bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Novel risk factors for craniofacial microsomia and assessment of their utility in clinic diagnosis
Authors: Xu Xiaopeng , Wang Bingqing , Jiang Zhuoyuan , Chen Qi , Mao Ke , Shi Xiaofeng , Yan Chun , Hu Jintian , Zha Yan , Ma Chao , Zhang Jiao , Guo Rui , Wang Liguo , Zhao Shouqin , Liu Huisheng , Zhang Qingguo , Zhang Yong-Biao
Published: February 2021

Craniofacial microsomia (CFM, OMIM%164 210) is one of the most common congenital facial abnormalities worldwide, but it’s genetic risk factors and environmental threats are poorly investigated, as well as their interaction, making the diagnosis and prenatal screening of CFM impossible. We perform a comprehensive association study on the largest CFM cohort of 6074 samples. We identify 15 significant (P < 5 × 10−8) associated genomic loci (including eight previously reported) and decipher 107 candidates based on multi-omics data. Gene Ontology term enrichment found that these candidates are mainly enriched in neural crest cell (NCC) development and hypoxic environment. Single-cell RNA-seq data of mouse embryo demonstrate that nine of them show dramatic expression change during early cranial NCC development whose dysplasia is involved in pathogeny of CFM. Furthermore, we construct a well-performed CFM risk-predicting model based on polygenic risk score (PRS) method and estimate seven environmental risk factors that interacting with PRS. Single-nucleotide polymorphism-based PRS is significantly associated with CFM [P = 7.22 × 10−58, odds ratio = 3.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.74–3.63], and the top fifth percentile has a 6.8-fold CFM risk comparing with the 10th percentile. Father’s smoking increases CFM risk as evidenced by interaction parameter of −0.324 (95% CI −0.578 to −0.070, P = 0.011) with PRS. In conclusion, the newly identified risk loci will significantly improve our understandings of genetics contribution to CFM. The risk prediction model is promising for CFM prediction, and father’s smoking is a key environmental risk factor for CFM through interacting with genetic factors.
Aggregating multiple expression prediction models improves the power of transcriptome-wide association studies
Authors: Zeng Ping , Dai Jing , Jin Siyi , Zhou Xiang
Published: February 2021

Transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) is an important integrative method for identifying genes that are causally associated with phenotypes. A key step of TWAS involves the construction of expression prediction models for every gene in turn using its cis-SNPs as predictors. Different TWAS methods rely on different models for gene expression prediction, and each such model makes a distinct modeling assumption that is often suitable for a particular genetic architecture underlying expression. However, the genetic architectures underlying gene expression vary across genes throughout the transcriptome. Consequently, different TWAS methods may be beneficial in detecting genes with distinct genetic architectures. Here, we develop a new method, HMAT, which aggregates TWAS association evidence obtained across multiple gene expression prediction models by leveraging the harmonic mean P-value combination strategy. Because each expression prediction model is suited to capture a particular genetic architecture, aggregating TWAS associations across prediction models as in HMAT improves accurate expression prediction and enables subsequent powerful TWAS analysis across the transcriptome. A key feature of HMAT is its ability to accommodate the correlations among different TWAS test statistics and produce calibrated P-values after aggregation. Through numerical simulations, we illustrated the advantage of HMAT over commonly used TWAS methods as well as ad hoc P-value combination rules such as Fisher’s method. We also applied HMAT to analyze summary statistics of nine common diseases. In the real data applications, HMAT was on average 30.6% more powerful compared to the next best method, detecting many new disease-associated genes that were otherwise not identified by existing TWAS approaches. In conclusion, HMAT represents a flexible and powerful TWAS method that enjoys robust performance across a range of genetic architectures underlying gene expression.
A reassessment of strong line metallicity conversions in the machine learning era
Authors: Teimoorinia Hossen , Jalilkhany Mansoureh , Scudder Jillian M , Jensen Jaclyn , Ellison Sara L
Published: February 2021

Strong line metallicity calibrations are widely used to determine the gas phase metallicities of individual H ii regions and entire galaxies. Over a decade ago, based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4, Kewley & Ellison published the coefficients of third-order polynomials that can be used to convert between different strong line metallicity calibrations for global galaxy spectra. Here, we update the work of Kewley & Ellison in three ways. First, by using a newer data release, we approximately double the number of galaxies used in polynomial fits, providing statistically improved polynomial coefficients. Second, we include in the calibration suite five additional metallicity diagnostics that have been proposed in the last decade and were not included by Kewley & Ellison. Finally, we develop a new machine learning approach for converting between metallicity calibrations. The random forest (RF) algorithm is non-parametric and therefore more flexible than polynomial conversions, due to its ability to capture non-linear behaviour in the data. The RF method yields the same accuracy as the (updated) polynomial conversions, but has the significant advantage that a single model can be applied over a wide range of metallicities, without the need to distinguish upper and lower branches in R23 calibrations. The trained RF is made publicly available for use in the community.
Diffusion of large-scale magnetic fields by reconnection in MHD turbulence
Authors: Santos-Lima R , Guerrero G , de Gouveia Dal Pino E M , Lazarian A
Published: February 2021

