Characteristics of intracellular peptidase and proteinase activities from the mycelium of a cord-forming wood decay fungus Serpula lacrymans

Serpula lacrymans is a basidiomycete cord-forming wood decay fungus which reallocates nitrogen within an extensive perennial mycelial system in response to spatial discontinuities in external nutrient supply. Intracellular stored protein is mobilised by conversion to amino acids at nutrient-poor sites within a mycelium or when a whole mycelium is starved. Intracellular peptidase and proteinase activities of the mycelium were investigated with the aim of identifying proteases specifically activated in response to a nitrogen demand. Mycelium for enzyme extraction grown as surface mats in static liquid culture was homogenised, and the extract used in assays for proteinase and peptidase with various synthetic peptide substrates conjugated to 4-nitroaniline. Activities against different substrates were characterised with respect to pH, inhibitor sensitivity, requirements for divalent metal ions, isoelectric point, and by changes in activities in starved mycelium. Four different activities were found, comprising two peptidases one of which had metalloprotease characteristics, a serine-type proteinase, and a proteinase active at pH 2.5 which was not affected by any of the inhibitors tried. Both the latter were most active in starved mycelium. Isoelectric focusing showed peaks with activities corresponding to the serine-type proteinase and one of the manganese-activated peptidases. Possible roles for these enzymes in nitrogen reallocation during mycelial foraging are discussed

Discipline and Erasure: Women Architects and the Making of Architecture as 'Discipline'

This paper applies E.P Thompson’s mission of rescuing working-people in history from the ‘enormous condescension of posterity’ (1963) to the history of women architects in the making of the discipline of architecture. It traces the history of condescension, culminating in historical erasure, back to the professionalisation of architecture as a discipline in the C19th by considering the potential for structural discrimination embedded in the history of architectural education. The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘discipline’ as both ‘a code of behaviour using punishment to correct disobedience’ and as ‘a branch of knowledge typically one studied in higher education’. This paper reflects on both terminologies as they apply to the position of women in the history of architecture. It utilises the National Life Story Collection Architects’ Lives, Matrix Feminist Architecture Archive, and the archives of the Architectural Association to reflect on the experiences of women architects in the twentieth century. In doing so, it highlights the gender disparities affecting women in architecture and the problems posed by Authorised Archival Discourse in excluding women’s voices from the archival record and argues for a radical reengagement with the role of women in architectural history in order to better understand present-day exclusionary structures. It suggests that a feminist praxis focused on positionality, intersectionality, and intermediation with end-users emerges from the experiences of women architects of the past which can inform current architectural pedagogy and practice in the future

Using Archives to Educate for Feminist Architectural Praxis

This essay utilises the National Life Story Collection Architects’ Lives and Matrix Feminist Architecture Archive to reflect on the experiences of women architects in the twentieth century. In so doing, it highlights the gender disparities affecting women in architecture and the problems posed by Authorised Archival Discourse in excluding women’s voices from the archival record. It argues that a feminist praxis focused on positionality, intersectionality, and intermediation with end-users emerges from the experiences of women architects of the past and suggests that this might inform current architectural pedagogy and practice in the future

The impact of spin temperature fluctuations on the 21-cm moments

This paper considers the impact of Lyman-alpha coupling and X-ray heating on the 21-cm brightness-temperature one-point statistics (as predicted by semi-numerical simulations). The X-ray production efficiency is varied over four orders of magnitude and the hardness of the X-ray spectrum is varied from that predicted for high-mass X-ray binaries, to the softer spectrum expected from the hot inter-stellar medium. We find peaks in the redshift evolution of both the variance and skewness associated with the efficiency of X-ray production. The amplitude of the variance is also sensitive to the hardness of the X-ray SED. We find that the relative timing of the coupling and heating phases can be inferred from the redshift extent of a plateau that connects a peak in the variance's evolution associated with Lyman-alpha coupling to the heating peak. Importantly, we find that late X-ray heating would seriously hamper our ability to constrain reionization with the variance. Late X-ray heating also qualitatively alters the evolution of the skewness, providing a clean way to constrain such models. If foregrounds can be removed, we find that LOFAR, MWA and PAPER could constrain reionization and late X-ray heating models with the variance. We find that HERA and SKA (phase 1) will be able to constrain both reionization and heating by measuring the variance using foreground-avoidance techniques. If foregrounds can be removed they will also be able to constrain the nature of Lyman-alpha coupling.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Distinguishing models of reionization using future radio observations of 21-cm 1-point statistics

We explore the impact of reionization topology on 21-cm statistics. Four reionization models are presented which emulate large ionized bubbles around over-dense regions (21CMFAST/ global-inside- out), small ionized bubbles in over-dense regions (local-inside-out), large ionized bubbles around under-dense regions (global-outside-in) and small ionized bubbles around under-dense regions (local-outside-in). We show that first-generation instruments might struggle to distinguish global models using the shape of the power spectrum alone. All instruments considered are capable of breaking this degeneracy with the variance, which is higher in outside-in models. Global models can also be distinguished at small scales from a boost in the power spectrum from a positive correlation between the density and neutral-fraction fields in outside-in models. Negative skewness is found to be unique to inside-out models and we find that pre-SKA instruments could detect this feature in maps smoothed to reduce noise errors. The early, mid and late phases of reionization imprint signatures in the brightness-temperature moments, we examine their model dependence and find pre-SKA instruments capable of exploiting these timing constraints in smoothed maps. The dimensional skewness is introduced and is shown to have stronger signatures of the early and mid-phase timing if the inside-out scenario is correct.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, updated to agree with published versio

Multi-Cancer Computational Analysis Reveals Metastasis-Associated Variant of Desmoplastic Reaction Involving INHBA and THBS2

Despite extensive research, the details of the metastasis-associated biological mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we analyze data from multiple cancers using a novel computational method identifying sets of genes whose coordinated overexpression indicates the presence of a particular phenotype. We conclude that there is one shared “core” metastasis-associated gene expression signature corresponding to a specific variant of desmoplastic reaction, present in a large subset of samples that have exceeded a threshold of invasive transition specific to each cancer, indicating that the biological mechanism is triggered at that point. For example this threshold is reached at stage IIIc in ovarian cancer and at stage II in colorectal cancer. It has several features, such as coordinated expression of particular collagens, mainly COL11A1 and other genes, mainly THBS2 and INHBA. The universally prominent presence of INHBA in all cancers strongly suggests a biological mechanism centered on activin A induced TGF-β signaling, because activin A is a member of the TGF-β superfamily consisting of an INHBA homodimer. It is accompanied by the expression of several transcription factors related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition, but not of SNAI1, and expression of E-cadherin is not downregulated. It is reversible, as evidenced by its absence in many matched metastasized samples, but its presence indicates that metastasis has occurred. Therefore, these results can be used for developing high-specificity biomarkers, as well as potential multi-cancer metastasis-inhibiting therapeutics targeting the corresponding biological mechanism

Coloniality and the Politicisation of Literary Heritage Conservation

In his autobiography The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah, the dub poet reflects on the relationship between architecture, the built environment, the writing process, and the politics that underpin them. In particular, he notes the impact of colonial legacies in urban planning, his experience as patron of the Ujima Housing Co-operative Group, and the inspiration gained from the diversity of the built environment in Newham (where Zephaniah has resided since 1980). This paper uses these reflections as a starting point to explore the politics of literary heritage conservation in Britain and the colonialism implicit within it. There has been a wave of recent interest in the politics underpinning literary production in the UK sparked by Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Black Britain, Writing Back’ campaign to correct ‘historical bias in publishing’ and the colonial legacies that foster it. However, far less attention has been paid to the politics behind the conservation of literary heritage. A 2020 report by the National Trust pointed to the role played by ‘conserved’ writers’ houses, such as Bateman’s, Shaw’s Corner, and Monk’s House, in sparking the republication of previous out of print works by writers. The conservation of literary heritage therefore clearly expresses a cultural power, articulating who is left in, or out, of an ever-changing ‘canon’ while providing access points to the literary legacy of writers. Yet, despite attempts to ‘decolonise’ heritage sites, such as the National Trust’s Colonialism and Historic Slavery Report, there is only limited reflection of the coloniality of the values that underpin what is conserved and how we conserve it. In France, the fact that the renovation of Andre Gide’s house in Cuverville sparked a government heritage conservation debate, while the destruction of James Baldwin’s house in St Paul de Vence (2014) failed to elicit similar protests, has led to a rethinking of the politics that facilitate literary heritage conservation. Yet, in Britain, there has been a significant lack of debate on the legacies of Empire and the destruction of black British writers’ houses. This paper reflects on Toni Morrison’s sense of writing as ‘literary archaeology’ to argue for the conservation of writers’ houses as a form of ‘literary architexture’ utilising the semiotics of lived experience to conserve and interpret writers’ homes. First, it applies this methodology to case studies of writers’ homes to examine the coloniality built into the process of heritage conservation. Noting, for example, that the conservation plans for Bloomsbury Group heritage sites dwell on their networks with white literati while failing to mention the significance of global majority figures like Pat Nelson and Berto Pasuka. Secondly, it asks that we re-examine the coloniality behind heritage conservation to fully explore the power structures that override whose literary heritage is conserved and the consequences of this for future

21-cm signatures of residual HI inside cosmic HII regions during reionization

We investigate the impact of sinks of ionizing radiation on the reionization-era 21-cm signal, focusing on 1-point statistics. We consider sinks in both the intergalactic medium and inside galaxies. At a fixed filling factor of HII regions, sinks will have two main effects on the 21-cm morphology: (i) as inhomogeneous absorbers of ionizing photons they result in smaller and more widespread cosmic HII patches; and (ii) as reservoirs of neutral gas they contribute a non-zero 21-cm signal in otherwise ionized regions. Both effects damp the contrast between neutral and ionized patches during reionization, making detection of the epoch of reionization with 21-cm interferometry more challenging. Here we systematically investigate these effects using the latest semi-numerical simulations. We find that sinks dramatically suppress the peak in the redshift evolution of the variance, corresponding to the midpoint of reionization. As previously predicted, skewness changes sign at midpoint, but the fluctuations in the residual HI suppress a late-time rise. Furthermore, large levels of residual HI dramatically alter the evolution of the variance, skewness and power spectrum from that seen at lower levels. In general, the evolution of the large-scale modes provides a better, cleaner, higher signal-to-noise probe of reionization.Comment: Minor edits to agree with MNRAS published versio

‘Illuminating Colour’ Grosseteste in Glass Part 1

The undertaking of a major exhibition at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland in response to the writings and thinking of Bishop Robert Grosseteste occurred through a collaboration with the Ordered Universe Project and the research interests of Colin Rennie and Dr Cate Watkinson. Several new artworks have been created in response to different texts and concepts that have been drawn out of the manuscripts by the Ordered Universe Project team. These ideas were first explored in the ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ project which generated a series of seminars and meetings between the teams at Durham, Oxford and Sunderland. The intention in making the artworks was to give form to these interactions and discussions, reflecting on interpretations to date and to bring a new perspective and material understanding to Grosseteste’s theories. The creative response started with the premise drawn from Grosseteste’s treatise on colour, De Colore. That is, if colour is light embodied in a diaphanous medium then glass could be used as a metaphor that mediates between light and matter. Through collaborative reading and discussion with the team, the ideas evolved from initial representational approaches to a series of new works that use glass, metal, and digital technologies in tandem to rephrase the ideas in physical form and to open up new dialogues. The resulting works appraise the thinking from individual and collaborative perspectives; a method that Rennie and Watkinson have been successful with in several previous public art projects. The presentation will open up the artistic process and discuss the making of these new artworks through, integration, collaboration and shared knowledge

Why marriage matters: A North American perspective on press/library partnerships

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134445/1/leap1044_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134445/2/leap1044.pd