Corporate Security Responsibility: Towards a Conceptual Framework for a Comparative Research Agenda

The political debate about the role of business in armed conflicts has increasingly raised expectations as to governance contributions by private corporations in the fields of conflict prevention, peace-keeping and postconflict peace-building. This political agenda seems far ahead of the research agenda, in which the negative image of business in conflicts, seen as fuelling, prolonging and taking commercial advantage of violent conflicts,still prevails. So far the scientific community has been reluctant to extend the scope of research on ‘corporate social responsibility’ to the area of security in general and to intra-state armed conflicts in particular. As a consequence, there is no basis from which systematic knowledge can be generated about the conditions and the extent to which private corporations can fulfil the role expected of them in the political discourse. The research on positive contributions of private corporations to security amounts to unconnected in-depth case studies of specific corporations in specific conflict settings. Given this state of research, we develop a framework for a comparative research agenda to address the question: Under which circumstances and to what extent can private corporations be expected to contribute to public security

Money talks: moral economies of earning a living in neoliberal East Africa

Neoliberal restructuring has targeted not just the economy, but also polity, society and culture, in the name of creating capitalist market societies. The societal repercussions of neoliberal policy and reform in terms of moral economy remain understudied. This article seeks to address this gap by analysing moral economy characteristics and dynamics in neoliberalised communities, as perceived by traders in Uganda and sex workers in Kenya. The interview data reveal perceived drivers that contributed to a significant moral dominance of money, self-interest, short-termism, opportunism and pragmatism. Equally notable are a perceived (i) close interaction between political–economic and moral–economic dynamics, and (ii) significant impact of the political–economic structure on moral agency. Respondents primarily referred to material factors usually closely linked to neoliberal reform, as key drivers of local moral economies. We thus speak of a neoliberalisation of moral economies, itself part of the wider process of embedding and locking-in market society structures in the two countries. An improved political economy of moral economy can help keep track of this phenomenon

Impaired distal nephron acidification in chronically phosphate depleted rats

Renal tubular bicarbonate reabsorption and acidification were evaluated in phosphate depleted rats (PD) and controls. After 33 days of phosphate depletion, urine pH of PD rats ( N =5, 6.36±0.15) was significantly higher than control ( N =5, 5.64±0.09, P <0.005) following an NH 4 Cl load. Urinary titratable acid of PD rats (9.6±1.8) was significantly reduced compared to control (117.2±19.7 μEq/3 h, P <0.001), whereas NH 4 + excretion was not different. The plasma HCO 3 − thresholds at which bicarbonaturia occurred (approximately 25 mEq/l) were identical in controls and phosphate depleted rats during isotonic bicarbonate infusion. The higher urine pH of phosphate depleted rats following NH 4 Cl administration was not due to low urinary phosphate as 3-day phosphate depleted rats could normally acidify urine after NH 4 Cl (pH=5.86±0.09, N =6 vs. control 5.87±0.08, N =6, P =N.S.) despite urinary phosphate excretion as low as in 33-day PD rats. These data indicate the presence of impaired distal tubular acidification in chronically phosphate depleted rats.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47445/1/424_2004_Article_BF00584277.pd

Recovering critique in an age of datafication

This article starts out from the need for critical work on processes of datafication and their consequences for the constitution of social knowledge and the social world. Current social science work on datafication has been greatly shaped by the theoretical approach of Bruno Latour, as reflected in the work of Actor Network Theory and Science and Technology Studies (ANT/STS). The article asks whether this approach, given its philosophical underpinnings, provides sufficient resources for the critical work that is required in relation to datafication. Drawing on Latour’s own reflections about the flatness of the social, it concludes that it does not, since key questions, in particular about the nature of social order cannot be asked or answered within ANT. In the article’s final section, three approaches from earlier social theory are considered as possible supplements to ANT/STS for a social science serious about addressing the challenges that datafication poses for society

Genetic causes of hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis

Renal stone disease (nephrolithiasis) affects 3–5% of the population and is often associated with hypercalciuria. Hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis is a familial disorder in over 35% of patients and may occur as a monogenic disorder that is more likely to manifest itself in childhood. Studies of these monogenic forms of hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis in humans, e.g. Bartter syndrome, Dent’s disease, autosomal dominant hypocalcemic hypercalciuria (ADHH), hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis with hypophosphatemia, and familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria have helped to identify a number of transporters, channels and receptors that are involved in regulating the renal tubular reabsorption of calcium. Thus, Bartter syndrome, an autosomal disease, is caused by mutations of the bumetanide-sensitive Na–K–Cl (NKCC2) co-transporter, the renal outer-medullary potassium (ROMK) channel, the voltage-gated chloride channel, CLC-Kb, the CLC-Kb beta subunit, barttin, or the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR). Dent’s disease, an X-linked disorder characterized by low molecular weight proteinuria, hypercalciuria and nephrolithiasis, is due to mutations of the chloride/proton antiporter 5, CLC-5; ADHH is associated with activating mutations of the CaSR, which is a G-protein-coupled receptor; hypophosphatemic hypercalciuric nephrolithiasis associated with rickets is due to mutations in the type 2c sodium–phosphate co-transporter (NPT2c); and familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria is due to mutations of paracellin-1, which is a member of the claudin family of membrane proteins that form the intercellular tight junction barrier in a variety of epithelia. These studies have provided valuable insights into the renal tubular pathways that regulate calcium reabsorption and predispose to hypercalciuria and nephrolithiasis

Understanding the political motivations that shape Rwanda’s emergent developmental state

Twenty years after its horrific genocide, Rwanda has become a model for economic development. At the same time, its government has been criticized for its authoritarian tactics and use of violence. Missing from the often-polarized debate are the connections between these two perspectives. Synthesizing existing literature on Rwanda in light of a combined year of fieldwork, we argue that the GoR is using the developmental infrastructure to deepen state power and expand political control. We first identify the historical pressures that have motivated the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) to re-imagine the political landscape. Sectarian unrest, political rivalry, wider regional insecurity, and aid withdrawal have all pressured the RPF to identify growth as strategic. However, the country’s political transformation extends beyond a prioritisation of growth and encompasses the reordering of the social and physical layout of the territory, the articulation of new ideologies and mindsets, and the provision of social services and surveillance infrastructure. Growth and social control go hand in hand. As such, the paper’s main contribution is to bring together the two sides of the Rwandan debate and place the country in a broader sociological literature about the parallel development of capitalist relations and transformations in state power

Butyrate Transcriptionally Enhances Peptide Transporter PepT1 Expression and Activity

Background: PepT1, an intestinal epithelial apical di/tripeptide transporter, is normally expressed in the small intestine and induced in colon during chronic inflammation. This study aimed at investigating PepT1 regulation by butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid produced by commensal bacteria and accumulated inside inflamed colonocyte. Results: We found that butyrate treatment of human intestinal epithelial Caco2-BBE cells increased human PepT1 (hPepT1) promoter activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with maximal activity observed in cells treated with 5 mM butyrate for 24 h. Under this condition, hPepT1 promoter activity, mRNA and protein expression levels were increased as assessed by luciferase assay, real-time RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. hPepT1 transport activity was accordingly increased by,2.5-fold. Butyrate did not alter hPepT1 mRNA half-life indicating that butyrate acts at the transcriptional level. Molecular analyses revealed that Cdx2 is the most important transcription factor for butyrate-induced increase of hPepT1 expression and activity in Caco2-BBE cells. Butyrate-activated Cdx2 binding to hPepT1 promoter was confirmed by gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation. Moreover, Caco2-BBE cells overexpressing Cdx2 exhibited greater hPepT1 expression level than wild-type cells. Finally, treatment of mice with 5 mM butyrate added to drinking water for 24 h increased colonic PepT1 mRNA and protein expression levels, as well as enhanced PepT1 transport activity in colonic apical membranes vesicles

Does Information Lead to More Active Citizenship? Evidence from an Education Intervention in Rural Kenya

We study a randomized educational intervention in 550 households in 26 matched villages in two Kenyan districts. The intervention provided parents with information about their children's performance on literacy and numeracy tests, and materials about how to become more involved in improving their children's learning. We find the provision of such information had no discernible impact on either private or collective action. In discussing these findings, we articulate a framework linking information provision to changes in citizens' behavior, and assess the present intervention at each step. Future research on information provision should pay greater attention to this framework. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

The Biomolecular Interaction Network Database and related tools 2005 update

The Biomolecular Interaction Network Database (BIND) (http://bind.ca) archives biomolecular interaction, reaction, complex and pathway information. Our aim is to curate the details about molecular interactions that arise from published experimental research and to provide this information, as well as tools to enable data analysis, freely to researchers worldwide. BIND data are curated into a comprehensive machine-readable archive of computable information and provides users with methods to discover interactions and molecular mechanisms. BIND has worked to develop new methods for visualization that amplify the underlying annotation of genes and proteins to facilitate the study of molecular interaction networks. BIND has maintained an open database policy since its inception in 1999. Data growth has proceeded at a tremendous rate, approaching over 100 000 records. New services provided include a new BIND Query and Submission interface, a Standard Object Access Protocol service and the Small Molecule Interaction Database (http://smid.blueprint.org) that allows users to determine probable small molecule binding sites of new sequences and examine conserved binding residues

The Concept of Power in the Analysis of Organisations with Social and Political Goals

I propose a theoretical framework for examining the extent to which organisations with social and political goals (OSPs) empower (or disempower) participants as effective political citizens. Theories of power – including behaviouralism, Structuration and Foucauldian notions – are drawn on to illuminate relevant aspects of organisational life. Together they account for the role of individuals, rules and processes, procedure and administration, culture and practice, techniques of organisation and communication. The intention is to shed light on how groups or individuals are empowered or otherwise and provides a basis, where necessary, for challenging existing structures and practices in the name of greater empowerment