bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Import of International Customary Law into the EU Legal Order: The Adequacy of a Direct Effect Analysis
Authors: Croquet Nicolas AJ
Published: July 2016

The EU case law, embodied by the Racke judgment, constituted a normative compromise between the judicial treatment of international customary law and that of international treaties. Indeed, the lack of precision of an international customary norm would not prevent it from being assessed by the EU Courts on the merits of the case, albeit to a lesser degree of judicial review. The lack of precision of an international treaty provision would in contrast make it unenforceable on the facts of the case (subject to two exceptions and the doctrine of consistent interpretation), whereas when sufficiently precise, the treaty provision would be assessed in full by the EU Courts. In Air Transport Association of America, the Court of Justice projected onto the challenged EU secondary act a hybrid and alternative direct effect analysis, borrowed in part from the classical approach to direct effect and in part from the first branch of the direct concern standing requirement whilst also adopting an absolute manifest violation test due to an imprecision bias targeted at all international customary norms. The Court of Justice thereby disrupted this normative compromise: any international customary norm, provided that it or the challenged EU secondary act passes the hybrid direct effect test, would also trigger a marginal form of judicial review in validity review actions before the EU Courts, regardless of its nature and inherent qualities. This chapter aims to argue that the direct effect requirements, which emerge from the case law on the import of international treaties into the EU legal order, remain adequate to assess the judicial enforceability of ordinary international customary law in the EU legal system minus the requirement revolving around the broad logic and nature of the international customary norm. International customary norms should, accordingly, be assessed on the basis of the same direct effect criteria as those applicable to the Constitutive Treaties and EU secondary acts when assessing their relation to Member States’ national legal orders. However, the precision and unconditionality criteria ought to be appreciated with more flexibility with regard to the import of international customary norms in order to account for their unique normative character. The ‘express reference’ ‘implementation’ exceptions specific to the international treaty judicial context may also be transposed to the assessment of international customary law in validity review actions. The application of the doctrine of consistent interpretation to international customary norms and their use as interpretative tools before the EU Courts constitute judicial implications of the principle of primacy of international customary law binding upon the Union over inconsistent EU secondary acts.
Chinese Curses, Lawyers’ Dreams, Political Nightmares and New Dawns: Interesting Times for the UK’s Relationship with the EU
Authors: Forwood Nicholas
Published: July 2016

This chapter aims to explore some challenges that are likely to arise in the context of the UK’s present and future relationships with the EU. Three aspects come under scrutiny, namely the global opt-out available for the UK in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Protocol 36 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)), the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence and the contemplated 2017 referendum on whether the UK should remain an EU Member State. The chapter stresses not only the importance of restoring objectivity in the debates surrounding these issues, but also the necessity of taking due account of the uncertainties that these processes unavoidably entail as to their end results for both the UK and Scotland.
From Hard to Soft: Governance in the EU Internal Market
Authors: Hatzopoulos Vassilis
Published: July 2016

At least three generations of governance methods have been—and are still being—used for the regulation of the internal market: the classic EU method, leading to harmonisation and (more rarely) unification; the ‘new approach’ based on mutual recognition and the use of standards; and ‘new governance’ which does not entail any formal delegation of powers to the EU and operates through self-regulation, the creation of EU agencies and networks, administrative cooperation and other means of open coordination. It is impossible to establish either a hierarchy or a clear chronological order between these methods, while it is also quite difficult to reach a clear conclusion as to their efficiency. What is certain is that all methods of governance are under constant adjustment and that they all feed into one another in order to secure the smooth operation of the internal market. The interaction between these methods is the topic of the present chapter.
Using Comparative Reasoning in Human Rights Adjudication: The Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights Compared
Authors: McCrudden Christopher
Published: July 2016

This chapter examines the relationship between the methods that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) use to decide disputes that involve ‘human’ or ‘fundamental’ rights claims, and the substantive outcomes that result from the use of these particular methods. It has a limited aim: in attempting to understand the interrelationship between human rights methodology and human rights outcomes, it considers primarily the use of ‘comparative reasoning’ in ‘human’ and ‘fundamental’ rights claims by these courts. It is not primarily concerned with examining the extent to which the use of comparative reasoning is based on an appropriate methodology or whether there is a persuasive normative theory underpinning the use of comparative reasoning. The issues considered in this chapter do some of the groundwork, however, that is necessary in order to address these methodological and normative questions.
‘Beggars Can’t Be Choosers’: Spain and the Financial Crisis
Authors: González Carlos J Moreiro
Published: July 2016

This contribution analyses the viability of the new Spanish financial landscape which has been drawn by the European authorities and the national administration in order to overcome the progressive deterioration of social wealth in Spain since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008.

The adoption and the implementation of a new legal framework during the last two years, establishing tougher requirements on capital adequacy, leverage ratios and counter-cyclical and other buffers, as well as the shaping of the Banking Union, are not enough to transform the Spanish banking system into the key tool for the creation of wealth.

There is a paradox of both legal and institutional outcomes. While, on the one hand, some positive changes in the functioning and the structure of the banking industry have been prompted by the regulatory reform, there are, on the other hand, some uncertainties linked to the recapitalisation costs of a relevant group of credit institutions and the persistence of serious structural problems of the Spanish economy.

Moving faster to full banking union will reduce financial market stress in Spain.
Home Country Control with Consent: A New Paradigm for Ensuring Trust and Cooperation in the Internal Market?
Authors: Schammo Pierre
Published: July 2016

Home country control has been a long-standing principle of supervisory governance in the internal market. However, in the wake of the financial crisis, the principle has come under stress. This chapter looks at ways to deal with home country control by putting forward for discussion a new paradigm which I will coin ‘home country control with consent’ (HCC-C). My aim is to examine the building blocks of HCC-C but also to reflect more generally on the merit of a (mostly horizontal) supervisory arrangement which allows other (host) actors to get involved in the decision making of a home state authority. To describe such involvement, I will use the term ‘interference’. The basic problematic that I seek to address is that of ensuring cooperation and trust between national competent authorities. To identify the building blocks of HCC-C, I will turn to the recently enacted European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) which provides a possible, even if embryonic, template for HCC-C.
Judicial Review of Measures Implementing Security Council Resolutions: The Relevance of the EU Principle of Loyal Cooperation
Authors: Nanopoulos Eva
Published: July 2016

In recent years, the question of whether, and to what extent, measures implementing United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions can be subject to judicial review has stirred heated debates. This contribution takes a fresh look at the question in the context of the EU’s implementation of a series of Security Council Resolutions relating to the fight against terrorism using the well-established EU principle of loyal cooperation. It suggests that the principle could play a role in determining the appropriate standard and intensity of judicial review, and considers the value of approaching the question in that way.
EU Development Policy: Constitutional and Legislative Foundation(s)
Authors: Schütze Robert
Published: July 2016

The Union’s constitutional regime for development policy has traditionally progressed alongside two parallel tracks. In addition to a general regime for all developing countries, there exists a special regime for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP countries). The Union’s general development policy originated as a flanking policy within the Common Commercial Policy. This trade-centricity was only relativised by the insertion of an express development aid competence in 1992. The Union’s development cooperation competence can today be found in Article 209 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and allows the Union to adopt legislative acts or conclude international agreements to reduce poverty within developing countries. By contrast, the Union’s special development regime has had a very different constitutional source. It stemmed from the ‘colonial’ association to the Union (qua its Member States) of certain dependent ‘oversees countries and territories’ for which the 1957 Treaty of Rome had provided a limited development competence. Once these countries gained independence in the 1960s, however, the Union had to transfer this special regime to its contractual association competence under Article 217 TFEU. The association regime for ACP countries has itself undergone a number of significant changes with the transition from the Lomé Convention(s) to the Cotonou Agreement.
The Influence of European Community Law on Public Law in the United Kingdom
Authors: Jacobs Francis G.
Published: July 2016

It is a great privilege for me to give this lecture in honour of Lord Mackenzie-Stuart. I frequently had the privilege of appearing before him as counsel when he was judge at the European Court of Justice and also from 1984 to 1988 when he was President of the Court. It was on his departure from the Court in 1988 that I went to the Court as advocate general.

Lord Mackenzie-Stuart, who has long been interested in the influence of European Community law on public law in the United Kingdom, had recently published a paper entitled “Recent developments in English administrative law—the impact of Europe?” In returning to that theme this evening I should like to update the story of developments in English administrative law where there may be a European impact. I will also venture, perhaps over-ambitiously, to look briefly at the new constitutional reforms, and to see if there may be a European impact there too.
Grant v. South-West Trains: Some Comparative Observations
Authors: Bamforth Nicholas
Published: July 2016

In Grant v. South-West Trains, the European Court of Justice ruled that an employer’s refusal to grant an employee concessionary travel for her samesex partner on the company’s trains—when such a concession was readily available to employees with opposite-sex partners—did not constitute sex discrimination contrary to Article 141 of the EC Treaty. From the standpoint of Community law, the Grant decision has been criticised from a number of angles: for example, it has been suggested that the decision contains an ungenerous approach to the Community law principles of respect for fundamental rights and equality, that it is inconsistent with the Court’s earlier decision in P v. S and Cornwall County Council, and that—given the weight attached by the Court of Justice to European Convention on Human Rights case law—it has been undermined by the later decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Smith v. United Kingdom.
EC Law, UK Public Law and The Human Rights Act 1998: A New Integrative Dynamic?
Authors: Anthony Gordon
Published: July 2016

The process of European legal integration has long been understood to engage the workings of domestic legal orders, EC law and, to a lesser extent, the law of the ECHR. In general terms, the relationship between these bodies of law has been characterised as involving the direct and indirect interchange of principle and practice across jurisdictions. An example of direct interchange is found in the EC law requirement that national courts give effect to rules emanating from the EC legal order in all cases raising EC law issues. The indirect form occurs in disputes which do not raise EC law issues but which see national courts voluntarily borrow from their experience within the EC legal order by way of developing the domestic legal system. Likewise, national courts and the European Court of Justice have relied upon the law of the ECHR, a “foreign” body of rules, in developing their respective legal orders.
Creating the New Europe: The Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe in the Context of Eu-See Relations
Authors: Cremona Marise
Published: July 2016

“The European Union continues to be strongly committed to the stabilisation and development of South-Eastern Europe. The Union’s strategy is to draw the countries of the region closer to the prospect of European integration.” This confident statement opens the joint Report on EU action in support of the Stability Pact and South-Eastern Europe (SEE) presented by the Finnish Presidency and the European Commission to the European Council at Helsinki in December 1999. It contains three ideas which are key to the EU’s policy towards the region: stabilisation, development and integration. The Stability Pact seeks to provide a framework for the coordination of effort towards these objectives: greater political stability, security and democratisation; economic reconstruction and development; political, economic and legal integration both within the region and between the countries of SEE and the EU.
Unfair Competition or Consumer Protection? The Commission’s Unfair Commercial Practices Proposal 2003
Authors: Leistner Matthias
Published: July 2016

On 18 June 2003 the Commission presented its Proposal for a Directive concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the Internal Market (the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive). The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive Proposal is based upon the Green Paper on European Union Consumer Protection of 2001 and the reactions to this document in the consultation process as laid down in the follow-up document of 2002. The Proposal tackles the field of unfair competition law insofar as the protection of consumers is concerned.
“Collective Amnesia” of Europe v. Engagement with Asia: Forging a Middle Path for Australia in the Age of Regionalism
Authors: Ward Angela
Published: July 2016

“A country at odds with its region will be a defensive, anxious society, and one which is likely to be dependent on heavy defence expenditure. It will be a country, too, that will be unable to exploit fully its commercial and other potential”

“… the collective amnesia concerning Europe in otherwise well-informed circles in Australia is a debilitating disease. It creates a lethargy where there is opportunity. It is blind to potential difficulties. It squanders a still-important reservoir of good will. Above all, it is a denial of identity. No group can be free until it recognises and comes to terms with its past, whether it likes it or not”.

These two quotations, which appeared in articles published only twelve years apart, illustrate the complexity of contemporary challenges facing Australia’s international relations policy makers. It addresses the riddle of how to posit a still dominantly (ethnically and culturally speaking) European society, but one, which is located geographically nearer Asia, within the intricate web of inter-state intercourse which has become a hallmark of the modern world. The dilemma is, of course, far from new, but it has taken on enhanced proportions with the rise of regionalism, and the dissection of the planet into inter-governmental blocks.
Judicial Cultures and Judicial Independence
Authors: Bell John
Published: July 2016

In this article, I argue that apparently common values, such as ‘judicial independence’ have significantly different meanings in different judicial cultures. As an illustration, I take Sweden and Spain, countries with very different histories and institutional arrangements. It is my contention that basic values are understood and implemented in the light of historical and institutional settings. These have given rise to issues which a nation’s judiciary feel it has to address and set the context in which the contemporary judiciary has to operate. The purpose is to examine how far national histories and traditions colour the understanding of common values, such as judicial independence and democracy in the judicial process.
The Quest for a Master Key to Control Parallel Imports
Authors: Govaere Inge
Published: July 2016

A lot of attention has been devoted in the past few years to attempts made by intellectual property owners to oppose parallel imports. This refers in particular to imports without their consent of goods placed by themselves, or with their consent, on the export market. The question is crucial as it is inherently linked to the quest for the key to control international trade flows and to restrict intra-brand competition in the country of importation.
The Developing EC Private International Law on Family Matters
Authors: Stone Peter
Published: July 2016

The entry into force on 1st March 2001 of Regulation 1347/2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and in Matters of Parental Responsibility for Children of Both Spouses (‘the Matrimonial Regulation’) amounts to a landmark in the harmonisation of private international law at European Community level. It deals with direct judicial jurisdiction, and the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, but not choice of law, in respect of divorce, separation and annulment of marriage, and of custody (in a broad sense) of children of both spouses when determined on the occasion of matrimonial proceedings. It is the first EC measure to enter into force dealing with private international law in family matters, and is likely to be followed up by further such measures, especially in relation to child custody when dealt with independently of any matrimonial proceedings.
Judicial Architecture at the Cross-Roads: Private Parties and Challenge to Ec Measures Post-Jégo Quéré
Authors: Ward Angela
Published: July 2016

This article maps out the channels at the disposal of private parties for challenging the legality of EC measures, and attempts some predictions of the future shape and content of this plank of the EU’s judicial architecture. This area of the law is in a state of flux, particularly in the light of rulings such asUEAPMEv.Council, Masterfoods Limitedv.HB Ice Cream, Fresh Marine Company ASv.Commission, Laboratoires Pharmaceutiques Bergaderm SA, in liquidation, andJean-Jacques Goupilv.Commission, Bocchi Food Trade International GmbHv.Commission, and most recently, and significantly,Jégo Quéré and Cie SAv.Commission. In this latter ruling the Court of First Instance prescribed a major change to the rules onlocus standiunder Article 230(4) of the EC Treaty, a hitherto much maligned aspect of the case law, by relaxing the requirement of ‘individual concern’ laid down in that article.
The UK and the Euro: Some Key Economic Issues
Authors: Panić Mića
Published: July 2016

The most important conclusion to emerge so far from the interminable debate whether the UK should join European Monetary Union (EMU) is that, as things stand at the moment, neither side appears to be winning the economic argument! It is perfectly true, as supporters of the membership argue, that the country’s economy is so closely linked with those of other nations in Western Europe that the delay in adopting the single currency would be costly in the long term. However, the opponents are also correct when they point out that joining EMU would deprive the UK of important benefits that arise from the ability to pursue ‘independent’ macroeconomic policies.
The Introduction of the Euro Banknotes: Some Legal Issues
Authors: de Vicuña Antonio Sáinz
Published: July 2016

This paper addresses two legal issues regarding the euro banknotes, in circulation since zero hours 1 January 2002, the currency of some 300 million Europeans. These are the physical representation of the single currency introduced 1 January 1999. Following the introduction of such banknotes, monetary debts may be discharged in a territory that extends from Faro in Portugal to Rovaniemi in Finland, from the Aran Islands in the Atlantic to the island of Crete in the Aegean. No doubt a major and a historical event for Europe.
The European Model of Agriculture and World Trade: Reconfiguring Domestic Support
Authors: Cardwell Michael
Published: July 2016

The level of support to agricultural producers in the Community has remained high notwithstanding the commitments imposed under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (‘URAA’). Thus, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (‘OECD’), the ‘producer support estimate’ for the period 1986–1988 amounted to 44 per cent of gross farm receipts and the proportion rose marginally to 45 per cent in 1998. It may also be noted that, while the proportion in the case of the United States was approximately half that of the Community, the figure for 1998 was likewise not dissimilar from that for the period 1986–1988 (respectively 22 and 25 per cent). As a result, Cairns Group countries have felt able to direct strong criticism against the two great exporters of agricultural produce. This state of affairs was not unanticipated.
New Rules of Breach of Contract in Germany
Authors: Ernst Wolfgang
Published: July 2016

In 2001 the German legislator passed a law for the ‘Modernisation of the Law of Obligations’ (Schuldrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz—SMG). It encompassed new rules on breach of contract, a wholly new law of limitation of actions and new provisions for contracts of sale, contracts for services and loan. By the same Act the existing statute on standard contracts (Gesetz über Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen) and various other statutes for the protection of consumers were integrated into the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch—BGB). It was the most extensive amendment of the BGB since its enactment in 1900. Many of the legislative measures bundled together in the SMG had an EC-law background. We shall here consider only one aspect of the reform statute, namely the new rules on breach of contract and their relationship with European law.
Democracy, Transparency and the Apparent Demise of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe
Authors: Saunders Cheryl
Published: July 2016

The failure of any constitution-making process is deeply disappointing for some and a source of satisfaction for others. The satisfaction of the latter may be short, or at least not long-lived, however, if it subsequently turns out that the changes were necessary, or even demonstrably useful. Initial failure in a constitutional project is relatively common, for reasons that range from the difficulty of the process to the novelty and perceived significance of the issues at stake. Experience suggests, however, that, at least where the rationale for the constitutional proposals was sufficiently soundly based, failure may not be the end of the story. It follows that it makes sense to take stock after such an event: to identify what is lost that was of value; to determine what, if anything, might be improved, if another constitutional moment presents itself; and to consider whether constitutionalisation should be attempted again, or whether other mechanisms can be used instead.
The Language or Languages of Consumer Contracts
Authors: Whittaker Simon
Published: July 2016

Does european community law make any requirement as to the language in which the terms of consumer contracts are to be expressed?

At the outset, I need to explain that the significance of this question (and its answer) will differ according to what is meant by the word ‘language’ itself. A first meaning is found where one refers to English, French, or Chinese as a ‘language’, that is, to quote the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘a system of communication used by a particular country or community’. A second meaning of ‘language’, again as explained by the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to ‘the manner or style of a piece of writing or speech’; so, for example, one may describe a piece of prose as being written in simple or elaborate, verbose or laconic, language. To avoid confusion in the following discussion, I shall refer to these two different significances as ‘language type’ and ‘language style’.
ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΚΑ: Notes on the Macedonians of Philip and Alexander
Authors: Griffith G. T.
Published: July 2016

It seems uncertain whether the Macedonian infantrymen of Philip II had breast-plates or not. How much it matters, too, is also perhaps uncertain, though obviously it mattered not a little to the men themselves at the time, whether or not they carried on them that combination of strength and of weight, of moral comfort and physical encumbrance, that a breastplate meant to the man inside it. There may perhaps be something in this question, too, for the social historian as well as for the military specialist.

