Clarissa : a study in the heart

Clarissa Harlowe’s heart is the subject of this study. More specifically the subject is the way her heart is tried, broken, and eventually rewritten through a painful three-part confrontation with others, with herself, and with God. The heart is both a physical object and the spiritual, emotional, psychic centre of the human being; however, though the heart is bound up with the body, and though Clarissa dies when her heart breaks, it is the heart’s interior, private nature that Richardson privileges. In the first confrontation, Clarissa’s heart confronts others in the form of her family, the Harlowes, who attempt to force their daughter into marriage with a man she hates. In the second confrontation, Clarissa’s heart confronts itself as its own unexamined depths are probed, a process of self awareness activated as a defensive measure by the presence of Robert Lovelace, her would-be seducer and eventual rapist. In the third confrontation, Clarissa’s heart confronts God in the approaches of death, a state that forces the heart into a final inquisition where it must know itself clearly. During this three-part confrontation, Clarissa’s heart is tried, broken, and eventually rewritten as a new whole. This rewriting is only possible because Clarissa “stitches” herself into Scripture, a process that mends and fortifies the broken heart by typologically locating it within a larger matrix of meaning. Along with this three-part reading of the novel I argue for a three-part definition of the heart: the heart as an organ of sympathy, an organ of conscience, and the heart as an apotheosized and sacred vision of the self. I suggest that Richardson, in writing about the heart like this, sets the direction of English fiction for his own eighteenth and for the following nineteenth century. Finally, I argue that Clarissa is a species of allegory and a typologically charged narrative that particularizes the universal Christian redemption drama through the story of Clarissa Harlowe

Complete Genome Sequence ofAcinetobacter baumanniiCIP 70.10, a Susceptible Reference Strain for Comparative Genome Analyses

Krahn T, Wibberg D, Maus I, et al. Complete Genome Sequence ofAcinetobacter baumanniiCIP 70.10, a Susceptible Reference Strain for Comparative Genome Analyses. Genome Announcements. 2015;3(4):e00850-15

Complete genome sequence of the clinical strain Acinetobacter baumannii R2090 Carrying the chromosomally encoded Metallo-β-Lactamase Gene blaNDM-1

Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging human pathogen causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of the clinical A. baumannii strain R2090 carrying the metallo-β-lactamase gene blaNDM-1 in its chromosome within the transposon Tn125

Insulin resistance and glycemic abnormalities are associated with deterioration of left ventricular diastolic function: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) is considered a precursor of diabetic cardiomyopathy, while insulin resistance (IR) is a precursor of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and independently predicts heart failure (HF). We assessed whether IR and abnormalities of the glucose metabolism are related to LVDD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We included 208 patients with normal ejection fraction, 57 (27%) of whom had T2DM before inclusion. In subjects without T2DM, an oral glucose tolerance test (oGTT) was performed. IR was assessed using the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR). The lower limit of the top quartile of the HOMA-IR distribution (3.217) was chosen as threshold for IR. LVDD was verified according to current guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>IR was diagnosed in 38 (18%) patients without a history of diabetes. The prevalence of LVDD was 92% in subjects with IR vs. 72% in patients without IR (n = 113), respectively (p = 0.013). In the IR group, the early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (E) in relation to the early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity (averaged from the septal and lateral mitral annulus, E'av) ratio (E/E'av) was significantly higher compared to those without IR (9.8 [8.3-11.5] vs. 8.1 [6.6-11.0], p = 0.011). This finding remains significant when patients with IR and concomitant T2DM based on oGTT results were excluded (E/E'av ratio 9.8 [8.2-11.1)] in IR vs. 7.9 [6.5-10.5] in those without both IR and T2DM, p = 0.014). There were significant differences among patients with and without LVDD regarding the HOMA-IR (1.71 [1.04-3.88] vs. 1.09 [0.43-2.2], p = 0.003). The HOMA-IR was independently associated with LVDD on multivariate logistic regression analysis, a 1-unit increase in HOMA-IR value was associated with an odds ratio for prevalent LVDD of 2.1 (95% CI 1.3-3.1, p = 0.001). Furthermore, the E/E'av ratio increases along the glucose metabolism status from normal glucose metabolism (7.6 [6.2-10.1]) to impaired glucose tolerance (8.8 [7.4-11.0]) and T2DM (10.5 [8.1-13.2]), respectively (p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Insulin resistance is independently associated with LVDD in subjects without overt T2DM. Patients with IR and glucose metabolism disorders might represent a target population to prevent the development of HF. Screening programs for glucose metabolism disturbances should address the assessment of diastolic function and probably IR.</p

