bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intracranial thrombus migration and perioperative cerebral injury in acute type A aortic dissection
Authors: Nagamine Hiroshi , Nagano Hiroshi , Asano Mitsuru
Published: February 2025

In this report, we present a case of intracranial thrombus migration that contributed to the postoperative exacerbation of neurological injury in a 69-year-old man with acute type A aortic dissection complicated by cerebral malperfusion. Our findings underscore perioperative thrombus migration as a potentially underrecognized factor influencing inconsistent surgical outcomes. A comprehensive perioperative evaluation, including a detailed assessment of intracranial arteries, is imperative.
Analysis of device state parameter correlations and multimodal data model construction based on neural networks
Authors: Li Xiaoyang , Dong Xiang , Han Xiaokun , Zhao Bi , Yi Shuwei , Bai Jian , Zhang Xuanwei
Published: February 2025

Traditional methods for monitoring equipment status struggle to meet the analytical demands of high-dimensional data inherent in complex systems. To address this, this paper proposes a neural network-based approach for analyzing the correlations among equipment status parameters, combined with a multimodal data model. A denoising autoencoder is employed to construct a deep neural network (DNN) for fault feature extraction, while a hierarchical DNN (HDNN) algorithm is introduced to optimize feature extraction in multimodal environments. The accuracy of fault classification reached 98.05%. Comparative analysis with various models demonstrates the superiority of HDNN in fault classification and severity recognition.
Neurobiological Influences on Event Perception: The Role of Catecholamines
Authors: Ghorbani Foroogh , Zhou Xianzhen , Roessner Veit , Hommel Bernhard , Prochnow Astrid , Beste Christian
Published: February 2025

Background

Event segmentation, the cognitive process of parsing continuous experiences into discrete events, plays a fundamental role in how humans perceive and interact with their environment. Guided by Event Segmentation Theory (EST), this study investigates the modulation of event segmentation by the catecholaminergic system by methylphenidate (MPH).

Methods

Healthy adult participants (N=52) engaged in a double-blind, counter-balanced, placebo-controlled experiment in which they watched a movie and identified event boundaries under placebo and MPH conditions.

Results

With the same information given, MPH increased the likelihood that the information was considered meaningful. Crucially, the number of situational changes and participant’s prior experience had an interactive effect on the probability of event segmentation. There was a stronger relationship between environmental information and segmentation probability when catecholaminergic levels were elevated by MPH in addition to previous experience.

Conclusions

The catecholaminergic system modulates how incoming information is segmented to build meaningful episodes. Prior experience supports the effects of MPH to unfold. These findings underscore the complex interplay between neurochemical modulation and cognitive processes involved in event perception.
Two amino-substituted Diphenyl Fumaramide Derivatives inhibit the virulence regulated by quorum sensing system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Ran Qiman , Yuan Yang , Wu Yi , Gan Xiongyao , Deng Junfeng , Chu Yiwen , Ji Qinggang , Wang Xinrong , Zhao Kelei
Published: February 2025

Aim

Pseudomonas aeruginosa employs the quorum sensing (QS) system, a sophisticated cell-to-cell communication mechanism, to modulate the synthesis and secretion of a range of virulence factors, which contribute to the establishment of acute or chronic infections in hosts. This study seeks to attenuate the virulence of P. aeruginosa by inhibiting the QS system, thereby reducing its pathogenicity as a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics.

Methods and Results

Two compounds with an amino-substituted diphenyl fumaramide core, N1-(4-bromophenyl)-N4-(4'-oxo-3',4'-dihydro-1'H-spiro [cyclopentane-1,2'-quinazolin]-6'-yl) fumaramide (10D) and N1-(3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)-N4-(4-oxo-3,4,4',5'-tetrahydro-1H,2'H-spiro [quinazoline-2,3'-thiophen]-6-yl) fumaramide (12A), were identified through in-silico screening. The QS inhibitory potential of both compounds was explored in vitro and in vivo. In in vitro experiments, neither compound exhibited bactericidal effects but significantly inhibited the production of QS-regulated extracellular protease and pyocyanin. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed that QS-activated genes and downstream virulence genes were transcriptionally suppressed by 10D or 12A. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations predicted stable interactions between these compounds and the key QS regulators LasR and PqsR. When combined with polymyxin B, kanamycin, and levofloxacin, 10D and 12A exhibited synergistic antibacterial activity. Furthermore, compounds 10D and 12A significantly improved the survival of mice challenged with P. aeruginosa and effectively reduced the bacterial load in the lungs.

Conclusion

This study indicates that 10D and 12A possess considerable QS inhibitory potential, effectively attenuating the pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa. Moreover, the study offers structural insights and methodological guidance for the advancement of anti-virulence drug development.
Development and Validation of a Single Stability Indicating Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) Method for Identification and Assay of Eprinomectin in Two Different Commercial Injectable Drug Products for Cattle
Authors: Dharmaratne Nayanthara U , Rustum Abu M
Published: February 2025

Background

Eprinomectin (EPRN) is a semi-synthetic macrocyclic lactone exhibiting antiparasitic activity and is widely used as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in veterinary drug products.

Objective

This study aimed to develop a single stability-indicating reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method to identify and assay EPRN in two different injectable drug products for cattle.

Method

The RP-HPLC method is carried out on a Halo-C18 column (100 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 2.7 µm particle size) maintained at 55 °C. The analytes are separated by a gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min and detected at a wavelength of 245 nm. The mobile phase-A (MPA) of the method is 0.1% v/v aqueous perchloric acid, and mobile phase-B (MPB) is ethanol (EtOH). The Ascentis Express C18 column (100 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 2.7 µm particle size) was identified and validated as an equivalent column for the prescribed method.

Results

The RP-HPLC method described in this paper can adequately separate all major related substances of EPRN in the two drug products from EPRN B1a and EPRN B1b within 20 minutes.

Conclusions

The developed RP-HPLC method for the identification and assay of Eprinomectin was successfully validated in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Q2(R2), and demonstrated to be robust, linear, accurate, precise, specific, and stability-indicating.

Highlights

The new RP-HPLC method exhibits a higher level of selectivity but is yet rapid and simple, making it suitable for routine and non-routine analysis in Research and Quality Control (QC) laboratories.
Optimizing Screening Outcomes: A Guide for Breast Imaging Practices
Authors: Yoon Sora C , Baker Jay A , Grimm Lars J
Published: February 2025

Radiologists face a range of challenges to maximize the life-saving benefits of screening mammography, including pressure to maintain accuracy, manage heavy workloads, and minimize the risk of fatigue and burnout. This review provides targeted strategies to address these challenges and, ultimately, to improve interpretive performance of screening mammography. Workflow optimizations, including offline vs online and batched vs nonbatched interpretation, interrupted vs uninterrupted reading, and the importance of comparing current mammograms with prior examinations will be explored. Each strategy has strengths, weaknesses, and logistical challenges that must be tailored to the individual practice environment. Moreover, as breast radiologists contend with increasingly busy and hectic working conditions, practical solutions to protect reading environments and minimize distractions, such as the “sterile cockpit” approach, will be described. Additionally, breast radiologists are at greater risk for fatigue and burnout due to rising clinic volumes and an inadequate workforce. Optimizing the approach to reading screens is critical to helping breast imaging radiologists maintain and maximize the benefits of screening mammography, ensure the best outcomes for our patients, and maintain radiologist job satisfaction.
Risk factors for insufficient hip distraction for safe central compartment access during hip arthroscopy: retrospective analysis of 677 cases
Authors: Chiang Ching-Chien , Tang Hao-Che , Yang Cheng-Pang , Sheu Huan , Chuang Chieh-An , Chan Yi-Sheng
Published: February 2025

Sufficient hip distraction is crucial for the assessment of the central compartment in hip arthroscopic surgery. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors linked to insufficient hip distraction during hip arthroscopic surgery. We hypothesized that the presence of pincer- or mixed-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) could hinder effective hip distraction during the procedure. Inclusion criteria included indication for hip arthroscopy, and persistent symptoms that have not responded to extensive conservative treatment, such as activity adjustments and physical therapy over a period of 6–12 weeks. The enrollment period spanned from January 2003 to May 2021. Data on age, sex, diagnosis of FAI, body mass index, body height, body weight, lateral center-edge angle (LCEA), hip joint space, Tönnis grading, and Beighton score were collected. Among the cases, 34 had insufficient hip distraction while 643 did not. Crude odds ratio analysis revealed that male gender, body height, increased LCEA, the presence of pincer- or mixed-type FAI, and a lower Beighton score were associated with a higher risk of insufficient distraction. Further analyses confirmed that only FAI, sex, and Beighton score remained significant predictors of risk. Adjusted odds ratios indicated a strong association with pincer- or mixed-type FAI. The presence of pincer- or mixed-type FAI is identified as a risk factor for insufficient hip distraction during hip arthroscopic surgery. In high-risk patients, adopting a peripheral compartment approach initially and avoiding hip traction can help prevent traction-related complications.
Post-sale confusion: a doctrine in development
Authors: Fhima Ilanah
Published: February 2025

