Deconstructing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender victim of sex trafficking: Harm, exceptionality and religion–sexuality tensions

Contrary to widespread belief, sex trafficking also targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities. Contemporary social and political constructions of victimhood lie at the heart of regulatory policies on sex trafficking. Led by the US Department of State, knowledge about LGBT victims of trafficking constitutes the newest frontier in the expansion of criminalization measures. These measures represent a crucial shift. From a burgeoning range of preemptive measures enacted to protect an amorphous class of ‘all potential victims’, now policies are heavily premised on the risk posed by traffickers to ‘victims of special interest’. These constructed identities, however, are at odds with established structures. Drawing on a range of literatures, the core task of this article is to confront some of the complexities and tensions surrounding constructions of LGBT trafficking victims. Specifically, the article argues that discourses of ‘exceptional vulnerability’ and the polarized notions of ‘innocence’ and ‘guilt’ inform hierarchies of victimhood. Based on these insights, the article argues for the need to move beyond monolithic understandings of victims, by reframing the politics of harm accordingly

Reevaluation of the Value of Autoparasitoids in Biological Control

Autoparasitoids with the capacity of consuming primary parasitoids that share the same hosts to produce males are analogous to intraguild predators. The use of autoparasitoids in biological control programs is a controversial matter because there is little evidence to support the view that autoparasitoids do not disrupt and at times may promote suppression of insect pests in combination with primary parasitoids. We found that Encarsia sophia, a facultative autoparasitoid, preferred to use heterospecific hosts as secondary hosts for producing males. The autoparasitoids mated with males originated from heterospecifics may parasitize more hosts than those mated with males from conspecifics. Provided with an adequate number of males, the autoparasitoids killed more hosts than En. formosa, a commonly used parasitoid for biological control of whiteflies. This study supports the view that autoparasitoids in combination with primary parasitoids do not disrupt pest management and may enhance such programs. The demonstrated preference of an autoparasitoid for heterospecifics and improved performance of males from heterospecifics observed in this study suggests these criteria should be considered in strategies that endeavor to mass-produce and utilize autoparasitoids in the future

Exploring the current and future role of the pharmacists in osteoporosis screening and management in Malaysia

Background Several studies have found that pharmacists can assist in screening and prevention of osteoporosis by referring patients for bone mineral density scans and counselling on lifestyle changes. In Malaysia, screening osteoporosis in all elderly women is not mandatory due to its cost. One approach to address this gap is to develop a pharmacist-led osteoporosis screening and prevention program. However, there is a paucity of data on the perspectives of Malaysian pharmacists in this area. Objective To explore the perspective of stakeholders (policy makers, doctors, pharmacists, nurses and patients) towards the role of pharmacists in osteoporosis screening and management. Setting A primary care clinic located within a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Method Patients (n = 20), nurses (n = 10), pharmacists (n = 11), doctors (n = 10) and policy makers (n = 5) were individually interviewed using a semi-structured topic guide. Purposive sampling was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Main outcome measure Perspective of stakeholders on the current and future role of pharmacists. Results All participants perceived pharmacists to be suppliers of medication, although there was some recognition of roles in providing medication advice. Nonetheless, these stakeholders were eager for pharmacists to expand their non-dispensing roles towards counselling, creating awareness and screening of osteoporosis. Interviewed pharmacists referred to their current role as ‘robotic dispensers’ and unanimously agreed to spread out to osteoporosis management role. Conclusion Under stakeholders there is a willingness to expand the role of pharmacists in Malaysia to non-dispensing roles, particularly in osteoporosis screening and management

HSP60 as a Target of Anti-Ergotypic Regulatory T Cells

The 60 kDa heat shock protein (HSP60) has been reported to influence T-cell responses in two ways: as a ligand of toll-like receptor 2 signalling and as an antigen. Here we describe a new mechanism of T-cell immuno-regulation focused on HSP60: HSP60 is up-regulated and presented by activated T cells (HSP60 is an ergotope) to regulatory (anti-ergotypic) T cells. Presentation of HSP60 by activated T cells was found to be MHC-restricted and dependent on accessory molecules - CD28, CD80 and CD86. Anti-ergotypic T cells responded to T-cell HSP60 by proliferation and secreted IFNγ and TGFβ1. In vitro, the anti-ergotypic T cells inhibited IFNγ production by their activated T-cell targets. In vivo, adoptive transfer of an anti-ergotypic HSP60-specific T-cell line led to decreased secretion of IFNγ by arthritogenic T cells and ameliorated adjuvant arthritis (AA). Thus, the presentation of HSP60 by activated T cells turns them into targets for anti-ergotypic regulatory T cells specific for HSP60. However, the direct interaction between the anti-ergotypic T regulators (anti-HSP60) and the activated T cells also down-regulated the regulators. Thus, by functioning as an ergotope, HSP60 can control both the effector T cells and the regulatory HSP60-specific T cells that control them

