bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Degradation Detection in Rice Products via Shape Variations in XCT Simulation-Empowered AI
Authors: Yosifov Miroslav , Lang Thomas , Florian Virginia , Gerth Stefan , De Beenhouwer Jan , Sijbers Jan , Kastner Johann , Heinzl Christoph
Published: December 2024

This research explores the process of generating artificial training data for the detection and classification of defective areas in X-ray computed tomography (XCT) scans in the agricultural domain using AI techniques. It aims to determine the minimum detectability limit for such defects through analyses regarding the Probability of Detection based on analytic XCT simulations. For this purpose, the presented methodology introduces randomized shape variations in surface models used as descriptors for specimens in XCT simulations for generating virtual XCT data. Specifically, the agricultural sector is targeted in this work in terms of analyzing common degradation or defective areas in rice products. This is of special interest due to the huge biological genotypic and phenotypic variations occurring in nature. The proposed method is demonstrated on the application of analyzing rice grains for common defects (chalky and pore areas).
Utility of the Clinical and Radiological Features in the Management of Bethesda 3 and 4 Thyroid Nodules
Authors: Thiagarajan Shivakumar , Rane Swapnil , Chandak Khusbhu , Gurukeerthi B. , Kantamani Teja , Tuljapurkar Vidisha , Kumar Suman , Pantvaidya Gouri
Published: December 2024

Deciding the right treatment strategy for patients with Bethesda 3 and 4 fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) reports may be challenging. The reported risk of malignancy (ROM) and those from high-volume institutes may not be identical. The cost of molecular testing and its unavailability for routine use limits its utility in decision-making. In this study, we included all patients diagnosed at our institute with Bethesda 3 and 4 thyroid nodules on FNAC between January 2012 and December 2021. We identified the risk of malignancy for these patients along with other factors that could help identify the possibility of malignancy in these thyroid nodules. We utilised the clinical (C), ultrasound features (U), and the Bethesda category (T) to derive the CUT score and derive a cut-off value beyond which malignancy could be predicted. A total of 359 patients were included in the study. The ROM for the Bethesda 3 thyroid nodule was 77.7% (167/215), and that for the Bethesda 4 thyroid nodule was 76.4% (110/144). On multivariate analysis, nodules taller than wider [0.006, 7.662 (1.806–32.5)], male gender [0.024, 2.359 (1.119–4.976)], and the presence of microcalcification [0.004, 2.328 (1.319–4.109)] were found to be significant for the presence of malignancy in the final histopathology. The CUT score > 8.875 was associated with malignancy in the final histopathology. Various clinical and radiological factors may be useful to identify the nodules harbouring malignancy and facilitate appropriate management. The rate of malignancy in Bethesda 3 and 4 nodules among those who underwent surgery in our cohort was higher.
The Three Social Dimensions of Chatbot Technology
Authors: Figueroa-Torres Mauricio
Published: December 2024

The development and deployment of chatbot technology, while spanning decades and employing different techniques, require innovative frameworks to understand and interrogate their functionality and implications. A mere technocentric account of the evolution of chatbot technology does not fully illuminate how conversational systems are embedded in societal dynamics. This study presents a structured examination of chatbots across three societal dimensions, highlighting their roles as objects of scientific research, commercial instruments, and agents of intimate interaction. Through furnishing a dimensional framework for the evolution of conversational systems — from laboratories to marketplaces to private lives— this article contributes to the wider scholarly inquiry of chatbot technology and its impact in lived human experiences and dynamics.
Exploring the Long-Term Effects of the Statewide Implementation of an Automated Writing Evaluation System on Students’ State Test ELA Performance
Authors: Huang Yue , Wilson Joshua , May Henry
Published: December 2024

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) is an artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered educational technology designed to assist writing instruction and improve students’ writing proficiency. The present study adopted a quasi-experimental design using the inverse probability of treatment weighting method to explore the long-term effects of an AWE system known as Utah Compose on students’ state test English Language Arts (ELA) performance. The participants included 134,425 students in Grades 4–10 in Utah from school year 2015 to 2018. Findings showed AWE’s cumulative benefit to students’ ELA performance, but those cumulative effects decreased each year and peaked after three years of implementation. This study is the largest evaluation of AWE effects to date in terms of both its sample size and the duration of investigation. The findings regarding AWE’s cumulative effects on students’ state test ELA performance, which is a distal outcome at the state level, have significant implications for policy and practice regarding large-scale AWE implementation.
Betriebliche Weiterbildungsorientierung und Nachhaltigkeitsengagement
Authors: Baum Myriam , Hufnagl Julia , Mohr Sabine , Annen Silvia
Published: December 2024

Die Nachhaltigkeitsdiskussion ist in den letzten Jahren immer mehr in den Fokus der Berufsbildung gerückt. Einerseits beeinflusst die sozio-ökologische Transformation die Berufsbildung, anderseits braucht ihre Umsetzung die Berufsbildung, speziell die betriebliche Weiterbildung. Jedoch wird der dazugehörige theoretische und empirische Diskurs bisher nur marginal geführt. In diesem Beitrag werden in einem vertiefenden Mixed-Methods-Design quantitative Betriebsdaten mit qualitativen Interviewdaten verknüpft, um unter anderem der Frage nachzugehen, wie die betriebliche Weiterbildungsorientierung mit dem betrieblichen Nachhaltigkeitsengagement zusammenhängt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass betriebliche Weiterbildungsorientierung und das Nachhaltigkeitsengagement von und in Betrieben positiv zusammenhängen. Neben der betrieblichen Weiterbildung sind jedoch auch andere Betriebsbereiche und -aktivitäten zur Umsetzung der betrieblichen Nachhaltigkeitsziele gefragt, wie beispielsweise das Controlling oder die Logistik.
No legal barriers, no safe options: Navigating safe abortion in post-decriminalisation South Korea
Authors: Lee Yurim , Lee Eunjin
Published: December 2024

On 1 January 2021, South Korea decriminalised abortion, overturning laws that had penalised women and medical practitioners since 1953. Despite this milestone, universal access to safe abortion services remains elusive. This paper investigates the post-decriminalisation abortion landscape in South Korea, focusing on how lingering legacies of state-led population control policies and developmentalist priorities continue to hinder meaningful legal and policy reforms. Abortion remains marginalised in public healthcare policies, reflecting a broader neglect of reproductive health and autonomy. Furthermore, recent legal frameworks addressing unwanted pregnancies undermine abortion rights under the guise of protecting vulnerable women in crisis pregnancies. Drawing on the ongoing struggles of reproductive justice activists in South Korea, this paper examines their efforts to push for comprehensive reforms that address systemic issues and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Triboelectric multilayered electrospun co-polyamide-based wound dressings with inherent antibacterial properties
Authors: Bhagyaraj Sneha , Ninan Neethu , Bright Richard , Alemie Markos Negash , Popelka Anton , Vasilev Krasimir , Krupa Igor
Published: December 2024

Wound healing is a challenging problem to healthcare and society, requiring the development of advanced materials that can enhance tissue rejuvenation and prevent infection. This article presents the design and synthesis of a multilayered copolyamide based electrospun membrane for wound healing applications. The dressing is engineered using a combination of copolymerisation and electrospinning techniques. The unique porous architecture, hydrophilicity, and adequate mechanical and thermal stability make the developed materials ideal candidates for skin regeneration. The inherent antibacterial effectiveness of the membrane was investigated on a range of pathogens that cause wound infections. The cytocompatibility of the membrane was studied on human monocyte cell lines, which play a vital role in immune response and skin regeneration. This multilayered membrane embodies a promising strategy for promoting wound care consequences through its combination of biocompatibility, structural integrity, and inherent antibacterial properties. The potential impact of this research on the field of wound healing is significant and inspiring.

Graphical abstract
pSpMv: precision-based sparse matrix partition and SpMV optimization
Authors: Liu Jie , Wang Yizhuo , Gao Jianhua , Ji Weixing
Published: December 2024

The new generation of computing devices tends to support multiple floating-point formats and different computing precision. Besides single and double precision, half precision is embraced and widely supported by new computing devices. Low-precision representations have compact memory size and lightweight computing strength, and they also bring opportunities to the optimization of BLAS routines. This paper proposes a new sparse matrix partition approach based on IEEE 754 standard floating-point format. An input sparse matrix in double precision is partitioned and transformed into several sub-matrices in different precision without loss of accuracy. Most non-zero elements can be stored in half or single precision, if the most significant bits of exponent and the least significant bits of mantissa are zeros in double-precision representation. Based on this mixed-precision representation of sparse matrix, we also present a new SpMV algorithm pSpMV for GPU devices. pSpMV not only reduces the memory access overhead, but also reduces the computing strength of floating-point numbers. Experimental results on two GPU devices show that pSpMV achieves a geometric mean speedup of 1.39x on Tesla V100 and 1.45x on Tesla P100 over double-precision SpMV for 2,554 sparse matrices.
Parsimonious Cumulative Odds-Symmetry Model and its Decomposition for Square Tables with Ordered Categories
Authors: Ando Shuji , Kikuchi Tatsuro
Published: December 2024

For analyzing contingency tables to estimate a probability distribution from presented data, we often use a parsimonious model fitting the presented data. The cumulative odds-symmetry (COS) model indicates that the log odds based on cumulative probability depend only on the column category. Considering that the COS model has many parameters, this study considers a more parsimonious model. This study provides another expression for the COS model whereby the log odds have polynomial patterns depending only on the column category. This study also proposes the cumulative polynomial columns-parameter symmetry (CPCPS) model as a more parsimonious than the COS model. The CPCPS model bridges the gap between the symmetry and COS models. The COS model always holds true when the CPCPS model is true. However, the opposite does not necessarily hold true. This study identifies an additional model that must be satisfied in order to achieve equivalence with the CPCPS model. This detection is useful for explaining why CPCPS does not fit the presented data. The CPCPS model provides a better fit for application to a single occupational dataset from Japan.
Applying conventional and cell-type-specific CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in legume plants
Authors: Gao Jin-Peng , Su Yangyang , Jiang Suyu , Liang Wenjie , Lou Zhijun , Frugier Florian , Xu Ping , Murray Jeremy D.
Published: December 2024

The advent of genome editing technologies, particularly CRISPR/Cas9, has significantly advanced the generation of legume mutants for reverse genetic studies and understanding the mechanics of the rhizobial symbiosis. The legume–rhizobia symbiosis is crucial for sustainable agriculture, enhancing nitrogen fixation and improving soil fertility. Numerous genes with a symbiosis-specific expression have been identified, sometimes exclusively expressed in cells forming infection threads or in nitrogen-fixing nodule cells. Typically, mutations in these genes do not affect plant growth. However, in some instances, germline homozygous mutations can be lethal or result in complex pleiotropic phenotypes that are challenging to interpret. To address this issue, a rhizobia-inducible and cell-type-specific CRISPR/Cas9 strategy was developed to knock-out genes in specific legume transgenic root tissues. In this review, we discuss recent advancements in legume genome editing, highlighting the cell-type-specific CRISPR system and its crucial applications in symbiotic nitrogen fixation and beyond.
Plasma Exchange and Sepsis: An Opportunity to Transition from “All or Nothing” Medicine to Individualized Patient Centered Care
Authors: Keith Philip , Scott L. Keith
Published: December 2024

Sepsis remains the bread and butter of critical care medicine, but despite detailed knowledge of the pathophysiology, prospective clinical trials continue to yield disappointing results and the mortality for sepsis remains unacceptably high. Current definitions and inclusion criteria from current clinical care standards make studies very unlikely to be “positive” despite the likelihood that the studied therapies may indeed be clinically efficacious. The Society of Critical Care medicine has acknowledged these limitations and has proposed a focus on individualized management of sepsis research. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has an extensive body of literature to support its role in sepsis, but the current standards of care do not often include TPE in the management algorithm. These findings highlight current flaws in research and bedside care, while offering the opportunity to apply the recommendations of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and improved patient care- both now and in the future.
Four SINS in behavioural public policy
Authors: Varazzani Chiara , Hubble Cale
Published: December 2024

Viewed from the perspective of public policy, behavioural public policy (BPP) faces challenges in four main areas: Systems, Impatience, Nudging, and Scaling. To address these challenges, several suggestions are proposed. First, understanding how BPP interventions unfold in complex systems requires better diagnostics and the development of predictive and generative models of human behaviour. Second, the rapid pace of policy processes necessitates a shift towards generating timely and fit-for-purpose evidence. Third, maximising the opportunities presented by BPP, beyond merely ‘nudging’, demands the early and proactive application of behavioural science in the policy cycle. Fourth, achieving widespread impact in BPP initiatives means considering scale-up from the start. Lastly, the consistent and comprehensive integration of behavioural science into standard policymaking practices would support sustainable progress in addressing these challenges.
Co-design of “Baatcheet,” a peer-supported, web-based storytelling intervention for young people with common mental health problems in India
Authors: Gonsalves Pattie P. , Mittal Dhriti , Aluria Shruti , Khan Aarushi , Razdan Eshita , Kashyap Priyambada , Rahate Navvya , D’Silva Manek , Iyengar Sonaksha , Gonsalves Faith , Pal Sweta , Ansari Salik , Berry Clio , Michelson Daniel
Published: December 2024

Background

Engaging with personal mental health stories has the potential to help people with mental health difficulties by normalizing distressing experiences, imparting coping strategies and building hope. However, evidence-based mental health storytelling platforms are scarce, especially for young people in low-resource settings.

Objective

This paper presents an account of the co-design of ‘Baatcheet’ (‘conversation’ in Hindi), a peer-supported, web-based storytelling intervention aimed at 16–24-year-olds with depression and anxiety in New Delhi, India.

Methods

Development comprised three stages: (1) establishing a logic model through consultations with a Young People’s Advisory Group (N = 11) and a stakeholder reference group (N = 20); (2) elaborating intervention guiding principles and components through focus group discussions and co-design workshops (N = 42); and (3) user-testing of prototypes.

Results

The developmental process identified key stakeholder preferences for an online, youth-focused mental health storytelling intervention. Baatcheet uses an interactive storytelling website containing a repository of personal stories about young people’s experiences of depression and anxiety. This is offered alongside brief support from a peer.

Conclusions

There are few story-based interventions addressing depression and anxiety for young people, especially in low-resource settings. Baatcheet has the potential to deliver engaging, accessible and timely mental health support to young people. A pilot evaluation is underway.
Kilowatt-level spectrum-programmable multi-wavelength fiber laser
Authors: Ke Yanzhao , Xu Jiangming , Ye Jun , He Junhong , Liang Junrui , Zhang Yang , Guo Yidong , Du Lei , Leng Jinyong , Zhou Pu , Si Lei
Published: December 2024

This study demonstrates a kilowatt-level, spectrum-programmable, multi-wavelength fiber laser (MWFL) with wavelength, interval and intensity tunability. The central wavelength tuning range is 1060–1095 nm and the tunable number is controllable from 1 to 5. The wavelength interval can be tuned from 6 to 32 nm and the intensity of each channel can be adjusted independently. Maximum output power up to approximately 1100 W has been achieved by master oscillator power amplifier structures. We also investigate the wavelength evolution experimentally considering the difference of gain competition, which may give a primary reference for kW-level high-power MWFL spectral manipulation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power ever reported for a programmable MWFL. Benefiting from its high power and flexible spectral manipulability, the proposed MWFL has great potential in versatile applications such as nonlinear frequency conversion and spectroscopy.
Vibration-induced morphological evolution of a melting solid under microgravity
Authors: Fang Wen-Ping , Wu Jian-Zhao , Huang Ze-Lin , Wang Bo-Fu , Zhou Quan , Chong Kai Leong
Published: December 2024

We study the melting process of a solid under microgravity, driven solely by lateral vibrations that are perpendicular to the applied temperature gradient due to the absence of gravity-induced convection. Using direct numerical simulations with the phase-field method, we examine two-dimensional vibration-induced melting in a square cavity over four orders of magnitude of vibrational Rayleigh numbers,

$10^5\le Ra_{{vib}}\le 10^9$

. Our results show that as melting progresses, the flow structure transitions from a periodic-circulation regime with diffusion-dominated heat transfer to a columnar regime with vibroconvection. The mean height of the liquid–solid interface follows a power-law dependency with time,

$\bar {\xi } \sim \tilde t^{1/(2-2\alpha )}$

, where

$\alpha = 0$

in the periodic-circulation regime and

$\alpha = 1/2$

in the columnar regime. We further observe that within the columnar regime, the morphological evolution of the liquid–solid interface is influenced by the interaction of columnar thermal plumes in the central regions and the peripheral flow near the sidewalls. Specifically, we offer a comprehensive analysis of the plume merging behaviour, which is governed by the aspect ratio (

$\bar {\xi }$

) of the liquid layer and the intensity of vibration, quantified by the effective vibrational Rayleigh number

$Ra_{vib}^{eff}$

. We identify the relationship between the number of columnar plumes

$K_m$

and

$Ra_{vib}^{eff}$

, finding that

$K_m \sim \bar {\xi }^{-1} (Ra_{vib}^{eff})^{\gamma }$

with the fitting scaling exponent

$\gamma = 0.150 \pm 0.025$

. We subsequently quantify the characteristics of the interface roughness amplitude evolution in microgravity vibroconvection. Our results indicate that the roughness amplitude exhibits a power-law dependence on the mean height of the liquid layer. Drawing from the Stefan boundary condition, we theoretically deduce this dependence under the assumption of a non-uniform heat flux distribution at the interface, where the theory is corroborated by our numerical simulations.
Associations of renal sinus fat with metabolic parameters, abdominal visceral adipose tissue, metabolic syndrome, fructose intake, and blood pressure control in obese individuals with hypertension: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Anvarifard Paniz , Anbari Maryam , Naemi Kermanshahi Mohammad , Ostadrahimi Alireza , Aliasgharzadeh Soghra , Ardalan Mohammadreza
Published: December 2024

Renal sinus fat (RSF) crucially influences metabolic regulation, inflammation, and vascular function. We investigated the association between RSF accumulation, metabolic disorders, and nutritional status in obese individuals with hypertension. A cross-sectional study involved 51 obese hypertensive patients from Salamat Specialized Community Clinic (February–September 2022). Basic and clinical information were collected through interviews. Data included anthropometrics, blood pressure, number of antihypertensive medications, body composition (bioelectrical impedance analysis), dietary intake (semi-quantitative 147-item food frequency questionnaire), and blood samples. Renal sinus fat was measured via ultrasonography. Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation, binary logistic regression, and linear regression. RSF positively correlated with abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area (P = 0.016), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P = 0.004), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P = 0.005). A strong trend toward a positive association was observed between antihypertensive medications and RSF (P = 0.062). In linear regression, RSF was independently associated with abdominal VAT area, SBP, and DBP after adjusting for confounders. After considering other risk factors, RSF volume relates to prescribed antihypertensive medications, hypertension, and central fat accumulation in obese hypertensive subjects. These findings suggest the need for further investigations into whether RSF promotes metabolic disorders.
A fast radio burst monitor with a compact all-sky phased array (CASPA)
Authors: Luo Rui , Ekers Ron , Hobbs George , Dunning Alex , James Clancy , Lower Marcus , Gupta Vivek , Zic Andrew , Sokolowski Marcin , Phillips Chris , Deller Adam , Staveley-Smith Lister
Published: December 2024

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short-duration radio transients that occur at random times in host galaxies distributed all over the sky. Large field of view instruments can play a critical role in the blind search for rare FRBs. We present a concept for an all-sky FRB monitor using a compact all-sky phased array (CASPA), which can efficiently achieve an extremely large field of view of

$\sim10^4$

square degrees. Such a system would allow us to conduct a continuous, blind FRB search covering the entire southern sky. Using the measured FRB luminosity function, we investigate the detection rate for this all-sky phased array and compare the result to a number of other proposed large field-of-view instruments. We predict a rate of a few FRB detections per week and determine the dispersion measure and redshift distributions of these detectable FRBs. This instrument is optimal for detecting FRBs in the nearby Universe and for extending the high-end of the FRB luminosity function through finding ultraluminous events. Additionally, this instrument can be used to shadow the new gravitational-wave observing runs, detect high-energy events triggered from Galactic magnetars and search for other bright, but currently unknown transient signals.
Selecting variable sources with median colours using a self-organising map
Authors: Venville Thomas , Capak Peter L. , Faisst Andreas L. , Lee Bomee , Thanjavur Karun G. , Flynn Chris
Published: December 2024

A key objective for upcoming surveys, and when re-analysing archival data, is the identification of variable stellar sources. However, the selection of these sources is often complicated by the unavailability of light curve data. Utilising a self-organising map (SOM), we demonstrate the selection of diverse variable source types from a catalogue of variable and non-variable SDSS Stripe 82 sources whilst employing only the median

$u-g$

,

$g-r$

,

$r-i$

, and

$i-z$

photometric colours for each source as input, without using source magnitudes. This includes the separation of main sequence variable stars that are otherwise degenerate with non-variable sources (

$u-g$

,

$g-r$

) and (

$r-i$

,

$i-z$

) colour-spaces. We separate variable sources on the main sequence from all other variable and non-variable sources with a purity of

$80.0\%$

and completeness of

$25.1\%$

, figures which can be modified depending on the application. We also explore the varying ability of the same method to simultaneously select other types of variable sources from the heterogeneous sample, including variable quasars and RR-Lyrae stars. The demonstrated ability of this method to select variable main sequence stars in colour-space holds promise for application in future survey reduction pipelines and for the analysis of archival data, where light curves may not be available or may be prohibitively expensive to obtain.
Cold War aviation: American technology transfer and the construction of Turkey's first international civilian airport in Yeşilköy, Istanbul, 1944–1953
Authors: Tunc Tanfer Emin , Tunc Gokhan
Published: December 2024

With the economic and political support of the United States, in July 1947, Turkey signed contracts with the Westinghouse Electric International Company and J.G. White Engineering Corporation to construct its first international civilian airport, Istanbul's Yeşilköy Airport. As this article will argue, the building of Yeşilköy (1949–53), through a partnership with two American engineering firms, is essentially an early Cold War narrative of transnational exchange involving the multidirectional flow of technical knowledge, expertise and resources between the United States and Turkey; the circulation of geopolitically significant (and frequently competing) military, civilian and government actors; and the local and global implications of these transmissions. Yet the Yeşilköy construction narrative also illustrates how post-war technology transfer was a highly political process of constant adaptation, modification and negotiation. Fraught with unforeseen friction and thorny challenges, Yeşilköy exemplifies the complicated American Cold War strategy of creating and maintaining alliances through engineering knowledge, personnel and practices, often with unintended consequences. Moreover, as a case study, Yeşilköy opens a new window into the cautious science diplomacy that occurred along the Iron Curtain, while filling a notable historiographic gap with respect to aviation in early Cold War Turkey.
Reconsidering Arnold J. Toynbee’s World History in Mid-Twentieth-Century Japan
Authors: Mizuno Ryoya
Published: December 2024

Arnold J. Toynbee is considered one of the most crucial figures in the historiography of twentieth-century world history. Although Toynbee’s reputation has significantly waned since the 1950s among many professional historians in the English-speaking world, especially in Britain, some renowned world historians, such as William H. McNeill and Jürgen Osterhammel, have reassessed Toynbee as a pioneering European historian who envisaged world history beyond Eurocentrism since the emergence of the field of global and world history in the 1980s. This article reconsiders the global meaning of Toynbee’s world history beyond this historiographical narrative on Toynbee in the anglophone context by revealing that influential Japanese historians had already found significant potential in his world history in the mid-twentieth century, almost three decades before his reassessment in English-speaking academia. In particular, the article demonstrates how Japanese historians, such as Suzuki Shigetaka, Eguchi Bokurō, and Uehara Senroku, received Toynbee’s idea of world history with various motivations and historical contexts. The research also argues that, despite the differences in their receptive intentions and backgrounds, they interpreted Toynbee as a significant European intellectual who made a self-critique of conventional historical studies in Europe and demonstrated the possibility of rewriting world history beyond Eurocentric assumptions.
Colonial labour in French policy: A case study of the Lính thợ sent from Vietnam to France, 1939–1950s
Authors: Hanh Nguyen Thi , Trang Nguyen Thi
Published: December 2024

During the Second World War, France recruited unskilled labourers, known as Lính thợ or ‘Worker-Soldiers’, from the Indochina Union (today's Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), mainly from the Tonkin (Northern) and Northern Annam regions. This article examines French policies towards Lính thợ from 1939 to the 1950s, which aimed to recruit the most cost-effective, healthiest, hardiest, skilled, and ‘compliant’ labour force. However, these policies had unintended consequences. They exacerbated existing conflicts within the Lính thợ community, and also led to their marginalisation and exclusion from French civil society. As a result, Lính thợ had to restructure their community and rethink their goals and strategies to claim their legitimate rights, especially after 1945. This article highlights the tensions and challenges faced by Lính thợ in France, and the complex relationship between colonial powers and migrant labourers imported from the colonies.
Routines die hard: Ontological security and audience agency in securitisation
Authors: Ku Minseon , Finch Brian
Published: December 2024

How can we understand the audience agency and securitisation processes that can induce anxiety? The Copenhagen School of security studies conceptualises an audience as possessing political agency which is contingent on their capabilities to respond to securitising moves. Drawing on Anthony Giddens’s approach to ontological security, we argue that there is another type of agency supplementing political agency. Ontological agency refers to exercising control over the stability and continuity of one’s everyday routines and practices to minimise disruption to these routines caused by securitisation. Because routines of day-to-day life are central to bracketing sources of anxiety, people may choose to overlook and not react to securitising moves designating threats and implementing emergency measures that can undermine ontological security. We illustrate the analytical purchase of ontological agency by using unstructured observations of South Korean people’s responses to military practices that securitise North Korea. Our observations reveal that there is latent anxiety regarding North Korea that manifests in varying degrees ranging from inaction when routines are not disrupted by securitisation to outward bursts of emotional reactions and breakdown when securitisation practices disrupt people’s basic routines. This raises implications about the importance of ontological security driving the success or failure of securitisation and the politics of existentialism.
Poverty and Richness of Arguments in Lorenzo Valla
Authors: Mariani Zini Fosca
Published: December 2024

At first glance, in Valla’s thinking, his ‘poor’ conception of metaphysics seems to contrast with his appreciation of the ‘richness’ of rhetoric, as opposed to the indigence of dialectic. However, poverty can be understood in two senses: on the one hand, it designates a lack, even an insufficiency; on the other, it expresses the search for something simple, even essential. So, poverty, like nakedness (Séris 2021)1, is a concept with an opposite polarity. What is elementary can therefore be fundamental. Consequently, how can we understand, in Valla’s thought, the link between the ontological reduction of all transcendentals to the res and the opulence of rhetoric? To try to answer this question, this paper seeks to analyze the ambivalent nature of the opposition between poverty and wealth in order to reinterpret it in the opposition between simplicity and complexity. It is not certain that gain will be found on the side that we would expect to find it.
Insects and mycorrhizal fungi influence maternal seed provisioning in Senecio vulgaris
Authors: Chitty Ruth P. , Gange Alan C.
Published: December 2024

The performance of plants in any one generation can be influenced not just by the prevailing biotic and abiotic factors, but also by those factors experienced by the parental generation. These maternal effects have been recorded in an array of plant species, but most studies tend to focus on abiotic factors over two generations. Here we show that maternal effects in the annual forb Senecio vulgaris may be influenced by beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and insect herbivory over four successive generations. These effects were very much determined by seed provisioning, wherein C:N:P ratios were altered by both fungi and aphids. There was little evidence of epigenetic changes induced by the fungi or insects, instead the driving forces seemed to be allocation of N and P to the seeds. However, changes in seed chemistry were not cumulative over generations, often decreases in seed nutrient content were followed by recovery in subsequent generations. The changes in seed stoichiometry can have important consequences for viability, germination and subsequent seedling growth rates. We conclude that studies of maternal effects need to be conducted over multiple generations, and also need to be multifactorial, involving variation in abiotic factors such as water and nutrients, combined with biotic factors.
Essential covers of the hypercube require many hyperplanes
Authors: Sauermann Lisa , Xu Zixuan
Published: December 2024

We prove a new lower bound for the almost 20-year-old problem of determining the smallest possible size of an essential cover of the

$n$

-dimensional hypercube

$\{\pm 1\}^n$

, that is, the smallest possible size of a collection of hyperplanes that forms a minimal cover of

$\{\pm 1\}^n$

and such that, furthermore, every variable appears with a non-zero coefficient in at least one of the hyperplane equations. We show that such an essential cover must consist of at least

