Eric Voegelin's History of political ideas. The bones of contention of the political animal

The History of Political Ideas by the German-American philosopher Eric Voegelin (1901-1985) is a monumental work of around 2,600 pages. It remained unpublished during his lifetime, and it came to light through the American edition (1997-1999) and the now completed Portuguese edition (2012-2018). Being the author of the first world edition of an abridged version of the History of Political Ideas; the translator of the first three volumes of the 2012-2018 Portuguese edition; and the author of The civil philosophy of Eric Voegelin (my 1990 Ph. D diss.) I consider that the History of Political Ideas challenges the present climate of opinion: it subverts the dominant corrosive forces of moral relativism, intolerant neo-positivism, end-of-history obsessions, postmodernist deconstructions, agnosticism, nihilism, new age religions, and the all-pervasive ideology of money. Eric Voegelin achieves all this leading his readers from Antiquity to Modern Age. His monumental work begins with the “spiritual disintegration” of the Greek world, after the peak of Plato and Aristotle, a disintegration that ushered a long process of transition in the self-understanding of man in the Mediterranean world. The series goes through Middle Ages, R enaissance and Reformation as Voegelin analyzes the collapse of imperial Christianity, which led to the rise of autonomous reason and sectarian revolts that reached full development in later centuries. A new form of modern human consciousness replaced the Christian understanding of a divinely created closed cosmos. The collection ends - in a suspensive way - with “The Crisis and the Apocalypse of Man” focused on thinkers such as Comte, Bakunine and Marx; although they experienced true epiphanies, they become self-obsessed to the detriment of the world to which they refer. Such “Apocalypse of Man” must now be challenged, albeit with methodologies and hermeneutic principles other than those that Voegelin himself abandoned some decades ago.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The genomic environment around the Aromatase gene: evolutionary insights

BACKGROUND: The cytochrome P450 aromatase (CYP19), catalyses the aromatisation of androgens to estrogens, a key mechanism in vertebrate reproductive physiology. A current evolutionary hypothesis suggests that CYP19 gene arose at the origin of vertebrates, given that it has not been found outside this clade. The human CYP19 gene is located in one of the proposed MHC-paralogon regions (HSA15q). At present it is unclear whether this genomic location is ancestral (which would suggest an invertebrate origin for CYP19) or derived (genomic location with no evolutionary meaning). The distinction between these possibilities should help to clarify the timing of the CYP19 emergence and which taxa should be investigated. RESULTS: Here we determine the "genomic environment" around CYP19 in three vertebrate species Homo sapiens, Tetraodon nigroviridis and Xenopus tropicalis. Paralogy studies and phylogenetic analysis of six gene families suggests that the CYP19 gene region was structured through "en bloc" genomic duplication (as part of the MHC-paralogon formation). Four gene families have specifically duplicated in the vertebrate lineage. Moreover, the mapping location of the different paralogues is consistent with a model of "en bloc" duplication. Furthermore, we also determine that this region has retained the same gene content since the divergence of Actinopterygii and Tetrapods. A single inversion in gene order has taken place, probably in the mammalian lineage. Finally, we describe the first invertebrate CYP19 sequence, from Branchiostoma floridae. CONCLUSION: Contrary to previous suggestions, our data indicates an invertebrate origin for the aromatase gene, given the striking conservation pattern in both gene order and gene content, and the presence of aromatase in amphioxus. We propose that CYP19 duplicated in the vertebrate lineage to yield four paralogues, followed by the subsequent loss of all but one gene in vertebrate evolution. Finally, we suggest that agnathans and lophotrocozoan protostomes should be investigated for the presence of aromatase

An overview of portuguese chemical engineering undergraduate laboratories

The UNESCO’s World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century, Vision and Action (1998) states in its paragraph “Innovative educational approaches: critical thinking and creativity”: “[…] New pedagogical and didactical approaches should be accessible and promoted in order to facilitate the acquisition of skills, competencies and abilities for communication, creative and critical analysis, independent thinking and team work […]”. The importance of teaching laboratories for students to acquire competencies and abilities especially in creative and critical analysis and teamwork is recognized. On the other hand it is generally recognized in all the EU countries that undergraduate labs are generally badly equipped, badly taught, badly organized and high budget consumers. To make things worse, the traditional education labs consume lots of reactants, produce lots of environmentally aggressive effluents, consume lots of students' time and have a modest output. Under this framework what should be changed? Would it be easy to do? Or are we condemned to live with bad labs and bad lab classes? Isolated efforts of laboratory professors and head of departments have been tried within each Portuguese University. Now it's time to involve all partners, head of departments, course directors, laboratory professors and students, of all schools, and make an effort to conquer a quantitative improvement of the undergraduate laboratories and dynamize an inter-school collaboration. The first step in this direction will be done, precisely, at this congress. Five experiences on main five Portuguese Universities (FEUP, IST, UA, UM, UC and UNL) are described, giving a picture of the effort being played in these institutions to improve the experimental education

