EU Home Affairs Agencies and the Construction of EU Internal Security. CEPS Paper in Liberty and Security No. 53/December 2012

Regulatory agencies such as Europol, Frontex, Eurojust, CEPOL as well as bodies such as OLAF, have over the past decade become increasingly active within the institutional architecture constituting the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and are now placed at the forefront of implementing and developing the EU’s internal security model. A prominent feature of agency activity is the large-scale proliferation of ‘knowledge’ on security threats via the production of policy tools such as threat assessments, risk analyses, periodic and situation reports. These instruments now play a critical role in providing the evidence-base that supports EU policymaking, with agency-generated ‘knowledge’ feeding political priority setting and decision-making within the EU’s new Internal Security Strategy (ISS). This paper examines the nature and purpose of knowledge generated by EU Home Affairs agencies. It asks where does this knowledge originate? How does it measure against criteria of objectivity, scientific rigour, reliability and accuracy? And how is it processed in order to frame threats, justify actions and set priorities under the ISS?

No impact of malaria infection or immunisation on the expression of the immune GTPase GIMAP1 at the protein or mRNA levels (Article no. 53)

GIMAP (GTPase of the immunity-associated protein family) proteins are a family of putative GTPases believed to be regulators of cell death in lymphomyeloid cells. GIMAP1 was the first reported member of this gene family, identified as a gene up-regulated at the RNA level in the spleens of mice infected with the malarial parasite, Plasmodium chabaudi. Methods A monoclonal antibody against mouse GIMAP1 was developed and was used to analyse the expression of the endogenous protein in tissues of normal mice and in defined sub-populations of cells prepared from lymphoid tissues using flow cytometry. It was also used to assess the expression of GIMAP1 protein after infection and/or immunization of mice with P. chabaudi. Real-time PCR analysis was employed to measure the expression of GIMAP1 for comparison with the protein level analysis. Results GIMAP1 protein expression was detected in all lineages of lymphocytes (T, B, NK), in F4/80+ splenic macrophages and in some lymphoid cell lines. Additional evidence is presented suggesting that the strong expression by mature B cells of GIMAP1 and other GIMAP genes and proteins seen in mice may be a species-dependent characteristic. Unexpectedly, no increase was found in the expression of GIMAP1 in P. chabaudi infected mice at either the mRNA or protein level, and this remained so despite applying a number of variations to the protocol. Conclusion The model of up-regulation of GIMAP1 in response to infection/immunization with P. chabaudi is not a robustly reproducible experimental system. The GIMAP1 protein is widely expressed in lymphoid cells, with an interesting increase in expression in the later stages of B cell development. Alternative approaches will be required to define the functional role of this GTPase in immune cells.

Evidence for the monoclinic-tetragonal phase coexistence in Pb(Zr(0.53)Ti(0.47))O(3) thin films

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Aspectos da organografia e anatomia foliar do amendoim: genótipos so-53 e so-909

Estudos morfológicos foliares foram efetuados em dois genótipos de amendoim (Arachis hypogaea L.), do grupo Valência, completando informações contidas em trabalhos anteriores. O amendoim, importante cultura mundial, possui o Brasil como centro de origem e dispersão de suas espécies. Nenhuma pesquisa havia sido realizada em organografia nem em anatomia foliar, com genótipos em cultivo no País. O genótipo SO-53 ('Tatu') é suscetível às mais relevantes moléstias fúngicas foliares, ocupando a maior área do amendoim cultivado no Brasil. O SO-909 (PI-259747) tem sido freqüentemente citado como fonte de resistência às moléstias fúngicas foliares, em trabalhos de fitopatologia. Medições macroscópicas, com o uso de paquímetro, bem como observações microscópicas, através de fotomicroscópio, foram efetuadas. Um estudo organográfico foi executado com as folhas de plantas de campo, bem como o estudo anatômico, com o uso de lâminas semipermanentes, mediante desenhos esquemáticos e fotomicroscópio. Os idioblastos encontrados nos folíolos foram divididos em três tipos, de acordo com a presença de tanino, mucilagem ou cristal. Os mucilaginosos foram separados em dois tipos, aparecendo os longos somente na superfície adaxial do limbo foliolar, e os curtos, similares às células epidérmicas, em seção paradérmica em ambas as faces do limbo foliolar. Os pêlos foram separados em três tipos, de acordo com o tamanho: os longos, os curtos e os muito curtos. Todos têm de uma a quatro células basais e uma longa apical. As cerdas², presentes nos dois genótipos, foram classificadas em dois tipos, também conforme o tamanho: as grandes, observadas visualmente, presentes sobretudo na bainha, e as curtas, ao longo da margem foliolar, ambas multicelulares. Algumas características morfológicas, como a presença e freqüência de pêlos; a forma da terminação do sulco na inserção adaxial do pecíolo-raque; a freqüência de cerdas e a espessura da lâmina foliolar, podem ser utilizadas na caracterização dos genótipos de amendoim. A menor espessura dos folíolos e a presença de espaços aeríferos na epiderme da face abaxial do limbo foliolar podem ser correlacionadas à suscetibilidade a determinadas moléstias fúngicas foliares do 'Tatu'.

La mortalidad en la República de Cuba, 1943-53 y 1961-63

Incluye Bibliografía