Guerra psicosocial, género y populismo: las ‘voluntarias’ de la Secretaría Nacional de la Mujer durante el régimen militar chileno. 1973-1980

The chilean military regime, in its earlier stage, used the repression in order to dismantle the Unidad Popular’ socialist project. Additionally, it waged a strong psychosocial fight, based on the “counter-subversive war” logic, in order to generate adhesion and to mobilize the popular sectors in its favor. Women were an important component of this psychosocial war, since a planned social and ideological politic was focused on them, through the development of institutions such as CEMA-Chile and the Secretaría Nacional de la Mujer (SNM). This research project is based on the links between the Augusto Pinochet’s military regime and the SNM women “volunteers”, particularly those that worked at the local levels, coming from medium and lower classes. It has been proposed that the relationship established between the military government and the lower class women through the “volunteerism” is concordant with certain features shared by the neo-populist regimes. This observation is based on the following elements: the women “volunteers” were mobilized in networks, personal and paternal bonds were developed between the women “volunteers” and the General Pinochet, and the disseminated anti-political rhetoric that was assimilated by the women “volunteers”.  However, these elements adopted particular characteristics, since they were affected by social and historical gender constructions, which the regime used as instruments to make them functional to the populist bonds. The social and historical gender constructions facilitated the women awareness of the war doctrine against the Marxism and the military messianism.El régimen militar chileno en su etapa temprana, no sólo utilizó la represión para desmantelar el proyecto socialista de la Unidad Popular, sino que, imbuido de la lógica de la “guerra contrasubversiva”, libró una fuerte lucha en el plano psicosocial para generar adhesión y movilizar a los sectores populares en su favor. Un frente importante de esta guerra psicosocial fueron las mujeres, hacia quienes dirigió una decidida política social e ideológica por medio de organismos como CEMA-Chile y la Secretaría Nacional de la Mujer (SNM). Esta investigación se centra en los vínculos entre el régimen militar de Augusto Pinochet y las ‘voluntarias’ de la SNM, sobre todo aquellas que se desempeñaban en los niveles locales y que eran de extracción media y popular. Se plantea que la relación que estableció el gobierno militar con las mujeres populares a través del ‘voluntariado’ es compatible con ciertos rasgos de los regímenes (neo)populistas, pues existió una movilización de las ‘voluntarias’ en redes, se desarrollaron vínculos de tipo personalista y paternalista entre éstas y el general Pinochet, y se difundió un discurso antipolítica que fue asimilado por las ‘voluntarias’. Sin embargo, estos elementos adoptaron características particulares, en tanto estuvieron cruzados por construcciones sociales e históricas de género que fueron instrumentalizadas por el régimen para hacerlas funcionales a los vínculos populistas, facilitando el arraigo de la doctrina de la guerra contra el marxismo y del mesianismo militar entre las mujeres

Dietary procyanidins selectively modulate intestinal farnesoid X receptor-regulated gene expression to alter enterohepatic bile acid recirculation: elucidation of a novel mechanism to reduce triglyceridemia

Scope: Understanding the molecular basis by which dietary procyanidins modulate triglyceride and cholesterol homeostasis has important implications for the use of natural products in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Methods: To determine whether modulation of bile acid (BA) homeostasis contributes to the hypotriglyceridemic action of grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE) we examined the effect on genes regulating BA absorption, transport and synthesis in vitro, in Caco-2 cells, and in vivo, in wild type (C57BL/6) and farnesoid x receptor knockout (Fxr −/− ) mice. Results: We provide novel evidence demonstrating that GSPE is a naturally occurring geneselective bile acid receptor modulator (BARM). Mechanistically, GSPE down-regulates genes involved in intestinal BA absorption and transport in an Fxr-dependent manner, resulting in decreased enterohepatic BA recirculation. This correlates with increased fecal BA output, decreased serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels, increased hepatic cholesterol 7␣-hydroxylase (Cyp7a1), and decreased intestinal fibroblast growth factor 15 (Fgf15) expression. GSPE also increased hepatic HmgCoA reductase (Hmgcr) and synthase (Hmgcs1) expression, while concomitantly decreasing sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (Srebp1c). Conclusion: GSPE selectively regulates intestinal Fxr-target gene expression in vivo, and modulation of BA absorption and transport is a critical regulatory point for the consequential hypotriglyceridemic effects of GSPE

Personalizing Cancer Pain Therapy: Insights from the Rational Use of Analgesics (RUA) Group

