The relationship between the immune system and oral manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease: A review

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic, relapsing inflammatory diseases characterized by exacerbations and remissions of the gastrointestinal tract, clinically manifested as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The etiology of IBDs is considered to be multi factorial, comprising environmental, immune, microbial and genetic factors. Clinical signs may include abdominal pain, frequent bloody diarrheas, mucorrhea, vomiting, fever, fatigue or weight loss. Changes in the oral cavity often precede intestinal symptoms. Inflammatory bowel disease leads to a significant deterioration of oral health, which indicates that cooperation between the dentist and the gastroenterologist is necessary when considering patients' welfare. Patients with IBD have an altered immune response, but microorganisms of the oral cavity may also be responsible for its modification. This review paper discusses the correlation between the immune system and inflammatory bowel disease manifestations in the oral cavity

Do membership benefits buy regulatory compliance?: an empirical analysis of EU directives 1978-1999

Underlying several theories of European integration is the idea that countries' willingness to sign up to supranational rules is dependent on the expectation and/or realization of various benefits. In this paper, we explore whether such benefits also affect member states' implementation of these rules. Using econometric techniques, we estimate the influence of several measures of membership benefits on the annual number of legal infringements received by 15 member states over the period from 1978 to 1999. Our results provide qualified support for the idea that benefits positively influence compliance. We find that greater intra-EU trade dependence and voting power in European institutions relative to population size are negatively associated with legal infringements. Yet, contrary to a priori expectations, net fiscal transfers are positively correlated with infringements

FDI and regional economic integration: A case of near

NEAR (North East Asia Region) economic integration is reemerging as one of the key issues in the process of recovering from the Asian economic crisis of 1997. Talks are no longer limited to traditional free trade agreements but have expanded to the Yen Bloc, AMF,1 and even RMB bloc, which are discussed informally among academicians and politicians. This paper attempts to show that dynamic intra-regional FDI (foreign direct investment) flow driven by market forces from late 1980s already began to act as an important catalyst to foster increased intra-regional economic integration. Factor exchanges accelerated commodity exchanges due mostly to intra-regional economic dynamism since the breakdown of the Cold-War, forced industrial restructuring caused by shaping new intra-regional division of labor, and market preemption effort seeking market potential in China. This, in turn, might result in what is referred to as “natural interdependence” in the intra-regional countries. This market-driven natural interdependence has stronger probability of evolving into an institutional economic integration if the market opening and crossing FDI proceeds further.