bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing and Improving Documentation of Pediatric Brain Death Determination within an Electronic Health Record
Authors: Ceneviva Gary , Thomas Neal , Krawiec Conrad
Published: December 2018

Background/Objective Pediatric brain death determination (BDD) can be subject to interprovider variability of documentation, resulting in diagnosis credibility. The aim of this study was to describe our approach to assessing pediatric BDD documentation and documentation variation in the electronic health record (EHR).

Methods This was a single institution cross-sectional review of pediatric patients younger than 18 years determined to meet brain death criteria. We assessed electronic documentation and evaluated for the presence of contributing factors that can interfere with the brain death documentation based on our institutional brain death evaluation policy (core body temperature, systolic blood pressure within an acceptable range, sedative/analgesic drug effects, and neuromuscular blockade).

Results In total, 33 pediatric brain death patients were identified. This review revealed pediatric BDD documentation consistency (n, %) as follows: performance of the first pediatric brain death clinical examination with temperature above 36°C (27, 81.8%), systolic blood pressure above the defined range (29, 87.9%), more than 24 hours following admission (28, 84.8%); performance of the second pediatric brain death clinical examination with temperature above 36°C (32, 97%), more than 12 hours following the first examination (26, 89.7%); and ensuring sedative infusions were discontinued within the recommended cutoff period prior to pediatric BDD (28, 84.8%). Clinical neurologic examinations were fully documented.

Conclusions Pediatric BDD is a rare process subject to documentation omissions and error. Our findings highlight the variability of pediatric BDD electronic documentation among different providers and specialties at our institution. An approach to improving pediatric BDD documentation may start with completing a standardized electronic brain death document.
Effects of electrospinning conditions on microstructural properties of polystyrene fibrous materials
Authors: Yousefi S. H. , Venkateshan D. G. , Tang C. , Tafreshi H. Vahedi , Pourdeyhimi B.
Published: December 2018

The mathematical model developed by Reneker et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 87, 4531 (2000)] and Yarin et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 89(5), 3018–3026 (2001)] for modeling filament formation in electrospinning is combined in this work with the structure generation algorithm of Venkateshan et al. [Mater. Des. 96, 27–35 (2016)] to simulate the effects of electrospinning parameters on microstructural properties (i.e., fiber diameter, thickness, and porosity) of the resulting electrospun materials. The model is calibrated using the experimental data obtained from electrospinning polystyrene (PS) fibers. The computational tool developed in this work allows one to study the effects of electrospinning parameters, such as voltage, needle-to-collector distance (NCD), or PS concentration, on the thickness and porosity of the resulting fibrous materials. For instance, it was shown that increasing the voltage or decreasing the NCD in electrospinning polystyrene results in mats with thicker fibers but smaller dimensionless thickness (or lower porosities), in agreement with experimental observations reported in the literature. In addition to serving as a characterization tool for the electrospun materials, the computational model developed in this work can be used to create accurate representations of the surface morphology or the internal geometry of fibrous materials used in a variety of applications, such as particle filtration or droplet separation.
Lattice models and Monte Carlo methods for simulating DNA origami self-assembly
Authors: Cumberworth Alexander , Reinhardt Aleks , Frenkel Daan
Published: December 2018

The optimal design of DNA origami systems that assemble rapidly and robustly is hampered by the lack of a model for self-assembly that is sufficiently detailed yet computationally tractable. Here, we propose a model for DNA origami that strikes a balance between these two criteria by representing these systems on a lattice at the level of binding domains. The free energy of hybridization between individual binding domains is estimated with a nearest-neighbour model. Double helical segments are treated as being rigid, but we allow flexibility at points where the backbone of one of the strands is interrupted, which provides a reasonably realistic representation of partially and fully assembled states. Particular attention is paid to the constraints imposed by the double helical twist, as they determine where strand crossovers between adjacent helices can occur. To improve the efficiency of sampling configuration space, we develop Monte Carlo methods for sampling scaffold conformations in near-assembled states, and we carry out simulations in the grand canonical ensemble, enabling us to avoid considering states with unbound staples. We demonstrate that our model can quickly sample assembled configurations of a small origami design previously studied with the oxDNA model, as well as a design with staples that span longer segments of the scaffold. The sampling ability of our method should allow for good statistics to be obtained when studying the assembly pathways and is suited to investigating, in particular, the effects of design and assembly conditions on these pathways and their resulting final assembled structures.
Water droplet dynamics on a heated nanowire surface
Authors: Auliano M. , Auliano D. , Fernandino M. , Zhang P. , Dorao C. A.
Published: December 2018