Activity-based proteomics uncovers suppressed hydrolases and a neo-functionalised antibacterial enzyme at the plant–pathogen interface

- The extracellular space of plant tissues contains hundreds of hydrolases that might harm colonising microbes. Successful pathogens may suppress these hydrolases to enable disease. Here, we report the dynamics of extracellular hydrolases in Nicotiana benthamiana upon infection with Pseudomonas syringae. - Using activity-based proteomics with a cocktail of biotinylated probes, we simultaneously monitored 171 active hydrolases, including 109 serine hydrolases (SHs), 49 glycosidases (GHs) and 13 cysteine proteases (CPs). - The activity of 82 of these hydrolases (mostly SHs) increases during infection, while the activity of 60 hydrolases (mostly GHs and CPs) is suppressed during infection. Active β-galactosidase-1 (BGAL1) is amongst the suppressed hydrolases, consistent with production of the BGAL1 inhibitor by P. syringae. One of the other suppressed hydrolases, the pathogenesis-related NbPR3, decreases bacterial growth when transiently overexpressed. This is dependent on its active site, revealing a role for NbPR3 activity in antibacterial immunity. Despite being annotated as a chitinase, NbPR3 does not possess chitinase activity and contains an E112Q active site substitution that is essential for antibacterial activity and is present only in Nicotiana species. - This study introduces a powerful approach to reveal novel components of extracellular immunity, exemplified by the discovery of the suppression of neo-functionalised Nicotiana-specific antibacterial NbPR3

Functional and RNA Expression Profile of Adenosine Receptor Subtypes in Mouse Mesenteric Arteries

Concentration–response curves (CRCs) of adenosine receptor (AR) agonists, NECA (nonspecific), CCPA (A1 specific), CGS-216870 (A2A specific), BAY 60-6583 (A2B specific), and Cl-IB-MECA (A3 specific) for mesenteric arteries (MAs) from 4 AR knockout (KO) mice (A1, A2A, A2B, and A3) and their wild type (WT) were constructed. The messenger RNA expression of MAs from KO mice and WT were also studied. Adenosine (10−5 to 10−4 M) and NECA (10−6 to 10−5 M) induced relaxation in all mice except A2B KO mice, which only showed constriction by adenosine at 10−6 to 10−4 and NECA at 10−8 to 10−5 M. The CCPA induced a significant constriction at 10−8 and 10−7 M in all mice, except A1KO. BAY 60-6583 induced relaxation (10−7 to 10−5 M) in WT and no response in A2BKO except at 10−5 M. The CRCs for BAY 60-6583 in A1, A2A, and A3 KO mice shifted to the left when compared with WT mice, suggesting an upregulation of A2B AR. No responses were noted to CGS-21680 in all mice. Cl-IB-MECA only induced relaxation at concentration greater than 10−7 M, and no differences were found between different KO mice. The CRC for Bay 60-6583 was not significantly changed in the presence of 10−5 M of L-NAME, 10−6 M of indomethacin, or both. Our data suggest that A2B AR is the predominant AR subtype and the effect may be endothelial independent, whereas A1 AR plays a significant modulatory role in mouse MAs

Complete Genome Sequence of the Clinical Strain Acinetobacter baumannii R2090 Carrying the Chromosomally Encoded Metallo-β-Lactamase GeneblaNDM-1

Krahn T, Wibberg D, Maus I, et al. Complete Genome Sequence of the Clinical Strain Acinetobacter baumannii R2090 Carrying the Chromosomally Encoded Metallo-β-Lactamase GeneblaNDM-1. Genome Announcements. 2015;3(5): e01008-15.Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging human pathogen causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of the clinical A. baumannii strain R2090 carrying the metallo-β-lactamase gene blaNDM-1 in its chromosome within the transposon Tn125

