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This article introduces supervised machine learning to the study of German strategic culture, analyzing both how German strategic culture has changed and the impact of strategic culture on Germany'...

This article contributes to theoretical integration in foreign policy analysis, by integrating two explanatory concepts that have mainly been used separately, namely the strategic culture of elites and the operational code of individual decision-makers. The explanatory power of using both concepts is illustrated in a case study of Australian foreign policy regarding the multinational coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The main argument is that strategic culture can provide a reasonable explanation for Australia's overall military engagement in the coalition. However, to explain Australia's approach to the coalition, strategic culture must be complemented with the operational code. The article suggests that the character of strategic culture can influence the opportunities for decision-makers to have an individual impact on foreign policy.

This article aims at clearing up a widespread misunderstanding in previous research that the classical strategic perspective, based on the writings of Carl von Clausewitz and his contemporary follo...

An induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line (MPIi008-A) was generated from fibroblasts of a 1-year-old male patient with Denys-Drash syndrome using lentiviral delivery of reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC. The MPIi008-A iPSC line exhibited typical iPSC morphology and normal karyotype, expressed pluripotent stem cell markers, and showed developmental potential to differentiate into derivatives of all three germ layers in vivo. The hiPSC line harbours a heterozygous missense mutation (R394L) in exon 9 of the WT1 gene.

This thesis aims at using novel machine learning techniques to test the dynamics of the Universe via the cosmological redshift-distance test. Currently, one of the most outstanding questions in cosmology is the physical cause of the accelerating cosmic expansion observed with supernovae. Simultaneously, tensions in measurements of the Hubble expansion parameter $H_0$ are emerging. Measuring the Universe expansion with next generation galaxy imaging surveys, such as provided by the Vera Rubin Observatory, offers the opportunity to discover new physics governing the Universe dynamics. In this thesis, with the long-term goal to unravel these peculiarities, we create a deep generative model in the form of a convolutional variational auto-encoder (VAE), trained with a "Variational Mixture of Posteriors" prior (VampPrior) and high-resolution galaxy images from the simulation project \texttt{TNG-50}. Our model is able to learn a prior on the visual features of galaxies and can generate synthetic galaxy images which preserve the coarse features (shape, size, inclination, and surface brightness profile), but not finer morphological features, such as spiral arms. The generative model for galaxy images is applicable to uses outside the scope of this thesis and is thus a contribution in itself. We next implement a cosmological pinhole camera model, taking angular diameter changes with redshift into account, to forward simulate the actual observation on a telescope detector. Building upon the hypothesis that certain features of galaxies should be of proper physical sizes, we use probabilistic triangulation to find the comoving distance $r(z,\Omega)$ to these in a flat ($K=0$) Universe. Using a sample of high-resolution galaxy images from redshifts $z\in[0.05,0.5]$ from \texttt{TNG-50}, we demonstrate that the implemented Bayesian inference approach successfully estimates $r(z)$ within $1\sigma$-error ($\Delta r_{\text{est}} = 140$ $(580)$ Mpc for $z=0.05$ $(0.5)$). Including the surface brightness attenuation and utilizing the avalanche of upcoming galaxy images could significantly lower the uncertainties. This thesis thus shows a promising path forward utilizing novel machine learning techniques and massive next-generation imaging data to improve and generalize the traditional cosmological angular-diameter test, which in turn has the potential to increase our understanding of the Universe. Denna avhandling syftar till att använda nya maskininlärningstekniker för att testa universums dynamik via det kosmologiska rödförskjutningsavståndstestet. För närvarande är en av de mest framstående frågorna inom kosmologi den fysiska orsaken till den accelererande kosmiska expansionen som observerats med supernovor. Samtidigt uppstår spänningar i mätningar av Hubble-expansionsparametern $H_0$. Att mäta universums expansion med nästa generations galaxundersökningar, såsom de som ska genomföras av Vera Rubin Observatory, ger möjlighet att upptäcka ny fysik som styr universums dynamik. I den andan skapar vi i den här avhandlingen en djup generativ modell i form av en "convolutional variational auto-encoder" (VAE), tränad med en "Variational Mixture of Posteriors" prior (VampPrior) och högupplösta galaxbilder från simuleringsprojektet \texttt{TNG-50}. Vår modell kan lära sig en "prior" om galaxernas visuella egenskaper och kan generera syntetiska galaxbilder som bevarar de grova dragen (form, storlek, lutning och ytans ljusprofil), men inte finare morfologiska egenskaper, såsom spiralarmar. Den generativa modellen för galaxbilder är tillämplig på användningar som inte omfattas av denna avhandling och är därmed ett bidrag i sig. Därefter implementerar vi en kosmologisk hålkameramodell, med vilken hänsyn till förändringar i vinkelstorleken med rödförskjutning tas, för att framåt-simulera den faktiska observationen på en teleskopdetektor. Med utgångspunkt från hypotesen att galaxer i grunden borde ha gemensamma egenskaper med liknande fysiska storlekar, använder vi probabilistisk triangulering för att hitta avståndet (s.k. "comoving distance") $ r (z, \Omega) $ till dessa i ett platt ($ K = 0 $) universum. Med hjälp av ett urval av högupplösta galaxbilder från rödförskjutningar $ z \in [0.05,0.5] $ från \texttt {TNG-50} visar vi att den implementerade "Bayesian inference"-metoden framgångsrikt uppskattar $ r (z) $ inom $ 1 \sigma $ felmarginaler ($ \Delta r _ {\text{est}} = 140 $ $ (580) $ Mpc för $ z = 0,05 $ $ (0,5) $). Att inkludera dämpning i ytljusstyrka med rödförskjutning och att använda den massiva mängd av kommande galaxbilder skulle kunna minska den erhållna osäkerheten betydligt. Denna avhandling visar således en lovande väg framåt med nya maskininlärningstekniker och kommande enorma mängder av galaxbilder för att förbättra och generalisera det traditionella kosmologiska vinkeldiametertestet, vilket i sin tur har potentialen att öka vår förståelse om universum.

Ensuring safety through set invariance has proven a useful method in a variety of applications in robotics and control. However, finding analytical expressions for maximal invariant sets, so as to maximize the operational freedom of the system without compromising safety, is notoriously difficult for high-dimensional systems with input constraints. Here we present a generic method for characterizing invariant sets of nth-order integrator systems, based on analyzing roots of univariate polynomials. Additionally, we obtain analytical expressions for the orders n ≤ 4. Using differential flatness we subsequently leverage the results for the n = 4 case to the problem of obstacle avoidance for quadrotor UAVs. The resulting controller has a light computational footprint that showcases the power of finding analytical expressions for control-invariant sets.

Studies on aquatic biodiversity in different waterbody types have attracted significant attention worldwide to achieve the goal of freshwater conservation. Different freshwater habitats can help maintain regional biodiversity by directly supporting aquatic plants and forming networks to promote aquatic dispersal across regions. However, few studies have conducted large-scale comparisons of macrophyte diversity among different waterbody types in China due to a lack of a national macrophyte dataset. Here, we compared species richness, species composition, beta diversity, and its components among ponds, ditches, disturbed ponds, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs in southern China. We found that macrophyte species composition overlapped in the different waterbody types, indicating similar regional species pools. Species composition was best explained by temperature, elevation, and flow velocity. For species richness, ponds supported the highest number of species, followed by lakes, ditches, rivers, and reservoirs, with disturbed ponds showing the lowest diversity. For beta diversity, the relatively low turnover and high nestedness in the lakes indicated high dispersal of macrophyte species throughout these water bodies or suggested that human disturbance in lakes may lead to a more uniform chemical environment and thus regional macrophyte community. This study emphasized the importance of maintaining the diversity of different waterbody types in the landscape and determining the most threatened freshwater habitats. Moreover, small water bodies (e.g., ponds) contribute more to the regional macrophyte species pool than permanent water bodies (e.g., lakes) due to their relatively high biodiversity value. Their stable hydrological environment may help maintain rare and uncommon species that do not appear in other waterbody types.

This article contributes to an explanation of why Poland, after a period of almost two years’ hesitation, decided to dispatch military forces to the United States-led coalition against the Islamic ...

The damming of rivers results in hydrological modifications that not only affect the aquatic ecosystem but also adjoining terrestrial systems. Thirteen dams commissioned along the Wujiang River hav...

This article integrates literature on strategic culture with literature on the domestic politics of foreign policy, illustrating how the interaction of culture and domestic political calculation ca ...

This article investigates how strategic culture influenced the decision-making of Australia and Poland regarding the global coalition against the Islamic State. In the coalition, Australia has followed its tradition of active participation in United States-led operations, while Poland has embarked on a more cautious line, thereby breaking with its previous policy of active participation. The article examines how Australian and Polish responses to the coalition were shaped by five cultural elements: dominant threat perception, core task of the armed forces, strategic partners, experiences of participating in coalitions of the willing, and approach to the international legality of expeditionary operations. It finds that Australia and Poland differed on all five elements but that the major differences are found in dominant threat perception and core task of the armed forces.

Den senaste teknologiska utvecklingen har gjort det möjligt att miniatyrisera optiska komponenter ner på ett fotoniskt integrerat kretskort. Sammankopplingen mellan olika komponenter möjliggörs av vågledare, i vilka informationsbäraren, en enskild foton, propagerar. En förutsättning för fungerande fotoniska chip är effektiv koppling av icke-klassiskt ljus in i kretsen. I detta arbete har denna kopplingseffektivitet från en fotonkälla, approximerad som en dipol, in i en vågledare simuleringats. Ett vanligt förekommande material med högt brytningsindex, kiselnitrat Si3N4, har använts som bandvågledare, placerad på ett underlag av kiseloxid SiO2 och med luft runtomkring. För att lösa Maxwells ekvationer i vågledarstrukturen har finita differensmetoden i tidsdomän (FDTD) använts i mjukvara från Lumerical. Det visas att för ljusspektrat med våglängder från 750 till 800 nm och en vågledare med tvärsnitt 600x250 nm, propagerar de fundamentala transversella elektriska (TE) och transversella magnetiska (TM) moderna. Kopplingseffektiviteten visas nå värden på 7 % i varje rikting när dipolen placeras ovanpå vågledaren. Om dipolen däremot placeras framför vågledaren nås en kopplingseffektivitet på över 50 %. Vidare visas det att 2D-fotonkällor som ligger i vågledarens plan, approximerade av dipoler i vågledarens plan, ger bättre resutlat än motsvarande ur dipolens plan. Dessa resultat presenterar sålunda bevis för att det är möjligt att nå avsevärt större koppling av ljus från kvantprickar av 2D-material än vad som åstadkommits experimentellt. Recent technological advances have made it possible to miniaturize and integrate optical components in quantum circuits. The connection between different components is enabled by waveguides, which support the propagation of the information carrier, a single-photon. A prerequisite for functioning quantum photonic chips is the efficient coupling of non-classical light into the circuit. In this work, this coupling efficiency from an on-chip single-photon source, approximated by a dipole, into a waveguide has been simulated. The high refractive index material silicon nitride Si3N4 has been used as a strip waveguide, placed on top of a silicon oxide SiO2 wafer with surrounding air. To solve Maxwell’s equations in the structures, the finite difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been used through software by Lumerical. It is shown that for the light spectrum with wavelengths 750 to 800 nm a waveguide with cross section dimensions 600x250 nm supports the fundamental transversal electric (TE) and transversal magnetic (TM) modes. The coupling efficiency is shown to reach 7 % in each direction when the dipole is placed on top of the waveguide. Having the dipole on in front of the waveguide, however, results in over 50 % coupling in the forward direction. Additionally, it is shown that in-plane 2D-material single-photon emitters, approximated by in-plane dipoles, give better results than out-of-plane dipoles for most of the tested configurations. In conclusion, these results present evidence for a substantially higher coupling efficiency from 2D-material quantum dots than have been achieved in experiments.

Caitlin DeSilvey has written a pleasant and thought provoking book. It is at turns travelogue, contemplation, field notebook, dispatches from the heritage front line. At times it even takes a turn ...

Transient expression of the transcription factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and C-MYC (OSKM) to induce partial reprogramming while avoiding the pluripotent state and teratoma formation has recently been discussed as a strategy for regenerating damaged tissues in vivo, whereby the impact of partial reprogramming on tissue repair remains to be elucidated. Here, we activated OSKM transcription factors in cutaneous wounds of OSKM-inducible transgenic mice and found that induction of OSKM factors in excisional wounds caused a diminished fibroblast transdifferentiation to myofibroblasts and wound contraction. Gene expression analyses showed downregulation of the profibrotic marker genes transforming growth factor beta 1, Collagen I, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Consequently, histological analyses demonstrated that OSKM induction in incisional wounds resulted in reduced scar tissue formation. These data provide proof of concept that OSKM-mediated partial reprogramming in situ can diminish fibrosis and improve tissue healing with less scar formation without the risk of tumor formation. This new insight into the effects of partial reprogramming in vivo may be relevant for developing reprogramming-based regenerative therapies for tissue injury and fibrotic diseases.

The damming of rivers results in hydrological modifications that not only affect the aquatic ecosystem but also adjoining terrestrial systems. Thirteen dams commissioned along the Wujiang River have induced ecological problems, including decreased water turbidity and loss of biodiversity, which potentially influence ecosystem net primary production (NPP) and hence the sequestration, transformation, and storage of carbon. We used terrestrial NPP (NPPT) as a bioindicator to assess the impact of dams on carbon storage in the Wujiang catchment. MODIS satellite and meteorological data were used as inputs to the CASA model to calculate annual NPPT from 2000 to 2014. NPPT was calculated at the catchment and landscape scale to quantify the impact of dams on surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. Mean NPPT was calculated for concentric buffer zones covering a range of spatial extents (0–10 km) from the reservoir shoreline. We found a negligible impact from construction of a single dam on NPPT at the catchment scale. By contrast, the impact of dam construction was scale-dependent, with a stronger landscape-scale effect observed at short distances (i.e., 0–1 km) from the reservoir. Decreases in NPPT were mainly ascribed to the loss of vegetated land resulting from dam impoundment and subsequent urbanization of the surrounding area.

Four personal observations on Corbyn’s policy document, The Arts (2015). Each contributor has taken his or her own approach to reflecting on what this document tells us about how Jeremy Corbyn might approach cultural policy, should he ever find himself in Downing Street. What is noticeable across all of these observations is the degree to which each of the writers feels that they have “heard it all before”. Whether it was in the 1970s, the 1990s, in the promises of another party or in the pages of another report, publicly backing the arts appears to be a tactic that many of those offering a new political direction have chosen to adopt. This raises two questions. First why, when it comes to arts policy, the majority of these supposed radicals revert to primarily offering more of the same? And second, why do so many of those in the cultural sector who present themselves as the vanguard of progressive politics seem so keen to support pro- posed cultural policies that in their familiarity are so conservative?

This article investigates why the governments of Australia and Poland decided to contribute military forces to the United States led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 when a majority of Australian and Polish citizens were opposed to national involvement in the invasion. The objective of the article is to increase understanding of the conditions under which governments ignore the public in their foreign policymaking. The article examines the explanatory power of four intervening variables: issue salience, elite debate, timing of the next election and the importance assigned to international gains by the government. On the basis of the Direct Method of Agreement, the article concludes that government perceptions of international gains and the timing of the next election were potentially necessary factors for the outcomes of the cases, while issue salience and elite debate were not necessary conditions. A distant election may, thus, provide sufficient electoral protection for a government that conducts a foreig...

I’m one of those strange people that inhabits the world in between academia, public policy, and the cultural sector. My work requires me to be a diplomat, a missionary, and a translator. I was ther...

Jonathan Meades's varied career as a novelist, critic and broadcaster has never really attracted academic attention. This is a shame. In the last 10 years a UK audience has seen him presenting genr...

If one were engaged in the wearisome task of anthologising cultural policy grey literature, This England would warrant inclusion, joining such unlikely bedfellows as John Maynard Keynes' 1945 Liste...

This article examines the necessary conditions behind the decision made by the Government of Sweden to participate with fighter jets in the monitoring of the no-fly zone over Libya in March 2011. The article identifies five explanatory factors whose presence was necessary for Sweden's military contribution: a feeling of moral obligation to intervene on the part of the government; the international legal foundation for the operation; strong leadership provided by NATO; broad parliamentary support; and the availability of military capabilities.

The study of place-based cultural policy has tended to favour cities, with occasional forays into rural communities (Bell & Jayne, 2010; Stevenson, 2013). It’s easy to understand why – the world is...

It can’t be easy to write a compelling history of a federal agency dedicated to the sober and sensible disbursement of public money to the arts. Especially when that agency is Canadian: a nation wi...

What connects landscape with branding? Capitalism has come along and found a way to imbue the former with the qualities of the latter. Why? In order that someone makes a buck or two? Naturally. But...

This article emphasizes how individual decision-makers and their perceptions of windows of opportunity can play a decisive role for major changes in the foreign policy of states by conducting two case studies. The first case is the change that occurred in Denmark’s foreign policy in August 1990 when its government dispatched a warship to the Persian Gulf to participate in the monitoring of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq. The second case is the change that occurred in Australia’s foreign policy in April–May 2003 when its government abandoned Australia’s long-standing “hands-off” approach toward Solomon Islands by leading a multinational military intervention. The article demonstrates that individual decision-makers, with a long-standing desire to change policy, perceived structural changes as a window of opportunity for initiating the desired policy changes. The article concludes that, had it not been for these particular individuals, and their perceptions of the world around them, events would most likely have unfolded in a different way.

This article asks why the Government of Poland participated in the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 when a large majority of the Polish public was opposed to national involvement in Iraq. The aim is to further an understanding of the circumstances under which democratic governments ignore public opinion in their foreign policy decision-making. The article argues that a combination of three circumstances increased the willingness of the government to ignore the public. First, the Iraq issue had relatively low salience among the Polish voters, which decreased the domestic political risks of pursuing the policy. Second, the government's Iraq policy was supported by a considerable consensus among the political elite. Third, the political elites were unified in their perceptions that participating in the invasion would yield essential international gains for Poland.

In contrast to most previous research on foreign-policy change, this article investigates how an individual decision-maker can have an impact on major changes in foreign policy. The article takes as its theoretical point of departure the concept of leader-driven change, which focuses on the determined efforts of a political leader to change policy. Empirically, the article investigates the change that occurred in Denmark’s foreign policy when its government decided to participate in the United Nations sanctions against Iraq in August 1990. The article finds that the foreign minister was the main initiator of the policy change, that his personal characteristics played a decisive role, and that the Gulf crisis created a window of opportunity for the foreign minister to initiate the change in policy. In implementing the policy change, however, the foreign minister could not act independently, since he needed the support of other political actors. On the basis of these empirical findings, the article suggests a new theory of foreign-policy change.

Complete cytoreduction is the most important prognostic factor in ovarian cancer. However, there exist conflicting data on whether the removal of microscopic tumor metastasis in macroscopically unsuspicious retroperitoneal lymph nodes is beneficial.Ovarian cancer tissues and tissues from lymph node metastasis of 30 patients with FIGO IIIC or IV disease undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) were obtained and assessed using a validated regression score. Histopathological markers, size of largest tumor focus, and overall score were evaluated in lymph node and ovarian tissue. Regression and known prognostic factors were analyzed for influence on survival.No difference in the overall score between lymph nodes and ovarian tissue was shown, however, single parameters such as fibrosis and pattern of tumor infiltration, were significantly different.The pattern of tumor regression in lymph nodes and ovarian tissue are of prognostic value. Lymph node dissection even of unsuspicious nodes should, therefore, be performed.

