Community in Europe: A Historical Lexicon. IHS Political Science Series 59, January 1999

One of the main causes of flagging support for the EU has been the persistence of high levels of unemployment in virtually all member states of the Union. Our paper shows that in combating unemployment, present policy as set out in EU documents is forced to steer a course between ‘competitiveness’ of markets and what is variously referred to as ‘social protection’, ‘social balance’ or ‘social responsibility’. The difficult question which then arises is how an injunction for individual responsibility can be enforced through rules and regulations which run against the principle of freedom to which responsibility is attached. When freedom is associated with social custom or convention, and that it is customary for individuals to have a state-provided social benefit, a ‘community’ of social responsibility and the like becomes so problematic. The task is finding the means of persuasion that makes the loss of local custom and individual dependence appear as a socially responsible but private gain of livelihood

Community Between Europe and Africa. IHS Political Science Series 64, September 1999

The study analyses the kind of community which was established through the various Lomé Conventions. The relationship between the EC/EU and the ACP countries has undergone profound changes. While in the beginning the relationship was based on the (contrafactual) supposition of equality between the partners and fair exchange the situation turned into a more openly unbalanced one. The real status of the ACP countries turned from client to supplicant because the socio-economic and political rational for upholding the fiction of equality vanished. The special “post-colonial” relationship between the EC/EU and the ACP countries is likely to come to an end as is the particular form of community between these two groups of states. Even in the past the relationship was characterised by political and economic conditionality aimed at internal political reform, conflict prevention, and poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, as long as the EC/EU is not ready and willing to directly intervene in these countries it will rely on development aid as an indirect means to address its political concerns which now include refugee flight, the spread of cross border epidemic disease, and the growth of narcotics trade

Community Between Europe and Africa: This study is part of the project "On an European Union of Citizens", commissioned by the Austrian Federal Chancellery

Abstract: The study analyses the kind of community which was established through the various Lome Conventions. The relationship between the EC/EU and the ACP countries has undergone profound changes. While in the beginning the relationship was basedon the (contrafactual) supposition of equality between the partners and fair exchange the situation turned into a more openly unbalanced one. The real status of the ACP countries turned from client to supplicant because the socio-economic and political rational for upholding the fiction of equality vanished. The special "post-colonial" relationship between the EC/EU and the ACP countries is likely to come to an end as is the particular form of community between these two groups of states. Even in the past the relationship was characterised by political and economic conditionality aimed at internal political reform, conflict prevention, and poverty alleviation. Nevertheless, as long as the EC/EU is not ready and willing to directly intervene in these countries it will rely on development aid as an indirect means to address its political concerns which now include refugee flight, the spread of cross border epidemic disease, and the growth of narcotics trade.

A study of the expression of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK1-3) in sensory endings of muscle spindles and lanceolate endings of hair follicles in the rat

Processes underlying mechanotransduction and its regulation are poorly understood. Inhibitors of Ca2+-activated K+ channels cause a dramatic increase in afferent output from stretched muscle spindles. We used immunocytochemistry to test for the presence and location of small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (SK1-3) in primary endings of muscle spindles and lanceolate endings of hair follicles in the rat. Tissue sections were double immunolabelled with antibodies to one of the SK channel isoforms and to either synaptophysin (SYN, as a marker of synaptic like vesicles (SLV), present in many mechanosensitive endings) or S100 (a Ca2+-binding protein present in glial cells). SK channel immunoreactivity was also compared to immunolabelling for the Na+ ion channel ASIC2, previously reported in both spindle primary and lanceolate endings. SK1 was not detected in sensory terminals of either muscle spindles or lanceolate endings. SK2 was found in the terminals of both muscle spindles and lanceolate endings, where it colocalised with the SLV marker SYN (spindles and lanceolates) and the satellite glial cell (SGC) marker S100 (lanceolates). SK3 was not detected in muscle spindles; by contrast it was present in hair follicle endings, expressed predominantly in SGCs but perhaps also in the SGC: terminal interface, as judged by colocalisation statistical analysis of SYN and S100 immunoreactivity. The possibility that all three isoforms might be expressed in pre-terminal axons, especially at heminodes, cannot be ruled out. Differential distribution of SK channels is likely to be important in their function of responding to changes in intracellular [Ca2+] thereby modulating mechanosensory transduction by regulating the excitability of the sensory terminals. In particular, the presence of SK2 throughout the sensory terminals of both kinds of mechanoreceptor indicates an important role for an outward Ca2+-activated K+ current in the formation of the receptor potential in both types of ending

In lanceolate endings of rat hair follicles the small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel SK3 is found mainly in glial cells.

