Matizes do pensamento político norte-americano na virada conservadora de 1970

This paper examines how the reinvigoration of the exceptional American historical experience appears as a solution to some of the leading neoconservatives, considering Nathan Glazer and Irving Kristol as emblematic, regarding the fall of the American empire, beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, after its rise during the Cold War, the so-called 25 glorious years. We note that the arguments of these authors is rooted in the revival of reactionary rhetoric as an antidote to the decadence of American virtue supposedly caused by Communism, by the counterculture movement and the alleged perverse effect of the welfare state.

Changes in malondialdehyde and C-reactive protein concentrations after lifestyle modification are related to different metabolic syndrome-associated pathophysiological processes

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is often accompanied by pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory processes. Lifestyle modification (LiSM) may act as primary treatment for these processes. This study aimed to elucidate influencing factors on changes of malondialdehyde (MDA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations after a LiSM intervention. Sixty subjects (53 yrs, 84% women) clinically approved to attend a 20 weeks LiSM-program were submitted to weekly nutritional counseling and physical activities combining aerobic (3 times/week) and resistance (2 times/week) exercises. Before and after intervention they were assessed for anthropometric, clinical, cardiorespiratory fitness test (CRF) and laboratory markers. Statistical analyses performed were multiple regression analysis and backward stepwise with p<0.05 and R(2) as influence index. LiSM was responsible for elevations in CRF, healthy eating index (HEI), total plasma antioxidant capacity (TAP) and HDL-C along with reductions in waist circumference measures and MetS (47-40%) prevalence. MDA and CRP did not change after LiSM, however, we observed that MDA concentrations were positively influenced (R(2)=0.35) by fasting blood glucose (β=0.64) and HOMA-IR (β=0.58) whereas CRP concentrations were by plasma gamma-glutamyltransferase activity (β=0.54; R(2)=0.29). Pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory states of MetS can be attenuated after lifestyle modification if glucose metabolism homeostasis were recovered and if liver inflammation were reduced, respectively.

The gene transformer-2 of Anastrepha fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) and its evolution in insects

Abstract Background In the tephritids Ceratitis, Bactrocera and Anastrepha, the gene transformer provides the memory device for sex determination via its auto-regulation; only in females is functional Tra protein produced. To date, the isolation and characterisation of the gene transformer-2 in the tephritids has only been undertaken in Ceratitis, and it has been shown that its function is required for the female-specific splicing of doublesex and transformer pre-mRNA. It therefore participates in transformer auto-regulatory function. In this work, the characterisation of this gene in eleven tephritid species belonging to the less extensively analysed genus Anastrepha was undertaken in order to throw light on the evolution of transformer-2. Results The gene transformer-2 produces a protein of 249 amino acids in both sexes, which shows the features of the SR protein family. No significant partially spliced mRNA isoform specific to the male germ line was detected, unlike in Drosophila. It is transcribed in both sexes during development and in adult life, in both the soma and germ line. The injection of Anastrepha transformer-2 dsRNA into Anastrepha embryos caused a change in the splicing pattern of the endogenous transformer and doublesex pre-mRNA of XX females from the female to the male mode. Consequently, these XX females were transformed into pseudomales. The comparison of the eleven Anastrepha Transformer-2 proteins among themselves, and with the Transformer-2 proteins of other insects, suggests the existence of negative selection acting at the protein level to maintain Transformer-2 structural features. Conclusions These results indicate that transformer-2 is required for sex determination in Anastrepha through its participation in the female-specific splicing of transformer and doublesex pre-mRNAs. It is therefore needed for the auto-regulation of the gene transformer. Thus, the transformer/transfomer-2 > doublesex elements at the bottom of the cascade, and their relationships, probably represent the ancestral state (which still exists in the Tephritidae, Calliphoridae and Muscidae lineages) of the extant cascade found in the Drosophilidae lineage (in which tra is just another component of the sex determination gene cascade regulated by Sex-lethal). In the phylogenetic lineage that gave rise to the drosophilids, evolution co-opted for Sex-lethal, modified it, and converted it into the key gene controlling sex determination.

