Field of genes: the politics of science and identity in the Estonian genome project

This case study of the Estonian Genome Project (EGP) analyses the Estonian policy decision to construct a national human gene bank. Drawing upon qualitative data from newspaper articles and public policy documents, it focuses on how proponents use discourse to link the EGP to the broader political goal of securing Estonia's position within the Western/European scientific and cultural space. This dominant narrative is then situated within the analytical notion of the “brand state”, which raises potentially negative political consequences for this type of market‐driven genomic research. Considered against the increasing number of countries engaging in gene bank and/or gene database projects, this analysis of Estonia elucidates issues that cross national boundaries, while also illuminating factors specific to this small, post‐Soviet state as it enters the global biocybernetic economy.     

Assessing the state of the art in national ocean policy studies

Abstract

For over a decade the nation‐states of the world have been redefining the legal and political status of the world's oceans, both unilaterally and in multilateral negotiations. Despite the growing importance of ocean policy, we know too little concerning what are current nation‐state marine interests, how they make their marine related decisions, or how they organize themselves for marine policy. This paper was written as an organizing paper for a workshop to assess the state of the art in national ocean policy studies. It was sponsored by the Marine Science Affairs Program, International Decade of Ocean Exploration Office, National Science Foundation. The paper states the goal of the workshop, it defines the terms of reference, such as public policy, public policy analysis, comparative public policy analysis and national ocean policy; it offers a “systems”; influenced model for the evaluation of national ocean policy, and it identifies the state of our knowledge of the various components of national ocean policy by performing a computer‐based survey of the literature. Some 5,000 studies were examined and reduced to 1,000 relevant items. Highlights of the findings show that: 1) we know most about the output stage of ocean policy, less about input, little about process; 2) we know most about bureaucratic ocean decisions, less about legislative, little about judicial ocean decisions; 3) output studies rose and declined, input studies have increased steadily, and process studies may show a sharp rise; 4) we know most about the United States, Japan, and the USSR, less about Western Europe, little about the Third World; and 5) most of the studies were conducted by those using “traditional”; research tools.     

Policy actors' narrative constructions of migrants' integration in Malmö and Bologna

Governments have policies explicitly directed at the integration of migrants. This article addresses how policymakers and politicians privilege certain constructions of the social relationship between migrants and the majority society (expressed through narratives of ‘integration’), while making it seem as if they were presenting facts in their policies. These constructions provide the justifications for adopting a direction in policy-making over other alternatives. This article sets to analyse comparatively how policy actors in two urban contexts construct migrants' integration through policy narratives and how, within this, they evaluate migrants as ‘integrated’ and ‘non-integrated’. Through narrative analysis, the article sheds light on how migrants are positioned by political institutions within the normative order of the society in which they live. Furthermore, it shows that local policy-making is shaped by national citizenship regimes, models of steering, welfare regimes and stories about the nation and its people.     

山羊发情相关输卵管糖蛋白(gEGP)基因的克隆

哺乳动物的输卵管精心设计了一个独特的液体环境 ,使得雌、雄性生殖细胞的运输及最终成熟、受精和早期胚胎发育能够顺利进行 .其中有一种源于分泌细胞的蛋白—发情相关的输卵管糖蛋白 (ｅｓｔｒｕｓ ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｅｄｏｖｉｄｕｃｔｕａｌｇｌｙｃｏｐｒｏｔｅｉｎ ,ＥＧＰ) ,自从Ｓｕｔｔｏｎ等于 1984年首次在绵羊中发现的[1] ,在其他的物种中 ,如 ,狒狒、人、小鼠、猕猴、牛、羊、猪、仓鼠等 ,也都有发现[2 ,3 ,4] .虽然已有实验数据证明 ,当卵子经过输卵管时 ,它们可与卵子的透明带 (ｚｏｎａｐｅｌｌｕｃｉｄａ ,ＺＰ)和 或卵黄周…     

Neighbouring‐group composition and within‐group relatedness drive extra‐group paternity rate in the European badger (Meles meles)

Extra‐group paternity (EGP) occurs commonly among group‐living mammals and plays an important role in mating systems and the dynamics of sexual selection; however, socio‐ecological and genetic correlates of EGP have been underexplored. We use 23 years of demographic and genetic data from a high‐density European badger (Meles meles) population, to investigate the relationship between the rate of EGP in litters and mate availability, mate incompatibility and mate quality (heterozygosity). Relatedness between within‐group assigned mothers and candidate fathers had a negative quadratic effect on EGP, whereas the number of neighbouring‐group candidate fathers had a linear positive effect. We detected no effect of mean or maximum heterozygosity of within‐group candidate fathers on EGP. Consequently, EGP was associated primarily with mate availability, subject to within‐group genetic effects, potentially to mitigate mate incompatibility and inbreeding. In badgers, cryptic female choice, facilitated by superfecundation, superfoetation and delayed implantation, prevents males from monopolizing within‐group females. This resonates with a meta‐analysis in group‐living mammals, which proposed that higher rates of EGP occur when within‐group males cannot monopolize within‐group females. In contrast to the positive meta‐analytic association, however, we found that EGP associated negatively with the number of within‐group assigned mothers and the number of within‐group candidate fathers; potentially a strategy to counter within‐group males committing infanticide. The relationship between the rate of EGP and socio‐ecological or genetic factors can therefore be intricate, and the potential for cryptic female choice must be accounted for in comparative studies.     

Legal regimes for seabed hard mineral mining: Evolution at the federal and state levels

Abstract

During the last decade U.S. government and industry interest in seabed hard minerals has shifted from areas beyond national jurisdiction to those within national jurisdiction. A variety of factors—technical, economic, political, legal—are behind this trend. This article focuses on the legal aspects of federal and state efforts to encourage and regulate seabed minerals exploration activities, prospective avoidance of conflicts between seabed mining and other ocean uses, federal‐state relations in seabed minerals development, and the special situation of mineral deposits spanning the federal‐state boundary offshore.     

Both insulin signaling defects in the liver and obesity contribute to insulin resistance and cause diabetes in Irs2(-/-) mice

We previously reported that insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2)-deficient mice develop diabetes as a result of insulin resistance in the liver and failure of beta-cell hyperplasia. In this study we introduced the IRS-2 gene specifically into the liver of Irs2(-/-) mice with adenovirus vectors. Glucose tolerance tests revealed that the IRS-2 restoration in the liver ameliorated the hyperglycemia, but the improvement in hyperinsulinemia was only partial. Endogenous glucose production (EGP) and the rate of glucose disappearance (Rd) were measured during hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp studies: EGP was increased 2-fold in the Irs2(-/-) mice, while Rd decreased by 50%. Restoration of IRS-2 in the liver suppressed EGP to a level similar to that in wild-type mice, but Rd remained decreased in the Adeno-IRS-2-infected Irs2(-/-) mice. Irs2(-/-) mice also exhibit obesity and hyperleptinemia associated with impairment of hypothalamic phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation. Continuous intracerebroventricular leptin infusion or caloric restriction yielded Irs2(-/-) mice whose adiposity was comparable to that of Irs2(+/+) mice, and both the hyperglycemia and the hyperinsulinemia of these mice improved with increased Rd albeit partially. Finally combination treatment consisting of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of IRS-2 and continuous intracerebroventricular leptin infusion completely reversed the hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in Irs2(-/-) mice. EGP and Rd also became normal in these mice as well as in mice treated by caloric restriction plus adenoviral gene transfer. We therefore concluded that a combination of increased EGP due to insulin signaling defects in the liver and reduced Rd due to obesity accounts for the systemic insulin resistance in Irs2(-/-) mice.     

The domestic context of Brazilian maritime policy

Abstract

The domestic context of Brazil's emerging maritime policy is discussed from three perspectives. Basic national policy guidelines are examined first, with particular attention given to their, influence in shaping maritime policy. Bureaucratic politics has shaped, and been shaped by, these guidelines, and is examined in a subsequent section. International politics, too, has played an important role in shaping Brazilian maritime policy, and its relationship to the domestic context is explored in a final section. The crucial decision to extend the territorial sea to 200 mi in 1970, including its historical background and aftermath, illustrates these forces shaping maritime policy. Other maritime issues are analyzed to illustrate these forces when relevant.

It is acknowledged that Brazil's prominent position in the South Atlantic has not led it to become a maritime‐oriented state. Increasing efforts have nevertheless been made during the past decade to utilize ocean space and the resources of the sea for national policy ends. As Brazilian maritime policy gained cohesiveness and dynamism in the late 1960s and 1970s, it became complementary to national economic progress and increasingly involved in international economic and political questions.     

