Notions of solidarity and integration in times of war: the idea of Europe, 1914–18

This article argues that the First World War did not just aggravate nationalist sentiments but also encouraged intercultural exchange and a better understanding of other societies and ways of life. Indeed, the wartime prevalence of notions of solidarity and integration requires more attention and careful analysis. The essay explores three key issues, focusing in particular on solidarity practices and transnational interaction. It investigates military alliances, the collaboration between national independence movements, and the role of neutral countries as refuge and gathering place of pacifist groups and intellectuals. Many of these actors discussed and promoted forms of at least regional cooperation in post-war Europe

Description of a nanobody-based competitive immunoassay to detect tsetse fly exposure

Background : Tsetse flies are the main vectors of human and animal African trypanosomes. The Tsal proteins in tsetse fly saliva were previously identified as suitable biomarkers of bite exposure. A new competitive assay was conceived based on nanobody (Nb) technology to ameliorate the detection of anti-Tsal antibodies in mammalian hosts. Methodology/Principal Findings : A camelid-derived Nb library was generated against the Glossina morsitans morsitans sialome and exploited to select Tsal specific Nbs. One of the three identified Nb families (family III, TsalNb-05 and TsalNb-11) was found suitable for anti-Tsal antibody detection in a competitive ELISA format. The competitive ELISA was able to detect exposure to a broad range of tsetse species (G. morsitans morsitans, G. pallidipes, G. palpalis gambiensis and G. fuscipes) and did not cross-react with the other hematophagous insects (Stomoxys calcitrans and Tabanus yao). Using a collection of plasmas from tsetse-exposed pigs, the new test characteristics were compared with those of the previously described G. m. moristans and rTsal1 indirect ELISAs, revealing equally good specificities (> 95%) and positive predictive values (> 98%) but higher negative predictive values and hence increased sensitivity (> 95%) and accuracy (> 95%). Conclusion/Significance : We have developed a highly accurate Nb-based competitive immunoassay to detect specific anti-Tsal antibodies induced by various tsetse fly species in a range of hosts. We propose that this competitive assay provides a simple serological indicator of tsetse fly presence without the requirement of test adaptation to the vertebrate host species. In addition, the use of monoclonal Nbs for antibody detection is innovative and could be applied to other tsetse fly salivary biomarkers in order to achieve a multi-target immunoprofiling of hosts. In addition, this approach could be broadened to other pathogenic organisms for which accurate serological diagnosis remains a bottleneck

The EU in the G8 system: assessing EU member states' involvement

Even though the role of the European Union (EU) in international organizations has generated increasing academic and political interest, scant attention has been devoted to the EU’s participation in the Group of Eight (G8). The launch of the renewed Group of Twenty (G20), however, has sparked intense debate among member states about the way in which the EU is represented in the G8 system. The central issue covered in this paper is the participation of the EU in the G8 system. In particular, we focus on the involvement of the 23 non-G8 EU members (EU23) and the role of the European Commission and the Council Presidency. The focus lies on the internal EU level, rather than on the question of the EU’s bargaining power at the international level. The paper draws on insights of Moravcsik’s liberal intergovernmentalism to explain the variation of the EU23’s involvement in the following policy domains: development aid, energy, finance and monetary affairs and trade. The paper finds a pattern of differing involvement that varies along the lines of the three forums within the G8 system: low involvement in the G8, medium involvement in the G20 and high involvement in the Group of Seven (G7). Four factors are suggested that explain the involvement of the EU23 in the internal EU coordination process: internal competences, intra-EU consensus, policy implications and the role of EU actors

Simultaneous interrogation of multiple fiber bragg grating sensors using an arrayed waveguide grating filter fabricated in SOI platform

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogator is demonstrated based on an optimized arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) filter. The AWG response is optimized to achieve large crosstalk between the output channels, which allows simultaneous detection of multiple FBG peaks, using centroid signal processing techniques, without constraints on the minimum FBG peak spectral width. The measured interrogator resolution is 2.5 pm, and the total measurement range is 50 nm. The device is fabricated in a silicon-on-insulator platform and has a footprint of only 2.2 x 1.5 mm. A novel approach to minimize the polarization dependence of the device is proposed and experimentally demonstrated

Parylene C for hermetic and flexible encapsulation of interconnects and electronic components

Flexible electronics are of a great interest for wearable and implantable medical devices due to their conformality with the body, compared to electronics made on rigid carriers. Packaging of such electronics needs to offer sufficient flexibility and in addition, has to provide good protection for the electronics inside, also in humid and harsh environments, to prevent device failure due to corrosion. Parylene C is a popular polymer due to its interesting diffusion barrier properties. Parylene C coatings are also extremely conformal, hence it offers the possibility to be used as flexibleprotecting encapsulation for electronic components and interconnects. In order to provide sufficient mechanical support for the electronic circuit, a second encapsulation in PDMS will be performed. In our work, we study the barrier properties of Parylene for long time exposure to moisture and biofluids. Since adhesion is a very important parameter to prevent corrosion, this property is studied in detail. Various substrates and various adhesion promotion treatments are evaluated. Furthermore, copper interconnects coated with parylene C are immersed in biofluids at 37 C to study corrosion. Accelerated testing is also performed at 70 C to mimic long time exposure in a harsh, humid environment. Since the Parylene barrier layers are typically 5-15 micron thick, they are highly flexible, and hence they are interesting barriers to be used in flexible/stretchable electronics. Therefore, special attention is given to the evaluation of barrier properties when Parylene is bended and stretched

Adhesion test for UTCP structure in humid environment

Ultra-Thin Chip Packaging (UTCP) technology enables the integration of off-the-shelf integrated circuits into thin substrates such as different kinds of circuit boards. This technology has been created at CMST during many years of intensive study. In this technology the thinned chip is embedded into polyimide and a copper fan-out is created to form the connections between the chip and the circuit board. This technology is compatible with standard circuit board manufacturing technology, which makes it an attractive solution to create miniaturized packages for electronics. In this paper the reliability of UTCP structure was studied using adhesion peel testing. The different solutions for constructing the material layers inside a UTCP were compared for their adhesion. Special test structures were manufactured for testing. The tested material layers consisted of polyimide, benzocyclobutene (BCB) and adhesion promoter for BCB. Altogether four different constructions were tested and the peel testing was done to half of the samples right after manufacturing and to the other half after exposure in 85/85 –environment for 500h. The results show difference in adhesion after exposure to humidity. Test structures with BCB suffer from loss of adhesion in PI – BCB interface after exposure to moisture. This result addresses that the structure is more reliable when the amount of different materials and interfaces is decreased

Distinct amyloid-beta and tau-associated microglia profiles in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia and is characterized by abnormal extracellular aggregates of amyloid-beta and intraneuronal hyperphosphorylated tau tangles and neuropil threads. Microglia, the tissue-resident macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS), are important for CNS homeostasis and implicated in AD pathology. In amyloid mouse models, a phagocytic/activated microglia phenotype has been identified. How increasing levels of amyloid-beta and tau pathology affect human microglia transcriptional profiles is unknown. Here, we performed snRNAseq on 482,472 nuclei from non-demented control brains and AD brains containing only amyloid-beta plaques or both amyloid-beta plaques and tau pathology. Within the microglia population, distinct expression profiles were identified of which two were AD pathology-associated. The phagocytic/activated AD1-microglia population abundance strongly correlated with tissue amyloid-beta load and localized to amyloid-beta plaques. The AD2-microglia abundance strongly correlated with tissue phospho-tau load and these microglia were more abundant in samples with overt tau pathology. This full characterization of human disease-associated microglia phenotypes provides new insights in the pathophysiological role of microglia in AD and offers new targets for microglia-state-specific therapeutic strategies