Theligonum cynocrambe: Developmental morphology of a peculiar rubiaceous herb

The annual Mediterranean herbTheligonum cynocrambe shows a peculiar combination of morphological characters, e.g., switch from decussate to spiral phyllotaxis with 90-100° divergence, combined with a change from interpetiolar to lateral stipules, anemophily, lack of calyx, flowers often dimerous to trimerous, corolla fused in both male and female flowers, male flowers extra-axillary, with 2-19 stamens per flower, female flowers axillary, with inferior uniovulate ovary, basilateral style and perianth, nut-like fruits with elaiosome. In male flowers the androecium emerges as an (uneven) elliptical rim with a central depression. This common girdling primordium is divided up into several stamen primordia. In male flowers with low stamen number the stamen primordia may occupy the corners alternating with the corolla lobes. There are no epipetalous androecial primordia that secondarily divide into stamens. Male flowers occasionally show a hemispherical base that may be interpreted as remnant of the inferior ovary. In female flowers a ring primordium grows into a tube on which the petal lobes arise. The perianth and style become displaced adaxially by uneven growth of the inferior ovary. The ovary is basically bilocular. The lower region of the ovary is provided with a septum that is overtopped and hidden by the single curved ovule.Theligonum is referred to theRubiaceae-Rubioideae, with theAnthospermeae andPaederieae as most closely related tribe

Clinical Judgment Versus Biomarker Prostate Cancer Gene 3: Which Is Best When Determining the Need for Repeat Prostate Biopsy?

ObjectiveTo assess the value of best clinical judgment (BCJ) and the prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) assay in guiding the decision to perform a repeat prostate biopsy (PBx) after a previous negative PBx.Materials and MethodsUsing the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method, 12 European urologists established recommendations (BCJ) for the appropriateness of PBx according to the prostate-specific antigen level, digital rectal examination findings, number of previous negative PBxs, prostate volume, and life expectancy, with and without consideration of the PCA3 scores. These recommendations were applied to 1024 subjects receiving placebo in the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events trial, including men with a previous negative PBx, a baseline prostate-specific antigen level of 2.5-10 ng/mL, and a PCA3 test performed before the protocol-mandated 2- and 4-year repeat PBxs. Three scenarios (ie, BCJ alone, BCJ with PCA3, and the PCA3 score alone) were tested for their ability to reduce the repeat PBx rate versus missing Gleason sum ≥7 prostate cancer (PCa).ResultsBCJ with PCA3 would have avoided 64% of repeat PBxs compared with 26% for BCJ alone and 55% for PCA3 alone (cutoff score 20). Of 55 PCa cases (Gleason sum ≥7), 13 would have been missed using BCJ alone compared with 7 using PCA3 (cutoff score 20) alone and 8 using BCJ plus PCA3. The diagnostic accuracy for Gleason sum ≥7 PCa of the BCJ with PCA3 scenario was superior to that of the other scenarios, with a negative predictive value of 99%.ConclusionApplication of the BCJ together with PCA3 testing can reduce the number of repeat PBxs while maintaining the sensitivity to detect Gleason sum ≥7 PCa

Access and allocation in earth system governance: Water and climate change compared

A significant percentage of the global population does not yet have access to safe drinking water, sufficient food or energy to live in dignity. There is a continuous struggle to allocate the earth's resources among users and uses. This article argues that distributional problems have two faces: access to basic resources or ecospace; and, the allocation of environmental resources, risks, burdens, and responsibilities for causing problems. Furthermore, addressing problems of access and allocation often requires access to social processes (science, movements and law). Analysts, however, have tended to take a narrow, disciplinary approach although an integrated conceptual approach may yield better answers. This article proposes a multi-disciplinary perspective to the problem of access and allocation and illustrates its application to water management and climate change. © The Author(s) 2010

Institutionalizing Non-institutionalization: Toward Sustainable Commoning

The goal of this article is to revive and empirically expand the debate on institutional frameworks within commons scholarship. The paper's guiding question is: what kind of institutional framework allows for sustainable commoning in urban conditions? In order to answer this question, we invoke the case of Savings and Credit Associations, a form of financial commoning whereby participants lend each other money and decide, through deliberative sessions, how the money is to be shared. We mobilize data from three decades of ethnographic research in India and The Netherlands, in order to distill the institutional properties that have contributed to Savings and Credit Associations' sustainable existence. The paper's main claim will be that in Savings and Credit Associations' institutional frameworks, a pivotal precondition for sustainable commoning can be found: the combination of a socio-relational (low-scale, trust-based) approach with a reconsideration of the rules at given intervals. In conclusion, we also argue that it's precisely a socio-relational approach which may save commoning's emancipatory potential

The Politics and Aesthetics of the Urban Commons: Navigating the Gaze of the City, the State, the Market

This thematic issue puts "urban commoning" centre stage. Urban commoning constitutes the practice of sharing urban resources (space, streets, energy, and more) through principles of inclusion and cooperation. Whilst generally defined as an autonomous, bottom‐up, and most of all cooperative practice, the sphere of the commons necessarily stands in interaction with two other spheres: the state/city ("provision") and the market ("competition"). Yet, the various interlinkages between the commons, the state/city, and the market are underexplored. Hence the rationale for this thematic issue: How does the relation between commons, states/cities, and markets play out in the urban realm? What are the possibilities and pitfalls of linking commons with states/cities and markets? In the first section of this editorial, we provide a substantiated introduction to the concept of the commons, its history, and its urban applications. In the second part, we give an overview of the issue's contributions. Scholars, activists, and practitioners from the disciplines of urban studies, cultural studies, planning, sustainability, sociology, architecture, and philosophy delve into the uncharted territory between commons, states/cities, and markets, through case studies from the Global North and South. The first three articles delve into the politics of urban commoning while the last three articles illuminate the practice's aesthetic dimension