bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Principles and Objectives of EU Foreign Investment Law
Authors: Dimopoulos Angelos 
Published: January 2012

AbstractChapter 4 offers a legal assessment of the orientation of EU foreign investment law. It identifies and analyzes the principles and objectives that determine the exercise of EU competence in the field of foreign investment. Chapter 4 offers firstly an insight into the specific principles and objectives that EU action in the field of foreign investment adheres to and pursues, emphasizing their position within the broader framework of the general objectives of EU external action. Secondly, Chapter 4 considers the application of these principles and objectives in practice, looking at the objectives pursued by existing (and future) EU International investment Agreements and assessing whether the legal mechanisms that are established in EU IIAs are suitable and sufficient for achieving the envisaged objectives.
International Law Effects of EU IIAs
Authors: Dimopoulos Angelos 
Published: January 2012

AbstractChapter 5 analyzes the international law effects of EU external action in the field of foreign investment. It addresses the legal ramifications resulting from the nature of EU International Investment Agreements as instruments of international law. In that respect, Chapter 5 explores firstly the question of the EU's and Member States' international responsibility for the performance of the investment obligations undertaken in EU IIAs, taking into account in particular, the nature of EU IIAs as mixed agreements and the international law rules on the responsibility of international organizations. The second part of Chapter 5 deals with the hierarchy of norms between overlapping IIAs from an international law perspective, examining both overlaps between EU IIAs and between EU IIAs and Member States BITs.
From Documented Growth to Method in Reconstruction of Growth
Authors: Carr David M. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter applies insights from chapters 2-4 to specific methodological issues in the study of the formation of the Hebrew Bible, particularly the formation of the Hexateuch. Topics covered include textual fluidity and problems with the way words and phrases are often used as source-critical and dating indicators, the need to take into account partial preservation of ancient sources when developing literary models, scribal coordination as another model (besides a theory of post-Priestly composition) for explaining the mix of Priestly and non-Priestly elements in Hexateuchal texts, problems surrounding the identification and analysis of literary dependence, and what documented cases of textual growth can teach us about reachable goals for transmission history.
The Hasmonean Period
Authors: Carr David M. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter starts with a brief historical overview of the Hasmonean monarchy. Next comes a discussion of separate texts that are most likely to be dated to this period (e.g. 1 and 2 Maccabees, Judith) in an attempt to form an initial profile of the sorts of texts being produced then. With this profile established, the balance of the chapter argues that the contours of the Torah-Prophets Hebrew biblical canon were initially fixed in this period as well. In particular, we can see the traces of what may be the “final redaction” of the (proto-Masoretic) Hebrew Bible in several documented late revisions distinctive of the proto-MT (particularly found in Deuteronomy, the former prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Ezra-Nehemiah), revisions likely made during the Hasmonean period.
Other Supposedly Solomonic Books
Authors: Carr David M. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter adopts criteria developed in chapter 15 (on Proverbs) to assess the extent to which two other purportedly Solomonic books, Song of Songs and Qohelet, might contain early pre-exilic materials. The conclusion is that the evidence for this is better for Song of Songs than for Qohelet. Though elements of Song of Songs may have been added over time, it shows unambivalent dependence on New Kingdom period Egyptian love poetry, and appears to have been the source of several formulations found in Hosea and Deuteronomy. In contrast, the main link of Qohelet to a demonstrable non-Israelite tradition, its links to the song of the alewife in the Old Babylonian edition of Gilgamesh, is relatively isolated. In addition, Qohelet’s orientation to monarchal institutions and other indicators suggest a more likely post-exilic date.
The Sonic Mindedness of the Great War
Authors: Jean Yaron 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter explores the sonic experience of the First World War from the perspective of soldiers on the ground, in the sea, and in the air. World War I, with its extensive employment of modern warfare technology, created a new sonic experience that was closely linked with the universal human need to survive. Soldiers developed the ability to translate their individual sonic experiences in the battlefield into a collective bipolar distinction between “sounds of safety” and “sounds of danger” and act upon this distinction, called “wartime sonic mindedness.” This sonic mindedness continued long after the First World War, when many heard the hectic sonic “battlefields” of the post-war era through the auditory lenses of war.
From Seat Cushions to Formulae
Authors: Fischer Sabine von 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter focuses on the interactions of sound and space, specifically the architecture of concert halls. Theories of architectural acoustics around 1900 ranged from those that were rather mystical in nature, such as those put forward by Adolf Loos, to those that were more empirical and based on the science of acoustics, such as the work of the physicist Wallace C. Sabine. By analyzing a selection of German and Austrian concert halls, including the Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonie, this chapter walks readers through basic principles of architectural acoustics from the turn of the century to the post-war years.
From the Boiler Room to the Hotel Room
Authors: Swope Curtis 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThis chapter traces the relationship of sound to space in Wolfgang Hilbig’s novel, Das Provisorium (The Temporary Solution, 2000), and links close analysis of the text to Hilbig's participation in the 1995 WORTspielRÄUME literary sound installation in Berlin. The chapter shows how Hilbig uses sound in the text to create different but similarly ambiguous images of East Germany and West Germany. Furthermore, the WORTspielRÄUME project serves as a continuation of the critique set out in the book by using sound to draw attention to the modern problems of compromised public spheres and mass alienation.
Sentence Basics: Predication
Authors: Fahnestock Jeanne 
Published: January 2012

AbstractAttention to individual words and patterns in word choice can yield important insights into argumentative effects, but what are the words actually doing in a text? Part II takes up this issue by focusing first on sentence forms, beginning with those choices that make a sentence in the first place: the subject and verb. In a first pass, English sentences can be separated into two types, stative versus active, depending on whether they categorize or characterize (typically yoking subjects and predicates with forms of the linking verb to be) or whether they make their subjects agents capable of acting through intransitive verbs or transitive verbs taking an object. Focusing on the subject/verb pairings in a text reveals who gets to be or do what in the universe the arguer constructs. To further that analysis, this chapter offers a semantic taxonomy for the kinds of subjects (agents or entities) that an arguer can use: humans, rhetorical participants, things, abstractions, concepts, and slot fillers (e.g., it is, there are). Verb choices can be analyzed according to the parameters identified by grammarians: tense, aspect, mood, negation, modality, and voice. The often-maligned passive voice is defended here as a rhetorical option. Rhetoricians have linked variables in subject/verb choice to an overall nominal versus verbal style and to individual effects like personification, pairing a thing or abstraction with a verb typically linked with a human, to the historic present, using the present tense to narrate an event from the past and zeugma or to hypozeuxis, the multiplying of subjects and verbs. This chapter includes detailed analyses of passages for subject choice and verb choice alone (in the latter case showing the importance of a progression of tenses) and of further passages from mundane news stories for their subject/verb pairings revealing their construction of a worldview.
Amplification
Authors: Fahnestock Jeanne 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe all-encompassing goal of an effective rhetorical style was amplification. To amplify a point or line of argument meant to endow it with stylistic prominence and hence with conceptual importance in a text and salience in the minds of the audience. The rhetorical tradition offers two senses of amplification, first as heightening and second as expanding. Quintilian lists methods for heightening through word substitutions (auxesis), comparisons, series constructed to scale items (including topping a series or verbalizing inarticulateness), and the inclusion of details that invite leading inferences. Amplification is also achieved by simply occupying more textual space with a point, and here Erasmus is the best guide. His influential sixteenth-century manual De Copia blends all five rhetorical canons into prompts for having more to say about more things. How these devices construct expanded units is illustrated through the creation of epicheiremes. The opposite of amplification, namely diminishing, is achieved through reversing the methods that heighten and expand; e.g., weaker words are used, comparisons or series lessen, and arguers exercise brevity or fall silent. A consummate mixture of amplification and strategic brevity can achieve sublimity, a style that overwhelms rather than simply persuades. This chapter analyzes the last paragraph of Darwin's The Origin of Species (draft and final forms) as an example of sublime argumentative prose. In so doing, it reviews the methods of analysis covered in the entire book, noting Darwin's strategic choices and constructions at the word, sentence, interactive, and passage levels.
Clinical Presentation of and Outcome for Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome in Children
Authors: Blackburn Carol , McDermott Michael , Bourke Billy 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTBackground and Aims:Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS) is an uncommon but troublesome and easily misdiagnosed condition of childhood. We have reviewed the presentation and outcome following conservative management of a group of children with SRUS attending a single national paediatric gastrointesinal referral unit.Methods:Eight children were identified with histology‐proven SRUS. Chart review was conducted for relevant history and examination at diagnosis. Patients were contacted to assess success of treatment at the time of follow‐up.Results:Symptoms at presentation included repeated prolonged and ineffectual straining at stool, passage of blood/mucous per rectum, diarrhoea, and constipation. Most children were referred with suspected constipation, diarrhoea, or inflammatory bowel disease. On the basis of retrospective chart review, 7 of 8 children responded well to conservative management (behavioural modification programme involving reduction of time spent straining at defecation). The child failing treatment could not comply with advice because of comorbid autism. Six of the initial responders were available for follow‐up. Four were asymptomatic. Two had relapsed and were not compliant with the management programme.Discussion/Conclusions:SRUS can masquerade as more common childhood intestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or constipation. A biopsy is required for diagnosis, because ulceration may not be apparent at the time of endoscopy. Most patients with SRUS in childhood have a satisfactory outcome using a simple behavioural modification approach. Ongoing follow‐up to reinforce behavioural modification is important and may avoid long‐term, treatment‐resistant disease into adulthood.
Graft rejection – endogenous or allogeneic?
Authors: Critchley William R. , Fildes James E. 
Published: January 2012

SummaryThe presence and persistence of alloantigen is necessary for graft‐specific T‐cell‐mediated immunity. However, specificity comprises only a single facet of an extremely complex process. Evidence is accruing to suggest that immunogenicity could be manipulated by endogenous ligands released during tissue injury. Stress molecules are significantly up‐regulated following transplantation and stimulate conserved receptors on a range of leucocytes, including dendritic cells (DCs). The DCs are essential for co‐stimulation and the induction of adaptive immunity. Stress signals can act as an adjuvant leading to DC maturation and activation. DCs stimulated by endogens exhibit enhanced alloantigen presentation, co‐stimulation and production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and IL‐18. Inflammasomes have a major role in IL‐1β/IL‐18 production and secretion, and can be stimulated by endogens. Importantly, the polarization toward inflammatory T helper type 17 cells as opposed to regulatory T cells is dependent upon, among other factors, IL‐1β. This highlights an important differentiation pathway that may be influenced by endogenous signals. Minimizing graft damage and stress expression should hypothetically be advantageous, and we feel that this area warrants further research, and may provide novel treatment modalities with potential clinical benefit.
SPIO‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging study of placental perfusion in a rat model of intrauterine growth restriction
Authors: Deloison B , Siauve N , Aimot S , Balvay D , Thiam R , Cuenod CA , Ville Y , Clement O , Salomon LJ 
Published: January 2012

Please cite this paper as: Deloison B, Siauve N, Aimot S, Balvay D, Thiam R, Cuenod C, Ville Y, Clement O, Salomon L. SPIO‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging study of placental perfusion in a rat model of intrauterine growth restriction. BJOG 2012;119:626–633.Objective  To assess placental perfusion with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) in a rat model of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).Design Experimental animal study.Setting  The study complied with US National Institutes of Health recommendations for animal care.Population  Thirty‐two rats at day 16 of gestation underwent surgical ligation of the left uterine vessel to induce IUGR.Methods  Eighteen rats were examined by MRI 3 days later, after bolus injection of ferucarbotran.Main outcome measure  Signal intensities were measured in the maternal left ventricle and in the placentas of the two horns. Quantitative microcirculation parameters were calculated and compared between the placentas of the two horns.Results  Fifty‐four kinetic curves of placental perfusion were obtained in 11 rats. The mean placental blood flow was significantly lower in the ligated horns than in the normal horns (108.1 versus 159.4 ml/minute/100 ml, p = 0.0004). The mean fractional volume of the maternal vascular placental compartment did not differ significantly between the pathological (42.8%) and normal placentas (39.2%).Conclusions  Placental perfusion, including changes during experimental IUGR, can be measured in rats by using MRI with SPIO. These findings could have implications for human studies of placental microcirculation and for the management of disorders related to placental dysfunction.
Klotho gene delivery suppresses Nox2 expression and attenuates oxidative stress in rat aortic smooth muscle cells via the cAMP‐PKA pathway
Authors: Wang Yuhong , Kuro‐o Makoto , Sun Zhongjie 
Published: January 2012

SummaryKlotho is a recently discovered anti‐aging gene. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether klotho gene transfer attenuates superoxide production and oxidative stress in rat aorta smooth muscle (RASM) cells. RASM cells were transfected with AAV plasmids carrying mouse klotho full‐length cDNA (mKL) or LacZ as a control. Klotho gene transfer increased klotho expression in RASM cells. Notably, klotho gene expression decreased Nox2 NADPH oxidase protein expression but did not affect Nox2 mRNA expression, suggesting that the inhibition may occur at the posttranscriptional level. Klotho gene transfer decreased intracellular superoxide production and oxidative stress in RASM cells. Klotho gene expression also significantly attenuated the angiotensin II (AngII)‐induced superoxide production, oxidative damage, and apoptosis. Interestingly, klotho gene delivery dose dependently increased the intracellular cAMP level and PKA activity in RASM cells. Rp‐cAMP, a competitive inhibitor of cAMP, abolished the klotho‐induced increase in PKA activity, indicating that klotho activated PKA via cAMP. Notably, inhibition of cAMP‐dependent PKA activity by RP‐cAMP abolished klotho‐induced inhibition of Nox2 protein expression, suggesting an important role of cAMP‐dependent PKA in this process. This finding revealed a previously unidentified role of klotho in regulating Nox2 protein expression in RASM cells. Klotho not only downregulated Nox2 protein expression and intracellular superoxide production but also attenuated AngII‐induced superoxide production, oxidative damage, and apoptosis. The klotho‐induced suppression of Nox2 protein expression may be mediated by the cAMP–PKA pathway.
Glucose can promote a glucocorticoid resistance state
Authors: Kassi Eva , Papavassiliou Athanasios G. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractIt has been shown that ingestion of glucose, amino acids, protein or mixed meals tends to increase serum and salivary cortisol concentrations in healthy adults. Recently, it has been demonstrated that morning glucose ingestion stimulates pulsatile cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion, thus elevating their mean concentrations. In light of the above, a question arises: could the frequent food – and specifically glucose – consumption lead to hypercortisolism with possible clinical implications? And can the human body, under normal conditions raise defence mechanisms against the transient hypercortisolism caused by the frequent glucose consumption? Studies have revealed novel mechanisms, which are implicated in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR)‐mediated action, providing a kind of glucocorticoid resistance. This glucocorticoid resistance could be mediated through both enhancing acetylation (via, among others, regulation of essential clock genes such as Per) and inhibiting deacetylation of GR (via possible regulation of sirtuin activity). Interestingly, the acetylation/deacetylation processes seem to be regulated by glucose. Thus, glucose apart from causing increased cortisol secretion can, simultaneously, counter‐regulate this hypercortisolism, by promoting directly and/or indirectly a glucocorticoid resistance state. Undoubtedly, before extracting conclusions regarding the clinical significance of the increased cortisol secretion following glucose ingestion, we should first thoroughly investigate the ‘defence’ mechanisms provided by ‘nature’ to handle this hypercortisolism.
Ethanol increases phosphate‐mediated mineralization and osteoblastic transformation of vascular smooth muscle cells
Authors: Oros Melinda , Zavaczki Erzsebet , Vadasz Csaba , Jeney Viktoria , Tosaki Arpad , Lekli Istvan , Balla Gyorgy , Nagy Laszlo , Balla Jozsef 
Published: January 2012

AbstractVascular calcification is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Human vascular smooth muscle cells (HSMCs) undergo mineralization in response to elevated levels of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in an active and well‐regulated process. This process involves increased activity of alkaline phosphatase and increased expression of core binding factor α‐1 (CBF‐α1), a bone‐specific transcription factor, with the subsequent induction of osteocalcin. It has been shown that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with greater calcification in coronary arteries. The goal of our study was to examine whether ethanol alters mineralization of HSMCs provoked by high Pi. Exposure of HSMCs to ethanol increased extracellular matrix calcification in a dose responsive manner, providing a significant additional calcium deposition at concentrations of ≥60 mmol/l. HSMC calcification was accompanied by further enhancement in alkaline phosphatase activity. Ethanol also provoked a significant increase in the synthesis of osteocalcin. Moreover, in cells challenged with ethanol the expression of CBF‐α1, a transcription factor involved in the regulation of osteoblastic transformation of HSMCs, was elevated. The observed effects of ethanol were not due to alterations of phosphate uptake by HSMCs. We conclude that ethanol enhances Pi‐mediated human vascular smooth muscle calcification and transition of these cells into osteoblast‐like cells.
Aging‐related reproductive decline in the male spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
Authors: Hernández‐López Leonor , Cerda‐Molina Ana L. , Díaz‐Díaz Guillermo , Chavira‐Bolaños Roberto , Mondragón‐Ceballos Ricardo 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackground  It is unknown whether male black‐handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) undergo a reproductive decline as they age. The purpose of this work was investigating whether serum testosterone and semen quality decrease with age in these primates as occur in other species.Methods  In this study, we assessed age variations in the concentration of serum testosterone, sperm counts, and motility in nine males. We took serum blood samples and semen samples by electroejaculation of anesthetized males throughout the fertile season.Results  We found that testosterone levels and total sperm concentration, motile, progressive, fast linearly moving, medium linearly moving, slow linearly moving and immotile sperm significantly decreased with age.Conclusions  Our results show that a reproductive decline occurs in male spider monkeys because of a decrease in sperm counts. These results are similar to those of rhesus monkeys and men, despite the phylogenetic distance between New and Old World primates.
Antinuclear antibodies testing as a routine screening for systemic lupus erythematosus in patients presenting first‐episode psychosis
Authors: Mantovani Célia , Louzada‐Junior Paulo , Nunes Emerson Arcoverde , de Figueiredo Felipe Pinheiro , Oliveira Glício Rebouças , Del‐Ben Cristina Marta 
Published: January 2012

AbstractAims: This report discusses the use of antinuclear antibody (ANA) detection as a screening test for neuropsychiatry systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) in patients presenting a first‐episode psychosis.Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 85 patients admitted to an emergency service due to first‐episode psychosis, during a 1‐year period, for whom ANA detection was performed through an IFI HEp2 cell assay. ANA‐positive patients were subsequently evaluated for autoantibodies and neuroimaging exams.Results: Three patients presented as ANA positive in the initial screening and further investigation confirmed NPSLE in two patients. The patients were treated with antipsychotics and cyclophosphamide pulses with satisfactory outcomes.Conclusion: Even though ANA detection is not specific, it is a low‐cost procedure and could be an important screening test for NPSLE in the early‐onset psychosis.