Transcript Profiling in Host–Pathogen Interactions

Using genomic technologies, it is now possible to address research hypotheses in the context of entire developmental or biochemical pathways, gene networks, and chromosomal location of relevant genes and their inferred evolutionary history. Through a range of platforms, researchers can survey an entire transcriptome under a variety of experimental and field conditions. Interpretation of such data has led to new insights and revealed previously undescribed phenomena. In the area of plant-pathogen interactions, transcript profiling has provided unparalleled perception into the mechanisms underlying gene-for-gene resistance and basal defense, host vs nonhost resistance, biotrophy vs necrotrophy, and pathogenicity of vascular vs nonvascular pathogens, among many others. In this way, genomic technologies have facilitated a system-wide approach to unifying themes and unique features in the interactions of hosts and pathogens

Local creative industries may be more global than we think:A study of tenants based at Baltic Creative, Liverpool

LOCAL CREATIVE INDUSTRIES MAY BE MORE GLOBAL THAN WE THINK explores the extent of international trade amongst a group of UK-based, micro-enterprises and SMEs (small-and-medium sized enterprises) classed as “creative industries.” The UK government’s 2018 Industrial Strategy: Creative Industries Sector Deal aims to increase UK creative industry exports by 50 per cent within 5 years, arguing there is a “great deal of untapped potential in the sector.” It also identifies small company size as a particular challenge to creative industry exports. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) maintains that in 2016 only 18 per cent of creative industries businesses engaged in international trade (DCMS, 2018a). Our research challenges these assumptions. At least one creative industries hub is already deeply entwined in global trade. In Liverpool’s creative and digital hub Baltic Creative, 69 per cent of tenants export. Furthermore, these exporters are highly dependent on their overseas income. Over one-third of exporters earn more than 50 per cent of their annual income from exports. Our research also finds that company size had not acted a deterrent to international trade. Rather company owners report concerns about access to global markets after Brexit, which had already resulted in significant financial losses for some. Our study reveals that even the smallest micro-enterprises are exporting not by way of strained or concerted efforts, but simply because they are operating in an open, digital, global environment where international trade is integral to their business

Differential accumulation of host mRNAs on polyribosomes during obligate pathogen-plant interactions

Plant pathogens elicit dramatic changes in the expression of host genes during both compatible and incompatible interactions. Gene expression profiling studies of plant-pathogen interactions have only considered messenger RNAs (mRNAs) present in total RNA, which contains subpopulations of actively translated mRNAs associated with polyribosomes (polysomes) and non-translated mRNAs that are not associated with polysomes. The goal of this study was to enhance previous gene expression analyses by identifying host mRNAs that become differentially associated with polysomes following pathogen inoculation. Total and polysomal RNA were extracted from barley (Hordeum vulgare) plants at 32 h after inoculation withBlumeria graminis f. sp. hordei, and Arabidopsis thaliana plants at 10 days after inoculation withTurnip mosaic virus. Gene expression profiles were obtained for each pathosystem, which represent diverse plant host-obligate pathogen interactions. Using this approach, host mRNAs were identified that were differentially associated with polysomes in response to pathogen treatment. Approximately 18% and 26% of mRNAs represented by probe sets on the Affymetrix Barley1 and Arabidopsis ATH1 GeneChips, respectively, differentially accumulated in the two populations in one or more combinations of treatment and genotype. Gene ontology analysis of mRNAs sharing the same pattern of accumulation in total and polysomal RNA identified gene sets that contained a significant number of functionally related annotations, suggesting both transcript accumulation and recruitment to polyribosomes are coordinately regulated in these systems

Business as Unusual:Creative industries, international trade and Brexit

UK government statistics maintain that only 18 per cent of creative industries firms engage in international trade. The UK’s Industrial Strategy: Creative Industries Sector Deal aims to increase UK creative industry exports by 50% within 5 years, arguing there is a “great deal of untapped potential in the sector.” It also identifies small company size as a barrier to creative industry exports. Our research, however, challenges these assumptions. At least one creative industries hub is already deeply entwined in global trade. In Liverpool’s creative and digital hub Baltic Creative, 69 per cent of tenants export. Furthermore, these exporters are highly dependent on their overseas income. Over one-third of exporters earn more than 50 per cent of their annual income from exports. Our research also finds that small company size was not a deterrent to international trade. Rather company owners report concerns about access to global markets after Brexit, which had already resulted in significant financial losses for some. Our study reveals that even the smallest micro-enterprises are exporting not by way of strained or concerted efforts, but simply because they are operating in an open, digital, global environment where international trade is integral to their business

Risky Business : Creative SMEs, microenterprises and independents trading globally in a time of transition

The UK government’s 2018 Industrial Strategy: Creative Industries Sector Deal policy aimed to increase firm size in the sector. Policymakers identified small company size as a particular obstacle to creative industries exports, arguing that very small firms lack the “absorptive capacity” to undertake extra export duties (BEIS, 2018). Yet, there is a critical gap in knowledge about the global trading patterns of the UK’s creative industries, particularly amongst the microenterprises and independents that make up the bulk of the sector. This research endeavours to answer the question, is small firm size indeed a barrier to international trade in the creative industries? Employing anonymous online surveys and in-depth interviews, this study investigates whether small firm size acted a deterrent to trade engagement amongst small-tomedium sized enterprises (SMEs), microenterprises and independents based in creative hubs in England’s North West. The primary research was conducted during the inter-Brexit era, i.e. after the Brexit referendum of June 2016 and prior to the UK’s formal secession from the EU on 31 January 2020. The results challenge the assumption that small firm size was a barrier to international trade in the creative industries at the time of the study. Sampled SMEs, microenterprises and sole proprietors were found to be deeply involved in international markets, with 66 percent of respondents exporting. Furthermore, exporters often relied heavily on their overseas income with almost one-third earning over 50 per cent of their annual income overseas. Digital innovations and barrier-free access to the EU trade block appear to have supported the trade capabilities of independents and microenterprises at the time of the research. These findings imply that, in the absence of new trade deals, creative industries policy makers may need to shift focus away from firm size to other measures, such as supporting creative hubs or clusters to facilitate network-building and information sharing

