bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emergency Planning and Disaster Management
Authors: Keays Richard
Published: March 2024

Summary

Since the late 1940s, preparedness for disasters has been spurred by the economic and human losses that the world could ill afford after two world wars. Military planning became part of the civil experience. Ways of thinking about the disaster management cycle have evolved and are broadly adopted internationally. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction aims to coordinate disaster management strategies and ensure synergies with local agencies. The concept of planning for emergency situations is embedded in the institutional thinking of most aspects of our lives, from sporting events to transport systems, etc. Hazards are either natural or anthropogenic—the majority are the former, but the latter are equally unexpected. This chapter seeks to highlight how disaster planning is broken down, the parts of the management cycle, and examples of where there were challenges. This should offer considerations in regard to organisation of Critical care in these situations, whilst not being the specific focus.
High-flow Nasal Oxygen Therapy
Authors: Longhini Federico , Navalesi Paolo , Ippolito Mariachiara , Gregoretti Cesare
Published: March 2024

Summary

Oxygen therapy and non-invasive ventilation are first-line treatments for hypoxaemic and hypercapnic acute respiratory failure (ARF), respectively. High-flow oxygen through nasal cannula (HFNC) may represent an alternative treatment. By providing humidified and heated air–oxygen admixture at high flow, HFNC ensures a pharyngeal dead space washout, decreases airway resistance, generates a positive end-expiratory pressure, and enhances the delivery of oxygen. The emerging evidence suggests that HFNC is effective in patients with hypoxaemic and hypoxaemic–hypercapnic ARF, after extubation during the weaning process, after surgery, and possibly immediately prior to intubation. In this chapter, we discuss the use of HFNC in these settings, following discussion of its potential advantageous mechanisms.
Medical Gases and Humidification
Authors: Ball Lorenzo , Tasso Francesco , Vercesi Veronica , Tixi Marco , Firpo Iacopo , Pelosi Paolo
Published: March 2024

Summary

This chapter illustrates the role of medical gases and gas conditioning in the treatment of patients requiring different degrees of respiratory support. Indications for use of medical gases including oxygen, nitric oxide, and helium are discussed. Oxygen has specific indications and toxicity. Thus, hypoxia and hyperoxia should both be avoided for better patient outcomes. Inhaled nitric oxide modifies ventilation perfusion matching and can improve oxygenation in hypoxaemic respiratory failure. Gas conditioning is the process through which inspiratory gases are heated and humidified before being delivered to the patient’s airways. Active and passive devices are available for use during both invasive and non-invasive ventilation, and their use is also mandatory during brief periods of mechanical ventilation.
Monitoring Airway Inflammation and Infection
Authors: Rostron Anthony , Hellyer Thomas , John Simpson A
Published: March 2024

Summary

Lung inflammation is a major cause of respiratory failure. Although infection is a common precipitant of inflammation, it is far from the only cause. Distinguishing sterile from infective inflammation is a challenge. This chapter discusses the approaches to sampling the lungs directly for microbiological and host response assessment. It also examines the role of clinical examination and testing of the systemic and pulmonary compartments in monitoring lung inflammation.
Monitoring Lung-protective Ventilation
Authors: Formenti Paolo , Marini John J
Published: March 2024

Summary

Lung-protective ventilation strategies have been developed to reduce ventilator-associated lung tissue injury and simultaneously improve systemic oxygenation. We now know that mechanical ventilation per se can aggravate lung injury, a process referred to as ‘ventilator-induced lung injury’ (VILI), through several mechanisms, including volutrauma, barotrauma, and biotrauma. Lung-protective ventilation regulates positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), maintains a greater number of pulmonary alveoli in an open state, and avoids excessive end-expiratory lung volume and mechanical power while maintaining an adequate tidal volume and minute ventilation. Moreover, in preventing the collapse of open pulmonary alveoli, PEEP not only helps maintain production and function of pulmonary surfactants but also reduces the shear stress. Current research suggests that reduction of ventilator-associated lung injury or VILI is a main avenue for further reducing mortality in this syndrome. In this chapter, we offer a review of the current literature regarding the use of transpulmonary pressure (Ptp), driving pressure, mechanical power, and stress index in reducing the risk of VILI.
Monitoring Respiratory Muscle Function
Authors: Garfield Benjamin , Patel Sunil
Published: March 2024

Summary

Respiratory muscle wasting is an important complication of critical illness. A number of modalities allow monitoring of respiratory muscle function in the critical care unit. Ventilators can produce pressure and surrogate physiological monitoring data that can be used to determine the strength of the respiratory system in a patient who is spontaneously breathing. More detailed assessment of diaphragmatic pressure generation can be undertaken through measurements of oesophageal and gastric pressures by insertion of a specialized nasogastric tube. The addition of phrenic nerve stimulation can be used to avoid the need for voluntary effort in these assessments. Measures of respiratory muscle energy usage and work of breathing add important information about the (un)loading of the respiratory muscles, whilst electromyography and imaging also provide multi-modal approaches to determining function as well as structure. Due to the invasive nature of many of these tests, the variability inherent to their measurement, and the lack of data on clinical outcomes, the development of clinical utility for such monitoring is in its infancy. However, as we improve our abilities to protect the lungs during mechanical ventilation, muscle dysfunction and its measurement are likely to become ever more important determinants of outcomes for those ventilated on critical care units.
Nutrition
Authors: Bear Danielle E , Puthucheary Zudin
Published: March 2024

Summary

The provision of nutrition during critical illness is an essential component of care, providing therapeutic benefit. However, questions surrounding the optimal energy and protein intake remain controversial and are likely dependent on the individual patient characteristics such as severity of illness and co-morbidities. The timing, type of delivery route, and the impact that different formulations have on patient related outcomes like muscle wasting, functional outcomes as well as survival, will be discussed. Common challenges such as delayed gastric emptying will be addressed, and trial based evidence shall be presented for interpretation. This chapter describes the current recommendations for best practice and suggests topics for future research.
Physiotherapy
Authors: Connolly Bronwen , Twose Paul
Published: March 2024

Summary

Physiotherapy in the intensive care unit integrates both respiratory treatments and physical rehabilitation in the management of critically ill patients depending on individual patient assessment and clinical need. Respiratory techniques aim to enhance airway secretion clearance, optimize lung volume and improve oxygenation, reduce airway resistance and work of breathing, and minimize respiratory complications. Physical rehabilitation strategies target the effects of intensive-care-unit-acquired weakness and resulting physical and functional disability. Combining respiratory and physical rehabilitation skillsets, physiotherapists actively contribute to ventilator and tracheostomy weaning as well as holistic rehabilitation programmes for critically ill patients. Aspects of both respiratory and rehabilitation practice require further investigation to inform the evidence base.
Mycobacterial Infections
Authors: Orton Christopher , Jarvis Hannah , Kon Onn Min
Published: March 2024

Summary

Admission of active tuberculosis cases to critical care is rare but associated with a high mortality rate. Diagnostic approaches combining radiology and microbiological aspects allow for rapid commencement of appropriate treatment. Polymerase chain reaction based rapid diagnostics improve diagnostic accuracy and ability to quickly identify resistance patterns. Standard treatment choices and route of administration may need to be modified given uncertain enteral absorption and concerns over drug interactions and drug resistance. Infection control measures continue to be important in a critical care setting for the safety of staff and other patients.
Asthma
Authors: Ricci Mara , Iovino Giovanni Carmine , Mincione Lucrezia , Dell’atti Ivan , Maggiore Salvatore Maurizio
Published: March 2024

Summary

Asthma is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome characterized by recurring episodes of reversible airflow obstruction due to bronchial hyper-reactivity in susceptible subjects. It is the commonest chronic respiratory diseases worldwide, and severe exacerbations frequently require intensive care unit (ICU) care and mechanical ventilation. Exacerbations of asthma lead to impaired alveolar gas exchange and dynamic hyperinflation of the lungs, which if left untreated can rapidly become life threatening. The keys to management of asthma in ICU are medical therapy aimed to reducing airway inflammation and bronchoconstriction, and preservation of safe gas exchange including the use of mechanical ventilation. Asthma requires careful attention to ventilator settings and monitoring to avoid worsening dynamic hyperinflation. The role of non-invasive ventilation, high-flow nasal oxygen, and heliox remain uncertain and are discussed in this chapter.
Thromboembolic Disease
Authors: Patterson Caroline , Bell Derek
Published: March 2024

Summary

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), both deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PE), represent a significant and often under-recognized threat to the critically ill patient. Critically ill patients’ risk of VTE is influenced by their underlying co-morbidities, the pro-thrombotic effects of the acute illness, and the effects of organ support measures including immobility, sedation, and venous catheter placement. DVT can be readily diagnosed by bedside compression ultrasound, while PE is ideally diagnosed by computed tomography. Bedside echocardiography is insensitive for PE but may help risk stratification or identification of potential massive PE in the context of cardiovascular collapse. High-risk PE, defined by haemodynamic instability, should be managed with systemic thrombolysis and anticoagulation. In intermediate- and low-risk PE, the risk of bleeding outweighs any benefit from thrombolysis, and these patients should be managed with anticoagulation alone. Thromboprophylaxis is important in critically ill patients and needs careful management in the context of acute illness and renal failure.
The Haematological Patient
Authors: Parry-Jones Nilima , Parry-Jones Jack , Wise Matthew P
Published: March 2024

Summary

Haematological patients are at increased risk of critical illness, arising from both infectious and non-infectious insults. Admission should follow discussion between senior haematology and critical care physicians, with consideration of a ‘trial of intensive care’ where there is uncertainty as to whether a patient will benefit from organ support. Outcomes for haematology patients are improving due to better patient selection and advances in patient management, including novel therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Survival depends more upon reversible aetiology of the critical illness rather than the underlying haematological diagnosis. Good communication, understanding, and realistic discussions regarding outcomes between the haematologist, patient, patient’s family, and critical care physician are crucial.
Sickle-cell Disease
Authors: Fartoukh Muriel , Voiriot Guillaume , Gibelin Aude , Lopinto Julien , Mekontso-Dessap Armand
Published: March 2024

Summary

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is a pleiotropic genetic disorder caused by a mutation of haemoglobin. Haemolysis and vaso-occlusive phenomena account for both acute and chronic clinical manifestations of the disease that are related to the polymerization of deoxygenated haemoglobin S within the red blood cells and to their subsequent sickling. Associated cellular changes are implicated within a complex network contributing to a multisystem vascular disease. Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is the major critical acute complication, accounting for 70% of the admissions to the intensive care unit, and is the primary cause of death in adult patients. It is characterized by the combination of chest pain, fever, leucocytosis, and new radiological infiltrates, and usually develops in 10%–20% hospitalized patients with vaso-occlusive crisis, after 2.5 days of hospitalization. It may result from several causes (lower respiratory tract infection, fatty embolism, and pulmonary infarction) that lead to regional alveolar hypoventilation and haemoglobin S polymerization. The therapeutic management of ACS includes pain relief and respiratory support and simple or exchange transfusions. Invasive mechanical ventilation is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Clinical trials are needed for the management and the monitoring of individuals with SCD to improve their survival and quality of life.
Obesity
Authors: Jong Audrey de , Jaber Samir
Published: March 2024

Summary

Obese patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) are at risk of pulmonary complications, mainly because of their predisposition to atelectasis. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has proven its safety and efficacy to treat and/or prevent acute respiratory failure. Use of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen (HFNC) allows warm, humidified oxygen to be administered and provides a moderate level of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Mask ventilation and intubation are more difficult in obese than in non-obese patients. Then, a protocol of difficult airway management should be applied, using difficult airway devices such as videolaryngoscopes, to prevent complications related to intubation (severe hypoxaemia, arterial hypotension, and cardiac arrest). Preoxygenation optimization in a semi-sitting position using positive-pressure ventilation (continuous positive airway pressure or NIV) may be helpful. Apnoeic oxygenation using HFNC may be considered in obese patients with the aim of preventing desaturation. After securing the airway, a lung-protective ventilation, using low tidal volume (TV), moderate-to-high PEEP, and recruitment manoeuvres should be applied to avoid both baro-volutrauma and atelecto-biotrauma. TV should be set according to ideal body weight (IBW) and not actual body weight as the height of the lung is correlated with the height of the patient. The optimal TV recommended is between 6 and 8 mL/kg IBW. In case of acute respiratory distress syndrome, prone positioning can be used safely, facilitating improvements in oxygenation and respiratory mechanics. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome and obstructive-apnoea syndrome should be sought, and treated, including the use of positive airway pressure at home. These measures can prevent or reduce obesity-associated pulmonary complications.
Pneumothorax and Air Leaks
Authors: Rocca Giorgio Della , Vetrugno Luigi
Published: March 2024

Summary

Pneumothorax in critically ill patients is a potentially life-threatening condition requiring prompt recognition and management. It occurs most commonly in the context of thoracic trauma or following an invasive procedure, such as mechanical ventilation, central venous catheterization, or thoracentesis. Over the past years, due to the introduction of lung-protective ventilation strategies and the extensive use of ultrasound for central venous catheterization, the incidence of pneumothorax appears to be declining. Pneumothorax can present itself with or without the classic symptoms, which are acute thoracic pain, shortness of breath, tachypnoea, tachycardia, and hypoxia. Additional clinical signs include reduction in lung expansion, diminished breath sounds, and cyanosis. However, these symptoms and signs may be concealed in the context of critically ill, sedated patients. Moreover, occult pneumothorax cannot be recognized by means of a supine chest X-ray, but instead requires thoracic computed tomography or lung ultrasound scanning for diagnosis. To date, no specific guidelines have been published for the treatment of traumatic and iatrogenic pneumothorax in the intensive care setting; however, a consensus exists among experts that the volume of pneumothorax should constitute a determining factor in the decision of whether to insert a chest tube or whether conservative treatment is more appropriate.
The Obstetric Patient
Authors: Crozier Timothy
Published: March 2024

