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The one-dimensionality of econometric data: the Frankfurt School and the critique of quantification
(2020)
Econometric data are used to produce authoritative facts about the world. Yet, as numbers enjoy a central place in modern reasoning (particularly in government as their presumed objectivity and neutrality assist impartial decision-making), it is important that they receive scrutiny. Using methodological techniques from Western Marxism, with special reference to the work of Lukács, Horkheimer and Adorno, and Marcuse to inform a critique of Acemoglu and Robinson, I argue that the historical emergence of econometrics as a mode of mediated knowledge is a reified practice within the broader technical administration of social life, a practice that is not a transparent representation of social phenomena. This is because when econometrics transforms the thing being measured into a statistical indicator it eclipses political disputes with technical disputes, sidestepping good faith democratic deliberation about what goods are worth pursuing. Effectively, one-dimensional thought cannot perceive the origins of items put into circulation and so ideology is produced – what seems value-free is value-laden.
Este artigo pretende analisar o efeito da operação de enquadramento editorial levada a cabo pela Editora Sur, vinculada à Revista Sur, na circulação do repertório frankfurtiano na Argentina da década de 1960. Ao traduzirem e divulgarem autores como Adorno, Horkheimer e Benjamin, a partir de sua posição específica no campo cultural argentino, a coleção Estudios Alemanes contribui para que seus autores sejam desvinculados da tradição marxista e alocados em uma categoria mais ampla de “pensamento alemão”. Com isso, a circulação desses autores fica restritra a certo público, já cativo da perspectiva teórica e política da Revista Sur. Neste artigo, descrevo a coleção nos marcos da difusão mais ampla da tradição alemã no campo letrado argentino, atentando para os deslocamentos de prestígio que ela mobiliza e, sobretudo, para a composição de uma “atitude intelectual” que, a despeito do conteúdo dos textos em circulação, condiciona a recepção e ressignificação dos textos frankfurtianos.
Historiadora do cinema, Miriam Hansen examinou e sistematizou as contribuições de Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin e Theodor Adorno para a teorização do cinema. Nesta pesquisa bibliográfica, buscamos sintetizar e apresentar aos leitores de língua portuguesa o desenvolvimento de sua investigação sobre o tema. Mostramos como Hansen foi capaz de identificar as principais diferenças entre os teóricos frankfurtianos, bem como evidenciar que eles, em comum, pensaram este fenômeno cultural contemporâneo em relação às condições sociais e econômicas de produção. Em suas reflexões, o cinema aparece como expressão da sociedade urbano-industrial, como um elemento sintomático da cultura de massa.
Hope and reasons
(2020)
This paper argues that hope can be understood as an attitude or an attitudinal complex that is partially sensitive to reasons. One way that an attitude is sensitive to reasons is that it is permitted given the reasons available. A second way in which an attitude is sensitive to reasons is that it might be required in light of available reasons. This paper argues that hope may be permitted by the available reasons, and although it is sometimes good or praiseworthy to hope, hope is never categorically required. In that sense, hope is partially sensitive to reasons.
Light is one of the most important abiotic factors for plant physiological processes. In addition to light intensity, the spectral quality of light can also influence the plant morphology and the content of secondary metabolites. In the horticultural industry, artificial light is used in to enable year-round production of herbs, ornamental plants and vegetables in winter terms.
Until today, discharge lamps like high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps, emitting predominantly orange and red light and high amounts of infrared radiation, are the most common lamp systems in greenhouses. In the last decades, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) emerged as an efficient alternative light source. LEDs have the advantage of distinct adjustments to the light spectrum. For a usage in horticultural industry LEDs are often too expensive. Furthermore, reduced plant growth can occur due to incorrectly adjusted light spectra and lower leaf temperatures caused by the lack of infrared radiation.
In a research project (LOEWE, funding no. 487/15-29) funded by the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Arts, Microwave plasma lamps (MPL) were tested as new light sources for horticultural industry and plant research. The electrodeless lamp systems emit light in similar properties like sun light. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of artificial sunlight of the MPL on the accumulation of secondary metabolites, plant architecture and plant physiology of three different species (coleus, basil and potted roses). The MPL was compared with other light systems such as commercial HPS lamps, LEDs or ceramic metal halide lamps (CDM). In addition to morphological parameters such as plant height, internode length or fresh and dry weight, the phenolic content of leaves grown under the respective light sources were examined.
