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Mia Couto and the enchantment of rain
In his preface to Rain and Other Stories, Mia Couto refers to the remaking of the world following the Mozambican civil war: ‘we soak our faces in this rain of hope, this water of benedreamtion’. Pluvial rain, as Nuttall terms it, can bring huge destruction, as can drought, its absence. Scholars have insisted on the agency of water, including African ecocritics who argue for an ‘animist conception of the world’ which transposes and transgresses boundaries and identities. Garuba specifically refers to the ‘persistent re-enchantment of the world’ whereby the ‘rational and scientific are appropriated and transformed into the mystical and magical’. This article explores the range of roles, agentic and enchanted, which Couto accords rain in his stories. Although he rejected the label ‘magic realist’, his translator Chabal argues that in his stories the fantastic ‘transmutes the fictitious into the factual’ so that ‘all boundaries are put into question’: between past and present, far and near, material and spiritual. And he seeks to regain the ‘brotherhood’, the ‘relation’, the ‘link between nature and humanity’. Ashcroft says Couto’s vision as a writer is to ‘give back to the word its divine power … the power to enchant things, be these trees, birds, or landscapes’. Samuelson too claims that Couto’s stories ‘invoke an enlivening ecocritical method’ that draws readers into a ‘sacred web’, an ‘indivisible body, an ‘interconnected world’. While the notion of enchantment is not unproblematic, the interconnections it entails between human and environment, material and spiritual, generate a receptive matrix in which to understand and recognise the agency of rain.ContributionThis article engages with ecocritical readings of the stories of Mia Couto by examining his treatment of rain and his approach to the issue of enchantment. It thus contributes to criticism of his work as well as to the growing field of ecocriticism in this country.
Journal Article
Rain and other stories
\"Mia Couto, winner of the Neustadt International Prize, and a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, first became famous as a writer of enchanting short stories. In Rain and Other Stories, one of his most appealing collections, here available in English for the first time, the borders that separate people melt as a poor African country emerges from sixteen years of civil war and assumes its identity as an independent nation. In these playful, poignant stories of ordinary people, the African oral tale merges into the contemporary short story, magic blends with realism, and the boundaries between Africans and Europeans, men and women, and even the living and the dead, yield before a joyous mixing. Amid visions of water and rain, fishermen and farmers, spiritualists and lovers, experience sparkling new ways of renewing life in a country that is being reborn.\"-- Provided by publisher.
BOOK
Oral Administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus Ameliorates the Progression of Osteoarthritis by Inhibiting Joint Pain and Inflammation
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and age-related degenerative joint disorder, which adversely affects quality of life and causes disability. However, the pathogenesis of OA remains unclear. This study was performed to examine the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in OA progression. OA was induced in 6-week-old male Wistar rats by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) injection, and the effects of oral administration of L. rhamnosus were examined in this OA rat model. Pain severity, cartilage destruction, and inflammation were measured in MIA-induced OA rats. The small intestines were isolated from OA rats, and the intestinal structure and inflammation were measured. Protein expression in the dorsal root ganglion was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The effects of L. rhamnosus on mRNA and protein expression in chondrocytes stimulated with interleukin (IL)-1β and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Pain severity was decreased in L. rhamnosus-treated MIA-induced OA rats. The levels of expression of MCP-1, a potential inflammatory cytokine, and its receptor, CCR2, were decreased, and GABA and PPAR-γ expression were increased in L. rhamnosus-treated OA rats. The inflammation, as determined by IL-1β, and cartilage destruction, as determined by MMP3, were also significantly decreased by L. rhamnosus in OA rats. Additionally, intestinal damage and inflammation were improved by L. rhamnosus. In human OA chondrocytes, TIMP1, TIMP3, SOX9, and COL2A1 which are tissue inhibitors of MMP, and IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, were increased by L. rhamnosus. L. rhamnosus treatment led to decreased pain severity and cartilage destruction in a rat model of OA. Intestinal damage and inflammation were also decreased by L. rhamnosus treatment. Our findings suggested the therapeutic potential of L. rhamnosus in OA.
Journal Article
Forever princess
Although she's recently completed a 400-page romance novel, Princess Mia, in her last month of high school, has yet to pick a college, find a prom dress, or decide if her boyfriend J.P. is really The One.
Book
The Role of Maternal Immune Activation in the Pathogenesis of Autism: A Review of the Evidence, Proposed Mechanisms and Implications for Treatment
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disease that is characterized by a deficit in social interactions and communication, as well as repetitive and restrictive behaviors. Increasing lines of evidence suggest an important role for immune dysregulation and/or inflammation in the development of ASD. Recently, a relationship between inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported in the brain tissue of individuals with ASD. Some recent studies have also reported oxidative stress and mitochondrial abnormalities in animal models of maternal immune activation (MIA). This review is focused on the hypothesis that MIA induces microglial activation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction, a deleterious trio in the brain that can lead to neuroinflammation and neurodevelopmental pathologies in offspring. Infection during pregnancy activates the mother’s immune system to release proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-α, and others. Furthermore, these cytokines can directly cross the placenta and enter the fetal circulation, or activate resident immune cells, resulting in an increased production of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-6. Proinflammatory cytokines that cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) may initiate a neuroinflammation cascade, starting with the activation of the microglia. Inflammatory processes induce oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction that, in turn, may exacerbate oxidative stress in a self-perpetuating vicious cycle that can lead to downstream abnormalities in brain development and behavior.
