bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Future of Cross-Border Insolvency
Authors: Mevorach Irit
Published: April 2018

This book interrogates the current cross-border insolvency regime and sets out a pattern to improve its future. In recent decades, and especially since the global financial crisis, a number of important initiatives have focused on developing effective solutions for managing the insolvency of multinational enterprises and financial institutions. This book takes stock of the varying success of previous policy, and identifies the gaps and biases that could be bridged by employing a range of strategies. The book first sets out the theoretical debates regarding cross-border insolvency and surveys the strengths and weaknesses of the prevailing method, ‘modified universalism’, synthesizing divergences into a rubric for both commercial entities and financial institutions. Adhering to these norms more robustly, the book argues, would enhance global welfare and produce the best outcomes for businesses and institutions. Drawing upon sources from international law as well as behavioural and economic theory, the book considers how to translate modified universalism into binding international law, how to choose the right instrument for cross-border insolvency, the impact instrument design has on decisions and choices, and the means to encourage compliance. In particular, the book proposes measures that could potentially overcome, or at least take into account, behavioural biases in decision-making in order to create a system that works for businesses, and offers a blueprint for the future of cross-border insolvency.
Economic Fluctuations in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Melina Giovanni , Portillo Rafael
Published: April 2018

The chapter compares business cycle fluctuations in sub-Saharan African countries to the rest of the world. Its main results are: (i) African economies stand out by their macroeconomic volatility, which is reflected in the volatility of output and other macro variables; (ii) inflation and output tend to be negatively correlated in SSA countries; (iii) unlike advanced economies and emerging markets (EMs), trade balances and current accounts are acyclical in SSA; (iv) the volatility of consumption and investment relative to GDP is larger than in other countries; (v) the cyclicality of consumption and investment is smaller than in advanced economies and EMs; (vi) there is little comovement between consumption and investment; and (vii) consumption and investment are strongly positively correlated with imports. The chapter provides a tentative interpretation in terms of the main shocks hitting these economies and the nature of the mechanisms amplifying or dampening these shocks.
Moral and Legal Obligations to Support ‘Family’
Authors: Jeske Diane
Published: April 2018

We have various kinds of moral obligations to take care of those to whom we stand in intimate relationships, and, for many of us, some of those whom we consider family are among our most important intimates. These moral obligations have various grounds; some are unique to intimate relationships while others also occur in non-intimate relationships. Given the centrality of intimate relationships and their attendant moral obligations to our lives, we need to consider what role, if any, political and legal institutions ought to play in protecting, enforcing, and/or regulating intimacy, whether familial or not. I consider various approaches that the state might take to intimate familial relationships and their possible justifications. I then consider state regulation of spousal support after the dissolution of a marriage to see what approach the state seems to take and whether this has implications for how it ought to proceed in other cases.
A derivation of Shape Dynamics
Authors: Mercati Flavio
Published: April 2018

By applying the principles of relational field theory to the gravitational field, and using 3D diffeomorphism invariance as our symmetry principle for best matching, it is feasible to reduce the working possibilities to just a few cases. One is a field-theory version of (GR), which is the limit of General Relativity in which the speed of light goes to infinity and the light cones open up to provide a notion of absolute simultaneity. Another is the opposite limit, dubbed ‘Carrollian Relativity’ by Levy–Leblond, in which the speed of light goes to zero and each point is causally isolated from the other. This limit is related to the so-called ‘BKL’ behaviour that appears to be universal near singularities. The penultimate possibility is (GR), while the last one is SD, which emerges as the unique generalization of the theory that allows for an arbitrary value of the one free coefficient in the supermetric.
To the Best of Our Knowledge
Authors: Goldberg Sanford C.
Published: April 2018

We expect certain things of each other as epistemic subjects, and it is the normativity of these expectations that underwrites the normativity of epistemic assessment itself. In developing this claim Sanford C. Goldberg aims to honor the insights of both internalist and externalist approaches to epistemic justification. With the internalist he embraces the idea that knowledgeable belief requires belief that is formed and maintained in an epistemically responsible fashion; with the externalist he embraces the idea that knowledgeable belief requires belief that is formed and sustained through a reliable process. In this book Goldberg proposes to marry these two dimensions into a single account of the standards of epistemic assessment. This marriage reflects our profound and ineliminable dependence on one another for what we know of the world—a dependence which is rationalized by the expectations we are entitled to have of one another as epistemic subjects. The expectations in question are those through which we hold each other accountable to standards of both (epistemic) reliability and (epistemic) responsibility. The resulting theory has far-reaching implications not only for the theory of epistemic normativity, but also for our understanding of epistemic defeat, the theory of epistemic responsibility, and for a full appreciation of the various social dimensions of knowledge.
Epicentric Tonality and the Greek Lyric Tradition
Authors: Franklin John C.
Published: April 2018

This chapter presents core evidence supporting the thesis that vestiges of the classical Mesopotamian tuning system, going back at least to the Old Babylonian period (c.2000–1600 bce), can be detected in the earliest Greek material relating to the seven-stringed lyre—a standard configuration from Mycenaean times until the fifth century. Independent development is ruled out by the shared conceptual and practical emphasis on a middle string in both systems. Collation of the two sets of evidence permits reconstruction (mutatis mutandis) of several features of both a practical and conceptual nature. This material imposes a well-defined set of tonal parameters for analysing and imagining the music of Archaic poetry or later work that consciously maintained or alluded to those early conventions.
Using fiction in organization and management research
Authors: Holt Robin , Zundel Mike
Published: April 2018

Robin Holt and Mike Zundel describe their use of another unconventional source of data—a television fictional crime series. They argue that the boundaries between ‘soft fiction’ and ‘hard fact’ are blurred, and that fictional accounts can generate insights into aspects of organizational and social life more effectively than conventional methods. The relationship between fiction and social science can be understood in four ways: fictional research, fiction as inspiration, fiction as data, and fiction as research. Their approach is illustrated with an analysis of the cult television crime series The Wire, which is based on the drugs trade in Baltimore, involving the gangs, police, social workers, churches, local authorities, and wider community. The Wire can be seen as a rich ethnography, illustrating how fiction can illuminate individual, group, and organizational phenomena including emotions, hopes, fears, and conflicts, and the wider social condition, highlighting the institutional constraints on individual behaviour.
Institutions under a microscope
Authors: Bitektine Alex , Lucas Jeffrey W. , Schilke Oliver
Published: April 2018

Alex Bitektine, Jeffrey W. Lucas, and Oliver Schilke describe the unconventional use of experimental research designs, using fundamental or applied research logics, to develop understanding of institutions in organizational contexts. The advantages and challenges of experimental designs are explored, and examples of experimental research in institutional theory are reviewed, emphasizing their methodological distinctions and the theoretical questions that they address. Institutional theory has traditionally focused on contextual, higher-order factors such as culture, norms, and beliefs, where experimental designs were largely overlooked. The approach advocated here, in contrast, focuses on the micro-foundations of institutions in individual cognition and agency. Practical guidance for researchers who are interested in using experimental designs in institutional theory studies is provided. Promising future directions for experimental research in institutional theory are explored, such as developing multilevel conceptualizations of institutional processes, and improving our understanding of the links between micro-level mechanisms and macro-level effects, and vice versa.
Doublespeak
Authors: Adams-Prassl Jeremias
Published: April 2018

This chapter turns to linguistic matters. It explores how, despite their focus on commercial labour intermediation, platforms were originally cast in a different light, operating under the mantle of a ‘sharing economy’. Superficial as this may seem, language matters—not least as a driver of regulatory approaches. To understand the gig economy, it is crucial that we look behind the language of innovation and technology, of sharing and collaborative consumption, and of ‘gigs’ and ‘tasks’. This chapter first focuses on arguments that the gig economy should not be regulated at all, discerning multiple iterations of this approach, with varying degrees of sophistication. At its crudest, this is the story that the law stands in the way of innovation and should leave ‘disruptive’ businesses well alone. At a more sophisticated level, we then encounter different proposals for new forms of regulation.
Criminal Culpability
Authors: Yaffe Gideon
Published: April 2018

This chapter offers and defends a theory of criminal culpability according to which to be criminally culpable for a wrongful act is for the act to manifest faulty dispositions for recognizing, weighing, or responding to the legal reasons to refrain from the act. The chapter clarifies this position by explaining what such dispositions are, what it is for them to be faulty, and the conditions under which they are manifested in an act. Under the position presented here, there is a distinction between criminal culpability and moral culpability corresponding to the distinction between legal and moral reasons to refrain from an act. The chapter also distinguishes the view proposed from both character theories of responsibility and quality of will theories.
Herodotus and the Transformation of Ancient Near Eastern Motifs
Authors: Rollinger Robert
Published: April 2018

A revealing and intriguing example of how Ancient Near Eastern story-patterns have been reshaped and reworked is Herodotus’ report about the enthronement of Darius as new King of the Persian Empire (Hdt. 3.84–9). In a fanciful and ironic way Herodotus explains the success of Darius in being chosen as the new King, with the assistance of his groom and an omen of a neighing horse. Herodotus also introduces a fictitious monument as a means of authentication allegedly celebrating Darius’ enthronement with the help of his smart groom. This monument reveals striking similarities with an Urartian royal relief which is described in detail in two inscriptions of the Assyrian king Sargon II (721–705 BC). Together with other Ancient Near Eastern elements referring to horse oracles and their specific setting as well as a parallel tradition testified by Ctesias of Cnidos an Ancient Near Eastern story-pattern comes to the fore that was, however, transferred by Herodotus into a completely new narrative.
Getting Rid of Fast Waves: Slow Dynamics
Authors: Zeitlin Vladimir
Published: April 2018

After analysis of general properties of horizontal motion in primitive equations and introduction of principal parameters, the key notion of geostrophic equilibrium is introduced. Quasi-geostrophic reductions of one- and two-layer rotating shallow-water models are obtained by a direct filtering of fast inertia–gravity waves through a choice of the time scale of motions of interest, and by asymptotic expansions in Rossby number. Properties of quasi-geostrophic models are established. It is shown that in the beta-plane approximations the models describe Rossby waves. The first idea of the classical baroclinic instability is given, and its relation to Rossby waves is explained. Modifications of quasi-geostrophic dynamics in the presence of coastal, topographic, and equatorial wave-guides are analysed. Emission of mountain Rossby waves by a flow over topography is demonstrated. The phenomena of Kelvin wave breaking, and of soliton formation by long equatorial and topographic Rossby waves due to nonlinear effects are explained.
Vortex Dynamics on the f and beta Plane and Wave Radiation by Vortices
Authors: Zeitlin Vladimir
Published: April 2018

Quasi-geostrophic dynamics being essentially the vortex dynamics, the main notions of vortex dynamics in the plane are introduced in this chapter. Dynamics of vorticity is treated both in Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions. Dynamics of point vortices and vortex patches (contour dynamics) are recalled, as well as discretisations of the vorticity equation preserving Casimir invariants, which reflect Lagrangian conservation of vorticity. The influence of the beta effect upon vortices is illustrated, and exact modon solutions of the QG equations on the f and beta planes are constructed. Basic notions of turbulence and specific features of two dimensional turbulence are reviewed for future use. Lighthill radiation of gravity waves by vortices is illustrated on the example of a pair of point vortices, and back-reaction of the radiation upon the vortex system is demonstrated and analysed. Influence of rotation upon the Lighthill radiation is explained. Construction of the Kirchhoff vortex solution is proposed as a problem.
Resonant Wave Interactions and Resonant Excitation of Wave-guide Modes
Authors: Zeitlin Vladimir
Published: April 2018

The idea of resonant nonlinear interactions of waves, and of resonant wave triads, is first explained using the example of Rossby waves, and then used to highlight a mechanism of excitation of wave-guide modes, by impinging free waves at the oceanic shelf, and at the equator. Physics and mathematics of the mechanism, which is related to the phenomena of parametric resonance and wave modulation, are explained in detail in both cases. The resulting modulation equations, of Ginzburg–Landau or nonlinear Schrodinger type, are obtained by multi-scale asymptotic expansions and elimination of resonances, after the explanation of this technique. The chapter thus makes a link between geophysical fluid dynamics and other branches of nonlinear physics. A variety of nonlinear phenomena including coherent structure formation is displayed. The resonant excitation of wave-guide modes provides an efficient mechanism of energy transfer to the wave guides from the large to the small.
Fiction and Pragmatics in Ancient Greek Lyric
Authors: D’Alessio Giambattista
Published: April 2018

This chapter offers an analysis of the ways in which the language of Sappho’s poems makes use of pragmatic elements that evoke a link to an extratextual world. Through this analysis, the dominant interpretative paradigm is questioned that sees Sappho’s poetry as primarily embedded within a ritual performance context, as well as the alternative reading that explains some of its most salient features as due to strategies enabled by the adoption of writing as a medium of communication. While emphasizing the centrality of performance as a theme and a concern in Sappho’s poems, the chapter shows how the texts often locate themselves outside a proper performative frame, providing a look at ritual from a marginal, personal, and yet powerfully exemplary perspective.
Lyric Minds
Authors: Budelmann Felix
Published: April 2018

Like other lyric, the solo lyric of early Greece creates encounters with another mind. Drawing on the psychological phenomenon of ‘mentalizing’, this chapter attempts to capture the quality of these encounters. In contrast to epic or drama, where we observe a multiplicity of characters as they interact with one another horizontally, lyric minds attain complexity vertically: audiences encounter the mind of the speaker in the text, that of the performer, and of the author. Lyric thus fragments and asks us to reassemble what in ordinary life is one—the flesh-and-blood person before us, the words, and the person from whom the words originate—and thus creates its peculiar blend of immediacy and opacity. In the course of this argument, a case is made for the necessary truthfulness of the lyric speaker. Whereas the lyric performer inhabits words that are not wholly his/her own, the lyric speaker is necessarily truthful.
Causes of Death
Authors: Anderson Michael , Roughley Corinne
Published: April 2018

