An Architecture of Industrialism: The Liddell Family of Ravensworth Castle, Gateshead, 1607-1808

This thesis presents an argument for the regionality of architectural functionality within an overarching "Georgian Order" of the eighteenth century British world. Following previous interpretations of such an order put forth by Leone (1988) and forwarded by Johnson to address English material culture (1993, 1996), the concept and character of a regional architecture for the emerging industrial centre of County Durham and Northumberland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is explored through the close examination of a particular case study, namely the estate of the coal-owning Liddell family at Ravensworth Castle, Gateshead. As a site no longer maintained by the landed family yet retaining key components of its early modern character, the critical analyses of the house, the wider estate, and its place within the landscape have necessitated the creation of a new methodology for the historical archaeology of buildings no longer extant, placing the sociopolitical and mercantile ventures and objectives of a particular family within their local and wider contexts. In this manner, estate landscapes may be understood as reflections of the specific objectives and circumstances of those acting upon them. Following contextualisation of the site within the landscape of early modern industrial North East England, the scope of this model is drawn out to explore the nature and opening of élite housing culture by comparison with the colonial Chesapeake region. This comparison is particularly useful where an analogy is drawn between the concept of an open élite (Stone & Stone 1984) as applied to mainland English industrial capitalists (e.g. the Liddells and Bowes) and that of the emerging and later dominating planter class in the American colonies. It is in this placing of local history within its wider context where a regionality may be found and the functionality of dwelling in early modern period may be appreciated

Identification and enzymatic profile of yeasts isolated from artisinal cheese in Southern Brazil

Yeasts may contribute positively to the characteristic taste and flavour development during cheese ripening or cause deterioration of the product. In this study we report the presence of yeasts in 59 samples of artisanal cheeses (43 samples of colonial cheese, 5 of ricotta, 9 of provolone, and 2 of Caccio Cavallo) marketed at stands in the coastal area of Rio Grande do Sul, collected between November 2004 and June 2005. Yeast counts were between 10  4 and 107 UFC/g. One hundred and ten strains were isolated from 30 representative cheese samples. Of these, 97 isolates had ascomycetic affinity, and only 13 were basidiomycetes. The isolates belong to the genera Candida, Debaryomyces, Dekkera, Dipodascus, Galactomyces, Kluyveromyces, Kodamaea, Pichia, Rhodosporidium, Saccharomyces, Schizoblastosporion, Sporidiobolus, Torulaspora, Trichosporon, Yarrowia, and Zygosaccharomyces. The predominant species found were Yarrowia lipolytica, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Candida zeylanoides. More than 56% of the strains were lipolytic, while almost 13% were caseinolytic, and approximately 31% were gelatinolytic. The presence of potentially pathogenic and/or deteriorating yeasts emphasizes the need for a better hygienic control of cheese manufacturing and storage. The ability these microorganisms have to produce proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes enhance the potential risk of cheese deterioration during storage

The third of a series of article for the 60th anniversary of the brazilian society of genetics

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The first of a series of articles dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Brazilian Society of Genetics (SBG)

Resumo não disponíve

Suppression subtractive hybridization analysis reveals expression of conserved and novel genes in male accessory glands of the ant Leptothorax gredleri

Background: During mating, insect males eject accessory gland proteins (Acps) into the female genital tract. These substances are known to affect female post-mating behavior and physiology. In addition, they may harm the female, e. g., in reducing its lifespan. This is interpreted as a consequence of sexual antagonistic co-evolution. Whereas sexual conflict abounds in non-social species, the peculiar life history of social insects (ants, bees, wasps) with lifelong pair-bonding and no re-mating aligns the reproductive interests of the sexes. Harming the female during mating would negatively affect male fitness and sexual antagonism is therefore not expected. Indeed, mating appears to increase female longevity in at least one ant species. Acps are presumed to play a role in this phenomenon, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. In this study, we investigated genes, which are preferentially expressed in male accessory glands of the ant Leptothorax gredleri, to determine which proteins might be transferred in the seminal fluid. Results: By a suppression subtractive hybridization protocol we obtained 20 unique sequences (USs). Twelve had mutual best matches with genes predicted for Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis. Functional information (Gene Ontology) was available only for seven of these, including intracellular signaling, energy-dependent transport and metabolic enzyme activities. The remaining eight USs did not match sequences from other species. Six genes were further analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR in three life cycle stages of male ants. A gene with carboxy-lyase activity and one of unpredicted function were significantly overexpressed in accessory glands of sexually mature males. Conclusions: Our study is the first one to investigate differential gene expression in ants in a context related to mating. Our findings indicate that male accessory glands of L. gredleri express a series of genes that are unique to this species, possibly representing novel genes, in addition to conserved ones for which functions can be predicted. Identifying differentially expressed genes might help to better understand molecular mechanisms involved in reproductive processes in eusocial Hymenoptera. While the novel genes could account for rapidly evolving ones driven by intra-sexual conflict between males, conserved genes imply that rather beneficial traits might get fixed by a process described as inter-sexual cooperation between males and females.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG[He 1623/19]CAPES/(DAAD) Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, Germany[261/07]FAPESPDSMA by CNP

Sequence and expression pattern of the germ line marker vasa in honey bees and stingless bees

Queens and workers of social insects differ in the rates of egg laying. Using genomic information we determined the sequence of vasa, a highly conserved gene specific to the germ line of metazoans, for the honey bee and four stingless bees. The vasa sequence of social bees differed from that of other insects in two motifs. By RT-PCR we confirmed the germ line specificity of Amvasa expression in honey bees. In situ hybridization on ovarioles showed that Amvasa is expressed throughout the germarium, except for the transition zone beneath the terminal filament. A diffuse vasa signal was also seen in terminal filaments suggesting the presence of germ line cells. Oocytes showed elevated levels of Amvasa transcripts in the lower germarium and after follicles became segregated. In previtellogenic follicles, Amvasa transcription was detected in the trophocytes, which appear to supply its mRNA to the growing oocyte. A similar picture was obtained for ovarioles of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, except that Amvasa expression was higher in the oocytes of previtellogenic follicles. The social bees differ in this respect from Drosophila, the model system for insect oogenesis, suggesting that changes in the sequence and expression pattern of vasa may have occurred during social evolution