Population Change, Economic Restructuring, and the Evolving Landscape of Retail Activities in the Rural Great Plains

Over the past 15 to 20 years, changes such as retail concentration (fewer, larger stores owned by fewer corporations), technological innovation, and new labor practices have transformed the retail industry. These broad changes affect rural communities where the retail sector still employs a large portion of the workforce. When combined with the declining population of many rural areas in regions like the Great Plains, the impact of retail change is even more significant. Explored in this paper is how restructuring in the retail sector is accelerating the loss of retail firms in many rural parts of the Great Plains, a region already suffering retail losses from depopulation processes and increased accessibility to larger urban retail centers. The analysis presented will show the changes in retail that took place between 1988 and 1999, and investigate how retail restructuring and demographic change interact at the county level to produce new rural economic landscapes for people in the Great Plains, a situation that is likely to be found in other rural areas with similar demographic structures

Absence of p300 induces cellular phenotypic changes characteristic of epithelial to mesenchyme transition

p300 is a transcriptional cofactor and prototype histone acetyltransferase involved in regulating multiple cellular processes. We generated p300 deficient (p300−) cells from the colon carcinoma cell line HCT116 by gene targeting. Comparison of epithelial and mesenchymal proteins in p300− with parental HCT116 cells showed that a number of genes involved in cell and extracellular matrix interactions, typical of ‘epithelial to mesenchyme transition' were differentially regulated at both the RNA and protein level. p300− cells were found to have aggressive ‘cancer' phenotypes, with loss of cell–cell adhesion, defects in cell–matrix adhesion and increased migration through collagen and matrigel. Although migration was shown to be metalloproteinase mediated, these cells actually showed a downregulation or no change in the level of key metalloproteinases, indicating that changes in cellular adhesion properties can be critical for cellular mobility

Whose Sense of Place? A Political Ecology of Amenity Development

Using a political ecology framework, this chapter examines the ways in which sense of place and amenity migration contribute to alternative residential development, which relies on uneven use of conservation subdivision features in the American West. Using case studies from Central Oregon, this chapter demonstrates how senses of place and developer decision-making are tied to wider political economic changes. It highlights the roles that amenity migrants and developers, two groups that are sometimes identical, play in landscape transformations that simultaneously draw on a particular sense of place and commodify landscapes in new ways

Genome-Wide Analyses of Nkx2-1 Binding to Transcriptional Target Genes Uncover Novel Regulatory Patterns Conserved in Lung Development and Tumors

The homeodomain transcription factor Nkx2-1 is essential for normal lung development and homeostasis. In lung tumors, it is considered a lineage survival oncogene and prognostic factor depending on its expression levels. The target genes directly bound by Nkx2-1, that could be the primary effectors of its functions in the different cellular contexts where it is expressed, are mostly unknown. In embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5) mouse lung, epithelial cells expressing Nkx2-1 are predominantly expanding, and in E19.5 prenatal lungs, Nkx2-1-expressing cells are predominantly differentiating in preparation for birth. To evaluate Nkx2-1 regulated networks in these two cell contexts, we analyzed genome-wide binding of Nkx2-1 to DNA regulatory regions by chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by tiling array analysis, and intersected these data to expression data sets. We further determined expression patterns of Nkx2-1 developmental target genes in human lung tumors and correlated their expression levels to that of endogenous NKX2-1. In these studies we uncovered differential Nkx2-1 regulated networks in early and late lung development, and a direct function of Nkx2-1 in regulation of the cell cycle by controlling the expression of proliferation-related genes. New targets, validated in Nkx2-1 shRNA transduced cell lines, include E2f3, Cyclin B1, Cyclin B2, and c-Met. Expression levels of Nkx2-1 direct target genes identified in mouse development significantly correlate or anti-correlate to the levels of endogenous NKX2-1 in a dosage-dependent manner in multiple human lung tumor expression data sets, supporting alternative roles for Nkx2-1 as a transcriptional activator or repressor, and direct regulator of cell cycle progression in development and tumors

Jobs Follow People in the Rural Rocky Mountain West

Over the past 25 years, employment growth has followed population growth in the Rocky Mountain West. The allure of amenities to potential migrants and employers, especially for counties rich in pristine natural landscapes, has increased over time. As with other U.S. nonmetro counties, the service and trade sectors now dominate employment in the Rocky Mountains

The Influence of Booms and Busts in the U.S. Economy on the Interstate Migration System

Migration flows around the U.S. have shown a great deal of temporal and geographical differentiation over the past few decades. However, the recent downturn in the U.S. economy provides a renewed motivation to explore the relationship between the macro-economy and interstate migration. To address this issue, in this paper patterns of interstate migration are analyzed using IRS data and several migration efficiency measures for 18 2-year time periods, 1988-2006. Included in the analysis is an examination of the relationship between system migration and economic change, structural changes in the migration system over time (national and state level), and changes in the geography of state-level migration efficiency rates. As might be expected, the two full business cycles that occurred over this time period saw significant short-term changes in migration flows, although the economic downturn of 2001-02 may indicate more fundamental changes in the migration system. Copyright (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc..

Place-specific economic base multipliers

There is now wide realization that US nonmetropolitan areas are remarkably heterogeneous. Consequently the estimation of employment multipliers should address the diverse attributes and settings of these regions. In response, in this paper we outline a means for estimating cross-sectional economic base multipliers that vary from one place to another. Multipliers of this sort can be used to assess the impacts of new projects but should not be used to forecast growth. The discussion focuses on America’s micropolitan counties, which are those significant urban clusters located outside of the nation’s metropolitan areas. The multiplier estimates account for numerous contextual conditions of both the natural and human-created variety. All estimates are made from employment data pooled across the 1980, 1990, and 2000 censuses. Micropolitan counties with high human capital, low specialization, abundant natural amenities, and isolated locations have relatively more local employment and therefore larger multipliers.

Disaggregate economic base multipliers in small communities

Economic base analysis is frequently used to describe employment profiles and to predict project-related impacts in small communities. Considerable evidence suggests, however, that economic base multipliers should be estimated from survey data and not from shortcut methods. In this paper two competing versions of the economic base model are developed and then these two models are estimated by use of the Arizona community data set. In both cases, marginal multiplier estimates, controlled for transfer payments, are generated for ten individual sectors in five different types of communities. Results from these two disaggregate economic base models are assessed and then compared with results provided earlier by more aggregate models. The better of these two new models closely resembles the popular input - output model.