Bringing the Moral Economy back in … to the Study of 21st-Century Transnational Peasant Movements

James Scott's The Moral Economy of the Peasant (1976) appeared at a time when "peasant studies" had begun to occupy an important place in the social sciences. The book's focus on Vietnam, as well as its novel argument about the causes of rural rebellion, attracted widespread attention and unleashed acerbic debates about peasants' "rationality" and the applicability of concepts from neoclassical economics to smallholding agriculturalists. In this article, I analyze E. P. Thompson's notion of "moral economy" and Scott's use of it to develop an experiential theory of exploitation. I then discuss other influences on Scott, including Karl Polanyi, A. V. Chayanov, and the Annales historians. "Moral economy" and "subsistence crisis" are concepts that Scott elaborated mainly in relation to village or national politics. In the final section of the article, I outline changes affecting peasantries in the globalization era and the continuing relevance of moral economic discourses in agriculturalists' transnational campaigns against the WTO.     

Comparison of problem-solving performance in six-week-old wolves and dogs

A theoretical model proposed by the first author (Frank 1980) hypothesizes that timber wolves (Canis lupus) should perform better than dogs (C. familiaris) on problem-solving tasks requiring ‘insight’, such as the detour test devised by Kohler (1927) and adapted by Scott & Fuller (1965) for use with 6-week-old domestic dog pups. Three barrier problems (short barrier, long barrier, and U-barrier) were administered to four 6-week-old Eastern wolf (C. l. lycaon) pups. Post hoc comparisons with results obtained by Scott & Fuller confirm the hypothesis.     

A new genus, a new species, and a new record of the family Darcythompsoniidae Lang, 1936 (Gopepoda, Harpacticoida) from the Gulf of California, Mexico

A new genus and new species of the family Darcythompsoniidae Lang (1936), and a new record of Darcythompsonia fairliensis (T. Scott, 1899), from a coastal lagoon in the south-eastern Gulf of California (Mexico), are reported and fully described and illustrated. Pabellonia olganoguerae gen. no v., sp.nov. shares features with Darcythompsonia T. Scott, 1906, such as the presence of a dimorphic second endopodal segment of the male second swimming leg, and with Kristensenia Por, 1983, the lack of sexual dimorphism in the caudal rami, anal operculum and urosomites. Thus it is considered closely related to these genera, and to represent a third component of mis lineage. Some notes on the biogeography of Darcythompsonia T. Scott, 1906, are also presented.     

Neovitamin B12 (cyano-13-epicobalamin).

Beta-Epimerization in the corrinoid system has recently emerged as a complicating factor in the latter stages of the total synthesis of vitamin B12 (Eschenmoser 1971; Woodward 1973). It has also found some application in biosynthetic studies on the origin of the methyl groups in ring C (Scott, Townsend & Cushley 1973; Scott, this Discussion p. 303). This paper sets out to review briefly the beta-epimerization of corrinoid polyamides, with particular reference to our work on the neo-series which provided the first established example of this phenomenon.     

When to believe what you see

The recent X-ray crystal structure of a hammerhead ribozyme derived from Schistosoma mansoni containing the rate-enhancing peripheral domain has a catalytic core that is very different from the catalytic core present in the structure of the "minimal" hammerhead, which lacks a peripheral domain (Martick and Scott, 2006). The new structure reconciles many of the disagreements between the minimal hammerhead structure and the biochemical data on the cleavage properties of chemically modified hammerheads. The new structure also emphasizes the dynamic nature of small RNA domains and provides a cautionary tale for everyone who tries to use structure to understand function.     

Deciphering the plasma membrane hallmarks of apoptotic cells: Phosphatidylserine transverse redistribution and calcium entry

Background  

During apoptosis, Ca²⁺-dependent events participate in the regulation of intracellular and morphological changes including phosphatidylserine exposure in the exoplasmic leaflet of the cell plasma membrane. The occurrence of phosphatidylserine at the surface of specialized cells, such as platelets, is also essential for the assembly of the enzyme complexes of the blood coagulation cascade, as demonstrated by hemorrhages in Scott syndrome, an extremely rare genetic deficiency of phosphatidylserine externalization, without other apparent pathophysiologic consequences. We have recently reported a reduced capacitative Ca²⁺ entry in Scott cells which may be part of the Scott phenotype.     

Characterization of physicochemical forces involved in adhesion of Listeria monocytogenes to surfaces

This study investigated the physicochemical forces involving the adhesion of Listeria monocytogenes to surfaces. A total of 22 strains of L. monocytogenes were compared for relative surface hydrophobicity with the salt aggregation test. Cell surface charges and hydrophobicity of L. monocytogenes Scott A were also determined by electrophoretic mobility, hydrophobic-interaction chromatography, and contact angle measurements. Electrokinetic measurements indicated that the strain Scott A has a negative electrophoretic mobility. Physicochemical characterization of L. monocytogenes by various methods indicates that this microorganism is hydrophilic. All L. monocytogenes strains tested with the salt aggregation test method aggregated a at very high ammonium sulfate molarities. The hydrophobicity-interaction chromatography results show that L. monocytogenes Scott A cells do not adhere to octyl-Sepharose unless the pH is low. Results from contact angle measurements showed that the surface free energy of strain Scott A was 65.9 mJ.m-2, classifying this microorganism as a hydrophilic bacterium. In addition, the interfacial free energy of adhesion of L. monocytogenes Scott A estimated for polypropylene and rubber was lower than that for glass and stainless steel. However, these theoretical implications could not be correlated with the attachment capabilities of L. monocytogenes.     

Effect of NaCl and KCl on fate and growth/no growth interfaces of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A at different pH and nisin concentrations

AIMS: The fate of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A, was studied in broth, at different a(w)s (by adding NaCl or KCl from 0.0 to 1.4 mol l(-1)), pHs (from 4.0 to 7.3 by adding lactic acid), and nisin concentrations (from 0 to 100 IU ml(-1)). METHODS AND RESULTS: Increasing salt and nisin concentrations and decreasing pH resulted in lower growth rates and extended lag phases. At pH 4.5 no growth was observed while in presence of nisin and/or 1 mol l(-1) salts of both kinds, L. monocytogenes Scott A was inactivated. Equal-molar concentrations of NaCl or KCl (similar a(w)), exerted similar effects against L. monocytogenes in terms of lag phase duration, growth or death rate. The growth boundaries of L. monocytogenes Scott A at 5 degrees C were also estimated by growth/no growth turbidity data, modeled by logistic polynomial regression. The concordance of logistic models, were 99.6 and 99.8% for NaCl and KCl, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The growth interfaces derived by both NaCl and KCl models were almost identical. Hence, NaCl can be replaced by KCl without risking the microbiological safety of the product. Increasing nisin concentrations markedly affected the interface resulting in a more inhibitory environment for L. monocytogenes Scott A. Low to medium salt concentrations (0.3-0.7 mol l(-1) of either NaCl or KCl) provided a protective effect against inhibition of L. monocytogenes Scott A by nisin. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Modelling the growth boundaries not only contributes to the development of safer food by providing useful data, but can also be used to study interactions between factors affecting initiation of growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.     

Antibacterial Activity of Subtilosin Alone and Combined with Curcumin, Poly-Lysine and Zinc Lactate Against Listeria monocytogenes Strains

In this paper, the antibacterial effects of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-produced bacteriocin subtilosin, both alone and in combination with curcumin, ε-poly-l-lysine (poly-lysine), or zinc lactate, were examined against Listeria monocytogenes. Results indicated that subtilosin inhibits both of the studied bacterial strains, Scott A (wild-type, nisin sensitive) and NR30 (nisin resistant). However, L. monocytogenes Scott A was more sensitive to subtilosin and pure curcumin. In addition, subtilosin was more active at an acidic pH. Subtilosin in combination with encapsulated curcumin displayed partial synergy against L. monocytogenes ScottA. It also had synergistic activity against both L. monocytogenes Scott A and L. monocytogenes NR30 when combined with zinc lactate. Only an additive effect was observed for subtilosin when combined with non-encapsulated curcumin or poly-lysine against the mentioned strains. Thus, using the combination of subtilosin with curcumin, poly-lysine, or zinc lactate, a lower effective dose can be used to control L. monocytogenes infection. Our findings suggest that subtilosin could be used as alternative bacteriocin to nisin, providing an opportunity to use a novel natural and efficacious biopreservative against L. monocytogenes in food preservation. This is the first report on the effects of the combination of subtilosin with natural antimicrobials on L. monocytogenes.     

