scholarly journals Toxins or medicines? Phytoplankton diets mediate host and parasite fitness in a freshwater system

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1894) ◽  
pp. 20182231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristel F. Sánchez ◽  
Naomi Huntley ◽  
Meghan A. Duffy ◽  
Mark D. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Properties ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
Parasite Fitness ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Toxic Cyanobacteria ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Freshwater System ◽  
Medicinal Properties ◽  
Daphnia Dentifera

Diets must satisfy the everyday metabolic requirements of organisms and can also serve as medicines to combat disease. Currently, the medicinal role of diets is much better understood in terrestrial than in aquatic ecosystems. This is surprising because phytoplankton species synthesize secondary metabolites with known antimicrobial properties. Here, we investigated the medicinal properties of phytoplankton (including toxin-producing cyanobacteria) against parasites of the dominant freshwater herbivore, Daphnia. We fed Daphnia dentifera on green algae and toxic cyanobacteria diets known to vary in their nutritional quality and toxin production, and an additional diet of Microcystis with added pure microcystin-LR. We then exposed Daphnia to fungal and bacterial parasites. Anabaena , Microcystis and Chlorella diets prevented infection of Daphnia by the fungal parasite Metschnikowia , while Nodularia toxins increased offspring production by infected hosts. In contrast to their medicinal effects against Metschnikowia , toxic phytoplankton generally decreased the fitness of Daphnia infected with the bacterial parasite, Pasteuria . We also measured the amount of toxin produced by phytoplankton over time. Concentrations of anatoxin-a produced by Anabaena increased in the presence of Metschnikowia , suggesting parasite-induced toxin production. Our research illustrates that phytoplankton can serve as toxins or medicines for their consumers, depending upon the identity of their parasites.

A Typology of International Judicial Practices

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L Dunoff ◽  
Mark A Pollack
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Judicial Opinions

This chapter discusses the inner working of ICs, such as the drafting of judicial opinions; practices concerning separate opinions; the role of language and translation; and the roles of third parties. It also presents a preliminary effort to identify and examine the everyday practices of international judges. In undertaking this task, the authors draw selectively upon a large literature on ‘practice theory’ that has only rarely been applied to international law in general or to international courts in particular. A typology and synoptic overview of practices is presented.

scholarly journals The idea of community and its practice: Tensions, disruptions and hope in Glasgow’s urban growing projects

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 484-499
Author(s):  
Helen Traill
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Community Gardening ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Community Theory ◽  
Communal Space ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Do So

The question of what community comes to mean has taken on increasing significance in sociological debates and beyond, as an increasingly politicised term and the focus of new theorisations. In this context, it is increasingly necessary to ask what is meant when community is invoked. Building on recent work that positions community as a practice and an ever-present facet of human sociality, this article argues that it is necessary to consider the powerful work that community as an idea does in shaping everyday communal practices, through designating collective space and creating behavioural expectations. To do so, the article draws on participant observation and interviews from a community gardening site in Glasgow that was part of a broader research project investigating the everyday life of communality within growing spaces. This demonstrates the successes but also the difficulties of carving out communal space, and the work done by community organisations to enact it. The article draws on contemporary community theory, but also on ideas from Davina Cooper about the role of ideation in social life. It argues for a conceptual approach to communality that does not situate it as a social form or seek it in everyday practice, but instead considers the vacillation between the ideation and practices of community: illustrated here in a designated community place. In so doing, this approach calls into focus the frictions and boundaries produced in that process, and questions the limits of organisational inclusivity.

scholarly journals Spo0A Suppresses sin Locus Expression in Clostridioides difficile

mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Babita Adhikari Dhungel ◽  
Revathi Govind
Keyword(s):  
Diarrheal Disease ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
Upstream Region ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Master Regulator ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clostridioides Difficile

ABSTRACT Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of nosocomial infection and is the causative agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. The severity of the disease is directly associated with toxin production, and spores are responsible for the transmission and persistence of the organism. Previously, we characterized sin locus regulators SinR and SinR′ (we renamed it SinI), where SinR is the regulator of toxin production and sporulation. The SinI regulator acts as its antagonist. In Bacillus subtilis, Spo0A, the master regulator of sporulation, controls SinR by regulating the expression of its antagonist, sinI. However, the role of Spo0A in the expression of sinR and sinI in C. difficile had not yet been reported. In this study, we tested spo0A mutants in three different C. difficile strains, R20291, UK1, and JIR8094, to understand the role of Spo0A in sin locus expression. Western blot analysis revealed that spo0A mutants had increased SinR levels. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of its expression further supported these data. By carrying out genetic and biochemical assays, we show that Spo0A can bind to the upstream region of this locus to regulates its expression. This study provides vital information that Spo0A regulates the sin locus, which controls critical pathogenic traits such as sporulation, toxin production, and motility in C. difficile. IMPORTANCE Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrheal disease in the United States. During infection, C. difficile spores germinate, and the vegetative bacterial cells produce toxins that damage host tissue. In C. difficile, the sin locus is known to regulate both sporulation and toxin production. In this study, we show that Spo0A, the master regulator of sporulation, controls sin locus expression. Results from our study suggest that Spo0A directly regulates the expression of this locus by binding to its upstream DNA region. This observation adds new detail to the gene regulatory network that connects sporulation and toxin production in this pathogen.

