Entire Culture Research Articles

From India to India: The Performative Unworlding of Literature

World literature has recently been critiqued for its normative, world-making force and, not unrelatedly, for its genealogical ties to orientalism. This article shifts the focus in world literature from the ‘world’ to the ‘literature’ by suggesting that within a nexus of politics, religion and knowledge production, the stylistic requirements of literature were fundamental to the reification of numerous performative modes that were not predicated exclusively on language's semantic dimensions. Literature, as a ‘vanishing mediator’, thus enabled not only translations but also comparative valuations – philological, mythological and racial – of entire cultures in an unethical epistemological encounter. Through the examination of the circuitous route of the Sāvitrī myth, which was translated from Sanskrit into Italian, English, French and German as ‘dramatic literature’, and finally to Gujarati as a play for theatrical production, this article uncovers performance's potential to problematize the figuring of text as world-encompassing entity.

Editorial

The accelerating production of scientific knowledge does not happen in a sociocultural vacuum. Our entire culture is under (re)construction. Other continents of cultural imagination also mobilize, move and transform.

And the Beat Goes On

And the Beat Goes On

Blooming gelatin: an individual additive for enhancing nanoapatite precipitation, physical properties, and osteoblastic responses of nanostructured macroporous calcium phosphate bone cements.

In recent years, there has been a great interest in using natural polymers in the composition of calcium phosphate bone cements to enhance their physical, mechanical, and biological performance. Gelatin is a partially hydrolyzed form of collagen, a natural component of bone matrix. In this study, the effect of blooming gelatin on the nanohydroxyapatite precipitation, physical and mechanical properties, and cellular responses of a calcium phosphate bone cement (CPC) was investigated. Various concentrations of blooming gelatin (2, 5, and 8 wt.%) were used as the cement liquid and an equimolar mixture of tetracalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate was used as solid phase. The CPC without any gelatin additive was also evaluated as a control group. The results showed that gelatin accelerated hydraulic reactions of the cement paste, in which the reactants were immediately converted into nanostructured apatite precipitates after hardening. Gelatin molecules induced 4%–10% macropores (10–300 μm) into the cement structure, decreased initial setting time by ~190%, and improved mechanical strength of the as-set cement. Variation in the above-mentioned properties was influenced by the gelatin concentration and progressed with increasing the gelatin content. The numbers of the G-292 osteoblastic cells on gelatin-containing CPCs were higher than the control group at entire culture times (1–14 days), meanwhile better alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was determined using blooming gelatin additive. The observation of cell morphologies on the cement surfaces revealed an appropriate cell attachment with extended cell membranes on the cements. Overall, adding gelatin to the composition of CPC improved the handling characteristics such as setting time and mechanical properties, enhanced nanoapatite precipitation, and augmented the early cell proliferation rate and ALP activity.

Synchronization and Arrest of the Budding Yeast Cell Cycle Using Chemical and Genetic Methods.

The cell cycle of budding yeast can be arrested at specific positions by different genetic and chemical methods. These arrests enable study of cell cycle phase-specific phenotypes that would be missed during examination of asynchronous cultures. Some methods for arrest are reversible, with kinetics that enable release of cells back into a synchronous cycling state. Benefits of chemical and genetic methods include scalability across a large range of culture sizes from a few milliliters to many liters, ease of execution, the absence of specific equipment requirements, and synchronization and release of the entire culture. Of note, cell growth and division are decoupled during arrest and block-release experiments. Cells will continue transcription, translation, and accumulation of protein while arrested. If allowed to reenter the cell cycle, cells will do so as a population of mixed, larger-than-normal cells. Despite this important caveat, many aspects of budding yeast physiology are accessible using these simple chemical and genetic tools. Described here are methods for the block and release of cells in G1 phase and at the M/G1 transition using α-factor mating pheromone and the temperature-sensitive cdc15-2 allele, respectively, in addition to methods for arresting the cell cycle in early S phase and at G2/M by using hydroxyurea and nocodazole, respectively.

‘Dol-woest-breyn-herssenloose edelen en grillighe aepenkueren’. Kritiek op Spanje en op de literaire conventies van de ‘comedia’ in Liefdens Behendicheyt (1638) van Frederico Cornelio De Conincq

Between 1635 and 1638 the Antwerp playwright Frederico Cornelio De Conincq wrote plays inspired by the Spanish ‘comedia’. His play Liefdens Behendicheyt (1638) expresses fundamental criticism against Spanish culture. De Conincq ridicules and parodies the Spanish ‘comedia’, the Spanish aristocracy and the entire Spanish culture, in an environment controlled by the Spanish.

