bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Potential Impact of the Distributed Ledger Technology on OTC Derivatives Markets
Authors: Priem Randy
Published: June 2024

This chapter highlights the potential impact of the distributed ledger technology (DLT) on over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets. The chapter first explains in detail how DLT and/or blockchains work. DLT refers to the novel approach to record and share transactions and/or data across multiple participants in a decentralized way. A blockchain, where data is stored in blocks chained together in a chronological sequence, can then be considered as a particular kind of DLT, albeit the terms ‘blockchain’ and ‘DLT’ are often utilized interchangeably. DLT has received extensive consideration over the past decade from market participants, financial market infrastructures, and regulators. The chapter then documents the current trading life cycle before discussing how DLT could make the existing life cycle more efficient. It will focus not only on the potential advantages of DLT but also on new risks to which this technology might give rise. The chapter ends with regulatory evolutions.
The Role of International Financial Fora in Preserving Global Financial Stability Amidst the Pandemic Crisis
Authors: Gortsos Christos V
Published: June 2024

This chapter analyses the role of international financial fora in preserving global financial stability during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It acknowledges that crisis as an extraordinary challenge in living memory following the severity of its impact across the globe. Despite the pandemic-induced March 2020 market turmoil, the global financial system remained stable, and markets kept functioning. However, threats to international financial stability are apparent and not to be underestimated since the pandemic may yet test the resilience of the global financial system. The chapter elaborates on the work of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). It clarifies that the timing of a full return to new normality and the conditions in the real sector of the economy will determine whether the global financial system will remain as robust as before.
The Response of Central Banks to the COVID-19 Crisis
Authors: Branch Sonya
Published: June 2024

This chapter showcases analyses the legal aspects of the Bank of England’s policy measures in line with the response of central banks to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The Bank acted moved quickly, utilising tools developed in the wake of the by enabling post-global financial crisis (GFC) tools to stabilize the financial system and the wider UK economy. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) made two cuts to the bank rate and expanded its program of quantitative easing (QE) via gilt and corporate bond purchases. Moreover, the bank Bank used monetary and regulatory tools in a manner, independent of, but consistent with, government action, facilitating lending through the banking system and by lending directly to corporates from central bank reserves to stabilize the cost of finance. The chapter also mentions how the bank Bank continued supporting monetary and financial stability through the Brexit process.
Payment in Virtual Currency
Authors: Geva Benjamin
Published: June 2024

This chapter considers legal issues of paying with virtual currency. It explores the present monetary system and the emergence of digital currencies. It addresses virtual currencies in the broader context of private currencies and highlights the difference between a self-anchored virtual coin whose value tends to fluctuate and a stablecoin. Addressing control and its transfer as functional equivalent of possession and delivery the chapter assesses that virtual currencies do not pose a significant concern to designers and executors of monetary and payment systems. The chapter concludes arguing that virtual currencies should be addressed as part of broader legislation governing digital (or virtual) assets. Outlawing their monetary use as a response to their inherent risks is rejected in favour of regulation as part of a broader legislation governing digital (or virtual) assets
Regulation of Cryptoassets
Authors: Follak Klaus Peter
Published: June 2024

This chapter discusses the EU and European Economic Area (EEA) perspectives on the regulation of crypto assets. It highlights how developments in the crypto assets industry will have an immense potential for innovation and efficiency gains in the financial sector. Since crypto assets and tokenization might revolutionize the financial industry, the EU crypto asset regulation is treated as an integral part of the Commission’s digital finance strategy. Moreover, the EU expects the crypto asset sector to provide a significant contribution to addressing the economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. The chapter covers the formal Trilogue procedures with the Parliament and the Commission to finalize the legislative process over crypto assets.
Digitalization and Sustainability
Authors: Kanda Hideki
Published: June 2024

This chapter examines the Japanese perspective on the implications of digitalization and sustainability in financial law. It highlights the importance of enforcement as it necessarily affects the convergence or divergence of substantive legal rules. Additionally, global investors often vote against the management of financial institutions that extend loans to firms that do not consider sustainability seriously. The chapter then raises the argument of digitalization offering a new tool for process change for promoting sustainability goals. It also explains that paper-based processes changing to a process of electronic records may trigger the necessity of new legal rules that concern data security.
Supervisory Lessons from Bank Failures in Uganda
Authors: Mugasha Agasha
Published: June 2024

This chapter analyses bank failures in Uganda as an illustration of a wider trend in Africa. It utilises the two case studies of the defunct Greenland Bank Ltd and Crane Bank Ltd to submit that the headline reasons for the bank failures; namely insolvency or undercapitalisation and imprudent practices, were symptoms of some more fundamental reasons about weak corporate governance in the banks and weak supervision by the central bank. The chapter notes that while the central bank mandates have progressively broadened beyond monetary policy, there has not been a commensurate increase in the capacity for and focus on the supervision of the conduct of business by the banks and, yet that has been a key factor in the bank failures.
Licences and Impossibility
Authors: Bridge Michael
Published: June 2024

This chapter deals with two subjects, the provision of licences for export and import and the discharge of contracts for impossibility or because of the operation of a force majeure clause in the contract. In the case of licences, the identity of the applicant and the nature of the duty (strict or due diligence) to apply are discussed. The point is made that force majeure and prohibition clauses play a much more important role than common law doctrines of impossibility and frustration. There is a discussion of the problems associated with the Mississippi floods of 1973 and, finally, of illegality in relation to the place of performance.
Remedies
Authors: Bridge Michael
Published: June 2024

This chapter deals with the grounds on which a contract may be terminated for breach and with damages. It deals with the rules governing the loss of the right to terminate by means of acceptance of the goods (as well as by means of waiver/election) and it stresses the existence in CIF contracts of dual rights of rejection of non-conforming documents and non-conforming goods, and the interplay between them. Statutory and common law damages rules are discussed, particularly the market rule of damages assessment, applied for example in the case of sub-sales. Common contractual provisions are also examined, namely, default, circle, and insolvency clauses. Finally, a particular problem concerning concealment of the right to reject goods by false documents is discussed.
The Place of the Convention in Current Practice in the United States
Authors: Brand Ronald A , Coffee Michael S , Herrup Paul
Published: June 2024

This chapter looks into the current practice in the United States. Courts in the United States have been receptive to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments for over a century. The basis for and contours of the practice has evolved since the US Supreme Court decided the case of Hilton v Guyot in 1895. However, litigants in the United States have not had a reliable expectation that the judgments they obtain in a court in the United States will be recognized or enforced by a foreign court. The chapter cites that the US government needs to decide how to properly implement the Convention domestically. It discusses the external issues of implementation, citing the implementation process that might be sought in a foreign court.
The Main Prohibited Elements in Contract
Authors: Oseni Umar A
Published: June 2024

This chapter covers the main prohibited elements in a contract. The premise of Islamic contract law's general philosophy revolves around consent and mutual satisfaction while two or more contracting parties intend to establish a legal relationship. The general philosophy is often reflected as consensus ad idem, which emphasizes party autonomy or freedom in concluding any contract. The chapter then examines ribā and gharar as the major prohibited elements in contracts through theoretical and practical perspectives and references from case laws and insights on commercial contracts. It also covers other prohibited elements in the contract, such as dealing in illegal commodities as the subject matter of contracts, gambling, fraud, deception, coercion, usurpation, hoarding, and illegal profiteering.
Contractual Terms
Authors: Ercanbrack Jonathan G
Published: June 2024

This chapter cites how contractual terms in Islamic law are governed by detailed rules, prohibitions, and exceptions. Schools of law have developed the rights or options (khiyārāt) as contractual terms to ensure parties’ consent to the contract. A right of options provides the option holder with a unilateral choice to void (faskh) or conclude (imḍā’) a contract, which underscores Islamic law’s interest in safeguarding the consent of the parties to the contract. The chapter then explains that shurūṭ (conditions or stipulations) are the product of extrinsically produced stipulations that parties seek to include in their contract. It clarifies that conditions in the common law legal system refer to the classification of contractual terms as those fundamental terms which go to the root of the contract.
Unilateral Contracts
Authors: Bantekas Ilias
Published: June 2024

This chapter discusses the leading instances of unilateral contracts, which range between promise, gift, loan, will, and endowment. It explains how contracts are classified based on an individual’s ability to undertake the underlying obligations independently. According to Al Zarakhsi, unilateral contracts typically do not require the conduct to be accepted by another party. Moreover, unilateral contracts are also known as ʿuqūd tabarruʿāt (gratuitous contracts) because they are concluded without consideration. The Islamic legal theory sets out necessary conditions, such as the quality of the offer, the contracting parties, and the subject matter of the unilateral contract, in an effort to determine the validity of a unilateral contract.
Introduction
Authors: Drake David
Published: June 2024

