Thinking international relations differently - Introduction

Son muchas las voces que se alzan para enfrentarse al dominio de Occidente, al que podríamos también llamar el núcleo o el centro, en el campo de las Relaciones Internacionales. Que esta disciplina es indiferente a las prácticas académicas y a las cuestiones políticas ajenas a dicho núcleo, e incluso las desprecia, y que sus herramientas conceptuales primarias, categorías analíticas y conceptos están escasamente preparados para comprender muchos de los problemas globales más importantes, es algo que no discuten más que un número sorprendentemente pequeño de académicos, incluso de los que pertenecen a corrientes mayoritarias. Y sin embargo, la estructura centro-periferia que gobierna el aparato de producción intelectual de las Relaciones Internacionales se ha mostrado relativamente inmune a estas acusacionesA host of voices has risen to challenge Western or core dominance of the field of International relations (IR). That the field is indifferent to scholarly practices and policy issues outside the core and even dismissive of them, and that its primary conceptual tools, analytical categories, and concepts are ill-equipped for understanding many of today’s key global problems, is disputed by shockingly few scholars, even those that represent the “mainstream”. And yet, the core-periphery structure that governs the apparatus of intellectual production in IR has proven relatively immune to these charge

Antiviral activity of the EB peptide against zoonotic poxviruses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The EB peptide is a 20-mer that was previously shown to have broad spectrum <it>in vitro </it>activity against several unrelated viruses, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, herpes simplex virus type I, and vaccinia, the prototypic orthopoxvirus. To expand on this work, we evaluated EB for <it>in vitro </it>activity against the zoonotic orthopoxviruses cowpox and monkeypox and for <it>in vivo </it>activity in mice against vaccinia and cowpox.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>In yield reduction assays, EB had an EC₅₀of 26.7 μM against cowpox and 4.4 μM against monkeypox. The EC₅₀for plaque reduction was 26.3 μM against cowpox and 48.6 μM against monkeypox. A scrambled peptide had no inhibitory activity against either virus. EB inhibited cowpox <it>in vitro </it>by disrupting virus entry, as evidenced by a reduction of the release of virus cores into the cytoplasm. Monkeypox was also inhibited <it>in vitro </it>by EB, but at the attachment stage of infection. EB showed protective activity in mice infected intranasally with vaccinia when co-administered with the virus, but had no effect when administered prophylactically one day prior to infection or therapeutically one day post-infection. EB had no <it>in vivo </it>activity against cowpox in mice.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While EB did demonstrate some <it>in vivo </it>efficacy against vaccinia in mice, the limited conditions under which it was effective against vaccinia and lack of activity against cowpox suggest EB may be more useful for studying orthopoxvirus entry and attachment <it>in vitro </it>than as a therapeutic against orthopoxviruses <it>in vivo</it>.</p

Optical imaging and spectroscopy for the study of the human brain: status report

This report is the second part of a comprehensive two-part series aimed at reviewing an extensive and diverse toolkit of novel methods to explore brain health and function. While the first report focused on neurophotonic tools mostly applicable to animal studies, here, we highlight optical spectroscopy and imaging methods relevant to noninvasive human brain studies. We outline current state-of-the-art technologies and software advances, explore the most recent impact of these technologies on neuroscience and clinical applications, identify the areas where innovation is needed, and provide an outlook for the future directions. Keywords: DCS; NIRS; diffuse optics; functional neuroscience; optical imaging; optical spectroscop

A Path Analysis to Identify Factors Influencing the Provision of Water in Addition to Breast Milk by Mothers of Infants under Six Months of Age in Conakry and Kindia Regions, Republic of Guinea

Water provision to infants under six months of age (IU6M) can hamper exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). Understanding factors and their relationships influencing this practice is needed to tailor EBF promotion programs. Using a validated questionnaire, this study aims to identify pathways in which individual factors and the environment interact to affect the provision of water in addition to breast milk among 300 mothers of IU6M. Our finding shows that 75% of mothers intended to provide water in addition to breast milk to their IU6M and that about 60% reported doing it. Results of the final path show that the subjective norm/SN (β = 0.432, p &lt; 0.001), the attitude (β = 0.349, p &lt; 0.001), and to a lesser extent the perceived control/PC (β = 0.141, p = 0.005) predict the intention of mothers to provide water in addition to breast milk to their IU6M. The environment scores predict the attitude (β = 0.210, p = 0.001) and the SN (β = 0.284, p &lt; 0.001). Having the mother practicing early breastfeeding initiation at birth positively predicted the PC score (β = 0.157, p = 0.017) and predicted an increasing score of SN (β = 0.221, p = 0.003). Even though predicting the final behavior is complex, this research provides directions to nutrition education programs to tailor their content to the context and be more efficient in reducing the proportion of women providing water to their IU6M, hence contributing to the improvement of EBF

