Mehr als ein Papiertiger? : Die Konfliktbearbeitungspolitik der GASP in Afrika

Die Europäische Union und Afrika - jahrelang wurde diese Verbindung mit entwicklungspolitischer Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der Lomé-Abkommen assoziiert. Die außen- und sicherheitspolitischen Interessen beschränkten sich auf die bilaterale und zumeist postkoloniale Ebene. Erst seit Mitte der neunziger Jahre entstanden in der EU programmatische Entwürfe für eine umfassende Konfliktbearbeitung in Afrika. In der vorliegenden Studie zeichnet die Autorin die Stufen des Afrikakonzepts der EU nach und stellt diesem die tatsächlich umgesetzte Politik der GASP am Beispiel Ruandas und der Demokratischen Republik Kongo gegenüber. Ausgelöst durch das Versagen der internationalen Gemeinschaft angesichts des Völkermords in Ruanda wurden vom Außenministerrat zunächst vorsichtige, dann von der EU-Kommission weitreichende Konzepte für eine Verbindung entwicklungs- und außenpolitischer Ziele der Konfliktbearbeitung formuliert. Doch erweist sich die politische Wirklichkeit - gemessen an ihrem programmatischen Anspruch - als eher defizitär. Zwar haben die Konzepte der EU noch nicht zu einem grundlegenden Wandel auf der Ebene des policy making geführt, doch lassen sich eine gewisse kontinuierliche Strategie und erste Anzeichen einer "Europäisierung" in den Politiken der Gemeinschaft erkennen. Ein solcher gemeinsamer Ansatz würde dabei nicht nur eine effektive Implementierung der GASP, sondern auch eine Profilierung der EU als ernst zu nehmender Konfliktbearbeitungsakteur mit sich bringen

Concentration Dependent Effect of Plant Root Exudates on the Chemosensory Systems of Pseudomonas putida KT2440

Plant root colonization by rhizobacteria can protect plants against pathogens and promote plant growth, and chemotaxis to root exudates was shown to be an essential prerequisite for efficient root colonization. Since many chemoattractants control the transcript levels of their cognate chemoreceptor genes, we have studied here the transcript levels of the 27 Pseudomonas putida KT2440 chemoreceptor genes in the presence of different maize root exudate (MRE) concentrations. Transcript levels were increased for 10 chemoreceptor genes at low MRE concentrations, whereas almost all receptor genes showed lower transcript levels at high MRE concentrations. The exposure of KT2440 to different MRE concentrations did not alter c-di-GMP levels, indicating that changes in chemoreceptor transcripts are not mediated by this second messenger. Data suggest that rhizosphere colonization unfolds in a temporal fashion. Whereas at a distance to the root, exudates enhance chemoreceptor gene transcript levels promoting in turn chemotaxis, this process is reversed in root vicinity, where the necessity of chemotaxis toward the root may be less important. Insight into KT2440 signaling processes were obtained by analyzing mutants defective in the three cheA paralogous genes. Whereas a mutant in cheA1 showed reduced c-di-GMP levels and impaired biofilm formation, a cheA2 mutant was entirely deficient in MRE chemotaxis, indicating the existence of homologs of the P. aeruginosawsp and che (chemotaxis) pathways. Signaling through both pathways was important for efficient maize root colonization. Future studies will show whether the MRE concentration dependent effect on chemoreceptor gene transcript levels is a feature shared by other species

Pseudomonas aeruginosa That Specifically Mediates Chemotaxis Toward α-Ketoglutarate

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ubiquitous pathogen able to infect humans, animals, and plants. Chemotaxis was found to be associated with the virulence of this and other pathogens. Although established as a model for chemotaxis research, the majority of the 26 P. aeruginosa chemoreceptors remain functionally un-annotated. We report here the identification of PA5072 (named McpK) as chemoreceptor for α-ketoglutarate (αKG). High-throughput thermal shift assays and isothermal titration calorimetry studies (ITC) of the recombinant McpK ligand binding domain (LBD) showed that it recognizes exclusively α-ketoglutarate. The ITC analysis indicated that the ligand bound with positive cooperativity (Kd1 = 301 μM, Kd2 = 81 μM). McpK is predicted to possess a helical bimodular (HBM) type of LBD and this and other studies suggest that this domain type may be associated with the recognition of organic acids. Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) studies revealed that McpK-LBD is present in monomer-dimer equilibrium. Alpha-KG binding stabilized the dimer and dimer self-dissociation constants of 55 μM and 5.9 μM were derived for ligand-free and αKG-bound forms of McpK-LBD, respectively. Ligand-induced LBD dimer stabilization has been observed for other HBM domain containing receptors and may correspond to a general mechanism of this protein family. Quantitative capillary chemotaxis assays demonstrated that P. aeruginosa showed chemotaxis to a broad range of αKG concentrations with maximal responses at 500 μM. Deletion of the mcpK gene reduced chemotaxis over the entire concentration range to close to background levels and wild type like chemotaxis was recovered following complementation. Real-time PCR studies indicated that the presence of αKG does not modulate mcpK expression. Since αKG is present in plant root exudates it was investigated whether the deletion of mcpK altered maize root colonization. However, no significant changes with respect to the wild type strain were observed. The existence of a chemoreceptor specific for αKG may be due to its central metabolic role as well as to its function as signaling molecule. This work expands the range of known chemoreceptor types and underlines the important physiological role of chemotaxis toward tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. [EN]FEDER funds and Fondo Social Europeo through grants from the Junta de Andalucía (grant CVI-7335) and the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness (grant BIO2013-42297). MM was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Postdoctoral Research Program, Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2012-11815).Peer reviewe

SUMOylated SNF2PH promotes variant surface glycoprotein expression in bloodstream trypanosomes

SUMOylation is a post¿translational modification that positively regulates monoallelic expression of the trypanosome variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). The presence of a highly SUMOylated focus associated with the nuclear body, where the VSG gene is transcribed, further suggests an important role of SUMOylation in regulating VSG expression. Here, we show that SNF2PH, a SUMOylated plant homeodomain (PH)¿transcription factor, is upregulated in the bloodstream form of the parasite and enriched at the active VSG telomere. SUMOylation promotes the recruitment of SNF2PH to the VSG promoter, where it is required to maintain RNA polymerase I and thus to regulate VSG transcript levels. Further, ectopic overexpression of SNF2PH in insect forms, but not of a mutant lacking the PH domain, induces the expression of bloodstream stage¿specific surface proteins. These data suggest that SNF2PH SUMOylation positively regulates VSG monoallelic transcription, while the PH domain is required for the expression of bloodstream¿specific surface proteins. Thus, SNF2PH functions as a positive activator, linking expression of infective form surface proteins and VSG regulation, thereby acting as a major regulator of pathogenicity.The authors thank Dr. Alicia Barroso Del Jesus for excellent assistance and input with NSG methodology at the Genomic Unit and Dr. Laura Montosa at the Microscopy Unit (IPBLN-CSIC). This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RTI2018-098834-B-I00) and the Wellcome Trust (WTI 204697/Z/16/Z to MCF) and thegrant from the Argentinian National Agency for Promotion of Scientific and Technological Research to VEA (PICT/2016/0465)

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and co-occurrence/co-infection with malaria during the first wave of the pandemic (the Burkina Faso case)

Africa accounts for 1.5% of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and 2.7% of deaths, but this low incidence has been partly attributed to the limited testing capacity in most countries. In addition, the population in many African countries is at high risk of infection with endemic infectious diseases such as malaria. Our aim is to determine the prevalence and circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and the frequency of co-infection with the malaria parasite. We conducted serological tests and microscopy examinations on 998 volunteers of different ages and sexes in a random and stratified population sample in Burkina-Faso. In addition, nasopharyngeal samples were taken for RT-qPCR of SARS-COV-2 and for whole viral genome sequencing. Our results show a 3.2% and a 2.5% of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and PCR positivity; and 22% of malaria incidence, over the sampling period, with marked differences linked to age. Importantly, we found 2 cases of confirmed co-infection and 8 cases of suspected co-infection mostly in children and teenagers. Finally, we report the genome sequences of 13 SARS-CoV-2 isolates circulating in Burkina Faso at the time of analysis, assigned to lineages: A.19, A.21, B.1.1.404, B.1.1.118, B.1 and grouped into clades; 19B, 20A and 20B. This is the first population-based study about SARS-CoV-2 and malaria in Burkina Faso during the first wave of the pandemic, providing a relevant estimation of the real prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and variants circulating in this Sub-Saharan African country. Besides, it highlights the low frequency of co-infection with malaria in African communities.This research work received funding from by the European Commission NextGenerationEU (Regulation EU 2020/2094) and grant 202020E159 through CSIC Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global).N

Incidencia de los proyectos de Vinculación con la Sociedad de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana. Vol 2

Con este mismo título, en diciembre de 2021, apareció el primer volumen de este trabajo. La intención fue sistematizar algunos proyectos de vinculación que habían logrado impactos sociales en términos cualitativos y de innovación educativa. En esa oportunidad se presentó una obra con diez capítulos de reflexión, sistematización, análisis y descripción de la trascendental importancia que implica, para la UPS, la vinculación con la sociedad. Ahora, al cumplir la UPS 28 años de vida institucional, presentamos este segundo volumen, que recoge en 14 capítulos el trabajo de 3 docentes, administrativos, estudiantes e investigadores invitados de distintos campos científicos. Es la continuación de la sistematización de los proyectos de vinculación emblemáticos que se han desarrollado en las sedes de Cuenca, Quito y Guayaquil de la universidad. EN cada uno de ellos se podrá encontrar el esfuerzo que la UPS ha desarrollado en estos 28 años, desde su fundación, para conseguir transformaciones sociales. Fiel a su misión y visión institucional, ha desplegado un arduo trabajo en el capo científico, tecnológico y cultural, dándose a conocer como una institución de excelencia académica, producción científica, responsabilidad social y capacidad de incidir en el desarrollo de la sociedad ecuatorian

Caminando en la ruta sentipensante: configuración de experiencias pedagógicas nivel inicial

494 páginasEste texto es realizado en el contexto del Plan de Desarrollo 2016 – 2020, “Bogotá mejor para todos”, en el que se señala: Bogotá es entendida como una ciudad educadora, en la que todos los ciudadanos son agentes educadores y todos los espacios pueden ser escenarios pedagógicos para el aprendizaje. Una ciudad educadora tiene como centro el conocimiento e inspira aprendizaje, formas y lenguajes para reconocernos, para reencontrarnos; los espacios para el aprendizaje son entendidos como espacios para la vida, en los que se posibilita la investigación y la innovación para vivir mejor, para reinventarnos como ciudad, una ciudad mejor para todos. Los dieciocho textos aquí presentados, fruto del acompañamiento pedagógico realizado por el IDEP en 2019, son base y referente para seguir aportando en la configuración y consolidación de comunidades de saber y práctica pedagógica de la ciudad, así como en la conformación de colectivos y redes de maestros. Son la evidencia de un potente trabajo de acompañamiento a experiencias de nivel inicial, caracterizadas por contar con ideas o avances para problematizar, estructurar, fundamentar, elaborar estrategias y un plan de acción

Diseño para el desarrollo sustentable y la habitabilidad segura e incluyente

Este libro se divide en dos partes que permiten permear en el campo de la enseñanza del diseño; la primera se enfoca en temáticas que se desprenden del diseño en la educación para la sustentabilidad; en la segunda, se identifican las tendencias del diseño como un modo de verlo y sentirlo: va desde el diseño emocional hacia uno de conservación, reúso y reparación de objetos para reducir el consumo de recursos materiales