Fragmented Body Research Articles

Motility disorders and disintegration into separate cells of Trichoplax sp. H2 in the presence of Zn2+ ions and L-cysteine molecules: A systems approach

Placozoa remain an ancient multicellular system with a dynamic body structure where calcium ions carry out a primary role in maintaining the integrity of the entire animal. Zinc ions can compete with calcium ions adsorption. We studied the effect of zinc ions and l-cysteine molecules on the interaction of Trichoplax sp. H2 cells. The regularity of formless motion was diminished in the presence of 20–25 μM of Zn2+ ions leading to the formation of branching animal forms. Locomotor ciliated cells moved chaotically and independently of each other leaving the Trichoplax body and opening a network of fiber cells. Application of 100 μM cysteine resulted in dissociation of the plate into separate cells. The combined chemical treatment shifted the effect in a random sample of animals toward disintegration, i.e. initially leading to disorder of collective cell movement and then to total body fragmentation. Two dissociation patterns of Trichoplax plate as “expanding ring” and “bicycle wheel” were revealed. Analysis of the interaction of Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions with cadherin showed that more than half (54%) of the amino acid residues with which Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions bind are common. The contact interaction of cells covered by the cadherin molecules is important for the coordinated movements of Trichoplax organism, while zinc ions are capable to break junctions between the cells. The involvement of other players, for example, l-cysteine in the regulation of Ca2+-dependent adhesion may be critical leading to the typical dissociation of Trichoplax body like in a calcium-free environment. A hypothesis about the essential role of calcium ions in the emergence of Metazoa ancestor is proposed.

Música e imagen: Usos del cuerpo fragmentado para un pensamiento estético femenino en Cecilia Vicuña y Violeta Parra

In this article we study the relationship between the Chilean artists Violeta Parra and Cecilia Vicuña (20th-21st centuries) while addressing the common aspects of their artistic proposals and describing how the phenomenon of female creative legitimation takes place under the condition as Latin American women artists. Framed within the issue of invisibility of women in music and art, we are interested in showing how these women think about art, what aesthetic foundations guide their creations, what fields of knowledge inform their work, and ultimately, how to contribute to the elaboration of a narrative on the production of feminine thought based on the theoretical assumptions of Luce Irigaray and other authors. In this investigation, we study the uses of the fragmented body as a fundamental topic present in the work of these two artists through the analysis of visual and musical texts.

Julião Sarmento’s moving images: Vision’s perversity for the maintenance of desire

This article analyses an audiovisual essay created around the exhibition Juliao Sarmento. Film Works, that took place in Universidade Catolica Portuguesa in Porto in 2019. This exhibition reunited 10 works in film and video produced by the Portuguese artist in different moments of his career. Following the audiovisual essay’s structure, I will approach three thematic obsessions transversal to Juliao Sarmento’s work, as a reflexive proposal about a gaze phenomenology (or a vision’s perversity), regarding dispositives that involve the moving image. Particularly, in what concerns the problematic of desire. These are: (1) The constant work of language (the real, the symbolic and the imaginary); (2) The fragmented body (the conscience/disassembling of voyeurism); (3) The rhythm (exposing the matter of time in favor of a deceptive aesthetics).

The Pursuit of Alachlor Herbicide Toxicity on Eisenia fetida and Its Biochemical Responses

Alachlor is a chloroacetanilide herbicide, which is extensively used in agriculture globally. It is proposed that it is a carcinogen and an estrogen too. Earthworms are largely involved in increasing the soil fertility, and excess use of this herbicide may result in toxicity to burrowing organisms like earthworms. In this context, the current intent of the proposed work is to assess the toxicity of alachlor on Eisenia fetida. The lethal concentration (LC50) for alachlor was calculated on E. fetida as 251.28 ± 22.28 μg/cm2. The E. fetida were treated with LC50 concentration of alachlor for 24 h. Significant changes in morphology like whole body coiling, constricted body shape, fragmentation, and thinning of body and clitellar shrinkage were noticed in E. fetida exposed to alachlor for 24 h in comparison to their respective controls. Neurotoxicity of alachlor in E. fetida was evaluated by measuring the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) at 6, 12, 18, and 24 h respectively. Various biochemical biomarkers such as catalase (CAT), lipid peroxidation (LPO), and glutathione sulfotransferase (GST) were measured at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h respectively. Significant differences in AChE, CAT, LPO, and GST were noted in both control and treated E. fetida at different time intervals. The current finding will be useful in laying the toxic effects of alachlor to non-target soil invertebrates.

Clusters of smooth endoplasmic reticulum are absent in oocytes from unstimulated women

Research questionWhat is the frequency of morphological dysmorphisms in immature human oocytes collected ex vivo from small antral follicles and matured in vitro? DesignHuman ovaries (n = 56) were excised for ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC). None of the patients had received exogenous gonadotrophins prior to the procedure. Immature oocytes released from small antral follicles were collected in connection with isolation of the cortex for OTC. The oocytes’ maturation stage and the morphological characteristics of the cytoplasm, zona pellucida, perivitelline space and first polar body were assessed after in-vitro maturation (IVM). ResultsA total of 1649 immature oocytes were collected: 30% of oocytes matured to the metaphase II (MII) stage after IVM, while metaphase I (MI), germinal vesicle and degenerated oocytes accounted for 20%, 24% and 26%, respectively. The percentages of oocytes without any dysmorphisms were 53%, 92%, and 97% for the MII, MI and germinal vesicle stage oocytes, respectively. The most frequently observed dysmorphisms among the MII oocytes were first polar body fragmentation (22%), homogeneously distributed cytoplasmic granularity (16%) and an enlarged perivitelline space (14%). Interestingly, none of the oocytes at any stage had clusters of smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER). ConclusionsMorphological dysmorphisms are present among in-vitro-matured oocytes at all maturation stages. The incidence of dysmorphisms increases as maturation progresses. The most frequent dysmorphism among MII oocytes after IVM was fragmentation of the first polar body. Clusters of SER were not observed in oocytes from unstimulated patients.

Donación de órganos y tejidos: un análisis psicoanalítico de dibujos

INTRODUCCIÓN: La donación de órganos y tejidos de donador cadavérico es un acto poco frecuente debido a ciertas creencias y falta de información en los sujetos. Por ello, algunas instituciones como el Centro Nacional de Trasplante (CENATRA), han emprendido campañas para promoverla especialmente entre la población infantil quienes presentan una actitud más favorable que la población adulta. Un resultado de ello es el concurso de dibujo infantil pro donación a nivel estatal y nacional en México. OBJETIVO: El presente artículo recupera algunos dibujos que fueron publicados en la revista Detrasplantes (2003 al 2014) para analizarlos desde una perspectiva psicoanalítica y así visibilizar componentes subjetivos del acto de donación que suelen ser soslayados en las campañas de sensibilización pues el énfasis recae en los valores altruistas. METODOS: Metodológicamente, los dibujos seleccionados para el análisis fueron aquellos cuyos elementos gráficos mostraban semejanzas y, de ahí, conformaban un patrón repetitivo que posteriormente fue descrito y desglosado en función de cuatro subtemas principales: 1) el componente real; 2) transparencia y fragmentación corporal; 3) regalo y sacrificio, y, 4) anonimato del donante y deuda. Mismos que fueron desarrollados con el apoyo de nociones psicoanalíticas. CONCLUSIÓN: El artículo concluye que la donación de órganos y tejidos de donador cadavérico involucra componentes subjetivos del orden de la angustia, y por ello, es un acto que no puede circunscribirse exclusivamente al ámbito médico y fisiológico. Al visibilizar el costado subjetivo, la perspectiva psicoanalítica permite ampliar la comprensión acerca de lo que frena el aumento del altruismo respecto a la donación de órganos y tejidos de donador cadavérico.

Hydraulic classification and sedimentation behaviors of iron tailings

Tailings pond is a large-scale fragmented sedimentary body formed by mining tailings, and the safety management of tailings pond affects the sustainable development of mining productions. The nature sedimentation behavior of the tailings is the initial condition to obtain the particle fractal dimension and packing structures of tailings, and is also the basis to evaluate the stability of tailings pond. To study the natural sedimentation behaviors of iron tailings, 4 large-scale simulation tests of tailings hydraulic sorting are carried out in Nanjing city, Tangshan city, and Benxi city of China, and the hydraulic sedimentation behaviors in the test process and post-test process are monitored and tested. Meanwhile, the in situ samples in the model channels are taken and tested by the soil mechanics and sedimentological theories, to analyze grain composition and spatial distribution law. This research summarizes the hydraulic sedimentation and grain composition behaviors of iron tailings, and provides data for the exploration and simulation of the natural formation process of sedimentary materials.

