R functions for quantifying nonindependence in standard dyadic and SRM designs

Interdependence is the main feature of dyadic relationships and, in recent years, various statistical procedures have been proposed for quantifying and testing this social attribute in different dyadic designs. The purpose of this paper is to develop several functions for this kind of statistical tests in an R package, known as nonindependence, for use by applied social researchers. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) is also developed to facilitate the use of the functions included in this package. Examples drawn from psychological research and simulated data are used to illustrate how the software works.

How do the different components of episodic memory develop? Role of executive functions and short-term feature-binding abilities.

This study investigated the development of all 3 components of episodic memory (EM), as defined by Tulving, namely, core factual content, spatial context, and temporal context. To this end, a novel, ecologically valid test was administered to 109 participants aged 4-16 years. Results showed that each EM component develops at a different rate. Ability to memorize factual content emerges early, whereas context retrieval abilities continue to improve until adolescence, due to persistent encoding difficulties (isolated by comparing results on free recall and recognition tasks). Exploration of links with other cognitive functions revealed that short-term feature-binding abilities contribute to all EM components, and executive functions to temporal and spatial context, although ability to memorize temporal context is predicted mainly by age.

Adapter and enzymatic functions of proteases in T-cell activation.

Proteases control many vital aspects of humoral and cellular immune responses, including the maturation of cytokines and the killing of target cells. Recently, it has become evident that triggering of the T-cell receptor controls T-cell proliferation through proteases such as mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue 1 (MALT1) and Caspase-8 that act both as adapters and enzymes. Here, we discuss the role of these and other proteases that are relevant to the control of the T-cell response and represent interesting targets of therapeutic immunomodulation.

Local Public-Services Provision under Public-Private Partnerships : Contractual Design and Contracting Parties Incentives

When deciding to resort to a PPP contract for the provision of a local public service, local governments have to consider the demand risk allocation between the contracting parties. In this article, I investigate the effects of demand risk allocation on the accountability of procuring authorities regarding consumers changing demand, as well as on the cost-reducing effort incentives of the private public-service provider. I show that contracts in which the private provider bears demand risk motivate more the public authority from responding to customer needs. This is due to the fact that consumers are empowered when the private provider bears demand risk, that is, they have the possibility to oust the private provider in case of non-satisfaction with the service provision, which provides procuring authorities with more credibility in side-trading and then more incentives to be responsive. As a consequence, I show that there is a lower matching with consumers' preferences over time when demand risk is on the public authority rather than on the private provider, and this is corroborated in the light of two famous case studies. However, contracts in which the private provider does not bear demand risk motivate more the private provider from investing in cost-reducing efforts. I highlight then a tradeoff in the allocation of demand risk between productive and allocative efficiency. The striking policy implication of this article for local governments would be that the current trend towards a greater resort to contracts where private providers bear little or no demand risk may not be optimal. Local governments should impose demand risk on private providers within PPP contracts when they expect that consumers' preferences over the service provision will change over time.

Measurement of the specific heat and determination of the thermodynamic functions of relaxed amorphous silicon

The specific heat, cp, of two amorphous silicon (a-Si) samples has been measured by differential scanning calorimetry in the 100–900K temperature range. When the hydrogen content is reduced by thermal annealing, cp approaches the value of crystalline Si (c-Si). Within experimental accuracy, we conclude that cp of relaxed pure a-Si coincides with that of c-Si. This result is used to determine the enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy of defect-free relaxed a-Si. Finally, the contribution of structural defects on these quantities is calculated and the melting point of several states of a-Si is predicted

Emerging functions of myelin associated proteins during development neuronal plasticity and and neurpdegeneration.

Adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) axons have a limited regrowth capacity following injury. Myelin-associated inhibitors (MAIs) limit axonal outgrowth and their blockage improves the regeneration of damaged fiber tracts. Three of these proteins, Nogo-A, MAG and OMgp, share two common neuronal receptors: NgR1, together with its co-receptors (p75(NTR), TROY and Lingo-1), and the recently described paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B (PirB). These proteins impair neuronal regeneration by limiting axonal sprouting. Some of the elements involved in the myelin inhibitory pathways may still be unknown, but the discovery that blocking both PirB and NgR1 activities leads to near-complete release from myelin inhibition, sheds light on one of the most competitive and intense fields of neuroregeneration study during in recent decades. In parallel with the identification and characterization of the roles and functions of these inhibitory molecules in axonal regeneration, data gathered in the field strongly suggest that most of these proteins have roles other than axonal growth inhibition. The discovery of a new group of interacting partners for myelin-associated receptors and ligands, as well as functional studies within or outside the CNS environment, highlights the potential new physiological roles for these proteins in processes such as development, neuronal homeostasis, plasticity and neurodegeneration.

Venture capital financing : screening and contracting under assymetric information

Structure of the Thesis This thesis consists of 5 sections. Section 1 starts with the problem definition and the presentation of the objectives of this thesis. Section 2 introduces a presentation of the theoretical foundations of Venture financing and a review of the main theories developed on Venture investing. It includes a taxonomy of contracting clauses relevant in venture contracting, the conflicts they address, and presents some general observations on contractual clauses. Section 3 presents the research findings on the analysis of a European VC's deal flow and investment screening linked to the prevailing market conditions. Section 4 focuses an empirical study of a European VC's investment process, the criteria it uses to make its investments. It presents empirical findings on the investment criteria over time, business cycles, and investment types. It also links these criteria to the VC's subsequent performance. Finally, section 5 presents an empirical research on the comparison of the legal contracts signed between European and United States Venture Capitalists and the companies they finance. This research highlights some of the contracting practices in Europe and the United States.

Traces of functions in Fock spaces on lattices of critical density

Following a scheme of Levin we describe the values that functions in Fock spaces take on lattices of critical density in terms of both the size of the values and a cancelation condition that involves discrete versions of the Cauchy and Beurling-Ahlfors transforms.

Uniform estimates in the Poincare-Aronszajn theorem on the separation of singularities of analytic functions

We study the possibility of splitting any bounded analytic function $f$ with singularities in a closed set $E\cup F$ as a sum of two bounded analytic functions with singularities in $E$ and $F$ respectively. We obtain some results under geometric restrictions on the sets $E$ and $F$ and we provide some examples showing the sharpness of the positive results.

Circadian clock-dependent and -independent rhythmic proteomes implement distinct diurnal functions in mouse liver.

Diurnal oscillations of gene expression controlled by the circadian clock underlie rhythmic physiology across most living organisms. Although such rhythms have been extensively studied at the level of transcription and mRNA accumulation, little is known about the accumulation patterns of proteins. Here, we quantified temporal profiles in the murine hepatic proteome under physiological light-dark conditions using stable isotope labeling by amino acids quantitative MS. Our analysis identified over 5,000 proteins, of which several hundred showed robust diurnal oscillations with peak phases enriched in the morning and during the night and related to core hepatic physiological functions. Combined mathematical modeling of temporal protein and mRNA profiles indicated that proteins accumulate with reduced amplitudes and significant delays, consistent with protein half-life data. Moreover, a group comprising about one-half of the rhythmic proteins showed no corresponding rhythmic mRNAs, indicating significant translational or posttranslational diurnal control. Such rhythms were highly enriched in secreted proteins accumulating tightly during the night. Also, these rhythms persisted in clock-deficient animals subjected to rhythmic feeding, suggesting that food-related entrainment signals influence rhythms in circulating plasma factors.

Hardy’s inequalities for monotone functions on partly ordered measure spaces

We characterize the weighted Hardy inequalities for monotone functions in Rn +. In dimension n = 1, this recovers the standard theory of Bp weights. For n > 1, the result was previously only known for the case p = 1. In fact, our main theorem is proved in the more general setting of partly ordered measure spaces.

