bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtues and Capabilities
Authors: Torrente Steven , Gould Harry D.
Published: April 2018

After a long dormancy in the modern era, virtue-based ethical thought has once again become a subject of serious consideration and debate in the field of philosophy. The normative orientation of most International Political Theory, however, still comes primarily from principles-based (deontological) or outcome-based (consequentialist) ethical systems. Virtue ethics differs from focus deontological and consequentialist ethics by emphasizing character, context, and way of life, rather than rule-governed action. This chapter reviews the emergence of contemporary virtue ethics as a challenge to overly abstract, language-based analysis of moral concepts, and its development into a broad and nuanced ethical theory. It then connects virtue ethics to the capabilities approach to human development, which is similarly focused.
The Marxist Critique of International Political Theory
Authors: Davenport Andrew
Published: April 2018

Marxism’s critique of International Political Theory (IPT) is not of specific themes but of how the latter understands international politics generally. Where IPT typically focuses on ethical and normative issues and problems of justice, Marxism has always given priority to capitalism and class, which it regards as fundamental to modern politics and as inadequately recognized within IPT. Marxism therefore rejects the view of the international as a shared “societal” space open to negotiation and compromise, and instead emphasizes irreconcilable conflict and exploitation. Through its leading schools of Imperialism, World Systems Theory, and Neo-Gramscian theory, Marxism has provided accounts of international politics that strongly contrast with the concerns of IPT. However, a potentially more far-reaching line of critique, drawing upon Marx’s analysis of liberal forms, remains undeveloped because Marxism has not yet clarified the status of the international within its theoretical space.
Critical International Political Theory
Authors: Jurkevics Anna , Benhabib Seyla
Published: April 2018

This chapter assesses debates within the field of Critical Theory, broadly conceived, on central themes of international politics, including sovereignty, human rights, and American hegemony. After the Cold War, many critical theorists followed Jürgen Habermas’s shift in focus from domestic politics to the “post-national constellation.” We explore Habermasian critiques of Westphalian sovereignty and the accompanying call for cosmopolitan solutions to crises of human rights and migration. We also consider the critical re-evaluations of sovereignty that arose following 9/11 in response to the American “war on terror.” Finally, we turn to the recent return to sovereignty within Critical Theory. The most convincing new approaches call for a nuanced evaluation of the relationship between sovereignty and cosmopolitanism in order to rethink the institutional configuration of a world order that is already decidedly post-national.
Real-World Global Egalitarianism
Authors: Moellendorf Darrel
Published: April 2018

This chapter notes that normative International Political Theory (IPT) developed over the past several decades in response to political, social, and economic events. These included the globalization of trade and finance, the increasing credibility of human-rights norms in foreign policy, and a growing awareness of a global ecological crisis. The emergence of normative IPT was not simply an effort to understand these events, but an attempt to offer accounts of what the responses to them should be. Normative IPT, then, was originally doubly responsive to the real world. Additionally, this chapter argues that there is a plausible account of global egalitarianism, which takes the justification of principles of egalitarian justice to depend crucially on features of the social and economic world. The account of global egalitarianism applies to the current circumstances in part because of features of those circumstances.
Moral Responsibility—and Luck?—in International Politics
Authors: Erskine Toni
Published: April 2018

Unlike considerations of agency and structure, the role of luck in attributions of moral responsibility in international politics has been sorely neglected. This chapter aims to redress this neglect by exploring the idea of “moral luck,” a purposely paradoxical concept introduced by Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel, in relation to institutional agents as the objects of moral responsibility judgements. Specifically, this chapter suggests that luck can affect the nature of agents’ choices, the consequences of their actions, and, perhaps most profoundly, their very character and the way they define themselves, thereby infusing our ethical analyses of practical problems ranging from climate change to protecting vulnerable populations from mass atrocity. The crucial question that accompanies this proposal is whether acknowledging the influence of luck threatens to shift the ground upon which our evaluations of moral responsibility rest, or, instead, simply affords a more nuanced and accurate account of the existing landscape.
Statistics and International Security
Authors: Lauretig Adam M. , Braumoeller Bear F.
Published: April 2018

There is a rich legacy of quantitative work in Security Studies, with scholars using regression to make a variety of discoveries about questions of interest. Unfortunately, much of this work pays scant attention to the differences among description, causation, and prediction. This chapter draws on existing work in political science, economics, and statistics to illustrate the distinctions among these approaches and the models and assumptions appropriate for each. The chapter closes with the hope that better quantitative research will lead to improvements in the field of international security and bring everyday methods more in line with the traditions of strong theorizing and effective data-gathering. It also provides resources for the reader to further explore the ideas presented in the chapter.
Methods in Constructivist Approaches
Authors: Checkel Jeff
Published: April 2018

