535 research outputs found
The effects of attitudes about economic inequality on support for markets and democracy in Latin America, 1995-2010
No full textThe potential effects of economic inequality on markets and democracy have received significant attention in recent years. Less attention, however, has been devoted to empirically examining the attitudinal aspects of these relationships. In this dissertation, I examine the effects of attitudes about inequality on attitudes about government regulation of the economy, illiberal democracy, and civic engagement. I examine these effects with nine multilevel data sets spanning 1995-2010 and in the Latin America context. The statistical findings provide weak empirical support for the hypothesis that greater dissatisfaction with inequality is associated with greater support for a more government-regulated economy. They also suggest that dissatisfaction with inequality is not systematically related to support for illiberal democracy. Furthermore, the findings provide weak empirical evidence that dissatisfaction with inequality is systematically related to civic engagement. Moreover, the effects of dissatisfaction with inequality on support for these three individual-level outcomes do not appear to be systematically conditioned by various individual- and country-level factors. Therefore, the results suggest that attitudes about economic inequality are not consistently related to various attitudes about markets and democracy in the recent Latin American context. The findings help adjudicate between competing claims about the effects of economic inequality on markets and democracy, and they also shed light on the potential durability of markets and democracy in 21st century Latin America in the wake of widespread public dissatisfaction with economic inequality.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Brain D. Crame
N and P limitation of fynbos plants and the nutritional status of legume habitats in the Cape Floristic Region
No full textIn general, terrestrial ecosystems are limited by both N and P, but, as legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen, I hypothesized that fynbos legumes would be P limited and nonlegumes would be N limited, and that the degree to which these plants respond to N and P would depend on the levels of each of these two nutrients in the growth media. To test these hypotheses, three legumes and three non-legumes native to the fynbos were grown in a complete factorial arrangement of four levels of N and P in a glass house. Nitrogen was supplied at 20, 40, 80 and 150 mg kg-¹ soil and P at 0.8, 5, 15, and 31 mg kg-¹. Overall, the results showed that the responses of the legume and nonlegume species to N and P supply were species specific, but that the legume species seemed to be more limited by N supply than the non-legumes. There was no N x P interaction in this study, which implied that the plant response to N and P, did not depend on the levels of each other. Given the nitrogen fixing capabilities of legumes and high nutrient demanding lifestyle, I made the hypothesis that, on a given landscape, the soils on which the fynbos legumes occur were more nutrient rich than the bulk non-legume soils. Related to this hypothesis is the question of whether the more nutrient rich soils within the legume populations would be mirrored by leaves with both a higher specific leaf area and higher nutrient concentration, than the leaves of the non-legumes. To test these hypotheses, I determined the nutrient levels of both the soils and plants within both the legume- and non-legumes stands at eight different sites in the CFR. The data were subjected to multifactorial discriminant function analysis and Nested ANOVA analyses. The results of the analyses led to the conclusion that the soil on which legume stands occurred were rarely more fertile than the non-legumes on the landscape in the CFR, and, except for leaf N, there seemed to be no differences between leaf nutrient concentrations and the SLA of the legume and non-legume plants
Controlling Gene Expression with 2-5A Antisense
No full textRecent work has demonstrated that the activity of a ubiquitous cellular enzyme, ribonuclease L (RNase L), can be harnessed to cleave targeted RNA species. Activation of RNase L is dependent on the presence of 2′,5′-linked oligoadenylates (2-5A), usually produced by cells infected with viruses. By conjugating synthetic 2-5A to specific antisense compounds, it is now possible to selectively degrade RNAs in an RNase L-dependent manner, thereby providing an alternative to RNase H-dependent approaches. In this summary, we provide an updated description of the synthesis procedure for constructing these chimeric 2-5A antisense molecules. Examples of successful applications of the 2-5A antisense strategy are described, along with some of the procedures involved in those studies. Several methods are also provided for optimizing compound uptake and analyzing their effects on cells. Finally, we discuss the current body of evidence that supports the contention that RNase L is indeed the primary mediator of 2-5A antisense effects and the possible implications that this has on the future of this therapeutic approach
Recommended from our members
Examining Middle School Students’ Knowledge and Beliefs of Earthquake and Tsunami
No full textRecent reports at the state, national, and international level have called for increased earthquake and tsunami education to increase knowledge of the causes of these hazards, risks from these hazards, and preparedness measures to reduce risk and increase resilience to these hazards. One recommended approach to meet this need is to integrate earthquake and tsunami education into instruction in the K-12 school system. However, there is also a need for a strong theoretical basis for what constitutes effective earthquake and tsunami education. The current study contributes to this theoretical basis by examining middle school students’ knowledge and beliefs of earthquake and tsunami through the lens of conceptual change theory. Using the lens of conceptual change theory, students’ science knowledge, preparedness knowledge, epistemic beliefs, and ontological beliefs of earthquake and tsunami were examined using multiple data collection instruments that required multiple response modes including textual, graphical, and verbal responses. Several prominent patterns and themes were identified in the students’ responses that can inform the content and pedagogy of earthquake and tsunami education. Study results indicate that conceptual change theory is a valuable lens for examining students’ knowledge and beliefs of earthquake and tsunami awareness and preparedness and has potential for examining students’ knowledge and beliefs of other important socioscientific issues
F270 The Appeal to Reason Employees
No full text1 photograph; Black and White; Posed photo. Front row from left to right: Cora Wicks; Harry Douglass (1883-1952); Nellie Riling; Pearl Deckard; Clara McDonald; Lulu M. Eldridge; Lena Allhands; Stella Tope; Grace Perry; Margaret E. Maggie Simpson (1879-1913); Laveina J. Josie Morgan (1836-1924); H. W. Lawson; and Hula Cramer. Middle row from left to right: Allen Hamlin; Charles D. Bevan; Mable V. Dutch Smith (1880-1948); Mable Fox; and Minnie Perry (1882-[?]). Back row from left to right: Charles Douglas; Edward Greenfield; J. A. Kistler (1880-1958); J. A. Wayland (1854-1912); and Austin Holcomb. The text at the bottom of the photo reads: The Third Girard, Kansas, Home of the Appeal to Reason (May 8, 1900).https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/wayland/1201/thumbnail.jp
Kant, Heidegger and spacing
No full textKant's metaphysics of space
periods is explored via his
in both the pre-critical and critical
relation to Leibniz, the incongruent
counterparts argument, and the distinctive arguments of the
Transcendental Aesthetic. Sequentially, Heidegger's phenomenology of
space from the period of Being and Time is explicated in terms of
concepts like deseverance, directionality, region and equipmentality.
The two analyses are found to overlap on several key points. These
include: the priority of the whole over the parts, openness, and
exteriority and thus non-discursivity.
The points of overlap we call
'spacing' . Through further analyses,
it is discovered that the
concepts of spacing are precisely the concepts required by these two
philosophers even when they treat of subjects not normally considered
essentially spacial. These subjects include the nature of temporal
relations, of selfhood and self-constancy, and of the experience and
significance of art. The importance of spacing for these subjects is
individually discussed, as are possible reasons why the language of
space should be required
Identifiability of the Stochastic Frontier Models
No full textThis paper examines the identifiability of the standard single-equation stochastic frontier models with uncorrelated and correlated error components giving, inter alia, mathematical content to the notion of “near-identifiability” of a statistical model. It is seen that these models are at least locally identifiable but suffer from the “near-identifiability” problem. Our results also highlight the pivotal role played by the Signal to Noise Ratio in the “near-identifiablity” of the stochastic frontier models.Identification, Stochastic frontier model, Information Matrix, Signal to Noise Ratio
Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes
No full textThis paper evaluates the health impact of a signature initiative of the War on Poverty: the roll out of the modern Food Stamp Program (FSP) during the 1960s and early 1970s. Using variation in the month the FSP began operating in each U.S. county, we find that pregnancies exposed to the FSP three months prior to birth yielded deliveries with increased birth weight, with the largest gains at the lowest birth weights. These impacts are evident with difference-in-difference models and event study analyses. Estimated impacts are robust to inclusion of county fixed effects, time fixed effects, measures of other federal transfer spending, state by year fixed effects, and county-specific linear time trends. We also find that the FSP rollout leads to small, but statistically insignificant, improvements in neonatal infant mortality. We conclude that the sizeable increase in income from Food Stamp benefits improved birth outcomes for both whites and African Americans, with larger impacts for births to African American mothers.
- …
