Early Belgian Colonial Efforts: The Long And Fateful Shadow Of Leopold I

The continuing debate over the causes, effects and future implications of European colonialism and imperialism is perhaps best viewed through a transatlantic lens. The various phases of imperialism from 1415 through 1914 provide ample time and examples of this continuous cultural interchange. The last of these interchanges, forced or otherwise, is that of the New Imperialism of 1860-1914. Discussions of later globalization and economic/cultural imperialism are not covered. That discussion is a different subject perhaps requiring different tools of analysis, especially economic. The impact of this last period reverberates through the current world discussion on rights, obligations, morality and law, especially natural law. The basic question is: are there truths that merit, no demand, their transmission by force or otherwise? Expressed more philosophically, is man the measure of all things? Was there something the West had or represented that needed to be spread by word or by sword? Are there universal concepts, or to use the Platonic euphemism, virtues that are inherent to all men so that there is a need or quoting Jefferson a duty , to respond and spread them throughout the world? Or, quoting Lenin, is imperialism merely the highest stage of capitalism and this New Imperialism a mere economic and political exercise in power and arrogance? There can never be a definitive analysis of imperialism which will yield a final answer to these questions. Continued historical inquiry does enhance both knowledge and understanding. This is a study of Belgium and its first king Leopold I in the years 1830-1855, a period before the New Imperialism. Why then is it of any value as a tool of analysis of the New Imperialism, decades before it took place? Because Belgium, its king, government and sense of nationhood were new. Yet, within a few years of its creation in 1830 its king at least viewed the world through the eyes of an imperialist. Its very newness and relative openness of its government allows the historian to poke around, so to speak. This is especially so in view of the later overwhelmingly successful imperialism of its second king Leopold II in the Congo Free State. This is an inquiry into four examples of early Belgian colonial efforts in the Republic of Texas, Guatemala, Brazil and the Rio Nunez River in present day Guinea. The method employed is that of a historical inquiry into the event and then an analysis of the effort by the political, economic, social and scientific causes of the New Imperialism in a search of analogies and differences. It is not as much a new study of the historical events themselves but an attempt to discern an overall or macro-historical view of Belgian, and by extension, European imperialistic motivation

Whole brain radiotherapy with radiosensitizer for brain metastases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>To study the efficacy of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) with radiosensitizer in comparison with WBRT alone for patients with brain metastases in terms of overall survival, disease progression, response to treatment and adverse effects of treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) was performed in order to compare WBRT with radiosensitizer for brain metastases and WBRT alone. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and Cochrane Library databases, in addition to Trial registers, bibliographic databases, and recent issues of relevant journals were researched. Significant reports were reviewed by two reviewers independently.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 8 RCTs, yielding 2317 patients were analyzed. Pooled results from this 8 RCTs of WBRT with radiosensitizer have not shown a meaningful improvement on overall survival compared to WBRT alone OR = 1.03 (95% CI0.84–1.25, p = 0.77). Also, there was no difference in local brain tumor response OR = 0.8(95% CI 0.5 – 1.03) and brain tumor progression (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.9 – 1.3) when the two arms were compared.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data show that WBRT with the following radiosentizers (ionidamine, metronidazole, misonodazole, motexafin gadolinium, BUdr, efaproxiral, thalidomide), have not improved significatively the overall survival, local control and tumor response compared to WBRT alone for brain metastases. However, 2 of them, motexafin- gadolinium and efaproxiral have been shown in recent publications (lung and breast) to have positive action in lung and breast carcinoma brain metastases in association with WBRT.</p

Two-component signal transduction system CBO0787/ CBO0786 represses transcription from botulinum neurotoxin promoters in Clostridium botulinum ATCC 3502

Blocking neurotransmission, botulinum neurotoxin is the most poisonous biological substance known to mankind. Despite its infamy as the scourge of the food industry, the neurotoxin is increasingly used as a pharmaceutical to treat an expanding range of muscle disorders. Whilst neurotoxin expression by the spore-forming bacterium Clostridium botulinum appears tightly regulated, to date only positive regulatory elements, such as the alternative sigma factor BotR, have been implicated in this control. The identification of negative regulators has proven to be elusive. Here, we show that the two-component signal transduction system CBO0787/CBO0786 negatively regulates botulinum neurotoxin expression. Single insertional inactivation of cbo0787 encoding a sensor histidine kinase, or of cbo0786 encoding a response regulator, resulted in significantly elevated neurotoxin gene expression levels and increased neurotoxin production. Recombinant CBO0786 regulator was shown to bind to the conserved -10 site of the core promoters of the ha and ntnh-botA operons, which encode the toxin structural and accessory proteins. Increasing concentration of CBO0786 inhibited BotR-directed transcription from the ha and ntnh-botA promoters, demonstrating direct transcriptional repression of the ha and ntnh-botA operons by CBO0786. Thus, we propose that CBO0786 represses neurotoxin gene expression by blocking BotR-directed transcription from the neurotoxin promoters. This is the first evidence of a negative regulator controlling botulinum neurotoxin production. Understanding the neurotoxin regulatory mechanisms is a major target of the food and pharmaceutical industries alike

Le Trou de l'Ambre au Bois de Wérimont Eprave /

Egalement paru comme thèse d'aggr. de l'enseignement supérieurDissertatie voorgelegd aan de Faculteit van Wijsbegeerte en Letteren der Rijksuniversiteit te Gent, tot het verkrijgen van de wettelijke graad van geaggregeerde van het hoger onderwij

Société d'Histoire du Droit des pays flamands, picards et wallons. Compte des Journées d'Histoire des Institutions régionales tenues à Amiens du 25 au 28 Avril 1935

Massiet du Biest J., Thomas Paul, Monier R., Ansiaux Abbé P, De Pas J., Chevrier G., Paillot Pierre, Turpin P. Société d'Histoire du Droit des pays flamands, picards et wallons. Compte des Journées d'Histoire des Institutions régionales tenues à Amiens du 25 au 28 Avril 1935 . In: Revue du Nord, tome 21, n°83, août 1935. pp. 202-228

Société d'histoire du droit des pays flamands, picards et wallons journées internationales d'histoire des institutions tenues A Lille (1er-4 juin 1955)

Monier R., Lefebvre Ch., Bosch J.W., Piétresson de Saint-Aubin P., Cacheux Albert, Ansiaux Abbé P, Thelliez , Arnould M.-A., Balon Joseph, Massiet du Biest J., Girard d'Albissin Nelly, Gorissen P. Société d'histoire du droit des pays flamands, picards et wallons journées internationales d'histoire des institutions tenues A Lille (1er-4 juin 1955) . In: Revue du Nord, tome 38, n°149, Janvier-mars 1956. pp. 137-150

Cancer angiogenesis: Targeting the heel of Achilles

Angiogenesis, which usually heralds a poor prognosis for patients, is essential for malignancy. However, this same process is useful in providing a direct and systemic route for the delivery of cytotoxics to the actively growing parts of the tumour. In fact, there is even some merit to stabilising (normalising) the tumour vasculature to aid drug delivery to the deeper recesses of a growing tumour. Additionally, natural biological inhibitors of angiogenesis such as pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) are being developed to test whether they have better activity than older ones such as endostatin. The field of cancer angiogenesis, more than 35 years old now, has seen a few drugs reaching the market, such as Avastinw. However, there have been a multitude of failed ones, due to lack of activity, especially when tested in vivo and some failing at clinical trials. This review looks at the current state of play in the area of cancer angiogenesis, and development of therapies to target it