EU State Aid Policy and the Politics of External Trade Relations

European Union (EU) state aid policy has an oft-overlooked but politically-charged external dimension that is most clearly witnessed in the linkage with external trade relations. The article seeks to illuminate the issues and potential problems raised by this state aid-trade linkage. When this linkage is made, the EU engages in an array of complex international interactions through which it may pursue two politically-contentious procedures: countervailing duties or dispute settlement. The article argues that an understanding of the EU’s role in these complex interactions must take into account the Union’s institutional landscape and the competing preferences of different private interests. When deciding to impose countervailing duties against foreign state aids (subsidies), private interests play a significant role in initiating investigations and can use their access to EU institutions to encourage the imposition of such measures. While a variety of factors help to explain why the EU prefers pursuing countervailing duties, the Union also actively uses the World Trade Organization’s formal dispute settlement mechanism. Under this alternative, private interests again play an important role, pursuing varying strategies depending on their preferences. The most important determinant of a firm’s preference to pursue countervailing duties or the dispute settlement mechanism appears to be the extent to which the firm is concerned with restoring competition in their home market or with restoring competition in multiple/global markets

The Future of International Investment Regulation: Towards a World Investment Organisation?

With growth in foreign investment and in the number of companies investing in foreign countries, the application of general principles of public international law has not been deemed adequate to regulate foreign investment and there is, as yet, no comprehensive international treaty on the regulation of foreign investment. Consequently, states have resorted to bilateral investment treaties (BITs), regional trade and international investment agreements (IIAs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) to supplement and complement the regime of protection for foreign investors. In the absence of an international investment court, states hosting foreign investment or investor states have opted for investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). This mechanism has brought about its own challenges to the international law of foreign investment due to inconsistency in the application and interpretation of the key principles of international investment law by such arbitration tribunals, and further, there is no appellate mechanism to bring about some cohesion and consistency in jurisprudence. Therefore, there are various proposals mooted by scholars to address these challenges and they range from tweaks to BITs and IIAs, the creation of an appellate mechanism and the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to proposals for reform of ISDS only. After assessing the merits and demerits of such proposals, this study goes further, arguing for the creation of a World Investment Organisation (WIO) with a standing mechanism for settlement of investment disputes in order to ensure legal certainty, predictability and the promotion of the flow of foreign investment in a sustainable and responsible manner

Green tea halts progression of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis: an observational report

BACKGROUND: Treatment options in patients with amyloidotic transthyretin (ATTR) cardiomyopathy are limited. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant catechin in green tea (GT), inhibits fibril formation from several amyloidogenic proteins in vitro. Thus, it might also halt progression of TTR amyloidosis. This is a single-center observational report on the effects of GT consumption in patients with ATTR cardiomopathy. METHODS: 19 patients with ATTR cardiomyopathy were evaluated by standard blood tests, echocardiography, and cardiac MRI (n = 9) before and after consumption of GT and/or green tea extracts (GTE) for 12 months. RESULTS: Five patients were not followed up for reasons of death (n = 2), discontinuation of GT/GTE consumption (n = 2), and heart transplantation (n = 1). After 12 months no increase of left ventricular (LV) wall thickness and LV myocardial mass was observed by echocardiography. In the subgroup of patients evaluated by cardiac MRI a mean decrease of LV myocardial mass (-12.5 %) was detected in all patients. This was accompanied by an increase of mean mitral annular systolic velocity of 9 % in all 14 patients. Total cholesterol (191.9 ± 8.9 vs. 172.7 ± 9.4 mg/dL; p < 0.01) and LDL cholesterol (105.8 ± 7.6 vs. 89.5 ± 8.0 mg/dL; p < 0.01) decreased significantly during the observational period. No serious adverse effects were reported by any of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our observation suggests an inhibitory effect of GT and/or GTE on the progression of cardiac amyloidosis. We propose a randomized placebo-controlled investigation to confirm our observation

Reflections

The American Society of International Law Committee recommended that the Manley 0. Hudson Medal be awarded to Professor Eric Stein for his lifetime of significant contributions to international and comparative law. Stein, the Hessel E. Yntema Professor of Law, Emeritus, at the University of Michigan Law School, had been an active supporter of ASIL as Honorary Vice President, Counsellor, and Honorary Editor of, and frequent contributor to, the American Journal of International Law. His many books and articles established him as a leading thinker and writer on European Community law and on what he described in a famous article as the Uses, Misuses, and Nonuses of Comparative Law

S100A1: A Multifaceted Therapeutic Target in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, showing a dramatically growing prevalence. It is still associated with a poor clinical prognosis, indicating insufficient long-term treatment success of currently available therapeutic strategies. Investigations of the pathomechanisms underlying cardiovascular disorders uncovered the Ca2+ binding protein S100A1 as a critical regulator of both cardiac performance and vascular biology. In cardiomyocytes, S100A1 was found to interact with both the sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase (SERCA2a) and the ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2), resulting in substantially improved Ca2+ handling and contractile performance. Additionally, S100A1 has been described to target the cardiac sarcomere and mitochondria, leading to reduced pre-contractile passive tension as well as enhanced oxidative energy generation. In endothelial cells, molecular analyses revealed a stimulatory effect of S100A1 on endothelial NO production by increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity. Emphasizing the pathophysiological relevance of S100A1, myocardial infarction in S100A1 knockout mice resulted in accelerated transition towards heart failure and excessive mortality in comparison with wild-type controls. Mice lacking S100A1 furthermore displayed significantly elevated blood pressure values with abrogated responsiveness to bradykinin. On the other hand, numerous studies in small and large animal heart failure models showed that S100A1 overexpression results in reversed maladaptive myocardial remodeling, long-term rescue of contractile performance, and superior survival in response to myocardial infarction, indicating the potential of S100A1-based therapeutic interventions. In summary, elaborate basic and translational research established S100A1 as a multifaceted therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease, providing a promising novel therapeutic strategy to future cardiologists