European security culture: Language, theory, policy

© Monica Gariup 2009. All rights reserved. Grounded on tenets of cultural realism and social constructivism, Monica Gariup develops a theoretical framework to enhance our understanding of security culture at the European Union level. She employs tools from political theory, linguistic analysis and international relations theory to examine the implications of discourse and practice in European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Innovative in scope, the volume analyzes whether elaborating a structurationist solution and proposing a discursive syntax of security makes it possible to identify and compare different types of security actors. Providing a comprehensive and objective analysis on the links and implications between the discourse and actual policy of the ESDP, this is essential reading for scholars and researchers in European politics, international relations, security and cultural studies

The challenge of detecting false documents at the border: Exploring the performance of humans, machines and their interaction

The verification of a travel document authenticity is the cornerstone of border checks. Because of pressures at the border (time constraints and increasing numbers of travellers to check) and the growing complexity of modern document security, border control capabilities (officers and/or automated systems) are tasked to rapidly and straightforwardly decide on whether the documents presented are genuine or false. Although operational performance of document inspection capabilities is of paramount importance for the effectiveness and security of border checks, the topic is rarely discussed and studied. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the development of a methodology to assess the operational performance of document inspection capabilities (human and technical) by reporting on the findings of the Document Challenge II, the second exercise of this sort performed in Lisbon in September 2013 and organized by Frontex in cooperation with the Portuguese Servico de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), the UK National Document Fraud Unit (NDFU), the Dutch Royal Marechaussee and the German Forensic Institute of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).JRC.I.3-Text and Data Minin

Anti‐dopamine D2 receptor antibodies in chronic tic disorders

Aim: To investigate the association between circulating anti-dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) autoantibodies and the exacerbation of tics in children with chronic tic disorders (CTDs). Method: One hundred and thirty-seven children with CTDs (108 males, 29 females; mean age [SD] 10y 0mo [2y 7mo], range 4-16y) were recruited over 18 months. Patients were assessed at baseline, at tic exacerbation, and at 2 months after exacerbation. Serum anti-D2R antibodies were evaluated using a cell-based assay and blinded immunofluorescence microscopy scoring was performed by two raters. The association between visit type and presence of anti-D2R antibodies was measured with McNemar's test and repeated-measure logistic regression models, adjusting for potential demographic and clinical confounders. Results: At exacerbation, 11 (8%) participants became anti-D2R-positive ('early peri-exacerbation seroconverters'), and nine (6.6%) became anti-D2R-positive at post-exacerbation ('late peri-exacerbation seroconverters'). The anti-D2R antibodies were significantly associated with exacerbations when compared to baseline (McNemar's odds ratio=11, p=0.003) and conditional logistic regression confirmed this association (Z=3.49, p<0.001) after adjustment for demographic and clinical data and use of psychotropic drugs. Interpretation: There is a potential association between immune mechanisms and the severity course of tics in adolescents with CTDs

Antibodies to neuronal surface proteins in Tourette Syndrome: Lack of evidence in a European paediatric cohort

In Tourette Syndrome (TS) a role for autoantibodies directed against neuronal proteins has long been suspected, but so far results are still inconsistent. The aim of this study was to look for antibodies to specific or undefined neuronal proteins that could be involved in the aetiology of the disease. Sera from children with Tourette Syndrome or another chronic tic disorder (TS/TD), collected as part of the longitudinal European Multicenter Tics in Children Study, were investigated. Participants included 30 siblings of patients with TS/TD prior to developing tics (preclinical stage) and the same children after the first tic onset (onset), and 158 patients in the chronic phase undergoing an acute relapse (exacerbation). Presence of antibodies binding to rodent brain tissue was assessed by immunohistology on rat brain sections and by immunofluorescent staining of live hippocampal neurons. Live cell-based assays were used to screen for antibodies to NMDAR, CASPR2, LGI1, AMPAR and GABA(A)R. Immunohistology indicated evidence of antibodies reactive with brain tissue, binding mainly to the hippocampus, the basal ganglia or the cerebellum in 26/218 (12%), with 8% of the preclinical or onset sera binding to the dentate gyrus/CA3 region or cerebellum. Only two individuals (one pre-clinical, one chronic) had antibodies binding the NMDAR and the binding was only weakly positive. No other specific antibodies were detected. Despite some immunoreactivity towards neuronal antigens on brain tissue, this was not mirrored by antibodies binding to live neurons, suggesting the presence of non-specific antibodies or those that bind non-pathogenic intracellular epitopes. NMDAR or the other neuronal surface antibodies tested were very infrequent in these patients. The evidence for pathogenic antibodies that could be causative of TS is weak