Genomic characterization of the human DNA excision repair gene ERCC-1.

In this report the genomic characterization of the human excision repair gene ERCC-1 is presented. The gene consists of 10 exons spread over approximately 15 kb. By means of a transfection assay the ERCC-1 promoter was confined to a region of + 170 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site. Classical promoter elements like CAAT, TATA and GC-boxes are absent from this region. Furthermore, ERCC-1 transcription is not UV-inducible. A possible explanation is provided for the previously reported alternative splicing of exon VIII. Analysis of ERCC-1 cDNA clones revealed the occurrence of differential polyadenylation which gives ERCC-1 transcripts of 3.4 and 3.8 kb in addition to the major 1.1 kb mRNA. Apparent evolutionary conservation of differential polyadenylation of ERCC-1 transcripts suggests a possible role for this mode of RNA processing in the ERCC-1 repair function

Methodology for Estimating the Lifelong Exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 - The Application to European Population Subgroups

Health impacts of air pollutants, especially fine particles (PM2.5) and NO2, have been documented worldwide by epidemiological studies. Most of the existing studies utilised the concentration measured at the ambient stations to represent the pollutant inhaled by individuals. However, these measurement data are in fact not able to reflect the real concentration a person is exposed to since people spend most of their time indoors and are also affected by indoor sources. The authors developed a probabilistic methodology framework to simulate the lifelong exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 simultaneously for population subgroups that are characterised by a number of indicators such as age, gender and socio-economic status. The methodology framework incorporates the methods for simulating the long-term outdoor air quality, the pollutant concentration in different micro-environments, the time-activity pattern of population subgroups and the retrospective life course trajectories. This approach was applied to the population in the EU27 countries plus Norway and Switzerland and validated with the measurement data from European multi-centre study, EXPOLIS. Results show that the annual average exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 at European level kept increasing from the 1950s to a peak between the 1980s and the 1990s and showed a decrease until 2015 due to the implementation of a series of directives. It is also revealed that the exposure to both pollutants was affected by geographical location, gender and income level. The average annual exposure over the lifetime of an 80-year-old European to PM2.5 and NO2 amounted to 23.86 (95% CI: 2.95-81.86) and 13.49 (95% CI: 1.36-43.84) µg/m3. The application of this methodology provides valuable insights and novel tools for exposure modelling and environmental studies

Population Heterogeneity and the Sociogenesis of Homicide

It has frequently been suggested that a high degree of social heterogeneity is conducive to a high rate of crime. This paper explores that hypothesis by providing an explicit statistical test of the relationship between a society\u27s homicide rate and various measures of the ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic heterogeneity of that society\u27s population, using nationstates as units of observation. The results lend support to the theory that the interaction within a society of heterogeneous cultural groups tends to increase the rate of homicide. The empirical analysis controls for the effect on homicide rates of the age structure of the population, per capita GNP, urbanization, and population density; the results suggest that the first two of these factors are also important in explaining variations in homicide rates

If wood were an element: Primo Levi and the material world.

Labour quarters of the industrial complex that was Auschwitz- Monowitz offers an opportunity to reflect upon aspects of the materiality of the signs of the Holocaust. This shed is very likely one that Primo Levi knew and its survival incites us to interrogate its materiality and significance by engaging with Levi’s own writings on these matters. I begin by explicating the ways the shed might function as an ‘encountered sign,’ before moving to consider its materiality both as a product of modernist genocide and as witness to the relations between precarity and vitality. Finally, I turn to the texts written upon the shed itself and consider the performative function of Nazi language

Remigration to Luxembourg. Examining a New Research Question by Means of Digital Hermeneutics

peer reviewe

Functional and Stylistic Features of Sports Announcer Talk: A Discourse Analysis of the Register of Major League Soccer Television Broadcasts

This study analyzes the register of television sports announcers in Major League Soccer broadcasts, based on six 20-minute transcription samples. The first part considers individual linguistic features and inquires whether they fulfill a communicative function or whether they are of stylistic nature. In an effort to attract more viewers in the United States, production companies had originally adopted the duality model of a play-by-play announcer and a color commentary from other American sports, while many other countries traditionally feature only one commentator. Consequently, the second part of this discourse analysis will focus on the cooperative interactional behavior. The conclusion will be drawn that the register of live action announcing, in contrast to halftime as well as pre- and post-game reporting, is based on cooperative principles. Moreover, both the individual and the collaborative linguistic variables mostly reflect an effort to protect one’s own and the colleague’s public image

Boleslaw Matuszewski :photographe et opérateur de cinéma

La personnalité de Boleslaw Matuszewski (1856-1943 ?) est connue avant tout pour la brochure qu’il fit paraître en 1898 où il préconisait de manière prophétique l’importance des vues filmées en tant que matériau pour l’histoire. Mais l’itinéraire de ce Polonais venu à Paris avant de repartir dans son pays demeure lacunaire. L’article, à partir de sources polonaises et françaises inédites, met en lumière la nature des travaux de photographe de Matuszewski, le travail qu’il effectua auprès du Tsar Nicolas II de Russie, son probable engagement du côté des bolchéviks puis son effacement jusqu’à une mort à une date non attestée, durant la Seconde guerre mondiale.Boleslaw Matuszewski : photographer and cinematographer. Boleslaw Matuszewski (1856-1943 ?) is principally known for the 1898 brochure in which he prophetically advocates the importance of « filmed views » as historical objects. Yet, there are gaps in the itinerary of this Polishman, who spent time in Paris, before returning to his homeland. Using new French and Polish sources, this article sheds light upon the nature of Matuszewski’s photographic work, carried out close to the Russian Czar Nicolas II, his probable engagement on the side of the Bolsheviks, and finally, his gradual disappearance from the public eye, during the years preceding his death on an unconfirmed date during World War II

Functional and Stylistic Features of Sports Announcer Talk: A Discourse Analysis of the Register of Major League Soccer Television Broadcasts

This study analyzes the register of television sports announcers in Major League Soccer broadcasts, based on six 20-minute transcription samples. The first part considers individual linguistic features and inquires whether they fulfill a communicative function or whether they are of stylistic nature. In an effort to attract more viewers in the United States, production companies had originally adopted the duality model of a play-by-play announcer and a color commentary from other American sports, while many other countries traditionally feature only one commentator. Consequently, the second part of this discourse analysis will focus on the cooperative interactional behavior. The conclusion will be drawn that the register of live action announcing, in contrast to halftime as well as pre- and post-game reporting, is based on cooperative principles. Moreover, both the individual and the collaborative linguistic variables mostly reflect an effort to protect one’s own and the colleague’s public image

Migrants’ decision-process shaping work destination choice: the case of long-term care work in the United Kingdom and Norway

Escalating demands for formal long-term care (LTC) result in the reliance on migrant workers in many developed countries. Within Europe, this is currently framed by progressive European immigration policies favouring inter-European mobility. Using the UK and Norway as case studies, this article has two main aims: (1) to document changes in the contribution of European Union (EU) migrants to the LTC sectors in Western Europe, and (2) to gain further understanding of migrants’ decision-processes relating to destination and work choices. The UK and Norway provide examples of two European countries with different immigration histories, welfare regimes, labour market characteristics and cultural values, offering a rich comparison platform. The analysis utilizes national workforce datasets and data obtained from migrants working in the LTC sector in the UK and Norway (n = 248) and other stakeholders (n = 136). The analysis establishes a significant increase in the contribution of EU migrants (particularly from Eastern Europe) to the LTC sector in both the UK and Norway despite their different welfare regimes. The findings also highlight how migrant care workers develop rational decision-processes influenced by subjective perspectives of investments and returns within a context of wider structural migration barriers. The latter includes welfare and social care policies framing the conditions for migrants’ individual actions