“But the forest does know it...” Persistence of omusitu in the BaNande culture and thought (Democratic Republic of Congo)

The BaNande, farmers of the hills of the North Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo), call themselves proudly abakondi , the young and strong men who cut down the trees, who destroy the forest. Almost their entire culture is based on the principle of the “cut” ( eritwa ), as well as their social and political organization is due to the historical achievement of their territory wrested from the forest. Even the erotic activity is designed with the typical categories of abakondi . But the traditional culture of the BaNande was not geared only to this sense of conquest of the forest. The author of this article tries to show how the forest ( omusitu ) would be made to survive in different ways. First, not all of the forest was destroyed. Indeed islands of forest remain here and there, such as supplies of food, timber, medicines, as memory of what had been destroyed, and as headquarters of the forest spirits. Second, whenever a chief died, he was buried on his hill not underground, but imprisoned by the trees of the forest planted all around his body. These tree tombs, real historical monuments of vegetable nature, are called by the BaNande amahero and are designed as “small forest” (singular akasitu ). Finally it was diffused in the nande culture the awareness that the destruction of the forest doesn’t happen with impunity. The pride of abakondi is replaced by the recognition of omusitu (forest) as autonomous world, which demands to be at least partially preserved, both physically in the territory, both as an entity with even “consciousness”. Once, the BaNande thought of not being able to break free from this consciousness, and this ecological anxiety emerged especially in the most significant moments of the reproduction of their culture, i.e. when in the olusumba (their rite of initiation in the forest) they had to form their new men. But this conscience belongs to the past: on the hills of the Bunande the “spirits of the forest” have disappeared, replaced by the “spirit of the capitalism”.

Back to the Future

An American who has lived in Vancouver, Canada since the 1960s, William Gibson is a one-man brand for speculative fiction, a sort of Steve Jobs of prose narrative, the man who—as a note in a recent MoMA exhibition put it— is “credited with having coined the term ‘cyberspace,’ and having envisioned both the Internet and virtual reality before either existed.” Gibson’s recent collection of essays, Distrust That Particular Flavor, shows him writing on the future for Wired, Time, Rolling Stone, Forbes, and the Whole Earth Catalog, and addressing audiences at the annual BookExpo America in New York and the Director’s Guild in Los Angeles. Taken together, all of this makes his latest novel, The Peripheral, appear as much the expression of an entire culture as a book written by a single person, a vision of the future that comes to us with the stamp of approval of the West’s most powerful cultural arbiters.

Effect of insulin-transferrin-selenium (ITS) and l-ascorbic acid (AA) during in vitro maturation on in vitro bovine embryo development.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding a combination of insulin, transferrin and selenium (ITS) and l-ascorbic acid (AA) during in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro culture (IVC) on in vitro embryo production. To verify the effect of the supplements, cleavage and blastocyst rates, embryo size and total cell number were performed. Embryonic development data, embryo size categorization and kinetics of maturation were analyzed by chi-squared test, while the total cell number was analyzed by a Kruskal-Wallis test (P < 0.05). When ITS was present during IVM, IVC or the entire culture, all treatments had a cleavage and blastocyst rates and embryo quality, similar to those of the control group (P < 0.05). Supplementation of IVM medium with ITS and AA for 12 h or 24 h showed that the last 12 h increased embryo production (51.6%; n = 220) on D7 compared with the control (39.5%; n = 213). However, no improvement was observed in blastocyst rate when less competent oocytes, obtained from 1-3 mm follicles, were exposed to ITS + AA for the last 12 h of IVM, with a blastocyst rate of 14.9% (n = 47) compared with 61.0% (n = 141) in the control group. The results suggest that the addition of ITS alone did not affect embryo production; however, when combined with AA in the last 12 h of maturation, there was improvement in the quantity and quality of embryos produced. Furthermore, the use of ITS and AA during IVM did not improve the competence of oocytes obtained from small follicles.