Engineering a Decoy Substrate in Soybean to Enable Recognition of the Soybean Mosaic Virus NIa Protease

In Arabidopsis, recognition of the AvrPphB effector protease from Pseudomonas syringae is mediated by the disease resistance (R) protein RPS5, which is activated by AvrPphB-induced cleavage of the Arabidopsis protein kinase PBS1. The recognition specificity of RPS5 can be altered by substituting the AvrPphB cleavage site within PBS1 with cleavage sequences for other proteases, including proteases from viruses. AvrPphB also activates defense responses in soybean (Glycine max), suggesting that soybean may contain an R protein analogous to RPS5. It was unknown, however, whether this response is mediated by cleavage of a soybean PBS1-like protein. Here, we show that soybean contains three PBS1 orthologs and that their products are cleaved by AvrPphB. Further, transient expression of soybean PBS1 derivatives containing a five-alanine insertion at their AvrPphB cleavage sites activated cell death in soybean protoplasts, demonstrating that soybean likely contains an AvrPphB-specific resistance protein that is activated by a conformational change in soybean PBS1 proteins. Significantly, we show that a soybean PBS1 decoy protein modified to contain a cleavage site for the soybean mosaic virus (SMV) NIa protease triggers cell death in soybean protoplasts when cleaved by this protease, indicating that the PBS1 decoy approach will work in soybean, using endogenous PBS1 genes. Lastly, we show that activation of the AvrPphB-dependent cell death response effectively inhibits systemic spread of SMV in soybean. These data also indicate that decoy engineering may be feasible in other crop plant species that recognize AvrPphB protease activity

Realising the value of open innovation in policy making:Equipping entrepreneurs for valuation work

Open innovation succeeds when it forms productive collaborations that cross organisational, disciplinary and practice boundaries. Success can, however, be hidden from stakeholders if the means to articulate value in novel, entrepreneurial open innovation work do not exist. We present collaborative design research tackling this challenge with the Cabinet Office Open Innovation Team ( OIT) within UK Government. Drawing on the findings of an ethnographic study we show how ` open innovation' and ` entrepreneurial' theories were used in practice to characterise the need for valuing the OIT's work. Using participatory design and co- design theory and methods we describe a multi- disciplinary intervention with the OIT, equipping them to collectively visualise their practice and to co- design new tools to support new and evolving valuation activities. We offer insights for collaborative design in open innovation settings and discuss the potential for co- designed tools to enable valuation in entrepreneurial practice

Context-Aware Wearables:The last thing we need is a pandemic of stray cats

We present Connected Companion (CoCo), a health tracking wearable that provides users with timely, context-relevant notifications aimed at improving wellness. Traditionally, self-tracking wearables report basic health data such as resting heart rate; these data are visualised and positive behaviours (e.g. exercising often) are encouraged with rudimentary gamification (e.g. award badges) and notification systems. CoCo is the first wearable to combine caffeine, alcohol and cortisol sensors, a context network (which predicts user context), and a wellness model (which establishes per-user wellness measures). Working in tandem these provide users with notifications that encourage discrete behaviours intended to optimise user-wellness per very specific biological and social contexts. The paper describes the (sometimes unexpected) results of a user-study intended to evaluate CoCo’s efficacy and we conclude with a discussion about the power and responsibility that comes with attempts to build context-aware computing systems

Design within Social Entrepreneurship:A Framework to reveal the use of Design in interdisciplinary spaces

This paper aims to unveil some linkages between design and a social entrepreneurship process. To achieve this purpose, this analyses the key literature regarding social entrepreneurship and design. It introduces an abridged version of four case study resulting from a qualitative research conducted to a Chilean social business incubator and four social entrepreneurs. The cases serve as empirical evidence of the diverse and complex nature of social entrepreneurship. A data analysis introduces insights into how design is connected to the social entrepreneurship process. The insights presented are not determinative and show that design is used in response to the different challenges that social entrepreneurs encounter. These insights are used to create a framework that is to be employed as an analytical and reflective device to understand the social entrepreneurship process in practice and the different roles that design plays within it

Talking about food:reflecting on transitions of practice in people with lived experience of food poverty

In this paper, we deploy a practice theory lens to explore how co-design activities have enabled individuals to transition to new and different advocacy, inquiry and engagement practices. The co-design project we describe sought to bring about change in a national network of organisations addressing food poverty in the UK. The aim of the project was to collaborate with young people and adults from different communities of the North of England to co-design tools for gathering stories and enabling advocacy relating to food insecurity. We use a practice theory lens to describe the relationships between co-design activities and transitions in practices of a single participant. The findings show the value of exploring and sharing meanings, practical experimentation and facilitating transitions within participant’s practice. We argue that practice theory provides an analytical framework to understand the impacts of co-design and social design by interpreting the transitioning practices in participants