Clientelistic networks and local corruption: Evidence from Western Crete DIMITRIOS CHRISTOPOULOS

In this article, the attitudes and interaction of local political and business elites in western Crete are examined by means of an attitudinal survey, triangulated with data from in-depth interviews, conducted between July and October 1991. The data examined indicate that the endemic prevalence of clientelistic networks creates the background for corruption, although evidence of corrupt practice is not strong. In this analysis it is presumed that the attitudes and perceptions of key actors are affected by a definition of corruption that is relevant to their particular civil society alone. Data analyzed here suggest that local élite attitudes towards corruption are not perceived to affect the standards of conduct at the local level. It can also be deduced that if corruption is linked to the problems of administrative efficiency and economic development of the region, these can be related to vertical clientelistic networks with the national centre

The Genome of the Ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and Its Implications for Cell Type Evolution

An understanding of ctenophore biology is critical for reconstructing events that occurred early in animal evolution. Toward this goal, we have sequenced, assembled, and annotated the genome of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Our phylogenomic analyses of both amino acid positions and gene content suggest that ctenophores rather than sponges are the sister lineage to all other animals. Mnemiopsis lacks many of the genes found in bilaterian mesodermal cell types, suggesting that these cell types evolved independently. The set of neural genes in Mnemiopsis is similar to that of sponges, indicating that sponges may have lost a nervous system. These results present a newly supported view of early animal evolution that accounts for major losses and/or gains of sophisticated cell types, including nerve and muscle cells

The indirect link between perceived parenting and adolescent future orientation : A multiple-step model

Contains fulltext : 64507.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The indirect links between perceived mothers' and fathers' autonomous-accepting parenting and future orientation were examined in a mediational model consisting of five steps: perceived mothers' and fathers' autonomous-accepting parenting, self-evaluation, and the motivational, cognitive representation, and behavioural components of future orientation. Empirical estimates were carried out by LISREL on data collected from 458 (224 girls) Israeli Jewish adolescents (11th graders) regarding two prospective life domains: career and family. These estimates showed a good fit between the theoretical model and four domain-by-gender estimates (girls' and boys' career, and girls' and boys' family). Similar to recent findings, only few gender differences were found; particularly, girls scored higher on the motivational component applied to career (counter-hypothesis) and on all three components applied to prospective family. Discussion highlighted the pivotal functions of self-evaluation in linking between perceived parenting and the motivational component, and of the motivational component in linking between self-evaluation and the cognitive and behavioural components