bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of a Spiritual Care Training Program to Build Knowledge, Competence, Confidence and Self-awareness Among Australian Health and Aged Care Staff: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Jones Kate F. , Kearney Matthew , Best Megan C.
Published: January 2024

The aim of this study was to evaluate a new spiritual care training program with health and aged care staff. A four-module program was delivered to 44 participants at a large Catholic health and aged care provider in Australia. Pre, post and 6 week follow-up surveys were administered and included measures of spiritual care competency, confidence, perspectives of spirituality and spiritual care, spiritual well-being, and satisfaction. Paired sample t-tests showed total scores of participants’ spiritual well-being, spiritual care competency and confidence significantly improved following the training and were largely maintained at follow-up. Perspectives on spirituality and spiritual care did not significantly change over time.
MicroRNAs and Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Authors: Searles Charles D.
Published: January 2024

Purpose of Review

MicroRNAs (miRNAs)—short, non-coding RNAs—play important roles in almost all aspects of cardiovascular biology, and changes in intracellular miRNA expression are indicative of cardiovascular disease development and progression. Extracellular miRNAs, which are easily measured in blood and can be reflective of changes in intracellular miRNA levels, have emerged as potential non-invasive biomarkers for disease. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding miRNAs as biomarkers for assessing cardiovascular disease risk and prognosis.

Recent Findings

Numerous studies over the last 10–15 years have identified associations between extracellular miRNA profiles and cardiovascular disease, supporting the potential use of extracellular miRNAs as biomarkers for risk stratification. However, clinical application of extracellular miRNA profiles has been hampered by poor reproducibility and inter-study variability that is due largely to methodological differences between studies.

While recent studies indicate that circulating extracellular miRNAs are promising biomarkers for cardiovascular disease, evidence for clinical implementation is lacking. This highlights the need for larger, well-designed studies that use standardized methods for sample preparation, miRNA isolation, quantification, and normalization.
Convergence of machine learning with microfluidics and metamaterials to build smart materials
Authors: Mittal Prateek , Nampoothiri Krishnadas Narayanan , Jha Abhishek , Bansal Shubhi
Published: January 2024

Recent advances in machine learning have revolutionized numerous research domains by extracting the hidden features and properties of complex systems, which are not otherwise possible using conventional ways. One such development can be seen in designing smart materials, which intersects the ability of microfluidics and metamaterials with machine learning to achieve unprecedented abilities. Microfluidics involves generating and manipulating fluids in the form of liquid streams or droplets from microliter to femtoliter regimes. However, analysis of such fluid flows is always tiresome and challenging due to the complexity involved in the integration and detection of various chemical or biological processes. On the other hand, acoustic metamaterials manipulate acoustic waves to achieve unparalleled properties, which is not possible using natural materials. Nonetheless, the design of such metamaterials relies on the expertise of specialists or on analytical models that require an enormous number of expensive function evaluations, making this method extremely complex and time-consuming. These complexities and exorbitant function evaluations of both fluidic and metamaterial systems embark on the need for the support of computational tools that can identify, process, and quantify the large amounts of intricacy, thus machine learning techniques. This review discusses the shortcomings of microfluidics and acoustic metamaterials, which are overcome by neoteric machine learning approaches for building smart materials. The following review ends by providing the importance and future perspective of integrating machine learning and optimization approaches with microfluidic-based acoustic metamaterials to build smart and efficient intelligent next-generation materials.
Unleashing the power of decentralized serverless IoT dataflow architecture for the Cloud-to-Edge Continuum: a performance comparison
Authors: López Escobar Juan José , Díaz-Redondo Rebeca P. , Gil-Castiñeira Felipe
Published: January 2024

The advent of new computing and communication trends that link pervasive data sources and consumers, such as Edge Computing, 5G and IIoT, has led to the development of the Cloud-to-Edge Continuum in order to take advantage of the resources available in massive IoT scenarios and to conduct data analysis to leverage intelligence at all levels. This paper outlines the challenging requirements of this novel IoT context and presents an innovative IoT framework to develop dataflow applications for data-centric environments. The proposed design takes advantage of decentralized Pub/Sub communication and serverless nanoservice architecture, using novel technologies such as Zenoh and WebAssembly, respectively, to implement lightweight services along the Cloud-to-Edge infrastructure. We also describe some use cases to illustrate the benefits and concerns of the coming IoT generation, giving a communication performance comparison of Zenoh over brokered MQTT strategies.

Graphical abstract
Legal Information Retrieval and Entailment Using Transformer-based Approaches
Authors: Kim Mi-Young , Rabelo Juliano , Babiker Housam Khalifa Bashier , Rahman Md Abed , Goebel Randy
Published: January 2024

The challenge of information overload in the legal domain increases every day. The COLIEE competition has created four challenge tasks that are intended to encourage the development of systems and methods to alleviate some of that pressure: a case law retrieval (Task 1) and entailment (Task 2), and a statute law retrieval (Task 3) and entailment (Task 4). Here we describe our methods for Task 1 and Task 4. In Task 1, we used a sentence-transformer model to create a numeric representation for each case paragraph. We then created a histogram of the similarities between a query case and a candidate case. The histogram is used to build a binary classifier that decides whether a candidate case should be noticed or not. In Task 4, our approach relies on fine-tuning a pre-trained DeBERTa large language model (LLM) trained on SNLI and MultiNLI datasets. Our method for Task 4 was ranked third among eight participating teams in the COLIEE 2023 competition. For Task 4, We also compared the performance of the DeBERTa model with those of a knowledge distillation model and ensemble methods including Random Forest and Voting.
Investigating the effect of process variables for ball milling of wood chips: energy demand and particle size
Authors: Arce Carlos , Krátký Lukáš
Published: January 2024

Energy demand is the major drawback to using mechanical treatments within the biorefinery context. These treatments use energy to reduce particle size and crystallinity and, as a result, increase the accessibility of cellulose. However, the study of energy demand in milling needs to be more noticed. Therefore, this study aims to study how operational variables affect particle size and energy demand on one of the most used milling technologies: ball milling. The variables considered were mass of biomass, mass of balls and time. It was found that time is the most affecting variable for particle size and energy demand. Additionally, it was possible to optimise milling regarding energy demand and particle size. Furthermore, it was found that from the three traditional laws of comminution Bond was the one that gave the best results in terms of accuracy.
Lump solutions of the fractional Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation
Authors: Borluk Handan , Bruell Gabriele , Nilsson Dag
Published: January 2024

Of concern is the fractional Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (fKP) equation and its lump solution. As in the classical Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation, the fKP equation comes in two versions: fKP-I (strong surface tension case) and fKP-II (weak surface tension case). We prove the existence of nontrivial lump solutions for the fKP-I equation in the energy subcritical case $$\alpha >\frac{4}{5}$$

α
>

4
5

by means of variational methods. It is already known that there exist neither nontrivial lump solutions belonging to the energy space for the fKP-II equation [9] nor for the fKP-I when $$\alpha \le \frac{4}{5}$$

α
≤

4
5

[26]. Furthermore, we show that for any $$\alpha >\frac{4}{5}$$

α
>

4
5

lump solutions for the fKP-I equation are smooth and decay quadratically at infinity. Numerical experiments are performed for the existence of lump solutions and their decay. Moreover, numerically, we observe cross-sectional symmetry of lump solutions for the fKP-I equation.
Successful treatment of glandular tularemia with azithromycin in a pregnant woman in Austria
Authors: Schubert Lorenz , Koelz Marita , Kussmann Manuel , Metz-Schimmerl Sylvia , Tobudic Selma , Traby Ludwig , Vossen Matthias G. , Winkler Stefan
Published: January 2024

Treatment of tularemia during pregnancy is challenging due to toxicity of standard treatment regimens. Here, we report a 31-year-old woman with glandular tularemia who was successfully treated with intravenous azithromycin. Follow-up examinations over a 6-month period showed a sustained response to treatment. She later gave birth to a healthy child.
AI Adaptivity in a Mixed-Reality System Improves Learning
Authors: Yannier Nesra , Hudson Scott E. , Chang Henry , Koedinger Kenneth R.
Published: January 2024

Adaptivity in advanced learning technologies offer the possibility to adapt to different student backgrounds, which is difficult to do in a traditional classroom setting. However, there are mixed results on the effectiveness of adaptivity based on different implementations and contexts. In this paper, we introduce AI adaptivity in the context of a new genre of Intelligent Science Stations that bring intelligent tutoring into the physical world. Intelligent Science Stations are mixed-reality systems that bridge the physical and virtual worlds to improve children’s inquiry-based STEM learning. Automated reactive guidance is made possible by a specialized AI computer vision algorithm, providing personalized interactive feedback to children as they experiment and make discoveries in their physical environment. We report on a randomized controlled experiment where we compare learning outcomes of children interacting with the Intelligent Science Station that has task-loop adaptivity incorporated, compared to another version that provides tasks randomly without adaptivity. Our results show that adaptivity using Bayesian Knowledge Tracing in the context of a mixed-reality system leads to better learning of scientific principles, without sacrificing enjoyment. These results demonstrate benefits of adaptivity in a mixed-reality setting to improve children’s science learning.
Renewable Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks in Precision Agriculture
Authors: Khernane Sara , Bouam Souheila , Arar Chafik
Published: January 2024

Wireless sensors are used for smart building monitoring, biomedical applications, intelligent home appliances, urgent disaster management and precision agriculture production. These devices today operate with batteries that are very difficult to change. The major problem hindering the widespread deployment of wireless sensor networks is the need to constantly replace them because their batteries expires. We can see that it is possible to charge them using energy harvested from solar, vibration, thermal or ambient radio frequency sources. we can implement sustainable health surveillance systems, agriculture, mining, environmental protection and national infrastructure, which will improve the quality of life, save money and achieve ecological goals. We realized that it would be wise to specify a field of application for internet of things in order to be able to clarify the identification of the problem of energy consumption and its relation with renewable energies. In addition, one of the most interesting applications for the socio-economic fields in the world in recent years is Smart Farming. In this paper, we reviewed a state of the art on the use of renewable energy harvesting in precision agriculture.
Controllable augmentations for video representation learning
Authors: Qian Rui , Lin Weiyao , See John , Li Dian
Published: January 2024

This paper focuses on self-supervised video representation learning. Most existing approaches follow the contrastive learning pipeline to construct positive and negative pairs by sampling different clips. However, this formulation tends to bias the static background and has difficulty establishing global temporal structures. The major reason is that the positive pairs, i.e., different clips sampled from the same video, have limited temporal receptive fields, and usually share similar backgrounds but differ in motions. To address these problems, we propose a framework to jointly utilize local clips and global videos to learn from detailed region-level correspondence as well as general long-term temporal relations. Based on a set of designed controllable augmentations, we implement accurate appearance and motion pattern alignment through soft spatio-temporal region contrast. Our formulation avoids the low-level redundancy shortcut with an adversarial mutual information minimization objective to improve the generalization ability. Moreover, we introduce local-global temporal order dependency to further bridge the gap between clip-level and video-level representations for robust temporal modeling. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our framework is superior on three video benchmarks in action recognition and video retrieval, and captures more accurate temporal dynamics.
Plastid-encoded RNA polymerase variation in Pelargonium sect Ciconium
Authors: Breman FC , Korver JW , Snijder RC , Villard C , Schranz ME , Bakker FT
Published: January 2024

Cyto-Nuclear Incompatibility (CNI), in which there is a mismatch in the interaction between organelles and nucleus, impacts plant species evolution as it has a direct effect on the fitness of plants. It can reduce fertility and/or result in bleached plants devoid of functional chloroplasts. Understanding the processes leading to CNI could help to improve breeding efforts, especially in cases where species with desirable traits need to be crossed into existing cultivars. To better understand the occurrence of CNI and its effects on plant phenotype, we combined near comprehensive crossing series across a clade of species from Pelargonium section Ciconium with comparative genomics and protein modelling for plastid-encoded RNA polymerase (PEP), as the rpo genes encoding PEP subunits were found to be unusually highly divergent, especially in two length-variable regions. Of all plastome-encoded genes, we found these genes to contain more variation than observed across angiosperms and that this underlies structural variation inferred for PEP in P. sect. Ciconium. This variation, resulting in differing physico-chemical properties of the rpo-encoded peptides, provides a possible explanation for the observed CNI, but we cannot directly correlate plastid related CNI phenotypes to rpo genotypes. This suggests that more than one interaction between the nuclear genome and the plastome genes are needed to fully explain the observed patterns.
Dog Economics
Authors: Weimer David L. , Vining Aidan R.
Published: January 2024

Archaeologists, anthropologists, and evolutionary biologists study the origins of our relationship with dogs and how it has evolved over time. Sociologists and legal scholars study the roles of dogs in the modern family. Veterinarian researchers address the relationship in the context of professional practice, yet economists have produced scant scholarship on the relationship between humans and dogs. Dog Economics applies economic concepts to relationships between people and dogs to inform our understanding of their domestication. It interprets their contemporary role as both property and family members and explores factors that affect the demand for dogs as well as market failures of the American puppy market. Offering economic perspectives on our varied relationships with dogs, this book assesses mortality risks and addresses end-of-life issues that commonly arise. It develops a framework for classifying canine occupations, considers the impact of pet insurance on euthanasia, and assesses the social value of guide dogs.
The Science of Virtue
Authors: Fowers Blaine J. , Cokelet Bradford , Leonhardt Nathan D.
Published: January 2024

Integrating psychological and philosophical research on virtue and moral development, this book presents a real-world program for virtue science. Offering empirically testable hypotheses, the chapters deliver theoretical and methodological guidance that shows how existing research can become a cohesive and truly interdisciplinary science of virtue. The authors' unique 'STRIVE-4 Model' defines a unifying conceptual framework, making the book an indispensable resource for a new generation of scholars and students. This empirically tested model provides the much-needed foundation that can put to rest traditional worries about moral science. While mapping out the relevant areas of psychology and value-focused inquiry, the book lays out an interdisciplinary approach to many questions, including the problem of knowledge about character. Written for those researching virtue drawing on personality, developmental, moral, and positive psychology, as well as moral philosophy and character education, the book demonstrates the importance and applications of studying virtues empirically.
Time-delayed characteristics of turbulence in pulsatile pipe flow
Authors: Liu Xu , Zhu Hongbo , Bao Yan , Srinil Narakorn , Zhou Dai , Han Zhaolong
Published: January 2024

