Voting behaviour in the European Parliament and economic governance reform: does nationality matter?

This paper analyses MEPs’ voting behaviour on all regulations and directives forming the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack together with the key vote required to establish the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Whereas scholarly work has traditionally showed MEPs voting behaviour to be primarily driven by ideology (more specifically, by the MEP’s party group affiliation), we expect to find MEPs’ national origins to play a counterbalancing role and – at least partially – weaken intra-party position on key economic governance matters, where a conflict of interest might exist between creditor and debtor member countries. Findings confirm that national interests and country-level economic variables can predict MEPs’ votes in a considerable number of cases, opening new avenues for future research on territorial cleavages in the European Parliament

Changements environnementaux et culturels dans la région de Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik) : une approche géoarchéologique

Afin de documenter les conditions environnementales dans lesquelles les populations préhistoriques du Nunavik ont vécu et évolué, nous avons entrepris une étude géoarchéologique de trois sites archéologiques situés dans les environs de Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik). Ce secteur, très riche en termes de vestiges archéologiques, fut habité par les populations paléoesquimaudes (Prédorsétiens et Dorsétiens) depuis environ 4 000 ans et par les Thuléens/Inuits depuis la fin du 13e siècle de notre ère. À proximité de chacun des sites, se trouve un étang en voie d’entourbement à partir duquel des monolithes de tourbe ont été prélevés en vue d’effectuer l’analyse macrofossile pour reconstituer la végétation locale et l’analyse pollinique pour reconstituer la végétation régionale. Les données paléoécologiques démontrent des changements significatifs dont certains pourraient être associés à des variations climatiques. Par ailleurs, des analyses macrofossiles d’échantillons de sols provenant de structures d’habitations dorsétiennes donnent un portrait général des conditions de vie des Dorsétiens

Lobbying across venues in EU financial regulation: the role of institutions’ demand for information

Research has often conceptualised lobbying as an exchange between what is often called the “supply side” – interest groups – and the “demand side”, namely policymakers and institutions which are targeted by lobbyists. Within this conceptual framework, lobbyists provide some access good (usually information or money, the latter notably under the form of campaign contributions) to policymakers in exchange for influence on policy outcomes. While research on advocates’ features and how they influence lobbying has abounded traditionally, and scholarly attention has more recently acknowledged the importance of contextual factors such as policy characteristics, the role played by the policymaker (the “demand side”) has often been neglected by researchers. Similarly, research on agency lobbying in the EU has traditionally been scarce, as most scholars have focused on the European Commission, Parliament and Council, while stakeholders routinely also engage with the EU’s independent authorities, which have gained significant rulemaking powers over time. My research question aims to explore the role played by policymakers’ information demand in affecting advocates’ lobbying success: does lobbying success vary by the targeted institutional venue? If yes, is the information need of the institutional venue an explanatory factor? I hypothesise that the higher information capacity of the European Securities and Markets Authority, the EU agency in charge of securities markets rules, compared to that of the European Commission, translates into lower success chances for stakeholders as the policymaker’s demand for the information they supply is less significant. Furthermore, I expect that institutions’ “baseline” information demand varies depending on contextual factors, notably the complexity of the policy, and that stakeholders will accordingly be more successful when trying to influence rules pertaining to a more complex policy, all else equal. Independent agencies are now an integral part of the institutional framework behind EU financial regulation. The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) created in the wake of the financial crisis have indeed been granted significant rulemaking powers and tasked with the responsibility of drafting delegated legislation. While the European Commission maintains the monopoly of initiative and power to draft primary legislative acts, the ESAs now hold the pen for delegated rules, which are 4 meant to be of a more detailed and technical nature but are often similar to the former in practice. Agency-drafted delegated rules are also of increasing importance in EU financial services law, as demonstrated for instance by the various oversight mechanisms created to control ESAs’ drafting powers. The internal procedures leading to the preparation of rule drafts by the Commission and ESAs respectively are highly similar, and so are the requirements pertaining to how policymakers engage with stakeholders prior to rule adoption. Two of the lobbying strategies most frequently used by stakeholders are submitting a response to a policymaker’s consultation and meeting with the former to directly discuss a given policy issue. The data I collected, which include a main database of over 4000 consultation submissions (covering almost a decade) and a database of circa 1800 meetings (taking place between 2014 and 2018), display no significant difference in stakeholders’ engagement with the European Commission and ESMA. Stakeholders target both policymaking institutions in a similar way in terms of both responding to their consultations and seeking a meeting, and do not clearly prioritise one institution over the other. In both cases, business interests represent the majority of stakeholders represented in the databases, and more complex policies are the subject of most consultation submissions and meetings with the two institutions. Measuring lobbying success has long been a challenge for political scientists, but recent advances in quantitative text analysis coupled with spatial theories of lobbying offer a promising avenue for lobbying researchers. Extracting advocates’ policy preferences through text analysis (in my case Wordfish) and using these estimates to calculate lobbying success as relative improvement yields results with very good face validity, and allows to analyse large amount of data. The regression analysis of my consultations database confirms as expected that lobbying success varies by the targeted institutional venue, namely that targeting ESMA compared to the Commission significantly lowers advocates’ chances of achieving their preferences. This effect is moderated by the level of policy complexity, which is also positively correlated with lobbying success: in the case of a more complex policy and all else equal, advocates will be more successful in influencing the related rules. In the case of Credit Rating Agency policy, the information demand of the Commission was significantly higher than that of ESMA, which when drafting the relative legislation could count on a team of specialised officials with relevant prior experience. In contrast, the Commission had no expertise on CRA policy and took 5 significant steps to gather stakeholder feedback when preparing CRA rules, pointing to its higher information demand in this area. Affected by this difference in the two policymakers’ information capacity, stakeholders’ lobbying success was considerably higher in the case of the Commission rules. Advocates were indeed successful in achieving considerable changes on corporate governance requirements, conflict of interest rules and provisions for structured finance ratings. In contrast, stakeholders were unable to influence the standards drafted by ESMA, notwithstanding similar lobbying efforts, as the authority’s final proposals were only marginally different from its initial drafts. In the case of MIFID II, a significantly more complex policy, the inhouse expertise possessed by ESMA compared to the Commission was also significantly higher, meaning that stakeholders were similarly better able to influence the Commission final rules than those drafted by the agency. The gap in lobbying success levels between the two venues was smaller in the case of MIFID II compared to CRAs, as ESMA accepted a comparatively larger proportion of stakeholder comments in the MIFID II case. The information demand of the two institutions was higher in the MIFID case, deepened by the considerable level of policy complexity, but the effect of policy complexity on the policymaker’s demand for information and in turn stakeholders’ success was stronger for ESMA compared to the Commission. In conclusion, the research question can be answered in the positive, as the findings of this thesis show that lobbying success varies by the targeted institutional venue, and that policymakers’ demand for information is a significant driver behind this effect

Influencia de la temperatura en llenado de grano como factor determinante de la presencia de granos verdes en soja

Una de las características que define la calidad de los granos de soja es la presencia de granos verdes (GV). Estos exhiben una coloración verdosa, total o parcial, debida a la presencia de pigmentos clorofílicos no degradados durante el proceso de maduración de los granos. A pesar de que algunas evidencias sugieren que la presencia de GV se asocia a que parte del ciclo del cultivo coincida con temperaturas altas, no se encontraron en la bibliografía trabajos que confronten fehacientemente las condiciones ambientales con la presencia de GV en el cultivo de soja en condiciones de campo. Más aún, aunque se presume que la temperatura durante la fase de llenado está involucrada en modular la incidencia de GV, se desconoce si los efectos están asociados a los períodos tempranos del llenado, cuando predomina la formación de los granos, a la fase de crecimiento intermedia o a las fases finales, en las que se degrada la clorofila y se alcanza la madurez. El objetivo de este trabajo fue producir información que contribuya a desarrollar estrategias de manejo adecuadas para reducir la incidencia de GV en los sistemas de producción de soja, sobre la base de la identificación de las condiciones ambientales que determinan su aparición. Durante las campañas agrícolas 2004/05 a 2008/09, se realizaron ensayos a campo combinando diferentes fechas de siembra y genotipos, de modo de generar un escalonamiento de la etapa de maduración de los granos. Se realizaron además, dos ensayos a campo en condiciones semi-controladas. En todos los casos se evaluó el porcentaje de GV y se analizó su asociación con la temperatura y el déficit hídrico en diferentes momentos del llenado. Las altas temperaturas por sí solas no fueron determinantes de la aparición de granos verdes en el cultivo de soja ni en los experimentos de siembras escalonadas ni en los llevados a cabo en forma semi-controlada. Por el contrario, condiciones de altas temperaturas durante las etapas finales del llenado en combinación con estrés hídrico favorecieron la presencia de GV. Los genotipos más afectados fueron los de ciclo precoz (GM III y IV), sembrados en fechas tempranas, ya que ubicaron el llenado en condiciones conducentes de la aparición de GV. Los genotipos de GM largos no exploraron, en Rafaela, condiciones conducentes a la aparición de GV. La almacenabilidad de las semillas fue afectada en mayor medida por el GV que por el valor de PG inicial, luego de la cosecha

La dimension soignante et formatrice en pédagogie perceptive: le point de vue des personnes accompagnées en pédagogie perceptive

Tese apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciências Sociais, especialidade de PsicopedagogiaMy research covers the links between the healing dimension and the educational dimension when accompanying a person in perceptual psychoeducation. Nowadays the concept of care gets an enlarged meaning i.e. « taking care » and it can also be envisaged as a fundamental existential attitude, « taking care » of your own life. Similarly, the education can also be applied beyond the knowledge acquisition and be deployed with an existential purpose: « human being exists through its form and formation » (Honoré, 1990). Under these circumstances, care becomes educational and the education shall be understood as carrying attention towards your own life. On the basis of these observations, I have started my research around the idea of « bridging » care and education. My theoretical domain covers certain applications which combine education and health objectives, such as physical and sport education. These have as objective to empower the student to make educated choices around his/her health through the conscious and voluntary change in his/her relationship towards him/her. I have also studied the somatic education domain. This field addresses dynamic relationships between movement, body, learning and environment. Another important part of my theoretical thinking interrogates the therapeutic education, which has as endpoint to improve the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases. This is addressed through the job of a nurse and has as foundation humanistic values. Finally, after these different approaches combining care and education, I present perceptive pedagogy and in particular its manual relationship touch. Nine persons accompanied through perceptive pedagogy have been interviewed according to the informative directivity research interview technique (Bois, 2007). The analysis is based on a qualitative, a categorical and an interpretative approach. The first step of the analysis is made of a case by case analysis. The second is an interpretative transverse. The synthesis of the interpretative analysis shows on one side the interconnectivity between the carrying and the formative dimensions of the relationship touch in perceptive pedagogy. It demonstrates on the other side the emergence of new ways in our relationship towards us, others and the world and finally to be in good health. Ma recherche concerne les liens entre les dimensions soignante et formative dans l’accompagnement en psycho-pédagogie perceptive. Aujourd’hui, la notion de soin connaît une acception élargie au sens de « prendre soin » et peut être envisagée comme une attitude existentielle fondamentale, un prendre soin de sa vie. De même la formation peut s’entrevoir au-delà de l’acquisition de savoir et se déployer dans une visée existentielle : « L’homme existe en forme et en formation » (Honoré, 1990, p. 205). Dans ces conditions, le soin se place dans une perspective formative et la formation s’entend comme attention soignante à sa propre vie. Sur la base de ces constats j’ai développé ma réflexion autour de l’idée de « jonction » du soin et de la formation. Mon champ théorique aborde certaines pratiques qui associent l’éducation et la santé particulièrement à travers l’EPS dont l’objectif est d’amener l’élève à faire des choix éclairés en matière de santé, à travers la modification consciente et volontaire d’un rapport à lui-même. Je présente également l’éducation somatique qui s’intéresse aux relations dynamiques entre le mouvement du corps, la conscience, l’apprentissage et l’environnement. L’une et l’autre mettent en jeu une corporéité de manière différente. Une autre partie interroge l’éducation thérapeutique dont la finalité est l’amélioration de la qualité de vie. Elle est approchée à travers le métier d’infirmière fondé sur des valeurs humanistes, articulant des activités à intention de soin avec d’autres activités à intention éducative. Parmi ces diverses approches, je présenterai plus particulièrement le toucher manuel de relation de la pédagogie perceptive. Des entretiens semi-directifs effectués sur le mode de l’entretien de recherche à directivité informative (Bois, 2007) ont été recueillis auprès de neuf personnes suivies en pédagogie perceptive. Leur analyse est basée sur une approche qualitative catégorielle. Je présente l’analyse cas par cas puis l’analyse transversale. Elle révèle l’entrelacement des dimensions soignantes et formatives du toucher de relation en pédagogie perceptive, ainsi que de nouvelles manières d’être à soi, aux autres et au monde sur le mode du Sensible et finalement d’être en santé. A minha investigação concentra-se na relação entre as dimensões de cuidado e de formação no acompanhamento das pessoas em psicopedagogia perceptiva. Atualmente, a noção de cuidado representa uma acepção mais alargada do termo “cuidar”, e pode também ser encarada como uma atitude existencial fundamental, um “cuidar” da sua vida. Além disso, a formação pode ainda ser vislumbrada como uma aquisição de conhecimentos, desenvolvendo um objetivo existencial: “O homem existe em forma em formação” (Honoré, 1990). Sob estas condições, o cuidado torna-se formação e a formação é entrevista como uma atenção cuidadora da sua própria vida. Com base nestes resultados, a minha investigação centra-se em torno da “articulação” entre cuidado e formação. A pesquisa teórica aborda algumas práticas que combinam educação e saúde, como a educação física e desportiva, cuja finalidade é ajudar os alunos a fazer escolhas informadas na área da saúde. Estudei ainda a educação somática que incide sobre as relações dinâmicas entre movimento, corpo aprendizagem e ambiente. Outra parte importante da minha reflexão teórica interroga a educação terapêutica, cujo objetivo é melhorar a qualidade de vida de pacientes com doenças crónicas. A educação terapêutica é abordada através da profissão de enfermagem baseada em valores humanistas, articulando as atividades de cuidado com outras atividades com objetivos educacionais. Finalmente, e após estas diferentes abordagens que combinam cuidado e educação, apresento a pedagogia perceptiva e, em particular, o seu toque manual de relação que constitui desta maneira o terreno da minha investigação. As entrevistas qualitativas, realizadas de acordo com a diretividade informativa (Bois, 2007), foram efectuadas junto de nove pessoas seguidas em pedagogia perceptiva. O trabalho de análise é qualitativo, categórico e interpretativo. Uma primeira fase da análise é casuística, seguida de uma análise transversal interpretativa. A síntese da análise interpretativa mostra, por um lado, a alternância entre a dimensão de cuidado e a dimensão formativa do toque manual de relação em pedagogia perceptiva; por outro lado, a análise mostra o surgimento de novas formas de ser, em relação a si próprio, aos outros e ao mundo o que constitui um perfeito exemplo desta alternância entre cuidado e formação

