Defining immigrant newcomers in new destinations: symbolic boundaries in Williamsburg,Virginia

Abstract

This article examines media representations of immigration in Williamsburg, Virginia, a ‘new immigrant destination’ in the USA. Through a content analysis of coverage in Williamsburg's local newspaper, we explore how reporters, columnists and readers draw on nationally and internationally circulating discourses to produce public interpretations of immigration issues and construct symbolic boundaries between and among in-groups and ‘others’ in the community. ‘National boundaries drawn locally’ captures how media actors use nationally recognizable frames to interpret local issues and define the parameters of community and national belonging. ‘Localized symbolic boundaries’ take their meanings from place-based, cultural understandings, specific economic conditions and demographics in the local setting. Newspaper discussions in Williamsburg distinguish between ‘deserving’ foreign student workers (primarily from Eastern Europe and Asia) and ‘undeserving’, racialized, Latino ‘others’. Our analysis advances theories of boundary construction and holds implications for the politics of belonging more generally in other immigrant-receiving contexts.     

Immigrant narratives and nation-building in a stateless nation: the case of Italians in post-devolution Wales

This article aims to contribute to the study of migration and nation-building in stateless nations. It explores the media portrayal of Italian immigration in Wales after the 1997 devolution. It assesses why Italian immigrant narratives have figured prominently in the Welsh media after devolution. It shows that, being seen as Wales's ‘model minority’, Italians have ideally served a reinforcement of the surrounding inclusive rhetoric, one that draws on an old-standing Welsh tolerance-myth. Thus, this article argues that stateless nations aiming to gain increasing autonomy can use their immigration history to construct and disseminate a tolerant and inclusive national image, one that aims to foster both indigenous people and migrants' sense of national belonging.     

Pirate cosmopolitics and the transnational consciousness of the entertainment industry

As cultural texts, music and movies generate transnational publics united by shared identities and tastes. As objects of economic value, they fall under the juridical protection of global intellectual property institutions. These institutions aspire to produce their own version of a global citizen qua the responsible consumer. This paper argues that illegal copying and distribution have a capacity to forge new transnational affiliations. At the same time, they are subject ‘abjection’ by the apparatus of copyright enforcement. Focusing on the acts of semantic enclosure that such enforcement produces, the paper concludes that ‘policing’ has been increasingly mobilized as a path to becoming ‘global citizen’, thus reducing possibilities for the development of a critical, pluralistic subjectivity commonly termed ‘cosmopolitan’.     

Screening-based discovery of Aspergillus fumigatus plant-type chitinase inhibitors

A limited therapeutic arsenal against increasing clinical disease due to Aspergillus spp. necessitates urgent characterisation of new antifungal targets. Here we describe the discovery of novel, low micromolar chemical inhibitors of Aspergillus fumigatus family 18 plant-type chitinase A1 (AfChiA1) by high-throughput screening (HTS). Analysis of the binding mode by X-ray crystallography confirmed competitive inhibition and kinetic studies revealed two compounds with selectivity towards fungal plant-type chitinases. These inhibitors provide new chemical tools to probe the effects of chitinase inhibition on A. fumigatus growth and virulence, presenting attractive starting points for the development of further potent drug-like molecules.     

Cadmium induces vascular permeability via activation of the p38 MAPK pathway

The vasculature of various organs is a targeted by the environmental toxin, cadmium (Cd). However, mechanisms leading to pathological conditions are poorly understood. In the present study, we examined the effect of cadmium chloride (CdCl₂) on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). At 4 μM, CdCl₂ induced a hyper-permeability defect in HUVECs, but not the inhibition of cell growth up to 24 h. This effect of CdCl₂ was dependent on the activation of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203850 suppressed the CdCl₂-induced alteration in trans-endothelial electrical resistance in HUVEC monolayers, a model measurement of vascular endothelial barrier integrity. SB203850 also inhibited the Cd-induced membrane dissociation of vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin and β-catenin, the important components of the adherens junctional complex. In addition, SB203850 reduces the Cd-induced expression and secretion of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). Taken together, our findings suggest that Cd induces vascular hyper-permeability and disruption of endothelial barrier integrity through stimulation of p38 MAPK signaling.     

The protective effect of hispidin against hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells through Akt/GSK-3β and ERK1/2 signaling pathway

Hispidin, a phenolic compound from Phellinus linteus (a medicinal mushroom), has been shown to possess strong anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and anti-dementia properties. However, the cardioprotective efficacy of hispidin has not yet been investigated. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of hispidin against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells and neonatal rat ventricular myocytes. While the treatment of H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells with hydrogen peroxide caused a loss of cell viability and an increase in the number of apoptotic cells, hispidin significantly protected the cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death without any cytotoxicity as determined by XTT assay, LDH release assay, Hoechst 33342 assay, and Western blotting of apoptosis proteins such as caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2. Our data also shows that hispidin significantly scavenged intracellular ROS, and markedly enhanced the expression of antioxidant enzymes such as heme oxygenase-1 and catalase, which was accompanied by the concomitant activation of Akt/GSK-3β and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells. The effects of hispidin on Akt and ERK phosphorylation were abrogated by LY294002 (a PI3K/Akt inhibitor) and U0126 (an ERK1/2 inhibitor). The effect of hispidin on GSK-3b activities was also blocked by LY294002. Furthermore, inhibiting the Akt/GSK-3β and ERK1/2 pathway by these inhibitors significantly reversed the hispidin-induced Bax and Bcl-2 expression, apoptosis induction, and ROS production. These findings indicate that hispidin protects against apoptosis in H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide through reducing intracellular ROS production, regulating apoptosis-related proteins, and the activation of the Akt/GSK-3β and ERK1/2 signaling pathways.     

