Different Domains Of Life Research Articles

What gets left behind for future generations? Reproduction and the environment in Spey Bay, Scotland

What gets left behind for future generations? Reproduction and the environment in Spey Bay, Scotland

In vivo aspects of protein folding and quality control.

Most proteins must fold into unique three-dimensional structures to perform their biological functions. In the crowded cellular environment, newly synthesized proteins are at risk of misfolding and forming toxic aggregate species. To ensure efficient folding, different classes of molecular chaperones receive the nascent protein chain emerging from the ribosome and guide it along a productive folding pathway. Because proteins are structurally dynamic, constant surveillance of the proteome by an integrated network of chaperones and protein degradation machineries is required to maintain protein homeostasis (proteostasis). The capacity of this proteostasis network declines during aging, facilitating neurodegeneration and other chronic diseases associated with protein aggregation. Understanding the proteostasis network holds the promise of identifying targets for pharmacological intervention in these pathologies.

Intersectionality of Marginalization and Inequality: A Case Study of Muslims in India

Marginalization is a process that leads to sidelining of a certain community/individual to the periphery of the social space that eventually constrain their life choices at political space, social negotiation, and economic bargaining. It is a complex contested umbrella term is inextricably linked with the concept of inequality within the marginalized communities. In fact, inequality and marginalization are usually at interface in that they both with interacts and reinforces each other. Religious minority groups are amongst those who encounter severe exclusion, discrimination and oppression. In case of Indian Muslims as a religious marginalized community, these two concepts overlap. However, concern with ‘marginalization’ is relatively recent and it is imperative to check the development trajectory on the marginalized groups. As considerable evidence exists, a process of ‘marginalization’ of minority communities exists in almost all societies and nothing warrants that the same is not true of Muslims in India to a greater or a lesser degree. While discussing social structure of Indian Muslims prominent scholars like Imtiaz Ahmad and Zoya Hasan brought forth the theoretical debate “Can there be a category called Dalit Muslims” . However, there are different and distinct categories of ‘marginalization’ which sometimes intersect each other and therefore essentially limit the possibility about a proper and comprehensive diagnosis, thereby, making it difficult to resist the actual power-relations. This study explores the systemic processes through which Muslims are being marginalized systematically in different domains of life.

The Relationship between Levels of Physical Activity and Quality of Life among Students of the University of the Third Age.

The assessment of quality of life (QoL) among elderly people is of great importance when preparing health care programmes for this social group. Many researchers indicate that poor health is less frequently observed in senior citizens who display levels of physical activity (PA) prescribed by WHO. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the level of PA among students of the University of the Third Age (U3A) and their self-assessment concerning their QoL. The research sample consisted of 131 students from three U3A in West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. PA was assessed with the aid of a short Polish version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The assessment of QoL was conducted with the use of a Polish version of the WHO Quality of Life--BREF instrument (WHOQOL-BREF). The present study has shown that highly active U3A students declare high QoL in the psychological and social domains more often than other respondents. The level of PA recommended by WHO has a positive impact on the perceived QoL. Possible differences are visible mostly in the assessment of different domains of life in relation to the presented levels of PA.

Intein Clustering Suggests Functional Importance in Different Domains of Life.

Inteins, also called protein introns, are self-splicing mobile elements found in all domains of life. A bioinformatic survey of genomic data highlights a biased distribution of inteins among functional categories of proteins in both bacteria and archaea, with a strong preference for a single network of functions containing replisome proteins. Many nonorthologous, functionally equivalent replicative proteins in bacteria and archaea carry inteins, suggesting a selective retention of inteins in proteins of particular functions across domains of life. Inteins cluster not only in proteins with related roles but also in specific functional units of those proteins, like ATPase domains. This peculiar bias does not fully fit the models describing inteins exclusively as parasitic elements. In such models, evolutionary dynamics of inteins is viewed primarily through their mobility with the intein homing endonuclease (HEN) as the major factor of intein acquisition and loss. Although the HEN is essential for intein invasion and spread in populations, HEN dynamics does not explain the observed biased distribution of inteins among proteins in specific functional categories. We propose that the protein splicing domain of the intein can act as an environmental sensor that adapts to a particular niche and could increase the chance of the intein becoming fixed in a population. We argue that selective retention of some inteins might be beneficial under certain environmental stresses, to act as panic buttons that reversibly inhibit specific networks, consistent with the observed intein distribution.