That Greek hoplites of the archaic period normally wore breastplates appears from vase-paintings, especially those proto-Corinthian examples which show combats not of individuals but of opposing phalanxes: it appears, too, from Tyrtaeus. Xenophon in theAnabasis, when he makes a passing remark about casualties on one occasion, gives the same impression about the Ten Thousand, who were predominantly a hoplite force. But breastplates were not uniform. Metal ones could vary greatly in weight, and there were variants (πĩλοι, σπολάδες) that were probably quite light in metal, on linen or leather. It has been suggested with some likelihood that in the fifth century the solid metal type virtually went out of use. If this were so, then the peltasts of the early fourth century would represent a logical development from a hoplite who had already become lighter than of old. It would seem logical for the pekast to have no breastplate at all, an arrangement incidentally that might suit well the mercenaries of the day who often were peltasts, and who were often poor men unlikely to own expensive equipment. But in spite of their occasional spectacular successes even against hoplites, the peltasts did not supersede them, so far as can be seen, in the citizen armies of the Greek cities. Indeed in the Hellenistic period still, in a treaty of about 270 B.C. between the Aetolians and the Acarnanians, the clause providing for reciprocal military aid distinguishes between three classes of infantry: (1) those who wore breastplates (πανοπλίαν), (2) those wore τὸ ἡμιθωράκιον, and (3) those who had no defensive armour (ψιλῲ). The first class is presumably, still, the hoplite.
The interpretation of Hesiod, ‘Theogony’ 736ff
Authors: Kirk G. S.
Published: July 2016

Gregory Vlastos, in his interesting review of Cornford'sPrincipium Sapientiae, inGnomon, XXVII (1955), pp. 65ff., gives a particularly bald statement (p. 74 and n. 2) of a theory advanced in an article by Friedrich Solmsen, ‘Chaos and Apeiron’,Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica, n.s. XXIV (1950), pp. 235ff., and by Hermann Fränkel in hisDichtung und Philosophie des frühen Griechentums(New York, 1951), pp. 148–9. The theory is thatTheogony736–45 has a profound cosmogonical significance, and that it was probably from there that Anaximander derived and developed his idea of an originative ἄπειρον. Now the Hesiodic passage is one of a group of variant descriptions of Tartaros that extend, as an appendix to the Titanomachy, from 726 to 819. Many of these descriptions are mutually inconsistent, and, although I would not go quite so far as Jacoby (Hesiodi Carmina: pars I, Theogonia(Berlin, 1930), pp. 22 ff.) in asserting that they are certainly all later additions, most of them by different authors, it seems manifest that they cannot all be by the author of theTheogonyas a whole—even accepting that this poem is to some extent a synthesis, not always elegant or consistent, of previous accounts. At all events no other part of the poem, including the cosmogony and theogony of 116 ff., manifests the piecemeal, repetitive and contradictory qualities of this series of descriptions of Tartaros. For example, 726–45 describes the underworld, and it is there that the halls of Night are located; but at 746 ff. there is a sudden transition to the far west, the region where Atlas stands and where Night exchanges with Day. Solmsen (op. cit.p. 243, n. 2) tries to defend this unaccountable and irrelevant switch by showing that Night, earlier in the poem, is associated with the western parts of the earth, but is also a product of Chaos in the cosmogony of 116 ff. Yet this consideration, although it provides a sufficient motive for an irrelevant rhapsodic elaboration of the kind that Jacoby posited, really does nothing to support unity of authorship for the two adjacent passages. I agree with Jacoby, then, that what we are presented with in this part of theTheogonyis a farrago of rhapsodic variants, juxtaposed inconsistently (for the most part) by the most mechanical principles, on the central theme of Tartaros.
Emendations of Cicero, ‘Ad Atticum’
Authors: Bailey D. R. Shackleton
Published: July 2016

I, 16, 3. [Of the tribunal set up to try Clodius in 61] pauci tamen boni inerant, quos reiectione fugare ille non potuerat, qui maesti inter sui dissimiles et maerentes sede-bant et contagione turpitudinis uehementer permouebantur.

maestiseems to refer rather to the sorrow shown by the looks and general aspect,maerentesto sorrow expressed in words’ (Tyrrell–Purser). But there is no real evidence for such a distinction. Madvig proposedmirantesin place ofmaerentes. uerentes, ‘ashamed’ to be in such company, may be worth considering.

II, 2, 2. Πελληναίων in manibus tenebam et hercule magnum aceruum Dicaearchi mihi ante pedes exstruxeram. o magnum hominem, et unde multo plura didiceris quam de Procilio! Κορινθίων et Ἀθηναίων puto me Romae habere, mihicredes legete haec doceo mirabilis uir est.