Introduction: A previous Delphi survey from the Rational Use of Analgesics (RUA) project involving Italian palliative care specialists revealed some discrepancies between current guidelines and clinical practice with a lack of consensus on items regarding the use of strong opioids in treating cancer pain. Those results represented the basis for a new Delphi study addressing a better approach to pain treatment in patients with cancer. Methods: The study consisted of a two-round multidisciplinary Delphi study. Specialists rated their agreement with a set of 17 statements using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = totally disagree and 4 = totally agree). Consensus on a statement was achieved if the median consensus score (MCS) (expressed as value at which at least 50% of participants agreed) was at least 4 and the interquartile range (IQR) was 3–4. Results: This survey included input from 186 palliative care specialists representing all Italian territory. Consensus was reached on seven statements. More than 70% of participants agreed with the use of low dose of strong opioids in moderate pain treatment and valued transdermal route as an effective option when the oral route is not available. There was strong consensus on the importance of knowing opioid pharmacokinetics for therapy personalization and on identifying immediate-release opioids as key for tailoring therapy to patients’ needs. Limited agreement was reached on items regarding breakthrough pain and the management of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction. Conclusion: These findings may assist clinicians in applying clinical evidence to routine care settings and call for a reappraisal of current pain treatment recommendations with the final aim of optimizing the clinical use of strong opioids in patients with cancer

Understanding the role of the intestine in the molecular hypotriglyceridemic actions of a grape seed procyanidin extract

Hypertriglyceridemia is a prevalent condition that is associated with cardiovascular disease. Grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE), a natural compound rich in procyanidins, has recently been shown to reduce serum triglyceride (TG) levels in vivo in normolipidemic animals. This effect was shown to be mediated via farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor (NHR) superfamily. NHRs are ligand-inducible, and in some cases ligand-independent, transcription factors that interact with DNA to regulate gene expression. Activation of FXR by its endogenous ligand, bile acids (BA), modulates TG and BA homeostasis via regulation of hepatic and intestinal gene expression. Activation of FXR in the liver by BAs increases the expression of small heterodimer partner (SHP), which then acts as a repressor to decrease hepatic expression of sterol response element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), a key transcription factor regulating lipogenic gene expression, thereby lowering serum TG levels. Studies have shown that in the liver, GSPE acts as a co-agonist ligand for FXR resulting in enhancement of BA-bound FXR activation in vitro, and that the TG-lowering ability of GSPE is lost in vivo in both, FXR and SHP knockout mouse models. Recently, utilizing a FXRE-luciferase reporter mouse model, it was shown that the intestine has the highest bile acid-induced FXR signaling under physiological conditions. FXR activation in the intestine induces the expression of several FXR target-genes including intestinal bile acid-binding protein (IBABP), organic solute transporters (OST) α/β, and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 15/19, while repressing the expression of the apical sodium dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT), which contributes to bile acid enterohepatic recirculation and bile acid homeostasis. The overall aim of this research was to further investigate the effects of GSPE to aid in the understanding of its molecular hypotriglyceridemic mode of action. Based on the fact that FXR is a bridge between the liver and the intestine to control bile acid levels and to regulate bile acid synthesis and enterohepatic flow, the first aim was to discern whether or not GSPE exerts any effects on intestinal FXR which could then contribute to the TG-lowering effect of GSPE. Therefore, the effects of GSPE on the regulation of known FXR target-genes in the intestine was investigated, to provide further insight into the inter-relationship between the intestine and the liver in the regulation of lipid homeostasis by GSPE. Studies have previously established the ability of GSPE to lower serum TG levels in a normolipidemic state, therefore, the second aim was to determine the potential of GSPE to lower serum TG levels in a hypertriglyceridemic state, and to identify the underlying molecular events. Our results indicate that in the intestine, GSPE may act as a gene-selective bile acid receptor modulator (BARM), rather than a bile acid-dependent co-agonist of FXR, as previously reported to occur in the liver. In the course of the studies conducted herein, GSPE treatment resulted in alterations in the expression of ileal FXR-target genes in different ways, i.e., GSPE acted as a FXR co-agonist thereby suppressing ASBT gene expression, while in contrast it acted a FXR modulator by decreasing CDCAinduced IBABP and OSTα/β mRNA expression. Therefore, these results indicate that GSPE may impair bile acid enterohepatic recirculation, which is achieved by decreasing the intestinal up-take of bile acids, as well as by decreasing the amount of BA that return to the liver via the portal circulation. Furthermore, GSPE also induced a rapid and transit increase in FGF19 expression in vitro in Caco2 cells. We hypothesize that the above-mentioned effects induced by GSPE on intestinal FXR-target gene expression may therefore be contributing to changes in overall body BA homeostasis and also its serum TG lowering ability. Additionally, our results show that GSPE treatment effectively reduces serum TG levels by 27% when assessed in a fructose-fed rat model representing a hypertriglyceridemic state. Consequently, GSPE may represent a promising natural compound for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and its’ related conditions

Influence of dietary fish meal on egg fatty acid composition

Changes in the fatty acid composition of egg‐yolk fat of hens fed diets with increasing fish meal content are studied by total fatty acid analysis. The fatty acid composition of the major lipid fractions in egg‐yolk fat after feeding a high‐level fish meal diet was determined by a combination of thin layer chromatography (t.l.c.) and gas‐liquid chromatography (g.l.c.) The changes produced show a fatty acid pattern similar to those of the diets themselves. Long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are deposited preferentially in the phospholipids, reaching the highest concentration in cephalin and lecithin. Copyright © 1972 John Wiley & Sons, Lt