The EU and Moldova’s Third Sector: Partners in Solving the Transnistria Conflict?

With the formulation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2003-2004 and the signature of the EU-Moldova Action Plan in 2005, the EU became a more active player in Moldova, including on solving the Transnistrian conflict. This report sets out to analyze the EU’s engagement with local civil society organizations (CSOs) in their efforts to transform the conflict and also to assess their impact and effectiveness in doing so. In the first section, the report provides a brief outline of the conflict. Next, the report considers the domestic environment in which CSOs operate in Moldova/Transnistria, which provides a first insight into the potential for effectiveness and impact in transforming the conflict. The third section looks at the EU’s policies towards Moldova/Transnistria and in particular at its involvement in the resolution of the conflict. In the fourth section the EU’s engagement with civil society in Moldova is analyzed (in particular the EU’s ability to change the structure in which CSOs operate). In the fifth section 16 CSOs (8 from Moldova and 8 from Transnistria) are studied in terms of their activities, impact and effectiveness relating to conflict transformation. The sixth section tests the three hypotheses (the liberal peace paradigm, the leftist critique and the realist critique). The conclusion provides a synthesis of the three hypotheses and is followed by a series of policy recommendations. The paper argues that support for civil society activities appears to offer more possibilities to change the conflict’s status quo than mediation efforts, especially considering the growing consolidation of civil society in Moldova.

Moldova’s 'wannabe democracy' is worth rescuing. CEPS Policy Brief No. 185, 23 April 2009

The consequences of the post-electoral impasse in which Moldova finds itself after the parliamentary elections on 5 April 2009 are immense for the EU’s relations with Moldova and for the success of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and Eastern Partnership (EaP). Despite many problems, Moldova is considered one of the ‘frontrunners’ as regards ENP implementation and is poised to negotiate an Association Agreement and a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement in the coming months. Yet the violent protests that rocked the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, on 7 April 2009, and the authorities’ subsequent violent arrests and beatings of protesters, journalists and opposition figures, may have negative repercussions on Moldova’s European integration efforts. The reversal in Moldova’s transition to a Western-style democracy may accelerate, failing a resolute response by the EU. This policy brief argues that first, the EU should put pressure on Moldova to stop its crackdown and investigate human rights violations, and second, the EU should make an attractive offer of increased cooperation and assistance if Moldovan authorities seek an agreement with the opposition and show progress in implementing democratic reforms. Failing this, the EU may witness yet another undoing of democratic reforms by one of its Eastern neighbours

The EU and its member states: Pursuing diverse interests in the CIS region

The CIS region is of vital importance for the EU countries considering that both are interconnected through cooperation or membership in supranational political and economic institutions (OSCE, WTO, OECD, NATO, etc.), through transport and energy corridors, through investment, trade and migration trends. The interests of EU member states in the region are very diverse and are sometimes pursued in contradiction to one another. The overarching interest is of an economic nature, given the large reserves of natural resources (particularly gas and oil) and due to the size of the CIS market of 277 million consumers. Security and immigration issues also rank high on the list, whereas EU countries are less concerned with democratisation trends in the CIS. Russia is the most important CIS partner for a majority of EU countries. Energy plays a disproportionally high role in EU member states (MS) Russia relations and is also a strong determinant of the overall heterogeneity of EU MS policies towards Russia. The type of bilateral relations which the EU MS maintain with one sub-region of the CIS (particularly the EENP, but increasingly also Central Asia) also affects their relations with Russia. Cultural closeness and a common history still play a large part in the development of bilateral relations. The accession to the EU of Central and Eastern European states has altered the existing relations between them and their eastern CIS neighbours, thereby also modifying their interests in the region. Regrettably, the EU's policies towards Russia and the EENP region have not yet been able to provide a playing field able to compensate for this alteration. Thus, the present report studies the various interests (political, security, economic, cultural) which underpin relations between the EU member states and the CIS countries and also discusses the latest developments in EU policies towards a specific CIS sub-region (Russia, the Eastern ENP and Central Asia), thereby providing a broad picture of the type of interests, how they are pursued by the EU member states and where these intersect or clash

Integrating Machine Learning and Multiscale Modeling: Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Biological, Biomedical, and Behavioral Sciences

Fueled by breakthrough technology developments, the biological, biomedical, and behavioral sciences are now collecting more data than ever before. There is a critical need for time- and cost-efficient strategies to analyze and interpret these data to advance human health. The recent rise of machine learning as a powerful technique to integrate multimodality, multifidelity data, and reveal correlations between intertwined phenomena presents a special opportunity in this regard. However, classical machine learning techniques often ignore the fundamental laws of physics and result in ill-posed problems or non-physical solutions. Multiscale modeling is a successful strategy to integrate multiscale, multiphysics data and uncover mechanisms that explain the emergence of function. However, multiscale modeling alone often fails to efficiently combine large data sets from different sources and different levels of resolution. We show how machine learning and multiscale modeling can complement each other to create robust predictive models that integrate the underlying physics to manage ill-posed problems and explore massive design spaces. We critically review the current literature, highlight applications and opportunities, address open questions, and discuss potential challenges and limitations in four overarching topical areas: ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, data-driven approaches, and theory-driven approaches. Towards these goals, we leverage expertise in applied mathematics, computer science, computational biology, biophysics, biomechanics, engineering mechanics, experimentation, and medicine. Our multidisciplinary perspective suggests that integrating machine learning and multiscale modeling can provide new insights into disease mechanisms, help identify new targets and treatment strategies, and inform decision making for the benefit of human health

