International Workshop on Nutrient Balances for Sustainable Agricultural Production and Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, Thailand, 20-22 February 2001: selected papers and presentations

Soil management / Soil properties / Soil fertility / Soil degradation / Crop production / Farmers / Agricultural extension / Farming systems / Sustainability / Rice / Cassava / Vegetables / Maize / Fertilizers / Decision support tools / Economic aspects

Relationship of kidney function to immunopathology in chronic serum sickness of rats

Relationship of kidney function to immunopathology in chronic serum sickness of rats. This study sought to clarify the relationship between kidney function and immunopathology in chronic serum sickness (CSS) of rats. CSS was induced by chronic intravenous immunization with bovine serum albumin. Whole kidney function was studied during the course of CSS by assays of serum and urine. Single nephron function was evaluated by micropuncture techniques. Three categories (mild, moderate, severe) ofkidney disease were identified from the analysis of kidney function in rats with CSS. Those categories represented distinct stages in the natural history of CSS nephritis. The three stages identified by measurements of function corresponded to distinct categories of kidney immunopathology. In rats with mild CSS, immune deposits were limited to the mesangium; histopathology was slight or absent. The only detectable change in protein handling was a small elevation of albumin concentration in tubule fluid. Abnormal proteinuria was a feature of moderate CSS; whole kidney glomerular filtration was not decreased despite evidence of significant immunopathology of glomeruli. Compromise of whole kidney function including decreased sodium excretion was only detected in the severe stage of CSS in association with diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis. The transitions from mild to moderate and moderate to severe CSS were not gradual but occurred as discrete, sudden events.Relations entre la fonction rénale et l'immunopathologie au cours de la maladie sérique chronique chez des rats. Cette étude est destinée à clarifier la relation entre la fonction rénale et l'immunopathologie au cours de la maladie sérique chronique (CSS) chez des rats. CSS était induite par immunisation chronique intra-veineuse avec de la sérum albumine bovine. La fonction rénale globale était étudiée pendant la CSS par des dosages sériques et urinaires. La fonction rénale individuelle était évaluée par des techniques de microponction. Trois catégories (bénigne, modérée, sévère) de maladies rénales ont été identifiées à partir de l'analyse de la fonction rénale chez les rats atteints de CSS. Ces catégories représentaient des stades distincts de l'histoire naturelle de la néphrite de CSS. Les trois stades identifiés par les mesures des fonctions correspondaient à des catégories distinctes d'immunopathologie rénale. Chez les rats atteints de CSS bénigne, les dépôts immuns étaient limités au mésangium; l'histopathologic était minime ou absente. La seule modification détectable de la conservation des protéines était une élévation modéré de la concentration d'albumine dans le fluide tubulaire. Une protéinurie anormale était une caractéristique de la CSS modérée; la filtration glomérulaire globale n'était pas diminuée malgré l'existence d'une immunopathologie significative des glomérules. Une altération de la fonction rénale globale comprenant une diminution de l'excrétion sodée était détectée seulement au stade sévère de CSS, en association avec une glomérulonéphrite proliférative diffuse. Les passages de la forme bénigne à la forme modérée, et de la forme modérée à la forme sévère de CSS n'étaient pas progressifs, mais survennaient de façon tranchée, brutale

From constitution to law: Implementing the 2020 Russian constitutional changes

Although 4 July 2020 saw the coming into force of constitutional changes in Russia, this was far from the end of the story. Most clearly, these changes to the 1993 constitution required implementation, including through amendments to, and the writing of new pieces of, federal legislation. In part, this process was the mundane work of legal bureaucrats, tweaking and creating many pieces of legislation to reflect the new constitutional text. But the implementation process also reveals much more about the broader constitutional reform project. This article reviews the implementation process, discussing its complexity, the improvisation shown when fleshing out certain new constitutional details, its relationship with other political developments, and the chasm laid bare between Putin’s promise of the rebalancing of power in his 15 January 2020 Address to the Federal Assembly versus the reality of reform in practice

Myth 15: 'It's all about Putin – Russia is a manually run, centralized autocracy'

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is not a one-man show. To understand how governance actually works in the country, we need to take into account the power and complexity of the bureaucracy – which will only continue to grow in importance