The Quality of Life of Muslim Traders in Iloilo City, Philippines

This study attempted to evaluate the quality of life of Muslim traders in Iloilo City. They have traded in this city and resided in its vicinity for several years after migrating from Lanao del Sur when then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. Most of these Muslim traders were Maranaos who fled and found their way to the peaceful city of Iloilo. The Quality of Life index by Ferrans and Powers (1984 & 1998) was used as a guide to assess the present condition of the quality of life of Muslim traders for the year 2014-2015. The questionnaire measures the respondent’s general satisfaction towards different domains of life. A comparison of the weighted mean scores for the overall quality of life and the subdomains grouped according to gender, tribe, and type of business was done. Results revealed that the weighted mean scores for the overall quality of life including all the subdomains were above 15 indicating that Muslim traders perceived their quality of life as very good. These Muslim traders have accepted their present condition in life, specifically the quality of their health and functioning, socio-economic, psychological and spiritual, and family conditions.

Effects of Family Structure and the Experience of Parental Separation: A Study on Adolescents’ Well-Being

Large numbers of studies, mostly from the U.S., have addressed the effects of parental separation and divorce, pointing to disadvantages of children and adolescents growing up in separated families. However, evidence on this topic varies across countries and is limited for Germany. Using longitudinal data from waves 1 and 3 of the German Family Panel pairfam, we investigated differences in adolescents’ well-being by comparing stable nuclear families (n = 1968), single mother families (n = 360), and stepfather families (n = 214), as well as an additional smaller group of adolescents whose parents separated between waves 1 and 3 (“prospective separators”; n = 76). Adolescents’ satisfaction with different domains of life (family, education/work, and their general life satisfaction) as well as their self-esteem were used as indicators of well-being. A series of multiple regression analyses tested the effects of family structure on well-being at T1 and changes in well-being over time, controlling for various background factors. Furthermore, likely mediation effects of infrequent contact to the non-resident father and economic strain were tested. The findings show (relatively minor) effects of parental separation, namely lower well-being among youth1 in single mother families compared to nuclear families. Disadvantages of youth in single mother families could only be partly explained by the higher financial strain generally experienced in these families. Youth in stepfather families reported a similar overall well-being as adolescents in nuclear families, but indicated a greater decrease in family satisfaction over time. Pre-separation disadvantages among prospective separators were limited to greater dissatisfaction with school. Infrequent contact with the non-resident father did not affect adolescents’ well-being. Effects of family structure did not differ between boys and girls, but maternal education moderated the effects of family structure on adolescents’ life satisfaction. Overall, the findings are in line with other evidence from Germany, which points towards only limited disadvantages of youth in separated or divorced families.

Insight into the Assembly of Viruses with Vertical Single β-barrel Major Capsid Proteins

Archaeal viruses constitute the least explored niche within the virosphere. Structure-based approaches have revealed close relationships between viruses infecting organisms from different domains of life. Here, using biochemical and cryo-electron microscopy techniques, we solved the structure of euryarchaeal, halophilic, internal membrane-containing Haloarcula hispanica icosahedral virus 2 (HHIV-2). We show that the density of the two major capsid proteins (MCPs) recapitulates vertical single β-barrel proteins and that disulfide bridges stabilize the capsid. Below, ordered density is visible close to the membrane and at the five-fold vertices underneath the host-interacting vertex complex underpinning membrane-protein interactions. The HHIV-2 structure exemplifies the division of conserved architectural elements of a virion, such as the capsid, from those that evolve rapidly due to selective environmental pressure such as host-recognizing structures. We propose that in viruses with two vertical single β-barrel MCPs the vesicle is indispensable, and membrane-protein interactions serve as protein-railings for guiding the assembly.

The resourceful facilitator: teacher leaders constructing identities as facilitators of teacher peer groups

The use of teacher peer groups is a prevalent strategy for school-based professional development and instructional improvement. Facilitation of such groups is an increasingly vital dimension of teacher leadership as a component of school improvement efforts. Drawing on a qualitative study of facilitation of teacher peer groups, the article investigates how teacher leaders integrate experiences from different domains of life in constructing a unique facilitator identity. Focusing on portraits of three teacher leaders, it demonstrates how teachers relate experiences outside of teaching, including academic experiences, other professional experiences, and social experiences, to the skills and orientation necessary for effective facilitation. The article argues for attention to reflexive practices of identity formation in the preparation of teacher leaders as facilitators and in the ongoing development of teacher leaders who already function as facilitators.

