bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selective epicardial pulsed field ablation of atrial ganglionated plexi causes anti-arrhythmic prolongation of refractoriness: demonstration of feasibility in cardiac surgery patients
Authors: De Groot JR , Shaburishvili T , Skalsky I , Van Zyl M , O Brien B , Reilly J , Coffey K , Neuzil P , Reddy VY
Published: May 2022

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): EU Horizon 2020 SME Instrument.

Background

Epicardial ganglionated plexi (GP) play a significant role in the initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation. However, modulation of this effect, through GP ablation, has had limited success; outcomes being confounded by unnecessary atrial tissue ablation and inability to access and ablate all of the atrial GPs. Selective pulsed field ablation (PFA) of GPs, using epicardial access, provides the opportunity to better identify the role of GP ablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Purpose

This study aimed to assess the safety and feasibility of selective GP ablation in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). It was hypothesized that GP ablation would provide an acute extension of atrial tissue refractoriness, which constitutes its antiarrhythmic effect.

Methods

Using a monopolar, monophasic PFA system, atrial GPs were ablated in nineteen patients with or without atrial fibrillation, undergoing CABG. The Oblique Sinus GP, Right Superior GP, Transverse Sinus GP, Left Superior GP and Ligament of Marshall GP were each ablated with up to sixty PFA pulses of 1000 V amplitude and 100 µs pulse width. Atrial Effective Refractory Period (AERP) was measured before and after all GP ablations, at the left atrial appendage (LAA) and on the right atrium (RA). Patients were monitored through to discharge for post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF).

Results

Complete ablation of the GPs was performed in nineteen patients (aged 63.4 ± 6.6 years, 63.1% male) immediately after sternotomy. Electric field pulses were ECG-gated, with energy delivery during the ventricular refractory period. All GP sites were successfully accessed and ablated; all patients progressed immediately to their planned elective surgery and were discharged on schedule. Procedure time, for all GP ablations and AERP measurements was in the range 35-45 minutes. Thirteen valid pre- and post-ablation datasets were obtained. AERP (LAA and RA combined) increased upon GP ablation on average by 23% (220 ± 46 ms pre-ablation versus 269 ± 59 ms post-ablation, p = 0.002). Four patients experienced POAF; there was no evident correlation between POAF and AERP data. Only three of the enrolled patients had a prior history of AF; none of these exhibited AF on 24-hour Holter monitoring at 3-month follow-up.

Conclusions

Selective epicardial PFA of GPs is feasible and safe. An acute increase in atrial tissue refractoriness is promising but further studies are required to see how this translates to longer term outcomes in symptomatic AF patients and in a percutaneous epicardial access setting.
Management of conduction disorders after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: results of an EHRA survey
Authors: Badertscher P , Knecht S , Zeljkovic I , Sticherling C , De Asmundis C , Conte G , Kuehne M , Boveda S
Published: May 2022

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Background

Left bundle branch block (LBBB) is common after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and is an indicator of subsequent high-grade atrioventricular block. Consensus regarding a reasonable strategy to manage cardiac conduction disturbances after TAVI has been elusive

Methods

The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) conducted a survey to capture contemporary clinical practice for conduction disorders after TAVI. A 25-item online questionnaire was developed and distributed among the EHRA electrophysiology research network centres.

Results

Of 117 respondents, 44% were affiliated with university hospitals. This survey has revealed that a standardized management protocol for advanced conduction disorders such as LBBB or AVB after TAVR is available in 63% of participating centres. Telemetry was chosen by most participants as the most frequent management strategy for patients with new or preexisting LBBB after TAVI (79%, 70%, respectively, Figure 1). Duration of telemetry in patients with new LBBB varied: 18% chose 24 hours, 35% 48 hours, 27% 72 hours and 20% ≥ 72 hours. Similarly, in patients with new LBBB after TAVI undergoing EP study, the cut-off for a prolonged HV interval for PM implantation was heterogenous among European centers (7.4% ≥ 55ms and 44% ≥ 75ms). Conduction system pacing was chosen as preferred device therapy in patients with LBBB and normal LVEF in 3.7% and in patients with LBBB and reduced LVEF in 5.6%.

