bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Natural History and Phenotypic Spectrum of GAA‐FGF14 Sporadic Late‐Onset Cerebellar Ataxia (SCA27B)
Authors: Wirth Thomas , Clément Guillemette , Delvallée Clarisse , Bonnet Céline , Bogdan Thomas , Iosif Andra , Schalk Audrey , Chanson Jean‐Baptiste , Pellerin David , Brais Bernard , Roth Virginie , Wandzel Marion , Fleury Marie‐Céline , Piton Amélie , Calmels Nadège , Namer Izzie Jacques , Kremer Stéphane , Tranchant Christine , Renaud Mathilde , Anheim Mathieu
Published: July 2023

Background

Heterozygous GAA expansions in the FGF14 gene have been related to autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia (SCA27B‐MIM:620174). Whether they represent a common cause of sporadic late‐onset cerebellar ataxia (SLOCA) remains to be established.

Objectives

To estimate the prevalence, characterize the phenotypic spectrum, identify discriminative features, and model longitudinal progression of SCA27B in a prospective cohort of SLOCA patients.

Methods

FGF14 expansions screening combined with longitudinal deep‐phenotyping in a prospective cohort of 118 SLOCA patients (onset >40 years of age, no family history of cerebellar ataxia) without a definite diagnosis.

Results

Prevalence of SCA27B was 12.7% (15/118). Higher age of onset, higher Spinocerebellar Degeneration Functional Score, presence of vertigo, diplopia, nystagmus, orthostatic hypotension absence, and sensorimotor neuropathy were significantly associated with SCA27B. Ataxia progression was ≈0.4 points per year on the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia.

Conclusions

FGF14 expansion is a major cause of SLOCA. Our natural history data will inform future FGF14 clinical trials. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
Direct Observation of Photon Induced Giant Band Renormalization in 2D PdSe2 Dichalcogenide by Transient Absorption Spectroscopy
Authors: Chen Hualong , Kuklin Artem , Xiao Jing , Al‐Hartomy Omar A. , Al‐Ghamdi Ahmed , Wageh Swelm , Zhang Yule , Ågren Hans , Gao Lingfeng , Zhang Han
Published: July 2023

Insight into fundamental light‐matter interaction as well as underlying photo‐physical processes is crucial for the development of novel optoelectronic devices. Palladium diselenide (PdSe2), an important representative of emerging 2D noble metal dichalcogenides, has gain considerable attention owing to its unique optical, physical, and chemical properties. In this study, 2D PdSe2 nanosheets (NSs) are prepared using the liquid‐phase exfoliation method. A broadband carrier relaxation dynamics from visible to near‐infrared bands are revealed using a time‐resolved transient absorption spectrometer, giving results that indicate band filling and bandgap renormalization (BGR) effects in the 2D PdSe2 NSs. The observed blue‐shift of the transient absorption spectra at the primary stage and the subsequent red‐shift can be ascribed to this BGR effect. These findings reveal the many‐body character of the 2D TMDs material and may hold keys for applications in the field of optoelectronics and ultrafast photonics.
Interfacial Disordering and Heterojunction Enabling Fast Proton Conduction
Authors: Yousaf Muhammad , Lu Yuzheng , Hu Enyi , Akbar Muhammad , Shah Muhammad Ali Kamran Yousaf , Noor Asma , Akhtar Majid Niaz , Mushtaq Naveed , Yan Senlin , Xia Chen , Zhu Bin
Published: July 2023

The interfacial disorder is a general method to change the metal‐oxygen compatibility and carrier density of heterostructure materials for ionic transport modulation. Herein, to enable high proton conduction, a semiconductor heterostructure based on spinel ZnFe2O4 (ZFO) and fluorite CeO2 is developed and investigated in terms of structural characterization, first principle calculation, and electrochemical performance. Particular attention is paid to the interfacial disordering and heterojunction effects of the material. Results show that the heterostructure induces a disordered oxygen region at the hetero‐interface of ZFO‐CeO2 by dislocating oxygen atoms, leading to fast proton transport. As a result, the ZFO‐CeO2 exhibits a high proton conductivity of 0.21 S cm−1 and promising fuel cell power output of 1070 mW cm−2 at 510 °C. Based upon these findings, a new mechanism is proposed by focusing on the change of O–O bond length to interpret the diffusion and acceleration of protons in ZFO‐CeO2 on the basis of the Grotthuss mechanism. This study provides a new strategy to customize semiconductor heterostructure to enable fast proton conduction.
Comprehensive elastic analysis of functionally graded variable thickness pressurized disk
Authors: Farukoğlu Ömer Can , Korkut Ihsan , Motameni Ali
Published: July 2023

This study analytically examines internally pressurized power‐law functionally graded variable thickness disk. The power‐law consideration is applied to the Young's modulus and the Poisson's ratio of the graded material as well as the radial thickness profile variation of the disk. Under this scheme, the solution yields to different Bessel functions including the first, second, and modified types. Stress and displacement fields are investigated at the elastic limits by operating with these functions. The limits are calculated with the well‐known von Mises criteria. Following the analytical modeling, numerical examples are built. Therein the examples, some noteworthy nuances have been achieved. It has been observed that unlike the usual prediction in the literature, constant Poisson's ratio, the effect of variable Poisson's ratio on stresses and displacements is still evident, although not as much as variable Young's modulus and disk geometry. We suggest assigning it as a variable in similar applications to be more precise. Additionally, according to the von Mises criterion, yielding may begin at the inner radius, the outer radius, or both at the same time. Parameters in the simultaneous flow initiation state are critical. These parameters allow the disk to reach the highest elastic limit pressure.
Wild Local Structures of Automorphic Lie Algebras
Authors: Duffield Drew Damien , Knibbeler Vincent , Lombardo Sara
Published: July 2023

We study automorphic Lie algebras using a family of evaluation maps parametrised by the representations of the associative algebra of functions. This provides a descending chain of ideals for the automorphic Lie algebra which is used to prove that it is of wild representation type. We show that the associated quotients of the automorphic Lie algebra are isomorphic to twisted truncated polynomial current algebras. When a simple Lie algebra is used in the construction, this allows us to describe the local Lie structure of the automorphic Lie algebra in terms of affine Kac-Moody algebras.
AutoPOI: automated points of interest selection for side-channel analysis
Authors: Remmerswaal Mick G. D. , Wu Lichao , Tiran Sébastien , Mentens Nele
Published: July 2023

Template attacks (TAs) are one of the most powerful side-channel analysis (SCA) attacks. The success of such attacks relies on the effectiveness of the profiling model in modeling the leakage information. A crucial step for TA is to select relevant features from the measured traces, often called points of interest (POIs), to extract the leakage information. Previous research indicates that properly selecting the input leaking features could significantly increase the attack performance. However, due to the presence of SCA countermeasures and advancements in technology nodes, such features become increasingly difficult to extract with conventional approaches such as principle component analysis (PCA) and the Sum Of Squared pairwise T-difference-based method (SOST). This work proposes a framework, AutoPOI, based on proximal policy optimization to automatically find, select and scale down features. The input raw features are first grouped into small regions. The best candidates selected by the framework are further scaled down with an online-optimized dimensionality reduction neural network. Finally, the framework rewards the performance of these features with the results of TA. Based on the experimental results, the proposed framework can extract features automatically that lead to comparable state-of-the-art performance on several commonly used datasets.
The Invention of the Social?
Authors: Gray Benjamin
Published: July 2023

This paper applies to ancient Greece an approach
developed by Pierre Rosanvallon: the integration of philosophical
texts with the most everyday documents to better grasp a society’s
understanding of its political life. For the ancient polis, this means
focusing on the more prosaic evidence offered by cities’ inscriptions,
especially their collective decisions published on stone. It is used
here to consider the changing ideas about the nature of political and
private life—and especially the space between them. In a very
influential model, Classical Athenian democrats and philosophers
tended to insist on a sharp binary distinction between public/
political life and private life, leaving little room for a notion of
an intermediate third space of polis life, similar to a “social
sphere” or “civil society.” This pattern remained dominant in the
Hellenistic and Roman periods, but, especially after c. 150 BC, some
Greek citizens and intellectuals developed, above all in inscriptions,
a much more explicit, complex, and subtle notion of “social life” as
something between politics and private life. The article concludes by
asking what the different ancient concepts discussed can contribute to
current historiographical debates about the nature of the Greek city
after c. 150 BC, especially when it comes to moving beyond the
traditional picture of “depoliticization.” It also calls into question
the orthodox narrative of the development of ideas of “the social”
over many centuries up to the present.
microRNA pathological mechanisms between Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma and macular degeneration
Authors: Wang Hsiuying
Published: July 2023

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an essential role in regulating various functions of organisms such as gene transcription, signalling transduction and immune response. However, overproduction of ROS can lead to oxidative stress, which is related to various ageing diseases including eye and brain degenerative diseases. Ocular measurements have recently been suggested as potential sources of biomarkers for the early detection of brain neurodegenerative diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are useful biomarkers for various diseases including degenerative diseases. miRNAs play an important role in the oxidative stress mechanisms of ageing diseases. In this paper, the role of miRNAs related to oxidative stress mechanisms in four ageing diseases, Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration was reviewed. The common miRNA biomarkers related to the four diseases were also discussed. The results show that these eye and brain ageing diseases share many common miRNA biomarkers. It indicates that the ocular condition may be a prognostic biomarker for PD or AD patients. When a patient's eye condition changes, this can be a warning of a change in PD or AD status.
Assessing mean corpuscular volume as a screening tool for gestational vitamin B12 deficiency based on NHANES
Authors: Fideli Ülgen S. , Scher Ann I. , Olsen Cara , Hisle-Gorman Elizabeth
Published: July 2023

Abstract: Vitamin B12 can lead to neurological deficits. We assessed whether the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) could be a sufficiently sensitive measurement for abnormal serum methylmalonic Acid (MMA) and total plasma homocysteine (tHCY) (biomarkers of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency) and if so, at what cutoff value. A total of 26,397 participants (12,730 males and 13,667 females) were included in the analysis. Weighted analysis was performed using NHANES data to calculate crude/adjusted associations between MCV-MMA/tHCY, using linear regression. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) 95% CIs were estimated from logistic regression models. Receiver Operating Curve and the Youden Index were used to identify the MCV level that most accurately distinguished those with abnormal MMA and tHCY (dependent variables) from those without. A positive and significant correlation between MCV-MMA/tHCY was found in the general population between ages 18–85, 0.95 (95% C.I. 0.75–1.17) and 2.61 (95% C.I. 2.15–3.08). In pregnant women, for every unit increase in MCV there was a 19% increase in odds of abnormal MMA, OR 1.19 (95% C.I. 1.08–1.31), p=0.001 and the Area Under the Curve for MCV as a test for abnormal MMA was 78%. An MCV cutoff of 93.1 correctly identified abnormal MMA in pregnant women with 81% sensitivity and 77% specificity. In the general population the MCV test performed poorly in identifying abnormal MMA/tHCY. MCV is an inexpensive measurement that may be useful to screen asymptomatic pregnant women for vitamin B12 abnormalities. This may have a significant impact on reducing adverse neurological outcomes in their children.
Gut microbiota metabolites mediate the interplay between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology in patients with eating disorders
Authors: Castellini Giovanni , Cassioli Emanuele , Vitali Francesco , Rossi Eleonora , Dani Cristiano , Melani Giulia , Flaccomio Dario , D’Andria Martina , Mejia Monroy Mariela , Galli Andrea , Cavalieri Duccio , Ricca Valdo , Bartolucci Gian Luca , De Filippo Carlotta
Published: July 2023

Eating disorders (EDs) are syndromes with a multifactorial etiopathogenesis, involving childhood traumatic experiences, as well as biological factors. Human microbiome has been hypothesised to play a fundamental role, impacting on emotion regulation, as well as with eating behaviours through its metabolites such as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The present study investigated the interactions between psychopathology of EDs, the gut microbiome and SCFAs resulting from bacterial community metabolic activities in a population of 47 patients with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and in healthy controls (HCs). Bacterial gut microbiota composition differences were found between subjects with EDs and HCs, especially in association with different pathological behaviours (binge-purge vs restricting). A mediation model of early trauma and ED-specific psychopathology linked reduction of microbial diversity to a typical microbiota-derived metabolite such as butyric acid. A possible interpretation for this model might be that childhood trauma represents a risk factor for gut dysbiosis and for a stable modification of mechanisms responsible for SCFAs production, and that this dysfunctional community is inherited in the passage from childhood to adulthood. These findings might open the way to novel interventions of butyric acid-like compounds as well as faecal transplant.
Automated hippocampal segmentation algorithms evaluated in stroke patients
Authors: Schell Marianne , Foltyn-Dumitru Martha , Bendszus Martin , Vollmuth Philipp
Published: July 2023

Deep learning segmentation algorithms can produce reproducible results in a matter of seconds. However, their application to more complex datasets is uncertain and may fail in the presence of severe structural abnormalities—such as those commonly seen in stroke patients. In this investigation, six recent, deep learning-based hippocampal segmentation algorithms were tested on 641 stroke patients of a multicentric, open-source dataset ATLAS 2.0. The comparisons of the volumes showed that the methods are not interchangeable with concordance correlation coefficients from 0.266 to 0.816. While the segmentation algorithms demonstrated an overall good performance (volumetric similarity [VS] 0.816 to 0.972, DICE score 0.786 to 0.921, and Hausdorff distance [HD] 2.69 to 6.34), no single out-performing algorithm was identified: FastSurfer performed best in VS, QuickNat in DICE and average HD, and Hippodeep in HD. Segmentation performance was significantly lower for ipsilesional segmentation, with a decrease in performance as a function of lesion size due to the pathology-based domain shift. Only QuickNat showed a more robust performance in volumetric similarity. Even though there are many pre-trained segmentation methods, it is important to be aware of the possible decrease in performance for the segmentation results on the lesion side due to the pathology-based domain shift. The segmentation algorithm should be selected based on the research question and the evaluation parameter needed. More research is needed to improve current hippocampal segmentation methods.
Multi‐strategy enhanced coot algorithm for coverage optimization in wireless sensor networks
Authors: Kong Weibin , Du Yi , Zhang Xiaoyu , Jia Baomin , Fang Zhongqing , Liang Qiong , Du Xue
Published: July 2023

An improved coot optimization algorithm (COOT) is proposed for the coverage optimization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). To monitor areas of interest and obtain valid data, a WSNs coverage model is developed. The population is initialized with a Cubic map and an opposition‐based learning strategy. Carrying out dimension‐by‐dimensional opposition‐based learning on the leader population to strengthen the global search ability of the algorithm, the simplex method is introduced to optimize the local exploration of the population. The experimental results demonstrate that the enhanced COOT can effectively reduce energy consumption and improve network coverage.

A COOT based on simplex method and dimension‐by‐dimension opposition‐based learning is proposed to optimize the coverage of WSNs. The experimental results as Figure 2a and 2c show that the improved algorithm has faster convergence speed and higher precision, which reduces the node redundancy in the coverage optimization process of wireless sensor network and improves the coverage.
The Sequential Organization of Resistance in Milgram’s Lab
Authors: Hollander Matthew M. , Turowetz Jason
Published: July 2023

Chapter 3 introduces the focal practice examined in this book: participants’ resistance to the Experimenter’s directives to pursue experimental tasks. We have been treating Milgram’s experiment as a case study in the sociology of morality: resistance is situated moral practice in the institutional setting of the experiment that, at minimum, displays recognition of interactional trouble that has moral implications. First, we present our sociological approach to data analysis, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Next, we introduce the Milgram archival data analyzed in Parts II and III and describe the institutional context of the Milgram experiment, including its 23 conditions, the script Milgram’s confederates followed and how it was amended over time, and the experiment’s sequential organization. Finally, we discuss resistance, the counter-resistance brought to bear on it by the Experimenter, competing sequential relevancies to continue or discontinue, and patterns of when (at what voltage level) Obedient versus Disobedient participants mobilized resistance.
Explaining Milgramesque Behaviors
Authors: Hollander Matthew M. , Turowetz Jason
Published: July 2023

Chapter 6 builds on earlier chapters to address current debates relevant to moral science and Milgram, specifically the problem of explaining Milgramesque behavior. It presents an original explanation of behavior in Milgram’s lab—“doing ordinariness”—and contrasts it with alternative explanations, particularly Milgram’s agentic state theory and the more recent theories of rhetorical persuasion and engaged followership. Drawing on Milgram’s recordings of his immediately postexperiment debriefing interviews, a data source greatly neglected by the Milgram literature, the chapter shows that Obedient participants, as well as Disobedient ones up to a point, worked to normalize an increasingly anomic situation through a process called “doing being ordinary.” This process involves looking for usual, expectable features of social settings and acting under the assumption that such features will be present. Participants’ interview accounts, though produced post facto, offer important insights into their sensemaking practices such as doing ordinariness. The chapter concludes by arguing that no single process is sufficient to fully account for what occurred in Milgram’s lab, and that multiple processes of compliance were likely involved.
Conclusion
Authors: Hollander Matthew M. , Turowetz Jason
Published: July 2023

Chapter 8 concludes the book by addressing three issues: the relevance of Milgram’s experiments to the real-world incidents of genocide, especially the Holocaust, that Milgram sought to explain; the implications of the book’s argument for the sociology of morality; and the relevance of Milgram in the contemporary era. In particular, we argue that although the actions of Obedient participants were morally problematic, insofar as they denied reciprocity to the Learner, most did not believe they were really harming anyone, and so were fundamentally unlike the perpetrators of genocide, who intentionally cause harm but claim such harm is justified. Furthermore, drawing on Hegel’s “master-slave” dialectic and Goffman’s analysis of relations between asylum staff and patient-inmates, we argue that the Milgram situation was not sustainable much beyond the 30-60 minutes allotted per experiment: in the absence of reciprocity from the Experimenter, even the most trusting participants would have eventually refused to continue administering the shocks. Nonetheless, we suggest that the Milgram experiments do have valuable lessons to teach us about the moral order of interaction and the harm participants may suffer when that order is violated. The chapter then elaborates on the value of an interaction centered approach to social action for the sociology of morality, before concluding with a consideration of what Milgram means, and does not mean, for how we understand ourselves and of what actions humans are capable.
Conclusion
Authors: Jordan Randolph
Published: July 2023

The conclusion offers a personal reflection upon how the methodology the author has established for intersecting acoustic ecology with film and media has influenced his approach to thinking about the spaces he occupies outside the screening room walls. Having examined the four key dimensions of acoustic ecology as established by the World Soundscape Project, and demonstrated the value of intersecting these with the study of film sound, the author explains how the revelations about the myth of vanishing mediation that he takes away from all the films examined in this book have provided a tool kit for living more consciously with respect to the complexities of the land, which, in turn, have informed his approach to creative practice. As a concrete illustration, the author explains how some of his own biographical details have informed two of his artistic projects that both explicitly frame an approach to audiovisual design through the method of acoustic profiling used as an analytical tool throughout this book, now a tool for critically examining his own listener positionality as a settler on Indigenous lands.
Exploring the Blank Archive
Authors: Sawday Jonathan
Published: July 2023

Early modern bureaucracy encouraged the growing deployment of what (today) are known as blank forms—texts containing spaces for the insertion of hand-written information. This chapter traces the evolution of such forms from manuscript indulgence letters to their appearance as printed documents. Starting with a blank form associated with the English slave trade in the early eighteenth century, the chapter discusses the authority, use, and production of such blank forms in the period 1475–1700, and their production by printers such as those who were responsible for the printing of the “first folio” of Shakespeare’s plays in 1623. The role of blank forms during the period of the wars of the three kingdoms is explored, as well as their use in the surveillance of early modern populations and behavior. The co-existence of both scribal and printed forms and form letters is discussed, as well as their appearance as plot devices on the early modern stage.
Censored Space
Authors: Sawday Jonathan
Published: July 2023

In his Introductory Lectures of 1915–1917, Sigmund Freud explored the operation of the “censoring apparatus” encountered in dreams. Taking Freud’s experience of censorship in Vienna during the first world war as the starting point, this chapter looks at both the theory and practice of early modern censorship, which includes Reformation iconoclasm. Using examples taken from the writings of John Donne, Sir Francis Hubert, William Cartwright, and Andrew Marvell, the chapter shows how blank spaces associated with censorship rarely achieved their goal. Finally, the chapter explores the substitution of dashes or hyphens as a means of concealment in text by (e.g.) Rochester and Dryden. But these are shown to be not so much erasures as forms of invitation, as is so common with the blank more generally, in which the reader is encouraged to fill in what has been apparently withheld.
Travelling Ayahs and Ayahs’ Homes
Authors: Datta Arunima
Published: July 2023

This chapter turns our attention to ayahs’ homes: institutions which emerged in Britain in response to the needs of travelling ayahs as they waited in the imperial heartland to secure employment that would enable them to return to India. The chapter shows how this space of waiting became a site of activity not only for travelling ayahs but also for British people who engaged with them in the name of humanitarianism, Christianity, and indeed profit. In colonial discourses, private social welfare often played a significant role in the Empire’s ‘civilizing mission’. The politics of providing such welfare within a capitalist society required the definition of who was and who was not legitimately needy and thus qualified to receive welfare. Consequently, welfare was never monolithic, but was motivated by a variety of religious or socio-political agendas including capitalist enterprise itself. This chapter explores how the operators of ayahs’ homes furthered their various agendas by providing for the needs of travelling ayahs and how travelling ayahs themselves engaged with these institutions.
Negotiating Gender, Citizenship, and Precarity
Authors: Zhang Nana
Published: July 2023

Drawn from a qualitative study of 33 rural migrant women in two popular destination cities in China, Beijing and Shantou, and two sending provinces, Hebei and Henan, this chapter seeks to investigate how Chinese rural migrant women negotiate gender, citizenship, and precarity in the vicissitudes of their everyday life during the rural–urban migration processes. In particular, it explores the way in which they draw on different resources to establish a sense of selfhood and belonging and to cope with imposed unpalatable conditions. The findings throws light on the complex process of identity construction and performance in everyday negotiation, especially among the most exploited, oppressed, and vulnerable people in society.
Broken Things
Authors: Elkins Amy E.
Published: July 2023

How might an archive of broken things teach us about the fragility and resilience of craft? This interchapter begins with an examination of objects from the Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas archive to theorize attachments between makers and literary worlds. It argues for the significance of aesthetics such as the miniature, the ephemeral, and the sentimental to how writers invoke materiality and meaning. Moving between contemporary art by Rachel Kneebone and Jila Peacock, it connects the cracked tome or broken line—the showing of the breaks and scars—to more intimate narratives of cultural catastrophe such as war or a pandemic.
Aristotelian Wisdom? The Doctrine of the Meanà la mode
Authors: Rabone Richard
Published: July 2023

This chapter outlines the early modern Iberian reception of Aristotelian ethics, and the doctrine of the mean specifically. This provides necessary background for the mean’s literary reception, including an approximation of the early modern understanding of the mean as trope, and an outline of several specific features of the mean’s or Aristotle’s reception on which Golden-Age authors drew. The chapter therefore sets out the governing dynamics of Aristotle’s reception, including: its growing appeal in lay circles; prominent objections raised, both to Aristotle’s ethics in general, and to the mean in particular; and the essential responses to those objections. Such responses included an eclectic approach to Aristotle’s ideas; syncretic blending of his ideas with other traditions, including Christianity; tacitly updating his ideas; or recognizing Aristotle as authoritative, but limiting the scope or relevance of his teachings. This is supplemented by an analysis of the mean in similar terms, detailing the early modern understanding of the doctrine; challenges raised; and ways in which Aristotle’s mean was updated and appropriated by other traditions, including its notable post-Aristotelian association with straightforward moderation. This is followed by a study of the mean’s appearances in classical literature, which provide alternative pathways for the transmission of the idea to the Renaissance, and significantly broaden the contexts in which the concept was applied, in both serious and playful ways. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book, detailing how different strands of this intellectual reception underpin the analysis of particular literary works in later chapters.
A Life Course Approach to Endometriosis
Authors: Mishra Gita D. , Rowlands Ingrid J. , Chan Hsiu-Wen , Montgomery Grant W
Published: July 2023

Endometriosis is one of the most common chronic gynaecological disorders. Historically, public and professional awareness of the disorder and its consequences has been poor; however, in recent times, there has been greater recognition that endometriosis is a debilitating condition affecting over 10% of women of reproductive age globally. Because the symptoms can be attributed to a range of conditions and diagnosis requires surgical confirmation, current estimates of its prevalence and incidence are likely to be underestimated, and diagnosis can take up to 10 years. There is no known cure for endometriosis, so treatment is primarily for managing the symptoms. Women with endometriosis can experience financial burden because of ongoing medical costs and loss of productivity, and they have a poorer quality of life. It is therefore important to identify risk factors for endometriosis to facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment. In this chapter, we outline the risk factors for endometriosis across the life course as well as the conditions that are more prevalent among women with endometriosis.
The Life Course Epidemiology of Breast Cancer
Authors: Houghton Lauren C. , Potischman Nancy , Troisi Rebecca
Published: July 2023

Breast cancer development is a particularly illustrative example for life course epidemiology, with antecedents in utero and risk factors spanning pubertal and adolescent development, pregnancy, and menopause. After a brief introduction and review of the established adult risk factors for breast cancer, we assess the evidence linking breast cancer with adolescent, pubertal, childhood, infant, and prenatal exposures. We end the chapter with a discussion of methodological approaches to investigate breast cancer in a life course framework in which risk factors occurring at each life stage are linked to provide possible pathways from early events to adulthood and subsequent occurrence of breast cancer; we use body size as an example.
Integrative Omics for Women’s Health
Authors: Murray Anna , Ruth Katherine S.
Published: July 2023

Omics has substantially improved our understanding of women’s health across the life course, revealing novel biological pathways, which are starting to translate into improvements in health and clinical care. In the last 20 years, we have moved from studies of individual genes and their function to investigations of all genes in a genome in a single experiment. By integrating data from the transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome with the underlying genomics, we are able to infer causal pathways to disease and identify potential therapeutic targets for treatment. In this chapter, we will consider each of the omics technologies, including their advantages and limitations. We will discuss examples of how integrated omics has been used in women’s health research across the life course.
Life Course Socioeconomic Trajectories and Health
Authors: Hardy Rebecca
Published: July 2023

There are stark and widespread social inequalities in health for women, as well as men, with some evidence that they are wider for women than for men. Understanding how social inequalities in health develop across life is vital to ensure policies tackle this persistent challenge, particularly in a post-COVID-19 world. Socioeconomic, reproductive, and health trajectories in women are interrelated across the life course, and the changing social context of the last 70 years has had a particular impact on the work and family life of women. While health behaviours play a major role in explaining health inequalities in women, as they do in men, there are a range of early life factors related to childhood disadvantage that are potentially important, and there is progress in understanding how such social exposures ‘get under the skin’. Childhood health and development, while being socially distributed, and potential explanations for adult health inequalities, also impact subsequent socioeconomic trajectories, highlighting the complexity of the interrelationships across life.
The Nexus of Naval Modernization in India and China
Authors: Colley Christopher K.
Published: July 2023

What causes rising great powers to engage in the process of naval modernization? Naval modernization is extremely expensive, time-consuming, and a relatively rare phenomenon. Scholars have proposed various arguments to explain this process ranging from bureaucratic politics, to nationalism, and to the security dilemma. This book demonstrates through case studies of China and India that from 1991 until 2020 the primary driver of naval modernization resulted from a strategic rivalry. Keys to strategic rivalries are perceived threat perceptions that cause decision makers to prepare for worst-case scenarios when trying to decipher their enemy’s behaviour. When a state believes it is threatened by a rival’s naval power it is likely to pursue its own form of naval modernization for self-protection. Importantly, rivalries do not exist in a vacuum and are frequently linked together. This project will reveal how the interconnected nature of rivalries can also cause naval modernization. Through a close examination of scholarly works, government documents, and over 60 in-depth focused interviews with experts based in mostly in India and China, I argue that, while strategic rivalry is not the only driver of naval modernization, it is the most compelling explanation. Other arguments are frequently embedded within the strategic rivalry model and thus are best seen as only partial drivers. This study contributes to the rivalry research programme as well as the policy and security studies literature.
Theory and My Argument
Authors: Colley Christopher K.
Published: July 2023

