PepMANDIS: A Peptide Selection Tool for Designing Function-Based Targeted Proteomic Assays in Complex Microbial Systems

The majority of studies focusing on microbial functioning in various environments are based on DNA or RNA sequencing techniques that have inherent limitations and usually provide a distorted picture about the functional status of the studied system. Untargeted proteomics is better suited for that purpose, but it suffers from low efficiency when applied in complex consortia. In practice, the scanning capabilities of the currently employed LC-MS/MS systems provide limited coverage of key-acting proteins, hardly allowing a semiquantitative assessment of the most abundant ones from most prevalent species. When particular biological processes of high importance are under investigation, the analysis of specific proteins using targeted proteomics is a more appropriate strategy as it offers superior sensitivity and comes with the added benefits of increased throughput, dynamic range and selectivity. However, the development of targeted assays requires a priori knowledge regarding the optimal peptides to be screened for each protein of interest. In complex, multi-species systems, a specific biochemical process may be driven by a large number of homologous proteins having considerable differences in their amino acid sequence, complicating LC-MS/MS detection. To overcome the complexity of such systems, we have developed an automated pipeline that interrogates UniProt database or user-created protein datasets (e.g. from metagenomic studies) to gather homolog proteins with a defined functional role and extract respective peptide sequences, while it computes several protein/peptide properties and relevant statistics to deduce a small list of the most representative, process-specific and LC-MS/MS-amenable peptides for the microbial enzymatic activity of interest.

“Mostly Rich White Men, Nothing in Common”: Latino Views on Political (Under) Representation in the Trump Era

The idea of U.S. democracy rests on the assumption that all citizens will see their issues and needs reflected in elected officials. Yet, historically this has not been the case, as racialized minorities have been excluded and systematically marginalized from the representative process. Today, nonwhite populations remain significantly underrepresented in federal and state governments. Although scholars have examined the effects and mechanics of ethnoracial political representation, less is known about how individuals from minoritized populations perceive and make sense of political (under)representation. Drawing on a novel data set of 71 in-depth interviews with Latinos in the Chicagoland area and the San Francisco Bay, this article examines Latino understandings of representation. Our findings show that respondents view Latinos and other “people of color” as largely underrepresented amid an exceedingly white federal government. Yet Latino sentiments on the issue go beyond race, as respondents contend that class and a record of experience advocating on behalf of immigrant and working-class communities also matters for feeling represented by elected officials. Our findings make a case for bridging the sociological literature on racialization and political theories on representation, and have implications for understanding broader notions of political belonging and government trust.

Process vs. Outcome? How to Evaluate the Effects of Participatory Processes on Legitimacy Perceptions

The potential for participatory processes to address deficits in perceptions of legitimacy is strongly debated. This letter discusses how to evaluate the effects of participatory procedures. It argues that participatory processes should not be compared to normative ideals about how citizens should behave, but rather to the status quo of representative decision making. The authors use the example of winner–loser gaps in perceptions of fairness to illustrate the importance of evaluation frameworks, drawing on twelve experiments from the Netherlands and Sweden (total N = 5,352). The study shows that the choice of benchmarks matters substantially for the interpretation of process effects. When comparing participatory processes to the status quo of representative decision making, it finds higher fairness perceptions for a participatory process than for a representative process across all twelve experiments, even when the outcomes are unfavourable.

Connecting Constituents and Elected Representatives

Chapter 3 focuses on the problematic representative disconnect experienced in contemporary democracy, where linkages between elected representatives and their constituents are weak. The chapter presents an empirical case of how a group of residents, Voices4Indi, have sucessfully strengthened their representative–constituent relationship in the Australian federal electorate of Indi. Drawing on interviews with key members of Voices4Indi, the chapter unpacks how everyday citizens sought to repair the representative process by facilitating listening between citizens, and empowering voters to elect a representative committed to connecting and being responsive. The chapter shows in rich detail the diverse ways that both citizens and their elected representatives can creatively mend disconnections in the representative–constituent relationship. The chapter concludes by considering how the Indi experience advances our understanding of connectivity in deliberative systems.

