Portraying the nature of corruption: Using an explorative case-study design

What is the nature of corruption in Western democracies? To answer this research question, the authors study 10 Dutch corruption cases in depth, looking at confidential criminal files. The cases allow them to sketch a general profile of a corruption case. The authors offer nine propositions to portray the nature of corruption. They conclude that corruption usually takes place within enduring relationships, that the process of becoming corrupt can be characterized as a slippery slope, and that important motives for corruption, aside from material gain, include friendship or love, status, and the desire to impress others. The explorative multiple case study methodology helps to expand our understanding of the way in which officials become corrupt. © 2008 The American Society for Public Administration

Multi-Platform Next-Generation Sequencing of the Domestic Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo): Genome Assembly and Analysis

The combined application of next-generation sequencing platforms has provided an economical approach to unlocking the potential of the turkey genome

Multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of 19 Fanconi anemia pathway genes in zebrafish revealed their roles in growth, sexual development and fertility.

Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a genomic instability syndrome resulting in aplastic anemia, developmental abnormalities, and predisposition to hematological and other solid organ malignancies. Mutations in genes that encode proteins of the FA pathway fail to orchestrate the repair of DNA damage caused by DNA interstrand crosslinks. Zebrafish harbor homologs for nearly all known FA genes. We used multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis to generate loss-of-function mutants for 17 FA genes: fanca, fancb, fancc, fancd1/brca2, fancd2, fance, fancf, fancg, fanci, fancj/brip1, fancl, fancm, fancn/palb2, fanco/rad51c, fancp/slx4, fancq/ercc4, fanct/ube2t, and two genes encoding FA-associated proteins: faap100 and faap24. We selected two indel mutations predicted to cause premature truncations for all but two of the genes, and a total of 36 mutant lines were generated for 19 genes. Generating two independent mutant lines for each gene was important to validate their phenotypic consequences. RT-PCR from homozygous mutant fish confirmed the presence of transcripts with indels in all genes. Interestingly, 4 of the indel mutations led to aberrant splicing, which may produce a different protein than predicted from the genomic sequence. Analysis of RNA is thus critical in proper evaluation of the consequences of the mutations introduced in zebrafish genome. We used fluorescent reporter assay, and western blots to confirm loss-of-function for several mutants. Additionally, we developed a DEB treatment assay by evaluating morphological changes in embryos and confirmed that homozygous mutants from all the FA genes that could be tested (11/17), displayed hypersensitivity and thus were indeed null alleles. Our multiplexing strategy helped us to evaluate 11 multiple gene knockout combinations without additional breeding. Homozygous zebrafish for all 19 single and 11 multi-gene knockouts were adult viable, indicating FA genes in zebrafish are generally not essential for early development. None of the mutant fish displayed gross developmental abnormalities except for fancp-/- fish, which were significantly smaller in length than their wildtype clutch mates. Complete female-to-male sex reversal was observed in knockouts for 12/17 FA genes, while partial sex reversal was seen for the other five gene knockouts. All adult females were fertile, and among the adult males, all were fertile except for the fancd1 mutants and one of the fancj mutants. We report here generation and characterization of zebrafish knockout mutants for 17 FA disease-causing genes, providing an integral resource for understanding the pathophysiology associated with the disrupted FA pathway

Hayekova denacionalizacija denarja in svobodno bančništvo

Author's accepted version. Please cite the published version available from the Sage web site by following the DOI link above.The historiography of race is usually framed by two discontinuities: the invention of race by European naturalists and anthropologists, marked by Carl Linnaeus’s (1735) Systema naturae and the demise of racial typologies after World War II (WWII) in favor of population-based studies of human diversity. This framing serves a similar function as the quotation marks that almost invariably surround the term. “Race” is placed outside of rational discourse as a residue of outdated essentialist and hierarchical thinking. I will throw doubt on this underlying assumption, not in order to re-legitimate race but in order to understand better why race has been, and continues to be, such a politically powerful and explosive concept

Addition of a Second Binding Site Increases the Dynamic Range but Alters the Cellular Localization of a Red Fluorescent Probe for Mobile Zinc

We report the synthesis and photophysical properties of ZBR4 and ZR1, two resorufin-based ditopic probes for mobile zinc. Upon binding Zn[superscript 2+], the sensors display 14- and 41-fold enhancements of their red fluorescence emission, respectively. In contrast to ZR1 and other members of the ZBR family, which accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum, ZBR4 spontaneously localizes to the mitochondria of HeLa cells. The modular approach in designing the constructs facilitates a homologation strategy aimed at tuning the zinc-binding and intracellular targeting properties of future probes.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant GM065519