Communities of Practice. Niches voor de samenwerking tussen ervaringswerkers en professionals bij gebiedsgericht werken

Communities of Practice. Niches voor de samenwerking tussen ervaringswerkers en professionals bij gebiedsgericht werken

Initiation of translation in bacteria by a structured eukaryotic IRES RNA

The central dogma of gene expression (DNA→RNA→protein) is universal, but in different domains of life there are fundamental mechanistic differences within this pathway. For example, the canonical molecular signals used to initiate protein synthesis in bacteria and eukaryotes are mutually exclusive1,2. However, the core structures and conformational dynamics of ribosomes that are responsible for the steps of translation following initiation are ancient and conserved across the domains of life3,4. We asked whether an undiscovered RNA-based signal might be able to use these conserved features, bypassing mechanisms specific to each domain of life, and initiate protein synthesis in both bacteria and eukaryotes. Although structured internal ribosome entry site (IRES) RNAs can manipulate ribosomes to initiate translation in eukaryotic cells, an analogous RNA structure-based mechanism has not been observed in bacteria. Here, we report our discovery that a eukaryotic viral IRES can initiate translation in live bacteria. We solved the crystal structure of this IRES bound to a bacterial ribosome to 3.8 Å resolution, revealing that despite differences between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes this IRES binds directly to both and occupies the space normally used by tRNAs. Initiation in both bacteria and eukaryotes depends on the structure of the IRES RNA but in bacteria this RNA uses a different mechanism that includes a form of ribosome repositioning after initial recruitment. This IRES RNA bridges billions of years of evolutionary divergence as an example of an RNA structure-based translation initiation signal capable of operating in two domains of life.

Introduction: Governing Emergencies: Beyond Exceptionality

What characterizes emergency today is the proliferation of the term. Any event or situation supposedly has the potential to become an emergency. Emergencies may happen anywhere and at any time. They are not contained within one functional sector or one domain of life. The substantive focus of the articles collected in this special issue reflects this proliferation: they explore ways of governing in, by and through emergencies across different types of emergencies and different domains of life. In response to this proliferation, the issue opens up critical work on the politics of emergency beyond the ‘state of exception’ as dominant paradigm. Emergency is treated as a problem for government that calls for the invention of new techniques or the redeployment of existing techniques. Through this shift in emphasis, the articles in this issue disclose relations between modalities of power and emergency life that differ from the ‘lightening flash’ of a sovereign decision on the exception taken from outside of life, or the capacity to ‘mould’ an always-already emergent life from within life.

Legionella pneumophila type IV effectors hijack the transcription and translation machinery of the host cell.

Intracellular bacterial pathogens modulate the host response to persist and replicate inside a eukaryotic cell and cause disease. Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is present in freshwater environments and represents one of these pathogens. During coevolution with protozoan cells, L. pneumophila has acquired highly sophisticated and diverse strategies to hijack host cell processes. It secretes hundreds of effectors into the host cell, and these manipulate host signaling pathways and key cellular processes. Recently it has been shown that L. pneumophila is also able to alter the transcription and translation machinery of the host and to exploit epigenetic mechanisms in the cells it resides in to counteract host responses.

Cryo-EM near-atomic structure of a dsRNA fungal virus shows ancient structural motifs preserved in the dsRNA viral lineage.

Viruses evolve so rapidly that sequence-based comparison is not suitable for detecting relatedness among distant viruses. Structure-based comparisons suggest that evolution led to a small number of viral classes or lineages that can be grouped by capsid protein (CP) folds. Here, we report that the CP structure of the fungal dsRNA Penicillium chrysogenum virus (PcV) shows the progenitor fold of the dsRNA virus lineage and suggests a relationship between lineages. Cryo-EM structure at near-atomic resolution showed that the 982-aa PcV CP is formed by a repeated α-helical core, indicative of gene duplication despite lack of sequence similarity between the two halves. Superimposition of secondary structure elements identified a single "hotspot" at which variation is introduced by insertion of peptide segments. Structural comparison of PcV and other distantly related dsRNA viruses detected preferential insertion sites at which the complexity of the conserved α-helical core, made up of ancestral structural motifs that have acted as a skeleton, might have increased, leading to evolution of the highly varied current structures. Analyses of structural motifs only apparent after systematic structural comparisons indicated that the hallmark fold preserved in the dsRNA virus lineage shares a long (spinal) α-helix tangential to the capsid surface with the head-tailed phage and herpesvirus viral lineage.

Occurrence of protein disulfide bonds in different domains of life: a comparison of proteins from the Protein Data Bank

Disulfide bonds (SS bonds) are important post-translational modifications of proteins. They stabilize a three-dimensional (3D) structure (structural SS bonds) and also have the catalytic or regulatory functions (redox-active SS bonds). Although SS bonds are present in all groups of organisms, no comparative analyses of their frequency in proteins from different domains of life have been made to date. Using the Protein Data Bank, the number and subcellular locations of SS bonds in Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya have been compared. Approximately three times higher frequency of proteins with SS bonds in eukaryotic secretory organelles (e.g. endoplasmic reticulum) than in bacterial periplasmic/secretory pathways was calculated. Protein length also affects the SS bond frequency: the average number of SS bonds is positively correlated with the length for longer proteins (>200 amino acids), while for the shorter and less stable proteins (<200 amino acids) this correlation is negative. Medium-sized proteins (250-350 amino acids) indicated a high number of SS bonds only in Archaea which could be explained by the need for additional protein stabilization in hyperthermophiles. The results emphasize higher capacity for the SS bond formation and isomerization in Eukarya when compared with Archaea and Bacteria.

