Perceptions of Electoral Fairness and Voter Turnout

Previous research has established a link between turnout and the extent to which voters are faced with a “meaningful” partisan choice in elections; this study extends the logic of this argument to perceptions of the “meaningfulness” of electoral conduct. It hypothesizes that perceptions of electoral integrity are positively related to turnout. The empirical analysis to test this hypothesis is based on aggregate-level data from 31 countries, combined with survey results from Module 1 of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems survey project, which includes new and established democracies. Multilevel modeling is employed to control for a variety of individual- and election-level variables that have been found in previous research to influence turnout. The results of the analysis show that perceptions of electoral integrity are indeed positively associated with propensity to vote. </jats:p

Interpretation, translation and intercultural communication in refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France

This article explores the interplay between language and intercultural communication within refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France, using material taken from ethnographic research that involved a combination of participant observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis in both countries over a two-year period (2007–2009). It is concerned, in particular, to examine the role played by interpreters in facilitating intercultural communication between asylum applicants and the different administrative and legal actors responsible for assessing or defending their claims. The first section provides an overview of refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France, introducing the main administrative and legal contexts of the asylum process within which interpreters operate in the two countries. The second section compares the organisation of interpreting services, codes of conduct for interpreters and institutional expectations about the nature of interpreters’ activity on the part of the relevant UK and French authorities. The third section then explores some of the practical dilemmas for interpreters and barriers to communication that exist in refugee status determination procedures in the two countries. The article concludes by emphasising the complex and active nature of the interpreter's role in UK and French refugee status determination procedures

Growth of II-VI thin-films from single-source precursors based on sterically encumbered sitel ligands

We have developed a new route to MOCVD of II-VI compounds based on the use of novel single-source precursors in which the II-VI elements are combined at the molecular level in a single covalent compound. We have prepared and fully characterized a number of new derivatives of zinc, cadmium and mercury incorporating large, sterically demanding tellurolate ligands of general formula: M(sitel){sub 2} where sitel = -TeSi(SiMe{sub 3}){sub 3}. The crystalline compounds are relatively volatile and are easily manipulated under nitrogen. Several of these compounds have been tested for their suitability as precursors in the MOCVD process. Clean pyrolysis reactions and deposition of thin films were achieved. The stoichiometry of the pyrolysis reaction has been determined by analysis of the reaction by-products

Corticomotor Plasticity Predicts Clinical Efficacy of Combined Neuromodulation and Cognitive Training in Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) combined with cognitive training for treatment of cognitive symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A secondary objective was to analyze associations between brain plasticity and cognitive effects of treatment. Methods: In this randomized, sham-controlled, multicenter clinical trial, 34 patients with AD were assigned to three experimental groups receiving 30 daily sessions of combinatory intervention. Participants in the real/real group (n = 16) received 10 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) delivered separately to each of six cortical regions, interleaved with computerized cognitive training. Participants in the sham rTMS group (n = 18) received sham rTMS combined with either real (sham/real group, n = 10) or sham (sham/sham group, n = 8) cognitive training. Effects of treatment on neuropsychological (primary outcome) and neurophysiological function were compared between the 3 treatment groups. These, as well as imaging measures of brain atrophy, were compared at baseline to 14 healthy controls (HC). Results: At baseline, patients with AD had worse cognition, cerebral atrophy, and TMS measures of cortico-motor reactivity, excitability, and plasticity than HC. The real/real group showed significant cognitive improvement compared to the sham/sham, but not the real/sham group. TMS-induced plasticity at baseline was predictive of post-intervention changes in cognition, and was modified across treatment, in association with changes of cognition. Interpretation: Combined rTMS and cognitive training may improve the cognitive status of AD patients, with TMS-induced cortical plasticity at baseline serving as predictor of therapeutic outcome for this intervention, and potential mechanism of action. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT01504958.publishersversionpublishe

Why Reform Fails : The ‘Politics of Policies’ in Costa Rican Telecommunications Liberalization

