Vamos para Rua! Taking to the Streets Protest in Brazil

The unprecedented protests that unfolded in June 2013 in Brazil, surprised even the most observant Brazilian scholars. A local conflict over the increase of public transportation fare took an unexpected turn and ignited a massive nationwide mobilization. These protests have perplexed many because Brazil was not experiencing the context of economic or political instabilities that are common to other countries around the world, where massive protests have emerged. Using data from the World Values Survey, we developed a general analysis highlighting individual factors that were significant in explaining protest participation among Brazilians to shed light on possible indicators that could have predicted the recent mobilizations. In particular, this work seeks to understand the extent to which a change from materialist to post-materialist values, as theorized by Inglehart (1971), could contribute towards explaining the recent protests in Brazil. Our findings demonstrate that post-materialist values are a significant explanatory force in determining political participation in Brazil

Opposition Support and the Experience of Violence Explain the Colombian Peace Referendum

What factors led to the surprise defeat of the Colombian peace referendum? Descriptive analyses suggested a link between support for peace and the experience of violence, but economic conditions and political support for incumbent parties also affect electoral outcomes. Here we use Bayesian hierarchical models to test links between referendum result and previous violence victimization, economic conditions, and support for Centro Democrático (the main party opposed to the peace agreement). There was lower support for peace in the Andean region, and departments with lower support had higher unemployment and growth in GDP. Support for the opposition was the dominant covariate of decreasing support for the peace accords, while previous violence victimization increased the percent vote for peace. Regional variation in baseline support for the agreements will be critical during implementation of the newly revised accords, and the mobilization of the opposition shows partisan engagement determined the referendum outcome.¿Qué factores llevaron a la derrota sorpresiva del plebiscito por la paz en Colombia? Aunque los análisis iniciales encontraron conexiones entre el apoyo por la paz y la experiencia de violencia, las condiciones económicas y el apoyo a los partidos en el poder también afectaron tales resultados electorales. En este artículo utilizamos modelos jerárquicos bayesianos para evaluar las conexiones entre los resultados del plebiscito y la experiencia previa de victimización, las condiciones económicas, y el apoyo al Centro Democrático (el partido político opositor al acuerdo de paz principal). Hubo menos apoyo por la paz en la zona andina comparada con otras regiones, y los departamentos con menos apoyo tuvieron mayor desempleo y crecimiento del PIB. A pesar que la experiencia previa de victimización aumentó la proporción de votos por la paz, el apoyo a la oposición fue la covariante dominante en el descenso en el apoyo por los acuerdos de paz. Teniendo en cuenta estos resultados, la fuerte variación regional en la línea base de apoyo a los acuerdos - una variable compleja gobernada por el grado de compromiso político, pero también influenciada por factores económicos estructurales - será crítica en la implementación de los nuevos acuerdos

The Foundation of and Future Directions for JEDI @ University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

This chapter per the authors provides an in-depth overview of how the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries has leveraged historical connections and special collections to provide a robust foundation for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion programming and initiatives on campus, in the community, and worldwide. Readers will be provided with examples that will inform conversations about JEDI efforts at their own libraries and on their own campuses, as well as insights gleaned during the process of doing this work at University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

Does gender matter? A cross-national investigation of primary class-room discipline.

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupFewer than 15% of primary school teachers in both Germany and the UK are male. With the on-going international debate about educational performance highlighting the widening gender achievement gap between girl and boy pupils, the demand for more male teachers has become prevalent in educational discourse. Concerns have frequently been raised about the underachievement of boys, with claims that the lack of male ‘role models’ in schools has an adverse effect on boys’ academic motivation and engagement. Although previous research has examined ‘teaching’ as institutional talk, men’s linguistic behaviour in the classroom remains largely ignored, especially in regard to enacting discipline. Using empirical spoken data collected from four primary school classrooms in both the UK and in Germany, this paper examines the linguistic discipline strategies of eight male and eight female teachers using Interactional Sociolinguistics to address the question, does teacher gender matter?Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Chemistry and decomposition of litter from Populus tremuloides Michaux grown at elevated atmospheric CO 2 and varying N availability

It has been hypothesized that greater production of total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) in foliage grown under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) will result in higher concentrations of defensive compounds in tree leaf litter, possibly leading to reduced rates of decomposition and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems of the future. To evaluate the effects of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on litter chemistry and decomposition, we performed a 111 day laboratory incubation with leaf litter of trembling aspen ( Populus tremuloides Michaux) produced at 36 Pa and 56 Pa CO 2 and two levels of soil nitrogen (N) availability. Decomposition was quantified as microbially respired CO 2 and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil solution, and concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates, N, carbon (C), and condensed tannins were monitored throughout the incubation. Growth under elevated atmospheric CO 2 did not significantly affect initial litter concentrations of TNC, N, or condensed tannins. Rates of decomposition, measured as both microbially respired CO 2 and DOC did not differ between litter produced under ambient and elevated CO 2 . Total C lost from the samples was 38 mg g −1 litter as respired CO 2 and 138 mg g −1 litter as DOC, suggesting short-term pulses of dissolved C in soil solution are important components of the terrestrial C cycle. We conclude that litter chemistry and decomposition in trembling aspen are minimally affected by growth under higher concentrations of CO 2 .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75335/1/j.1365-2486.2001.00388.x.pd

Potent and Broad Inhibition of HIV-1 by a Peptide from the gp41 Heptad Repeat-2 Domain Conjugated to the CXCR4 Amino Terminus.

HIV-1 entry can be inhibited by soluble peptides from the gp41 heptad repeat-2 (HR2) domain that interfere with formation of the 6-helix bundle during fusion. Inhibition has also been seen when these peptides are conjugated to anchoring molecules and over-expressed on the cell surface. We hypothesized that potent anti-HIV activity could be achieved if a 34 amino acid peptide from HR2 (C34) were brought to the site of virus-cell interactions by conjugation to the amino termini of HIV-1 coreceptors CCR5 or CXCR4. C34-conjugated coreceptors were expressed on the surface of T cell lines and primary CD4 T cells, retained the ability to mediate chemotaxis in response to cognate chemokines, and were highly resistant to HIV-1 utilization for entry. Notably, C34-conjugated CCR5 and CXCR4 each exhibited potent and broad inhibition of HIV-1 isolates from diverse clades irrespective of tropism (i.e., each could inhibit R5, X4 and dual-tropic isolates). This inhibition was highly specific and dependent on positioning of the peptide, as HIV-1 infection was poorly inhibited when C34 was conjugated to the amino terminus of CD4. C34-conjugated coreceptors could also inhibit HIV-1 isolates that were resistant to the soluble HR2 peptide inhibitor, enfuvirtide. When introduced into primary cells, CD4 T cells expressing C34-conjugated coreceptors exhibited physiologic responses to T cell activation while inhibiting diverse HIV-1 isolates, and cells containing C34-conjugated CXCR4 expanded during HIV-1 infection in vitro and in a humanized mouse model. Notably, the C34-conjugated peptide exerted greater HIV-1 inhibition when conjugated to CXCR4 than to CCR5. Thus, antiviral effects of HR2 peptides can be specifically directed to the site of viral entry where they provide potent and broad inhibition of HIV-1. This approach to engineer HIV-1 resistance in functional CD4 T cells may provide a novel cell-based therapeutic for controlling HIV infection in humans

Incidence of community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections and pneumonia among older adults in the United Kingdom: a population-based study.

Community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and pneumonia (CAP) are common causes of morbidity and mortality among those aged ≥65 years; a growing population in many countries. Detailed incidence estimates for these infections among older adults in the United Kingdom (UK) are lacking. We used electronic general practice records from the Clinical Practice Research Data link, linked to Hospital Episode Statistics inpatient data, to estimate incidence of community-acquired LRTI and CAP among UK older adults between April 1997-March 2011, by age, sex, region and deprivation quintile. Levels of antibiotic prescribing were also assessed. LRTI incidence increased with fluctuations over time, was higher in men than women aged ≥70 and increased with age from 92.21 episodes/1000 person-years (65-69 years) to 187.91/1000 (85-89 years). CAP incidence increased more markedly with age, from 2.81 to 21.81 episodes/1000 person-years respectively, and was higher among men. For both infection groups, increases over time were attenuated after age-standardisation, indicating that these rises were largely due to population aging. Rates among those in the most deprived quintile were around 70% higher than the least deprived and were generally higher in the North of England. GP antibiotic prescribing rates were high for LRTI but lower for CAP (mostly due to immediate hospitalisation). This is the first study to provide long-term detailed incidence estimates of community-acquired LRTI and CAP in UK older individuals, taking person-time at risk into account. The summary incidence commonly presented for the ≥65 age group considerably underestimates LRTI/CAP rates, particularly among older individuals within this group. Our methodology and findings are likely to be highly relevant to health planners and researchers in other countries with aging populations