Aristotle on Spontaneous Generation, Spontaneity, and Natural Processes

Aristotle contrasts standard animal generation with ‘spontaneous generation’, which happens when some material putrefies and gives rise to a new organism. This paper addresses two interrelated puzzles about spontaneous generation. First, is it of the same ‘fundamental kind’ of causal process as standard generation? Second, is it ‘spontaneous’, as understood in Physics 2.4–6: rare, accidentally caused, and among things that are for the sake of something? I argue that both puzzles turn on the same questions about the process types involved. I show that the type putrefaction plays a more important role in spontaneous generation than has been recognized so far. Because putrefaction does not play this role in standard generation, the two processes are of different ‘fundamental’ kinds. Moreover, spontaneous generation happens rarely in that it is rare for processes of putrefaction to happen in such a way that they can also be described in terms of concoction.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Etiology, Treatment and Animal Models

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain and damage throughout your body. About 75% of Rheumatoid arthritis patients are women. In fact, 1 – 3% of women may get rheumatoid arthritis in their lifetime. The disease most often begins between the ages of 30 and 50. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system attacks the synovium, the lining of the membranes that surround your joints. The resulting inflammation thickens the synovium, which can eventually destroy the cartilage and bone within the joint. The tendons and ligaments that hold the joint together weaken and stretch. Gradually, the joint loses its shape and alignment. It also affects other organs of body like: skin, eyes, heart, kidneys, and lungs. The main risk factors that cause Rheumatoid arthritis are Age, Gender, Genetics, weight, smoking, diet, etc. Three main ways to treat rheumatoid arthritis are Drugs, physical therapies and surgery. There are four main groups of drugs that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and steroids (also known as corticosteroids). Collagen induced arthritis and Adjuvant arthritis are the most commonly used standard animal models in Rheumatoid arthritis. This literature review assessed the sign & symptoms, risk factors, etiology, treatment and standard animal models for Rheumatoid arthritis. Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Inflammation, Antirheumatic drugs, Adjuvants, Rat, Mice.

Central and Peripheral Mechanism of Acupuncture Analgesia on Visceral Pain: A Systematic Review

Background/Aims. Despite the wide use of acupuncture for the management of visceral pain and the growing interest in the pathophysiology of visceral pain, there is no conclusive elucidation of the mechanisms behind the effects of acupuncture on visceral pain. This systematic review aims to provide an integrative understanding of the treatment mechanism of acupuncture for visceral pain. Methods. Electronic and hand searches were conducted to identify studies that involved visceral pain and acupuncture. Results. We retrieved 192 articles, out of which 46 studies were included in our review. The results of our review demonstrated that visceral pain behaviors were significantly alleviated in response to acupuncture treatment in groups treated with this intervention compared to in sham acupuncture or no-treatment groups. Changes in the concentrations of β-endorphin, epinephrine, cortisol, and prostaglandin E2 in plasma, the levels of c-Fos, substance P, corticotropin-releasing hormone, P2X3, acetylcholinesterase (AchE), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and serotonin in the gut/spinal cord, and the neuronal activity of the thalamus were associated with acupuncture treatment in visceral pain. Conclusions. Acupuncture reduced visceral pain behavior and induced significant changes in neuronal activity as well as in the levels of pain/inflammation-related cytokines and neurotransmitters in the brain-gut axis. Further researches on the thalamus and on a standard animal model are warranted to improve our knowledge on the mechanism of acupuncture that facilitates visceral pain modulation.

Do observer fatigue and taxon bias compromise visual encounter surveys for small vertebrates?

Context Visual encounter surveying is a standard animal inventory method, modifications of which (e.g. distance sampling and repeated count surveys) are used for modelling population density. However, a variety of factors may bias visual survey counts. Aims The aim of the present study was to evaluate three observer-related biases: (1) whether fatigue compromises detection rate as a survey occasion progresses; (2) whether long-term fatigue or boredom compromise detection rates over the course of a survey period; and (3) whether observers exhibit biases in detection rates of different animal taxa. Methods We analysed >2.3 × 104 observations of lizards and small mammals from nocturnal pedestrian visual encounter surveys, each 4 h in duration, conducted by a pool of 29 observers, each of whom surveyed for up to 31 nights. Key results Detections of sleeping (diurnal) emerald tree skinks (Lamprolepis smaragdina) exhibited a small but statistically verified decline as the evening progressed, whereas detections of sleeping (diurnal) green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) increased as the evening progressed. Detections of nocturnal geckos (several species pooled) showed a weak and non-significant declining trend. Small mammal sightings (rats, shrews and mice pooled) declined strongly over the course of an evening. The participants saw greater or equal numbers of animals the more nights they surveyed. Most participants exhibited statistically significant, and often strong, taxonomic detection bias compared with the pool of peer observers. The skills of some observers appeared to be consistently above average; others consistently below average. Conclusions Data on sleeping lizards suggest that neither short-term nor long-term observer fatigue is of much concern for 4-h visual searches. On the contrary, differences among observers in taxonomic bias and overall detection skills pose a problem for data interpretation. Implications By comparing temporal detection patterns of immobile (e.g. sleeping) with actively moving animal taxa, sampling biases attributable to searcher fatigue versus the animals’ circadian rhythm can be disentangled and, if need be, statistically corrected for. Observer skill differences and observer-specific taxonomic biases may hamper efforts to statistically evaluate survey results, unless explicitly included as covariates in population models.

SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA IN OVINES IN THE STATE OF ACRE

ABSTRACT: The squamous cells carcinoma (SCC), also known as epidermoid carcinoma, is a malign neoplasia of the squamous layer of the skin's epidermis, very common in bovines of tropical countries such as Brazil, due to the chronic exposure of animals to ultraviolet radiation. The objective of this work was to describe SCC cases in sheep (Ovis aries ), because it is known that this disease is rare in this species. A standard animal of approximately six years old was assisted in the municipality of Rio Branco, State of Acre, in Brazil, presenting cachectic state and multifocal tumors. Despite the rarity of this neoplasia in sheep, it is important to use preventive measures, such as: avoiding acquisition of depigmented animals, with absent or sparse fur coverage and, mainly avoiding prolonged exposure to ultraviolet lights, which could cause the appearance of this morbid disease.

Pengaruh konsentrasi sublethal endosulfan dan glifosat terhadap konsumsi oksigen kerang darah (anadara granosa)

<p><strong><em>Abstract.</em></strong><em> The aims of the study were: (1) to test oxygen consumption of Anadara granosa under sub-lethal concentrations of endosulfan, (2) oxygen consumption under sub-lethal concentrations of glifosat and (3) oxygen consumption under mixture of endosulfan and glifosat. </em><em>Complete randomlizeddesign were applied on this experiment.</em><em> Initially, the oxygen consumption was standardised against animal’s dry flesh weight. Results showed that dry flesh weight afffected significantly the oxygen consumption. The relationship between the two variables was formulated as y = 0</em><em>.</em><em>217 + 0</em><em>.</em><em>243x. Based on teh relationship, the oxygen consumption was reported as mg/l/hr of 1g standard animal. Exposure of blood cockles to various sub-lethal concentrations of pesticides showed that the oxygen consumption rates reduced as the concentrations increased. For endosulfan, the oxygen consumption rate decreased from </em><em>(</em><em>0</em><em>.</em><em>5325 ±</em><em> 0.1556)</em><em>mg/l/hr at 0</em><em>.</em><em>05 ppm to </em><em>(</em><em>0</em><em>.</em><em>2282 ±</em><em> 0.1552 ) </em><em>mg/l/hr at 0</em><em>.</em><em>5 ppm. Increasing glifosat from 50 ppm to 200 ppm reduced the oxygen consumption from </em><em>(</em><em>0</em><em>.</em><em>3111±</em><em> 0.1811)</em><em>to </em><em>(</em><em>0</em><em>.</em><em>2449 ±</em><em> 0.2548)</em><em>mg/l/hr.</em><em> </em><em>Accordingly, the oxygen consumption decreased from </em><em>(</em><em>0</em><em>.</em><em>3376±</em><em> 0.972)</em><em>mg/l/hr to </em><em>(</em><em>0,2841±</em><em> 0.2057)</em><em>mg/l/hr</em><em> </em><em>when concentrations of mixture endosulfan + glifosat mixture increased from 0</em><em>.</em><em>005 + 50 ppm to 5 + 200 ppm.</em></p><p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><em> pesticide</em><em>; </em><em>endosulfan</em><em>;</em><em> glyphosate</em><em>;</em><em> Anadara granosa</em><em>;</em><em> bioassay</em><em>;</em><em> oxygen consumption</em></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Abstrak.</strong><strong> </strong>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh konsentrasi sublethal endosulfan, glifosat, dan secara bersama-sama terhadap konsumsi oksigen kerang darah (<em>Anadara granosa</em>). Metode eksperimental dengan rancangan percobaan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) diterapkan dalam penelitian ini. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa berat tubuh mempengaruhi laju konsumsi oksigen dengan hubungan <em>y = 0,217+0,243 x</em>, sehingga hasil pengukuran laju konsumsi oksigen dinyatakan sebagai mg/l/jam per 1 gram berat kering kerang standar. Pemaparan terhadap konsentrasi sublethal menunjukkan bahwa laju konsumsi oksigen menurun seiring dengan meningkatnya konsentrasi masing – masing pestisida maupun campurannya. Untuk endosulfan, laju konsumsi oksigen menurun dari (0,5325± 0,1556) mg/l/jam pada 0,05 ppm menjadi (0,2282 ± 0,1552) mg/l/jam pada 5 ppm. Untuk glifosat, laju konsumsi oksigen menurun dari (0,3111± 0,1811) mg/l/jam pada 50 ppm menjadi (0,2449 ± 0,2548) pada 200 ppm, sedangkan untuk campuran endosulfan + glifosat, laju konsumsi oksigen menurun dari (0,3376± 0,972) mg/l/jam pada 0,005 + 50 ppm menjadi (0,2841± 0,2057) mg/l/jam pada 5 + 200 ppm. Kisaran konsentrasi sublethal ini sangat mempengaruhi konsumsi oksigen kerang darah (<em>Anadara granosa</em>) yaitu laju konsumsi oksigen akan menurun jika konsentrasi endosulfan dan glifosat ditingkatkan. </p><strong><em>Kata kunci</em></strong><em>: pestisida; endosulfan; glifosat; Anadara granosa; bioassay; konsumsi oksigen</em>