U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue, Phase VIII Report

This report is the product of collaboration between the Naval Postgraduate School, Center on Contemporary Conflict and the Defense Threat Reduction AgencyThe eighth annual session of the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue on strategic nuclear issues was held in Oahu, Hawaii, from June 8 to 10, 2014. The dialogue is a Track 1.5 meeting; it is formally unofficial but includes a mix of government and academic participants. The dialogue is organized by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Pacific Forum CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) and funded by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering WMD (PASCC) at NPS. For the third time, this meeting was also supported by a Chinese co-host, the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA). This “non-governmental” association, with close ties to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA), helped improve the level and quality of participants and secure support for discussing certain topics

Maria Edgeworth’s The Double Disguise: Language Development, Experimentation, and the Importance of Juvenilia

Maria Edgeworth is well known for her didactic tales and her production of regionally accurate narratives. Much less is known, however, about her juvenilia and the influence this writing had on her adult work. In the following article, I examine numerous words identifiable in Maria Edgeworth’s juvenilia drama, The Double Disguise (1786), which antedate the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) quotations attributed to her adult work. Through examining the similarities in word choices and vocabulary between The Double Disguise and her later work, this article argues for the importance of juvenilia on the development of Edgeworth’s adult authorship

Richard Steele's Female Readers and the Gender Politics of the Public Sphere in 'The Spectator'

This article examines Richard Steele’s ‘The Spectator’ essays and the way in which Steele instructs and positions his female readers in the English public sphere. Steele’s encouragement of female agency and expression is fundamentally dependent upon whether readers are in the private or public realm. ‘The Spectator’ not only promotes women’s critical thinking and analysis of literature and the arts, it also advocates for their engagement in debates with men within the private sphere, even triumphing over men in said debates. However, in the masculine public sphere, ‘The Spectator’ delivers a profoundly different ideology, one in which women are dependent upon the assistance and intervention of men and are afforded significantly less agency and avenue for expression than they are in the home

Socializing, networking and development: a report from the second ‘Young Microbiologists Symposium on Microbe Signalling, Organization and Pathogenesis’

In mid-June, the second Young Microbiologists Symposium took place under the broad title of ‘Microbe signalling, organization and pathogenesis’ on the picturesque campus of University College Cork, Ireland. The symposium attracted 150 microbiologists from 15 different countries. The key feature of this meeting was that it was specifically aimed at providing a platform for junior scientists to present their work to a broad audience. The meeting was principally supported by Science Foundation Ireland with further backing from the Society for General Microbiology, the American Society for Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organization. Sessions focused on microbial gene expression, biogenesis, pathogenicity and host interaction. In this MicroMeeting report, we highlight some of the most significant advances and exciting developments reported during various talks and poster presentations given by the young and talented microbiologists

Assessment of layperson knowledge of AED use in sports clubs

Aims: To investigate knowledge and attitudes among sports club members toward AEDs, and to examine the potential benefits of an educational programme as an intervention for increasing awareness and willingness to use an AED. Methods: A number of selected sports clubs were visited, and participants aged ≥16 were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to current awareness and attitudes toward AEDs, and their willingness to use the device. Each participant then attended a 2-hour small-group teaching session where they were educated on the role and use of an AED, with opportunity to practice AED use in a controlled environment. After receiving teaching, each individual again completed the questionnaire. Results: 142 people participated in the study. Before teaching, the average level of knowledge regarding AED use was relatively low. The most common reason identified for unwillingness to operate an AED was lack of knowledge on how to correctly use the device. Paired data analysis showed that attendance at a 2-hour educational programme led to a significant improvement in layperson awareness and understanding of AED use. After teaching, 77.5%(n=110) of participants reported that they would definitely be willing to use an AED, compared with 20.4%(n=30) before teaching. Conclusion: A structured educational programme can increase layperson awareness, confidence and willingness to operate an AE

Heterogeneity in ess transcriptional organization and variable contribution of the Ess/Type VII protein secretion system to virulence across closely related <em>Staphylocccus aureus </em>strains

The Type VII protein secretion system, found in Gram-positive bacteria, secretes small proteins, containing a conserved W-x-G amino acid sequence motif, to the growth medium. Staphylococcus aureus has a conserved Type VII secretion system, termed Ess, which is dispensable for laboratory growth but required for virulence. In this study we show that there are unexpected differences in the organization of the ess gene cluster between closely related strains of S. aureus. We further show that in laboratory growth medium different strains of S. aureus secrete the EsxA and EsxC substrate proteins at different growth points, and that the Ess system in strain Newman is inactive under these conditions. Systematic deletion analysis in S. aureus RN6390 is consistent with the EsaA, EsaB, EssA, EssB, EssC and EsxA proteins comprising core components of the secretion machinery in this strain. Finally we demonstrate that the Ess secretion machinery of two S. aureus strains, RN6390 and COL, is important for nasal colonization and virulence in the murine lung pneumonia model. Surprisingly, however, the secretion system plays no role in the virulence of strain SA113 under the same conditions

Novel cyclic di-GMP effectors of the YajQ protein family control bacterial virulence

Bis-(3 ',5 ') cyclic di-guanylate (cyclic di-GMP) is a key bacterial second messenger that is implicated in the regulation of many critical processes that include motility, biofilm formation and virulence. Cyclic di-GMP influences diverse functions through interaction with a range of effectors. Our knowledge of these effectors and their different regulatory actions is far from complete, however. Here we have used an affinity pull-down assay using cyclic di-GMP-coupled magnetic beads to identify cyclic di-GMP binding proteins in the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc). This analysis identified XC_3703, a protein of the YajQ family, as a potential cyclic di-GMP receptor. Isothermal titration calorimetry showed that the purified XC_3703 protein bound cyclic di-GMP with a high affinity (K-d similar to 2 mu M). Mutation of XC_3703 led to reduced virulence of Xcc to plants and alteration in biofilm formation. Yeast two-hybrid and far-western analyses showed that XC_3703 was able to interact with XC_2801, a transcription factor of the LysR family. Mutation of XC_2801 and XC_3703 had partially overlapping effects on the transcriptome of Xcc, and both affected virulence. Electromobility shift assays showed that XC_3703 positively affected the binding of XC_2801 to the promoters of target virulence genes, an effect that was reversed by cyclic di-GMP. Genetic and functional analysis of YajQ family members from the human pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia showed that they also specifically bound cyclic di-GMP and contributed to virulence in model systems. The findings thus identify a new class of cyclic di-GMP effector that regulates bacterial virulence