The Political is Personal: TAs on the Front Lines of the Critical Consciousness Campaign

This paper addresses the personal demands that Teaching Assistants (TAs) encounter as they work toward nurturing critical consciousness in university tutorials. We explore two case studies that occurred during our participatory, feminist, action research project which aims to have students collaboratively question and reflect upon their responses to critical theorizing in sociology. The scenarios that we analyze illustrate how students’ investments in dominant ideologies around gender relations and sexuality can lead to situations that are very challenging for TAs. Our analyses reveal that, particularly in tutorial settings where students vocalize their positions, TAs personally encounter a myriad of emotional, intellectual and interpersonal considerations in response to their students’ politics. These case studies emphasize the complexities involved when TAs are committed to both anti-oppressive pedagogy and critical ideologies

Contract Governance and the Canadian Public Sector

This essay examines the changing character of public sector work in the Canadian federal public service context. It is based on an empirical examination of various forms of contractual relations currently operative within the Canadian state and on a comparative approach of other western liberal state reform initiatives. We argue that contract governance is an ongoing process involving distinct interrelations between the public and private sectors. In this context, we identify various forms of contract governance and flexibility schemes that have been enfolded and refolded into the conventional structures of governance, and unfolded into a liminal space between the state and civil society through the establishment of nonstandard work and the creation of alternative service delivery programmes

Un Modelo de Gravedad Aplicado a las Exportaciones en Nicaragua

El presente ensayo tiene como fin aplicar un modelo gravitacional para las exportaciones y determinar el impacto de algunos acuerdos comerciales suscritos por Nicaragua desde el año de 1994 al periodo 2013, para evaluar empíricamente se utilizó la metodología de datos a panel con estimación de efectos fijos. Los hallazgos establecen que las variables que capturan el efecto de los acuerdos comerciales tienen una gran relevancia en el incremento de las exportaciones, siendo el acuerdo ALBA el que resulto de mayor magnitud. Ahora, bien la evidencia empírica demuestra que las exportaciones en Nicaragua, son muy sensibles a los costos de transporte; significa que una aumento de 1 por ciento en estos reduce en 15.6 por ciento el valor de las exportaciones del país de origen. El incremento en el PIB real tanto de país de origen como el de destino genera un impacto marginal de 0.58 por ciento para explicar las exportaciones nicaragüenses

Governing the politics of consent: Gender, expert knowledge, and Bill C-49.

Bill C-49 was enacted in the Canadian Criminal Code in 1992. For the first time in Canadian legal history this new legislation provided a definition of consent as it applies to sexual assault offences. The enactment of Bill C-49 by Parliament was clearly aimed at resolving problems that emerged within legal proceedings dealing with sexual assault. Bill C-49 was therefore enacted to govern the legal proceedings of sexual assault cases and actors of the juridical field. The courts, in turn, have adopted complex heterogeneous ways of dealing with, and managing their relations in light of, the legislative amendments of Bill C-49. Employing a feminist understanding of governance in the context of sexual assault, I argue that determinations of consent are governed by a complex assemblage of legal rationalities, expert knowledges and responsibilization strategies employed by judicial actors in sexual assault cases. The various ways that these governing mechanisms link up and contest with one another plays an essential role in determinations of consent. More specifically, the degree to which these governing mechanisms interconnect reflects elaborate power/knowledge relations within the juridical field that arise from, but also perpetuate, normative constructions of gender and heterosexuality. Determinations of consent therefore constitute a contested site where power is exercised through competing rationalities, knowledges and strategies of various actors within the juridical field.Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2002 .O45. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, page: 0971. Adviser: Suzan Ilcan. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2002

The moderating effects of innovativeness on new product development ability

Apesar do número de publicações específicas sobre Orientação para Aprendizagem e para Mercado, não há consenso sobre a relação entre estes construtos e Inovação (IN). Neste sentido, este estudo investiga o impacto da Orientação para Aprendizagem e para Mercado na Habilidade de Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos (HDNP) em contextos de alta e baixa orientação para Inovação. A população alvo foi um grupo de empresas brasileiras com mais de 30 empregados. Os dados foram analisados através de uma análise de regressão hierárquica. Os resultados indicam um impacto significativo e negativo da interação Orientação para Mercado x Capacidade de Inovação na HDNP. Já a interação Orientação para Aprendizado x Capacidade de Inovação apresentou um efeito significativo e positivo sobre HDNP. Portanto, em ambientes de negócios com alto nível Inovação, a Orientação para Aprendizagem excede a importância da Orientação para Mercado no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Quando o nível de Inovação das empresas é baixa, porém, a HDNP tende a tirar proveito da Orientação para Mercado, em vez de Orientação para Aprendizagem.Apesar do número de publicações específicas sobre Orientação para Aprendizagem e para Mercado, não há consenso sobre a relação entre estes construtos e Inovação (IN). Neste sentido, este estudo investiga o impacto da Orientação para Aprendizagem e para Mercado na Habilidade de Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos (HDNP) em contextos de alta e baixa orientação para Inovação. A população alvo foi um grupo de empresas brasileiras com mais de 30 empregados. Os dados foram analisados através de uma análise de regressão hierárquica. Os resultados indicam um impacto significativo e negativo da interação Orientação para Mercado x Capacidade de Inovação na HDNP. Já a interação Orientação para Aprendizado x Capacidade de Inovação apresentou um efeito significativo e positivo sobre HDNP. Portanto, em ambientes de negócios com alto nível Inovação, a Orientação para Aprendizagem excede a importância da Orientação para Mercado no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Quando o nível de Inovação das empresas é baixa, porém, a HDNP tende a tirar proveito da Orientação para Mercado, em vez de Orientação para Aprendizagem

5-Lipoxygenase-activating protein rescues activity of 5-lipoxygenase mutations that delay nuclear membrane association and disrupt product formation

© FASEB. Leukotrienes (LTs) are proinflammatory lipid mediators formed from arachidonic acid in a 2-step reaction catalyzed by 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) requiring the formation of 5-HPETE [5(S)-hydroperoxy-6-trans-8,11,14-ciseicosatetraenoic acid] and its subsequent transformation to LTA4 . 5-LOX is thought to receive arachidonic acid from the nuclear membrane-embedded 5-LOX-activating protein (FLAP). The crystal structure of 5-LOX revealed an active site concealed by F177 and Y181 (FY cork). We examined the influence of the FY cork on 5-LOX activity and membrane binding in HEK293 cells in the absence and presence of FLAP. Uncapping the 5-LOX active site by mutation of F177 and/or Y181 to alanine (5-LOX-F177A, 5-LOX-Y181A, 5-LOX-F177/Y181A) resulted in delayed and diminished 5-LOX membrane association in A23187-stimulated cells. For 5-LOX-F177A and 5-LOX-F177/Y181A, formation of 5-LOX products was dramatically reduced relative to 5-LOX-wild type (wt). Strikingly, coexpression of FLAP in A23187-activated HEK293 cells effectively restored formation of 5-H(p)ETE (5-hydroxy- and 5-peroxy-6-trans-8,11,14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid) by these same 5-LOX mutants (≈60-70% 5-LOX-wt levels) but not of LTA4 hydrolysis products. Yet 5-LOX-Y181A generated 5-H(p)ETE at levels comparable to 5-LOX-wt but reduced LTA4 hydrolysis products. Coexpression of FLAP partially restored LTA4 hydrolysis product formation by 5-LOX-Y181A. Together, the data suggest that the concealed FY cork impacts membrane association and that FLAP may help shield an uncapped active site

A 5‑lipoxygenase-specific sequence motif impedes enzyme activity and confers dependence on a partner protein

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Leukotrienes (LT) are lipid mediators of the inflammatory response that play key roles in diseases such as asthma and atherosclerosis. The precursor leukotriene A 4 (LTA 4 ) is synthesized from arachidonic acid (AA) by 5‑lipoxygenase (5-LOX), a membrane-associated enzyme, with the help of 5‑lipoxygenase-activating protein (FLAP), a nuclear transmembrane protein. In lipoxygenases the main chain carboxylate of the C-terminus is a ligand for the non-heme iron and thus part of the catalytic center. We investigated the role of a lysine-rich sequence (KKK 653–655 ) 20 amino acids upstream of the C-terminus unique to 5-LOX that might displace the main-chain carboxylate in the iron coordination sphere. A 5-LOX mutant in which KKK 653–655 is replaced by ENL was transfected into HEK293 cells in the absence and presence of FLAP. This mutant gave ~20-fold higher 5-LOX product levels in stimulated HEK cells relative to the wild-type 5-LOX. Co-expression of the enzymes with FLAP led to an equalization of 5-LOX products detected, with wild-type 5-LOX product levels increased and those from the mutant enzyme decreased. These data suggest that the KKK motif limits 5-LOX activity and that this attenuated activity must be compensated by the presence of FLAP as a partner protein for effective LT biosynthesis

Effect of pressure vents on the fast cookoff of energetic materials.

The effect of vents on the fast cookoff of energetic materials is studied through experimental modifications to the confinement vessel of the Radiant Heat Fast Cookoff Apparatus. Two venting schemes were investigated: 1) machined grooves at the EM-cover plate interface; 2) radial distribution of holes in PEEK confiner. EM materials of PBXN-109 and PBX 9502 were tested. Challenges with the experimental apparatus and EM materials were identified such that studying the effect of vents as an independent parameter was not realized. The experimental methods, data and post-test observations are presented and discussed