Together forever? Explaining exclusivity in party-firm relations

Parties and firms are the key actors of representative democracy and capitalism respectively and the dynamic of attachment between them is a central feature of any political economy. This is the first article to systematically analyse the exclusivity of party-firm relations. We consider exclusivity at a point in time and exclusivity over time. Does a firm have a relationship with only one party at a given point in time, or is it close to more than one party? Does a firm maintain a relationship with only one party over time, or does it switch between parties? Most important, how do patterns of exclusivity impact on a firm’s ability to lobby successfully? We propose a general theory, which explains patterns of party-firm relations by reference to the division of institutions and the type of party competition in a political system. A preliminary test of our theory with Polish survey data confirms our predictions, establishing a promising hypothesis for future research

FACTOR VII DEFICIENCY IN POLISH HOUND – ACCIDENTAL EVENT OR NEW PERMANENT RISK?

The Polish Hound (ogar polski) is a small, old breed of hunting dogs.The breed was recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1966.A three–year–old Polish Hound male, was admitted to the Clinic of Internal Diseases of Companion Animals of Life Science University in Lublin because of signs of haemorhagic diathesis. There was no preceding history of trauma. General clinical examination was unremarkable. On initial diagnostic testing prothrombin time (PT)of the patient was prolonged nearly by three times. To characterize the dog’s coagulopathy further, samples were collected for coagulation screening tests, mixing studies and factor analyses. Investigations revealed factor VII activity below 2%.Unfortunately we had been unable to determine whether the disorder is inherited or is the result of a spontaneous mutation. It is very likely that the nature of described deficit is inherited. Canine hereditary FVII deficiency was first described in 1962 as an incidental finding in Beagles. Later, the defect was identified in another breeds, such as: English Bulldogs, Alaskan Malamutes, Miniature Schnauzers, Boxers, Scottish Deerhounds, Alaskan Klee Kai Dog and mixed–breed dogs. In 2005 a molecular characterization of FVII deficiency in Beagles was described. Unfortunately we had been unable to determine whether the disorder is inherited or is the result of a spontaneous mutation. To our knowledge this case is the first to report of isolated factor VII deficiency in Polish Hound

Clinical study on the application of tacrolimus and DMSO in the treatment of chronic superficial keratitis in dogs

Abstract The objective of this study was to assess the treatment of chronic superficial keratitis (CSK) in dogs with the use of tacrolimus and DMSO. The study was conducted on 16 dogs - 7 males and 9 females, aged 3 to 11 years, diagnosed with CSK. The disease was treated with ophthalmic drops containing 0.02% tacrolimus and 50% DMSO, administered to the ocular surface three times a day. Prior to the treatment and after 5 weeks of therapy, the corneal neovascularisation, pigmentation, and also the redness and depigmentation of the third eyelid margin were assessed. The percentage of the corneal surface afflicted with inflammatory processes was calculated on the basis of photographs taken with the use of IsoCalc.com’s Get Area software for Corel DRAW 12. It was found that the application of tacrolimus and DMSO caused a reduction of inflammatory process and neovascularisation in the cornea. The mean corneal surface afflicted with inflammatory processes was statistically significantly reduced from 69.9% to 43.9% (p ≤ 0.01) - in case of the right corneas, and from 58.9% to 38.6% in case of the left corneas. Of 32 corneas diagnosed with the pigmentation, the reduction of the pigmentation was observed in 14, while in 16 the pigmentation increased. The treatment of CSK with the use of tacrolimus and DMSO causes the reduction in terms of inflammatory processes and neovascularisation, but in many cases does not inhibit the progress of the pigmentation.</jats:p

Clinical study on the application of tacrolimus and DMSO in the treatment of chronic superficial keratitis in dogs

The objective of this study was to assess the treatment of chronic superficial keratitis (CSK) in dogs with the use of tacrolimus and DMSO. The study was conducted on 16 dogs - 7 males and 9 females, aged 3 to 11 years, diagnosed with CSK. The disease was treated with ophthalmic drops containing 0.02% tacrolimus and 50% DMSO, administered to the ocular surface three times a day. Prior to the treatment and after 5 weeks of therapy, the corneal neovascularisation, pigmentation, and also the redness and depigmentation of the third eyelid margin were assessed. The percentage of the corneal surface afflicted with inflammatory processes was calculated on the basis of photographs taken with the use of IsoCalc.com’s Get Area software for Corel DRAW 12. It was found that the application of tacrolimus and DMSO caused a reduction of inflammatory process and neovascularisation in the cornea. The mean corneal surface afflicted with inflammatory processes was statistically significantly reduced from 69.9% to 43.9% (p ≤ 0.01) - in case of the right corneas, and from 58.9% to 38.6% in case of the left corneas. Of 32 corneas diagnosed with the pigmentation, the reduction of the pigmentation was observed in 14, while in 16 the pigmentation increased. The treatment of CSK with the use of tacrolimus and DMSO causes the reduction in terms of inflammatory processes and neovascularisation, but in many cases does not inhibit the progress of the pigmentation