The influence of cultivation methods on Shewanella oneidensis physiology and proteome expression

High-throughput analyses that are central to microbial systems biology and ecophysiology research benefit from highly homogeneous and physiologically well-defined cell cultures. While attention has focused on the technical variation associated with high-throughput technologies, biological variation introduced as a function of cell cultivation methods has been largely overlooked. This study evaluated the impact of cultivation methods, controlled batch or continuous culture in bioreactors versus shake flasks, on the reproducibility of global proteome measurements in Shewanellaoneidensis MR-1. Variability in dissolved oxygen concentration and consumption rate, metabolite profiles, and proteome was greater in shake flask than controlled batch or chemostat cultures. Proteins indicative of suboxic and anaerobic growth (e.g., fumarate reductase and decaheme c-type cytochromes) were more abundant in cells from shake flasks compared to bioreactor cultures, a finding consistent with data demonstrating that “aerobic” flask cultures were O2 deficient due to poor mass transfer kinetics. The work described herein establishes the necessity of controlled cultivation for ensuring highly reproducible and homogenous microbial cultures. By decreasing cell to cell variability, higher quality samples will allow for the interpretive accuracy necessary for drawing conclusions relevant to microbial systems biology research

Diffractive Dijet Production at sqrt(s)=630 and 1800 GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron

We report a measurement of the diffractive structure function $F_{jj}^D$ of the antiproton obtained from a study of dijet events produced in association with a leading antiproton in $\bar pp$ collisions at $\sqrt s=630$ GeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. The ratio of $F_{jj}^D$ at $\sqrt s=630$ GeV to $F_{jj}^D$ obtained from a similar measurement at $\sqrt s=1800$ GeV is compared with expectations from QCD factorization and with theoretical predictions. We also report a measurement of the $\xi$ ($x$-Pomeron) and $\beta$ ($x$ of parton in Pomeron) dependence of $F_{jj}^D$ at $\sqrt s=1800$ GeV. In the region $0.035<\xi<0.095$, $|t|<1$ GeV$^2$ and $\beta<0.5$, $F_{jj}^D(\beta,\xi)$ is found to be of the form $\beta^{-1.0\pm 0.1} \xi^{-0.9\pm 0.1}$, which obeys $\beta$-$\xi$ factorization.Comment: LaTeX, 9 pages, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter

Detection of ALK fusion transcripts in FFPE lung cancer samples by NanoString technology

Background: ALK-rearranged lung cancers exhibit specific pathologic and clinical features and are responsive to anti-ALK therapies. Therefore, the detection of ALK-rearrangement is fundamental for personalized lung cancer therapy. Recently, new molecular techniques, such as NanoString nCounter, have been developed to detect ALK fusions with more accuracy and sensitivity. Methods: In the present study, we intended to validate a NanoString nCounter ALK-fusion panel in routine biopsies of FFPE lung cancer patients. A total of 43 samples were analyzed, 13 ALK-positive and 30 ALK-negative, as previously detected by FISH and/or immunohistochemistry. Results: The NanoString panel detected the presence of the EML4-ALK, KIF5B-ALK and TFG-ALK fusion variants. We observed that all the 13 ALK-positive cases exhibited genetic aberrations by the NanoString methodology. Namely, six cases (46.15%) presented EML-ALK variant 1, two (15.38%) presented EML-ALK variant 2, two (15.38%) presented EML-ALK variant 3a, and three (23.07%) exhibited no variant but presented unbalanced expression between 5'/3' exons, similar to other positive samples. Importantly, for all these analyses, the initial input of RNA was 100 ng, and some cases displayed poor RNA quality measurements. Conclusions: In this study, we reported the great utility of NanoString technology in the assessment of ALK fusions in routine lung biopsies of FFPE specimens.This study was partially funded by FINEP (MCTI/FINEP/MS/SCTIE/DECIT), Brazil. BIOPLAT (1302/13).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chitin Modulates Innate Immune Responses of Keratinocytes

Chitin, after cellulose the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, is an essential component of exoskeletons of crabs, shrimps and insects and protects these organisms from harsh conditions in their environment. Unexpectedly, chitin has been found to activate innate immune cells and to elicit murine airway inflammation. The skin represents the outer barrier of the human host defense and is in frequent contact with chitin-bearing organisms, such as house-dust mites or flies. The effects of chitin on keratinocytes, however, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that chitin stimulates keratinocytes and thereby modulates the innate immune response of the skin. Here we show that chitin is bioactive on primary and immortalized keratinocytes by triggering production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Chitin stimulation further induced the expression of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) TLR4 on keratinocytes at mRNA and protein level. Chitin-induced effects were mainly abrogated when TLR2 was blocked, suggesting that TLR2 senses chitin on keratinocytes. We speculate that chitin-bearing organisms modulate the innate immune response towards pathogens by upregulating secretion of cytokines and chemokines and expression of MyD88-associated TLRs, two major components of innate immunity. The clinical relevance of this mechanism remains to be defined