Identical Repertoire Research Articles

Identity repertoires on the Internet: Opportunities and constraints

Identity repertoires on the Internet: Opportunities and constraints

Making Brittany a Space for Maritime Politics: Building Capacity through the Politicization of Regional Identity

This article examines the institutionalization of regions as spaces for politics by focusing on the Breton case. Here, regional actors have embarked upon new strategies of engagement within maritime policy and have claimed authority over this issue in the absence of any formal right to do so. This ‘capturing’ strategy involves two complementary processes: the social construction by actors of a territorial identity repertoire and the deployment of multi-positioning strategies. Through pursuing both simultaneously, political actors in Brittany have legitimized their access to a multitude of extra-regional decisional arenas and, consequently, have institutionalized Brittany as a space for maritime politics.

Belgium: The End of a National State?

Stijn Oosterlynck argues that regionalism is a historical repertoire of identities and institutions that is drawn upon in contemporary political and economic strategies, as was the case in the recent Belgian political crisis.

Delicacies

The papers in the second half of this volume all testify to the way in which the study of identity has moved from categorial (yes/no) distinctions towards the delicacies of social and cultural positions in discourse. They also show that in order for such finer distinctions to take shape in analysis, attention needs to be given to details of the deployment of specific discourse and semiotic resources. None of the analyses falls into the wide-open trap of equating ‘language’ with identity; they all focus on connections between actual discourse and semiosis, and subject/speaker positions, inhabited and ascribed micro-identities, and features of the social and cultural imagination that determine available identity repertoires. They represent, thus, a stage in a paradigm shift that has been underway for a couple of decades now, in which scholars abandon homogenizing and static categorial notions of identity (as in ‘national’ or ‘ethnic’ identity) and develop performative, inter-subjective and pragmatic/metapragmatic models of identity. In sociolinguistics, the paradigm shift is one that takes us from a sociolinguistics of static and immobile languages associated with ‘communities’ to a sociolinguistics of mobile resources and speech associated with flexible networks of language participants. This process is not complete and steps in it, consequently, bear the traces of the older paradigm. Thus, Tsitsipis and Georgeakopoulou & Finnis start their analysis from within a ‘community’, rather traditionally defined. In Tsitsipis’ case, the community is defined as a ‘national minority’ of Arvanitika speakers – a definition that incorporates both a state categorisation device of ‘minorities’ and an older ethnolinguistic-identity diacritic, and both are of questionable validity in empirical terms. In the case of Georgakopoulou & Finnis, the national paradigm also emerges, diasporically this time, in defining the community as ‘Greek Cypriots in London’, and the same restrictions apply here. In both papers, there is a tension between the flexible and constantly shifting microscopic identity patterns (or ‘positioning’ patterns) that are analytically demonstrated, and the a priori and conservative categorisation of the research target groups that forms the point of departure of the research. The tension occurs whenever the ‘community’ is described as ‘changing’: Undoubtedly such changes occur, and some of these changes (e.g. the alternated or ‘confused’ use of ‘Greek’ and ‘Cypriot’ by Georgakopoulou & Finnis’ respondents) may call into question the foundations of the community. The reference point for such changes, we can see from such examples, need not be a traditional conception of national, ethnic or ethnolinguistic communities, because all of these categories are products of particular (‘modernist’) paradigms of scholarship, and features of the ‘modern’ nation-state apparatuses for distinguishing people. We see such apparatuses at work in Giaxoglou’s data, where an early (‘modernist’) philologist deploys particular orthographic tactics in the representations of

Allogeneic GM-CSF-secreting tumor cell immunotherapies generate potent anti-tumor responses comparable to autologous tumor cell immunotherapies