The rivalry research programme is extremely helpful for explaining why states decide to embark on sustained naval modernization. This chapter discusses the key argument that strategic rivalry is the best approach to explain why China and India have decided to build more powerful navies. While strategic rivalry is the best explanation, other approaches do have merit, but are frequently embedded in strategic rivalries. In addition, this chapter also analyses the concept of naval modernization and argues that it requires a sustained effort by leaders to develop a powerful fleet. This frequently takes place over several decades. The chapter also examines the importance of submarines in naval modernization programmes and argues that the current situation between China, India, and the U.S. does not constitute a strategic triangle.
The Renewal of the Sino/American Strategic Rivalry and the Evolution of the Chinese Navy
Authors: Colley Christopher K.
Published: July 2023

From 1991 to 2020 the Chinese navy transformed from a force that was unable to project any meaningful form of power to a force with over 100 vessels capable of blue water activities. This chapter argues that the primary driver behind this effort was Beijing’s strategic rivalry with the U.S. In the absence of the strategic rivalry, the Chinese navy would likely have modernized, but not to the extent that one finds today. Importantly, other explanations centred on nationalism, bureaucratic politics, and the security dilemma, do have limited merit, but on their own they are insufficient to cause naval modernization. This chapter directly traces the evolution of the Chinese navy and demonstrates how the rivalry caused Chinese leaders to pursue the rapid modernization of the Chinese navy.
Under Jowett’s Wing
Authors: Sloan John
Published: July 2023

The divide between the athletes and the aesthetes was beginning to be noticed when Lang was an undergraduate at Oxford from the mid-1860s. Lang wrote poetry and admired the daringly sensual and aesthetic verse of Morris, Swinburne, and French poetry, but counted himself among the cricketers and sportsmen who were his friends. Lang was not disturbed by the perceived antagonism between science and belief that led many of his contemporaries to abandon inherited faith, and in his undergraduate essay on ‘Rabelais and the Renaissance’, he voiced scepticism about heightened aesthetic culture and individualism as an answer to the problems facing modern man. Lang looked up to his tutor Benjamin Jowett, not as an authority figure who held the key to knowledge or examination success, but as a model of how to live a productive life of duty, work, and friendship. After gaining First Class in Literae Humaniores finals, he applied for an open fellowship at Merton College, Oxford.
‘Young Oxford’
Authors: Sloan John
Published: July 2023

Elected a fellow of Merton College in 1869, Lang undertook a prose translation of Homer’s Odyssey with Henry Butcher and introductory essays on Aristotle’s Politics, but academic specialism and traditional barriers between subjects could not constrain his generalist impulses. His doubts about Max Müller’s comparative philological approach to mythology at Oxford were reinforced by his discovery of the emerging but still marginalized field of social anthropology, and by his meeting with Edward Burnett Tylor, the author of Primitive Culture. Besides challenging the philosophical school with essays which argued for the primitive origins of the higher mythologies, Lang wrote on French poetry and made his French verse translation the basis of his debut collection of verse. Lung trouble took Lang to the South of France, where in the winter of 1873–4 he met and became friends with Robert Louis Stevenson. Lang’s dissatisfaction with Oxford life came to a head in 1874 when he became engaged to Leonora (Nora) Blanche Alleyne, the daughter of a former owner of slave plantations in Barbados. Lang was 30; Nora, also with literary ambitions, was 23. Although Merton had relaxed the rule against fellows marrying, Lang decided to resign his fellowship and earn his living as an author and journalist in London.
Holding Course
Authors: Sloan John
Published: July 2023

The 1880s began with a series of setbacks for Lang. He was disappointed in his hope of being made editor of the newly launched Longman’s Magazine; there was a cool response from critics to his long narrative poem, Helen of Troy; and a story he was working on with Robert Louis Stevenson had to be abandoned. Lang despaired of finding time from reviewing, reading manuscripts, and writing potboilers for money, to complete his ambitious book on myths. In his personal life, he and Nora were deeply upset by the death of Nora’s eldest sister. Responding to adversity, Lang brought out an interim collection of essays, Custom and Myth, as a foretaste of his planned myth book, and a new, well-received collection of verse, Rhymes à la Mode. His star was rising again, and Charles Longman made up for Lang’s disappointment in being denied the editorship of Longman’s Magazine by appointing him general editor of a planned series of biographies of ‘English Worthies’ and giving him the go-ahead for a monthly ‘causerie’ in Longman’s Magazine.
The Concept of Europe
Authors: Wight Martin , YOST DAVID S.
Published: July 2023

