bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conciliarism
Authors: Van Duffel Siegfried
Published: August 2023

The term “conciliarism” can be used broadly to refer to attempts, from the early Catholic church till today, to limit papal control over the church by means of a general council. In a stricter sense the term is often used to refer to the movement which emerged in response to the “western schism” (1378–1417), which briefly re‐emerged after the “schism of Pisa” (1511–13). This movement served as a catalyst of medieval constitutional thought and contributed significantly to the development of the idea of “government by consent.” During the so‐called western schism, the Catholic church found itself with two (and later three) rival popes. The situation was resolved only 40 years later (1414–18) at the council of Constance. Since the pope was normally considered the head of the church, the actions of the council needed special justification. The apologists of the council of Constance (among others: Conrad of Gelnhausen, Henry of Langenstein, and Pierre d'Aily) relied heavily on canonist corporation theory, and were also greatly indebted to John of Paris, William of Ockham, and Marsilius of Padua. The council asserted supremacy for itself in matters of heresy, schism, and reform, and decreed that it should meet on a regular basis. From 1408–18 onward (in the later period apologists were Pierre d'Aily, Jean Gerson, and Franciscus Zabarella), conciliarism becomes more of a theology of the church. Few conciliarists explicitly applied their arguments to secular government. Nevertheless, the general terms in which the arguments were put forward facilitated their transformation into all‐purpose political principles. Several conciliarists proposed theories of mixed government, but at the council of Basel (1431–49) many went further in pronouncing the sovereignty of the whole church, which the church exercised through the council as its representative. Nicholas of Cusa, who delivered the most important contribution to the council of Basel, wrote about the foundation of government in a language resembling that of later social contract theorists: since all are by nature free, and equal in power, the properly ordained power of a ruler can only come from the agreement and consent of the subjects (Nicholas of Cusa 1991: 98). In the early sixteenth century, Jacques Almain and John Mair revived conciliarism, and – in doing so – provided a crucial link in the transmission of medieval constitutional thought. In their thought, the right of the church to depose a pope guilty of a notorious crime is treated as an application of the general rights of political communities – civil and ecclesiastical – to act for their preservation and well‐being. These ideas were often echoed and cited by seventeenth‐ and eighteenth‐century opponents of absolute monarchy.
Constitution, Unwritten
Authors: Doig Jameson
Published: August 2023

With regard to governmental organizations, a constitution is the “body of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state or body politic is constituted and governed” (
Oxford English Dictionary
) – or according to which the nation's leaders assert it is governed, even if the facts show otherwise.
Darwin, Charles (1809–82)
Authors: Adam Seagrave S.
Published: August 2023

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who proposed the theory of biological evolution through the mechanism of natural selection in his classic work,
The Origin of Species
(1859). The publication of the
Origin
came more than two decades after Darwin first formulated its central ideas following his five‐year voyage on
HMS Beagle
. Despite the existence of competing and complementary evolutionary accounts both during and since Darwin's lifetime, Darwin's theory as originally expressed in the
Origin
remains by far the single most influential expression of the idea of biological evolution. While Darwin's theory is first and foremost one of natural history, a variety of factors joined both at its inception and subsequently to lend enormous social and political significance to Darwin's thought. Among the social and political implications that have been alleged to stem from Darwin's writings are laissez‐faire capitalism, socialism, eugenics, and Nazism.
Democratic Education
Authors: Gutmann Amy , Ben‐Porath Sigal
Published: August 2023

Modern democracies need an educated citizenry to survive and to thrive. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816, “it expects what never was and what never will be.” Democratic societies are both enriched and challenged by a diverse citizenry. Democratic education encompasses the varied institutional structures and curricular contents that are suitable for educating free citizens of democratic societies. This entry considers key aspects of democratic education: the question of governance, challenges of multiculturalism, democratic higher education, and education in transitional democracies.
Democratic Elitism
Authors: Green Jeffrey Edward
Published: August 2023

Democratic elitism is less a theory of politics than a general perspective from which certain kinds of theories are proposed. Rather than oppose democracy to elitism as mutually exclusive opposites, the premise of democratic elitism is that democracy should be understood as a process whose meaning relates centrally to the nature, conduct, and selection of political elites. In some sense, there is nothing new about such a premise. There is a long tradition of republican thinkers, including, for example, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Harrington, and Montesquieu, who recognized the confluence of elitist and popular elements in well‐ordered states, especially the singular capacity of popular assemblies to identify and select talented leaders. But democratic elitism is best conceived as a contemporary phenomenon that, in defining democratization primarily in regard to elite power, inserts itself between two more familiar poles in recent political thought. On the one hand there are the classical elite theorists (Pareto, Michels, and the early Mosca) who argued for various different reasons that democracy was not possible due to the inescapably oligarchic nature of modern societies. And on the other hand there are idealist understandings of democracy, typical of the nineteenth century, like those of Tocqueville, J. S. Mill, and Bryce, which construed it as a regime largely (or at least potentially) free from elitism and grounded on ideals of inclusivity, equality, and the people's capacity to engage in rigorous and meaningful acts of self‐legislation. While sharing the elite theorists’ belief in the permanence of elites, democratic elitism differentiates between democratic and nondemocratic forms of elitism. And while sharing the idealists’ view that the introduction of universal suffrage, periodic elections, and mass parties fundamentally alters modern politics in a popular direction, democratic elitists adopt a more minimal, leader‐based understanding of the democratic process, making few if any claims about popular self‐legislation or the intellectual and moral development ordinary citizens might undergo through participation in democratic institutions.
Diderot, Denis (1713–84)
Authors: Fowler James
Published: August 2023

Diderot is one of the three greatestphilosophesof the French Enlightenment. Throughout the 1740s Diderot tended towards deism; subsequently he embraced atheism together with determinism and materialist monism, but without relinquishing his fundamental humanism. Diderot became famous in the course of the 1750s. In 1747, he had assumed, with d'Alembert, the editorship of theEncyclopédie(1751–72) whose utilitarian aims included the dissemination of knowledge concerning not only eighteenth‐century science but also the liberal and mechanical arts. But Diderot and his collaborators also strove to set aside received ideas in order to provide a basis for progress. Diderot's commitment to freedom of thought and expression, his opposition to absolutism, and his editorship of theEncyclopédietogether posed an important challenge toancien régimeideology in the years preceding the French Revolution.
Distributive Justice
Authors: Sheindorf David
Published: August 2023

Philosophical discussions of distributive justice (hereafter DJ) usually focus on three – equally important – matters. The first matter treats thescopeof DJ: it aims to identify the groups of people which are responsible for bringing it about. Different kinds of groups – corporations, tribes, churches, ethnic communities, states and, increasingly over the years, international organizations – constitute the space of human activity. In the matter of scope, a just distribution would include all of those whom the group in question is responsible for their well‐being. The second matter seeks to define thecurrencyof DJ; namely, it asks what goods should be distributed in order for justice to be realized among a given group of people. It is believed in most studies of DJ that the goods in question should enable people to gradually increase their well‐being. The third matter tackles theobjectivesof DJ; that is, it concentrates on the end‐state in which a suitable measure of the goods required should be obtained by members of the group in question. In this sense, conducting justice by distribution requires principles specifying an outcome in which everyone in the group receives their due.
Erasmus, Desiderius (1467/9–1536)
Authors: Bom Erik De
Published: August 2023

As a humanist Desiderius Erasmus was first and foremost known for his mastery of an elegant Latin style, his familiarity with classical authors and the ancient world, and his expert knowledge of the Bible and the church fathers. He was a very productive writer who published dozens of books ranging from editions, translations, and commentaries to such highly popular works as the satirical
Praise of Folly
and the didactic
Adages
. Erasmus's writings on politics are closely connected to these other works and are as well deeply rooted in the humanist tradition. Faithful to this duty as a humanist teacher and adviser, Erasmus wrote all his political works in a highly rhetorical manner shaped after classical models in order to penetrate into the hearts and minds of his audience and persuade them as effectively as possible. His sole purpose was to instill the various classical and Christian virtues into the prince's character, especially those which were considered to be of paramount importance for good governance such as liberality, clemency, and fidelity. By doing so, he wanted to form a good prince who is in every respect the opposite of a tyrant. If a society is confronted nevertheless with such a tyrant, Erasmus asked the subjects to bear him patiently, since internal order and peace had to be preserved at all costs.
Globalism
Authors: Steger Manfred B.
Published: August 2023

“Globalism” is a ubiquitous term often used in an imprecise manner to describe general globalizing trends as well as particular systems of ideas and values connected to various globalization processes. It is useful to distinguish between
globalism –
a political ideology that endows globalization with certain norms, values, and meanings – and
globalization –
a multidimensional set of social processes that extend and intensify social connections across the globe. This distinction helps to foreground the considerable role played by various globalisms in shaping the conditions of our interconnected world.
Greek Political Thought
Authors: Markovits Elizabeth K.
Published: August 2023

Beginning with Homeric poetry, continuing through the remarkable flourishing of theater, history, and philosophy in the fifth and fourth centuriesbce, and ending with the Hellenistic period, Greek political thought spans several hundred years and a number of genres. For the ancient Greeks, the “political” included a tremendous assortment of concerns, with few if any boundaries marking off the political from the nonpolitical. Indeed, it spans just about everything related to the polis, or city, from which the word “political” is derived. Thus, ancient political thought includes discussions of fate, virtue, family, and education (to name just a few topics), in addition to such customary political questions as the nature of authority, the relationship between the individual and state, the role of leadership, or the universality of law. Because of this, a broad view of the source material allows a much richer understanding of how the ancient Greeks thought about politics than we might achieve if we were to stick only to the canonical political philosophers of the period. Thus, this examination of Greek political thought includes texts from a wide variety of genres, all of which offer critical and abstract commentary on the nature of politics and the capacities of citizens.
Historical Materialism
Authors: Oittinen Vesa
Published: August 2023

The expression “historical materialism” was first used by G. V. Plekhanov, the “father” of Russian Marxism, to indicate the social theory of Marxism. Marx and Engels, however, always referred to their doctrine as a “materialist conception of history” and never used the phrase “historical materialism.” The foundation of the materialist theory of history was first formulated extensively in the manuscripts of 1845, later published under the name
The German Ideology
, a work in which the influence of the Scottish Enlightenment was clearly discernible, as Marx and Engels stressed the importance of the division of labor and forms of property as the moving forces behind the development of societies. On the other hand, Marx and Engels criticized Enlightenment social philosophies for their mechanical cause–effect explanations and proposed instead a dialectical view of the development of human society.
Idealism
Authors: Haddock Bruce
Published: August 2023

Philosophical idealism has enjoyed a controversial position throughout its history. It has nothing to do with the everyday sense of idealism as an optimistic mindset anticipating endless progress in the moral, political, and material prospects of humankind. Philosophical idealism, by contrast, is a position that originally focused on our knowledge of the world, distinctively highlighting the constructive role of ourselves as creators of meanings, understandings, and bodies of knowledge. The idea that social, political, and epistemological claims are generated by agents sharing practices and conventions significantly changed conceptions of knowledge and principle. We could no longer picture ourselves as pursuers of truths unaffected by our status as truth‐seekers. In the world of philosophical idealism, truth claims should be seen as intellectual constructions that invite other truth‐seekers to clarify their views with alternative hypotheses. None of us could be said to be striving after a body of truth, in either the human or natural worlds, that is somehow “out there,” awaiting discovery. We are social creatures through and through, making judgments as best we can in relation to a web of cultural understandings. Bodies of knowledge are collaborative constructions, just as our understanding of ourselves should be seen as the product of collaborative discursive engagement.
Intergenerational Justice
Authors: Bach Tracy
Published: August 2023

The concept of intergenerational justice is used to define the sense of accountability between the generations. Philosophers such as Henry Shue and Stephen Gardiner have developed a framework of moral duties that a past or current generation has toward future generations. Intergenerational justice contrasts with intragenerational justice, which focuses on inequities between poor and rich countries within the current generation – a problematic also framed as developing versus developed countries, the South versus the North, and East versus West. While the concept of intergenerational justice is well developed in philosophy, in the law it has only begun to be developed.
Iron Law of Oligarchy
Authors: Caverly Matthew M.
Published: August 2023

The iron law of oligarchy states that when organizations attain a certain level of complexity they inevitably give way to an oligarchy of elite control. Furthermore, the law functions regardless of the democratic or autocratic character of the organization or for that matter the purpose, political or otherwise, of said organization. In particular, it is applied to understanding of the operational maintenance of political parties in either democratic or authoritarian circumstances. The iron law of oligarchy is one of the profoundest theoretical innovations of the twentieth century regarding the development of an understanding for the internal dynamics of social organizational life. The law claims that organizations have inherent tendencies toward elitism, in particular political parties. It claims that social complexity and organizational needs move even the most democratic of entities into a state of perpetual elite domination. This phenomenon is due to the rise of politically sophisticated social elites within the organization as well as the organization's need to maintain consistent command and control administrative governance in order to attain its goals. For instance, in order for a political party to enact its policy program or be competitive in elections it must develop an internal hierarchy that is led through political elites who are policy or campaign experts. Thus, the mass membership within the political party are out of necessity relegated to a secondary position defined by elite leadership.
Jacobinism
Authors: Sokoloff William W.
Published: August 2023

The word derives from “Jacobin,” the name of the Dominican convent in Paris – the church of Saint Jacques (Sanctus Iacobus in Latin) – where the Society of the Friends of the Constitution held its meetings; hence the society was mockingly renamed “the Jacobin club.” The club was a voluntary political association in eighteenth‐century France that existed from 1789 to 1794. With its roots in Freemason societies, initially it fueled, then led the French Revolution, as a symbolic image of the unitary will of the people. Despite the derogatory use of “Jacobin,” this name was embraced by the largely middle‐class intellectual members of the debating philosophical society.
Legalism
Authors: Marusek Sarah
Published: August 2023

At its core, legalism is the sociolegal thinking that addresses the tethering of morality to rules, responses, and enforcement concerning justice in our daily social contexts. Legalism is the study of law, in which law is interpreted to be the rules that provide society with its foundations of order and stability.
Lenin (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) (1870–1924) and Leninism
Authors: Engle Eric , Dean, Jodi , Coole Diana
Published: August 2023

Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, in provincial Russia in 1870. He would become the leader of the Bolsheviks, an architect of Russia's socialist revolution in October 1917, and chairman of the first Soviet government until shortly before his death in 1924. His principal legacies are the birth of the Soviet Union and the extension and development of Marxist theory. Not only did Lenin provide an analysis of imperialism that explored the connection between financial capital and imperial colonialism, but he also demonstrated the applicability of Marxist ideas to an economically backward country governed by an absolutist monarchy, constructed a new model of the political party, and worked to construct a socialist state under conditions bereft of a bourgeois liberal‐capitalist transitional period.
Locke, Alain (1885–1954)
Authors: Smith Michelle
Published: August 2023

Black educator, philosopher, social theorist, art critic. A graduate of the Philadelphia Normal School and Harvard University, Locke was the first black Rhodes Scholar (1907). He studied value theory and Georg Simmel's sociological theory at the University of Berlin (1910) and earned a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University (1917) under the tutelage of Ralph Barton Perry.
Locke, John (1632–1704)
Authors: Zuckert Michael
Published: August 2023

John Locke is known to history as the founder of empiricism in philosophical epistemology, of a form of rational Christianity in theology, and of the liberal tradition in political thought; also as the author of the most compelling case for religious toleration. His achievements thus extend beyond the political sphere; but that will perforce be the main focus of our concern here. His work remains influential today, as is manifest in the revival of political philosophy in Lockean style in the late twentieth century by thinkers like John Rawls and Robert Nozick.
Machtpolitik
Authors: Ganguly Keya
Published: August 2023

Machtpolitikis a German loan word meaning “power politics.” The term refers to the assertion of right by might particularly in the actions of states.
Monarchy
Authors: Grigg Julianna
Published: August 2023

Monarchy as a system of government can be defined in multiple ways, but in common usage these are generally collapsed into one another. Fundamentally, it means a governmental system in which symbolic and/or executive authority resides in a single individual. But the selection of this individual for the office has long been a contested idea: it could be through dynastic control, through consanguine descent, through common acclamation, through military conquest, or even through less familiar mechanisms. In each case, the ideal behind monarchism remains the centralization of rule in one person, but as people are both fallible and mortal, the mechanisms of inheritance undermine the presumed legitimacy of the monarch.
Monopoly Capitalism
Authors: Badeen Dennis
Published: August 2023

AbstractUsed mainly by Marxist political economists, the term monopoly capitalism is both a concept and a historical notion applicable to the period in capitalist history ranging from the end of the nineteenth century and reaching fruition in the years following World War II. Monopoly capitalism can be defined by a set of economic conditions in which a few large corporations dominate the market. Monopoly capitalism results from and is often paired against competitive capitalism. The concept of economic surplus highlights what is specific to monopoly capitalism and its conditions.
Political Anthropology
Authors: Ford E. J.
Published: August 2023

Anthropology is the study of humankind in all times and places. Anthropologists are interested in the biology of humans as well as in their ideals and beliefs and in their languages and history. Though there are few human universals or traits that all humans share, all societies have organized themselves socially and politically.
Political Geography
Authors: Jones Andrew
Published: August 2023

With respect to wider political theory, the subdiscipline of political geography is significant in developing a range of spatial understandings of the sociopolitical world. The subdiscipline's roots are entwined with the emergence of modern geography during the nineteenth century. The establishment of geography through academic departments and national learned societies was closely related to European colonial exploration and imperialism, and political geography emerged as a distinctive field aligned with the strategic concerns of emerging (mainly European) nation‐states.
Recognition
Authors: Varga Somogy
Published: August 2023

In everyday language, the term “recognition” refers to an act of cognitive apprehension, as in being able to detect something (detecting mistakes) or to (re)identify entities (recognizing my car in a picture). In a philosophical context, however, “recognition” is not about cognitive apprehension, but it is “practical,” referring to the expressive acknowledgment and affirmation of someone's status, achievements, or rights. While the English word “recognition” conveys both the “cognitive” and “practical” sense, the German “(Wieder)erkennung” designates the “cognitive” sense, while the “practical” sense is expressed in the word “Anerkennung.”
Segregation
Authors: Anderson Elizabeth
Published: August 2023

Segregation refers to types of intergroup relations whereby one or more social groups close their social networks of affiliation, cooperation, communication, sharing, trust, and comity to counterpart groups. The social groups may be defined by socioeconomic status (such as income, wealth, or occupation), ascriptive identity (such as race, ethnicity, tribe, clan, caste, gender, religion, or language group), or legal status (such as being a citizen, convict, widow, or illegitimate child). Segregation is enforced by rules – laws, customs, or informal social norms – regulating the interactions of social group members with outsiders. It takes three characteristic forms. Rules of
affiliative
segregation forbid particular forms of intimacy such as intergroup marriage, sexual relations, friendship, recreation, and eating together. Rules of
spatial
segregation prescribe separate social spaces and facilities – such as schools, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, bathrooms, water fountains, prisons, parks, housing, neighborhoods, and transportation – for different social groups. Rules of
role
segregation sort members of different social groups into different social roles – especially, to different occupations.
Singer, Peter (1946–)
Authors: Skelton Anthony
Published: August 2023

Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia on July 6, 1946. He has degrees from the University of Melbourne and from Oxford University. He has taught at, among others, Monash University, Princeton University, and the University of Melbourne. His research is devoted primarily to moral philosophy and to practical ethics. His most significant works to date are
Animal Liberation
,
Practical Ethics
,
Rethinking Life and Death
, and
The Life You Can Save
. This work has pushed Singer into public life where he has waged a political campaign for social and moral reform. The
New Yorker
has dubbed him “The Dangerous Philosopher.”
Smith, Adam (1723–90)
Authors: Stimson Shannon C.
Published: August 2023

Adam Smith was born and baptized on June 5, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, the son of Adam Smith, Sr. and his wife, Margaret Douglas. He died on July 17, 1790, at Panmure House in Edinburgh and was buried there in Canongate churchyard. An individual who chose to live a private and socially retiring life – more than half of it with his mother and a cousin in the city of his birth – Smith sought with considerable success to protect his lasting reputation by having many of his private and unpublished papers and lectures burned “without any examination” at the time of death. Fortunately for posterity, some of Smith's essays on philosophical subjects escaped this conflagration and were published posthumously by his literary executors. A further two sets of notes on his lectures on jurisprudence and one set from his lectures on rhetoric andbelles lettreslater emerged in the form of student accounts and have been restored to scholars.
Sophocles (ca. 495/6–406 BCE)
Authors: Atkison Larissa
Published: August 2023

Born in Colonus just northwest of Athens ca. 496 bce, Sophocles’ contribution as one of Athens’ greatest playwrights, spanned one of the most innovative and dynamic periods in Athenian intellectual and political history. In 468 he won his first victory at the annual festival, City Dionysia, a competitive dramatic festival that drew over 15 000 pan‐Hellenic spectators. Of his approximately 123 dramas, Sophocles won first prize for an estimated 24, and never placed lower than second place in an annual competition, an unprecedented feat. Of his seven surviving plays only two can be reliably dated:Philoctetes, 409 andOedipus at Colonus, performed posthumously in 401. The other five, in order of composition, areAjax,Trachiniae, Antigone,Oedipus Tyrannus, and Electra,spanning roughly 449–411bce.
State of Nature
Authors: Boucher David
Published: August 2023

The idea of a primeval state of nature has persisted for over 2000 years. It is sometimes suggested that it is a real historical condition, as in John Locke (1632–1704) and to a lesser extent in Thomas Hobbes (1588–1670), or an imaginary construction useful for purposes of argument, as in Samuel von Pufendorf (1632–94) and Jean‐Jacques Rousseau (1712–78). The state of nature is a term that may plausibly be used to designate those residual attributes of human beings that remain once the secondary qualities, added as a result of civilization and enlightenment, are stripped away, leaving only the primary “natural” attributes. It is these primary, or natural, attributes that are contested, inviting the criticism that we get out of the state of nature only what we put in, that is, the assumptions generate the conclusions.
Tawney, Richard Henry (1880–1962)
Authors: Bird Colin
Published: August 2023

Both a scholar and an activist, R. H. Tawney was the most sophisticated Anglophone exponent of Christian socialism in the twentieth century. Before serving in World War I (he was almost killed at the Somme in 1916), Tawney devoted himself mainly to the cause of educational opportunities for working‐class communities, especially through the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), which he served as both teacher and administrator until 1948. From 1920 to 1949, he taught economic history at the London School of Economics. During the 1920s and 1930s he became a national political figure, with close ties to the Fabian Society and the British Labour Party. Tawney's wife Jeanette was the sister of his (Liberal) friend William Beveridge, the author of the Beveridge Report, a blueprint for the reforms introduced by the 1945 Labour government.
Taylor, Charles (1931–)
Authors: Abbey Ruth , Choi Naomi
Published: August 2023

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has been publishing prolifically across the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty‐first. His work spans many departments of philosophical inquiry and he has carved out distinctive positions in the areas of ontology (the philosophy of being); epistemology (the philosophy of knowledge); moral philosophy; philosophical anthropology (what it is to be human); hermeneutics (theories of meaning and interpretation); and the philosophy of language. Taylor writes in English, French, and German and his work continues to be translated into many languages.
Toleration
Authors: Galeotti Anna Elisabetta
Published: August 2023

Toleration is the attitude which allows for the peaceful coexistence of conflicting views and ways of life within the same society. A tolerant person leaves other people free to behave as they think best, though their behavior looks objectionable and could be checked by her. Thus, conflicting differences are the first circumstance for issues of toleration to arise: were there no difference there would be nothing to be tolerant about. Second, a tolerant person should have the power to repress or interfere with disliked differences, otherwise she merely acquiesces to them. Toleration properly consists in not exercising the power to interfere with disliked differences, for various kinds of reasons: prudential, epistemological, moral. Toleration, though, is valuable only within limits, beyond which it turns into culpable indulgence. Limits to toleration have been devised in the self‐defense of political order, and in considerations of harm to others.
Tolstoy, Leo (1828–1910)
Authors: Christoyannopoulos Alexandre
Published: August 2023

Tolstoy is one of the world's most esteemed authors of literature for his
War and Peace
(1869) and
Anna Karenina
(1877), but he is also a famous proponent of Christian pacifist and anarchist thought. Although this more controversial part of his legacy was a target for suppression during the Soviet era, his writings did influence M. Gandhi, numerous activists and intellectuals, as well as ordinary people in the wider pacifist movement.
Torture
Authors: Sanders Rebecca
Published: August 2023

Torture is the infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering on a victim. It includes acts of overt violence as well as less visible, stealth torments. Torture can serve numerous purposes including punishment, degradation, divining truth, demonstrating power, eliciting confessions, and obtaining information. Torture may result from the initiative of sadistic individuals, but can also be tolerated by organizational cultures, directed by bureaucratic institutions, and mandated by political and religious authorities.
Minutes matter: Time it takes to perform point‐of‐care ultrasound
Authors: Patrick David Peter , Bradley Xenia Gia , Wolek Caroline , Anderson Bowen , Grady James , Herbst Meghan Kelly
Published: August 2023

Background

While point‐of‐care ultrasound (PoCUS) is a safe, versatile tool that can improve patient care, the perceived time investment needed to incorporate PoCUS into clinical care is cited as a barrier to performance. We sought to determine the time it takes to perform a PoCUS examination and whether this time was influenced by training level and prior ultrasound experience.

Methods

This was a retrospective study looking at time stamps of all emergency medicine (EM) provider‐performed PoCUS examinations during clinical shifts from August 10, 2019, to June 7, 2022, at a suburban academic emergency department that is the site for a 3‐year EM residency. Our workflow is order‐based; when PoCUS is ordered, that patient's information populates the ultrasound machine worklist. Selecting the patient's name from the worklist generates a time‐stamped patient information page (PIP). We defined the PIP time stamp as the start of the PoCUS examination. The duration of one PoCUS examination was defined as the time of the last image acquired minus the time of the PIP. General estimating equations were used to estimate differences between training level and between prior scan status using an exchangeable correlation and Tukey adjusted pairwise comparisons. A two‐tailed chi‐square analysis was used for comparing accuracy according to training level.

Results

Of 4187 PoCUS examinations abstracted, 2144 met study criteria. The median (IQR) time spent per examination was 6.0 (3–9) min. First‐year residents took the longest to perform PoCUS among all providers (p < 0.0001). Residents with fewer than 250 prior scans took longer than residents with 501–800 (p = 0.0002) and >800 (p = 0.0013). Resident accuracy was not significantly different according to training level.

Conclusions

Overall median time to perform PoCUS was 6.0 min. EM residents became more efficient in performing PoCUS as they advanced from first‐ to third‐year, without compromising accuracy.
Evaluating the impacts of wide row upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production in Georgia
Authors: Lawton Caitlyn B. , Pokhrel Amrit , Lee Joshua M. , Chalise Devendra P. , Virk Gurpreet K. , Snider John L. , Roberts Phillip M. , Chee Peng W. , Hand Lavesta C.
Published: August 2023

Success stories of wide row cotton production have generated producer interest across the cotton belt. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of row spacing on (1) cotton growth and development and (2) lint yield and fiber quality in Georgia. The cotton cultivar Deltapine DP 1646 (Bollgard 2, XtendFlex; Bayer Crop Science) was planted in 2021 and 2022 in Tifton, GA, at row spacings of 91 cm, 122 cm, 152 cm, and 183 cm. Although canopy closure was delayed in wider row spacings compared to the 91‐cm spacing, all other crop growth and development trends did not differ among row spacings. Similarly, row spacing had no effect on the incidence of boll rot/hard lock. The 91‐cm row spacing yielded 1734 kg lint ha−1. The 183‐cm row spacing reduced yield by 15% compared with the grower's standard row spacing of 91 cm. Fiber quality parameters did not differ among row spacing treatments. Seed costs can be reduced in all wide row systems evaluated for cotton, and the 122 and 152‐cm row spacings had similar yields to the 91‐cm row spacing. However, Georgia growers produce peanuts (Arachis hypogea L.) and corn (Zea mays L.), the most common rotational crops for cotton producers, using a 91‐cm row spacing. Consequently, the simplest transition to wide row production would be the 183‐cm spacing, which incurred yield penalties in the current study. Thus, a 91‐cm row spacing is still the most feasible option for Georgia cotton producers.
Computational generation and characterization of IsdA‐binding aptamers with single‐molecule FRET analysis
Authors: Sabbih Godfred O. , Wijesinghe Kalani M. , Algama Chamika , Dhakal Soma , Danquah Michael K.
Published: August 2023

Staphylococcus aureus is a major foodborne bacterial pathogen. Early detection of S. aureus is crucial to prevent infections and ensure food quality. The iron‐regulated surface determinant protein A (IsdA) of S. aureus is a unique surface protein necessary for sourcing vital iron from host cells for the survival and colonization of the bacteria. The function, structure, and location of the IsdA protein make it an important protein for biosensing applications relating to the pathogen. Here, we report an in‐silico approach to develop and validate high‐affinity binding aptamers for the IsdA protein detection using custom‐designed in‐silico tools and single‐molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) measurements. We utilized in‐silico oligonucleotide screening methods and metadynamics‐based methods to generate 10 aptamer candidates and characterized them based on the Dissociation Free Energy (DFE) of the IsdA‐aptamer complexes. Three of the aptamer candidates were shortlisted for smFRET experimental analysis of binding properties. Limits of detection in the low picomolar range were observed for the aptamers, and the results correlated well with the DFE calculations, indicating the potential of the in‐silico approach to support aptamer discovery.

This study showcases a computational SELEX method in combination with single‐molecule binding studies deciphering effective aptamers against S. aureus IsdA, protein. The established approach demonstrates the ability to expedite aptamer discovery that has the potential to cut costs and predict binding efficacy. The application can be extended to designing aptamers for various protein targets, enhancing molecular recognition, and facilitating the development of high‐affinity aptamers for multiple uses.
Blatter Diradicals with a Spin Coupler at the N(1) Position
Authors: Pomikło Dominika , Kaszyński Piotr
Published: August 2023

Reactions of a benzo[e][1,2,4]triazine with dilithiobenzenes lead to di‐Blatter diradicals connected at the N(1) positions via a spin coupling unit, 1,4‐phenylene or 1,3‐phenylene. Electrochemical analysis in MeCN revealed four one‐electron redox processes separated by 0.1–0.3 V in both diradicals. Variable temperature EPR measurements in polystyrene (PS) solid solutions gave the singlet‐triplet energy gaps ΔES‐T=2 J of −3.02(11) and −0.16(1) kcal mol−1 for 1,4‐phenylene and 1,3‐phenylene derivatives, respectively. The latter negative value was attributed to conformational properties of the diradical in the PS solid solution. Results suggest a simple and efficient access to a family of stable Blatter diradicals with a controllable S−T gap through a judicious choice of the arylene coupling unit. DFT calculations indicate that the triplet state is stabilized by (het)arylenes with low LUMO.
Trace Elements and Consequent Ecological Risks in Mining-Influenced Streams of Appalachia
Authors: Clark Elyse V. , Soucek David J. , Schoenholtz Stephen H. , Whitmore Keridwen M. , Zipper Carl E.
Published: August 2023

Appalachian (eastern USA) coal surface mines fracture geologic materials, causing release of both major ions and trace elements to water via accelerated weathering. When elevated above natural background, trace elements in streams may produce adverse effects on biota via direct exposure from water and sediment and via dietary exposure in food sources. Other studies have found elevated water concentrations of multiple trace elements in Appalachia's mining-influenced streams. Except for Se, trace-element concentrations in abiotic and biotic media of Appalachian mining-influenced streams are less well known. We analyzed environmental media of headwater streams receiving alkaline waters from Appalachian coal mines for eight trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Sr, V, and Zn) and assessed the potential consequent ecological risks. Streamwater, particulate media (sediment, biofilm, leaf detritus), and benthic macroinvertebrates (primary consumers, secondary consumers, crayfish) were sampled from six mining-influenced and three reference streams during low-flow conditions in two seasons. Dissolved Cu, Ni, and Sr were higher in mining-influenced streams than in reference streams; Ni, Sr, and Zn in fine sediments and Ni in macroinvertebrates were also elevated relative to reference-stream levels in samples from mining-influenced streams. Seasonal ratios of mining-influenced stream concentrations to maximum concentrations in reference streams also demonstrated mining-influenced increases for several elements in multiple media. In most media, concentrations of several elements including Ni were correlated positively. All water-column dissolved concentrations were below protective levels, but fine-sediment concentrations of Ni approached or exceeded threshold-effect concentrations in several streams. Further study is warranted for several elements (Cd, Ni, and Zn in biofilms, and V in macroinvertebrates) that approached or exceeded previously established dietary-risk levels. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:2651–2665. © 2023 SETAC.
Development of hepatocellular adenomas in a patient with glycogen storage disease Ia treated with growth hormone therapy
Authors: Jackson David G. , Koch Rebecca L. , Pendyal Surekha , Benjamin Robert , Kishnani Priya S.
Published: August 2023

