The Judicial ‘Bail Out’ of the European Stability Mechanism: Comment on the Pringle Case. Research Paper in Law 09/2013

Since the beginning of the crisis, many responses have been taken to stabilise the European markets. Pringle is the awaited judicial response of the European Court of Justice on the creation of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a crisis-related intergovernmental international institution which provides financial assistance to Member States in distress in the Eurozone. The judgment adopts a welcome and satisfactory approach on the establishment of the ESM. This article examines the feasibility of the ESM under the Treaty rules and in light of the Pringle judgment. For the first time, the Court was called to appraise the use of the simplified revision procedure under article 48 TEU with the introduction of a new paragraph to article 136 TFEU as well as to interpret the no bail out clause under article 125 TFEU. The final result is rather positive as the Court endorses the establishment of a stability mechanism of the ESM-kind beyond a strict reading of the Treaty rules. Pringle is the first landmark ECJ decision in which the Court has endorsed the use of new and flexible measures to guarantee financial assistance between Member States. This judgment could act as a springboard for more economic, financial and, possibly, political interconnections between Member States.

Annotated record of the detailed examination of Mn deposits from R/V Pola during the first Austrian expedition to the Northern part of the Red Sea (1895-1896)

The paper presents an outline of the first Austrian expedition to the Northern part of the Red Sea with the R/V Pola.

Expository discourses on the first epistle of the Apostle Peter /

Includes index.

The history of Rome from the first Punic War to the death of Constantine /

Steel engraved portrait of Niebuhr by John Brain after Julius Schnorr.

An account of the controversy in the First Parish in Cambridge. 1827-1829. Published pursuant to a vote of the church.

The present version of the dispute was published by the seceding group.

Roles of transmembrane domain 2 and the first intracellular loop in human noradrenaline transporter function: pharmacological and SCAM analysis

The aim was to investigate the roles of transmembrane domain 2 and the adjacent region of the first intracellular loop in determining human noradrenaline transporter (hNET) function by pharmacological and substituted-cysteine accessibility method (SCAM) analyses. It was first necessary to establish a suitable background NET for SCAM. Alanine mutants of endogenous hNET cysteines, hC86A, hC131A and hC339A, were examined and showed no marked effects on expression or function. hNET and the mutants were also resistant to methanethiosulfonate (MTS), ethylammonium (MTSEA) and MTStrimethylammonium (MTSET). Hence, wild-type hNET is an appropriate background for production of cysteine mutants for SCAM. Pharmacological investigation showed that all mutants except hT99C and hL109C showed reduced cell-surface expression, while all except hM107C showed a reduction in functional activity. The mutations did not markedly affect the apparent affinities of substrates, but apparent affinities of cocaine were decreased 7-fold for hP97C and 10-fold for hF101C and increased 12-fold for hY98C. [H-3]Nisoxetine binding affinities were decreased 13-fold for hP97C and 5-fold for hF101C. SCAM analysis revealed that only hL102C was sensitive to 1.25 mM MTSEA, and this sensitivity was protected by noradrenaline, nisoxetine and cocaine. The results suggest that this region of hNET is important for interactions with antidepressants and cocaine, but it is probably not involved in substrate translocation mechanisms.

An applied linguistic analysis of the simplification of narrative texts

Simplification of texts has traditionally been carried out by replacing words and structures with appropriate semantic equivalents in the learner's interlanguage, omitting whichever items prove intractable, and thereby bringing the language of the original within the scope of the learner's transitional linguistic competence. This kind of simplification focuses mainly on the formal features of language. The simplifier can, on the other hand, concentrate on making explicit the propositional content and its presentation in the original in order to bring what is communicated in the original within the scope of the learner's transitional communicative competence. In this case, simplification focuses on the communicative function of the language. Up to now, however, approaches to the problem of simplification have been mainly concerned with the first kind, using the simplifier’s intuition as to what constitutes difficulty for the learner. There appear to be few objective principles underlying this process. The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of simplification on the communicative aspects of narrative texts, which includes the manner in which narrative units at higher levels of organisation are structured and presented and also the temporal and logical relationships between lower level structures such as sentences/clauses, with the intention of establishing an objective approach to the problem of simplification based on a set of principled procedures which could be used as a guideline in the simplification of material for foreign students at an advanced level.

