bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Innovation Driven Emerging Technology from two Contrary Perspectives: A Case Study of Internet
Authors: Arslan Mehmet Lütfi , Seker Sadi Evren , Kızıl Cevdet
Published: March 2014

Internet is a well, organized technological achievement of human being and a rapidly improving medium through time. All the novel technological achievements like web 2.0 or web 3.0 are new epochs of Internet technology and Internet is spreading in multiple dimensions, reforming the paradigm, and innovating the technology in a self-renewing fashion. In this paper, the technological construction of Internet and the social paradigms are discussed from two contrary perspectives. Either as “problem solvers” or“technical experts”, the characteristics of incumbents of technological positions seems very problematic in terms of their roles in shaping technology. Are they so disinterested and unbiased on creation of technology? Can we reduce their roles as such? How can we make sure that they are neutral? If we put their roles that way, what about freedom of individual decision-making?
Impacts of the SADC Free Trade Agreement on South African Agricultural Trade
Authors: Fadeyi Oluwatoba Akinsuyi , Bahta T. Yonas , Ogundeji Abiodun Akintunde , Willemse B. Johan
Published: March 2014

Trade is an essential component of modern society, with nations signing bilateral trade agreements to engage in various forms of economic integration. Developing countries in southern Africa are also involved in economic integration to underpin development. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) became a free trade area in 2008 for the economic integration of its members. This study evaluates the impact of the SADC Free Trade Agreement (SADC FTA) on South African agricultural trade using the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) specification of gravity model to determine the significance of variables within the model. Bilateral trade data were obtained from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics (UN Comtrade) database and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), while data on gross domestic product and population were sourced from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) database. The results show that there has been a net trade-creating effect and increasing intra-SADC bloc trade in beef. Intra-regional trade in maize has also been stimulated by the implementation of the agreement.
Introduction to Inaugural Issue
Authors: Ess Charles M.
Published: March 2014

I review the background and reasons for developing this new Journal. I then provide a summary of the articles and contributions to the inaugural issue, identifying major themes and threads that connect them.  The concluding overview briefly maps out the requirements undertaking future media innovations research, including methodological and interdisciplinary considerations.
Les conditions de travail au Québec
Authors: Ledoux Élise , Fournier Pierre-Sébastien , Champoux Danièle , Prud’homme Pascale , Laberge Marie , Aurousseau Chantal , Ouellet Sylvie , Chatigny Céline
Published: March 2014

Cet article présente les travaux d’une communauté de chercheurs du Réseau de recherche en santé et en sécurité du travail du Québec (RRSSTQ), créée en 2006, laquelle s’intéresse aux questions d’âges et de rapports sociaux en milieux de travail, en lien avec les conditions de travail et la santé et la sécurité du travail. De disciplines diverses (ergonomie, sociologie, psychosociologie, communication, droit, éducation), cette communauté réalise des recherches à partir d’enquêtes et d’études de terrain s’appuyant sur une approche compréhensive des phénomènes. Cette problématique se situe dans un contexte social singulier marqué, entre autres, par la mondialisation des marchés, une introduction massive des nouvelles technologies, une transformation des formes d’emploi, ainsi qu’un vieillissement de la main-d’oeuvre dans les pays industrialisés. Ces transformations créent des conditions particulières de rétention et d’intégration de la main-d’oeuvre dans les milieux de travail. À partir des données de l’Enquête québécoise sur des conditions de travail, d’emploi et de santé et de sécurité du travail (EQCOTESST), réalisée en 2008, auprès d’un échantillon représentatif de 5 071 répondants, l’objectif de cette étude est de tracer un portrait des conditions de travail en fonction de l’âge des travailleurs au Québec. L’article propose l’interprétation de ce portrait à partir d’un cadre d’analyse s’appuyant sur une approche diachronique des dynamiques âge-travail-santé dans le but de mieux orienter les interventions en milieu de travail.
From Serious Shortage of Researchers to OHS Law Changes and Growing Industrial Needs
Authors: Nadeau Sylvie , Fatisson Julien , Badri Adel , Emami-Mehrgani Behnam
Published: March 2014

Scientists having raised concerns about technological advancements and the associated risks, the Quebec scientific community implemented the work safety component within the Quebec Occupational Health and Safety Research Network (QOHSRN). This initially fostered a first geographical connection among scientists, thus facilitating knowledge exchange and transfer. With various research themes, the first component members made an initial observation of the critical situation in regard to occupational safety in the industrial sector. Yet, occupational safety is a shared concern affecting all industrial sectors, environments and countries. The strategic occupational safety component expanded its efforts toward internationalization to increase the visibility of its activities. The creation of components within other global networks and a journal were the first steps marking this desire for international sharing. With the number of environments affected by occupational health and safety (OHS), research activities in this field involve an interinstitutional and interdisciplinary research community. The QOHSRN’s strategic occupational safety component leads by example by involving researchers from all fields of study and various Quebec universities and research institutions. Research themes within the component are all equally diverse and complementary. They range from the study of occupational safety integration methods at the design stage to technical, organizational, normative, legislative and preventive methods, and the development of new protection devices and equipment. A portrait of the make-up of the QOHSRN’s strategic occupational safety component and its evolution from its creation to the QOHSRN’s 10th anniversary was also produced and analyzed to show its growing evolution.
Quebec Research on Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders
Authors: Côté Julie N. , Ngomo Suzy , Stock Susan , Messing Karen , Vézina Nicole , Antle David , Delisle Alain , Bellemare Marie , Laberge Marie , St-Vincent Marie
Published: March 2014

