European Coal And Steel Community Research Articles

European Defense and Security Integration: a Retrospective Review

Although the end of the Second World War brought long-awaited peace to Europe, a new totalitarian threat, the Soviet Union, emerged almost immediately. After the former anti-Hitler coalition allies found themselves on different sides of the “iron curtain”, the countries of the democratic camp faced a difficult task: how to mobilise the efforts of the war-ravaged countries of “free Europe” and enable them to fend off a possible Soviet expansion. Given the fears that the societies of European countries might compel their governments to satisfy any demands of the Soviet Union for the sake of avoiding another war, it was crucial for the West to project unity and demonstrate readiness to resist the Soviet onslaught. hence the inevitability of the United States’ involvement as a guarantor of Western Europe’s security. Thus, the very first projects of European military-political integration – the Treaties of Dunkirk and Brussels – were to become no more than the basis for the gradual involvement of the U.S. It is noteworthy that even after the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the idea of purely European integration was not off the table. The reasons for this, however, are quite pragmatic. While Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, the originators of the idea of unifying Europe, considered the ultimate goal of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Defense Community (ECC) to be the formation of a supranational European federation, the European countries and especially the United States considered the ambitious EDC project exclusively as a way of solving the more pressing problems, such as the rearmament of West Germany and its gradual integration into NATO. This, coupled with the general unpreparedness of European countries for such a close union, led to the failure of the EDC, which would largely determine the course of European integration for decades.

전쟁의 위기와 유럽통합

The European Union (EU), which guaranteed peace and prosperity in Europe after the two World Wars, has faced a series of consecutive crises and challenges since the late 2000s. Some analysts have even diagnosed a pessimistic outlook for the future of Europe due to this continuous string of crises. Such a reality has prompted inquiries into the continuity of the EU itself. Is the EU genuinely sustainable? If it endures, can it evolve into a more robust political integration body? Enduring amidst the prevailing ascendancy of nationalism and external pressures, can the EU steadfastly preserve unity within diversity? This study, which discusses the relationship between the crisis of war and the development of European integration, primarily aims to find insights into the current future of the EU and the correlation between crises and the development of European integration.
 Throughout the past 70 years of European integration, Europe has faced numerous crises. In 1954, with the failure of the European Defense Community (EDC) treaty, journalists questioned the uncertain future of integration. Jean Monnet, in response, asserted that Europe would learn about integration through crises. Moreover, the development of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the first institution of European integration, is closely linked to the crises in Europe during the 20th century, including the World Wars and the Cold War. Therefore, Monnet explained that Europe was born out of crises. This study will explore the origins of the ECSC and the significance of supranational European integration methods, examining how crises of war can strongly reinforce the necessity for integration.

The Europeanization of Security and Turkey’s Membership of the European Union

Europeanization is a relatively new concept, the roots of the idea of the Europeanization of security in Western Europe go back to the early days of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and became manifest after the demise of the USSR, which marked the end of the Cold War. Therefore, the process of European integration can also be seen as a Europeanization of the security culture of European Union (EU) member states. This Europeanization is a transition from the classical perception of security, based on state-centric high poli-tics (achieving security by military power), to a modern one, that is, giving priority to low politics (achieving security by non-military power, through economic and political integration). Hence, the Euro-peanization of security is actually a process of de-securitization which eliminates security and insecurity concerns from perception. However, non-military security problems and dynamics can also be present in that de-securitization.By contrast, the Turkish state’s security culture, which takes its roots from the founders of the Republic, gives priority to high - ra-ther than low - politics. The Turkish state’s elite are inclined to look at issues through the lenses of security or insecurity. This Turkish state outlook is a consequence of its securitization tradition in which security problems having no military element in their resolution are considered inferior in importance to military ones. Acknowledge-ment of the contradictory natures of the linear transition of Europe-anization of security in Western Europe and traditional Turkish se-curity perceptions is crucial in order to grasp one of the main under-lying reasons behind Turkey’s continuing exclusion from the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ СОЮЗ: ІСТОРІЯ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА ЙОГО ЗНАЧЕННЯ ДЛЯ УКРАЇНИ

The article reveals the prerequisites for the formation and development of European integration, reveals the processes of creating the European Union as a new form of European integration, and analyzes the achievements of Ukraine in European integration processes. It is noted that the idea of uniting the peoples and states of Europe has a long history. In various historical periods, European rulers and politicians sought to implement the idea of European unification. The idea of European unity was developed and defended in their writings by philosophers, scientists, religious figures, etc. This idea is based on the principles of territorial and civilizational kinship and unity of Europeans and runs through the entire history of European nations. The formation and development of European integration institutions was the result of the consistent development of the unification process of the countries of Western Europe, which went through several stages in their development. Integration involved an active search for ways and means of political, legal, economic (and in some cases, social and cultural) unification of European states with the aim of establishing their close, first of all, economic cooperation. An important role in integration processes was and continues to be played by the economic basis of the development of states. European integration is based on economic integration, which involves the process of convergence of national economies through the creation of a single economic space for the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor between countries. International economic integration is carried out on the basis of the development of sustainable relationships and the division of labor between national economies, the interaction of their structures at different levels and in different forms. The process of economic integration occurs when two or more countries join together to create a wider economic space. Countries enter into integration agreements with the expectation of economic gain, although they may also pursue political and other goals. Integration associations of various types reached their greatest development in the 20th century. The following regional integration associations of countries are defined by the level of integration: free preferential trade zone, free trade zone, customs union, common market, economic union, etc. As a result of almost 40 years of development of the process of European integration, the European Union was created – an economic and political union that unites 28 independent member states located in Europe. It traces its origins to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), which were founded by six countries in 1951 and 1958, respectively. In its current form, it exists on the basis of the Treaty on the European Union, signed on February 7, 1992 and in force since November 1, 1993. The member states of the European Union decided to gradually combine their leading technologies and resources and create their future together. During a period of expansion that has lasted for more than 50 years, they have formed a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development, preserving cultural diversity, tolerant attitudes and individual freedoms. The European Union is a unique international entity, as it combines features of an international organization and a state, although formally it is neither one nor the other. The І. Бойко ISSN 2078-4503. Вісник Львівського університету. Серія юридична. 32 2023. Випуск 76 European Union is an association of democratic European countries working together for peace and prosperity. The countries of the European Union have formed joint institutions to which they have delegated part of their decision-making powers. The three main institutions of the European Union are: the European Parliament, which represents the interests of EU citizens and is directly elected by them; the Council of the European Union, representing individual EU countries; the European Commission, representing the interests of the EU as a whole. This institutional triangle produces the policies and laws that apply within the EU. The European Union demonstrates the ways in which countries can successfully pool their economic and political resources for common interests. Contributing to the establishment of security and stability in a broad global aspect, the EU helps to create safer and more favorable living conditions within its own borders. At the same time, the European Union is always ready to share its achievements and values with countries and people outside its borders. The declaration of state independence of Ukraine in 1991 determined the foreign policy orientation of Ukraine in the direction of integration into the European community. The European choice opens up new prospects for Ukraine's cooperation with developed countries, primarily the European continent, economic development, social and intellectual progress, strengthening the state's position in the international coordinate system. For Ukraine, European integration is the optimal way to modernize the economy, attract foreign investments and the latest technologies, increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian producers, and the possibility of entering the single internal market of the European Union.

Comparison of different reference values for lung function: implications of inconsistent use among centers

BackgroundFor interpretation of pulmonary function tests (PFTs), reference values based on sex, age, height and ethnicity are needed. In Norway, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) reference values remain widely used, in spite of recommendations to implement the more recent Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI) reference values.ObjectiveTo assess the effects of changing from ECSC to GLI reference values for spirometry, DLCO and static lung volumes, using a clinical cohort of adults with a broad range in age and lung function.MethodsPFTs from 577 adults (18–85 years, 45% females) included in recent clinical studies were used to compare ECSC and GLI reference values for FVC, FEV1, DLCO, TLC and RV. Percent predicted and lower limit of normal (LLN) were calculated. Bland-Altman plots were used to assess agreement between GLI and ECSC % predicted values.ResultsIn both sexes, GLI % predicted values were lower for FVC and FEV1, and higher for DLCO and RV, compared to ECSC. The disagreement was most pronounced in females, with mean (SD) difference 15 (5) percent points (pp) for DLCO and 17 (9) pp for RV (p < 0.001). With GLI, DLCO was below LLN in 23% of the females, with ECSC in 49% of the females.ConclusionsThe observed differences between GLI and ECSC reference values are likely to entail significant consequences with respect to criteria for diagnostics and treatment, health care benefits and inclusion in clinical trials. To ensure equity of care, the same reference values should be consistently implemented across centers nationwide.

The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France and the European Community

Megan Brown’s The Seventh Member State makes a bold and exciting contribution to our understanding of contemporary France, decolonization and European integration. Tracing the story of Algeria’s relationship with the nascent European Community, Brown recounts in lively prose how and why French officials pushed to have Algeria included in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC), and how independent Algeria retained this ambiguous status as a ‘seventh member state’ of the EEC until 1976—fourteen years after gaining independence. The book is divided into three sections, with two chapters apiece. The first section deals with the origins of ‘Eurafrican’ ideology and the place of Algeria in the first post-war European initiatives, most notably the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from which Algeria was specifically excluded. Brown also argues compellingly that the European Defence Community (EDC), an initiative proposed by France in 1950 only to be vetoed by the French National Assembly four years later, failed in part due to French insistence of minimizing external (namely German) influence on its colonial affairs.

Reading Brexit Backwards: British Eurosceptic Fiction from the European Coal and Steel Community to Maastricht

The post-war years were a period of introspection for British society as the nation endeavoured to remain fiercely insular yet became increasingly troubled by geopolitical relations reshaping the war-torn continent. Britain swiftly assumed the role of the reluctant European; their opposition to integration hindered by a destructive nostalgia for the past, the perceived erosion of cultural heritage and a sense of English exceptionalism. Beginning with a brief contextual analysis of the events leading to the 2016 EU Referendum, this article will argue that early warning signs of British antipathy were evident in literary responses to integration from the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to the signing of the Maastricht Treaty which established the European Union.Through a close reading of selected fictions by key figures in this period, including Kingsley Amis, Nancy Mitford, Angus Wilson and Malcolm Bradbury, the article identifies how early warning signs of British antipathy to European integration were clearly evident in post-war literature. By reading Brexit backwards, the article excavates the historical roots of Euroscepticism implanted in the cultural imaginary.

Перспективы евроинтеграции Республики Молдова и конституционная составляющая

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 European countries. The population is 508 million people, 24 official and working languages and about 150 regional and minority languages. The origins of the European Union come from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), consisting of six states in 1951 - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. These countries came together to put an end to the wars that devastated the European continent, and they agreed to share control over the natural resources needed for war (coal and steel). The founding members of ECSC have determined that this European project will not only be developed in order to share resources or to prevent various conflicts in the region. Thus, the Rome Treaty of 1957 created the European Economic Community (EEC), which strengthened the political and economic relations between the six founding states. The relevance of the topic stems from their desire of peoples and countries to live better. The purpose of the study is to identify the internal and external development mechanisms of European countries and, on this basis, to formulate a model of economic, legislative and social development for individual countries. The results of the study provide a practical guideline for determining the vector of the direction of efforts of political, economic, legislative, humanitarian, etc.

Alteration of Diffusion Capacity After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Pathophysiological Approach.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has affected millions of people worldwide, and pneumonia affects 90% of patients. This raises the possibility of millions of people with altered lung function. Few data exist to date on pulmonary function after SARS-CoV-2 infection, but alteration of diffusion capacity of CO (DLCO) is the most frequently described abnormality. First, we present original data on lung function at 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection and discuss the effect of using European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) or Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI) reference equations to diagnose diffusion capacity. Second, we review existing data on DLCO alteration after SARS-CoV-2 infection and discuss the implication of restrictive disorder in DLCO alteration. Last, we discuss the pathophysiology of DLCO alteration and try to disentangle vascular damage and fibrosis.