On the Weight Distribution of the Coset Leaders of Constacyclic Codes

Constacyclic codes with one and the same generator polynomial and distinct length are considered. We give a generalization of the previous result of the first author [4] for constacyclic codes. Suitable maps between vector spaces determined by the lengths of the codes are applied. It is proven that the weight distributions of the coset leaders don’t depend on the word length, but on generator polynomials only. In particular, we prove that every constacyclic code has the same weight distribution of the coset leaders as a suitable cyclic code.

Some Coefficient Estimates for Polynomials on the Unit Interval

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 26C05, 26C10, 30A12, 30D15, 42A05, 42C05.

COMMUNICATION, SUBJECT, CULTURE: JOYS AND SOLITUDE INAUGURAL LECTURE OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 2002 OF THE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY, DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION

When you are invited to offer a conference like this, can not stop having a series of questions and considerations about the very fact of speaking to an audience informed and educated about the issues that the title might suggest exposure and how without falling into the usual cliches, without repeating the views and opinions set forth, if not obvious. I propose, then, establish, as a starting point, two things: the first is a promise: I will not talk about internet, a recurrent theme in his classes and activities. The second is a kind of contract between you and me: check out the obviousness of some views and question it, see it from behind, because that is where we might find the seams, some of the patches, if not outright nudity. I wonder if this is not precisely one of the first tasks of teaching in the University: to force what seems obvious to justify its obviousness, which is not easy.We can start messing things up a bit, looking like a very smooth and made ​​some surrealist poets to cut one by one the words of poems and writings, throw them into the air and read with amazement the order they fall to form a new verse, Perhaps more interesting and evocative than the first. Is not this somewhat random operation of new blends the fundamental operation of so many new discoveries and innovative ideas in the fields of science, culture, arts? Some of you know the thought of Pascal says: "Do not say that I am not proposing something new: the order in which the material presented is different."

Patterns of long-term settlement and land exploitation in the region of the Nile First Cataract (Egypt)

The First Cataract region (Egypt) has always played a crucial role as a border area and a crossroads for cultures and people living in adjacent landscapes. The region has its central point in the modern city of Aswan, but it extends up to the Kom Ombo Plain in the north and reaches the Bab el-Kalabsha in the south. Its eastern and western limits cannot be defined with the same precision, given that they are located in deserts. This research focused on the landscape analysis of the region intended as a complex entanglement of archaeological evidence in a geographical and natural environment whose changes impacted and, simultaneously, were influenced by human activities. Settlement patterns and land use can give interesting information on how these relationships worked from a diachronic perspective and how they shaped the region’s characteristics. To understand the links between the human presence and its evidence and the landscape of the First Cataract region, the integration of various datasets was needed, from historical and archaeological ones to the remote sensing observation of large areas. An area corresponding to ca. 18.000 km2 has been selected for this research. The chronological framework has been chosen to cover a considerable period, from the beginning of the 5th millennium BCE to the 7th century AD. Multi-temporality and multifunctionality appear as two essential aspects when the archaeological evidence of the First Cataract region is considered in its geographical and topographical setting as a general context for settlement patterns and resource exploitation analyses. A combination of remote sensing data and topographical materials has been integrated with archaeological evidence to obtain information about resource exploitation strategies and settlement adaptation from a diachronic perspective.

Study Of The Homogeneity Of Drug Loaded In Polymeric Films Using Near-infrared Chemical Imaging And Split-plot Design.

Split-plot design (SPD) and near-infrared chemical imaging were used to study the homogeneity of the drug paracetamol loaded in films and prepared from mixtures of the biocompatible polymers hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and polyethyleneglycol. The study was split into two parts: a partial least-squares (PLS) model was developed for a pixel-to-pixel quantification of the drug loaded into films. Afterwards, a SPD was developed to study the influence of the polymeric composition of films and the two process conditions related to their preparation (percentage of the drug in the formulations and curing temperature) on the homogeneity of the drug dispersed in the polymeric matrix. Chemical images of each formulation of the SPD were obtained by pixel-to-pixel predictions of the drug using the PLS model of the first part, and macropixel analyses were performed for each image to obtain the y-responses (homogeneity parameter). The design was modeled using PLS regression, allowing only the most relevant factors to remain in the final model. The interpretation of the SPD was enhanced by utilizing the orthogonal PLS algorithm, where the y-orthogonal variations in the design were separated from the y-correlated variation.