The last sentence is obelized by Wesenberg, Müller, Purser, and Sjögren. MS. variants worth mention are:in the first hand of M,credasof G (first hand) bs, and the absence oftein Ο and the Δ group.

Two of many conjectures appear in modern texts. Tyrrell–Purser and Winstedt follow Boot:mihi crede, si leges haec, dices ‘mirabilis uir est’. Constans and Constans' parrot, Moricca, havemihi credas, lege; te haec doceo: mirabilis uir est.
B356, Z326 and A404
Authors: Willcock M. M.
Published: July 2016

1. In B354–6 Nestor, encouraging the Greeks to fight on, says

τῶ μή τις πρὶν έπειγέσθω οἶκόνδε νέεσθαι,

πρίν τινα πὰρ Τρώων ἀλόχω κατακοιμηθῆναι,

τίσασθαι δ' Ἑλένης ὁρμήματά τε στοναχάς τε.

‘So let no one be eager to return home, before he has slept with a Trojan's wife and avenged….’ Avenged what? Obviously the rape of Helen. The Greeks are to do to the wives of the Trojans what Paris did to the wife of Menelaus. So they will avenge the ὁρμήματα and στοναχάς of Helen.

It is difficult to believe, reading this passage, that in this country the normal, accepted interpretation of 1. 356 is that the Greeks are to avengetheir own‘cares’ (=μελεδήματα?) and groansfor Helen's sake. In fact, that Ἑλένης is taken as an objective genitive. This strange interpretation has the authority of Aristarchus and is found, for example, in Leaf, Monro, and Liddell and Scott.

Aristarchus seems to have produced his explanation in a literary dispute with the Chorizontes. They put forward the view that this was a difference between the attitude of theIliadand theOdyssey: that the poet of theIliadmakes Helen an unwilling victim, while in theOdysseyshe went willingly with Paris. To counter this argument, Aristarchus produced his alternative interpretation of B 356. Most of us are Chorizontes now; why, then, should we repeat from generation to generation a forced interpretation which was conceived for the narrow purpose of literary polemics?
Mitochondrial dysfunction in an Opa1Q285STOP mouse model of dominant optic atrophy results from Opa1 haploinsufficiency
Authors: Kushnareva Y , Seong Y , Andreyev A Y , Kuwana T , Kiosses W B , Votruba M , Newmeyer D D
Published: July 2016

Mutations in the opa1 (optic atrophy 1) gene lead to autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), a hereditary eye disease. This gene encodes the Opa1 protein, a mitochondrial dynamin-related GTPase required for mitochondrial fusion and the maintenance of normal crista structure. The majority of opa1 mutations encode truncated forms of the protein, lacking a complete GTPase domain. It is unclear whether the phenotype results from haploinsufficiency or rather a deleterious effect of truncated Opa1 protein. We studied a heterozygous Opa1 mutant mouse carrying a defective allele with a stop codon in the beginning of the GTPase domain at residue 285, a mutation that mimics human pathological mutations. Using an antibody raised against an N-terminal portion of Opa1, we found that the level of wild-type protein was decreased in the mutant mice, as predicted. However, no truncated Opa1 protein was expressed. In embryonic fibroblasts isolated from the mutant mice, this partial loss of Opa1 caused mitochondrial respiratory deficiency and a selective loss of respiratory Complex IV subunits. Furthermore, partial Opa1 deficiency resulted in a substantial resistance to endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced death. On the other hand, the enforced expression of truncated Opa1 protein in cells containing normal levels of wild-type protein did not cause mitochondrial defects. Moreover, cells expressing the truncated Opa1 protein showed reduced Bax activation in response to apoptotic stimuli. Taken together, our results exclude deleterious dominant-negative or gain-of-function mechanisms for this type of Opa1 mutation and affirm haploinsufficiency as the mechanism underlying mitochondrial dysfunction in ADOA.
Egg antigen p40 of Schistosoma japonicum promotes senescence in activated hepatic stellate cells by activation of the STAT3/p53/p21 pathway
Authors: Chen Jinling , Xu Tianhua , Zhu Dandan , Wang Jianxin , Huang Caiqun , Lyu Lei , Hu Bin , Sun Wei , Duan Yinong
Published: July 2016

Liver fibrosis is a serious disease that is characterized by the excess deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are a major source of ECM and serve as a key regulator in liver fibrogenesis. Inactivation of HSCs is essential for liver fibrotic regression. The present study explores the underlying mechanisms of Schistosoma japonicum egg antigen p40 (Sjp40) promoting senescence in HSCs and antifibrosis. For the first time we report that Sjp40 inhibits the activation and proliferation of an immortalized human HSC line (LX-2 cells) and promotes cellular senescence and cell cycle arrest. Sjp40 through action on the STAT3/p53/p21 pathway triggered cellular senescence, while knockdown of p53 or STAT3 partly restored cell senescence. In addition, Sjp40-induced cellular senescence caused LX-2 cells to be more sensitive to a human NK cell line (YT cells). Together these findings provide novel insights into the mechanism of antifibrosis and may have implications for the development of antifibrosis therapies.
CRISPaint allows modular base-specific gene tagging using a ligase-4-dependent mechanism
Authors: Schmid-Burgk Jonathan L. , Höning Klara , Ebert Thomas S. , Hornung Veit
Published: July 2016

The site-specific insertion of heterologous genetic material into genomes provides a powerful means to study gene function. Here we describe a modular system entitled CRISPaint (CRISPR-assisted insertion tagging) that allows precise and efficient integration of large heterologous DNA cassettes into eukaryotic genomes. CRISPaint makes use of the CRISPR-Cas9 system to introduce a double-strand break (DSB) at a user-defined genomic location. A universal donor DNA, optionally provided as minicircle DNA, is cleaved simultaneously to be integrated at the genomic DSB, while processing the donor plasmid at three possible positions allows flexible reading-frame selection. Applying this system allows to create C-terminal tag fusions of endogenously encoded proteins in human cells with high efficiencies. Knocking out known DSB repair components reveals that site-specific insertion is completely dependent on canonical NHEJ (DNA-PKcs, XLF and ligase-4). A large repertoire of modular donor vectors renders CRISPaint compatible with a wide array of applications.
Coupling of transient near infrared photonic with magnetic nanoparticle for potential dissipation-free biomedical application in brain
Authors: Sagar Vidya , Atluri V. S. R. , Tomitaka A. , Shah P. , Nagasetti A. , Pilakka-Kanthikeel S. , El-Hage N. , McGoron A. , Takemura Y. , Nair M.
Published: July 2016

Combined treatment strategies based on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with near infrared ray (NIR) biophotonic possess tremendous potential for non-invasive therapeutic approach. Nonetheless, investigations in this direction have been limited to peripheral body region and little is known about the potential biomedical application of this approach for brain. Here we report that transient NIR exposure is dissipation-free and has no adverse effect on the viability and plasticity of major brain cells in the presence or absence superparamagnetic nanoparticles. The 808 nm NIR laser module with thermocouple was employed for functional studies upon NIR exposure to brain cells. Magnetic nanoparticles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic laser scattering (DLS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Brain cells viability and plasticity were analyzed using electric cell-substrate impedance sensing system, cytotoxicity evaluation, and confocal microscopy. When efficacious non-invasive photobiomodulation and neuro-therapeutical targeting and monitoring to brain remain a formidable task, the discovery of this dissipation-free, transient NIR photonic approach for brain cells possesses remarkable potential to add new dimension.
Allelic Variation of the Capsule Promoter Diversifies Encapsulation and Virulence In Streptococcus pneumoniae
Authors: Wen Zhensong , Liu Yanni , Qu Fen , Zhang Jing-Ren
Published: July 2016

The polysaccharide capsule is the major virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), a major human pathogen. The sequences in the promoter and coding regions of the capsule gene locus undergo extensive variations through the natural transformation-mediated horizontal gene transfer. The sequence variations in the coding region have led to at least 97 capsular serotypes. However, it remains unclear whether the sequence polymorphisms in the promoter region have any biological significance. In this study, we determined the sequences of the cps promoter region from 225 invasive pneumococcal isolates, and identified modular composition and remarkable inter-strain sequence variations in this region. The strain-to strain variations in the cps promoter are characterized by diversity in sequence and size, mosaic combinations of nucleotide polymorphisms and sequence modules, selective preservation of the sequence combinations, and promiscuous assortments of the sequences between the promoter and coding regions. Isogenic pneumococci carrying allelic variants of the cps promoter displayed significant differences in the transcription of the capsule genes, capsule production, adhesion to host epithelial cells, anti-phagocytosis and virulence in mouse bacteremia model. This study has thus indicated that the sequence polymorphisms in the cps promoter represent a novel mechanism for fine-tuning the level of encapsulation and virulence among S. pneumoniae strains.
Network measures for protein folding state discrimination
Authors: Menichetti Giulia , Fariselli Piero , Remondini Daniel
Published: July 2016

Proteins fold using a two-state or multi-state kinetic mechanisms, but up to now there is not a first-principle model to explain this different behavior. We exploit the network properties of protein structures by introducing novel observables to address the problem of classifying the different types of folding kinetics. These observables display a plain physical meaning, in terms of vibrational modes, possible configurations compatible with the native protein structure and folding cooperativity. The relevance of these observables is supported by a classification performance up to 90%, even with simple classifiers such as discriminant analysis.
Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Candidate Genes involved in Blister Blight defense in Tea (Camellia sinensis (L) Kuntze)
Authors: Jayaswall Kuldip , Mahajan Pallavi , Singh Gagandeep , Parmar Rajni , Seth Romit , Raina Aparnashree , Swarnkar Mohit Kumar , Singh Anil Kumar , Shankar Ravi , Sharma Ram Kumar
Published: July 2016

