The variable geometry of the euro-crisis : a look at the non-euro area Member States

This paper analyses how non-euro MS are affected by a set of euro-crisis measures and how their position towards the Eurozone has evolved. After briefly exploring the origins of differentiated integration in EMU, the paper describes the relevance of Euro-crisis law for the non-Euro MS, for example through parts of the Six Pack and the Fiscal Compact. We then look at specific legal topics that arise in relation to EMU and the non-euro MS, such as reforms of fiscal governance, the decision to be bound by the whole of the Fiscal Compact, the inclusion of non-euro MS in important decisions regarding the Eurozone, the obligation to join the euro and the possible consequences of Eurozone membership. We find that there are vast differences within the group of non-Euro MS with regard to the applicability of Euro-crisis law, the way the measures are ratified and/or transposed and the attitude towards the Eurozone and further integration. Euro-crisis law also affects non-Euro MS on a constitutional level, both directly and indirectly, by sponsoring certain budgetary objectives and by favouring certain actors over others during the budgetary process. Finally, the differentiated nature of EMU has also significantly complicated the euro-crisis measures

Photoperiod reverses the effects of estrogens on male aggression via genomic and nongenomic pathways

Despite recent discoveries of the specific contributions of genes to behavior, the molecular mechanisms mediating contributions of the environment are understudied. We demonstrate that the behavioral effects of estrogens on aggression are completely reversed by a discrete environmental signal, day length. Selective activation of either estrogen receptor α or β decreases aggression in long days and increases aggression in short days. In the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, one of several nuclei in a neural circuit that controls aggression, estrogen-dependent gene expression is increased in long days but not in short days, suggesting that estrogens decrease aggression by driving estrogen-dependent gene expression. Estradiol injections increased aggression within 15 min in short days but not in long days, suggesting that estrogens increase aggression in short days primarily via nongenomic pathways. These data demonstrate that the environment can dictate how hormones affect a complex behavior by altering the molecular pathways targeted by steroid receptors

The amyloid β-peptide is imported into mitochondria via the TOM import machinery and localized to mitochondrial cristae

The amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) has been suggested to exert its toxicity intracellularly. Mitochondrial functions can be negatively affected by Aβ and accumulation of Aβ has been detected in mitochondria. Because Aβ is not likely to be produced locally in mitochondria, we decided to investigate the mechanisms for mitochondrial Aβ uptake. Our results from rat mitochondria show that Aβ is transported into mitochondria via the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) machinery. The import was insensitive to valinomycin, indicating that it is independent of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Subfractionation studies following the import experiments revealed Aβ association with the inner membrane fraction, and immunoelectron microscopy after import showed localization of Aβ to mitochondrial cristae. A similar distribution pattern of Aβ in mitochondria was shown by immunoelectron microscopy in human cortical brain biopsies obtained from living subjects with normal pressure hydrocephalus. Thus, we present a unique import mechanism for Aβ in mitochondria and demonstrate both in vitro and in vivo that Aβ is located to the mitochondrial cristae. Importantly, we also show that extracellulary applied Aβ can be internalized by human neuroblastoma cells and can colocalize with mitochondrial markers. Together, these results provide further insight into the mitochondrial uptake of Aβ, a peptide considered to be of major significance in Alzheimer's disease