Reflections on the Status and Direction of Psychology: An External Historical Perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amedeo Giorgi
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Gestalt Theory ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Aron Gurwitsch

Abstract Whenever one reads internal histories of psychology what is covered is the establishment of a lab by Wundt in 1879 as the initiating act and then the breakaway movements of the 20th Century are discussed: Behaviorism, Gestalt Theory, Psychoanalysis, and most recently the Cognitive revival. However, Aron Gurwitsch described a perspective noted by Cassirer and first developed by Malebranche, which dates the founding of psychology at the same time as that of physics in the 17th Century. This external perspective shows the dependency of psychology upon the concepts, methods and procedures of physics and the natural sciences in general up until the present time. Gurwitsch argues that this approach has blocked the growth of psychology and has assured its status as a minor science. He argued that the everyday Lifeworld achievements of subjectivity are the true subject matter of psychology and that a phenomenological approach to subjectivity could give psychology the authenticity it has been forever seeking but never finding as a naturalistic science. Some clarifying thoughts concerning this phenomenologically grounded psychology are offered, especially the role of desire. The assumption of an external perspective toward the history of psychology fostered the insights about psychology’s scientific role.

scholarly journals Cyclic Diguanylate Regulates Virulence Factor Genes via Multiple Riboswitches inClostridium difficile

mSphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. McKee ◽  
Carissa K. Harvest ◽  
Rita Tamayo
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Clostridium Difficile ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
Intestinal Colonization ◽  
Cyclic Diguanylate ◽  
Signaling Molecule ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Surface Motility

ABSTRACTThe intracellular signaling molecule cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) regulates many processes in bacteria, with a central role in controlling the switch between motile and nonmotile lifestyles. Recent work has shown that inClostridium difficile(also calledClostridioides difficile), c-di-GMP regulates swimming and surface motility, biofilm formation, toxin production, and intestinal colonization. In this study, we determined the transcriptional regulon of c-di-GMP inC. difficile,employing overexpression of a diguanylate cyclase gene to artificially manipulate intracellular c-di-GMP. Consistent with prior work, c-di-GMP regulated the expression of genes involved in swimming and surface motility. c-di-GMP also affected the expression of multiple genes encoding cell envelope proteins, several of which affected biofilm formationin vitro. A substantial proportion of the c-di-GMP regulon appears to be controlled either directly or indirectly via riboswitches. We confirmed the functionality of 11 c-di-GMP riboswitches, demonstrating their effects on downstream gene expression independent of the upstream promoters. The class I riboswitches uniformly functioned as “off” switches in response to c-di-GMP, while class II riboswitches acted as “on” switches. Transcriptional analyses of genes 3′ of c-di-GMP riboswitches over a broad range of c-di-GMP levels showed that relatively modest changes in c-di-GMP levels are capable of altering gene transcription, with concomitant effects on microbial behavior. This work expands the known c-di-GMP signaling network inC. difficileand emphasizes the role of the riboswitches in controlling known and putative virulence factors inC. difficile.IMPORTANCEInClostridium difficile, the signaling molecule c-di-GMP regulates multiple processes affecting its ability to cause disease, including swimming and surface motility, biofilm formation, toxin production, and intestinal colonization. In this study, we used RNA-seq to define the transcriptional regulon of c-di-GMP inC. difficile. Many new targets of c-di-GMP regulation were identified, including multiple putative colonization factors. Transcriptional analyses revealed a prominent role for riboswitches in c-di-GMP signaling. Only a subset of the 16 previously predicted c-di-GMP riboswitches were functionalin vivoand displayed potential variability in their response kinetics to c-di-GMP. This work underscores the importance of studying c-di-GMP riboswitches in a relevant biological context and highlights the role of the riboswitches in controlling gene expression inC. difficile.

scholarly journals The role of Clt1-regulated-Xylan metabolism in the melanin and toxin formation for the pathogenicity of Curvularia lunata in Maize

