bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Propagation, Establishment, and Early Fruit Production of Table Grape Microvines in an LED‐Lit Hydroponics System: A Demonstration Case Study
Authors: Malai E. S. , O'Sullivan C. A. , Grant T. J. , Sreekantan L. , Mellor V. A. , Schmidt S. , Dry I. B.
Published: December 2024

Controlled environment farming (CEF) systems, including tunnel houses, glasshouses, and vertical farms, are expanding worldwide. As the industry scales, growers need a broader range of crops that are adapted to CEF systems to take full advantage of the potential to increase yields and decrease weather‐related risks. Dwarf grapevines (microvines) are ideal candidates for CEF due to their high economic value, phenotype, and phenology. This study aimed to develop propagation protocols, a critical first step for the successful integration of microvines in the CEF market, and to demonstrate the establishment, early growth, first flowering, and fruiting of table grape microvines in a fully indoor, LED‐lit, CEF system. An experiment was conducted to investigate the efficiency of clonal propagation of a newly developed microvine variety, which had been bred for the production of seedless table grapes in response to two variables: (a) shoot position of cutting, and (b) length of time of misting exposure (from 3 to 7 weeks). A subset of successfully established plantlets were then transplanted into a hydroponic, CEF system, where their establishment, early growth, flowering, and fruit formation were assessed. Three weeks after cuttings were taken, 83.7% of the cuttings had formed roots, regardless of cutting section or misting treatment, while the remaining 16.7% of cuttings died. The sprouting success was lower with 49.3% of plants forming new leaves after 7 weeks. The highest level of sprouting was observed with cuttings taken from mid‐shoot and lower shoot positions and the 5‐week misting duration. While the rooting efficiency and survival of green shoot microvine cuttings are very high, further research is needed to increase the frequency of sprouting in the required timeframes to levels that are more acceptable for commercial production. The establishment success of sprouted cuttings after transplanting to hydroponics was 100% and their production and fruit quality were similar regardless of cutting tissue source. The crop cycle from planting to first harvest was 208 days (63 days for plantlet production and 145 days from transplanting to first harvest). The vines began flowering after an average of 33.9 days and the berries went through veraison (i.e., commencement of ripening) after an average of 116 days under the conditions tested. Microvine fruit grown under these conditions contained greater than the minimum total soluble solids content required for the Australian market. We have demonstrated that table grape microvines have potential as a novel crop for CEF systems.
Double‐Pass Terahertz Time‐Domain Spectroscopy of 2D Materials
Authors: Arcos David , Nuño Daniel , Santos María C. , Ferrer‐Anglada Núria
Published: December 2024

Terahertz time‐domain spectroscopy (THz–TDS) is a nondestructive imaging and characterization technique. It is currently used in the field of material science to obtain the surface conductivity and transmittance of bulk and 2D materials in the range from hundreds of GHz up to few THz. In this research, an alternative setup of the THz–TDS technique is proposed, based on a Michelson interferometer, with a double pass through the sample using a mirror and a semitransparent wafer. A single‐branch configuration is used to characterize a few‐layer WS2 sample on a fused quartz substrate. The objectives of the experiment are to demonstrate that the configuration is viable for obtaining the parameters of the sample and the substrate, to present the models and equations used, and to explain the advantages and limitations of the method compared to the transmission configuration. The optical transmittance and surface conductivity of WS2 are obtained with the new configuration in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.2 THz. Raman spectroscopy is used to analyze the sample quality before performing the measurements.
Low‐Temperature Thermophotovoltaic Cells by Bonding Bi2Te3 and Si Wafers
Authors: Wang Kaixuan , Lou Chaogang , Kang Jiayin
Published: December 2024

The thermophotovoltaic cells working under 300–500 K heat sources are fabricated by bonding Bi2Te3 and Si wafers. The performance of the cells is seriously affected by the strong intrinsic excitation in Bi2Te3, which leads to the slight split of the Fermi energy level and the weak absorption in the very narrow depletion region of Bi2Te3/Si heterojunction. The valence band offset at the interface between Bi2Te3 and Si, which limits the transportation of excited holes and the thickness of Bi2Te3 sheet are also important to affect the performance of the cells. Although the conversion efficiency of the thermophotovoltaic cells is low, this work provides a method to fabricate Bi2Te3/Si low‐temperature thermophotovoltaic cells.
Confirmed Treponema pallidum pleural effusion in patient with known syphilis
Authors: Shadbolt Rachel , Ing Matthew , Donaghy Michaela , Ewe Krist , Lee Y. C. Gary , Fysh Edward
Published: December 2024

Pulmonary and pleural involvement in Treponema pallidum infection is uncommon. Previously reported syphilis‐related pleural effusions have been described largely based on clinical features combined with positive syphilis serology rather than the detection of T pallidum in pleural fluid or pleural biopsy. We report a case of secondary syphilis and confirmed syphilitic pleural effusion via thoracentesis.
Parsonage‐Turner‐syndrome associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection
Authors: Leo Fabian , Grohé Christian
Published: December 2024

Key message

Neurological complications in the course of community‐acquired pneumonia indicate that Mycoplasma pneumoniae may be the causative pathogen. Parsonage‐Turner‐Syndrome, characterized by neuralgic shoulder pain and amyotrophy, has rarely been reported in this context.
Stress Reactivity, Wellbeing and Functioning in University Students: A Role for Autonomic Activity During Sleep
Authors: Joubert Michael , Beilharz Jessica Elise , Fatt Scott , Chung Yuen Ming , Cvejic Erin , Vollmer‐Conna Ute , Burton Alexander Robert
Published: December 2024

Sleep is a key biological mechanism in promoting wellbeing and resilience to stress. This cross‐sectional study examined connections between sleep, autonomic function, wellbeing, and stress reactivity in healthy individuals. Demographic, lifestyle, sleep, and psychological well‐being information were collected from 85 healthy university students. These variables were analysed in conjunction with indices of cardiac autonomic activity, including heart rate and high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV, an indicator of parasympathetic vagal tone) recorded during nocturnal sleep onset and in response to a cognitive stressor. Correlational analyses revealed that unrefreshing and fragmented sleep was strongly associated with lower HF HRV at sleep onset, suggestive of poorer autonomic de‐arousal. Further, those with minimal increases in HF HRV from wakefulness to sleep reported worse sleep quality and greater challenges in daily activities compared to those with significant increases. This same group also demonstrated significantly greater reactivity and slower recovery when faced with a stressor the next day, as evidenced by comparison of heart rate values. Our findings suggest an association between autonomic hypervigilance and aspects of sleep quality, with potential implications for wellbeing and stress responses.
Impact of postoperative infectious complications on long‐term prognosis after esophagectomy
Authors: Maruyama Suguru , Shoda Katsutoshi , Kawaguchi Yoshihiko , Higuchi Yudai , Ozawa Takaomi , Nakayama Takashi , Saito Ryo , Izumo Wataru , Takiguchi Koichi , Shiraishi Kensuke , Furuya Shinji , Nakata Yuki , Amemiya Hidetake , Kawaida Hiromichi , Ichikawa Daisuke
Published: December 2024

Background

Postoperative complications have been reported to be a risk factor for worse oncologic outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer. However, the impact of postoperative complications on prognosis after esophagectomy remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the factors that influence the prognosis of postoperative complications in patients who underwent oncological esophagectomy, focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods

In total, 254 consecutive patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer between 2009 and 2021 were eligible. We examined the association between postoperative complications and long‐term outcomes.

Results

Focusing on infectious complications (IC: a combination of postoperative pneumonia and anastomotic leakage), overall survival (OS) and relapse‐free survival (RFS) rates were significantly worse in patients with IC than those without (p < 0.01, and <0.01, respectively), whereas the presence of other complications demonstrated no survival impact. No clinicopathological variables have changed the influence of IC on long‐term outcomes. Meanwhile, patients with postoperative pneumonia exhibited significantly lower OS and RFS rates compared to those without in non‐COPD group, however, the presence of postoperative pneumonia demonstrated no prognostic impact in COPD group. Also, interaction analysis revealed that the effect of postoperative pneumonia on poor RFS differed based on the presence of COPD (p for interaction = 0.09).

Conclusions

IC influenced the long‐term outcomes in patients with esophageal cancer, however no clinicopathological variables have changed the effect of the presence of IC on prognosis. Meanwhile, the effect of postoperative pneumonia on poor survival differed based on the presence of COPD.
Genetic Engineering and Screening Using Base Editing and Inducible Gene Knockout
Authors: Ng Esther Feng Ying , Meitinger Franz
Published: December 2024

Genetic engineering and screening in human cells are powerful techniques for the precise and comprehensive identification and analysis of gene and protein domain functions. Genome-wide knockout screens have been extensively utilized to discover essential genes, tumor suppressors, and genes that regulate responses to various chemicals, including antimitotic and therapeutic drugs. The advent of base editors, which facilitate the targeted mutation of single amino acids, has advanced the identification of critical and functional domains or motifs. In this context, we outline methods for creating efficient base editor and inducible knockout cell lines for targeted gene manipulation and conducting genetic screens to elucidate the roles of genes and their domains within a specific cell biological context.
Synthetic Engineering of Cortical Polarity During Mitosis Using Designed Proteins
Authors: Krüger Lara K. , Watson Joseph L. , Derivery Emmanuel
Published: December 2024

During asymmetric cell division, cortical polarity cues drive the polarization of the microtubule cytoskeleton to ensure the generation of two daughter cells with different fates. While this a critical process for development and tissue homeostasis, the underlying molecular mechanisms orchestrating those processes are not completely understood, especially in mammals. Here, we present an assay that allows the study of the molecular mechanisms driving mammalian asymmetric cell division in a high-throughput manner by capitalizing on protein design to engineer cortical polarity of virtually any protein of interest in otherwise unpolarized mammalian culture cells.
Time-Lapse Imaging of Asymmetric Spindle Positioning During Endothelial Tip Cell Division in Angiogenesis In Vivo
Authors: Lovegrove Holly E. , Herbert Shane P.
Published: December 2024

The branching of new blood vessels by angiogenesis is critical to the development, growth, and repair of most vertebrate tissues and is frequently dysregulated in disease. At its core, angiogenesis is driven by the collective migration of leading “tip” and follower “stalk” endothelial cells. Recent work reveals that this collective movement is coordinated by asymmetric tip cell divisions that generate daughters of distinct size, signaling capacity and tip-stalk behaviors. Polarized mitotic spindle positioning is critical to generating such asymmetries in daughter cell size. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of vertebrate spindle movement are often difficult to explore using in vivo systems. Here we describe a method for the sample preparation, live-imaging and data analysis of endothelial cell mitotic spindle positioning in developing zebrafish embryos. This method enables single-cell and population-level spindle dynamics to be monitored and quantified, both in wild-type or genetically/pharmacologically perturbed embryos. Moreover, this approach can be easily adapted for live imaging of spindle dynamics in other zebrafish embryonic tissues that experience similar asymmetric divisions, such as the trunk neural crest.
Introduction
Authors: Eisenmann Christine , Seibert Dennis , Winkler Christian
Published: December 2024

This opening chapter provides an initial overview of the various topics covered in the book, which explores CAD’s implications, focusing on societal acceptance and technology diffusion. Key areas include the impact of existing mobility systems on CAD adoption, policy frameworks, ride-hailing market potential, and public perception in Germany and Japan. Through modeling and empirical studies, the research examines CAD’s effects on transport systems, car ownership, and travel demand. This Japanese-German collaboration highlights CAD's importance for both countries, given their advanced automotive industries and demographic challenges, offering insights for future research and policy development.
Governance, Policy and Regulation in the Field of Automated Driving: A Focus on Japan and Germany
Authors: Yamasaki Yukari , Fleischer Torsten , Schippl Jens
Published: December 2024

Sociotechnical development is often described as an evolutionary process of a series of connected changes in different domains, including technology, the economy, institutions, innovation policies, behavior, culture, ecology, and belief systems. Many experts point to the great transformative potential of automated vehicles in the mobility sector, and to a variety of pathways that lead to an imagined future made possible by automated driving technologies. However, the differences in state behavior and governance approaches which are entangled in such emerging technologies are less understood, despite their potential to influence the trajectory of sociotechnical development. This chapter examines the modes and methods of governance in Japan with respect to automated driving. In order to illuminate the Japanese characteristics, we compare them with the German approach. We provide a brief comparison of the two democratic and capitalist countries from three perspectives—politics, polity, and policies. We then present Japan’s policy process, policy actors, and recent changes in its approach to automated driving. In Japan, automated driving is interrelated with other policy areas, such as science and technology, information technology, and demographic change issues, and has been contextualized primarily in relation to the economy, particularly during the term of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012–2020). The state has historically tended to intervene in technological development, and in recent years the Cabinet has attempted to exercise a more top-down political leadership through policy conferences. While letting the government appear to be taking a leadership role, relevant industrial players also seem to exert a significant influence on the direction of automated driving policies through both formal and informal channels. To enable effective and efficient governance in complex fields such as mobility, researchers, policymakers, and others involved in governance require a good understanding of the factors that could influence future development pathways. Future research should build on these findings and conduct further comparative analyses between countries that have the potential to play a leading role in the implementation of automated driving.
Business Analysis and Prognosis Regarding the Shared Autonomous Vehicle Market in Germany
Authors: Hennig Jonas , Meissner Thomas , Krieg Marcus , Przioda Felix
Published: December 2024

Driven by the current advancements in autonomous driving (AD) technology, operations of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) are increasingly moved from closed test sites to public roads worldwide. Since the market potential of SAV services in Germany remains largely unexplored, this chapter aims to provide a holistic business analysis and prognosis of the German SAV market. To adequately capture the operational complexity of future SAV fleets, a simulation-based approach is used. The simulation model is created utilizing proprietary operational performance and cost data of actual shared vehicle services and pilots in Germany. Three market demand scenarios are simulated and combined with a detailed cost scenario for the year 2035. Results indicate improved operational efficiency indicators for SAV fleets compared to non-autonomous fleets. However, we also found that cost structures of SAV fleets may be highly underestimated in previous studies, resulting in a per VKM cost range of 0.48–0.50 EUR. While customer price levels are significantly lower than the current cost of using ride-hailing services, they may not be low enough to convince a considerable number of passengers to switch from their private cars to SAV services. The results underscore the importance of collaborative efforts between policymakers, fleet operators and manufacturers to harness the benefits of SAV fleets.
Transportation Effects of Connected and Automated Driving in Germany
Authors: Schrömbges Michael , Seibert Dennis , Thomsen Nina
Published: December 2024

Connected and automated driving (CAD) is likely to affect the German transportation system. Three consecutive models assess the effects of private automated vehicles (PAV) and shared automated vehicles (SAV) on car ownership, car stock, and travel demand in 2050 based on different scenarios. Firstly, a car ownership model (COM) estimates car availability at household level including changes in accessibility through CAD. Based on the year of market entry and additional costs, a car stock model (CAST) quantifies the diffusion of CAD within the German car fleet in 2050. Finally, the effects of CAD on transportation volumes and key indicators for SAV services are determined using the national travel demand model of Germany (DEMO). The model results for PAV show an increase in ownership by up to 1% with a 44% diffusion of Level 4+ cars in 2050. They account for over 50% of kilometers driven and increase overall vehicle kilometers traveled by 3%. On the contrary, SAV will reduce car ownership in urban regions by up to 4%, but increase vehicle kilometers traveled by 5%. Automation improves the transportation system and makes traveling easier. But to cope with the environmental implications, it is necessary to provide a political framework which stresses the advantages of CAD.
On Listening to the Avant-Gardes: Introduction
Authors: Duarte Anabela
Published: December 2024

In the current cultural landscape, the term “avant-garde” appears to be omnipresent; some argue that its influence has waned. A Google search from 2007 yielded 11.2 million pages on the term, a number that has likely grown significantly since then (Berg 2009). A preliminary examination of the term’s use on websites pertaining to both artistic and non-artistic topics reveals a tendency to trivialize its meaning, as evidenced by terms such as “Covid Avant-garde,” “Avant-garde Vegan Hotel,” “Arab Avant-garde,” and “Avant-garde Jazz.” Despite this, such usage paradoxically highlights the term’s hybrid nature, constant appropriation, and multiplicity of meanings. This demonstrates the term’s continued relevance and vitality within the contemporary discourse. In the arts, the term is more carefully chosen, yet its heterogeneity regarding movements and ideas is a well-known fact. In the present volume, we aim to recover this heterogeneity and the rhizomatic character of the term, as well as its countercultural hubris, by bringing to the fore works that pay some sort of tribute to the original sense of the notion, in search of a creative life, unconventional language, audacity, and outrage. As Richard Huelsenbeck, in Memoirs of a Dada Drummer (1991), puts it: “… we killed a quarter of a century, we killed several centuries for the sake of what is to come.” Accordingly, our understanding of the avant-garde is multiform, although it developed from two main ideas: the invisible realm of Bob Dylan’s basement tapesand the Lettrist creative turn to the ear.
Sunbird Records: From Subculture to Post-Subculture
Authors: Lindley Jonathan
Published: December 2024

In 2013, Sunbird Records was redesigned to investigate whether post-subcultural discourse factors in the design of an independent record label. To facilitate answering this question, the label invested in a new website, shop, studio, live music venue, and roster of artists. This study develops its primary case study, Sunbird Records, as a way of putting post-subcultural discourse into practice. Between the late 1970s and the present, there has been an important shift in the development of alternative culture. Such a shift, from subculture to post-subculture, has yet to be fully understood by cultural discourse or practically applied as a method of cultural production. The present inquiry has been designed for the purpose of critique and further reflection; its findings will be independent, distinct, and context-specific.
Hidden Influences in Music Technology: An Approach to Coding Practice
Authors: Telichan-Phillips Andrew , Marchwinski Daniel
Published: December 2024

The mutual influence of technology and culture has been historically confirmed. Recently, the degree to which technology is being influenced by profit motives has increased dramatically, so much so that technological platforms largely influence the public to meeting these motives. In the context of current musical creative practices, we feel that freedom is being restricted by the commercial industry. In fact, we argue that aspects of existing platforms for musical creation serve mainly to further control culture according to certain ideological, profit-based assumptions. In response, we are taking a critical theory approach to developing a platform based on collective collaboration and aimed at developing a coding praxis for music technology. Our approach seeks to illuminate how ideological assumptions are embedded in music technology practices today, and to make explicit all levels of user interaction. Our goal is to preclude the possibility of a single ideology being used to define the goals of software-based music systems.
Diário da República: Heavy Metal as a Territory of Ideological Emancipation
Authors: Alvelos Heitor , Canha Anselmo
Published: December 2024

This chapter presents the conceptual and ideological premises supporting “Diário da República” [DR], a Heavy Metal band that has been deliberately operating under the radar since early 2016. The band’s geometry corresponds to the traditional quartet: guitar, bass, drums, and voice. The rather conventional structure is meant to act as a constant that enables the project to develop in otherwise exploratory veins, based on a threefold purpose: Controlled Public and Online Visibility; Risk Maximization; Poetics in Legislation.
Concrete Voices and Resonant Bodies
Authors: Woolsey Caitlin
Published: December 2024

In 1955, the French artist Henri Chopin acquired a small portable tape recorder, newly commercially available. This impulsive purchase would prove decisive in the development of a new kind of experimental sound poetry, one in which the voice was rendered both “concrete” and heterogeneous. Chopin used the device to project, amplify, and multiply the sonic micro-particles and intensities of his own voice. Around the same time, William S. Burroughs deployed the metaphor of tape-recorded transmissions to explore how the voice might function like a virus, as in his cut-up novel The Ticket that Exploded. This essay considers the relationship between the tape recorder and the intimate voice made public in the work of Burroughs and Chopin, exploring how each artist addressed the material conditions of the tape recorder to elicit the uncomfortable intimacies of the body in different ways, in multiple media, and, more importantly, to different ends.
“Listen to the Colour of Your Dreams”: Lettrism, Isou and the Hypergraphic Novel
Authors: Hussey Andrew
Published: December 2024

The movement known as Lettrism (Lettrisme) was founded in Paris in 1947, by the Franco-Romanian artist Isidore Isou (1925–2007). One of the central tenets of Lettrism is that societies develop not because of the human instinct for survival, but because of the desire to create. More than this, if creativity is the highest form of action, and art its most visible form, then humanity is in charge of history. In this way, the artist takes the place of God, the first creator or artist. This philosophy takes visual form in the so-called “Hypergraphic Novels” created by Isou—a new form of artistic expression that would take writing, painting and thought beyond even Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (Joyce’s book was an endless source of inspiration for Isou). The aim of this chapter is to examine these works and, most importantly, to investigate how Isou brought the culture of Jewish mysticism to the Western avant-garde, an argument that fundamentally changes our understanding of movements such as Situationism, which were directly rooted in Lettrisme.
Music, Literature, and Cinema: When the Score Guides the Narrative
Authors: Bacci Francesco
Published: December 2024

This essay scrutinizes little-discussed aspects of intermediality by working with contamination and strategies of estrangement. Drawing on scholarship on intermediality at the intersection of literary theory and comparative literature, such as Elleström’s Media Borders, Multimodality and Intermediality, Rajewsky’s Systemkontamination, and Fornäs’ “Intermedial Passages in Time and Space,” four works of art are analyzed: Fitzgerald’s short story “Three Acts of Music,” two movies—Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange and Larraín’s Jackie, and Pynchon’s novel Gravity’s Rainbow. My aim is to show how the employment of music in both cinema and works of literature affects the narrative process and structure, and how elements belonging to different artistic genres interrelate. In literature and cinema, contamination is based on the union of different media, and in exposing this phenomenon, I want to explore a middle ground where the absence of boundaries creates an intermedial interrelationship. To understand the role and effect of this interrelation, the discussion of a series of examples reveals the process of recontextualization of songs and the perceptions of their audiences.
The Politics of a Voice: Demetrio Stratos
Authors: Guidali Fabio
Published: December 2024

The chapter focuses on the career of Demetrio Stratos, from youthful rebellion as a rock singer to vocal experimentation as a result of his growing awareness of voice and body as political weapons. Stratos, a singer and musician of Greek descent active in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s, interpreted words as barriers to sound and a reduction of the phonetic capacity. He sought to free the expressive potential of the human voice and to deconstruct language as a personal and political liberation. First as a member of Area, a politically engaged progressive rock band with avant-garde intentions, and then mainly as a vocal experimenter, he sought to unravel the mechanisms of social oppression starting with the private issues of life, since in his opinion individual emancipation comes from bodily emancipation, not merely from sexual and social emancipation.
Adorno, Dada, and Music
Authors: Ingram Paul
Published: December 2024

In his extensive body of work on art and aesthetics, Theodor W. Adorno does not dedicate much sustained attention to Dada. This chapter is a partial reconstruction of his interpretation of the movement, which takes as an organizing framework his typology of contemporary music from “On the Social Situation of Music.” Referring to Dada in passing in separate discussions of the key composers Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, and Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill, Adorno appears largely unaware of its own experiments with music. His comments about the movement are supplemented by examples of its activity in this field, an area of its creative practice that historically has been neglected by scholars. Finally, Adorno’s concept of alienating infantilism is analyzed in light of this expanded understanding of Dada.
Postmodernism, Avant-Garde, and Neo-Dadaism: The Legacy of Boguslaw Schaeffer
Authors: Zdunik Michal
Published: December 2024

The main topic of my chapter is the neo-avant-garde and neo-Dadaist influence and inspiration in the work of Boguslaw Schaeffer—one of the most interesting artists of Central Europe after the Second World War. Like prominent artists of the “classical” avant-gardes (e.g., Artaud, Schwitters, Duchamp, or Klein), Schaeffer worked extensively in many fields of artistic expression: he was best known as a composer and music theorist, but he also wrote plays, created graphic art, and practiced philosophy. In my essay I would like to show that Schaeffer is essentially a continuation of the pre-war avant-garde tradition. However, this is not a simple imitation of the old artistic language. On the contrary, the Polish composer takes techniques and forms typical of avant-garde and Dadaist aesthetics (e.g., collage, provocation, palimpsest, surrealist poetry, transformation and repetition of everyday language, poetics of the absurd) and transforms them into his own, independent form.
Alberto Greco’s Vivo-Dito, Lettrism, and the Prophecies of the Proper Name
Authors: Herrero-Matoses Fernando
Published: December 2024

This chapter explores the legacy of Lettrism in the practices of Argentine artist Alberto Greco as a means of investigating the self-proclaimed prophetic narrative of neo-avant-garde artists in Paris in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It examines how Greco’s ephemeral public actions (Vivo-Dito) in the streets of Paris, Buenos Aires, or Madrid, in which he repeatedly proliferated his own name as both signature and work of art, opened up exploratory avenues in which the artistic self was both inscribed and dispossessed. This text builds on Andrew Hussey’s interpretation of Isidore Isou’s artistic practice as a field of poetic forces. It examines Isou’s works as aesthetic and vital possibilities for perpetual exile while creating immersive universes. It further argues that although Isou’s and Greco’s artistic trajectories were different, they shared a common conception of the prophetic and messianic dimension of the artist as a proper name.
Children in Migration and International Family Law: An Introduction
Authors: Heiderhoff Bettina , Arnold Stefan
Published: December 2024

This introductory chapter gives an overview over the aims and topics of the book. The key contents of the contributions to the book are briefly presented.

The authors begin by describing the complexity of the interface between migration law and family law and then highlight some crucial, overarching issues. In particular, they show that the best interests of the child are interpreted differently by different actors. The divergence of approaches in migration and family law is striking.

Also, some central case law of the CJEU and ECtHR for the topics covered by FAMIMOVE is discussed. The article concludes with an overview of the main actors at the interface between migration law and family law and their roles or activities.
Early Marriage in Germany: Law and Politics of Cultural Demarcation
Authors: Arnold Stefan
Published: December 2024

This chapter examines the legal framework on early marriage for unaccompanied minor refugees in Germany. The article focuses on a critical analysis of the Federal Law to combat child marriages and its adjustments through the Law for the Protection of Minors in Foreign Marriages effective from 1 July 2024. It is demonstrated that the situation of those in need of protection, particularly the young women concerned and the children born from such marriage, has worsened as a result of the law.
Early Marriages in Austria: Private International Law and Ordre Public Assessment
Authors: Melcher Martina
Published: December 2024

This chapter explains the legal framework on early marriage in Austria. It is outlined, that the Austrian legal situation allows the courts to pursue a case-to-case approach in which the individual circumstances can be taken into account. The article argues in favour of the case-by-case approach, but emphasises that consequences of the non-recognition of an early marriage should be regulated.
Early Marriage: A European Perspective
Authors: Arnold Stefan
Published: December 2024

This article provides an overview and comparison of the findings of the contributions in this chapter and an outlook on possible European improvements. To protect the persons involved, the article argues against symbolic law-making and emphatically proposes a case-by-case approach.
Beyond Kafāla: How Parentless Children Are Placed in New Homes in Muslim Jurisdictions
Authors: Yassari Nadjma
Published: December 2024

Kafāla is just one of many systems used in the different Islamic laws in order to integrate a parentless child into a “foster” family. This article gives an overview of the different institutes and their functions.
Kafāla in France
Authors: Jault-Seseke Fabienne
Published: December 2024

This chapter explains the handling of kafāla-cases in France. The practical significance of kafāla in France is underlined, as many people of Moroccan or Algerian nationality living in France assume responsibility for a child born in their country of origin through kafāla. It is argued that although kafāla is not adoption, it should be treated in a similar way to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of all parties concerned. It is stressed that the necessary framework for this regulation is provided by Article 33 of the 1996 Chid Protection Convention.
Kafāla in the Netherlands
Authors: Celis Aguilar María Mayela
Published: December 2024

This chapter explains the handling of kafāla-cases in the Netherlands, including the respective case law and migration legal framework. A change in policy in 2013 is noted, whereby kafāla is no longer handled in the same way as adoption but, with some caution, in a similar way to foster care measures. The Dutch policy on the recognition of kafāla is assessed as generally cohesive and in line with applicable international instruments. However, concerns are also raised about the use of kafāla to circumvent adoption and immigration policies and regulations.
Recognition of Kafāla in European Member States: Need for a Uniform Approach?
Authors: Jault-Seseke Fabienne
Published: December 2024

This article provides an overview of the different approaches adopted by EU member states and highlights the lack of a uniform EU legislative approach. It is emphasised that any European solution must comply with the EU Charter, the 1996 Child Protection Convention and respect the cultural context of the child.
Polygamous Marriages and Reunification of Families on the Move Under EU Law: An Overview
Authors: Zaccaroni Giovanni
Published: December 2024

Polygamous marriages are usually associated with countries outside the EU. However, their recognition and the rights attached to the status of spouse, both civil and social, gave rise to a debate both in case law as well as in scholarship. The existing prohibition of family reunification under EU law represents an obstacle to free movement and family reunification of migrant families, and, potentially, also to the best interest of the child. At the same time, such a prohibition is rooted in the necessity to protect and promote equal treatment between men and women, enshrined in the EU Charter as well as in the national constitutions. As it will be seen, the debate on the balance to be found between these competing rights is far from being over.
Binding Effect of an Age Assessment
Authors: Hüning Kai
Published: December 2024

The assessment of age is one of the most challenging aspects when unaccompanied refugees, who are potentially minors, arrive in their country of destination. A particular problem arises when authorities in different countries or different authorities within the same country have doubts about whether a refugee is a minor.
Early Marriages in Sweden
Authors: Maunsbach Ulf
Published: December 2024

This chapter explains the recent developments in the Swedish legal framework on early marriage. It is shown, that early marriages are generally not recognised and only a narrow exception exists. This chapter argues for allowing individual exceptions to enable authorities and courts to make carefully considered decisions.
Contrastive Gaussian Clustering for Weakly Supervised 3D Scene Segmentation
Authors: Castillo Myrna , Dahaghin Mahtab , Toso Matteo , Del Bue Alessio
Published: December 2024

3D scene segmentation is a crucial task in Computer Vision, with applications in autonomous driving, augmented reality, and robotics. Traditional methods often struggle to provide consistent and accurate segmentation across different viewpoints. To address this, we look at the growing field of novel view synthesis. Methods like NeRF and 3DGS take a set of images and implicitly learn a multi-view consistent representation of the geometry of the scene; the same strategy can be extended to learn a 3D segmentation of the scene that is consistent with the 2D segmentation of an initial training set of input images.

We introduce Contrastive Gaussian Clustering, a novel approach for novel segmentation view synthesis and 3D scene segmentation. We extend 3D Gaussian Splatting to include a learnable 3D feature field, which allows us to cluster the 3D Gaussians into objects. Using a combination of contrastive learning and spatial regularization, our model can be trained on inconsistent 2D segmentation labels, and still learn to generate multi-view consistent masks. Moreover, the resulting model is extremely accurate, improving the IoU accuracy of the predicted masks by $$+8\%$$

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over the state of the art.

Code and trained models are available at https://github.com/MyrnaCCS/contrastive-gaussian-clustering.
Negotiation of dominant AI narratives in museum exhibitions
Authors: Maksimova Alisa
Published: December 2024

Narratives of artificial intelligence frame public perceptions and expectations, and have a performative role, potentially leading to increased attention and resource allocation, acceptance of AI, or resistance to the technology. However, research on AI narratives frequently produces generalized and decontextualized accounts. This paper argues for closer examination of the specific processes that shape AI narratives in particular contexts. To explore this, nine AI-related exhibitions held in German museums from 2022 to 2023 were analyzed. The study draws on interviews with curatorial teams and exhibition materials to investigate what narratives of AI museums are formed and how those relate to the dominant AI narratives described in previous research. It is shown that curators are critical of dominant AI narratives and aim to deconstruct common myths and present more nuanced portrayals of AI. Yet, they also face challenges in balancing this critical stance with the need for creating engaging, accessible exhibitions. The analysis reveals that while some curatorial strategies successfully counter AI stereotypes, others fail or inadvertently reproduce mainstream imaginaries. Curators discover that avoiding problematic understandings of AI in the way they had initially intended is challenging or even impossible. In other cases, when elements of mainstream AI discourse resurface in museum exhibits despite the critical stance of the curators, they remain unexamined, or are regarded as insignificant and inconsequential.
Culturally responsive communication in generative AI: looking at ChatGPT’s advice for coming out
Authors: Cirucci Angela M. , Coleman Miles , Strasser Dan , Garaizar Evan
Published: December 2024

Generative AI has captured the public imagination as a tool that promises access to expertise beyond the technical jargon and expense that traditionally characterize such infospheres as those of medicine and law. Largely absent from the current literature, however, are interrogations of generative AI’s abilities to deal in culturally responsive communication, or the expertise interwoven with culturally aware, socially responsible, and personally sensitive communication best practices. To interrogate the possibilities of cultural responsiveness in generative AI, we examine the patterns of response that characterize ChatGPT-3.5’s advice for coming out. Specifically, we submitted 100 prompts soliciting coming out advice to GPT-3.5, variegating each of those prompts slightly to account for intersectional identities. From the analysis, we find that, while the responses are largely in-line with best practices, there are also instances that might represent problematics concerning the interpellation of the user or the persons to whom one is coming out.
Long-term outcomes of surgical treatment for paediatric acute mastoiditis: the role of mastoidectomy
Authors: Švagan Matija , Rebol Janez
Published: December 2024

Purpose

Despite the declining incidence of acute mastoiditis (AM) due to antibiotics, complications persist, necessitating surgical intervention in severe cases. Recent studies suggest conservative treatments, avoiding mastoidectomy, show high recovery rates. However, this trend raises concerns about severe complications, prolonged treatment, increased antibiotic use, and declining surgical skills. While much research focuses on AM pathogenesis and treatment, the long-term consequences, especially post-mastoidectomy ear function, are less understood. To address this, we studied the permanent effects of surgically treated AM and mastoidectomy on ear function.