The principal reported causes of death have changed dramatically since the 1860s, though changes in categorization of causes and improved diagnosis make it difficult to be precise about timings. Diseases particularly affecting children such as measles and whooping cough largely disappeared as killers by the 1950s. Deaths particularly linked to unclean environments and poor sanitary infrastructure also declined, though some can kill babies and the elderly even today. Pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchitis were eventually largely controlled. Reported cancer, stroke, and heart disease mortality showed upward trends well into the second half of the twentieth century, though some of this was linked to diagnostic improvement. Both fell in the last decades of our period, but Scotland still had among the highest rates in Western Europe. Deaths from accidents and drowning saw significant falls since World War Two but, especially in the past 25 years, suicide, and alcohol and drug-related deaths rose.
The Elements and Patterns of Being
Authors: Williams Donald C.
Published: April 2018

This book collects six influential articles and six previously unpublished essays in metaphysics by Donald C. Williams. The first chapter is a defense of metaphysics. The second chapter is the classic statement of the ontology of abstract particulars or tropes. The third and fourth chapters expound a realist theory of universals based on trope ontology. The fifth is a systematic presentation of actualism—the view that the world is a four-dimensional manifold of actual ‘qualitied contents’. The sixth is an articulation of an objectivist account of necessity and possibility, given actualism and trope ontology. The seventh dispenses with existence because existence is merely the sum of actual existents, as per actualism. Chapters 8–12 expound the four-dimensionalist metaphysics of time in connection with the problems of determinism, fatalism, future contingents, the passage of time, time’s arrow, and time travel. These essays, as ordered by the editor, convey for the first time the systematic vision of Williams’s metaphysics. This book comes with an informative Introduction to the major aspects of Williams’s metaphysics in its historical context.
Prosodic and information-structural factors in word order variation
Authors: Hinterhölzl Roland , Petrova Svetlana
Published: April 2018

This chapter proposes an analysis that derives the word order variation in dependent clauses in OHG within a universal VO base order, plus additional cyclic leftward movement operations that target different information-structural projections in the complex left periphery of the clause. More precisely, it is argued that categories conveying contrastive information land in [Spec,FocP], with the finite verb targeting Foc° and marking the left edge of the new-information focus domain, while background information is placed further left, between ForceP and FocP. This positional realization of the verb and phrases expressing different semantic types of focus is considered a special strategy of disambiguating broad from narrow focus, as well as of avoiding the clash of two focus phrases in the middle field of clauses with multiple foci.
Organizing and Reorganizing Markets and Formal Organizations: A Comparison
Authors: Brunsson Nils , Jutterström Mats
Published: April 2018

The study of market organization can be used for a comparison between organizing markets and organizing formal organizations. W use the empirical results for adding a systematic investigation of the similarities and differences between these activities. There are strong similarities in how organization takes place in practice—not least regarding the dynamics of organization, the ample supply of problems driving reorganization, and the unintended and uncertain effects of organization. We point to differences in such aspects as the number of organizers and their responsibility, who is organized—individuals or organizations—the extensiveness of organization, and the incentives for reorganization. While there are many similarities in the practice of organizing markets and organizations, most differences can be explained by differences in standard views, about how markets and organizations function. Theories of organization are useful for understanding both markets and formal organizations and the study of market organization is likely to be an important contribution to organization theory in general.
Modernist Physics
Authors: Crossland Rachel
Published: April 2018

Modernist Physics takes as its focus the ideas associated with three scientific papers published by Albert Einstein in 1905, considering the dissemination of those ideas both within and beyond the scientific field, and exploring the manifestation of similar ideas in the literary works of Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Drawing on Gillian Beer’s suggestion that literature and science ‘share the moment’s discourse’, Modernist Physics seeks both to combine and to distinguish between the two standard approaches within the field of literature and science: direct influence and the zeitgeist. The book is divided into three parts, each of which focuses on the ideas associated with one of Einstein’s papers. Part I considers Woolf in relation to Einstein’s paper on light quanta, arguing that questions of duality and complementarity had a wider cultural significance in the early twentieth century than has yet been acknowledged, and suggesting that Woolf can usefully be considered a complementary, rather than a dualistic, writer. Part II looks at Lawrence’s reading of at least one book on relativity in 1921, and his subsequent suggestion in Fantasia of the Unconscious that ‘we are in sad need of a theory of human relativity’—a theory which is shown to be relevant to Lawrence’s writing of relationships both before and after 1921. Part III considers Woolf and Lawrence together alongside late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century discussions of molecular physics and crowd psychology, suggesting that Einstein’s work on Brownian motion provides a useful model for thinking about individual literary characters.
Jansenism and England
Authors: Palmer Thomas
Published: April 2018