Post-sale confusion occurs when confusion occurs after the trade mark owner’s goods have been purchased. The status of such confusion under European Union trade mark law is unclear, with conflicting case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The UK courts have acknowledged the possibility of actionable post-sale confusion. However, in the past year, post-sale confusion has gained a higher profile, with its acceptance in two Court of Appeal decisions. The doctrine is controversial. In certain forms of post-sale confusion, while consumers may be confused, it is difficult to detect harm to the trade mark owner. It is questionable whether the law should step in in such cases. This article reviews the forms of post-sale confusion and the types of harm involved against the backdrop of the pending appeal to the Supreme Court in Iconix. It also argues that Brexit has enabled the UK courts to resolve ambiguities against the background of uncertain CJEU jurisprudence.
MiR-340-5p alleviates AECOPD by targeting MAP3K2 via Qingjin Huatan Decoction therapy
Authors: Zhao Mei , Huang Zhijian , Zheng Jinghui , Li Wanying , Zhong Yunqing , Ouyang Tun
Published: February 2025

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) features persistent inflammation and restricted airflow, with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) significantly worsening patient outcomes. This study aims to explore the role of Qingjin Huatan Decoction (QJHTT) on AECOPD with the syndrome of phlegm-heat obstruction of the lung.AECOPD was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cigarette smoke exposure. Rats were treated with varying doses of QJHTT. miR-340-5p expression was quantified using qPCR. Lung histopathology was assessed with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, and interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).. The effects on cell viability and apoptosis in primary airway epithelial cells were evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry assays, respectively. The dual-luciferase reporter assay validated the interaction between miR-340-5p and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 2 (MAP3K2), and protein expression was analyzed by Western blot.QJHTT improved lung histopathology, reducing inflammatory cell infiltration and alveolar damage. ELISA results showed reduced inflammatory cytokines levels in QJHTT-treated groups (P < 0.05). qPCR analysis demonstrated that QJHTT upregulated miR-340-5p expression (P < 0.05). miR-340-5p mimic enhanced cell viability and reduced apoptosis in primary airway epithelial cells (P < 0.05). Dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-340-5p directly targets MAP3K2, leading to its downregulation (P < 0.05). QJHTT exerts therapeutic effects in phlegm-heat obstructing the lung type of AECOPD through upregulating miR-340-5p and inhibiting MAP3K2. This study highlights the QJHTT and miR-340-5p/MAP3K2 pathway for this disease treatment.
Flower jasmonates control fertility but largely disconnect from defense metabolites in reproductive tissues of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Authors: Fukumoto Kaori , Hojo Yuko , Nakatani Hiroko , Wari David , Shinya Tomonori , Galis Ivan
Published: February 2025

While sterile phenotypes of Osjar1 and Osaoc (hebiba) mutants corroborate the essential role of jasmonates (JAs) in reproductive development of rice (Oryza sativa L.), it remains unclear how other JA-dependent defense functions operate in reproductive tissues. We show that various JAs, including bioactive JA-Ile, gradually accumulate in the rice spikelets, and peak at anthesis, but majority of JAs remain localized in the stamens. While other spikelet parts contained only a low basal level of JAs, whole flowers responded to mechanical damage by the elicitation of a strong JA burst. Similarly, whole flowers increased their already present basal levels of defense metabolites in response to wounding, namely phenolamides and momilactone diterpenes, but these contents were only partially dependent on JA. Our data suggest that while JAs acquired essential role(s) in rice fertility, floral defense was largely diverted to yet another signaling pathway(s) that complement the canonical JA and/or JA-Ile stress signaling in reproductive parts of rice.
Multi-physics framework for fast modeling of gamma-ray burst afterglows
Authors: Nedora Vsevolod , Menegazzi Ludovica Crosato , Peretti Enrico , Dietrich Tim , Shibata Masaru
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we present PyBlastAfterglow, a modular C++ code with a Python interface to model light curves and sky maps of gamma-ray burst afterglows. The code is open-source, modular, and sufficiently fast to perform parameter grid studies. PyBlastAfterglow is designed to be easily extendable and used as a testing bed for new physics and methods related to gamma-ray burst afterglows. For the dynamical evolution of relativistic ejecta, a thin-shell approximation is adopted, where both forward and reverse shocks are included self-consistently, as well as lateral structure, lateral spreading, and radiation losses. Several models of the shock microphysics are implemented, including fully numerical model of the downstream electron distribution evolution, synchrotron emission, self-absorption, and synchrotron self-Compton emission under the one-zone approximation. Thus, the code is designed to be able to model complex afterglows that include emission from reverse shock, very high energy emission, structured jets, and off-axis observations.
Enhanced Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae sexually transmitted infections and associated risk factors in Fiji following the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Auchus Isabella C , Brown Joelle , Kama Mike , Vargo Sara G , Devi Rachel , Singh Jenni , Dean Deborah
Published: February 2025

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic impact on sexually transmitted infections in countries practicing syndromic management remains unknown. We conducted cross-sectional surveys in Fiji to assess increases and risk factors for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infections pre- and post-pandemic.

Methods

We enrolled women, men who have sex with women (MSW), and men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 18-40, collected socio-demographic/behavioral data, and tested vaginal, urethral and rectal samples using Xpert®-CT/NG. Risk factors were evaluated using regression models.

Results

Of 1,955 participants, 6.4% (95% Confidence Interval[95%CI]:5.4%-7.6%) had gonorrhea, increasing significantly post-pandemic >2-fold among women aged 25-40, and >4-fold among MSM, MSW and men aged 18-24 and 25-40; 20.0% ([18.3%-21.8%]) had chlamydia, increasing significantly post-pandemic among younger women and ∼2- to 4-fold among MSW, and younger and older men. Increases were driven by urethral/vaginal infections. Co-infections increased significantly post-pandemic among older women. Post-pandemic gonorrhea was associated with difficulty obtaining condoms (adjusted Relative Risk 2.7[1.0-8.0]) and >2 partners (2.6[1.0-7.1]) among younger women, and iTaukei ethnicity (4.7[1.4-16.5]) and heavy alcohol use (7.1[2.5-19.7]) among older women. Post-pandemic chlamydia was associated with having a casual sex partner among younger (1.7[1.0-2.9]) and older women (1.9[1.1-3.4]) plus being unmarried (1.7[95% CI: 1.0-2.7]). iTaukei men had increased risk post-pandemic for gonorrhea (3.7[1.3-10.6]) and chlamydia (2.5[1.3-4.9]). Over 50% of infected participants did not meet syndromic treatment criteria and would have remained untreated.

Conclusions

Post-pandemic increases in gonorrhea and chlamydia—with risk factors varying by pathogen, gender, and age—require immediate interventions to reduce infection and transmission in Fiji.
Camp, Kitsch, and Cowboys
Authors: Austin Michael L.
Published: February 2025

Riddled with toxic masculinity, racism, sexism, Christian nationalism, and so on, country music potentially represents the ills of Southern culture (or frankly any culture). Conversely, country music and its stars have also been at the forefront of championing social justice issues and in advocating for society’s most progressive changes. Ranging from blatantly homophobic depictions of weak, effeminate men to compelling portrayals of healthy same-sex relationships, country music videos embody this cultural split quite well. This chapter explores the ways in which the slow turn toward acceptance in country music of the LGBTQIA+ community can be viewed in country music videos. It also examines the reception history of videos that fall within this category and discusses the success many of these videos enjoy, despite appearing online only or in niche markets rather than on mainstream outlets such as Country Music Television. Further, it sheds light on the delicate aesthetic (and career) choices country music stars (whether personally identifying as queer or as an ally) make when creating country music videos with queer themes.
Iconic and Iconoclastic Representations of New Religious Movements in Music Videos
Authors: Austin Michael L.
Published: February 2025

Because of the dominant place Christianity holds both in secular and sacred music videos, this chapter begins by tracing the history of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) as the dominant religious alternative to contemporary popular music and the development of music videos for this genre. I then explore many of the ways American religious minorities, particularly Scientologists and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (whose members are formerly known as Mormons), are represented by current members, former members, and critics through the use, appropriation, or parody of iconography, music, and reenactments of various religious rites and traditions of these faith groups within music videos. This chapter also includes discussions of how elements from these religious traditions are “redemptively” appropriated by former members of these communities as a way to process religious trauma and to find community.
Afterword
Authors: Austin Michael L.
Published: February 2025

This chapter is a summary of these ideas as expressed throughout the book and a valediction that encourages scholars, creators, and consumers of music videos, and other readers in positions of privilege to be mindful of their obligation to respectfully represent marginalized others. It also serves as a reminder of our responsibility to work together to ensure that everyone is afforded the chance to be represented in music videos (including those from groups beyond the scope of this book).
Institutional Ignorance
Authors: Long Yan
Published: February 2025

This chapter outlines how the dismantling of China’s public health system from the 1980s to 1990s precipitated the country’s largest HIV outbreak. The Chinese Communist Party reduced public health to a mere moral issue, diminishing its political significance and forcing health bureaucrats to seek revenues independently. Lacking resources and legitimacy, these bureaucrats deliberately perpetuated ambiguity about commercial blood collection and shunned clear regulations to profit from competing in the global plasma market. When a catastrophic blood contamination crisis triggered an HIV epidemic, bureaucrats avoided collecting and recording epidemiological information in order to conceal the outbreak, attributing AIDS to Western promiscuity and erasing infections from official purview as a non-threat. In discussing this institutional ignorance, the chapter demonstrates the production of bureaucratic inertia and strategic blindness that impeded responses to new epidemics.
Finding Victims
Authors: Long Yan
Published: February 2025

