bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Subject‐Involving Luck
Authors: Milburn Joe 
Published: October 2014

AbstractIn recent years, philosophers have tended to think of luck as being a relation between an event (taken in the broadest sense of the term) and a subject; to give an account of luck is to fill in the right‐hand side of the following biconditional: an event e is lucky for a subject S if and only if ____. We can call such accounts of luck subject‐relative accounts of luck, since they attempt to spell out what it is for an event to be lucky relative to a subject. This essay argues that we should understand subject‐relative luck as a secondary phenomenon. What is of philosophical interest is giving an account of subject‐involving luck, i.e., filling in the right‐hand side of this biconditional: it is a matter of luck that S ϕs iff ____. The essay argues that one of the upshots of focusing on subject‐involving luck is that lack of control accounts of luck (LCALs) become more attractive. In particular, a range of counterexamples to LCALs of subject‐relative luck do not apply to LCALs of subject‐involving luck.
Luck, Knowledge, and “Mere” Coincidence
Authors: Riggs Wayne D. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractThere are good reasons for pursuing a theory of knowledge by way of understanding the connection between knowledge and luck. Not surprisingly, then, there has been a burgeoning of interest in “luck theories” of knowledge as well as in theories of luck in general. Unfortunately, “luck” proves to be as recalcitrant an analysandum as “knows.” While it is well worth pursuing a general theory of luck despite these difficulties, our theory of knowledge might be made more manageable if we could find a more restricted notion that captured the core phenomena of luck that are relevant to whether or not someone knows. This essay makes the attempt to delineate such a notion, called “mere coincidence.”
The Unbearable Uncertainty Paradox
Authors: Roeser Sabine 
Published: October 2014

AbstractPeople can be risk seeking and risk averse, but people can also be uncertainty averse: in other words, if risk is at least the possibility of an unwanted affect, then it is not only the unwanted effect that they want to avoid, it can also be the uncertainty inherent in the possibility that they wish to avoid. This uncertainty aversion can even lead to a state where someone prefers a certain outcome at all costs, even when it is the worst case. This gives rise to the following paradox: the worst case seems to be more acceptable than the state where there is still a chance that it will not materialize. We can call this the Unbearable Uncertainty Paradox. This essay provides a first conceptual sketch of this phenomenon that seems to be widespread but nevertheless does not appear to have been identified before, either by philosophers or by psychologists.
Exogenous H2S enhances mice gastric smooth muscle tension through S‐sulfhydration of KV4.3, mediating the inhibition of the voltage‐dependent potassium current
Authors: Liu D.‐H. , Huang X. , Meng X.‐M. , Zhang C.‐M. , Lu H.‐L. , Kim Y.‐C. , Xu W.‐X. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractBackgroundHydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown to have an excitatory effect on gastric motility, but the underlying molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible targets of H2S and determine how H2S affects its target proteins during H2S‐induced contraction.MethodsPatch‐clamp and potentiometric fluorescence dye were utilized to measure the electrophysiological changes. The Biotin‐switch assay was utilized to detect the protein S‐sulfhydration. The isometric tension measurement was conducted too.Key ResultsExogenous H2S enhanced the tonic contraction of gastric antral smooth muscle, and voltage‐dependent potassium channel (KV) blocker and Dithiothreitol (DTT, a reducing agent) abolished the excitatory effect of NaHS. Exogenous H2S inhibited the fast inactivation component of the voltage‐dependent potassium channel current (IKVfast) in isolated gastric antral smooth muscle cells. H2S inhibited the KV4.3 current in H293 cells with heterologous expression of KV4.3, but did not inhibit the KV4.1 and KV4.2 currents, which together contribute greatly to IKVfast. NaHS significantly decreased the membrane potential in cultured gastric smooth muscle cells, but the NaHS‐induced depolarization was suppressed by knockdown of KV4.3 and N‐ethylamaleimide (NEM), a free thiol group blocker. In addition, NaHS sulfhydrated KV4.3 in H293 cells and in gastric smooth muscle tissue. However, this S‐sulfhydration was inhibited by NEM and DTT. Meanwhile the NaHS‐induced inhibition of IKVfast and KV4.3 was also blocked by NEM and DTT.Conclusions & InferencesThese results suggest that exogenous H2S sulfhydrates KV4.3 to decrease the membrane potential, thereby enhancing the basal tension of gastric antral smooth muscle.
Is ‘peak N’ key to understanding the timing of flowering in annual plants?
Authors: Guilbaud Camille S. E. , Dalchau Neil , Purves Drew W. , Turnbull Lindsay A. 
Published: October 2014

