Beyond the ontological turn: affirming the relative autonomy of politics

In this article, I critically evaluate a characteristic tendency that is found across the various traditions of poststructuralism, both narrowly and more broadly defined. This is an increasing propensity to be preoccupied with ontological questions and seemingly at the expense of either a refinement of political concepts or a concrete analysis of forms of power and domination. I consider the reasons for this development and stress how this characteristic feature of poststructuralism appears to follow from the very fact of ontological pluralism. What we see in contemporary continental thought is a proliferation of different traditions, and each side seeks to defend their position in ontological terms. Following this, I advance the idea of a relative autonomy between ontology and politics, where the former does not determine the latter in any direct or straightforward fashion. I argue that we need to stress this relative autonomy to open a little space between ontology and politics, space where we can return poststructuralism to a more concrete engagement with ‘the political’

Maternal hypoxia decreases capillary supply and increases metabolic inefficiency leading to divergence in myocardial oxygen supply and demand

Maternal hypoxia is associated with a decrease in left ventricular capillary density while cardiac performance is preserved, implying a mismatch between metabolism and diffusive exchange. We hypothesised this requires a switch in substrate metabolism to maximise efficiency of ATP production from limited oxygen availability. Rat pups from pregnant females exposed to hypoxia (FIO2=0.12) at days 10-20 of pregnancy were grown to adulthood and working hearts perfused ex vivo. 14 C-labelled glucose and 3 H-palmitate were provided as substrates and metabolism quantified from recovery of 14CO2 and 3 H2O, respectively. Hearts of male offspring subjected to Maternal Hypoxia showed a 20% decrease in cardiac output (P<0.05), despite recording a 2-fold increase in glucose oxidation (P<0.01) and 2.5-fold increase (P<0.01) in palmitate oxidation. Addition of insulin to Maternal Hypoxic hearts, further increased glucose oxidation (P<0.01) and suppressed palmitate oxidation (P<0.05), suggesting preservation in insulin signalling in the heart. In vitro enzyme activity measurements showed that Maternal Hypoxia increased both total and the active component of cardiac pyruvate dehydrogenase (both P<0.01), although pyruvate dehydrogenase sensitivity to insulin was lost (NS), while citrate synthase activity declined by 30% (P<0.001) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity was unchanged by Maternal Hypoxia, indicating realignment of the metabolic machinery to optimise oxygen utilisation. Capillary density was quantified and oxygen diffusion characteristics examined, with calculated capillary domain area increased by 30% (P<0.001). Calculated metabolic efficiency decreased 4-fold (P<0.01) for Maternal Hypoxia hearts. Paradoxically, the decline in citrate synthase activity and increased metabolism suggest that the scope of individual mitochondria had declined, rendering the myocardium potentially more sensitive to metabolic stress. However, decreasing citrate synthase may be essential to preserve local PO2, minimising regions of hypoxia and hence maximising the area of myocardium able to preserve cardiac output following maternal hypoxia

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Enumerating Pathways of Proton Abstraction Based on a Spatial and Electrostatic Analysis of Residues in the Catalytic Site

The pathways of proton abstraction (PA), a key aspect of most catalytic reactions, is often controversial and highly debated. Ultrahigh-resolution diffraction studies, molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics and molecular mechanic simulations are often adopted to gain insights in the PA mechanisms in enzymes. These methods require expertise and effort to setup and can be computationally intensive. We present a push button methodology – Proton abstraction Simulation (PRISM) – to enumerate the possible pathways of PA in a protein with known 3D structure based on the spatial and electrostatic properties of residues in the proximity of a given nucleophilic residue. Proton movements are evaluated in the vicinity of this nucleophilic residue based on distances, potential differences, spatial channels and characteristics of the individual residues (polarity, acidic, basic, etc). Modulating these parameters eliminates their empirical nature and also might reveal pathways that originate from conformational changes. We have validated our method using serine proteases and concurred with the dichotomy in PA in Class A β-lactamases, both of which are hydrolases. The PA mechanism in a transferase has also been corroborated. The source code is made available at www.sanchak.com/prism

VASP: A Volumetric Analysis of Surface Properties Yields Insights into Protein-Ligand Binding Specificity

Many algorithms that compare protein structures can reveal similarities that suggest related biological functions, even at great evolutionary distances. Proteins with related function often exhibit differences in binding specificity, but few algorithms identify structural variations that effect specificity. To address this problem, we describe the Volumetric Analysis of Surface Properties (VASP), a novel volumetric analysis tool for the comparison of binding sites in aligned protein structures. VASP uses solid volumes to represent protein shape and the shape of surface cavities, clefts and tunnels that are defined with other methods. Our approach, inspired by techniques from constructive solid geometry, enables the isolation of volumetrically conserved and variable regions within three dimensionally superposed volumes. We applied VASP to compute a comparative volumetric analysis of the ligand binding sites formed by members of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domains and the serine proteases. Within both families, VASP isolated individual amino acids that create structural differences between ligand binding cavities that are known to influence differences in binding specificity. Also, VASP isolated cavity subregions that differ between ligand binding cavities which are essential for differences in binding specificity. As such, VASP should prove a valuable tool in the study of protein-ligand binding specificity

Delayed granulomatous reaction to hyaluronic acid gel injection

Injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) derivatives are the most used resorbable dermal fillers used for soft tissue augmentation. While their use is considered safe, there have been reports of cutaneous granulomatous reactions.We describe the clinical, radiological, and cytological findings in a patient who presented a full year after cosmetic treatment with HA injections and discuss the various treatment options. Level of Evidence: Level V, therapeutic study