Comparative Genomics of 2009 Seasonal Plague (Yersinia pestis) in New Mexico

Plague disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis routinely affects animals and occasionally humans, in the western United States. The strains native to the North American continent are thought to be derived from a single introduction in the late 19th century. The degree to which these isolates have diverged genetically since their introduction is not clear, and new genomic markers to assay the diversity of North American plague are highly desired. To assay genetic diversity of plague isolates within confined geographic areas, draft genome sequences were generated by 454 pyrosequencing from nine environmental and clinical plague isolates. In silico assemblies of Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) loci were compared to laboratory-generated profiles for seven markers. High-confidence SNPs and small Insertion/Deletions (Indels) were compared to previously sequenced Y. pestis isolates. The resulting panel of mutations allowed clustering of the strains and tracing of the most likely evolutionary trajectory of the plague strains. The sequences also allowed the identification of new putative SNPs that differentiate the 2009 isolates from previously sequenced plague strains and from each other. In addition, new insertion points for the abundant insertion sequences (IS) of Y. pestis are present that allow additional discrimination of strains; several of these new insertions potentially inactivate genes implicated in virulence. These sequences enable whole-genome phylogenetic analysis and allow the unbiased comparison of closely related isolates of a genetically monomorphic pathogen

Ambivalência, gênero e modernidade capitalista: a França na era da flexibilidade Ambivalence, gender and capitalist modernity: France in an era of flexibility

Tanto a situação na França quanto os quadros de referência teóricos usados para analisar a flexibilidade evoluíram consideravelmente nos últimos vinte anos. Nosso artigo pretende descrever essa transformação e defender uma tese específica. O mundo moderno pós-Ford apresenta dois novos aspectos quando comparado ao que fora descrito na análise funcionalista tradicional: por um lado, as tensões inerentes à natureza ambivalente da flexibilidade são vistas hoje como questões mais pessoais; por outro, a ambivalência não é mais encarada como puramente disfuncional, mas tem um aspecto positivo. À luz desse novo quadro de referência, apresentaremos inicialmente o cenário dos vários debates sobre flexibilidade na França, e mostraremos, em seguida, as relações entre flexibilidade e ambivalência sociológica, antes de apresentarmos os dados empíricos que sustentam nossa tese.<br>Both the situation of employment in France and the frameworks used to analyse flexibility have evolved considerably over the last twenty years. The paper aims to describe this transformation and defend a particular thesis. Our post-Ford modern world has two new aspects when compared with the traditional functionalist analysis: on the one hand, the tensions inherent in the ambivalent nature of flexibility are today seen as more personal issues, and on the other, ambivalence is no longer seen as purely dysfunctional, but to have a possible positive aspect. Given this new framework, the paper first presents the background to the various debates on flexibility in France, and then shows the links between flexibility and sociological ambivalence before presenting empirical data in support of the thesis

The Dualisation of Social Policies towards Young People in France: Between Familism and Activation

The mass expansion of higher education, the extension of the typical duration of studies and growing difficulties in entering the labour market have changed the transition from youth to adulthood. For these reasons some authors refer to youth as a ‘new age of life’ (Galland, 1993) or, in psychological terms, as ‘emerging adulthood’ (Arnett, 2000). In the literature on youth and the transition to adulthood, many typologies have been proposed in order to analyse the various possible institutional national arrangements that shape this transition (Breen and Buchmann, 2002; Van de Velde, 2008; Wallace and Bendit, 2009; Walther, 2006). They all rely on the seminal three-term typology of ‘welfare regimes’ developed by Esping-Andersen (Esping-Andersen, 1990) and further modified by Gallie and Paugam (Gallie and Paugam, 2000), who added a fourth type following the insights of Ferrera (Ferrera, 1996)

The universe of supervision: an inclusive approach in the field of professional integration

A presente pesquisa tem como principal objetivo questionar e repensar profundamente a forma e o conteúdo da abordagem inclusiva no universo da supervisão afeta aos Estágios da Inserção Profissional (EIP). Com recurso à Metodologia Quantitativa e a um inquérito por questionário (207 inquiridos) aplicado a estagiários e a professores (supervisores ou cooperantes) da região de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro - Portugal, pode-se perceber, a partir dos resultados obtidos, que as instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) devem reestruturar os seus curricula e promover ações de formação e sensibilização extracurriculares sobre a inclusão de pessoas com deficiência nesse contexto. Torna-se ainda evidente que os professores (supervisores ou cooperantes) que observam, acompanham e avaliam os EIP deveriam ter formação específica na área da Inclusão e/ou Educação Especial ou, em alternativa, a constituição dessas equipas deveria contar com um profissional especializado nessas áreas.This research aims to question and profoundly rethink the form and content of the inclusive approach in the field of supervision in pre-service teacher training and professional integration. In this study we used the Quantitative Methodology and a questionnaire survey (207 respondents) applied to trainees and teachers (university supervisors and cooperating teachers) in the region of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro – Portugal. The results obtained showed that higher education institutions should restructure their curricula and promote awareness-raising and training about the inclusion of people with special needs in this context. It’s also clear that teachers (university supervisors or cooperating teachers) who observe, accompany and evaluate pre-service training should have specific training in the area of Inclusion and/or Special Needs Education or, alternatively, these teams should include an expert in these areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio