55 research outputs found
Unsettling lesbian motherhood: Critical reflections over a generation (1990-2015)
This article explores how advancements in equality rights combine with attitudinal changes in UK society and LGBTQ communities to impact on the experience of lesbian mothers over a generation. The author reflects on ordinary moments where sexuality and relationships become meaningful and situate emotions at the heart of analytical enquiry because it is through emotional interactions that micro–macro networks of relations intersect. Autobiography is combined with original data from empirical research to provide analytical entry points, which aims to advance understanding and also facilitate reflection on how we understand and come to know queer parenthood. Whilst there are now many routes into lesbian motherhood and the stigma of queer kinship is diminishing, this article demonstrates the need to problematize the prevailing narratives of coupledom that are emerging and tease apart the conflation of temporal progression, progressive rights and narratives of progress
Administration of two probiotic strains during early childhood does not affect the endogenous gut microbiota composition despite probiotic proliferation
An overview of the recent developments on fructooligosaccharide production and applications
Over the past years, many researchers have suggested
that deficiencies in the diet can lead to disease states
and that some diseases can be avoided through an adequate
intake of relevant dietary components. Recently, a great interest
in dietary modulation of the human gut has been registered.
Prebiotics, such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), play a key
role in the improvement of gut microbiota balance and in
individual health. FOS are generally used as components of
functional foods, are generally regarded as safe (generally
recognized as safe status—from the Food and Drug Administration,
USA), and worth about 150€ per kilogram. Due to
their nutrition- and health-relevant properties, such as moderate
sweetness, low carcinogenicity, low calorimetric value,
and low glycemic index, FOS have been increasingly used
by the food industry. Conventionally, FOS are produced
through a two-stage process that requires an enzyme production
and purification step in order to proceed with the chemical
reaction itself. Several studies have been conducted on the
production of FOS, aiming its optimization toward the development
of more efficient production processes and their potential
as food ingredients. The improvement of FOS yield and
productivity can be achieved by the use of different fermentative
methods and different microbial sources of FOS producing
enzymes and the optimization of nutritional and
culture parameter; therefore, this review focuses on the latest
progresses in FOS research such as its production, functional
properties, and market data.Agencia de Inovacao (AdI)-Project BIOLIFE reference PRIME 03/347. Ana Dominguez acknowledges Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Portugal, for her PhD grant reference SFRH/BD/23083/2005
Towards a microbial process-based understanding of the resilience of peatland ecosystem service provisioning – a research agenda
Peatlands are wetland ecosystems with great significance as natural habitats and as major global carbon stores. They have been subject to widespread exploitation and degradation with resulting losses in characteristic biota and ecosystem functions such as climate regulation. More recently, large-scale programmes have been established to restore peatland ecosystems and the various services they provide to society. Despite significant progress in peatland science and restoration practice, we lack a process-based understanding of how soil microbiota influence peatland functioning and mediate the resilience and recovery of ecosystem services, to perturbations associated with land use and climate change.
We argue that there is a need to: in the short-term, characterise peatland microbial communities across a range of spatial and temporal scales and develop an improved understanding of the links between peatland habitat, ecological functions and microbial processes; in the medium term, define what a successfully restored ’target’ peatland microbiome looks like for key carbon cycle related ecosystem services and develop microbial-based monitoring tools for assessing restoration needs; and in the longer term, to use this knowledge to influence restoration practices and assess progress on the trajectory towards ‘intact’ peatland status.
Rapid advances in genetic characterisation of the structure and functions of microbial communities offer the potential for transformative progress in these areas, but the scale and speed of methodological and conceptual advances in studying ecosystem functions is a challenge for peatland scientists. Advances in this area require multidisciplinary collaborations between peatland scientists, data scientists and microbiologists and ultimately, collaboration with the modelling community.
Developing a process-based understanding of the resilience and recovery of peatlands to perturbations, such as climate extremes, fires, and drainage, will be key to meeting climate targets and delivering ecosystem services cost effectively
Retinal ganglion cells electrophysiology: the effect of cell morphology on impulse waveform
There are 16 morphologically defined classes of rats retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Using computer simulation of a realistic anatomically correct A1 mouse RGC, we investigate the effect of the cell's morphology on its impulse waveform, using the first-, and second-order time derivatives as well as the phase plot features. Using whole cell patch clamp recordings, we recorded the impulse waveform for each of the rat RGCs types. While we found some clear differences in many features of the impulse waveforms for A2 and B2 cells compared to other cell classes, many cell types did not show clear differences
Retinal ganglion cells electrophysiology: the effect of cell morphology on impulse waveform
There are 16 morphologically defined classes of rats retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Using computer simulation of a realistic anatomically correct A1 mouse RGC, we investigate the effect of the cell's morphology on its impulse waveform, using the first-, and second-order time derivatives as well as the phase plot features. Using whole cell patch clamp recordings, we recorded the impulse waveform for each of the rat RGCs types. While we found some clear differences in many features of the impulse waveforms for A2 and B2 cells compared to other cell classes, many cell types did not show clear differences
Whole-Exome Sequencing Identifies Novel Compound Heterozygous ZNF469 Mutations in Two Siblings with Mild Brittle Cornea Syndrome
Qualitative Research on LGBTQ-Parent Families
Qualitative research on LGBTQ-parent families and queer individuals and families of all kinds has burgeoned, to include narratives, interviews, diaries, emotion maps, participatory action research, and visual and performative methods—individually or in combination. In this chapter, we examine a range of qualitative methods, particularly from the lens of a qualitative multiple methods approach developed by Jacqui Gabb. We also address conceptual, theoretical, intersectional, and methodological tensions that remain or have emerged regarding how qualitative LGBTQ-parent family research is conducted, to what ends, and how it should be represented in publication, for researchers, for practitioners, and for participants themselves. Our goal is to show that qualitative LGBTQ-parent family research has come of age: a great deal of exciting research is appearing around the globe, and yet this area also faces numerous challenges to retaining its cutting edge nature. Finally, we combine new conceptual areas with empirical exemplars on topics highly relevant to studying family relationships in the context of sexuality and other intersections: (a) era, age, and generation; (b) social class, sociocultural capital, and the economies of reproductive labor; (c) listening to children; and (d) situating sexual-maternal identities at home
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