The concept of Europe is elusive because it has been regarded as synonymous with Western civilization. After the abatement in the seventeenth century of the European wars of religion, the word “Europe” replaced “Christendom.” Voltaire, Burke, and other European philosophers defined Europe as composed of states that kept the balance of power among themselves while respecting a shared heritage of Christianity and international law. During the period known as the Concert of Europe (1815–1914) Europe constituted “an international society with rights” based on common values. Europeans of various nationalities held that Europe surpassed Asia and Africa in military skills, in “social vitality, initiative and inventiveness,” and in liberal arts, science, and industry. Ranke, Mazzini, Huizinga, and others agreed in seeing “diversity in unity” in European history and society. From the sixteenth century on European nations were “conquering and exploiting the rest of the world.” Britain focused on its Empire and Commonwealth, to the neglect of Europe and the League of Nations. European civilization is distinct in “its universalist claims,” originally grounded in Christianity. The “universal mission” convictions survived the Crusades, the Reformation, and the wars of religion, and were followed by the ideologies of the French Revolution and Communism. To describe “the European inheritance” as democracy “is an extraordinarily selective and inaccurate statement,” given the predominance of authoritarian rulers and the scarcity of democratic regimes in European history since ancient Greece. The Common Market has nonetheless been criticized as “too inward looking” and “too little universalist.”
Europe After 1945
Authors: Wight Martin , YOST DAVID S.
Published: July 2023

Wight observed that the Second World War was “subjectively” the greatest war in history, owing in part to Germany’s conquest of most of Europe. After the war most of the frontiers agreed at Versailles in 1919 were confirmed, despite the Soviet Union’s great territorial gains and the huge population transfers affecting Estonians, Germans, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Poles. Important decisions were concluded at Potsdam in 1945 and Paris in 1946, but there was no comprehensive peace settlement. The stable balance of power compensated for the absence of a treaty-based peace settlement. The Europe-centered state-system was overtaken by powers peripheral to Europe: the Soviet Union and the U.K.-U.S. partnership. Their division of Europe, explicit in the partition of Germany, upheld the balance of power. “The rival conceptions have been between those who recognize (such as Monnet and Spaak) and those who deny (such as Eden and de Gaulle) that the European state-system is finished.” In Wight’s view, “The European state-system is finished… For all that can be said about the technological and economic progress of the European Economic Community, it is, in historical perspective, a mutual benefit society for old folk, powers that have retired from the world stage.”
Brutus in Foreign Policy
Authors: Wight Martin , YOST DAVID S.
Published: July 2023

Wight found Eden’s Memoirs marred by noteworthy “evasions and omissions” regarding the 1956 Suez crisis. Wight pointed out “how the consummate diplomatic flexibility of the first half of the Eden Memoirs becomes congealed and rigidified, in the second half, into a political principle felt as having compelling force”—that is, in Eden’s words, the obligation to resist the “insidious appeal of appeasement.” As Wight observed, Eden saw timely action against aggressors “as the lesson of his lifetime,” and compared Nasser to Mussolini and Hitler. In Wight’s view, “The most remarkable weakness of the Eden Memoirs is the neglect of Arab nationalism.… In dealing with Egypt, there is a deep-rooted assumption of inequality of rights.” The Egyptian seizure of the Suez Canal nonetheless raised basic questions about international order and obligation: “There is a kind of crisis of international society more fundamental than threats to the balance of power; it is when the principle of international obligation itself deliquesces.… The difficulty of maintaining the rule of law and civilized international intercourse in a world of dissolving standards is perhaps the deepest theme of Eden’s Memoirs.” Wight concluded that “Eden’s moral dilemma has a lasting significance” and may be compared to that of Brutus and the Roman Republic. “Eden explored the same region of the moral universe of politics, with similar high-mindedness and self-righteousness, blindness and clear-sightedness, misjudgment and courage.”
Germany in The World in March 1939
Authors: Wight Martin , YOST DAVID S.
Published: July 2023

The factors that led to Germany’s conquest of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939 included the pursuit of national revival after defeat in the First World War, the widespread belief in betrayal and stab-in-the-back myths, the backing for the National Socialist movement by “demobilized and unemployable soldiers,” and Hitler’s charismatic leadership. Hitler promoted an ideology of racism and built up his Nazi movement’s power by agitating the masses through crude and brutal oratory. Hitler’s perseverance and organizational skills enabled him to exploit multiple methods of manipulation, from harsh violence to slow and subtle infiltration. The goal of Lebensraum (“living space”) was Hitler’s justification for attempting to defeat and dismember the Soviet Union. He followed historic principles of “aggressive statecraft” and devised others, such as articulating “the big lie” as more credible to the masses than small falsehoods and enforcing “exactions on the conquered only by stages, as far as that is possible.” He formulated a principle of building up to a “pinnacle of power” before attacking but neglected it as he exploited opportunities. He pursued “the political penetration and psychological paralysis of other states, and the promotion of revolutionary unrest.” He sought, in his own words, “the moral break-down of the enemy before the war has started,” and employed to this end propaganda, economic pressures, and political-military intimidation. Rejecting the possibility of a capitulation as in 1918, Hitler continued combat “beyond the bounds of purpose, towards self-destruction and universal destruction. Here was the authentic nihilism of the Third Reich.”