Seen by the state: Bureaucracy,visibility and governmentality in a Papua New Guinean hospital

Drawing on ethnographic material from a government hospital in Papua New Guinea (PNG), this paper examines the relationship between power and visibility in two kinds of bureaucratic practice: hospital managers’ performance of institutional ‘transparency’ and patients’ careful management of their government health documents. In both examples, people engage with bureaucratic and biomedical technologies of visibility to entice governing actors to see and enter into a relationship with them. Against dominant Foucauldian theories of power‐vision, the article shows that, in the institutional crevices of a ‘weak state’, bureaucratic technologies operate as relational technologies that elicit affective motivations rather than as disciplinary technologies that transform the self.     

Use of bacteriocinogenic lactic acid bacteria to inhibit spontaneous nisin-resistant mutants of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A

Nisin is a bacteriocin with a broad antibacterial spectrum including strains of Listeria monocytogenes . Populations of L. monocytogenes , however, frequently contain spontaneous nisin-resistant mutants. When a culture of L. monocytogenes Scott A was exposed to nisin concentrations between 10 and 500 IU ml⁻¹, the initial decrease in viable numbers was followed by regrowth of survivors to nisin. Nisin-resistant mutants of L. monocytogenes Scott A were isolated after a single exposure to nisin at 100 IU ml⁻¹ and were shown to be sensitive to the non-nisin bacteriocins, sakacin A and enterocin B, produced by Lactobacillus sake Lb 706 and Enterococcus faecium BFE 900, respectively. The regrowth of L. monocytogenes Scott A following the initial decrease due to exposure to nisin was prevented by nisin-resistant Lact. sake Lb 706–1a and to a somewhat lesser extent, by Ent. faecium BFE 900–6a. Listerial cells surviving nisin action were thus inhibited by the bacteriocin-producing strains that might be used as starter or protective cultures in foods. Growth of a nisin-resistant mutant of L. monocytogenes Scott A (Li3) was also suppressed by the bacteriocinogenic cultures. Use of nisin in combination with a starter culture producing a non-nisin antilisterial bacteriocin may therefore prevent the emergence of nisin-resistant mutants of L. monocytogenes .     

Significance of capacitative Ca2+ entry in the regulation of phosphatidylserine expression at the surface of stimulated cells.

The transverse redistribution of plasma membrane phosphatidylserine is one of the hallmarks of cells undergoing apoptosis and also occurs in cells fulfilling a more specialized function, such as platelets after appropriate activation. Although an increase in intracellular Ca2+ is required to trigger the remodeling of the plasma membrane, little information regarding intracellular signals leading to phosphatidylserine externalization has been provided. Scott syndrome is an extremely rare inherited disorder of the migration of phosphatidylserine toward the exoplasmic leaflet of the plasma membrane of stimulated blood cells. We have studied here the intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and Ca2+ entry involved in tyrosine phosphorylation in Epstein Barr virus (EBV)-infected B cells derived from a patient with Scott syndrome, her daughter, and control subjects. An alteration of Ca2+ entry through the plasma membrane and subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation induced by Ca2+ were observed in Scott EBV-B cells, but the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores was normal. Furthermore, phosphatidylserine externalization at the surface of stimulated cells does not depend on tyrosine kinases. These results suggest that the defect of phosphatidylserine exposure in Scott syndrome cells is related to the alteration of a particular way of Ca2+ entry, referred to as capacitative Ca2+ entry, although some differences may be related to the cell type. Hence, this genetic mutant testifies to the prime significance of Ca2+ signaling in the regulation of phosphatidylserine expression at the surface of stimulated cells.     

Scott syndrome, a bleeding disorder caused by defective scrambling of membrane phospholipids

Normal quescent cells maintain membrane lipid asymmetry by ATP-dependent membrane lipid transporters, which shuttle different phospholipids from one leaflet to the other against their respective concentration gradients. When cells are challenged, membrane lipid asymmetry can be perturbed resulting in exposure of phosphatidylserine [PS] at the outer cell surface. Translocation of PS from the inner to outer membrane leaflet of activated blood platelets and platelet-derived microvesicles provides a catalytic surface for interacting coagulation factors. This process is dramatically impaired in Scott syndrome, a rare congenital bleeding disorder, underscoring the indispensible role of PS in hemostasis. This also testifies to a defect of a protein-catalyzed scrambling of membrane phospholipids. The Scott phenotype is not restricted to platelets, but can be demonstrated in other blood cells as well. The functional aberrations observed in Scott syndrome have increased our understanding of transmembrane lipid movements, and may help to identify the molecular elements that promote the collapse of phospholipid asymmetry during cell activation and apoptosis.     

