The time of the Roma in times of crisis: Where has European neoliberal capitalism failed?

This paper argues that the economic and financial crisis that has ensnared Europe from the late 2000s has been instrumental in reshaping employment and social relations in a detrimental way for the majority of the European people. It argues that the crisis has exacerbated the socio-economic position of most Roma people, immigrants as well as of other vulnerable groups. This development is approached here as an outcome of the widening structural inequalities that underpin the crisis within an increasingly neoliberalised Europe. Through recent policy developments and public discourses from a number of European countries I show how rising inequalities nurture racialised social tensions. My account draws on classic and contemporary theoretical propositions that have been propounded about the nature of capitalism, its contemporary re-articulation as well as its ramification for the future of Europe

Ancient, independent evolution and distinct molecular features of the novel human T-lymphotropic virus type 4

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human T-lymphotropic virus type 4 (HTLV-4) is a new deltaretrovirus recently identified in a primate hunter in Cameroon. Limited sequence analysis previously showed that HTLV-4 may be distinct from HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and HTLV-3, and their simian counterparts, STLV-1, STLV-2, and STLV-3, respectively. Analysis of full-length genomes can provide basic information on the evolutionary history and replication and pathogenic potential of new viruses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here the first complete HTLV-4 sequence obtained by PCR-based genome walking using uncultured peripheral blood lymphocyte DNA from an HTLV-4-infected person. The HTLV-4(1863LE) genome is 8791-bp long and is equidistant from HTLV-1, HTLV-2, and HTLV-3 sharing only 62–71% nucleotide identity. HTLV-4 has a prototypic genomic structure with all enzymatic, regulatory, and structural proteins preserved. Like STLV-2, STLV-3, and HTLV-3, HTLV-4 is missing a third 21-bp transcription element found in the long terminal repeats of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 but instead contains unique c-Myb and pre B-cell leukemic transcription factor binding sites. Like HTLV-2, the PDZ motif important for cellular signal transduction and transformation in HTLV-1 and HTLV-3 is missing in the C-terminus of the HTLV-4 Tax protein. A basic leucine zipper (b-ZIP) region located in the antisense strand of HTLV-1 and believed to play a role in viral replication and oncogenesis, was also found in the complementary strand of HTLV-4. Detailed phylogenetic analysis shows that HTLV-4 is clearly a monophyletic viral group. Dating using a relaxed molecular clock inferred that the most recent common ancestor of HTLV-4 and HTLV-2/STLV-2 occurred 49,800 to 378,000 years ago making this the oldest known PTLV lineage. Interestingly, this period coincides with the emergence of <it>Homo sapiens sapiens </it>during the Middle Pleistocene suggesting that early humans may have been susceptible hosts for the ancestral HTLV-4.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The inferred ancient origin of HTLV-4 coinciding with the appearance of <it>Homo sapiens</it>, the propensity of STLVs to cross-species into humans, the fact that HTLV-1 and -2 spread globally following migrations of ancient populations, all suggest that HTLV-4 may be prevalent. Expanded surveillance and clinical studies are needed to better define the epidemiology and public health importance of HTLV-4 infection.</p

The 600 Ma-Old Pan-African Magmatism in the In Ouzzal Terrane (Tuareg Shield, Algeria): Witness of the Metacratonisation of a Rigid Block

The high-level sub-circular North Tihimatine granitic pluton, intrusive in the In Ouzzal terrane, has been dated at 600 ± 5 Ma (LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon) and at 602 ± 4 Ma (SHRIMP U–Pb zircon). At this time, while Tihimatine intruded a brittle In Ouzzal without major metamorphism, large high-K calc-alkaline granitoid batholiths emplaced in the adjacent terranes under ductile conditions and regional amphibolite facies metamorphism. Outside In Ouzzal, high-level plutons emplaced under brittle conditions are known only at c. 580 Ma. The In Ouzzal terrane (500 km × 80 to 5 km), made of c. 2 Ga very high-temperature granulitic lithologies with Archean protoliths, is the sole terrane within the Tuareg Shield to have been largely unaffected by the Pan-African orogeny. The field, petrographic, geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the In Ouzzal granitic plutons studied herein, give keys for the understanding of the atypical behavior of the In Ouzzal terrane. The In Ouzzal Pan-African granitoids present chemical compositions varying from medium-K to high-K calc-alkaline to alkaline compositions. This is recorded by the Sr and Nd radiogenic isotopes (−4 < ɛNd < −30; 0.704 < ISr < 0.713), pointing to a mixing between a heterogeneous and old Rb-depleted source, the Eburnean granulitic In Ouzzal crust, and a Pan-African mantle. The latter is represented by the nearby bimodal Tin Zebane dyke swarm (ɛNd = +6.2, ISr = 0.7028; Hadj Kaddour et al. in Lithos 45:223–243, 1998), emplaced along the mega-shear zone bounding the In Ouzzal terrane to the west. Trace element composition and Sr–Nd isotope modeling indicate that 20–40% of different crustal lithologies outcropping in the In Ouzzal terrane mixed with mantle melts. At least two, most probably three, Eburnean granulitic reservoirs with Archean protoliths are needed to explain the chemical variability of the In Ouzzal plutons. The Pan-African post-collisional period is related to a northward tectonic escape of the Tuareg terranes, including the rigid In Ouzzal terrane, bounded by major shear zones. Blocking of the movement of the In Ouzzal terrane, which occurred 20 Ma earlier (at 600 Ma) on the western side than on the eastern side, induced its fracturing along oblique faults inside the terrane. This process allowed asthenosphere to rise and to locally melt the In Ouzzal crust, giving rise to the studied plutons. This corresponds to a metacratonization process. The In Ouzzal terrane demonstrates that a relatively small rigid block can survive within a major orogen affected by a post-collisional tectonic escape at the cost of a metacratonization, particularly at depth along faults

Deep inside a Neoproterozoic intra-oceanic arc: growth, differentiation and exhumation of the Amalaoulaou complex (Gourma, Mali)

IF=3.497info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe