Obligate Relationship Research Articles

Introduction. Our relationships with GenAI and the media: Testing the limits of transparency, trust and moral agency

We present the last part of this special issue on Use of Artificial Intelligence in Communication: Ethical Implications for Media. This editorial examines the role that humans should play in the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the media. It provides an overview of transparency as an ethical obligation in relation to trust and truthfulness when using GenAI to create different kinds of content. Finally, it enters into the debate about the moral status of machines as we anticipate ethical questions in the study of ethics and GenAI in the media. Six articles complete this special issue with studies examining implications of GenAI for semiotics research, public relations, advertising, fact checking, information literacy and journalism education.

The concept of a smart contract: advantages and current situation of legal regulation in the Republic of Kazakhstan

This scientific article outlines the current provisions of the legal regulation of smart contracts, the relevance of which will grow as such contracts spread in various spheres and areas of life. Thus, the main problem of regulating relations on the use of a smart contract is the ambiguity of its legal essence, the lack of regulation in legislation, including in the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, some advantages of a smart contract are clearly shown by examples, which will help facilitate the process of concluding, changing, terminating and executing contracts. The main advantages of a smart contract are also discussed in detail, such as automation, transparency, security, efficiency, low intermediary costs, decentralization, flexibility and programmability. In the research, the authors touched upon the problems of fulfilling obligations in debt relations, the potential advantages and assistance of a smart contract in enforcement proceedings. The result of the exploration is a formulated definition of a smart contract and the identification of specific potential advantages of this type of non-traditional contracts. The authors summarize the results, noting the absence of a legal definition of a smart contract in the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the exclusively declarative nature of its legal regulation; the ambiguity of the range of public relations where contracts in this form are applicable, which does not allow the widespread dissemination and use of a smart contract.

Sompa Tanah in Makassar Bugis Customary Marriages: Legal, Religious, and Cultural Perspectives

The submission of dowry in the form of land (Sompa Tanah), as practiced by the Bugis community in Bone, reflects the flexibility of local mechanisms in addressing real-world challenges based on the ideal values of tradition. This study is important in the broader discourse on dowry, which often highlights cultural legitimacy in perpetuating violence and the subordination of women. The provision of Sompa Tanah in Bugis society serves as a cultural, legal, and religious mechanism to establish legal certainty regarding rights and obligations in marital relations. This descriptive qualitative research draws on observation and interview data, which are then analyzed contextually to understand their relevance to social management within the community. The findings indicate that Sompa Tanah functions as a legal mechanism that not only regulates rights and obligations in marriage but also provides legal certainty within the marital bond. The legal security afforded to women serves as a safeguard for their rights as wives and mothers within a patriarchal society. As a legal mechanism, Sompa Tanah ensures social order and gains customary and cultural legitimacy, which strengthens the position of women in the Bugis social structure. Additionally, marriage, as a social bond, carries the risk of divorce, which is also legally acknowledged. Consequently, this paper recommends further comparative studies to explore the practice of Sompa Tanah across different regions to gain more comprehensive and in-depth knowledge.

Blockchain and the lifecycle of components—An approach

AbstractBuildings involve multiple participants and materials that must work together throughout their life cycle, from initial planning to decommissioning and recycling. This can create safety concerns, particularly with regard to critical components. Detailed documentation and tracking of product characteristics are necessary, as well as outlining the related obligations of the parties involved. Currently, this problem is often addressed by numerous contracts and paper‐based building documentation. Blockchain technology could prove to be a future‐oriented solution to such use cases. Additionally, so‐called Smart Contracts, which are custom‐designed applications running on the given Blockchain platform, can be an appropriate way for documentation in the construction and facility management process since they allow distribution of their execution to the entirety of the involved Blockchain participants. Based on this approach, this paper presents a platform solution that provides up‐to‐date product information on various components. The outcome is a system that facilitates digital documentation on a secure legal foundation, with an interface tailored to the specific terms and conditions of each partner involved in the construction and maintenance process.