NetPyNE, a tool for data-driven multiscale modeling of brain circuits

Biophysical modeling of neuronal networks helps to integrate and interpret rapidly growing and disparate experimental datasets at multiple scales. The NetPyNE tool (www.netpyne.org) provides both programmatic and graphical interfaces to develop data-driven multiscale network models in NEURON. NetPyNE clearly separates model parameters from implementation code. Users provide specifications at a high level via a standardized declarative language, for example connectivity rules, to create millions of cell-to-cell connections. NetPyNE then enables users to generate the NEURON network, run efficiently parallelized simulations, optimize and explore network parameters through automated batch runs, and use built-in functions for visualization and analysis – connectivity matrices, voltage traces, spike raster plots, local field potentials, and information theoretic measures. NetPyNE also facilitates model sharing by exporting and importing standardized formats (NeuroML and SONATA). NetPyNE is already being used to teach computational neuroscience students and by modelers to investigate brain regions and phenomena

Axial tubule junctions control rapid calcium signaling in atria.

The canonical atrial myocyte (AM) is characterized by sparse transverse tubule (TT) invaginations and slow intracellular Ca2+ propagation but exhibits rapid contractile activation that is susceptible to loss of function during hypertrophic remodeling. Here, we have identified a membrane structure and Ca2+-signaling complex that may enhance the speed of atrial contraction independently of phospholamban regulation. This axial couplon was observed in human and mouse atria and is composed of voluminous axial tubules (ATs) with extensive junctions to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) that include ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) clusters. In mouse AM, AT structures triggered Ca2+ release from the SR approximately 2 times faster at the AM center than at the surface. Rapid Ca2+ release correlated with colocalization of highly phosphorylated RyR2 clusters at AT-SR junctions and earlier, more rapid shortening of central sarcomeres. In contrast, mice expressing phosphorylation-incompetent RyR2 displayed depressed AM sarcomere shortening and reduced in vivo atrial contractile function. Moreover, left atrial hypertrophy led to AT proliferation, with a marked increase in the highly phosphorylated RyR2-pS2808 cluster fraction, thereby maintaining cytosolic Ca2+ signaling despite decreases in RyR2 cluster density and RyR2 protein expression. AT couplon "super-hubs" thus underlie faster excitation-contraction coupling in health as well as hypertrophic compensatory adaptation and represent a structural and metabolic mechanism that may contribute to contractile dysfunction and arrhythmias

European Neighbourhood Policy and Economic Reforms in the Eastern Neighbourhood

The paper discusses the current and potential role of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in anchoring economic reforms in the countries of the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood. It claims that it is too early to assess the success of the ENP in this sphere especially given that the actual progress of the ENP agenda has been limited. A review of the empirical evidence on external reform anchors confirms that the ENP shares some features with the EU accession process that has proven to be an effective mechanism supporting major economic, political and social changes in the countries concerned. The eventual ENP economic offer is meaningful and integration with the EU is getting stronger public support in several CIS countries and among their political elites. On the other hand several factors limit the reform anchoring potential of the ENP. This paper offers recommendations on policies that could strengthen this potential

Top-Down Feedback in an HMAX-Like Cortical Model of Object Perception Based on Hierarchical Bayesian Networks and Belief Propagation

PubMed ID: 2313976

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

The EU's Limited Response to Belarus' Pseudo 'New Foreign Policy'. CEPS Policy Brief No. 151, 8 February 2008

[From the Introduction]. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to analyse whether the dynamics of EU-Belarus relations have changed at all one year after the oil and gas crisis, and if so, whether the EU has succeeded in increasing its leverage over the country. A first section briefly reviews the EU’s policy towards Belarus since the coming to power of Lukashenko. Next, the paper looks into the oil and gas crisis and examines if Russia has radically changed its policy towards Belarus, by effectively ending the subsidies. Thirdly, we analyse Lukashenko’s efforts to offset the effects of the oil and gas crisis and the seriousness of his pro-European rhetoric. The fourth part attempts to verify whether there are any fundamental changes in the dynamics of EU-Belarus relations following the oil and gas crisis and speculates on how the EU can engage with the people of Belarus more effectively. Finally, the paper puts forward a series of short-term and longerterm measures that the EU might consider, on the condition that Belarus commits to addressing the most basic requirements in the field of human rights and democratisation