The frontier problem in incipient groundwater management regimes in Balochistan (Pakistan)

Using case material on the exploitation of groundwater in Balochistan Province in Pakistan, the article studies how resource management regimes evolve or fail to evolve. Incipient resource management regimes face two problems: the definition of access rights and the lack of knowledge on the limits and regenerative capacities of the resource as well as on the behavior of the co-users. These problems will usually be addressed as soon as increased exploitation makes itself first felt in declining groundwater exploitation, though this does not necessary mean that the resource is exploited at levels that are not sustainable. As exploitation will continue to increase however the point of overexploitation may be reached, beyond which it will be much more difficult for a resource management regime to evolve.     

Power/Knowledge,Power/Ignorance: Forest Fires and the State in Mexico

For over a century the Mexican state has justified its control of forests by claiming that rural people are ignorant and destructive fire setters, in the face of abundant evidence to the contrary. Academic and popular stereotypes of the state have tended to assume that official power and knowledge go hand in hand. In an institutional ethnography ofthe Mexican environment agency, SEMARNAP, I. show how official ignorance is deployed both within and outside state forestry institutions, and how ignorance and complicity may be as important as knowledge in asserting state power. Rather than internalizing official fire discourse, rural people in Mexico learn to mouth polite fictions in their encounters with officials. I argue that the scholarship on governmentality derived from Foucault has uncritically internalized the link between power and knowledge. A closer attention to the production and translation of knowledge within state institutions leads to a more nuancedunderstanding of various forms of obscurity and ignorance which accompany official knowledge claims. This paper is drawn from my fieldwork and archival research in Mexico in the summer of 1998 and between April 2000 and August 2001.     

The physician,the parent and the retarded child

The problem of the retarded child and his parents is one confronting practicing physicians more and more frequently. Current estimates indicate that state hospital facilities for retarded persons in California are short nearly 6,000 beds. There are long waiting lists for available facilities. Many families are in desperate need of help. To advise a family to send their child to a State hospital is not a real solution nor one possible in the great majority of instances. The responsibility of the physician goes beyond this. Parents' groups have developed in the last few years and are making a real contribution to a resolution of the problem. Local community resources have increased and will further increase. A more accurate clinical understanding of the retarded child has been formed and his treatment needs more clearly defined. Physicians, parents, community and State agencies must work together to effect a coordinated program.     

EGFR-targeted therapy

Anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) therapies have been recently developed for the treatment of multiple cancer types. At the time when they were introduced in clinical practice, there was little knowledge of the molecular bases of tumor sensitivity and resistance to these novel targeted compounds. By using the framework of anti-EGFR inhibitors as treatment for colorectal cancer patients, we will review the knowledge we have reached until now in improving the development of a personalized cancer therapy and we will try to indicate the future challenges this field will face in the future.     

Metabolites of the glycolytic pathway modulate the activity of single cardiac Na+ channels

Elementary Na+ currents through single cardiac Na+ channels were recorded at 19 degrees C in patch clamp experiments with cultured neonatal rat cardiocytes. The metabolites of the glycolytic pathway, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and glyceraldehyde phosphate, were identified as a novel class of modulators of Na+ channel activity. In micromolar concentrations (1-10 mumol/liter), their presence at the cytoplasmic membrane face increased the number of sequential openings during depolarization and prolonged the conductive channel state. As found after ensemble averaging, the decay kinetics of reconstructed macroscopic Na+ currents became retarded and slow Na+ inactivation may have been evoked. Both metabolites attenuated the rundown of channel activity that regularly develops after patch excision in the inside-out patch configuration. It is tempting to assume that interference with Na+ inactivation is the mode of action underlying the increase in single-channel activity.     

Chromosome X-linked mental retardation and marfanoid syndrome

In the present paper we report two pairs of slightly to moderately mentally retarded brothers with Marfanoid habitus and similar craniofacial changes. They had a long and narrow face, small mandible, high-arched palate and hypernasal voice, as previously reported by Lujan et al. (1984) in 4 mentally retarded males of a large kindred. The present data suggest the existence of a specific type of X-linked mental retardation with Marfanoid habitus.     