Length-weight relationship, condition factor and cannibalism in Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) reared in nursery

The length-weight relationship of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) reared in net cage hapa was studied for a period of 45 days. A total of 22,500 nos. of seabass fry (mean length 1.76 ± 0.39 cm; mean weight 0.132 ± 0.10 g) were stocked in fifteen hapas @ 1500 nos. per hapa (2x1x1m) and fed twice daily with farm made feed @ 10% of the body weight initially and reduced to 8% later on. Sampling was done at an interval of 15 days to assess the growth, survival, cannibalism and performance. On termination of the experiment, survival was 25%. Cannibalism contributed 11–51% to the total mortality. K value &gt;1 indicated healthy condition of fish. During the entire culture period, growth was negatively allometric (b&lt;3). Growth showed an increasing trend from 150.5±13.4 to 732.6±7.7. The study concludes that the hapa system is one of the best option for carrying out the nursery rearing of seabass.

M. Kemal Atatürk's Homesickness for Thessaloniki, His City of Birth

As Ataturk, the founder of Modern Turkey, grew older; he more and more missed his home-city Salonika and its surroundings. The loss of his home-city during the Balkan Wars further aggravated his passionate nostalgia. Some of his behavior patterns as narrated in history, reveal us his homesickness openly. On various occasions; the meals, the accent, and the entire culture of his region with its songs and ballads; always moved the spirit in him, deeply. Despite his deliberate emphasis of his logic most of the time, in reality, he was a man full of tender feelings.

DECOLONIALITY OF KNOWLEDGE AND INTERCULTURAL “DAHLEZ”

Khorasanian thinkers believed that, the discovery of their origins and the "Other", is not a single whole act, but rather a procedural, almost stage-by-stage like capacity to understand the world. Evidence suggests that in order to survive (or just grow), one must move from their initial sphere of life/science to the next. Such mobility was influenced heavily by the tradition of constant crossing of boundaries and countries, formalizing commercial/scientific flexibility of the entire culture of the region. However, this potential remains untapped in the construction of the new history of nations. Therefore it is fair to ask: what is the reason for the lack of dialogue on decolonization of, both within the region (between researchers of different republics), between the Russian and Central Asian researchers, as well as between other regions, ie South-to-South (the Middle East, Latin America, India, etc.). Without doubt, every one of us has worthy of alibi. But it is important to understand that today's distancing from the topic in Central Asia; is not an ideological camouflage ala Soviet-style, but rather a preservation of the myth of Westphalia on the priority of national sovereignty. Finding one's way out of this maze created by the rhetoric of the nations and the logic of coloniality (as Kuidjano) is a very real issue. The first step may be to recognize that our very own knowledge base is colonial. Accordingly, the process must begin with ridding ourselves from this state, starting the process of de-coloniality. To initiate such an understanding, the author proposes to use - dahlez, philosophical concept, put forward with a view to the perception of many values of plural-cycle culture of the region, as well as the values of the outside.

Geometric correction factor for transepithelial electrical resistance measurements in transwell and microfluidic cell cultures

Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements are regularly used in in vitro models to quantitatively evaluate the cell barrier function. Although it would be expected that TEER values obtained with the same cell type and experimental setup were comparable, values reported in the literature show a large dispersion for unclear reasons. This work highlights a possible error in a widely used formula to calculate the TEER, in which it may be erroneously assumed that the entire cell culture area contributes equally to the measurement. In this study, we have numerically calculated this error in some cell cultures previously reported. In particular, we evidence that some TEER measurements resulted in errors when measuring low TEERs, especially when using Transwell inserts 12 mm in diameter or microfluidic systems that have small chamber heights. To correct this error, we propose the use of a geometric correction factor (GCF) for calculating the TEER. In addition, we describe a simple method to determine the GCF of a particular measurement system, so that it can be applied retrospectively. We have also experimentally validated an interdigitated electrodes (IDE) configuration where the entire cell culture area contributes equally to the measurement, and it also implements minimal electrode coverage so that the cells can be visualized alongside TEER analysis.

A short CD3/CD28 costimulation combined with IL-21 enhance the generation of human memory stem T cells for adoptive immunotherapy.