A search for structurally similar cellular internal ribosome entry sites

Internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) allow ribosomes to be recruited to mRNA in a cap-independent manner. Some viruses that impair cap-dependent translation initiation utilize IRES to ensure that the viral RNA will efficiently compete for the translation machinery. IRES are also employed for the translation of a subset of cellular messages during conditions that inhibit cap-dependent translation initiation. IRES from viruses like Hepatitis C and Classical Swine Fever virus share a similar structure/function without sharing primary sequence similarity. Of the cellular IRES structures derived so far, none were shown to share an overall structural similarity. Therefore, we undertook a genome-wide search of human 5′UTRs (untranslated regions) with an empirically derived structure of the IRES from the key inhibitor of apoptosis, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), to identify novel IRES that share structure/function similarity. Three of the top matches identified by this search that exhibit IRES activity are the 5′UTRs of Aquaporin 4, ELG1 and NF-kappaB repressing factor (NRF). The structures of AQP4 and ELG1 IRES have limited similarity to the XIAP IRES; however, they share trans-acting factors that bind the XIAP IRES. We therefore propose that cellular IRES are not defined by overall structure, as viral IRES, but are instead dependent upon short motifs and trans-acting factors for their function

Macrophage-infectivity potentiator of Trypanosoma cruzi (TcMIP) is a new pro-type 1 immuno-stimulating protein for neonatal human cells and vaccines in mice.

peer reviewedThis work identifies the protein "macrophage infectivity potentiator" of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes, as supporting a new property, namely a pro-type 1 immunostimulatory activity on neonatal cells. In its recombinant form (rTcMIP), this protein triggers the secretion of the chemokines CCL2 and CCL3 by human umbilical cord blood cells from healthy newborns, after 24h in vitro culture. Further stimulation for 72h results in secretion of IFN-γ, provided cultures are supplemented with IL-2 and IL-18. rTcMIP activity is totally abolished by protease treatment and is not associated with its peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase enzymatic activity. The ability of rTcMIP to act as adjuvant was studied in vivo in neonatal mouse immunization models, using acellular diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-vaccine (DTPa) or ovalbumin, and compared to the classical alum adjuvant. As compared to the latter, rTcMIP increases the IgG antibody response towards several antigens meanwhile skewing antibody production towards the Th-1 dependent IgG2a isotype. The amplitude of the rTcMIP adjuvant effect varied depending on the antigen and the co-presence of alum. rTcMIP did by contrast not increase the IgE response to OVA combined with alum. The discovery of the rTcMIP immunostimulatory effect on neonatal cells opens new possibilities for potential use as pro-type 1 adjuvant for neonatal vaccines. This, in turn, may facilitate the development of more efficient vaccines that can be given at birth, reducing infection associated morbidity and mortality which are the highest in the first weeks after birth

The war of the United States and their allies in Iraq 2003 : war aims, strategies of justification and the failure of a "post-war order"