This book examines the impact in mid- to later seventeenth-century England of the major contemporary religious controversy in France, which revolved around the formal condemnation of a heresy popularly called Jansenism. The associated debates involved fundamental questions about the doctrine of grace and moral theology, about the life of the Church and the conduct of individual Christians. The book offers an analysis of the main themes of the controversy and an account of instances of English interest, arguing that English Protestant theologians who were in the process of working out their own views on basic theological questions recognized the relevance of the continental debates. The arguments evolved by the French writers also constitute a point of comparison for the developing views of English theologians. Where the Jansenists reasserted an Augustinian emphasis on the gratuity of salvation against Catholic theologians who overvalued the powers of human nature, the English writers examined here, arguing against Protestant theologians who denied nature any moral potency, emphasized man’s contribution to his own salvation. Both arguments have been seen to contain a corrosive individualism, the former through its preoccupation with the luminous experience of grace, the latter through its tendency to elide grace and moral virtue. These assessments are challenged here. Nevertheless, these theologians did encourage greater individualism. Focusing on the affective experience of conversion, they developed forms of moral rigorism which represented, in both cases, an attempt to provide a reliable basis for Christian faith and practice in the fragmented intellectual context of post-Reformation Europe.
Citizenship as Performance
Authors: Duplouy Alain
Published: April 2018

Looking for a definition of archaic citizenship that will be elaborated on positive evidence, and not reduced to the idea of an ‘incomplete’ status roughly enshrined in emerging legal criteria, the chapter proposes to assess archaic citizenship as a performance embodied in individual and collective behaviours. In a world rooted in social mobility, the privileges and opportunities of a citizen had to be permanently demonstrated in order to be acknowledged and accepted by other members of the community. Across the Greek world there were multiple behaviours deeply embedded in social practices through which citizenship could be asserted or even claimed. Adopting the normative behaviours of the citizens in all aspects of one’s lifestyle provided the best means of being acknowledged as a fellow citizen. Two specific sets of citizen behaviours are discussed, horse-breeding and luxury practices, eventually stressing how citizens could often be defined as elites.
Criminal Misconduct in Office
Authors: Horder Jeremy
Published: April 2018

The book is principally concerned with the use of the criminal law to deter and punish corruption in politics: from employing family members at public expense to improper spending on elections. Its main focus is the application of the offence of misconduct in public office to Members of Parliament. The criminal law should not be the sole or even the main way to tackle all corruption in politics. However, the offence of misconduct in a public office should nonetheless be seen as a constitutional fundamental. It provides a way in which corrupt conduct on the part of legislators (and other officials) can be deterred and punished with an appropriate label, thereby making them account for the misuse of power by reference to the standards of ordinary people. When other—civil law or regulatory—means prove insufficient, it should be possible for ordinary members of a jury, and not, or not just, for parliamentarians or other officials, to decide whether—for example—the expenditure of public money on legislators’ private income and benefits amounts to a criminal abuse of the public’s trust. This is what I call the ‘bottom-up’ (jury standards-led) as opposed to the ‘top-down’ (officials applying their own standards) view of the role of the criminal law in constitutional contexts. In developing this theme, an important intellectual challenge is also taken up: the provision of a history, philosophy, and politics of the offence of misconduct in office, an offence hitherto little considered by mainstream criminal law theorists in the UK.
Accumulation by Segregation
Authors: Jamil Ghazala
Published: April 2018

Through an ethnographic exploration of everyday life infused with Marxist urbanism and critical theory, this work charts out the changes taking place in Muslim neighbourhoods in Delhi in the backdrop of rapid urbanization and capitalist globalization. It argues that there is an implicit materialist logic in prejudice and segregation experienced by Muslims. Further, it finds that different classes within Muslims are treated differentially in the discriminatory process. The resultant spatial ‘diversity’ and differentiation this gives rise to among the Muslim neighbourhoods creates an illusion of ‘choice’ but in reality, the flexibility of the confining boundaries only serve to make these stronger and shatterproof. It is asserted that while there is no attempt at integration of Muslims socially and spatially, from within the structures of urban governance, it would be a fallacy to say that the state is absent from within these segregated enclaves. The disciplinary state, neo-liberal processes of globalization, and the discursive practices such as news media, cinema, social science research, combine together to produce a hegemonic effect in which stereotyped representations are continually employed uncritically and erroneously to prevent genuine attempts at developing specific and nuanced understanding of the situation of urban Muslims in India. The book finds that the exclusion of Muslims spatially and socially is a complex process containing contradictory elements that have reduced Indian Muslims to being ‘normative’ non-citizens and homo sacer whose legal status is not an equal claim to citizenship. The book also includes an account of the way in which residents of these segregated Muslim enclaves are finding ways to build hope in their lives.
Visual Experience
Authors: Breckenridge Wylie
Published: April 2018

This book uses semantic considerations to develop a metaphysical theory of the nature of the character of visual experience. By developing a theory of what we mean by the ‘look’ sentences that we use to describe the characters of our visual experiences, it develops a theory of what it is to have a visual experience with a certain character. The theory turns out to be an adverbial theory: for every character c there is a way of occurring w such that to have a visual experience with character c is to have a visual experience that is occurring in way w. There are various problems faced by adverbial theories; the book proposes solutions to these problems, drawing heavily upon particular features of the theory, especially upon its understanding of ways of occurring and the relations between them. There are various other phenomena that a theory of the character of visual experience ought to allow for and, even better, be able to explain; the book considers the extent to which the theory developed can allow for and explain them.
War, Revolution, and Nation-Making in Lithuania, 1914-1923
Authors: Balkelis Tomas
Published: April 2018

This book explores how war made the Lithuanian state and shaped society from the onset of the Great War in 1914 to the last waves of violence in 1923. As the very notion of an independent Lithuania was constructed during the war, violence became an essential part of the formation of Lithuanian state, nation, and identity. War was much more than simply the historical context in which the tectonic change from empire to nation state took place. It transformed people, policies, institutions, and modes of thought in ways that would continue to shape the nation for decades after the conflict subsided. By telling the story of the post-World War I conflict in Lithuania, the book focuses on the juncture between soldiers and civilians rather than the strategies and acts of politicians, generals, or diplomats. Its two main themes are the impact of military, social, and cultural mobilizations on the local population, and different types of violence that were so characteristic of the region throughout the period. The actors in this story are people displaced by war and mobilized for war: refugees, veterans, volunteers, peasant conscripts, prisoners of war, paramilitary fighters, and others who took to guns, not diplomacy, to assert their power. The book tells the story of how their lives were changed by war and how they shaped the society that emerged after war.
Trusting Enemies
Authors: Wheeler Nicholas J.
Published: April 2018

How can two enemies, locked into a spiral of fear and insecurity, transform their relationship into a trusting one? Trusting Enemies argues that the field of International Relations has not done a good job of answering this question. This is because it has been looking in the wrong place. Where trust-building has been theorized by the discipline of International Relations, the focus has been on the state and the individual. This book argues that there is a need to appreciate the importance of a new level of analysis in trust research—the interpersonal. In its development of a theory of interpersonal trust between state leaders in adversarial relationships, this book argues that the obstacles to leaders sincerely signalling their peaceful intent can be overcome and that trust-based relationships provide the greatest assurance of accurate signal interpretation. This book examines three cases: the interaction between US and Soviet leaders Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and its role in ending the cold war; the interaction between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its role in the Lahore peace process of 1998–9; and the interactions across 2009–10 between Barack Obama and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that did not lead to a breakthrough in the US–Iranian nuclear relationship.
The Effect of Hyperoxygenated Fatty Acids in Preventing Skin Lesions Caused by Surgical Pneumatic Tourniquets
Authors: Castillo Martín Beatriz , Castillo Martín Juan Ignacio , Lago Oliver Jesús , Diz Gómez Jorge
Published: April 2018

OBJECTIVES:

To determine whether hyperoxygenated fatty acids (HOFAs) provide safe and effective protection against lesions caused by surgical pneumatic tourniquets (SPTs).

METHODS:

This was a nonrandomized, single-blind, 2-arm, prospective, comparative study. The study was approved by the Ethics and Clinical Research Commission of the Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, in Madrid, Spain. Subjects in the intervention group were treated topically with HOFAs (Linovera; B. Braun Medical Inc, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) at the site (upper and lower limbs) where an SPT was to be applied. An elastic bandage was then set in place and finally the SPT. Control subjects were treated in the same way, but no HOFAs were applied.

PARTICIPANTS:

The study subjects were all patients of the Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery at the Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón for whom the use of an SPT was indicated for 60 minutes or longer. In total, 174 patients completed the study, 83 in the HOFA-treatment arm and 91 in the control arm. All subjects gave their informed consent to be included.

MAIN OUTCOME:

Assessment of the lesions induced by the SPT after its removal.

MAIN RESULTS:

Significant correlations were found between the risk of developing lesions and age 70 years or older (P = .021), a duration of ischemia of 70 minutes or longer (P = .006), and being a member of the control group (P < .001). Some 93.4% of the intervention group experienced only a grade 0 to 1 skin lesion compared with 55.4% of the control group. Moreover, 44.6% of the control arm subjects suffered a grade 2 to 4 lesion compared with only 6% of the HOFA-treated subjects. No subject in the treatment arm suffered any important skin lesion; in the control arm, however, 2 patients suffered edema, another suffered induration, and 2 experienced abrasions.

