Of Nigerians, albinos, satanists and anecdotes: A critical review of the HSRC report on human trafficking

The deluge of news articles about human trafficking in South Africa, and the media preoccupation with trafficking in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, could lead an observer to believe that South Africa is a 'hotbed' of human trafficking. Yet, there are no baseline data about the extent or nature of the problem. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) released a research report in March this year that purports to provide 'the first comprehensive assessment of human trafficking in South Africa.' The report is beset with methodological problems and assumptions. It is based on very little original research. The authors of this review argue that it represents a missed opportunity to provide much needed information about human trafficking in South Africa and fuels sensationalism about human trafficking

Легенди та перекази кінця ХVI - початку ХVІІ ст. в записах Петра Могили

For the first time in the history of the Ukrainian folkloristics the author researches the records of legends made by sanctifier Petro Mohyla at the beginning of the 17th century mainly in Kyiv suburbs. The author focuses on authenticity of the texts, their links to the traditional legendry and hagiography as well as methods of recording

Developmental consequences of perinatal cannabis exposure: behavioral and neuroendocrine effects in adult rodents

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug among pregnant women. Since the endocannabinoid system plays a crucial role in brain development, maternal exposure to cannabis derivatives might result in long-lasting neurobehavioral abnormalities in the exposed offspring. It is difficult to detect these effects, and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms, in clinical cohorts, because of their intrinsic methodological and interpretative issues. The present paper reviews relevant rodent studies examining the long-term behavioral consequences of exposure to cannabinoid compounds during pregnancy and/or lactation. Maternal exposure to even low doses of cannabinoid compounds results in atypical locomotor activity, cognitive impairments, altered emotional behavior, and enhanced sensitivity to drugs of abuse in the adult rodent offspring. Some of the observed behavioral abnormalities might be related to alterations in stress hormone levels induced by maternal cannabis exposure. There is increasing evidence from animal studies showing that cannabinoid drugs are neuroteratogens which induce enduring neurobehavioral abnormalities in the exposed offspring. Several preclinical findings reviewed in this paper are in line with clinical studies reporting hyperactivity, cognitive impairments and altered emotionality in humans exposed in utero to cannabis. Conversely, genetic, environmental and social factors could also influence the neurobiological effects of early cannabis exposure in humans

Risks of misinterpretation in the evaluation of the effect of fruit-based drinks in postprandial studies

It has been suggested that some fruit-based drinks (FBD) may delay the onset of postprandial stress, which is involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases. The majority of the studies, which have investigated the effects of FBD on postprandial stress, involved a placebo that was a drink with the same content in sugars or carbohydrates of the FBD, but without the bioactive antioxidant compounds. These studies were aimed more at evaluating the effect of the antioxidants rather than the effect of the FBD as a whole. Only 4 studies compared the effect of FBD with water as control and did not support the hypothesis that FBD could inhibit postprandial dysmetabolism, as well as the studies that compared the effect of orange juice and cola. Overall, the results suggest a complex relationship between postprandial dysmetabolism, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the inflammatory and oxidative stress markers need further analytical validation and normal ranges should be established in order to reach a firm conclusion. Finally, caution should be taken in the interpretation of the effect of FBD in postprandial studies and the reviewed results suggest that dietary recommendations should aim to limit rather than increase sugar-sweetened beverages consumption

Effect of cocoa products and flavanols on platelet aggregation in humans: a systematic review

Previous evidence suggested an active role of cocoa products and flavanols in modulating platelet aggre- 1 gation. However, cocoa flavanols are characterized by a low bioavailability that can deeply affect their presence in biological fluids and raise questions on their biological effect in humans. We performed a sys- tematic search on Medline, Embase, Cochrane and ProQuest databases, until April 2015, on the effect of cocoa products on platelet aggregation in human intervention studies. We identified 13 interventions, of which only five involved repeated administration. Different effects were observed on the basis of the platelet aggregation test used, whereas neither a longer duration of treatment nor a higher dose was associated with a higher inhibition of platelet aggregation. In conclusion, the reviewed results suggest that consumption of cocoa products in bolus administration positively affects platelet aggregation in both healthy subjects and diseased patients. On the other hand, more evidence is required in order to assess the effect of long-term cocoa product ingestion and to identify the bioactive components involved

Training-Associated Emotional Arousal Shapes Endocannabinoid Modulation of Spatial Memory Retrieval in Rats

Contains fulltext : 150747.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Variations in environmental aversiveness influence emotional memory processes in rats. We have previously shown that cannabinoid effects on memory are dependent on the stress level at the time of training as well as on the aversiveness of the environmental context. Here, we investigated whether the hippocampal endocannabinoid system modulates memory retrieval depending on the training-associated arousal level. Male adult Sprague Dawley rats were trained on a water maze spatial task at two different water temperatures (19 degrees C and 25 degrees C) to elicit either higher or lower stress levels, respectively. Rats trained under the higher stress condition had better memory and higher corticosterone concentrations than rats trained at the lower stress condition. The cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55212-2 (10-30 ng/side), the 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) hydrolysis inhibitor JZL184 (0.1-1 mug/side), and the anandamide (AEA) hydrolysis inhibitor URB597 (10-30 ng/side) were administered bilaterally into the hippocampus 60 min before probe-trial retention testing. WIN55212-2 or JZL184, but not URB597, impaired probe-trial performances only of rats trained at the higher stressful condition. Furthermore, rats trained under higher stress levels displayed an increase in hippocampal 2-AG, but not AEA, levels at the time of retention testing and a decreased affinity of the main 2-AG-degrading enzyme for its substrate. The present findings indicate that the endocannabinoid 2-AG in the hippocampus plays a key role in the selective regulation of spatial memory retrieval of stressful experience, shedding light on the neurobiological mechanisms involved in the impact of stress effects on memory processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Endogenous cannabinoids play a central role in the modulation of memory for emotional events. Here we demonstrate that the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol in the hippocampus, a brain region crucially involved in the regulation of memory processes, selectively modulates spatial memory recall of stressful experiences. Thus, our findings provide evidence that the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol is a key player in mediating the impact of stress on memory retrieval. These findings can pave the way to new potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, where a previous exposure to traumatic events could alter the response to traumatic memory recall leading to mental illness