bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF A FRET-BASED IMMUNOASSAY FOR QUANTITATION OF ADALIMUMAB ON A POINT-OF-CARE INSTRUMENT SYSTEM
Authors: Ong Edgar , Huang Ruo , Kirkland Richard , Hale Michael , Mimms Larry
Published: January 2021

Introduction

A fast (<5 min), time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based immunoassay was developed for the quantitative detection of adalimumab (ADL) and biosimilars for use in therapeutic drug monitoring using only 20 µL of fingerstick whole blood or serum at the point-of-care. The Procise ADL assay and the ProciseDx analyzer are CE-marked. Studies were performed to characterize analytical performance of the Procise ADL assay on the ProciseDx analyzer.

Methods

Analytical testing was performed by spiking known amounts of ADL into negative serum and whole blood specimens. Analytical sensitivity was determined using limiting concentrations of ADL. Linearity was determined by testing ADL across the assay range. Hook effect was assessed at ADL concentrations beyond levels expected to be found within a patient. Testing of assay precision, cross-reactivity and potential interfering substances, and biosimilars was performed. The Procise ADL assay was also compared head-to-head with another CE-marked assay: LISA-TRACKER adalimumab ELISA test (Theradiag, France). The accuracy of the Procise ADL assay is established through calibrators and controls traceable to the WHO 1st International Standard for Adalimumab (NIBSC code: 17/236).

Results

The Procise ADL assay shows a Limit of Blank, Limit of Detection, and Lower Limit of Quantitation (LLoQ) of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.6 µg/mL in serum and 0.5, 0.9, and 1.3 µg/mL in whole blood, respectively. The linear assay range was determined to be 1.3 to 51.5 µg/mL in serum and whole blood. No hook effect was observed at an ADL concentration of 200 µg/mL as the value reported as “>ULoQ”. Assay precision testing across 10 days with multiple runs and reagent lots showed an intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 2.8%, an inter-assay CV of ≤1.5%, and a total CV of 3.5%. The presence of potentially interfering/cross-reacting substances showed minimal impact on assay specificity with %bias within ±7.4% of control. Testing of biosimilars (adalimumab-atto and adalimumab-xxxx) showed good recovery. A good correlation to the Theradiag adalimumab ELISA was obtained for both serum (slope=0.94; r=0.99) and whole blood (slope=1.13; r=0.98) samples (Figure 1).

Conclusion

Results indicate that the Procise ADL assay is sensitive, specific, and precise yielding results within 5 minutes from both whole blood and serum without the operator needing to specify sample type. Additionally, it shows good correlation to a comparator assay that takes several hours and sample manipulation to yield results. This makes the Procise ADL assay ideal for obtaining fast and accurate ADL quantitation, thus allowing for immediate drug level dosing decisions to be made by the physician during patient treatment.
BIOLOGICS BEFORE SURGERY FOR IBD: ARE THEY ASSOCIATED WITH POST-OPERATIVE INFECTIOUS COMPLICATIONS? RESULTS FROM THE NATIONAL SURGICAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE COLLABORATIVE IN >1500 PATIENTS
Authors: Holubar Stefan , Eisenstein Samuel , Bordeianou Liliana , Jia Xue , Hull Tracy , Hyman Neil , Lee Edward , Messaris Evangelos , Ramamoorthy Sonia , Saraidaridis Julia , Scow Jeffrey , Shaffer Virginia , Smith Radhika , Steinhagen Randolph
Published: January 2021

Background

We aimed to utilize the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Collaborative, which includes disease-specific variables, to assess the association between preoperative biologic exposure and post-operative infectious complications in the largest cohort reported to date.

Methods

Data was obtained from ten IBD centers from 2017 - 2018. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed, with any biologic use within 60-days of surgery as the primary predictor, adjusting for diagnosis, chronic steroid use, immunomodulator (IMM) use, ostomy construction, anemia, malnutrition, operative length, emergency surgery, and other variables with p<0.05 from the univariate analysis. The primary endpoint was any (composite) infectious complication, and the secondary endpoint was any (composite) surgical site infection.

Results

A total of 1,562 patients were included, of which 832 (53%) were not exposed to biologics, and 730 (47%) were exposed to biologics before surgery. The biologics group had more preoperative weight loss, lower albumin, more systemic sepsis, more IMM and steroid use, and more had Crohn’s disease (all p<0.001). The biologics group were also more likely to receive a new ostomy and to have a colectomy (vs. proctectomy or small bowel procedure), and fewer had elective surgery (all p<0.001). On univariate analysis (Table 1), compared with no biologic exposure, biologic exposure was not associated with any infectious complications, any surgical site infections, anastomotic leak after colectomy, or other post-operative outcomes, but was associated with increased rate of anastomotic leak after proctectomy (n=423), 6.7% vs. 1.9%, p=0.02. With respect to the primary and secondary outcomes, the results of the multivariate analyses are shown in Table 2. Biologics were shown not to be associated with any infectious complication (OR 0.88, 95%CI 0.54 – 1.42) or any surgical site infection (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.46 – 1.28), while Crohn’s disease was associated with any infectious complications (OR 2.11 95% CI 1.12 – 4, p=0.02).

Conclusions

In the largest nationally representative retrospective cohort to date, we found that biologics exposure within 60-days of surgery for IBD, using well-validated methodology and after vigorous adjustment for disease- and surgery-specific covariates, was not associated with post-operative infectious or surgical site infectious complications.
Sverdrup meets Lambert: analytical solution for Sverdrup’s critical depth
Authors: Kovač Žarko , Platt Trevor , Sathyendranath Shubha
Published: January 2021

In his 1953 paper, Harald Sverdrup argued that the development of a spring bloom in the ocean depends on the juxtaposition of two depth horizons: the mixed-layer depth and the critical depth. Mixed-layer depth shallower than the critical depth favours phytoplankton growth in the layer and vice versa. However, mathematically, Sverdrup left the problem unsolved in the form of a transcendental equation. In spite of the high number of citations that this paper has garnered, the solution to this equation has not been found, until now. In this work, we present an analytical solution for the critical depth, as originally defined by Sverdrup. The paper opens with the definition of the critical depth and the description of the Lambert W function. The analytical solution for critical depth follows. Sverdrup’s original model is extended to include the effect of light attenuation by phytoplankton and the analytical solution for steady-state biomass in the mixed layer is derived. The expression for mixed-layer production at steady state is also presented. Two novel variants of the critical depth are defined: the optically uncoupled critical depth and the optically coupled critical depth. It is demonstrated that at steady state the optically coupled critical depth equals the mixed-layer depth and that the irradiance at the base of the mixed layer equals the irradiance at the optically uncoupled critical depth. Competitive exclusion is demonstrated to hold and the optically uncoupled critical depth is linked to the critical light intensity in multi-species competition. Finally, a conservation principle for the critical depth is found.
Professional regulatory entanglement: the curious case of project management in Italy
Authors: Sabini Luca , Paton Steve
Published: January 2021

Growth in the internationalization of economic activity has favoured an increase in institutional control at a supranational level. A typical example of such institutions that wield this control is corporate professions such as Project Management (PM). Attempting to replicate the successful strategies of the collegial professions but embracing advantages presented by global markets, corporate professions is confronted by the dilemma of how to reconcile the demands of stakeholders at both national and global levels. This research investigates an international corporate profession, PM, and its development within Italy using a historical case study. Results shows an increase in the number of regulations faced by international corporate professions as they attempt to satisfy a number of different institutions (and their competing agendas) while attempting to colonize a national context. This we define as ‘professional regulatory entanglement’. It concludes that what was once a simple bargain involving two actors, the state and the profession, with a long established, commonly agreed and mutually beneficial agenda is now a much more complex system involving multiple actors and a number of competing agendas and this results in the homogenization of professional practice across the globe.
s.One Norms and Principles, 2 Global Health Law: Legal Foundations for Social Justice in Public Health
Authors: Lawrence O Gostin , Matiangai V S Sirleaf , Eric A Friedman
Published: January 2021

This chapter provides an understanding of the legal foundations of human rights, examining human rights under international law as a basis for social justice in public health. International human rights law has codified the rights first enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), evolving through the politics of the Cold War to develop the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This seminal covenant and the international treaties that derived from it have framed the legal foundations of the human right to health and the evolution of health-related human rights. Yet, where challenges remain in responding to the health needs of a globalizing world, scholars and advocates have looked to a shift from international health law to global health law, facilitating collaboration between state and nonstate actors in an expanding global health policy landscape.
s.One Norms and Principles, 3 The Right to Health and Health-Related Human Rights
Authors: John Tobin , Damon Barrett
Published: January 2021

This chapter reviews the scope and meaning of the right to health under international law. Drawing on public health discourses and expanding beyond a right to health care, the contours of the right to health have been clarified—to encompass a wide range of social, political, and economic determinants of health—by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in its General Comment 14, by academics in the fields of law and public health, and by national governments in their domestic laws and judicial interpretations. The normative content of the right to health now provides a foundation for state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to health; limitations on other rights for public health goals; the right’s essential attributes of availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality; the minimum core obligations of the right to health; and the progressive realization of health-related human rights.
s.One Norms and Principles, 4 The Rights-Based Approach to Health
Authors: Flavia Bustreo , Curtis FJ Doebbler
Published: January 2021

This chapter describes the rights-based approach to health. This approach is based on the human right to health but looks beyond that right to focus on cross-cutting human rights principles for ensuring that health outcomes are achieved in a manner consistent with the foundational values of human rights. The rights-based approach to health is thus a key strategy in the development and implementation of health policy – based on principles of participation, equality and non-discrimination, transparency, and accountability. Examining these human rights principles, the rights-based approach has developed from rhetoric to practice, guiding health policy so as to provide for the highest attainable level of health for all. Nevertheless, the rights-based approach to health faces challenges as health and human rights address a larger global health landscape of state and non-state actors and find new meaning under the Sustainable Development Goals.
s.Three Contemporary Applications, 11 Human Rights and Non-Communicable Diseases: Controlling Tobacco and Promoting Healthy Diets
Authors: Brigit Toebes , David Patterson
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores how human rights norms, principles, and mechanisms can be applied to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs are now responsible for the vast majority of disease and death worldwide. There is widespread recognition that four behavioral risk factors are at the root of the major NCDs: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, and the harmful use of alcohol. It is widely understood that law and policy measures, including bans and price measures, are important tools for implementing structural and risk avoidance strategies, changing unhealthy behaviors. Human rights scholars and practitioners increasingly emphasize the human rights dimensions of the NCD pandemic as a basis to develop laws and policies to address risk factors and prevent disease. This chapter outlines the current human rights dimensions and approaches to NCD risk factors and suggests opportunities to strengthen legal obligations to respond to NCDs, with an emphasis on controlling tobacco and promoting healthy diets.
s.Three Contemporary Applications, 12 The Emergence of “New” Health-Related Human Rights: Recognizing the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation
Authors: Benjamin Mason Meier , Inga T Winkler
Published: January 2021

This chapter discusses the evolving understanding of human rights to encompass determinants of health through the human rights to water and sanitation, which are vital to the prevention of both communicable and non-communicable disease. In 2002, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights argued that the right to water is a distinct human right derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to health. Solidified by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, states have provided a normative framework for efforts to realize the human rights to water and sanitation. This recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation has provided a foundation to implement these rights through national policy and international organizations. With advocates now seeking accountability for these rights, human rights advocacy, litigation, and monitoring will be crucial for meeting water, sanitation, and hygiene needs.
s.Three Contemporary Applications, 14 Equity in Health: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Authors: Terry McGovern , Aziza Ahmed
Published: January 2021

This chapter examines the evolution of international human rights standards for health equity, focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). A rich history of women’s rights advocacy informs the international commitments that define SRHR. Over time, sexual and reproductive health rights have been incorporated into development agendas, clarified by treaty bodies, expanded to include sexual minorities, and implemented (or not) at the national level. With the progressive trajectory of SRHR increasingly uncertain, there are continuing challenges to the realization of SRHR, including the continuing criminalization of those who seek out sexual and reproductive health services, the rise of right-wing populism in direct opposition to feminist advancements, and the pushback against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. Given rising opposition to sexual rights, safe abortion, and sexuality education, creative stealth advocacy will be required to advance SRHR.
s.Four New Challenges, 17 Health and Human Rights in Conflict and Emergencies
Authors: Dabney P Evans , Edward L Queen , Lara S Martin
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores the relationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law in safeguarding health and protecting rights in conflict and emergencies, examining the evolving role of aid workers as protectors of health-related rights. Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHEs)—from mass displacements, to disease outbreaks, to violent conflicts—create an environment for human rights violations and a challenge for human rights promotion. Humanitarian aid, operating within an interconnecting framework across two bodies of law, has the distinctive ability to mitigate violations, prevent harm, and realize rights. Yet the breakdown in social norms and government systems in conflicts and emergencies creates chaos that requires humanitarian responders to engage in lifesaving service provision and community resiliency support. This role, carrying both power and privilege, requires systems of accountability to ensure health and human rights.
The International Court of Justice
Authors: Simma Bruno
Published: January 2021

This chapter evaluates the International Court of Justice, which is one of the United Nation’s principal Charter bodies, and its principal judicial organ. As such, it hears cases brought by states against others and can render advisory opinions sought by certain organs of the UN and international organizations authorised to do so, both of which bear on a wide range of international legal issues. The ICJ is not specifically a human rights body, but its jurisprudence may have, indeed has had, an impact on international human rights law. The chapter then looks at the interpretation and application of human rights by the ICJ. It also assesses the linkage of the Court and human rights, identifying two phases in the engagement of the Court with human rights matters.
The Commission on the Status of Women
Authors: Kabasakal Arat Zehra F
Published: January 2021

This chapter describes the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which was the first international organ ever created to promote women’s rights and equality. The status of women has been on the agenda of the United Nations since its inception and typically addressed as an issue of discrimination in relation to human rights. As the UN’s work on human rights has evolved and expanded, so have its apparatuses and activities on the advancement of women’s rights and status. The CSW played a key role in drafting declarations and treaties that promote women’s rights, organizing world conferences on women, the development of other UN agencies that address women’s issues, and monitoring and evaluating the attention given to women by other agencies. The chapter examines and discusses the CSW’s operational structure, changing agenda, major accomplishments, the difficulties encountered by the Commission, and the controversies surrounding both its work and the UN approach to women’s issues.
The Human Rights Committee
Authors: Hennebel Ludovic
Published: January 2021

This chapter discusses the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which is in charge of the supervision of a major human rights treaty within the UN machinery, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This was adopted in 1966 and came into force in 1976. The Human Rights Committee enjoys a peculiar position in the international human rights architecture. It has been labelled ‘as one of the most active and innovative’ bodies among the UN institutions involved in human rights monitoring, considering that it is in charge of one of the two covenants which, together with the Universal Declaration, are sometimes presented as the ‘International Bill of Rights’ and covers the broadest subject-jurisdiction matter. At the same time, the Committee and its work remain overlooked and quite obscure even for most human rights lawyers and certainly for a lay audience. The chapter assesses the Committee’s mechanisms and work.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Authors: Alston Philip
Published: January 2021

This chapter evaluates the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee has devoted, and seems likely to continue to devote, much of its energies to streamlining and refining procedures and to laying the foundations upon which a serious effort can be made to promote respect for economic, social and cultural rights. In many respects, the Committee has confronted problems which are common to all of the treaty bodies. In other respects, however, the challenges that confront it and the context in which it must work are significantly different from those of the other committees. Among the many factors that tend to distinguish its task are: the lack of conceptual clarity of many of the norms reflected in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the ambivalence of most governments towards economic, social and cultural rights; and the absence of national institutions specifically committed to the promotion of economic rights qua rights.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights
Authors: Clapham Andrew
Published: January 2021

This chapter discusses the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The High Commissioner’s Office is much more than the secretariat of the Human Rights Council and the other UN human rights bodies. The High Commissioner’s Office conducts fact-finding, engages with governments, develops policies for the UN system as a whole, monitors situations around the world, and the High Commissioner himself or herself often speaks out to condemn policies and practices. Inevitably this means suggesting a course of action for the member states and other parts of the UN system that those actors may be resistant to. The chapter then outlines the development of the Office and highlights some of the achievements while pointing to the obstacles that any High Commissioner has to overcome.
Human Rights Co-Ordination Within the UN System
Authors: Minet Georges
Published: January 2021

This concluding chapter looks at human rights co-ordination within the UN system. For a long time, human rights in the United Nations tended to be treated as a special domain, one which might be of growing importance, but which did not necessarily need to be a consistent focus of the entire UN machinery. The importance of co-ordination and coherence for human rights promotion, however, has steadily become clearer, as the perception has grown that the human rights ‘issue area’ cannot be successfully dealt with in a vacuum or in isolation. The focus here, accordingly, is on the relationship of human rights to various relevant parts of the UN system—‘inter-regime’ co-ordination—rather than on co-ordination among human rights activities undertaken by the various members of the UN family of institutions—‘intra-regime’ co-ordination. It is the former aspect of co-ordination that has proved to be most problematic and had achieved the least progress until the recent period.
Derivatives and Islamic Finance
Authors: Eisenberg David M
Published: January 2021

This chapter studies how conventional derivatives—especially futures, options, and swaps—have been or may be based on bay’ salam, bay’ ʻurbun, and other traditional Islamic transaction structures. Bridging the gap between traditional Islamic transaction structures and conventional derivatives continues to be among the most urgent challenges facing the global Islamic finance industry, not least to provide Islamic financial institutions with a crucial tool for risk management. Salam and ʻurbun clearly illustrate the nature of the challenge to create Shari’a-compliant derivatives. Paradoxically, it is their deviation from the standard conditions for a valid sale contract that allow them to function to some extent as proxies for conventional derivatives. Among jurists, a consensus (ijma’) emerged as to the validity of salam, although special conditions were imposed not only to minimize gharar (uncertainty) and the kindred contractual defect of jahl (lack of knowledge), but also to reduce the possibility of riba (unlawful gain). There is still considerable debate among the various schools of law as to whether ʻurbun constitutes a valid sale contract under the Shari’a.
Shari’a-Compliant Funds: Principles and Practical Considerations
Authors: Ahmedani Zeeshan , Alam Safdar
Published: January 2021

This concluding chapter explores Shari’a-compliant funds. The Shari’a-compliant funds sector is concentrated in three distinct ways, each of which exemplifies constraints on its ability to grow. First, the sector is still largely concentrated in two regions of the Islamic world: the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Second, the sector is also concentrated in a small number of asset classes. Thus, it does not as yet provide its investor base with the broad spectrum of exposure to geographies, asset classes, strategies, and return profiles that are the hallmark of a mature investment management industry. Third, the Shari’a-compliant funds sector lacks significant diversification across managers, with a handful of large managers still dominating the market. The chapter then looks at the basic tenets of Islamic finance and their application to Shari’a-compliant funds. It also considers the various types of Shari’a-compliant funds, as well as the process of establishing and operating a Shari’a-compliant fund.
Introduction
Authors: Clooney Amal , Webb Philippa
Published: January 2021

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the right to a fair trial. An unfair trial can be devastating to an individual defendant—removing their liberty, destroying their reputation, even taking away their life. Unfair trials are also damaging to entire societies as they are used to undermine democracy and oppress minorities. As such, the right to a fair trial is one of the most fundamental components of human rights. Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is the starting point and organising principle of the right to a fair trial, but the scope and content of the right is not always easy to discern given the multitude of international-law sources that define it. Understanding the right to a fair trial may require reference not only to its interpretation by courts, treaty bodies, rapporteurs, experts, and scholars, but also the preparatory work of the treaty and the circumstances of its conclusion.
Right to Silence
Authors: Clooney Amal , Webb Philippa
Published: January 2021

This chapter discusses the right of anyone accused of a criminal offence not to be compelled to ‘testify against himself or confess guilt’. This right helps to protect the defendant from torture and other forms of ill-treatment by prohibiting the use of evidence obtained through those methods. It aims to reduce the risk that unreliable evidence will be produced, and seeks to ensure the equality of arms between the prosecution and defence. The right not to be compelled to testify against himself or confess guilt provides defendants with two distinct but overlapping rights: the right to silence and the right not to incriminate oneself. The right not to incriminate oneself is narrower than the right to silence in that it only allows a defendant to refuse to provide answers that may be incriminating, whereas the right to silence means he may refuse to answer any question at all. On the other hand, whereas the right to silence only protects oral statements, the right not to provide incriminating evidence also applies to documents and other material. Although the right not to be compelled to testify against himself or confess guilt is recognised in many domestic jurisdictions, many aspects of the right are either undefined or inconsistently defined at the international level by human rights bodies and criminal courts.
Remedies
Authors: Clooney Amal , Webb Philippa
Published: January 2021

This chapter examines the right to a remedy for fair trial violations. The right to a remedy is recognised in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and regional human rights treaties, many of which also recognise a specific right to compensation when there has been a miscarriage of justice. Financial compensation and declaratory relief are awarded most frequently although some international bodies also regularly award more far-reaching remedies, such as the release of the defendant, the quashing of a conviction, a reduction in the sentence, a retrial of the defendant, or reforms to legislation. This chapter compares the practice of international and regional courts and human rights bodies and comments on states’ record of compliance with such remedies. It concludes that greater attention should be paid to this issue by practitioners and decision-makers at international bodies.
The Foreign Element and Party Autonomy in Negotiable Instruments Law
Authors: Geva Benjamin , Peari Sagi
Published: January 2021

This chapter addresses two trends developing within the choice-of-law doctrine: the relaxation of the ‘foreign element’ requirement and the advances of the party autonomy principle. Chapter III has pointed to the advancing phenomenon of the increasing rate of cross-border commerce, electronic transactions, and scholarly writings as the reasons for a significant relaxation, or even elimination of the ‘foreign element’ requirement. The traditional presence of this element within the factual basis of any given case can be observed in almost every case of contemporary litigation. This suggests that most situations can be classified as private international law cases that would benefit from choice-of-law analysis. The chapter then considers a series of propositions for the introduction of the party autonomy principle as a governing principle of choice-of-law cases of negotiable instruments.
Conclusion
Authors: Geva Benjamin , Peari Sagi
Published: January 2021

This concluding chapter explains that the harmonization of the choice-of-law rules of negotiable instruments is highly desirable. The fact that the book's comparative findings have revealed a significant difference between the substantive laws of various systems underlies the contemporary significance of the choice-of-law question for negotiable instruments law. Harmonization would lead to more justice and fairness between the litigating parties, enhance the value of predictability, and promote international commerce and business. Moreover, in the contemporary world of increasing mobility of goods, international commerce, cross-border dealings, and the Internet, cases involving ‘international negotiable instruments’ law will only grow.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights
Authors: Pace John P
Published: January 2021

This book provides the most complete account to date of the UN human rights programme, both in substance and in chronological breadth. The author worked at the heart of this programme for over thirty years, including as the Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights, and Coordinator of the World Conference on Human Rights, which took place in Vienna in 1993. The book traces the issues taken up by the Commission after its launch in 1946, and the methods undertaken to enhance absorption and domestication of international human rights standards. It lays out the special procedures carried out by the United Nations, and the emergence of international human rights law. It then turns to the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the mainstreaming of human rights across the UN system, eventually leading to the establishment of the Human Rights Council to replace the Commission in 2006. Many of the problems we face today, including conflict, poverty and environmental issues, have their roots in human rights problems. This book identifies what has been done at the international level in the past, and points towards what still needs to be done for the future.
The Great Enterprise Gets Underway (1946–1955)
Authors: Pace John P
Published: January 2021

This chapter describes the formation of the Commission on Human Rights following the coming into force of Charter of the United Nations. It then discusses the developments immediately following the launch of the Commission on Human Rights, notably the unsuccessful attempt to maintain an integral, holistic concept of human rights. It describes the role of the Commission in drafting the International Bill of Human Rights during the first seven years of its existence. It dwells on the challenge of maintaining a unitary Convention and the eventual separation of civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights into two Covenants, and the related challenge of implementation. It describes the initial setting up of Sub-Commissions, followed by the emergence of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and its fluctuating relations with the Commission in the years that followed.
‘All human beings …’ and the Great Enterprise
Authors: Pace John P
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores the relevance of the developments in the Commission on Human Rights to the individual—the ultimate measure by which to assess the priorities in the coming years. The introduction of respect for human rights among the fundamental principles of the organization and the establishment of an International Bill of Human Rights were major distinguishing features between the UN Charter and the Covenant of the League of Nations. These provisions placed the individual at the table where only governments sat in matters of international relations. This ‘third dimension’ of international relations gave the Commission on Human Rights a role and responsibility like no other UN body, of dealing directly with individuals. The chapter then addresses the relationship of the Commission with the individual and civil society. Communication from individuals and groups emerged on two principal channels, almost concurrently. One was the handling of communications whose substance was deemed to be relevant to the work of the Commission as it undertook its drafting responsibilities. The other was the right of individuals and groups to petition as an integral component of the measures of implementation. This was the start of the treaty-based complaints mechanisms.
On the halo-mass and radial scale dependence of the lensing is low effect
Authors: Lange Johannes U , Leauthaud Alexie , Singh Sukhdeep , Guo Hong , Zhou Rongpu , Smith Tristan L , Cyr-Racine Francis-Yan
Published: January 2021

The canonical Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model makes precise predictions for the clustering and lensing properties of galaxies. It has been shown that the lensing amplitude of galaxies in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is lower than expected given their clustering properties. We present new measurements and modelling of galaxies in the BOSS LOWZ sample. We focus on the radial and stellar mass dependence of the lensing amplitude mismatch. We find an amplitude mismatch of around $35{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ when assuming ΛCDM with Planck Cosmological Microwave Background (CMB) constraints. This offset is independent of halo mass and radial scale in the range Mhalo ∼ 1013.3−1013.9h−1 M⊙ and $r=0.1\!-\!60 \, h^{-1} \mathrm{Mpc}$ ($k \approx 0.05\!-\!20 \, h \, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$). The observation that the offset is both mass and scale independent places important constraints on the degree to which astrophysical processes (baryonic effects, assembly bias) can fully explain the effect. This scale independence also suggests that the ‘lensing is low’ effect on small and large radial scales probably have the same physical origin. Resolutions based on new physics require a nearly uniform suppression, relative to ΛCDM predictions, of the amplitude of matter fluctuations on these scales. The possible causes of this are tightly constrained by measurements of the CMB and of the low-redshift expansion history.
The loopometer: a quantitative in vivo assay for DNA-looping proteins
Authors: Hao Nan , Sullivan Adrienne E , Shearwin Keith E , Dodd Ian B
Published: January 2021

Proteins that can bring together separate DNA sites, either on the same or on different DNA molecules, are critical for a variety of DNA-based processes. However, there are no general and technically simple assays to detect proteins capable of DNA looping in vivo nor to quantitate their in vivo looping efficiency. Here, we develop a quantitative in vivo assay for DNA-looping proteins in Escherichia coli that requires only basic DNA cloning techniques and a LacZ assay. The assay is based on loop assistance, where two binding sites for the candidate looping protein are inserted internally to a pair of operators for the E. coli LacI repressor. DNA looping between the sites shortens the effective distance between the lac operators, increasing LacI looping and strengthening its repression of a lacZ reporter gene. Analysis based on a general model for loop assistance enables quantitation of the strength of looping conferred by the protein and its binding sites. We use this ‘loopometer’ assay to measure DNA looping for a variety of bacterial and phage proteins.
Association of Incomplete Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy With Cardiovascular Events and Mortality in Virologically Suppressed Persons With HIV: The Swiss HIV Cohort Study
Authors: Castillo-Mancilla Jose R , Cavassini Matthias , Schneider Marie Paule , Furrer Hansjakob , Calmy Alexandra , Battegay Manuel , Scanferla Giulia , Bernasconi Enos , Günthard Huldrych F , Glass Tracy R ,   Swiss HIV Cohort Study, Anagnostopoulos A , Battegay M , Bernasconi E , Böni J , Braun D L , Bucher H C , Calmy A , Cavassini M , Ciuffi A , Dollenmaier G , Egger M , Elzi L , Fehr J , Fellay J , Furrer H , Fux C A , Günthard H F , Haerry D , Hasse B , Hirsch H H , Hoffmann M , Hösli I , Huber M , Kahlert C R , Kaiser L , Keiser O , Klimkait T , Kouyos R D , Kovari H , Ledergerber B , Martinetti G , Martinez de Tejada B , Marzolini C , Metzner K J , Müller N , Nicca D , Paioni P , Pantaleo G , Perreau M , Rauch A , Rudin C , Scherrer A U , Schmid P , Speck R , Stöckle M , Tarr P , Trkola A , Vernazza P , Wandeler G , Weber R , Yerly S
Published: January 2021

Background

Incomplete antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, even if sufficient to maintain viral suppression, is associated with enhanced inflammation in persons with HIV (PWH). However, its clinical implications remain unknown.

Methods

PWH enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) who initiated ART between 2003 and 2018 and had viral suppression (<50 copies/mL) for ≥6 months were evaluated. The association between incomplete self-reported ART adherence (≥1 or ≥2 missed doses in the last month) and (1) any CVD event (myocardial infarction, revascularization, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, and/or death due to CVD event) or (2) non-CVD-related death was evaluated using adjusted Cox proportional hazards models.

Results

A total of 6971 PWH (74% male) were included in the analysis (median age [interquartile range {IQR}], 39 [32–47] years). The median (IQR) follow-up was 8 (4–11) years, with 14 (8–23) adherence questionnaires collected per participant. In total, 205 (3%) participants experienced a CVD event, and 186 (3%) died a non-CVD-related death. In an adjusted competing risk model where missing data were imputed, missing ≥1 ART dose showed an increased, but not statistically significant, risk for CVD events (hazard ratio [HR], 1.23; 95% CI, 0.85–1.79; P = .28). Non-CVD-related mortality showed a statistically significantly increased risk with missing ≥1 ART dose (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.00–2.07; P = .05) and missing ≥2 ART doses (HR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.37–3.57; P = .001).

Conclusions

Incomplete ART adherence was significantly associated with an increased risk for non-CVD-related mortality in PWH with virologic suppression. This highlights the potential role of nonadherence to ART as a driver of non-AIDS clinical outcomes.
Unveiling Tradition
Authors: Issiyeva Adalyat
Published: January 2021

This chapter unpacks the sociopolitical atmosphere in which the Russian popular view of its own Orient was born. It discusses how Russian images of eastern and southern “others,” crystallized in maligned form in bylinas, historical, and children’s songs, were promoted through the publication of song collections and how these representations generated hostile attitudes toward Russia’s eastern and southern neighbors. During the time of conflicts within Russia and wars in the east, the folk songs describing “evil Chechens,” monstrous Tatars, and aggressive Turks camouflaged Russia’s own internal problems. The chapter notes the changes in collections of Russian folk songs that occurred at the end of the nineteenth century: some of Russia’s ethnic minorities who embraced Orthodox Christianity and adopted a Russian way of life (e.g., Cheremis) were included in collections of “Russian” (russkii) folk songs. Due to the shift in imperial projects, different ethnic minorities, despite their cultural differences, were embraced as members of the multiethnic empire.
Building Images of the “Other”
Authors: Issiyeva Adalyat
Published: January 2021

This chapter gives an overview of the history of the development of ethnography in Russia. It includes brief discussions of official policies on ethnic minorities, individual and institutional forces that influenced them, and the channels through which ethnographies were disseminated (publications and exhibitions). It also discusses various features that shaped Russian ethnography’s particular pattern (exile ethnography, the contribution of Russia’s inorodtsy to orientology, the focus on byt) and points out some of its differences from European writings. Some Russian ethnographies on inorodtsy culture and music challenged the popular, predominantly derogatory representation of Russia’s newly acquired citizens, while others reinforced these biases. Case studies of ethnographies about Russian nomads (Aleksei Levshin), Siberian peoples (Alexander Middendorff), and Muslims living in the Volga-Kama region (Alexander Rittikh) and Russian Turkestan (August Eichhorn) reveal that the tone and approach to Russia’s inorodtsy varied according to the academic affiliation, bureaucratic position, or individual interests that stood behind the research.
Alexander Aliab’ev, Decembrism, and Russia’s Orient
Authors: Issiyeva Adalyat
Published: January 2021

