bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alterations in white matter fiber tracts and their correlation with flying cadet behavior
Authors: Chen Xi , Chu Qi , Meng Qingbin , Xu Peiran , Zhang Shicong
Published: January 2024

An increasing number of studies have shown that flight training alters the human brain structure; however, most studies have focused on gray matter, and the exploration of white matter structure has been largely neglected. This study aimed to investigate the changes in white matter structure induced by flight training and estimate the correlation between such changes and psychomotor and flight performance. Diffusion tensor imaging data were obtained from 25 flying cadets and 24 general college students. Data were collected in 2019 and 2022 and analyzed using automated fiber quantification. This study found no significant changes in the flight group in 2019. However, in 2022, the flight group exhibited significant alterations in the diffusion tensor imaging of the right anterior thalamic radiation, left cingulum cingulate, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, and left arcuate fasciculus. These changes occurred within local nodes of the fiber tracts. In addition, we found that changes in fiber tracts in the 2022 flight group were correlated with the reaction time of the psychomotor test task and flight duration. These findings may help improve flight training programs and provide new ideas for the selection of excellent pilots.
An optimized relational database for querying structural patterns in proteins
Authors: Angles Renzo , Arenas-Salinas Mauricio , García Roberto , Ingram Ben
Published: January 2024

A database is an essential component in almost any software system, and its creation involves more than just data modeling and schema design. It also includes query optimization and tuning. This paper focuses on a web system called GSP4PDB, which is used for searching structural patterns in proteins. The system utilizes a normalized relational database, which has proven to be inefficient even for simple queries. This article discusses the optimization of the GSP4PDB database by implementing two techniques: denormalization and indexing. The empirical evaluation described in the article shows that combining these techniques enhances the efficiency of the database when querying both real and artificial graph–based structural patterns.
Mixed aortic valve disease: association with paravalvular leak and reduced survival after transcatheter aortic valve replacement
Authors: Demirel Caglayan , Winter Max Paul , Nitsche Christian , Koschatko Sophia , Jantsch Charlotte , Mascherbauer Katharina , Halavina Kseniya , Heitzinger Gregor , Dona Carolina , Dannenberg Varius , Spinka Georg , Koschutnik Matthias , Andreas Martin , Hengstenberg Christian , Bartko Philipp E
Published: January 2024

Aims

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) revolutionized the therapy of severe aortic stenosis (AS) with rising numbers. Mixed aortic valve disease (MAVD) treated by TAVR is gaining more interest, as those patients represent a more complex cohort as compared with isolated AS. However, concerning long-term outcome for this cohort only, limited data are available. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence of MAVD in TAVR patients, investigate its association with paravalvular regurgitation (PVR), and analyse its impact on long-term mortality after TAVR

Methods and results

We conducted a registry-based cohort study using the Vienna TAVR registry, enrolling patients who underwent TAVR at Medical University of Vienna between January 2007 and May 2020 with available transthoracic echocardiography before and after TAVR (n = 880). Data analysis included PVR incidence and long-term survival outcomes. A total of 647 (73.52%) out of 880 patients had ≥ mild aortic regurgitation next to severe AS. MAVD was associated with PVR compared with isolated AS with an odds ratio of 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.51–2.81 (P = <0.001). More than mild PVR after TAVR (n = 168 out of 880: 19.09%) was related to higher mortality compared with the absence of PVR with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.33, 95% CI: 1.05– 1.67 (P = 0.016). MAVD patients developing ≥ mild PVR after TAVR were also associated with higher mortality compared with the absence of PVR with an HR of 1.30 and 95% CI: 1.04–1.62 (P = 0.022).

Conclusion

MAVD is prevalent among TAVR patients and presents unique challenges, with increased PVR risk and worse outcomes compared with isolated AS. Long-term survival for MAVD patients, not limited to those developing PVR post-TAVR, is compromised. Earlier intervention before the occurrence of structural myocardial damage or surgical valve replacement might be a potential workaround to improve outcomes.
Atrial fibrillation type and long-term clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with heart failure: insight from JROADHF
Authors: Hamatani Yasuhiro , Enzan Nobuyuki , Iguchi Moritake , Yoshizawa Takashi , Kawaji Tetsuma , Ide Tomomi , Tohyama Takeshi , Matsushima Shouji , Abe Mitsuru , Tsutsui Hiroyuki , Akao Masaharu
Published: January 2024

Aims

Atrial fibrillation (AF) type (paroxysmal, persistent, or permanent) is important in determining therapeutic management; however, clinical outcomes by AF type are largely unknown for hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF).

Methods and results

The Japanese Registry Of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure is a retrospective, multicenter, and nationwide registry of patients hospitalized for acute HF in Japan. Follow-up data were collected up to 5 years after hospitalization. Patients were divided based on diagnosis and AF type into 3 groups [without AF, paroxysmal AF, and sustained AF (defined as a composite of persistent and permanent AF)], and compared the backgrounds and outcomes between the groups. Of 12 895 hospitalized HF patients [mean age: 78 ± 13 years, female: 6077 (47%), and mean left ventricular ejection fraction: 47 ± 17%], 1725 had paroxysmal AF, and 3672 had sustained AF. Compared with patients without AF, sustained AF had a higher risk of the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular (CV) death or HF hospitalization [hazard ratio (HR): 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.17; P = 0.03], mainly driven by HF hospitalization [HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.06–1.26; P < 0.001], whereas the corresponding risk for the primary endpoint in patients with paroxysmal AF was not elevated (HR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.94–1.13; P = 0.53) after adjustment by multivariable Cox regression analysis. These results were consistent among the subgroups of patients with reduced or preserved ejection fraction (interaction P = 0.74).

Conclusion

Among hospitalized patients with HF, sustained AF, but not paroxysmal AF, was significantly associated with a higher risk for CV death or HF hospitalization, indicating the importance of accounting for AF type in HF patients.
Homocysteine, hyperhomocysteinemia, and H-type hypertension
Authors: Wu Dong-Feng , Yin Rui-Xing , Deng Jin-Long
Published: January 2024

Homocysteine (Hcy) is a sulphur-containing nonessential amino acid derived from the intermediate metabolites of methionine. Methionine is obtained from dietary proteins, such as poultry, meat, eggs, seafood, and dairy products. Abnormalities in Hcy metabolic pathways, deficiencies in dietary methionine, folate, and vitamins B12, B6, and B2 and genetic defects, polymorphisms, or mutations in Hcy metabolism-related enzymes may lead to an increase in plasma Hcy levels. Generally, a plasma Hcy level higher than 10 or 15 μmol/L has been defined as hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). An individual with essential hypertension complicated with HHcy is considered to have H-type hypertension (HTH). Currently, HHcy is considered a novel independent risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases. To provide a useful reference for clinicians, the research progress on Hcy, HHcy, and HTH in recent years was systematically reviewed here, with a focus on the source and metabolic pathways of Hcy, plasma Hcy levels and influencing factors, detection methods for plasma Hcy levels, relationship between Hcy concentration and hypertension, pathogenesis of HTH, cardiovascular complications of HTH, and treatment of HTH.
Agnogenic practices and corporate political strategy: the legitimation of UK gambling industry-funded youth education programmes
Authors: van Schalkwyk May C I , Hawkins Benjamin , Petticrew Mark , Maani Nason , Garde Amandine , Reeves Aaron , McKee Martin
Published: January 2024

Agnogenic practices—designed to create ignorance or doubt—are well-established strategies employed by health-harming industries (HHI). However, little is known about their use by industry-funded organizations delivering youth education programmes. We applied a previously published framework of corporate agnogenic practices to analyse how these organizations used them in three UK gambling industry-funded youth education programmes. Evidential strategies adopted previously by other HHI are prominent in the programmes’ practitioner-facing materials, evaluation design and reporting and in public statements about the programmes. We show how agnogenic practices are employed to portray these youth education programmes as ‘evidence-based’ and ‘evaluation-led’. These practices distort the already limited evidence on these educational initiatives while legitimizing industry-favourable policies, which prioritize commercial interests over public health. Given the similarities in political strategies adopted by different industries, these findings are relevant to research and policy on other HHI.
The Case for Rage in Transitional Justice: Lessons from the Anti-Racist Struggle
Authors: Leiby R. S
Published: January 2024

Transitional justice theorizing has the tendency to smuggle in an over-reliance on dualities: one’s resentment can give rise to either vengeance or forgiveness, but not both; one can either be fueled by anger or by the hope of progress, but not both; and so on. This dualistic way of thinking replicates the kinds of false dichotomies that hamstring other societal movements, among them the struggle against racism. Drawing on Myisha Cherry’s case for so-called ‘Lordean rage’ within the context of the anti-racist movement, I make the case that transitional justice in general would be well-served by centering the transformative power of emotion (even and especially when that emotion defies oversimplified and strict categorization).
Compressive Fourier collocation methods for high-dimensional diffusion equations with periodic boundary conditions
Authors: Wang Weiqi , Brugiapaglia Simone
Published: January 2024

High-dimensional partial differential equations (PDEs) are a popular mathematical modelling tool, with applications ranging from finance to computational chemistry. However, standard numerical techniques for solving these PDEs are typically affected by the curse of dimensionality. In this work, we tackle this challenge while focusing on stationary diffusion equations defined over a high-dimensional domain with periodic boundary conditions. Inspired by recent progress in sparse function approximation in high dimensions, we propose a new method called compressive Fourier collocation. Combining ideas from compressive sensing and spectral collocation, our method replaces the use of structured collocation grids with Monte Carlo sampling and employs sparse recovery techniques, such as orthogonal matching pursuit and $\ell ^1$ minimization, to approximate the Fourier coefficients of the PDE solution. We conduct a rigorous theoretical analysis showing that the approximation error of the proposed method is comparable with the best $s$-term approximation (with respect to the Fourier basis) to the solution. Using the recently introduced framework of random sampling in bounded Riesz systems, our analysis shows that the compressive Fourier collocation method mitigates the curse of dimensionality with respect to the number of collocation points under sufficient conditions on the regularity of the diffusion coefficient. We also present numerical experiments that illustrate the accuracy and stability of the method for the approximation of sparse and compressible solutions.
Neck circumference as a predictor of all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older adults in rural Ecuador
Authors: Del Brutto Oscar H , Rumbea Denisse A , Patel Maitri , Mera Robertino M
Published: January 2024

Background

Neck circumference (NC) has been associated with mortality secondary to cardiovascular diseases and other conditions. However, information on this association in the population at large is limited. We aimed to assess this association in community dwellers living in rural Ecuador.

Methods

Individuals aged ≥40 y who were enrolled in the population-based Three Villages Study cohort were prospectively followed to estimate mortality risk according to baseline measurements of NC, after adjusting for relevant confounders.

Results

Analysis included 1521 individuals followed for a mean of 6.4±3.4 y. Mean NC was 36.2±3.7 cm, with 509 (33%) individuals allocated to the first (25–34 cm), 319 (21%) to the second (36–37 cm), 417 (27%) to the third (37–39 cm) and 276 (18%) to the fourth (40–50 cm) quartile. A total of 211 (14%) individuals died during the follow-up. Overall, the crude mortality rate was 2.3 per 100 person-years, which increased to 5.63 for those in the fourth NC quartile. An adjusted Cox-proportional hazards model showed that individuals in the fourth quartile of NC had higher mortality risk compared with the first quartile (HR: 2.98; 95% CI 1.77 to 5.02).

Conclusion

Larger NC increases mortality risk in middle-aged and older adults of indigenous ancestry living in rural Ecuador.
High amino acid osmotrophic incorporation by marine eukaryotic phytoplankton revealed by click chemistry
Authors: Mena Catalina , Deulofeu-Capo Ona , Forn Irene , Dordal-Soriano Júlia , Mantilla-Arias Yulieth A , Samos Iván P , Sebastián Marta , Cardelús Clara , Massana Ramon , Romera-Castillo Cristina , Mallenco-Fornies Rebeca , Gasol Josep M , Ruiz-González Clara
Published: January 2024

The osmotrophic uptake of dissolved organic compounds in the ocean is considered to be dominated by heterotrophic prokaryotes, whereas the role of planktonic eukaryotes is still unclear. We explored the capacity of natural eukaryotic plankton communities to incorporate the synthetic amino acid L-homopropargylglycine (HPG, analogue of methionine) using biorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT), and we compared it with prokaryotic HPG use throughout a 9-day survey in the NW Mediterranean. BONCAT allows to fluorescently identify translationally active cells, but it has never been applied to natural eukaryotic communities. We found a large diversity of photosynthetic and heterotrophic eukaryotes incorporating HPG into proteins, with dinoflagellates and diatoms showing the highest percentages of BONCAT-labelled cells (49 ± 25% and 52 ± 15%, respectively). Among them, pennate diatoms exhibited higher HPG incorporation in the afternoon than in the morning, whereas small (≤5 μm) photosynthetic eukaryotes and heterotrophic nanoeukaryotes showed the opposite pattern. Centric diatoms (e.g. Chaetoceros, Thalassiosira, and Lauderia spp.) dominated the eukaryotic HPG incorporation due to their high abundances and large sizes, accounting for up to 86% of the eukaryotic BONCAT signal and strongly correlating with bulk 3H-leucine uptake rates. When including prokaryotes, eukaryotes were estimated to account for 19–31% of the bulk BONCAT signal. Our results evidence a large complexity in the osmotrophic uptake of HPG, which varies over time within and across eukaryotic groups and highlights the potential of BONCAT to quantify osmotrophy and protein synthesis in complex eukaryotic communities.
Military Exercises and Network Effects
Authors: Galambos Kevin
Published: January 2024

Between 1980 and 2016, the percentage of states that partnered in a multinational military exercise (MME) increased twenty-fold. What explains this proliferation? Existing studies focus on the role of major powers and polarity but fail to explain exercises without great powers or the continuous growth of MME participation. I conceptualize patterns of exercises among all members of the international system as networks. Inferential network analysis shows that higher-order effects like popularity, transitivity, and memory increase the probability that states cooperate militarily. Countries with many connections have institutional knowledge and prestige to attract partners. Multinational coalitions form where mutual friends increase trust and create positive feedback. Past cooperation lowers the costs of future partnerships. Empirical analysis shows that the evolving network structure of MMEs is an emergent property driven by these interdependent processes, and that traditional explanations for security cooperation like great powers and alliances decrease in influence over time.
Evaluation of a thermoregulatory intravascular catheter in critically ill burns patients
Authors: Brown Amy , McGovern Christopher , Davidson Marie , Boyle Rachael , Farnham Derek David Truong , Paton Lia
Published: January 2024

Patients with severe burns are at high risk of thermoregulatory failure. Yet, there is a lack of consensus regarding the optimum approach to temperature dysregulation in patients with severe burns. Intravascular temperature management catheters may offer a superior method of temperature control, but robust data are lacking. In this article, we describe our experience in using a thermoregulatory catheter for temperature management in a tertiary referral burns center. We conducted a single-center, prospective evaluation of the use of a thermoregulatory intravenous catheter system (Thermogard XP®) in critically injured burns patients admitted to our intensive care unit over an 18-month period. Ten patients had a total of 12 catheters inserted. Patient temperatures were maintained between a median low of 36.9 °C and a median high of 38.4 °C while in the intensive care unit. If patients were transferred to theater, the median temperature change was −0.15 °C (interquartile range [IQR] −0.3, 0) if TBSA was ≤50% and −1.45 °C (IQR −2.05, −0.975) if >50%. No surgical procedures were terminated due to intraoperative hypothermia. On return from theater, 72.2% of patients were normothermic with a median temperature of 36.8 °C. Thirty percent of patients developed a thrombotic complication. Overall, the device appeared reliable in achieving and maintaining normothermia for critically ill burns patients manifesting temperature dysregulation. It may also be of benefit to patients expected to show temperature fluctuations during operative procedures. Further research is needed to define whether this represents an improvement over current practice and investigate the thrombus risk associated with such devices.
The Political Ecology of Climate Remedies in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparing Compliance between National and Inter-American Litigation
Authors: Auz Juan
Published: January 2024

The climate crisis will continue to affect human and natural systems across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Undoubtedly, this jeopardizes entire communities’ enjoyment of human rights. In that context, the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) is expected to respond, particularly since its organs have jurisdiction to order remedies over most LAC countries, provided they determine a rights violation. Despite the growing number of domestic human rights-based climate cases in the region, the organs of the IAHRS have yet to adjudicate and order remedies in a case concerning the climate crisis. Against this backdrop, this article inquires how to understand climate remedies from a political ecology perspective to capture the LAC climate litigation experience. Additionally, the article asks what the challenges of implementing such remedies may be. To answer these questions, first, it compares the remedial approaches of domestic courts in six finally decided climate-related cases with those of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) in ‘anti-extractivist’ cases. Second, it applies a political ecology lens to understand the elements that might hinder the implementation of the identified remedies. The article argues that the socioeconomic cost for States largely determines remedial compliance in domestic climate litigation and the IACtHR’s anti-extractivist litigation. Ultimately, the aim is to anticipate the future of climate remedies and their effectiveness at the IACtHR based on present climate litigation in LAC.
Giant intrapulmonary solitary fibrous tumor with signs of malignancy
Authors: Marcinkevičiūtė Kristina , Jagelavičius Žymantas , Žurauskas Edvardas , Janilionis Ričardas
Published: January 2024

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is an extremely rare mesenchymal neoplasm usually detected in the pleura, which generally follows a benign course. The localization inside lung parenchyma has more rarely been reported. We present a case of a 51-year-old male with a dry cough, dyspnea, chest pain, and increased perspiration. Radiological images revealed a giant circumscribed mass on the right side of the chest. A transbronchial cryobiopsy of the lung was performed and revealed an SFT. The right upper lobectomy through lateral thoracotomy was performed. The pathological examination confirmed an SFT with a central zone of necrosis that is a sign of malignancy. At a 2-year follow-up, the patient is free of symptoms and with no evidence of recurrence. Although the intrapulmonary localization of an SFT is a rare entity, we should be aware of it as a potential malignant pulmonary neoplasm.
Cystic Fibrosis Carrier States Are Associated With More Severe Cases of Bronchiectasis
Authors: Miller Aaron C , Harris Logan M , Winthrop Kevin L , Cavanaugh Joseph E , Abou Alaiwa Mahmoud H , Hornick Douglas B , Stoltz David A , Polgreen Philip M
Published: January 2024

Background

People with cystic fibrosis (CF) are at increased risk for bronchiectasis, and several reports suggest that CF carriers may also be at higher risk for developing bronchiectasis. The purpose of this study was to determine if CF carriers are at risk for more severe courses or complications of bronchiectasis.

Methods

Using MarketScan data (2001–2021), we built a cohort consisting of 105 CF carriers with bronchiectasis and 300 083 controls with bronchiectasis but without a CF carrier diagnosis. We evaluated if CF carriers were more likely to be hospitalized for bronchiectasis. In addition, we examined if CF carriers were more likely to be infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) or to have filled more antibiotic prescriptions. We considered regression models for incident and rate outcomes that controlled for age, sex, smoking status, and comorbidities.