Conceptualizing Connectivity in Deliberative Democracy

Chapter 2 offers a critical review of three systemic accounts of deliberative democracy, focusing on their assumptions about democratic connectivity. It draws attention to the ‘communicative miracles’ that lie at the heart of each deliberative system account—‘miracles’ that are out of step with contemporary disconnects experienced in the representative process, in the public sphere itself, and along the policy process. The chapter shows that these ‘communicative miracles’ are not only theoretical blind spots, but also practical obstacles hindering deliberative democracy from speaking more directly to, and serving as a richer resource for, democratic renewal. The chapter calls for a more empirically informed account of connectivity in contemporary public deliberation, one that is grounded in the work and agency of those involved in making or strengthening connectivity. It argues that an abductive research approach that employs interpretive methods is particularly well suited for developing such empirically informed accounts of connectivity. The chapter concludes by making the case for the close study of contemporary political practices, especially focused on how diverse actors are experiencing democratic disconnects, and what actions they are taking to mend them.

“Dreaming Undreamt Dreams” in Psychological Counseling with Italian Women Who Experienced Intimate Partner Violence: A Phenomenological-Interpretative Analysis of the Psychologists’ Experience

In psychological consultations with women who survive Intimate Partner Violence, it is essential to work on elaboration of the trauma as a complex trauma within the context of a relationship. We consider dreams to be a symbolic-representative process, which requires the right psychic, relational and contextual conditions to occur, and that is hindered when trauma is present. The objective of the present study is to investigate the meanings that psychologists working at anti-violence centers attribute to the clinical intervention with women victims of IPV, with a focus on the area of sleep and dreaming in a traumatic experience, and in the clinical work on the trauma. Twelve female psychologists were interviewed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology. From the analysis of the interviews, three main themes emerged: (1) Day and night, neither awake nor asleep, (2) Anti Violence Centers: setting as a container of emotion? and (3) dreaming undreamt dreams. The study highlights the importance of dreams as an indicator not only of psychic and mental functioning but also of the psychological relationship within a specific context.

Constituency Candidates and Political Representation

Candidates in constituency campaigns are important agents in the representative process. This chapter surveys the state of the literature that relates to the extent to which and how constituency candidates facilitate accountable and responsive government. Particularly, it asks about who candidates are, how they campaign, and how this affects the representative process. Furthermore, it explores the sources of individual level variance with regard to campaign effort and style. Our literature survey indicates the existence of pronounced variance in constituency level campaign effort and candidate behaviour that results from electoral incentives but also from individual and party level factors. It stresses the consequential nature of such differences since they determine what voters learn about politics in election campaigns and what policies parliaments pursue beyond Election Day.

In Whose Interest? Gender and Mass–Elite Priority Congruence in Sub-Saharan Africa

Do men and women representatives hold different legislative priorities? Do these priorities align with citizens who share their gender? Whereas substantive representation theorists suggest legislators’ priorities should align with their cogender constituents, Downsian-based theories suggest no role for gender. We test these differing expectations through a new originally collected survey data set of more than 800 parliamentarians and data from more than 19,000 citizens from 17 sub-Saharan African countries. We find that whereas parliamentarians prioritize similar issues as citizens in general, important gender differences also emerge. Women representatives and women citizens are significantly more likely to prioritize poverty reduction, health care, and women’s rights, whereas men representatives and men citizens tend to prioritize infrastructure projects. Examining variation in congruence between countries, we find that parliamentarians’ and cogender citizens’ priorities are most similar where democratic institutions are strongest. These results provide robust new evidence and insight into how and when legislator identity affects the representative process.

