Regions and immigration in advanced democracies

Postponed access: the file will be available after 2022-05-11Immigration has become a cleaving issue in contemporary politics. Ranging from forced migration and climate-related population displacement to more mundane intra-European Union/European Free Trade Association (EU/EFTA) freedom of movement, the immigration challenge takes several forms. Whilst national and supranational institutions have mobilized on the issue, subnational authorities in federal and regionalized countries have become important actors shaping integration policies and mediating their effects. Beyond their growth in formal competences, regional authorities underline how the triangular relationship between community, solidarity and territory matters. All three facets affect the integration of immigrants, with repercussions throughout the policy–politics–polity triptych.acceptedVersio

Farewell note: a decade as RFS Editor

This farewell note reflects on a decade of editorship for Regional & Federal Studies (RFS). It draws on this experience to highlight some areas of change and continuity in the journal’s life, the publishing industry, and the profession at large. Over this time interval (2012-2023), the journal has gone through changes in personnel and editorial strategies. Meanwhile, both academia in general and academic journals in particular have undergone processes of professionalization and digitalization, with knock-on effects on how they function. Publishing models are changing, but also publishing patterns in terms of author characteristics (gender, geographical origin, career stage). To some extent, academic journals are a microcosm of the profession and of certain societal trends. In the midst of this, Editors continue their work, both adapting to these evolutions and seeking to steer them in a meaningful way.publishedVersio

Hungry for power? Regional elites and the architecture of government

How can we better understand the architecture of government? Governmental structures are regularly altered by the dispersion of power upward and downward to supranational and subnational bodies. The preferences of citizens and élites in this regard are well documented at the national and EU levels. However, the preferences of regional élites remain somewhat of a black box. What are their preferences when it comes to the distribution of competences across the regional-national-EU triptych? This article pits three explanations against one another. They concern scale, identity, and institutional effects. These explanations are evaluated against a database containing information on over 1,300 regional élites in 68 regions and 12 countries. Overall, while scale and institutional logics do play a role, identity logics prevail. These findings support a strand of literature stressing the importance of community and attachment in shaping the structure of government beyond what scale and institutional logics predict.publishedVersio

The territorial architecture of government

This article sets the stage for a special issue that examines the interplay between subnational and supranational governance. It begins by discussing how the territorial architecture of government has become more multilevel as national governments have shifted authority both downwards to subnational governments and upwards to international and supranational institutions. Next, we argue that this multilevel structure emanates from a tension between the drive to reap the functional benefits of scale diversity in a globalizing economy and the pressures arising from collective self-rule. We build on the research in this special issue to highlight some tangible effects of this tension for policy, politics, and polity. Subnational and supranational governance are conventionally perceived as separate phenomena with distinct consequences, and yet they are intimately connected in a fluid territorial architecture of multilevel governance.publishedVersio

Fédéralisme déguisé ou ajustement marginal ? L’impact de la dévolution sur le système politique britannique

De nombreux commentateurs universitaires et politiques trouvent incongru que l’on puisse établir un parallèle entre dévolution et fédéralisme. Le Royaume-Uni demeurerait un État unitaire qui aurait seulement consenti quelques aménagements à sa périphérie. Cependant, nous appuyant sur une définition du fédéralisme en sept points, nous aboutissons à des conclusions différentes. Il nous apparaît que la dévolution a provoqué une profonde fédéralisation des structures et des pratiques de gouvernement au Royaume-Uni. Sans y adhérer complètement, le système politique britannique se rapproche ainsi d’un système de type fédéral.Many academic and political observers find parallels between devolution and federalism unconvincing. The United Kingdom would thus remain a unitary state which would only have allowed some marginal adjustments at its periphery. However, using a seven-point definition of federalism, we draw different conclusions. We argue that devolution has deeply federalised the United Kingdom’s governmental structures and practices. Though it does not strictly adhere to it, the British political system is now closer to a federal model of government

Saved by hydrogen? The public acceptance of onshore wind in Norway

Achieving the green energy transition is not without difficulty. This is also the case for the deployment of renewable energy infrastructures. Among these, onshore wind has often been contested. Taking the case of Norway where opposition to onshore wind has grown, this article evaluates how different production, financial, and end-use schemes can mitigate opposition. One factor stands out: that the wind farm is used not only to produce emission-free hydrogen but that this hydrogen is also sold locally to decarbonize sectors such as transport and industry. In other words, hydrogen on its own will not “save” onshore wind from contestation, but hydrogen with a local purpose will render citizens more supportive of these projects, even when situated in their own municipality. This effect is particularly strong among younger and more educated citizens. However, it transcends the rural-urban divide which often structures attitudes towards onshore wind projects.publishedVersio

SUMO chain-induced dimerization activates RNF4

Dimeric RING E3 ligases interact with protein substrates and conformationally restrain the ubiquitin-E2-conjugating enzyme thioester complex such that it is primed for catalysis. RNF4 is an E3 ligase containing an N-terminal domain that binds its polySUMO substrates and a C-terminal RING domain responsible for dimerization. To investigate how RNF4 activity is controlled, we increased polySUMO substrate concentration by ablating expression of SUMO protease SENP6. Accumulation of SUMO chains in vivo leads to ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of RNF4. In vitro we demonstrate that at concentrations equivalent to those found in vivo RNF4 is predominantly monomeric and inactive as an ubiquitin E3 ligase. However, in the presence of SUMO chains, RNF4 is activated by dimerization, leading to both substrate ubiquitylation and autoubiquitylation, responsible for degradation of RNF4. Thus the ubiquitin E3 ligase activity of RNF4 is directly linked to the availability of its polySUMO substrates

Analysis of the inhibitory activity and mode of action of novel antimicrobial organic nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are difficult to define specifically hut usually encompass engineered particles ranging in size from 1 to 1000 nm. The physical and chemical properties. of nanoparticles can vary significantly from those of their bulk counterparts largely due to their large surface area to volume ratios. Approximately 40% antimicrobial agents emerging from development programs exhibit low solubility. This results in inadequate bioavailability, pharmacokinetics and stability. The use of appropriate nano-carriers has been shown to improve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents with the' explanation that the biodistribution of the antimicrobial follows that of the carrier rather than being dependent on the physiochemical properties of the compound itself. Therefore characteristics such as solubility and bioavailability can be enhanced. Here, a range of poorly water-soluble antifungal agents, biocides and an antibiotic were processed using a novel emulsion-evaporation technique to produce organic nanoparticles. These preparations were characterised on the basis of size and zeta potential and tested for inhibitory activity against relevant microorganisms including: C. albicans, E. coli, S. aureus and MRSA. Nanoparticle formulated antimicrobials were usually more inhibitory than the equivalent eo-solvent dissolved antimicrobials or water dissolved salt equivalents where available. However, efficacy was dependent on nanoparticle composition. Optimisation of nanoparticle dichlorophen inhibitory activity was attempted using a generic polymer and surfactant screen. The results were subsequently utilised in a computer modelling design approach. Due to formulation problems, predictive optimisation was not possible. However, nanoparticles of dichlorophen were usually most inhibitory when increased loading ratios of sodium dodecyl sulphate and hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose and reduced loading ratios of dichlorophen and gelatin were used in the preparation. No correlations between particle size, zeta potential and inhibitory activity were identified. No correlation between the inhibitory activities of blank nanoparticles and active equivalents were identified. A detailed series of controls prepared for one formulation usually produced low MIC values. However, the nanoparticle formulation exhibited the greatest efficacy. This suggested that enhanced activity due to nanoparticle formulation of the antimicrobial was not simply attributed to a synergistic effect between the different materials. The molecular response of S. aureus SH1000 to nanoparticle-formulated ciprofloxacin was investigated using RNA-Seq. All 5 investigated treatments induced differential gene expression. Moreover, comparative analysis between nanoparticle formulated and DMSO dissolved ciprofloxacin treated S. aureus SH1000 revealed the differential expression of 61 transcripts. No significant differential expression in DNA repair and replication targets was observed. This suggested that ciprofloxacin may not be more bioavailable to S. aureus SH1000 and therefore enhanced efficacy is not attributed to increased bioavailability. However, genes involved in stress response and cell division were shown to be up regulated in response to nanoparticle delivery. The results also revealed that 39 transcripts were differentially expressed due to nanoparticle exposure alone and these included stress response, cell division and virulence-associated genes. The identified differentially expressed transcripts are unlikely to account for the enhanced efficacy associated with nanoparticle delivery. Nanoparticles represent a novel approach to the delivery of hydrophobic anti microbials in aqueous dispersions. The advantageous features of nanoparticles are discussed throughout this thesis. The study used a variety of approaches with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms underpinning the observed enhancement in antimicrobial activity. The improved efficacy observed could not be correlated with any physical characteristics of the particles used. The transcriptional profiling results suggested that the improved antimicrobial activity observed was not associated with differential molecular targeting, and challenges current concepts that link enhanced efficacy with increased bioavailability

Identification of SUMO Targets Associated with the Pluripotent State in Human Stem Cells

To investigate the role of SUMO modification in the maintenance of pluripotent stem cells, we used ML792, a potent and selective inhibitor of SUMO Activating Enzyme. Treatment of human induced pluripotent stem cells with ML792 resulted in the loss of key pluripotency markers. To identify putative effector proteins and establish sites of SUMO modification, cells were engineered to stably express either SUMO1 or SUMO2 with C-terminal TGG to KGG mutations that facilitate GlyGly-K peptide immunoprecipitation and identification. A total of 976 SUMO sites were identified in 427 proteins. STRING enrichment created three networks of proteins with functions in regulation of gene expression, ribosome biogenesis, and RNA splicing, although the latter two categories represented only 5% of the total GGK peptide intensity. The rest have roles in transcription and the regulation of chromatin structure. Many of the most heavily SUMOylated proteins form a network of zinc-finger transcription factors centered on TRIM28 and associated with silencing of retroviral elements. At the level of whole proteins, there was only limited evidence for SUMO paralogue-specific modification, although at the site level there appears to be a preference for SUMO2 modification over SUMO1 in acidic domains. We show that SUMO influences the pluripotent state in hiPSCs and identify many chromatin-associated proteins as bona fide SUMO substrates in human induced pluripotent stem cells.</p