1,684 research outputs found

    Alʔilbīrī’s Book of the rational conclusions. Introduction, Critical Edition of the Arabic Text and Materials for the History of the Ḫawāṣṣic Genre in Early Andalus

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    [eng] The Book of the rational conclusions, written perhaps somewhen in the 10th c. by a physician from Ilbīrah (Andalus), is a multi-section medical pandect. The author brings together, from a diversity of sources, materials dealing with matters related to drug-handling, natural philosophy, therapeutics, medical applications of the specific properties of things, a regimen, and a dispensatory. This dissertation includes three different parts. First the transmission of the text, its contents, and its possible context are discussed. Then a critical edition of the Arabic text is offered. Last, but certainly not least, the subject of the specific properties is approached from several points of view. The analysis of Section III of the original book leads to an exploration of the early Andalusī assimilation of this epistemic tradition and to the establishment of a well-defined textual family in which our text must be inscribed. On the other hand, the concept itself of ‘specific property’ is often misconstrued and it is usually made synonymous to magic and superstition. Upon closer inspection, however, the alleged irrationality of the knowledge of these properties appears to be largely the result of anachronistic interpretation. As a complement of this particular research and as an illustration of the genre, a sample from an ongoing integral commentary on this section of the book is presented.[cat] El Llibre de les conclusions racionals d’un desconegut metge d’Ilbīrah (l’Àndalus) va ser compilat probablement durant la segona meitat del s. X. Es tracta d’un rudimentari però notablement complet kunnaix (un gènere epistèmic que és definit sovint com a ‘enciclopèdia mèdica’) en què l’autor aplega materials manllevats (sovint de manera literal i no-explícita) de diversos gèneres. El llibre obre amb una secció sobre apoteconomia (una mena de manual d’apotecaris) però se centra després en les diferents branques de la medicina. A continuació d’uns prolegòmens filosòfics l’autor copia, amb mínima adaptació lingüística, un tractat sencer de terapèutica, després un altre sobre les aplicacions mèdiques de les propietats específiques de les coses, una sèrie de fragments relacionats amb la dietètica (un règim en termes tradicionals) i, finalment, una col·lecció de receptes mèdiques. Cadascuna d’aquestes seccions mostren evidents lligams d’intertextualitat que apunten cap a una intensa activitat sintetitzadora de diverses tradicions aliades a la medicina a l’Àndalus califal. El text és, de fet, un magnífic objecte sobre el qual aplicar la metodologia de la crítica textual i de fonts. L’edició crítica del text incorpora la dimensió cronològica dins l’aparat, que esdevé així un element contextualitzador. Quant l’estudi de les fonts, si tot al llarg de la primera part d’aquesta tesi és només secundari, aquesta disciplina pren un protagonisme gairebé absolut en la tercera part, especialment en el capítol dedicat a l’anàlisi individual de cada passatge recollit en la secció sobre les propietats específiques de les coses

    Natural pesticides for pest control in agricultural crops: an alternative and eco-friendly method

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    Biological pesticides are pesticides derived from natural materials such as bacteria, plants, and minerals that are applied to crops to kill pests. Biopesticides are targeted, inexpensive, eco-friendly, sustainable, leave no trace, and are not associated with the production of greenhouse gases. It contributes significantly to the agricultural bio-economy's sustainability. The advantages to the ecosystem provided by many significant biological resources justify the incorporation of biopesticides in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Through advancements in research and development, the use of biopesticides has significantly reduced environmental contamination. The development of biopesticides promotes agricultural modernization and will surely result in a gradual phase-out of chemical pesticides. Although synthetic pesticides have positive effects on crop yield and productivity, they also have some negative impacts on soil biodiversity, animals, aquatic life, and humans. In general, synthetic pesticides make the soil brittle, decrease soil respiration, and reduce the activity of some soil microorganisms, such as earthworms. Pesticide buildup in bodies of water can spread from aquatic life to animals including people, as their biomagnification can cause fatal diseases like cancer, kidney disease, rashes on the skin, diabetes, etc. Biopesticides, on the other hand, have surfaced and have proven to be quite beneficial in the management of pests and are safe for the environment and hence have emerged as very useful in the control of pests with a lot of merits.  The present review provides a broad perspective on the different kinds of pesticides. We analyzed suitable and environmentally friendly ways to improve the acceptance and industrial application of microbial herbicides, phytopesticides, and nano biopesticides for plant nutrition, crop protection/yield, animal/human health promotion, as well as their potential integration into the integrated pest management system

