‘Leaving no one behind’ through enabling climate-resilient economic development in dryland regions

‘Leave no one behind’ is a principle central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ending the marginalisation of dryland areas requires that governments, development partners and investors prioritise investments to tackle poverty and climate vulnerability in African and Asian drylands. Successful approaches will build on the strengths, dynamics and characteristics of dryland systems, including their inherent adaptive capacity. This policy brief describes key areas of impact and resilience, as well as referencing SDGs of particular importance.UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID

Creative learning conversations: producing living dialogic spaces

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleBackground ‘Creative learning conversations’, are methodological devices developed in two co-participative qualitative research projects exploring creativity and educational futures at the University of Exeter in England. Sources of evidence Framed by Critical Theory, the projects, one on dance education partnership, the other on student voice and transformation, sought to open space between creativity and performativity to initiate emancipatory educational change. This was undertaken over the course of five years in English primary and secondary schools, prioritising humanising, wise creativity (Chappell, 2008; Craft, 2008). Purpose This paper re-analyses data and methodological processes to characterise and theorise creative learning conversations in terms of social spatiality and dialogue. The characteristics are: partiality, emancipation, working from the ‘bottom up’, participation, debate and difference, openness to action, and embodied and verbalised idea exchange. Main argument This re-analysis theoretically adapts Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model to situate layered engagement. Utilising Lefebvre’s (1991) conceptualisation of Lived space and Bakhtin’s (1984) work on open-ended dialogue, the paper theorises creative learning conversations as producing living dialogic spaces. Conclusions Creative learning conversations are a way of contributing to change which moves us towards an education future fit for the twenty-first century. From a living dialogic space perspective a creative learning conversation is the ongoing process without forced closure of those in the roles of University academic, teachers, artists, students co-participatively researching and developing knowledge of their ‘lived space’ together. Given traditional lethargy in the educational system as a whole commitment to changing education for better futures demands active involvement in living dialogic space, where our humanity both emerges from and guides our shared learning

Climate change adaptation among female-led micro, small, and medium enterprises in semiarid areas: a case study from Kenya

This chapter contributes to the literature on private sector adaptation by empirically exploring how female-led micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSMEs) in Kenya’s semiarid lands (SALs) experience and respond to climate risk. The chapter argues that strong sociocultural orientations around gender roles and resource use and access not only confine female-led MSMEs to sectors that experience higher exposure to climate risk – most notably agriculture – but also trigger more pronounced barriers to building resilience within their businesses, including reduced access to land, capital, markets, new technology, and educational opportunities. Faced by these barriers, female entrepreneurs may pursue unsustainable forms of coping, as part of which business activity is scaled back through reduced profits, loss of business, and the sale of valuable business assets. Such strategies may help enterprises to cope in the short term but may undermine longer-term MSME adaptive capacity. Social networks, such as women’s groups and table banking initiatives, appear to be crucial adaptation tools. Additionally, a strong dependency exists between household resilience and business resilience, implying that building resilience at the household level could support adaptive capacity among female-led MSMEs. Supporting the adaptive capacity of women in business should be a policy priority

Dysregulated RNA polyadenylation contributes to metabolic impairment in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Pre-mRNA processing is an essential mechanism for the generation of mature mRNA and the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotic cells. While defects in pre-mRNA processing have been implicated in a number of diseases their involvement in metabolic pathologies is still unclear. Here, we show that both alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation, two major steps in pre-mRNA processing, are significantly altered in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Moreover, we find that Serine and Arginine Rich Splicing Factor 10 (SRSF10) binding is enriched adjacent to consensus polyadenylation motifs and its expression is significantly decreased in NAFLD, suggesting a role mediating pre-mRNA dysregulation in this condition. Consistently, inactivation of SRSF10 in mouse and human hepatocytes in vitro, and in mouse liver in vivo, was found to dysregulate polyadenylation of key metabolic genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA) and exacerbate diet-induced metabolic dysfunction. Collectively our work implicates dysregulated pre-mRNA polyadenylation in obesity-induced liver disease and uncovers a novel role for SRSF10 in this process

Identification, characterisation and expression analysis of natural killer receptor genes in Chlamydia pecorum infected koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