Autogenic modulation of mechanoreceptor excitability by Ca2+-dependent glutamate release from synaptic-like vesicles (SLVs) has been shown using the muscle spindle as a model (1). The excitability of lanceolate endings of hair follicles may be similarly regulated (2). In spindles Ca2+ entry through P/Q type channels activates KCa channels (BK or SK) to regulate afferent firing (3). In excitatory synapses of mouse hippocampus SK3 is a presynaptic channel (4) where it is probably involved in regulating neurotransmitter release. SK3 might therefore play a role in modulating glutamate release from SLVs. We have now studied SK3 expression in spindles and lanceolate endings, plus their associated satellite glial cells (SLGs) by immunocytochemistry. Synaptophysin (SYN, a marker of SLVs) was used to label sensory endings while the Ca2+-binding protein, S100 was used to identify SLGs. Adult rats (2) were deeply anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone (45 mg kg−1, I.P.) and fixed by transcardial perfusion (4% (w/v) paraformaldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4; all procedures in accordance with ASPA 1986). Immunofluorescence labelling was carried out on 10µm cryosections of pinna skin. Sections were double stained with one of four antibody combinations: 1) anti-SK3 (5µg/ml, goat polyclonal Santa Cruz Biotechnology) + anti-SYN (1μg/ml, mouse monoclonal Millipore); 2) anti-SK3 + anti-S100 (1:400, mouse monoclonal Santa Cruz Biotechnology); 3) anti-ASIC2 (5µg/ml, goat polyclonal Santa Cruz Biotechnology) + anti-SYN; 4) anti-ASIC2 + anti-S100. Secondary antibodies were Alexa Fluor (AF) conjugated (AF 594 goat anti-rabbit and AF 488 goat anti-mouse, Invitrogen). Images were taken with a Leica SP5 Laser Scanning Microscope. Colocalisation of SK3 and ASIC2 reactivity with either S100 or SYN labelling was assessed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) using LAS AF Lite software (Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH). We were unable to demonstrate SK3 in spindle terminals but it was present in the SLGs of lanceolate endings and, at lower levels, in the terminals themselves. Correlation of SK3 with S100 (r = 0.34 + 0.05, mean + SE) was greater than ASIC2 with S100 (0.15 + 0.03), P < 0.01. SK3 correlation with SYN (0.24 + 0.02) was less than that of ASIC2 with SYN (0.42 + 0.03), P < 0.01. SK3 correlation with S100 was greater than with SYN, but this did not reach statistical significance. Thus, SK3 was expressed predominantly in SLGs. By contrast immunolabelling for the Na+ ion channel ASIC2, previously reported in lanceolate endings (5) and SYN were largely coincident. Our data suggest that in lanceolate endings SK3 is expressed predominantly in SLG’s. SK3 channels could play a role in shaping SLG responses to fluctuations in intracellular Ca2+ and thereby indirectly influence afferent excitability of the terminals

Immunogold labelling for glutamate in lanceolate endings of rat hairs.

50 nm diameter, clear synaptic-like vesicles (SLVs) are found in primary mechanosensory nerve terminals. Our studies of sensory endings of rat Ia afferents suggest SLVs are part of a glutamatergic system that modulates mechanoreceptor excitability; in particular, glutamate-like immunoreactivity indicated a high glutamate content in these endings (Bewick et al, 2005). We now show that lanceolate endings of rat hair follicles also have high levels of glutamate. Adult rats (3) were deeply anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone (45 mg kg−1, I.P.) and fixed by transcardial perfusion (2% paraformaldehyde and 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4). Samples of pinna skin and cerebellum (positive control) were embedded in Araldite for post-embedding immunocytochemistry using rabbit polyclonal antibodies (Sigma) against glutamate or GABA. 10nm gold-labelled antibody (goat anti-rabbit IgG, BBInternational) was used for secondary incubation. EMgraphs (magnification 40000 to 60000x) were analysed with ImageJ (NIH, USA). Profiles of lanceolate endings and their accessory cells of skin; and mossy fibres, granule cells and Golgi cells of cerebellum were sampled for quantification. Glutamate-specific labelling was greater in lanceolate endings (mean 28.2 ± SE 1.73 gold particles/µm2, n = 84) than in the surrounding accessory cells (mean 9.3 ± SE 0.80 particles/µm2, n = 84; P ≤ 0.002, ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test), and was similar to that in mossy fibres (mean 28.2 ± SE 2.39 particles/µm2, n = 28) and granule cells (mean 22.6 ± SE 1.13 gold particles/µm2, n = 45). GABA-specific immunoreactivity was not found in either the lanceolate endings or accessory cells of the skin. However anti-GABA immunoreactivity was evident in the cerebellum, particularly in Golgi-cell axons. In conclusion these data support our hypothesis that regulation of mechanoreceptor function by glutamate release from SLVs may be a general modulatory mechanism, common to other mechanosensitive structures in addition to muscle spindles

Neuropsychological test performance of former American football players

BACKGROUND: Patterns of cognitive impairment in former American football players are uncertain because objective neuropsychological data are lacking. This study characterized the neuropsychological test performance of former college and professional football players. METHODS: One hundred seventy male former football players (n=111 professional, n=59 college; 45-74 years) completed a neuropsychological test battery. Raw scores were converted to T-scores using age, sex, and education-adjusted normative data. A T-score ≤ 35 defined impairment. A domain was impaired if 2+ scores fell in the impaired range except for the language and visuospatial domains due to the limited number of tests. RESULTS: Most football players had subjective cognitive concerns. On testing, rates of impairments were greatest for memory (21.2% two tests impaired), especially for recall of unstructured (44.7%) versus structured verbal stimuli (18.8%); 51.8% had one test impaired. 7.1% evidenced impaired executive functions; however, 20.6% had impaired Trail Making Test B. 12.1% evidenced impairments in the attention, visual scanning, and psychomotor speed domain with frequent impairments on Trail Making Test A (18.8%). Other common impairments were on measures of language (i.e., Multilingual Naming Test [21.2%], Animal Fluency [17.1%]) and working memory (Number Span Backward [14.7%]). Impairments on our tasks of visuospatial functions were infrequent. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of former football players (most of whom had subjective cognitive concerns), there were diffuse impairments on neuropsychological testing with verbal memory being the most frequently impaired domain. © 2023. The Author(s).Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]