title: Psychrophilic and psychrotrophic Clostridium spp. associated with meat spoilage

authors: Broda, Dorota Maria

abstract: Twenty two isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic Clostridium spp. associated with ‘blown pack’ spoilage of vacuum-packed meats were studied with respect to their identification, differentiation and taxonomy, as well as spoilage aetiology. The aetiological study was conducted to establish whether a causal relationship exists between psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia and the production of abundant gas in vacuum-packed chilled meats. The attempt was then made to identify these clostridia using conventional microbiological methods. Genotypic approaches to differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at inter- and intra-species level were evaluated and applied to tracing the ‘blown pack’ spoilage causing clostridia back to their contamination source in the abattoir. Where phenotypic and genotypic characteristics indicated that some isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia differed from those previously described, taxonomic studies were conducted to determine whether these isolates could be described as new clostridial species. Four clostridial isolates were found to cause premature vacuum pack distension during chilled storage. Conventional phenotype based methods were found to be ineffective for identification of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia. Although RFLP analysis of the amplified 16S rDNA gene allowed differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at the genotypic species level and below, comparison of PCR-RFLP patterns and 16S rDNA sequences of meat isolates with patterns and sequences of reference strains did not effect ready identification of some of these microorganisms. Consequently, the use of these methods for identification of unknown clostridial isolates needs to be approached carefully. Differentiation of some meat-derived isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at intra-species or inter-strain level was achieved with methods based on polymorphism of genomic DNAs and/or the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacers from these organisms. With the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer polymorphism analysis, inter-species differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia may be achieved in instances where little inter-strain variation is expected e.g. in typing of isolates from the same meat plant or spoilage incident. Hides and faeces of slaughter animals were identified as an abundant abattoir source of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia representing many species. Seven isolates of these microorganisms, representing four distinct taxonomic groups, were found to differ in their phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics from known clostridial species. With a polyphasic approach, three new clostridial species, C. frigidicarnis, C. gasigenes and C. algidixylanolyticum have been named and characterised. It is hoped that this study has added to our understanding of the aetiology and causative agents of ‘blown pack’ spoilage and, thus, has advanced the process of developing measures to control this type of spoilage of vacuum packed chilled meats.

text: Psychrophilic and psychrotrophic Clostridium spp. associated with meat spoilage Twenty two isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic Clostridium spp. associated with ‘blown pack’ spoilage of vacuum-packed meats were studied with respect to their identification, differentiation and taxonomy, as well as spoilage aetiology. The aetiological study was conducted to establish whether a causal relationship exists between psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia and the production of abundant gas in vacuum-packed chilled meats. The attempt was then made to identify these clostridia using conventional microbiological methods. Genotypic approaches to differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at inter- and intra-species level were evaluated and applied to tracing the ‘blown pack’ spoilage causing clostridia back to their contamination source in the abattoir. Where phenotypic and genotypic characteristics indicated that some isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia differed from those previously described, taxonomic studies were conducted to determine whether these isolates could be described as new clostridial species. Four clostridial isolates were found to cause premature vacuum pack distension during chilled storage. Conventional phenotype based methods were found to be ineffective for identification of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia. Although RFLP analysis of the amplified 16S rDNA gene allowed differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at the genotypic species level and below, comparison of PCR-RFLP patterns and 16S rDNA sequences of meat isolates with patterns and sequences of reference strains did not effect ready identification of some of these microorganisms. Consequently, the use of these methods for identification of unknown clostridial isolates needs to be approached carefully. Differentiation of some meat-derived isolates of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia at intra-species or inter-strain level was achieved with methods based on polymorphism of genomic DNAs and/or the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacers from these organisms. With the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer polymorphism analysis, inter-species differentiation of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia may be achieved in instances where little inter-strain variation is expected e.g. in typing of isolates from the same meat plant or spoilage incident. Hides and faeces of slaughter animals were identified as an abundant abattoir source of psychrophilic and psychrotrophic clostridia representing many species. Seven isolates of these microorganisms, representing four distinct taxonomic groups, were found to differ in their phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic characteristics from known clostridial species. With a polyphasic approach, three new clostridial species, C. frigidicarnis, C. gasigenes and C. algidixylanolyticum have been named and characterised. It is hoped that this study has added to our understanding of the aetiology and causative agents of ‘blown pack’ spoilage and, thus, has advanced the process of developing measures to control this type of spoilage of vacuum packed chilled meats.

year: 1999

title: Marx’s social and political thought after the MECW and MEGA²

authors: Archer, Buissink

subjects: Marx

abstract: Recent decades have seen significant advancements in the accessibility of Marx and Engels’ social and political thought due to publication of most of their writings, published or otherwise. The Marx and Engels Collected Works, which contains their published works, some economic manuscripts and important drafts, and letters translated into English, was completed in 2004; and the more extensive Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (Complete Edition) is nearing completion. In parallel, the removal of Soviet editorial influence over the publication and interpretation of these collections has facilitated new interpretations and challenges to old dogmas surrounding the thought of Marx and Engels. However, this process has been questioned for a total depoliticisation which overemphasises an amorphous ‘thought’ and abandons the political, activist nature of their work. This thesis uses recently available and partially untranslated material published within the Collected Works and the Gesamtausgabe to present three vignettes of Marx’s social thought: the development of the proletariat as their focus in the 1840s; solidarity with Poland and the international relations of the workers’ movement; and the theory of the machine system, applied to contemporary platform capitalism. While these confirm the contradictory nature of Marx’s social thought across different writings, recognition of the political nature of Marx’s analysis means this contradiction can be contextualised through the fluid political situation which Marx and Engels sought to interpret and change. Thus, a less dogmatic and more nuanced picture of Marx can emerge from the MECW and MEGA2, yet this must still be seen as a political, activist Marx.

text: Marx’s social and political thought after the MECW and MEGA² Recent decades have seen significant advancements in the accessibility of Marx and Engels’ social and political thought due to publication of most of their writings, published or otherwise. The Marx and Engels Collected Works, which contains their published works, some economic manuscripts and important drafts, and letters translated into English, was completed in 2004; and the more extensive Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (Complete Edition) is nearing completion. In parallel, the removal of Soviet editorial influence over the publication and interpretation of these collections has facilitated new interpretations and challenges to old dogmas surrounding the thought of Marx and Engels. However, this process has been questioned for a total depoliticisation which overemphasises an amorphous ‘thought’ and abandons the political, activist nature of their work. This thesis uses recently available and partially untranslated material published within the Collected Works and the Gesamtausgabe to present three vignettes of Marx’s social thought: the development of the proletariat as their focus in the 1840s; solidarity with Poland and the international relations of the workers’ movement; and the theory of the machine system, applied to contemporary platform capitalism. While these confirm the contradictory nature of Marx’s social thought across different writings, recognition of the political nature of Marx’s analysis means this contradiction can be contextualised through the fluid political situation which Marx and Engels sought to interpret and change. Thus, a less dogmatic and more nuanced picture of Marx can emerge from the MECW and MEGA2, yet this must still be seen as a political, activist Marx.

year: 2023

title: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: Matariki

abstract: The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

text: Matariki, commodity culture, and multiple identities The event known as Matariki, the rising of the Pleiades in winter, which Māori take as the mark of the beginning of a new year, was not a strong feature of the wider public sphere for most of the 20th century. Since 2001, however, when Te Taura Whiri, the Māori Language Commission, published an explanatory booklet with the aim of reviving interest in Matariki as an aide to the maintenance of te reo, it has been promoted by several quasi-governmental institutions, especially the national museum, Te Papa, as a winter festival for all New Zealanders. Its main public presence to date has been through media products: posters, banners, websites, television programmes, newspaper features, calendars, some theatrical performances and physical commemoration ceremonies.

The larger project, of which this paper represents an initial descriptive and positioning phase, is a continuation of the researcher's long-standing interest in the intersections of religiosity, culture, and media as they are active in the environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. It assumes, building on theorists such as Bellah and Lundby that the creation of such festivals is an act of 'civil religiosity' that attempts to create and strengthen national community around a set of numinous symbols.
However, the development of an enterprise such as Matariki is pursued in a complex political field, where broad agreement across various factions is needed before the festival can take on an enduring material and symbolic existence. In investigating the factors that will determine the future of Matariki it is relevant to consider the interaction of three factors in particular: the ethno-political history of New Zealand; the characteristics of contemporary reflexive spirituality, which are intertwined with commodificatory tendencies and thirdly, the impacts of increasing globalisation on the parameters of identity-formation for citizens in late-modern societies.

year: 2011