    Functional Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites: Current Uses and Potential Applications

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    This book covers a broad range of subjects, from smart nanoparticles and polymer nanocomposite synthesis and the study of their fundamental properties to the fabrication and characterization of devices and emerging technologies with smart nanoparticles and polymer integration

    The Texture of Everyday Life: Carceral Realism and Abolitionist Speculation

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    Exploring the ways in which prisons shape the subjectivity of free-world thinkers, and the ways that subjectivity is expressed in literary texts, this dissertation develops the concept of carceral realism: a cognitive and literary mode that represents prisons and police as the only possible response to social disorder. As this dissertation illustrates, this form of consciousness is experienced as racial paranoia, and it is expressed literary texts, which reflect and help to reify it. Through this process of cultural reification, carceral realism increasingly insists on itself as the only possible mode of thinking. As I argue, however, carceral realism actually stands in a dialectical relationship to abolitionist speculation, or, the active imagining of a world without prisons and police and/or the conditions necessary to actualize such a world. In much the same way that carceral realism embeds itself in realist literary forms, abolitionist speculation plays a constitutive role in the utopian literary tradition. In order to elaborate these concepts, this dissertation begins with a meta-consideration of how cultural productions by incarcerated people are typically framed. Building upon the work of scholars and incarcerated authors’ own interventions in questions of consciousness, authorship, textual production, and study, this chapter contrasts that typical frame with a method of abolitionist reading. Chapter two applies this methodology to Edward Bunker’s 1977 novel The Animal Factory and Claudia Rankine’s 2010 poem Citizen in order to develop the concept of carceral realism and demonstrate how it has developed from the 1970s to the present. In order to lay out the historical foundations of the modern prison, chapter three looks back to the late 18th century and situates the emergence of the penitentiary within debates regarding race, citizenship, and state power. Returning to the 1970s, chapter four investigates the role universities have played in the formation of carceral realism and the complex relationship Chicanos and Asian Americans have to prisons and police by analogizing the institutionalization of prison literary study to the formation of ethnic studies. Chapter five draws this project to a conclusion by developing the concept of abolitionist speculation, or the active imagining of a world without prisons or the police and/or the conditions necessary to realize such a world, which I identify as both a constitutive generic feature of utopian literature and something that exceeds literature altogether. In doing so, this dissertation establishes an ongoing historical relationship between social reproduction of prisons and literary forms that cuts across time, geography, race, gender, and genre

    Engineering in vitro models of the intestinal mucosa to study the role of the stroma on the epithelium

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    [eng] The standard in vitro model of the small intestine in the field of drug development still consists in a monolayer of cancer-derived cells seeded on a hard substrate. Despite the huge advances that this model has provided, it does not faithfully recapitulate the complexity of the native tissue. Recently, the long-term culture of primary intestinal epithelial cells has been achieved through intestinal organoids, self-organizing 3D structures retrieving many of the features of the native tissue. Yet, they still have some limitations: (i) they are closed structures whose apical side is difficult to access, (ii) to grow, they require to be embedded in a highly heterogeneous matrix where well-controlled gradients of biochemical factors cannot be established, (iii) despite recapitulating the native cell compartmentalization, they do not retrieve the dimensionality of the tissue and (iv) they do not include the stromal compartment (mainly fibroblasts), proven to be key to maintain the intestinal stem cell niche. Therefore, the general objective of this thesis is to contribute to the development of complex in vitro models of intestinal epithelium focusing on the incorporation of the input of the stroma. In the first section of this thesis, we successfully adapted an in-house developed photolithography-based technique to fabricate poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)-based hydrogels with crypt-like cavities. Although the nature of the chemical reaction used yielded partially-crosslinked polymer trapped in the cavities, the fabricated hydrogels could be functionalized with collagen I and organoid-derived epithelial monolayers could be formed on top. In the second section of this thesis, we have developed an in vitro model that allows the culture of organoid-derived cells on hydrogels with villus-like architecture under gradients of the ISC niche. The fabricated hydrogels showed native tissue-like elasticity and microstructures resembling those of the native villi. The mesh size of the hydrogels allowed the diffusion of the factors of the ISC niche through the hydrogel, which formed stable gradients along the villus vertical axis. An in silico model of protein diffusion through the hydrogel was developed to predict the profiles of the gradients of the factors of the ISC niche. Organoid-derived single cells seeded on collagen I-functionalized hydrogels formed complete monolayers. Only under gradients of the ISC niche factors, as opposed to uniform concentrations, the monolayers displayed native-like cell compartmentalization. Finally, organoid-derived cells cultured under gradients that promote more the proliferation showed faster growth dynamics but also a depletion of the proliferative pool. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that our villus-like 3D intestinal epithelial model retrieves native-like cell compartmentalization under appropriate gradients of ISC niche factors. The in vitro model presented here could be used to systematically screen gradients of factors, of particular interest those secreted by fibroblasts, and study the cellular response. In the third section of this thesis, we aimed to study if intestinal fibroblasts have a physical role in epithelial cell migration under non-pathological conditions. Through the coculture of fibroblasts with intestinal organoids, we found that the paracrine signalling from the fibroblasts induced a cystic morphology in the organoids, whereas their physical presence triggered their expansion into 2D monolayers. This physical effect of fibroblasts leading the expansion of epithelial cells was also observed in a 2D engineered coculture in vitro model. Organoid-derived monolayers exposed to a cell-free space (gap) migrated directionally towards the gap and fully closed it. During this process, fibroblasts were found to also migrate but towards the monolayers, align perpendicularly to the migration front and produce equally oriented ECM proteins that might be used for epithelial cells to migrate directionally. Under only the paracrine signalling from fibroblasts, epithelial monolayers did not migrate that efficiently nor fully closed the gaps. Under no fibroblast input, epithelial cells migrated randomly and could not recover their integrity. All in all, we could demonstrate that fibroblasts are indispensable for epithelial integrity restoration under non-pathological conditions in a 2D coculture in vitro model. Given the physical role of fibroblasts on the epithelial tissue, in the fourth section of this thesis we aimed to develop an in vitro model that incorporated a lamina propria mimicking compartment, together with the epithelial tissue, all the while recapturing the native architecture. To do so, we employed an in-house developed 3D printing technology to fabricate flat and villus-like gelatine methacryloyl (GelMA)-PEGDA hydrogels. First, using flat hydrogels, embedded fibroblasts were shown to be viable, have proliferation capacity and spread over the hydrogel surface. Organoid-derived epithelial cells seeded on top could only grow and form monolayers when fibroblasts were embedded within the GelMA-PEGDA hydrogels. In villus-like hydrogels, fibroblasts not only migrated to and spread on the surface, but they preferentially located at the tips of the villus-like microstructures. Organoid-derived single cells seeded on top of grew mainly at the tips and bases of the hydrogels. In these cocultures, fibroblasts migrated to the regions where epithelial cells were growing, mainly the tips and the bases of the hydrogels. Finally, fibroblasts cocultured with epithelial cells had their nuclei more elongated than when cultured alone, indicating a physical communication between the two cell types. Overall, we developed an in vitro model that mimics the native tissue architecture and encompasses not only the epithelium but also the mesenchymal compartment. Through this platform, we have unveiled a bidirectional communication between epithelial cells and fibroblasts.[cat] Avui dia, el model in vitro estàndard de l'intestí prim al camp del desenvolupament de fàrmacs encara consisteix en una monocapa de cèl·lules cancerígenes sembrades sobre un substrat dur. Tot i els grans avenços que aquest model ha suposat, no recapitula de manera fidedigna la complexitat del teixit. Recentment s’ha posat apunt el cultiu d’organoids intestinals, estructures tridimensionals autoorganitzades que recapitulen moltes de les característiques del teixit nadiu. Tot i això, presenten diverses limitacions: (i) en ser estructures tancades, l'accés a la part apical és complicat; (ii) per créixer, necessiten estar dins una matriu altament heterogènia que dificulta poder establir gradients de factors bioquímics ben controlats; (ii) malgrat recapitular l'organització cel·lular del teixit, no mimetitzen la seva arquitectura i (iv) no inclouen el compartiment “estromal” (principalment fibroblasts), tot i que s'hagi demostrat ser essencial en el manteniment del nínxol de cèl·lules mare. Al llarg d’aquesta tesi s’han desenvolupat diferents models que recapitulen moltes de les característiques mencionades més amunt. La primera secció d'aquesta tesi ha tingut per objectiu reproduir l’arquitectura del teixit intestinal. Per això, hem adaptat una tècnica desenvolupada al nostre laboratori que es basa en fotolitografia per fabricar hidrogels de diacrilat de polietilè glicol (PEGDA) amb cavitats similar a les criptes intestinals. En la segona part, ens hem centrat en crear un model que permetés establir gradients bioquímics de factors del nínxol de cèl·lules mare. En concret, hem desenvolupat un model in vitro que permet el cultiu de cèl·lules epitelials derivades d'organoids en hidrogels amb unes microestructures que reprodueixen les vellositats intestinals sota l’efecte de gradients bioquímics fisiològicament rellevants. En la tercera part, hem desenvolupat un model que permet el co-cultiu de cèl·lules epitelials derivades d’organoids amb fibroblasts primaris aïllats de l’intestí. A més, a través d’aquest model, hem pogut veure com els fibroblasts son essencials per a la migració de les cèl·lules epitelials en un context no patològic. En la quarta i última secció d’aquesta tesi, hem incorporat el compartiment estromal en un model que també reprodueix l’arquitectura del teixit, establint doncs un co-cultiu de cèl·lules epitelials i fibroblasts espacio-fisiològicament rellevant