BACKGROUND: Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), an iconic Australian marsupial, are being heavily impacted by the spread of Chlamydia pecorum, an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen. Koalas vary in their response to this pathogen, with some showing no symptoms, while others suffer severe symptoms leading to infertility, blindness or death. Little is known about the pathology of this disease and the immune response against it in this host. Studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cells, key components of the innate immune system, are involved in the immune response to chlamydial infections in humans. These cells can directly lyse cells infected by intracellular pathogens and their ability to recognise these infected cells is mediated through NK receptors on their surface. These are encoded in two regions of the genome, the leukocyte receptor complex (LRC) and the natural killer complex (NKC). These two families evolve rapidly and different repertoires of genes, which have evolved by gene duplication, are seen in different species. METHODS: In this study we aimed to characterise genes belonging to the NK receptor clusters in the koala by searching available koala transcriptomes using a combination of search methods. We developed a qPCR assay to quantify relative expression of four genes, two encoded within the NK receptor cluster (CLEC1B, CLEC4E) and two known to play a role in NK response to Chalmydia in humans (NCR3, PRF1). RESULTS: We found that the NK receptor repertoire of the koala closely resembles that of the Tasmanian devil, with minimal genes in the NKC, but with lineage specific expansions in the LRC. Additional genes important for NK cell activity, NCR3 and PRF1, were also identified and characterised. In a preliminary study to investigate whether these genes are involved in the koala immune response to infection by its chlamydial pathogen, C. pecorum, we investigated the expression of four genes in koalas with active chlamydia infection, those with past infection and those without infection using qPCR. This analysis revealed that one of these four, CLEC4E, may be upregulated in response to chlamydia infection. CONCLUSION: We have characterised genes of the NKC and LRC in koalas and have discovered evidence that one of these genes may be upregulated in koalas with chlamydia, suggesting that these receptors may play a role in the immune response of koalas to chlamydia infection

Liver RBFOX2 regulates cholesterol homeostasis via Scarb1 alternative splicing in mice

RNA alternative splicing (AS) expands the regulatory potential of eukaryotic genomes. The mechanisms regulating liver-specific AS profiles and their contribution to liver function are poorly understood. Here, we identify a key role for the splicing factor RNA-binding Fox protein 2 (RBFOX2) in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis in a lipogenic environment in the liver. Using enhanced individual-nucleotide-resolution ultra-violet cross-linking and immunoprecipitation, we identify physiologically relevant targets of RBFOX2 in mouse liver, including the scavenger receptor class B type I (Scarb1). RBFOX2 function is decreased in the liver in diet-induced obesity, causing a Scarb1 isoform switch and alteration of hepatocyte lipid homeostasis. Our findings demonstrate that specific AS programmes actively maintain liver physiology, and underlie the lipotoxic effects of obesogenic diets when dysregulated. Splice-switching oligonucleotides targeting this network alleviate obesity-induced inflammation in the liver and promote an anti-atherogenic lipoprotein profile in the blood, underscoring the potential of isoform-specific RNA therapeutics for treating metabolism-associated diseases

Emerging infectious disease implications of invasive mammalian species : the greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) is associated with a novel serovar of pathogenic Leptospira in Ireland

The greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) is an invasive mammalian species that was first recorded in Ireland in 2007. It currently occupies an area of approximately 7,600 km2 on the island. C. russula is normally distributed in Northern Africa and Western Europe, and was previously absent from the British Isles. Whilst invasive species can have dramatic and rapid impacts on faunal and floral communities, they may also be carriers of pathogens facilitating disease transmission in potentially naive populations. Pathogenic leptospires are endemic in Ireland and a significant cause of human and animal disease. From 18 trapped C. russula, 3 isolates of Leptospira were cultured. However, typing of these isolates by standard serological reference methods was negative, and suggested an, as yet, unidentified serovar. Sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA and secY indicated that these novel isolates belong to Leptospira alstonii, a unique pathogenic species of which only 7 isolates have been described to date. Earlier isolations were limited geographically to China, Japan and Malaysia, and this leptospiral species had not previously been cultured from mammals. Restriction enzyme analysis (REA) further confirms the novelty of these strains since no similar patterns were observed with a reference database of leptospires. As with other pathogenic Leptospira species, these isolates contain lipL32 and do not grow in the presence of 8-azagunaine; however no evidence of disease was apparent after experimental infection of hamsters. These isolates are genetically related to L. alstonii but have a novel REA pattern; they represent a new serovar which we designate as serovar Room22. This study demonstrates that invasive mammalian species act as bridge vectors of novel zoonotic pathogens such as Leptospira

Proprioceptive performance of bilateral upper and lower limb joints: side-general and site-specific effects

Superiority of the left upper limb in proprioception tasks performed by right-handed individuals has been attributed to better utilization of proprioceptive information by a non-preferred arm/hemisphere system. However, it is undetermined whether this holds for multiple upper and lower limb joints. Accordingly, the present study tested active movement proprioception at four pairs of upper and lower limb joints, after selecting twelve participants with both strong right arm and right leg preference. A battery of versions of the active movement extent discrimination apparatus were employed to generate the stimuli for movements of different extents at the ankle, knee, shoulder and fingers on the right and left sides of the body, and discrimination scores were derived from participants’ responses. Proprioceptive performance on the non-preferred left side was significantly better than the preferred right side at all four joints tested (overall F(1, 11) = 36.36, p < 0.001, partial η(2) = 0.77). In the 8 × 8 matrix formed by all joints, only correlations between the proprioceptive accuracy scores for the right and left sides at the same joint were significant (ankles 0.93, knees 0.89, shoulders 0.87, fingers 0.91, p ≤ 0.001; all others r ≤ 0.40, p ≥ 0.20). The results point to both a side-general effect and a site-specific effect in the integration of proprioceptive information during active movement tasks, whereby the non-preferred limb/hemisphere system is specialized in the utilization of the best proprioceptive sources available at each specific joint, but the combination of sources employed differs between body sites