tiempo, cuerpo y transfiguración

La siguiente exposición tiene como premisa, hacer una radiografía del tiempo en el interior del cuerpo humano. Un análisis de formas diversas de tiempo y ritmo que habitan y estructuran al cuerpo como materia y acto creativo, procesos que analizamos a manera de síntesis de elementos orgánicos, cósmicos y sintéticos. Con ello, el ensayo propone destacar la corporeidad como una estructura de tiempo en relación con lo imaginario y sus potencias creadoras que en interacción y cambio, aparecen en el ser como principio de transfiguración de lo natural a lo figurado. De aquí el título de la exposición: tiempo, cuerpo y transfiguración

Ponencias o artículos : ¿Una tensión en la comunicación científica?

Las ponencias presentadas en congresos y los artículos publicados en revistas constituyen importantes canales de comunicación de los resultados de investigación en la mayoría de las disciplinas, entre las que la biblioteconomía y la información y documentación no son la excepción. Si bien ambos medios son complementarios, en algunos casos la elección de uno u otro puede resultar excluyente y convertirse en un dilema para el investigador. Se presentan diversas situaciones de tensión que plantea la comunicación en uno u otro medio, invitando a la comunidad académica a reflexionar acerca del rol que desempeñan estos dos canales en la difusión de los conocimientos científicos

La construción del fraude y los partidos políticos en la Argentina de los años treinta

En este trabajo se reconstruye la trayectoria del régimen fraudulento durante el gobierno de Agustín Justo (1932-1938). Las acciones coercitivas desplegadas por los caudillos durante la jornada electoral fueron su rasgo más evidente, pero la instrumentación del fraude tuvo alcances más profundos. A lo largo de esta experiencia, el ejercicio abierto de la coerción sobre el principal partido opositor y el avasallamiento de los derechos de la ciudadanía fueron acompañados por la reorganización del Estado en un sentido que quebró la relación de equilibrio entre los poderes a través de la subordinación del Poder Judicial y el Legislativo a las directivas del elenco gobernante. En este texto se identifican las prácticas y las decisiones desplegadas por los partidos políticos del campo opositor y del oficialista en relación con este proceso.