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Being where the people are: the EU, open government & social media
Get PDFWith the expansion of Internet it has become easier to disseminate information to everyone everywhere.With information, allegedly, come opportunities to empower people. Quite often, companies and institutions such as schools or hospitals willingly provide information on Internet for everyone to see and thus provide transparency for the benefit of the public (and of course also for themselves). The same development has been occurring in politics, not in the least because Western democracies are facing a number of problems that threaten their legitimacy. Citizens feel uninformed about policies, voter turnouts have declined, and there is a widespread lack of trust in government. It seems that citizens feel incapable, disinterested or unwilling to hold their government accountable for their actions, despite this being a vital part of representative democracy. Of all contemporary Western institutions the EU is perhaps the one that faces the biggest legitimacy problems,because of its supranational nature, contested powers and complex decision making procedures.Since US President Obama launched the Open Government Initiative (OGI) in 2009, the idea gained momentum that information as well as participation and collaboration are key to empowering people and regaining accountability. This became a global project when the Open Government Partnership (OGP) was established in 2011, in which 65 countries committed themselves to implement ambitious reforms to boost openness. The EU has also made its efforts to realize a more open government. Via its website, the EU provides all sorts of information on for example recipients of EU funds, access to documents, decision-making and much more. But how can people be empowered when the information provided does not really reach them because they barely take the effort to visit government websites or watch parliamentary debates? This paper suggests that if the people are not where the government is, perhaps government should be where the people are: on social media.
Similar Risks – Different Results
Get PDFAnalyzing the Inconsistent Application of the Precautionary Principle in European GMO Authorizatio
Acknowledgements
Get PDFThis working paper publishes all papers written by students within the framework of thisproject between 2010 and 2014. It shows the diversity of topics studied and highlightsdifficulties with which regulators, in particular the EU are struggling in their attempt tocome to grip with uncertain risks in relation to innovation and trade.We would like to thank first all students for their dedication to the research and theirhard work. We would also like to thank all teachers in this course who joined us in this eventover the past years: Tessa Fox, Marijke Hermans, Frederic Bouder, Denise Prévost and MariaWeimer. We also would like to thank the external experts who with their knowledge andexpertise enriched the research carried out and underlined the importance of this kind ofinterdisciplinary research, Ragnar Löfstedt (King’s College, Centre for Risk Management),Ruth Mampuys (Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM)) and Annickde Vries (Rathenau institute).Last but not least, we are very grateful to Tania Isacu (student trainee at the MaastrichtCentre for European Law) and Marcel Hoß (master student European Law School at theFaculty of Law) for all their help with the collection and the formatting of the papers
Preface
Get PDFThis series contain the summaries of the bachelor thesis of the MaRBLe+ students of2014, and represent the different strands of research in the various bachelor tracks of Health Sciences and Bio Medical Sciences programs in the academic year 2013/14
Validation of DNA methylation profiling in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded colon and breast tissue using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 Microarray
Get PDFDNA methylation is not only crucial for normal physiology but it is also involved in a myriad of diseases, which has raised wide interest in the development of methods for genome-wide DNA methylation profiling. Illumina’s Infinium 450K platform is regarded as the most attractive, powerful, and cost-effective technique currently available for generating quantitative DNA methylation profiles in clinical tissue samples. Formalinfixation and paraffin-embedding (FFPE) represents the standard method to preserve these clinical tissue samples. However, formalin-fixation introduces severe DNA damage, which restricts current DNA methylation analysis. The present study responds to this substantial limitation by examining the usability of Illumina’s DNA restoration protocol to allow for routinely analysis of formalin-fixed tissue specimens with the Infinium HumanMethylation450 technology. It is hypothesized that the HumanMethylation450 microarray in conjugation with Illumina’s Infinium HD FFPE DNA Restoration solution can be successfully employed as a discovery assay. To test this hypothesis, differentially methylated CpG sites between FFPE colon tissues and breast cancer specimens have been identified by 450K methylation microarray analysis, followed by validation with nested methylation specific PCR (MSP). This study also statistically assessed the performance of fresh frozen (FF), FFPE DNA-unrestored and FFPE DNA-restored colon tissue samples on the Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray. The present study showed good correlation between matched FF and FFPE DNA-restored tissue specimens. The presence of a significant bias in methylation assignment introduced by formalin-fixation was excluded. MSP-based validation of the microarray’s discovery potential showed unexpected and rather questionable data. The current results suggest that – compared to the existing input titration standards – a considerable lower amount of input DNA may be successfully used on the Infinium platform. No significant correlation was detected between the length of FFPE storage and sample variability. It is concluded that the Infinium HumanMethylation450 microarray can be successfully used on FFPE sample material in conjugation with Illumina’s Infinium HD FFPE DNA restoration solution, while the microarray’s discovery potential remains to be elucidated
The effect of longer-term plant sterol and stanol consumption on apolipoprotein CII and apolipoprotein CIII concentrations in humans
