Although many studies have examined the ability of socio-occupational classification to objectify social class divisions, there are very few that study their correspondence with the everyday ...categorisations used by French people in their thinking about society. Based on a 'card game' inspired by the survey by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot in the early 1980s, this article describes everyday class rankings in order to assess their degree of convergence with official classifications, and particularly with socio-economic classification. Conducted with a sample of 547 persons, our survey shows the presence of shared rationales and typical variations within what are assumed to be the highly differentiated rankings used by people. In fact the majority of these categorizations rely on occupational criteria that are ordered according to a hierarchical logic (by distinguishing between employed and self-employed, and then according to an internal classification amongst the employed), or in terms of occupation (by trade and occupational sector), and they confirm a form of internalization of official divisions within the social world. Adapted from the source document.
Repressive epigenetic marks, such as DNA and histone methylation, are sometimes located within introns. In Arabidopsis (
), INCREASE IN BONSAI METHYLATION2 (IBM2), an RNA-binding protein containing a ...bromo-adjacent homology domain, is required to process functional transcript isoforms of genes carrying intronic heterochromatin. In a genetic screen for suppressors of the
mutation, we identified FPA, an RNA-binding protein that promotes use of proximal polyadenylation sites in genes targeted by IBM2, including
encoding an essential H3K9 histone demethylase and the disease resistance gene
Both IBM2 and FPA are involved in the processing of their common mRNA targets: Transcription of IBM2 target genes is restored when
is mutated in
and impaired in transgenic plants overexpressing
By contrast, transposons targeted by IBM2 and localized outside introns are not under this antagonistic control. The DNA methylation patterns of some genes and transposons are modified in
plants, including the large intron of
, but these changes are rather limited and reversed when the mutant is complemented, indicating that FPA has a restricted role in mediating silencing. These data reveal a complex regulation by IBM2 and FPA pathways in processing mRNAs of genes bearing heterochromatic marks.
Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) typically form near-perfect duplexes with their targets and mediate mRNA cleavage. Here, we describe an unconventional miRNA target of miR398 in Arabidopsis, an mRNA encoding ...the blue copper-binding protein (BCBP). BCBP mRNA carries an miR398 complementary site in its 5′-untranslated region (UTR) with a bulge of six nucleotides opposite to the 5′ region of the miRNA. Despite the disruption of a target site region thought to be especially critical for function, BCBP mRNAs are cleaved by ARGONAUTE1 between nucleotides 10th and 11th, opposite to the miRNA, like conventional plant target sites. Levels of BCBP mRNAs are inversely correlated to levels of miR398 in mutants lacking the miRNA, or transgenic plants overexpressing it. Introducing two mutations that disrupt the miRNA complementarity around the cleavage site renders the target cleavage-resistant. The BCBP site functions outside of the context of the BCBP mRNA and does not depend on 5′-UTR location. Reducing the bulge does not interfere with miR398-mediated regulation and completely removing it increases the efficiency of the slicing. Analysis of degradome data and target predictions revealed that the miR398-BCBP interaction seems to be rather unique. Nevertheless, our results imply that functional target sites with non-perfect pairings in the 5′ region of an ancient conserved miRNA exist in plants.
The extent of epigenetic variation is currently well documented, but the number of natural epialleles described so far remains very limited. Determining the relevance of epigenetic changes for ...natural variation is an important question of research that we investigate by isolating natural epialleles segregating in Arabidopsis recombinant populations. We previously described a genetic incompatibility among Arabidopsis strains based on the silencing of a gene involved in fitness. Here, we isolated a new epiallele resulting from the silencing of a transfer-RNA editing gene in an Arabidopsis accession from the Netherlands (Nok-1). Crosses with the reference accession Col-0 show a complete incompatibility between this epiallele and another locus localized on a different chromosome. We demonstrate that conversion of an unmethylated version of this allele occurs in hybrids, associated with modifications of small RNA populations. These epialleles can also spontaneously revert within the population. Furthermore, we bring evidence that neither METHYLTRANSFERASE 1, maintaining methylation at CGs, nor components of RNA-directed DNA methylation, are key factors for the transmission of the epiallele over generations. This depends only on the self-reinforcing loop between CHROMOMETHYLASE 3 and KRYPTONITE, involving DNA methylated in the CHG context and histone H3 lysine 9 methylation. Our findings reveal a predominant role of this loop in maintaining a natural epiallele.
Using motif detection programs it is fairly straightforward to identify conserved cis-sequences in promoters of co-regulated genes. In contrast, the identification of the transcription factors (TFs) ...interacting with these cis-sequences is much more elaborate. To facilitate this, we explore the possibility of using several bioinformatic and experimental approaches for TF identification. This starts with the selection of co-regulated gene sets and leads first to the prediction and then to the experimental validation of TFs interacting with cis-sequences conserved in the promoters of these co-regulated genes.
Using the PathoPlant database, 32 up-regulated gene groups were identified with microarray data for drought-responsive gene expression from Arabidopsis thaliana. Application of the binding site estimation suite of tools (BEST) discovered 179 conserved sequence motifs within the corresponding promoters. Using the STAMP web-server, 49 sequence motifs were classified into 7 motif families for which similarities with known cis-regulatory sequences were identified. All motifs were subjected to a footprintDB analysis to predict interacting DNA binding domains from plant TF families. Predictions were confirmed by using a yeast-one-hybrid approach to select interacting TFs belonging to the predicted TF families. TF-DNA interactions were further experimentally validated in yeast and with a Physcomitrella patens transient expression system, leading to the discovery of several novel TF-DNA interactions.
The present work demonstrates the successful integration of several bioinformatic resources with experimental approaches to predict and validate TFs interacting with conserved sequence motifs in co-regulated genes.
»Von der statistischen Kategorisierung zur alltäglichen Kategorisierung des sozialen Raums: Geschichte und Vermächtnis einer originären und auf einem Spiel mit Karten basierender Studie«. This ...article puts the sociology of quantification invented and promoted by Alain Desrosières into perspective regarding a fruitful but rarely addressed approach in this research stream: the relationships that are built between official (or scholar) classifications and ordinary categorizations of the social space. In order to achieve this, the article first sheds light on the history of an innovative study designed by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, a study which aimed to put ordinary people in the position to produce their own classification of the social space on the basis of a "card game." In a second step, we aim to compare and analyze the later uses of this study in France and abroad (Germany, Chile and Switzerland). Beyond differences due to each study's design and theoretical background, every study's collected ranking clearly depicts hierarchical social structures, even though those rankings show some variations which rely on the kind of information indicated on each card games, national contexts and respondents' dispositions.
Social class in Europe Rose, David; Harrison, Eric; Pevalin, David ...
2009, 2010, 20140404, 2009-10-22, 2014-04-04, 20090101, Letnik:
10
eBook, Book
This timely volume introduces a new social class schema, the European Socio-economic Classification (ESeC), which has been specifically developed and tested for use in EU comparative research. Social ...Class in Europe aims to introduce researchers to the new classification and its research potential. Since socio-economic classifications are so widely used in official and academic research, this collection is essential reading for all users of both government and academic social classifications. While primarily aimed at researchers who will be using the ESeC, the book's contents will also have a wider appeal as it is suitable for students taking substantive courses in European studies or as a supplementary text for undergraduates studying the EU, Sociology and Economics. Because of its inherent methodological interest, the book should prove a valuable tool for undergraduate and graduate courses that discuss how social scientists construct and validate basic measures. It will also be required reading for policy makers and analysts concerned with social inequality and social exclusion across Europe.
This article examines the categorization of social space in five European countries, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France and Poland. It draws on analysis of reactions to the European Socio-economic ...Classification (ESeC) prototype designed by social science researchers for Eurostat. Looking beyond the logic underpinning the prototype, our work investigates how "ordinary" people understand the structuring of social space in different national contexts. By studying how respondents react to ESeC categories, we were able to address how they develop their own categories that guide them in social space. Through an experimental survey based on a list of occupations, classified according to the ESeC categories, we tested the self-consistency of the prototype by submitting it to ordinary individuals. Our results demonstrate that the respondents found it difficult to understand the main organizational principles of ESeC. We conclude by questioning the ability of the European classification system in question to take into account the diverse national socio-economic realities that still characterize the European Union. web URL: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15691330-12341388;jsessionid=1mj2kcopsiq2n.x-brill-live-02
Between 1974 and 2010, total time spent on paid and unpaid work among city-dwellers decreased by 10 hours per week, with a difference between the genders: for men the decrease was in professional ...activity (linked to the rise in retired and unemployed men, as well as shorter work hours), while for women the decrease was in house-keeping work (linked to fewer stay-at-home women, automation of certain tasks and increasing externalisation of domestic production). City-dwellers eat outside of the home more often and eat prepared or partially-prepared meals. The gap between men's and women's schedules continues to narrow. The increase in leisure time was faster at the beginning of the period (+9 hours) and then slowed. This new free time was spent first on television, followed by video games, then digital activities, to the detriment of traditional forms of reading. Activities continued to become more individualised thanks to the spread of new technologies, allowing for a more personal approach to free time, as well as structural impacts such as the increase in people living alone. Ultimately, the increasing coverage of household tasks by the market and public sector and the resulting increase in leisure time occurred because women, partially freed from household tasks, have gone on to find employment in corresponding sectors (cleaning, personal services, childcare, recreational activities, food service) in positions that are generally precarious and require few qualifications. As income inequality increased from the 2000's, the system for organising the use of time may have evolved from a social-democratic type of system to a more free-market system, according to the typology proposed by Gershuny (2000).
The way someone spends their days depends firstly on whether they are in employment or not and secondly, particularly for women, on whether or not they live as part of a couple and have children. ...Women perform two-thirds of household tasks. The division of house-keeping work along gender lines tends to be passed on to children, with girls being more involved than boys in household tasks. Self-employed men work more than employees and have less free time. Managers spend a lot of hours at work, but have less restrictive hours than workers or employees. By resorting to paid services, they free themselves from the most unrewarding household tasks. Workers and employees turn to low-cost entertainment such as watching television, which they find unsatisfying, video games, walks, and visiting friends and family. When they retire or are unemployed, they involve themselves in semi-leisure activities such as gardening or DIY. Although "young people" are a diverse group, the things they have in common are little time spent on household tasks, an interest in digital culture and entertainment outside the home. Older people prefer house-keeping activities, television, reading, and walking. As people age, they go from a helper to someone who receives help: time spent on household tasks decreases, while time spent at rest increases and interactions with the outside become rarer.