bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plasma Extracellular Vesicle LncRNA H19 as a Potential Diagnostic Biomarker for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Authors: Heydari Raheleh , Fayazzadeh Sara , Shahrokh Shabnam , Shekari Faezeh , Farsad Faraneh , Meyfour Anna
Published: October 2023

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex gastrointestinal disease with 2 main subtypes of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), whose diagnosis mainly depends on the medical history, clinical symptoms, endoscopic, histologic, radiological, and serological findings. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are now considered an additional mechanism for intercellular communication, allowing cells to exchange biomolecules. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are enriched in EVs have been defined as an ideal diagnostic biomarker for diseases. In this study, we investigated the expression differences of 5 lncRNAs in tissue and plasma EVs of active IBD patients compared with patients in the remission phase and healthy controls to introduce an EV-lncRNA as a noninvasive IBD diagnostic biomarker.

Methods

Twenty-two active IBD patients, 14 patients in the remission phase, 10 active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, 14 irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients, and 22 healthy individuals were recruited in the discovery cohort. In addition, 16 patients with active IBD, 16 healthy controls, 10 inactive IBD patients, 12 active RA patients, and 14 IBS patients were also included in the validation cohort. The expression levels of 5 lncRNAs in tissue and EV-plasma were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) . Machine learning and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to investigate the distinguishing ability of the candidate biomarkers.

Results

While the expression levels of lncRNAs CDKN2B-AS1, GAS5, and TUG1 were significantly downregulated, lncRNAs H19 and CRNDE were overexpressed in active IBD lesions. Expression of H19 was detected in plasma EVs whose isolation had been confirmed via dynamic light scattering, microscopy images, and western blotting. The classification results demonstrated the excellent ability of H19 in distinguishing IBD/active from IBD/remission, healthy control, RA, and IBS (area under the ROC curve = 0.95, 0.97,1, and 0.97 respectively).

Conclusions

Our study suggests that circulating EV-lncRNA H19 exhibited promising potential for the diagnosis of active IBD.
Countrywide analysis of heat- and cold-related mortality trends in the Czech Republic: growing inequalities under recent climate warming
Authors: Janoš Tomáš , Ballester Joan , Čupr Pavel , Achebak Hicham
Published: October 2023

Background

Only little is known about trends in temperature–mortality associations among the most vulnerable subgroups, especially in the areas of central and eastern Europe, which are considered major climatic hotspots in terms of heatwave exposure. Thus, we aimed to assess trends in temperature-related mortality in the Czech Republic by sex, age and cause of death, and to quantify the temporal evolution of possible inequalities.

Methods

We collected daily time series of all-cause (1987–2019) and cause-specific (1994–2019) mortality by sex and age category, and population-weighted daily mean 2-metre temperatures for each region of the Czech Republic. We applied a quasi-Poisson regression model to estimate the trends in region-specific temperature–mortality associations, with distributed lag non-linear models and multivariate random-effects meta-analysis to derive average associations across the country. We then calculated mortality attributable to non-optimal temperatures and implemented the indicator of sex- and age-dependent inequalities.

Results

We observed a similar risk of mortality due to cold temperatures for men and women. Conversely, for warm temperatures, a higher risk was observed for women. Results by age showed a clear pattern of increasing risk due to non-optimum temperatures with increasing age category. The relative risk (RR) related to cold was considerably attenuated in most of the studied subgroups during the study period, whereas an increase in the RR associated with heat was seen in the overall population, in women, in the age category 90+ years and with respect to respiratory causes. Moreover, underlying sex- and age-dependent inequalities experienced substantial growth.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest ongoing adaptation to cold temperatures. Mal/adaptation to hot temperatures occurred unequally among population subgroups and resulted in growing inequalities between the sexes and among age categories.
Neonatal pain management practice in the neonatal intensive care unit of public hospitals: a survey of healthcare providers in eastern Ethiopia
Authors: Kebede Sinetibeb Mesfin , Degefa Meron , Getachew Tamirat , Lami Magarsa , Tadesse Barkot , Bekele Habtamu
Published: October 2023

Background

Newborns experience multiple painful and stressful procedures during their hospitalization in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Repeated or untreated pain can have negative consequences for the health and development of newborns. Despite the growing knowledge of pain assessment and intervention, several studies have shown that the practice of neonatal pain management among healthcare providers is poor. Therefore, data regarding neonatal pain management practice and affecting factors are essential for taking appropriate actions. This study assessed neonatal pain management practice and associated factors among healthcare providers working in the NICUs of public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia from 1 January to 28 February 2022.

