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EU policies in the Middle East intertwine with EU efforts to define its identity and build its high-powered profile on the global political scene. The Middle East presents inters for all the great powers of the world, including for the European Union, due to its oil and gas resources, its geopolitical importance through the prism of its geographical settlement at the intersection of three continents, its endless conflicts endangering the security of the West, or the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Middle East is also the cradle of the three monotheistic religions that, throughout the domination of the Arab Caliphate and later that of the Ottoman Empire in the region, (they) lived in a climate of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between religions and cultures. At the same time, EU and Middle Eastern countries share a common humanist cultural heritage which is at the base of the cultural identity of both European and modern Arab nations. At the same time, the Middle East is the main immigrant pool in the European Union. Our study focuses on the history of relations between the European Union and the Middle East in the broader context of EU attempts to define itself as an actor on the global political scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents how the Romanian authorities handled the first murder case in which the victim's body was not found - so far - but the author of the deed has not made any confession. This case is a landmark for the history of Romanian crime and justice, not only because it presented a novelty or was overly publicized but also because in the absence of a judicial decision it could have led to several crimes in which the corpses were hidden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims - Baseline mechanical intraventricular dyssynchrony showed only a weak correlation with response to CRT in HF patients with wide QRS. We aimed to evaluate the effects of RV pacing on baseline intraventricular dyssynchrony in patients submitted to CRT. Methods - In 40 consecutive HF patients (LBBB, sinus rhythm, normal PR interval, 22 ischemic etiology, 65.5±10.7 years, 21 women, NYHA class 3.3 ± 0.5, LV ejection fraction 20.1±4.1%), speckle tracking radial strain was performed during sinus rhythm (ODO mode) and during RV pacing (DDD with optimum AV interval) one week after biventricular device implantation. RV lead was placed on interventricular septum (RVS, n=30) and RV apex (RVA, n=10). Patients had significant baseline intraventricular dyssynchrony, (i.e. =130 ms time difference in peak septal wall to infero-lateral wall strain). Maximum LV delay area (MDA) was defined as the segment with the latest systolic peak from the 6 regional color-coded time-strain curves. Midventricular global radial strain (mGRS) was determined averaging the segmental radial strain values. Results - Overall, RV pacing did not significantly increased intraventricular dyssynchrony (350±98 ms vs. 322±90 ms during SR, p=0.08). However, RVA pacing significantly increased LV dyssynchrony (367±58 ms vs. 312±60 ms during SR, p<0.001). mGRS was significantly reduced during RV pacing (13.3±8.5% vs. 18.3±7.4% during SR, p<0.001). The location of MDA shifted during RV pacing in 31 out of 40 patients (77%). Conclusions - In HF patients with wide QRS submitted to CRT, RV pacing alters the pattern of intraventricular dyssynchrony and impairs LV strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, scholars and politicians have debated the likely impacts of school choice. Yet few have studied the nation's largest state-level charter school market, Arizona, whose 20-year-old charter sector accounts for about 17% of Arizona public school enrollment. This article summarizes the extant literature on this market, some 23 studies, supplemented with original fieldwork to derive tentative lessons for social scientists and policymakers. While the charter sector seems to have promoted innovation, teacher and parent empowerment, and modest improvement in traditional public schools, findings regarding student learning and segregation are less clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity of the forensic structures of the Romanian Police in 2017 was carried out according to the quality and performance standards set out in the internal and European Union normative acts. The main coordinates were forensic forensic identification, on-site research, forensic expertise, forensic databases and international forensic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior work has defined the Educational-Industrial Complex (EIC) as an interlocking set of public and private institutions which operate mainly to serve children and taxpayers, but also in part as budget maximizers. We test hypotheses about EIC growth using (mainly) cross-sectional data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. Findings indicate that, as per capita wealth and unionization grow, nations spend relatively more on education and schools have a higher staff to student ratio (lower class size). Time series data indicate that cross-nationally, class size falls over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Journal of Forensic Science is the property of Romanian Forensic Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In a growing multicultural world, the connections and interactions between individuals become more and more complex. This idea is present throughout Toni Morrison's novels, but especially Sula. This paper will use intersectionality as a basic approach in an attemps to analyze the multicultural, multifaceted world of individuals with distinctive past and backgrounds. The aim to highlight the need for a specific approach to elliminating intercultural barriers in communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Proinflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) play a role in left ventricular (LV) structural remodeling. We aimed to investigate the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on serum levels of amino-terminal prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), some interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8), MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Design and methods: We studied 27 patients (15 M/12 F) with CHF, III–IV NYHA class, implanted with a biventricular pacemaker/defibrillator and 40 healthy subjects (23 M/17 F). Blood samples were collected at baseline and 1week, 3, 6, and 12months after CRT device implantation. Cardiac function was assessed echocardiographically. Results: CRT induced significant improvement in the NYHA class (baseline 3.2±0.5 vs. 1.0 at 12months, P=0.0002) and significant LV reverse remodeling, with a 41% (P=0.001) reduction in LV end-systolic volume (LVESV). This was associated with a significant reduction in serum NT-proBNP, IL-6 and IL-8. Positive extracellular matrix remodeling was illustrated by decreasing levels of MMP-2 and increasing TIMP-2. MMP-2/TIMP-2 ratio decreased with 55% (P=0.003) from baseline value at 12months and the correlation with LVESV reduction was 0.41 (P=0.001). Conclusions: Structural response to CRT is associated with reduced immune activation and positive extracellular matrix remodeling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Protein-RNA interactions are fundamental to core biological processes, such as mRNA splicing, localization, degradation, and translation. We developed a photoreactive nucleotide-enhanced UV crosslinking and oligo(dT) purification approach to identify the mRNA-bound proteome using quantitative proteomics and to display the protein occupancy on mRNA transcripts by next-generation sequencing. Application to a human embryonic kidney cell line identified close to 800 proteins. To our knowledge, nearly one-third were not previously annotated as RNA binding, and about 15% were not predictable by computational methods to interact with RNA. Protein occupancy profiling provides a transcriptome-wide catalog of potential cis-regulatory regions on mammalian mRNAs and showed that large stretches in 3′ UTRs can be contacted by the mRNA-bound proteome, with numerous putative binding sites in regions harboring disease-associated nucleotide polymorphisms. Our observations indicate the presence of a large number of mRNA binders with diverse molecular functions participating in combinatorial posttranscriptional gene-expression networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]