Regulation of the Surfactant Serrawettin W2 in Serratia Sp. Strain SCBI

A novel Serratia sp (termed SCBI) forms an association with nematodes (South African Caenorhabditis briggsae) that were isolated by bait trapping in the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. This association represents a new microbe-nematode relationship and potentially a nascent entomopathogenic lifestyle. Inactivation of the hemolysin in Serratia sp. SCBI resulted in loss of hemolysis, but did not attenuate insecticidal activity. Unexpectedly, inactivation of the hemolysin gene in Serratia sp. SCBI resulted in significantly increased motility and a dramatic increase in mRNA levels of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene, swrA, which produces the surfactant serrawettin W2. A series of mutations in the 17 Kb swrA gene gave variable results in antibiotic activity, motility, virulence and hemolysin activities. The locations of three of the four mutations were confirmed by PCR analysis. The regulation of the expression of the swrA and hemolysin genes in swrA and hemolysin mutants was investigated by RT-qPCR using primer sets for different regions of these two genes. Furthermore, the cDNA of the 17 Kb transcript of swrA was generated by reverse transcription and was analyzed by PCR with the primers used to confirm the swrA mutants. Results indicate that the swrA transcript is expressed differently at various points in its sequence. Mutations appear to affect expression differently depending on the location, suggesting complex regulatory mechanisms and the presence of multiple promoters within the transcript

The Oil Man and the Sea: Navigating the Northern Gateway by Arno Kopecky

Review of Arno Kopecky\u27s The Oil Man and the Sea: Navigating the Northern Gateway

Multi-media and multi-lingual: the future of BBC & international journalism

The promise of international journalism lies in being multimedia and multilingual, BBC Global News director Peter Horrocks told delegates at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. This report by Trish Audette

KONY2012: The New Face of Citizen Engagement

This paper breaks down the nongovernmental components of public diplomacy and examines the evolution of new public diplomacy. It discusses the rise of nonstate actors and the importance they play in changing international diplomatic engagements. It explores the rising prominence of both soft power and public relations on the global stage, highlighting the importance of strategic relationships and effective communications. The case study, used to exemplify the power of new public diplomacy, examines how Invisible Children’s KONY2012 campaign used public diplomacy to harness successfully the power of the American people to influence governmental foreign policy. The author shows that Invisible Children practiced public diplomacy in its KONY2012 campaign by utilizing different public relations tactics, including strategic planning, social media, and relationship building. These tactics enabled Invisible Children to engage, activate, and mobilize public opinion around the issue of the war in Central Africa, and this public opinion then generated policy change, both inside the U.S. government and among international institutions. The author concludes that the increasing interconnectedness of the world and the ability to harness the power of the public is enabling new players to be given a seat at the international diplomatic table. This change is both a symbol of the world’s rising global consciousness and the ability for people to decide what matters

Language difficulties among children experiencing neglect : a public health approach aimed at narrowing the gap

Purpose Child neglect affects approximately 1% of children under the age of 6 years in the United States and Canada annually. Nearly 50% of children who experience neglect present significant language difficulties before starting school. Child neglect can thus be considered a major public health issue. Child neglect is an ecological and systemic phenomenon characterized by a dual disruption: first, in the relationship between the parent and child and second, in the relationship between the family and the wider community. Empirical research has quite convincingly demonstrated that parenting behaviors constitute a malleable variable upon which it is possible to act to foster the language development of young children. However, given the multidimensional nature of child neglect, interventions aimed directly at parents are simply not enough to support the language skills of children in this context. Based on a complex family and social conception of neglect, the objective of this article is to propose a logical model illustrating public health services for children experiencing neglect. Such a logical model provides for multiple interventions at the child, family and community levels. Conclusions Broader efforts should be made to support the parents in overcoming the challenges of parenthood by addressing the multiple risk factors to which they are exposed. This can be achieved both by striving toward positive environmental conditions, characterized by responsive caregiving in the home and community, and by implementing multilevel interventions within an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach. The resulting recommendations align with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law that requires states to provide services to children in early intervention programs (Part C) and kindergartens/schools (Part B)

Phone hacking: is it time to get tough on the press? (guest blog on POLIS debate)

Polis’s public debate on the phone-hacking scandal “Is it time to get tough on the press?” – highlighted a central tension for British journalists going forward in the days since News of the World shut down, Trisha Audette reports

Political blogs: community or chaos? (Polis summer school paper – guest blog)

It is a question as old as new media itself. Does the blogosphere improve political debate by increasing the number and volume of voices? In this paper written in a personal capacity for the Polis Summer School, Patricia Audette-Longo, the political affairs reporter for the Edmonton Journal, looks at the effect of political blogs on democratic discourse in Alberta, Canada. By Patricia Audette-Longo

Murdoch, protest and localism: Jeremy Hunt at the LSE (guest blog)

Our Jeremy Hunt event was exciting but strange. He is effectively forbidden to speak about the big issue on his desk, the Newscorp bid for BSkyB, and it was interrupted by a student protest. Perhaps the most interesting theme was Hunt’s commitment to using local media to improve local democracy. POLIS intern Trish Audette reports

The Indiana primary was the crossroads of the 2016 election

Tuesday saw New York billionaire Donald Trump win Indiana’s presidential primary, and his rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich suspend their campaigns. Trump now has a clear path to the Republican nomination. Andre P. Audette looks at why Trump was so successful in the Hoosier State, despite polling 16 points below Cruz in April. He writes that Trump was able to shift the public narrative of Cruz, naming him “Lying Ted”, a sobriquet which the Texas Senator was unable to shake

With Evan Bayh’s surprise entry, Indiana’s Senate race hasturned from red to purple overnight

In a traditionally Republican-leaning state, former Democratic Senator Evan Bayh’s bid to get his old job back now means that Indiana may be competitive for the Democrats in the Hoosier’ State’s US Senate election this year. As part of our series on this year’s key Senate races, Andre P. Audette writes that Bayh may not face an easy race. GOP Congressman Todd Young has been relatively insulated from any negative effects flowing from having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, and Bayh has already faced accusations that he no longer maintains his Indiana connections