The press and the presidency

Este artículo discute el destino interrelacionado de dos instituciones estadounidenses que se originaron en la época revolucionaria y que son extensiones de la idea de la soberanía del pueblo. Una es la presidencia, algo que no tiene equivalente fuera de los Estados Unidos, y la otra es la prensa independiente, cosa que ha sido muy escasa fuera del mundo occidental. La libertad de la prensa está garantizada en la Constitución de los Estados Unidos y, como resultado, muchos periodistas han aprovechado del derecho para criticar duramente a la política, y en particular al presidente. Este artículo recorre la evolución de la relación entre estas dos instituciones, utilizando distintos ejemplos de conflicto y malentendidos, desde la época de Benjamín Franklin hasta los presidentes más destacados del siglo XX. Aunque la controversia de los últimos años entre la prensa estadounidense y los presidentes ha provocado mayor auto-conciencia e introspección entre los periodistas, desafortunadamente estos problemas no están más cerca a una resolución que cuando surgieron por primera vez hace varias décadas

Florida\u27s Fudged Identity

No symbols where none intended, the warning that Samuel Beckett issued near the end of his second novel, would drive American Studies professors out of business and push them into an occupation of greater social benefit.1 For it is the point of this essay to find some inadvertent symbols and to discern iconographic significance in the history of a state. Florida should make an especially promising subject because of its mythic status, tapping into the nation’s definition of itself. Its saga appears to be more than a combination of geographic constraints and political boundaries and economic developments and demographic patterns. Its history also incorporates a mystique, which no state in the union needs but which a few states have nevertheless transmitted. Florida might well be such a rarity because it has claimed to be a kind of hologram of Paradise, a place where the most ancient, Edenic memories of the race are somehow re-invented in the form of contemporary fantasies

Making America Harmonious: The Jewish Contribution to Popular Music

Dr. Stephen J. Whitfield, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Brandeis University… An exploration of how American musical taste was unified from World War I through the Vietnam War by the contributions of Jewish songwriters.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/bennettcenter-posters/1331/thumbnail.jp

From modernization to post-modernism : a century and a half of french views of the United States

Pese al tiempo transcurrido, Democracy in America de Alexis de Tocqueville continúa siendo una obra fundamental para entender cómo los europeos ven y entienden a los Estados Unidos. La aproximación de Tocqueville se entiende, desde nuestra visión de finales del siglo XX, como una obra eminentemente sociológica y no exclusivamente política. Será desde esta perspectiva a partir de la cual se aproximen a la realidad norteamericana autores contemporáneos como Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir o Micel Crozier

From modernization to post-modernism : a century and a half of french views of the United States

Pese al tiempo transcurrido, Democracy in America de Alexis de Tocqueville continúa siendo una obra fundamental para entender cómo los europeos ven y entienden a los Estados Unidos. La aproximación de Tocqueville se entiende, desde nuestra visión de finales del siglo XX, como una obra eminentemente sociológica y no exclusivamente política. Será desde esta perspectiva a partir de la cual se aproximen a la realidad norteamericana autores contemporáneos como Baudrillard, Simone de Beauvoir o Micel Crozier

Envisaging change in maize farming: the push and pull factors

Participatory and deliberative approaches were used in order to draw out and evaluate pathways of adaptation in maize farming in the Kenyan districts of Makueni (in Central Province) and Nandi/Nyando (in Western Province), whilst allowing participants to reflect on and share their own perceptions, experiences, and expectations of future change

Negotiating an uncertain future: a multi-study of narratives of Kenyan agricultural climate change adaptation

This research addresses the following question: ‘In the context of climate change, how do different actors narrate the uncertain, ambiguous and risky future of maize agriculture, and what are the implications?’ A multi-sited and institutional ethnography approach was adopted in order to look critically at how knowledge and narratives of future change in Kenyan maize agriculture are constructed by a variety of actors. The thesis describes: contested narratives of climate change and climate change impacts (through an analysis of the global climate impact modelling endeavour); contested narratives of change on smallholder farms (based on two case study sites in Kenya); contested narratives of pro-poor technological interventions (including the development of genetically modified drought tolerant maize); and contested narratives of technology regulation (with a focus on Kenyan biosafety policy). It is shown that narratives are contested in multiple sites and by a variety of actors and, although the resolution of these contestations often fall along familiar lines of power and elite capture, there are examples in which alternative perspectives find agency. This is the case not only in national policy-making arenas and the board-rooms of international development initiatives, but also in the fields and communities of smallholder farmers, the offices of national research centres, and the operations of civil society organisations. It is argued that, within these diverse settings, critical analysis of the constructed nature of knowledge is a necessary foundation on which to open up the negotiation of Kenya’s agricultural future to multiple alternatives