Results

The odds of hospitalization were almost 2.4 times higher (95% CI, 1.116–5.255) for CF carriers with bronchiectasis when compared with non–CF carriers with bronchiectasis. The estimated odds of being diagnosed with a Pseudomonas infection for CF carriers vs noncarriers was about 4.2 times higher (95% CI, 2.417–7.551) and 5.4 times higher (95% CI, 3.398–8.804) for being diagnosed with NTM. The rate of distinct antibiotic fill dates was estimated to be 2 times higher for carriers as compared with controls (95% CI, 1.735–2.333), and the rate ratio for the total number of days of antibiotics supplied was estimated as 2.8 (95% CI, 2.290–3.442).

Conclusions

CF carriers with bronchiectasis required more hospitalizations and more frequent administration of antibiotics as compared with noncarriers. Given that CF carriers were also more likely to be diagnosed with Pseudomonas and NTM infections, CF carriers with bronchiectasis may have a phenotype more resembling CF-related bronchiectasis than non-CF bronchiectasis.
What is Isorhythm?
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

This chapter interrogates the term isorhythm (= ‘equal rhythm’) and traces its origin and application in early twentieth-century musicology, arguing that it has been misapplied to musical phenomena that are either not equal, or where the identity is not confined to rhythm. These common usages distort the historiography of the motet and imply more uniformity than is justified by the rich range of techniques and strategies encountered. Permutations of color and talea and different tenor manipulations yield much more variety than common text-book definitions of ‘the isorhythmic motet’. It is proposed that the term be dropped, although ‘isorhythm’ remains a valid descriptive term of more limited application. The chapter is a very slightly adapted version of a previously published paper on the history and limitations of the modern term; a preamble takes account of recent work by Lawrence Earp and Anna Zayaruznaya.
Machaut’s Motet 10 and its Interconnections
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

Like Chapters 5, 10 and 14, the present chapter too complements a textual study by Kevin Brownlee. Considerations of pitch, cadencing potential, number and symmetry again condition the melodic choice of a tenor chant excerpt, also chosen for words to suit the upper-voice texts. Tenor melodic motives are integrated into the upper voices, and the tenor rhythms made to reflect theirs. A long-term syncopation creates interesting cross-rhythms, as does a tension between perfect and imperfect mensurations in the reduced section. Interplay between melodic and rhythmic motives and key words (here especially ‘fire’ and ‘death’) yield a subtle leitmotivic word painting, also making use of extremes of range, low for death, high for loyalty. Words connoting repetition or recollection are musically punned, structurally and by repeats; recapitulation is a powerful form-building element. Links and affinities to other motets are explored.
The Yoxford Credo
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

Continuing from Chapter 22, this chapter analyses an equally resourceful Credo in the same set of flyleaves, which uses strategies more often associated with motets, and stands apart from both the simpler and more complex contemporary Mass settings of Old Hall. It combines equal-length paired upper-voice segments with non-coincident mensural transformation and successive diminution in the lower parts, which have three pairs of statements in the unprecedented overall proportions 12:8: 6:4: 3:2, reflected in the punning tenor label ‘Omni tempore’ (through all time). Structural features include ingenious palindromes. Obvious structural coincidences are avoided, apparently in order to increase the climactic effect of the Amen.
Mayshuet and theDeo gratiasMotets in the Old Hall Manuscript
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

The Old Hall manuscript ended with two Deo gratias motets; these evidently also ended a younger fragmentary royal choirbook partly copied from it (RC), which enables completion of one of the motets, Post missarum sollennia, whose text is closely related to an older French motet. The other motet, Are post libamina, is ascribed to ‘Mayshuet’, whose identity is investigated in the light of a statement within the text that it was composed by a distinguished Frenchman and adapted by him to Latin to accommodate English tastes. Identity of this composer with Matheus de Sancto Johanne is rejected, and other possible candidates are cautiously explored.
Old Hall, the Agincourt Motets, and Dunstaple
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

This chapter revisits the dating and motets of the Old Hall manuscript, whose leading composer, Leonel Power, was in the chapel of Thomas, Duke of Clarence, next in line to the throne of his brother Henry V, the composer ‘Roy Henry’. The manuscript was evidently prepared for Clarence’s chapel c. 1413–15, before it migrated to Henry’s composer–chaplains who added their own compositions, c. 1415 and 1419, including motets with topical reference from around the time of Agincourt. Chroniclers recount the English military victory in 1416 and Henry’s provisions for his chapel liturgy. Some texts cited at precisely this time appear to refer to known motets by Dunstaple. Other early datings and recent attributions for his works are evaluated, together with new findings on his biography and association with the Duke of Bedford, for whose chapel in turn a fragmentary royal choirbook may have been destined.
The Motets of Johannes Ciconia
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

This chapter is a previously unpublished overview of Ciconia’s motets, going considerably beyond the introduction to the 1984 edition. We are almost entirely dependent on the compiler of the manuscript Bologna Q15 for his splendid body of motets, which were there subjected to notational revision (weakening their evident Italian genesis) and the addition of contratenor parts. Musical and textual analysis attempts to shed light on this complex transmission. The case for his authorship of two opera dubia is found to be weakened by codicological analysis. The date and destination of his two-part motet O Petre Christi discipule is weighed in the light of varying views.
Introduction
Authors: Gheaus Anca , Straehle Christine
Published: January 2024

This chapter introduces the book. It specifies its central question, defines the terms and provides a brief overview of the current legal regulation of surrogacy and of the main moral issues raised by surrogacy. It also explains the positions defended by Christine Straehle and Anca Gheaus in their respective chapters.
Two Tales of the Death of God
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

Across the Western world, churches are emptying out and closing their doors, and more and more people are rejecting organized religion. This book addresses the causes of this decline in belief and participation in religious activities by examining two rival explanations. The first is the Enlightenment myth, which states that religious belief becomes less tenable as it is gradually replaced by a scientific worldview. This is the view promoted by a group of intellectuals known as the “new atheists” (represented most famously by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins), who in the early 2000s captured the imagination of young skeptics and ignited a movement for secularism by arguing that religion is the source of most of our social ills. Their view of religion as the antithesis of modern science is closely connected to ideological theories of social progress that work to justify social inequalities. After critiquing this ideological take on religion, a better alternative is presented: the sociological theory of secularization, which states that religious decline is a result of socioeconomic development that has produced greater overall well-being and equality and shifting moral values that lead people to view religious ethics as a relic of a bygone era. The evidence on secularization suggests that only by working to achieve greater security and equality for all can we counter power and influence of organized religion.
A Truthful Myth
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

The secularization thesis, in its most basic form, states that as societies modernize, religious belief, and the importance of religion in public life, declines. This theory was self-evident to many social scientists of the mid- to late twentieth century, but in the late twentieth century the Islamic Revolution and the Christian Right’s ascent to political power threw the secularization thesis into question. Eventually a new orthodox view arose that sees the secularization thesis as an ideology (rather than an empirical scientific theory) that reflects a belief in Western cultural superiority. This chapter charts the development of the debate about secularization and the current status of the theory.
The Long, Slow Death of God
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

This chapter reviews the evidence for secularization, including both major sub-theses: privatization (the separation of church and state) and disaffiliation (a growth in the number of people who claim no religious affiliation). It argues that the apparent resurgence of religion in the public sphere is a distraction from the reality that religion hold less influence over public institutions than ever before. In terms of religious affiliation, there has been a significant increase in recent decades in the number of people who say they don’t believe in God or claim no religious affiliation, and a steep decline in participation in religious services and activities. The evidence indicates that we are in a period of significant secularization of the Western world.
The Stigma Trap
Authors: Sharone Ofer
Published: January 2024

This book shows how the unemployment stigma renders all workers, including workers who are highly experienced and hold advanced degrees from elite universities, precarious and vulnerable to being trapped in long-term unemployment. Stigma is an invisible but ubiquitous force that is powerful enough to erase the significance of past educational and professional achievements. Drawing on interviews with workers, recruiters, and career coaches this book analyzes the ways that the unemployment stigma distorts how employers view jobseekers. But it is not only employers. The same stigma of unemployment can rear its head when an unemployed worker tries to network with former colleagues, receive support from a coach, or even turn to a close friend or a spouse. With stigma reflected back from all directions it can be internalized and appear when one looks in the mirror. For anyone who has directly experienced unemployment, or knows someone who has, this book will be eye opening. It shows the subtle and profound ways that the unemployment stigma sets a trap that is difficult to escape. It also provides a sociological approach to supporting unemployed workers, and to countering this stigma and the institutions that underlie it.
Networking and Feeling Like Beggars and Used-Car Salesmen
Authors: Sharone Ofer
Published: January 2024

Unemployed jobseekers focus on networking as a key strategy but often encounter the same stigma held by recruiters when they reach out to former colleagues or new ties. In this chapter we hear from MIT alums who are enthusiastic about helping other graduates of their university, but if they learn that these fellow alums are unemployed they respond with the same stigma that we heard from recruiters in Chapter 2. Long-term unemployed jobseekers use two striking metaphors to describe their networking experiences. Some discuss feeling like a beggar seeking a handout, while others talk of feeling like a used-car salesperson who must appear confident and mask any doubts. Over time, the repeated encountering of stigma, and the experience of feeling like a beggar or an inauthentic salesperson leads to a reduction in networking and consequently further diminishes the likelihood of escaping the trap of long-term unemployment.
The Stigma Inside
Authors: Sharone Ofer
Published: January 2024

The stigma reflected back from all directions tends to be internalized and leads to feelings of shame, challenged identities, and growing anxiety. In addition, the labor market experiences of unemployed jobseekers lead to self-doubts about their value as professionals, and the growing financial crisis results in undermining of identities as parents and providers, and even as self-sufficient adults. Moreover, most jobseekers experience ever intensifying anxiety over the growing gap in their resumes. Feelings of shame, the undermining of key identities, and rising anxiety together mean that negative emotions are all but an inevitable consequence of long-term unemployment; yet, in this chapter we also hear recruiters explain that any hint of negative feelings from an applicant means they are excluded from consideration. In short, unemployed jobseekers are trapped by stigmas, and then further trapped by experiencing negative emotions in response to such stigmas.
Beyond Participatory Inclusion
Authors: Bagg Samuel Ely
Published: January 2024

Following the chapter on responsive representation, this chapter examines the other version of collective self-rule with the greatest practical influence: the ideal of “participatory inclusion.” Its core claim is that genuine self-rule requires including more people, more directly and deliberatively, in more decisions—preferably in small-scale contexts. The chapter traces how theorists developed this ideal in response to widely acknowledged failures of responsive representation, before exploring how it motivates a wide range of practical reforms—beginning in the mid-twentieth century and continuing into the present. It then considers the limitations of this paradigm. In short, it claims, practices of participatory inclusion can make advances on the margins, but their ability to address the most important democratic challenges is limited by their focus on decision-making processes rather than underlying power asymmetries. In particular, practices that are formally neutral, oriented towards specific decision nodes, individualizing, and collaborative in spirit offer too many opportunities for co-optation by elites, relative to more oppositional, partisan, group-based forms of collective action. Finally, the chapter addresses more abstract and idealized versions of collective self-rule, such as deliberative systems theory and recent accounts of political equality. By retreating from the narrow agenda implied by their forebears, it concludes, these accounts move in the right direction, but they have yet to articulate a compelling alternative agenda. The ideal of resisting state capture provides such an agenda, and can be understood as filling in the practical demands of these more abstract versions of collective self-rule.
What Is State Capture?
Authors: Bagg Samuel Ely
Published: January 2024

This chapter begins to articulate the core ideal defended in the book: democracy as resisting state capture. This ideal conceives democracy as a set of practices that help to promote the public interest by protecting public power from capture at the hands of any group. The aim of this chapter is to elaborate the core concept of “state capture,” and it begins by examining its relationship to other key terms such as democracy and the public interest, before exploring the very diverse range of forms state capture can take. Defined as the use of public power to pursue private interests at the expense of the public, the concept of state capture is an umbrella term encompassing problems as diverse as regulatory capture, corruption, clientelism, authoritarianism, oligarchy, and racial caste systems, and the chapter draws from historical and social scientific research on all of these phenomena. It then situates these particular literatures within the broader framework provided by two recent comprehensive theories of political economy, both of which demonstrate how pervasive state capture by a narrow elite characterized nearly all state-based societies in human history. Where these theories emphasize the progress achieved by liberal democratic societies in this regard, however, this chapter also stresses the significance of certain forms of capture that persist and even intensify in those societies. Engaging extensively with empirical research, it devotes special attention to two forms of capture that are especially severe and pervasive across all modern democracies: those benefiting categorically advantaged groups and wealthy elites.
Alternative Approaches to Causation
Authors: Shan Yafeng
Published: January 2024

Causation is one of the most controversial topics in philosophy. There is a wide range of philosophical accounts of causation, for example, the regularity account, the probabilistic account, the counterfactual account, the interventionist account, which can be all classified as ‘difference-making’ accounts; and the mechanistic account. Many argue that only one of these accounts is correct as there is only one causal relation (causal monism), while others maintain that there are multiple kinds of causation (causal pluralism). In addition, eliminativists argue that science has no need of causation at all, while primitivists maintain that causation is unanalysable. Recently, the difference-making and mechanistic approaches have dominated recent philosophical discussion of causation. Other approaches and positions have been insufficiently discussed and assessed, especially in the context of philosophy of science. This volume explores and examines alternative approaches to causation. It revisits causal primitivism and causal eliminativism in the context of recent literature. It further explores the pluralistic approach, the fictionalist approach, the inferentialist approach, and the informational approach. It also examines the application of the dispositional approach, the epistemic approach, and the powerful particulars approach to the natural and social sciences. Overall, the volume is complementary to the recent discussion on difference-making and mechanistic approaches and sheds new light on the metaphysical, epistemological, conceptual and methodological issues on causation. As such, it provides foundations for further research and teaching of this hotly debated topic.
The Metaphysics of Causation
Authors: Norton John D.
Published: January 2024

Contrary to Hume, science has found many ways in which things connect with other things in the world. Causal metaphysics, however, has failed to add anything factual to the relations discovered by science. It is at best an exercise in labeling that may have practical uses. This chapter presents an empirically based, skeptical critique of the metaphysics of causation. In particular, it argues that the present study of the metaphysics of causation has nothing useful to add factually to the catalog of the connections discovered by science. Rather the metaphysical investigations of causation are confused in their foundation and purpose.
A Dispositional Account of Causation
Authors: Lill Anjum Rani , Rocca Elena
Published: January 2024

Scientific approaches inspired by the Humean concept of causation have left an epistemic gap between the causal knowledge gained in the idealized context of the lab and the real-life contexts to which the results are applied. In biological research, what works in the lab does not always carry over to the context where the causal knowledge is needed. This is the well-known problem of low external validity. This chapter considers three research areas for which external validity of causal findings remains a methodological challenge: medical research, gene technology, and the ecological impact of chemical substances. The authors’ diagnosis is that standard risk assessment approaches in medicine, gene technology, and environmental risk rely on some Humean biases about causation, including what they call the two-event model. In contrast, the theory of Causal Dispositionalism supports a different risk methodology, called Cumulative Risk Assessment.
Cortical Evolution in Primates
Authors: Wise Steven P.
Published: January 2024

The cerebral cortex of primates expanded more recently than most neuroscientists suspect, and it happened many times, often during periods of global climate change. Fifty million years ago, at latitudes known for brutal cold and treeless tundra today, early primates thrived in luxurious rainforests. Later, global cooling trends decreased atmospheric moisture and caused the retreat and drying of these forests. Resources dwindled and competition intensified. Primate species competed with other primate species then, as well as with arboreal rodents and birds. In several primate lineages, evolving independently, a larger cortex resulted from these struggles. Then, about 34 million years ago, global cooling accelerated. Many species died out, but a few primates survived. Among them, within the past 20–25 million years, the cortex enlarged again. Despite the impressive cortex that resulted from this second phase of expansion, most species in the ape–human group became extinct when—during a global cooling trend 9–14 million years ago—an aridification of forests caused the replacement of their favored fruit trees with deciduous trees. One species, the ancestor of humans, fared better, of course. As our ancestors adapted to life in a cooler world of savannas and open woodlands, the cortex enlarged yet again, and by about 130,000 years ago it attained its current size and shape. The cortex also changed in composition during primate evolution. An extensive suite of primate-specific areas emerged, and in humans the enlargement of these areas, along with the hippocampus, supported the evolution of human-specific cognitive capacities.
Arboreal adaptations
Authors: Wise Steven P.
Published: January 2024

The Paleocene began with empty arboreal niches in recovering forests. Stem primates, called plesiadapiforms, exploited these habitats via specializations like those of arboreal rodents. During the Eocene, many animals exploited the rainforests of northern continents, but primates did so differently. A suite of adaptations coalesced in early primates: skeletal and muscular mechanisms for pedal and manual grasping of branches and items on them; fingernails, toenails, and papillary ridges on fingers and toes to secure a precisely calibrated grip; a hindlimb-dominated, leaping–grasping mode of locomotion suited to movement among flimsy and discontinuous branches; a new kind of gait suited to arboreal life; and forward-facing eyes, along with other changes in vision. Primates became “visual animals,” which reversed the de-emphasis of vision that evolved in Mesozoic mammals.
Great grades of gray
Authors: Wise Steven P.
Published: January 2024

Fossil evidence shows that primates evolved forward-facing eyes, grasping digits, a divergent big toe, fingernails, toenails, and long hindlimbs by the early Eocene, no later than ~55 Ma. Endocasts of fossil crania reveal that the brains and cortex of primates remained about the same size as in rodents until much later. During the late Eocene, primate brains increased in volume relative to body mass, and they became mostly neocortex for the first time. As the cortex expanded, primate brains adopted their characteristic shape, with a lateral sulcus and a protruding temporal lobe. The timing of cortical enlargement indicates that it occurred independently in at least four primate lineages: lemuriforms and lorisiforms among strepsirrhines; and tarsiers and anthropoids among haplorhines. It’s also possible that the initial pulse of cortical expansion occurred independently in platyrrhines and catarrhines.
Greater grades of gray
Authors: Wise Steven P.
Published: January 2024

Building on the Eocene grade-shifts, additional cortical expansion occurred later and independently in three anthropoid lineages: hominoids, platyrrhines, and cercopithecoids. The cortex and frontal lobe of platyrrhines and cercopithecoids enlarged into the modern anthropoid range during the middle-to-late Miocene, after ~16–15 Ma and after most of their other characteristic traits had evolved. Both groups of monkeys radiated and diversified during the late Miocene. The cortex expanded earlier in hominoids than in monkeys, sometime before ~18 Ma and before hominoids evolved most of their characteristic traits, while they closely resembled monkeys. Hominins emerged ~7–6 Ma, but the major phase of cortical expansion occurred after ~3 Ma. Enlargement of the frontal, posterior parietal, and anterior temporal lobes, including widening of the frontal lobe, continued until ~130,000 years ago, when the human cortex reached its current size and shape.