Harvesting before a fire: How much energy and organics can Greece gain?

Mediterranean-type climate regions like Greece have to face many problems, such as fuel, wood, paper and animal food deficiencies. In addition, great amounts of money are spent every year on fire fighting. The suggested harvesting of mediterranean-type ecosystems every 10 years will contribute to a combined solution of all these problems.     

Behavioural and neurophysiological evidence for face identity and face emotion processing in animals

Visual cues from faces provide important social information relating to individual identity, sexual attraction and emotional state. Behavioural and neurophysiological studies on both monkeys and sheep have shown that specialized skills and neural systems for processing these complex cues to guide behaviour have evolved in a number of mammals and are not present exclusively in humans. Indeed, there are remarkable similarities in the ways that faces are processed by the brain in humans and other mammalian species. While human studies with brain imaging and gross neurophysiological recording approaches have revealed global aspects of the face-processing network, they cannot investigate how information is encoded by specific neural networks. Single neuron electrophysiological recording approaches in both monkeys and sheep have, however, provided some insights into the neural encoding principles involved and, particularly, the presence of a remarkable degree of high-level encoding even at the level of a specific face. Recent developments that allow simultaneous recordings to be made from many hundreds of individual neurons are also beginning to reveal evidence for global aspects of a population-based code. This review will summarize what we have learned so far from these animal-based studies about the way the mammalian brain processes the faces and the emotions they can communicate, as well as associated capacities such as how identity and emotion cues are dissociated and how face imagery might be generated. It will also try to highlight what questions and advances in knowledge still challenge us in order to provide a complete understanding of just how brain networks perform this complex and important social recognition task.     

Microbial Resource Management revisited: successful parameters and new concepts

In the twenty-first century, scientists will want to steer the microbial black box in (engineered) ecosystems, rather than only study and describe them. This strategy led to a new way of thinking: Microbial Resource Management (MRM). For the last few years, MRM has been utilized to consolidate and communicate our acquired knowledge of the microbiome to many areas of the scientific community. This shared knowledge has brought us closer to formulating a plan toward the analysis, and at a later stage, the management of our varied microbial communities and to look at ways of harnessing their unique abilities for future practices. We require this acquired knowledge for a more sustainable solution to our ongoing global challenges such as our diminishing energy and water supply. Like any successful concept, MRM must be updated to adapt to new molecular technologies, and thus, in this review, MRM has been reengineered to encompass these changes. This review reports how MRM has been used successfully over the last few years within various environments and how we can broaden its capabilities to increase its compliance in the face of state of the art ever changing technologies. Not only have we reengineered and improved MRM, but also we have discussed how newly formed relationships between technologies can provide the full picture of these complex microbial communities and their interactions for future opportunities.     

How much can cladistics tell us about early hominid relationships?

Although cladistic analysis has been used to compare hypotheses of relationships among early hominids, the outcomes of different studies have depended entirely on the assumptions made by different investigators. Problems include the close genetic relationship of early hominid taxa, small fossil sample sizes, possible correlations among characters, and a lack of understanding about the evolutionary factors affecting characters. This study investigates the interaction of some of these problems affecting early hominid phylogenetics. Monte Carlo simulations of character state evolution in closely related taxa demonstrate that the sample sizes and close genetic relationships of early hominids do not permit cladistic analyses to obtain unequivocal results. Even with unrealistically good assumptions about the evolutionary dynamics affecting characters, the probability of the most parsimonious hypothesis being true is unacceptably small. In the face of these problems, even phylogenetic statements that are supported by a strong consensus of cladistic studies may nevertheless be in error, and such errors are likely to confound the placement of new specimens and taxa. Advancement in our knowledge of hominid phylogeny can depend only on a fuller understanding of the natural history and evolutionary dynamics of traits.     

