bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Negative Impact of Insulin Therapy for Acute Hyperglycemia Secondary to Glucose Load on Plasma Amino Acid Profiles in a Rat Model of Sepsis
Authors: Yoneyama Satoshi , Terashima Hideo , Yamaguchi Ryushiro , Tadano Sosuke , Ohkohchi Nobuhiro
Published: October 2014

Background: In critical illnesses, insulin therapy under overfed conditions with an excessive glucose infusion may cause metabolic disturbances in skeletal muscle mainly through muscle cell glucose uptake and the inhibition of physiological protein breakdown. The aim of this study was to examine the potential negative aspects of insulin therapy in a rat model of sepsis. Materials and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or sham surgery. A pre-established continuous intravenous glucose infusion was initiated immediately after surgery. Rats with sepsis were divided into four groups (n = 7 in each group) based on target blood glucose (BG) levels: a no glucose (NG) group (100-150 mg/dl), moderate glucose (MG) group (200-300 mg/dl), high glucose (HG) group (>300 mg/dl), and the hyperinsulinemia (HI) group, which received the same glucose infusion as the HG group with the insulin infusion (200-300 mg/dl). The sham group underwent sham surgery and received the same glucose infusion as the HG group. All rats were sacrificed 9 h after surgery, and blood samples were collected to measure plasma amino acid (AA) profiles. To examine survival rates in the 48 h following CLP, the HG, MG, and HI groups were newly prepared according to the aforementioned experimental design. Results: Plasma levels of the branched-chain AAs, glutamine, arginine, citrulline, and alanine among the septic groups slightly and inversely decreased with the amount of glucose infused, and HI had significantly lower values (p < 0.01). A strong correlation was observed among the AAs. Plasma 3-methylhistidine concentrations were the highest in the HI group. The survival rate of the HI group was greater than that of the HG, but did not reach the level of the MG group. Conclusion: In critical illnesses, insulin therapy under overfed conditions may impair the physiological supply of AAs and conditionally essential AA starvation, such as glutamine and arginine, and may have an adverse impact on the prognosis of patients.
A Case of Neuromyelitis Optica Masquerading as Miller Fisher Syndrome
Authors: Furutani Yuka , Hata Masayuki , Miyamoto Kazuaki , Moribata Yusaku , Yoshimura Nagahisa
Published: October 2014

A 22-year-old woman presented with double vision that she had experienced since an infection 2 weeks previously. A neurological examination showed limited bilateral eye abduction, mimicking Miller Fisher syndrome. However, T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of her brain revealed hyperintense areas in the tegmentum of the pons, including the abducens nucleus, and her serum anti-aquaporin-4 antibody test was positive. She was finally diagnosed with neuromyelitis optica. Intravenous high-dose steroid therapy immediately improved the patient's abduction palsy, but bilateral optic neuritis manifested during the treatment. Subsequent treatment with plasma exchange improved her optic neuritis symptoms.
Necrotizing Keratitis Caused by Acyclovir-Resistant Herpes Simplex Virus
Authors: Toriyama Koji , Inoue Tomoyuki , Suzuki Takashi , Kobayashi Takeshi , Ohashi Yuichi
Published: October 2014

Background: We report a case of necrotizing keratitis caused by acyclovir (ACV)-resistant herpes simplex virus (HSV) with a clinical appearance similar to a previous fungal keratitis infection. Methods: Observational case report. Results: Penetrating keratoplasty was performed in the left eye with a history of herpetic keratitis that resolved with periodic treatment with ACV ointment and a topical steroid. The left eye was painful and red with an abscess and corneal erosion in the peripheral donor cornea. Examination of the scraped corneal epithelium by light microscopy and culturing identified Candida albicans; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was negative for human herpes viruses. After antifungal treatment, the ocular pain gradually decreased and the lesions slowly improved but recurred with a similar clinical appearance. A second light microscopy examination and cultures were negative for pathogens including C. albicans. PCR was positive for HSV-1 DNA; treatment with 3% topical ACV ointment was unsuccessful. A third examination showed only HSV-1 DNA. Despite antiviral ACV ointment, no clinical improvement occurred based on the HSV DNA copy numbers, which were the same before and after treatment, indicating a possible ACV-resistant strain. When topical trifluorothymidine was substituted for ACV, clinical improvement occurred and the HSV DNA copy numbers decreased. Conclusion: Necrotizing keratitis induced by ACV-resistant HSV occurred independently after fungal keratitis, with a similar clinical appearance in this case, making diagnosis and treatment difficult. Monitoring the HSV DNA load by real-time PCR could be useful for refractory cases even with atypical clinical appearances.
Severe Refractory Coeliac Disease with Response Only to Parenteral Nutrition
Authors: Ng Ka Ying Bonnie , Mehta Ravi , Mohamed Salma , Mohamed Zameer , Arnold Jayantha
Published: October 2014

Refractory coeliac disease (RCD) is characterised by recurrent or persistent malabsorptive symptoms and villous atrophy, despite strict adherence to a gluten-free diet for at least 6 months and where other causes of malabsorption including malignancy have been excluded. There is limited evidence and guidance on the effective management of these patients. We describe a case of severe RCD in our hospital, with symptoms controlled effectively only by total parenteral nutrition (TPN). This 68-year-old woman initially presented to the clinic with persistent non-bloody diarrhoea and vomiting. A diagnosis of coeliac disease was confirmed with a positive tissue transglutaminase assay and histology. A strict gluten-free diet was ineffective and she represented 6 months later with 13 kg weight loss (16.7%), ongoing abdominal pain and diarrhoea, with bowels opening 16 times a day. She was oedematous, had an albumin of 12 g/l and required hospital admission. She was treated for pancreatic insufficiency and presumptively for small bowel bacterial overgrowth with no resolution of symptoms. We ruled out infectious causes and investigated for small bowel malignancy; all results were negative. Small bowel enteroscopy showed ulcerative jejunitis. She was given 5 days of TPN, following which her symptoms improved and albumin normalised. This was sustained with symptom resolution and weight gain seen at follow-up. TPN successfully and rapidly induced remission in this case. Thus, a short period of TPN should be considered as a potential component of management in patients with severe RCD.
Increased Predictive Ability of BMI but not Other Risk Factors with Time in Men: 39-Year Follow-Up of Total Mortality in the Oslo Study
Authors: Holme Ingar , Tonstad Serena
Published: October 2014

Objective: Risk factor associations to mortality may change, in part due to removal of high-risk persons. We compared strengths of association and ability of risk factors to predict total mortality across short (<15 years), medium (15-29 years) and long (30-39 years) follow-up.Methods: Cardiovascular risk factors were measured in 1972-1973 in the Oslo Study among 14,846 men born in 1923-1932. Relationships of risk factors to mortality (to 2011) were analyzed using Cox regression models, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were estimated. Results: BMI was the only factor that increased strength of association with elapsed time (hazard ratio for ≥35 kg/m2 vs. 22.5-24.9 kg/m2: 1.25 (95% CI 0.73-2.17), 1.51 (95% CI 1.06-2.16) and 3.73 (95% CI 2.33-5.98) for <15, 15-29 and 30-39 years, respectively). Other factors lost predictive ability with time. Cigarette smoking was the strongest predictor in all periods. Serum lipids and systolic blood pressure increased risk in most periods, and moderate physical activity was protective to 29 years, but these factors and BMI contributed minimally to ROC. Discussion: Risk factors differed in association strengths and ability to predict mortality over four decades. BMI strengthened its association with time, while cigarette smoking was strongest in all periods.
Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis and Antimicrobial Therapy of Intra-Abdominal Infections
Authors: Hagel Stefan , Scheuerlein Hubert
Published: October 2014

Background: The increase of antimicrobial resistances to first- and second-line antibiotics, especially of Gram-negative bacteria, and the lack of novel antimicrobial substances are a challenge in the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. Methods: Review article. Results: The efficacy and safety of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in visceral surgery has been demonstrated by several meta-analyses. Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis is defined as a single administration of antibiotics shortly before a surgical intervention. A so-called prolonged prophylaxis including the postoperative period (e.g. 1-3 days postoperatively) should be avoided as it does not reduce the number of wound infections and is associated with an increased risk of antimicrobial resistance and side effects. Antimicrobial management of severe intra-abdominal infections involves a delicate balance of optimizing empirical therapy which has been shown to improve outcomes while simultaneously reducing unnecessary use of antimicrobials. Conclusion: Antimicrobial resistance poses a serious threat to human health and requires a rational use of antibiotics to curb further spreading. This applies for perioperative prophylaxis as well as for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections.
Long QT Syndrome Complicating Atrioventricular Block
Authors: Rosso Raphael , Adler Arnon , Strasberg Boris , Guevara-Valdivia Milton E. , Somani Riyaz , Baranchuk Adrian , Halkin Amir , Márquez Manlio F. , Scheinman Melvin , Steinvil Arie , Belhassen Bernard , Kazatsker Mark , Katz Amos , Viskin Sami
Published: October 2014

Background—

The magnitude of QT prolongation in response to bradycardia, rather than the bradycardia per se, determines the risk for torsade de pointes during atrioventricular block (AVB). However, we do not know why some patients develop more QT prolongation than others, despite similar bradycardia. We hypothesized that in patients who develop significant QRS vector changes during AVB, the effects of cardiac memory lead to excessive QT prolongation.

Methods and Results—

We studied 91 patients who presented with AVB and who also had an ECG predating the bradyarrhythmia for comparison. We correlated changes in QRS morphology and axis taking place during AVB with the bradycardia-induced QT prolongation. Patients with and without QRS morphology changes at the time of AVB were of similar age and sex. Moreover, despite similar R-R interval during AVB, cases with a QRS morphology change had significantly longer QT (648±84 versus 561±84;
P
<0.001) than those without. Patients who developed a change in QRS morphology at the time of AVB had a 7-fold higher risk of developing long QT. This risk nearly doubled when the change in QRS morphology was accompanied by a change in QRS axis.

Conclusions—

Cardiac memory resulting from a change in QRS morphology during AVB is independently associated with QT prolongation and may be arrhythmogenic during AVB.
Lech Wałęsa and the Solidarity Era: The Myth Revived?
Authors: Szporer Michael
Published: October 2014

This review essay examines the myth of Lech Wałęsa in Andrzej Wajda’s film Man of Hope and the events before and during the Solidarity era in Poland. Man of Hope completes Wajda’s ambitious historical trilogy, consisting earlier of Man of Marble and Man of Iron. The film, in its attempt to restore myth, significantly departs from Wajda’s earlier post-ideological documentary style, which was characteristic of the cinema of moral anxiety. Wajda’s interpretation of the myth of Wałęsa as well as of Wajda’s (and Wałęsa’s) more ideological critics, notably Sławomir Cenckiewicz in Człowiek z teczki (Man with a Police File), does not always square well with the historical facts. Other recent perspectives on Wałęsa, including Danuta Wałęsa’s memoir, are crucial for a more rounded picture. Oriana Fallaci’s assessment of postmodern leaders, including Wałęsa, as much diminished in stature but more believable as real historical figures, seems the most appropriate judgment.
Common Neural Correlates of Intertemporal Choices and Intelligence in Adolescents
Authors: Ripke Stephan , Hübner Thomas , Mennigen Eva , Müller Kathrin U. , Li Shu-Chen , Smolka Michael N.
Published: October 2014

Converging behavioral evidence indicates that temporal discounting, measured by intertemporal choice tasks, is inversely related to intelligence. At the neural level, the parieto-frontal network is pivotal for complex, higher-order cognitive processes. Relatedly, underrecruitment of the pFC during a working memory task has been found to be associated with steeper temporal discounting. Furthermore, this network has also been shown to be related to the consistency of intertemporal choices. Here we report an fMRI study that directly investigated the association of neural correlates of intertemporal choice behavior with intelligence in an adolescent sample (n = 206; age 13.7–15.5 years). After identifying brain regions where the BOLD response during intertemporal choice was correlated with individual differences in intelligence, we further tested whether BOLD responses in these areas would mediate the associations between intelligence, the discounting rate, and choice consistency. We found positive correlations between BOLD response in a value-independent decision network (i.e., dorsolateral pFC, precuneus, and occipital areas) and intelligence. Furthermore, BOLD response in a value-dependent decision network (i.e., perigenual ACC, inferior frontal gyrus, ventromedial pFC, ventral striatum) was positively correlated with intelligence. The mediation analysis revealed that BOLD responses in the value-independent network mediated the association between intelligence and choice consistency, whereas BOLD responses in the value-dependent network mediated the association between intelligence and the discounting rate. In summary, our findings provide evidence for common neural correlates of intertemporal choice and intelligence, possibly linked by valuation as well as executive functions.
The Strength of Gradually Accruing Probabilistic Evidence Modulates Brain Activity during a Categorical Decision
Authors: Wheeler Mark E. , Woo Sarah G. , Ansel Tobin , Tremel Joshua J. , Collier Amanda L. , Velanova Katerina , Ploran Elisabeth J. , Yang Tianming
Published: October 2014

The evolution of neural activity during a perceptual decision is well characterized by the evidence parameter in sequential sampling models. However, it is not known whether accumulating signals in human neuroimaging are related to the integration of evidence. Our aim was to determine whether activity accumulates in a nonperceptual task by identifying brain regions tracking the strength of probabilistic evidence. fMRI was used to measure whole-brain activity as choices were informed by integrating a series of learned prior probabilities. Participants first learned the predictive relationship between a set of shape stimuli and one of two choices. During scanned testing, they made binary choices informed by the sum of the predictive strengths of individual shapes. Sequences of shapes adhered to three distinct rates of evidence (RoEs): rapid, gradual, and switch. We predicted that activity in regions informing the decision would modulate as a function of RoE prior to the choice. Activity in some regions, including premotor areas, changed as a function of RoE and response hand, indicating a role in forming an intention to respond. Regions in occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes modulated as a function of RoE only, suggesting a preresponse stage of evidence processing. In all of these regions, activity was greatest on rapid trials and least on switch trials, which is consistent with an accumulation-to-boundary account. In contrast, activity in a set of frontal and parietal regions was greatest on switch and least on rapid trials, which is consistent with an effort or time-on-task account.
Licensing Trouble
Authors: Norris Mark , Mikkelsen Line , Hankamer Jorge
Published: October 2014

This article addresses a proposal by Katzir (2011) that licensors are crucially involved in definiteness and gender marking in Danish, Icelandic, and Greek. We identify several morphological patterns in Icelandic and Danish that are predicted to be impossible under Katzir’s theory and argue that these languages do not support the existence of licensors. Instead, we propose an account within the framework of Distributed Morphology, arguing that the patterns of gender and definiteness marking seen in these languages are the result of competition for insertion between well-motivated Vocabulary items. In a sense, then, we argue for a more traditional and theoretically simpler analysis of agreement in the languages.
Updating the range of the narrowly distributed endemites Salamandra atra aurorae and S. atra pasubiensis
Authors: Romanazzi Enrico , Bonato Lucio
Published: October 2014

Within the Alpine-Dinaric range of distribution of the Alpine salamanders (Salamandra atra), the genetically and phenotypically distinct Salamandra atra aurorae and S. atra pasubiensis are isolated in the south-eastern Prealps, but their precise distribution is only known incompletely. During 2012 we searched potentially suitable areas for a total of 155 hours during 48 days, and collected and evaluated occasional reports from people visiting these areas. S. atra aurorae was found on the northern part of the Sette Comuni and Vezzena plateau, at an altitude between 1200-1800 m, from Val Postesina to just north of Gallio and to Monte Fossetta (new site, more than 5 km from those previously known), within an estimated area of occupancy of 26 km2. S. atra pasubiensis was confirmed with a single population on the Pasubio massif, at 1450-1800 m, with an effective range of less than 2 km2. Previous reports of alpine salamanders from the Carega massif have remained unconfirmed.
Development and characterization of twelve new polymorphic microsatellite loci in the Iberian ribbed newt, Pleurodeles waltl (Caudata: Salamandridae), with data on cross-amplification in P. nebulosus
Authors: Gutiérrez-Rodríguez Jorge , Gonzalez Elena G. , Martínez-Solano Íñigo
Published: October 2014

Twelve novel polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for the Iberian ribbed newt, Pleurodeles waltl (Caudata, Salamandridae). The distribution of this newt ranges from central and southern Iberia to northwestern Morocco. Polymorphism of these novel loci was tested in 40 individuals from two Iberian populations and compared with previously published markers. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 0.57 and from 0.21 to 0.64, respectively. Cross-species amplification was tested in Pleurodeles nebulosus, which is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Eight new and seven previously published loci amplified successfully in that species and thus represent a valuable conservation tool. The novel microsatellites will be useful for a better understanding of the population dynamics, demography, genetic structure, and evolutionary history of Pleurodeles waltl and P. nebulosus.
Distribution and hybridization of Anguis fragilis and A. colchica in Hungary
Authors: Szabó Krisztián , Vörös Judit
Published: October 2014

Slow worms (Anguis spp.) are widely distributed in Europe. Based on pronounced divergences in molecular markers the subspecies of the slow worm, Anguis fragilis, have been recently elevated to species level. In Hungary both A. fragilis and A. colchica are present in the mountainous areas with their range being separated by the Danube River with potential contact zones in the Danube valley. Based on morphology, hybridization of the two taxa has been described earlier from the Budai and Pilis Mountains. In order to reveal the exact distribution and confirm hybridization of Anguis taxa in Hungary we analyzed fragments of mitochondrial (ND2) and nuclear (Rag1) genes in 36 specimens from eight regions of Hungary and adjacent countries. The results confirmed the previously known distribution pattern with an east-west split along the Danube River and supported the morphological findings about hybridization in the Budai and Pilis Mountains.
Origin and dispersal routes of foreign green and Kemp’s ridley turtles in Spanish Atlantic and Mediterranean waters
Authors: Carreras Carlos , Monzón-Argüello Catalina , López-Jurado Luis Felipe , Calabuig Pascual , Bellido Juan Jesús , Castillo Juan José , Sánchez Pablo , Medina Pas , Tomás Jesús , Gozalbes Patricia , Fernández Gloria , Marco Adolfo , Cardona Luis
Published: October 2014

The presence of the green and Kemp’s ridley turtles is rare at Atlantic and Mediterranean Spanish waters, but the records have increased during the last decades. We reported a new set of records and reviewed all the historical observations of these species. The analysis of a mitochondrial DNA fragment of the newest records provided insights about the origin of the individuals. The Kemp’s ridley turtles arrived from the western Atlantic nesting beaches, although the discovering of a new haplotype suggested the existence of an unknown or low sampled nesting area of origin. Furthermore, the genetic analysis was crucial for the species identification in one specimen, hence recommending the use of genetic markers to confirm the presence of a rare species. All green turtles presented haplotypes exclusive from Atlantic nesting beaches and concentrated in the African populations. Thus, the closest eastern Mediterranean nesting areas were discarded as source populations and a new migration route for this species was described.
Morality, intentionality and intergroup attitudes
Authors: Killen Melanie , Rizzo Michael T.
Published: October 2014

Morality is at the core of what it means to be social. Moral judgments require the recognition of intentionality, that is, an attribution of the target’s intentions towards another. Most research on the origins of morality has focused on intragroup morality, which involves applying morality to individuals in one’s own group. Yet, increasingly, there has been new evidence that beginning early in development, children are able to apply moral concepts to members of an outgroup as well, and that this ability appears to be complex. The challenges associated with applying moral judgments to members of outgroups includes understanding group dynamics, the intentions of others who are different from the self, and having the capacity to challenge stereotypic expectations of others who are different from the ingroup. Research with children provides a window into the complexities of moral judgment and raises new questions, which are ripe for investigations into the evolutionary basis of morality.
A history of the altruism–morality debate in biology
Authors: Harman Oren
Published: October 2014

Many different histories of the altruism–morality debate in biology are possible. Here, I offer one such history, based on the juxtaposition of four pairs of historical figures who have played a central role in the debate. Arranged in chronological order, the four dyads — Huxley and Kropotkin, Fisher and Emerson, Wynne-Edwards and Williams, and Hamilton and Price — help us grasp the core issues that have framed and defined the debate ever since Darwin: the natural origins of morality, the individual versus collective approach, the levels of selection debate, and the Is–Ought distinction. Looking forward, the continued relevance of the core issues is discussed.
The moral consequences of social selection
Authors: Boehm Christopher
Published: October 2014

For half a century explaining human altruism has been a major research focus for scholars in a wide variety of disciplines, yet answers are still sought. Here, paradigms like reciprocal altruism, mutualism, and group selection are set aside, to examine the effects of social selection as an under-explored model. To complement Alexander’s reputational-selection model, I introduce group punishment as another type of social selection that could have impacted substantially on the development of today’s human nature, and on our potential for behaving altruistically. Capital punishment is a decisive type of social selection, which in our past hunter–gatherer environment was aimed primarily against intimidating, selfish bullies, so it is proposed that moral sanctioning has played a major part in genetically shaping our social and political behaviours. Aggressive suppression of free-riding deviants who bully or deceive has made a cooperatively generous, egalitarian band life efficient for humans, even as it has helped our species to evolve in directions that favour altruism.
The Role of Stereotyping in Public Policy Legitimation: The Case of the pigs Label
Authors: Capucha Luís , Estêvão Pedro , Calado Alexandre , Capucha Ana Rita
Published: October 2014

This article aims at deconstructing the “pigs” label, bestowed by the media on four southern European countries – Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece – in the wake of the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis. The article will demonstrate that the “pigs” label has no correspondence to reality by discussing the evolution of several European countries on the fields of economy, education, social policies and health. The “pigs” label should be viewed instead as an instance of symbolic discrimination and as part of an hegemonic narrative aiming at legitimizing austerity policies in Southern Europe and postulating the incompatibility between social development and economic growth.
The Transnationalization Strategy of Chinese Oil Companies: Case Studies of Sudan and Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mo Chen
Published: October 2014

This paper examines why Chinese National Oil Companies (cnocs) conduct transnationalization and why the level of transnationalization remains low.

Part one of the paper reveals the three main factors behind the transnationalization process since China has become a net importer of oil. Firstly, following economic reform in the 1990s, oil companies acquired autonomy and began to address the problem of domestic resource scarcity by seeking business opportunities abroad. Given the dependency on oil imports, the Chinese government is worried about energy security and so supports the overseas activities of nocs to ensure reliable sources of international oil. Furthermore, some basic conditions for transnationalization have been met: nocs have more than 30 years of domestic experience in oil exploration and development; the structural change of the international oil market, with resource countries looking East and welcoming cooperation with China; and the strategic adjustment of established international companies, making room for participation by Chinese companies. Part two evaluates the level of transnationalization of Chinese oil companies from a comparative perspective using uncted’s Transnationality Index (tni). Subsequently, four challenges to transnationalization are identified: geopolitical risks, resource nationalism, business competitiveness and human resources development. Part three provides empirical analysis on the performance of cnocs in Sudan and Saudi Arabia, focusing primarily on the driving forces, conditions, achievements and challenges of cnocs in these two countries; it also shows how some of the challenges are successfully addressed.