Conclusions

The management of conduction disorders after TAVI is very heterogeneous across European centres. Risk stratification strategies vary substantially. The role of conduction system pacing in patients with LBBB after TAVI needs to be defined. There is a considerable room for better uniformity in clinical practice.
Biological units of antimicrobial resistance and strategies for their containment in animal production
Authors: Muurinen Johanna , Cairns Johannes , Ekakoro John Eddie , Wickware Carmen L , Ruple Audrey , Johnson Timothy A
Published: May 2022

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections has ushered in a major global public health crisis. Judicious or restricted antimicrobial use in animal agriculture, aiming to confine the use for the treatment of infections, is the most commonly proposed solution to reduce selection pressure for resistant bacterial strains and resistance genes. However, a multifaceted solution will likely be required to make acceptable progress in reducing antimicrobial resistance, due to other common environmental conditions maintaining antimicrobial resistance and limited executionary potential as human healthcare and agriculture will continue to rely heavily on antimicrobials in the foreseeable future. Drawing parallels from systematic approaches to the management of infectious disease agents and biodiversity loss, we provide examples that a more comprehensive approach is required, targeting antimicrobial resistance in agroecosystems on multiple fronts simultaneously. We present one such framework, based on nested biological units of antimicrobial resistance, and describe established or innovative strategies targeting units. Some of the proposed strategies are already in use or ready to be implemented, while some require further research and discussion among scientists and policymakers. We envision that antimicrobial resistance mitigation strategies for animal agriculture combining multiple tools would constitute powerful ecosystem-level interventions necessary to mitigate antimicrobial resistance.
Genetic background and mistranslation frequency determine the impact of mistranslating tRNASerUGG
Authors: Berg Matthew D , Zhu Yanrui , Loll-Krippleber Raphaël , San Luis Bryan-Joseph , Genereaux Julie , Boone Charles , Villén Judit , Brown Grant W , Brandl Christopher J
Published: May 2022

Transfer RNA variants increase the frequency of mistranslation, the misincorporation of an amino acid not specified by the “standard” genetic code, to frequencies approaching 10% in yeast and bacteria. Cells cope with these variants by having multiple copies of each tRNA isodecoder and through pathways that deal with proteotoxic stress. In this study, we define the genetic interactions of the gene encoding tRNASerUGG,G26A, which mistranslates serine at proline codons. Using a collection of yeast temperature-sensitive alleles, we identify negative synthetic genetic interactions between the mistranslating tRNA and 109 alleles representing 91 genes, with nearly half of the genes having roles in RNA processing or protein folding and turnover. By regulating tRNA expression, we then compare the strength of the negative genetic interaction for a subset of identified alleles under differing amounts of mistranslation. The frequency of mistranslation correlated with the impact on cell growth for all strains analyzed; however, there were notable differences in the extent of the synthetic interaction at different frequencies of mistranslation depending on the genetic background. For many of the strains, the extent of the negative interaction with tRNASerUGG,G26A was proportional to the frequency of mistranslation or only observed at intermediate or high frequencies. For others, the synthetic interaction was approximately equivalent at all frequencies of mistranslation. As humans contain similar mistranslating tRNAs, these results are important when analyzing the impact of tRNA variants on disease, where both the individual’s genetic background and the expression of the mistranslating tRNA variant need to be considered.
JiangShi(僵尸): a widely distributed Mucin-like protein essential for Drosophila development
Authors: Huang Yueping , Li LingLing , Rong Yikang S
Published: May 2022

Epithelia exposed to elements of the environment are protected by a mucus barrier in mammals. This barrier also serves to lubricate during organ movements and to mediate substance exchanges between the environmental milieu and internal organs. A major component of the mucus barrier is a class of glycosylated proteins called Mucin. Mucin and mucin-related proteins are widely present in the animal kingdom. Mucin mis-regulation has been reported in many diseases such as cancers and ones involving the digestive and respiratory tracts. Although the biophysical properties of isolated Mucins have been extensively studied, in vivo models remain scarce for the study of their functions and regulations. Here, we characterize the Mucin-like JiangShi protein and its mutations in the fruit fly Drosophila. JiangShi is an extracellular glycoprotein with domain features reminiscent of mammalian nonmembranous Mucins, and one of the most widely distributed Mucin-like proteins studied in Drosophila. Both loss and over-production of JiangShi lead to terminal defects in adult structures and organismal death. Although the physiological function of JiangShi remains poorly defined, we present a genetically tractable model system for the in vivo studies of Mucin-like molecules.
Decreased EMILIN2 correlates to metabolism phenotype and poor prognosis of ovarian cancer
Authors: Tang Xiaojian , Li Fengli
Published: May 2022

This study aimed to explore the function and related mechanisms of elastin microfibril interfacer 2 (EMILIN2) in ovarian cancer. First, the expression level of EMILIN2 was detected in patient tissues and its correlation with overall survival rate was analysed. Then, EMILIN2 was overexpressed in ovarian cancer cell lines to observe its function and effect on Warburg effect. By detecting its promoter region methylation, the epigenetic regulatory role was explored. Finally, through the luciferase reporter assay and siRNA tools, the regulatory mechanism of p53 on EMILIN2 was investigated. It was detected in clinical samples that down-regulated EMILIN2 was associated with poor prognosis of ovarian cancer. It was further found that EMILIN2 regulated the metabolic phenotype of ovarian cancer cells. The expression of EMILIN2 was epigenetically regulated by its promoter methylation. Also, it was found that p53 regulated the expression of EMILIN2 and the p53/EMILIN2 axis regulated the Warburg effect in ovarian cancer cells. EMILIN2 was inhibited by methylation in ovarian cancer. In summary, p53 can promote and regulate its transcription by binding to the promoter region of EMILIN2, thereby affecting the Warburg effect and inhibiting tumours. Therefore, EMILIN2 might be a potential target for clinical diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.
Business and Investment in Brazil
Authors: Sester Peter
Published: May 2022

This book provides a thorough analysis of Brazilian business law for investors and their legal advisers, focusing on topics relevant to business transactions and disputes that can arise in the aftermath of the signing or performance of deals. The essence of investment and negotiation processes is risk evaluation and allocation. Examining Brazilian law, the book focuses on the legal risks, which are higher in Brazilian law than elsewhere, particularly in comparison with contract, partnership, and company (LLC) laws governing international business transactions in the US and UK. However, whilst Brazilian contract law remains a risk factor as a result of its over-ambitious and consequently interventionist approach, Brazilian law in the areas of stock corporation, capital market, antitrust, and public procurement are state-of-the-art when compared to the US and leading European laws in Germany, Switzerland, and France. The book is divided into eight chapters: the introduction provides an overview of the economic and legal framework for doing business in Brazil, focusing on features of the Brazilian legal and economic order that are unusual to international practitioners from a comparative perspective. The other seven chapters analyze those fields of substantive law that impact most investments and cross-border transactions in Brazil. The book focuses on the interpretation of statutory law by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice and regulatory agencies, and also provides insights into the economic and business rationale of some of the legal solutions offered.
Economic and Legal Framework
Authors: Sester Peter
Published: May 2022

Brazil is characterized by strong contrasts and sometimes ambiguities that are reflected in almost every aspect of society, including its economy and the law. For business persons and foreign investors, it is important to know that Brazil is, compared to the USA or the UK, a country that still believes in a strong state. Hence, it is rather sceptical towards entrepreneurship and, thus, party autonomy and its flipside the market and economic freedom. Supreme Court Justice Luís Felipe Borroso recently wrote ‘[i]t is necessary to overcome the distrust that still exists in Brazil regarding entrepreneurship and private initiative’. In the light of these circumstances the purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it will provide a brief analysis of Brazil’s economy and the anatomy of its legal system, especially from a comparative law perspective. This background will facilitate an understanding of the subsequent chapters. Part of this overview aims to rank Brazil’s position on a sliding scale from interventionism to liberalism. Second, it reports the state of Brazil’s integration into international organizations and its adherence to international treaties relevant for doing business and investing.
Recovery and Insolvency Law
Authors: Sester Peter
Published: May 2022

Brazilian insolvency law was substantially reformed at the beginning of this century. By means of Law 11,101/2005 (RIL) the legislator changed priorities in favour of preserving distressed enterprises by means of recovery proceedings. This chapter will focus on recovery measures and the priority rights of creditors, especially those of secured lenders. Furthermore, we will discuss the recently adopted provisions on DIP Finance. The RIL was inspired by Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. In 2020 the RIL was revamped by means of Law 14,112/2020, which introduced a chapter on transnational insolvency and provisions on financing recovery efforts. The new provisions on transnational or cross-border insolvency were closely modelled on the respective UNCITRAL Model Law.
The Nature of ‘Agency’
Authors: Munday Roderick
Published: May 2022

This chapter begins with the definition of agency by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, which describes agency as the fiduciary relationship that arises when one person or principal manifests assent to another person or agent. It explains that the agent acts on the principal’s behalf and subject to the principal’s control, and the agent manifests assent or otherwise consents to the act. It also analyzes the different forms of agency that illustrate individuals and entities whose activities that are not governed by the law of agency. The chapter talks about an agent that do not normally fulfil the classical criteria of agency when selling properties for clients. It looks at the problem of distinguishing between true cases of agency and other legal relationships.
The Agent’s Liability for Breach of Warranty of Authority
Authors: Munday Roderick
Published: May 2022

This chapter discusses the agent’s privilege to incur personal liability to the third party if he acts without. It explains the action for breach of warranty of authority that lie whenever the agent represents to a third party that he has authority to act on behalf of a principal. It also describes an agent who has apparent authority to act that may still be held liable on his warranty of authority as he is still falsely promising that he has actual authority. The chapter recounts the case of Rainbow v Howkins wherein an auctioneer mistakenly knocked down a horse to a bidder at a price below the reserve set by the principal. It refers to the breach of warranty of authority, which can occur irrespective of whether the agent was at fault in maintaining that he had authority to act.
Legal Relations between Principal and Agent: Rights of the Agent against the Principal
Authors: Munday Roderick
Published: May 2022

This chapter considers an agent that owes a veritable constellation of duties towards the principal, wherein the principal’s corresponding duties towards his agent are more restricted. It analyzes three principal rights enjoyed by the agent: remuneration, indemnity, and lien. It also explains that remuneration is a term of the contract in which the agent will be entitled to remuneration in accordance with what the parties have expressly or impliedly agreed in their contract. The chapter clarifies that indemnity entitles an agent to be indemnified for expenses incurred by him and losses occasioned to him in the performance of his agency, while lien is the agent enjoys a possessory lien over his principal’s property. It reviews the agent’s right to be remunerated, which is determined by the express terms of the contract between principal and agent.
The Tortious Liabilities of Principal and Agent
Authors: Munday Roderick
Published: May 2022

This chapter discusses how both principal and agent may incur personal liability for torts they commit, wherein the liabilities of principals for the torts of their agents overlap to a considerable degree with the liability of an employer for the torts of his employee. It addresses questions on what precise circumstances a principal will be held liable for tortious acts of his agent that harm third parties. It also explains how an agent is personally liable for torts he commits in the course of his agency that occasion damage to a third party. The chapter talks about how an employee or agent may not be held personally liable for actions which otherwise might carry tortious liability. It describes the agent’s tortious liability flows from a negligent misstatement.
Legal Relations between Agent and Third Party
Authors: Munday Roderick
Published: May 2022

This chapter talks about an agent acting for a disclosed principal that normally can neither sue nor be sued by the third party on contracts he has concluded on behalf of that principal. It covers the object in bringing the principal and third party into direct contractual relations in cases of disclosed agency. It also describes an agent that can exceptionally acquire rights and incur liabilities under his principal’s contract either under the terms of the contract he has concluded on the principal’s behalf, or under a collateral contract. The chapter cites exceptions to the general rule that an agent does not customarily acquire rights or incur liabilities under his principal’s contract. It discusses how an agent may expressly agree to incur personal liability and acquire rights under contracts he makes with third parties.
Shipping Documents Issued Before Shipment
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter discusses the shipping documents issued before the shipment of goods. It is customary in the carriage of goods by sea for contractual negotiations to take place sometime before shipment, well before the goods carried are brought alongside the designated vessel for shipment or stuffed in a container at an inland destination. Liner booking notes are ordinary documents of carriage which are not, in law, generally considered as documents of title. Once the goods arrive at the ship’s side, various parties, including the carrier, the shipper, the receiver, or stevedoring company, will have employees on hand to verify the loading and unloading of cargo to and from the ship’s side. During and as a result of the loading and discharging, the tallies taken are recorded in tally sheets (or books) and tally clerk’s receipts completed. The chapter then looks at mate’s receipts and cargo manifests. The normal rule, in the absence of provision to the contrary, is that the person in possession of the mate’s receipt is prima facie entitled to the bills of lading.
The Hamburg Rules
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter evaluates the Hamburg Rules, starting with a background of its drafting by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The Hamburg Rules comprises 34 articles and a Common Understanding. The chapter then considers the core provisions of the Rules which are different to the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules. Article 2(1) of the Hamburg Rules provides that the Rules apply to inbound and outbound contracts of carriage by sea between two different states, or if ‘one of the optional ports of discharge provided for in the contract is the actual port of discharge and is in a contracting state’, or if the bill of lading ‘or other document’ is issued in a contracting state or provides that ‘the provisions of the Convention or the legislation of any State giving effect to them are to govern the contract’. The Rules do not apply to coastal voyages, although it is likely that a contracting state will make them applicable to coastal trades.
The Scope and Application of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter addresses the scope and application of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules. Article II of the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules, provides that: ‘Subject to the provisions of Article VI, under every contract of carriage of goods by sea the carrier, in relation to the loading, handling, stowage, carriage, custody, care and discharge of such goods, shall be subject to the responsibilities and liabilities and entitled to the rights and immunities hereinafter set forth’. This provision sets out the ‘temporal’ coverage of the Rules, embracing the carrier’s obligations from ‘loading’ to ‘discharge of such goods’ and spells out the relationship between the carrier and the shipper of the goods, namely the carriers’ responsibilities and liabilities and entitlement to certain rights and immunities. This also points to the fact that the Rules are intended to be a complete and self-contained code. Thus, the Rules constitute the complete basis on which the contracting parties’ contract with each other. The Rules attach to a ‘contract of carriage’ and apply when such a contract falls within the ambit of the Rules, namely when the carriage relates to carriage of goods by sea.
Seaworthiness and Care for Cargo
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter explains seaworthiness and care for cargo. In every contract of affreightment, except where the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971 applies, there is an implied undertaking on the part of the shipowner to provide a seaworthy vessel. Contracts for the carriage of goods by sea do not contain a definition of seaworthiness; indeed, the usual charterparty wording provides that the shipowner’s vessel is ‘strong and staunch’ or ‘tight and fit’. The obligation to provide a seaworthy vessel is not demanded in abstract terms, being relative to the nature of the ship, the particular voyage, the time of the year, the stages of that voyage, the cargoes which the shipowner has contracted to carry, and the relevant standards for the carrying of cargoes at the applicable time. The chapter then considers the carrier’s duty to care for cargo, which arises contractually and in bailment.
Time Charterparties
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter studies time charterparties, which are sometimes described as ‘freighted by the month’ or as a ‘charter-party of affreightment’ or ‘let to freight by the month’. The phrase ‘time charter’ appears to have been used in about 1840 and by 1849 it was said with confidence that it was ‘the usual practice, upon the hire of ships on time charters, for the charterers to pay instalments during the voyage’. The Baltime form, the Baltic and White Sea Conference Uniform Time-Charter (later the Baltic and International Maritime Conference Uniform Time Charter), was first issued in 1909 and has become one of the most used general time charterparty forms. That form has, however, been surpassed in popularity by the NYPE form, the New York Produce Exchange Time Charter, first issued in 1913 which is, in every respect, the leading dry cargo general form. Three iterations of the form are still used, namely NYPE 1946, NYPE 93, and NYPE 2015. Besides these forms, there are many time charterparty forms for particular trades.
Frustration
Authors: Girvin Stephen
Published: May 2022

This chapter highlights the doctrine of frustration, which is a doctrine of general contract law, but one in which many of the leading cases have been charterparty cases. It considers the doctrine in contracts for the carriage of goods by sea where, read as a whole, few cases invoke the doctrine because of the presence of force majeure clauses, which deal with subsequent events. The chapter then looks at the essence of the doctrine of frustration. The issue of whether or not the contract has been frustrated is a question of law but ‘that conclusion is almost completely determined by what is ascertained as the mercantile usage and the understanding of commercial men’. Thus, it has been said in the same case that the doctrine is ‘not lightly to be invoked to relieve contracting parties of the normal consequences of imprudent commercial bargains’.
The Meaning of Employment from a Private International Perspective
Authors: Merrett Louise
Published: May 2022

This chapter examines the meaning of employment from a private international perspective. It begins by outlining the theories behind characterization in private international law generally and, in particular, in European law. Private international law rules in relation to both jurisdiction and choice of law depend crucially on whether there is a contract of employment. Special rules apply in both the Brussels I Regulation recast and the Rome I Regulation to cases involving 'individual contracts of employment'. These rules are now mirrored in domestic law jurisdiction rules in section 15C Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982. The question of whether there is such a contract is a question of characterization. In the case of the European Regulations, because the definition is contained in European legislation, it is characterization in a European context which is at issue and that will have fundamental implications for the approach to be taken. In the case of EU legislation, the Court of Justice has consistently stressed the need for national courts to avoid a narrow domestic approach to construction and adopt a broad autonomous EU approach.
Stock and Derivatives Exchanges in the EU
Authors: Gargantini Matteo , Siri Michele
Published: May 2022

This chapter examines the regulation of stock and derivatives exchanges in the European Union. Based on a theoretical analysis of exchanges as transaction platforms, it identifies three major economic functions: listing, trading, and data vending. The chapter explores each of these functions separately. As for listing, it highlights the distinction between admission to listing and admission to trading in the European Union, as well as the role of regulated markets’ potential conflicts of interest on that function. As for trading, the chapter explores some key provisions that contribute to creating liquidity, including those concerning market makers, tick sizes, trading obligations, and best execution. It also addresses the regulatory framework on algorithmic and high-frequency trading. As for data vending, the chapter discusses the pre- and post-trade transparency requirements, and the price regulation of market data. Finally, the chapter analyses the determinants of stock and derivatives exchange governance.
Client Clearing in the EU
Authors: Braithwaite Jo , Murphy David
Published: May 2022

This chapter reviews the EU regime for client clearing, including recent amendments to this regime introduced by 2019 regulatory reforms. It provides the legal and regulatory context to clearing using central counterparties (CCPs) and discusses the authorities' interest in promoting it in the post-crisis regulatory reforms. The chapter then explains the significance of client clearing for those many entities unable or unwilling to become a member of a CCP. Focusing on the EU regulatory regime, and informed by recent empirical work undertaken for the Financial Stability Board (FSB), it also explores the use of client clearing in practice and, in particular, engages with the complexities of these arrangements and the difficulty in accessing clearing reported by some entities. Finally, the chapter evaluates recent measures intended to promote client clearing which were introduced in 2019 in the course of the so-called 'EMIR Refit'. It looks in detail at the so-called 'FRANDT' requirement, namely that financial intermediaries providing access to clearing services do so on 'fair, reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent commercial terms’.
The Use of EU Regulations to Establish Qualitative Requirements in the Fields of Banking Supervision and Resolution
Authors: Wojcik Karl-Philipp , Krauze Mateusz
Published: May 2022

This chapter examines the proliferation of the use of EU regulations in the field of EU financial services regulation and in particular the area of banking supervision and bank resolution law. The total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC)/minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), net stable funding ratio (NSFR), and the prior permission regimes under Articles 73 and 77–78a of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) are good examples to illustrate the case. While in the case of TLAC/MREL and the NSFR the impact is more of an indirect nature, since formally parties are still free to exercise their contractual autonomy, they have to adhere to the various regulatory requirements if they wish to benefit from a certain regulatory treatment and meet certain regulatory targets set by the EU legislator. The prior permissions regime goes even further in that it is a precondition for the exercise of certain actions such as classification of instruments as Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) as well as early repayments, redemptions, and other similar actions with respect to own funds instruments and other eligible liabilities instruments. These interactions are driven by the objective of EU financial services regulation to attain financial stability, to protect depositors and investors, and to avoid other externalities which the conduct of banking business can carry, even if this comes at the expense of certain rights enjoyed under civil and corporate laws.
Operational Risk in the Capital Requirements Framework for Banks
Authors: Joosen Bart PM
Published: May 2022

This chapter studies the capital requirements for operational risk, which were included for the first time in the Basel Accord of 2004. Because the effects of operational risk can be vast, it is important that banks have sound risk management policies and risk assessment procedures to address this particular risk family. In the last two decades, the Basel Committee of Banking and Supervision (BCBS) has put up important frameworks, which are implemented in legislation of the European Union (EU), most importantly in the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). Currently, the CRR provides four possible approaches (or methodologies) to calculate the own funds requirements for operational risk: the Basis Indicator Approach (BIA), the Standardised Approach (SA), the Alternative Standardised Approach (ASA), and the Advanced Measurement Approach (AMA). However, the current framework will be overhauled by a new framework which should apply from January of 2022: the Basel III-Reform. This will implement the revised standards as adopted by the BCBS in December of 2017. The chapter looks at the new framework and its new approach on operational risk, before considering disclosure requirements and the principles for sound management of operational risk.
Capital Conservation Buffer and Countercyclical Capital Buffer
Authors: Lagaria Katerina
Published: May 2022

This chapter illustrates the regulatory, legislative, and institutional framework for two capital-based macroprudential instruments: the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCoB) and the Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB). It focuses on the Basel III-inspired EU legislative provisions on capital requirements, which introduced the CCoB and the CCyB for the first time across Member States. The chapter also analyses the specific EU legislative provisions of Directive 2013/36/EU pertaining to these two buffers, along with the relevant amendments introduced in 2019 by means of Directive (EU) 2019/878. It then considers the cyclical and dynamic CCyB, reflecting its more complex setup and discretionary application, compared to the non-cyclical, fixed requirement for the CCoB. Finally, the chapter looks at the allocation of relevant competences and particular tasks assigned to national and supranational authorities/bodies also in light of the major institutional shift marked by the creation of the Banking Union.
Domain Expansion and Functional Diversification in Vertebrate Reproductive Proteins
Authors: Rivera Alberto M. , Wilburn Damien B. , Swanson Willie J.
Published: May 2022

The rapid evolution of fertilization proteins has generated remarkable diversity in molecular structure and function. Glycoproteins of vertebrate egg coats contain multiple zona pellucida (ZP)-N domains (1–6 copies) that facilitate multiple reproductive functions, including species-specific sperm recognition. In this report, we integrate phylogenetics and machine learning to investigate how ZP-N domains diversify in structure and function. The most C-terminal ZP-N domain of each paralog is associated with another domain type (ZP-C), which together form a “ZP module.” All modular ZP-N domains are phylogenetically distinct from nonmodular or free ZP-N domains. Machine learning–based classification identifies eight residues that form a stabilizing network in modular ZP-N domains that is absent in free domains. Positive selection is identified in some free ZP-N domains. Our findings support that strong purifying selection has conserved an essential structural core in modular ZP-N domains, with the relaxation of this structural constraint allowing free N-terminal domains to functionally diversify.
Neck pain and related factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Suzuki Akinobu , Yamada Kentaro , Yabu Akito , Tamai Koji , Takahashi Shinji , Inui Kentaro , Okano Tadashi , Koike Tatsuya , Nakamura Hiroaki
Published: May 2022

Objectives

In rheumatoid arthritis, neck pain can be caused by inflammatory reactions or cervical lesions, but the prevalence and associated factors have not been well studied. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of neck pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and elucidate the related factors.