Summary

Critical illness in the obstetric patient (pregnant or within 6 weeks of delivery) requiring intensive care unit admission is uncommon. Respiratory failure/severe respiratory illness may occur secondary to a variety of insults, some of which are unique to pregnancy. Physiological changes that occur in pregnancy and the postpartum period may confound interpretation of vital signs and investigations, in addition to having important implications for interventions such as intubation and ventilation and maternal positioning. Deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis must be undertaken. The presence of a ‘second patient’ in the form of the unborn foetus poses additional challenges in this population. Medication prescription and radiological investigations should be carefully evaluated in terms of risk/benefit for both mother and child, and physiological target setting should consider implications for utero-placental flow and foetal well-being. There is minimal high-quality evidence available to guide practice in the critically ill obstetric population, and specific management is usually extrapolated from the non-pregnant population and modified. A multi-disciplinary team with early and close involvement of an obstetrician is vital for the management of these women. In pregnancies of a viable gestation, consideration of obstetric delivery should be planned for although evidence to guide decision-making is lacking.
Principles of infectious disease control
Authors: Kim-Farley Robert J.
Published: March 2024

Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of morbidity, disability, and mortality worldwide. Lower respiratory infections are the fourth leading causes of death worldwide and their control is a constant challenge that faces health workers and public health officials in both industrialized and developing countries. This chapter provides a global and comprehensive view of the principles of infectious disease control through examination of the magnitude of disease burden, the chain of infection (agent, transmission, and host) of infectious diseases, the varied approaches to their prevention and control (measures applied to the host, vectors, infected humans, animals, environment, and agents), and the factors conducive to their eradication as well as emergence and re-emergence.
History and examination
Authors: Wilkinson Ian B. , Raine Tim , Wiles Kate , Hateley Peter , Kelly Dearbhla , McGurgan Iain
Published: March 2024

This chapter discusses taking a history and examination of a patient. It includes systemic enquiry, non-specific symptoms, physical examination, non-specific signs, cardiovascular system, pulses, jugular venous pressure, heart sounds, cardiac murmurs, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, abdomen, neurological system, mental health examination cranial nerves, musculoskeletal examination, peripheral vascular system, genitourinary system, breast, thyroid, higher mental function, and method and order for a routine examination.
Gastroenterology
Authors: Wilkinson Ian B. , Raine Tim , Wiles Kate , Hateley Peter , Kelly Dearbhla , McGurgan Iain
Published: March 2024

This chapter explores gastroenterology, including healthy eating, the mouth, endoscopy and biopsy, dysphagia, nausea and vomiting, dyspepsia and peptic ulcer disease, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, diarrhoea, constipation, ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease, gastrointestinal malabsorption, Coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic pancreatitis, carcinoma of the pancreas, jaundice, liver failure, cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, alcohol misuse, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Wilson’s disease/hepatolenticular degeneration, liver tumours, hereditary haemochromatosis (HH), and a1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency.
Rheumatology
Authors: Wilkinson Ian B. , Raine Tim , Wiles Kate , Hateley Peter , Kelly Dearbhla , McGurgan Iain
Published: March 2024

This chapter explores rheumatology, including rheumatological history, assessing the locomotor system, rheumatological investigations, back pain, osteoarthritis (OA), septic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), gout, calcium pyrophosphate deposition, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), enteropathic, psoriatic, and reactive arthritis, systemic sclerosis, mixed connective tissue disease, relapsing polychondritis, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), giant cell arteritis, polyarteritis nodosa, microscopic polyangiitis, polymyalgia rheumatica, fibromyalgia, ocular manifestations, dermatological manifestations, acute SLE, acute systemic vasculitis, acute cord compression, GCA, methotrexate-induced pneumonitis, neutropenic sepsis, scleroderma: pulmonary hypertensive or renal crisis, and septic arthritis.
Reference intervals, etc.
Authors: Wilkinson Ian B. , Raine Tim , Wiles Kate , Hateley Peter , Kelly Dearbhla , McGurgan Iain
Published: March 2024

This chapter explores reference intervals, including distributions in medicine, biochemistry reference intervals, haematology reference intervals, urine reference intervals, therapeutic drug monitoring, and important drug interactions.
Heritable human genome editing: correction, selection and treatment
Authors: Scott Rosamund
Published: March 2024

Heritable human genome editing (HHGE) to correct a nuclear gene sequence that would result in a serious genetic condition in a future child is presented as ‘treatment’ in various ethics and policy materials, and as morally preferable to the ‘selection’ practice of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), which is subject to the disability critique. However, whether HHGE is ‘treatment’ for a future child, or another form of ‘selection’, or whether HHGE instead ‘treats’ prospective parents, are now central questions in the debate regarding its possible legalisation. This article argues that the idea of ‘treatment’ for a future child is largely a proxy for ‘seriousness of purpose’, intended to distinguish HHGE to avoid serious genetic conditions from less obviously justifiable uses; that HHGE is best understood, and morally justified, as a form of ‘treatment’ for prospective parents who strongly desire an unaffected genetically related child and who have no, or poor, options to achieve this; that HHGE would be morally permissible if consistent with that child’s welfare; that legalisation is supportable with reference to the right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights; and that HHGE is morally distinguishable from PGT.
Intelligent gold nanocluster for effective treatment of malignant tumor via tumor-specific photothermal–chemodynamic therapy with AIE guidance
Authors: Liu Feng , Yang Tianfeng , Chang Xiaowei , Chen Li , Cheng Cheng , Peng Xiuhong , Liu Haihu , Zhang Yanmin , Chen Xin
Published: March 2024

