European integration and European social groups

1\. Introduction 5 2\. Social Groups and Classes in the Literature on Europe 6 3\. A Needed Analytical Distinction: Europeanization and European Class Formation 7 4\. Data 8 5\. The Structural Basis of Europe‘s Middle Class 10 6\. Identification, Lifestyles, Openness, and Political Values 11 7\. European Integration and Social Segmentation 14 8\. Conclusion 15 Literature 17 Appendix 19This paper connects with a recent and growing interest in the study of the societal impact of European integration and in the distinction of globalization and European integration effects. The paper uses the Eurobarometer study 67.1 to examine two related issues: 1) the segmentation of national social groups into “national” and “European” segments and 2) the contribution of the European integration process to this segmentation. Through statistical analysis, the author argues that there is some segmentation of national social groups and that this segmentation is more advanced at the level of consumer practices than at the level of identification and political attitudes and values. The author also contradicts prevailing beliefs in showing that although European integration underlies changes in the Europeanization of personal networks in general, its impact may have been greater, or at least as great, on the lower classes than on the middle classes. This paper proposes that the main mediating mechanism for this effect is the cheapening of opportunities for travel in Europe

A new society in the making: European integration and European social groups

This paper connects with a recent and growing interest in the study of the societal impact of European integration and in the distinction of globalization and European integration effects. The paper uses the Eurobarometer study 67.1 to examine two related issues: 1) the segmentation of national social groups into “national” and “European” segments and 2) the contribution of the European integration process to this segmentation. Through statistical analysis, I argue that there is some segmentation of national social groups and that this segmentation is more advanced at the level of consumer practices than at the level of identification and political attitudes and values. I also contradict prevailing beliefs in showing that although European integration underlies changes in the Europeanization of personal networks in general, its impact may have been greater, or at least as great, on the lower classes than on the middle classes. I propose that the main mediating mechanism for this effect is the cheapening of opportunities for travel in Europe

Zebrafish as animal model for aquaculture nutrition research.

The aquaculture industry continues to promote the diversification of ingredients used in aquafeed in order to achieve a more sustainable aquaculture production system. The evaluation of large numbers of diets in aquaculture species is costly and requires time-consuming trials in some species. In contrast, zebrafish (Danio rerio) can solve these drawbacks as an experimental model, and represents an ideal organism to carry out preliminary evaluation of diets. In addition, zebrafish has a sequenced genome allowing the efficient utilization of new technologies, such as RNA-sequencing and genotyping platforms to study the molecular mechanisms that underlie the organism's response to nutrients. Also, biotechnological tools like transgenic lines with fluorescently labeled neutrophils that allow the evaluation of the immune response in vivo, are readily available in this species. Thus, zebrafish provides an attractive platform for testing many ingredients to select those with the highest potential of success in aquaculture. In this perspective article aspects related to diet evaluation in which zebrafish can make important contributions to nutritional genomics and nutritional immunity are discussed

Genetic Dissection of a QTL Affecting Bone Geometry.

Parameters of bone geometry such as width, length, and cross-sectional area are major determinants of bone strength. Although these traits are highly heritable, few genes influencing bone geometry have been identified. Here, we dissect a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) influencing femur size. This QTL was originally identified in an F2 cross between the C57BL/6J-hg/hg (HG) and CAST/EiJ strains and was referred to as femur length in high growth mice 2 (Feml2). Feml2 was located on chromosome (Chr.) 9 at ∼20 cM. Here, we show that the HG.CAST-(D9Mit249-D9Mit133)/Ucd congenic strain captures Feml2 In an F2 congenic cross, we fine-mapped the location of Feml2 to an ∼6 Mbp region extending from 57.3 to 63.3 Mbp on Chr. 9. We have identified candidates by mining the complete genome sequence of CAST/EiJ and through allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis of growth plates in C57BL/6J × CAST/EiJ F1 hybrids. Interestingly, we also find that the refined location of Feml2 overlaps a cluster of six independent genome-wide associations for human height. This work provides the foundation for the identification of novel genes affecting bone geometry