Get PDFBackground: Elevated fasting and postprandial serum levels of triacylglycerol (TAG) are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The dietary components plant sterols and stanols can be used as strategy against elevated TAG levels. In a recent study it was found that longer-term plant stanol consumption resulted in a higher postprandial TAG response compared to sterol consumption after a second meal. The explanation for this observed difference remained unclear. Possibly the clearance of TAG from the blood might be affected differently. Specialized particles are responsible for the transportation of TAG in the blood, called the lipoproteins. These particles contain apolipoproteins CII (apoCII) and CIII (apoCIII) which have an activating and inhibiting effect on the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL) responsible for the clearance of TAG from the blood. Objective: The objective was to examine if postprandial apoCII and apoCIII responses could explain observed differences in postprandial TAG response after longer-term sterol and stanol consumption. Methods: Healthy subjects (n=42) participated in a randomized control trial consisting of three intervention periods during which the participants consumed either control margarine, or margarine enriched with plant sterols or plant stanols. Blood was sampled under fasting conditions and after the consumption of breakfast and lunch. ApoCII and apoCIII concentrations in serum were measured by an immunoturbimetric immunoassay. Results: Both iAUC and iAUCmin of postprandial apoCII concentrations were similar between all three conditions ( p=0.965 and p=0.563 respectively). Postprandial iAUC and iAUCmin of apoCIII concentrations also showed no difference between conditions (p=0.342 and p=0.955 respectively). In the control group, the iAUC of postprandial apoCIII concentrations was higher after the second meal compared to the first meal. (p=0.037).Conclusion: Postprandial apoCII and apoCIII responses were not affected by longer-term plant sterol and stanol consumption, therefore changes in concentrations of these two apolipoproteins can be ruled out as explanation for the observed differences in TAG respons
Country-by-Country Reporting: a New Approach towards Book-Tax Conformity
Get PDFThis article argues that a higher degree of book-tax conformity can be achieved through improved documentation requirements and in particular countryby- country reporting. The separate systems for financial and tax accounting use different definition of profits leading to confusion, less transparency and simplicity and in the end distrust in corporate governance. At the same time higher book-tax conformity cannot be achieved without incurring different costs and sacrificing information value of earnings. In addition, financial and tax accounting build on different founding principles and the question is whether an alignment of these two systems is possible at all. This article shows how country-by-country reporting and other similar initiatives make it possible to achieve higher book-tax conformity, whilst at the same time avoid the pitfalls and the costs usually caused by the increased convergence.
Tax Seminar II on Recent Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights on Taxation and Special Issues on the Taxation of Expatriates
Get PDFA tax seminar for students following the LL.M course in Cross-border Taxation of Human Capital was held at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University on 12 March 2014. The objective of this seminar was to provide the students with additional information and insights on several issues with regard to the taxation of individuals. Dr Marjon Weerepas, associate professor of law at Maastricht University, welcomed the speakers as well as the participating students and gave a brief introduction to the subject of the seminar. The seminar featured two presentations given by Ms Larisa Gerzova, senior research associate in the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), and Ms Laura Ambagtsheer-Pakarinen, also in the IBFD.
Effect of MGO on inflammation in 3T3-L1 cells
Get PDFAdvanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) play a major role in inducing adipose tissue inflammation associated with obesity-associated insulin resistance. MGO, a precursor for AGEs is accumulated during obesity. Therefore we hypothesized that increased MGO-derived AGEs induce inflammation in adipose tissue via the interaction with RAGE. Incubation of the 3T3-L1 adipocytes with MGO-modified albumin increased the inflammatory gene expression. In addition, RAGE gene expression was increased and GLO-1 gene expression was decreased. So, inflammation is induced in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by MGO-derived AGEs after upregulation of RAGE gene expression. RAGE-mediated MGO-induced inflammation is an important mechanism involved in the obesity-induced adipose tissue inflammation
The influence of dogs on the physical activity and social network of the owners: A qualitative study.
Get PDFThe effect of dog ownership on the physical activity and social network of the owners is getting more attention nowadays. Dogs may be able to positively influence risk factors for preventing non-communicable diseases. The basis for this qualitative study is mainly established on a literature study and the data gathered is derived from two focus group interviews followed by six detailed individual interviews. From the gathered data it can be concluded that the influence of dogs on the physical activity and social network needs to be viewed from a comprehensive framework based on three environments: the social, physical and policy environment. Besides the main environmental structures, a more in depth structure can be seen to influence the intention to walk and social network. The characteristics of the dog, the characteristics of the owner, the personal beliefs and the bond between owner and dog, are mentioned to influence the key perceptions. These key perceptions are the motivation and obligation to walk with the dog, the social support provided by the dog and the perceived barriers and benefits. Dogs are said to be able to positively influence these perceptions of the owner, which enables dogs to maintain the owners’ walking behavior. The point that dogs can positively influence some key factors of current mental and physical health problems, raises the possibility to develop a dog intervention. Both owners and non-owners may benefit from dog interventions. However before starting with the development of an intervention, it is important to examine the needs of the population. A needs assessment study would be a good first step in the development process of a dog intervention and if the results are positive, a concrete plan for a dog intervention can be made