“The People Want the Fall of the Regime”:Schooling, Political Protest, and the Economy

We examine several hypotheses regarding the determinants and implications of political protest, motivated by the wave of popular uprisings in Arab countries starting in late 2010. While the popular narrative has emphasized the role of a youthful demography and political repression, we draw attention back to one of the most fundamental correlates of political activity identified in the literature, namely education. Using a combination of individual-level micro data and cross-country macro data, we highlight how rising levels of education coupled with economic under-performance jointly provide a strong explanation for participation in protest modes of political activity as well as incumbent turnover. Political protests are thus more likely when an increasingly educated populace does not have commensurate economic gains. We also find that the implied political instability is associated with heightened pressures towards democratization.

"The People Want the Fall of the Regime": Schooling, Political Protest, and the Economy

We examine several hypotheses regarding the determinants and implications of political protest, motivated by the wave of popular uprisings in Arab countries starting in late 2010. While the popular narrative has emphasized the role of a youthful demography and political repression, we draw attention back to one of the most fundamental correlates of political activity identified in the literature, namely education. Using a combination of individual-level micro data and cross-country macro data, we highlight how rising levels of education coupled with economic under-performance jointly provide a strong explanation for participation in protest modes of political activity as well as incumbent turnover. Political protests are thus more likely when an increasingly educated populace does not have commensurate economic gains. We also find that the implied political instability is associated with heightened pressures towards democratization.

Schooling and Political Participation Revisited

We investigate how the link between individual schooling and political participation is affected by country characteristics. We introduce a focus on a set of variables - namely factor endowments - which inuence the relative productivity of human capital in political versus production activities. Using micro data on individual behavior, we nd that political participation is more responsive to schooling in land-abundant countries, and less responsive in human capital-abundant countries, even while controlling for country political institutions and cultural attitudes. We develop these ideas in a model where individuals face an allocation decision over the use of their human capital. A relative abundance of land (used primarily in the least skill-intensive sector) or a scarcity of aggregate human capital will increase both the level of political participation and its responsiveness to schooling, by lowering the opportunity cost of production income foregone. In an extension, we further consider the problem of how much schooling a utility-maximizing ruler would choose to provide. An abundance of land tends to increase political participation ex post, and hence will lead the ruler to discourage human capital accumulation, a prediction for which we find broad support in the cross-country data. Our model thus offers a framework which jointly explains patterns of political participation at the individual level and differences in public investment in education at the country level.education, Human Capital, Political participation, Voting, Factor Endowments, culture, State provision of schooling

Schooling and Political Participation Revisited

We investigate how the link between individual schooling and political participation is affected by country characteristics. We introduce a focus on a set of variables-namely factor endowments-which in uence the relative productivity of human capital in political versus production activities. Using micro data on individual behavior, we find that political participation is more responsive to schooling in land-abundant countries, and less responsive in human capital-abundant countries, even while controlling for country political institutions and cultural attitudes. We develop these ideas in a model where individuals face an allocation decision over the use of their human capital. A elative abundance of land (used primarily in the least skill-intensive sector) or a scarcity of aggregate human capital will increase both the level of political participation and its responsiveness to schooling, by lowering the opportunity cost of production income foregone. In an extension, we further consider the problem of how much schooling a utility-maximizing ruler would choose to provide. An abundance of land tends to increase political participation ex post, and hence will lead the ruler to discourage human capital accumulation, a prediction for which we find broad support in the cross-country data. Our model thus owners a framework which jointly explains patterns of political participation at the individual level and differences in public investment in education at the country level.Education; Human capital; Political participation; Voting; Factor endowments; Culture; State provision of schooling

Characterization of the Arsenate Respiratory Reductase from Shewanella sp. Strain ANA-3

Microbial arsenate respiration contributes to the mobilization of arsenic from the solid to the soluble phase in various locales worldwide. To begin to predict the extent to which As(V) respiration impacts arsenic geochemical cycling, we characterized the expression and activity of the Shewanella sp. strain ANA-3 arsenate respiratory reductase (ARR), the key enzyme involved in this metabolism. ARR is expressed at the beginning of the exponential phase and persists throughout the stationary phase, at which point it is released from the cell. In intact cells, the enzyme localizes to the periplasm. To purify ARR, a heterologous expression system was developed in Escherichia coli. ARR requires anaerobic conditions and molybdenum for activity. ARR is a heterodimer of ~131 kDa, composed of one ArrA subunit (~95 kDa) and one ArrB subunit (~27 kDa). For ARR to be functional, the two subunits must be expressed together. Elemental analysis of pure protein indicates that one Mo atom, four S atoms associated with a bis-molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactor, and four to five [4Fe-4S] are present per ARR. ARR has an apparent melting temperature of 41°C, a Km of 5 µM, and a Vmax of 11,111 µmol of As(V) reduced min–1 mg of protein–1 and shows no activity in the presence of alternative electron acceptors such as antimonite, nitrate, selenate, and sulfate. The development of a heterologous overexpression system for ARR will facilitate future structural and/or functional studies of this protein family

