bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Case-based learning: a case of maturity-onset diabetes of the young 5 (MODY5) due to 17q12 microdeletion with a diminished plasma glucagon level
Authors: Sugano Yoko , Sekiya Motohiro , Murayama Yuki , Osaki Yoshinori , Iwasaki Hitoshi , Suzuki Hiroaki , Fukushima Hiroko , Suzuki Hisato , Noguchi Emiko , Shimano Hitoshi
Published: February 2025

Maturity-onset diabetes of the young type 5 (MODY5), causally associated with loss-of-function of the HNF1B gene, is a rare form of monogenic diabetes that has been underdiagnosed in part because microdeletions of chromosome 17q12 encompassing the HNF1B gene cannot be detected by sequencing-based approaches, which accounts for about 50% of MODY5 cases. We herein describe a 37-year-old Japanese woman who manifested diabetic ketosis at the onset. The coexistence of features associated with MODY5, including abnormal renal function, impaired insulin secretion, pancreatic hypoplasia and hypomagnesemia, prompted us to decode her genomic information using whole-exome sequencing, where we were not able to identify any pathogenic HNF1B gene mutations. We further examined her genomic integrity using multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA) analysis, leading to identification of the 17q12 microdeletion which was further supported by array comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH). Her insulin secretory capacity was insufficient, whereas her total daily dose of insulin was 11 U/day (0.25 U/Kg/day), indicating that she was relatively sensitive to insulin. As a possible explanation, we found that her plasma glucagon level was below the detection limit. Since inactivation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACACA), encoded in close proximity to the HNF1B gene, was reported to blunt glucagon secretion, the concurrent deletion of the ACACA gene may be in part responsible for this manifestation. In conclusion, the genetic analyses of MODY5 cases require the judicious use of appropriate genetic technologies. In addition, alpha-cell dysfunction may at least in part account for the variable clinical manifestations of MODY5.
Preservice teachers as curriculum deliverers or curriculum-makers? Exploring curriculum-making conceptions and opportunities in professional experiences
Authors: Poulton Phillip
Published: February 2025

This paper explores the impact of ongoing performativity and accountability agendas in education which frame curriculum merely as a product for delivery and teachers more as ‘technicians’ rather than curriculum-makers. While research has explored the impact of such agendas on the realities of teachers’ curriculum experiences within schools, further insight is needed on the implications for initial teacher education and preservice teachers’ developing curriculum identities. Focusing initially on a collective group of Australian preservice teachers, this study explores their conceptualisations of and aspirations for curriculum-making as part of their future classroom practice. By drawing on two in-depth cases from this collective, this study highlights the constrained nature of curriculum-making experiences during professional experience placements, and the implications this has for their capability development as aspirational curriculum-makers. The findings underscore the need for professional experience placement opportunities that foster preservice teachers’ development as active and critical curriculum-makers, rather than passive deliverers. Supporting these opportunities is paramount, especially in an educational landscape which seeks to de-professionalise the teaching profession further through the outsourcing of teachers’ curriculum thinking and expertise.
Trends and determinants of hospitalizations among diabetic patients in Chile: A 4-year analysis (2019–2022)
Authors: de Souza-Lima Josivaldo , Giakoni-Ramírez Frano , Parra-Saldías Maribel , dos Santos Mauricio , Matsudo Sandra Mahecha , Ferrari Gerson , Valdivia-Moral Pedro
Published: February 2025

Background

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a growing public health concern in Chile, contributing significantly to hospitalizations due to acute and chronic complications.

Objective

This study aims to analyze trends in T2D hospitalizations over 4 years (2019–2022), focusing on patient demographics, reasons for admission, and hospitalization outcomes.

Methods

This retrospective observational study used data from the FONASA Open Data platform, covering 31,692 hospitalizations from 65 hospitals funded through the Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) payment mechanism. Data were analyzed for trends in age, sex, length of stay, and primary causes of hospitalization. Statistical methods included Prais-Winsten regression to assess trends and compare hospitalization rates by gender and age groups.

Results

Hospitalizations increased from 4066 in 2019 to 9628 in 2022, with the mean age rising from 65.2 ± 10.6 years to 68.4 ± 11.3 years. Peripheral circulatory complications were the leading cause of hospitalization, accounting for 70.2% of cases, followed by ketoacidosis (12.2%) and ophthalmic complications (9.1%). Male hospitalizations grew significantly, from 8.6% in 2019 to 20.2% in 2022, outpacing the increase in female hospitalizations, which reached 10.2% in 2022. The mean length of stay showed variability, with a slight increase in 2022 (11.3 ± 15.8 days).

Conclusions

This study highlights the increasing burden of T2D hospitalizations in Chile, particularly among older adults and male patients. Peripheral circulatory complications remain the primary cause of admission, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to improve diabetes management and reduce hospitalizations. Keywords such as diabetes mellitus, hospitalizations, complications, trends, and Chile are central to this analysis.
Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Complications of Gynecologic Laparoscopic Surgery
Authors: Poston Courtney M. , Falcone Tommaso , Sprague Michael L.
Published: February 2025

Purpose of Review

This review seeks to deliver a comprehensive summary of the types, locations, and management strategies for gastrointestinal and genitourinary complications linked to gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. It will cover injury mechanisms, surgical methods to prevent complications, intraoperative recognition strategies, and detailed management protocols to enhance patient outcomes.

Recent Findings

The incidence of GI and GU injury at the time of gynecologic laparoscopic surgery is low but associated with substantial patient morbidity. The majority of GI injuries occur at the time of abdominal entry. Small serosal abrasions can be expectantly managed while injuries to the bowel mucosa or muscularis requires immediate surgical repair. Delayed diagnosis of bowel injury is associated with significant patient morbidity and clinical presentation is widely variable. Bladder injury is more common than ureteral injury, and bladder injury is more often recognized intraoperatively. In the setting of complex injuries, a multi-disciplinary approach is necessary to ensure proper repair and optimal patient outcomes.

Gynecologic surgeons should have a thorough understanding of the possible GI and GU injuries that can occur at the time of laparoscopic surgery and should remain vigilant in the OR to aid in early recognition of these injuries. Careful technique, thorough inspection, and the use of adjunctive tests are critical in reducing the risk of operative injuries. When patient symptoms deviate from the expected postoperative course, delayed recognition of operative injury should be considered. Timely recognition and management of such complications are crucial to optimizing patient outcomes.
Predicting the impacts of key development indices on the ecological footprint in Afghanistan using deep learning
Authors: Arian A. B. , Nazary M. N. , Karimi A. Z. , Obiad M.
Published: February 2025

Evaluating the ecological footprint (EF) is one of the objectives of nations worldwide, playing a vital role in preserving their environmental resources. This check aims to predict the impacts of key development indices on the EF using deep learning methods with time series data for the period of 1980–2019 in Afghanistan. Initially, an auto-encoder neural network test was used for the analysis of the time series data. The dataset was split into a training set comprising seventy percent of the data and a test set comprising thirty percent. Secondly, auto-encoder neural network methodologies have attracted substantial attention due to their deep learning capacities, offering data optimization and enhancing the accuracy and precision of predictions in both dependent and independent variables. Thirdly, the reliability, stability, and predictive capabilities of the parameters were assessed using an auto-encoder neural network through preliminary tests. The results of the diagnostic tests confirm the predictability and reliability of the parameters in the auto-encoder neural network model. Notably, a strong positive relationship is observed among development indices and EF. The highest correlation coefficient is observed between the total population index and the EF, yielding a rate of R = 0.94. Furthermore, a correlation coefficient of 0.91 is found between the agricultural production index and the ecological footprint. Therefore, on these findings, it can be inferred that the development indices exert significant positive effects on the EF in Afghanistan. To conclude, this study showed deep learning methods can be utilized to predict the impact of development indices on the EF in Afghanistan.
Decoding the Interplay Between Supplier Network Flexibility and Financial Performance within the Buyer Network in Uncertain Business Environments
Authors: Mannaperuma Buddhika , Ho William , Singh Prakash J.
Published: February 2025

Multinational corporations increasingly choose flexible suppliers over low-cost options to manage uncertainties effectively. While previous research highlights the importance of buyer network design for supplier flexibility and reconfiguration, the literature barely discusses supplier network flexibility based on a supplier’s network position (e.g., centrality). The structural flexibility of the buyer network is often overlooked despite its crucial role in recovery from disruptions. Furthermore, prior research exploring supplier centrality enhances a focal buyer’s performance and provides limited insight into suppliers’ financial performance within the buyer network. Additionally, the dimensions of business environmental uncertainty are likely to interact with supplier network flexibility in the buyer network, affecting supplier financial performance. However, the literature also offers little insight into this aspect. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of the interplay between supplier network flexibility (eigenvector and closeness centralities) and business environmental uncertainty (dynamism, munificence, and complexity) on supplier financial performance. This study relies on social network theories and the literature on supplier network flexibility, environmental uncertainty, and financial performance. It develops a section of Toyota’s triadic buyer network at the corporate level, with this network involving 6152 suppliers and 14,156 relationships. Using a hierarchical moderated regression model, this study finds that higher closeness and eigenvector centralities positively impact supplier financial performance, with dynamism and complexity positively moderating these effects, whereas munificence negatively moderates them. These findings offer insights into how central suppliers can enhance their financial performance and strategically position themselves within buyer networks to adapt to business environmental uncertainties.
Recent developments of laser beam submerged arc hybrid welding in the thick sheet range
Authors: Clemens M. , Olschok S. , Reisgen U.
Published: February 2025

The economic joining of large pipes and pipelines with large sheet thicknesses is becoming increasingly important in wind turbine and pipeline construction. Currently, only conventional arc welding processes such as the submerged arc welding (SAW) are used for joining these large sheet thicknesses. Process-induced, a large number of weld passes are required to fill the large weld volume. This results in considerable costs, which are composed of the energy requirements, weld filler metal and production time, among other things. By combining the laser beam process with the conventional SAW process in a common process zone, it was possible to develop a high-performance welding process at the Welding and Joining Institute at RWTH Aachen University that enables more efficient joining in the thick sheet area. With the laser beam submerged arc hybrid welding process (LUPuS Hybrid), it has already been possible to join structural steel of up to 50 mm using the layer-counterlayer technique in just two weld passes. The use of high-strength steels enables a significant reduction in sheet thickness and thus more cost- and resource-efficient production in wind turbine and pipeline construction. In the scope of this work, the LUPuS Hybrid process is therefore qualified for the single-sided and double-sided joining of thick unalloyed structural steels and high-strength pipeline steels. In detail, first various concepts for root-side weld bath support (e.g., ceramic or copper backings) for single-sided joining and layer/counterlayer welding for double-sided welding of sheet thicknesses of up to 30 mm are presented using a structural steel of grade S355. The knowledge gained is then transferred to the joining of high-strength steels of grade API X65. Since increased hydrogen content, which is mainly introduced by the welding consumables (flux and wire) in the LUPuS Hybrid process, can lead to hydrogen-induced cold cracking (HIC), the welding results generated are analysed with regard to the hydrogen input introduced by the LUPuS Hybrid process and possible measures for hydrogen effusion are discussed. As a result, single and double-sided welds were generated on S355 and API X65 steels. The diffusible hydrogen contents of the LUPuS and SAW reference samples—quantified according to DIN EN ISO 3690—were generally at a similar level. By additionally oscillating the laser beam, a reduction in the diffusible hydrogen content was achieved with LUPuS welding compared to the SAW reference samples (LUPuS 5.83 ml/100 g; SAW 6.64 ml/100 g).
Human vs. robot service provider agents in service failures: comparing customer dissatisfaction and the mediating role of forgiveness and service recovery expectation
Authors: Huang Zuwen , Lo Ada
Published: February 2025

This study employs a 3 × 2 between-subject experimental design to investigate customer responses to hotel service failures attributed to different service provider agents (SPAs) [humans, humanoid robots, non-humanoid robots] in two types of service failure contexts [process and outcome]. It focuses on customers’ initial psychological response [forgiveness], subsequent action-seeking behavior [service recovery expectation (SRE)], and overall outcome evaluation [dissatisfaction]. Hypotheses are grounded in Mind Perception Theory, Attribution Theory, and Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory. A two-way ANCOVA was used to compare mean scores across the dependent variables. The findings reveal that increased SPA humanness diminishes customers’ forgiveness, elevates SRE, and intensifies dissatisfaction, with these differences occurring only in process failures and not in outcome failures. Subsequently, a serial mediation analysis for process failures indicated that forgiveness and SRE serially mediate the positive relationship between SPAs’ humanness and customer dissatisfaction.
The Chicago school of ecology’s evolutionary superorganism and the clements-wright connection
Authors: Huneman Philippe
Published: February 2025

“Organicism” often refers to the idea that ecosystems or communities are, or are like, organisms. Often implicit in early twentieth century, it has been theorized by Clements, relying on physiological and developmental concepts. I investigate the fate of this idea in major attempts of a theoretical synthesis of ecology in the first part of the twentieth century. I first consider Bioecology (1939), by Clements and Shelford, which elaborates clementsian organicism as a general framework for plant and animal ecology. Then I investigate the major animal ecology treatise of the Chicago school ecologists C. Allee, T. Park, O. Park, K. Schmidt and A. Emerson, Principles of animal ecology (1949). I show how they shifted organicism from physiology to evolution, synthesizing inspiration from both Clements and Sewall Wright, got their inspiration in evolutionary biology, and built a systematic correspondence between cells, organisms and communities. I claim that the focus on populations allowed them to apply Darwinian insights at the level of communities. Finally I argue that this theoretical synthesis fell apart in the next decade because of the rise of density-dependent accounts of population regulation.
A Qualitative Analysis of the Relationship Between Simulated And Clinical Learning Environments in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Authors: Daly Ronan , Kane Daniel , Browne Anne , Flood Karen
Published: February 2025

Introduction

Clinical placement on the labour ward is an essential component of Obstetrics and Gynaecology curricula in medical schools worldwide. This clinical learning environment (CLE) provides students with a formative opportunity for experiential learning around labour and delivery. However, the CLE presents challenges to learning, in particular diversity of experiences and opportunities. The simulated learning environment (SLE) has been adopted by medical schools worldwide in order to address such issues. The SLE provides a safe space for students to practise clinical skills around care in labour and delivery. These learning experiences form the sole exposure for many students to labour and delivery. This study examines the learner experience of these environments and the relationship between them.

Methods

A qualitative research study was performed in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. Fourth year undergraduate medical students undertaking their obstetrics and gynaecology rotation were invited to participate. Students attend a labour ward simulation and a week-long clinical placement as part of this rotation. Focus groups were conducted following the simulation and students completed audio diaries during their clinical placement which underwent inductive content analysis.

Results

Four major concepts emerged from analysis of the data from 29 participating students. Simulation was viewed by students as preparation for the CLE. Learner safety within the simulated learning space was highly valued by students. Learner roles in the SLE were often assigned, while student identity on the labour ward developed from their own engagement, patient interactions, and interprofessional staff. Students identified the emotional aspect of the CLE of the labour ward as a significant impact on their learning experience.

Conclusion

The SLE was valued as a stepping-stone to prepare for the CLE. The safety afforded by the simulated labour ward was important to the student learning experience. The CLE was conducive to the formation of learner identities and students valued the emotional engagement with patients. These two areas require further exploration within the simulated learning space.
Review on in-situ CO2 mineralization sequestration: mechanistic understanding and research frontiers
Authors: Ye Hang , Liu Qi , Bao Qi , Wang Zhanpeng , Xie Yan , Michelle Tiong , Zhao Wentao , Xian Chenggang
Published: February 2025

The substantial emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, constitute a primary driver of global warming. CCUS is proposed as an effective mitigation strategy which is often estimated to account for about 15% of cumulative carbon emission reduction. In-situ CO2 mineralization sequestration, compared to conventional geological storage methods such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs, unmineable coal seams, and deep saline aquifers, offers the advantage of permanent immobilization of injected carbon. However, uncertainties persist regarding the characteristics of geochemical interactions under reservoir pore conditions, as well as the kinetic mechanisms of mineralization reactions. Additionally, geochemical reactions may lead to solid particle transport and deposition, potentially causing pore throat occlusion. Pilot projects in Iceland and the United States have demonstrated the feasibility of this technology, but the field remains in the early deployment stage. In this review, the mechanisms of in-situ mineralization have been elucidated, the primary factors influencing the reaction kinetics have been discussed, and the current research status in this field has been summarized. It is emphasized that establishing a reliable system for evaluating storage capacity and understanding the kinetic mechanisms governing CO2 conversion into minerals at multi-phase interfaces are key priorities for future work.
Navigating Outward Bound: a first-person exploration of situational exposure through an autistic lens
Authors: Newcombe Nicolina , Good Gretchen A.
Published: February 2025

This article explores the first author’s experience as an autistic woman attending a five-day Professional Leadership course at Outward Bound in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Through a first-person autoethnographic narrative, Nicolina shares why she chose Outward Bound and how she navigated the challenges of situational exposure in a physically and socially demanding outdoor education program, using accommodations to maximise time in the learning zone. She discusses the sensory sensitivities and need for routines that often accompany Autism Spectrum Disorder and demonstrates how she adapted and advocated for her needs while participating in a mainstream course. The barriers she encountered and the positive outcomes she achieved are described. Four themes emerged, these were motivation, challenges, coping and thriving through adaptations, and hope. By reflecting on the balance between growth and anxiety within the comfort zone model, this article offers insights for autistic people, outdoor educationalists, and practitioners. Recommendations call for increased awareness and flexibility in accommodating neurodivergent people in adventure education contexts.
Beyond Cloud: Serverless Functions in the Compute Continuum
Authors: Calavaro Cecilia , Cardellini Valeria , Lo Presti Francesco , Russo Russo Gabriele
Published: February 2025

Serverless computing and, in particular, the Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) paradigm are increasingly popular, promising seamless scalability, simplified operations and flexible pricing. As more and more applications aim to benefit from near-user computation, there is increasing interest in deploying and running FaaS systems in the emerging edge-to-cloud compute continuum of computational resources. However, this new environment forces FaaS systems, originally developed with cloud in mind, to deal with limited resource availability, high hardware heterogeneity, and geographical distributions. In this paper, we discuss the key challenges for deployment and execution of serverless functions in the compute continuum, reviewing recent research contributions on the topic. We also discuss the key issues that remain unsolved and highlight a research opportunities to make FaaS adoption easier and more efficient far from cloud data centers.
Classification of EEG Signal Using Deep Learning Architectures Based Motor-Imagery for an Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton
Authors: Titkanlou Maryam Khoshkhooy , Pham Duc Thien , Mouček Roman
Published: February 2025

The brain-computer interface (BCI) is an emerging technology that enables people with physical disabilities to control and interact with devices only by using their minds and without being dependent on healthy people. One of the most popular BCI paradigms, motor imagery (MI) based on electroencephalograms (EEGs), is applied in healthcare, including rehabilitation. A significant challenge in classifying EEG signals using deep learning methods is the accurate recognition of MI signals. CNN-LSTM and CNN-Transformer are two classification algorithms proposed to improve the classification accuracy of Motor Imagery EEG signals in a noninvasive brain-computer interface. Three different methods, including noise injection (NI), conditional variational autoencoder (cVAE), and conditional GAN with Wasserstein price function and gradient penalty (cWGAN-GP), have also been implemented to augment this dataset. The best accuracy was achieved by the CNN-LSTM model, which is 79.06%, using an MI dataset involving hand movements. The dataset included 29 healthy subjects, with males aged 21–26 and females aged 18–23.
Do natural resources, energy consumption, and financial development increase carbon emissions? The role of globalization and green technology
Authors: Khan Sher , Suplata Marian , Pawera Rene , Waris Abdul
Published: February 2025

This study investigates the impacts of natural resources, financial development, and non-renewable energy consumption on the quality of the environment by including renewable energy consumption, globalization, and industrialization into the model for full sample countries over the 1985–2019 time spans. This study employs dynamic fixed effects (DFE), dynamic seemingly unrelated regressions (DSUR), and dynamic system generalized method of moments (DSGMM) approaches. The results of the study revealed that globalization and financial development `deteriorate the environmental quality by increasing CO2 emissions. Similarly, non-renewable energy consumption and natural resource depletion also worsen the environmental quality while increasing the usage of renewable energy improves environmental quality due to emitting less CO2 emissions. It is recommended that these countries' governments should focus on globalization. The government should create regulations that force business sectors to adopt more productive and effective technology. Furthermore, to reduce CO2 emissions in full sample countries, energy efficiency could be achieved through adopting energy-saving initiatives, outsourcing energy infrastructure, foreign direct investment in the renewable energy sector, financial development to encourage green infrastructure, and energy production using renewable energy sources and energy conservation measures.

Graphical Abstract
Between human and AI influencers: parasocial relationships, credibility, and social capital formation in a collectivist market: a study of TikTok users in the Middle East
Authors: Omeish Fandi , Shaheen Ahmad , Alharthi Sager , Alfaiza Aisyah
Published: February 2025

In an era where social media influencers shape consumer attitudes and behaviors, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) influencers challenges traditional notions of authenticity and trust. This study explores whether AI influencers can cultivate parasocial relationships (PSRs) and credibility perceptions comparable to their human counterparts, and how these relationships translate into social capital within a culturally rich, collectivist setting. Drawing on Parasocial Interaction Theory, Source Credibility Theory, and Social Capital Theory, we examine TikTok users in Egypt and Jordan to determine how influencer type human or AI affects emotional engagement, perceived trustworthiness, and the formation of bonding and bridging social capital. Our findings reveal that AI influencers can indeed establish meaningful emotional bonds and credibility, sometimes outperforming human influencers in generating community cohesion and network expansion. Yet, these pathways differ, as human influencers rely more on narrative depth and cultural resonance to achieve similar outcomes. By integrating recently recommended studies and acknowledging alternative theoretical frameworks  such as (S-O-R), we highlight the complexity and cultural specificity of influencer-follower interactions. This research not only advances our theoretical understanding of parasocial ties, credibility, and social capital but also provides actionable insights for marketers, brands, and platform developers. We conclude with methodological recommendations such as ensuring measurement invariance and conducting longitudinal, mixed-method research and emphasize the need to adapt influencer strategies to align with varying cultural orientations and rapidly evolving digital ecosystems.
Rapid Integration of LLMs in Healthcare Raises Ethical Concerns: An Investigation into Deceptive Patterns in Social Robots
Authors: Ranisch Robert , Haltaufderheide Joschka
Published: February 2025

Conversational agents are increasingly used in healthcare, with Large Language Models (LLMs) significantly enhancing their capabilities. When integrated into social robots, LLMs offer the potential for more natural interactions. However, while LLMs promise numerous benefits, they also raise critical ethical concerns, particularly regarding hallucinations and deceptive patterns. In this case study, we observed a critical pattern of deceptive behavior in commercially available LLM-based care software integrated into robots. The LLM-equipped robot falsely claimed to have medication reminder functionalities, not only assuring users of its ability to manage medication schedules but also proactively suggesting this capability despite lacking it. This deceptive behavior poses significant risks in healthcare environments, where reliability is paramount. Our findings highlights the ethical and safety concerns surrounding the deployment of LLM-integrated robots in healthcare, emphasizing the need for oversight to prevent potentially harmful consequences for vulnerable populations.
The Metaphysics of Gender
Authors: León E. Díaz
Published: February 2025

What is the metaphysics of gender about? Metaphysics is the study of what there is and what it is like. On this conception, questions in the metaphysics of gender would be about the existence and nature of gender. That is, the metaphysics of gender would be about whether alleged gender categories such as being a man, a woman or an agender person are real features or kinds, and if so, what their nature is. In recent years, the metaphysics of gender has received a lot of attention and has shifted from being a rather marginal part of metaphysics to being a growing area of interest. Moreover, growing attention to the metaphysics of gender and the social domain have given rise to fruitful methodological questions about what metaphysics is about and what are the best methods to pursue metaphysical inquiries. This Element offers a survey of recent discussions of these questions.
The Problem of God in Buddhism
Authors: Cohen Signe
Published: February 2025

Since Buddhism does not include a belief in a personal god instrumental to the creation of the world or to human salvation, it is often assumed that gods play no part in Buddhism at all. This Element complicates the simplistic assessment of Buddhism as an 'atheistic religion' and discusses the various roles deities play in Buddhist texts and practice. The Problem of God in Buddhism includes a comprehensive analysis of the Buddhist refutations of a creator God, the idea of salvation without divine intervention, the role of minor deities in Buddhism, the question of whether Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can function as gods in certain forms of Buddhism, and the notion of the sacred as apart from the divine in Buddhist traditions.
The Problem of God in Thomas Reid
Authors: Foster James
Published: February 2025

Thomas Reid was a theist and a philosopher; yet the exact relationship between philosophy and theology in his works is unclear and disputed. The aim of this book is to clarify this relationship along three lines by exploring the status, function, and detachability of theism with respect to Reid's philosophy. Regarding the first I argue that belief in the existence of God is, for Reid, a non-inferential first principle. Regarding the second I argue that theism plays at least six different roles in Reid's philosophy. And, regarding the third, I argue that, despite this, theism is largely detachable from Reid's concept of human rationality and philosophy. What emerges is a picture of the relationship between philosophy and theology in which both inquiries are motivated by natural human curiosity, and both are founded on principles of common sense.
Shakespeare and the Restoration Repertory
Authors: Watkins Stephen
Published: February 2025

This Element provides the first comprehensive study of William Davenant's Shakespeare adaptations within the broader context of the Restoration repertory. Moving beyond scholarship that tends to isolate Restoration Shakespeare from the other plays produced alongside it, this Element reveals how Davenant adapted the plays in direct response to the institutional and commercial imperatives of the newly established theatre industry of the 1660s. Prompted by recent developments in early modern repertory studies, this Element reads Restoration Shakespeare as part of an active repertory of both old and new plays through which Davenant sought to realize a distinctive 'house style' for the Duke's Company. Finally, it shows how Restoration Shakespeare was mobilized as a key weapon in the intense competition between the two patent theatres until Davenant's death in 1668.
Core Concepts in English for Specific Purposes
Authors: Basturkmen Helen
Published: February 2025

This Element examines the foundational building blocks of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching. The emergence of ESP teaching as a global movement has been driven by economic, social, and educational factors. Currently, examples of ESP teaching can be seen across a wide variety of learner groups and contexts. Underlying this variety, two core concepts unify the field – teaching addresses learners' work- or study-related language needs, and teaching targets specialized English. These mainstay concepts have come to assume a taken-for-granted status in the field, and recent discussion and analytical review of them has been limited. The Element scrutinizes the concepts, examines the ideas behind them, identifies potential issues in their application and attempts to forge new links.
Roman Identity and Lived Religion
Authors: Lenk Stefanie
Published: February 2025

Christianity is often considered prevalent when it comes to defining the key values of late antique society, whereas 'feeling connected to the Roman past' is commonly regarded as an add-on for cultivated elites. This book demonstrates the significant impact of popular Roman culture on the religious identity of common Christians from the fifth to the seventh century in the Mediterranean world. Baptism is central to the formation of Christian identity. The decoration of baptisteries reveals that traditional Roman culture persisted as an integral component of Christian identity in various communities. In their baptisteries, Christians visually and spatially evoked their links to Roman and, at times, even pagan traditions. A close examination of visual and material sources in North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and Italy shows that baptisteries served roles beyond mere conduits to Christian orthodoxy.
Shakespeare Broadcasts and the Question of Value
Authors: Sharrock Beth
Published: February 2025

This Element investigates the framing 'texts' of Shakespeare's works in live theatre broadcasts produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Despite growing engagement from scholars of digital Shakespeares with the phenomenon of broadcast theatre and the aesthetics of filmed productions, the paratexts which accompany the live-streams − live or pre-recorded features, including interviews and short films − have largely been ignored. The Element considers how RSC live broadcasts of rarely performed, often critically maligned works are mediated for contemporary audiences, focusing on The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2014), Titus Andronicus (2017), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (2018). It questions the role of the theatre institution as a powerful broker in the (re)negotiation of hierarchies of value within Shakespeare's canon. Individual sections also trace the longer genealogies of paratextual value-narratives in print, proposing that broadcast paratexts be understood as participating in a broader history of Shakespearean paratexts in print and performance.
An Introduction to Classical and Modal Logics
Authors: Bjorndahl Adam
Published: February 2025

Classical logic – which studies the structural features of purported claims of fact – and modal logic – which studies relations of necessity and possibility – are different but complementary areas of logical thought. In this lively and accessible textbook, Adam Bjorndahl provides a comprehensive and unified introduction to the two subjects, treating them with the same level of rigour and detail and showing how they fit together. The core material appears in the main text, with hundreds of supplemental examples, comments, clarifications, and connections presented throughout in easy-to-read sidenotes, giving the book a distinct conversational feel. A detailed, multi-part appendix covers important background mathematical material that some students may lack, such as induction or the concept of countable infinity. A fully self-contained learning resource, this book will be ideal for a semester-long upper-level university course on either or both of the topics.
Transnational Korean Englishes
Authors: Rüdiger Sofia , Baratta Alex
Published: February 2025

Transnational Korean Englishes presents the many faces of English in South Korea (henceforth also Korea) – from Korean English forms and functions to English loanwords in Korean, and from the influences of Korean on the English language to Korean cultural exports. Drawing on specialized and purpose-built spoken and written corpora and other empirical data as well as previous studies, the Element illuminates the Korean-English language contact setting from a range of perspectives, shining light on various transnational Korean English phenomena. Guided by questions of legitimization and codification, this Element shows Koreans as productive and creative users of localized English forms, with hallyu (the Korean Wave) promoting not only Korean pop cultural products around the world but also contributing to influences of Korean on English worldwide.
Learning from COVID-19 for Climate-Ready Urban Transformation
Authors: Mahadevia Darshini , Delgado-Ramos Gian C. , Barnes Janice , Fitzgerald Joan , Kamei Miho , Lanza Kevin , Solecki William , Pathak Minal , Barata Martha , Barau Aliyu Salisu , Dombrov Maria , Rosenzweig Cynthia
Published: February 2025

Cities have suffered from three years of the COVID-19 pandemic and are increasingly experiencing exacerbated heatwaves, floods, and droughts due to climate change. Going forward, cities need to address both climate and public health crises effectively while reducing poverty and inequity, often in the context of economic pressure and declining levels of trust in government. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed gaps in city readiness for simultaneous responses to pandemics and climate change, particularly in the Global South. However, these concurrent challenges to cities present an opportunity to reformulate current urbanization patterns and the economies and dynamics they enable. This Element focuses on understanding COVID-19's impact on city systems related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and vice versa, in terms of warnings, lessons learned, and calls to action. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Leon Battista Alberti in Exile
Authors: Weller Peter
Published: February 2025

The prodigy poet, playwright, architect, painter, and humanist savant Leon Battista Alberti emerged in 1435 with De pictura ['On Painting'], the modern era's earliest discourse on Western art, written in classical Latin by an ostensible practitioner of the craft. Alberti has captivated the art world from his own epoch to ours, and his dubious Florentine identity enables this allure. In this volume, Peter Weller challenges the popular notion that De pictura's compendium on lines, points, mathematics, composition, narrative, and portraiture is primarily the result of Alberti's return to Florence and his short exposure to its visual art. Weller argues that Rome, Padua, Bologna, and northern Europe – environs where Alberti studied, worked, and lived during exile – empowered his paramount intellectual-artistic gift. Scrutiny of Alberti's evolution before Florence illuminates how this original Renaissance man merged the two most conspicuous cultural developments of early modern Italy – visual art and humanism — to create De pictura, our first modern book on painting.
State-Owned Enterprises in Developed Market Economies
Authors: Del Bo Chiara F. , Florio Massimo , Frigerio Marco , Vandone Daniela
Published: February 2025

After briefly reviewing the received doctrine prior to the waves of privatisations beginning in the 1980s, this Element offers a survey of various analytical frameworks on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from the perspective of applied welfare economics. The focus then shifts to a positive analysis of the comparative performance of private versus public enterprises, with a specific emphasis on SOEs in developed market economies over the past two decades; key metrics examined include profitability, productivity, internationalisation, innovativeness, and environmental sustainability. The Element also addresses empirical methodological issues, alongside contextual conditions and institutional factors that help explain the outcomes. It reviews selected contributions from public economics, industrial organisation, corporate governance, management studies and other social sciences. Overall, the Element aims to redefine a neglected research area in public economics, considering the new circumstances of the twenty-first century, where SOEs compete with other firms in developed market economies.
Analysis of National Cybersecurity Strategies of G20: objectives, latent themes, latest trends and comparisons
Authors: Çifci Hasan , Ergüner Esma
Published: February 2025

This study analyzes National Cyber Security Strategies (NCSSs) of G20 countries through a novel combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. It focuses on delineating the shared objectives, distinct priorities, latent themes, and key priorities within the NCSSs. Latent dirichlet allocation topic modeling technique was used to identify implicit themes in the NCSSs to augment the explicitly articulated strategies. By exploring the latest versions of NCSS documents, the research uncovers a detailed panorama of multinational cybersecurity dynamics, offering insights into the complexities of shared and unique national cybersecurity challenges. Although challenged by the translation of non-English documents and the intrinsic limitations of topic modeling, the study significantly contributes to the cybersecurity policy domain, suggesting directions for future research to broaden the analytical scope and incorporate more diverse national contexts. In essence, this research underscores the indispensability of a multifaceted, analytical approach in understanding and devising NCSSs, vital for navigating the complex, and ever-changing digital threat environment.
Non-perturbative reducibility of three-dimensional skew symmetric systems without any non-degeneracy condition
Authors: ZHANG DONGFENG , XU JUNXIANG
Published: February 2025

We consider the system

$\dot {x}=(A+ P(t,\epsilon )) x, x\in \mathbb {R}^{3}, $

where

$A, P$

are both three-dimensional skew symmetric matrices, A is a constant matrix with eigenvalues

$\pm i\unicode{x3bb} $

and 0,

$P(t,\epsilon )$

is

$C^{m}(m=0,1)$

-smooth in

$\epsilon $

and analytic quasi-periodic with respect to t with basic frequencies

$\omega =(1,\alpha )$

, with

$\alpha $

being irrational, and

$\epsilon $

is a small parameter. Under some non-resonant conditions about the basic frequencies and the eigenvalues of the constant matrix and without any non-degeneracy condition, it is proved that for many sufficiently small parameters, this system can be reduced to a rotation system. Furthermore, if the basic frequencies satisfy that

$ 0\leq \beta (\alpha ) < r,$

where

$\beta (\alpha )=\limsup \nolimits _{n\rightarrow \infty } {\ln q_{n+1}}/{q_{n}},$

$q_{n}$

is the sequence of denominations of the best rational approximations for

$\alpha \in \mathbb {R} \setminus \mathbb {Q},$

r is the initial radius of analytic domain, it is proved that for many sufficiently small parameters, this system can be reduced to a constant system.
Angel Unaware, Cognitive Disability, and the Politics of Positive Thinking
Authors: Walker-Cornetta Andrew
Published: February 2025

abstract

This article focuses on what may very well be the most popular text about cognitive disability in US American history. Released in 1953, Angel Unaware told the story of Hollywood stars Dale Evans’ and Roy Rogers’s experiences raising a young daughter who had been diagnosed at birth with what her mother referred to as an “appalling handicap” (what would later be labeled Down Syndrome). Situating this work and its reception within existing scholarship on postwar religion in the United States, this essay offers a novel interpretation of positive-thinking Christianity by showing how its grammars inspired and underwrote a nascent politics of disability for parents of “exceptional” children and their allies. In doing so, it not only underscores how religion has shaped notions of human difference in US American culture but also identifies disability as a crucial and heretofore neglected site of American religion making.
Author Response on Forum Discussion of Heathen: Religion and Race in American History
Authors: Lum Kathryn Gin
Published: February 2025

In her review, Emily Conroy-Krutz writes that “One of the joys of working in scholarly community is learning from each other when we approach the same set of sources with different questions and different interpretive lenses.” The essays in this roundtable reflect the questions and lenses that these brilliant scholars bring from their respective areas of expertise, and they reflect the joy of being in conversation and community with each other. I so appreciate Michael Baysa, Conroy-Krutz, Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh, and Rachel Wheeler for engaging with my work so generatively and generously. I am also grateful to Katherine Carté for organizing the panel on Heathen at the 2024 American Society of Church History meeting and to Jon Butler for organizing our comments into this roundtable. While I do not have space to respond to every point raised, I will respond to themes that I see cutting across the reviews.
NARRATIVE AND CLOSURE IN FRONTO’S EPISTVLAE AD MARCVM CAESAREM ET INVICEM BOOK 5
Authors: Anastasi Mary K.
Published: February 2025

This paper argues that the unknown editor of Ad M. Caesarem et inuicem arranged the letters in their non-chronological order so as to create a work that is essentially historical fiction, providing the reader with a romanticized version of the early life of Marcus Aurelius, a Marcopaedia of sorts or even a quasi-prequel to the Meditations. The paper demonstrates that the anomalous Book 5—full of shorter, less elaborate letters—can be read not only as an appendix composed of leftover letters but also as a part of the broader narrative. Book 5 creates a sense of closure to the epistolary fiction created by the editor. In particular, this article focusses on the recurrent motif of Fronto’s health; the frequent references to Fronto’s illness work in a metaliterary fashion to signal the impending conclusion of the work, creating a sense of resolution for the health/sickness letters appearing in Books 1–4. The sickness/health topic also connects to certain philosophical topoi regarding death, illness and consolation—a connection that is appropriate in light of the young Marcus’ burgeoning interest in philosophy.