948 research outputs found

    Ep. #085 - Jason W. Moore

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    This recording and transcript form part of a collection of podcasts conducted by the Cultures of Energy at Rice University. Cultures of Energy brings writers, artists and scholars together to talk, think and feel their way into the Anthropocene. We cover serious issues like climate change, species extinction and energy transition. But we also try to confront seemingly huge and insurmountable problems with insight, creativity and laughter.Cymene and Dominic talk capital and Vanilla Isis and then (11:21) we welcome to the podcast the one and only Jason W. Moore from Binghamton University, author of Capitalism in the Web of Life (Verso, 2015) and Anthropocene or Capitalocene? (PM Press, 2016). We chat with Jason about his most recent work, co-authored with Raj Patel, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things (U California Press, 2017), forthcoming this October. We talk about why he wanted to write a book for a broader audience, the problems with the “anthropocene” concept in the human sciences, how “capitalocene” can improve our thinking about world history, and how we can avoid vulgar materialism in critical environmental research and activism today. We cover the role that states and agriculture have played in shaping modern capitalism and Jason calls for a seriously engaged pluralism to tackle the urgent challenges of our era. We discuss the cheapening or thingification of life, capitalism as a gravitational field, the importance of frontiers, the violence of the Great Domestication, and why if green energy remains in the mode of “cheap fuel” nothing will change about capitalist accumulation. Jason explains why racial and gender domination are so often lacunae in critiques of petromodernity. Finally we ruminate on how to unmake the capitalist world-ecology and the key principles of the “reparation ecology” that Jason and his colleagues are calling for. Tired of the debate within the left about whether to prioritize jobs or the environment? Then you’ll want to listen on

    An Interview with Cass R. Sunstein: Author of The World According to Star Wars

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    The guest editors of special issue 12, Jason W. Ellis and Sean Scanlan, interview Cass R. Sunstein, the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard, where he is founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy. He is the author of many books, including the bestseller Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Richard H. Thaler). His 2016 book The World According to Star Wars attempts to understand the Star Wars universe in ten chapters through the lenses of Sunstein’s academic interests, namely: culture, sociology, psychology, behavioral science, and political science. The book is both personal and theoretical, practical and academic. It takes accurate measure of the genesis of the movies, the movies themselves, and briefly, but trenchantly, it examines concepts such as reputational cascades and speculates on what Star Wars can teach viewers about constitutional disputes

    Isolation and characterization of 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the smooth Cherax cainii and hairy marron C. tenuimanus (Decapoda: Parastacidae)

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    Numbers of the critically endangered hairy marron Cherex tenuimanus are declining rapidly in its natural habitat, mainly due to competition with smooth marron C. cainii. To determine whether genetic introgression is occurring between the two species we isolated 13 new polymorphic microsatellite markers from C. cainii using 454 shotgun sequencing. The loci were screened for variation in 20 individuals of C. cainii and eight individuals of C. tenuimanus. There was no evidence of linkage disequilibrium between pairs of loci and only one locus deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 11 across both species.W. Jason Kennington, Clodagh Guildea, Sherralee S. Lukehurst, Yvette Hitchen, Michael G. Gardner, Rodney Duffy, P. Joana Dias, Jason M. Ledger, Michael Sno

    Correspondence, Jason Brown to Frank B. Sanborn, September 10, 1885

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    A letter to Franklin B. Sanborn from Jason Brown, refusing a one hundred dollar check sent to him by William Lloyd Garrison. 1 page

    Data from: Long-term genetic monitoring reveals contrasting changes in the genetic composition of newly established populations of the intertidal snail Bembicium vittatum

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    Microsatellite data and mtdna data.
 
 Newly established populations are susceptible to founder events that reduce genetic variation. This may be counterbalanced by gene flow after populations become established or founders coming from genetically different populations. However, initial gains in genetic diversity may be short-lived if there is limited mixing between lineages and subsequent inbreeding or if one lineage sweeps to fixation through selection or genetic drift. Here, we report on the genetic changes taking place within two newly established populations of intertidal snail over a 15-year period (~ 10 generations). Each translocation was set up using multiple, genetically distinct source populations. Our data show that higher levels of variation in the translocated populations compared to the source populations were maintained over time for both nuclear (microsatellite) and mitochondrial genes. Small changes in allele and haplotype frequencies were observed in the source populations and in one of the translocated populations, but marked changes were evident in the other, where there was a dramatic shift towards the genetic make-up of one of the source populations. These genetic changes occurred despite relatively large numbers of founders (200- 374 adults) and no evidence of the population experiencing a severe reduction in effective population size. Our study shows that the genetic composition of newly established populations can vary greatly over time and that genetic outcomes can be highly variable, and significantly different to expectations, even when they are established using high numbers of individuals and involve source populations from the same geographic regions

