scholarly journals Apelin, APJ, and ELABELA: Role in Placental Function, Pregnancy, and Foetal Development—An Overview

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Monika Dawid ◽  
Ewa Mlyczyńska ◽  
Małgorzata Jurek ◽  
Natalia Respekta ◽  
Karolina Pich ◽  
...  

The apelinergic system, which includes the apelin receptor (APJ) as well as its two specific ligands, namely apelin and ELABELA (ELA/APELA/Toddler), have been the subject of many recent studies due to their pleiotropic effects in humans and other animals. Expression of these factors has been investigated in numerous tissues and organs—for example, the lungs, heart, uterus, and ovary. Moreover, a number of studies have been devoted to understanding the role of apelin and the entire apelinergic system in the most important processes in the body, starting from early stages of human life with regulation of placental function and the proper course of pregnancy. Disturbances in the balance of placental processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, or hormone secretion may lead to specific pregnancy pathologies; therefore, there is a great need to search for substances that would help in their early diagnosis or treatment. A number of studies have indicated that compounds of the apelinergic system could serve this purpose. Hence, in this review, we summarized the most important reports about the role of apelin and the entire apelinergic system in the regulation of placental physiology and pregnancy.

Author(s):  
Koji Mizoguchi

This chapter charts the trajectory of change of Jomon period clay anthropomorphic figurines in the Japanese archipelago. The earliest specimens embodied the perception of the body and female bodily experiences rather than accurately representing the body itself. Emphasis gradually shifted from the material embodiment of unmediated bodily perception and experiences to the visual representation of the body. Through this process, the subject of the representation expanded from the female body to the bodies of various categories of being, including animals and fantastic/supernatural beings, and the figurines came to embody the mutual transformability. These beings were networked to form an ‘animistic’ cosmology whose successful reproduction was metaphorically linked to that of human life and community. The decline of the symbolic role of the female reproductive faculty as the universal referent in the prayer for communal well-being led to the end of the Jomon clay anthropomorphic figurines.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097168582110159
Author(s):  
Sital Mohanty ◽  
Subhasis Sahoo ◽  
Pranay Kumar Swain

Science, technology and human values have been the subject of enquiry in the last few years for social scientists and eventually the relationship between science and gender is the subject of an ongoing debate. This is due to the event of globalization which led to the exponential growth of new technologies like assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART, one of the most iconic technological innovations of the twentieth century, has become increasingly a normal social fact of life. Since ART invades multiple human discourses—thereby transforming culture, society and politics—it is important what is sociological about ART as well as what is biological. This article argues in commendation of sociology of technology, which is alert to its democratic potential but does not concurrently conceal the historical and continuing role of technology in legitimizing gender discrimination. The article draws the empirical insights from local articulations (i.e., Odisha state in eastern India) for the understandings of motherhood, freedom and choice, reproductive right and rights over the body to which ART has contributed. Sociologically, the article has been supplemented within the broader perspectives of determinism, compatibilism alongside feminism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanli Jiao ◽  
Yu Wang

Sweet taste, one of the five basic taste qualities, is not only important for evaluation of food quality, but also guides the dietary food choices of animals. Sweet taste involves a variety of chemical compounds and structures, including natural sugars, sugar alcohols, natural and artificial sweeteners, and sweet-tasting proteins. The preference for sweetness has induced the over-consumption of sugar, contributing to certain prevailing health problems, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Non-nutritive sweeteners, including natural and synthetic sweeteners, and sweet-tasting proteins have been added to foods to reduce the caloric intake from sugar, but many of these sugar substitutes induce an off-taste or after taste that negatively impacts any pleasure derived from the sweet taste. Sweet taste is detected by sweet taste receptor, that also play an important role in the metabolic regulation of the body, such as glucose homeostasis and incretin hormone secretion. In this review, the role of sweet tastants and the sweet taste receptors involved in sweetness perception, and their effect on obesity and diabetes are summarized. Sweet taste enhancement, as a new way to solve the over-consumption of sugar, is discussed in this contribution. Sweet taste enhancers can bind with sweet tastans to potentiate the sweetness of food without producing any taste by itself. Various type of sweet taste enhancers, including synthetic compounds, food-processed substances and aroma compounds, are summarized. Notably, few natural, non-volatile compounds have been identified as sweetness enhancers.


Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott

In this paper on psycho-somatic disorders, Winnicott begins by acknowledging the vastness of the subject. Psycho-somatic disorder merges into the universal problem of the healthy interaction between the psyche and the soma—that is, between the personality of an individual and the body in which the person lives. The relationship between body and mind, role of early development and stages of emotional development are also discussed.


Servis plus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Владислав Шелекета ◽  
Vladislav Sheleketa ◽  
Василий Ивахнов ◽  
Vasiliy Ivakhnov

The article discusses issues related to the problem of justifying the value of philosophical creativity in modern culture. It proves the author’s position of special significance of philosophy for the development of personal culture, and worldview of the person and modern society. The article shows that philosophizing is inherently different from other forms of creativity in culture, and agues that philosophical oeuvre bases on the critical perception of the existing knowledge. Involving the theory of self-organization – synergetic – the authors have shown systemic nature of meaning, which plays the role of attractor (a stable solution in the space of cultural meanings). But the sense of simultaneously co-exists in close connection with ad-culture knowledge represented in archetypal forms, continually becoming, realized in connection with the activities of consciousness and clarifying the nature of meaning. The authors demonstrate their position with the notion of discourse. The phenomenon of discourse is considered in its ontological dimensions as a conceptual basis of human existence and position in the culture. On the theories of postmodernism and poststructuralism the authors determine the form of philosophizing, based on the paradoxical structures that have under-subject nature. In this sense, there is the way to overcome the subject-object dualism, because the detection of under-subject nature of the meaning displays this meaning beyond the boundaries of the semantic field of culture. In this case, Philosophizing is a special form of operating in meanings that have just the same universal nature that is inherent to the nature of the phenomenon of meaning. In the end, the authors conclude that the role of philosophy in culture consists of the ability, which exists in its own nature. Philosophical discourse demonstrates its universal and integrative nature in socio-cultural space, creating a unique specific form of positioning oneself in the world. The authors conclude that philosophizing as a form of art, similar to “the science of Socrates” – the art of the truth birth in the course of the dispute, allows all cultural forms to stay dynamic, being in constant dialogue with each other, thereby freezing in their own forms.


1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 209-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe

This article explores some textual dimensions of what I argue is a crucial moment in the history of the Anglo-Saxon subject. For purposes of temporal triangulation, I would locate this moment between roughly 970 and 1035, though these dates function merely as crude, if potent, signposts: the years 970×973 mark the adoption of the Regularis concordia, the ecclesiastical agreement on the practice of a reformed (and markedly continental) monasticism, and 1035 marks the death of Cnut, the Danish king of England, whose laws encode a change in the understanding of the individual before the law. These dates bracket a rich and chaotic time in England: the apex of the project of reform, a flourishing monastic culture, efflorescence of both Latin and vernacular literatures, remarkable manuscript production, but also the renewal of the Viking wars that seemed at times to be signs of the apocalypse and that ultimately would put a Dane on the throne of England. These dates point to two powerful and continuing sets of interests in late Anglo-Saxon England, ecclesiastical and secular, monastic and royal, whose relationships were never simple. This exploration of the subject in Anglo-Saxon England as it is illuminated by the law draws on texts associated with each of these interests and argues their interconnection. Its point of departure will be the body – the way it is configured, regarded, regulated and read in late Anglo-Saxon England. It focuses in particular on the use to which the body is put in juridical discourse: both the increasing role of the body in schemes of inquiry and of punishment and the ways in which the body comes to be used to know and control the subject.


Author(s):  
Ziyaeva E.R. ◽  

The article is devoted to a review of the topical problem of our time “Microbiocenosis of open cavities of the body and its role in the occurrence of many diseases of the human body ”. It has now been proven that the normal microflora of the human body plays a huge role in the normal course of life processes. The slightest violation of the composition of microorganisms leads to various irreversible defects in the normal course of human life, which are associated with the functions of the microbiocenosis and which no medicine can replace. The concept of microbiocenosis appeared in the 70s of the last century, although the first stone in this direction was put by Louis Pasteur, who proved the role of a microorganism in the process of fermentation and digestion. Many scientists contributed to the leap forward development of this science, which was forced due to errors in the use of antibiotics and chemotherapeutic drugs. Yes, indeed, the path of development of the science of biocenoses is closely related to the misuse of drugs, which often leads to dysbiosis. In addition, environmental pollution due to the uncontrollable development of urbanization plays a huge role in the development of dysbiotic processes.Therefore, with the aim of acquainting readers with the concept of biocenoses, certain pathways of pathogenetic links in the development of various diseases in violation of the composition of the normal microflora of the human body, we set ourselves the task of conducting a partial review of the achievement of the science of biocenoses of open cavities of the body.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Iwanicka ◽  
Ewelina Soroka