Overall an increased far-red light content in the emission spectra of the MPL showed high influence on the plant architecture which was observed in all three plant species. Artificial sunlight from MPL induced stem elongation in coleus and basil plants, compared to the other tested light sources. In potted roses a reduced branching degree was observed under MPL light compared to HPS grown plants.
In addition to the impact of far-red light also the blue light content of the emission spectra was found to be a strong influencing factor for plant physiological processes. A positive correlation between blue light content and leaf thickness was determined in coleus cultivated under MPL, LED, HPS and CDM lamps. Low blue light content in HPS emission spectra resulted in shade-adapted leaves with low photosynthetic capacity and susceptibility to high irradiances. Blue light was assumed to increase phenolic metabolites in basil and rose leaves. Furthermore, the different light treatments resulted in an alteration of the composition of essential oils of basil.
Experiments with coleus plants demonstrated that besides light color also the infrared radiation, had an influence on secondary metabolites by causing different leaf temperatures. Coleus plants grown with MPL showed the lowest content of phenolic compounds such as rosmarinic acid per dry weight. Infrared radiation resulted in a faster plant development indicated by increased biomass production and higher leaf formation rate as observed in coleus and basil plants.
The results obtained in this study show that the influence of leaf temperature should always be considered when comparing different lamp systems. Especially when LEDs are compared to discharge lamps an overestimation of light color can be a consequence since also infrared radiation influences the content of phenolic compounds and plant growth.
Tissue injury and inflammation may result in chronic pain, a severe debilitating disease that is associated with great impairment of quality of life. An increasing body of evidence indicates that members of the Rab family of small GTPases contribute to pain processing; however, their specific functions remain poorly understood. Here, we found using immunofluorescence staining and in situ hybridization that the small GTPase Rab27a is highly expressed in sensory neurons and in the superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord of mice. Rab27a mutant mice, which carry a single-nucleotide missense mutation of Rab27a leading to the expression of a nonfunctional protein, show reduced mechanical hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain behavior in inflammatory pain models, while their responses to acute noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli is not affected. Our study uncovers a previously unrecognized function of Rab27a in the processing of persistent inflammatory pain in mice.
Pulmonary failure is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in the human chromosomal instability syndrome Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Major phenotypes include recurrent respiratory tract infections and bronchiectasis, aspiration, respiratory muscle abnormalities, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary fibrosis. At present, no effective pulmonary therapy for A-T exists. Cell therapy using adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (ASCs) might be a promising approach for tissue regeneration. The aim of the present project was to investigate whether ASCs migrate into the injured lung parenchyma of Atm-deficient mice as an indication of incipient tissue damage during A-T. Therefore, ASCs isolated from luciferase transgenic mice (mASCs) were intravenously transplanted into Atm-deficient and wild-type mice. Retention kinetics of the cells were monitored using in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) and completed by subsequent verification using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The in vivo imaging and the qPCR results demonstrated migration accompanied by a significantly longer retention time of transplanted mASCs in the lung parenchyma of Atm-deficient mice compared to wild type mice. In conclusion, our study suggests incipient damage in the lung parenchyma of Atm-deficient mice. In addition, our data further demonstrate that a combination of luciferase-based PCR together with BLI is a pivotal tool for tracking mASCs after transplantation in models of inflammatory lung diseases such as A-T.