Constructivists employ a characteristic set of mainly qualitative methods in their work on international security. Over time, they have come—theoretically—to focus centrally on process; this has put a premium on methods that can capture and measure it. In early constructivist work, methods were not a high priority—but this has changed for the better. Unfortunately for these scholars, the social science world around them has not stood still. A revolution in qualitative methods means that constructivist students of international security will—methodologically—need in the future “to run harder simply to stay in place.”
Trends in Conflict
Authors: Clauset Aaron , Gleditsch Kristian Skrede
Published: April 2018

Contending arguments on the causes of war often have divergent implications for trends and the possibility for change. Many argue that we observe a decline in conflict and violence, contrary to traditional conceptions of warfare as a fundamentally inescapable problem. Critics challenge whether conflict is in decline, our ability to make inferences about trends from existing data, and to what extent we can learn from the past about the present and the future. We provide a non-technical overview of the contending positions and the concepts necessary to understand the current debate. We review trends in common measures such as the number of conflicts and severity of wars, plausible models for distributions and the timing of conflicts, as well as the role of theory and assessing uncertainty. We conclude with some thoughts on how to advance research on trends in conflict and how to assess change at particular points in history.
Environmental Security
Authors: Busby Joshua
Published: April 2018

This chapter assesses the connections between the environment and security by reviewing two waves of scholarship, the first mostly qualitative literature from the 1990s on the general links between environmental problems and conflict and the second generation of scholarship from the 2000s, much of it quantitative, on climate change and security. In the process, the chapter interrogates the meaning of the terms “the environment” and “security,” including efforts to broaden the meaning of security to include concepts such as human security. Where the earlier literature provided important insights on the causal mechanisms linking environmental change and conflict, it was limited in its generalizability and specification of scope conditions. The second generation of climate security research has more generalizability but has yet to tease out the causal pathways between climate change-related processes and security outcomes.
Trajectories for Future Cybersecurity Research
Authors: Deibert Ronald
Published: April 2018

Cybersecurity is one of the most highly contested and yet important topics. How global cyberspace is secured, by whom, and for what purpose touches upon some of the most basic of political questions. This chapter provides a survey of some of the major topics around cybersecurity and highlights some of the outstanding questions or areas for further research. The survey is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather illustrative of some of the core international political questions where evidence-based and theoretically informed social science research will be sorely needed. Cybersecurity researchers will need to explore methods that are not typically within the social science toolkit: techniques drawn from computer science, engineering, data analysis, and software development. Doing so will require bridging disciplinary divides that are not easily overcome—a challenge that may, in reality, take generations to overcome.
The Politics of National Security
Authors: Krebs Ronald R.
Published: April 2018

Existing explanations of national security policy are overwhelmingly structuralist in orientation. They are thus blind to, and even shunt aside, the politics of national security. This chapter brings politics back in via the often-ignored, yet crucial, process of mobilization and its constituent processes, notably legitimation and coalition management. Drawing on existing rationalist and constructivist scholarship, it explores the techniques and tools that politicians employ to fix the contours of debate, construct the policy menu, legitimate chosen policy, and forge and sustain supportive elite coalitions. In keeping with this Handbook’s focus on the future, the chapter also examines how three contemporary developments—the rise of the transnational, the information and communications revolution, and the fragmentation of authority and community—are complicating mobilization, and, from this vantage point, it briefly advances the case for a policy rooted in pragmatism.
The UN Security Council
Authors: Hurd Ian
Published: April 2018

The Security Council is the leading body on international peace and security in the United Nations system. Its authority to identify and respond to breaches of international peace puts it in a position of legal authority over governments. This contradicts the popular image of an anarchic international system. Its practical power, by contrast, is animated by the desires of the great powers. A full view of its role in international security combines these legal and practical elements. The Council amplifies the power of its strongest members and legitimizes their collective global rule. When they share a common interest, the Council helps them enact it in the world; when they do not, it largely goes dormant. Forged at the intersection of international law and international politics, the Council oscillates between global hegemon and marginal player.
Civil–Military Relations
Authors: Cohn Lindsay , Coletta Damon , Feaver Peter
Published: April 2018

This chapter summarizes the theoretical basis for the study of civil–military relations and then discusses the military as a political actor in the United States, other consolidated democracies, post-communist and other formerly single-party states, and developing states. The maintenance of healthy civil–military relations depends strongly on the government’s overall legitimacy, which can be threatened by changing technology, societal fragmentation, or government weakness and incompetence. The domestic civil–military relationship can affect international security dynamics through its effects on domestic regime stability and ability to reduce ungoverned spaces, foreign policy decision-making, and relative military capability.
Household Consumption of Artificial Light at Pompeii
Authors: Griffiths David G.
Published: April 2018

