Update on the seismogenic potential of the Upper Rhine Graben southern region

The Upper Rhine Graben (URG), located in France and Germany, is bordered by north–south-trending faults, some of which are considered active, posing a potential threat to the dense population and infrastructures on the Alsace plain. The largest historical earthquake in the region was the M6.5±0.5 Basel earthquake in 1356. Current seismicity (M&gt;2.5 since 1960) is mostly diffuse and located within the graben. We build upon previous seismic hazard studies of the URG by exploring uncertainties in greater detail and revisiting a number of assumptions. We first take into account the limited evidence of neotectonic activity and then explore tectonic scenarios that have not been taken into account previously, exploring uncertainties for Mmax, its recurrence time, the b value, and the moment released aseismically or through aftershocks. Uncertainties in faults' moment deficit rates, on the observed seismic events' magnitude–frequency distribution and on the moment–area scaling law of earthquakes, are also explored. Assuming a purely dip-slip normal faulting mechanism associated with a simplified model with three main faults, Mmax maximum probability is estimated at Mw 6.1. Considering this scenario, there would be a 99 % probability that Mmax is less than 7.3. In contrast, with a strike-slip assumption associated with a four-main-fault model, consistent with recent paleoseismological studies and the present-day stress field, Mmax is estimated at Mw 6.8. Based on this scenario, there would be a 99 % probability that Mmax is less than 7.6.</p

Party-group relations in new southern European democracies in the crisis era

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014publishersversionpublishe

A Genome-Wide Collection of Mos1 Transposon Insertion Mutants for the C. elegans Research Community

Methods that use homologous recombination to engineer the genome of C. elegans commonly use strains carrying specific insertions of the heterologous transposon Mos1. A large collection of known Mos1 insertion alleles would therefore be of general interest to the C. elegans research community. We describe here the optimization of a semi-automated methodology for the construction of a substantial collection of Mos1 insertion mutant strains. At peak production, more than 5,000 strains were generated per month. These strains were then subject to molecular analysis, and more than 13,300 Mos1 insertions characterized. In addition to targeting directly more than 4,700 genes, these alleles represent the potential starting point for the engineered deletion of essentially all C. elegans genes and the modification of more than 40% of them. This collection of mutants, generated under the auspices of the European NEMAGENETAG consortium, is publicly available and represents an important research resource

Opposite regulation of human versus mouse apolipoprotein A-I by fibrates in human apolipoprotein A-I transgenic mice

The regulation of liver apolipoprotein (apo) A-I gene expression by fibrates was studied in human apo A-I transgenic mice containing a human genomic DNA fragment driving apo A-I expression in liver. Treatment with fenofibrate (0.5% wt/wt) for 7 d increased plasma human apo A-I levels up to 750% and HDL-cholesterol levels up to 200% with a shift to larger particles. The increase in human apo A-I plasma levels was time and dose dependent and was already evident after 3 d at the highest dose (0.5% wt/wt) of fenofibrate. In contrast, plasma mouse apo A-I concentration was decreased after fenofibrate in nontransgenic mice. The increase in plasma human apo A-I levels after fenofibrate treatment was associated with a 97% increase in hepatic human apo A-I mRNA, whereas mouse apo A-I mRNA levels decreased to 51%. In nontransgenic mice, a similar down-regulation of hepatic apo A-I mRNA levels was observed. Nuclear run-on experiments demonstrated that the increase in human apo A-I and the decrease in mouse apo A-I gene expression after fenofibrate occurred at the transcriptional level. Since part of the effects of fibrates are mediated through the nuclear receptor PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor), the expression of the acyl CoA oxidase (ACO) gene was measured as a control of PPAR activation. Both in transgenic and nontransgenic mice, fenofibrate induced ACO mRNA levels up to sixfold. When transgenic mice were treated with gemfibrozil (0.5% wt/wt) plasma human apo A-I and HDL-cholesterol levels increased 32 and 73%, respectively, above control levels. The weaker effect of this compound on human apo A-I and HDL-cholesterol levels correlated with a less pronounced impact on ACO mRNA levels (a threefold increase) suggesting that the level of induction of human apo A-I gene is related to the PPAR activating potency of the fibrate used. Treatment of human primary hepatocytes with fenofibric acid (500 microM) provoked an 83 and 50% increase in apo A-I secretion and mRNA levels, respectively, supporting that a direct action of fibrates on liver human apo A-I production leads to the observed increase in plasma apo A4 and HDL-cholesterol

Zippin’ up my boots, goin’ back to my roots: Radical left parties in Southern Europe

Radical left parties actively encourage the participation of their members in internal decision-making and insist on promoting organised links to trade unions and social movements. As a party family, they deviate from what is considered to be the trend in which Western political parties have turned their backs on their social roots. Drawing on the experience of South European radical left parties from the fall of the Berlin Wall until the recent financial crisis, we argue that ideology, electoral incentives, party competition and external events explain the radical left's pronounced emphasis on linkage, while organisational trajectory explains variation within the party family in terms of the linkage strategies pursued

From multi-speed to multi-stream? Recognising the motivations, processes and triggers behind party membership

A key question facing scholars of party politics is the journey engaged individuals take to becoming party members. We argue that the existing literature largely outlines one aspect – motivation. In this article, we present an alternative position: that a membership journey is only complete when a motivation, process and trigger are present. We outline this utilising a case study of the Green Party of England and Wales including previously confidential internal party documents, membership figures, elite interviews, focus group research and participant observation to provide a different means to understand membership fluctuations. We present these findings as an exploratory and inductive reinterpretation of existing debates. However, we also suggest that the findings are of interest not just in the case of the Green Party, nor the United Kingdom, but to all those who study party membership