Methods

An institution-based cross-sectional study design was used among 372 randomly selected healthcare providers working in the NICUs of public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected using a pre-tested structured self-administered questionnaire and an observation checklist. The collected data were reviewed, coded and entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify the associations between outcome and predictor variables at a 95% confidence level and P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

The study found that 185 (53.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 48.4 to 59.2) of the 343 respondents had good neonatal pain management practice with a mean of 11.38 (standard deviation 3.64). Receipt of in-service training in neonatal pain management (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.12 [95% CI 1.15 to 3.91]), availability of protocols and guidelines in the NICUs (AOR 2.94 [95% CI 1.74 to 4.91]) and accessibility of analgesics in the NICUs (AOR 4.302 [95% CI 2.46 to 7.53]) were significantly associated with good neonatal pain management practice.

Conclusions

The overall practice of healthcare providers in neonatal pain management in public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia is relatively high compared with previous studies conducted in Ethiopia. Improving the availability of analgesics as well as neonatal pain management protocols and guidelines in NICUs will aid in the promotion of good neonatal pain management practices. In addition, providing ongoing in-service training on neonatal pain management will allow healthcare providers to better care for newborns in pain.
New insights into peroxide toxicology: sporulenes help Bacillus subtilis endospores from hydrogen peroxide
Authors: Smita N , Sasikala Ch , Ramana ChV
Published: October 2023

Aim

The purpose of the present study was to understand the possible events involved in the toxicity of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to wild and sporulene-deficient spores of Bacillus subtilis, as H2O2 was previously shown to have deleterious effects.

Methods and results

The investigation utilized two strains of B. subtilis, namely the wild-type PY79 (WT) and the sporulene-deficient TB10 (ΔsqhC mutant). Following treatment with 0.05% H2O2 (v/v), spore viability was assessed using a plate count assay, which revealed a significant decrease in cultivability of 80% for the ΔsqhC mutant spores. Possible reasons for the loss of spore viability were investigated with microscopic analysis, dipicholinic acid (DPA) quantification and propidium iodide (PI) staining. Microscopic examinations revealed the presence of withered and deflated morphologies in spores of ΔsqhC mutants treated with H2O2, indicating a compromised membrane permeability. This was further substantiated by the absence of DPA and a high frequency (50%–75%) of PI infiltration. The results of fatty acid methyl ester analysis and protein profiling indicated that the potentiation of H2O2-induced cellular responses was manifested in the form of altered spore composition in ΔsqhC B. subtilis. The slowed growth rates of the ΔsqhC mutant and the heightened sporulene biosynthesis pathways in the WT strain, both upon exposure to H2O2, suggested a protective function for sporulenes in vegetative cells.

Conclusions

Sporulenes serve as a protective layer for the inner membrane of spores, thus assuming a significant role in mitigating the adverse effects of H2O2 in WT B. subtilis. The toxic effects of H2O2 were even more pronounced in the spores of the ΔsqhC mutant, which lacks this protective barrier of sporulenes.
Large-scale affordable housing construction and public goods provision: evidence from Iran
Authors: Tajrishy Saeed , Vesal Mohammad
Published: October 2023

Affordable housing projects may affect neighboring property values. Negative spillovers are more likely in developing countries because governments may fail to provide complementary infrastructures such as schools. We study one of the world’s largest affordable housing projects, the Mehr housing project in Iran, which facilitated the construction of 2 million affordable apartments. Using the universe of house transactions in nineteen large cities, we employ a difference-in-differences methodology to estimate the causal impact of Mehr on neighboring properties. Results show nearby housing prices fall by 11%. This negative effect fades away in neighborhoods that saw a proportionate expansion of schools.
Crosswell frequency-domain reverse time migration imaging with wavefield decomposition
Authors: Yang Jixin , He Xiao , Chen Hao
Published: October 2023

Crosswell seismic technique can provide high-resolution imaging and monitoring of the subsurface. However, compared to the surface seismic, crosswell data contain more complex wave components, which increases the difficulty of seismic processing and migrations. Conventional acoustic reverse time migration (RTM) mainly uses the cross-correlation of the source forward and the receiver backward wavefields. The redundant information generated by cross-correlation may undermine the imaging reliability in the crosswell models. Thus, we develop a novel wavefield decomposition imaging condition and only used cross-correlation information of incident and reflection waves in the same propagation directions, which eliminates the artifacts generated from the cross-correlation of wave information unrelated to reflections in the crosswell image. We perform RTM in the frequency domain to maintain efficiency in multi-shot problems. A mono-frequency wavefield decomposition method is applied to separate and process the seismic data. The forward and backward wavefields are reclassified into the up- and downpropagating components. The L1 norm is introduced to enhance the robustness of the proposed imaging method. We then use this method to synthesize data from layering models and analyze the imaging results generated from each pair of cross-correlations using source and receiver wavefields. Results show that the cross-correlation information belonging to the same propagation contributes most to the crosswell image, and the other information always generates migration noises. Moreover, we apply the proposed method to a real-field dataset. Processing results validate the effectiveness of the proposed means for eliminating false events in the crosswell models and improving image quality.
NAC transcription factor SlNOR-like1 plays a dual regulatory role in tomato fruit cuticle formation
Authors: Liu Gang-Shuai , Huang Hua , Grierson Donald , Gao Ying , Ji Xiang , Peng Zhen-Zhen , Li Hong-Li , Niu Xiao-Lin , Jia Wen , He Jian-Lin , Xiang Lan-Ting , Gao Hai-Yan , Qu Gui-Qin , Zhu Hong-Liang , Zhu Ben-Zhong , Luo Yun-Bo , Fu Da-Qi
Published: October 2023

The plant cuticle is an important protective barrier on the plant surface, constructed mainly by polymerized cutin matrix and a complex wax mixture. Although the pathway of plant cuticle biosynthesis has been clarified, knowledge of the transcriptional regulation network underlying fruit cuticle formation remains limited. In the present work, we discovered that tomato fruits of the NAC transcription factor SlNOR-like1 knockout mutants (nor-like1) produced by CRISPR/Cas9 [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9] displayed reduced cutin deposition and cuticle thickness, with a microcracking phenotype, while wax accumulation was promoted. Further research revealed that SlNOR-like1 promotes cutin deposition by binding to the promoters of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase6 (SlGPAT6; a key gene for cutin monomer formation) and CUTIN DEFICIENT2 (SlCD2; a positive regulator of cutin production) to activate their expression. Meanwhile, SlNOR-like1 inhibits wax accumulation, acting as a transcriptional repressor by targeting wax biosynthesis, and transport-related genes 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase1 (SlKCS1), ECERIFERUM 1-2 (SlCER1-2), SlWAX2, and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored lipid transfer protein 1-like (SlLTPG1-like). In conclusion, SlNOR-like1 executes a dual regulatory effect on tomato fruit cuticle development. Our results provide a new model for the transcriptional regulation of fruit cuticle formation.
Combining reproducibility and repeatability studies with applications in forensic science
Authors: Arora Hina , Kaplan-Damary Naomi , Stern Hal S
Published: October 2023

Studying the repeatability and reproducibility of decisions made during forensic examinations is important in order to better understand variation in decisions and establish confidence in procedures. For disciplines that rely on comparisons made by trained examiners such as for latent prints, handwriting, and cartridge cases, it has been recommended that ‘black-box’ studies be used to estimate the reliability and validity of decisions. In a typical black-box study, examiners are asked to judge samples of evidence as they would in practice, and their decisions are recorded; the ground truth about samples is known by the study designers. The design for such studies includes repeated assessments on forensic samples by different examiners and additionally, it is common for a subset of examiners to provide repeated assessments on the same evidence samples. We demonstrate a statistical approach to analyse the data collected across these repeated trials that offers the following advantages: i) we can make joint inference about repeatability and reproducibility while utilizing both the intra-examiner and inter-examiner data, ii) we can account for examiner–sample interactions that may impact the decision-making process. We demonstrate the approach first for continuous outcomes such as where decisions are made on an ordinal scale with many categories. The approach is next applied to binary decisions and results are presented on the data from two black-box studies.
Nested spheroidal figures of equilibrium − IV. On heterogeneous configurations
Authors: Staelen C , Huré J-M
Published: October 2023

The theory of nested figures of equilibrium, expanded in Papers I and II, is investigated in the limit where the number of layers of the rotating body is infinite, enabling to reach full heterogeneity. In the asymptotic process, the discrete set of equations becomes a differential equation for the rotation rate. In the special case of rigid rotation (from centre to surface), we are led to an integro-differential equation (IDE) linking the ellipticity of isopycnic surfaces to the equatorial mass-density profile. In contrast with most studies, these equations are not restricted to small flattenings, but are valid for fast rotators as well. We use numerical solutions obtained from the self-consistent-field method to validate this approach. At small ellipticities (slow rotation), we fully recover Clairaut’s equation. Comparisons with Chandrasekhar’s perturbative approach and with Roberts’ work based on virial equations are successful. We derive a criterion to characterize the transition from slow to fast rotators. The treatment of heterogeneous structures containing mass-density jumps is proposed through a modified IDE.
Multiband optical variability on diverse time-scales of the TeV blazar TXS 0506 + 056, the first cosmic neutrino source
Authors: Dhiman Vinit , Gupta Alok C , Bachev Rumen , Wiita Paul J , Cellone Sergio A , Strigachev A , Gaur Haritma , Darriba A , Bisen D P , Locatelli G , Mammana L A , Semkov E
Published: October 2023

We report the first extensive optical flux and spectral variability study of the TeV blazar TXS 0506 + 056 on intranight to long-term time-scales using BVRI data collected over 220 nights between 2017 January 21 to 2022 April 9 using eight optical ground-based telescopes. In our search for intraday variability (IDV), we have employed two statistical analysis techniques, the nested ANOVA test and the power enhanced F-test. We found the source was variable in 8 nights out of 35 in the R-band and in 2 of 14 in the V-band yielding duty cycles (DC) of 22.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent, respectively. Clear colour variation in V − R was seen in only 1 out of 14 observing nights, but no IDV was found in the more limited B, I, and B − I data. During our monitoring period the source showed a 1.18 mag variation in the R-band and similar variations are clearly seen at all optical wavelengths. We extracted the optical (BVRI) SEDs of the blazar for 44 nights when observations were carried out in all four of those wavebands. The mean spectral index (α) was determined to be 0.897 ± 0.171.
In vivo-like nearest neighbor parameters improve prediction of fractional RNA base-pairing in cells
Authors: Sieg Jacob P , Jolley Elizabeth A , Huot Melanie J , Babitzke Paul , Bevilacqua Philip C
Published: October 2023

We conducted a thermodynamic analysis of RNA stability in Eco80 artificial cytoplasm, which mimics in vivo conditions, and compared it to transcriptome-wide probing of mRNA. Eco80 contains 80% of Escherichia coli metabolites, with biological concentrations of metal ions, including 2 mM free Mg2+ and 29 mM metabolite-chelated Mg2+. Fluorescence-detected binding isotherms (FDBI) were used to conduct a thermodynamic analysis of 24 RNA helices and found that these helices, which have an average stability of –12.3 kcal/mol, are less stable by ΔΔGo37 ∼1 kcal/mol. The FDBI data was used to determine a set of Watson–Crick free energy nearest neighbor parameters (NNPs), which revealed that Eco80 reduces the stability of three NNPs. This information was used to adjust the NN model using the RNAstructure package. The in vivo-like adjustments have minimal effects on the prediction of RNA secondary structures determined in vitro and in silico, but markedly improve prediction of fractional RNA base pairing in E. coli, as benchmarked with our in vivo DMS and EDC RNA chemical probing data. In summary, our thermodynamic and chemical probing analyses of RNA helices indicate that RNA secondary structures are less stable in cells than in artificially stable in vitro buffer conditions.
DNA elements tether canonical Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 to human genes
Authors: Barrasa Juan I , Kahn Tatyana G , Lundkvist Moa J , Schwartz Yuri B
Published: October 2023

Development of multicellular animals requires epigenetic repression by Polycomb group proteins. The latter assemble in multi-subunit complexes, of which two kinds, Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) and Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), act together to repress key developmental genes. How PRC1 and PRC2 recognize specific genes remains an open question. Here we report the identification of several hundreds of DNA elements that tether canonical PRC1 to human developmental genes. We use the term tether to describe a process leading to a prominent presence of canonical PRC1 at certain genomic sites, although the complex is unlikely to interact with DNA directly. Detailed analysis indicates that sequence features associated with PRC1 tethering differ from those that favour PRC2 binding. Throughout the genome, the two kinds of sequence features mix in different proportions to yield a gamut of DNA elements that range from those tethering predominantly PRC1 or PRC2 to ones capable of tethering both complexes. The emerging picture is similar to the paradigmatic targeting of Polycomb complexes by Polycomb Response Elements (PREs) of Drosophila but providing for greater plasticity.
LIPID MAPS: update to databases and tools for the lipidomics community
Authors: Conroy Matthew J , Andrews Robert M , Andrews Simon , Cockayne Lauren , Dennis Edward A , Fahy Eoin , Gaud Caroline , Griffiths William J , Jukes Geoff , Kolchin Maksim , Mendivelso Karla , Lopez-Clavijo Andrea F , Ready Caroline , Subramaniam Shankar , O’Donnell Valerie B
Published: October 2023

LIPID MAPS (LIPID Metabolites and Pathways Strategy), www.lipidmaps.org, provides a systematic and standardized approach to organizing lipid structural and biochemical data. Founded 20 years ago, the LIPID MAPS nomenclature and classification has become the accepted community standard. LIPID MAPS provides databases for cataloging and identifying lipids at varying levels of characterization in addition to numerous software tools and educational resources, and became an ELIXIR-UK data resource in 2020. This paper describes the expansion of existing databases in LIPID MAPS, including richer metadata with literature provenance, taxonomic data and improved interoperability to facilitate FAIR compliance. A joint project funded by ELIXIR-UK, in collaboration with WikiPathways, curates and hosts pathway data, and annotates lipids in the context of their biochemical pathways. Updated features of the search infrastructure are described along with implementation of programmatic access via API and SPARQL. New lipid-specific databases have been developed and provision of lipidomics tools to the community has been updated. Training and engagement have been expanded with webinars, podcasts and an online training school.
Qualitative Methods in Communication and Media
Authors: Faulkner Sandra L. , Atkinson Joshua D.
Published: October 2023

This book is a learner-centered guide to designing, doing, and evaluating qualitative communication and media research. The book covers method design, analysis, representation, writing, and evaluation of qualitative communication research. It provides key terms, extended examples, discussion questions, student-tested writing and research activities, examples of student work, and lists of suggested resources. The research activities and discussion questions derive from the authors’ years of teaching qualitative research methods. The authors discuss how to perform qualitative and critical communication and media analyses, including arts-based research, using student and research examples from a variety of fields. There is also an extensive discussion of ethics in qualitative research.
Writing and Presenting Qualitative Research
Authors: Faulkner Sandra L. , Atkinson Joshua D.
Published: October 2023

Chapter 6 is devoted to writing and representation, given its importance in qualitative research. In this chapter the authors emphasize that writing is a vital part of qualitative research and make an argument for writing as method. The authors ask readers to think deeply about their writing process, to create a regular writing practice that becomes a habit, and to focus on form, function, style, and audience in their writing. The chapter addresses the typical format of a qualitative research article and notes the importance of considering citational practices. The authors describe various ways in which readers can use arts-based research presentation in their work.
Evaluating Qualitative Research
Authors: Faulkner Sandra L. , Atkinson Joshua D.
Published: October 2023

In this chapter the authors discuss the importance of evaluating qualitative research, as well as different ideas about what counts as quality research. They explain different kinds of criteria for evaluating qualitative research, such as usefulness and saturation, and discuss criteria for evaluating arts-based research. The authors define the terms “rigor” and “vigor” as applied to qualitative research and discuss the disagreements that exist over the use of these terms. They present four frameworks that can be used to assess research ethics in a project. After reading this chapter, the authors hope that readers will be able to articulate what qualitative criteria are most important to them.
Epilogue
Authors: Cox Pamela , Shoemaker Robert , Shore Heather
Published: October 2023