Clinical studies of cell-based immunotherapies have included both patient-specific (autologous) and non-patient-specific (allogeneic) approaches. Major concerns in using allogeneic immunotherapies are that the induced immune responses may be predominantly directed against the allogeneic HLA molecules of the cellular immunotherapy and not against its potential tumor antigens and that only the allogeneic responses will be enhanced when the immunotherapies are combined with immune checkpoint regulators in an effort to enhance overall immunotherapy potency. To evaluate these possibilities, studies were performed using the GM-CSF-secreting B16F1 cell line as autologous immunotherapy (Auto) and the same cell line modified to over-express the MHC molecule K(d) to generate an immunotherapy that expresses an allogeneic component (Allo) when injected into C57/Bl6 mice. The goal was to compare the specific anti-tumor immune responses induced by these two immunotherapies, which share an identical antigen repertoire, with the exception of the allogeneic MHC class I molecule expressed by the Allo cells, and have identical GM-CSF-secretion levels. Both immunotherapies provided similar therapeutic benefit to tumor-bearing animals with a trend towards a more pronounced tumor growth delay in animals injected with the Allo immunotherapy. This correlated with a significant increase in the number of activated DCs and T-cells in the DLN of Allo-treated animals. In addition, persistent infiltration of effector CD8(+) T-cells was detected in the tumors of animals treated with the Allo immunotherapy, which correlated with a trend towards a greater antigen-specific T-cell response in these animals. When combined with the immune checkpoint regulator anti-PD-1, tumor-specific and allogeneic immune responses were equally enhanced. Thus, the ability of an allogeneic tumor cell immunotherapy to induce a therapeutic anti-tumor immune response is comparable, if not superior, to an autologous tumor cell immunotherapy and its anti-tumor potency can be enhanced when combined with immunomodulatory compounds.

Instituteur Identities: Explaining the Nineteenth Century French Teachers' Movement

Recent social movement research has focused particularly on movements whose lack of organizational structures makes their emergence rather mysterious. The study of identity politics has been an important paradigm in this line of research, most of which examines the ‘new social movements’ of the past four decades. But, as Calhoun and others have noted, identities have always been a constitutive element of social movements. Analysis of new social movements has simply added a few new markers, like gender and race, to the standard identity repertoire of class and nation. The nineteenth century French teachers' movement is an excellent example of a resource-poor movement and, I argue, would not have been possible without a particular self-understanding on the part of the teachers. But, rather than draw from one of these standard identity markers and research paradigms, I use two tools derived from social scientific studies of how states impose identities on subject populations: categories and professionalism. I explore the rise of the teachers' movement by studying the ways that state elites sought to impose categorical distinctions between secular and religious educators. Teacher training institutions created a model for politically orthodox, professionally competent schoolmasters: hard-working, modest, and subservient to the parish priest. The attempt at introducing secular teachers into primary education, a realm traditionally dominated by the priests, created friction between secular and religious schooling authorities. The teachers' anticlericalism was the unintended consequence of the French state's school reforms. When the French state secularized the education system in the 1880s, the teachers' appropriated their teacher training institutions for the purposes of political mobilization. Their demands for professional autonomy from state employers were the legacy of decades of localized oppression by ecclesiastical authorities.

From Anxious Patriarchs to Refined Gentlemen? Manhood in Britain, circa 1500–1700

T history of masculinity is still very much a nascent field for historians of early modern Britain, but there have been some important foundations laid by a few key publications. On the basis of such work, it would not be surprising if a student attempting an overview of the period were impressed by a profound change in the meanings of manhood between 1500 and 1700. Yet this is perhaps attributable more to methodological differences among historians than to a dramatic shift in male identities over the course of the early modern period. It will be argued here that despite the semblance of a transformation in concepts of manhood, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were marked as much by continuity as by change. Although there was an increasing plurality of and fluidity to male identities between 1500 and 1700, they remained focused—if variously reconfigured—around many of the same fixed points. Most of the terms used to identify both normative and deviant manhood remained current throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most profound change witnessed during the early modern period was, therefore, not in the available repertoire of male identities themselves but in different men’s

A framework to sub-type HLA supertypes

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are extremely polymorphic among ethnic population and the peptide binding specificity varies for different alleles in a combinatorial manner. However, it has been suggested that majority of alleles can be covered within few HLA supertypes, where different members of a supertype bind similar peptides, yet exhibiting distinct repertoires. Since the overlap between different members of a supertype appears to be extensive, it is crucial to develop a framework for grouping alleles into supertypes just from sequence information. In this report, we define sub supertypes, where members show functional overlap with identical repertoire, and describe a strategy to group HLA-A, B and C alleles into different categories of sub supertypes. The strategy grouped 47% of 295 A alleles, 44% of 540 B alleles and 35% of 156 C alleles to just 36, 71 and 18 groups, respectively. The grouping is moderately validated using available binding data. However, the validation is limited due to lack of binding data. Hence, the data presented in this article serve as a framework to test specific functional overlap between alleles. The grouping of HLA alleles into different categories of sub supertypes has profound use in the understanding of antigenic peptide selection, degeneration and discrimination during T-cell mediated immune response. A complete knowledge of this phenomenon finds utility in epitope design for the development of HLA based vaccines and immuno-therapeutics.

Identity repertoires among Arabs in Israel

This study investigates the structure and components of the Arab identity repertoire in Israel. We analyse the relative salience of each component and the structural relations among the components. In addition we interpret the meanings associated with each component of the Arab identity repertoire in Israel. Our study differs from traditional investigations of Arab identities in Israel in considering identity as a multi‐dimensional phenomenon, and in interpreting the meanings that the respondents assign to the relevant identities. Empirically we find that most Arabs in Israel feel strongly attached to at least three identities, none of them dominating the others. The correlations among the identities are low, meaning that they are only marginally affected by the feasibility of alternative identities and more by the type of practices performed in each respective milieu. In this respect it is interesting to see that the Palestinian identity is not associated with citizenship beyond national pride, while the Israeli identity is expected to supply them with a sense of citizenship. Our finding that different groups constitute for themselves different relations among the components of the identity repertoire suggests that our multi‐dimensional model supplies a better explanation for the structure of Arab repertoires of identities.

The petrol station and the Internet café: rural technospaces for youth

Several writers suggest information and communication technologies (ICTs) may eliminate the friction of distance in questions of location and social interaction. If this is interpreted within a pro-periphery framework, this creates new optimism for rural areas. In the Norwegian discourse on ICT and regional policies, ICT is seen as a technical device to improve communication, and can be used to represent of the rural areas as being contemporary and up to date. Voluntary based Internet cafés is one example of this, where access to technology is linked to an urban café trend. For youth, these cafés provide an alternative to the local petrol station as a place to meet in public. This article is based on empirical studies in two Norwegian villages, focusing on the local petrol station and the Internet cafés as technospaces for youth cultures. I explore how technology and human interaction intersect in constituting these spaces; involving processes of extension, transgression, and exclusion. Furthermore I analyse how the car and the Internet are interpreted and given different symbolic and utility values among youth at the petrol station and the respective Internet cafés. The Internet like the car are domesticated in different ways according to the interests and orientations of the users; to expand their radius of activity and their repertoire of identities in the local community, or to reach beyond the village. Despite being initially built on the same concept, the two Internet cafés evolved to be quite different from one another, as the implementation process and integration of the cafés took place within their respective local contexts. The study challenges the common view of the Internet as symbolically attached to the urban community and a practical means to accomplish global reach.

Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Mobilizes Into Peripheral Blood the Complete Clonal Repertoire of Hematopoietic Precursors Residing in the Bone Marrow of Mice

We have established the clonal relationships between the hematopoietic precursors residing in the bone marrow (BM) and the peripheral blood (PB) of mice treated with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). The use of animals whose hematopoiesis was reconstituted with genetically labeled stem cells has allowed us to show that an almost identical repertoire of clones is found in the colony-forming unit (CFU-S) population present in the BM and mobilized PB. Moreover, our data has shown that the frequency of expression of the repopulating clones in both types of CFU-S populations is the same, evidencing that G-CSF mobilized PB progenitor cells (PBPCs) closely reflect the clonal make-up of the hematopoietic precursors residing in the BM. When secondary recipients were transplanted with BM or mobilized PB grafts that had been harvested from the genetically marked mice, the presence of long-term lympho-hematopoietic repopulating clones was showed not only in the BM but also in the PB samples. No new clones were identified in the long-term repopulating cells of the mobilized animals with respect to those found in the CFU-S population. Moreover, the hematopoietic precursors that were capable of long-term reconstitution corresponded to the clones, which were most highly represented in the CFU-S compartment, suggesting, at least in the case of G-CSF treated mice, that the frequency of expression of the repopulating clones in the CFU-S population is prognostic for the clone longevity. Based on our experimental data, new advantages for the use of mobilized PBPCs in place of hematopoietic grafts procured from limited areas of BM are proposed.

DUCTUS ARTERIOSUS ENDOTHELIAL CELLS AND SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS ALTER THEIR INTEGRIN EXPRESSION TO PRODUCE PERMANENT POSTNATAL CLOSURE. • 1198

Following muscular constriction of the ductus arteriosus in the first hours after delivery, extensive neointimal thickening is required to produce permanent occlusion of the ductus lumen. In premature infants, despite, smooth muscle constriction, neointimal mounds frequently fail to develop, resulting in vessel reopening. Neointimal mounds are formed by luminal endothelial cells(ECs) and medial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that migrate into the subendothelial space. The migration of ECs and SMCs requires the presence of cell surface receptors (integrins) that interact with the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). The ability of the integrin receptors to bind to different ECM molecules is determined by the combination of α and β subunits that make up the integrin receptor. Using immunohistochemical techniques, we examined ductus arteriosus obtained from 4 fetal and 11 four-day-old newborn (3 full-term and 8 preterm [78% gestation]) rhesus monkeys to determine the effects of gestational age on postnatal integrin expression and ductus remodeling. In the fetal ductus, ECs lining the vessel's lumen have a limited repertoire of integrins (weak expression ofα1β1 and minimal to negligible expression of otherβ1, β3, β4, β5, andβ6 integrins). In contrast, ECs of capillaries invading the ductus adventitial layer strongly express several integrins(α1β1, α2β1,α3β1, α6β1,αVβ5, α6β4). During postnatal closure, luminal ECs of the full-term ductus change their phenotype and express the identical repertoire of integrins found on migrating capillary endothelial cells. Similarly, after birth, SMCs in the closing ductus change their phenotype and express 2 additional integrins(α5β1 and αVβ3) that we have previously shown to be necessary for SMC migration in vitro. Among the 8 preterm ductus, 3 had lumens that were occluded by neointimal formation; the integrin profiles of the ECs and SMCs of these 3 ductus were identical to those expressed by cells of the full-term postnatal closed ductus. In contrast, 5 preterm newborns with persistently patent ductus lumen failed to develop these postnatal changes in integrin expression and failed to develop neointimal mounds. No evidence of intimal thickening occurred in the absence of changes in integrin expression. These findings show that during ductus closure, ECs and SMCs change their phenotype and express integrins found on migrating cells; this enables them to produce the neointimal mounds necessary for permanent closure.

The role of sex steroid in two avian song behaviours differing in ontogenetic process

The male Bengalese finch,Lonchura striata, has two types of song behaviour (directed song, DS and undirected song, US). DS and US share a basically identical syllable repertoire, sequence pattern and tempo, but differ in the time course of appearance during the maturational process. In order to examine whether this results from a difference in testosterone (T) dependency, we studied developmental changes in the fecal T level and the amounts of DS and US during the 2–4 month period (N=7). DS appeared between 83 and 94 days of age, 4–16 days after a rise in the fecal T level. In contrast, US appeared earlier and at high frequency even when T was still at a very low level. These results suggest that DS is more dependent on the T level than US, and is not activated until the T level rises during the maturational process.

