Les fonctions internes de la détente dans les systèmes politiques du triangle euro-arabo-africain : l’image oubliée de l’interdépendance Nord-Sud

This study deals with two increasingly important aspects of international relations : first, the interpretation of the North-South dynamic of the international System and second, the significance of détente in the Euro-Arabo-African mini-triangle.In his discussion of the first problematic, the author suggests it would be useful to take an interdependence approach towards the analysis of North-South relations, implying that the international system is hexagonal as regards both structure and process and that non-alignment is becoming a sixth pole of influence in the system. More specifically, and taking as a starting point the « depolarization » of the détente process, the author argues that the security objectives of the West European, Arab and African political Systems are in fact interdependent. This interdependence is to be found above all in their interest in diluting the East-West conflict and instituting a policy of détente, the purpose of which is all the more significant for being internal - i.e. the stabilization, legitimization and integration of these political Systems. Since the effects of such a policy will be felt only gradually, these countries find they have a common interest in a complementary strategy whereby the East-West conflict is segmented and intersected by the North-South conflict (intra-alliance, even).The aim of the study is to show that, in the theory of international relations, greater attention should be paid to the motivations and strategies of actors in the South and their impact on the international system in the economic problem areas as well as the political and strategic ones.Because the properties of political reality differ from those of physical reality, the properties of political regularities also differ from those of physical regularises. The regularities we discover are soft. They are soft because they are outcomes of processes that exhibit plastic rather than cast-iron control. They are imbedded in history and involve recurrent « passings-through » of large numbers of human memories, learning processes, human goal seeking impulses, and choices among alternatives. They decay quickly because of the memory, creative searching, and learning that underlie them. Indeed social science itself may contribute to this decay, since learning increasingly include not only learning from experience, but from scientific research itself. Gabriel A. ALMOND et Stephan J. GENCO, « Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics », World Politics, vol. XXIX, n° 4, juillet 1977, pp. 493-494. Ithas become a platitude that the whole world is now interdependent... Yet what a tremendous platitude it is /... If this platitude is unalterably true, its implications must profoundly affect the conditions of human life for the future ; it must transform all our thinking about social organization ; it must modify all our programmes and policies. Clearly we ought to be thinking seriously about it, and asking ourselves what it involves. A. MuiR, The Interdependent World and lts Problems, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, 1973, p. 1

On Intuitionistic Fuzzy Neutrosophic Soft Ideal Topological Spaces

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of intuitionistic fuzzy neutronsophic soft ideal in Intuitionistic fuzzy neutronsophic soft set theory. The concept of intuitionistic fuzzy neutrosophic soft local function is also introduced. These concepts are discussed with a view to find new intuitionistic fuzzy neutronsophic soft topologies from the original one. The basic structure, respecially a basic for such generated Intuitionistic fuzzy neutronsophic soft topologies also studied here. Finally, the notion of compatibility of intuitionistic fuzzy neutronsophic soft ideals with Intuitionistic fuzzy neutrosophic soft topologies is introduced and some equivalent conditions concerning, this topic are established here.&nbsp

Deciphering Psilocybin: Cytotoxicity, Anti-inflammatory Effects, and Mechanistic Insights

A decade of clinical research indicates psilocybin\u27s effectiveness in treating various neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression and substance abuse. The correlation between increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and the severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms, along with the known anti-inflammatory potential of some psychedelics, suggests an immunomodulatory role for psilocybin. This study aims to understand psilocybin\u27s mechanism of action by investigating the cytotoxic and immunomodulatory effects of psilocybin and psilocin on both resting and LPS-activated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages

Comparability of automated human induced pluripotent stem cell culture: a pilot study

Consistent and robust manufacturing is essential for the translation of cell therapies, and the utilisation automation throughout the manufacturing process may allow for improvements in quality control, scalability, reproducibility and economics of the process. The aim of this study was to measure and establish the comparability between alternative process steps for the culture of hiPSCs. Consequently, the effects of manual centrifugation and automated non-centrifugation process steps, performed using TAP Biosystems’ CompacT SelecT automated cell culture platform, upon the culture of a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line (VAX001024c07) were compared. This study, has demonstrated that comparable morphologies and cell diameters were observed in hiPSCs cultured using either manual or automated process steps. However, non-centrifugation hiPSC populations exhibited greater cell yields, greater aggregate rates, increased pluripotency marker expression, and decreased differentiation marker expression compared to centrifugation hiPSCs. A trend for decreased variability in cell yield was also observed after the utilisation of the automated process step. This study also highlights the detrimental effect of the cryopreservation and thawing processes upon the growth and characteristics of hiPSC cultures, and demonstrates that automated hiPSC manufacturing protocols can be successfully transferred between independent laboratories

A Soluble Form of B Cell Maturation Antigen, a Receptor for the Tumor Necrosis Factor Family Member April, Inhibits Tumor Cell Growth

A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) is a ligand of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family that stimulates tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Expression of APRIL is highly upregulated in many tumors including colon and prostate carcinomas. Here we identify B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand (CAML) interactor (TACI), two predicted members of the TNF receptor family, as receptors for APRIL. APRIL binds BCMA with higher affinity than TACI. A soluble form of BCMA, which inhibits the proliferative activity of APRIL in vitro, decreases tumor cell proliferation in nude mice. Growth of HT29 colon carcinoma cells is blocked when mice are treated once per week with the soluble receptor. These results suggest an important role for APRIL in tumorigenesis and point towards a novel anticancer strategy