BackgroundImmunotherapy based on the adoptive transfer of gene modified T cells is an emerging approach for the induction of tumor-specific immune responses. Memory stem T cells, due to their enhanced antitumor and self-renewal capacity, have become potential candidate for adoptive T cell therapy of cancer. Methods to generate memory stem T cells ex vivo rely on CD3/CD28 costimulation and the use of cytokines such as IL-7 and IL-15 during the entire culture period. However, a strong costimulation may induce differentiation of memory stem T cells to effector memory T cells. Here we show that manipulation of the length of the costimulation and addition of IL-21 enhance the ex vivo expansion of memory stem T cells.MethodsPurified naïve T cells from healthy donors were cultured in the presence of anti-CD3/CD28 coated beads, IL-7, IL-15 and/or IL-21 (25 ng/ml). T cells phenotype from the different memory and effector subpopulations were analyzed by multiparametric flow cytometry.ResultsA short anti-CD3/CD28 costimulation of naïve T cells, combined with IL-7 and IL-15 significantly increased the frequencies of CD4+ and CD8+ memory stem T cells ex vivo, compared to a prolonged costimulation (34.6 ± 4.4 % vs 15.6 ± 4.24 % in CD4+; p = 0.008, and 20.5 ± 4.00 % vs 7.7 ± 2.53 % in CD8+; p = 0.02). Moreover, the addition of IL-21 to this condition further enhanced the enrichment and expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ memory stem T cells with an increase in the absolute numbers (0.7 × 106 ± 0.1 vs 0.26 × 106 ± 0.1 cells for CD4+; p = 0.002 and 1.1 × 106 ± 0.1 vs 0.27 × 106 ± 0.1 cells for CD8+; p = 0.0002; short + IL-21 vs long).ConclusionsThese new in vitro conditions increase the frequencies and expansion of memory stem T cells and may have relevant clinical implications for the generation of this memory T cell subset for adoptive cell therapy of patients with cancer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12967-016-0973-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

New 3D-Culture Approaches to Study Interactions of Bone Marrow Adipocytes with Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cells.

Adipocytes are a major component of the bone marrow that can critically affect metastatic progression in bone. Understanding how the marrow fat cells influence growth, behavior, and survival of tumor cells requires utilization of in vitro cell systems that can closely mimic the physiological microenvironment. Herein, we present two new three-dimensional (3D) culture approaches to study adipocyte–tumor cell interactions in vitro. The first is a transwell-based system composed of the marrow-derived adipocytes in 3D collagen I gels and reconstituted basement membrane-overlayed prostate tumor cell spheroids. Tumor cells cultured under these 3D conditions are continuously exposed to adipocyte-derived factors, and their response can be evaluated by morphological and immunohistochemical analyses. We show via immunofluorescence analysis of metabolism-associated proteins that under 3D conditions tumor cells have significantly different metabolic response to adipocytes than tumor cells grown in 2D culture. We also demonstrate that this model allows for incorporation of other cell types, such as bone marrow macrophages, and utilization of dye-quenched collagen substrates for examination of proteolysis-driven responses to adipocyte- and macrophage-derived factors. Our second 3D culture system is designed to study tumor cell invasion toward the adipocytes and the consequent interaction between the two cell types. In this model, marrow adipocytes are separated from the fluorescently labeled tumor cells by a layer of collagen I. At designated time points, adipocytes are stained with BODIPY and confocal z-stacks are taken through the depth of the entire culture to determine the distance traveled between the two cell types over time. We demonstrate that this system can be utilized to study effects of candidate factors on tumor invasion toward the adipocytes. We also show that immunohistochemical analyses can be performed to evaluate the impact of direct interaction of prostate tumor cells with adipocytes. Our models underline the importance of using the appropriate culture conditions to mimic physiological interactions between marrow adipocytes and metastatic tumor cells. These systems have a potential to be utilized for analyses of various factors that may be regulated by the adipocytes in bone. Their application likely extends beyond metastatic prostate cancer to other tumors that colonize the bone marrow microenvironment.

UMA ECO-FILOSOFIA-LINGUÍSTICA: A RELAÇÃO POVOLÍNGUA- TERRITÓRIO NA FORMAÇÃO DO CONCEITO DE PROPRIEDADE

Nesse trabalho pretendemos demonstrar que a relação de um povo com o seu meio ambiente é fundamental na formação do conceito de propriedade/posse. Comunidades que mantêm relação mais direta com seu meio naturaltêm, tendencialamente, uma ideia de propriedade mais fluida. Nesse caso, o conceito de “posse coletiva” é mais comum do que o de “posse individual”. Em comunidades em que essa relação é mais mediada pela cultura ocorre o inverso, e “o meu” prepondera sobre “o nosso”. Para os fins deste ensaio faremos a análise dos termos linguísticos utilizados para marcar a ideia de posse relativa a plantas, animais e terra em duas culturas distintas: uma representando comunidades que mantêm relação direta com o meio, os indígenas Xerente Akwén, outra representando toda a nossa cultura ocidental. Nesse caso analisaremos alguns termos da Bíblia, tendo como pressuposto que nossa cultura tem por base duas outras, a judaico-cristã ea grega, sendo que a bíblia hebraica representaria uma dessas bases.