Daughters and daughters-in-law providing elderly care: a qualitative study from Karachi, Pakistan

Background and contextProviding care to the elderly is an emerging area of interest due to the increase in elderly population not only in the developed world but also in low and middle income countries. In Pakistan a country with an overall population of over 200 million, the elderly population amounts to 11.3 million. Caregiving of the elderly tends to occur within the kinship motivated by sociocultural norms as well as absence of government support facilities. While quantitative literature exists in Pakistan describing the “caregiver’s burden,” an in-depth analysis into the experiences of familial caregivers is missing.MethodsThe research used qualitative methods with the aim to explore the lived experiences of 7 daughters and 3 daughters-in-law, living in Karachi, Pakistan providing care to the elderly requiring assistance in at least two tasks of daily living.ResultsFive themes were developed inductively through the phenomenological method. All participants were Muslim and belonged to the upper economic strata of the society. Findings reveal that obligations to care are dominant in kinship circles particularly among women. Participants highlighted the importance of elderly in the Pakistani society, especially due to the religious lens that considers them as blessings. Daughter caregivers spoke about caregiving of their parents as a form of role reversal, emphasizing also upon the life-long emotional bond that served as a strong motivator. On the other hand, for daughter-in-law caregivers, motivations to care also stemmed from social expectations and kinship obligations. All participants reported multiple difficulties during the caregiving experience, despite existence of paid formal help, with respect to balancing multiple role demands and the nature of caregiving that requires constant effort. Results also illustrate that despite the desire to care for the elderly within a collectivist and patrilocal society, participants experienced multiple physical and emotional effects. However, a few also reported an increase in self-mastery and self-worth.ConclusionThis study reveals that despite increasing urbanization and more women working outside the home, providing care to the elderly appears to be centered within the kinship circle. The research makes important contributions to the ageing literature in Pakistan with relevance to other South Asian contexts.

Arthropods to Eutherians: A Historical and Contemporary Comparison of Sparse Prenatal Microbial Communities Among Animalia Species.

Since the advent of next-generation sequencing, investigators worldwide have sought to discern whether a functional and biologically or clinically relevant prenatal microbiome exists. One line of research has led to the hypothesis that microbial DNA detected in utero/in ovo or prior to birth/hatching is a result of contamination and does not belong to viable and functional microbes. Many of these preliminary evaluations have been conducted in humans, mice, and nonhuman primates due to sample and specimen availability. However, a comprehensive review of the literature across animal species suggests organisms that maintain an obligate relationship with microbes may act as better models for interrogating the selective pressures placed on vertical microbial transfer over traditional laboratory species. To date, studies in humans and viviparous laboratory species have failed to illustrate the clear presence and transfer of functional microbes in utero. Until a ground truth regarding the status and relevance of prenatal microbes can be ascertained, it is salient to conduct parallel investigations into the prevalence of a functional prenatal microbiome across the developmental lifespan of multiple organisms in the kingdom Animalia. This comprehensive understanding is necessary not only to determine the role of vertically transmitted microbes and their products in early human health but also to understand their full One Health impact. This review is among the first to compile such comprehensive primary conclusions from the original investigator's conclusions, and hence collectively illustrates that prenatal microbial transfer is supported by experimental evidence arising from over a long and rigorous scientific history encompassing a breadth of species from kingdom Animalia.

Bivalves of superfamily Galeommatoidea (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from western South Africa, with observations on commensal relationships and habitats.

The Galeommatoidea are a diverse but little-studied group of small bivalves, well known for the symbiotic relationships many species have with a range of invertebrate taxa. Four species collected from the Western Cape region of South Africa were examined and illustrated, providing new details on their habitat preferences, and depicting the mantle structure of live specimens for the first time. Brachiomyaducentiunus sp. nov., is described herein, and an additional record of Montacutasubstriata (Montagu, 1808) is reported from South Africa. Brachiomyaducentiunus and Montacutasubstriata have obligate symbiotic relationships with different burrowing echinoids, while Kelliabecki (WH Turton, 1932) and Melliteryxmactroides (Hanley, 1857) are free-living. DNA data and phylogenetic analyses are provided for three of the species.

Identifying essential genes in Schaalia odontolytica using a highly-saturated transposon library.

The unique epibiotic-parasitic relationship between Nanosynbacter lyticus type strain TM7x, a member of the newly identified Candidate Phyla Radiation, now referred to as Patescibacteria, and its basibiont, Schaalia odontolytica strain XH001 (formerly Actinomyces odontolyticus), require more powerful genetic tools for deeper understanding of the genetic underpinnings that mediate their obligate relationship. Previous studies have mainly characterized the genomic landscape of XH001 during or post TM7x infection through comparative genomic or transcriptomic analyses followed by phenotypic analysis. Comprehensive genetic dissection of the pair is currently cumbersome due to the lack of robust genetic tools in TM7x. However, basic genetic tools are available for XH001 and this study expands the current genetic toolset by developing high-throughput transposon insertion sequencing (Tn-seq). Tn-seq was employed to screen for essential genes in XH001 under laboratory conditions. A highly saturated Tn-seq library was generated with nearly 660,000 unique insertion mutations, averaging one insertion every 2-3 nucleotides. 203 genes, 10.5% of the XH001 genome, were identified as putatively essential.

“The right to die”? On voluntary retirement and related obligations of the state. A study based on the law enforcement practice of the Highest Courts of Germany and the ECHR

The article examines the problems of the “right to death” – a constitutional and legal guarantee that recognizes the right of a person to end his own life at his discretion. This issue was initially considered as a downside, a kind of negative dimension of the right to life (Part 2 of Article 2 of the Basic Law of Germany). However, the focus has changed over time; the discussion is currently being conducted in the context of the right to personal self-determination. Within the framework of this article, the analysis is carried out on the basis of the law enforcement practice of the highest courts of Germany and the European Court of Human Rights. The point of contact of the German courts can be considered the recognition of the right to voluntary retirement as an act of individual self-expression, the realization of personal choice. The legal structure of the right to personal self-determination presupposes the establishment of a close connection between the right to general freedom of action (Part 1 of Article 2 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany) and the guarantee of human dignity in accordance with Part 1 of Article 1 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the same time, the counterargument is not considered convincing, according to which the recognition of the “right to death” entails the impossibility of further personal self-realization and therefore contradicts the “life-affirming” spirit of the Basic Law, expressed, in particular, in part 2 of Article 2, since the very realization of the desire to end life is considered as an act of self-realization, which falls under constitutional protection. This constitutional and legal concept, developed by the Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany, is shared by the rest of the highest judicial instances of Germany, which complement it, in particular, by establishing state obligations to assist persons who wish to voluntarily end their own lives. The European Court of Human Rights has not yet had the opportunity to express its position on this issue, however, trends in the development of its law enforcement practice indicate that it is likely sooner or later to join the legal line of the German courts. The author identifies the argumentative shortcomings of the fundamental prerequisites for justifying the right to voluntary retirement, demonstrating not only their internal inconsistency, but also the inadmissibility of the consequences that state support for suicidal aspirations of citizens will lead to.

Comparative genomics of the primary endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola in aphid hosts and their coevolutionary relationships

BackgroundCoevolution between modern aphids and their primary obligate, bacterial endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, has been previously reported at different classification levels based on molecular phylogenetic analyses. However, the Buchnera genome remains poorly understood within the Rhus gall aphids.ResultsWe assembled the complete genome of the endosymbiont Buchnera in 16 aphid samples, representing 13 species in all six genera of Rhus gall aphids by shotgun genome skimming method. We compared the newly assembled genomes with those from GenBank to comprehensively investigate patterns of coevolution between the bacteria Buchnera and their aphid hosts. Buchnera genomes were mostly collinear, and the pan-genome contained 684 genes, in which the core genome contained 256 genes with some lineages having large numbers of tandem gene duplications. There has been substantial gene-loss in each Buchnera lineage. We also reconstructed the phylogeny for Buchnera and their host aphids, respectively, using 72 complete genomes of Buchnera, along with the complete mitochondrial genomes and three nuclear genes of 31 corresponding host aphid accessions. The cophylogenetic test demonstrated significant coevolution between these two partner groups at individual, species, generic, and tribal levels.ConclusionsBuchnera exhibits very high levels of genomic sequence divergence but relative stability in gene order. The relationship between the symbionts Buchnera and its aphid hosts shows a significant coevolutionary pattern and supports complexity of the obligate symbiotic relationship.

