bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thin-skinned invaders: geographic variation in the structure of the skin among populations of cane toads (Rhinella marina)
Authors: Kosmala Georgia K , Brown Gregory P , Shine Richard
Published: July 2020

The structure of the skin may evolve rapidly during a biological invasion, for two reasons. First, novel abiotic challenges such as hydric conditions may modify selection of traits (such as skin thickness) that determine rates of evaporative water loss. Second, invaders might benefit from enhanced rates of dispersal, with locomotion possibly facilitated by thinner (and hence more flexible) skin. We quantified thickness of layers of the skin in cane toads (Rhinella marina) from the native range (Brazil), a stepping-stone population (Hawaii), and the invaded range in Australia. Overall, the skin is thinner in cane toads in Australia than in the native range, consistent with selection on mobility. However, layers that regulate water exchange (epidermal stratum corneum and dermal ground substance layer) are thicker in Australia, retarding water loss in hot dry conditions. Within Australia, epidermal thickness increased as the toads colonized more arid regions, but then decreased in the arid Kimberley region. That curvilinearity might reflect spatial sorting, whereby mobile (thin-skinned) individuals dominate the invasion front; or the toads’ restriction to moist sites in this arid landscape may reduce the importance of water-conservation. Further work is needed to clarify the roles of adaptation versus phenotypic plasticity in generating the strong geographic variation in skin structure among populations of cane toads.
Isolated tricuspid valve surgery: impact of aetiology and clinical presentation on outcomes
Authors: Dreyfus Julien , Flagiello Michele , Bazire Baptiste , Eggenspieler Florian , Viau Florence , Riant Elisabeth , Mbaki Yannick , Bohbot Yohann , Eyharts Damien , Senage Thomas , Dubrulle Henri , Nicol Martin , Doguet Fabien , Nguyen Virginia , Coisne Augustin , Le Tourneau Thierry , Lavie-Badie Yoan , Tribouilloy Christophe , Donal Erwan , Tomasi Jacques , Habib Gilbert , Selton-Suty Christine , Raffoul Richard , Iung Bernard , Obadia Jean-François , Messika-Zeitoun David
Published: July 2020

Aims

The aim of this study was to identify determinants of in-hospital and mid-term outcomes after isolated tricuspid valve surgery (ITVS) and more specifically the impact of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) mechanism and clinical presentation.

Methods and results

Among 5661 consecutive adult patients who underwent a tricuspid valve (TV) surgery at 12 French tertiary centres in 2007–2017 collected from a mandatory administrative database, we identified 466 patients (8% of all tricuspid surgeries) who underwent an ITVS. Most patients presented with advanced disease [47% in New York Heart Association (NYHA) III/IV, 57% with right-sided heart failure (HF) signs]. Tricuspid regurgitation was functional in 49% (22% with prior left-sided heart valve surgery and 27% isolated) and organic in 51% (infective endocarditis in 31% and other causes in 20%). In-hospital mortality and major complications rates were 10% and 31%, respectively. Rates of survival and survival free of HF readmission were 75% and 62% at 5 years. Patients with functional TR incurred a worse in-hospital mortality than those with organic TR (14% vs. 6%, P = 0.004), but presentation was more severe. Independent determinants of outcomes were NYHA Class III/IV [odd ratios (OR) = 2.7 (1.2–6.1), P = 0.01], moderate/severe right ventricular dysfunction [OR = 2.6 (1.2–5.8), P = 0.02], lower prothrombin time [OR = 0.98 (0.96–0.99), P = 0.008], and with borderline statistical significance, right-sided HF signs [OR = 2.4 (0.9–6.5), P = 0.06] while TR mechanism was not [OR = 0.7 (0.3–1.8), P = 0.88].

Conclusion

Isolated TV surgery was associated with high mortality and morbidity, both in hospital and during follow-up, predicted by the severity of the presentation but not by TR mechanism. Our results suggest that TV intervention should be performed earlier in the course of the disease.
The influence of long- and short-term volcanic strain on aquifer pressure: a case study from Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat (W.I.)
Authors: Strehlow K , Gottsmann J , Rust A , Hautmann S , Hemmings B
Published: July 2020

Aquifers are poroelastic bodies that respond to strain by changes in pore pressure. Crustal deformation due to volcanic processes induces pore pressure variations that are mirrored in well water levels. Here, we investigate water level changes in the Belham valley on Montserrat over the course of 2 yr (2004–2006). Using finite element analysis, we simulate crustal deformation due to different volcanic strain sources and the dynamic poroelastic aquifer response. While some additional hydrological drivers cannot be excluded, we suggest that a poroelastic strain response of the aquifer system in the Belham valley is a possible explanation for the observed water level changes. According to our simulations, the shallow Belham aquifer responds to a steadily increasing sediment load due to repeated lahar sedimentation in the valley with rising aquifer pressures. A wholesale dome collapse in May 2006 on the other hand induced dilatational strain and thereby a short-term water level drop in a deeper-seated aquifer, which caused groundwater leakage from the Belham aquifer and thereby induced a delayed water level fall in the wells. The system thus responded to both gradual and rapid transient strain associated with the eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano (Montserrat). This case study gives field evidence for theoretical predictions on volcanic drivers behind hydrological transients, demonstrating the potential of hydrological data for volcano monitoring. Interrogation of such data can provide valuable constraints on stress evolution in volcanic systems and therefore complement other monitoring systems. The presented models and inferred results are conceptually applicable to volcanic areas worldwide.
Using conventional and pop-up satellite transmitting tags to assess the horizontal movements and habitat use of thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the Gulf of Maine
Authors: Kneebone Jeff , Sulikowski James , Knotek Ryan , McElroy W David , Gervelis Brian , Curtis Tobey , Jurek Joe , Mandelman John
Published: July 2020

Thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) have experienced decreasing abundance and range contraction in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) in recent decades. To better understand the extent to which population structure, environmental conditions, and movement ecology may play a role in these disruptions, 128 “mark-report” pop-up satellite tags (mrPATs) and 2195 conventional tags were deployed from 2002 to 2019. Data obtained from 84 mrPATs and 43 conventional tag recaptures [127 individuals: 55 males, 72 females; 32–104 cm total length (TL)] revealed minimum linear horizontal movements of 0.4–46.8 km in all cardinal directions over periods 22–3435 d. There was no relationship between days at liberty, TL, sex, depth, reporting season, or tag type and minimum linear displacement, and no broad seasonal movements were evident. Skates were observed at depths 27–201 m and in water temperatures 2.5–12.5°C, with fluctuations in both depth and temperature evident by season. Given their restricted movements, thorny skate may represent a single stock/population with metapopulation-like structure in the GOM. The pervasiveness of sedentary behaviour may also place the species at risk of localized depletion and climate change but also demonstrates the potential efficacy of spatial closures for promoting population recovery.
Effect of zinc pyrithione shampoo treatment on skin commensal Malassezia
Authors: Leong Cheryl , Wang Joyce , Toi Min Jet , Lam Yuen In , Goh Joleen PZ , Lee Shi Mun , Dawson Thomas L
Published: July 2020

Malassezia restricta and Malassezia globosa are lipid dependent commensal yeasts associated with dandruff. Antifungal actives such as zinc pyrithione are commonly used in antidandruff shampoos, although their efficacy is not clearly demonstrated. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of antifungal treatments on scalp Malassezia via a combination of culturomic and genomic detection methods. Zinc pyrithione inhibited Malassezia growth at low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). In a longitudinal pilot study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis showed a decrease in M. restricta on the scalp after zinc pyrithione treatment. These findings validate the antifungal efficacy of zinc pyrithione as a dandruff treatment.

Lay Abstract

Malassezia yeasts are associated with dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis. Zinc pyrithione is effective against Malassezia growth in vitro and when tested on human skin as a shampoo. These findings will be useful for investigating the role of Malassezia in skin microbiome intervention studies.
Noise from undetected sources in Dark Energy Survey images
Authors: Eckert K , Bernstein G M , Amara A , Amon A , Choi A , Everett S , Gruen D , Gruendl R A , Huff E M , Kuropatkin N , Roodman A , Sheldon E , Yanny B , Zhang Y , Abbott T M C , Aguena M , Avila S , Bechtol K , Brooks D , Burke D L , Carnero Rosell A , Carrasco Kind M , Carretero J , Costanzi M , da Costa L N , De Vicente J , Desai S , Diehl H T , Dietrich J P , Eifler T F , Evrard A E , Flaugher B , Frieman J , García-Bellido J , Gaztanaga E , Gschwend J , Gutierrez G , Hartley W G , Hollowood D L , Honscheid K , James D J , Kron R , Kuehn K , Maia M A G , Marshall J L , Melchior P , Menanteau F , Miquel R , Ogando R L C , Palmese A , Paz-Chinchón F , Plazas A A , Romer A K , Sanchez E , Scarpine V , Serrano S , Sevilla-Noarbe I , Smith M , Soares-Santos M , Suchyta E , Swanson M E C , Tarle G , Thomas D , Varga T N , Walker A R , Wester W , Wilkinson R D , Zuntz J ,   (The DES Collaboration)
Published: July 2020

For ground-based optical imaging with current CCD technology, the Poisson fluctuations in source and sky background photon arrivals dominate the noise budget and are readily estimated. Another component of noise, however, is the signal from the undetected population of stars and galaxies. Using injection of artifical galaxies into images, we demonstrate that the measured variance of galaxy moments (used for weak gravitational lensing measurements) in Dark Energy Survey (DES) images is significantly in excess of the Poisson predictions, by up to 30 per cent, and that the background sky levels are overestimated by current software. By cross-correlating distinct images of ‘empty’ sky regions, we establish that there is a significant image noise contribution from undetected static sources (US), which, on average, are mildly resolved at DES resolution. Treating these US as a stationary noise source, we compute a correction to the moment covariance matrix expected from Poisson noise. The corrected covariance matrix matches the moment variances measured on the injected DES images to within 5 per cent. Thus, we have an empirical method to statistically account for US in weak lensing measurements, rather than requiring extremely deep sky simulations. We also find that local sky determinations can remove most of the bias in flux measurements, at a small penalty in additional, but quantifiable, noise.
Three-dimensional heat transfer effects in external layers of a magnetized neutron star
Authors: Kondratyev Ilya A , Moiseenko Sergey G , Bisnovatyi-Kogan Gennady S , Glushikhina Maria V
Published: July 2020

