Ethnic Politics and Land

Land and ethnic politics are closely interlinked. This chapter explores the dynamics in which ethnic politics and the politics of land shape one another, especially in multiethnic societies. It examines case studies from the global South to explore ethnic politics in relation to land grabbing, emerging patterns of informal wage labor and migration, the role of the state, and struggles from below amid the reconfiguration of land and labor regimes across time and space. The chapter argues that contestations and struggles with respect to land are never only about land. On the contrary, claims over land access and control are permanently traversed by ethnicity, race, and citizenship rights, and by class relations. By paying attention to the intersections between ethnicity and class, and by examining how these have mediated land and labor relations, the chapter offers important insights into the complexities around the questions of ethnic politics and land

A subset of platinum-containing chemotherapeutic agents kills cells by inducing ribosome biogenesis stress

Cisplatin and its platinum analogs, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, are some of the most widely used cancer chemotherapeutics. Although cisplatin and carboplatin are used primarily in germ cell, breast and lung malignancies, oxaliplatin is instead used almost exclusively to treat colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers. Here we utilize a unique, multi-platform genetic approach to study the mechanism of action of these clinically established platinum anti-cancer agents, as well as more recently developed cisplatin analogs. We show that oxaliplatin, unlike cisplatin and carboplatin, does not kill cells through the DNA-damage response. Rather, oxaliplatin kills cells by inducing ribosome biogenesis stress. This difference in drug mechanism explains the distinct clinical implementation of oxaliplatin relative to cisplatin, and it might enable mechanistically informed selection of distinct platinum drugs for distinct malignancies. These data highlight the functional diversity of core components of front-line cancer therapy and the potential benefits of applying a mechanism-based rationale to the use of our current arsenal of anti-cancer drugs

Resistance to extractivism: pin-prick land grabs and ‘failed’ corporate land deals

Resistance to extractivist land grabs is diverse in character and trajectory, at least those in Colombia, Ethiopia, Myanmar and China. We argue that this diversity is influenced by the social structures and institutions upon which land grabs unfold. These conditions also shape how land grabs take shape across time and space. We have identified two broad types of land grabs in terms of status: operational corporate and failed corporate land deals; and three broad types in terms of scale: large-scale corporate land grabs, and non-corporate medium-scale and pin-prick land grabs. Most studies on resistance to land grabs engage with operational corporate large-scale cases, while the studies are thin on the corporate ‘failed’ land deals and medium-scale and pin-prick land grabs. Our paper demonstrates not only the uneven contention and outcomes of resistance, but also the patterns in the shifts in the forms of struggles, as we also specified the difference between struggles against land grabs of demarcated plots, and against the land rush more generally. Perspectives from across diverse cases in terms of land grab status and scale provide important insights into the political struggles against extractivism and capitalism more broadly

Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’ surface is essential. During this process, the original coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove the generic character, different functional groups were introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as well as human plasma and serum was investigated to allow implementation in biomedical and sensing applications.status: publishe

Death of agrarian societies by a thousand cuts:‘Pin prick’ land grabs and the land rush

A key element in the global land rush is the everyday ‘pin prick’ land grabs and accumulation that appear everywhere in the context of a land rush. For the local population, these are ubiquitous parts of the land rush, yet these tend to be nearly invisible to media and academic researchers. These are ‘control grabbing’ of land and nature done in a variety of ways: legal and illegal, openly or by stealth, with or without use of extra-economic coercion, stealing or leasing, resulting in expulsion or subsumption, some through contract farming others through joint ventures, usually involving non-corporate grabbers, and mostly small-scale in terms of land area – but when aggregated altogether at a landscape, the total area of land could easily be bigger than corporateland deals. It transforms rural societies intensely and extensively, often bringing demise to particular agrarian societies in the manner of death by a thousand pin pricks. Because of their amorphous character, these instances of control grabs are not captured or are not capturable by databases on land deals. Thus, database-oriented and corporate land deal-centric studies miss out on a key element of the land rush. Bringing in this type of land grabs helps us re-center our analysis on the nature of the land rush, and the more complete workings of global capitalism

Death of agrarian societies by a thousand cuts:‘Pin prick’ land grabs and the land rush