Pensar la Diferencia - Introducción

Son muchas las voces que se alzan para enfrentarse al dominio de Occidente, al que podríamos también llamar el núcleo o el centro, en el campo de las Relaciones Internacionales. Que esta disciplina es indiferente a las prácticas académicas y a las cuestiones políticas ajenas a dicho núcleo, e incluso las desprecia, y que sus herramientas conceptuales primarias, categorías analíticas y conceptos están escasamente preparados para comprender muchos de los problemas globales más importantes, es algo que no discuten más que un número sorprendentemente pequeño de académicos, incluso de los que pertenecen a corrientes mayoritarias. Y sin embargo, la estructura centro-periferia que gobierna el aparato de producción intelectual de las Relaciones Internacionales se ha mostrado relativamente inmune  a estas acusaciones

Effect of 0.3% sorghum ergot (Claviceps africana) in sow diets on plasma prolactin, lactation and piglet growth: regulatory implications

The safety of 0.3% sorghum ergot in a sow diet was evaluated, this being the currently regulated limit for stock food in Queensland. The alkaloid content (mg/kg) of the test diet was: dihydroergosine (DHES), 1.1; dihydroelymoclavine, 0.15; and festuclavine, 0.05. The test diet was fed to 16 sows from ~6 weeks prior to farrowing, until weaning of piglets 4 weeks post-farrowing. Compared to 16 sows fed a control diet, there were no significant effects on either onset of lactation, piglet mortality, or litter performance. There was a trend for ergot to reduce plasma prolactin concentrations at farrowing, particularly in first-litter sows, but this did not meet the test for significance and there were no corresponding trends for reduced performance. The results support shorter-term investigations showing that a diet with 0.3% sorghum ergot is tolerated by sows, when it contains 1 mg DHES/kg or less. Data are presented indicating a significant correlation between % ergot and DHES in 26 different sources of infected sorghum. However, while a sample containing 0.3% ergot is most likely to contain 1 mg DHES/kg or less, this can range from <0.1 up to 5 mg DHES/kg, depending on maturity of ergot sclerotia present in infected grain. Consequently, the risk that occasional batches of grain with 0.3% ergot can contain up to 5 mg DHES/kg must be taken into account, and regulations should probably be revised, either to reduce ergot concentrations to 0.1%, or to incorporate maximum alkaloid (DHES) concentrations of 1 mg/kg, for sow feeds

A role for age-related changes in TGFβ signaling in aberrant chondrocyte differentiation and osteoarthritis

Transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) is a growth factor with many faces. In our osteoarthritis (OA) research we have found that TGFβ can be protective as well as deleterious for articular cartilage. We postulate that the dual effects of TGFβ on chondrocytes can be explained by the fact that TGFβ can signal via different receptors and related Smad signaling routes. On chondrocytes, TGFβ not only signals via the canonical type I receptor ALK5 but also via the ALK1 receptor. Notably, signaling via ALK5 (Smad2/3 route) results in markedly different chondrocyte responses than ALK1 signaling (Smad1/5/8), and we postulate that the balance between ALK5 and ALK1 expression on chondrocytes will determine the overall effect of TGFβ on these cells. Importantly, signaling via ALK1, but not ALK5, stimulates MMP-13 expression by chondrocytes. In cartilage of ageing mice and in experimental OA models we have found that the ALK1/ALK5 ratio is significantly increased, favoring TGFβ signaling via the Smad1/5/8 route, changes in chondrocyte differentiation and MMP-13 expression. Moreover, human OA cartilage showed a significant correlation between ALK1 and MMP-13 expression. In this paper we summarize concepts in OA, its link with ageing and disturbed growth factor responses, and a potential role of TGFβ signaling in OA development