The Development of EU-Russian Relations

The EU＇s strategy for Russia since the end of the cold war has to a large extent failed, and the direct consequences are the currently deadlocked EU-Russia relationship. There are three reasons for this： the EU and Russia＇s respective strength and status relative to each other have been changing since the beginning of this century; the EU＇s strategy towards Russia has been more fragmenting in recently years; and the American factor. The EU-Russia relations could continue to be in poor shape in the years to come, and it is very likely sometimes even further worsening. But the two sides would refrain from extreme measures and prevent their relations from sliding into real cold war.     

大鼠DAI脑细胞凋亡与Phospho-Ser^727 Stat1表达的相关性

目的探讨Stat1是否参与弥漫性轴索损伤（diffuse axonal injury,DAI）后神经细胞凋亡的病理生理过程。方法应用自由落体撞击模型复制大鼠DAI模型,分为正常对照组、假手术组和打击后不同时间组（6、12、24、48、72h,5d和10d）。采用HE染色和镀银染色观察大鼠脑组织的病理改变,用流式细胞检测脑组织中脑细胞的凋亡率,RT-PCR法测定脑组织中bax和bcl-2的表达变化,免疫组织化学法测定脑组织中不同脑区727位丝氨酸磷酸化的信号转导与转录激活子1（Phospho-Ser727 Stat1）的表达情况。结果DAI后HE染色未见脑挫裂伤,镀银染色可见神经轴索扭曲肿胀,个别断端膨大形成轴缩球;损伤组脑细胞的凋亡率和脑组织中bax和bcl-2 cDNA扩增产物的比值24h达到最大值,随后下降;不同脑区Phospho-Ser727 Stat1表达升高,24h达峰后下降,至10d较对照组仍有显著差异;阳性细胞主要是神经元,在不同脑区也有一定量的神经胶质细胞阳性表达。脑组织中Phospho-Ser727 Stat1表达变化与bax和bcl-2的cDNA扩增产物比值的变化具有正相关性,相关系数r为0.921。结论大鼠DAI后Stat1的激活和损伤后脑细胞的凋亡有关,应与损伤后二次打击有关。     

MMP-2和MMP-9与脑损伤及其法医学意义

基质金属蛋白酶2和9（MMP-2、MMP-9）是基质金属蛋白酶（matrix metalloproteinases，MMPs）家族中的两个成员，可降解Ⅳ型胶原、层粘连蛋白等基质成分，从而使血脑屏障结构破坏，通透性增加，导致血管源性脑水肿，在脑血管疾病和脑损伤形成过程中起着重要的作用。在损伤后不同时段，MMP-2和MMPO含量及分布均呈现一定的波动性，探讨这些问题对脑损伤的治疗及在法医学中推断脑损伤时间有十分重要的意义。本文就这些问题的相关研究作一概述。     

Post-injection hybridization of complementary DNA strands on capillary electrophoresis platforms: A novel solution for dsDNA artifacts

Several laboratories have reported the occurrence of a split or n − 1 peak at the vWA locus in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products separated on 4- and 16-capillary electrophoresis instruments. The root cause of this artifact is post-PCR reannealing of the unlabeled, unincorporated vWA primer to the 3′-end of the tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. This reannealing occurs in the capillary post-electrokinetic injection. The split peak is eliminated by incorporation into the loading cocktail of a sacrificial hybridization sequence (SHS) oligonucleotide that is complementary to the vWA primer. The SHS preferentially anneals to the primer instead of the TMR-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. In addition, the n − 10/n − 18 artifact that may be seen at the vWA locus was determined to be due to double-stranded amplicon formed post-electrokinetic injection into the capillary. This was also eliminated by adding in two Complementary Oligo Targets (COT1 and COT2) in addition to the SHS oligonucleotide into the loading cocktail. These three oligonucleotides are complementary to the 33 bases at the 5′-end of the unlabeled vWA amplicon strand and the 60 bases at its 3′-end and therefore compete for hybridization to the TMR-labeled amplicon strand. Incorporation of these three oligonucleotides in the Internal Lane Standard 600 (ILS600) eliminate both the split peak and n − 10/n − 18 artifact in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products without affecting sizing of alleles at the vWA locus or any locus in the PowerPlex^® 16, PowerPlex^® Y, PowerPlex^® ES, AmpFlSTR^® Profiler Plus^® ID, AmpFlSTR^® Cofiler^®, and AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kits.     

From Merkel to Kramp‐Karrenbauer: Can German Christian Democracy Reinvent Itself?

Germany's Christian Democrats have started preparing for the time after Angela Merkel. After ten years as German chancellor facing a weak opposition, Merkel unexpectedly split the country in late 2015 and early 2016 because of her ‘open border’ policies that allowed more than 1 million refugees and migrants to rapidly enter Germany. Her management of the subsequent crisis was largely considered a failure and her party suffered a series of dramatic election defeats. Reacting to the negative electoral feedback, and in particular the breakthrough of the rightist and anti‐immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Christian Democratic Union organised an intra‐party contest to replace Merkel as party leader. Three candidates with different political profiles, Annegret Kramp‐Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn, contested the election. By voting for Kramp‐Karrenbauer, the CDU membership voiced support for maintaining a large‐scale political coalition based on efforts to find compromises between different party wings and social and cultural interests.     

How interest groups influence public opinion: Arguments matter more than the sources

Through what mechanism do interest groups shape public opinion on concrete policies? In this article, three hypotheses are proposed that distinguish between the effect of the arguments conveyed by interest groups and the effect of interest groups as source cues. Two survey experiments on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change allow the testing of these hypotheses. The resulting evidence from several countries shows that, with respect to interest groups’ attempts at shaping public opinion, arguments matter more than their sources. This is so even when accounting for people's trust in the interest groups that serve as source cues and for people's level of information about a policy. The finding that interest groups affect public opinion via arguments rather than as source cues has implications for the literature on elite influence on public opinion and the normative evaluation of interest group activities.     

Venue Preference and Earthquake Mitigation Policy: Expanding the Micro‐Model of Policy Choice

Seismologists have reported that a majority of recent earthquakes in Oklahoma have been triggered by the activities of oil and gas companies. Despite this fact, there is evidence of strong opposition toward earthquake mitigation policy. In this article, we argue that how individuals define issues affect their policy choice. Furthermore, we incorporate the concept of venue shopping from the literature on macro theories of the policy process to investigate the effect of problem definition in shaping individual venue preference for policy choice. Using unique survey data, we find that problem definition, particularly issue causality and issue image, is strongly related to individual support for earthquake mitigation policy. However, a more nuanced relationship between individual problem definition and venue preference is observed. Our findings contribute to scholarly endeavors to understand the politics of problem definition at an individual level, which may be the precursor of understanding policy choices at the institutional level.     

Automated DNA casework workflow: A retrospective study of the first implementation of FIDL at the Netherlands Forensic Institute

FIDL is a fast and automated DNA identification line which represents a series of software solutions automating the process from raw capillary electrophoresis data to reporting. This retrospective study provides insight in the numbers of cases, turnaround time, results compared to the standard workflow and the benefits automation has in a large volume workflow.     

FSH对仔猪睾丸支持细胞增殖和GDNF表达的调节

以原代培养的仔猪睾丸支持细胞(SC)为试验模型,研究了FSH对SC胶质细胞源性神经营养因子(GDNF)表达及其增殖的影响。结果显示,外源性添加FSH可促进GDNF蛋白表达,而且这种促进作用具有浓度和时间依赖关系,GDNF蛋白水平随着FSH浓度的增加而升高,当FSH浓度为50 ng/mL时,GDNF水平达到最高,然后逐渐降低;FSH(50 ng/mL)作用30 min,可显著促进GDNF蛋白的表达(P<0.05),当FSH作用1 h时,GDNF蛋白水平达到最高,随后逐渐降低。FSH可以时间-剂量依赖性促进SC增殖细胞核抗原(PCNA)的表达,FSH(50 ng/mL)作用30 min时,PCNA的表达显著增加(P<0.05),作用1 h达极显著水平(P<0.01),至2 h时,PCNA蛋白的表达水平达到最高,随后逐渐降低。提示,FSH可在体外条件下通过刺激SC表达GDNF进而促进其增殖。