When a liquid droplet is deposited onto a heated surface, evaporation occurs. If the temperature of the surface is sufficiently high, bubbles are released from activated nucleation sites, making the heat transfer more efficient. However, if the temperature of the surface is further increased above the Leidenfrost point, a vapour cushion will form underneath the droplet, deteriorating the heat transfer between the surface and the droplet. In this work, we show that patterned Si nanowires can allow shifting the Leidenfrost temperature while maintaining a minimum droplet evaporation lifetime. In particular, it is observed that the Leidenfrost point is reached when the phase-change time scale compared to the wicking time scale becomes dominant. In this situation, the energy of the lift-off process is not sufficient for allowing the droplet to reach a sufficient height from where the droplet can penetrate in the porous surface.
Communication: Becke’s virial exciton model gives accurate charge-transfer excitation energies
Authors: Feng Xibo , Becke Axel D. , Johnson Erin R.
Published: December 2018

First singlet (S1) excitations are of primary importance in the photoluminescence spectra of organic chromophores. However, due to the multi-determinantal nature of the singlet excited states, standard Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (DFT) is not applicable. While linear-response time-dependent DFT is the method of choice for the computation of excitation energies, it fails severely for excitations with charge-transfer character. Becke’s recent virial exciton model [A. D. Becke, J. Chem. Phys. 148, 044112 (2018)] offers a promising solution to employ standard DFT for calculation of the S1 excitation energy in molecular systems. Here, it is shown that the virial exciton model is free of charge-transfer error. It is equally reliable for S1 excitations with significant charge-transfer character as for other classes of transitions.
New nanocomposite based on hydrogel and silver nanowires shows promise for wearables
Authors: Kim Meeri
Published: December 2018

Researchers create a metal-hydrogel nanocomposite with high electrical conductivity that could be used for flexible, stretchable electrodes in wearable devices.
Potential solutions to the major greenhouse-gas issues facing Australasian dairy farming
Authors: Eckard R. J. , Clark H.
Published: December 2018

The Australasian dairy industry is facing the dual challenges of increasing productivity, while also reducing its emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) methane and nitrous oxide. Following the COP21 Paris Agreement, all sectors of the economy will be expected to contribute to GHG abatement. Enteric methane is the major source of GHG emissions from dairy production systems (>70%), followed by nitrous oxide (13%) and methane (12%) from animal waste, with nitrogen (N)-fertiliser use contributing ~3.5% of total on-farm non-carbon dioxide equivalent (non-CO2e) emissions. Research on reducing methane emissions from dairy cattle has focussed on feeding dietary supplements (e.g. tannins, dietary oils and wheat), rumen modification (e.g. vaccine, inhibitors), breeding and animal management. Research on reducing nitrous oxide emissions has focussed on improving N fertiliser efficiency and reducing urinary N loss. Profitable options for significant abatement on farm are still limited, with the industry focusing instead on improving production efficiency, while reducing emission intensity (t CO2e/t product). Absolute emission reduction will become an imperative as the world moves towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and, thus, a priority for research. However, even with implementation of best-practice abatement, it is likely that some residual emissions will remain in the foreseeable future. The soil organic carbon content of dairy soils under well fertilised, high-rainfall or irrigated permanent pastures are already high, therefore limiting the potential for further soil carbon sequestration as an offset against these residual emissions. The Australasian dairy industry will, therefore, also need to consider how these residual emissions will be offset through carbon sequestration mainly in trees and, to a more limited extent, increasing soil organic carbon.
Establishing plantain in spring in existing perennial ryegrass pastures in northern Tasmania
Authors: Raedts Pieter , Langworthy Adam
Published: December 2018

Research has shown advantages of including plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) in grazed perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)-based dairy pastures. Plantain is typically established in dairy pastures during paddock renovation, and included in a mixture with perennial ryegrass. While perennial ryegrass can persist for years, even decades, plantain plant numbers and productivity decline within a few years of establishment. Maintaining the advantage of plantain requires frequent re-establishment. The current research tested the efficacy of two sowing methods (direct-drilling and broadcasting) and three sowing rates (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 kg of seed/ha) for establishing plantain in existing irrigated perennial ryegrass pastures. Research was conducted on five dairy farms in northern Tasmania, Australia. Sowing occurred in mid-spring 2017, immediately after paddocks were grazed. Plantain establishment was monitored until early autumn 2018. Paddocks were managed as per normal farm practice, resulting in plantain being first grazed ~4 weeks post-sowing, before plants had developed to the recommended minimum six-leaf stage. Dry weather, timing of first grazing after sowing and insect burden challenged plantain establishment. However, both direct drilling and broadcasting were shown to successfully establish plantain into existing perennial ryegrass pastures.
The decay of western liberalism and the christological alternative: a reply to Ben Wood
Authors: Graham Elaine
Published: December 2018

The rise of populist politics presents a range of challenges for the future of democracy. The religious dimensions of populism merit further investigation, not least insofar as appeals to ‘Christian identity’ feature within right-wing, nationalist rhetoric. Theological discourse needs to critique such a misappropriation of Christian discourse both in theory and in practice. First, it must substitute associations of Christianity with exclusive and fixed accounts of ‘the people’ with alternative accounts of the body of Christ as knowing no boundaries. Second, it must be countered by practical, public demonstrations of the churches as communities of practice that embody values of openness, inclusion and hospitality.
Cauchy-Davenport Theorem for abelian groups and diagonal congruences
Authors: Cochrane Todd , Ostergaard Misty , Spencer Craig
Published: December 2018

