bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Well-ordered Big Science, Innovation, and Social Entrepreneurship
Authors: Shah Faiz , Bressan Beatrice , Garcia Tello Pablo , Streit-Bianchi Marilena , Liyanage Shantha
Published: May 2024

Chapter 12 examines how Big Science, as public capital, gives rise to innovation that can impact wellbeing and the role of entrepreneurship in contributing to wealth and development. The chapter explores the existing connection between scientific discovery, human capital, social enterprise, and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship, social responsibility, and global equity surfaced during the recent Covid-19 pandemic, and the rapid deployment of physics and biological knowledge has contributed to the deployment of collective solutions. Using sociological, humanitarian, and managerial frameworks, the chapter connects science with society and explores the cross-connection and methodologies in dealing with complex knowledge-related, social and environmental issues and the ethical concerns that confront contemporary societies and human societies in the world.
Future of Big Science Projects in Particle Physics
Authors: Taylor Geoff , Liyanage Shantha
Published: May 2024

Chapter 13 outlines the global physics community’s role in Big Science contributions, based upon experience in high energy collider physics. The growing role of Asia, in particular China, Japan, South Korea, and India, is discussed to explore the power of international collaborations. An overview of some of the key major facilities, present and future, is outlined, highlighting the challenges facing collaboration across politically, culturally, and geographically diverse groups of the particle and astrophysics community in Asia. This chapter puts Asia’s particle physics initiatives in perspective and suggests how possible global-scale pan-Asian collaboration can be initiated and sustained. Several options are available for Asia’s future trajectory. One of the considerations is the International Linear Collider (ILC). Other options include high energy circular accelerators, neutrino physics facilities, and space research developments in astrophysics and cosmology. Building a culture of global collaboration is not easy. Asia can learn from successful European institutions like CERN and ESO where building international collaboration amongst nations with diverse cultural, political, and economic settings has been ongoing for many years.
The Social and Educational Responsibility of Big Science
Authors: Goldfarb Steven , Kourkoumelis Christine , Skvarciany Viktorija , Thong Christine , Liyanage Shantha
Published: May 2024

Chapter 14 addresses the learning processes embedded in Big Science operations. The authors explore how Big Science contributes to knowledge and skill development, the special role learning plays in research, and how society can benefit from these learning processes. Big Science contributions to pedagogy, curriculum, and teacher professional development are presented to inform how learning can be relevant, interesting, and engaging for future generations of scientists and community leaders. The role of formal and informal learning processes in Big Science is discussed to explain how creative, experiential, and inquiry-based learning can prepare students to tackle future challenges. The role of scientific educational initiatives in teaching the scientific process and in fostering appreciation of fundamental research is outlined, including connections developed between the research community, public education, and industry. The beneficial roles of education in Big Science and the understanding of beneficial direct and indirect outcomes for society are outlined.
Secession and European Union Law
Authors: González Campañá Núria
Published: May 2024

Secession is a live issue in today’s Western Europe. In the last decade, we have witnessed the consolidation of pro-independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia, and in the near future, we might see their re-emergence or the rise of other pro-secession movements in other European regions. The response of the EU institutions to secession within EU Member States may well be based mainly on political considerations. However, since the EU is a community based on the rule of law, it has also to justify its position with normative arguments of principle. Secession and European Union Law provides such normative support, drawing on a pluralist reading of the relation between EU law and national law, to support the conclusion that EU law should respect domestic constitutional orders. This book studies secession within EU Member States through legal methodology: the theoretical-doctrinal analysis of concepts and institutions, considering the evolving reality and case law. The legal approach has three dimensions, given the three different legal orders that interact at the EU level: international law, EU law, and national constitutional law. Based on article 4(2) TEU, the central claim of this book is that the EU duty to respect national identity and fundamental constitutional structures generate obligations to respect Member States’ constitutional orders, provided that the values enshrined in the article are not violated by the Member State affected.
Mapping the Field: New Interest in an Overlooked Provision
Authors: Dunlop Emma
Published: May 2024

While article 16 of the 1951 Convention has not received extensive attention from academic commentators, there is a renewed interest in recent scholarship. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of scholars’ views on eight issues: (i) whether the term ‘refugee’ in article 16 encompasses the unrecognised asylum seeker; (ii) the scope of the term ‘courts’, and the provision’s application to RSD proceedings; (iii) the geographic scope of the provision; (iv) whether ‘free’ access implies a guarantee of ‘effective’ access; (v) the appropriate definition of ‘habitual residence’, and whether legal residence is a pre-requisite; (vi) the scope of the term ‘matters pertaining to access to the Courts’; (vii) the appropriate comparator for whether a ‘refugee’ is afforded ‘the same treatment as a national’; and (viii) whether article 16 obliges the Contracting State to create jurisdiction to hear a dispute where a court otherwise lacks competence. It also surveys UNHCR and ExCom guidance.
Intentional Anti-Realism II
Authors: Horowitz Amir
Published: May 2024

Chapter 6 further develops intentional anti-realism, and rebuffs objections. First, it criticizes the argument from the explanatory and predictive success of content ascriptions for intentional realism. It is argued that this success is due to the fact that mental states possess logico-syntactic structures, which content ascriptions also ascribe. At the same time, it is argued (following Egan) that ascribing contents to mental states allows for the explanation of types of explananda that are of interest to us. The notion of thick logico-syntactic structures is further developed, and it is argued that such structures are naturalistically individuated. The chapter then addresses the cognitive suicide charge against intentional anti-realism. It is admitted that, according to intentional anti-realism, whereas “There are no mental states” is true, it isn’t true that there are no intentional states. However, this implication is argued to be a legitimate characteristic of a radical philosophy. The chapter ends with another argument for intentional anti-realism, which applies Ockham’s razor.
A Spectrum of Solidarities
Authors: Allen Michael , von Essen Erica
Published: May 2024

We appeal to the concept of a broad spectrum of solidarities, including those typically dismissed as merely rhetorical and parasitical. The concept of a solidarity spectrum captures both the phenomena of nonhuman solidarities among wild so-called co-predators, working together, and human solidarity with co-predators. We first consider the present normative literature on solidarity to establish the case for understanding solidarity as a spectrum of relations, practices, and actions, with different and morally ambiguous consequences for in- and out-group members. We then apply this concept of a spectrum of solidarities to the zoological and ethological research concerning co-predation alliances among members of different species reducing their own vulnerabilities in the wild, but only at the expense of other species. We also consider interspecies solidarity through practices like alloparenting. Finally, we argue human solidarity with wild co-predatory killers represents yet another gradation along the broad spectrum of solidarities. Our analysis contributes an approach to understanding diverse forms of solidarity across different species lines otherwise lacking in the recent solidarity literature concerning nonhuman and human animals.
Binaries
Authors: Heath J. M. F.
Published: May 2024

Taste is expressed in daily life as a preference for this and not that: this is tasty, that is disgusting. Bourdieu emphasized that the vocabulary of such binary oppositional judgements is similar in all different domains in which taste is exercised, because all domains are ultimately ordered by the relationship between dominant and dominated classes, each of which develops a ‘practical mastery’ of the tastes that allow them to flourish in their own social setting. In Bourdieu’s analysis, this social binary dismantles traditional oppositions between body/soul; matter/spirit; object/subject, etc. This chapter shows how Clement too inculcates a ‘practical mastery’ of day-to-day binary oppositions, but unlike Bourdieu’s, his trains people in a ‘practical mastery’ of the overarching dualistic structure of salvation. This may be analysed through the philosophical/theological opposition contrasting kata physin and para physin; or by religious oppositions such as God vs. demons/idols; or by personally involving soteriological pairs of life/death.
The Hydrogen Strategy
Authors: Hooton Brian
Published: May 2024

The role of hydrogen in the fight against global warming is explained. The properties of hydrogen, and its transportation as a gas or liquid are covered. The methods for the production of hydrogen, by an electrolyser, methane steam reforming (MSR), and the water–gas shift reaction are described. The use of hydrogen in fuel cells and the production of hydrogen-powered engines to replace diesel are stated as a future market for hydrogen. The use of high-temperature reactors to produce hydrogen by methane pyrolysis and water splitting is explained. Several methods of carbon capture and storage (CCS) are detailed. Energy storage technology and the special role of hydrogen as an energy storage medium are explained. Specific hydrogen production projects, Murchison Hydrogen Renewables, the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, and the Worley design for a 36,000 MW electrolyser plant are described. The use of the colours of the rainbow to describe hydrogen is explained.
Clarifications
Authors: De la Calle Luis , Sánchez-Cuenca Ignacio
Published: May 2024

This chapter critically discusses the two dominant conceptualizations of terrorism. The first suggests that the most salient characteristic of terrorist violence is civilian victimization, while the second argues that terrorist violence is coercive, based on the distinction between the direct target of violence and the indirect or target audience. We contend that neither is able to uncover the generative mechanism of terrorism nor to account for some of the most basic ways in which we talk about terrorism. Groups using terrorism also target combatants and, to the contrary, those not using terrorism target civilians too. Similarly, some groups use terrorism to mobilize their potential followers rather than to terrorize society, whereas coercion (or Schelling’s power to hurt) is pervasive in all types of conflicts. By showing the limitations of these theories, we lay the groundwork for our own view, based on the clandestinity of the violence.
Within-Group Territorial Variation
Authors: De la Calle Luis , Sánchez-Cuenca Ignacio
Published: May 2024

This chapter investigates how changes in the correlation of forces between the rebels and their rival states are closely matched by changes in rebels’ repertoire of violence. By looking at within-group variation, the goals and organizational culture are kept constant, while the constraints and opportunities that the rebels face change over time. Two conflicts with such temporal variation are analysed: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. In the first part of the chapter, the mutations of the Palestinian armed struggle are traced, including the gaining and losses of sanctuaries out of Israel, the campaigns of international terrorism, the infiltrations into Israel, and its eventual territorial control in the occupied territories. Regarding ISIS, it started as an underground group in Iraq; gained territory; lost it; and it was ‘resuscitated’ thanks to the Syrian civil war. Both narratives illustrate how the use of terrorism varied with changes in rebel strength.
Seneca's Affective Cosmos
Authors: Graf Chiara
Published: May 2024

This study treats the role of emotion in the scientific, philosophical, and literary works of Seneca the Younger. Historically, scholarship on Seneca has treated emotion primarily as an obstacle to moral progress, an inherently treacherous aspect of human experience which must be eradicated via reason. However, a growing body of scholarly work has come to recognize that Seneca made room for certain emotions in his philosophy, framing such sensations as fear and shame as ethically beneficial in certain contexts. This study extends such arguments by putting the works of Seneca in dialogue with modern affect theory. Ultimately, this work concludes that Seneca is prepared to harness even extreme and (from a Stoic perspective) misguided emotions toward therapeutic and didactic ends. In particular, affect plays an important role for the Senecan proficiens, the morally and intellectually imperfect student of Stoicism. Whereas the idealized figure of the Senecan wise man can achieve ethical progress through reason alone, the proficiens’ compromised understanding of the world often prevents him from doing so. This book argues that that, when reason fails him, the proficiens can harness his emotions toward moral progress. For instance, in Seneca’s meteorological treatise Natural Questions, stupefaction and anxiety are presented as paradoxical sources of courage in the face of death. Similarly, in the tragedy Trojan Women, grief and hopelessness provide the protagonist Andromache with unexpected solace.
Goods, Customs, and Rules of Origin
Authors: Moran Niall
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines the legal content of the TCA’s centrepiece, its chapter on trade in goods. Trade in goods is critical between such closely linked trading partners, with 48 per cent of total UK imports coming from the EU as well as nearly 60 per cent of its food imports. This chapter argues that the UK is continuously facing a choice between divergence and increased cooperation with the EU. It charts positive progress in areas such as the Windsor Framework and technical barriers to trade but argues that this must be built upon in other areas affecting trade in goods such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements and rules of origin. This chapter discusses how the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)’s SPS rules disproportionately affects UK farmers and how the limitations of the rules of origin provided for in the TCA threaten the place of UK manufacturers in EU supply chains in the long term. While the TCA’s trade in goods chapter remains a step back on UK’s previous position, it nonetheless provides a baseline for EU-UK trade that can be improved upon if the will is there to do so.
The Regulatory State: Subject Matter
Authors: Craig Paul
Published: May 2024

This chapter presents the principal areas where legislation was enacted that accorded regulatory power to administrative authorities in the mid-16th to 19th centuries. This chapter provides a ‘vertical’ perspective through consideration of the subject matter areas where regulatory legislation was enacted. This material is central for understanding the emergence of administrative law in the period covered by this study, from the mid-16th century onwards. It was legal challenge to the administrative application of this regulatory legislation that led to the development of administrative law. The commonly accepted view is that administrative law only really developed in the 20th century because there was little by way of state regulation hitherto. The commonly accepted view is incorrect. The legislation enacted from the mid-16th to the end of the 19th centuries was an admixture of the general and the specific; the rationale for the enactment perforce varied; and so too did its efficacy.
Prerogative
Authors: Craig Paul
Published: May 2024

The previous chapters analysed the legal constraints on statutory discretionary power. This chapter, and that which follows, considers the law relating to non-statutory discretionary power. Prerogative power is the subject of this chapter, the common law the chapter that follows. Discussion of the prerogative begins with definitional issues concerning the meaning of prerogative power. This is followed by analysis of the case law concerning control of prerogative power as it unfolded in the 17th century and thereafter. The leading cases were concerned with the balance of power between the Crown and Parliament. The courts delineated the boundaries of constitutional competence as between the executive and Parliament, and developed principles concerning the existence and extent of prerogative power that backed Parliament. The legal analysis of the mid-16th to 19th centuries is complemented by examination of the prerogative from a political perspective. The focus then shifts to continuity and change in the 20th to 21st centuries.
Invalidity
Authors: Craig Paul
Published: May 2024

The preceding chapters have considered the grounds of review as they developed from the mid-16th century and the elements of continuity and change in the 20th to 21st centuries. The focus now shifts to the remedial dimension, which occupies this and the subsequent four chapters. This chapter is concerned with invalidity. The courts articulated the consequence of the proven doctrinal errors. The jurisprudence was shaped by four tensions. The first tension was between jurisdiction and validity; the second tension was between direct and collateral challenge; the penultimate tension concerned the first-order consequence of finding that a decision was invalid and it fell to the courts to decide who could raise the alleged invalidity; and the final tension was related to the second-order consequence of an invalid decision. Discussion of these four tensions as they played out in the mid-16th to 19th centuries is followed by analysis of continuity and change in the 20th to 21st centuries.
Plato’s Butcher
Authors: Harte Verity
Published: May 2024

This chapter argues that attention to the famous butchery image in Plato’s Phaedrus from which descends the idea of ‘carving nature at its joints’ complicates our picture of Plato’s realism in comparison to its modern descendants. In the Platonic context, nature is not what is carved, but a feature of the carving, and the naturalness at issue is tied to the context and project of carving. The chapter does not offer an anti-realist Plato. Instead, by considering the character and contours of Plato’s realism, it opens the way for broader questions about the metaphysics of Platonic classification and the potentially re-combinable elements of his classificatory realism.
Non-substance Individuals in Aristotle’s Categories
Authors: Whiting Jennifer
Published: May 2024

Commentators disagree about the beings classified in Aristotle’s Categories as ‘in’ a subject (and so non-substantial) but not ‘said of’ any subject (and so individual). Some take ‘non-substance individuals’ to be peculiar to the individual substances to which they belong, so that the colour of my skin and my knowledge of grammar are gone when I am gone, even if there remain other beings indistinguishable in colour from me or with grammatical knowledge indistinguishable in content from mine. Others take non-substance individuals to be fully determinate properties that can belong to a plurality of numerically distinct individual substances: for example, a fully determinate shade of pink. This chapter argues on textual and philosophical grounds that each side is right about some non-substance individuals but wrong to generalize their account to all. The textual grounds include Aristotle’s anomalous use of the feminine en tais hupokeimenais in speaking of the subjects to which these items belong: it’s as if he goes out of his way to make it clear that these items are strictly speaking in (and not simply said of things that are in) the ousiai themselves. This opens the door to the second view, but proponents of the first would close it by appeal to his example of a token action. There are, however, philosophical reasons to resist such generalization. The logic of count nouns and predicates differs from that of mass nouns and predicates in ways such that commentators should consider the plausibility of hybrid readings.
Bootstrapping, Reasons, and the Normativity of What Matters to Us
Authors: Arruda Caroline T.
Published: May 2024

The problem of bootstrapping affects views about the nature and grounding of reasons. One bootstraps into existence normative (or justifying) reasons just in case merely treating x as a reason to φ makes x a genuinely justifying reason to φ. In this chapter, I draw attention to how bootstrapping affects our ability to account for the existence and import of agent-relative reasons to pursue personal projects. There are cases of putatively good agent-relative reasons where bootstrapping is the only route for the reason to come into being. Yet there is no account of what distinguishes these reasons from those where the bootstrapping renders the reasons illicit. I aim to solve this problem by providing such an account. I argue that bootstrapping’s badness is not a function of the procedure by which agent-relative reasons are generated; rather, it is a function of how we shift their weight in deliberation.
Notification of Prosecution
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter discusses the obligation of notification of prosecution. The Children and Young Persons Act 1969, ss 5(8) and 34(2) provide that, before any proceedings are commenced against a young person, notification of the prosecution should be given to the local authority and probation service for the area where the young person resides. In DPP v Cottier [1996] 3 All ER 126, it was stated that the notice could be given orally. In practice, the notification is generally sent to the Youth Offending Team. Failure to notify does not invalidate the proceedings, as in the case of R v Marsh [1997] 1 WLR 649.
Sentencing Youth Offenders: General Approach
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter describes the approach required to sentencing children and young people, noting that it is categorically wrong to set about it as if they are mini-adults. It looks at the Sentencing Children and Young People – Overarching Principles definitive guideline that sets out at the outset the fundamental principles when sentencing children and young people. It also reviews the principal aim of the youth justice system to prevent offending by children and young people. The chapter analyses domestic and international laws that dictate that a custodial sentence should always be a measure of last resort for children and young people. It reviews the statute that provides how a custodial sentence may only be imposed when the offence is so serious that no other sanction is appropriate.
Sexual Orientation, Disability, Transgender Identity, Race, or Religion
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter discusses the application of s 66 of the Sentencing Code, where the court considers the seriousness of an offence aggravated by racial and religious hostility, hostility related to disability, hostility related to sexual orientation, or hostility related to transgender identity. It emphasizes how the court must treat the fact that the offence is aggravated by hostility as an aggravating factor. It also describes an offence aggravated by hostility at the time of committing the offence. Section 66 defines a racial group as a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality, or ethnic or national origins. It explains that being transgender includes references to being transsexual, or undergoing, proposing to undergo, or having undergone a process or part of a process of gender reassignment.
Breach Proceedings
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter covers breach proceedings. It cites that the appropriate court to deal with a breach of an order will depend on the nature of the sentence originally imposed. The breach proceedings must be dealt with by the adult magistrates’ court if the offender has attained 18 by the first court hearing. Proceedings for breach of the supervision requirements can only be dealt with in the youth court, even when the offender has attained 18. The chapter then elaborates on how a youth court may handle the breach of a conditional discharge by an adult offender. It mentions that reparation orders have been repealed by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Definition of Parent/Guardian
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter discusses the definition of parents or guardians. Under s 107 of the Children Act 1989, the term parent is likely to include a person with parental responsibilities. The chapter further elaborates on the definition of guardian under s 107 of Children and Young Persons Act 1933. Unless the context is given otherwise, the guardian includes any person who has, for the time being, the care of the child or young person. Meanwhile, s 17 of the provision provides that any person with parental responsibility or legal liability to maintain the child is presumed to have responsibility over the young person.
Breach of Anti-social Behaviour Injunction
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines the powers of the court to handle breaches of anti-social behaviour injunctions (ASBI) as per the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It explains that a constable may arrest the respondent without a warrant with reasonable cause when a power of arrest is attached to a provision of the ASBI. Moreover, a person may apply to a justice of the peace for the issue of a warrant for the respondent's arrest. The chapter discusses appearance before court for the breach of an injunction and the application for a supervision order or detention order. It also considers the remand of the defaulter.
Gang Injunction
Authors: Ashford Mark , Branston Gareth , Redhouse Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter introduces the key concepts of gang injunctions. It looks into gang injunctions, governed by Part 4 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, and notes that the Magistrates’ Courts (Injunctions: Gang-related Violence) Rules 2015 apply. A gang injunction may be made against any person who has attained the age of 14. The chapter then presents the grounds for an injunction when the respondent is aged 14 or older, such as drug-dealing activities and violence. It expounds on the process of consultation required before applying for a gang injunction.
Defining Corruption in the Ottoman Empire
Authors: Ergene Boğaç A.
Published: May 2024

How did the Ottomans understand corruption in politics and public office before the nineteenth century? To answer this question, Defining Corruption in the Ottoman Empire surveys premodern Ottoman perceptions of administrative abuse. Identified in jurisprudential texts, state-generated documents, political literature, foreign sources, and, in some rare instances, in the voices of those accused of being corrupt, the book examines a discursive spectrum that reflects the multiple meanings and practices of self-regarding predatory behavior by state authorities. The book also paints a broad picture of the institutional features of a premodern polity that allowed, however inadvertently, transgressions associated with corruption, and the ways in which the Ottoman state attempted to control and discipline such acts. Defining Corruption is a conceptually oriented work that engages seriously with non-Ottoman historiographies and multiple disciplines besides history.
Corruption in Ottoman Jurisprudence
Authors: Ergene Boğaç A.
Published: May 2024

Based primarily on the writings of Ibn Nujaym (d. 1563) and Ibn Abidin (d. 1836), as well as the opinions (fatwas) issued by numerous Ottoman şeyhülislams, this chapter explores Ottoman jurisprudential sources to determine how Ottoman jurists characterized corruption. Like their classical counterparts, Ottoman jurists continued to focus their writings on judicial actors, particularly the qadi and, to a lesser extent, court witnesses and the mufti, and the various types of bribery exchanges in which they were often involved. At the same time, Ottoman jurists also demonstrated an anxiety about categorically distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate forms of reciprocity and, at times, a failure to do so. Concerns about judicial appointments facilitated by payments to higher authorities also received attention from jurists. Occasionally, jurists attempted to accommodate certain morally questionable practices because of pragmatic considerations.
Controlling Corruption
Authors: Ergene Boğaç A.
Published: May 2024

Chapter 4 provides insights into the ways in which the premodern Ottoman polity monitored, policed, and punished acts associated with corruption, first drawing on an economic model proposed by Edgar Kiser and Xiaoxi Tong to understand the possible costs of controlling corruption in Qing China. This discussion is supplemented later in the chapter by the rich empirical information available in three sets of state-generated documents, mühimme, şikayet, and kalebend defterleri (or registers of “important affairs,” “complaints,” and “confinement in fortresses,” respectively), which help to identify broader trends in how the imperial government attempted to control corruption and to assess the relative effectiveness of such attempts.
Expressivism and moral argumentation
Authors: Schloeder Julian J
Published: May 2024

Familiar semantics for terms like ‘because’ appeal to cause or ground, but according to expressivists moral claims cannot enter into such relations. This calls into question whether expressivists can account for moral explanation. I argue that moral expressivists should also be expressivists about explanation. That is, claims like ‘A because B’ are used to express an attitude, namely that one endorses inferring A from B to be suitable for coming to believe A. This allows expressivists to give due to the asymmetric explanatory commitments of different ethical views. Moreover, the account identifies and explains the nature of moral argumentative discourse as proceeding by identifying similarities and adducing distinctions.
Substance Use Within Trials of Psychological Interventions for Psychosis: Sample Inclusion, Secondary Measures, and Intervention Effectiveness
Authors: Halsall Lauren , Ushakova Anastasia , Jones Steven , Chowdhury Samin , Goodwin Laura
Published: May 2024

Introduction

Current clinical guidelines recommend that patients with co-occurring psychosis and alcohol or substance use disorders (A/SUD) receive evidenced-based treatment for both disorders, including psychological intervention for psychosis. However, the efficacy of such treatments for individuals with co-occurring psychosis and A/SUD is unclear.

Study Design

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychological interventions for psychosis were systematically reviewed, to investigate how alcohol and substance use has been accounted for across sample inclusion and secondary measures. Findings from trials including individuals with co-occurring alcohol or substance use issues were then narratively summarized using the Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis guidelines, to indicate the overall efficacy of psychological interventions for psychosis, for this comorbid population.

Study Results

Across the 131 trials identified, 60.3% of trials excluded individuals with alcohol or substance use issues. Additionally, only 6.1% measured alcohol or substance use at baseline, while only 2.3% measured alcohol or substance use as a secondary outcome. Across trials explicitly including individuals with alcohol or substance use issues, insufficient evidence was available to conclude the efficacy of any individual psychological intervention. However, preliminary findings suggest that psychoeducation (PE) and metacognitive therapy (MCT) may be proposed for further investigation.

Conclusion

Overall, co-occurring alcohol and substance use issues have been largely neglected across the recent RCTs of psychological interventions for psychosis; highlighting the challenges of making treatment decisions for these individuals using the current evidence base.
How do behavioral public policy experts see the role of complex systems perspectives? An expert interview study
Authors: Puukko Sarmite , Heino Matti T J , Kostamo Katri , Saurio Kaisa , Sniehotta Falko F , Hankonen Nelli
Published: May 2024

Amidst the global momentum of behavioral insights (BI), there has been a shift from mostly nudge-based BI applications to systemic approaches. This is particularly pressing in public health, where interacting issues regularly produce unanticipated consequences. Regardless, little is known about adopting complex systems approaches in behavioral public policy. This study aims to capture current practices of international BI experts on the definition, application, drivers, and hindering factors in adopting complex systems approaches in public policy. Semi-structured individual expert interviews (n = 12) of international BI experts with extensive experience in educating, cooperating with, and/or advising public servants were analyzed with inductive content analysis. While the working definition of BI aligned with published definitions, experts varied in their descriptions of complex systems approaches and its significance for public policy, including socioecological aspects, systematic BI use across policy stages, recognizing intertwined behavior, and lack of ready-made solutions. They emphasized the importance of systems approaches, identifying drivers (e.g. need for a broader focus) and hindrances (e.g. pressure for quick results). Embracing complex systems in behavioral public policy provides a holistic perspective, extending beyond simple nudges, sometimes presumed as universally applicable. While complexity perspectives would align with policymakers’ worldview, applications require more work to tailor to local situations and to evaluate. Recognizing that, given their distinct expertise content, BI expertise can be quite different from complex systems expertise. The field would benefit from clear descriptions and specialized training for effective integration and advocacy for these approaches.
Why Programs Fail: Lessons for Improving Public Service Quality from a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Unsuccessful Teacher Training Program in Nepal
Authors: Schaffner Julie , Glewwe Paul , Sharma Uttam
Published: May 2024

This study demonstrates rigorously that an at-scale government training program for secondary teachers in Nepal had little or no impact on student learning. It then documents five sets of weaknesses related to training uptake, training-session management, teacher subject knowledge, teacher adoption of new classroom practices, and student knowledge of earlier-grade curriculum content, each of which plausibly explains some, but not all, of the program's failure. While weaknesses in trainer and teacher motivation may have contributed to the program's disappointing performance, the study argues that time, resource, and capacity constraints of both trainers and teachers, and a mismatch between policy design and student learning needs, also limited program success. These results highlight the need to broaden common accountability-focused conceptions of how to improve public service quality.
Cross-Inoculation of Commercial Forestry, Amenity, and Horticulture Tree Species with Ceratocystis Isolates Collected from Different Host Species
Authors: Indrayadi Heru , Glen Morag , Alhusaeri Siregar Bayo , Ratkowsky David , Rimbawanto Anto , Tjahjono Budi , Mohammed Caroline
Published: May 2024

Ceratocystis manginecans has caused significant losses in forestry productivity in Indonesia and neighboring nations. It also infects horticultural trees, but the host range of individual isolates of C. manginecans is poorly studied. So, this study aimed to better understand the potential host range and evaluate aggressiveness against forestry and fruit tree species of C. manginecans isolated from various tree species in Indonesia. Five C. manginecans isolates, four from different tree species and one from the shot-hole borer Euwallacea perbrevis, were used to inoculate seven fruit and six forest tree species, including E. pellita and Acacia mangium. Many of the inoculated trees produced typical canker disease symptoms, such as rough, swollen, and cracked lesions on the bark, but some trees did not have any external symptoms. Mortality in the most susceptible clone of A. mangium was 40% within 8 weeks. Forest tree species were more susceptible than fruit trees, with the length of xylem discoloration ranging from 0.4 to 101 cm. In fruit trees, the average extent of xylem discoloration was lower, ranging from 0.4 to 20.5 cm; however, mortalities were recorded in two fruit tree species, Citrus microcarpa and Durio zibethinus. Host-isolate interaction was evident; isolate Ep106C from Eucalyptus pellita caused the greatest xylem discoloration in Citrus sp., whereas Hy163C from Hymenaea courbaril was the most damaging in D. zibethinus, Artocarpus heterophyllus, and Mangifera indica. Increasingly globalized food and fiber systems increase risk of disease spread, and the serious threat of C. manginecans incursions into countries where it is not present must be evaluated more thoroughly.
The GWAS SNP rs80207740 modulates erythrocyte traits via allele‐specific binding of IKZF1 and targeting XPO7 gene
Authors: Hu Xinjun , Wang Jiaxin , Yang Ke , Fan Hong , Wu Jie , Ren Jiuqiang , Han Gaijing , Li Jing , Xue Zheng , Liu Xuehui , Lv Xiang
Published: May 2024

Genome‐wide association studies have identified many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with erythrocyte traits. However, the functional variants and their working mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we reported that the SNP of rs80207740, which was associated with red blood cell (RBC) volume and hemoglobin content across populations, conferred enhancer activity to XPO7 gene via allele‐differentially binding to Ikaros family zinc finger 1 (IKZF1). We showed that the region around rs80207740 was an erythroid‐specific enhancer using reporter assays, and that the G‐allele further enhanced activity. 3D genome evidence showed that the enhancer interacted with the XPO7 promoter, and eQTL analysis suggested that the G‐allele upregulated expression of XPO7. We further showed that the rs80207740‐G allele facilitated the binding of transcription factor IKZF1 in EMSA and ChIP analyses. Knockdown of IKZF1 and GATA1 resulted in decreased expression of Xpo7 in both human and mouse erythroid cells. Finally, we constructed Xpo7 knockout mouse by CRISPR/Cas9 and observed anemic phenotype with reduced volume and hemoglobin content of RBC, consistent to the effect of rs80207740 on erythrocyte traits. Overall, our study demonstrated that rs80207740 modulated erythroid indices by regulating IKZF1 binding and Xpo7 expression.
Pericyte in retinal vascular diseases: A multifunctional regulator and potential therapeutic target
Authors: Zhang Quan , Yan Xianchun , Han Hua , Wang Yusheng , Sun Jiaxing
Published: May 2024

Retinal vascular diseases (RVDs), in particular diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, and retinopathy of prematurity, are leading contributors to blindness. The pathogenesis of RVD involves vessel dilatation, leakage, and occlusion; however, the specific underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Recent findings have indicated that pericytes (PCs), as critical members of the vascular mural cells, significantly contribute to the progression of RVDs, including detachment from microvessels, alteration of contractile and secretory properties, and excessive production of the extracellular matrix. Moreover, PCs are believed to have mesenchymal stem properties and, therefore, might contribute to regenerative therapy. Here, we review novel ideas concerning PC characteristics and functions in RVDs and discuss potential therapeutic strategies based on PCs, including the targeting of pathological signals and cell‐based regenerative treatments.
KIF23 promotes cervical cancer progression via inhibiting NLRP3‐mediated pyroptosis
Authors: Liu Xiaoyan , Xie Xiaoqing , Li Qiulian , Xie Xiaohong , Xiong Min , Han Wenling , Xie Wei
Published: May 2024

Background

Cervical cancer (CC), closely linked to persistent human papillomavirus infection, represents a major health problem for women worldwide. The objective of this study is to elucidate KIF23's role in the development of CC and its regulatory mechanism.

Methods

The bioinformatics methods were utilized to extract pyroptosis‐associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and pivot genes from the GSE9750 and GSE63678 datasets, followed by immune infiltration analysis and quantification of these genes' expression. The effects of kinesin family member 23 (KIF23) were verified through functional experiments in vitro and a mouse xenograft model. The NLPR3 activator, nigericin, was applied for further analyzing the potential regulatory mechanism of KIF23 in CC.

Results

A total of 8 pyroptosis‐related DEGs were screened out, among which 4 candidate core genes were identified as candidate hub genes and confirmed upregulation in CC tissues and cells. These genes respectively showed a positive correlation with the infiltration of distinct immune cells or tumor purity. Downregulation of KIF23 could suppress the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities in CC cells and tumorigenesis through enhancing pyroptosis. Conversely, KIF23 overexpression accelerated the malignant phenotypes of CC cells and inhibited pyroptosis activation, which was blocked by nigericin treatment.

Conclusions

KIF23 may play an oncogenic role in CC progression via inhibition of the NLRP3‐mediated pyroptosis pathway.
Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 upregulation in urinary extracellular vesicles from proximal tubules of type 2 diabetic rats
Authors: Sei Haruka , Hirade Naoya , Kamiya Kohei , Nakashima Fumie , Yoshitake Jun , Kano Keiko , Mishiro‐Sato Emi , Kikuchi Ryosuke , Uchida Koji , Shibata Takahiro
Published: May 2024

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major cause of chronic kidney disease. Microalbuminuria is currently the most common non‐invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of DN. However, renal structural damage may have advanced when albuminuria is detected. In this study, we sought biomarkers for early DN diagnosis through proteomic analysis of urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) from type 2 diabetic model rats and normal controls. Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) was significantly increased in uEVs from diabetic model rats at the early stage despite minimal differences in albuminuria between the groups. Calorie restriction significantly suppressed the increase in IDH1 in uEVs and 24‐hour urinary albumin excretion, suggesting that the increase in IDH1 in uEVs was associated with the progression of DN. Additionally, we investigated the origin of IDH1‐containing uEVs based on their surface sugar chains. Lectin affinity enrichment and immunohistochemical staining showed that IDH1‐containing uEVs were derived from proximal tubules. These findings suggest that the increase in IDH1 in uEVs reflects pathophysiological alterations in the proximal tubules and that IDH1 in uEVs may serve as a potential biomarker of DN in the proximal tubules.
Melatonin suppresses atherosclerosis by ferroptosis inhibition via activating NRF2 pathway
Authors: Tao Yangyang , Zhao Qinglong , Lu Chengbo , Yong Weilin , Xu Mingyuan , Wang Zhuo , Leng Xiaoping
Published: May 2024

Melatonin (MLT), a conserved small indole compound, exhibits anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties, contributing to its cardioprotective effects. Lipoprotein‐associated phospholipase A2 (Lp‐PLA2) is associated with atherosclerosis disease risk, and is known as an atherosclerosis risk biomarker. This study aimed to investigate the impact of MLT on Lp‐PLA2 expression in the atherosclerotic process and explore the underlying mechanisms involved. In vivo, ApoE−/− mice were fed a high‐fat diet, with or without MLT administration, after which the plaque area and collagen content were assessed. Macrophages were pretreated with MLT combined with ox‐LDL, and the levels of ferroptosis‐related proteins, NRF2 activation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress were measured. MLT administration significantly attenuated atherosclerotic plaque progression, as evidenced by decreased plaque area and increased collagen. Compared with those in the high‐fat diet (HD) group, the levels of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and SLC7A11 (xCT, a cystine/glutamate transporter) in atherosclerotic root macrophages were significantly increased in the MLT group. In vitro, MLT activated the nuclear factor‐E2‐related Factor 2 (NRF2)/SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway, enhancing antioxidant capacity while reducing lipid peroxidation and suppressing Lp‐PLA2 expression in macrophages. Moreover, MLT reversed ox‐LDL‐induced ferroptosis, through the use of ferrostatin‐1 (a ferroptosis inhibitor) and/or erastin (a ferroptosis activator). Furthermore, the protective effects of MLT on Lp‐PLA2 expression, antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, and ferroptosis were decreased in ML385 (a specific NRF2 inhibitor)‐treated macrophages and in AAV‐sh‐NRF2 treated ApoE−/− mice. MLT suppresses Lp‐PLA2 expression and atherosclerosis processes by inhibiting macrophage ferroptosis and partially activating the NRF2 pathway.
A History of Teen Pregnancy Is Associated with Early Death in Women
Authors: Roush Karen
Published: May 2024

Adverse childhood experiences are likely risk factors.
Gastroenterology/Endoscopy Nursing
Authors: Dauz Eileen R.
Published: May 2024

These nurses focus on the care of patients with gastrointestinal issues.
The Transformative Experience of a Personal Health Crisis
Authors: Sato Hui-wen (Alina)
Published: May 2024

Understanding the true shock of a patient's diagnosis