Transcriptional regulation of tetrachloroethene respiration in Sulfurospirillum species

Energy conservation via organohalide respiration (OHR), comprising the reductive dehalogenation of halogenated organic compounds, is an inducible process in OHR capable Sulfurospirillum species. This work adds a first global RNA sequence of the well-studied Sulfurospirillum multivorans, a proteome and an acetylome of Sulfurospirillum halorespirans and two new Sulfurospirillum genomes that enlarge the repertoire of omics data allowing for future comparative analyses of organohalide-respiring bacteria. The differential RNA sequencing allowed for the identification of eight transcriptional units forming the tetrachloroethene regulon. A two-component system involved in tetrachloroethene signal transduction has been unambiguously identified in vivo and in vitro. The respective OmpR-family response regulator was functionally characterized. The results emphasize its role in promoting different transcriptional activation mechanisms induced by binding a cis-regulatory element containing a consensus sequence identified as a direct CTATW repeat separated by 17 bp. In S. multivorans, OHR is also subject to a unique memory effect in terms of a long-term transcriptional downregulation of the genes involved in OHR. This retentive memory effect in OHR gene regulation is now identified in a second species (S. halorespirans) suggesting a broader distribution of this regulatory phenomenon. Both acetylation pattern of the two-component system and the amount of bioavailable norcobamide cofactor were identified as potential factors affecting the memory effect. This study represents a major step towards the elucidation of the regulatory network controlling OHR gene expression in Sulfurospirillum species and might aid investigation of OHR regulation in other bacteria as well. Additionally, the first published acetylome of Campylobacterota helps to study other ecologically or medically important species of this clade

Riskier Business: How Consumer Perceptions of Corporate Political Advocacy Have Evolved

Historically, companies have largely avoided taking sides on political issues due to their risky polarizing nature and focused their efforts on business operations and controlling what impacts the bottom line. However, in the past decade companies have increasingly taken very public stances on politically charged social issues, referred to as corporate political advocacy (CPA). With the increasingly polarized political nature of the population coupled with consumers’ desire for organizations to help drive social change, abstaining from CPA is becoming less of an option for organizations. The purpose of this research is to investigate how consumer perceptions of CPA have changed and which social issues have the strongest influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Using comparative analyses from two datasets collected nearly 10 years apart, we find that CPA has had an increasingly significant impact on consumer purchase decisions but mostly when an organization takes a stand on a social issue consumers care about. The data revealed that COVID-19 and healthcare are the most influential social issues currently impacting consumer perceptions

Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy for inherited monogenic diseases and its implications for future gene therapy trials in Turkey

Stem cell therapy offers a great advantage for the development of new treatments in the field of regenerative and restorative medicine. However, the use of stem cell therapies and their clinical indications can even be further improved using genetic modification of the cells. Due to the high level of consanguineous marriages in Turkey, the country suffers from an increased frequency of inborn genetically inherited diseases. Treatment of these diseases is difficult, since 1) diagnosis is often delayed in rural areas, 2) distance to specialized centers may be considerable, 3) treatment may require frequent hospital visits and 4) treatment procedures are often both invasive and expensive. Here, we discuss the current status of gene therapy of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for rare, inherited monogenic diseases and the advantages to use these cells as an alternative treatment option for patients in Turkey. We discuss results of clinical trials using retroviral and lentiviral gene therapy for the treatment of immune deficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and several enzyme deficiencies, new developments in the field of the HSC gene therapy to improve safety and efficacy and recommendations for the future.Kök hücre tedavisi rejeneratif tıp ve restoratif tıp alanlarında yeni tedavilerin geliştirilmesi için büyük avantaj sağlamaktadır. Böylelikle, kök hücre tedavilerinin kullanımı ve bunların klinik endikasyonları hücrelerin genetik modifikasyonu ile geliştirilebilmektedir. Türkiye’deki akraba evlilik oranının fazla olmasından dolayı, yenidoğan genetik kalıtsal hastalıkların insidası artmaktadır ve bu durum bir sorun teşkil etmektedir. Bu hastalıkların tedavi edilmesi; 1) kırsal bölgelerde hastalığın sıklıkla geç teşhisi, 2) Özel merkezlerin uzak olması, 3) Tedavilerin sık hastane kontrolü gerektirmesi, 4) Tedavi prosedürlerinin hem pahalı hem de invazif olması nedenleriyle zordur. Bu makalede nadir kalıtsal monogenik hastalıklar için hematopoetik kök hücre (HKH) gen tedavisinin güncel durumları ve Türkiye’deki hastalar için alternatif bir tedavi seçeneği olarak kullanımının avantajları tartışılacaktır. İmmun yetmezlikler, hemoglobinopatiler, birçok enzim eksikliklerinde retroviral ve lentiviral gen tedavi klinik çalışma sonuçları, HKH gen tedavisi alanındaki yeni gelişmeler, güvenlik ve etkinliğin artırılması ve gelecekteki öneriler tartışılacaktır

