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Presents philosophical and practical arguments in favor of the administration of judicial corporal punishment as a way of addressing problems in the American criminal justice system.

Corporal punishment is often seen as a litmus test for a society's degree of civilization. Its licit use purports to separate modernity from premodernity, enlightened from barbaric cultures. As Geltner argues, however, neither did the infliction of bodily pain typify earlier societies nor did it vanish from penal theory, policy, or practice. Far from displaying a steady decline that accelerated with the Enlightenment, physical punishment was contested throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, its application expanding and contracting under diverse pressures. Moreover, despite the integration of penal incarceration into criminal justice systems since the nineteenth century, modern nation states and colonial regimes increased rather than limited the use of corporal punishment. Flogging Others thus challenges a common understanding of modernization and Western identity and underscores earlier civilizations' nuanced approaches to punishment, deviance, and the human body. Today as in the past, corporal punishment thrives due to its capacity to define otherness efficiently and unambiguously, either as a measure acting upon a deviant's body or as a practice that epitomizes - in the eyes of external observers - a culture's backwardness.

For almost three years, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously affected society. Mass gatherings were restricted during the surge, including religious activities and other public practices. However, some Filipinos opted to continue their panata (sacred vow) of self-flagellation during this health crisis, thus putting themselves at risk of being inflicted with the virus or being a spreader. This article explores the experience of selected flagellants who continued to fulfill their religious practice amid the pandemic. It draws inspiration from their narratives about their personal experiences of how they faced, struggled, and hoped to battle the “unseen” virus and the criticisms of others for what they did. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), their interview transcripts elicit three recurrent themes: Suffering leads to finding God for support, sacred vow as unity to Christ’s suffering, and spiritual reward over physical pain. These themes can contribute to future research on how opposing parties should negotiate when faith and health conflict.

Relative to peritrichous bacteria, polar flagellates possess regulatory systems that order flagellar gene transcription differently and produce flagella in specific numbers only at poles. How transcriptional and flagellar biogenesis regulatory systems are interlinked to promote the correct synthesis of polar flagella in diverse species has largely been unexplored. We found evidence for many Gram-negative polar flagellates encoding two-component signal transduction systems with activity linked to the formation of flagellar type III secretion systems to enable production of flagellar rod and hook proteins at a discrete, subsequent stage during flagellar assembly. This polar flagellar transcriptional program assists, in some manner, the FlhF/FlhG flagellar biogenesis regulatory system, which forms specific flagellation patterns in polar flagellates in maintaining flagellation and motility when activity of FlhF or FlhG might be altered. Our work provides insight into the multiple regulatory processes required for polar flagellation. Bacterial flagella are rotating nanomachines required for motility. Flagellar gene expression and protein secretion are coordinated for efficient flagellar biogenesis. Polar flagellates, unlike peritrichous bacteria, commonly order flagellar rod and hook gene transcription as a separate step after production of the MS ring, C ring, and flagellar type III secretion system (fT3SS) core proteins that form a competent fT3SS. Conserved regulatory mechanisms in diverse polar flagellates to create this polar flagellar transcriptional program have not been thoroughly assimilated. Using in silico and genetic analyses and our previous findings in Campylobacter jejuni as a foundation, we observed a large subset of Gram-negative bacteria with the FlhF/FlhG regulatory system for polar flagellation to possess flagellum-associated two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs). We present data supporting a general theme in polar flagellates whereby MS ring, rotor, and fT3SS proteins contribute to a regulatory checkpoint during polar flagellar biogenesis. We demonstrate that Vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa require the formation of this regulatory checkpoint for the TCSs to directly activate subsequent rod and hook gene transcription, which are hallmarks of the polar flagellar transcriptional program. By reprogramming transcription in V. cholerae to more closely follow the peritrichous flagellar transcriptional program, we discovered a link between the polar flagellar transcription program and the activity of FlhF/FlhG flagellar biogenesis regulators in which the transcriptional program allows polar flagellates to continue to produce flagella for motility when FlhF or FlhG activity may be altered. Our findings integrate flagellar transcriptional and biogenesis regulatory processes involved in polar flagellation in many species. IMPORTANCE Relative to peritrichous bacteria, polar flagellates possess regulatory systems that order flagellar gene transcription differently and produce flagella in specific numbers only at poles. How transcriptional and flagellar biogenesis regulatory systems are interlinked to promote the correct synthesis of polar flagella in diverse species has largely been unexplored. We found evidence for many Gram-negative polar flagellates encoding two-component signal transduction systems with activity linked to the formation of flagellar type III secretion systems to enable production of flagellar rod and hook proteins at a discrete, subsequent stage during flagellar assembly. This polar flagellar transcriptional program assists, in some manner, the FlhF/FlhG flagellar biogenesis regulatory system, which forms specific flagellation patterns in polar flagellates in maintaining flagellation and motility when activity of FlhF or FlhG might be altered. Our work provides insight into the multiple regulatory processes required for polar flagellation.

A rod-shaped microorganism with unknown type of flagellation has been accidentally discovered during phase-contrast microscopy of a sample of contaminated human donor blood. The flagellum consists of three fragments that form a complex locomotor device attached to bacterial body. The device provides bacterial motility by rotating around longitudinal axis of bacterial body and so this type of flagellation has been named “rototrichous.” This newly discovered bacterial flagellation should be included in the classification of bacterial flagellations.

