22,988 research outputs found

    Partisan Preferences and Political Institutions: Explaining Fiscal Retrenchment in the European Union

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    This paper endeavours to illuminate the political and institutional factors that can help explain differing degrees of fiscal retrenchment in European Union countries for the time period 1990-2001. Several variants of the partisan approach and the veto players framework are elucidated and applied to the question of budgetary consolidation. These elaborations yield five working hypotheses which are empirically tested using a time-series cross-section data set of 14 EU countries. The results lend support to the notion that partisan preferences and institutional veto players interact budgetary retrenchment in a rather counterintuitive way.Deficits, Fiscal Adjustment, Partisan Models, Veto Player Models, Binary Time-Series Cross-Section Models

    Partisan Preferences and Political Institutions: Explaining Fiscal Retrenchment in the European Union

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    Driven by the desire to fulfill the Maastricht fiscal criteria and pressed by mounting debt burdens that have accumulated over the past 30 years, a majority of EU-15 countries attempted to reduce their budget deficits during the 1990s. Yet, these nations have exhibited remarkable differences in their ability to pursue such retrenchment policies. This paper endeavours to illuminate the political and institutional factors that can help explain those differing degrees of fiscal retrenchment in European Union countries for the time period 1990-2001. Several variants of the partisan approach and the veto players framework are elucidated and applied to the question of budgetary consolidation. These elaborations yield four working hypotheses which are empirically tested using a time-series cross-section data set of 14 EU countries. The results lend support to the notion that a low number of insitutional veto players increases likelihood and extent of a budgetary retrenchment. Given these findings it is possible to draw some conclusions concerning the effectiveness and deficiencies of the Stability and Growth Pact.

    Proadrenomedullin NH(2)-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP) and adrenomedullin bind to teratocarcinoma cells.

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    Proadrenomedullin NH(2-)terminal 20 peptide (PAMP) and adrenomedullin (ADM) bind to teratocarcinoma cells. The effects of PAMP and ADM on teratocarcinoma cells were investigated. (125)I-PAMP bound to PA1 cells with moderate affinity (K(d) = 110 nM) to a single class of sites (B(max) = 110 000/cell). Specific (125)I-PAMP binding was inhibited by PAMP (IC(50) of 100 nM) but not ADM, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), or amylin. Specific (125)I-ADM binding was inhibited with high affinity by ADM, CGRP, and CGRP(8-37) (IC(50) values of 10, 10, and 15 nM respectively) but not PAMP or amylin. ADM elevated cAMP (ED(50) value of 100 nM), whereas PAMP had no effect on basal cAMP but inhibited the increase in cAMP caused by 10 nM ADM. Also, the increase in cAMP caused by ADM was inhibited CGRP(8-37), suggesting that ADM is binding to CGRP receptors. ADM (100 nM) stimulated transiently c-fos mRNA, whereas PAMP (1000 nM) had little effect; however, PAMP inhibited the increase in c-fos mRNA caused by ADM. ADM stimulated [(3)H]thymidine uptake into PA1 cells, whereas PAMP inhibited the increase in thymidine uptake caused by ADM. These results indicate that ADM and PAMP are both biologically active in teratocarcinoma cells

    It´s political, stupid! - EMU enlargement between an economic rock and a political hard place -

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    Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion, EU-Erweiterung, Euro, Währungsraum, European Economic and Monetary Union, EU enlargement, Currency area

    Expression of proadrenomedullin derived peptides in the mammalian pituitary: co-localization of follicle stimulating hormone and proadrenomedullin N-20 terminal peptide-like peptide in the same secretory granules of the gonadotropes

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    Expression of proadrenomedullin-derived peptides in the rat, cow and human pituitary was studied by a variety of techniques. Immunocytochemical detection showed a widespread expression of adrenomedullin peptide in the adenohypophysis and the neural lobe, with low expression in the intermediate pituitary. Proadrenomedullin N-20 terminal peptide (PAMP)-immunoreactivity was also present in the anterior pituitary but showed a more marked heterogeneous distribution, with cells going from very strong to negative immunostaining. Lower levels of PAMP were found in the neural lobe. Interestingly, the distribution of adrenomedullin and PAMP immunoreactivity in the anterior pituitary did not completely overlap. In the present study, we concentrated our efforts to determine which cell type of the adenohypophysis expresses PAMP. Paraffin and semithin serial sections immunostained for PAMP and the classical pituitary hormones revealed that a subpopulation of the gonadotropes expresses high levels of PAMP-immunoreactive material. Ultrastructural analysis clearly showed PAMP-immunoreactivity in the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)-containing large secretory granules of the gonadotropes, suggesting simultaneous secretion of PAMP and FSH by this cell type. Three mouse adenohypophysis-derived cell lines (AtT20, GH3, and alphaT3-1 derived from corticotropes, lacto/somatotropes and gonadotropes, respectively) were also analysed and showed expression of both proadrenomedullin-derived peptides and their mRNA. Functional studies in these three cell lines showed that neither adrenomedullin nor PAMP was able to stimulate cAMP production in our experimental conditions. Taken together, our results support that proadrenomedullin derived peptides are expressed in the pituitary in cell-specific and not overlapping patterns, that could be explained by differences in postranslational processing. Our data showing costorage of PAMP and FSH in the same secretory granules open a way by which PAMP could be involved in the control of reproductive physiology in a coordinated manner with FSH

    Maternal serum levels of pregnancy—associated murine-l (PAMP—l) during pregnancy in the rabbit

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    An ELISA was developed to measure for the first time serum levels of Pregnancy—Associated Murine Protein- 1 (PAMP—l) throughout pregnancy in the rabbit. In rodents serum levels of PAMP-l are regulated by growth hormone Unlike the pregnancy-assoeiated rise in serum levels in pregnant mice and rats, PAMP-l did not increase significantly during pregnancy in the rabbit

    The calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK28 negatively regulates the BIK1-mediated PAMP-induced calcium burst

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    Plants are protected from microbial infection by a robust immune system. Two of the earliest responses mediated by surface-localized immune receptors include an increase in cytosolic calcium (Ca(2+)) and a burst of apoplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS). The Arabidopsis plasma membrane-associated cytoplasmic kinase BIK1 is an immediate convergent substrate of multiple surface-localized immune receptors that is genetically required for the PAMP-induced Ca(2+) burst and directly regulates ROS production catalyzed by the NADPH oxidase RBOHD. We recently demonstrated that Arabidopsis plants maintain an optimal level of BIK1 through a process of continuous degradation regulated by the Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase CPK28. cpk28 mutants accumulate more BIK1 protein and display enhanced immune signaling, while plants over-expressing CPK28 accumulate less BIK1 protein and display impaired immune signaling. Here, we show that CPK28 additionally contributes to the PAMP-induced Ca(2+) burst, supporting its role as a negative regulator of BIK1
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