Contribution of intestine and kidney to glucose fluxes in different nutritional states in rat

The liver is considered the main contributor of endogenous glucose production (EGP) in the postabsorptive (PA) state in mammals. However, it has been shown that the kidney, in PA and fasting states, and the intestine, in insulinopenia states, could make significant contributions to EGP. Using glucose tracer dilution combined to a vessel ligaturing approach, we studied the respective role of these organs in glucose turnover under various nutritional conditions in the rat (Rattus norvegicus). Both organs constitute key sites of glucose disposal in all situations in the non-moving rat. The kidney makes a small (12%) contribution to EGP in the PA state (9.6+/-1.3 micromol/kg min, means+/-SEM, n=5), which is dramatically increased (p<0.01) in 24 h-fasting (18.8+/-1.0 micromol/kg min) or streptozotocin diabetes (48+/-3 micromol/kg min). The small intestine contributes to EGP via two ways: a direct glucose contribution that may only take place in fasting and diabetes; an indirect contribution via the supply of alanine and lactate to liver gluconeogenesis that may account for up to 5 micromol/kg min in both PA and fasted states in the rat. These data emphasize the coordinate interactions among the three gluconeogenic organs in glucose homeostasis when nutritional conditions are changing.     

The politics of ethnic representation in Philippine bureaucracy

The good governance argument for diversity in civil service is based on the notion that creating a bureaucracy that represents the diverse communities it serves strengthens government accountability and legitimacy. This paper argues that ethnic representation in national bureaucratic governance in the Philippines primarily constitutes a means for political reallocation of space, as it is embedded in the government's framework of asymmetric political autonomy. Mired in intersecting political and ethnic tensions (i.e. blurred ethnic distinctions/ethnic identity disputes and politico-ethnic conflicts), patrimonial forces could easily exploit the country's bureaucratic representation policies as spaces for patronage and as superficial tokens to mollify interethnic factions of their share of the national polity. Thus, instead of facilitating equitable voice in bureaucratic governance, such policy framework could only hold ordinary indigenous and minority ethnic communities captive in the elite-dominated interethnic struggle for representation.     

Territory configuration moderates the frequency of extra‐group mating in superb fairy‐wrens

The frequency of extra‐pair paternity (EPP) in socially monogamous birds varies substantially between and within species, but ecological drivers of this variation remain poorly understood. Habitat configuration could influence EPP by moderating access to extra‐pair mates, because species occupying territories in a clustered ‘honeycomb’ configuration have a larger pool of potential extra‐group mates in their immediate neighbourhood than those living in linearly arranged territories (e.g. along narrow strips of riparian or fragmented habitat). We exploited variation in the spatial arrangement of territories due to anthropogenic modification of habitat of the cooperatively breeding superb fairy‐wren Malurus cyaneus to test whether habitat configuration influenced the frequency of EPP. In this species, most paternity is obtained by males outside the social group [extra‐group paternity (EGP)]. We found that the frequency of EGP among groups living in linear strips of roadside vegetation (41% of 44 offspring) was lower than it was for groups living in clustered territories within continuous habitat (59% of 70 offspring). Differences in group size and pair relatedness did not explain differences in EGP associated with territory configuration, although the frequency of EGP was negatively correlated with pair relatedness. Our finding suggests that territory configuration can influence rates of EGP and that anthropogenic habitat fragmentation has the potential to limit access to extra‐pair mates, affecting mating systems and ultimately fitness.     

Epinephrine effects on insulin-glucose dynamics: the labeled IVGTT two-compartment minimal model approach

The hyperglycemic effects of epinephrine (Epi) are established; however, the modulation of Epi-stimulated endogenous glucose production (EGP) by glucose and insulin in vivo in humans is less clear. Our aim was to determine the effect of exogenously increased plasma Epi concentrations on insulin and glucose dynamics. In six normal control subjects, we used the labeled intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) interpreted with the two-compartment minimal model, which provides not only glucose effectiveness (S(G)(2*)), insulin sensitivity (S(I)(2*)), and plasma clearance rate (PCR) at basal state, but also the time course of EGP. Subjects were randomly studied during either saline or Epi infusion (1.5 microg/min). Exogenous Epi infusion increased plasma Epi concentration to a mean value of 2,034 +/- 138 pmol/l. During the stable-label IVGTT, plasma glucose, tracer glucose, and insulin concentrations were significantly higher in the Epi study. The hormone caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in PCR in the Epi state when compared with the basal state. The administration of Epi has a striking effect on EGP profiles: the nadir of the EGP profiles occurs at 21 +/- 7 min in the basal state and at 55 +/- 13 min in the Epi state (P < 0.05). In conclusion, we have shown by use of a two-compartment minimal model of glucose kinetics that elevated plasma Epi concentrations have profound effects at both hepatic and tissue levels. In particular, at the liver site, this hormone deeply affects, in a time-dependent fashion, the inhibitory effect of insulin on glucose release. Our findings may explain how even a normal subject may have the propensity to develop glucose intolerance under the influence of small increments of Epi during physiological stress.     

Free fatty acids increase basal hepatic glucose production and induce hepatic insulin resistance at different sites

To investigate the sites of the free fatty acid (FFA) effects to increase basal hepatic glucose production and to impair hepatic insulin action, we performed 2-h and 7-h Intralipid + heparin (IH) and saline infusions in the basal fasting state and during hyperinsulinemic clamps in overnight-fasted rats. We measured endogenous glucose production (EGP), total glucose output (TGO, the flux through glucose-6-phosphatase), glucose cycling (GC, index of flux through glucokinase = TGO - EGP), hepatic glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P) content, and hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase and glucokinase activities. Plasma FFA levels were elevated about threefold by IH. In the basal state, IH increased TGO, in vivo glucose-6-phosphatase activity (TGO/G-6-P), and EGP (P < 0.001). During the clamp compared with the basal experiments, 2-h insulin infusion increased GC and in vivo glucokinase activity (GC/TGO; P < 0.05) and suppressed EGP (P < 0.05) but failed to significantly affect TGO and in vivo glucose-6-phosphatase activity. IH decreased the ability of insulin to increase GC and in vivo glucokinase activity (P < 0.01), and at 7 h, it also decreased the ability of insulin to suppress EGP (P < 0.001). G-6-P content was comparable in all groups. In vivo glucose-6-phosphatase and glucokinase activities did not correspond to their in vitro activities as determined in liver tissue, suggesting that stable changes in enzyme activity were not responsible for the FFA effects. The data suggest that, in overnight-fasted rats, FFA increased basal EGP and induced hepatic insulin resistance at different sites. 1) FFA increased basal EGP through an increase in TGO and in vivo glucose-6-phosphatase activity, presumably due to a stimulatory allosteric effect of fatty acyl-CoA on glucose-6-phosphatase. 2) FFA induced hepatic insulin resistance (decreased the ability of insulin to suppress EGP) through an impairment of insulin's ability to increase GC and in vivo glucokinase activity, presumably due to an inhibitory allosteric effect of fatty acyl-CoA on glucokinase and/or an impairment in glucokinase translocation.     

“One People,One Blood”: Public Health,Political Violence,and HIV in an Ethiopian-Israeli Setting

Between 1984 and 1996, public health authorities in Israel maintained a secret policy of discarding blood donations made by Ethiopian-Israeli citizens and immigrants. Officials later attempted to justify this policy on the grounds that immigrants from Ethiopia were subject to high rates of infectious disease (especially HIV). In 1996, this led to an explosive and violent confrontation between Ethiopian-Israeli protestors and agents of the state, including police and public health authorities. This essay explores the cultural and political context of that confrontation, including the discourse of political violence which it occasioned. The conflict between Ethiopian-Israelis and the state was located within a wider set of political contexts, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was linked to it through a shared trope of spilled blood common to both. Cultural analyses which ignore this dynamic political context are in danger of seriously misrepresenting the meaning of the Blood Affair to its participants. At the same time, this essay also engages a critical analysis of the public health policies which led to the crisis. Public health and nationalist discourse reinforced one another at the expense of Ethiopian immigrants in general, and so-called Feres Mura Ethiopians in particular.     

