64 research outputs found
The role of host PrP in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies
AbstractPrP has a central role in the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), and mutations and polymorphisms in host PrP can profoundly alter the host's susceptibility to a TSE agent. However, precisely how host PrP influences the outcome of disease has not been established. To investigate this we have produced by gene targeting a series of inbred lines of transgenic mice expressing different PrP genes. This allows us to study directly the influence of the host PrP gene in TSEs. We have examined the role of glycosylation, point mutations, polymorphisms and PrP from different species on host susceptibility and the disease process both within the murine species and across species barriers
State, community and the negotiated construction of energy markets: Community energy policy in England
This article provides fresh insight on the political construction of markets through empirical analysis of community energy in the UK. It considers the diverse actors, understandings, processes and technologies enrolled in market creation, stabilisation and correction, while emphasising how negotiation, mediation and translation are pervasive throughout. Our starting point is an exploration of the role of the state in managing processes of socially embedding and disembedding markets, and how tensions between ideological commitments to deregulation and the social necessity of intervention are addressed by governing at a distance, in this example through the conveniently malleable notion of ‘community’. We draw attention in particular to the variegated manifestations of these processes and the plurality of actors and logics operating within the ‘black box’ of the state, as well as within and between markets and civil society. We reveal how negotiation between competing logics – the impulse to marketise and its diverse others – can be observed across different forms of organisation and action. We argue that such deliberations can be seen as fractal patterns throughout contemporary socioeconomic arrangements, emphasising how the Polanyian concept of the ‘double movement’ can be deepened through analysis of the heterogeneous associations and logics at work in ‘actually existing’ instituted action, understanding political processes as ontologically performative. Empirical material is drawn from across four research projects, each focusing on different aspects of the UK government's Community Energy Strategy, exploring the varying ways marketisation plays out through different governmental programmes
CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey - The Hubble Space Telescope Observations, Imaging Data Products and Mosaics
This paper describes the Hubble Space Telescope imaging data products and
data reduction procedures for the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic
Legacy Survey (CANDELS). This survey is designed to document the evolution of
galaxies and black holes at , and to study Type Ia SNe beyond
. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with
extensive multiwavelength observations. The primary CANDELS data consist of
imaging obtained in the Wide Field Camera 3 / infrared channel (WFC3/IR) and
UVIS channel, along with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The
CANDELS/Deep survey covers \sim125 square arcminutes within GOODS-N and
GOODS-S, while the remainder consists of the CANDELS/Wide survey, achieving a
total of \sim800 square arcminutes across GOODS and three additional fields
(EGS, COSMOS, and UDS). We summarize the observational aspects of the survey as
motivated by the scientific goals and present a detailed description of the
data reduction procedures and products from the survey. Our data reduction
methods utilize the most up to date calibration files and image combination
procedures. We have paid special attention to correcting a range of
instrumental effects, including CTE degradation for ACS, removal of electronic
bias-striping present in ACS data after SM4, and persistence effects and other
artifacts in WFC3/IR. For each field, we release mosaics for individual epochs
and eventual mosaics containing data from all epochs combined, to facilitate
photometric variability studies and the deepest possible photometry. A more
detailed overview of the science goals and observational design of the survey
are presented in a companion paper.Comment: 39 pages, 25 figure
Galaxy bulges and their massive black holes: a review
With references to both key and oft-forgotten pioneering works, this article
starts by presenting a review into how we came to believe in the existence of
massive black holes at the centres of galaxies. It then presents the historical
development of the near-linear (black hole)-(host spheroid) mass relation,
before explaining why this has recently been dramatically revised. Past
disagreement over the slope of the (black hole)-(velocity dispersion) relation
is also explained, and the discovery of sub-structure within the (black
hole)-(velocity dispersion) diagram is discussed. As the search for the
fundamental connection between massive black holes and their host galaxies
continues, the competing array of additional black hole mass scaling relations
for samples of predominantly inactive galaxies are presented.Comment: Invited (15 Feb. 2014) review article (submitted 16 Nov. 2014). 590
references, 9 figures, 25 pages in emulateApJ format. To appear in "Galactic
Bulges", E. Laurikainen, R.F. Peletier, and D.A. Gadotti (eds.), Springer
Publishin
Public opinion, responsiveness and constraint: Britain's three immigration policy regimes
We examine the links between public opinion and policy in the UK over the past thirty years. We show that public views about immigration are responsive to changes in immigration levels and differences between migrant groups, and that policymakers are sensitive to these changes. Policymakers look to respond to the public mood on migration, but face growing constraints in doing so. The interaction of public opinion, policy and constraint has produced three distinct policy regimes. In the first, from 1982-1997, policymakers faced few constraints, immigration was tightly controlled and the public were unconcerned about the issue. In the second, from 1997-2004, migration policy was selectively liberalised in response to external and interest group pressures, producing increasing inflows and growing public demands for restriction. In the third, from 2004 to the time of writing, public demand for restriction is strong but policymakers face significant constraints in responding. In all periods, policymakers seek to focus restriction on the migrant streams most opposed by the public, but as they have lost discretionary power over the issue they have been forced to take action against more economically valuable and socially accepted migrant streams. The growing constraints on policymakers have therefore sharpened the trade-off between the "responsive" government of meeting public demands for immigrations restriction and the "responsible" government goal of providing for the needs of a flexible, globally integrated economy
In Perspectives
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Public Opinion, Responsiveness and Constraint: Britain's Three Immigration Policy Regimes
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