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Adaptations in Plasmodium tubulin determine distinct microtubule architectures, mechanics and drug susceptibility
Full text linkMicrotubules are ubiquitous yet diverse cytoskeleton filaments. However, tubulin
conservation presents challenges in understanding the origins of diverse microtubule
architectures. The mechanisms by which microtubule architecture varies through the life
cycle of the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium are not understood and provide a valuable
framework for exploring how intrinsic properties of tubulin contribute to architectural
variety. Using parasite-purified tubulin, we determine P. falciparum microtubule structures
by cryo-electron microscopy. Parasite-specific sequences change the tubulin dimer structure,
suggesting how drug susceptibility and polymer properties are modified. Within the P.
falciparum microtubule, lateral contacts are smaller but stronger, and the lattice is stiffer than
in brain microtubules. Non-canonical microtubule architectures found in parasites are highly
similar to those observed in vitro, validating the physiological relevance of these properties.
Our findings show how evolutionary adaptation of tubulin modulates the material properties
of the microtubule cytoskeleton
‘Who will change the world?’: Willi Münzenberg, Kuhle Wampe and the call for a united front
Full text linkKuhle Wampe, Or Who Owns the World (1932) was among the last motion pictures (partly) produced by Prometheus, the film company co-founded by the communist publisher Willi Münzenberg. Whilst the film is often cited for its use of Brechtian montage techniques, its relation to Münzenberg’s media organisation remains less well discussed. This paper explores how Münzenberg utilised the potential of film, alongside his other activities, to open creative, anti-sectarian approaches to the organisation of the working class in response to the call for a united front against the advance of the fascist threat. Here, the focus falls on the tactful ways Münzenberg highlighted the need to move beyond the isolating ‘camp mentality’ that Oskar Negt and Alexander Kluge analyse in relation to the German Communist Party (KPD). The aim is to situate the production of Kuhle Wampe within a counterpublic sphere formed from a semi-autonomous media network that operated within, but presented a challenge to, the narrow and abstract public sphere constructed by the Stalinised KPD. The film is interpreted as one of the final attempts to articulate a united-front policy before the victory of German fascism in 1933 and, therefore, as an urgent contribution to the question of strategy just as the strategic debates of the interwar years appeared to be coming to an end
Labouring bodies: Dirk Valkenburg’s Gathering of Enslaved People on One of Jonas Witsen’s Plantations in Suriname in context
Full text linkThis essay situates Dirk Valkenburg's extraordinary painting, 'Gathering of Enslaved People on one of the Plantations of Jonas Witsen in Suriname' within a broad pan-European visual context across the course of the eighteenth century. Steeping the work within the politics of slavery and abolition across empires, it asks what role the picture might have played, particularly with regards to the rise of neo-natalist policies and practices
Dissertations and genre analysis
No full textBook synopsis: Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 14 Volume Set is the most authoritative, comprehensive and international reference work of its kind. Ground-breaking in its sheer scope – the 2nd edition had almost 3,000 chapters – no other linguistics reference work matches it for sheer broadness of coverage. Over the years it has been a much-loved and invaluable resource for researchers, academics, students and professionals in linguistics, anthropology, education, psychology, language acquisition and pathology, cognitive science, sociology and media/cultural studies. Led by a brand new and outstanding international editorial team, the 3rd edition will be thoroughly modernized to address the considerable growth and development in this field since the previous edition published in 2005. Existing chapters will be revised and updated, obsolete material removed and approximately 300 brand-new chapters will be commissioned to cover newer areas of research such as machine learning and natural language processing. Significant multimedia such as high-quality figures, audio files (highlighting differences in accent and dialects within languages) will be available to complement the text content, and chapters will follow a consistent chapter template in order to provide a logical reading experience for the user. The end-result will be an outstanding and market-leading reference work: modern, fully up to date, easy to navigate via its electronic platform, and logistically and consistently structured. Once again it will be the perfect resource for the modern-day language scholar
Constraints mechanism of the Early Cenozoic cooling and denudation on the Outer Hebrides in the northwest of Scotland from Joint Apatite Fission Track and (U-Th-Sm)/He Data
No full textTo constrain the mechanism driving early Cenozoic cooling and denudation in the Outer Hebrides, apatite fission track (AFT) analysis was conducted on 16 samples, with apatite (U-Th Sm)/He (AHe) analysis on half of them. AFT ages range from 125.7 ± 13.2 to 245.7 ± 13.7 Ma, while the single-grain AHe ages are highly dispersed, ranging from 13.9 ± 1.4 to 176.1 ± 17.6 Ma with values showing a general decrease toward the south. These data, together with grain fragment dimensions from AHe data, were incorporated into the generation of thermal history models. The combined models show that the northern Outer Hebrides started cooling during the Permian to Triassic, while the southern part cooled later, around the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. Estimates of denudation predicted are approximately 1–2.5 km during the cooling episode from the Permian to the Early Jurassic, which coincides with Pangaea's breakup, triggering lithospheric thinning, rifting, fault reactivation, and removal of synrift topography. From the Middle Jurassic to the Cretaceous, the area experienced much slower, monotonic cooling, with approximately 0.1–1 km of denudation. Then the entire region underwent synchronous cooling and denudation in the early Cenozoic (∼65 ± 5 Ma), likely driven by mantle plume initiation and magmatic underplating which extends from east Greenland to St. Kilda and northwest Scotland inferred from geophysical studies rather than compressive stress from Alpine Orogeny or North Atlantic rifting. In addition, spatial denudation amount around 65 Ma along the Outer Hebrides suggests uneven underplating beneath the Outer Hebrides, decreasing from east to west and north to south
FAIR fission track analysis with geochron@home
Full text linkFission track thermochronology is based on the visual analysis of optical images. This visual process is prone to observer bias. Fission track datasets are currently reported as numerical summary tables. The interpretation of these tables requires a high degree of trust between the fission track analyst and the user of the data. geochron@home is software that removes this requirement of trust. It combines a browserbased “virtual microscope” with an online database to provide FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reproducible) access to fission track data.