This chapter considers the formation of an early-nineteenth-century Russian discourse about Russia’s own Orient. It focuses on how the Decembrist movement, with its particularly favorable perception of Caucasian mountaineers, shaped the view of oriental “others.” The growth of nationalism and imperial expansion and the influence of western European Orientalism complicated the issue. The chapter delineates a category of purely Russian musical portraits of the “other” in the repertoire of art songs by Alexander Aliab’ev (1787–1851). Aliab’ev’s personal experience with authorities, years in exile, and travel to the Caucasus—during which he became acquainted with new sonorities, scales, and rhythms—resulted in the unique musical language he assigned to the oppressed non-Russians living in the empire’s southern and eastern outskirts. His art songs, based on original transcriptions and inspired by Decembrist literature, allowed subjugated minorities to sing with their own musical and linguistic accents.
Ethnographic Concerts in the Service of Empire
Authors: Issiyeva Adalyat
Published: January 2021

This chapter discusses how the composers affiliated with the Music-Ethnographic Committee used several strategies to circumscribe the peoples of the empire under the umbrella of Russian culture. Most of the so-called Ethnographic Concerts organized in Moscow by this committee (1893–1911) featured Russian or Slavic music followed by arrangements of folk songs of Russia’s inorodtsy, helping to reinforce the idea of Russia as a multiethnic state. Detailed analysis of folk song arrangements representing Russia’s ethnic minorities suggests that Russia was determined to appropriate and recontextualize the cultures of its newly acquired southern and eastern subjects. By introducing into inorodtsy music some elements associated with Russianness—the Dorian mode, avoidance of the leading tone, modal harmony, and what was called the “Glinka variation”—Russian composers reduced both the cultural and musical distances between Russia and its “others.” The arrangements performed in the Ethnographic Concerts, however, completely transformed inorodtsy musical language and stripped it of its historical and traditional meanings.
Music and Social Justice
Authors: Benedict Cathy
Published: January 2021

This book challenges and reframes traditional ways of addressing many of the topics we have come to think of as social justice. Offering practical suggestions for helping both teachers and students think philosophically (and thus critically) about the world around them, each chapter engages with important themes through music making and learning as it presents scenarios, examples of dialogue with students, unit ideas, and lesson plans geared toward elementary students (ages 6–14). Taken-for-granted subjects often considered sacrosanct or beyond the understanding of elementary students, such as friendship, racism, poverty, religion, and class, are addressed and interrogated in a way that honors the voice and critical thinking of the elementary student. Suggestions are given that help both teachers and students to pause, reflect, and redirect dialogue with questions that uncover bias, misinformation, and misunderstandings that too often stand in the way of coming to know and embracing difference. Guiding questions, which anchor many curricular mandates, are used throughout in order to scaffold critical and reflective thinking beginning in the earliest grades of elementary music education. Where does social justice reside? Whose voice is being heard, and whose is being silenced? How do we come to think of and construct poverty? How is it that musics become used the way they are used? What happens to songs initially intended for socially driven purposes when their significance is undermined? These questions and more are explored, encouraging music teachers to embrace a path toward socially just engagements at the elementary level.
Introduction
Authors: Benedict Cathy
Published: January 2021

This introduction describes the inception and purpose of the book. It situates the background and the experiences that frame the overarching message of the book: our relationships with others are what matter most. At the heart of the socially just encounter is the ability to listen and respond to the other. Thus, outlined here is the concept of genuine dialogue (Martin Buber) accompanied by examples of what dialogue is not and what it can be. This introduction argues not only that elementary students are capable of critical reflection and dialogue but that they are desirous of these encounters.
Communicating Justice and Equity
Authors: Benedict Cathy
Published: January 2021

The goal of this chapter is to model the ways in which both teachers and students learn how to ask the kinds of questions that help to uncover misinformation and bias using a thinking-map exercise. The chapter then situates lullaby as a form of communication rather than simply as something one does or learns. The goal here is to introduce and present opportunities for genuine dialogue that might not occur otherwise, particularly at a very young age, using in particular different formats (books, music, media) of “Hush Little Baby.” Questions such as who gets to sing a lullaby, how certain interpretations come to be shaped and normalized, and what that means for those who hear and understand relationships differently guide the development of this chapter.