Distinct profiles of cytotoxic granules in memory CD8 T cells correlate with functions, differentiation stage, and antigen exposure

RAPPORT DE SYNTHÈSE : Les profils des granules cytotoxiques des cellules T CD8 mémoires sont corrélés à la fonction, à leur état de différentiation et à l'exposition à l'antigène. Les lymphocytes T-CD8 cytotoxiques exercent leur fonction antivirale et antitumorale surtout par la sécrétion des granules cytotoxiques. En général, ce sont l'activité de dégranulation et les granules cytotoxiques (contenant perforine et différentes granzymes) qui définissent les lymphocytes T-CD8 cytotoxiques. Dans cette étude, nous avons investigué l'expression de granzyme K par cytométrie en flux, en comparaison avec l'expression de granzyme A, granzyme B et de perforine. L'expression des granules cytotoxiques a été déterminée dans lymphocytes T-CD8 qui étaient spécifiques pour des différents virus, en particulier spécifique pour le virus d'influenza (flu), le virus Ebstein Barr (EBV), le virus de cytomégalie (CMV) et le virus de l'immunodéficience humaine (HIV). Nous avons observé une dichotomie entre l'expression du granzyme K et de la perforine dans les lymphocytes T-CD8 qui étaient spécifiques aux virus mentionnés. Les profils des lymphocytes T-CD8 spécifiques à flu étaient positifs soit pour granzyme A et granzyme K soit pour le granzyme K seul, mais dans l'ensemble négatifs pour perforine et granzyme B. Les cellules spécifiques à CMV étaient dans la plupart positives pour perforine, granzyme B et A, mais négatives pour le granzyme K. Les cellules spécifiques à EBV et HIV étaient dans la majorité positives pour granzyme A, B et K, et dans la moitié des cas négatives pour la perforine. Nous avons également analysé, selon les marqueurs de mémoire de CD45 et CD127, les profils de différentiation cellulaire: Les cellules avec les granules cytotoxiques contenant exclusivement le granzyme K, étaient associées à un état de différentiation précoce. Au contraire, les protéines cytolytiques perforine, granzyme A et B, correspondent à une différentiation avancée. En outre, les protéines perforine et granzyme B, mais pas les granzymes A et K, sont corrélées à une activité cytotoxique. Finalement, des changements dans l'exposition d'antigène in vitro et in vivo suivant une infection primaire d' HIV ou une vaccination modulent le profil de granules cytotoxiques. Ces résultats nous permettent d'étendre la compréhension de la relation entre les différents profils de granules cytotoxiques des lymphocytes T-CD8 et leur fonction, leur état de différentiation et l'exposition à l'antigène.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors: three isotypes for a multitude of functions.

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are fatty acid and eicosanoid inducible nuclear receptors, which occur in three different isotypes. Upon activator binding, they modulate the expression of various target genes implicated in several important physiological pathways. During the past few years, the identification of both PPAR ligands, natural and synthetic, and PPAR targets and their associated functions has been one of the most important achievements in the field. It underscores the potential therapeutic application of PPAR-specific compounds on the one side, and the crucial biological roles of endogenous PPAR ligands on the other.

Ex vivo characterization of human CD8+ T subsets with distinct replicative history and partial effector functions.

After antigenic challenge, naive T lymphocytes enter a program of proliferation and differentiation during the course of which they acquire effector functions and may ultimately become memory cells. In humans, the pathways of effector and memory T-cell differentiation remain poorly defined. Here we describe the properties of 2 CD8+ T-lymphocyte subsets, RA+CCR7-27+28+ and RA+CCR7-27+28-, in human peripheral blood. These cells display phenotypic and functional features that are intermediate between naive and effector T cells. Like naive T lymphocytes, both subsets show relatively long telomeres. However, unlike the naive population, these T cells exhibit reduced levels of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs), indicating they have undergone additional rounds of in vivo cell division. Furthermore, we show that they also share effector-type properties. At equivalent in vivo replicative history, the 2 subsets express high levels of Fas/CD95 and CD11a, as well as increasing levels of effector mediators such as granzyme B, perforin, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Both display partial ex vivo cytolytic activity and can be found among cytomegalovirus-specific cytolytic T cells. Taken together, our data point to the presence of T cells with intermediate effector-like functions and suggest that these subsets consist of T lymphocytes that are evolving toward a more differentiated effector or effector-memory stage.