This article explores how Adrienne Rich's poetic thinking intersects with the recently emerged new materialist and posthumanist philosophies, offering a non-reductive understanding of the embodied ...self as enmeshed in the nature-culture continuum, corporeal vulnerability as relational, and history as registered in the body. It argues that Rich developed a nomadic poetics: a mode of exploratory writing, which searches for "transformative meaning on the shoreline of what can now be thought or said" (Poetry and Social Commitment 2007), reorients the relationship between the self and others, and complicates the idea of materiality and newness. To trace how Rich's poetics was evolving over time, it looks both at her earlier theorizing on mind-matter entanglements and her later and lesser-known poem "Letters Censored / Shredded / Returned to Sender / or Judged Unfit to Send" (2005) published as part of Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth.
In the Anthropocene critical theory has become strongly committed to exploring nuanced entanglements of human and more-than-human nature, which also involves renewing the meanings of mind and matter, ...nature and culture, and history and biology, among other fundamental concepts. Significantly, this has been a transdisciplinary effort: entanglements-oriented perspectives interact and intersect across posthumanist philosophies and environmental humanities, new materialisms and ecopoetics, or climate science and geopoetics. Thinking through entanglements has been also integral to feminist theories, which have interrogated and reconfigured the above concepts, acutely aware of how binary modes of thought affect both women and nature. Even today, after the "material turn" in the humanities, juxtaposing words "women" and "nature" often meets with strong opposition. This is especially true for gender theories, which remain particularly attuned to any forms of essentialism and its political and linguistic manifestations. After all, a longstanding tendency to over-embody and "naturalize" women has not been fully eradicated and the damage it has done cannot be easily reversed. Here, Makowska explores how women poets, across generations and locations, think through multi-faceted entanglements of human and more-than-human nature and how, through poetic experimentation, they evoke a lived experience of becoming outward bound: capable of interrelating with others.
The aggregation of proteins or their digested fragments through β-sheet structures has a great significance because it leads to neurodegenerative diseases, which are a problem of the aging societies ...of the developed countries. Short peptides are typically used as models to study the formation of specific structures. However, while the formation of α-helical structure was investigated thoroughly, until recently, there have been much fewer studies on the formation of β-structure. In this review, recent experimental and theoretical studies of β-hairpin-forming peptides, both model alaninebased systems, and those based on the fragments of real proteins, are summarized with regard to the role of hydrophobic, local, and Coulombic interactions. It is demonstrated that the presence of charged residues can induce a bent structure not only owing to the formation of salt bridges if oppositely- charged residues present at the ends of a sequence but also through shielding the hydrophobic interior by like-charged residues at the end of the sequence.
Laboratory mice are typically housed in "shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed ...to assess if access to playpens is rewarding for conventionally-housed mice and to document mouse behaviour during playpen access. Female C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ, and DBA/2J mice were provided temporary access to a large enriched playpen three times per week; control mice remained in their home cages. We measured latency to enter playpens and anticipatory behaviour to determine if access was rewarding, and recorded mouse behaviour during playpen sessions. Over time, playpen mice entered the playpen more quickly; latency declined from 168 ± 22 to 13 ± 2 s over the 14-d trial. As expected, playpen mice showed an increase in anticipatory behaviour before playpen access (mean ± SE = 19.7 ± 2.6 behavioural transitions), while control mice showed no change in anticipatory behaviour relative to baseline values (2.4 ± 1.6 transitions). Mice in the playpen performed more ambulatory behaviours than control mice who remained in home cages (21.5 ± 0.7 vs 6.9 ± 1.1 observations of 25 total observations). We conclude that conventionally-housed mice find voluntary playpen access rewarding, and suggest this as a useful option for providing laboratory mice with access to more complex environments.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, multifactorial autoimmune disease characterized by chronic arthritis, a tendency to develop joint deformities, and involvement of extra-articular tissues. The ...risk of malignant neoplasms among patients with RA is the subject of ongoing research due to the autoimmune pathogenesis that underlies RA, the common etiology of rheumatic disease and malignancies, and the use of immunomodulatory therapy, which can alter immune system function and thus increase the risk of malignant neoplasms. This risk can also be increased by impaired DNA repair efficiency in individuals with RA, as reported in our recent study. Impaired DNA repair may reflect the variability in the genes that encode DNA repair proteins. The aim of our study was to evaluate the genetic variation in RA within the genes of the DNA damage repair system through base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and the double strand break repair system by homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). We genotyped a total of 28 polymorphisms in 19 genes encoding DNA repair-related proteins in 100 age- and sex-matched RA patients and healthy subjects from Central Europe (Poland). Polymorphism genotypes were determined using the Taq-man SNP Genotyping Assay. We found an association between the RA occurrence and
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polymorphisms. Our results suggest that polymorphisms of DNA damage repair genes may play a role in RA pathogenesis and may be considered as potential markers of RA.
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogeneous group of rare autoimmune diseases, with increasing incidence rates observed in the recent years. The pathogenesis of IIM remains not fully ...understood, and the interaction of genetic and environmental factors is suspected. It is unclear whether the observed upward trend in the IIM incidence is solely due to improved access to effective diagnostics or perhaps due to increased exposure to external risk factors. The PUBMED database was thoroughly searched for articles describing environmental exposures potentially triggering the onset of IIM. The article summarizes the current knowledge available on this subject, taking into account various environmental factors, including among others UV radiation, infectious agents with SARS-CoV-2, inhaled particles, or iatrogenic effects. Limitations and unmet needs requiring further studies were highlighted.
