Por um feminismo popular: entrevista com Magali Mendes

Desde a aprovação e veiculação da chamada do presente dossiê, intitulado “Memórias e práticas {sociais} de resistências”, idealizamos o convite à Magali Mendes – tanto pela amizade que cultivamos com a entrevistada, como pela admiração que por ela nutrimos. Se utilizamos alguns parágrafos para expressar um pouco sobre essa relação, foi porque os transbordantes encontros desta entrevista só foram possíveis por conta dos vínculos políticos, éticos e afetivos com Magali. No final de 2021, já estávamos completando dois anos de muitos traumas que transbordavam em dores espraiadas em nossos corpos-almas-psiques, com milhares e mais milhares de mortes evitáveis em um país governado pelo (denunciado como genocida) Jair Messias Bolsonaro e o negacionismo que embalou sua equipe na gestão da pandemia.  Feitas essas considerações, complementamos que a conversa sob o formato de “entrevista” com Magali Mendes se deu em ao menos quatro momentos, diferentes e complementares entre si. O primeiro foi o encontro presencial no dia 24 de junho de 2022, em Campinas/SP, com Magali nos recebendo em sua casa. Durante a intensidade desse encontro de “corpo-presença”, recebemos a notícia do assassinato de Vitor Fernandes, vítima de uma violenta e ilegal ação de despejo praticada pela Polícia Militar (PM) do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul no tekoha Guapo’y. O segundo encontro ocorreu em formato virtual pela plataforma Google Meet. Um possível roteiro, que serviria como fios condutores da prosa, foi encaminhado com antecedência para Magali, a fim de que pudesse maturar o que tanto desejava conosco partilhar. Após a gravação dessa conversa, ocorrida em 28 de julho de 2022, a transcrição literal foi realizada pelo querido Vinícius Ferraz Martins, para que posterior edição tecida por Dani, Simone e Magali se fizesse neste real que segue

Evidence of diversity and recombination in Arsenophonus symbionts of the Bemisia tabaci species complex

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternally inherited bacterial symbionts infecting arthropods have major implications on host ecology and evolution. Among them, the genus <it>Arsenophonus</it> is particularly characterized by a large host spectrum and a wide range of symbiotic relationships (from mutualism to parasitism), making it a good model to study the evolution of host-symbiont associations. However, few data are available on the diversity and distribution of <it>Arsenophonus</it> within host lineages. Here, we propose a survey on <it>Arsenophonus</it> diversity in whitefly species (Hemiptera), in particular the <it>Bemisia tabaci</it> species complex. This polyphagous insect pest is composed of genetic groups that differ in many ecological aspects. They harbor specific bacterial communities, among them several lineages of <it>Arsenophonus</it>, enabling a study of the evolutionary history of these bacteria at a fine host taxonomic level, in association to host geographical range and ecology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 152 individuals, our analysis identified 19 allelic profiles and 6 phylogenetic groups, demonstrating this bacterium's high diversity. These groups, based on <it>Arsenophonus</it> phylogeny, correlated with <it>B. tabaci</it> genetic groups with two exceptions reflecting horizontal transfers<it>.</it> None of three genes analyzed provided evidence of intragenic recombination, but intergenic recombination events were detected. A mutation inducing a STOP codon on one gene in a strain infecting one <it>B. tabaci</it> genetic group was also found. Phylogenetic analyses of the three concatenated loci revealed the existence of two clades of <it>Arsenophonus.</it> One, composed of strains found in other Hemiptera, could be the ancestral clade in whiteflies. The other, which regroups strains found in Hymenoptera and Diptera, may have been acquired more recently by whiteflies through lateral transfers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This analysis of the genus <it>Arsenophonus</it> revealed a diversity within the <it>B. tabaci</it> species complex which resembles that reported on the larger scale of insect taxonomy. We also provide evidence for recombination events within the <it>Arsenophonus</it> genome and horizontal transmission of strains among insect taxa. This work provides further insight into the evolution of the <it>Arsenophonus</it> genome, the infection dynamics of this bacterium and its influence on its insect host's ecology.</p

Young solid Earth researchers of the world unite!

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95272/1/eost14667.pd

Real-time, appliance-level electricity use feedback system: How to engage users?