As the \u27Washington Consensus\u27 reforms are losing momentum in Latin America, the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) is calling for shifting the focus from the content of policy choices to the political process of their implementation. As this paper studies the paradigmatic case of telecommunications reform in Costa Rica it underscores the importance of these \u27politics of policies\u27. The analysis finds, however, that the failure of repeated liberalization initiatives was not only due to policy-makers\u27 errors in steering the project through \u27the messy world of politics\u27 (IDB); instead, as liberalization remained unpopular, policy content indeed mattered, and only the interaction of both explains the outcome. Particular attention is drawn to the political feed-back effects, as the failed reform, precisely because it had been backed by bi-partisan support, became a catalyst for the disintegration of the country\u27s long-standing two-party system.In dem Maße, in dem die mit dem „Washington Consensus“ verbundenen Reformen in Lateinamerika ins Stocken geraten sind, plädiert die Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) für eine stärkere Berücksichtigung nicht nur der Politikinhalte (policies), sondern auch des politischen Prozesses von deren Umsetzung (politics). Die vorliegende Untersuchung zum paradigmatischen Fall der Reform des Telekommunikationssektors in Costa Rica unterstreicht die Bedeutung dieser „politics of policies“. Sie zeigt allerdings auch, dass Ursache für das Scheiten wiederholter Liberalisierungsinitiativen nicht nur Fehler der Politiker sind, das Vorhaben durch „die unordentliche Welt der politics“ (IDB) zu steuern. Die breite gesellschaftliche Opposition gegen den Liberalisierungskurs bleibt. Nur die Interaktion von beiden, politics und policies, erklärt Verlauf und Ergebnis der Reform. Besonderes Augenmerk widmet die Studie den politischen Rückwirkungen der gescheiterten Reform: Sie wurde, just weil sie von beiden etablierten Parteien unterstützt wurde, zum Katalysator für den Zerfall des seit Jahrzehnten etablierten Zweiparteiensystems des Landes

Real-Time Loss Estimation as an Emergency Response Decision Support System: The Early Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment Tool (EPEDAT)

At the time of the Northridge earthquake, a number of new technologies, including real-time availability of earthquake source data, improved loss estimation techniques, Geographic Information Systems and various satellite-based monitoring systems, were either available or under consideration as emergency management resources. The potential benefits from these technologies for earthquake hazard mitigation, response and recovery, however, were largely conceptual. One of the major lessons learned from the January 17, 1994 earthquake was that these technologies could confer significant advantages in understanding and managing a major disaster, and that their integration would contribute a significant additional increment of utility. In the two and half years since the Northridge earthquake, important strides have been taken toward the integration of relatively discrete technologies in a system which provides real-time estimates of regional damage, losses and population impacts. This paper will describe the development, operation and application of the first real-time loss estimation system to be utilized by an emergency services organization

Differential expression of anterior gradient gene AGR2 in prostate cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The protein AGR2 is a putative member of the protein disulfide isomerase family and was first identified as a homolog of the <it>Xenopus laevis </it>gene XAG-2. AGR2 has been implicated in a number of human cancers. In particular, AGR2 has previously been found to be one of several genes that encode secreted proteins showing increased expression in prostate cancer cells compared to normal prostatic epithelium.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Gene expression levels of AGR2 were examined in prostate cancer cells by microarray analysis. We further examined the relationship of AGR2 protein expression to histopathology and prostate cancer outcome on a population basis using tissue microarray technology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At the RNA and protein level, there was an increase in AGR2 expression in adenocarcinoma of the prostate compared to morphologically normal prostatic glandular epithelium. Using a tissue microarray, this enhanced AGR2 expression was seen as early as premalignant PIN lesions. Interestingly, within adenocarcinoma samples, there was a slight trend toward lower levels of AGR2 with increasing Gleason score. Consistent with this, relatively lower levels of AGR2 were highly predictive of disease recurrence in patients who had originally presented with high-stage primary prostate cancer (P = 0.009).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have shown for the first time that despite an increase in AGR2 expression in prostate cancer compared to non-malignant cells, relatively lower levels of AGR2 are highly predictive of disease recurrence following radical prostatectomy.</p

Over-Expression of LSD1 Promotes Proliferation, Migration and Invasion in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: Lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) has been identified and biochemically characterized in epigenetics, but the pathological roles of its dysfunction in lung cancer remain to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of LSD1 expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to define its exact role in lung cancer proliferation, migration and invasion. Methods: The protein levels of LSD1 in surgically resected samples from NSCLC patients were detected by immunohistochemistry or Western blotting. The mRNA levels of LSD1 were detected by qRT-PCR. The correlation of LSD1 expression with clinical characteristics and prognosis was determined by statistical analysis. Cell proliferation rate was assessed by MTS assay and immunofluorescence. Cell migration and invasion were detected by scratch test, matrigel assay and transwell invasion assay. Results: LSD1 expression was higher in lung cancer tissue more than in normal lung tissue. Our results showed that overexpression of LSD1 protein were associated with shorter overall survival of NSCLC patients. LSD1 was localized mainly to the cancer cell nucleus. Interruption of LSD1 using siRNA or a chemical inhibitor, pargyline, suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion of A549, H460 and 293T cells. Meanwhile, over-expression of LSD1 enhanced cell growth. Finally, LSD1 was shown to regulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer cells