This chapter brings this story into the present and summarizes the value of historicizing both victims’ participation and their increasing politicization over three centuries. Historically, the state did not care explicitly about victims. It cared about the peace of the realm and it cared that victims took action to enforce it. Victims were displaced within the higher courts as a result of efforts to construct a more effective English criminal justice system to maintain that peace. Today, however, influential segments of British public opinion demand that the state must care, and be seen to care. As a result, the state has taken on legal duties in relation to victims and also seeks to be seen by the public as performing that care. The political price of apparent indifference is too high. Victim groups, and indeed other constituencies, who can mobilize around the claim that the state ‘doesn’t care’ have a powerful card to play in today’s political arena. But within the adversarial trial and its historic delegation of powers to police, counsel and public prosecutors, there are clear limits to what can be achieved through wider policy measures—simply because a criminal trial cannot prioritize the interests of victims. In this sense, the victims’ rights agenda is incompatible with adversarialism as currently framed. Rather than implying that it is possible to restore aspects of victims’ historically central role in the prosecution process, the state needs to develop a more explicit justification of why this would not serve the current public interest.
Introduction
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This is the introduction chapter of Confirmation Theory. Confirmation Theory is a book manuscript that Lewis wrote in 1969 on the basis of a course he’d given at UCLA. He submitted the manuscript to Harvard University Press who expressed an interest. It consists of seven chapters covering intensional semantics, probability measures, rational belief, principles of indifference and Carnap and Hintikka’s inductive systems. The work was intended to be accessible to students with, as Lewis put it, ‘hairy high-school algebra’. He described the manuscript to Richard Jeffrey as ‘Mathematically self-contained, with proofs for the major theorems’. Lewis originally envisaged that Carnap’s The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952) be used as an accompanying text. Lewis focused on Carnap and Hintikka in particular because he believed that their work constituted the attractive core of what competing theories of confirmation had in common.
Intensional Semantics
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This is the zero chapter of Confirmation Theory. Confirmation Theory is a book manuscript that Lewis wrote in 1969 on the basis of a course he’d given at UCLA. He submitted the manuscript to Harvard University Press who expressed an interest. It consists of seven chapters covering intensional semantics, probability measures, rational belief, principles of indifference and Carnap and Hintikka’s inductive systems. The work was intended to be accessible to students with, as Lewis put it, ‘hairy high-school algebra’. He described the manuscript to Richard Jeffrey as ‘Mathematically self-contained, with proofs for the major theorems’. Lewis originally envisaged that Carnap’s The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952) be used as an accompanying text. Lewis focused on Carnap and Hintikka in particular because he believed that their work constituted the attractive core of what competing theories of confirmation had in common.
Scientific Method
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This is the fourth chapter of Confirmation Theory. Confirmation Theory is a book manuscript that Lewis wrote in 1969 on the basis of a course he’d given at UCLA. He submitted the manuscript to Harvard University Press who expressed an interest. It consists of seven chapters covering intensional semantics, probability measures, rational belief, principles of indifference and Carnap and Hintikka’s inductive systems. The work was intended to be accessible to students with, as Lewis put it, ‘hairy high-school algebra’. He described the manuscript to Richard Jeffrey as ‘Mathematically self-contained, with proofs for the major theorems’. Lewis originally envisaged that Carnap’s The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952) be used as an accompanying text. Lewis focused on Carnap and Hintikka in particular because he believed that their work constituted the attractive core of what competing theories of confirmation had in common.
Carnap’s λ-System: Many Families
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This is the seventh chapter of Confirmation Theory. Confirmation Theory is a book manuscript that Lewis wrote in 1969 on the basis of a course he’d given at UCLA. He submitted the manuscript to Harvard University Press who expressed an interest. It consists of seven chapters covering intensional semantics, probability measures, rational belief, principles of indifference and Carnap and Hintikka’s inductive systems. The work was intended to be accessible to students with, as Lewis put it, ‘hairy high-school algebra’. He described the manuscript to Richard Jeffrey as ‘Mathematically self-contained, with proofs for the major theorems’. Lewis originally envisaged that Carnap’s The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952) be used as an accompanying text. Lewis focused on Carnap and Hintikka in particular because he believed that their work constituted the attractive core of what competing theories of confirmation had in common.
Hintikka’s λ-α-System
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This is the eighth chapter of Confirmation Theory. Confirmation Theory is a book manuscript that Lewis wrote in 1969 on the basis of a course he’d given at UCLA. He submitted the manuscript to Harvard University Press who expressed an interest. It consists of seven chapters covering intensional semantics, probability measures, rational belief, principles of indifference and Carnap and Hintikka’s inductive systems. The work was intended to be accessible to students with, as Lewis put it, ‘hairy high-school algebra’. He described the manuscript to Richard Jeffrey as ‘Mathematically self-contained, with proofs for the major theorems’. Lewis originally envisaged that Carnap’s The Continuum of Inductive Methods (1952) be used as an accompanying text. Lewis focused on Carnap and Hintikka in particular because he believed that their work constituted the attractive core of what competing theories of confirmation had in common.
On the Nature of Certain Nonidentities: A Reply to Montague (1968)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this paper, dating from 1968, Lewis argues against an objection Montague had made to Lewis’s 1966 paper ‘An Argument for the Identity Theory’. Montague had argued that Lewis’s paper implied the negation of a principle Montague wanted to endorse, namely, ‘Every experience is identical with the attribute of having that experience’. Lewis argues that there are readings of Montague’s principle on which they are compatible with his identity theory.
Contagion without Rigidity
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1971, Lewis argues, against Kripke, that rigid designation is less important for names and name-like expressions than what Lewis calls ‘contagion’. By ‘contagion’ of names Lewis means the phenomenon of learning a name from others who use it to refer, and wanting it to have the same meaning it had for those other people. The doctrine of contagion without rigidity also makes a brief appearance in footnote 9 of ‘Truth in Fiction’ (Lewis 1978: 41) but is here defended in some more detail.
Counterfactual Probability
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This note, dating from 1971 is a section cut from Lewis’s 1973 book Counterfactuals. In this note Lewis proposes an account of counterfactual probability.
Reply to Davidson (1972)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1972, Lewis discusses Davidson’s contention that, following Tarskian principles, there is no one general notion of word-reference for all languages, but rather reference-in-L for each language L. Lewis expresses agreement with Davidson, but goes on to point out that a Tarskian approach is sufficient for giving us a general schematic approach for determining word-reference for each language.
Counterfactual and Objective Probability (1973)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1973, Lewis proposes that given a set of worlds, a probability function over them, and a system of spheres of similarity around each world, we can think of the objective probability of A at i as the counterfactual probability of A if I, where I is the set of all worlds. He raises, but does not answer, the question what further technical assumptions are necessary to make the proposal come out right for propositions about objective probability.
The Monty Hall Problem (c.1982)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1981, Lewis argues that proponents of phenomenal differences in information are committed to some form of epiphenomenalism.
Mass and Value (1985)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1985, Lewis explores an analogy between the theoretical term ‘mass’, which ambiguously denotes multiple equally good candidate fillers for the mass role, and the term ‘value’ considered as a theoretical term of a folk theory of value. Lewis argues that the latter can be seen as ambiguously denoting the alleged fillers of the value role for meta-ethical naturalism, non-cognitivism, and even error theory.
De Se Detectivism (1986)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1986, Lewis adds to the view expressed in his 1989 paper ‘Dispositional Theories of Value’. In the present short paper Lewis considers a new type of detectivism about value according to which states of affairs are egocentric, not agent-neutral. Lewis expounds this de se variety of detectivism but does not endorse it.
A Fifth Solution to the Problem of Temporary Intrinsics (c.1987)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

This short paper, dated to ca. 1987, appears to have been cut from Lewis’s 1988 reply to E.J. Lowe. In his published reply, Lewis had considered four solutions to the problem of temporary intrinsics; here he considers, and rebuts, a fifth, according to which an enduring individual is wholly present at each stage of its perduring trajectory and takes part in intrinsic changes vicariously.
Merlin and Morgana (1999)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1999, Lewis answers an objection to his counterfactual theory of causation concerning two wizards whose spells cancel each other out.
Reply to Martin’s Reply (1999)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 1999, Lewis defends his views on truth, truth-making and the nature of propositions against C.B. Martin’s objections.
Jack Is Unprovable (2001)
Authors: Lewis David
Published: October 2023

In this short paper, dating from 2001, Lewis attempts two distinct styles of proofs of the problematic sentence that Kripke, in his ‘Outline of a Theory of Truth’, had named ‘Jack’.
Introduction
Authors: Oksamytna Kseniya
Published: October 2023

Advocacy is a crucial but overlooked source of change in international organizations. The advocacy-focused framework explains why some actors succeed at promoting change whereas others fail. The framework pairs advocacy strategies (social pressure, persuasion, and ‘authority talk’) with strategy-specific favourable conditions (characteristics of advocates, targets, issues, and context). The transformation of UN peacekeeping is an illustrative example of organizational change. Three elements of UN peacekeeping’s transformation are the focus of this book: strategic communications, protection of civilians, and quick impact projects. The three case studies exhibit variation in several important respects. First, they differ in salience, from the fundamental question of protection of human life to a seemingly technical issue of quick impact projects. Second, protection of civilians, strategic communications, and quick impact projects represent top-down, bottom-up, and outside-in pathways to change in international organizations: the top-down pathway entails issue construction in intergovernmental bodies, the bottom-up pathway is driven by experimentation by international bureaucrats, and the outside-in pathway relies on input from external actors. Third, the three issues emerged due to different advocacy strategies: persuasion in the case of strategic communications, social pressure and persuasion in the case of protection of civilians, and ‘authority talk’ in the case of quick impact projects. Finally, the three issues achieved varying degrees of institutionalization at different speeds. This book investigates their emergence through comparative process tracing based on archives, memoirs, UN policy and budgetary documents, and elite interviews.
The Essence of Biology
Authors: Braun Veit
Published: October 2023

Focusing on recent decisions at the European Patent Office dealing with the patentability of modified vegetables (the Tomato/Broccoli I and II cases), the chapter explores the role and place that biology plays within patent law. In doing so, the chapter shows how patent law’s appeal to ‘biology’ raises important questions about ‘life’ and ‘nature’ and how these concepts have been implicated in the way that patent law embraces plant innovations.
Conceptualizing Nature as Information
Authors: Fish Allison
Published: October 2023

This chapter examines efforts by the Indian central government to protect South Asian genetic resources and associated knowledge from biopiracy. Specifically, the chapter explores the information technology-related innovations that the National Biodiversity Authority is developing and testing in order to effect compliance with the country’s obligations under the Nagoya Protocol. In developing these new tools the NBA is relying on machine learning systems and blockchain technology to draw together and search across a suite of already-existing informational resources - including some that have been developed specifically around the problem of biopiracy, such as the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, and others which have been developed for different purposes, such as the Web of Science and Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The purpose of these new systems is to assist the NBA in distinguishing between permissible and legitimate bioprospecting activities versus unauthorized and illegitimate biopiracy. In tracing the accretion of techno-legal tools designed to combat biopiracy, the chapter explores the problems that occur when natural resources and their related utilization is not legible or accessible to the law. It also highlights some of the unexpected consequences that arise when, in attempting to respond to these problems, governmental authorities set out to render nature visible using technological solutions.
Introduction
Authors: Davenport Caillan , McEvoy Meaghan
Published: October 2023

This introductory chapter by the editors provides a methodological foundation for the volume as a whole. It first considers the definition of a court and Roman perceptions of the court using ancient literary sources and modern historical and sociological scholarship. It then reviews scholarly investigations of the Roman imperial court as an institution in the Principate and Late Antiquity across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chapter concludes by considering the three major themes of the volume—ritual and spatial dynamics; individual and community at court; and the politics of access—and places the individual chapters in their historical and scholarly contexts
The Court in Constantinople Facing the Death of the Emperor
Authors: Becker Audrey
Published: October 2023

