Flying, Hunting, Reading: Rethinking Falcon-Woman Comparisons

This paper assesses structures of power through the medieval practice of falconry, offering two considerations about how feminist studies and animal studies fruitfully converge: first, assessing a human-animal relationship helps dismantle patriarchal control when human handler stands for patriarch and subjugated animal stands for domesticated woman. Second, this particular human-animal relationship represents a feminist poetics. In addition to overturning misogynous comparisons between falcons and women, something more pointedly self-representational occurred when women were themselves depicted as falconers. Rather than a human-animal relationship standing in for a man-woman relationship, men seem to be out of the foreground, or even out of the picture altogether. Instead, women are represented in both positions— as human handler and as animal. Material history also supports these representations, as many medieval women participated in falconry directly and used the image on personal objects, such as seals. Examining the figure of the female falconer on women’s seals, in conduct manuals, and in narrative poems, the essay argues that the result of this self-representation is a kind of sovereignty through reading practice

Pulmonary vascular disease and infection: a tale of two diseases

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Economic considerations of antifungal prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical procedures

Fungi are a frequent cause of nosocomial infections, with an incidence that has increased significantly in recent years, especially among critically ill patients who require intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Among ICU patients, postsurgical patients have a higher risk of Candida infections in the bloodstream. In consideration of the high incidence of fungal infections in these patients, their strong impact on mortality rate, and of the difficulties in Candida diagnosis, some experts suggest the use of antifungal prophylaxis in critically ill surgical patients. A clinical benefit from this strategy has been demonstrated, but the economic impact of the use of antifungal prophylaxis in surgical patients has not been systematically evaluated, and its cost–benefit ratio has not been defined. Whereas the costs associated with treating fungal infections are very high, the cost of antifungal drugs varies from affordable (ie, the older azoles) to expensive (ie, echinocandins, polyenes, and the newer azoles). Adverse drug-related effects and the possibly increased incidence of fluconazole resistance and of isolates other than Candida albicans must also be taken into account. From the published studies of antifungal prophylaxis in surgical patients, a likely economic benefit of this strategy could be inferred, but its usefulness and cost–benefits should be evaluated in light of local data, because the available evidence does not permit general recommendations

Ca2+-induced reactive oxygen species production promotes cytochrome c release from rat liver mitochondria via mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-dependent and MPT-independent mechanisms: role of cardiolipin.

Release of cytochrome c from mitochondria is considered a critical, early event in the induction of an apoptosis cascade that ultimately leads to programmed cell death. Mitochondrial Ca(2+) loading is a trigger for the release of cytochrome c, although the molecular mechanism underlying this effect is not fully clarified. This study tested the hypothesis that distinct Ca(2+) thresholds may induce cytochrome c release from rat liver mitochondria by membrane permeability transition (MPT)-dependent and independent mechanisms. The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cardiolipin in the Ca(2+)-induced cytochrome c release was also investigated. Cytochrome c was quantitated by a new, very sensitive, and rapid reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography method with a detection limit of 0.1 pmol/sample. We found that a low extramitochondrial Ca(2+) level (2 microM) promoted the release of approximately 13% of the total alamethicin releasable pool of cytochrome c from mitochondria. This release was not depending of MPT; it was mediated by Ca(2+)-induced ROS production and cardiolipin peroxidation and appears to involve the voltage-dependent anion channel. High extramitochondrial Ca(2+) level (20 microM) promoted approximately 45% of the total releasable pool of cytochrome c. This process was MPT-dependent and was also mediated by ROS and cardiolipin. It is suggested that distinct Ca(2+) levels may determine the mode and the amount of cytochrome c release from rat liver mitochondria. The data may help to clarify the molecular mechanism underlying the Ca(2+)-induced release of cytochrome c from rat liver mitochondria and the role played by ROS and cardiolipin in this process

Cross scale spatial and temporal indicators for measuring the effects of landscape heterogeneity on pollination service