Risk Factors for CIED Infection After Secondary Procedures

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify risk factors for infection after secondary cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures. BACKGROUND Risk factors for CIED infection are not well defined and techniques to minimize infection lack supportive evidence. WRAP-IT (World-wide Randomized Antibiotic Envelope Infection Prevention trial), a large study that assessed the safety and efficacy of an antibacterial envelope for CIED infection reduction, offers insight into procedural details and infection prevention strategies. METHODS This analysis included 2,803 control patients from the WRAP-IT trial who received standard preoperative antibiotics but not the envelope (44 patients with major infections through all follow-up). A multivariate least absolute shrinkage and selection operator machine learning model, controlling for patient characteristics and procedural variables, was used for risk factor selection and identification. Risk factors consistently retaining predictive value in the model (appeared >10 times) across 100 iterations of imputed data were deemed significant. RESULTS Of the 81 variables screened, 17 were identified as risk factors with 6 being patient/device-related (nonmodifiable) and 11 begin procedure-related (potentially modifiable). Patient/device-related factors included higher number of previous CIED procedures, history of atrial arrhythmia, geography (outside North America and Europe), device type, and lower body mass index. Procedural factors associated with increased risk included longer procedure time, implant location (non-left pectoral subcutaneous), perioperative glycopeptide antibiotic versus nonglycopeptide, anticoagulant, and/or antiplatelet use, and capsulectomy. Factors associated with decreased risk of infection included chlorhexidine skin preparation and antibiotic pocket wash. CONCLUSIONS In WRAP-IT patients, we observed that several procedural risk factors correlated with infection risk. These results can help guide infection prevention strategies to minimize infections associated with secondary CIED procedures. (J Am Coll Cardiol EP 2022;8:101-111) (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Intraspecies transfer of the chromosomal Acinetobacter baumannii blaNDM-1 carbapenemase gene

The species Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most important multidrug-resistant human pathogens. To determine its virulence and antibiotic resistance determinants, the genome of the nosocomial blaNDM-1-positive A. baumannii strain R2090 originating from Egypt was completely sequenced. Genome analysis revealed that strain R2090 is highly related to the community-acquired Australian A. baumannii strain D1279779. The two strains belong to sequence type 267 (ST267). Isolate R2090 harbored the chromosomally integrated transposon Tn125 carrying the carbapenemase gene blaNDM- 1 that is not present in the D1279779 genome. To test the transferability of the metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) gene region, the clinical isolate R2090 was mated with the susceptible A. baumannii recipient CIP 70.10, and the carbapenem-resistant derivative R2091 was obtained. Genome sequencing of the R2091 derivative revealed that it had received an approximately 66-kb region comprising the transposon Tn125 embedding the blaNDM-1 gene. This region had integrated into the chromosome of the recipient strain CIP 70.10. From the four known mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer (conjugation, outer membrane vesicle- mediated transfer, transformation, and transduction), conjugation could be ruled out, since strain R2090 lacks any plasmid, and a type IV secretion system is not encoded in its chromosome. However, strain R2090 possesses three putative prophages, two of which were predicted to be complete and therefore functional. Accordingly, it was supposed that the transfer of the resistance gene region from the clinical isolate R2090 to the recipient occurred by general transduction facilitated by one of the prophages present in the R2090 genome. Hence, phage-mediated transduction has to be taken into account for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes within the species A. baumannii

Extracellular proteolytic cascade in tomato activates immune protease Rcr3

Proteolytic cascades regulate immunity and development in animals, but these cascades in plants have not yet been reported. Here we report that the extracellular immune protease Rcr3 of tomato is activated by P69B and other subtilases (SBTs), revealing a proteolytic cascade regulating extracellular immunity in solanaceous plants. Rcr3 is a secreted papain-like Cys protease (PLCP) of tomato that acts both in basal resistance against late blight disease (Phytophthora infestans) and in gene-for-gene resistance against the fungal pathogen Cladosporium fulvum (syn. Passalora fulva) Despite the prevalent model that Rcr3-like proteases can activate themselves at low pH, we found that catalytically inactive proRcr3 mutant precursors are still processed into mature mRcr3 isoforms. ProRcr3 is processed by secreted P69B and other Asp-selective SBTs in solanaceous plants, providing robust immunity through SBT redundancy. The apoplastic effector EPI1 of P. infestans can block Rcr3 activation by inhibiting SBTs, suggesting that this effector promotes virulence indirectly by preventing the activation of Rcr3(-like) immune proteases. Rcr3 activation in Nicotiana benthamiana requires a SBT from a different subfamily, indicating that extracellular proteolytic cascades have evolved convergently in solanaceous plants or are very ancient in the plant kingdom. The frequent incidence of Asp residues in the cleavage region of Rcr3-like proteases in solanaceous plants indicates that activation of immune proteases by SBTs is a general mechanism, illuminating a proteolytic cascade that provides robust apoplastic immunity