This chapter provides a background on the interplay between sources, remedies, and minority shareholder rights. It emphasizes the understanding of minority shareholder rights that depends both on an understanding of the remedies that give reality to those rights and on an understanding of the sources from which the rights are said to arise. The chapter reviews the content of the sources of rights that differ from company to company, such as the articles of association that set out express terms as to the way the affairs of that company are to be conducted. It covers other sources for general application, such as the statutory provisions and the common law and equitable principles governing the exercise of directors’ powers. It also explores how the substantive law and procedural law regarding minority shareholders are inextricably bound together.
Arbitration in Singapore
Authors: Tan Paul , Goh Nelson , Lim Jonathan
Published: June 2024

This chapter introduces the history and significance of international arbitration in Singapore as a form of alternative dispute resolution. It begins by providing an overview of international arbitration, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using commercial arbitration over other modes of dispute resolution. It also provides an overview of the legislative framework for international arbitration in Singapore alongside its salient characteristics, including Singapore’s pro-arbitration approach. Finally, it discusses the future of international arbitration in Singapore, including the recent establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court in 2015 and the rise in investment arbitration disputes heard before the Singapore courts.
Powers of the Arbitral Tribunal
Authors: Tan Paul , Goh Nelson , Lim Jonathan
Published: June 2024

This chapter details the powers of the arbitral tribunal while considering Section 12 of the IAA. Section 12 establishes the express powers of arbitral tribunals to fashion the necessary orders for a fair and efficient process. This chapter examines the various types of interim orders that an arbitral tribunal may grant, such as for security for costs; discovery of documents and interrogatories; preservation, custody, or sale of property; an order for security for claim; and the tribunal’s power to adopt an inquisitorial process. It also addresses issues such as the scope of relief; the law governing applications for such interim orders; interest; and the enforceability of an arbitral tribunal’s interim orders.
Creation and Validity of Intellectual Property Rights: Jurisdiction
Authors: Torremans Paul L C
Published: June 2024

This chapter explores the jurisdiction of the creation and validity of intellectual property rights. It clarifies that the creation of some intellectual property rights needs the successful completion of a registration procedure. Moreover, the creation issue is closely interrelated to the scope of the intellectual property right since the right’s content is determined by the outcome of the creation process. The chapter details the application of the traditional English common law rules and the provisions of the Brussels I Regulation and Lugano Convention. It also looks into the problem of parallel validity proceedings in the English Patents Court and before the European Patent Office.
Infringement, the Internet, and Broadcasting: Jurisdiction
Authors: Torremans Paul L C
Published: June 2024

This chapter expounds on the jurisdiction around infringement, the internet, and broadcasting. It shows how the internet is essentially a network of computers and servers that crosses borders, which then guarantees the issues of private international law. The patents underpinning the technology have attracted much more interest than the infringement of copyright and trade marks through the actions of the users of the telephone service. Thus, copyright works and trade marks play a vital role in the business model of virtual shops. The chapter highlights how intellectual property is easily exploited, used, and infringed on a cross-border and regular basis, referencing the rapid development of AI.
Asymmetric Jurisdiction Clauses
Authors: Marshall Brooke
Published: June 2024

This book examines the law, theory, and practice relating to the enforceability, effects, and use of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses in international commercial contracts. The focus is on EU law, as applied by German and French courts, the English common law and the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention. Widespread in international contracts, asymmetric jurisdiction clauses allow one party to choose the forum for litigation after a dispute arises. The most common type requires one party to sue in a jurisdiction, named in the clause, but allows the other party to choose whether to sue there in addition to, or instead of, elsewhere. For almost a decade, the enforceability and effects of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses have been uncertain. As to enforceability, uncertainty lurks principally in seven competing decisions of France’s highest court, ostensibly on application of EU law. Uncertainty as to their effects has multiple causes: one, a suite of material changes to the EU’s Brussels I Recast Regulation, and its interpretation by English and German appellate courts; another, a number of obiter comments, by English judges, as to whether the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention on ‘exclusive’ jurisdiction clauses applies to asymmetric ones. Overlaying a number of these issues is how fundamental rights may intervene. This book aims to clarify the current law on asymmetric jurisdiction clauses. It also seeks to prompt practitioners and scholars to reflect carefully on how an asymmetric clause is used, and how both the clause and the law could be better designed.
Jurisdiction and types of jurisdiction by agreement
Authors: Marshall Brooke
Published: June 2024

This Chapter introduces exclusive, non-exclusive, and asymmetric jurisdiction clauses from an EU law and a common law perspective. It demonstrates that each type of jurisdiction clause represents a different response to uncertainties that prevail at the time of contracting. Building on that differentiation, it examines the various factors informing parties’ preferences for an exclusive, non-exclusive, or asymmetric clause. In particular, it scrutinizes the oft-made claim that option holders need the flexibility that an asymmetric clause affords them, in order to manage their substantive risk under the contract. The results of a previously unpublished empirical study on the use of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses in financial markets, together with French, German and English case law, are analysed to illuminate how, how often, and in which kinds of contracts asymmetric jurisdiction clauses are used. This analysis draws on documents from key industry associations, including the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Loan Market Association, and International Chamber of Commerce.
Enforceability of asymmetric jurisdiction clauses before EU Member State courts
Authors: Marshall Brooke
Published: June 2024

Chapter number and title: Chapter 6: Enforceability of asymmetric jurisdiction agreements before EU Member State courts The core question addressed by this Chapter is whether different variants of asymmetric clauses, before EU Member State courts, cohere with the individual ‘requirements’ for enforceability, imposed by the Brussels I Recast Regulation and 2007 Lugano Convention, one of which the French Cour de cassation has repeatedly found them to infringe. Those requirements include precision of content (as per Coreck Maritime GmbH v Handelsveem BV), form and factual consensus, and substantive validity. The relevance to the latter of norms of national law including mandatory rules and public policy, standard contract terms review, article 1304-2 of the French Code civil (clauses subject to a potestative condition) and L. 442-1 I—2 of the Code de commerce (subjecting a trading partner to a significant imbalance) are examined. A subsidiary question concerns the extent to which abuse of rights doctrines, with their source in EU law and national law, affect asymmetric clauses governed by the Recast or 2007 Lugano Convention.
Jurisdictional Immunities and Foreign Acts of State
Authors: Grušić Uglješa
Published: June 2024

Chapter 3 deals with certain issues that are raised by tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority in cooperation with other states or under the auspices of international organizations. It covers the nature and operation of the foreign act of state doctrine. It also shows that the first and second rules of the foreign act of state doctrine preclude the adjudication of certain issues under the foreign applicable law by limiting the subject-matter jurisdiction of English courts. The chapter explains that the third rule of the foreign act of state doctrine allows English courts not to exercise subject-matter jurisdiction and to take into account a range of factors for this purpose. It highlights the application of jurisdictional immunities to foreign states and international organizations.
Pleading and Proof of Foreign Law
Authors: Grušić Uglješa
Published: June 2024

Chapter 9 demonstrates that pleading and proof of foreign law is not generally mandatory for tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority. It reviews the application of English law to tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority that is supported by a reading of the Court of Appeal judgment in Belhaj. It also shows that pleading and proof of foreign law is not generally mandatory for tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority. The chapter argues that the effect of Brownlie on tortious claims arising out of the external exercise of British executive authority has been that pleading and proof of foreign law is not generally mandatory for such claims. It points out that Belhaj is of dubious authority following Brownlie, although the outcome of Belhaj was correct.
Copyright and the Court of Justice of the European Union
Authors: Rosati Eleonora
Published: June 2024

First released in early 2019, Copyright and the Court of Justice of the European Union is still the only book completely devoted to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the EU copyright field. It seeks to understand the Court’s role and action in the area of copyright and the resulting legacy. In his foreword to the first edition, First Advocate General Maciej Szpunar praised the ‘extremely profound analysis … of EU copyright protection and relevant Court of Justice decisions’ finding that it constituted ‘uncharted territory, unveiling new information, perhaps never considered, even by members of the Court’. Between the first and the present edition, a lot has happened in the EU copyright field. Besides macro-events like the now completed departure of the UK from the EU and the adoption of the DSM Directive (2019/790), significant developments have also occurred in the case law of the CJEU. Among other things, seminal judgments have been issued, which touch upon all the main foundational aspects of EU copyright. This new edition is thus the result of a work of substantial revision. It provides novel insights into the activity of the CJEU in the copyright field and reflects on the resulting implications for the present and future of EU copyright.
EU copyright harmonization and CJEU role and action
Authors: Rosati Eleonora
Published: June 2024