Establishment of a pancreatic β cell proliferation model in vitro and a platform for diabetes drug screening

Diabetes, a disease resulting from loss of functional β cells, is globally an increasingly important condition. Based on the islet-differentiation ability of ductal epithelial cells and stimulating β cell proliferation ability of the Reg Iα gene, we aimed to establish an in vitro pancreatic β cell proliferation model for screening therapeutic drugs of diabetes in the future. Pancreatic ductal epithelial cells were isolated from male Wistar rats, and induced to differentiate into pancreatic β cells. Immunofluorescence staining assay, western blot, RT-PCR analysis, and dithizone staining were used to characterize the cells. Rat Reg Iα protein was transiently expressed in vitro by transfection of HEK 293 cells with the PCMV6-entry-REG Ia plasmid, and expression was verified by RT-PCR analysis, proliferation assay, and apoptosis assay. The pancreatic β cell proliferation model was further validated by a proliferation assay using differentiated pancreatic β cells treated with transfection supernatant. Finally, we have successfully established an in vitro pancreatic β cells proliferation model using transiently expressed rat Reg Iα protein and differentiated pancreatic β cells from pancreatic ductal epithelial cells. This model could be used as a platform to screen new drugs for islet neogenesis to cure diabetes, especially Chinese herbal drugs in the future.     

Leaf phenomics: a systematic reverse genetic screen for Arabidopsis leaf mutants

The study and eventual manipulation of leaf development in plants requires a thorough understanding of the genetic basis of leaf organogenesis. Forward genetic screens have identified hundreds of Arabidopsis mutants with altered leaf development, but the genome has not yet been saturated. To identify genes required for leaf development we are screening the Arabidopsis Salk Unimutant collection. We have identified 608 lines that exhibit a leaf phenotype with full penetrance and almost constant expressivity and 98 additional lines with segregating mutant phenotypes. To allow indexing and integration with other mutants, the mutant phenotypes were described using a custom leaf phenotype ontology. We found that the indexed mutation is present in the annotated locus for 78% of the 553 mutants genotyped, and that in half of these the annotated T‐DNA is responsible for the phenotype. To quickly map non‐annotated T‐DNA insertions, we developed a reliable, cost‐effective and easy method based on whole‐genome sequencing. To enable comprehensive access to our data, we implemented a public web application named PhenoLeaf ( http://genetics.umh.es/phenoleaf ) that allows researchers to query the results of our screen, including text and visual phenotype information. We demonstrated how this new resource can facilitate gene function discovery by identifying and characterizing At1g77600, which we found to be required for proximal–distal cell cycle‐driven leaf growth, and At3g62870, which encodes a ribosomal protein needed for cell proliferation and chloroplast function. This collection provides a valuable tool for the study of leaf development, characterization of biomass feedstocks and examination of other traits in this fundamental photosynthetic organ.     

Detergent screening of the human voltage‐gated proton channel using fluorescence‐detection size‐exclusion chromatography

The human voltage‐gated proton channel (Hv1) is a membrane protein consisting of four transmembrane domains and intracellular amino‐ and carboxy‐termini. The protein is activated by membrane depolarization, similar to other voltage‐sensitive proteins. However, the Hv1 proton channel lacks a traditional ion pore. The human Hv1 proton channel has been implicated in mediating sperm capacitance, stroke, and most recently as a biomarker/mediator of cancer metastasis. Recently, the three‐dimensional structures for homologues of this voltage‐gated proton channel were reported. However, it is not clear what artificial environment is needed to facilitate the isolation and purification of the human Hv1 proton channel for structural study. In the present study, we generated a chimeric protein that placed an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to the amino‐terminus of the human Hv1 proton channel (termed EGFP‐Hv1). The chimeric protein was expressed in a baculovirus expression system using Sf9 cells and subjected to detergent screening using fluorescence‐detection size‐exclusion chromatography. The EGFP‐Hv1 proton channel can be solubilized in the zwitterionic detergent Anzergent 3–12 and the nonionic n‐dodecyl‐β‐d ‐maltoside (DDM) with little protein aggregation and a prominent monomeric protein peak at 48 h postinfection. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the chimeric protein exhibits a monomeric protein peak, which is distinguishable from protein aggregates, at the final size‐exclusion chromatography purification step. Taken together, we can conclude that solubilization in DDM will provide a useable final product for further structural characterization of the full‐length human Hv1 proton channel.