Convergent reductive evolution of cyanobacteria in symbiosis with Dinophysiales dinoflagellates

The diversity of marine cyanobacteria has been extensively studied due to their vital roles in ocean primary production. However, little is understood about the diversity of cyanobacterial species involved in symbiotic relationships. In this study, we successfully sequenced the complete genome of a cyanobacterium in symbiosis with Citharistes regius, a dinoflagellate species thriving in the open ocean. A phylogenomic analysis revealed that the cyanobacterium (CregCyn) belongs to the marine picocyanobacterial lineage, akin to another cyanobacterial symbiont (OmCyn) of a different dinoflagellate closely related to Citharistes. Nevertheless, these two symbionts are representing distinct lineages, suggesting independent origins of their symbiotic lifestyles. Despite the distinct origins, the genome analyses of CregCyn revealed shared characteristics with OmCyn, including an obligate symbiotic relationship with the host dinoflagellates and a degree of genome reduction. In contrast, a detailed analysis of genome subregions unveiled that the CregCyn genome carries genomic islands that are not found in the OmCyn genome. The presence of the genomic islands implies that exogenous genes have been integrated into the CregCyn genome at some point in its evolution. This study contributes to our understanding of the complex history of the symbiosis between dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria, as well as the genomic diversity of marine picocyanobacteria.

A rights-based approach to eliminating cervical cancer in Africa

This article assesses Africa’s path to eliminating cervical cancer as a human rights imperative. It discusses states’ obligations in relation to the rights to health, life and non-discrimination in relation to gender and priority setting for cervical cancer prevention and control, as well as the need to address disparities in access to care. The needs of vulnerable and marginalized women are explored through the lens of women living with HIV (WLHIV). It argues that the cervical cancer burden in Africa is highest in countries which correlate with high HIV prevalence, and so the elimination of the disease in this group requires specific strategies tailored to their context. It notes further that cervical cancer cannot be eliminated in Africa without specific attention given to the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination women face, and how this impacts their access to health care. It concludes by providing some concrete suggestions to African governments to address cervical cancer as a human rights imperative.

Refusal to open a lawsuit in a civil process

The article examines the refusal to open a lawsuit as a procedural duty of the court in civil proceedings. It is claimed that during the exercise of the right to file a lawsuit, a number of civil procedural duties appear before the court, which it must implement depending on what grounds will be established at the stage of opening the lawsuit. One of these duties is the duty of the court to refuse to open proceedings on the case, if grounds for this are established by the court. The view of the refusal to open proceedings on the case as a possibility of the court is denied, since «possibility» indicates a right, but the procedural right of the plaintiff cannot be opposed by the right of the court, because it does not correspond to the generally accepted idea of the corresponding relationship of rights and obligations. Fulfillment of an obligation is a condition for the realization of a certain right. Having exercised the right to file a lawsuit, the plaintiff presented the court with the need to fulfill a certain civil procedural duty, depending on what grounds he establishes. The reasons for refusing to open a lawsuit are analyzed and their exceptional nature is noted. The explanation of the mentioned grounds is carried out not only using the provisions of the doctrine of civil procedure, but also the modern practice of applying the norms of civil procedural legislation, including the legal positions of the Supreme Court. A classification of grounds for refusal to open a lawsuit is carried out in the context of their comparison with the prerequisites of the right to sue in the procedural sense (the right to file a lawsuit). It is noted that the prerequisites of the right to a lawsuit do not presuppose the emergence of civil procedural relations at the stage of opening a lawsuit. They point to the existence of the right to a lawsuit in statics, where the will of the person to initiate the opening of legal proceedings has not yet manifested itself.

The relationship of rights and obligations: questions of theory

It is indicated that, in the modern period of conflicting legal norms, one of the means of ensuring the implementation and observance of constitutional obligations is the responsibility and sanctions of the norms of the current legislation. It is noted that in the modern world, with the rapid development of society, the issue of compliance with law and morality is becoming more and more necessary and relevant. That is why considerable attention should be paid to the consideration, analysis and research of these two concepts. Today, law and morality depend on each other. Norms of morality and law are the most widespread and quite important for society. They are intertwined in the process of social regulation, their demands coincide in many respects: what law allows or prohibits, and morality encourages or condemns. The interaction of morality and law in society is a very complex and diverse process. Strongly influencing morality, law contributes to its intensive implementation in the minds of all members of society, at the same time, under the influence of moral requirements, law constantly improves and elevates its role as a social regulator of social relations. The author emphasizes that the attitude to rights and duties in the context of a person’s legal status creates a rather complex problem for ethics and morality. On the one hand, theorists fix such qualities of moral demands as universality and a high level of commonality. Ethical theory in the sense of attitude to rights and duties inevitably uses as one of its bases the moral ideas of “ordinary man” or “ordinary human mind”. It cannot simply ignore moral intuitions, although it can make attempts to discredit some of them, especially if they contradict the main body of moral convictions and are not accompanied by absolute certainty. However, moral duties to have a different character. They are an integral component of the normative system of universal morality and have an almost axiomatic character for the “ordinary person”.

NF1 mutation-driven neuronal hyperexcitability sets a threshold for tumorigenesis and therapeutic targeting of murine optic glioma.

With the recognition that noncancerous cells function as critical regulators of brain tumor growth, we recently demonstrated that neurons drive low-grade glioma initiation and progression. Using mouse models of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1)-associated optic pathway glioma (OPG), we showed that Nf1 mutation induces neuronal hyperexcitability and midkine expression, which activates an immune axis to support tumor growth, such that high-dose lamotrigine treatment reduces Nf1-OPG proliferation. Herein, we execute a series of complementary experiments to address several key knowledge gaps relevant to future clinical translation. We leverage a collection of Nf1-mutant mice that spontaneously develop OPGs to alter both germline and retinal neuron-specific midkine expression. Nf1-mutant mice harboring several different NF1 patient-derived germline mutations were employed to evaluate neuronal excitability and midkine expression. Two distinct Nf1-OPG preclinical mouse models were used to assess lamotrigine effects on tumor progression and growth in vivo. We establish that neuronal midkine is both necessary and sufficient for Nf1-OPG growth, demonstrating an obligate relationship between germline Nf1 mutation, neuronal excitability, midkine production, and Nf1-OPG proliferation. We show anti-epileptic drug (lamotrigine) specificity in suppressing neuronal midkine production. Relevant to clinical translation, lamotrigine prevents Nf1-OPG progression and suppresses the growth of existing tumors for months following drug cessation. Importantly, lamotrigine abrogates tumor growth in two Nf1-OPG strains using pediatric epilepsy clinical dosing. Together, these findings establish midkine and neuronal hyperexcitability as targetable drivers of Nf1-OPG growth and support the use of lamotrigine as a potential chemoprevention or chemotherapy agent for children with NF1-OPG.