Individual and Collective Responses to Crisis: An Analytical Framework for the Study of Social Resilience

This article proposes a sociological approach for the study of social resilience that emphasizes interpretation and the role of networks. After discussing past contributions to the study of social resilience and proposing an alternative analytical framework that builds on Max Weber’s approach to social action, the article illustrates the proposed strategy through a discussion of the acquisition of transnational skills as a strategy of social resilience. Available empirical evidence shows indeed that fluency in foreign languages works both a resilience strategy and a vehicle toward the emergence of an European demo

Fluid-Fluid Reactions: Study of the Surface Renewal Theory in Chemical Engineering Courses

The Surface Renewal Theory (SRT) is one of the most unfamiliar models in order to characterize fluid-fluid and fluid-fluid-solid reactions, which are of considerable industrial and academicals importance. In the present work, an approach to the resolution of the SRT model by numerical methods is presented, enabling the visualization of the influence of different variables which control the heterogeneous overall process. Its use in a classroom allowed the students to reach a great understanding of the process

Are Cross-Border Practices a Threat to Democratic Participation among EU Citizens?

Regional integration and the transportation and communications revolutions are changing the way individuals relate to place through increasing the opportunity for transnational movements, forming transnational bonds between individuals, and sustaining ties to the home country among those who migrate. Today, it is possible to live in a place physically while having one’s mind and consciousness elsewhere. Most significantly, EUCROSS findings demonstrate that EU citizens are engaged in a wider and more complex array of cross-border activities than most people believe (Salamonska et. al. 2013). If this process has a significant impact on a large number of people, it may be consequential for the social cohesion in actual physical locations—i.e. towns, cities or countries—and the quality of democracy. Do these cross-border activities jeopardize democracy by way of weakening incentives to participate in elections? Does the EU, by promoting an open and borderless society, also weakens itself in political terms? This policy brief addresses these questions by comparing political engagement of Europeans who lead transnational lives with those who do not. In doing so, it shows that individuals who lead more transnational lives participate at least as much in politics as those who are more anchored in their national societies

Comparison of gene coverage of mouse oligonucleotide microarray platforms

BACKGROUND: The increasing use of DNA microarrays for genetical genomics studies generates a need for platforms with complete coverage of the genome. We have compared the effective gene coverage in the mouse genome of different commercial and noncommercial oligonucleotide microarray platforms by performing an in-house gene annotation of probes. We only used information about probes that is available from vendors and followed a process that any researcher may take to find the gene targeted by a given probe. In order to make consistent comparisons between platforms, probes in each microarray were annotated with an Entrez Gene id and the chromosomal position for each gene was obtained from the UCSC Genome Browser Database. Gene coverage was estimated as the percentage of Entrez Genes with a unique position in the UCSC Genome database that is tested by a given microarray platform. RESULTS: A MySQL relational database was created to store the mapping information for 25,416 mouse genes and for the probes in five microarray platforms (gene coverage level in parenthesis): Affymetrix430 2.0 (75.6%), ABI Genome Survey (81.24%), Agilent (79.33%), Codelink (78.09%), Sentrix (90.47%); and four array-ready oligosets: Sigma (47.95%), Operon v.3 (69.89%), Operon v.4 (84.03%), and MEEBO (84.03%). The differences in coverage between platforms were highly conserved across chromosomes. Differences in the number of redundant and unspecific probes were also found among arrays. The database can be queried to compare specific genomic regions using a web interface. The software used to create, update and query the database is freely available as a toolbox named ArrayGene. CONCLUSION: The software developed here allows researchers to create updated custom databases by using public or proprietary information on genes for any organisms. ArrayGene allows easy comparisons of gene coverage between microarray platforms for any region of the genome. The comparison presented here reveals that the commercial microarray Sentrix, which is based on the MEEBO public oligoset, showed the best mouse genome coverage currently available. We also suggest the creation of guidelines to standardize the minimum set of information that vendors should provide to allow researchers to accurately evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using a given platform