Spatial heterogeneity as well as landscape services’ provision are a function of spatio-temporal scales, therefore, pattern–process relationships must be assessed at the multiple scales. In this context, this research aims at: (1) analyzing at the regional scale how pollination service can be affected by landscape heterogeneity, using two landscape indicators useful to quantify the multiscale landscape composition and landscape configuration simultaneously; and (2) assessing the effect that the infection of Xylella fastidiosa has exerted on the pollination services. The multi-scale spatial assessment has been focused on two land-covers: forests and olive groves that can act as source of pollination services. The multi-temporal analysis, based on the annual NDVI, has been used to assess the functionality of olive groves before and at the beginning of the infection of Xylella fastidiosa, and currently. The results have shown that in 2012 the most representative cluster (C1) (73.6% for forests and 63% for olive groves) is in the lower left part of the multiscale metric space, meaning that both land-covers show a fragmented spatial configuration at small spatial scales and tend to be aggregated at large scales. The multitemporal analysis has allowed to show the evident change in the landscape functioning in the provinces interested by the infection of Xylella fastidiosa (Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto) from 2013 to 2021, highlighting that the stability of the landscape has resulted completely changed for the loss of permanent land-covers (olive groves). In this study the spatio-temporal analyses have helped in giving a more complete indication in the assessment of landscape services where different factors can play a crucial role. The analysis of spatial patterns along a continuum of scale has been implemented by the analysis of multi-temporal dynamics to consider the effect of Xylella fastidiosa infection on pollination. The temporal behavior of NDVI has resulted completely changed in the provinces interested by this infection, meaning that recovering policies need to be undertaken to regenerate the landscape. When studying landscape services, some considerations must be considered in choosing the suitable spatial and temporal scale for its assessment. One of the recent drivers of change, represented by the infection of Xylella fastidiosa, and the planning of landscape functionality recovery interest higher spatial scales and will affect the scale at which landscape services, included pollination, are delivered

Stimulation of carnitine acylcarnitine translocase activity in heart mitochondria from hyperthyroid rats

AbstractThe effect of hyperthyroidism on fatty acid oxidation and on carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase activity in rat heart mitochondria has been studied. The rates of palmitoylcarnitine supported respiration as well as the carnitine-palmitoylcarnitine exchange reaction were both stimulated (approx. 36%) in heart mitochondria from hyperthyroid rats. Kinetic analysis of the carnitine-carnitine exchange reaction showed that thyroid hormone affects the Vmax of this process, while having no effect on the Km values. The level of cardiolipin was significantly higher (approx. 40%) in heart mitoplasts from hyperthyroid rats than from the control rats. It can be concluded that thyroid hormones produce a stimulation of heart mitochondrial carnitine translocase activity and that the basis of this effect is likely an increase in the cardiolipin content

Patterns of disturbance at multiple scales in real and simulated landscapes

We describe a framework to characterize and interpret the spatial patterns of disturbances at multiple scales in socio-ecological systems. Domains of scale are defined in pattern metric space and mapped in geographic space, which can help to understand how anthropogenic disturbances might impact biodiversity through habitat modification. The approach identifies typical disturbance ’profiles’ based on the similarity of trajectories in a pattern metric space over a range of spatial scales. When different profiles are coherent in pattern metric space, they describe a regional spatial pattern. The divergence of a profile indicates a scale-dependent transition to a local spatial pattern, which can be examined for correspondence to different regions of geographic space. We illustrate the conceptual model with simulated maps and real disturbance maps from satellite imagery in south Italy. The results suggest that management of disturbances in the study region depend less on local drivers of disturbance and more on broader-scale drivers within the socio-ecological framework

Mitochondrial bioenergetics and cardiolipin alterations in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury: implications for pharmacological cardioprotection

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Increased reactive oxygen species production, impaired electron transport chain activity, aberrant mitochondrial dynamics, Ca2+overload, and opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore have been proposed as major contributory factors to mitochondrial dysfunction during myocardial I/R injury. Cardiolipin (CL), a mitochondria-specific phospholipid, plays a pivotal role in multiple mitochondrial bioenergetic processes, including respiration and energy conversion, in mitochondrial morphology and dynamics as well as in several steps of the apoptotic process. Changes in CL levels, species composition, and degree of oxidation may have deleterious consequences for mitochondrial function with important implications in a variety of pathophysiological conditions, including myocardial I/R injury. In this review, we focus on the role played by CL alterations in mitochondrial dysfunction in myocardial I/R injury. Pharmacological strategies to prevent myocardial injury during I/R targeting mitochondrial CL are also examined

Alterations in carnitine–acylcarnitine translocase activity and in phospholipid composition in heart mitochondria from hypothyroid rats

AbstractChanges in mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism may underlie the decline in cardiac function in the hypothyroid animals. The effect of hypothyroidism on fatty acid oxidation, carnitine–acylcarnitine translocase activity and lipid composition in rat heart mitochondria has been examined. Rates of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation as well as carnitine-carnitine and carnitine–palmitoylcarnitine exchange reactions were all depressed in heart mitochondria isolated from hypothyroid rats. Kinetic analysis of the carnitine–carnitine exchange reaction showed that the hypothyroid state affects the Vmax of this process, while having no effect on the Km value. Heart mitochondrial inner membrane lipid composition was significantly altered in hypothyroid rats. Cardiolipin, particularly, was found to decrease (by around 36%). Alterations in fatty acid pattern of mitochondrial inner membrane preparations from hypothyroid rats were also found. The effects of the hypothyroid state on fatty acids oxidation, carnitine translocase activity and phospholipid composition were completely reversed by following treatment of hypothyroid rats with thyroid hormone. A lower cardiolipin content in the mitochondrial inner membrane offers a plausible mechanism to explain the decline in the translocase activity in hypothyroidism