Cardiotoxic effects of venoms from Chironex fleckeri and Chiropsalmus sp. on an invertebrate model

Extracted venoms from two species of cubozoan, Chironex fleckeri (C. fleckeri)and Chiropsalmus sp., were injected into the freshwater crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus (C. quadricarinatus). By means of a Vascular Doppler, the cardiac parameters heart rate and contraction amplitude were recorded, with the theoretical total heart output calculated from these two recordings. Cherax quadricarinatus reflects prey items utilized by these two species in the wild and so comparisons of venom action on this animal have greater ecological relevance than those of previous mammalian models used. While the results of this study reflect previous research showing that the overall potency of C. fleckeri venom is greater than that of Chiropsalmus sp. venom, the action of the venoms on the heart muscle is found to be different. Chironex fleckeri,which has the most potent venom out of these two species, is actually less effective in reducing cardiac activity than Chiropsalmus sp., which may be a direct reflection of the variation in primary prey utilized by each species

‘Paying Attention’ in a Digital Economy: Reflections on the Role of Analysis and Judgement Within Contemporary Discourses of Mindfulness and Comparisons with Classical Buddhist Accounts of Sati

This chapter examines the question of the role of intellectual analysis and ethical judgement in ancient Indian Buddhist accounts of sati and contemporary discourses about ‘mindfulness’. Attention is paid to the role of paññ? (Sanskrit: prajñ?: ‘wisdom’ or ‘analytical insight’) and ethical reflection in the cultivation of sati in mainstream Abhidharma and early Mah?y?na philosophical discussions in India, noting the existence of a subordinate strand of Buddhist thought which focuses upon the non-conceptuality of final awakening (bodhi) and the quiescence of mind. Modern discourses of mindfulness are examined in relation to detraditionalization, the global spread of capitalism and widespread adoption of new information technologies. It is argued that analysis of the exponential growth in popularity of ‘mindfulness’ techniques must be linked to an exploration of the modern history of attention, more specifically, the possibility that the use of fast-paced, digital, multimedia technologies is facilitating a demand for fragmented or dispersed attention. It is argued that the fault line between divergent contemporary accounts of mindfulness can be seen most clearly over the issue of the role of ethical judgements and mental ratiocination within mindfulness practice. The two most extreme versions on this spectrum see mindfulness on the one hand as a secular mental technology for calming the mind and reducing stress and discomfort, and on the other as a deeply ethical and experiential realization of the geopolitics of human experience. These, it is suggested, constitute an emerging discursive split in accounts of mindfulness reflective of divergent responses to the social, economic, political and technological changes occurring in relation to the global spread of neoliberal forms of capitalism

‘Look into the Book of Life’: Muslim musicians, Sufism, and postmodern spirituality in Britain

Spirituality has been theorised as a characteristic of late-modern society, a consequence of individualisation and of a relativized marketplace of religion. Drawing on findings from ethnographic fieldwork conducted with Muslim musicians in the UK, the author claims that spirituality can indeed be considered a postmodern discourse of belief – with trans-religious applicability – but that at the same time it can be articulated from within a clear understanding of group/religious membership. The concepts of ‘spiritual capital’ and ‘expressive communalism’ are used to explain the ways through which a postmodern discourse of spirituality is utilised by Muslim musicians from within contemporary networks of Sufism in the West. The author suggests that the cosmopolitan and inclusive nature of these types of Sufism in Britain – particularly amongst third and fourth generation Muslims – represents a frontier of religious change in the UK and a challenge to traditional forms of religious authority, discourse and membership

Religion as a makeover : reality, lifestyle and spiritual transformation

In this article I discuss the relationship between religion, spirituality and processes of makeover and transformation as presented in a number of British reality television shows. Programmes including The Monastery, The Convent and Make Me a Muslim placed participants in scenarios where they experimented with adopting religious or spiritual practices as part of their journey of self-transformation. I argue that the nature of transformation in these programmes is in line with standard reality and makeover television practices. However, it also makes a claim to be more ‘authentic’ than these because of its unfolding within the more traditional environs of religious communities from which makeover culture’s narratives of transgression, repentance and salvation were originally derived

Fam65b is a new transcriptional target of FOXO1 that regulates RhoA signaling for T lymphocyte migration

Forkhead box Os (FOXOs) transcription factors favor both T cell quiescence and trafficking through their control of the expression of genes involved in cell cycle progression, adhesion and homing. Here, we report that the product of the fam65b gene is a new transcriptional target of FOXO1 that regulates RhoA activity. We show that Fam65b binds the small GTPase RhoA via a non canonical domain and represses its activity by decreasing its GTP loading. As a consequence, Fam65b negatively regulates chemokine-induced responses such as adhesion, morphological polarisation and migration. Therefore, these results show the existence of a new functional link between FOXO1 and RhoA pathways, through which the FOXO1 target Fam65b tonically dampens chemokine-induced migration by repressing RhoA activity

Affect, Relationality and the 'Problem of Personality'

This peer-reviewed journal article sets out an argument regarding the importance of genealogical work for understanding concepts such as affect and suggestion

New Technologies’ Promise to the Self and the Becoming of the Sacred: Insights from Georges Bataille’s Concept of Transgression

This article draws on Georges Bataille’s concept of transgression, a key element in Bataille’s theory of the sacred, to highlight structural implications of the way the self-empowerment ethos of new technologies suffuses the digital tracking culture. Pointing to the original conceptual stance of transgression, worked out against prohibition, I first argue that, beyond a critique of new technologies’ promise of self-empowerment as coming at the expense of an acknowledgement of the ultimate taboo—death—is the problem of the sanitizing of the tension between the crossing of the line of the symbolic taboo and prohibition; this undermines a “libidinal investment” towards the sacred, which is central in Bataille’s theory. Second, focussing on “eroticism”, since this embodies the emancipative potential of the Bataillean sacred, I argue that while a fear of eroticism marks out the digital technological realm, this is covered up by the blurring of boundaries between pleasure, fun and sex(iness) that currently governs our experience with technological devices

Propulsion in cubomedusae : mechanisms and utility

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 8 (2013): e56393, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056393.Evolutionary constraints which limit the forces produced during bell contractions of medusae affect the overall medusan morphospace such that jet propulsion is limited to only small medusae. Cubomedusae, which often possess large prolate bells and are thought to swim via jet propulsion, appear to violate the theoretical constraints which determine the medusan morphospace. To examine propulsion by cubomedusae, we quantified size related changes in wake dynamics, bell shape, swimming and turning kinematics of two species of cubomedusae, Chironex fleckeri and Chiropsella bronzie. During growth, these cubomedusae transitioned from using jet propulsion at smaller sizes to a rowing-jetting hybrid mode of propulsion at larger sizes. Simple modifications in the flexibility and kinematics of their velarium appeared to be sufficient to alter their propulsive mode. Turning occurs during both bell contraction and expansion and is achieved by generating asymmetric vortex structures during both stages of the swimming cycle. Swimming characteristics were considered in conjunction with the unique foraging strategy used by cubomedusae.This work was supported by an ONR MURI award (N000140810654) and National Science Foundation grant OCE 0623508 to JHC, SPC, JOD. And the work was supported by the Roger Williams University Foundation to Promote Scholarship