Meeting Future Energy Needs in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

As mentioned in earlier chapters, the HKH regions form the entirety of some countries, a major part of other countries, and a small percentage of yet others. Because of this, when we speak about meeting the energy needs of the HKH region we need to be clear that we are not necessarily talking about the countries that host the HKH, but the clearly delineated mountainous regions that form the HKH within these countries. It then immediately becomes clear that energy provisioning has to be done in a mountain context characterized by low densities of population, low incomes, dispersed populations, grossly underdeveloped markets, low capabilities, and poor economies of scale. In other words, the energy policies and strategies for the HKH region have to be specific to these mountain contexts

Carnosic Acid Modulates Akt/IKK/NF-jB Signaling by PP2A and Induces Intrinsic and Extrinsic Pathway Mediated Apoptosis in Human Prostate Carcinoma PC-3 Cells

This study investigates the efficacy of carnosic acid (CA), a polyphenolic diterpene, isolated from the plant rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), on androgen-independent human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. CA induced antiproliferative effects in PC-3 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, which was due to apoptotic induction as evident from flow-cytometry, DNA laddering and TUNEL assay. Apoptosis was associated with the activation of caspase-8, -9, -3 and -7, increase in Bax:Bcl-2 ratio, release of cytochrome-c and decrease in expression of inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins. Apoptosis was attenuated upon pretreatment with specific inhibitors of caspase-8 (Z-IETD-fmk) and caspase-9 (ZLEHD- fmk) suggesting the involvement of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic cascades. Further, apoptosis resulted from the inhibition of IKK/NF-jB pathway as evident from decreased DNA binding activity, nuclear translocation of p50 and p65 and IjBa phosphorylation. The downregulation of IKK/NF-jB was associated with inhibition of Akt phosphorylation and its kinase activity with a concomitant increase in the serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity. Pharmacologic inhibition of PP2A by okadaic acid and calyculin A, significantly reversed CA-mediated apoptotic events in PC-3 cells indicating that CA induced apoptosis by activation of PP2A through modulation of Akt/IKK/NF-jB pathway. In addition, CA induced apoptosis in another androgen refractory prostat cancer DU145 cells via intrinsic pathway as evidenced from the activation of caspase 3, cleavage of PARP, increase in Bax:Bcl-2 ratio and cytochrome-c release. Carnosic acid, therefore, may have the potential for use in the prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer

Race and pain: A dual injustice

The evidence presented in this chapter highlights the existence of a dual injustice-members of nondominant racial groups are more than likely to experience pain, while these same individuals are also more than likely to have their pain discounted by and undertreated by healthcare professionals. Evidence is presented from numerous national, racial, and ethnic contexts, and this chapter utilizes evidence that crosses historical, social, psychological, biological, and medical research. The antecedents, consequences, causes, and potential solutions to this dual injustice are examined and discussed with the recognition that the literal pain and suffering of people of color is at stake