This chapter assesses how external interventions led to the re-politicization of public health in China around the turn of the twenty-first century. The eruption of open clashes between the Chinese state and transnational entities moved infectious diseases into the limelight of authoritarian politics. The sudden interest of Western organizations in China’s blood-contamination crisis—a decade after its occurrence—was driven by a push to institutionalize AIDS governance at a transnational level. Transnational organizations used the villagers’ plight to brand China’s AIDS pandemic as a security threat, gaining political legitimacy and pressuring the Chinese state to accept supranational health authorities. Key to this process was the success of transnational advocacy networks in mobilizing blood-contamination victims to come out of hiding and assert their biopolitical citizen rights. Grassroots action to gather and circulate lay epidemiological knowledge enabled foreign organizations to publicly expose and shame the Chinese state.
Biosocial Solidarity
Authors: Long Yan
Published: February 2025

This chapter continues the discussion of knowledge-oriented epistemic activities that allowed AIDS activism to blossom into an unusually formal, persistent, and cross-regional movement between 2004 and 2009, despite increasing state repression. Drawing on transnational organizations’ epistemic investment, divergent incubator organizations cultivated activists’ abilities to generate and apply data and knowledge that spurred mutual care and solidarity around a disease steeped in isolation and shame. This process not only created a seemingly apolitical facade against political prosecution, but also mobilized previously inactive groups, such as urban gay men. Incubators helped to bond diverse groups into collective fights, transcending class, space, and sexuality divides. This period of unity was characterized by a focus on blood contamination, with other dimensions of oppression like sexuality remaining secondary.
Introduction
Authors: Alasuutari Pertti
Published: February 2025

This chapter introduces the book. It introduces the institutional and constructionist theoretical perspective, illustrates it by giving readers a taste of the history and present of the world of parliaments, further discussed in the subsequent chapters. It also introduces the dataset on which detailed analyses of what goes on in parliamentary debates are based. The chapter argues that parliaments have copied structures and practices from one another, especially from the early exemplars. Therefore, to understand the uniformity of the world’s legislatures, we must pay special attention to processes of diffusion, and what drives it. One reason is conformism—states’ desire to get recognition from the international community—and another one is external state formation: typically, former colonies maintained the style of government that the colonial master had instituted. This macro-level perspective is complemented with a micro level dramaturgical view. It means that parliamentary practices are considered as staged performances, which deviate from backstage bargaining. Then again, as rituals frontstage performances sanctify the parliament as an institution and hence contribute to legitimizing political rule.
The frontstage and backstage of parliamentary politics
Authors: Alasuutari Pertti
Published: February 2025

This chapter argues that parliament is a temple of civil religion of the modern world. Frontstage performances serve as rituals that sanctify the principles on which the interstate system and governing in national states are putatively based. In them, actors observe rules that honor those principles and express disapproval of conduct that violates them, whereas profane parliamentary business is handled backstage. More specifically, in addition to the sanctity of rational, evidence-based reasoning embodied in the authority of science, speakers observe rules that honor and sanctify three principles: national sovereignty, parliamentarians’ independence, and the common good. Yet backstage is not necessarily considered as the dark and ugly side of politics. It can be seen as the more honest and authentic part of policymaking, and politicians can be lauded for their work behind the scenes, whereas frontstage talks can be criticized for their hypocrisy.
Synchronization of national policies
Authors: Alasuutari Pertti
Published: February 2025

This chapter lists and illustrates the various discourses and rhetorical tactics that parliamentarians employ to justify their views in ways that evoke the international community and globally shared principles. In addition to the authority of science, revered principles, authoritative texts, and respected persons’ views, speakers commonly refer to cross-national comparisons as guidance and justification for the decision the national legislature should take. Speakers also allude to generic models, like policy recommendations made by IGOs and INGOs, international standards promoted by standard setters, and to events or catchwords that have attracted worldwide interest. Furthermore, politicians can build an argument on how a policy choice would affect the nation’s image and identity. Through these same modes of argumentation employed in national legislatures, states follow one another and end up in very similar policies. This does not mean that parliaments take the same decisions, but national policies are synchronized because, like a flock of birds, countries respond to the same social cues.
Nations and parliaments
Authors: Meyer John W.
Published: February 2025

The chapter reflects on prospects for further inquiry of the parliamentary model as a global institution. It suggests that polity variations in conceptions of the nation and the state should affect rates over time at which polities adopt parliaments, the rates of parliamentary suspension or dissolution, the autonomy and authority of the parliaments, and the extent to which the parliament is understood to express the will of the nation as opposed to more passively listening to instruction from the state. The chapter considers variations on the nation as made up of individuals in comparison to variations on the nation as made up of other fundamental units. In conclusion, the chapter notes that attempts to constrain parliamentarism lose out in the contemporary world. The charismatic authority of parliament as a global institution rests on the assumption that it represents an imagined responsible polity, holding together disparate and conflicting society—local, national, and now global.
Superpower Britain
Authors: 9780192678584  , Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