Morphological and Molecular Cytogenetic Characteristics of Giant Human Oocytes

The expedience of using oocytes with morphological dysmorphism in assisted reproduction technology programs is debatable. This study aimed to estimate morphological and molecular cytogenetic characteristics of enlarged oocytes and to predict results of their further fertilization. Among 774 oocytes retrieved from 80 patients, 83 (11%) cells were enlarged. Morphometric analysis showed the diameter of the ooplasm to be (176.67 ± 1.76) μm and the diameter with ZP (200.8 ± 4.24) μm. Among these giant oocytes, 47 (56.6%) were at the metaphase II stage, 26 (31.3%) at the metaphase I stage, and 10 (12.1%) at the prophase I stage. The retrieved giant oocytes were characterized by dysmorphism of endo- and exocytoplasmic structures. Among 47 cells at the metaphase II stage, 40 (85.1%) oocytes had two polar bodies, three (6.4%) oocytes had one polar body, and four (8.5%) oocytes had a fragmented polar body. The assessment of the presence of meiotic spindle by polarization microscopy showed that 39 (83%) oocytes had two meiotic spindles, 3 (6.4%) oocytes had one meiotic spindle, and 5 oocytes (10.6%) had no visualized meiotic spindles despite the presence of polar bodies. After fertilization of 47 oocytes at the metaphase II stage, pronuclei were detected in 42 (89.4%) cells, including 9 (21.4%) oocytes with two pronuclei, 27 (63.3%) oocytes with 3 pronuclei, and 6 (15.3%) oocytes with four pronuclei. The molecular cytogenetic analysis demonstrated that the embryos obtained after fertilization of giant oocytes had a polyploid chromosome set number. Thus, the results of our study showed the inexpediency of using giant oocytes for further fertilization.

An Image is Worth a Thousand Words! A Visual Discourse Analysis of Face Images on Front Book Covers

Book cover is a complex collection of signs that can be decoded in a multidisciplinary approach. The current study comes as a perceptive account of signs which may help consumers to interpret messages in the chosen book covers images and meanings matching the book content. To our intuition, the most spectacular images are human face images which are sub- divided into real model face images and abstract character face images, animal face images, and compound images. Totally, we analyzed a blend of 10 images in various book covers adopting a visual discourse approach. Three assumptions are worth investigating: (1) the viewers could read basic fragments of the book body via the eyes in the images, (2) it is likely that book titles are in/directly related to the corresponding book covers images, and (3) animal face images in the compound image could connote more evilness about the content, and the sort of the book. Findings revealed that real model face images could decode more about the book than abstract characters images interpreting the publisher’s messages. In compound images, animal face features could connote evil messages more than humans. Eyes remain the most powerful feature reading the book cover.Keywords: Visual Discourse Analysis; Sign; Human Face Image; Animal Face Image; Front Book Covers

Privatization: Implications of a Shift from State to Private Ownership

Privatization—defined here as the transfer of ownership of state-owned organizations to private parties—has attracted the attention of scholars across multiple fields. Privatization programs have been based on the assumption, grounded in microeconomic theory, that a shift from public to private ownership will incentivize more efficient management of available resources. However, failure to deliver the expected outcomes in some cases and the more nuanced perspective on state-ownership offered by recent research in management seem to challenge this assumption, calling for revisiting this literature. Our comparative review of existing studies suggests that the mixed results of privatization programs could be partly explained by what was privatized, how it was privatized, and the regulatory regime under which it was privatized. By doing so, our review provides conceptual clarity and structure to a rich but fragmented body of literature, making seemingly divergent findings more legible, outlining theoretical gaps, and identifying avenues for future exploration.

Framing Materiality: Relic Discourse and Medieval English Anchoritism

Relics carried great significance in medieval Christianity. Generally these relics, or at least first-class relics, were fragmented bodies, literal pieces of saints, where a part or parts represented the whole. This idea reverberates with what Robyn Malo has called “relic discourse.” She argues that as saints’ bodies became more and more elaborately enshrined in fancy reliquaries, they became less accessible to the people; similarly, the language of hagiographies and other devotional writings, with their characteristic rhetoric of treasure and brightness, provided a substitute for direct experience of the relic. Extending Malo’s idea to anchoritic literature, Sauer argues that anchorites, who are alive yet dead to the world, can themselves be read as living relics; therefore, anchoritic literature uses vocabulary and rhetoric that calls to mind relics and reliquaries. In this way, the position of the anchorite as a living relic, and thus a mediator among the living and the dead and the divine, is manifest.

