Hagiographic narrative and monastic practice: Buddhist morality and mastery amongst Thai Buddhist nuns

Drawing on ethnographic analysis of the life-story of a contemporary Thai Buddhist nun ( mae chee ), this article argues that narrative convention must be understood as constitutive as well as communicative. In hagiographic convention and ascetic discipline gender distinctions are not understood as relevant for spiritual attainment. The use of hagiography by male and female religious professionals located in a gendered hierarchy suggests that religious practice may not be sufficiently accounted for through an analytical framework of domination and subordination. Rather, power is more usefully located within the relations and practices that form the conditions of the subject.  

Résumé

En procédant à l'analyse ethnographique de l'histoire de la vie d'une nonne bouddhiste ( mae chee ) thaïe, l'auteur avance que la convention narrative doit être appréhendée comme constitutive aussi bien que communicative. Dans la convention hagiographique et la discipline ascétique, les distinctions entre les sexes ne sont pas considérées comme pertinentes pour atteindre l'illumination. L'usage de l'hagiographie par les religieux, hommes et femmes, placés dans le cadre d'une hiérarchie sexuée, suggère que le cadre analytique de domination et de subordination est peut-être insuffisant pour appréhender la pratique religieuse, et qu'il serait plus utile de situer le pouvoir dans les relations et pratiques qui conditionnent le sujet.     

Frequency of alleles conferring resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis maize in Louisiana populations of the southwestern corn borer

Transgenic maize [Zea mays L. (Poaceae)] expressing Bacillus thuringiensis proteins (Bt maize) has become the most important tool for managing stalk borers in maize in the USA. The current strategy for delaying the evolution of resistance in target insects for Bt maize is referred to as high dose/refuge strategy. A key requirement of the strategy is that initial resistance allele frequencies in field insect populations are low (e.g., <0.001). More than 200 iso‐line families of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella Dyar (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a major target stalk borer pest of Bt maize, were developed from Louisiana populations and evaluated for Bt resistance using a modified F₂ screening method during 2005. No major resistance alleles were detected in these populations. The results showed that the expected Bt resistance allele frequency in the Louisiana populations was <0.0035 with 95% probability and a detection power of 83.9 ± 0.6%. The F₂ screen indicates that Bt resistance allele frequencies in D. grandiosella are low among the Louisiana populations and should meet the rare resistance allele requirement of the ‘high dose/refuge’ strategy.     

Biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropics

Aim This paper reviews the biogeography of the Australian monsoon tropical biome to highlight general patterns in the distribution of a range of organisms and their environmental correlates and evolutionary history, as well as to identify knowledge gaps. Location Northern Australia, Australian Monsoon Tropics (AMT). The AMT is defined by areas that receive more than 85% of rainfall between November and April. Methods Literature is summarized, including the origin of the monsoon climate, present‐day environment, biota and habitat types, and phylogenetic and geographical relationships of selected organisms. Results Some species are widespread throughout the AMT while others are narrow‐range endemics. Such contrasting distributions correspond to present‐day climates, hydrologies (particularly floodplains), geological features (such as sandstone plateaux), fire regimes, and vegetation types (ranging from rain forest to savanna). Biogeographical and phylogenetic studies of terrestrial plants (e.g. eucalypts) and animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) suggest that distinct bioregions within the AMT reflect the aggregated effects of landscape and environmental history, although more research is required to determine and refine the boundaries of biogeographical zones within the AMT. Phylogenetic analyses of aquatic organisms (fishes and prawns) suggest histories of associations with drainage systems, dispersal barriers, links to New Guinea, and the existence of Lake Carpentaria, now submerged by the Gulf of Carpentaria. Complex adaptations to the landscape and climate in the AMT are illustrated by a number of species. Main conclusions The Australian monsoon is a component of a single global climate system, characterized by a dominant equator‐spanning Hadley cell. Evidence of hot, seasonally moist climates dates back to the Late Eocene, implying that certain endemic elements of the AMT biota have a long history. Vicariant differentiation is inferred to have separated the Kimberley and Arnhem Land bioregions from Cape York Peninsula/northern Queensland. Such older patterns are overlaid by younger events, including dispersal from Southeast Asia, and range expansions and contractions. Future palaeoecological and phylogenetic investigations will illuminate the evolution of the AMT biome. Understanding the biogeography of the AMT is essential to provide a framework for ecological studies and the sustainable development of the region.     

