bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Critical appraisal of discriminant formulas for distinguishing thalassemia from iron deficiency in patients with microcytic anemia
Authors: Urrechaga Eloísa , Hoffmann Johannes J.M.L.
Published: February 2017

Background:

Many discriminant formulas have been reported for distinguishing thalassemia trait from iron deficiency in patients with microcytic anemia. Independent verification of several discriminant formulas is deficient or even lacking. Therefore, we have retrospectively investigated discriminant formulas in a large, well-characterized patient population.

Methods:

The investigational population consisted of 2664 patients with microcytic anemia: 1259 had iron deficiency, 1196 ‘pure’ thalassemia trait (877 β- and 319 α-thalassemia), 150 had thalassemia trait with concomitant iron deficiency or anemia of chronic disease, and 36 had other diseases. We investigated 25 discriminant formulas that only use hematologic parameters available on all analyzers; formulas with more advanced parameters were disregarded. The diagnostic performance was investigated using ROC analysis.

Results:

The three best performing formulas were the Jayabose (RDW index), Janel (11T), and Green and King formulas. The differences between them were not statistically significant (p>0.333), but each of them had significantly higher area under the ROC curve than any other formula. The Jayabose and Green and King formulas had the highest sensitivities: 0.917 both. The highest specificity, 0.925, was found for the Janel formula, which is a composite score of 11 other formulas. All investigated formulas performed significantly better in distinguishing β- than α-thalassemia from iron deficiency.

Conclusions:

In our patient population, the Jayabose RDW index, the Green and King formula and the Janel 11T score are superior to all other formulas examined for distinguishing between thalassemia trait and iron deficiency anemia. We confirmed that all formulas perform much better in β- than in α-thalassemia carriers and also that they incorrectly classify approximately 30% of thalassemia carriers with concomitant other anemia as not having thalassemia. The diagnostic performance of even the best formulas is not high enough for making a final thalassemia diagnosis, but in countries with limited resources, they can be helpful in identifying those patients who need further examinations for genetic anemia.
Boundary asymptotics of the relative Bergman kernel metric for hyperelliptic curves
Authors: Dong Robert Xin
Published: February 2017

We survey variations of the Bergman kernel and their asymptotic behaviors at degeneration. For a Legendre family of elliptic curves, the curvature form of the relative Bergman kernel metric is equal to the Poincaré metric on ℂ \ {0,1}. The cases of other elliptic curves are either the same or trivial. Two proofs depending on elliptic functions’ special properties and Abelian differentials’ Taylor expansions are discussed, respectively. For a holomorphic family of hyperelliptic nodal or cuspidal curves and their Jacobians, we announce our results on the Bergman kernel asymptotics near various singularities. For genus-two curves particularly, asymptotic formulas with precise coefficients involving the complex structure information are written down explicitly.
Quantum and semiclassical Cooper–pair tunneling in finite systems
Authors: Kleber M.
Published: February 2017

We derive analytic solutions for the tunneling dynamics of two weakly coupled finite BCS–condensates. Pairing interaction between the finite–size condensates is taken into account. Using particle–number dependent chemical potentials the time–dependent transfer of Cooper pairs is obtained from a phenomenological calculation. The results of this theory are compared to a microscopic calculation within the quasispin formulation in its semiclassical limit. In both cases the tunneling current can be mapped onto the motion of a simple pendulum: The results are analogous to the Josephson current between two superconductors and can be used as a starting point to include quantum fluctuations and Josephson radiation.
On the Disruption of Post-colonial Constitutional Order: Hans Kelsen or Carl Schmitt?
Authors: Raza Syed Sami
Published: February 2017

In wake of a coup d′état in 1958, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is asked to decide on its legality. The court, faced with lack of precedent, relies on Hans Kelsen's legal positivism. Over the next five decades the key theoretical basis of the decision is summoned in several other cases in different post-colonial states. This essay develops a critique of the application of Kelsen's theory. The aim of the critique, as well as an added theoretical contribution, is that I engage Carl Schmitt's critique of Kelsen. Accordingly, I redeem the 1920s debate between Kelsen and Schmitt in order to caste critical light on the court decisions. Moreover, I engage Schmitt's own constitutional theory in order to provide an alternative answer to the question of constitutional disruption. The task is twofold: first, to evaluate Kelsen's (liberal) constitutional theory, which purportedly seeks to answer the non-liberal or non-democratic challenge posed by constitutional disruption and dictatorship, and second, to explore the democratic element in the non-liberal theory of Schmitt. My conclusion is that although Kelsen gives politically correct principle of “the efficacy of change” as the basis of legality of constitutional disruption, however, the main steps in his theory do not support the principle. Moreover, the principle draws him away from his liberal constitutionalism. On the other hand, Schmitt's explanation of the same principle based as it is in a non-liberal or realist theory, answers well the question of disruption and dictatorship. Thus the courts that engage Kelsen remain hardpressed to defend their decisions, while those other courts that challenge Kelsen come close to Schmitt.
Constitutional Protection of the Head of State: The Case of Kosovo
Authors: Hasani Enver
Published: February 2017

This paper clarifies the role and position of the Head of State from a comparative perspective, as well as the protection of that institution from an extra constitutional dis­missal via constitutional amendment. Its starting point was the exercise by the Constitu­tional Court of Kosovo of abstract preventive control of eleven (11) proposed constitu­tional amendments. The Court declared unconstitutional over sixty (60) per cent of them, including amendment ten (10), the major subject of this paper. In this case, the Court made it clear that the early termination of the mandate of the Head of State undertaken through the enactment of a new constitutional amendment was unconstitutional. Ulti­mately, the paper demonstrates that no serious and professional court would ever take into account arguments ad hominem in cases dealing with abstract review of constitutionality of laws and constitutional amendments.
Terrorism and Constitutional Change: Lessons from Spain
Authors: Tyulkina Svetlana
Published: February 2017

This article investigates recent developments in Spain’s anti-terrorism regime, in particular the 2002 Law on Political Parties which introduced a non-criminal procedure to outlaw political parties. The 2002 Law was adopted as a response to the continuing exist­ence of political violence associated with terrorist group ETA. It therefore constitutes part of the national counterterrorism regime. This article argues that the 2002 Law was a leg­islative novelty and that its immediate application to ban the political party Batasuna brought about substantial changes to the existing system of constitutional protection of political freedoms, as well as modifying the established standards of constitutional review of anti-terrorism legislation. Furthermore, the result of the November 2011 Spanish parlia­mentary elections has brought questions on the effectiveness of the 2002 Law and its pos­sible future application to the fore of political and legal discourse. The article concludes that the outcome of the 2002 Law on Political Parties is rather disappointing and suggests that there are lessons other democracies can learn both for their counterterrorism policies and treatment of political parties.
Some Constitutional Thoughts about the Islamic Full Veil Ban in Europe
Authors: Corral Benito Aláez
Published: February 2017

This work deals critically with the Islamic full veil ban in public spaces, that is start­ing to be adopted in some European countries and is being echoed in some regulations in Spanish municipalities. After a brief analysis of the general bans recently passed in Belgium and France and of the partial bans adopted in schools by other countries, like Germany, Ita­ly or the UK, the article analyses the constitutionality of the recently approved municipal bans in Spain from a constitutional perspective, including the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The author reaches the conclusion that according to the Sp Const 1978 an adequate interpretation of the limitations to the freedom of religion and the right to one’s own image, involved when wearing an Islamic full veil, would make a general ban on the full veil in each and every public space unconstitutional, but would allow its partial ban regarding the access to municipal buildings or services or regarding teachers and pupils at schools, as far as these partial bans could be justified by constitutional values like safeguarding of public institutions or services, or protecting the fundamental rights of others. `
Understood But Undefined: Why Do Argentina and Brazil Resist Criminalising Terrorism?
Authors: Welsh Rebecca
Published: February 2017

This article considers why Argentina and Brazil have resisted global trends and pressures towards the adoption and implementation of laws criminalising acts of terror. It is argued that the development of Argentine and Brazilian understandings of ‘terrorism’, resulting from the considerable experience of each nation with state and insurgent terror, has led to persistent anti-counter-terrorism-law policies. Some lessons are drawn from this discussion to educate the evolution of counter-terrorism law and policy more widely.
Present and Future Relations between the ECJ and the ECtHR
Authors: Doblhoff-Dier Rosmarie , Kusmierczyk Sandra
Published: February 2017

By acceding to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the EU’s role as supranational player in the complex human rights architecture of Europe will be finally recognized. On 5 April 2013, the negotiators of the accession procedure of the European Union to the ECHR agreed on a package of draft accession instruments. Constituting a mile­stone on the road to accession, the now revised Accession Agreement still leaves vast room for discussion. By critically scrutinizing some of its modalities, this article will evaluate its impact on the human rights jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Eu­ropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the relationship between both courts. To this end, it will address the somewhat disproportionate involvement of the European Union in the future jurisdiction of the ECtHR and in the decision making of the Council of Europe in matters linked to the ECHR. Furthermore, it will focus on the compatibility of the Draft Agree­ment with the principle of autonomous interpretation of European Union Law: a highly rel­evant discussion for the ECJ’s future Opinion under Article 218 (11) TFEU on the compatibil­ity of the finalized draft agreement with the Treaties - the next hurdle for accession.
Social Rights Against the Poor
Authors: Gouvêa Carlos Portugal
Published: February 2017

The main argument of this work is that the discourse of social and economic rights in Brazil has been appropriated by privileged economic groups with the result that the constitutional protection of those rights is no longer carrying out its function to reduce economic inequality. This article will be divided into three parts. The first is a discussion of the historic context of patrimonialism in Brazil as well as the origins of economic inequality in the country. The second part is devoted to the theoretical debate surrounding the con­stitutional protection of social and economic rights in light of what is often referred to as ‘new constitutionalism’, along with an interpretation of the structure for protecting social and economic rights that is present in the Brazilian constitution. The third part consists of a case study of the current state of the judicialization of the right to health in Brazil, with special attention to free concession of medicine and the new legislation on the subject. In conclusion, the paper argues that judicial decisions on the right to health, in particular, and social and economic rights, in general, have been formalistic, with little regard to their (often negative) distributive impact. The solution is then not to move from individual litiga­tion to collective litigation (eg class actions), but to move from an ‘individual rights’ approach to a ‘distributive’ approach, which takes into account the effects of court decisions not only with respect to the parties involved but also to the rights of the poorest of the poor.
Aid Conditionality as (Partial) Answer to Antigay Legislation: An Analysis of British and American Foreign Aid Policies Designed to Protect Sexual Minorities
Authors: Kretz Adam J.
Published: February 2017

The past decade has seen impressive gains for human rights activists desiring greater protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. However, it has also seen regression: concerted attempts by leaders, particularly in Africa, the Mid­dle East, and Asia, to further criminalize sexual orientation and same-sex sexual activity while vilifying and marginalizing LGBT citizens.

This Article explores the recent attempt by the United States and United Kingdom to ef­fectuate a possible solution to the rapid proliferation of these antigay statutes - threats to tie portions of foreign aid disbursements to the ways in which countries treat their LGBT citizens. After examining recent attempts at antigay legislation in a number of nations, most notably Malawi and Uganda, this Article discusses the fundamental differences be­tween the newly proposed American and British foreign aid policies, and critiques the theories underlying their development and implementation. Ultimately, this Article con­cludes that the American and British attempts to protect LGBT persons through aid condi­tionality serves as a powerful signaling effect, but will ultimately fail to convince antigay leaders and legislators from further passing these dangerous laws.
PIGS and Pearls: State of Economic Emergency, Right to Resistance and Constitutional Review in the Context of the Eurozone Crisis
Authors: Dimopoulos Andreas
Published: February 2017

Taking the financial crisis in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, (commonly re­ferred to with the derogatory acronym PIGS), as backdrop to this analysis, the article claims that institutional design in Europe (focusing on Greece and Portugal in particular) has not addressed the state of economic emergency. This gap in institutional design, to­gether with the unpopularity of emergency austerity measures, raises serious doubts con­cerning their legitimacy and constitutionality.

The article analyses two theoretical responses to this grey area of constitutional legality: the first one construes social unrest in Greece against austerity measures as a legitimate exercise of the right to resistance, entrenched in Art 120 of the Greek Constitution.

The second response selected for analysis is the constitutional review of austerity meas­ures by the Portuguese Constitutional Court, which is presented as a robust example of successful constitutional review.

The article argues that constitutional review with regards to emergency financial measures oscillates between strict adherence to the rule of law and deference to legislative authority in a time of economic crisis, thus raising serious doubts as to its efficiency and persuasive­ness. States of economic emergency should be addressed as an urgent matter of institu­tional design.
The New Zealand Food Bill and Global Administrative Law: A Recipe for Democratic Engagement?
Authors: Adamson Bryce
Published: February 2017

The New Zealand Food Bill is being passed amidst stern criticism of its content and the influence of multi-national corporations and the Codex Alimentarius Commission, whose food-safety standards motivated the bill. These concerns illustrate the large democratic and legitimisation deficits in global governance. One response to these criticisms and concerns is global administrative law, which focuses on promoting administrative law tools to enhance accountability. However, an examination of the Food Bill reinforces two main critiques of global administrative law: that it excludes addressing substance of international law and brackets democracy. I argue the limited GAL approach cannot be justified and the significant gaps in its approach require that it engage with democracy. I analyse the possibilities of global administrative law to engage with (to acknowledge and adopt) two theories of global democracy - deliberative and cosmopolitan - using the Food Bill as a case study.
Adam Smith’s Lectures on Jurisprudence – Justice, Law, and the Moral Economy
Authors: Kendall Walter J
Published: February 2017

Adam Smith, a leading thinker of the British Enlightenment, is universally known as the author of the ‘Wealth of Nations’ and an economic theorist. He is less well known as the author of ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ and an ethicist. And known almost not at all for his ‘Lectures on Jurisprudence’ or as a legal theorist.

This essay looks at Smith’s thought through the lens of his Lectures on Jurisprudence. It highlights the almost paradoxical positions Smith had on self-interest, markets, govern­ment, and economic expansion. Obscured by his reputation and these paradoxes are his views on justice, equality, and power. This essay concludes that Smith’s ‘justice’ is deficient and no substitute for the ‘bread nexus’ of the moral economy.
Czech Presidential Elections 2013
Authors: Molek Pavel
Published: February 2017

The article describes the reasons for the constitutional amendment to the Czech Constitution turning the traditional indirect elections of the President of the Republic into direct popular vote. It analyses the shortcomings of the constitutional amendment as well as of the Act on Presidential Elections. In the two parts that follow, it addresses the two main problems of the presidential elections: the registration of the candidates and the elec­tion campaign, and analyses the milestone decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court regarding these two questions. Finally, the author reflects the first year of presidency of Miloš Zeman and his questionable attempts to broaden the scope of presidential competences by innovative interpretation of the Czech Constitution.
Supremely Fallible? A Debate on Judicial Restraint and Activism in Pakistan
Authors: Ahmed Sanaa
Published: February 2017

Despite a rich history of judicial review, the activism witnessed during the tenure of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2005-20131) was gener­ally seen as unprecedented in Pakistan and eventually led to the court being accused of politicization, judicial overreach and even ‘judicial terrorism’.2 This paper examines the calls for ‘strategic judicial restraint’ in the sphere of economic decision-making within Pa­kistan’s broader socio-political context.

The Chaudhry court’s activism is mapped against the historic trajectory of judicial review in Pakistan, particularly the cases pertaining to military takeovers and administrative law. It is contended that the seeming expansion of the frontiers of judicial review merely mark the renegotiation of political power between the judiciary, the military as well as political and economic elite. Further, it is argued that the economy was the most convenient amphi­theatre for this battle for greater political relevance by and among the political actors in contemporary Pakistan and not, as alleged, what was actually being fought over.
Where’s Waldo? Looking for the Doctrine of Proportionality in Indian Free Speech Jurisprudence
Authors: Ambast Ashwita
Published: February 2017

The doctrine of proportionality has wide, growing transcontinental application in the realm of constitutional rights adjudication. Indian constitutional law is no exception to this trend. This article documents the use of proportionality analysis by the Indian Su­preme Court in cases involving the right to free speech. While it is clear that the proportionality analysis has been employed by the Apex Court, it is argued that the application of the doctrine is partial and inconsistent.
Understanding Brazilian Administrative Law, the Related Literature, and Education: A Comparison with the System in the United States
Authors: Gabardo Emerson
Published: February 2017

This paper presents research on a typical subject in comparative law: doctrinal thinking about (and teaching methods for) administrative law in Brazil and the United States. The paper’s initial research hypotheses are as follows: 1) in contrast to the United States, in Brazil, legal scholarship (legal academic writing) has significantly influenced the construction of the theoretical principles that form the basis of the public administration system; 2) the Brazilian understanding of administrative legal scholarship is distinct from that of the United States regarding several specific but representative issues; 3) in Brazil, administrative law textbooks and monographs focus on general principles and direct state intervention, whereas in the United States, administrative law education focuses on regulatory issues; and 4) regulatory (and policy or decision-making) concepts are more complex than they initially appear. These initial hypotheses will either be confirmed or refuted at the end of the study. The methodological research scope is an analysis of the study, teaching, and theoretical approach to the science of administrative law through a comparison of the two systems. The conclusions aim to assist legal researchers in both countries by broadening the understanding of the differences in meaning between apparently similar institutions and expressions while analyzing relevant semiological differences. Therefore, the paper does not represent an analysis of the particular legal systems but instead offers a methodology for understanding the two jurisdictions under consideration.
The European Court of Human Rights and Transnational Judicial Dialogue
Authors: Zoethout Carla M
Published: February 2017

Over the past decade, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) seems more and more inclined to use foreign sources of law, that is to say, law that does not originate in the Convention itself or in one of the Member States of the Council of Europe. Unlike in the US, there is little discussion in Europe about this form of judicial dialogue in the case-law of the ECtHR. This paper seeks both to clarify transnational dialogue by the ECtHR and find ways to justify this practice, against the backdrop of the American debate on this topic. First, the concept of transnational judicial dialogue is analysed (Part II). Then judicial dialogue as it presents itself in the judgments of the ECtHR is assessed, especially when non-Convention or foreign law is being used in a substantive way (Part III). Subsequently, an attempt is made to define when and why the use of foreign law by the ECtHR can be considered a justifiable approach in judicial decision-making (Part IV). The paper rounds off with some concluding remarks (Part V).
EU Law in the Czech Republic: From ultra vires of the Czech Government to ultra vires of the EU Court?
Authors: Šlosarčík Ivo
Published: February 2017

Before the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, its constitution has been amended with objective to guarantee constitutional conformity of the EU accession. The Czech legal system has been opened to external legal provisions and a constitutional mechanism has been established for transfer of competencies to an external entity, all framed by the explicitly formulated constitutional principle of loyalty to the international obligations of the Czech Republic. However, the ‘European amendment’ of the Czech Constitution has left several important issues unanswered, such as the principle of supremacy of the EU law or relations between the Czech Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the EU.

