"Playing the Brussels game: Strategic socialisation in the CFSP Council Working Groups*"

The aim of this article is to analyse the process of socialisation taking place at the level of the Council Working Groups (CWGs) dealing with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Based on recent empirical evidence, this article explains the main codes of conduct adopted by the national diplomats in the CFSP CWGs, such as the reflex coordination or consensus-building practice. Compliance with these rules stems from strategic calculations based on legitimacy concerns and the long-term perspective of the negotiations. Hence, in this case, the internalisation of norms has not taken place yet. Even though this view may suggest a conceptualisation of national representatives in the CWGs as passive “national champions”, it is argued here that they might also play a role in influencing the position of their capitals, mainly through the process of formulating the instructions

On the Baez-Duarte Approach to the Nyman-Beaurling Criterion for the Riemann Hypothesis

The Nyman-Beurling Criterion paraphrases the Riemann Hypothesis as a closure problem in a Hilbert space. The simplest version of this, due to Baez-Duarte, states that RH is equivalent to one particular element in a Hilbert space being in the closure of a span of countably many other elements. We investigate this numerically and analytically. In particular, we establish new formulas for the inner products of the vectors involved

The Deadlock that never Happened: the Impact of Enlargement on the Common Foreign and Security Policy Council Working Groups

Contrary to some previous assumptions, the enlargement did not halt the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) decision-making process in a substantial way. Rather it changed the dynamics within the working environment, preserving the importance of consensus-building practices in the Council working groups. The aim of this article is twofold. First, it tracks the changes that the recent enlargement caused in the working practices of the Council working groups. It also attempts to assess the adaptation processes of the new member states to the work in the Council working groups and pinpoint the main challenges that their administrative systems were faced with.Council working groups, CFSP, enlargement, committee governance, informal rules, socialisation, adaptation, code of conduct

Learning the ropes and embracing the rules : CFSP institutions as arenas for learning and strategic socialisation

The aim of this article is to analyse those situations in which learning and socialisation take place within the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), in particular, at the level of experts in the Council Working Groups. Learning can explain the institutional development of CFSP and changes in the foreign policies of the Member States. Some scope conditions for learning and channels of institutionalisation are identified. Socialisation, resulting from learning within a group, is perceived as a strategic action by reflective actors. National diplomats, once they arrive in Brussels, learn the new code of conduct of their Working Groups. They are embedded in two environments and faced with two logics: the European one in the Council and the national one in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The empirical evidence supports the argument that neither rational nor sociological approaches alone can account for these processes

Temporal characteristics of speech: The effect of age and speech style

Aging affects temporal characteristics of speech. It is still a question how these changes occur in different speech styles which require various cognitive skills. In this paper speech rate, articulation rate, and pauses of 20 young and 20 old speakers are analyzed in four speech tyles: spontaneous narrative, narrative recalls, a three-participant conversation, and reading aloud. Results show that age has a significant effect only on speech rate, articulation rate, and frequency of pauses. Speech style has a higher effect on temporal parameters than speakers’ age

Hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV coinfection among people living with HIV/AIDS in Buenos Aires, Argentina

The HIV epidemic in Argentina has changed since the first case was reported in 1982. Since the beginning of the 1990s, a decrease in the number parenterally acquired infections has been observed, with a marked increase in transmission through unprotected sexual contact (heterosexual and homosexual), and in the number of women living with HIV/AIDS.Fil: Laufer, Natalia Lorna. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiologia. Area Virologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Quarleri, Jorge Fabian. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiologia. Area Virologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bouzas, María B.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Infecciosas F. J. Muñiz; ArgentinaFil: Juncos, Gerardo. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Infecciosas F. J. Muñiz; ArgentinaFil: Cabrini, Mercedes. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Juan A. Fernández"; ArgentinaFil: Moretti, Franco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiologia. Area Virologia; ArgentinaFil: Bolcic, Federico Martin. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiologia. Area Virologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Giuliano, Silvina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Infecciosas F. J. Muñiz; ArgentinaFil: Mammana, Lilia. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Infecciosas F. J. Muñiz; ArgentinaFil: Salomon, Horacio Eduardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiologia. Area Virologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cahn, Pedro. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "juan A. Fernández"; Argentin