Opportunity Structures and Post-Authoritarian Participation: Argentina and Chile Compared

This work seeks to address a paradox between the existing literature on political disaffection and participation in new democracies through a comparative study of Chile and Argentina. According to Torcal and Lago (2006), disaffection in new democracies is associated with less conventional and nonconventional forms of participation. While on an individual basis their conclusions hold true in Chile and Argentina, the comparisons on a national level do not fit this pattern - despite the higher levels of disaffection in Argentina, it has similar or higher levels of participation. This paper employs Sidney Tarrow\u27s theoretical framework of opportunity structures (1994, 1995) to test the causal pathway from the transitions to democracy to current participation, concluding that: 1) that the type of transition results in context-specific institutional and perceptional opportunity structures that facilitate some types of participation and inhibit others, which, in the case of the Chilean controlled transition led to primarily electoral participation, compared to the induced transition in Argentina that allowed for all types of participation; and 2) that the repertoires of post-authoritarian participation formed after the transition interact with current political institutions to create current opportunity structures that produce different characteristics of political participation - almost exclusively electoral in Chile, compared to a broader variety and number of participants in Argentina

"Estou com ela" ou "estamos com ela"? Identidade pessoal ou coletiva em torno de líderes e tipos de participação política

In a region where personalistic politics and charismatic leaders have long been a characteristic of the political landscape, there has been little research exploring the relationship between individuals' identification with leaders and its relationship with political participation. Using original survey data from Argentina in 2016, the findings from this study demonstrate a few key points. Firstly, that identities form around political leaders and that identification plays an important role in political participation. Secondly, while personal identification with a leader is related with atomized and collective participation, the relationship between collective identification that is shared with other supporters of the political leader and both types of participation is even stronger. Additionally, these identification measures are more strongly associated with political action in support of a leader than frequently used variables such as partisan identification and ideology. This suggests that the study of political participation, especially in those contexts with more personalized political systems such as are often found in Latin America, should not ignore the role of personal and especially group leader-based identity.En una región donde la política personalista y los líderes carismáticos han sido durante mucho tiempo una característica del panorama político, ha habido poca investigación que explore la relación entre la identificación de los individuos con los líderes y su relación con la participación política. Utilizando datos de encuestas originales de Argentina en 2016, los hallazgos de este estudio demuestran algunos puntos clave. En primer lugar, que hay identidades que se forman y se comparten con otros ciudadanos alrededor de los líderes políticos y que las mismas juegan un papel importante en la participación política. En segundo lugar, si bien la identificación personal con un líder se relaciona con la participación atomizada y colectiva, la relación entre la identificación colectiva en torno a los líderes y ambos tipos de participación es aún más fuerte. Además, estas medidas de identificación están más fuertemente asociadas con la acción política en apoyo de un líder que otras variables frecuentemente utilizadas en la literatura, como la identificación partidista y la ideología. Esto sugiere que el estudio de la participación política, especialmente en aquellos contextos con sistemas políticos más personalizados como los que se encuentran a menudo en América Latina, no debe ignorar el papel de la identidad personal y especialmente colectiva que se forman en torno a los líderes.Em uma região onde a política personalista e os líderes carismáticos são há muito uma característica do cenário político, existem poucas pesquisas explorando a relação entre a identificação dos indivíduos com os líderes e sua relação com a participação política. Usando dados de pesquisa originais da Argentina em 2016, os resultados deste estudo demonstram alguns pontos chave. Primeiro, que existem identidades que são formadas e compartilhadas com outros cidadãos em torno de líderes políticos e que eles desempenham um papel importante na participação política. Em segundo lugar, enquanto a identificação pessoal com um líder está relacionada à participação atomizada e coletiva, a relação entre a identificação coletiva em torno dos líderes e os dois tipos de participação é ainda mais forte. Além disso, essas medidas de identificação estão mais fortemente associadas à ação política de apoio a um líder do que outras variáveis frequentemente utilizadas na literatura, como identificação partidária e ideologia. Isso sugere que o estudo da participação política, especialmente naqueles contextos com sistemas políticos mais personalizados, como os frequentemente encontrados na América Latina, não deve ignorar o papel da identidade pessoal e especialmente coletiva que se forma em torno dos líderes

Pest management: Four years experience in a commercial apple orchard

Pest management in a 12-ha apple orchard from 1973 to 1976 resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the number of sprays that are normally applied to control insects and mites. Codling moth, <i>Laspeyresia pomonella</i> (L.), populations were monitored by sex pheromone traps and populations of other insects and mites were assessed by specific sampling techniques. Leafrollers were the most difficult pests to control and fruit injury was 1.5 to 2.0 percent in 3 of the 4 years. Mites were held below treatment levels by the predator, <i>Typhlodromus occidentalis</i> Nesbitt, except for the apple rust mite, <i>Aculus schlechtendali</i> (Nalepa) which required chemical control

Organic pest control: Two years experience in a commercial apple orchard

An orchard under an organic control program was studied for the incidence of pests during 2 years. Sex pheromone traps were used to control codling moths, Laspeyresia pomonilla (Linnaeus), by removing males. The only pesticides used in the orchard were petroleum oil at the delayed dormant period to suppress the overwintering eggs of the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch); and Bacillus thuriengiensis to control leafrollers, Archips argyrospilus (Walker), and Archips rosanus (Linnaeus). Leaf and fruit samples were taken for all the major pests which attack apples but the only pests which required treatment were the white apple leafhopper, Typhlocyba pomaria McAtee in 1977 and the codling moth in 1978. The failure to control codling moth may result in the curtailment of the organic program unless supplemental controls can be found

Pest management: Four years experience in a commercial apple orchard

Pest management in a 12-ha apple orchard from 1973 to 1976 resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the number of sprays that are normally applied to control insects and mites. Codling moth, Laspeyresia pomonella (L.), populations were monitored by sex pheromone traps and populations of other insects and mites were assessed by specific sampling techniques. Leafrollers were the most difficult pests to control and fruit injury was 1.5 to 2.0 percent in 3 of the 4 years. Mites were held below treatment levels by the predator, Typhlodromus occidentalis Nesbitt, except for the apple rust mite, Aculus schlechtendali (Nalepa) which required chemical control

DNA methylation-based measures of biological age: meta-analysis predicting time to death.

Estimates of biological age based on DNA methylation patterns, often referred to as epigenetic age , DNAm age , have been shown to be robust biomarkers of age in humans. We previously demonstrated that independent of chronological age, epigenetic age assessed in blood predicted all-cause mortality in four human cohorts. Here, we expanded our original observation to 13 different cohorts for a total sample size of 13,089 individuals, including three racial/ethnic groups. In addition, we examined whether incorporating information on blood cell composition into the epigenetic age metrics improves their predictive power for mortality. All considered measures of epigenetic age acceleration were predictive of mortality (p≤8.2x10-9), independent of chronological age, even after adjusting for additional risk factors (p\u3c5.4x10-4), and within the racial/ethnic groups that we examined (non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, African Americans). Epigenetic age estimates that incorporated information on blood cell composition led to the smallest p-values for time to death (p=7.5x10-43). Overall, this study a) strengthens the evidence that epigenetic age predicts all-cause mortality above and beyond chronological age and traditional risk factors, and b) demonstrates that epigenetic age estimates that incorporate information on blood cell counts lead to highly significant associations with all-cause mortality

O18O and C18O observations of rho Oph A

Observations of the (N_J=1_1-1_0) ground state transition of O_2 with the Odin satellite resulted in a about 5 sigma detection toward the dense core rho Oph A. At the frequency of the line, 119 GHz, the Odin telescope has a beam width of 10', larger than the size of the dense core, so that the precise nature of the emitting source and its exact location and extent are unknown. The current investigation is intended to remedy this. Telluric absorption makes ground based O_2 observations essentially impossible and observations had to be done from space. mm-wave telescopes on space platforms were necessarily small, which resulted in large, several arcminutes wide, beam patterns. Although the Earth's atmosphere is entirely opaque to low-lying O_2 transitions, it allows ground based observations of the much rarer O18O in favourable conditions and at much higher angular resolution with larger telescopes. In addition, rho Oph A exhibits both multiple radial velocity systems and considerable velocity gradients. Extensive mapping of the region in the proxy C18O (J=3-2) line can be expected to help identify the O_2 source on the basis of its line shape and Doppler velocity. Line opacities were determined from observations of optically thin 13C18O (J=3-2) at selected positions. During several observing periods, two C18O intensity maxima in rho Oph A were searched for in the 16O18O (2_1-0_1) line at 234 GHz with the 12m APEX telescope. Our observations resulted in an upper limit on the integrated O18O intensity of < 0.01 K km/s (3 sigma) into the 26.5" beam. We conclude that the source of observed O_2 emission is most likely confined to the central regions of the rho Oph A cloud. In this limited area, implied O_2 abundances could thus be higher than previously reported, by up to two orders of magnitude.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures (5 colour), Astronomy & Astrophysic

Was Sinn Féin dying? A quantitative post-mortem of the party's decline and the emergence of Fianna Fáil

This article calls for a reappraisal of the consensus surrounding the split within Sinn Féin in 1926 that led to the foundation of Fianna Fáil. It demonstrates that quantitative factors cited to demonstrate Sinn Féin’s “terminal” decline – finances, cumann numbers, and election results – and to explain de Valera’s decision to leave Sinn Féin and establish a rival republican organisation, Fianna Fáil, do not provide sufficient objective grounds to explain the republican leader’s actions. This article demonstrates that Sinn Féin’s election results during the period in question (1923-1926) were encouraging and the decline in finances and cumann numbers can be explained by the fact that the base year used to compare progress was 1923, an election year. Moreover, this article compares the performance of Sinn Féin to the first five years of Fianna Fáil (1926-1931) to show that what has been interpreted as terminal decline can also be attributed to normal inter-election lulls in party activity. Correspondingly, subjective factors – e.g. personal rivalries, differences in ideology, organisational style and levels of patience in terms of achieving political power – were most likely the determining factors rather than organisational decline

Intracranial injection of AAV expressing NEP but not IDE reduces amyloid pathology in APP+PS1 transgenic mice

The accumulation of β-amyloid peptides in the brain has been recognized as an essential factor in Alzheimer\u27s disease pathology. Several proteases, including Neprilysin (NEP), endothelin converting enzyme (ECE), and insulin degrading enzyme (IDE), have been shown to cleave β-amyloid peptides (Aβ). We have previously reported reductions in amyloid in APP+PS1 mice with increased expression of ECE. In this study we compared the vector-induced increased expression of NEP and IDE. We used recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors expressing either native forms of NEP (NEP-n) or IDE (IDE-n), or engineered secreted forms of NEP (NEP-s) or IDE (IDE-s). In a six-week study, immunohistochemistry staining for total Aβ was significantly decreased in animals receiving the NEP-n and NEP-s but not for IDE-n or IDE-s in either the hippocampus or cortex. Congo red staining followed a similar trend revealing significant decreases in the hippocampus and the cortex for NEP-n and NEP-s treatment groups. Our results indicate that while rAAV-IDE does not have the same therapeutic potential as rAAV-NEP, rAAV-NEP-s and NEP-n are effective at reducing amyloid loads, and both of these vectors continue to have significant effects nine months post-injection. As such, they may be considered reasonable candidates for gene therapy trials in AD