Early Tithonian Saturnalidae (Radiolaria) from the Solnhofen area (Southern Franconian Alb, Southern Germany)

In order to complete the study of the very rich early Tithonian (Hybonoticeras hybonotum Zone) radiolarian fauna from the Muhlheim Member of the Mornsheim Formation outcropping in the Solnhofen area, the taxa of the family Saturnalidae are described. Although rather rare, the Saturnalidae of this member contain 14 species, ten of which are new. These species belong to four genera, one of which is new (Moebicircus n. gen.), and two subfamilies (Hexasaturnalinae and Saturnalinae). The taxonomy at generic level of these late Jurassic radiolarians is founded on the basis of the position of the blades along the ring and number and morphology of the spines. Type of spines (simple or forked) has either species level value or none, depending on species. Special attention was given to anomalies, which sometimes are rather frequent, since they can give information of paleobiological and paleoecological orders. Among them frequent cases of open ring and additional spines with Dicerosaturnalis and Siamese twins skeletons with Spongosaturninus and Dicerosaturnalis are to be noted. The authors hope that this new taxonomy will give a better image of the evolution and radiation of the Saturnalidae during the Tithonian.

Granulomatous hypersensitivity to Schistosoma mansoni egg antigens in human Schistosomiasis: I. Granuloma formation and modulation around polyacrylamide antigen-conjugated beads

We have developed an in vitro model of granuloma formation for the purpose of studying the immunological components of delayed type hypersensitivity granuloma formation in patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni. Our data show that 1) granulomatous hypersensitivity can be studied by examining the cellular reactivity manifested as multiple cell layers surrounding the antigen conjugated beads; 2) this reactivity is a CD4 cell dependent, macrophage dependent, B cell independent response and 3) the in vitro granuloma response is antigenically specific for parasite egg antigens. Studies designed to investigate the immune regulation of granulomatous hypersensitivity using purified populations of either CD4 or CD8 T cells have demonstrated the complexity of cellular interactions in the suppression of granulomatous hypersensitivity. The anti-S. mansoni egg immune responses of individual patients with chronic intestinal schistosomiasis can be classified either as soluble egg antigen (SEA) hypersensitive with maximal granulomatous hypersensitivity or SEA suppressive with activation of the T cell suppressor pathway with effective SEA granuloma modulation. Our data suggest that T cell network interactions are active in the generation of effective granuloma modulation in chronic intestinal schistosomiasis patients.

Schistosomiasis mansoni: immunodiagnosis aspects and search for an immunological marker related to therapeutic efficacy

The recent findings on immunodiagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni have shown that purified Schistosoma mansoni antigens do not provide maximum positivity. Therefore, the authors suggest the use of semi-purified antigens for diagnostic purposes. So far, no serological marker for cured patients as shown by negative stool examination was found. However, a tendency of IgG antibody titre decrease was observed, when egg antigen was used.

Urban image classification with semisupervised multiscale cluster kernels

This paper presents a semisupervised support vector machine (SVM) that integrates the information of both labeled and unlabeled pixels efficiently. Method's performance is illustrated in the relevant problem of very high resolution image classification of urban areas. The SVM is trained with the linear combination of two kernels: a base kernel working only with labeled examples is deformed by a likelihood kernel encoding similarities between labeled and unlabeled examples. Results obtained on very high resolution (VHR) multispectral and hyperspectral images show the relevance of the method in the context of urban image classification. Also, its simplicity and the few parameters involved make the method versatile and workable by unexperienced users.

Stochastic Search Variable Selection in Vector Error Correction Models with an Application to a Model of the UK Macroeconomy

This paper develops methods for Stochastic Search Variable Selection (currently popular with regression and Vector Autoregressive models) for Vector Error Correction models where there are many possible restrictions on the cointegration space. We show how this allows the researcher to begin with a single unrestricted model and either do model selection or model averaging in an automatic and computationally efficient manner. We apply our methods to a large UK macroeconomic model.

Colonialism, Elite Formation and Corruption

This paper argues that corruption in developing countries has deep historical roots; going all the way back to the characteristics of their colonial experience. The degree of European settlement during colonial times is used to dfferentiate between types of colonial experience, and is found to be a powerful explanatory factor of present-day corruption levels. The relationship is non-linear, as higher levels of European settlement resulted in more powerful elites (and more corruption) only as long as Europeans remained a minority group in the total population.

Trade in bilateral oligopoly with endogenous market formation

We study a strategic market game in which traders are endowed with both a good and money and can choose whether to buy or sell the good. We derive conditions under which a non-autarkic equilibrium exists and when the only equilibrium is autarky. Autarky is ‘nice’ (robust to small perturbations in the game) when it is the only equilibrium, and ‘very nice’ (robust to large perturbations) when no gains from trade exist. We characterize economies where autarky is nice but not very nice; that is, when gains from trade exist and yet no trade takes place.

The S. pombe cdc16 gene is required both for maintenance of p34cdc2 kinase activity and regulation of septum formation: a link between mitosis and cytokinesis?

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, septum formation and cytokinesis are dependent upon the initiation, though not the completion of mitosis. A number of cell cycle mutants which show phenotypes consistent with a defect in the regulation of septum formation have been isolated. A mutation in the S. pombe cdc16 gene leads to the formation of multiple septa without cytokinesis, suggesting that the normal mechanisms that limit the cell to the formation of a single septum in each cycle do not operate. Mutations in the S. pombe early septation mutants cdc7, cdc11, cdc14 and cdc15 lead to the formation of elongated, multinucleate cells, as a result of S phase and mitosis continuing in the absence of cytokinesis. This suggests that in these cells, the normal mechanisms which initiate cytokinesis are defective and that they are unable to respond to this by preventing further nuclear cycles. Genetic analysis has implied that the products of some of these genes may interact with that of the cdc16 gene. To understand how the processes of septation and cytokinesis are regulated and coordinated with mitosis we are studying the early septation mutants and cdc16. In this paper, we present the cloning and analysis of the cdc16 gene. Deletion of the gene shows that it is essential for cell proliferation: spores lacking a functional cdc16 gene germinate, complete mitosis and form multiple septa without undergoing cell cleavage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Formation continue dans les services publics en Suisse : quelles stratégies des acteurs dans un environnement managérialisé ?

Dans l'environnement actuel fortement évolutif, les questions relatives à la formation continue sont plus que jamais essentielles. Nombre de publications les abordent toutefois uniquement sous un angle prescriptif, sans considérer le comportement réel du personnel en matière de formation continue. La recherche dont il est question dans cet article vise à mettre en évidence les stratégies que les agents publics suisses mettent en oeuvre, au sein d'organisations soumises à une managérialisation croissante, pour atteindre leurs propres objectifs de formation. Sur la base des analyses effectuées, la conclusion esquisse certains enjeux plus fondamentaux relatifs à l'avenir de la formation continue dans les services publics suisses, enjeux à notre sens largement transposables au sein d'autres pays de l'OCDE (Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques).

Social capital formation across space: proximity and trust in European regions

An extensive economics and regional science literature has discussed the importance of social capital for economic growth and development. Yet, what social capital is and how it is formed are elusive issues, which require further investigation. Here, we refer to social capital in terms of civic capital and good culture , as rephrased by Guiso, Sapienza and Zingales (2010) and Tabellini (2010). The accumulation of this kind of capital allows the emerging of regional informal institutions, which may help explaining diff erences in regional development. In this paper, we take a regional perspective and use exploratory space and space-time methods to assess whether geography, via proximity, contributes to the formation of social capital across European regions. In particular, we ask whether generalized trust, a fundamental constituent of social capital and an ingredient of economic development, tends to be clustered across space and over time. From the policy standpoint, the spatial hysteresis of regional trust may contribute to the formation of spatial traps of social capital and act as a further barrier to regional economic development and convergence.