Chapter 1 starts with an overview of the history and process of EU harmonization in the copyright field. It then explains the structure, composition, and work of the Court, as well as the mechanism—references for a preliminary ruling—through which the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has mostly been asked to consider copyright legislation. It provides data on selected aspects of CJEU activity, including having regard to: the areas in which cases have been referred to the Court; Member States of referring courts; intervention of EU Member States; and Judges-Rapporteur and Advocates General (AGs) who have worked on copyright cases. It concludes with a statistical analysis that shows a tendency on the side of the Court to agree with the relevant AGs when these promote expansive interpretations of relevant copyright provisions. By ‘expansive’ it is meant a situation in which the Court concluded that the activities at issue in the background proceedings and as described by the referring courts would fall within the scope of application of copyright’s exclusive rights.
Conclusion—Copyright and the CJEU: Role, action, legacy
Authors: Rosati Eleonora
Published: June 2024

The Conclusion sums up the main themes identified and reviewed throughout the book. First of all, despite the lack of formal specialization within the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a copyright expertise has emerged through the selection of relevant Judges-Rapporteur and Advocates General (AGs) from a narrow pool. This has been one factor that has contributed to developing a consistent body of case law. Second, over time the CJEU has employed several standards that have served to address copyright issues from a certain perspective, and—admittedly—also to achieve certain results. With the application of such a rich set of standards, the Court has given an overall coherent shape to EU copyright law and, in significant instances, pushed the boundaries of EU harmonization well beyond the text—and arguably intention—of EU legislation. In this sense, the Court’s action has been informed by an overarching internal market goal. The result has been a profound impact of CJEU case law on individual EU Member States, to the point that it seems possible to speak of an EU approach to copyright. As the experience of the UK, even post-Brexit, demonstrates, CJEU case law has contributed to re-shaping key copyright concepts and approaches to copyright protection. The impact of this case law is still very strong and will continue to be felt. The legacy of CJEU case law is also apparent in the context of the EU copyright reform debate, including having regard to the DSM Directive.
Advancing precision prognostication in neuro-oncology: Machine learning models for data-driven personalized survival predictions in IDH-wildtype glioblastoma
Authors: Karabacak Mert , Jagtiani Pemla , Di Long , Shah Ashish H , Komotar Ricardo J , Margetis Konstantinos
Published: June 2024

Background

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains associated with a dismal prognoses despite standard therapies. While population-level survival statistics are established, generating individualized prognosis remains challenging. We aim to develop machine learning (ML) models that generate personalized survival predictions for GBM patients to enhance prognostication.

Methods

Adult patients with histologically confirmed IDH-wildtype GBM from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) were analyzed. ML models were developed with TabPFN, TabNet, XGBoost, LightGBM, and Random Forest algorithms to predict mortality at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postdiagnosis. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were employed to enhance the interpretability of the models. Models were primarily evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) values, and the top-performing models indicated by the highest AUROCs for each outcome were deployed in a web application that was created for individualized predictions.

Results

A total of 7537 patients were retrieved from the NCDB. Performance evaluation revealed the top-performing models for each outcome were built using the TabPFN algorithm. The TabPFN models yielded mean AUROCs of 0.836, 0.78, 0.732, and 0.724 in predicting 6, 12, 18, and 24 month mortality, respectively.

Conclusions

This study establishes ML models tailored to individual patients to enhance GBM prognostication. Future work should focus on external validation and dynamic updating as new data emerge.
Factors associated with approaching Pilot Peer Support: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Bråstad B , Jonsäll-Harris R , Melin M , Folke F
Published: June 2024

Background

Pilot Peer Support Programs (PPSP) have been introduced in Europe as a measure to facilitate commercial pilots’ mental health help-seeking in a confidential and non-punitive manner. However, research is scarce regarding what promotes and prevents pilots from approaching PPSP.

Aims

To investigate if, and in which way, different organizational and individual factors are associated with pilots’ attitudes towards approaching PPSP, and to examine the prevalence of possible cases of depression and anxiety disorders among commercial pilots in Europe.

Methods

Data were collected using an anonymous web-based survey (n = 4494), covering pilots’ work conditions, health and flight safety. Logistic regression was used to determine the impact of objective and psychosocial work environment factors, mental health factors, and demographic factors.

Results

Key findings were that just culture (odds ratio [OR] = 2.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.97, 3.56), type of employment (OR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.46, 0.78), minimum guaranteed pay (OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.48, 2.65), and symptoms of depression (OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.50, 0.76) and anxiety (OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.54, 0.80) significantly predicted pilots’ attitude towards approaching PPSP. The prevalence of pilots scoring above threshold for possible depression (18%) and anxiety disorders (23%) were determined.