The sixth chapter studies Polish strategic culture and participation (two instances) and non-participation (two instances) in the operations studied in this book. Poland is, like Greece, one of the countries where the normative framework has emphasised territorial defence, achieved mainly through the presence of the armed forces at home. The importance of participation in international operations for national security has varied after 9/11. The president is responsible for decisions on participation in international operations, but the prime minister is also involved in the process. The parliament on the other hand plays a marginal role, and the armed forces are also kept at a distance in this process.

Dermatomyositis (DM) can occur in both adults and juveniles with considerable clinical differences. The links between immune-mediated mechanisms and vasculopathy with respect to development of perifascicular pathology are incompletely understood. We investigated skeletal muscle from newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve juvenile (jDM) and adult dermatomyositis (aDM) patients focusing on hypoxia-related pathomechanisms, vessel pathology, and immune mechanisms especially in the perifascicular region. Therefore, we assessed the skeletal muscle biopsies from 21 aDM, and 15 jDM patients by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Transcriptional analyses of genes involved in hypoxia, as well as in innate and adaptive immunity were performed by quantitative Polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of whole tissue cross sections including perifascicular muscle fibers. Through these analysis, we found that basic features of DM, like perifascicular atrophy and inflammatory infiltrates, were present at similar levels in jDM and aDM patients. However, jDM was characterized by predominantly hypoxia-driven pathology in perifascicular small fibers and by macrophages expressing markers of hypoxia. A more pronounced regional loss of capillaries, but no relevant activation of type-1 Interferon (IFN)-associated pathways was noted. Conversely, in aDM, IFN-related genes were expressed at significantly elevated levels, and Interferon-stimulated gene (ISG)15 was strongly positive in small perifascicular fibers whereas hypoxia-related mechanisms did not play a significant role. In our study we could provide new molecular data suggesting a conspicuous pathophysiological ‘dichotomy’ between jDM and aDM: In jDM, perifascicular atrophy is tightly linked to hypoxia-related pathology, and poorly to innate immunity. In aDM, perifascicular atrophy is prominently associated with molecules driving innate immunity, while hypoxia-related mechanisms seem to be less relevant. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40478-016-0308-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The article sets out to further an understanding of how domestic politics can impact on foreign policy change in small states. The case of interest is the change that occurred in the foreign policy of Denmark when its government managed to put an end to the ‘footnote policy’ in mid-1988. The main conclusion is that changes in two particular domestic political factors, in terms of political party opposition and public opposition, facilitated a change in foreign policy for the Danish government. Changes in party and public opposition created opportunities for the government to use foreign policy change as a strategy to increase its political power on the domestic scene. In this case of foreign policy change, domestic political factors and external forces were equally important.

(2011). Laurajane Smith and Emma Waterton, Heritage, Communities and Archaeology; Jeremy A. Sabloff, Archaeology Matters: Action Archaeology in the Modern World. European Journal of Archaeology: Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 516-519.

This article compares the marine element of the UK Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) historic environment programme with other international management policies relating to heritage assets, in the context of the international marine aggregates industry. The article identifies by comparison the distinctive value of marine historic environment involvement in the ALSF alongside other forms of heritage management policy or practice currently applied in other nations that might be successfully applied in the UK in relation to marine heritage sites impacted by aggregate extraction. The article also identifies issues addressed by ALSF projects that have the potential for delivering 'added value' for other areas of marine planning and development, and promotes the international leadership role of the UK in the innovative management of marine heritage sites.

(2008). Archaeology and Capitalism: From Ethics to Politics. Public Archaeology: Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 202-205.

