Histone Deacetylases Regulate Multicellular Development in the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum

Epigenetic modifications of histones regulate gene expression and lead to the establishment and maintenance of cellular phenotypes during development. Histone acetylation depends on a balance between the activities of histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases (HDACs) and influences transcriptional regulation. In this study, we analyse the roles of HDACs during growth and development of one of the cellular slime moulds, the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. The inhibition of HDAC activity by trichostatin A results in histone hyperacetylation and a delay in cell aggregation and differentiation. Cyclic AMP oscillations are normal in starved amoebae treated with trichostatin A but the expression of a subset of cAMP-regulated genes is delayed. Bioinformatic analysis indicates that there are four genes encoding putative HDACs in D. discoideum. Using biochemical, genetic and developmental approaches, we demonstrate that one of these four genes, hdaB, is dispensable for growth and development under laboratory conditions. A knockout of the hdaB gene results in a social context-dependent phenotype: hdaB- cells develop normally but sporulate less efficiently than the wild type in chimeras. We infer that HDAC activity is important for regulating the timing of gene expression during the development of D. discoideum and for defining aspects of the phenotype that mediate social behaviour in genetically heterogeneous groups.

Evolution of Social Behavior Through Interpopulation Selection

Under certain special conditions natural selection can be effective at the level of local populations, or demes. Such interpopulation selection will favor genotypes that reduce the probability of extinction of their parent population even at the cost of a lowered inclusive fitness. Such genotypes may be characterized by altruistic traits only in a viscous population, i.e., in a population in which neighbors tend to be closely related. In a non-viscous population the interpopulation selection will instead favor spiteful traits when the populations are susceptible to extinction through the overutilization of the habitat, and cooperative traits when it is the newly established populations that are in the greatest danger of extinction.

An analytical approach to the study of a class of bi-state social interaction processes

Sufficient conditions for obtaining an equivalent linear model to classes of non-linear, bi-state, social interaction processes are derived. These parametric constraints, when satisfied, permit analytical determination of the dynamics of the non-linear process of social interaction.

Joseph A. Schumpeter's Theory of Social and Economic Evolution : a Reconstruction and Critique

The book presents a reconstruction, interpretation and critical evaluation of the Schumpeterian theoretical approach to socio-economic change. The analysis focuses on the problem of social evolution, on the interpretation of the innovation process and business cycles and, finally, on Schumpeter s optimistic neglect of ecological-environmental conditions as possible factors influencing social-economic change. The author investigates how the Schumpeterian approach describes the process of social and economic evolution, and how the logic of transformations is described, explained and understood in the Schumpeterian theory. The material of the study includes Schumpeter s works written after 1925, a related part of the commentary literature on these works, and a selected part of the related literature on the innovation process, technological transformations and the problem of long waves. Concerning the period after 1925, the Schumpeterian oeuvre is conceived and analysed as a more or less homogenous corpus of texts. The book is divided into 9 chapters. Chapters 1-2 describe the research problems and methods. Chapter 3 is an effort to provide a systematic reconstruction of Schumpeter's ideas concerning social and economic evolution. Chapters 4 and 5 focus their analysis on the innovation process. In Chapters 6 and 7 Schumpeter's theory of business cycles is examined. Chapter 8 evaluates Schumpeter's views concerning his relative neglect of ecological-environmental conditions as possible factors influencing social-economic change. Finally, chapter 9 draws the main conclusions.

Factors affecting perceptions of corporate social responsibility implementation: an emphasis on values

This dissertation is a broad study of factors affecting perceptions of CSR issues in multiple stakeholder realms, the main purpose being to determine the effects of the values of individuals on their perceptions regarding CSR. It examines perceptions of CSR both at the emic (observing individuals and stakeholders) and etic levels (conducting cross-cultural comparison) through a descriptive-empirical research strategy. The dissertation is based on quantitative interview data among Chinese, Finnish and US stakeholder groups of industry companies (with an emphasis on the forest industries) and consists of four published articles and two submitted manuscripts. Theoretically, this dissertation provides a valuable and unique philosophical and intellectual perspective on the contemporary study of CSR `The Harmony Approach to CSR'. Empirically, this dissertation does values assessment and CSR evaluation of a wide variety of business activities covering CSR reporting, business ethics, and three dimensions of CSR performance. From the multi-stakeholder perspective, this dissertation use survey methods to examine the perceptions and stakeholder salience in the context of CSR by describing, comparing the differences between demographic factors as well as hypothetical drivers behind perceptions. The results of study suggest that the CSR objective of a corporation's top management should be to manage the divergent and conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders, taking others than key stakeholders into account as well. The importance of values as a driver of ethical behaviour and decision-making has been generally recognized. This dissertation provides more empirical proof of this theory by highlighting the effects of values on CSR perceptions. It suggests that since the way to encourage responsible behaviour and develop CSR is to develop individual values and cultivate their virtues, it is time to invoke the critical role of moral (ethics) education. The specific studies of China and comparison between Finland and the US contribute to a common understanding of the emerging CSR issues, problems and opportunities for the future of sustainability. The similarities among these countries can enhance international cooperation, while the differences will open up opportunities and diversified solutions for CSR in local conditions.

Social and material deprivation among youth in Finland : causes, consequences, and coping.

Background: Social and material deprivation is associated with poor health, decreased subjective well-being, and limited opportunities for personal development. To date, little is known about the lived experiences of Finnish low-income youths and the general purpose of this study is to fill this gap. Despite the extensive research on socioeconomic income disparities, only a few scholars have addressed the question of how low socioeconomic position is experienced by disadvantaged people themselves. Little is known about the everyday social processes that lead to decreased well-being of economically and socially disadvantaged citizens. Data: The study is based on the data of 65 autobiographical essays written by Finnish low-income youths aged 14-29 (M=23.51, SD=3.95). The research data were originally collected in a Finnish nationwide writing contest ���Arkip��iv��n kokemuksia k��yhyydest����� [Everyday Experiences of Poverty] between June and September of 2006. The contest was partaken by 850 Finnish writers. Methods and key concepts: Autobiographical narratives (N=65) of low-income youths were analyzed based on grounded theory methodology (GTM). The analysis was not built on specific pre-conceived categorizations; it was guided by the paradigm model and so-called ���sensitizing concepts���. The concepts this study utilized were based on the research literature on socioeconomic inequalities, resilience, and coping. Socioeconomic inequalities refer to unequal distribution of resources, such as income, social status, and health, between social groups. The concept of resilience refers to an individual���s capacity to cope despite existing risk factors and conditions that are harmful to health and well-being. Coping strategies can be understood as ways by which a person tries to cope with psychological stress in a situation where internal or externals demands exceed one���s resources. The ways to cope are cognitive or behavioral efforts by which individual tries to relieve the stress and gain new resources. Lack of material and social resources is associated with increased exposure to health-related stressors during the life-course. Aims: The first aim of this study is to illustrate how youths with low socioeconomic status perceive the causes and consequences of their social and material deprivation. The second aim is to describe what kind of coping strategies youths employ to cope in their everyday life. The third aim is to build an integrative conceptual framework based on the relationships between causes, consequences, and individual coping strategies associated with deprivation. The analysis was carried out through systematic coding and orderly treatment of the data based on the grounded theory methodology. Results: Finnish low-income youths attributed the primary causes of deprivation to their family background, current socioeconomic status, sudden life changes, and contextual factors. Material and social deprivation was associated with various kinds of negative psychological, social, and material consequences. Youths used a variety of coping strategies that were identified as psychological, social, material, and functional-behavioral. Finally, a conceptual framework was formulated to link the findings together. In the discussion, the results were compared and contrasted to the existing research literature. The main references of the study were: Coping: Aldwin (2007); Lazarus & Folkman (1984); Hobfoll (1989, 2001, 2002). Deprivation: Larivaara, Isola, & Mikkonen (2007); Lister (2004); Townsend (1987); Raphael (2007). Health inequalities: Dahlgren & Whitehead (2007); Lynch. et al. (2000); Marmot & Wilkinson (2006); WHO (2008). Methods: Charmaz (2006); Flick (2009); Strauss & Corbin (1990). Resilience: Cutuli & Masten (2009); Luthar (2006).

