West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Flaviviridae family of RNA viruses, was first introduced to the United States in 1999 with rapid transmission across a variety of hosts throughout the continental states. Genetic research to identify genes involved in resistance and susceptibility to WNV began in mice, where it was observed that natural populations were resistant or fatally susceptible. Further investigation led to the identification of the Flavivirus resistance gene as the oligoadenylate synthetase 1b gene in mice. A nonsense mutation was found within the coding region of this gene that associated absolutely with susceptibility to WNV. A two-stage association study was conducted to identify similar genetic associations to West Nile encephalitis in naturally susceptible and resistant populations of horses in the United States. Genomic sequence of a majority of the equine 2’,5’-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS1) gene was assembled by shotgun-sequencing CHORI BAC 100:I10 (3.95X). A contig map spanning the entire gene was constructed, including 8 kilobases of promoter sequence upstream of the first exon. Coding regions of equine OAS1 and ribonuclease L (RNASEL) genes, as well as the OAS1 promoter, were screened for mutations from a random sample of horses of multiple breeds. Numerous polymorphisms were identified for case-control analyses. Analysis using Fisher’s Exact test identified allelic and genotypic associations. Odds ratios were also determined to measure strength of the associations. Case-control analysis of haplotype frequencies identified significant differences in haplotype frequencies between populations and association to West Nile encephalitis. A conserved interferon-stimulated response element was mapped to within 518 basepairs upstream of the transcription start site of OAS1. Promoter polymorphisms were not found to affect induction by interferon-tau; however, additional analyses are necessary to further characterize the equine OAS1 promoter and the host factors involved in regulating expression. Statistical analyses of the genotype data from the case and control populations identified significant associations between polymorphisms of the OAS1 and RNASEL genes with severe West Nile encephalitis. The similarity between human and horse OAS immunity genes suggests that the horse may provide a genetic model to further investigate mammalian SNP-associated viral susceptibility.

Background: With the first green bond being issued in 2008 as a joint venture between World Bank Organization and the Swedish bank SEB the financial instrument has made an impact on the financial markets. With a high demand for sustainable investments in Sweden partly due to policies a premium for the green bonds is to be expected at least according to theory. The real estate market has adapted to the increased demand for green investments by moving more towards green bonds, and rightfully so as it is one of the largest polluters seen by sector. In result, it is also one of the largest issuers of bonds which creates an excellent opportunity to research the industry as there is plenty of data available. Purpose: This report will examine the premium of green bonds in the Swedish real estate market. Furthermore, it will also examine the effects of Covid-19 and to what extent this pandemic had an impact on green bonds. Method: The thesis examines the Option Adjusted Spread (OAS) of 166 bonds of 9 different companies from the start of 2016 to December 2020 within the Swedish real estate market. Control variables such as Company risk, Market risk and Macroeconomic variables were used in an OLS regression to estimate the premium. The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic was also examined. Conclusion: After analyzing 53 green and 113 conventional bonds no significant results were found on how premium differs between green and conventional bonds. However more general findings were found that suggest bonds become more sought during the Covid-19. It was further found that the green bond market is rapidly growing and may in a few years be in a better position to be examined.

No description available.

Le soutien des militants italiens au combat « Algérie française » puis OAS entraîne, à partir de 1960, la création de réseaux franco-italiens d’extrême droite. Les solidarités internationales qui se constituent à la faveur du combat OAS, les contacts et circulations militantes, l’émergence d’une pensée d’extrême droite qui place ses objectifs au-delà du cadre strictement national, l’apparition de combats communs liés au processus de décolonisation et des échanges intellectuels inédits contribuent à mettre en place des réseaux d’extrême droite initialement fondés sur des relations personnelles. L’institutionnalisation progressive de ces contacts, la difficile reconversion des activistes OAS en exil en Europe, leurs relations troubles avec certains services de renseignements déterminés à contrer l’avancée socialiste dans le Tiers-Monde entraînent la formation de réseaux européens qui lient notamment groupes français et italiens d’extrême droite. Au-delà des renouvellements générationnels qui affectent la période, ces relations étroites permettent aux terroristes italiens d’extrême droite qui prennent part à la « stratégie de la tension », de 1969 à 1982, de bénéficier du soutien constant de leurs camerati français. Parallèlement, le Movimento sociale italiano (MSI) entretient avec la nébuleuse française d’extrême droite, entre 1960 et 1984, des relations constantes et exerce sur elle une influence certaine qui n’exclut toutefois pas certaines formes de réciprocités en matière de circulations politiques et culturelles et d’échanges militants. / The support of Italian activists in the “Algérie française” fight, and then with the OAS, gave birth to French-Italian far-right networks from 1960. International alliances that favoured the OAS struggle were formed, contacts and militants were exchanging ideas, the emergence of a far-right way of thinking whose goals went beyond strict national frameworks, a common political outlook on the issue of decolonisation, and new intellectual debates contributed to the growth of far-right networks that were initially based on personal relationships. The gradual institutionalisation of these contacts, the difficult integration of OAS activists in exile in Europe, and their ambiguous relationships with intelligence services determined to counter the socialist movement in the Third World brought about the creation of European networks that united French and Italian far-right groups. Beyond generational changes during this period, these close relationships enabled Italian far-right terrorists who were involved in the « Strategy of Tension », from 1969 to 1982, to benefit from the consistent support of their French camerati. In parallel, the Movimento sociale italiano (MSI) maintained consistent relationships with French far-right cells between 1960 and 1984. Whilst they exerted a considerable amount of influence, they maintained reciprocal alliances with regards to their political and cultural agenda, and continued to exchange militant forces.

La présente thèse de doctorat prend pour objet d’étude la question des disparus de la fin de la guerre d’Algérie, en l’occurrence, à partir du cessez-le-feu du 19 mars jusqu’à la fin de l’année 1962. Ne pouvant restreindre notre investigation à cette seule période, nous avons élargi notre étude aux conséquences des disparitions. Cette démarche, qui a le mérite de suivre l’événement tragique de son apparition à sa prise en compte par les autorités et la société, avec son retentissement jusqu’à aujourd’hui se déroule en trois parties. La première partie « chercher les disparus » (chapitres 1 à 3), revient sur les recherches, par les autorités compétentes, de la personne physique ou de sa dépouille disparue d’une part, et présente d’autre part la relégation du fait de « chercher les disparus » en un objet de recherche scientifique. Les abus de langage liés à la polysémie du mot « disparu », la surenchère statistique et les usages politiques et mémoriels sont également mis en lumière afin de comprendre les raisons de cet angoissant mystère. La deuxième partie présente les modes opératoires adoptés, tels que les enlèvements et les arrestations arbitraires, afin de « faire disparaître » (chapitres 4 à 6). Les différents auteurs, cibles et mobiles de ces exactions sont ainsi examinés. Enfin, la troisième partie « vivre la disparition » (chapitres 7 à 9) revient essentiellement sur les répercussions économiques et psychologiques pour les familles et les proches confrontés, entre autres, à des problèmes pécuniaires, au poids des rumeurs et au deuil impossible lequel est lié à l’incertitude du sort des « ni morts, ni vivants ». / This doctoral thesis aims to study the issue of the people who went missing at the end of the Algerian War, namely from the cease-fire of 19 march until the end of 1962. As we were not able to restrict our investigation to this period alone, we expanded our study to the consequences of the disappearances. This approach, which follows the tragic event from its outset to its recognition by the authorities and society, including its impact to date, is in three parts. The first part, « searching for the disappeared » (chapters 1-3), revisits the search by the relevant authorities for the missing individual or their remains, and the relegation of the « search for the disappeared » to an object of scientific research. The misuse of language linked to the multiple meanings of the word « disappeared », statistical escalation and the political and memorial uses of the issue are also highlighted in order to understand the reasons behind this agonizing mystery. The second part presents the procedures used, such as abductions and arbitrary arrests, to « make people disappear » (chapters 4-6). The different perpetrators, targets and motives of these abuses are also examined. Finally, the third part « living with disappearance » (chapters 7-9) focuses largely on the economical and psychological repercussions for families and loved ones, which includes financial problems, rumors and the impossibility of mourning due to the uncertainty of the fate of « those who are neither dead nor alive ».

No presente trabalho busca-se demonstrar a inovação trazida pela regulamentação dos Estados-partes do Mercosul, especialmente pela brasileira, que conferiu ao particular o direito subjetivo de postular Opiniões Consultivas diretamente ao Tribunal Permanente de Revisão. Para tanto, destaca-se a condição de sujeito de direito internacional adquirida pelo particular por meio de normas advindas de integrações entre Estados soberanos. Da mesma forma, a importância que possui um tribunal legitimado e com atribuições claras, tendo por exemplos a União Europeia e da Organização dos Estados Americanos, onde o Tribunal de Justiça e Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos são reconhecidos como responsáveis diretos pelo sucesso destes blocos. Dentre suas competências, destaca-se o protagonismo que tiveram as suas faces consultivas, representadas pelo reenvio prejudicial e pelas opiniões consultivas, respectivamente, instrumentos que não foram apenas responsáveis pela harmonização das legislações internas com a norma da integração, mas também por criar uma verdadeira cooperação jurisdicional entre organismos jurisdicionais interacionais e as jurisdições nacionais. Institutos que se assemelham às opiniões consultivas do Mercosul, cuja legitimação em postulá-las diretamente ao Tribunal Permanente de Revisão é conferida ao particular de forma inovadora em processos de integração. / This paper seeks to demonstrate the innovation brought about by the regulations of the Mercosur States Parties, especially by the Brazilian, which gave the individual the subjective right to apply for Consultative Opinions directly to the Permanent Review Tribunal. In order to do so, the condition of being a subject of international law acquired by the individual is highlighted, through norms derived from integrations between sovereign states. Likewise, the importance of a legitimate and clearly defined court, for example the European Union and the Organization of American States, where the Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are recognized as directly responsible for the success of these blocs. Among its competences, the leading role played by advisory opinions, represented by the reference for a preliminary ruling and by the advisory opinions respectively, were not only responsible for the harmonization of domestic legislation with the integration rule but also for creating a genuine Jurisdictional cooperation between national courts and national courts. Institutes that resemble the consultative opinions of Mercosur, whose legitimacy in postulating them directly to the Permanent Review Tribunal is given to the individual in an innovative way in integration processes.

