bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distinct growth and physiological responses of Arabidopsis thaliana natural accessions to drought stress and their detection using spectral reflectance and thermal imaging
Authors: Klem Karel , Mishra Kumud B. , Novotná Kateřina , Rapantová Barbora , Hodaňová Petra , Mishra Anamika , Kováč Daniel , Urban Otmar
Published: February 2017

Reduced growth and stomatal closure are the two main responses of plants to drought stress. The extent to which these processes are connected and whether different genotypes prefer one over the other remains unclear. To understand the genotype-specific interconnections of these two processes and evaluate potential utilisation of this knowledge for drought tolerance phenotyping, six natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. were exposed to drought stress for 10 days. Projected leaf area of rosette, light-saturated CO2 assimilation rate (Amax), relative water content (RWC), leaf temperature (thermal imaging), and spectral reflectance were measured through the course of induced drought stress. Three types of acclimation were identified: (i) growth not affected but Amax significantly reduced, (ii) both growth and Amax significantly reduced, and (iii) growth significantly reduced but only small decrease in Amax. Within the last type, the smallest decline in RWC was evident. These results show that a substantial reduction in leaf area may cause a decline in transpiration that enables maintenance of both RWC and physiological processes. Both non-invasive thermal imaging and spectral reflectance measurements proved reliable tools for tracking drought-induced changes in Amax and RWC across all accessions tested and thus are effective tools for phenotyping stress tolerance.
Bridging the divide between fire safety research and fighting fire safely: how do we convey research innovation to contribute more effectively to wildland firefighter safety?
Authors: Adams Theodore 'Ted' , Butler Bret W. , Brown Sara , Wright Vita , Black Anne
Published: February 2017

Creating a safe workplace for wildland firefighters has long been at the centre of discussion for researchers and practitioners. The goal of wildland fire safety research has been to protect operational firefighters, yet its contributions often fall short of potential because much is getting lost in the translation of peer-reviewed results to potential and intended users. When information that could enhance safety is not adopted by individuals, the potential to improve safety – to decipher the wildland fire physical or social environment and to recognise hazards – is lost. We use firefighter safety-zone research as a case study to examine how primary research is, and could be, transferred to fire managers, policy-makers and firefighters. We apply four core communication theories (diffusion, translation, discourse and media richness) to improve knowledge transfer.
K isotopes as a tracer of seafloor hydrothermal alteration
Authors: Parendo Christopher A. , Jacobsen Stein B. , Wang Kun
Published: February 2017

Significance

Elemental exchange between seawater and oceanic crust is important both in modulating the ionic composition of seawater over geologic time and in controlling the elemental and isotopic makeup of various solid-earth reservoirs. This study documents large and systematic variations in the K-isotope composition of oceanic crust that has been affected by seafloor hydrothermal alteration. These variations put constraints on the isotopic character of a fundamental flux of the marine K cycle: the hydrothermal flux. We also propose that these variations ought to be exploited in the future as an effective way of tracking oceanic crust as it is subducted into the mantle and sampled by various forms of volcanism.
Pure circular polarization electroluminescence at room temperature with spin-polarized light-emitting diodes
Authors: Nishizawa Nozomi , Nishibayashi Kazuhiro , Munekata Hiro
Published: February 2017

Significance

Most of the experiments on the spin manipulation in semiconductors, the principal materials in modern electronic and photonic devices, were carried out at cryogenic temperatures and high magnetic fields because thermal energy tends to randomize spin information in the semiconductor that is nonmagnetic. Here, we report very surprising experimental results of pure circular polarization electroluminescence at room temperature with no external magnetic fields. The results are obtained by electrically injecting moderately high density of spins into semiconductor double heterostructures, the structures that were invented in connection with semiconductor lasers one-half century ago. The results suggest the appearance of some spin-dependent nonlinear processes that lead to recovering and even enhancing the injected, initial spin information in semiconductors.
SGK3 sustains ERα signaling and drives acquired aromatase inhibitor resistance through maintaining endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis
Authors: Wang Yuanzhong , Zhou Dujin , Phung Sheryl , Warden Charles , Rashid Rumana , Chan Nymph , Chen Shiuan
Published: February 2017

Significance

Acquired aromatase inhibitor (AI) resistance is a major clinical issue in the treatment of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα)-positive breast cancer. Most AI-resistant breast tumors still express ERα and rely on its signaling for growth. The current study shows that serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 3 (SGK3), a kinase transcriptionally regulated by ERα in breast cancer, sustains ERα signaling and drives the acquired AI resistance by protecting against endoplasmic reticulum (EnR) stress-induced ERα downregulation and cell death through preserving sarcoplasmic/EnR calcium ATPase 2b (SERCA2b) function. Our study reveals regulation of ERα expression mediated by the EnR stress response and highlights SGK3 inhibition as a potential effective treatment of acquired AI-resistant breast cancer.
Reelin transiently promotes N-cadherin–dependent neuronal adhesion during mouse cortical development
Authors: Matsunaga Yuki , Noda Mariko , Murakawa Hideki , Hayashi Kanehiro , Nagasaka Arata , Inoue Seika , Miyata Takaki , Miura Takashi , Kubo Ken-ichiro , Nakajima Kazunori
Published: February 2017

Significance

It has long been thought that Reelin is a stop signal for migrating neocortical neurons, because the neurons stop just beneath Reelin-rich regions. Our recent studies revealed that ectopically expressed Reelin can also cause neuronal aggregation with clear demarcation in vivo, suggesting that Reelin is not simply a stop signal. However, it remains unclear whether Reelin directly promotes adhesion among neurons or only causes them to be repelled by the surrounding cellular environment, facilitating their aggregation. We show here that Reelin directly promotes N-cadherin–dependent neuronal adhesion, causing neuronal aggregation. This Reelin-dependent neuronal adhesion occurs only transiently, and is not sustained. This dynamic change of N-cadherin–mediated cellular adhesiveness is important for establishment of the appropriate layering of neocortical neurons.
Distributed representation of context by intrinsic subnetworks in prefrontal cortex
Authors: Waskom Michael L. , Wagner Anthony D.
Published: February 2017

Significance

Information is represented in the brain by distributed patterns of cortical activity. In sensory cortex, these patterns are expressed across circuits with an intrinsic functional architecture that is organized along relevant stimulus dimensions. However, it is unknown whether similar organizational principles underlie distributed representations of more abstract information, such as rules or goals. We analyzed correlations in spontaneous activity to identify fine-scaled subnetworks in human prefrontal cortex. These subnetworks were differentially engaged when subjects followed rules in a complex decision-making task. Our results show how the abstract representations that support goal-directed cognition are constrained by an intrinsic functional architecture and prompt new models of information representation in association cortex.
Role of vascular normalization in benefit from metronomic chemotherapy
Authors: Mpekris Fotios , Baish James W. , Stylianopoulos Triantafyllos , Jain Rakesh K.
Published: February 2017

Significance

Metronomic dosing has been proposed as an alternative to maximum tolerated doses of chemotherapy. Even though this strategy has shown promise in improving therapeutic outcomes in some cases, the underlying mechanisms of action are not fully understood. In this study, using mathematical modeling, we show that metronomic chemotherapy could be beneficial by normalizing tumor blood vessel function and improving tumor perfusion. Improved perfusion enhances the delivery of drugs to solid tumors and alleviates hypoxia. These effects also result in an improved immune response, contributing to increased killing of cancer cells, including more resistant cancer stem-like cells.
Tryptophan introduction can change β-glucan binding ability of the carbohydrate-binding module of endo-1,3-β-glucanase
Authors: Miki Ayako , Inaba Satomi , Maruno Takahiro , Kobayashi Yuji , Oda Masayuki
Published: February 2017

Endo-1,3-β-glucanase from Cellulosimicrobium cellulans DK-1 has a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM-DK) at the C-terminal side of a catalytic domain. Out of the imperfect tandem α-, β-, and γ-repeats in CBM-DK, the α-repeat primarily contributes to β-glucan binding. This unique feature is derived from Trp273 in α-repeat, whose corresponding residues in β- and γ-repeats are Asp314 and Gly358, respectively. In this study, we generated Trp-switched mutants, W273A/D314W, D270A/W273A/D314W, W273A/G358W, and D270A/W273A/G358W, and analyzed their binding abilities toward laminarioligosaccharides and laminarin. While the binding affinities of D270A/W273A and W273A mutants were either lost or much lower than that of the wild-type, those of Trp-switched mutants recovered, indicating that a Trp introduction in β- or γ-repeat can substitute the α-repeat by primarily contributing to β-glucan binding. Thus, we have successfully engineered a CBM-DK that binds to laminarin by a mechanism different from that of the wild-type, but with similar affinity.
Democracy and Government: A Critical Edition of Jeannette Rankin’s 1917 Address at Carnegie Hall
Authors: Lewis Tiffany
Published: February 2017

In 1917, Jeannette Rankin became the United States’ first female member of Congress. This is a critical edition of the speech Rankin gave before 3,000 people in New York City on her way to be sworn in to office. Her speech promoted her home state of Montana, woman suffrage, and direct democracy.
The Enthymizing of Lysias
Authors: Fredal James
Published: February 2017

Lysias is best known for his portrayal of character (ethopoiia), his believable narratives, his plain or “Attic” style, and for the role he plays as inferior foil to Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus. But he was also an important figure in developing, refining, and employing types of argument, including the rhetorical technique that would later be called the enthymeme. In On the Death of Eratosthenes, Lysias not only uses enthymemes, he highlights their use, selects a term (enthymizing), and demonstrates how “enthymizing” could be central to rhetorical artistry, to narrative development, to legal reasoning, and to political activism. Examining Lysias 1 not only deepens our understanding of Lysias’ rhetorical abilities, but it suggests that the orators had an important role to play in the development of rhetorical theory.
“Government Is an Instrument in Their Hands”: Jeanette Rankin on Progressive Technologies of Democracy
Authors: Koenig Richards Cindy , McKean Paul
Published: February 2017

Jeannette Rankin’s 1917 address at Carnegie Hall is replete with metaphors of political machinery, systems, and technologies. We argue that the metaphor of political machinery is central to Rankin’s definition and enactment of democratic power because it creates a cohesive vision of systemic change that combines equal suffrage with other progressive reforms. While scholars have noted Rankin’s appeals to domestic ideology, the political-machinery metaphor cluster provides a broader justification for equal suffrage as a necessary part of a democratic system. Further, Rankin’s deconstruction of the complexities of political machinery works to enact Rankin’s political leadership as the first woman to serve in the United States Congress.
Mapping the Soundscape Off the Southeastern USA by Using Passive Acoustic Glider Technology
Authors: Wall Carrie C. , Mann David A. , Lembke Chad , Taylor Chris , He Ruoying , Kellison Todd
Published: February 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the soundscape of shelf-edge Atlantic waters of the southeastern USA (SEUS) during winter by using passive acoustic and autonomous glider technologies, with a focus on the distribution of groupers. An autonomous glider was deployed off the SEUS coast near Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 3, 2014, and transited to Cape Fear, North Carolina, where it was retrieved on April 1, 2014. Using satellite and hydrodynamic model data for guidance, the glider piloted in and out of the Gulf Stream, taking advantage of the high currents to reach the targeted sampling area. Ambient noise was recorded by an integrated passive acoustic recorder during the 29-d mission, in which the glider traveled 895 km and reached waters 267 m deep. A variety of sounds was identified in the acoustic recordings, including sounds generated by Red Grouper Epinephelus morio and toadfishes Opsanus sp.; two sounds previously documented in the Gulf of Mexico that were suspected to be produced by fish; whistles and echolocation from marine mammals; and extensive vessel noise. Numerous sounds from previously undocumented sources were also recorded. The Red Grouper was the only serranid that was consistently identified from the sound data, with detections occurring within and outside of South Atlantic Fishery Management Council marine protected areas. This research demonstrates the potential utility of a glider-based passive acoustic approach as a component of a program to map fish, marine mammal, and vessel distributions over large scales.
Fourier–Mukai partners of elliptic ruled surfaces
Authors: Uehara Hokuto
Published: February 2017

We study Fourier–Mukai partners of elliptic ruled surfaces. We also describe the autoequivalence group of the derived categories of ruled surfaces with an elliptic fibration, by using another work of the author.
VEXOR: an integrative environment for prioritization of functional variants in fine-mapping analysis
Authors: Lemaçon Audrey , Joly Beauparlant Charles , Soucy Penny , Allen Jamie , Easton Douglas , Kraft Peter , Simard Jacques , Droit Arnaud
Published: February 2017

Motivation

The identification of the functional variants responsible for observed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) signals is one of the most challenging tasks of the post-GWAS research era. Several tools have been developed to annotate genetic variants by their genomic location and potential functional implications. Each of these tools has its own requirements and internal logic, which forces the user to become acquainted with each interface.

Results

From an awareness of the amount of work needed to analyze a single locus, we have built a flexible, versatile and easy-to-use web interface designed to help in prioritizing variants and predicting their potential functional implications. This interface acts as a single-point of entry linking association results with reference tools and relevant experiments.

Availability and Implementation

VEXOR is an integrative web application implemented through the Shiny framework and available at: http://romix.genome.ulaval.ca/vexor.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Powerful differential expression analysis incorporating network topology for next-generation sequencing data
Authors: Dona Malathi S.I , Prendergast Luke A , Mathivanan Suresh , Keerthikumar Shivakumar , Salim Agus
Published: February 2017

Motivation

RNA-seq has become the technology of choice for interrogating the transcriptome. However, most methods for RNA-seq differential expression (DE) analysis do not utilize prior knowledge of biological networks to detect DE genes. With the increased availability and quality of biological network databases, methods that can utilize this prior knowledge are needed and will offer biologists with a viable, more powerful alternative when analyzing RNA-seq data.

Results

We propose a three-state Markov Random Field (MRF) method that utilizes known biological pathways and interaction to improve sensitivity and specificity and therefore reducing false discovery rates (FDRs) when detecting differentially expressed genes from RNA-seq data. The method requires normalized count data (e.g. in Fragments or Reads Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads (FPKM/RPKM) format) as its input and it is implemented in an R package pathDESeq available from Github. Simulation studies demonstrate that our method outperforms the two-state MRF model for various sample sizes. Furthermore, for a comparable FDR, it has better sensitivity than DESeq, EBSeq, edgeR and NOISeq. The proposed method also picks more top Gene Ontology terms and KEGG pathways terms when applied to real dataset from colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma studies, respectively. Overall, these findings clearly highlight the power of our method relative to the existing methods that do not utilize prior knowledge of biological network.

Availability and Implementation

As an R package at https://github.com/MalathiSIDona/pathDESeq

To install the package type

install_github("MalathiSIDona/pathDESeq",build_vignettes = TRUE). After installation, type vignette("pathDESeq") to access the vignette.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
CircosVCF: circos visualization of whole-genome sequence variations stored in VCF files
Authors: Drori E , Levy D , Smirin-Yosef P , Rahimi O , Salmon-Divon M
Published: February 2017

Visualization of whole-genomic variations in a meaningful manner assists researchers in gaining new insights into the underlying data, especially when it comes in the context of whole genome comparisons. CircosVCF is a web based visualization tool for genome-wide variant data described in VCF files, using circos plots. The user friendly interface of CircosVCF supports an interactive design of the circles in the plot, and the integration of additional information such as experimental data or annotations. The provided visualization capabilities give a broad overview of the genomic relationships between genomes, and allow identification of specific meaningful SNPs regions.

Availability and Implementation

CircosVCF was implemented in JavaScript and is available at http://www.ariel.ac.il/research/fbl/software.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
GLINT: a user-friendly toolset for the analysis of high-throughput DNA-methylation array data
Authors: Rahmani Elior , Yedidim Reut , Shenhav Liat , Schweiger Regev , Weissbrod Omer , Zaitlen Noah , Halperin Eran
Published: February 2017

GLINT is a user-friendly command-line toolset for fast analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation data generated using the Illumina human methylation arrays. GLINT, which does not require any programming proficiency, allows an easy execution of Epigenome-Wide Association Study analysis pipeline under different models while accounting for known confounders in methylation data.

Availability and Implementation

GLINT is a command-line software, freely available at https://github.com/cozygene/glint/releases. It requires Python 2.7 and several freely available Python packages. Further information and documentation as well as a quick start tutorial are available at http://glint-epigenetics.readthedocs.io.
Draft genome of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and genetic polymorphism among color variants
Authors: Jo Jihoon , Oh Jooseong , Lee Hyun-Gwan , Hong Hyun-Hee , Lee Sung-Gwon , Cheon Seongmin , Kern Elizabeth M A , Jin Soyeong , Cho Sung-Jin , Park Joong-Ki , Park Chungoo
Published: February 2017

The Japanese sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus Selenka 1867) is an economically important species as a source of seafood and ingredient in traditional medicine. It is mainly found off the coasts of northeast Asia. Recently, substantial exploitation and widespread biotic diseases in A. japonicus have generated increasing conservation concern. However, the genomic knowledge base and resources available for researchers to use in managing this natural resource and to establish genetically based breeding systems for sea cucumber aquaculture are still in a nascent stage. A total of 312 Gb of raw sequences were generated using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform and assembled to a final size of 0.66 Gb, which is about 80.5% of the estimated genome size (0.82 Gb). We observed nucleotide-level heterozygosity within the assembled genome to be 0.986%. The resulting draft genome assembly comprising 132 607 scaffolds with an N50 value of 10.5 kb contains a total of 21 771 predicted protein-coding genes. We identified 6.6–14.5 million heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the assembled genome of the three natural color variants (green, red, and black), resulting in an estimated nucleotide diversity of 0.00146. We report the first draft genome of A. japonicus and provide a general overview of the genetic variation in the three major color variants of A. japonicus. These data will help provide a comprehensive view of the genetic, physiological, and evolutionary relationships among color variants in A. japonicus, and will be invaluable resources for sea cucumber genomic research.
Indian Constitutionalism
Authors: Mehta Uday S.
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the background conditions, or ideas, that informed the Indian Constituent Assembly (1946–49) as it reflected on the country’s future identity, and how that identity has been shaped by the Constitution. Constitutions, including the Indian Constitution, have been associated with concrete events that are saturated in terms of context and are often interpreted as the product of a historical process. This article begins with an overview of how constitutions respond to imperatives in relation to the logic of historical causation. It then considers the ways in which crisis and anarchy inform constitutional founding moments, along with social issues that have pervaded the Constituent Assembly debates and the Constitution. The chapter also discusses the significance of national unity/disunity and the idea of the future for the Constitution and the vision of country it put in place.
Citizenship
Authors: Jayal Niraja Gopal
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the question of citizenship in the Indian Constitution. It first considers the debate in the Indian Constituent Assembly over jus soli vs jus sanguinis citizenship, along with the constitutional settlement of citizenship and the key issues that are most contested—and remain central to—citizenship jurisprudence. It then turns to a discussion of four terms whose interpretation has been central to the case law on citizenship: domicile, intention, migrant, and passport. It also analyses the main provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the amendments to this piece of legislation from the mid-1980s to the present. The rest of the chapter explores the gradual shift from a jus soli conception of citizenship to one based on the principle of jus sanguinis, as well as the patterns of change and continuity in the constitutional and post-constitutional law of citizenship in India.
Emergency Powers
Authors: Sagar Rahul
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines constitutional provisions regarding emergency powers in India. It begins with an overview of the emergency provisions enumerated in Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution, with particular emphasis on three types of extraordinary situations. It then considers a curious feature of Part XVIII, the inclusion of Articles 356 and 360, which address failures of constitutional machinery in the States as well as threats to financial stability and credit. It also explores how Articles 352 and 356 have been interpreted over time, focusing on the extent of the executive power once an emergency has been proclaimed and whether the presidential proclamation is subject to judicial review. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the safeguards found in Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution may not be as resilient as they seem.
Constitutional Amendment
Authors: Khosla Madhav
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the formal method for constitutional amendment provided for in Article 368 of the Indian Constitution. It first reviews the early cases that gave rise to the Basic Structure doctrine, which placed substantive restrictions upon the power of amendment, before exploring subsequent developments and the application of the doctrine. It considers how Indian courts have addressed the idea of an unconstitutional constitutional amendment, with particular emphasis on the architectural framework that the courts have envisioned the Constitution to have. It explains how the Basic Structure doctrine has been used to understand the principles on which constitutionalism must depend.
Executive
Authors: Dam Shubhankar
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the place and role of the executive within India’s constitutional scheme. It begins with an overview of the office of the President of India and the Governor that heads each State, before turning to a discussion of the council of ministers, the role of the Prime Minister and the chief ministers, and their terms of office. It then considers the principal offices that comprise the executive, along with their appointments, powers, and functions, and the relationship between the formal and real heads of the executive. It also outlines the powers and functions of the executive and the range of discretionary powers vested in the President and Governors, as well as their effect, if any, on parliamentary credentials.
Jurisdiction
Authors: Vakil Raeesa
Published: February 2017

This chapter explores how the jurisdiction of the Indian Supreme Court has evolved as an appellate court, a constitutional court, and a ‘final’ court. It begins by reviewing the four kinds of appeal that may be heard by the Supreme Court as specified in the Indian Constitution: civil, criminal, questions of constitutional interpretation, and appeals by special leave of the Court. It then considers the uncertainty and expansion in the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction, with particular emphasis on the imbalance in jurisdictional reforms, the absence of guidelines for the exercise of discretion, and inconsistency in implementing constitutional provisions. It also discusses the Court’s advisory jurisdiction, adjudication of federal disputes, and jurisdiction to interpret the Constitution, along with its power to enforce justice and its claim to inherent powers. The chapter concludes by outlining some of the challenges faced by the Court today.
Horizontal Effect
Authors: Gardbaum Stephen
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the applicability of Part III of the Indian Constitution to non-State actors and the horizontal effect of fundamental rights. More specifically, it considers the extent to which the actions of private actors deemed not to be ‘the State’ for purposes of Article 12 of the Constitution are subject to the Constitution’s fundamental rights provisions. It begins with an overview of the distinction between the direct and indirect effect of constitutional rights on non-State actors. It then explores the Indian Supreme Court’s use of its writ petition jurisdiction to approach the issue of the fundamental rights contained in Part III of the Constitution applying horizontally.
Directive Principles of State Policy
Authors: Bhatia Gautam
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs) and their controversial place in the Indian Constitution. It first reviews the origins of DPSPs and the notion that fundamental rights must be interpreted in light of the DPSPs. It then considers the role played by the DPSPs in judicial inquiries by focusing on the Indian Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in the aftermath of the Re Kerala Education Bill case. After discussing the DPSPs as markers of reasonableness, the chapter explores whether it is possible to ground the DPSPs within a coherent intellectual vision, one that is justified both constitutionally and philosophically. It also analyses the Supreme Court’s evolving understanding of the place of Part IV within the constitutional scheme, and concludes by outlining the distinct roles played by DPSPs in judicial interpretation.
Equality
Authors: Khaitan Tarunabh
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the grounds of legislative review under the general constitutional guarantee of the right to equality as embodied in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. It first provides an overview of the traditional narrative on the transformation of Article 14, before turning to a discussion of two doctrines that have evolved to test the constitutionality of a measure when faced with an Article 14 challenge: the ‘classification test’ or the ‘old doctrine’ (‘unreasonable comparison’) and the ‘arbitrariness test’ or the ‘new doctrine’ (‘non-comparative unreasonableness’). It examines differences between the nature and application of these two tests, and current shortcomings within India’s equality framework.
Personal Laws
Authors: Agnes Flavia
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the legal framework for personal laws in India. It begins with an overview of the legal system introduced for personal laws during colonial rule, along with the evolution of legislation for such laws. It then considers Hindu law reforms following Independence and goes on to discuss the manner in which the courts have tackled the challenges to the constitutionality of personal laws. In particular, it explores two approaches used by the courts to test personal laws on the touchstone of fundamental rights: the non-interventionist approach and the scrutinising approach. The chapter concludes by assessing Article 44 of the Indian Constitution and the debate over the Uniform Civil Code.
Minority Educational Institutions
Authors: Reddy K. Vivek
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the right of religious and linguistic minorities to ‘establish and administer educational institutions of their choice’ as embodied in the Indian Constitution. Before discussing India’s constitutional experience with minority educational institutions, it considers the reasons that fuel the debate over the right of educational institutions under Article 30(1), including the Indian Supreme Court’s failure to provide an appropriate constitutional framework for the protection of such right. It explores whether, under Article 30, the right to establish and administer educational institutions is exclusive to religious and linguistic minorities or can be extended to other communities. It argues that the constitutional promise of Article 30(1) is yet to be fully understood and fulfilled.
Property
Authors: Wahi Namita
Published: February 2017

This chapter examines the fundamental right to property as an important, albeit contentious, provision in the Indian Constitution. It considers Article 19(1)(f) of the Constitution, which guaranteed to all citizens the fundamental right to ‘acquire, hold and dispose of property’. It considers the shifts and continuities concerning this right in India, in both colonial and Independent India. It analyses case law relating to agrarian reform under the First, Fourth, and Seventeenth Amendments (Article 31(4) and (6), Articles 31A and 31B). It also assesses the laws within the scope of Article 31(2) needed to satisfy the requirements of public purpose and compensation. It concludes by commenting on the abolition of the fundamental right to property through the Forty-fourth Constitutional Amendment, as well as attempts to reinstate this right in the Indian Constitution.
Density and metallicity of the Milky Way circumgalactic gas
Authors: Troitsky Sergey
Published: February 2017

The halo of the Milky Way circumgalactic gas extends up to the virial radius of the Galaxy, ∼250 kpc. The halo properties may be deduced from X-ray spectroscopic observations and from studies of the ram-pressure stripping of satellite dwarf galaxies. The former method is more precise, but its results depend crucially on the assumed metallicity of the circumgalactic gas; the latter one does not need these assumptions. Here, the information from both approaches is combined to constrain observationally the gas metallicity and density as functions of the galactocentric distance. It is demonstrated that the two kinds of data could be reconciled if the metallicity decreased to Z ∼ 0.1 Z⊙ in the outer parts of the extended halo. The corresponding gas density profile is rather flat, falling as r−(0.45–0.75) at large galactocentric distances r.
Increasing Incidence, Cost, and Seasonality in Patients Hospitalized for Cellulitis
Authors: Peterson Ryan A. , Polgreen Linnea A. , Cavanaugh Joseph E. , Polgreen Philip M.
Published: February 2017

Using data from the National Inpatient Sample, 1998–2013, we show that hospitalizations for cellulitis have approximately doubled. Costs increased by 118% to $3.74 billion annually. In addition, hospitalizations for cellulitis are highly seasonal, peaking in summer months: incidence during the peak month of July is 35% higher than in February.
A hard-to-soft state transition of Aquila X-1 observed with Suzaku
Authors: Ono Ko , Makishima Kazuo , Sakurai Soki , Zhang Zhongli , Yamaoka Kazutaka , Nakazawa Kazuhiro
Published: February 2017

The recurrent soft X-ray transient Aquila X-1 was observed with Suzaku for a gross duration of 79.9 ks, on 2011 October 21 when the object was in a rising phase of an outburst. During the observation, the source exhibited a clear spectral transition from the hard state to the soft state, on a time scale of ∼30 ks. Across the transition, the 0.8–10 keV X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer count rate increased by a factor ∼3, that of Hard X-ray Detector PIN (HXD-PIN) in 15–60 keV decreased by a similar factor, and the unabsorbed 0.1–100 keV luminosity increased from 3.5 × 1037 erg s−1 to 5.1 × 1037 erg s−1. The broadband spectral shape changed continuously, from a power-law-like one with a high-energy cut-off to a more convex one. Throughout the transition, the 0.8–60 keV spectra were successfully described with a model consisting of a multi-color blackbody and a Comptonized blackbody, which are considered to arise from a standard accretion disk and a closer vicinity of the neutron star, respectively. All the model parameters were confirmed to change continuously, from those typical in the hard state to those typical of the soft state. More specifically, the inner disk radius decreased from 31 km to 18 km, the effects of Comptonization on the blackbody photons weakened, and the electron temperature of Comptonization decreased from 10 keV to 3 keV. The derived parameters imply that the Comptonizing corona shrinks towards the final soft state, and/or the radial infall velocity of the corona decreases. These results reinforce the view that the soft and hard states of Aql X-1 (and of similar objects) are described by the same “disk plus Comptonized blackbody” model, but with considerably different parameters.
Suppression of epileptic seizures via Anderson localization
Authors: Zhang Benjamin J. , Chamanzar Maysamreza , Alam Mohammad-Reza
Published: February 2017

Here we show that brain seizures can be effectively suppressed through random modulation of the brain medium. We use an established mesoscale cortical model in the form of a system of coupled stochastic partial differential equations. We show that by temporal and spatial randomization of parameters governing the firing rates of the excitatory and inhibitory neuron populations, seizure waves can be significantly suppressed. We find that the attenuation is the most effective when applied to the mean threshold potential. The proposed technique can serve as a non-invasive paradigm to mitigate epileptic seizures without knowing the location of the epileptic foci.
Contact mechanics of the human finger pad under compressive loads
Authors: Dzidek Brygida M. , Adams Michael J. , Andrews James W. , Zhang Zhibing , Johnson Simon A.
Published: February 2017

The coefficient of friction of most solid objects is independent of the applied normal force because of surface roughness. This behaviour is observed for a finger pad except at long contact times (greater than 10 s) against smooth impermeable surfaces such as glass when the coefficient increases with decreasing normal force by about a factor of five for the load range investigated here. This is clearly an advantage for some precision manipulation and grip tasks. Such normal force dependence is characteristic of smooth curved elastic bodies. It has been argued that the occlusion of moisture in the form of sweat plasticises the surface topographical features and their increased compliance allows flattening under an applied normal force, so that the surfaces of the fingerprint ridges are effectively smooth. While the normal force dependence of the friction is consistent with the theory of elastic frictional contacts, the gross deformation behaviour is not and, for commonly reported values of the Young's modulus of
stratum corneum
, the deformation of the ridges should be negligible compared with the gross deformation of the finger pad even when fully occluded. This paper describes the development of a contact mechanics model that resolves these inconsistencies and is validated against experimental data.
Celestial polarization patterns sufficient for Viking navigation with the naked eye: detectability of Haidinger's brushes on the sky versus meteorological conditions
Authors: Horváth Gábor , Takács Péter , Kretzer Balázs , Szilasi Szilvia , Száz Dénes , Farkas Alexandra , Barta András
Published: February 2017

If a human looks at the clear blue sky from which light with high enough degree of polarization
d
originates, an 8-shaped bowtie-like figure, the yellow Haidinger's brush can be perceived, the long axis of which points towards the sun. A band of high
d
arcs across the sky at 90° from the sun. A person can pick two points on that band, observe the yellow brushes and triangulate the position of the sun based on the orientation of the two observed brushes. This method has been suggested to have been used on the open sea by Viking navigators to determine the position of the invisible sun occluded by cloud or fog. Furthermore, Haidinger's brushes can also be used to locate the sun when it is below the horizon or occluded by objects on the horizon. To determine the position of the sun using the celestial polarization pattern, the
d
of the portion of the sky used must be greater than the viewer's degree of polarization threshold
d
* for perception of Haidinger's brushes. We studied under which sky conditions the prerequisite
d
 > 
d
* is satisfied. Using full-sky imaging polarimetry, we measured the
d
-pattern of skylight in the blue (450 nm) spectral range for 1296 different meteorological conditions with different solar elevation angles
θ
and per cent cloud cover
ρ
. From the measured
d
-patterns of a given sky we determined the proportion
P
of the sky for which
d
 > 
d
*. We obtained that
P
is the largest at low solar elevations
θ 
≈ 0° and under totally or nearly clear skies with cloud coverage
ρ
 = 0%, when the sun's position is already easily determined. If the sun is below the horizon (−5° ≤ 
θ
 < 0°) during twilight,
P
 = 76.17 ± 4.18% for

d

min

∗

=
23
%

under clear sky conditions. Consequently, the sky-polarimetric Viking navigation based on Haidinger's brushes is most useful after sunset and prior to sunrise, when the sun is not visible and large sky regions are bright, clear and polarized enough for perception of Haidinger's brushes.
Methodical fitting for mathematical models of rubber-like materials
Authors: Destrade Michel , Saccomandi Giuseppe , Sgura Ivonne
Published: February 2017

A great variety of models can describe the nonlinear response of rubber to uniaxial tension. Yet an in-depth understanding of the successive stages of large extension is still lacking. We show that the response can be broken down in three steps, which we delineate by relying on a simple formatting of the data, the so-called Mooney plot transform. First, the small-to-moderate regime, where the polymeric chains unfold easily and the Mooney plot is almost linear. Second, the strain-hardening regime, where blobs of bundled chains unfold to stiffen the response in correspondence to the ‘upturn’ of the Mooney plot. Third, the limiting-chain regime, with a sharp stiffening occurring as the chains extend towards their limit. We provide strain-energy functions with terms accounting for each stage that (i) give an accurate local and then global fitting of the data; (ii) are consistent with weak nonlinear elasticity theory and (iii) can be interpreted in the framework of statistical mechanics. We apply our method to Treloar's classical experimental data and also to some more recent data. Our method not only provides models that describe the experimental data with a very low quantitative relative error, but also shows that the theory of nonlinear elasticity is much more robust that seemed at first sight.
Drought and immunity determine the intensity of West Nile virus epidemics and climate change impacts
Authors: Paull Sara H. , Horton Daniel E. , Ashfaq Moetasim , Rastogi Deeksha , Kramer Laura D. , Diffenbaugh Noah S. , Kilpatrick A. Marm
Published: February 2017

The effect of global climate change on infectious disease remains hotly debated because multiple extrinsic and intrinsic drivers interact to influence transmission dynamics in nonlinear ways. The dominant drivers of widespread pathogens, like West Nile virus, can be challenging to identify due to regional variability in vector and host ecology, with past studies producing disparate findings. Here, we used analyses at national and state scales to examine a suite of climatic and intrinsic drivers of continental-scale West Nile virus epidemics, including an empirically derived mechanistic relationship between temperature and transmission potential that accounts for spatial variability in vectors. We found that drought was the primary climatic driver of increased West Nile virus epidemics, rather than within-season or winter temperatures, or precipitation independently. Local-scale data from one region suggested drought increased epidemics via changes in mosquito infection prevalence rather than mosquito abundance. In addition, human acquired immunity following regional epidemics limited subsequent transmission in many states. We show that over the next 30 years, increased drought severity from climate change could triple West Nile virus cases, but only in regions with low human immunity. These results illustrate how changes in drought severity can alter the transmission dynamics of vector-borne diseases.
Immune responses in hibernating little brown myotis (
Myotis lucifugus
) with white-nose syndrome
Authors: Lilley T. M. , Prokkola J. M. , Johnson J. S. , Rogers E. J. , Gronsky S. , Kurta A. , Reeder D. M. , Field K. A.
Published: February 2017

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease responsible for decimating many bat populations in North America.
Pseudogymnoascus destructans
(
Pd
), the psychrophilic fungus responsible for WNS, prospers in the winter habitat of many hibernating bat species. The immune response that
Pd
elicits in bats is not yet fully understood; antibodies are produced in response to infection by
Pd
, but they may not be protective and indeed may be harmful. To understand how bats respond to infection during hibernation, we studied the effect of
Pd
inoculation on the survival and gene expression of captive hibernating
Myotis lucifugus
with varying pre-hibernation antifungal antibody titres. We investigated gene expression through the transcription of selected cytokine genes (
Il6
,
Il17a
,
Il1b
,
Il4
and
Ifng
) associated with inflammatory, Th1, Th2 and Th17 immune responses in wing tissue and lymph nodes. We found no difference in survival between bats with low and high anti-
Pd
titres, although anti-
Pd
antibody production during hibernation differed significantly between infected and uninfected bats. Transcription of
Il6
and
Il17a
was higher in the lymph nodes of infected bats compared with uninfected bats. Increased transcription of these cytokines in the lymph node suggests that a pro-inflammatory immune response to WNS is not restricted to infected tissues and occurs during hibernation. The resulting Th17 response may be protective in euthermic bats, but because it may disrupt torpor, it could be detrimental during hibernation.
The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals
Authors: Arbilly Michal , Laland Kevin N.
Published: February 2017

Innovative behaviour in animals, ranging from invertebrates to humans, is increasingly recognized as an important topic for investigation by behavioural researchers. However, what constitutes an innovation remains controversial, and difficult to quantify. Drawing on a broad definition whereby any behaviour with a new component to it is an innovation, we propose a quantitative measure, which we call
the magnitude of innovation
, to describe the extent to which an innovative behaviour is novel. This allows us to distinguish between innovations that are a slight change to existing behaviours (low magnitude), and innovations that are substantially different (high magnitude). Using mathematical modelling and evolutionary computer simulations, we explored how aspects of social interaction, cognition and natural selection affect the frequency and magnitude of innovation. We show that high-magnitude innovations are likely to arise regularly even if the frequency of innovation is low, as long as this frequency is relatively constant, and that the selectivity of social learning and the existence of social rewards, such as prestige and royalties, are crucial for innovative behaviour to evolve. We suggest that consideration of the magnitude of innovation may prove a useful tool in the study of the evolution of cognition and of culture.
Egg discrimination along a gradient of natural variation in eggshell coloration
Authors: Hanley Daniel , Grim Tomáš , Igic Branislav , Samaš Peter , López Analía V. , Shawkey Matthew D. , Hauber Mark E.
Published: February 2017

Accurate recognition of salient cues is critical for adaptive responses, but the underlying sensory and cognitive processes are often poorly understood. For example, hosts of avian brood parasites have long been assumed to reject foreign eggs from their nests based on the total degree of dissimilarity in colour to their own eggs, regardless of the foreign eggs' colours. We tested hosts' responses to gradients of natural (blue-green to brown) and artificial (green to purple) egg colours, and demonstrate that hosts base rejection decisions on both the direction and degree of colour dissimilarity along the natural, but not artificial, gradient of egg colours. Hosts rejected brown eggs and accepted blue-green eggs along the natural egg colour gradient, irrespective of the total perceived dissimilarity from their own egg's colour. By contrast, their responses did not vary along the artificial colour gradient. Our results demonstrate that egg recognition is specifically tuned to the natural gradient of avian eggshell colour and suggest a novel decision rule. These results highlight the importance of considering sensory reception and decision rules when studying perception, and illustrate that our understanding of recognition processes benefits from examining natural variation in phenotypes.