This article analyses how the Czech Constitutional Court tackled with EU-related constitutional issues that emerged during the first decade of Czech membership in the EU. Focused on four key cases decided by the Czech Constitutional Court (sugar quotas, European Ar­rest Warrant, Lisbon Treaty, Slovak Pensions), the article will demonstrate how the Czech Constitutional Court combined a conservative and pragmatic approach in its EU law related case-law by formulating a constitutional doctrine of a ‘EU-friendly’ interpretation of Czech constitutional rules, while, at the same time, leaving the EU law formally outside the frontiers of Czech constitutional law and refusing EU law to be used as the ultimate argument in intra-judiciary disputes in the Czech Republic.
Restoration Constitution-Making
Authors: Partlett William
Published: February 2017

This Article will examine an important - but largely ignored - approach to constitution- making: The use of restored constitutional orders as the basis for the creation of a new constitutional order. Looking at this ‘restoration constitution-making’ in post-communist constitutional transition, it will describe how restoration held both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, restoration improved the politics of constitution-making by helping to avoid the elite manipulation of extraordinary institutions during constitutional drafting. On the other hand, the restoration of decades-old constitutions also led to restored laws that privileged past generations and undermined broad popular participation. Finally, restoration was an important part of gaining international recognition for independence. This international component suggests that constitution-making is about more than just domestic politics. These findings are an important first step in understanding the potential of restoration to ensure a successful constitutional transition.
Constitutional Politics in Contemporary Hungary
Authors: Drinóczi Tímea
Published: February 2017

This paper argues that what has happened with and led to the 4th amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary adopted in 2013 (and to the 5th amendment of the same year) is a reasonable and simple consequence of the technique of the political power that has been exercised in Hungary since 2010 in the course of amending the former Constitution and of the preparation and adoption of the new one. In order to understand why the change is so drastic and radical, it is inevitable to assess constitutional politics between 1989 and 2010 from a perspective of the constitution-changing and -making powers and the methods and techniques employed. The outcomes of constitutional politics between 1989 and 2010 gave rise to political criticism and the developments related to the Constitution (Act XX of 1949) were also surrounded by evident dissatisfaction. Yet, what has been happening since 2010 is far more problematic in the light of constitutionalism and democratic values.
Explaining Death Penalty Clemency in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 1986 to 2015
Authors: Pascoe Daniel
Published: February 2017

: Regarding the operational specifics of death penalty policy, David T Johnson and Franklin E Zimring have argued that it is extreme left or right wing authoritarian states′ aversion to a limitation of their own powers that determines high rates of executions in countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, China and North Korea as opposed to other, lesspunitive Asian nations which share similar cultural and religious characteristics. For a regime like Vietnam’s, the swift carrying out of a death sentence, especially when performed in public, serves to highlight the state’s power over life and death and enhance political control over the domestic constituency. At first glance then, little scope for the exercise of the clemency power as a form of lenient reprieve from the death sentence by the executive government appears possible under a repressive regime of this nature.

However, unlike China and Singapore, a notable feature of Vietnam’s death penalty practice since the Doi Moi reforms of 1986 has been the executive’s willingness to reprieve a large minority of prisoners sentenced to death through Presidential clemency, even though executions themselves have continued. What official and unofficial justifications have been given for grants of Presidential clemency in Vietnam, and relatedly, what structural and cultural factors explain the use of clemency in a noticeable proportion of death penalty cases? These are the under-researched questions I provide plausible explanations for in this article, incorporating an empirical study of Vietnam’s death penalty clemency grants since the mid-1980s, interpreted through the lens of the relevant academic literature on clemency and pardon grants.
On a mnemonic construction of permutations
Authors: Antal Eugen , Grošek Otokar , Horak Peter
Published: February 2017

In the past when only “paper and pencil” ciphers were in use, a mnemonic Bellaso’s method was applied to obtain a permutation from a meaningful phrase. It turns out that even nowadays this method and its variations are employed and provide a simple but at the same time efficient tool for some ciphers. To the best of our knowledge the security of such ciphers has not been evaluated yet in all respects. Therefore, in this paper we initiate a study of their security with respect to the probability distribution of permutations obtained by Bellaso’s method.
Aristotle on Philoctetes’ Snake? Hom. Il. 2.721–725 and Ael. NA 4.57
Authors: Mayhew Robert
Published: February 2017

Ael. NA 4.57 describes what Aristotle is supposed to have said about the effects of the bite of a water-snake (ὕδρος) on a human being. This chapter has generally been considered a fragment from a lost work of Aristotle on animals, though the possibility that it came from a lost medical work is in the present essay also suggested. In any case, by considering the content of NA 4.57 in the context of discussion by ancient Homeric scholars of the snake that bit Philoctetes – concerning what kind of snake it is, and what were the effects of its bite – this essay attempts to show that NA 4.57 may provide evidence for commentary by Aristotle, in his lost Homeric Puzzles, on Hom. Il. 2.721–725, the passage on Philoctetes in the Catalogue of Ships.
Review of heavy metal accumulation on aquatic environment in Northern East Mediterrenean Sea part I: some essential metals
Authors: Yılmaz Ayşe Bahar , Yanar Alper , Alkan Ela Nur
Published: February 2017

All pollutants can reach the aquatic environments and the levels of heavy metals in upper members of the food web like fish can reach values many times higher than those found in aquatic environment or in sediments. Although heavy metals are essential or non-essential, all heavy metals are potentially harmful to humans and most organisms at some level of exposure and absorption. Marine organisms are good indicators for long-term monitoring of metal accumulation. The present review study is for evaluation of the data from previous studies about the toxic effects of selected heavy metals, like essential metals (copper, zinc, iron, chromium, and manganese), on seawater, sediment, and in different tissues of aquatic animals (demersal and bentic fish, invertabres) collected from different areas in Northern East Mediterrenean Sea since the 1990s. Some concern arose from previous studies, particularly in terms of safety for human consumption. For this purpose, 86 articles and 4 theses were examined and information was collected on the table to open a forward-looking view of the pollution of studied area. In previous studies, the variations in feeding habits, habitats, and the level of copper found in edible muscles of the demersal fish species (deep water fish species, carnivore) such asMullus barbatus barbatus,Solea lascaris,Sparus auratawere always higher than those found in pelagic (omnivore)Mugil cephalus, Liza aurata.Results show discrepancies caused by many factors; thus, more work must be done carefully.
Public Goods, Private Consumption, and Human Capital: Using Boosted Regression Trees to Model Volunteer Labour Supply
Authors: Emrich Eike , Pierdzioch Christian
Published: February 2017

Economists use three types of models to describe volunteer labour supply: the public-goods model, the private-consumption model, and the human-capital model. We used data from an online survey questionnaire of volunteers working for the German Red Cross to study the extent to which utility components representing these three types help to explain volunteer labour supply. We analysed the survey data using boosted regression trees, where we controlled for several other potentially important socioeconomic correlates of volunteer labour supply. We used measures of relative influence and partial dependence plots to analyse the strength and the direction of the correlation of the utility components and the other socioeconomic variables with volunteer labour supply.
Role of the Excitability Brake Potassium Current IKDin Cold Allodynia Induced by Chronic Peripheral Nerve Injury
Authors: González Alejandro , Ugarte Gonzalo , Restrepo Carlos , Herrera Gaspar , Piña Ricardo , Gómez-Sánchez José Antonio , Pertusa María , Orio Patricio , Madrid Rodolfo
Published: February 2017

Cold allodynia is a common symptom of neuropathic and inflammatory pain following peripheral nerve injury. The mechanisms underlying this disabling sensory alteration are not entirely understood. In primary somatosensory neurons, cold sensitivity is mainly determined by a functional counterbalance between cold-activated TRPM8 channels and Shaker-like Kv1.1–1.2 channels underlying the excitability brake current IKD. Here we studied the role of IKDin damage-triggered painful hypersensitivity to innocuous cold. We found that cold allodynia induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in mice, was related to both an increase in the proportion of cold-sensitive neurons (CSNs) in DRGs contributing to the sciatic nerve, and a decrease in their cold temperature threshold. IKDdensity was reduced in high-threshold CSNs from CCI mice compared with sham animals, with no differences in cold-induced TRPM8-dependent current density. The electrophysiological properties and neurochemical profile of CSNs revealed an increase of nociceptive-like phenotype among neurons from CCI animals compared with sham mice. These results were validated using a mathematical model of CSNs, including IKDand TRPM8, showing that a reduction in IKDcurrent density shifts the thermal threshold to higher temperatures and that the reduction of this current induces cold sensitivity in former cold-insensitive neurons expressing low levels of TRPM8-like current. Together, our results suggest that cold allodynia is largely due to a functional downregulation of IKDin both high-threshold CSNs and in a subpopulation of polymodal nociceptors expressing TRPM8, providing a general molecular and neural mechanism for this sensory alteration.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThis paper unveils the critical role of the brake potassium current IKDin damage-triggered cold allodynia. Using a well-known form of nerve injury and combining behavioral analysis, calcium imaging, patch clamping, and pharmacological tools, validated by mathematical modeling, we determined that the functional expression of IKDis reduced in sensory neurons in response to peripheral nerve damage. This downregulation not only enhances cold sensitivity of high-threshold cold thermoreceptors signaling cold discomfort, but it also transforms a subpopulation of polymodal nociceptors signaling pain into neurons activated by mild temperature drops. Our results suggest that cold allodynia is linked to a reduction of IKDin both high-threshold cold thermoreceptors and nociceptors expressing TRPM8, providing a general model for this form of cold-induced pain.
Valuing Evidence over Authority: The Impact of a Short Course for Middle-Level Students Exploring the Evidence for Evolution
Authors: Romine William L. , Todd Amber N.
Published: February 2017

