Im Rahmen der Studie wurden die Bürgermeister und Fraktionsvorsitzenden aller sächsischen Gemeinden am 2. Juni 2004, also kurz vor der Kommunalwahl am 13. Juni 2004, befragt. Dieser Befragungszeitpunkt wurde bewusst gewählt, da die Befragten die ablaufende Wahlperiode im Rückblick betrachten sollten. Die Befragung erfolgte schriftlich mit einem standardisierten Fragebogen.

This thesis begins by complicating classical understandings of the public sphere and focusing on the ways in which loosely aligned protest groups communicate agonistically across difference. It argues that the organisational systems and structures of coalition movements enable activists to accommodate very differently orientated protest positions and explores the ways in which coalition activists attempt to preserve political solidarity across difference. It then goes on to examine the ways in which coalition movements attract and then maintain the attention of wider publics. It suggests that coalition protest movements unsettle and renegotiate the boundaries which have traditionally constituted the public sphere and considers the political potential inherent in the fractured and fractious spaces which exist between the political margins and the mainstream. These intertwined arguments are organised around an examination of the protest strategies of various grass roots movements. These include groups which have retrospectively been characterised as coalitions such as the women's peace movement and the anti-Criminal Justice Bill movement as well as those which are currently defined as coalitions such as the anti-globalisation movement and the anti-war movement. This research utilises a wide range of research methods including participant observation, content analysis, semi structured interviews and textual analysis. In this way these chapters construct a textured account of the ways in which protest coalition movements articulate dissent from the margins to the mainstream. Protest coalition movements have become increasingly active players in the formation of public opinion. These developments require academics to address the issues raised by the communicative strategies of protest coalition movements. This thesis endeavours to contribute to these debates by reflecting upon the ways in which the articulation of polyvocal dissent alters the on going relationship between activists and the wider public.

Cette thèse examine l'origine, le mécanisme et la mobilisation du nationalisme ethnique au Pakistan. Depuis sa création en 1947, le Pakistan a souffert d'un manque de consensus ethnique important face aux projets de construction nationale et consolidation de l'État du Centre. Les mouvements et partis ethniques du Pakistan sont un reflet important de la résistance sociétale contre l'hégémonie perçue de l'Etat. À l'heure actuelle, le Pakistan abrite plusieurs mouvements ethniques qui sous-tendent la grande désaffection avec les politiques de l'État. L'objet de cette thèse portera sur deux de ces mouvements, à savoir les nationalismes ethniques Sindhi et Siraiki. Au-delà de l'étude des mouvements et dirigeants nationalistes, cette thèse propose également une étude sur les courants plus larges de la politique partisane et du comportement électoral dans les provinces du Sindh et du sud du Punjab. / This dissertation examines the origin, mechanism and mobilization of ethnic nationalism in Pakistan. From its inception in 1947, Pakistan has suffered from a serious lack of ethnic consensus in the face of nation-building and state-consolidation projects of the Center. The ethnic movements and parties of Pakistan are an important reflection of societal resistance against the perceived hegemony of the state. At present, Pakistan is home to several ethnic movements underlying the broad disaffection with the policies of the state. The focus of this dissertation will be on two of these movements, i.e. the Sindhi and Siraiki ethnic nationalisms. Going beyond the study of nationalist movements and leaders, this dissertation will also engage with the broader currents of party politics and electoral behavior in Sindh and south Punjab.

Dans cette thèse, nous proposons d’évaluer la représentation politique en Europe, tout en insistant sur la nécessité de considérer le point de vue individuel du citoyen. Nous développons ainsi une perspective nouvelle et originale sur la congruence entre les citoyens et les partis politiques. De plus, nous analysons la manière dont le système partisan affecte cette congruence au niveau micro et macro et, par conséquent, la manière dont celle-ci influence la satisfaction des citoyens envers le système politique. Nous nous appuyons tout d’abord sur le concept de représentation chez Pitkin, ainsi que les théories récentes sur le rôle des représentants. Ce faisant, l’importance des partis politiques, en particulier dans le contexte européen, est rappelée. Nous abordons ensuite la recherche sur l’opinion publique et la façon dont cette dernière analyse la relation entre les citoyens et l’Etat. Dans un troisième temps, nous revenons sur les approches qui combinent la recherche sur les partis politiques et l’opinion publique, en nous concentrant en particulier sur le concept de congruence. Toutefois, ces recherches présentent des lacunes, auxquelles nous proposons de remédier en développant une nouvelle approche de la relation entre les citoyens et les partis politiques. A partir d’une compréhension normative différenciée de la qualité de la représentation, des nouvelles normes pour juger la représentation du point de vue des citoyens sont présentées et de nouveaux concepts de congruence au niveau micro sont développés. Ce faisant, nous élaborons une typologie innovante de la congruence entre les citoyens et les partis politiques, reposant sur neuf concepts différents, introduits à travers (1) l'identification des critères d'évaluation de la représentation et (2) la formulation des normes pour l'évaluation de la représentation. Ces normes sont alors concrétisées en des indicateurs empiriques. Nous commençons par décrire, dans une optique comparative, la congruence entre les États membres de l'UE pour l'année 2014. Nous explorons ensuite la relation entre le système partisan et la congruence au niveau micro et macro, mettant ainsi en lumière l’impact du système partisan sur la congruence en fonction des divers concepts utilisés. Au niveau micro, l’analyse montre que la relation entre un concept de la congruence et le système partisan est stable et ne diffère pas, quel que soit l’enjeu. Au niveau macro, en revanche, les effets ne sont pas systématiques, mais varient en fonction des enjeux. Ces résultats éclairent sous un nouveau jour la relation entre le système partisan et la représentation, et contribuent ainsi à sa meilleure compréhension. Enfin, les effets de la congruence sont analysés à l'aide de modèles multi-niveaux, de façon à démontrer comment la congruence influence les jugements des citoyens sur la représentation politique. Il est démontré qu’au niveau micro, cette influence est systématique ; toutefois, l’intensité de cet effet varie selon l’enjeu. De ce point de vue, les enjeux qui importent le plus sont l’intégration européenne, la redistribution et la politique fiscale. En conclusion, notre recherche enrichit le débat théorique sur les partis politiques ; nos résultats permettent une meilleure compréhension de la représentation et expliquent la présumée « crise de la représentation », ouvrant de nouvelles pistes de recherches pour le futur. / The thesis aims at evaluating representation in Europe while emphasizing the need to consider the individual citizen’s perspective. It develops a new and original perspective on how congruence between citizens and parties affects systemic satisfaction. It draws on Pitkin’s theory on representation and the most recent theoretical advancements which focus mainly on representatives. The thesis highlights the important role of political parties, especially in the European context. After elaborating the “supply” side of the representational link (political parties), it demonstrates how the relation of citizens and the state is analyzed in public opinion research – the “demand”-side. In a next step, the dissertation refers to approaches which combine the supply and the demand-side of the representational link. In particular, it focuses on the concept of congruence. Building up on these lines in research, the thesis reveals gaps in existing research and develops an innovative insight into the representational link. Based on a differentiated normative understanding of “good” representation, the dissertation develops new standards for judging representation from citizens’ perspective. It develops new conceptualizations of congruence on the micro-level and suggests a typology of congruence between citizens and parliamentary parties, including micro- and macro-measures, resulting in nine different conceptualizations. The new concepts are introduced through (1) identifying the criteria for evaluating representation that every perspective suggests and (2) the formulation of the implicit standard for evaluating representation. These standards are transformed into empirical indicators. Based on this new, nuanced understanding of “good” representation, the dissertation explains how the characteristics of party-systems impact on different types of congruence. Further, the thesis contributes to the explanation of citizens’ political attitudes. It formulates nuanced assumptions about the relation between congruence and perceived responsiveness, yet highlighting the need to distinguish between an aggregate and an individual perspective on representation. The empirical analysis is based on an own original dataset which integrates EES-and CHES-data. First, the descriptive part of the empirical analysis compares congruence within the EU-member-states for the year 2014. We explore congruence on the micro- and on the macro-level with reference to multiple issue-dimensions that relate to societal cleavages or dimensions on which parties compete. The empirical analysis reveals a differentiated judgment about the functioning of representation in the EU- member-states, depending on the respective understanding of “good” representation. Second, we explain the relation of party-systems and congruence and provide greater insight into the relation of context and the quality of representation. The study refers – again – to multiple issue-dimensions and systematically compares the results of the dissertation with findings offered by the conventional macro-perspective on congruence. Third, the thesis tests how congruence influences citizens’ representational judgments via multi-level models. The analysis accounts for the nuanced conceptualization of congruence and is conducted for multiple issue-dimensions. The results provide new insights into the relevance of different standards for evaluating representation for citizen’s attitudes and accounts for differences between issue-dimensions. Concluding, the thesis illustrates how these results impact on our understanding of good representation, relates the findings to the presumed “crisis of representation” and highlights how this dissertation might inspire future research.