Summary

Flowering time in annual plants has large fitness consequences and has been the focus of theoretical and empirical study. Previous theory has concluded that flowering time has evolved over evolutionary time to maximize fitness over a particular season length.

We introduce a new model where flowering is cued by a growth‐rate rule (peak nitrogen (N)). Flowering is therefore sensitive to physiological parameters and to current environmental conditions, including N availability and the presence of competitors.

The model predicts that, when overall conditions are suitable for flowering, plants should never flower after ‘peak N’, the point during development when the whole‐plant N uptake rate reaches its maximum. Our model further predicts correlations between flowering time and vegetative growth rates, and that the response to increased N depends heavily on how this extra N is made available. We compare our predictions to observations in the literature.

We suggest that annual plants may have evolved to use growth‐rate rules as part of the cue for flowering, allowing them to smoothly and optimally adjust their flowering time to a wide range of local conditions. If so, there are widespread implications for the study of the molecular biology behind flowering pathways.
Imagining World War III—In 2034
Authors: LUKIN ARTYOM 
Published: October 2014

In 1990, right after the Berlin Wall fell, NPQ published our Spring edition, titled “The New World Disorder,” about the nationalistic chaos and up‐in‐theair sensibility of that fraught new historical moment.Nearly a quarter of a century later, the regime of globalization that had supplanted the Cold War world of blocs is itself coming apart at the seams. Even Henry Kissinger these days says “the world order is crumbling.”Will this New World Disorder 2.0 revert to a system of conflicting blocs, as during the Cold War, or will we be mature enough to save the interdependence of plural identities that is the foundation of a new global civilization?In this section our contributors offer their perspectives on what the future holds.
Sugar demand of ripening grape berries leads to recycling of surplus phloem water via the xylem
Authors: KELLER MARKUS , ZHANG YUN , SHRESTHA PRADEEP M. , BIONDI MARCO , BONDADA BHASKAR R. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractWe tested the common assumption that fleshy fruits become dependent on phloem water supply because xylem inflow declines at the onset of ripening. Using two distinct grape genotypes exposed to drought stress, we found that a sink‐driven rise in phloem inflow at the beginning of ripening was sufficient to reverse drought‐induced berry shrinkage. Rewatering accelerated berry growth and sugar accumulation concurrently with leaf photosynthetic recovery. Interrupting phloem flow through the peduncle prevented the increase in berry growth after rewatering, but interrupting xylem flow did not. Nevertheless, xylem flow in ripening berries, but not berry size, remained responsive to root or shoot pressurization. A mass balance analysis on ripening berries sampled in the field suggested that phloem water inflow may exceed growth and transpiration water demands. Collecting apoplastic sap from ripening berries showed that osmotic pressure increased at distinct rates in berry vacuoles and apoplast. Our results indicate that the decrease in xylem inflow at the onset of ripening may be a consequence of the sink‐driven increase in phloem inflow. We propose a conceptual model in which surplus phloem water bypasses the fruit cells and partly evaporates from the berry surface and partly moves apoplastically to the xylem for outflow.
The Legitimacy of U.S. Government Agency Power
Authors: Feldman Daniel L. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractA synthesis of the work of two political and legal scholars, John Rohr and Lon Fuller, properly balances constitutional and managerial values, supplementing other theories that offer useful but insufficient support for American government agency legitimacy. Agencies reflecting that balance would strengthen their legitimacy—a particularly valuable goal in an era of low confidence in American government. Rohr's focus on the constitutional oath of office and American regime values, and Fuller's insistence that law must serve human needs, leave a great deal indeterminate and discretionary but nevertheless set boundaries. Bureaucrats who risked or sacrificed their jobs to avoid transgressing those boundaries offer models of loyalty to the Rohr‐Fuller balance of values. The behavior of officials in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in thwarting measures that could have averted the financial crisis of 2007 offers a model of bureaucrats who violated those boundaries.
Financial Constraints and the Extensive and Intensive Margin of Firm Exports: Panel Data Evidence from China
Authors: Egger Peter H. , Kesina Michaela 
Published: October 2014

AbstractSome theoretical work suggests credit constraints to hamper exports while other work suggests that they deter firms' sales at large. Hence, credit constraints might reduce the export–sales ratio or not. This paper assesses the role of credit constraints for the export–sales ratio at the firm level. We explore this hypothesis empirically, using cross‐section and panel data on Chinese enterprises compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics of China. We approximate credit constraints by a firm's ratio of liquid debt to sales and, alternatively, the ratio of liquid assets to total assets. In particular, we estimate the impact of these financial fundamentals on the extensive and the intensive margins of firm‐level exports in two‐part fractional response models. Fixed effects panel regressions point to a negative relationship between export–sales ratios and credit constraints only at the extensive margin.
Multinational Enterprises, Absorptive Capacity and Export Spillovers: Evidence from Polish Firm‐level Data
Authors: Cieślik Andrzej , Hagemejer Jan 
Published: October 2014

AbstractAn important benefit attributed to the activity of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in developing and transition countries is its effect on international market access. Through a variety of channels the presence of MNEs is expected to reduce the costs faced by indigenous firms in breaking into international markets and in turn boost their export prospects. In this paper we use an extensive Polish firm‐level dataset for the period 2000–2008 to verify whether MNEs have positively contributed to the export performance of indigenous firms. We track not only sectoral and geographical spillovers stemming from the activity of MNEs but also control for firm‐specific characteristics that affect indigenous firms' decisions to export including their absorptive capacity. Our empirical results support the existence of positive spillovers (related to MNE export activity) at the sectoral level but not at the regional level. Finally, we find that individual absorptive capacity determines the size of export spillovers.
The Death of German Firms: What Role for Foreign Direct Investment?
Authors: Franco Chiara , Weche Gelübcke John P. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractThis paper aims at examining the role played by inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in affecting the exit probabilities of German manufacturing firms in the pre‐crisis year 2008. We introduce two main novelties: in the first place, we include the FDI variable, dividing it between types of foreign investor (industrial versus financial) besides the analysis with the division by country of origin. Second, we analyse whether FDIs may have effects not only on the probability that a firm exits from the domestic market, but also on whether it stops being internationally involved, that is, whether it stops importing or exporting. We find that German firms, in most cases, suffer from higher competition introduced by foreign firms except when they are part of a high‐R&D region or a high‐tech sector, because they have enough absorptive capacity to take advantage of possible spillover effects. We also find that US FDIs have a crowding out effect for firms located in low‐tech sectors but not in high‐tech sectors. The results are reversed when considering financial investments instead of industrial investments. Finally, we find that FDIs are negatively correlated with exits from export markets but positively with those from import markets.
