bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Leader-Centered Theory of Foreign Policy Change
Authors: Brummer Klaus
Published: January 2025

This book explores whether leaders have an independent, systematic, and predictable effect on major foreign policy change. To that end, it introduces a “leader-centered theory of foreign policy change” that places individual leaders front and center in the explanation of episodes of major redirections in a country’s foreign policy. The theory’s three dimensions address the “why,” “what,” and “how” of foreign policy change pertaining to the trigger, the substantive direction, and the domestic implementation of major policy reversals. The book uses the case of U.S. foreign policy change toward Cuba under the Obama administration to explore the plausibility of the leader-centered theory and also provides a brief sketch of the subsequent “re-reversal” of U.S.-Cuba policy under Donald Trump.
Bodily Fluids, Fluid Bodies and International Politics
Authors: Hobbs Jenn
Published: January 2025

With the advent of COVID-19, attention to issues of health security have rocketed to the top of both policy and academic agendas. This book offers a critical exploration of the entanglements between bodies, health and security by asking; how are bodily fluids made to matter in international politics? Drawing upon insights from queer and feminist theories, this book argues that bodily fluids have much to show us about contemporary biopolitical security governance. Pursuing a queerfeminist curiosity, the book embarks on a journey to follow three fluids in international politics; plasma at the US–Mexico border, vomit in international airports during the 2013–16 Ebola pandemic, and semen in relation to US service members with genitourinary injuries. In doing so, the book demonstrates that biopolitical governance happens in the mundane spaces of people’s daily lives; that bodily fluids are vital in the attempted governance and distribution of life and death in international politics; and that feminist technoscience studies can offer us theoretical resources we need to make sense of messy, contradictory security assemblages.
Restoring Normalcy during Involution
Authors: Shih Chih-yu
Published: January 2025

Chapter 2 presents the critical logic that social science’s methodological individualism restrains liberal democracy from recovering from involution. It also explains why socialist and Confucian autocracy might recover. Two features of liberalism and Confucianism distinguish the ways in which they cope with involution. First, regarding their imagined origin being a transcendental norm or law-like inevitability, contemporary socialist/Confucian autocracy and liberal democracy cope with involution in different ways. Second, the Confucian norms mainly prepare the autocrats to practice (counter-)governmentality, but liberalism must be preached to all individuals. Deliberative democracy and the mass line are compared as the remedies to involution for each system. After all, liberalism’s normative governmentality is not binding. The democratic transition to new leadership costs no one their life or property as a result. Moreover, the losers can rally at the next election and might win. Recovery is unnecessary for liberal leadership to consider a survival strategy. Put succinctly, liberal leaders do not care.
Shifting Conditions of Struggle: The Service and Public Sectors in the Age of Neoliberalism
Authors: Gallas Alexander
Published: January 2025

As I focus on processes of class formation outside manufacturing, it makes sense to examine how the division of labour across sectors has been developing around the globe. I want to assess whether my focus on service and public sector work is justified – and whether my research heuristic captures relevant developments. The ILO is collecting and aggregating data on the size of the three sectors of the global economy – agriculture, industry and services – which can be used for this purpose. The figures refer to the number of people employed or self-employed in each sector. Undoubtedly, there are questions worth asking about the validity of the ILO data. The categories used are based on the empiricist assumption that the sectoral location of any worker can be read off from the ‘main activity’ of the business unit where they work. Following the logic of the ILO, the high-level asset manager working for a hedge fund, the independent business lawyer advising her for hefty fees and the janitor cleaning both of their offices and earning the minimum wage are all working in the service sector. And a similar point can be made about reliability. Data are gathered from all corners of the world and from a great number of sources. Nevertheless, I contend that the ILO figures still have a use value if one is clear about the fact that they provide a very rough sketch and not a fine-grained picture. The data are available in the form of absolute and relative numbers.
Conclusion
Authors: Gallas Alexander
Published: January 2025

Sitting at my desk and composing this last section of my book, I revert to looking at images of work, this time two pictures on my wall. Up in front of me is a reproduction of a painting by Mancunian artist L.S. Lowry from the mid-20th century. It depicts a football match on a bleak, grey day in what is presumably the Northwest of England. We see a goal and two teams battling it out on pitch. Two of the players, one representing each side, are jumping towards the ball, probably with the aim of heading it. They are surrounded by their respective teammates. In the foreground, there is a perimeter, and a few people watching who are positioned in front of it, mostly with their backs turned towards the observer. In the back, an industrial cityscape is visible: smoking chimneys, factory buildings and a gasometer. In Lowry’s painting, we glimpse what philosopher Bertrand Russell called, with dismissive overtones, the ‘industrial civilization’ (2010). He referred to a way of life centred on industrial work and the factory, which was prevalent, in the 19th and 20th century, in many parts of Britain, Western Europe and the wider world. Lowry’s imagery indicates that this civilization is characterized by strenuous, manual labour and a popular culture that celebrates comradery and confrontational physical activity (see Gramsci, 1971: 277–320; Hobsbawm, 1984: 182). And arguably, he depicts a male-dominated world. In the picture, there are only two females – a woman and a girl watching from outside the perimeter.
L'alfabet epicòric de Siracusa: orígens i primers testimonis
Authors: Navarro Maria
Published: January 2025

De la ciutat de Siracusa, colònia de la dòria Corint, se’ns han conservat inscripcions d’època arcaica que demostren que la ciutat utilitzà un alfabet diferent del de la seva metròpoli. En aquest estudi exposem les característiques d’aquestes escriptures i descrivim l’evolució de l’alfabet a Siracusa a partir de les inscripcions més antigues, així com analitzem els possibles motius pels quals tingué lloc aquest canvi.
guerra por nuestra atención
Authors: Oyarzún Montes Luis Felipe
Published: January 2025

El presente articulo busca trazar ciertas coordenadas que nos permitan pensar el nuevo terreno extendido de la política contemporánea, proponiendo - a partir sobre todo del pensamiento de Bernard Stiegler - que este tiene lugar en el campo de las nuevas psicotecnologías al servicio del capital especulativo y financiero transnacional. Veremos que estas son piloteadas por una verdadera guerra económica que busca capturar y explotar el tiempo disponible de nuestro cerebro, condicionando de este modo el campo pulsional de los individuos transformados así en consumidores. La explotación de nuestra atención y de nuestro campo pulsional implica una crisis y agotamiento del deseo y, al mismo tiempo, un proceso de gran regresión, lo que augura el advenimiento de una sociedad del capricho, de la desafección y adicción, destruyendo las bases mismas de la vida democrática. La tarea del pensamiento crítico consiste en la invención de nuevas armas conceptuales que reactiven la potencia pública a partir de las mismas potencialidades presentes en las tecnologías numéricas, de cara a abrir nuevos horizontes de deseos y esperanzas compartidos.
En los intersticios de la localidad. La institucionalización legal del poder local en Bolivia
Authors: Colàs Pol
Published: January 2025

En este artículo se analiza la temprana evolución de la organización del poder local institucionalizado. La delimitación de los poderes locales se convirtió en una preocupación central de los gobiernos, por su capacidad para erigirse en contrapesos sistémicos; sin embargo, su nueva estructuración dio a la localidad capacidad suficiente como para actuar con autonomía. El artículo cuestiona el hecho de que existiera un solo proyecto hegemónico para la formación del Estado en Latinoamérica, partiendo del estudio de la legislación local entre las presidencias de Antonio José de Sucre y Andrés de Santa Cruz.
Representaciones y debates sobre la cuestión ambiental en la prensa de Buenos Aires durante la epidemia de fiebre amarilla de 1871
Authors: Rey Nicolás Fernán
Published: January 2025

La epidemia de fiebre amarilla de 1871 en Buenos Aires movilizó a la sociedad porteña. La prensa fue la principal portavoz de los sectores letrados, que reflexionaron sobre el rol del Estado, la acción de los gobernantes y las actitudes de los individuos ante la peste. En el presente artículo se pretende analizar, desde la historia ambiental urbana, problematizaciones surgidas en la prensa porteña sobre el modelo socioeconómico y su impacto en el medio. El trabajo pretende ser un aporte para comprender cómo el pensamiento liberal fue reformulándose a medida que las sociedades atravesaban períodos de crisis propios de las modernizaciones de finales del siglo XIX.
Migraciones afrolatinoamericanas en Buenos Aires: la conformación de un campo cultural afro en las últimas décadas del siglo XX
Authors: Lamborghini Eva Lucía
Published: January 2025

El artículo aborda las migraciones afrolatinoamericanas a Buenos Aires en las últimas décadas del siglo XX y su impulso en la conformación de un campo cultural afro en la ciudad. Se centra en la inserción de trabajadores y activistas culturales afrodescendientes procedentes de Uruguay y Brasil, así como en su papel en la difusión de prácticas musicales y performáticas, como el candombe afrouruguayo y las danzas afrobrasileñas. Dialogando con las transformaciones sociales y los nuevos marcos multiculturalistas, vincula este campo cultural afro con el proceso de revisibilización afrodescendiente local.
El final de la frontera sur. Buenos Aires, 1895
Authors: Contente Claudia , Santilli Daniel Victor
Published: January 2025

Este trabajo explora el proceso de poblamiento de cuatro partidos del «nuevo sur» de la provincia de Buenos Aires en 1895 en perspectiva comparativa. Se han delimitado dos áreas de estudio: una, sobre la costa atlántica, de colonización más antigua (Benito Juárez y Necochea), y otra, de ocupación más reciente (Adolfo Alsina y Guaminí), a unos 400 km de la anterior. A partir de las cédulas del Segundo Censo Nacional de Población, se analizan la composición de la población, las actividades productivas, el nivel de instrucción de los habitantes y la presencia de migrantes de otras regiones de Argentina y europeos, así como la presencia del Estado en ambas zonas, a fin de captar el proceso de incorporación de esos territorios a la sociedad criolla.
Pruebas de vida burguesa en una ciudad de esclavos y hacendados: Campinas (Brasil) en la mitad del siglo XIX
Authors: Vangelista Chiara
Published: January 2025

La migración temprana a América presenta características muy distintas con respecto a las olas migratorias posteriores. En este artículo se presenta este proceso a través de un estudio de caso en la ciudad brasileña de Campinas a mediados del siglo xix. Se evidencian el estilo de vida y los valores pequeñoburgueses que los nuevos inmigrantes llevaron consigo, que eran en gran parte extraños al contexto de la inmigración y que, por varias décadas, contribuyeron al desarrollo intelectual y tecnológico de la ciudad.
Unveiling Entrepreneurial Identities: Perspectives from Women Entrepreneurs in the Global South
Authors: Peiris Pathiranage Padmali Manesha
Published: January 2025

Extant entrepreneurship literature presents a diverse and disjointed view of entrepreneurship. Among these ontological and epistemological debates, a prevailing theme is the argument around who qualifies to be identified as an entrepreneur. The use of western and masculine traits to define entrepreneurial characteristics continues to other both men and women who do not embody these characteristics, and are often categorised as underperformers. The traditional identities of men and women are intertwined with gender roles even today, resulting in a misleading representation of women entrepreneurs. The prevalent view of western women entrepreneurs as representative of all women ignores the sociocultural factors that shape how women in emerging economies engage in entrepreneurship. When women from emerging economies have been studied, overarching stereotypes surrounding their gendered role as mothers/wives/daughters and gendered understandings of women-owned businesses continue to present a very narrow understanding of women entrepreneurs from the global south. Drawing on the lived experiences of 44 women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, this study examines how entrepreneurship is conceptualised and the implications of these views on how women identify with and engage in entrepreneurship to contextualise women entrepreneurs in the global south.
Women as Economic Actors: New Sources, Theories, and Methods
Authors: Rodríguez-Satizábal Beatriz , Milanes-Reyes Laura , De la Cruz-Fernández Paula
Published: January 2025

Women, as economic actors, perform different activities in a myriad of contexts, while dealing with the expectations of their societies and organizations. Following the increasing number of studies about women, this special issue reflects on the nature and extent of the challenges posed by their activities in Argentina, China, Colombia, and Sri Lanka since the late 1970s. This special issue is a joint interdisciplinary effort to move forward with analyzing the changes and transformations of their economic and entrepreneurial activities.
Prefiguration, Complicity and Afterlife in Contextual Practices: A Conversation on What Happens When Art Encounters Reality
Authors: Mazzaro Alessio , Faccini Alessandra
Published: January 2025

Using conversation –a collaborative practice– as a way of researching and writing about collaborative endeavours, the authors met for an oral exchange on activist imaginaries in which their research and experiences in the field of socially engaged and community-based art became triggers for interactions. The conversation starts delving into the different positionalities between activism, activist art, and curating activism, as well as the terms used in literature to describe artists involved in social or communitarian projects. Asking what leads artists to work within and with a community that is not their own, the article brings forth the idea of complicity, suggesting that perhaps the artist has to be "functional" to a community, serving their needs and feelings. Then, the authors discuss the aftermath of a situated project, its permanence in the territory, between the concepts of maintenance, afterlife, and reverberation, paying attention to the different nuances of autonomy with which a community can appropriate the artist's work. Finally, the conversation explores the materialistic dimension of contextual practices, reflecting on the imaginaries in which artworks and activist actions are planned and conceived and how reality compromises them, making them real. While considering whether there is space for the poetical in areas of high political violence and whether it always makes sense to produce art in those contexts, the conversation ends with an open question: Is art always possible? The article then closes with a posthumous moment, in which the authors, rereading the conversation, reflect on how it has reverberated in their recent practices.
"El nido de los pájaros": micropolítica y relatos de la migración forzosa en el contexto colombiano
Authors: Moreno Escárraga Oscar Mauricio
Published: January 2025

This article presents a brief account of experiences and references -artistic and conceptual- of El Nido de los Pájaros: Micropolítica, Memoria e Imágenes de la Migración Forzosa (The Birds’ Nest: Micropolitics, Memory and Images of Forced Migration), a collection of artistic proposals presented at the Museo de Artes Visuales in Bogotá D.C. in the year 2023. The project materializes from sensitive and affective experiences, personal and collective memories, images and narratives of forced migration, in the context of the war in Colombia from the mid-twentieth century to the present. These artistic proposals focus on life stories, community networks, and social leadership in this country, approaching these themes through a framework that bridges artistic creation, social research, and diverse cultural practices. Through journeys to various locations, encounters, conversations, actions, and collective reflections, the initiative delves into the realm of micropolitics, where themes of displacement, family memory, and historical consciousness emerge, alongside a deep exploration of the relationship between poetics and mythological thought.
La esferología de Peter Sloterdijk y el paradigma relacional como alternativa a las nociones kantianas y de espacio continente y/o escenario
Authors: Paulsen Bilbao Abraham Gonzalo
Published: January 2025

Abordaremos la concepción relacional del espacio geográfico presente en la esferología de Peter Sloterdijk diferenciándola de otros paradigmas precedentes, tales como las nociones kantianas de espacio-continente y espacio-escenario, vigentes en diversas escuelas y tradiciones geográficas de los siglos XIX y XX. Nos referiremos también a la relevancia del juego relacional para la emergencia de lo espacial en las metáforas esferoidales. Sostenemos que la filosofía espacial de Sloterdijk aporta al entendimiento de problemáticas socioespaciales contemporáneas, ya que constituye una perspectiva profundamente humanizante que posibilita análisis que consideren los principios de la ética y de democracia espacial y, además, nutre a la teoría geográfica con perspectivas relacionales que generalmente eran consideradas patrimonio de las geografías críticas, radicales y representacionales.
Hiding in Plain Sight: The Queer Art of Thomas Patch
Authors: Mudge Bradford K.
Published: January 2025

Abstract: This essay considers the critical neglect of Thomas Patch in terms of a failure to appreciate the sophistication and intelligence with which the artist represented himself in a variety of self-portraits embedded within his larger works. Despite their smaller, incidental appearance these self-portraits when taken together constitute a narrative of self-disclosure significantly at odds with the myth of the unknowable artist in retreat from conventional morality. In fact, as the essay argues, Patch's mea culpa is both an acknowledgment of queer otherness and a spirited defense of transgressive sexual attraction, one that goes to some trouble to dramatize (and explain) a rather unconventional intimacy between the artist and his art.
Searching the flat band throughout the entire Brillouin zone in photonic crystals based on V-shaped dielectric pillars
Authors: Ni Songmei , Sun Xiaoqiao , Guo Longfei , Zhi Ting , Wang Jin , Xue Junjun , Chen Lin , Tao Tao , Tao Zhikuo
Published: January 2025

In this work, we theoretically simulated the photonic band structures of the proposed photonic crystal based on two-dimensional V-shaped dielectric pillars with the same V-direction and opposite V-direction. The flat-band behavior throughout the entire Brillouin zone was investigated by analyzing the bandwidth variations with optimized parameters and other performances such as electric field distribution and group index. The bandwidth can reach the minimum value of Δωa/2πc=0.00888 and 0.00579 for two cases. The results provide support for searching the flat band throughout the entire Brillouin zone in photonic crystals.
Measuring metric stretching in an accelerated reference frame via a Michelson interferometer with high-order Bessel–Gaussian beams
Authors: Wang Fujin , Zhang Junxiang , Ye Linhua , Wang Li-Gang
Published: January 2025

We analyze a Michelson interferometer with Bessel–Gaussian vortex beams, where acceleration of the reference frame perturbs the interference pattern of the two Bessel–Gaussian vortices with opposite topological charges. The reversal of topological charge in one arm is due to the vortex phase-conjugating mirror being composed of two double passes through the cylindrical lens. The tiny changes of the space metric are time dependent. The variations of the optical path difference induce rotation of the daisy flower interference pattern. The additional Fabry–Perot cavities in both arms of this vortex Michelson interferometer are shown to amplify the tiny changes of the optical path difference, thereby improving the overall sensitivity of the interferometer.
Hybrid meshes for the modeling of optical nanostructures with the surface integral equation method
Authors: Mavrikakis Parmenion , Martin Olivier J. F.
Published: January 2025

Recently, hybrid metasurfaces built from meta-atoms that combine plasmonic and dielectric materials have emerged thanks to their interesting electromagnetic properties. In this study, we resort to surface integral equations (SIEs) and the method of moments (MoM) to model plasmonic and hybrid nanostructures. A surface meshing approach is used to discretize the equations, and the Poggio–Miller–Chang–Harrington–Wu–Tsai (PMCHWT) formulation is considered. To model experimentally relevant nanostructures efficiently, we combine triangular and quadrilateral elements with Rao–Wilton–Glisson (RWG), rooftop, and hybrid basis functions, while an element-by-element approach is used to coalesce triangular and quadrilateral elements. The accuracy and numerical effort associated with each type of mesh are carefully assessed, using a variety of geometries that include one or more materials. Finally, we observe that hybrid meshes are able to accurately reproduce complex scattering features with a significantly reduced number of unknowns.
Achromatic loci in normal and anomalous trichromats
Authors: Basim Fatemeh , Ishaq Arsiak , Macyczko Jesse R. , Goddard Erin , Honson Vanessa , Kim Juno , Jameson Kimberly A. , Webster Michael A.
Published: January 2025

The stimuli that appear achromatic anchor color space and exhibit multiple properties that reflect an alignment of color vision with spectral characteristics of the chromatic environment. We examined how well this alignment is preserved in individuals with anomalous trichromacy. Observers viewed stimuli spanning a range of chromaticities and luminance contrasts relative to a nominal gray background of varying luminance, and classified the stimuli as achromatic (white or gray) or chromatic (one of eight color terms). For color-normal observers, the achromatic categories were constrained in size and tended to vary along a blue–yellow axis, with a bias toward blue. Anomalous observers had larger achromatic regions and less evidence for a blue–yellow orientation. However, the range of stimuli labeled as achromatic was often substantially smaller than the range predicted by their threshold sensitivity losses. This discrepancy is consistent with partial compensation of color perception or color naming for the altered spectral sensitivities of anomalous trichromats.
Changes and determinants of pneumococcal vaccine uptake in Ethiopia
Authors: Mamo Biniyam Tedla , Geram Ferehiwot Gebrehiwot , Getnet Kebron Yihenew , Bonger Zelalem Tazu
Published: January 2025

Pneumococcal pneumonia is one of the most common causes of severe pneumonia and pneumonia-related mortality globally. It ranked among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under five years in Ethiopia. Vaccination reduces the burden of pneumonia and pneumococcal infections in both children and adults. This study assesses changes in pneumococcal vaccine coverage over time and identifies factors associated with the vaccine uptake. The study was based on secondary data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHS) in 2016 and 2019, involving 1,929 children in 2016 and 1,008 in 2019, aged 12–23 months. A cross-sectional study design was conducted. The percentage change in pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) coverage was used to quantify the degree of change over time, while multilevel ordinal logistic regression identifies significant factors. All statistical tests were performed using a 5% significance threshold. The study found a significant 21.8% (95% CI: 9.8-35.2) change in the proportion of children receiving complete doses of PCV, from 49.1% in 2016 to 59.8% in 2019. Children in rural areas were 69% less likely to receive more doses of PCV vaccinations than those living in urban areas (AOR = 0.307, 95% CI: 0.127 - 0.742). Second or higher-order births were associated with greater uptake doses of PCV (AOR = 2.519, 95% CI: 1.143-5.548). Child born in health facilities were 2.35 times more likely to receive full vaccination than those born at home (AOR = 2.350, 95% CI: 1.132-4.882). Additionally, children whose mothers had more antenatal care (ANC) visits were more likely to complete their pneumococcal vaccination. Despite the increase in uptake, Ethiopia remains far from reaching its immunization goals. The study showed that place of residence, birth order, place of delivery, antenatal care and regional variation were significantly associated with pneumococcal vaccine uptake.
Vaccination of mice with Trichinella spiralis C-type lectin elicited the protective immunity and enhanced gut epithelial barrier function
Authors: Wang Bo Ning , Zhang Xin Zhuo , Wu Jin Yi , Zhang Zhao Yu , Cong Pei Kun , Zheng Wen Wen , Long Shao Rong , Liu Ruo Dan , Cui Jing , Wang Zhong Quan
Published: January 2025

Background

C-type lectin (CTL) plays an important act in parasite adhesion, host’s cell invasion and immune escape. Our previous studies showed that recombinant Trichinella spiralis C-type lectin (rTsCTL) mediated larval invasion of enteral mucosal epithelium. The aim of this study was to investigate protective immunity produced by vaccination with rTsCTL and its effect on gut epithelial barrier function in a mouse model.

Methodology/principal finding

The ELISA results showed that subcutaneous vaccination of mice with rTsCTL elicited a systemic humoral response (high levels of serum IgG, IgG1/IgG2a and IgA) and significant gut mucosal sIgA responses. The levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines (IFN-γ/IL-4) secreted from spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes and Peyer’s patches were distinctly increased at 6 weeks following vaccination (P < 0.05). At one week after challenge, the numbers of goblet cells and expression level of Muc2, Muc5ac and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-1β) in gut tissues of vaccinated mice were obviously decreased, while expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) was evidently increased, compared to the infected PBS group. It is interesting that expression levels of gut epithelial tight junctions (TJs; occludin, claudin-1 and E-cad) were prominently elevated and intestinal permeability was interestingly declined in vaccinated mice. The rTsCTL-vaccinated mice exhibited a 51.69 and 48.19% reduction of intestinal adult and muscle larva burdens, respectively. The female fecundity in rTsCTL vaccinated mice was reduced by 40.51%. These findings indicated that rTsCTL vaccination impeded larval invasion and improved gut epithelial integrity and barrier function, reduced worm burdens, and relieved gut and muscle inflammation.

Conclusions

Vaccination of mice with rTsCTL elicited an obvious protective immunity against larval challenge, impeded larval invasion of gut mucosa, enhanced gut epithelial integrity and barrier function, reduced worm burdens; it also alleviated gut and muscle inflammation. TsCTL might be a novel candidate target molecule for anti-Trichinella vaccines.
Skeletal age assessed by Greulich-Pyle: Intra-observer and inter-observer agreement among male pubertal tennis players
Authors: Celis-Moreno Jorge M. , Martinho Diogo V. , Coelho-e-Silva Manuel J. , Fragoso Isabel , Ribeiro Luís P. , Gouveia Élvio R. , Oliveira Tomas , Gonçalves-Santos João , Tavares Oscar M. , Cayolla Ricardo R. , Duarte-Mendes Pedro , Konarski Jan M. , Malina Robert M. , Myburgh Gillian K. , Cumming Sean P. , Sherar Lauren B.
Published: January 2025

The assessment of biological maturation is a central topic in pediatric exercise sciences. Skeletal age (SA) reflects changes in each bone of the hand and wrist from initial ossification to the adult state. This study examined intra-observer and inter-examiner agreement is Greulich-Pyle (GP) assessments of SA in 97 male tennis players 8.6–16.8 years of age. Two observers independently examined all films on two occasions using the GP method. The SA of each bone was evaluated. The mean and median of SAs assigned for each bone was the individual SA for each participant. The calculation was exclusively based on the bones that were not skeletally mature. Intra-observer mean differences were significant for several bones with better results by the experienced examiner (observer B). Comparisons between SA values of the two independent observers indicated significant differences for the ulna, metacarpals II and III, and distal phalanx V. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the bone-specific differences was small, perhaps trivial. Differences in individual SA values of the tennis players based on the non-mature bones of the hand-wrist were negligible based on the mean (0.04±0.39, t = 0.321, p = 0.749) or the median (0.05±0.58, t = 0.007, p = 0.994). Nevertheless, the current study confirmed examiners as a source of error in the estimation of SA using the Greulich-Pyle method and highlighted the importance of calculating SAs based on non-mature bones among adolescent players.
Expert decision-making in clinicians: An auto-analytic ethnographic study of operational decision-making in urgent care
Authors: Irvine Nicola , Van Der Meer Robert , Megiddo Itamar
Published: January 2025

Objective

To conceptualise the cognitive processes of early expert decision-making in urgent care.

Background

Expert clinicians in the UK frequently determine suitable urgent care patient pathways via telephone triage. This strategy is promoted by policymakers but how it is performed, and its effectiveness has not been evaluated. Evaluation of early senior decision-making requires knowledge of decision-processes, influences, and goals. Previous research has focused on diagnostic decision-making and rarely studied clinicians in the field.

Method

We triangulated analytic autoethnography of early expert decision-making with focused ethnography of experts and trainee doctors performing the task. The study took place in a medium-sized Acute Medical Unit which provided internal medical emergency care for a mixed urban and rural population in the UK. A grounded theoretical model of expert decision-making was created via Gioia Methodology. Decision types were categorised to identify differences in solutions as well as decision processes.

Results

The hallmarks of intuitive decision-making were found in most expert decisions. Experts made intuitive use of pattern-matching to extract key data from large volumes of information which triggered the spontaneous manifestation of solutions. Solutions were holistic and usually solitary. Upon manifestation solutions were consciously tested for viability with emotional affect playing a key role. Expert solutions were previously applied ones but were frequently entirely novel. Novel solution generation was not a feature of trainee decisions but moments of intuition were. Expert goals varied between optimal care for individual patients, system-wide efficiency, and equity of care. The decision environment had a large influence upon experts.

Conclusion

Expert clinicians employ intuitive decision-making supported by rational analysis in early urgent care decision-making. Expert solutions generated in this manner are pragmatic rather than optimal, context dependent, and seek to achieve goals which vary from moment-moment. Findings are crucial to inform research evaluating the effectiveness of early expert decision-making in urgent care as it is a high cost strategy. They also have implications for methodological approaches in future studies of expert clinical decision-making, developing artificial expert systems, and clinician training.
Reduction of Cystatin B results in increased cathepsin B activity in disomic but not Trisomy 21 human cellular and mouse models
Authors: Wu Yixing , Cleverley Karen , Wiseman Frances K.
Published: January 2025

Down syndrome, resulting from trisomy of human chromosome 21, is a common form of chromosomal disorder that results in intellectual disability and altered risk of several medical conditions. Individuals with Down syndrome have a greatly increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (DSAD), due to the presence of the APP gene on chromosome 21 that encodes the amyloid-β precursor protein (APP). APP can be processed to generate amyloid-β, which accumulates in plaques in the brains of people who have Alzheimer’s disease and is the upstream trigger of disease. Cathepsin B has potential roles in both APP processing and amyloid-β degradation and has been suggested to contribute to amyloid-β accumulation. An endogenous inhibitor of Cathepsin B, Cystatin B (CSTB), is encoded on chromosome 21. The abundance of this protein is increased in the brains of individuals with DSAD, which may be associated with a decrease in Cathepsin B activity compared to individuals who have Alzheimer’s disease in the general population. Whether targeting CSTB can modulate Cathepsin B activity in the context of trisomy of chromosome 21 is unclear. Here we test if reducing CSTB can alter Cathepsin B activity in a mouse and a cellular model of trisomy of chromosome 21. We find that reducing CSTB abundance increases Cathepsin B activity in disomic controls but not in the presence of trisomy of chromosome 21. These findings offer new insights into the role of CSTB in regulating Cathepsin B activity.
Prevalence and risk factors of the most common multimorbidity among Canadian adults
Authors: Mortey Obed , Mugford Gerald , Aubrey-Bassler Kris , Mariathas Hensley H. , Odimba Ugochukwu , Gao Zhiwei
Published: January 2025

Background

The number of persons living with multimorbidity–defined as the co-occurrence of at least two chronic conditions in the same individual–is growing globally, especially in developed countries. Traditionally, this increase has been attributed to a growing aging population, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, low socioeconomic status, and individual genetic susceptibility.

Objective

To investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of the most common multimorbidity (MCM) among Canadian middle-aged and older adults.

Method

Relevant data on all 30,097 middle-aged and older Canadian adults (aged 45 to 85 years) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging were used for this study. To identify the specific sociodemographic risk factors associated with the MCM, we used survey-specific logistic regression.

Findings

Overall, co-occurrence of osteoarthritis and hypertension was identified as the MCM among Canadian adults aged 45+ with an estimated prevalence of 16.5%. The results from multivariate analysis showed that seven factors were significantly associated with increased odds of the MCM, which included increasing age, being retired from work (retired vs not retired), poorer rating of perceived health, (very good, good, poor vs excellent), increasing problems with sleep quality (satisfied, dissatisfied vs neutral), and abnormal body-mass index (underweight, overweight, obese vs normal). Also, residents in other urban centres had significantly lower odds than those in urban core. Persons living in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec were at increased odds of having the MCM compared to those in British Columbia. The odds of the MCM associated with increasing age was significantly higher among Females (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.11–1.13) than Males (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.07–1.10).

Conclusion

Multimorbidity is a common feature among Canadian adults. The identification of the most prevalent patterns and associated risk factors in this study provides fresh insights into the etiology, progression, and possible prevention of the MCM among Canadian adults.
Ethics and post-evolution: The role of hyperreal adaptations in shaping popular cultural perceptions of animals
Authors: Nolan Huw , Coghlan Jo , Hackett Lisa J.
Published: January 2025

In A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon considers Darwinist claims that some animal stories survive more readily than others. Just as natural selection drives evolution, genetic selection and memetic cultural transmission drive the evolution, mutation and flourishing of adaptations in ever-changing narratives and technological environments. In the telling and retelling of stories, it invites a state of hyperreality, where copies of copies are believed to be real. Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality describes a condition wherein the boundaries between reality and its simulated representations become indistinguishable. He states that ‘[i]t is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality’. In a state of hyperreality, adaptations and representations can assume greater significance and authenticity than the actual reality they depict. Consequently, the simulated experiences and images are perceived as more real and authentic than the tangible reality from which they originate. The hyperreality of film adaptations has been explored through the telling of historical narratives, nation-building and authenticity. Modern adaptations of historical events, especially when delivered through a contemporary lens, have the ability to reshape our understanding of the past. Art and entertainment permeate our consciousness, moulding our identities. Consequently, we become a reflection of what we engage with, and in a dialectical process, we subsequently reshape the world according to our transformed selves. Thus, entertainment facilitates tangible changes in the real world. These are the key ideas examined in this article.
Services Trade of Commonwealth Member Countries: Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Shepherd Ben , Shingal Anirudh
Published: January 2025

In most Commonwealth member countries, services account for at least half of total economic activity in terms of gross domestic product. Levels are particularly high in high-income countries but also in some small island states, where activities like tourism and finance – both services – are important in the overall economy. This paper analyses services exports of Commonwealth countries and develops a conceptual framework about the impacts of COVID-19 on services exports. It presents a set of case studies from Commonwealth countries to identify the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic for services trade, and the responses by governments and private sector actors, including the possibilities for cross-modal substitution in services supply due to digital technologies. The case studies cover a wide range of sectors, namely education, information technology, health, tourism and finance. The available evidence, which is scarce, suggests that country experiences have varied depending on the pre-existing pattern of sectoral specialisation, as well as the level of online connectivity.
Trade × Technology beyond COVID-19: Leveraging Digital Technologies for Economic Co-operation
Authors: Bajaj Pallavi
Published: January 2025

This issue of Trade Hot Topics provides a brief overview of how the pandemic has accelerated the uptake of digital technologies, and it proposes practical ways in which these technologies can enable trade recovery and help us to build a more inclusive world economy.
Unbarring the Other
Authors: Cohn Jesse S.
Published: January 2025

This chapter attempts to rethink the category of the “other” in the fantastic: the alien. Many times, otherness prompts paranoid, colonial, and militaristic fantasies; sometimes, however, science fiction and fantasy afford gentler encounters with the ostensibly “barred” Other. Such extensions of the ability to imagine subjective experience beyond the limiting figure of what Sylvia Wynter calls “Man” comport well with an anarchism that does not recognize the Lacanian laws of lack, finitude, or castration. This openness to the other eludes the conflictual Hegelian dialectic of recognition-seeking, and with it the hierarchical “politics of recognition” (Glen Coulthard) that perpetuates the subordination of those excluded from the construct of Man.
“Know Thyself”
Authors: Dimatteo Derek
Published: January 2025

The television show Atlanta and Justin Simien’s film Dear White People contribute to Black popular culture’s pantheon of stories engaging higher education as a means of uplift for African Americans, as well as education’s effect on Black identity fashioning. The satire in each of these works ridicules lingering beliefs about essentialized Blackness both within and outside the Black community, the pursuit of racial uplift through assimilation to so-called white middle-class values at predominantly white institutions, and the relatively unquestioned belief in higher education as the path to upward social mobility. Simultaneously, they imply that meaningful uplift can be achieved through racial solidarity and a reinvestment in Black communities. Atlanta and Dear White People participate in the quintessentially “post-soul” project of exploding essentialized notions of Blackness while also drawing attention to the ways that education at elite predominantly white institutions affects Black students’ identities.
Nerf Punk
Authors: BRICKLEY LONDON
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the intricate world of alternative history (AH) cosplay, focusing on the symbolic and material significance of cosplay firearms. Set against the backdrop of a steampunk-themed ball during Dragon Con in Atlanta, the chapter delves into the craftsmanship, creativity, and storytelling embodied in these handmade, fantastical weapons. The guns, though often stripped of ballistic function, are meticulously crafted from materials like scrap metal and designed to evoke alternate realities, blending elements of past and future. The chapter considers cosplay weapons as rich narratives that convey deeper meanings within the AH cosplay community. It analyzes both the physical artistry and the embedded narratives of cosplay firearms, revealing how they reflect and reinterpret real-world gun culture through the lens of creative folk expression.
“When You Go, Let ’Em Know That Daddy-O Told You So”
Authors: Smith Mike
Published: January 2025

Black disc jockeys and radio announcers became superstars in their communities in the 60s, and the jazz deejays had the power to become hitmakers, creating big hit records and generating album sales. This chapter outlines the jazz infrastructure (like radio stations and record stores) that allowed these deejays to not only make jazz popular, but also hip!
Pulling out All the Stops
Authors: Smith Mike
Published: January 2025

Organ jazz became wildly popular in the late-50s, and by the next decade one could find taverns with Hammond B-3 organs in every Black urban center. Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and the other organists who created this music were very popular, and they created a unique language that would be adopted and adapted by young keyboardists who began playing organ in rock and soul bands in America and throughout Europe.
Overcoming Narratives of Race and Disability
Authors: Hamilton Patrick L.
Published: January 2025

This chapter presents Pérez as working to overcome persistent narratives regarding race and disability in comics. Though plot and dialogue often fell into these narratives, Pérez’s art can be shown to at times resist them. Regarding race, the chapter examines Pérez’s work on the Sons of the Tiger, White Tiger, and Triathlon at Marvel and Cyborg at DC revealing the ways in which his representation imbued these characters with a kineticism and power that elevated them beyond problematic narratives of multiculturalism that these comics might also have tread in. Regarding disability, the chapter examines Cyborg and Jericho of the New Teen Titans for how with both—but especially the latter—Pérez can be seen as resisting the trope of the “supercrip” as well as striving towards depicting something close to the lived experience of disability.
Satire for the Masses
Authors: Stańczyk Ewa
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the notion of satirical impartiality by examining a popular non-partisan weekly from Kraków, Wróble na Dachu (Sparrows on the Roof). The chapter discusses how the diverse staff of Wróble approached antisemitism, from militant cartoons that attacked perpetrators of anti-Jewish violence to stereotypical portrayals of Jews that, like Mucha’s drawings, normalized antisemitism. Shying away from political partisanship and establishing entertainment as its raison d'être, the magazine was able to bridge various viewpoints as part of their supposed impartiality. In its attempt to appeal to the cross-section of Polish society, the magazine also reflected the myriad perspectives that existed on the “Jewish question” within the Polish society more generally.
“I Will Give You Bodies beyond Your Wildest Imaginings”
Authors: Barnholden Neale
Published: January 2025

This chapter presents a book history of Watchmen, analyzing the way that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986-7 graphic novel has been materially constructed as a canonical artwork of value by publishers, primarily DC Comics. This analysis sits alongside observations about elements of the story which have been minimized or forgotten. Most prominently, the possibility of reading the story out of sequence which has serious consequences for the story’s nonchronological storytelling, and the significance of the text’s insistence on “low” popular culture as a site of meaning. As DC Comics has worked to make Watchmen a crown jewel in their cultural capital, they have constructed a particular constellation of meanings which do not encapsulate the complexity of the work, instead constructing the story as a towering work of psychological realism.
A Residency in a French Village
Authors: LeFalle-Collins Lizzetta
Published: January 2025

This chapter discusses how, as family members aged, the author felt an urgent need to preserve their memories of Lakeside Dairy before it was too late. In 2006, seeking inspiration and a retreat for creative writing, the author applied for an artist residency in Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers, a small village in southern France. This serene setting, reminiscent of the family's dairy past, became the catalyst for the memoir Seasons at Lakeside Dairy. The village's landscape and the fall season evoked childhood memories of the author's family's dairy farm, prompting her to reflect on the migration of Southern traditions to urban environments. During her stay, she connected with the local farming community and drew parallels between their sustainable practices and those of her grandparents. The author highlights the making of quince jam, which rekindled memories of her grandmother's clabber and fruit preserves. Sharing the jam with local villagers further connected her to the community and deepened her storytelling journey. Ultimately, the author's residency reinforced her role as a storyteller, blending memoir with migration and culinary heritage, capturing the essence of Lakeside Dairy through both narrative and food.