Proceedings from the ECFIN Workshop "The budgetary implications of structural reforms" - Brussels, 2 December 2005

Most of the reforms discussed within the framework of the Lisbon strategy will benefit public finances in the long term. However, in the short-term, there could a trade-off between some structural reforms and budgetary discipline. This possible tension between reforms and fiscal discipline was identified by academic economists as a possible drawback of the Stability and Growth Pact since its inception.budgetary discipline, Stability and Growth Pact, Lisbon strategy, fiscal discipline, Deroose, Flores, Turrini

The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes

The Workshop "The role of fiscal rules and institutions in shaping budgetary outcomes" organized by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial affairs of the European Commission on 24 November 2006 in Brussels aimed at enriching the debate on the fiscal arrangements and improving the understanding of their functioning. This Economic Paper contains all the paper presented in this event that was organised in four sessions. A first set of papers mainly focus on the impact of numerical fiscal rules on budgetary outturns. Other paper deal primarily with the appropriate design of fiscal rules and institutions. An additional group of papers addresses the relationship between the fiscal governance approach adopted by the EU Member States and their institutional and political frameworks. Finally the remaining presentations relate more directly to policy experiences. fiscal rules, budget, institutions.fiscal rules, budget, institutions, Ayuso-i-Casals, Deroose, Flores, Moulin

Ethylene C2H3D isotopologue: high resolution study of v6, v4, v8, v7 and v10 fundamentals

High Resolution Fourier transform infrared spectra of the C2H3D molecule were recorded with Doppler limited resolution in the region of 600 - 1250 cm-1 at room temperature. The measurements were carried out under several different absorption conditions using the Bruker 120 HR spectrometer in Braunschweig Technical University. Five fundamentals v6, v4, v8, v7, and v10 were observed and found to be perturbed by different resonance interactions. About 6000 lines were assigned in the recorded spectrum. They were used then in the weighted fit procedure with the effective Hamiltonian taking into account five strongly interacting states

MicroRNAs promote skeletal muscle differentiation of mesodermal iPSC-derived progenitors

Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are often characterized by impairment of both skeletal and cardiac muscle. Regenerative strategies for both compartments therefore constitute a therapeutic avenue. Mesodermal iPSC-derived progenitors (MiPs) can regenerate both striated muscle types simultaneously in mice. Importantly, MiP myogenic propensity is influenced by somatic lineage retention. However, it is still unknown whether human MiPs have in vivo potential. Furthermore, methods to enhance the intrinsic myogenic properties of MiPs are likely needed, given the scope and need to correct large amounts of muscle in the MDs. Here, we document that human MiPs can successfully engraft into the skeletal muscle and hearts of dystrophic mice. Utilizing non-invasive live imaging and selectively induced apoptosis, we report evidence of striated muscle regeneration in vivo in mice by human MiPs. Finally, combining RNA-seq and miRNA-seq data, we define miRNA cocktails that promote the myogenic potential of human MiPs

Fat induces glucose metabolism in nontransformed liver cells and promotes liver tumorigenesis

Hepatic fat accumulation is associated with diabetes and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we characterize the metabolic response that high-fat availability elicits in livers before disease development. After a short term on a high-fat diet (HFD), otherwise healthy mice showed elevated hepatic glucose uptake and increased glucose contribution to serine and pyruvate carboxylase activity compared with control diet (CD) mice. This glucose phenotype occurred independently from transcriptional or proteomic programming, which identifies increased peroxisomal and lipid metabolism pathways. HFD-fed mice exhibited increased lactate production when challenged with glucose. Consistently, administration of an oral glucose bolus to healthy individuals revealed a correlation between waist circumference and lactate secretion in a human cohort. In vitro, palmitate exposure stimulated production of reactive oxygen species and subsequent glucose uptake and lactate secretion in hepatocytes and liver cancer cells. Furthermore, HFD enhanced the formation of HCC compared with CD in mice exposed to a hepatic carcinogen. Regardless of the dietary background, all murine tumors showed similar alterations in glucose metabolism to those identified in fat exposed nontransformed mouse livers, however, particular lipid species were elevated in HFD tumor and nontumor-bearing HFD liver tissue. These findings suggest that fat can induce glucose-mediated metabolic changes in nontransformed liver cells similar to those found in HCC

A robust coregistration method for in vivo studies using a first generation simultaneous PET/MR scanner

Purpose: Hybrid positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging systems have recently been built that allow functional and anatomical information obtained from PET and MR to be acquired simultaneously. The authors have developed a robust coregistration scheme for a first generation small animal PET/MR imaging system and illustrated the potential of this system to study intratumoral heterogeneity in a mouse model. Methods: An alignment strategy to fuse simultaneously acquired PET and MR data, using the MR imaging gradient coordinate system as the reference basis, was developed. The fidelity of the alignment was evaluated over multiple study sessions. In order to explore its robustness in vivo, the alignment strategy was applied to explore the heterogeneity of glucose metabolism in a xenograft tumor model, using ^(18)F-FDG-PET to guide the acquisition of localized ^1H MR spectra within a single imaging session. Results: The alignment method consistently fused the PET/MR data sets with subvoxel accuracy (registration error mean=0.55 voxels, <0.28 mm); this was independent of location within the field of view. When the system was used to study intratumoral heterogeneity within xenograft tumors, a correlation of high ^(18)F-FDG-PET signal with high choline/creatine ratio was observed. Conclusions: The authors present an implementation of an efficient and robust coregistration scheme for multimodal noninvasive imaging using PET and MR. This setup allows time-sensitive, multimodal studies of physiology to be conducted in an efficient manner

Isolated limb perfusion for unresectable extremity cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; an effective limb saving strategy

Background: A small minority of patients present with locally advanced cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (cSCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Tumour necrosis factor α (TNF) and melphalan based isolated limb perfusion (TM-ILP) as a limb saving strategy for locally advanced extremity cSCC. Methods: A retrospective search from prospectively maintained databases, at two tertiary referral centers, was performed to identify patients treated with TM-ILP for locally advanced cSSC of an extremity between 2000 and 2015. Results: A total of 30 patients treated with TM-ILP for cSCC were identified, with a median age of 71 years (36–92) and 50% female. Response could not be evaluated in 3 patients. After a median follow up of 25 months, the overall response rate was 81% (n = 22), with 16 patients having a complete response (CR, 59%). A total of 7 patients developed local recurrence, with a median time to recurrence of 9 months (Interquartile Range 7–10). Progressive disease was observed in 5 patients (19%). Limb salvage rate was 80%. The overall 2-year survival was 67%. Conclusions: TM-ILP should be considered as an option in patients with locally advanced cSCC in specialised centers, resulting in a high limb salvage rate