Controlling the time evolution of mAb N-linked glycosylation, Part I: Microbioreactor experiments.

N-linked glycosylation is of key importance for the efficacy of many biotherapeutic proteins such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Media components and cell culture conditions have been shown to significantly affect N-linked glycosylation during the production of glycoproteins using mammalian cell fed-batch cultures. These parameters inevitably change in modern industrial processes with concentrated feed additions and cell densities beyond 2 × 107 cells/mL. In order to control the time-dependent changes of protein glycosylation, an automated microbioreactor system was used to investigate the effects of culture pH, ammonia, galactose, and manganese chloride supplementation on nucleotide sugars as well as mAb N-linked glycosylation in a time-dependent way. Two different strategies comprising of a single shift of culture conditions as well as multiple media supplementations along the culture duration were applied to obtain changing and constant glycosylation profiles. The different feeding approaches enabled constant glycosylation patterns throughout the entire culture duration at different levels. By modulating the time evolution of the mAb glycan pattern, not only the endpoint but also the ratios between different glycosylation structures could be modified. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1123-1134, 2016.

About Political Change in Greece

There have been almost 40 years after the restoration of democracy in Greece and a peculiar prosperity, which was consciously cultivated by the leaders of political and economic elites, was promoted before the onset of the financial crisis. However, from the beginning of the financial recession, the temporal illusions have been revealed and the need of a complete transformation of the financial policies has been expressed, while a significant transformation of the entire political culture has started. Parties such as SYRIZA, Independent Greeks (ANEL) and Golden Dawn took advantage of the growing social discontent by propagating their selves as exponents of ordinary people and of their concerns or their fears, as the expression of resistance against an avoidable sellout of public values. However, crisis has exposed a number of successive truths which were elaborately hiding in the underbelly of the detaining political and socioeconomic system. These truths were exteriorized once it became clear that the foundations on which the Greek society was based after the restoration of democracy, were weak and insufficient to guide the country’s way towards a modern future.

TRENDS AND MAIN MANIFESTATIONS OF VIRTUALISATION OF MODERN CULTURE

This article from the perspective of cultural studies disclosed virtualization manifestations of contemporary culture, in particular, pointed out that the entire global culture in a certain way connected with man-soluble virtual worlds, on the basis of which is described epistemological aspect of human activity. The attention that virtual reality can be seen as a new representation technique that in the near future will largely determine the aesthetic experience ofmankind. The problems of computer social networks as one of the most common and important cultural artifacts of our time. There was a need for a consistent and systematic cultural analysis of the phenomenon of virtuality.

Selection of reliable reference genes for RT-qPCR studies in Octopus vulgaris paralarvae during development and immune-stimulation

The common octopus, Octopus vulgaris is a new candidate species for aquaculture. However, rearing of octopus paralarvae is hampered by high mortality and poor growth rates that impede its entire culture. The study of genes involved in the octopus development and immune response capability could help to understand the key of paralarvae survival and thus, to complete the octopus life cycle. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) is the most frequently tool used to quantify the gene expression because of specificity and sensitivity. However, reliability of RT-qPCR requires the selection of appropriate normalization genes whose expression must be stable across the different experimental conditions of the study. Hence, the aim of the present work is to evaluate the stability of six candidate genes: β-actin (ACT), elongation factor 1-α (EF), ubiquitin (UBI), β-tubulin (TUB), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GADPH) and ribosomal RNA 18 (18S) in order to select the best reference gene. The stability of gene expression was analyzed using geNorm, NormFinder and Bestkeeper, in octopus paralarvae of seven developmental stages (embryo, paralarvae of 0, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 34days) and paralarvae of 20days after challenge with Vibrio lentus and Vibrio splendidus. The results were validated by measuring the expression of PGRP, a stimuli-specific gene. Our results showed UBI, EF and 18S as the most suitable reference genes during development of octopus paralarvae, and UBI, ACT and 18S for bacterial infection. These results provide a basis for further studies exploring molecular mechanism of their development and innate immune defense.