The ability to engage in nocturnal household activities influences human interactions with each other and the urban environment. The illumination of Pompeian households, through both natural and artificial means, had an impact on architectural proportions, decoration, and the organization and use of space. The Roman period witnessed dramatic increases in the scale of consumption for all types of goods and services throughout the empire. This was also the case for the consumption of artificial light, where there is abundant evidence for lighting devices, especially from Pompeian households, but also for the supply of lamp fuel through the presence of olive oil amphora at most Roman sites throughout the Mediterranean. This chapter presents the contextual analysis of the use of artificial light at ten households in Pompeii in 79 ce.
Hierarchical and Non-Hierarchical Coordination
Authors: Risse Thomas
Published: April 2018

This chapter focuses on hierarchical and non-hierarchical (including deliberative) governance modes in areas of limited statehood (i.e. on the ‘how’ of governance). Actorhood and modes of governance are orthogonal to each other. State actors are involved in non-hierarchical governance and non-state actors—including violent ones—sometimes exercise hierarchical control over people and territories. The effectiveness and problem-solving capacity of these modes of governance should not be underestimated. ‘New’ modes of governance appear to be more effective on average than hierarchical governance, particularly when the latter has to rely on force and coercion. Deliberative bodies, such as non-state justice institutions, can be rather effective in solving disputes and restoring peace within communities. Both hierarchical and non-hierarchical modes depend on two crucial conditions for their effectiveness, namely the social acceptance (legitimacy) of the governors and/or the governance institutions, on the one hand, and the institutional design of the governance arrangements, on the other.
Brokerage, Intermediation, Translation
Authors: Hönke Jana , Müller Markus-Michael
Published: April 2018

This chapter offers an integrative reading of the dispersed debates on brokerage, intermediation, and translation as a mode of governance in areas of limited statehood (ALS). It highlights the contribution as well as shortcomings of actor-centred approaches to brokerage and their focus on power-maximizing actors, while stressing the important insights of translation approaches. In addition, the chapter brings the dominant, more micro-centred research on brokerage in local and domestic governance into dialogue with work on the often neglected transnational dimension of brokerage. It is argued that, far from being a phenomenon exclusively located in ALS, brokerage is at work, and shapes the very global policies directed at ALS, and the international organizations and institutions that produce them.
Social Trust
Authors: Draude Anke , Hölck Lasse , Stolle Dietlind
Published: April 2018

This chapter investigates the relevance of social trust for governance in areas of limited statehood (ALS), especially to compensate for the lack of third-party enforcement. To capture the forms of trust in a variety of societies from small-scale communities to larger social entities, we differentiate between personalized, particularized, and generalized trust. Empirical and theoretical literature from different disciplines suggests that trust facilitates social cooperation and enables collective action at all levels. While particularized trust tends to have exclusionary effects though, and generalized trust is almost absent in ALS, inclusive forms of trust might emerge from bridging collective identities and everyday experiences of impartiality and fairness. We conclude that governance initiatives can help spreading trust, particularly by promoting universal values through service-providing institutions like schools and hospitals. Existing trust relations, in turn, can serve as facilitators of effective and legitimate governance in ALS.
Security
Authors: Schröder Ursula
Published: April 2018

This chapter introduces crucial security actors and governance constellations in areas of limited statehood (ALS). Advancing an understanding of security governance that acknowledges the diversity of security provision, the chapter brings together research that goes beyond primarily state-centric analyses of security in ALS. It shows that in areas where the state is only one actor among many, security governance is characterized by complex actor constellations with varying membership and relationships to the state. To make its point, the chapter introduces prominent conceptualizations of security and discusses their ability to ‘travel to’ the analysis of complex security governance constellations in ALS. The chapter then introduces core security actors and governance modes, before differentiating between internationalized forms of security governance, grass-roots security provision, and negotiated systems of state and non-state security governance. A final section presents a set of policy implications that follow from the analysis.
Foreign Aid
Authors: Dreher Axel , Lang Valentin F. , Ziaja Sebastian
Published: April 2018

This chapter reviews the aid effectiveness literature to assess whether foreign aid given to areas of limited statehood (ALS) can be expected to promote economic and social outcomes in the recipient country. It distinguishes between different types of aid, motives for granting it, recipient country policies and characteristics, and the modalities by which aid is delivered, as these factors have been argued to influence its effectiveness. This chapter then compares these properties between recipients most affected by limited statehood and those least affected. This allows us to assess the relative effectiveness of aid in countries with ALS. We conclude that on average aid given there is less likely to be effective than elsewhere. As countries with ALS, however, constitute a heterogeneous group, the specifics of individual countries and the types of aid given matter.
Education
Authors: Ellersiek Anne
Published: April 2018

Education is essential for economic and human development. The effectiveness of education governance, however, is severely inhibited by the condition of (limited) statehood. This chapter sets out to present an overview of the specific characteristics that define education governance, how its effectiveness is assessed, who the main actors are and how they and their interplay strengthens or inhibits education effectiveness in areas of limited statehood (ALS). Empirically, the chapter mainly draws upon sub-Saharan Africa as a region that is prone to exhibit ALS. After providing an overview of empirical findings on the effectiveness of the activities of state and non-state actors—and their joint activities—in ALS, the chapter concludes by formulating policy recommendations for increasing education effectiveness under conditions of limited statehood.
Policy
Authors: Brozus Lars , Jetzlsperger Christian , Walter-Drop Gregor
Published: April 2018

The idea that a competent state should be the dominant model of organization for political communities has always been at odds with the reality of ineffective governments in many parts of the world. With the end of the bipolar confrontation, the strategic interest in keeping these ‘fragile states’ alive significantly declined while the onset of globalization processes dramatically increased interdependence and interconnectedness. Thus, limited statehood (or ‘state fragility’) became associated with global security threats such as international terrorism and organized crime. The international interventions in ex-Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan led to the emergence of ‘state-building’ to solve these problems. The rather mixed results of state-building efforts resulted in a more modest concept of ‘stabilization’ that focuses on immediate conflict management and preventing institutional failure. Building on the various theoretical and empirical developments, we suggest ‘governance-building’ as an alternative concept to guide policy vis-a-vis areas of limited statehood.
Measuring Governance and Limited Statehood
Authors: Stollenwerk Eric
Published: April 2018

Statehood and governance are core concepts in the political and social sciences. However, most available quantitative data on statehood and governance lack reliability and validity, suffers from methodological nationalism, and fails to include the governance contributions of external or non-state actors. The chapter argues that research on governance in areas of limited statehood is in need of a subnational turn in data generation and has to develop second-generation indicators, which allow for more differentiated analyses of statehood and governance. This contribution critically discusses existing data and approaches of measuring statehood and governance. Furthermore, through empirical examples, the chapter suggests possibilities for subnational measurements of statehood and governance. It here underlines empirically that stark differences between citizens’ perceptions of governance and actual governance provision exist, and that the governance contributions by external and non-state actors have to be considered. It concludes with quality criteria for future data collection efforts.
Affective Temperaments
Authors: Raballo Andrea , Pelizza Lorenzo
Published: April 2018

This chapter discusses the phenomenology of affective temperaments as well as their subjective nuances and potential pathogenetic trajectories. It first considers the notion that different kinds of temperament are constitutionally based affective-behavioral dispositions, tracing it back to Hippocratic medicine with the theory of the four humors. It then explains how the modern concept of affective temperaments has been operationalized in a clinical descriptive framework. In particular, it explores the works of Emil Kraepelin, Ernst Kretschmer, and Hubertus Tellenbach on affective psychoses, human emotions, and Typus Melancholicus (TM), respectively. The chapter also examines the pathogenic role of TM as a specific personality structure, how despair intervenes in the transition from the pre-melancholic to the melancholic phase, and the status of temperaments within the context of affective phenomenology.
Psychopathology and Law
Authors: Owen Gareth S.
Published: April 2018

In this chapter, the relationship between psychopathology and law is examined by focusing on decision-making capacity (or competence). Jaspers’s methodological pluralism and an approach to psychopathology drawing upon phenomenology as a philosophical, qualitative discipline inform the interdisciplinary approach taken in the chapter. Starting with a short introduction to the legal components of valid consent, it then focuses on decision-making capacity (DMC) in the context of frontal brain injury, schizophrenia, and depression. DMC is examined using clinical epidemiological methods (in Jaspers’s mode of explanation) and using clinical phenomenological methods (Jaspers’s mode of understanding). It is argued that this interdisciplinary approach can further knowledge of the relevant decision-making abilities and inabilities and put us in a better position to implement strategies for DMC assessment in practice.
Pierre Bourdieu and the Study of Religion
Authors: Rey Terry
Published: April 2018

Although Pierre Bourdieu ranks among the most influential social theorists of all time, scholars of religion have generally been reluctant to employ his work, surely in part because he was an avowed materialist who harbored some measure of disdain for religion and spirituality, which he nonetheless thought to be important “social facts.” Over the last 20 years or so, however, this has been changing, with an increasing number of scholars fruitfully mining Bourdieu’s extraordinary oeuvre to orient their studies of religion, arguably one of the most important of all social forces. This chapter provides a summary of Bourdieu’s own theorization of religion, followed by a review of seven recent books that expertly engage Bourdieu in the study of various forms of religion, toward demonstrating Bourdieu’s utility and limitations for religious studies and related fields.
Bourdieu’s International Circulation
Authors: Santoro Marco , Gallelli Andrea , Grüning Barbara
Published: April 2018

An influential figure in the French intellectual field since the 1960s, Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) is increasingly influential also—and probably mainly—on a global scale. In fact, the circulation of Bourdieu’s ideas and concepts outside of France greatly exceeds their transatlantic importation, both temporally and spatially. His works circulated in different parts of “old Europe” well before their renown in the United States, especially in countries geographically, historically, and culturally close to France, including Spain, Germany, and Italy. The patterns of transfer in these countries—each with its own intellectual tradition and academic organization—have been varied, both temporally and in intellectual content, following paths that are unpredictable and often surprising in many respects, with consequences in terms of status and identity of the transferred ideas equally diversified and not immediately understandable.
Correspondence Analysis and Bourdieu’s Approach to Statistics
Authors: Duval Julien
Published: April 2018

Chapter abstract Since the mid-1970s, Bourdieu used multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) on a regular basis in order to construct fields and social spaces. After having been long neglected, this part of his work has spurred a new interest for some years. This chapter aims to highlight the very original and rich thought that lies behind Bourdieu’s use of MCA, but which can lead to misunderstandings. The chapter emphasizes three main points: the specific (French) sociological tradition in which Bourdieu’s statistical practices were rooted; the importance of the stage that consists in establishing the data to construct social spaces in an adequate way; and the dialectic relation between the thinking in terms of field and the use of MCA.
A Concise Genealogy and Anatomy of Habitus
Authors: Wacquant Loïc
Published: April 2018

Chapter abstract The concept of habitus plays a central role in Bourdieu’s dispositional theory of action, itself part of his lifelong effort to develop a science of practice and a correlative critique of domination. Retracing the concept’s philosophical origins and its early uses by Bourdieu clears up four recurrent misunderstandings about the concept: first, habitus is never the replica of a single social structure, but a multilayered and dynamic set of schemata that records, stores, and prolongs the influence of diverse environments successively traversed during one’s existence; second, habitus is not necessarily coherent and unified, but displays varying degrees of integration and tension; third, habitus is no less suited to analyzing crisis and change than cohesion and perpetuation; fourth, habitus is not a self-sufficient mechanism for the generation of action—like a spring, it needs an external trigger—and cannot be considered in isolation from the social worlds in which it operates.
The Relevance of Bourdieu’s Concepts for Studying the Intersections of Poverty, Race, and Culture
Authors: Woodward Kerry
Published: April 2018

Chapter abstract The connection between poverty and culture has long been a contentious one in the sociological literature. While distancing itself from the culture of poverty theory of the past, recent scholarship seeks to provide a deeper analysis of the relationship between structure and culture and how this relates to poverty. This chapter argues that the work of Pierre Bourdieu—and the significant body of literature that has built upon his key theories and concepts—offers many of the tools necessary to better understand the connections between poverty, race, and culture that plague the US social landscape and appear as growing problems throughout Europe as well. The chapter concludes by suggesting areas for further theoretical development and discussing a few empirical problems that may be illuminated through extensions of Bourdieu’s concepts.
Transnational Social Fields
Authors: Kauppi Nikko
Published: April 2018

This chapter excavates Bourdieu’s theoretical insights concerning political sociology to develop a theory of transnational structuration processes. The early Bourdieu implicitly imagined the state as a nationally bounded actor. Only later in his career did he begin to grapple with issues such as globalization, transnationalism, and neoliberalism; and it is this later germ of ideas that this chapter develops. Transnational social fields, this chapter argues, are not reducible to institutional or organizational structures. They require a more holistic analysis of institutions and their underpinnings. To provide an example of how Bourdieu’s political sociology can be extended to transnational spaces, this chapter considers the case of the European Parliament.
The Postauricular Reflex as a Measure of Attention and Positive Emotion
Authors: Benning Stephen D.
Published: April 2018