The Culex pipiens complex encompasses five species and subspecies of the genus Culex. Over time, a multitude of morphologically indistinguishable species has been assigned to this complex with several species being classified as important vectors for different diseases. Some species of this complex hibernate in subterranean habitats, and it has been proven that viruses can survive this phase of hibernation. However, studies focusing on the environmental requirements, ecology and spatial and temporal distribution patterns of mosquitos in underground habitats are sparse. Here, we investigate the main environmental factors and dependencies of Culex, considering the number of individuals and survival probabilities in underground habitats during the winter months. Methods. Since the State of Hesse, Germany harbors about 3500 to 4000 subterranean shelters ample availability of subterranean habitats there provides a good opportunity to conduct detailed investigations of the Culex pipiens complex. In this study, we identified a sample of 727 specimens of overwintering females within the Culex pipiens complex from 52 different underground sites collected over a period of 23 years using qPCR. A complete data set of samplings of hibernating mosquitos from 698 subterranean habitats in Central Germany over the same period was available to study the spatial and temporal patterns and the effect of temperature and precipitation conditions on these hibernating populations using a generalized linear model (GLM). Results. Our qPCR-results show, similar to aboveground studies of mosquitos, that Culex pipiens pipiens and Culex torrentium occur sympatrically. On the other hand, Culex pipiens molestus occurred very rarely. The GLM revealed no shifts in species composition over time, but different preferences for subterranean hibernacula, chemical effects on overwintering populations as well as effects of annual and seasonal mean temperature and precipitation during the active phase from March to November. Cx. p. pipiens and Cx. torrentium are the most common species within Hessian caves and other underground habitats during winter. They co-occur with different frequency without any patterns in species composition. Weather conditions influence the number of overwintering mosquitos during the activity phase. Depending on cave parameters, the number of mosquitos decreases during the winter months.
Progressive bladder cancer growth is associated with abnormal activation of the mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, but treatment with an mTOR inhibitor has not been as effective as expected. Rather, resistance develops under chronic drug use, prompting many patients to lower their relapse risk by turning to natural, plant-derived products. The present study was designed to evaluate whether the natural compound, sulforaphane (SFN), combined with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, could block the growth and proliferation of bladder cancer cells in the short- and long-term. The bladder cancer cell lines RT112, UMUC3, and TCCSUP were exposed short- (24 h) or long-term (8 weeks) to everolimus (0.5 nM) or SFN (2.5 µM) alone or in combination. Cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and cell cycle regulating proteins were evaluated. siRNA blockade was used to investigate the functional impact of the proteins. Short-term application of SFN and/or everolimus resulted in significant tumor growth suppression, with additive inhibition on clonogenic tumor growth. Long-term everolimus treatment resulted in resistance development characterized by continued growth, and was associated with elevated Akt-mTOR signaling and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)1 phosphorylation and down-regulation of p19 and p27. In contrast, SFN alone or SFN+everolimus reduced cell growth and proliferation. Akt and Rictor signaling remained low, and p19 and p27 expressions were high under combined drug treatment. Long-term exposure to SFN+everolimus also induced acetylation of the H3 and H4 histones. Phosphorylation of CDK1 was diminished, whereby down-regulation of CDK1 and its binding partner, Cyclin B, inhibited tumor growth. In conclusion, the addition of SFN to the long-term everolimus application inhibits resistance development in bladder cancer cells in vitro. Therefore, sulforaphane may hold potential for treating bladder carcinoma in patients with resistance to an mTOR inhibitor.
Treatment of large bone defects is one of the great challenges in contemporary orthopedic and traumatic surgery. Grafts are necessary to support bone healing. A well-established allograft is demineralized bone matrix (DBM) prepared from donated human bone tissue. In this study, a fibrous demineralized bone matrix (f-DBM) with a high surface-to-volume ratio has been analyzed for toxicity and immunogenicity. f-DBM was transplanted to a 5-mm, plate-stabilized, femoral critical-size-bone-defect in Sprague-Dawley (SD)-rats. Healthy animals were used as controls. After two months histology, hematological analyses, immunogenicity as well as serum biochemistry were performed. Evaluation of free radical release and hematological and biochemical analyses showed no significant differences between the control group and recipients of f-DBM. Histologically, there was no evidence of damage to liver and kidney and good bone healing was observed in the f-DBM group. Reactivity against human HLA class I and class II antigens was detected with mostly low fluorescence values both in the serum of untreated and treated animals, reflecting rather a background reaction. Taken together, these results provide evidence for no systemic toxicity and the first proof of no basic immunogenic reaction to bone allograft and no sensitization of the recipient.
Although the therapeutic armamentarium for bladder cancer has considerably widened in the last few years, severe side effects and the development of resistance hamper long-term treatment success. Thus, patients turn to natural plant products as alternative or complementary therapeutic options. One of these is curcumin, the principal component of Curcuma longa that has shown chemopreventive effects in experimental cancer models. Clinical and preclinical studies point to its role as a chemosensitizer, and it has been shown to protect organs from toxicity induced by chemotherapy. These properties indicate that curcumin could hold promise as a candidate for additive cancer treatment. This review evaluates the relevance of curcumin as an integral part of therapy for bladder cancer.
kurz und kn@pp news : Nr. 49
(2020)
Ribosome biogenesis is one cell function-defining process. It depends on efficient transcription of rDNAs in the nucleolus as well as on the cytosolic synthesis of ribosomal proteins. For newly transcribed rRNA modification and ribosomal protein assembly, so-called small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and ribosome biogenesis factors (RBFs) are required. For both, an inventory was established for model systems like yeast and humans. For plants, many assignments are based on predictions. Here, RNA deep sequencing after nuclei enrichment was combined with single molecule species detection by northern blot and in vivo fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)-based localization studies. In addition, the occurrence and abundance of selected snoRNAs in different tissues were determined. These approaches confirm the presence of most of the database-deposited snoRNAs in cell cultures, but some of them are localized in the cytosol rather than in the nucleus. Further, for the explored snoRNA examples, differences in their abundance in different tissues were observed, suggesting a tissue-specific function of some snoRNAs. Thus, based on prediction and experimental confirmation, many plant snoRNAs can be proposed, while it cannot be excluded that some of the proposed snoRNAs perform alternative functions than are involved in rRNA modification
The Early Permian coal is of great value in the Tengxian Coalfield, Shandon Province, Eastern China. This work deals with the new data focusing on mineralogical characteristics in the Early Permian Shanxi Formation No. 3 coal from the Jinyuan Mine. The Jinyuan coal is a low ash and highly volatile A bituminous coal. Minerals in the No. 3 coal mainly comprise of kaolinite, ankerite, illite, calcite, siderite, and quartz, with varying compositions of trace amounts of pyrite, jarosite, bassanite, anatase, and rutile. According to mineral assemblage in the coal plies, three Types (A to C) can be identified in the No. 3 coal. The dominant minerals in Type A are poorly-ordered kaolinite, illite, quartz, pyrite, and jarosite. Type B is mainly composed of well-ordered kaolinite, illite, siderite, ankerite, and calcite. Type C, with just one sample (JY-3-7c), which contains high proportions of calcite (54%) and ankerite (34%). Terrigenous minerals are elevated in coal plies that typically have relatively high contents of ash yield. The formation of syngenetic pyrite was generally due to seawater, while the sulphate minerals (jarosite and coquimbite) were derived from the oxidation of pyrite. Epigenetic vein-like or fracture-fillings carbonate minerals (ankerite, calcite, and siderite), kaolinite, and pyrite, as well as authigenic quartz were derived from the influx of hydrothermal fluids during different periods, from the authigenic to epigenetic. The paragonite in the coal may have been formed by the precipitated from Na-rich hydrothermal fluids. No effects of magmatic intrusion on mineralogy were investigated in this research.
Genetic association studies have shown their usefulness in assessing the role of ion channels in human thermal pain perception. We used machine learning to construct a complex phenotype from pain thresholds to thermal stimuli and associate it with the genetic information derived from the next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 15 ion channel genes which are involved in thermal perception, including ASIC1, ASIC2, ASIC3, ASIC4, TRPA1, TRPC1, TRPM2, TRPM3, TRPM4, TRPM5, TRPM8, TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3, and TRPV4. Phenotypic information was complete in 82 subjects and NGS genotypes were available in 67 subjects. A network of artificial neurons, implemented as emergent self-organizing maps, discovered two clusters characterized by high or low pain thresholds for heat and cold pain. A total of 1071 variants were discovered in the 15 ion channel genes. After feature selection, 80 genetic variants were retained for an association analysis based on machine learning. The measured performance of machine learning-mediated phenotype assignment based on this genetic information resulted in an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 77.2%, justifying a phenotype classification based on the genetic information. A further item categorization finally resulted in 38 genetic variants that contributed most to the phenotype assignment. Most of them (10) belonged to the TRPV3 gene, followed by TRPM3 (6). Therefore, the analysis successfully identified the particular importance of TRPV3 and TRPM3 for an average pain phenotype defined by the sensitivity to moderate thermal stimuli.
Iron is part of many redox and other enzymes and, thus, it is essential for all living beings. Many oxic environments have extremely low concentrations of free iron. Therefore, many prokaryotic species evolved siderophores, i.e., small organic molecules that complex Fe3+ with very high affinity. Siderophores of bacteria are intensely studied, in contrast to those of archaea. The haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii contains a gene cluster that putatively encodes siderophore biosynthesis genes, including four iron uptake chelate (iuc) genes. Underscoring this hypothesis, Northern blot analyses revealed that a hexacistronic transcript is generated that is highly induced under iron starvation. A quadruple iuc deletion mutant was generated, which had a growth defect solely at very low concentrations of Fe3+, not Fe2+. Two experimental approaches showed that the wild type produced and exported an Fe3+-specific siderophore under low iron concentrations, in contrast to the iuc deletion mutant. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that haloarchaea obtained the gene cluster by lateral transfer from bacteria and enabled the prediction of enzymatic functions of all six gene products. Notably, a biosynthetic pathway is proposed that starts with aspartic acid, uses several group donors and citrate, and leads to the hydroxamate siderophore Schizokinen.
NIMA (never-in-mitosis gene A)-related kinase 1 (Nek1) is shown to impact on different cellular pathways such as DNA repair, checkpoint activation, and apoptosis. Its role as a molecular target for radiation sensitization of malignant cells, however, remains elusive. Stably transduced doxycycline (Dox)-inducible Nek1 shRNA HeLa cervix and siRNA-transfected HCT-15 colorectal carcinoma cells were irradiated in vitro and 3D clonogenic radiation survival, residual DNA damage, cell cycle distribution, and apoptosis were analyzed. Nek1 knockdown (KD) sensitized both cell lines to ionizing radiation following a single dose irradiation and more pronounced in combination with a 6 h fractionation (3 × 2 Gy) regime. For preclinical analyses we focused on cervical cancer. Nek1 shRNA HeLa cells were grafted into NOD/SCID/IL-2Rγc−/− (NSG) mice and Nek1 KD was induced by Dox-infused drinking water resulting in a significant cytostatic effect if combined with a 6 h fractionation (3 × 2 Gy) regime. In addition, we correlated Nek1 expression in biopsies of patients with cervical cancer with histopathological parameters and clinical follow-up. Our results indicate that elevated levels of Nek1 were associated with an increased rate of local or distant failure, as well as with impaired cancer-specific and overall survival in univariate analyses and for most endpoints in multivariable analyses. Finally, findings from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) validation cohort confirmed a significant association of high Nek1 expression with a reduced disease-free survival. In conclusion, we consider Nek1 to represent a novel biomarker and potential therapeutic target for drug development in the context of optimized fractionation intervals.
The oomycete genus Ectrogella currently comprises a rather heterogeneous group of obligate endoparasitoids, mostly of diatoms and algae. Despite their widespread occurrence, little is known regarding the phylogenetic affinities of these bizarre organisms. Traditionally, the genus was included within the Saprolegniales, based on zoospore diplanetism and a saprolegnia/achlya-like zoospore discharge. The genus has undergone multiple re-definitions in the past, and has often been used largely indiscriminately for oomycetes forming sausage-like thalli in diatoms. While the phylogenetic affinity of the polyphyletic genus Olpidiopsis has recently been partially resolved, taxonomic placement of the genus Ectrogella remained unresolved, as no sequence data were available for species of this genus. In this study, we report the phylogenetic placement of Ectrogella bacillariacearum infecting the freshwater diatom Nitzschia sigmoidea. The phylogenetic reconstruction shows that Ectrogella bacillariacearum is grouped among the early diverging lineages of the Saprolegniomycetes with high support, and is unrelated to the monophyletic diatom-infecting olpidiopsis-like species. As these species are neither related to Ectrogella, nor to the early diverging lineages of Olpidiopsis s. str. and Miracula, they are placed in a new genus, Diatomophthora, in the present study.
We employ a representative sample of 80,972 Italian firms to forecast the drop in profits and the equity shortfall triggered by the COVID-19 lockdown. A 3-month lockdown generates an aggregate yearly drop in profits of about 10% of GDP, and 17% of sample firms, which employ 8.8% of the sample’s employees, become financially distressed. Distress is more frequent for small and medium-sized enterprises, for firms with high pre-COVID-19 leverage, and for firms belonging to the Manufacturing and Wholesale Trading sectors. Listed companies are less likely to enter distress, whereas the correlation between distress rates and family firm ownership is unclear.
(JEL G01, G32, G33)