Conclusions

Pilot Peer Support in its current form appears to be an insufficient means to facilitate pilots’ mental health help-seeking, but could have an important preventive purpose. The findings could assist authorities and operators in developing measures to facilitate pilots’ help-seeking, and improve mental health and flight safety.
Despite short-lived changes, COVID-19 pandemic had minimal large-scale impact on citizen science participation in India
Authors: Thrikkadeeri Karthik , Viswanathan Ashwin
Published: June 2024

Many parts of the world lack the large and coordinated volunteer networks required for systematic monitoring of bird populations. In these regions, citizen science (CS) programs offer an alternative with their semi-structured data, but the utility of these data are contingent on how, where, and how comparably birdwatchers watch birds, year on year. Trends inferred from the data can be confounded during years when birdwatchers may behave differently, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to ascertain how the data uploaded from India to one such CS platform, eBird, were impacted by this deadly global pandemic. To understand whether eBird data from the pandemic years in India are comparable to data from adjacent years, we explored several characteristics of the data, such as how often people watched birds in groups or at public locations, at multiple spatial and temporal scales. We found that the volume of data generated increased during the pandemic years 2020–2021 compared to 2019. Data characteristics changed largely only during the peak pandemic months (April–May 2020 and April–May 2021) associated with high fatality rates and strict lockdowns. These changes in data characteristics (e.g., greater site fidelity and less group birding) were possibly due to the decreased human mobility and social interaction in these periods. The data from the remainder of these restrictive years remained similar to those of the adjacent years, thereby reducing the impact of the aberrant peak months on any annual inference. Our findings show that birdwatchers in India as contributors to CS rapidly returned to their pre-pandemic behavior, and that the effects of the pandemic on birdwatching effort and birdwatcher behavior are scale- and context-dependent. In summary, eBird data from the pandemic years in India remain useful for abundance trend estimation and similar large-scale applications, but will benefit from preliminary data quality checks when utilized at a fine scale.
Perceived injustice and pain-related outcomes in children with pain conditions: A systematic review
Authors: Alpdogan Naz Y , Miller Megan M , Benallal Larbi , Royer Marie-Pier , Carrière Junie S
Published: June 2024

Objective

Research indicates that perceived injustice significantly influences pain-related outcomes and is associated with delayed recovery in adults. This systematic review examines the relationship between perceived injustice and pain-related outcomes in children with pain conditions.

Methods

A search of published studies in English in PubMed, PsychInfo, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from database inception through December 2022 were performed. The search criteria focused on studies that measured perceived injustice and pain-related outcomes in children with pain conditions. Out of 56 articles screened, 8 met the inclusion criteria, providing data on 1240 children with pain conditions.

Results

The average age of participants across all studies was 14.12 years (SD = 2.25), with 68.2% being female. There was strong evidence that higher perceived injustice is associated with worse pain intensity, functional disability, mental health outcomes, and emotional, social, and school functioning.

Conclusion

The results of this study underscore how perceptions of injustice are associated various pain-related outcomes across different domains of children’s lives. The findings highlight the need for screening and treatments targeting injustice appraisals in pediatric populations with pain conditions. The discussion addresses possible determinants and mechanisms of perceived injustice, along with implications for research and clinical practice.
Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on mental health among married women in Sri Lanka: a study based on Women’s Wellbeing Survey-2019
Authors: Gunarathne Lakma , Nedeljkovic Maja , Apputhurai Pragalathan , Bhowmik Jahar
Published: June 2024

Background

Sri Lankan married women have been reported to experience higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, research on its impact on mental health and how socio-demographic factors contribute to this association is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of IPV on the mental health of married women in Sri Lanka.

Methods

In this study, data from 1611 married women who participated in the 2019 Sri Lankan Women’s Wellbeing Survey were analyzed. Two binary outcomes were considered: married women’s mental health and their suicidal ideation. Binary logistic regression models were used to assess the association between mental health and suicidal thoughts in relation to IPV while controlling for socio-demographic factors.

Results

The results revealed that married women who experienced any form of violence by their spouse had a higher risk of having poor mental health conditions [AOR = 2.88 (2.20, 3.78)] and suicidal thoughts [AOR = 5.84 (4.10, 8.32)] compared to those who did not experience IPV.

Conclusions

IPV is a substantial contributor to poor mental health and suicidal thoughts among Sri Lankan married women. There is an urgent need for policy interventions, such as community awareness programs, counseling services and enhanced legal protections for victims.
Management of refractory disease and persistent symptoms in inflammatory arthritis: qualitative framework analysis of interviews with patients and healthcare professionals
Authors: Chaplin Hema , Simpson Carol , Wilkins Kate , Meehan Jessica , Ng Nora , Galloway James , Scott Ian C , Sen Debajit , Tattersall Rachel , Moss-Morris Rona , Lempp Heidi , Norton Sam
Published: June 2024

Objectives

This study aims to explore patients’ and clinicians’ experiences in managing and living with refractory disease (RD) and persistent physical and emotional symptoms (PPES) in patients with RA or polyarticular JIA from their perspectives through interviews and/or focus groups.