In human epilepsy, pharmacoresistance to antiepileptic drug therapy is a major problem affecting a substantial fraction of patients. Many of the currently available antiepileptic drugs target voltage-gated sodium channels, leading to a rate-dependent suppression of neuronal discharge. A loss of use-dependent block has emerged as a potential cellular mechanism of pharmacoresistance for anticonvulsants acting on voltage-gated sodium channels. There is a need both for compounds that overcome this resistance mechanism and for novel drugs that inhibit the process of epileptogenesis. We show that eslicarbazepine acetate, a once-daily antiepileptic drug, may constitute a candidate compound that addresses both issues. Eslicarbazepine acetate is converted extensively to eslicarbazepine after oral administration. We have first tested using patch-clamp recording in human and rat hippocampal slices if eslicarbazepine, the major active metabolite of eslicarbazepine acetate, shows maintained activity in chronically epileptic tissue. We show that eslicarbazepine exhibits maintained use-dependent blocking effects both in human and experimental epilepsy with significant add-on effects to carbamazepine in human epilepsy. Second, we show that eslicarbazepine acetate also inhibits Cav3.2 T-type Ca(2+) channels, which have been shown to be key mediators of epileptogenesis. We then examined if transitory administration of eslicarbazepine acetate (once daily for 6 weeks, 150 mg/kg or 300 mg/kg) after induction of epilepsy in mice has an effect on the development of chronic seizures and neuropathological correlates of chronic epilepsy. We found that eslicarbazepine acetate exhibits strong antiepileptogenic effects in experimental epilepsy. EEG monitoring showed that transitory eslicarbazepine acetate treatment resulted in a significant decrease in seizure activity at the chronic state, 8 weeks after the end of treatment. Moreover, eslicarbazepine acetate treatment resulted in a significant decrease in mossy fibre sprouting into the inner molecular layer of pilocarpine-injected mice, as detected by Timm staining. In addition, epileptic animals treated with 150 mg/kg, but not those that received 300 mg/kg eslicarbazepine acetate showed an attenuated neuronal loss. These results indicate that eslicarbazepine potentially overcomes a cellular resistance mechanism to conventional antiepileptic drugs and at the same time constitutes a potent antiepileptogenic agent.

De invoering van de OV-chipkaart heeft geleid tot een nauwkeurig inzicht in het reisgedrag van reizigers. Hoewel niet alle gegevens beschikbaar zijn om privacy en concurrentie overwegingen, bied de beschikbare informatie veel onderzoeksmogelijkheden. Wanneer het mogelijk is om het verplaatsingsgedrag van busreizigers nauwkeurig te voorspellen met modellen, kunnen vervoerders hier gebruik van maken voor het ontwerpen van hun lijnennet en de dienstregeling. De vraag is of het mogelijk is om met de beschikbare OV-chipkaartdata en andere databronnen het reisgedrag van busreizigers nauwkeurig te beschrijven. Daarnaast is het de vraag hoe generiek dit reisgedrag is. Deze paper gaat in op deze vragen. Met behulp van OV-chipkaartdata en sociaaleconomische en ruimtelijke data is een unimodaal vierstapsmodel ontwikkeld. Er is gebruik gemaakt van OV-chipkaartdata van Breda en Tilburg, beschikbaar gesteld door Veolia Transport. Daarnaast is data van onder andere het CBS en DUO gebruikt. De modellen zijn ontwikkeld voor Breda en vervolgens toegepast op Tilburg om de generaliseerbaarheid van de modellen te testen. De resultaten van het onderzoek zijn veelbelovend. De ritproductie en –attractie in Breda bleek heel goed overeen te komen met de werkelijkheid met een R2 van ruim boven de 0,9 voor zowel productie als attractie. Ook de gekalibreerde distributiefunctie geeft een zeer goed resultaat in Breda. De uiteindelijke toedeling van de reizigersdistributie wijkt ongeveer 5% af van de waarnemingen. Ook het toepassen van het Breda model in Tilburg geeft vrij goede resultaten. De ritproductie en –attractie hebben beiden een R2 van ruim boven de 0,9. De resultaten zijn iets minder goed dan bij toepassing in Breda, maar nog altijd behoorlijk goed. Ook toepassing van het distributiemodel geeft een zeer goed resultaat. De toedeling van de reizigersdistributie wijkt ongeveer 12% af van de waarnemingen. Op basis van dit onderzoek kan geconcludeerd worden dat er met de OV-chipkaart data mogelijk is om een vrij nauwkeurig unimodaal model te ontwikkelen. Aangezien in dit onderzoek slechts twee steden zijn beschouwd is verder onderzoek noodzakelijk. Uiteindelijk zou dit moeten leiden tot een tool waarmee vervoerders inzicht krijgen in het reisgedrag van hun passagiers.