Under What Circumstances and Conditions Does Adoption of Technology Result in Increased Agricultural Productivity? A Systematic Review

New technology that enables sustainable and profitable production of food and fibre is critical for both food security and economic development. Whether framed in terms of modernisation, productivity enhancement, poverty reduction, social protection, environmental protection or adaptation to climate change, technical change is at the heart of most agricultural policy, programmes and projects. From a development perspective, a nagging question is why the benefits of new agricultural technology often appear to by-pass poorer farmers – even when they are the ‘target’ group. Our review focuses on technology for food crop production in low and lower middle income countries (LLMIC) and the productivity gains farmers achieve when adopting them. It is also concerned with other impacts, positive and negative, that may accrue, for example with respect to health, food security or environmental services. Both individually and collectively managed technologies are considered. This review is directed to an audience of policy-makers and practitioners in the agricultural research area and to development studies academics. It has two main objectives: Providing policy makers and practitioners a more realistic understanding of the outcomes that can be expected from technological change as well as of the opportunities to shape the innovation environment so as to favour a productive agriculture supporting broad-based livelihoods; Informing the academic community on key gaps in evidence and on the evolution of theory and its drivers in this field. This appears to be the first systematic review of the conditions and circumstances under which productivity gains are achieved from the adoption of agricultural technology, either globally or by region.Department for International Development (DFID

Management of the Brown-Headed Cowbird: Implications for Endangered Species and Agricultural Damage Mitigation

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater; cowbird) is unique among North American blackbirds (Icteridae) because it is managed to mitigate the negative effects on endangered songbirds and economic losses in agricultural crops. Cowbird brood parasitism can further affect species that are considered threatened or endangered due to anthropogenic land uses. Historically, cowbirds have often been culled without addressing ultimate causes of songbird population declines. Similar to other North American blackbirds, cowbirds depredate agricultural crops, albeit at a lower rate reported for other blackbird species. Conflicting information exists on the extent of agricultural damage caused by cowbirds and the effectiveness of mitigation measures for application to management. In this paper, we reviewed the progress that has been made in cowbird management from approximately 2005 to 2020 in relation to endangered species. We also reviewed losses to the rice (Oryza sativa) crop attributed to cowbirds and the programs designed to reduce depredation. Of the 4 songbird species in which cowbirds have been managed, both the Kirtland’s warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) and black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) have been removed from the endangered species list following population increases in response to habitat expansion. Cowbird trapping has ceased for Kirtland’s warbler but continues for the vireo. In contrast, least Bell’s vireo (V. bellii pusillus) and southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) still require cowbird control after modest increases in suitable habitat. Our review of rice depredation by cowbirds revealed models that have been created to determine the number of cowbirds that can be taken to decrease rice loss have been useful but require refinement with new data that incorporate cowbird population changes in the rice growing region, dietary preference studies, and current information on population sex ratios and female cowbird egg laying. Once this information has been gathered, bioenergetic and economic models would increase our understanding of the damage caused by cowbirds

Periplasmic depolymerase provides insight into ABC transporter-dependent secretion of bacterial capsular polysaccharides

This work was supported in part by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FDN_148364) (to C.W.). S.D.L. is a recipient of a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship and Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. C.W. is a Canada Research Chair. J.H.N. is a Wellcome Trust Investigator (100209/Z/12/Z).Capsules are surface layers of hydrated capsular polysaccharides (CPSs) produced by many bacteria. The human pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi produces "Vi antigen" CPS, which contributes to virulence. In a conserved strategy used by bacteria with diverse CPS structures, translocation of Vi antigen to the cell surface is driven by an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter. These transporters are engaged in heterooligomeric complexes proposed to form an enclosed translocation conduit to the cell surface, allowing the transporter to power the entire process. We identified Vi antigen biosynthesis genetic loci in genera of the Burkholderiales, which are paradoxically distinguished from S. Typhi by encoding VexL, a predicted pectate lyase homolog. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that VexL is an unusual metal-independent endolyase with an acidic pH optimum that is specific for Oacetylated Vi antigen. A 1.22-Å crystal structure of the VexL-Vi antigen complex revealed features which distinguish common secreted catabolic pectate lyases from periplasmic VexL, which participates in cell-surface assembly. VexL possesses a right-handed parallel beta-superhelix, of which one face forms an electropositive glycan-binding groove with an extensive hydrogen bonding network that includes Vi antigen acetyl groups and confers substrate specificity. VexL provided a probe to interrogate conserved features of the ABC transporter-dependent export model. When introduced into S. Typhi, VexL localized to the periplasm and degraded Vi antigen. In contrast, a cytosolic derivative had no effect unless export was disrupted. These data provide evidence that CPS assembled in ABC transporter-dependent systems is actually exposed to the periplasm during envelope translocation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe