bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Construction of Long‐Span Bridge Bearing Platforms in Deep and Thick Silt Interlayers
Authors: Yang Kang , Zhang Wenbin , Li Puyu , Hao Didi , Wan Chunfeng , Miao Changqing
Published: December 2024

The construction of long‐span bridge bearing platforms in deep and thick silt interlayers presents challenges such as difficult pit excavation, high risk of foundation pit base uplift, ensuring the secure embedment of the foundation pit cofferdam, and the susceptibility of large‐volume concrete to cracking. This paper examines the construction of the main pier bearing platform for the new Yue‐Dong Bridge. It compares and selects the optimal cofferdam scheme, ultimately employing a combined cofferdam structure that integrates underwater high‐pressure rotary piling for base reinforcement and steel sheet piles. An underwater high‐pressure rotary piling fast reinforcement construction process was developed and implemented, alongside the “four‐stage dry bottom sealing” strategy to mitigate uplift risks. To address the cracking induced by the heat of hydration in large‐volume concrete, a temperature control strategy for large‐volume concrete construction was proposed. Real‐time monitoring of the cofferdam was conducted to ensure construction safety. Additionally, to verify the effectiveness of the temperature control measures and ensure compliance with temperature control standards, real‐time temperature monitoring was also performed during the construction of the large‐volume concrete bearing platform. To ensure construction safety, cofferdam displacements and stresses are monitored in real time. The practice has demonstrated that the construction scheme, strategies, and corresponding measures are effective, leading to the successful construction of the long‐span bridge bearing platforms for the Yue‐Dong Bridge in deep and thick silt interlayers. The key technologies developed and applied in this paper offer significant and valuable insights for the construction of similar bearing platforms.
A Brief Review on Aflatoxicosis in Aquaculture With a Focus on Fish
Authors: Ziarati Mina , Imani Ahmad , Ghafarifarsani Hamed , Bhatt Deepa
Published: December 2024

Feed quality is among the most determinative criteria for aquaculture success. Along with feed ingredient quality and its production process, feed storage conditions would also affect feed quality, especially in terms of adventitious toxins. Mycotoxins are frequent food and feed contaminants and are considered important health threats to both human and animal health. In this context, the effects of mycotoxins on aquatic animals were reviewed with an emphasis on aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which is obviously reported in aquafeed. Severe tissue damage, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, compromised immune system function, and increasing unknown death risks are among the most frequent symptoms of aflatoxicosis in aquatic animals. The lowest observable effect level for AFB1 has also been documented for different fish species. Considering the importance of such fungal toxins on the economic viability of aquaculture enterprises, it is recommended that further knowledge be obtained concerning the safe levels of AFB1 in terms of fish health and final product safety to human consumers.
A Challenging Case of Recurrent Ogilvie Syndrome: Exploring Causes and Treatment Modalities
Authors: Alnasarat Ahmad , Elrazzaz Mostafa , Manasrah Nouraldeen
Published: December 2024

Introduction: Acute colonic pseudo‐obstruction (ACPO), or Ogilvie syndrome, is a rare condition marked by significant colon distention without mechanical obstruction. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, and an inability to pass gas or stool. Although common in males over 60, we report a challenging case of a 44‐year‐old man from Africa with recurrent abdominal distention and discomfort. Ultimately, he improved after receiving multiple treatment modalities, highlighting the complexities of Ogilvie syndrome management.

Case Presentation: A 44‐year‐old Nigerian male in the United States with hypertension and significant alcohol use disorder presented with altered mental status and bilateral lower extremity weakness after fasting and hydrochlorothiazide abuse. Initial diagnostics indicated metabolic encephalopathy from hypokalemia and dehydration. Despite aggressive treatment, he developed severe abdominal distension and obstipation. A CT scan showed diffuse colonic dilatation without a normal small bowel. Conservative measures failed, necessitating ICU transfer, TPN, and empiric antibiotics. Despite an initial response to colonoscopy decompression, the patient experienced recurrence. Neostigmine significantly improved his condition, leading to full recovery and discharge.

Conclusion: This challenging case highlights the complexities of managing Ogilvie syndrome and the importance of early identification and a stepwise approach to treatment. Incorporating a patient‐centered plan utilizing conservative measures, pharmacological agents and endoscopic interventions are essential for improving outcomes in these cases.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) With T‐Cell Differentiation Arising From Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML)
Authors: Crymes Anthony , Evans Mark G. , Jeyakumar Deepa , Lou Jerry J. , Zhao Xiaohui , Rezk Sherif A.
Published: December 2024

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by peripheral blood monocytosis and bone marrow dysplasia. In approximately one‐fourth of cases, CMML can demonstrate progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), referred to as AML ex CMML. We present a 58‐year‐old woman with a past medical history of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who demonstrated 24% bone marrow blasts on a repeat biopsy obtained two years after being diagnosed with CMML. By the flow cytometric analysis, the blasts expressed partial CD34, CD13, CD117, partial MPO, and partial CD123 with coexpression of the T‐lymphoid markers CD2, CD5, CD7, partial CD4, cytoplasmic CD3, partial cytoplasmic TDT, and CD38, suggestive of AML with rare mixed myeloid/T‐cell phenotype. Treatment with various agents including decitabine, cytarabine, daunorubicin, etoposide, and venetoclax, and two experimental bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) inhibitors did not produce sustained remissions, and the patient eventually succumbed to her disease. T‐cell phenotype is an exceedingly rare feature of AML ex CMML, and whether this unique differentiation pathway contributed to the aggressive disease course remains unclear.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02543879, NCT03360006
Molecular Characterization of Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell, 1896) in Palestine
Authors: Adwan Ghaleb , Abuseir Sameh , Omar Ghadeer , Al-Fares Heba , Altamimi Mohammad , Dalab Abdelhafeed , Khraim Nimer , Abed Al-Daym Mohammad
Published: December 2024

Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) is a new invasive insect in our area, and the most destructive insect on cactus species. It is often referred to as prickly pear cochineal and produces large economic losses all over the globe. This research investigates the molecular genetics of D. opuntiae. Molecular studies exploring the evolutionary relationships of recently established and naturally occurring D. opuntiae populations are crucial in determining the routes of entrance. Here, the sequence variation in the mtCOI, 12S and 18S gene markers from specimens isolated from the Palestinian territories in 2023 were assessed to gain greater insight into the variations in DNA within and between Palestinian D. opuntiae populations. The results showed the presence of 12, 18, and 12 haplotypes for COI, 12S, and 18S gene markers, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicated low nucleotide diversity (π) (0.00133 for COI, 0.00258 for 12S, and 0.00085 for 18S) and high haplotype diversity (Hd) within haplotype phylogenetic trees (0.0.563 for COI, 0.628 for 12S, and 0.425 for 18S). Because the sequences deposited in GenBank are from few countries, it was difficult to track the origin of Palestinian sequences with COI, 12S, and 18S sequences deposited in GenBank from few areas of the world. In conclusion, the Palestinian D. opuntiae population exhibited the highest Hd and lowest π based on investigated gene markers. In addition, negative results for neutral tests indicated that a high number of uncommon mutations found in the populations, which may suggest new colonization events and increase in population number.
ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2024: Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Shah Amy S. , Barrientos-Pérez Margarita , Chang Nancy , Fu Jun-Fen , Hannon Tamara S. , Kelsey Megan , Peña Alexia S. , Pinhas-Hamiel Orit , Urakami Tatsuhiko , Wicklow Brandy , Wong Jencia , Mahmud Farid H.
Published: December 2024

Youth-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) results from genetic, environmental, and metabolic causes that differ among individuals and populations. This chapter builds on the 2022 ISPAD guidelines and summarizes recent advances in the management of T2D in children and adolescents. Updates include diagnostic algorithm for youth with new onset T2D, algorithms and tables for treatment, management, and assessment of comorbidities and complications and recommendations on recently approved pharmacologic therapies for the treatment of youth-onset T2D and management strategies.
Peak Oxygen Consumption Scaled to Body Composition Is Associated With Mortality and Morbidity in People With a Fontan Circulation
Authors: Wadey Curtis A. , Barker Alan R. , Stuart A. Graham , Dorobantu Dan‐Mihai , Pieles Guido E. , Tran Derek L. , Laohachai Karina , Ayer Julian , Weintraub Rob G. , Cordina Rachael , Williams Craig A.
Published: December 2024

Background

Peak oxygen consumption (peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
) is traditionally scaled by body mass, but it is most appropriately scaled by fat‐free mass. However, it is unknown whether peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
scaled by fat‐free mass is associated with mortality and morbidity in people with a Fontan circulation. The aim of this study was to assess the associations between different expressions of peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
with mortality and morbidity in people with a Fontan circulation.

Methods and Results

Eighty‐seven participants (aged 24.1±7.3 years; 53% women) with a Fontan circulation completed a cardiopulmonary exercise test and a dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry scan. Cox proportional hazard regressions models assessed the association (hazard ratio [HR]) between different expressions of peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
with a composite outcome of Fontan failure (FF). Participants were followed up for a median of 6.5 years (95% CI, 6.4–6.9). Individuals experiencing FF (n=10/87) had a significantly lower absolute peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
. In univariable models, peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
ratio scaled to body mass was not significantly associated with FF (HR, 0.91;
P
=0.111). However, peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
scaled by fat‐free mass (HR, 0.90;
P
=0.020) or lean mass (HR, 0.90;
P
=0.017) was significantly and inversely associated with FF. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, and peak respiratory exchange ratio.

Conclusions

The association between peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
and FF is improved when scaled to measures of body composition. Applied clinically, a 1‐unit increase in peak

V
̇

$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}} $$

O
2
scaled to fat‐free mass or lean mass is associated with a ≈10% lower risk of FF.
Coffee Consumption Correlates With Better Cognitive Performance in Patients With a High Incidence for Stroke
Authors: Barbagallo Massimo , Springer Anne , Vanetta Chiara , Allemann Meret , Lee Pratintip , Saeedi Soheil , Aeschbacher Stefanie , Luciani Marco , Bonati Leo H. , Moschovitis Giorgio , Scheu Victor , Rutishauser Jonas , Kobza Richard , Di Valentino Marcello , Meyre Pascal B. , Rodondi Nicolas , Conen David , Kühne Michael , Osswald Stefan , Beer Jürg H. ,   the Swiss‐AF investigators
Published: December 2024

Background

Atrial fibrillation is an independent risk factor for the development of cognitive impairments. Regular coffee consumption has shown cognitive benefits in healthy individuals. Whether regular consumption reduces cognitive decline in vulnerable patients is controversial. We investigated the association in elderly people with atrial fibrillation.

Methods and Results

Daily coffee consumption was assessed using a structured nutrition questionnaire, and cognitive function was evaluated by a detailed neurocognitive‐test‐battery, including the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Trail‐Making Test, semantic fluency, and Digit‐Symbol‐Substitution Test. The cognitive construct score combines all neurocognitive tests mentioned and provides an overall cognitive performance indicator. Hs‐CRP (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein) and IL‐6 (interleukin‐6) were measured to explore an association with inflammation. Results were estimated using linear mixed‐effects‐models with detailed adjustments for confounders. The <1 cup/day consumers (reference group) reached a cognitive construct score of −0.24 (95% CI, –0.27 to –0.16), and the group with the highest consumption (>5 cups/day) was at −0.10 (95% CI, –0.10 to 0.04;
p
=0.048). Montreal Cognitive Assessment score in the reference group was 24.58 (95% CI, 24.58–25.32); the group with the highest intake achieved 25.25 (95% CI, 24.98–26.85;
p
=0.163). Inflammatory markers decreased with higher coffee consumption (hs‐CRP with 5 compared with <1 cup/day by factor 0.78 [95% CI, 0.54–1.13],
p
= 0.188, IL‐6 significantly by factor 0.73 [95% CI, 0.57–0.95],
p
=0.017).

Conclusions

Coffee consumption in patients with atrial fibrillation may be associated with improved cognitive performance and reduced inflammatory markers. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to consider implementation in dietary counseling for atrial fibrillation management.

Registration

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Identifier: NCT02105844.
Medication Changes After Renal Denervation: Current Evidence and Patient Perspectives
Authors: Zhang Zhipeng , Zhao Fei , Ye Runyu , Zhang Xin , Peng Yong , Chen Xiaoping , Liu Kai
Published: December 2024

Renal denervation (RDN) is recognized as an adjunct therapy for hypertension management with a favorable and consistent blood pressure–lowering efficacy and safety profile. Alteration in medication burden is another noteworthy outcome of RDN for clinicians and patients. In this review, we summarized current clinical trials and patient perspectives, focusing on the use of antihypertensive medication (AHM) after RDN. The results of randomized controlled trials demonstrated that patients undergoing RDN exhibited lower blood pressure levels with a similar AHM burden or similar blood pressure levels with fewer AHMs than the sham control group. In studies with follow‐ups of ≤6 months, AHM use increased or remained generally consistent in patients undergoing RDN, which may be attributed to the prespecified study process. In studies with follow‐ups of >6 months, the blood pressure–lowering efficacy of RDN was consistent with a decreasing or similar AHM burden compared with baseline conditions, except for the 36‐month results in the SPYRAL HTN‐ON MED (Safety and Efficacy of Renal Denervation in Patients Taking Antihypertensive Medications) trial. Huge gaps exist between current evidence on medication changes after RDN and patient expectations, which may be addressed through adequate communication in a shared decision‐making process and further improvement of the RDN procedure. Moreover, novel evaluation methodologies for assessing medication burden changes, incorporating adherence to AHMs and modifications in drug classes, may be required to evaluate the impact of RDN on medication usage in the future.
Dio Chrysostom, Or. 36.55 and the Stoic Conflagration
Authors: Salles Ricardo
Published: December 2024

The present paper questions the assumption in modern scholarship that section 55 of Dio Chrysostom’s Borysthenitic discourse is a reliable source for Chrysippus’ theory of conflagration. We may suppose instead that it is a description of the conflagration in broad Stoic terms that does not contain features that distinguish Chrysippus from other members of the school. And there is also room for disputing that the passage is a description of the conflagration. The phenomenon it describes may not be the conflagration at all, but the cosmogony.
Mission and Human Dignity in the Black Sea Region – Philosophical Considerations
Authors: Lebech Mette
Published: December 2024

Because human dignity presents us, in all regions of the world, with a cause for celebration and a steep challenge, it constitutes a problem for humanity. Engagement with the idea tends to happen when the problem makes itself felt and the ethical challenges that mark a region are therefore testified to in its writings on human dignity. Engaging with such writings make it possible, for example for the Black Sea Region, to move more concertedly towards appreciation of human dignity. This engagement is precious because it promotes both the understanding of and thereby the possible appreciation of the fundamental value of the human being. It is argued in this article that such promotion pertains to the central task of Christian mission, in so far as concern for human dignity stands at the heart of Christ’s own mission.
Keeping This Place: Contemplative Vision and Ecological Living as Christian Witness: An Orthodox View
Authors: Theokritoff Elizabeth
Published: December 2024

At a time when the ecological crisis is increasingly seen as a spiritual crisis, the Orthodox Christian tradition has resources for a powerful witness, especially to ‘post-Christian’ spiritual seekers. This witness depends on the example of monastic communities especially; on the grounding of their way of life in a theology of the Incarnation and the logoi of God in creation. Their contemplative vision of the world enables us to accept a “sacredness” of the earth without pantheism. Many have discovered that vision through the Philokalia and the Jesus Prayer, and the teaching of some prominent spokesmen for Orthodoxy especially of the Russian emigre tradition. Some of the best-loved modern saints also witness to a transformed relationship between holy people and their natural environment. More recently, we have many examples of specifically environmental practice, notable for its balance of love and care for the human and natural worlds.
Competing Visions of Human Dignity: on the Foundation of Missions
Authors: Nash Ryan
Published: December 2024

Human dignity, superficially at least, seems a noncontroversial goal or basis for mission, specifically Christian mission, to further. This brief essay will challenge this assumption by sharing perspectives on human dignity from the field of bioethics. A moral narrative is given on how appeals to human dignity have failed to resolve ethical controversy. Finally, the essay encourages that only an incarnational and embodied human dignity is worthy of furthering in Christian missions. Some practical advice gained from the field of bioethics is offered regarding how to live and advance the good despite competing visions of human dignity.
Urban Policies, Architectural Dissonances, and Not So ‘Modern’ Buildings in Late Colonial Luanda
Authors: Serrazina Beatriz
Published: December 2024

This article examines urban policies and projects in Luanda during the 1950s, focusing on the housing and offices built by Diamang, a colonial mining enterprise that operated in northern Angola but maintained premises in the city. Although Diamang was criticized in the public sphere for being at odds with the drive to modernise Luanda, it was still permitted to construct housing for its officials and indigenous workers. The article explores overlooked agents, bureaucratic procedures, and an apparent institutional autocracy that constrained architectural practices in the city. These contrasting perspectives shed light on the period preceding significant “modernising” policies, providing a fundamental understanding of the tensions and complexities surrounding urban space in Portuguese-speaking late-colonial African cities.
Reparations for Settlers? The “Despoiled” from Africa and Postcolonial Portugal (1975–2021)
Authors: Kalter Christoph
Published: December 2024

Should colonial settlers receive compensation for their material losses after the end of colonial rule? Today, we see a global trend toward reparations for colonial crimes, yet compensating settlers was a common practice after 1945. Japan, France, and Belgium all compensated their colonists after decolonisation. In 1975, settlers returning from Portugal’s collapsing empire in Africa called for a similar treatment. However, despite some conservative support, the elitist associational movement of self-styled ‘despoiled’ or ‘dispossessed’ settlers failed to sway policymakers or gain public backing, resulting in no compensation. This article examines the reasons for their failure, exploring cross-national similarities and connections among postcolonial societies in Europe while highlighting key specifics of the Portuguese case: first, the assimilationist integration of the returning settlers, whose political movements remained weak; second, the significant resonance their colonialist ideas found within a society that made few serious efforts to abandon its imperialist nationalist myths after decolonisation.
Integrating Triple Helix and Sustainable Transition Research for Transformational Governance
Authors: Gebhardt Christiane , Pique Huerta Josep Miquel
Published: December 2024

The critical literature review discusses the principles of Participation and Interconnectedness underlying the Triple Helix Model and Learning and Adaptation in the Sustainable Transition Model for their relevance in governing urban climate change adaptation. In this new framing, a secondary literature analysis of Barcelona’s struggle against air pollution is exemplified as a wicked problem caused by diverse stakeholder interests and their different sustainability concepts in socio-economic and environmental development. The paper offers a new perspective on sustainable, transformative pathways in cities which run on participative and adaptive governance principles. The backwards integration into the underlying principles of the meta-theories illustrates the value of triple helix and transition research and the benefit of their integration for examining and designing sustainable transition pathways.
For the Future-Wary: Eco-eschatology in Four Steps
Authors: Jasarevic Larisa
Published: December 2024

This essay gleans insights from local ecological practices and Islamic sources to address global climate futures. It outlines an eco-eschatology, as a disposition and practice of living towards the possibility of the end of the world. Key themes of eco-eschatology – attentiveness to the multispecies world, contemplation of human responsibility, hopefulness against the odds, and commitment to activism – are resonant with current eco-concerns. What eco-eschatology recommends, however, are due considerations of human contingency and divine agency in the climate disaster that makes us all muslim: subjects rather than sovereigns, at the mercy of what is, at the same time, beyond us and intimately involved with us.
Muslim(s), Future(s), Europe
Authors: Bolghiran Sara , Berger Maurits
Published: December 2024

This introduction to the special ‘Muslim Futures’ in the Journal of Muslims in Europe expounds the new development of Muslims imagining their future in Europe. This special has selected a number of themes: AI and transhumanism, children’s literature, environment and sustainability, pedagogy and education, charity, urban spaces, sufism, and art, beauty, and ethics. These contributions are not meant to provide a conclusive insight on Muslim futures but are merely steppingstones in exploring new avenues of study and knowledge production. ‘Muslim futures’ is a new trend with global implications, and this Introduction provides background to this trend and argues that the study of this trend will constitute a much-needed academic alternative in Muslim and Islam Studies in Europe.
“A Halal Happy Ever After”: Envisioning Muslim Futures in Islamically Minded Children’s Literature
Authors: Janson Torsten
Published: December 2024

What future aspirations have informed the incentives for producing children’s literature in Muslim minority communities? What social dynamics and theological debates have accompanied its visions of Islamic futures? What narrative tropes, visual-aesthetics norms and literary genres has it appropriated, while maturing into an innovative religious-pedagogic-literary expression? Probing such questions, this article challenges distinctions between “Islamic” and “secular” to build a concept of Islamically minded children’s literature. It follows the diversification of the literature as a globalised child cultural format, emulating genres such as picture books, fairy tales, detective stories, romantic fiction, autobiographies, handbooks, graphic novels and comics. As cultural texts, Islamically minded children’s literature has developed through increasingly confident, open-ended and dialogic literary negotiations of the socio-cultural complexities of Muslim minority life vis-à-vis the formative pasts of sacred history, theology and textual canons – all under the pedagogical sway of envisioning Islam and Muslim futures, in minority communities and beyond.
Allahu Akbar: When the Imaginative, the Beautiful and the Ethical Meet in Muslim Futures
Authors: Bolghiran Sara
Published: December 2024

This article explores and situates the manifestation of Muslim futures, a socio-ethical and aesthetic movement encompassing young Muslims creating artworks in which they engage a wide range of moral dilemmas ranging from systemic oppression (in both Islamic and non-Islamic countries), unequal wealth distribution, to the consequences of climate change. Taking a Muslim futures exhibition in Berlin as point of entry, this article argues that within the praxis and intellectual paradigms of imagining and articulating Muslim futures, the entities of ethics imagination (khayal), ethics (akhlaq), and beauty (jamal) are intrinsically linked and paramount in an understanding of how the Islamically meaningful influences these endeavors. This paper aims to contribute to understandings of Muslim subjectivity through a decolonial framework by situating analysis into a non-secular framework of reference, exercising the latest calls to go “beyond the human horizon”, placing the spiritual undertones of the project at the center of consideration.
Colloquium 1: Theophrastus on Intellect in Aristotle’s De Anima
Authors: Reece Bryan C.
Published: December 2024

Aristotle’s cryptic De Anima III 5 has precipitated an enormous volume of commentary, especially about the identity of what has come to be known as active intellect and how it relates to potential intellect. Some take active intellect to be the prime mover of Metaphysics Λ, others a hypostatic or cosmic principle (for example, an ideal Intellect, intellect associated with the tenth celestial sphere, etc.), and others a faculty, potentiality, or power of the human soul that is distinct in function, office, or operation from potential intellect. But a very different, ontologically lightweight way of characterizing active and potential intellect can be reconstructed from fragments of a work by the only interpreter personally acquainted with Aristotle, his junior colleague, Theophrastus of Eresus. This reconstruction suggests various philosophically attractive solutions to notorious problems raised by Aristotle’s text.
Colloquium 2: Commentary on Shaw
Authors: Healow C.G.
Published: December 2024

In “Aristotle, Empedocles, and the Unity of All Things,” Michael Shaw has provided a novel and intriguing account of Empedocles’ cosmology, wherein he attempts to outline a few ways in which interpreters (beginning with Aristotle) have failed to capture fully Empedocles’ most important ideas. Central to Shaw’s account of Empedoclean cosmology is a distinctive interpretation of the life cycle of the cosmos that presupposes that the four elements that make up everything and the twin forces that govern them—Love and Strife—interact in ways quite different than often is supposed. The upshot of this is that Shaw thinks Empedocles’ theory may not fall prey to the Aristotelian critiques designed to undermine it because they are based on a misunderstanding of his actual view. While I am sympathetic to his impulse to defend Empedocles against Aristotle’s attacks, I am not convinced that Shaw’s reading should be widely adopted, both because I highly doubt that the depiction of Empedoclean cosmology developed by Shaw is Empedocles’ own and because I think the traditional interpretation of Empedocles’ cosmology fares better against Aristotelian critiques than Shaw’s interpretation of it does. Such are the contentions I intend to show in what follows.
Colloquium 4: Commentary on Wians
Authors: DeMarco C. Wesley
Published: December 2024

This comment responds to the paper deliver by William Wians, evaluating his reading of book Epsilon of Aristotle’s Metaphysics and the role of Aristotle’s predecessors in the formation of his view, such as the Pythagoreans and Plato. A series of four questions are raised about the nature and strength of Wians’s thesis, providing critical notes on the conclusions of the argument.
Biomanufacturing of a functional microbial phytase in an insect host
Authors: Retief C. , Kumar S. , Tepper K. , Maselko M.
Published: December 2024

Insects, such as Black Soldier Flies (Hermetia illucens), are increasingly used as sustainable animal feed ingredients that can be reared on plentiful organic substrates such as agricultural residues and pre-consumer food waste. Genetically engineering insects to heterologously express feed additive enzymes has the potential to generate more value from organic waste, while improving livestock health and productivity. Phytases are widely used feed additive enzymes that hydrolyse the phosphate groups from the myo-inositol backbone of phytic acid, a phosphate rich antinutrient compound that monogastric animals cannot efficiently digest. Dietary phytase supplementation improves absorption of phosphorous, proteins, and cationic nutrients, while mitigating the negative environmental effects of phytic acid rich excreta. We evaluated the potential of using insects to biomanufacture microbial feed additive enzymes by engineering the model insect, Drosophila melanogaster, to express phytases. One histidine acid phytase, three beta propellor phytases, three purple acid phosphatases, and one PTP-like phytase were selected for screening in D. melanogaster. Transgenic flies expressing the AppA histidine acid phytase from E. coli had 27.82 FTU/g of phytase activity, which exceeds the 0.5-1.0 FTU/g required in animal feed. Maximum activity from AppA phytase expressed by D. melanogaster was observed at pH 5 and 55 °C, however, more than 50% of phytase activity was present at 25 °C and pH 2. Here we demonstrate that insects may be suitable hosts for the heterologous expression of a microbial phytase enzyme with applications for improving animal feed nutrition and organic waste valorisation.
Elizabeth Tudor’s Domestic Theatricality in the Windows of Kenilworth Castle
Authors: Loomis Allen
Published: December 2024

In the first half of the sixteenth century, England’s window glass industry was on the verge of collapse. The glass that was available was translucent, opaque, or stained—it was not intended to provide a clear view. In 1567, Jean Carré introduced advanced glassmaking technologies to England that produced clearer and more uniform glass, though it remained a luxury item. At Robert Dudley’s Kenilworth Castle in 1575, Queen Elizabeth appeared behind transparent bay windows, establishing a new paradigm of royal performance. She was able to observe the festivities outside while becoming a spectacle herself, seated within the bay window. Following this event, a trend emerged among aristocrats who sought to impress the queen with grand homes featuring expansive glass façades, hoping to host her and display her within their own ‘lantern houses.’ A notable example is Christopher Hatton’s Holdenby House, distinguished by its extensive use of transparent glass. To theorize how transparent glass windows blurred the boundaries between inside and outside, allowing the queen to see and be seen by her subjects, the article uses the term ‘domestic theatricality.’ Such reciprocal visibility shaped monarchical subjectivity by framing the queen as both observer and observed. This article argues that transparent glass windows transformed domestic architecture by turning homes into theaters where the queen and her subjects became both performers and spectators.
The Historiography and Historicity of Mercenaries and Private Military Contractors in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Baines Gary
Published: December 2024

This article seeks to understand the changing nature of mercenarism in postcolonial sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that shifts in social norms and politico-legal discourse have influenced attitudes to mercenaries. Where there was once international censure of their use, there is now a growing acceptance thereof. In the pursuit of cost effectiveness and political expediency, the privatisation of state security functions has given rise to a new phenomenon. Private Military Companies (pmc s) are entrusted to exercise force on behalf of or in partnership with the state and so have been accorded legitimacy. These changes will be examined in the light of Africa’s experience of mercenaries and private military contractors. It does not propose a singular trajectory of mercenarism but allows for contingency. It suggests that close attention should be paid to the historical context in which these varied forms have appeared.
The Extractive Power of Automated Surveillance
Authors: Shapiro Matan
Published: December 2024

Experts in Open-Source Intelligence (osint) and “Development Security Operations” (Dev-Sec-Ops) increasingly use automated tools to monitor databases, survey “targets” and identify cybersecurity threats. While the information they seek is usually freely available online, finding and extracting it requires special expertise. The extractive power of automated machines accelerates in this way the ubiquity of synoptic surveillance, while raising new ethical considerations that often obscure heuristic definitions between benevolent and malicious monitoring practices. Based on ethnographic research with osint and DevSecOps practitioners in the UK I identify this process analytically as an “authoritarian conundrum.” I argue that reliance on automatic data extraction thus redefines power relations online and discuss its potentially despotic effects.
Maritime Skills and the (Not So) Changing Qualification Landscape in Global Shipping
Authors: Mevik Camilla
Published: December 2024

This article examines transformations of labour through an exploration of the shipping sector and the emerging responses and adaptations of seafarers to processes aimed at standardising skills in an increasingly automated workplace. Focusing on on-board occupational relations, I investigate how maritime industries use labour and highlight the underlying dynamics behind how the popular image of the global transport system – which gives the impression of it being equivalent to a factory assembly line – is enabled and reinforced. The article argues that this image is not only connected to how the industry and its regulations are formally and institutionally produced – through logics of efficiency, large-scale infrastructure, and automation – but also enacted by the types of everyday labour seafarers undertake, whose skills, experiences, personalities, and social competencies, which shape their extractive practices in many ways, are deeply racialised and culturally biased.
Historicising Paradox and Secularisation
Authors: Nash David
Published: December 2024

This article argues that Joseph Blankholm’s concept of paradox needs to be applied more widely in the historical study of religious/secular relations. Blankholm’s study is useful but illuminates only a moment in the history of the secular (one representing a society where the expression of choice is encouraged by the absence of state religion). Examining the struggle between unbelievers and Christianity in 1880s/1890s Britain illuminates an entirely different moment in which a ‘Christian paradox’ is created by secular critics, commentators upon contemporary Christianity and by Christian modernisers. The Christian paradox emerged as a compulsion to leave behind, or downplay, unhelpful (unnecessary) religious doctrines. Yet the necessity of such doctrines/texts as fundamental to the morality and laws of the UK was enshrined in the claims of the established churches over their respective citizens. This meant their status as ‘markers’ was defended, whilst their explanatory power was melting away. Through an examination of arguments against Christianity, the religious paradox is examined alongside attempts to, alternately, both live with and end it. This emphasises that an individual paradox can ensnare and control both the secular AND the religious at different moments.
Theism and Non-theism
Authors: Baldassarre Silvia
Published: December 2024

The paper examines the legal definition of “religious denomination” and “religion”, seeking to understand whether a non-theist association can be considered a religious denomination and receive the same legal treatment as it, in the light of the legal path taken by both the European legal system and the national contexts analysed.
The Paradoxes of Taoism in the West
Authors: Lebranchu Marc
Published: December 2024

The attraction for Taoism, now coined World religion, which has gradually developed since the 1970s in the secularized West, reflects a twofold paradox. First, its very nature fits poorly into the standard Western category of religion. Then, Westerners who claim to be followers of or close to Taoism oscillate between search for authenticity and negation of its historical religious dimensions, and between the secularisation of Taoism and the return to religion. Is there then a Taoist paradox due to Taoism itself and counterpart, in a society indifferent to religion, to the Secular paradox highlighted by Joseph Blankholm within American society? This is what we will examine based on our work on the reception of Taoism in the West.
Caste, Religion, and Obscenities of Customs
Authors: Barathy M.G.
Published: December 2024

This article discusses the works of Athippakkam A. Venkatachala Nayagar (1799–1897), a radical secular thinker of 19th-century South India. Nayagar was part of an atheist organization called Madras Secular Society, and was one of the founding members of a lower-caste association. He wrote two significant works that challenged the dominance of Brahmins and other upper-caste communities in the Tamil country. His works have spawned reprints from both anti-caste secular organizations and caste associations, which occupy polarized positions on social issues. By building on Joseph Blankholm’s Secular Paradox, this paper explores the paradoxes generated by these reprints. It also critically studies the efforts undertaken by both groups to reconcile these paradoxes through multiple negotiations with caste, religion, and secularism. Through Nayagar’s case, it explores the intricate relationship between secular organizations and lower-caste associations in the colonial and post-colonial public sphere.
Assessment of a Light-Curable Hydrogel to Be Used for Root Canal Obturation
Authors: Bhandari S. , Kuehne S. , Camilleri J.
Published: December 2024

Root canal obturation involves filling of the chemomechanically prepared root canal space. Despite reduced microbial load, residual bacteria can still lead to reinfection and treatment failure. Currently, obturation techniques use a combination of gutta-percha and sealer, which requires the preparation of the root canal to specific sizes and tapers to enable the fitting of customized cones. This study aims to characterize the physical, chemical, and antimicrobial properties of a new light-curable injectable material (OdneFill, Switzerland) used to obturate the root canal. Odnefill and 2 root canal sealers (AH Plus and BioRoot RCS) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy following exposure to chlorhexidine, sodium hypochlorite, and water. The flow, film thickness, radiopacity, solubility, and contact angle were evaluated. The susceptibility to microbial degradation was assessed by weight changes after contact with bacterial enzymes (lipase and cholesterol esterase). A multispecies biofilm composed of Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Veillonella dispar was used to assess changes to the material microstructure (SEM). Further, bacterial viability in contact with the materials was evaluated using live/dead staining and confocal microscopy. A direct contact assay was carried out, and the utilization of the materials as a carbon source for the bacterial biofilm was also assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using 1-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc tests ( P = 0.05). OdneFill was composed of an organic matrix with zirconium oxide filler. It exhibited comparable physical properties to AH Plus and BioRoot RCS and was stable in contact with irrigating solutions and with the bacterial enzymes (cholesterol esterase and lipase). Its antimicrobial characteristics were better than those of AH Plus when placed in contact with a multispecies biofilm. Based on the findings, OdneFill presents itself as suitable root canal–filling material and warrants further clinical investigation.
Promise Programs and the Allocation of Institutional Expenditures at Community Colleges
Authors: Li Amy Y. , Billings Meredith S. , Gándara Denisa , Hu Xiaodan
Published: December 2024

Objective/Research Question: Many localities have implemented promise programs, which cover tuition for students to attend college based on residency criteria. These “free college” programs have been shown to increase student enrollment, creating the need for additional institutional resources to support student graduation. We analyzed the impact of 30 promise programs, each targeting a single community college, on institutional expenditures. Methods: Using data from 2001 to 2002 to 2015 to 2016, we incorporated generalized difference-in-differences estimation strategies and panel event-studies. Results: We find that the full sample of community colleges did not change their total spending per student nor their spending in the categories of instruction, student services, academic support, or institutional support. For privately funded programs, which receive revenues from donors, businesses, and philanthropic foundations, the affected colleges increased their institutional support per student. In contrast, publicly funded programs, which receive revenues from the college itself, the college foundation, or repurposed local appropriations, experienced increases in student services. Colleges with a combination of funding sources (mixed) observed no changes to spending in any category. Conclusions/Contributions: This study generates knowledge about expenditures within colleges, starting the conversation about adequacy of financial support, and investigates a first-level effect of programs on institutional expenditures to uncover the missing link between promise programs and enrollment outcomes.
The Case for Gauging as a Research Purpose in Public Administration: Connecting Purpose, Frameworks, Design, and Norms in Applied Research
Authors: Shields Patricia M. , Casula Mattia , Rangarajan Nandhini
Published: December 2024

This article proposes “gauging” as an unrecognized and useful research purpose for public administration. Unlike an explanatory research purpose, which uses an experimental logic and hypotheses, gauging incorporates a logic of rating and frameworks like standards. It is used in normative assessments such as accreditation, process evaluation, and regulatory policy. We argue that it should be part of public administration’s research tradition because it is widespread in public administration, links to applied research and practice, provides summative and formative assessment, connects evidence to the logic of law, and draws on pragmatism as a link to theory and mixed methods.
Maximum correntropy smoothers based on information theoretic learning in non-Gaussian environments
Authors: Ma Haiping , Liu Ting , Zhang Yajing , Fei Minrui , Zhou Huiyu
Published: December 2024

Non-Gaussian noise processing is difficult in dynamics systems, and smoothing plays an important role for state estimation. As an optimization criterion in information theoretic learning, the maximum correntropy has been recently applied to filtering tasks and achieves decent performance in various non-Gaussian scenarios. In this paper, by using maximum correntropy criterion instead of minimum mean square error criterion, two new smoothers called a fixed-point maximum correntropy smoother and a fixed-lag maximum correntropy smoother are proposed to improve smoothing performance in linear dynamics systems with complex non-Gaussian noise. Similar to the traditional Kalman smoother, the proposed smoothers are also online recursive algorithms, which use propagation equations to update the state estimates and the corresponding covariance matrices. In addition, the computational complexities of the proposed smoothers are analyzed, and their performance is further discussed mathematically using estimate covariance. The simulation results demonstrate that the two proposed maximum correntropy smoothers exhibit superior smoothing performance compared to conventional Kalman smoothers when the underlying system is subjected to non-Gaussian noise, and the best observed improvement in performance is approximately 50% and 80%, respectively.
Does Lower Psychological Need Satisfaction Foster Conspiracy Belief? Longitudinal Effects Over 3 Years in New Zealand
Authors: Albath Elianne A. , Greifeneder Rainer , Douglas Karen M. , Cichocka Aleksandra , Marques Mathew D. , Wilson Marc S. , Kerr John R. , Sibley Chris G. , Osborne Danny
Published: December 2024

Although conspiracy belief may arise from a frustration of psychological needs, research has yet to investigate these relationships over time. Using four annual waves of longitudinal panel data in New Zealand (2019–2022; N = 55,269), we examined the relationship between four psychological needs (namely belonging, control, meaning in life, and self-esteem) and conspiracy belief. Results from four random-intercept cross-lagged panel models reveal stable between-person effects indicating that those whose core needs are less satisfied tend to exhibit higher levels of conspiracy belief across time. Within-person analyses further identify small cross-lagged effects within individuals: decreases in levels of control and belonging, as well as increases in levels of meaning in life, temporally precede increases in conspiracy belief. Within-person fluctuations in conspiracy belief also have negative cross-lagged associations with control (but not with the three other needs). These data provide novel insights into the psychological factors that foster conspiracy belief.
Book review: Preetha Mani, The Idea of Indian Literature: Gender, Genre, and Comparative Method
Authors: Kavadi Mallika
Published: December 2024

Preetha Mani, The Idea of Indian Literature: Gender, Genre, and Comparative Method (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2022), xi + 288 pp.