A comment on ‘colonialism and ethnicity’

Self‐reported incidence of racial discrimination was investigated among four Asian‐American groups to explore their magnitude and the ways of coping with the discrimination episodes. The samples showed that among the two modes of coping ‐ problem‐focused or emotion‐focused coping ‐ a majority of Asian Americans has utilized the latter. Reasons of adopting these coping strategies were further explored for their determinants. Intergroup differences in ethnicity, education, gender and cultural values were found to exert influences on the ways of coping with racial discrimination among Asian Americans.     

A Swedish comment on ‘review: the availability of life-cycle studies in Sweden’

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment -     

Genetic and biochemical studies on perchloroethylene ‘in vitro’ and ‘in vivo’

Perchloroethylene (PCE) was tested in a diploid strain (D7) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in suspension tests with and without a mammalian microsomal activation system (S9) and ‘in vivo’ by the intrasanguineous host-mediated assay. In addition, enzyme alteration studies were performed in mice non-pretreated or pretreated with phenobarbital + β-naphthoflavone. PCE did not induce any genetic effect either ‘in vitro’ or ‘in vivo’. In the suspension test, PCE was more toxic without metabolic activation and less toxic with mammalian microsomal activation. The enzymatic determinations showed an increase of the aminopyrine demethylase activity and of the level of cytochrome P-450.     

Do attitudes expressed in surveys predict ethnic discrimination?

Survey data on people’s reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities are sometimes used as a proxy for ethnic discrimination. However, there is weak empirical evidence of a link between reported attitudes and discrimination. In this article, we use survey data on people’s attitudes towards ethnic minorities combined with a direct measure of ethnic discrimination from a field experiment in the Swedish housing market to re-examine this policy-relevant issue. We find clear evidence of a link between reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities and the extent of ethnic discrimination: in regions where attitudes are more negative, there is more discrimination, and vice versa. Thus, in contrast to most prior studies, our results suggest that reported attitudes may be a useful predictor of ethnic discrimination.     

Morphological, physiological and behavioural evaluation of a ‘Mice in Space’ housing system

Environmental conditions likely affect physiology and behaviour of mice used for life sciences research on Earth or in Space. Here, we analysed the effects of cage confinement on the weightbearing musculoskeletal system, behaviour and stress of wild-type mice (C57BL/6JRj, 30 g b.wt., total n = 24) housed for 25 days in a prototypical ground-based and fully automated life support habitat device called “Mice in Space” (MIS). Compared with control housing (individually ventilated cages) the MIS mice revealed no significant changes in soleus muscle size and myofiber distribution (type I vs. II) and quality of bone (3-D microarchitecture and mineralisation of calvaria, spine and femur) determined by confocal and micro-computed tomography. Corticosterone metabolism measured non-invasively (faeces) monitored elevated adrenocortical activity at only start of the MIS cage confinement (day 1). Behavioural tests (i.e., grip strength, rotarod, L/D box, elevated plus-maze, open field, aggressiveness) performed subsequently revealed only minor changes in motor performance (MIS vs. controls). The MIS habitat will not, on its own, produce major effects that could confound interpretation of data induced by microgravity exposure during spaceflight. Our results may be even more helpful in developing multidisciplinary protocols with adequate scenarios addressing molecular to systems levels using mice of various genetic phenotypes in many laboratories. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A Sense of Belonging and Exclusion: ‘Touchability’ and ‘Untouchability’ in Tamil Nadu

In India, touch is a prime marker of status and social relations. Those who are impure are ‘untouchable’,1 The terms ‘Untouchable’ and ‘Untouchability’ have been abandoned due to the humiliating meaning these terms confer, therefore I use them in inverted commas. The politically correct and common terms today are Scheduled Castes, in short sc, or Dalits, or sometimes Harijan. I use them here synonymously. but those who are of a relatively higher purity are also, depending on the context, either ‘untouchable’ or ‘touchable’ only under certain fixed rules. In this paper, I will explore the contexts in which body contact and touch can be part of personal relations. I describe how these body contacts signify important social relations and establish community identity. Further, I will analyse how patterns of body contact on the one hand change during childhood, and on the other hand produce changes in the status of a social persona. The last point to be investigated is the meaning of touch as a sign for public representations.     

A comment on Warburg’s early understanding of biocatalysis

The early history of biochemistry was characterized by changing moods. The discovery of cell free fermentation (1897) led to the optimistic belief that all life processes were carried out by intracellular enzymes, being definite proteins with special catalytic properties. But, the persistent failure to isolate pure enzymes raised doubts. When Otto Warburg found cell respiration to be a membrane-bound iron catalysis (1914), he renewed the old position that biocatalysis was caused by surface forces and ferments could be heavy metal ions adsorbed on colloidal membrane carriers. This alternative view became popular when Warburg started his research in photosynthesis and explained his peculiar “photolyte” model. Neither the suggestion of surface-active colloidal ferments, nor the idea of “photolyte” stood the test of time and have now been rejected, but their history is of importance to how concepts evolve and die.     

Faith on Trial: Blasphemy and ‘Lawfare’ in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This article develops the argument that blasphemy trials occupy a pivotal role in ‘religion-making’ in post-1998 Indonesia. Examining a blasphemy trial on the island of Lombok in 2010, I argue that the process of democratisation has given civilian actors more opportunity to engage Indonesia’s blasphemy law, a process analysed in terms of ‘lawfare’. Examining the interplay of legal regulation and the campaign against ‘deviant’ religion launched by conservative Muslim groups, the article tracks the affective consequences of this regulation, showing how the blasphemy law inspires civilians to investigate suspected cases of heresy. While blasphemy trials purportedly protect religion from insult and foster religious order, this article argues that religion lawfare breeds suspicion and divisions among citizens.     

Root apical organization inArabidopsis thaliana ecotype ‘WS’ and a comment on root cap structure

Arabidopsis thaliana roots have closed apical organization with three initial tiers. The dermatogen/calyptrogen tier consists of two parts-the central initials form the columella root cap, and the peripheral initial cells form the protoderm (epidermis) and the peripheral root cap. These peripheral initials divide in a sequence to form a root cap consisting of interconnected cones. the periblem initial tier forms the ground meristem (cortex). For the first week after germination the periblem consists of one layer of initial cells. The peripheral cells of the tier divide periclinally and then anticlinally (a T-division) to form the two-layered cortex (outer cortex and endodermis). After about one week, all the peripheral cells have divided periclinally forming two initials; the outermost produces the outer cortex while the inner initial produces the endodermis and middle cortex layer. The latter two cells arise via a periclinal division. During this time, other cells within the tier divide periclinally to form a two-layered tier. The plerome forms the cells of the procambium (vascular cylinder) by simple anticlinal divisions followed by longitudinal divisions to fill out the cell files of the vascular cylinder. A survey (27 dicot species in 17 families) of roots with closed apical organization revealed that there are three different types of root cap-concentric cylinders of cells (e.g.Linum), interconnecting cones (e.g.Arabidopsis) or overlapping arcs (e.g.Gossypium). H Lambers Section editor     

Odor discrimination of ‘cAMP-’ and ‘IP3-increasing’ odorants at high temperature and at high NaCl concentration in turtle olfactory system

The ability of the turtle olfactory system to discriminate between various cAMP- and IP₃-increasing odorants at high temperature and at high NaCl concentration in the olfactory bulb was examined by the cross-adaptation technique. The degrees of discrimination in high [Na⁺] solution were similar to those in normal Ringer's solution, suggesting that selectivities of receptors coupled with cAMP- and IP₃-dependent pathways are similar to those coupled with both cAMP- and IP₃-independent pathways. The mean values of the degree of discrimination among the IP₃-increasing odorants were higher than those among the cAMP-increasing odorants at high temperature and at high [Na⁺] concentration. The degrees of discrimination among the IP₃-increasing odorants at 40°C were greater than those at 25°C, while those among the cAMP-increasing odorants at 40°C were similar to those at 25°C, suggesting that the features of the receptors of cAMP-increasing odorants are different from those which respond to IP₃-increasing odorants.     

