Minor-Obstructions for Apex-Pseudoforests

A graph is called a pseudoforest if none of its connected components contains more than one cycle. A graph is an apex-pseudoforest if it can become a pseudoforest by removing one of its vertices. We identify 33 graphs that form the minor-obstruction set of the class of apex-pseudoforests, i.e., the set of all minor-minimal graphs that are not apex-pseudoforests

Helical Optical Projection Tomography

A new technique termed Helical Optical Projection Tomography (hOPT) has been developed with the aim to overcome some of the limitations of current 3D optical imaging techniques. hOPT is based on Optical Projection Tomography (OPT) with the major difference that there is a translation of the sample in the vertical direction during the image acquisition process, requiring a new approach to image reconstruction. Contrary to OPT, hOPT makes possible to obtain 3D-optical images of intact long samples without imposing limits on the sample length. This has been tested using hOPT to image long murine tissue samples such as spinal cords and large intestines. Moreover, 3D-reconstructed images of the colon of DSS-treated mice, a model for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, allowed the identification of the structural alterations. Finally, the geometry of the hOPT device facilitates the addition of a Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) arm, providing the possibility of delivering high resolution images of selected areas together with complete volumetric informationThis work was partially supported by EC FP7 collaborative grant FMT-XCT and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. A.A. wishes to acknowledge support from Marie Curie IEF-2010-275137. J.R. wishes to acknowledge support from EC FP7 IMI project PREDICT-TB, and the EC FP7 CIG grant HIGH-THROUGHPUT TOMO. D.D., S.Z. and J.T. acknowledge support from the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) under Grant 2011CB707700, the Fellowship for Young International Scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant 2010Y2GA03, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 81101084 and Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant No. YZ201164Publicad

The swift unravelling: party system change and de-institutionalization in Greece during the crisis

The chapter offers a detailed discussion of the radical transformation of the Greek party system since the beginning of the economic crisis in the country in early 2010. By comparing the Greek party system before and after the onset of the crisis, the argument is put forth that the Greek party system has transformed rapidly and profoundly on most meaningful dimensions: the number of parties and the overall fragmentation of the system, the degree of electoral volatility, the type of governments, the dimensions and logic of party competition, the degree of polarization, the reintroduction of centrifugal dynamics and, generally, the degree of institutionalization of the party system. On many of these dimensions, the economic crisis arguably acted as a catalyst, pushing the Greek party system to make a sudden leap towards the same direction that other Western parties also moved, albeit in more gradual, incremental steps.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Presence and distribution of urocortin and corticotrophin-releasing hormone receptors in the bovine thyroid gland

Urocortin (UCN), a 40 amino acid peptide is a Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone (CRH) related peptide. The biological actions of CRH family peptides are mediated via two types of G-protein coupled receptors, CRH type 1 (CRHR1) and CRH type 2 (CRHR2). The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of UCN, CRHR1 and CRHR2 by immunoprecipitation, Western blot, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR in the bovine thyroid gland. Immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis showed that tissue extracts reacted with the anti-UCN, -CRHR1 and –CRHR2 antibodies. RT-PCR experiments demonstrated that mRNAs of UCN, CRHR1 and CRHR2 were expressed. UCN-immunoreactivity (IR) and CRHR2–IR were found in the thyroid follicular and parafollicular cells and CRHR1-IR in the smooth muscle of the blood vessels. These results suggest that a regulatory system exists in the bovine thyroid gland based on UCN, CRHR1 and CRHR2 and that UCN plays a role in the regulation of thyroid physiological functions through an autocrine/paracrine mechanis

Untangling the Links between Ideology and Euroscepticism!

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014.The paper examines the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology in Western European countries and focuses on how this relationship is mediated by party system characteristics and partisanship. Additionally, we explore some distinctive national patterns in the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology by focusing on four South European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), which despite their similar historical and social trajectories, as well as common experiences during the euro crisis in relation to the other Western European nations, they deviate in different ways from the European-wide pattern of interaction between ideology and Euroscepticism. Using data from the European Election Study of 2014 and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we show that the relationship between ideology and Euroscepticism can be heavily influenced by characteristics at the level of the party system, such as degree of party system polarization and the levels of supply of left-wing and right-wing Euroscepticism, as well as individual party legacies that can filter the ideology-Euroscepticism relationship through the influence of partisanship. Our findings highlight the importance of parties and party leadership in the future development of Euroscepticism within European polities as evidenced by the distinct national trajectories of Euroscepticism. Political entrepreneurs have the power to directly or indirectly politicize the issue of Europe and to help determine the overall level of Euroscepticism within a specific polity by providing cues to the electorate and mainly to their core partisans.publishersversionpublishe

Losers of globalization, losers in representation? The impact of education on unequal policy representation in Europe

The article focuses on the impact of education on policy representation. It examines degrees of congruence between political elites and citizens on policy preferences across different policy issues, trying to discern whether there is a representation gap between the so-called “winners” and “losers” of globalization in Europe as captured via the proxy measure of educational attainment. Additionally, we examine whether this representation gap, as well as overall levels of congruence, are affected by contextual factors related to the economy and the ideological orientation of governments. Using data from the 2014 European Election Studies and the 2014 Chapel Hill Expert Survey, our findings largely confirm the existence of a representation gap along educational lines. Contextual factors related to the economy present weak or no direct and moderating effects whereas ideologically left-leaning governments accentuate, for the most part, the representation gap between individuals of low and high educational attainment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio