bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lockdown, Breakdown and Trust: A Reply to Paul Faulkner
Authors: Pettit Philip
Published: January 2025

Paul Faulkner's (2021) discussion of the Covid lockdown in Britain and of the effect of the apparent breach of the lockdown rules by a senior government official is insightful and enlightening. I am grateful for the opportunity to comment.Setting the scene Faulkner does three things in his chapter. First, he plausibly connects the apparent breach of the rules by Dominic Cummings together with the absence of any formal penalty for that breach with evidence of a subsequent drop in the indices of trust in government and in the level of general compliance with the rules. Second, he suggests that since rational choice theory cannot adequately explain the presence of public trust and general compliance, when they are present - he certainly thinks that it cannot explain their relative resilience or stability - it cannot explain their decline either. And third, he postulates that 'moral reasons', and the 'climate of trust' that enables them to attain prominence, play a more important role in explaining both trust and compliance than the 'practical reasons' invoked in rational choice; and he suggests, in line with that claim, that it is mainly the effect of the Cummings debacle on that climate that explains the subsequent fall in public trust and civic compliance This general line is persuasive but I feel that more needs to be said about the 'moral reasons' that Faulkner invokes in explaining public trust and compliance. And I think that there is also more to say about the relationship between such moral reasons and the 'practical reasons' invoked in rational choice theory.
Fear, Pathogens and Political Order
Authors: Lebow Richard Ned
Published: January 2025

I distinguish fear from fright and explore the role of both in the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that fear generates strong public demands for protection and that these pressures can constrain or enable leaders depending on the circumstances, capabilities, but above all, their framing of the problem. I focus more on countries that performed badly because their leaders failed to gather or evaluate relevant information. To explain this behaviour I draw on motivational psychology and political ideology. My accounts are merely suggestive as they are not the result of data gathered from carefully paired and exhaustively researched cases. I conclude by offering reflections on four of the six propositions offered by the editors in their introduction.
3D random-modulated pulse lidar based on a gain-switched semiconductor laser with a recirculating delay lines interferometer
Authors: Lee Cheng-Ting , Chang Chih-Hao , Lin Fan-Yi
Published: January 2025

This study presents the development of a 3D random-modulated pulse lidar based on a gain-switched semiconductor laser with a recirculating delay lines interferometer (RDLI). The random-modulated pulses are generated by homodyning the frequency-shifting gain-switched pulses with multiple self-delays. While they exhibit anti-interference characteristics similar to those in previously developed chaos-modulated lidar, there is no need for external pulse formation and wavelength-sensitive filtering components in the current configuration. By varying the injection currents in gain-switching and the delay lengths in the RDLI, we experimentally investigated the transient dynamics of the generated random-modulated pulses. We demonstrated how these operating parameters influence the modulation in their waveforms and spectra. The detection performance was quantified by calculating the effective bandwidths, signal-to-noise ratios, Cramér-Rao lower bounds, range precision, self-interference peaks, and detection probability. We identified two key operating conditions: the best-precision condition and the precision-interference balanced condition. Compared to a previously investigated delay self-homodyne interferometer (DSHI) scheme, which homodynes the gain-switched pulses with just a single delay, the RDLI scheme achieved a precision as low as 0.46 mm, approximately 1.5 times better than the DSHI scheme. To demonstrate its superior performance and feasibility for detection, we integrated the RDLI into a 3D lidar imaging system and compared its performance to the DSHI and chaos lidar schemes. To highlight its improved precision and robustness to temperature variations, we evaluated its precision under varying average output power and changes in laser temperature. With the developed lidar system, we successfully achieved high-quality face profiling of a person with millimeter-level precision.
(3+1)-dimensional Airyprime-Laguerre-Gaussian wave packets in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media
Authors: Xu Gaofei , Liu Yufen , Ouyang Jingyun , He Shangling , He Yingji , Zhao Fang , Zheng Yunbao , Deng Dongmei , Peng Xi
Published: January 2025

In this work, we study (3+1)-dimensional Airyprime-Laguerre-Gaussian (ALG) wave packets in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media. We investigate the effects of distribution factor, cross-phase factor, power ratio, and nonlocal degree on ALG wave packets. Noteworthy, spatiotemporal ALG wave packets show different transverse shapes, such as triple-peaked, doughnut, and elliptic shapes, while the temporal distribution is like a spindle shape. We further discuss different nonlocal degree manifestations of ALG wave packets. Additionally, we study the Poynting vector, angular momentum, and optical forces of the ALG wave packets. These results explain the propagation dynamics of ALG wave packets and highlight their potential applications in particle trapping.
Crystal growth, spectral properties, and 2.3 µm continuous-wave laser operation of Tm:YScO3 and Tm:LuScO3 crystals
Authors: Yu Xiaoxu , Hou Jingxuan , Ma Shihui , Pan Zhongben , Pan Han , Chu Hongwei , Lu Dazhi , Li Dechun
Published: January 2025

Tm3+-doped sesquioxides, Tm:YScO3, and Tm:LuScO3 crystals, were successfully fabricated by using a laser floating zone method. For the first time, continuous-wave laser operation at 2.3 µm on the 3H4 → 3H5 Tm3+ transition of the two crystals was reported. Pumped by a 793 nm fiber-coupled laser diode, the Tm:YScO3 and Tm:LuScO3 lasers generated the maximum continuous-wave laser output power of 665 mW and 872 mW at 2.3 µm with a slope efficiency of 9.5% and 16.1%, respectively.
Reconstruction method for Fourier single-pixel imaging by considering the distribution feature of Fourier spectra of images
Authors: He Ruiqing , Li Xiaoqian , Zhu Qianying , Wei Yanxi , Zhang Wenwen
Published: January 2025

The sparse sampling method based on Fourier single-pixel imaging technology has attracted a lot of attention, but there is a lack of a general reconstruction method for sparse sampling. To address this problem, a new reconstruction network is proposed with sparse sampling in Fourier domain. This method can achieve high-quality imaging with a low sampling rate and it can also suppress the ringing effect by predicting the frequency and spatial domain information. To preserve the image details, we consider the distribution of the Fourier spectra of images and design the two-dimensional mask and the loss function in the Fourier domain. Experiments show that when the image resolution is 256×256 and the sampling rate is as low as 8%, the reconstructed image can recover fine details of the object, and meanwhile suppress the ringing effect. More importantly, the reconstruction time of the proposed method is as low as 34ms, which is 4 orders of magnitude faster than the compressed sensing algorithm. This work can also be applied to other sparse sampling methods, which significantly promotes the process of practical application of single-pixel technology.
Numerical analyses of a mid-IR metasurface spectral beam combiner with high efficiency and low phase distortion
Authors: Yang Lulu , Wang Xin , Li Xuhui , Dong Liquan
Published: January 2025

Mid-infrared lasers have been widely used in chem/bio-sensing, medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and defense. These applications frequently require broad spectral coverage, high brightness, and compact size. Spectral beam combining (SBC) technology has been proven to be efficient in scaling laser power and broadening spectral range. Although the blazing grating has been successfully applied as the SBC component in mid and far infrared, its performance is limited by strong dispersion and polarization dependence. In this paper, we proposed a spectral beam combiner based on the dual-band anomalous reflective metasurface. The combiner had ultra-high, polarization-independent anomalous reflectivity in two spectral bands (4.0 μm and 4.6 μm). In both bands, the bandwidth with over 95% reflectivity was 100 nm. These properties made both the dense SBC and two-band SBC possible. Moreover, the impacts of the input laser properties on the combining efficiency and beam quality were thoroughly studied. The metasurface beam combiner exhibited high tolerance to the incident angle deviation and input laser spectral linewidth. Even when the laser has a broad linewidth of 70 nm incident on the beam combiner with a large angle deviation of 10°, the beam combiner still showed a higher than 90% efficiency and good reflective beam quality M2<1.5. In addition, in the dense SBC situation, when 7 individual lasers with a central wavelength interval of 25 nm were combined the beam propagation parameter M2 was better than 1.5. We believe that the metasurface spectral beam combiner was an effective alternative to the commercial diffractive gratings and was capable of combining multiple beams from broadband laser sources.
Refractive index and magnetic field sensing based on bent microfiber functionalized with graphene oxide
Authors: Huang Siyang , Pu Shengli , Ji Yu , Zhang Chencheng , Liu Weinan , Xu Tengfei , Han Shufei
Published: January 2025

A bent tapered multimode fiber structure for refractive index (RI) and magnetic field sensing applications is proposed and investigated. The bent tapered region deposited with gold film to excite surface plasmon resonance (SPR) functions as the sensing area. Further surface functionalization with graphene oxide (GO) enhances the SPR effect. The high sensitivity of 5260.1 nm/RIU in the RI range of 1.33–1.37 is achieved. Magnetic fluid is used as the magneto-sensitive material, and the achieved magnetic field intensity and directional sensitivities are 7.08 nm/mT and 0.15 nm/°, respectively. The surface functionalization of GO extends the magnetic field sensor's detection range up to 30 mT. The proposed sensor features a simple structure, low cost, point-sensing capability, and excellent mechanical properties, making it highly suitable for various practical applications.
Real-time frame-registered resonant fluorescence scanning laser ophthalmoscopy for quantifying static and dynamic cellular properties in the mouse retina
Authors: Song Tianqi , Wang Yao , Zhou Yuxiang , Zhou Mingliang , Ma Yanhong , Ma Donghan , Qu Jia , Zhang Jinyi , Zhang Pengfei
Published: January 2025