Social Life of Captive Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: Implications for Elephant Welfare

Asian elephants in the wild live in complex social societies; in captivity, however, management often occurs in solitary conditions, especially at the temples and private places of India. To investigate the effect of social isolation, this study assessed the social group sizes and the presence of stereotypies among 140 captive Asian elephants managed in 3 captive systems (private, temple, and forest department) in Tamil Nadu, India, between 2003 and 2005. The majority of the facilities in the private (82%) and temple (95%) systems held a single elephant without opportunity for social interaction. The forest department managed the elephants in significantly larger groups than the private and temple systems. Among the 3 systems, the proportion of elephants with stereotypies was the highest in temple (49%) followed by private system (26%) and the forest department facility (6%); this correlates with the social isolation trend observed in the 3 systems and suggests a possible link between social isolation and abnormal elephant behavior separate from other environmental factors. The results of this study indicate it would be of greater benefit to elephant well being to keep the patchily distributed solitary temple and private elephants who are socially compatible and free from contagious diseases in small social groups at ocommon elephant houseso for socialization.

Algal Photosynthetic Dynamics in Urban Lakes under Stress Conditions

Urban lakes form vital ecosystems supporting livelihood with social, economic and aesthetic benefits that are essential for quality life. This depends on the biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem. The structure of an ecosystem forms a decisive factor in sustaining its functional abilities which include nutrient cycling, oxygen production, etc. A community assemblage of primary producers (algae) plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance as they form the base of energy pyramid in the ecosystem. Algae assimilate carbon in the environment via photosynthetic activities and releases oxygen for the next level of biotic elements in an ecosystem. Besides these, algal cells rich in protein serve as food and feed, used as manure and for production of biofuels. Understanding algal photosynthetic dynamics helps in assessing the level of dissolved oxygen (DO), food (fish, etc.), waste assimilation, etc. Algal chlorophyll content, algal biomass, primary productivity and algal photosynthetic quotient are some of the parameters that help in assessing the status of urban lakes. Chlorophyll content gives a measure of the growth, spread and quantity of algae. Unplanned rapid urbanization in Bangalore in recent times has resulted in either disappearance of lake ecosystems or deteriorated the lake water quality impairing the ecological processes. This paper computes algal growth, community structure, primary productivity and composition for three major lakes (T G Halli, Bellandur and Varthur lakes) under contrast levels of anthropogenic influences.

Sufficient conditions for formation of a network topology by self-interested agents

Networks such as organizational network of a global company play an important role in a variety of knowledge management and information diffusion tasks. The nodes in these networks correspond to individuals who are self-interested. The topology of these networks often plays a crucial role in deciding the ease and speed with which certain tasks can be accomplished using these networks. Consequently, growing a stable network having a certain topology is of interest. Motivated by this, we study the following important problem: given a certain desired network topology, under what conditions would best response (link addition/deletion) strategies played by self-interested agents lead to formation of a pairwise stable network with only that topology. We study this interesting reverse engineering problem by proposing a natural model of recursive network formation. In this model, nodes enter the network sequentially and the utility of a node captures principal determinants of network formation, namely (1) benefits from immediate neighbors, (2) costs of maintaining links with immediate neighbors, (3) benefits from indirect neighbors, (4) bridging benefits, and (5) network entry fee. Based on this model, we analyze relevant network topologies such as star graph, complete graph, bipartite Turan graph, and multiple stars with interconnected centers, and derive a set of sufficient conditions under which these topologies emerge as pairwise stable networks. We also study the social welfare properties of the above topologies.

