Division Of Labor Research Articles

The role of the insider translator in conservation and development: comparing multilingual (auto)ethnobotanical books from Tanzania, Thailand, and Taiwan

Abstract This article compares recent multilingual (auto)ethnobotanical books from Tanzania, Thailand, and Taiwan in terms of the role that the “insider translator” might play in linguistic, cultural, or environmental conservation or development. The books were motivated by similar concerns, but differed in the backgrounds of the authors, including translators and compilers. How did the backgrounds of the authors – as cultural outsiders or insiders – condition the form and content of the (auto)ethnobotanical books? What approach to authorship might be most effective for achieving the intended aims of the (auto)ethnobotanists? Based on textual analysis, interviews, and fieldwork, the main findings are as follows. The interlingual translation in the Tanzanian and Thai cases was unidirectional out of the local language, because the compilers, who were outsiders, were more concerned about the conservation of endangered languages, cultures, and environments. There was no division of labor between compiler and translator in the Taiwanese case, and the translation was bidirectional, because the authors were committed to the development of their language. It stands to reason that an autoethnobotanical effort, one made by cultural insiders, to conserve traditional plant knowledge or develop an ancestral language would be more effective than an ethnobotanical one; but the long-term effectiveness of any of the multilingual (auto)ethnobotanical books needs further comparative research.

The brain atlas of a subsocial bee reflects that of eusocial Hymenoptera.

The evolutionary transition from solitary life to group-living in a society with cooperative brood care, reproductive division of labor and morphological castes is associated with increased cognitive demands for task-specialization. Associated with these demands, the brains of eusocial Hymenoptera divide transcriptomic signatures associated with foraging and reproduction to different populations of cells and also show diverse astrocyte and Kenyon cell types compared with solitary non-hymenopteran insects. The neural architecture of subsocial bees, which represent evolutionary antecedent states to eusocial Hymenoptera, could then show how widely this eusocial brain is conserved across aculeate Hymenoptera. Using single-nucleus transcriptomics, we have created an atlas of neuron and glial cell types from the brain of a subsocial insect, the small carpenter bee (Ceratina calcarata). The proportion of C. calcarata neurons related to the metabolism of classes of neurotransmitters is similar to that of other insects, whereas astrocyte and Kenyon cell types show highly similar gene expression patterns to those of eusocial Hymenoptera. In the winter, the transcriptomic signature across the brain reflected diapause. When the bee was active in the summer, however, genes upregulated in neurons reflected foraging, while the gene expression signature of glia associated with reproductive functions. Like eusocial Hymenoptera, we conclude that neural components for foraging and reproduction in C. calcarata are compartmentalized to different parts of its brain. Cellular examination of the brains of other solitary and subsocial insects can show the extent of neurobiological conservation across levels of social complexity.

Technology and Progress in Islamicate Political Thought

Abstract This study compares how technology is theorised in an early sixteenth-century description of China, ʿAlī Akbar Khaṭāyī’s Khaṭāy-nāmeh (‘Book of China’), and two major works of late medieval Islamic political theory, Ibn Khaldūn’s (d. 1406) Muqaddimah and Jalāl al-Dīn Davānī’s (d. 1502) Akhlāq-i Jalālī (‘Jalālian Ethics’). Concepts of artifice and distinctions between the natural and artificial, as well as the social division of labour, are critical to all three authors’ views of political authority and statecraft. Khaṭāyī and Ibn Khaldūn express diametrically opposed views within a common theoretical framework concerning the effects of artificial law and technical training on social relations, a difference in attitude likely due in part to the great importance Khaṭāyī attributed to Chinese firearms.

Foraging behavior and work patterns of Bombus terrestris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in response to tomato greenhouse microclimate

Abstract Bumblebees play a significant role as pollinators for many wild plants and cultivated crops, owing to their elongated proboscis, resilience to diverse weather conditions, robustly furred bodies, and their unique capacity for buzz-pollination. To better understand the effect of greenhouse microclimates on bumblebee foraging behavior and working modes, a long-term record of foraging activity for each Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) forager was monitored by the Radio-frequency identification system. The pattern of task performance, including constant housing, foraging, and day-off rotation, was examined under the microclimate. In addition, the correlation between foraging activity of bumblebees and temperature, relative humidity, illumination in the greenhouse, and pollen viability of tomato plants was further analyzed. Our findings revealed that B. terrestris can respond to microclimatic factors and plant resources while also exhibiting a suitable working pattern within the colony. Day-off rotation was observed as a strategy employed by foragers to prolong their survival time. This division of labor and task rotation may serve as strategies for the survival and development of the colony. Our research may contribute to fully understanding how microclimate and plants influence pollinator behavior within greenhouses, thereby optimizing the pollination management of bumblebees on greenhouse crops.

