bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epistemic Dependence and Political Theory: Dependence Changes Everything
Authors: Grygieńć Janusz
Published: September 2023

Chapter IV re-examines the three approaches to the expert-lay relationship discussed earlier in Chapter I from the perspective of the concept of epistemic dependence, only to find that none of them survives the confrontation. The main problem is the impossibility of translating scientific theory into everyday language. This problem is discussed using the example of the controversies around the concept of interactional expertise. The chapter demonstrates just how problematic and contested is the idea of acquiring expertise by way of ‘linguistic socialisation’ alone. It is argued that we cannot simply assume that laypeople are capable of communicating with experts without themselves taking part in research practices. This point is a huge problem for the concept of deliberative opinion polls which is predicated on the idea that such communication is possible. Finally, the chapter shows that the ‘division of labour’ model of the public sphere also loses its relevance if we accept that citizens essentially have to rely on trust (or lack thereof) in their interactions with experts.
Inclusive Epistocracy, Competence and the Popular Rule
Authors: Grygieńć Janusz
Published: September 2023

The chapter draws practical conclusions from observations made earlier in the book. It lays out the concept of inclusive epistocracy which only empowers citizens in areas where they can reasonably be expected to have relevant (contributory) expertise. It discusses the theoretical inspirations and practical limitations of this idea, claiming that overcoming epistemic dependence in political practice is only possible in a small number of cases. In the majority of situations we are doomed to trust or mistrust experts. This is why it is crucial to develop extra- or non-epistemic methods of verifying the motivations of expert advisors. Whistleblowers can play a key role in this process. It is also necessary to overcome narrative disproportions between experts and merchants of doubt, and to teach citizens to critically analyse sources. Only through these methods will it be possible to limit the negative phenomena linked to the era of post-truth. Limit – since it is wishful thinking to count on fully eradicating manipulation, pseudoscience, populism and fabricated controversies.
Science Fiction, National Rebirth and Messianism in Un 32 août sur terre
Authors: Dyer Kester
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines Denis Villeneuve’s specificity as a Quebec director and focuses on the historical and political contexts at stake in Un 32 août sur terre (1998), Villeneuve’s first feature film. The author investigates both the presence of Quebec’s Catholic traditions and elements of science fiction in the film, showing how Un 32 août highlights Quebec’s failure to achieve nation-statehood. Ultimately, Un 32 août draws on the trope of childbirth to reference new conceptions of nationhood, while simultaneously reinforcing Eurocentric modes of understanding historicity.
Reproductive Futurism and the Woman Problem in the Films of Denis Villeneuve
Authors: Longfellow Brenda
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines the functions of reproductive futurism throughout Denis Villeneuve’s films, most specifically in Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). The author investigates how BR 2049’s reflections on reproduction and fertility, represented by the ‘miracle’ of Rachael and Deckard’s Replicant-born child, uphold a gendered and racialized ideal of biological reproductive truth. In Arrival, however, the female protagonist’s encounter with the Heptapod Other unsettles the narrative of the ‘precocious child,’ while ultimately falling back into a proscriptive reproductive futurity.
Life, Risk and the Structuring Force of Exposure in Maelström
Authors: McDonald Terrance H.
Published: September 2023

This chapter offers a radical formalist reading of the cinematic forms of Denis Villeneuve’s second feature film, Maelström (2000). The author examines how the representation of the collapsing of boundaries between the insides and the outsides of bodies allows a reimagining of life through exposures and their accompanying risks. The exposures deployed in Maelström provide new perspectives and virtual potentialities beyond the conditions of globalisation, late capitalism and citification.
Villeneuve’s Hidden Monsters: Representations of Evil in Prisoners and Sicario
Authors: Frohlick Alex
Published: September 2023

This chapter investigates the role and representation of evil in Denis Villeneuve’s films Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015). The author identifies certain horror and art-horror conventions that are present in these films and analyses ways in which some characters function as ‘hidden’ monsters within the films’ narratives. The inclusion of these monstrous figures pushes these films beyond the genre of ‘crime’ or ‘action’ movies, presenting instead characters with more complex moral identities that create the interstitial nature of these filmic texts.
Beyond Complexity: Narrative Experimentation and Genre Development in Enemy
Authors: Kreitler Melanie
Published: September 2023

This chapter analyses the complex puzzle created by the relationship between the protagonist and his doppelgänger in Denis Villeneuve’s film, Enemy (2013). The author examines the spatio-temporal incongruities, fragmentation, and metalepses that characterise this narratively complex text. By concentrating on the experimental features of film’s narrative structure, this study shows how Enemy presents alternative modes of storytelling and compels the spectator to participate in a fundamental level of meaning-making.
Mere Data Makes a Man: Artificial Intelligences in Blade Runner 2049
Authors: Marshall Kingsley
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores how the representation of artificial intelligences in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) proposes a wider discourse around notions of identity, memory, and the reformulation of the human self and subjectivity. The author traces the links between Villeneuve’s deployment of AI as a biocapitalist venture and our own consumerist, technocratic world. The film’s representation of the Replicant protagonist’s subjectivity and consciousness encourages the spectator to question the roles of technology, capitalism and neoliberalism in contemporary society.
Singularity and Conformity: Feminism and Roberta Findlay’s Strategic Marketing Communications
Authors: Freibert Finley
Published: September 2023

This chapter re-situates Roberta Findlay’s career, and particularly her many public statements, interviews, and marketing strategies, from a strategic communications perspective. In doing so, it argues that rather than simply seeing Findlay as anti-feminist, long one of the defining characteristics of her public persona, we might benefit from understanding her choices as strategic, especially when coupled with her executive role as CEO of Reeltime Distributing. Tracing the purposeful ways in which Findlay’s misogynistic rhetoric served a purposeful industrial function, whether that was to separate herself from other filmmakers as a form of differentiation, or to conform to standard practices as a way of easing consumer anxiety, this chapter offers a new perspective through which to understand Findlay’s long and often contradictory communications history.
“Not Even a Lesbian,” or Roberta Findlay’s Ambivalently Queer/Feminist Hardcore Cinema
Authors: Moorman Jennifer
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores the ambivalently feminist and queer potential of Roberta Findlay’s “extreme” hardcore cinema. Prior to the existence of the feminist, queer, or even couples porn subgenres, there was Findlay making violent, disturbing “porn with a woman’s sensibilities.” Perhaps unsurprisingly for a woman working within a distinctly masculinist milieu, there is a notable tension in both her work and her articulated motivations, between what can be described as queer or feminist potential and the lack thereof, sometimes verging on downright misogyny. An exploration of Findlay’s fraught contributions to the adult film canon enables a reconceptualization of “women’s pornography” as a “minor cinema.
Fragments of a Porn Star: Hybrid Documentary and Avant-garde Impulses in Shauna: Every Man’s Fantasy
Authors: Janisse Kier-La
Published: September 2023

The hardcore pseudo-documentary Shauna: Every Man’s Fantasy (1985) is often seen as Roberta Findlay’s least ethical film, a crass exploitation of the suicide of budding porn star Colleen Applegate (who used the screen name Shauna Grant) the year before. Rather than attempting a redemptive reading or apologetics, this chapter explores the layers of Findlay’s amoral film, finding in it surprising resonances with not only Findlay’s own earlier work but also feminist and avant-garde cinema.
H. G. Wells’s Very Ordinary Brains
Authors: Lyons Sara
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores HG Wells’ ambivalent attraction to the IQ model of intelligence. It focusses on three of Wells’s comic bildungsromane – Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900), Kipps (1905), and The History of Mr. Polly (1910) and reads them against his 1935 autobiography, which was subtitled Discoveries and Conclusions of a Very Ordinary Brain (since 1866). These novels were written at the height of a eugenic cultural panic over the prevalence of ‘mental deficiency’ in the population – a panic that would culminate in the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, which is often characterised as the major victory of the eugenics movement in Britain. The chapter argues that Wells’s celebration of lower-middle-class eccentricity, autodidacticism, and failure in these novels is his uneasy response to the age’s preoccupation with differentiating the educable from the ineducable and policing the boundaries of normal intelligence.\
The California Gothic in Fiction and Film
Authors: Murphy Bernice M.
Published: September 2023

This book positions the ‘California Gothic’ as a significant regional subgenre which articulates anxieties specific to the historical, cultural and geographical characteristics of the ‘Golden State’. As one of the most populous, diverse, and geographically varied states in the U.S., California has long been perceived as a utopian space. Yet it also haunted by the spectres of European and Anglo-American colonialism, racial discrimination, natural disaster and aggressive development. The California Gothic in Fiction and Film explores the ways in which the nightmarish flipside of the ‘California Dream’ had been depicted within the horror and Gothic genres.
This volume outlines the key characteristics of the ‘California Gothic’ and discusses selected key works of fiction and film which have contributed to its development. High-profile authors are reconsidered in terms of their standing as contributors to the California Gothic canon, amongst them Nathanael West, Clark Ashton Smith, Shirley Jackson, Fritz Leiber, Joan Didion, Richard Matheson and Dave Eggers. The book also considers key films in relation to their previously overlooked ‘California Gothic’ significance including titles such as Messiah of Evil (1973), The Fog (1980), The Lost Boys (1987), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Ravenous (1999), Starry Eyes (2014), The Neon Demon (2016), The Invitation (2015), Desierto (2015), Winchester (2018) and Us (2019). The book is interdisciplinary, bringing together literary criticism, film studies and cultural studies.
The Dark Side of ‘the Good Life’: California and the Birth of Modern Horror
Authors: Murphy Bernice M.
Published: September 2023

The chapter discusses Chinatown’s (1974) bleak depiction of Southern California’s rapid infrastructural development. Then it discusses a movement identified by the Los Angeles Times critic Robert A. Kirsch, who identified the tendency to engage with contemporary anxieties which made California the region which, more than any other, shaped the direction of post-war American horror in fiction and film. Works by Richard Matheson and Shirley Jackson are discussed in relation to California’s relationship with the ‘Suburban Gothic’ sub-genre, as is the 2021 television show Them, which depicts 1950s Californian suburbia from an African American perspective.
The chapter briefly discusses the ways in which two Hitchcock films – Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Psycho (1960) – anticipated the wider national preoccupation with the activities of dangerous (and white) ‘rogue males’ whose acts of psychopathic violence would, from the 1970s onwards, became irrevocably associated with California thanks to the activities of serial killers such as Ed Kemper, the Zodiac Killer, and Joseph D’Angelo, the ‘Golden State Killer’. The chapter concludes by discussing Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys, which is set in a fictionalised version of Santa Cruz, the Californian city most irrevocably associated with serial murder in the 1970s.
Fallen Stars in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Authors: Murphy Bernice M.
Published: September 2023

The chapter begins with a discussion of the classical Gothic resonances of Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. In their differing ways, both Sunset Boulevard and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? present us with a California-specific variation upon the familiar classical Gothic trope of the aristocratic villain who is a threatening relic of the feudal past, a connection reinforced by Kenneth Anger’s sardonic characterisation of Hollywood’s stars of the 1920s as ‘the new royalty’ in Hollywood Babylon (1975). Norma Desmond is also compared to a notable modern American Gothic character type: the tragic but dangerous figure who refuses to give up their own comforting but illusory private world. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) is situated as a cautionary tale of childhood innocence horrifically corrupted by a youthful brush with celebrity.
Cult Nightmares in Our Lady of Darkness (1977) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Authors: Murphy Bernice M.
Published: September 2023

This chapter begins by observing that California has long attracted those in search of a ‘fresh start’, opportunity, physical renewal and spiritual fulfilment. It explores texts in which these long-standing associations become actively dystopian.
The chapter begins with a detailed discussion of the relationship between California and ‘cult’ organisations and an analysis of the ways in which the dystopian flipside of the ‘hippie dream’ emerged from the late 1960s onwards. Then it discusses discuss Our Lady of Darkness, in which San Francisco is depicted as a primal locale which particularly welcoming to charismatic charlatans. Fritz Leiber’s debt to Clark Ashton Smith, is discussed, as is the importance of San Francisco’s unique topography. Philip Kaufman’s 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is described as a classic urban nightmare lent further resonance because of the ways in which the film anticipates the real-life horrors which would soon beset the city: the Jonestown Massacre, and the murders of Mayor George Moscone and LGBT rights activist Harvey Milk in City Hall (an important setting in the film).
‘The Usual Utopian Vision’: Contemporary Cult California in The Invitation (2015), 1BR (2019) and The Circle (2013)
Authors: Murphy Bernice M.
Published: September 2023

The chapter begins with an analysis of The Invitation (2015). The film evokes the 1969 Manson Family murders and the 1978 Jonestown Massacre in a manner which underlines its subtly metafictional resonance. It is as much a film about the long-standing association between California and dangerous cult organisations as it is about a fictionalised version of one of these groups. Here, the qualities which make California an attractive locale for those seeking spiritual fulfilment again make it the perfect breeding ground for a cult which promises ‘utopia’ but instead delivers madness, destruction, and death. This is also the case in 1BR (2019) in which a vulnerable young woman is taken captive by a cult which promises to re-invent the concept of ‘community’. Finally, it is argued that The Circle by Dave Eggers builds upon earlier iterations of the ‘California as Poisoned Eden’ trope. Here, Northern California is the headquarters of a powerful tech company which ultimately comes to resemble the cults previously discussed in this section. Here, the supposedly progressive ‘technological utopia’ which is one of the newer manifestations of the ‘Californian dream’ is a dehumanizing and unstoppable nightmare.
Who Runs Edinburgh?
Authors: McCrone David
Published: September 2023

Why study and city or place these days? The conventional wisdom is that power has moved away from localities, to reside, first, at the level of the state, and then to the global level. And yet cities are interesting: people feel committed to ‘place’. Drawing on classical ‘community studies’, we can think of the city as an ‘ecology of games’, in which ‘place’ is the arena for a series of distinct games: politics, business, media, education, planning and development. This chapter discusses what kind of ‘games’ take place in Edinburgh, who the key players are, and how we should go about finding out ‘who runs this place’.
Treading Angels: Edinburgh and its Festivals
Authors: McCrone David
Published: September 2023

How did Edinburgh come to be known as ‘Festival City’, and how did the process of economic reinvention take place? The chapter explores how the Edinburgh International Festival began in the late 1940s, and, together with the unofficial Festival Fringe, how it transformed the city, for good as well as ill. The chapter argues that the origins and development of Edinburgh as ‘festival city’ is a modern form of branding, an ongoing process of place-making, and of cultural boosterism. Alongside festivals, a battery of theatres and venues has grown up on which the city has come to depend financially. This is a story of public, rather than private, investment, for the city and government have been the mainstay providers of capital which have aided this process of cultural and economic reinvention.
Does Anyone Really Run Edinburgh?
Authors: McCrone David
Published: September 2023

The final chapter weighs up the arguments that a small, select, social elite still run the city, vis-à-vis the claim that no-one runs the city any more. It returns to the notion of the city as an ‘ecology of games’ whereby different institutions and elites confect how Edinburgh is branded and presented. The chapter explores the ‘personnage’ of the city, in particular its ambivalent, even schizophrenic, quality, between how the city ‘really is’, and how it chooses to present itself. It focuses on those conventionally excluded from its story: its working class, women, and ethnic groups, for Edinburgh is city of in-migrants with a high proportion of its citizens not born there, as befits a city serving as Scotland’s premier ‘growth machine’.
Band of Brothers: Diocletian and Maximian, Virtutibus Fratres
Authors: Waldron Byron
Published: September 2023

In 285 Diocletian co-opted his general Maximian as co-emperor, but the emperors were not related by blood, and Diocletian did not alleviate this issue by forging a familial bond through marriage or adoption. Rather, the relationship of Diocletian and Maximian was articulated in fraternal terms. This chapter uses various evidence, including the Panegyrici Latini, nomenclature, and images of the Dioscuri, to argue that the emperors themselves promoted the idea that they were brothers, and that the fraternal presentation was designed to appeal to a restless soldiery. The concept of frater defined the close relationships of certain soldiers to one another, and it carried legal weight. In advertising their relationship as a brotherhood, the emperors expressed their close bond to one another and their military background and credentials. The Augusti were not brothers in blood, but commilitones.The presentation also carried with it the notion of equality, which accorded with other representations of parity, and emphasised the imperial message of collegial concordia. The fact that this image of fraternity co-existed and was sometimes even combined with representations of Diocletian’s seniority demonstrates the fluidity of images employed by the Tetrarchs and their subjects in promoting imperial unity.
Gang of Four: The Tetrarchy Begins
Authors: Waldron Byron
Published: September 2023

This chapter analyses the circumstances that led to the creation of the Tetrarchy in 293. It argues that Galerius was co-opted later than Constantius, and that the initial impetus for the imperial appointments was the ongoing threat of the usurper Carausius, which prompted Maximian’s promotion of Constantius. Constantius was expected to combat Carausius and attend to the needs of subjects in the empire’s northwest lest they join the rebellion.However, Carausius’ successes not only threatened to encourage disloyalty elsewhere, but they were symptomatic of the third-century problem of regional military rebellion. Diocletian thus co-opted Galerius, and in doing so, not only did he provide the regime with a second heir apparent, but this unprecedented combination of four active rulers provided the armies and provinces with proximate rulers who could discourage usurpations. Such a solution risked further encouraging divisions, but the regime sought to counter this through administrative countermeasures and ideological presentations. The chapter also argues that Constantius and Galerius were initially generals, whom the emperors then bound to themselves through marriage alliances in c. 288/9, anxious about the loyalty of their commanders. Later, when the emperors co-opted their sons-in-law into the Tetrarchy, they adopted them as their sons.
Diocletian vs Heredity: Succession Events and the Soldiery
Authors: Waldron Byron
Published: September 2023

This chapter argues that Lactantius’ polemical account of the succession in 305, according to which Galerius pressured Diocletian into abdicating and ignoring the hereditary claims of Maxentius and Constantine, is not to be trusted. Rather, the succession event must have reflected the will of Diocletian. Diocletian, and later Galerius, repeatedly ignored hereditary norms in 285, 293, 305, 308 and 311, and Tetrarchic media reflected this. Diocletian and Galerius tailored the successions in 305 and 308 to allow Galerius to dominate the Tetrarchy as Diocletian had done before, but additionally, during the troubles of the later third century, hereditary claims had dramatically diminished as an effective form of legitimacy in the eyes of the soldiery.Diocletian wished to present an image of unity and continuity through dynastic bonds, but he prioritised military credentials over ties of blood. However, the success and relative longevity of his regime meant that by 306 the Tetrarchs had gained legitimacy that was sufficiently great to pass on to their sons. As a result, in that year, Constantine and Maxentius used their political capital to take power. But although Constantine heralded an age of explicit dynasticism, the idea that military credentials might supersede family ties persisted.
The Rise of the Sociology of Islam
Authors: Turner Bryan S.
Published: September 2023

Ibn Khaldun can be regarded as the first sociologist. In Europe, the work of August Comte and Saint-Simon established evolutionary sociology in the early nineteenth century. Marx and Engels developed their Asiatic Mode of Production to explain the backwardness of many Asian societies, but the sociology of Islam did not start until the 1960s with interest in Max Weber’s contribution to the comparative sociology of religion. This early work was often influenced by western colonialism in its treatment of Islam as a backward religion. Recent interest in the religions of ‘the Axial Age’ (BC800-400) has treated both Christianity and Islam as modern versions of the Axial Religions. Marshall G.S.Hodgson is one of the greatest modern students of Islam which he studied as a global system stretching from China through central Asia to Spain. He referred to this as the Islamic Oikoumene. Unfortunately, modern interest in Islam has often been stimulated by politics rather than by scholarship. Because of the Iranian Revolution in 1979,‘Irangate’ and the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, Islam was seen as a threat that required analysis for political and not academic reasons.
Feminism, Fertility and Piety
Authors: Turner Bryan S.
Published: September 2023

Western secular feminists have been critical of what they perceive to be the subordination of women in Muslim societies that are defined as patriarchal. The focus of criticism has often been on veiling and the seclusion of women from the public domain. Recent anthropological research has shown that strict veiling is a modern development in connection with a global process of contemporary Islamisation of society. These debates often ignore a crucial change in many Muslim societies namely ‘the demographic transition’ associated with the rapid decline in fertility and a rise in the age of marriage. Equally the western critique ignores the role of revolutionary movements in Iran and Egypt. Saba Mahmood based on her research in Egypt argued that female piety involved an agency directed at personal development. We can therefore understand piety as an ethical technology.
Legal Contexts: Licensing, Censorship and Censure
Authors: Kemp Geoff , McElligott Jason
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines the legal contexts in which the press operated in Britain and Ireland in the years between the fall of Star Chamber in 1641 and the passage of the Act of Union in 1800. The term ‘legal contexts’ points to a broad range of conditions, since the absence as well as presence of particular laws could mark a context of constraint, by legal and other means. The chapter illustrates how apart from legal measures such as the Printing Act of 1662, the Copyright Act of 1710, and the Stamp Act of 1712 censorship could be imposed on printers, publishers and newsmen by means of harassment, threats of violence, or actual physical violence during their interactions with agents of the state.
Readers and Readerships
Authors: Jones Sophie H.
Published: September 2023

This chapter focuses on those persons who read and consumed printed news in early-modern Britain and Ireland between c. 1640 and 1800. Its focus is twofold, considering both individual ‘readers’ as well as those who consumed printed material in more structured associational groups or ‘readerships’. The first part of the chapter draws upon current scholarship concerning the history of reading to explore crucial research questions regarding the practicalities of reading printed news. The section begins by defining both contemporary and early-modern understandings of literacy, outlining the relationship between reading and writing. The section then explores how literacy varied across distinct regions and contexts within the British Isles. The focus of the second part of the chapter is on readerships: groups of readers who consumed printed material in more structured associational circles. Drawing upon recent scholarship and contemporary descriptions, this section considers four distinct spaces in which printed news was freely available to patrons: taverns and inns, coffee houses, subscription libraries and newsrooms. The chapter also includes a case study of readerships in eighteenth-century Liverpool.
The Evolving Language of the Press
Authors: Brownlees Nicholas , Bös Birte
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines features of the language of periodical print news as it transformed from the short pamphlets of the 1640s to the ever more heterogeneous British and Irish newspapers of the eighteenth century. The chapter, which is divided into two historical periods (1640-1695; 1695-1800), analyses linguistic and discourse features including: personal pronouns and writer-reader interaction, animadversion, text reuse, the language of impartiality, and linguistic creativity. The chapter also includes an examination of the language of advertisements and a case study of the role of the press in indicating, and safeguarding, a model spoken accent. In the case study it is argued that the press mirrored the essence of sociolinguistic change and eighteenth-century normative attitudes.
IRISH PERIODICAL NEWS
Authors: Barnard Toby
Published: September 2023

In its history of the Irish press, the chapter focuses not only on what distinguished the Irish press from Britain and other western European countries but also on common elements in their press history. One common element was the importance of advertising to a newspaper’s finances with recent research analysing the multiplicity of advertisements and what this indicates regarding the reach of the journals together with changing consumer tastes. The chapter also considers such issues as literacy, the technologies of printing, distribution of newspapers, government control of the press, news content (especially of a political nature), and readers’ response to print news. The two case studies included in the chapter regard Mercurius Hibernicus and the Court of Claims (1663) and the early years of the Freeman’s Journal (1763–1806).
The Market for the News in Scotland
Authors: Brown Stephen W.
Published: September 2023

The chapter examines issues relating to the market for the news in Scotland, and, in particular, the uniqueness of the market, how the market was established and developed, and, in the case of magazines, the marketing of news as history. The competing marketing strategies of two eighteenth-century news publishers, James Donaldson and Adam Boig, are analysed so as to show the marketing possibilities open to contemporary publishers. In the section on advertising the chapter illustrates in detail how newspaper advertising grew exponentially throughout Scotland with classifications including books, property, shipping, theatre and concerts, government announcements, business transactions, personals and investments. The chapter also includes a case study of the daily practicalities of newspaper access and distribution beyond Edinburgh.
Women and the Eighteenth-Century Print Trade
Authors: Shapiro Rebecca
Published: September 2023

This chapter discusses some of the essential ways that women were active in the printing trades as printers, editors and periodical writers. The chapter includes studies of journals and publications beginning with the late seventeenth-century The Ladies Mercury and The Ladies Dictionary, which although addressed to women readers were not in fact written by women, as well as the eighteenth-century journals The Lady’s Magazine, The Lady’s Monthly Museum and Ladies Own Memorandum-Book. The study contributes to the growing realisation that concepts of ownership, work, property, and business dealings of women, as well as the men who worked with and for them, need to be revised. Women’s work in the print trade and periodicals was much more complex and contradictory than previously understood. The chapter also includes a case study of Anne Fisher and the print trade.
Crime and Trial Reporting
Authors: Cecconi Elisabetta
Published: September 2023

This chapter examines the contents and language of crime and trial reports and why they were a staple ingredient of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century print news culture. Crime and trial reports are analysed in occasional news pamphlets, the mid-seventeenth-century newsbooks, the London Gazette, and eighteenth-century newspapers. The chapter argues that in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries crime and trial reporting underwent significant transformations relating to a shift of emphasis from crime as moral sin to crime as social problem to be solved through legal justice and reforms. The chapter also includes a case study of the murder of the Archbishop of St. Andrews (1679) with a focus on how (mis)information from Scotland to London, and back to the rest of the kingdom, is constructed and disseminated.
Literary and Review Journalism
Authors: Yoon Hye-Joon
Published: September 2023

The chapter examines early forms of review journalism in the seventeenth century before concentrating on an in-depth study of the Monthly Review and the Critical Review, two monthly periodicals whose authority as literary and intellectual guides stood unchallenged in the mid-eighteenth century. The chapter looks at the extrinsic factors supporting the two magazines’ operation, such as the convention of reviewers’ anonymity, the fortuitous but hardly justified non-applicability of the copyright law permitting the publication of hefty extracts of published books, and the industrial army of talented reviewers gathered in London from all parts of Britain and Ireland. Equally significant were the material textuality of the pages and the stylistic features of the reviewers’ texts accompanying the quotations and extracts. The chapter also includes a case study of the enthusiastic reviews in the Monthly Review and the Critical Review of works which have come to be recognised as constituting the ‘Scottish Enlightenment’.
NP on Logarithmic Space
Authors: Vega Frank
Published: September 2023

$P$ versus $NP$ is considered as one of the most important open problems in computer science. This consists in knowing the answer of the following question: Is $P$ equal to $NP$? It was essentially mentioned in 1955 from a letter written by John Nash to the United States National Security Agency. However, a precise statement of the $P$ versus $NP$ problem was introduced independently by Stephen Cook and Leonid Levin. Since that date, all efforts to find a proof for this problem have failed. Another major complexity classes are $L$ and $NL$. Whether $L = NL$ is another fundamental question that it is as important as it is unresolved. We prove that $NP \subseteq NSPACE(\log^{2} n)$ just using logarithmic space reductions.
New Approach to Geometric Series for Computational Applications
Authors: Annamalai Chinnaraji
Published: September 2023

Computational science is a rapidly growing multi-and inter-disciplinary area where science, mathematics, computation, management and its collaboration use advance computing capabilities to understand and solve the most complex real-life problems. In this article, a new kind of geometric series and theorems are introduced for mathematical and computational applications.
An algebraic non-equilibrium turbulence model of the high Reynolds number transition region
Authors: Basse Nils
Published: September 2023

We present a mixing length based algebraic turbulence model calibrated to pipe flow; the main purpose of the model is to capture the increasing turbulence production-to-dissipation ratio observed in connection with the high Reynolds number transition region. The model includes the mixing length description by Gersten and Herwig which takes the observed variation of the von Kármán number with Reynolds number into account. Pipe wall roughness effects are included in the model. Results are presented for area-averaged (integral) quantities which can be used both as a self-contained model and as initial inlet boundary conditions for computational fluid dynamics simulations.
The role of protein kinase R in dystonia
Authors: Dodd Benjamin , Moon Stephanie L.
Published: September 2023

Dystonia is a progressive neurological motor disease with few treatment options and no cure. This review synthesizes the results of recent studies that implicate protein kinase R in mediating the molecular mechanisms of dystonia pathogenesis. Mutations in the PKR gene EIF2AK2 and the PKR activator protein PACT are associated with early-onset generalized dystonia. Protein kinase R (PKR) is important for neuronal function. Genetic depletion or inhibition of PKR is associated with increased long-term potentiation and memory, while also causing neuronal hyper-excitability and seizures in mouse models. PKR also senses double stranded RNA within cells and activates the integrated stress response (ISR). The ISR is a conserved signaling pathway that hinges on controlled translational suppression to remodel gene expression during stress. When PKR is activated through binding double stranded RNA or the PKR activator protein PACT, PKR dimerizes, autophosphorylates, and phosphorylates the translation initiation factor eIF2. Translation suppression by p-eIF2 causes stress granule formation and the upregulation of stress-induced genes. The ISR is thought to drive cellular resilience during acute stress. However, chronic ISR activation is associated with neurological diseases, traumatic brain injury, and aging. Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases are associated with mutations in other integrated stress response genes, suggesting a critical role for ISR regulation in neuronal health. A growing body of work suggests the ISR is also dysfunctional in dystonia. Future research investigating the molecular mechanisms of the ISR in dystonia will likely reveal therapeutic targets and treatment strategies for this currently incurable disease.
Optimizing CRE and PhiC31 mediated recombination in Aedes aegypti
Authors: Carabajal Paladino Leonela Z. , Wilson Ray , Tng Priscilla Y. L. , Dhokiya Vishaal , Keen Elizabeth , Cuber Piotr , Larner Will , Rooney Sara , Nicholls Melanie , Uglow Anastasia , Williams Luke , Anderson Michelle A. E. , Basu Sanjay , Leftwich Philip T. , Alphey Luke
Published: September 2023

Introduction: Genetic manipulation of Aedes aegypti is key to developing a deeper understanding of this insects’ biology, vector-virus interactions and makes future genetic control strategies possible. Despite some advances, this process remains laborious and requires highly skilled researchers and specialist equipment.

Methods: Here we present two improved methods for genetic manipulation in this species. Use of transgenic lines which express Cre recombinase and a plasmid-based method for expressing PhiC31 when injected into early embryos.

Results: Use of transgenic lines which express Cre recombinase allowed, by simple crossing schemes, germline or somatic recombination of transgenes, which could be utilized for numerous genetic manipulations. PhiC31 integrase based methods for site-specific integration of genetic elements was also improved, by developing a plasmid which expresses PhiC31 when injected into early embryos, eliminating the need to use costly and unstable mRNA as is the current standard.

Discussion: Here we have expanded the toolbox for synthetic biology in Ae. aegypti. These methods can be easily transferred into other mosquito and even insect species by identifying appropriate promoter sequences. This advances the ability to manipulate these insects for fundamental studies, and for more applied approaches for pest control.
Explaining the formation of eudaimonic gaming experiences: a theoretical overview and systemization based on interactivity and game elements
Authors: Possler Daniel , Bowman Nicholas David , Daneels Rowan
Published: September 2023

Over the past years, scholars have explored eudaimonic video game experiences—profound entertainment responses that include meaningfulness, reflection, and others. In a comparatively short time, a plethora of explanations for the formation of such eudaimonic gaming experiences has been developed across multiple disciplines, making it difficult to keep track of the state of theory development. Hence, we present a theoretical overview of these explanations. We first provide a working definition of eudaimonic gaming experiences (i.e., experiences that reflect human virtues and encourage players to develop their potential as human beings fully) and outline four layers of video games—agency, narrative, sociality, and aesthetics—that form the basis for theorizing. Subsequently, we provide an overview of the theoretical approaches, categorizing them based on which of the four game layers their explanation mainly rests upon. Finally, we suggest the contingency of the different theoretical approaches for explaining eudaimonic experiences by describing how their usefulness varies as a function of interactivity. As different types of games offer players various levels of interactivity, our overview suggests which theories and which game layers should be considered when examining eudaimonic experiences for specific game types.
Stimulated thyroglobulin and pre-ablation antithyroglobulin antibody products can predict the response to radioiodine therapy of TgAb-positive differentiated thyroid cancer patients: a retrospective study
Authors: Han Na , Lu Chenghui , Li Jiao , Wang Congcong , Zhao Zilong , Zhang Yingying , Liu Xinfeng , Si Zengmei , Wang Guoqiang , Wang Zenghua , Li Fengqi , Wang Xufu
Published: September 2023

Objective

We aimed to explore the predictive value of stimulated thyroglobulin (sTg) and pre-ablation antithyroglobulin (pa-TgAb) products for the effect of radioiodine therapy (RAIT) on TgAb-positive differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients.

Methods

In this study, we enrolled 265 patients with TgAb-positive DTC who underwent RAIT after total thyroidectomy (TT). Based on the last follow-up result, the patients were divided into two groups: the excellent response (ER) group and the non-excellent response (NER) group. We analyzed the factors related to the effect of RAIT.

Results

The ER group consisted of 197 patients. The NER group consisted of 68 patients. For the univariate analysis, we found that the maximal tumor diameter, whether with extrathyroidal extension (ETE), bilateral or unilateral primary lesion, multifocality, preoperative TgAb (preop-TgAb), pa-TgAb, sTg × pa-TgAb, initial RAIT dose, N stage, and surgical extent (modified radical neck dissection or not), showed significant differences between the ER group and NER group (all p-values <0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed that the cutoff value was 724.25 IU/ml, 424.00 IU/ml, and 59.73 for preop-TgAb, pa-TgAb, and sTg × pa-TgAb, respectively. The multivariate logistic regression analysis results indicated that pa-TgAb, sTg × pa-TgAb, initial RAIT dose, and N stage were independent risk factors for NER (all p-values <0.05). For the Kaplan–Meier analysis of disease-free survival (DFS), the median DFS of the patients with sTg × pa-TgAb < 59.73 and initial RAIT dose ≤ 100 mCi was significantly longer than that of the patients with sTg × pa-TgAb ≥ 59.73 (50.27 months vs. 48.59 months, p = 0.041) and initial RAIT dose >100 mCi (50.50 months vs. 38.00 months, p = 0.030).

Conclusion

We found the sTg and pa-TgAb conducts is a good predictor of the efficacy of RAIT in TgAb-positive DTC patients. It can play a very positive and important role in optimizing treatment, improving prognosis, and reducing the burden of patients.
Freshwater salinization syndrome limits management efforts to improve water quality
Authors: Maas Carly M. , Kaushal Sujay S. , Rippy Megan A. , Mayer Paul M. , Grant Stanley B. , Shatkay Ruth R. , Malin Joseph T. , Bhide Shantanu V. , Vikesland Peter , Krauss Lauren , Reimer Jenna E. , Yaculak Alexis M.
Published: September 2023

Freshwater Salinization Syndrome (FSS) refers to groups of biological, physical, and chemical impacts which commonly occur together in response to salinization. FSS can be assessed by the mobilization of chemical mixtures, termed “chemical cocktails”, in watersheds. Currently, we do not know if salinization and mobilization of chemical cocktails along streams can be mitigated or reversed using restoration and conservation strategies. We investigated 1) the formation of chemical cocktails temporally and spatially along streams experiencing different levels of restoration and riparian forest conservation and 2) the potential for attenuation of chemical cocktails and salt ions along flowpaths through conservation and restoration areas. We monitored high-frequency temporal and longitudinal changes in streamwater chemistry in response to different pollution events (i.e., road salt, stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, and baseflow conditions) and several types of watershed management or conservation efforts in six urban watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicates that chemical cocktails which formed along flowpaths (i.e., permanent reaches of a stream) varied due to pollution events. In response to winter road salt applications, the chemical cocktails were enriched in salts and metals (e.g., Na+, Mn, and Cu). During most baseflow and stormflow conditions, chemical cocktails were less enriched in salt ions and trace metals. Downstream attenuation of salt ions occurred during baseflow and stormflow conditions along flowpaths through regional parks, stream-floodplain restorations, and a national park. Conversely, chemical mixtures of salt ions and metals, which formed in response to multiple road salt applications or prolonged road salt exposure, did not show patterns of rapid attenuation downstream. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate variables that influence changes in chemical cocktails along flowpaths. Attenuation and dilution of salt ions and chemical cocktails along stream flowpaths was significantly related to riparian forest buffer width, types of salt pollution, and distance downstream. Although salt ions and chemical cocktails can be attenuated and diluted in response to conservation and restoration efforts at lower concentration ranges, there can be limitations in attenuation during road salt events, particularly if storm drains bypass riparian buffers.
OCLN as a novel biomarker for prognosis and immune infiltrates in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma: an integrative computational and experimental characterization
Authors: Jia Zongming , Kong Ying , Wang Chengyu , Fu Zhenyu , Tian Zhen , Sun Yizhang , Lin Yuxin , Huang Yuhua
Published: September 2023

Background

Occludin (OCLN) is an important tight junction protein and has been reported to be abnormally expressed in the development of malignant tumors. However, its biomarker and carcinogenic roles in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) are less investigated.

Methods

The Cancer Genome Atlas database and Human Protein Atlas database were used to analyze the expression of OCLN in KIRC. UALCAN database and methylation-specific PCR assay were used to evaluate the methylation level of OCLN in KIRC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to model the prognostic significance of OCLN in KIRC patient cohorts. The correlation between OCLN expression and the immune cell infiltration, immune-related function and immune checkpoints were explored. Finally, EdU, scratch assay and transwell experiments were conducted to validate the role of OCLN in KIRC development.

Results

The expression of OCLN was significantly downregulated in KIRC, compared with normal renal tissues (p<0.001). Patients with low OCLN expression showed a worse prognosis and poorer clinicopathological characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that OCLN was mainly involved in biological processes such as immune response, immunoglobulin complex circulating and cytokine and chemokine receptor to mediate KIRC development. Immune-related analysis indicated that OCLN could potentially serve as a candidate target for KIRC immunotherapy. OCLN overexpression inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of KIRC cells in vitro.

Conclusion

OCLN was validated as a candidate prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target of KIRC based both on computational and experimental approaches. More in vivo experiments will be conducted to decode its molecular mechanism in KIRC carcinogenesis in the future work.