Urinary tract infections are the most common urologic disease in the United States and one of the most common bacterial infections of any organ system. Biofilms persist in the urinary tract and on catheter surfaces because biofilm microorganisms are resistant to host defense mechanisms and antibiotic therapy. The first step in the establishment of biofilm infections is bacterial adhesion; preventing bacterial adhesion represents a promising method of controlling biofilms. Evidence suggests that capsular polysaccharides play a role in adhesion and pathogenicity. This study focuses on the role of physiochemical and specific binding interactions during adhesion of colanic acid exopolysaccharide mutant strains. Bacterial adhesion was evaluated for isogenic uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains that differed in colanic acid expression. The atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to directly measure the reversible physiochemical and specific binding interactions between bacterial strains and various substrates as bacteria initially approach the interface. AFM results indicate that electrostatic interactions were not solely responsible for the repulsive forces between the colanic acid mutant strains and hydrophilic substrates. Moreover, hydrophobic interactions were not found to play a significant role in adhesion of the colanic acid mutant strains. Adhesion was also evaluated by parallel-plate flow cell studies in comparison to AFM force measurements to demonstrate that prolonged incubation times alter bacterial adhesion. Results from this study demonstrate that the capsular polysaccharide colanic acid does not enhance bacterial adhesion but rather blocks the establishment of specific binding as well as timedependent interactions between uropathogenic E. coli and inert substrates.
Silence infuses all aspects of our daily communications: what we say and what remains unspoken; those to whom we speak, and those we ignore; those we trust and respect, and those we do not. In the school environment, interactions between students and teachers lie at the heart of pedagogy. This relationship is also marked by its silences, and the concept of 'student voice' arose out of these silences on matters that affect students. However, the role of silence in such interactions has yet to receive comprehensive attention. This article presents the findings of a study on the uses and experiences of silence in the classroom with secondary school students aged 14-15 years and their teachers. Drawing on nine group discussions and 33 interviews with 20 teachers and 35 students, respectively, I argue that an oversight of silence in the student voice discipline has obscured the power dimensions of student voice, and the injustices that become visible when different forms of silence are illuminated. I argue that there are two core ideas which emerge from the findings: firstly, that silent practices manifest in two distinct paradigms of productivity and listening which function as expectations of teaching and learning; secondly, that the conflation of the listening paradigm with respect demonstrates the capacity of silent practices to reinforce the division between teaching and learning to become mediums of injustice. I conclude that this dichotomous relationship between pedagogy and student voice requires a pedagogy based on a critical examination of respect.
Silence is traditionally understood as a power deficit; yet, it creates spaces in which power works unobtrusively. In this article, I report the findings of a qualitative study examining silence in school relationships. Based on nine conceptual discussions and 33 interviews with teachers and students in a secondary school in the UK, I assert that uses of silence in relationships between students and teachers revolve around two conceptions of power: a stronghold of respect and a refuge for dignity.
This article presents a conceptualisation of children’s participation rights based on Miranda Fricker’s epistemic injustice. Drawing on research conducted in a secondary school in the UK, the article applies Fricker’s framework, in particular her concepts of testimonial and hermeneutical injustice, to explain some of the reasons for adults’ disquiet around children’s participation rights. Fricker’s concept of testimonial injustice explains how prejudice about a social group results in deflated attributions of credibility to their views and opinions. Hermeneutical injustice occurs when a social group struggles to make sense of their social experiences because of insufficient interpretive resources in the collective social imagination. By applying these concepts to children, I highlight the role of silence in conceptualising children’s right to be heard and to freedom of expression. I present a conceptual framework of participation, informed by epistemic injustice and based on empirical research, in order to bolster children’s participation rights.
Legal and policy commitment to children's rightsIf, as Nelson Mandela proclaims, there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children, then there can, perhaps, be no sharper an indication of a government's commitment to children's rights than a strong legal and policy framework. This edited collection takes on the challenge of showcasing rights-based participatory approaches across the domains of policy making, practice and research with children and young people, and probes the complexities of transforming such approaches into children's everyday lives. Overview of the collectionDivided into three parts, the collection begins by setting out the policy framework in Ireland that supports youth participation; the National Framework for Children and Young People's Participation in Decision-Making (2021), which is built upon the National Strategy on Children and Young People's Participation in Decision-Making 2015-2020. The first part of the book goes on to present this policy implementation in a range of governmental and NGO organisations, including, amongst others: the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (Chapter 1); Foróige (Ireland's largest youth organisation) (Chapter 2), Tusla (the child and
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.