The postauricular reflex is a muscular reaction that occurs behind the ear in response to short, abrupt sounds. Its magnitude increases with louder eliciting sounds, rotating the eyes in the direction of the eliciting sound, and flexing the head forward. The reflex exhibits prepulse inhibition, especially during attention to complex foreground stimuli. Its magnitude is larger (or potentiated) during pleasant than during neutral pictures, sounds, and videos that are highly arousing. This pattern is particularly evident for erotic, food, and nurturant scenes, suggesting it assesses more than just appetitive processing. This reflex’s potentiation varies across development; positively correlates with personality traits associated with well-being; and negatively correlates with such psychopathologies as depression, schizophrenia, and opioid dependence. It appears distinct from and uncorrelated with the startle blink reflex. New data suggest that activity in left frontal areas generates postauricular reflex potentiation during pleasant versus neutral pictures.
Immediate Effects of a Single Session of Motor Skill Training on the Lumbar Movement Pattern During a Functional Activity in People With Low Back Pain: A Repeated-Measures Study
Authors: Marich Andrej V , Lanier Vanessa M , Salsich Gretchen B , Lang Catherine E , Van Dillen Linda R
Published: April 2018

Background

People with low back pain (LBP) may display an altered lumbar movement pattern of early lumbar motion compared to people with healthy backs. Modifying this movement pattern during a clinical test decreases pain. It is unknown whether similar effects would be seen during a functional activity.

Objective

The objective of this study was to examine the lumbar movement patterns before and after motor skill training, effects on pain, and characteristics that influenced the ability to modify movement patterns.

Design

The design consisted of a repeated-measures study examining early-phase lumbar excursion in people with LBP during a functional activity test.

Methods

Twenty-six people with chronic LBP received motor skill training, and 16 people with healthy backs were recruited as a reference standard. Twenty minutes of motor skill training to decrease early-phase lumbar excursion during the performance of a functional activity were used as a treatment intervention. Early-phase lumbar excursion was measured before and after training. Participants verbally reported increased pain, decreased pain, or no change in pain during performance of the functional activity test movement in relation to their baseline pain. The characteristics of people with LBP that influenced the ability to decrease early-phase lumbar excursion were examined.

Results

People with LBP displayed greater early-phase lumbar excursion before training than people with healthy backs (LBP: mean = 11.2°, 95% CI = 9.3°–13.1°; healthy backs: mean = 7.1°, 95% CI = 5.8°–8.4°). Following training, the LBP group showed a decrease in the amount of early-phase lumbar excursion (mean change = 4.1°, 95% CI = 2.4°–5.8°); 91% of people with LBP reported that their pain decreased from baseline following training. The longer the duration of LBP (β = − 0.22) and the more early-phase lumbar excursion before training (β = − 0.82), the greater the change in early-phase lumbar excursion following training.

Limitations

The long-term implications of modifying the movement pattern and whether the decrease in pain attained was clinically significant are unknown.

Conclusions

People with LBP were able to modify their lumbar movement pattern and decrease their pain with the movement pattern within a single session of motor skill training.
Bibliometric analysis of the trends of Zika related research from 2015 to 2017
Authors: Gwon Yong-Dae , Evander Magnus
Published: April 2018

Background

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne disease discovered in 1947, which did not cause public concern for the next 68 years. However, when ZIKV emerged in Brazil 2015 the attention increased rapidly. The announcement by Brazilian authorities, that ZIKV infection was associated with severe congenital disease e.g. microcephaly, surged public interest. Because of the accumulation of evidence that showed the magnitude of the ZIKV outbreak in the Americas, the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern February 1, 2016.

Results

During 2015-2017, we witnessed one of the most active and cooperated research responses against an emerging disease. To investigate the impact of ZIKV research during those years we decided to perform a bibliometric analysis of ZIKV research. The search for research articles on ZIKV was performed by bibliometric analysis from the scientific databases PubMed and Scopus. We found that the number of ZIKV related publications increased 38-41 times in 2016-2017 compared to 2015. During the three years there was a temporal shift in ZIKV research trends, from reports of ZIKV case studies and diagnostic methods, to development of ZIKV prevention and treatment. In addition, the number of countries involved in ZIKV research increased from 25 in 2015 to 111 in 2016 and 139 in the following year, showing that ZIKV research became global during three years.

Conclusions

The results from our study highlighted the importance of gathering public interest to global health issues, and how it can act as a powerful catalyzer to trigger the research field. However, despite the progress in ZIKV research, many questions remain to be addressed to accelerate the development of effective ZIKV countermeasures. Nevertheless, as long as we remember the importance of support and collaboration that we have experienced during the multidisciplinary effort against the current ZIKV outbreak, we will have an idea on how to handle the next inevitable and yet unknown infectious disease threat.
Proteomic and Evolutionary Analyses of Sperm Activation Identify Uncharacterized Genes inCaenorhabditisNematodes
Authors: Kasimatis Katja R. , Moerdyk-Schauwecker Megan J. , Timmermeyer Nadine , Phillips Patrick C.
Published: April 2018

Background

Nematode sperm have unique and highly diverged morphology and molecular biology. In particular, nematode sperm contain subcellular vesicles known as membranous organelles that are necessary for male fertility, yet play a still unknown role in overall sperm function. Here we take a novel proteomic approach to characterize the functional protein complement of membranous organelles in twoCaenorhabditisspecies:C. elegansandC. remanei.