Quality-of-life measurements: origin and pathogenesis

Despite extensive growth in recent years, the field of "quality-of-life" appraisal still evokes debate about basic perception of the concept and is accompanied by a plethora of indexes for measurement. One prime reason for the problems is that the measurements have been transferred from two separate sources - medical health status indexes and social-science population indexes - neither of which was designed for appraising the particular personal distinctions of the way people feel about their own quality of life. When regulatory and commercial incentives were offered for measuring patients' quality of life, it became appraised with the indexes available from the medical and psychosocial sources, even though neither set of indexes was specifically intended for that purpose. They are not developed from the basic principle that a person's "quality of life" is a state of mind, not a state of health, which is uniquely perceived by that person, and which will not be appropriately appraised unless the most cogent personal components are allowed suitable expressions. An approach that lets patients state their own opinions directly can offer the "face validity" or "common sense" that now seems absent from the generally applied measurements.     

Biosynthesis of pyrrolopyrimidines

Pyrrolopyrimidine containing compounds, also known as 7-deazapurines, are a collection of purine-based metabolites that have been isolated from a variety of biological sources and have diverse functions which range from secondary metabolism to RNA modification. To date, nearly 35 compounds with the common 7-deazapurine core structure have been described. This article will illustrate the structural diversity of these compounds and review the current state of knowledge on the biosynthetic pathways that give rise to them.     

Stocking the Genetic Supermarket: Reproductive Genetic Technologies and Collective Action Problems

Reproductive genetic technologies (RGTs) allow parents to decide whether their future children will have or lack certain genetic predispositions. A popular model that has been proposed for regulating access to RGTs is the ‘genetic supermarket’. In the genetic supermarket, parents are free to make decisions about which genes to select for their children with little state interference. One possible consequence of the genetic supermarket is that collective action problems will arise: if rational individuals use the genetic supermarket in isolation from one another, this may have a negative effect on society as a whole, including future generations. In this article we argue that RGTs targeting height, innate immunity, and certain cognitive traits could lead to collective action problems. We then discuss whether this risk could in principle justify state intervention in the genetic supermarket. We argue that there is a plausible prima facie case for the view that such state intervention would be justified and respond to a number of arguments that might be adduced against that view.     

Diversifying the biological sciences: past efforts and future challenges

I am honored to receive the E. E. Just Award for 2010. In my invited essay, I have opted to discuss the state of diversity in the biological sciences with some recommendations for moving forward toward a more positive and inclusive academy. The need to develop cohorts of minority scientists as support groups and to serve as role models within our institutions is stressed, along with the need to ensure that minority scientists are truly included in all aspects of the academy. It is imperative that we increase our efforts to prepare for the unique challenges that we will face as the United States approaches a "majority minority" population in the next 50 years.     

Psychosocial implications of disfigurement and the future of human face transplantation

Although the first face transplants have been attempted, the social and psychological debates concerning the ethics and desirability of the procedure continue. Critics contend that these issues have not yet been sufficiently addressed. With this in mind, the present article seeks to elaborate on key psychological and social factors that will be central for addressing the ethical and psychosocial challenges necessary to move face transplantation into mainstream medicine. The goals of this article are to (1) discuss the psychosocial sequelae of facial disfiguration and how face transplantation may relieve those problems, and (2) delineate inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of research subjects for face transplantation. The article uses concepts from symbolic interaction theory in sociology to articulate a theoretically coherent scheme for comprehending the psychosocial difficulties of facial disfiguration and the advantages offered by facial transplantation. The authors conclude that the psychosocial implications of disfigurement warrant surgical intervention and that research in the area of face transplantation should continue.     

