Interdisciplinary Approaches to Emotions in Politics and International Relations

The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examini

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Emotions in Politics and International Relations

The ‘emotional turn’ within the social sciences and humanities attracts increasing scholarly attention. Political Science, traditionally emphasising the ‘rational’ public sphere rather than the ‘emotional’ private sphere, has increasingly questioned this dichotomisation, identifying broader political concepts and practices. The international political process—frequently characterised by widespread distrust, populist campaigns and extreme rhetoric—necessitates addressing and examini

Numerical investigation of the vertical plunging force of a spherical intruder into a granular bed

The plunging of a large sphere into a prefluidized granular bed with various constant velocities is investigated using a state-of-theart hybrid Discrete Particle and Immersed Boundary Method (DPIBM), with which both the gas-induced drag force and the contact force exerted on the intruder can be investigated separately. Our simulation method has been validated by comparison with the existing experimental results. Current simulation results show a concave-to-convex plunging force as a function of depth and in the concave region the force fits to a power-law with exponent around 1.3, which is in good agreement with existing experimental observations

Intracellular Calcium Deficits in Drosophila Cholinergic Neurons Expressing Wild Type or FAD-Mutant Presenilin

Much of our current understanding about neurodegenerative diseases can be attributed to the study of inherited forms of these disorders. For example, mutations in the presenilin 1 and 2 genes have been linked to early onset familial forms of Alzheimer's disease (FAD). Using the Drosophila central nervous system as a model we have investigated the role of presenilin in one of the earliest cellular defects associated with Alzheimer's disease, intracellular calcium deregulation. We show that expression of either wild type or FAD-mutant presenilin in Drosophila CNS neurons has no impact on resting calcium levels but does give rise to deficits in intracellular calcium stores. Furthermore, we show that a loss-of-function mutation in calmodulin, a key regulator of intracellular calcium, can suppress presenilin-induced deficits in calcium stores. Our data support a model whereby presenilin plays a role in regulating intracellular calcium stores and demonstrate that Drosophila can be used to study the link between presenilin and calcium deregulation

Uric Acid Is a Mediator of the Plasmodium falciparum-Induced Inflammatory Response

Malaria triggers a high inflammatory response in the host that mediates most of the associated pathologies and contributes to death. The identification of pro-inflammatory molecules derived from Plasmodium is essential to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis and to develop targeted interventions. Uric acid derived from hypoxanthine accumulated in infected erythrocytes has been recently proposed as a mediator of inflammation in rodent malaria.We found that human erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum gradually accumulate hypoxanthine in their late stages of development. To analyze the role of hypoxanthine-derived uric acid induced by P. falciparum on the inflammatory cytokine response from human blood mononuclear cells, cultures were treated with allopurinol, to inhibit uric acid formation from hypoxanthine, or with uricase, to degrade uric acid. Both treatments significantly reduce the secretion of TNF, IL-6, IL-1beta and IL-10 from human cells.Uric acid is a major contributor of the inflammatory response triggered by P. falciparum in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Since the inflammatory reaction induced by P. falciparum is considered a major cause of malaria pathogenesis, identifying the mechanisms used by the parasite to induce the host inflammatory response is essential to develop urgently needed therapies against this disease

Determining the Predominant Lesion in Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis and Coronary Stenoses: A Multicenter Study Using Intracoronary Pressure and Flow

Background: Patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) often have coronary artery disease. Both the aortic valve and the coronary disease influence the blood flow to the myocardium and its ability to respond to stress; leading to exertional symptoms. In this study, we aim to quantify the effect of severe AS on the coronary microcirculation and determine if this is influenced by any concomitant coronary disease. We then compare this to the effect of coronary stenoses on the coronary microcirculation. Methods: Group 1: 55 patients with severe AS and intermediate coronary stenoses treated with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) were included. Group 2: 85 patients with intermediate coronary stenoses and no AS treated with percutaneous coronary intervention were included. Coronary pressure and flow were measured at rest and during hyperemia in both groups, before and after TAVI (group 1) and before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (group 2). Results: Microvascular resistance over the wave-free period of diastole increased significantly post-TAVI (pre-TAVI, 2.71±1.4 mm Hg·cm·s−1 versus post-TAVI 3.04±1.6 mm Hg·cm·s−1 [P=0.03]). Microvascular reserve over the wave-free period of diastole significantly improved post-TAVI (pre-TAVI 1.88±1.0 versus post-TAVI 2.09±0.8 [P=0.003]); this was independent of the severity of the underlying coronary stenosis. The change in microvascular resistance post-TAVI was equivalent to that produced by stenting a coronary lesion with an instantaneous wave-free ratio of ≤0.74. Conclusions: TAVI improves microcirculatory function regardless of the severity of underlying coronary disease. TAVI for severe AS produces a coronary hemodynamic improvement equivalent to the hemodynamic benefit of stenting coronary stenoses with instantaneous wave-free ratio values <0.74. Future trials of physiology-guided revascularization in severe AS may consider using this value to guide treatment of concomitant coronary artery disease

Fishery Discards: Factors Affecting Their Variability within a Demersal Trawl Fishery

Discards represent one of the most important issues within current commercial fishing. It occurs for a range of reasons and is influenced by an even more complex array of factors. We address this issue by examining the data collected within the Danish discard observer program and describe the factors that influence discarding within the Danish Kattegat demersal fleet over the period 1997 to 2008. Generalised additive models were used to assess how discards of the 3 main target species, Norway lobster, cod and plaice, and their subcomponents (under and over minimum landings size) are influenced by important factors and their potential relevance to management. Our results show that discards are influenced by a range of different factors that are different for each species and portion of discards. We argue that knowledge about the factors influential to discarding and their use in relation to potential mitigation measures are essential for future fisheries management strategies

CRF-Like Diuretic Hormone Negatively Affects Both Feeding and Reproduction in the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria

Diuretic hormones (DH) related to the vertebrate Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) have been identified in diverse insect species. In the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, the CRF-like DH (CRF/DH) is localized in the same neurosecretory cells as the Ovary Maturating Parsin (OMP), a neurohormone that stimulates oocyte growth, vitellogenesis and hemolymph ecdysteroid levels in adult female locusts. In this study, we investigated whether CRF-like DH can influence feeding and reproduction in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. We identified two highly similar S. gregaria CRF-like DH precursor cDNAs, each of which also encodes an OMP isoform. Alignment with other insect CRF-like DH precursors shows relatively high conservation of the CRF/DH sequence while the precursor region corresponding to OMP is not well conserved. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR revealed that the precursor transcripts mainly occur in the central nervous system and their highest expression level was observed in the brain. Injection of locust CRF/DH caused a significantly reduced food intake, while RNAi knockdown stimulated food intake. Therefore, our data indicate that CRF-like DH induces satiety. Furthermore, injection of CRF/DH in adult females retarded oocyte growth and caused lower ecdysteroid titers in hemolymph and ovaries, while RNAi knockdown resulted in opposite effects. The observed effects of CRF/DH may be part of a wider repertoire of neurohormonal activities, constituting an integrating control system that affects food intake and excretion, as well as anabolic processes like oocyte growth and ecdysteroidogenesis, following a meal. Our discussion about the functional relationship between CRF/DH and OMP led to the hypothesis that OMP may possibly act as a monitoring peptide that can elicit negative feedback effects