To New Beginnings: Riboproteogenomics Discovery of N-Terminal Proteoforms in Arabidopsis Thaliana

Alternative translation initiation is a widespread event in biology that can shape multiple protein forms or proteoforms from a single gene. However, the respective contribution of alternative translation to protein complexity remains largely enigmatic. By complementary ribosome profiling and N-terminal proteomics (i.e., riboproteogenomics), we provide clear-cut evidence for ~90 N-terminal proteoform pairs shaped by (alternative) translation initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Next to several cases additionally confirmed by directed mutagenesis, identified alternative protein N-termini follow the enzymatic rules of co-translational N-terminal protein acetylation and initiator methionine removal. In contrast to other eukaryotic models, N-terminal acetylation in plants cannot generally be considered as a proxy of translation initiation because of its posttranslational occurrence on mature proteolytic neo-termini (N-termini) localized in the chloroplast stroma. Quantification of N-terminal acetylation revealed differing co- vs. posttranslational N-terminal acetylation patterns. Intriguingly, our data additionally hints to alternative translation initiation serving as a common mechanism to supply protein copies in multiple cellular compartments, as alternative translation sites are often in close proximity to cleavage sites of N-terminal transit sequences of nuclear-encoded chloroplastic and mitochondrial proteins. Overall, riboproteogenomics screening enables the identification of (differential localized) N-terminal proteoforms raised upon alternative translation.

Sovereignty as new beginnings: Action beyond the liberal subject, among undercover police investigators in Europe, for example

This article argues that Schmitt's “state of exception” is only one expression of the deeper sovereign phenomenon, specifically the human capacity to inaugurate new beginnings in shared space. Sovereign action thus includes anything from Schmitt's vertically-imposed state of exception, which eliminates political subjecthood, to the thrill of horizontally-arranged movements, which enable it. To make this argument, the article foregoes the idea of the bounded, internally coherent liberal subject in favor of a relational subject, who is both internally divided and inherently tied to others. The subject's instability and relationality make new beginnings possible and renders sovereign action promising, even if risky. An unexpected example of this fuller view of sovereignty appears in an undercover police team in southern Europe that investigates global human smuggling and trafficking rings. Based on extensive ethnographic research, this article shows how they often act on their own ethical judgments, reached by considering the standpoints of people tied to their investigations, rather than through obedience to law, policy, or superior command. Acting outside constitutional order, these investigators, (re)constitute themselves as particular persons through their joint actions and simultaneously constitute modest sovereign spaces, however tentatively.

Endings and (New) Beginnings: Shakespeare against apartheid, Shakespeare post-apartheid and Shakespeare beyond South Africa

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Refugee Resettlement and Macro Practice in the United States

Resettlement-related macro practice reflects a complicated history of immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States, as well as international and domestic policies that shape opportunities and services available to refugees who resettle through these mechanisms. Four intersecting domains of resettlement macro practice are (a) community organizing and community development, (b) advocacy, (c) policy analysis and development, and (d) community-centered management and program planning. To engage meaningfully in macro social work requires a grasp of the history and policies that drive decision-making of individual practitioners and shape the experiences of people resettling to the United States in search of safety and new beginnings. Research and participatory approaches are integral to resettlement macro practice to ensure refugee communities are at the center of all efforts to inform structural and systemic change.

The Institutionalisation of Political Science in Post-Yugoslav States: Continuities and New Beginnings

The institutionalisation of political science in the four countries emerged after the break-up of Yugoslavia—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia—has not been a uniform process. Despite the discipline’s foundation at almost the same time and in the same state, there are considerable differences among them in terms of stability and autonomy. Some of the most salient, albeit certainly not all are numbers of institutions, professors, students and study programs, development of political science fields, state funding, and hiring procedure. Our investigation on the roots of differences between them covers two periods. The first one deals with the Communist Yugoslav period, when the first institutions of political science were founded, and the discipline went through three decades of development under autocratic regime. Second period deals with the following three decades of institutionalisation, from first multi-party elections in 1990 until 2020. We finish the chapter with concluding remarks which could also be perceived as a guideline for further research in the field.

