The Social Stratification of Social Risks: Class and Responsibility in the 'New' Welfare State

Welfare states are said to have evolved over the course of the past twenty years towards a ‘social investment’ model of welfare, characterised by a focus on equality of opportunity and upward social mobility combined with greater emphasis on individual responsibility. More or less concurrently, under the mantra of ‘individualisation’, scepticism has grown with regard to the relevance of traditional stratification schemes. This paper sets out to ascertain whether social class, i.e. intergenerational background, (still) affects the occurrence of ‘social risks’. Using SILC 2005 data, it considers the impact of social class (of origin) on a relevant selection of social risks: unemployment, ill-health, living in a jobless household, single parenthood, temporary employment, and low-paid employment. The results provide clear evidence of a continuing influence of social class. On this basis, we argue that a one-sided focus on individual responsibility could open the door to new forms of marginalisation.Ireland, Austerity, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy

Bio-ORACLE v2.0 : extending marine data layers for bioclimatic modelling

Motivation: The availability of user-friendly, high-resolution global environmental datasets is crucial for bioclimatic modelling. For terrestrial environments, WorldClim has served this purpose since 2005, but equivalent marine data only became available in 2012, with pioneer initiatives like Bio-ORACLE providing data layers for several ecologically relevant variables. Currently, the available marine data packages have not yet been updated to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predictions nor to present times, and are mostly restricted to the top surface layer of the oceans, precluding the modelling of a large fraction of the benthic diversity that inhabits deeper habitats. To address this gap, we present a significant update of Bio-ORACLE for new future climate scenarios, present-day conditions and benthic layers (near sea bottom). The reliability of data layers was assessed using a cross-validation framework against in situ quality-controlled data. This test showed a generally good agreement between our data layers and the global climatic patterns. We also provide a package of functions in the R software environment (sdmpredictors) to facilitate listing, extraction and management of data layers and allow easy integration with the available pipelines for bioclimatic modelling. Main types of variable contained: Surface and benthic layers for water temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, sea ice, current velocity, phytoplankton, primary productivity, iron and light at bottom. Spatial location and grain: Global at 5 arcmin (c.0.08 degrees or 9.2 km at the equator). Time period and grain: Present (2000-2014) and future (2040-2050 and 2090-2100) environmental conditions based on monthly averages. Major taxa and level of measurement: Marine biodiversity associated with sea surface and epibenthic habitats. Software format: ASCII and TIFF grid formats for geographical information systems and a package of functions developed for R software

Functional characterization of the human mariner transposon Hsmar2

DNA transposons are mobile elements with the ability to mobilize and transport genetic information between different chromosomal loci. Unfortunately, most transposons copies are currently inactivated, little is known about mariner elements in humans despite their role in the evolution of the human genome, even though the Hsmar2 transposon is associated to hotspots for homologous recombination involved in human genetic disorders as Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Prader-Willi/Angelman, and Williams syndromes. This manuscript describes the functional characterization of the human HSMAR2 transposase generated from fossil sequences and shows that the native HSMAR2 is active in human cells, but also in bacteria, with an efficiency similar to other mariner elements. We observe that the sub-cellular localization of HSMAR2 is dependent on the host cell type, and is cytotoxic when overexpressed in HeLa cells. Finally, we also demonstrate that the binding of HSMAR2 to its own ITRs is specific, and that the excision reaction leaves non-canonical footprints both in bacteria and eukaryotic cells

Fishing for data and sorting the catch : assessing the data quality, completeness and fitness for use of data in marine biogeographic databases

Being able to assess the quality and level of completeness of data has become indispensable in marine biodiversity research, especially when dealing with large databases that typically compile data from a variety of sources. Very few integrated databases offer quality flags on the level of the individual record, making it hard for users to easily extract the data that are fit for their specific purposes. This article describes the different steps that were developed to analyse the quality and completeness of the distribution records within the European and international Ocean Biogeographic Information Systems (EurOBIS and OBIS). Records are checked on data format, completeness and validity of information, quality and detail of the used taxonomy and geographic indications and whether or not the record is a putative outlier. The corresponding quality control (QC) flags will not only help users with their data selection, they will also help the data management team and the data custodians to identify possible gaps and errors in the submitted data, providing scope to improve data quality. The results of these quality control procedures are as of now available on both the EurOBIS and OBIS databases. Through the Biology portal of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet Biology), a subset of EurOBIS records-passing a specific combination of these QC steps-is offered to the users. In the future, EMODnet Biology will offer a wide range of filter options through its portal, allowing users to make specific selections themselves. Through LifeWatch, users can already upload their own data and check them against a selection of the here described quality control procedures

Generation and characterization of a stable cell population releasing fluorescent HIV-1-based Virus Like Particles in an inducible way

BACKGROUND: The availability of cell lines releasing fluorescent viral particles can significantly support a variety of investigations, including the study of virus-cell interaction and the screening of antiviral compounds. Regarding HIV-1, the recovery of such biologic reagents represents a very hard challenge due to the intrinsic cytotoxicity of many HIV-1 products. We sought to overcome such a limitation by using a cell line releasing HIV-1 particles in an inducible way, and by exploiting the ability of a HIV-1 Nef mutant to be incorporated in virions at quite high levels. RESULTS: Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a HIV-1 packaging cell line, termed 18-4s, able to release valuable amounts of fluorescent HIV-1 based Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) in an inducible way. 18-4s cells were recovered by constitutively expressing the HIV-1 NefG3C mutant fused with the enhanced-green fluorescent protein (NefG3C-GFP) in a previously isolated inducible HIV-1 packaging cell line. The G3C mutation creates a palmitoylation site which results in NefG3C-GFP incorporation into virions greatly exceeding that of the wild type counterpart. Upon induction of 18-4s cells with ponasterone A and sodium butyrate, up to 4 μg/ml of VLPs, which had incorporated about 150 molecules of NefG3C-GFP per viral particle, were released into the culture supernatant. Due to their intrinsic strong fluorescence, the 18-4s VLPs were easily detectable by a novel cytofluorometric-based assay developed here. The treatment of target cells with fluorescent 18-4 VLPs pseudotyped with different glycoprotein receptors resulted in these becoming fluorescent as early as two hours post-challenge. CONCLUSION: We created a stable cell line releasing fluorescent HIV-1 based VLPs upon induction useful for several applications including the study of virus-cell interactions and the screening of antiviral compounds

Self-directed multimodal learning in higher education

This book aims to provide an overview of theoretical and practical considerations in terms of self-directed multimodal learning within the university context. Multimodal learning is approached in terms of the levels of multimodality and specifically blended learning and the mixing of modes of delivery (contact and distance education). As such, this publication will provide a unique snapshot of multimodal practices within higher education through a self-directed learning epistemological lens. The book covers issues such as what self-directed multimodal learning entails, mapping of specific publications regarding blended learning, blended learning in mathematics, geography, natural science and computer literacy, comparative experiences in distance education as well as situated and culturally appropriate learning in multimodal contexts. This book provides a unique focus on multimodality in terms of learning and delivery within the context of self-directed learning. Therefore, the publication would not only advance the scholarship of blended and open distance learning in South Africa, but also the contribute to enriching the discourse regarding self-direction. From this book readers will get an impression of the latest trends in literature in terms of multimodal self-directed learning in South Africa as well as unique empirical work being done in this regard

On Albanese torsors and the elementary obstruction

We show that the elementary obstruction to the existence of 0-cycles of degree 1 on an arbitrary variety X (over an arbitrary field) can be expressed in terms of the Albanese 1-motives associated with dense open subsets of X. Arithmetic applications are given

On the Origin of Exponential Galaxy Disks

We use a disk galaxy evolution model to investigate whether galaxies with exponential surface brightness profiles can be produced in a cosmologically motivated framework for disk galaxy formation. Our model follows the accretion, cooling, and ejection of baryonic mass, as a function of radius, inside growing dark matter haloes. The surface density profile of the disk is determined by detailed angular momentum conservation, starting from the distribution of specific angular momentum as found in cosmological simulations. Exponential and quasi-exponential disks can be produced by our model through a combination of supernova driven galactic outflows (which preferentially remove low angular momentum material), intrinsic variation in the angular momentum distribution of the halo gas, and the inefficiency of star formation at large radii. We use observations from the SDSS NYU-VAGC to show that the median Sersic index of blue galaxies is a strong function of stellar mass. For blue galaxies, low mass galaxies have a median n=1.3, while high mass galaxies have a median n=4. Our model with energy driven outflows correctly reproduces this trend, whereas our models with momentum driven outflows and no outflows over predict the Sersic indices in low mass galaxies. We show that the observed fraction of "bulge-less" exponential galaxies is a strong function of stellar mass. For Milky-Way mass galaxies less than 0.1% of blue galaxies are bulge-less, whereas for M33 mass galaxies bulge-less and quasi-bulgeless galaxies are typical. These results suggest that the difficulty of hierarchical formation models to produce bulge-less Milky-Way mass galaxies is in fact not a problem. However, the problem of producing M33 like galaxies remains, and will provide a key test for hierarchical galaxy formation models. [Abridged]Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, accepted to MNRAS, two new figure

Self-directed multimodal learning in higher education

This book aims to provide an overview of theoretical and practical considerations in terms of self-directed multimodal learning within the university context. Multimodal learning is approached in terms of the levels of multimodality and specifically blended learning and the mixing of modes of delivery (contact and distance education). As such, this publication will provide a unique snapshot of multimodal practices within higher education through a self-directed learning epistemological lens. The book covers issues such as what self-directed multimodal learning entails, mapping of specific publications regarding blended learning, blended learning in mathematics, geography, natural science and computer literacy, comparative experiences in distance education as well as situated and culturally appropriate learning in multimodal contexts. This book provides a unique focus on multimodality in terms of learning and delivery within the context of self-directed learning. Therefore, the publication would not only advance the scholarship of blended and open distance learning in South Africa, but also the contribute to enriching the discourse regarding self-direction. From this book readers will get an impression of the latest trends in literature in terms of multimodal self-directed learning in South Africa as well as unique empirical work being done in this regard