Results

We identify distinct protein compositions between membranous organelles and the activated sperm body. Two particularly interesting and undescribed gene families—the Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group D and the here designated Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group F—localize to the membranous organelle. Both multigene families are nematode-specific and exhibit patterns of conserved evolution specific to theCaenorhabditisclade. These data suggest gene family dynamics may be a more prevalent mode of evolution than sequence divergence within sperm. Using a CRISPR-based knock-out of the NSPF gene family, we find no evidence of a male fertility effect of these genes, despite their high protein abundance within the membranous organelles.

Conclusions

Our study identifies key components of this unique subcellular sperm component and establishes a path toward revealing their underlying role in reproduction.
Influence of pathway topology and functional class on the molecular evolution of human metabolic genes
Authors: Montanucci Ludovica , Laayouni Hafid , Dobón Begoña , Keys Kevin L. , Bertranpetit Jaume , Peretó Juli
Published: April 2018

Metabolic networks comprise thousands of enzymatic reactions functioning in a controlled manner and have been shaped by natural selection. Thanks to the genome data, the footprints of adaptive (positive) selection are detectable, and the strength of purifying selection can be measured. This has made possible to know where, in the metabolic network, adaptive selection has acted and where purifying selection is more or less strong and efficient. We have carried out a comprehensive molecular evolutionary study of all the genes involved in the human metabolism. We investigated the type and strength of the selective pressures that acted on the enzyme-coding genes belonging to metabolic pathways during the divergence of primates and rodents. Then, we related those selective pressures to the functional and topological characteristics of the pathways. We have used DNA sequences of all enzymes (956) of the metabolic pathways comprised in the HumanCyc database, using genome data for humans and five other mammalian species.

We have found that the evolution of metabolic genes is primarily constrained by the layer of the metabolism in which the genes participate: while genes encoding enzymes of the inner core of metabolism are much conserved, those encoding enzymes participating in the outer layer, mediating the interaction with the environment, are evolutionarily less constrained and more plastic, having experienced faster functional evolution. Genes that have been targeted by adaptive selection are endowed by higher out-degree centralities than non-adaptive genes, while genes with high in-degree centralities are under stronger purifying selection. When the position along the pathway is considered, a funnel-like distribution of the strength of the purifying selection is found. Genes at bottom positions are highly preserved by purifying selection, whereas genes at top positions, catalyzing the first steps, are open to evolutionary changes.

These results show how functional and topological characteristics of metabolic pathways contribute to shape the patterns of evolutionary pressures driven by natural selection and how pathway network structure matters in the evolutionary process that shapes the evolution of the system.
Post-hoc analyses of Surrogate Markers of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in a Digitally-Supported Continuous Care Intervention: An Open Label, Non-Randomized, Controlled Study
Authors: Vilar-Gomez Eduardo , Athinarayanan Shaminie J. , AdamS Rebecca N. , Hallberg Sarah J. , Bhanpuri Nasir H. , McKenzie Amy L. , Campbell Wayne W. , McCarter James P. , Phinney Stephen D. , Volek Jeff S. , Chalasani Naga
Published: April 2018

Objective

One-year of comprehensive continuous care intervention (CCI) through nutritional ketosis improves HbA1c, body weight and liver enzymes among type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. Here, we report the effect of the CCI on surrogate scores of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis.

Methods

This was a non-randomized longitudinal study, including adults with T2D who were self-enrolled to the CCI (n=262) or to receive usual care (UC, n=87) during one year. A NAFLD liver fat score [N-LFS] > −0.640 defined the presence of fatty liver. A NAFLD fibrosis score [NFS] of > 0.675 identified subjects with advanced fibrosis. Changes in N-LFS and NFS at one year were the main endpoints.

Results

At baseline, NAFLD was present in 95% of patients in the CCI and 90% of patients in the UC. At one year, weight loss of > 5% was achieved in 79% of patients in the CCI vs. 19% of patients in UC (P<0.001). N-LFS mean score was reduced in the CCI group (−1.95±0.22, P<0.001) whereas it was not changed in the UC (0.47±0.41, P=0.26) (CCI vs. UC, P<0.001). NFS was reduced in the CCI group (−0.65±0.06, P<0.001) compared with UC (0.26±0.11, P=0.02) (P<0.001 between two groups). In the CCI group, the percentage of individuals with a low probability of advanced fibrosis increased from 18% at baseline to 33% at 1 year (P<0.001).

