100 research outputs found
Actors of the common interest? The Brussels offices of the regions.
The absence of a formal place in representative democracy at EU level casts sub-national authorities more as actors of EU participatory democracy. Where they have specific interests to pursue their Brussels offices act in the same way as lobbyists, but public authorities are also capable of acting on broader interest sets. This analysis is geared to understanding variation in the extent to which the diversely constituted Brussels offices of the regions can act on a broad spectrum of civil society interests, and thus have potential as actors of European integration in connecting civil society with EU institutions. Differences in the orientation of offices towards either highly defined or broad agendas can be conceived in qualified principal-agent terms, in which the autonomy of offices to develop activities is the critical explanatory factor. This autonomy can be derived more from the structure of principals and from degrees of purpose they have than from asymmetries of power between principals and agents, which in turn can be drawn from typologies of degrees of devolved authority present in different member states. It predicts that territorial offices from member states with medium degrees of devolved authority have the greatest potential to act on a broad range of civil society oriented interests
Infrared Ellipsometry Analysis of Heritage Photographic Prints
[EN] Focusing on the photographic archive of Julian Carrillo (Mexico), we study and characterize the photographic processes of a set of 13 photographs dated between 1884 and 1925. By using infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, we classified a selected set of photographs according to its kind of binder. Thus, we recognized for each photograph, the presence of proteins, and therefore, the particular photographic process. Furthermore, we have identified the presence of baryta layer, the use of plasticizer, and the eventual coating utilized to protect the photograph, whose composition was based in natural organic components, mainly shellac, beeswax, or camphorNieto-Villena, A.; Martinez, JR.; Flores-Camacho, JM.; Lastras-Martinez, A.; De La Cruz-Mendoza, JA.; Ortega-Zarzosa, G.; Valcarcel Andrés, JC.... (2018). Infrared Ellipsometry Analysis of Heritage Photographic Prints. Studies in Conservation. 63(8):466-476. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2018.1476962S466476638Brambilla, L., Riedo, C., Baraldi, C., Nevin, A., Gamberini, M. C., D’Andrea, C., … Toniolo, L. (2011). Characterization of fresh and aged natural ingredients used in historical ointments by molecular spectroscopic techniques: IR, Raman and fluorescence. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 401(6), 1827-1837. doi:10.1007/s00216-011-5168-zCasoli, A., & Fornaciari, S. (2014). An analytical study on an early twentieth-century Italian photographs collection by means of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Microchemical Journal, 116, 24-30. doi:10.1016/j.microc.2014.04.003Cattaneo, B., Chelazzi, D., Giorgi, R., Serena, T., Merlo, C., & Baglioni, P. (2008). Physico-chemical characterization and conservation issues of photographs dated between 1890 and 1910. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 9(3), 277-284. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2008.01.004Daher, C., Paris, C., Le Hô, A.-S., Bellot-Gurlet, L., & Échard, J.-P. (2010). A joint use of Raman and infrared spectroscopies for the identification of natural organic media used in ancient varnishes. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 41(11), 1494-1499. doi:10.1002/jrs.2693Edwards, H. G. M., Farwell, D. W., & Daffner, L. (1996). Fourier-transform Raman spectroscopic study of natural waxes and resins. I. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 52(12), 1639-1648. doi:10.1016/0584-8539(96)01730-8Fujiwara, H. (2007). Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. doi:10.1002/9780470060193Hendriks, K., & Ross, L. (1988). Chemical Treatments of Discoloured Photographic Prints: Image Manipulation or Legitimate Restoration? The Journal of Photographic Science, 36(3), 132-132. doi:10.1080/00223638.1988.11736990Mallégol, J., Gardette, J.-L., & Lemaire, J. (2000). Long-term behavior of oil-based varnishes and paints. Photo- and thermooxidation of cured linseed oil. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 77(3), 257-263. doi:10.1007/s11746-000-0042-4Nieto-Villena, A., Martínez, J. R., de la Cruz-Mendoza, J. A., Valcárcel-Andrés, J. C., Ortega-Zarzosa, G., Solbes-García, Á., & Vázquez-Martínez, E. (2018). Atomic force microscopy as a tool for binder identification in ancient photographic processes. Surface and Interface Analysis, 50(4), 496-505. doi:10.1002/sia.6408Ostroff, Eugene. 1966. “Restoration of Photographs by Neutron Activation.” Science 154 (3745): 119–123. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/154/3745/119.Othmer, Kirk, ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Vol. 17, 5th ed. New York: Wiley.Ricci, C., Bloxham, S., & Kazarian, S. G. (2007). ATR-FTIR imaging of albumen photographic prints. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 8(4), 387-395. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2007.07.002Sifontes, Á. B., Cañizales, E., Toro-Mendoza, J., Ávila, E., Hernández, P., Delgado, B. A., … Cruz-Barrios, E. (2015). Obtaining Highly Crystalline Barium Sulphate Nanoparticles via Chemical Precipitation and Quenching in Absence of Polymer Stabilizers. Journal of Nanomaterials, 2015, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2015/510376Stulik, Dusan, Herant Khanjian, Alberto de Tagle, and Alexandra M. Botelho. 2002. “Investigation of Jean-Louis-Marie-Eugene Durieu’s Toning and Varnishing Experiments: A Non-Destructive Approach.” ICOM Committee for Conservation 13th Triennial Meeting, Río de Janeiro, 658–663.Price, Beth A., and Boris Pretzel, eds. 2009. Infrared and Raman Users Group Spectral Database. 2007 ed. Vol. 1 & 2. Philadelphia: IRUG. Accessed June 20, 2014. http://www.irug.org/.Vila, A., & Centeno, S. A. (2013). FTIR, Raman and XRF identification of the image materials in turn of the 20th century pigment-based photographs. Microchemical Journal, 106, 255-262. doi:10.1016/j.microc.2012.07.01
Data Validation of the DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer DESIS
Imaging spectrometry provides densely sampled and finely
structured spectral information for each image pixel over
large areas, enabling the characterization of materials on the
Earth's surface by measuring and analyzing quantitative
parameters allowing the user to identify and characterize
Earth surface materials such as minerals in rocks and soils,
vegetation types and stress indicators, and water
constituents. The recently launched DLR Earth Sensing
Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) installed on the International
Space Station (ISS) closes the long-term gap of sparsely
available spaceborne imaging spectrometry data and will be
part of the upcoming fleet of such new instruments in orbit.
DESIS measures in the spectral range from 400 and 1000
nm with a spectral sampling distance of 2.55 nm and a Full
Width Half Maximum (FWHM) of about 3.5 nm. The
various DESIS data products available for users are
described with the focus on specific processing steps. A
summary of the data quality results are given. The product
validation studies show that top-of-atmosphere radiance,
geometrically corrected, and bottom-of-atmosphere
reflectance products meet the mission requirements
Policy monitoring in the EU: The impact of institutions, implementation, and quality
Policy monitoring is often seen as a crucial ingredient of policy evaluation, but theoretically informed empirical analyses of real-world policy monitoring practices are still rare. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on climate policy monitoring in the European Union, which has a relatively stringent system of greenhouse gas monitoring but a much less demanding approach to monitoring policies. It explores how institutional settings, policy implementation, and the quality of information may impact the practices and politics of policy monitoring. Drawing on quantitative regression models and qualitative interviews, it demonstrates that policy monitoring has evolved over time and is itself subject to implementation pressures, but also exhibits learning effects that improve its quality. In further developing both everyday policy monitoring practices and academic understanding of them, there is a need to pay attention to their design—specifically, the impact of any overarching rules, the institutional support for implementation, and the criteria governing the quality of the information they deliver. In short, policy monitoring should be treated as a governance activity in its own right, raising many different design challenges
Genetic variants for head size share genes and pathways with cancer
The size of the human head is determined by growth in the first years of life, while the rest of the body typically grows until early adulthood1. Such complex developmental processes are regulated by various genes and growth pathways2. Rare genetic syndromes have revealed genes that affect head size3, but the genetic drivers of variation in head size within the general population remain largely unknown. To elucidate biological pathways underlying the growth of the human head, we performed the largest genome-wide association study on human head size to date (N = 79,107). We identified 67 genetic loci, 50 of which are novel, and found that these loci are preferentially associated with head size and mostly independent from height. In subsequent neuroimaging analyses, the majority of genetic variants demonstrated widespread effects on the brain, whereas the effects of 17 variants could be localized to one or two specific brain regions. Through hypothesis-free approaches, we find a strong overlap of head size variants with both cancer pathways and cancer genes. Gene set analyses showed enrichment for different types of cancer and the p53, Wnt and ErbB signalling pathway. Genes overlapping or close to lead variants – such as TP53, PTEN and APC – were enriched for genes involved in macrocephaly syndromes (up to 37-fold) and high-fidelity cancer genes (up to 9-fold), whereas this enrichment was not seen for human height variants. This indicates that genes regulating early brain and cranial growth are associated with a propensity to neoplasia later in life, irrespective of height. Our results warrant further investigations of the link between head size and cancer, as well as its clinical implications in the general population
The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson’s disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Genetic Variants For Head Size Share Genes and Pathways With Cancer
The size of the human head is highly heritable, but genetic drivers of its variation within the general population remain unmapped. We perform a genome-wide association study on head size (N = 80,890) and identify 67 genetic loci, of which 50 are novel. Neuroimaging studies show that 17 variants affect specific brain areas, but most have widespread effects. Gene set enrichment is observed for various cancers and the p53, Wnt, and ErbB signaling pathways. Genes harboring lead variants are enriched for macrocephaly syndrome genes (37-fold) and high-fidelity cancer genes (9-fold), which is not seen for human height variants. Head size variants are also near genes preferentially expressed in intermediate progenitor cells, neural cells linked to evolutionary brain expansion. Our results indicate that genes regulating early brain and cranial growth incline to neoplasia later in life, irrespective of height. This warrants investigation of clinical implications of the link between head size and cancer
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