Increasing both knowledge and acceptance of evolution are important outcomes of efforts to educate our students about the theory of evolution. Data were collected in the context of an 11-day short course focused on examining the evidence for evolution at a suburban STEM school in the Midwestern United States to answer the following research questions: (1) What effect did this course have on knowledge and acceptance of evolution? (2) How did cognitive and affective factors support growth in understanding of evolution in this evidence-centered educational intervention? This short course, comprising 21 students, focused on exploration-based activities allowing students themselves to collect evidence for evolution. We found significant gains in knowledge of microevolution and macroevolution, and found that both prior knowledge and acceptance of evolution were important in facilitating students’ conceptual growth.
The Impact of the Chukwin Mini-Unit on Students’ Understanding of Natural Selection
Authors: Bauer Sarah
Published: February 2017

Natural selection is a widely misunderstood yet critical element to understanding evolution, a concept already fraught with controversy and challenges to its instruction. This necessitates creative methods to improve student learning in this area. A constructivist mini-unit incorporating simulation-based games involving a population of imaginary creatures called Chukwins was created to maximize student learning and motivation. It was tested in one elementary and three junior high classrooms in different locations. Changes in understanding were assessed before and after treatment. Surveys and interviews provided additional evidence on students’ attitudes toward the mini-unit and its impact on their learning and engagement. Students made statistically significant improvements on assessments regarding natural selection, reducing their number of misconceptions and slightly improving their ability to apply it. Retention scores indicate that the changes are long-lasting.
A Model of the Use of Evolutionary Trees (MUET) to Inform K-14 Biology Education
Authors: Kong Yi , Thawani Ankita , Anderson Trevor , Pelaez Nancy
Published: February 2017

Evolutionary trees are powerful tools used in modern biological research, and commonly used in textbooks and classroom instruction. Studies have shown that K-14 students have difficulties interpreting evolutionary trees. To improve student learning about this topic, it is essential to teach them how to understand and use trees like professional biologists. Unfortunately, few currently used teaching frameworks for evolution instruction are designed for this purpose. In this study we developed the Model of the Use of Evolutionary Trees (MUET), a conceptual model that characterizes how evolutionary trees were used by professional biologists as represented in their research publications. The development of the MUET was guided by the Concept-Reasoning Mode of representation (CRM) model as well as a “model of modeling” framework. The MUET was then used to review instructional and assessment material for K-14 classrooms. Future studies with the MUET may inform the development of teaching materials for K-14 classrooms aimed at improving students’ understanding of and learning about evolutionary trees.
Forward Genetics by Sequencing EMS Variation-Induced Inbred Lines
Authors: Addo-Quaye Charles , Buescher Elizabeth , Best Norman , Chaikam Vijay , Baxter Ivan , Dilkes Brian P
Published: February 2017

In order to leverage novel sequencing techniques for cloning genes in eukaryotic organisms with complex genomes, the false positive rate of variant discovery must be controlled for by experimental design and informatics. We sequenced five lines from three pedigrees of ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-mutagenized Sorghum bicolor, including a pedigree segregating a recessive dwarf mutant. Comparing the sequences of the lines, we were able to identify and eliminate error-prone positions. One genomic region contained EMS mutant alleles in dwarfs that were homozygous reference sequences in wild-type siblings and heterozygous in segregating families. This region contained a single nonsynonymous change that cosegregated with dwarfism in a validation population and caused a premature stop codon in the Sorghum ortholog encoding the gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthetic enzyme ent-kaurene oxidase. Application of exogenous GA rescued the mutant phenotype. Our method for mapping did not require outcrossing and introduced no segregation variance. This enables work when line crossing is complicated by life history, permitting gene discovery outside of genetic models. This inverts the historical approach of first using recombination to define a locus and then sequencing genes. Our formally identical approach first sequences all the genes and then seeks cosegregation with the trait. Mutagenized lines lacking obvious phenotypic alterations are available for an extension of this approach: mapping with a known marker set in a line that is phenotypically identical to starting material for EMS mutant generation.
The Complex Transcriptional Response of Acaryochloris marina to Different Oxygen Levels
Authors: Hernández-Prieto Miguel A , Lin Yuankui , Chen Min
Published: February 2017