Conclusions

One year of a digitally-supported CCI significantly improved surrogates of NAFLD and advanced fibrosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

DATA SHARING

Data sets and statistical code used for the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Article Summary Strengths and limitations of this study

This study highlights the beneficial effect of the CCI on NAFLD in high risk patients with T2D

This study also identifies positive associations between glycemic improvements and improvements in ALT levels

The assessment of resolution of steatosis and fibrosis is limited by the sensitivity and specificity of the non-invasive markers used in the study

The patients were restricted in their carbohydrate intake and monitored for their nutritional ketosis state, but dietary energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intakes were not assessed.
Evolution of Portulacineae marked by gene tree conflict and gene family expansion associated with adaptation to harsh environments
Authors: Wang Ning , Yang Ya , Moore Michael J. , Brockington Samuel F. , Walker Joseph F. , Brown Joseph W , Liang Bin , Feng Tao , Edwards Caroline , Mikenas Jessica , Olivieri Julia , Hutchison Vera , Timoneda Alfonso , Stoughton Tommy , Puente Raúl , Majure Lucas C. , Eggli Urs , Smith Stephen A.
Published: April 2018

Several plant lineages have evolved adaptations that allow survival in extreme and harsh environments including many within the plant clade Portulacineae (Caryophyllales) such as the Cactaceae, Didiereaceae of Madagascar, and high altitude Montiaceae. Here, using newly generated transcriptomic data, we reconstructed the phylogeny of Portulacineae and examine potential correlates between molecular evolution within this clade and adaptation to harsh environments. Our phylogenetic results were largely congruent with previous analyses, but we identified several early diverging nodes characterized by extensive gene tree conflict. For particularly contentious nodes, we presented detailed information about the phylogenetic signal for alternative relationships. We also analyzed the frequency of gene duplications, confirmed previously identified whole genome duplications (WGD), and identified a previously unidentified WGD event within the Didiereaceae. We found that the WGD events were typically associated with shifts in climatic niche and did not find a direct association with WGDs and diversification rate shifts. Diversification shifts occurred within the Portulacaceae, Cactaceae, and Anacampserotaceae, and while these did not experience WGDs, the Cactaceae experienced extensive gene duplications. We examined gene family expansion and molecular evolutionary patterns with a focus on genes associated with environmental stress responses and found evidence for significant gene family expansion in genes with stress adaptation and clades found in extreme environments. These results provide important directions for further and deeper examination of the potential links between molecular evolutionary patterns and adaptation to harsh environments.
Epigenomic and functional dynamics of human bone marrow myeloid differentiation to mature blood neutrophils
Authors: Grassi Luigi , Pourfarzad Farzin , Ullrich Sebastian , Merkel Angelika , Were Felipe , Pau Enrique Carrillo de Santa , Yi Guoqiang , Hiemstra Ida H , Tool Anton TJ , Mul Erik , Perner Juliane , Janssen-Megens Eva , Berentsen Kim , Kerstens Hinri , Habibi Ehsan , Gut Marta , Yaspo Marie Laure , Linser Matthias , Lowy Ernesto , Datta Avik , Clarke Laura , Flicek Paul , Vingron Martin , Roos Dirk , Berg Timo K van den , Heath Simon , Rico Daniel , Frontini Mattia , Kostadima Myrto , Gut Ivo , Valencia Alfonso , Ouwehand Willem H , Stunnenberg Hendrik G , Martens Joost HA , Kuijpers Taco W
Published: April 2018

Neutrophils are short-lived blood cells that play a critical role in host defense against infections. To better comprehend neutrophil functions and their regulation, we provide a complete epigenetic and functional overview of their differentiation stages from bone marrow-residing progenitors to mature circulating cells. Integration of epigenetic and transcriptome dynamics reveals an enforced regulation of differentiation, through cellular functions such as: release of proteases, respiratory burst, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. We observe an early establishment of the cytotoxic capability, whilst the signaling components that activate antimicrobial mechanisms are transcribed at later stages, outside the bone marrow, thus preventing toxic effects in the bone marrow niche. Altogether, these data reveal how the developmental dynamics of the epigenetic landscape orchestrate the daily production of large number of neutrophils required for innate host defense and provide a comprehensive overview of the epigenomes of differentiating human neutrophils.

Key points

Dynamic acetylation enforces human neutrophil progenitor differentiation.

Neutrophils cytotoxic capability is established early at the (pro)myelocyte stage.

Coordinated signaling component expression prevents unwanted toxic effects to the bone marrow niche.