    Gratitude in Healthcare an interdisciplinary inquiry

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    The expression and reception of gratitude is a significant dimension of interpersonal communication in care-giving relationships. Although there is a growing body of evidence that practising gratitude has health and wellbeing benefits for the giver and receiver, gratitude as a social emotion made in interaction has received comparatively little research attention. To address this gap, this thesis draws on a portfolio of qualitative methods to explore the ways in which gratitude is constituted in care provision in personal, professional, and public discourse. This research is informed by a discursive psychology approach in which gratitude is analysed, not as a morally virtuous character trait, but as a purposeful, performative social action that is mutually co-constructed in interaction.I investigate gratitude through studies that approach it on a meta, meso, macro, and micro level. Key intellectual traditions that underpin research literature on gratitude in healthcare are explored through a metanarrative review. Six underlying metanarratives were identified: social capital; gifts; care ethics; benefits of gratitude; staff wellbeing; and gratitude as an indicator of quality of care. At the meso (institutional) level, a narrative analysis of an archive of letters between patients treated for tuberculosis and hospital almoners positions gratitude as participating in a Maussian gift-exchange ritual in which communal ties are created and consolidated.At the macro (societal) level, a discursive analysis of tweets of gratitude to the National Health Service at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic shows that attitudes to gratitude were dynamic in response to events, with growing unease about deflecting attention from risk reduction for those working in the health and social care sectors. A follow-up analysis of the clap-for-carers movement implicates gratitude in embodied, symbolic, and imagined performances in debates about care justice. At the micro (interpersonal) level, an analysis of gratitude encounters broadcast in the BBC documentary series, Hospital, uses pragmatics and conversation analysis to argue that gratitude is an emotion made in talk, with the uptake of gratitude opportunities influencing the course of conversational sequencing. The findings challenge the oftenmade distinction between task-oriented and relational conversation in healthcare.Moral economics are paradigmatic in the philosophical conceptualisation of gratitude. My research shows that, although balance-sheet reciprocity characterised the institutional culture of the voluntary hospital, it is hardly ever a feature ofinterpersonal gratitude encounters. Instead, gratitude is accomplished as shared moments of humanity through negotiated encounters infused with affect. Gratitude should never be instrumentalised as compensating for unsafe, inadequatelyrenumerated work. Neither should its potential to enhance healthcare encounters be underestimated. Attention to gratitude can participate in culture change by affirming modes of acting, emoting, relating, expressing, and connecting that intersect with care justice.This thesis speaks to gratitude as a culturally salient indicator of what people express as worthy of appreciation. It calls for these expressions to be more closely attended to, not only as useful feedback that can inform change, but also because gratitude is a resource on which we can draw to enhance and enrich healthcare as a communal, collaborative, cooperative endeavour

    Modern meat: the next generation of meat from cells

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    Modern Meat is the first textbook on cultivated meat, with contributions from over 100 experts within the cultivated meat community. The Sections of Modern Meat comprise 5 broad categories of cultivated meat: Context, Impact, Science, Society, and World. The 19 chapters of Modern Meat, spread across these 5 sections, provide detailed entries on cultivated meat. They extensively tour a range of topics including the impact of cultivated meat on humans and animals, the bioprocess of cultivated meat production, how cultivated meat may become a food option in Space and on Mars, and how cultivated meat may impact the economy, culture, and tradition of Asia
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