Postfeminism, men, masculinities and work: a research agenda for gender and organization studies scholars

Mobilizing the concept of postfeminism as a sensibility, this article invites organization and gender scholars to examine how postfeminist masculinities are discursively constituted and performed by men within contemporary work contexts. Acknowledging that women are interpellated within postfeminist discourses as empowered and autonomous subjects whose lives are shaped by individual choice, this article explores the implications for men, in particular how men variously perform postfeminist masculinities and the implications for addressing gendered inequalities within the workplace. Developing a research agenda, this article outlines three research trajectories: 1) problematizing a gender binary in which women are depicted as empowered at work and men in a state of crisis; 2) interrogating signs of ‘new’ postfeminist masculinities coded as inclusive in the workplace and; 3) examining how different types of men perform postfeminist masculinities at work. This article concludes by providing examples of research questions to generate future organizational scholarship in these areas

Pathogenic potential and virulence genotypes of intestinal and faecal isolates of porcine post-weaning enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are frequent causes of diarrhoea in infants and in young mammals by inducing attaching effacing (AE) lesions of the intestinal epithelium. EPEC bacteria have also been implicated in cases of porcine post-weaning diarrhoea but their pathogenicity for conventional weaned pigs remains less elucidated. This present study investigates differences in pathogenic potential and virulence genotypes of intestinal and faecal isolates of EPEC from newly-weaned pigs. For this we inoculated ligated ileal loops of four weeks old weaned pigs to assess EPEC adherence to enterocytes by histology and immunohistology. Virulence gene patterns were identified by using a PCR-microarray. Intestinal EPEC isolates of sero −/intimin types O45:H11:eae-β, O49:NM:eae-β, O84:H7:eae-γ, and O123:H11:eae-β formed adherent microcolonies of EPEC with AE lesions on ileal villi more frequently than faecal isolates of O28:H28:eae-NT, O108:H9:eae-β, O145:H28:eae-γ and O157:H2:eae-β (p ≤ 0.05). The PCR-array analysis of both groups detected all together 25 virulence genes of LEE (Locus of Enterocyte Effacement), and of non-LEE pathogenicity islands, of plasmids and phages characteristic to EPEC. Intestinal isolates carried significantly more virulence genes than faecal isolates (p ≤ 0.05). Intestinal isolates possessed efa1, lpfA, and tsh genes most likely contributing to enterocyte adhesion while faecal isolates did not carry these genes (p ≤ 0.05). Overall, the ileal loop model in weaned pigs combined with virulence genotyping PCR-array indicated a greater pathogenic potential of intestinal isolates over faecal isolates of porcine post-weaning EPEC. Differing virulence genotypes of the intestinal and faecal isolates as demonstrated here suggests dynamic evolutionary events within the population of porcine EPEC. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Does Sex Trade with Violence among Genotypes in Drosophila melanogaster?

The evolutionary forces shaping the ability to win competitive interactions, such as aggressive encounters, are still poorly understood. Given a fitness advantage for competitive success, variance in aggressive and sexual display traits should be depleted, but a great deal of variation in these traits is consistently found. While life history tradeoffs have been commonly cited as a mechanism for the maintenance of variation, the variability of competing strategies of conspecifics may mean there is no single optimum strategy. We measured the genetically determined outcomes of aggressive interactions, and the resulting effects on mating success, in a panel of diverse inbred lines representing both natural variation and artificially selected genotypes. Males of one genotype which consistently lost territorial encounters with other genotypes were nonetheless successful against males that were artificially selected for supernormal aggression and dominated all other lines. Intransitive patterns of territorial success could maintain variation in aggressive strategies if there is a preference for territorial males. Territorial success was not always associated with male mating success however and females preferred ‘winners’ among some male genotypes, and ‘losers’ among other male genotypes. This suggests that studying behaviour from the perspective of population means may provide limited evolutionary and genetic insight. Overall patterns of competitive success among males and mating transactions between the sexes are consistent with mechanisms proposed for the maintenance of genetic variation due to nonlinear outcomes of competitive interactions

Extra embryos: The ethics of cryopreservation in Ecuador and elsewhere

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73714/1/ae.2007.34.1.181.pd

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Sleep Architecture in Infants of Substance-Abusing Mothers