Precise and efficient therapy of malignant tumors is always a challenge. Herein, gold nanoclusters co-modified by aggregation-induced-emission (AIE) molecules, copper ion chelator (acylthiourea) and tumor-targeting agent (folic acid) were fabricated to perform AIE-guided and tumor-specific synergistic therapy with great spatio-temporal controllability for the targeted elimination and metastasis inhibition of malignant tumors. During therapy, the functional gold nanoclusters (AuNTF) would rapidly accumulate in the tumor tissue due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect as well as folic acid-mediated tumor targeting, which was followed by endocytosis by tumor cells. After that, the overexpressed copper ions in the tumor cells would trigger the aggregation of these intracellular AuNTF via a chelation process that not only generated the photothermal agent in situ to perform the tumor-specific photothermal therapy damaging the primary tumor, but also led to the copper deficiency of tumor cells to inhibit its metastasis. Moreover, the copper ions were reduced to cuprous ions along with the chelation, which further catalysed the excess H2O2 in the tumor cells to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, resulting in additional chemodynamic therapy for enhanced antitumor efficiency. The aggregation of AuNTF also activated the AIE molecules to present fluorescence, which not only imaged the therapeutic area for real-time monitoring of this tumor-specific synergistic therapy, but also allowed us to perform near-infrared radiation at the correct time point and location to achieve optimal photothermal therapy. Both in vitro and in vivo results revealed the strong tumor elimination, effective metastasis inhibition and high survival rate of tumor-bearing mice after treatment using the AuNTF nanoclusters, indicating that this AIE-guided and tumor-specific synergistic strategy could offer a promising approach for tumor therapy.
Deconstructing Victory
Authors: Davies Sara E. , True Jacqui
Published: March 2024

This chapter examines the case of Sri Lanka and the patterns of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from 1998 to 2016. It analyzes SGBV reports in the period overlapping with the nation’s civil war (1983–2009) between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and in the postconflict period subsequent to the war’s end. The chapter finds that despite postconflict status, the reporting conditions for SGBV were still influenced by the political context and prevailing narratives of the conflict reflecting the clear Sinhalese victory over the Tamil minority. Victor’s justice did not end the violence, though, and SGBV reporting has faced intense politicization during the postwar years. The chapter considers the current narrative about conflict-related SGBV in Sri Lanka, and drawing on primary data, suggests that both parties to the conflict employed SGBV and much of this violence was not reported or able to be reported.
Definitions
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

This chapter defines four of the most frequently used terms in federal Indian law: Indian, Indian tribe, Indian country, and Indian title. It discusses who is an Indian, how a group becomes a federally recognized Indian tribe, what territory is Indian country, and how a tribe acquires Indian title to land. There is no single or universally accepted definition for any of these important terms. Many disputes have arisen, for instance, over who is an “Indian” and which group is an “Indian tribe.” Similarly, many lawsuits have been filed to determine whether an area of land is or is not “Indian country.” This chapter explains how each of these terms is used and the disputes surrounding them.
The Trust Responsibility
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently acknowledged the existence of “a general trust relationship between the United States and the Indian people.” As a result of that relationship, the federal government has moral and legal obligations to protect and support Indian tribes and their members and to promote tribal sovereignty. Congress has created more than fifty programs for Indians and tribes during the past fifty years, designed to help fulfill the government’s trust obligations. The trust doctrine is a motivating force. Federal officials, however, have often ignored their trust duties and, moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court, especially in recent years, has construed the trust doctrine narrowly. This chapter discusses the importance of honoring the government’s trust duties.
Civil Jurisdiction in Indian Country
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

Every government has two broad powers: criminal jurisdiction and civil jurisdiction. A government exercises its criminal jurisdiction when it prohibits certain conduct and punishes those who engage in that conduct. All other governmental regulation is an exercise of civil jurisdiction. Most domestic matters, such as marriage, divorce, child custody, and adoption, and most property matters, such as taxation, land use, inheritance, and the sale of goods and services are regulated through a government’s civil jurisdiction. This chapter discusses which civil jurisdiction tribes, states, and the federal government have over Indians and non-Indians in Indian country.
Taxation
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