The rate of magnetic field diffusion plays an essential role in several astrophysical plasma processes. It has been demonstrated that the omnipresent turbulence in astrophysical media induces fast magnetic reconnection, which consequently leads to large-scale magnetic flux diffusion at a rate independent of the plasma microphysics. This process is called 'reconnection diffusion' (RD) and allows for the diffusion of fields, which are dynamically important. The current theory describing RD is based on incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. In this work, we have tested quantitatively the predictions of the RD theory when magnetic forces are dominant in the turbulence dynamics (Alfvénic Mach number MA < 1). We employed the Pencil Code to perform numerical simulations of forced MHD turbulence, extracting the values of the diffusion coefficient ηRD using the test-field method. Our results are consistent with the RD theory ($\eta _{\rm RD} \sim M_{\rm A}^{3}$ for MA < 1) when turbulence approaches the incompressible limit (sonic Mach number MS ≲ 0.02), while for larger MS the diffusion is faster ($\eta _{\rm RD} \sim M_{\rm A}^{2}$). This work shows for the first time simulations of compressible MHD turbulence with the suppression of the cascade in the direction parallel to the mean magnetic field, which is consistent with incompressible weak turbulence theory. We also verified that in our simulations the energy cascading time does not follow the scaling with MA predicted for the weak regime, in contradiction with the RD theory assumption. Our results generally support and expand the RD theory predictions.
Measuring the tidal response of structure formation: anisotropic separate universe simulations using treepm
Authors: Stücker Jens , Schmidt Andreas S , White Simon D M , Schmidt Fabian , Hahn Oliver
Published: February 2021

We present anisotropic ‘separate universe’ simulations that modify the N-body code gadget4 in order to represent a large-scale tidal field through an anisotropic expansion factor. These simulations are used to measure the linear, quasi-linear, and non-linear response of the matter power spectrum to a spatially uniform trace-free tidal field up to wavenumber $k = {7\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}}$. Together with the response to a large-scale overdensity measured in previous work, this completely describes the non-linear matter bispectrum in the squeezed limit. We find that the response amplitude does not approach zero on small scales in physical coordinates, but rather a constant value at z = 0, RK ≈ 0.5 for $k \ge 3\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ up to the scale where we consider our simulations reliable, $k \le 7\, h\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. This shows that even the inner regions of haloes are affected by the large-scale tidal field. We also measure directly the alignment of halo shapes with the tidal field, finding a clear signal that increases with halo mass.
Fast infrared variability from the black hole candidate MAXI J1535−571 and tight constraints on the modelling
Authors: Vincentelli F M , Casella P , Russell D M , Baglio M C , Veledina A , Maccarone T , Malzac J , Fender R , O’Brien K , Uttley P
Published: February 2021

We present the results regarding the analysis of the fast X-ray/infrared (IR) variability of the black hole transient MAXI J1535−571. The data studied in this work consist of two strictly simultaneous observations performed with XMM–Newton (X-rays: 0.7–10 keV), VLT/HAWK-I (Ks band, 2.2 μm) and VLT/VISIR (M and PAH2_2 bands, 4.85 and 11.88 μm, respectively). The cross-correlation function between the X-ray and near-IR light curves shows a strong asymmetric anticorrelation dip at positive lags. We detect a near-IR QPO (2.5σ) at 2.07 ± 0.09 Hz simultaneously with an X-ray QPO at approximately the same frequency (f0 = 2.25 ± 0.05). From the cross-spectral analysis, a lag consistent with zero was measured between the two oscillations. We also measure a significant correlation between the average near-IR and mid-IR fluxes during the second night, but find no correlation on short time-scales. We discuss these results in terms of the two main scenarios for fast IR variability (hot inflow and jet powered by internal shocks). In both cases, our preliminary modelling suggests the presence of a misalignment between the disc and jet.
Black hole shadows in Verlinde’s emergent gravity
Authors: Jusufi Kimet , Saurabh
Published: February 2021

We study the effect of baryonic matter and apparent dark matter on black hole (BH) shadow in Verlinde’s emergent gravity. To do so, we consider different baryonic mass profiles and an optically-thin disc region described by a gas in a radial free fall around the BH. Assuming that most of the baryonic matter in the galaxy is located near the Galactic Centre surrounding a supermassive BH, we use two models of power law mass profile for the baryonic matter to study the effect of apparent dark matter on the shadow and the corresponding intensity. We find that the effect of the surrounding matter on the shadow size using observational values is small; however, it becomes significant when the surrounding baryonic matter increases. To this end, we show that the effect of simple power law function in the limit of constant baryonic mass in Verlinde’s theory implies an apparent dark matter effect that is similar to the standard gravity having an isothermal dark matter profile. We also find the intensity of the electromagnetic flux radiation depending on the surrounding mass.
Amantadine withdrawal syndrome masquerading as COVID-19 encephalopathy: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Murray John P , Kerins Angela
Published: February 2021

Amantadine withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a rare but recognized cause of severe and persistent altered mental status sometimes with co-occurring extrapyramidal symptoms. First described in a case series from 1987, its clinical manifestations have been characterized along a spectrum ranging from profound hypoactive delirium to hyperactive delirium with hallucinations. Risk factors for withdrawal include abrupt medication discontinuation, prolonged use, older age and underlying dementia.

Herein we describe a case of a 52-year-old woman who presented with confusion, hallucinations, and coronavirus disease-2019 infection. She subsequently developed a prolonged hypoactive delirium after her amantadine was tapered and held. Her hypoactive delirium entirely resolved with resumption of amantadine confirming the diagnosis of AWS. This case illustrates the importance of slowly tapering dopaminergic medications and being aware of rare pharmacologic side effects.
Migrant Magnets: How Movers Change the Politics of Their New Homes and the Places They Leave: The Case of Whites
Authors: Morris Irwin L.
Published: February 2021

Southern movers have both a direct and an indirect impact on the growth of Democratic attachment and support and the increase in geographic polarization within the region. Relatively young, well educated, and progressive, they have a straightforward direct political impact on the places to which they are moving and the places they have left. However, movers also influence the partisan and political orientations of their new neighbors and the neighbors they left behind. Based on “contact hypothesis” dynamics associated with their increased interaction with these progressive newcomers, long-term white residents (stayers) in high-growth areas become more progressive. Conversely, whites in the areas vacated by the young movers respond to the threat facing their declining communities with greater conservatism and an increased attachment to the Republican Party. These migratory effects—both direct and indirect (at least among whites)—undergird the political sea change occurring in present-day southern politics.
The Special Case of Retirees
Authors: Morris Irwin L.
Published: February 2021

Retirees are a distinctive group within the set of southern movers. Significantly, they tend to be older and more conservative than other movers. Mobile retirees tend to congregate in certain areas, and so they may dampen the progressive effects normally associated with population growth. Data presented in Chapter 7 demonstrates that movers of retirement age are distinctive; they are more likely identify as Democrats, and they are more liberal than retirees who age in place. Given the partisan and political leanings of mobile retirees, it is unlikely that they have a significant dampening effect on the liberalizing impact of population growth more generally.
Grand Transitions
Authors: Smil Vaclav
Published: February 2021

The modern world was created through the combination and complex interactions of five grand transitions. First, the demographic transition changed the total numbers, dynamics, structure, and residential pattern of populations. The agricultural and dietary transition led to the emergence of highly productive cropping and animal husbandry (subsidized by fossil energies and electricity), a change that eliminated famines, reduced malnutrition, and improved the health of populations but also resulted in enormous food waste and had many environmental consequences. The energy transition brought the world from traditional biomass fuels and human and animal labor to fossil fuel, ever more efficient electricity, lights, and motors, all of which transformed both agricultural and industrial production and enabled mass-scale mobility and instant communication. Economic transition has been marked by relatively high growth rates of total national and global product, by fundamental structural transformation (from farming to industries to services), and by an increasing share of humanity living in affluent societies, enjoying unprecedented quality of life. These transitions have made many intensifying demands on the environment, resulting in ecosystemic degradation, loss of biodiversity, pollution, and eventually change on the planetary level, with global warming being the most worrisome development. This book traces the genesis of these transitions, their interactions and complicated progress as well as their outcomes and impacts, explaining how the modern world was made—and then offers a forward-thinking examination of some key unfolding transitions and appraising their challenges and possible results.
Environment
Authors: Smil Vaclav
Published: February 2021

Large-scale, anthropogenic impact on the biosphere is not a new phenomenon, but the past two centuries have seen an unprecedented extent and intensity of land-use changes, ecosystemic degradation, and pollution driven by population growth, rising food production, energy use, and economic activity. Some two-thirds of terrestrial surfaces have been affected by human action, every biome lost some of its biodiversity, and some forms of environmental pollution (including photochemical smog, coastal dead zones, and plastics in the ocean) are now encountered in many places around the world. The most worrisome impact is the one that affects the entire biosphere: global climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels and from agriculture and land-use changes. Managing this challenge will be exceedingly difficult.
Replacing the Dead
Authors: Nakachi Mie
Published: February 2021

In 1955 the Soviet Union re-legalized abortion on the basis of women’s rights. However, this fact is not widely known. In the absence of a feminist movement, how did the idea of women’s right to abortion emerge in an authoritarian society, more than a decade before it appeared in the West? The answer is found in the history of the Soviet politics of reproduction after World War II, a devastation in which 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians perished. This enormous loss of predominantly adult males posed a threat to economic recovery. In order to replace the dead, the Soviet Union introduced the 1944 Family Law based on the proposal submitted by Nikita S. Khrushchev. This extreme pronatalist policy encouraged men to father out-of-wedlock children and celebrated “Mother Heroines.” However, Replacing the Dead argues that in the absence of serious commitment to supporting Soviet women who worked full-time, the policy actually did extensive collateral damage to gender relations and the welfare of women and children. Replacing the Dead finds the origin of the movement to improve women’s reproductive environment in postwar social critique arising from women and Soviet professionals. Neither Stalin nor Khrushchev allowed any major reform, but the movement did not die out. With re-legalization and lack of contraception, an abortion culture grew among Soviet women. The model of socialist reproduction continues to set socialist and postsocialist countries apart. This history is a cautionary tale for today’s Russia, as well as other countries that attempt to promote a higher birth rate.
Theosophy and Modernism
Authors: Weir David
Published: February 2021

This chapter shows that even though the esotericism of Theosophy might seem far from modernist literature, modernist icons such as William Butler Yeats, Gertrude Stein, and T. S. Eliot, among others, took inspiration from Madame Blavatsky’s writings. The chapter argues that Blavatsky’s Koot Hoomi, for example, structurally is quite similar to Nietzsche’s Zarathustra. Blavatsky’s investigations of the Vedāntic tradition are also on par with the modernist tendency to reject Christianity or, in Eliot’s case, to employ Eastern theology as a means of revivifying Western religious traditions. Modernist Orientalism has many sources, but as this chapter argues, Theosophy must be counted as one of the more pertinent of such sources, since it was through Theosophy that a number of important modernist figures first became aware of Eastern traditions. Theosophy, as this chapter shows, provided a template for the modernist re-evaluation of religious tradition—Eastern tradition, especially—as rich material for new cultural production.
The West Moves East
Authors: Rudbøg Tim
Published: February 2021

This chapter explores why the Theosophical objective “to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour” became important to the Theosophical Society. The chapter identifies and analyzes the intellectual contexts that informed the development of the idea as it entered the Theosophical Society, such as the great Enlightenment ideals of the eighteenth century, spiritualistic reform movements, and freemasonry in the nineteenth century, and argues that the idea became central to the relocation of the Theosophical headquarters from New York to India (1879–82).
Between Isolation and Assimilation
Authors: Williams Nick
Published: February 2021

The chapter introduces key debates related to the role of the diaspora in their home economies, particularly the role that they can play as returnee entrepreneurs. With increased movements of people around the world, the role of transnational economic activity is becoming ever more significant. The chapter shows that the diaspora can be caught between isolation and assimilation. They can be isolated because of their years living abroad, as well as their negative perceptions of the institutional environment at home. Yet many of them also wish to become more assimilated and have an emotional desire to help their home country. Many stay away and do not invest. Those who return later can seek to avoid the negative impact of barriers to entrepreneurship, and can for example avoid government engagement activities as they mistrust policy actors’ intentions. The chapter sets out the implications of these different types of engagement for homeland economies.
Entrepreneurship, the Diaspora, and Return
Authors: Williams Nick
Published: February 2021

Chapter 2 outlines the contemporary literature on entrepreneurship and its role in economic development. It then explicitly examines the specific role of returnee entrepreneurship and the potential impacts of returnee entrepreneurship to home countries. The chapter highlights the resurgent interest in entrepreneurship among economic theorists and the increased importance ascribed to entrepreneurship by policy makers. It also demonstrates that often research focuses on entrepreneurs within a country, region, or locality, rather than entrepreneurs who are global actors moving across international borders. Of the research on flows of entrepreneurs outside national borders, the majority of literature focuses on the impacts in host countries (i.e. the country they have emigrated to), rather than their home country (i.e. the country they have emigrated from). This chapter thus builds on this research by setting out the important potential role for returnee entrepreneurs who invest at home and have the potential to fill entrepreneurial gaps.
Bringing the Diaspora Home
Authors: Williams Nick
Published: February 2021

Chapter 4 begins by examining the policy approaches being used in B&H, Kosovo, and Montenegro to engage the diaspora, as well as providing implications for other economies. The chapter demonstrates that diaspora engagement is not always a ‘win-win’ and there are distinct challenges for policy makers in ensuring that it impacts positively on economic development. The chapter shows that mobilising the diaspora is a central strategic priority for economic development in each of the post-conflict economies. Yet strategic vision has not translated into policy practice, and as such the potential importance of the diaspora is currently underdeveloped and characterised by a lack of coordination, in part due to ongoing political fragmentation. At the same time, the fact that the diaspora’s connectivity to their homeland weakens over time means that there is a pressing need for effective, coordinated policy now. The disparate nature of provision which currently exists means that the mobilisation of diaspora investment is not being maximised. While the flow of remittances, which play a significant role in the economies of the Balkans, demonstrates that diaspora connections are in place, the spillover effect produced by the transfer of knowledge is not being adequately harnessed.
Intention to Return
Authors: Williams Nick
Published: February 2021

Chapter 5 examines the strategic responses of diaspora entrepreneurs to institutional challenges, utilising a survey of individuals returning to Kosovo. It shows that instead of engaging their in-between advantage in order to change institutions, diaspora entrepreneurs returning to post-conflict economies often seek to avoid the negative impacts of the institutional environment. This means that they will avoid political involvement, despite the efforts being made to engage them. The chapter also shows that such strategies impact the choices made by diaspora entrepreneurs, often meaning that ventures are kept small to avoid the attention of political actors. The chapter also finds that international experience acts to temper the potential for entrepreneurial activity at home, reflecting how the knowledge gained is not directly replicable at home due to unstable institutions and different business practices.
Classical Mechanics According to Newton and Hamilton
Authors: Autschbach Jochen
Published: February 2021

This chapter introduces classical mechanics, starting with the familiar definitions of position, momentum, velocity, acceleration force, kinetic, potential, and total energy. It is shown how the Newton equation of motion is solved for the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator, which is a point mass oscillating around the position x = 0 driven by a force that is proportional to x (Hooke’s law). Next, the minimal action principle, the Lagrange equation of motion, and the classical Hamilton function (Hamiltonian) and conjugated variables are introduced. The chapter also discusses angular momentum and rotational motion.
Digital Nomads
Authors: Woldoff Rachael A. , Litchfield Robert C.
Published: February 2021

Digital nomads are knowledge workers who actively seek a lifestyle of freedom, using technology to perform their work remotely, traveling far and wide, and moving as often as they like. They have left their local coffee shops behind and now proudly post their “office of the day” photos from exotic locales, but what do their lives really look like? This book takes readers into an expatriate digital nomad community in Bali, Indonesia, and presents new manifestations of classic questions about community, creativity, and the role of place in the modern human ecosystem. It explains why digital nomads leave their creative class cities behind, arguing that creative class workers, though successful, often feel that their “world class cities” and desirable jobs are anything but paradise. This book follows nomads’ work transitions into freelancing, entrepreneurship, and remote jobs. Then, it explains how digital nomads create a fluid but intimate place-based community abroad in the company of like-minded others. It shows why and how individuals blend in-person and online activity in their pursuit of community and freedom. This book provides insights into individuals’ efforts to live lives and create work identities that balance freedom, community, and creative fulfillment in the digital age, and it provides insights into a larger cultural discourse about the future of cities, work, and community.
Charity, Contemplation, and Participation in the Trinity
Authors: Van Nieuwenhove Rik
Published: February 2021

Whereas the contemplative act consists essentially in the operation of the intellect, the will and charity are also involved insofar as charity moves us to contemplation, and delight naturally accompanies it. Insofar as love moves us towards contemplation, which then ensues in delight when the intellect apprehends truth, a trinitarian dimension is implied in contemplation, that is, a participation in the generation of the Word and the procession of the Holy Spirit as Love. The chapter also considers how charity redirects our entire affectivity towards God, thereby creating a radical theocentric disposition of gratuity, which is key to the leisurely nature of contemplation.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prayer, and a ‘Sapiential’ Notion of Wisdom
Authors: Van Nieuwenhove Rik
Published: February 2021

This chapter refutes a charismatic or sapiential reading of Aquinas’s theology. This sapiential interpretation has almost become a new orthodoxy amongst scholars today. Three topics are considered. First, it examines the rather tenuous relation between theological contemplation and prayer and finds that prayer is mainly petitionary and therefore an act of the practical intellect, whereas theological contemplation relies on the theoretical intellect. Secondly, it considers in detail the evolution of Aquinas’s spirituality of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (from his Commentary on the Sentences to the Secunda Secundae), and argues that these became increasingly less central to his notion of theological contemplation (but remained utterly central to contemplation ‘broadly conceived’). Finally, it discusses the notion of so-called ‘sapiential theology’ itself and demonstrates that Aquinas was altogether rather sceptical of ‘sapiential’ (as sapida) notions of wisdom.
Happiness and the Vision of God
Authors: Van Nieuwenhove Rik
Published: February 2021

After an outline of the views on happiness of Aristotle and some of Aquinas’s immediate predecessors his theology of human fulfilment is outlined. Aquinas rejects both Albert’s view that philosophical contemplation on earth could possibly constitute real happiness and Bonaventure’s more affective notion of prayerful, meditative union with God. Some scholars have pointed to the tension between Aquinas’s accounts of knowing on earth and the vision of God in the afterlife. The former hinges on an Aristotelian empirical stance; the latter appears more illuminist, if not Averroist (in terms of the divine intellect becoming united with the human intellect). This chapter argues that the intuitus simplex (the climax of our intellectual contemplation on earth) resembles, and points towards, the intuitive, non-discursive beatific vision of God. This means that the acme of our mode of knowing on earth, i.e. the moment of intellective insight, has an eschatological dimension. It is one more instance of grace perfecting nature.
Conclusion
Authors: Golemon Larry Abbott
Published: February 2021

The conclusion argues that the historic preparation of the clergy for public engagement diminished significantly with the realignment of theological education with the modern university. Shifting from a liberal arts paradigm to a university model of specialization (academically and professionally) had the effects of (1) narrowing engagement with the social arenas of culture building, (2) shifting the nature of religious charisma and authority, (3) circumscribing the place and function of public oratory, (4) reshaping theology in relation to a generalized ideal of science, (5) developing new theologies that begin to marginalize confessional and ritual traditions, and (6) leading to the growing divide in the curriculum between the “pure research” of the German model verses the vocational pragmatism of the American approach. The book concludes with “best practices” from earlier clergy education that have much to offer contemporary reforms.
Crossing Lines
Authors: Reilly James
Published: February 2021

This chapter exemplifies both the strengths and shortcomings of Beijing’s orchestration approach. It begins by describing how Yunnan province officials utilized Beijing’s support for expanding economic ties in ways that exacerbated the pernicious effects of gambling, logging, and illicit mining in Myanmar’s loosely governed border regions. The second case covers a policy initiative designed to advance multiple interests at modest cost: China’s opium substitution program. The initiative succeeded economically, as Chinese firms earned profits while securing a foothold in Myanmar’s agricultural sector. Yet it failed to stem opium production, instead exacerbating popular distrust of China and feeding instability across the border region. The final case reveals similar problems with several controversial Chinese infrastructure projects in Myanmar. Overall, moral hazard problems, policy stretching, and enterprise malfeasance all proved far more severe in Myanmar than in North Korea or Europe. I conclude by evaluating Beijing’s responses to these challenges.
Conclusion
Authors: Reilly James
Published: February 2021

This book shows that Chinese leaders are able to effectively orchestrate their economic statecraft. China’s distinctive approach originates with domestic ideas and institutions. Across four cases, China’s orchestration combined delegation with incentives, attracted participation by regional authorities and enterprises, and facilitated interest alignment among implementing actors. Beijing thus successfully mobilized domestic actors to expand trade and investment. When problems with enterprise malfeasance, policy stretching, and moral hazards emerged, central leaders proved capable of reversing course. After reiterating these core findings, this chapter explains how Beijing’s economic statecraft exacerbated populist anxieties, undermining key policy objectives. For countries targeted by China’s economic statecraft, the policy implications are broadly reassuring. It concludes by comparing China’s approach with the United States, Germany, and Japan, and suggesting several paths forward for future studies in comparative economic statecraft.
Introduction
Authors: Gent Stephen E. , Crescenzi Mark J. C.
Published: February 2021

This introductory chapter provides an overview of this study of market power politics. Two main puzzles drive this research. First, why do some states continue to pursue policies of territorial expansion in the face of widely accepted norms of territorial integrity and increased interconnectedness in the global economy? Second, why do these states sometimes turn to strategic delay and gray zone tactics, rather than war or institutional settlements, to achieve their expansionist goals? To answer these puzzles, the chapter introduces a theory of market power politics. According to this theory, the desire to gain market power motivates states to expand their territorial reach, while the presence of economic interdependence and international instructions can constrain states from taking aggressive steps in pursuit of these goals. After discussing some contributions of the research project, the chapter concludes with an outline of the book.
Markets, Institutions, and Property Rights Disputes
Authors: Gent Stephen E. , Crescenzi Mark J. C.
Published: February 2021

This chapter describes how politics normally functions in the global economy. In normal economic exchange environments, prices are set by supply and demand conditions in the market. Without an ability to affect prices, political actors largely focus their efforts on coordinating or manipulating the effects of the market price. To promote efficiency in the global political economy, states have created a variety of institutions that promote coordination and cooperation through the reduction of transaction costs and the creation and maintenance of property rights. At the global level, territorial borders and maritime boundaries delineate international property rights among states. When disagreements over the sovereign control of territorial and maritime resources arise, international institutions can provide an effective mechanism for resolving these property rights disputes.
Role Models
Authors: Autesserre Séverine
Published: February 2021