The seeds of a European risk society: Marcinelle and the European Coal and Steel Community

ABSTRACT The disaster in the Bois du Cazier mine in Marcinelle, Belgium was one of the biggest mining accidents in post-Second World War Western European history. The death toll was large: 262 miners died, of whom 136 were Italian. This article studies the transnational impact of that event by combining theoretical frameworks from both risk studies and European integration literature, with a specific focus on the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). After the catastrophe, numerous actors shifted the question of blame from an individual and national level to the European level. Mining risks were discussed as a structural and European issue. Furthermore, the ECSC saw the disaster as an opportunity for more European integration in new domains, most notably social policy. An intergovernmental conference in 1957 placed new policy areas, such as the harmonization of technical standards, emergency management, working conditions, wages and arrangements for foreign labourers on the political agenda. The conference and the body that was founded after it – the Mines Safety Commission – are often portrayed as failures because they did not manage to complete this ambitious social agenda. Still, the Marcinelle accident had a long-lasting impact on the way in which risks and disasters were managed on the European level. Some measures were deemed more ‘technical’, but played a social role as well. The implemented and established institutions and practices within the High Authority remained influential in the decades to come. On a more theoretical level, the case of Marcinelle illustrates the importance of combining risk and European integration frameworks. By studying Marcinelle from a risk management perspective, it is possible to transcend the current historiographic discussions, which seem stuck in a normative quarrel about responsibilities and blame.

Christian Democracy and the Birth of the European Union

Christian Democracy and the Birth of the European Union Bryan Fanning In the aftermath of the Second World War Christian Democracy quickly became a prominent political force in several European countries, though not in Scandinavia or Great Britain. It became influential in countries with large Catholic populations, other than Spain and Portugal where totalitarian regimes remained in control. By 1948, Christian Democrat political parties had become dominant or politically prominent in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and, following its establishment in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany. It filled a political vacuum left by the defeat of totalitarianism. In the immediate post World War Two era Christian Democrats in Germany and elsewhere could present themselves as harbingers of a new democratic era and, with the onset of the Cold War, as enemies of communism.The post-war Christian Democratic project was one that supported religious pluralism and Western democratic values. It looked West in opposition to the Soviet-controlled Eastern Bloc. The mostly-Christian democratic political and technocratic architects of what would become the European Union perhaps shared what has been called l’esprit européen.1 However, the main impetus was the need to recover from the war and to prevent the re-emergence of subsequent conflicts. The Christian Democratic architects of European integration variously blamed the war on modern nationalism, the rise of authoritarian fascism and the decline of Christian values. As put by Rosario Forlenza: ‘In the narrative of Christian Democracy, the order of European history and civilisation had been destroyed by modern nationalism and then by its association with the authoritarian political theologies of fascism and Nazism. Furthermore, political Catholicism had long experienced the nation state as a homogenising force threatening communities, from the churches to families. Taming nationalisms and nations, healing the European civil war and overcoming the past through close cooperation beyond the borders of nation states were explicit goals of the Europeanism of Christian Democracy.’2 Studies • volume 110 • number 437 52 Champions of Christian Democracy and of what became the European Union like Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) combined Catholic ideas with liberal economics to create a distinct Christian Democratic antidote to what were perceived as the causes of totalitarianism. In the immediate aftermath of the war Christian Democratic parties co-operated across borders. By 1950 these formed national governments or were the largest party in coalition governments in the six countries that became founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established in 1951–52, and of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957–8.3 Adenauer, who served as the West German Chancellor from 1949 to 1963, was born in the Rhineland where he became a member of Zentrum, the German Catholic political party, in 1906 and mayor of Cologne from 1917 to 1933. He came into conflict with the Catholic hierarchy when he advocated extending membership of Zentrum to Protestants, thereby diminishing its role as a Catholic confessional party. Adenauer lived in seclusion for much of the Nazi period, although he was imprisoned briefly in 1934 and was sent to a labour camp for some months in 1944, following the assassination attempt on Hitler. After the war he was reinstated by the Allied occupation forces as Mayor of Cologne and in 1946 he became a founding member of the Christlich-Demokratische Union (Christian Democrat Union).4 The CDU, in alliance with the smaller, more conservative Christlich-Soziale Union (Christian Social Union), dominated the West German Federal Republic from its establishment in 1949 to 1963.5 It was built on the foundations of Zentrum and several pre-Nazi era conservative and moderate parties supported by Protestants as well as Catholics.6 What brought these disparate elements together and what defined the CDU for its members was its selfimage as a Christian party.7 Its main post-war rival was the reconstituted Social Democratic Party (SPD), which did not win power until 1969. In France, the Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP) was founded in November 1944 under the chairmanship of Robert Schuman (1886–1963), who became one of the most significant political architects of what became the European Union. Schuman, the French foreign minister, was the leader of the...