To unravel the molecular mechanism of defense against blister blight (BB) disease caused by an obligate biotrophic fungus, Exobasidium vexans, transcriptome of BB interaction with resistance and susceptible tea genotypes was analysed through RNA-seq using Illumina GAIIx at four different stages during ~20-day disease cycle. Approximately 69 million high quality reads were assembled de novo, yielding 37,790 unique transcripts with more than 55% being functionally annotated. Differentially expressed, 149 defense related transcripts/genes, namely defense related enzymes, resistance genes, multidrug resistant transporters, transcription factors, retrotransposons, metacaspases and chaperons were observed in RG, suggesting their role in defending against BB. Being present in the major hub, putative master regulators among these candidates were identified from predetermined protein-protein interaction network of Arabidopsis thaliana. Further, confirmation of abundant expression of well-known RPM1, RPS2 and RPP13 in quantitative Real Time PCR indicates salicylic acid and jasmonic acid, possibly induce synthesis of antimicrobial compounds, required to overcome the virulence of E. vexans. Compendiously, the current study provides a comprehensive gene expression and insights into the molecular mechanism of tea defense against BB to serve as a resource for unravelling the possible regulatory mechanism of immunity against various biotic stresses in tea and other crops.
Tropical/Subtropical Peatland Development and Global CH4 during the Last Glaciation
Authors: Xu Hai , Lan Jianghu , Sheng Enguo , Liu Yong , Liu Bin , Yu Keke , Ye Yuanda , Cheng Peng , Qiang Xiaoke , Lu Fengyan , Wang Xulong
Published: July 2016

Knowledge of peatland development over the tropical/subtropical zone during the last glaciation is critical for understanding the glacial global methane cycle. Here we present a well-dated ‘peat deposit-lake sediment’ alternate sequence at Tengchong, southwestern China and discuss the peatland development and its linkage to the global glacial methane cycle. Peat layers were formed during the cold Marine Isotope Stage (MIS)-2 and -4, whereas lake sediments coincided with the relatively warm MIS-3, which is possibly related to the orbital/suborbital variations in both temperature and Asian summer monsoon intensity. The Tengchong peatland formation pattern is broadly synchronous with those over subtropical southern China and other tropical/subtropical areas, but it is clearly in contrast to those over the mid-high Northern Hemisphere. The results of this work suggest that the shifts of peatland development between the tropical/subtropical zone and mid-high Northern Hemisphere may have played important roles in the glacial/interglacial global atmospheric CH4 cycles.
Opposite Associations between Individual KIAA0319 Polymorphisms and Developmental Dyslexia Risk across Populations: A Stratified Meta-Analysis by the Study Population
Authors: Shao Shanshan , Niu Yanfeng , Zhang Xiaohui , Kong Rui , Wang Jia , Liu Lingfei , Luo Xiu , Zhang Jiajia , Song Ranran
Published: July 2016

KIAA0319 at the DYX2 locus is one of the most extensively studied candidate genes for developmental dyslexia (DD) owing to its important role in neuronal migration. Previous research on associations between KIAA0319 genetic variations and DD has yielded inconsistent results. It is important to establish a more precise estimate of the DD risk associated with these genetic variations. We carried out a meta-analysis of association studies involving KIAA0319 polymorphisms and DD risk. The results of pooled analysis indicated that none of the six investigated markers in or near the KIAA0319 gene are associated with DD. However, a stratified analysis by the study population revealed opposite associations involving KIAA0319 rs4504469 in European and Asian subgroups. The stratified analysis also showed that the KIAA0319 rs9461045 minor allele (T allele) has a protective effect in Asians. This meta-analysis has allowed us to establish the effects of specific KIAA0319 polymorphisms on DD risk with greater precision, as they vary across populations; analyzing one single nucleotide polymorphism at a time could not fully explain the genetic association for DD.
Perceptual shrinkage of a one-way motion path with high-speed motion
Authors: Nakajima Yutaka , Sakaguchi Yutaka
Published: July 2016

Back-and-forth motion induces perceptual shrinkage of the motion path, but such shrinkage is hardly perceived for one-way motion. If the shrinkage is caused by temporal averaging of stimulus position around the endpoints, it should also be induced for one-way motion at higher motion speeds. In psychophysical experiments with a high-speed projector, we tested this conjecture for a one-way motion stimulus at various speeds (4–100 deg/s) along a straight path. Results showed that perceptual shrinkage of the motion path was robustly observed in higher-speed motion (faster than 66.7 deg/s). In addition, the amount of the forwards shift at the onset position was larger than that of the backwards shift at the offset position. These results demonstrate that high-speed motion can induce shrinkage, even for a one-way motion path. This can be explained by the view that perceptual position is represented by the integration of the temporal average of instantaneous position and the motion representation.