In the workplaces of the times - the call centres of global corporations - Indian expertise is rewarding, but also has significant downsides, says Geeta Seshu.
Part I : The global beck and call service

Due to the contagious nature of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and to curb its spread among people, the government has imposed a lockdown and because of which most companies have asked their employees to work from home. Working from home has both

As of 18 April 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,251,768 people and caused 154,295 deaths worldwide. In India, the total confirmed cases have gone up to 14,378 and has claimed 480 lives. To curb the spread of coronavirus disease

'I am jobless and don't have savings to sustain. Better I go home and do farming. If I am lucky, I will survive'

Hapless woman’s case exposes poor distress response mechanism in State

The stressosome transduces environmental stress signals to SigB to upregulate SigB-dependent transcription, which is required for bacterial viability. The stressosome core is composed of RsbS and at least one of the RsbR paralogs. A previous cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the RsbRA–RsbS complex determined under a D2 symmetry restraint showed that the stressosome core forms a pseudo-icosahedron consisting of 60 STAS domains of RsbRA and RsbS. However, it is still unclear how RsbS and one of the RsbR paralogs assemble into the stressosome. Here, an assembly model of the stressosome is presented based on the crystal structure of the RsbS icosahedron and cryo-EM structures of the RsbRA–RsbS complex determined under diverse symmetry restraints (nonsymmetric C1, dihedral D2 and icosahedral I envelopes). 60 monomers of the crystal structure of RsbS fitted well into the I-restrained cryo-EM structure determined at 4.1 Å resolution, even though the STAS domains in the I envelope were averaged. This indicates that RsbS and RsbRA share a highly conserved STAS fold. 22 protrusions observed in the C1 envelope, corresponding to dimers of the RsbRA N-domain, allowed the STAS domains of RsbRA and RsbS to be distinguished in the stressosome core. Based on these, the model of the stressosome core was reconstructed. The mutation of RsbRA residues at the binding interface in the model (R189A/Q191A) significantly reduced the interaction between RsbRA and RsbS. These results suggest that nonconserved residues in the conserved STAS folds between RsbS and RsbR paralogs determine stressosome assembly.

The sin2ψ and cosα methods are compared via diffracting-grain identification from electron backscatter diffraction maps. Artificial textures created by the X-ray diffraction measurements are plotted and X-ray elastic constants of the diffracting-grain sets are computed.

Small migratory male birds that winter in a stressful environment age faster than those that winter in a high-quality habitat, according to research stemming from […]

The post Small migratory birds age faster in stressful places, study reveals appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Kasun Buddika, Ishara S. Ariyapala, Mary A. Hazuga, Derek Riffert, and Nicholas S. Sokol

Stressed cells downregulate translation initiation and assemble membrane-less foci termed stress granules (SGs). Extensively characterized in cultured cells, the existence of such structures in stressed adult stem cell pools remain poorly characterized. Here we report that Drosophila orthologs of mammalian SG components AGO1, ATX2, CAPRIN, eIF4E, FMRP, G3BP, LIN-28, PABP, and TIAR are enriched in adult intestinal progenitor cells where they accumulate in small cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes (mRNPs). Treatment with sodium arsenite or rapamycin reorganized these mRNPs into large cytoplasmic granules. Formation of these intestinal progenitor stress granules (IPSGs) depended on polysome disassembly, led to translational downregulation, and was reversible. While canonical SG nucleators ATX2 and G3BP were sufficient for IPSG formation in the absence of stress, neither of them, nor TIAR, either individually or collectively, were required for stress-induced IPSG formation. This work therefore finds that IPSGs do not assemble via a canonical mechanism, raising the possibility that other stem cell populations employ a similar stress-response mechanism.

Forty percent of the world’s 2.5 billion people live in coastal cities and towns. A team including Smithsonian marine biologists just released 25 years of […]

The post The Caribbean is stressed out appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

President Barack Obama reiterated his strong support for science and technology today in a speech to members of the National Academy of Sciences at its 150th annual meeting.

Warmer sea temperatures are increasing the toxic effect of sulphides on seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean Sea, new research reveals. Higher sea temperatures in the region, as projected using climate modelling, will therefore further threaten these habitats which are already declining from the damage caused by other human activities.

Long, unbroken periods of drought can be damaging to the mental health of people living in rural areas, new research suggests. An Australian study found that rural inhabitants who had experienced extensive drought periods over a seven-year period, combined with an unbroken spell for the year before they completed the survey had substantially higher distress scores than other participants.

Consumers in France, Germany and the USA perceive ‘environmentally friendly’ packaging to be reusable, recyclable and ‘biodegradable’1, finds a new study. These results suggest that producers should emphasise the end-of-life merits of packaging to appeal to consumers’ environmental concerns, and design packaging that is reusable, recyclable and ‘biodegradable’. However, they also indicate a need to raise public awareness of packaging’s true life-cycle environmental impacts, such as those during production and transport, which are greater than consumers generally perceive them to be.

Contact with nature in urban areas can have numerous health benefits, a new study finds. The researchers found people whose homes had views of different kinds of vegetation had significantly lower levels of stress hormones, indicating that green spaces play an important role in healthy cities.

To restore a river site to good ecological status involves comparing it to similar sites that have been far less affected by human activity. A recent study has established a set of guidelines that define an acceptable level of human pressure that can be used to identify these minimally disturbed sites and ensure consistent ecological assessment among EU Member States.

This study paves the way for better projections of the impact of climate change on plants, including agricultural crops and carbon drawdown. The research shows how an equation used in climate models to represent soil moisture levels is responsible for major variations in estimates of the carbon cycle.

The application roped in qualified doctors and medical professionals to furnish authentic corona-related information and bust myths around the same.

Video: Decisions and stress and adolescents, oh my!

There's a waiting list 1,000-people long to do yoga surrounded by goats in Oregon.

Farms offer stress relief yoga classes with the help of calming critters, like goats and alpacas.

Scottish study finds that music helps dogs in kennels relax, especially if it's reggae and soft rock.

Video: Newscasters say relationship may be old news, but it does add a new twist to a day of reunions.

Bringing nature into the workplace can give you a bit more energy and reduce stress.