Engage is a rapidly deployable, retrofit energy monitoring system developed for direct support of a novel energy use behavior investigation and a large-scale deployment in campus apartments. We describe the end-to-end system and report results related to web dashboard engagement during a year-long experiment. The objective was to determine user engagement with real-time and easily accessible information about personal energy consumption. Leveraging low-cost components, this system was designed to measure separately appliance plug load, heating and cooling, and lighting electrical load in dense-occupancy building environments. We developed and used an open source technology for measurement of plug load and developed signal processing algorithms to significantly improve measurement accuracy. We also developed proxy sensors to measure heating and cooling and lighting. Our results indicate that 90% of the dashboard activity was undertaken by 50% of the participants and that website engagement was more likely in mid-day and more effective in combination with email reminders. Energy conservation was achieved when combining the dashboard with public information about energy consumption. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Resolving the Role of Plant Glutamate Dehydrogenase. I. in vivo Real Time Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Experiments

In higher plants the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) enzyme catalyzes the reversible amination of 2-oxoglutarate to form glutamate, using ammonium as a substrate. For a better understanding of the physiological function of GDH either in ammonium assimilation or in the supply of 2-oxoglutarate, we used transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants overexpressing the two genes encoding the enzyme. An in vivo real time 15N-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy approach allowed the demonstration that, when the two GDH genes were overexpressed individually or simultaneously, the transgenic plant leaves did not synthesize glutamate in the presence of ammonium when glutamine synthetase (GS) was inhibited. In contrast we confirmed that the primary function of GDH is to deaminate Glu. When the two GDH unlabeled substrates ammonium and Glu were provided simultaneously with either [15N]Glu or 15NH4+ respectively, we found that the ammonium released from the deamination of Glu was reassimilated by the enzyme GS, suggesting the occurrence of a futile cycle recycling both ammonium and Glu. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that the GDH enzyme, in conjunction with NADH-GOGAT, contributes to the control of leaf Glu homeostasis, an amino acid that plays a central signaling and metabolic role at the interface of the carbon and nitrogen assimilatory pathways. Thus, in vivo NMR spectroscopy appears to be an attractive technique to follow the flux of metabolites in both normal and genetically modified plants

Functional and Molecular Effects of Arginine Butyrate and Prednisone on Muscle and Heart in the mdx Mouse Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

The number of promising therapeutic interventions for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is increasing rapidly. One of the proposed strategies is to use drugs that are known to act by multiple different mechanisms including inducing of homologous fetal form of adult genes, for example utrophin in place of dystrophin.In this study, we have treated mdx mice with arginine butyrate, prednisone, or a combination of arginine butyrate and prednisone for 6 months, beginning at 3 months of age, and have comprehensively evaluated the functional, biochemical, histological, and molecular effects of the treatments in this DMD model. Arginine butyrate treatment improved grip strength and decreased fibrosis in the gastrocnemius muscle, but did not produce significant improvement in muscle and cardiac histology, heart function, behavioral measurements, or serum creatine kinase levels. In contrast, 6 months of chronic continuous prednisone treatment resulted in deterioration in functional, histological, and biochemical measures. Arginine butyrate-treated mice gene expression profiling experiments revealed that several genes that control cell proliferation, growth and differentiation are differentially expressed consistent with its histone deacetylase inhibitory activity when compared to control (saline-treated) mdx mice. Prednisone and combination treated groups showed alterations in the expression of genes that control fibrosis, inflammation, myogenesis and atrophy.These data indicate that 6 months treatment with arginine butyrate can produce modest beneficial effects on dystrophic pathology in mdx mice by reducing fibrosis and promoting muscle function while chronic continuous treatment with prednisone showed deleterious effects to skeletal and cardiac muscle. Our results clearly indicate the usefulness of multiple assays systems to monitor both beneficial and toxic effects of drugs with broad range of in vivo activity

2008 Inter-laboratory Comparison Study of a Reference Material for Nutrients in Seawater

Autoclaved natural seawater collected in the North Pacific Ocean was used as a reference material for nutrients in seawater (RMNS) during an inter-laboratory comparison (I/C) study conducted in 2008. This study was a follow-up to previous studies conducted in 2003 and 2006. A set of six samples was distributed to each of 58 laboratories in 15 countries around the globe, and results were returned by 54 of those laboratories (15 countries). The homogeneities of samples used in the 2008 I/C study, based on analyses for three determinants, were improved compared to those of samples used in the 2003 and 2006 I/C studies. Results of these I/C studies indicate that most of the participating laboratories have an analytical technique for nutrients that is sufficient to provide data of high comparability. The differences between reported concentrations from the same laboratories in the 2006 and 2008 I/C studies for the same batch of RMNS indicate that most of the laboratories have been maintaining internal comparability for two years. Thus, with the current high level of performance in the participating laboratories, the use of a common reference material and the adaptation of an internationally accepted nutrient scale system would increase comparability among laboratories worldwide, and the use of a certified reference material would establish traceability. In the 2008 I/C study we observed a problem of non-linearity of the instruments of the participating laboratories similar to that observed among the laboratories in the 2006 I/C study. This problem of non-linearity should be investigated and discussed to improve comparability for the full range of nutrient concentrations. For silicate comparability in particular, we see relatively larger consensus standard deviations than those for nitrate and phosphate