Aspects of wetland law and policy in Australia

The existence of laws and policies in Australia that affect wetland protection and rehabilitation has been ascertained. There is a diverse range of environmental legislation, primarily at the state level, that potentially affects wetlands. There are environmental planning instruments made under legislation in New South Wales and Western Australia, which are specifically directed to the protection of wetlands. These are legislative-backed mechanisms providing legal protection to wetlands. Whilst there is no national policy on wetlands, a draft Commonwealth policy has been circulated and is expected to be released in final form in February 1997. New South Wales is the only state with a current wetlands policy, whilst some other states have draft policies. These policies do refer to wetland rehabilitation. The present federal government indicated it wished to finalize a national wetlands policy in the lead up to its election in March 1996. This is not likely to happen soon and any national policy will probably be an implementation framework for the policies of individual governments. It is suggested that a commonwealth policy, whilst useful in providing consistency in commonwealth government decision making affecting wetlands, does not go far enough. Given that only one state in Australia has a wetland policy, it may take the formulation of a national policy to get the remaining states and territories in Australia to finalize their own policies.     

Accepting immigrants as fellow citizens: citizenship representations in relation to migration policy preferences

Citizenship representations within national populations have mainly been deduced from state policies on migration. Yet, at the individual level, no studies have investigated whether citizenship representations are reliably associated with preferences for specific migration policies (i.e. the underlying assumption for deducing citizenship representations from state policies). Because several studies have shown that state policies may not reflect understandings of citizenship within national populations, it may be more relevant to study citizenship representations at the individual level, in relation to personal preferences regarding migration policies. This study examined how ethnic, cultural and civic citizenship representations relate to migration policy preferences at the individual level among majority group high-school students (N = 1,734) in seven EU countries. Findings add to the understanding of citizenship representations and may have implications for the implementation of migration policies.     

Ep-CAM: a human epithelial antigen is a homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecule

The epithelial glycoprotein 40 (EGP40, also known as GA733-2, ESA, KSA, and the 17-1A antigen), encoded by the GA-733-2 gene, is expressed on the baso-lateral cell surface in most human simple epithelia. The protein is also expressed in the vast majority of carcinomas and has attracted attention as a tumor marker. The function of the protein is unknown. We demonstrate here that EGP40 is an epithelium-specific intercellular adhesion molecule. The molecule mediates, in a Ca(2+)- independent manner, a homophilic cell-cell adhesion of murine cells transfected with the complete EGP40 cDNA. Two murine cell lines were tested for the effects of EGP40 expression: fibroblastic L cells and dedifferentiated mammary carcinoma L153S cells. The expression of the EGP40 protein causes morphological changes in cultures of transfected cells--increasing intercellular adhesion of the transfectants--and has a clear effect on cell aggregating behavior in suspension aggregation assays. EGP40 directs sorting in mixed cell populations, in particular, causes segregation of the transfectants from the corresponding parental cells. EGP40 expression suppresses invasive colony growth of L cells in EHS-matrigel providing tight adhesions between cells in growing colonies. EGP40 can thus be considered a new member of the intercellular adhesion molecules. In its biological behavior EGP40 resembles to some extent the molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), although no immunoglobulin-like repeats are present in the EGP40 molecule. Certain structural similarities in general organization of the molecule exist between EGP40 and the lin-12/Notch proteins. A possible role of this adhesion molecule in formation of architecture of epithelial tissues is discussed. To reflect the function of the molecule the name Ep-CAM for EGP40 seems appropriate.     

Voter Integrity,Trust and the Promise of Digital Technologies: Biometric Voter Registration in Solomon Islands

Drawing on the anthropology of technology, this article examines the introduction of a digital biometric voter registration for Solomon Islands 2014 national election. Four perspectives on biometric voting are brought into dialogue: (1) the technological particularities, strengths and shortcomings of biometric voting registration (BVR), (2) a global and international embrace of the technology for its perceived ‘universal’ tendency to secure identities, (3) efforts by the Solomon Islands state to showcase its political stability by means of BVR and (4) the ways village-based voters come to understand, interpret and re-imagine BVR as political technology. We show how, within the ethnographic context of North Malaita, debates surrounding BVR reveal a continued distrust and uncertainty in North Malaitans’ relationship with the Solomon Islands state and its representatives. Within the context of this uncertainty BVR is re-imagined as technology that aids voter integrity within rather than beyond patronage networks.