European Union Leadership and Enlargement in 2014. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 14, July 2014

On July 15, 2014 the European Parliament confirmed the new European Commission President. An absolute majority was needed for this purpose, and the 422 votes “For” cleared the 376-vote threshold in the legislative body of 751 members. A Grand Coalition has been formed among the three largest political parties: the European People’s Party (EPP), the Progressive Alliances of Socialists Democrats (S&D), and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). Considering policy decisions going forward, the European Union (EU) faces the pressing question: Will there be more, less, or similar power from the EU? There are a greater number voices from across the political spectrum contributing to the democratic plurality. European leaders may regain trust by acknowledging that future governance will not be “business as usual” as the reform agenda gets underway. 2014 has been an exciting and important year in European politics. “This time is different” was the motto for the European Parliament’s election campaign. This essay analyzes recent EU political trends with the new Commission leadership and the Parliamentary elections results. The Parliamentary elections, held in late May, and the new European Commission, planned to be in place in the autumn, influence the leadership direction of the 28-member bloc. Additionally, this year on July 1 Croatia celebrated the first anniversary of joining the EU in 2013. Leading the way for candidate countries, Croatia embraces the democratic politics and capitalist market economics embodied by the EU. The greater number of seats held by newer political parties in the European Parliament demonstrates increasing plurality in the EU democracy. The Parliamentary elections have taken place every 5 years since 1979. In this eighth legislative session, the EPP and the S&D remain the largest parties represented, with 221 and 191 seats respectively. As the EU has evolved, a greater number of voices influence politics. The ongoing point of contention on a host of policies is national sovereignty in relation to pooled sovereignty in the EU. The European Parliament is important for democracy in EU governance since it is the direct link from the national citizens to their elected leaders at the supranational level. The representatives of the European Commission are appointed by the national governments of Member States, and their heads of government are the representatives to the European Council. These three political institutions – the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council – together with other important institutions, including the European Court of Justice Luxembourg, form the EU. The new European Commission President is Jean-Claude Juncker, former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Luxembourg (1995-2013). After being nominated by the European Council on June 27, his candidacy was voted on by the European Parliament on July 15, according to the guidelines of the Lisbon Treaty. The leadership for the President of the European Commission has been an important issue, considering Britain’s deliberations on whether or not to stay in the EU in the face of a future national referendum. Voting on June 27, among the European Council on the nomination of Commission President-Designate Juncker, was 26 in favor and 2 opposed. Only Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, joined David Cameron, the prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK), with a negative vote (Spiegel and Parker 2014). The UK had not been supportive, being concerned that Juncker embraces the policies of a federalist, prioritizing an ever-closer union above the interests of individual Member States. Historically, since joining the predecessor institution of the European Economic Community in 1973, the UK has had a relatively independent attitude about participation in the EU.

Russophobia in the Kremlin’s strategy. A weapon of mass destruction. OSW POINT OF VIEW #56, 2015-11-02

Building up an image of Russophobic countries is currently instrumental in shaping a neo-imperial political identity among the citizens of the Russian Federation, mobilising them in the face of real or alleged threats, and also serves as a form of restoring psychological comfort to them in the face of the failure of the Kremlin’s actions (as in Ukraine, for example). The mythologised stereotype of Russophobic countries also remains a crowning argument and a simple explanation for the ongoing tensions in relations between Russia and the West.

Should energy efficiency be traded off for other product attributes? : an analysis of air-conditioner regulation in Japan

This paper examines the functioning of energy efficiency standards and labeling policies for air conditioners in Japan. The results of our empirical analysis suggest that consumers respond more to label information, which benchmarks the energy efficiency performance of each product to a pre-specified target, than to direct performance measures. This finding provides justification for the setting, and regular updating, of target standards as well as their use in calculating relative performance measures. We also find, through graphical analysis, that air conditioner manufacturers face a tradeoff between energy efficiency and product compactness when they develop their products. This tradeoff, combined with the semi-regular upward revision of minimum energy efficiency standards, has led to the growth in indoor unit size of air conditioners in recent years. In the face of this phenomenon, regulatory rules were revised so that manufacturers could adhere to less stringent standards if the indoor unit size of their product remains below a certain size. Our demand estimates provide no evidence that larger indoor unit size causes disutility to consumers. It is therefore possible that the regulatory change was not warranted from a consumer welfare point of view.

Text-book of advanced machine work, prepared for students in technical, manual training and trade schools, and for the apprentice and the machinist in the shop,

In 16 sections, each section separately paged, with the section number in heavy face type prefixed to the page numbers.

Print, Publicity and Radicalism in the 1790s : The Laurel of Liberty /

Jon Mee explores the popular democratic movement that emerged in the London of the 1790s in response to the French Revolution. Central to the movement’s achievement was the creation of an idea of ‘the people’ brought into being through print and publicity. Radical clubs rose and fell in the face of the hostile attentions of government. They were sustained by a faith in the press as a form of ‘print magic,’ but confidence in the liberating potential of the printing press was interwoven with hard-headed deliberations over how best to animate and represent the people. Ideas of disinterested rational debate were thrown into the mix with coruscating satire, rousing songs, and republican toasts. Print personality became a vital interface between readers and print exploited by the cast of radicals returned to history in vivid detail by Print, Publicity, and Popular Radicalism.

Radical Language, Radical Identity: Korean Writers in Japanese Spaces and the Burden to "Represent"

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Beluga whale distribution, migration, and behavior in a changing Pacific Arctic

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Are Media ‘Watchdogs’ of Illegal State Practices in Post-Cold War Liberal Democracies?: A Case-Study of the Coke Extradition

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Smoking behaviour among Indigenous secondary school students in North Queensland

This study investigated smoking behaviour among Indigenous youth. A sample of schools (n = 12) in north Queensland with large proportions of Indigenous students was selected. Details about the prevalence of smoking behaviour in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students ( n = 883) were gathered. Data were also collected on the cultural, social, and psychological factors associated with cigarette smoking for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. This survey indicated smoking rates for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students were 24% and 30%, respectively. The study found similarities between both groups regarding where they obtained their cigarettes ( friends) and their reasons for not smoking ( their parents and health). Results of this survey challenge the belief that Indigenous youth are significantly different in their smoking patterns and behaviours compared to non-Indigenous secondary school students in rural regions. It indicated the potential importance of school communities in promoting non-smoking behaviours among Indigenous students even in the face of strong normative pressures from elsewhere in the community. This survey can be used to monitor smoking prevalence among Indigenous secondary students in north Queensland, help guide the development of culturally appropriate school curriculum resources and contribute to the overall evaluation of smoking prevention and smoking cessation programs which are developed for Indigenous secondary school students.

Personal factors, communication and vision predict social participation in older adults

Social isolation is a predictor of morbidity and mortality in older people. Speech pathologists often consider that communication disabilities associated with normal ageing (sensory loss, language and discourse changes) contribute to social isolation. The aims of this study were to describe the functioning of older people using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO, 2001) as a conceptual framework for language and sensory functioning, communicative activity, and social participation, and to explore the relationship between communication (both at an impairment level and an activity level), social participation and personal factors (demographics and emotional health). In a prospective study, 47 women and 28 men aged 62 to 98 years (mean=74 yrs) completed objective and subjective assessments of functioning and participation, and provided personal information. Assessments were individually conducted in a face- to-face interview situation with the primary researcher, who was a speech pathologist. Assessments revealed the sample had predominantly mild hearing and vision impairments, unimpaired naming ability, frequent involvement in a wide range of communication activities, and variable social network size and social activities participation. Social participation was shown to be associated with vision, communication activities, age, education and emotional health. Naming and hearing impairments were not reliable predictors of social participation. It was concluded that professionals interested in maintaining and improving social participation of older people could well consider these predictors in community-directed interventions. Speech pathologists should therefore promote older people's involvement in everyday communicative activities while also limiting the impact of communication-related impairments, so that social participation is maintained in our ageing population.

Slowing down a pine invasion despite uncertainty in demography and dispersal

1. Management decisions regarding invasive plants often have to be made quickly and in the face of fragmentary knowledge of their population dynamics. However, recommendations are commonly made on the basis of only a restricted set of parameters. Without addressing uncertainty and variability in model parameters we risk ineffective management, resulting in wasted resources and an escalating problem if early chances to control spread are missed. 2. Using available data for Pinus nigra in ungrazed and grazed grassland and shrubland in New Zealand, we parameterized a stage-structured spread model to calculate invasion wave speed, population growth rate and their sensitivities and elasticities to population parameters. Uncertainty distributions of parameters were used with the model to generate confidence intervals (CI) about the model predictions. 3. Ungrazed grassland environments were most vulnerable to invasion and the highest elasticities and sensitivities of invasion speed were to long-distance dispersal parameters. However, there was overlap between the elasticity and sensitivity CI on juvenile survival, seedling establishment and long-distance dispersal parameters, indicating overlap in their effects on invasion speed. 4. While elasticity of invasion speed to long-distance dispersal was highest in shrubland environments, there was overlap with the CI of elasticity to juvenile survival. In shrubland invasion speed was most sensitive to the probability of establishment, especially when establishment was low. In the grazed environment elasticity and sensitivity of invasion speed to the severity of grazing were consistently highest. Management recommendations based on elasticities and sensitivities depend on the vulnerability of the habitat. 5. Synthesis and applications. Despite considerable uncertainty in demography and dispersal, robust management recommendations emerged from the model. Proportional or absolute reductions in long-distance dispersal, juvenile survival and seedling establishment parameters have the potential to reduce wave speed substantially. Plantations of wind-dispersed invasive conifers should not be sited on exposed sites vulnerable to long-distance dispersal events, and trees in these sites should be removed. Invasion speed can also be reduced by removing seedlings, establishing competitive shrubs and grazing. Incorporating uncertainty into the modelling process increases our confidence in the wide applicability of the management strategies recommended here.

Co-opting conservation: Migrant resource control and access to national park management in the Philippine uplands

The history of political and economic inequality in forest villages can shape how and why resource use conflicts arise during the evolution of national parks management. In the Philippine uplands, indigenous peoples and migrant settlers co-exist, compete over land and forest resources, and shape how managers preserve forests through national parks. This article examines how migrants have claimed lands and changed production and exchange relations among the indigenous Tagbanua to build on and benefit from otherwise coercive park management on Palawan Island, the Philippines. Migrant control over productive resources has influenced who, within each group, could sustain agriculture in the face of the state's dominant conservation narrative - valorizing migrant paddy rice and criminalizing Tagbanua swiddens. Upon settling, migrant farmers used new political and economic strengths to tap into provincial political networks in order to be hired at a national park. As a result, they were able to steer management to support paddy rice at the expense of swidden cultivation. While state conservation policy shapes how national parks impact upon local resource access and use, older political economic inequalities in forest villages build on such policies to influence how management affects the livelihoods of poor households.

Accounting for uncertainty in marine reserve design

Ecosystems and the species and communities within them are highly complex systems that defy predictions with any degree of certainty. Managing and conserving these systems in the face of uncertainty remains a daunting challenge, particularly with respect to developing networks of marine reserves. Here we review several modelling frameworks that explicitly acknowledge and incorporate uncertainty, and then use these methods to evaluate reserve spacing rules given increasing levels of uncertainty about larval dispersal distances. Our approach finds similar spacing rules as have been proposed elsewhere - roughly 20-200 km - but highlights several advantages provided by uncertainty modelling over more traditional approaches to developing these estimates. In particular, we argue that uncertainty modelling can allow for (1) an evaluation of the risk associated with any decision based on the assumed uncertainty; (2) a method for quantifying the costs and benefits of reducing uncertainty; and (3) a useful tool for communicating to stakeholders the challenges in managing highly uncertain systems. We also argue that incorporating rather than avoiding uncertainty will increase the chances of successfully achieving conservation and management goals.

Clinically active Crohn's disease in the presence of a low C-reactive protein

Objective. Clinical interest in C-reactive protein (CRP) - a component of the innate immune system - has focused mainly on its worth as an indicator of disease activity. There has been a resurgence of interest in CRP in the Crohn's disease ( CD) literature because several trials of new treatments for active CD have been characterized by both a large proportion of patients with low CRP ( < 10 mg/l) at entry to the trials and by a negative therapeutic outcome. It is therefore of interest to study the clinical characteristics of patients who are thought to have at the same time both active CD and a low CRP. Material and methods. Patients were prospectively recruited as part of the Brisbane IBD clinical and research programme. Subjects were included in the low CRP group only if there were complete datasets for CRP on all occasions of active CD, and CRP was < 10 mg/l. Active disease was defined as CD activity index (CDAI) > 200. The low CRP group was compared with patients in the raised CRP group for a range of clinical variables as well as the major NOD2 variants. Results. There were data sets for 223 CD patients, with a mean disease duration of 12 years. Of these, 22 patients fulfilled the criteria for low CRP. The low CRP group ( group 1) showed significant differences for disease site (p < 0.01) and for BMI (p = 0.006) compared to the raised CRP group ( group 2). Specifically, group 1 had a predominance of pure ileal disease (95% versus 53%) and lack of pure colonic disease (0% versus 24%) compared to group 2, and their BMI was significantly lower (20.3 kg/m(2) versus 25.0 kg/m(2)). Groups 1 and 2 did not differ with respect to Vienna behaviour at diagnosis, smoking, appendicectomy, extra-intestinal manifestations of CD, or NOD2 SNP variants. There was a trend for low CRP patients with previous ileal resection to evolve to a stricturing phenotype. Fat wrapping was noted in 11/13 (85%) of low CRP patients undergoing ileal resections. Conclusions. Patients with CD and a persistently low CRP in the face of active disease were characterized by an almost exclusive ileal disease distribution and a low BMI, compared to those with a raised CRP. These patients had a similar frequency and distribution of NOD2/CARD15 variants. Stricturing ( v inflammatory or penetrating) behaviour may explain some low CRP. Despite the abnormally low BMI, fat wrapping was noted in the majority of low CRP patients undergoing ileal resection.

Efficient accommodation of local minima in watershed model calibration

The Gauss-Marquardt-Levenberg (GML) method of computer-based parameter estimation, in common with other gradient-based approaches, suffers from the drawback that it may become trapped in local objective function minima, and thus report optimized parameter values that are not, in fact, optimized at all. This can seriously degrade its utility in the calibration of watershed models where local optima abound. Nevertheless, the method also has advantages, chief among these being its model-run efficiency, and its ability to report useful information on parameter sensitivities and covariances as a by-product of its use. It is also easily adapted to maintain this efficiency in the face of potential numerical problems (that adversely affect all parameter estimation methodologies) caused by parameter insensitivity and/or parameter correlation. The present paper presents two algorithmic enhancements to the GML method that retain its strengths, but which overcome its weaknesses in the face of local optima. Using the first of these methods an intelligent search for better parameter sets is conducted in parameter subspaces of decreasing dimensionality when progress of the parameter estimation process is slowed either by numerical instability incurred through problem ill-posedness, or when a local objective function minimum is encountered. The second methodology minimizes the chance of successive GML parameter estimation runs finding the same objective function minimum by starting successive runs at points that are maximally removed from previous parameter trajectories. As well as enhancing the ability of a GML-based method to find the global objective function minimum, the latter technique can also be used to find the locations of many non-global optima (should they exist) in parameter space. This can provide a useful means of inquiring into the well-posedness of a parameter estimation problem, and for detecting the presence of bimodal parameter and predictive probability distributions. The new methodologies are demonstrated by calibrating a Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) model against a time series of daily flows. Comparison with the SCE-UA method in this calibration context demonstrates a high level of comparative model run efficiency for the new method. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.