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•Environmental exposures serve a significant role in the pathogenesis of IIM•Seasonal variability of IIM incidence supports the idea of environmental triggers•Exposure to UV radiation is associated with the risk for IIM in susceptible ones•Preceding infections are considered as one of the strongest risk factors for IIM•Impact differs depending on IIM subtype, demographical data and serological profile
•Very little research exists on species-specific indicators of pain in harbour seals.•Facial Action Units (FAUs) and behaviour can indicate pain in many species.•This study identified FAUs and ...behaviours that potentially indicate pain in seals.
There are no proven species-specific indicators of pain in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). The analysis of facial expressions has proven to be a repeatable, accurate and valid method of identifying pain in multiple species, but facial expressions have not been examined in any species of pinniped. This study investigated whether harbour seals’ facial expressions and other behaviours changed immediately after a potentially painful procedure.
Forty-seven pups (healthy, >60 d old) at a rehabilitation facility were video-recorded during routine procedures of flipper tagging and microchipping, which are normally done without analgesia. Eight pups were used to generate an ethogram of the facial and behavioural changes seen, 19 pups to compare the behaviours before and after the procedures (Experiment 1), 10 pups in a cross-over experiment comparing responses to real and sham procedures (Experiment 2), and 10 pups to pilot-test a possible analgesic (Experiment 3). For each seal, two observers (Experiment 1) and one observer (Experiments 2 and 3), blind to treatment, watched 90-s video clips recorded just before and just after the procedures. The observers, one experienced with the species and the other not, also made a subjective judgement of whether pain was present or absent for each clip in Experiment 1.
In all three experiments, orbital tightening increased from before to after tagging and microchipping (p < 0.0001), whereas the behaviours of looking around (p < 0.01) and struggling (p < 0.05) decreased. Blinking (p < 0.05) decreased in Experiments 1 and 2 while trembling (p < 0.01) decreased only in Experiment 1. Inter-observer reliability ranged from r = 0.82 to 0.92 for these five types of behaviour. In Experiment 2, sham treatment produced no similar changes. In Experiment 3, the procedures produced similar changes likely because the single analgesic/dosage tested was ineffective. For both observers, the subjective scoring of presence or absence of pain corresponded closely to whether or not the procedures had been performed (95% correspondence for experienced and 89% for inexperienced). These results show promise for facial expressions and other behaviours to be used to assess potentially painful procedures in seals.
Frequent use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has been paralleled by increasing occurrence of adverse reactions, which vary from mild local skin rashes or gastric irritation to ...severe, generalized symptoms and even life-threatening anaphylaxis. NSAID-induced hypersensitivity reactions may involve both immunological and non-immunological mechanisms and should be differentiated from type A adverse reactions. Clinical diagnosis and effective management of a hypersensitive patient cannot be achieved without identifying the underlying mechanism. In this review, we discuss the current classification of NSAID-induced adverse reactions and propose a practical diagnostic algorithm that involves 7 steps leading to the determination of the type of NSAID-induced hypersensitivity and allows for proper patient management.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a chronic condition characterized by recurrent episodes of apneas or hypopneas during sleep leading to intermittent hypoxemia and arousals. The prevalence of the sleep ...disordered breathing is estimated that almost 50% of men and 24% of women suffer from moderate to severe form of the disorder. Snoring, collapse of upper airways and intermittent hypoxia are main causes of smoldering systemic inflammation in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. The systematic inflammation is considered one of the key mechanisms leading to significant cardiovascular complications. Blood platelets, formerly not even recognized as cells, are currently gaining attention as crucial players in the immune continuum. Platelet surface is endowed with receptors characteristic for cells classically belonging to the immune system, which enables them to recognize pathogens, immune complexes, and interact in a homo- and heterotypic aggregates. Platelets participate in the process of transcellular production of bioactive lipids by delivering both specific enzymes and substrate molecules. Despite their lack of nucleus, platelets synthetize proteins in a stimuli-dependent manner. Atherosclerosis and consequent cardiovascular complications result from disruption in homeostasis of both of the platelet roles: blood coagulation and inflammatory processes modulation. Platelet parameters, routinely evaluated as a part of complete blood count test, were proposed as markers of cardiovascular comorbidity in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Platelets were found to be excessively activated in this group of patients, especially in obese subjects. Persistent activation results in enhanced spontaneous aggregability and change in cytokine production. Platelet-lymphocyte ratio was suggested as an independent marker for cardiovascular disease in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and continuous positive air pressure therapy was found to have an impact on platelet parameters and phenotype. In this literature review we summarize the current knowledge on the subject of platelets involvement in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and consider the possible pathways in which they contribute to cardiovascular comorbidity.
Laboratory mice (Mus musculus) are typically housed in simple cages consisting of one open space. These standard cages may thwart mouse ability to segregate resting areas from areas where they ...eliminate, a behaviour that is prevalent across the animal kingdom. No scientific work has directly tested whether mice engage in such segregation behaviour, or whether the ability to do so may have welfare consequences. Here we show that mice, whether housed in standard cages or a complex housing system consisting of three interconnected standard cages, kept nesting and elimination sites highly segregated, with nest and urine co-occurring in the same location only 2% of the time. However, mice in the complex system established these clean and dirty sites in separate cages instead of separate locations within one cage, and carried bedding materials (cellulose pellets) from their nesting cages to their latrine cage. Moreover, mice in the complex system displayed more behaviours associated with positive welfare and were less disturbed by weekly husbandry procedures. We conclude that mice find waste products aversive, and that housing mice in a way that facilitates spatial segregation provides a simple way of allowing the expression of natural behaviours and improving welfare.
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