bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patterns of long-term conditions in older age and subsequent mortality: a national study of inequalities in health
Authors: de Cock T Paul , Rosato Michael , Ferry Finola , Curran Emma , Leavey Gerard
Published: October 2019

Background

Multiple long-term health conditions in older people are associated with increased mortality. The study aims to identify patterns of long-term health in a national ageing population using a census-based self-reported indicator of long-term health conditions. We assessed associations with subsequent mortality and socio-economic and demographic risk factors.

Methods

Using linked administrative data from the Northern Ireland Mortality Study, we assessed the presence of latent classes of morbidity in self-reported data on 11 long-term health conditions in a population aged 65 or more (N = 244 349). These classes were associated with demographic and socio-economic predictors using multi-nomial logistic regression. In a 3.75-year follow-up, all-cause and cause-specific mortality were regressed on morbidity patterns.

Results

Four latent classes of long-term ill-health conditions were derived, and labelled: ‘low impairment’; ‘pain/mobility’; ‘cognitive/mental’; ‘sensory impairment’. Groupings reflecting higher levels of long-term ill-health were associated with class-specific increases in all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Strongest effects were found for the ‘cognitive/mental’ group, which predicted all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.96: 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.83, 3.10) as well as some cause-specific mortality (i.e. dementia-related death: HR = 10.78: 95% CI = 9.39, 12.15). Class membership was predicted by a range of socio-demographic factors. Lower socio-economic status was associated with poorer health.

Conclusion

Results indicate that long-term ill-health clusters in specific patterns, which are both predicted by socio-demographic factors and are themselves predictive of mortality in the elderly. The syndromic nature of long-term ill-health and functioning in ageing populations has implications for healthcare planning and public health policy in older populations.
Bringing the commercial determinants of health out of the shadows: a review of how the commercial determinants are represented in conceptual frameworks
Authors: Maani Nason , Collin Jeff , Friel Sharon , Gilmore Anna B , McCambridge Jim , Robertson Lindsay , Petticrew Mark P
Published: October 2019

Background

The term ‘commercial determinants of health’ (CDOH) is increasingly focussing attention upon the role of tobacco, alcohol and food and beverage companies and others—as important drivers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, the CDOH do not seem to be clearly represented in the most common social determinants of health (SDOH) frameworks. We review a wide range of existing frameworks of the determinants of health to determine whether and how commercial determinants are incorporated into current SDOH thinking.

Methods

We searched for papers and non-academic reports published in English since 2000 describing influences on population health outcomes. We included documents with a formal conceptual framework or diagram, showing the integration of the different determinants.

Results

Forty-eight framework documents were identified. Only one explicitly included the CDOH in a conceptual diagram. Ten papers discussed the commercial determinants in some form in the text only and fourteen described negative impacts of commercial determinants in the text. Twelve discussed positive roles for the private sector in producing harmful commodities. Overall, descriptions of commercial determinants are frequently understated, not made explicit, or simply missing. The role of commercial actors as vectors of NCDs is largely absent or invisible in many of the most influential conceptual diagrams.

Conclusions

Our current public health models may risk framing public health problems and solutions in ways that obscure the role that the private sector, in particular large transnational companies, play in shaping the broader environment and individual behaviours, and thus population health outcomes.
Priming of microcystin degradation in carbon-amended membrane biofilm communities is promoted by oxygen-limited conditions
Authors: Silva Marisa O D , Pernthaler Jakob
Published: October 2019

Microbial biofilms are an important element of gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration systems for decentralized drinking water production. Mature biofilms fed with biomass from the toxic cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa efficiently remove the cyanotoxin microcystin (MC). MC degradation can be ‘primed’ by prior addition of biomass from a non-toxic M. aeruginosa strain. Increased proportions of bacteria with an anaerobic metabolism in M. aeruginosa-fed biofilms suggest that this ‘priming’ could be due to higher productivity and the resulting changes in habitat conditions. We, therefore, investigated GDM systems amended with the biomass of toxic (WT) or non-toxic (MUT) M. aeruginosa strains, of diatoms (DT), or with starch solution (ST). After 25 days, these treatments were changed to receiving toxic cyanobacterial biomass. MC degradation established significantly more rapidly in MUT and ST than in DT. Oxygen measurements suggested that this was due to oxygen-limited conditions in MUT and ST already prevailing before addition of MC-containing biomass. Moreover, the microbial communities in the initial ST biofilms featured high proportions of facultative anaerobic taxa, whereas aerobes dominated in DT biofilms. Thus, the ‘priming’ of MC degradation in mature GDM biofilms seems to be related to the prior establishment of oxygen-limited conditions mediated by higher productivity.
Taylor series expansion of prismatic gravitational field
Authors: Fukushima Toshio
Published: October 2019

