Consensus against all odds:explaining the persistence of EU sanctions on Russia

In response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine in 2014, the EU introduced sanctions on Moscow. Despite increasing polarisation among member states after imposition, the sanctions package was consistently renewed. How can sanctions persistence be explained? While scholarly accounts highlight German leadership, commitment to norms, and policymakers’ engagement, the EU’s ability to uphold the sanctions in the face of uneven support among member states remains puzzling. With the help of a two-level game framework, according to which actors make decisions based on the interplay between the domestic and international levels, we argue that the interaction between the Council and domestic politics helped sustaining the consensus. To illustrate this dynamic, in an exploration of domestic factions in Spain and Poland, two member states displaying opposite attitudes towards Russia, we identify the presence of at least one actor whose preference deviates from the core, thereby facilitating consensus

Surface subsidence caused by roadway mining as partial extraction in hard coal mining industry

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki geodezyjnych pomiarów deformacji powierzchni, obniżeń i odkształceń poziomych (względnych zmian długości na odcinkach) z dwóch obszarów, gdzie prowadzona jest eksploatacja częściowa przez dwa, jedyne zakłady górnicze w Polsce systemem chodnikowym z pozostawieniem filarów węglowych. Ponadto przedstawiono wartości współczynnika eksploatacyjnego, który charakteryzuje stopień wybrania pokładu (wykorzystania złoża) oraz wykazano jego zależność od stopnia wykorzystania złoża. Wyniki polskich doświadczeń porównano z doświadczeniami kopalni Roadside z eksploatacji komorowo-filarowej w Stanach Zjednoczonych oraz z doświadczeniami kopalni Changxing w Chinach z eksploatacji prowadzonej chodnikami.This paper presents the results of surveys of subsidence and horizontal deformations (relative to changing length between observation points) from two mining areas where only two collieries in Poland extract hard coal seams using gateway mining technology with coal pillars. Furthermore, the operating indicator (exploitation of a deposit) values were presented and its relation from the degree of deposit exploitation demonstrated. The results of subsidence analysis from research areas in Poland were compared with the results of Roadside colliery in the United States, using room and pillar mining technology, and with the results of Changxing colliery in China which applied the roadway backfill coal mining method (RBCM)

miR-34/449 miRNAs are required for motile ciliogenesis by repressing cp110.

The mir-34/449 family consists of six homologous miRNAs at three genomic loci. Redundancy of miR-34/449 miRNAs and their dominant expression in multiciliated epithelia suggest a functional significance in ciliogenesis. Here we report that mice deficient for all miR-34/449 miRNAs exhibited postnatal mortality, infertility and strong respiratory dysfunction caused by defective mucociliary clearance. In both mouse and Xenopus, miR-34/449-deficient multiciliated cells (MCCs) exhibited a significant decrease in cilia length and number, due to defective basal body maturation and apical docking. The effect of miR-34/449 on ciliogenesis was mediated, at least in part, by post-transcriptional repression of Cp110, a centriolar protein suppressing cilia assembly. Consistent with this, cp110 knockdown in miR-34/449-deficient MCCs restored ciliogenesis by rescuing basal body maturation and docking. Altogether, our findings elucidate conserved cellular and molecular mechanisms through which miR-34/449 regulate motile ciliogenesis

Long-range neural and gap junction protein-mediated cues control polarity during planarian regeneration

AbstractHaving the ability to coordinate the behavior of stem cells to induce regeneration of specific large-scale structures would have far-reaching consequences in the treatment of degenerative diseases, acute injury, and aging. Thus, identifying and learning to manipulate the sequential steps that determine the fate of new tissue within the overall morphogenetic program of the organism is fundamental. We identified novel early signals, mediated by the central nervous system and 3 innexin proteins, which determine the fate and axial polarity of regenerated tissue in planarians. Modulation of gap junction-dependent and neural signals specifically induces ectopic anterior regeneration blastemas in posterior and lateral wounds. These ectopic anterior blastemas differentiate new brains that establish permanent primary axes re-established during subsequent rounds of unperturbed regeneration. These data reveal powerful novel controls of pattern formation and suggest a constructive model linking nervous inputs and polarity determination in early stages of regeneration

The highly conserved FOXJ1 target CFAP161 is dispensable for motile ciliary function in mouse and <em>Xenopus</em>.

Cilia are protrusions of the cell surface and composed of hundreds of proteins many of which are evolutionary and functionally well conserved. In cells assembling motile cilia the expression of numerous ciliary components is under the control of the transcription factor FOXJ1. Here, we analyse the evolutionary conserved FOXJ1 target CFAP161 in Xenopus and mouse. In both species Cfap161 expression correlates with the presence of motile cilia and depends on FOXJ1. Tagged CFAP161 localises to the basal bodies of multiciliated cells of the Xenopus larval epidermis, and in mice CFAP161 protein localises to the axoneme. Surprisingly, disruption of the Cfap161 gene in both species did not lead to motile cilia-related phenotypes, which contrasts with the conserved expression in cells carrying motile cilia and high sequence conservation. In mice mutation of Cfap161 stabilised the mutant mRNA making genetic compensation triggered by mRNA decay unlikely. However, genes related to microtubules and cilia, microtubule motor activity and inner dyneins were dysregulated, which might buffer the Cfap161 mutation