Towards the Development of Theory: Cultural Pluralism Redefined

The authors are attempting to move beyond the descriptive position, evidenced in the current writing, towards a theoretical approach to cultural pluralism. A series of definitions are presented concluding with the authors\u27 definition of cultural pluralism - redefined. The new definition is discussed, as an operational concept, emanating from participants in the new cultural pluralism movement. The current societal conditions that impede the realization of cultural pluralism are discussed in relation to a conceptual model, Criteria for Assigning Preferred or Unpreferred Status, that is used to explain our society\u27s idealization of certain personal, social, and economic characteristics. The authors conclude the article by presenting some considerations and directions for social scientists and human service workers who are committed to the realization of cultural pluralism for our society

Interorgan Coordination of the Murine Adaptive Response to Fasting*

Starvation elicits a complex adaptive response in an organism. No information on transcriptional regulation of metabolic adaptations is available. We, therefore, studied the gene expression profiles of brain, small intestine, kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle in mice that were subjected to 0–72 h of fasting. Functional-category enrichment, text mining, and network analyses were employed to scrutinize the overall adaptation, aiming to identify responsive pathways, processes, and networks, and their regulation. The observed transcriptomics response did not follow the accepted “carbohydrate-lipid-protein” succession of expenditure of energy substrates. Instead, these processes were activated simultaneously in different organs during the entire period. The most prominent changes occurred in lipid and steroid metabolism, especially in the liver and kidney. They were accompanied by suppression of the immune response and cell turnover, particularly in the small intestine, and by increased proteolysis in the muscle. The brain was extremely well protected from the sequels of starvation. 60% of the identified overconnected transcription factors were organ-specific, 6% were common for 4 organs, with nuclear receptors as protagonists, accounting for almost 40% of all transcriptional regulators during fasting. The common transcription factors were PPARα, HNF4α, GCRα, AR (androgen receptor), SREBP1 and -2, FOXOs, EGR1, c-JUN, c-MYC, SP1, YY1, and ETS1. Our data strongly suggest that the control of metabolism in four metabolically active organs is exerted by transcription factors that are activated by nutrient signals and serves, at least partly, to prevent irreversible brain damage