Direct numerical simulations are performed to study temporal variations of the wall shear stresses and flow dynamics in the turbulent pulsatile pipe flow. The mechanisms, responsible for the paradoxical phenomenon for which the amplitude of the oscillating wall shear stress in the turbulent flow is smaller than that in the laminar flow for the same pulsation conditions, are investigated. It is shown that the delayed response of turbulence in the buffer layer generates a large magnitude of the radial gradient of the Reynolds shear stress near the wall, which counteracts the effect of the oscillating pressure gradient on the change of the streamwise velocity and hence reduces the amplitude of the wall shear stress. Such a delayed response consists of two processes: the delayed development of near-wall streaks and the subsequent energy redistribution from the streamwise velocity fluctuation to the other two co-existing components. This is a dynamical manifestation of the viscoelasticity of turbulent eddies. As the frequency is reduced, the variation of the friction Reynolds number results in a phase-wise variation of the time scale and intensity of the turbulence response, causing the hysteresis of the wall shear stress. Such a phase asymmetry is amplified by the increase of the pulsation amplitude. An examination of the energy spectra reveals that the near-wall streaks are stretched in the streamwise direction during the acceleration phase, and then break up into small-scale structures in the deceleration phase, accompanied by the enhanced dissipation that transforms the turbulent kinetic energy into heat.
The effect of vitamin K supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhao Qiu-Yan , Li Qiu , Hasan Rashedi Minoo , Sohouli Mohammadhassan , Rohani Pejman , Velu Periyannan
Published: January 2024

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most important diseases which controlling its related risk factors, such as metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers, is necessary because of the increased mortality risk of that. The aim of our meta-analysis is to reveal the general effect of vitamin K supplementation on its related risk factors. Original databases were searched using standard keywords to identify all randomized clinical trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of vitamin K on CVD. Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) were achieved by random-model effect analysis for the best estimation of outcomes. The statistical heterogeneity was determined using the Cochran's Q test and I2 statistics. Seventeen studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled findings showed that vitamin K supplementation can reduce homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (WMD: −0⋅24, 95 % CI: −0⋅49, −0⋅02, P = 0⋅047) significantly compared to the placebo group. However, no significant effect was observed on other outcomes. Subgroup analysis showed a significant effect of vitamin K2 supplementation compared to vitamin K1 supplementation on HOMA-IR. However, no significant effect was observed on other variables. Also, subgroup analysis showed no potential effect of vitamin K supplementation on any outcome and omitting any articles did not affect the final results. We demonstrated that supplementation with vitamin K has no effect on anthropometrics indexes, CRP, glucose metabolism, and lipid profile factors except HOMA-IR.
Cambrian trilobites from the Nounan Dolomite and lower St. Charles Formation (upper Marjuman to lower Sunwaptan; Miaolingian to Furongian Series), Smithfield Canyon, northern Utah
Authors: Sundberg Frederick A. , Cothren Hannah R. , Dehler Carol M.
Published: January 2024

The trilobite faunas that occur with the Steptoean Positive Isotope Carbon Excursion (SPICE) at Smithfield Canyon, Utah, have been reported, but not illustrated. Given the importance of the SPICE at this section for international correlations, the trilobites from new collections from the upper Nounan Dolomite to lower St. Charles Formation at Smithfield Canyon are reported herein and integrated with the previously reported taxa. Trilobite assemblages indicate that the upper Cedaria to the Ellipsocephaloides biozones (Miaolingian Series, Guzhangian Stage to Furongian Series, Jiangshanian Stage) are present stratigraphically below or above the SPICE.

Some of the taxa reported herein may represent new species, but they are not represented by well-enough preserved specimens and are left in open nomenclature. However, Kingstonia smithfieldensis n. sp. and Bromella utahensis n. sp. are named on the basis of common and well-preserved specimens.

New carbon isotope data from Smithfield Canyon from an overlapping section of the lower St. Charles Formation, that add to the overall shape of the SPICE curve, are presented. The new δ13C values above the Elvinia Biozone range from –0.36‰ to +1.5‰, confirming that the SPICE concludes within the Elvinia Biozone.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/ad4fd372-8da4-4caa-98ed-ea82700cca60
Legal Collusion: Legal Consciousness under China’s One-Child Policy
Authors: Liu Qian
Published: January 2024

Why would one person facilitate a community member’s evasion of the law, even when there is nothing tangible in it for themselves? In this article, I draw on stories in Chinese villages under the one-child policy to suggest that the lack of moral legitimacy in a particular law motivates people to help others overcome legal or policy restrictions, especially when there are existing connections and trust among them. It reveals the influential impact of law’s moral legitimacy on people’s responses to legal evasion and the relational nature of legal consciousness. An individual’s existing connections with and trust in those who evade the law often reinforce the sense of obligation to take matters into one’s own hands to help right the wrong that has been done to them. Nevertheless, the consequences of participating in such collusion may reshape expectations and obligations within the community, pushing law-evading citizens to minimize risks for those who are willing to facilitate their evasion of the law. The fluid nature of interpersonal relationships in Chinese society also means that when things go wrong, supportive members may in turn use their insider information against the law-evading citizen to seek revenge or teach them a lesson.
DEVELOPMENT OF A 14C PROTOCOL AT THE LMC14 FOR THE DATING OF CULTURAL HERITAGE MATERIALS: HISTORICAL MORTARS. PARTICIPATION IN THE MODIS INTERNATIONAL INTERCOMPARISON CAMPAIGN
Authors: Moreau Christophe , Dumoulin Jean-Pascal , Jaber Maguy , Caffy Ingrid , Delqué-Količ Emmanuelle , Goulas Cédric , Hain Stéphane , Perron Marion , Setti Valérie , Sieudat Marc , Thellier Bruno , Beck Lucile
Published: January 2024

The absolute dating of mortar by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has been the subject of renewed interest for several years. International intercomparison campaigns, called MODIS (MOrtar Dating Intercomparison Study), have been carried out. The first MODIS-1 campaign highlighted limitations in mortar dating, due to the similarity between the primary material to be dated (binder) and the contaminant (exogenous CaCO3). Methods have since emerged to overcome this problem and the need for a good preliminary characterization has been proven. The Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14) took part in the second intercomparison campaign, MODIS2, by applying thermal decomposition increments to distinguish the carbonated binder, the organic matter contaminants (late in formation pyrogenic carbonate, LDH) and limestone. The LMC14 results on MODIS2 are quite conclusive on “pure” re-carbonated lime mortar binders containing little contaminant geological limestone but show their weaknesses for mortars heavily contaminated in Dolomites, which are difficult to discern from the binder. Recommendations for users of radiocarbon (14C) dating on mortar-based materials are made in the conclusion.
Divisive or Descriptive?: How Americans Understand Critical Race Theory
Authors: Safarpour Alauna , Lunz Trujillo Kristin , Green Jon , Pippert Caroline High , Lin Jennifer , Druckman James N
Published: January 2024

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has become a flashpoint of elite political discord, yet how Americans actually perceive CRT is unclear. We theorize that Republican elites utilized a strong framing strategy to re-define CRT as an “empty signifier” representing broader racial and cultural grievances. Using a survey and a pre-registered experiment among U.S. adults (N = 19,060), we find that this strategy worked. Republicans exhibit more familiarity with CRT and hold more negatively valenced (and wide ranging) sentiments toward CRT, relative to Democrats. Moreover, compared to teaching the legacy of racism in schools, Republicans are significantly more opposed to teaching CRT while Democrats express greater uncertainty. Our findings suggest that by framing CRT as a broad term that envelopes many grievances (including those beyond the scope of CRT), Republican elites have shaped a subset of Americans’ understanding of and attitudes toward CRT.
Black Millennials, Slipping Alliances, and the Democratic Party
Authors: Watts Donovan A.
Published: January 2024

Recent election cycles show a reluctance among Black millennials to support the Democratic Party, which suggests that they are not captured by the party like their predecessors. While we know that African Americans have historically remained a loyal voting bloc, it is important to analyze whether there are generational differences with respect to Black Democratic Party loyalty. In this study, I analyze Black millennial partisanship identification and compare it to Black non-millennials (Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers). To test this, I employ a multi-method approach. My results show that while Black millennials continue to identify with the Democratic Party, they are not as loyal to the Democratic Party when compared to Black non-millennials. Further, I find that Black millennials are not changing loyalties to the Republican or a third party. Instead, Black millennials are willing to withhold their vote altogether if they are not satisfied with any Democratic candidates. My work has critical implications in how we understand Black politics and reveals that Democratic candidates will have to earn Black millennials vote going forward.
Emissions Sufficientarianism
Authors: Duus-Otterstrom Goran
Published: January 2024

This paper defends strong emissions sufficientarianism as an approach to assigning moral rights to generate greenhouse gas emissions. Strong emissions sufficientarianism holds that only subsistence emitting is morally permissible. This paper argues that, since it is uncertain how many subsistence emissions there will be, the present generation owes it to future generations to refrain from generating non-subsistence emissions, not to risk imposing on them a tragic choice between sacrificing themselves and contributing to very dangerous climate change. The paper also addresses the charge that emissions sufficientarianism, in general, is too permissive since it entails a right to contribute to very dangerous climate change. The overall message is that, given the moral urgency posed by climate change, there is little room for distributive principles besides emissions sufficientarianism. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of relying on carbon budgets in assigning rights to emit.
Introduction: Activism, Scholarship, and Shaping History
Authors: Bolourchi Neda , Kashani-Sabet Firoozeh
Published: January 2024

