bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Enigma of Enforceability of Investment Treaty Arbitration Awards in India
Authors: Ranjan Prabhash , Raju Deepak 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis paper critically discusses the issue of enforceability of investment treaty arbitration (ITA) awards against India under the Indian domestic law on arbitration. In this regard, the paper discusses the relevant provisions of the Indian arbitration law and its interpretations by the Indian judiciary to understand their ramifications for the enforcement of ITA awards against India. The paper also discusses the proposed amendments to the Indian arbitration law and its ramifications on ITA. The issue of enforcement of ITA awards in India has become important due to India's gigantic international investment treaty programme where each treaty allows for investor-state treaty arbitration to settle disputes between investors and India. This issue has also become important in light of the growing observation that enforcement of foreign commercial arbitral awards in India is extremely difficult especially after the Venture Global engineering case. Thus, India is endeavouring to change the arbitration law so as to alter this perception. This paper argues that in spite of these proposed changes; enforcement of ITA awards may still face problems. Thus, the paper suggests that India should address the issue of enforceability of ITA awards given its gigantic investment treaty programme aimed at attracting foreign investment.
Revisiting the Role of the President during Caretaker Government in Ensuring Credible Free Elections in Bangladesh
Authors: Haque Masudul 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe holding of free, fair, and credible elections in Bangladesh remains a big challenge. In an effort to ensure credible, free and fair elections, the Constitution was amended, known as the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1996. This provided some extraordinary powers to the titular President without mechanisms of proper accountability. This paper critically analyses the provisions of this amendment, particularly the role of the President. We argue that this innovation in holding election is itself unconstitutional. In light of the experiences from the events leading to the declaration of emergency, the role of the President during the caretaker mode needs to be re-examined. It argues that formal provisions of the constitution through important but successful enforcement of constitutional provisions, including holding free and fair elections, largely depends on political culture and the willingness of the political parties, including civil society, to abide by those formal provisions along with their spirit.
Towards A Comparative Rhetoric of Argument: Using the Concept of “Audience” as a Means of Educating Students about Comparative Argument
Authors: Whalen-Bridge Helena 
Published: July 2016

AbstractAre Asian law schools adequately preparing law students to handle problems raised by cross-border disputes? Preparation has generally been limited to courses in conflicts of law, international law and comparative law, but the successful presentation of a legal position in a foreign legal system arguably requires more than an understanding of legal rules. Studies in legal culture suggest that participants in different legal systems think about the law in radically different ways. Comparative examples from the criminal justice systems of the United States and Japan demonstrate that some knowledge of a comparative rhetoric of argument - which arguments are appropriate in different legal systems - is required. Legal Writing Programmes can play a role in teaching comparative argument by expanding the concept of “audience” to include foreign legal systems.
The Importance of Understanding and Teaching Islamic Law in Asia
Authors: Mahmod Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis paper will deal with the need to understand Islamic Law in the context of a number of prevailing misconceptions about it. It then discusses the place and importance of Islamic Law in the LL.B. (Bachelor of Law) programmes in Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia. The focus will be on what courses are to be taught, and how they are to be taught. The paper also attempts to shed some light on the possible ways to harmonise Islamic Law with concurrent secular (or civil) law, and offers a vision of the future of Islamic legal education.
Legal Education in Asia
Authors: Tan Cheng Han , Bell Gary , Dang Xuan Hop , Kim Joongi , Teo Keang Sood , Thiruvengadam Arun , Vijayakumar V. , Wang Jiangyu 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis article starts off by providing an overview of the historical and structural aspects of legal education in selected representative jurisdictions in Asia. It then proceeds to tackle what the authors feel to be the most serious challenges faced by Asian law schools today - the need to balance legal education and inter-disciplinary perspectives, to provide sufficient comparative material, to reform teaching and assessment methodology, and to juggle competing needs with very limited resources.
Quantification of heterogeneity in lung disease with image-based pulmonary function testing
Authors: Stahr Charlene S. , Samarage Chaminda R. , Donnelley Martin , Farrow Nigel , Morgan Kaye S. , Zosky Graeme , Boucher Richard C. , Siu Karen K. W. , Mall Marcus A. , Parsons David W. , Dubsky Stephen , Fouras Andreas 
Published: July 2016

AbstractComputed tomography (CT) and spirometry are the mainstays of clinical pulmonary assessment. Spirometry is effort dependent and only provides a single global measure that is insensitive for regional disease and as such, poor for capturing the early onset of lung disease, especially patchy disease such as cystic fibrosis lung disease. CT sensitively measures change in structure associated with advanced lung disease. However, obstructions in the peripheral airways and early onset of lung stiffening are often difficult to detect. Furthermore, CT imaging poses a radiation risk, particularly for young children and dose reduction tends to result in reduced resolution. Here, we apply a series of lung tissue motion analyses, to achieve regional pulmonary function assessment in β-ENaC-overexpressing mice, a well-established model of lung disease. The expiratory time constants of regional airflows in the segmented airway tree were quantified as a measure of regional lung function. Our results showed marked heterogeneous lung function in β-ENaC-Tg mice compared to wild-type littermate controls; identified locations of airway obstruction and quantified regions of bimodal airway resistance demonstrating lung compensation. These results demonstrate the applicability of regional lung function derived from lung motion as an effective alternative respiratory diagnostic tool.
High chance that current atmospheric greenhouse concentrations commit to warmings greater than 1.5 °C over land
Authors: Huntingford Chris , Mercado Lina M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe recent Paris UNFCCC climate meeting discussed the possibility of limiting global warming to 2 °C since pre-industrial times, or possibly even 1.5 °C, which would require major future emissions reductions. However, even if climate is stabilised at current atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, those warming targets would almost certainly be surpassed in the context of mean temperature increases over land only. The reason for this is two-fold. First, current transient warming lags significantly below equilibrium or “committed” warming. Second, almost all climate models indicate warming rates over land are much higher than those for the oceans. We demonstrate this potential for high eventual temperatures over land, even for contemporary GHG levels, using a large set of climate models and for which climate sensitivities are known. Such additional land warming has implications for impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and human well-being. This suggests that even if massive and near-immediate emissions reductions occur such that atmospheric GHGs increase further by only small amounts, careful planning is needed by society to prepare for higher land temperatures in an eventual equilibrium climatic state.
Water droplet impact on elastic superhydrophobic surfaces
Authors: Weisensee Patricia B. , Tian Junjiao , Miljkovic Nenad , King William P. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractWater droplet impact on surfaces is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and industry, where the time of contact between droplet and surface influences the transfer of mass, momentum and energy. To manipulate and reduce the contact time of impacting droplets, previous publications report tailoring of surface microstructures that influence the droplet - surface interface. Here we show that surface elasticity also affects droplet impact, where a droplet impacting an elastic superhydrophobic surface can lead to a two-fold reduction in contact time compared to equivalent rigid surfaces. Using high speed imaging, we investigated the impact dynamics on elastic nanostructured superhydrophobic substrates having membrane and cantilever designs with stiffness 0.5–7630 N/m. Upon impact, the droplet excites the substrate to oscillate, while during liquid retraction, the substrate imparts vertical momentum back to the droplet with a springboard effect, causing early droplet lift-off with reduced contact time. Through detailed experimental and theoretical analysis, we show that this novel springboarding phenomenon is achieved for a specific range of Weber numbers (We >40) and droplet Froude numbers during spreading (Fr >1). The observation of the substrate elasticity-mediated droplet springboard effect provides new insight into droplet impact physics.
Dynamics of mtDNA introgression during species range expansion: insights from an experimental longitudinal study
Authors: Mastrantonio V. , Porretta D. , Urbanelli S. , Crasta G. , Nascetti G. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractIntrogressive hybridization represents one of the long-lasting debated genetic consequences of species range expansion. Mitochondrial DNA has been shown to heavily introgress between interbreeding animal species that meet in new sympatric areas and, often, asymmetric introgression from local to the colonizing populations has been observed. Disentangling among the evolutionary and ecological processes that might shape this pattern remains difficult, because they continuously act across time and space. In this context, long-term studies can be of paramount importance. Here, we investigated the dynamics of mitochondrial introgression between two mosquito species (Aedes mariae and Ae. zammitii ) during a colonization event that started in 1986 after a translocation experiment. By analyzing 1,659 individuals across 25 years, we showed that introgression occurred earlier and at a higher frequency in the introduced than in the local species, showing a pattern of asymmetric introgression. Throughout time, introgression increased slowly in the local species, becoming reciprocal at most sites. The rare opportunity to investigate the pattern of introgression across time during a range expansion along with the characteristics of our study-system allowed us to support a role of demographic dynamics in determining the observed introgression pattern.
Stronger enhancer II/core promoter activities of hepatitis B virus isolates of B2 subgenotype than those of C2 subgenotype
Authors: Qin Yanli , Zhou Xueshi , Jia Haodi , Chen Chaoyang , Zhao Weifeng , Zhang Jiming , Tong Shuping 
Published: July 2016

AbstractHepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C causes prolonged chronic infection and increased risk for liver cancer than genotype B. Our previous work revealed lower replication capacity of wild-type genotype C2 than B2 isolates. HBV DNA replication is driven by pregenomic RNA, which is controlled by core promoter (CP) and further augmented by enhancer I (ENI) and enhancer II (ENII). DNA fragments covering these regulatory elements were amplified from B2 and C2 isolates to generate luciferase reporter constructs. As ENII is fully embedded in CP, we inserted HBV DNA fragments in the sense orientation to determine their combined activities and in the antisense orientation to measure enhancer activities alone. Genotype B2 isolates displayed higher ENI+ENII+CP, ENII+CP and ENII activities, but not ENI or ENI+ENII activity, than C2 isolates. The higher ENII+CP activity was partly attributable to 4 positions displaying genotype-specific variability. Exchanging CP region was sufficient to revert the replication phenotypes of several B2 and C2 clones tested. These results suggest that a weaker ENII and/or CP at least partly accounts for the lower replication capacities of wild-type C2 isolates, which could drive the subsequent acquisition of CP mutations. Such mutations increase genome replication and are implicated in liver cancer development.
Ribonuclease H1-dependent hepatotoxicity caused by locked nucleic acid-modified gapmer antisense oligonucleotides
Authors: Kasuya Takeshi , Hori Shin-ichiro , Watanabe Ayahisa , Nakajima Mado , Gahara Yoshinari , Rokushima Masatomo , Yanagimoto Toru , Kugimiya Akira 
Published: July 2016

AbstractGapmer antisense oligonucleotides cleave target RNA effectively in vivo, and is considered as promising therapeutics. Especially, gapmers modified with locked nucleic acid (LNA) shows potent knockdown activity; however, they also cause hepatotoxic side effects. For developing safe and effective gapmer drugs, a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of hepatotoxicity is required. Here, we investigated the cause of hepatotoxicity derived from LNA-modified gapmers. Chemical modification of gapmer’s gap region completely suppressed both knockdown activity and hepatotoxicity, indicating that the root cause of hepatotoxicity is related to intracellular gapmer activity. Gene silencing of hepatic ribonuclease H1 (RNaseH1), which catalyses gapmer-mediated RNA knockdown, strongly supressed hepatotoxic effects. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of a target mRNA did not result in any hepatotoxic effects, while the gapmer targeting the same position on mRNA as does the siRNA showed acute toxicity. Microarray analysis revealed that several pre-mRNAs containing a sequence similar to the gapmer target were also knocked down. These results suggest that hepatotoxicity of LNA gapmer is caused by RNAseH1 activity, presumably because of off-target cleavage of RNAs inside nuclei.