Chronic superficial keratitis in dogs current methods of diagnosis and therapy

Przewlekłe powierzchowne zapalenie rogówki (PPZR) - keratitis superficialis chronica jest jedną z najgroźniejszych chorób narządu wzroku psów. Choroba przebiega z objawami nacieku włóknisto-naczyniowej tkanki, wrastania naczyń krwionośnych i pigmentacji, które pojawiają się w dolnych kwadrantach rogówki. Jest to choroba o podłożu immunologicznym ale dokładny czynnik etiologiczny pozostaje nieustalony. Głównym czynnikiem środowiskowym o dużym znaczeniu w etiologii jest promieniowanie ultrafioletowe. Podstawowymi lekami w terapii początkowej są kortykosteroidy stosowane w postaci kropli lub maści okulistycznych. Duże znaczenie w terapii przewlekłego powierzchownego zapalenia rogówki odgrywa cyklosporyna. W ostatnim okresie podjęto próby zastosowania do leczenia dwumetylosulfotlenku (DMSO) i pimakrolimusu. W przypadkach zawansowanych objawów chorobowych niezbędne jest leczenie operacyjne z zastosowaniem keratektomii powierzchownej, naświetlanie promieniami ß lub krichirurgi rogówki. Na przewlekłe powierzchowne zapalenie rogówki pacjenci chorują do końca życia i pomimo zaniku objawów klinicznych w wyniku leczenia, u wielu z nich następuje progresja choroby.Chronic superficial keratitis (keratitis superficialis chronica) is common potentially blinding, ocular diseases of dogs. The illness proceeds with the symptoms of blood vessels ingrowing, infiltration of the fibro-vascular tissue and the corneal pigmentation which appear in bottom quadrants of cornea. It is thought to be an immunological based illness but the exact reason for chronic superficial keratitis is still unknown. The main environmental factor, which is of great importance in aetiology of the illness is known to be the UV radiation. are corticosteroids. The corticosteroids applied in form of eye drops or ointment are basic drugs used for the initial therapy. Cyclosporuine is of great importance in the chronic superficial keratitis therapy. The therapeutic ability of pimecrolimus and 50% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were tested in the last time. In the severe cases, indispensable treatment consists of performing superficial keratectomy, cryosurgery or ß irradiation. The patients suffering from the disease are ill for all their lives. In spite of clinical symptom disappearance many of them show the illness progression

Collie eye anomaly

Collie with other several breeds share collie eye anomaly (CEA). It is an inherited and congenital eye diseases affecting choroid and sclera. Affected dogs share deletion in intron 4 of the NHEJ1 gene. The symptoms and signs can vary among affected dogs within one breed. CEA is not progressive in the usual sense. The lesion appears as an area lateral to the optic disc. In severely affected dogs, there are problems with the vision. The genetic test should be done to identify the genetic status of dogs. The CEA test is done on a sample of blood. The direct PCR method using a PICOTM Thermal Cycler was applied

Artificial neural networks for interpolation and identification of underwater object features

Artificial neural networks can be applied for interpolation of function with multiple variables. Because of concurrent processing of data by neurons, that approach can be seen as hopeful alternative for numerical algorithms. From these reasons, the analysis of capabilities for some models of neural networks has been carried out in the purpose for identification of the underwater object properties. Features of the underwater objects can be recognized by characteristics of a amplitude according to the frequency of measured signals. The feed-forward multi-layer networks with different transfer functions have been applied. Those network models have been trained by some versions of back-propagation algorithm as well as the Levenberg-Marquardt gradient optimization technique. Finally, for determination of the amplitude for the frequency of signal by the two-layer network with the hidden layer of the radial neurons has been proposed

Unusually located eyelid dermoid

The paper discusses a case of an unusually located eyelid dermoid diagnosed in a 4-month-old, female Cane Corso dog. The observed dermoid was black and brown, located in the eyelid conjunctiva of the left lower lid, covered with keratinising epithelium, and only visible once the eyelid was pulled back. The altered conjunctival surface displayed short, thin hairs. At the 1/3 of the central and side conjunctival border, two hairs were found which suggested additional eyelash growth – on examination, the black hair proved to be a distichiasis, while the other, beige, was a hair growing out of the dermoid. The eyelid border over the evaginated area was thinner, which could only be determined once the eyelid was pulled back. The dermoid was surgically removed along with a fragment of the eyelid. Histopathological examinations revealed the presence of regular skin structures. The surface layer comprised stratified epithelium indicative of slight hyperkeratosis. The dermis displayed numerous follicles in various stages of development, accompanied by sebaceous and sweat glands. On the basis of the location and histopathological analysis, the lesion was classified as a dermoid