Governing Islam and Security in Tajikistan and Beyond: The Emergence of Transnational Authoritarian Security Governance

Since 2002, the government of post-Soviet Tajikistan has deployed its security apparatus outside of the state’s territorial borders at least 49 times, intimidating, kidnapping and monitoring its citizens. I use the term transnational authoritarian security governance to refer to these border-spanning security practices. Although both secular and religious opponents to the government have been targeted, in this dissertation, I examine how the government of Tajikistan attempts to manage the threat from Islamic ‘extremism.’ I trace the emergence of the securitisation of Islam back to the Soviet Union, explore its consolidation in the years following independence in 1991, and how it has become operationalised in the form of transnational authoritarian security governance. I argue that the regulation of religious life in Tajikistan is based on an assertive form of secularism, which posits that religion is only safe if it is closely controlled by the state. In theorising transnational authoritarian security governance, I draw on the work of Michel Foucault. I argue that security governance is interwoven with relations of power. Governing Islamic ‘extremism’ in Tajikistan does not merely involve repressive life-taking sovereign power, it involves the moulding of obedient, secular subjects through disciplinary power and biopower. But as Foucault argues, where there is power, there is resistance. Those who are made subjects through security governance do have opportunities to resist it. Rather than being transformative and counterhegemonic, however, this resistance is momentary and anti-hegemonic. My findings are based on critical discourse analysis, a database of extraterritorial security incidents, semi-structured interviews, and extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2013 and 2015 in Tajikistan and Russia.ESR

Control of Jasmonate Biosynthesis and Senescence by miR319 Targets

Considerable progress has been made in identifying the targets of plant microRNAs, many of which regulate the stability or translation of mRNAs that encode transcription factors involved in development. In most cases, it is unknown, however, which immediate transcriptional targets mediate downstream effects of the microRNA-regulated transcription factors. We identified a new process controlled by the miR319-regulated clade of TCP (TEOSINTE BRANCHED/CYCLOIDEA/PCF) transcription factor genes. In contrast to other miRNA targets, several of which modulate hormone responses, TCPs control biosynthesis of the hormone jasmonic acid. Furthermore, we demonstrate a previously unrecognized effect of TCPs on leaf senescence, a process in which jasmonic acid has been proposed to be a critical regulator. We propose that miR319-controlled TCP transcription factors coordinate two sequential processes in leaf development: leaf growth, which they negatively regulate, and leaf senescence, which they positively regulate

BMQ

BMQ: Boston Medical Quarterly was published from 1950-1966 by the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals

The seeds of divergence: the economy of French North America, 1688 to 1760

Generally, Canada has been ignored in the literature on the colonial origins of divergence with most of the attention going to the United States. Late nineteenth century estimates of income per capita show that Canada was relatively poorer than the United States and that within Canada, the French and Catholic population of Quebec was considerably poorer. Was this gap long standing? Some evidence has been advanced for earlier periods, but it is quite limited and not well-suited for comparison with other societies. This thesis aims to contribute both to Canadian economic history and to comparative work on inequality across nations during the early modern period. With the use of novel prices and wages from Quebec—which was then the largest settlement in Canada and under French rule—a price index, a series of real wages and a measurement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are constructed. They are used to shed light both on the course of economic development until the French were defeated by the British in 1760 and on standards of living in that colony relative to the mother country, France, as well as the American colonies. The work is divided into three components. The first component relates to the construction of a price index. The absence of such an index has been a thorn in the side of Canadian historians as it has limited the ability of historians to obtain real values of wages, output and living standards. This index shows that prices did not follow any trend and remained at a stable level. However, there were episodes of wide swings—mostly due to wars and the monetary experiment of playing card money. The creation of this index lays the foundation of the next component. The second component constructs a standardized real wage series in the form of welfare ratios (a consumption basket divided by nominal wage rate multiplied by length of work year) to compare Canada with France, England and Colonial America. Two measures are derived. The first relies on a “bare bones” definition of consumption with a large share of land-intensive goods. This measure indicates that Canada was poorer than England and Colonial America and not appreciably richer than France. However, this measure overestimates the relative position of Canada to the Old World because of the strong presence of land-intensive goods. A second measure is created using a “respectable” definition of consumption in which the basket includes a larger share of manufactured goods and capital-intensive goods. This second basket better reflects differences in living standards since the abundance of land in Canada (and Colonial America) made it easy to achieve bare subsistence, but the scarcity of capital and skilled labor made the consumption of luxuries and manufactured goods (clothing, lighting, imported goods) highly expensive. With this measure, the advantage of New France over France evaporates and turns slightly negative. In comparison with Britain and Colonial America, the gap widens appreciably. This element is the most important for future research. By showing a reversal because of a shift to a different type of basket, it shows that Old World and New World comparisons are very sensitive to how we measure the cost of living. Furthermore, there are no sustained improvements in living standards over the period regardless of the measure used. Gaps in living standards observed later in the nineteenth century existed as far back as the seventeenth century. In a wider American perspective that includes the Spanish colonies, Canada fares better. The third component computes a new series for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is to avoid problems associated with using real wages in the form of welfare ratios which assume a constant labor supply. This assumption is hard to defend in the case of Colonial Canada as there were many signs of increasing industriousness during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The GDP series suggest no long-run trend in living standards (from 1688 to circa 1765). The long peace era of 1713 to 1740 was marked by modest economic growth which offset a steady decline that had started in 1688, but by 1760 (as a result of constant warfare) living standards had sunk below their 1688 levels. These developments are accompanied by observations that suggest that other indicators of living standard declined. The flat-lining of incomes is accompanied by substantial increases in the amount of time worked, rising mortality and rising infant mortality. In addition, comparisons of incomes with the American colonies confirm the results obtained with wages— Canada was considerably poorer. At the end, a long conclusion is provides an exploratory discussion of why Canada would have diverged early on. In structural terms, it is argued that the French colony was plagued by the problem of a small population which prohibited the existence of scale effects. In combination with the fact that it was dispersed throughout the territory, the small population of New France limited the scope for specialization and economies of scale. However, this problem was in part created, and in part aggravated, by institutional factors like seigneurial tenure. The colonial origins of French America’s divergence from the rest of North America are thus partly institutional

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Group A Streptococcus Gene Expression in Humans and Cynomolgus Macaques with Acute Pharyngitis

The molecular mechanisms used by group A Streptococcus (GAS) to survive on the host mucosal surface and cause acute pharyngitis are poorly understood. To provide new information about GAS host-pathogen interactions, we used real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) to analyze transcripts of 17 GAS genes in throat swab specimens taken from 18 pediatric patients with pharyngitis. The expression of known and putative virulence genes and regulatory genes (including genes in seven two-component regulatory systems) was studied. Several known and previously uncharacterized GAS virulence gene regulators were highly expressed compared to the constitutively expressed control gene proS. To examine in vivo gene transcription in a controlled setting, three cynomolgus macaques were infected with strain MGAS5005, an organism that is genetically representative of most serotype M1 strains recovered from pharyngitis and invasive disease episodes in North America and Western Europe. These three animals developed clinical signs and symptoms of GAS pharyngitis and seroconverted to several GAS extracellular proteins. Real-time RT-PCR analysis of throat swab material collected at intervals throughout a 12-day infection protocol indicated that expression profiles of a subset of GAS genes accurately reflected the profiles observed in the human pediatric patients. The results of our study demonstrate that analysis of in vivo GAS gene expression is feasible in throat swab specimens obtained from infected human and nonhuman primates. In addition, we conclude that the cynomolgus macaque is a useful nonhuman primate model for the study of molecular events contributing to acute pharyngitis caused by GAS

Association of weight misperception with weight loss in a diabetes prevention program

BACKGROUND: Weight misperception may have an impact on perceived risk and susceptibility for chronic diseases. Little has been reported on the long term effects of this misperception in chronic disease interventions, particularly in field of diabetes prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between weight misperception and weight loss during a diabetes prevention project conducted in south-east Australia with individuals at moderate to high risk of developing diabetes. METHODS: A total of n=251 at risk individuals provided self-reported weight during recruitment from 2004-2006. Objectively measured weight was assessed at baseline (0-21 days after recruitment), and subsequently at three months and 12 months after the intervention. Differences between self-reported and actual weight status are presented as percentages. Linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between weight misperception and weight loss, adjusting for baseline weight and BMI. RESULTS: Those who had high levels of under-reporting at baseline had greater weight loss at three and 12 months compared with those who under-reported to some degree, and those over-reporting their weight. A significant association was found between weight misperception and weight loss at the three and the 12 month time points. Baseline weight was not associated with weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: Weight misperception should be acknowledged as a factor to be addressed when screening and identifying individuals at risk for diabetes. Screening and giving feedback is important in terms of awareness of participants' actual weight status and may have an effect on program outcomes