Muslim and Gay: Seeking identity coherence in New Zealand

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Culture, Health & Sexuality on 2015, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2015.1079927The process of accepting oneself as gay and of ‘coming out’ to family and friends is well documented. For Muslim men, this is complicated by the tension between their emerging sexual identity and their religious and cultural birth identity, which labels homosexuality as sinful. This paper explores this process in a sample of five gay Muslim men living in New Zealand, a liberal secular society where homosexuality is widely accepted and gay rights are endorsed in legislation. Identity Process Theory drives the analysis, which identifies five themes encapsulating the process of striving for psychological coherence: resistance, acceptance, tension, renegotiation and pretence. Initial phases of denial and anger at their emerging sexuality are strongly linked to the conflict with their religious identity. Later, acceptance of their sexuality as natural and even God-given protects them from blame for their ‘sins’. In contrast to earlier work in the UK, for most men, renegotiation of their Muslim identity is adopted as the key strategy for achieving intrapsychic coherence. However, at an interpersonal level, families remain a source of conflict, temporarily resolved through pretence. Renegotiating religious identity leaves men having to pretend not just to be straight, but also to be strongly religious.tru

Micro-eukaryotic diversity in hypolithons from Miers Valley, Antarctica

The discovery of extensive and complex hypolithic communities in both cold and hot deserts has raised many questions regarding their ecology, biodiversity and relevance in terms of regional productivity. However, most hypolithic research has focused on the bacterial elements of the community. This study represents the first investigation of micro-eukaryotic communities in all three hypolith types. Here we show that Antarctic hypoliths support extensive populations of novel uncharacterized bryophyta, fungi and protists and suggest that well known producer-decomposer-predator interactions may create the necessary conditions for hypolithic productivity in Antarctic deserts

Constructing the drinker in talk about alcoholics

Attitudes are one of the most commonly researched topics in social psychology, and attitudes toward alcoholics have been a popular interest area. The present study investigated such attitudes from within a social constructionist paradigm. Participants were interviewed about their views toward alcoholics and the transcribed recordings were analysed discursively to examine common constructions and evaluative practices. Three central discourses are discussed: a functional drinking discourse, where drinking was cast as normal social practice for functional drinkers; a dysfunctional people discourse, where alcoholics were formulated as qualitatively different from other drinkers; and a discourse of two dichotomous categories, in which alcoholics were concurrently constructed in terms of their heterogeneity. These discourses are discussed in terms of their construction and the tasks they performed, which include justifying intolerance and emphasising social differences. Particular attention is paid to how these practices were presented as 'fact' through the process of discursive construction.Publishe

Examining the demographic profile and attitudes of citizens, in areas where organised crime groups proliferate

Whilst studies refer to the community impact of Organized Crime (OC), no survey currently exists to examine the views of those citizens who reside in areas where Organized Crime Groups (OCGs) proliferate. 431 questionnaires from households co-existing in high density OCGs areas were analysed in relation to: a) demographic information; b) views on the community and the police; and c) how they expected other residents to react to illegal incidents. Overall respondents thought the average citizen would refuse to intervene in 10% - 48% of illegal incidents, with the specific case influencing whether and how they would respond. The analysis then compared three communities who lived in high density OCG areas with a control community (n=343). The ‘OCG’ communities were more likely to report low collective efficacy and were least likely to expect their neighbours to confront a crime in action. Conversely, whilst the control group showed higher levels of collective efficacy and expected the average resident more likely to confront illegal behaviour, this trend did not extend to street drug dealing and serious crime associated with OC. The study discusses the unreported intimidation associated with OCGs and the challenges of policing hostile environments

Selection of diazotrophic bacterial communities in biological sand filter mesocosms used for the treatment of phenolic-laden wastewater

Agri effluents such as winery or olive mill waste-waters are characterized by high phenolic concentrations. These compounds are highly toxic and generally refractory to biodegradation. Biological sand filters (BSFs) represent inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and sustainable wastewater treatment systems which rely vastly on microbial catabolic processes. Using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism, this study aimed to assess the impact of increasing concentrations of synthetic phenolic-rich wastewater, ranging from 96 mg L−1 gallic acid and138 mg L−1 vanillin (i.e., a total chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 234 mg L−1) to 2,400mg L−1 gallic acid and 3,442 mg L−1 vanillin (5,842 mg COD L−1), on bacterialcommunities and the specific functional diazotrophic community from BSF mesocosms. This amendment procedure instigated efficient BSF phenolic removal, significant modifications of the bacterial communities, and notably led to the selection of a phenolic-resistant and less diverse diazotrophic community. This suggests that bioavailable N is crucial in the functioning of biological treatment processes involving microbial communities, and thus that functional alterations in the bacterial communities in BSFs ensure provision of sufficient bioavailable nitrogen for the degradation of wastewater with a high C/N ratio.Web of Scienc

Reassurance Policing and Signal Crimes

A reassurance function for policing was first considered by American psychologist Charles Bahn (1974: 338) as “feelings of safety that a citizen experiences when he knows that a police officer or patrol car is nearby.” This idea was taken forward in Britain by Martin Innes and colleagues in the early 2000s through the development of a signal crimes perspective. At this time, British policing implemented a National Reassurance Policing Programme (NRPP) where local policing priorities were decided through consultation with local communities. The impact of reassurance policing has since spread and the approach has also been considered in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In this entry, the background to reassurance policing is considered with particular reference to the work of Charles Bahn and Martin Innes and colleagues. The development of a policy of reassurance policing in Britain is also examined. The successes and limitations of the approach are considered and three main issues identified: that reassurance needs to be a consideration for all policing; that increases in visible patrol need to be questioned (especially at a time of budget restraint); and that reassurance policing has the potential to be a model of democratic policing, but only if consultation is truly inclusive, for instance, including those that have been victimized and groups that have been targets of police activity such as young people, the homeless, and other minority and marginalized groups

Use of Dexamethasone for Severe Fatigue in the Advanced Cancer Population: A Brief Report.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a common and distressing symptom for palliative care patients. Although the current literature emphasizes nonpharmacological management, dexamethasone is reportedly used in clinical practice. This study helps to characterize its use, efficacy, and adverse effects in a real-world setting. OBJECTIVE: To improve the evidence base by exploring the use, efficacy, and side effect profile of dexamethasone for fatigue management. METHODS: This international multisite prospective observational case series assessed the benefit and adverse effects of dexamethasone at baseline (T0) and at five to seven days postbaseline (T1). Fatigue scores were assessed using the symptom assessment scale (SAS) and visual analogue fatigue scale (VAFS). Adverse events were graded using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE). The related samples Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare before and after scores. RESULTS: All 18 patients (male-female, 11:7) had advanced metastatic cancer with most in the deteriorating palliative care phase (56%). The most common dose of dexamethasone was 4 mg daily orally. At T1 (n = 12), improvement was seen in all measures of fatigue; the median SAS scores decreased from 7 to 5.5 (p = 0.007), the median VAFS scores increased from 3 to 5 (p = 0.126), and the median NCI-CTCAE fatigue scores were reduced from 3 to 2.5 (p = 0.18). Dexamethasone was well tolerated; one participant experienced grade 3 delirium. CONCLUSION: The small number of participants recruited for this study suggests that dexamethasone is not widely used specifically for fatigue. Our results suggest an improvement in fatigue scores from T0 to T1

Engineering pyruvate decarboxylase-mediated ethanol production in the thermophilic host Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius

This study reports the expression, purification, and kinetic characterization of a pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) from Gluconobacter oxydans . Kinetic analyses showed the enzyme to have high affinity for pyruvate (120 μM at pH 5), high catalytic efficiency (4.75×105 M−1 s−1 at pH 5), a pHopt of approximately 4.5 and an in vitro temperature optimum at approximately 55 °C. Due to in vitro thermostablity (approximately 40 % enzyme activity retained after 30 min at 65 °C), this PDC was considered to be a suitable candidate for heterologous expression in the thermophile Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius for ethanol production. Initial studies using a variety of methods failed to detect activity at any growth temperature (45–55 °C). However, the application of codon harmonization (i.e., mimicry of the heterogeneous host’s transcription and translational rhythm) yielded a protein that was fully functional in the thermophilic strain at 45 °C (as determined by enzyme activity, Western blot, mRNA detection, and ethanol productivity). Here, we describe the first successful expression of PDC in a true thermophile. Yields as high as 0.35±0.04 g/g ethanol per gram of glucose consumed were detected, highly competitive to those reported in ethanologenic thermophilic mutants. Although activities could not be detected at temperatures approaching the growth optimum for the strain, this study highlights the possibility that previously unsuccessful expression of pdcs in Geobacillus spp. may be the result of ineffective transcription/translation coupling.Web of Scienc

Structure and functional characterization of pyruvate decarboxylase from Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus

BACKGROUND: Bacterial pyruvate decarboxylases (PDC) are rare. Their role in ethanol production and in bacterially mediated ethanologenic processes has, however, ensured a continued and growing interest. PDCs from Zymomonas mobilis (ZmPDC), Zymobacter palmae (ZpPDC) and Sarcina ventriculi (SvPDC) have been characterized and ZmPDC has been produced successfully in a range of heterologous hosts. PDCs from the Acetobacteraceae and their role in metabolism have not been characterized to the same extent. Examples include Gluconobacter oxydans (GoPDC), G. diazotrophicus (GdPDC) and Acetobacter pasteutrianus (ApPDC). All of these organisms are of commercial importance. RESULTS: This study reports the kinetic characterization and the crystal structure of a PDC from Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (GdPDC). Enzyme kinetic analysis indicates a high affinity for pyruvate (KM 0.06 mM at pH 5), high catalytic efficiencies, pHopt of 5.5 and Topt at 45 degrees C. The enzyme is not thermostable (T of 18 minutes at 60 degrees C) and the calculated number of bonds between monomers and dimers do not give clear indications for the relatively lower thermostability compared to other PDCs. The structure is highly similar to those described for Z. mobilis (ZmPDC) and A. pasteurianus PDC (ApPDC) with a rmsd value of 0.57 A for C? when comparing GdPDC to that of ApPDC. Indole-3-pyruvate does not serve as a substrate for the enzyme. Structural differences occur in two loci, involving the regions Thr341 to Thr352 and Asn499 to Asp503. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of the PDC from G. diazotrophicus (PAL5) and lays the groundwork for future research into its role in this endosymbiont. The crystal structure of GdPDC indicates the enzyme to be evolutionarily closely related to homologues from Z. mobilis and A. pasteurianus and suggests strong selective pressure to keep the enzyme characteristics in a narrow range. The pH optimum together with reduced thermostability likely reflect the host organisms niche and conditions under which these properties have been naturally selected for. The lack of activity on indole-3-pyruvate excludes this decarboxylase as the enzyme responsible for indole acetic acid production in G. diazotrophicus.IS

Integrating molecular genetics with plant breeding to deliver impact

The appropriate use of molecular genetic approaches to reach impact in plant breeding is not straightforward. Here, we consider theory and realised application, and explore key issues that early-career plant molecular genetic researchers especially should consider as they establish their careers, particularly in relation to opportunities in plant breeding that span academia and the private sector. Useful entry points for these researchers are an understanding of the plant breeding cycle and the breeder's equation. Becoming familiar with success and failure factors in the application of molecular genetics to practical plant breeding, including in relation to quantitative genetic principles, is also important. Other framing issues are scenario modelling for choosing between breeding scheme options, how agronomy and plant breeding interrelate, and the needs of future food production systems. We also recommend that early-career plant molecular genetic researchers look at whether pathways have been mapped out for how research will lead to impact at field level, whether stakeholders' perspectives have been accounted for, and whether the effectiveness of molecular genetic versus alternative interventions have been costed. Early-career researchers should also consider if effective systems are in place to monitor the values of molecular interventions, and whether the necessary multidisciplinary teams are involved in crop development and deployment. We believe that through building a cadre of well-informed and well-connected early-career plant molecular genetic researchers, transformational change in the applications of molecular genetics to practical plant breeding will be enhanced.</p