Ancient oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes produced oxygen as a waste product, but existed for a long time under an oxygen-free (anoxic) atmosphere, before an oxic atmosphere emerged. The change in oxygen levels in the atmosphere influenced the chemistry and structure of many enzymes that contained prosthetic groups that were inactivated by oxygen. In the genome of Acaryochloris marina, multiple gene copies exist for proteins that are normally encoded by a single gene copy in other cyanobacteria. Using high throughput RNA sequencing to profile transcriptome responses from cells grown under microoxic and hyperoxic conditions, we detected 8446 transcripts out of the 8462 annotated genes in the Cyanobase database. Two-thirds of the 50 most abundant transcripts are key proteins in photosynthesis. Microoxic conditions negatively affected the levels of expression of genes encoding photosynthetic complexes, with the exception of some subunits. In addition to the known regulation of the multiple copies of psbA, we detected a similar transcriptional pattern for psbJ and psbU, which might play a key role in the altered components of photosystem II. Furthermore, regulation of genes encoding proteins important for reactive oxygen species-scavenging is discussed at genome level, including, for the first time, specific small RNAs having possible regulatory roles under varying oxygen levels.
Genetic Analysis of the Lambda Spanins Rz and Rz1: Identification of Functional Domains
Authors: Cahill Jesse , Rajaure Manoj , O’Leary Chandler , Sloan Jordan , Marrufo Armando , Holt Ashley , Kulkarni Aneesha , Hernandez Oscar , Young Ry
Published: February 2017

Coliphage lambda proteins Rz and Rz1 are the inner membrane and outer membrane subunits of the spanin complex—a heterotetramer that bridges the periplasm and is essential for the disruption of the outer membrane during phage lysis. Recent evidence suggests the spanin complex functions by fusing the inner and outer membrane. Here, we use a genetics approach to investigate and characterize determinants of spanin function. Because Rz1 is entirely embedded in the +1 reading frame of Rz, the genes were disembedded before using random mutagenesis to construct a library of lysis-defective alleles for both genes. Surprisingly, most of the lysis-defective missense mutants exhibited normal accumulation or localization in vivo, and also were found to be normal for complex formation in vitro. Analysis of the distribution and nature of single missense mutations revealed subdomains that resemble key motifs in established membrane-fusion systems, i.e., two coiled-coil domains in Rz, a proline-rich region of Rz1, and flexible linkers in both proteins. When coding sequences are aligned respective to the embedded genetic architecture of Rz1 within Rz, genetically silent domains of Rz1 correspond to mutationally sensitive domains in Rz, and vice versa, suggesting that the modular structure of the two subunits facilitated the evolutionary compression that resulted in the unique embedded gene architecture.
Latrunculin A-Induced Perturbation of the Actin Cytoskeleton Mediates Pap1p-Dependent Induction of the Caf5p Efflux Pump in Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Asadi Farzad , Chakraborty Bidhan , Karagiannis Jim
Published: February 2017

As part of an earlier study aimed at uncovering gene products with roles in defending against latrunculin A (LatA)-induced cytoskeletal perturbations, we identified three members of the oxidative stress response pathway: the Pap1p AP-1-like transcription factor, the Imp1p α-importin, and the Caf5p efflux pump. In this report, we characterize the pathway further and show that Pap1p translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in an Imp1p-dependent manner upon LatA treatment. Moreover, preventing this translocation, through the addition of a nuclear export signal (NES), confers the same characteristic LatA-sensitive phenotype exhibited by pap1Δ cells. Lastly, we show that the caf5 gene is induced upon exposure to LatA and that Pap1p is required for this transcriptional upregulation. Importantly, the expression of trr1, a Pap1p target specifically induced in response to oxidative stress, is not significantly altered by LatA treatment. Taken together, these results suggest a model in which LatA-mediated cytoskeletal perturbations are sensed, triggering the Imp1p-dependent translocation of Pap1p to the nucleus and the induction of the caf5 gene (independently of oxidative stress).
A SNP Based Linkage Map of the Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus) Genome Provides Insights into the Diploidization Process After Whole Genome Duplication
Authors: Nugent Cameron M , Easton Anne A , Norman Joseph D , Ferguson Moira M , Danzmann Roy G
Published: February 2017

Diploidization, which follows whole genome duplication events, does not occur evenly across the genome. In salmonid fishes, certain pairs of homeologous chromosomes preserve tetraploid loci in higher frequencies toward the telomeres due to residual tetrasomic inheritance. Research suggests this occurs only in homeologous pairs where one chromosome arm has undergone a fusion event. We present a linkage map for Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), a salmonid species with relatively fewer chromosome fusions. Genotype by sequencing identified 19,418 SNPs, and a linkage map consisting of 4508 markers was constructed from a subset of high quality SNPs and microsatellite markers that were used to anchor the new map to previous versions. Both male- and female-specific linkage maps contained the expected number of 39 linkage groups. The chromosome type associated with each linkage group was determined, and 10 stable metacentric chromosomes were identified, along with a chromosome polymorphism involving the sex chromosome AC04. Two instances of a weak form of pseudolinkage were detected in the telomeric regions of homeologous chromosome arms in both female and male linkage maps. Chromosome arm homologies within the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) genomes were determined. Paralogous sequence variants (PSVs) were identified, and their comparative BLASTn hit locations showed that duplicate markers exist in higher numbers on seven pairs of homeologous arms, previously identified as preserving tetrasomy in salmonid species. Homeologous arm pairs where neither arm has been part of a fusion event in Arctic charr had fewer PSVs, suggesting faster diploidization rates in these regions.