The effect was analyzed of the flhB2 gene, which is located on the AZOBR_p4 (AZOBR_p410073 gene) plasmid in Azospirillum baldaniorum Sp245 and on the ABSP7_p3 (AMK58_26270 gene) plasmid in A. brasilense Sp7 and codes for the FlhB protein, a flagellar export component that ensures flagellin assembly, flagellation, and motility in these bacteria. We used A. baldaniorum strain Sp245, its Fla – Laf – mutant Sp245.1063 (Sp245- flhB1 ::Omegon-Km), and A. brasilense Sp7. Mutants defective in the flhB2 gene were generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Bacterial morphology and motility were characterized by electron and phase-contrast microscopy. An A. baldaniorum Sp245 mutant, Sp245- flhB2 ::Km, was generated that had a cloned kanamycin resistance gene in the coding sequence (CDS) AZOBR_p410073. In contrast to the Fla – Laf – mutant Sp245- flhB1 ::Omegon-Km, the flhB1 chromosomal gene of which is inactivated (AZOBR_150177 gene), strain Sp245- flhB2 ::Km retained the synthesis of a functioning polar flagellum (Fla), but the synthesis and functioning of lateral flagella (Laf) was impaired and the movement and spreading rates of swarming cells in semiliquid agarized media were decreased. Inactivation of the AMK58_26270 plasmid gene in Sp7, which is homologous to the AZOBR_p410073 gene (97% identity), resulted in a similar Laf – phenotype in the corresponding mutant. Two putative flhB genes are present in the genome of strains Sp245 and Sp7. These genes are located in the chromosome ( flhB1 ) and on the AZOBR_p4 or ABSP7_p3 plasmid ( flhB2 ), respectively. Expression of the flhB2 gene is required for Laf assembly. Transcription of flhB2 is regulated by a mechanosignal, the perception and generation of which is ensured by the functioning Fla, apparently with the involvement of the FlhB protein encoded by the flhB1 chromosomal gene.

The integration of religion and culture to build the discourse of social identity is an interesting issue. For Mamala, a village in the Moluccas, Indonesia, society consists of two embedded identities, namely religion and culture, in the construction of social identities. This research discusses religious and cultural integration in the construction of social identity by means of a flagellation ritual known as pukul sapu. This research applies qualitative methods to analyze qualitative data gathered through observation, in-depth interviews and document reviews. In particular, this research attempts to answer (a) why the pukul sapu ritual is performed by the Mamala community on the seventh day after Iedul Fitri, (b) how the ritual is carried out, (c) what elements are used in the ritual process, and (d) what meaning emerged in connection with the construction of their identity as Muslims and also as a society of customs. The research subjects consisted of a number of religious figures, customary figures, and people who are directed to participate in the review process of the ritual. This study shows that the ritual is regarded as a medium to construct the social identity (religion and culture). The integration of religion and culture in Mamala has proven that the social identity of this society includes religion and culture formed by dialectical processes, namely adaptation, relations, and negotiations between local traditions coupled with the influence of Javanese traditions. This, in fact, describes liquid social identity instead of static movement.

In the Philippines, Holy Week is one of the most highlighted celebrations observed by Roman Catholics. Hundreds of flagellants show their willingness to atone for their sins and profess their desire to seek divine intervention for themselves and for their loved ones by performing “panata” (a popular expression of faith and piety) and “pamagdarame” (self-flagellation). This research is an attempt to further describe the pamagdarame of the Kapampangan by making it a panata. A descriptive, cross-sectional research design was used and a total of 320 “magdarame” (flagellants) were purposively given a researcher-made questionnaire that assessed their demographic profile and their forms, reasons, and preparations of pamagdarame. The results showed that most Kapampangan flagellants bleed and whip themselves for supplication, while a few flagellants perform pamagdarame for thanksgiving. Moreover, it is noteworthy to see that the majority of participants make spiritual preparations prior to their pamagdarame. In conclusion, the results provided information on the forms, reasons, and preparations of flagellants and its possible implications to one’s faith and spirituality.

Azospirillum brasilense has the ability of swimming and swarming motility owing to the work of a constitutive polar flagellum and inducible lateral flagella, respectively. The interplay between these flagellar systems is poorly understood. One of the key elements of the flagellar export apparatus is the protein FlhB. Two predicted flhB genes are present in the genome of A. brasilense Sp245 (accession nos. HE577327–HE577333). Experimental evidence obtained here indicates that the chromosomal coding sequence (CDS) AZOBR_150177 (flhB1) of Sp245 is essential for the production of both types of flagella. In an flhB1:: Omegon-Km mutant, Sp245.1063, defects in polar and lateral flagellar assembly and motility were complemented by expressing the wild-type flhB1 gene from plasmid pRK415. It was found that Sp245.1063 lost the capacity for slight but statistically significant decrease in mean cell length in response to transfer from solid to liquid media, and vice versa; in the complemented mutant, this capacity was restored. It was also shown that after the acquisition of the pRK415-harbored downstream CDS AZOBR_150176, cells of Sp245 and Sp245.1063 ceased to elongate on solid media. These initial data suggest that the AZOBR_150176-encoded putative multisensory hybrid sensor histidine kinase–response regulator, in concert with FlhB1, plays a role in morphological response of azospirilla to changes in the hardness of a milieu.