Development of Obligation Tracking System for Internationally Controlled Items in Accordance with Bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreements

A Bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreement serves as a means to promote effective and universal cooperation while simultaneously guaranteeing overall nuclear nonproliferation. This agreement is legally binding and establishes a significant nuclear relationship between the two countries with strategic, economic, technological, and political aspects. It serves to meet the needs for industrial cooperation on both sides while also reinforcing the principles of nuclear transparency and nonproliferation. Additionally, the agreements are established and defined differently depending on the specific situation, taking into account the country and the type of cooperation. Authorities that sign such agreements must efficiently manage and control the entire process, considering practical aspects. At the implementation level, items subject to the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement, also known as “Obligated items,” are internationally controlled items that require inventory management and tracking from import to export, including retransfer. The Republic of Korea mandates the management of internationally regulated items, including nuclear materials, in its domestic law. However, the management procedures became more complex following the revision of the Korea-United States Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in 2015, leading to various issues at the field level related to obligated item management. Consequently, a system called the Obligation Tracking System (OTS) for internationally controlled items was developed to strengthen and streamline the scheme, providing necessary information to both Korean regulators and nuclear licensees in a timely manner. This paper explains how the OTS was developed to efficiently fulfill all related obligations imposed on the items subject to the agreement. The main functions of the OTS include (1) establishing a database of obligated items, (2) monitoring items and linking related regulatory information, and (3) generating annual reports.

Phylogenomics reveals Adeleorina are an ancient and distinct subgroup of Apicomplexa

Apicomplexans are a diverse phylum of unicellular eukaryotes that share obligate relationships with terrestrial and aquatic animal hosts. Many well-studied apicomplexans are responsible for several deadly zoonotic and human diseases, most notably malaria caused by Plasmodium. Interest in the evolutionary origin of apicomplexans has also spurred recent work on other more deeply-branching lineages, especially gregarines and sister groups like squirmids and chrompodellids. But a full picture of apicomplexan evolution is still lacking several lineages, and one major, diverse lineage that is notably absent is the adeleorinids. Adeleorina apicomplexans comprises hundreds of described species that infect invertebrate and vertebrate hosts across the globe. Although historically considered coccidians, phylogenetic trees based on limited data have shown conflicting branch positions for this subgroup, leaving this question unresolved. Phylogenomic trees and large-scale analyses comparing cellular functions and metabolism between major subgroups of apicomplexans have not incorporated Adeleorina because only a handful of molecular markers and a couple organellar genomes are available, ultimately excluding this group from contributing to our understanding of apicomplexan evolution and biology. To address this gap, we have generated complete genomes from mitochondria and plastids, as well as multiple deep-coverage single-cell transcriptomes of nuclear genes from two Adeleorina species, Klossia helicina and Legerella nova, and inferred a 206-protein phylogenomic tree of Apicomplexa. We observed distinct structures reported in species descriptions as remnant host structures surrounding adeleorinid oocysts. Klossia helicina and L. nova branched, as expected, with monoxenous adeleorinids within the Adeleorina and their mitochondrial and plastid genomes exhibited similarity to published organellar adeleorinid genomes. We show with a phylogeneomic tree and subsequent phylogenomic analyses that Adeleorina are not closely related to any of the currently sampled apicomplexan subgroups, and instead fall as a sister to a large clade encompassing Coccidia, Protococcidia, Hematozoa, and Nephromycida, collectively. This resolves Adeleorina as a key independently-branching group, separate from coccidians, on the tree of Apicomplexa, which now has all known major lineages sampled.

Захист майнових прав подружжя при здійсненні ним прав на корпоративний пай як об’єкт права спільної сумісної власності