Operating a government is expensive. Taxation is one method governments rely on to raise the money they need to operate. People on Indian reservations, therefore, may find themselves being taxed by three governments: federal, state, and tribal. State governments, for instance, constantly try to impose their taxes on Indians and non-Indians in Indian country. Many tribes, too, have begun taxing people on, and activities occurring within, Indian country. Many courts have wrestled with these issues. This chapter explains which taxes may validly be imposed by the federal, state, and tribal governments in Indian country.
The Indian Civil Rights Act
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

Congress passed the Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA) in 1968. The ICRA does two things that no other law does. First, it confers federal rights on all persons subject to the jurisdiction of a tribal government. Second, it authorizes federal courts to enforce those rights in certain contexts. Thus, the ICRA permits federal judges to overrule decisions made by tribal officials in the administration of the tribal government. This is an encroachment on tribal sovereignty that many tribal members deeply resent, whereas other tribal members believe that these rights are necessary safeguards to protect them from tribal officials who abuse their authority. This chapter discusses why the ICRA was passed and what it does.
Judicial Review
Authors: Pevar Stephen L.
Published: March 2024

This chapter explains the types of lawsuits that can be filed by Indians and tribes seeking to protect and enforce their rights. Different remedies exist depending on whether the government violating the rights at issue is the tribe, the state, or the federal government. This chapter discusses when, where, and how to file suit to enforce your rights and what defenses the government may assert against any such lawsuit. It also explains the fact that, due to certain defenses a government has, some rights cannot be enforced in the courts. The single most effective defense that all three governments have is sovereign immunity: the general right not to be sued unless the government has consented to be sued. But sovereign immunity is not absolute, and this chapter explains when and where it applies.
Introduction
Authors: Anderson Glaire D.
Published: March 2024

The Introduction introduces ʿAbbās Ibn Firnās as a medieval polymath. It contrasts the way he is remembered today, as an early scientist and aviator, with the way he was remembered in the medieval period. It discusses the representations of Ibn Firnās as aviator in visual arts and popular culture from the birth of the modern aerial age at the turn of the century to the present day. It then sets out the main issue of the book, art and science, or craft and intellect, and the relevance of the issue to art historical issues. Studying Ibn Firnās reveals a medieval Islamic culture of craft and intellect that was fully established by the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century, and that may have shaped the arts of Renaissance and early modern Europe.
Entering the Psalms
Authors: Bodner Keith
Published: March 2024

The opening chapter outlines an approach for studying the Psalms that includes a discussion of the Psalms in their historical context, an overview of what is distinctive about the Psalms as a work of literature (including an introduction to biblical poetry and an explanation of parallelism as a foundational poetic feature in the Psalms, alongside other formal features such as metaphor, wordplay, irony, modulations in point of view, deliberate ambiguity, acrostic structures, temporal compression, and allusion), and a theological appreciation for the Psalms. There is discussion about distinctive beliefs held by ancient Israelites that contemporary readers may be unaware of and some of their basic assumptions about God and humanity that are useful to know when considering the Psalms.
Psalm Titles and Collections
Authors: Bodner Keith
Published: March 2024

Within the book of Psalms are a number of smaller groupings or sub-collections, such as the Korah psalms (42–49), the psalms of Asaph (73–83), and the so-called Egyptian Passover psalms (113–118). The majority of attention in this chapter, however, is devoted to two significant collections. The “songs of ascent” (Psalms 120–134) are a collection often thought to have originated as pilgrimage music, performed every year by travelers on their way to worship in Jerusalem. And there are twelve psalms with superscriptions that directly relate to events in the life of David, although they are scattered throughout the book of Psalms rather than appearing sequentially. Since David was considered the greatest king in Israelite history and his is the most extensively drawn portrait in the Hebrew Bible, the chapter offers a short overview of his life story and the position of King David in the book of Psalms.
Afghanistan
Authors: English Richard
Published: March 2024

This chapter reviews how Afghanistan became one part of the wider struggle against terrorism and terrorism-supporting states, and part of the campaign to destroy international terrorism and its threat to the US. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the fact that al-Qaida had relied heavily on their Afghan base during the period of the attack’s planning made it logical for the US government to act against them there and to also deal with the possibility of an enduring threat enabled by their Taliban hosts. While other regions of the world represented very sharp challenges with regard to al-Qaida and to terrorism more broadly, it was in Afghanistan that the US decided initially to commit its most concentrated energies in the War on Terror. The central strategic aims were: pursuing, finding, capturing, killing, damaging, degrading, defeating, and destroying al-Qaida, and overthrowing the Taliban regime which had provided haven for al-Qaida. Across the regimes of Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump, it remained a counter-terrorist objective to weaken al-Qaida and other terrorists in Afghanistan so that they could not again threaten the US.
From the Six-Day War to the Gaza Tragedy
Authors: English Richard
Published: March 2024

