The contribution of F.D. Maurice to the Christian Socialist Movement of 1848-1954

Maurice was a man who solicited both keen support and bitter opposition, both during his life time and after. It is only within the last twenty or thirty years that his true worth has begun to be recognised and appreciated. The aim of the thesis is to show that his contribution to the Christian Socialist Movement was an invaluable one. Chapter two describes the working-class conditions and their causes during the first half of the nineteenth century, as well as the role the Church played in social improvement. Chapter three deals with Chartism and the European Revolutions of 1848, and the effect of the Revolutions on Chartism. Chapter four gives an account of the man F.D. Maurice, as well as some of his thoughts and aims. Chapter five is a detailed account of Maurice's contribution to Christian Socialism, showing that he was not the 'practical' leader, and emphasising the importance of his theological beliefs in governing what to do. Intro. p. 1

Shrimp processing waste as a pigment source for rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

A suitable method for the utilization of shrimp processing waste was investigated. The shrimp waste, which consisted of shell, viscera, and residual meat particles, was dried into a pink meal. This meal contained 5.4 percent moisture, 23.5 percent ash, 4. 1 percent crude lipid, 36. 3 percent actual protein, and 9. 5 percent chitin nitrogen. Its mineral analysis revealed 1.37 percent phosphorus, 11.50 percent calcium, 5.30 percent potassium, 1.28 percent sulphur, 3.0 ppm cobalt, 11.9 ppm copper, 412 ppm iron, 9.5 ppm manganese, and 75.0 ppm zinc. The shrimp waste meal was used as a dietary supplement for rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). It was incorporated into a purified diet at a level of 15 percent of the dry mix. After a feeding period of 24 weeks, the shrimp waste meal increased the pigmentation in the skin and muscular tissue of trout nearly 13 fold when comparisons were made to control fish. Sensory evaluations indicated that fish fed the diet containing shrimp waste meal were rated significantly (P > .01) higher in flavor and desirability than trout fed the control diet. An effective method to achieve pigmentation in the skin and muscular tissue of trout was investigated. Five pigment-rich diets were fed to separate groups of trout for 34 weeks. The pigmentation produced by each diet was compared to a sixth group of trout that received a control diet. The diet which contained 15 percent shrimp waste meal or a pigment-lipid extract of the meal proved the most effective in achieving muscular pigmentation. External pigmentation in the fins, skin, and operculum was produced more rapidly by the diet which contained a pigment-lipid extract of the shrimp waste meal. The carctenoid canthaxanthin did not produce pigmentation when fed in a crystalline form. Pigmentation was produced in the muscular tissue when canthaxanthin was fed in a water-dispersible form. Sensory evaluations showed that fish which received the shrimp waste meal or the pigment-lipid extract of the meal were rated significantly (P > .05) higher in firmness, color, and overall desirability than control trout. Trout that received the water-dispersible form of canthaxanthin were rated significantly (P > .05) higher than control trout only with regard to color

Pharmacological control of neutrophil-mediated inflammation: Strategies targeting calcium handling by activated polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Unlike most other effector cells of the innate, as well as the adaptive immune systems, the neutrophil is a relatively undiscerning aggressor with scant regard for damage limitation. Although this highly combative, professional phagocyte has become increasingly implicated in the immunopathogenesis of many acute and chronic inflammatory disorders, of both infective and noninfective origin, effective pharmacological strategies to counter neutrophilaggression have remained elusive. Activation of neutrophils results in rapid mobilization of both stored and extracellular Ca2+, resulting in abrupt, usually transient increases in cytosolic Ca2+, which precede, and are a prerequisite for activation of the Ca2+-dependent pro-inflammatory activities of these cells. Mobilization of Ca2+ by, and restoration of Ca2+ homeostasis to activated neutrophils are multistep processes which present a number of potential targets, some well recognized and others noveland unconventional, for the pharmacological control of neutrophil-mediated inflammation. Uncovering these targets represents the primary focus of this review

Late Eocene signals of oncoming Icehouse conditions and changing ocean circulation, Antarctica

The end of the Eocene greenhouse world was the most dramatic phase in the long-term Cenozoic cooling trend. Here we use 75,000 km of multi/single channel seismic reflection data from offshore Prydz Bay, Antarctica, to provide new insight on the Paleogene stratigraphic transition from greenhouse to icehouse conditions and reorganizing the ocean circulation changes that were invigorated by the cooling and glaciation. We identify a new prominent Paleogene transitional phase (Greenhouse to Icehouse) preserved in the deep-water sedimentary record by correlating from shelf to the continental slope. The occurrence of mega-Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs) on the slope during an early stage in the transition suggests significant instability and collapse of the upper part of the continental margin. A second stage of the transition is represented by the growth of a well-defined set of continental slope clinoforms. We estimate the formation age of the MTDs and clinoforms to be around Eocene-Oligocene Transition. The formation of the clinoforms in the transitional phase indicates sea level has risen, and large volumes sediment delivered to the margin by marine-terminating glaciers on the shelf. Finally, a subsequent marked migration of the margin depocenter toward the west and northwest, attests the onset of drift sedimentation and full glacial conditions, suggesting a more vigorous ocean circulation as the Earth entered the icehouse conditions after the Eocene-Oligocene boundary

Protein kinase C promotes restoration of calcium homeostasis to platelet activating factor-stimulated human neutrophils by inhibition of phospholipase C

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in regulating the activity of phospholipase C (PLC) in neutrophils activated with the chemoattractant, platelet-activating factor (PAF, 20 and 200 nM), was probed in the current study using the selective PKC inhibitors, GF10903X (0.5 - 1 μM) and staurosporine (400 nM).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Alterations in cytosolic Ca²⁺, Ca²⁺influx, inositol triphosphate (IP₃), and leukotriene B₄production were measured using spectrofluorimetric, radiometric and competitive binding radioreceptor and immunoassay procedures, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Activation of the cells with PAF was accompanied by an abrupt increase in cytosolic Ca²⁺followed by a gradual decline towards basal levels. Pretreatment of neutrophils with the PKC inhibitors significantly increased IP₃production with associated enhanced Ca²⁺release from storage vesicles, prolongation of the peak cytosolic Ca²⁺transients, delayed clearance and exaggerated reuptake of the cation, and markedly increased synthesis of LTB₄. The alterations in Ca²⁺fluxes observed with the PKC inhibitors were significantly attenuated by U73122, a PLC inhibitor, as well as by cyclic AMP-mediated upregulation of the Ca²⁺-resequestering endomembrane ATPase.</p> <p>Taken together, these observations are compatible with a mechanism whereby PKC negatively modulates the activity of PLC, with consequent suppression of IP₃production and down-regulation of Ca²⁺mediated pro-inflammatory responses of PAF-activated neutrophils.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although generally considered to initiate and/or amplify intracellular signalling cascades which activate and sustain the pro-inflammatory activities of neutrophils and other cell types, the findings of the current study have identified a potentially important physiological, anti-inflammatory function for PKC, at least in neutrophils.</p

Études nord-américaines

Jean Heffer et François Weil, directeurs d’étudesPap Ndiaye, maître de conférences La croissance économique américaine (Jean Heffer) Le séminaire a traité de deux problèmes d’histoire économique des États-Unis : la dette publique et le protectionnisme. Le premier thème a porté sur l’« âge classique » de la dette publique (1789-1916). À cette époque où domine l’orthodoxie budgétaire, la théorie classique, généralement hostile à la dette publique, doit parfois s’incliner devant les aléas politi..

Interplay of tidal and fluvial processes in an early Pleistocene, delta-fed, strait margin (Calabria, Southern Italy)

The architecture and morphodynamics of modern and ancient tidal straits and in particular the deposits of strait-margin zones, have been significantly understudied compared to other marginal marine settings, even though many reservoirs in the North Sea and the Norwegian Continental Shelf are developed in narrow grabens or seaways. This paper presents a detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of an early Pleistocene marginal-marine succession deposited along the northern margin of the Siderno paleostrait (southern Italy). This area represents an excellent case study of sedimentation along a tidal strait margin, interpreted to record the interaction of fluvial and tidal processes. Here, syn-depositional tectonics produced a complex coastal morphology, significantly influencing sedimentation and hydrodynamic processes. Along the strait margin, the emplacement of an isolated tectonic high (Piano Fossati) created a ca. 3.5 km-wide local passageway. This morpho-structural element induced interplays between fluvio-deltaic processes (fed from the northern strait margin) and tidal current reworking (active within the marine strait).The field-based facies analysis reported here documents an initial stage of non-tidal shallow-marine sedimentation across the strait. A subsequent regression caused river-generated hyperpycnal flows and the transfer of large volumes of pebbly and shelly sandstones into deeper water. Tidal currents became amplified in the strait, and, in the delta-front area, they were able to rework river-derived sediments generating large dune fields. Following the local tidal transport pathway, strong tidal currents skewed the delta front (causing it to be asymmetrical) and elongated sand bodies in a direction parallel to the marine strait axis. Differently from the classical tide-influenced deltas in which onshore-offshore tidal flow predominates, coast-parallel deflection and strong asymmetry of delta-front deposits is a typical feature of deltas entering tide-dominated seaways and straits, where strong tidal currents are capable of dispersing large volumes of sand for significant distances along the coast and along the strait axis. This process became progressively enhanced during the following transgression, when tide-modulated currents reworked biocalcarenitic sands over the previous delta deposits, generating southeasterly migrating dunes. At the end of the transgression, strandplain deposits formed in this area. This last stage of sedimentation was followed by a dramatic regional-scale structural uplift, which ended any marine circulation within the strait. This work provides new insights on sedimentation in a tide-dominated strait, and helps to predict sandbody distribution along the strait margin and axis. These findings can be applied to any other setting characterized by a narrow (possibly structurally-confined) basin dominated by tidal currents

Overview of community-acquired pneumonia and the role of imflammatory mechanisms in the immunopathogenesis of severe pneumococcal disease

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the infectious diseases.Despite the implementation of national pneumococcal polyvalent vaccine-based immunisation strategies targeted at high-risk groups, Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) remains the most common cause of CAP. Notwithstanding the HIV pandemic, major challenges confronting the control of CAP include the range of bacterial and viral pathogens causing this condition, the ever-increasing problem of antibiotic resistance worldwide, and increased vulnerability associated with steadily aging populations in developed countries.These and other risk factors, as well as diagnostic strategies, are covered in the first section of this review. Thereafter, the review is focused on the pneumococcus, specifically the major virulence factors of this microbial pathogen and their role in triggering overexuberant inflammatory responses which contribute to the immunopathogenesis of invasive disease. The final section of the review is devoted to a consideration of pharmacological, anti-inflammatory strategies with adjunctive potential in the antimicrobial chemotherapy of CAP. This is focused on macrolides, corticosteroids, and statins with respect to their modes of anti-inflammatory action, current status, and limitations.http://www.hindawi.comam201