Docility and “through doing” morality: An alternative approach to ethics

In this paper, we aim at presenting the distributed morality approach as it can be described by the docility model of social interactions. The proposition “morality is a matter of social interaction” constitutes our starting point. We aim at pointing out the ways through which individuals create moral alternatives to a given situation. The paper is dedicated to presenting morality as something connected to human cognition. We introduce a “manipulative” way of thinking about morality, and we argue that it is “distributed” through things, animals, computers, and other human beings (section I); furthermore, the idea of a type of “through doing” morality comes up. Then, we find that this model supports an alternative view of the socio-economic system and, therefore, we suggest that the docility model (section II, as amended from Simon’s original model 1990; 1993), fits the case. The field of business ethics exempts useful insights from research on this issue. Recent studies on moral thinking and moral imagination seem to support this research project.cognition, distributed morality, docility, social interactions, socioeconomic system

The p38 MAPK pathway is essential for skeletogenesis and bone homeostasis in mice

Nearly every extracellular ligand that has been found to play a role in regulating bone biology acts, at least in part, through MAPK pathways. Nevertheless, much remains to be learned about the contribution of MAPKs to osteoblast biology in vivo. Here we report that the p38 MAPK pathway is required for normal skeletogenesis in mice, as mice with deletion of any of the MAPK pathway member–encoding genes MAPK kinase 3 (Mkk3), Mkk6, p38a, or p38b displayed profoundly reduced bone mass secondary to defective osteoblast differentiation. Among the MAPK kinase kinase (MAP3K) family, we identified TGF-β–activated kinase 1 (TAK1; also known as MAP3K7) as the critical activator upstream of p38 in osteoblasts. Osteoblast-specific deletion of Tak1 resulted in clavicular hypoplasia and delayed fontanelle fusion, a phenotype similar to the cleidocranial dysplasia observed in humans haploinsufficient for the transcription factor runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2). Mechanistic analysis revealed that the TAK1–MKK3/6–p38 MAPK axis phosphorylated Runx2, promoting its association with the coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP), which was required to regulate osteoblast genetic programs. These findings reveal an in vivo function for p38β and establish that MAPK signaling is essential for bone formation in vivo. These results also suggest that selective p38β agonists may represent attractive therapeutic agents to prevent bone loss associated with osteoporosis and aging

The Regional Development of Democratization and Civil Society: Transition, Consolidation, Hybridization, Globalization - Taiwan and Hungary

Different starting points, similar processes and different outcomes can be identified when comparing East Central Europe and East and South Asia. The two regions face similar global challenges, follow regional patterns of democratization and face crises. In communist times, East Central Europe was economically marginalized in the world economy, while some parts of Asia integrated well in the global economy under authoritarian rule. Europeanization and a favorable external environment encouraged the former communist countries to opt for the Western-style rule of law and democracy. Different external factors helped the Third Wave democracies in Asia, especially South Korea and Taiwan, which benefited from the support of the United States and other global economic, military and cultural partnerships to develop their human rights culture and democracy while facing their totalitarian counterparts, namely the People’s Republic of China and North Korea. The very different positions Taiwan and Hungary have in their respective regions follow from the different capacities of their transformation management since 1988-1989. Taiwan preserved its leading role and stable democracy despite the threat to its sovereignty from the People’s Republic of China. Hungary never had such an influential and problematic neighbor and was ensured security and welfare partnership by the European Union, which Taiwan lacked. While Taiwan was less secure, economic and social conditions were more favorable for democratization than those in Hungary. Hungary, in turn, held a leading position in democratization processes in the period of post-communist transition which was lost during the crisis and conflicts of the last decade (after 2006 and especially since 2010). Despite the fact that liberalization prepared the way for peaceful transition in both countries and resulted in similar processes of democratic consolidation in the 1990s, Hungary joined the ‘loser’ group in its region, whereas Taiwan is among the top ‘winning’ countries in its region. Taiwan at the moment is starting comprehensive reform processes toward enhanced democracy, civil rights and the rule of law, and Hungarian development is criticized by many external and internal analysts as straying from the path of European-style consolidated democracies towards illiberal trends and hybridization. Western global concepts of democratization may help to identify similarities and differences, and compare stronger and weaker factors in the democratic transitions in Asia and Europe within the Third Wave democracies

Monoamine transporters in female human reproduction.