CONCLUSIONS:

The use of topical HOFAs, in conjunction with the application of an elastic bandage before applying an SPT, is a safe and effective way of preventing SPT-induced skin lesions.
Using Computer-Adaptive Quizzing as a Tool for National Council Licensure Examination Success
Authors: Pence Jill , Wood Felecia
Published: April 2018

This study examined the relationship between using computer-adaptive quizzing (CAQ) and first-time National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) success. A retrospective, descriptive, correlational design was used to analyze the relationship between use of a CAQ program and first-time NCLEX results of 194 baccalaureate graduates. Chi-square analysis suggested that there was an association between using the software and NCLEX success (p < .001, df = 1), with 16 percent of those without access compared to 1 percent with access being unsuccessful on the licensure exam. Results support using CAQ as formative preparation for the NCLEX.
IVF Transfer of Fresh or Frozen Embryos in Women Without Polycystic Ovaries
Authors: Vuong Lan N. , Dang Vinh Q. , Ho Tuong M. , Huynh Bao G. , Ha Duc T. , Pham Toan D. , Nguyen Linh K. , Norman Robert J. , Mol Ben W.
Published: April 2018

(Abstracted from N Engl J Med 2018;378:137–147)

After its introduction in 1978, in vitro fertilization (IVF) was traditionally performed by the transfer of fresh embryos. With improvements in IVF technology, the number of multiple pregnancies increased, leading to a gradual reduction in the number of embryos transferred. To allow subsequent transfer when the fresh cycle was unsuccessful, the technique of embryo freezing was developed. A recent large, randomized trial comparing frozen-embryo transfer with fresh-embryo transfer in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who were undergoing IVF showed that the live-birth rate was significantly higher with frozen-embryo transfer. Whether frozen-embryo transfer also results in higher live-birth rates in women with infertility not associated with PCOS is unknown.
Obesity and Perioperative Complications in Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery in 2013: Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample
Authors: Pratt Toya S. , Hudson Catherine O. , Northington Gina M. , Greene Kristie A.
Published: April 2018

(Abstracted from Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2018;24:51–55)

In the United States, more than a third of adults are obese (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2). Obese women undergoing hysterectomies have more wound complications, infections, and operative times compared with nonobese women. There are few national-level data on the impact of obesity on surgical morbidity among women undergoing pelvic reconstructive surgery.
Effects of Episodic Alcohol Exposure on BMP2 Signaling During Tibia Fracture Healing
Authors: Bratton Anthony , Eisenberg Joshua , Vuchkovska Aleksandra , Roper Philip , Callaci John J.
Published: April 2018

Objectives:

To explore how alcohol affects the BMP-2 signaling pathway, which is known to play a critical role in bone and cartilage formation during fracture healing.

Methods:

A rat model was used to demonstrate the detrimental effects of alcohol exposure on tibia fracture healing. Specific components of the BMP-2 pathway were analyzed in fracture callus on days 3, 7, 14, and 21 after fracture via western immunoassays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results:

Alcohol exposure before tibia fracture demonstrated attenuation of downstream BMP-2 signaling. The BMP-2 antagonist, Chordin, may be the central component of the BMP-2-related changes demonstrated in this study. Although alcohol affected BMP-related proteins at all time points, it seems that day 14 after fracture is a critical time point for alcohol-related modulation of callus formation in our model.

Conclusions:

This study may provide the scientific basis for further studies addressing whether the application of exogenous BMP-2 in patients with a history of alcohol abuse who sustain long bone fractures may or may not be of benefit.
Outcomes in Early Versus Late Presentation of Focal Fibrocartilaginous Dysplasia Affecting the Upper Extremity: A Review of 4 Cases
Authors: Gershkovich Grigory , Kahan David M. , Kozin Scott H. , Zlotolow Daniel A.
Published: April 2018

Background:

Focal fibrocartilaginous dysplasia (FFCD) is a rare disorder of the upper and lower extremities. In the distal ulna, a ligamentous tether emerging from the metaphysis crosses the physis and restricts growth, leading to deformity. Lesion excision before radiocapitellar subluxation has been shown to restore growth and allow remodeling. We review the outcomes of 4 patients with FFCD of the distal ulna after the occurrence of radiocapitellar incongruity.

Methods:

This retrospective review examined 4 patients diagnosed with FFCD of the distal ulna from 2007 to 2015. Diagnosis was based on radiographic parameters and pathology when available. The radiographic and functional outcomes are reported.