KurzfassungZiel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, in mehreren Schritten das Ausma f des Irakkrieges 2003 greifbar zu machen. So soll zuerst ein cberblick \ufcber die Vorgeschichte aufgezeigt werden. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es notwendig, auf die beiden Golfkriege und auf die Terroranschl\ue4ge vom 11. September, welche George Bush dazu veranlassten, den sogenannten \u201ewar on terror\u201c auszurufen, einzugehen. Die Entscheidungstr\ue4gerInnen Amerikas und Gro fbritanniens wurden f\ufcr ihren Entschluss, gegen den Irak in den Krieg zu ziehen, bekanntlich aus aller Welt kritisiert. Aus diesem Grund soll der Weg in den Krieg nachgezeichnet werden, ehe im zweiten Kapitel auf den Kriegsverlauf und die anschlie fende Besatzungszeit eingegangen wird. Das dritte Kapitel soll schlie flich die von Amerika und seinen Verb\ufcndeten praktizierten Strategien der Rechtfertigung aufzeigen. Um ihr Vorgehen gegen den Irak vor einer breiten 6ffentlichkeit zu legitimieren, sahen sich amerikanische und britische Entscheidungstr\ue4ger dazu veranlasst \u2013 mitunter durch gezielte Rhetorik \u2013 ein Gef\ue4hrdungsszenario mit Saddam Hussein als Kollaborateur Al-Qaidas sowie im Besitz von Massenvernichtungswaffen in den K\uf6pfen der Menschen festzusetzen. Das vierte Kapitel er\uf6rtert die Vers\ue4umnisse der von Amerika angef\ufchrten Besatzungsm\ue4chte in den auf die milit\ue4rische Intervention folgenden Jahren. Das letzte Kapitel stellt eine Verbindung zur Gegenwart und der aktuellen Bedrohung durch den Islamischen Staat (IS), welcher heute Teile des Irak f\ufcr sich beansprucht, her. Meine Fragestellung f\ufcr diese Arbeit lautet, ob bzw. inwieweit der Irakkrieg als gescheitert betrachtet werden kann. Meine Thesen diesbez\ufcglich lauten, dass die Amerikaner und ihre Verb\ufcndeten (allen voran Gro fbritannien) an der Umsetzung ihrer im Vorfeld des Krieges propagieren Ziele gescheitert sind. Dar\ufcber hinaus ist es ihnen nicht gelungen, so meine Behauptung, Konzepte f\ufcr eine stabile Nachkriegsordnung zu erarbeiten und diese auch umzusetzen. Schlussendlich, so meine dritte These, f\ufchrte das Verhalten der Besatzungsm\ue4chte im Irak zum Erstarken radikalen Gedankenguts und zu tiefen Gr\ue4ben in der irakischen Bev\uf6lkerung, und schuf so den idealen N\ue4hrboden f\ufcr radikal-islamistische Str\uf6mungen wie dem IS.AbstractThe thesis at hand aims at illustrating the scope of the Iraq War 2003. The first chapter serves as an overview of the historical background, including the two Gulf Wars and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which prompted the president of the United States, George Bush, to proclaim the \u201cwar on terror\u201d. Because of the fact that American and British politicians were strongly criticised for their decisions to go to war, I will outline the discussions led in this context. The second chapter elaborates on the course of the war, the subsequent occupation period and the American/British war aims. Because of the fact that the war aims communicated in public deviated from their actual motivations, the third chapter will illustrate the Bush and Blair administrations\u2019 strategies of justification. In order to win their people for their idea to go to war, American and British politicians tried to create a worst case scenario with Saddam Hussein collaborating with Al-Qaida and possessing weapons of mass destruction. The fourth chapter gives an overview of the war crimes and non-conformances the occupying forces committed during the years following the invasion. The last chapter draws a connection to the present and the current threat that originates from the terrorist organisation IS.Central to this thesis is the question whether (and to which degree) one could regard the Iraq War as failed. I came up with the thesis that the United States and their allies, above all Great Britain, failed at implementing their goals promoted before the invasion. I predicate that the occupying forces did not manage to establish an operative concept for post-Saddam Iraq. Eventually, according to my third assertion, their behaviour led to the emergence of radical ideologies and the disunion of the Iraqi society, thus created the ideal preconditions for radical-Islamist movements such as the IS.vorgelegt von Laura CencigAbweichender Titel laut cbersetzung des Verfassers/der VerfasserinZusammenfassungen in Deutsch und EnglischDiplomarbeit Karl-Franzens-Universit\ue4t Graz 2017 167