Light At the End of The Tunnel: Re-Storying the Experiences of Teacher- Covid19 Survivors

The continued service at the frontline of educational delivery in the time of COVID19 pandemic situates teachers to susceptibility that is no less critical. This study aimed to tell the experiences of teachers who were in the throes of COVID-19 disease and have recovered, through the narration of their personal stories. Narrative Inquiry was employed and facilitated by the use research interviews and written accounts of 4 teacher-survivors. Using Narrative Thematic approach in data analysis, themes were developed and were formatted in a literary chronological sense of the pre, during and post COVID19 stages of their journey to tell a cohesive narrative story. The plot started with Skepticisms and disbelief that describe the pre-COVID stage. Guilt, Anxiety and Shame; Fraud Information and Disclosure; Stigmas and Discrimination; and experiences pertaining to Temporality and Place; to their Being a Teacher; and to Relationship and Sociality, capture their During-COVID19 stage. The common accounts of Lessons and New Beginnings articulate the Post-COVID19 Stage. Recommendations to help advance the public’s understanding of the experiences of these teacher-survivors were also explicated.

Living with Fukushima

<p>Nuclear power is a highly disputed and powerful industry that continues to grow worldwide alongside safer renewable resources. No country seemed to have as much unwavering faith in the nuclear industry as Japan, until the catastrophic events of Fukushima in 2011. Although large-scale disasters caused by nuclear power facilities are few and far between, the devastation to the environment is, in most cases, irreparable. Fukushima remains to this day a painful reminder of this fact. In 2011 Japan suffered an unprecedented three-strike disaster. First a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country. This was followed by a subsequent tsunami which tore apart Japan’s East Coast and resulted in the loss of more than 20,000 lives. However, it was the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that was the final devastating blow. 160,000 people were forced to evacuate. These nuclear refugees, as they have come to be known, have paid the ultimate price. Their home lands have been permanently scarred by the radiation, with only small sections able to be decontaminated. Even in these areas, land that has been cultivated for centuries will likely never again be able to produce safe crops in the traditional way. In a region highly valued for its agriculture and fishing industries, they have lost everything that they spent generations working and caring for. The Architecture and Dystopia Stream challenges architectural projects to call attention to the dystopian realities that our generation will face in the future. This is a project for a small broken town, Namie, and how we might propose a future where the people can live alongside the damage left by nuclear contamination. The project attempts to capture intimate day-to- day moments for the people within a much larger scheme that sheds light on the potentially damaging consequences of the nuclear industry. In this sense, the true challenge of the project is to simultaneously explore both the megascale and the human-scale. Earlier this year Namie was one of the first towns in the Fukushima exclusion zone to be partially reopened. Since then thousands of residents have made the tough decision between the familiarity of and love for their home town and the invisible threat of radiation. It is heard continually in surveys, interviews, and political rallies that these evacuees simply want their old lives back, and those who are returning to Namie have seized this chance. It is clear, however, that the ‘cleanup’ of these towns that are reopening cannot repair the lasting damage of the nuclear radiation on the natural environment. Fishing in the river, picking mushrooms in the foothills, these sorts of activities were part of daily life in this rural town that can no longer be enjoyed without great risk. Not only have they lost many of the joys that come with living so closely amongst the environment, they also can no longer make a living off their land. It is feared that their lives here will be a shadow of what they were before. Although the reality sounds bleak and dystopian, the architectural intervention designed for Namie will be Utopian, focussing on the future that these returning residents are daring to hope for. Lastly, it has been openly speculated that the heavy influence of the nuclear industry on Japanese government is responsible for Japan’s lack of exploration into safer, sustainable energy sources. Japan is usually on the forefront of new technologies. Following the Fukushima meltdown, for the first time since it was introduced to the country, Japanese are questioning and openly challenging the use of nuclear energy in their country. The uncertainty of the future has spurred opportunities for a change in direction, in what many consider is a pivotal moment in Japan’s history. This project aims to be bold and push past what might be an expected solution, capitalising on this rare openness towards new beginnings, to propose a highly unconventional project that optimistically envisions a better future for the people of Namie.</p>