Britain emerged from the Second World War victorious yet exhausted. A powerful ‘received wisdom’ narrative charts national and imperial decline from this point. But looking forward in 1945, Britain’s political elite—embracing the governments under Churchill and Attlee and a broad range of influential actors and opinion-shapers—did not see this coming and envisaged an entirely different future from the one that came to pass. British leaders believed that Britain would, could, and should continue to exist and to act as a great imperial power and a great world power, indeed, to be a superpower. In the 1945 moment, Churchill, in his wildest dreams, would not have imagined that all the major territories of the British Empire would be sovereign independent states by the time he was on his deathbed. In this, his views were typical, but, as time was to prove, hopelessly off beam, for when his long life ended in 1965, the British Empire was no more. This book explores this fascinating counterpoint and the fantastic expectations which existed on the conclusion of the Empire’s existential struggle. By probing the gap between the expectations of 1945 and what actually happened thereafter, it explains how the elite planned to achieve their goals, and why, in the longer term, they proved to be chimerical. It contends that the historical view ‘looking forward’ is as important in understanding the past as the rear-view mirror perspective used by historians to make sense of it and articulate it for consumption.
Empire, Unity, Peace, and Expansion
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter describes the belief in empire that shaped the decision-making milieu during the war. Leading politicians, parliamentarians, and academics regarded and portrayed the British Empire as an essential part of the international order. It was, they contended, a zone of freedom and a vehicle for global security. Its business was the preservation of peace which made it a natural partner—even a model—for the fledgling United Nations, as well as for America—Anglo-American world leadership expected by the British elite to define the future. Given this, British leaders poured cold water on the idea of colonial independence and spent the war looking to the expansion of Britain’s gigantic overseas domains. With the world facing great uncertainty, attention focused on ensuring that wars of such magnitude could never happen again, and the British Empire was primed to play its part. The chapter explores the ways in which politicians and other influential figures described the Empire and its relationship with the wider world, along with arguments as to why dismantling it would be dangerous. It also describes numerous ideas for the expansion of the Empire by, for example, absorbing Italy’s former colonies, along with the expansionist proclivities of the dominions.
Coloniality and Condescension Continued
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter examines some other underlying factors that influenced the 1945 mindset and which help develop our understanding of the reasons why British leaders viewed the future as they did, gearing up for continued empire and great power status, not decolonization and national decline. The first factor is the extent to which empire and coloniality were considered normal in a highly stratified world order in which a small number of nation-states controlled a very large number of colonies. The second factor is the continued prevalence of colonial language and discourse even after the war, energized by a powerful sense of imperialism renewed in the service of progress and development. Underpinning these two factors was a third—a persistent sense of superiority in viewing the world. The chapter ends by looking at the shades of pessimism that clouded but did not dispel the superpower vision.
Atlantic Entanglements
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter analyses the nature of the American challenge to the British Empire as it developed during the war. Overpaid, oversexed, and over here they may have been, according to the famous description of American servicemen in Britain, but they were also over there—in Australia and India, in British colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, and in parts of the Middle East long under British suzerainty. This chapter describes how Americans came in their thousands to territories of the British world, to develop military bases and work air, land, and sea routes delivering weapons and supplies to their allies. Forming salients of influence and power, a constant flow of American service personnel pulsed around the world, accompanied by travelling senators, presidential representatives, economic advisers, and commercial movers and shakers. They reconnoitred the British Empire and, while pursuing the shared goal of victory, looked to secure American interests, which often meant criticizing or challenging those of the British. At the political and ideological level, the American tone of language used in landmark wartime statements such as the UN declaration and the Atlantic Charter presented the British with a range of imperial dilemmas, and American attempts to create a borderless international economy threatened the Sterling Area and the protectionist ‘imperial preference’ policy.
‘Hands Off!’
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter shows how British leaders and civil servants, not least Winston Churchill, strove to satisfy the Americans while parrying criticisms and inserting words into declarations to fit their own requirements and resist ties that would fetter them. But manoeuvre as they might, the British were unable to shake off American criticisms. Senior British political and military figures experienced the galling implications of America’s growing power, for example in its grip on military resources essential to the prosecution of operations, and its strident attempts to forge a new world economic order. The British tinkered round the edges of definition and meaning, making encouraging noises about how (for example) they agreed with American principles regarding the future of colonies and were, in fact, already operating a modern and enlightened policy towards them. When it came down to it, British leaders were adamant that continued colonial control was essential; that any form of joint ‘trusteeship’ had to be resisted; and that a timetable for colonial independence was absurd. The British also rejected America’s right to determine British financial and economic policy. Believing that they had wiggle room, the British sought to ‘educate’ Americans into understanding that the British Empire was not an enemy or a threat but an ideal partner in forging a post-war Anglo-American led world order.
United, but Not a Unit
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

Having considered the view of the British political elite in London and the implications of wartime declarations and Anglo-American differences in the preceding chapters, this chapter opens a section of the book that develops our enquiry into what the war did to the Empire and Britain’s prospects of holding on to it by looking at the conflict’s effects ‘on the ground’. It examines the war’s effects on the relationship between Britain and the dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The British knew that imperial unity depended upon the support of the dominions for British policies at the international level, and that Britian’s great power status depended upon it being seen to lead the Empire’s Commonwealth ‘hub’. But they also knew that the war had enhanced the autonomy and regional awareness of the dominions and accelerated the slow devolution of power that had been dissolving London’s control and influence over them for some time. This had a lot to do with Britain’s inability to defend the dominions in the face of the Japanese threat, and the concomitant reliance on the might of the coming American superpower. Nevertheless, a significant range of shared interests meant that the Anglo-dominion imperial core was far from moribund, economic, cultural, and security ties remaining very strong, and the British elite had little difficulty in foreseeing a future in which they continued to lead and the dominions follow.
The Perils of War Imperialism I
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter reviews the significance of South Asia to the British Empire before focusing on the war’s calamitous—but in some ways unrepresentative in terms of the wider Empire—impact on India. It shows how the circumstances of war accelerated existing trends in the subcontinent’s political progress, and created entirely new dynamics that led to a formal offer of post-war independence. The chapter moves on to discuss the situation in Burma, its position within the Empire heavily influenced by goings on in India. It shows how the British fully intended to return to and retain the territory, but how developments in India and powerful nationalist forces militated against this. With a very different war history, the chapter ends by considering the case of Ceylon, where advances towards self-government within the British Commonwealth occurred in a generally amicable environment leading to what the British initially considered to be an ideal transfer of power because it safeguarded imperial interests. Key themes throughout the chapter include the perspective that at the end of the war the British had no intention of withdrawing from South Asia; that Indian independence and its future relationship with Britain lay in an unknown and undecided future; that Whitehall was confident of a return to Burma and believed that constitutional advances in Ceylon would not be detrimental to British interests; and that dominion status and the Commonwealth could act as vehicles for continuing and substantial British influence.
The Perils of War Imperialism II
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

After reviewing the importance of the Middle East to the British world system, this chapter investigates the war’s impact on Britain’s position in the region. It outlines the impact of Axis activity and propaganda and its effectiveness among people keen to expel British and French colonial rule, the consequences of the ongoing Arab–Jewish dispute in Palestine, and the significance of the growing American voice in the region’s political and economic affairs. The need for aggressive ‘war imperialism’ in the region, particularly in 1941–42 when the enemy was advancing and the British were in some disarray, is described and its consequences measured. The war’s impact on Britain’s position and the ‘health’ of its imperial presence in the Middle East is investigated by taking a closer look at Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and the Sudan to show that, come 1945, Britain believed that it was secure in a region that it considered an imperial sine qua non, despite a range of challenges.
The Colonial Empire at the Local Level
Authors: Jackson Ashley , Stewart Andrew
Published: February 2025

This chapter takes a closer look at the war’s impact at the level of individual colonies, featuring territories in West Africa, the West Indies, the Mediterranean, Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. It does so in order to get the best possible measure on the war’s effects on the territories of the Empire beyond India, the Middle East, and the dominions, and on the overall integrity of the British Empire. Though most colonies were spared the trauma of combat, sustained air raids, or enemy occupation, war came to them in many ways. It represented six years of inconvenience, hardship, and, in the case of colonies taken by the Japanese, intense suffering and death. While the war impacted all British territories, the depth and significance varied according to each colony’s proximity to the fighting and the nature of the exactions placed upon its people and resources by British and Allied military and civilian authorities (and those of the Japanese where they conquered). Nowhere was exempt from the knock-on effects of war, and this augured ill for a return to settled rule once the war was over. The manifold political, social, and economic impacts presented the British with urgent issues to be addressed as soon as peace returned. Nevertheless, in the minds of the British political elite the conflict had not inflicted fatal damage. Indeed, on some readings it appeared to have opened opportunities to deepen colonial rule and extend metropolitan knowledge and control.
Vitality, Affect, and Agency in the Intersubjectivity of Colwyn Trevarthen
Authors: Delafield-Butt Jonathan , Reddy Vasudevi
Published: February 2025