Recently, several studies have demonstrated that G protein coupled receptors exist as homo/heterodimers or oligomers. Adenosine A2A receptors and dopamine D2 receptors are present as both homo- and heterodimer. In the GABAergic striatopallidal neurons A2AR are co- localized with D2 receptors (D2R), and establish functional A2AR-D2R heteromers, which modulates dopaminergic activity. Due to be involved in physiological processes, these receptors bear critical roles. Dopamine receptors play critical role in dopaminergic pathways in regulation of memory, food intake and psychomotor activity, etc. On the other hand, adenosine A2A receptors are involved in the regulations of neurotransmission, immune response and cardiovascular systems. Dopamine D2R andadenosine A2AR have been shown to interact in striatum and modulate dopaminergic activity The purpose of this study is to assess the functionality of EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) and mCherry (a red fluorescent protein) tagged adenosine A2A and dopamine D2 receptors and to detect homo/ hetero-dimerization of these receptors in live cells via Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). Understanding the mechanisms of the interaction between adenosine and dopamine signaling will help us to figure out some molecular mechanism of neurophysiological disorders. Furthermore, the fluorescence based live cell model could be used to observe the effects of potential anti-psychotic drugs on the interaction of these two receptors.

Human telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex that adds hexameric TTAGGG repeats to the ends of chromosomes in order to prevent their shortening. Telomerase activity has been evaluated for its diagnostic and prognostic value in cancer since it is observed in most malignancies but not in most normal somatic tissues. In this study telomerase activity was examined in tumor specimens obtained from cervix, endometrium and their non-cancerous regions by an improved telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) &ndash / silver staining assay. Appearance of characteristic TRAP leader with 6 base pair increments indicate a positive result and was observed in all cancerous and some of the non-cancerous tissues. Telomerase activities of carcinoma tissues and normal counterparts were compared by densitometric analysis after PCR. Significantly higher telomerase activity was observed in cervical carcinoma samples compared to normal adjacent tissue. No significant difference was observed between endometrium carcinomas and normal endometrial tissue in terms of telomerase activity. High telomerase activity in normal endometrium restricts the use of assay for detection of carcinogenesis. However, in cervical tissues an accurate quantification of telomerase activity by TRAP &ndash / silver stain assay may be valuable as a confirmatory assay.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common urogenital cancers worldwide. Two techniques commonly used for bladder cancer diagnosis are urine cytology and cystoscopy. Cytology is not sensitive for detecting tumors. Cystoscopy is an invasive technique which disturbs patient comfort. In the current study, we used Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy as a novel method which is rapid and non-invasive to investigate the bladder tumor recurrence using the bladder wash samples collected in the course of control cystoscopy. This study is unique since it is the first one to use the bladder wash sample in the diagnosis of the bladder tumor by using FT-IR spectroscopy. Molecular investigation of the FT-IR spectra revealed many differences between control and tumor samples such as a considerable increase in protein, carbohydrate and nucleic acids content, and changes in protein and carbohydrate structure. On the basis of the spectral differences, cluster analysis was performed to differentiate between the control and tumorous spectra and we reached to an overall sensitivity (including all individuals with tumor) of 91.8%, a PUNLMP sensitivity of 83.3% and a papilloma sensitivity of 77.8% in spectral range 1444-1457 cm-1. Other spectral ranges also gave similar results. Our results showed that FT-IR spectroscopy can be used to detect the bladder tumors in bladder wash sample with higher sensitivity compared to cytology. In summary, we propose the utilization of the FT-IR spectroscopy for the detection of bladder tumors since specific spectral regions might be used as effective markers for the diagnosis.

