A Critique of Poverty: Exploring the Underground of Social Philosophy

Poverty is the primary focus of this paper; more particularly, the critique of poverty and not its mere description. It would not be an overstatement to say that one of the common grounds for poverty theories is that they describe the poor as those who systematically experience their lives in privation, namely around having the minimum when it comes to needs such as housing, food, health, education, free time, etc. There is, therefore, a theoretical and socially accepted orientation that promotes the sedimentation of a deep affinity between poverty and the minimum. Based on this reasoning, what is set on the horizon is a kind of non-explicit acceptance that the overcoming of poverty can be achieved by granting the poor something beyond the minimum, however elementary that “something extra” may be. Thus, if the experience of poverty involves some sort of lack or privation, and if this condition can be fully filled by something that has already been socially produced, then what would justify the fact that some people are able to fully fill it while others (the poor) can only secure the bare minimum? In light of this, perhaps it would be better not to question the acceptable “minimum” but, rather, to ask: Why would the notion of poverty be guided by this normative criterion? Therefore, a way of describing my broader hypothesis on poverty would be to understand that it should be measured based on the level of denial of access to what has been socially produced. The further one is from accessing social wealth, the poorer one is. Finally, this tendency toward assimilation between poverty and the minimum engenders a depressive effect on demands for social change.

Vibration decreases the responsiveness of Ia afferents and spinal motoneurons in humans

Vibration decreased the responsiveness of Ia afferents from the muscle exposed to vibration, and the duration of depressive effect was modulated by the duration and frequency of the vibration: a longer duration and a higher frequency of vibration led to a longer recovery time of the depression. In addition to this presynaptic effect, it also depressed the responsiveness of spinal motoneurons, indicating postsynaptic inhibition through specific circuits triggered by Ia impulses.

Methoxyfenozide, a Molting Hormone Agonist, Affects Autogeny Capacity, Oviposition, Fecundity, and Fertility in Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae)

The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of methoxyfenozide (RH-2485), an insect growth disrupter (IGD) belonging to molting hormone agonist class, against female adults of Culex pipiens L. under laboratory conditions. Lethal concentrations (LC50 = 24.54 µg/liter and LC90 = 70.79 µg/liter), previously determined against fourth instar larvae, were tested for adult female fertility, fecundity and oviposition after tarsal contact before mating and any bloodmeal. Methoxyfenozide was found to alter negatively their autogeny capacity and oviposition. A strong reduction of 56% and 72% (P < 0.001) in females’ autogeny capacity was observed in both treated series, respectively. Alteration in oviposition were found to be higher with LC90 (OAI-LC90 = −0.62) than with the LC50 (OAI-LC50 = −0.42). Also fecundity and hatching rate (fertility) were significantly reduced in treated series as compared to controls. A significant reduction of 37.65 and 28.23% in fecundity and decrease of 56.85 and 71.87% in fertility were found, respectively in LC50 and LC90 treated series. Obtained data clearly demonstrated that methoxyfenozide have significant depressive effect on reproductive potential against medically important vector with minimizing ecotoxicological risks in mosquitoes management.

Growth of Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] and Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Plants under Water Stress Conditions

Water stress effect on millet and sorghum plants growth was investigated in this work. Grains were germinated for 7 days in Petri dishes. Plants obtained were transplanted into pots, with 60 repetitions per species. For 6 days, they received 100 ml of water before being divided into four batches corresponding to four treatments (100, 50, 25 and 10 ml). An increase in water stress led to a reduction in size of both plant species and leaves number produced, while root system growth was recorded. Millet plants suffered more from depressive effect of water stress than those of sorghum. Therefore, millet is more predisposed to respond to drought than sorghum.

Transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation inhibits P2X7R expression in limbic brain regions and reverses depression-like behavior in Zucker diabetic fatty rats

Background Previous studies confirmed that Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF, fa/fa) develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) with depression-like behavior innately, and transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (taVNS) was found to have anti-diabetic and anti-depressive effect in ZDF rats. However, there is still a lack of molecular-biological evidence that ZDF rats are a good rodent model of depression, and how does taVNS take the anti-depressive effect to the ZDF rats. P2 × 7R, a purinergic receptor most-related to inflammation and depression, is found to be elevated in depressed brains and is gradually considered as a potential therapeutic target for depression. Methods We deployed taVNS and transcutaneous none vagal nerve stimulation (tnVNS) to ZDF rats. We applied forced swimming test (FST) to evaluate to the depression-like behavior of the rats. We used Western blot to test the P2 × 7R expression in the hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cingulate cortex of the rats. Furthermore, we used immunohistochemical staining to colocalize the P2 × 7R expressing cells in the ZDF rats’ brains. Results We found that compared with their lean littermates (ZL rats), naïve ZDF rats developed depression-like behavior innately with elevated P2 × 7R expression in their limbic brain regions (hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cingulate cortex); and taVNS but not tnVNS inhibited the P2 × 7R expression in their limbic brain regions and reversed the depression-like behavior. Moreover, P2 × 7R was found majorly expressing in astrocytes and microglia of ZDF rats. Conclusions ZDF rats are a good rodent model of depression, and taVNS plays an anti-depressive effect in ZDF rats by inhibiting glial P2 × 7R expression in their limbic brain regions.

Use of Sodium Hexametaphosphate and Citric Acid Mixture as Depressant in the Flotation Separation of Scheelite from Calcite

The floatability of scheelite and calcite in the presence of single depressant (SHMP or H3Cit) and mixed depressant (SHMP/H3Cit) was studied by microflotation experiments and artificial mixed mineral experiments. Solution chemical calculation, zeta potential tests, thermodynamic analysis and XPS analysis were used to explain the relevant depressive mechanism. Mixed depressant (SHMP/H3Cit) exhibited excellent selective depressive effect on calcite. The optimal molar ratio of SHMP to H3Cit was 1:4. The depressant SHMP and H3Cit can be chemically bonded with Ca2+ to form CaHPO4 and Ca3(Cit)2 at pH 8. The CaHPO4 was more easily formed than Ca3(Cit)2 on the mineral surface, which indicated that the depressive effect of SHMP was stronger than H3Cit. The SHMP and H3Cit of the mixed depressant were co-adsorbed on the calcite surface, while the H3Cit of the mixed depressant was weakly adsorbed on the scheelite surface. The mixed depressant can significantly improve the separation efficiency of scheelite from calcite.