bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evolution of heat flow, hydrothermal circulation and permeability on the young southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift
Authors: Kolandaivelu Kannikha Parameswari , Harris Robert N , Lowell Robert P , Robinson Adam H , Wilson Dean J , Hobbs Richard W
Published: June 2019

We analyse 67 new conductive heat-flow measurements on the southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift (CRR). Heat-flow measurements cover five sites ranging in oceanic crustal age between approximately 1.6 and 5.7 Ma, and are co-located with a high-resolution multichannel seismic line that extends from slightly north of the first heat-flow site (1.6 Ma) to beyond ODP Hole 504B in 6.9 Ma crust. For the five heat-flow sites, the mean observed conductive heat flow is ≈85 mW m−2. This value is approximately 30 per cent of the mean lithospheric heat flux expected from a half-space conductive cooling model, indicating that hydrothermal processes account for about 70 per cent of the heat loss. The advective heat loss fraction varies from site to site and is explained by a combination of outcrop to outcrop circulation through exposed basement outcrops and discharge through faults. Supercritical convection in Layer 2A extrusives occurs between 1.6 and 3.5 Ma, and flow through a thinly sedimented basement high occurs at 4.6 Ma. Advective heat loss diminishes rapidly between ≈4.5 and ≈5.7 Ma, which contrasts with plate cooling reference models that predict a significant deficit in conductive heat flow up to ages ≈65 ± 10 Ma. At ≈5.7 Ma the CRR topography is buried under sediment with an average thickness of ≈150 m, and hydrothermal circulation in the basement becomes subcritical or perhaps marginally critical. The absence of significant advective heat loss at ≈5.7 Ma at the CRR is thus a function of both burial of basement exposure under the sediment load and a reduction in basement permeability that possibly occurs as a result of mineral precipitation and original permeability at the time of formation. Permeability is a non-monotonic function of age along the southern flank of the CRR, in general agreement with seismic velocity tomography interpretations that reflect variations in the degree of ridge-axis magma supply and tectonic extension. Hydrothermal circulation in the young oceanic crust at the southern flank of CRR is affected by the interplay and complex interconnectedness of variations in permeability, sediment thickness, topographical structure, and tectonic and magmatic activities with age.
Transcription of PIK3CD in human brain and schizophrenia: regulation by proinflammatory cytokines
Authors: Hood Veronica L , Berger Ralph , Freedman Robert , Law Amanda J
Published: June 2019

PIK3CD encodes the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) catalytic subunit, p110δ, a lipid kinase linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia (SZ). PIK3CD is regulated at the transcript level through alternate use of 5' untranslated exons (UTRs), promoters, and proinflammatory cytokines. Increases in global PIK3CD expression and downregulation by neuroleptics are observed in SZ, and preclinical efficacy of a p110δ-selective inhibitor is seen in rodent models of risk. Here, we cloned PIK3CD alternative transcripts in human brain and evaluated temporal- and tissue-specific expression. We quantified PIK3CD transcripts in B-lymphoblastoid cells from patients with SZ and examined 5' UTR transcriptional regulation by tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin-1β (IL1β) in patient-derived fibroblasts. We report that PIK3CD transcripts are differentially expressed in human brain in a developmental-specific manner. Transcripts encoding 5' UTRs -2A and alternative exon -1 (Alt1), P37 and AS1 and AS2 were increased in SZ. Alt1, P37, and AS2 were also preferentially expressed in fetal brain, and all transcripts were regulated by TNFα and IL1β. Our findings provide novel insight into the complexity of PIK3CD regulation in human brain, implicate PIK3CD in human neurodevelopment, and identify isoform-specific disruption in SZ.
Cartesian Secularity: “Disengaged Reason,” the Passions, and the Public Sphere Beyond Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age (2007)
Authors: Sullivan Marek
Published: June 2019

Although explicitly challenging overly simplistic dichotomies between secular reason and religious affect, Charles Taylor’s monumental genealogy A Secular Age (2007) downplays the role of the body in Descartes’s theory of agency and mistakenly projects this understanding of the “Cartesian” self upon the public sphere of the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through a careful reading of Descartes’s last work, Les Passions de l’Âme (1649), and drawing on existing work by Cottingham (2012), Kahn (2006), and Kirkebøen (2001), this article argues the Passions is better seen as an attempt to reinscribe politics in the body through Descartes’s theory of the habit. A focus on the latter yields a complex understanding of the emergence of the public sphere, not as a neutral space for the free exchange of rational speech acts, but as a power-driven environment shaped by the manipulation of habit-creating experiences. The article ends by considering some implications for the genealogy of our “secular age.”
The machine giveth and the machine taketh away: a parrot attack on clinical text deidentified with hiding in plain sight
Authors: Carrell David S , Cronkite David J , Li Muqun (Rachel) , Nyemba Steve , Malin Bradley A , Aberdeen John S , Hirschman Lynette
Published: June 2019

Objective

Clinical corpora can be deidentified using a combination of machine-learned automated taggers and hiding in plain sight (HIPS) resynthesis. The latter replaces detected personally identifiable information (PII) with random surrogates, allowing leaked PII to blend in or “hide in plain sight.” We evaluated the extent to which a malicious attacker could expose leaked PII in such a corpus.