DNA arrays have become a major bioanalytical method as they enable high-throughput screening and they can be manufactured on different surfaces depending on the nature of diagnostic purpose. However, current technologies to produce and detect arrays of DNA probes are expensive due to the requirement of specialized instrumentation. In this study we have established an array platform in sandwich hybridization format for the detection of label-free nucleic acid targets. Unlike direct hybridization, which is the main microarray hybridization principle, sandwich assay enables unlabeled target detection, lowering the cost and assay time. To this end, sequence specific signal development was achieved by a sandwich complex which is composed of a surface immobilized capture DNA probe (Probe1) and a fluorescein-tagged signal DNA probe (Probe 2), which are partially complementary to the sequence to be analyzed (target oligonucleotide). As the solid support of the array platform both 3-aminopropyl-3-methoxysilane (APTMS) activated and commercially purchased poly-L lysine coated glass slides were used and due to the less background noise property the latter one was preferred. Similarly, for the immobilization of the capture Probe (P1) onto the solid support two different methods were tried / heat immobilization and immobilization via a heterobifunctional cross-linker (HBCL). In regard to the experiments, it is observed that using a cross-linker instead of heat immobilization reduces the ratio of false negative control results in a significant manner. Following the solid support and immobilization method choice comparative optimization studies which include cross-linker type, probe concentration, sensitivity of the platform and hybridization conditions (sequence, temperature and duration) were conducted. Optimum hybridization signal was obtained with a 32.5

Advances in DNA micro and macroarray technologies made these high-throughput systems good candidates for the development of cheaper, faster and easier qualitative and quantitative detection methods. In this study, a simple and cost effective sandwich hybridization-based method has been developed for the rapid and sensitive detection of various unmodified recombinant elements in transgenic plants. Attention was first focused on the optimization of conditions such as time, concentration and temperature using commercial ssDNA, which in turn could be used for real sample detection. In this sandwich-type DNA chip platform, capture probes complementary to the first half of recombinant element (target adapter) were immobilized onto poly-L-lysine covered conventional microscope slides. PCR-amplified un-purified target adapter and biotin labeled detection probe, which is complementary to the second half of target adapter, were hybridized in solution-phase to complementary capture probes to create a sandwiched tripartite complex. Later, hybridization signal was visualized by the attachment of streptavidin conjugated Quantum Dot to the sandwiched complex under UV illumination. Sandwich based array system that has been developed in this study allows multiplex screening of GMO events on a single DNA chip platform. 35S promoter, NOS terminator, CRY1Ab and BAR target sequences were successfully detected on the same DNA chip platform. The platform was able to detect unlabeled PCR amplified DNA fragments of CaMV 35S promoter sequence and NOS terminator and BAR transgene sequences from transgenic potato plants and NK603 Certified GMO Reference material, respectively. The DNA-chip platform developed in this study will allow multiple detection of label-free PCR-amplified transgenic elements from real GMO samples on a single slide via a cost effective, fast, reliable and sensitive sandwich hybridization assay.

Recent studies demonstrate that there are several G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that dimerize with other GPCRs and form heterodimers. Adenosine A2A-Dopamine D2 receptor interaction is one of the examples for GPCR heterodimerization. Both receptors bear critical roles in physiological processes. Adenosine A2A receptor has functions in neurotransmission, cardiovascular system and immune response. On the other hand, dopamine receptors are the key point of dopaminergic system, which controls the regulation of memory, attention, food intake, endocrine regulation, psychomotor activity and positive reinforcement. Deregulation in dopamine signaling could cause neurological disorders such as Parkinson&rsquo / s disease and schizophrenia. Dopamine D2R and adenosine A2AR have been shown to interact in striatum and modulate dopaminergic activity. The purpose of this study is to optimize Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) method to detect dimerization of D2R and A2AR by tagging them with EGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) and mCherry (a red fluorescent protein) in live N2a cell line using laser scanning confocal microscope. Establishing this model will pave the ways for understanding mechanisms of interaction between dopamine and adenosine signaling, thereby, contributing to the understanding molecular mechanisms of some neurophysiological events and disorders. Moreover, the fluorescence based live cell model will be used to detect effects of potential anti-psychotic drugs on the interaction of these two receptors. Indeed, follow-up studies are necessary to extend the limits of this project. Further imaging analyses and drug-receptor interaction studies can be readily applied to extract more information on dopamine-adenosine signaling by using the system developed with this thesis study.