Voter Information Campaigns and Political Accountability: Cumulative Findings From a Preregistered Meta-analysis of Coordinated Trials

Voters may be unable to hold politicians to account if they lack basic information about their representatives’ performance. Civil society groups and international donors therefore advocate using voter information campaigns to improve democratic accountability. Yet, are these campaigns effective? Limited replication, measurement heterogeneity, and publication biases may undermine the reliability of published research. We implemented a new approach to cumulative learning, coordinating the design of seven randomized controlled trials to be fielded in six countries by independent research teams. Uncommon for multisite trials in the social sciences, we jointly preregistered a meta-analysis of results in advance of seeing the data. We find no evidence overall that typical, nonpartisan voter information campaigns shape voter behavior, although exploratory and subgroup analyses suggest conditions under which informational campaigns could be more effective. Such null estimated effects are too seldom published, yet they can be critical for scientific progress and cumulative, policy-relevant learning.FSW – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Epstein-Barr Virus LMP2A Reduces Hyperactivation Induced by LMP1 to Restore Normal B Cell Phenotype in Transgenic Mice

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latently infects most of the human population and is strongly associated with lymphoproliferative disorders. EBV encodes several latency proteins affecting B cell proliferation and survival, including latent membrane protein 2A (LMP2A) and the EBV oncoprotein LMP1. LMP1 and LMP2A signaling mimics CD40 and BCR signaling, respectively, and has been proposed to alter B cell functions including the ability of latently-infected B cells to access and transit the germinal center. In addition, several studies suggested a role for LMP2A modulation of LMP1 signaling in cell lines by alteration of TRAFs, signaling molecules used by LMP1. In this study, we investigated whether LMP1 and LMP2A co-expression in a transgenic mouse model alters B cell maturation and the response to antigen, and whether LMP2A modulates LMP1 function. Naïve LMP1/2A mice had similar lymphocyte populations and antibody production by flow cytometry and ELISA compared to controls. In the response to antigen, LMP2A expression in LMP1/2A animals rescued the impairment in germinal center generation promoted by LMP1. LMP1/2A animals produced high-affinity, class-switched antibody and plasma cells at levels similar to controls. In vitro, LMP1 upregulated activation markers and promoted B cell hyperproliferation, and co-expression of LMP2A restored a wild-type phenotype. By RT-PCR and immunoblot, LMP1 B cells demonstrated TRAF2 levels four-fold higher than non-transgenic controls, and co-expression of LMP2A restored TRAF2 levels to wild-type levels. No difference in TRAF3 levels was detected. While modulation of other TRAF family members remains to be assessed, normalization of the LMP1-induced B cell phenotype through LMP2A modulation of TRAF2 may be a pathway by which LMP2A controls B cell function. These findings identify an advance in the understanding of how Epstein-Barr virus can access the germinal center in vivo, a site critical for both the genesis of immunological memory and of virus-associated tumors

Interface solide-solide « mise en evidence par études viscoélastiques du rôle des agents interfaciaux dans un composite verre-epoxyde »

Les caractéristiques viscoélastiques (E’, tg δ) de composites unidirectionnels polyépoxyde/fibres de verre ont été déterminées en soumettant l’échantillon à des sollicitations mécaniques dynamiques en flexion trois points. La présence d’un agent de couplage aminosilane à la surface des fibres se manifeste essentiellement par une augmentation du module au plateau caoutchoutique et une diminution du pic d’amortissement, notamment lorsque les fibres font un angle θ = 30° avec l’axe de l’échantillon. Cette évolution est reliée à une rigidification de la zone interfaciale en présence d’aminosilane A1100

Étude microcalorimétrique de la sorption d'eau sur des fibres et des grains de polytéréphtalate d'éthylène-glycol

Le couplage microcalorimétrie-gravimétrie a été utilisé pour déterminer le profil énergétique de la sorption d'eau sur des grains et des fibres de polytéréplitalate d'éthylène-glycol à 25 °C.Les résultats obtenus ont mis en évidence l'hétérogénéité de la surface du polymère vis-à-vis de l'eau et l'apparition d'un phénomène de gonflement avec nouvelle accessibilité du solvant. Cette nouvelle accessibilité apparaît à une pression relative d'autant plus forte que le taux de cristallinité, élevé par traitement thermique, est plus important.Des études de rétention de vapeurs et de cinétique de diffusion ont permis de mieux préciser le mécanisme de sorption de la vapeur d'eau

VI. Psychopathologie

Chauchard Paul, Engels Claude, Jampolsky P., Rausch de Traubenberg N., Thomas L., Valabrega J.-P., Vurpillot Eliane. VI. Psychopathologie. In: L'année psychologique. 1957 vol. 57, n°2. pp. 608-620