A better understanding of 'local' agreements vis-a-vis national reconciliation processes is a strong current in policy and academic circles, with Somalia acknowledged as a relevant context with a ...rich history of such processes. This article examines a local agreement reached in Galkaio, a divided city where renewed violence had national implications around the formation of a new Federal system. It explores the role of external mediators, and strategies used to create buy-in at different levels in the process in order to forge ann agreement that could end violence and address some underlying conflict drivers. It argues how experimentation with sequencing, linking and moving between levels helped ensure the viability and sustainability of the process. It contributes to the literature on mediating multi-level conflicts by focusing analysis on the role played by external mediators, demonstrating the importance of who mediates and how while providing insight into dynamic conflict mediation environments.
Somalia has a long history of famine and humanitarian crisis. This article focuses on the years 2008–2020, during which governance and aid practices changed substantially and which include three ...crisis periods. The article examines whether and how governance analysed as a political marketplace can help explain Somalia's repeated humanitarian crises and the manipulation of response. We argue that between 2008 and 2011 the political marketplace was a violent competitive oligopoly which contributed to famine, but that from 2012 a more collusive, informal political compact resulted in a status quo which avoided violent conflict or famine in 2017 and which functioned to keep external resources coming in. At the same time, this political arrangement benefits from the maintenance of a large group of displaced people in permanent precarity as a source of aid and labour.
Wound healing is delayed in diabetic patients. Increased apoptosis and endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) dysfunction are implicated in delayed diabetic wound healing. Melatonin, a major secretory ...product of the pineal gland, promotes diabetic wound healing; however, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Here, EPCs were isolated from the bone marrow of mice. Treatment of EPCs with melatonin alleviated advanced glycation end product (AGE)-induced apoptosis and cellular dysfunction. We further examined autophagy flux after melatonin treatment and found increased light chain 3 (LC3) and p62 protein levels in AGE-treated EPCs. However, lysosome-associated membrane protein 2 expression was decreased, indicating that autophagy flux was impaired in EPCs treated with AGEs. We then evaluated autophagy flux after melatonin treatment and found that melatonin increased the LC3 levels, but attenuated the accumulation of p62, suggesting a stimulatory effect of melatonin on autophagy flux. Blockage of autophagy flux by chloroquine partially abolished the protective effects of melatonin, indicating that autophagy flux is involved in the protective effects of melatonin. Furthermore, we found that the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway is involved in autophagy flux stimulation by melatonin. An in vivo study also illustrated that melatonin treatment ameliorated impaired wound healing in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic wound healing model. Thus, our study shows that melatonin protects EPCs against apoptosis and dysfunction via autophagy flux stimulation and ameliorates impaired wound healing in vivo, providing insight into its mechanism of action in diabetic wound healing.
Oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), a sirtuin family protein located in mitochondria, ...is essential for mitochondrial homeostasis; however, the role of SIRT3 in the process of IVDD has remained elusive. Here, we explored the expression of SIRT3 in IVDD in vivo and in vitro; we also explored the role of SIRT3 in senescence, apoptosis, and mitochondrial homeostasis under oxidative stress. We subsequently activated SIRT3 using honokiol to evaluate its therapeutic potential for IVDD. We assessed SIRT3 expression in degenerative nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues and oxidative stress-induced nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs). SIRT3 was knocked down by lentivirus and activated by honokiol to determine its role in oxidative stress-induced NPCs. The mechanism by which honokiol affected SIRT3 regulation was investigated in vitro, and the therapeutic potential of honokiol was assessed in vitro and in vivo. We found that the expression of SIRT3 decreased with IVDD, and SIRT3 knockdown reduced the tolerance of NPCs to oxidative stress. Honokiol (10 μM) improved the viability of NPCs under oxidative stress and promoted their properties of anti-oxidation, mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in a SIRT3-dependent manner. Furthermore, honokiol activated SIRT3 through the AMPK-PGC-1α signaling pathway. Moreover, honokiol treatment ameliorated IVDD in rats. Our study indicated that SIRT3 is involved in IVDD and showed the potential of the SIRT3 agonist honokiol for the treatment of IVDD.
This article explores Somali transborder/transnational activism through the role of two individual actors, drawing upon their life histories and a selection of initiatives they have been involved in ...over time. The Somali-populated Horn of Africa provides a highly complex environment for the production of identities, based on its ethno-linguistic heritage, clan affiliations, Islam and their variable state-like affiliations in what is a highly politically fragmented context. These complex and multiple forms of identity incorporate diasporic and non-diasporic actors, all of which complicates notions of citizenship. This article draws upon social and cultural notions of citizenship (rather than legal-bureacratic) to argue that the agency expressed by the two protagonists is usefully understood as a form of evolving transborder citizenship. Furthermore, the article utilizes the concept of 'social remittances' to suggest that the quality of behaviour expressed by our transborder citizens is a form of 'civicness', reflective of an engagement with and resistance to the volatile and exclusionary politics of conflict affected contexts. Utilizing life histories enables us to explore how individuals and the networks of which they are part, pursue different strategies, to varying effects, over time and in multiple settings.
