bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
55. A RANDOMIZED, MULTICENTER PHASE III TRIAL OF SURGERY PLUS STEREOTACTIC RADIOSURGERY (SRS) COMPARED WITH SURGERY PLUS PERMANENTLY IMPLANTED COLLAGEN TILE BRACHYTHERAPY (CTBT) FOR RESECTABLE METASTATIC BRAIN TUMORS-PROTOCOL IN PROGRESS
Authors: Weinberg Jeffrey , McAleer Mary Frances , Tawbi Hussein , Lang Frederick
Published: August 2020

BACKGROUND

Resection (R) followed by single or multi-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) lowers resection bed recurrence compared to R alone. Nevertheless for larger brain metastasis (>2.5 cm) 12-month recurrence rates after R+SRS can exceed 20–30%. Aiming to improve outcomes, a permanently implanted collagen tile brachytherapy (CTBT) device (GammaTile, GT Medical Technologies, Tempe AZ) utilizing Cs-131 was developed, hypothesizing that immediate adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) and/or RT dose intensification could improve outcomes. The device received FDA clearance for this indication, based on a single-arm pre-commercial study and in early commercial use due to the excellent safety and local control of R+CTBT. It is hypothesized that R+CTBT will increase the time to post-resection-recurrence, while prolonging survival and reducing the impact on functional and neurocognitive status compared to R+SRS.

STUDY DESIGN

Multicenter, randomized, comparison trial. Patients with resectable, previously untreated “index” brain metastases measuring >2.5–5 cm and 0–3 other tumors will be preoperatively randomized 1:1 to undergo either R+ SRS or R+CTBT to the index lesion; unresected tumors in both groups will receive SRS. Planned sample size is 160 from ~5 sites; accrual to start in Q3-2020. Primary endpoint is surgical bed-recurrence free survival. Secondary endpoints include overall survival, quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain, Linear Analog Self-Assessment), neurocognition (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Trail Making Tests, Mini-Mental Status Exam, Controlled Oral Word Association), functional decline (Karnofsky Performance Scale, Barthel-ADL), and adverse events. Follow-up will be at 1,3,6,9, and 12 months, then q 6 months through 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

This will be the first randomized trial comparing R+SRS versus R+CTBT delivered by Cs-131 sources in permanently implanted resorbable collagen tile carriers. Primary and secondary outcome measures will be captured to elucidate the potential risks and benefits of these two differing approaches for patients with metastatic brain tumors.
57. CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS (CTC) IN CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) AS A PREDICTOR OF SURVIVAL IN CNS METASTASES
Authors: Diaz Maria , Singh Priya , Kotchekov Ivan , Skakodub Anna , Reiner Anne , Panageas Katherine , Ramanathan Lakshmi , Pentsova Elena
Published: August 2020

BACKGROUND

CSF-CTC testing using the CellSearch® platform is a validated diagnostic tool for leptomeningeal metastases (LM) from solid tumors. CSF-CTCs can also be detected in patients with brain metastases (BM), but their significance is unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the utility of CSF-CTC measurement in predicting outcomes in CNS metastases.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective single-institution review of patients who underwent CSF-CTC testing from 2016–2019. Information on neuroaxis imaging, CSF results, systemic cancer status, tumor molecular profile and survival was collected. LM was diagnosed by unequivocal MRI findings and/or positive or suspicious CSF cytology. Survival analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards modeling, and CSF-CTC splits associated with survival were identified through recursive partitioning analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 407 patients (38% lung primary, 34% breast, 28% other tumor types) were included; of these, 144 had LM and 233 had BM diagnosed before or around the time of CSF analysis (97 had both). We identified a subgroup of newly diagnosed CNS metastases, comprising 144 patients with LM, BM, or both diagnosed within 30 days of CSF sampling: 70 patients with LM, 43 with BM, and 31 with both. For 101 patients with newly diagnosed LM, mean and median CSF-CTCs were 127.3 and 200, respectively, compared to 44.6 and 0 in the overall cohort; 73/101 had positive (66) or suspicious (7) cytology. CSF-CTCs predicted survival in patients with newly diagnosed LM, with optimal cutoff identified at 61 CSF-CTCs, above which the risk of death doubled (HR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.13–3.87, p=0.02). For this group, positive/suspicious cytology was also associated with higher risk of death, but this result was not statistically significant (HR=1.79, 95% CI: 0.95–3.35, p=0.07).

CONCLUSION

In newly diagnosed LM, quantification of CSF-CTCs predicts survival. CSF-CTC measurement can be used as a prognostic tool in patients with CNS metastases.
65. INVASIVE HISTOPATHOLOGY DRIVES POOR OUTCOMES IN SURGICALLY RESECTED BRAIN METASTASES
Authors: Dankner Matthew , Caron Maxime , Al-Saadi Tariq , Yu WenQing , Ouellet Veronique , Uyen Le Phuong , Ezzeddine Rima , Neubarth Noah , Savage Paul , Zuo Dongmei , Altoukhi Huda , Bourque Guillaume , Ragoussis Jiannis , Diaz Roberto , Park Morag , Guiot Marie-Christine , Lam Stephanie , Petrecca Kevin , Siegel Peter M
Published: August 2020

BACKGROUND

Brain metastasis (BrM) patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy frequently experience local recurrence (LR), leptomeningeal metastasis (LM), and poor overall survival (OS). We sought to correlate the presence of invasive or circumscribed histopathological growth pattern, observed in the BrM lesion and surrounding brain, with these outcomes, and to study molecular mediators of parenchymal invasion.

METHODS

We assessed the HGP of H&E-stained slides from 164 surgically resected BrM from 147 patients. HGP was correlated with incidence of LR, LM and OS. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) was performed on three invasive HGP patients, sampling the metastasis center (MC) and surrounding brain (SB) outside of the contrast-enhancing region. Orthotopic patient-derived xenograft models (OPDX) were established from N=30 brain metastasis via intracranial propagation.

RESULTS

56/164 BrM specimens (34%) showed a circumscribed growth pattern between the tumor and adjacent brain (cHGP) while 108/164 (66%) showed significant invasion of tumor lobules or single cells into the brain parenchyma (iHGP). iHGP was associated with LR, LM and shortened OS in BrM patients. OPDX models of BrM retain features of patient BrM, including HGP. scRNAseq identified abundant cancer cells in SB that overexpressed a number of genes involved in cell survival, invasion and metastasis compared to matched cancer cells in MC. Validation of these targets with immunohistochemistry in patient and OPDX tissues revealed cold-inducible RNA binding protein (CIRBP) overexpression in iHGP patient and OPDX BrM. Modulation of CIRBP expression in OPDX and cell line models of iHGP BrM delayed BrM progression and extended OS.

CONCLUSION

iHGP is a poor prognostic indicator in patients with surgically resected BrM, establishing HGP as an important prognostic factor that should be considered by clinicians treating BrM patients. We identify CIRBP as a functional mediator of this process.
67. INCREASED RISK OF BREAST CANCER BRAIN METASTASIS WITH EGFR AND Ki-67 EXPRESSION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
Authors: Job Arun , Hulsbergen Alexander , Jhun Ray , Jessurun Charissa , Smith Timothy , Broekman Marike
Published: August 2020

PURPOSE

This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify biomarkers associated with breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM).

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane for relevant literature up until October 1, 2018. Case reports, conference abstracts, and expert opinions/letters were excluded. Studies were included if they investigated risk factors for BCBM in a cohort of patients with locoregional or metastatic breast cancer of any subtype.

RESULTS

From the 4866 studies that were screened, 117 were selected for inclusion and review. Twenty-eight unique biomarkers were investigated, of which three (EGFR, Ki-67, and p53) were assessed by more than two authors. In a pooled analysis of 3 studies, EGFR expression was associated with an increased risk of BM (RR 3.48, 95% CI 2.27–5.32, I2=0%, p-interaction = 0.39, n= 571 patients). In a pooled analysis of 5 studies, increased Ki-67 expression was associated with an increased risk of BM (RR 2.91, 95% CI 1.96–4.32, I2=59%, p-interaction = 0.05, n= 1,178). In a pooled analysis of 4 studies, p53 expression was not associated with a statistically significant risk of BM (RR 1.42, 95% CI 0.98–2.06, I2=53%, p-interaction = 0.10, n= 738).

CONCLUSION

This study summarizes the various biomarkers investigated for a role in breast cancer brain metastasis. Two biomarkers, EGFR and Ki-67 were identified as having a statistically significant increased risk of BCBM while p53 was not found to be statistically significant. Future studies are needed to develop more robust prediction models, as well as evaluate the other biomarkers identified in this study, which could help clinicians identify patients at high risk of breast cancer brain metastasis.
69. PERMANENT INTRACAVITARY Cs131 BRACHYTHERAPY FOR PREVIOUSLY-IRRADIATED RECURRENT BRAIN METASTASES: INITIAL CLINICAL AND RADIATION SAFETY EXPERIENCE
Authors: Moss Nelson S , Imber Brandon S , Prasad Kavya , Chu Bae P , Goel Arun , Aramburu-Nunez David , Bellamy Michael , Yang T Jonathan , Khan Atif J , Dauer Laurence T , Cohen Gilad N , Beal Kathryn , Tabar Viviane
Published: August 2020

OBJECTIVE

Recurrence of previously-irradiated brain metastases (BrM) presents a significant challenge. We describe our initial experience using salvage resection with Cs131 brachytherapy in previously-irradiated BrM.

METHODS

Between September 2019 and April 2020, 9 patients with recurrent BrM underwent maximally-safe metastatectomy. Following pathological confirmation of viable recurrence, cavities were implanted with permanent Cs131 brachytherapy (GammaTile, GT Medical Technologies). Prescribed dose was 60Gy at 5mm from the cavity. Postimplant dosimetry (V100) was calculated on postoperative day 1 fused CT/MRI. Intraoperative team exposure was recorded using intraoperative ring dosimetry, and patient dose-rates measured postoperatively informed patient, family and medical-staff exposure modeling.

RESULTS

Nine patients (55% female, median age 54) underwent 10 implantations (6 supratentorial, 4 infratentorial). Median preoperative maximum diameter was 3.5cm (2.3–6.3) and histologies included breast, gastrointestinal, lung, kidney and oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas. Five had undergone prior resection or laser ablation. All lesions received >/=1 prior course of stereotactic irradiation a median of 10.1 months (3.7–15.9) earlier. Eight lesions were gross-totally resected. Median number of implanted Cs131 seeds was 16 (12–28) with median seed strength of 61.8U (42.4–98.0). Median postoperative cavity size was well-correlated with the number of implanted seeds (Pearson R=0.75, p=0.03). Median V100 dose coverage of the cavities and uniform 5mm expansion of the cavities were 99% (79–100%) and 79% (51–95%), respectively. Median measured exposure rates were 90mR/hr (28–152) on contact, 9.15mR/hr (2.7–13.9) at 30cm and 1.4mR/hr (0.6–2.3) at 1 meter from the patient. Mean ring dose was 6.83mrem (0–18) for the radiation oncologist and 9.17mrem (0–15) for the neurosurgeon. Modeled lifetime family-member and visitor exposure was 116mrem (52-193mrem), and healthcare worker exposure was 39mrem (17-64mrem), all well below regulatory limits. There were no immediate wound complications or unanticipated neurologic injuries.

CONCLUSION

In our early experience, salvage interstitial Cs131 implantation was safely employed for recurrent brain metastases.
Emmanuel Levinas
Authors: Katz Claire
Published: August 2020

Emmanuel Levinas (b. 1906–d. 1995) was a French-Jewish thinker known primarily as the philosopher of the ‘other.’ He studied with Husserl and Heidegger in the 1920s. He introduced phenomenology to France through his translation of Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations into French, and he developed a lifelong friendship with Maurice Blanchot. Prior to the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany, Levinas’s philosophical work focused on Husserlian phenomenology. His thought took a dramatic turn in the mid-1930s when he focused on the philosophical threat of Nazism. He spent 1940–1945 in a German POW camp. Returning to Paris after the war, he immediately went back to work for the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), where he became director of the École Normale Israélite Orientale (Enio), the Jewish day school. He resumed working on his question from the 1930s—the philosophical problem of identity and transcendence—with an added urgency in the wake of World War II. From 1946 until his death in 1995, Levinas’s ethical project searched for a way to address this philosophical problem of escape, developing a view of the self as an ethical subject that allows one to transcend the self without leaving the body behind. From the 1940s to the early 1960s, he developed the first version of his ethical project. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he responded to criticisms of that early work. Central to Levinas’s description of the ethical relationship are references to literary works including Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare. Although Levinas was an observant Jew, the biblical narratives, in addition to being part of a sacred text, also serve as rich sources of examples for the philosophical descriptions of the ethical relationship he develops. Levinas is not obviously identified with literary theory—not in the way that Derrida is, for example. He did become popular within literary theory circles in the 1990s and might be taught more frequently in comparative literature departments than in philosophy departments, especially in the United States. His friendship with both Blanchot and Derrida had a significant impact not only on their thinking but also those who whose work was influenced by them. References to terms like the other/Other, the trace, hospitality, ethics, and alterity found throughout Blanchot and Derrida, and now more commonly in literary theory, can be traced back to Levinas’s ethical project.
Kenzo Tange
Authors: Lin Zhongjie
Published: August 2020

Kenzo Tange (Tange Kenzō, b. 1913–d. 2005) was arguably the most prominent Japanese architect in the 20th century. His long career had been tied to the changing trajectory of the nation, making him an important cultural figure to study in modern Japan. Inspired by Le Corbusier since his youth, Tange followed modernism throughout his career with strong faith in its rational order, technological power, and universalizing values, yet he always tried to incorporate them with a Japanese identity and aesthetics. The triumphs in two open design competitions sponsored by the wartime militarist government lifted him to the national stage at a young age but have remained controversial since. He emerged again as the leader during the country’s postwar resurrection and economic takeoff and designed a series of national projects, including the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, the Tokyo City Hall, and the National Olympic Gymnasiums, and led the team in the planning and design for the 1970 World Expositions in Osaka. Japan’s continuing growth of economic power in the 1970s through 1990s sent him all over the world with large-scale designs in Macedonia, Italy, Singapore, Middle East, Africa, and the United States, among other nations. Tange was also an influential urbanist, an aspect that has in the early 21st century drawn greater interest of scholarship. His seminal work of city design was the 1960 Plan for Tokyo, which articulated a spectacular though incremental expansion of a linear megastructure cross the Tokyo Bay to carry a new city of five million to decentralize the overcrowded metropolis and basically influenced all his ensuing attempts of inventing inclusive urban frameworks for the transforming postindustrial cities. This endeavor was shared by the architects of Metabolism, who launched the avant-garde movement that Tange helped flourish in the 1960s. Tange’s collaborations with artists, critics, and photographers, as well as his constant engagement in global intellectual exchanges, also generated rich outcomes and served his aspiration for Japan’s cultural identity and international influence, manifest in his coauthored accounts on the Katsura Villa and Ise Shrine, respectively, as well as in Expo ’70. As an accomplished educator, Tange taught for most of his career at the University of Tokyo. His architectural laboratory there and the Department of Urban Engineering that he cofounded have trained generations of Japanese architectural and urban thinkers and practitioners. The author would like to thank Professor Yatsuka Hajime in Tokyo and Yihan Yin of University of Pennsylvania for their inputs to this article.
Religious Pluralism
Authors: Harrison Victoria S.
Published: August 2020

Within the philosophy of religion, theories of religious pluralism are models that provide a philosophical account of religious diversity. They are not descriptive theories of religion, and the terms “religious pluralism” and “religious diversity” are not equivalent in the context of philosophical discussion. Theories of religious pluralism have been present within the philosophy of religion since the 1700s, when G. W. F. Hegel and F. D. E. Schleiermacher established the modern discipline on the understanding that the philosophical study of religion embraced all religions. Religious pluralism came to prominence within the philosophy of religion in the 1980s, with the work of the British philosopher John Hick (b. 1922–d. 2012) being seminal. During the 1990s, philosophical work on religious pluralism and related topics was dominated by the discussion among Hick, his supporters, and his critics. Hick’s theory of religious pluralism is still the most comprehensive and widely discussed in Anglo-American philosophy of religion. In his development of the theory, Hick engaged with and was often influential on work in other areas of philosophy, especially metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. This intersection of philosophical concerns continues to make the investigation of religious pluralism a focal point within the philosophy of religion. This article provides references to works that explain the wider methodological context of theories of religious pluralism. It then provides a section covering Hick’s major works on religious pluralism, as well as the most significant responses to his theory. Since the late 20th century, and in the light of the philosophical difficulties attending Hick’s theory, alternative theories of religious pluralism have been proposed. This article provides references to some of the most interesting proposals. The article then hones in on the interface between theories of religious pluralism and epistemology, providing references under these subsections: Religious Diversity and Epistemic Disagreement, Warranted Christian Exclusivism, and Religious Diversity and Religious Experience. Recognizing that some philosophers interested in religious diversity focus on its social, ethical, and political dimensions, this article provides references to the most significant philosophical works related to such practical concerns, insofar as they have a bearing on the discussion of theories of religious pluralism. A section is also provided on Islam and Religious Pluralism, since Muslim philosophers of religion have been especially active in this area. A final section provides references to some key works engaging with religious pluralism from the perspectives of theology and religious studies.
Emilie du Châtelet
Authors: Detlefsen Karen
Published: August 2020

Emilie Du Châtelet (b. 1706–d. 1749) was a French philosopher, author, and translator who worked primarily in natural philosophy, but also wrote on language, produced Biblical criticism, tackled questions surrounding virtue and happiness, and grappled with the nature of liberty given her understanding of the physical world and of God. She wrote and published, in her lifetime, on fire (having conducted a range of experiments on the topic at her family’s estate at Cirey), on natural philosophy more generally, and on the vis viva controversy. Much of her work was published posthumously, including work on optics, happiness, the Bible, language, and Newtonian philosophy. She was an avid translator, often developing her own original positions in her liberal changes made to texts in translation. This is especially true of her translation of Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees. Her translation of Newton’s Principia was the first translation into French of that work and remains the standard translation to this day. Having received training from many top mathematicians of her day, Du Châtelet’s own mathematical skills were notable, contributing to her facility in translating and discussing Newton’s work. She had a notable impact on European intellectual life during her lifetime, and in the form of several articles in the Encyclopédie, drawn often verbatim from her oeuvres. After falling largely into obscurity for the better part of two centuries, her thought has been revived across the globe, and 21st-century attention paid to this remarkable thinker has been especially robust. Her masterwork, The Foundations of Physics, addressed questions of method; metaphysics (for example, the nature of substance and body, and God’s existence and nature); and physics. She engaged especially with the works of Descartes, Leibniz, Wolff, and Newton, carving out original philosophical positions on a range of topics in natural philosophy. Her arguments for the nature and existence of God are also attuned to the contributions of Locke. In this text, as well as others, she engaged with Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan—then Secretary of the Académie Royale des Sciences—in a heated debate about vis viva, with Mairan taking the Cartesian position, and Du Châtelet arguing for the Leibnizian side. This extended exchange allowed Du Châtelet to engage with one of the most powerful men in science in mid-18th-century France, a significant feat given her exclusion from the Académie due to her gender. She collaborated or conversed with Voltaire, Francesco Algarotti, Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, and Alexis-Claude Clairaut, among others, and her correspondents included Maupertuis, Algarotti, and Johann Bernoulli.
Theoretical Virtues in Science
Authors: Schindler Samuel
Published: August 2020

A theoretical virtue in science is a property of a scientific theory that is considered desirable. Standard theoretical virtues include testability, empirical accuracy, simplicity, unification, consistency, coherence, and fertility. First highlighted by Thomas S. Kuhn in a seminal paper in 1977, theoretical virtues have come to play an important role in a number of philosophical debates. A central bone of contention in many of these debates is whether theoretical virtues are epistemic, i.e., whether they are indicative of a theory’s correctness, or whether they are just pragmatic, concerning only the convenient use of a theory. Particularly contested virtues are simplicity and unifying power. In the scientific realism debate, in which philosophers argue about whether or not scientific theories allow us to uncover the reality behind the phenomena, scientific realists have argued that virtuous theories are more likely to be correct than a less virtuous ones, even when they accommodate the same data. In the closely related debate about the so-called Inference to the Best Explanation, realists have argued that not only can we determine the best explanation on the basis of its virtues, but we can also determine which explanation is the true one. In discussions about “theory choice” or “theory appraisal,” philosophers discuss which virtues might be most decisive in scientists’ deliberations about which theory they should adopt. Here a theory’s successful novel predictions, or novel successes for short, have been a particular focus. Philosophers have also discussed possible trade-offs between various virtues and the difficulties which these may pose for theory choice. Samir Okasha has argued recently that there cannot be any rational algorithm for theory choice. Theoretical virtues also play a role in philosophical accounts of the laws of nature. One extremely prominent account, namely David Lewis’ Best System Analysis, appeals to simplicity and unifying power to determine what generalizations qualify as genuine laws of nature (rather than just accidentally true generalizations). Even in philosophical theorizing about science, theoretical virtues have been appealed to: Rudolf Carnap believed that simplicity and fruitfulness were important desiderata guiding the explication of scientific concepts. Finally, psychologists have started to investigate the role of theoretical virtues in picking explanations. There is work that appears to show that children and adults have preferences for simple and broad theories.
Sociability in the British Atlantic
Authors: Capdeville Valérie
Published: August 2020

Sociability is both a value and a social practice, yet it is not universal. The ability to live in society as well as the degree of sociability of an individual seem to depend on his/her culture and on the character of his nation. The exceptional development of forms, practices, and institutions of sociability in early modern Europe was mainly linked to urban expansion, to the growth of commercial society, and to the expansion of print culture and communication. Recent scholarship has focused increasingly on the emergence of different models of sociability in 18th-century Europe. The French model of sociability was built due to the idealization of the Parisian salon and the ideal of politeness and to the privileged role it granted to women. A distinct British model of sociability took shape from the Restoration period and developed throughout the 18th century, defining itself thanks to exchanges and tensions with France and expressing itself through paradoxes that both reflected and constructed the national character. The relatively new field of British Atlantic studies has opened new paths for the exploration of sociability, a central phenomenon that informs the social, cultural, and political histories of colonial societies and, especially, refines our understanding of the social interactions, behaviors, and structures of the British Atlantic world and of their important role in shaping new identities. The “transplantation” of forms, practices, and institutions of sociability from Britain to its colonial empire with the creation of transatlantic networks of sociability constitutes a fertile research area, benefiting from insights drawn from various disciplinary fields. This article provides a selection of bibliographic references thematically arranged into sections, all topics constituting central aspects of the study of sociability in the British Atlantic.
The Politics of Brazilian Foreign Policy
Authors: Malamud Andrés , Rodriguez Júlio C.
Published: August 2020

From November 1902 through February 1912, four presidents governed Brazil. Throughout all this period, though, only one person headed the foreign ministry: José Maria da Silva Paranhos Jr., alias Baron of Rio Branco (20 April 1845–10 February 1912). This political wonder and diplomatic giant was to shape Brazil’s international doctrine and diplomatic traditions for the following century. His major achievement was to peacefully solve all of Brazil’s border disputes with its South American neighbors. Founded in 1945, Brazil’s prestigious diplomatic school carries his name, Instituto Rio Branco, and, since the early 2000s, Brazilian foreign policy has become the largest subfield of international relations in university departments across the country. Indeed, Brazilian foreign policy is to Brazilian academia what American politics is to US academia, namely, a singular phenomenon that has taken over a general field. In contrast with the United States, most in-depth research from about 1998 to 2010 came from foreign-based scholars; however, since then a large cadre of mostly young academics in Brazil have seized the agenda. Unlike the pre-2000 period, the orientation has been toward public policy rather than diplomatic history. That the top Brazilian journals of international relations are now published in English rather than Portuguese attests to the increasing internationalization of the field.
Institutional Factors Affecting Women’s Political Engagement
Authors: Heuer Vera , Rangel Gabriela
Published: August 2020

For decades, women were actively excluded from the political arena. As suffrage expanded around the world, women’s rights activists celebrated a major step toward gender equality in the political arena. Yet the gender gap in political engagement still persists to this day. Although in some countries, women are now found to turn out to vote at rates similar to men (and in industrialized countries, women may even vote at higher rates), they are still less likely to participate in many other types of political activities. Scholars have long investigated the factors influencing women’s political engagement. Early research focused heavily on individual level factors—most often lack of access to resources or informal networks—as determinants of the gender gap. A burgeoning body of literature, however, has identified institutions as an important factor influencing women’s political engagement. Thus this bibliography focuses on those institutional determinants of women’s political engagement defined as any type of political activity that nonelite women take part in. This includes voting, participating in campaigns, and engaging in demonstrations or protests, but also more cognitive aspects of engagement, such as political interest and political knowledge. This bibliography does not focus on the impact of institutions on women’s access or election into political office, as there is extensive literature on institutional determinants and women’s representation, which falls outside of the scope of women’s engagement as nonstate actors. The research outlined here, however, does consider a variety of institutional factors that influence women’s engagement. The bibliography begins by reviewing the literature on how the structures of the political system—including Regime Type, electoral rules, and quotas—impact women’s engagement. It then discusses how institutions can indirectly influence women’s political attitudes and behavior, by reviewing the impact of the composition of institutions on women’s engagement. That section is followed by a set of research that shows how institutional outcomes—namely Policy Outcomes and Institutional Support—influence various forms of political participation, and concludes with examples of nonstate institutions and their impact on women’s engagement.
Queer Musicology
Authors: Whitesell Lloyd
Published: August 2020

Queer musicology is a field dedicated to the study of sexual and gender diversity as it relates to music. This may focus on people who identify with a specific minority group, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ). It may explore a sense of fluidity in the face of identity categories or binary thinking. It may seek to understand underlying cultural habits, regulatory systems, or gendered discourses that affect all people in a society. In other words, queer musicology raises a big tent, making room for multiple, even contradictory approaches (identitarian versus anti-identitarian, minoritarian versus universalist). Taking cues from feminist studies and following a critical turn in the 1980s toward the social, personal, and embodied dimensions of music, its original practitioners were motivated by a desire to remedy longstanding heteronormative practices in the discipline. Just as in the wider humanities, where gay and lesbian studies paved the way for queer theory and then transgender studies, there has been a continuous evolution of the field’s burning questions and representative voices. Important intellectual projects include historical reconstruction of suppressed life stories, the study of social groups, hermeneutics, aesthetics, and the theoretical exploration of music’s role in queer forms of knowledge.
Embodied/Virtual Environments
Authors: Miller Kara
Published: August 2020

This article by no means serves to account for theories on virtual technologies or virtual design but, rather, offers a distinct exploration on the role of the body in virtual experiences and spaces. Selected works account for embodiment literature and emergent considerations of the body in what may be considered a post-body, or post-human, era of technology, connectivity, and communications. This list includes work that researches, discusses, or questions notions of virtual with regard to landscapes of experience and that looks to discourses on the role of the body in human perception. With implications for larger questions regarding the human mind, and apart from dualistic conversations on mind-body connections, embodiment theories view the body as a tool for participation in lifeworlds. Embodiment is inherently a social concept, and one that rests on foundational understandings of human evolution and adaptation as well as human sociability and socialization, sometimes explored as ecosocial phenomena. Conjuring many inquiries in biology, cognition, psychology, ethics, philosophy, religion, and ecology, this collection is composed mostly of work in the humanities and social sciences and is skewed by traditions in anthropology. It is generally well accepted that cultural perspectives inform human knowledge, but theories in embodiment ask how social and cultural conditions inform not only perspectives, but also experiences or felt senses (or both). Questions of materiality give way to attention on the physical, earthly environment to which humans have evolved and with which humans have coadapted. Scholars have referred to this era as the Anthropocene, which ultimately points to human dilemma, since human behavior is defined by progressively more destructive behavior that yields an earth on which humans cannot rely for resources. Simultaneously, media, entertainment, and design technology have moved into virtual reality and augmented experiences that either transcend, mimic, or escape earthly realms or physical limitations. Simulated or virtual experiences make use of what we know about human perception to create new forms of reality. Theories of being and knowing, inherent to the anthropological canon, pose examination of bodily knowledge and bring about inquiry in medicine, disability studies, cognition, and health, to name a few. Mediated and augmented experiences have all manner of applications and implications, including overriding biology and genetics, posing questions for the future of the human condition. This article includes new work from science journals and popular media to illustrate how new human adaptations, ecologies, and virtual perceptions interface with embodiment.
Colonial Place Names
Authors: Stolz Thomas , Warnke Ingo H. , de Bloom Jascha
Published: August 2020

Colonial place names (= CPNs) constitute a specific category of toponyms, namely the class of place names which are attested in documents of the era of colonialism (c. 1415–c. 1999) as labels employed (a) by (mostly European) colonizers for reference to geo-objects in the territory of the (mostly extra-European) colonized or (b), most frequently in the shape of street-names commemorating events, person, or places related to the colonialist enterprise, as expression of colonial ambitions of (mostly European) colonizers in their home-countries. CPNs are a very promising field of research for students of (not only colonial) history, political science, postcolonialism, law, geography, cartography, literary studies, onomastics, etc. CPNs are crucially involved in the discursive creation of power relations and are relevant to identity issues not the least in the context of decolonization and postcolonial reactions to CPNs. This considerable academic potential notwithstanding, CPNs have only recently been acknowledged as a research objects in their own right. The idea that it is worthwhile studying CPNs comprehensively and systematically has developed within the domain of linguistics, more specifically within the newly established research program of colonial linguistics. Proponents of this innovative branch of language studies have highlighted that across the different (mostly European) colonialisms CPNs display a remarkably homogeneous behavior in the sense that their structural and semantic properties tend to be similar independent of the language of colonizers so that it is possible to postulate a canonical type of CPN. This similarity is a proven fact in the domain of exonyms and hybrids, i.e., in the case of CPNs which consist either completely or partly of elements which are taken directly from the language of the colonizers. As to endonyms (= CPNs which exclusively involve elements which—at least superficially—stem from languages of the colonized), future research will reveal whether it is possible to formulate generalizations also over this segment of the colonial toponomasticons. The study of CPNs calls for interdisciplinary cooperation. Since this cooperation is as yet still in its infancy the bibliography focuses on those scholarly contributions which are equipped with a discernible linguistic component. This means that this article avoids mentioning the extant uncommented gazetteers and other list-like inventories of CPNs as published by colonial or other governmental authorities whose purpose is not of an academic nature.
Acculturation and Health
Authors: Schwartz Seth J. , Cobb Cory L. , Salas-Wright Christopher P.
Published: August 2020

International migration has reached historic highs, with more than 240 million people currently residing in a country other than where they were born (United Nations, 2019). Migration is not random, and there are noteworthy migration flows from specific sending countries to specific destination countries. In most cases, migrants settling in postindustrial, Western nations in the “Global North” (North America, Western Europe, and Oceania) come from non-Western nations in the “Global South” (Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East). The prevailing cultural contexts in Global North countries generally favor self-direction, independence, and self-expression over conformity and interdependence, whereas the reverse is true for many Global South countries. This means that the disparity in value systems between Western countries and the migrants who are moving to these countries serves as a “backdrop” through which to understand the adjustment process these migrants face. This entry will focus on this adjustment process—known as acculturation—and the relationships between acculturation and health outcomes. It will delineate who is acculturating, different patterns of acculturation, and links between acculturation patterns and health outcomes.
GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Geomorphology
Authors: Li Yingkui
Published: August 2020

Geomorphology is the science of studying landforms, landscapes, and their related processes, including the description, materials, classification, origin, evolution, and history of earth/planetary surfaces. Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based system used for collection, maintenance, storage, retrieval, analysis, and distribution of geographic data and information. A closely related technique to GIS is remote sensing (RS), the noncontact recording of electromagnetic spectrum of earth/planetary surfaces based on satellite-, aircraft-, or ground-based sensors to measure, detect, and classify ground objects. GIS and remote sensing have been integrated in many geomorphological studies to quantify surface processes and landforms. GIS/RS has been strongly linked with the methodology and concepts in geomorphology since its initial development. With the continual development of GIS and RS techniques, GIS/RS has been widely used to classify landform and landscape units, extract specific landform features, quantify process-landform relationships, and detect geomorphic changes. In particular, the combination of GIS/RS with digital elevation models (DEMs) has become one of the most common approaches for geomorphological research, especially with the early-21st-century progress in using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) to obtain high-resolution DEMs. A new discipline, geomorphometry, have been developed to quantify landforms and topography at various spatial scales on the basis of mathematical, statistical, and image-processing techniques. This article first includes a section focusing on the use of GIS/RS in general landform and landscape classification and then categorizes literature into a variety of subfields of geomorphology in which GIS/RS has been applied to solve geomorphological issues. These subfields include Glacial Geomorphology, Watershed and Fluvial Geomorphology, Hillslope Processes and Landslides, Coastal Geomorphology, Karst Geomorphology, Aeolian Geomorphology, and Tectonic Geomorphology. Some subfields, such as volcanic geomorphology and planetary geomorphology, are not included, but the methods and principles summarized in this article can be applied to these subfields.
A workable strategy for COVID-19 testing: stratified periodic testing rather than universal random testing
Authors: Cleevely Matthew , Susskind Daniel , Vines David , Vines Louis , Wills Samuel
Published: August 2020

This paper argues for the regular testing of people in groups that are more likely to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2, to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and resume economic activity. We call this ‘stratified periodic testing’. It is ‘stratified’ as it is based on at-risk groups, and ‘periodic’ as everyone in the group is tested at regular intervals. We argue that this is a better use of scarce testing resources than ‘universal random testing’, as has been recently discussed globally. We find that, under reasonable assumptions and allowing for false negative results 30 per cent of the time, 17 per cent of a subgroup would need to be tested each day to lower the effective reproduction number R from 2.5 to 0.75, under stratified periodic testing. Using the same assumptions the universal random testing rate would need to be 27 per cent (as opposed to 7 per cent as argued by Romer (2020b)). We obtain this rate of testing using a corrected method for calculating the impact of an infectious person on others, and allowing for asymptomatic cases. We also find that the effect of one day’s delay between testing positive and self-isolating is similar to having a test that is 30 per cent less accurate.
Why Do Physicians Choose Pain as a Specialty?
Authors: Belgrade Miles , Belgrade Andrea
Published: August 2020

Objective

Numerous forces shape the practice of pain management: scientific advances, technical advances, societal expectations, public health crises, reimbursement factors, and the parameters of who gets trained and what motivates the trainees. In this observational study, we sought to determine expressed motivations for entering the subspecialty of pain management, and in particular whether applicants were more interested in procedural skills (our hypothesis) or rehabilitative and cognitive practices.

Methods

We analyzed the personal statements of 142 applicants to the University of Minnesota’s pain medicine fellowship program. In addition to those themes, the personal statements were scrutinized for other themes such as interest in teaching and research. Comprehensive vs interventional/procedural interests were coded by a group of four research assistants who were trained using practice essays until they achieved high interrater reliability (alpha > 0.8). Two of the researchers coded for additional themes on a two-point scale indicating presence or absence of a particular theme. When they did not agree, a third researcher broke the tie. Theme prevalence was compared by specialty and gender.

Results

Residents expressed interest in interventional and comprehensive pain practice without significant differences; however, there were specialty and gender differences in other themes such as teaching, research, and leadership in program development.

Conclusions

If pain specialty training is going to meet the needs of prospective residents, patients, and society, we should do more to attract women and neurology and psychiatry residents. We should include more opportunities for research and the flexibility to educate trainees who may not pursue a procedural practice.
Perfectionist Bads
Authors: Bradford Gwen
Published: August 2020

Pain, failure and false beliefs all make a life worse, or so it is plausible to think. These things and possibly others seem to be intrinsically bad—no matter what further good comes of them they make a life worse pro tanto. In spite of the obvious badness, this is difficult to explain. While there are many accounts of well-being, few are up to the challenge of a univocal explanation of ill-being. Perfectionism has particular difficulty. Otherwise, it is a theory that has quite a lot in its favour. This paper proposes a new valuation scheme for perfectionism, the tripartite scheme, which affords perfectionism the resources to give a comprehensive account of robust bads and has further additional advantages for the view.
Bose–Einstein condensation of dilute alpha clusters above the four-α threshold in 16O in the field theoretical superfluid cluster model
Authors: Takahashi J , Yamanaka Y , Ohkubo S
Published: August 2020

Observed well-developed $\alpha$ cluster states in $^{16}$O located above the four-$\alpha$ threshold are investigated from the viewpoint of Bose–Einstein condensation of $\alpha$ clusters by using a field-theoretical superfluid cluster model in which the order parameter is defined. The experimental energy levels are reproduced well for the first time by calculation. In particular, the observed 16.7 MeV $0_7^+$ and 18.8 MeV $0_8^+$ states with low-excitation energies from the threshold are found to be understood as a manifestation of the states of the Nambu–Goldstone zero-mode operators, associated with the spontaneous symmetry-breaking of the global phase, which is caused by the Bose–Einstein condensation of the vacuum 15.1 MeV $0^+_6$ state with a dilute well-developed $\alpha$ cluster structure just above the threshold. This gives evidence of the existence of the Bose–Einstein condensate of $\alpha$ clusters in $^{16}$O. It is found that the emergence of the energy level structure with a well-developed $\alpha$ cluster structure above the threshold is robust, almost independently of the condensation rate of $\alpha$ clusters under significant condensation rate. The finding of the mechanism that causes the level structure that is similar to $^{12}$C to emerge above the four-$\alpha$ threshold in $^{16}$O reinforces the concept of Bose–Einstein condensation of $\alpha$ clusters in addition to $^{12}$C.
Does Borrower and Broker Race Affect the Cost of Mortgage Credit?
Authors: Ambrose Brent W , Conklin James N , Lopez Luis A
Published: August 2020

We test for pricing disparities in mortgage contracts using a novel data set that allows us to observe the race and ethnicity of both parties to the loan. We find that minorities pay between 3% and 5% more in fees than similarly qualified whites when obtaining a loan through the same white broker. Critically, we find that the premium paid by minorities depends on the race of the broker. We also examine recent policy changes around broker compensation rules that may not only reduce these price disparities but may also limit access to credit for minorities.