Journal Article
You are not forgotten : the story of a lost WWII pilot and a twenty-first-century soldier's mission to bring him home
Follows the story of a Marine Corps pilot who was shot down in World War II and the J-PAC soldier who resolved to bring home his remains six decades later, offering insight into the factors that challenged the recovery mission.
Book
The Olive Biophenols Oleuropein and Hydroxytyrosol Selectively Reduce Proliferation, Influence the Cell Cycle, and Induce Apoptosis in Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Current chemotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer only offer an increase in survival of up to six months. Additionally, they are highly toxic to normal tissues, drastically affecting the quality of life of patients. Therefore, the search for novel agents, which induce apoptosis in cancer cells while displaying limited toxicity towards normal cells, is paramount. The olive biophenols, oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, have displayed cytotoxicity towards cancer cells without affecting non-tumorigenic cells in cancers of the breast and prostate. However, their activity in pancreatic cancer has not been investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the anti-pancreatic cancer potential of oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol. Pancreatic cancer cells (MIA PaCa-2, BxPC-3, and CFPAC-1) and non-tumorigenic pancreas cells (HPDE) were treated with oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol to determine their effect on cell viability. Oleuropein displayed selective toxicity towards MIA PaCa-2 cells and hydroxytyrosol towards MIA PaCa-2 and HPDE cells. Subsequent analysis of Bcl-2 family proteins and caspase 3/7 activation determined that oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol induced apoptosis in MIA PaCa-2 cells, while oleuropein displayed a protective effect on HPDE cells. Gene expression analysis revealed putative mechanisms of action, which suggested that c-Jun and c-Fos are involved in oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol induced apoptosis of MIA PaCa-2 cells.
Journal Article
Anticancer effects of the Kiperin Purple Collagen complex: Evidence from HCT116 and MIA PaCa-2 cell models
Purple Collagen is a bioactive complex containing double-hydrolyzed collagens (types I, II, III, V and X) and various bioactive components (inulin, elderberry extract, magnesium citrate and malate, eggshell membrane, bromelain, black cumin extract and liposomal vitamin C). These bioactive compounds have attracted increasing scientific interest due to their ability to modulate key cancer-associated pathways, including the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration, suppression of oxidative stress via free radical scavenging and induction of apoptosis through mitochondrial and caspase-dependent mechanisms. While individual components of the Purple Collagen complex (PCC) have been associated with various health benefits, their combined effects on cancer cell behavior remain largely unexplored. The present study investigated the effects of PCC on cell proliferation, migration, oxidative stress and apoptosis in two cancer cell lines: HCT116 (colorectal carcinoma) and MIA PaCa-2 (pancreas carcinoma). The cell viability, migration, oxidative stress [total oxidant status (TOS)/total antioxidant status (TAS)] and apoptotic and cell cycle regulatory markers (BAX, BCL2, TP53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1) were analyzed following treatment with 1 µg/ml PCC. Experiments were performed in vitro, and statistical significance was assessed. Cell counts for viability and proliferation analyses were obtained with a Thoma hemocytometer after trypan blue staining. PCC treatment significantly reduced cell proliferation in HCT116 and MIA PaCa-2 cells (P=0.0141 and P=0.0004, respectively). Migration assays demonstrated significant reductions at intermediate time points in both cell lines, HCT116 (P=0.0091) and MIA PaCa-2 cells (P=0.01). TOS and TAS levels revealed a cell-type-specific response, with a marked TAS decrease in HCT116 (P=0.0095). PCC caused an apoptotic and cell cycle regulatory effect, affecting BCL2 and p21 expression levels significantly in both cell lines (P<0.05). PCC exhibits notable cell-type-specific effects, inhibiting proliferation and migration in colon and pancreas carcinoma cells while modulating oxidative stress and apoptosis. The findings highlight the potential of bioactive compounds as selective modulators of cancer cell behavior. Further in vivo studies are required to evaluate these effects and their clinical relevance.
Journal Article
Advantages and Limitations of Animal Schizophrenia Models
Mental illness modeling is still a major challenge for scientists. Animal models of schizophrenia are essential to gain a better understanding of the disease etiopathology and mechanism of action of currently used antipsychotic drugs and help in the search for new and more effective therapies. We can distinguish among pharmacological, genetic, and neurodevelopmental models offering various neuroanatomical disorders and a different spectrum of symptoms of schizophrenia. Modeling schizophrenia is based on inducing damage or changes in the activity of relevant regions in the rodent brain (mainly the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus). Such artificially induced dysfunctions approximately correspond to the lesions found in patients with schizophrenia. However, notably, animal models of mental illness have numerous limitations and never fully reflect the disease state observed in humans.
Journal Article