scholarly journals Synthetic Hexanucleotides as a Tool to Overcome Excessive Neutrophil Activation Caused by CpG-Containing Oligonucleotides

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
Ekaterina A. Golenkina ◽  
Svetlana I. Galkina ◽  
Nina G. Dolinnaya ◽  
Evgenii A. Arifulin ◽  
Yulia M. Romanova ◽  
...  

Mimicking bacterial DNA, synthetic CpG-containing oligodeoxyribonucleotides (CpG-ODNs) have a powerful immunomodulatory potential. Their practical application is mainly associated with the production of vaccines, where they are used as adjuvants, as well as in local antimicrobial therapy. CpG-ODNs act on a wide variety of immune cells, including neutrophilic granulocytes. On the one hand, the stimulatory effect provides both the direct implementation of their antimicrobial and fungicidal mechanisms, and an avalanche-like strengthening of the immune signal due to interaction with other participants in the immune process. On the other hand, hyperactivation of neutrophilic granulocytes can have negative consequences. In particular, the formation of unreasonably high amounts of reactive oxygen species leads to tissue damages and, as a consequence, a spontaneous aggravation and prolongation of the inflammatory process. Under physiological conditions, a large number of DNA fragments are present in inflammation foci: both of microbial and self-tissue origin. We investigated effects of several short modified hexanucleotides on the main indicators of neutrophil activation, as well as their influence on the immunomodulatory activity of known synthetic CpG-ODNs. The results obtained show that short oligonucleotides partially inhibit the prooxidant effect of synthetic CpG-ODNs without significantly affecting the ability of the latter to overcome bacteria-induced pro-survival effects on neutrophilic granulocytes.

Author(s):  
Jochen von Bernstorff

The chapter explores the notion of “community interests” with regard to the global “land-grab” phenomenon. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase of foreign investment in agricultural land could be observed. Bilateral investment treaties protect around 75 per cent of these large-scale land acquisitions, many of which came with associated social problems, such as displaced local populations and negative consequences for food security in Third World countries receiving these large-scale foreign investments. Hence, two potentially conflicting areas of international law are relevant in this context: Economic, social, and cultural rights and the principles of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and “food sovereignty” challenging large-scale investments on the one hand, and specific norms of international economic law stabilizing them on the other. The contribution discusses the usefulness of the concept of “community interests” in cases where the two colliding sets of norms are both considered to protect such interests.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucius Caviola ◽  
Stefan Schubert ◽  
Andreas Mogensen

Across eight experiments (N = 2,310), we studied whether people would prioritize rescuing individuals who may be thought to contribute more to society. We found that participants were generally dismissive of general rules that prioritize more socially beneficial individuals, such as doctors instead of unemployed people. By contrast, participants were more supportive of one-off decisions to save the life of a more socially beneficial individual, even when such cases were the same as those covered by the rule. This generality effect occurred robustly even when controlling for various factors. It occurred when the decision-maker was the same in both cases, when the pairs of people differing in the extent of their indirect social utility was varied, when the scenarios were varied, when the participant samples came from different countries, and when the general rule only covered cases that are exactly the same as the situation described in the one-off condition. The effect occurred even when the general rule was introduced via a concrete precedent case. Participants’ tendency to be more supportive of the one-off proposal than the general rule was significantly reduced when they evaluated the two proposals jointly as opposed to separately. Finally, the effect also occurred in sacrificial moral dilemmas, suggesting it is a more general phenomenon in certain moral contexts. We discuss possible explanations of the effect, including concerns about negative consequences of the rule and a deontological aversion against making difficult trade-off decisions unless they are absolutelynecessary.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Soudani ◽  
Benchohra Maamar ◽  
Meriem Chafaa ◽  
Belgacem Nouar ◽  
Oliver Wiche

<p>Wastewater treatment always produces a large amount of sludge. The different uses of sludge disposal have negative consequences for the environment. Agricultural use may appear in some situations as an alternative to current solutions, both to optimize the degradation and recycling of organic and mineral elements. During this work, on the one hand, we investigated  the effect of sludge on the growth of turnip (Brassica rapa), a plant that tolerates metallic trace elements, especially lead (Liu et al., 2000) and which is considered a model plant in eco-toxicology (Sun et al., 2010), and on the other hand to determine if it has the potential to be included in phytoremediation systems.</p><p>The seeds were put in different substrates that contained three sludge doses: 20%, 40% and 60%, mixed with agricultural soil  which contained high levels  of metallic trace elements  exceeding the standard eligible concentration  by AFNOR. compared to  the soil, concentrations of potentiall toxic trace elements in sludge were lower than in soil. Morphological measurements were carried out during two months of planting, showing the positive effect of the sludge on the growth of the plant. The recorded biometric values (height, number of leaves, weight, rotation and height of the bulb) for all doses, far exceed those of control plants (100% soil), with high values recorded in the mixture of soil with  60% sludge.</p><p>The concentration of metallic trace elements in the different substrates and also in the leaves and the turnip bulb after two months of planting shows that the plant  accumulates and tolerates hight concentrations of elements  and can therefore be used as a phytoremediator for polluted soils. The highest levels of metal accumulation were observed on the substrate in the  soil mixture  with  60% sludge.</p><p> </p>


Subject The new USMCA. Significance Mexico, Canada and the United States agreed on September 30 to a new trilateral free trade agreement, to replace NAFTA. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents a mixed scenario for Mexico’s economy. On the one hand, Mexican officials and businesses are relieved that the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations has been resolved. On the other, the agreement imposes new rules in the auto sector, which could have negative consequences for Mexico’s most important manufacturing industry. Impacts New auto industry rules could raise prices and disrupt supply chains in Mexico’s key export sector. Despite the USMCA’s provisions for higher wages, it will in practice do little to raise them in Mexico. Mexico remains vulnerable to the Trump administration’s protectionist whims.


Daedalus ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Davis

Looking into the near future, China faces immense demographic challenges. Prolonged sub-replacement fertility has created irreversible conditions for rapid aging of the population, and massive migration to cities has left many villages populated by elderly farmers with no adult children to support them. Soaring divorce rates and high levels of residential dislocation have eroded family stability. To a large extent, government policies created to accelerate economic growth inadvertently fostered these demographic challenges, and now the country is facing the negative consequences of interventions that previously spurred double-digit growth. Legacies of Confucian familism initially blunted pressures on families. Filial sons and daughters sent back remittances, parents cared for migrants' children and invested in their children's marriages, and families with four grandparents, two parents, and one child (4+2+1) pooled resources to continuously improve a family's material well-being. But now the demographic challenges have further intensified and the question arises: can the state adopt new policies that will allow the prototypical 4+2+1 families created by the one-child policy to thrive through 2030?


2021 ◽  
pp. 152-161
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Vаshura

Weight, BMI and its changes with age are one of the key indicators in pediatrics. The values of these indicators are the main parameters for assessing nutritional status (NS) and defining nutritional disorders - obesity and protein-energy malnutrition. At the same time, body weight and its changes only conditionally reflect the mass of fat and the amount of fat-free mass (especially the compartment of skeletal muscles). In the healthy population (in which the relevant references had been obtained), the changes of BMI can significantly reflect the changes of body composition. In children with chronic diseases (and/or with metabolic disorders, and/ or in oncopediatrics) the sensitivity of BMI as an indicator of NS is significantly lower and variable. This is due to deviations from the “normal” body composition existing in these patients. As a result, a deficit of fat-free mass can be accompanied by an excess of fat mass. Sarcopenia, which has negative consequences for the child, can be masked by obesity. Therefore, this condition, sar-copenic obesity, represents a huge problem. On the one hand, due to the coexistence of two nutritional disorders in one patient. On the other hand, due to underestimation in pediatrics. The latter is the consequence of frequent understanding of the child’s body weight as an unconditional and independent indicator. This can have dramatic consequences for the development and growth of the child. Therefore, weight loss in an obese child does not yet mean positive dynamics.


2020 ◽  
pp. 290-308
Author(s):  
Oleg Zaznaev ◽  
Viktor Sidorov

Ethnic conflict management includes a set of institutional and noninstitutional features for preventing and resolving ethnic conflicts. Among the large number of measures of national states and other political actors, one can especially figure out – the optimal organization of government system, which can calm ethnically colored conflicts, up to violence, armed warfare and civil wars. This article discusses the problem of the relationship between forms of government, on the one hand, and ethnic conflicts, on the other. That causation received small attention in political science. The authors answer the question of which form of government – presidential or parliamentary – creates risks of ethnic conflict. The purpose of the article is to identify institutional elements that pose a threat to ethnic peace and harmony, as well as show the positive features of presidentialism and parliamentarism that to calm ethnic conflicts. The authors chose neoinstitutionalism as the main methodological approach, which determines the central place of political institutions in explaining the nature of ethnic conflicts. The authors' conclusions are based on a comparative analysis of the theoretical and empirical results of studies of ethnic conflicts. The authors conclude that the presidential system creates more favorable conditions for calming ethnic conflicts that the parliamentary system do. In order to “smooth out” the negative consequences of the presidential and parliamentary systems, national governments conduct institutional “experiments” to modernize classical institutional models. The article discusses atypical systems and atypical elements of systems that help solve problems inherent in a “pure” presidential and “pure” parliamentary system. The article also assesses empirical studies that providing research on causation between government and ethnic conflicts.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 264-276
Author(s):  
María Virginia Quiroga

The emergence of social movements in the public arena had to do with neoliberalism´s negative consequences. Different actors with different interests worked together against the system, which became their “common antagonist”.  On the one hand, after years of autonomous organization, these social movements won social recognition and increased their power. On the other, political parties and trade unions lost legitimacy.  In December 2005, a faction of the Bolivian social movements won the general elections, and Evo Morales (the cocalero movement´s leader) became the first Aymara president in Bolivian history. How to manage this government it is one of the majors challenges the social movements confront in today’s Bolivia. La emergencia de movimientos sociales en la esfera pública está ligada a las consecuencias negativas del neoliberalismo.  Actores sociales provenientes de distintos sectores y con intereses distintos unieron fuerzas contra un sistema que se convirtió en el “antagonista común”.  Después de años de organización autónoma, estos movimientos lograron reconocimiento político e incrementaron su poder de gestión, mientras los partidos políticos y los sindicatos perdían legitimidad.  En diciembre 2005 una facción de los movimientos sociales ganó las elecciones generales y Evo Morales (líder del movimiento cocalero) se convirtió en el primer Presidente aymara de la historia de Bolivia. Cómo gestionar este gobierno constituye hoy día uno de los mayores retos que enfrentan los movimientos sociales.


Author(s):  
Dana Martinovičová

Risk management should ensure a company to be able to react to possible future situations in a good advance and through variant solutions. This should minimize both, a risk and possible negative risk consequences especially on trade and on a single existence of a company. Solution of negative consequences of risks is the one of important goals and of investigation of companies' management as well as of companies´ owners. Submitted article presents the procedure of entities' risks selection for the purpose of their negative consequences covering by the means of insurance. This procedure has been elaborated by the author based on secondary research as well as on primary research. Author’s primary research has been focused especially on observation and analysis of several tens of entities. The procedure presented in this article has been also fruitfully implemented in observed entities. The content of this article would become an asset of risk management as of the branch of science; it would be a benefit for insurance as for connected branch, and also for the sphere of management economics.


2019 ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Valentyn Krysachenko

The article deals with the analysis of Russia’s politics towards other nations, which can be classified as genocide politics. A consistent and purposeful strategy is being followed to capture the territorial, resource and cultural heritage of Veliky Novgorod and Ukraine. In both cases, actions, which were brought to the autochthonous population, was classified as genocide by UN documents. These actions were occurred more than once and were carried out against the Slovenes in the XV-XVII centuries, and against the Ukrainians — in the XVI-XXI. The purpose of Russia is to enhance its geopolitical and civilizational status, by means of violence and appropriation, by objects — of any ethnic group, which hinder its imperial ambitions. The scientific search was conducted by the methods of historical reconstruction, political analysis and demographic approaches. The historical reconstruction avoids the one-sided, distorted interpretation of the events of the past, and uses all existing completeness of actual material to restore the true course of events. The methods of political analysis relate, first of all, to the definition of the role and importance of administrative decisions in determining the strategic priorities of state development. Demographic approaches allow us to see the historical dynamics of changes in the quantity of a particular ethnic group, including the possibility of detecting negative fluctuating factors in this process. It has been demonstrated that the ethno-cultural community, known as the «Russian people», fulfil the criteria that Lev Gumilev proposed to define as «bizarre ethnicities» that parasitize on someone else’s resource — both human and natural. That is why the fate of the conquered land and its inhabitants-autochthonous interests them only from the consumer point of view. The negative consequences for the subjugated side are obvious: humanity is doomed to extinction or either depreciation, and the natural environment to systematic degradation and irreversible changes. It is easy to be convinced by remembering the unhappy history — not life, but animal life — hundreds of people in Russia, their disapperance and extinction, and the acquisition — by those, who survive — humiliating status of «small» nations of Siberia, the Far East and the North. However, the invader himself is defeated in the strategic perspective, because constant parasitism discourage any stimulus for his own socio-economic evolution. It is summarized that the strategic priority in Moscow’s politics towards the true creators and heirs of the heritage of ancient Russia was and will always be the practice of genocide — the systematic and consistent destruction of Slovenes and Ukrainians. These actions were performed to capture the territorial, resource and cultural achievements of these nations with their complete destruction or degradation (of surviving remains), elimination of their identities. These actions are completely fall under the description of the genocide definiton in UN documents as actions which are intended to destroy a particular ethnic group. The current hybrid war, implemented by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, is a manifestation and continuation of its centuries-old strategy against Ukrainian nation in order to deprive them of their physical and civilizational existence.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document