Financial assistance to Greece: Three programmes. EPC Discussion Paper, 26 February 2016

There are a lot of myths surrounding the bailout money that was given to Greece. Many people still believe that the money never went to the Greek people, but to the Greek and European banks; that the intervention of the euro-area governments and the IMF dealt almost exclusively with the Greek debt; that very little money was used to finance Greek public expenditure; that most Greek debt was reimbursed; that no cuts were made to the stock of Greek government bonds on the market; and, finally, that so far, no cuts have been made to the debt of the Greek state towards the euro-area countries. In this Discussion Paper, Fabio Colasanti debunks some of those myths by taking stock of the numbers behind the financial support given to Greece by the countries of the euro-area and the IMF. Examining the three bailout programmes in detail, he discusses the reasons for and against a restructuring of the Greek public debt in 2010, its implementation in 2012, the degree in which the Greek debt towards the euro-area countries has already been cut, and the scope for further cuts. Finally, the paper explains how both issues were and are still dominated by internal political considerations, both in the creditor countries and in Greece

Robert Greenleaf: Changing Management to Change Society

This paper is a critique of the thought provoking, if not problematic, ideas presented in Robert Greenleaf’s pamphlet, The Servant as Leader (Greenleaf, 2008) which appeared in print in the 1970’s. This text constituted the seminal work upon which a progressive, transformational movement was created in the training of management cadres in North American companies, with the transition of the concept of a “leader boss” to that of “leader as a servant”. The limits of Greenleaf’s servant leadership model are tested against the capitalist society within which we live and found contradictory, but no less inspiring in its attempt to humanize both the leader and the corporate world. There is a clear contradiction in Greenleaf’s desire to eliminate the competition laws of the market while maintaining faith in capitalism. The principles of rehumanizing the corporate world are often more a process of corporate advertising, or virtue signaling, than the actual reality of the corporate world. The very breadth of Greenleaf’s expansive insight provokes the need for two tests, or rather two critical approaches, which require further investigation. The two critical lines I propose are (i) on the spiritual principles of Servant Leadership and (ii) on the effectiveness of Servant Leadership as a governance tool within a competitive, capitalist environment

Cyborgs and The Americans With Disabilities Act

Medical technology is advancing at lightning speed with the potential to drastically benefit the disabled. These new technologies will result in humans who will use a wide array of assistive technologies and will likely be labelled as Cyborgs. Assistive technologies such as self-driving cars, robots, computer chip implants, insertable medical hardware, and exoskeletons are already well developed. The day is rapidly approaching when Cyborgs as a class will be large and influential. Critically, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the judges tasked with enforcing this legislation, and the legislature itself are all ill equipped to handle the speed of this coming change and the emergence of this Cyborg class. This paper points to the flaws around the ADA and the upcoming judicial quagmire due to a world that is being utterly transformed by the emergence of the Cyborgs. The epicenter of this new legal battle will be the legal determination of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. It is therefore of paramount importance that the courts anticipate these coming changes and prepare our legal system for such coming battles. Further questions as to where the legal border between a human and machine are increasingly being asked due to these technological and medical advances. Future political divisions regarding this new type of mechanical person are also touched upon and speculated about in this paper. There seems to be little written in anticipation of the emergence of a new class of Cyborgs and the legal problems this may yet pose under the ADA. The author hopes to shed light on this critical area of the law. The author himself is a proud “Cyborg” having had five open heart surgeries and numerous artificial as well as animal heart valves installed throughout his life. This author considers it time that this class of person and citizen receive greater scholastic and legal consideration. This author also hopes that many of the potential upcoming issues created by the emergence of the Cyborg class can be addressed and discussed ahead of time

Positron emissiontomography imaging of neuroinflammation in Multiple Sclerosis with a second generation translocator protein PET radioligand

This thesis describes a new approach for molecular imaging of neuroinflammation in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). My aim was to use the 2nd generation TSPO radioligand 18F-PBR111 to explore the potential of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) targeting the 18-kDa Translocator Protein (TSPO), as an in vivo biomarker of activated microglia in MS patients. This thesis addresses three research objectives. First, I characterised 18F-PBR111 PET signal in healthy controls’ brains and tested how it is affected by the TSPO gene polymorphism at rs6971. Second, I measured 18F-PBR111 uptake across white matter volumes segmented using structural MRI measures related to MS neuropathology. Third, I explored how 18F-PBR111 uptake in the hippocampus correlated with depressive symptoms and to the brain functional connectivity of the hippocampus. Eleven patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 22 age-matched healthy controls underwent 18F-PBR111 PET and MRI scans. Structural and functional MRI sequences were used to define conventional MS neuropathological markers and for the assessment of functional connectivity, respectively. I discovered that white matter 18F-PBR111 PET signal in healthy volunteers varied with TSPO genotype and correlated positively with age. In patients with MS, signal intensity in MRI-defined lesions was higher than that in normal-appearing white matter and correlated with the historical rate of progression of their disability. Hippocampal 18F-PBR111 uptake was higher in the MS patient group than in healthy volunteers and correlated with both depressive symptoms and functional connectivity of the hippocampus with frontal, temporal and parietal cortex. I thus discovered that this 2nd generation TSPO PET radiotracer, used in humans for the first time in our study, is sensitive to MS neuropathology consistent with recognized patterns of microglial activation and that differences between subjects can be related to disability progression. I also have discovered a novel relationship between this measure of hippocampal microglial activation and affective symptoms of MS.Open Acces

Molecular And Genetic Analysis Of The Phi X174 A* Gene And The Escherichia Coli Rep Gene

This work involves the molecular cloning the {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} gene of {dollar}\Phi{lcub}\rm X174{rcub}{dollar} and the rep gene of E. coli into plasmid vehicles that allow their expression to be regulated. These special plasmids contain controlling elements of phage {dollar}\lambda{dollar} that enable expression of cloned genes to be switched on by altering the temperature at which they are propagated.;The presence of the {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} gene product is extremely toxic to E. coli. Therefore, to isolate and stably maintain a recombinant plasmid carrying this gene, its expression must be repressed. The use of an inducible expression vector allowed gene {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} to be cloned and its expression to be induced to determine the effect on E. coli metabolism. The stably cloned {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} gene also facilitated in vitro site-directed mutagenesis of this gene. Although expression of {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} in E. coli inhibited DNA replication and cell division, elimination of {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} expression during {dollar}\Phi{lcub}\rm X174{rcub}{dollar} infection had no major effects on the growth of phage that did not produce it.;Enhanced expression of Rep protein, although not deleterious to the cell, was desirable to increase the level of this protein, which is normally present at very low levels in E. coli. By cloning the rep gene into an inducible expression vector with a strong promoter is was possible to synthesize large quantities of Rep protein. In addition, the cloned rep gene was useful in constructing an E. coli strain that completely lacked rep function. The effects of increased levels of Rep protein, or its complete absence, on DNA replication were investigated.;The studies described in this thesis involve the use of expression vectors and other molecular and genetic techniques to manipulate the {dollar}{lcub}\rm A\sp\ast{rcub}{dollar} gene and rep gene to better understand their roles in phage and bacterial replication, respectively

Dying Declarations and the Confrontation Clause

Article published in the Michigan State University School of Law Student Scholarship Collection

Gli istituti deflattivi del contenzioso tributario. Stato attuale e criticit\ue0

ll legislatore tributario, soprattutto a partire dal 1997, ha ritenuto di affermare in maniera sempre pi\uf9 esplicita la necessit\ue0 della collaborazione e del contraddittorio nel rapporto tra Fisco e contribuente, soprattutto in considerazione del fatto che la mancanza di un confronto tra le parti finisce per facilitare la creazione di situazioni conflittuali, che sfociano nella attivazione di posizioni di contenzioso. Sono stati cos\uec introdotti nel nostro ordinamento, gli istituti deflattivi del contenzioso tributario, in base ai quali il contribuente che, trovandosi in una situazione di lite potenziale con gli Uffici, rinuncia al contenzioso e versa l\u2019imposta, ha diritto a sanzioni ridotte nonch\ue9 ad altri vantaggi, compresa una piccola copertura verso possibili futuri accertamenti e la possibilit\ue0 di effettuare il pagamento dilazionato delle somme dovute. Sebbene oggetto di intervento nel corso degli anni, tali istituti presentano ancora numerosi profili critici e ampi margini di miglioramento

Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics

The U.S. food system has created and been shaped by racial injustices since its inception. The ways in which racial injustice is made manifest through our food system are sometimes quite clear and other times murky at best. Data is a powerful tool that can either illuminate or obstruct the reality of injustice. Disaggregating data by race can shed light on systemic oppression.This report identifies metrics related to racial equity in the food system that are either in use by organizations currently or have been recommended, whether in a publication or through an interview. By documenting the current landscape in this area, this report provides a foundation for the Michigan Good Food Charter Shared Measurement Advisory Committee to consider and select a set of metrics that can be used at state (Michigan) and local levels to track progress towards an equitable food system.The metrics in this report can also provide a foundation for other interested organizations to track progress. To identify metrics presented in this spreadsheet, over 100 sources were scanned from reports and peer-reviewed literature touching on race or ethnicity and the food system. Duplicate metrics found in multiple sources were included only once. Personal communication (either interviews or emails) with about a dozen food system experts added several additional suggested metrics and insight on the structure of the list