GESTÃO DEMOCRÁTICA: o processo representativo nos Conselhos Escolares

O presente artigo tem o objetivo de contribuir com as discussões sobre o processo de democratização da escola por meio da representação dos segmentos dos professores, pais, alunos e funcionários de Conselhos Escolares. Nessa perspectiva, entendemos a participação como um processo de formação dos sujeitos para atuar politicamente em seu cotidiano e no espaço da escola, problematizando sobre as condições de funcionamento e dificuldades existentes para construírem coletivamente propostas para a melhoria das condições apresentadas. Em seu desenvolvimento discutimos a democratização da escola como resultado das lutas pela democracia, realizadas no contexto dos anos de 1980 e que propiciaram a institucionalização de mecanismos que possibilitem o envolvimento da comunidade na gestão da escola, entre os quais os Conselhos Escolares. Na constituição destes tornam-se imprescindíveis a representação proporcional de todos os segmentos que compõem a escola a fim de assegurar a diversidade de opiniões e a democratização das votações dos assuntos discutidos durante as reuniões. Adotamos como método o materialismo histórico dialético, tendo em vista que este possibilita a compreensão do real a partir de suas múltiplas determinações; e, como procedimentos a revisão bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e entrevista semiestruturada. Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciam que embora a escolha dos representantes seja realizada por meio de eleições, as decisões deliberadas nos conselhos seguem as orientações dadas pelas gestoras das escolas, tendo, ainda, como um dos principais limites do processo representativo a falta de envolvimento de representantes, principalmente dos pais e alunos nos processos decisórios.Palavras-chave: Conselho escolar. Participação. Representação.DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT: the process representative in School Councils Abstract: This article aims to contribute with the discussions on school democratization process by means of the representation of segments of teachers, parents, students, and school staff of School Councils. In such perspective, we understand the participation as an educational process of the subjects in order to work politically in their everyday activities, and at the school space, problematizing the work conditions and exiting difficulties to construct proposals collectively in order to improve the conditions presented. In its development we discuss school democratization as a result of the struggles for democracy, which took place in the context of the 1980’s and which motivated the institutionalization of mechanisms which make possible the community participation of in the school management, among which are School Councils. In their constitution two things are very important: proportional representation of all segments which take part of the school in order to guarantee diversity of opinion and democratization of choice of subjects discussed in the meetings. We have chosen as method dialectical historic materialism, because it makes possible to understand what is real from its multiple determinations; and, as procedures the literature review, documental research, and semi-structured interview. The results of the research evidence that although the choice of representatives is made by means of election, the decisions taken in the councils follow the guidelines given by the school directors, besides one of the main limits of representative process the lack of commitment of the representatives, mostly, the parents and students in the decision process.Keywords: School council. Participation. Representation.GESTIÓN DEMOCRÁTICA: el proceso representativo en los Consejos EscolaresResumen: El presente artículo tiene el objetivo de contribuir com las discusiones el proceso de democratización de la escuela por medio de la representación de los segmentos de los profesores, padres, alumnos y funcionários de Consejos Escolares. En esa perspectiva, entendemos la participación como un proceso de formación de los sujetos para actuar políticamente en su cotidiano y en el espacio de la escuela, problematizando sobre las condiciones de funcionamiento y dificultades existentes para construir colectivamente propuestas para a mejoría de las condiciones apresentadas. En su desarrollo discutimos la democratización de la escuela como resultado de las luchas por la democracia realizadas en el contexto de los años de 1980 y que propiciaron la institucionalización de mecanismos que posibiliten el envolvimiento de la comunidad en la gestión de la escuela, entre ellos, los Consejos Escolares. En la constitución de estos tórnase imprecindible la representación proporcional de todos los segmentos que componen la escuela a fin de asegurar la diversidad de opiniones y la democratización de las votaciones de los asuntos discutidos durante las reuniones. Adoptamos como método el materialismo histórico dialéctico, teniendo em vista que éste possibilita la comprensión de lo real a partir de sus múltiples determinaciones; y como procedimentos la revisión bibliográfica, la investigación documental y la entrevista semiestruucturada. Los resultados de la investigación evidencian que a pesar de que la selección de los representantes sea realizada por medio de elecciones, las decisiones deliberadas en los consejos siguen las orientaciones dadas por las gestoras de las escuelas, teniendo aún como un de los principales límites del processo representativo, la falta de envolvimiento de representantes, principalmente, de los padres y alunos em los processos decisorios.Palabras clave: Consejo escolar. Participación. Representación.