Social Experience Is Sufficient to Modulate Sleep Need of Drosophila without Increasing Wakefulness

Organisms quickly learn about their surroundings and display synaptic plasticity which is thought to be critical for their survival. For example, fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster exposed to highly enriched social environment are found to show increased synaptic connections and a corresponding increase in sleep. Here we asked if social environment comprising a pair of same-sex individuals could enhance sleep in the participating individuals. To study this, we maintained individuals of D. melanogaster in same-sex pairs for a period of 1 to 4 days, and after separation, monitored sleep of the previously socialized and solitary individuals under similar conditions. Males maintained in pairs for 3 or more days were found to sleep significantly more during daytime and showed a tendency to fall asleep sooner as compared to solitary controls (both measures together are henceforth referred to as ``sleep-enhancement''). This sleep phenotype is not strain-specific as it is observed in males from three different ``wild type'' strains of D. melanogaster. Previous studies on social interaction mediated sleep-enhancement presumed `waking experience' during the interaction to be the primary underlying cause; however, we found sleep-enhancement to occur without any significant increase in wakefulness. Furthermore, while sleep-enhancement due to group-wise social interaction requires Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF) positive neurons; PDF positive and CRYPTOCHROME (CRY) positive circadian clock neurons and the core circadian clock genes are not required for sleep-enhancement to occur when males interact in pairs. Pair-wise social interaction mediated sleep-enhancement requires dopamine and olfactory signaling, while visual and gustatory signaling systems seem to be dispensable. These results suggest that socialization alone (without any change in wakefulness) is sufficient to cause sleep-enhancement in fruit fly D. melanogaster males, and that its neuronal control is context-specific.

Condicionantes epist��micos y extra-epist��micos de la apropiaci��n social de las creencias cient��ficas

Resumen: En este art��culo se examina el proceso de distribuci��n y apropiaci��n social de las creencias cient��ficas como una forma particular de intercambio de conocimiento entre agentes en condiciones de asimetr��a cognitiva. Se parte de la premisa de que el ���principio general del testimonio��� capta la estructura epist��mica de deferencia a la autoridad cognitiva que permite la circulaci��n de saber entre cient��ficos y legos. En ese marco se analizan la atribuci��n de cr��dito y construcci��n de la confianza rec��proca involucrados en el desarrollo de la interacci��n. Para concluir, se destaca la relevancia que adquiere en esos procesos un n��cleo de presupuestos de orden sociocultural ���las representaciones sociales de los agentes��� que conforma el contexto significativo en que se enmarca el intercambio de conocimiento.

Ema��s, una organizaci��n de acci��n social

[ES] Ema��s Bilbao Sociedad Cooperativa, es una entidad de Econom��a Social y Solidaria para la inserci��n sociolaboral, dedicada a la gesti��n integral de residuos s��lidos urbanos (RSU), con sede en Bilbao y que desarrolla esta actividad en Bizkaia.

Breaking the 400 ppm barrier: Physical and Social implications of the recent CO2 rise

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Gest��o de sa��de, seguran��a, meio ambiente e responsabilidade social em micro e pequenas empresas recicladoras de pl��sticos PEBD e PET no Estado do Rio de Janeiro

A presente disserta����o tem como tema a gest��o de sa��de, seguran��a, meio ambiente e responsabilidade social em micro e pequenas empresas recicladoras de pl��sticos PEBD e PET no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A reciclagem de pl��stico contribui para minimizar os res��duos s��lidos gerados pelos processos industriais. O objetivo geral deste estudo �� verificar como as atividades de reciclagem impactam na sa��de e na seguran��a do trabalhador e levantar algumas quest��es relacionadas com a responsabilidade s��cio-ambiental, com destaque para o atendimento ��s normas regulamentadoras, legisla����o de sa��de, seguran��a e meio ambiente aplic��vel e sistemas de gest��o. Para atingir tal objetivo, a metodologia do presente estudo foi dividida em: pesquisa bibliogr��fica, elaborada atrav��s de consultas a livros, a artigos, a legisla����o e a bancos de dados de reconhecida credibilidade; elabora����o de um question��rio direcionado; visitas t��cnicas, e entrevistas com os encarregados ou donos das empresas, a fim de obter dados para avaliar as condi����es de trabalho relativas �� sa��de e seguran��a, meio ambiente e responsabilidade social. Durante esta etapa foram visitadas quatro recicladoras de pl��stico, todas situadas no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, sendo tr��s do segmento de PEBD e uma de PET. Os resultados obtidos mostram que, numa avalia����o global, apenas 24% dos itens avaliados foram atendidos na sua ��ntegra, o que demonstra um baixo ��ndice de atendimento ��s quest��es relativas �� sa��de, seguran��a e meio ambiente e responsabilidade social. Nas avalia����es individuais destes mesmos itens constatou-se que o atendimento foi de 38%, 10% e 54%, respectivamente. Enfim, o presente estudo mostra que h�� necessidade de maior aten����o aos requisitos relativos �� sa��de e seguran��a do trabalhador, ao meio ambiente e ��s quest��es sociais, em fun����o dos riscos do processo de produ����o do pl��stico reciclado

A supervis��o em servi��o social e a mercantiliza����o do ensino superior: as condi����es de trabalho do supervisor de campo

A presente pesquisa centrou-se em analisar as implica����es do processo de supervis��o e sua import��ncia para a forma����o acad��mico-profissional em Servi��o Social, tendo como pressuposto o acompanhamento sistem��tico realizado pelo assistente social junto ao discente, uma das dimens��es que envolvem a supervis��o, qual seja, a supervis��o profissional ou de campo. O objetivo do estudo sobre essa dimens��o da forma����o profissional refletiu o entendimento da realidade profissional, das transforma����es no mundo do trabalho e as respectivas formas de enfrentamento da quest��o social. Tratou do processo de supervis��o acad��mico-profissional em Servi��o Social no munic��pio de Ipatinga/MG a partir dos projetos de extens��o universit��ria coordenados pelo curso de Servi��o Social da UNIPAC/Campus Vale do a��o, onde s��o desenvolvidas atividades que envolvem a����es de assistentes sociais e se constituem em espa��os s��cio-ocupacionais onde se inserem estagi��rios. A hip��tese do presente estudo �� de que existe uma tens��o entre a proposta das Diretrizes Curriculares da Associa����o Brasileira de Ensino em Servi��o Social (ABESS), de 1996 e sua efetiva����o em um contexto de aceleramento de privatiza����o do ensino superior e das condi����es de trabalho dos profissionais. Os pressupostos relacionados �� dire����o social ou ao aparato legal para a profiss��o s��o norteados e conduzidos pelas diretrizes curriculares. E a dire����o assumida pela profiss��o a partir das mudan��as que vinculam a a����o profissional ao projeto societ��rio da classe trabalhadora, demanda novas respostas profissionais, que v��o se refletir diretamente numa exig��ncia de um trabalho profissional que ultrapasse o mero fazer cotidiano. Para a apreens��o do objeto de estudo, procurou-se discutir a forma����o profissional mediante o que est�� preconizado nas Diretrizes Curriculares de 1996. Num segundo momento discutiu-se acerca da mercantiliza����o do ensino superior p��s d��cada de 1990 e a UNIPAC nesse contexto. J�� no cap��tulo 3 foram analisadas as particularidades do processo de supervis��o de campo no universo dos projetos de extens��o da UNIPAC e as condi����es de trabalho dos supervisores de campo. Nas considera����es mais conclusivas �� apresentado um balan��o da pesquisa realizada, buscando apontar poss��veis desafios e tend��ncias para a forma����o profissional dos assistentes sociais na atualidade.