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Between love, shame and guilta political analysis of emotions in the family context of a trans man
No full textThis article analyses the emotional and emotive discourses linked to the experiences of members of trans men’s families during the gender transition process. The discussion refers to the results of ethnographic research using different methodological strategies in three cities in Northeast Brazil, two of which state capitals, one a small town, between 2020 and 2023. Initially, the article addresses family member’s expressed feelings of shame and guilt associated with transgenderism, considered with respect to gender hierarchies and the hegemonic role that a “good mother” is expected to play. Next, the analysis explores how these “negative” feelings give way to love, in our interlocutors’ statements. Love emerges in family discourses as a justification for accepting and supporting gender transition, becoming a constitutive part of kinship relationships. Furthermore, love is used as a political mobilization strategy in an activist group composed mainly of mothers of LGBTQIAPN+ sons and daughters. Analysis of these political rhetorics of emotion demonstrate that hegemonic conceptions about motherhood, linked to love and care, open the possibility for these people to act in the face of gender and sexuality norms. The article therefore contributes to understanding the way in which emotions are activated as constitutive elements of the means and limits of individual and collective agency, in the sense postulated by Saba Mahmood, demonstrating the complexity of the political potential of emotions in the face of normative relations of subordination and power.Peer reviewe
N-Salicyl-amino acid derivatives with antiparasitic activity from Pseudomonas sp. UIAU-6B
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by funding from TETFund, Nigeria for a University Senate Based research.Pseudomonads strains represent a promising source of bioactive compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications. The necessity to find new drugs is underscored by the increased concern over antimicrobial resistance in the human system. In this study, we isolated two previously undescribed N-salicyl-amino acids as natural products (1 and 2) and other two new derivatives (3 and 4) from the organic extract of a culture broth in a modified starch–glucose–glycerol (SGG) medium of Pseudomonas sp. UIAU-6B. The structure of the new natural products, pseudomonins D–G (1–4) isolated alongside other three known compounds, pseudomonine (5), pseudomonin B (6) and salicylic acid (7), were elucidated based on high-resolution mass spectrometry, 1D and 2D NMR analyses. The absolute configurations of the threonine residue in compounds 1 and 2 were determined by Marfey’s analysis. Compound 4 displayed a very weak pan-trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania major with EC50 values of 101–137 μM, while compounds 2 and 5 showed modest activity against Leishmania major, but none of the remaining compounds showed activity at the highest concentrations tested. The plausible biosynthetic hypotheses toward the compounds were also proposed.Peer reviewe
Unpacking conceptual idolatry
Get PDFAlthough many contemporary theologians and philosophers of religion distinguish between ‘idolatry’ in a general sense and ‘conceptual idolatry’ as a distinct error, close attention to theorists of idolatry shows that ‘conceptual idolatry’ should not be considered distinct from idolatry proper. After discussing the relation between concepts and idolatry in key thinkers from the phenomenological and grammatical traditions, this article discusses analytic attempts to understand idolatry, showing how each falls short. Ultimately, attention to the category of ‘conceptual idolatry’ shows the deficiencies present in contemporary framings of idolatry simpliciter. This article concludes with a proposal for a new framework by which to understand the dispute about idolatry: turning away from the question of whether we are worshipping the right God, towards the question of how God might (and might not) become apt to human thought and speech.Peer reviewe
The individual and situational factors predicting unethical behaviour in the workplace : a direct and conceptual replication of Jones & Kavanagh (1996)
Get PDFPublisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Intentions to act unethically in the workplace are purported to be driven by a number of situational and individual factors. Across two seminal vignette experiments, Jones and Kavanagh reported inconsistent effect sizes for manager and peer influence and locus of control, consistent significant effects for work quality and Machiavellianism, and consistent non-significant effects for gender. Using an innovative multi-site collaboration, the current Registered Report represents a direct replication of these experiments (N = 2218), and adds a longitudinal conceptual replication capturing self-reported unethical work behaviour (N = 1747). Both replications found a consistent small effect of having a more external locus of control and male identity, and a consistent moderate effect of machiavellianism, for increasing unethical intentions and behaviour. The situational factors, whilst consistent in direction with that of the original study, varied more substantively in effect size. Our results highlight the value of multi-site collaborations and different replication types in developing conceptual, methodological, measurement and theoretical clarity to ensure future works can progress more rapidly to minimize the negative impacts of unethical workplace behaviour and improve individual’s working lives. All materials, code and data for this project can be found here: osf.io/d3arx.Peer reviewe
Two distinctions about world-relative truth
Get PDFThe distinction between truth in and truth at a possible world plays a significant role in many debates in modal metaphysics. In this note, I argue that there are two radically different ways of making the distinction precise. Moreover, I argue that the differences matter, showing how they differently constrain the modal metaphysics of properties and propositions.Peer reviewe
Genesis 34 and the law
Get PDFTwo features of the Shechem story present challenges for reading: the story’s ambiguities, and its relationship to the law. The two features are mutually implicating. Through their words and their actions, particular characters allude to particular laws, revealing that they hold divergent points of view on the crisis instigated by prince Shechem. Disclosing this conflict of perspectives clarifies many of the story’s ambiguities and maximizes others.Peer reviewe
Shellfish carbonate in sediments : assessing historical baselines, dissolution dynamics, and carbon storage beneath shellfish farms, Marlborough, New Zealand
Get PDFFunding: This study was supported by collaborative funding under the 508 Coasts and Estuaries platform of the National Institute for Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.’s 509 Strategic Science Investment Fund (CEEE2304, CENC2401) from New Zealand’s Ministry for Business, 510 Innovation and Employment core funding.Inorganic carbon (IC) in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) produced by shellfish is a key but often overlooked component of estuarine sediments, now threatened by the decline of calcifying biogenic habitats. While biocalcification can be potentially a net emitter of CO2, shellfish shells also preserve paleobiological records that can inform pre-impact baselines and support ecosystem restoration alongside aquaculture developments. However, global stressors—including overharvesting, benthic disturbance, and increased aquaculture—have distorted the sedimentary record of CaCO3. We analysed sediment cores beneath three ca.40-year-old green-lipped mussel Perna canaliculus farms to assess shell deposition rates before and after aquaculture development. Mussel shells, including those from fouling species Mytilus galloprovincialis, dominated both periods, but post-farming deposition rates increased by an average of 8-fold. Old shells in deeper sediments were from historic wild mussel reefs reduced to ca.3% of former biomass by the 1970s. We found statistically significant yet minor differences in OC and IC content between old and recent shells. These results demonstrate how shell accumulation beneath farms preserves valuable ecological archives and enhances benthic carbon stocks. Our findings offer a novel tool for aquaculture managers to reconstruct baseline conditions, monitor carbon contributions, and inform the use of shell waste in coastal rehabilitation strategies on soft sediments.Peer reviewe
Addressing social-business tensions in hybridized nonprofit organizations : the contribution of strategic human resource management
Get PDFNonprofit hybridization represents the adaptive response to a turbulent external and internal environment leading to tensions between contradictory goals (e.g. social and business goals). Although research has provided insights into the strategies for addressing the tensions stemming from hybridization, it has paid less attention to how strategic human resource management (SHRM) may play a role in managing these social-business tensions. Given the increasing complexity nonprofit organizations (NPOs) face, this hybrid context presents a valuable opportunity to examine the concept of SHRM “fit” in terms of different stakeholder demands, diverse and competing goals and resulting tensions. This article aims to conceptualize and contextualize SHRM fit in hybridized NPOs to gain a better understanding of how organizations can orientate their systems and practices to manage competing demands stemming from hybridization. Hereby, we use SHRM fit to illustrate the opportunities for and limitations on practice within a hybrid context. Bringing the nonprofit and hybrid literature together, we develop a typology of nonprofit hybridization that distinguishes NPOs according to their financial and social orientation and specify the tensions and management approaches that dominate these types. Drawing on the concept of SHRM fit, we advance a framework and propositions on how the management approaches in each of the types result in different configurations of vertical and horizontal fit that address social-business tensions. Hereby we extend current debates in the hybridization literature on tensions between opposing goals and research on SHRM approaches in NPOs and contribute to a theoretically-informed understanding of the implications of tension management approaches in variants of hybrid organizations.Peer reviewe
A two-layer neural circuit controls fast forward locomotion in Drosophila
No full textFunding: This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( T2293720 , T2293721 , and 32271041 to Z.G.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( T2293723 and 61972347 to N.Z.), the National Key R&D Program of China ( 2020YFB1313501 to N.Z.), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China STI 2030-major projects (2021ZD0200405 to Z.G.), the Key Research and Development Project of Zhejiang Province ( 2022C01022 to Z.G.), and Zhejiang Lab grant 2020KB0AC02 (Z.G.).Fast forward locomotion is critical for animal hunting and escaping behaviors. However, how the underlying neural circuit is wired at synaptic resolution to decide locomotion direction and speed remains poorly understood. Here, we identified in the ventral nerve cord (VNC) a set of ascending cholinergic neurons (AcNs) to be command neurons capable of initiating fast forward peristaltic locomotion in Drosophila larvae. Targeted manipulations revealed that AcNs are necessary and sufficient for fast forward locomotion. AcNs can activate their postsynaptic partners, A01j and A02j; both are interneurons with locomotory rhythmicity. Activated A01j neurons form a posterior-anteriorly descendent gradient in output activity along the VNC to launch forward locomotion from the tail. Activated A02j neurons exhibit quicker intersegmental transmission in activity that enables fast propagation of motor waves. Our work revealed a global neural mechanism that coordinately controls the launch direction and propagation speed of Drosophila locomotion, furthering the understanding of the strategy for locomotion control.Peer reviewe
Clinical evaluation of host transcriptional markers for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment response monitoring
No full textThe World Health Organization (WHO) called for non-sputum-based tests for tuberculosis (TB). This thesis considered the role of host transcriptional markers (HTM) for diagnosis of latent TB infection (LTBI) and active pulmonary TB (ATB) and for ATB treatment monitoring.
To measure HTM expression, a multiplex reverse-transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was developed for 17 genes. Participants were recruited in Blantyre, Malawi. Amongst predefined study populations were the following key groups: ATB patients, who expectorated Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) culture and Xpert MTB/RIF positive sputum; patients with other respiratory diseases (ORDs) who had negative sputum tests and were not diagnosed with ATB; LTBI patients, who were TB exposed (TBEx) household contacts of ATB patients with a positive Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA); TBExIGRA- participants, who were contacts with a negative IGRA- result; and Healthy Controls (HCs), who were asymptomatic IGRA negative individuals without household TB exposure. Cross-sectional analyses evaluated whether HTM expression profiles could discriminate LTBI from HCs, LTBI from ATB, and ATB from ORDs. Patients receiving ATB treatment were followed for 8 months to compare sputum bacteriology tests (Time to Positivity in MGIT culture and the TB Molecular Bacterial Load Assay [TB-MBLA]) with HTM profiles for treatment monitoring.
LTBI was associated with suppression of gene expression compared to HCs. ZNF296 and KLF2 distinguished LTBI from HCs more accurately than other HTM. A proportion of TBExIGRA- negative participants exhibited similar HTM expression patterns to LTBI. ATB was associated with upregulated HTM expression compared to ORDs. CD64 most accurately distinguished ATB from ORDs. HIV co-infection did not affect HTM expression in either LTBI or ATB. HTM expression declined in response to treatment in a manner that mirrored bacteriological measures of treatment response.
Blood-based HTM have potential to improve LTBI and ATB diagnosis and monitor ATB treatment response."This studentship was supported by the Global St Andrews Doctoral Scholarship.The research work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support fund of the University of St Andrews, grant code 204821/Z/16/Z. Additional funding was obtained from Helse Nord Tuberculosis Initiative (HNTI), and the Africa Centre for Public Health and Herbal Medicines (ACEPHEM), Kamuzu University of Health Sciences.""--Fundin
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