bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Zirconium/hafnium fractionation and rare earth element systematics in sub-cratonic garnet pyroxenites, Norway
Authors: Spengler Dirk , Opitz Joachim
Published: August 2023

Ten previously studied garnet pyroxenites and one eclogite from orogenic peridotites in the Western Gneiss Region of Norway were analysed for whole-rock major and trace and mineral trace elements to characterise the evolutionary stages of the East Greenland sub-cratonic mantle. A continuous range of whole-rock MgO contents (17–30 wt.%) correlates inversely with $$\hbox {Na}_2\hbox {O}$$

Na
2

O

, $$\hbox {Al}_2\hbox {O}_3$$

Al
2

O
3

, and CaO contents. In contrast, rare earth element (REE) compositions allow the samples to be devided into two types. Type I samples have relatively flat primitive mantle (PM) normalised REE patterns (0.4$$-$$
-
6.8 times PM values) with minor fractionation of middle–heavy REEs. Type II samples are simlar to type I samples but have higher light REE contents (6.1–57 times PM values) that reflect metasomatic enrichment. Whole-rock Zr contents (1–$$27\,\upmu \hbox {g}\,\hbox {g}^{-1}$$

27

μ
g

g

-
1

) and Zr/Hf ratios (17–39) are positively correlated. Type I samples have low Zr/Hf ratios that mostly differ from type II samples, indicating that metasomatism modified the initially sub-chondritic Zr/Hf ratios. Garnet Zr–Zr/Hf–Y–Ti systematics suggest that metasomatic enrichment transformed the type I samples into type II samples, consistent with processes observed in other cratonic areas (e.g., the northern East European Platform and the Kaapvaal Craton). The formation of type I pyroxenite in dunite from a melt at $$\sim 100\,\text {km}$$

∼
100

km

depth implies the sub-chondritic Zr/Hf ratios were inherited from that melt. Such melts are thought to form by melting of garnet-bearing, melt-depleted mantle, which is consistent with models for recycling of Archaean palaeo-oceanic crust throughout the mantle prior to the formation of the sub-cratonic lithosphere beneath East Greenland.
Understanding the genetic mechanisms and cognitive impairments in Down syndrome: towards a holistic approach
Authors: Abukhaled Yara , Hatab Kenana , Awadhalla Mohammad , Hamdan Hamdan
Published: August 2023

The most common genetic cause of intellectual disability is Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 21. It commonly results from three copies of human chromosome 21 (HC21). There are no mutations or deletions involved in DS. Instead, the phenotype is caused by altered transcription of the genes on HC21. These transcriptional variations are responsible for a myriad of symptoms affecting every organ system. A very debilitating aspect of DS is intellectual disability (ID). Although tremendous advances have been made to try and understand the underlying mechanisms of ID, there is a lack of a unified, holistic view to defining the cause and managing the cognitive impairments. In this literature review, we discuss the mechanisms of neuronal over-inhibition, abnormal morphology, and other genetic factors in contributing to the development of ID in DS patients and to gain a holistic understanding of ID in DS patients. We also highlight potential therapeutic approaches to improve the quality of life of DS patients.
Ulinastatin ameliorated streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy: Potential effects via modulating the components of gut-kidney axis and restoring mitochondrial homeostasis
Authors: Rizk Fatma H. , El Saadany Amira A. , Atef Marwa Mohamed , Abd-Ellatif Rania Nagi , El-Guindy Dina M. , Abdel Ghafar Muhammad T. , Shalaby Marwa M. , Hafez Yasser Mostafa , Mashal Shaimaa Samir Amin , Basha Eman H. , Faheem Heba , Barhoma Ramez Abd-Elmoneim
Published: August 2023

Growing evidence supports the role of the gut-kidney axis and persistent mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Ulinastatin (UTI) has a potent anti-inflammatory effect, protecting the kidney and the gut barrier in sepsis, but its effect on DN has yet to be investigated. This study aimed to assess the potential mitigating effect of UTI on DN and investigate the possible involvement of gut-kidney axis and mitochondrial homeostasis in this effect. Forty male Wistar rats were divided equally into four groups: normal; UTI-treated control; untreated DN; and UTI-treated DN. At the end of the experiment, UTI ameliorated DN by modulating the gut-kidney axis as it improved serum and urinary creatinine, urine volume, creatinine clearance, blood urea nitrogen, urinary albumin, intestinal morphology including villus height, crypt depth, and number of goblet cells, with upregulating the expression of intestinal tight-junction protein claudin-1, and counteracting kidney changes as indicated by significantly decreasing glomerular tuft area and periglomerular and peritubular collagen deposition. In addition, it significantly reduced intestinal and renal nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), serum Complement 5a (C5a), renal monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), renal intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), and renal signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), mitochondrial dynamin related protein 1 (Drp1), mitochondrial fission 1 protein (FIS1), mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS), renal hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels. Furthermore, it significantly increased serum short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and mitochondrial ATP levels and mitochondrial transmembrane potential. Moreover, there were significant correlations between measured markers of gut components of the gut-kidney axis and renal function tests in UTI-treated DN group. In conclusion, UTI has a promising therapeutic effect on DN by modulating the gut-kidney axis and improving renal mitochondrial dynamics and redox equilibrium.
Cerebral microstructural changes in children suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome
Authors: Bültmann Eva , Zapf Antonia , Mussgnug Hans Joachim , Kanzelmeyer Nele , Hartmann Hans
Published: August 2023

To evaluate microstructural cerebral changes in children suffering from typical hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) based on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. For 12 pediatric HUS patients (0.8 - 14.6 years of age) conventional magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) at 1.5 T was retrospectively analyzed. ADC values were measured in 35 different brain regions and compared with age-related, previously published ADC reference values from a healthy pediatric control group. The HUS cohort was divided into 2 subgroups depending on clinical outcome. Subgroup A showed poor neurological outcome whereas subgroup B demonstrated improvement without lasting neurological deficits. Qualitative analysis revealed lesions by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with hypointense correlate on the ADC map in basal ganglia and/or thalami and corresponding T2 hyperintensities in the majority of patients in Subgroup A (80%). Those in Subgroup B did not show qualitative DWI alterations with ADC correlate even when T2 hyperintense lesions were detected in basal ganglia and/or thalami. Quantitative analysis demonstrated abnormal ADC values in all HUS patients with a trend to a greater number of affected regions in Subgroup A compared to Subgroup B (16 versus 11 median number of regions respectively, p = 0.56).

   Conclusion: Using DWI qualitative and quantitative differences were found between HUS patients showing poor neurological outcome and those without neurological deficits at discharge. While ADC values indicated more extensive cerebral changes than conventional qualitative findings, both may provide early prognostic indicators for neurological outcome in pediatric HUS patients.

What is Known:• In patients with STEC-HUS and neurological symptoms, MRI may show hyperintense signals on T2 and altered diffusivity mostly affecting basal ganglia, thalami and periventricular white matter.

What is New:• In such patients, early MRI including quantitative ADC measurements over different brain regions may allow for detection of signal alterations possibly reflecting microstructural changes in such patients.
Multimodal diffusion model for increments of electroencephalogram data
Authors: Leonenko N. N. , Salinger Z. , Sikorskii A. , Šuvak N. , Boivin M. J.
Published: August 2023

We propose a new strictly stationary strong mixing diffusion model with marginal multimodal (three-peak) distribution and exponentially decaying autocorrelation function for modeling of increments of electroencephalogram data collected from Ugandan children during coma from cerebral malaria. We treat the increments as discrete-time observations and construct a diffusion process where the stationary distribution is viewed as a mixture of three non-central generalized Gaussian distributions and we state some important properties related to the moments of this mixture. We estimate the distribution parameters using the expectation-maximization algorithm, where the added shape parameter is estimated using the higher order statistics approach based on an analytical relationship between the shape parameter and kurtosis. The derived estimates are then used for prediction of subsequent neurodevelopment and cognition of cerebral malaria survivors using the elastic net regression. We compare different predictive models and determine whether additional information obtained from multimodality of the marginal distributions can be used to improve the prediction.
L-fuzzy filters on complete residuated lattices
Authors: Ramadan Ahmed A.
Published: August 2023

This paper is toward the establishment of relationships between L-fuzzy filters, L-fuzzy topological spaces and L-fuzzy pre-proximity spaces in complete residuated lattices. We have demonstrated the existence of functors between the categories of L-fuzzy filter spaces, L-fuzzy topological spaces and L-fuzzy pre-proximity spaces.
Design, implementation and evaluation of a network-oriented service with environmental adaptability based on core/periphery structure
Authors: Takagi Shiori , Arakawa Shin’ichi , Murata Masayuki
Published: August 2023

Many new network-oriented services have been developed in recent years, and they are expected to be virtualized in multi-access edge computing (MEC) environments, which are being standardized along with fifth generation (5 G). Because many new network-oriented services have been developed to meet various user requests, and service-oriented development, wherein service functions are divided and combined, is expected to facilitate the development of flexible services at low costs. A core/periphery structure is an information processing system in biological systems consisting of core units, that is densely connected and provide efficient process, and peripheral units that can accommodate a variety of inputs and outputs. In this paper, we introduce a core/periphery structure into the service design since the service based on this structure can adapt to various inputs and outputs with only modifying peripheral functions. We expect that development cost is reduced by designing services based on core/periphery structure, because the entire service is not modified against environmental changes. Besides, we also consider the balance between the penalty and the reduction of development costs since dividing functions and placing them in different devices creates extra communication paths and degrades service responsiveness. We designed and implemented two service scenarios for our shopping service with a remote robot based on a core/periphery structure. Using the implemented services, we show that the design using the core/periphery structure is effective in terms of implementation cost and overhead for information sharing among remote robots. Furthermore, we measured the penalty through experiments on actual devices and showed that it is tolerable.
Single-Sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) for the Analysis of Skin Thickness and Collagen Structure in Scarred and Healthy Skin
Authors: Shilliday Ella R. , Lam Brenda , Chen Jingsi , Fear Mark , Johns Michael L. , Stanwix Paul L.
Published: August 2023

Monitoring of skin scar thickness and structural properties is desirable when assessing the efficacy of the healing process. In this work, we report the use of single-sided, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the analysis of the thickness and collagen structure of healthy and scarred skin. Acquisition of T2 relaxation profiles was proven to provide quantification of porcine skin thickness as accurate as standard histological techniques. Subsequent analysis of human participants highlighted the utility of this technique for identifying different types of scar and in identifying differences between the thickness of moderate hypertrophic scars and healthy skin. Using bead packings as a model system, determination of the surface-to-volume (S/V) ratio and tortuosity (k) was successfully measured on the single-sided apparatus based on time-resolved diffusion analysis. Application of this method to human skin was able to detect regional differences in collagen structures, consistent with qualitative expectations. It was also able to differentiate between healthy and scarred skin tissue. Preliminary results indicated that scarred tissue exhibited decreased S/V ratios and tortuosities, which is coherent with the formation of less-aligned collagen within scar tissue and indicated the potential for this technique to differentiate scar types. This novel application of single-sided low-field NMR has the potential to be deployed in clinical settings for the differentiation of scar types and for the assessment and monitoring of skin scarring and healing.
Is there sufficient evidence for the association between executive dysfunction and academic performance in adolescents with major depressive disorder?: a systematic review
Authors: Urbańska-Grosz Justyna , Walkiewicz Maciej , Sitek Emilia J.
Published: August 2023

Adult depression, undoubtedly associated with executive dysfunction, leads to poor work performance. As depression in adolescents may have a negative impact on school performance, we aimed to analyse the possible relationship between selected executive deficits and academic performance. Executive dysfunctions may have more severe consequences on school performance at high school, as this stage of education requires engagement in long-term goals, whether writing an essay or preparing for an exam. Whilst inhibitory control is necessary at all educational stages, it seems that planning and decision-making play a greater role in high school than in primary school. We reviewed studies on executive functions conducted in adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) to establish the possible relationship between executive processes and school performance in depressed adolescents. The search identified 5 studies addressing planning and decision-making in adolescents with MDD, but none of those studies reported educational achievement. We identified a considerable gap in the research on the functional impact of depression in adolescents. Identifying the link between specific executive deficits and school performance could guide tailored therapeutic interventions.
Simulating all archetypes of SQL injection vulnerability exploitation using reinforcement learning agents
Authors: Sommervoll Åvald Åslaugson , Erdődi László , Zennaro Fabio Massimo
Published: August 2023

Vulnerabilities such as SQL injection represent a serious challenge to security. While tools with a pre-defined logic are commonly used in the field of penetration testing, the continually evolving nature of the security challenge calls for models able to learn autonomously from experience. In this paper we build on previous results on the development of reinforcement learning models devised to exploit specific forms of SQL injection, and we design agents that are able to tackle a varied range of SQL injection vulnerabilities, virtually comprising all the archetypes normally considered by experts. We show that our agents, trained on a synthetic environment, perform a transfer of learning among the different SQL injections challenges; in particular, they learn to use their queries to efficiently gain knowledge about multiple vulnerabilities at once. We also introduce a novel and more versatile way to interpret server messages that reduces reliance on expert inputs. Our simulations show the feasibility of our approach which easily deals with a number of homogeneous challenges, as well as some of its limitations when presented with problems having higher degrees of uncertainty.
The Interplay Between Supply Chain Transparency and NGO Pressure: A Quantitative Analysis in the Fashion Industry Context
Authors: Schäfer Naemi , Petersen Lars , Hörisch Jacob
Published: August 2023

Companies have been experiencing increasing pressure from NGOs to overcome unethical and unsustainable behaviours. The purpose of this research was to study the interplay between supply chain transparency and NGO pressure. The analysis builds on the literature on supply chain transparency and institutional pressures. We conducted a time-lagged, multi-level regression analysis that included data from 270 fashion companies over a 5-year period to investigate the effect of NGO pressure on transparency and vice versa. The results revealed that companies with higher levels of transparency are more likely to be pressured by NGOs than less transparent companies. Furthermore, our findings show that, depending on the number of campaigns, NGO power and communication about campaigns, NGO pressure can either stimulate corporate transparency or turn into a negative effect that leads to lower levels of transparency.
Acculturation Timing among Newcomer and more Experienced Immigrant Youth: The Role of Language Use in Ethnic Friendship Homophily
Authors: Titzmann Peter F. , Aumann Lara , Lee Richard M.
Published: August 2023

The usage of the new language is a crucial aspect in immigrant youth adaptation. However, despite substantial inter- and intraindividual variability and dynamic changes, language usage has been studied primarily with a focus on static interindividual differences. This study utilized a recently introduced Temporal Model of Acculturative Change to test associations between language acquisition and friendship homophily. More specifically, three concepts were tested: pace (individual rate of change), relative timing (the deviation from peers with similar length of residence), and transition timing (preparedness for the relocation). Data comprised a three-wave-longitudinal sample of 820 ethnic German adolescents from Eastern European States who immigrated to Germany (Mage = 16.1, 57% girls). Results revealed, particularly among recent immigrant adolescents, that transition timing predicted earlier relative acculturation timing in language usage and that early relative timing in language usage predicted levels and change rates in friendship homophily (over and above acculturation pace and the actual level of language usage). Findings highlight the need to better understand the dynamics in acculturation processes of immigrant youth.
On mKdV and associated classes of moving boundary problems: reciprocal connections
Authors: Rogers Colin
Published: August 2023

A class of Stefan-type moving boundary problems for the canonical modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation of soliton theory is solved via application of a similarity reduction to Painlevé II which involves Airy’s equation. A reciprocal transformation is applied to derive a linked class of solvable moving boundary problems for a basic Casimir member of a compacton hierarchy. Application of a class of involutory transformations with origin in an autonomisation procedure for the Ermakov–Ray–Reid system is then used to isolate novel solvable moving boundary problems for Ermakov-modulated mkdV equations.
Efficiency decomposition for multi-level multi-components production technologies
Authors: Peyrache Antonio , Silva Maria C. A.
Published: August 2023

This paper addresses the efficiency measurement of firms composed by multiple components, and assessed at different decision levels. In particular it develops models for three levels of decision/production: the subunit (production division/process), the DMU (firm) and the industry (system). For each level, inefficiency is measured using a directional distance function and the developed measures are contrasted with existing radial models. The paper also investigates how the efficiency scores computed at different levels are related to each other by proposing a decomposition into exhaustive and mutually exclusive components. The proposed method is illustrated using data on Portuguese hospitals. Since most of the topics addressed in this paper are related to more general network structures, avenues for future research are proposed and discussed.
Performative reference
Authors: Assadian Bahram , Sbardolini Giorgio
Published: August 2023

Reference may be fixed by stipulation through a speech act, just like bets and marriages. An utterance of Let n refer to an/the F is a speech act by means of which, if successful, a speaker institutes a practice of referring, and a hearer coordinates by choosing a referent from the domain of discourse. We articulate a metasemantics for this view. On our view, the interlocutors can select a referent randomly, if necessary, motivated by the incentive to coordinate on the use of a name. Moreover, we argue that reference fixed by a performative speech act is ‘thin’, or ‘undemanding’. Finally, we defend the thesis that co-reference might not determinately obtain despite reference being fixed. Performative reference makes sense of ordinary speakers’ practices, who appear to be very liberal and unimpressed by skepticism toward causally inert or epistemically indiscernible objects.
Comparison of the effects of the GPIIb-IIIa antagonist Zalunfiban and the P2Y12 antagonist Selatogrel on Platelet Aggregation
Authors: Curry Benjamin J. , Rikken A.O.F. Sem , Gibson C. Michael , Granger Christopher B. , van ‘t Hof Arnoud W.J. , ten Berg Jurriën M. , Jennings Lisa K.
Published: August 2023

Understanding the pharmacodynamic effects of platelet inhibitors is standard for developing more effective antithrombotic therapies. An example is the antithrombotic treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), in particular ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients who are in need for rapid acting strong antithrombotic therapy despite the use of aspirin and oral P2Y12-inhibitors. In this study, we evaluated two injectable platelet inhibitors under clinical development (the P2Y12 antagonist selatogrel and the GPIIb-IIIa antagonist zalunfiban) that may be amenable to pre-hospital treatment of STEMI patients. Platelet reactivity was assessed at inhibitor concentrations that represent clinically relevant levels of platelet inhibition (IC20-50%, 1/2Cmax, and Cmax). Light transmission aggregometry (LTA), was used to evaluate the initial rate of aggregation (primary slope, PS) and maximal aggregation (MA). Both adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and thrombin receptor agonist peptide (TRAP) were used as agonists. Zalunfiban demonstrated similar inhibition of platelet aggregation when blood was collected in PPACK or TSC, whereas selatogrel demonstrated greater inhibition in PPACK. In this study, using PPACK anticoagulant, selatogrel and zalunfiban affected PS in response to ADP equivalently at all drug concentrations tested. In contrast, zalunfiban had significantly greater potency at its Cmax concentration compared to selatogrel using TRAP as agonist. Upon evaluation of MA responses at lower doses, selatogrel had greater inhibition of MA in response to ADP than zalunfiban; however, at concentrations that represent Cmax, the drugs were equivalent. Zalunfiban also had greater inhibition of MA in response to TRAP at the Cmax dose. These data suggest that zalunfiban may provide greater protection in reducing thrombus formation than selatogrel, especially since thrombin is an early, key primary agonist in the pathophysiology of thrombotic events.
Personalization matters: the effect of sex in multivitamin-multimineral-based cancer prevention
Authors: Šelb Julij , Cvetko Filip , Deutsch Leon , Bedrač Leon , Kuščer Enej , Maier Andrea Britta
Published: August 2023

The prevention of non-communicable diseases like cancer contributes to healthy aging. Dietary supplements might support such prevention; their effect likely depends on the personal characteristics of the individuals receiving them. To evaluate the influence of sex on reducing cancer incidence with multivitamin-multimineral (MVM) supplementation, sex-specific results of the efficacy of MVM supplementation for cancer prevention were collected and meta-analyzed (using fixed effect (FE) and random effect (RE) models). Three trials included in the “US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement Report regarding Vitamin, Mineral, and Multivitamin Supplementation to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer” were used, namely, COSMOS, SU.VI.MAX, and PHS2. A total of 28,558 men and 20,542 women were included. Multivitamin-multimineral supplementation significantly reduced cancer incidence in the entire population (HR 0.93 [95% CI, 0.88–0.99], FE and RE); sex-specific meta-analysis showed beneficial effects of supplementation in men (HR 0.91 [95% CI, 0.85–0.97] (FE)/0.88 [95% CI, 0.77–1.01] (RE)); however, there was no effect in women (HR 1.00 [95% CI, 0.88–1.14], FR and RE); (Pdifference = 0.17). Sex could influence the effect of MVM supplementation in reducing cancer incidence, with supplementation being effective only in male individuals. These results might be informative for future research and public health policy makers.
A cGAN-based network for depth estimation from bronchoscopic images
Authors: Guo Lu , Nahm Werner
Published: August 2023

Purpose

Depth estimation is the basis of 3D reconstruction of airway structure from 2D bronchoscopic scenes, which can be further used to develop a vision-based bronchoscopic navigation system. This work aims to improve the performance of depth estimation directly from bronchoscopic images by training a depth estimation network on both synthetic and real datasets.

Methods

We propose a cGAN-based network Bronchoscopic-Depth-GAN (BronchoDep-GAN) to estimate depth from bronchoscopic images by translating bronchoscopic images into depth maps. The network is trained in a supervised way learning from synthetic textured bronchoscopic image-depth pairs and virtual bronchoscopic image-depth pairs, and simultaneously, also in an unsupervised way learning from unpaired real bronchoscopic images and depth maps to adapt the model to real bronchoscopic scenes.

Results

Our method is tested on both synthetic data and real data. However, the tests on real data are only qualitative, as no ground truth is available. The results show that our network obtains better accuracy in all cases in estimating depth from bronchoscopic images compared to the well-known cGANs pix2pix.

Conclusions

Including virtual and real bronchoscopic images in the training phase of the depth estimation networks can improve depth estimation’s performance on both synthetic and real scenes. Further validation of this work is planned on 3D clinical phantoms. Based on the depth estimation results obtained in this work, the accuracy of locating bronchoscopes with corresponding pre-operative CTs will also be evaluated in comparison with the current clinical status.
On the characteristic polynomial of $$\mathfrak{sl}(2, \mathbb {F})$$: a corollary that Muir missed
Authors: Castillo K.
Published: August 2023

In this note we show how conjectures and current problems on determinants and eigenvalues of highly structured tridiagonal matrices can be solved using very classical results.
Multimodal, Idiographic Ambulatory Sensing Will Transform our Understanding of Emotion
Authors: Hoemann Katie , Wormwood Jolie B. , Barrett Lisa Feldman , Quigley Karen S.
Published: August 2023

Emotions are inherently complex – situated inside the brain while being influenced by conditions inside the body and outside in the world – resulting in substantial variation in experience. Most studies, however, are not designed to sufficiently sample this variation. In this paper, we discuss what could be discovered if emotion were systematically studied within persons ‘in the wild’, using biologically-triggered experience sampling: a multimodal and deeply idiographic approach to ambulatory sensing that links body and mind across contexts and over time. We outline the rationale for this approach, discuss challenges to its implementation and widespread adoption, and set out opportunities for innovation afforded by emerging technologies. Implementing these innovations will enrich method and theory at the frontier of affective science, propelling the contextually situated study of emotion into the future.
The Vulva
Authors: Fischer Gayle , Bradford Jennifer
Published: August 2023

