The Expanding Core and Varying Degrees of Insiderness: Institutionalised Interest Group Access to Advisory Councils

The interaction between organised interests and policy makers is an important ingredient of contemporary political systems. In earlier work, interest group scholars have distinguished groups that enjoy access to consultation arrangements from those that are bound to stand on the sideline. Frequently, these insiders are considered to be equally connected to public authorities. Yet their degree of ‘insiderness’ differs significantly. By unpacking the set of organised interests that have gained access, this article distinguishes core insiders from groups that occupy a more peripheral position in an interest intermediation system. Empirically, we demonstrate and explain varying degrees of insiderness in the community of insider groups in Belgium, using the extensiveness of representation in advisory bodies as a proxy for access. Our findings show that, although nowadays a diverse set of organised interests gets involved in policy-making processes, the inner circle is dominated by traditional economic interests.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Live to Fight Another Day? Organizational Maintenance and Mortality Anxiety of Civil Society Organizations

Communities of civil society organizations are characterized by substantial volatility, as new organizations are continuously established and old ones are regularly disbanded. This article aims to improve our understanding of the dynamic nature of civil society by focusing on a particular aspect of organizational maintenance, namely, mortality anxiety. Building upon previous work that assesses actual and perceived survival chances of civil society organizations, we examine how inter-organizational competition, ties with public authorities, and the internal institutionalization of civil society organizations shape how these groups assess their survival chances. Our results demonstrate that high levels of inter-organizational competition and a strong reliance on government funding significantly increase mortality anxiety. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of a professionalized and internally differentiated structure. We rely on survey data and focus on the case of Belgium, in this way providing a first assessment of mortality anxiety in a neo-corporatist political system.The politics and administration of institutional chang

It's not all about the money: Explaining varying policy portfolios of regional representations in Brussels

The literature on territorial lobbying in the European Union (EU) has paid much attention to the interaction between regional representations in Brussels and the member-state central governments, and the relations of these representations with the European institutions. Surprisingly, far less systematic research has been conducted on the policies that regional representations prioritize when they lobby in Brussels. In this article, we focus on the policy portfolios of these organizations and analyze variation concerning the domains and issues these regional representations prioritize. Empirically, we demonstrate that the size and the nature of a policy portfolio is not primarily affected by the capabilities of a regional representation, but rather results from structural ties of regional lobbyists with other public and private interests. This claim is corroborated by data collected through a telephone survey with 127 officials from regional offices and trans-regional associations.The politics and administration of institutional chang

Coalition unionism : exploring how and when coalitions contribute to union renewal in Sydney, Toronto and Chicago

Item does not contain fulltextWe have previously identified eight novel autoantibody targets in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including sperm-associated Ag 16 (SPAG16). In the current study, we further investigated the autoantibody response against SPAG16-a protein with unknown function in the CNS-and its expression in MS pathology. Using isoelectric focusing, we detected SPAG16-specific oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid of 5 of 23 MS patients (22%). Analysis of the anti-SPAG16 Ab reactivity in the plasma of a total of 531 donors using ELISA demonstrated significantly elevated anti-SPAG16 Ab levels (p = 0.002) in 32 of 153 MS patients (21%) compared with all other control groups with 95% specificity for the disease. To investigate the pathologic relevance of anti-SPAG16 Abs in vivo, anti-SPAG16 Abs were injected in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, resulting in a significant disease exacerbation. Finally, we demonstrated a consistent upregulation of SPAG16 in MS brain and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis spinal cord lesions, more specifically in reactive astrocytes. We conclude that SPAG16 is a novel autoantibody target in a subgroup of MS patients and in combination with other diagnostic criteria, elevated levels of anti-SPAG16 Abs could be used as a biomarker for diagnosis. Furthermore, the pathologic relevance of anti-SPAG16 Abs was shown in vivo

B cells and monocytes from patients with active multiple sclerosis exhibit increased surface expression of both HERV-H Env and HERV-W Env, accompanied by increased seroreactivity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The etiology of the neurogenerative disease multiple sclerosis (MS) is unknown. The leading hypotheses suggest that MS is the result of exposure of genetically susceptible individuals to certain environmental factor(s). Herpesviruses and human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) represent potentially important factors in MS development. Herpesviruses can activate HERVs, and HERVs are activated in MS patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using flow cytometry, we have analyzed HERV-H Env and HERV-W Env epitope expression on the surface of PBMCs from MS patients with active and stable disease, and from control individuals. We have also analyzed serum antibody levels to the expressed HERV-H and HERV-W Env epitopes. We found a significantly higher expression of HERV-H and HERV-W Env epitopes on B cells and monocytes from patients with active MS compared with patients with stable MS or control individuals. Furthermore, patients with active disease had relatively higher numbers of B cells in the PBMC population, and higher antibody reactivities towards HERV-H Env and HERV-W Env epitopes. The higher antibody reactivities in sera from patients with active MS correlate with the higher levels of HERV-H Env and HERV-W Env expression on B cells and monocytes. We did not find such correlations for stable MS patients or for controls.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate that both HERV-H Env and HERV-W Env are expressed in higher quantities on the surface of B cells and monocytes in patients with active MS, and that the expression of these proteins may be associated with exacerbation of the disease.</p

Sinetectula gen. nov., a new genus of Pisaniidae (Gastropoda: Buccinoidea) from the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans

The genus Sinetectula gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate Triton egregius Reeve, 1844, Buccinum cinis Reeve, 1846, Buccinum nigricostatum Reeve, 1846, Buccinum (Pollia) farinosum Gould, 1850, Pisania naevosa Martens, 1880, Pollia shepstonensis Tomlin, 1926 and one still undescribed species. These species are discussed and compared, and remarks on their biogeography are provided. The occasional appearance of a labral denticle is recorded and the morphological variability of the group is discussed. The radula of S. egregius gen. et comb. nov. is described

Editorial: New Insights Into B Cell Subsets in Health and Disease

Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Dimethyl fumarate induces a persistent change in the composition of the innate and adaptive immune system in multiple sclerosis patients

The effects of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) on the immune system in multiple sclerosis (MS) are not completely elucidated. In this study, an extensive immunophenotypic analysis of innate and adaptive immune cells of DMF-treated MS patients was performed. Peripheral blood immune cell phenotypes were determined using flow cytometry in a follow-up study of 12 MS patients before, after 3 and 12 months of DMF treatment and a cross-sectional study of 25 untreated and 64 DMF-treated MS patients. Direct effects of DMF on B cells were analyzed in vitro. After 12 months of DMF treatment, percentages of monocytes, natural killer cells, naive T and B cells and transitional B cells increased. Percentages of (effector) memory T cells, (non) class-switched memory B cells and double negative B cells decreased together with CD4(+) T cells expressing interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-17 (IL-17). DMF treatment was fully effective as of 6 months and directly induced apoptosis and decreased expression of costimulatory CD40, antigen presentation molecule MHCII and B cell activating factor receptor (BAFFR) on B cells. DMF induced a persistent change of the immune system of MS patients, directly induced apoptosis and reduced expression of functional markers on B cells