Methods

This study included 146 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Neck pain, quality of life, and levels of anxiety and depression were evaluated using a questionnaire. Cervical lesions and spinal alignment were evaluated using plain radiograph and magnetic resonance imaging. Factors associated with neck pain were analysed using a logistic regression model.

Results

Fifty-six per cent of the patients had neck pain, and the quality of life scores were significantly worse in these patients. Multivariate analysis revealed age, C7 sagittal vertical axis, upper cervical lesion, and endplate erosion as factors associated with neck pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Conclusions

More than half the patients with rheumatoid arthritis suffer from neck pain, and neck pain affects the quality of life and activities of daily living. Neck pain was associated with upper cervical lesion and endplate erosion suggesting the importance of radiological examination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and neck pain.
Aesthetic Education and the Transformation of the Scientist
Authors: Nassar Dalia
Published: May 2022

This chapter explicates and justifies Goethe’s view that education, and in particular, aesthetic education, is essential for scientific knowledge, and draws out its ethical consequences. The chapter first explicates the reasons why aesthetic education is necessary, by drawing out the problems of knowledge, which are understood as both epistemological and methodological. It then turns to an elaboration of Goethe’s own aesthetic education, and the ways in which this aesthetic education transformed his practice and writing. The chapter offers a novel interpretation of the aims and structure of Goethe’s crucial essay The Metamorphosis of Plants, showing how the essay itself seeks to aesthetically educate its readers. This education is furthered, the chapter argues, through an engagement with poetry, and thus the chapter concludes with a careful examination of Goethe’s use of poetry for scientific and cognitive purposes.
Organism and Environment
Authors: Nassar Dalia
Published: May 2022

This chapter argues that Humboldt’s “ecological insight” is founded on an aesthetic view of nature, achieved through engagement with the visual arts, in particular landscape painting. While Goethe’s influence on Humboldt is widely recognized, what is less recognized is the specific way in which Humboldt departs from Goethe. This chapter contends—contra the majority of interpretations—that the main point of difference between Goethe and Humboldt has less to do with Humboldt’s focus on context (i.e., the environment) and Goethe’s focus on the form of living beings, and more to do with Humboldt’s specific conceptualization of the relationship between living beings and their environments. Humboldt’s predecessors had recognized the significant role that the environment plays in the shaping of the organism. None, however, had adequately recognized the role of the organism in shaping the environment. By focusing on trees, and working with the tools of the visual arts, Humboldt was able to discern and convey the reciprocal causal relation between living beings and their contexts, and thus conclude that any conceptualization of the environment as something that preexists its inhabitants is a false abstraction. Humboldt’s insight was radical for his time, but––perhaps surprisingly––it also remains radical today.
The Relevance of Romantic Empiricism
Authors: Nassar Dalia
Published: May 2022

The conclusion offers a brief overview of the aims of the book, noting that they are both revisionary and systematic. The book challenges our usual understanding of the history of nineteenth-century German philosophy, by tracing the development of an understudied empiricist tradition, and detailing its significance. Furthermore, it highlights the work of authors usually relegated to the sidelines of philosophy, and shows how their work was crucial in the emergence of an ecological way of thinking. The book, furthermore, seeks to revitalize the approach practiced by the romantic empiricists, by demonstrating, first, how their understanding of knowledge, and of the relationship between epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics, illuminates and expands the sense in which the environmental crisis is a crisis of reason or culture, and, second, how their practices of knowledge challenge us to think differently about what it means to know well.
Toshio Mori
Authors: Hathaway Heather
Published: May 2022

This chapter analyzes the work that the writer Toshio Mori produced before, during, and after the war and argues that the incarceration derailed a promising literary career. Mori’s short story cycle, Yokohama, California, was to be published in 1942, but the war intervened. When it finally came out in 1949, postwar America was less welcoming of work by Japanese Americans. By comparing the original version of Yokohama, California, the final version published in 1949 that contained two additional stories about the war, and the fiction Mori produced in camp and published in TREK, the chapter traces the progress and setbacks of Mori’s literary career. It also considers why and how Mori’s literary reputation was revived in the context of the movement toward redress and reparation in the 1970s.
The New Kingdom of Egypt under the Eighteenth Dynasty
Authors: Nielsen Nicky
Published: May 2022

Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty was a period of unparalleled highs—of military power, art, industry, construction, and royal control—as well as crushing lows. This chapter charts the rise of the Eighteenth Dynasty, focusing on the major developments of Egypt’s society and culture. It charts the redefinition of kingship toward the king as an active military hero, the rise of Amun-Re and the Karnak Temple as religious and political institutions, innovations in private and royal funerary traditions and architecture, as well as the development of societal structures of power and patronage within the Egyptian elite. Utilizing archaeological evidence from sites such as Edfu, Gurob, and Tell el-Amarna, the chapter also focuses on the life, industry, and death of the Egyptian non-elite, a vast majority of the country’s population often overlooked due to poor evidence preservation. It also explores the fall of the Theban Eighteenth Dynasty and the increasing dominance and power of Egypt’s military elite personified in the last ruler of the Dynasty, the General Horemheb.
Egypt’s New Kingdom in Contact with the World
Authors: Grandet Pierre
Published: May 2022

The foreign relations of the New Kingdom of Egypt can be described as a combination of continuity and change. On one hand, the physical geography of its environment and the basic underpinnings of the relationship with its neighbors, whoever they were, remained constant, whatever political events affected Egypt. On the other hand, a change in attitude can be discerned from the rich textual and pictorial records documenting wars against newly emerging powers in the north and the east and an unprecedented effort to subjugate Nubia in the south. This chapter offers a review of the evidence and theories regarding New Kingdom Egypt’s contacts with its neighbors (Nubia, Libya, the Mediterranean, Canaan, and Syria), as well as the pharaohs’ foreign policy toward Hatti and Mittani.
On the conceptualization of meaning in legal interpretation
Authors: Bajčić Martina
Published: May 2022

By analysing selected case law, this chapter illuminates terminological implications of the courts’ interpretative methods. Emphasis is put on the rationales of last-instance courts, which detail reasons for the underlying decisions and are often steeped in linguistic contemplations. Demonstrating that the conceptualization of meaning in law has remained a focal concern in legal interpretation, it is examined to what extent courts deploy methods that are compatible with the principles underpinning the cognitive terminological approach. Indeed, courts resort to extralinguistic knowledge to determine the meaning of terms as, for instance, when ascertaining whether action figures are dolls or toys, thereby endorsing the perception of meaning as a dynamic process which involves conceptual knowledge. It is therefore argued that the application of terminology studies casts a different light on legal interpretation.
Indian Public Finance in Pandemic Times
Authors: Rao M. Govinda
Published: May 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the public finance architecture and has posited both challenges and opportunities. The decline in revenues caused by the lockdown due to the pandemic and increased expenditures incurred to save lives and livelihoods have led to sharp increase in deficits and debt. The pandemic has rendered the fiscal targets of the FRBM Act irrelevant. With little fiscal space available due to elevated levels of deficits and debt, calibrating countercyclical fiscal policy has posed serious challenges. As the economy was slowing down even before the pandemic struck, there are structural problems as well. However, the crisis provides an opportunity to fast-track structural reforms to take it back to higher growth trajectory. Some reforms in labour and land markets have been initiated. The recent budget also posits several reforms in disinvestment, creation of development finance institution and asset restructuring company. The challenge is to implement them.
Organizing the External Loan
Authors: Adams R. J. C.
Published: May 2022

Chapter 6 introduces the key personalities of the First External Loan and the organizational landscape in which it was promoted. The Dáil mission to the US was led by Éamon de Valera, president of the Dáil, along with Harry Boland, Sean Nunan, J. C. Walsh, and James O’Mara, director of the bond drive. At this time, the predominant Irish-American organization was the Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF), under the leadership of John Devoy and Judge Daniel Cohalan. In line with the pattern discussed in Chapter 5, in order to raise funds in the US the Dáil mission had to make an alliance with the FOIF. The FOIF branch network enabled the Dáil to reach potential subscribers across the country, but its reliance on the FOIF left the Dáil vulnerable to manipulation by Devoy and Cohalan.
The Patent-Competition Interface in Developing Countries
Authors: Cheng Thomas K.
Published: May 2022

For the vast majority of developing countries bereft of meaningful innovation capacity, foreign technology transfer is the main vehicle for technological progress. The chief dynamic policy consideration for these countries is hence incentives for technology transfer instead of innovation incentives. There are three main means of voluntary technology transfer: importation of technological goods, foreign direct investment, and technology licensing. Competition law regulation of patent exploitation practices interacts with these three means of technology transfer in different ways and an appropriate approach to the patent-competition interface for these countries needs to take these into account. Distilling all these considerations, the book proposes a development stage-specific approach to the patent-competition interface for developing countries. The approach is then applied to a number of patent exploitation practices, including unilateral refusal to deal, patent tying, excessive pricing for pharmaceuticals, reverse payment settlements, and restrictive licensing practices.