Biodegradation of 2-fluorobenzoate in upflow fixed bed bioreactors operated with different growth support materials

Three upflow fixed bed bioreactors treating an aqueous stream containing 2-fluorobenzoate were operated for a period of 7months, during which they were exposed to high organic loading rates and starvation. The reactors contained granular activated carbon (GAC), polyethylene (PE) particles and expanded clay (EC) respectively as growth support for microbial biofilms. The performance of the reactors was compared and the biofilm microbial population was followed by cell counting and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The reactor containing GAC always had 100% removal efficiency owing to the adsorption properties of thematerial combined with biodegradation. The GAC reactor also recovered better after starvation periods in the sense that it showed more stable behaviour than the reactors containing EC and PE. The highest biological elimination capacity was observed for the reactor containing EC, which reached 200mg day−1 L−1 during reactor start-up, but during long-termoperation the reactor containing GAC showed the highest biological elimination capacity, 140mg day−1 L−1. DGGE analysis indicated that starvation periods seemed to be responsible for shifts in the microbial population

Imaging of pancreas transplantation and its complications

Abstract Pancreas transplantation is an effective treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus and is being increasingly performed worldwide. Early recognition of graft-related complications is fundamental for graft survival; thus, radiologists must be aware of the transplantation technique, pancreas-graft imaging and postoperative complications. We present normal pancreas-graft imaging appearances and the imaging features of postoperative complications

Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis associated with type II cryoglobulinaemia in a renal transplant patient with hepatitis C

The most common HCV-related nephropathy is membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), usually in the context of cryoglobulinaemia. The treatment of this entity is not consensual and represents a challenge to clinicians. We report a case of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis associated with cryoglobulinaemia type II in a 46-year-old Caucasian male recipient of a deceased kidney transplant in 2010. His baseline serum creatinine (SCr) was 1.1 mg/dl. After three years post-transplantation, he presented with nephritic syndrome in association with renal function impairment (SCr – 2.1 mg/dl). The laboratory tests revealed positive rheumatoid factor, hypocomplementaemia and a positive cryocrit with type II cryoglobulinaemia. Antinuclear autoantibodies and anti-double stranded DNA antibodies were negative. Despite the presence of anti-HCV antibodies, the viral load remained undetectable. The allograft biopsy showed lesions compatible with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, with staining in the immunofluorescence for granular IgM and C3 and no C4d. He was treated with methylprednisolone pulses followed by oral prednisolone in association with rituximab. Two months after the last dose of rituximab, the SCr improved to 1.27 mg/dl, the proteinuria decreased and serum C3 levels normalized. Cryogloglobulins and rheumatoid factor became negative and HCV RNA remained undetectable. The patient was lost for follow-up. In our case, the treatment with rituximab resulted in a favourable outcome, although a longer follow-up period may be needed to evaluate the clinical response, since other studies reported high relapse rates

Pericardial and pleural effusions associated with sirolimus and discussion of possible mechanisms

Sirolimus, a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor, is an increasingly used immunosuppressant in solid-organ transplantation. There are an increasing number of reports of unusual oedematous adverse effects associated with this drug, including lymphoedema, ascites and pleural effusions, and a few reports of pericardial effusions. No pathophysiological explanation for these phenomena has been disclosed. We report a 33-year-old sirolimus-treated kidney transplant recipient with chronic pericardial and pleural effusions identified nine years after transplantation. He was initially treated for a presumed tuberculous pericarditis, even though cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis were negative. After 12 months of antitubercular therapy, visceral effusions persisted. Pericardial effusion was drained and stabilised. After exclusion of other causes, sirolimus toxicity was considered the most likely cause. Two months after discontinuation of sirolimus, visceraleffusions disappeared. Interaction of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors with mediators of lymphangiogenesis may be a common link in oedematous states associated with sirolimus

Primeiro transplante renal ABO-incompatível realizado em Portuga

Kidney transplantation is the optimal treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) improving survival and quality of life for most recipients. In our country, potential living donors have been refused due to the ABO incompatibility barrier. However, ABO -incompatible living donor kidney transplant is presently common practice in several countries with good outcomes. The authors describe a case of a 49-year-old female patient, with chronic kidney disease due to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, who had started haemodialysis 10 months before and with blood group O. The living donor was a 53-year-old sister with blood group B. The desensitization protocol was based on rituximab and plasmapheresis. The induction protocol used was basiliximab, tacrolimus, mofetil mycophenolate and metilprednisolone. Five days post -transplant she presented a normal graft function that remained during the eight months follow -up. This case reveals the first ABO incompatible living donor kidney transplant performed in Portugal with excellent outcomeO transplante renal é a modalidade de tratamento da doença renal crónica estadio 5 associada a melhores sobrevivência e qualidade de vida. No nosso país muitos potenciais dadores vivos têm sido recusados devido à incompatibilidade ABO. Contudo, o transplante renal de dador vivo ABO incompatível é hoje prática comum em diversos países com resultados positivos. Os autores descrevem o caso de doente do sexo feminino, de 49 anos, com doença renal crónica secundária a doença renal poliquística autossómica dominante, que havia iniciado hemodiálise 10 meses antes e com grupo sanguíneo O. O dador vivo foi uma irmã de 53 anos, grupo sanguíneo B. O protocolo de dessensibilização baseou -se em rituximab e plasmaferese. O protocolo de indução foi com basiliximab, tacrolimus, micofenolato de mofetil e metilprednisolona. Evoluiu com função normal do enxerto 5 dias pós-transplante que se manteve durante o follow-up de 8 meses. Este caso clínico ilustra o primeiro transplante renal de dador vivo ABO incompatível efectuado em Portugal com excelente resultad

Brazilian Green Propolis: Effects In Vitro and In Vivo on Trypanosoma cruzi

The composition of a Brazilian green propolis ethanolic extract (Et-Bra) and its effect on Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and other pathogenic microorganisms have already been reported. Here, we further investigated Et-Bra targets in T. cruzi and its effect on experimental infection of mice. The IC50/4 days for inhibition of amastigote proliferation was 8.5 ± 1.8 μg mL−1, with no damage to the host cells. In epimastigotes Et-Bra induced alterations in reservosomes, Golgi complex and mitochondrion. These effects were confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. In trypomastigotes, Et-Bra led to the loss of plasma membrane integrity. The in vitro studies indicate that Et-Bra interferes in the functionality of the plasma membrane in trypomastigotes and of reservosomes and mitochondrion in epimastigotes. Acutely infected mice were treated orally with Et-Bra and the parasitemia, mortality and GPT, GOT, CK and urea levels were monitored. The extract (25–300 mg kg−1 body weight/day for 10 days) reduced the parasitemia, although not at significant levels; increased the survival of the animals and did not induce any hepatic, muscular lesion or renal toxicity. Since Et-Bra was not toxic to the animals, it could be assayed in combination with other drugs. Et-Bra could be a potential metacyclogenesis blocker, considering its effect on reservosomes, which are an important energy source during parasite differentiation

Malignancy after renal transplantation: a single-centre experience

Introduction: Malignancy management in renal transplant recipients is becoming a major factor affecting long‑term patient survival. Thus, we intended to evaluate both incidence and prognosis of malignant diseases following renal transplantation at a single centre in Portugal. Methods: We studied retrospectively the 2,358 patients who underwent kidney transplantation (KT) between 1983 and 2014. Apart from descriptive analysis, both demographic and clinical characteristics of cancer and non‑cancer cancer patients were compared. Results: During a median follow‑up of 118 (IQR 57‑179) months, 139 patients (5.8%) developed 158 de novo malignancies, with a median time from KT to diagnosis of 76..5 (IQR 21.0‑132.0) months. When compared to non‑cancer patients, they were older at KT date, had longer graft survival and a lower living donor recipients’ prevalence. As for post-transplant malignancies analysis, the most common were non‑cutaneous non‑lymphomatous cancers (49.4%, n=78), skin cancers (35.4%, n=56) and post‑transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (9.5%, n=15). Considering specific diagnosis, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma with 17.1% and 16.5% respectively, and non‑Hodgkin lymphomas with 7.6%, were the most frequent. Global mortality among cancer patients was 36.0%, with a median time of 9.7 (IQR 1.9‑17.5) months from time of diagnosis to death. As for survival analysis, cancer patient survival was significantly lower while censored graft survival was significantly higher in this group. Conclusion: Incidence and characteristics of malignancy following renal transplantation in our unit are similar to those globally described, despite some traits probably a result of specific ethnic and environmental characteristics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio