The role of the gene Msx-1 in limb development

In developing vertebrate limb buds, pattern specification occurs in the distal region known as progress zone. The progress zone is a region of mesenchymal cells influenced by an interaction with the apical ectodermal ridge that is proposed to maintain cells in a positionally labile, undifferentiated and proliferative state. The aim of this research was to investigate the function of the Msx-1 gene, which is expressed at the progress zone and is correlated with outgrowth. Msx-1 expression in the progress zone is maintained by apical ridge signals and as the bud grows out and cells leave the progress zone, they switch off Msx-1 expression and differentiate into cartilage and other tissues. To test the hypothesis that Msx-1 is involved in maintaining the characteristics of progress zone cells, recombinant retroviruses were prepared encoding Msx-1. When chick limb buds were infected with the viruses in ovo by grafting vims-infected cells to the buds there was no effect on limb development, even though northern hybridisation and immunocytochemistry showed that the viruses directed synthesis of correctly processed chicken Msx-1 mRNA and Msx-1 protein. Similarly, there was no effect on the behaviour of cultured limb bud mesenchyme cells. These results suggest that Msx-1 act in concert with other factors to maintain progress zone characteristics. The ability of chick limb bud stumps to regenerate distal structures when FGF-4 was applied was investigated systematically. When amputations were made within 600?m of the tip and FGF-4 applied to the posterior part of the bud or both apically and posteriorly, outgrowth of stump tissues occurred and a virtually complete skeleton, muscle and nerve pattern developed. Regeneration of distal structures was correlated with re-activation of Msx-1 and by means of Dil injection experiment, the Msx-1 expressing region was found to correspond to the region from which cells were recruited into the new outgrowth. In addition, the regeneration potential of chick limb buds stumps was also correlated with Shh and Hoxd-13 expression. At proximal amputation levels where FGF-4 did not lead to regeneration neither Msx-1 nor Shh expression was induced. These results are consistent with the proposal that Msx-1 is a candidate gene whose expression in the cells at the amputation plane is important for the induction of a successful regenerative respons

Majority (mis)rule and the problem with naturalisation for UK citizens in the EU

Will Britons living in other EU member states have the opportunity to naturalise? Dora Kostakopoulou says this would be a potentially fraught and divisive policy option, particularly for those living in states that do not allow joint citizenship. Instead, she argues, we should reconsider the legitimacy of a narrow majority vote that deprived millions of EU citizens, UK and non-UK, of fundamental rights and freedoms

Scala Civium : citizenship templates post-Brexit and the European Union’s duty to protect EU citizens

Brexit opened the way for the ‘restoration’ of British sovereignty and, if an EEA model (or an EEA‐like model) is not chosen following the activation of Article 50 TEU, EU citizens settled in the UK will be requested to apply for either UK nationality or permanent leave to remain. The same applies to UK nationals residing in other Member States who will lose their EU citizenship status. Unexpectedly, 3.9 million EU citizens have been transformed into ‘guests’ or ‘foreigners’ in communities they call ‘their own’. Although naturalization in the state of residence might be seen to furnish a secure and fully recognized status for EU citizens, I argue that it is not an adequate policy option. The conceptual differences between national and EU citizenships are immense. In this article I explore the advantages and disadvantages of possible citizenship templates and propose an ‘EU protected citizen’ status for EU citizens

European Union citizenship and member state nationality: rethinking the link?

That European Union citizenship remains an unfinished institution is beyond any doubt. Even its modest original content enshrined in the Treaty of European Union revealed this. Article 25 TFEU (formerly Article 22 TEC) has always carried the promise of the extension its material scope of Union citizenship by a unanimous decision of the Council in accordance with a special legislative procedure and after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. Although this procedure has not been activated yet, EU citizenship has evolved. For more than a decade, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has not hesitated to subject it to critical reflection and inquiry and to embark upon unknown and controversial terrains, thereby inviting both admiration and fierce criticism. European judges have taken quite seriously constitutionalisation of Union citizenship and sought to respond positively to citizens’ needs and expectations. But as their decisions are guided by norms which often conflict with states’ interest in unilateral migration control and the pursuit of power, governments have not hesitated to express their disapproval of what they perceive to be judicial policy-making.Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Testing liberal norms: the public policy and public security derogations and the cracks in European Union citizenship

European Union law has curtailed the traditional discretion Member States have in ordering non-nationals to leave their territory. Although Directive 2004/28 (the Citizenship Directive) has enhanced the system of protection afforded to offending European Union citizens, it still contains a number of cracks that lead to policy incoherence and gaps in rights protection. This is evident in the first rulings on Article 28(3) of Directive 2004/38 concerning the deportation of offending EU citizens. These issues also threaten to transform European Union citizenship from a fundamental status into a thin overlay that, under pressure from national executive power, loses its effect and significance. To be sure, EU citizenship has demonstrated that community belonging does not have to be based on organic-national qualities, cultural commonalities, or individuals' conformity to national values, but the continued deportation of long-term resident Union citizens makes nationality the ultimate determinant of belonging. The subsequent discussion suggests possible remedies and makes recommendations for institutional reform

Breaking the silence around academic harassment

It is time to hold every member of the scientific community responsible and 'response able' in addressing/reporting academic harassment. Stop applauding academic stars on the podium prior to checking what is happening underneath!</p

Locating the post-national activist:Migration rights, civil society and the practice of post-nationalism

Theorists of post-nationalism examine the (re)configuration of national identity, membership and rights. Yet while normative scholarship has conceptualized post-nationalism as an ongoing practice of discursive contestation over the role of national group membership in liberal democratic societies, more empirical studies have tended to overlook these features to predominantly focus instead on top-down legal and political institution-building as evidence of post-nationalism. In this article I argue in favour of an empirical conceptualization of post-nationalism which more effectively captures micro-level practices of discursive contestation. Specifically I posit that post-national activists, or actors engaging in post-national practices of contestation from within the state, are a key focus of analysis for scholars of post-nationalism. I develop this claim through the analysis of data collected with individuals working on civil society campaigns for migration rights in Europe, Australia and the USA who–I demonstrate–embody many of the characteristics of the post-national activist