A munkavállalói képviselet részvételi jogosítványai a gazdasági társaságok,valamint üzemeik irányítása terén az euroatlanti régióban és Magyarországon

The study deals with employee participation in corporate and plant management, showing the historical course of the formation and development from the early twentieth century to the end of World War II. Following World War II, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) developed a system of 50-50% ownership and employee representation in both areas, which in the early 1970s was transformed into two-thirds ownership and one-third employee representation. Next, the study presents the structural nature of the current participatory institutional system, the electoral system, and the licensing system in a comparative manner.

Of Modern Ruptures: Verovšek's Appeal to a Collective EU Memory

Of Modern Ruptures:Verovšek's Appeal to a Collective EU Memory Richard A. Vogt (bio) Peter J Verovšek. Memory and the Future of Europe: Rupture and Integration in the Wake of Total War. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020. 240 pp. £80.00 (hc). ISBN: 9781526143105. What began as a reflection upon the role of collective memory in the foundation of the EU project, soon became for Peter J. Verovšek a decade-long exercise in confronting the metacrisis that has been tearing at the Union's solidarity.1 The enlargement of 2004, the failed Constitutional vote of 2005, and the Great Recession all preceded his first written word in 2009. The Eurozone financial crisis continued. And then came the migration crisis, Brexit and a deepening nationalist, far-right movement which made electoral gains in the 2019 European Parliament. In June 2020 (after the book was released) when adding the current crisis of COVID-19 to this list, he reflected that now is not the time for significant EU reform. Better to muddle through, he reasoned, and consider wholesale change at a later date.2 But isn't that the problem that the EU project has had for most of this century: being captive to crisis after crisis? Does this not alert us to the fact that it is a political body fundamentally ill-designed to tackle widespread challenges across its dysmorphic geopolitical body? French right-wing nationalist Marine LePen made this clear at the start of 2019, declaring that she was no longer pushing for a form of Frexit, as she had been doing for years. "I summarize it this way: the European Union is dead," she campaigned. "Long live Europe."3 The discourse around the EU is now one of a metacrisis, and even (by extension) a crisis of liberalism and capitalism, abetted by mainstream media and politicians alike.4 Is this largely because the EU, through incessant territorial expansion and diminishing powers of coercion, has conceded its "mystical foundation of authority" to assume one of a purely economic and legal identity?5 If the compounding treaties of the EU have been seen as the way to anchor the EU's uniquely twentieth-century identity—one that is slowly devolving—then it appears the belief is that the Union a can leap from one that is essentially a legal and economic construct into one that will be a supra-national being. Schengen has become a hallowed doctrine, irrespective of its actual application. Yet, cultures and nations are molded from their myths as much as their history: this is especially true of national grievances and collective memories.6 What the EU project arguably lacks in this regard are more heroic foundational legends that can take precedence over any bureaucratic inconsistencies of origin.7 Yes, there is the appeal to the symbolism of Auschwitz, but at best the EU evokes a roll call of city names that are seen to sign-point its evolution into the present-day Union: Westphalia, Vienna, Versailles, Potsdam, Maastricht and Schengen.8 At worst, the EU is born out of the memories of genocide and total war. To counter this, Verovšek looks toward the great European rupture of 1945, relying on rephrasing the "traumatic events that tear existing narratives of the past asunder," and in doing so allowing "collective memory to act as a resource for social and political change" (12).9 [End Page 421] This short (but seemingly long) history of minor ruptures of the EU this century mentioned at the outset—from mass enlargement to the 2019 Parliamentary election in which 10% of the representatives were considered to be far right politicians—further crowd out a once-coherent European narrative. This has prompted Verovšek to reflect on the broader EU legacy. As the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in 1951 upon the experiences of total war to create a more peaceful, inclusive future, does the current crisis of European identity ("potentially existential," he adds) rest upon the fading of this once-shared memory? And if so, what are the agitators of a changing EU identity? If Duncan Bell is right, and I suspect he is, then memory...

Functionalism According to Paul Reuter: Playing a Lone Hand

Abstract The true designer of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) might have been a French professor of international law, Paul Reuter (1911–1990). Then working in the shadow of Jean Monnet, he became one of the leading experts in public international law in France from the late 1950s on and also served on the International Law Commission. It was not his style to develop a fully-fledged theory of functionalism, but he paid the utmost attention to the ‘functions’ of international organizations. While demonstrating a certain reluctance towards some consequences associated with functionalism, he expressed no disdain for a lite version of ‘constitutionalism’. Discretely, Reuter outlined a balancing between ‘functionalism’ and ‘constitutionalism’. He more insistently elaborated on the respective role of experts and policy-makers.

유럽석탄철강공동체(ECSC)의 실제와 운영: 초국가주의인가 정부간주의인가 ?

본 글은 유럽공동체 역사의 첫 출발인 동시에 의심 없는 최초의 성공작으로 받아들여지고 있는 유럽석탄철강공동체를 본래 설립 목적 중의 하나였던 석탄철강공동시장의 완성이란 측면에서 재조명한다. 그럼으로써 일반적으로 유럽석탄철강공동체를 호의적으로만 바라봐온 기존의 평가에 이의를 제기한다. 그에 따라 본 글은 유럽석탄철강공동체는 원래의 목적대로 고등관청을 통해 그 역할을 성공적으로 수행한 초국가적 성격의 공동체가 아니었고, 오히려 고등관청이 초국가적이었을지언정 유럽석탄철강공동체 자체는 정부간주의적 성격에 가까운 공동체였다고 주장한다. 이를 통해 본 글은 다자주의 제도 및 기구의 존재가 다자주의 정치를 뒷받침하는 증거가 될 수 없으며, 유럽석탄철강공동체의 선례에서 드러나듯 다자기구로서 현재의 유럽연합의 실체를 제대로 이해하려면 그 내부에서 전개되는 정치과정과 권력정치의 작동방식에 더욱 주목할 필요가 있다고 궁극적으로 주장한다.

Supranationalism and Interdependence as Guarantors of Peace in Europe: The Case of the European Coal and Steel Community

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was based on a French initiative. Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman were the crucial figures in putting forward a plan that would result in the integration of the production of coal and steel in the six founding members states of the ECSC: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This first significant step in European integration was based on a functionalist approach with the goal of spawning further integration of Europe into a federation. The key innovation of the ECSC was the introduction of a supranational institution: The High Authority, which was given independent powers to control the production of coal and steel and facilitate economic competition in the integrated area based on the anti-trust powers it was provided with. Supranationalism creates a new level of governance above the level of states. It focuses on cooperation and tends to create a structure of interdependence in which individual international actors can gain more from cooperation than competition. It provides them with an incentive to focus more on absolute gains than on relative gains. This study holds that supranationalism is the key development brought about by the ECSC without which the peaceful integration of former enemies would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.

Lung Function Changes are More Common in Marfan Patients Who Need Major Thoracic Surgery

IntroductionMarfan syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting the connective tissue. Changes in lung tissue might influence respiratory function; however, a detailed respiratory functional assessment according to the need for major thoracic surgery is missing.MethodsComprehensive pulmonary examinations were performed in 55 Marfan patients including respiratory symptoms, lung function (LF) testing using European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) reference values, TLCO and quality of life measurements. Groups included patients who did not need surgery (Mf, n = 32) and those who underwent major thoracic surgery (Mfop, n = 23).ResultsRespiratory symptoms affected 20% of patients. Scoliosis was significantly more frequent in the Mfop group. LF demonstrated in all Marfan patients a tendency towards airway obstruction (FEV1/FVC = 0.77 ± 0.10), more prominent in Mfop patients (0.74 ± 0.08 vs. Mf: 0.80 ± 0.11; p = 0.03). Correction of LF values using a standing height modification by arm span (Hcorrected) revealed additional changes in FVC and FEV1. TLCO and quality of life did not differ between groups.ConclusionsMarfan syndrome is associated with airway obstruction, especially in patients who have undergone major thoracic surgery, indicative of more severe connective tissue malfunction. The use of arm span for height correction is suitable to evaluate LF changes in this special patient group including patients with significant scoliosis.