Purpose: Drug interactions are a concern in oncology with the shift toward oral antineoplastics (OAs). Using electronic databases to screen for drug interactions with OAs is a common practice. There is little literature to guide clinicians on the reliability of these systems with OAs. The primary objective of this study was to explore the sensitivity of commonly available drug interaction databases in detecting drug interactions with OAs. Methods: A list of 20 drug interactions with OAs was developed by two Board-certified oncology pharmacists. The list included multiple types of drug interactions. The sensitivity in detecting these interactions by MicroMedex, Facts & Comparisons, Lexi-Interact, and Epocrates were evaluated. These databases were chosen based on their local availability and widespread use in practice. Drugs.com was evaluated as a surrogate for a patient-accessible drug interaction database. The Cochran Q test was used to assess the sensitivity distribution across the five groups. Results: Lexi-Interact and Drugs.com had a sensitivity of 95% for the 20 tested drug interaction pairs. Epocrates had a sensitivity of 90%, and both Micromedex and Facts & Comparisons had a sensitivity of 70%. There was a statistically significant difference (P = .016) in the distribution across the databases in detecting clinically significant drug interactions. Conclusion: Commonly used databases for identifying drug interactions with oral antineoplastics vary significantly in their sensitivity. Clinicians should not rely on a single database and should consider using multiple resources as well as sound clinical judgment. Further work is needed in this area.

No description available.

In polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in order to amplify massive DNA sequences successfully, it needs to design an appropriate primer pair. The constraints derived from the traits of PCR for proceeding PCR are used in searching for primer pairs. In this paper, in order to decrease the searching space and to increase the feasible quality of primers, a double orthogonal arrays intelligent crossover genetic algorithm (DOAIGA) is used to solve the primer design problem. DOAIGA combines the traditional genetic algorithm and the Taguchi methodology to efficiently search feasible primers under required constraints. The proposed intelligent crossover subsystem mainly concentrates on the better genes more systematic. The key point of DOAIGA is to achieve the elitism goal by applying the orthogonal arrays (OAs) that is used in quality engineering with a small amount of experiment features. In this thesis, the double orthogonal arrays are used to approach a better forward and reverse primers separately. Compared to the current existing softwares, DOAIGA can obtain feasible primer pairs more effectively. Finally the correctness of primer pair is verified by PCR experiment.

No presente trabalho busca-se demonstrar a inovação trazida pela regulamentação dos Estados-partes do Mercosul, especialmente pela brasileira, que conferiu ao particular o direito subjetivo de postular Opiniões Consultivas diretamente ao Tribunal Permanente de Revisão. Para tanto, destaca-se a condição de sujeito de direito internacional adquirida pelo particular por meio de normas advindas de integrações entre Estados soberanos. Da mesma forma, a importância que possui um tribunal legitimado e com atribuições claras, tendo por exemplos a União Europeia e da Organização dos Estados Americanos, onde o Tribunal de Justiça e Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos são reconhecidos como responsáveis diretos pelo sucesso destes blocos. Dentre suas competências, destaca-se o protagonismo que tiveram as suas faces consultivas, representadas pelo reenvio prejudicial e pelas opiniões consultivas, respectivamente, instrumentos que não foram apenas responsáveis pela harmonização das legislações internas com a norma da integração, mas também por criar uma verdadeira cooperação jurisdicional entre organismos jurisdicionais interacionais e as jurisdições nacionais. Institutos que se assemelham às opiniões consultivas do Mercosul, cuja legitimação em postulá-las diretamente ao Tribunal Permanente de Revisão é conferida ao particular de forma inovadora em processos de integração. / This paper seeks to demonstrate the innovation brought about by the regulations of the Mercosur States Parties, especially by the Brazilian, which gave the individual the subjective right to apply for Consultative Opinions directly to the Permanent Review Tribunal. In order to do so, the condition of being a subject of international law acquired by the individual is highlighted, through norms derived from integrations between sovereign states. Likewise, the importance of a legitimate and clearly defined court, for example the European Union and the Organization of American States, where the Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are recognized as directly responsible for the success of these blocs. Among its competences, the leading role played by advisory opinions, represented by the reference for a preliminary ruling and by the advisory opinions respectively, were not only responsible for the harmonization of domestic legislation with the integration rule but also for creating a genuine Jurisdictional cooperation between national courts and national courts. Institutes that resemble the consultative opinions of Mercosur, whose legitimacy in postulating them directly to the Permanent Review Tribunal is given to the individual in an innovative way in integration processes.