Jack London\u27s the Call of the Wild: A study on American Individualism. Jack London Dalam Novel The Call of the Wild: Studi Tentang Individualisme Amerika

The Call of the Wild adalah sebuah novel Amerika awal abad dua puluh yang ditulis oleh Jack London. Novel ini menampilkan tokoh cerita berupa anjing. Lewat novel ini Jack London mengungkap doktrin individualisme Amerika yang kuat saat warga Amerika berbondong-bondong ke tambang emas di Alaska. Untuk mencapai keberhasilan di sana, diperlukan ketahanan fisik, mental dan keberanian atas keganasan, kebuasan hutan belantara serta kebrutalan manusia.Secara umum, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan individualisme dalam konteks kehidupan masyarakat Amerika sedangkan tujuan khususnya adalah mengungkap visi Jack London terhadap individualisme Amerika lewat karyanya The Call of the Wild.Untuk mencapai tujuan di atas, studi ini menggunakan penelitian pustaka. Kemudian pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan American Studies yakni pendekatan yang menekankan pada pendekatan interdisipliner. Pendekatan ini melibatkan ilmu sastra, sejarah, sosiologi, dan budaya. Semua bidang ilmu ini digunakan secara bersamaan guna memperoleh analisis yang komprehensif terhadap topik yang dibahas.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pada awal abad dua puluh masyarakat Amerika berada dalam suasana kompetitif yang cukup kuat dalam meraih kesuksesan. Pertumbuhan industri yang cepat, birokrasi dan urbanisasi mendominasi perkembangan Amerika saat itu. Di era itu nilai masyarakat Amerika mengalami perubahan salah satunya adalah individualisme Amerika. Doktrin ini telah membawa kesuksesan besar bagi masyarakat Amerika dalam membangun suatu negara. Doktrin ini tercermin pada individu Amerika yang telah mengenal peradaban dengan menampilkan sikap tanpa ketergantungan, percaya diri, kesetaraan dalam kesempatan, kompetisi, kekayaan atas materi, dan kerja keras. Kesemua aspek ini merupakan warisan frontiers dan telah menjadi impian warga Amerika. Namur, di bagian lain kesuksesan masyarakat Amerika dengan berpegang pada koktrin individualisme Amerika, ternyata juga membawa hasil berupa kekerasan, ketidaksetaraan dalam kesempatan, ketidakadilan, dan regimentasi pada Amerika moderen. Kata Kunci: individualisme - visi Jack London - masyarakat Amerik

Systems Biology in ELIXIR: modelling in the spotlight

In this white paper, we describe the founding of a new ELIXIR Community - the Systems Biology Community - and its proposed future contributions to both ELIXIR and the broader community of systems biologists in Europe and worldwide. The Community believes that the infrastructure aspects of systems biology - databases, (modelling) tools and standards development, as well as training and access to cloud infrastructure - are not only appropriate components of the ELIXIR infrastructure, but will prove key components of ELIXIR\u27s future support of advanced biological applications and personalised medicine. By way of a series of meetings, the Community identified seven key areas for its future activities, reflecting both future needs and previous and current activities within ELIXIR Platforms and Communities. These are: overcoming barriers to the wider uptake of systems biology; linking new and existing data to systems biology models; interoperability of systems biology resources; further development and embedding of systems medicine; provisioning of modelling as a service; building and coordinating capacity building and training resources; and supporting industrial embedding of systems biology. A set of objectives for the Community has been identified under four main headline areas: Standardisation and Interoperability, Technology, Capacity Building and Training, and Industrial Embedding. These are grouped into short-term (3-year), mid-term (6-year) and long-term (10-year) objectives

Tropism, replication competence, and innate immune responses of influenza virus : an analysis of human airway organoids and ex-vivo bronchus cultures

Background: Human airway organoids are three-dimensional cultures derived from stem cells, which self-organise in ex-vivo conditions to form so-called mini-airways. The cellular morphology of these cultures is physiologically similar to the human airway, with cilia, goblet cells, and club cells facing the inner lumen and basal cells situated at the outer layer. The aim of this study was to compare replication competence, tissue tropism, and host responses elicited by human and avian strains of influenza A virus in ex-vivo human bronchus and human airway organoids. Methods: Between Sept 29, 2016, and Jan 4, 2017, we obtained ex-vivo cultures of the human bronchus and cultured human airway organoids from lung stem cells obtained from human lung tissues removed as part of the routine clinical care of patients undergoing surgical resection at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. We compared viral replication competence, tissue tropism, and cytokine and chemokine induction of avian influenza A viruses isolated from humans (Sh2/H7N9, H5N1/483, H5N6/39715), and human H1N1pdm/415742 in airway organoids and ex-vivo bronchus explant cultures. Findings: Virus tropism and replication kinetics of human and avian influenza A viruses in human airway organoids mimicked those found in ex-vivo cultures of human bronchus explants. In both airway organoids and bronchus explants, influenza A H1N1 subtype (H1N1) and avian influenza A H7N9 viruses replicated to significantly higher titres than did the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, whereas HPAI H5N6 replication was moderate. H1N1, H7N9, and H5N6 viruses infected ciliated cells and goblet cells, but not basal cells in both airway organoids and bronchus explants. The expression of cytokines, interleukin 6, and interferon β, and the chemokine regulated-on-activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted, was significantly higher in human airway organoids infected with HPAI H5N1 virus than H1N1pdm/415742, Sh2/H7N9, and H5N6/39715 viruses, and the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 was significantly higher in human organoids infected with HPAI H5N1 virus than H1N1pdm/415742 and Sh2/H7N9 viruses. Interpretation: Human airway organoid cultures provided results that were comparable to those observed in human ex-vivo bronchus cultures, and thus provide an alternative physiologically relevant experimental model for investigating virus tropism and replication competence that could be used to assess the pandemic threat of animal influenza viruses. Funding: US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region