The exact analytical formulae to compute the gravitational field of a rectangular prism suffer from round-off errors when the evaluation point is outside the Brillouin sphere of the prism. The error magnitude grows cubically with respect to the distance from the prism. This phenomenon is eminent in not only the gravitational potential but also the gravity vector and the gravity gradient tensor. Unfortunately, the issue of error increase is not settled efficiently by the rewriting of the formulae using the addition theorems of the transcendental functions. Besides, the computational labour of the formulae is not small since at least 18 transcendental functions are employed for the potential computation each time. In order to solve these problems, we developed up to the 16th order 3-D Taylor series expansion of all the gravitational field quantities for a uniform rectangular prism of arbitrary dimensions. For instance, the eighth order truncation guarantees the eight digit accuracy of the potential computation of a nearly cubic prism at the cost of 11 per cent of that of the fast computation of the exact formula when the distance is more than 2.7 times longer than the Brillouin sphere radius. By using a simple algorithm, we present an adaptive procedure combining the truncated series of various orders and the exact formulae in order to compute precisely and quickly the gravitational field of an assembly of prisms everywhere. Exactly the same approach is applicable to the geomagnetic field computation.
Annotations capturing cell type-specific TF binding explain a large fraction of disease heritability
Authors: van de Geijn Bryce , Finucane Hilary , Gazal Steven , Hormozdiari Farhad , Amariuta Tiffany , Liu Xuanyao , Gusev Alexander , Loh Po-Ru , Reshef Yakir , Kichaev Gleb , Raychauduri Soumya , Price Alkes L
Published: October 2019

Regulatory variation plays a major role in complex disease and that cell type-specific binding of transcription factors (TF) is critical to gene regulation. However, assessing the contribution of genetic variation in TF-binding sites to disease heritability is challenging, as binding is often cell type-specific and annotations from directly measured TF binding are not currently available for most cell type-TF pairs. We investigate approaches to annotate TF binding, including directly measured chromatin data and sequence-based predictions. We find that TF-binding annotations constructed by intersecting sequence-based TF-binding predictions with cell type-specific chromatin data explain a large fraction of heritability across a broad set of diseases and corresponding cell types; this strategy of constructing annotations addresses both the limitation that identical sequences may be bound or unbound depending on surrounding chromatin context and the limitation that sequence-based predictions are generally not cell type-specific. We partitioned the heritability of 49 diseases and complex traits using stratified linkage disequilibrium (LD) score regression with the baseline-LD model (which is not cell type-specific) plus the new annotations. We determined that 100 bp windows around MotifMap sequenced-based TF-binding predictions intersected with a union of six cell type-specific chromatin marks (imputed using ChromImpute) performed best, with an 58% increase in heritability enrichment compared to the chromatin marks alone (11.6× vs. 7.3×, P = 9 × 10−14 for difference) and a 20% increase in cell type-specific signal conditional on annotations from the baseline-LD model (P = 8 × 10−11 for difference). Our results show that TF-binding annotations explain substantial disease heritability and can help refine genome-wide association signals.
Australia, China and the maritime ‘rules-based international order’: comparing the South China Sea and Timor Sea disputes
Authors: Beeson Mark , Chubb Andrew
Published: October 2019

Despite systemic internal and external differences, Australia and China have shown striking similarities in their pursuit of disputed maritime resource and jurisdictional claims. This high-stakes area of international politics is governed by a codified, globally accepted international legal regime (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), making it an important case for examining the relationship between states’ foreign policies and the ‘rules-based international order’. In the South China Sea, Beijing is haunted by the legacy of its strong geopolitically driven support for an expansive law of the sea regime in the 1970s. Strategic considerations also drove Australia’s belated embrace of international legal processes in the Timor Sea in 2016. Before that, successive Australian governments had been as keen to pursue national maritime interests through bilateral negotiations as their Chinese counterparts. Australia’s shift was enabled by pro-Timor domestic public opinion and a confluence of geographic and commercial circumstances not present in the South China Sea.
miR-146a promoted breast cancer proliferation and invasion by regulating NM23-H1
Authors: Chen Jun , Jiang Qiang , Jiang Xue-Qin , Li De-Quan , Jiang Xiao-Cheng , Wu Xiao-Bo , Cao Ya-Li
Published: October 2019

The study aimed to investigate the regulatory effect of miR-146a in proliferation, invasion and migration of breast cancer and its possible mechanism via NM23-H1. The expression levels of miR-146a in breast cancer with different pathological classification were significantly increased, while the expression levels of NM23-H1 were significantly decreased, which were closely correlated. Double luciferase reporter gene was used to verify the target regulatory relationship between miR-146 and NM23-H1 on a human breast cancer cell line. miR-146a was closely related to the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer. miR-146a also promoted the growth of breast cancer in vivo via targeting NM23-H1. In conclusion, miR-146 can promote the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer by targeting NM23-H1.
Nonmuscle myosin IIA and IIB differently suppress microtubule growth to stabilize cell morphology
Authors: Sato Yuta , Kamijo Keiju , Tsutsumi Motosuke , Murakami Yota , Takahashi Masayuki
Published: October 2019

