The Evolution of Animal Welfare and the 3Rs in Brazil, China, and India

Increasingly, scientific collaborations and contracts cross country borders. The need for assurance that the quality of animal welfare and the caliber of animal research conducted are equivalent among research partners around the globe is of concern to the scientific and laboratory animal medicine communities, the general public, and other key stakeholders. Therefore, global harmonization of animal care and use standards and practices, with the welfare of the animals as a cornerstone, is essential. In the evolving global landscape of enhanced attention to animal welfare, a widely accepted path to achieving this goal is the successful integration of the 3Rs in animal care and use programs. Currently, awareness of the 3Rs, their implementation, and the resulting animal care and use standards and practices vary across countries. This variability has direct effects on the animals used in research and potentially the data generated and may also have secondary effects on the country's ability to be viewed as a global research partner. Here we review the status of implementation of the 3Rs worldwide and focus on 3 countries-Brazil, China and India-with increasing economic influence and an increasing footprint in the biomedical research enterprise.

How mutualisms between plants and insects are stabilized

While the idea of cooperation between individuals of a species has received considerable attention, how mutualistic interactions between species can be protected from cheating by partners in the interaction has only recently been examined from theoretical and empirical perspectives. This paper is a selective review of the recent literature on host sanctions, partner-fidelity feedback and the concept of punishment in such mutualisms. It describes new ideas, borrowed from microeconomics, such as screening theory with and without competition between potential partners for a host. It explores mutualism-stabilizing mechanisms using examples from interactions between figs and fig wasps, and those between ants and plants. It suggests new avenues for research.

Site-Selective Addition of Maleimide to Indole at the C-2 Position: Ru(II)-Catalyzed C-H Activation

Synthesis of 3-(indol-2-yl)succinimide derivatives is presented using a directing group strategy. Selective functionalization of C-2 in the presence of highly reactive C-3 in indole derivatives has been achieved. A conjugate addition product instead of Heck-type product has been brought about by careful selection of the alkene partner (maleimides and maleate esters) such that a beta-hydride elimination is avoided.

A novel acoustic-vibratory multimodal duet

The communication strategy of most crickets and bushcrickets typically consists of males broadcasting loud acoustic calling songs, while females perform phonotaxis, moving towards the source of the call. Males of the pseudophylline bushcricket species Onomarchus uninotatus produce an unusually low-pitched call, and we found that the immediate and most robust response of females to the male acoustic call was a bodily vibration, or tremulation, following each syllable of the call. We hypothesized that these bodily oscillations might send out a vibrational signal along the substrate on which the female stands, which males could use to localize her position. We quantified these vibrational signals using a laser vibrometer and found a clear phase relationship of alternation between the chirps of the male acoustic call and the female vibrational response. This system therefore constitutes a novel multimodal duet with a reliable temporal structure. We also found that males could localize the source of vibration but only if both the acoustic and vibratory components of the duet were played back. This unique multimodal duetting system may have evolved in response to higher levels of bat predation on searching bushcricket females than calling males, shifting part of the risk associated with partner localization onto the male. This is the first known example of bushcricket female tremulation in response to a long-range male acoustic signal and the first known example of a multimodal duet among animals.

Weak-coupling superconductivity in a strongly correlated iron pnictide

Iron-based superconductors have been found to exhibit an intimate interplay of orbital, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom, dramatically affecting their low-energy electronic properties, including superconductivity. Albeit the precise pairing mechanism remains unidentified, several candidate interactions have been suggested to mediate the superconducting pairing, both in the orbital and in the spin channel. Here, we employ optical spectroscopy (OS), angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), ab initio band-structure, and Eliashberg calculations to show that nearly optimally doped NaFe0.978Co0.022As exhibits some of the strongest orbitally selective electronic correlations in the family of iron pnictides. Unexpectedly, we find that the mass enhancement of itinerant charge carriers in the strongly correlated band is dramatically reduced near the Gamma point and attribute this effect to orbital mixing induced by pronounced spin-orbit coupling. Embracing the true band structure allows us to describe all low-energy electronic properties obtained in our experiments with remarkable consistency and demonstrate that superconductivity in this material is rather weak and mediated by spin fluctuations.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis WhiB3 Responds to Vacuolar pH-induced Changes in Mycothiol Redox Potential to Modulate Phagosomal Maturation and Virulence.

The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to resist intraphagosomal stresses, such as oxygen radicals and low pH, is critical for its persistence. Here, we show that a cytoplasmic redox sensor, WhiB3, and the major M. tuberculosis thiol, mycothiol (MSH), are required to resist acidic stress during infection. WhiB3 regulates the expression of genes involved in lipid anabolism, secretion, and redox metabolism, in response to acidic pH. Furthermore, inactivation of the MSH pathway subverted the expression of whiB3 along with other pH-specific genes in M. tuberculosis. Using a genetic biosensor of mycothiol redox potential (E-MSH), we demonstrated that a modest decrease in phagosomal pH is sufficient to generate redox heterogeneity in E-MSH of the M. tuberculosis population in a WhiB3-dependent manner. Data indicate that M. tuberculosis needs low pH as a signal to alter cytoplasmic E-MSH, which activates WhiB3-mediated gene expression and acid resistance. Importantly, WhiB3 regulates intraphagosomal pH by down-regulating the expression of innate immune genes and blocking phagosomal maturation. We show that this block in phagosomal maturation is in part due to WhiB3-dependent production of polyketide lipids. Consistent with these observations, Mtb Delta whiB3 displayed intramacrophage survival defect, which can be rescued by pharmacological inhibition of phagosomal acidification. Last, Mtb Delta whiB3 displayed marked attenuation in the lungs of guinea pigs. Altogether, our study revealed an intimate link between vacuolar acidification, redox physiology, and virulence in M. tuberculosis and discovered WhiB3 as crucial mediator of phagosomal maturation arrest and acid resistance in M. tuberculosis.

How to be a dioecious fig: Chemical mimicry between sexes matters only when both sexes flower synchronously

In nursery pollination mutualisms, which are usually obligate interactions, olfactory attraction of pollinators by floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is the main step in guaranteeing partner encounter. However, mechanisms ensuring the evolutionary stability of dioecious fig-pollinator mutualisms, in which female fig trees engage in pollination by deceit resulting in zero reproductive success of pollinators that visit them, are poorly understood. In dioecious figs, individuals of each sex should be selected to produce odours that their pollinating wasps cannot distinguish, especially since pollinators have usually only one choice of a nursery during their lifetime. To test the hypothesis of intersexual chemical mimicry, VOCs emitted by pollen-receptive figs of seven dioecious species were compared using headspace collection and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. First, fig-flower scents varied significantly among species, allowing host-species recognition. Second, in species in which male and female figs are synchronous, intersexual VOC variation was not significant. However, in species where figs of both sexes flower asynchronously, intersexual variation of VOCs was detectable. Finally, with one exception, there was no sexual dimorphism in scent quantity. We show that there are two ways to use scent to be a dioecious fig based on differences in flowering synchrony between the sexes.

Santa Gertrudis Magna : una mística teóloga

Resumen: Santa Gertrudis se ubica en el punto de inflexión en que la unidad tradicional entre teología y vida espiritual comienza a debilitarse. Contemporánea al desarrollo de la escolástica, pertenece sin embargo al mundo monástico, donde la integración entre la vida y la teología, se cultiva y se defiende. Su vida se nos presenta como la de aquélla en quien se cumple la finalidad teológica que subyace a toda vida cristiana: la comprensión vital del misterio por la experiencia de íntima comunión con lo divino. Su doctrina ilumina el núcleo de la fe a partir de las fuentes de la liturgia, la revelación y la tradición patrística, asimiladas a través de su experiencia espiritual. Esta se expresa en la originalidad y precisión teológica de sus visiones y oraciones, vertidas en un lenguaje afectivo y simbólico, en el equilibrio de su doctrina espiritual y en su hondo sentido de Iglesia. Su experiencia constituye una mística dogmática, eclesial y esponsal, cuya universalidad y actualidad la hacen apta y atractiva al público creyente y no creyente de hoy

Nuevas cartografías del libro de viajes contemporáneo : la cultura especular

Número monográfico: El viaje y sus discursos

Comentario de un caso judicial inédito : diócesis, parroquia, municipio y la observancia del Derecho Canónico

Resumen: Se analiza un caso judicial inédito que involucra a una diócesis, a una parroquia, a un personal municipal y a un municipio de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Un agente municipal es adscripto provisoriamente, por decreto del señor intendente, para desempeñarse en una Cáritas diocesana, y luego este agente pasa a desempeñarse en una Cáritas parroquial de una parroquia perteneciente a esa diócesis, todo lo cual es comunicado y aceptado por el municipio, que es su empleador. Luego de desempeñarse un tiempo en esa Cáritas parroquial, el personal municipal primero intima y después inicia un juicio por despido contra la diócesis alegando una relación laboral no registrada con ésta. El caso lleva a plantear la aplicación del derecho canónico para su resolución. Se explica que la diócesis y las parroquias poseen personería jurídica propia, y que la acción judicial contra la diócesis es improcedente. Se expone en detalle el planteamiento realizado en el juicio por el agente municipal y por la diócesis.

“Evangelización con espíritu” (EG 261) : la unidad de la teología, la espiritualidad y la pastoral al servicio del anuncio del evangelio: una lectura de la exhortación pastoral Evangelii Gaudium desde la Teología Espiritual

Resumen: Uno de los grandes “maestros en teología” en la Argentina de los últimos tiempos, Lucio Gera (+07.08.2012), cuyo segundo aniversario de fallecido honramos en este número de la revista Teología, hablaba de la ineludible exigencia posconciliar de integrar teología, espiritualidad y pastoral. El capítulo V de Evangelii gaudium, “Evangelizadores con Espíritu” (cf. EG 259ss), se ubica especialmente en este horizonte de convicciones porque tiene un inconfundible contenido teológico, un marcado acento espiritual y una clara orientación y lenguaje pastoral, pero sobre todo en razón de expresar una íntima compenetración entre estas tres dimensiones. En este artículo, que reelabora y amplía una presentación oral en la Jornada Evangelii gaudium, organizada por la Facultad de Teología de la UCA el pasado 5 de junio, se asume el vigor de la propuesta de una “evangelización con espíritu” (EG 261) y se reflexiona, en diálogo con nuestra iglesia local, sobre cuatro aspectos relacionados con ella: 1. una teología de la “evangelización con espíritu”, es decir, “con Espíritu Santo”; 2. una espiritualidad contemplativa: amar la Palabra y gustar ser pueblo; 3. el estilo pastoral mariano de la evangelización; y 4. la danza de la teología, la espiritualidad y la pastoral al servicio de la alegría de evangelizar.

Alejandra Pizarnik: "Si no me escribo soy una ausencia"

[ES] Este trabajo propone una lectura de los seis primeros cuadernos del diario que Alejandra Pizarnik escribió a lo largo de toda su vida, desde los 18 años y hasta que murió a la edad de 36. El análisis de estos cuadernos, escritos entre 1954 y 1958, nos permite recorrer el itinerario que Alejandra Pizarnik realiza por la cuestión genérica, la cuestión nacional y la cuestión sexual. Desde su experiencia en cuanto sujeto, la escritura registra esta primera fase en la construcción del yo que Pizarnik desea para su diario. Esta fase, que se puede denominar etapa-derribo, está dominada por el desafío a las ideas del discurso hegemónico. Una vez haya resuelto este escollo en la construcción del yo de su diario, la escritura de Pizarnik no volverá sobre estos temas. Sin embargo, la búsqueda el “verdadero” yo se registra como proceso en el que a un movimiento de construcción del yo, le sigue un movimiento de destrucción de lo que las palabras han conformado, en secuencias en las que la apelación a la mentira de lo escrito o la desconfi anza en la capacidad del lenguaje para expresarlo, son la pauta de dicha escritura.

High-Throughput Sequencing of microRNAs in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells: Identification of Potential Weight Loss Biomarkers

INTRODUCTION: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are being increasingly studied in relation to energy metabolism and body composition homeostasis. Indeed, the quantitative analysis of miRNAs expression in different adiposity conditions may contribute to understand the intimate mechanisms participating in body weight control and to find new biomarkers with diagnostic or prognostic value in obesity management. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was the search for miRNAs in blood cells whose expression could be used as prognostic biomarkers of weight loss. METHODS: Ten Caucasian obese women were selected among the participants in a weight-loss trial that consisted in following an energy-restricted treatment. Weight loss was considered unsuccessful when <5% of initial body weight (non-responders) and successful when >5% (responders). At baseline, total miRNA isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was sequenced with SOLiD v4. The miRNA sequencing data were validated by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Differential baseline expression of several miRNAs was found between responders and non-responders. Two miRNAs were up-regulated in the non-responder group (mir-935 and mir-4772) and three others were down-regulated (mir-223, mir-224 and mir-376b). Both mir-935 and mir-4772 showed relevant associations with the magnitude of weight loss, although the expression of other transcripts (mir-874, mir-199b, mir-766, mir-589 and mir-148b) also correlated with weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: This research addresses the use of high-throughput sequencing technologies in the search for miRNA expression biomarkers in obesity, by determining the miRNA transcriptome of PBMC. Basal expression of different miRNAs, particularly mir-935 and mir-4772, could be prognostic biomarkers and may forecast the response to a hypocaloric diet.

Technology to support your reading

This guidance supported by a range of partner organisations including the National Union of Students gives you an overview of what you should expect, why you should expect it and organisations that can give further support. TDL

The CAMEL Project: Collaborative Approaches to the Management of E-Learning

CAMEL is short for Collaborative Approaches to the Management of e-Learning and was a project funded by the HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management programme. It set out to explore how institutions who were making effective use of e-learning and who were collaborating in regional lifelong learning partnerships might be able to learn from each other in a Community of Practice based around study visits to each of the partner institutions. This short publication highlights some of the things CAMEL participants found out about e-learning and about each other.