Comparative Models in German Elections: Using the German Far-Right Party as a Proxy for Ethnic Conflict

In 2017, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) became the first the far-right party to win seats in the Bundestag since 1933. By campaigning on ethnic division, the AfD saw an unprecedented rise in support, especially in East Germany. This paper tests two models of ethnic conflict within comparative politics, primordialism and constructivism, to see which better explains the result of the AfD’s 2017 election. By examining the rhetorical use of political advertisements, the Manifesto Project’s analysis of the AfD’s platform, and differences of support between East and West Germany, the paper finds that constructivism better shows that highly-educated elites within the AfD purposefully constructed ethnic division to gain political support. Clear implications are drawn for the future of the two ethnic models and for European far-right politics

The IMGT/HLA database

It is 14 years since the IMGT/HLA database was first released, providing the HLA community with a searchable repository of highly curated HLA sequences. The HLA complex is located within the 6p21.3 region of human chromosome 6 and contains more than 220 genes of diverse function. Of these, 21 genes encode proteins of the immune system that are highly polymorphic. The naming of these HLA genes and alleles and their quality control is the responsibility of the World Health Organization Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System. Through the work of the HLA Informatics Group and in collaboration with the European Bioinformatics Institute, we are able to provide public access to these data through the website http://www.ebi.ac.uk/imgt/hla/. Regular updates to the website ensure that new and confirmatory sequences are dispersed to the HLA community and the wider research and clinical communities. This article describes the latest updates and additional tools added to the IMGT/HLA project

Electrospun Nano-fibers for biomedical and tissue engineering applications: A comprehensive review

Pharmaceutical nano-fibers have attracted widespread attention fromresearchers for reasons such as adaptability of the electro-spinning process and ease of production. As a flexible method for fabricating nano-fibers, electro-spinning is extensively used. An electro-spinning unit is composed of a pump or syringe, a high voltage current supplier, a metal plate collector and a spinneret. Optimization of the attained nano-fibers is undertaken through manipulation of the variables of the process and formulation, including concentration, viscosity, molecular mass, and physical phenomenon, as well as the environmental parameters including temperature and humidity. The nano-fibers achieved by electro-spinning can be utilized for drug loading. The mixing of two or more medicines can be performed via electro-spinning. Facilitation or inhibition of the burst release of a drug can be achieved by the use of the electro-spinning approach. This potential is anticipated to facilitate progression in applications of drug release modification and tissue engineering (TE). The present review aims to focus on electro-spinning, optimization parameters, pharmacological applications, biological characteristics, and in vivo analyses of the electro-spun nano-fibers. Furthermore, current developments and upcoming investigation directions are outlined for the advancement of electro-spun nano-fibers for TE. Moreover, the possible applications, complications and future developments of these nano-fibers are summarized in detail. © 2020 by the authors