The Impact of Holiday Trips on Life Satisfaction and Domains of Life Satisfaction

This study analyses the contribution of holiday trips to the levels of life satisfaction reported by individuals with and without disability by using an approach in which life satisfaction is seen as a combination of various life satisfaction domains (health, job, housework, household income, dwelling, and leisure). Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate a two-layer model which proposes that satisfaction with different domains of life are interrelated and wherein life satisfaction depends on the weight that the individual allocates to each of these domains. The results show that disabled people who participate in holiday trips obtain higher levels of satisfaction with health, job, and housework than do nondisabled ones, especially when this participation is more intense. In addition, satisfaction with health and household income has a significant effect on the overall life satisfaction reported by disabled individuals. Public policy recommendations are given.

Self-Esteem in a German Population Sample of Children and Adolescents: Association with Demographic and Psychosocial Variables

Research has shown that high self-esteem (SE) is a core feature of psychological health and well-being. A population sample of German youths (11-16 years, n = 3509) was surveyed in 2 waves regarding SE and various demographic and psychosocial variables assumed to be related. Parents’ reports were also gathered about their children. Mean SE-scores indicated a generally high level of SE in the sample. Girls displayed significantly lower SE than boys with an effect size of d=0.34. Moderate to strong associations were found with satisfaction in different domains of life, with the highest correlation found for appearance and the lowest for health. Girls were in general more dissatisfied with life. Internalizing and also externalizing were negatively correlated with SE, particularly in girls. Also a higher level of somatic symptoms was associated with lower SE. A prospective analysis revealed that dysfunctional parenting and family climate significantly predicted SE explaining more than 20% of variance in SE in girls, but only 10% in boys. Structural social data (e.g. SES) did not impact SE. The study confirmed the significant role of SE for psychological and somatic well-being and the relevance of familial interaction in its formation. The observed gender differences underline the necessity to undertake sex specific analyses in this area of research. Prospective research should be expedited.

Diversity of the DNA replication system in the Archaea domain.

The precise and timely duplication of the genome is essential for cellular life. It is achieved by DNA replication, a complex process that is conserved among the three domains of life. Even though the cellular structure of archaea closely resembles that of bacteria, the information processing machinery of archaea is evolutionarily more closely related to the eukaryotic system, especially for the proteins involved in the DNA replication process. While the general DNA replication mechanism is conserved among the different domains of life, modifications in functionality and in some of the specialized replication proteins are observed. Indeed, Archaea possess specific features unique to this domain. Moreover, even though the general pattern of the replicative system is the same in all archaea, a great deal of variation exists between specific groups.

Small heat shock proteins: recent developments.

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are abundantly present in many different organisms at elevated temperatures. Members of the subgroup of alpha crystallin domain (ACD)-type sHSPs belong to the large family of protein chaperones. They bind non-native proteins in an ATP-independent manner, thereby holding the incorporated clients soluble for subsequent refolding by other molecular chaperoning systems. sHSPs do not actively refold incorporated peptides therefore they are sometimes referred to as holdases. Varying numbers of sHSPs have been documented in the different domains of life and dependent on the analyzed organism. Generally, diverse sHSPs possess more sequence similarities in the conserved ACD, whereas the N- and C-terminal extensions are less conserved. Despite their designation as sHSPs, they are not solely present during heat stress. sHSPs presumably help to protect cells under various stresses, but they were also found during development, e.g., in embryonic development of higher plants which is associated with ongoing seed desiccation. The functional and physiological relevance of several different sHSPs in one organism remains still unclear, especially in plants where several highly similar sHSPs are present in the same compartment. The wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses that induce the expression of multiple sHSP genes makes it challenging to define the physiological relevance of each of these versatile proteins.

Stereotypes About Men’s and Women’s Intuitions

Since the Enlightenment, rationality has been set above intuition and associated with male thought, while intuition has become linked with female thought. Do these stereotypes still exist today? If they do, are they the same for different domains of life? And are they stable across age groups, gender, and culture? We investigated these questions in two countries that differ in women’s traditional roles, using representative national samples of 1,016 people in Germany and 1,002 people in Spain. Participants reported their beliefs about men and women’s intuitions for nine personal and professional domains. The main results are as follows: Substantial stereotypes about intuition exist, are highly domain-specific rather than general and, strikingly, do not differ in sign and size between age groups. Moreover, in every domain, substantial in-group preferences exist: Females believe more strongly in the intuitive power of women, and males in that of men. Across domains, stereotypes about gender-specific intuition are more frequent in Germany, even though Spain has a stronger Catholic tradition and political history of conservative gender roles.