We prove an analogue of the Cauchy-Davenport Theorem and Chowla’s Theorem for sum sets in a general abelian group and give an application to diagonal congruences, establishing a best possible estimate for the distribution of solutions of a diagonal congruence

∑

i
=
1

n

a
i

x
i
k

≡
c

(
mod

q
)

\sum _{i=1}^n a_ix_i^k \equiv c \pmod q

with an arbitrary modulus.
Interpolation of sublinear operators which map into Riesz spaces and applications
Authors: Ho Kwok-Pun
Published: December 2018

We establish an interpolation result for sublinear operators which map into Riesz spaces. This result applies to all interpolation functors including the real interpolation and the complex interpolation. One component of our proof which may be of independent interest is the perhaps already known fact that the generalized versions of the Hahn-Banach theorem due to L. V. Kantorovich and M. M. Day also hold for complex vector spaces.
Simplicial complexes of small codimension
Authors: Varbaro Matteo , Zaare-Nahandi Rahim
Published: December 2018

We show that

CM

t

\textrm {CM}_t

simplicial complexes, a notion generalizing Buchsbaum-ness, of small codimension must have large depth, proving more precise results in the codimension 2 case. In the paper, we show that the

CM

t

\textrm {CM}_t

property is a topological invariant of a simplicial complex.
Counterpoint: Mediation Formulas With Binary Mediators and Outcomes and the “Rare Outcome Assumption”
Authors: VanderWeele Tyler J , Valeri Linda , Ananth Cande V
Published: December 2018

In their accompanying article, Samoilenko and Lefebvre (Am J Epidemiol. 2019;188(7):1203–1205) correctly note 2 typographical errors in the formulas presented in a 2011 paper on placental abruption by Ananth and VanderWeele (Am J Epidemiol. 2011;174(1):99–108). Fortunately, to the best of our knowledge, researchers are using our methods papers and Dr. VanderWeele’s 2015 book on mediation analysis (Explanation in Causal Inference; Oxford University Press, New York, New York), rather than the paper on placental abruption, to carry out their direct and indirect effect analyses; and in our methods papers and the book, the formulas are correct. The formulas discussed by Samoilenko and Lefebvre and in our work make reference to a “rare outcome assumption.” In evaluating this assumption, it is important to note that the outcome is to be relatively rare across all strata defined by the exposure and the mediator—a point that is often neglected.
Clinical trials, progression-speed differentiating features and swiftness rule of the innovative targets of first-in-class drugs
Authors: Li Ying Hong , Li Xiao Xu , Hong Jia Jun , Wang Yun Xia , Fu Jian Bo , Yang Hong , Yu Chun Yan , Li Feng Cheng , Hu Jie , Xue Wei Wei , Jiang Yu Yang , Chen Yu Zong , Zhu Feng
Published: December 2018

Drugs produce their therapeutic effects by modulating specific targets, and there are 89 innovative targets of first-in-class drugs approved in 2004–17, each with information about drug clinical trial dated back to 1984. Analysis of the clinical trial timelines of these targets may reveal the trial-speed differentiating features for facilitating target assessment. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of all these 89 targets, following the earlier studies for prospective prediction of clinical success of the targets of clinical trial drugs. Our analysis confirmed the literature-reported common druggability characteristics for clinical success of these innovative targets, exposed trial-speed differentiating features associated to the on-target and off-target collateral effects in humans and further revealed a simple rule for identifying the speedy human targets through clinical trials (from the earliest phase I to the 1st drug approval within 8 years). This simple rule correctly identified 75.0% of the 28 speedy human targets and only unexpectedly misclassified 13.2% of 53 non-speedy human targets. Certain extraordinary circumstances were also discovered to likely contribute to the misclassification of some human targets by this simple rule. Investigation and knowledge of trial-speed differentiating features enable prioritized drug discovery and development.
PconsC4: fast, accurate and hassle-free contact predictions
Authors: Michel Mirco , Menéndez Hurtado David , Elofsson Arne
Published: December 2018

Motivation

Residue contact prediction was revolutionized recently by the introduction of direct coupling analysis (DCA). Further improvements, in particular for small families, have been obtained by the combination of DCA and deep learning methods. However, existing deep learning contact prediction methods often rely on a number of external programs and are therefore computationally expensive.

Results

Here, we introduce a novel contact predictor, PconsC4, which performs on par with state of the art methods. PconsC4 is heavily optimized, does not use any external programs and therefore is significantly faster and easier to use than other methods.

Availability and implementation

PconsC4 is freely available under the GPL license from https://github.com/ElofssonLab/PconsC4. Installation is easy using the pip command and works on any system with Python 3.5 or later and a GCC compiler. It does not require a GPU nor special hardware.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Operative outcome of patients at low, intermediate, high and ‘very high’ surgical risk undergoing isolated aortic valve replacement with sutureless and rapid deployment prostheses: results of the SURD-IR registry
Authors: Santarpino Giuseppe , Berretta Paolo , Fischlein Theodor , Carrel Thierry P , Teoh Kevin , Misfeld Martin , Savini Carlo , Kappert Utz , Glauber Mattia , Villa Emmanuel , Meuris Bart , Mignosa Carmelo , Albertini Alberto , Martinelli Gianluca , Folliguet Thierry A , Shrestha Malak , Solinas Marco , Laufer Günther , Phan Kevin , Yan Tristan , Di Eusanio Marco
Published: December 2018

OBJECTIVES

The ideal strategy for the treatment of severe aortic valve stenosis in patients of varying risk categories has become a debated topic in the last years: should the transcatheter or surgical approach be adopted? The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of low-, intermediate-, high- and very high-risk patients undergoing sutureless, rapid deployment aortic valve replacement.

METHODS

From 2007 to 2017, data on a total of 3651 patients were collected from the Sutureless and Rapid Deployment Aortic Valve Replacement International Registry (SURD-IR). Of these, 2057 patients who underwent primary isolated aortic valve replacement were considered for this analysis and classified as being at low (EuroSCORE <5; n = 500), intermediate (EuroSCORE 5–10; n = 901), high (EuroSCORE 11–20; n = 500) and very high (EuroSCORE >20; n = 156) preoperative risk.

RESULTS

Overall, a less invasive approach was used in 74.1% of patients and represented the most frequent (>50%) approach in all risk categories. The Perceval prosthesis was used more frequently than other devices, especially in patients at high and very high risk. Hospital mortality was 1.6%, 0.8%, 1.9% and 2.7% in low-, intermediate-, high- and very high-risk patients, respectively, with no significant differences among subgroups. Similarly, postoperative complication rates were similar across the different risk categories.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgical aortic valve replacement using sutureless, rapid deployment biological valve prostheses is associated with excellent results and represents a safe and effective treatment option for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis. This seems to be particularly true in patients with a higher risk profile.
The role of demographic and behavioural change for the long-term decline in daily smoking in Norway
Authors: Vedøy Tord F
Published: December 2018

Background

The aim of this paper was to compare the effects of demography (population aging and the increasing fraction of tertiary educated) and behaviour (intra-cohort ageing and inter-cohort change) on long-term change in the fraction of daily smokers (FrS), using a counterfactual framework.

Methods

Using aggregated data on smoking prevalence, education and population size from Norway 1978 to 2017, the probabilities of smoking for men and women were calculated using a pseudo-panel approach. From these estimates, four counterfactual scenarios of FrS were constructed by holding the age effect, the cohort effect and the distribution of age and education constant over time.

Results

FrS decreased from 45 to 14% among men, and from 33 to 14% among women over the study period. Holding the age distribution constant did not have any substantial effect on FrS. Holding the distribution of education constant led to a five percentage points increase in FrS among women, but not among men. In the case of no intra-cohort ageing, FrS would have been 11/12 percentage points higher among women/men. The corresponding figures for no inter-cohort change were 13 points for women and 27 points for men.

Conclusions

If the age distribution had remained stable over time, FrS would have been almost identical to the current level. In contrast, if smoking behaviour had remained stable over the life course or between birth cohorts, FrS would have been substantially higher than it is today. These results highlight the large cumulative effect of reducing smoking uptake in successive cohorts.
Novel canine anti-Coccidioides immunoglobulin G enzyme immunoassay aids in diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in dogs
Authors: Holbrook Eric D , Greene Russell T , Rubin Stanley I , Renschler Janelle S , Book Bradley P , Hanzlicek Andrew S , Durkin Michelle M , Smedema Melinda L , Wheat L Joseph
Published: December 2018

The diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis (CM) in dogs is typically based on clinical presentation, serology, and (less frequently) spherule identification. Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) is the most commonly employed serological method, but AGID is slow (requiring up to a week for titer). A Coccidioides antigen enzyme immunoassay (EIA) is also available; however, sensitivity is low in CM dogs. An antibody EIA was developed to detect canine immunoglobulin G (IgG) reacting to Coccidioides antigens. Serum was evaluated from dogs with pathology proven CM and/or AGID positive CM, as well as dogs with histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, non-fungal infections, or healthy dogs. A standard curve was used to convert optical density (OD) values into EIA units (EU). Serum and urine samples from CM dogs were also tested in the antigen EIA. Sensitivity and specificity for IgG were 89.2% and 97.2%, respectively, upon evaluation of dogs with proven or probable CM and control dogs. Cross-reactivity was observed in 7.7% and in 6.4% of dogs with histoplasmosis or blastomycosis, respectively. The antigen EIA alone was insensitive (33.8%). Combined IgG and antigen testing increased sensitivity to 93.2%, as three dogs were IgG-negative but had detectable serum or urine antigen. In 22 dogs with proven CM, sensitivity was statistically similar for antibody EIA and AGID (86% and 73%; P = .487). The MiraVista® canine Coccidioides antibody IgG EIA may aid in the diagnosis of CM by improving turnaround time with comparable sensitivity to AGID. Serial or concurrent testing by antibody and antigen EIAs may be beneficial when screening dogs for CM.
Influence of the microbiota on epigenetics in colorectal cancer
Authors: Sun Danfeng , Chen Yingxuan , Fang Jing-Yuan
Published: December 2018

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies and is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Generally, there are three categories of colorectal cancer development mechanism—genetic, epigenetic and aberrant immunological signaling pathways—all of which may be initiated by an imbalanced gut microbiota. Epigenetic modifications enable host cells to change gene expression without modifying the gene sequence. The microbiota can interact with the host genome dynamically through the interface presented by epigenetic modifications. In particular, bacterially derived short-chain fatty acids have been identified as one clear link in the interaction of the microbiota with host epigenetic pathways. This review discusses recent findings relating to the cross talk between the microbiota and epigenetic modifications in colorectal cancer.
Two-Stage Revascularization and Clip Reconstruction of a Giant Ophthalmic Artery Aneurysm: 3-Dimensional Operative Video
Authors: Gandhi Sirin , Mascitelli Justin R , Zhao Xiaochun , Chen Tsinsue , Hardesty Douglas A , Wright Ernest J , Lawton Michael T
Published: December 2018

Ophthalmic segment aneurysms (OSAs) are technically challenging lesions with a wide-neck morphology and proximity to the optic nerve. Revascularization and aneurysm trapping are occasionally needed to manage unclippable OSAs. Microsurgical treatment requires anterior clinoidectomy, optic strut drilling, and proximal/distal dural ring dissection for adequate exposure. This video demonstrates a two-stage revascularization and clip reconstruction of an OSA. A 62-yr-old woman was presented, with acute-onset expressive aphasia, right hemineglect, and hemiparesis. Neuroimaging revealed a partially thrombosed giant OSA measuring 2.5 × 2.3 cm2. Patient consent was obtained for bypassing, trapping, and decompressing the aneurysm. A pterional craniotomy was performed and an external carotid artery – radial artery graft – middle cerebral artery bypass was performed. The aneurysm was proximally occluded with a permanent clip on the clinoidal internal carotid artery (ICA). Adherence of the distal supraclinoid ICA to the aneurysm wall did not allow for aneurysm trapping. On postoperative day 8, the patient experienced acute mental status decline due to a frontal intraparenchymal hemorrhage. The aneurysm was trapped in a second surgery to occlude persistent retrograde aneurysm filling. The aneurysm sac was circumferentially dissected with temporary parent artery trapping. The OSA was opened and thrombectomized using an ultrasonic aspirator followed by trapping clip application. Postoperatively, the patient gradually returned to neurological baseline with minimal expressive aphasia. Although OSAs are preferentially treated with flow diversion, giant OSAs with significant mass effect may necessitate microsurgical clipping or trapping with decompressive thrombectomy. This case demonstrates that proximal clip occlusion may not be sufficient for aneurysm thrombosis and rupture prevention.

Used with permission from Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.
World-Centered Value
Authors: Dreier Jamie
Published: December 2018

This chapter deals with the concept “world-centered value” which seems to be a natural extension of some concepts that already exist in ethical theory and also seems useful for understanding some confusing ideas (about the representation of prohibition dilemmas or about apparent failures of transitivity of “better than”) in the work of other philosophers. The chapter explains that concept and employs it to explicate the confusing ideas. If the concept makes sense, and if it can be useful in understanding the ideas by placing them in the consequentialist framework, then world-centered value earns its keep and should find a place next to agent-centered and time-centered value in the ethical theorist’s toolbox.
Consequentialism and Coordination
Authors: Portmore Douglas W.
Published: December 2018

Sometimes, whether your X-ing will have good consequences depends on whether you or someone else is going to Y. This chapter argues that in such instances, what’s important in determining whether you should X is whether you have control over Y’s occurrence, and that in the relevant sense of ‘control’, agents have just as much control over whether they will nonvoluntarily form various attitudes (e.g., beliefs, desires, and intentions) as they do over whether they will voluntarily perform various actions. Therefore, consequentialists should be concerned not only with an agent’s voluntary actions but also with her nonvoluntary attitudes. Indeed, consequentialists should hold that whether an agent ought to perform some future act depends on whether she would perform that future act if she were now to form and perform all the acts and attitudes that she is required to form and perform.
Fittingness Objections to Consequentialism
Authors: Chappell Richard Yetter
Published: December 2018

New work in the foundations of ethics—extending the fitting attitudes analysis of value to yield a broader notion of normative fittingness as a fundamental normative concept—provides us with the resources to clarify and renew the force of traditional character-based objections to consequentialism. According to these revamped fittingness objections, a moral theory (e.g., consequentialism) has implications for what will qualify as fitting attitudes, and as a morally fitting psychology more broadly. If a theory’s implications regarding the fittingness facts are implausible, then this can be taken to cast doubt on the truth of the theory. After clarifying the general structure of fittingness objections, and clearly establishing how they can make character-based concerns relevant to our assessment of the truth of a moral theory like consequentialism, the chapter surveys some paradigmatic fittingness objections, showing how consequentialism can be defended against them.
Consequentialism, Rationality, and Kantian Respect
Authors: Henning Tim
Published: December 2018

Arguments for moral consequentialism often appeal to an alleged structural similarity between consequentialist reasoning in ethics and rational decision-making in everyday life. Ordinary rational decision-making is seen as a paradigmatic case of goal-oriented, teleological decision-making, since it allegedly aims at maximizing the goal of preference satisfaction. This chapter describes and discusses a neglected type of preference change, “predictable preference accommodation.” This phenomenon leads to a number of critical cases in which the rationality of a particular choice does not depend on features of the outcome of the chosen act. On the basis of these cases, it is argued that consequentialists cannot point to everyday decision-making as an uncontroversial example of consequentialist reasoning. On the contrary, it is suggested that an adequate account of rationality in prudential choice may need a Kantian notion of respect.
Criminal Law as Public Law I
Authors: Chiao Vincent
Published: December 2018

This chapter sketches the gradual emergence of criminal law as public law over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as public institutions gradually asserted control over most aspects of the criminal process. The emergence of criminal law as public law is compared to the development of the welfare state in the early decades of the twentieth century. Public institutions collectively manage the risk of crime, in part by mobilizing practices of policing, prosecution, and punishment. They represent a social commitment to treating crime as a publicly shared burden rather than merely a privately borne tragedy. The emergence of criminal law as public law suggests that, rather than understanding crime and punishment by reference to the rights of individual persons in the state of nature, a normative theory of criminal law should be appropriately sensitive to the institutional morality and political legitimacy of public institutions.
Formalism and Pragmatism in Criminal Procedure
Authors: Chiao Vincent
Published: December 2018

Many jurisdictions define a special procedural regime for people facing “criminal” charges; hence, whether a case is considered “civil” or “criminal” can have important consequences for access to a wide array of procedural rights. Conventionally, the distinction between “civil” and “criminal” law is drawn by reference to whether the law in question is intended to be punitive. This chapter explores an alternative approach. Drawing upon the capabilities approach literature, this chapter develops an account of the allocation of procedural rights on the basis of whether the law in question has the potential to impair effective access to central capability. The appeal of the capabilities approach is contrasted to Kolber’s proposal to index punishment by reference to subjective utility or preference. Although appeal to capabilities is novel in this context, well-known features of due process analysis in American constitutional law are broadly consistent with a capabilities-based approach to rights allocation.
Good Shepherd, Bumpkin Shepherd
Authors: Goldberg K. Meira
Published: December 2018

In Christmas pageants staged throughout the Spanish Empire, the pastor bobo (foolish shepherd) asked rude and impertinent questions, making Christian doctrine comprehensible to the humblest audiences. The bobo’s comic confusion—Will he or won’t he see the light of Christ?—was danced with obscene gambols and cacophonous footwork, manifesting the perilous invisible stain of impure blood. Yet these sharp-tongued dramatizations of redemption simultaneously undermined the determinative dogma of blood purity which governed Spanish society. Aristocrats thus asserted their status, enacting the post-epiphany bobo by refining transgressive gambols into virtuosic caprioles. Ironically, eighteenth-century Spaniards adopted the imaginary Gitano—an outlaw Other which inherits the bobo’s dramatic narrative of redemption—as a national symbol. Spain’s identification with this figure, often described euphemistically as a proto-romantic “orientalization,” is in fact a racialized downgrade. With the advent of the fandango, Spain, reduced to performing itself for tourists, came to dance Blackness for Europe.
Nonsense of the Body
Authors: Goldberg K. Meira
Published: December 2018

Three blackface clowns of the nascent United States dramatize humanist individuation and Enlightenment egalitarianism—alongside the racist ideas justifying slavery. “Mungo,” from Bickerstaff’s The Padlock (1768), like the Spanish Mingo, speaks impertinences to power. “Harlequin Friday,” from Sheridan’s Robinson Crusoe, or Harlequin Friday (1781) performs daring feats in blackface. These two share an essential ability to become: the bobo may find redemption in Christ, while Harlequin Friday can magically transform himself. But in Thomas Dartmouth Rice’s early-1830s “Jim Crow,” Spanish imperialist ideas about slavery—that, despite black lineage, Christian redemption was possible—were stripped away in favor of the racist ideology leaving “Jim Crow,” as demanded by white slave society, permanently broken, an existentially “happy slave.” Nonetheless, “Jim Crow’s” devilish jumping and raucous footwork still embody power, virtuosity, and veiled dissent, confounding this character’s supposed inevitability and “morality”—and also the idea that slavery ever succeeded in silencing its victims.
Performing Scholarship for the Paris Opéra
Authors: Dorf Samuel N.
Published: December 2018

This chapter examines an opera based on an ancient Greek subject created by two scholars of ancient Greek music, dance, and history: Maurice Emmanuel, a composer, musicologist, and dance historian specializing in ancient Greek music and dance, and Théodore Reinach, a librettist, archaeologist, musicologist, classicist, and numismatician. It begins by outlining and critiquing Emmanuel’s relevant scholarly contributions to the reconstruction of ancient Greek dance and contributions to musicology. It then demonstrates how tensions between conflicting trends manifested in the 1929 production of Emmanuel’s opera Salamine, with choreography by Nicola Guerra and a libretto by Théodore Reinach based on Aeschylus’s The Persians. During this time the Opéra had a eurhythmic dance section, a style that Emmanuel and critics such as André Levinson viewed with skepticism. In contrast to the Greek inspirations of Duncanism, Delsartism, and eurhythmics, Levinson used Emmanuel’s research to argue that classical ballet was the true inheritor of the ancient Greek tradition. Exploring Emmanuel’s aesthetics of dance (ancient and modern) affords a unique opportunity to see how these creative media were theorized and practiced during the eurhythmic years, while illustrating some of the conflicts between abstract and embodied knowledge.
The Complex Story of Simplicity
Authors: Achinstein Peter
Published: December 2018

Both Newton and Einstein claim that nature is simple and that simplicity is an epistemic guide to truth. This chapter examines various arguments for these claims, including that, historically, simpler theories have been more empirically successful than complex ones; that the epistemic value of simplicity can be demonstrated by appeal to Bayes’s probability theorem; and that simpler strategies for changing one’s beliefs in the light of new evidence can be shown to be more successful than complex ones. It is concluded that none of these arguments shows that nature is simple or that simplicity is an epistemic virtue.
The Fall of Orchard Park, the Rise of Orchard Gardens
Authors: Vale Lawrence J.
Published: December 2018

Chapter 7 describes the harrowing decline of Orchard Park during the late 1980s and early 1990s and then traces the resident-centered successful effort to transform Orchard Park into Orchard Gardens using the HOPE VI program. When HOPE VI funds became available in the 1990s, activist Boston citizens—prominently including Orchard Park Tenants Association chairwoman Edna Bynoe—had every reason to assume that public housing transformation would overwhelmingly serve those with the lowest incomes. HOPE VI, Boston-style, was co-led by a neighborhood-based not-for-profit developer and featured prominent resident input. Orchard Gardens allocated 85 percent of dwellings to public housing residents, while enabling 70 percent of former Orchard Park households to return. The new community, under well-regarded private management, also positively impacted the surrounding neighborhood by providing infill housing, as well as community facilities, including a new school. Boston continued to emphasize housing for very low-income households in subsequent HOPE VI initiatives.
Moving Otherwise
Authors: Fortuna Victoria
Published: December 2018

Moving Otherwise examines how contemporary dance practices in Buenos Aires, Argentina, enacted politics within climates of political and economic violence from the mid-1960s to the mid-2010s. From the repression of military dictatorships to the precarity of economic crises, contemporary dancers and audiences consistently responded to and reimagined the everyday choreographies that have accompanied Argentina’s volatile political history. The central concept, “moving otherwise,” names how concert dance—and its offstage practice and consumption—offers alternatives to, and sometimes critiques, the patterns of movement and bodily comportment that shape everyday life in contexts marked by violence. Drawing on archival research, interviews, and the author’s embodied experiences as a collaborator and performer, the book analyzes a wide range of practices including concert works, community dance initiatives, and the everyday labor that animates dance. It demonstrates how these diverse practices represent, resist, and remember violence, and engender social mobilization on and off the theatrical stage. As the first book-length critical study of Argentine contemporary dance, it introduces a breadth of choreographers to an English speaking audience, including Ana Kamien, Susana Zimmermann, Estela Maris, Alejandro Cervera, Renate Schottelius, Susana Tambutti, Silvia Hodgers, and Silvia Vladimivsky. It considers previously undocumented aspects of Argentine dance history, including interactions among contemporary dancers and 1970s leftist political militancy, Argentine dance labor movements, political protest, and the prominence of tango themes in contemporary dance works that address the memory of political violence. Contemporary dance, the book demonstrates, has a rich and diverse history of political engagement in Argentina.
Epilogue
Authors: Fortuna Victoria
Published: December 2018

The epilogue examines the 2011 human rights march in Buenos Aires on the National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice (Día Nacional de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia), the anniversary of the start of the last military dictatorship (1976–83). It analyzes the author’s participation with Oduduwá Danza Afroamericana (Oduduwá Afro-American Dance), a group that brought together scores of volunteers to perform choreography based in Orishá dance. Orishá dance’s Yoruban origins and connection to the African diaspora made it an unexpected addition to the demonstration given the construction of Argentina as exceptionally white among Latin American nations. The group strove to connect Orishá dance’s link to the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade with Argentina’s history of political disappearance, as well as the country’s own violence against Afro-Argentines. Oduduwá’s project reiterates the importance of dance as both a political practice and one linked to memory.
Democratic Innovation in K-12 Education
Authors: Dzur Albert W.
Published: December 2018

Civic engagement and service learning are now part of mainstream American education, but such programs are normally embedded in hierarchical, rule-bound, and inegalitarian institutions. Even while called to service outside, most students are excluded from meaningfully shaping the social environment inside their schools. This chapter examines schools embracing a different model. Democratic schools involve students in curriculum design, teaching, and institutional governance. Regular all-school advisory meetings, student-led inquiry, peer juries, and other forms of participatory conflict resolution are common in these schools. Historically linked to progressive education reforms and to student power efforts in the 1960s, contemporary democratic innovators in mainstream K-12 education are motivated by three factors seen as under threat: professional identity, academic engagement, and genuine civic education. Drawing on interviews with teachers and principals working in democratic schools across different regions, this chapter describes barriers to growth as well as available resources for sustaining long-term reform.
Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts
Authors: Avi Astor Ron , Benbenisthty Rami
Published: December 2018

Since 2005, the bullying, school violence, and school safety literatures have expanded dramatically in content, disciplines, and empirical studies. However, with this massive expansion of research, there is also a surprising lack of theoretical and empirical direction to guide efforts on how to advance our basic science and practical applications of this growing scientific area of interest. Parallel to this surge in interest, cultural norms, media coverage, and policies to address school safety and bullying have evolved at a remarkably quick pace over the past 13 years. For example, behaviors and populations that just a decade ago were not included in the school violence, bullying, and school safety discourse are now accepted areas of inquiry. These include, for instance, cyberbullying, sexting, social media shaming, teacher–student and student–teacher bullying, sexual harassment and assault, homicide, and suicide. Populations in schools not previously explored, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and educators and military- and veteran-connected students, become the foci of new research, policies, and programs. As a result, all US states and most industrialized countries now have a complex quilt of new school safety and bullying legislation and policies. Large-scale research and intervention funding programs are often linked to these policies. This book suggests an empirically driven unifying model that brings together these previously distinct literatures. This book presents an ecological model of school violence, bullying, and safety in evolving contexts that integrates all we have learned in the 13 years, and suggests ways to move forward.
Variations and Similarities in School Victimization
Authors: Avi Astor Ron , Benbenishty Rami
Published: December 2018

This chapter examines which patterns of victimization are universal and shared by many groups and in multiple contexts and which are more unique to groups or contexts. The chapter distinguishes among base rates (i.e., the prevalence of victimization types) and structures of victimization. It suggests that although base rates of victimization types may vary significantly among different contexts, structural patterns may be much more similar across contexts. The chapter suggests that are multiple ways to address structures of victimization. For example, will the prevalence of being humiliated by a peer always be higher than being pushed or shoved? Are verbal and physical types of victimization correlated in the same ways in different countries? Will latent class analyses reveal the same profiles of students in different countries? cultures? Are poverty, sexual minority status, school climate, and teacher support associated with victimization in the same way in different countries?
Introduction
Authors: Westbrook Donald
Published: December 2018

This chapter introduces the methods and means by which historical, sociological, and theological research was conducted. Moving beyond debates over the nature of “religion” versus “sect” and “cult,” an approach is introduced that privileges the religious self-understandings of Church of Scientology members, who have been marginal players in the secondary literature. As such, the religious agents—Scientologists themselves—are allowed space to express themselves on their own terms and in their own words, while recognizing that other narratives and counternarratives exist. The chapter addresses methodological risks and rewards in the academic study of Scientology and describes how access to the Church of Scientology was gained, which led to fieldwork and sixty-nine formal interviews over a period of six years. Chapter summaries for the remainder of the volume are provided.
Artificial Color
Authors: Keyser Catherine
Published: December 2018

In the early twentieth century, US writers looked at modern food—its global geographies, its nutritional theories, and its technological innovations—and saw not merely the incursion of industry and the threat of adulteration but an imaginative possibility. Fiction of the 1920s and 1930s represented food systems and used alimentary metaphors to unsettle the bases of racial classification and white supremacy. Dietetics played a key role in so-called race science, which blamed industrial food for Nordic degeneration and looked to euthenics, the study of nutrition and environment, to fix broken modern bodies that were insufficiently white. Thus, the dreams of new bodies and new categories expressed in this literature constituted a radical response to the political and nutritional theories of this cultural moment. For Jean Toomer and George Schuyler, both frustrated by the stigma of blackness in a segregated society, food technologies represented an opportunity to invent a new race or to renovate an old one. For F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway, enmeshment in the food system revealed that whiteness could not embody the purity that was supposedly its hallmark. In the Great Depression and thereafter, Zora Neale Hurston and Dorothy West indicted racist social structures and used food to interrogate the boundaries of the human. In a time of segregation, nativism, and Fascism, food brought bodies together and spoke of shared pleasure and vulnerability.