‘Classical’ and ‘non-classical’ reproductive steroids in fish

Summary The nature of the steroids secreted by gonads of fish differs significantly from those of the mammals. The classical teleost steroids, oestradiol, testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone and 17,20P, have been measured in a wide variety of teleosts but do not always reflect biological activities. There is increasing evidence that teleost gonads may produce a number of non-classical steroids which may play an important role in their reproductive biology. Such products include metabolites reduced at C5 to 5 or 5, at C3 to 3 or 3, or hydroxylated at 6-, 7-, or 21. Conjugation, as either glucuronides or sulphates, may contribute either to localization of action within the gonad or to production of pheromones during the immediate pre-spawning period. Although it is often possible only to measure the steroids for which assays are readily available, it is important to recognize that there may be production of steroids that are not detected by such assays, but which nevertheless play a major role in reproductive activity. In evolutionary terms, the teleost hydroxylases probably originated in the very early fishes and show parallels with their analogues in amphibians and mammals. Gene sequencing may reveal a possible common ancestor for all vertebrate 6, 7 and 11-hydroxylases.     

What tourists don’t see: housing,concentration of poverty and ethnic conflict in a Spanish migrant ghetto

This article is a critique of the myth of “concentrated poverty,” that blames urban ills on spatial morphology, presenting the city as a reified entity. Spatial fetishization neglects to consider the political economy that creates poverty and inequalities. Through the evolution of a ghetto in the Spanish Mediterranean coast, the article addresses spatial segregation, social isolation and territorial stigmatization of the urban poor. Three different contingents of residents—Spaniard, gypsies and Moroccan—are analyzed in their mutual relationships and in their dealings with local and regional governments that produce their neighborhood as a wasteland. Although these groups are strongly segregated among them, the space they inhabit carries a stigma that they share and sets them apart from the larger society. However, they are not isolated from but, on the contrary, fully embedded in the basic elements that constitute capitalism.     

A critical note on ‘exclusive recognition’

Cenk Saracoglu conceptualizes the antipathy towards Kurdish migrants manifesting in certain cities of Turkey since the early 2000s as ‘exclusive recognition’ in his article ‘“Exclusive recognition”: the new dimensions of the question of ethnicity and nationalism in Turkey’ published in Ethnic and Racial Studies 32(4). According to the author, these recent developments represent ‘a historically specific ethnicization process’ and its sources cannot be found directly and only in historical discourses and policy of mainstream Turkish nationalism. In this note, I contradict the author's claims by asserting that the recent manifestations of anti-Kurdish sentiments are an extension of the ongoing policies of Turkish national identity based on Turkish nationalism.     

A note on ‘A generalized two-sex logistic model’

We re-visit the recently published paper on a generalization of the two-sex logistic model by Maxin and Sega [A generalized two-sex logistic model, J. Biol. Dyn. 7(1) (2013), pp. 302–318]. We show that the logistic assumption of a non-increasing birth rate can be replaced by a more general assumption of a non-increasing ratio between the female/male birth and mortality rate. In this note we indicate the changes necessary in the proofs of the theorems in [D. Maxin and L. Sega, A generalized two-sex logistic model, J. Biol. Dyn. 7(1) (2013), pp. 302–318] and discuss several situations where this new assumption is useful.     

Do Barbary macaques ‘comment’ on what they see? A first report on vocalizations accompanying interactions of third parties

Primates acquire knowledge about relationships of third parties and group structure by monitoring their conspecifics. We show that Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) utter specific vocalizations while monitoring interactions of other group members. As they did not direct other behaviours to the interacting group members, we provisionally termed these vocalizations vocal comments. We investigated the acoustic properties of these comments and the social contexts in which they occurred. Most adult males and females of two studied groups produced low-amplitude calls when observing close contact interactions of other group members. The acoustic features of these calls varied with characteristics of the commented situation. Our results suggest that such calls might not be directed towards the agents of the commented situation, but towards other group members. The vocal comments may signal the callers awareness of the observed interaction and possibly attract the attention of others to the situation.     

Rethinking the ‘everyday’ in ‘ethnicity and everyday life’

While ‘ethnicity and everyday life’ is a familiar collocation, sociologists concerned with racism and ethnicity have not engaged very much with the extensive body of social theory that takes the ‘everyday’ as its central problematic. In this essay, I consider some of the ways in which the sociology of the everyday might be of use to those concerned with investigating ethnicity and racism. For its part, however, the sociology of the everyday has tended to be remarkably blind to the role played by racism and racialization in the modern world. It is thus no less crucial to consider how the experiences of racialized groups might help us rethink influential accounts of the everyday. To this end, I provide a discussion of pioneering texts by C. L. R. James and W. E. B. du Bois, both of whom were driven by their reflections on racism and resistance to recognize the everyday not as an unremarked context, but as, precisely, a problematic one.