bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rag–Ragulator is the central organizer of the physical architecture of the mTORC1 nutrient-sensing pathway
Authors: Valenstein Max L. , Lalgudi Pranav V. , Gu Xin , Kedir Jibril F. , Taylor Martin S. , Chivukula Raghu R. , Sabatini David M.
Published: August 2024

The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway regulates cell growth and metabolism in response to many environmental cues, including nutrients. Amino acids signal to mTORC1 by modulating the guanine nucleotide loading states of the heterodimeric Rag GTPases, which bind and recruit mTORC1 to the lysosomal surface, its site of activation. The Rag GTPases are tethered to the lysosome by the Ragulator complex and regulated by the GATOR1, GATOR2, and KICSTOR multiprotein complexes that localize to the lysosomal surface through an unknown mechanism(s). Here, we show that mTORC1 is completely insensitive to amino acids in cells lacking the Rag GTPases or the Ragulator component p18. Moreover, not only are the Rag GTPases and Ragulator required for amino acids to regulate mTORC1, they are also essential for the lysosomal recruitment of the GATOR1, GATOR2, and KICSTOR complexes, which stably associate and traffic to the lysosome as the “GATOR” supercomplex. The nucleotide state of RagA/B controls the lysosomal association of GATOR, in a fashion competitively antagonized by the N terminus of the amino acid transporter SLC38A9. Targeting of Ragulator to the surface of mitochondria is sufficient to relocalize the Rags and GATOR to this organelle, but not to enable the nutrient-regulated recruitment of mTORC1 to mitochondria. Thus, our results reveal that the Rag–Ragulator complex is the central organizer of the physical architecture of the mTORC1 nutrient-sensing pathway and underscore that mTORC1 activation requires signal transduction on the lysosomal surface.
MICU1 and MICU2 control mitochondrial calcium signaling in the mammalian heart
Authors: Hasan Prottoy , Berezhnaya Elena , Rodríguez-Prados Macarena , Weaver David , Bekeova Carmen , Cartes-Saavedra Benjamin , Birch Erin , Beyer Andreas M. , Santos Janine H. , Seifert Erin L. , Elrod John W. , Hajnóczky György
Published: August 2024

Activating Ca
2+
-sensitive enzymes of oxidative metabolism while preventing calcium overload that leads to mitochondrial and cellular injury requires dynamic control of mitochondrial Ca
2+
uptake. This is ensured by the mitochondrial calcium uptake (MICU)1/2 proteins that gate the pore of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (mtCU). MICU1 is relatively sparse in the heart, and recent studies claimed the mammalian heart lacks MICU1 gating of mtCU. However, genetic models have not been tested. We find that MICU1 is present in a complex with MCU in nonfailing human hearts. Furthermore, using murine genetic models and pharmacology, we show that MICU1 and MICU2 control cardiac mitochondrial Ca
2+
influx, and that MICU1 deletion alters cardiomyocyte mitochondrial calcium signaling and energy metabolism. MICU1 loss causes substantial compensatory changes in the mtCU composition and abundance, increased turnover of essential MCU regulator (EMRE) early on and, later, of MCU, that limit mitochondrial Ca
2+
uptake and allow cell survival. Thus, both the primary consequences of MICU1 loss and the ensuing robust compensation highlight MICU1’s relevance in the beating heart.
Thermodynamic topology of quantum corrected AdS-Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in Kiselev spacetime
Authors: Sadeghi Jafar , Gashti Saeed Noori , Alipour Mohammad Reza , Afshar Mohammad Ali S.
Published: August 2024

In this paper, we consider the intricate thermodynamic topology of quantum-corrected Anti-de Sitter-Reissner-Nordstrm (AdS-RN) black holes within the framework of Kiselev spacetime. By employing the generalized off-shell Helmholtz free energy approach, we meticulously compute the thermodynamic topology of these selected black holes. Furthermore, we establish their topological classifications. Our findings reveal that quantum correction terms influence the topological charges of black holes in Kiselev spacetime, leading to novel insights into topological classifications. Our research findings elucidate that, in contrast to the scenario in which ω = 0 and a = 0.7 with total topological charge W = 0 and ω = –4/3 with total topological charge W = –1, in other cases, the total topological charge for the black hole under consideration predominantly stabilizes at +1. This stabilization occurs with the significant influence of the parameters a, c, and ω on the number of topological charges. Specifically, when ω assumes the values of ω = –1/3, ω = –2/3, and ω = –1, the total topological charge will consistently be W = +1.
A modified social force model considering collision avoidance based on empirical studies
Authors: Liu Weisong , Zhang Jun , Rasa Abdul Rahim , Song Weiguo
Published: August 2024