AbstractIntroduction: The purpose of this article is to analyse the phenomenon of “body cult” as well as psychological and social factors conditioning its occurrence among young women. Particular attention was paid to the role of social media and an attempt was made to indicate possible preventive measures to promote health-popularising behaviour towards the body among high school students.Materials and methods: On the basis of the review of the available literature, developmental conditions of the adolescence period and research results on the subject were presented.Results: The paper presents the role of social media in the context of shaping behaviours related to “body cult”.Conclusions: The content presented on blogs and social networks put pressure on young women to cultivate the physical characteristics of a person. In this perspective, excessive focus on striving for the perfect figure can lead to the development of anti-health behaviour. Further research is definitely needed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lucinda April Campbell

<p>In bio-ethics, the potential practical and ethical implications of radical life extension are being seriously debated. However, the role of motivation in relation to dramatically increasing the human life span has been largely overlooked. I propose that motivation is a crucial aspect to consider within the radical life extension discourse by conjecturing about why it might appeal and the possible ways it could impact outcomes where it is successfully developed and implemented. I do not thereby present an argument that supports or opposes radical life extension technology. This is ultimately a speculative piece. In exploring the relationship between motivation and radical life extension, I present a conceptual framework called the Thanatophobic and Romantic Motivational Spectrum (TRM Spectrum) designed to assist deeper examination on the subject. It captures what I suggest are two key motivators related to life and death, that is, the fear of death (Thanatophobia) and the “love” of life (Romanticism). The motivational spectrum is then applied to the death penalty versus life imprisonment, and euthanasia and suicide debates to demonstrate how it can be used for analysis of ethical issues in relation to the potential introduction of radical life extension technology.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 2189-245
Author(s):  
Mona Mahmod Farid Ahmed Ghaly

This research deals with the work of the Muslim wife, and the consequent disagreement between the spouses regarding it and the salary of the wife, and her entitlement to the joint money. This is because there is an urgent need at this time to rooting the saying about this issue, given the rapid developments that characterize this age. As the current life has made the exit of women to work essential in light of complex social and economic conditions, this issue has become one of the most serious issues that cause conflict and discord between spouses. The research uncovered the origin of marital disputes that may occur due to the wife's work and salary, and the money earned during marriage, and I followed the comparative analytical inductive approach in it. She divided it into an introduction, a preface - in which it clarified the objectives of Islamic law in marriage - and three topics: the first presented the rights and duties of the spouses, while the second came to explain the impact of a woman’s work on the family and society, then she allocated the third to the effect of her work on her entitlement to joint money. The research concluded that knowing the two parties to the marital relationship of each of their rights and duties works to stabilize the spouses, and defuse the discord and conflict between them. Women and men are partners in the architecture of human life and succession on earth. The woman is the basis of the family, the family is the most important human institution, and the good of society is subordinate to the good of the family. The more a society is based on respect and appreciation for women, the easier it will be in establishing their rights and the further from harming them. Good cohabitation requires that the wife not do anything except with the consent of her husband, and on top of those matters is her going out to work. The development occurred - negatively or positively - in Muslim societies led to the mixing of the spouses' money. The wife's contribution to her financial and intangible effort is the motivation behind establishing her share in the joint money. Therefore, the researcher recommends that the work be undertaken to restore the correct religious concepts to society, as the man learns fatherly experiences and the experiences of living within the family, and Islam's honor to women in order to eliminate the tendencies to reduce them and their humanitarian work. Women are made aware that work is not limited to material work with pay only, and that motherhood is the ultimate in work. Limiting the issuance of public fatwas regarding the wife’s work and salary, and looking at the outcome of judgments, and the purposes of Sharia when issuing a fatwa in which no Sharia text is mentioned. Fiqh councils and the role of fatwas should bring the reality on the table to research and fatwa. The use of reason and not rigidity on the rulings decided by our venerable jurists, as long as it does not deny an opinion on the subject of Ijtihad.


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