Methods

A qualitative exploration with 25 patients and 32 multidisciplinary rheumatology healthcare professionals (HCPs) was conducted to obtain participants respective understanding and experiences of managing RD/PPES and its impact on the patient–professional relationship. A pragmatic epistemology approach with framework analysis was employed.

Results

Four key themes were identified from both patients and professionals in the management of RD/PPES: risk/perpetuating factors/triggers; need for a patient-centred holistic approach to care, diagnosis and treatment; discordance and impact on the patient–practitioner relationship and current problems in managing RD/PPES. These themes covered 22 subthemes, with none being patient specific and seven being HCP specific. Suggestions for potential management strategies were highlighted throughout, such as involving other specialties or a multidisciplinary team, assessing/treating patient-reported outcome measures and psychosocial factors, patient (re)education, need for adjustments/aids or adaptations, checking the diagnosis and further investigations/imaging and optimizing medications.

Conclusion

Management strategies need to be developed that enable appropriate treatment plans for those with RD/PPES that account for wider biopsychosocial factors beyond inflammation and reduce discordance in the patient–practitioner relationship.
The Spiritual Turn and “Feminization”: Turning a Gender Lens on Spirituality
Authors: Watts Galen , Cerchiaro Francesco , Schnabel Landon
Published: June 2024

Although women and men identify as “spiritual” in similar numbers, far more women participate in the holistic milieu. We seek to solve this “gender puzzle” by fleshing out the gender scripts the holistic milieu fosters, and their varying relationships to the wider gender order. Surveying existing scholarship, we show that, for women, participation serves to naturalize a script of postfeminist femininity that combines gender essentialism with politically liberal commitments, is consonant with “difference” feminism, and holds an accommodationist relationship to the wider gender order. By contrast, for men, participation in the holistic milieu naturalizes a script of feminine masculinity (or male femininity) that, while also shaped by postfeminist culture, is comparatively counter-hegemonic, embodying a more radical challenge to the current gender order. This theoretical perspective enables us to explain not only why more women than men participate in the holistic milieu, but also why some women opt out, while some men opt in. Furthermore, it illuminates the pivotal place of gender in ongoing trends in the religious, and increasingly spiritual, landscape.
The Enchantment of Science: Aesthetics and Spirituality in Scientific Work
Authors: Nicoli Benedetta , Sbalchiero Stefano , Vaidyanathan Brandon
Published: June 2024

Scientists have long been depicted as mainly rational, bereft of emotional and personal commitments, and disenchanted. Such a view assumes the practice of science as sterile and inoculated from aesthetic and spiritual experiences. This article questions such assumptions by investigating how scientists experience beauty, wonder, and awe in their work as a source of enchantment—a sense of awe and wonder that connects the human being to one or more objects or agents beyond the self that are perceived as having intrinsic meaning. Analyses are based on 205 in-depth interviews with biologists and physicists from India, Italy, the UK, and the USA. Building on the works of Peter Berger and Charles Taylor, we develop a theoretical framework of enchantment, which we use to illustrate the different ways science is compatible with an “enchanted” worldview, even when scientists do not explicitly talk about religion. We also contribute a new typology of three modes of enchantment—transcendent, immanent, and liminal—that enriches the sociological understanding of the relationship between science and religion.
Neurotoxic snakebite envenomation treated with Philippine cobra antivenom in the eastern Visayas: a descriptive study between 2016 and 2020
Authors: Paghubasan Jonathan , Tiglao Patrick Joseph , Aoki Yoshihiro , Tan Mariedel A , Sarsalijo Mardie S , Aquino Grace Joy B , Beronilla-Uraga Mercy Grace , Agosto Lourdes C
Published: June 2024

Introduction

There is a significant shortage of observational studies on neurotoxic snakebite envenomation in the Philippines. This lack of data, especially concerning treatment using Purified Cobra Antivenom (PCAV), has prompted the initiation of this foundational study.

Methods

The target population included snakebite patients admitted to the Eastern Visayas Medical Center and treated with PCAV between 2016 and 2020. A retrospective chart review was conducted for data collection. The investigation analyzed the hospital stay and patient features of individuals who were administered either lower or higher doses of PCAV.