Chapter Two describes the work of the Life & Peace Institute, a Swedish peacebuilding agency that has been particularly successful in resolving conflicts in Congo. It tells the stories of the individuals behind this non-governmental organization, introducing a vivid cast of characters. It recounts the challenges they faced, the mistakes they made, and the innovative approach they found to address grassroots tensions. The Life & Peace Institute empowers local people to develop their own analyses of ongoing conflicts, and devise and implement solutions. Its effective work on the Rasta armed group and the herder-farmer conflict in the Congolese province of South Kivu shows concrete ways in which foreigners are already helping residents build peace. All in all, the Life & Peace Institute provides a model for international action—a bottom-up alternative to the usual top-down approach, and a better way for foreigners to help confront violence in war zones.
Designed Intervention
Authors: Autesserre Séverine
Published: February 2021

Chapter Four further explores the limitations of “Peace, Inc.”: the traditional way to end wars. United Nations peacekeepers, foreign diplomats, and the staff of many non-governmental organizations involved in conflict resolution share a specific way of seeing the world. They often assume that the only path to peace is through working with governments and national elites and mediating formal agreements between world leaders. As a result, most international aid agencies use a top-down strategy of intervention, ignoring the crucial role of local tensions in fueling violence. Foreign peacebuilders also regularly rely on other widely held beliefs, such as the notion that education, elections, and statebuilding always promote peace. Anecdotes from places as varied as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Timor-Leste, along with a detailed story of the massive international efforts in Congo, highlight the possibility for devastating consequences while explaining why these detrimental assumptions and this flawed intervention strategy nevertheless persist.
The Cherished Five in Sikh History
Authors: Fenech Louis E.
Published: February 2021

For Sikhs, the two most important delimited groups in the tradition are the Ten Sikh Gurus and the Cherished Five (the Panj Piare). Although there are many scholarly works on the first, the second has none to date. The Cherished Five were five disciples brought together by Guru Gobind Singh to form the nucleus of the Sikh Khalsa in 1699, or so tradition claims. The story of the Five’s origin resounds with the most important values of the Sikh tradition: courage, selflessness, love, benevolence, compassion, and trust in the divine; its importance is underscored by the fact that the institution of the Cherished Five is recreated daily as it plays an essential role in the Sikh ritual universe, ushering new initiates into the Khalsa and casting out those who have violated Khalsa precepts. This text provides the first sustained study of the Five by tracing the history and the evolution of this institution from its origin in the later eighteenth century until today. In the process, it challenges much of the traditional narratives and accepted wisdom in regard to the Panj Piare, revolving in part around three elements with which the institution is regularly aligned in early manuscripts: caste, karma, and place.
Introduction
Authors: Fenech Louis E.
Published: February 2021

This chapter introduces readers to the Sikh institution of the Cherished Five and their role in Sikh ritual and tradition today. It also relays the normative versions of the origin story of the Cherished Five and introduces the meagre amount of scholarship that exists on this important organization. After this, the chapter provides a lengthy interlude on the traditional history of the late seventeenth-century Sikh community that re-examines the formation of the Khalsa, the martial order of which the Cherished Five is the most basic component. It does this in the light of both the latest scholarship in Sikh and South Asian history and in Mughal studies.
The Previous Lives of the Precious Five
Authors: Fenech Louis E.
Published: February 2021

This chapter focuses specifically on the karmic component of the earliest narratives of the Cherished Five. In these narratives, all five Sikh volunteers are claimed to be incarnations of previous Hindu saints or semi-divinized beings. This alignment, however, falls out of fashion in the early nineteenth century, although it still continues in the rare text. Through an examination of the mid- to late-eighteenth-century context in which Sikhs found themselves, this chapter examines why this connection was initially made and suggests reasons for why it ultimately fizzled as British power was beginning to be felt within the Punjab.
The Five Beloved in Mid- to Late-Eighteenth-Century Gur-Bilās Literature
Authors: Fenech Louis E.
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines the Panj Piare narrative story in two separate texts, one from the middle of the eighteenth century, the Gur-bilas Patshahi Dasvin of Koer Singh, and the similarly titled text attributed to Sukkha Singh, which was finalized at the end of that century. In the process of doing so, it also weighs in on one of the more contentious issues regarding these texts: their dates.
Technology Choices
Authors: Drahos Peter
Published: February 2021

States have an ever-increasing basket of technologies to choose from when it comes to renewable energy. After the OPEC oil crisis, states funded research in renewable energy sources, but this fell away as the crisis passed. State funding of research remains a vital component of creating a rich basket of renewable technology options. The more technology options, the better, as one can cover the risks of the other. Open science is vital to the diffusion of technology options. Large-scale hydropower may be a fragile source of power in a drought-stricken world. The commercial secrecy of nuclear power providers is one of the key reasons the technology will remain expensive.
“Winners” and “Losers” in Hotter Worlds
Authors: Drahos Peter
Published: February 2021