Young children’s protest: what it can (not) tell us about early normative understanding

In this paper we address the question how children come to understand normativity through simple forms of social interaction. A recent line of research suggests that even very young children can understand social norms quite independently of any moral context. We focus on a methodological procedure developed by Rakoczy et al., Developmental Psychology, 44, 875-881, that measures children's protest behaviour when a pre-established constitutive rule has been violated. Children seem to protest when they realize that rule violations are not allowed or should not have happened. We point out that there is more than one possible explanation for children's reactions in these studies. They could be due to disobeying an authority, an inability to follow a rule, or the violation of an empirical expectation due to the mismatch between statement and action. We thus question whether it would still count as an indicator for normative understanding if children responded to aspects of the game other than the violation of a constitutive rule and conclude that the protesting behavior, when taken in isolation, does not suffice as evidence for normative understanding

Evolution of Nanoscale Pore Structure in Coordination Polymers During Thermal and Chemical Exposure Revealed by Positron Annihilation

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71372/1/1598_ftp.pd

Metal-organic framework templated electrodeposition of functional gold nanostructures

Utilizing a pair of quick, scalable electrochemical processes, the permanently porous MOF HKUST-1 was electrochemically grown on a copper electrode and this HKUST-1-coated electrode was used to template electrodeposition of a gold nanostructure within the pore network of the MOF. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrates that a proportion of the gold nanostructures exhibit structural features replicating the pore space of this ∼1.4 nm maximum pore diameter MOF, as well as regions that are larger in size. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the electrodeposited gold nanostructure, produced under certain conditions of synthesis and template removal, is sufficiently inter-grown and mechanically robust to retain the octahedral morphology of the HKUST-1 template crystals. The functionality of the gold nanostructure within the crystalline HKUST-1 was demonstrated through the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) detection of 4-fluorothiophenol at concentrations as low as 1 μM. The reported process is confirmed as a viable electrodeposition method for obtaining functional, accessible metal nanostructures encapsulated within MOF crystals

Transformation zur "Grünsten Industrieregion der Welt" - aufgezeigt für die Metropole Ruhr : Studie

Industrieregionen stehen vor besonderen Herausforderungen für eine nachhaltige und klimagerechte Entwicklung, sie müssen zu "grünen Industrieregionen" werden. Doch was macht eine "grüne Industrieregion" überhaupt aus? Die vorliegende Studie des Wuppertal Instituts verdeutlicht, worauf es besonders ankommt, wie Fortschritte gemessen werden können und welche Maßnahmen die erforderliche Transformation beschleunigen können. Das Autorenteam schätzt die Vorreiterpotenziale der Metropole Ruhr für sieben Indikatoren ein, die besonders deutlich bei der Umweltwirtschaft und der Entwicklung der Grün- und Erholungsflächen herausstechen