Long-term social recognition memory in adult male rats: factor analysis of the social and non-social behaviors

A modified version of the intruder-resident paradigm was used to investigate if social recognition memory lasts at least 24 h. One hundred and forty-six adult male Wistar rats were used. Independent groups of rats were exposed to an intruder for 0.083, 0.5, 2, 24, or 168 h and tested 24 h after the first encounter with the familiar or a different conspecific. Factor analysis was employed to identify associations between behaviors and treatments. Resident rats exhibited a 24-h social recognition memory, as indicated by a 3- to 5-fold decrease in social behaviors in the second encounter with the same conspecific compared to those observed for a different conspecific, when the duration of the first encounter was 2 h or longer. It was possible to distinguish between two different categories of social behaviors and their expression depended on the duration of the first encounter. Sniffing the anogenital area (49.9% of the social behaviors), sniffing the body (17.9%), sniffing the head (3%), and following the conspecific (3.1%), exhibited mostly by resident rats, characterized social investigation and revealed long-term social recognition memory. However, dominance (23.8%) and mild aggression (2.3%), exhibited by both resident and intruders, characterized social agonistic behaviors and were not affected by memory. Differently, sniffing the environment (76.8% of the non-social behaviors) and rearing (14.3%), both exhibited mostly by adult intruder rats, characterized non-social behaviors. Together, these results show that social recognition memory in rats may last at least 24 h after a 2-h or longer exposure to the conspecific.

Cross-National Analysis of the Associations between Traumatic Events and Suicidal Behavior: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys

Background: Community and clinical data have suggested there is an association between trauma exposure and suicidal behavior (i.e., suicide ideation, plans and attempts). However, few studies have assessed which traumas are uniquely predictive of: the first onset of suicidal behavior, the progression from suicide ideation to plans and attempts, or the persistence of each form of suicidal behavior over time. Moreover, few data are available on such associations in developing countries. The current study addresses each of these issues. Methodology/Principal Findings: Data on trauma exposure and subsequent first onset of suicidal behavior were collected via structured interviews conducted in the households of 102,245 (age 18+) respondents from 21 countries participating in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Bivariate and multivariate survival models tested the relationship between the type and number of traumatic events and subsequent suicidal behavior. A range of traumatic events are associated with suicidal behavior, with sexual and interpersonal violence consistently showing the strongest effects. There is a dose-response relationship between the number of traumatic events and suicide ideation/attempt; however, there is decay in the strength of the association with more events. Although a range of traumatic events are associated with the onset of suicide ideation, fewer events predict which people with suicide ideation progress to suicide plan and attempt, or the persistence of suicidal behavior over time. Associations generally are consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Conclusions/Significance: This study provides more detailed information than previously available on the relationship between traumatic events and suicidal behavior and indicates that this association is fairly consistent across developed and developing countries. These data reinforce the importance of psychological trauma as a major public health problem, and highlight the significance of screening for the presence and accumulation of traumatic exposures as a risk factor for suicide ideation and attempt.

Fast ray-tracing algorithm for circumstellar structures (FRACS) II. Disc parameters of the B[e] supergiant CPD-57 degrees 2874 from VLTI/MIDI data

Context. B[e] supergiants are luminous, massive post-main sequence stars exhibiting non-spherical winds, forbidden lines, and hot dust in a disc-like structure. The physical properties of their rich and complex circumstellar environment (CSE) are not well understood, partly because these CSE cannot be easily resolved at the large distances found for B[e] supergiants (typically greater than or similar to 1 kpc). Aims. From mid-IR spectro-interferometric observations obtained with VLTI/MIDI we seek to resolve and study the CSE of the Galactic B[e] supergiant CPD-57 degrees 2874. Methods. For a physical interpretation of the observables (visibilities and spectrum) we use our ray-tracing radiative transfer code (FRACS), which is optimised for thermal spectro-interferometric observations. Results. Thanks to the short computing time required by FRACS (<10 s per monochromatic model), best-fit parameters and uncertainties for several physical quantities of CPD-57 degrees 2874 were obtained, such as inner dust radius, relative flux contribution of the central source and of the dusty CSE, dust temperature profile, and disc inclination. Conclusions. The analysis of VLTI/MIDI data with FRACS allowed one of the first direct determinations of physical parameters of the dusty CSE of a B[e] supergiant based on interferometric data and using a full model-fitting approach. In a larger context, the study of B[e] supergiants is important for a deeper understanding of the complex structure and evolution of hot, massive stars.