This paper aimed to demonstrate the contribution of the research performed by the musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) Research Axis group of the Quebec Occupational Health and Safety Research Network towards better understanding of work-related MSD (WMSD) development and prevention. Although the group targets its work to the Quebec population, its work has significant impact around the world, placing MSD axis members and knowledge and expertise created in Quebec on the international map. Results from the contribution of members are relevant, primarily in the demonstration of the implication of physical workload as well as organizational and psychosocial work-related factors in the development of WMSDs. Also, members have demonstrated that gender, sex, social class, age and ethno-cultural groups interact in various ways with WMSD determinants. Efforts are devoted towards improving understanding of the physiological responses linked with MSDs, which could also lead to new workplace practices in rehabilitation. The group emphasizes the integration of prevention procedures from the design stage to the workplace intervention. Members have proposed research-based tools for best practices at work and also an original conceptual model as a key, novel element of a theoretical conceptualization of WMSDs. Moreover, the group focuses on improving WMSD surveillance, using multiple sources of information, providing information on newly identified health risks and developing new methods of assessing risk in order to effectively prevent disability in the working population. Finally, results from research of the MSD axis group have implications for orienting legal processes, improving legal recognition of MSDs as occupational diseases, and contributing to the evolution of legal thinking. However, much remains to be done. To that end, the group plans and encourages new initiatives for further advancement. In conclusion, the originality of the work places the group in a favourable position to address the complexity underlying WMSDs, combining expertise that enriches fundamental, clinical and population-based research.
Pourquoi le grand nombre est plus intelligent que le petit nombre, et pourquoi il faut en tenir compte
Authors: Landemore Hélène , Bandini Aude
Published: March 2014

Cet article présente les bases d’un argument épistémique en faveur de la démocratie définie comme procédure de décision collective. Il explore également les implications d’un tel argument épistémique par rapport à d’autres justifications établies de la démocratie, par rapport aux explications scientifiques de ses succès empiriques, et en termes de politiques publiques à mener. En ce qui concerne l’argument épistémique proprement dit, il repose sur le concept de « raison démocratique », autrement dit l’intelligence collective des individus dans le domaine politique, et propose, de manière contre-intuitive, que la raison démocratique est davantage tributaire de la diversitécognitive des individus qui prennent par aux décisions que de leurs aptitudes personnelles. Généralement, l’argument de la raison démocratique complète les arguments procéduraux basés sur l’équité et l’égalité pour offrir une explication fonctionnaliste complète de la démocratie. Pour finir, cet article défend l’idée de réformes institutionnelles favorisant la participation citoyenne dans le processus de prise de décision collective.
La fonction constructive de la délibération : de l’accord à l’ajustement
Authors: Allard-Tremblay Yann , Bandini Aude
Published: March 2014

Les théories épistémiques et délibératives de la démocratie soulignent l’importance du processus de la délibération quand l’objectif poursuivi est de parvenir à de bonnes décisions. Dans cet article, nous nous intéresserons aux différents mécanismes grâce auxquels une délibération publique à la fois ouverte, libre et inclusive, peut parvenir à de bonnes décisions, avant d’envisager ce que la délibération peut apporter en cas de désaccord. Nous nous concentrerons plus particulièrement ici sur la fonction constructive de la démocratie, c’est-à-dire sur cette capacité qu’a la démocratie délibérative d’identifier et de formuler, de manière épistémiquement instructive, les problèmes de justice auxquels doit faire face le corps politique. Il faudra donc d’abord expliquer comment la démocratie permet de colliger l’information et de la mettre à disposition de chacun, afin d’expliquer ensuite comment la délibération peut permettre l’émergence d’accords entre les individus. Nous verrons alors que la délibération a des limites, et pourquoi elle se révèle incapable de surmonter certains désaccords. Nous tâcherons enfin d’expliquer le rôle qu’elle joue dans la formulation des désaccords politiques. Sur ce point, nous montrerons que la délibération permet d’éviter que ne surgissent des désaccords politiques insoutenables, qui mettraient en péril l’intégrité du corps politique.
L’énigme démocratique
Authors: Pettit Philip , Bandini Aude
Published: March 2014