Precise regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics is important in many fundamental cellular processes such as cell shape determination. Actin and microtubule (MT) cytoskeletons mutually regulate their stability and dynamics. Nonmuscle myosin II (NMII) is a candidate protein that mediates the actin–MT crosstalk. NMII regulates the stability and dynamics of actin filaments to control cell morphology. Additionally, previous reports suggest that NMII-dependent cellular contractility regulates MT dynamics, and MTs also control cell morphology; however, the detailed mechanism whereby NMII regulates MT dynamics and the relationship among actin dynamics, MT dynamics and cell morphology remain unclear. The present study explores the roles of two well-characterized NMII isoforms, NMIIA and NMIIB, on the regulation of MT growth dynamics and cell morphology. We performed RNAi and drug experiments and demonstrated the NMII isoform-specific mechanisms—NMIIA-dependent cellular contractility upregulates the expression of some mammalian diaphanous-related formin (mDia) proteins that suppress MT dynamics; NMIIB-dependent inhibition of actin depolymerization suppresses MT growth independently of cellular contractility. The depletion of either NMIIA or NMIIB resulted in the increase in cellular morphological dynamicity, which was alleviated by the perturbation of MT dynamics. Thus, the NMII-dependent control of cell morphology significantly relies on MT dynamics.
Redox regulation of tyrosine kinase signalling: more than meets the eye
Authors: Dustin Christopher M , Heppner David E , Lin Miao-Chong J , van der Vliet Albert
Published: October 2019

Protein kinases are essential mediators of cellular signal transduction and are often dysregulated in disease. Among these, protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) have received specific interest due to their common roles in various diseases including cancer, and emerging observations indicating that PTK signalling pathways are susceptible to regulation by reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are also frequently implicated in disease pathology. While it is well recognized that ROS can impact on tyrosine kinase signalling by inhibiting tyrosine phosphatases, more recent studies highlight additional modes of redox-based regulation of tyrosine kinase signalling by direct redox modification of non-catalytic cysteines within tyrosine kinases or other protein components of this signalling pathway. In this review, we will present recent advancements with respect to redox-based mechanisms in regulating PTK signalling, with a specific focus on recent studies demonstrating direct redox regulation of Src-family kinases and epidermal growth factor receptor kinases. Importantly, redox-based modulation of tyrosine kinases may be relevant for many other kinases and has implications for current approaches to develop pharmacological inhibitors for these proteins.
A new genus for Sesarma (Holometopus) tangi Rathbun, 1931 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) from mangrove forests, with notes on its ecology and conservation
Authors: Ng Peter K L , Shih Hsi-Te , Cannicci Stefano
Published: October 2019

The poorly known sesarmid crab Sesarma (Holometopus) tangi Rathbun, 1931 was described from one male from Fujian, China, and was transferred to Neosarmatium Serène & Soh, 1970 by Schubart & Ng (2002). The collection of a good series of fresh specimens from near the type locality and Hong Kong allows us to reappraise its taxonomy. The new material shows that Sesarma tangi should be referred to its own genus, differing markedly from congeners in the detailed structure of its male and female chelae as well as in the form of the male first gonopods. This conclusion is strongly supported by genetic data.
Are We Moving Towards Convergence or Divergence? Mapping the Intellectual Structure and Roots of Online Social Network Research 1997–2017
Authors: Fu Jiawei Sophia , Lai Chih-Hui
Published: October 2019

Online social networks (OSNs), comprised of varying types of relations among actors that interact through social technologies, are widespread in today’s media environment. However, questions remain whether we are moving towards convergence within the sub-disciplines of communication and with other disciplines in OSN research. This article pursues two interrelated goals. First, it performs a bibliometric analysis of existing scholarship on OSNs in the past 20 years, highlighting both the convergence and divergence of inquiry on OSNs in computer-mediated communication (CMC) research. Second, based on the results of the bibliometric analysis, it articulates an agenda for future CMC research. Specifically, we advocate for a social network approach that will bridge various theoretical frameworks and disciplinary/sub-disciplinary boundaries, for employing the communication network taxonomy, for greater effort to integrate traditional and computational approaches within and beyond social network analysis, and for addressing a greater diversity of institutional contexts.
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients Following the Release of a Choosing Wisely Recommendation
Authors: Torres Mylin A , Gogineni Keerthi , Howard David H
Published: October 2019