The essence and characteristics of global value chains: theoretical aspect

The article carries out a comparative analysis of scientific approaches to understanding the essence of global value chains, as a result of which the author’s position on this issue is substantiated. It has been established that the territorial organization of international business and the international division of labor form the conceptual basis of the formation of global value chains. Special attention is paid to how processes of global economic integration contribute to constant modifications of value chains, as well as the importance of their effective management, which is a decisive factor in increasing the competitiveness of companies and countries. The article argues that participation in global value chains provides businesses and governments with significant benefits, such as access to new markets, increased production efficiency, and increased value added. At the same time, risks have been identified, in particular those related to the instability of supply chains, increased competition and dependence on global markets. Different types of global value chains and features of their management in the conditions of modern challenges of globalization are considered. Conclusions have been made regarding the prospects for the development of Ukrainian business based on the concept of global value chains, taking into account global trends and national features of the economy. The article is useful for scientists, specialists in the field of international business and economics, as well as for those who are interested in the integration of national economies into global production processes. A comparative analysis of the positions of modern scientists regarding the essence of global value chains was carried out. Reasoned author’s position on the issue of the essence of global value chains. It has been established that the territorial organization of international business, as well as the international division of labor, is the conceptual basis for the formation of global value chains. It is argued that in the conditions of strengthening integration processes in the global economy, constant modifications of global value chains take place, and their management becomes one of the important factors of competitiveness. The benefits that business units and countries receive from participating in global value chains are determined, and the associated risks are also identified. The typology of global value chains, features of their management are analyzed. Conclusions have been made regarding the prospects for domestic business development based on the concept of global value chains.

Representation of gender images of female military in the Ukrainian media

Based on developments in gender sociology, the theoretical foundations of patriarchal and egalitarian approaches to gender images via analysis of gender roles are defined. The patriarchal approach to gender roles is based on biological determinism and essentialism and creates a clear division into male and female roles that are often opposed. Appealing to the principles of sociobiology, this approach involves the gendered division of labor laid down into gender-role stereotypes; assigning different psychological and behavioral characteristics to women and men with the help of gender traits and a gendered perception of appearance. Accordingly, the main attributes of femininity are attachment to reproductive and caring work; softness and emotionality, and a canonically attractive appearance. The increase in the number of female military personnel since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion has led to an increase in their visibility in the media, which can be considered an egalitarian trend.The empirical basis of the article is a qualitative content analysis of selected 48 media materials published in the period from February 24, 2022, to April 25, 2024, which contain references to the participation of female military personnel in the Russo-Ukrainian war.Quotes conveying gender-role stereotypes, appearance stereotypes, and gender trait stereotypes were coded within the patriarchal approach. Gender-role stereotypes manifested themselves in narratives about the traditional division of roles, the exoticization of female military personnel, benevolent sexism, and protective paternalism toward military women.Within the framework of the egalitarian approach, two strategies were considered: gender neutrality and gender sensitivity. In the framework of the first, the identity of the “military person” came to the fore, as opposed to the gender identity. In the materials of the sample, this was reflected both in the phrases of the heroines that “there are no men and women at the front”, and from the side of the media, which used similar phrases for the titles of the materials. When applying the strategy of gender sensitivity, women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were discursively singled out in a separate category, in particular, on behalf of the media. It was said that women in the army occupy various positions, both rear and combat, and this is not an anomaly or an exception to the rules. At the same time, the issue of the fact that women face certain challenges (access to military equipment is still quite limited) and have unmet needs, such as the lack of women’s uniforms, equipment, and limitations in personal hygiene, was brought up.

From side‐work to main task: Housing, status, and Tibetan labour migration in Qinghai, China

AbstractAcross China, as in other parts of the world, urbanisation has accelerated at an unprecedented scale over the past 15 years. In farming areas of Qinghai in western China, large‐scale rural–urban movement of Tibetan villagers began around 2010 – a time when state‐led housing subsidy projects were launched. Drawing on ethnographic field research and focusing on the older cohort of rural Tibetan migrants to Xining, the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau, this article explores the complexities and linkages between state‐led housing subsidy projects, status, and Tibetan labour migration. It examines how housing and family status intersect to shape patterns of Tibetan labour migration and gendered divisions of labour. This study highlights an important but less explored factor in migration studies: in my research sites, the recent large‐scale Tibetan labour migration to cities has been driven by the desire to build new houses to secure family status as a result of the motives and social pressure created by state‐led housing subsidy projects.