Results

Eighty-two patients were identified during the study. Of these, 27 (33%) were under 20 years of age and 50 (61%) were male. Most patients, totalling 75 (92%) were hailed from rural areas. Of the 82 patients, 59 (72%) received one or two ampoules of PCAV during the course. However, patients who received more than two ampoules had a longer median hospital stay than those who received less than three ampoules [96 h (interquartile range, IQR 66–122) vs. 125 h (IQR 96–218), P = 0.038]. The study reported five in-hospital mortalities (6.1%).

Conclusions

The individuals who needed a high dosage of PCAV tended to have more extended hospital stays, yet over 70% of the patient population required a lower dosage. To gain a clearer understanding of the burden of neurotoxic snakebites and determine the optimal PCAV dosage based on disease severity in the area, a more comprehensive, prospective study is recommended.
Perturbation of tonoplast sucrose transport alters carbohydrate utilization for seasonal growth and defense metabolism in coppiced poplar
Authors: Tuma Trevor T , Nyamdari Batbayar , Hsieh Chen , Chen Yen-Ho , Harding Scott A , Tsai Chung-Jui
Published: June 2024

Nonstructural carbohydrate reserves of stems and roots underpin overall tree fitness and productivity under short-rotation management practices such as coppicing for bioenergy. While sucrose and starch comprise the predominant stem carbohydrate reserves of Populus, utilization for fitness and agricultural productivity is understood primarily in terms of starch turnover. The tonoplast sucrose transport protein SUT4 modulates sucrose export from source leaves to distant sinks during photoautotrophic growth, but the possibility of its involvement in remobilizing carbohydrates from storage organs during heterotrophic growth has not been explored. Here, we used PtaSUT4-knockout mutants of Populus tremula × P. alba (INRA 717-1B4) in winter (cool) and summer (warm) glasshouse coppicing experiments to assess SUT4 involvement in reserve utilization. Conditions preceding and supporting summer sprouting were considered favorable for growth, while those preceding and supporting cool temperature sprouting were suboptimal akin to conditions associated with coppicing as generally practiced. Epicormic bud emergence was delayed in sut4 mutants following lower temperature ‘winter’ but not summer coppicing. Winter xylem hexose increases were observed in control but not in sut4 stumps after coppicing. The magnitude of starch and sucrose reserve depletion was similar in control and sut4 stumps during the winter and did not explain the sprouting and xylem hexose differences. However, winter maintenance costs appeared higher in sut4 based partly on Krebs cycle intermediate levels. In control plants, bark accrual of abundant defense metabolites, including salicinoids and condensed tannins, was higher in summer than in winter, but this increase of summer defense allocations was attenuated in sut4 mutants. Temperature-sensitive trade-offs between growth and other priorities may therefore depend on SUT4 in Populus.
Effects of Hybrids, Foliar Treatments, and Infection Conditions on Bacterial Leaf Streak of Sweet Corn
Authors: Malvick Dean K. , Rohwer Charlie L. , Floyd Crystal M.
Published: June 2024

Bacterial leaf streak (BLS) of corn caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. vasculorum was first reported in the United States in 2017. The biology and management of BLS are poorly understood. The objective of this work was to determine the effects of hybrids, foliar treatments, and infection conditions (timing, temperature, and inoculation site) on BLS of sweet corn. Field studies were conducted to determine if hybrid or foliar disease management treatments influenced BLS development and yield. Corn leaves were inoculated in plots with X. vasicola pv. vasculorum, and noninoculated plots were used for comparison. The leaf incidence and severity of BLS differed significantly among sweet corn hybrids, suggesting different levels of susceptibility to BLS. Grain yield was significantly reduced (14.7%) by BLS for one hybrid. The corn growth stage at the time of infection influenced BLS, with incidence and severity significantly greater after inoculation at stage V6 than at V9. Foliar application of Kocide, LifeGard, and Kocide and LifeGard significantly reduced leaf severity compared with nontreated controls in field studies. Kocide significantly reduced leaf incidence, but no treatments significantly increased yield versus controls. In comparisons of inoculation methods in a growth chamber, lesion length on leaves was significantly greater on stalk-inoculated than leaf-inoculated plants. Lesions developed on leaf-inoculated plants only at inoculation sites, whereas lesions developed on stalk-inoculated plants on multiple leaves. In controlled environments, lesion length on leaves was significantly greater at 21°C than at 27 and 32°C. This study expands our understanding of factors that influence the development and management of BLS of sweet corn.