Caratteristiche principali dell'emissione di galassie a spirale

Lo spazio fra le stelle nelle galassie non è vuoto, ma è composto da gas rarefatto, particelle di polvere, un campo magnetico, elettroni, protoni e altri nuclei atomici relativistici; spesso questi elementi possono essere considerati come un’unica entità di- namica: il mezzo interstellare o più semplicemente ISM. Nel primo capitolo vedremo come il mezzo si distribuisce generalmente all’interno delle galassie a spirale, in fasce di temperatura sempre minore man mano che ci si allontana dal centro (HIM, WIM, WNM, CNM). La conoscenza della distribuzione del mezzo è utile per poter comprendere maggiormente i processi di emissione e le varie zone in cui questi avvengono in una tipica galassia a spirale, che è lo scopo di questa tesi. L’ISM infatti entra in gioco in quasi tutti i processi emissivi, in tutte le bande di emis- sione dello spettro elettromagnetico che andremo ad analizzare. Il nostro modo di vedere le galassie dell’universo è molto cambiato infatti nel corso dell’ultimo secolo: l’utilizzo di nuovi telescopi ci ha permesso di andare ad osservare le galassie anche in bande dello spettro diverse da quella visibile, in modo da raccogliere informazioni impossibili da ottenere con la sola banda ottica. Nel secondo capitolo andremo ad analizzare cinque bande di emissione (banda X, ot- tica, radio, gamma e infrarossa) e vedremo come appaiono tipicamente le galassie a spirale a lunghezze d’onda differenti, quali sono i processi in gioco e come il mezzo interstellare sia fondamentale in quasi ogni tipo di processo. A temperature elevate, esso è responsabile dell’emissione X della galassia, mentre re- gioni più fredde, formate da idrogeno ionizzato, sono responsabili delle righe di emis- sione presenti nello spettro ottico. Il campo magnetico, tramite le sue interazioni con elettroni relativistici è la principale fonte dell’emissione radio nel continuo di una galas- sia a spirale, mentre quella in riga è dovuta a idrogeno atomico o a gas freddo. Vedremo infine come raggi cosmici e polvere, che fanno sempre parte del mezzo inter- stellare, siano rispettivamente la causa principale dell’emissione gamma e infrarossa.

Antagonistic TSC22D1 variants control BRAF(E600)-induced senescence

Oncogene-induced cellular senescence (OIS) is an increasingly recognized tumour suppressor mechanism that confines the outgrowth of neoplastic cells in vivo. It relies on a complex signalling network, but only few components have been identified so far. Gene-expression profiling revealed a >100-fold increase in the levels of the transcription factor and putative tumour suppressor gene TGFβ-stimulated clone 22 (TSC22D1) in BRAF(E600)-induced senescence, in both human fibroblasts and melanocytes. Only the short TSC22D1 transcript was upregulated, whereas the abundance of the large protein variant was suppressed by proteasomal degradation. The TSC22D1 protein variants, in complex with their dimerization partner TSC22 homologue gene 1 (THG1), exerted opposing functions, as selective depletion of the short form, or conversely, overexpression of the large variant, resulted in abrogation of OIS. This was accompanied by the suppression of several inflammatory factors and p15(INK4B), with TSC22D1 acting as a critical effector of C/EBPβ. Our results demonstrate that the differential regulation of antagonistic TSC22D1 variants is required for the establishment of OIS and suggest distinct contributions of TSC22 family members to the progression of BRAF(E600)-driven neoplasia.

Pemphigus vulgaris identifies plakoglobin as key suppressor of c-Myc in the skin

The autoimmune disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV) manifests as loss of keratinocyte cohesion triggered by autoantibody binding to desmoglein (Dsg)3, an intercellular adhesion molecule of mucous membranes, epidermis, and epidermal stem cells. Here we describe a so far unknown signaling cascade activated by PV antibodies. It extends from a transient enhanced turn over of cell surface-exposed, nonkeratin-anchored Dsg3 and associated plakoglobin (PG), through to depletion of nuclear PG, and as one of the consequences, abrogation of PG-mediated c-Myc suppression. In PV patients (6/6), this results in pathogenic c-Myc overexpression in all targeted tissues, including the stem cell compartments. In summary, these results show that PV antibodies act via PG to abolish the c-Myc suppression required for both maintenance of epidermal stem cells in their niche and controlled differentiation along the epidermal lineage. Besides a completely novel insight into PV pathogenesis, these data identify PG as a potent modulator of epithelial homeostasis via its role as a key suppressor of c-Myc.