Spectra of intermediates in oxidation and reduction of cytochrome c oxidase

Two kinetic components with distinct difference spectra occur during reduction of cytochrome c oxidase by ruthenium hexamine. They are attributed to reduction of heme a (fast phase) and heme a3 (slow phase) (Scott, R. A., and Gray, H. B. (1980) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 102, 3219-3774). Two spectra seen during oxidation of cytochrome c oxidase by molecular oxygen have also been attributed to oxidation of hemes a3 and a (Greenwood, C., and Gibson, Q. H. (1967) J. Biol. Chem. 242, 1782-1787). We now report that spectra for the reductive and oxidative reactions obtained with the same preparations and the same apparatus under similar conditions are significantly different. The reactions appear to populate different reaction intermediates. Reconstitution into phospholipid vesicles does not affect these two spectra significantly. During turnover, the chief intermediates are those of the reductive pathway (Scott and Gray type intermediates). Reduction of heme a3 occurs approximately 70 times faster after turnover than the reduction of the resting enzyme. This is probably a dramatic "pulsing" effect (Wilson, M. T., Peterson, J., Antonini, E., Brunori, M., Colosimo, A., and Wyman, J. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 7115-7118).     

Seeing Like an Oil Company: Space, Security, and Global Capital in Neoliberal Africa

In this article, I seek to identify a limitation in the analysis James Scott offers in Seeing Like a State (1998) by asking to what extent his account of the follies of schemes for planned improvement by states provides critical leverage on the present world of neoliberal global capitalism. Scott has claimed that a dynamic of standardization, homogenization, and grid making applies not only to developmentalist states but also equally to the contemporary world of downsized states and unconstrained global corporations. I contest that claim by tracing how recent capital investment in Africa has been territorialized, and some of the new forms of order and disorder that have accompanied that selectively territorialized investment. Because such investment has been overwhelmingly in mineral resource extraction—particularly in oil—a contrast will become visible between the homogenizing, standardizing state optic Scott analyzed and a rather different way of seeing, proper to the contemporary global oil company.     

Autophagy and p70S6 Kinase

A paper by Scott et al.,1 suggested that p70S6 kinase (p70S6k) is a positive regulatory factor for autophagy. This finding is in contrast to previous data suggesting a negative role for this factor. The Scott et al. article was highlighted in Nature News & Views,2 which elicited a commentary by A.J. Meijer and P. Codogno. These authors present an alternate model for the role of p70S6k in autophagic induction, although still as a positive factor. Following the initial commentary is a response by T.P. Neufeld and R.C. Scott.     

Relation between phosphatidylserine exposure and store-operated Ca(2+) entry in stimulated cells

A significant increase in intracellular Ca(2+) is required to trigger the remodeling of the cell plasma membrane. Scott syndrome is an extremely rare inherited disorder of the transmembrane migration of phosphatidylserine toward the exoplasmic leaflet in blood cells. We have recently reported a reduced capacitative Ca(2+) entry in Scott cells [Martínez et al. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 10092-10098]. We have investigated here the links between defective phosphatidylserine exposure and Ca(2+) signaling in Scott cells by focusing on the Ca(2+) entry following the emptying of intracellular stores. After depletion of caffeine- or thapsigargin-sensitive stores, Ca(2+) entry was lower in Scott compared to control lymphoblasts. However, the simultaneous depletion of both types of stores restored a normal Ca(2+) influx across the plasma membrane in Scott cells and phosphatidylserine externalization ability was improved concomitantly with capacitative Ca(2+) entry. These observations point to the essential role of capacitative Ca(2+) entry in the control of phosphatidylserine exposure of stimulated cells.     

The Davydov/Scott Model for Energy Storage and Transport in Proteins

The current status of the Davydov/Scott model for energy transfer in proteins is reviewed. After a brief introduction to the theoretical framework and to the basic results, the problems of finite temperature dynamics and of the full quantum and mixed quantum-classical approximations are described, as well as recent results obtained within each of these approximations. A short survey of experimental evidence in support of the Davydov/Scott model is made and absorption spectra are calculated that show the same temperature dependence as that measured in crystalline acetanilide. Future applications of the Davydov/Scott model to protein folding and function and to misfolding diseases are outlined.     

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.