Corruption and the Institutional Environment for Growth

Several cross-country studies have found that corruption is detrimental to economic growth, but the findings are not universally robust. We utilize the economic freedom index to examine if corruption can facilitate growth by allowing entrepreneurs to avoid inefficient policies and regulations when economic freedom is limited. Using regression analysis, we find that corruption is growth enhancing when economic freedom is most limited but the beneficial impact of corruption decreases as economic freedom increases. Not all areas of economic freedom affect the corruption-growth relationship equally. In particular, we find that when we analyze individual areas of economic freedom the beneficial effect of corruption disappears most quickly when the size of government and the extent of regulation decrease.Corruption; Economic Freedom; Growth

Deciphering the relative contributions of multiple functions within plant-microbe symbioses

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/09-1858.1For microbial symbioses with plants, such as mycorrhizas, we typically quantify either the net effects of one partner on another or a single function a symbiont provides. However, many microbial symbioses provide multiple functions to plants that vary based on the microbial species or functional group, plant species, and environment. Here we quantified the relative contributions of multiple functions provided by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to symbiont-mediated changes in plant biomass. We used two published data sets, one that measured multiple functions (pathogen protection and nutrient uptake) on a single plant and one that measured a single function (pathogen protection) on multiple plants. Using structural equation modeling, we observed strong variation in the functional pathways by which AM fungi altered plant growth; changes in plant biomass were associated with different functions (and different AM fungal functional groups) for the different plant species. Utilizing this methodology across multiple partners and environments will allow researchers to gauge the relative importance of functions they isolate and, perhaps more importantly, those they did not consider. This baseline information is essential for establishing the specific mechanisms by which microbial symbioses influence plant diversity and to more effectively utilize these organisms in agriculture, restoration and conservation

The role of the genetic counsellor: a systematic review of research evidence

In Europe, genetic counsellors are employed in specialist genetic centres or other specialist units. According to the European Board of Medical Genetics, the genetic counsellor must fulfil a range of roles, including provision of information and facilitation of psychosocial adjustment of the client to their genetic status and situation. To evaluate the extent to which genetic counsellors fulfil their prescribed roles, we conducted a systematic review of the published relevant scientific evidence. We searched five relevant electronic databases (Medline, CINAHL, SocIndex, AMED and PsychInfo) using relevant search terms and handsearched four subject-specific journals for research-based papers published in English between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2013. Of 419 potential papers identified initially, seven satisfied the inclusion criteria for the review. Themes derived from the thematic analysis of the data were: (i) rationale for genetic counsellors to provide care, (ii) appropriate roles and responsibilities and (iii) the types of conditions included in the genetic counsellor caseload. The findings of this systematic review indicate that where genetic counsellors are utilised in specialist genetic settings, they undertake a significant workload associated with direct patient care and this appears to be acceptable to patients. With the burden on genetic services, there is an argument for the increased use of genetic counsellors in countries where they are under-utilised. In addition, roles undertaken by genetic counsellors in specialist genetic settings could be adapted to integrate genetic counsellors into multi-disciplinary teams in other specialisms

Tet1 Is Dispensable for Maintaining Pluripotency and Its Loss Is Compatible with Embryonic and Postnatal Development

SummaryThe Tet family of enzymes (Tet1/2/3) converts 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) highly express Tet1 and have an elevated level of 5hmC. Tet1 has been implicated in ESC maintenance and lineage specification in vitro but its precise function in development is not well defined. To establish the role of Tet1 in pluripotency and development, we have generated Tet1 mutant mESCs and mice. Tet1−/− ESCs have reduced levels of 5hmC and subtle changes in global gene expression, and are pluripotent and support development of live-born mice in tetraploid complementation assay, but display skewed differentiation toward trophectoderm in vitro. Tet1 mutant mice are viable, fertile, and grossly normal, though some mutant mice have a slightly smaller body size at birth. Our data suggest that Tet1 loss leading to a partial reduction in 5hmC levels does not affect pluripotency in ESCs and is compatible with embryonic and postnatal development

Competition and habitat availability interact to structure arboreal ant communities across scales of ecological organization

Understanding how resource limitation and biotic interactions interact across spatial scales is fundamental to explaining the structure of ecological communities. However, empirical studies addressing this issue are often hindered by logistical constraints, especially at local scales. Here, we use a highly tractable arboreal ant study system to explore the interactive effects of resource availability and competition on community structure across three local scales: an individual tree, the nest network created by each colony and the individual ant nest. On individual trees, the ant assemblages are primarily shaped by availability of dead wood, a critical nesting resource. The nest networks within a tree are constrained by the availability of nesting resources but also influenced by the co-occurring species. Within individual nests, the distribution of adult ants is only affected by distance to interspecific competitors. These findings demonstrate that resource limitation exerts the strongest effects on diversity at higher levels of local ecological organization, transitioning to a stronger effect of species interactions at finer scales. Collectively, these results highlight that the process exerting the strongest influence on community structure is highly dependent on the scale at which we examine the community, with shifts occurring even across fine-grained local scales

Formation of Super-Earths

Super-Earths are the most abundant planets known to date and are characterized by having sizes between that of Earth and Neptune, typical orbital periods of less than 100 days and gaseous envelopes that are often massive enough to significantly contribute to the planet's overall radius. Furthermore, super-Earths regularly appear in tightly-packed multiple-planet systems, but resonant configurations in such systems are rare. This chapters summarizes current super-Earth formation theories. It starts from the formation of rocky cores and subsequent accretion of gaseous envelopes. We follow the thermal evolution of newly formed super-Earths and discuss their atmospheric mass loss due to disk dispersal, photoevaporation, core-cooling and collisions. We conclude with a comparison of observations and theoretical predictions, highlighting that even super-Earths that appear as barren rocky cores today likely formed with primordial hydrogen and helium envelopes and discuss some paths forward for the future.Comment: Invited review accepted for publication in the 'Handbook of Exoplanets,' Planet Formation section, Springer Reference Works, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Ed

Design and validation of a supragenome array for determination of the genomic content of Haemophilus influenzae isolates

Abstract Background Haemophilus influenzae colonizes the human nasopharynx as a commensal, and is etiologically associated with numerous opportunistic infections of the airway; it is also less commonly associated with invasive disease. Clinical isolates of H. influenzae display extensive genomic diversity and plasticity. The development of strategies to successfully prevent, diagnose and treat H. influenzae infections depends on tools to ascertain the gene content of individual isolates. Results We describe and validate a Haemophilus influenzae supragenome hybridization (SGH) array that can be used to characterize the full genic complement of any strain within the species, as well as strains from several highly related species. The array contains 31,307 probes that collectively cover essentially all alleles of the 2890 gene clusters identified from the whole genome sequencing of 24 clinical H. influenzae strains. The finite supragenome model predicts that these data include greater than 85% of all non-rare genes (where rare genes are defined as those present in less than 10% of sequenced strains). The veracity of the array was tested by comparing the whole genome sequences of eight strains with their hybridization data obtained using the supragenome array. The array predictions were correct and reproducible for ~ 98% of the gene content of all of the sequenced strains. This technology was then applied to an investigation of the gene content of 193 geographically and clinically diverse H. influenzae clinical strains. These strains came from multiple locations from five different continents and Papua New Guinea and include isolates from: the middle ears of persons with otitis media and otorrhea; lung aspirates and sputum samples from pneumonia and COPD patients, blood specimens from patients with sepsis; cerebrospinal fluid from patients with meningitis, as well as from pharyngeal specimens from healthy persons. Conclusions These analyses provided the most comprehensive and detailed genomic/phylogenetic look at this species to date, and identified a subset of highly divergent strains that form a separate lineage within the species. This array provides a cost-effective and high-throughput tool to determine the gene content of any H. influenzae isolate or lineage. Furthermore, the method for probe selection can be applied to any species, given a group of available whole genome sequences.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112375/1/12864_2012_Article_5193.pd

BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey. XX. Molecular Gas in Nearby Hard-X-Ray-selected AGN Galaxies

We present the host-galaxy molecular gas properties of a sample of 213 nearby (0.01 10.5) tend to have more molecular gas and higher gas fractions than inactive galaxies matched in stellar mass. When matched in star formation, we find AGN galaxies show no difference from inactive galaxies, with no evidence that AGN feedback affects the molecular gas. The higher molecular gas content is related to AGN galaxies hosting a population of gas-rich early types with an order of magnitude more molecular gas and a smaller fraction of quenched, passive galaxies (~5% versus 49%) compared to inactive galaxies. The likelihood of a given galaxy hosting an AGN (L_(bol) > 10⁴⁴ erg s⁻¹ ) increases by ~10–100 between a molecular gas mass of 10^(8.7) M_⊙ and 10^(10.2) M_⊙. AGN galaxies with a higher Eddington ratio (log(L/L_(Edd)) > −1.3) tend to have higher molecular gas masses and gas fractions. The log(N_H/ cm⁻² ) > 23.4) of AGN galaxies with higher column densities are associated with lower depletion timescales and may prefer hosts with more gas centrally concentrated in the bulge that may be more prone to quenching than galaxy-wide molecular gas. The significant average link of host-galaxy molecular gas supply to supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth may naturally lead to the general correlations found between SMBHs and their host galaxies, such as the correlations between SMBH mass and bulge properties, and the redshift evolution of star formation and SMBH growth