A key element in the global land rush is the everyday ‘pin prick’ land grabs and accumulation that appear everywhere in the context of a land rush. For the local population, these are ubiquitous parts of the land rush, yet these tend to be nearly invisible to media and academic researchers. These are ‘control grabbing’ of land and nature done in a variety of ways: legal and illegal, openly or by stealth, with or without use of extra-economic coercion, stealing or leasing, resulting in expulsion or subsumption, some through contract farming others through joint ventures, usually involving non-corporate grabbers, and mostly small-scale in terms of land area – but when aggregated altogether at a landscape, the total area of land could easily be bigger than corporateland deals. It transforms rural societies intensely and extensively, often bringing demise to particular agrarian societies in the manner of death by a thousand pin pricks. Because of their amorphous character, these instances of control grabs are not captured or are not capturable by databases on land deals. Thus, database-oriented and corporate land deal-centric studies miss out on a key element of the land rush. Bringing in this type of land grabs helps us re-center our analysis on the nature of the land rush, and the more complete workings of global capitalism

Death of agrarian societies by a thousand cuts: non-corporate ‘pin prick’ and medium-scale land grabs

In terms of scale, the land rush has unleashed the interlinked categories:corporate large-scale, non-corporate pin prick and medium-scale land grabs.For the local population, the latter two types are ubiquitous parts of theland rush, yet these tend to be invisible to media and academic researchers.These are land ‘control grabbing’ done in a variety of ways: legal and illegal,openly or by stealth, with or without use of extra-economic coercion,stealing or leasing, and mostly small-scale in terms of land area – but whenaggregated, the total area of land could be quite extensive. These transformrural societies intensively and extensively, often causing the demise ofagrarian societies in the manner of death by a thousand cuts. Because oftheir often amorphous character, these instances of control grabs are notcapturable by databases on land deals. Highlighting this type of land grabshelps us re-centre our analysis on the nature of the land rush, and theworkings of global capitalism

Genome-Wide Divergence of DNA Methylation Marks in Cerebral and Cerebellar Cortices

Emerging evidence suggests that DNA methylation plays an expansive role in the central nervous system (CNS). Large-scale whole genome DNA methylation profiling of the normal human brain offers tremendous potential in understanding the role of DNA methylation in brain development and function.Using methylation-sensitive SNP chip analysis (MSNP), we performed whole genome DNA methylation profiling of the prefrontal, occipital, and temporal regions of cerebral cortex, as well as cerebellum. These data provide an unbiased representation of CpG sites comprising 377,509 CpG dinucleotides within both the genic and intergenic euchromatic region of the genome. Our large-scale genome DNA methylation profiling reveals that the prefrontal, occipital, and temporal regions of the cerebral cortex compared to cerebellum have markedly different DNA methylation signatures, with the cerebral cortex being hypermethylated and cerebellum being hypomethylated. Such differences were observed in distinct genomic regions, including genes involved in CNS function. The MSNP data were validated for a subset of these genes, by performing bisulfite cloning and sequencing and confirming that prefrontal, occipital, and temporal cortices are significantly more methylated as compared to the cerebellum.These findings are consistent with known developmental differences in nucleosome repeat lengths in cerebral and cerebellar cortices, with cerebrum exhibiting shorter repeat lengths than cerebellum. Our observed differences in DNA methylation profiles in these regions underscores the potential role of DNA methylation in chromatin structure and organization in CNS, reflecting functional specialization within cortical regions

Quality of life of caregivers for patients of cerebrovascular accidents: association of (socio-demographic) characteristics and burden

OBJECTIVE Investigating the association between quality of life with socio-demographic characteristics and the burden of caregivers for individuals with cerebrovascular accident sequelae. METHOD A descriptive, cross-sectional study with a sample composed of 136 caregivers. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire, the Barthel, Burden Interview and Short-Form-36 scales were used. Correlation analysis, t-Student test and F-test were used for the analysis in order to compare averages. RESULTS Significant averages in quality of life were demonstrated in association with female caregivers and those over 60 years in the field 'functional capacity,' and in the domains of 'mental health' and 'vitality' for those with higher income. Regarding burden association, the highlighted areas were 'functional capacity,' 'physical aspects,' 'emotional aspects' and 'pain.' CONCLUSION The creation of public policies and social support to effectively reduce the burden on caregivers is a necessity