This chapter begins by tracing the history of terrorism and counter-terrorism in Israel and Palestine. Terrorism and counter-terrorism in Israel/Palestine have centrally emerged over questions of state power. Terrorism has existed in relation to the state of Israel throughout its history: terrorism originating from those fighting to make the state exist, and terrorism subsequently emerging as a means of fighting to eradicate the state or to defend it. Israel had therefore been born amid violence between Jews and Palestinians. Counter-terrorism and terrorism shape each other, and the early decades of Israel’s life saw the emergence of major terrorist opponents, including the Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Nationalist rivalries over legitimate statehood; long-rooted local cycles of brutal violence; the establishment and sustenance of major non-state terrorist groups; tense animosity between mutually aggressive states within the region; the sometime intensification of local violence generated by global politics and events—all of these factors made the addressing of terrorist threats to Israel both more important and more difficult. The chapter then looks at the Six-Day War and the conflict in Gaza.
“Longing to See and Know Many Things,” 1819–1840
Authors: Blumberg Ilana M.
Published: March 2024

A voracious reader, up to the minute in religious publishing, Mary Ann Evans was also a writer from a very young age. From an adolescence in which her earliest associations and experiences with writing were bound up with narrating a life of faith, she became a novelist whose works were likewise infused with the challenges of belief and the intense conviction that things mattered. Her own state of mind and soul were best expressed by using the words of Scripture, by reading herself into and through a textual tradition. From a small Midlands parish, Evans’s early exposure to denominational difference among family and acquaintances, and her unusually wide reading, helped shape a capacious religious sensibility, intensely focused on meeting the pressing and particular needs of individual human beings.
“New Treasures,” 1840–1842
Authors: Blumberg Ilana M.
Published: March 2024

In the period between 1840 and 1842, Mary Ann Evans rejected the supernatural basis of Christian faith and took on a series of intensive projects translating texts that read Scripture critically and resisted orthodox efforts to reconcile or substantiate the accounts of the Gospels in order to safeguard the binding, sacred nature of revelation. At home among new freethinking friends and partners in Coventry, Evans would become the translator of David Friedrich Strauss’s The Life of Jesus (1835), Ludwig Feuerbach’s Essence of Christianity (1841), and Benedict de Spinoza’s Ethics (1677), texts which allowed English intellectuals access to German higher criticism and posited a basis for ethical modernity distinct from Christian orthodoxy.
The Major Lines of Descent
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

Biologists generally classify organisms into prokaryotes and eukaryotes, based largely on differences in internal cell structure. However, although there are two major domains of life, one consists of bacteria, and the other contains basal groups of a different prokaryotic group, the archaea, with eukaryotes emerging out of the latter. The most recent common ancestor of all eukaryotes (the base of the eukaryotic tree), which dates to approximately two billion years ago, was endowed with multiple novel attributes at the genomic, structural, and functional levels. Rapid emergence of most major eukaryotic lineages occurred shortly thereafter. This explosive radiation into reproductively isolated groups may have had little to do with novel ecological opportunities, instead arising passively as a consequence of three major genomic changes: the origin of the mitochondrion and the progressive movement of genes to the nuclear genome; a period of substantial gene duplication; and the evolution of independent assortment of chromosomes during meiosis.
The Cell Life Cycle
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

Although the life of a eukaryotic cell is commonly abstracted into stages associated with the progression through genome replication, the relative durations of such stages vary dramatically among phylogenetic lineages. Moreover, even where the regulatory networks governing cell-cycle behavior remain constant in form, there can be dramatic differences in underlying molecular participants. Variation in the nature of the mitotic cell cycle, and the origin of eukaryotic mitosis itself, appears to have involved the duplication and subsequent subfunctionalization of ancestral component genes. Meiosis was present in the stem eukaryote, and also appears to be a product of gene duplication followed by subsequent diversification among phylogenetic lineages. Although the production of variation by meiotic chromosomal segregation and recombination is commonly viewed as advantageous for evolutionary efficiency, it remains unclear whether such secondary benefits were relevant to the origin of meiosis. Many of the proteins associated with meiosis undergo rapid sequence evolution, possibly as a consequence of conflicts associated with centromere drive. Sexual reproduction, the combination of two haploid cells followed by the generation of variable offspring genotypes, imposes the necessity of cell fusion with appropriate partners, thereby promoting the evolution of mating types with appropriate combinations of pheromones and receptors. Mating type systems are highly diverse phylogenetically, with coevolutionary drift of messages and receptors leading to the passive emergence of reproductively isolated lineages. Unlike the common situation in vertebrates, unicellular species do not evolve fully differentiated sex chromosomes, possibly because their population-genetic environments prevent the progressive degradation of genetic material linked to sex-determination loci.
Cellular Senescence
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

