bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EVOLUTIONARY HIERARCHICAL CREDIBILITY
Authors: Taylor Greg
Published: November 2017

The hierarchical credibility model was introduced, and extended, in the 70s and early 80s. It deals with the estimation of parameters that characterize the nodes of a tree structure. That model is limited, however, by the fact that its parameters are assumed fixed over time. This causes the model's parameter estimates to track the parameters poorly when the latter are subject to variation over time. This paper seeks to remove this limitation by assuming the parameters in question to follow a process akin to a random walk over time, producing an evolutionary hierarchical model. The specific form of the model is compatible with the use of the Kalman filter for parameter estimation and forecasting. The application of the Kalman filter is conceptually straightforward, but the tree structure of the model parameters can be extensive, and some effort is required to retain organization of the updating algorithm. This is achieved by suitable manipulation of the graph associated with the tree. The graph matrix then appears in the matrix calculations inherent in the Kalman filter. A numerical example is included to illustrate the application of the filter to the model.
FAST COMPUTATION OF RISK MEASURES FOR VARIABLE ANNUITIES WITH ADDITIONAL EARNINGS BY CONDITIONAL MOMENT MATCHING
Authors: Privault Nicolas , Wei Xiao
Published: November 2017

We propose an approximation scheme for the computation of the risk measures of guaranteed minimum maturity benefits (GMMBs) and guaranteed minimum death benefits (GMDBs), based on the evaluation of single integrals under conditional moment matching. This procedure is computationally efficient in comparison with standard analytical methods while retaining a high degree of accuracy, and it allows one to deal with the case of additional earnings and the computation of related sensitivities.
The role of surface charge convection in the electrohydrodynamics and breakup of prolate drops
Authors: Sengupta Rajarshi , Walker Lynn M. , Khair Aditya S.
Published: November 2017

The deformation of a weakly conducting, ‘leaky dielectric’, drop in a density matched, immiscible weakly conducting medium under a uniform direct current (DC) electric field is quantified computationally. We exclusively consider prolate drops, for which the drop elongates in the direction of the applied field. Furthermore, for the majority of this study, we assume the drop and medium to have equal viscosities. Using axisymmetric boundary integral computations, we delineate drop deformation and breakup regimes in the $Ca_{E}-Re_{E}$ parameter space, where $Ca_{E}$ is the electric capillary number (ratio of the electric to capillary stresses); and $Re_{E}$ is the electric Reynolds number (ratio of charge relaxation to flow time scales), which characterizes the strength of surface charge convection along the interface. For so-called ‘prolate A’ drops, where the surface charge is convected towards the ‘poles’ of the drop, we demonstrate that increasing $Re_{E}$ reduces the critical capillary number for breakup. Moreover, surface charge convection is the cause of an abrupt transition in the breakup mode of a drop from end pinching, where the drop elongates and develops bulbs at its ends that eventually detach, to a breakup mode characterized by the formation of conical ends. On the contrary, the deformation of ‘prolate B’ drops, where the surface charge is convected away from the poles, is essentially unaffected by the magnitude of $Re_{E}$.
Shallow-water models for a vibrating fluid
Authors: Ilin Konstantin
Published: November 2017

We consider a layer of an inviscid fluid with a free surface which is subject to vertical high-frequency vibrations. We derive three asymptotic systems of equations that describe slowly evolving (in comparison with the vibration frequency) free-surface waves. The first set of equations is obtained without assuming that the waves are long. These equations are as difficult to solve as the exact equations for irrotational water waves in a non-vibrating fluid. The other two models describe long waves. These models are obtained under two different assumptions about the amplitude of the vibration. Surprisingly, the governing equations have exactly the same form in both cases (up to the interpretation of some constants). These equations reduce to the standard dispersionless shallow-water equations if the vibration is absent, and the vibration manifests itself via an additional term which makes the equations dispersive and, for small-amplitude waves, is similar to the term that would appear if surface tension were taken into account. We show that our dispersive shallow-water equations have both solitary and periodic travelling wave solutions and discuss an analogy between these solutions and travelling capillary–gravity waves in a non-vibrating fluid.
The Indigenous Concept of Vivir Bien in the Bolivian Legal Field: A Decolonial Proposal
Authors: Dolhare María Itatí , Rojas-Lizana Sol
Published: November 2017

This article discusses the concept of Vivir Bien (Living Well) (VB) and its role as a decolonising project in connection with the Political Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009) (BC) and subordinated legislation. This subordinated legislation was enacted to implement in a more specific manner the general legal principles contained within the BC. The paper uses these legal texts within the framework of decolonial thinking to prove that the adoption of the concept of VB represents a legal and an epistemological shift that radically contests the dominant Western paradigm of modernity/coloniality. This shift has many facets; however, this article concentrates on two of them in order to characterise its radicalism: (a) the constitutional acknowledgment of the colonial difference, which is understood here as the pervading and living legacy of European colonialism in social organisations and the production of knowledge, and (b) the constitutional and legislative requirement of engaging in an ongoing intercultural dialogue as a vehicle for the achievement of a society based on the concept of VB. This article concludes that the confluence of these two facets marks the epistemological shift and is important in the advancement of the intercultural and decolonising project represented by the concept of VB.
The paradoxical hybridity of words
Authors: ELIMAM ABDOU , CHILTON PAUL
Published: November 2017

abstract

Words can be matched with the concept of sign (correspondence of a signifier to a signified) as long as they act as symbol-words endowed with some semantic self-sufficiency. But in discourse, they lose their wholeness as symbol-words and metamorphose intowording-symbols.They, suddenly, appear as mere signifier entities with a more or less loose allusion to their status as cultural symbols. In discourse, words are no longer signs buttoolscovering ephemeral collections ofneurosemes: the link of the sign breaks as soon as discourse takes over. The referential potential is no longer the schematic meaning issued from culture, but the universe of discourse under construction. This is why any attempt to account for meaning in language must integrate the neural process of meaning creation. It is now established that meaning is not the result of language activity but the result of cognition. However, whatlanguagedoes,viadiscourse, is to make this meaning communicable. For all these reasons, the task of linguistics should be to investigate the relationship between cognition and linguistic output in order to shed light on all the cognitive traces left within the surface strings. The role of morphosyntax thus has to be re-evaluated in this light.
Competing With the Dragon: Employment Effects of Chinese Trade Competition in 17 Sectors Across 18 OECD Countries
Authors: Thewissen Stefan , van Vliet Olaf
Published: November 2017

China’s rapid rise on the global economic stage has substantial and unequal employment effects in advanced industrialized democracies given China’s large volume of low-wage labor. Thus far, these effects have not been analyzed in the comparative political economy literature. Building on pooled time-series data, we analyze the effects of Chinese trade competition across 17 sectors in 18 countries. We devote attention to a new channel, increased competition from China in foreign export markets. Our empirical findings reveal overall employment declines in sectors more exposed to Chinese imports. Furthermore, our results suggest that employment effects are not equally shared across skill levels, as the share of hours worked worsens for low-skilled workers.
Chronology of Megalithic Funerary Practices in Southeastern Iberia: The Necropolis of Panoria (Granada, Spain)
Authors: Aranda Jiménez Gonzalo , Lozano Medina Águeda , Sánchez Romero Margarita , Díaz-Zorita Bonilla Marta , Bocherens Hervé
Published: November 2017

An excavation carried out at the megalithic necropolis of Panoria in 2015 offered an excellent opportunity for dating a widespread variety of polygonal, rectangular, and trapezoidal-shaped tombs with short passages for which, surprisingly, there were previously no known radiocarbon (14C) measurements available. Based on the anthropological remains, a series of 1914C dates was obtained and modeled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The results stress a long period of use that began in the Late Neolithic (3525–3195 cal BC), reaching the most intensive ritual activity during the Copper Age and ending in the Early Bronze Age (2125–1980 cal BC). Throughout this period, tombs were built at different times and used at different temporal scales and intensities, ranging from a few decades to centuries.
Critique of Metaphysical Violence
Authors: KENNEL MAXWELL
Published: November 2017

This study bridges secular philosophical perspectives and Christian theological perspectives by showing how the critique of metaphysical violence is common to certain representatives of both parties. By examining specifically metaphysical, and therefore epistemologically significant, ways of critiquing violence, this study seeks to show that, just as violence cuts across the sacred-secular divide and spans the distance between abstraction and action, so too does the critique of violence.
CONSTRAINTS TO ADOPTION OF IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY FOR BERSEEM CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM) CULTIVATION IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
Authors: TUFAIL M. S. , NIELSEN S. , SOUTHWELL A. , KREBS G. L. , PILTZ J. W. , NORTON M. R. , WYNN P. C.
Published: November 2017

Berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinumL.) is an important forage legume and is the primary winter forage crop in Pakistan. There are significant gaps in yield potential among varieties of berseem clover, as well as yields obtained at research stations and on-farm. To address this problem a survey of farmers was undertaken in the districts of Kasur and Okara, Punjab, Pakistan to determine the level of knowledge and understanding of berseem forage cultivation and seed production. The study comprised 44% smallholder (<3 ha), 26% medium (3–5 ha) and 30% large farmers (>5 ha) with average age of 42 years. Most farmers had little or no knowledge of the role of seed quality, inoculation with rhizobium, pollination, fertiliser use, irrigation management and the importance of forage nutritional value in improving livestock productivity. Most farmers (56%) had received no input from the government or private sector to improve forage production, relying instead on traditional knowledge. Knowledge of the importance of land preparation (95%), sowing rate (98%) and insect and pest management (75%) was higher than seed selection and fertilisation. Adoption of improved varieties (3%) and production technologies (14%) was low due to various constraints including ignorance, high cost of inputs, lack of availability of inputs in the market and a perceived high level of financial risk. Almost 100% of the respondents agreed that seed of improved varieties was a pre-requisite for higher forage and seed production as well as essential to start village-based forage seed enterprises.
The Impact of Judicial Delimitation on Private Rights Existing in Contested Waters: Implications for the Somali-Kenyan Maritime Dispute
Authors: Pappa Marianthi
Published: November 2017

This article raises concerns about the impact of judicial delimitation on private exploratory rights existing in contested waters. These concerns stem from the tendency of judges to disregard any non-geographic factors during the process of maritime delimitation. This practice allows for the reallocation of the private rights in question and eventually creates tension between public international law and private law. This is discussed in the context of the Somali-Kenyan maritime dispute, which is currently under judicial consideration. The article will demonstrate that, insofar as international judges apply the standard doctrines of delimitation, the prospective judgment may cause the reallocation and, ultimately, the frustration of Kenya's private exploratory contracts in the disputed area. It suggests that a unitization agreement entered after delimitation may reverse this outcome. However, inasmuch as state cooperation lacks the cloak of international custom, the interests of private actors operating in contested waters remain at stake.
Institutional Investor Expectations, Manager Performance, and Fund Flows
Authors: Jones Howard , Martinez Jose Vicente
Published: November 2017

Using survey data, we analyze institutional investors’ expectations about the future performance of fund managers and the impact of those expectations on asset allocation decisions. We find that institutional investors allocate funds mainly on the basis of fund managers’ past performance and of investment consultants’ recommendations, but not because they extrapolate their expectations from these. This suggests that institutional investors base their investment decisions on the most defensible variables at their disposal and supports the existence of agency considerations in their decision making.
The killing of Cecil the Lion as an impetus for policy change
Authors: Carpenter Stefan , Konisky David M.
Published: November 2017

The killing of Cecil the Lion in July 2015 generated considerable media attention worldwide. We measured public interest in Cecil's death to examine the degree to which this high-profile incident represented the type of focusing event that public policy scholars often emphasize as being important for triggering policy change. Finding that public interest in lion conservation spiked in the weeks immediately following the incident, we then analysed whether this focusing event led to policy changes to restrict trophy hunting in eight countries (USA, Spain, France, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Germany and Mexico) that most frequently import lion Panthera leo trophies. The surge in public attention seems to have had only a limited impact on the adoption of significant new policy, although it may have hastened changes in some countries.
Prejudice is a general evaluation, not a specific emotion
Authors: Bahns Angela J.
Published: November 2017

Prejudice, like contempt, is a general evaluation rather than a specific emotion. I explore the idea that emotions and attitudes are conceptually distinct by applying Gervais & Fessler's model to the intergroup context. I argue that prejudice is an affective representation of a social group's relational value (friend or foe) and dispute the idea that there are many distinct prejudices.
From disgust to contempt-speech: The nature of contempt on the map of prejudicial emotions
Authors: Bilewicz Michal , Kamińska Olga Katarzyna , Winiewski Mikołaj , Soral Wiktor
Published: November 2017

Analyzing the contempt as an intergroup emotion, we suggest that contempt and anger are not built upon each other, whereas disgust seems to be the most elementary and specific basic-emotional antecedent of contempt. Concurring with Gervais & Fessler, we suggest that many instances of “hate speech” are in fact instances of “contempt speech” – being based on disgust-driven contempt rather than hate.
Dominance as a competence domain, and the evolutionary origins of respect and contempt
Authors: Chapais Bernard
Published: November 2017

The hypothesis of a phylogenetic connection betweenprotorespectin primate dominance hierarchies andrespectin human prestige hierarchies lies in the principle that dominance is a domain of competence like others and, hence, that high-ranking primates haveprotoprestige. The idea that dominant primates manifestprotocontemptto subordinates suggests that “looking down on” followers is intrinsic to leadership in humans, but that the expression of contempt varies critically in relation to the socioecological context.
Two kinds of respect for two kinds of contempt: Why contempt can be both a sentiment and an emotion
Authors: Cova Florian , Deonna Julien , Sander David , Teroni Fabrice
Published: November 2017

Gervais & Fessler argue that because contempt is a sentiment, it cannot be an emotion. However, like many affective labels, it could be that “contempt” refers both to a sentiment and to a distinct emotion. This possibility is made salient by the fact that contempt can be defined by contrast with respect, but that there are different kinds of respect.
Contempt, like any other social affect, can be an emotion as well as a sentiment
Authors: Giner-Sorolla Roger , Fischer Agneta H.
Published: November 2017

Gervais & Fessler assert that contempt is (a) not an emotion (or an attitude) but (b) a sentiment. Here, we challenge the validity and empirical basis of these two assertions, arguing that contempt, like many other emotions, can be both an emotion and a sentiment.
How dare you not recognize the role of my contempt? Insight from experimental psychopathology
Authors: Grecucci Alessandro , Frederickson Jon , Job Remo
Published: November 2017

Gervais & Fessler argue that contempt is an attitude state defined as a lack of respect that potentiates the activation and deactivation of two different clusters of emotions. However, clinical and experimental findings do not support this view. We provide evidence that contempt is not an emotion, nor an attitude, but a reactive defensive mechanism evolved to help individuals avoid shame.
Oxytocin shapes the priorities and neural representations of attitudes and values
Authors: Hurlemann René , Marsh Nina , Schultz Johannes , Scheele Dirk
Published: November 2017

The phylogenetically ancient neuropeptide oxytocin has been linked to a plethora of social behaviors. Here, we argue that the action of oxytocin is not restricted to the downstream level of emotional responses, but substantially alters higher representations of attitudes and values by exerting a distant modulatory influence on cortical areas and their reciprocal interplay with subcortical regions and hormonal systems.
Socioecological factors are linked to changes in prevalence of contempt over time
Authors: Varnum Michael E. W. , Grossmann Igor
Published: November 2017

Gervais & Fessler argue that the perceived legitimacy of contempt has declined over time in the United States, citing evidence of a decrease in the frequency of its use in the American English corpus. We argue that this decline in contempt, as reflected in cultural products, is linked to shifts in key socioecological features previously associated with other forms of cultural change.
Morphological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension in Portuguese
Authors: DE FREITAS PEDRO VIANA , MOTA MÁRCIA MARIA PERUZZI ELIA DA , DEACON S. HÉLÈNE
Published: November 2017

We investigated the unique effects of morphological awareness on several aspects of reading in Portuguese. We tested 132 Portuguese-speaking children in the fourth grade. Morphological awareness was assessed with a word analogy task that included inflectional and derivational transformations. Results indicated that morphological awareness was a significant predictor of word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension after controlling for the effects of nonverbal ability and phonological awareness. Morphological awareness also explained unique variance in reading comprehension after adding word reading as a control. In conclusion, morphological awareness has important roles in both word reading and reading comprehension in Portuguese. Educational and clinical implications are discussed.
MEASURING A NEGLECTED TYPE OF LOTTERY UNFAIRNESS
Authors: Vong Gerard
Published: November 2017

When it is most fair for a claimant to receive a particular chance of benefiting (e.g. 50%) but they instead receive a different chance of benefiting (e.g. 40%), this lower chance is not ideally fair. I specify the often-overlooked type of individual unfairness evident in differences of this kind and argue for four intuitively supported criteria that a measure of this unfairness must meet. I defend the Asymmetrical Proportional View, which meets these criteria and is a measure of how individually unfair any particular difference of this kind is. Finally I conclude with the View's implications for theories of distributive fairness.
ROOT-N CONSISTENCY OF INTERCEPT ESTIMATORS IN A BINARY RESPONSE MODEL UNDER TAIL RESTRICTIONS
Authors: Tan Lili , Zhang Yichong
Published: November 2017

The intercept of the binary response model is not regularly identified (i.e., $\sqrt n$ consistently estimable) when the support of both the special regressor V and the error term ε are the whole real line. The estimator of the intercept potentially has a slower than $\sqrt n$ convergence rate, which can result in a large estimation error in practice. This paper imposes additional tail restrictions which guarantee the regular identification of the intercept and thus the $\sqrt n$-consistency of its estimator. We then propose an estimator that achieves the $\sqrt n$ rate. Last, we extend our tail restrictions to a full-blown model with endogenous regressors.
Marine resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene
Authors: ASWANI SHANKAR , BASURTO XAVIER , FERSE SEBASTIAN , GLASER MARION , CAMPBELL LISA , CINNER JOSHUA E. , DALTON TRACEY , JENKINS LEKELIA D. , MILLER MARC L. , POLLNAC RICHARD , VACCARO ISMAEL , CHRISTIE PATRICK
Published: November 2017

Because the Anthropocene by definition is an epoch during which environmental change is largely anthropogenic and driven by social, economic, psychological and political forces, environmental social scientists can effectively analyse human behaviour and knowledge systems in this context. In this subject review, we summarize key ways in which the environmental social sciences can better inform fisheries management policy and practice and marine conservation in the Anthropocene. We argue that environmental social scientists are particularly well positioned to synergize research to fill the gaps between: (1) local behaviours/needs/worldviews and marine resource management and biological conservation concerns; and (2) large-scale drivers of planetary environmental change (globalization, affluence, technological change, etc.) and local cognitive, socioeconomic, cultural and historical processes that shape human behaviour in the marine environment. To illustrate this, we synthesize the roles of various environmental social science disciplines in better understanding the interaction between humans and tropical marine ecosystems in developing nations where issues arising from human–coastal interactions are particularly pronounced. We focus on: (1) the application of the environmental social sciences in marine resource management and conservation; (2) the development of ‘new’ socially equitable marine conservation; (3) repopulating the seascape; (4) incorporating multi-scale dynamics of marine social–ecological systems; and (5) envisioning the future of marine resource management and conservation for producing policies and projects for comprehensive and successful resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene.
Algebraic data integration
Authors: SCHULTZ PATRICK , WISNESKY RYAN
Published: November 2017

In this paper, we develop an algebraic approach to data integration by combining techniques from functional programming, category theory, and database theory. In our formalism, database schemas and instances are algebraic (multi-sorted equational) theories of a certain form. Schemas denote categories, and instances denote their initial (term) algebras. The instances on a schemaSform a category,S–Inst, and a morphism of schemasF:S→Tinduces three adjoint data migration functors: ΣF:S–Inst→T–Inst, defined by substitution alongF, which has a right adjoint ΔF:T–Inst→S–Inst, which in turn has a right adjoint ΠF:S–Inst→T–Inst. We present a query language based on for/where/return syntax where each query denotes a sequence of data migration functors; a pushout-based design pattern for performing data integration using our formalism; and describe the implementation of our formalism in a tool we call AQL (Algebraic Query Language).
Validating Brouwer's continuity principle for numbers using named exceptions
Authors: RAHLI VINCENT , BICKFORD MARK
Published: November 2017

This paper extends the Nuprl proof assistant (a system representative of the class of extensional type theories with dependent types) withnamed exceptionsandhandlers, as well as a nominalfreshoperator. Using these new features, we prove a version of Brouwer's continuity principle for numbers. We also provide a simpler proof of a weaker version of this principle that only uses diverging terms. We prove these two principles in Nuprl's metatheory using our formalization of Nuprl in Coq and reflect these metatheoretical results in the Nuprl theory as derivation rules. We also show that these additions preserve Nuprl's key metatheoretical properties, in particular consistency and the congruence of Howe's computational equivalence relation. Using continuity and the fan theorem, we prove important results of Intuitionistic Mathematics: Brouwer's continuity theorem, bar induction on monotone bars and the negation of the law of excluded middle.
Building Italian Menton, 1940–1943: urban planning and Italianization
Authors: MACGALLOWAY NIALL
Published: November 2017

The Italo-French armistice of July 1940 brought an end to the brief period of conflict between Italy and France that had taken place after Mussolini's declaration of war in June of the same year. Disappointing Italian military performances left Italy with only a small strip of territory on the Italo-French border to occupy until the expansion of the occupation zone in November 1942. This article will explore urban planning projects in the largest of the Italian-occupied towns, Menton. It will argue that Italian urban planning projects formed a crucial layer of the long-term Italianization of the town and were indicative of wider Italian plans in the event of an Axis victory. It will demonstrate that hitherto underexplored post-war plans reveal not only how Italian planners hoped to reshape the region, but also how planners hoped that these changes would bind territories physically to Italy.
Meat-milieu: medicalization, aestheticization and productivity in Buenos Aires and its Pampas, 1868–1950
Authors: LÓPEZ-DURÁN FABIOLA , MOORE NIKKI
Published: November 2017

Between 1868 and 1950, when meat production facilities were expelled from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina became one of the largest producers of meat in the world. Beginning in 1945, bringing the city into the countryside and the countryside into the city, agriculture was instrumentalized as an urban function. Revealing the convergence of two usually separated movements – hygenics and eugenics – the meat industry in the province of Buenos Aires created a scientifically supported arena for the biopolitical appropriation of human and non-human resources, bearing out a unified ideology of medicalization, aestheticization, urbanization and productivity.
PREDATOR–PREY MODEL WITH AGE STRUCTURE
Authors: PROMRAK J. , WAKE G. C. , RATTANAKUL C.
Published: November 2017

Mealybug is an important pest of cassava plant in Thailand and tropical countries, leading to severe damage of crop yield. One of the most successful controls of mealybug spread is using its natural enemies such as green lacewings, where the development of mathematical models forecasting mealybug population dynamics improves implementation of biological control. In this work, the Sharpe–Lotka–McKendrick equation is extended and combined with an integro-differential equation to study population dynamics of mealybugs (prey) and released green lacewings (predator). Here, an age-dependent formula is employed for mealybug population. The solutions and the stability of the system are considered. The steady age distributions and their bifurcation diagrams are presented. Finally, the threshold of the rate of released green lacewings for mealybug extermination is investigated.
General Practitioners’ views and experiences on the barriers and facilitators that men who have sex with men have when accessing primary care for HIV testing and sexual health screening
Authors: Maxwell Steven
Published: November 2017

Aim

This study’s objectives were to collate General Practitioners’ (GPs) views and experiences on the barriers and facilitators for providing HIV and sexual health screening in primary care to men who have sex with men.

Background

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately effected by sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Some MSM may not attend for testing and primary care may come in contact with this group. There may be varying barriers for MSM accessing services. Primary care can provide an opportunity to offer testing but with limited GPs views on this topic, it is important to understand the potential barriers and facilitators.

Method

A structured online survey was used to gather data and the survey link was emailed to all General Practices in the City of Edinburgh. The total available sample of GPs was 485. The survey used a combination of multiple choice questions and Likert scales rating from 1 to 5. Friedman’s two-way analysis of variation rank was used for data analysis.

Findings

In total, 62 GPs from the City of Edinburgh completed the survey with the majority of the sample having over 10 years’ experience in primary care. The most significant barrier was patient preference to access specialist services. The highest rated method to promote HIV and sexual health screening was the use of external promotion.
Towards More Resilience for a Social EU – the Constitutionally Conditioned Internal Market
Authors: Schiek Dagmar
Published: November 2017

Gap between the EU’s normative commitments to socio-economic justice and the practical workings of its integration project -- Potential for strengthening the social EU by recourse to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Charter normatively commits EU to a constitutionally conditioned Internal Market – Charter curbs property rights and entrepreneurial freedom specifically for the sake of social rights guarantees – Constructive response to legitimacy dilemmas emerging from cases such asLaval,VikingandAGET Iraklis– Reinstating socially embedded constitutionalism at EU levels as an alternative to relegating social integration to national levels
Instrumental Culturalism: The Work of Comparisons across Japan, ‘the West’ and Myanmar
Authors: Watanabe Chika
Published: November 2017

As ‘emerging donors' push alternative paradigms of development cooperation ‘beyond aid' onto the global agenda, some scholars discuss those from Asia as presenting culturally specific approaches. These observations echo the claims that aid practitioners and policy makers themselves make about, for example, Japanese forms of development. In this article, I caution against scholars repeating these culturally essentialising arguments that promote certain political interests. Instead, I propose that we ‘take seriously' these aid actors’ instrumental culturalist views as ethnographic artefacts—that is, as logics and practices that our interlocutors use. By taking what I call instrumental culturalism as the object of study, rather than the analytical frame, this article shows that the work of comparisons plays a central role in producing culturalist worldviews. In short, culturalism is performative, creating that which it names. If we are to understand the “beyond aid” agenda, we need to attend to the ways that the production of culturalisms through the work of comparisons informs development actors’ understandings of social organisation and global interaction.
Confirmation of Glyphosate-Resistant Kochia (Kochia scoparia) from Sugar Beet Fields in Idaho and Oregon
Authors: Kumar Vipan , Felix Joel , Morishita Don , Jha Prashant
Published: November 2017

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) kochia is an increasing management concern in major cropping systems of the northwestern US. In 2014, we investigated four putative GR kochia accessions (designated as ALA, VAL, WIL, DB) collected from sugar beet fields in eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho to characterize the level of evolved glyphosate resistance and determine the relationship between the 5-enol-pyruvylshikimate-3-phospate synthase (EPSPS) gene copy number and level of glyphosate resistance. TheEPSPSgene copy number was used as a molecular marker to detect GR kochia in subsequent surveys in 2015 and 2016. Based on LD50values from a whole-plant dose-response study, the four putative GR kochia populations were 2.0- to 9.6-fold more resistant to glyphosate than the glyphosate-susceptible (GS) accession. In anin vivoleaf-disk shikimate assay, leaf disks of GS kochia plants treated with 100-μM glyphosate accumulated 2.4- to 4.0-fold higher amounts of shikimate than the GR plants. The four GR accessions had 2.7 to 9.1 relativeEPSPSgene copies compared with the GS accession (<1EPSPSgene copies), and there was a linear relationship betweenEPSPSgene copy number and glyphosate resistance level (LD50values). The 2015 and 2016 GR kochia survey results indicated that about half of the collected populations from sugar beet fields in eastern Oregon had developed resistance to glyphosate whereas only one population from the Idaho collection was confirmed glyphosate resistant. This is the first confirmation of GR kochia in sugar beet fields in eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. Diversified weed control programs will be required to prevent further development and spread of GR kochia in sugar beet-based rotations in this region.
Field Pea and Lentil Tolerance to Interrow Cultivation
Authors: Stanley Katherine A. , Shirtliffe Steven J. , Benaragama Dilshan , Syrovy Lena D. , Duddu Hema S. N.
Published: November 2017

Interrow cultivation is a selective, in-crop mechanical weed control tool that has the potential to control weeds later in the growing season with less crop damage compared with other in-crop mechanical weed control tools. To our knowledge, no previous research has been conducted on the tolerance of narrow-row crops to interrow cultivation. The objective of this experiment was to determine the tolerance of field pea and lentil to interrow cultivation. Replicated field experiments were conducted in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2014 and 2015. Weekly cultivation treatments began at the 4-node stage of each crop, continuing for 6 wk. Field pea and lentil yield linearly declined with later crop stages of cultivation. Cultivating multiple times throughout the growing season reduced yield by 15% to 30% in both crops. Minimal yield loss occurred when interrow cultivation was conducted once at early growth stages of field pea and lentil; however, yield loss increased with delayed and more frequent cultivation events.
Delivery of Native Proteins into C. elegans Using a Transduction Protocol Based on Lipid Vesicles
Authors: Perni Michele , Aprile Francesco A. , Casford Sam , Mannini Benedetta , Sormanni Pietro , Dobson Christopher M. , Vendruscolo Michele
Published: November 2017

The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a versatile and widely used animal model for in vivo studies of a broad range of human diseases, in particular for understanding their genetic origins and for screening drug candidates. Nevertheless, the challenges associated with the administration of native proteins to C. elegans have limited the range of applications of this animal model in protein-based drug discovery programs. Here, we describe a readily usable protocol for the transduction of native proteins in C. elegans, which is based on the encapsulation of the proteins of interest within cationic lipid vesicles, prior to their administration to worms. This procedure limits the degradation of the proteins in the guts of the animals, and promotes their adsorption into body tissues. To illustrate the efficacy of this approach we apply it to deliver an antibody designed to inhibit α-synuclein aggregation, and show that it can lead to the rescue of the disease phenotype in a C. elegans model of Parkinson’s disease. As this transduction protocol is fast and inexpensive, we anticipate that it will be readily applicable to protein-based drug discovery studies that utilize C. elegans as a model organism.
Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation ameliorates the impact of maternal obesity in mice: comparison with exercise
Authors: Uddin Golam Mezbah , Youngson Neil A. , Doyle Bronte M. , Sinclair David A. , Morris Margaret J.
Published: November 2017

Maternal overnutrition increases the risk of long-term metabolic dysfunction in offspring. Exercise improves metabolism partly by upregulating mitochondrial biogenesis or function, via increased levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). We have shown that the NAD+precursor, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) can reverse some of the negative consequences of high fat diet (HFD) consumption. To investigate whether NMN can impact developmentally-set metabolic deficits, we compared treadmill exercise and NMN injection in offspring of obese mothers. Five week old lean and obese female C57BL6/J mice were mated with chow fed males. Female offspring weaned onto HFD were given treadmill exercise for 9 weeks, or NMN injection daily for 18 days. Maternal obesity programmed increased adiposity and liver triglycerides, with decreased glucose tolerance, liver NAD+levels and citrate synthase activity in offspring. Both interventions reduced adiposity, and showed a modest improvement in glucose tolerance and improved markers of mitochondrial function. NMN appeared to have stronger effects on liver fat catabolism (Hadh) and synthesis (Fasn) than exercise. The interventions appeared to exert the most global benefit in mice that were most metabolically challenged (HFD-consuming offspring of obese mothers). This work encourages further study to confirm the suitability of NMN for use in reversing metabolic dysfunction linked to programming by maternal obesity.
Human single chain-transbodies that bound to domain-I of non-structural protein 5A (NS5A) of hepatitis C virus
Authors: Glab-ampai Kittirat , Chulanetra Monrat , Malik Aijaz Ahmad , Juntadech Thanate , Thanongsaksrikul Jeeraphong , Srimanote Potjanee , Thueng-in Kanyarat , Sookrung Nitat , Tongtawe Pongsri , Chaicumpa Wanpen
Published: November 2017

A safe and broadly effective direct acting anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) agent that can withstand the viral mutation is needed. In this study, human single chain antibody variable fragments (HuscFvs) to conserved non-structural protein-5A (NS5A) of HCV were produced by phage display technology. Recombinant NS5A was used as bait for fishing-out the protein bound-phages from the HuscFv-phage display library. NS5A-bound HuscFvs produced by five phage transfected-E. coli clones were linked molecularly to nonaarginine (R9) for making them cell penetrable (become transbodies). The human monoclonal transbodies inhibited HCV replication in the HCVcc infected human hepatic cells and also rescued the cellular antiviral immune response from the viral suppression. Computerized simulation verified by immunoassays indicated that the transbodies used several residues in their multiple complementarity determining regions (CDRs) to form contact interface with many residues of the NS5A domain-I which is important for HCV replication complex formation and RNA binding as well as for interacting with several host proteins for viral immune evasion and regulation of cellular physiology. The human monoclonal transbodies have high potential for testing further as a new ramification of direct acting anti-HCV agent, either alone or in combination with their cognates that target other HCV proteins.
Temporal and spatial expression of genes involved in DNA methylation during reproductive development of sexual and apomictic Eragrostis curvula
Authors: Selva J. P. , Siena L. , Rodrigo J. M. , Garbus I. , Zappacosta D. , Romero J. R. , Ortiz J. P. A. , Pessino S. C. , Leblanc O. , Echenique V.
Published: November 2017

Recent reports in model plant species have highlighted a role for DNA methylation pathways in the regulation of the somatic-to-reproductive transition in the ovule, suggesting that apomixis (asexual reproduction through seeds) likely relies on RdDM downregulation. Our aim was therefore to explore this hypothesis by characterizing genes involved in DNA methylation in the apomictic grassEragrostis curvula. We explored floral transcriptomes to identify homologs of three candidate genes, for which mutations inArabidopsisand maize mimic apomixis (AtAGO9/ZmAGO104,AtCMT3/ZmDMT102/ZmDMT105, andAtDDM1/ZmCHR106), and compared both their spatial and temporal expression patterns during reproduction in sexual and apomictic genotypes. Quantitative expression analyses revealed contrasting expression patterns for the three genes in apomictic vs sexual plants.In situhybridization corroborated these results for two candidates,EcAGO104andEcDMT102, and revealed an unexpected ectopic pattern for theAGOgene during germ line differentiation in apomicts. Although our data partially support previous results obtained in sexual plant models, they suggest that rather than an RdDM breakdown in the ovule, altered localization ofAtAGO9/ZmAGO104expression is required for achieving diplospory inE.curvula. The differences in the RdDM machinery acquired during plant evolution might have promoted the emergence of the numerous apomictic paths observed in plants.
Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for geranylgeraniol overproduction by combinatorial design
Authors: Song Tian-Qing , Ding Ming-Zhu , Zhai Fang , Liu Duo , Liu Hong , Xiao Wen-Hai , Yuan Ying-Jin
Published: November 2017

Combinatorial design is an effective strategy to acquire the optimal solution in complex systems. In this study, the combined effects of pathway combination, promoters’ strength fine-tuning, copy numbers and integration locus variations caused by δ-integration were explored in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using geranylgeraniol (GGOH) production as an example. Two GGOH biosynthetic pathway branches were constructed. In branch 1, GGOH was converted from isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and farnesyl diphosphate (FPP). In branch 2, GGOH was derived directly from IPP and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). Regulated by 10 combinations of 11 diverse promoters, a fusion gene BTS1-ERG20, a heterologous geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (GGPPSsa) and an endogenous N-terminal truncated gene 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase isoenzyme 1 (tHMGR), were incorporated into yeast by δ-integration, leading to a series of GGOH producing strains with yields ranging from 18.45 mg/L to 161.82 mg/L. The yield was further increased to 437.52 mg/L by optimizing the fermentation medium. Consequently, the GGOH yield reached 1315.44 mg/L in a 5-L fermenter under carbon restriction strategy. Our study not only opens large opportunities for downstream diterpenes overproductions, but also demonstrates that pathway optimization based on combinatorial design is a promising strategy to engineer microbes for overproducing natural products with complex structure.
Navigability of temporal networks in hyperbolic space
Authors: Ortiz Elisenda , Starnini Michele , Serrano M. Ángeles
Published: November 2017

Information routing is one of the main tasks in many complex networks with a communication function. Maps produced by embedding the networks in hyperbolic space can assist this task enabling the implementation of efficient navigation strategies. However, only static maps have been considered so far, while navigation in more realistic situations, where the network structure may vary in time, remains largely unexplored. Here, we analyze the navigability of real networks by using greedy routing in hyperbolic space, where the nodes are subject to a stochastic activation-inactivation dynamics. We find that such dynamics enhances navigability with respect to the static case. Interestingly, there exists an optimal intermediate activation value, which ensures the best trade-off between the increase in the number of successful paths and a limited growth of their length. Contrary to expectations, the enhanced navigability is robust even when the most connected nodes inactivate with very high probability. Finally, our results indicate that some real networks are ultranavigable and remain highly navigable even if the network structure is extremely unsteady. These findings have important implications for the design and evaluation of efficient routing protocols that account for the temporal nature of real complex networks.
Investigation on thermodynamics of ion-slicing of GaN and heterogeneously integrating high-quality GaN films on CMOS compatible Si(100) substrates
Authors: Huang Kai , Jia Qi , You Tiangui , Zhang Runchun , Lin Jiajie , Zhang Shibin , Zhou Min , Zhang Bo , Yu Wenjie , Ou Xin , Wang Xi
Published: November 2017

Die-to-wafer heterogeneous integration of single-crystalline GaN film with CMOS compatible Si(100) substrate using the ion-cutting technique has been demonstrated. The thermodynamics of GaN surface blistering is in-situ investigated via a thermal-stage optical microscopy, which indicates that the large activation energy (2.5 eV) and low H ions utilization ratio (~6%) might result in the extremely high H fluence required for the ion-slicing of GaN. The crystalline quality, surface topography and the microstructure of the GaN films are characterized in detail. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) for GaN (002) X-ray rocking curves is as low as 163 arcsec, corresponding to a density of threading dislocation of 5 × 107 cm−2. Different evolution of the implantation-induced damage was observed and a relationship between the damage evolution and implantation-induced damage is demonstrated. This work would be beneficial to understand the mechanism of ion-slicing of GaN and to provide a platform for the hybrid integration of GaN devices with standard Si CMOS process.
Suppression of the FA pathway combined with CHK1 inhibitor hypersensitize lung cancer cells to gemcitabine
Authors: Dai Chun-Hua , Wang Yi , Chen Ping , Jiang Qian , Lan Ting , Li Mei-Yu , Su Jin-Yu , Wu Yan , Li Jian
Published: November 2017

The combination of platinum and gemcitabine is one of the standard regimens in the treatment of advanced lung squamous carcinoma (LSC). Resistance to gemcitabine is main barrier to the successful treatment of LSC. In this study, we showed that suppression of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway increased the sensitivity of two LSC cell lines SK-MES-1 and KLN205 to gemcitabine. Moreover, we found that the CHK1 pathway and the FA pathway are functionally compensatory in the repair of DNA damage in the LSC cell lines. Inactivation of one of the two pathways led to DNA damage, triggering compensatory activation of other pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that FANCD2 depletion combined with CHK1 inhibitor MK-8776 significantly potentiated the cytotoxicity of gemcitabine to the two LSC cell lines, compared to individual FANCD2 depletion or MK-8776 treatment. The enhanced effect of gemcitabine-chemosensitization was accompanied by loss of DNA repair function and accumulation of DNA single strand breaks and double strand breaks, in parallel with obvious increase of caspase-3 dependent apoptosis. Our results indicate that the enhancement effect of FANCD2 depletion combined with CHK1 inhibitor in sensitizing the LCS cells to gemcitabine supports the FA pathway and CHK1 as two therapeutic targets for improvement of anti-tumor regimens in treatment of LSC.