In 2013, the American Society for Radiation Oncology recommended against the routine use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in breast cancer patients. We evaluated trends in the use of IMRT before and after the release of the recommendation. Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare data, we identified 13 457 breast cancer patients diagnosed between 2012 and 2015 who received breast-conserving surgery and postsurgery, whole-breast, IMRT, or three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. We find that the use of IMRT decreased by 4.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.6 to 5.6; two-sided P < .001) percentage points in hospital-based clinics. In freestanding radiotherapy clinics, which had baseline rates of IMRT use that were more than 20 percentage points higher than in hospital-based clinics, use of IMRT declined by 6.1 (95% CI = 3.5 to 8.7; two-sided P < .001) percentage points. Use of IMRT declined following the release of the recommendation, but a large share of patients treated in freestanding clinics continue to receive IMRT.
Predicting Persistent Opioid Use, Abuse, and Toxicity Among Cancer Survivors
Authors: Vitzthum Lucas K , Riviere Paul , Sheridan Paige , Nalawade Vinit , Deka Rishi , Furnish Timothy , Mell Loren K , Rose Brent , Wallace Mark , Murphy James D
Published: October 2019

Background

Although opioids play a critical role in the management of cancer pain, the ongoing opioid epidemic has raised concerns regarding their persistent use and abuse. We lack data-driven tools in oncology to understand the risk of adverse opioid-related outcomes. This project seeks to identify clinical risk factors and create a risk score to help identify patients at risk of persistent opioid use and abuse.

Methods

Within a cohort of 106 732 military veteran cancer survivors diagnosed between 2000 and 2015, we determined rates of persistent posttreatment opioid use, diagnoses of opioid abuse or dependence, and admissions for opioid toxicity. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify patient, cancer, and treatment risk factors associated with adverse opioid-related outcomes. Predictive risk models were developed and validated using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression technique.

Results

The rate of persistent opioid use in cancer survivors was 8.3% (95% CI = 8.1% to 8.4%); the rate of opioid abuse or dependence was 2.9% (95% CI = 2.8% to 3.0%); and the rate of opioid-related admissions was 2.1% (95% CI = 2.0% to 2.2%). On multivariable analysis, several patient, demographic, and cancer and treatment factors were associated with risk of persistent opioid use. Predictive models showed a high level of discrimination when identifying individuals at risk of adverse opioid-related outcomes including persistent opioid use (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.85), future diagnoses of opioid abuse or dependence (AUC = 0.87), and admission for opioid abuse or toxicity (AUC = 0.78).

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the potential to predict adverse opioid-related outcomes among cancer survivors. With further validation, personalized risk-stratification approaches could guide management when prescribing opioids in cancer patients.
Weighing Lives in War: How National Identity Influences American Public Opinion about Foreign Civilian and Compatriot Fatalities
Authors: Sagan Scott D , Valentino Benjamin A
Published: October 2019

This article explores how the American public weighs tradeoffs between foreign and compatriot fatalities during war. This focus provides an important window into the meaning and significance of citizenship and national identity and, in turn, the most fateful consequences of inclusion and exclusion in the international context. To examine these attitudes, we conducted an original survey experiment asking subjects to consider a fictional US military operation in Afghanistan. We find that: (1) Americans are significantly more willing to accept the collateral deaths of foreign civilians as compared to American civilians in operations aiming to destroy important military targets; (2) Americans are less willing to risk the lives of American soldiers to minimize collateral harm to foreign civilians as compared to American civilians; (3) Americans who express relatively more favorable views of the United States compared to other nations are more willing to accept foreign collateral deaths in US military operations; and (4) Americans are more willing to accept Afghan civilian collateral deaths than those of citizens from a neutral state, such as India. Many Americans recognize that placing a much higher value on compatriot lives over foreign lives is morally problematic, but choose to do so anyway.
Assessing Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents with Diabetes: Development and Psychometrics of the Type 1 Diabetes and Life (T1DAL) Measures
Authors: Hilliard Marisa E , Minard Charles G , Marrero David G , de Wit Maartje , Thompson Debbe , DuBose Stephanie N , Verdejo Alandra , Monzavi Roshanak , Wadwa R Paul , Jaser Sarah S , Anderson Barbara J
Published: October 2019

Objective

To develop and validate new measures of diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) that are brief, developmentally appropriate, and usable in clinical research and care. Here we report on the phases of developing and validating the self-report Type 1 Diabetes and Life (T1DAL) measures for children (age 8–11) and adolescents (age 12–17).

Methods

Measure development included qualitative interviews with youth and parents (n = 16 dyads) followed by piloting draft measures and conducting cognitive debriefing with youth (n = 9) to refine the measures. To evaluate the psychometric properties, children (n = 194) and adolescents (n = 257) at three T1D Exchange Clinic Network sites completed the age-appropriate T1DAL measure and previously validated questionnaires measuring related constructs. Using psychometric data, the investigators reduced the length of each T1DAL measure to 21 and 23 items, respectively, and conducted a final round of cognitive debriefing with six children and adolescents.

Results

The T1DAL measures for children and adolescents demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.84 and 0.89, respectively) and test–retest reliability (r = 0.78 and 0.80, respectively). Significant correlations between the T1DAL scores and measures of general quality of life, generic and diabetes-specific HRQOL, diabetes burden, and diabetes strengths demonstrated construct validity. Correlations with measures of self-management (child and adolescent) and glycemic control (adolescent only) demonstrated criterion validity. Factor analyses indicated four developmentally specific subscales per measure. Participants reported satisfaction with the measures.

Conclusions

The new T1DAL measures for children and adolescents with T1D are reliable, valid, and suitable for use in care settings and clinical research.
Special Considerations in the Systematic Psychosocial Screening of Youth with Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Barry-Menkhaus Samantha A , Stoner Alison M , MacGregor Kristin L , Soyka Leslie A
Published: October 2019

Objective

The American Diabetes Association recommends psychosocial screening for individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D). The purpose of this study is to present (a) several high priority decisions that program developers may encounter when building a new psychosocial screening program and (b) both the screening development process and results of one mental health screening program within a multidisciplinary pediatric diabetes clinic, with particular emphasis on parent-youth screening agreement and changes to elevation status over time.

Methods

Youth with T1D ages 12–17 and parents of youth with T1D ages 8–17 were administered mental health screeners as a part of outpatient diabetes visits over a 1-year period. Youth depression and anxiety were screened using self- and parent proxy-report versions of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

Results

Youth (n = 154) and parents (n = 211) completed mental health screening measures, such that 228 youth were screened. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between youth- and parent proxy-report agreement were good for the measures of depression (ICC = .787) and anxiety (ICC = .781), with parent proxy-reports significantly higher than youth self-reports of anxiety (p < .01). Of the 93 youth with follow-up screening data and no youth- or parent proxy-reported elevation on the initial screener, 16.1% had at least one elevated screener within 1 year.

Conclusions

Findings indicate that questions of who to screen and how often to screen may deserve increased scrutiny, as this screening program’s data suggest that there may be benefit to obtaining both youth- and parent report more often than annually.
The Insurrection of the Middle Class: Social Mobilization and Counterrevolution during the Popular Unity Government, Chile, 1970–1973
Authors: Casals Marcelo
Published: October 2019

This article studies the political trajectory of the Chilean middle class under the Popular Unity government (1970–1973) through its representative social organizations, especially small merchant, trucker owner, and professional associations. In the context of increased political polarization, the middle class—after a brief “honeymoon” with the government—radicalized for counterrevolution. Along with political, media, and business opposition, these middle-class groups formed a powerful counterrevolutionary social bloc that challenged the Popular Unity through massive strikes and protests, including a major one in October 1972. I argue that this process was a result of the breakdown of the channels of participation and negotiation that had existed between these groups and the state since the 1930s. These channels broke down with the Left’s implementation of a revolutionary, socialist project, which led both to the state’s unprecedented attention to the working class and to a major economic crisis. At the same time, the very idea of the middle class was redefined in counterrevolutionary terms. While the internal contradiction of the Left prevented it from engaging with the middle class, the opposition succeeded in defining that social identity as inherently anti-Marxist. Consequently, the organizations studied here assumed a leading role in the increasingly insurrectional opposition to the Popular Unity, which culminated in enthusiastic middle-class support for the September 11, 1973, coup d’état.
Grossing Technology Today and Tomorrow
Authors: Dimenstein Izak B
Published: October 2019

Objective

To describe the perspective of grossing technology and highlight the prospective of its development in histology laboratory.

Methods

Analysis of different components of grossing technology.

Results

Increased requirements for a specimen’s turnaround time and the advancements in modern processing equipment make the triage of workflow a significant part of a grossing person’s responsibilities. The implementation of digital pathology in morphology studies practice requires standardization of fixation, the thickness of gross section, and optimal embedding orientation. To meet tomorrow’s challenges, grossing technology should work on embedding automation and gross digital pathology to record gross sections corresponding the microscope slide. Specialization of grossing stations might be beneficial to the quality of processing and smooth workflow productivity. The emerging grossing technologist subspecialty requires development of a special training program.

Conclusion

Grossing technology can contribute to new challenges in modern histology laboratory, assuring high-quality microscope slides for the pathologist’s diagnosis and research evaluation.
Immanuel Kant and Jurisdiction in International Law
Authors: Wittich Stephan
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses Immanuel Kant’s notion of jurisdiction. Kant’s work contains several thoughts and ideas on the scope of regulatory state activities that may well be read as pertaining to the exercise of imperium in the sense of jurisdiction how it is commonly used today. In his philosophical sketch on Perpetual Peace, Kant proceeded from a traditional understanding of jurisdiction as coexistence between states as a cornerstone of international law. In this traditional view, jurisdiction is nothing more than a reasonable mutual delimitation of jurisdictional spheres based on territoriality or personality. Yet, at the same time, he also developed a visionary idea of cosmopolitan law which would significantly affect the traditional rules of jurisdiction, especially the personality principle through the emergence of individual rights. Kant’s approach thus foreshadowed a development towards an anthropocentric international legal order epitomized by the concepts of human rights and universal jurisdiction.
Jurisdictional Immunities of the State in International Law
Authors: Gragl Paul
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the main and most pressing legal issues concerning jurisdictional immunities of the state in international law, specifically looking at the most recent international decision on the scope of state immunity—the Jurisdictional Immunities case of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The 2012 judgment by the ICJ in the Jurisdictional Immunities case has reinvigorated the debate surrounding the question whether states enjoy immunity before the courts of other states in questions of grave human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. Jurisdictional immunity is not absolute anymore, and it is now accepted that private law acts of states can be subjected to adjudication before foreign national courts, whereas public law acts cannot. This raises the question of whether the plea for immunity still is a purely procedural principle or whether it is now also shaped by questions of substantive law.
Introduction
Authors: Chesterman Simon , Owada Hisashi , Saul Ben
Published: October 2019

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the growing interest in international law in the Asia and Pacific regions, which has been driven by threats as well as opportunities. On the threat side are transnational challenges such as climate change, environmental harms, forced displacement, persistent poverty, human rights violations and international crimes, and terrorism. Meanwhile, opportunities include economic integration, human development, and the proliferation of specialized branches of law as well as dispute settlement mechanisms and institutions. No book has so far covered how Asian and Pacific states as a whole participate in each of the main specialized branches of international law; individually contribute to the making and application of international law on the international plane; and individually implement international law in their national legal systems. This book aims to fill these significant gaps in professional and scholarly knowledge.
Thailand
Authors: Muntarbhorn Vitit
Published: October 2019

This chapter focuses on international law in Thailand. Siam was one of the original states from the Asian region that took part in the formation of the international legal system, notably the Hague Conference in 1899, which resulted in various treaties on the law of war, followed by the 1907 Hague Conference that resulted in a host of treaties on rules and regulations concerning the conduct of war. It was a member of the League of Nations and contributed to key international developments, such as the evolution of treaties against human trafficking. In the diplomatic juggle to set up the United Nations after the Second World War, Thailand sought membership, played its hand diplomatically, and gained admission. It was also one of the founders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, and it was one of the key players that brought peace to Cambodia and the region in the 1990s.
Singapore
Authors: Thio Li-Ann , Tan Kevin YL
Published: October 2019

This chapter addresses international law in Singapore, looking at Singapore’s role in international and regional organizations like the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and particularly at the role played by key Singaporean representatives in these organizations. From its earliest days, Singapore committed itself to being an active player in the international community. At the UN, its permanent representatives displayed extraordinary diplomatic acumen and capability and were prominent in key meetings and deliberations. Meanwhile, throughout its history, Singapore has been one of ASEAN’s strongest advocates and supporters. The chapter then considers how international law is implemented in Singapore by domestic tribunals and by Parliament and discusses the implementation of human rights norms in the context of state imperatives concerning human welfare and development.
Viet Nam
Authors: Yen Trinh Hai
Published: October 2019

This chapter explores international law in Viet Nam. It is difficult to comprehensively conceptualize international law in Viet Nam’s legal system. There is no formal documentation concerning two of the main sources of public international law: international custom and general principles of law. Treaties, by contrast, are dealt with in great detail. Viet Nam adopts a modified monist approach by maintaining the primacy of the Constitution and the priority of treaties and incorporating treaties into the muninipal law on a case-by-case basis. The use of treaties in Viet Nam can be divided into two phases: (i) colonial times and (ii) since independence in 1945 when modern Viet Nam, proactively relying on international law in the quest for ultimate independence and unification in 1975 and since, started a period of robust engagement in the international legal order. The chapter finally looks at Viet Nam’s current practice of concluding and enforcing treaties.
Nepal
Authors: Upreti Pratyush Nath , Subedi Surya P.
Published: October 2019

This chapter looks at international law in Nepal. Nepal has had more than its fair share of internal political upheavals. In the latter part of the twentieth century, this history was complemented by a diverse set of interactions with the United Nations and the regimes negotiated under its auspices. These interactions with the outside world and international law have tended to pursue three objectives: first, asserting and protecting Nepal’s freedom of action and maintaining its own equilibrium vis-à-vis its two larger neighbours, China and India; second, economic development; and third, promoting liberal democratic values underpinned by human rights and the rule of law. After reviewing this historical background, the chapter then considers the application of international law in the Nepalese legal system as well as the specific ways in which international law has been used in Nepalese politics to bridge normative gaps, in the context of hydro-diplomacy between India and Nepal and in the context of transit and trade rights.
Sri Lanka
Authors: Perera Amrith Rohan
Published: October 2019