The article analyses the legal nature of a share in the authorized capital of a business entity (corporate share) as an object of civil rights. It identifies practical ways to protect the property rights of spouses to a corporate share in cases where it is an object of joint ownership. As a result of the study, the author came to the following conclusions. 1. A share in the authorized capital of a business entity (a corporate share is an object of civil rights that are free in civil turnover, and therefore, it can be both an object of rights in rem and a subject of obligatory rights. Suppose one of the spouses contributes to the charter capital of a business company at the expense of the marital property. In that case, the corporate share belongs to the spouses on the right of joint ownership. 2. The choice of an adequate remedy will depend on the object of the legal relationship in which the corporate share is involved. If the right to a share is violated, unrecognized, or disputed within the framework of a legal relationship, then the appropriate remedies will be in rem. If the right to a corporate share is violated in a legal relationship of obligation, it can be protected using legal methods of obligation. 3. The substantive methods of protecting the rights to a corporate share as an object of the right of marital property include a claim for recognition of the right to a corporate share, a claim for division of a corporate share, vindication, and adverse claims. 4. Obligatory remedies for the protection of rights to a corporate share as an object of marital property include a claim for recognition of a transaction based on which rights to a share in the charter capital were transferred to a third party as invalid if it was made without the consent of the other spouse. However, the court may only satisfy such a claim if the counterparty to the transaction is in bad faith. In other cases, the spouse whose share was alienated without the consent of the other spouse is entitled to compensation of half the value of the corporate share from the other spouse. 5. In case a spouse who is not a member of a business entity receives compensation instead of dividing the share in kind, the market value of the corporate share determines the amount of compensation. Keywords: marital property right, corporate share, share in the authorised capital of a business entity, remedies, property division agreement, property rights, rights in rem, obligatory rights, authorised capital, corporate rights.

Activities of the United Nations in combating gender-based crimes

The article is dedicated to the issue of the United Nations activities in preventing and eradicating gender-based crimes. It is indicated that gender-based violence and gender-motivated killings can be classified as hate crimes motivated by intolerance towards certain groups of the population. It is noted that an important contribution to combating gender-based crimes was made by the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, and other bodies, institutions and structures of the Organization. In particular, the UN General Assembly has adopted a number of resolutions in this area, including Resolution 68/191, which set out recommendations to Member States and UN bodies, agencies and institutions on measures against gender-related killing of women and girls. In pursuance of this recommendation, an open-ended intergovernmental expert group meeting was convened to review promising practices and formulate a number of practical recommendations on ways and measures to improve the effectiveness of efforts to prevent and investigate gender-related killings. It is indicated that since 2019, UNODC has been implementing the Global Programme on Strengthening Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses to Violence against Women, providing specific solutions that complement existing UN joint programmes and country projects. It is noted that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has played an important role in combating gender-based crimes. In particular, in its concluding observations on the periodic reports of States parties and in the context of relevant follow-up procedures, the Committee consistently condemns gender-based violence. In addition, the Committee provides clarification of the standards related to the elimination of such violence and the related obligations of States parties. The article also focuses on the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences in this area.

Episymbiotic Saccharibacteria induce intracellular lipid droplet production in their host bacteria.

Saccharibacteria (formerly TM7) are a group of widespread and genetically diverse ultrasmall bacteria with highly reduced genomes that belong to Candidate Phyla Radiation, a large monophyletic lineage with poorly understood biology. Nanosynbacter lyticus type strain TM7x is the first Saccharibacteria member isolated from the human oral microbiome. With restrained metabolic capacities, TM7x lives on the surface of, and forms an obligate episymbiotic relationship with its bacterial host, Schaalia odontolytica strain XH001. The symbiosis allows TM7x to propagate but presents a burden to host bacteria by inducing stress response. Here, we employed super-resolution fluorescence imaging to investigate the physical association between TM7x and XH001. We showed that the binding with TM7x led to a substantial alteration in the membrane fluidity of XH001. We also revealed the formation of intracellular lipid droplets in XH001 when forming episymbiosis with TM7x, a feature that has not been reported in oral bacteria. The TM7x-induced lipid droplets accumulation in XH001 was confirmed by label-free Raman spectroscopy, which also unveiled additional phenotypical features when XH001 cells are physically associated with TM7x. Further exploration through culturing XH001 under various stress conditions showed that lipid droplets accumulation was a general response to stress. A survival assay demonstrated that the presence of lipid droplets plays a protective role in XH001, enhancing its survival under adverse conditions. In conclusion, our study sheds new light on the intricate interaction between Saccharibacteria and their host bacteria, highlighting the potential benefit conferred by TM7x to its host and further emphasizing the context-dependent nature of symbiotic relationships.