The oil and gas industry remains an innovative industry, constantly improving its access to resources and attracting investors. States have sent mixed and dissembling signals about their preparedness to act swiftly in the face of a climate emergency, which has enabled Saudi Arabia to slow down climate action. The global oil and gas industry is more confident than might be expected about its future. Of the large fossil fuel producers in the world, the most potent resistance to rapid action on climate change comes from the United States. Smaller oil states such as Norway also play an important role in slowing action on climate change. China with its large cities offers the best hope for radical and swift action on addressing climate policy.
Preregistration, Data Sharing, and Other Salutary Behaviors
Authors: Bausell R. Barker
Published: February 2021

The most powerful and relatively painless strategies for improving the reproducibility of scientific research involve the preregistration of all proposed empirical research efforts in publicly accessible registries (accompanied by any procedural changes accruing prior to or during study conduct), the availability of research materials and data accruing from said research efforts (also publically registered), and the evaluation of these by an outside party comparing the preregistration document with the final research report prior to publication. The US preregistration movement was boosted approximately two decades ago by federal legislation requiring the preregistration of all government-funded clinical trials. Since then significant progress has been observed in other, nonmedical disciplines although the results are disappointing when preregistered protocols are compared directly to their published counterparts. Data registration and its codes have also increasingly become a publication requirement for many journals, although compliance remains imperfect. Some progress has been made in all of these arenas, bolstered by initiatives such as the use of “badges” accompanying published articles whose authors certify the availability of appropriately preregistered protocols and the willingness to share all accruing study data plus any pertinent materials that may be required for direct replications.
A (Very) Few Concluding Thoughts
Authors: Bausell R. Barker
Published: February 2021

In this chapter, educational recommendations for future scientists are suggested followed by possible scenarios that may characterize the future of the reproducibility initiatives discussed in previous chapters. One such scenario, while quite pessimistic, is not without historical precedent. Namely, that the entire movement may turn out to be little more than a publishing opportunity for methodologically oriented scientists—soon replaced by something else and forgotten by most—thereby allowing it to be reprised a few decades later under a different name by different academics. Alternately, and more optimistically, the procedural and statistical behaviors discussed here will receive an increased emphasis in the scientific curricula accompanied by a sea change in actual scientific practice and its culture—thereby producing a substantial reduction in the prevalence of avoidable false-positive scientific results. And indeed recent evidence does appear to suggest that the reproducibility initiatives instituted by the dedicated cadre of methodologically oriented scientists chronicled in this book have indeed begun the process of making substantive improvements in the quality and veracity of scientific inquiry itself.
Evolution of the Central Actors in the Governance Network
Authors: Pugh Jeffrey D.
Published: February 2021

Chapter 5 takes a closer look at three of the most important sets of actors involved at a national level in defining the agenda for migrant integration in Ecuador: the Ecuadorian state (especially the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Plan Ecuador), the United Nations system (especially UNHCR and UNDP) in Ecuador, and the Catholic Church. By tracing the institutional development and interaction of these three sets of organizations, the chapter seeks to understand how the differing political incentives and institutional missions and structures of each component of the migration governance network have impeded or promoted human security and peacebuilding. The chapter identifies trust, mission, capacity, and transnational linkages as key factors influencing outcomes. Recognizing the importance of change over time, the chapter traces three distinct phases within the time frame of 2000–2017: Absence, Coordination, and Regression.
Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic
Authors: Skowronek Stephen , Dearborn John A. , King Desmond
Published: February 2021

As the nation’s chief executive, Donald Trump pitted himself repeatedly against the institutions and personnel of the executive branch. In the process, two once-obscure concepts came center stage in an eerie face-off. On one side was the specter of a “Deep State” conspiracy – administrators threatening to thwart the will of the people and undercut the constitutional authority of the president they elected to lead them. On the other side was a raw personalization of presidential power, one that a theory of “the unitary executive” gussied up and allowed to run roughshod over reason and the rule of law. The Deep State and the unitary executive framed every major contest of the Trump presidency. Like phantom twins, they drew each other out and wrestled to light basic issues of governance long suppressed. Though this conflict reached a fever pitch during the Trump presidency, it is not new. Stephen Skowronek, John A. Dearborn, and Desmond King trace the tensions between presidential power and the depth of the American state back through the decades and forward through the various settlements arrived at in previous eras. Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic is about the breakdown of settlements and the abiding vulnerabilities of a Constitution that gave scant attention to administrative power. Rather than simply dump on Trump, the authors provide a richly historical perspective on the conflicts that rocked his presidency, and they explain why, if left untamed, the phantom twins will continue to pull American government apart.