This chapter assesses international law in Sri Lanka. During the early phase of the post-1945 norm-creating process, Sri Lanka shared with the newly independent Afro-Asian states their collective concerns about ‘an inherited legal order’ of essentially European origin. As the international community expanded with the decolonization process, Sri Lanka played a leadership role with other emerging independent nations of Asia and Africa in helping a new legal order to evolve. The historic Bandung Conference of 1955 was a major landmark in these efforts. A direct outcome of the conference was the formation of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, which provided a common platform for Asian-African states to articulate their concerns and forge common positions on important international legal initiatives. After reviewing these developments, the chapter discusses Sri Lanka’s role in the United Nations treaty formulation process in the field of the suppression of terrorism.
Australia
Authors: Saul Ben
Published: October 2019

This chapter studies international law in Australia. As a former British colony, Australia received a Western and specifically British tradition of international law, which was initially tied to imperial interests and even the possession of its own colonies in the Pacific. While its international legal personality matured in the 1920s and 1930s, it was only after the Second World War that Australia came to exercise a genuinely independent approach to international law. A hallmark of Australian policy and practice has been a broadly bipartisan political commitment to international law and institutions and to multilateralism, albeit affected by its close alliance with the United States. As a self-described ‘middle power’, Australia views the international legal order as giving it a voice on the international plane, securing its territorial and economic interests, and reflecting the values of the Australian community. Accordingly, Australia participates actively in the various specialized branches of international law and their associated governance mechanisms and dispute resolution procedures, although it occasionally strays from full compliance with its obligations.
The unstructured linker arms of MutL enable GATC site incision beyond roadblocks during initiation of DNA mismatch repair
Authors: Mardenborough Yannicka S N , Nitsenko Katerina , Laffeber Charlie , Duboc Camille , Sahin Enes , Quessada-Vial Audrey , Winterwerp Herrie H K , Sixma Titia K , Kanaar Roland , Friedhoff Peter , Strick Terence R , Lebbink Joyce H G
Published: October 2019

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) maintains genome stability through repair of DNA replication errors. In Escherichia coli, initiation of MMR involves recognition of the mismatch by MutS, recruitment of MutL, activation of endonuclease MutH and DNA strand incision at a hemimethylated GATC site. Here, we studied the mechanism of communication that couples mismatch recognition to daughter strand incision. We investigated the effect of catalytically-deficient Cas9 as well as stalled RNA polymerase as roadblocks placed on DNA in between the mismatch and GATC site in ensemble and single molecule nanomanipulation incision assays. The MMR proteins were observed to incise GATC sites beyond a roadblock, albeit with reduced efficiency. This residual incision is completely abolished upon shortening the disordered linker regions of MutL. These results indicate that roadblock bypass can be fully attributed to the long, disordered linker regions in MutL and establish that communication during MMR initiation occurs along the DNA backbone.
LSD 3.0: a comprehensive resource for the leaf senescence research community
Authors: Li Zhonghai , Zhang Yang , Zou Dong , Zhao Yi , Wang Hou-Ling , Zhang Yi , Xia Xinli , Luo Jingchu , Guo Hongwei , Zhang Zhang
Published: October 2019

The leaf senescence database (LSD) is a comprehensive resource of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) and their corresponding mutants. Through manual curation and extensive annotation, we updated the LSD to a new version LSD 3.0, which contains 5853 genes and 617 mutants from 68 species. To provide sustainable and reliable services for the plant research community, LSD 3.0 (https://bigd.big.ac.cn/lsd/) has been moved to and maintained by the National Genomics Data Center at Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the current release, we added some new features: (i) Transcriptome data of leaf senescence in poplar were integrated; (ii) Leaf senescence-associated transcriptome data information in Arabidopsis, rice and soybean were included; (iii) Senescence-differentially expressed small RNAs (Sen-smRNA) in Arabidopsis were identified; (iv) Interaction pairs between Sen-smRNAs and senescence-associated transcription factors (Sen-TF) were established; (v) Senescence phenotypes of 90 natural accessions (ecotypes) and 42 images of ecotypes in Arabidopsis were incorporated; (vi) Mutant seed information of SAGs in rice obtained from Kitbase was integrated; (vii) New options of search engines for ecotypes and transcriptome data were implemented. Together, the updated database bears great utility to continue to provide users with useful resources for studies of leaf senescence.
SilkDB 3.0: visualizing and exploring multiple levels of data for silkworm
Authors: Lu Fang , Wei Zhaoyuan , Luo Yongjiang , Guo Hailong , Zhang Guoqing , Xia Qingyou , Wang Yi
Published: October 2019