Analysis of C3 deposition and degradation on Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The deposition and degradation of human complement component C3 on the cell surfaces of Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae were studied. Bacteria were incubated in human serum, and ester-linked C3 fragments were analyzed by hydroxylamine release and immunoblot detection. Similar patterns of C3 degradation were found for both serum-resistant and serum-sensitive meningococcal strains of serogroups A, B, C, Y, and W135, as well as for serum-sensitive gonococcal strains and their sialylated serum-resistant variants. The predominant fragments in all cases were the 40-kDa alpha' 2 chain of iC3b and the 75-kDa beta chain common to both C3b and iC3b. The 67-kDa alpha' 1 chain of iC3b was also detected. The 105-kDa alpha' chain of intact C3b represented a minor proportion of deposited C3. Capsule-specific immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin A1 did not alter the observed degradation patterns, nor did incubation of meningococci in properdin-deficient serum. The degradation of C3 in C5-, C6-, or C8-deficient serum was the same as that in normal serum, although the deposition of C3 was severely limited, based as indicated by the intensity of the fragments. With the use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that measured total iC3b and C3, I found that both iC3b deposition and C3 deposition varied among meningococcal and gonococcal strains and that the amounts of iC3b and C3 were independent of the relative quantities of cell surface sialic acid and of serum sensitivity for meningococci but not for gonococci. I conclude that complement activation on neisserial cell surface results in the formation of an identical repertoire of predominantly iC3b fragments of ester-linked C3b molecules regardless of the presence of sialic acid in either the capsule or the lipooligosaccharide or of the sensitivity of the organism to complement-mediated lysis but that the quantities of both ester- and amide-linked iC3b molecules deposited exhibit strain variability.

Clonotype patterns of antibodies released by single lymph nodes.

Experimental primary, secondary and tertiary stimulation with streptococcal vaccine of isolated lymph nodes in vivo in the sheep model induces largely persistence of anti-group polysaccharide antibody clonotype patterns with the rare occurrence of additional clonotypes demonstrable after secondary stimulation persisting during the tertiary stimulus. It is not clear whether these additional clonotypes are the products of mutants or whether they pre-existed and were demonstrable only after a secondary stimulus, because of threshold concentrations required for identification. Further, isolated contralateral popliteal and prescapular lymph nodes of individual sheep share completely overlapping clonotype patterns during experimental primary anti-polysaccharide antibody responses indicating an identical repertoire of specific clonotypes under this condition of responsiveness.

Being an identity prop: some ethical implications

During recent fieldwork in Namibia I noticed that the people I worked with often took care to arrange our public encounters so that onlookers did not interpret our relationship in ways that might be inconvenient. I was cast as a friend, colleague, employer, customer, acquaintance. My presence created opportunities for the extension of people's "repertoire of identities" (Cinnirella 1998) in both desirable and undesirable directions, and their choreography of our public encounters can be seen as part of their "impression management" (Davis 1986). Observing this process generated opportunities for me to gain insight into the way that people in the research sites negotiated social representations of identity and attributed values to particular social categories, such as volunteer, friend, namesake, NGO-worker, person living with HIV and so forth. However, finding myself playing allocated roles also raised ethical issues, two of which I discuss in this article: 1) Did my presence and participation give apparent endorsement to leaders and support claims about the legitimacy of social hierarchies? 2) Did my involvement with HIV/AIDS projects and the consequent crystallisation of my repertoire of identities threaten to undermine colleagues' and respondents' impression management? I conclude by reflecting on the limitations of my ethical approach at the outset of this research. I recommend that researchers be wary of the narrow perspective of research ethics that can emerge during the ethical clearance procedure, and that they continue to re-visit andadapt their ethical approach whilst in the field.