Wet Laws, Drinking Establishments, and Violent Crime

Drawing on county-level data from Kansas for the period 1977-2011, we examine whether plausibly exogenous increases in the number of establishments licensed to sell alcohol by the drink are related to violent crime. During this period, 86 out of 105 counties in Kansas voted to legalize the sale of alcohol to the general public for on-premises consumption. We provide evidence that these counties experienced substantial increases in the total number of establishments with on-premises liquor licenses (e.g., bars and restaurants). Using legalization as an instrument, we show that a 10 percent increase in drinking establishments is associated with a 4 percent increase in violent crime. Reduced-form estimates suggest that legalizing the sale of alcohol to the general public for on-premises consumption is associated with an 11 percent increase in violent crime

Climate Change, Agricultural Production and Civil Conflict: Evidence from the Philippines

Climate change is predicted to affect global rainfall patterns, but there is mixed evidence with regard to the effect of rainfall on civil conflict. Even among researchers who argue that rainfall reduces civil conflict, there is disagreement as to the underlying mechanism. Using data from the Philippines for the period 2001-2009, we exploit seasonal variation in the relationship between rainfall and agricultural production to explore the connection between rainfall and civil conflict. In the Philippines, above-average rainfall during the wet season is harmful to agricultural production, while above-average rainfall during the dry season is beneficial. We show that the relationship between rainfall and civil conflict also exhibits seasonality, but in the opposite direction and with a one-year lag. Consistent with the hypothesis that rebel groups gain strength after a bad harvest, there is evidence that lagged rainfall affects the number of violent incidents initiated by insurgents but not the number of incidents initiated by government forces. Our results suggest that policies aimed at mitigating the effect of climate change on agricultural production could weaken the link between climate change and civil conflict

Election Fraud and Post-Election Conflict: Evidence from the Philippines

Previous studies have documented a positive association between election fraud and the intensity of civil conflict. It is not clear, however, whether this association is causal or due to unobserved institutional or cultural factors. This paper examines the relationship between election fraud and post-election violence in the 2007 Philippine mayoral elections. Using the density test developed by McCrary (2008), we find evidence that incumbents were able to win tightly contested elections through fraud. In addition, we show that narrow incumbent victories were associated with an increase in post-election casualties, which is consistent with the hypothesis that election fraud causes conflict. We conduct several robustness tests and find no evidence that incumbent victories increased violence for reasons unrelated to fraud

Impression Management, Selbsttäuschung, Challenge und Threat: Psychobiologische Indikatoren von sozialem Stress bei Repressern und Defensiven

Die Klassifikation von Weinberger (1990) sieht Represser üblicherweise als Personen, die sich über ihre wahren Gefühle selbst täuschen. So wird behauptet, sie hätten in Angst auslösenden Situationen tatsächlich Angst, obwohl sie von sich selbst behaupten, keine Angst zu verspüren. Als Beleg dafür wird der Befund zitiert, dass Represser in stressreichen Situationen zwar meist weniger Angst angeben als andere Personen, dass sie aber im Gegensatz dazu deutlich stärkere physiologische Reaktionen zeigen. Dies wird so interpretiert, dass Represser zwar keine Angst spüren würden, aber dennoch Angst hätten, die sich dann in der starken physiologischen Reaktion manifestiere. Allerdings gibt es auch Ergebnisse, die eine andere Sicht von Repressern vermitteln. So zeigen Befunde aus dem Bereich der Hemisphärenasymmetrie im EEG, dass sich Defensivität (eine Komponente der Repression) mit linksfrontaler Aktivierung und dadurch mit Annäherungsmotivation in Verbindung bringen lässt. Die Idee eines „defensiven Bewältigungsstils“, also einer primär vermeidenden Stressverarbeitung bei Defensiven (und damit auch bei Repressern), ist dementsprechend nicht durchgehend aufrecht zu erhalten. Auch konnte gezeigt werden, dass Represser nicht immer als Selbsttäuscher funktionieren. In bestimmten sozialen Situationen zeigen sie vielmehr starke Tendenzen zur positiven Selbstdarstellung (Impression Management). Um diese scheinbar widersprüchlichen Befunde in Einklang zu bringen, wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit zunächst eine alternative Interpretation der physiologischen Reaktion der Represser vorgeschlagen. Statt die Reaktion als Angst zu interpretieren, wird ein Modell vorgestellt, das solche Reaktionen als Herausforderung auf eine wichtige Situation deutet. Represser könnten also soziale Situationen als wichtig erachten und Task Engagement zeigen, eine Interpretation, die deutlich besser zu ihrem subjektiven Empfinden passen würde als die Deutung als Angstreaktion. Basierend darauf stellt die vorliegende Arbeit ein integriertes Modell von Defensivität und Repression im sozialen Kontext vor. So wird vermutet, dass defensive Personen soziale Situationen als für sie persönlich relevant betrachten und deswegen Task Engagement zeigen. Repressern gelingt es dann, die Situationen durch ihr Verhalten positiv zu beeinflussen, was ihnen positive Rückmeldung und ein positives Selbstbild beschert, während Defensiv-Hochängstliche bei der Bewältigung der Situation scheitern, negative Rückmeldung erhalten und sich deswegen bedroht fühlen. Um das Modell zu prüfen, wurden physiologische Indikatoren erhoben. Dazu wurden Probanden zunächst in Represser, Defensiv-Hochängstliche, Niedrigängstliche und Hochängstliche eingeteilt. Die Probanden bekamen im Laufe der Untersuchung positives oder negatives Persönlichkeitsfeedback, einmal in einer anonymen und einmal in einer öffentlichen Situation. Während die Probanden das Feedback in der anonymen Situation alleine betrachten konnten, war in der öffentlichen Situation eine weitere Person anwesend. Die Vermutung war, dass die öffentliche Situation mit negativem Feedback als sozialer Stressor wirken würde. Dadurch sollte bei den Defensiven eine Motivation zur positiven Selbstdarstellung ausgelöst werden, die bei den Repressern zu einem physiologischen Muster der Herausforderung (Challenge) und bei den Defensiv-Hochängstlichen zu einem Muster der Bedrohung (Threat) führen sollte. Um diese psychophysiologischen Muster zu prüfen, wurden das Spontan-EEG und verschiedene kardiovaskuläre Parameter der Probanden direkt nach dem Persönlichkeitsfeedback erhoben. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für das vorgestellte Modell. Zum einen konnte bei defensiven Probanden in der öffentlichen Situation mit negativem Feedback eine relative linksfrontale Aktivierung im EEG festgestellt werden, was für Annäherungsmotivation spricht. Defensiven werden also vermutlich durch die Gefahr einer sozialen Zurückweisung dazu motiviert, sich einer anderen Person anzunähern und so den sozialen Kontakt zu verstärken oder wiederherzustellen. Bei Repressern konnte weiterhin in der negativ-öffentlichen Bedingung ein steigendes Herzminutenvolumen (Cardiac Output) und ein sinkender peripherer Widerstand festgestellt werden, beides Indikatoren, die für eine Herausforderungsreaktion sprechen. Bei den Defensiv-Hochängstlichen war ein genau gegenteiliges Muster zu beobachten. Insgesamt sprechen die Ergebnisse dafür, dass Represser in sozialen Situationen mehr damit beschäftigt sind, soziale Ablehnung zu vermeiden. Da sie sich aber als kompetent in der Bewältigung solcher Situationen erleben, entwickelt sich keine Angstreaktion, sondern eine Reaktion der Herausforderung. Dieser Blickwinkel bietet eine sparsame und passende Erklärung für die zunächst widersprüchlich erscheinenden Befunde zu Repressern und liefert so einen Ansatz zum verbesserten Verständnis dieses Persönlichkeitstyps

The mucin-degradation strategy of Ruminococcus gnavus:The importance of intramolecular trans-sialidases

We previously identified and characterized an intramolecular trans-sialidase (IT-sialidase) in the gut symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus ATCC 29149, which is associated to the ability of the strain to grow on mucins. In this work we have obtained and analyzed the draft genome sequence of another R. gnavus mucin-degrader, ATCC 35913, isolated from a healthy individual. Transcriptomics analyses of both ATCC 29149 and ATCC 35913 strains confirmed that the strategy utilized by R. gnavus for mucin-degradation is focused on the utilization of terminal mucin glycans. R. gnavus ATCC 35913 also encodes a predicted IT-sialidase and harbors a Nan cluster dedicated to sialic acid utilization. We showed that the Nan cluster was upregulated when the strains were grown in presence of mucin. In addition we demonstrated that both R. gnavus strains were able to grow on 2,7-anyhydro-Neu5Ac, the IT-sialidase transglycosylation product, as a sole carbon source. Taken together these data further support the hypothesis that IT-sialidase expressing gut microbes, provide commensal bacteria such as R. gnavus with a nutritional competitive advantage, by accessing and transforming a source of nutrient to their own benefit

Mechanistic Insights Into the Cross-Feeding of Ruminococcus gnavus and Ruminococcus bromii on Host and Dietary Carbohydrates

Dietary and host glycans shape the composition of the human gut microbiota with keystone carbohydrate-degrading species playing a critical role in maintaining the structure and function of gut microbial communities. Here, we focused on two major human gut symbionts, the mucin-degrader Ruminococcus gnavus ATCC 29149, and R. bromii L2-63, a keystone species for the degradation of resistant starch (RS) in human colon. Using anaerobic individual and co-cultures of R. bromii and R. gnavus grown on mucin or starch as sole carbon source, we showed that starch degradation by R. bromii supported the growth of R. gnavus whereas R. bromii did not benefit from mucin degradation by R. gnavus. Further we analyzed the growth (quantitative PCR), metabolite production (1H NMR analysis), and bacterial transcriptional response (RNA-Seq) of R. bromii cultured with RS or soluble starch (SS) in the presence or absence of R. gnavus. In co-culture fermentations on starch, 1H NMR analysis showed that R. gnavus benefits from transient glucose and malto-oligosaccharides released by R. bromii upon starch degradation, producing acetate, formate, and lactate as main fermentation end-products. Differential expression analysis (DESeq 2) on starch (SS and RS) showed that the presence of R. bromii induced changes in R. gnavus transcriptional response of genes encoding several maltose transporters and enzymes involved in its metabolism such as maltose phosphorylase, in line with the ability of R. gnavus to utilize R. bromii starch degradation products. In the RS co-culture, R. bromii showed a significant increase in the induction of tryptophan (Trp) biosynthesis genes and a decrease of vitamin B12 (VitB12)-dependent methionine biosynthesis as compared to the mono-culture, suggesting that Trp and VitB12 availability become limited in the presence of R. gnavus. Together this study showed a direct competition between R. bromii and R. gnavus on RS, suggesting that in vivo, the R. gnavus population inhabiting the mucus niche may be modulated by the supply of non-digestible carbohydrates reaching the colon such as R

The Effect of Subsidized Employment on Happiness

While a large body of evidence suggests that unemployment and self-reported happiness are negatively correlated, it is not clear whether this reflects a causal effect of unemployment on happiness and whether subsidized employment can increase the happiness of the unemployed. To close this gap, this paper estimates the causal effect of a type of subsidized employment projects - Germany's Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen - on self-reported happiness. Results from matching and fixed effects estimators suggest that subsidized employment has a large and statistically significant positive effect on the happiness of individuals who would otherwise have been unemployed. Detailed panel data on pre- and post-project happiness suggests that this effect can neither be explained by self-selection of happier individuals into employment nor by the higher incomes of the employed.Happiness, life satisfaction, unemployment, subsidized employment

Membrane-enclosed multienzyme (MEME) synthesis of 2,7-anhydro-sialic acid derivatives

Naturally occurring 2,7-anhydro-alpha-N-acetylneuraminic acid (2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac) is a transglycosylation product of bacterial intramolecular trans-sialidases (IT-sialidases). A facile one-pot two-enzyme approach has been established for the synthesis of 2,7-anhydro-sialic acid derivatives including those containing different sialic acid forms such as Neu5Ac and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). The approach is based on the use of Ruminoccocus gnavus IT-sialidase for the release of 2,7-anhydro-sialic acid from glycoproteins, and the conversion of free sialic acid by a sialic acid aldolase. This synthetic method, which is based on a membrane-enclosed enzymatic synthesis, can be performed on a preparative scale. Using fetuin as a substrate, high-yield and cost-effective production of 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac was obtained to high-purity. This method was also applied to the synthesis of 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Gc. The membrane-enclosed multienzyme (MEME) strategy reported here provides an efficient approach to produce a variety of sialic acid derivatives

Using a Social Ecological Model to Examine the Role that the Community Plays Regarding Children\u27s Opportunities to be Physically Active

Studies have shown that communities exist within a broader environment and it is important to consider how different levels interact and influence physical activity (PA) engagement. Guided by the social ecological model (SEM), a service-learning project was completed via observations at a Chicago Private School for a service-learning project and interactions with faculty, students, and community members. Results were directly connected to the SEM and two themes emerged: 1) the community contained an abundant amount of safe spaces for PA engagement and 2) the school displayed a supportive and positive attitude toward PA. The purpose of this study was to examine the role the community and school played in children’s PA levels