Atmospheric transport and mixing of biological soil crust microorganisms

<abstract> <p>Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are created where a diverse array of microorganisms colonize the surface and upper few millimeters of the soil and create a consolidated crust. They were originally described from arid ecosystems where vascular vegetation is naturally sparse or absent. They have since been discovered in all terrestrial ecosystems. Where present, they perform a variety of important ecological functions, including the capture and accumulation of water and essential plant nutrients, and their release in forms useful to vascular plants. They also stabilize the soil surface against wind and water erosion. BSC organisms include fungi (free-living, lichenized, and mycorrhizal), archaea, bacteria (cyanobacteria and chemotrophic and diazotrophic bacteria), terrestrial algae (including diatoms), and bryophytes (mosses and worts). BSC organisms reproduce primarily asexually via thallus or main body fragmentation or production of asexual spores that are readily dispersed by water and wind. Asexual and sexual propagules of BSC organisms are commonly lifted into the air with vast quantities of dust from the world's arid areas. BSC organisms and/or their propagules have been detected as high as the stratosphere. Some have also been detected in the mesosphere. Airborne dust, microorganisms, and their propagules contribute to the formation of essential raindrop and snowflake nuclei that, in turn, facilitate precipitation events. While airborne in the atmosphere, they also reflect the sun's rays passing laterally through the troposphere and stratosphere at dawn and dusk, often causing brilliant colors at sunrise and sunset.</p> </abstract>

An autopsy-based study on developing standards for estimation of stature from percutaneous length of femur in female population of Madhya Pradesh, India

Identification of an individual is very important in criminal cases like assault, murder, rape, disputed paternity, impersonation etc. and in civil cases like marriage, inheritance, disputed sex, etc. Identification of isolated extremities is an issue of great significance and plays a vital role in the investigation of the identity of victims in mass disasters and fatal assaults. The aim of the present study was to find the correlation between anthropometry of percutaneous length of femur and stature in females and to derive a regression equation formula and multiplication factor to estimate the stature from percutaneous length of femur anthropometry in the Central India region (M.P.). This cross-sectional study was carried out on 250 deceased females of age between 20–60 years, brought for postmortem examination to the mortuary of Forensic Medicine Department, M.G.M. Medical College and M.Y. Hospital, Indore (M.P.). The mean right and left percutaneous femoral length was 38.57 ± 1.70 cm and 38.57 ± 1.70 cm, respectively, whereas the mean stature was found to be 158.27 ± 5.68 cm. In this study, the maximum stature in females was found to be 172.0 cm and the minimum stature was found to be 143.80 cm. The correlation between percutaneous femoral length and stature was found to be positively correlated and the association was highly significant. The multiplication factor for percutaneous femoral length was found to be 4.10. Multiplication factors become essential in cases of forensic analysis when only limb or fragmented body part with soft tissue is available for analysis.

El no-cuerpo

El presente artículo desarrolla la noción del no-cuerpo como principal concepto de incidencia en la reflexión de la representación de la violencia. A lo largo de ella se explica el porqué de la necesidad de un vínculo entre el sentido de la imagen prehispánica y las imágenes que se despliegan en la actualidad, lo que conllevaría a pensarlas como construcciones complejas y de un potente poder de manifestación. Asimismo, propongo la utilización de la corporalidad como eje fundamental para la compresión de dicha violencia, siendo así que el acto de utilizar mi huella corporal, o como postulo a lo largo de mi obra, el graphein, hablará de una reapropiación del cuerpo fragmentado o sin unidad que, por medio de la imagen, otorgaría un espacio alterno, un espacio evocativo, uno que permita encarar a la violencia, vivenciarla y digerirla, en otras palabras, hacer de su discurso el mío.

Proposing multicriteria decision based valuation of ecosystem services for fragmented landscape in mountainous environment

Landscape structure or fragmentations have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation effects can reduce ecosystem services provision. Impact of Land use land cover (LULC) change on ecosystem service value is well explored techniques in recent times, but landscape fragmentation effect on ecosystem services value (ESV) is yet not quantitatively explored. The present work has intended to focus on the fragmentation effect on ESV introducing a new approach along with the effect of LULC change on ESV. All the analysis is done considering four times (1991, 2001, 2011, 2019) from Landsat images. Fragmentation analysis in ArcGis software has generated six hierarchic landscape units like patch, edge, perforated, small core, medium core and large core. For showing fragmentation effect ESV is computed for a typical LULC as a whole using Coefficient value (CV) of Costanza (1997) and 2014 and ESV of the fragmented landscapes using weighted CV based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Result has clearly demonstrated that due to fragmentation of forest and water body, a major means of qualitative degradation of eco-region, ESV of the respective lands have reduced from 24.43 to 20.57 million USD/year from 1991 to 2019. Total ESV of agriculture and built up land were respectively 43.62 and 4.15 million USD in 1991 and it was changed to 37.92 and 5.85 million USD in 2019. Computed ESV of forest without considering fragmentation effect is 14.68 million USD/year but it is diminuend only 5.71 million USD/year if fragmentation effect is considered in 2019. The ESV of the water body is six times lower in the fragmented landscape as per 2019. Anthropogenic effects have a paramount role for growing land use change, fragmentation and change of ESV in a natural landscape.