Malignant giant cell tumor of bone (MGCTB) is extremely rare. Currently, population-based prognosis studies are lacking. This study aimed to determine the impact of demographics, tumor ...characteristics, and treatment on prognosis among patients with MGCTB.
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was used to identify patients with MGCTB from 1984 to 2013. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to determine the overall survival (OS). Univariable and multivariable Cox analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors.
There were 250 patients with MGCTB included in our study. The multivariate Cox analysis revealed that age at diagnosis (hazard ratio HR: 1.09; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.07–1.11; P < 0.001), tumor size (HR: 7.04; 95% CI: 2.38–20.77; P < 0.001), tumor extension (regional vs. localized, HR: 2.64; 95% CI: 1.10–6.34; P = 0.030; distant vs. localized, HR: 6.12; 95% CI: 2.27–16.49; P < 0.001), and radiotherapy (HR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.18–0.89; P = 0.025) were independent risk factors of OS in patients with MGCTB. Notably, tumor site (HR: 1.98; 95% CI: 0.99–4.00; P = 0.055) exhibited borderline significance. Additionally, we found that patients with tumors measuring >70 mm (P = 0.015), located in the axial skeleton (P < 0.001) and presented with distant metastasis (P < 0.001) tended to receive radiotherapy. Moreover, a nomogram model integrating independent predictors was established to estimate the OS of patients with MGCTB.
This study provides a population-based assessment of the largest number of patients with MGCTB. We found that older age, larger tumor size, regional or distant metastasis, and lack of radiotherapy was associated with poor OS. Surgical methods were not significantly associated with OS. Furthermore, we built a high-quality nomogram to predict 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS for patients with MGCTB. These findings may assist in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of MGCTB.
This meta-analysis was designed to elucidate whether preoperative signal intensity changes could predict the surgical outcomes of patients with cervical spondylosis myelopathy on the basis of ...T1-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging images. We searched the Medline database and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for this purpose and 10 studies meeting our inclusion criteria were identified. In total, 650 cervical spondylosis myelopathy patients with (+) or without (-) intramedullary signal changes on their T2-weighted images were examined. Weighted mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were used to summarize the data. Patients with focal and faint border changes in the intramedullary signal on T2 magnetic resonance imaging had similar Japanese Orthopaedic Association recovery ratios as those with no signal changes on the magnetic resonance imaging images of the spinal cord did. The surgical outcomes were poorer in the patients with both T2 intramedullary signal changes, especially when the signal changes were multisegmental and had a well-defined border and T1 intramedullary signal changes compared with those without intramedullary signal changes. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging including T1 and T2 imaging can thus be used to predict postoperative recovery in cervical spondylosis myelopathy patients.
This article adopts a socio-political lens in order to better understand the Somalia famine. As a result it draws out important continuities with the famine of the early 1990s as well as specific ...food security and vulnerability characteristics within Somalia which have largely been absent in discussions of the famine to date. ‘Minority’ populations were most affected in both famines and this identity overlaps with specific geographic areas and more sedentary, rural and agriculturally based livelihoods, distinct from other population groups. We argue that these dimensions, important in understanding long-term marginalization processes and outcomes, also help to understand the differential levels of risk and other complicating factors in the 2011 famine.
► A socio-political analysis was conducted to identify under-recognized famine causal factors. ► Dependency on agricultural labor was a key characteristic of the famine affected population. ► As in 1991, the 2011 famine affected population was predominantly drawn from two distinct ‘minority’ identity groups. ► Years of marginalization created high levels of risk specific to certain wealth and ethnic groups. ► Risk analysis including socio-political factors can improve famine predictive abilities.
Melatonin is reportedly associated with intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Endplate cartilage is vitally important to intervertebral discs in physiological and pathological conditions. However, ...the effects and mechanism of melatonin on endplate chondrocytes (EPCs) are still unclear. Herein, we studied the effects of melatonin on EPC apoptosis and calcification and elucidated the underlying mechanism. Our study revealed that melatonin treatment decreases the incidence of apoptosis and inhibits EPC calcification in a dose‐dependent manner. We also found that melatonin upregulates Sirt1 expression and activity and promotes autophagy in EPCs. Autophagy inhibition by 3‐methyladenine reversed the protective effect of melatonin on apoptosis and calcification, while the Sirt1 inhibitor EX‐527 suppressed melatonin‐induced autophagy and the protective effects of melatonin against apoptosis and calcification, indicating that the beneficial effects of melatonin in EPCs are mediated through the Sirt1‐autophagy pathway. Furthermore, melatonin may ameliorate IDD in vivo in rats. Collectively, this study revealed that melatonin reduces EPC apoptosis and calcification and that the underlying mechanism may be related to Sirt1‐autophagy pathway regulation, which may help us better understand the association between melatonin and IDD.
PDF