The aim of this chapter is to show the role played by the courtiers in the imperial investiture process from the death of the previous emperor to the coronation ceremony of the new one. During this process, the future emperor was more vulnerable than any other member of the court, because he absolutely needed his power to be recognized by the courtiers. The courtiers accomplished this by manipulating and modifying the protocol to suit their own political context and interest, simultaneously re-establishing and re-ensuring their own prominent place within the court. From this perspective, protocol can be studied not only as a tool employed by the emperor to manipulate the courtiers, but also as a tool employed by the courtiers themselves to maintain a balance of power with the emperor. This chapter will discuss the period in between the death of one emperor and the coronation of the next one in four significant cases: the emperors Constantine, Zeno, Anastasius, and Justinian.
Mathematical tools
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

Classical electrodynamics requires a good familiarity with a set of mathematical tools, which will then find applications basically everywhere in physics. We begin by recalling some of these concepts so that, later, the understanding of the physics will not be obscured by the mathematical manipulations. We discuss differential operators (curl and gradient, Gauss theorem, and Stokes theorem) the use of Dirac delta for point-like for modeling point charges, the Fourier transform., vector and tensors. We also introduce more advanced concepts related to group theory and group representations (that will not be needed for the more elementary parts of the book)
Electromagnetic energy
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

As we have seen in Chapter 3, the electromagnetic field carries energy. In this chapter we will see that the energy stored in a static electric field is equal to the work that has been done to assemble the configuration of charges that generates it (although, for point charges, this requires to deal with some ‘self-energy’ divergences) and, similarly, the energy stored in a static magnetic field is equal to the work needed to produce the configuration of currents that generates it. We will also show how to rewrite the electromagnetic energy in different useful forms, in electrostatics and magnetostatics. We then discuss different form of mechanical potentials, related through Legendre transforms, from which can be derived the electric forces at fixed charge or at fixed electrostatic potential, or the magnetic forces at fixed current or at fixed magnetic flux.
Special Relativity
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

In this chapter introduce the basic postulates and the formalism of Special Relativity. Special Relativity is one of the pillars of modern physics. Our presentation will be tuned toward understanding how Special Relativity is hidden into Maxwell’s equations, and in building a ‘covariant’ formalism that makes this symmetry explicit. We intrduce Lorentz transformations and the associated notions of causality, proper time, time dilatation, Lorentz contraction. We develop the covariant formalism (covariant and contravariant four-vectors and tensors) and we discuss the relativistic kinematics of point particles. A more advanced section discusses the action of relativistic point particles.
Covariant formulation of electrodynamics
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

We now use the formalism developed in the previous chapter to rewrite Maxwell’s equations in a form that will make explicit their covariance under Lorentz transformation. We begin by showing that the charge and current density can be assembled into a four-vector, and we will then see how to write Maxwell’s equations in a covariant form. We then introduce the energy-momentum tensor of electromagnetic field and show how the conservation of energy and momentum can be written in terms of it. A more advanced section discusses the formulation of electrodynamics as a relativisitc field theory, the Lagrangian of the electromagnetic field, and the derivation of conservations laws from Noether’s theorem.
Electromagnetic waves in vacuum
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

In this chapter we study Maxwell’s equations in the absence of sources. We will then discover that, even in the absence of sources, there are non-trivial solutions, that describe electromagnetic waves propagating across empty space. We will study them in the Lorenz gauge and in the Coulomb gauge. The former treatment allows us to maintain Lorentz covariance explicitly at each stage. However, it will be more subtle to understand how to eliminate spurious polarizations, and remain with the two physical polarizations that characterize electromagnetic waves. Working in the Coulomb gauge, in contrast, we will deal from the beginning only with the two physical polarizations, at the price of loosing explicit Lorentz covariance in the intermediate steps. The two approaches are complementary, technically and conceptually, and are both important to understand electromagnetic waves. We also discuss the polarization of light, the Doppler effect, and light aberration.
Electromagnetic fields in material media
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

In this chapter we begin our study of electromagnetic fields in materials. We first show how the fundamental Maxwell equations give rise to ‘smoothed’ Maxwell equations valid at macroscopic scales. To use these equations, however, we must have a model for the macroscopic charge and current densities. We introduce the polarization vector field P and the electric displacement vector field D for a dielectric and the magnetization M and the H field for magnetic material, and we write the Maxwell equations in terms of these quantities. The complexity of the materials is then described phenomenologically by ‘constitutive relations’ involving these macroscopic quantities. We introduce the permittivity and the dielectric constant of the dielectric, and the magnetic susceptibility and magnetic permeability of magnetic matter, that allows us to distinguish between paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials. We study energy conservation and the Poynting theorem in material bodies.
Frequency-dependent response of materials
Authors: Maggiore Michele
Published: October 2023

The response of a material is in general frequency dependent. In this chapter, we will first see how such frequency dependence is significantly constrained by causality and other general principles, and derive the Kramers-Kronig relations. We will then discuss explicit models for the frequency dependence of the response functions: the Drude-Lorentz model for the permittivity, the Drude model of conductivity and the corresponding dielectric function of metals, where we introduce the plasma frequency.