Defensive Mode Research Articles

Super-Resolution Microscopy of Cells Expressing Rhabdovirus Proteins

Interferon (IFN)-mediated immunity is a central mode of defense against viral infection and evasion of this immune response is critical to the pathogenicity of viruses. IFN-antagonist proteins have recently been shown to interact with host microtubules (MTs) demonstrating a novel mechanism for subverting the IFN response (1). Using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy we have imaged the association of the IFN-antagonist protein with host cell MTs and the consequent changes to the architecture of the cell cytoskeleton.Super resolution imaging was achieved using the dSTORM approach on a home-built set-up. dSTORM imaging of MT architecture in cells expressing Rhabdovirus proteins has allowed previously unobservable changes caused by the IFN-antagonist proteins to be detected. Transfected cells COS7 cells labeled with Alexa 647 (Figure - left panel) show a high degree of bundling and abnormal curvature of the microtubule skeleton. In contrast, healthy control cells (Figure - center panel) show normal microtubule architecture.(1) K.G. Lieu, A. Brice, L. Wiltzer, B. Hirst, D.A. Jans, D. Blondel and G.W. Moseley, Journal of Virology, (2013) doi: 10/1128/JVI.00989-13.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide

Effect of Step Hurdle Agility Training on Total Response Time of Block in Volleyball Players

This case study was aimed to understand the attacking techniques and points gaining or losing situations of Li-Cheng Tseng, a female Taekwondo bronze medalist for Chinese Taipei in the 2012 London Olympics. Video observation system was used to analyze four competition progresses, and obtained quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive analysis for different kinds of attacking techniques. The results showed that (1) For the attack patterns, the rate of defensive attacks (64.29%) were higher than offensive attacks (35.71%). (2) The attacking area, where points were given was differentiated into body and head parts. For the body part, the rate of turning kicks were more than back kicks, front leg side-kicks and side-kicks, whereas for the head part, the rate of axe kicks (downward kicks) and crescent kicks (inside downward kicks) were more than spinning kicks. (3) The rate of points obtained was higher in defensive mode compared to offensive mode. (4) Total gained points were 28, the attacks using leg and hand at the back during fighting stance were significantly higher than attacks using front leg and hand. The rate of points gained was higher for right leg and hand attacks compared to the left leg and hand attacks. Points lost occurred mostly during offensive right front leg side-kick and offensive right front leg sidekick towards the head. This study concludes that points lost occurred easier while in a fighting stance of right leg at the front and left leg at the back, which suggests that a fighting stance of left leg at the front and right leg at the back may be better to avoid the sudden attack by right front leg of the opponent. We further observed that left turning kick was more potential for gaining the points, therefore left leg head attack regardless of front or back should be strengthened in fighting stance and spinning movements.

Transcriptional responses in a Drosophila defensive symbiosis

Inherited symbionts are ubiquitous in insects and can have important consequences for the fitness of their hosts. Many inherited symbionts defend their hosts against parasites or other natural enemies; however, the means by which most symbionts confer protection is virtually unknown. We examine the mechanisms of defence in a recently discovered case of symbiont-mediated protection, where the bacterial symbiont Spiroplasma defends the fly Drosophila neotestacea from a virulent nematode parasite, Howardula aoronymphium. Using quantitative PCR of Spiroplasma infection intensities and whole transcriptome sequencing, we attempt to distinguish between the following modes of defence: symbiont-parasite competition, host immune priming and the production of toxic factors by Spiroplasma. Our findings do not support a model of exploitative competition between Howardula and Spiroplasma to mediate defence, nor do we find strong support for host immune priming during Spiroplasma infection. Interestingly, we recovered sequence for putative toxins encoded by Spiroplasma, including a novel putative ribosome-inactivating protein, transcripts of which are up-regulated in response to nematode exposure. Protection via the production of toxins may be a widely used and important mechanism in heritable defensive symbioses in insects.

The Resilience Complex

The Resilience Complex

Characterization and genetic dissection of resistance to spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis trifolii) in Medicago truncatula.

Aphids cause significant yield losses in agricultural crops worldwide. Medicago truncatula, a model legume, cultivated pasture species in Australia and close relative of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), was used to study the defence response against Therioaphis trifolii f. maculate [spotted alfalfa aphid (SAA)]. Aphid performance and plant damage were compared among three accessions. A20 is highly susceptible, A17 has moderate resistance, and Jester is strongly resistant. Subsequent analyses using A17 and A20, reciprocal F1s and an A17×A20 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population revealed that this moderate resistance is phloem mediated and involves antibiosis and tolerance but not antixenosis. Electrical penetration graph analysis also identified a novel waveform termed extended potential drop, which occurred following SAA infestation of M. truncatula. Genetic dissection using the RIL population revealed three quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 3, 6, and 7 involved in distinct modes of aphid defence including antibiosis and tolerance. An antibiosis locus resides on linkage group 3 (LG3) and is derived from A17, whereas a plant tolerance and antibiosis locus resides on LG6 and is derived from A20, which exhibits strong temporary tolerance. The loci identified reside in regions harbouring classical resistance genes, and introgression of these loci in current medic cultivars may help provide durable resistance to SAA, while elucidation of their molecular mechanisms may provide valuable insight into other aphid–plant interactions.

Integrated Flood Management for Beiyun River, China

Abstract Beiyun River Basin is holistically suffering a water shortage and relatively concentrated flood risk. The current operation (level-control) of dams and floodgates, which is in passive defense mode, cannot meet the demands of both flood control and storm water resources. An integrated flood forecasting and management system is developed by the connecting of the hydrological model and hydrodynamic model and coupling of the hydrodynamic model and hydraulic model for dams and floodgates. Based upon the forecasted runoff processes, a discharge-control operation mode of dams and floodgates is proposed to be utilized in order to well regulate the flood routing in channels. The simulated water level, discharge, and water storage volume under different design conditions of rainfall return periods and floodgates operation modes are compared. The results show that: (1) for small floods, current operation modes can satisfy the objectives, but discharge-control operation can do better; (2) for medium size floods, since pre-storing of the floods affects the discharge of follow-up floods by floodgates, the requirement of flood control cannot be satisfied under current operations, but the discharge-control operation can; (3) for large floods, neither operation can meet the requirement because of the limited storage of these dams. Then, the gravel pits, wetlands, ecological lakes and flood detention basins around the river must be used for excess flood waters. Using the flood forecasting and management system can change passive defense to active defense mode, solving the water resources problem of Beijing city and Beiyun River Basin to a certain extent.

THE MEMBRANE AND THE DIAPHRAGM

This paper considers two among the several points of intersection in the work of Roberto Esposito and Jacques Derrida. First, and most obviously: in the context of conceptualizing community, and more broadly, Esposito and Derrida have elaborated concepts of immunity and auto-immunity to refer to auto-destructive modes of defense which profoundly threaten what – seemingly – ought to have been safeguarded through their mechanism. The second point of proximity is the use both make of figures of maternity and birth in these conceptualizations. This comparison not only illuminates the differing philosophical commitments of Derrida and Esposito but also offers a means of challenging the fate of sexual difference in the work of Esposito.

Mutualism between armoured scale insects and ants: new species and observations on a unique trophobiosis (Hemiptera: Diaspididae; Hymenoptera: Formicidae: MelissotarsusEmery)

