The Maleny ‘Fire Event’: Rehearsals Toward Neo-liminality

Although the anthropological literature on ritual is extensive, little theoretical attention has been paid to recent attempts to (re)create rituals among mainstream groups in post-industrial, secularised societies. The authors address this issue by examiuning the annual Fire Event, which is constructed as a ritual climax to the Maleny Folk Festival in southern Queensland, Australia. Using the work of Victor Turner and John MacAloon as a point of departure, we argue that at best such celebrations constitute a neo-liminal framework within which participants can achieve a consensus of belief and action. By showing that some Fire Events have been more successful ‘rituals’ than others, we also highlight the factors which tend to impede participation and ‘con-subjectivity’ in such settings. In the process we identify some of the cultural divisions at Maleny, such as those between artists and ‘folk’, feral hippies and ‘hoons’, Aboriginals and Anglos, and begin to reflect on how these may relate to more general patterns of interaction in Australian society at large.     

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Alterations to Cellular Metabolism by Domain 2 of the Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-opts hepatic lipid pathways to facilitate its pathogenesis. The virus alters cellular lipid biosynthesis and trafficking, and causes an accumulation of lipid droplets (LDs) that gives rise to hepatic steatosis. Little is known about how these changes are controlled at the molecular level, and how they are related to the underlying metabolic states of the infected cell. The HCV core protein has previously been shown to independently induce alterations in hepatic lipid homeostasis. Herein, we demonstrate, using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy, that expression of domain 2 of the HCV core protein (D2) fused to GFP is sufficient to induce an accumulation of larger lipid droplets (LDs) in the perinuclear region. Additionally, we performed fluorescence lifetime imaging of endogenous reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotides [NAD(P)H], a key coenzyme in cellular metabolic processes, to monitor changes in the cofactor’s abundance and conformational state in D2-GFP transfected cells. When expressed in Huh-7 human hepatoma cells, we observed that the D2-GFP induced accumulation of LDs correlated with an increase in total NAD(P)H fluorescence and an increase in the ratio of free to bound NAD(P)H. This is consistent with an approximate 10 fold increase in cellular NAD(P)H levels. Furthermore, the lifetimes of bound and free NAD(P)H were both significantly reduced – indicating viral protein-induced alterations in the cofactors’ binding and microenvironment. Interestingly, the D2-expressing cells showed a more diffuse localization of NAD(P)H fluorescence signal, consistent with an accumulation of the co-factor outside the mitochondria. These observations suggest that HCV causes a shift of metabolic control away from the use of the coenzyme in mitochondrial electron transport and towards glycolysis, lipid biosynthesis, and building of new biomass. Overall, our findings demonstrate that HCV induced alterations in hepatic metabolism is tightly linked to alterations in NAD(P)H functional states.     

A Rapid Method for Preparing High Quality Alizarin Stained Skeletons of Adult Mice

A simple three-day technique is described for preparing completely cleared and high quality alizarin stained total skeletons of adult mice. Unfixed specimens are partially macerated during staining. Older specimens are heated for 15 min in 1% KOH. A heated solution of benzyl and ethyl alcohol, glycerin, and water is used for final clearing and hardening. This procedure requires about 10 min work per specimen and greatly simplifies preparation of stained and cleared skeletons of adult mice. Another technique, giving slightly better preparations, but requiring 11-14 days, is also described.     

Genetic basis of ultraviolet-B effects on contact hypersensitivity

The genetic basis of the effects of ultraviolet B(UVB) radiation on the induction of contact hypersensitivity (CH) to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) has been explored in genetically defined mice. It was found that acute, low-dose UVB radiation produced profound depletion of epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) at UVB-treated sites in all strains of mice tested. However, when DNFB was applied to UVB radiation sites, unresponsiveness developed in some strains of mice, but vigorous contact hypersensitivity was induced in others. The UVB-susceptible phenotype proved dominant or codominant in F₁ hybrids derived from parental strains of the susceptible and UVB-resistant phenotypes. Experiments conducted in one set of F₁ hybrids derived from two UVB-susceptible parental strains displayed UVB resistance, suggesting gene complementation, and showed that more than one genetic locus was involved. Segregant backcross populations, analyzed for the capacity to develop CH after UVB treatment and skin painting with DNFB, revealed that at least two, and probably three, independent genetic loci participate in determining UVB resistance. Results of experiments with H-2 congenic and recombinant mice derived from the B10 background implicated class I genes of the major histocompatibility complex as relevant genetic factors. These results indicate that there is a dissociation between the effects of UVB radiation on epidermal Langerhans cells and the capacity of a cutaneous surface to support the induction of contact hypersensitivity. The data indicate that the induction of CH to haptens is dependent on normal numbers of functional LC at the skin painting site only in some strains of mice. The data imply that in the so-called UVB-resistant strains of mice, alternative (non-Langerhans cell-dependent) mechanisms allow for the induction of CH. Several independent genetic loci, one of which appears to be H-2, govern this UVB-related effect.