Newspaper Loyalty: Why subscribers stay or leave

Deze studie is een empirisch onderzoek naar de vraag waarom een deel van de krantenabonnees in Nederland er wel eens over heeft gedacht zijn abonnement op te zeggen en waarom een ander deel dit niet heeft gedacht en ook niet van plan is te gaan doen. Zij blijven trouw aan hun krant. Zelfs als de krant volgens de lezers niet de ideale mix bevat van soorten artikelen en foto’s. Deze studie is ook een onderzoek naar theoretische problemen die zich voordoen bij het beantwoorden van de eerste vraag

Role of the spectral shape of quantum correlations in two-photon virtual-state spectroscopy

The true role of entanglement in two-photon virtual-state spectroscopy (Saleh et al 1998 Phys. Rev. Lett. 80 3483), a two-photon absorption spectroscopic technique that can retrieve information about the energy level structure of an atom or a molecule, is controversial. The consideration of closely related techniques, such as multidimensional pump–probe spectroscopy (Roslyak et al 2009 Phys. Rev. A 79, 063409), suggests that spectroscopic information might also be retrieved by using uncorrelated pairs of photons. Here we show that this is not the case. In the two-photon absorption process, the ability to obtain information about the energy level structure of a medium depends on the spectral shape of existing temporal (frequency) correlations between the absorbed photons. In fact, it is a combination of both the presence of frequency correlations (entanglement) and their specific spectral shape that makes the realization of two-photon virtual-state spectroscopy possible. This result helps in selecting the type of two-photon source that needs to be used in order to experimentally perform the two-photon virtual-state spectroscopy technique.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Lesions resulting from inoculation of porcine foetuses with porcine parvovirus

In utero inoculation of 15 sows at various stages of gestation with a local strain of porcine parvovirus (PPV) resulted in resorption, abortion or the birth of weak, dead, or mummified foetuses. Histopathological lesions observed in foetuses of sows slaughtered at various post-inoculation intervals consisted of a perivascular inflammatory reaction primarily observed in the brain and kidneys. The presence and extent of the inflammatory reaction were dependent upon the age of the foetus at the time of infection. In the sow a perivascular inflammatory reaction was found in the endometrium, while the larger blood-vessel walls were infiltrated by lymphocytes, and it is suggested that these vascular lesions may contribute to the reproductive failures associated with PPV.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Fluctuations and Intrinsic Pinning in Layered Superconductors

A flux liquid can condense into a smectic crystal in a pure layered superconductors with the magnetic field oriented nearly parallel to the layers. If the smectic order is commensurate with the layering, this crystal is {\sl stable} to point disorder. By tilting and adjusting the magnitude of the applied field, both incommensurate and tilted smectic and crystalline phases are found. We discuss transport near the second order smectic freezing transition, and show that permeation modes lead to a small non--zero resistivity and large but finite tilt modulus in the smectic crystal.Comment: 4 pages + 1 style file + 1 figure (as uufile) appended, REVTEX 3.

Dichotomy between the transcriptomic landscape of naturally versus accelerated aged murine hearts

We investigated the transcriptomic landscape of the murine myocardium along the course of natural aging and in three distinct mouse models of premature aging with established aging-related cardiac dysfunction. Genome-wide total RNA-seq was performed and the expression patterns of protein-coding genes and non-coding RNAs were compared between hearts from naturally aging mice, mice with cardiac-specific deficiency of a component of the DNA repair machinery, mice with reduced mitochondrial antioxidant capacity and mice with reduced telomere length. Our results demonstrate that no dramatic changes are evident in the transcriptomes of naturally senescent murine hearts until two years of age, in contrast to the transcriptome of accelerated aged mice. Additionally, these mice displayed model-specific alterations of the expression levels of protein-coding and non-coding genes with hardly any overlap with age-related signatures. Our data demonstrate very limited similarities between the transcriptomes of all our murine aging models and question their reliability to study human cardiovascular senescence

Height and risk of death among men and women: aetiological implications of associations with cardiorespiratory disease and cancer mortality

OBJECTIVES: Height is inversely associated with cardiovascular disease mortality risk and has shown variable associations with cancer incidence and mortality. The interpretation of findings from previous studies has been constrained by data limitations. Associations between height and specific causes of death were investigated in a large general population cohort of men and women from the West of Scotland. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Renfrew and Paisley, in the West of Scotland. SUBJECTS: 7052 men and 8354 women aged 45-64 were recruited into a study in Renfrew and Paisley, in the West of Scotland, between 1972 and 1976. Detailed assessments of cardiovascular disease risk factors, morbidity and socioeconomic circumstances were made at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Deaths during 20 years of follow up classified into specific causes. RESULTS: Over the follow up period 3347 men and 2638 women died. Height is inversely associated with all cause, coronary heart disease, stroke, and respiratory disease mortality among men and women. Adjustment for socioeconomic position and cardiovascular risk factors had little influence on these associations. Height is strongly associated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and adjustment for FEV1 considerably attenuated the association between height and cardiorespiratory mortality. Smoking related cancer mortality is not associated with height. The risk of deaths from cancer unrelated to smoking tended to increase with height, particularly for haematopoietic, colorectal and prostate cancers. Stomach cancer mortality was inversely associated with height. Adjustment for socioeconomic position had little influence on these associations. CONCLUSION: Height serves partly as an indicator of socioeconomic circumstances and nutritional status in childhood and this may underlie the inverse associations between height and adulthood cardiorespiratory mortality. Much of the association between height and cardiorespiratory mortality was accounted for by lung function, which is also partly determined by exposures acting in childhood. The inverse association between height and stomach cancer mortality probably reflects Helicobacter pylori infection in childhood resulting inor being associated withshorter height. The positive associations between height and several cancers unrelated to smoking could reflect the influence of calorie intake during childhood on the risk of these cancers

Genetic Analyses in Small for Gestational Age Newborns

Context: Small for gestational age (SGA) can be a result of fetal growth restriction, associated with perinatal morbidity and mortality. Mechanisms that control prenatal growth are poorly understood. Objective: The aim of the present study was to gain more insight into prenatal growth failure and determine an effective diagnostic approach in SGA newborns. We hypothesized that one or more CNVs and disturbed methylation and sequence variants may be present in genes known to be associated with fetal growth. Design: A prospective cohort study of subjects with a low birthweight for gestational age. Setting: The study was conducted at an academic pediatric research institute. Patients: A total of 21 SGA newborns with a mean birthweight below the 1st centile and a control cohort of 24 appropriate for gestational age newborns were studied. Intervention: Array comparative genomic hybridization, genome-wide methylation studies and exome sequencing were performed. Main Outcome Measures The numbers of copy number variations, methylation disturbances and sequence variants. Results: The genetic analyses demonstrated three CNVs, one systematically disturbed methylation pattern and one sequence variant explaining the SGA. Additional methylation disturbances and sequence variants were present 20 patients. In 19 patients, multiple abnormalities were found. Conclusion: Our results confirm the influence of a large number of mechanisms explaining dysregulation of fetal growth. We conclude that copy number variations, methylation disturbances and sequence variants all contribute to prenatal growth failure. Such genetic workup can be an effective diagnostic approach in SGA newborns

MiR-337-3p Promotes Adipocyte Browning by Inhibiting TWIST1

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity is an alarming health issue worldwide. Obesity is characterized by an excessive accumulation of white adipose tissue (WAT), and it is associated with diminished brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity. Twist1 acts as a negative feedback regulator of BAT metabolism. Therefore, targeting Twist1 could become a strategy for obesity and metabolic disease. Here, we have identified miR-337-3p as an upstream regulator of Twist1. Increased miR-337-3p expression paralleled decreased expression of TWIST1 in BAT compared to WAT. Overexpression of miR-337-3p in brown pre-adipocytes provoked a reduction in Twist1 expression that was accompanied by increased expression of brown/mitochondrial markers. Luciferase assays confirmed an interaction between the miR-337 seed sequence and Twist1 3 0UTR. The inverse relationship between the expression of TWIST1 and miR-337 was finally validated in adipose tissue samples from non-MetS and MetS subjects that demonstrated a dysregulation of the miR-337-Twist1 molecular axis in MetS. The present study demonstrates that adipocyte miR-337-3p suppresses Twist1 repression and enhances the browning of adipocytes

"The extreme penalty of the law": mercy and the death penalty as aspects of state power in colonial Nyasaland, c. 1903-47

Open access article.Capital punishment was the pinnacle of the colonial judicial system and its use of state violence, but has previously been neglected as a topic of historical research in Africa. This article is based on the case files and legal records of over 800 capital trials – predominantly for murder – dating between 1900 and 1947. It outlines the functioning of the legal system in Nyasaland and the tensions between “violence” and “humanitarianism” in the use and reform of the death penalty. Capital punishment was a political penalty as much as a judicial punishment, with both didactic and deterrent functions: it operated through mercy and the sparing of condemned lives as well as through executions. Mercy in Nyasaland was consistent with colonial political objectives and cultural values: it was decided not only on the facts of cases, but according to British conceptions of “justice”, “order”, “criminality”, and “African” behaviour. This article analyses the use of mercy in Nyasaland to provide a lens on the nature of colonial governance, and the tensions between African and colonial understandings of violence.Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) and the Beit Fund, University of Oxfor

Variable G and Λ\Lambda: scalar-tensor versus RG-improved cosmology

We study the consequences due to time varying $G$ and $\Lambda$ in scalar-tensor theories of gravity for cosmology, inspired by the modifications introduced by the Renormalization Group (RG) equations in the Quantum Einstein Gravity. We assume a power-law scale factor in presence contemporarily of both the scalar field and the matter components of the cosmic fluid, and analyze a special case and its generalization, also showing the possibility of a phantom cosmology. In both such situations we find a negative kinetic term for the scalar field $Q$ and, possibly, an equation-of-state parameter $w_Q<-1$. A violation of dominant energy condition (DEC) for $Q$ is also possible in both of them; but, while in the first special case the $Q$-energy density then remains positive, in the second one we find it negative.Comment: 25 pages, to be published in Gen. Rel. Grav. 200