High-contrast X-ray micro-radiography and micro-CT of ex-vivo soft tissue murine organs utilizing ethanol fixation and large area photon-counting detector
Authors: Dudak Jan , Zemlicka Jan , Karch Jakub , Patzelt Matej , Mrzilkova Jana , Zach Petr , Hermanova Zuzana , Kvacek Jiri , Krejci Frantisek 
Published: July 2016

AbstractUsing dedicated contrast agents high-quality X-ray imaging of soft tissue structures with isotropic micrometre resolution has become feasible. This technique is frequently titled as virtual histology as it allows production of slices of tissue without destroying the sample. The use of contrast agents is, however, often an irreversible time-consuming procedure and despite the non-destructive principle of X-ray imaging, the sample is usually no longer usable for other research methods. In this work we present the application of recently developed large-area photon counting detector for high resolution X-ray micro-radiography and micro-tomography of whole ex-vivo ethanol-preserved mouse organs. The photon counting detectors provide dark-current-free quantum-counting operation enabling acquisition of data with virtually unlimited contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Thanks to the very high CNR even ethanol-only preserved soft-tissue samples without addition of any contrast agent can be visualized in great detail. As ethanol preservation is one of the standard steps of tissue fixation for histology, the presented method can open a way for widespread use of micro-CT with all its advantages for routine 3D non-destructive soft-tissue visualisation.
Novel HDAd/EBV Reprogramming Vector and Highly Efficient Ad/CRISPR-Cas Sickle Cell Disease Gene Correction
Authors: Li Chao , Ding Lei , Sun Chiao-Wang , Wu Li-Chen , Zhou Dewang , Pawlik Kevin M. , Khodadadi-Jamayran Alireza , Westin Erik , Goldman Frederick D. , Townes Tim M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractCRISPR/Cas enhanced correction of the sickle cell disease (SCD) genetic defect in patient-specific induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) provides a potential gene therapy for this debilitating disease. An advantage of this approach is that corrected iPSCs that are free of off-target modifications can be identified before differentiating the cells into hematopoietic progenitors for transplantation. In order for this approach to be practical, iPSC generation must be rapid and efficient. Therefore, we developed a novel helper-dependent adenovirus/Epstein-Barr virus (HDAd/EBV) hybrid reprogramming vector, rCLAE-R6, that delivers six reprogramming factors episomally. HDAd/EBV transduction of keratinocytes from SCD patients resulted in footprint-free iPSCs with high efficiency. Subsequently, the sickle mutation was corrected by delivering CRISPR/Cas9 with adenovirus followed by nucleoporation with a 70 nt single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) correction template. Correction efficiencies of up to 67.9% (βA/[βS+βA]) were obtained. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of corrected iPSC lines demonstrated no CRISPR/Cas modifications in 1467 potential off-target sites and no modifications in tumor suppressor genes or other genes associated with pathologies. These results demonstrate that adenoviral delivery of reprogramming factors and CRISPR/Cas provides a rapid and efficient method of deriving gene-corrected, patient-specific iPSCs for therapeutic applications.
Increased dynamics in the 40–57 Ω-loop of the G41S variant of human cytochrome c promote its pro-apoptotic conformation
Authors: Karsisiotis Andreas Ioannis , Deacon Oliver M. , Wilson Michael T. , Macdonald Colin , Blumenschein Tharin M. A. , Moore Geoffrey R. , Worrall Jonathan A. R. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThrombocytopenia 4 is an inherited autosomal dominant thrombocytopenia, which occurs due to mutations in the human gene for cytochrome c that results in enhanced mitochondrial apoptotic activity. The Gly41Ser mutation was the first to be reported. Here we report stopped-flow kinetic studies of azide binding to human ferricytochrome c and its Gly41Ser variant, together with backbone amide H/D exchange and 15N-relaxation dynamics using NMR spectroscopy, to show that alternative conformations are kinetically and thermodynamically more readily accessible for the Gly41Ser variant than for the wild-type protein. Our work reveals a direct conformational link between the 40–57 Ω-loop in which residue 41 resides and the dynamical properties of the axial ligand to the heme iron, Met80, such that the replacement of glycine by serine promotes the dissociation of the Met80 ligand, thereby increasing the population of a peroxidase active state, which is a key non-native conformational state in apoptosis.
Problems encountered when defining Arctic amplification as a ratio
Authors: Hind Alistair , Zhang Qiong , Brattström Gudrun 
Published: July 2016

AbstractIn climate change science the term ‘Arctic amplification’ has become synonymous with an estimation of the ratio of a change in Arctic temperatures compared with a broader reference change under the same period, usually in global temperatures. Here, it is shown that this definition of Arctic amplification comes with a suite of difficulties related to the statistical properties of the ratio estimator itself. Most problematic is the complexity of categorizing uncertainty in Arctic amplification when the global, or reference, change in temperature is close to 0 over a period of interest, in which case it may be impossible to set bounds on this uncertainty. An important conceptual distinction is made between the ‘Ratio of Means’ and ‘Mean Ratio’ approaches to defining a ratio estimate of Arctic amplification, as they do not only possess different uncertainty properties regarding the amplification factor, but are also demonstrated to ask different scientific questions. Uncertainty in the estimated range of the Arctic amplification factor using the latest global climate models and climate forcing scenarios is expanded upon and shown to be greater than previously demonstrated for future climate projections, particularly using forcing scenarios with lower concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Boron-Filled Hybrid Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Patel Rajen B. , Chou Tsengming , Kanwal Alokik , Apigo David J. , Lefebvre Joseph , Owens Frank , Iqbal Zafar 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA unique nanoheterostructure, a boron-filled hybrid carbon nanotube (BHCNT), has been synthesized using a one-step chemical vapor deposition process. The BHCNTs can be considered to be a novel form of boron carbide consisting of boron doped, distorted multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) encapsulating boron nanowires. These MWCNTs were found to be insulating in spite of their graphitic layered outer structures. While conventional MWCNTs have great axial strength, they have weak radial compressive strength and do not bond well to one another or to other materials. In contrast, BHCNTs are shown to be up to 31% stiffer and 233% stronger than conventional MWCNTs in radial compression and have excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. The corrugated surface of BHCNTs enables them to bond easily to themselves and other materials, in contrast to carbon nanotubes (CNTs). BHCNTs can, therefore, be used to make nanocomposites, nanopaper sheets and bundles that are stronger than those made with CNTs.
The Involvement of Protease Nexin-1 (PN1) in the Pathogenesis of Intervertebral Disc (IVD) Degeneration
Authors: Wu Xinghuo , Liu Wei , Duan Zhenfeng , Gao Yong , Li Shuai , Wang Kun , Song Yu , Shao Zengwu , Yang Shuhua , Yang Cao 
Published: July 2016

AbstractProtease nexin-1 (PN-1) is a serine protease inhibitor belonging to the serpin superfamily. This study was undertaken to investigate the regulatory role of PN-1 in the pathogenesis of intervertebral disk (IVD) degeneration. Expression of PN-1 was detected in human IVD tissue of varying grades. Expression of both PN-1 mRNA and protein was significantly decreased in degenerated IVD and the expression levels of PN-1 were correlated with the grade of disc degeneration. Moreover, a decrease in PN-1 expression in primary NP cells was confirmed. On induction by IL-1β, the expression of PN-1 in NP cells was decreased at day 7, 14 and 21, as shown by western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining. PN-1 administration decreased IL-1β-induced MMPs and ADAMTS production and the loss of Agg and Col II in NP cell cultures through the ERK1/2/NF-kB signaling pathway. The changes in PN-1 expression are involved in the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration. Our findings indicate that PN-1 administration could antagonize IL-1β-induced MMPs and ADAMTS, potentially preventing degeneration of IVD tissue. This study also revealed new insights into the regulation of PN-1 expression via the ERK1/2/NF-kB signaling pathway and the role of PN-1 in the pathogenesis of IVD degeneration.