Ambiguous noses and feminine affectations: negotiating the boundaries of race and gender in Cuban Espiritismo

This article argues that Espiritismo Cruzado practice is comprised of fluid dynamics that disrupt notions of discrete entities. The disruption of clear-cut lines means that Espiritismo Cruzado is fertile ground for creative and generative ambiguity. This ambiguity disrupts the boundaries between forms of religiosity and different religious actors, and in doing so both disrupts and reinforces broader frameworks of race and gender. My examination of Espiritismo Cruzado, a Cuban religious tradition based on communication with spirits of the dead, demonstrates how the practice's ambiguity can emerge through instances of both convergence and fractures in relationships between spirits and practitioners. Convergences and conflicts emphasize concerns regarding beauty, race, and sexuality and how spirits and practitioners are implicated in the experiences of one another. Alongside these innovations, however, practice can often end up reifying overdetermined tropes of racialized and gendered figures in the wider popular Cuban imaginary. This article highlights how the mixedness that Espiritismo Cruzado offers is neither a straightforwardly liberatory politics of enablement nor exclusively one of constraint but rather a complicated nexus of the two.     

Sequence-specific 1HN, 13C, and 15N backbone resonance assignments of the 34 kDa Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus 1 (PBCV1) DNA ligase

Chlorella virus DNA ligase (ChVLig) is a minimal (298-amino acid) pluripotent ATP-dependent ligase composed of three structural modules—a nucleotidyltransferase domain, an OB domain, and a β-hairpin latch—that forms a circumferential clamp around nicked DNA. ChVLig provides an instructive model to understand the chemical and conformational steps of nick repair. Here we report the assignment of backbone ¹³C, ¹⁵N, ¹H^N resonances of this 34.2 kDa protein, the first for a DNA ligase in full-length form.     

Disaggregation of high‐molecular weight species during downstream processing to recover functional monomer

The use of chaotropic agents to recover functional monomeric material was investigated for the downstream purification of an Fc‐fusion protein containing high levels of high‐molecular weight (HMW) species. In batch studies, chaotropic agents irreversibly disaggregated a majority of the aggregated protein. An integrated processing mode, termed as on‐column disaggregation, was developed in which the protein was captured on Protein A chromatography and then a chaotropic agent was used to simultaneously elute the bound protein and disaggregate the HMW species. On‐column disaggregation process resulted in protein recoveries of >95% and aggregation reduction of ～50%. Analytical results are presented showing that the recovered monomeric material was comparable to the reference protein in biochemical, biophysical, and pharmacokinetic properties. The kinetic and molecular mechanisms governing protein aggregation and disaggregation will also be elucidated. For the Fc‐fusion protein studied here, incorporation of the disaggregation strategy in both batch and on‐column modes led to an increase of >10% in overall downstream yield. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

N-Acetylaspartylglutamate Stimulates Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 3 to Regulate Expression of the GABAAα6 Subunit in Cerebellar Granule Cells

Abstract: We have shown that the vertebrate neuropeptide N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) meets the criteria for a neurotransmitter, including function as a selective metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) 3 agonist. Short-term treatment of cerebellar granule cells with NAAG (30 µM) results in the transient increase in content of GABA_Aα6 subunit mRNA. Using quantitative PCR, this increase was determined to be up to 170% of control values. Similar effects are seen following treatment with trans-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate and glutamate and are blocked by the mGluR antagonists (2S,3S,4S)-2-methyl-2-(carboxycyclopropyl)glycine and (2S)-α-ethylglutamic acid. The effect is pertussis toxin-sensitive. The increase in α6 subunit mRNA level can be simulated by activation of other receptors negatively linked to adenylate cyclase activity, such as adenosine A1, α2-adrenergic, muscarinic, and GABA_B receptors. Forskolin stimulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels abolished the effect of NAAG. The change in α6 levels induced by 30 µM NAAG can be inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by simultaneous application of increasing doses of the β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol. The increase in α6 mRNA content is followed by a fourfold increase in α6 protein level 6 h posttreatment. Under voltage-clamped conditions, NAAG-treated granule cells demonstrate an increase in the furosemide-induced inhibition of GABA-gated currents in a concentration-dependent manner, indicating an increase in functional α6-containing GABA_A receptors. These data support the hypothesis that NAAG, acting through mGluR3, regulates expression of the GABA_Aα6 subunit via a cAMP-mediated pathway and that cAMP-coupled receptors for other neurotransmitters may similarly influence GABA_A receptor subunit composition.     