Determination of a magnetic field structure on a neutron star (NS) surface is an important problem of a modern astrophysics. In a presence of strong magnetic fields, a thermal conductivity of a degenerate matter is anisotropic. In this paper, we present 3D anisotropic heat transfer simulations in outer layers of magnetized NSs, and construct synthetic thermal light curves. We have used a different from previous works tensorial thermal conductivity coefficient of electrons, derived from the analytical solution of the Boltzmann equation by the Chapman–Enskog method. We have obtained an NS surface temperature distribution in presence of dipole-plus-quadrupole magnetic fields. We consider a case, in which magnetic axes of a dipole and quadrupole components of the magnetic field are not aligned. To examine observational manifestations of such fields, we have generated thermal light curves for the obtained temperature distributions using a composite blackbody model. It is shown that the simplest (only zero-order spherical function in quadrupole component) non-coaxial dipole-plus-quadrupole magnetic field distribution can significantly affect the thermal light curves, making pulse profiles non-symmetric and amplifying pulsations in comparison to the pure-dipolar field.
The parallel tracks of kHz QPOs in low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1728−34: explorer of the bimodal accretion modes
Authors: Wang De-Hua , Zhang Cheng-Min
Published: July 2020

Parallel tracks in the relation between the lower kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillation (kHz QPO) frequency ν1 and the X-ray intensity I have been observed in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (NS-LMXB) 4U 1728−34, and we try to ascribe these phenomena to the bimodal accretion modes, i.e. the disc accretion and radial accretion. For the source with one constant radial accretion rate $\dot{M}_{\rm r}$, as the increase of the disc accretion rate $\dot{M}_{\rm d}$, the NS magnetosphere-disc radius can shrink from ∼18 to ∼16 km, while ν1 increases from ∼670 to ∼870 Hz. Then, due to the increase of the kHz QPO frequency and total X-ray intensity Itot, the source will trace out an oblique track in ν1–I relation. While, if the source enters another constant radial accretion rate due to the variation of the accretion environment, the increase of the disc accretion rate can arise another parallel track in ν1–I relation. Finally, the reliability of the theoretical assumptions, the variability of the accretion radius and accretion rate, as well as the dependence of the two accretion modes, are also investigated and discussed.
Robotic reverberation mapping of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 120
Authors: Hlabathe Michael S , Starkey David A , Horne Keith , Romero-Colmenero Encarni , Crawford Steven M , Valenti Stefano , Winkler Hartmut , Barth Aaron J , Onken Christopher A , Sand David J , Treu Tommaso , Diamond-Stanic Aleksandar M , Villforth Carolin
Published: July 2020

We carried out photometric and spectroscopic observations of the well-studied broad-line radio galaxy 3C 120 with the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global robotic telescope network from 2016 December to 2018 April as part of the LCO AGN Key Project on Reverberation Mapping of Accretion Flows. Here, we present both spectroscopic and photometric reverberation mapping results. We used the interpolated cross-correlation function to perform multiple-line lag measurements in 3C 120. We find the H γ, He ii λ4686, H β, and He i λ5876 lags of $\tau _{\text{cen}} = 18.8_{-1.0}^{+1.3}$, $2.7_{-0.8}^{+0.7}$, $21.2_{-1.0}^{+1.6}$, and $16.9_{-1.1}^{+0.9}$ d, respectively, relative to the V-band continuum. Using the measured lag and rms velocity width of the H β emission line, we determine the mass of the black hole for 3C 120 to be $M=(6.3^{+0.5}_{-0.3})\times 10^7\, (f/5.5)$ M⊙. Our black hole mass measurement is consistent with similar previous studies on 3C 120, but with small uncertainties. In addition, velocity-resolved lags in 3C 120 show a symmetric pattern across the H β line, 25 d at line centre decreasing to 17 d in the line wings at ±4000 km s−1. We also investigate the inter-band continuum lags in 3C 120 and find that they are generally consistent with τ ∝ λ4/3 as predicted from a geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disc. From the continuum lags, we measure the best-fitting value τ0 = 3.5 ± 0.2 d at $\lambda _{\rm 0} = 5477\, \mathring{\rm A}$. It implies a disc size a factor of 1.6 times larger than prediction from the standard disc model with L/LEdd = 0.4. This is consistent with previous studies in which larger than expected disc sizes were measured.
Radiative cooling rates, ion fractions, molecule abundances, and line emissivities including self-shielding and both local and metagalactic radiation fields
Authors: Ploeckinger Sylvia , Schaye Joop
Published: July 2020

We use the spectral synthesis code cloudy to tabulate the properties of gas for an extensive range in redshift (z = 0–9), temperature (log T[K] = 1–9.5), metallicity (log Z/Z⊙ = −4 – +0.5, Z = 0), and density ($\log n_{\mathrm{H}}[\, \mathrm{cm}^{-3}] = -8$ − +6). This therefore includes gas with properties characteristic of the interstellar, circumgalactic, and intergalactic media. The gas is exposed to a redshift-dependent UV/X-ray background, while for the self-shielded lower-temperature gas (i.e. ISM gas), an interstellar radiation field and cosmic rays are added. The radiation field is attenuated by a density- and temperature-dependent column of gas and dust. Motivated by the observed star formation law, this gas column density also determines the intensity of the interstellar radiation field and the cosmic ray density. The ionization balance, molecule fractions, cooling rates, line emissivities, and equilibrium temperatures are calculated self-consistently. We include dust, cosmic rays, and the interstellar radiation field step-by-step to study their relative impact. These publicly available tables are ideal for hydrodynamical simulations. They can be used stand alone or coupled to a non-equilibrium network for a subset of elements. The release includes a C routine to read in and interpolate the tables, as well as an easy-to-use python graphical user interface to explore the tables.
An unusual cause of appendectomy in a child (a sharp pin trapped in the appendix): a case report
Authors: Doya Leen Jamel , Salhab Nabila , Mansour Hanin Ahmed , Alkhalil Mohammad Ahmad Almahmod
Published: July 2020

Foreign bodies’ (FBs) ingestion is a common problem among children and the psychologically deranged. Ingested FBs usually pass through the alimentary tract without any incident. They can rarely be placed in the appendix and may cause problems.

Here we report a case of an appendectomy with no signs of inflammation indicated for a sharp metallic foreign body trapped in the appendix of a 13-year-old Syrian girl. The diagnosis was made through serially abdominal X-rays and abdominal ultrasound.
Taking a Theoretical Turn
Authors: Raeff Catherine
Published: July 2020

The goal of this chapter is to raise and explore varied issues regarding theory and psychology, and to consider what it means to say that psychology is a fundamentally theoretical enterprise. It begins by discussing why theorizing is necessary for understanding and investigating human functioning. The chapter then turns to considering psychology’s stance toward theorizing, including why conventional psychology practices end up rendering the field rather atheoretical. It is argued that much theorizing in psychology is subordinate to method. The chapter next considers how more elaborate theorizing includes analyzing psychology itself, as well as articulating theoretical approaches to human functioning. The chapter ends with a consideration of relativism and suggests criteria for evaluating theorizing.
Implications for Pondering Some Complexities of Causality and Meaning
Authors: Raeff Catherine
Published: July 2020

This chapter presents some implications and applications of the theoretical framework that is presented in Chapters 5, 6, and 7. It first shows that the theoretical framework provides a basis for thinking about how action involves varied kinds of causes. To go beyond conventional analyses of deterministic causality, this chapter explains how action is constituted by the structuring of individual, social, cultural, bodily, and environmental processes. It also considers how these constitutive processes may both enable and constrain action. The theoretical framework is used to think about context in terms of active processes that both shape and are shaped by what people do. The chapter then considers some implications of the theoretical framework for understanding the meaning of action in terms of individual, social, cultural, bodily, and environmental processes.
On Borders
Authors: Ochoa Espejo Paulina
Published: July 2020

When are borders justified? Who has a right to control them? Where should they be drawn? People today think of borders as an island’s shores. Just as beaches delimit a castaway’s realm, so borders define the edge of a territory occupied by a unified people, to whom the land legitimately belongs. Hence a territory is legitimate only if it belongs to a people unified by civic identity. Sadly, this Desert Island Model of territorial politics forces us to choose. If a country seeks to have a legitimate territory, it can either have democratic legitimacy or inclusion of different civic identities—but not both. The resulting politics creates mass xenophobia, migrant bashing, hoarding of natural resources, and border walls. On Borders presents an alternative model. Drawing on an intellectual tradition concerned with how land and climate shape institutions, this book argues that we should not see territories as pieces of property owned by identity groups. Instead, we should see them as watersheds: as interconnected systems where institutions, people, the biota, and the land together create overlapping civic duties and relations, what the book calls place-specific duties. This Watershed Model argues that borders are justified when they allow us to fulfill those duties; that border-control rights spring from internationally agreed conventions—not from internal legitimacy, that borders should be governed cooperatively by the neighboring states and the states system, and that border redrawing should be done with environmental conservation in mind. The book explores how this model undoes the exclusionary politics of desert islands.
Country Focus and Global Endeavors
Authors: Brown Katherine E.
Published: July 2020

This chapter introduces the key developments and policies of antiradicalization through the war on terror, and global agencies like the UN and NATO, to help situate the policies and programs of the countries presented. Particular attention is paid to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, charting its connections to ideas about security and how the field of counterterrorism is only just beginning to address questions of gender. The chapter then gives details about the current situation within each specified country regarding extremism/radicalization and briefly outlines the evolution of antiradicalization efforts. This groundwork helps contextualize the arguments presented in the subsequent chapters.
Groomed and Seduced
Authors: Brown Katherine E.
Published: July 2020

This chapter addresses some key theories on radicalization and looks at women in radicalization. It pays particular attention to theories and writers who discuss groups with women as active members. The chapter shows that none of the theories take gender seriously; they dismiss the lived experiences of radicals, despite claims to the contrary. Consequently, theories at worst ignore or at best diminish women’s involvement, a trend repeated in policies. The chapter demonstrates how commentators sexualize women’s agency, then considers explanations of individual women who have been involved in terrorism and political violence from the position of intersectional agency. Looking at group analysis, the chapter reveals how, when they are violent or support violence within groups, women’s actions are revealed in policy and public discourse as more shocking but also a sign of weakness on the part of terrorist organizations, denying the internal logics of radical groups justifying women’s participation.
The Antiradicalization Protection Racket
Authors: Brown Katherine E.
Published: July 2020

This chapter addresses program failures. The masculinities supported are premised on a “chivalric” defense of citizens, which only works if “bad men are lurking to attack women.” As societies accept an increasingly paternalistic state, they are expected to extend gratitude for protection; dissent or criticism is marginalized. There is a proliferation of securitization, where areas of ordinary life are reclassified as “security” concerns. Broad methods create unsafe spaces through increased surveillance and the appropriation of other institutions for security measures. Attempts by the state to lessen women’s suffering are utilitarian, aimed at reducing the risk of detainees regressing by placing women as their “wives,” making detainees dependent upon the state to which they owe gratitude. These programs present a “protection racket,” which undermines the rights and security of women and constitutes a demand for deference from citizens in exchange for governance and security. Dissent is delegitimized be evoking security needs.
The Limits of Antiradicalization
Authors: Brown Katherine E.
Published: July 2020

This chapter summarizes the arguments of the book, reveals the consequences of these programs, and presents alternative policy options, offering three main criticisms. First, these programs fail to engage with how masculinity and femininity inform the radicalization process, and cannot understand personal drivers or the sociopolitical environment. Second, male radicalization is unreflectively linked to a flawed masculinity, and women’s radicalization depends on orientalist stereotypes about passivity and subjugation. Solutions hinge on particular ideals of masculinity that few men can obtain, while women are seen as a rescue mission. Third, a paternalist logic justifies intervention in ordinary lives in the name of security, yet fails to deliver. A gendered differential exists in the impact of counter-radicalization measures, and there are wider consequences. Individuals are denied agency, not given the option to critique for themselves the non-radical versions of agency and self being presented to them, engendering a limited form of loyalty to and security for the state.
Terrible Revolution
Authors: Blythe Christopher James
Published: July 2020

The relationship between Mormons and the United States was marked by anxiety and hostility. Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints looked forward to apocalyptic events that would unseat corrupt governments across the globe but would particularly decimate the tyrannical government of the United States. Mormons turned to prophecies of divine deliverance by way of plagues, natural disasters, foreign invasions, American Indian raids, slave uprisings, or civil war unleashed on American cities and American people. For the Saints, these violent images promised an end to their oppression. It also promised a national rebirth as part of the millennial Kingdom of God that would vouchsafe the protections of the U.S. Constitution. Blythe examines apocalypticism across the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly as it would take shape in localized and personalized forms in the writings and visions of ordinary Latter-day Saints outside of the church’s leadership. By following the official response of church leaders to lay prophecy, Blythe shows how the hierarchy, committed to a form of separatist nationalism of their own, encouraged apocalypticism during the nineteenth century. Yet, after Utah obtained statehood, as the church sought to accommodate to national norms for religious denominations, leaders sought to lessen the tensions between themselves and American political and cultural powers. As a result, visions of a violent end to the nation became a liability, and leaders began to disavow and regulate these apocalyptic narratives especially as they showed up among the laity.
Introduction: Vernacular Religion and Mormon Apocalypticism
Authors: Blythe Christopher James
Published: July 2020

This introduction explains the book’s basic arguments and methodology. The book examines the place of apocalypticism in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a means of responding to what they perceived as persecution from the United States. It is particularly interested in how last days prophecies and visions have been told by those outside of church leadership. It defines the idea of apocalypticism and argues that Mormon Studies scholars have not sufficiently integrated their work with the field of lived or vernacular religion. This book seeks to remedy this neglect. A summary of each of the six chapters is provided.
Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Apocalyptic Trajectories
Authors: Blythe Christopher James
Published: July 2020

This chapter documents the fracturing of end-of-world belief among Latter-day Saints in the twentieth century. Church leaders re-envisioned apocalypticism as a “moderate millenarianism.” At the same time, Mormon fundamentalists—deemed heretics by many church leaders—deployed apocalypticism to challenge the processes of Americanization, adding the church’s own apostasy as a distinctive part of their last days chronology. Finally, radical apocalypticism continued to find resonance with a contingent of committed Latter-day Saints. This chapter wrestles with how this final group has been able to negotiate their apocalyptic sentiments and LDS affiliation even in the face of continual criticism. Most importantly, it is in this chapter that the author demonstrates how apocalyptic ideas of any variety continued to be perpetuated in private and family circles.
Shaping the Future Wisely
Authors: Chapin F Stuart
Published: July 2020

This chapter describes a stewardship framework that would enable society to shift from a pathway of planetary degradation toward sustainability. During the time since about 1950—a blink of an eye in geological terms—the burning of fossil fuels has radically changed Earth’s metabolism. It’s not too late to fix this problem. Understanding and realigning the interactions between people and the rest of nature is the greatest and most urgent societal challenge faced by humanity. Both the causes and potential solutions to global problems are deeply rooted in human nature. Human beings are endowed with instincts to both compete for resources and care for others and cooperate so that all people may thrive together. Stewardship enables people to shape physical, biological, and social conditions to benefit both people and nature so that both may flourish.
Tackling Climate Change
Authors: Chapin F Stuart
Published: July 2020

Rapid climate change affects both nature and society. This chapter describes actions that people can take to understand and minimize climate change. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels account for about two-thirds of the energy imbalance that causes Earth’s climate to warm. People born this century will probably experience more climate warming during their lifetimes than has been seen by all of humanity since the beginning of major human civilizations. Climate warming causes increased flooding in wet climates and more frequent droughts and wildfires in dry climates. Rising sea level and more frequent intense storms contribute to more coastal flooding. Climate warming can be slowed by reducing fossil-fuel emissions and by protecting and restoring forests and wetlands. Discussions with others can increase society’s awareness of climate change. More than 9,000 communities around the world have already developed climate action plans to reduce rates of climate warming.
Dialogues for Solutions
Authors: Chapin F Stuart
Published: July 2020

Dialogues that respectfully communicate stewardship goals can build trust and shape the social norms and behavior of others. Communicating effectively, as described in this chapter, is the second element in this book’s four-tiered stewardship strategy. Trust and effective dialogue occur most easily when people share worldviews or are open to the opinions of others. Many attitudes and behaviors are, however, socially constructed and may not be responsive to new information. When information campaigns and hazard warnings conflict with the opinions and worldviews of others, they are likely to elicit negative responses or denial, as in many climate-information campaigns. Even in this situation, progress can be made by looking for points of agreement, such as concern for the future of children or care for Creation. In general, positive conversations that focus on common ground and opportunities for solutions rather than blame for problems are most likely to elicit action.
Collaborating for Shared Goals
Authors: Chapin F Stuart
Published: July 2020

Collaboration with others provides a lever that magnifies each person’s impact on the future and is the third element in this book’s four-tiered stewardship strategy. Collaborations often begin by building on consensus around common concerns. Half of Americans (and a much larger proportion of young people) share a self-identity as environmentalists despite differences in worldviews. The critical step is to engage and coordinate actions in ways that resonate with distinct worldviews. Bridging organizations magnify the effectiveness of individuals and groups by fostering communication and collaboration among groups with complementary (or potentially conflicting) objectives. Collaborative governance enables private citizens and other groups to work with government in seeking consensus for public decisions. Collaboration among apparent adversaries requires processes that are fair, inclusive, and transparent and follow rules that build trust among participants. Collaboration with business often benefits from involvement of government to set standards of acceptable environmental and social behavior.
Financial Performance Analysis
Authors: Fisher Greg , Wisneski John E. , Bakker Rene M.
Published: July 2020

The purpose of analyzing a firm’s financial performance is to illuminate the economic health of an organization relative to its’ selected peer group and to assess the efficacy of managerial decisions and associate adverse consequences with root causes. Analyzing a company’s financial performance can be an important first step in understanding the outcomes of implemented strategies. This chapter discusses the underlying theory, core idea, depiction, process, insight or value created, and risks and limitations of financial performance analysis. Finally, the chapter discusses the case of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and applies the steps of financial performance analysis to these two firms.
SWOT
Authors: Fisher Greg , Wisneski John E. , Bakker Rene M.
Published: July 2020

A SWOT analysis is a simple way to examine a firm’s current situation by accounting for a firm’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It provides a means to account for internal and external factors plus positive and negative factors confronting a firm, thereby providing a balanced perspective of strategic issues. The SWOT analysis can be used to establish strategic fit between a company’s internal environment (its resources and capabilities) and its external environment. This chapter discusses the underlying theory, core idea, depiction, process, insight or value created, and risks and limitations of SWOT performance analysis. Finally, the chapter discusses the illustration of the Chocolate Moose and applies the steps of SWOT analysis to this case.
Strategy
Authors: Mitchell George E. , Schmitz Hans Peter , Bruno-van Vijfeijken Tosca
Published: July 2020

Chapter 3 describes major shifts in the strategic orientations of TNGOs that represent a concerted movement from their historical roots as charitable conduits to social and political change agents seeking sustainable impact and long-term transformations. Three illustrative strategic shifts—from direct service delivery to championing rights and supporting entrepreneurship; from reactive advocacy to proactive global campaigning; and from capacity-building to systems thinking—underscore the growing mismatch between the inherited institutional and normative features of the architecture and the sector’s contemporary ambitions and strategies. The evolution in TNGO strategies over the past several decades suggests new future roles for TNGOs, but future-oriented change is complicated by the need to overcome architectural challenges and confront past legacies.
Collaboration
Authors: Mitchell George E. , Schmitz Hans Peter , Bruno-van Vijfeijken Tosca
Published: July 2020

Collaboration is a common strategy for improving TNGO impact and legitimacy. Chapter 10 examines different collaboration types, levels, and approaches, considers the benefits and obstacles to collaborations, and identifies various capacities required to collaborate strategically with a broad range of partners, including “unlike-minded” actors. In general, collaboration requires a greater focus on the external environment and leading without having top-down control. Success is largely driven by the attention given to the alignment of informal expectations, understandings, and behaviors. Cultural factors thus emerge as a common obstacle to collaboration effectiveness. Additional considerations include challenges related to competition, unequal partnerships, and credit-sharing for collective outcomes.
The New Age of Kabbalah Research
Authors: Huss Boaz
Published: July 2020

This chapter examines the new directions and perspectives that emerged in the research of Jewish mysticism in the late twentieth century. It discusses the theoretical and methodological changes that transpired that undermined many of Buber and Scholem’s basic assumptions but also the perseverance—and even intensification—of the use of the term mysticism as a fundamental category. The chapter demonstrates that the changes that occurred within the field were to a great extent delineated by the theological logic of the research field. The chapter examines definitions of mysticism among Kabbalah researchers and identifies their modern theological suppositions. This theological paradigm, I maintain, explains the ideological affinities between Kabbalah research and today’s alternative spiritual movements, first and foremost, the New Age.
Epilogue
Authors: Huss Boaz
Published: July 2020

The epilogue to the book clarifies that this book took the opposite direction from the ongoing project of exposing the existence of Jewish mysticism and of subjugating Kabbalah and Hasidism to this category. Instead of assuming the universality of mysticism, and presupposing that Kabbalah and Hasidism are Jewish forms of mysticism, the book exposed how these assumptions were formed and the way they shaped the research and practice of Kabbalah and Hasidism. The book explored the historical contexts and discursive processes that shaped the construction of Jewish mysticism uncovered the political and theological presuppositions underlying the academic study of Jewish mysticism and showed how the theological paradigms of the academic discipline have defined the borders of this field, directed the creation of scientific knowledge, and determined the symbolic value of the researched data. The epilogue suggests that relinquishing “mysticism” as the major category for the conceptualization and study of Kabbalah and Hasidism may disengage the research field from theological presuppositions. This can open up the study of social, political, and economic aspects of Kabbalah that scholars of Jewish mysticism have neglected, enable a research of new historical and cultural contexts that were not taken hitherto into consideration, and encourage the study of Kabbalistic movements that were rejected by scholars as insignificant or inauthentic.
The Management Ethos
Authors: Blakely Jason
Published: July 2020

The pseudoscientific notion that humans are machines or computing robots has led to the spread of a manipulative way of being in both personal life and politics. This manipulative ethic is a “management ethos.” On the personal level, modern people increasingly try to gain control of their lives using a panoply of supposedly scientifically validated self-help methods and techniques. This chapter examines the influence of scientism on practices such as dating and efforts to enhance personal charisma. Many of these methods unwittingly turn courtship into a form of mass consumer shopping, replacing alternative ways of perceiving one’s deepest attachments. In political life, there has been a tremendous spread of technocratic forms of authority. Technocracy is a form of rule that replaces democratic rule by ordinary people with government by experts. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s popular book Nudge is criticized as an example of technocracy and the management ethos usurping democratic life.
Conclusion
Authors: Blakely Jason
Published: July 2020

Social science should be read not only as an empirical description of the world but as a way of creating the cultures that we inhabit. This is difficult for modern people to comprehend because of the spread of scientism in modern society. This defective way of relating to the world was powerfully diagnosed by Martin Heidegger and his critique of technology. However, the tendency of modern social scientific theory to turn into its opposite (superstition and scientism) was earlier anticipated by Mary Shelley in her brilliant story about Victor Frankenstein. Shelley’s short novel is an essential allegory for understanding our own predicament. Hermeneutics points the way to a more humanistic and interpretively sensitive way of relating to the world.
DNA Demystified
Authors: McHughen Alan
Published: July 2020

DNA, once the exclusive domain of scientists in research labs, is now the darling of popular and social media. With personal genetic testing kits in homes and genetically modified organism (GMO) foods in stores, DNA is an increasingly familiar term. Unfortunately, what people know, or think they know, about DNA and genetics is often confused or incorrect. Contrary to popular belief, for instance, genes don’t “skip a generation” and, no, human DNA is not “different” from DNA of other species. With such popular misconceptions proliferating in the news and on the internet, how can anyone sort fact from fiction? DNA Demystified satisfies the public appetite for and curiosity about DNA and genetics. Alan McHughen, an accomplished academic and public science advocate, brings the reader up-to-speed on what we know, what we don’t, and where genetic technologies are taking us. The book begins with the basic groundwork and a brief history of DNA and genetics. Chapters then cover newsworthy topics, including DNA fingerprinting, using DNA in forensic analyses, and identifying cold-case criminals. For readers intrigued by the proliferation of at-home DNA tests, the text includes fascinating explorations of genetic genealogy and family tree construction—crucial for people seeking their biological ancestry. Other chapters describe genetic engineering in medicine and pharmaceuticals, and the use of those same technologies in creating the far more controversial GMOs in food and agriculture. Throughout, the book raises provocative ethical and privacy issues arising from DNA and genetic technologies.
Introducing Genetic Genealogy
Authors: McHughen Alan
Published: July 2020

DNA is a great tool for genetic genealogy and family tree construction. If you were blown away by your surprising medical DNA results, tighten your belt and hold on to your genes! A primary reason people test their DNA is to discover genealogical connections. What does DNA say about racial or ethnic differences among peoples of the world? Are you really related to your weird Uncle Charlie? How can it help an adoptee find his or her biological parents? The next chapters explain how to use DNA to connect to other humans, to break through that “brick wall” of traditional genealogy, or simply to confirm or refute a genetic relationship. DNA genealogy tests also provide information on your ethnic makeup. For instance, it may confirm or refute that old family rumor about Great Grandpa marrying a Native American princess!
The Rise and Fall of Early Non-Descriptive Approaches
Authors: Thomasson Amie L.
Published: July 2020

This chapter recounts the early history of non-descriptive approaches to modality and why they fell out of favor. It begins by tracing the challenges of understanding modality back to British empiricists such as Hume and Mill. It then moves to discussing the form of modal conventionalism developed by Moritz Schlick and promoted by A. J. Ayer, and examines common criticisms raised against conventionalism—finding that they misconstrue the view. The chapter also recounts Wittgenstein’s development of a view along these lines, along with later developments of non-descriptive views by Ramsey, Ryle, and Sellars. Such views encountered familiar problems such as the Frege-Geach or “embedding” problem, and later barriers arose with the work of Quine and Kripke. The challenge is thus laid out for a contemporary non-descriptivist view to show how it can overcome these historical barriers.
The Function of Modal Discourse
Authors: Thomasson Amie L.
Published: July 2020

This chapter begins to develop a neo-pragmatist view of modal discourse that (contrary to most work in the recent metaphysical tradition) denies that talk of what is possible or necessary serves a descriptive function. Instead, the chapter argues that the modal terminology serves a normative function. More particularly, having modal terms in our language enables us to convey norms and rules in useful ways, for it enables us to make explicit that an expression has a regulative status, to express conditionals that make explicit our ways of reasoning with rules, and to express permissions as well as requirements. Metaphysical modal discourse in particular (it is argued) serves to convey semantic rules and their consequences in the useful form of object-language indicatives. The chapter also discusses how one should understand semantic rules, and in what ways they are analogous and disanalogous to rules of games.
The Meaning of Modal Discourse
Authors: Thomasson Amie L.
Published: July 2020

The goal of this chapter is to make it clear how the modal normativist account can avoid the notorious “Frege-Geach” or “embedding” problem that has long threatened non-descriptive views of all kinds. While Chapter 2 identifies an alternative function for modal discourse, we cannot take this to be a matter of identifying the meaning of modal terms. For modal claims may be embedded in conditionals, negations, etc., in which case they are not serving their characteristic function, and yet must be thought to have the same meaning. To meet this problem, this chapter gives the meaning of modal terms in terms of their inferential role—which is constant even in embedded contexts—and shows how this meaning is related to the function of modal terms. The chapter also aims to show how the modal normativist account can avoid the classic objections to modal conventionalism.
Methodological Advantages
Authors: Thomasson Amie L.
Published: July 2020

This chapter makes the case that modal normativism also brings significant methodological advantages. First, it can provide a much-needed justification of using intuitions, thought experiments, and a form of conceptual analysis, in answering metaphysical modal questions. Second, it provides a straightforward methodology for answering such questions—considered as “internal” questions—and gives reasons for thinking that some such questions are simply unanswerable. But such questions may also be addressed as external questions, where we are concerned not with what rules our terms do follow, but what rules they should follow, and what linguistic and conceptual schemes we should use. This gives us the means for understanding some debates about metaphysical modality as engaged in metalinguistic negotiation and conceptual engineering—and thereby preserving the idea that such debates may be deep and important.