Women's Ecofeminist Spirituality: Origins and Applications to Psychotherapy

The aim of this paper is to theoretically explore the origins and possible psychotherapeutic applications of some neo-pagan, neo-shamanic, or psycho-spiritual women's movements that are currently spreading in Western countries. In spite of their great diversity, they are all encompassed within the term “ecofeminist spirituality.” This article analyzes their ideological, historical, and cultural origins, placing special emphasis on their psychotherapeutic role and describing the main tools and fields of application

Direct and indirect effects of environmental factors on dietary niches in size-structured populations of a wild salmonid

Dietary plasticity of populations can be associated to ontogenetic diet preferences and depends on the size-structure of populations. Dietary niche characterizes the functional role of organisms in a food web, as it reflects both resources' diversity used by a consumer and trophic interactions in the system. Dietary niches are controlled both by biotic and abiotic factors, but their interactions in natural systems remain poorly studied. Here, we investigated the variability of dietary niche in salmonid wild populations focusing both on inter-population and intra-population (through time) trophic changes, using marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) living in Slovenian headwater streams as a model system. Stable isotope analysis showed high variability of dietary niche and trophic diversity among six of the seven remnant marble trout populations. We observed substantial differences in dietary niche width among populations and within populations through time. Results of partial least square path modelling highlighted opposite effects of immature and mature trout on trophic niche structure. Direct effects of temperature and slope (stream and watershed) were opposite; temperature narrowed dietary niches while slope increased them. Environmental factors (e.g., temperature, stream and watershed slope) had indirect effects on trophic niches after accounting for fish density. Our results showed that size-distribution and sexual maturity are key determinants of the dietary niche width in a population. Increasing density of immature trout tended to widen the dietary niche while increasing density of mature trout tended to narrow it. Environmental factors had direct effects both on resources and consumers densities and indirect effects. Direct and indirect effects were often antagonistic

Linfoma angiocéntrico centrofacial

El linfoma angiocéntrico centrofacial es una neoplasia linfoide rara, con un diagnóstico a menudo difícil, debido al cuadro clínico inespecífico y a que muchas veces son necesarias varias biopsias para llegar a un diagnóstico correcto. Se trata de un linfoma no Hodgkin(LNH) agresivo, de localización preferente en el tracto respiratorio superior (sobre todo en cavidad nasal), y con un pronóstico ominoso, ya que la supervivencia media es de 12-18 meses aproximadamente(1). Predomina en orientales y sudamericanos, entre los 50-60 años de edad, y con ligera preferencia por el sexo masculino (2:1). Se presenta el caso de una paciente ecuatoriana que acude a nuestro servicio con edema hemifacial, rinorrea achocolatada y obstrucción respiratoria nasal de 1 mes de evolución, sin respuesta al tratamiento antibiótico y antiinflamatorio, que tras realizar varias pruebas diagnósticas se evidenció histológicamente la presencia de un linfoma T extranodal de tipo nasal (también llamado linfoma de células T angiocéntrico).The centrofacial angiocentric lymphoma is a rare lymphoid neoplasm, with an often-difficult diagnosis due to the non-specific clinical picture. On many occasions it is necessary to perform various biopsies to reach the correct diagnosis. This lymphoma is an aggressive Non-Hodgkin's (NHL) type, which is normally found in the upper respiratory tract (predominantly in the nasal cavity), and has an ominous prognosis, as the average survival rate is between 12 and 18 months (1). It is predominantly found in subjects of oriental and South American extraction, who are between the ages of 50 and 60 years and with a slight tendency towards males (2:1). This is the case study of a female Ecuadorian patient who was referred to our department with a hemifacial edema, chocolate- like rhinorrhea and nasal respiratory obstruction, which had been treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for a month without success. After performing a number of diagnostic tests, it was found histologically that the patient had an extranodal T-cell lymphoma of the nasal type (also known as T-cell angiocentric lymphoma)

Control of Defined Methanotrophic Populations in Soils by Co-metabolism of Ammonium

Summary Metabolism of inorganic nitrogen (N) by soil microbial communities is heavily impacted by increasing N-loads from anthropogenic sources such as fertilizers and nitrogenous air pollutants. Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia-N to nitrite/nitrate-N, and denitrification, the reduction of nitrite/nitrate-N to nitrogen oxides and dinitrogen, are well-characterized processes. Likewise, microbial communities performing these processes have been intensively studied. Less well characterized are methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB), which predominantly convert methane to carbon dioxide, in their capacity to perform both nitrification and partial denitrification in terrestrial ecosystems. In this project we: 1) compared growth kinetics of four methanotrophic bacterial strains in media with ammonia versus nitrate as the N source, 2) examined the capacity of each strain to oxidize ammonia and hydroxylamine (the intermediate of ammonia oxidation) to nitrite, 3) examined the influence of ammonia and nitrite on methane oxidation potential, 4) determined differences in methane-oxidizing enzymes that could account for differences in ammonia oxidation rates, and 5) identified a hydroxylamine oxidoreductase homologue in one strain. The ultimate goals of this project were to: 1) determine the point at which ammonia (or nitrite) becomes a deterrent rather than a benefit to methane oxidation, and 2) characterize the enzymatic components in diverse MOB that oxidize ammonia to nitrite via hydroxylamine. We discovered that MOB respond very differently to ammonia; while the bacteria all grew efficiently with ammonia as an N-source, they had significantly different capacities for oxidizing ammonia to nitrite. This difference was not attributable to differences in pmoA gene sequences that encode the catalytic subunit of methane monooxygenase. While three of the four isolates could oxidize ammonia to nitrite via hydroxylamine, only one of the three was found to have a conserved gene encoding hydroxylamine oxidoreductase. This study demonstrated for the first time that not all MOB are capable of dissimilatory ammonia oxidation nor do they all have identifiable gene inventories to carry out ammonia oxidation to nitrite. The capacity for MOB to co-metabolize ammonia rather than assimilate it, especially in N-impacted soils, influences the composition and fitness of the MOB community, which in turn determines the methane oxidizing capacity of soils. Objectives Objective 1: We grew cultivated methanotrophic species in AMS (ammonium mineral salts) and NMS (nitrate mineral salts) media (30% CH 4 ) and monitored methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and nitrite concentrations in addition to cell numbers from lag to stationary phase. Objective 2: We determined the kinetics of ammonia oxidation to nitrite by each species in the absence and presence of reductant. As co-metabolism by methane monooxygenase require

Prospective CO2 and CO bioconversion into ectoines using novel microbial platforms

Microbial conversion of CO2 and CO into chemicals is a promising route that can contribute to the cost-effective reduction of anthropogenic green house and waste gas emissions and create a more circular economy. However, the biotechnological valorization of CO2 and CO into chemicals is still restricted by the limited number of model microorganisms implemented, and the small profit margin of the products synthesized. This perspective paper intends to explore the genetic potential for the microbial conversion of CO2 and CO into ectoines, in a tentative to broaden bioconversion platforms and the portfolio of products from C-1 gas fermentations. Ectoine and hydroxyectoine can be produced by microorganisms growing at high salinity. They are high-value commodities for the pharmaceutical and medical sectors (1000-1200 euro/kg). Currently microbial ectoine production is based on sugar fermentations, but expansion to other more sustainable and cheaper substrates is desirable. In this work, a literature review to identify halophilic microbes able to use CO2 and CO as a carbon source was performed. Subsequently, genomes of this poll of microbes were mined for genes that encode for ectoine and hydroxyectoine synthesis (ectABCD, ask, asd and ask_ect). As a result, we identified a total of 31 species with the genetic potential to synthesize ectoine and 14 to synthesize hydroxyectoine. These microbes represent the basis for the creation of novel microbial-platforms that can promote the development of cost-effective and sustainable valorization chains of CO2 and CO in different industrial scenarios

Frontal sinus mucocele with intracranial and intraorbital extension

ABSTRACT Introduction: Frontal sinus mucoceles can present with a multitude of different symptoms including ophthalmic disturbances. Even benign, they have a tendency to expand by eroding the surrounding bony walls that displaces and destroys structures by pressure and bony resorption. Case report: A 32-year-old man with diplopia, proptosis of the right eye and headache was presented. The diagnosis was frontal sinus mucocele with intracranial and intraorbital extension. Possible clinical manifestations of mucoceles, diagnostic imaging techniques and treatment used are discussed. Conclusion: Frontal mucoceles are benign and curable, early recognition and management of them is of paramount importance, because they can cause local, orbital or intracranial complications

Frontal sinus mucocele with intracranial and intraorbital extension

ABSTRACT Introduction: Frontal sinus mucoceles can present with a multitude of different symptoms including ophthalmic disturbances. Even benign, they have a tendency to expand by eroding the surrounding bony walls that displaces and destroys structures by pressure and bony resorption. Case report: A 32-year-old man with diplopia, proptosis of the right eye and headache was presented. The diagnosis was frontal sinus mucocele with intracranial and intraorbital extension. Possible clinical manifestations of mucoceles, diagnostic imaging techniques and treatment used are discussed. Conclusion: Frontal mucoceles are benign and curable, early recognition and management of them is of paramount importance, because they can cause local, orbital or intracranial complications

The Glial Regenerative Response to Central Nervous System Injury Is Enabled by Pros-Notch and Pros-NFκB Feedback

Organisms are structurally robust, as cells accommodate changes preserving structural integrity and function. The molecular mechanisms underlying structural robustness and plasticity are poorly understood, but can be investigated by probing how cells respond to injury. Injury to the CNS induces proliferation of enwrapping glia, leading to axonal re-enwrapment and partial functional recovery. This glial regenerative response is found across species, and may reflect a common underlying genetic mechanism. Here, we show that injury to the Drosophila larval CNS induces glial proliferation, and we uncover a gene network controlling this response. It consists of the mutual maintenance between the cell cycle inhibitor Prospero (Pros) and the cell cycle activators Notch and NFκB. Together they maintain glia in the brink of dividing, they enable glial proliferation following injury, and subsequently they exert negative feedback on cell division restoring cell cycle arrest. Pros also promotes glial differentiation, resolving vacuolization, enabling debris clearance and axonal enwrapment. Disruption of this gene network prevents repair and induces tumourigenesis. Using wound area measurements across genotypes and time-lapse recordings we show that when glial proliferation and glial differentiation are abolished, both the size of the glial wound and neuropile vacuolization increase. When glial proliferation and differentiation are enabled, glial wound size decreases and injury-induced apoptosis and vacuolization are prevented. The uncovered gene network promotes regeneration of the glial lesion and neuropile repair. In the unharmed animal, it is most likely a homeostatic mechanism for structural robustness. This gene network may be of relevance to mammalian glia to promote repair upon CNS injury or disease