The idea for this roundtable emerged from a special session held at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) in Denver in December 2022. As nationwide protests swept over Iran, many MESA members voiced support for organizing a public conversation that addressed various aspects of the Woman, Life, Freedom (WLF, Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) uprising. We thank MESA president, Eve Troutt Powell, for supporting this last-minute addition to the program. We are also very grateful to IJMES editor, Joel Gordon, for publishing these essays and enabling ongoing conversations about the WLF movement.
Revolutionary Politics of the Normal
Authors: Alemzadeh Maryam
Published: January 2024

The “longing for a normal life,” (hasrat-i yik zindigi-yi ma'muli) as lyricized in what became the Woman, Life, Freedom (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) movement's favorite anthem, has been front and center in the recent wave of social protests that has rocked Iran from September 2022 onward.1 At the same time, the movement's frame has been crystal clear in aiming for the rarest and most disruptive of social events—a revolution. Revolutions never foster normalcy; neither do they comfortably settle into something “normal” in their later phases. Whatever normal is, it is quite certainly not the authoritarian rule into which most social revolutions have historically lapsed. Can the pursuit of normalcy be revolutionary in any sense? In this essay I analyze the central role of normalcy in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and discuss how it helps us understand the movement's past and imagine its potential revolutionary futures. I first allude to the struggle of some Iranians to find a semblance of normalcy under abnormal circumstances in past decades, and suggest that Mahsa (Zhina) Amini's death determined the futility of this struggle for normalcy in the minds of many Iranians. I then analyze what it means for the movement to strive for “a normal life” and a revolution at the same time.
Discord in the Diaspora: Agonism in the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement for Democracy
Authors: Razavi Sahar
Published: January 2024

The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022 sparked a movement that immediately captivated the Iranian diaspora around the world. The morality police had detained Amini in Tehran for allegedly improper hijab. Protests began in Iranian Kurdistan, where Amini was from, and spread across the country to regions and sectors of society that have historically been less involved in political protests than major urban centers like Tehran. What began as a street protest became a full-throated rejection of the status quo. Merchants, teachers, and students organized coordinated labor strikes, while protesters and security services clashed in the streets. Additional economic sanctions were implemented against Iran's government by the United States and Europe; the United Nations Human Rights Commission initiated an independent investigation of the government's response to the protests; Iran was expelled from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women; and the European Parliament cut diplomatic ties with Tehran. The United States has nearly abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) even as it was in the final stages of renegotiation, while calls by activists and the European Parliament to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group are ongoing.1 We also saw significant global solidarity protests in numerous major cities in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
The Birth of a University Music Genre in Iran's Woman, Life, Freedom Uprising
Authors: Siamdoust Nahid
Published: January 2024

Aside from the obvious and central role of women in Iran's Woman, Life, Freedom (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) uprising that began in the fall of 2022, two other (f)actors have played a crucial role in defining the movement's demands and propelling it forward, namely, students and music. University students have a long tradition of serving as righteous agitators of uprisings in Iran, both before and after the 1979 revolution, as does music in inspiring and soundtracking them. But in this arguably greatest ideological and political threat to the Islamic Republic since its founding, something unprecedented happened: the fusion of student activism and song in the form of a recognizable genre, unattached to a specific political ideology although fully supportive of the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising and its demands for liberation and freedom for all.
“A Nation in Turmoil, A Field in Crisis: The Upshots of Woman, Life, Freedom”
Authors: Kashani-Sabet Firoozeh
Published: January 2024

By now, it is well known that the murder of the Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, last fall sparked nationwide protests in Iran. Aside from Jina, many other young protestors were killed, imprisoned, or permanently disabled, as security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran began blinding demonstrators by firing rubber bullets at their eyes.1 These ghastly scenes were accompanied by other disturbing and violent acts that included the raiding of universities, sexual abuse of students, targeting of minority populations, and shockingly the execution of young men for their involvement in these fracases.2 The Woman, Life, Freedom (Persian: Zan, Zendegi, Azadi; WLF) uprising, which erupted in response to gender discrimination in the Islamic Republic, promptly embraced other social causes. What began as gender protests amplified people's strident cries against political repression in Iran. Despite raising awareness of a range of sociopolitical problems in Iran, the gender focus of this movement remains its singular achievement. This uprising,whose slogan (Kurdish: Jin, Jiyan, Azadi ) gained inspiration from the struggles of Kurdish women fighters, has put gender issues center stage and restored women's presence as primary agents of change in Iranian society.
Reframing interventions for optimal child nutrition and childhood obesity: the importance of considering psychological factors
Authors: Newson Lisa , Abayomi Julie
Published: January 2024

This review aims to emphasise the impact of poor nutrition on children’s health and psychological well-being, urging those involved in childhood obesity or nutrition services to broaden their intervention approach. Poor nutrition and childhood obesity affect physical and psychological health. The stress of living with obesity further impacts quality of life, well-being and self-esteem. Children living with obesity may experience adverse childhood events and stress, and young people are able to recall the impact of psychosocial issues such as experiencing stigma and discrimination. Food is often a coping mechanism for managing negative emotions, perpetuating cycles of emotional coping and unhealthy eating behaviours. UK guidelines recommend family-based, multi-component weight management interventions for children living with obesity. Interventions mainly target health behaviours and utilise behaviour change techniques attempting to directly improve diet and physical activity as behavioural outcomes. Whilst these interventions may show some improvements in psychological well-being, there is limited consideration or understanding of the underlying mechanisms of action which indirectly influence engagement and the sustainability of the behaviour change. Lack of attention and inclusion of psychosocial variables in intervention implementation may help explain the variable effectiveness reported across childhood obesity interventions. In conclusion, enhancing the effectiveness of childhood obesity interventions requires a broader approach that fully incorporates psychosocial factors. Those responsible for commissioning, designing and implementing these interventions should adopt a holistic approach that addresses psychological and emotional needs while incorporating underlying mechanisms of action. This shift in focus could result in more sustainable and comprehensive treatment for childhood obesity.
A dominance of Mu class glutathione transferases within the equine tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata
Authors: Northcote Holly M. , Wititkornkul Boontarikaan , Cutress David J. , Allen Nathan D. , Brophy Peter M. , Wonfor Ruth E. , Morphew Russell M.
Published: January 2024

The most common equine tapeworm, Anoplocephala perfoliata, has often been neglected amongst molecular investigations and has been faced with limited treatment options. However, the recent release of a transcriptome dataset has now provided opportunities for in-depth analysis of A. perfoliata protein expression. Here, global, and sub-proteomic approaches were utilized to provide a comprehensive characterization of the A. perfoliata soluble glutathione transferases (GST) (ApGST). Utilizing both bioinformatics and gel-based proteomics, GeLC and 2D-SDS PAGE, the A. perfoliata ‘GST-ome’ was observed to be dominated with Mu class GST representatives. In addition, both Sigma and Omega class GSTs were identified, albeit to a lesser extent and absent from affinity chromatography approaches. Moreover, 51 ApGSTs were localized across somatic (47 GSTs), extracellular vesicles (EVs) (Whole: 1 GST, Surface: 2 GSTs) and EV depleted excretory secretory product (ESP) (9 GSTs) proteomes. In related helminths, GSTs have shown promise as novel anthelmintic or vaccine targets for improved helminth control. Thus, provides potential targets for understanding A. perfoliata novel infection mechanisms, host–parasite relationships and anthelmintic treatments.
Reward anticipation-related neural activation following cued reinforcement in adults with psychotic psychopathology and biological relatives
Authors: Demro Caroline , Lahud Elijah , Burton Philip C. , Purcell John R. , Simon Joe J. , Sponheim Scott R.
Published: January 2024

Background

Schizophrenia is associated with hypoactivation of reward sensitive brain areas during reward anticipation. However, it is unclear whether these neural functions are similarly impaired in other disorders with psychotic symptomatology or individuals with genetic liability for psychosis. If abnormalities in reward sensitive brain areas are shared across individuals with psychotic psychopathology and people with heightened genetic liability for psychosis, there may be a common neural basis for symptoms of diminished pleasure and motivation.

Methods

We compared performance and neural activity in 123 people with a history of psychosis (PwP), 81 of their first-degree biological relatives, and 49 controls during a modified Monetary Incentive Delay task during fMRI.

Results

PwP exhibited hypoactivation of the striatum and anterior insula (AI) during cueing of potential future rewards with each diagnostic group showing hypoactivations during reward anticipation compared to controls. Despite normative task performance, relatives demonstrated caudate activation intermediate between controls and PwP, nucleus accumbens activation more similar to PwP than controls, but putamen activation on par with controls. Across diagnostic groups of PwP there was less functional connectivity between bilateral caudate and several regions of the salience network (medial frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate, AI) during reward anticipation.

Conclusions

Findings implicate less activation and connectivity in reward processing brain regions across a spectrum of disorders involving psychotic psychopathology. Specifically, aberrations in striatal and insular activity during reward anticipation seen in schizophrenia are partially shared with other forms of psychotic psychopathology and associated with genetic liability for psychosis.
Chariots, mail coaches and wagons in the Arabic dialect of Qaṭrāyīth (“in Qatari”) in early Islamic eastern Arabia
Authors: Kozah Mario
Published: January 2024

This paper will present the evidence for two newly discovered words, gawzag and shagar, meaning “two-horse chariot/mail coach” and “wagon” respectively in the eastern Arabian dialect of Qaṭrāyīth (Syriac for “in Qatari”) of the seventh and eighth centuries ce. They reveal the continued local knowledge of wheeled transport in Arabia and possible use long after its supposed disappearance in the Near East between the fourth and sixth centuries according to Richard Bulliet's well-known thesis in his seminal work The Camel and the Wheel (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990). The fact that this vernacular maintained two specific words for two different modes of wheeled transport likely suggests a practical need for them in everyday communication among the inhabitants of the Beth Qaṭraye region (Syriac for “region of the Qataris” in north-eastern Arabia). Moreover, their use in an Arabic dialect reveals that native words were developed for wheeled vehicles in the local language spoken by the inhabitants of the area well before the adoption of markabah as a neologism to mean chariot in nineteenth-century Arabic, according to Michael Macdonald's stimulating article “Wheels in a land of camels” (Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 20/2, 2009). Thus, the various rock drawings of two-wheeled carts and chariots in northern Arabia may in fact not only have been known but also used nearby in eastern Arabia, rather than being inaccurate representations reflecting a distant awareness of the existence of chariots elsewhere such as in Mesopotamia and Egypt as had been previously thought. This is a literary, philological. and historical study that aims at presenting newly discovered vocabulary in context for further analysis by linguists and others.
Expert Bias and Democratic Erosion: Assessing Expert Perceptions of Contemporary American Democracy
Authors: Bergeron-Boutin Olivier , Carey John M. , Helmke Gretchen , Rau Eli
Published: January 2024

In an important contribution to scholarship on measuring democratic performance, Little and Meng suggest that bias among expert coders accounts for erosion in ratings of democratic quality and performance observed in recent years. Drawing on 19 waves of survey data on US democracy from academic experts and from the public collected by Bright Line Watch (BLW), this study looks for but does not find manifestations of the type of expert bias that Little and Meng posit. Although we are unable to provide a direct test of Little and Meng’s hypothesis, several analyses provide reassurance that expert samples are an informative source to measure democratic performance. We find that respondents who have participated more frequently in BLW surveys, who have coded for V-Dem, and who are vocal about the state of American democracy on Twitter are no more pessimistic than other participants.
Measuring Backsliding with Observables: Observable-to-Subjective Score Mapping
Authors: Weitzel Daniel , Gerring John , Pemstein Daniel , Skaaning Svend-Erik
Published: January 2024

Multiple well-known democracy-rating projects—including Freedom House, Polity, and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)—have identified apparent global regression in recent years. These measures rely on partly subjective indicators, which—in principle—could suffer from rater bias. For instance, Little and Meng (2023) argue that shared beliefs driven by the current zeitgeist could lead to shared biases that produce the appearance of democratic backsliding in subjectively coded measures. To assess this argument and the strength of the evidence for global democratic backsliding, we propose an observable-to-subjective score mapping (OSM) methodology that uses only easily observable features of democracy to predict existing indices of democracy. Applying this methodology to three prominent democracy indices, we find evidence of backsliding—but beginning later and not as pronounced as suggested by some of the original indices. Our approach suggests that the Freedom House measure particularly does not track with the recent patterns in observable indicators and that there has been a stasis or—at most—a modest decline in the average level of democracy.
Numerical Simulation of Falling‐Snow Deposition Pattern Over 3D‐Hill
Authors: Huang Ning , Yu Yang , Shao Yaping , Zhang Jie
Published: January 2024

Snow distribution over complex terrain is an important input quantity for hydrological modeling. Earlier numerical studies on falling‐snow deposition pattern mostly focused on two‐dimensional (2D) hills. This is simulated over a three‐dimensional (3D) hill using a large‐eddy simulation model. It is shown that for both 2D and 3D cases, the hill blocking effect leads to the formation of a snow accumulation zone on the windward slope. For the 3D case, the maximum snow deposition occurs on the leeward toe, but not for the 2D case under the same background conditions. The main reason for these differences is that the spanwise terrain change in the 3D case weakens this hill blocking effect and concurrently generates terrain‐scale vortices which cause spatially variable snow depositions. It is found that an additional snow accumulation zone forms on the leeward slope of the 3D‐hill due to the presence of a horseshoe vortex there. The low wind velocity regime bracketed by the vorticity streamers forms another large snow accumulation zone on the leeward toe. While the results here are only applicable to small hills in a mountain chain, they provide the necessary information for the parameterization of large‐scale snow patterns for hydrological modeling.