Evaluating the value of day 0 of an ICSI cycle on indicating laboratory outcome

A number of oocyte characteristics have been associated with fertilization, implantation and live-birth rates, albeit without reaching a consensus. This study aims to delineate possible associations between oocyte characteristics, oocyte behavior during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), fertilization potential, and laboratory outcomes. Four-hundred and seventy-seven patients, yielding 3452 oocytes, were enrolled in this prospective observational study from 2015 to 2018. Οoplasm granularity was associated with poor embryo quality and higher probabilities of post-ICSI oocytes and embryos discarded in any developmental stage and never selected for embryo transfer or cryopreservation (p < 0.001). Both sudden or difficult ooplasm aspiration, and high or lack of resistance during ICSI were associated with either a poor Zygote-Score or fertilization failure (p < 0.001). Sudden or difficult ooplasm aspiration and high resistance during ICSI penetration were positively associated with resulting to a post-ICSI oocyte or embryo that would be selected for discard. Evaluation of oocyte characteristics and oocyte behavior during ICSI may provide early information regarding laboratory and cycle outcomes. Particularly, ooplasm granularity, and fragmentation of polar body, along with sudden or difficult ooplasm aspiration and high or lack of resistance during ICSI penetration may hinder the outcome of an ICSI cycle. The associations presented herein may contribute towards development of a grading system or a prediction model. Taking into account information on oocytes and ICSI behavior may effectively assist in enhancing IVF outcome rates.

Philosophical Theorising on Taxation†

Abstract This review article examines two collected-works books: Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives, edited by Martin O’Neill and Shepley Orr, and Philosophical Foundations of Tax Law, edited by Monica Bhandari. It is argued that the two books reflect a high-quality but also fragmented body of philosophical work on taxation with a surprising degree of silo working. A selection of contributions to the two books are examined and categorised into four distinct strands with the aim of developing stronger connections between those working on related philosophical questions within the four strands and across disciplines.

Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel

Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel

MPM evaluation of the dynamic runout process of the giant Daguangbao landslide

Giant landslides can cause significant damage to their dynamic runout processes. Understanding the mechanics of the runout process is essential for landslide risk assessment and mitigation design. This paper investigates the runout process of the 1.16 × 109 m3 giant Daguangbao landslide triggered by the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake. The Daguangbao landslide is a typical bedding-plane slide and the properties of basal sliding surface play a key role in the runout behaviors of the landslide. The material point method (MPM) is adopted as a numerical tool of the simulations. A thermal-based velocity-weakening friction law is used to simulate the contact between the sliding body and the basal sliding surface. A strain-softening constitutive model is used to evaluate the damages inside the landslide body and their effects on the runout behaviors of the landslide. Numerical results reveal that landslide mass slides along the bedding-plane as a whole body initially and then disintegrates during the runout process. The calculated duration of sliding is 64 s and the maximum velocity reaches 60 m/s. The friction coefficient of the slip surface decreases sharply as the landslide body starts to move, and a steady-state friction coefficient μ ≈ 0.06 is reached when the velocity exceeds approximately 20 m/s. Friction degradation of the slip surface shows a sensible influence on the final runout distance and the depth of the deposit zone. The dynamic fragmentation of the landslide body, the final runout distance, and deposition topography are also significantly affected by material softening.

Forensic Anthropology- A Lead to a Speedy Identification of Disaster Victims

Identification of victims is one of the most significant concerns while investigating the scene of occurrence but due to the delay in time of identification it becomes difficult for the authorities to enable identification. The use of modern forensic techniques including the knowledge from disciplines like forensic anthropology, toxicology, post blast residue analysts, forensic odontologists so as to speed up the investigation. The paper reviews the role of a forensic anthropologist in the Disaster victim identification, on and off site. The use of radiographic techniques in order to know the biological profile of the deceased as well to assist relocation in case of a fragmented body. In the current scenario, the forensic involvement of experts though has been increased in identifying the victims, but still there needs to be more deployment at ground zero in order to increase proper investigation. Disaster victim identification is a multidisciplinary approach and so collaboration from all the disciplines is needed so as to render justice.