The politics of paper: negotiating over and around indigeneship certification in Plateau State, Nigeria

The certification of indigeneship in Nigeria has become one of the most contested documentation processes in the country, given its implications for Nigerians’ citizenship rights and political and economic opportunities. This paper analyses the contestations over and around indigeneship certification in Plateau State. It argues that while the notion of indigeneship has roots in the colonial period, postcolonial forces have reshaped and transformed it. The increasingly poor documentation practices of the Nigerian state, particularly at the local level, have interacted with a fragmentation and formalisation of “indigenous belonging” and given it new functions. In the context of Plateau State, then, this paper shows how these processes have resulted in at least two distinct forms of contestation over indigeneship: first, the intergroup competition over indigeneship in Jos North and, second, the contestation around the margins of indigeneship in the rural areas of Quan Pan.Global Challenges (FGGA

Expression of glutathione-S-transferase and its role in plant growth and development in vivo and shoot morphogenesis in vitro

10.1007/s11103-004-4516-1Plant Molecular Biology57153-66PMBI

Glutathione Transferases

The 55 Arabidopsis glutathione transferases (GSTs) are, with one microsomal exception, a monophyletic group of soluble enzymes that can be divided into phi, tau, theta, zeta, lambda, dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) and TCHQD classes. The populous phi and tau classes are often highly stress inducible and regularly crop up in proteomic and transcriptomic studies. Despite much study on their xenobiotic-detoxifying activities their natural roles are unclear, although roles in defence-related secondary metabolism are likely. The smaller DHAR and lambda classes are likely glutathione-dependent reductases, the zeta class functions in tyrosine catabolism and the theta class has a putative role in detoxifying oxidised lipids. This review describes the evidence for the functional roles of GSTs and the potential for these enzymes to perform diverse functions that in many cases are not “glutathione transferase” activities. As well as biochemical data, expression data from proteomic and transcriptomic studies are included, along with subcellular localisation experiments and the results of functional genomic studies

Search for new resonances decaying to a WW or ZZ boson and a Higgs boson in the ℓ+ℓ−bbˉ\ell^+ \ell^- b\bar b, ℓνbbˉ\ell \nu b\bar b, and ννˉbbˉ\nu\bar{\nu} b\bar b channels with pppp collisions at s=13\sqrt s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

See paper for full list of authors, 18 pages (plus author list + cover pages: 36 pages total), 13 figures, 1 table. Submitted to PLB. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/EXOT-2015-18/International audienceA search is presented for new resonances decaying to a $W$ or $Z$ boson and a Higgs boson in the $\ell^+ \ell^- b\bar b$, $\ell\nu b\bar b$, and $\nu\bar{\nu} b\bar b$ channels in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt s = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a total integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The search is conducted by looking for a localized excess in the $WH$/$ZH$ invariant or transverse mass distribution. No significant excess is observed, and the results are interpreted in terms of constraints on a simplified model based on a phenomenological Lagrangian of heavy vector triplets

Necrotroph Attacks on Plants: Wanton Destruction or Covert Extortion?

Necrotrophic pathogens cause major pre- and post-harvest diseases in numerous agronomic and horticultural crops inflicting significant economic losses. In contrast to biotrophs, obligate plant parasites that infect and feed on living cells, necrotrophs promote the destruction of host cells to feed on their contents. This difference underpins the divergent pathogenesis strategies and plant immune responses to biotrophic and necrotrophic infections. This chapter focuses on Arabidopsis immunity to necrotrophic pathogens. The strategies of infection, virulence and suppression of host defenses recruited by necrotrophs and the variation in host resistance mechanisms are highlighted. The multiplicity of intraspecific virulence factors and species diversity in necrotrophic organisms corresponds to variations in host resistance strategies. Resistance to host-specific necrotophs is monogenic whereas defense against broad host necrotrophs is complex, requiring the involvement of many genes and pathways for full resistance. Mechanisms and components of immunity such as the role of plant hormones, secondary metabolites, and pathogenesis proteins are presented. We will discuss the current state of knowledge of Arabidopsis immune responses to necrotrophic pathogens, the interactions of these responses with other defense pathways, and contemplate on the directions of future research