The European Citizen's Initiative: next big thing or new false good idea? Egmont Paper No. 59, July 2013

From the Introduction. One innovative element of the Lisbon Treaty was the creation of a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). At the time, this was sometimes hailed as a fundamental change in the European institutional system. A few years after the entry into force of the Treaty, however, much less is heard about this “first truly transnational instrument of modern direct democracy”, this “revolution in disguise”, this “very innovative and symbolic” provision. This could seem surprising at first sight. Since the entry into force of the Treaty, the implementation of this provision has been remarkably rapid. Meanwhile, new arguments have risen concerning the lack of democratic legitimacy of the European Union, and the lack of connection between the European institutions and the citizens.

Elements of Europe's energy union. Bruegel Policy Brief 2014/05, September 2014

THE ISSUE European Union energy policy is guided by three objectives: sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness. To meet its goals in these areas, the EU is updating its energy strategy with new targets for 2030. The starting point for this is the assessment of the previous EU climate and energy package, at the centre of which were the 20-20-20 targets for 2020. Although the EU is largely on track to meet these targets, EU energy policy is generally not perceived as a success. Recent events have undermined some of the assumptions on which the 2020 package was built, and the policies for achieving the 2020 targets – although at first sight effective – are far from efficient.

The Paradoxes of Moldovan Sports. An insight into the nature of the Transnistrian conflict. OSW Point of View, November 2011

Mutual relations in the area of sports, which in contemporary international contacts often not only reflect the true nature of political relations but sometimes even affect them, can be a valuable contribution to the analysis of this conflict’s nature. Why did the Transnistrian government, despite the use of anti-Moldovan rhetoric, agree to Transnistrian athletes representing Moldova during the Olympics and in other international competitions? Why does it accept the presence of sports teams from both banks of the Dniester playing in the same leagues? Why does Transnistria, despite being much smaller, predominate in many sports? How is it that Sheriff Tiraspol, the flagship football club of the business and political circles controlling Transnistria, managed to win the Moldovan championship ten times in a row and is the main source of players for Moldova’s national team? Does sport really ‘know no borders’ or perhaps the border on the Dniester is different than seems at first sight?

Is a Concordat over Ukraine now conceivable with Mishka the bear? CEPS Commentary, 21 December 2014

With the tumultuous year of ever-changing episodes in Ukraine coming to a close – from Yanukovich reneging at Vilnius last November, to the new Maidan, to Yanukovich fleeing for his life, to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and incursions into the eastern Donbass, the election of pro-European President Poroshenko, the war with over 4,000 dead, the election of a new pro-European parliament and now the crash of the rouble – Michael Emerson sees at last a possible the end-game in sight. In this commentary, he sketches the essential elements of a Concordat to be struck between Russia, Ukraine and the West that would allow the eastern Donbass to be drawn into more normal processes of political and economic negotiation and the badly wounded Russia to gradually return to more normal international relations.

What signal from the Fed? Should the ECB ease further? CEPS Commentary, 18 September 2015

The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged at its closely-watched meeting on September 17th, although many had argued that the real economy data, especially on the labour market, would have justified an exit (from the zero interest policy). In this CEPS Commentary, Daniel Gros observes that no similar decision on exit is in sight in the euro area, despite the fact that some have argued that the ECB should consider further easing measures (pushing the deposit rate deeper into negative territory or increasing the size of its asset purchase programme). He asks, in fact, whether further easing measures should be even discussed at this point.

Fine-tuning the use of bail-in to promote a stronger EU financial system. CEPS Special Report No. 136/April 2016

This paper discusses the application of the new European rules for burden-sharing and bail-in in the banking sector, in view of their ability to accommodate broader policy goals of aggregate financial stability. It finds that the Treaty principles and the new discipline of state aid and the restructuring of banks provide a solid framework for combating moral hazard and removing incentives that encourage excessive risk-taking by bankers. However, the application of the new rules may have become excessively attentive to the case-by-case evaluation of individual institutions, while perhaps losing sight of the aggregate policy needs of the banking system. Indeed, in this first phase of the banking union, while large segments of the EU banking sector still require a substantial restructuring and recapitalisation, the market may not be able to provide all the needed resources in the current environment of depressed profitability and low growth. Thus, a systemic market failure may be making the problem impossible to fix without resorting to temporary public support. But the risk of large write-offs of capital instruments due to burden-sharing and bail-in may represent an insurmountable obstacle to such public support as it may set in motion an investors’ flight. The paper concludes by showing that existing rules do contain the flexibility required to accommodate aggregate policy requirements in the general interest, and outlines a public support scheme for the precautionary recapitalisation of solvent banks that would be compliant with EU law.

Novelties in Diabetic Retinopathy

Although diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains a leading cause of vision loss, the last decade has brought significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of this common complication of diabetes mellitus. First, optical coherence tomography allows for noninvasive imaging of the retina, in particular, the macula, with very high resolution, thus facilitating the management of diabetic macular edema. In addition, recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of DR, in particular, the key role of cytokines, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), have led to the development of anti-VEGF antibodies for intraocular use. Anti-VEGF therapies have largely replaced laser photocoagulation for the treatment of diabetic macular edema. The benefit of intravitreal anti-VEGF in diabetic macular edema has been proven in numerous large randomized controlled trials. Moreover, a role of inflammation in DR has been recognized, and several mainly steroid-based, anti-inflammatory agents for intravitreal treatment have been shown to be effective. Despite these recent advances, strict systemic control of glycemia remains the cornerstone of the management of DR, significantly reducing ocular complications. This chapter will provide an overview of current and novel concepts of DR and will allude to promising novel therapeutic options for this sight-threatening disease.

Long-term Responses of Mountain Ecosystems to Environmental Changes: Resilience, Adjustment, and Vulnerability

The steep environmental gradients of mountain ecosystems over short distances reflect large gradients of several climatic parameters and hence provide excellent possibilities for ecological research on the effects of environmental change. To gain a better understanding of the dynamics of abiotic and biotic parameters of mountain ecosystems, long-term records are required since permanent plots in mountain regions cover in the best case about 50 - 70 years. In order to extend investigations of ecological dynamics beyond these temporal limitations of permanent plots, paleoecological approaches can be used if the sampling resolution can be adapted to ecological research questions, e.g. a sample every 10 years. Paleoecological studies in mountain ecosystems can provide new ecological insights through the combination of different spatial and temporal scales. [f we thus improve our understanding of processes across both steep environmental gradients and different time scales, we may be able to better estimate ecosystem responses to current and future environmental change (Ammann et al. 1993; Lotter et al. 1997). The complexity of ecological interactions in mountain regions forces us to concentrate on a number of sub-systems - without losing sight of the wider context. Here, we summarize a few case studies on the effects of Holocene climate change and disturbance on the vegetation of the Western Alps. To categorize the main response modes of vegetation to climatic change and disturbance in the Alps we use three classes of ecological behaviour: "resilience", "adjustment", and "vulnerability", We assume a resilient (or elastic) behaviour if vegetation is able to recover to its former state, regaining important ecosystem characteristics, such as floristic composition, biodiversity, species abundances, and biomass (e.g. Küttel 1990; Aber and Melillo 199 1). Conversely, vegetation displacements may occur in response to climatic change and/or disturbance. In some cases, this may culminate in irreversible large-scale processes such as species and/or community extinctions. Such drastic developments indicate high ecosystem vulnerability (or inelasticity or instability, for detailed definitions see Küttel 1990; Aber and Melillo 199 1) to climatic change and/or disturbance. In this sense, the "vulnerability" (or instability) of an ecosystem is expressed by the degree of failure to recover to the original state before disturbance and/or climatic change. Between these two extremes (resilience vs. vulnerability), ecosystem adjustments to climatic change and/or disturbance may occur, including the appearance of new and/or the disappearance of old species. The term "adjustment" is hence used to indicate the response of vegetational communities, which adapted to new environmental conditions without losing their main character. For forest ecosystems, we assume vegetational adjustments (rather than vulnerability) if the dominant (or co-dominant) tree species are not outnumbered or replaced by formerly unimportant plant species or new invaders. Adaptation as a genetic process is not discussed here and will require additional pbylogeographical studies (that incorporate the analysis of ancient DNA) in order to fully understand the distributions of ecotypes.

Institute for Human Adjustment; Dr. Wilma Donahue, March 1948

On negative sleeve: DIAGRAMS WHICH BLIND CAN 'READ'--Diagrams embossed on aluminum foil by the Faximile visograph, now being used for experimental study at the University of Michigan, as they appear before the foil is removed from the machine. these diagrams have been enlarged four times over the size of the sheet of "copy" inserted in the visagraph. They are embossed so that the blind can follow them by touch rather than sight

School bus acceleration characteristics.

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, Little Rock

No-passing zone treatments for special geometric and traffic operational situations. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Traffic Systems Division, Washington, D.C.

Corso elementare di musica vocale in due parti /

Mode of access: Internet.

Metodo di lettura musicale e canto elementare applicato all'insegnamento simultaneo /

Mode of access: Internet.

Photo-reproductions of the natural music charts in reduced size, with directions for their use in schools,

Mode of access: Internet.

Examination of reduced visibility crashes and potential IVHS countermeasures. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.