Risk calculations for hereditary effects of ionizing radiation in humans

Summary A prediction of the extent to which an additional dose of ionizing radiation increases the natural germ cell mutation rate, and how much such an increase will affect the health status of future human populations is part of the service that human geneticists are expected to offer to human society. However, more detailed scrutiny of the difficulties involved reveals an extremely complex set of problems. A large number of questions arises before such a prediction can be given with confidence; many such questions cannot be answered at our present state of knowledge. However, such predictions have recently been attempted. The 1988 report of the United Nations Scientific Committee for the Effects of Atomic Radiation and the fifth report of the Committee on Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation of the US National Research Council have presented a discussion of the human genetics problems involved. Empirical data from studies on children of highly radiation-exposed parents, e.g. parents exposed to the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or parents belonging to populations living on soil with high background radiation, have been mentioned in this context. Whereas precise predictions are impossible as yet because of deficiencies in our knowledge of medical genetics at various levels, the bulk of the existing evidence points to only small effects of low or moderate radiation doses, effects that will probably be buried in the background noise of changing patterns of human morbidity and mortality.     

对执行护航任务舰艇官兵的情绪研究

目的:近年来,随着执行护航任务的日趋常态化,舰艇官兵要面临一系列的身心考验,可能会出现一定的情绪问题。本文的目的是为了更清楚的了解护航任务期间官兵的情绪变化和情绪问题,以便更好为官兵服务。方法:本文通过使用SAS、SDS及POMS量表对执行护航的舰艇官兵情绪进行跟踪研究。结果:结果表明,执行任务官兵的焦虑、抑郁体验及心境纷乱程度得分均显著高于军人常模,从时间变量来看,护航焦虑体验最高的是护航初期,抑郁体验最高的是护航中期,护航后期的心境纷乱程度最低。结论:护航任务官兵焦虑、抑郁情绪明显,心境状态受任务影响显著,并且随任务执行的时间,在任务的不同阶段存在不同的表现。     

人类人工染色体构建及其作为基因治疗载体的价值

人类人工染色体(HAC)作为基因治疗载体将解决基因治疗存在的一些关键问题。本文探讨了在不完全了解着丝粒、复制起始点、端粒等人类染色体基本功能单位的情况下构建HAC的三种策略。利用染色体基本功能单位在细胞内构建成功的第一代HAC,解决了HAC构建的一些难题,同时也带来了某些新的问题。HAC作为基因治疗载体具有很多优势,但第一代HAC离它作为基因治疗载体还相距很远。为此,作者正在进行解决这些问题的尝试。     

In Memoríam

Mental retardation is a symptom of an underlying disease process. In California state hospitals for the retarded an accurate dynamic diagnosis is possible through utilizing the knowledge of neurology, psychiatry, pediatrics, psychology, social service, rehabilitation, education, the laboratory and trained psychiatric technicians. A program of "custody" is archaic and we are returning to the concept of training, treatment, and turnover. This kind of program is essential in order to avoid building new hospitals at the cost of millions of dollars every few years.Parent organizations for retarded children are expanding in ever increasing number. Special education programs in public schools, foster care homes and sheltered workshops may make admission to hospitals unnecessary and aid return of patients to the community.     

Education for science and science for education: more than a play upon words

In the celebration of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute centenary, we wanted to stress our concern with the relationship between two of its missions: research and education. What are the educational bases required for science and technology activities on health sciences for the future years? How can scientists collaborate to promote the popularization of academic knowledge and to improve a basic education for citizenship in an ethic and humanistic view? In this article we pointed out to need of commitment, even in the biomedical post-graduation level, of a more integrated philosophy that would be centered on health education, assuming health as a dynamic biological and social equilibrium and emphasizing the need of scientific popularization of science in a cooperative construction way, instead of direct transfer of knowledge, preserving also macro views of health problems in the development of very specific studies. The contemporary explosion of knowledge, particularly biological knowledge, imposes a need of continuous education to face the growing illiteracy. In order to face this challenge, we think that the Oswaldo Cruz Institute honors his dialectic profile of tradition and transformation, always creating new perspectives to disseminate scientific culture in innovator forms.