Abstract

Avoiding collisions between pedestrians is not based solely on geometric approaches, but also involves human social conventions. Previous collision avoidance models on pedestrians often overlooked the significance of personal space and intrusion variations of intruders such as intrusion angles, intrusion extents and danger levels. The avoidance behavior of pedestrians is affected by the relative position, movement direction and distance from their initial position to the path intersection point with the intruders. To build and calibrate a pedestrian avoidance model, virtual reality and realistic experiments with dynamic and static intruders were conducted under different conditions. The critical avoidance boundary, avoidance process function and probability of avoidance side are analyzed from the experiments. Through a comparative analysis, the differences between personal and geometric space required for avoidance were identified. Moreover, an avoidance model that calculates the steering angle based on the kinematic constraints and relative position of intruders is incorporated into the social force model in this study. It successfully replicates pedestrian avoidance behavior when faced with both static and dynamic intruders, and offers a valuable tool for addressing complex pedestrian movements in highly competitive spatial environments.
The Impersonal Poet Reads in Person
Authors: Howarth Peter B
Published: August 2024

Despite admiring live performance all his life, T. S. Eliot dreaded reading in person, partly because his poems were multiply voiced and hard to read, and but partly because he had become most celebrated as the poet of impersonality, for whom a personal reading might seem a contradiction in terms. But ‘impersonality’ was originally an idea about how performers work, and Eliot’s technique of distancing himself from the poems he read could also turn the ‘impersonal’ into a dramatic technique. Through the way he performed the manic, sobbing, or pleading voices of The Waste Land and ‘Coriolan’, Eliot moved the occasion away from a revelation of his poem’s biographical sources towards a subtle recognition of the poet’s personal vulnerabilities, as a public figure kept there by his listeners’ projections. In a reading for a Jewish audience in New York, the metacommunication of these poems becomes a tacit bid for understanding, and possibly an apology.
Exacerbating Fragmentation and Maintaining Cohesion
Authors: Amengual Matthew
Published: August 2024

This chapter analyses the cases of two Bolivian mines, Kori Kollo (KK) and San Cristóbal. The mines shared a series of similarities, including foreign ownership and the need to negotiate with communities to gain access to land to construct open-pit mines. Both firms also faced disruptive conflict, with groups occupying the mines and organizing blockades and strikes. KK began its operations by undertaking a mixture of forms of distribution—including both targeted benefits and inclusive projects. Yet, as pressure intensified, managers abandoned inclusive distribution and focused on buying off particular leaders who could promise peace. This shift contrasts with expectations from standard approaches to private politics. Examining the interactions between the firm and various groups in detail reveals that mobilization was led by narrow, but locally powerful, factions that demanded particular benefits, creating strong incentives for the firm to abandon any attempts at inclusive distribution. By contrast, San Cristóbal ratcheted up inclusive distribution as pressure increased. Examining the organization of mobilization reveals that the firm bargained with groups that were highly encompassing, including an alliance between indigenous organizations and the labor union. The interests of mobilized groups gave the firm continuous incentives to provide public goods. Furthermore, the firm’s strategic response to stabilize relations with local actors amplified the power of groups representing broad swaths of the population. This approach reduced fragmentation and allowed for future political payoffs from inclusive development projects.
Introduction
Authors: Zavadivker Polly
Published: August 2024

How the Jewish population center of the Russian Empire experienced World War I is a little-known story. Scholars of twentieth-century Jewish history have treated the war as either a culmination to the age of empires or a prologue to the age of revolution and nation-states. This book offers a history of over 5 million Jews who lived near the Eastern Front during the war. It recovers the lived experiences of civilians whose stories are often silenced or marginalized in the historical record, including war victims who endured military atrocities and forced migration. This book also describes the campaign waged by Jewish national elites at Russia’s home front who organized aid for those victims. The collapse of existing social and imperial orders coincided with the emergence of the largest humanitarian campaign in Russian Jewish history. Moving between front zones and home front, weaving together themes of violence, nationalism, and human experience, this book seeks to provide an integrated understanding of the war’s destructive and transformative effects on East European Jewish life.
The New Pale
Authors: Zavadivker Polly
Published: August 2024

The conclusion of the Russian army’s “Great Retreat” in August 1915 coincided with the end to the mass deportations of Jews. The state’s inability to settle hundreds of thousands of expelled Jews within the territories of the Pale still under Russian control compelled the government to lift residence restrictions that had barred all but the wealthiest and most educated Jews from the Russian interior since the late eighteenth century. As a result, more than 100,000 Jewish refugees resettled in the Russian interior in 1915–1916. The chapter traces the major paths of migration and places of settlement, explains the nature of encounters between displaced populations from the Pale and established, Russified Jewish communities that absorbed them, and the attempts of Jewish national relief organizations to map and monitor the refugees’ movements.
Crisis in the Profession, or the Failure to Imagine the New
Authors: Moi Toril
Published: August 2024

This essay provides a thorough analysis of Bruce Robbins’s, Jonathan Kramnick’s, and John Guillory’s recent books on the state of the discipline of literary criticism. In spite of the otherwise vast differences between these books, the authors have three shared commitments. They assume that criticism (understood as the reading of literature) still remains the main focus of departments of literary study. They work with an overwhelmingly male canon of theorists. Although women are invoked as examples, men remain the thought-leaders. They all ignore, neglect, or mischaracterize the concerns of philosophies investigating judgment, experience, and subjectivity. As a result, they present us with an image of a profession in which it is taboo to invoke ordinary experience as a starting point for investigations. By focusing on Robbins’s and Guillory’s response to Rita Felski’s The Limits of Critique (and thus to the phenomenon of postcritique), and by bringing out Kramnick’s commitment to positivism and formalism, I conclude that Robbins and Kramnick look to the past for salvation, whereas Guillory shows that the future is unlikely to be any different from the present. The effect of professionalization and disciplinary pressures make academic critics highly resistant to the new.
Examining racial and ethnic disparities in diagnosis and access to care in infantile atopic dermatitis in the USA: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Servattalab Sarah E , Lee Michelle , Hlobik Madeline , Song Hannah , Huang Jennifer T
Published: August 2024

Background

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disorder that is common in children and associated with medical and psychosocial comorbidities. Previous studies have shown that there are significant racial disparities in healthcare utilization in children with AD; however, the literature on disparities in dermatology access is limited.

Objectives

To identify differences in the diagnosis of AD and access to dermatological care by race and ethnicity in infants with AD.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective chart review of infants diagnosed with AD at Boston Children’s Hospital from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. Race and ethnicity were categorized as per the US Office of Minority Health data collection standards as Native American or Alaska Native; Asian; non-Hispanic Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; non-Hispanic White; and a final group which we called ‘Other’ (this encompassed all individuals who did not identify with the other groups listed). Outcomes included time to diagnosis and dermatology visit from rash onset, and were analysed utilizing a Kruskal–Wallis test. Severity of presentation at first dermatology visit, presentation to the emergency department (ED), medications prescribed and follow-up were analysed using χ 2 tests.

Results

Significantly more non-Hispanic White infants received a prescription from their paediatrician for AD than Hispanic infants (P = 0.002). Non-Hispanic Black and Asian infants waited significantly longer to see a dermatologist after receiving a prescription for AD from their paediatrician (P < 0.001) compared with non-Hispanic White patients (P = 0.007). Significantly more non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic infants presented to the ED for AD within the first year of life (P < 0.001) than non-Hispanic White patients (P = 0.003).

Conclusions

Our study suggests disparities in diagnosis and access to care for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic infants with AD, with differences in prescriptions, time to see a dermatologist and presentation to the ED vs. non-Hispanic White infants.
Synthesis of a new unnatural polysaccharide, 2-deoxy-β(1→3)-glucan, by β−1,3-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization
Authors: Ishii Hayato , Takagaki Tao , Iwamoto Masa-aki , Totani Masayasu , Kadokawa Jun-ichi
Published: August 2024

We successfully synthesized a new unnatural polysaccharide, 2-deoxy-β(1→3)-glucan, by β−1,3-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization of a D-glucal monomer from a cellobiose primer, owing to recognition of such non-native substrates by the enzyme. Because of solubility of the product in several high polar organic solvents, acetylation as an example of its derivatizations smoothly occurred using acetic anhydride in the presence of base/catalyst in a DMF solvent. The NMR analysis of the acetylated derivative strongly supported the β(1→3)-linked chain structure.
Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Infection During Pregnancy and Gestational Diabetes: A Claims-based Cohort Study
Authors: Rincón-Guevara Oscar , Wallace Bailey , Kompaniyets Lyudmyla , Barrett Catherine E , Bull-Otterson Lara
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); however, evidence is limited by sample sizes and lack of control groups.

Methods

To assess the GDM risk after COVID-19 in pregnancy, we constructed a retrospective cohort of pregnancies ending March 2020–October 2022 using medical claims. People with COVID-19 diagnosis claims from conception to 21 gestational weeks (n = 57 675) were matched 1:2 to those without COVID-19 during pregnancy (n = 115 350) by age range, pregnancy start month, and encounter year-month. GDM (claim ≥23 gestational weeks) relative risk and risk difference overall, by race and ethnicity, and variant period were estimated using log-binomial models.

Results

GDM risk was higher among those with COVID-19 during pregnancy compared to those without (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08–1.15). GDM risk was significantly associated with COVID-19 in non-Hispanic White (aRR = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.04–1.14), non-Hispanic Black (aRR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.07–1.24), and Hispanic (aRR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.10–1.24) groups. GDM risk was significantly higher during pre-Delta (aRR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11–1.24) compared to Omicron (aRR = 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02–1.13) periods, but neither differed from the Delta period (aRR = 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04–1.17). The adjusted risk difference was 0%–2% for all models.

Conclusions

COVID-19 during pregnancy was modestly associated with GDM in claims-based data, especially during earlier SARS-CoV-2 variant periods. Because these associations are based on COVID-19 in claims data, studies employing systematic testing are warranted.
Performance of community detection algorithms supported by node embeddings
Authors: Pankratz Bartosz , Kamiński Bogumił , Prałat Paweł
Published: August 2024

The grouping of nodes into subsets that are relatively densely interconnected and separable from the rest of the network is a property often displayed in many complex real-world networks; this feature is known as a community structure. There is a growing demand for algorithms that can find partitions that resemble the community structure of a given network as closely as possible. However, most popular algorithms for community detection in graphs have one serious drawback, namely, they are heuristic-based and in many cases are unable to find a near-optimal solution. Moreover, their results are volatile, impacting the replicability of their results. In this paper, we investigate if the performance of greedy algorithms might be improved by initialising such algorithms with some carefully chosen partition of nodes, namely a partition obtained by embedding the nodes into real numbers space and then running a clustering algorithm on this latent representation. We believe that embedding will filter unwanted noise while retaining the proximity of nodes belonging to the same community or will learn more complex and elusive relations between nodes. Then, clustering algorithms run on this embedding will create a stable partitioning that will reduce the uncertainty in the initial phases of the community detection algorithms. The experiments show that the proposed procedure significantly improves the results over baseline community detection algorithms, namely Louvain and Leiden. It also reduces the inherent volatility of such algorithms. The impact depends on the given graph’s properties, especially the strength of the community structure and degree distribution. The largest boost in performance is given in the cases when networks are ‘noisier’, that is, when the community structure is less pronounced and there are many connections between communities. Furthermore, the design and parametrization of the procedure depend on the network’s topology, not on the size of the network itself.
Sex-related differences in self-efficacy in patients with heart failure: a pooled cross-sectional study of the German Competence Network Heart Failure
Authors: Kerwagen Fabian , Sahiti Floran , Albert Judith , Bauser Maximilian , Morbach Caroline , Güder Gülmisal , Frantz Stefan , Strömberg Anna , Kerber Sebastian , Gebhard Brigitte , Friederich Hans-Christoph , Müller-Tasch Thomas , Peters-Klimm Frank , Angermann Christiane E , Störk Stefan
Published: August 2024

Aims

To assess the level of self-efficacy in patients with heart failure (HF), identify differences between important subgroups including sex, and identify the determinants of high self-efficacy.

Methods and results

This was a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2030 patients from 4 prospective studies conducted within the German Competence Network Heart Failure. We used the self-efficacy subscale and the overall summary score (OSS) of the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-23) to assess self-efficacy and health-related quality of life. The cut-off of 75 score points was used for the dichotomization into high (≥75) vs. low (<75) self-efficacy. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). A total of 1615 patients with HF provided complete self-efficacy scores: mean age 66.6 ± 12.3 years and 431 (27%) women. The mean self-efficacy score was 67.5 ± 24.9, with 907 patients (56.2%) showing high self-efficacy and 708 patients (43.8%) showing low self-efficacy. Men had higher self-efficacy scores than women (68.7 ± 24.5 vs. 64.2 ± 26.0; P = 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression identified the KCCQ-OSS [odds ratio (OR) per five-point increase 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–1.12], female sex (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.56–0.94), depressive symptoms (OR per three-point increase in PHQ-9 0.90, 95% CI 0.83–0.98), and acute HF (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.34–0.62) as important predictors of high self-efficacy.

Conclusion

In patients with HF, women seemed to exhibit lower self-efficacy than men. Health-related quality of life and psychological well-being were dominant determinants of self-efficacy. Future studies should investigate the role of self-efficacy as a therapeutic target for tailored and sex-specific nursing interventions.
Advancing the climate-biodiversity-fisheries nexus in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
Authors: Bograd Steven J , Anderson Laura C , Canonico Gabrielle , Chiba Sanae , Lorenzo Emanuele Di , Enterline Claire , Gorecki Edward , Griffis Roger , Kleisner Kristin M , Lachance Hannah , Leinen Margaret , Mills Katherine E , E. Müller-Karger Frank , Roskar Grace , Schmidt Jörn , Seary Rachel , Seeyave Sophie , Hwai Tan Shau , Soares Joana , Tigchelaar Michelle
Published: August 2024

Climate-driven changes in marine ecosystem structure and function adversely impact the biodiversity and sustainability of living marine resources, food security, and the resilience of coastal communities. Understanding how climate change impacts marine ecosystem biodiversity and global fisheries, i.e. the “climate-biodiversity-fisheries nexus”, is a fundamental element of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Several Ocean Decade-endorsed Programmes within the climate-biodiversity-fisheries nexus are building global networks to transform our capacity to understand, forecast, manage, and adapt to climate-driven changes in ocean ecosystems, including sustaining blue food resources that provide essential food security and nutrition in a rapidly changing world. We compare the scope, objectives, global partnerships, and capacities of these Programmes, facilitating effective collaboration and identifying critical gaps in developing solutions to climate-driven changes in marine food webs, species assemblages, and global fisheries. This work complements the Ocean Decade Vision 2030 process by providing an assessment of actions that are underway and guidance to establish new actions needed to monitor and understand marine biodiversity and manage global fisheries within a changing climate. We provide recommendations for new and existing Ocean Decade Actions around the climate-biodiversity-fisheries nexus to help achieve the Ocean Decade outcomes of a “productive, predicted, healthy, and resilient ocean” by 2030.
Prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales with blaIMP-6 predominance in hospitals from 2018 to 2021 in Nara, Japan
Authors: Kishi Rio , Nakano Ryuichi , Nakano Akiyo , Harimoto Takehito , Taniguchi Ryusei , Ando Sayaka , Suzuki Yuki , Yamaguchi Koichi , Kitagawa Daisuke , Horiuchi Saori , Tsubaki Kousuke , Morita Ryuichi , Kawabe Takashi , Yano Hisakazu
Published: August 2024

Objectives

Despite the global health risk of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), especially carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), Japan reports a significantly low frequency of CRE with a predominance of IMP-type carbapenemases. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of CRE isolated from hospitals in the city of Nara, Japan.

Methods

We obtained 171 CRE isolates from 16 791 Enterobacterales isolated at 23 hospitals in Nara between January 2018 and December 2021. Isolates of CPE were characterized through antimicrobial susceptibility testing, the carbapenem inactivation method, PCR and DNA sequencing. Genotypic diversity of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae was determined via MLST and PFGE.

Results

The prevalence of CRE between 2018 and 2021 was 1.02%, gradually decreasing from 1.13% to 0.74%. Ninety-nine isolates were identified as CPE, representing six species. Ninety-seven CPE isolates harboured blaIMP-6, while the remaining two carried either blaIMP-1 or blaIMP-19. Genotype analysis identified ST131 as the dominant genotype for E. coli, but none for K. pneumoniae. PFGE results suggested clonal spread of CPE in Hospital A, where CRE was isolated in high numbers (n = 44).

Conclusions

In this study, CRE prevalence was marginally higher than previously reported in Japan, but still low in frequency. A predominance of Enterobacterales harbouring blaIMP-6 was confirmed in Nara. The spread of CPE at Hospital A suggested the possibility of a nosocomial outbreak due to blaIMP-6 transmission via plasmids or clonal spread. Continued monitoring is crucial for effective management of CRE prevalence in the region.
Anterior and posterior surgical approach for vertebral lumbar Mycobacterium abscessus osteomyelitis
Authors: Patel Jay , Malkoc Aldin , Ghauri Muhammad S , Amin Luv , Petersen Morgan , Cochrane Julia , Hopkins Gail , Schwartz Samuel
Published: August 2024

Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) infections primarily affect immunocompromised patients who commonly present with non-orthopedic infections. We present a case of a 63-year-old female presented with persistent back pain and radicular pain. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a large multiloculated anterior epidural abscess. We show here the unique occurrence of lumbar M. abscessus vertebral osteomyelitis, which was treated with L2 and L3 corpectomies, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, and posterior instrumentation via an anterolateral thoracoabdominal (TA) incision. Vascular surgery provided L1–L4 spine exposure via a left anterolateral TA incision, whereas orthopedic surgery performed L2 and L3 corpectomies with lumbar cage placement and posterior instrumentation in two separate procedures. The patient was discharged to a skilled nursing facility, retaining all neurological function, and is progressing well on follow-up.
Joint Ventures in the Energy and Natural Resource Sectors
Authors: Timothy A
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the logic for having a joint venture (in whatever form it takes) and the joint venture structures which are most commonly used in the energy and natural resource sectors (with a particular focus on the distinction between incorporated and unincorporated joint ventures). It also considers the particular use of joint operating agreements in petroleum projects, and contains a general review of the typical duration and the accompanying inherent uncertainty of joint ventures. This chapter concludes with an examination of the differences between the various different forms of joint ventures as they are used in relation to petroleum projects and other energy and natural resource sector projects (and particularly in relation to projects for the generation of energy from renewable energy sources).
Removal of the Operator
Authors: Timothy A
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines the disputes which arise under unincorporated joint ventures (JVs), where the parties appoint an operator under a joint operating agreement (JOA) and later wish to remove that operator from the operation of the JV. As will be seen, removing an operator against its will under a JOA is a difficult exercise and, as a result, does not frequently happen. The occurrence of such a removal where there was no right to do so without cause could result in a dispute. This issue does not arise when a JV company is formed to manage the operations of the JV. The JV company itself is the operator, so it makes little sense for the shareholders to change or remove that company from the operations of the JV.
Introduction
Authors: Petsche Markus
Published: August 2024

This chapter has a fourfold purpose. First of all, it explains why the concept of investment is of fundamental importance for the field of international investment law, including International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration. It highlights that the existence of an investment constitutes a requirement for the jurisdiction of ICSID and other investor-state tribunals. Second, it discusses the complexity of the notion of investment in ICSID arbitration. This complexity results from the fact that ICSID arbitration proceedings have a dual legal basis: the ICSID Convention and the applicable instrument of consent (investment treaty, investment law, or investment contract) and that the term ‘investment’ appears in both the Convention and consent instruments. Third, it provides a brief overview of the existing literature and identifies various gaps in those writings. Lastly, it presents the object and purpose of the book and clarifies its scope. Please suggest 5—10 keywords that can be used for describing the content of the chapter.
Recent Developments in Treaty and Arbitral Practice
Authors: Petsche Markus
Published: August 2024

Over the past ten to fifteen years, a number of significant developments have occurred and/or gained momentum, both in the way in which ‘investment’ is defined in investment treaties and in the manner in which arbitral tribunals have construed such treaty definitions. The common feature of these developments is that they have led to the application of a more restrictive notion of investment. This evolution arguably reflects widespread concerns that traditional treaty definitions are unduly broad and/or ambiguous, leading to undesirable outcomes and unpredictable decisions. Section II discusses the increasingly frequent adoption of enterprise-based, rather than asset-based, definitions of ‘investment’. Section III examines the by now prevalent requirement that investments must possess certain ‘characteristics’. Those characteristics overlap to a large extent with the Salini criteria applied under Art 25 ICSID Convention, and this requirement can therefore be viewed as an incorporation of the Salini test into investment treaty definitions. Section IV explores common exclusions found in investment treaties. Section V deals not with a development in treaty practice, but with a trend in arbitral interpretation. Specifically, it analyzes case law that has considered that the notion of investment under investment treaties, like the term ‘investment’ under Art 25 ICSID Convention, has an ‘objective’ or ‘implied’ meaning. This trend leads to the application of the Salini criteria under investment treaties, thus producing an effect similar to the characteristics-requirements examined in Section III.
The Law of International Financial Institutions
Authors: Bradlow Daniel D
Published: August 2024

This book explores the law applicable to international financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and regional development banks, and provides a detailed overview of the legal frameworks within which these institutions were established and operate and which structure their relationships with their member states and their citizens. The book traces the history and development of international law and international financial institutions from the inter-war years to today. It opens with the Bretton Woods Conference, providing background on the treaties establishing the IMF and the World Bank. It moves on to discuss the Articles of Agreement of the IMF and the IBRD, and provides information on their governance arrangements, mandates, and operating principles. The international legal status of these two international financial institutions, their international legal rights, responsibilities, and obligations, and their privileges and immunities are also examined. In later chapters, the book explores how the structure, functions, and operations of the World Bank and IMF have evolved since their establishment and examines the regional development banks and the regional financial arrangements that were created after them. The book concludes by exploring the challenges that international financial institutions are currently facing, and the contributions that international law can make to help them successfully meet these challenges.
The Evolution of the World Bank
Authors: Bradlow Daniel D
Published: August 2024

Chapter 5 traces the evolution of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). It is now only one institution in the group of related international organizations known collectively as the World Bank Group (WBG). The IBRD currently has almost four times more member states than it had when it opened its doors for business in 1946. In addition, the scope of its operations has expanded beyond providing financial support to infrastructure projects such as roads and dams sponsored by its member states to include funding for social infrastructure, such as primary health and education facilities, funding policy reforms, making debt and equity investments in private corporations in member states and providing a broad range of advisory services to its member states. The chapter examines the structural and operational changes that the World Bank has undergone and their international legal implications.
The Evolution of the International Monetary Fund
Authors: Bradlow Daniel D
Published: August 2024

Chapter 6 details how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed substantially since its establishment in 1944. The most noteworthy development in its history occurred in 1971 when the par value system of fixed but flexible exchange rates that was agreed at the Bretton Woods Conference came to an end. It caused the IMF to make significant adaptations in its functions and set in motion an ongoing process of expansion and evolution in the IMF’s operations. The chapter begins by describing some legal issues arising from the IMF’s original design. It then focuses on the legal issues relating to the operations of the IMF during the period in which most IMF member states complied with the requirements of the par value system. Finally, the chapter looks at the legal issues arising from developments in the IMF’s functions and operating practices since the end of this system.
The Other International Financial Institutions
Authors: Bradlow Daniel D
Published: August 2024

Chapter 7 assesses the other international financial institutions and some of the international legal issues that they raise. In the years following the establishment of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), states have created a number of other IFIs. These have all been ‘sub-universal’ in the sense that they are only intended to provide benefits to a specifically designated groups of states. These groups are characterized either by geography or some other salient factor. The majority of these entities, like the WBG, are multilateral development financing institutions but there are a few entities that, like the IMF, have an international financial stability and monetary mandate. Some of the later IFIs have sought to improve on the examples of the Bretton Woods institutions. In particular, they have sought to be more responsive to the needs of those member states that actually use their services and to be more inclusive in their governance arrangements.
The Right to Education
Authors: Courtis Christian , Tobin John
Published: August 2024

This section is about Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child dealing with The Right to Education.
Protection against All Other Forms of Exploitation
Authors: Tobin John
Published: August 2024

This section is about Article 36 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child dealing with Protection against All Other Forms of Exploitation.
Background on International Investment Law and Intellectual Property
Authors: Gibson Klopschinski
Published: August 2024

This chapter presents a background on international investment law and intellectual property (IP) rights, reviewing pertinent legal, economic, and political developments in these fields, and how they relate to the broader public international law context. It considers IP as a form of intangible property right and identifies the principal forms of IP: patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret. The single most important multilateral IP treaty is the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). The chapter then looks at the increasing importance of intellectual property rights in foreign direct investment (FDI), as well as the increasing use and exploitation of IP rights through registrations of patents and trademarks. It also investigates the possibility of relying on international IP treaties in IP-related investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases.
Outlook
Authors: Klopschinski Simon , Gibson Christopher S , Grosse Ruse-Khan Henning
Published: August 2024

This concluding chapter reflects on, in form of an outlook, the future of IP-related investment claims in front of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) tribunals, as well as the IP–investment interface more broadly. It does so by first looking at developments in international investment and intellectual property (IP) law in general, and, secondly, at the specific issues that arise with regard to the protection of IP-related investments. Right holders have a range of options to ‘re-package’ investment protections to capture actions by private parties using their IP. Because the procedural protections available to investors often include ISDS, IP-owning investors can proactively engage in such re-packaging exercises. With this potential in mind, a lot will depend on how broad or narrow ISDS tribunals construe notions such as fair and equitable treatment (FET), full protection and security (FPS), or (judicial) expropriation. Another important determinant for the future of investment protection for IP rights is the existence of alternative avenues for taking action against host state interventions involving intellectual property rights.
Introduction
Authors: Upcher James
Published: August 2024

This Introduction provides an overview of the law of neutrality. The law of neutrality governs the relationship between States which are engaged in hostilities and those States which are not engaged in hostilities—between belligerents and neutrals, to use the traditional terminology. It strikes many today as outmoded and obsolete, of a different era of international law. Yet it would be unrealistic to say that neutrality—or, at least, non-participation in hostilities by non-belligerent States—has disappeared entirely. Neutrality may be used to denote a course of foreign policy as well as a legal status. The Introduction then considers permanent neutrality and neutralization, as well as the doctrine of recognition of belligerency. A permanently neutral State is forbidden from entering into alliances or treaties of guarantee that may involve it in war not involving defence of its own territory. Meanwhile, the doctrine of recognition of belligerency was the means by which the law of neutrality was applicable to non-international conflicts.
Neutrality and the UN Charter
Authors: Upcher James
Published: August 2024

This chapter assesses how the neutral rights and duties are modified when the UN Security Council takes action under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The procedure of Chapter VII suggests that States are released from their obligations of neutrality upon the Security Council identifying the State responsible for a threat or breach of the peace, or an act of aggression, under Article 39 of the Charter, or proceeding further through the suite of options of Chapter VII. The imposition of sanctions under Article 41 during a situation in which neutrality is applicable, or becomes applicable, obligates States to adhere to the obligations of the Charter rather than the law of neutrality. With regard to the use of military force authorized by the Security Council, somewhat paradoxically, the increasing flexibility of the Security Council’s decision-making practices has led to a greater tolerance for positions of abstention from UN Security Council action. However, just because the Security Council cannot compel military participation in UN-authorized action does not mean that neutral duties are completely unaffected by Security Council military enforcement action.
Definitions and Scope (Article I Sections 1–2 Specialized Agencies Convention)
Authors: Pavoni Riccardo
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the two sections that make up Article I of the Specialized Agencies Convention, entitled ‘Definitions and Scope’. Section 1 provides seven definitions of key expressions found in the operative clauses of the Convention. Section 2 clarifies that the scope, extent, and substance of the obligations laid down by the Convention are not unlimited or identical for all parties; that scope and substance is bound to vary ratione materiae and ratione personae. Indeed, the various privileges and immunities recognized by the Convention are subject to the modifications that may be included in the individual annexes of the Specialized Agencies. The remainder of the chapter covers the drafting history of the provision, and the key elements of Sections 1 and 2.
Juridical Personality (Article II Section 3 Specialized Agencies Convention)
Authors: Blokker Niels
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses Article II Section 3 of the Specialized Agencies Convention, which deals with the legal status of the Specialized Agencies in the national legal order. Its substance is — mutatis mutandis — exactly the same as Art. I Section 1 of the General Convention. It gives specialized agencies the capacity to contract, to acquire and dispose of immovable and movable property, to institute legal proceedings. The Specialized Agencies Convention allows the specialized agencies to add modifications to its provisions, to be attached as ‘Annexes’ to the Convention. None of these Annexes include any modification of Art. II Section 3 Specialized Agencies Convention for any of the Specialized Agencies.
Immunity of Property, Funds, and Assets (Article II Section 2 General Convention)
Authors: Reinisch August
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses Article II Section 2 of the General Convention, the central provision dealing with the organization's immunity from legal process. The term legal process comprises both jurisdictional immunity and immunity from execution or enforcement measures. By providing for ‘immunity from every form of legal process’, such wording suggests that the UN and its assets enjoy immunity from jurisdiction and execution in all cases, amounting to absolute immunity. This has been the traditional understanding in scholarly writings, judicial practice, as well as the practice of the organization itself and it is still widely shared. In general, the jurisdictional immunity of the UN is recognized in most instances where legal action was brought against the UN in national courts. Apparently, no considerable practice of waivers of immunity on the part of the UN exists.
Facilities in Respect of Communications (Article III Sections 9–10 General Convention)
Authors: Bachmayer Peter
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses Article III Sections 9–10 of the General Convention. Section 9 bestows upon the UN the privilege of a most-favoured treatment for its official communications within the territory of each State party in regard of priorities, rates (including press rates) and taxes. The relevant benchmark is the treatment afforded to other governments including their diplomatic missions. Additionally, Section 9 stipulates that the organization's official correspondence and communication must not be subjected to censorship. Section 10, on the other hand, grants the UN the right to code its correspondence and to use couriers or designated bags for transportation which enjoy the same privileges and immunities regime as diplomatic couriers and bags.
Annex XVIII—United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Authors: Pellet Alain
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses Annex XVIII of the Specialized Agencies Convention, which modifies the standard clauses of the Convention with regard to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The Annex entered into force on 30 July 2008 as Annex XVIII to the Convention. As of December 2014, there are only nine participants. The chapter compares the text of draft Annex XVIII initially prepared by the UNWTO Legal Adviser in 2004, the draft as revised by the Office of the UN Legal Adviser in 2005, and the text of Annex XVIII as finally adopted in 2008. It identifies the main issues which made the adoption process rather long and strenuous. They are related to the marked peculiarities of the Organisation, in particular its mixed membership.
Marine Scientific Research
Authors: Mossop Joanna
Published: August 2024

This chapter addresses marine scientific research on the continental shelf beyond 200 nm. Two issues arise for coastal States in exercising their jurisdiction over marine scientific research on the extended continental shelf. First, given that the vessels conducting research above the extended continental shelf will be in the high seas, rather than the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), there is a need to clarify how States distinguish between research in the high seas and research ‘on’ the continental shelf. Secondly, article 246(6) of the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) creates a particular limitation on coastal State rights to refuse consent for marine scientific research on the extended continental shelf. The chapter discusses how States might interpret this provision and apply it when coastal States want to protect living resources rather than non-living resources.
Conclusions
Authors: Brammertz Baron Serge , Jarvis Michelle
Published: August 2024

This concluding chapter envisions a more global and integrated approach to addressing conflict-related sexual violence in the future. It explores three themes from the book concerning the intersection between the work by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) on conflict-related sexual violence and that being done by others: the intersection between prosecuting and preventing conflict-related sexual violence and other gender-related harm, the intersection between prosecuting and documenting conflict-related sexual violence and other gender-related harm, and the intersection between prosecuting sexual violence crimes at the national and international levels around the world. The chapter looks at how the OTP’s work intersects in meaningful ways with work now being done by many other actors as well as the considerable scope for multi-faceted collaboration, concluding that forums for facilitating dialogue and experience sharing between these various actors, and for promoting more comprehensive solutions to gender-related conflict issues, should be a priority.