Diversity analysis of selected rice landraces from West Bengal and their linked molecular markers for salinity tolerance

Study of genetic diversity in crop plants is essential for the selection of appropriate germplasm for crop improvement. As salinity posses a serious environmental challenge to rice production globally and especially in India, it is imperative that the study of large collections of germplasms be undertaken to search for salt tolerant stocks. In the present study, 64 indica germplasms were collected from different agro-climatic zones of West Bengal, India, from the Himalayan foothills in the northern part down to the southern saline belt of the state keeping in view the soil characteristics and other edaphic factors prevailing in the region. Salt tolerance parameters were used to screen the large set of germplasms in terms of root-shoot length, fresh-dry weight, chlorophyll content, Na+/K+ ratio and germination potential in presence of salt. Standard evaluation score or SES was calculated to find out tolerant to sensitive cultivar. Twenty-one SSR markers, some associated with the Saltol QTL and others being candidate gene based SSR (cgSSR) were used to study the polymorphism of collected germplasm. A wide diversity was detected among the collected germplasms at the phenotypic as well as molecular level. Of the 21 SSR markers, 15 markers were found to be polymorphic with 88 alleles. Based on phenotypic and biochemical results, 21 genotypes were identified as salinity tolerant, whereas 40 genotypes turned out to be salt susceptible. The present study shows that apart from the established salt tolerant lines, several other landraces like Bonkanta, Morisal, Ghiosh, Patni may be the source of salt tolerant donor in future breeding programs.     

The effect of histidine on the structure and antitumor activity of metal-5-halouracil complexes

The ternary complexes of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) ions with 5-halouracils, viz., 5-fluorouracil (5FU), 5-chlorouracil (5ClU), and 5-bromouracil (5BrU), and the biologically important ligand L-histidine (HISD) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductance measurements, infrared spectra, electronic spectra, and magnetic moment (room temperature) measurements. On the basis of these studies, the structures of the complexes have been proposed. All these ternary complexes were screened for their antitumor activity against Dalton's lymphoma in C3H/He mice. It was found that only Mn(II)-5BrU-HISD, Co(II)-5BrU-HISD, Cu(II)-5ClU-HISD, Cu(II)-5BrU-HISD, Zn(II)-5FU-HISD, and Zn(II)-5BrU-HISD complexes have significant antitumor activity with T/C greater than 125% (where T and C represent mean lifespan of treated mice and control mice respectively). The Mn(II)-5FU-HISD, Co(II)-5FU-HISD, Co(II)-5ClU-HISD, Ni(II)-5ClU-HISD, Ni(II)-5BrU-HISD, and Zn(II)-5ClU-HISD complexes are also effective antitumor agents, with T/C greater than 115%. The complexes that showed effective antitumor action in vivo were also found to inhibit 3H-thymidine incorporation (DNA replication) in Dalton's lymphoma cells in vitro.     

Hemagglutination and intestinal adherence properties of clinical and environmental isolates of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae

Hemagglutination and intestinal adherence properties of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae were studied in vitro. No definite correlation between the cell-associated hemagglutinin titers and the intestinal adhesion indices was noted. Sugar- and glycoprotein-mediated inhibition data also indicated differences between the hemagglutination and adherence processes in respect to the receptor structures. Intestinal adherence of most V. cholerae strains could be inhibited to various extents by N-acetyl D-glucosamine. This observation provides a likely explanation for the ecological behavior of these organisms, which are known to associate themselves with chitinous (chitin:homopolymer of N-acetyl D-glucosamine) surfaces of zooplankton. The absence of any significant difference between the intestinal adherence indices of clinical and environmental isolates suggests that intestinal adhesion may be an essential but not sufficient prerequisite for colonization by and subsequent expression of pathogenicity of these microorganisms.     

Comparative study of expression of hemagglutinins, hemolysins, and enterotoxins by clinical and environmental isolates of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae in relation to their enteropathogenicity

A comparative study was undertaken of clinical and environmental isolates of non-O1 Vibrio cholerae with respect to their hemagglutinating, hemolytic, enterotoxigenic, and enteropathogenic activities. Cell-associated hemagglutinin titers of the clinical and environmental isolates did not differ much, although the clinical isolates displayed higher cell-free hemagglutinin titers compared with those of environmental isolates. Culture supernatants of 61.5% (24 of 39) of clinical isolates showed hemolytic activity (greater than or equal to 10% lysis of rabbit erythrocytes), while only 33.3% (10 to 30) of the environmental group had such activity. Furthermore, hemolytic activities of the clinical isolates showed a good correlation with their cell-associated hemagglutinin titers which was not true for the environmental group. Culture supernatants of 45.8% (11 of 25) of the clinical and 20% (2 of 10) of the environmental isolates exhibited enterotoxigenic activity in the rabbit ileal loop assay. Such activity was mediated mainly by cholera toxin-like substances, although some of the isolates produced fluid-accumulating factors unrelated to cholera toxin. Experimental animal studies demonstrated that the enteropathogenic potential of the environmental isolates was significantly lower than that of the clinical group. Further analysis of our data showed that phenotypic expression of cholera toxin-like products by the non-O1 V. cholerae isolates was accompanied by their enteropathogenicity. The latter effect was also noted with some of the cholera toxin-negative isolates, particularly in those having high hemagglutinating and hemolytic titers.