This longitudinal, year-long study compared sleep-wake state organization in two groups of infants-infants whose mothers abused substances during their pregnancies and nonexposed, typically developing, age-matched comparison infants-to determine whether differences in sleep-wake state organization existed between the two groups. Seventeen infants of mothers who were participating in a parent-infant residential treatment program for substance abuse were enrolled. Their sleep-wake state organization over the first year of life was compared to that of 17 age-matched comparison infants. The intent was to follow each infant on five occasions over the first year of life using established methods of time-lapse videosomnography to record sleep-wake state organization: however, attrition in the substance-abusing group was problematic. Some sleep-wake variables (i.e., Active Sleep%, Quiet Sleep%, Awake%, number of nighttime awakenings) were similar for both groups of infants at comparable ages across the first year. Total sleep time and the longest Sustained sleep period (sleep continuity variables) differed significantly at some of the ages measured. Although overall sleep architecture appears highly resilient and well organized, some indications of sleep fragmentation and shortened nighttime sleep periods were observed in the substance-ex posed infants. More research is needed to explain why sleep-continuity variables and not sleep-state proportion variables differed between the two groups

A Passerine Bird's Evolution Corroborates the Geologic History of the Island of New Guinea

New Guinea is a biologically diverse island, with a unique geologic history and topography that has likely played a role in the evolution of species. Few island-wide studies, however, have examined the phylogeographic history of lowland species. The objective of this study was to examine patterns of phylogeographic variation of a common and widespread New Guinean bird species (Colluricincla megarhyncha). Specifically, we test the mechanisms hypothesized to cause geographic and genetic variation (e.g., vicariance, isolation by distance and founder-effect with dispersal). To accomplish this, we surveyed three regions of the mitochondrial genome and a nuclear intron and assessed differences among 23 of the 30 described subspecies from throughout their range. We found support for eight highly divergent lineages within C. megarhyncha. Genetic lineages were found within continuous lowland habitat or on smaller islands, but all individuals within clades were not necessarily structured by predicted biogeographic barriers. There was some evidence of isolation by distance and potential founder-effects. Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among lineages was at a level often observed among different species or even genera of birds (5–11%), suggesting lineages within regions have been isolated for long periods of time. When topographical barriers were associated with divergence patterns, the estimated divergence date for the clade coincided with the estimated time of barrier formation. We also found that dispersal distance and range size are positively correlated across lineages. Evidence from this research suggests that different phylogeographic mechanisms concurrently structure lineages of C. megarhyncha and are not mutually exclusive. These lineages are a result of evolutionary forces acting at different temporal and spatial scales concordant with New Guinea's geological history

Small Cationic DDA:TDB Liposomes as Protein Vaccine Adjuvants Obviate the Need for TLR Agonists in Inducing Cellular and Humoral Responses

Most subunit vaccines require adjuvants in order to induce protective immune responses to the targeted pathogen. However, many of the potent immunogenic adjuvants display unacceptable local or systemic reactogenicity. Liposomes are spherical vesicles consisting of single (unilamellar) or multiple (multilamellar) phospholipid bi-layers. The lipid membranes are interleaved with an aqueous buffer, which can be utilised to deliver hydrophilic vaccine components, such as protein antigens or ligands for immune receptors. Liposomes, in particular cationic DDA:TDB vesicles, have been shown in animal models to induce strong humoral responses to the associated antigen without increased reactogenicity, and are currently being tested in Phase I human clinical trials. We explored several modifications of DDA:TDB liposomes - including size, antigen association and addition of TLR agonists – to assess their immunogenic capacity as vaccine adjuvants, using Ovalbumin (OVA) protein as a model protein vaccine. Following triple homologous immunisation, small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) with no TLR agonists showed a significantly higher capacity for inducing spleen CD8 IFNγ responses against OVA in comparison with the larger multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). Antigen-specific antibody reponses were also higher with SUVs. Addition of the TLR3 and TLR9 agonists significantly increased the adjuvanting capacity of MLVs and OVA-encapsulating dehydration-rehydration vesicles (DRVs), but not of SUVs. Our findings lend further support to the use of liposomes as protein vaccine adjuvants. Importantly, the ability of DDA:TDB SUVs to induce potent CD8 T cell responses without the need for adding immunostimulators would avoid the potential safety risks associated with the clinical use of TLR agonists in vaccines adjuvanted with liposomes