SilkDB is an open-accessibility database and powerful platform that provides comprehensive information on the silkworm (Bombyx mori) genome. Since SilkDB 2.0 was released 10 years ago, vast quantities of data about multiple aspects of the silkworm have been generated, including genome, transcriptome, Hi-C and pangenome. To visualize data at these different biological levels, we present SilkDB 3.0 (https://silkdb.bioinfotoolkits.net), a visual analytic tool for exploring silkworm data through an interactive user interface. The database contains a high-quality chromosome-level assembly of the silkworm genome, and its coding sequences and gene sets are more accurate than those in the previous version. SilkDB 3.0 provides a view of the information for each gene at the levels of sequence, protein structure, gene family, orthology, synteny, genome organization and gives access to gene expression information, genetic variation and genome interaction map. A set of visualization tools are available to display the abundant information in the above datasets. With an improved interactive user interface for the integration of large data sets, the updated SilkDB 3.0 database will be a valuable resource for the silkworm and insect research community.
Language and Embodied Sexuality
Authors: King Brian W.
Published: October 2019

Embodiment has long been of interest to scholars of language in society, and yet theoretical discussions of the inseparability of language and the body have been paradoxically minimal until quite recently. Focusing on the processes by which sexualized bodies are understood, this chapter examines two research case studies—intersex bodies and male bodies—to outline the ways that language and sexuality scholarship can contribute to knowledge of the confluence of the social and the soma during social interaction. Bodies are both subjective and social: in one sense we have subjective, embodied knowledge of what it means to live in our sexualized bodies and “speak from” them as part of lived experience, and in another sense our bodies are also observed from outside and “spoken about” as sexual. The analysis presented here explores the relationship between physical features of bodies, discourse, language, and power, and links these insights to notions of confluence, demonstrating that bodies can be unruly, obtrusive, overdetermined, and excessive. The chapter considers the implications of this analysis for language use, intelligibility, and sexual agency.
The Gospels and Acts
Authors: Levine Amy-Jill
Published: October 2019

The Gospels and Acts do not present a single view of either gender or sexuality; inconsistencies appear both within and among this collection. Yet despite these differences, there is a common baseline regarding sexuality, masculinity, and femininity. Consequently, this chapter begins from that baseline and then moves to the several distinct chords and notes struck by each text. The analysis surveys a broad range of topics including celibacy and singleness, marriage and divorce, lust, masturbation, adultery, incest, prostitution, and gender roles, as well as investigation of specific themes in each of the Gospels and Acts.
The General Epistles and Hebrews
Authors: Marquis Timothy Luckritz
Published: October 2019

This essay explores how the General Epistles and Hebrews use language of gender, sex, and procreation both to portray and to facilitate the spread of the messages and communities that used and produced them. Insofar as these letters attempt to create a discourse to define a fledgling, international community, the essay draws on Michael Warner’s notion of “publics” and “counterpublics” as groups constituting those individuals who recognize their membership through an intelligible discourse. In the letters, language of fictive procreation depicts itinerant, male preachers and letter-deliverers as fathering new communities (often figured as female), allowing for a novel discourse and community. At the same time, these texts default to using sexualized and gendered tropes common to the wider society to maximize intelligibility to as large as possible an audience. Public-private distinctions map onto a male female spectrum, while deviations from communal teaching become seduction and sexual sin.
Revelation
Authors: Huber Lynn R.
Published: October 2019

Despite much scholarship on Revelation’s feminine imagery, there has been limited attention to how the narrative as a whole participates in constructing the gender identity of its audience(s). Situated within a historical and social context in which ideal personhood was imagined in masculine terms, however, this gender identity is best understood in terms of masculinity, albeit a complexly imagined and anti-imperial masculinity, and as John’s attempt at “making men.” Revelation’s appropriation of the dominant culture’s discourses about masculinity serve as a tool for resisting that culture’s portrayal of the true man as one who succeeds in competition and who finds success in marrying and bearing children. Therefore, John undoes the gender expectations of his context, as he presents his audience a new model for being ideal men, ideal followers of the Lamb.
Jesus
Authors: King Karen L.
Published: October 2019

This essay examines the diverse ways in which representations of Jesus/Christ served as paradigms for authorizing, exemplifying, and promoting early Christian beliefs and practices. It asks how ancients might have read the sex/gender status of Jesus/Christ in such depictions of him as a savvy interlocutor in public debates, an exorcist, an eschatological warrior, the divine Son of God, divine Wisdom, an enthroned imperial ruler, a publicly humiliated and executed criminal, a slave, a homeless man, a mother, a eunuch, the husband of many virgins, a circumcised Jew. Representations of the gender and sexuality of Jesus/Christ appear in resistance to (Roman) violence and injustice; in the cultivation of moral and spiritual selves; in intra-Christian debates regarding sexual ethics; in the promotion of Christian teachings as divinely authoritative; in the polemics of identity formation and boundary setting, especially with regard to Jews; and in theological reflection, especially Christology and ecclesiology.