CRONWE: first attempts to institutionalize European spatial planning

ABSTRACTThis paper is about a relatively unknown north-west European organization of spatial planning: the (standing) Conference for Spatial Planning in North-Western Europe. The founders of CRONWE tried to create a European spatial planning approach that could influence spatial development in the early years of European integration as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and later the European Economic Community (EEC) were created. Spatial development, as a topic to be addressed, never reached the negotiation tables though, and CRONWE was created as a permanent platform for discussion with the obvious hope that gradually ‘Europe’ would recognize the relevance and even necessity of European spatial planning. In this paper we use a number of basic concepts of the historical institutionalist approach towards planning research; in particular institutionalization, critical junctures, and path dependency. We apply these concepts to analyse and evaluate the four decades that CRONWE existed. We are particularly interested in assessing why the CRONWE planning agenda remained marginal in the European integration process.

Influence of body mass on predicted values of static hyperinflation in COPD.

IntroductionFor interpretation of body plethysmographic static hyperinflation, reference values are of crucial importance. Earliest reference values have been published by the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and are based on sex, body height and age as predictors. As obesity can lead to a reduction of functional residual capacity (FRC) in lung-healthy subjects, more recent approaches included body weight or body surface area. This raises the question whether these models are appropriate in patients with COPD-induced hyperinflation.MethodSeveral FRC prediction models and their relation to body weight were analyzed in 1513 patients with stable COPD (mean [SD] age: 64.5 [8.2] years; GOLD grades 1–4: 219/722/484/88), a subset of the multicenter COPD and Systemic Consequences – Comorbidities Network cohort.ResultsAbsolute values of FRC were inversely related to body mass index (p<0.001). Applying the ECSC equations to calculate predicted values, this pattern was maintained (p<0.001). By contrast, an inverted, ie, positive, relation occurred when using equations that include body weight or surface area (p<0.001). The present analysis confirmed the inverse relation of body mass and FRC in COPD, resulting from a restrictive ventilatory pattern by diaphragm elevation and decreased chest wall compliance in obesity. The weight influence in the prediction models, as obtained from lung-healthy controls, appears to lead to an overcorrection and consequently to an inappropriate overestimation of hyperinflation as indicated by FRC %predicted in COPD.ConclusionIt is concluded that models not including body weight as predictor, like the classical ECSC equations, could be superior in the interpretation of FRC in COPD.

Spirometric Values of Greek People and Comparison with ECSC and GLI Values in COPD People

Background:During the past few years, the use of criteria introduced by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) is recommended for the diagnosis and classification of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD),taking into account the values of a Forced Expiratory Volume In 1 second (FEV1) and a Forced Expiratory Volume In 1 second (FEV1) to Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) ratio. In Europe, the reference values of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), that were originally developed in 1993 are still used.Aim of the Study:The study aimed to carry out measurement of spirometric values in a healthy, non smoking Greek population, development of local equations and comparison with ECSC and Global Lung Initiative(GLI) equations, in order to see if there is a need for separate ones in everyday use.Methods:Normal predicted values for FEV1 and FEV1/FVC% were obtained from a group of 500 healthy subjects, aged 18-89 years. In addition, a group of 124 COPD patients, with no other comorbidities was studied. Patients were classified according to GOLD criteria in four groups with ECSC, GLI predicted values or with our own predicted values.Results:The statistical analysis has revealed that there is no significant difference among the three sets of predicted values and no statistical difference was detected among the classification of COPD patients.Conclusion:It is shown that the 3 sets of predicted values are almost identical, despite the fact that they have been collected from different study populations.Αccording to the study, there is no need in recalculating values for Greek population.