Taking the ‘Just' Decision: Caseworkers and Their Communities of Interpretation in the Swiss Asylum Office

Decision-making in street-level bureaucracies has often been portrayed as being riddled with a practical dilemma: that of having to juggle between compassion and rigid rule-following. However, drawing on three ethnographic studies of Swiss asylum administration, we argue that often what are from the “outside” perceived as conflicting rationales of decision-making, are not experienced as such by the caseworkers themselves. Rather these different rationales are made to fit. We argue that decision-makers’ “volitional allegiance” with the office plays a crucial role thereby. For the caseworkers we encountered, decision-making is about taking “just decisions”, i.e. decisions that they consider “correct” and “fair”. We suggest that these notions of correctness and fairness are crucially influenced by their affiliations and allegiances with different “communities of interpretation” within the office

Presenilin Controls CBP Levels in the Adult Drosophila Central Nervous System

Background: Dominant mutations in both human Presenilin (Psn) genes have been correlated with the formation of amyloid plaques and development of familial early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, a definitive mechanism whereby plaque formation causes the pathology of familial and sporadic forms of AD has remained elusive. Recent discoveries of several substrates for Psn protease activity have sparked alternative hypotheses for the pathophysiology underlying AD. CBP (CREB-binding protein) is a haplo-insufficient transcriptional co-activator with histone acetly-transferase (HAT) activity that has been proposed to be a downstream target of Psn signaling. Individuals with altered CBP have cognitive deficits that have been linked to several neurological disorders. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using a transgenic RNA-interference strategy to selectively silence CBP, Psn, and Notch in adult Drosophila, we provide evidence for the first time that Psn is required for normal CBP levels and for maintaining specific global acetylations at lysine 8 of histone 4 (H4K8ac) in the central nervous system (CNS). In addition, flies conditionally compromised for the adult-expression of CBP display an altered geotaxis behavior that may reflect a neurological defect. Conclusions/Significance: Our data support a model in which Psn regulates CBP levels in the adult fly brain in a manner that is independent of Notch signaling. Although we do not understand the molecular mechanism underlying th

The post-1965 reductions in United States infant mortality: A national or international phenomenon?

Abstract The extent to which post-1965 declines in infant mortality could be attributed to (1) US medical and antipoverty programs and/or (2) internationally available medical advances was examined using data on infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality rates (IMRs, NMRs, PNMRs) in four western countries. The results showed that while post-1965 improvements occurred internationally, the US IMR improvements doubled that occurring elsewhere. Much of this advantage was attributable to post-1965 US PNMR improvements, which more than offset a slowing in the reduction of international PNMRs. In contrast, international effects contributed more to US declines in NMRs than did uniquely-United States factors

P/O ratio of acclimated <i>N. rossii</i>.

<p>Ratio of ADP produced per oxygen consumed (P/O ratio) by complex I & II (CI & CII) in <i>N. rossii</i> acclimated to 1°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂ (control), <i>n</i> = 9; 7°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂ (warm normocapnic), <i>n</i> = 5; 1°C, 0.2 kPa CO₂ (cold hypercapnic), <i>n</i> = 10; and 7°C 0.2 kPa CO₂ (warm hypercapnic), <i>n</i> = 10. Values are given as means ± SEM. * indicate significantly different P/O ratios at the respective assay temperature within an control/acclimation group (ANOVA, <i>P</i><0.05).</p

Fatty acid composition of phospholipids in liver mitochondria from control, warm and hypercapnia-acclimated <i>N. rossii</i> and <i>L. squamifrons.</i>

<p>Treatments: <i>N. rossii c</i>ontrol: 1°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂; warm normocapnic: 7°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂; cold hypercapnic 1°C, 0.2 kPa CO₂; warm hypercapnic: 7°C, 0.2 kPa CO₂. <i>L. squamifrons</i> control: 2°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂, warm normocapnic: 9°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂.</p><p>Units are percentages of total fatty acids within a control/acclimation group of <i>N. rossii</i> and <i>L. squamifrons</i>. <i>N. rossii</i>: control <i>n</i> = 4, warm normocapnic <i>n</i> = 4, cold hypercapnic <i>n</i> = 7, warm hypercapnic <i>n</i> = 8; <i>L. squamifrons</i>: control <i>n</i> = 7, warm normocapnic <i>n</i> = 5. Data are presented as means ± SEM. All significances are highlighted bold.</p>#<p>indicates a significant (ANOVA, <i>P</i><0.05) difference to the <i>N. rossii</i> control group.</p>a<p>indicates a significant (ANOVA, <i>P</i><0.05) difference to <i>L. squamifrons</i> controls.</p>b<p>indicates a significant difference (ANOVA, <i>P</i><0.05) to <i>L. squamifrons</i> acclimated to 9°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂. SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids; n-3: fatty acids with 3 double bonds in the carbon chain; n-6: fatty acids with 6 double bonds in the carbon chain. Unsaturation index % of fatty acids with <i>n</i> double bonds (adopted from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0068865#pone.0068865-Grim1" target="_blank">[48]</a>).</p

Plasticity of proton leak capacity (state IV⁺) in relation to complex II (CII) in state III respiration.

<p>Isolated liver mitochondria from <i>N. rossii</i> acclimated to 1°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂ (control), <i>n</i> = 9; 7°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂ (warm normocapnic), <i>n</i> = 5; 1°C, 0.2 kPa CO₂ (cold hypercapnic), <i>n</i> = 10; and 7°C 0.2 kPa CO₂ (warm hypercapnic), <i>n</i> = 10, and in mitochondria from control (2°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂, <i>n</i> = 7) and warm-acclimated (9°C, 0.04 kPa CO₂, <i>n</i> = 5) <i>L. squamifrons</i>. White dots represent values at 0°C, grey at 6°C and black at 12°C acute assay temperatures. Values are given as means ± SEM. * indicates a significant difference of state III respiration (horizontal error bars) or of mitochondrial proton leak capacity (vertical error bars) from the 0°C assay within a control/acclimation group (ANOVA, <i>P</i><0.05). The dotted line represents 20% leak of the given state III respiration.</p