The Social Relations Approach, empowerment and women factory workers in Malaysia

This article discusses the empowerment of women factory workers in Malaysia through the lens of Kabeer’s Social Relations Approach. The approach offers an institutional analysis of how gender inequality is produced and calls for the overall terms of exchange and cooperation to be shifted in women’s favour. Its application shows that Malaysian women factory workers face significant challenges, due to the character of institutions, and women’s difficulties in adopting and internalising the notion of ‘empowerment’

Motor step size and ATP coupling efficiency of the dsDNA translocase EcoR124I

The Type I restriction-modification enzyme EcoR124I is an archetypical helicase-based dsDNA translocase that moves unidirectionally along the 3′–5′ strand of intact duplex DNA. Using a combination of ensemble and single-molecule measurements, we provide estimates of two physicochemical constants that are fundamental to a full description of motor protein activity—the ATP coupling efficiency (the number of ATP consumed per base pair) and the step size (the number of base pairs transported per motor step). Our data indicate that EcoR124I makes small steps along the DNA of 1 bp in length with 1 ATP consumed per step, but with some uncoupling of the ATPase and translocase cycles occurring so that the average number of ATP consumed per base pair slightly exceeds unity. Our observations form a framework for understanding energy coupling in a great many other motors that translocate along dsDNA rather than ssDNA

Heroes and villains of world history across cultures

© 2015 Hanke et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedEmergent properties of global political culture were examined using data from the World History Survey (WHS) involving 6,902 university students in 37 countries evaluating 40 figures from world history. Multidimensional scaling and factor analysis techniques found only limited forms of universality in evaluations across Western, Catholic/Orthodox, Muslim, and Asian country clusters. The highest consensus across cultures involved scientific innovators, with Einstein having the most positive evaluation overall. Peaceful humanitarians like Mother Theresa and Gandhi followed. There was much less cross-cultural consistency in the evaluation of negative figures, led by Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein. After more traditional empirical methods (e.g., factor analysis) failed to identify meaningful cross-cultural patterns, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to identify four global representational profiles: Secular and Religious Idealists were overwhelmingly prevalent in Christian countries, and Political Realists were common in Muslim and Asian countries. We discuss possible consequences and interpretations of these different representational profiles.This research was supported by grant RG016-P-10 from the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (http://www.cckf.org.tw/). Religion Culture Entropy China Democracy Economic histor

Record linkage to obtain birth outcomes for the evaluation of screening biomarkers in pregnancy: a feasibility study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Linking population health data to pathology data is a new approach for the evaluation of predictive tests that is potentially more efficient, feasible and efficacious than current methods. Studies evaluating the use of first trimester maternal serum levels as predictors of complications in pregnancy have mostly relied on resource intensive methods such as prospective data collection or retrospective chart review. The aim of this pilot study is to demonstrate that record-linkage between a pathology database and routinely collected population health data sets provides follow-up on patient outcomes that is as effective as more traditional and resource-intensive methods. As a specific example, we evaluate maternal serum levels of PAPP-A and free <it>β</it>-hCG as predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and compare our results with those of prospective studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Maternal serum levels of PAPP-A and free <it>β</it>-hCG for 1882 women randomly selected from a pathology database in New South Wales (NSW) were linked to routinely collected birth and hospital databases. Crude relative risks were calculated to investigate the association between low levels (multiples of the median ≤ 5^thpercentile) of PAPP-A or free <it>β</it>-hCG and the outcomes of preterm delivery (<37 weeks), small for gestational age (<10^thpercentile), fetal loss and stillbirth.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using only full name, sex and date of birth for record linkage, pregnancy outcomes were available for 1681 (89.3%) of women included in the study. Low levels of PAPP-A had a stronger association with adverse pregnancy outcomes than a low level of free <it>β</it>-hCG which is consistent with results in published studies. The relative risk of having a preterm birth with a low maternal serum PAPP-A level was 3.44 (95% CI 1.96–6.10) and a low free <it>β</it>-hCG level was 1.31 (95% CI 0.55–6.16).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides data to support the use of record linkage for outcome ascertainment in studies evaluating predictive tests. Linkage proportions are likely to increase if more personal identifiers are available. This method of follow-up is a cost-efficient technique and can now be applied to a larger cohort of women.</p

Detection of a MicroRNA Signal in an In Vivo Expression Set of mRNAs

Background. microRNAs (miRNAs) are approximately 21 nucleotide non-coding transcripts capable of regulating gene expression. The most widely studied mechanism of regulation involves binding of a miRNA to the target mRNA. As a result, translation of the target mRNA is inhibited and the mRNA may be destabilized. The inhibitory effects of miRNAs have been linked to diverse cellular processes including malignant proliferation, apoptosis, development, differentiation, and metabolic processes. We asked whether endogenous fluctuations in a set of mRNA and miRNA profiles contain correlated changes that are statistically distinguishable from the many other fluctuations in the data set. Methodology/Principal Findings. RNA was extracted from 12 human primary brain tumor biopsies. These samples were used to determine genome-wide mRN

Top-down social modulation of interpersonal observation-execution.

Cyclical upper limb movement can involuntarily deviate from its primary movement axis when the performer concurrently observes incongruent biological motion (i.e. interpersonal observation-execution). The current study examined the social modulation of such involuntary motor interference using a protocol that reflected everyday social interactions encountered in a naturalistic social setting. Eighteen participants executed cyclical horizontal arm movements during the observation of horizontal (congruent) or curvilinear (incongruent) biological motion. Both prior to, and during the interpersonal observation-execution task, participants also received a series of social words designed to prime a pro-social or anti-social attitude. The results showed greater orthogonal movement deviation, and thus interference, for the curvilinear compared to horizontal stimuli. Importantly, and opposite to most of the previous findings from work on automatic imitation and mimicry, there was a greater interference effect for the anti-social compared to pro-social prime condition. These findings demonstrate the importance of interpreting the context of social primes, and strongly support predictions of a comparison between the prime construct and the self-concept/-schema and the top-down response modulation of social incentives

Association between maternal depression symptoms across the first eleven years of their child’s life and subsequent offspring suicidal ideation

Depression is common, especially in women of child-bearing age; prevalence estimates for this group range from 8% to 12%, and there is robust evidence that maternal depression is associated with mental health problems in offspring. Suicidal behaviour is a growing concern amongst young people and those exposed to maternal depression are likely to be especially at high risk. The aim of this study was to utilise a large, prospective population cohort to examine the relationship between depression symptom trajectories in mothers over the first eleven years of their child’s life and subsequent adolescent suicidal ideation. An additional aim was to test if associations were explained by maternal suicide attempt and offspring depressive disorder. Data were utilised from a population-based birth cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Maternal depression symptoms were assessed repeatedly from pregnancy to child age 11 years. Offspring suicidal ideation was assessed at age 16 years. Using multiple imputation, data for 10,559 families were analysed. Using latent class growth analysis, five distinct classes of maternal depression symptoms were identified (minimal, mild, increasing, sub-threshold, chronic-severe). The prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation at age 16 years was 15% (95% CI: 14-17%). Compared to offspring of mothers with minimal symptoms, the greatest risk of suicidal ideation was found for offspring of mothers with chronic-severe symptoms [OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.19,4.21)], with evidence for smaller increases in risk of suicidal ideation in offspring of mothers with sub-threshold, increasing and mild symptoms. These associations were not fully accounted for by maternal suicide attempt or offspring depression diagnosis. Twenty-six percent of non-depressed offspring of mothers with chronic-severe depression symptoms reported suicidal ideation. Risk for suicidal ideation should be considered in young people whose mothers have a history of sustained high levels of depression symptoms, even when the offspring themselves do not have a depression diagnosis

Estimating trace deposition time with circadian biomarkers: a prospective and versatile tool for crime scene reconstruction

Linking biological samples found at a crime scene with the actual crime event represents the most important aspect of forensic investigation, together with the identification of the sample donor. While DNA profiling is well established for donor identification, no reliable methods exist for timing forensic samples. Here, we provide for the first time a biochemical approach for determining deposition time of human traces. Using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays we showed that the characteristic 24-h profiles of two circadian hormones, melatonin (concentration peak at late night) and cortisol (peak in the morning) can be reproduced from small samples of whole blood and saliva. We further demonstrated by analyzing small stains dried and stored up to 4 weeks the in vitro stability of melatonin, whereas for cortisol a statistically significant decay with storage time was observed, although the hormone was still reliably detectable in 4-week-old samples. Finally, we showed that the total protein concentration, also assessed using a commercial assay, can be used for normalization of hormone signals in blood, but less so in saliva. Our data thus demonstrate that estimating normalized concentrations of melatonin and cortisol represents a prospective approach for determining deposition time of biological trace samples, at least from blood, with promising expectations for forensic applications. In the broader context, our study opens up a new field of circadian biomarkers for deposition timing of forensic traces; future studies using other circadian biomarkers may reveal if the time range offered by the two hormones studied here can be specified more exactly