The molecular constituents of cells naturally deteriorate over time, raising the possibility of senescence in unicellular organisms analogous to the somatic aging that occurs in multicellular species. Studying this process requires a means for discriminating between parent and offspring cells, which can be difficult in species reproducing by binary fission. The asymmetric inheritance of damage by daughter cells can lead to the rejuvenation of one member of the pair at the expense of the other, thereby ensuring indefinite population survival, as in multicellular species that discard the senescing somas of aging individuals. Nonetheless, in ciliates and vertebrate cell cultures, entire unicellular lineages can have finite lifespans. The mechanisms driving extinction in these cases likely involve problems with chromosomal integrity and imbalance rather than the accumulation of deleterious point mutations, as rejuvenation can be accomplished by sexual outcrossing and/or inactivation of genes involved in telomere erosion. Two hypotheses have been suggested for the evolution of senescence in multicellular organisms: genetic trade-offs between the investment in early reproduction versus future survival; and reduced fitness returns associated with progeny produced late versus early in life. The extent to which these ideas extend to unicellular species remains unclear.
The Protein World
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

Refined by more than three billion years of evolution, thousands of proteins govern most of the diverse structural and functional features of today’s cells. Although the alphabet of today’s proteins consists of 20 amino acids, highly functional molecules can be constructed out of a subset of these, and this was most certainly the case at the dawn of the protein world. A major challenge for proteins is the rapid attainment of proper structures by folding into stable subunits, which when exceeding 250 residues in length, requires the assistance of chaperones. Fewer than 25% of amino acid-altering mutations are accepted in nature, and of those that do survive, most have very small effects and can be guided by mutation bias. Despite their high levels of refinement, most proteins have catalytic rates and folding stabilities far below the limits set by biophysical constraints, suggesting a barrier imposed by random genetic drift. The stringency of selection is elevated for protein-coding genes with high levels of expression, as these incur relatively high investment costs and, when mistranslated, are most likely to engage in harmful protein–protein interactions. Although often nearly neutral with respect to fitness, acceptable amino-acid exchanges commonly alter protein features in subtle ways that dictate the future mutations that can be fixed at other positions. As a consequence, protein-sequence evolution is often dominated by compensatory remodelling changes that, in retrospect, appear to involve strong and essential epistatic interactions, but nonetheless had accumulated in a nearly neutral fashion.
Resource Acquisition and Homeostasis
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

Cellular survival and proliferation require the maintenance of a proper internal cellular environment, generally in the face of limiting resources, and >10% of cell energy budgets can be associated with nutrient uptake. The differential elemental composition of some amino acids, relative to environmental availability, can be sufficient to drive the frequency of usage of particular building blocks in prokaryotes with large effective population sizes, but not in eukaryotes. Although swimming can increase nutrient uptake in large eukaryotic cells by offsetting the problem of diffusion limitation, this is not the case in bacterial-sized cells, implying an alternate role for motility in such organisms. The most important metabolic process on earth, oxygenic photosynthesis, is ultimately responsible for almost all of the biosphere’s carbon fixation, but this is an energetically expensive process carried out by RuBisCO, one of the least efficient and most error prone of all known enzymes. To keep internal solute concentrations at optimal states for physiological function, all cells must osmoregulate, which is accomplished by use of cell walls, contractile vacuoles, and the production of internal cellular osmolytes. The challenges here are great, as the rate of removal of water by contractile vacuoles is often on the order of hundreds of cell volumes per day, an energetically expensive task. Despite having cell-division times that are commonly <1 day, numerous unicellular species have evolved internal clocks with 24-hour periodicities to accommodate diurnal environmental shifts. The molecular mechanisms underlying such clocks are strikingly simple compared to the elaborate pathways in multicellular species.
Transcription
Authors: Lynch Michael R.
Published: March 2024

Gene expression initiates with the production of RNA products from DNA templates, activated by transcription factors (TFs) bound to transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). As a consequence of bursty transcription at individual gene loci and high rates of transcript decay, mean numbers of transcripts per cell are often on the order of 20 or fewer, with a high amount of variation among cells within a population. Noise levels are reduced at the level of proteins, which have longer half-lives. TFBSs are typically 8–16 bp in length and have binding kinetics with their cognate TFs described by simple biophysical models. The small number of matching residues sufficient for strong binding results in substantial variation among genes and species in the degree of matching to consensus binding site motifs. Depending on the number of client genes associated with a particular TF, there can be substantial evolutionary wandering of the underlying regulatory vocabulary. Such meandering can lead to regulatory systems drift among species, with network topologies remaining the same despite the complete replacement of the underlying molecular participants. TFs can operate as either activators or repressors, with the modes of regulation utilized by specific genes depending on the general level of activity, such that reliance on repressors is most common when the client gene is infrequently used. Regulatory pathways in eukaryotes, especially in multicellular species, are often expanded in baroque ways, suggesting the passive emergence of overdesign rather than selection for optimal designs for robustness and future evolvability.