Asparagine Synthetase Polymorphisms and Toxicity and Efficacy of Asparaginases
Authors: Avramis Vassilios I. 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
Asparaginases develop innovative “tumor starvation” conditions for all antileukemia treatments; however, administrations are limited by the toxicities of this drug. Patients exhibiting moderate toxicity have optimal treatment outcomes. Certain asparagine synthetase polymorphisms may contribute to severe host toxicities in divergent subsets of patients, whereas others do not. Clinical correlations should be evaluated. Clin Cancer Res; 21(2); 230–2. ©2014 AACR.
See related article by Tanfous et al., p. 329
Multitarget Effects of Quercetin in Leukemia
Authors: Maso Victor , Calgarotto Andrana Karla , Franchi Gilberto Carlos , Nowill Alexandre Eduardo , Filho Paulo Latuf , Vassallo José , Saad Sara Teresinha Olalla 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
This study proposes to investigate quercetin antitumor efficacy in vitro and in vivo, using the P39 cell line as a model. The experimental design comprised leukemic cells or xenografts of P39 cells, treated in vitro or in vivo, respectively, with quercetin; apoptosis, cell-cycle and autophagy activation were then evaluated. Quercetin caused pronounced apoptosis in P39 leukemia cells, followed by Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Mcl-1 downregulation, Bax upregulation, and mitochondrial translocation, triggering cytochrome c release and caspases activation. Quercetin also induced the expression of FasL protein. Furthermore, our results demonstrated an antioxidant activity of quercetin. Quercetin treatment resulted in an increased cell arrest in G1 phase of the cell cycle, with pronounced decrease in CDK2, CDK6, cyclin D, cyclin E, and cyclin A proteins, decreased Rb phosphorylation and increased p21 and p27 expression. Quercetin induced autophagosome formation in the P39 cell line. Autophagy inhibition induced by quercetin with chloroquine triggered apoptosis but did not alter quercetin modulation in the G1 phase. P39 cell treatment with a combination of quercetin and selective inhibitors of ERK1/2 and/or JNK (PD184352 or SP600125, respectively), significantly decreased cells in G1 phase, this treatment, however, did not change the apoptotic cell number. Furthermore, in vivo administration of quercetin significantly reduced tumor volume in P39 xenografts and confirmed in vitro results regarding apoptosis, autophagy, and cell-cycle arrest. The antitumor activity of quercetin both in vitro and in vivo revealed in this study, point to quercetin as an attractive antitumor agent for hematologic malignancies. Cancer Prev Res; 7(12); 1240–50. ©2014 AACR.
Blood Lipids and the Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation: The Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and the Framingham Heart Study
Authors: Alonso Alvaro , Yin Xiaoyan , Roetker Nicholas S. , Magnani Jared W. , Kronmal Richard A. , Ellinor Patrick T. , Chen Lin Y. , Lubitz Steven A. , McClelland Robyn L. , McManus David D. , Soliman Elsayed Z. , Huxley Rachel R. , Nazarian Saman , Szklo Moyses , Heckbert Susan R. , Benjamin Emelia J. 
Published: October 2014

Background

Dyslipidemia is a major contributor to the development of atherosclerosis and coronary disease. Its role in the etiology of atrial fibrillation (
AF
) is uncertain.

Methods and Results
We studied 7142 men and women from the Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and the Framingham Heart Study who did not have prevalent AF at baseline and were not on lipid‐lowering medications. Total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured using standard procedures. Incident AF during follow‐up was identified from hospital discharge codes; review of medical charts; study electrocardiograms; and, in MESA only, Medicare claims. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of AF by clinical categories of blood lipids in each cohort. Study‐specific results were meta‐analyzed using inverse of variance weighting. During 9.6 years of mean follow‐up, 480 AF cases were identified. In a combined analysis of multivariable‐adjusted results from both cohorts, high levels of high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol were associated with lower AF risk (hazard ratio 0.64, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.87 in those with levels ≥60 mg/dL versus <40 mg/dL), whereas high triglycerides were associated with higher risk of AF (hazard ratio 1.60, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.05 in those with levels ≥200 mg/dL versus <150 mg/dL). Total cholesterol and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol were not associated with the risk of AF.

Conclusion

In these 2 community‐based cohorts, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides but not low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol or total cholesterol were associated with the risk of
AF,
accounting for other cardiometabolic risk factors.
Changes in the Land Surface Energy Budget in Eastern China over the Past Three Decades: Contributions of Land-Cover Change and Climate Change
Authors: Yan J. W. , Liu J. Y. , Chen B. Z. , Feng M. , Fang S. F. , Xu G. , Zhang H. F. , Che M. L. , Liang W. , Hu Y. F. , Kuang W. H. , Wang H. M. 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
Sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (LE), and net radiation (NR) are important surface energy components that directly influence climate systems. In this study, the changes in the surface energy and their contributions from global climate change and/or land-cover change over eastern China during the past nearly 30 years were investigated and assessed using a process-based land surface model [the Ecosystem–Atmosphere Simulation Scheme (EASS)]. The modeled results show that climate change contributed more to the changes of land surface energy fluxes than land-cover change, with their contribution ratio reaching 4:1 or even higher. Annual average temperature increased before 2000 and reversed thereafter; annual total precipitation continually decreased, and incident solar radiation continually increased over the past nearly 30 years. These climatic changes could lead to increased NR, H, and LE, assuming land cover remained unchanged during the past nearly 30 years. Among these meteorological variables, at spatial distribution, the incident solar radiation has the greatest effect on land surface energy exchange. The impacts of land-cover change on the seasonal variations in land surface heat fluxes between the four periods were large, especially for H. The changes in the regional energy fluxes resulting from different land-cover type conversions varied greatly. The conversion from farmland to evergreen coniferous forests had the greatest influence on land surface energy exchange, leading to a decrease in H by 19.39% and an increase in LE and NR by 7.44% and 2.74%, respectively. The results of this study can provide a basis and reference for climate change adaptation.
Seasonal Aspects of an Objective Climatology of Anticyclones Affecting the Mediterranean
Authors: Hatzaki Maria , Flocas Helena A. , Simmonds Ian , Kouroutzoglou John , Keay Kevin , Rudeva Irina 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
An objective climatology of anticyclones over the greater Mediterranean region is presented based on the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) for a 34-yr period (1979–2012) and the Melbourne University automatic identification and tracking algorithm. The scheme’s robustness and reliability for the transient extratropical propagation of anticyclones, with the appropriate choices of parameter settings, has been established and the results obtained here present new research perspectives on anticyclonic activity affecting the Mediterranean. Properties of Mediterranean anticyclones, such as frequency, generation and dissipation, movement, scale, and depth are investigated. The highest frequency of anticyclones is found over continental areas, while the highest maritime frequency occurs over closed basins exhibiting also maxima of anticyclogenesis. There is a significant seasonality in system density and anticyclogenesis maxima, this being associated with the seasonal variations of the larger-scale atmospheric circulation that affect the greater Mediterranean region.
Occurrence of soluble supra-molecular FN–fibrin complexes in the plasma of children with recurrent respiratory infection
Authors: Lemańska-Perek Anna , Polańska Bożena , Krzyżanowska-Gołąb Dorota , Kątnik-Prastowska Iwona 
Published: October 2014

Objectives Fibronectin (FN) is able to bind fibrin and FN–fibrin complexes and is found in the plasma of some patients suffering from inflammatory disease. The present study was undertaken to determine whether soluble supra-molecular FN–fibrin complexes were present in the plasma of children with recurrent respiratory infections (RRI). Design and methods The frequency of occurrence and relative amounts of the supra-molecular FN–fibrin forms, concentrations of immunoglobulins and numbers of natural killer cells (NK) were determined in the plasma of children with recurrent respiratory infections. The frequencies of these parameters were compared with their frequencies in the plasma of children with acute respiratory infections and plasma from healthy children. Results SDS-agarose immunoblotting of patients’ plasma revealed the presence of several additional FN–fibrin bands, with decreasing electrophoretic mobilities and increasing molecular masses of 750 kDa, 1000 kDa, 1300 kDa, 1600 kDa and 1900 kDa. Such FN–fibrin complexes occurred with higher frequency and in larger amounts in the plasma of children with RRI and acute infection than they did in plasma from normal children. Moreover, bands above 1000 kDa were absent in most young healthy individuals. The occurrence of FN–fibrin complexes did not correlate with either immunoglobulin concentrations, or with the number of NK cells. Conclusions The occurrence of plasma supra-molecular FN–fibrin complexes is associated with acute and recurrent respiratory infections of children.