bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Necessity of Community
Authors: Willis Roxana
Published: June 2023

In conditions of class inequality, where full autonomy is unattainable (as argued in Chapter 1), an alternative moral order thrives. This chapter outlines the parameters of that alternative order by developing emic theory and introducing the ‘framework of mutuality’. Building on the analysis of structural inequality penned in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 explores how residents on a rundown council estate suffering through socio-economic deprivation and stigmatization nurture an alternative moral orientation. Rather than promoting independence, self-interest, and self-gain, as per the ‘framework of autonomy’, in conditions of precarity, mutuality is what thrives. Mutuality norms concern being with and giving time for others, protecting others’ security and well-being, supporting those in need, and giving what resources one has to promote collective survival. These norms are revealed through a range of sharing practices that occur in the research community, including sharing advice, skills, love, support, and loaning money on a no-interest basis. In addition to sharing with members of a relational community, the final section examines these practices as evident among the broader ‘imagined community’ of Corby, which extends the number of those upon whom precariously positioned persons might depend. The emic account advanced in this chapter is contrasted with social capital theory to suggest that certain mainstream theories, developed in particular socio-economic contexts, might be ill-suited to explain experiences of precarity. The following chapter extends this argument.
Thin Blue Line
Authors: Willis Roxana
Published: June 2023

This chapter adds context to why customary fighting, explored in Chapter 3, continues in the present, bringing into view tense relationships between precariously situated persons and the state. Chapter 4 begins by displaying the norms as enforced by the criminal law to be, sometimes, out of kilter with the norms of mutuality maintained and upheld by the community included in the study. The example of theft is explored: whereas the status of the victim and offender, and their relationship to one another, is largely irrelevant under the criminal law, these factors are significant from the perspective of those in the research community. From the emic perspective, the criminal law fails to respond fully to the offence. The disjuncture between the criminal law and local normative expectations helps to explain vigilante action, which is a means for the collective to respond to violations of mutuality when the state fails to do so. Although the police are sometimes unable to respond because of the limits of law, the chapter discusses moments when the police and other state bodies are allegedly unwilling to assist precariously positioned persons in need, which seemingly stems from the classed nature of the British state. The final section explores how people are not passive in these class struggles and instead find creative ways to ‘personalize the state’ (following Insa Koch), strategically moving it to respond to local needs to which it is otherwise indifferent.
Foreigners
Authors: Willis Roxana
Published: June 2023

Chapter 5 considers racial tensions in the lead-up to the Brexit vote. The chapter explores how here too the framework of mutuality seemingly guides action, as it did in relation to conflicts explored in the preceding chapters. In contrast to the framework of autonomy, which valorizes individuality and difference, mutuality treats sameness and conformity as virtues. Therefore, at least some tensions towards migrant groups appear to stem from behaviours perceived to diverge from local norms. The chapter reveals that the research community is ethnically heterogeneous, comprising a diversity of peoples from England, Scotland, Ireland, Eastern Europe (post-Second World War, and again following the expansion of the EU in 2004), the commonwealth, and beyond, and includes persons from Roma, Traveller, and Gypsy ethnicities, among others. In this context, the concept ‘foreigner’ is significant, since it contrasts with notions such as ‘being born and bred’ and ‘belonging’, which are based on the length of time residents have lived in an area and intergenerational contributions made, rather than ethnicity per se. Consequently, belonging is a matter of degree and is constantly evolving as newer migrants become part of the collective way of life and contribute to what it means to belong. Nevertheless, there are times when perceived racial differences seem to matter, especially in the identification of the ‘stranger’. Hence, further investigation into racial tensions is warranted and taken up in Chapter 8.
The ECB’s Unconventional Quantitative Easing is Turning to Conventional Monetary Policy
Authors: Tuori Klaus
Published: June 2023

This chapter takes an economic-constitutional approach to quantitative easing (QE) as the European Central Bank (ECB)’s policy instrument. The Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP)—that initially was a heavily contested measure in the specific euro area context—has become the most active part of monetary policy and expanded further with the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). The chapter analyses how the QE as non-standard or unconventional monetary policy is a continuation of, or differs from, the more traditional monetary policy of the ECB. One conclusion is that QE is turning into conventional monetary policy with time. Most of the constitutional issues related to the large-scale public sector bond purchases in the forms of the PSPP and PEPP programmes are addressed. The issues include the formal objectives of the programmes as presented by the ECB as well as other possible aims that could help explain the programmes, their size, features, and timing, but also the economic effects of the ECB’s measures. A critical question is whether the ECB has passed from being a ‘central bank of institutions’ to ‘a central bank of markets’ thus justifying it being considered as a ‘new ECB’.
The Role of the ECB in the International Arena and the External Dimension of EMU
Authors: Coman-Kund Florin
Published: June 2023

This chapter examines the evolution of the European Central Bank (ECB)’s international dimension with a view to assessing its transformative effects and side effects on the ECB of today. A close look is taken at the legal framework governing the ECB’s international cooperation to understand the potential and limits shaping its international dimension, and its legal status as a global actor. The ECB’s international cooperation practice is also reviewed to assess the dynamics of its international dimension over time. The integrated analysis of the legal framework and practice prompts a number of conclusions, critical observations, and forward-looking reflections regarding the ECB’s current international dimension. It is argued that, in a way, there is a ‘new’ ECB becoming much more active on the international plane. Yet, at the same time, the ECB’s international dimension is also constrained by the Founding Treaties establishing a specific institutional balance in the field of Economic and Monetary Union external relations that has not changed much over time. What is more, the ECB’s potential as an international actor is arguably restricted by various international legal frameworks that do not allow the Union’s central bank to fully exploit on the global level its role and powers under EU law. Finally, but yet importantly, the chapter discusses some legally problematic aspects of the ECB’s international dimension that might require adjustments in the current legal framework to reflect the realities of today’s ECB.
Externalizing Trademark’s Limits
Authors: McKenna Mark P.
Published: June 2023

This chapter distinguishes between internal and external limits on trademark rights. The former are manifestations of the purpose and nature of trademark rights, while the latter reflect balancing of trademark interests against external values. The chapter argues that trademark law’s limits are increasingly external, in the sense that the internal limits are less clear and less reliable and the external limits more important. While external limits have always played some role in trademark law, there are reasons to be concerned about overreliance on those limits. For one thing, the very fact that a limit is external means that it arises in a context in which there’s a perceived conflict between the “ordinary” application of trademark principles and some other value outside of trademark law. Another reason to be concerned is that the sense that there are external “release valves” that preserve important values makes it easier for courts to accept expansive interpretations of the rights that have at least subtle and sometimes important effects. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, relying on external values as the limiting principles makes it critical that trademark law correctly interpret the policy judgments in the other areas from which it purports to be drawing. None of this is to say that external limits don’t have an important role to play in trademark law, or that courts shouldn’t work to better define those limits and implement them in more effective ways. But external limits can’t do all the work, we should do more work to identify real internal limits to trademark rights.
Logo Hacking, Downmarket Irony, and Counterfeit Chic
Authors: Tan David
Published: June 2023

The whimsical and ephemeral trends of the fashion world can be confounding and yet rewarding at the same time. As luxury fashion brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga, Vetements Louis Vuitton, and Versace capitalize on ironic cultural references to rejuvenate sales and capture new customer segments, their actions have resulted in unanticipated implications for trademark laws. Simultaneously, countercultural commentary is also taking the form of parodic and satirical fashion merchandise which audaciously play with the semiotic signs of these famous marks. This chapter explores the regulation of fashion trademarks from an interdisciplinary perspective and interrogates the bewildering celebration of the conspicuously inauthentic and culturally subversive prevalent in luxury fashion today.
The Exceptional Nature of the Right to Control Use in Advertising
Authors: Burrell Robert G.
Published: June 2023

This chapter starts by problematizing the advertising right as it operates within registration-based systems. Having concluded that exceptions must play a role in dealing with unauthorized use of a mark in advertising, it then uses three case studies to explore the form that such exceptions might take. It argues that problems with the nature of the advertising right have never been confronted head on, and that current doctrines that permit some forms of unauthorized use in advertising leave trademark owners with unjustifiably broad rights. Nevertheless, there are also indications of how exceptions might be crafted to permit the sort of fact-sensitive inquiry that use in advertising demands. The language of “exceptions” as used in this chapter includes narrowly tailored carve outs from the scope of rights as, for example, when oral use of a sign is excluded from the scope of liability in order to allow salespersons to make comparisons between products, an example that will be discussed in detail toward the end of this chapter.
Creative Destruction of the Civil Law Tradition
Authors: Sun Haochen
Published: June 2023

This chapter demonstrates how Chinese judges have proactively protected the public interest by boldly deviating from the civil law tradition governing the Chinese legal system. Chinese judges have gone beyond the confinements of the civil law tradition to recognize new fair use exemptions not permitted by Chinese trademark statutes. While China’s Trademark Law allows only for the descriptive use of a trademark by members of the public, Chinese judges have decided in several cases that nominative use should be legally permitted and protected in the public interest. Through such creative rulings, Chinese judges have faithfully followed the public interest objectives of intellectual property protection contained within the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The chapter further discusses how Chinese judges have developed creative legal methods to ascertain the myriad public interests implicated in limitations on trademark rights. Through an in-depth study of their rulings in cases dealing with nominative uses of trademarks, it considers the ways in which Chinese judges have found that public interests such as robust market competition should be protected.
Limitations of Trademark Rights in Major Asian Jurisdictions
Authors: Liu Kung-Chung
Published: June 2023

Amid rapid economic growth in Asia, there is a shortage of comparative literature on Asian IP laws, and even less dealing with Asian trademark laws. This chapter surveys trademark laws in the major Asian jurisdictions of China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. It explores four crucial limitations on trademark rights in these jurisdictions: international exhaustion, prohibition of abuse of trademark rights, fair use, and unique defenses against the award of damages. It also summarizes and examines the new limitations on trademark rights that have been adopted in China on the on hand and in Japan, Korea and Taiwan on the other.
Introduction
Authors: Kohl Markus
Published: June 2023

The introduction describes the main themes of the book and lays out its key ambition: to provide a systematic reconstruction and a qualified defense of Kant’s libertarian, anti-naturalistic doctrine of free agency. It explains how Kant’s account of freedom relates to contemporary views, and how the interpretation to be developed in the book compares to other major interpretations. It highlights some of the main challenges that arise for a sympathetic reconstruction of Kant’s view, such as the need to explain why Kant prefers a theoretically inscrutable notion of freedom over alternative (compatibilist, naturalistic) notions, or the need to show how Kant can justify the belief that we are free in his metaphysically ambitious (transcendental) sense. The introductory chapter further provides a definition of key terms like “naturalism.” It concludes by giving a survey of the book’s overall structure.
Executive Freedom, Determinism, and the Categorical Imperative
Authors: Kohl Markus
Published: June 2023

This chapter examines the second consideration supporting Kant’s stance that human freedom of will is incompatible with the causality of nature: if our faculty of choice (Willkür) were exclusively conditioned by natural causes, then our choices would lack the absolute metaphysical contingency that is integral to our moral self-conception as imperfectly rational agents who can go either way with regards to moral laws of reason. The chapter reconstructs Kant’s argument for this view. Kant’s claim that it is always possible for human agents to violate moral norms does not (contrary to what some commentators suggest) require his hedonism about our empirical motives. Rather, this claim rests on a compelling contrast between desire-based and reason-based motivation that pervades all human choice. The chapter further shows that we freely violate moral laws of reason in three distinctive ways: through self-deception, rationalization, and (controversially) akrasia or weakness of will. In this context, it emerges that Kant does not unequivocally endorse the so-called “Incorporation Thesis” or the “Guise of the Good” view of human agency.
Freedom of Thought as a Condition of Theoretical Cognition
Authors: Kohl Markus
Published: June 2023

This chapter considers the question: why, in Kant’s view, do our intellectual freedom and our theoretical rationality require that we can think without being determined by natural causes? Kant does not make the blanket claim that causal determinism per se is incompatible with epistemic freedom and rational thinking. Rather, Kant argues that if the human mind were exclusively determined by empirical causes (or indeed by any foreign causes, including also divine imposition), then our cognitive representations would lack a priori rational necessity. This would fatally undermine all our cognitive efforts including those that aim to reach objectively valid empirical judgments, because these judgments depend for their cognitive validity on a priori representations such as causal necessity. The chapter examines how Kant’s views on epistemic freedom relate to Hume, to his transcendental idealism, and to contemporary views on causation and evolutionary theory. It further shows how Kant can defend his view against various objections such as the genetic fallacy charge already considered in Chapter IV. The chapter culminates with the argument that we possess certain knowledge that our theoretical intellect is transcendentally free. However, from this it does not follow that our will or practical reason is also transcendentally free.
Kant’s Moral Grounding of Free Will
Authors: Kohl Markus
Published: June 2023

This chapter examines Kant’s deduction of noumenal freedom of will from the moral law in (chiefly) the Critique of Practical Reason. It argues against the common view that Kant allows only for rational faith (Glauben) that we have noumenal freedom of will: rather, we can know (wissen) with objective certainty that our will is transcendentally free. This is because we have normative-practical knowledge of the moral law as the foundational axiom of all practical cognition, and because we know that transcendental freedom of will is a necessary real condition for the existence of the moral law. Hence, we can knowingly infer that our will is transcendentally free. The chapter considers how Kant can defend the individual steps of this argument against various objections, such as the claim that Kant’s appeal to moral knowledge fails because it ignores the problem of moral skepticism. It further examines whether Kant’s view that we can know the existence of free noumenal causes is compatible with his critical epistemology and his appeal to noumenal ignorance. Although Kant’s position can be defended against some standard epistemological worries, it must face the concern that practical reason oversteps its boundaries when it posits free moral agents as the specific noumenal causes of natural events.
The Varieties of Belief
Authors: Wedgwood Ralph
Published: June 2023

Chapter 5 begins to develop an inventory of the different kinds of belief that it is possible for thinkers to have. It is argued that these varieties of belief include: precise and imprecise levels of confidence or degrees of belief; full or outright beliefs; conditional or suppositional beliefs (which may be identified with inferences, on a certain understanding of what inferences are); and the attitude of suspension of judgment. The discussion of full or outright belief is postponed until the following chapter; but, otherwise, it is argued that every belief-system consisting of beliefs of all these different kinds can be modelled by means of a set of partially defined credence functions (including both conditional and unconditional credence functions)—where these credence functions need not necessarily be probabilistically coherent. This approach allows for the thinker to be simply “attitudeless”—that is, to have no attitude whatsoever—towards some of the propositions that she is capable of entertaining; it allows for the thinker’s beliefs to be imprecise or indeterminate, and also to be probabilistically incoherent; and it allows for genuinely conditional or suppositional belief—attitudes of conditionally believing a conclusion, conditionally on the assumption of a set of premises.
Full Belief
Authors: Wedgwood Ralph
Published: June 2023

Chapter 6 takes up the topic of full or outright belief. What is puzzling about full belief is that its functional role seems to be that of treating the believed proposition as if it were certain, and yet it also seems possible to have a full belief in propositions of which we are not absolutely certain. The solution to the puzzle lies in seeing that in addition to our theoretical credences—beliefs of the kind whose role is, to put it roughly, to gauge how strongly the relevant proposition is supported by one’s “evidence”—there are also practical credences—beliefs of the kind whose role is to guide us in action and practical decision making. It is argued that, for limited finite believers like us, it is unavoidable that we will sometimes act on practical credences that are different from our theoretical credences. To have a full or outright belief in a proposition can be plausibly identified with being disposed to treat the proposition as practically certain, for all normal practical purposes.
The Idea of Rational Probability
Authors: Wedgwood Ralph
Published: June 2023

Chapter 9 turns to explaining what is here being referred to as the “rational probability function” for each case. According to the account that is being developed here, the degree of irrationality of the belief-system that the thinker has in each case is in effect determined by the belief-system’s distance from the rational probability function for the case. But are the degrees of irrationality of all belief-systems that are available to the thinker at the time determined by how distant they are from the same probability function? A consideration of so-called “Moore-paradoxical” propositions reveals that the answer to this question is: No. The internal mental facts “given” to the thinker at the time determine an appropriate prior probability function; and the degree of irrationality of each of these belief-systems is determined by how distant it is from the result of conditionalizing this prior probability on the supposition that the thinker has that very belief-system. This appropriate prior probability can be conceived by imagining an “evaluating angel”. This angel knows all the internal mental facts about what is given to the thinker at the time, and relies solely on these facts to form a body of opinions about what the world is like; the appropriate prior probability function may be conceived as this angel’s body of opinions about the world.
Uniqueness and Indeterminacy
Authors: Wedgwood Ralph
Published: June 2023

Chapter 10 turns to a range of issues concerning the determinacy of rational belief. First, we consider cases in which the opinions of the “evaluating angel” do not consist in a unique probability function, but only in a big set of such functions. Here, it is argued that, even in these cases, a perfectly rational thinker would in effect pick one of the probability functions in the set that constitutes the angel’s opinions, and would have a belief-system that matches the result of conditionalizing that probability function on the supposition that she has that belief-system. Secondly, we consider whether rational agents would sometimes have imprecise or indeterminate credences. Tentatively, it is argued that our account implies that perfectly rational thinkers never have imprecise credences of this sort: it is only imperfectly rational thinkers who ever have such imprecise credences. Thirdly, it is argued that degrees of irrationality are sometimes incommensurable: the degrees of irrationality sometimes fail to rank alternative belief-systems in relation to each other. However, these incommensurabilities only affect irrational belief-systems: for every thinker and time, some available belief-systems are perfectly rational; these perfectly rational belief-systems are all equally rational, and determinately more rational than all irrational systems.
Defensive and Remedial Liability
Authors: Steel Sandy
Published: June 2023

This chapter considers the relationship between moral and legal liability to bear the cost of a remedial burden, and moral and legal liability to being harmed in self-defense and other defense. Despite the apparent disanalogies between these two domains of when harming another is not a wrong, the chapter argues that, fundamentally, the facts which ground the non-wrongfulness of the harm in each are the same or highly similar. The chapter proceeds by considering and rejecting various differences between self-defense and remedial action which might be thought, at the interpersonal and institutional level, to support a difference in normative grounding, such as time, the distinction between completed and non-completed wrongs, and the role of courts. Overall, it seeks to demonstrate the theoretical importance of reflecting on the normative relationship between defensive liability and remedial liability for philosophical accounts of remedies in private law.
Irreparable Injury and the Limits of the Law of Torts
Authors: Keating Gregory C.
Published: June 2023

Tort law safeguards security by requiring reparation for harm wrongly done. The fact that reparation is the institution’s default remedy limits tort law’s powers. Some harms are simply irreparable. Death is the most vivid case in point. No compensation can restore the dead to the lives they have lost. No remedy can return them to the position that they would have occupied had they not been killed. Faced with this stark truth early modern tort law did not award any damages for wrongful death and contemporary tort law still stops short of awarding damages for the value to those who are wrongly killed of the lives that they have lost. Wrongful death doctrine exposes tort law’s Achilles’ heel. On the one hand, premature death is the harm that we most wish to be protected against. On the other hand, premature death is the harm against which tort law is least able to protect us. Tort law relies on reparation to enforce its obligations, both prospectively and retrospectively. Tort fails prospectively because it does not price, and therefore does not deter, the harm of wrongful death. It fails retrospectively because money damages cannot undo the harm of death. Direct regulation of risk is required to remedy the incompleteness of tort law. This chapter examines the two most relevant regulatory norms—the “safe-level” and “feasibility” standards—against the background of tort law’s limitations.
Introduction to the Concept of Social Movement
Authors: Rucht Dieter
Published: June 2023

Drawing on a remarkable protest event that occurred within the context of the rising student movement in 1967, a rationale is presented for applying three basic perspectives: interaction, social constructivism, and process-orientation (ICP-Approach). These perspectives serve to analyze and interpret protest activities and, more generally, social movements. On the conceptual level, it is demonstrated that the meaning of the term ‘social movement’ has changed over time. Even today, with the existence of a specialized scholarship, the definition of social movements remains a matter of ongoing debate. However, a working definition may help to roughly delineate the subject in accordance with an emergent consensus on how to define a social movement. In this regard, tentative answers to ten conceptual questions provide additional clarification.
The External Dimension
Authors: Rucht Dieter
Published: June 2023

The externally-oriented activities of social movements usually take place in the public sphere as a tripartite game of movements, opponents, and audiences. The conflicting parties in this game engage predominantly in strategic action. Related conflicts are power games in which different kinds and sources of power tend to prevail on each side. Discursive power, however, is located on both sides. Conflicts with external actors, most notable authorities and counter movements, not only arise around specific issues but may also include metaconflicts around the general power structure and the rules of the game. In major conflicts, beyond political opportunities and restrictions of social movements, economic, cultural, and discursive opportunities also have to be taken into account.
The Internal Dimension
Authors: Rucht Dieter
Published: June 2023

The internal life of social movements is largely oriented toward fulfilling a range of functions and tasks that are more variegated and demanding than one might assume from an outsider perspective. Social movements tend to develop a—mostly informal—division of labor. In the absence of institutionalized structures to steer or command a movement, ongoing investments are needed to recruit and motivate members: to organize, make decisions, mobilize resources, collect information and, probably most importantly, to strengthen collective identity at different levels with regard to different ideological strands. The necessity of decision-making and the existence of leadership aspects of power come into play even in movements that embrace equality and grassroots organizing.
Introduction
Authors: Otsuka Michael
Published: June 2023

This book shows how collective pensions can be justified as a realization of reciprocity. Through the transfer of income from the middle to the later years of our lives, pensions provide a solution to the problem we would otherwise face of living so long that we find ourselves lacking sufficient resources to sustain ourselves and prosper throughout retirement. This solution is realized through the continual transfer of the fruits of the labour of those who are relatively young, healthy, and able-bodied to those who are elderly, no longer in work, and often infirm, in a manner that involves cooperation over the life cycles of overlapping generations. Should these transfers be conceived and defended as the redistribution of resources between distinct individuals to eliminate unchosen misfortune? Or should they be conceived and defended as a form of cooperation between persons which is to the expected benefit of each? On this latter understanding, which the book adopts, a failure to provide pensions collectively would be condemned in large part as irrational because inefficient and wasteful, rather than being condemned as a breach of a duty to alleviate the unchosen misfortune of those who are known to be badly off. Here we have a reciprocity-based defence of pensions as constituting fair terms of social cooperation for mutual advantage.
‘La Première Victime’
Authors: Clift Aaron
Published: June 2023

This chapter examines anticommunism in family associations. Demographic concerns relating to population and natality drove the development of a ‘familialist’ movement, which attempted to centre the family in the national conversation. Familialist ideology was linked inevitably to gender, as the ideology of separate spheres prescribed domestic life as the proper concern of women. The largest women’s group in postwar France was the communist-aligned Union des femmes françaises (UFF), but it was opposed by a number of anticommunist organizations including the Catholic Union féminine civique et sociale (UFCS) and the semi-governmental Union nationale des associations familiales (UNAF). The perceived communist threat to the traditional family became important to the rhetoric of these associations, highlighting anxieties concerning both motherhood and fatherhood in the face of changing economic realities and the development of the state as well as connections between anticommunism and postwar issues regarding housing and the cost of living.
BOTRYOID POLLEN 1 regulates ROS-triggered PCD and pollen wall development by controlling UDP-sugar homeostasis in rice
Authors: Chen Huiqiong , Zhang Shuqing , Li Ruiqi , Peng Guoqing , Chen Weipan , Rautengarten Carsten , Liu Minglong , Zhu Liya , Xiao Yueping , Song Fengshun , Ni Jinlong , Huang Jilei , Wu Aimin , Liu Zhenlan , Zhuang Chuxiong , Heazlewood Joshua L , Xie Yongyao , Chu Zhizhan , Zhou Hai
Published: June 2023

Uridine diphosphate (UDP)-sugars are important metabolites involved in the biosynthesis of polysaccharides and may be important signaling molecules. UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (UGE) catalyzes the interconversion between UDP-Glc and UDP-Gal, whose biological function in rice (Oryza sativa) fertility is poorly understood. Here, we identify and characterize the botryoid pollen 1 (bp1) mutant and show that BP1 encodes a UGE that regulates UDP-sugar homeostasis, thereby controlling the development of rice anthers. The loss of BP1 function led to massive accumulation of UDP-Glc and imbalance of other UDP-sugars. We determined that the higher levels of UDP-Glc and its derivatives in bp1 may induce the expression of NADPH oxidase genes, resulting in a premature accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby advancing programmed cell death (PCD) of anther walls but delaying the end of tapetal degradation. The accumulation of UDP-Glc as metabolites resulted in an abnormal degradation of callose, producing an adhesive microspore. Furthermore, the UDP-sugar metabolism pathway is not only involved in the formation of intine but also in the formation of the initial framework for extine. Our results reveal how UDP-sugars regulate anther development and provide new clues for cellular ROS accumulation and PCD triggered by UDP-Glc as a signaling molecule.
Integrating Motor Variability Evaluation Into Movement System Assessment
Authors: Altenburger Peter , Ambike Satyajit S , Haddad Jeffrey M
Published: June 2023

Common assessment tools for determining therapeutic success in rehabilitation typically focus on task–based outcomes. Task–based outcomes provide some understanding of the individual’s functional ability and motor recovery; however, these clinical outcomes may have limited translation to a patient’s functional ability in the real world. Limitations arise because (1) the focus on task–based outcome assessment often disregards the complexity of motor behavior, including motor variability, and (2) mobility in highly variable real-world environments requires movement adaptability that is made possible by motor variability. This Perspective argues that incorporating motor variability measures that reflect movement adaptability into routine clinical assessment would enable therapists to better evaluate progress toward optimal and safe real-world mobility. The challenges and opportunities associated with incorporating variability–based assessment of pathological movements are also discussed. This Perspective also indicates that the field of rehabilitation needs to leverage technology to advance the understanding of motor variability and its impact on an individual’s ability to optimize movement.

Impact

This Perspective contends that traditional therapeutic assessments do not adequately evaluate the ability of individuals to adapt their movements to the challenges faced when negotiating the dynamic environments encountered during daily life. Assessment of motor variability derived during movement execution can address this issue and provide better insight into a patient’s movement stability and maneuverability in the real world. Creating such a shift in motor system assessment would advance understanding of rehabilitative approaches to motor system recovery and intervention.
Beyond Dietary Acculturation: How Latina Immigrants Navigate Exclusionary Systems to Feed Their Families
Authors: Bowen Sarah , Hardison-Moody Annie , Cordero Oceguera Emilia , Elliott Sinikka
Published: June 2023

Previous studies of dietary acculturation explain how immigrants’ diets change over time, but they don't tell us why. In response to calls for additional research on the complex social processes that shape health disparities, this study uses an intersectional approach to examine the role of food in the daily lives of 23 Latina immigrants living in North Carolina. Our findings, based on semi-structured interviews conducted over a five-year period, refute the idea of a unidirectional process in which immigrants abandon dietary customs from their home countries. Instead, we show how food decisions are complex, contradictory, and contextual. Latina immigrant mothers embraced and resisted parts of dominant food cultures. They strategically took risks and made tradeoffs to ensure that their families had enough food and the right kinds of food. However, political and economic structures limited their access to food and impeded their ability to autonomously make food decisions. We argue that an unequal and industrialized food system, restrictive and punitive immigration policies, and narrowly-defined food assistance programs infringe on immigrants’ ability to feed their families. By excluding and othering immigrant families, these structures reduce immigrants’ autonomy and perpetuate inequalities, contributing to what previous studies have described as dietary acculturation.
Direct Differentiation of Bone Marrow Mononucleated Cells Into Insulin-Producing Cells Using 4 Specific Soluble Factors
Authors: Lee Seung-Ah , Kim Subin , Kim Seog-Young , Park Jong Yoen , Nan Jinyan , Park Ho Seon , Lee Hyunsuk , Lee Yong Deok , Lee Hakmo , Kang Shinae , Jung Hye Seung , Chung Sung Soo , Park Kyong Soo
Published: June 2023

Bone marrow-derived stem cells are self-renewing and multipotent adult stem cells that differentiate into several types of cells. Here, we investigated a unique combination of 4 differentiation-inducing factors (DIFs), including putrescine (Put), glucosamine (GlcN), nicotinamide, and BP-1-102, to develop a differentiation method for inducing mature insulin-producing cells (IPCs) and apply this method to bone marrow mononucleated cells (BMNCs) isolated from mice. BMNCs, primed with the 4 soluble DIFs, were differentiated into functional IPCs. BMNCs cultured under the defined conditions synergistically expressed multiple genes, including those for PDX1, NKX6.1, MAFA, NEUROG3, GLUT2, and insulin, related to pancreatic beta cell development and function. They produced insulin/C-peptide and PDX1, as assessed using immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. The induced cells secreted insulin in a glucose-responsive manner, similar to normal pancreatic beta cells. Grafting BMNC-derived IPCs under kidney capsules of mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes alleviated hyperglycemia by lowering blood glucose levels, enhancing glucose tolerance, and improving glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Insulin- and PDX1-expressing cells were observed in the IPC-bearing graft sections of nephrectomized mice. Therefore, this study provides a simple protocol for BMNC differentiation, which can be a novel approach for cell-based therapy in diabetes mellitus.
Relationship between food insecurity and a gestational diabetes risk reduction intervention: outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native adolescent and young adult females
Authors: Stotz Sarah A , Hebert Luciana E , Charron-Prochownik Denise , Scarton Lisa , Moore Kelly R , Sereika Susan M ,   The Stopping GDM Study Group, Akers A , Brega A , Beirne S , Chalmers L , Charron-Prochownik D , Fischl A , Garrow H , Gonzales K , Howe J , Marshall G , McNealy K , Moore K , Nadeau K J , O’Banion N , Powell J , Seely E , Sereika S , Stein H , Stotz S , Terry M , Thorkelson S , Uribe-Rios X
Published: June 2023

American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) are disproportionately impacted by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), subsequent type 2 diabetes, and food insecurity. It is prudent to decrease risk of GDM prior to pregnancy to decrease the intergenerational cycle of diabetes in AI/AN communities. The purpose of this project is to describe and examine food insecurity, healthy eating self-efficacy, and healthy eating behaviors among AI/AN females (12–24 years old) as related to GDM risk reduction. Methods included: secondary analysis of healthy eating self-efficacy and behaviors, and household-level food insecurity measures from an randomized controlled trial that tested the effect of engagement in a GDM risk reduction educational intervention on knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy for GDM risk reduction from baseline to 3-month follow-up. Participants were AI/AN daughters (12–24 years old) and their mothers (N = 149 dyads). Researchers found that more than one-third (38.1%) reported food insecurity. At baseline food insecurity was associated with higher levels of eating vegetables and fruit for the full sample (p = .045) and cohabitating dyads (p = .002). By 3 months healthy eating self-efficacy (p = .048) and limiting snacking between meals (p = .031) improved more in the control group than the intervention group only for cohabitating dyads. For the full sample, the intervention group had increases in times eating vegetables (p = .022) and fruit (p = .015), whereas the control group had declines. In the full sample, food insecurity did not moderate the group by time interaction for self-efficacy for healthy eating (p ≥ .05) but did moderate the group by time interaction for times drinking soda (p = .004) and days eating breakfast (p = .013). For cohabitating dyads, food insecurity did moderate self-efficacy for eating 3 meals a day (p = .024) and days eating breakfast (p = .012). These results suggest food insecurity is an important factor regarding the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce GDM risk and offer unique insight on “upstream causes” of GDM health disparities among AI/AN communities.
A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Medications for Opioid Use Disorder and HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis for Adolescents and Young Adults
Authors: Herrera Maria Christina , Darien Kaja , Wood Sarah , Hadland Scott E. , Metzger David , Dowshen Nadia
Published: June 2023

Background

The syndemic of substance use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a well-recognized global phenomenon that threatens to undermine the priorities outlined by the National Institutes of Health “Ending the HIV Epidemic” initiative. There are few published studies on preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with opioid use disorder (OUD) despite increasing availability of biomedical prevention options and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to offer PrEP to this group.

Methods

Healthcare providers who previously prescribed medications for OUD (MOUDs) and/or PrEP for AYA were purposively sampled. Audio-recorded in-depth individual interviews were conducted using chart-stimulated recall to explore barriers and facilitators to integrated MOUD and HIV prevention services. Interviews were double-coded, and qualitative analysis was performed using a modified grounded theory.

Results

Of 19 providers sampled, most were physicians (63%). All recommended HIV screening at varying intervals; however, few counseled on (19%) or prescribed (11%) PrEP to patients on MOUD. Barriers to PrEP prescriptions included patient-level (ie, stigma surrounding PrEP use, adherence challenges, and competing social or mental healthcare needs), provider (perception of low risk, lack of training/experience), and system-level factors (including restricted visit types). Facilitators of PrEP prescriptions included patient-initiated requests, electronic health record system reminders, and the availability of consistent support staff (ie, navigators, certified recovery specialists).

Conclusions

Our study confirms that discussions about HIV prevention and PrEP prescriptions may be rare for AYA patients receiving MOUD. Further research is needed to develop interventions that increase the integration of PrEP delivery within the context of OUD care among this key AYA population.
Radiofrequency Ablation for Treatment of Leiomyomas
Authors: Young Riley J. , Puma Laura , Latham Marisa , Kho Kimberly A.
Published: June 2023

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a relatively novel, increasingly popular treatment option for leiomyomas. We studied medical device–related reports of leiomyoma RFA devices to determine whether there are emerging device-related issues. The Food and Drug Administration’s Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database was queried from 2012 through November 2022. Sixty unique reports, including adverse events and device malfunctions, were analyzed for both laparoscopic and transcervical RFA devices. Forty-three injury reports were reviewed. The most common adverse event was infection. Of the injury cases, 34.9% required additional surgical intervention. Although the details of each event are limited, these reports highlight the importance of postmarket surveillance of new technologies and the necessity of improving the current system of implementation and monitoring.
Human Papillomavirus Inpatient Postpartum Vaccination
Authors: Murphy Ellen C. , Alimena Stephanie , Pelletier Andrea , Sczekan Nicole , Smith Nicole A. , Schantz-Dunn Julianna , Diouf Khady , Feldman Sarah
Published: June 2023

OBJECTIVE:

The nine-valent human papillomavirus (9vHPV) vaccine is highly effective at preventing cervical cancer, yet U.S. vaccination rates remain low. The objective of this study was to evaluate integration of 9vHPV inpatient vaccination into routine postpartum care.

METHODS:

Obstetrics professionals at an academic urban referral center received an emailed protocol outlining a novel 9vHPV vaccination program of postpartum inpatients aged 26 years or younger. A retrospective evaluation from March 2021 to March 2022 was conducted to evaluate implementation. Characteristics of patients vaccinated before pregnancy compared with vaccine-eligible patients (none, unknown, or partially vaccinated status) were compared by the use of χ2, analysis of variance, and multivariable logistic regression. Similarly, analyses were performed comparing vaccine-eligible patients who did with those who did not receive an inpatient 9vHPV vaccination.

RESULTS:

Of 569 postpartum inpatients, 370 (65.0%) were already vaccinated, 70 (34.2%) were never vaccinated, 49 (24.6%) were partially vaccinated, and 80 (14.1%) had unknown status. Of vaccine-eligible patients, 46 (23.1%) received 9vHPV vaccination as an inpatient. In multivariable analysis, race and ethnicity, marital status, and primary language were significant predictors of vaccination before pregnancy. Among vaccine-eligible patients, inpatient vaccination recipients were primarily Hispanic, Spanish speaking, and publicly insured. In multivariable analysis of vaccine-eligible patients, receiving care from the certified nurse midwifery practice was the only independent predictor of vaccination (odds ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.02–5.74, P=.04).

CONCLUSION:

Non-Hispanic White, Spanish-speaking, and married patients were disproportionally undervaccinated in our baseline population, but about one quarter of vaccine-eligible patients received 9vHPV vaccination postpartum. Inpatient postpartum 9vHPV vaccination may help narrow disparities in vaccination.