Iran's unwavering commitment to the Assad regime in Syria despite its increasingly colossal costs is not only because Syria is Iran's strategic pathway to the Levant, but also, and probably more importantly, because "disloyalty" will send out deeply unsettling signals to Tehran's other mostly non-state allies or proxies and thus undermine its asymmetric security alliance structure in the Middle Ea

Based on his electoral campaign speeches and interviews, one may argue that President Trump has a business-based "give-and-take" approach to international relations and will thus follow a more pragmatic foreign policy than the neoconservative pole of the Republican establishment, which may feature closer relations with Russia, avoidance of the Middle East quagmires as much as possible despite high

Trump's unexpected and astounding victory in US presidential elections on 8 November 2016 was as much a rejection of the ruling establishment, political elitism and certain forces of globalization as an endorsement of some of his populist-nationalist slogans that promised the restoration of a secure and glorious past.

Human keratinocytes were investigated for the presence of single cilia. Almost all basal keratinocytes were found to carry a single cilium in normal, occluded, and psoriatic skin. The ciliary structure was progressively reduced in keratinocytes approaching the surface. No remnants of the ciliary apparatus were found in the granular layer. In one case of nickel-allergic dermatitis (patch test), the

An immunocytochemical technique with the use of three different antibodies raised against serotonin was applied to localize the immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of the crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus. Immunoreactive neurons were found in three optic ganglia (medulla externa, interna and terminalis). They appeared in three layers of the medulla externa and interna. The medull

Each of the approximately 500 ommatidia in the compound eye of the cladoceran crustacean Leptodora kindtii has a crystalline cone consisting of five cells. Five retinula cells are also present, one of which contributes to the distal 1–2 μm of the rhabdom only; the other four retinula cells form a continuous rhabdom. Throughout the rhabdom its cross section displays two separate halves with the axi

The compound eye of the cypris larva of Balanus crenatus comprises about 10 ommatidia. The ommatidia possess a crystalline cone formed by three cone cells, two distal pigment cells, and six retinular cells that together form the rhabdom. The compound eye of the cypris larva of Balanus exhibits similarities to that of branchiurans and ostracodes, but the latter two groups share more common characte

A surreal account of imagined venues associated with Washington Park area in Chicago. The film was produced during the course of the residency, and is based on audio and video associated with the Washington Park area in southern Chicago. Conceptually, the film takes its point of departure in City of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, in which Washington Park was proposed as the m

In studies of cultural globalisation, the influence of communist regimes onWestern Europe has remained under-theorised and little explored. Addressingthis gap in research, this article puts forward the glocalisation grid of world-politytheory as a means for conceptualising and investigating how EastEuropean communist regimes helped shape the evolution of West Europeanwelfare states during the Cold

In 1976 Sweden adopted a law on workplace democracy, presented by the Social Democratic government as the ‘reform of the century’. What can the reform tell us about the history of the Swedish Model and how it was revised during the early 1970s under the prime minister, Olof Palme? This article compares four grand narratives of the development of welfare states, viewing dominant narratives of the S

In a critique of the sometimes confusing ways in which the term transnational has been repeatedly used, Mette Hjort, in 2010 attempted to outline what she called a “typology of transnationalisms” in connection with contemporary audio-visual production (2009: 12–33). Hjort’s palpable purpose here is to more specifically illuminate and contextualize the increasingly more used concept of transnationa

Purpose: Macular development is a complex process that starts by mid-gestation and continues several years after birth. A preterm birth could affect this development, causing increased thickness in the central macula, but the effect of the macular function remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the macular function measured with multifocal electroretinography (mfERG), in forme

Arsenic, a carcinogen with immunotoxic effects, is a common contaminant of drinking water and certain food worldwide. We hypothesized that chronic arsenic exposure alters gene expression, potentially by altering DNA methylation of genes encoding central components of the immune system. We therefore analyzed the transcriptomes (by RNA sequencing) and methylomes (by target-enrichment next-generation

Visualizing the interior of a turbid scattering media by means light-based methods is not a straightforward task because of multiple light scattering, which generates image blur. To overcome this issue, a technique called Structured Laser Illumination Planar Imaging (SLIPI) was developed within the field of spray imaging. The method is based on a ‘light coding’ strategy to distinguish between dire

Context. Could the velocity spread, increasing with time, in the Galactic disk be explained as a result of gravitational interactions of stars with giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and spiral arms? Do the old open clusters high above the Galactic plane provide clues to this question? Aims. We explore the effects on stellar orbits of scattering by inhomogeneities in the Galactic potential due to GMCs,