Methods

A cohort of patients that received surgical treatment for AM in the form of mastoidectomy was invited to be tested after at least 5 years since the operation. Test battery included COMQ-12 questionnaire, physical exam and otomicroscopy, extended high pure tone audiogram, DPAOE and middle ear impedance testing. Results were compared with a control group and a group which received surgical treatment in the form of tympanostomy for acute otitis media with impeding mastoiditis.

Results

The COMQ-12 questionnaire yielded higher scores in questions about hearing in quiet environments, hearing in noise, tinnitus, and ear discomfort. Minor structural changes were observed in the test groups during otomicroscopy, but not in the control group. Pure tone audiometry revealed a median elevation of around 10 dB in high and extended high frequencies, with similar results observed in DPAOE testing. In middle ear impedance testing, only an elevation of the stapedial reflex threshold was noted; other tests did not show any statistically significant differences.

Conclusions

In the long term, the majority of patients post-AM have minor functional in structural consequences. In the context of treatment of AM, the effects of mastoidectomy are negligible when compared to less invasive surgical procedures.
Safety and accuracy assessment of static computer assisted localized piezoelectric alveolar decortication: an in vitro study
Authors: Lara-Muros María , Camps-Font Octavi , Vilarrasa Javi , Vilarrasa Jordi , Mir-Mari Javier , Figueiredo Rui , Valmaseda-Castellón Eduard
Published: December 2024

Objectives

To assess the safety and accuracy of static computer assisted corticotomy surgery (sCACS) in comparison with freehand piezocision.

Materials and methods

A randomized in vitro study was conducted. A total of 260 interradicular corticotomies were performed in 20 identical printed models. sCACS was performed in half of the models, while the rest underwent freehand localized decortication. Accuracy was measured in the three spatial axes by overlapping the digital planning with a previous cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan of the patient and a postoperative CBCT of the models. Safety was determined as the number of damaged root surfaces. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed.

Results

Freehand corticotomies increased the likelihood of iatrogenic root damage 2.21-fold (95%CI: 1.30 to 3.77; p = 0.004). Both groups showed some degree of deviation compared to digital planning. Nevertheless, the accuracy of sCACS was significantly greater in sagittal (B = -0.21 mm, 95%CI: -0.29 to -0.12; p < 0.001), axial (B = -0.32 mm, 95%CI: -0.48 to -0.18; p < 0.001) and angular deviation (B = -2.02º; 95%CI: -2.37 to -1.66; p < 0.001) compared to freehand surgery, with the exception of depth.

Conclusions

The precision and safety of sCACS are greater than the freehand technique.

Clinical relevance

Corticotomies are performed in crowded areas where there is usually space limitation. Clinicians should consider the systematic use of surgical guides, since minimal deviations can cause iatrogenic root damage in areas where malocclusions are present.
Effects of 6-month tele-training tai chi versus resistance training on cardiometabolic health-related indices and oxidative stress markers in older Mexican women with overweight or obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Hernández-Álvarez David , Rosado-Pérez Juana , Gavia-García Graciela , Arista-Ugalde Taide Laurita , Aguiñiga-Sánchez Itzen , Santiago-Osorio Edelmiro , Vaquero-Barbosa Nayeli , Mendoza-Núñez Víctor Manuel
Published: December 2024

Background

Telehealth physical exercise training represents a viable option for maintaining intrinsic capacity, especially in confinement situations such as the one experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of tele-training tai chi vs. resistance exercise on cardiometabolic health-related indices in older Mexican women with overweight or obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A quasi-experimental exploratory study of a convenience sample of 38 older women with overweight or obesity who participated in a zoom tele-exercise program, divided into two groups: (1) resistance training group (RTG) n = 19 (age 61 ± 7 years; BMI, 29 ± 5); (2) tai chi group (TCG) n = 19 (age 63 ± 4 years; BMI, 31 ± 5). All participants had blood cardiometabolic health-related indices and oxidative stress (OxS) markers, and body composition parameters assessed at baseline and after 6 months of tele-exercise training.

Results

Adherence to the tele-training by zoom program was observed in the 90% of the RTG and 80% in the TCG. A statistically significant changes were observed after tele-training by group (p < 0.05) in several parameters, RTG: IL1β (+ 17.4%), IL6 (+ 21.2%), TNF-α (+ 19%); TAS (− 18%), TOS (+ 116%), PC (+ 33.8%), OSI (+ 147%); TCG: IL8 (+ 76.6%), IL1β (+ 26%), 8OHdG (− 26.7%), cholesterol (− 12%), %FM (− 8.1%), %FFM (+ 8.4%). Likewise, a greater increase in the ratio of free fat mass and skeletal muscle mass was observed in the TCG compared to the RTG with borderline statistical significance (p = 0.06).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest TC-tele-training has a significantly greater antioxidant effect than RT linked to an increase in fat-free mass and skeletal muscle mass. Therefore, the TC-tele-training may be an option to prevent or control OxS, to maintain or improve intrinsic capacity for healthy aging.