Fluorescence labeling offers excellent contrast for cell imaging within living mouse eyes. High-speed, high-resolution imaging with a large field of view (FOV) is always desirable. A high-speed scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) system has been developed, equipped with real-time desinusoiding correction and frame registration for fluorescence imaging of mouse retinas. Precise calibration using a standard raster grid compensates for scanning hysteresis and image lateral distortion caused by the sinusoidal motion of the resonant scanner. More importantly, a strip-based registration method has been developed to correct frame distortions induced by breathing and pupil drift, enabling effective real-time and post-processing frame averaging. This system captures images at 1024 × 1024 pixels, with a temporal resolution of 16 Hz and a lateral resolution of 1.8 µm, and a FOV of up to 50° (35 µm/degree), which facilitates accurate measurement of both static and dynamic cellular properties, such as microglia cell density, diameter, spacing, and blood hemodynamics, within living mouse eyes.
Fundamental mode excitation via Joule–Thomson light expansion in nonlinear optical lattices
Authors: Pyrialakos Georgios G. , Khajavikhan Mercedeh , Christodoulides Demetrios N.
Published: January 2025

Under linear conditions, power injected from a single waveguide into a
multi-core fiber array results in multimode propagation, progressively
diminishing the spatial coherence of light. In this work, we introduce
a comprehensive approach to mitigate this coherence loss by means of a
nonlinear thermodynamic Joule–Thomson expansion. By leveraging the
tools of optical thermodynamics, we demonstrate that as light
undergoes a sudden transition from a small to a larger nonlinear
optical array, it can abruptly drop its optical temperature to
near-zero values. During this cooling process, light irreversibly
flows into the system's fundamental mode with very high efficiency,
synchronizing all elements of the lattice with the input port. We show
that this nonlinear effect is highly predictable even in systems of
arbitrary geometry and shape and can be controlled precisely by the
initial conditions at the input of the array. In particular, for a
single injection point, the reduction in optical temperature can be
directly determined by the total power, irrespective of the input
location.
Label-free hyperspectral multiphoton microscopy
Authors: De la Cadena Alejandro , Renteria Carlos A. , Aksamitiene Edita , Boppart Stephen A.
Published: January 2025

Label-free multiphoton microscopy is a powerful tool for investigating pristine biological specimens. This imaging modality leverages optical signals originating from the nonlinear response of native biomolecules to intense optical radiation, nonlinear signals that allow localizing and quantifying the constituents of specimens, driving applications in biology and medicine. However, since its inception over three decades ago, this approach has operated with a narrowband detection scheme, relying on narrow bandwidths from the entire spectra to derive imaging contrast. This detection scheme hinders the analytical power of the nonlinear microscope, preventing the rigorous unmixing of co-localized constituents with spectral overlap. In this Letter, we shift from the narrowband paradigm to the broadband, demonstrating label-free hyperspectral multiphoton imaging of biological specimens. We validate this configuration by disentangling the constituents of fresh murine tissues by virtue of nonlinear spectra.
Optical Pendellösung effect in 2D hexagonal photonic crystals based on porous anodic alumina
Authors: Novikov V. B. , Smirnov K. A. , Dotsenko A. A. , Roslyakov I. V. , Sotnichuk E. O. , Napolskii K. S. , Maydykovskiy A. I. , Murzina T. V.
Published: January 2025

Intermodal light interference in artificial optical structures has become a powerful tool for precise routing of radiation. In periodic systems, it can lead to the Pendellösung effect consisting of the energy exchange between diffraction orders. Originally discovered for x rays, the optical analog of this phenomenon promises to be a viable means for the control of light. In this work, we investigate the Pendellösung effect in the visible spectral range in two-dimensional photonic crystals (PhCs) with a hexagonal lattice of pores in anodic alumina. We found peculiar spectral and angular variations of the light transmission near the Bragg diffraction conditions and provide a detailed analysis of the effect.
Single-detector MIR microspectrometer based on a MEMS microshutter array
Authors: Ding Xinyu , Chen Hao , Liu Qiangqiang , Yang Gai , Wang Xiaoyi , Xie Huikai , Zhao Hui
Published: January 2025

We report a method of spectrum reconstruction in mid-infrared (MIR) range with a single photodetector (PD), enabled by a pre-patterned MIR filter whose transmittance spectrum is modulated by a micromechanical system (MEMS) microshutter array (MSA). By changing the opening states of the MSA pixels, a variety of transmission spectra can be generated from the same filter. A single-pixel PD is used to record the optical power transmitted through the MIR filter for each MSA configuration. A deep neural network (DNN) is introduced to decode the MSA-modulated optical powers to reconstruct the full spectrum of a light under test. The employed MSA has 4 × 8 pixels with each pixel’s opening of 2.5 × 1 mm. By applying 10 different MSA configurations, a full spectrum of a light source with a spectral range from 3 to 5 μm has been successfully reconstructed. The mean squared error between the reconstructed spectrum and ground truth is less than 1%. Compared to those systems that rely on expensive MIR photodetector arrays, this proposed method provides a low-cost solution for MIR spectrometers.
Enhanced stimulated Brillouin scattering in valley Hall photonic–phononic topological waveguides
Authors: Meng Xin , Niu Xiaoran , Wang Jiawei , Duan Jianan , Xu Xiaochuan , He Feng
Published: January 2025

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) provides a robust and versatile foundation for the development of mode-locked lasers, microwave signal generators, and optical gyroscopes across diverse optical platforms. Nonetheless, the relatively low efficacy of Brillouin interactions in traditional silicon photonic waveguides presents a barrier to the advances of silicon-based Brillouin laser technology. The emergence of hybrid photonic–phononic waveguides has brought to light the robust and adaptable nature of Brillouin interactions in silicon, marking a significant advancement. Here we numerically calculated the SBS gain in the valley Hall photonic–phononic topological insulator (VH-PTI), which confines the phonons in the optical waveguide to achieve light transmission under large-angle bending. Our results show that the SBS gain at 9.101 GHz is Gb/Qm = 14.94 W-1·m-1, enhanced by 1.4 times compared to the highest reported value so far. In addition, we realized arbitrary location decoupling on the chip, introducing a topological state into SBS devices. This work provides a way to implement VH-PTI into silicon photonic circuits for Brillouin laser applications.
Mode decomposition for multicore fibers based on far-field intensity measurements
Authors: Ji Kunhao
Published: January 2025

We present a mode decomposition method for multicore fibers (MCFs) that is based on intensity measurements in the far-field. Mode decomposition of several homemade multicore fibers is demonstrated in the far-field with low residual errors. Accurate measurement of supermode compositions and of the electric fields among cores is crucial for many applications involving multicore fibers as well as their integration into multimode platforms.
Differentiable pixel-super-resolution lensless imaging
Authors: Chen Ni , Lam Edmund Y.
Published: January 2025

Conventional lensless imaging systems require complex phase diversity measurements and sequential processing steps, limiting their practical application despite their compact design. We present a differentiable end-to-end pixel-super-resolution (dPSR) technique that unifies PSR hologram synthesis, autofocusing, and complex-field reconstruction within a single optimization framework. By jointly optimizing these traditionally separate processes, our method eliminates both phase diversity requirements and error accumulation from sequential processing. Our method achieves superior position estimation accuracy (mean error 0.0282 pixels versus 0.1172 pixels with conventional methods), delivering precise autofocusing with accuracy better than 0.3 µm, and enabling a twofold resolution enhancement beyond the sensor’s native pixel size. This robust performance is validated through both simulated and experimental results, including challenging phase objects and label-free cell imaging, establishing dPSR as a practical solution for high-resolution microscopy applications.
Double Slit Experiments Showing that Light being Photons
Authors: Peng Hui
Published: January 2025

Young’s double slit experiments have been descripted by wave theories, i.e., before and after passing a double slit, the light is waves. Now, we extend the double slit experiments to the comprehensive double slit experiments by utilizing Shield (showing the light is not wave), Metal tube (showing the light is not EM wves),

Blocker (showing the light is particles), combination of Shield and Blocker (showing the light is particles),

Photon-Chamber (showing the light is particles which produce both non-interference patterns and interference patterns),

and Lens (showing the light is particles which produce non-wave and wave patterns).

We propose two Postulates: “Postulate on light: light is photons before and after passing through double slit” and “Postulate on lens: light behaves same before and after passing through lens”. Then, we show the novel phenomena of the comprehensive double slit experiments: (1) the light is photons before and after passing through a double slit; (2) photons form both the non-interference patterns and the interference patterns; (3) the non-interference patterns gradually evolve to the interference patterns in the same experiment. We refer to the novel phenomena as “PhotoWave phenomena” that are universal. The comprehensive double slit experiments provide the novel phenomena for developing theoretical model further to study: (1) the nature of the light; (2) the Feynman’s mystery of the double slit; (3) the wave-particle duality; and (4) the wave theories of the light; (5) applications. A complete description should explain all the comprehensive double slit experiments consistently.
Double Slit Experiments Showing that Light being Photons
Authors: Peng Hui
Published: January 2025

Young’s double slit experiments have been descripted by wave theories, i.e., before and after passing a double slit, the light is waves. Now, we extend the double slit experiments to the comprehensive double slit experiments by utilizing Shield (showing the light is not wave), Metal tube (showing the light is not EM waves), Blocker (showing the light is particles), combination of Shield and Blocker (showing the light is particles), Photon-Chamber (showing the light is particles which produce both non-interference patterns and interference patterns), and Lens (showing the light is particles which produce non-wave and wave patterns). We propose two Postulates: “Postulate on light: light is photons before and after passing through double slit” and “Postulate on lens: light behaves same before and after passing through lens”. Then, we show the novel phenomena of the comprehensive double slit experiments: (1) the light is photons before and after passing through a double slit; (2) photons form both the non-interference patterns and the interference patterns; (3) the non-interference patterns gradually evolve to the interference patterns in the same experiment. We refer to the novel phenomena as “PhotoWave phenomena” that are universal. The comprehensive double slit experiments provide the novel phenomena for developing theoretical model further to study: (1) the nature of the light; (2) the Feynman’s mystery of the double slit; (3) the wave-particle duality; and (4) the wave theories of the light; (5) applications. A complete description should explain all the comprehensive double slit experiments consistently.
Digital financial inclusion, population structure, and consumption upgrades: Evidence from China
Authors: Liu Qianwen , Zheng Jianjie , Luo Shihui
Published: January 2025

This study empirically tests the role of population structure in the process of digital financial inclusion empowering the upgrading of consumption structure by taking 248 prefecture-level cities between 2013 and 2019 as the research objects. The results of this study are as follows. First, digital financial inclusion will expand the scale of consumption. Second, digital financial inclusion can promote the upgrading of consumption structure. Third, population structure will regulate the promotional effect of digital financial inclusion on the upgrading of consumption structure. Specifically, child dependency ratio has a positive moderating effect on digital financial inclusion-driven the upgrading of consumption structure. Moreover, sex ratio has a positive moderating effect on digital financial inclusion-driven the upgrading of consumption structure. Therefore, it is suggested that vigorously promote and develop digital financial inclusion, implement and improve the three-child policy, and expand the elderly consumer industry to better promote consumption upgrading.
A pan-orthohantavirus human lung xenograft mouse model and its utility for preclinical studies
Authors: Rissmann Melanie , Noack Danny , Spliethof Thomas M. , Vaes Vincent P. , Stam Rianne , van Run Peter , Clark Jordan J. , Verjans Georges M. G. M. , Haagmans Bart L. , Krammer Florian , Koopmans Marion P. G. , van den Brand Judith M. A. , Rockx Barry
Published: January 2025

Orthohantaviruses are emerging zoonotic viruses that can infect humans via the respiratory tract. There is an unmet need for an in vivo model to study infection of different orthohantaviruses in physiologically relevant tissue and to assess the efficacy of novel pan-orthohantavirus countermeasures. Here, we describe the use of a human lung xenograft mouse model to study the permissiveness for different orthohantavirus species and to assess its utility for preclinical testing of therapeutics. Following infection of xenografted human lung tissues, distinct orthohantavirus species differentially replicated in the human lung and subsequently spread systemically. The different orthohantaviruses primarily targeted the endothelium, respiratory epithelium and macrophages in the human lung. A proof-of-concept preclinical study showed treatment of these mice with a virus neutralizing antibody could block Andes orthohantavirus infection and dissemination. This pan-orthohantavirus model will facilitate progress in the fundamental understanding of pathogenesis and virus-host interactions for orthohantaviruses. Furthermore, it is an invaluable tool for preclinical evaluation of novel candidate pan-orthohantavirus intervention strategies.
Ccer1 is a spermatid-specific gene required for spermatogenesis and male fertility
Authors: Sammer Bianca , Schmid Philomena , Miyata Haruhiko , Kazi Samina , Honkimaa Anna-Liisa , Petrov Petar , Kapiainen Emmi , Miinalainen Ilkka , Izzi Valerio , Ikawa Masahito , Prunskaite-Hyyryläinen Renata
Published: January 2025

Male infertility is a multifactorial condition for which the underlying causes frequently remain undefined. Genetic factors have long been associated with male fertility. However, many of them are poorly or not at all characterized and their biological functions are unknown. Identifying the key genes behind male infertility is crucial for improving prognosis and treatment options, as well as for evaluating the risk of passing on genetic defects through natural or assisted reproductive methods to the next generation. Here, we have studied the Coiled-coil domain-containing glutamate-rich protein 1 (Ccer1), a poorly characterized gene specific to vertebrates. We demonstrate that it is enriched during spermiogenesis in spermatids in both mice and humans. The studied Ccer1 knockout mice exhibit significant subfertility due to the absence of Ccer1 function, which leads to altered sperm head and tail ultrastructure. This study defines Ccer1 as a spermatid-specific gene critical for spermiogenesis, suggesting it would be worthwhile inspecting when there is a suspicion of male infertility associated with genetic causes.
Alternative Development Strategies for SIDS: Building Competitiveness in New Industries
Authors: Terauds Kris , Zhuawu Collin
Published: January 2025

Small island developing states (SIDS) face severe structural challenges to their sustainable development. Some are among the poorest and most isolated countries in the world, with relatively small populations and narrow endowments of land and natural resources. This Economic Paper builds on the 2014 SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway, which provides policy guidance on economic, environmental and social priorities in SIDS. Complementing the vision contained in the Pathway, it offers a more detailed analysis and guidance on alternative economic development strategies for SIDS and recommends policies necessary for SIDS to build their competitiveness in new industries.
Kate Campbell
Authors: Streight Irwin H.
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the work of Kate Campbell, a lesser-known southern singer-songwriter in Americana and gospel genres who has widely acknowledged O’Connor’s influence on her songwriting and sensibilities. A Mississippi-raised daughter of a progressive Baptist minister, Campbell is a sort of inverse double to O’Connor, this chapter argues. Campbell’s Rosaryville (1999) songs take a Southern Baptist perspective on the religious practices and eccentricities of the South’s Catholics. Other songs in her considerable catalogue of recordings reveal what O’Connor called the “Christ-haunted” religious culture of the South and echo Lucinda Williams in their treatment of extreme practices in southern Pentecostalism. This chapter also shows that, like O’Connor, Campbell has a comic outlook and delights in skewering southern manners in compassionate songs with a strain of gothic humor that are send-ups of southern traditions and social practices.
Nick Cave
Authors: Streight Irwin H.
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the creative work of Nick Cave—a songwriter, novelist, apologist, and composer with a persona that might have stepped out of the pages of one of O’Connor’s stories about a Christ-haunted character. This chapter notes that Cave was once obsessed with O’Connor’s first novel Wise Blood and produced his own faux southern novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel, which, it is argued, draws substance from both of O’Connor’s novels. Cave journeys to the sacred through the carnal, and his sacral-sexual notions are explored through close readings of songs recorded on The Boatman’s Call (1997; 2011 Remastered Edition). O’Connor, too, it is argued, engages in a kind of erotic theology in Wise Blood and her stories “A Temple of the Holy Ghost” and “The Comforts of Home.” Chapter 6 explores Cave’s irreligious religious quest and underscores the Hazel Motes-like nature of his spiritual journey as evidenced in his song narratives, polemical works, and the biopic One More Time with Feeling (2016).
Acting Supernaturally (with Notes on the Monster of Anarchy)
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

This concluding chapter draws a parallel between critiques of scientism in radical theory and critiques of cognitivism in science fiction studies. The aspiration to modern scientificity in Marxism and anarchism sits ill at ease with the recognition that both owe something crucial to the millenarian, the mystical, and the Indigenous. Likewise, the impetus to define SF as a distinct genre, as “cognitive estrangement,” is troubled by a postwar collapse of faith in science and progress, what Peter Nicholls called “the Monster of Anarchy,” and by the recognition that its scientificity is often a rhetorical surface disguising a mythological content. If the illusion of the “cognitive” is sustained by scientistic rhetoric, both science and rhetoric themselves owe something to the magical traditions of Europe. I argue that both the radical and the fantastic imaginaries need not be frightened by the Monster of Anarchy, that it, too, is a hopeful monster. In conclusion, the chapter proposes a “nonmodern anarchism” which would leave behind the Modern Constitution.
Streets on Locke
Authors: Britt Thomas
Published: January 2025

The films Hustle & Flow and Snow on tha Bluff are each centered on drug-dealing rappers, a parallel that establishes a relevant polarity for Atlanta’s satirical viewpoint in its first two seasons. Dealing and rapping are both tentpoles and satirical targets for Atlanta’s depiction of broke Princeton dropout Earnest “Earn” Marks and his attempts to manage the ascendant rap career of his weed-dealing cousin Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles. Atlanta departs significantly from the chimerical Hustle & Flow and the nihilistic Snow on tha Bluff in part because its dual-protagonist narrative approach provides an opposition of drives that the films lack, thereby consistently grounding the characters in the frustrating realities of economic and social mobility. A range of philosophical sources including John Locke, Jean de la Bruyère, and Aristotle helps illustrate how Atlanta satirizes the interplay of slacking and striving in two of its principal characters.
Race in Comics Pre-1970
Authors: Smith Troy D.
Published: January 2025

Chapter one is an overview of race in comics before the arrival of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu cinema. This includes a description of the birth of the comic book industry in the 1930s, with an emphasis on the Jewishness of many Golden Age comics creators. Working in an era of much anti-semitism and anti-immigrant bias, there was great pressure for such creators to present as hyper-Americanized, and to conform to both the structure of whiteness and the casual racism of the time in order to be accepted. Aversive racism—subtle and sometimes unrecognized by themselves—meant that all representations of racial minorities were from a white perspective. Blacks and Asians might be in the story, but it was not their story. The chapter gives many examples, culminating in the 1960s growth of Black superheroes and supporting characters -all of whom were respectable and non-threatening to whiteness.
Seasons at Lakeside Dairy
Authors: LeFalle-Collins Lizzetta
Published: January 2025

Opened in 1907 in Shreveport, Louisiana, by the author's grandfather, Black dairy farmer Angus Bates, Lakeside Dairy was a rarity in the post-Reconstruction South. The dairy thrived despite the time's challenging, racially oppressive, and hostile social and political climate. While Lakeside Dairy closed in 1943, Angus's life and work legacy echoed through the Bates family for generations. The author structures her narrative around familial creative storytelling heard as a child, supported by family ephemera about the dairy and the family's social and community engagement. The book tracks life on the farm through the year, showing how the family worked, lived, and cooked and how they made a sustainable living in a climate of pervasive racism. Survival in the farming community was mainly due to the influence of George Washington Carver, who disseminated innovative recommendations for farmers, and Booker T. Washington, who advocated for Black entrepreneurs to remain and rebuild the South to make it their own. Angus Bates passed in 1935, and his spouse Carrie D. Bates rebranded the dairy in her name with her sons until closing. Realizing Shreveport held few opportunities for her children, she encouraged them to move west, a migratory route followed by many Black Louisianans. Family members' voices are interwoven into each chapter. The book offers unique insight into their persistence, sustainability, self-sufficiency, and joy. Migration tales also open a window into the complex history of race and identity, continuing as they became homeowners in the West.
Spring Planning for the Next Year
Authors: LeFalle-Collins Lizzetta
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on the spring planning of the Bates family. They practiced sustainable farming techniques like crop rotation to ensure a healthy and productive environment. As spring arrived, the children enjoyed the sunrise, magnolias, and the season's ideal conditions for baking yeast rolls and watching flowers bloom. Extended daylight meant longer work hours in the dairy, fields, and garden, transitioning to a hot, humid subtropical climate. Dr. Carver's advice on using peanuts and foraging for wild greens, including dandelion and chicory, was crucial during World War II food shortages. His methods, such as using chicory to extend coffee, were embraced by many Louisianans. The chapter then describes how the family's involvement extended to social and church clubs, where Grandma Bates, inspired by figures like Mary Church Terrell and Booker T. Washington, focused on uplifting her community through education and support. It highlights Aunt Lizzetta and Aunt Lilly's almond and lemon teacakes, which symbolize the family's rich culinary traditions and cherished gatherings.
The Legacy And Historical and Cultural Context of Lakeside Dairy
Authors: LeFalle-Collins Lizzetta
Published: January 2025

This chapter describes how the author and her family moved from Santa Barbara to Tuskegee University, where she took up a teaching position, and her husband adapted to rural life reminiscent of his Louisiana roots. Despite initial reluctance, she was drawn to Tuskegee by the chance to reconnect with her Southern heritage. Upon arrival, the grandeur of the university's dairy barn reminded her of her grandfather, sparking her interest in exploring family stories and her grandfather Angus Bates's complex identity. Meanwhile, her husband's childhood tales, like the coachwhip snake incident, highlighted the rugged rural experiences he cherished. Their time in the South included visits to historically Black colleges and universities, but they faced a challenging experience of racial discrimination in Nashville, contrasting with the supportive environment of Tuskegee. After returning to Los Angeles, the author visited her grandparents' former Shreveport home, now changed but still marked by a fig tree that remained a symbol of family connections and Southern traditions. She planned to preserve the figs with her husband Willie and made buttermilk biscuits.
Free People of Color in West Feliciana Parish
Authors: Wilson Evelyn L.
Published: January 2025

In this chapter, the reader begins to meet the free people of color who lived in West Feliciana Parish and learns how they came to be there. Some were free before entering the parish and traveled there alone or with others. Most people of color came to the parish enslaved and earned their freedom through self-purchase or were granted their freedom because of their relationship with their enslaver. Some manumissions were simple; others were complex or conditional. This chapter exposes the very individual nature of emancipation in the parish and tracks the changes in Louisiana’s laws that made emancipations increasingly costly and that ultimately prohibited them.
Earning a Living
Authors: Wilson Evelyn L.
Published: January 2025

Free people of color could live in West Feliciana Parish because they could support themselves. This chapter looks at the variety of professions pursued by this population. It notes the apprenticeship opportunities available to minors and highlights Drury L. Mitchell, a carpenter who taught others his trade. The chapter includes the stories of: Nelly Wooten, a restauranteur who began her life as an enslaved woman and owned eight town lots in Bayou Sara and a 220-acre farm at her death; of George Douse and Maria Wicker, also restauranteurs in the parish; and of Kesiah Middleton who owned a flatboat business and a brickmaking business. A table illustrates the occupations listed on the census records and on the registration statements of free people of color.
Voting Rights in a Post–Civil Rights Movement Era
Authors: Brazelton Shenita
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on the critical importance of the right to vote in American democracy, including the struggles faced by Black voters who were systematically disenfranchised for decades. It details the pivotal role Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s activism played in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), a landmark achievement in the Civil Rights Movement that provided broad protections for minority voters. It also recounts how the strength of the VRA has been undermined by the conservative majority in the current US Supreme Court, influenced by the Donald Trump administration's appointment of numerous conservative judges. The chapter emphasizes the ongoing challenges to voting rights protections and the necessity for modern activists to adopt strategies similar to those used by Dr. King to advocate for robust legislation and enforcement. It underscores the continued relevance of Dr. King's activism in protecting minority voting rights.
The Color of Healthcare
Authors: Mcneely Natasha Altema
Published: January 2025

This chapter reviews Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s advocacy for equitable healthcare and its relevance to the ongoing issue of Black maternal mortality in the United States. Dr. King was acutely aware of the racial and socioeconomic disparities that denied adequate healthcare to marginalized communities, and he urged US presidents to address these injustices. The chapter highlights the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as an effort to reduce healthcare disparities, including those affecting Black mothers. The chapter examines how factors such as racial discrimination, socioeconomic status, and inadequate prenatal and postpartum care contribute to these disparities. It evaluates the effectiveness of the ACA in improving care for Black women and discusses other potential solutions, incorporating insights from Dr. King's writings to emphasize the ongoing need for justice in healthcare.
The Postracial Fantasyland of Live-Action Disney Remakes
Authors: Soto-Vásquez Arthur D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter assesses the Walt Disney Company's response to criticisms of racial stereotypes in its animated films, particularly in the aftermath of the racial reckoning following George Floyd's death in 2020. It mentions how Disney engaged in various strategies, such as retheming attractions and adding disclaimers to films. It also argues that the company's live-action remakes serve as a more complex and subtle approach to addressing its racial history, strategically attempting to sanitize and obscure its problematic past. Through concepts like racial remembering and forgetting, the multicultural cinematic universe, and racial Imagineering, Disney constructs a postracial fantasyland where multiculturalism is idealized, and racial conflict is erased. The chapter outlines the rhetorical strategies that demonstrate how Disney and similar entities use the facade of diversity and inclusion to maintain a postracial narrative, obscuring the ongoing realities of racial injustice.
Warring with Failure
Authors: Lawson Kate
Published: January 2025

This chapter builds a theory for understanding literary failure. It draws on Emily’s perceptions of her own shortcomings, Montgomery’s infamously conflicted feelings about the quality of the trilogy, and the traditions of sequels that Montgomery received from her Victorian predecessors. Lawson provides an understanding of failure as potentially energizing, thereby offering an importantly different perspective on what Emily and Montgomery considered to be their own literary failings.
Reading Emily out of Time and Place
Authors: Steffler Margaret
Published: January 2025

Steffler takes a refreshingly personal and reflective approach to both the trilogy and Steffler’s own previous experiences of it. Whereas her previous readings have relied on a sense of how things grow and move forward, this reading posits that Emily may best be understood by refusing to consider them in the safe, linear structure in which they are offered to us. The result is an analysis that challenges our long-held assumptions about the story and opens new ways of reading historical fiction in general.
Upaya Meningkatkan Nilai 8 Standar Nasional Pendidikan Akreditasi Sekolah melalui Supervisi Pembimbingan Terpadu pada Madrasah Ibtidaiyah di Kabupaten Sleman
Authors: Wahyuni Sri
Published: January 2025

This research method using action research supervision, namely providing action against madrasa or teacher in charge as the team successful accreditation of the school/madrasa. Action of supervision consists of two cycles, each cycle includes: planning, implementation, observation/observation and reflection. I cycle on physical evidence that has been filled with good and right on MI Al Islam 32.48%, at MI Al Ihsan there 33.76%, at MI Wahid Hasyim 34.39% and at MI Ma'arif Bego 43.31%. Before stepping into the cycle II is no reflection on the purpose of evaluating the cycle I and cycle II plan. With the improvements in cycle II expected more efficiently and effectively. The results of supervision and supervision cycle II physical evidence already filled and right on MI Al Islam 86.6%, at 89%, MI Al Ihsan, MI Wahid Hasyim 91.72% and at MI Ma'arif Bego 96.8%. Results of the study showed a rise in MI Al Islam of 71 became 89 with the rise in value or 18%, on MI Al Ihsan from 83 be 93 with the rise in the value of 10 or 10%, at MI Wahid hasyim from 91 be 95 there is a rise in the value of 4 or 4% and on the MI Ma'arif Bego 90 into 98 there is a rise in the value of 8 or 8%. Thus an integrated supervision and supervision on a madrasah that will enhance the value of accreditation can be accredited.
Peningkatan Prestasi Belajar Siswa pada Mata Pelajaran Ekonomi melalui Media Infografis
Authors: Susilowati Sulis , Anistyasari Yeni
Published: January 2025

The application of infographic media in the learning of economics subjects aims to increase students' understanding of complex abstract concepts and motivate their involvement in the learning process. Infographic media is a data visualization tool that presents information in a concise, interesting, and easy-to-understand manner. This study uses an experimental approach by involving high school students as research subjects. The results of the study show that the use of infographic media significantly improves student learning outcomes, especially on topics that require an analytical understanding such as economic cycles, inflation, demand, and supply. Students report that infographics make it easier for them to understand the relationships between economic variables through a combination of images, graphs, and short text. In addition, the application of this media also increases students' active participation in class discussions, because it is easier for them to visualize the concepts taught. Thus, infographic media is not only effective in improving concept understanding, but also provides a more interactive and enjoyable learning experience. The implementation of infographic media is expected to be one of the innovations in economic learning that can be adapted for various levels of education.
Pengembangan Media Pembelajaran Animasi Interaktif Berbasis Adobe Animate
Authors: Anggara Rosich , Supardji Supardji
Published: January 2025

This research aims to develop an interactive animation learning media based on Adobe Animate which is designed to increase the effectiveness and involvement of students in the learning process. It combines visual, audio, and interactivity elements to create an engaging and immersive learning experience. The development results show that interactive animation learning media based on Adobe Animate is effective and feasible to use as a teaching tool. Interactive features, such as quizzes, simulations, and animated animations, have been proven to increase students' interest and understanding of the material. This media also provides flexibility for teachers in delivering material in an attractive and easy-to-understand manner. This development is expected to be an innovative alternative in supporting the digital learning process, especially in the era of technology-based education. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of this medium on a wider scale and in a variety of subjects.