Materials and Methods

We modeled a scenario where an institution (the defender) externally shared an 800-note corpus of actual outpatient clinical encounter notes from a large, integrated health care delivery system in Washington State. These notes were deidentified by a machine-learned PII tagger and HIPS resynthesis. A malicious attacker obtained and performed a parrot attack intending to expose leaked PII in this corpus. Specifically, the attacker mimicked the defender’s process by manually annotating all PII-like content in half of the released corpus, training a PII tagger on these data, and using the trained model to tag the remaining encounter notes. The attacker hypothesized that untagged identifiers would be leaked PII, discoverable by manual review. We evaluated the attacker’s success using measures of leak-detection rate and accuracy.

Results

The attacker correctly hypothesized that 211 (68%) of 310 actual PII leaks in the corpus were leaks, and wrongly hypothesized that 191 resynthesized PII instances were also leaks. One-third of actual leaks remained undetected.

Discussion and Conclusion

A malicious parrot attack to reveal leaked PII in clinical text deidentified by machine-learned HIPS resynthesis can attenuate but not eliminate the protective effect of HIPS deidentification.
Validity and Reliability of Turkish Version of the Burn-Specific Pain Anxiety Scale
Authors: Deniz Doğan, Sevgi , Arslan Sevban
Published: June 2019

This study was conducted to adapt the Burn-Specific Pain Anxiety Scale (BSPAS) into Turkish, and to test its validity and reliability. The study was conducted between April 2016 and July 2017 in a university and a training/research hospital using the methodological research model. The population of the study consisted of patients hospitalized in burn units during the above-mentioned dates. The study was conducted with a total of 50 burn patients, who met the inclusion criteria, and who volunteered to participate in the study. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using language, content and construct validities, and a reliability analysis. The language validity of the BSPAS was tested using back translation method, and the content validity was tested using expert opinions. The results of exploratory factor analysis (0.727–0.910) demonstrated a single factor structure, and the factor loads were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the fit indexes were appropriate. To measure internal consistency of the scale, item total correlation was used, and the correlations were found to be adequate (0.59–0.96). The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.95. It was determined that the Turkish version of the BSPAS is a valid and a reliable assessment tool.
The weeping vocalization of the screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus), a distress call
Authors: Amaya Juan P , Zufiaurre Emmanuel , Areta Juan I , Abba Agustín M
Published: June 2019

Distress calls are signals given by individuals experiencing physical stress such as handling by a predator. These calls have been recorded in numerous phylogenetically distant vertebrate species, and share certain acoustic features, such as high amplitude, broadband, and rich harmonic structure. Screaming hairy armadillos (Chaetophractus vellerosus) sometimes give a high-amplitude weeping call when captured by predators or disturbed by humans. We provide an acoustic characterization of this call using recordings of hand-held wild individuals, and test whether it constitutes a distress signal. The weeping call was a harsh, loud, broadband, long sound, composed of five note types: crying, inhaled, inhaled sobbing, exhaled sobbing, and grunt notes. Crying notes were the most common, distinctive, and loudest sounds. The proportion of armadillos that called when disturbed was between nearly five to seven times higher than when treated with care. Likewise, 223 hunters reported armadillos consistently weeping when trapped by dogs, and no weeping was heard in natural undisturbed conditions. Our data support a distress signal role for the weeping call.
Action-based models for dwarf spheroidal galaxies and globular clusters
Authors: Pascale Raffaele , Binney James , Nipoti Carlo , Posti Lorenzo
Published: June 2019

A new family of self-consistent distribution function (DF)-based models of stellar systems is explored. The stellar component of the models is described by a DF depending on the action integrals, previously used to model the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph). The stellar component may cohabit with either a dark halo, also described by a DF, or with a massive central black hole. In all cases we solve for the models self-consistent potential. Focussing on spherically symmetric models, we show how the stellar observables vary with the anisotropy prescribed by the DF, with the dominance and nature of the dark halo, and with the mass of the black hole. We show that precise fits to the observed surface brightness profiles of four globular clusters can be obtained for a wide range of prescribed velocity anisotropies. We also obtain precise fits to the observed projected densities of four dSphs. Finally, we present a three-component model of the Sculptor dSph with distinct DFs for the red and blue horizontal branch stars and the dark matter halo.
Black hole and neutron star mergers in galactic nuclei
Authors: Fragione Giacomo , Grishin Evgeni , Leigh Nathan W C , Perets Hagai B , Perna Rosalba
Published: June 2019

Nuclear star clusters surrounding supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galactic nuclei contain large numbers of stars, black holes (BHs), and neutron stars (NSs), a fraction of which are likely to form binaries. These binaries were suggested to form a triple system with the SMBH, which acts as a perturber and may enhance BH and NS mergers via the Lidov–Kozai mechanism. We follow-up previous studies, but for the first time perform an extensive statistical study of BH–BH, NS–NS, and BH–NS binary mergers by means of direct high-precision regularized N-body simulations, including post-Newtonian (PN) terms up to order PN2.5. We consider different SMBH masses, slopes for the BH mass function, binary semimajor axis and eccentricity distributions, and different spatial distributions for the binaries. We find that the merger rates are a decreasing function of the SMBH mass and are in the ranges ∼0.17–0.52, ∼0.06–0.10, and ∼0.04–0.16 Gpc−3 yr−1 for BH–BH, BH–NS, and NS–NS binaries, respectively. However, the rate estimate from this channel remains highly uncertain and depends on the specific assumptions regarding the star formation history in galactic nuclei and the supply rate of compact objects (COs). We find that ${\sim } 10\!-\!20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the mergers enter the LIGO band with eccentricities ≳0.1. We also compare our results to the secular approximation, and show that N-body simulations generally predict a larger number of mergers. Finally, these events can also be observable via their electromagnetic counterparts, thus making these CO mergers especially valuable for cosmological and astrophysical purposes.
CRISPR repeat sequences and relative spacing specify DNA integration by Pyrococcus furiosus Cas1 and Cas2
Authors: Grainy Julie , Garrett Sandra , Graveley Brenton R , P. Terns Michael
Published: June 2019

Acquiring foreign spacer DNA into the CRISPR locus is an essential primary step of the CRISPR–Cas pathway in prokaryotes for developing host immunity to mobile genetic elements. Here, we investigate spacer integration in vitro using proteins from Pyrococcus furiosus and demonstrate that Cas1 and Cas2 are sufficient to accurately integrate spacers into a minimal CRISPR locus. Using high-throughput sequencing, we identified high frequency spacer integration occurring at the same CRISPR repeat border sites utilized in vivo, as well as at several non-CRISPR plasmid sequences which share features with repeats. Analysis of non-CRISPR integration sites revealed that Cas1 and Cas2 are directed to catalyze full-site spacer integration at specific DNA stretches where guanines and/or cytosines are 30 base pairs apart and the intervening sequence harbors several positionally conserved bases. Moreover, assaying a series of CRISPR repeat mutations, followed by sequencing of the integration products, revealed that the specificity of integration is primarily directed by sequences at the leader-repeat junction as well as an adenine-rich sequence block in the mid-repeat. Together, our results indicate that P. furiosus Cas1 and Cas2 recognize multiple sequence features distributed over a 30 base pair DNA region for accurate spacer integration at the CRISPR repeat.
Ocular Trematodiasis Caused by the Avian Eye Fluke Philophthalmus in Southern Texas
Authors: Sapp Sarah G H , Alhabshan Rashed N , Bishop Henry S , Fox Mark , Ndubuisi MacKevin , Snider Cathy E , Bradbury Richard S
Published: June 2019

A trematode identified as a Philophthalmus sp was extracted from the bulbar conjunctiva of a patient in southern Texas with short-distance travel to Mexico. This parasite is very rarely reported from humans, and species identification is challenging. Aspects of diagnosis, zoonotic transmission, and unresolved questions about Philophthalmus spp are discussed.
Gossip and Reputation in Small-scale Societies
Authors: Boehm Christopher
Published: June 2019

This chapter treats gossip and reputation from an anthropological perspective, starting with the evolutionary origin of gossiping behavior and extending through the social and evolutionary functions of personal reputations in small-scale societies. The chapter points to an actual case history of a bizarre murder in an anthropology department, in which Persian burial rituals were replicated, and it provides an example of the use of gossip as a tool in anthropological field work, which is based on the author’s experience among tribal Serbs in Montenegro. The inherent “leakiness” of gossip systems is modeled, and the analysis of how private information becomes public suggests that often such exposure is a function of gossip chains rather than the result of deliberate betrayal of confidences. Also treated is the persistence of gossiping and reputation-mongering in modern literate society, including gossip columns, soap operas, and tabloids.
Women’s Gossip as an Intrasexual Competition Strategy
Authors: Davis Adam , Vaillancourt Tracy , Arnocky Steven , Doyel Robert
Published: June 2019

In the evolutionary sciences, gossip is argued to constitute an adaptation that enabled human beings to disseminate information about and to keep track of others within a vast and expansive social network. Although gossip can effectively encourage in-group cooperation, it can also be used as a low-cost and covert aggressive tactic to compete with others for valued resources. In line with evolutionary logic, the totality of evidence to date demonstrates that women prefer to aggress indirectly against their rivals via tactics such as gossip and social exclusion, in comparison to men who use proportionally more direct forms of aggression (e.g., physical aggression). As such, it has been argued that heterosexual women may use gossip as their primary weapon of choice to derogate same-sex rivals in order to damage their reputation and render them less desirable as mates to the opposite sex. This involves attacking the physical attractiveness and sexual reputation of other women, which correspond to men’s evolved mating preferences. Androcentric theorizing in the evolutionary sciences has stifled a well-rounded understanding of how women use gossip to compete, with whom, and in what situations.
Trust and Reputation in Markets
Authors: Diekmann Andreas , Przepiorka Wojtek
Published: June 2019

Economic transactions are subject to trust problems, which can be solved by means of long-term business relations, by institutional regulations or by reputational incentives. In this chapter, we first deal with the trust problem and the various ways of its solution. We then discuss the functioning of the reputation mechanism in markets in historical and contemporary societies. Although similar mechanisms are at work in contemporary societies as in historical societies, the technologies available to communicate information about reputation have changed. This is particularly evident in online markets, in which electronic rating systems have become an essential element. In the third part of this chapter, we focus on the development, forms and consequences of reputation in online markets. Reputation information promotes cooperation in markets if it is credible. This requires that simple means of deception are unavailable. We conclude this chapter by dealing with the down side of reputation systems.
Antecedents and Consequences of Gossip in Work Groups
Authors: Beersma Bianca , van Kleef Gerben A. , Dijkstra Maria T. M.
Published: June 2019

This chapter provides an overview of the antecedents and consequences of gossip in work groups. First, the chapter reviews the different motives for gossip in work groups (i.e., bonding, entertainment, emotional venting, information exchange, maintenance of group norms/social order, and interpersonal aggression) and links each motive to psychological theory. Second, the chapter reviews the different types of influence that gossip can have on various indicators of group effectiveness. Reflecting on the motives underlying gossip in work groups, as well as on its outcomes, it argues that future research should start integrating the diverse insights provided by earlier research on both gossip motives and outcomes, and it provides a number of suggestions for doing so.
Online Reputation Systems
Authors: Snijders Chris , Matzat Uwe
Published: June 2019

Potentially, reputation systems in online markets are ways of safeguarding hazardous single-shot transactions between traders, by artificially creating a network of connections between all users of an online marketplace. Given that online markets exist and use such reputation systems, this has triggered the question how large the value of reputation is. This question has been analyzed in previous research with mixed results. After introducing the issue in some more detail, the chapter posits two arguments that may put research into the value of reputation in a somewhat different light: (1) the fact that the most often used “hedonic regression” method, which considers actual sales only, does not lead to estimates that can be straightforwardly connected to the value of reputation, neither for the seller nor for the buyer, and (2) the empirical evidence from the experimental literature on the effects of semantic feedback, which suggests effect sizes that may well be an order of magnitude larger than the effects found in reputation research. The chapter concludes with some implications for research in the field.
Gossip, Internet-Based Reputation Systems, and Governance
Authors: Picci Lucio
Published: June 2019

Internet-based reputation systems allow to generate, process, and publish reputationally relevant information. They sustain practices that at first sight might appear to be an incarnation of traditional gossip, where a subject, “ego,” transmits evaluative information to others, “alter,” about an absent “tertius.” This chapter argues that such identification is inappropriate, and it proposes a characterization of gossip that is suited for the Internet Age. While being different in several ways, gossip and Internet-based reputation systems display a functional similarity: they both generate reputationally relevant information, which reverberates on the distribution of resources, hence of power. In generating such information, Internet-based reputation systems level the playing field and, in a sense, “democratize” gossip. Deliberate engineering could enhance this interesting characteristic of Internet-based reputation systems, particularly so in applications to public governance, which is an explicit focus of this chapter.
Gossip, Reputation, and Language
Authors: Mangardich Haykaz , Fitneva Stanka A.
Published: June 2019

Language is deeply involved in the management of human reputations. In this chapter, we review some of the linguistic features that relate to reputation, drawing extensively on ethnographic and experimental research. At the individual level, what the speaker says, and the physical form of speech contribute to establishing the public face of the speaker. At the interaction level, linguistic devices such as hedges and silences regulate the relations among speakers, expressing politeness, deference, acceptance, or rejection. Finally, linguistic speech acts such as apologies explicitly manipulate the speaker’s and others’ reputations. We also highlight some of the structural features of gossip, which is a genre of conversation that paradigmatically illustrates the role of language in reputation management.
Gossip in Ethnographic Perspective
Authors: Besnier Niko
Published: June 2019

Among the various methodological approaches to gossip, ethnography stands out as the most naturalistic and contextual. From an ethnographic perspective, gossip must be defined from the ground up, an approach that is attentive to local conceptualizations and to cross-social variability, but also one that opens a Pandora’s box of caveats regarding the possibility of arriving at a cross-cultural definition of gossip. Early debates among anthropologists pitched an understanding of gossip as a solidarity-enhancing mechanism against an approach that saw gossip as a tool for individual advancement. Other approaches have focused on its aesthetic aspects, its uses in negotiating between overlapping moral systems, and its role in variously exacerbating structures of political oppression or resisting them. The relationship between gossip and reputation, the way in which gossip articulates with larger systems of information flows, and the link between gossip and emotions remain underexplored areas in ethnographic approaches to gossip.
Gossip and Reputation in Childhood
Authors: Ingram Gordon P. D.
Published: June 2019

Analysis of the development of gossip and reputation during childhood can help with understanding these processes in adulthood, as well as with understanding children’s own social worlds. Five stages of gossip-related behavior and reputation-related cognition are considered. Infants seem to be prepared for a reputational world in that they are sensitive to social stimuli; approach or avoid social agents who act positively or negatively to others, respectively; and point interaction partners toward relevant information. Young children engage in verbal signaling (normative protests and tattling) about individuals who violate social norms. In middle childhood, the development of higher-order theory of mind leads to a fully explicit awareness of reputation as something that can be linguistically transmitted. Because of this, preadolescents start to engage in increased conflict regarding others’ verbal evaluations. Finally, during adolescence and adulthood, gossip becomes more covert, more ambiguous, and less openly negative. The driving force behind all these changes is seen as children’s progressive independence from adults and dependence on peer relationships.
Foreign Affairs Federalism in Switzerland
Authors: Portmann Roland
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes the role of federalism in Swiss foreign affairs. This role is threefold. First, the Cantons have a role through their general powers in policymaking in the Swiss constitutional system. Second, the Swiss Constitution expressly preserves a residual treaty-making capacity and autonomous foreign policy competence for the Cantons. Third, the Cantons have specific participation rights in the definition of Swiss foreign policy. In all these different roles, the principle of federalism in Swiss foreign affairs is closely connected to other main constitutional principles, especially to aspects of direct democracy and the popular referenda that are a major characteristic of the Swiss polity. Though idiosyncratic as a product of particular historical developments, it is worthwhile to compare Swiss federalism in foreign affairs to other federal systems. From such a comparative perspective, the chapter draws three interrelated conclusions. The first conclusion is that the inclusion of federalist principles into foreign affairs depends on foreign affairs being a formalized process on the international level through the conclusion of international agreements and work inside formal international organizations. The second conclusion is that the idiosyncratic Swiss aspect of specific participation rights of Cantons in foreign affairs may be one possible model in order to counterbalance developments such as increasing informal international decision- and lawmaking processes. The third conclusion is that there has to be a balance between the rights of the component parts in foreign affairs decisions by the federal government and their obligations to implement international obligations that result from these decisions.
Constitutionalism and Internationalism
Authors: Stephan Paul B.
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes and analyzes the law governing U.S. practice with respect to joining and working in international institutions. It explores the domestic and international politics that shape these actions through the framework of a two-level game. The chapter applies this framework to multilateral military operations, international regulatory cooperation, trade and investment, and international dispute resolution. U.S. foreign relations law allows the executive branch considerable flexibility as to joining an international cooperation project, but also imposes barriers to the implementation of decisions of international institutions within domestic law. Litigants who seek to invoke the actions of international institutions as the basis for governing law in domestic lawsuits typically must link those actions to a domestic enactment, certain narrow exceptions aside.
The Domestic Application of International Law in British Courts
Authors: Fatima Shaheed
Published: June 2019

This chapter considers the use and application of international law in British courts. Consideration is given to developments that have led to the increasing use of such law and to the fact that compliance with international law is now a central part of evaluating the lawfulness of executive actions. The chapter explains that the primary underpinning of the dualist British system is the constitutional principle of Parliamentary sovereignty and the corollary that an exercise of the royal, executive, prerogative does not enable ministers to change the law, unless such a power is expressly conferred by statute. It explains that although this constitutional framework is clear as a matter of principle, the application of it, in discrete cases, gives rise to continuing debate. The chapter describes the use of treaties that are formally incorporated into domestic law (incorporated treaties), those that are not so incorporated (unincorporated treaties), and customary international law. Consideration is given to the way in which British courts approach treaty interpretation and the canons of interpretation that are deployed in relation to unincorporated treated (the presumption of compatibility and the principle of legality). The chapter notes that there are other cases that may raise issues of international law, such as where a British court is invited to adjudicate on the lawfulness of a foreign state’s conduct. It concludes that British courts have a flexible and open approach to the possibility of using and applying international law obligations and standards, especially in the context of assessing the lawfulness of executive action, subject to the important caveat that it must be constitutionally permissible and institutionally appropriate.
International law in Israeli Courts
Authors: Cohen Amichai
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes the role of international law in Israeli courts. It traces the influence of the occupation of the territories on the development of Israeli jurisprudence in this area, and focuses on the contexts in which most of the judgments regarding the application of international law in Israeli law were written: the international law of occupation, the law of armed conflicts, and human rights law. As the chapter notes, there is a difference between the formal declared doctrine of the court, and the way in which international law was applied in practice. The formal doctrine of the court follows the U.K. dualist tradition, according to which customary international law is considered part of Israeli law, and international treaty law is not, unless incorporated by an express domestic statute. In practice, however, the courts relied on international treaties, especially in the area of the law of occupation, and the law of armed conflicts. Furthermore, the chapter details the approach of the Israeli courts toward interpretation of international law, and especially with regard to the attempts to create a “fusion” between international law and Israeli constitutional law. The chapter also contributes to existing scholarship by sketching the historical development of Israeli courts’ jurisprudence in the application of international law, including recent developments.
International law in Japanese Courts
Authors: Matsuda Hiromichi
Published: June 2019

This chapter examines international law in Japanese courts in the context of separation of powers, treaty-making procedure, and transnational judicial dialogue under the Japanese Constitution. It analyzes international law in Japanese courts in the following four categories: (1) constitutional review of international law; (2) judicial application of international law; (3) consistent interpretation of statutory and constitutional law with international law; and (4) reliance on persuasive authority in constitutional interpretation. Although Japanese courts are reluctant to use international law as binding law, the Supreme Court of Japan recently began actively referring to foreign and international sources as persuasive authorities. Because of the practice of “implementing-legislation-perfectionism” and the relative lack of democratic legitimacy of international law, Japanese courts will probably continue to take a restrictive approach toward applying binding international norms. In contrast, the Supreme Court of Japan is expressing a positive attitude toward transnational dialogue. Japanese courts will probably expand and enhance transnational judicial dialogue in and out of the courtroom. This chapter concludes that Japanese courts have the potential to be one of the interesting benchmarks for whether any existing “global community of courts” can really be global and universal.
Foreign Relations Law in the Constitutions and Courts of Commonwealth African Countries
Authors: Ako Ernest Yaw , Oppong Richard Frimpong
Published: June 2019

This chapter examines the laws and jurisprudence in Commonwealth African countries that implicate their interactions with the rest of the world. It uses a qualitative comparative research approach to examine their laws and values relevant to such interactions. The chapter analyzes the status and relationship between international law and the constitutions of these states by examining themes such as the extent to which international values are reflected in their constitutions; how foreign relations authority is constitutionally allocated; and treaty-making powers and implementation mechanisms. The chapter discusses the extent to which courts in Commonwealth Africa are prepared to intervene or judicially review matters that may be deemed as pertaining to foreign relations. Although none of the constitutions in these countries give their courts an express role in foreign relations matters, the existing jurisprudence suggests that courts have a critical role to play and have intervened in some cases to ensure adherence to constitutional norms.
International Immunities in English Law
Authors: Webb Philippa
Published: June 2019

This chapter sets out the approach of the courts of England and Wales (English courts) to the immunities of states, foreign officials, and international organizations. It discusses similarities with and differences from other jurisdictions, with a focus on the United States as the other key influence in the development of the restrictive doctrine of state immunity. The United Kingdom has engaged in incremental development of the law on immunity as compared to the more sui generis developments in the North America and the activist approach driven by domestic constitutional norms or universal jurisdiction legislation in continental Europe. The United Kingdom State Immunity Act, underpinned by four decades of interpretation and practice, can be said to represent a middle ground in the evolving landscape of immunity.
Jurisdictional Immunities, Constitutional Values, and System Closures
Authors: Bianchi Andrea
Published: June 2019

This chapter analyzes the invocation of constitutional norms and values to prevent the recognition of the effects of an international judgment in domestic law, against the background of the Italian Constitutional Court decision No. 238 of 2014. The chapter then explores more generally the significance and function of so-called “system closures” effectuated by judicial organs in domestic and international law. While less frequently resorted to by judicial organs than balancing or coordinating techniques in case of potential conflict between legal orders, system closures have become quite common. Although they perform important symbolic functions, domestic legal systems’ closures are detrimental to the role that domestic courts may play in implementing international law. This is why international adjudicators such as the International Court of Justice should give more consideration to the impact of their decisions on domestic legal orders.
Crown and Foreign acts of State Before British Courts
Authors: Bjorge Eirik , Miles Cameron
Published: June 2019

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom undertook in Rahmatullah v. Ministry of Defence and Belhaj v. Straw to demarcate the relationship between the judiciary and the executive with respect to Crown and foreign act of state. This chapter aims to unpack Rahmatullah and Belhaj for the reader and further to use these decisions to enquire into the constitutional underpinnings of the British act of state doctrines—particularly as they pertain to the separation of powers. The chapter concludes that there exists a general uncertainty regarding the scope of the doctrines, and a lack of jurisprudential development with respect to their constitutional underpinnings. But it is undeniable that progress, however minor, has been made in these decisions. The scene has been set in Rahmatullah and Belhaj for further developments—even if litigants will still need to refer to the earlier case law in order to get the full picture.
U.S. War Powers and the Potential Benefits of Comparativism
Authors: Bradley Curtis A.
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes U.S. law governing the use of military force, and it considers the potential value of comparative study of how different countries regulate the issue. As the chapter notes, there is significant uncertainty and debate in the United States over the distribution of authority concerning the use of force—in particular, over whether and to what extent military actions must be authorized by Congress. Because courts in the modern era have generally declined to review the legality of military actions, disputes over this issue have had to be resolved, as a practical matter, through the political process. For those who believe that it is important to have legislative involvement in decisions to use force, the political process has not proven to be satisfactory: presidents have often used military force without obtaining congressional approval, and Congress generally has done little to resist such presidential unilateralism. The United States is not the only country to struggle with regulating the domestic authority to use military force. This issue of foreign relations law is common to constitutional democracies, and nations vary substantially in how they have addressed it. Comparative study of such approaches should be of inherent interest to scholars and students, including those trying to better understand the U.S. approach. Whether and to what extent such study should also inform the interpretation or revision of U.S. law presents a more complicated set of questions that are affected in part by one’s legal methodology and how the comparative materials are being invoked.
Decisions in Japan to use Military Force or Participate in Multinational Peacekeeping Operations
Authors: Mori Tadashi
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes the law in Japan governing the country’s use of military force and participation in multinational peacekeeping operations. Although Article 9 of Japan’s post–World War II constitution seems to disallow the development of armed forces, the country has long maintained limited armed forces for purposes of self-defense. According to the Japanese government’s traditional constitutional interpretation, these forces can only be used when necessary to repel an armed attack on Japan. Under this interpretation, Japan can use armed force only for individual self-defense, not for collective self-defense or collective security. In addition, although Japanese law since the 1990s has allowed for some participation of Japanese forces in multinational peacekeeping operations, this allowance has been very limited. In 2015, however, Japan enacted two important statutes that broaden the government’s ability to use the country’s armed forces. One statute allows the country for the first time to exercise a right of collective self-defense, although the legislation only permits Japan to exercise this right for the purpose of ensuring its survival and protecting its people in situations that are called “existential crisis situations.” The other statute broadens the ability of Japanese forces to engage in various support activities in multinational peacekeeping operations. Because of Article 9 of the Constitution, however, Japan’s ability to use its military is still substantially more limited than for many other countries.
The Constitutional Allocation of Executive And Legislative Power Over Foreign Relations
Authors: Martinez Jenny S.
Published: June 2019

This chapter explores the allocation of authority between executive and legislative branch officials with respect to three areas: general foreign relations powers such as reception of ambassadors and recognition of foreign governments; treaty negotiation, ratification, and implementation; and war powers. Overall, it appears that most modern constitutions contemplate the sharing of foreign relations authority between the executive and legislative branches, with the precise boundaries of power more often determined by practicalities, politics, and particular circumstances than abstract theories. In particular, constitutional design choices are often influenced by the history and political context of a particular country and region, and provide a lens into what a given society views as important, dangerous, or problematic. The variations in design choices refute the notion that most foreign relations powers are inherently “executive” or “legislative” in nature, and instead highlight the ways in which design choices are embedded in broader social and political contexts.
Separation of Powers, Treaty-Making, and Treaty Withdrawal
Authors: Verdier Pierre-Hugues , Versteeg Mila
Published: June 2019

This chapter examines from a comparative perspective the national legal regimes that govern treaty-making and treaty withdrawal, functions that in many countries were traditionally vested in the executive. Drawing from an original data set that covers 101 countries for the period 1815–2013, the chapter identifies several large-scale trends. First, it confirms a sustained trend toward greater parliamentary involvement in treaty-making. Second, it shows that many countries recognize executive agreements and other alternative procedures through which the executive can conclude internationally binding agreements without parliamentary approval, but that these “workarounds” are typically subject to significant constraints affecting the executive’s discretion and the domestic legal status of the resulting agreements. Third, it shows that in recent years several countries have introduced constraints on the executive’s ability to withdraw from treaties without parliamentary approval. Finally, it draws attention to the little-noticed role of national judiciaries in treaty-making, by showing that in many legal systems treaties are subject to constitutional review prior to ratification. The chapter discusses the implications of these four trends, all of which represent moves away from the executive-dominated world of traditional treaty relations. It hypothesizes that these trends respond to growing separation of powers concerns as treaties increasingly shape domestic law.
International Agreements and U.S. Foreign Relations Law
Authors: Galbraith Jean
Published: June 2019

Over its constitutional history, the United States has developed multiple ways of joining, implementing, and terminating treaties and other international commitments. This chapter provides an overview of the law governing these pathways and considers the extent to which comparative law has influenced them or could do so in the future. Focusing in particular on the making of international commitments, the chapter describes how, over time, the United States came to develop alternatives to the process set out in the U.S. Constitution’s Treaty Clause, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. These alternatives arose partly from reasons of administrative efficiency and partly from presidential interest in making important international commitments in situations where two-thirds of the Senate would be unobtainable. These alternatives have had the effect of considerably increasing the president’s constitutional power to make international commitments. Nonetheless, considerable constraints remain on presidential power in this context, with some of these constraints stemming from constitutional law and others from statutory, administrative, and international law. With respect to comparative law, the chapter observes that U.S. practice historically has been largely but not entirely self-contained. Looking ahead, comparative practice is unlikely to affect U.S. constitutional law with respect to international agreements, but it might hold insights for legislative or administrative reforms.
Assertoric Quality
Authors: Lackey Jennifer
Published: June 2019

The practice of assertion is said to be governed by an epistemic norm, with one of the leading candidates being the Knowledge Norm of Assertion (KNA). In this paper, I focus on the sufficiency condition of this norm, according to which one is properly positioned to assert that p if one knows that p. I show that this condition is false, and that the arguments to this end reveal something very important about the nature of epistemically proper assertion: the assertoric quality of the epistemic support, such as whether the belief in question has firsthand or secondhand grounding, is just as important as the quantity of epistemic support.
Considerations for Policymaking Affecting Adolescents in the Liberal Democracy
Authors: Hamilton Vivian E.
Published: June 2019

Adolescents are developmentally distinct from both children and fully mature adults in ways that are relevant to policymaking. This chapter discusses some of those developmental differences and shows how the decision-making context influences adolescent competence in different settings. Thus, depending on the nature of the decision and the context in which decision-making will occur, policies appropriately extend to adolescents the ability to exercise different rights at different ages. This chapter focuses on three areas of non-criminal regulation of adolescent life: voting, driving, and the purchase/consumption of alcohol.
Campaigns and Elections in a Changing Media Landscape
Authors: Delli Carpini Michael X. , Williams Bruce A.
Published: June 2019

The media landscape of countries across the globe is changing in profound ways that are of relevance to the study and practice of political campaigns and elections. This chapter uses the concept of media regimes to put these changes in historical context and describe the major drivers that lead to a regime’s formation, institutionalization, and dissolution. It then turns to a more detailed examination of the causes and qualities of what is arguably a new media regime that has formed in the United States; the extent to which this phenomenon has or is occurring (albeit in different ways) elsewhere; and how the conduct of campaigns and elections are changing as a result. The chapter concludes with thoughts on the implications of the changing media landscape for the study and practice of campaigns and elections specifically, and democratic politics more generally.