This chapter introduces Colwyn Trevarthen through personal connection—a way of knowing which is not only appropriate to his work on intersubjectivity but also to his manner of working. The chapter explores notions of vitality, affect, and agency which have been crucial to his thinking in most of his work. Colwyn was an old-fashioned scientist and explorer—from the beginning of his career searching for the lawful animating principles of his subjects whether plants, brains, or babies. He is known for three different scientific discoveries: of two mechanisms of vision in primates, of infant intersubjectivity, and of rhythms of musicality in communication. His highlighting of the value of companionship is a game-changer not only for infants and for early years education but also for relations through the lifespan. The chapter offers a road map to the chapters in this book ranging through the different areas of scientific work which he has influenced.
The powerful effect of the Neonatal Moment of Meeting
Authors: Bruschweiler-Stern Nadia
Published: February 2025

This chapter exposes the catalytic effect of perinatal intervention with the Brazelton Scale in the formation of parental bonds and identities against the background of a precise understanding of perinatal identity metamorphoses. It looks at two clinical consultations. The Covid-19 pandemic made evident the need for connection between humans; this particular skill of meeting and connecting is exercised from birth in an uncertain process. Parents’ understanding the meaning of their baby’s behaviour allows them to observe and feel the baby’s attachment movements and the recognition of his mother. In their eyes, the newborn becomes a person, capable of communicating. Feeling recognized, the mother is transported by a surge of love and attachment, which allows her to say ‘I know that you know that I am your mother’, offering the baby a context of bonding and intersubjectivity in which it can develop its own intersubjectivity. The evolution of representations during the psychological pregnancy, the main themes of the motherhood constellation that defines a mother and the very first stages of attachment at birth are detailed.
Intersubjectivity
Authors: Hobson R Peter
Published: February 2025

Any attempt to provide an account of early human mental development will fail unless the concept of intersubjectivity holds centre stage—from both theoretical and empirical (methodological) perspectives. ‘Intersubjectivity’ characterizes events within an interpersonal system that have cognitive, conative, and affective aspects. Such events provide foundations for symbolic thinking and self/other-conscious forms of willing and feeling, including ‘sharing’. As Vygotsky described, what is interpersonal becomes intrapsychic. To understand how this occurs, we need the concept of an individual’s potential to ‘identify with’ the attitudes of other. The study of developmental psychopathology enriches this perspective: through autism, we can trace the implications of a relative lack in the capacity to experience intersubjectively configured person-to-person and person-person-world relations.
From Intersubjectivity to Atmosphere
Authors: Gratier Maya
Published: February 2025

Atmosphere and intersubjectivity examine the idea that intersubjective encounters between infants and others are entwined with the indirect perception of the atmospheres that surround them. It proposes that the moods and inner states of people interacting with each other continuously radiate into the outer world. They not only become entangled with each other through immediate, moment-to-moment, convergences but also they form the basis of a broader space or field whose qualities are available to people not directly engaged in interaction. Findings and concepts from infant studies and clinical psychology, sociolinguistics, anthropology, and aesthetics provide grounding for an exploratory definition of atmosphere. The chapter also describes possible methodological shifts for studying both the constitution of atmospheres within which infant cognition may flourish and the interactions that atmospheres themselves afford. Photography and film are presented as powerful tools for analysing the complex relations that make up an atmosphere.
How Does Vocal Portamento Differ from Vocal Glissando?
Authors: Gilchrist Diana , Whitney Kathryn , Overy Katie
Published: February 2025

Inspired by Malloch and Trevarthen’s spectrographic analysis of mother–infant vocal communication, this chapter presents a comparative study of vocal portamento and glissando, two distinct gestures used by professional Western classical singers. Using case study data gathered through reflective creative practice and sound recordings of vocal gestures by the first author, a professional soprano, the study uses spectrograms to provide new insights into the acoustic features and technical execution of vocal portamento and glissando. Vibrato is identified as a key difference between the two gestures; it is present during portamento but not glissando for this singer. Intensity and timbre also vary in different ways for the two gestures, interpreted by this singer as the result of a drop in subglottal pressure during portamento. The chapter concludes that spectrographic analysis may be a powerful tool to support singing research, with potential implications for creative performance practice, pedagogy, and digital voice modelling.
Mirroring Emotions and Vitality Forms
Authors: Rizzolatti Giacomo , Sinigaglia Corrado
Published: February 2025

This chapter explores the mirror property in the emotion and vitality form domains. Several studies prove that the anterior insula (AI), the amygdala, and the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) are key nodes in the cortical and subcortical networks involved in expressing and recognizing emotions such as disgust, fear, and mirth. Recent research indicates that the dorso-central insula is also endowed with mirror property, playing a critical role in encoding our own and others’ vitality forms. We propose that the same processes underlying the expression of emotions or vitality forms are recruited when observing them in others, thus allowing us to understand their emotions and moods. We refer to this kind of understanding as an ‘understanding from the inside’, which involves sharing core phenomenal aspects between first- and second-person experiences of emotions and vitality forms.