La démocratie signifie d’abord et avant toute chose l’idée d’un contrôle populaire, et ce par l’ensemble des moyens possibles. Ces moyens donnent lieu à la légitimité. Mais ces contrôles populaires, du moins tels qu’ils sont entendus dans de nombreuses discussions, ne donnent pas lieu à la légitimité espérée. Les théories de la démocratie ne partagent pas une même conception des choses à ce sujet, ce qui donne lieu à une pluralité d’approches. Dans cet article, l’auteur soutient que la réponse la plus intéressante à cette question implique une réinterprétation de la notion de contrôle populaire.
Déconstruire la démocratie épistémique ?
Authors: Mestiri Soumaya
Published: March 2014

Le présent travail se propose de mettre en lumière le caractère relativement problématique du procéduralisme épistémique de David Estlund. Conçu comme un paradigme alternatif, à mi-chemin entre le libéralisme procédural d’un Rawls ou d’un Habermas et une vision plus substantielle du politique où la « qualité » de la décision compterait tout autant que la procédure dont elle est issue, ce type de positionnement théorique hybride se révèle n’être ni tenable ni, en dernière instance, crédible. L’analyse, sur une période de trente ans, des écrits d’Estlund, permettra de comprendre que les enjeux de la question dépassent de loin le caractère restreint d’une simple querelle de clocher.
Immunosuppression via adenosine receptor activation by adenosine monophosphate released from apoptotic cells
Authors: Yamaguchi Hiroshi , Maruyama Toshihiko , Urade Yoshihiro , Nagata Shigekazu
Published: March 2014

Apoptosis is coupled with recruitment of macrophages for engulfment of dead cells, and with compensatory proliferation of neighboring cells. Yet, this death process is silent, and it does not cause inflammation. The molecular mechanisms underlying anti-inflammatory nature of the apoptotic process remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that the culture supernatant of apoptotic cells activated the macrophages to express anti-inflammatory genes such as Nr4a and Thbs1. A high level of AMP accumulated in the apoptotic cell supernatant in a Pannexin1-dependent manner. A nucleotidase inhibitor and A2a adenosine receptor antagonist inhibited the apoptotic supernatant-induced gene expression, suggesting AMP was metabolized to adenosine by an ecto-5’-nucleotidase expressed on macrophages, to activate the macrophage A2a adenosine receptor. Intraperitoneal injection of zymosan into Adora2a- or Panx1-deficient mice produced high, sustained levels of inflammatory mediators in the peritoneal lavage. These results indicated that AMP from apoptotic cells suppresses inflammation as a ‘calm down’ signal.
Novel Sn-assisted nitridation of Ge/HfO2 interface and improved electrical properties of the MOS capacitor
Authors: Zhao Mei , Liu Lei , Liang Renrong , Wang Jing , Xu Jun
Published: March 2014

The electrical properties of a Ge/HfO2 MOS capacitor with an ultrathin GeSnON interlayer were investigated. A high-quality GeSnON interlayer was formed by annealing a thin GeSn layer in NH3 ambient at 400 °C. The GeSn layer was fabricated by a unique processing method: a Sn layer was deposited on Ge substrates using a magnetron sputtering system, and then the top Sn layer was removed using diluted HCl solution, leaving an approximately 1-nm-thick GeSn layer. Through this method, the nitridation of the Ge/HfO2 interface was achieved at low temperature. The electrical measurement results showed that improved capacitance–voltage and leakage current density characteristics were obtained for the Ge/GeSnON/HfO2 MOS capacitor, with a reduction of interface trap density to 4.6 × 1011 cm−2 eV−1. These results indicate effective passivation of the Ge/HfO2 interface with the implementation of the GeSnON interlayer formed by this original technique.
Serum amyloid A3 exacerbates cancer by enhancing the suppressive capacity of myeloid‐derived suppressor cells via TLR2‐dependent STAT3 activation
Authors: Lee Jung‐Mi , Kim Eun‐Kyung , Seo Hyungseok , Jeon Insu , Chae Min‐Ji , Park Young‐Jun , Song Boyeong , Kim Yun‐Sun , Kim Yeon‐Jeong , Ko Hyun‐Jeong , Kang Chang‐Yuil
Published: March 2014

Myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which suppress diverse innate and adaptive immune responses and thereby provide an evasion mechanism for tumors, are emerging as a key population linking inflammation to cancer. Although many inflammatory factors that induce MDSCs in the tumor microenvironment are known, the crucial components and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we proposed a novel mechanism by which serum amyloid A3 (SAA3), a well‐known inflammatory factor, connects MDSCs with cancer progression. We found that SAA3 expression in BALB/c mice increased in monocytic MDSCs (Mo MDSCs) with tumor growth. The induction of SAA3 by apo‐SAA treatment in Mo MDSCs enhanced their survival and suppressive activity, while it inhibited GM‐CSF‐induced differentiation. Endogenous SAA3 itself contributed to the increase in the survival and suppressive activity of Mo MDSCs. We demonstrated that SAA3 induced TLR2 signaling, in turn increasing the autocrine secretion of TNF‐α, that led to STAT3 activation. In addition, activated STAT3 enhanced the suppressive activity of Mo MDSCs. Furthermore, SAA3 induction in Mo MDSCs contributed to accelerating tumor progression in vivo. Collectively, these data suggest a novel mechanism by which Mo MDSCs mediate inflammation through SAA3‐TLR2 signaling and thus exacerbate cancer progression by a STAT3‐dependent mechanism.
WhatSAP — 2B4 sends mixed messages in the absence of SAP
Authors: Watzl Carsten , Claus Maren
Published: March 2014

2B4 (CD244), a member of the SLAM‐related receptor family, has important immuno‐regulatory functions including coactivating the cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion of NK cells. Immune modulation by 2B4 is dependent on the small intracellular signaling molecule SAP. In patients suffering from X‐linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP1), SAP is nonfunctional, not only abolishing the activating function of 2B4, but rendering this receptor inhibitory. In this issue of European Journal of Immunology, Meazza et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2014. 44: 1526–1534.] demonstrate that 2B4‐mediated inhibition in NK cells from XLP1 patients is selective. While the activation of NK cells via ITAM‐based receptors is blocked by inhibitory 2B4, DNAM‐1, and NKG2D‐dependent NK‐cell activation is not affected by SAP deficiency. These findings provide an important insight into the different defective NK‐cell functions in XLP1 patients and demonstrate the differential integration of redundant receptor signaling pathways in NK cells.
Headspace stir bar sorptive extraction followed by thermal desorption and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to determine musk fragrances in sludge samples without sample pretreatment
Authors: Vallecillos Laura , Pedrouzo Marta , Pocurull Eva , Borrull Francesc
Published: March 2014

A direct, simple and solvent‐free method based on headspace stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy was developed to determine 13 musk fragrances (six polycyclic musks, three nitro musks and four macrocyclic musks) in sludge without sample treatment. The optimal headspace stir bar sorptive extraction conditions were achieved when a polydimethylsiloxane stir bar was exposed for 45 min in the headspace of a 10 mL vial filled with 100 mg of sludge mixed with 0.2 mL of water stirred at 750 rpm at 80°C. The stir bar was then desorbed in the thermal desorption gas chromatography and mass spectrometry system, obtaining limits of detection between 5 and 30 ng/g. The method applicability was tested with sewage sludge from two urban wastewater treatment plants and from a potable water treatment plant. Results showed galaxolide and tonalide to be the most abundant musk fragrances found in wastewater treatment plants with maximal concentrations of 9240 and 7500 ng/g, respectively. Maximum concentration levels between 35 and 635 ng/g were found for musk ketone, musk moskene, traseolide, phantolide and celestolide in this kind of samples. Concentrations below the limits of quantitation of phantolide, galaxolide, tonalide and musk ketone were found in sludge from a potable water treatment plant.
jmzTab: A Java interface to the mzTab data standard
Authors: Xu Qing‐Wei , Griss Johannes , Wang Rui , Jones Andrew R. , Hermjakob Henning , Vizcaíno Juan Antonio
Published: March 2014

mzTab is the most recent standard format developed by the Proteomics Standards Initiative. mzTab is a flexible tab‐delimited file that can capture identification and quantification results coming from MS‐based proteomics and metabolomics approaches. We here present an open‐source Java application programming interface for mzTab called jmzTab. The software allows the efficient processing of mzTab files, providing read and write capabilities, and is designed to be embedded in other software packages. The second key feature of the jmzTab model is that it provides a flexible framework to maintain the logical integrity between the metadata and the table‐based sections in the mzTab files. In this article, as two example implementations, we also describe two stand‐alone tools that can be used to validate mzTab files and to convert PRIDE XML files to mzTab. The library is freely available at http://mztab.googlecode.com.
Valoración probabilística versus borrosa, opciones reales y el modelo binomial. Aplicación para proyectos de inversión en condiciones de ambigüedad
Authors: Milanesi Gastón Silverio
Published: March 2014

El trabajo tiene por objeto exponer la metodología, las ventajas y las debilidades del modelo binomialborroso de valoración de opciones reales como complemento del modelo binomial probabilístico. Paralograr lo anterior primero se presentan los modelos de opciones reales clasificados en probabilístico yborroso; luego se desarrolla el modelo binomial borroso incorporando: el método Marketed Asset Disclai-mer (MAD), rejillas binomiales borrosas y el índice pesimismo-optimismo, para estimar el valor esperadode las opciones del proyecto (VEOP). Se ilustra con un caso comparando los resultados obtenidos con elmodelo borroso y el probabilístico. Finalmente se concluye que, en situaciones de falta de información(ambigüedad), la lógica borrosa es un complemento del modelo probabilístico para determinar el valorde la flexibilidad estratégica.
Methamphetamine exposure during pregnancy at pharmacological doses produces neurodevelopmental and behavioural effects in rat offspring
Authors: McDonnell‐Dowling Kate , Donlon Michelle , Kelly John P.
Published: March 2014

In recent years methamphetamine (MA) use has become more prevalent, and of particular concern is its growing popularity of MA among women of childbearing age. However, to date, studies examining MA effects on the developing offspring in laboratory animals are limited. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine if in utero MA exposure in rats at pharmacological doses can have a negative impact on neonatal neurodevelopment and behaviour. Pregnant Sprague‐Dawley dams (n = 10 dams/group) received MA (0, 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 mg/kg) once daily via oral gavage from gestational day 7 to 21. Maternal body weight, food and water consumption were recorded daily. A range of standard neurodevelopment parameters was examined in the offspring during the neonatal period. There were no neurodevelopmental deficits observed with offspring exposed to 0.625 mg/kg MA, in fact, there were enhancements of neurodevelopment in some parameters at this low dose. However, exposure to the 1.25 mg/kg MA dose resulted in significant impairments in surface righting reflex and forelimb grip in both sexes. Exposure to the 2.5 mg/kg MA dose resulted in a significant reduction in ano‐genital distance in males, and in both sexes resulted in delayed fur appearance and eye opening, impairments in surface righting reflex and negative geotaxis, and a reduction in body length. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that pharmacologically relevant doses of MA can have profound dose‐related effects on neonatal outcome. If extrapolated to the clinical scenario this will give cause for concern regarding the risks associated with this drug of abuse at relatively low doses.
Cortex glial cells activation, associated with lowered mechanical thresholds and motor dysfunction, persists into adulthood after neonatal pain
Authors: Sanada Luciana Sayuri , Sato Karina Laurenti , Machado Nathalia Leilane Berto , Carmo Elisabete de Cássia do , Sluka Kathleen A. , Fazan Valeria Paula Sassoli
Published: March 2014

We investigated if changes in glial activity in cortical areas that process nociceptive stimuli persisted in adult rats after neonatal injury. Neonatal pain was induced by repetitive needle prickling on the right paw, twice per day for 15 days starting at birth. Wistar rats received either neonatal pain or tactile stimulation and were tested behaviorally for mechanical withdrawal thresholds of the paws and gait alterations, after 15 (P15) or 180 (P180) days of life. Brains from rats on P15 and P180 were immunostained for glial markers (GFAP, MCP‐1, OX‐42) and the following cortical areas were analyzed for immunoreactivity density: prefrontal, anterior insular, anterior cingulated, somatosensory and motor cortices. Withdrawal thresholds of the stimulated paw remained decreased on P180 after neonatal pain when compared to controls. Neonatal pain animals showed increased density for both GFAP and MCP‐1 staining, but not for OX‐42, in all investigated cortical areas on both experimental times (P15 and P180). Painful stimuli in the neonatal period produced pain behaviors immediately after injury that persisted in adult life, and was accompanied by increase in the glial markers density in cortical areas that process and interpret pain. Thus, long‐lasting changes in cortical glial activity could be, at least in part, responsible for the persistent hyperalgesia in adult rats that suffered from neonatal pain.
Contraceptive use among HIV‐positive women in Enugu, southeast Nigeria
Authors: Ezugwu Euzebus C. , Nkwo Peter O. , Agu Polycap U. , Ugwu Emmanuel O. , Asogwa Augustine O.
Published: March 2014

Objective

To determine the prevalence and pattern of, and factors associated with, contraceptive usage among HIV‐positive women in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria.

Methods

In a questionnaire‐based cross‐sectional study, 400 consecutive HIV‐positive, sexually active women receiving care at the adult HIV clinics of 2 tertiary health institutions in Enugu were interviewed using pre‐tested questionnaires between March and August 2012. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was carried out via Epi Info.

Results

The rate of contraceptive use was 73.1%; 26.9% (n = 91) of women were not using modern contraceptives. Male condoms were the most frequent contraception used (78.1%, n = 193), but 48.2% of women reported inconsistent use. The proportion of women using a dual‐contraceptive method was 25.1%; none used the female condom. Having a regular sexual partner was significantly associated with use of modern contraception (odds ratio, 73.00; 95% confidence interval, 34.13–156.13; P < 0.001). Misconception and fear of adverse effects were the most common reasons for not using contraception.

Conclusion

A considerable proportion of HIV‐positive women in Enugu who did not desire to achieve pregnancy in the following 2 years (26.9%) had an unmet need for contraception. The use of contraception prevents unintended pregnancy and subsequent mother‐to‐child transmission of HIV and should be promoted in the region.
Theranostic applications of antibodies in oncology
Authors: Fleuren Emmy D.G. , Versleijen-Jonkers Yvonne M.H. , Heskamp Sandra , van Herpen Carla M.L. , Oyen Wim J.G. , van der Graaf Winette T.A. , Boerman Otto C.
Published: March 2014

Targeted therapies, including antibodies, are becoming increasingly important in cancer therapy. Important limitations, however, are that not every patient benefits from a specific antibody therapy and that responses could be short‐lived due to acquired resistance. In addition, targeted therapies are quite expensive and are not completely devoid of side‐effects. This urges the need for accurate patient selection and response monitoring.

An important step towards personalizing antibody treatment could be the implementation of theranostics. Antibody theranostics combine the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of an antibody, thereby selecting those patients who are most likely to benefit from antibody treatment. This review focuses on the clinical application of theranostic antibodies in oncology. It provides detailed information concerning the suitability of antibodies for theranostics, the different types of theranostic tests available and summarizes the efficacy of theranostic antibodies used in current clinical practice. Advanced theranostic applications, including radiolabeled antibodies for non‐invasive functional imagining, are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the importance of theranostics in the emerging field of personalized medicine and critically evaluate recent data to determine the best way to apply antibody theranostics in the future.
Shaping science policy in Europe
Authors: Celis Julio E. , Gago José Mariano
Published: March 2014

The Lisbon Strategy was adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) in 2000. By moving science into a central position for the development of a European knowledge‐based economy and society, its adoption at political level seems to have been a powerful catalyst for the increased involvement of scientists in science policy in the EU. Recognising the need for scientists to act collectively in order to contribute to shape the future of science policy in Europe, a pioneering group of European science organisations leaders and representatives, as well as other scientists, initiated a European, interdisciplinary, inclusive movement leading to the creation of the European Research Council (ERC) to support basic research of the highest quality. Having scientists' campaign for the funding of bottom‐up research by the EU Framework Programmes exclusively on scientific grounds, and for an ERC, was a unique event in the recent history of European science policy. For the first time, the scientific community acted collectively and across disciplinary or national boundaries as a political actor for the sake of a better science policy for Europe.

As is often the case when first‐hand experience is gained through the creation of a new organization, novel forms of collaboration arise. The European biomedical community has recently proposed the creation of a strategic action plan for health research (the European Council of Health Research; EuCHR), provisionally translated at present into a Scientific Panel for Health (SPH) research in Horizon 2020, the EU's research‐funding programme for the period 2014–2020. The creation of such Scientific Panel should be viewed as an important contribution by the biomedical community as a major political agreement has been reached on the need for a comprehensive and long‐term scientific strategy to accelerate research and facilitate innovation at EU level.

It is our belief that describing and analyzing the process leading to the creation of the ERC and SPH (2002–2014) should be widely shared with the research community in general, as this may contribute to the understanding of the evolving relations between scientists and science‐policy making.
Crystallisation-Driven Self-Sorting of H-Bonded Guanidinium or Sodium Sulfonate Constitutional Molecular Frameworks
Authors: Dumitrescu Dan , Legrand Yves-Marie , Masquelez Nathalie , van der Lee Arie , Barboiu Mihail
Published: March 2014

Four single crystal structures were obtained in order to better understand the difference between the crystallisation-driven formation of solid state organo-sulfonate guanidinium superstructures and their sodium salt analogues. 5-Formyl-2-furfuryl sulfonate and 4,4′-diamino-2,2′-biphenyl disulfonate were chosen as anions due to functional and geometrical considerations together with guanidinium, aminoguanidinium, and sodium cations. 5-Formyl-2-fufuryl sulfonate reacts with aminoguanidinium cation in water leading to an imino-zwitterionic compound, able to form on its own a guanidinium-sulfonate superstructure in crystalline state.
Chapter 2. Values as premises in practical arguments
Authors: Fairclough Isabela , Fairclough Norman
Published: March 2014

The paper focuses on a fragment of the public debate (in the UK) on whether or not the inequality of high pay and bonuses for bankers should be tolerated or not in the wake of the financial crisis. Our discussion builds on the view of the structure of practical arguments we advance in our forthcoming book (Fairclough & Fairclough forthcoming), i.e. practical arguments take goal, value, circumstantial and means-goal premises. Drawing on Searle’s (2010) view of the construction of social reality, we advance the view that values enter practical arguments in two ways: as actual concerns (what people actually value, or ‘desire-dependent’ reasons) and as objective, socially recognized, institutional facts (‘desire-independent’ reasons). The former type of reason constitutes the value premise which underlies the goal premise. The latter is part of the circumstantial premise: it is a fact that can motivate action but does not always do so: agents may choose to disregard commitments (values) that they are otherwise bound by. The typical argument in favour of ‘tolerating inequality’ is a prudential argument based on people’s alleged actual interests and concerns: inequality allegedly serves the common good. The moral argument against inequality starts from a normative concern for justice but also from the state’s commitment to justice as an institutional fact. The UK government, for example, is publicly committed to justice and has a duty to act justly, whether it is actually concerned to act justly or not.
Chapter 3. Exploiting the room for strategic maneuvering in argumentative discourse
Authors: van Eemeren Frans H. , Garssen Bart
Published: March 2014

The room for strategic maneuvering in argumentative discourse depends not only on the dialectical and rhetorical preconditions inherent in strategic maneuvering but also on various kinds of extrinsic preconditions imposed on strategic maneuvering by the institutional macro-context of the communicative activity type in which the maneuvering takes place. Van Eemeren and Garssen use the communicative activity type of plenary debate in the European Parliament as their case in point for illustrating the problems involved.
Chapter 5. Arguments about ‘rhetoric’ in the 2008 US presidential election campaign
Authors: Craig Robert T.
Published: March 2014