Glycogen storage disease Ia (GSD Ia), also known as von Gierke disease, is caused by pathogenic variants in the G6PC1 gene (OMIM 232200) which encodes glucose‐6‐phosphatase. Deficiency of glucose‐6‐phosphatase impairs the processes of gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis by preventing conversion of glucose‐6‐phosphate to glucose. Clinical features include fasting hypoglycemia, lactic acidosis, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperuricemia, hepatomegaly, and development of hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs) with potential for malignant transformation. Additionally, patients with GSD Ia often exhibit short stature, in some instances due to growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Patients with short stature caused by GH deficiency typically receive GH injections. Here, we review the literature and describe a female with GSD Ia who had short stature, failure of growth progression, and suspected GH deficiency. This patient received GH injections from ages 11 to 14 years under careful monitoring of an endocrinologist and developed HCAs during that time. To date, there is no reported long‐term follow up data on patients with GSD Ia who have received GH therapy, and therefore the clinical outcomes post‐GH therapy are unclear.
Phenotypic and genetic characteristics of 24 cases of early infantile epileptic encephalopathy in East China, including a rare case of biallelic UGDH mutations
Authors: Jiang Liangliang , Bi Shaohua , Lin Li , He Fan , Deng Fang
Published: August 2023

Background

Early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE) is a group of highly heterogeneous diseases, both phenotypically and genetically. Usually, it starts early on and manifests as intractable epilepsy, abnormal electroencephalogram, and growth retardation/intellectual impairment. With the advent of next‐generation sequencing (NGS), its genetic etiology has attracted increasing clinical attention. This study aimed to investigate the genetic characteristics and clinical phenotypes of patients with EIEE from a central hospital in Eastern China.

Methods

This study retrospectively included the gene variants from 24 EIEE‐positive patients admitted between January 2021 and January 2022 to a hospital in Anhui Province, China. The genetic diagnosis was performed in all cases by trio‐based whole‐exome sequencing (WES). Additionally, Video electroencephalogram (VEEG) and neuroimaging examinations were performed.

Results

A total of 24 children were included. The average age at the first seizure was approximately 5 months. About 42% of children had developmental retardation of varying degrees, 43% had brain structural abnormalities, and 64% had VEEG abnormalities. In addition, other phenotypes, including endocrine metabolism and cardiac structural abnormalities, have been independently reported. In total, fifteen pathogenic gene variants were identified in 24 patients. The main pathogenic genes identified were SCN1A (25%, 6/24), KCNQ2 (8.3%, 2/24), and TBC1D24 (8.3%, 2/24). We also found an extremely rare case of EIEE84 type caused by biallelic UGDH gene variants, predicting that this variant might affect the stability of the protein structure.

Conclusions

SCN1A pathogenic variants are the main factor leading to EIEE, similar to previously published cohort reports. NGS is useful for accurate clinical diagnoses and precise treatment choices. We also reported a rare case of EIEE84 caused by variants in the UGDH gene in a Chinese patient. This study further enriches the known spectrum of pathogenic EIEE genes.
Quantification of T1 and T2 of subarachnoid CSF: Implications for water exchange between CSF and brain tissues
Authors: Jiang Dengrong , Gou Yifan , Wei Zhiliang , Hou Xirui , Yedavalli Vivek , Lu Hanzhang
Published: August 2023

Purpose

To quantify the T1 and T2 values of CSF in the subarachnoid space (SAS) at 3 T and interpret them in the context of water exchange between CSF and brain tissues.

Methods

CSF T1 was measured using inversion recovery, and CSF T2 was assessed using T2‐preparation. T1 and T2 values in the SAS were compared with those in the frontal horns of lateral ventricles, which have less brain‐CSF exchange. Phantom experiments were performed to examine whether there were spatial variations in T1 and T2 that were unrelated to brain‐CSF exchange. Simulations were conducted to investigate the relationship between the brain‐CSF exchange rate and the apparent T1 and T2 values of SAS CSF.

Results

The CSF T1 and T2 values were 4308.7 ± 146.9 ms and 1885.5 ± 67.9 ms, respectively, in the SAS and were 4454.0 ± 187.9 ms and 2372.9 ± 72.0 ms in the frontal horns. The SAS CSF had shorter T1 (p = 0.006) and T2 (p < 0.0001) than CSF in the frontal horns. Phantom experiments showed negligible (< 6 ms for T1; < 1 ms for T2) spatial variations in T1 and T2, suggesting that the T1 and T2 differences between SAS and frontal horns were largely attributed to physiological reasons. Simulations revealed that faster brain‐CSF exchange rates lead to shorter apparent T1 and T2 of SAS CSF. However, the experimentally observed T2 difference between SAS and frontal horns was greater than that attributable to typical exchange effect, suggesting that the T2 shortening in SAS may reflect a combined effect of exchange and deoxyhemoglobin susceptibility.

Conclusion

Quantification of SAS CSF relaxation times may be useful to assess the brain‐CSF exchange.