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinxin Gao ◽  
Jie Chen
Keyword(s):  
Toxin Production ◽  
Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation ◽  
Curvularia Lunata ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid ◽  
Acetyl Xylan Esterase ◽  
Btb Domain ◽  
Intermediate Metabolites ◽  
Regulative Mechanism ◽  
Two Hybrid

We previously reported that the BTB domain-containing protein Clt1 regulates melanin and toxin synthesis, conidiation, and pathogenicity in Curvularia lunata, but the interacting proteins and regulative mechanism of Clt1 are unclear. In this research, we identified two proteins, which respectively correspond to xylanase (Clxyn24) and acetyl xylan esterase (Claxe43) from C. lunata were regulated by Clt1. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H), and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays were conducted to verify the interaction of Clt1 with full-length Clxyn24 and Claxe43. Furthermore, the Y2H assay revealed that Clt1 physically interacted with Clxyn24 and Claxe43 through its BTB domain to degrade xylan which was used as a carbon source for C. lunata growth. The utilization of xylan provides acetyl-CoA for the synthesis of melanin and toxin, as well as energy and other intermediate metabolites for conidiation. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that PKS18 and its 13 flanking genes are found clustered in a region spanning 57.89 kb on scaffold 9 of the C. lunata CX-3 genome were down-regulated in toxin production deficient mutant T806, and this cluster is possibly responsible for toxin biosynthesis of C. lunata.

scholarly journals Hindi Print Media Content Analysis Of Bhopal Gas Tragedy: In The Context Of Reflect And Effect Study Of Media On Society

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 01-10
Author(s):  
Armendra Amar
Keyword(s):  
Print Media ◽  
Effect Study ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Industrial Accidents ◽  
Media Content Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gas Leak ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The City

The 1984 Bhopal Gas Leak tragedy has been classified as one of the World’s major Industrial accidents of the 20th century, recorded post 1919, by a United Nations Report. This tragedy killed thousands of people and maimed thousands. Union Carbide subsidiary pesticide plant released approximately 40 tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas which went on to touch the lives of more than 500,000 people of the city. In a way, even after it immediately killed and maimed in thousands, it is still a continued disaster as the generations exposed to the toxic gases have been consistently showing up signs of physical and mental deformity. This gruesome event’s impacts on society are beyond time and space. The crucial question that renders is that how media dealt with the situation and to what extent it affects the everyday life of masses. This study came into initiation when the researcher visited the Methyl Ico-Cynate gas-affected area of Bhopal. During the pilot study, the researcher saw that people of the affected place were living in inadequate conditions. Thus, a concern piqued the interest of the researcher, and evoked an indispensible question: Is media fulfilling its responsibility as the fourth pillar of society in times of chaos and devastation, towards the public? For examining his queries researcher has taken renowned print media outlet’s articles of Bhopal gas tragedy as the content of the analysis. Hence on the basis of Hindi print media content of Bhopal gas disaster the researcher has taken the initiative to search appropriate answers to questions which examine the role of media after the tragic occurrence has taken place in society.

scholarly journals Moral discourses and pharmaceuticalised governance in households

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dew ◽  
P Norris ◽  
J Gabe ◽  
K Chamberlain ◽  
D Hodgetts
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Natural Production ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Moral Discourses ◽  
Health Experts

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This article extends our understanding of the everyday practices of pharmaceuticalisation through an examination of moral concerns over medication practices in the household. Moral concerns of responsibility and discipline in relation to pharmaceutical consumption have been identified, such as passive or active medication practices, and adherence to orthodox or unorthodox accounts. This paper further delineates dimensions of the moral evaluations of pharmaceuticals. In 2010 and 2011 data were collected from 55 households across New Zealand and data collection techniques, such as photo- and diary-elicitation interviews, allowed the participants to develop and articulate reflective stories of the moral meaning of pharmaceuticals. Four repertoires were identified: a disordering society repertoire where pharmaceuticals evoke a society in an unnatural state; a disordering self repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify a moral failing of the individual; a disordering substances repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify a threat to one's physical or mental equilibrium; a re-ordering substances repertoire where pharmaceuticals signify the restoration of function. The research demonstrated that the dichotomies of orthodox/unorthodox and compliance/resistance do not adequately capture how medications are used and understood in everyday practice. Attitudes change according to why pharmaceuticals are taken and who is taking them, their impacts on social relationships, and different views on the social or natural production of disease, the power of the pharmaceutical industry, and the role of health experts. Pharmaceuticals are tied to our identity, what we want to show of ourselves, and what sort of world we see ourselves living in. The ordering and disordering understandings of pharmaceuticals intersect with forms of pharmaceuticalised governance, where conduct is governed through pharmaceutical routines, and where self-responsibility entails following the prescription of other agents. Pharmaceuticals symbolise forms of governance with different sets of roles and responsibilities.

scholarly journals Professional Factor in the Everyday Life of Civil Servant of the West-Siberian Educational District (1885–1917)

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Blinov Alexey V. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
The West ◽  
National Education ◽  
The Everyday

Turning to the history of the everyday life of an individual or society allows us to preserve historical memory, to identify the mechanisms that ensure the historical continuity and integrity of society at the present stage. An important role in the organization of the management of the regional educational space belonged to civil servant (the trustee, district inspectors, administrative corps of educational institutions), allocated from among the employees of the Ministry of the National Education. Based on historiographical and historical sources, using the methodological provisions of the theory of everyday life, the principles of objectivity, historicism and consistency, the article shows the role of the profession in the structure of the daily life of civil servant of the West Siberian Educational District. It is established that the professional activity was influenced by the scope of official duties established by departmental regulatory documentation, spatial and territorial features of the entrusted management sector, the socio-political situation that corrects professional duties, the established way of life and provides the opportunity to choose within the entrusted professional space. The social status and income level of a civil servant depended on the scope of control and its significance for the activities of the entire system. It was a compensation for the time and effort spent. The proposed approach to the analysis of the role of the professional factor in the daily life of civil servant of the West Siberian Educational District can be applied to other socio-professional groups in different territorial and temporal spaces. Keywords: West Siberian Educational District, Ministry of the National education, educational institution, everyday life, civil servant, charter, professional activity

scholarly journals Makna Kekerabatan Dalam Budaya Lonto Leok Pada Proses Pilkada Di Manggarai Barat

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Benedictus Simangunsong ◽  
Felisianus N. Rahmat
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Election Process ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

                                                                        Abstrak Budaya memainkan peran yang sangat penting dalam politik karena menjadi cerminan masyarakat dalam menentukan sikap dan pilihan politik atau membentuk karakteristik masyarakat dalam berpolitik. Contoh dari hubungan antara budaya dan politik bisa tergambarkan pada isu kekerabatan  pada pilkada Manggarai Barat 2020 yang dibahas dalam penelitian ini. Fenomena kekerabatan yang dimaksud adalah adanya kecenderungan dari masyarakat Manggarai Barat pada umumnya untuk memilih pemimpin yang seasal atau karena faktor kekerabatan dan kekeluargaan atau dikenal sebagai budaya lonto leok yang masih kuat mempengaruhi kehidupan masyarakat termasuk politik. Penelitian ini menggunakan paradigma interpretif dengan metode penelitian Fenomenologi. Adapun pengumpulan data penelitian dilakukan dengan data primer yaitu melakukan wawancara mendalam dan dokumentasi serta data sekunder berupa studi kepustakaan. Wawancara dilakukan kepada para informan yang melakukan lonto leok menjelang Pilkada Mabar Tahun 2020 dan juga pada pilkada-pilkada sebelumnya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa makna kekerabatan dalam budaya lonto leok pada proses pilkada di Manggarai Barat adalah kebersamaan dan ketergantungan. Sementara peran budaya lonto leok dalam proses politik adalah pada saat pengambilan keputusan dan menumbuhkan ikatan kekerabatan.   Kata kunci: Budaya, Politik, Kekerabatan, Lonto Leok, fenomenologi, makna kekerabatan                                                                   Abstract   Culture plays a very important role in politics because it reflects the everyday life of society in determining political attitudes and choices or shaping the characteristics of society in politics. One of them many examples about the relationship between culture and politics can be illustrated in the issue of kinship in the 2020 West Manggarai regional election discussed in this study. The kinship phenomenon in question is the tendency of the West Manggarai community in general to choose leaders who are in the same kinship and it is known as the lonto leok culture which still strongly influences people's life, including politics. This study uses an interpretive paradigm with phenomenological research methods. The research data collection was carried out with primary data, namely conducting in-depth interviews and documentation and secondary data in the form of literature study. Interviews were conducted with informants who conducted lonto leok ahead of the 2020 Mabar Pilkada and also in the previous pilkada. The results showed that the meaning of kinship in the lonto leok culture in the election process in West Manggarai was togetherness and dependence. Meanwhile, the role of lonto leok culture in the political process is at the time of making decisions and fostering kinship ties.   Keywords: Culture, Politics, Kinship, Lonto Leok, phenomenology, meaning of kinship  

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