Barack Obama’s prowess in the art of rhetoric, for which he had gained a national reputation with a stirring keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, was much commented upon during the 2008 US presidential election campaign and became a stimulus for public debate on the necessity, value, and danger of rhetoric as a political-communicative practice. Extending work by Craig (1996, 1999, 2008; Craig & Tracy 2005) on normative concepts and arguments in ordinary metadiscourse (practically-oriented discourse about discourse), this paper presents an initial survey of arguments about rhetoric that appeared in public metadiscourse of the 2008 campaign. Issues that emerged in this debate engaged classic lines of argument between rhetorical and critical traditions of thought concerning the legitimacy of rhetoric, thus showing the continuing relevance of those traditions and their capacity to illuminate essential tensions in democratic public discourse.
Chapter 8. A rhetorical approach to legal reasoning
Authors: Manzin Maurizio
Published: March 2014

My article provides a short summary of the main tendencies in legal argumentation in Italy and a brief introduction to the rhetorical perspective adopted by CERMEG. The years after the end of the WW 2 saw the advent in Italy of a legal-theoretical account developed by N. Bobbio exclusively focusing on the normative nature of law and on a ‘syllogistic’ paradigm of legal reasoning. Nevertheless, Bobbio himself, when editing Perelman’s studies on argumentation during the 1960s, implicitly revealed a certain difficulty in the relationship between the (normative) authority and the (logical) rationality of a judgment. In the s.c. ‘post-positivistic’ period, among Bobbio’s scholars, there have arisen some quite various approaches to legal reasoning. In constant debate with these ones, but from different starting points, a research center on legal methodology (basically inspired by the thinking of F. Cavalla and strictly tied to the legal practice) has taken place in the University of Trento. It proposes an argumentative model based on classical rhetoric. This theory emphasises the metaphysical foundations of the rational operations performed at trial and derives from those some important consequences in the field of legal ethics and practice.
Chapter 9. Strategic manoeuvring in the case of the ‘Unworthy spouse’
Authors: Feteris Eveline T.
Published: March 2014

In this contribution I give an analysis of strategic manoeuvring in a legal context. I give an analysis of the argumentation in the justification of the decision by the Dutch Supreme Court in the famous case of the ‘Unworthy Spouse’ and I describe how the Supreme Court operates strategically within the space it has within the rules for the discussion in cassation to steer the outcome of the discussion in a particular direction. In my analysis of the discussion strategy I use the concept of strategic manoeuvring developed by van Eemeren (2010) and van Eemeren and Houtlosser (2006, 2007). Starting from this conception I show that the discussion strategy of the Supreme Court can be described as a consistent effort in the different stages of a critical discussion to steer the discussion in the desired direction within the boundaries of the rules for the discussion in cassation.
Chapter 13. Critique and controversy in digital scientific communication
Authors: Fritz Gerd , Gloning Thomas
Published: March 2014

In the last few years various formats of digital communication on the internet have created new opportunities for scientific critique and controversy. Based on detailed case studies conducted within the framework of a major project, the present article discusses the possible impact of such formats on the practice of scientific controversy. In addition to providing a space for factual scientific information, formats like mailing lists, blogs, and open peer review journals are used as platforms for critical reviews and polemical exchanges. These new media have the potential to change three important aspects of scientific communication, the spread of scientific information, the speed of publication, and the amount of interactivity between scholars. For example, some forms of open peer review not only organize an accelerated and publicly visible reviewing process, but also encourage authors to reply to criticism and permit a wider scientific public to join in the critical discussion. So this format potentially contributes to an increase in transparency and interactivity of the reviewing process, thereby offering opportunities for clarification and further development of ideas. In these new digital formats traditional rules and patterns of controversy are often retained, but there are also new communicative tasks which call for new or modified principles and strategies. The article aims to show characteristic structures, opportunities and problems of polemical interactions conducted in these formats.
Chapter 17. Contextual constraints on argumentation
Authors: Bigi Sarah
Published: March 2014

The paper presents partial results from an ongoing research on communication in the medical setting.1 The aim of the paper is to show how the institutional context can affect argumentation by focusing on the activity type of medical consultations. In order to achieve this goal, the paper is structured in four sections. The first one offers a description of the institutional dimension of the medical consultation set within the cultural domain of the Italian National Health Service. In the second section, this description is completed by outlining also the interpersonal dimension of the context. The third section presents partial results obtained through the analysis of a collection of medical consultations. The analysis was conducted by selecting the argumentative extracts from the consultations and by describing the argument schemes used both by doctors and patients. The analysis shows that the persuasive strength of argument schemes varies depending on the way they are used in the different institutional contexts. In particular, the specific features of the institutional contexts constrain the effectiveness of the argument scheme by ‘commanding’ context-specific premises, or endoxa. Therefore, those who have a better knowledge of the context will be able to use the various argument schemes more successfully because they will be able to refer to the most ‘context-relevant’ premises. A development of the research should include more data in the analysis and also foresee the possibility for a comparison with data collected in different cultural contexts.
Chapter 19. Higher-order strategic maneuvering by shifting standards of reasonableness in cold-war editorial argumentation
Authors: Hicks Darrin , Eckstein Justin
Published: March 2014

A content analysis of the New York Times editorial page shows that political reasonableness can be defined in several, sometimes competing, ways. These meanings can be summarized as prudence, soundness, equity and social cooperation. At the heart of many of the extended political controversies the Times editorial page has commented on disputes over which of these definitions of political reasonableness should prevail. One of these controversies concerned Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s 1959 proposal for complete nuclear disarmament; a proposal that presented several argumentative dilemmas for US President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration. The public debate over Khrushchev’s proposal occurred largely on the editorial page of the New York Times. The Times offered its own assessments of the proposal and served as a platform for publicizing the Eisenhower’s administrations’ concerns and counterarguments. A rhetorical analysis of these editorials reveals how the meaning of political reasonableness itself became the object of strategic maneuvering in the Cold War. In particular, the higher-order conditions of argumentation, namely the ethical and political commitments underwriting reasonableness, served as the locus of strategic maneuvering in the editorial argumentation of the New York Times.
Chapter 21. Reported argumentation in economic-financial news
Authors: Zlatkova Gergana
Published: March 2014

The present article deals with the argumentative function of reported speech in a specific discourse genre: economic-financial newspaper articles. Economic-financial discourse results are very interesting for the present investigation, at least, for two reasons. Firstly, being oriented towards the decision making of investors it is, for the most part, overtly or covertly argumentative. Secondly, the argumentation is, for the most part, attributed to expert sources. Theoretically, the research is based on the pragmatic and text linguistic research on reported discourse as well as on argumentation theory. The proposed integrated approach to reported speech combining linguistic and argumentation theoretic insights revealed the relations between linguistic characteristics of reported speech with its different argumentative functions.
The slow cortical potential hypothesis on consciousness
Authors: He Biyu J. , Raichle Marcus E.
Published: March 2014

We propose a neurophysiological hypothesis on the emergence of consciousness, which postulates that the slow cortical potential (SCP) recorded from the surface of the brain provides an index of the activities of superficial-layer pyramidal neurons that directly contribute to the emergence of conscious awareness. This hypothesis is supported by existing data from manipulations of conscious awareness in normal human subjects and by data from altered states of consciousness such as general anesthesia and recovery from vegetative states; it further makes experimentally testable predictions. Given a relationship between the SCP and the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal that has now been revealed, this hypothesis also provides a potential bridge between existing neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies on consciousness.
Gamma oscillations and the cellular components of consciousness?
Authors: LeBeau Fiona E.N.
Published: March 2014

There is evidence to suggest that synchronised neuronal activity, particularly that in the gamma frequency range (~30–100Hz) might contribute to conscious perception. In this chapter I shall discuss what we know about the mechanisms that underlie the generation of gamma frequency activity and the changes known to occur in diseases such as schizophrenia. Until recently it was difficult to test the role of individual neuronal subtypes in the generation of network oscillations. However, using the newly developed optogenetic techniques (in which cells are genetically modulated to make them responsive to specific wavelengths of light) it should now be possible to directly test the contribution of different neuronal classes to the generation of network oscillations and perhaps, therefore, consciousness.
Dopamine modulation of decision making processes
Authors: Grace Anthony A.
Published: March 2014

The dopamine system has a number of functions in the brain, from regulation of movement to controlling emotional expression and facilitating cognitive or conscious processes. Dopamine exerts these actions via its regulation of systems interactions. In particular, the influence of this transmitter system on the balance of afferent input to the nucleus accumbens potently modulates ­decision-making processes. An increase in dopamine outflow potentiates afferents from the hippocampus subiculum, which are involved in context-dependent processes. In contrast, dopamine will also attenuate the ability of the prefrontal cortex to switch behavioral tasks. In this manner, the dopamine system is positioned to alter the propensity to focus conscious attention on a current task versus flexibly altering behavior to more effectively achieve goals.
Disconnecting consciousness
Authors: Campos Lucas , Pichurko Adrian , Mashour George A.
Published: March 2014

We discuss the molecular and cognitive mechanisms of general anaesthesia and their relevance to the science of consciousness. General anaesthetics serve as an important tool to explore the transitions from conscious to unconscious processing, as these drugs rapidly induce a complete and reversible cessation of consciousness. With 40,000,000 patients undergoing general anaesthesia each year in North America alone, the highly controlled and monitored setting of the operating room can become the ultimate consciousness laboratory.
Consciousness and the relation between implicit and explicit memory
Authors: Sheldon Signy , Moscovitch Morris
Published: March 2014

A commonly held assumption is that consciousness is a defining feature that distinguishes explicit memory (with conscious awareness) from implicit memory (without conscious awareness). Although early studies support this notion, recent evidence suggests that conscious and non-conscious memory systems may share crucial underlying processes. Here, we propose that one locus of interaction between some types of explicit and implicit memory may be the non-conscious processes associated with recollection, or detailed remembering, that are mediated by the hippocampus.