    Data from: High intra-ocean, but limited inter-ocean genetic connectivity in populations of the deep-water oblique-banded snapper Pristipomoides zonatus (Pisces: Lutjanidae)

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    <b>External Organisations</b><br/>The University of Western Australia; Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences; James Cook University; Oceanic Fisheries Programme; Ministry of Agriculture and Food<b>Associated Persons</b><br/>Corey Brion Wakefield (Creator)Peter W. Keron (Creator); Ashley J. Williams (Creator); Tuikolongahau Halafihi (Creator)MtDNA haplotype frequencies of Pristipomoides zonatus: An excel file with mtDNA frequencies and sequences. Microsatellite data for Pristipomoides zonatus: Excel file containing microsatellite genotype data. While many studies have investigated connectivity and subdivision in marine fish occupying tropical, shallow water reef habitats, relatively few have been conducted on commercially important deep-water species in the Indo-Pacific region. Here, we examine spatial and temporal genetic variation in the deep-water oblique-banded snapper Pristipomoides zonatus, collected from eight locations across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A total of 292 individuals were screened for genetic variation at six nuclear microsatellite loci and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene. There was evidence of low, but significant genetic differentiation between ocean basins (FCT = 0.009) and no significant divergences between sites within oceans. The lack of population structure within ocean basins suggests P. zonatus has a long pelagic larval duration with high levels of connectivity between populations over large geographical distances (>2000 km). There was no evidence of temporal variation in allele frequencies within populations. However, ephemeral genetic divergences between sites were detected, along with a significant reduction in genetic diversity at one site, suggesting there may be low effective population sizes (Ne). Our results suggest that localized declines in genetic diversity could be offset by gene flow from other locations within ocean basins, though predicting the broader impacts of localized stock depletions requires further understanding of recruitment dynamics and life history characteristics of the species

    lcWGS - Ningaloo whale shark temporal population genetics

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    A genomic analysis of the population dynamics of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, through contemporary and evolutionary time. Abinaya Meenakshisundaram, Mark Meekan, Simon Jarman, W. Jason Kennington, Parwinder Kaur, Jess Pierce, Luke Thoma

    Barcoding of mygalomorph spiders (Araneae : Mygalomorphae) in the Pilbara bioregion of Western Australia reveals a highly diverse biota

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    Published online 12 September 2014The Pilbara bioregion of Western Australia is an area that contains vast mineral deposits and unique ecosystems. To ensure that mineral deposits are mined with minimal impact on the natural environment, impact assessment surveys are required to determine what fauna and flora species are located within proposed development areas, in particular, by determining the distributions of short-range endemic species (SREs). One infraorder of Arachnida, the Mygalomorphae (trapdoor spiders and their kin), are frequently identified as SREs. These identifications are traditionally performed using morphological techniques; however, only males can be reliably identified to species. Furthermore, the majority of species have not been formally described and males comprise only ~5% of specimens collected. To assess mygalomorph diversity and the distribution of species in the Pilbara, we employed a molecular barcoding approach. Sequence data from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were obtained from 1134 specimens, and analysed using Bayesian methods. Only a fraction of the total mygalomorph fauna of the Pilbara has been documented, and using a species boundary cut-off of 9.5% sequence divergence, we report an increase in species richness of 191%. Barcoding provides a rapid, objective method to help quantify mygalomorph species identifications and their distributions, and these data, in turn, provide crucial information that regulatory authorities can use to assess the environmental impacts of large-scale developments.Mark A. Castalanelli, Roy Teale, Michael G. Rix, W. Jason Kennington and Mark S. Harve

    Book Review: The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age

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    Author: Michael P. Ferguson and Ian Worthington Reviewed by Jason W. Warren, PhD The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age focuses on three themes—inspirational physical presence, Alexander’s army’s professionalism, and the speed with which he campaigned. The reviewer notes there are many useful observations, overall, he sees the book as a “mixed bag.” For those newer to studies “on Alexander or lessons-learned methodology, Legacy may prove a useful primer.”https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1091/thumbnail.jp
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