I couldn’t resist it, ‘sure, all archaeological digs in the UK take place over three days, it’s the law’. The man stood at the bar, evidently surprised to learn of this. Working in a London pub for four years brings you face-to-face with the state of archaeology in popular culture and the ubiquity of Time Team. I needed a change from the stock reply that, ‘not all archaeologists have beards and funny jumpers, they spend years analysing finds before publishing their results to less public recognition than I get for unblocking the gents’. Cornelius Holtorf (more than any other contemporary academic) comes closest to understanding such an exchange. His ability to combine the perspective from in front of the TV with that from the ivory tower remains a rare skill. It is apt, therefore, that he should follow up From Stonehenge to Las Vegas with further examination of the meaning of archaeology in contemporary popular culture. A prerequisite of such a task is an understanding of contemporary popular culture itself. What exactly constitutes contemporary popular culture? Reality TV? Football? Urban music? Computer games? Celebrity gossip magazines? The Internet? It is all of these and more. Are they understood by academics? Unlikely. The majority come from a generation for whom ‘text’ will never be a verb. Worse still, from an intellectual environment in which, thanks to the pervasive influence of Baudrillard, Derrida and other purveyors of what Dawkins calls ‘haute francophonyism’, the status of ‘text’ is elevated beyond that of reality. However, at first sight the signs are encouraging as Holtorf continues with the informal style that marks out his books for either ridicule or reverence. This word deserves more of the latter than the former. From the start you know this is going to be something a bit different. He has not followed Stephanie Moser, Ian Russell et al. (and there are numerous alii) onto the postmodernist representation bandwagon. Instead Holtorf has invented his own bandwagon. The book begins by explaining the ways in which archaeology might appeal to popular culture, and how Holtorf has gone about studying the subject (focusing on the UK, Germany and Sweden). We are then offered a peek at the author’s travel journal as he visits the UK (at least that part which is on the East Coast Mainline and no further north than York), taking in sights like Flag Fen and chatting to people at the York Archaeological Trust. Holtorf then examines archaeology in the mass media, primarily television and newspapers. Next the author reviews existing surveys that have examined the public’s attitude towards archaeology. He finds there is an almost universal appetite for excavation, along with an appreciation of the role of television in informing the public about

Neuromuscular involvement may affect more then 60% of patients suffering from sarcoidosis. We have recently described that macrophages and giant cells in skeletal muscle exhibit an unexpected status of alternative activation (M2). Objective: The intrinsic immune signature of the granulomas, was compared to the cytokine profile of adjacent non-inflamed muscle tissue and to healthy control muscle. Granulomas and contiguous muscle from 9 patients with biopsy-proven neuromuscular sarcoidosis were cut out by laser capture microdissection (LCM). Markers and activators of the T helper cell 1 (Th1) – classical macrophage activation (M1) and Th2 – alternatively activated (M2) immune response as well as molecules involved in giant cell development were assessed by real-time PCR. STAT-6-induced Th2 immunity leads to upregulated expression of CD206 and SOCS1 in the granuloma in comparison to adjacent tissue. DAP12 and RAC1, genes that regulate giant cell formation, are significantly induced in the granulomas. Conversely, STAT-1-induced Th1 immunity, IFN γ and CXCR3 are expressed in the granulomas and the surrounding tissue at elevated levels, however without statistical differences. While Th1-mediated immunity is upregulated in the whole inflamed muscle specimen, Th2-M2 markers are expressed at significantly higher levels in the granulomata. These results indicate that muscle tissue per se may provide a permissive environment for M2 polarisation in neuromuscular sarcoidosis.