Baff Mediates Survival of Peripheral Immature B Lymphocytes

B cell maturation is a very selective process that requires finely tuned differentiation and survival signals. B cell activation factor from the TNF family (BAFF) is a TNF family member that binds to B cells and potentiates B cell receptor (BCR)-mediated proliferation. A role for BAFF in B cell survival was suggested by the observation of reduced peripheral B cell numbers in mice treated with reagents blocking BAFF, and high Bcl-2 levels detected in B cells from BAFF transgenic (Tg) mice. We tested in vitro the survival effect of BAFF on lymphocytes derived from primary and secondary lymphoid organs. BAFF induced survival of a subset of splenic immature B cells, referred to as transitional type 2 (T2) B cells. BAFF treatment allowed T2 B cells to survive and differentiate into mature B cells in response to signals through the BCR. The T2 and the marginal zone (MZ) B cell compartments were particularly enlarged in BAFF Tg mice. Immature transitional B cells are targets for negative selection, a feature thought to promote self-tolerance. These findings support a model in which excessive BAFF-mediated survival of peripheral immature B cells contributes to the emergence and maturation of autoreactive B cells, skewed towards the MZ compartment. This work provides new clues on mechanisms regulating B cell maturation and tolerance

The aesthetics and politics of ‘reading together’ Moroccan novels in Arabic and French

This paper attempts to break down the common practices of reading multilingual Moroccan novels, particularly Moroccan postcolonial novels in Arabic and French. I argue that dominant reading practices are based on binary oppositions marked by a reductionist understanding of language and cultural politics in Morocco. They place the Moroccan novel in Arabic and French in independent traditions with the presupposition that they have no impact on each other, thereby reifying each tradition. They also ignore the similar historical, social and cultural context from which these novels emerge, and tend to reinforce the marginalisation of the Moroccan novel within hegemonic single-language literary systems such as the Francophone or Arabic literary traditions. I advocate ‘reading together’ – or an entangled comparative reading of – postcolonial Moroccan novels in Arabic and French, a reading that privileges the specificity of the literary traditions in Morocco rather than language categorisation, and that considers their mutual historical, cultural, geographical, political, and aesthetic interweaving and implications

The gene structure and expression of human ABHD1: overlapping polyadenylation signal sequence with Sec12

BACKGROUND: Overlapping sense/antisense genes orientated in a tail-to-tail manner, often involving only the 3'UTRs, form the majority of gene pairs in mammalian genomes and can lead to the formation of double-stranded RNA that triggers the destruction of homologous mRNAs. Overlapping polyadenylation signal sequences have not been described previously. RESULTS: An instance of gene overlap has been found involving a shared single functional polyadenylation site. The genes involved are the human alpha/beta hydrolase domain containing gene 1 (ABHD1) and Sec12 genes. The nine exon human ABHD1 gene is located on chromosome 2p23.3 and encodes a 405-residue protein containing a catalytic triad analogous to that present in serine proteases. The Sec12 protein promotes efficient guanine nucleotide exchange on the Sar1 GTPase in the ER. Their sequences overlap for 42 bp in the 3'UTR in an antisense manner. Analysis by 3' RACE identified a single functional polyadenylation site, ATTAAA, within the 3'UTR of ABHD1 and a single polyadenylation signal, AATAAA, within the 3'UTR of Sec12. These polyadenylation signals overlap, sharing three bp. They are also conserved in mouse and rat. ABHD1 was expressed in all tissues and cells examined, but levels of ABHD1 varied greatly, being high in skeletal muscle and testis and low in spleen and fibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS: Mammalian ABHD1 and Sec12 genes contain a conserved 42 bp overlap in their 3'UTR, and share a conserved TTTATTAAA/TTTAATAAA sequence that serves as a polyadenylation signal for both genes. No inverse correlation between the respective levels of ABHD1 and Sec12 RNA was found to indicate that any RNA interference occurred

Intrinsic Structural Disorder Confers Cellular Viability on Oncogenic Fusion Proteins

Chromosomal translocations, which often generate chimeric proteins by fusing segments of two distinct genes, represent the single major genetic aberration leading to cancer. We suggest that the unifying theme of these events is a high level of intrinsic structural disorder, enabling fusion proteins to evade cellular surveillance mechanisms that eliminate misfolded proteins. Predictions in 406 translocation-related human proteins show that they are significantly enriched in disorder (43.3% vs. 20.7% in all human proteins), they have fewer Pfam domains, and their translocation breakpoints tend to avoid domain splitting. The vicinity of the breakpoint is significantly more disordered than the rest of these already highly disordered fusion proteins. In the unlikely event of domain splitting in fusion it usually spares much of the domain or splits at locations where the newly exposed hydrophobic surface area approximates that of an intact domain. The mechanisms of action of fusion proteins suggest that in most cases their structural disorder is also essential to the acquired oncogenic function, enabling the long-range structural communication of remote binding and/or catalytic elements. In this respect, there are three major mechanisms that contribute to generating an oncogenic signal: (i) a phosphorylation site and a tyrosine-kinase domain are fused, and structural disorder of the intervening region enables intramolecular phosphorylation (e.g., BCR-ABL); (ii) a dimerisation domain fuses with a tyrosine kinase domain and disorder enables the two subunits within the homodimer to engage in permanent intermolecular phosphorylations (e.g., TFG-ALK); (iii) the fusion of a DNA-binding element to a transactivator domain results in an aberrant transcription factor that causes severe misregulation of transcription (e.g. EWS-ATF). Our findings also suggest novel strategies of intervention against the ensuing neoplastic transformations

Aberrant Expression of Functional BAFF-System Receptors by Malignant B-Cell Precursors Impacts Leukemia Cell Survival

Despite exhibiting oncogenic events, patient's leukemia cells are responsive and dependent on signals from their malignant bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, which modulate their survival, cell cycle progression, trafficking and resistance to chemotherapy. Identification of the signaling pathways mediating this leukemia/microenvironment interplay is critical for the development of novel molecular targeted therapies