Instability and Incentives for Corruption

We investigate the relationship between corruption and political stability, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. We propose a model of incumbent behavior that features the interplay of two effects : A horizon effect, whereby greater instability leads the incumbent to embezzle more during his short window of opportunity; and a demand effect, by which the private sector is more willing to bribe stable incumbents. The horizon effect dominates at low levels of stability, since firms are unwilling to pay high bribes and unstable incumbents have strong incentives to embezzle, whereas the demand effect gains salience in more stable regimes. Together, these two effects generate a nonmonotonic, U-shaped relationship between total corruption and stability. On the empirical side, we find a robust U-shaped pattern between country indices of corruption perception and various measures of incumbent stability, including historically-observed average tenures of chief executives and governing parties : Regimes that are very stable or very unstable display higher levels of corruption when compared to those in an intermediate range of stability. These results suggest that minimizing corruption may require an electoral system that features some reelection incentives, but with an eventual term limit.corruption, Political Stability, Incumbent Tenure, Term Limits

Modeling land-climate coupling in Europe: Impact of land surface representation on climate variability and extremes

Land-climate coupling has been shown to be important for European summer climate variability and extreme events. However, the sensitivity of these feedbacks to land surface model (LSM) choice has been little investigated up to now. In this study, we assess the impact of the LSM on the simulated climate variability in a regional climate model (RCM). The experiments were conducted with the COSMO-CLM2RCM. COSMO-CLM2can be run with two alternative LSMs, the 2nd-generation LSM TERRA_ML or the more sophisticated 3rd-generation LSM Community Land Model (CLM3.5). The analyzed simulations include control and sensitivity experiments with prescribed soil moisture (dry or wet). Using CLM3.5 instead of TERRA_ML improves the simulated temperature variability by alleviating an overestimation of temperature inter-annual variability in the RCM. Also, the representation of the probability density functions of daily maximum summer temperature is improved when using the more advanced LSM. The reduced climate variability is linked to a larger ground heat flux and smaller variability in soil moisture and short-wave radiation. The latter effect results from the coupling of the LSM to the atmospheric module. In addition, using CLM3.5 reduces the sensitivity of COSMO-CLM2to extreme soil moisture conditions. An analysis assessing the relationship between the standard precipitation index and the subsequent number of hot days in summer reveals a better representation of this relationship using CLM3.5. Hence, we find that biases in climate variability and extremes can be reduced and the representation of land-climate coupling can be improved with the use of the more sophisticated LSM

Ligand-induced reactivity of β-diketiminate magnesium complexes for regioselective functionalization of fluoroarenes via C-H or C-F bond activations

Using β-diketiminate Mg(II) complexes containing either alkyl, aryl or amide groups, the regioselective functionalization of a wide range of fluoroarenes is accomplished but in uniquely different ways. Overcoming common limitations of traditional s-block bases, kinetically activated [(DippNacnac)Mg(TMP)] (1) deprotonates these molecules at room temperature, trapping sensitive fluoroaryl anions that can then engage in Negishi cross-coupling; whereas [(DippNacnac)Mg(R)THF] (R = nBu, Ph, benzofuryl) have proved to be effective reagents for C–F bond alkylation/arylation via pyridine directed C–F bond cleavage

Prospective Associations between Emotion Dysregulation and Fear-Potentiated Startle: The Moderating Effect of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Background: Emotion dysregulation has been implicated in the negative outcomes following trauma exposure. A proposed biomarker of emotion dysregulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), has demonstrated associations with trauma-related phenomena, such as the fear-potentiated startle (FPS) response. The current study aimed to examine the prospective association between emotion dysregulation and RSA and FPS several years following trauma exposure. Methods: Participants were 131 women exposed to a campus mass shooting on February 14, 2008. Pre-shooting emotion dysregulation was assessed in 2006-2008. Startle response, measured by orbicularis oculi electromyography (EMG), and RSA were gathered during an FPS paradigm conducted from 2012-2015. Results: No significant associations among emotion dysregulation, RSA, and FPS emerged among the full sample. However, emotion dysregulation predicted FPS during both acquisition ( = .54, p = .03) and extinction ( = .75, p <.01), but only among individuals with high resting RSA. Conclusions: Findings suggest that pre-shooting emotion dysregulation is a potent predictor of FPS several years following potential trauma exposure, and this association varies by RSA level. Results emphasize the importance of examining autonomic regulation in the association between emotion dysregulation and recovery from trauma exposure