The present study explored the gene and protein expression of the monoamine transporters in human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle, in early decidua and in placentas from normal as well as preeclamptic pregnancies using in-situ hybridization, real time-PCR, immunohistochemistry and primary tissue cultures. Four distinguishable patterns were observed in the endometrium over the menstrual cycle: (1) epithelial expression of norepinephrine transporter (NET) mRNA, (2) Stromal co- expression of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) and plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT) mRNAs with maximal intensity in the proliferative phase; (3) increasing epithelial expression of VMAT2 mRNA with a maximum in the late secretory phase; (4) stromal expression of extra-neuronal monoamine transporter (EMT) mRNA with a peak in the early secretory phase. The presence of functional EMT and VMAT2 transporter proteins throughout the menstrual cycle was shown by uptake of radiolabelled histamine. A similar expression pattern of monoamine transporters was seen in normal and preeclamptic placentas. In particular, NET mRNA was detected in the chorionic and anchoring villi while EMT mRNA was expressed in scattered cells in placental vessels as well as in intralobular septa cells. Serotonin transporter (SERT) mRNA was mainly detected in the chorionic villi. VMAT2 mRNA was detected in the deeper layers of the placenta bed biopsies in trophoblast cells. A small number of cells in the intima layer of some placental vessels showed mRNA expression of the organic cation transporters 1 and 2 (OCT1 and OCT2). Although the expression pattern was similar, a significantly lower gene expression of NET and EMT was found in placentas obtained from preeclamptic versus normal pregnancies. Our results suggest that monoamine transports may have specific functions in female human reproduction by maintaining adequate levels of extra cellular monoamines. Their presence and dynamic expression suggests an important role during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Moreover a defective gene expression or function of the monoamine transporters might be determinant in the onset of preeclampsia and its alteration in the vascular bed. Knowledge of the regulation of monoamine metabolism in the endometrium, decidua and placenta will increase the understanding of infertility problems and may offer new pharmacological approaches to optimise assisted reproduction and treatment of preeclampsia

IL-6 is constitutively expressed during lung morphogenesis and enhances fetal lung explant branching

Previous studies have shown that chorioamnionitis, with increased IL-6, promotes fetal lung maturation and decreases the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome in premature neonates. However, the expression pattern and the effects of IL-6 on fetal lung growth mechanisms remain unknown. IL-6 expression was assessed by in situ hybridization and by real-time PCR between 14.5 and 21.5 d postconception. Normal and nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lung explants were cultured with increasing IL-6 doses or IL-6 neutralizing antibodies. Branching, cellular proliferation (Ki-67) and MAPK phosphorylation in fetal lung explants were analyzed. Pulmonary primitive epithelium expressed IL-6 constitutively throughout all gestational ages, displaying highest levels during earliest stages. In normal and hypoplastic lung explants, IL-6 neutralizing antibodies significantly reduced, whereas IL-6 supplementation induced a biphasic effect (lower doses increased, while the highest dose did not accomplish additional effect) on branching and cellular proliferation. IL-6 enhanced p38-MAPK phosphorylation without changing MEK1/2 and JNK pathways. The present study suggests a physiological role for IL-6 on pulmonary branching mechanisms most likely involving p38-MAPK intracellular signalling pathway

Cytokine tuning of intestinal epithelial function

The intestine serves as both our largest single barrier to the external environment and the host of more immune cells than any other location in our bodies. Separating these potential combatants is a single layer of dynamic epithelium composed of heterogeneous epithelial subtypes, each uniquely adapted to carry out a subset of the intestine’s diverse functions. In addition to its obvious role in digestion, the intestinal epithelium is responsible for a wide array of critical tasks, including maintaining barrier integrity, preventing invasion by microbial commensals and pathogens, and modulating the intestinal immune system. Communication between these epithelial cells and resident immune cells is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and coordinating appropriate responses to disease and can occur through cell-to-cell contact or by the release or recognition of soluble mediators. The objective of this review is to highlight recent literature illuminating how cytokines and chemokines, both those made by and acting on the intestinal epithelium, orchestrate many of the diverse functions of the intestinal epithelium and its interactions with immune cells in health and disease. Areas of focus include cytokine control of intestinal epithelial proliferation, cell death, and barrier permeability. In addition, the modulation of epithelial-derived cytokines and chemokines by factors such as interactions with stromal and immune cells, pathogen and commensal exposure, and diet will be discussed

Religion and Which Sciences? Science and Which Community?

The author addresses ways in which participants in the religion-and-science dialogues avoid ethically sensitive issues involving the scientifically developed subject of nonhuman animals. Using the concept of ethical anthropocentrism, he maintains that the contemporary dialogue is mired in a traditional set of concepts and myopic discourse. The present approach entails serious risks of weakening both religious life and scientific inquiry, including the foundation for an engagement between religion and science. Furthermore, the specific sciences dealing with nonhuman animals should be engaged fully for a number of reasons related to both religious and scientific goals. A further benefit of such an engagement would be promotion of an understanding of community more responsive to the non-anthropocentric ethics found so broadly in religious traditions outside the Abrahamic, and in subordinated portions of the Abrahamic traditions

Posthumanism in the Fashion industry: on human animals and cyborgs

Traballo Fin de Máster en Estudos Ingleses Avanzados e as súas Aplicacións. Curso 2021-2022Since the second half of the twentieth century, disciplines as varied as cultural studies, anthropology, sociology psychology or gender studies have considered fashion as worthy of academic pursuit. Particularly important for the purpose of the present study are those perspectives which, grounded on a sociological approach to fashion and dress, examine the tripartite interconnectedness between dress, body and identity (Entwistle 2000). This study does not simply focus on dress as an individual practice; it also addresses the critical and creative discourses presentedby fashion designers in their runway shows, which are widely spread through social media in a cyber-mediated reality. In fact, as this study contends, inasmuch as it represents a system defined by incessant renewal, fashion is now echoing current ontological debates that call into question the barrier between the human and the nonhuman, and contemporary fashion designers are engaging creatively in the (re)creation of bodies that subvert dominant figurations of the human body. Among the designers that have challenged said barrier, Alexander McQueen (1969–2010) stands out for arousing raging controversies, which led the press to recognize him as the enfant terrible of the fashion industry. The present dissertation seeks to analyze the posthuman turn registered in Alexander McQueen’s fashion shows, where dominant figurations of the human body were often challenged through creations that hybridized, in an explicit and controversial manner, the human body with parts of nonhuman animals as well as with technological artefacts. InThis study intends to shed light on two different tropes crucial throughout McQueen’s career, and which destabilize the above-mentioned binary opposites: first, the feral woman archetype, which challenges the barrier between human animals and nonhuman animals; and second, the (re)creation of the cyborg, which defies the divide between human and machine. The study is divided into two main sections, with the first one aiming at laying bare the methodological apparatus on which the study is grounded –namely, posthumanism and fashion theory– and the second one being devoted to analyzing a selection of McQueen’s fashion shows

Nitric oxide modulates the expression of matricellular genes involved in fibrosis in renal glomerular mesangial cells

By means of their proliferative and secretory potential glomerular mesangial cells are thought to be important mediators of glomerular inflammation and fibrosis. Recent studies have established a direct role for NO in the regulation of gene expression in different cell types including mesangial cells. Representational difference analysis was used to investigate changes in gene expression elicited by the treatment of S-Nitroso-L-glutathione in rat mesangial cells. We identified 7 upregulated and 11 downregulated genes. Four out of 11 downregulated genes, connective tissue growth factor, thrombospondin-1, collagen type I alpha 1 and collagen type I alpha 2, are matricellular genes linked to inflammation and fibrosis of different organs including the kidney. Results were verified by using Northern blot analysis, quantitative real time PCR and protein analysis methods in human mesangial cells treated with a series of NO donors. We validated our findings by inducing endogenous NO production by cytokine stimulation. Real time PCR analysis showed that two additional matrix related genes, biglycan and collagen type IV alpha 2 are also downregulated by NO. Connective tissue growth factor promoter studies in mesangial cells demonstrated that NO acts at the transcriptional level to suppress gene expression. These results reveal a complex role of NO in regulating gene expression in mesangial cells and suggest an antifibrotic potential for NO