$10^{-2}\cdot n^{2/3}/(\log n)^{2/3}$

hyperplanes, improving previous lower bounds of Linial–Radhakrishnan, of Yehuda–Yehudayoff, and of Araujo–Balogh–Mattos.
COVID-19 and Conflict Research Spaces
Authors: Gillooly Shauna N.
Published: December 2024

The intersection of conflict research and research ethics is already a complex and fraught one, particularly in exchanges between researchers from the Global North and researched communities from the Global South. There are many examples (and years) of exploitation, fraud, and violence in these exchanges, and more recent scholarship on fieldwork ethics has established new norms of reciprocal exchange rather than exploitation in these relationships. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, asymmetric access to health care, and global vaccine inequality has added yet another layer of complexity here. How do we continue move forward with the push to make our research exchanges ethical while dealing with the additional complexity of the pandemic? In this article, I reflect on the ethics of these exchanges and concerns around security for interlocutors in replacing in person fieldwork with virtual fieldwork, drawing from examples of my own doctoral dissertation research in the Pacific region of Colombia, which was interrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19. In this article, I describe how a turn to the digital archives helped mitigate additional ethical and security concerns that arose as a result of the pandemic.
Can learning a new language make you better at maths? A meta-analysis of foreign language learning and numeracy skills during early adolescence
Authors: Nucette Alejandra , Hamamura Takeshi , Leitao Suze , Biedermann Britta
Published: December 2024

This systematic review and meta-analysis explore the correlation between foreign language instruction and mathematical skills in young adolescents, highlighting the significance of high school mathematical education and the adaptability of the adolescent brain. Focused on students starting second language programs between ages 8 and 13, following PRISMA guidelines, this review included 25 studies (1978–2020) with 785,552 participants. Using a random-effects model, the overall effect size revealed a statistically significant relationship between our variables, indicating a threefold higher likelihood of passing or achieving higher grades in mathematical tests for language-learning students. Moderating variables analyses identified socioeconomic status (SES) and intervention length as influencers of observed heterogeneity, with SES being the primary factor. Sensitivity analyses, including adding potentially missing studies and removing outliers, confirmed the robustness of the overall effect. Nonetheless, additional research is needed to enhance global diversity and comprehensively understand the interplay between language learning and cognitive function.
Kant on the ‘Wise Adaptation’ of Our Cognitive Faculties: The Limits of Knowledge and the Possibility of the Highest Good
Authors: Shaul Dylan
Published: December 2024

This article provides a new reconstruction and evaluation of Kant’s argument in §IX of the second Critique’s Dialectic. Kant argues that our cognitive faculties are wisely adapted to our practical vocation since their failure to supply theoretical knowledge of God and the immortal soul is a condition of possibility for the highest good. This new reconstruction improves upon past efforts by greater fidelity to the form and content of Kant’s argument. I show that evaluating Kant’s argument requires settling various other issues in the interpretation of his moral philosophy, e.g. his account of moral psychology, motivation, education, and development.
The Changing Subfield of Comparative Politics and the Journal of Politics & Gender
Authors: Tripp Aili Mari
Published: December 2024

Much has changed since 2007–2010 when I co-edited the journal Politics & Gender (P&G) with Kathleen Dolan. In this essay, I reflect on the changes in the journal and the subfield of a comparative politics of gender. Dolan and I were the second team to edit the journal, following in the footsteps of the inaugural editors Karen Beckwith and Lisa Baldez. The journal was finding its footing at the time, and increasing submissions was a key concern. This year, on its 20th anniversary, we can celebrate that the journal, like the subfield of gender and politics, has flourished and matured. The number of articles published by the journal has multiplied exponentially and the quality of articles has improved significantly. Moreover, the journal has demonstrably helped shape the subfield of a comparative politics of gender in ways that I outline below.
Civiles Principes and Persian Despots: Alexander Severus’ Admission Ritual in the Historia Augusta
Authors: Lindholmer Mads Ortving
Published: December 2024

This article argues that the Historia Augusta retrojected fourth-century rituals of the imperial court into its presentation of the reign of Severus Alexander in order to criticise the “oriental” and un-Roman practices of the contemporary emperors of the fourth century. The Historia Augusta’s two descriptions of Alexander Severus’ admission ritual (salutatio) are suffused with fourth-century ritual elements which have no place in the early third century. A simplistic reading might interpret these anachronisms as evidence of the HA’s sloppiness and incompetence. However, I argue instead that they are conscious and deliberate. These two descriptions highlight a contrast between the adoratio of the fourth century and the restrained and moderate civilitas of the traditional princeps, and the descriptions also innovatively present the adoratio as Persian. This article thus demonstrates the contemporary political argument of the Historia Augusta, which sought to contribute to wider intellectual debates about the ideal emperor and the importance of civilitas in the fourth century.
Dora Dean and the Performance of Black Womanhood in the “Coon Song” Craze
Authors: Proctor Elea
Published: December 2024

During the ragtime craze at the turn of the twentieth century, the popular repertoire of “coon songs” was coupled with a robust style of vocal delivery called “coon shouting.” This vocal technique was associated with white women—the most famous “coon shouters” of the day—who, like the performers of the nineteenth-century minstrel show, claimed to have studied so-called authentic Black performance in order to replicate it on stage. Performing the “coon song” repertoire, these women sang, often from a Black male protagonist's point of view, about the trials and tribulations of Black life and romance. How did the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality in this repertoire change when it was performed by Black women? This article addresses this question by examining caricatures of Black womanhood within the “coon song” genre and by exploring the phenomenon of Black women performing the “coon song” repertoire, using the career of vaudeville performer Dora Dean (1872–1949) as a case study. I track Dean's participation in the “coon song” craze through an archival survey of sheet music and newspaper reviews dating from the height of her career (ca. 1896–1914). Using these sources, I explore the recurring theme of racial passing and the ubiquity of caricatures derived from blackface minstrelsy within Dean's “coon song” repertoire. I argue that Dean successfully navigated stereotypes of Black women's femininity, sexuality, and morality in her performances of “coon songs” and, in the process, subverted stereotypes of Black life, romance, and vocal sound.
Co-targeting of the thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor to decrease immunotherapeutic resistance in CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like and Down syndrome acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Balestra Tommaso , Niswander Lisa M , Bagashev Asen , Loftus Joseph P , Ross Savannah L , Chen Robert K , McClellan Samantha M , Junco Jacob J , Bárcenas López Diego A , Rabin Karen R. , Fry Terry J , Tasian Sarah K
Published: December 2024

CRLF2 rearrangements occur in >50% of Ph-like and Down syndrome (DS)-associated B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and induce constitutive kinase signaling targetable by the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib under current clinical investigation. While chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CART) immunotherapies have achieved remarkable remission rates in children with relapsed/refractory B-ALL, ~50% of CD19CART-treated patients relapse again, many with CD19 antigen loss. We previously reported preclinical activity of thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor-targeted cellular immunotherapy (TSLPRCART) against CRLF2-overexpressing ALL as an alternative approach. In this study, we posited that combinatorial TSLPRCART and ruxolitinib would have superior activity and first validated potent TSLPRCART-induced inhibition of leukemia proliferation in vitro in CRLF2-rearranged ALL cell lines and in vivo in Ph-like and DS-ALL patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. However, simultaneous TSLPRCART/ruxolitinib or CD19CART/ruxolitinib treatment during initial CART expansion diminished T cell proliferation, blunted cytokine production, and/or facilitated leukemia relapse, which was abrogated by time-sequenced/delayed ruxolitinib co-exposure. Importantly, ruxolitinib co-administration prevented fatal TSLPRCART cytokine-associated toxicity in ALL PDX mice. Upon ruxolitinib withdrawal, TSLPRCART functionality recovered in vivo with clearance of subsequent ALL rechallenge. These translational studies demonstrate an effective two-pronged therapeutic strategy that mitigates acute CART-induced hyperinflammation and provides potential anti-leukemia ‘maintenance’ relapse prevention for CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like and DS-ALL.
A critical role of action-related functional networks in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome
Authors: Baldermann Juan Carlos , Petry-Schmelzer Jan Niklas , Schüller Thomas , Mahfoud Lin , Brandt Gregor A. , Dembek Till A. , van der Linden Christina , Krauss Joachim K. , Szejko Natalia , Müller-Vahl Kirsten R. , Ganos Christos , Al-Fatly Bassam , Heiden Petra , Servello Domenico , Galbiati Tommaso , Johnson Kara A. , Butson Christopher R. , Okun Michael S. , Andrade Pablo , Domschke Katharina , Fink Gereon R. , Fox Michael D. , Horn Andreas , Kuhn Jens , Visser-Vandewalle Veerle , Barbe Michael T.
Published: December 2024

Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome (GTS) is a chronic tic disorder, characterized by unwanted motor actions and vocalizations. While brain stimulation techniques show promise in reducing tic severity, optimal target networks are not well-defined. Here, we leverage datasets from two independent deep brain stimulation (DBS) cohorts and a cohort of tic-inducing lesions to infer critical networks for treatment and occurrence of tics by mapping stimulation sites and lesions to a functional connectome derived from 1,000 healthy participants. We find that greater tic reduction is linked to higher connectivity of DBS sites (N = 37) with action-related functional resting-state networks, i.e., the cingulo-opercular (r = 0.62; p < 0.001) and somato-cognitive action networks (r = 0.47; p = 0.002). Regions of the cingulo-opercular network best match the optimal connectivity profiles of thalamic DBS. We replicate the significance of targeting cingulo-opercular and somato-cognitive action network connectivity in an independent DBS cohort (N = 10). Finally, we demonstrate that tic-inducing brain lesions (N = 22) exhibit similar connectivity to these networks. Collectively, these results suggest a critical role for these action-related networks in the pathophysiology and treatment of GTS.