Globalization and American Studies

Globalization and American Studie

Women’s changing domestic responsibilities in neoliberal Africa: a relational time-space analysis of Lesotho’s garment industry

Since 2001 when Lesotho embraced the neoliberal African Growth and Opportunities Act that offers preferential access to the US market, its garment industry has expanded dramatically to become the nation’s leading employer. Elsewhere, large-scale employment of women in low-paid factory jobs has entailed spatial restructuring of gender and age relations. Lesotho is a distinctive context, with socio-spatial relations historically adjusted to male labour migration, high levels of contemporary male unemployment and alarming AIDS prevalence. Based on semi-structured interviews with 40 female factoryworkers and 37 dependents, this article applies a relational time-space analysis to explore how financial and spatio-temporal aspects of factory employment articulate to alter women’s relationships with those for whom they have culturally determined responsibilities: their children, those suffering from ill health and their (generally rural) home communities. The analysis highlights that such employment is not merely adding to women’s responsibilities, but transforming how they are able to undertake social reproduction, as practical, social and emotional roles are converted to largely financial obligations

GC-Biased Evolution Near Human Accelerated Regions

Regions of the genome that have been the target of positive selection specifically along the human lineage are of special importance in human biology. We used high throughput sequencing combined with methods to enrich human genomic samples for particular targets to obtain the sequence of 22 chromosomal samples at high depth in 40 kb neighborhoods of 49 previously identified 100–400 bp elements that show evidence for human accelerated evolution. In addition to selection, the pattern of nucleotide substitutions in several of these elements suggested an historical bias favoring the conversion of weak (A or T) alleles into strong (G or C) alleles. Here we found strong evidence in the derived allele frequency spectra of many of these 40 kb regions for ongoing weak-to-strong fixation bias. Comparison of the nucleotide composition at polymorphic loci to the composition at sites of fixed substitutions additionally reveals the signature of historical weak-to-strong fixation bias in a subset of these regions. Most of the regions with evidence for historical bias do not also have signatures of ongoing bias, suggesting that the evolutionary forces generating weak-to-strong bias are not constant over time. To investigate the role of selection in shaping these regions, we analyzed the spatial pattern of polymorphism in our samples. We found no significant evidence for selective sweeps, possibly because the signal of such sweeps has decayed beyond the power of our tests to detect them. Together, these results do not rule out functional roles for the observed changes in these regions—indeed there is good evidence that the first two are functional elements in humans—but they suggest that a fixation process (such as biased gene conversion) that is biased at the nucleotide level, but is otherwise selectively neutral, could be an important evolutionary force at play in them, both historically and at present

Initial experience and outcome of a new hemodialysis access device for catheter-dependent patients

ObjectiveThe effects of a new long-term subcutaneous vascular access device were studied in access-challenged patients who were poor candidates for fistulas or grafts due to venous obstruction. Bacteremia rates, patency, and function of the Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Vascular Access Device (Hemosphere Inc, Minneapolis, Minn) were evaluated.MethodsThe HeRO device consists of a 6-mm expanded polytetrafluoroethylene graft attached to a 5-mm nitinol-reinforced silicone outflow component designed to bypass venous stenoses and enter the internal jugular vein directly, providing continuous arterial blood flow into the right atrium. The HeRO device was studied in a multicenter clinical trial to test the hypothesis that access-challenged patients would experience a statistically significant reduction in bacteremia rates compared with a tunneled dialysis catheter (TDC) literature control of 2.3/1000 days. HeRO-related bacteremia rates, adequacy of dialysis, patency, and adverse events were analyzed.ResultsThe HeRO device was implanted in 36 access-challenged patients who were followed for a mean 8.6 months (9931 HeRO days). The HeRO-related bacteremia rate was 0.70/1000 days. All HeRO-related bacteremias occurred during the bridging period when a TDC was still implanted before HeRO graft incorporation. HeRO adequacy of dialysis (mean Kt/V) was 1.7. HeRO primary patency was 38.9%, and secondary patency was 72.2%.ConclusionsIn access-challenged patients, a statistically significant reduction in HeRO-related bacteremia was noted compared with TDC literature. The device had similar function and patency compared with conventional arteriovenous graft literature

A strongly Lewis-acidic and fluorescent borenium cation supported by a tridentate formazanate ligand

Lewis acids are highly sought after for their applications in sensing, small-molecule activation, and catalysis. When combined with π-conjugated molecular frameworks, Lewis acids with unique optoelectronic properties can be realized. Here, we use a tridentate formazanate ligand to create a planar, redox-active, fluorescent, and strongly Lewis-acidic borenium cation. We also demonstrate that this compound can act as a colourimetric probe for reactivity

The Current Palestinian Uprising: Al-Aqsa Intifadah

Facing a September 13, 2000 deadline for concluding a comprehensive Israeli- Palestinian agreement on all permanent status issues, President Bill Clinton convened a trilateral summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat at Camp David on July 11, 2000. The summit, which lasted until July 24, 2000, did not produce an agreement. Members of 106th Congress responded to the al-Aqsa Intifadah by introducing bills that supported Israel’s actions, encouraged the U.S. Administration to oppose any anti-Israel resolutions in the United Nations, called upon Palestinians to negotiate a resolution, and proposed cutting foreign assistance to the Palestinians if they did not stop the uprising