Juvenile hormone as a key regulator for asymmetric caste differentiation in ants

Caste differentiation involves many functional traits that diverge during larval growth and metamorphosis to produce adults irreversibly adapted to reproductive division of labor. Investigating developmental differentiation is important for general biological understanding and has increasingly been explored for social phenotypes that diverge in parallel from similar genotypes. Here, we use Monomorium pharaonis ants to investigate the extent to which canalized worker development can be shifted toward gyne (virgin-queen) phenotypes by juvenile hormone (JH) treatment. We show that excess JH can activate gyne-biased development in workers so that wing-buds, ocelli, antennal and genital imaginal discs, flight muscles, and gyne-like fat bodies and brains emerge after pupation. However, ovary development remained unresponsive to JH treatment, indicating that JH-sensitive germline sequestration happens well before somatic differentiation. Our findings reveal important qualitative restrictions in the extent to which JH treatment can redirect larval development and that these constraints are independent of body size. Our findings corroborate that JH is a key hormone for inducing caste differentiation but show that this process can be asymmetric for higher colony-level germline versus somatic caste differentiation in superorganisms as defined a century ago by Wheeler. We quantified gene expression changes in response to JH treatment throughout development and identified a set of JH-sensitive genes responsible for the emergence of gyne-like somatic traits. Our study suggests that the gonadotropic role of JH in ovary maturation has shifted from the individual level in solitary insects to the colony level in an evolutionary-derived and highly polygynous superorganism like the pharaoh ant.

A fine-scale atlas reveals the systematic imbalance between carbon emissions and economic benefits along value chain within China

In efforts to achieve the aspiring carbon mitigation goals, China is actively seeking to reconcile the economic development and carbon reduction with diverse regional conditions. Here, we firstly integrated a national-wide atlas on the labor division of production, and decomposed value added and carbon emission along China's domestic value chain during 2007–2017. We found that the value chain roles lead to a systematic imbalance between value added and carbon emissions across regions. Over 70 % of sufferers of the inequality were located at the north, most of which were in the upstream position to supply resource and energy intermediate products of higher on-site emissions and relatively less value added in comparison to the downstream manufacturing and service products production at the coastal regions. As a result, the northern inland suffered a great deal while part of coastal regions and southern inland were beneficiaries in the participation in domestic value chain. In particular, several regions inevitably undertake industries with higher emission intensity and less gains in a sound domestic industrial chain. These strongly call for a systematically policy- or price-based mechanism to explore fair strategy for emission reduction.

Optogenetic patterning generates multi-strain biofilms with spatially distributed antibiotic resistance

Spatial organization of microbes in biofilms enables crucial community function such as division of labor. However, quantitative understanding of such emergent community properties remains limited due to a scarcity of tools for patterning heterogeneous biofilms. Here we develop a synthetic optogenetic toolkit ‘Multipattern Biofilm Lithography’ for rational engineering and orthogonal patterning of multi-strain biofilms, inspired by successive adhesion and phenotypic differentiation in natural biofilms. We apply this toolkit to profile the growth dynamics of heterogeneous biofilm communities, and observe the emergence of spatially modulated commensal relationships due to shared antibiotic protection against the beta-lactam ampicillin. Supported by biophysical modeling, these results yield in-vivo measurements of key parameters, e.g., molecular beta-lactamase production per cell and length scale of antibiotic zone of protection. Our toolbox and associated findings provide quantitative insights into the spatial organization and distributed antibiotic protection within biofilms, with direct implications for future biofilm research and engineering.

Durkheim’s war for civilization

Émile Durkheim’s collaborations with other French intellectuals during the war in various committees and polemical pamphlets, editorials, and scholarly essays are treated here as both a continuation of and a challenge to ideas he had developed earlier concerning social solidarity, the science of sociology, socialism, the modern state, and, ultimately, the moral foundations of civilization itself. Writing on behalf of the French war effort and against German “barbarism,” he tacitly or explicitly developed insights from his books On the Division of Social Labour, Suicide, The Rules of Sociological Method, and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, and he elaborated on themes from his lecture courses on socialism, professional ethics and civic morals, and education. Although his wartime writings were largely commissioned, written, and published as propaganda, they also provided him with an opportunity to test, refine, and in some instances revise sociological arguments he had been working on throughout his career. Rather than bringing Durkheim’s scholarly production to an abrupt halt or signaling a gradual decline in his intellectual capacities, the war provoked him to rethink some of his key sociological ideas and inspired him to take his research program in new directions.

Transcriptome-wide splicing network reveals specialized regulatory functions of the core spliceosome.

The spliceosome is the complex molecular machinery that sequentially assembles on eukaryotic messenger RNA precursors to remove introns (pre-mRNA splicing), a physiologically regulated process altered in numerous pathologies. We report transcriptome-wide analyses upon systematic knock down of 305 spliceosome components and regulators in human cancer cells and the reconstruction of functional splicing factor networks that govern different classes of alternative splicing decisions. The results disentangle intricate circuits of splicing factor cross-regulation, reveal that the precise architecture of late-assembling U4/U6.U5 tri-small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) complexes regulates splice site pairing, and discover an unprecedented division of labor among protein components of U1 snRNP for regulating exon definition and alternative 5' splice site selection. Thus, we provide a resource to explore physiological and pathological mechanisms of splicing regulation.

‘Harsh’ SoMa vs ‘Beige’ Castro: The cross-modal construction of contrasting femininities in queer San Francisco

The study of gender in sociolinguistic variation has long concerned the ways linguistic variables pattern with binary gender identities like male and female, with the implicit assumption that masculine individuals will use variants that index masculinity, and feminine individuals will use variants that index femininity. The emerging field of trans linguistics has built upon insights from queer linguistics and challenged the idea that there must be a one-to-one correspondence between linguistic variants and gender identities. Studies of transgender speakers have illuminated that indexing gender is a process of bricolage, where multiple variables collaborate, and only one needs to index gender in a particular way for the speaker's overall semiotic construction to carry that gendered meaning. Here, I investigate cross-modal bricolage, by exploring how visual gender presentation and three different linguistic variables come together to construct contrasting feminine styles among San Francisco drag queens. Linguistic patterns and aesthetic choices illuminate that bricolage involves a semiotic division of labor, in which only some signs (or modalities) need to index gender to give the overall style that gendered meaning. Concurrently, other signs can contribute qualia to a style's overall qualic cloud, that distinguish the style from others in the semiotic landscape. This exploration illuminates the role of the body in conditioning the indexical potential of linguistic signs, destabilizes monolithic essentializations of trans linguistic practice, and acknowledges the varied ways that gender non-normative identity can manifest across communities.

Who made the mRNA vaccine? Measuring division of labor in therapeutic innovation.

Who made the mRNA vaccine? Measuring division of labor in therapeutic innovation.

Analysis of the reasons for the decline in the marriage rate and fertility rate among women

In recent years, there has been a significant decline in marriage and fertility rates around the world, probably because women are more independent and reluctant to get involved in marriage and pregnancy. Therefore, this article delves into three reasons women are reluctant to marry. From the standpoint of gender mismatch in modern society, fewer men meet women’s needs, creating a mismatch between demand and supply. From the perspective of the contemporary working environment, the improvement of women’s intelligence makes women put more experience into work, and marriage and childbirth may ruin women’s careers. At the same time, sexual harassment in the workplace makes women resentful of men and reluctant to get married. From the perspective of social and cultural influences, the traditional conservative ideas of the past still exist in modern society, which has caused an imbalance in the gender division of labor and made women rebellious. Therefore, women may be reluctant to marry because it becomes a prudent issue and needs to be carefully considered before making a decision.

The gendered division of household labor and decision-making in Tehran, Iran

The division of labor and decision-making within households is highly influenced by gender norms and resource allocation. However, there has been a marked shift away from traditional gender roles in domestic tasks and decision-making in recent years. This study examines the division of domestic responsibilities, childcare, and decision-making within households, as well as the socioeconomic factors that influence these dimensions in Iran. Data come from the “Survey of Married Lifestyle,” which included 1736 married people aged 18 years and over in Tehran, selected through a multi-stage random sampling process. The results reveal that while women are increasingly involved in decision-making, they still primarily shoulder the burden of household chores and childcare. Factors such as women’s education and income, as well as men’s education and dual-earner status, are key determinants of the division of labor in households. Social policies that focus on enhancing women’s access to education and economic opportunities are crucial for promoting gender equality and empowering women in household decision-making.

Don’t forget institutions: a review essay of The Economics of Prosperity

AbstractExchange, division of labor, technology, capital accumulation, and entrepreneurship all contribute to economic growth. In The Economics of Prosperity, Ritenour explains how each of these concepts allow countries to develop and flourish. This book attempts to provide an extensive survey of Austrian literature surrounding development, while still preserving the author’s opinions around debated issues such as the person and function of the entrepreneur. Ritenour also takes the institution of secure private property rights as a given. This paper argues that strong private property rights must precede any discussion of exchange and specialization, particularly because exchange presupposes ownership. The ruler or ruling elites have to concede some power and uphold a strict rule of law to protect private property rights. Additionally, this paper also extends the discussion to cultural and institutional factors behind innovation and economic development, instead of relying on the Weberian work ethic to explain the Industrial Revolution. In short, economic growth requires good economic principles.

