Membrane-initiated actions of estrogens in neuroendocrinology: emerging principles

Hormonal ligands for the nuclear receptor superfamily have at least two interacting mechanisms of action: 1) classical transcriptional regulation of target genes (genomic mechanisms); and 2) nongenomic actions that are initiated at the cell membrane, which could impact transcription. Although transcriptional mechanisms are increasingly well understood, membrane-initiated actions of these ligands are incompletely understood. Historically, this has led to a considerable divergence of thought in the molecular endocrine field. We have attempted to uncover principles of hormone action that are relevant to membrane-initiated actions of estrogens. There is evidence that the membrane-limited actions of hormones, particularly estrogens, involve the rapid activation of kinases and the release of calcium. Membrane actions of estrogens, which activate these rapid signaling cascades, can also potentiate nuclear transcription. These signaling cascades may occur in parallel or in series but subsequently converge at the level of modification of transcriptionally relevant molecules such as nuclear receptors and/or coactivators. In addition, other hormones or neurotransmitters may also activate cascades to crosstalk with estrogen receptor-mediated transcription. The idea of synergistic coupling between membrane-initiated and genomic actions of hormones fundamentally revises the paradigms of cell signaling in neuroendocrinology.

Can qualitative methods support the development of more flexible and energy saving thermal comfort?

This paper uses examples from a Swedish study to suggest some ways in which cultural variation could be included in studies of thermal comfort. It is shown how only a slight shift of focus and methodological approach could help us discover aspects of human life that add to previous knowledge within comfort research of how human beings perceive and handle warmth and cold. It is concluded that it is not enough for buildings, heating systems and thermal control devices to be energy-efficient in a mere technical sense. If these are to help to decrease, rather than to increase, energy consumption, they have to support those parts of already existing habits and modes of thought that have the potential for low energy use. This is one reason why culture-specific features and emotional cores need to be investigated and deployed into the study and development of thermal comfort.

Perfectionist Philosophy as a (an Untaken) Way of Life

I am honored to respond to Paul Guyer’s elaboration on the role of examples of perfectionism in Cavell’s and Kant’s philosophies. Guyer’s appeal to Kant’s notion of freedom opens the way for suggestive readings of Cavell’s work on moral perfectionism but also, as I will show, for controversy. There are salient aspects of both Kant’s and Cavell’s philosophy that are crucial to understanding perfectionism and, let me call it, perfectionist education, that I wish to emphasize in response to Guyer. In responding to Guyer’s text, I shall do three things. First, I shall explain why I think it is misleading to speak of Cavell’s view that moral perfectionism is involved in a struggle to make oneself intelligible to oneself and others in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions for moral perfection. Rather, I will suggest that the constant work on oneself that is at the core of Cavell’s moral perfectionism is a constant work for intelligibility. Second, I shall recall a feature of Cavell’s perfectionism that Guyer does not explicitly speak of: the idea that perfectionism is a theme, “outlook or dimension of thought embodied and developed in a set of texts.” Or, as Cavell goes on to say, “there is a place in mind where good books are in conversation. … [W]hat they often talk about … is how they can be, or sound, so much better than the people that compose them.” This involves what I would call a perfectionist conception of the history of philosophy and the kinds of texts we take to belong to such history. Third, I shall sketch out how the struggle for intelligibility and a perfectionist view of engagement with texts and philosophy can lead to a view of philosophy as a form of education in itself. In concluding these three “criticisms,” I reach a position that I think is quite close to Guyer’s, but with a slightly shifted emphasis on what it means to read Kant and Cavell from a perfectionist point of view.

Modernist Success in a Postmodern Failure: Jackson Pollock and Abstract Expressionism, the Avant-Garde and the Ascension of Late Capitalism, Art after 1945

It is hard to imagine the magnitude of the events at the end of World War II. The thought produced in the face of a myriad of deaths is almost unfeasible sixty years after the fact, but the energy was integral to the changing social landscape. Because of the country's prominence in and fortitude after the war, the U.S. was left responsible for reshaping and rejuvenating the international landscape that was destroyed by the years of brutal fighting and vile contestation. The American establishment was granted a major opportunity to establish itself amongst the global leaders. Such a grand responsibility must account for the multiplicity of thought that arises in such a decisive moment. In order to align the Abstract Expressionist art movement with the intersection of the intense, multifaceted thought developed during the postwar period, the following will discuss the political, philosophical, economic, and art historical overlap that occurred in the mid to late 1940s in the hopes of illustrating the fertility yet lingering problems associated with the restructuring of the world with America at the helm. In this way, the duration of the Abstract Expressionist moment will be better understood for both its triumphs and downfalls.

Musilian Concept of Modern Man

German-Austrian Robert Musil (1880-1942) is considered an artist with an extremely unorthodox conception of art to a basic human problem. In his time, there existed a dissociation of substance from social values. Musil actually started with this foundation in considering the taunting dilemma that the accelerating technology of the century is overstepping each day the ability of the human mind to adjust to it. Musil maintained that social organization, patterns of thought and cherished ideals correspond to a reality that no longer exists

A territorial perspective: towards the consolidation of human settlements in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Shaping the future of social protection: access, financing and solidarity

Includes bibliography

Gender, the environment and the sustainability of development

Includes bibliography

The Role of the (In)visible and the Secret in the Translation of Harryette Mullen s Muse & Drudge

This paper, based on Jacques Derrida’s thoughts in Des Tours of Babel, addresses the issue regarding the (in)visible in translation, by arguing that the latter, beyond the traditional conception of communication, produces a complex set of relations between the visible and the invisible, which highlights the values of the non-dit and the secret that take place in their relation to interpretation. This line of thought underpins the discussion of my translation of two poems from Muse & Drudge (1995), by the African-American poet Harryette Mullen, whose dense poetry displays un(expected) possibilities of meanings and associations that proliferate in translation. It is argued that every act of translation entails a relationship between that which is translated (and made visible or intelligible through this act) and that which remains invisible and secret by resisting a definitive translation, which, as such, requires further interpretations in search for intelligibility (or “visibility”). We analyze the extent to which such relation between the visible and the invisible takes part in the translation of the notion of blackness raised by Mullen’s poems and how her translated poetry dialogues with issues of reception in Brazilian culture.

Use of virtual labs for enhance student's procedimental ability.

This article presents some results of a study investigating the use of the simulator VLAB, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, to increase the capacity of graduate students in Chemistry in the preparation of experimental procedures. The activity was conducted in two stages, first the students were asked a manuscript describing in detail the procedure and equipment used in the technique of dissolution and delivering it to the teacher. Later in the computer lab, each student performed the same procedure using the simulator. The activity has been proposed to determine if there could be accuracy gains of the description of the process when performed by the simulator. One of the main positive aspects obtained using the simulator students was the recognition of error, important in that the great majority recognized omitted or confused any process step. This reflection showed the students that in addition to testing a procedure using the simulator facilitates the organization of thought and helps arrange it logically. With the use of simulators, students are encouraged to take risks, to explore, to experience a new way, and a real lab usually offers much less room for risk, exploitation and failure.

The construction of the African perspective: a history of the General History of Africa project (Unesco)

This article analyzes the construction of the African perspective in the General History of Africa project (GHA), focusing on the period between 1965 and 1979. With the participation of over two hundred international experts under the auspices of Unesco, this was one of the greatest intellectual projects of the twentieth century. Based on primary sources, this analysis emphasizes the internal conflicts involved in the construction of the African perspective as a hegemonic line of thought in the GHA. Two critical moments of the project were found in the investigation: the controversial years (1972-78), and the pragmatic years (1978-82). As a result of these disputes, theoretical and methodological parameters were constructed, in addition to eight volumes of material published in the 1980s, and recently republished in Brazil.

