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How does cultural and corporate affiliation emerge in transnational biographies? How does it develop under the influence of global and national power structures? These questions are addressed in this study that combines epistemological approaches dealing with the interplay of social and individual factors in identity formation with a structural analysis of historical power relations in form of racism and colonialism. Empirically this paper identifies how immigrants deal with challenges of integration into the host society and incorporate these experiences into their biographical self-construction. It concentrates on African and particularly Sierra Leonean immigrants in Germany. The findings are generated from a reconstructive analysis of selected biographical narrations which were scrutinized from different perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclohexane carboxylate supported relatively rapid growth (doubling times 7-8 h) of Rhodopseudomonas palustris under oxic or photosynthetic conditions, but did not serve as a substrate for either of the known aromatic CoA ligases. A CoA ligase that thioesterifies cyclohexane carboxylate was partially purified and did not cross react immunologically with the two CoA ligases purified previously from this bacterium. Crude extracts of R. palustris cells grown with a range of aromatic or alicyclic acids contained a dehydrogenase that reacted with cyclohexane carboxyl-CoA or cyclohex-1-ene carboxyl-CoA, using 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol or ferricenium ion as electron carrier. This activity was not detected in extracts of adipate-, glutamate-, or succinate-grown cells. No oxidation or reduction of nonesterified cyclohexane carboxylate or cyclohexene carbocylate was detected in extracts of cells grown with aromatic or aliphatic substrates, neither aerobically nor anaerobically. A constitutively expressed thioesterase that hydrolyzed cyclohexane carboxyl-CoA and also some alicyclic and aliphatic CoA derivatives was purified and characterized. The enzyme had little or no activity on benzoyl-CoA or 4-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA. The presence of a thioesterase that effectively hydrolyzes cyclohexane carboxyl-CoA suggests that transient production of cyclohexane carboxylate is a physiological response to temporary excess of reductant during metabolism of aromatic compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The guts of termites feature suitable conditions for methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) with their permanent production of CH 4 and constant supply of O 2 via tracheae. In this study, we have isolated MOB from the gut contents of the termites Incisitermes marginipennis , Mastotermes darwiniensis , and Neotermes castaneus for the first time. The existence of MOB was indicated by detecting pmoA , the gene for the particulate methane monooxygenase, in the DNA of gut contents. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction supported those findings. The MOB cell titer was determined to be 10 2 –10 3 per gut. Analyses of the 16S rDNA from isolates indicated close similarity to the genus Methylocystis . After various physiological tests and fingerprinting methods, no exact match to a known species was obtained, indicating the isolation of new MOB species. However, MALDI-TOF MS analyses revealed a close relationship to Methylocystis bryophila and Methylocystis parvus . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The guts of termites feature suitable conditions for methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) with their permanent production of CH4 and constant supply of O2 via tracheae. In this study, we have isolated MOB from the gut contents of the termites Incisitermes marginipennis, Mastotermes darwiniensis, and Neotermes castaneus for the first time. The existence of MOB was indicated by detecting pmoA, the gene for the particulate methane monooxygenase, in the DNA of gut contents. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction supported those findings. The MOB cell titer was determined to be 10(2)-10(3) per gut. Analyses of the 16S rDNA from isolates indicated close similarity to the genus Methylocystis. After various physiological tests and fingerprinting methods, no exact match to a known species was obtained, indicating the isolation of new MOB species. However, MALDI-TOF MS analyses revealed a close relationship to Methylocystis bryophila and Methylocystis parvus., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: In 2009, the Government of Tanzania embarked on scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services for HIV prevention in 8 priority regions, with the aim of serving 2.8 million boys and men ages 10-34 years by 2013. By mid-2012, more than 110,000 boys and men in Iringa and Njombe regions had received VMMC. The majority (85%) of these VMMC clients were under 19 years old (average age, 16 years). This study aimed to identify potential barriers and facilitators to VMMC among older men., Methods: We conducted 16 focus group discussions, stratified by sex and age, with 142 purposefully selected participants in 3 districts of Iringa and Njombe regions., Results: Both men and women generally had positive attitudes toward VMMC. Social and personal barriers to obtaining VMMC among adult men included shame associated with seeking services co-located with younger boys and perceived inappropriateness of VMMC after puberty, particularly after marriage and after having children. Additional barriers included concerns about partner infidelity during the post-surgical abstinence period, loss of income, and fear of pain associated with post-surgical erections. Facilitators included awareness of the HIV-prevention benefit and perceptions of cleanliness and enhanced attractiveness to women., Conclusions: While men and women in Iringa and Njombe regions in Tanzania generally view VMMC as a desirable procedure, program implementers need to address barriers to VMMC services among adult men. Selected service delivery sites in the Iringa and Njombe regions will be segregated by age to provide services that are "friendly" to adult men. Services will be complemented with behavior change communication initiatives to address concerns of older men, encourage women's support for circumcision and adherence to the post-surgical abstinence period, and change social norms that inhibit older men from seeking circumcision.