Three conclusions are reached: that the ongoing transnationalization of cnocs is a necessary result of the combination of a number of factors; that we should not exaggerate the level of transnationalization of cnocs, which remains low. Moreover, by addressing the challenges, cnocs are exploring a new way of transnationalization.
Latin America and China’s Transnationalizing Oil Industry: A Political Economy Assessment of New Relations
Authors: Hogenboom Barbara
Published: October 2014

Chinese oil companies have recently started to set up operations in Latin America, and they are doing this at a rapid pace. This article aims to provide an overview of the increasing flows of oil and capital (fdiand credit) between Latin America and China, and to clarify how they interact with the broader Sino-Latin American relations as well as Latin America’s changing political landscape. In addition to regional trends, the cases of Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador are discussed. The article combines an assessment of factual data with an analysis of the broader political economy context in which these new oil relations operate. Next to national differences, three general tendencies stand out: first, the type of arrangements and coordinated activities that Chinese companies, banks and government agencies deploy differ from those of other large oil-seeking nations; second, while the arrival of Chinese capital is welcomed by Latin American governments and pictured as part of non-imperialist South-South relations, Chinese oil companies and loans are sometimes criticized in local media by scholars, opposition andngos; and third, Chinese oil imports and investments have added to changing attitudes and policies towards strategic sectors under new political regimes, which allows for more social spending but which critics have labeled as the return to an ‘extractivist model.’
China’s Evolving Development Dilemma in the Context of the North-South Climate Governance Debate
Authors: Gupta Joyeeta , Wong King Yip
Published: October 2014

This paper examines China’s policy and position in relation to the evolving climate change negotiations in order to explain how China is dealing with the dilemma of meeting its growing development needs while reducing ghg emissions. It argues that global climate governance requires steering and leadership to deal with the interlocked political process; that the developing countries (dcs) right to develop is challenged by the need for ecosystemic standards especially as climate change is seen as a zero-sum game as the more one country emits the less another one can. This is especially problematic as Industrialized countries (ics) appear to be both unwilling and unable to increase growth without increasing emissions. This explains China’s policy of insisting on its right to develop, of demanding that ics reduce their emissions and that they fulfil their obligations under the fccc, while expressing its willingness to take on a voluntary target. The paper argues that China’s state-led transition has eight unique characteristics that may allow it to lead as it moves beyond a no-regrets policy to a circular and green economy, cooperating with other dcs and mobilizing conscious green values in citizens. The question remains—will the initial success and scale of state-led transition lead the global green transition to a sustainable world?
Is it Happening? or, The Implications of Immanence
Authors: Lawlor Leonard
Published: October 2014

The most basic idea behind this essay is the reversal of Platonism in which the difference between the real world and this world (of appearance) becomes blurred. The reversal results in time being conceived as without beginning and without end. In other words, the blurred world is equivalent to what Husserl calls temporalization (immanence, life). According to Husserl, the structure of temporalization implies the limit between temporal phases cannot be determined. Therefore, the limit cannot be closed, and the temporal phases necessarily pass into one another and contaminate one another. Since the limit between the phases cannot be closed, the limit is always violated. Temporalization (absolute consciousness, as Husserl would say) therefore involves irreducible violence. The question is: how to react to this fundamental violence? If one reacts by attempting to repress the violence completely (peace), that reaction seems to be worse than the original violence, the worst violence; it would amount to the complete elimination of life. The reaction of letting the violence be, while still violent, seems to be less violent than the complete repression reaction.
Reverse Mission or Migrant Sanctuaries? Migration, Symbolic Mapping, and Missionary Challenges of Britain’s Black Majority Churches
Authors: Adedibu Babatunde Aderemi
Published: October 2014

Abstract

The spread of African Christianity to Europe (including Britain) and North America over the last six decades has heralded a distinctive phase in global church history. Religion, which had been hitherto ignored as one of the motivations for migration, is gradually becoming a major mover in the global proliferation of African Christianity to the point that it is now a transatlantic phenomenon. Britain’s Black Majority Churches (BMCs) make use of self-representation and symbolic mapping in their discourses. The image of Britain as a post-Christian nation is projected with such epithets as “dead continent,” “prodigal nation,” and “secularized Britain.” It is apt to note that Britain’s BMCs are but one case of reverse mission that, in reality, more resembles migrant sanctuaries all across the Western world. The lack of understanding of the British culture, flawed church-planting strategies, and the operational methods employed by these churches have severely hampered the BMCs’ missionary endeavors in Britain.
Africa’s Poverty and Its Neo-Pentecostal “Liberators”: An Ecotheological Assessment of Africa’s Prosperity Gospellers
Authors: Golo Ben-Willie Kwaku
Published: October 2014

Abstract

The preponderance of various forms of liberation-oriented gospels among Africa’s neo-Pentecostals, particularly prosperity “gospelling,” should not be surprising when one considers the contexts within which they emerge. However, their narrow focus on the accumulation of wealth and material things as that which liberates from poverty is rather bewildering. Drawing on data collected from neo-Pentecostals, this article examines the definition of prosperity and the theological basis for such teachings, probes the environmental sustainability of the narrow wealth-seeking attitudes of these prosperity gospellers, and examines the ecological adequacy of the theology of salvation upon which prosperity gospelling is founded. The article concludes that the option available to the prosperity gospellers is a quest for liberation from poverty that correlates with the Christian vision for both human welfare and the health of the natural world.
The Right to Examine or Have Examined Witnesses as a Minimum Right for a Fair Trial
Authors: Biral M.
Published: October 2014

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current significance of the right to examine, or have examined, incriminating witnesses within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. In order to undertake this analysis, the paper will begin by recalling the traditional way through which Strasbourg has guaranteed the right to confrontation, namely through the “sole or decisive” rule which states that the rights of the defence are unacceptably undermined when a conviction is mainly based on evidence not subjected to confrontation. The discussion will subsequently focus on a recent and crucial judgement (Al-Khawaja and Tahery v. United Kingdom) that has inaugurated a new approach: the “overall examination”. Owing to this “overall examination” the use of untested evidence — even when decisive for convicting the accused — is “fair” in the presence of strong procedural safeguards, which permit a proper assessment of the reliability of unchallenged depositions.

Special attention will be paid to the effects of the overruling on the scope of the European right to confrontation and on its relationship with the increasingly wide notion of a “fair trial”. In the final section of the paper, the overruling will be examined in light of the European Court’s duty to develop common standards for the protection of human rights.
Criminalising Defamation of Religion and Belief
Authors: van Noorloos Marloes
Published: October 2014

This article deals with the role of criminal law in dealing with defamatory expressions about religion or belief. Defamation of religion and belief is a form of indirect defamation ‘via identification’ which, as the discussion about the Dutch group defamation law shows, stretches up the notion of ‘group defamation’ — a crime which requires that (groups of) persons are insulted because they belong to a religious group. This contribution investigates whether European states can legitimately criminalise (certain forms of) defamation of religion and belief, in light of the European Convention on Human Rights, the United Nations framework (particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and legal theoretical considerations. The article shows how problematic it is for the criminal law — in light of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion, as well as the ultima ratio principle — to combat such speech.
Realizing Children’s Right to Health
Authors: Spronk Sarah
Published: October 2014

This contribution sketches the background and development of the Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure for Children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It analyzes the additional value of the Optional Protocol for realizing children’s right to health. It does so by analyzing how children’s right to participation is integrated in the Protocol and how this influences the possibility to make complaints on deficits in realizing economic, social and cultural rights, most specifically children’s right to health. It concludes by suggesting ways to strengthen opportunities for children to become actively involved in advocating for their own right to health.
Immunity of the United Nations
Authors: Rashkow Bruce C.
Published: October 2014

The immunity enjoyed by the United Nations is fundamental to it being able to fulfill the many functions it is assigned under the United Nations Charter. As the responsibilities of the United Nations has expanded over the years, the system of privileges and immunities it enjoys to shelter the Organization from claims in domestic jurisdictions has been subject to challenges. This paper analyzes the practice of the United Nations in dealing with claims against the Organization, including with respect to existing dispute resolution mechanisms within the Organization for addressing such claims, and recent challenges to its immunity, such as claims brought against the Organization by the Mothers of Srebrenica and Haiti Cholera victims.
Privileges and Immunities of the World Health Organization
Authors: Burci Gian Luca , Granziera Egle
Published: October 2014

This paper presents a brief overview of the World Health Organization’s experience with privileges and immunities, focusing on the sources of its privileges and immunities and the challenges encountered in asserting them and securing their respect. This overview will demonstrate how complex and sometimes elusive the legal protection afforded to the WHO can be. Although the rationale for the WHO’s privileges and immunities is constitutionally founded on the notion of functional necessity,1 the scope and limits of its functions can be blurred or shifting. While the WHO has not faced the dramatic challenges to or denials of its privileges and immunities that other organizations have encountered, the trend of progressive erosion of legal protection in the name of accountability, democratic control by national courts, the protection of human rights and shifting perceptions of the ‘added value’ of international organizations may eventually require a conscious and strategic revision by the international community of the model of international cooperation represented by international organizations.
The Privileges and Immunities of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Authors: Kwakwa Edward , Rols Marie-Lea
Published: October 2014

In light of their particular role and position, international organizations have long benefited from specific privileges and immunities. Most notably, it is usually understood that these organizations enjoy jurisdictional immunity and that their premises are inviolable, while some privileges and immunities have been extended to their staff. Those privileges and immunities, however, are not absolute and can be curtailed, or waived, under certain circumstances. As a result, not only may the practice regarding privileges and immunities vary from one organization or jurisdiction to another, but the precise scope of said privileges and immunities could be challenged. The World Intellectual Property Organization (‘wipo’) benefits from a comprehensive protection in that respect, based either on the 1947 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies or bilateral agreements, complemented by relevant domestic provisions. Nonetheless, the Organization rarely had to exercise them so far. In fact, it seems that wipo’s policy and related practice with regards to potential claims or claimants, rather than an intricate web of privileges and immunities provisions, has kept the Organization out of the courts.
Italian Courts and the Immunity of International Organizations
Authors: Bonafè Beatrice I.
Published: October 2014

Italian case law on the immunity of international organizations is quite extensive, even though there are only a few international organizations headquartered in Italy. The first cases — mainly labour disputes — date back to the 1930s. While one might expect Italian case law to involve only a few lines of reasoning consistently developed, in fact the relevant cases can be characterised mainly by their inconsistency. This paper first considers the way in which Italian courts have addressed the central issues entailed by the granting of immunity to international organizations: its foundations and scope. It will then analyse the increasingly restrictive approach of the Italian courts, in particular the case law concerning employment claims and the right of access to court.
Beyond Srebrenica and Haiti
Authors: Schrijver Nico
Published: October 2014

Since the end of the Cold War, international organizations have frequently called upon their member States to respect the principles of good governance and international law. Increasingly, however, questions are raised concerning the behaviour of international organizations themselves and whether their own practice corresponds to what they expect from their member States. In other words: do organizations practise what they preach? Since many international organizations aim to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, it is reasonable to consider the extent to which these organizations respect such rights and freedoms themselves. Given the immunity of the United Nations, this paper examines some alternative legal procedures for the settlement of claims against the United Nations, taking into consideration contemporary international principles in relation to access to court, due process and reparation. It concludes with a number of recommendations.
Blasphemy Laws and Incitement to Religious Hatred: Italian Legal Standards and Social Developments
Authors: Angeletti Silvia
Published: October 2014

Focusing on the Italian legal system, this article aims to explore old and new legal remedies applicable to cases of religious hatred. Traditionally, institutional religions are granted legal protection through criminal sanctions of blasphemy. Included in the Criminal Code since 1889 and revised in 2006, norms regarding blasphemy are conceived to protect religious feelings, which are considered as part of the inner conscience of the faithful as well as an element of collective religious identity. However, social developments and an increasingly multicultural and multi-religious society reveal questions and issues that need to be legally addressed. One of the most controversial of these is the intertwining of race and religion as grounds for hate discourse, which must be tackled through specific legal instruments, banning racial, ethnic and religious hate speech and intolerance.
Diplomatic Protection in EU Law: What’s New under the Sun?
Authors: Forni Federico
Published: October 2014

Summary

This article aims to assess which subjects could offer diplomatic protection in third countries to European citizens and/or European Union legal persons on the basis of eu law. The absence of a common standard of assistance and the lack of specific agreements with third states has de facto excluded the diplomatic protection ex Article 23 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (tfeu, formerly the tec or Treaty establishing the European Community). Yet the practice shows cases in which the European Commission claimed the infringement of the rights of eu citizens and eu corporations in cases of violation of an international agreement concluded by the Union, or in cases of a breach of general international law in a matter of eu exclusive competence. These evidences indicate that the eu could play an effective role in ensuring the protection of European citizens in third countries in situations in which the eu member states have transferred their competences to the European Union. However, these actions remain discretional, since the ‘duty to protect’ is far from achieved both in eu and in international law.
Introduction
Authors: Narboux Jean-Philippe
Published: October 2014

Thompson Clarke’s central contention is that the project of traditional epistemology has been deemed invalid for the wrong reasons and its true legacy consequently missed. According to Clarke, the picture of traditional epistemology conveyed by its modern critics gets things about exactly upside down. While the sample situations examined by the traditional epistemologist and the standards in the light of which he assesses them, contrary to what his modern critics claim, are not the product of philosophizing, the logical relation that they are supposed to bear to ‘common sense’ and ultimately ‘common sense’ itself are. However, the ‘common sense’ assessed by traditional epistemology, although it is really an artifact of philosophizing, is neither the product of philosophical reflection nor the result of philosophical prejudice. It is not in the least gratuitous. A critique of the traditional philosophical project can only be as compelling as that project itself under the interpretation that it gives of it.
That Object of Obscure Desire
Authors: Travis Charles
Published: October 2014

This essay looks at Thompson Clarke’s two published essays in the context of his doctoral dissertation. In the dissertation the topics of those essays fit into a general scheme. There is supposed to be a uniform form of “inquiry,” which, as Clarke sees it, is present in both the case for skepticism (a pessimistic view of the possibility of knowledge) and a supposed case for sense data. He uses the term ‘inquiry’ to stress that it is not an argument, but rather a particular way of raising the question, which makes both skepticism and sense data seem, where they do, inescapable. The essay, “Seeing Surfaces and Physical Objects,” is meant to be a simple example of an inquiry of the relevant type. The inquiry in the case of skepticism is carried out, or at least sketched in some detail, in the other published essay, “The Legacy of Skepticism,” which argues compellingly that that case collapses. The inquiry in the case of sense data was never spelled out, or at least in neither the essays nor the dissertation. The argument of the present essay is that there simply is no such inquiry. The idea of sense data does not parallel the idea of skepticism in such ways, which helps illuminate the difference between perceptual and cognitive awareness.