Correlation between hysteresis and allosteric properties for phosphofructokinase from Ascaris suum

The Ascaris suum phosphofructokinase exhibits hysteretic transitions in the time course for fructose 6-phosphate (F6P) phosphorylation in addition to allosteric properties when assayed at pH values below 8. Conditions that enhance hysteretic changes also enhance cooperative interactions and thus there appears to be a link between hysteresis and cooperativity. Initiation of reaction with either F6P or phosphofructokinase results in a pronounced lag, while initiation of the reaction with MgATP results in a burst at pH values below 8. Under conditions in which a lag is evident, increasing the concentration of F6P in the assay decreases the lag, while under conditions where a burst is evident, increasing the concentration of MgATP in the assay decreases the burst. The lag is enzyme-dependent going to a limiting value at high enzyme concentration, while the burst is enzyme-independent. As the pH increases, the Hill coefficient for F6P decreases from a pH-independent value of 3 at low pH to a value of 1 above pH 8. Over the same pH range, the burst rate increases to a point that it is too fast to measure at pH 8 (that is, the time course is linear). Finally, at pH 6.9, the saturation curve for F6P becomes more cooperative with the Hill coefficient equal to 3 above 4 mM MgATP. Data are interpreted in terms of the model suggested for the rabbit skeletal muscle phosphofructokinase (Frieden, C., Gilbert, H. R., and Bock, P.E. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 5644-5647) in which MgATP binds preferably to an inactive tetrameric enzyme form in which a group with a pK of 6.8 is protonated and F6P binds preferably to the unprotonated active tetrameric form.     

Feeding on the edge: foraging White Ibis target inter‐habitat prey fluxes

Avian population dynamics are influenced by the availability of spatiotemporally variable prey resources, but the conditions producing abundant and accessible prey are not always clear. In the Florida Everglades, wading birds nest in the dry season when receding water levels concentrate prey and facilitate improved foraging efficiency. White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) feed extensively on crayfish in sloughs, and previous studies have demonstrated that crayfish move downgradient from higher elevation, heavily vegetated ridge habitats into adjacent less‐vegetated sloughs when ridges are almost dry. Most White Ibis foraging is thought to occur in sloughs with relatively shallow water (< 19 cm), but crayfish move and their densities peak when water in sloughs is deeper (~ 21–32 cm). We conducted an observational study of White Ibis foraging in drying wetlands to determine if White Ibis restricted their foraging to shallow water or if they foraged in relatively deep water when crayfish were migrating. In a series of large drying wetlands, we used time‐lapse imagery to quantify White Ibis foraging activity over 61 d from February to April 2017 and we also quantified crayfish biomass density in sloughs. Crayfish biomass density peaked when ridges were almost dry. Most White Ibis foraging occurred over 2–3 d when ridges were almost dry and water in sloughs averaged ≥ 29 cm deep. White Ibis selected slough edges for foraging, suggesting that they were capturing crayfish migrating between habitats. Our results point to a new mechanism of prey exploitation driven by inter‐habitat prey flux when ridge habitat dries. Although the results of previous studies suggest that White Ibis will not forage on fish in deeper water (> 25 cm), we found that White Ibis will forage on crayfish in water at those depths. Maintenance of habitat elevational differences and hydro‐patterns that promote crayfish production will be necessary to promote this predator–prey interaction in the ridge‐slough landscape of the Everglades.     

Analysis of the water-soluble products of phosphatidylcholine breakdown by ion-exchange chromatography. Bombesin and TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate) stimulate choline generation in Swiss 3T3 cells by a common mechanism.

A method for the rapid and quantitative separation of glycerophosphocholine, choline phosphate and choline upon ion-exchange columns is described. The method has been utilized to examine the stimulation of phosphatidylcholine breakdown in quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells in response to bombesin and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). The stimulated generation of choline is shown to precede that of choline phosphate, with no effect upon glycerophosphocholine levels; but was attenuated in cells in which protein kinase C activity was down-regulated. The results thus suggest that stimulation of the cells with either bombesin or TPA activates phospholipase D-catalysed phosphatidylcholine breakdown by a common mechanism involving the activation of protein kinase C.