Socioleksikografi − eller: ”Det sekundære og afledte er ordbøgerne”. Ny dansk disputats

A new Danish doctoral thesis has been defended at the Aarhus School of Business (2006). Its purpose is to formulate a general lexicographical theory in combination with a specific theory of learners’ dictionaries. Very few theses on this level make such ambitious attempts, making the work a much interesting contribution in the field. We discuss the general contents of the thesis which is mainly theoretically oriented although it maintains a strictly user-oriented perspective. Paradoxically, though, user experiments and surveys play a marginal role here. Instead, the author is more interested in how future dictionaries could be made better which is a laudable goal. Also, the (often harsh) critique formulated is to a large extent well-argued and right. However, we are not quite convinced that the consequent and systematic suggestions deserve the term ’theory’ − at least not if this concept is to be taken in its strict, classical sense. Nevertheless the work of Tarp makes up a very important and inspiring contribution to international metalexicography

La semiótica y la traducción

Traditional conceptions of translation have only included intra­semiotic translation (i. e. translation within a given sign system), especially its subcategory interlingual translation. However, the concept of ‘translation’ should be expanded to encompass any process, or product hereof, in which a text is replaced by another text reflecting, or inspired by, the original entity. Based on this definition, the taxonomy presented in this article offers conceptual tools for dealing systematically with the multitude of translational types encountered in today’s global media landscape – translations that often do not even share the semiotic features of their originalsLas concepciones tradicionales de la traducción han tomado en cuenta solo la traducción intrasemiótica (que opera dentro de un mismo sistema de signos) y, concretamente, una de sus subcategorías, la traducción interlingual. Sin embargo, el concepto de «traducción» debería ser más amplio para poder abarcar cualquier proceso, o producto de este, en el que un texto es sustituido por otro texto que refleja, o es inspirado por, el objeto original. Tomando como punto de partida esta definición, presento en lo que sigue una taxonomía que puede servir de herramienta conceptual para situar en un sistema clasificatorio un sinfín de diversos tipos de traducción que encontramos hoy en día en un mundo globalizado. &nbsp

Antimicrobial peptides effectively kill a broad spectrum of Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus strains independently of origin, sub-type, or virulence factor expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Host defense peptides (HDPs), or antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are important components of the innate immune system that bacterial pathogens must overcome to establish an infection and HDPs have been suggested as novel antimicrobial therapeutics in treatment of infectious diseases. Hence it is important to determine the natural variation in susceptibility to HDPs to ensure a successful use in clinical treatment regimes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Strains of two human bacterial pathogens, <it>Listeria monocytogenes </it>and <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>, were selected to cover a wide range of origin, sub-type, and phenotypic behavior. Strains within each species were equally sensitive to HDPs and oxidative stress representing important components of the innate immune defense system. Four non-human peptides (protamine, plectasin, novicidin, and novispirin G10) were similar in activity profile (MIC value spectrum) to the human β-defensin 3 (HBD-3). All strains were inhibited by concentrations of hydrogen peroxide between 0.1% – 1.0%. Sub-selections of both species differed in expression of several virulence-related factors and in their ability to survive in human whole blood and kill the nematode virulence model <it>Caenorhabditis elegans</it>. For <it>L. monocytogenes</it>, proliferation in whole blood was paralleled by high invasion in Caco-2 cells and fast killing of <it>C. elegans</it>, however, no such pattern in phenotypic behavior was observed for <it>S. aureus </it>and none of the phenotypic differences were correlated to sensitivity to HDPs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Strains of <it>L. monocytogenes </it>and <it>S. aureus </it>were within each species equally sensitive to a range of HDPs despite variations in subtype, origin, and phenotypic behavior. Our results suggest that therapeutic use of HDPs will not be hampered by occurrence of naturally tolerant strains of the two species investigated in the present study.</p

The heme sensing response regulator HssR in Staphylococcus aureus but not the homologous RR23 in Listeria monocytogenes modulates susceptibility to the antimicrobial peptide plectasin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Host defence peptides (HDPs), also known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have emerged as potential new therapeutics and their antimicrobial spectrum covers a wide range of target organisms. However, the mode of action and the genetics behind the bacterial response to HDPs is incompletely understood and such knowledge is required to evaluate their potential as antimicrobial therapeutics. Plectasin is a recently discovered HDP active against Gram-positive bacteria with the human pathogen, <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(<it>S. aureus</it>) being highly susceptible and the food borne pathogen, <it>Listeria monocytogenes </it>(<it>L. monocytogenes</it>) being less sensitive. In the present study we aimed to use transposon mutagenesis to determine the genetic basis for <it>S. aureus </it>and <it>L. monocytogenes </it>susceptibility to plectasin.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to identify genes that provide susceptibility to plectasin we constructed bacterial transposon mutant libraries of <it>S. aureus </it>NCTC8325-4 and <it>L. monocytogenes </it>4446 and screened for increased resistance to the peptide. No resistant mutants arose when <it>L. monocytogenes </it>was screened on plates containing 5 and 10 fold Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of plectasin. However, in <it>S. aureus</it>, four mutants with insertion in the heme response regulator (<it>hssR</it>) were 2-4 fold more resistant to plectasin as compared to the wild type. The <it>hssR </it>mutation also enhanced resistance to the plectasin-like defensin eurocin, but not to other classes of HDPs or to other stressors tested. Addition of plectasin did not influence the expression of <it>hssR </it>or <it>hrtA</it>, a gene regulated by HssR. The genome of <it>L. monocytogenes </it>LO28 encodes a putative HssR homologue, RR23 (in <it>L. monocytogenes </it>EGD-e lmo2583) with 48% identity to the <it>S. aureus </it>HssR, but a mutation in the <it>rr23 </it>gene did not change the susceptibility of <it>L. monocytogenes </it>to plectasin.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>S. aureus </it>HssR, but not the homologue RR23 from <it>L. monocytogenes</it>, provides susceptibility to the defensins plectasin and eurocin. Our data suggest that a functional difference between response regulators HssR and RR23 is responsible for the difference in plectasin susceptibility observed between <it>S. aureus </it>and <it>L. monocytogenes</it>.</p