Conditions of the vulva are very common but often taboo, and can badly affect people's sex life, comfort and self-confidence. Despite this, clinicians receive little training in these conditions. This comprehensive yet handy third edition has been fully updated with research giving new insights into vulval diseases, vulvo-vaginal pain and vaginitis. Full-colour clinical photographs and illustrations demonstrate the clinical appearance of a wide spectrum of conditions. Chapters are organised by clinical presentation for ease of reference and information is presented practically, covering misconceptions and common patient questions. Co-written by a dermatologist and a gynaecologist - both specializing in vulval conditions - the handbook provides a unique visual and written guide to the diagnosis, treatment and management of both acute and chronic vulval presentations and explores the latest opinions on causation and classification of neoplasia in the vulva.
Law and Political Economy in China
Authors: Groswald Ozery Tamar
Published: August 2023

Applying a novel theoretical approach, Tamar Groswald Ozery combines law and political economy to deconstruct the role of law in China's market development since 1978. The book examines how economic and administrative powers within China's Party-state system have been legally and politically configured throughout China's growth process. Using a vast range of primary sources, Ozery illuminates how the law acts as a mediating institution that translates and gives shape to the relations between politics and economics. Using the evolution of public firms and corporate governance as a case study, the book illustrates the complex relationships between law, politics, and economic development, and sheds new light on the possible varieties of growth-supporting governance institutions in firms. By studying China's distinct market experience through the lens of law and political economy, the book offers a significant contribution to development studies, comparative corporate governance, and interdisciplinary discussions about China as a growth model.
Contracting in Japan
Authors: Ramseyer J. Mark
Published: August 2023

Economic arrangements, Ramseyer writes, are structured and implemented with the intent and hope that they will be carried out with 'care, intelligence, discretion, and effort.' Yet entrepreneurs work with partial information about the products, and people, they are dealing with. Contracting in Japan illustrates this by examining five sets of negotiations and unusual contractual arrangements among non-specialist businessmen, and women, in Japan. In it, Ramseyer explores how sake brewers were able to obtain and market the necessary, but difficult-to-grow, sake rice that captured the local terroir; how Buddhist temples tried to compensate for rapidly falling donations by negotiating unusual funerary contracts; and how pre-war local elites used leasing instead of loans to fund local agriculture. Ramseyer examines these entrepreneurs, discovering how they structured contracts, made credible commitments, obtained valuable information, and protected themselves from adverse consequences to create, maintain, strengthen, and leverage the social networks in which they operated.
Graph Theory and Additive Combinatorics
Authors: Zhao Yufei
Published: August 2023

Using the dichotomy of structure and pseudorandomness as a central theme, this accessible text provides a modern introduction to extremal graph theory and additive combinatorics. Readers will explore central results in additive combinatorics-notably the cornerstone theorems of Roth, Szemerédi, Freiman, and Green-Tao-and will gain additional insights into these ideas through graph theoretic perspectives. Topics discussed include the Turán problem, Szemerédi's graph regularity method, pseudorandom graphs, graph limits, graph homomorphism inequalities, Fourier analysis in additive combinatorics, the structure of set addition, and the sum-product problem. Important combinatorial, graph theoretic, analytic, Fourier, algebraic, and geometric methods are highlighted. Students will appreciate the chapter summaries, many figures and exercises, and freely available lecture videos on MIT OpenCourseWare. Meant as an introduction for students and researchers studying combinatorics, theoretical computer science, analysis, probability, and number theory, the text assumes only basic familiarity with abstract algebra, analysis, and linear algebra.
Restrained Radicals
Authors: Paxton Fred
Published: August 2023

The entry of populist radical right parties into positions of power has generated anxious debate regarding the potential consequences for liberal democracy. Their activities in local government, however, have been largely overlooked. This comparative analysis of populist radical right-led local governments in Western Europe makes an important contribution to a crowded field through the study of so far uncharted terrain. Comparing cases in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, Fred Paxton details the extent of ideological impact in local politics and the various restraints that are placed on their radicalism. Drawing from a wealth of new data, he explains the varying degree of radicalism with recourse to two principal factors: the constraints of the local government institutional setting and the national party leaders' strategies towards the local arena. This book broadens our understanding of populist radical right parties in Western Europe and the sub-national processes through which they are developing.
Black Power, Raw Soul, and Race in Ghana
Authors: Okuda Alison
Published: August 2023

In the late 1960s, Ghanaians joined the global conversation about Black Power. Despite the absence of President Nkrumah and attempts to dampen local interest in radical political movements, young Ghanaian students, musicians, and audience members were well informed of the global implications of white supremacy. Okuda examines how Ghanaians expanded the legacy of Black Power into an African context, seizing opportunities to connect with African Americans via popular media, exchange programs, and soul music to show their solidarity with the fight against racist policies and practices abroad and to stay vigilant against neo-imperialism at home.
The coming perfect storm: Diminishing sustainability of coastal human–natural systems in the Anthropocene
Authors: Day John W. , Hall Charles A. , Klitgaard Kent , Gunn Joel D. , Ko Jae-Young , Burger Joseph R.
Published: August 2023

We review impacts of climate change, energy scarcity, and economic frameworks on sustainability of natural and human systems in coastal zones, areas of high biodiversity, productivity, population density, and economic activity. More than 50% of the global population lives within 200 km of a coast, mostly in tropical developing countries. These systems developed during stable Holocene conditions. Changes in global forcings are threatening sustainability of coastal ecosystems and populations. During the Holocene, the earth warmed and became wetter and more productive. Climate changes are impacting coastal systems via sea level rise, stronger tropical cyclones, changes in basin inputs, and extreme weather events. These impacts are passing tipping points as the fossil fuel-powered industrial-technological-agricultural revolution has overwhelmed the source–sink functions of the biosphere and degraded natural systems. The current status of industrialized society is primarily the result of fossil fuel (FF) use. FFs provided more than 80% of global primary energy and are projected to decline to 50% by mid-century. This has profound implications for societal energy requirements, including the transition to a renewable economy. The development of the industrial economy allowed coastal social systems to become spatially separated from their dominant energy and food sources. This will become more difficult to maintain with the fading of cheap energy. It seems inevitable that past growth in energy use, resource consumption, and economic growth cannot be sustained, and coastal areas are in the forefront of these challenges. Rapid planning and cooperation are necessary to minimize impacts of the changes associated with the coming transition. There is an urgent need for a new economic framework to guide society through the transition as mainstream neoclassical economics is not based on natural sciences and does not adequately consider either the importance of energy or the work of nature.
The Cultural Underground of Decolonization
Authors: Seck Fatoumata
Published: August 2023

The African liberation movements and the early phases of nation-building on the continent, intertwined with the Cold War and the global student movement, left behind an array of textual, visual, and sonic traces that circulated through underground and clandestine networks across Africa and beyond. These cultural products, which include materials in African languages, remain marginalized in studies of African history and arts. This article posits the cultural underground of decolonization in Africa as a productive category for historical and literary inquiry and argues that exploring the literary and aesthetic aspects of this archive offers other ways of knowing and temporal epistemes important for the reconsideration of aesthetics, politics, and histories in and of Africa. I explore poems and songs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Senegal to show how they provide avenues for a renewed engagement with decolonization and revolution.
‘WE WOULD TAKE THE SCREEN BY STORM’: FEMALE ANTIQUARIAN AGENCY AND THE CAPTURE OF ENGLISH MEDIEVAL PAINTING C 1830–50
Authors: Snape Julia
Published: August 2023

This paper explores the work of Harriet Gunn (1806–69) who began making drawings of rood screens c 1830. With the help of her sisters Hannah and Mary Anne, Harriet produced approximately 250 drawings, a remarkable number considering that rood screens received very little attention at this period. This substantial body of work merits analysis not least because it constitutes the first serious attempt to visually document Norfolk’s painted rood screens and provides an opportunity to shed light on an overlooked episode of female antiquarian activity. Drawing on previously unpublished letters, this paper confirms the active role Harriet and her sisters played in recording, discovering and enhancing the understanding of English medieval painting in the mid-nineteenth century. It also considers the influence of Harriet’s father, Dawson Turner FSA (1775–1858), in encouraging a new appreciation of the art historical value of painted rood screens. Turner’s objectives are situated within the wider cultural context of emerging tastes for early Italian art and new developments in art historiography seen in the 1820s and 1830s. Harriet’s sophisticated understanding of rood screens is therefore interpreted as a response to the intellectual milieu in which she was immersed. The paper concludes by exploring how her work, and the knowledge it promoted, was disseminated through the cultural machinery of archaeological societies in the mid-1840s through printed publications, exhibition and display.
Toward a Historical Sociology of Canonization: Comparing the Development of Sociological Theory in the English-, German-, and French-Language Contexts since the 1950s
Authors: Guzman Cinthya , Silver Daniel , Döpking Lars , Underwood Lukas , Parker Sébastien
Published: August 2023

This paper adds to a vital international tradition of discussing the history of sociological theory by empirically investigating its structure, dynamics, and relationships. Our primary contribution to this tradition is to bring to the conversation a greater level of comparative and historical scope, a more systematic quantitative methodology, and a degree of reflexivity and synthesis. To do so, we examine some 670 editions of sociological-theory books geared toward students, published in English, German, and French between 1950 and 2020. Our empirical analysis highlights patterns, trends, and relationships among the theorists featured in these books, the narratives and approaches that define their visions of sociological theory, and the characteristics of the authors who wrote them. Our findings reveal some key intellectual as well as sociological factors associated with the changing composition of the canon.
Algorithmic State Violence: Automated Surveillance and Palestinian Dispossession in Hebron's Old City
Authors: Goodfriend Sophia
Published: August 2023

This article provides an ethnographic account of automated surveillance technologies' impact in the occupied West Bank, taking Blue Wolf—a biometric identification system deployed by the Israeli army—as a case study. Interviews with Palestinian residents of Hebron subjected to intensive surveillance, a senior Israeli general turned biometric start-up founder, and testimonies from veterans tasked with building up Blue Wolf's database provide a rare view into the uneven texture of life under algorithmic surveillance. Their narratives reveal how automated surveillance systems function as a form of state-sponsored terror. As a globalized information economy intersects with the eliminatory aims of Israeli settler colonialism in Hebron, new surveillance technologies erode Palestinian social life while allowing technocratic settlers to recast the violence of occupation as an opportunity for capital investment and growth. Attending to the texture of life under algorithmic surveillance in Hebron ultimately reorients theories of accumulation and dispossession in the digital age away from purely economistic framings. Instead, I foreground the violent political imperatives that drive innovations in surveillance, in Palestine and worldwide.
Moment-based approach to the flux-tube linear gyrokinetic model
Authors: Frei B.J. , Hoffmann A.C.D. , Ricci P. , Brunner S. , Tecchioll Z.
Published: August 2023

This work reports on the development and numerical implementation of the linear electromagnetic gyrokinetic (GK) model in a tokamak flux-tube geometry using a moment approach based on the expansion of the perturbed distribution function on a velocity-space Hermite–Laguerre polynomials basis. A hierarchy of equations of the expansion coefficients, referred to as the gyro-moments (GMs), is derived. We verify the numerical implementation of the GM hierarchy in the collisionless limit by performing a comparison with the continuum GK code GENE, recovering the linear properties of the ion temperature gradient, trapped electron, kinetic ballooning and microtearing modes, as well as the collisionless damping of zonal flows. An analysis of the distribution functions and ballooning eigenmode structures is performed. The present investigation reveals the ability of the GM approach to describe fine velocity-space-scale structures appearing near the trapped and passing boundary and kinetic effects associated with parallel and perpendicular particle drifts. In addition, the effects of collisions are studied using advanced collision operators, including the GK Coulomb collision operator. The main findings are that the number of GMs necessary for convergence decreases with plasma collisionality and is lower for pressure gradient-driven modes, such as in H-mode pedestal regions, compared with instabilities driven by trapped particles and magnetic gradient drifts often found in the core. The accuracy of approximations often used to model collisions (relative to the GK Coulomb operator) is studied in the case of trapped electron modes, showing differences between collision operator models that increase with collisionality and electron temperature gradient, consistent with the results of Pan et al. (Phys. Rev. E, vol. 103, 2021, L051202). Such differences are not observed in other edge microinstabilities, such as microtearing modes. The importance of a proper collision operator model is also confirmed by analysing the collisional damping of geodesic acoustic modes and zonal flows.
Observation of subcritical shocks in a collisional laboratory plasma: scale dependence near the resistive length
Authors: Russell D.R. , Burdiak G.C. , Carroll-Nellenback J.J. , Halliday J.W.D. , Hare J.D. , Merlini S. , Suttle L.G. , Valenzuela-Villaseca V. , Eardley S.J. , Fullalove J.A. , Rowland G.C. , Smith R.A. , Frank A. , Hartigan P. , Velikovich A.L. , Chittenden J.P. , Lebedev S.V.
Published: August 2023

We present a study of subcritical shocks in a highly collisional laboratory plasma with a dynamically significant magnetic field. Shocks were produced by placing cylindrical obstacles into the supermagnetosonic (

$M_{{\rm MS}} \sim 1.9$

) outflow from an inverse wire array z-pinch at the MAGPIE pulsed power facility (

$n_{e} \sim 8.5 \times 10^{17}\,{\rm cm}^{-3}$

,

$v \sim 45\,{\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$

). We demonstrate the existence of subcritical shocks in this regime and find that secondary stagnation shocks form in the downstream which we infer from interferometry and optical Thomson scattering measurements are hydrodynamic in nature. The subcritical shock width is found to be approximately equal to the resistive diffusion length and we demonstrate the absence of a jump in hydrodynamic parameters. Temperature measurements by collective optical Thomson scattering showed little temperature change across the subcritical shock (

${<}10\,\%$

of the ion kinetic energy) which is consistent with a balance between adiabatic and Ohmic heating and radiative cooling. We demonstrate the absence of subcritical shocks when the obstacle diameter is less than the resistive diffusion length due to decoupling of the magnetic field from the plasma. These findings are supported by magnetohydrodynamic simulations using the Gorgon and AstroBEAR codes and discrepancies between the simulations and experiment are discussed.