512 research outputs found
Bringing Development Back into (Economic) Sociology: Andrew Schrank Interviewed by Felipe GonzĂĄlez and Aldo Madariaga
Andrew Schrank (Olive C. Watson Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs at Brown University) is one of the few academics with a true interdisciplinary trajectory and an exceptionally wide variety of interests in economic sociology and adjacent fields working on Latin America. Although he defines himself as an organizational sociologist, Andrew has held positions in both sociology and political science departments and has written about issues ranging from supply chains to foreign investment and labor standards, from healthcare to industrial policy and urban studies, and from varieties of capitalism to the role of culture in development, doing both broad comparative work and more focused case studies of small Mesoamerican countries like the Dominican Republic. Andrew co-authored the article that became the manifesto for the re-foundation of Latin Americaâs political economy tradition in what is now the Red EconomĂa PolĂtica America Latina (REPAL) and is currently working on a book on economic sociology and development. Andrew agreed to talk about his views on the discipline, the challenges of interdisciplinarity, and his focus on Latin America. This is the result of a deeply engaged discussion over a Skype conversation and several e-mail exchanges where he calls for a return to sociologyâs early motivation of studying societies through the lens of development and claims that âwhat we need is an economic sociology that takes Latin America seriously.â We thank Andrew for his generosity in sharing his thoughts with us
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcription Unit Organization: Genome Survey and Prediction
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is associated with swine respiratory diseases. Although gene organization and regulation are well known in many prokaryotic organisms, knowledge on mycoplasma is limited. This study performed a comparative analysis of three strains of M. hyopneumoniae (7448, J and 232), with a focus on genome organization and gene comparison for open read frame (ORF) cluster (OC) identification. An in silico analysis of gene organization demonstrated 117 OCs and 34 single ORFs in M. hyopneumoniae 7448 and J, while 116 OCs and 36 single ORFs were identified in M. hyopneumoniae 232. Genomic comparison revealed high synteny and conservation of gene order between the OCs defined for 7448 and J strains as well as for 7448 and 232 strains. Twenty-one OCs were chosen and experimentally confirmed by reverse transcriptionâPCR from M. hyopneumoniae 7448 genome, validating our prediction. A subset of the ORFs within an OC could be independently transcribed due to the presence of internal promoters. Our results suggest that transcription occurs in ârun-onâ from an upstream promoter in M. hyopneumoniae, thus forming large ORF clusters (from 2 to 29 ORFs in the same orientation) and indicating a complex transcriptional organization
Characterization of the KATRIN cryogenic pumping section
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to determine the effective anti-electron neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c by using the kinematics of tritium -decay. It is crucial to have a high signal rate which is achieved by a windowless gaseous tritium source producing 10 -electrons per second. These are guided adiabatically to the spectrometer section where their energy is analyzed. In order to maintain a low background rate below 0.01 cps, one essential criteria is to permanently reduce the flow of neutral tritium molecules between the source and the spectrometer section by at least 14 orders of magnitude. A differential pumping section downstream from the source reduces the tritium flow by seven orders of magnitude, while at least another factor of 10 is achieved by the cryogenic pumping section where tritium molecules are adsorbed on an approximately 3 K cold argon frost layer. In this paper, the results of the cryogenic pumping section commissioning measurements using deuterium are discussed. The cryogenic pumping section surpasses the requirement for the flow reduction of 10 by more than one order of magnitude. These results verify the predictions of previously published simulations
Disentangling nature from nurture in examining the interplay between parentâchild relationships, ADHD, and early academic attainment
Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable and is associated with lower educational attainment. ADHD is linked to family adversity, including hostile parenting. Questions remain regarding the role of genetic and environmental factors underlying processes through which ADHD symptoms develop and influence academic attainment.
Method: This study employed a parent-offspring adoption design (N=345) to examine the interplay between genetic susceptibility to child attention problems (birth mother ADHD symptoms) and adoptive parent (mother and father) hostility on child lower academic outcomes, via child ADHD symptoms. Questionnaires assessed birth mother ADHD symptoms, adoptive parent (mother and father) hostility to child, early child impulsivity/activation, and child ADHD symptoms. The Woodcock-Johnson test was used to examine child reading and math aptitude.
Results: Building on a previous study (Harold et al., 2013), heritable influences were found: birth mother ADHD symptoms predicted child impulsivity/activation. In turn, child impulsivity/activation (4.5 years) evoked maternal and paternal hostility, which was associated with childrenâs ADHD continuity (6 years). Both maternal and paternal hostility (4.5 years) contributed to impairments in math but not reading (7 years), via impacts on ADHD symptoms (6 years).
Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of early child behavior dysregulation evoking parent hostility in both mothers and fathers, with maternal and paternal hostility contributing to the continuation of ADHD symptoms and lower levels of later math ability. Early interventions may be important for the promotion of child math skills in those with ADHD symptoms, especially where children have high levels of early behavior dysregulation
Phylogenetic placement of environmental sequences using taxonomically reliable databases helps to rigorously assess dinophyte biodiversity in Bavarian lakes (Germany).
1. Reliable determination of organisms is a prerequisite to explore their spatial
and temporal occurrence and to study their evolution, ecology, and dispersal. In
Europe, Bavaria (Germany) provides an excellent study system for research on the
origin and diversification of freshwater organisms including dinophytes, due to
the presence of extensive lake districts and ice age river valleys. Bavarian freshwater
environments are ecologically diverse and range from deep nutrientâpoor
mountain lakes to shallow nutrientârich lakes and ponds.
2. We obtained amplicon sequence data (V4 region of small subunitârRNA, c. 410 bp
long) from environmental samples collected at 11 sites in Upper Bavaria. We
found 186 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with Dinophyceae that
were further classified by means of a phylogenetic placement approach.
3. The maximum likelihood tree inferred from a wellâcurated reference alignment comprised
a systematically representative set of 251 dinophytes, covering the currently
known molecular diversity and OTUs linked to type material if possible. Environmental
OTUs were scattered across the reference tree, but accumulated mostly in freshwater
lineages, with 79% of OTUs placed in either Apocalathium, Ceratium, or Peridinium,
the most frequently encountered taxa in Bavaria based on morphology.
4. Twentyâone Bavarian OTUs showed identical sequences to already known and
vouchered accessions, two of which are linked to type material, namely Palatinus
apiculatus and Theleodinium calcisporum. Particularly within Peridiniaceae, delimitation
of Peridinium species was based on the intraspecific sequence variation.
5. Our approach indicates that highâthroughput sequencing of environmental samples
is effective for reliable determination of dinophyte species in Bavarian lakes.
We further discuss the importance of wellâcurated reference databases that remain
to be developed in the future
Commissioning of the vacuum system of the KATRIN Main Spectrometer
The KATRIN experiment will probe the neutrino mass by measuring the
beta-electron energy spectrum near the endpoint of tritium beta-decay. An
integral energy analysis will be performed by an electro-static spectrometer
(Main Spectrometer), an ultra-high vacuum vessel with a length of 23.2 m, a
volume of 1240 m^3, and a complex inner electrode system with about 120000
individual parts. The strong magnetic field that guides the beta-electrons is
provided by super-conducting solenoids at both ends of the spectrometer. Its
influence on turbo-molecular pumps and vacuum gauges had to be considered. A
system consisting of 6 turbo-molecular pumps and 3 km of non-evaporable getter
strips has been deployed and was tested during the commissioning of the
spectrometer. In this paper the configuration, the commissioning with bake-out
at 300{\deg}C, and the performance of this system are presented in detail. The
vacuum system has to maintain a pressure in the 10^{-11} mbar range. It is
demonstrated that the performance of the system is already close to these
stringent functional requirements for the KATRIN experiment, which will start
at the end of 2016.Comment: submitted for publication in JINST, 39 pages, 15 figure
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