geochron@home serves four different purposes. It can be used (1) to count fission tracks in “private mode”, i.e. hidden from other users on the internet; (2) to archive fission track images and counts for inspection by other users; (3) to create tutorials for new students of the fission track method; and (4) to serve randomly selected selections of images to citizen scientists.We illustrate these four applications with examples that demonstrate (1) geochron@home’s ability to compare and combine fission track counts for multiple users within a lab group; (2) the value of the geochron@home archive in the peer review system; (3) the use of simple tutorials in teaching novice users how to count fission tracks; and (4) the opportunities and challenges of crowd-sourced fission track analysis.
geochron@home was written in Python and Javascript. Its
code is freely available for inspection and modification, allowing
users to set up their own geochron@home server.
Alternatively, users who would like to upload data to the archive, but do not have the facilities to set up their own server, may use the server at University College London free of charge. The archive accepts image stacks acquired on any type of digital microscope, and accommodates fission track data (counts and length measurements) from external fission track analysis suites such as Fission Track Studio and TrackFlow. We anticipate that the introduction of FAIR workflows will make fission track data more accurate and more future proof. Storing fission track data online will benefit future developments in fission track thermochronology. For example, archival datasets of peer reviewed fission track counts can be used to train and improve machine learning algorithms for automated fission track analysis. We invite other geochronological methods to follow the fission track community’s lead in FAIR data processing. This would benefit all the Earth Science disciplines that depend on geochronological data
Inserted communities and religious commitment in Post-Conciliar Britain, 1970s-2000s
No full textThis chapter examines the role of ‘inserted communities’, the small religious communities that placed themselves within the heart of inner-city neighbourhoods, and the tensions that existed between a religious ministry that was more about ‘being’ than ‘doing’. Such ministries were seen as being antithetical to traditional understandings of activism and social action. Archival material and oral testimony will be scrutinised to identify the complex lived experience of religious sisters in the inner-city mission, how they grappled with tensions of ‘being’ and ‘doing’ and particularly how their commitment to ‘inserted communities’ inspired their faith. The chapter begins with an explanation of both ecclesial and non-ecclesial forms of inserted communities followed by a thick description of the origins and aims of one such inserted community in Hyson Green, Nottingham. Next, the analysis of the pastoral, personal and political meanings of the commitment of the sisters in Hyson Green, compared and contrasted with other inserted communities, is explored alongside marginalisation and the politics of social change. As a form of religious commitment, inserted communities provided a pastoral service to those on the margins of society that was both spiritual and social. The spiritual impetus was embedded in the personal faith of the sisters rather than explicit aims of evangelisation. Social pastoral aims of inserted communities were meant to build communities and networks among those marginalised by society, empowering them with the tools to decrease their own powerlessness. As a form of voluntary action, they were a part of the new wave of re-energised voluntary sector bodies coming out of the 1960s ‘rediscovery of poverty’. Inserted communities were also places of encounter that could lead to the politicisation
A theoretical framework of collaborative authorial voice: cognitive, social, and textual dimensions
Full text linkAuthorial voice in academic writing reflects how writers construct and assert authority within
their disciplinary communities. While voice has so far been examined through linguistic, sociocultural,
metadiscourse and other perspectives, existing frameworks have largely focused on individual
authorship, overlooking the complexities of collaborative writing. This study introduces
a comprehensive multidimensional theoretical framework that integrates intrapersonal (cognitive,
metacognitive, and emotional), interactional (negotiation and power dynamics), and
behavioral (textual enactment) dimensions to trace how authorial voice is constructed in
collaboration. Through a longitudinal case study, this paper examines how voice is shaped
through distributed cognitive processes, feedback negotiations, and textual positioning. Findings
reveal that authorial voice is not a fixed attribute but a cognitively developmental, socially situated,
and rhetorically negotiated construct. Co-authors and gatekeepers play a central role in
shaping voice, sometimes enabling agency, other times constraining it. By applying this theoretical
framework to collaborative writing for publication, this study offers a novel lens for
analyzing voice as a distributed and dialogic developmental phenomenon. The framework advances
theorizing beyond individual-centered accounts and offers methodological guidance for
studying voice across drafts, actors, and feedback channels in collaborative research contexts
Writing imperial space in letters
No full textThe fabric of the Roman empire was held together by a dense web of communications. Letters, often concerned with themes of connection and separation, played a significant role in the cultural construction of Roman imperial space. As material texts composed in one place and read in another perhaps far distant one, letters contributed to an understanding of imperial space articulated in terms of points on an itinerary, whose separation might be grasped in terms of time, as much as spatial distance. Strikingly ancient Roman letters almost never disclose an interest in the quality of places beyond Italy. Often letters work to efface the distance separating writer and addressee. In more formal letters little reference is made to distance, while letters between intimates frequently reflect on the capacity of this form of communication to transcend separation. What are the implications of this for conceptions of the empire’s space? Cicero’s letters are the primary focus of this discussion, which also touches on the letters of Seneca and Pliny and on Ovid’s exile poetry
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