10.N. Scientific session: Gender and parenthood: short and long-term income, career, and health inequities

Abstract Despite the last decades’ changes in the distribution of household and child-rearing tasks, its main responsibility tends to fall on women. As such, parenting may remain an important determinant of gender inequalities in income, careers, and health and well-being. In 2022, on average, European women’s gross income was 12.7% below men’s. This income gap is, in part, explained by inequalities in full-time employment: in the EU, 31.5% of women with children worked part-time, which contrasts with 20.2% of women without children, with 4.9% of men with children, and 7.2% of men without children. These income and career impacts may occur due to the persistence of some traditional conceptions of the division of paid and nonpaid labor. These conceptions, and the subsequent inequalities in career progression and income, may be reflected in women’s living conditions, work-family conflict, chronic strain, well-being, and health. Yet, it can also be posited that men, experiencing the pressure to remain the main provider in the family and the most recent expectations to comply with childrearing roles, may also see their well-being and health affected. However, countries with higher gender equity have shown better results in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for women and men. It can be argued that women and men, especially those who have children, benefit from countries with more progressive parental policies, such as longer and more equally divided parental leaves, accessible childcare, or flexible working schemes. It could, thus, be expected that these countries present higher gender equity in paid and nonpaid work division, career progression, and income, with a higher couple balance, and healthier family environments, with health gains for women and men who are parents and their children. This workshop aims to present and open to discussion recent research outcomes on the role of parenthood on income, career, and health inequalities across European countries. It will show results from quantitative and qualitative studies that focus on analyzing these impacts in the short- and long-term. By discussing these results, researchers and public health professionals may grasp parental, labor market, or social policies or health programs to foster gender equality in access to better living conditions and health, especially during and after parenthood. Key messages • Parenthood may widen gender inequities regarding income and career progression, contributing to the gender gap in health and well-being. • By understanding the magnitude of gender inequities and their distribution across countries, public health researchers and professionals may identify policies that effectively address the gender gap.

What’s pension got to do with it? Mortality inequality at older ages

Abstract Background The potential role of social protection systems and welfare states for population health and mortality has attracted increased interest in recent decades but mostly focused on overall characteristics or clusters of countries. Moreover, often neglecting older people even though the great majority of all deaths in high-income countries occur at later ages. We focus on the key social protection scheme for old adults: the generosity of the level of pensions. We compare pensions based on previous work history to basic minimum pensions. Our study is novel both by linking pension system to remaining life expectancy at age 65(LE65+), but also by studying the association to variation in LE65+, since that gives a measure of inequality. We do so across countries and over time. Methods and Materials Our sources of data are from the Human Mortality Database and the Social Policy Indicator Database. Data for OECD countries are matched over a long period of time and analysed by pooled time-series regression analyses with fixed effects. Results Although the results indicate that the generosity of pensions based on both pervious work history and basic minimum income our results primarily show the importance of basic minimum income. Here the effect sizes are larger and especially for women than for men (0.149*** vs. 0,.0715***). Concerning the variation in LE (65+) we find that more generous basic pensions are associated with reduced variation for women -4.64e-05**. Conclusions We provide new insights in how pension policies potentially influence mortality among older persons especially by extending our analyses also to inequality in mortality. Our results points to the importance of basic pensions. The gendered division of labour is a plausible explanation for the findings and to have an adequate pension for all should be of primary concern for public health. Key messages • Adequate basic pension for all of importance for remaining life expectancy among older people. • Adequate basic pension for all of importance for reducing mortality inequality among women.

Education and the spatial division of labour: further education and prospects for ‘Levelling Up’

ABSTRACT The educational solutions put forward in the 2019 Conservative Government's Levelling Up programme privileged higher-level skills training delivered through further education, sidelining traditional university degrees, reflective of broader critiques levelled at the higher education sector in terms of the value for money of some degrees. It goes without saying that further education provides crucial opportunities for many people and our analyses of Linked Educational Outcomes Data (LEO) presented here support previous research on the returns to further education study. However, it also underlines the way returns are contingent upon race, gender, socio-economic status, subject of study and, most importantly, geographic location of employment. This is reflective of the broader spatial division of labour that is the characteristic of the UK economy, which the educational components of Levelling Up did little to disrupt. We argue that the Levelling Up programme maintained the status quo with economically less prosperous localities seen as ‘places of labour’ – serving the controllers of capital in existing prosperous places, where the degree educated must continue to flock to take up the strategic control functions of economic production.