AbstractThe association between African armoured scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Diaspididae) and ants belonging to Melissotarsus Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) is the only trophobiosis known in which ants do not receive honeydew or nectar in exchange for protection and other services. Food reward for the ants in this mutualism remains unknown, despite repeated suggestions that diaspidids are consumed by the associated ants, thus serving as ‘domestic cattle’. We describe new observations on interactions between Melissotarsus emeryi Santschi and the diaspidid Morganella conspicua (Brain) from South Africa. Worker ants exhibited previously undescribed tending behaviours, most notably a ‘squeezing and licking’ performed on an adult female diaspidid and ‘culling’, in which a worker removed an adult female armoured scale from the host plant. These could represent the gathering of secretory products and the cultivation of an individual for consumption, respectively. An ant exclusion study over 12 days of isolation showed that adult female diaspidids and second‐instar nymphs secreted no wax or exudates that attending ants would ordinarily collect. Workers of M. emeryi did not defend their nest against invading colonies of Crematogaster and other unidentified ants: we hypothesize that the primary mode of defence is maintenance of isolation within galleries. We describe three new ant‐associated diaspidid species: Affirmaspis cederbergensis Schneider sp.n. from South Africa, Diaspis doumtsopi Schneider sp.n. from Cameroon, and Melissoaspis incola Schneider sp.n. from Madagascar. Melissoaspis formicaria (Ben‐Dov) comb.n. is transferred from Morganella (Brain). Diagnostic characteristics for Melissoaspis Ben‐Dov are revised, and additional taxonomic information defining this genus allows ease of identification. An updated identification key to the species of ant‐associated diaspidids is provided.This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:632C1122-954A-4DE6-B946-8E6AB6A4D27F.

The Education of Grown-ups: An Aesthetics of Reading Cavell

Abstract Just as there was a time when it was uncommon, not to say unfashionable and perhaps professionally treacherous, for philosophers to write about Ralph Waldo Emerson, there was also a time when the pertinence of Stanley Cavell’s work for philosophy was a point of controversy. Now there is little reason to worry or complain that his work is not getting sufficient attention, so this essay is not undertaken in a mode of defense or complaint, but instead in a mood of wonder. I am interested in the phenomenon and practice of reading Cavell’s writing--work that appears capable of inspiring new writing while also causing the inspired to feel afraid of, or otherwise estranged from, the work. Panicked by its pedagogical force, a reader trying to write new things may be led to defer or diminish the work that inspired those new things, finding that the inspiration suffocates new initiatives in prose. In this essay I attend closely to how these and other issues in the aesthetics of reading appear when reading Cavell. My invocation of Cavell’s notion that "philosophy becomes the education of grownups" is meant to associate the aesthetics of reading Cavell’s work with the more general experience of education as it continues into maturity, regardless of discipline.

The politics of discretionary government commitments to European integration referendums

The article develops a two-dimensional typology of political reasons for governments to pledge referendums on European integration when they are not obliged to do so: the first dimension is about the political level at which the strategic use of referendum pledges is targeted and it distinguishes between domestic and European reasons; the second dimension attends to the strategic mode of governments when pledging EU referendums which can either be about avoiding political losses (the defensive mode) or about realizing political gains (the offensive mode). In combination, the typology yields four ideal types of reasons for governments to commit to EU referendums: the depoliticizing; plebiscitary; red-line; and internationalist EU referendum pledges. In the empirical analysis, the article applies this typology to classify 28 cases of discretionary government commitments to EU referendums and it presents the findings of an expert survey that has been conducted for this purpose.

Fight or flight? Dream content during sleepwalking/sleep terrors vs rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

Dreams enacted during sleepwalking or sleep terrors (SW/ST) may differ from those enacted during rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Subjects completed aggression, depression, and anxiety questionnaires. The mentations associated with SW/ST and RBD behaviors were collected over their lifetime and on the morning after video polysomnography (PSG). The reports were analyzed for complexity, length, content, setting, bizarreness, and threat. Ninety-one percent of 32 subjects with SW/ST and 87.5% of 24 subjects with RBD remembered an enacted dream (121 dreams in a lifetime and 41 dreams recalled on the morning). These dreams were more complex and less bizarre, with a higher level of aggression in the RBD than in SW/ST subjects. In contrast, we found low aggression, anxiety, and depression scores during the daytime in both groups. As many as 70% of enacted dreams in SW/ST and 60% in RBD involved a threat, but there were more misfortunes and disasters in the SW/ST dreams and more human and animal aggressions in the RBD dreams. The response to these threats differed, as the sleepwalkers mostly fled from a disaster (and 25% fought back when attacked), while 75% of RBD subjects counterattacked when assaulted. The dreams setting included their bedrooms in 42% SW/ST dreams, though this finding was exceptional in the RBD dreams. Different threat simulations and modes of defense seem to play a role during dream-enacted behaviors (e.g., fleeing a disaster during SW/ST, counterattacking a human or animal assault during RBD), paralleling and exacerbating the differences observed between normal dreaming in nonrapid eye movement (NREM) vs rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

Dynamic Disease Management inTrachymyrmexFungus-Growing Ants (Attini: Formicidae)

Multipartner mutualisms have potentially complex dynamics, with compensatory responses when one partner is lost or relegated to a minor role. Fungus-growing ants (Attini) are mutualistic associates of basidiomycete fungi and antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria; the former are attacked by specialized fungi (Escovopsis) and diverse generalist microbes. Ants deploy biochemical defenses from bacteria and metapleural glands (MGs) and express different behaviors to control contaminants. We studied four Trachymyrmex species that differed in relative abundance of actinomycetes to understand interactions among antimicrobial tactics that are contingent on the nature of infection. MG grooming rate and actinomycete abundance were negatively correlated. The two species with high MG grooming rates or abundant actinomycetes made relatively little use of behavioral defenses. Conversely, the two species with relatively modest biochemical defenses relied heavily on behavior. Trade-offs suggest that related species can evolutionarily diverge to rely on different defense mechanisms against the same threat. Neither bacterial symbionts nor MG secretions thus appear to be essential for mounting defenses against the specialized pathogen Escovopsis, but reduced investment in one of these defense modes tends to increase investment in the other.

MAMP (microbe-associated molecular pattern) triggered immunity in plants

Plants are sessile organisms that are under constant attack from microbes. They rely on both preformed defenses, and their innate immune system to ward of the microbial pathogens. Preformed defences include for example the cell wall and cuticle, which act as physical barriers to microbial colonization. The plant immune system is composed of surveillance systems that perceive several general microbe elicitors, which allow plants to switch from growth and development into a defense mode, rejecting most potentially harmful microbes. The elicitors are essential structures for pathogen survival and are conserved among pathogens. The conserved microbe-specific molecules, referred to as microbe- or pathogen-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs or PAMPs), are recognized by the plant innate immune systems pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). General elicitors like flagellin (Flg), elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), peptidoglycan (PGN), lipopolysaccharides (LPS), Ax21 (Activator of XA21-mediated immunity in rice), fungal chitin, and β-glucans from oomycetes are recognized by plant surface localized PRRs. Several of the MAMPs and their corresponding PRRs have, in recent years, been identified. This review focuses on the current knowledge regarding important MAMPs from bacteria, fungi, and oomycetes, their structure, the plant PRRs that recognizes them, and how they induce MAMP-triggered immunity (MTI) in plants.

Defensive Glands of the Darkling BeetleMesomorphus villigerBlanchard (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Massive home invasion by the darkling beetleMesomorphus villigerBlanchard 1853 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) during monsoon season make it a nuisance pest in many regions of south India. Morphology of defensive glands and mode of release and dispersal of the defensive secretion were analysed. Defensive glands were separated from the abdominal sternites by cutting along the posterior margin of the seventh sternite. Glands are evaginations of intersegmental membrane between the seventh and eighth sternites consisting of two long sac-like reservoirs, and glandular secretion is released by exudation and spread through epipleural gutter of elytra. Gradual release of the secretion is a strategy to repel the predators for a longer duration.

The role of antioxidants and other agents in alleviating hyperglycemia mediated oxidative stress and injury in liver

Several antioxidants and agents having similar antioxidant effects are known to exert beneficial effects in ameliorating the injurious effects of hyperglycemia on liver in different diabetic in vitro and in vivo models. The review deals with some of the agents which have been shown to exert protective effects on liver against hyperglycemic insult and the various mechanisms involved. The different classes of agents which protect the diabetic liver or decrease the severity of hyperglycemia mediated injury include flavonoids, catechins, and other polyphenolic compounds, curcumin and its derivatives, certain vitamins, hormones and drugs, trace elements, prototypical antioxidants and amino acids. Some of the pronounced changes mediated by the antioxidants in liver exposed to hyperglycemia include decreased oxidative stress, and alterations in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Other mechanisms through which the agents ameliorate hyperglycemia mediated liver injury include decrease in oxidative DNA and protein damage, restoration of mitochondrial structural and functional integrity, decrease in inflammation and improved insulin signaling. Thus, antioxidants may prove to be an important mode of defense in maintaining normal hepatic functions in diabetes.

