Health and Masculinities Shaped by Agency within Structures among Young Unemployed Men in a Northern Swedish Context

AimThe aim of our paper was to explore expressions of life choices and life chances (aspects of agency within structures) related to power and experiences of health among early unemployed adolescent young men during the transition period to adulthood. These expressions of agency within structure were interpreted in the light of Cockerham’s Health Lifestyles Theory. Furthermore, social constructions of masculinities were addressed in our analysis.MethodsRepeated interviews with ten young men in a cohort of school leavers were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.ConclusionsQualitative research could contribute to develop the understanding of the agency within structure relationships. Future studies need to pay attention to experiences of health among young people at the margin of the labor market in various milieus – and to analyze these in relation to gender constructions and within the frame-work of agency within structure.     

A Nuclear Marker for Mammalian Cells and Its Use with Intracerebral Transplants

The Hoechst dye staining method has been successfully applied to the central nervous system in mammals and its use has been demonstrated in intracerebral transplantation. The technique is rapid, simple and based on intrinsic nuclear properties. It was found to be permanent and valid whatever the animal strains or ages, allowing the distinction of rat cells from those of mouse, studied either separately or in a cross-transplantation model. It permitted the detection of grafted cells in the area of transplantation and the observation of early dispersion around the implantation site. Moreover, it can be combined with immunohistochemistry as demonstrated by a myelin marker in a relevant model. Immunodetection can thus help to directly observe grafted cells, at distance from the locus of transplantation, confirming their presence in the graft-type myelin patches.

Because of its rapid performance, this technique can be used systematically after transplantation to check for the presence of grafted cells in the host.     

Molecular modelling of protein-carbohydrate interactions. Understanding the specificities of two legume lectins towards oligosaccharides

By means of a series of new molecular modelling tools, the conformationalbehaviour of mannose-containing di- and trisaccharides boundto either concanavalin A or Lathyrus ochrus isolectin I (LOLI)has been assessed. Tools for estimating and analysing eitherthe ‘rigid’ or the ‘relaxed’ potentialenergy surfaces, representing the conformational space availablefor carbohydrates once interacting with lectins, are reportedfor the first time. Restrictions of conformational space arepredicted to occur with different magnitudes, depending on thenature of the glycosidic linkages, as well as the size of thecarbohydrates. Results from these molecular modelling studiesare compared to existing structural data. Not only could theobserved conformations and orientations of carbohydrates incrystalline lectin–oligosaccharides complexes be reproduced,but several other likely situations were also predicted to occur.Entropy calculations have been performed for comparison withexperimental thermodynamics data. The results of the simulationcan also help giving an explanation of some observed affinityconstants at the molecular level. concanavalin A Lathyrus ochrus lectin-oligosaccharide molecular modelling     

Multi-year sampling provides insight into the bet-hedging capacity of the soil-stored seed reserve of a threatened Acacia species from Western Australia

This multi-year study examined temperature requirements for dormancy release in physically dormant seeds of the threatened legume Acacia awestoniana (Fabaceae) from Western Australia. Seeds were collected from a single site in three consecutive years and exposed to multiple laboratory-based ‘fire’-related temperature treatments (intensity × duration). Experiments were conducted on seeds freshly collected and after 12 months storage under dry laboratory conditions in order to separate the influence of the maternal environment from post-harvest storage conditions on thresholds for dormancy release. Initial seed viability and non-dormant seed fraction did not differ between seed cohorts but there was a clear effect of storage on seed response: fresh seeds from 2016 demonstrated greater thermal resilience than stored seeds collected in the same year. Equally, there was a strong inter-annual response to treatments from fresh seeds collected in 2016 and 2017 attributed to the influence of the maternal environment during seed development. Seeds collected in 2015 and 2016 and stored for 12 months also demonstrated significant differences in their response to treatments, with 2015 seeds responding more favourably to treatment conditions than those from 2016. Plastic responses to external stimuli provide seeds with a strong bet-hedging capacity and the potential to cope with high levels of environmental heterogeneity, especially a mosaic of fire conditions. Such data provide insight for the management, conservation and restoration of this and similar threatened plant species in fire-prone ecosystems in the face of a rapidly changing climate and expected associated changes in the fire regime.

     

The flavin-containing monooxygenase expressed in pig liver: primary sequence, distribution, and evidence for a single gene

The primary sequence of the flavin-containing monooxygenase expressed in pig liver has been derived from the nucleotide sequence of cloned cDNA. The derived sequence is composed of 532 amino acids and represents a protein having a molecular weight of 58,952. The complete sequence was obtained from a single clone containing 2070 bases. A second clone, obtained from an independent library, yielded an identical sequence for the 1374 bases present. The amino acid composition compiled from the derived sequence is very similar to that obtained previously from the purified protein. In addition, a 10 amino acid sequence in a peptide formed from the purified protein by digestion with V8 protease exactly matches the derived sequence for residues 309-318. The flavin-containing monooxygenase expressed in pig liver is also expressed in pig lung and kidney as determined by analysis of both microsomal proteins and mRNA. The ratio of mRNA to protein for the enzyme in kidney is about 5 times greater than the same ratio for liver and about twice the ratio for lung. The reasons for these differences are not understood. Southern analysis of genomic DNA indicates that there is a single gene encoding the flavin-containing monooxygenase expressed in pig liver. Therefore, the broad activity of this enzyme in liver appears to be the result of the catalytic diversity of a single protein.     

Physiographic and climatic events in the Chihuahuan Desert lead to the speciation and distinct demographic patterns of two sister Sceloporus lizards

The biogeographic history of the Chihuahuan Desert is known to be complex, and there is evidence of the effects of physiographic and climatic events in species diversification and demographic population changes in many taxa. Here, using DNA sequence data, we studied the influence of the physiographic and climatic events that occurred in the Chihuahuan Desert during the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition on the speciation and evolutionary history of the sister lizard species Sceloporus cyanostictus and S. gadsdeni. First, based on mtDNA and nDNA sequences, we estimated the divergence times of the sister species. Then, based on mtDNA sequences, we investigated the demographic history of both species within a phylogeographic framework. The divergence time was inferred to be 1.48 Mya, date that corresponds to the existence of a large lake in the Mapimian subprovince, between the current geographic locations of S. cyanostictus and S. gadsdeni. This lake could have acted as a barrier, leading to the speciation of both species. For the demographic history of the two species, we identified two distinct patterns: the population expansion of S. gadsdeni within the Last Glacial Maximum and the potential population decline of S. cyanostictus. Our results can be used as a guide for the study of other aspects that could be critical to developing conservation actions that ensure the survival of not only S. gadsdeni and S. cyanostictus, but also other co‐occurring lizard species.