Liberalism, Marxism and Democratic Theory Revisited: Proposal of a Joint Index of Political and Economic Democracy

Liberalism and Marxism are two schools of thought which have left deep imprints in sociological, political and economic theory. They are usually perceived as opposite, rival approaches. In the field of democracy there is a seemingly insurmountable rift around the question of political versus economic democracy. Liberals emphasize the former, Marxists the latter. Liberals say that economic democracy is too abstract and fuzzy a concept, therefore one should concentrate on the workings of an objective political democracy. Marxists insist that political democracy without economic democracy is insufficient. The article argues that both propositions are valid and not mutually exclusive. It proposes the creation of an operational, quantifiable index of economic democracy that can be used alongside the already existing indexes of political democracy. By using these two indexes jointly, political and economic democracy can be objectively evaluated. Thus, the requirements of both camps are met and maybe a more dialogical approach to democracy can be reached in the debate between liberals and Marxists. The joint index is used to evaluate the levels of economic and political democracy in the transition countries of Eastern Europe.

Mitochondrial respiratory supercomplex association limits production of reactive oxygen species from Complex I

Evidence accumulated in the last ten years has demonstrated that a large proportion of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes in a variety of organisms is arranged in supramolecular assemblies called supercomplexes or respirasomes. Besides conferring a kinetic advantage (substrate channeling) and being required for the assembly and stability of Complex I, indirect considerations support the view that supercomplexes may also prevent excessive formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from the respiratory chain. Following this line of thought we have decided to directly investigate ROS production by Complex I under conditions in which the complex is arranged as a component of the supercomplex I1III2 or it is dissociated as an individual enzyme. The study has been addressed both in bovine heart mitochondrial membranes and in reconstituted proteoliposomes composed of complexes I and III in which the supramolecular organization of the respiratory assemblies is impaired by: (i) treatment either of bovine heart mitochondria or liposome-reconstituted supercomplex I-III with dodecyl maltoside; (ii) reconstitution of Complexes I and III at high phospholipids to protein ratio. The results of this investigation provide experimental evidence that the production of ROS is strongly increased in either model; supporting the view that disruption or prevention of the association between Complex I and Complex III by different means enhances the generation of superoxide from Complex I . This is the first demonstration that dissociation of the supercomplex I1III2 in the mitochondrial membrane is a cause of oxidative stress from Complex I. Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that lipid peroxidation can dissociate the supramolecular assemblies; thus, here we confirm that preliminary conclusion that primary causes of oxidative stress may perpetuate reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by a vicious circle involving supercomplex dissociation as a major determinant.

Gray matter volume differences specific to formal thought disorder in schizophrenia

Formal thought disorder (FTD) is one of the main symptoms of schizophrenia. To date there are no whole brain volumetric studies investigating gray matter (GM) differences specifically associated with FTD. Here, we studied 20 right-handed schizophrenia patients that differed in the severity of formal thought disorder and 20 matched healthy controls, using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). The severity of FTD was measured with the Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language, and Communication. The severity was negatively correlated with the GM volume of the left superior temporal sulcus, the left temporal pole, the right middle orbital gyrus and the right cuneus/lingual gyrus. Structural abnormalities specific for FTD were found to be unrelated to GM differences associated with schizophrenia in general. The specific GM abnormalities within the left temporal lobe may help to explain language disturbances included in FTD.

The Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale in subjects clinically at high risk of psychosis

Objective:  To investigate the predictive value of the Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale (SCPS) for transition to a first psychotic episode in subjects clinically at high risk (CHR) of psychosis. Method:  Two hundred and forty-four CHR subjects participating in the European Prediction of Psychosis Study were assessed with the SCPS, an instrument that has been shown to predict outcome in patients with schizophrenia reliably. Results:  At 18-month follow-up, 37 participants had made the transition to psychosis. The SCPS total score was predictive of a first psychotic episode (P < 0.0001). SCPS items that remained as independent predictors in the Cox proportional hazard model were as follows: most usual quality of useful work in the past year (P = 0.006), quality of social relations (P = 0.006), presence of thought disorder, delusions or hallucinations in the past year (P = 0.001) and reported severity of subjective distress in past month (P = 0.003). Conclusion:  The SCPS could make a valuable contribution to a more accurate prediction of psychosis in CHR subjects as a second-step tool. SCPS items assessing quality of useful work and social relations, positive symptoms and subjective distress have predictive value for transition. Further research should focus on investigating whether targeted early interventions directed at the predictive domains may improve outcomes.