Driven by fear: The effect of success and failure information on passionate individuals' performance.

Four studies investigated the impact of success and failure information on passionate individuals' performance. Obsessive passion, characterized by a rigid and defensive mode of functioning, predicted greater performance in domains both related and unrelated to the passionate activity in response to exposure to failure information. Conversely, harmonious passion, characterized by a flexible, nondefensive mode of functioning, was found to be unaffected by success or failure information. These performance effects were deeply ingrained, did not require conscious thought, and were automatically activated after unconscious exposure to failure-related words. In addition, the present research evinced that following failure information, obsessive passion predicted increases of performance through its effect on fear of failure. However, performance augmented only when the performance task was framed in such a way that failure would entail important negative consequences for the self and not when framed as inconsequential.

Online onslaught: Internet-based methods for attacking and defending citizens’ organisations

As the online profiles of organisations become more important, so do their vulnerabilities to online attack. A wide range of online methods can be used to attack the credibility of an organisation, deter participation by its members and undermine its operations. A case study from the Australian vaccination debate is used to illustrate the operation and impact of some of these possible methods. The main modes of attack are disrupting discussions, dominating descriptions and ridiculing and intimidating opponents. The main modes of defence are excluding disrupters, providing counter-descriptions, making formal complaints, and ignoring or exposing abuse. New forms of social media in the future will offer additional options for both offence and defence.

From Bureaucracy to Learning Organization: Critical Minimum Specification Design as Space for Sensemaking

What does it take of a municipal organization to be a significant participant in the dynamic, learning oriented interaction within a triple helix constellation of partners aimed at regional development? The short answer is that it needs to develop the receptivity (Morgan, 1996) and the flexibility to act in novel ways, which are the traits of a learning organization. However, how these abilities are enhanced in organizations that are basically organized as bureaucracies aimed at maintaining a stable and standardized function of its operations, is an under-researched phenomenon within the triple helix discussions. In this paper, I investigate this question through an analysis of a change and development process within a municipal organization that aimed to enhance the capacity of the organization to interact receptively and dynamically with their environment, by changing their organizational structure from a bureaucratic to a post-bureaucratic type. The main finding is that rather than the new formal structure as such; it is the process of sensemaking following the introduction of this new formal structure that creates the capacity for learning and development. However, this outcome is dependent on the sensemaking process being turned over from a defensive mode into a learning oriented mode. The paper explores how this turn may be facilitated.

Saying No!: Profligacy versus austerity, or metaphor against model in justifying the Arts and Humanities in the contemporary university

Demonstrating an analysis of two musicals that both disclose and seek imaginatively to resolve political and economic conflict, an analysis that was the product of the radical interdisciplinary ‘studies’ movements of the culture wars in the late twentieth century university, this article seeks to examine what modes of defence are available to the critical projects in the Arts and Humanities, developed in that moment, when now faced with the culture of austerity. Under the twin rationalizations of audit culture with the accountable excellence and the new model that defines the Arts and Humanities as ‘profligate’ expenses in an age of financial rationing based on economic necessity and required technological orientation, there is a temptation to fall back on nostalgia for an imagined period of academic freedom identified, problematically but not untruthfully, with struggles for democracy through and in education. Based on Hannah Arendt’s defence of thinking via a reading by Judith Butler, and with Gayatri Spivak’s notions of teaching to read as a necessary route to the creation of a planetary community, the article seeks to go beyond the historically compromised defences of self-determining academic freedom, themselves shown to be founded in nationalist and imperialist agendas of the past.

Multi-Agents Model of Active Defense Mode with Immunization Vaccination in Unconventional Emergencies Management

Multi-Agents Model of Active Defense Mode with Immunization Vaccination in Unconventional Emergencies Management