This article aspires to contribute to the ongoing literature on collective action in times of crisis. Our emphasis is on what has been considered the anti-austerity protest cycle’s most novel pattern ...of everyday resistance, i.e., the “solidarity” frame and its concomitant forms of direct social action. For that purpose, we focus on the most emblematic case of solidarity politics in Greece, the Clinics-Pharmacies Solidarity Structures (SCPSs). Emerging in 2011, SCPSs spread throughout the country only to decline after the introduction of Health Reform by the left-wing government of SYRIZA. By adopting a relational approach highlighting the interplay between waves of contention, the fluctuating institutional environment, and broader social and structural processes in the background of a hollowed welfare state, we demon-strate the politicization potential of solidarity direct social action, as well as its antipodal dynamic: depoliticization and movement dissolution. We argue that the latter was the result of a double process: (a) the selective co-optation of soli-darity structures by an institutional actor (SYRIZA), setting in motion movement-internal polarization, and (b) the discur-sive subordination of solidarity frames and activities to the “realm of necessity” as prescribed by the rationality of con-tinuing austerity politics.
Amino acid metabolism is crucial for fungal growth and development. Ureohydrolases produce amines when acting on l-arginine, agmatine, and guanidinobutyrate (GB), and these enzymes generate ornithine ...(by arginase), putrescine (by agmatinase), or GABA (by 4-guanidinobutyrase or GBase).
can metabolize and grow on arginine, agmatine, or guanidinobutyrate as the sole nitrogen source. Three related
genes whose sequences suggested that they were putative arginase or arginase-like genes were examined for their role in these metabolic pathways. Of these,
encoded the only bona fide arginase, whereas we provide evidence that the other two open reading frames, orf19.5862 and orf19.3418, encode agmatinase and guanidinobutyrase (Gbase), respectively. Analysis of strains with single and multiple mutations suggested the presence of arginase-dependent and arginase-independent routes for polyamine production.
played a role in hyphal morphogenesis in response to arginine, and the virulence of a triple mutant was reduced in both
and
infection models. In the bloodstream, arginine is an essential amino acid that is required by phagocytes to synthesize nitric oxide (NO). However, none of the single or multiple mutants affected host NO production, suggesting that they did not influence the oxidative burst of phagocytes.
We show that the
ureohydrolases arginase (Car1), agmatinase (Agt1), and guanidinobutyrase (Gbu1) can orchestrate an arginase-independent route for polyamine production and that this is important for
growth and survival in microenvironments of the mammalian host.
This paper traces the emergence, politicisation and spread of healthcare provision tactics by (contentious) collective actors in Greece between 1990 and 2015. Drawing on participant observation, ...in-depth interviews with relevant field actors (N=40), and documentary analysis, the paper develops a diachronic typology that analyses and compares; (1) the appearance of those tactics in the Greek context in the 1990s, (2) their appropriation by contentious actors after the December 2008 riots, and (3) their diffusion, and eventual modularisation over the course of the 2010 crisis and the cycle of anti-austerity contention. In so doing, the paper helps disentangle the dynamics of repertoire innovation through an understudied set of tactics. This is achieved through the reconstruction of the genealogy of healthcare Direct Social Actions (DSAs) – pace Bosi and Zamponi (2015) – in Greece, their transmutation from “consenting” to contentious tactics after 2008, and their wide diffusion among contentious milieus after 2010. In addition, the paper discusses the interplay between the contextual and strategic dimensions of those tactical preferences across actors and across time. To be sure, early utilisation of those tactics on the side of marginal players can be understood as attempts to tactically differentiate themselves vis-à-vis those traditional and hegemonic players in the arena who relied on indirect, protest tactics. The crisis, however, disturbed the seeming equilibrium of the healthcare arena thus prompting tactical convergence around healthcare DSAs among contentious actors, on the one hand, while reinforcing strategic convergence among some actors and strategic divergence among others.
•A DNA database from an AGS reactor was constructed to study the system resistome, mobilome, and microbiome.•The genera Pseudomonas and Rhodoferax were the potential predominant ARG carriers in the ...system.•MGEs and ARGs often co-localize on contigs recovered from the exDNA of the effluent.•AGS plants are efficient at reducing ARB.•The exDNA is an underestimated DNA fraction containing ARGs in the effluent.
In the One Health context, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are central to safeguarding water resources. Nonetheless, many questions remain about their effectiveness in preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination. Most surveillance studies monitor the levels and removal of selected antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in intracellular DNA (iDNA) extracted from WWTP influents and effluents. The role of extracellular free DNA (exDNA) in wastewater is mostly overlooked. This study analyzed the transfer of ARGs and MGEs in a full-scale Nereda® reactor removing nutrients with aerobic granular sludge. We tracked the composition and fate of the iDNA and exDNA pools of influent, sludge, and effluent samples. Metagenomics was used to profile the microbiome, resistome, and mobilome signatures of iDNA and exDNA extracts. Selected ARGs and MGEs were analyzed by qPCR. From 2,840 ARGs identified, the genes arr-3 (2%), tetC (1.6%), sul1 (1.5%), oqxB (1.2%), and aph(3")-Ib (1.2%) were the most abundant among all sampling points and bioaggregates. Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Acidovorax, Rhodoferax, and Streptomyces populations were the main potential hosts of ARGs in the sludge. In the effluent, 478 resistance determinants were detected, of which 89% were from exDNA potentially released by cell lysis during aeration in the reactor. MGEs and multiple ARGs were co-localized on the same extracellular genetic contigs. Total intracellular ARGs decreased 3-42% due to wastewater treatment. However, the ermB and sul1 genes increased by 2 and 1 log gene copies mL−1, respectively, in exDNA from influent to effluent. The exDNA fractions need to be considered in AMR surveillance, risk assessment, and mitigation strategies.
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Recently AP-2 endocytic adaptor complex was determined to have an important role in the endocytosis of an important Candida albicans cell wall synthase, chitin synthase 3 (Chs3). Loss of function of ...AP-2 cells cannot endocytose Chs3 resulting in increased cell wall composition changes and defects during polarized growth. The cell wall and hyphal switch are two important C. albicans virulence factors so studying the impact of AP-2 was of interest. In this study, the importance of AP-2 for the host - pathogen interactions of the human pathogenic fungus C. albicans were investigated. Three infection models were used (macrophages, epithelial and zebrafish embryos) to investigate the significance of AP-2 during host-pathogen interactions. This investigation shows that the cell wall composition changes in C. albicans with loss of function of AP-2 resulting in increased phagocytosis by macrophages, decreased host adhesion and decreased virulence in both macrophage and zebrafish models. C. albicans with loss of function of AP-2 complex are less virulent however they are not cleared by the host immune system but rather proliferate in the host cells. The mutant C. albicans cells were less invasive than wild type cells during epithelial infections, suggesting reduced host cell damage and virulence. This thesis concludes that the AP-2 is critical for the virulence of C. albicans cells due to its role in cell wall remodelling, hyphal morphology switch and hyphal maintenance.
Hospital outbreaks of COVID19 result in considerable mortality and disruption to healthcare services and yet little is known about transmission within this setting. We characterise within hospital ...transmission by combining viral genomic and epidemiological data using Bayesian modelling amongst 2181 patients and healthcare workers from a large UK NHS Trust. Transmission events were compared between Wave 1 (1st March to 25th J'uly 2020) and Wave 2 (30th November 2020 to 24th January 2021). We show that staff-to-staff transmissions reduced from 31.6% to 12.9% of all infections. Patient-to-patient transmissions increased from 27.1% to 52.1%. 40%-50% of hospital-onset patient cases resulted in onward transmission compared to 4% of community-acquired cases. Control measures introduced during the pandemic likely reduced transmissions between healthcare workers but were insufficient to prevent increasing numbers of patient-to-patient transmissions. As hospital-acquired cases drive most onward transmission, earlier identification of nosocomial cases will be required to break hospital transmission chains.
In the blood stream, arginine is an essential amino acid that is required by phagocytes to synthesize iNOS. Previously we showed that the fungus
Candida albicans
induces host arginase production that ...diverts arginine from the pathway that leads to the production of nitrite oxide. We therefore investigated whether
C. albicans
arginase activity also contributed to the protection of the fungus by competing for arginine during infections. Three
C. albicans
genes had been annotated as putative arginase encoding genes. Heterologous expression of these genes suggested all three had some arginase activity and one gene product (Car1) encoded a bone fide arginase that was required for growth on arginine. However, single and double mutations in the two other genes (AGM1 and GBU1) did not affect growth on arginine as a single nitrogen source and were found instead to encode agmatinase and guanidinobutyrase respectively that participate in two other pathways related to arginine metabolism. This family of three enzymes therefore exhibits mixed biochemical activities and collectively participate in the catabolism of exogenous and endogenous sources of arginine. Virulence of the triple mutant lacking all three genes was reduced in a Galleria infection model, but single or double mutants were fully virulent. None of the single or multiple mutants affected host NO production suggesting they do not influence the oxidative burst of phagocytes. In addition, CAR1 expression was required for hyphal growth. This family of enzymes therefore represent a novel enzyme set that is essential for growth
in vivo
and indirectly for fungal virulence.
Abstract
Hospital outbreaks of COVID19 result in considerable mortality and disruption to healthcare services and yet little is known about transmission within this setting. We characterise within ...hospital transmission by combining viral genomic and epidemiological data using Bayesian modelling amongst 2181 patients and healthcare workers from a large UK NHS Trust. Transmission events were compared between Wave 1 (1st March to 25th July 2020) and Wave 2 (30th November 2020 to 24th January 2021). We show that staff-to-staff transmissions reduced from 31.6% to 12.9% of all infections. Patient-to-patient transmissions increased from 27.1% to 52.1%. 40%-50% of hospital-onset patient cases resulted in onward transmission compared to 4% of community-acquired cases. Control measures introduced during the pandemic likely reduced transmissions between healthcare workers but were insufficient to prevent increasing numbers of patient-to-patient transmissions. As hospital-acquired cases drive most onward transmission, earlier identification of nosocomial cases will be required to break hospital transmission chains.
B.1.1.7 lineage SARS-CoV-2 is more transmissible, leads to greater clinical severity, and results in modest reductions in antibody neutralization. Subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) is produced by discontinuous ...transcription of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Applying our tool (periscope) to ARTIC Network Oxford Nanopore Technologies genomic sequencing data from 4400 SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical samples, we show that normalised sgRNA is significantly increased in B.1.1.7 (alpha) infections (n = 879). This increase is seen over the previous dominant lineage in the UK, B.1.177 (n = 943), which is independent of genomic reads, E cycle threshold and days since symptom onset at sampling. A noncanonical sgRNA which could represent ORF9b is found in 98.4% of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 infections compared with only 13.8% of other lineages, with a 16-fold increase in median sgRNA abundance. We demonstrate that ORF9b protein levels are increased 6-fold in B.1.1.7 compared to a B lineage virus in vitro. We hypothesise that increased ORF9b in B.1.1.7 is a direct consequence of a triple nucleotide mutation in nucleocapsid (28280:GAT > CAT, D3L) creating a transcription regulatory-like sequence complementary to a region 3' of the genomic leader. These findings provide a unique insight into the biology of B.1.1.7 and support monitoring of sgRNA profiles to evaluate emerging potential variants of concern.
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