Exposure of a 23F serotype strain of <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> to cigarette smoke condensate is associated with selective upregulation of genes encoding the two-component regulatory system 11 (TCS11)

Alterations in whole genome expression profiles following exposure of the pneumococcus (strain 172, serotype 23F) to cigarette smoke condensate (160 μg/mL) for 15 and 60 min have been determined using the TIGR4 DNA microarray chip. Exposure to CSC resulted in the significant (P &#60; 0.014–0.0006) upregulation of the genes encoding the two-component regulatory system 11 (TCS11), consisting of the sensor kinase, hk11, and its cognate response regulator, rr11, in the setting of increased biofilm formation. These effects of cigarette smoke on the pneumococcus may contribute to colonization of the airways by this microbial pathogen

Dickens’s consumptive urbanity: science and sentiment in nineteenth-century healthcare

The representations in the oeuvre of Charles Dickens of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) characterize him as a realist and, at the same time, as a sentimentalist who saw TB as the result of hard-heartedness and the disintegration of communal ties based on affection and mutual support. Using the critical approach of the medical humanities, this article relates Dickens’s understanding about disease and therapy to problems in contemporary healthcare like the unexpected rise of TB in the 1980s, the challenge posed by drug-resistant bacteria, and the discontents with the assembly-line modes of professionalized medical services. It argues that modern health policy and practice can profit from the records found in great works of literature of how communities in previous eras fought disease

Collecting SubjectsObjects: The Museum and Victorian Literature 1830-1914

This study argues that the museum wielded enough cultural capital to shape not only the content of literature (which picked up themes like collection, hoarding, display, and organization) but also the formal arrangement of such literature into catalogues, taxonomies, and the dense material-based descriptions for which the Victorian novel is often criticized. The museum, it is shown, is far more central to Victorian thought than has been recognized, and its presence in literature has been misread or overlooked in contemporary criticism. This study also provides a narrative of the Victorian preoccupation with the museual, especially as regards the natural history movement and the natural history museum. While there have been studies of the nineteenth-century museum and its appearance in literary texts, there has until now been no sustained account of the reach of its influence, nor has there been an attempt to represent Victorian views on the museual and its reach into everyday life. This study draws on the criticism of museum scholars such as Sharon Macdonald and Tony Bennett to examine the influence of the museum on key works of Victorian literature such as Charles Dickens\u27s The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend, Henry Mayhew\u27s 1851 and London Labour and the London Poor, and Wilkie Collins\u27s The Woman in White.

Kultūriniai-skaitmeniniai literatūros žinomumo tyrinėjimai pasitelkiant „Google knygas“: bandomasis tyrimas

The availability of databases of digitised literary materials, such as Google Books, Europeana and historical newspaper databases, has revolutionised many disciplines, e.g., linguistics and history. So far, the use of digitised materials has not been very frequent in the history of books and the history of reading. This article presents tools, methodologies and practices that offer new possibilities in the study of book history and the history of reading. The use of these tools makes it possible to study vast amounts of data quickly and effectively, to present results in helpful visualisations, to make it possible to follow the line of reasoning and, if necessary, to check the reliability of the research by presenting the data for control. The examples presented are drawn from the Google Books database using a simple piece of software that exploits the API of the Google Books Ngram Viewer tool that is available free of charge.Suskaitmenintų literatūros duomenų bazių tokių kaip „Google knygos“, „Europeana“ ir istorinių laikraščių duomenų bazių prieinamumas sukėlė revoliuciją daugelyje disciplinų, pvz., kalbotyroje ir istorijoje. Iki šiol knygų istorijoje ir skaitymo istorijoje suskaitmenintos medžiagos naudojimas nebuvo ypač dažnas. Šiame straipsnyje pristatomos priemonės, metodikos ir praktikos, kurios suteikia naujas knygų istorijos ir skaitymo istorijos tyrimo galimybes. Šių įrankių naudojimas leidžia greitai ir efektyviai ištirti didžiulius duomenų kiekius, pateikti rezultatus pasitelkiant naudingas vizualizacijas, suteikia galimybę remtis argumentavimu ir, prireikus, nustatyti tyrimo patikimumą pateikiant duomenis patikrinimui. Surinkti pavyzdžiai yra paimti iš duomenų bazės „Google knygos“, naudojant paprastą programinę įrangą ir pasitelkiant nemokamo „Google Books Ngram Viewer“ įrankio aplikacijų programavimo sąsają (angl. API)