Dreaming Forward: Postidentity and the Generative Thresholds of Tourism

This manuscript from Hollinshead and Vellah calls for researchers in Tourism Studies and related Fields to reflect upon their own role in refreshingthe social imaginaries of “after-colonialism” under the nomadisms of ourtime. Deleuzian in outlook, it positions the “post” of postcolonialism notas an end to colonialism’s imperatives but as a generative-portal throughwhich new-seeds-of-”becoming” are discernable as the postidentities (ratherthan the “identities”) of populations are interpretable in multidirectional,non-hierarchical, and not easily-predictable ways. In provoking (afterDeleuze) thought per rhizomatic processes (rather than via fixed concepts),the manuscript - critiquing these dynamic matters of “postidentity” - thenharnesses the insights of (Leela) Ghandi’s on hybrid-nomadic-subjects, andof Venn on alternative-(com)possible-futures. Thereafter, these concerns ofand about “after-colonialism” are critically contextualised within Aboriginal “Australia”, via the views of a pool of Indigenous intellectuals there,who synthesise the disruptive dialectics of belonging-cum-aspiration whichthey maintain that they and fellow Aboriginal people (of many sorts) facetoday. Throughout this manuscript, the agency and authority of tourismhovers in its sometimes-manifest / sometimes-latent generative power toproject empowering postidentities for the world’s “host” or “visited” populations today

Don’t Worry, Be Happy: The Gettability of Ultimate Meaning

Rivka Weinberg advances an error theory of ultimate meaning with three parts: (1) a conceptual analysis, (2) the claim that the extension of the concept is empty, and (3) a proposed fitting response, namely being very, very sad. Weinberg’s conceptual analysis of ultimate meaning involves two features that jointly make it metaphysically impossible, namely (i) the separateness of activities and valued ends, and (ii) the bounded nature of human lives. Both are open to serious challenges. We offer an internalist alternative to (i) and a relational alternative to (ii). We then draw out implications for (2) and conclude with reasons to be cheerful about the prospects of a meaningful life

Performing heritage: the use of live 'actors' in heritage presentations

This paper investigates the phenomenon of 'living history' presentations of heritage, using live 'actors' to portray historical characters. Its aim is to discuss these presentations in the context of what may be understood as 'heritage', and of the nature of 'performance'. Four case studies of heritage sites, each important as a tourist attraction, have been selected for detailed study, together with a number of other examples of heritage performance. It is clear from the empirical work that different performance strategies are employed within the heritage industry and by individual 'actors'. Most of the performers take part as a leisure activity, and many do not consider themselves to be 'performing' at all. The greatest concern of participants lies in the degree of authenticity of the performance. Through 'living history', the 'actors' are drawn into an experience of heritage which has real meaning for them, and which may contribute both to a sense of identity and to an enhanced understanding of society, past and present. The popularity of such presentations with visitors also indicates that similar benefits are perceived by the 'audience'

Temporal dynamics of aquatic communities and implications for pond conservation

Conservation through the protection of particular habitats is predicated on the assumption that the conservation value of those habitats is stable. We test this assumption for ponds by investigating temporal variation in macroinvertebrate and macrophyte communities over a 10-year period in northwest England. We surveyed 51 ponds in northern England in 1995/6 and again in 2006, identifying all macrophytes (167 species) and all macroinvertebrates (221 species, excluding Diptera) to species. The alpha-diversity, beta-diversity and conservation value of these ponds were compared between surveys. We find that invertebrate species richness increased from an average of 29. 5 species to 39. 8 species between surveys. Invertebrate gamma-diversity also increased between the two surveys from 181 species to 201 species. However, this increase in diversity was accompanied by a decrease in beta-diversity. Plant alpha-, beta and gamma-diversity remained approximately constant between the two periods. However, increased proportions of grass species and a complete loss of charophytes suggests that the communities are undergoing succession. Conservation value was not correlated between sampling periods in either plants or invertebrates. This was confirmed by comparing ponds that had been disturbed with those that had no history of disturbance to demonstrate that levels of correlation between surveys were approximately equal in each group of ponds. This study has three important conservation implications: (i) a pond with high diversity or high conservation value may not remain that way and so it is unwise to base pond conservation measures upon protecting currently-speciose habitats; (ii) maximising pond gamma-diversity requires a combination of late and early succession ponds, especially for invertebrates; and (iii) invertebrate and plant communities in ponds may require different management strategies if succession occurs at varying rates in the two groups

Shigella sonnei infection of zebrafish reveals that O-antigen mediates neutrophil tolerance and dysentery incidence.

Funder: Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine; funder-id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001255Shigella flexneri is historically regarded as the primary agent of bacillary dysentery, yet the closely-related Shigella sonnei is replacing S. flexneri, especially in developing countries. The underlying reasons for this dramatic shift are mostly unknown. Using a zebrafish (Danio rerio) model of Shigella infection, we discover that S. sonnei is more virulent than S. flexneri in vivo. Whole animal dual-RNAseq and testing of bacterial mutants suggest that S. sonnei virulence depends on its O-antigen oligosaccharide (which is unique among Shigella species). We show in vivo using zebrafish and ex vivo using human neutrophils that S. sonnei O-antigen can mediate neutrophil tolerance. Consistent with this, we demonstrate that O-antigen enables S. sonnei to resist phagolysosome acidification and promotes neutrophil cell death. Chemical inhibition or promotion of phagolysosome maturation respectively decreases and increases neutrophil control of S. sonnei and zebrafish survival. Strikingly, larvae primed with a sublethal dose of S. sonnei are protected against a secondary lethal dose of S. sonnei in an O-antigen-dependent manner, indicating that exposure to O-antigen can train the innate immune system against S. sonnei. Collectively, these findings reveal O-antigen as an important therapeutic target against bacillary dysentery, and may explain the rapidly increasing S. sonnei burden in developing countries

Crisis and change in industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe

This article introduces the special issue on industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe since the financial and economic crisis. Already dependent economically on funding from the west, and lacking the robust industrial relations institutions traditional in much of Western Europe, countries in the region were particularly vulnerable. However, there are important cross-national differences, and the strategies of key actors have significantly affected the outcomes

Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking

Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects

Whole Cell Cryo-Electron Tomography Reveals Distinct Disassembly Intermediates of Vaccinia Virus

At each round of infection, viruses fall apart to release their genome for replication, and then reassemble into stable particles within the same host cell. For most viruses, the structural details that underlie these disassembly and assembly reactions are poorly understood. Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), a unique method to investigate large and asymmetric structures at the near molecular resolution, was previously used to study the complex structure of vaccinia virus (VV). Here we study the disassembly of VV by cryo-ET on intact, rapidly frozen, mammalian cells, infected for up to 60 minutes. Binding to the cell surface induced distinct structural rearrangements of the core, such as a shape change, the rearrangement of its surface spikes and de-condensation of the viral DNA. We propose that the cell surface induced changes, in particular the decondensation of the viral genome, are a prerequisite for the subsequent release of the vaccinia DNA into the cytoplasm, which is followed by its cytoplasmic replication. Generally, this is the first study that employs whole cell cryo-ET to address structural details of pathogen-host cell interaction

Temperate zone plant natural products – a novel resource for activity against tropical parasitic diseases

The use of plant-derived natural products for the treatment of tropical parasitic diseases often has ethnopharmacological origins. As such, plants grown in temperate regions remain largely untested for novel anti-parasitic activities. We describe here a screen of the PhytoQuest Phytopure library, a novel source comprising over 600 purified compounds from temperate zone plants, against in vitro culture systems for Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania mexicana, Trypanosoma evansi and T. brucei. Initial screen revealed 6, 65, 15 and 18 compounds, respectively, that decreased each parasite’s growth by at least 50% at 1-2µM concentration. These initial hits were validated in concentration-response assays against the parasite and the human HepG2 cell line, identifying hits with EC50 10. Two sesquiterpene glycosides were identified against P. falciparum, four sterols against L. mexicana, and five compounds of various scaffolds against T. brucei and T. evansi. An L. mexicana resistant line was generated for the sterol 700022, which was found to have cross-resistance to the anti-leishmanial drug miltefosine as well as to the other leishmanicidal sterols. This study highlights the potential of a temperate plant secondary metabolites as a novel source of natural products against tropical parasitic diseases

Long-term, hormone-responsive organoid cultures of human endometrium in a chemically defined medium

In humans, the endometrium, the uterine mucosal lining, undergoes dynamic changes throughout the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Despite the importance of the endometrium as the site of implantation and nutritional support for the conceptus, there are no long-term culture systems that recapitulate endometrial function in vitro. We adapted conditions used to establish human adult stem-cell-derived organoid cultures to generate three-dimensional cultures of normal and decidualized human endometrium. These organoids expand long-term, are genetically stable and differentiate following treatment with reproductive hormones. Single cells from both endometrium and decidua can generate a fully functional organoid. Transcript analysis confirmed great similarity between organoids and the primary tissue of origin. On exposure to pregnancy signals, endometrial organoids develop characteristics of early pregnancy. We also derived organoids from malignant endometrium, and so provide a foundation to study common diseases, such as endometriosis and endometrial cancer, as well as the physiology of early gestation.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MR/L020041/1), the Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust (RG60992). M.Y.T. has received funding from the E.U. 7th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no PIEF-GA-2013-629785. J.H. was supported by a Wellcome Trust vacation scholarship. B.-K.K. is supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (101241/Z/13/Z) and receives a core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the WT-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute