bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human Rights in the Field of Taxation: A View from Sweden
Authors: Persson-Österman Roger
Published: July 2016

Sweden is well known as a high tax society and it is also well known for its spending on welfare. Just over 50 percent of GDP is consumed by taxation. This is an enormous amount of money. How is it possible to avoid strong conflicts between the citizen and the state? Must not this huge appetite for funding tempt the democratic state to pass the borderline and become almost a despotic state? How are human rights protected?
A Constitutional Court for Europe?
Authors: Arnull Anthony
Published: July 2016

The purpose of this article is to consider the effect of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe on the European Court of Justice (ECJ). At the time of writing, the future of the draft Constitution is somewhat uncertain. Having been finalised by the Convention on the Future of Europe in the summer of 2003 and submitted to the then President of the European Council, it formed the basis for discussion at an intergovernmental conference (IGC) which opened in October 2003. Hopes that the text might be finalised by the end of the year were dashed when a meeting of the IGC in Brussels in December 2003 ended prematurely amid disagreement over the weighting of votes in the Council. However, it seems likely that a treaty equipping the European Union with a Constitution based on the Convention’s draft will in due course be adopted and that the provisions of the draft dealing with the ECJ will not be changed significantly. Even if either assumption proves misplaced, those provisions will remain of interest as reflecting one view of the position the ECJ might occupy in a constitutional order of the Union.
Modernising the Community Courts
Authors: Arnull Anthony
Published: July 2016

A purist might say that the judicial architecture of what is now the European Union was first altered by the 1957 Convention on Certain Institutions Common to the European Communities. That Convention set up a single Court of Justice with jurisdiction under the three Community Treaties which had by then been signed. However, the 1957 Convention should probably be regarded as the last brick in the original edifice, which was to remain unchanged for nearly 30 years. Although the Court started to express concern about its capacity to cope with its workload in the 1970s, the Member States did not respond until 1986, when provision for a court of first instance was made in the Single European Act. That reform marked the beginning of a period of rapid change in the judicial architecture of the Union.
The Evolving Role of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities: Some Comments on the Changes Agreed at Nice as they Affect the Judicial Architecture of the Community courts
Authors: Forwood Nicholas
Published: July 2016

The draft treaty agreed at the Nice Intergovernmental Conference (“IGC”) has had a very mixed press throughout the European Union, even if not all of the criticisms have been entirely justified. Its rejection by voters in the Irish Republic in the referendum on 7 June 2001 appears, according to most commentators, to have been motivated by a wide range of concerns, only some of which relate directly to what was actually agreed at Nice. Whilst this rejection has certainly added to the impression that the Nice Treaty itself is inherently flawed, there are however some aspects of the Treaty of Nice which are undoubtedly very positive, and which should be relatively uncontroversial, even to those most sensitive to the development of the Union. Not the least of these are the provisions that will create the possibility of far-reaching improvements to the present system of Community courts in Luxembourg, and to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (“CFI”) in particular.
The Future of the EC Merger Regulation
Authors: CBE Dan Goyder
Published: July 2016

In September 2000 a celebratory meeting was jointly organised in Brussels by the EC Directorate General for Competition (the former DGIV) and the International Bar Association, to mark the tenth anniversary of the implementation of Regulation 4064/89 which set up the EC system of merger control. As is usually the case at birthday parties, the emphasis was on the success already achieved by the celebrant rather than on any of its possible shortcomings! Much was said about the sound foundations laid in the years immediately before the Regulation was adopted, when a range of opinion was sought from all around the Community on how its procedures should be set up, drawing on the experience of officials and lawyers in many Member States as well as the USA. Tribute was also rightly paid at the celebrations to the proactive role of Commission officials in the Merger Task Force especially during its early years, when its traditions of a user-friendly approach and the positive use of the pre-notification period were established.
When Europeans Complain: The Work of the European Ombudsman
Authors: Harden Ian
Published: July 2016

The office of European Ombudsman was created by the Treaty of Maastricht. The first Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, began work in September 1995. To judge by the number of requests for materials and interviews that the office receives, particularly from students, academic lawyers are well aware of the existence of the European Ombudsman. There is also a growing body of literature about the office. Many practising lawyers, however, remain uncertain about the scope and functions of the work of the European Ombudsman. This is partly because the concept of an ombudsman is not always well understood, even by specialists in public law. This article will explain what an ombudsman is, the relationship between the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman, and the nature of the latter’s work. The aim is to persuade colleagues working in the field of European public law that the office of the European Ombudsman is well worth monitoring.
The Implementation of Community Environmental Legislation: Between Comitology Procedures and Standardisation Bodies
Authors: Poli Sara
Published: July 2016

The environment, along with the areas of human health and consumer protection, can be considered one of the so-called “risk regulation” sectors. In these fields the role of scientific expertise is particularly important. This is due to the fact that a great deal of technical implementing legislation is needed in order to apply the political objectives of legislation adopted through EC Treaty rule-making processes involving the Council, the Commission, and the European Parliament. Secondary legislation in environmental policy often consists of technical specifications, which refer to the limit values of polluting substances. At times, technical standards are needed for products susceptible to having an impact on the environment.
Plus ça Change? Article 5(1) of the Regulation on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments
Authors: Rogerson Pippa
Published: July 2016

In October 2000 the Commission of the European Community presented an amended proposal of the Council’s new Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. This Regulation proposes considerable changes to the Brussels Convention. Article 5(1) has been one of the most frequently used and often litigated provisions of the Brussels Convention. Academic criticism of it in England has occasionally been forceful. Article 5(1) has not escaped the reforming zeal of the Commission and it is interesting to reflect on the new Regulation.
Improving the Position of Lesbians and Gay Men at Work in the Light of the Framework Directive for Equal Treatment in Employment: A German Case-Study
Authors: Skidmore Paul
Published: July 2016

The Framework Directive for equal treatment in employment adopted in November 2000 by the Council of Ministers marks an important event for the millions of lesbians and gay men within the European Union. It follows hard on the heels of the successful lobbying to have “sexual orientation” included within an anti-discrimination article inserted into the Community treaties by the Treaty of Amsterdam, as part of the development of European citizenship.
On Discrimination and the Theory of Mandatory Requirements
Authors: Spaventa Eleanor
Published: July 2016

According to the traditional view, quantitative restrictions and discriminatory rules could be justified only according to the Treaty derogations contained in Article 30 of the EC Treaty. On the other hand, most indistinctly applicable measures, benefit also from other and broader grounds of justification: the mandatory (or imperative) requirements.

This distinction has been in recent years occasionally disregarded by the Court: this has led to a certain degree of confusion as to the theoretical explanation of the mandatory requirements doctrine. In particular doubts have been raised as to whether the mandatory requirements should not in fact be considered as additional grounds of derogation to those listed in Article 30 EC.
The Elements of a Constitutional Settlement for the European Union
Authors: Dashwood Alan
Published: July 2016

A debate is under way about the future of the European Union. It was started by the Declaration adopted by the European Council of Nice in December 2000, was given more substance by the Declaration of Laeken in December 2001, and received a formal focus in the Convention which has been brought together in Brussels under the chairmanship of former President Giscard d’Estaing. The Nice Declaration referred to, among other things, ‘the simplification of the Treaties with a view to making them clearer and better understood without changing their meaning’, but the Laeken Declaration goes considerably further. There is a section in the Declaration entitled, ‘Towards a constitution for European citizens’, which contemplates possible changes to the structure not only of the Treaties but of the Union itself, including perhaps the abolition of the division into three so-called ‘pillars’, and the distinction between the European Union and the European Communities. The Declaration also raises the matter of the legal status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights which was proclaimed in Nice, and speculates as to the possible adoption ‘in the long run’ of what it calls a ‘constitutional text’. A reordering of the primary instruments of the Union is, therefore, very much on the agenda of the Convention, and the idea has heavyweight political supporters.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Beyond
Authors: de la Rochère Jacqueline Dutheil
Published: July 2016

Rounding off a highly innovative process of elaboration, the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights was officially proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council as planned at the Nice Summit, on 7 December 2000. According to the Cologne European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999, ‘it will then have to be considered whether and, if so, how the Charter should be integrated into the treaties’. Indeed, this is one of the points which, under the terms of Declaration 23 annexed to the Nice Treaty, will have to be considered during the ongoing process of institutional reform.
The Elusive Quest for Uniformity in EC External Relations
Authors: Koutrakos Panos
Published: July 2016

Within the context of Community law, the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of international agreements is often fraught with legal problems about competence. There are various reasons for this: the EC Treaty set out a sui generis legal order based on the principle of limited powers pursuant to Article 5 EC. On the other hand, international trade relations deal with a wide range of distinct, albeit interdependent, areas not necessarily falling within the Community’s competence. This substantive discrepancy entails the simultaneous involvement of both Member States and Community institutions, whose often differing agenda may give rise to disputes of a procedural and practical nature. This process has been seen as a threat to the uniformity of the Community’s external relations. The Commission, for instance, has often argued that, in order for the Community to maintain a unified position on the international trade scene, to preserve the coherence of its policies and protect the credibility of its negotiating stance, the exclusive nature of its competence should be interpreted broadly.
Harmony and Dissonance in Free Movement
Authors: Maduro Miguel Poiares
Published: July 2016

There is a generalised perception that the European Court of Justice has adopted different approaches to the different free movement rules included in the Treaties. In particular, the free movement of goods has ‘benefited’, until 1993, from a wider scope of application. Contrary to what has for long constituted the standard approach to the free movement of persons, the free movement of goods was constructed as requiring more than national treatment and non-discrimination in regard to goods from other Member States. Even non-discriminatory restrictions on trade in goods could constitute a violation of Community rules if not justified as necessary and proportional to the pursuit of a legitimate public interest. The freedom to provide services has somewhat occupied a middle ground between the interpretation given to the goods and persons provisions. Following the Court’s decision in Keck & Mithouard in 1993, a reversal of fortune appears to have taken place regarding the Court’s approach to the different free movement provisions, with the free movement of persons and the freedom to provide services now benefiting from a more ‘aggressive’ interpretation in comparison with the free movement of goods.
Trespassing on Sacred Ground: The Implied External Competence of the European Community
Authors: Scannell David L.
Published: July 2016

This article is about reaching a closing door before it shuts. The door in question is the academic and institutional approach which has been taken since 1971 to the Court of Justice’s seminal decision on the Community’s implied external competence in Case Commission v. Council (the ‘AETR’ case). A recent study of the rules enunciated by the Court is prefaced by an apologetic justification for daring to trespass on the sacred ground of the old authorities, exemplifying the sclerotic complacency which now seems to characterise disquisition in the field. There is much to be regretted in this, since it is by no means clear some thirty years after the AETR decision that the correct analysis of those authorities has been unearthed. It is hoped that there is still room for debate on the matter.
National Courts—the Powerhouse of Community Law
Authors: Edward David
Published: July 2016

It is always an honour to be invited to give a named lecture and especially to be invited to do so in this University. But it is an added privilege and also a pleasure to be invited to do so when one has known the person in whose honour the lecture has been named. It is particularly delightful to be able to do so with Lady Mackenzie-Stuart among us.
The Responsibility of Judges in France
Authors: Canivet Guy
Published: July 2016

In the mountains of Kashmir lived a Sultan, the Sultan of Salamandragore, so concerned that the laws he had prescribed were strictly observed that he found good reasons for his judges to condemn all his subjects to death, and to have them dispatched by his executioner. Deprived of sleep by remorse and haunted by his victims, he blamed his judges, and had them decapitated in their turn.

Thus begins a cruel Oriental tale, freely adapted in a poem by Jacques Prévert, which is, it seems to me, quite a good illustration of the paradox of the judge’s responsibility comparing the extraordinary nature of their power to their relationship to politics. Nevertheless, from this point of view, there is indeed in France a question, that is to say a democratic debate, a conflict of opinion generally perceived to be the result of the growing role of law in the regulation of social relationships and the increasing power of judges in the private domain as well as in the public, economic and social spheres.
The Political Problems of the Euro-Zone
Authors: Thompson Helen
Published: July 2016

At the end of 1991, after the Maastricht summit, we could reasonably have predicted that there would be two kinds of political problem generated by the euro. First, that if the euro-zone were in 1997, the first date at which it could have been launched, or 1999, when it did indeed begin, to spread beyond Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark, then there would be good reason to wonder whether all members of the zone could withstand a single monetary policy. Meeting the convergence criteria specified in the Maastricht Treaty would not necessarily mean that there was sufficient convergence in macro-economic cycles to warrant having the same interest rates over the whole of the euro area.
Partial Harmonisation and European Social Policy: A Case Study on the Acquired Rights Directive
Authors: Garde Amandine
Published: July 2016

The question of Community competence has been one of the most debated issues since the ruling in Tobacco Advertising I, in which the Court annulled, for the first time, a Community Directive for lack of competence. This judgment is significant in terms of assessing the constitutional role of the Court in the Community legal order.

The aim of this article is not to comment on the Tobacco Advertising judgment. Rather, it is to consider the question of competence from a different angle: that of partial harmonisation.
The European Community’s Anti-Dumping Policy: The Quest for Enhanced Predictability, Rationality, European Solidarity and Legitimacy
Authors: Harpaz Guy
Published: July 2016

I predict the Union of the people of Europe one day will come when you England, when you France, when you Germany, all of you nations of the continent without losing your own distinctive abilities and without losing your glorious individuality, will join together in a higher body and you will find European Brotherhood. Victor Hugo

The interface between trade and competition has long been the focus of scholarship. Its international dimension has in recent years increasingly attracted the attention of commentators, international organisations in general and the European Community (EC) in particular, multilateral and regional judicial bodies, as well as nongovernmental organisations. This article analyses one dimension of this interface, namely the EC Anti-Dumping (AD) Policy directed at non-European dumped goods, and its relationship with the EC Competition Policy.
Public Services and European Law: Looking for Boundaries
Authors: Spaventa Eleanor
Published: July 2016

All member states must, as a matter of Community law, provide for a qualified right to go to another Member State to receive treatment at the expense of the competent social security system. According to Article 22 of Regulation 1408/71 such a right is conditional upon prior authorisation by the competent institution. Authorisation cannot be refused when the treatment is amongst the benefits provided for by the State where the individual resides and the treatment cannot be provided within the time ‘normally necessary’ for obtaining the treatment in the State of residence. The Court however has found that Article 49 EC imposes upon Member States obligations that go beyond those contained in the Regulation: thus a prior authorisation requirement constitutes a justified barrier (subject to important qualifications) in the case of hospital treatment and a non-justified barrier in the case of nonhospital treatment. The effects of this interpretation are far-reaching: not only do Member States see their obligations under Community law redefined in a way which might have a significant financial impact on their social security systems; but also the reasoning of the Court could be applied to other branches of the public sector, such as education.
Lay Judges
Authors: Bell John
Published: July 2016

The role of lay judges in the legal system is a matter of considerable importance. Lay judges are not only numerous, but they play an especially important part in many branches of law. Yet they are often ignored in general statements on the judicial role or in discussions by professional judges. Concepts like ‘Judicial Independence’ focus almost exclusively on the professional judge and the conditions for her operational effectiveness. The Council of Europe Recommendation on judicial independence recognises that some principles apply to lay judges as well as to professional judges. But the text amounts to a rather grudging recognition.
The Race Directive: Recycling Racial Inequality
Authors: Brennan Fernne
Published: July 2016

The new european Race Directive is one of the latest measures adopted by the Council of Ministers under its enlarged powers aimed at combating racism in the EU. This Race Directive reflects the strategic thinking of EU policy aimed at combating institutionally racist constraints on the free movement of persons within the Community. Nevertheless, this paper argues that the effectiveness of the Directive is likely to be limited. This potential impediment is premised on two factors: the textual ambivalence that surrounds the concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ and the scope of the instrument. In turn, these restrictions are indicative of a power struggle between the EU and nation states, a struggle that threatens to sideline the broader picture of institutional racism and how to defeat it.
Towards an Integrated European Criminal Law
Authors: Delmas-Marty Mireille
Published: July 2016

The creation of an economically integrated Europe, based on free circulation across open borders, has probably facilitated an increase in transnational crime. One response to this phenomenon has been to try to create an integrated European criminal law. But legal integration will not magically solve all the problems related to transnational crime. Indeed, it may create problems of its own. By favouring efficiency (that is, repression) over legitimacy (the protection of fundamental rights), it favours a criminal justice policy oriented towards ‘security’. By imposing the same rules throughout Europe, it disturbs the internal consistency of national legal systems. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of legal integration, facilitated by new legal instruments such as framework decisions, continues to develop. We might therefore ask ourselves, as an introduction, why this is so.
The EU Constitution—What Will Really Change?
Authors: Dashwood Alan
Published: July 2016

So much disinformation about the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe—‘the Constitutional Treaty’, as I shall call it—has been disseminated by the media in this country (and not only here) that there is an urgent need to put the record straight. I am going to tackle the problem in two ways: first, by trying to assuage some false and exaggerated fears of changes that are either fictional or minor; and, secondly, by evaluating what seem to me to be the main changes the Constitutional Treaty is designed genuinely to bring about.
Does the Codification of the Principle of Supremacy Matter?
Authors: Cramér Per
Published: July 2016

A little more than four decades ago, the European Court of Justice declared that the law of the European Communities constitutes the supreme law of the Member States. The national institutions, most importantly the national courts, were to apply rules of Community law and, in so doing, were required to set aside conflicting provisions of national law, however framed. Since then, this judicially formulated constitutional principle has been developed and restated in later judgments by the ECJ. However, during the same period the absolute character of the principle has been continually challenged by the Member States.
Unifying European Contract Law: Identifying a European Pre-contractual Obligation to Inform
Authors: Giliker Paula
Published: July 2016

The movement towards common principles of European contract law has been described as inevitable. In the words of one of its foremost proponents, ‘it is a historic law that this unification is going to happen sooner or later’. It has been difficult to ignore in recent years the volume of work discussing developments in this area of law. One might note, in particular, the Private Law in European Context series published by Kluwer Law International and the Cambridge University Press Common Core of European Private Law project. Further, the publication of Communications by the EC Commission in 2001, 2003 and 2004 has served to promote an ongoing discussion on the nature and quality of the acquis communautaire and the ‘opportuneness’ of any form of non-sector-specific instrument in the area of European contract law. Such intervention, it has been said, forms ‘the riggings of a ship which is about to set sail’.
The Effectiveness of Europe’s Economic and ‘Soft’ Power Instruments in its Relations with the State of Israel
Authors: Harpaz Guy
Published: July 2016

The european integration programme is a unique and ambitious attempt on the part of numerous nations, with a long history of armed conflicts and diverse cultural, linguistic, legal and economic traditions, to become integrated under a ‘new legal order’. Indeed, the European Union (‘EU’) can look back with much satisfaction on its record of transforming a large part of Europe, once afflicted by wars, nationalist divisions, Nazism and Fascism, into a region where peace, political moderation and protection of human rights prevail. Now, the EU wishes to externalise its success. As Robert Kagan has argued inPower and Weakness, ‘the transmission of the European miracle to the rest of the world has become Europe’s newmission civilisatrice. Just as Americans have always believed that they had discovered the secret to human happiness and wished to export it to the rest of the world, so the Europeans have a new mission born of their own discovery of perpetual peace’.
The Interface of EC Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights: the Essential and the Creative
Authors: Maher Imelda
Published: July 2016

This article uses the issue of compulsory licensing of copyright to explore the relationship between intellectual property law (specifically copyright law) and competition law in the EU. It takes as its starting position the proposition that competition law is the ultimate restraint on the monopoly potential of intellectual property with intellectual property rights (IPR) located in competition law. However, it argues that it is too simplistic to cast the approach of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the IMS case purely as one of competition law being allowed to trump copyright. Instead, it sees the judgment as an example of doctrinal compromise for both legal subsystems with competition law placing limits on the invocation of copyright as the basis for a refusal to deal, while suggesting a remedy in the form of compulsory licensing which runs contrary to its conceptual roots in private law and notions of freedom of contract.
The Meaning of Undertaking within 81 EC
Authors: Odudu Okeoghene
Published: July 2016

Who is bound by the competition rules in the EC Treaty? Article 81 EC applies to agreements and concerted practices between undertakings and to decisions of associations of undertakings; two addressees are specified: (a) undertakings and (b) associations of undertakings. This paper is mainly concerned with the meaning of (a) undertaking. As noted by Advocate General Jacobs, ‘the concept of “undertaking” serves a dual purpose in the system of Article [81]. On the one hand—and this function is more obvious—it makes it possible to determine the categories of actors to which the competition rules apply. . . . On the other hand, it serves to establish the entity to which a certain behaviour is attributable’.
Constitutional Developments in Europe
Authors: Amato Giuliano
Published: July 2016

Can we still speak of constitutional developments in Europe after the fall of the document called the ‘European Constitution’ in the French and Dutch referenda? Yes, we definitely can do so, for that document was not the founding act of a European constitutional order; it was a step(undoubtedly a very relevant one) in a process that has been ongoing for more than 40 years.

The European Community was conceived as an international organisation based on the typical source of international law, a treaty among sovereign states. Inside the organisation the representatives of the Member States, namely their Ministers sitting in a common Council (more precisely, in the sectoral formations of it), were empowered to adopt the legally bindings acts of the Community.
The Constitution, The State and the European Union
Authors: Barber NW
Published: July 2016

Is the european Union a state? Does it possess a constitution? And, accompanying these conundrums, if the Union lacks these characteristics, should we seek to confer them on it? There are some questions which are easier to answer than to understand, and questions about the statehood and constitution of the Union are of this nature. Pragmatic scholars have tended to dispose of such matters briskly; confident that their answers were correct, even if unsure of the basis for their confidence. The decision to entitle the product of the European Convention a ‘constitution’ has given these questions new significance. A small portion, at the very least, of the confused debate surrounding the Draft Constitution has been caused by the murky relationship between constitutions and states, and the implications that flow from statehood.
English Law and the European Ius Commune 1450–1650
Authors: Ibbetson David
Published: July 2016

Sometime around the year 1469, Giovanni Andrea, the Papal Librarian at the Vatican, noted that the Middle Ages were at an end and the modern world had just begun. From his standpoint at the intellectual centre of Christendom, a major transition was occurring.

All across Europe, Law, too, was in a state of transition at this time. We may take as our starting point an early piece of evidence of these changes which comes from the Southern Netherlands. It comes from the small village of St Peters, a village in which legal disputes were decided by local alderman, men who had had no formal legal training but who were very experienced in applying the customary law of the area. An issue had arisen whether a legal right of way had been gained by long use.
Alexandre Kojève’s Hegelianism and the Formation of Europe
Authors: Kletzer Christoph
Published: July 2016

Kojève once wrote in a reply to Leo Strauss that the philosopher who contemplates action faces a conflict that constitutes the only authentic tragedy left in the Christian or bourgeois world:

[T]he tragedy of Hamlet and of Faust. It is a tragic conflict because it is a conflict with no way out, a problem with no possible resolution.

One is inclined to add that the acting philosopher has a notoriously comic side, too, a side that has been exploited throughout the history of literature, from Aristophanes’ ‘The Clouds’ to the modern trope of the moronic impotence of the inept professor. But just as the comic fiction of Aristophanes’ ‘Clouds’ ultimately turned out to have had an actual tragic effect on Socrates’ life and death, so the modern depiction of the helpless philosopher is but a reflex on the troubled relation of philosophy and action.
Competition Law and Intellectual Property Rights: Is the Property Rights’ Approach Right?
Authors: Lianos Ioannis
Published: July 2016

The intersection between competition law and intellectual property has been a contentious issue since the very beginnings of European Communities (EC) competition law. Both intellectual property and competition law pursue the aim of enhancing economic welfare and innovation, but their direct objectives seem to be in conflict. Whereas intellectual property focuses on the reward of inventive effort and the inventor’s incentives to innovate by conferring an exclusive right on the use of the invention, competition law emphasises the dissemination of innovation by ensuring diffusion and access.
Suetonius ‘ab epistulis’
Authors: Crook J. A.
Published: July 2016

In 1900 Macé suggested that Suetonius may very well have been procurator of the Greek and Latin libraries before becomingab epistulis; two of his successors in the latter office passed to it from the former. Macé went on: ‘Si on venait à découvrir une inscription concernant notre secrétaireab epistulis, il ne serait pas surprenant que le texte en fût ici parallèle à ceux que nous avons conservés sur ses deux collègues.’ These were prophetic words, for in 1952 there was published an inscription concerning Suetonius, discovered in the Forum of Hippo Regius (Bône in Algeria), which reveals that he was indeeda studiis a bybliothecis ab epistulis imp. Caesaris Traiani Hadriani Aug.
In the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the "Blob" Overshadows El Niño
Authors: Stanley Sarah
Published: July 2016

Underwater gliders and ocean modeling reveal unexpectedly weak El Niño effects on a major West Coast current.
Exosome-mediated delivery of miR-9 induces cancer-associated fibroblast-like properties in human breast fibroblasts
Authors: Baroni Sara , Romero-Cordoba S , Plantamura I , Dugo M , D’Ippolito E , Cataldo A , Cosentino G , Angeloni V , Rossini A , Daidone M G , Iorio M V
Published: July 2016

It is established that the interaction between microenvironment and cancer cells has a critical role in tumor development, given the dependence of neoplastic cells on stromal support. However, how this communication promotes the activation of normal (NFs) into cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) is still not well understood. Most microRNA (miRNA) studies focused on tumor cell, but there is increasing evidence of their involvement in reprogramming NFs into CAFs. Here we show that miR-9, upregulated in various breast cancer cell lines and identified as pro-metastatic miRNA, affects the properties of human breast fibroblasts, enhancing the switch to CAF phenotype, thus contributing to tumor growth. Expressed at higher levels in primary triple-negative breast CAFs versus NFs isolated from patients, miR-9 improves indeed migration and invasion capabilities when transfected in immortalized NFs; viceversa, these properties are strongly impaired in CAFs upon miR-9 inhibition. We also demonstrate that tumor-secreted miR-9 can be transferred via exosomes to recipient NFs and this uptake results in enhanced cell motility. Moreover, we observed that this miRNA is also secreted by fibroblasts and in turn able to alter tumor cell behavior, by modulating its direct target E-cadherin, and NFs themselves. Consistently with the biological effects observed, gene expression profiles of NFs upon transient transfection with miR-9 show the modulation of genes mainly involved in cell motility and extracellular matrix remodeling pathways. Finally, we were able to confirm the capability of NFs transiently transfected with miR-9 to promote in vivo tumor growth. Taken together, these data provide new insights into the role of miR-9 as an important player in the cross-talk between cancer cells and stroma.
Cereblon negatively regulates TLR4 signaling through the attenuation of ubiquitination of TRAF6
Authors: Min Yoon , Wi Sae Mi , Kang Jung-Ah , Yang Taewoo , Park Chul-Seung , Park Sung-Gyoo , Chung Sungkwon , Shim Jae-Hyuck , Chun Eunyoung , Lee Ki-Young
Published: July 2016

Cereblon (CRBN) is a substrate receptor protein for the CRL4A E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. In this study, we report on a new regulatory role of CRBN in TLR4 signaling. CRBN overexpression leads to suppression of NF-κB activation and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 and IL-1β in response to TLR4 stimulation. Biochemical studies revealed interactions between CRBN and TAK1, and TRAF6 proteins. The interaction between CRBN and TAK1 did not affect the association of the TAB1 and TAB2 proteins, which have pivotal roles in the activation of TAK1, whereas the CRBN-TRAF6 interaction critically affected ubiquitination of TRAF6 and TAB2. Binding mapping results revealed that CRBN interacts with the Zinc finger domain of TRAF6, which contains the ubiquitination site of TRAF6, leading to attenuation of ubiquitination of TRAF6 and TAB2. Functional studies revealed that CRBN-knockdown THP-1 cells show enhanced NF-κB activation and p65- or p50-DNA binding activities, leading to up-regulation of NF-κB-dependent gene expression and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in response to TLR4 stimulation. Furthermore, Crbn−/− mice exhibit decreased survival in response to LPS challenge, accompanied with marked enhancement of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-6. Taken together, our data demonstrate that CRBN negatively regulates TLR4 signaling via attenuation of TRAF6 and TAB2 ubiquitination.
Macrophages in age-related chronic inflammatory diseases
Authors: Oishi Yumiko , Manabe Ichiro
Published: July 2016

Chronic inflammation is the common pathological basis for such age-associated diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. A multitude of bodily changes occur with aging that contribute to the initiation and development of inflammation. In particular, the immune system of elderly individuals often exhibits diminished efficiency and fidelity, termed immunosenescence. But, although immune responses to new pathogens and vaccines are impaired, immunosenescence is also characterized by a basal systemic inflammatory state. This alteration in immune system function likely promotes chronic inflammation. Changes in the tissue microenvironment, such as the accumulation of cell debris, and systemic changes in metabolic and hormonal signals, also likely contribute to the development of chronic inflammation. Monocyte/macrophage lineage cells are crucial to these age-associated changes, which culminate in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. In this review, we will summarize the diverse physiological and pathological roles of macrophages in the chronic inflammation underlying age-associated diseases.
Interferometric Motion Detection in Atomic Layer 2D Nanostructures: Visualizing Signal Transduction Efficiency and Optimization Pathways
Authors: Wang Zenghui , Feng Philip X.-L.
Published: July 2016

Atomic layer crystals are emerging building blocks for enabling new two-dimensional (2D) nanomechanical systems, whose motions can be coupled to other attractive physical properties in such 2D systems. Optical interferometry has been very effective in reading out the infinitesimal motions of these 2D structures and spatially resolving different modes. To quantitatively understand the detection efficiency and its dependence on the device parameters and interferometric conditions, here we present a systematic study of the intrinsic motion responsivity in 2D nanomechanical systems using a Fresnel-law-based model. We find that in monolayer to 14-layer structures, MoS2 offers the highest responsivity among graphene, h-BN and MoS2 devices and for the three commonly used visible laser wavelengths (633, 532 and 405 nm). We also find that the vacuum gap resulting from the widely used 300 nm-oxide substrate in making 2D devices, fortunately, leads to close-to-optimal responsivity for a wide range of 2D flakes. Our results elucidate and graphically visualize the dependence of motion transduction responsivity upon 2D material type and number of layers, vacuum gap, oxide thickness and detecting wavelength, thus providing design guidelines for constructing 2D nanomechanical systems with optimal optical motion readout.
Dynamics of vortex quadrupoles in nonrotating trapped Bose-Einstein condensates
Authors: Yang Tao , Hu Zhi-Qiang , Zou Shan , Liu Wu-Ming
Published: July 2016

Dynamics of vortex clusters is essential for understanding diverse superfluid phenomena. In this paper, we examine the dynamics of vortex quadrupoles in a trapped two-dimensional (2D) Bose-Einstein condensate. We find that the movement of these vortex-clusters fall into three distinct regimes which are fully described by the radial positions of the vortices in a 2D isotropic harmonic trap, or by the major radius (minor radius) of the elliptical equipotential lines decided by the vortex positions in a 2D anisotropic harmonic trap. In the “recombination” and “exchange” regimes the quadrupole structure maintains, while the vortices annihilate each other permanently in the “annihilation” regime. We find that the mechanism of the charge flipping in the “exchange” regime and the disappearance of the quadrupole structure in the “annihilation” regime are both through an intermediate state where two vortex dipoles connected through a soliton ring. We give the parameter ranges for these three regimes in coordinate space for a specific initial configuration and phase diagram of the vortex positions with respect to the Thomas-Fermi radius of the condensate. We show that the results are also applicable to systems with quantum fluctuations for the short-time evolution.
The foundress’s dilemma: group selection for cooperation among queens of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus
Authors: Shaffer Zachary , Sasaki Takao , Haney Brian , Janssen Marco , Pratt Stephen C. , Fewell Jennifer H.
Published: July 2016

The evolution of cooperation is a fundamental problem in biology, especially for non-relatives, where indirect fitness benefits cannot counter within-group inequalities. Multilevel selection models show how cooperation can evolve if it generates a group-level advantage, even when cooperators are disadvantaged within their group. This allows the possibility of group selection, but few examples have been described in nature. Here we show that group selection can explain the evolution of cooperative nest founding in the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Through most of this species’ range, colonies are founded by single queens, but in some populations nests are instead founded by cooperative groups of unrelated queens. In mixed groups of cooperative and single-founding queens, we found that aggressive individuals had a survival advantage within their nest, but foundress groups with such non-cooperators died out more often than those with only cooperative members. An agent-based model shows that the between-group advantage of the cooperative phenotype drives it to fixation, despite its within-group disadvantage, but only when population density is high enough to make between-group competition intense. Field data show higher nest density in a population where cooperative founding is common, consistent with greater density driving the evolution of cooperative foundation through group selection.
Effect of humic acid on ciprofloxacin removal by magnetic multifunctional resins
Authors: Wang Wei , Cheng Jiade , Jin Jing , Zhou Qing , Ma Yan , Zhao Qingqing , Li Aimin
Published: July 2016

Background organic matter significantly influences the removal of emerging contaminants in natural water. In this work, the adsorption of ciprofloxacin (CPX) onto a series of magnetic multifunctional resins (GMA10-GMA90) in the presence and absence of humic acid (HA) was conducted to demonstrate the effect of HA. Both hydrophobic and ion exchange interactions contributed to CPX adsorption. Negative charge-assisted hydrogen bonds also participated in the adsorption process, resulting in the high adsorption amount of anionic CPX onto the negatively charged GMA30 under basic solutions. HA could impact CPX adsorption not only as a competitive adsorbate but also as an additional adsorbent. At pH 5.6, the additional adsorption sites provided by adsorbed HA molecules on the resins dominated and thus facilitated the adsorption process. While at pH 10, HA inhibited the adsorption of CPX by directly competing for ion exchange sites and coexisting with CPX in the solution. The ratio of the amount of CPX adsorbed by dissolved HA to that by the resin reached as high as 1.61 for GMA90. The adsorbed HA molecules onto the resins could provide additional adsorption sites for CPX as proven by the enhanced CPX adsorption in HA-preloading systems at pH 5.6.
Melanoma dormancy in a mouse model is linked to GILZ/FOXO3A-dependent quiescence of disseminated stem-like cells
Authors: Touil Yasmine , Segard Pascaline , Ostyn Pauline , Begard Severine , Aspord Caroline , El Machhour Raja , Masselot Bernadette , Vandomme Jerome , Flamenco Pilar , Idziorek Thierry , Figeac Martin , Formstecher Pierre , Quesnel Bruno , Polakowska Renata
Published: July 2016

Metastatic cancer relapses following the reactivation of dormant, disseminated tumour cells; however, the cells and factors involved in this reactivation are just beginning to be identified. Using an immunotherapy-based syngeneic model of melanoma dormancy and GFP-labelled dormant cell-derived cell lines, we determined that vaccination against melanoma prevented tumour growth but did not prevent tumour cell dissemination or eliminate all tumour cells. The persistent disseminated melanoma tumour cells were quiescent and asymptomatic for one year. The quiescence/activation of these cells in vitro and the dormancy of melanoma in vivo appeared to be regulated by glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ)-mediated immunosuppression. GILZ expression was low in dormant cell-derived cultures, and re-expression of GILZ inactivated FOXO3A and its downstream target, p21CIP1. The ability of dormancy-competent cells to re-enter the cell cycle increased after a second round of cellular dormancy in vivo in association with shortened tumour dormancy period and faster and more aggressive melanoma relapse. Our data indicate that future cancer treatments should be adjusted according to the stage of disease progression.
The prevalences of and association between nonmedical prescription opioid use and poor sleep among Chinese high school students
Authors: Tang Daiting , Li Pengsheng , Guo Lan , Xu Yan , Gao Xue , Deng Jianxiong , Huang Jinghui , Huang Guoliang , Wu Hong , Yue Yue , Lu Ciyong
Published: July 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalences of and association between nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) and sleep quality among Chinese high school students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chongqing high school students in 2012, and questionnaires from 18,686 students were completed and eligible for this study. Demographic and NMPOU information was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The Chinese Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index (CPSQI) was used to assess the occurrence of poor sleep. Among the total sample, 18.0% were classified as poor sleepers (27.4% of the subjects with past-month NMPOU), and the prevalences of lifetime, past-year and past-month NMPOU were 14.6, 4.6 and 2.8% across the entire sample, respectively. The most commonly used medicine was licorice tablets with morphine (9.1, 2.5 and 1.5% for lifetime, past-year and past-month, respectively), followed by cough syrup with codeine, Percocet, diphenoxylate and tramadol. After adjustment for potential confounders, the association between past-month NMPOU and poor sleep remained significant (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.85). Programs aimed at decreasing NMPOU should also pay attention to sleep quality among adolescents.