Results:

Three males and 1 female patient presented at an average of 37.5 months (range, 22 to 48 mo) with ulnar FFCD and radiocapitellar joint incongruity. The first patient had progressive radiocapitellar dislocation, poor motion, pain, and deformity. The second patient presented for a third opinion after previous surgery secondary to deformity progression and radial head dislocation. These patients required salvage procedures with creation of a 1-bone forearm. Patient 3 had frank dislocation of the radiocapitellar joint, yet maintained functional motion. This family elected for continued observation. Patient 4 had a 50% subluxation of the radiocapitellar joint and underwent tether excision and ulnar lengthening with an external fixator. Both joint congruity and deformity improved with functional forearm and elbow motion.

Conclusions:

Delayed treatment of ulnar FFCD may require salvage procedures to maximize function and provide pain relief.
Predictors of Laparoscopic Simulation Performance Among Practicing Obstetrician Gynecologists
Authors: Mathews Shyama , Brodman Michael , D'Angelo Debra , Chudnoff Scott , McGovern Peter , Kolev Tamara , Bensinger Giti , Mudiraj Santosh , Nemes Andreea , Feldman David , Kischak Patricia , Ascher-Walsh Charles
Published: April 2018

(Abstracted from Am J Obstet Gynecol 2017;217:596.e1–596.e7)

Gynecology is a unique surgical specialty in that a large percentage of attending physicians in this field perform a small number of surgical procedures each year. Therefore, there is a greater need compared with other specialties to provide methods by which gynecologists can maintain surgical skills. Simulation has gained acceptance as a useful method for technical skill training and assessment in a variety of surgical specialties. Several studies have demonstrated that simulation training is an effective method for improving laparoscopic surgical performance in surgical residents in obstetrics and gynecology, but few have addressed the use of simulated laparoscopic surgical training in attending surgeons. Evaluating performance as it correlates to active physician practice provides an opportunity for gynecologists to assess their skill and individualize training to maintain skill levels as case volumes fluctuate.
OV21/PETROC: A Randomized Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup Phase II Study of Intraperitoneal Versus Intravenous Chemotherapy Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Optimal Debulking Surgery in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Provencher D. M. , Gallagher C. J. , Parulekar W. R. , Ledermann J. A. , Armstrong D. K. , Brundage M. , Gourley C. , Romero I. , Gonzalez-Martin A. , Feeney M. , Bessette P. , Hall M. , Weberpals J. I. , Hall G. , Lau S. K. , Gauthier P. , Fung-Kee-Fung M. , Eisenhauer E. A. , Winch C. , Tu D. , MacKay H. J.
Published: April 2018

(Abstracted from Ann Oncol 2018;29(2):431–438)

The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) prior to surgical debulking is increasingly used for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In women with EOC, the principal site of disease is the peritoneal cavity. As a means of increasing the dose intensity delivered to the tumor, intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy has been investigated. Three randomized clinical trials and a meta-analysis have demonstrated improved survival for women with stage III EOC who—following optimal, primary debulking surgery—received a combination of intravenous (IV) and IP chemotherapy. Updated data from Gynecologic Oncology Group trial 172 (GOG 172), the most recent of these trials, reported continued benefit for women who had received the experimental arm. However, the use of IP/IV chemotherapy for advanced-stage EOC remains controversial. There has been a continuing debate on the impact of drug scheduling on the benefits of IP and concern over the toxicity of IP cisplatin used in the positive studies, compared with IV carboplatin.
The Impact of a Dedicated Robotic Team on Robotic-Assisted Sacrocolpopexy Outcomes
Authors: Carter-Brooks Charelle M. , Du Angela L. , Bonidie Michael J. , Shepherd Jonathan P.
Published: April 2018

(Abstracted from Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2018;24:13–16)

The use of robotic surgery in female reconstructive surgery has enabled more surgeons to perform sacrocolpopexies using a minimally invasive procedure. Compared with abdominal sacrocolpopexy, this approach is associated with decreased blood loss, postoperative pain, length of admission, and postoperative morbidity, but with similar long-term outcomes. The robotic-assisted surgical system is the most expensive modality for sacrocolpopexy and has been criticized for its high cost.
Mobile forward-looking infrared technology allows rapid assessment of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta in hemorrhage and blackout conditions
Authors: Barron Morgan R. , Kuckelman John P. , McClellan John M. , Derickson Michael J. , Phillips Cody J. , Marko Shannon T. , Sokol Kyle , Eckert Matthew J. , Martin Matthew J.
Published: April 2018

INTRODUCTION

Objective assessment of final resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) position and adequate distal aortic occlusion is critical in patients with hemorrhagic shock, especially as feasibility is being increasingly investigated in the prehospital setting. We propose that mobile forward-looking infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging is a fast, reliable, and noninvasive method to assess REBOA position and efficacy in scenarios applicable to battlefield and prehospital care.

METHODS

Ten swine were randomized to a 40% hemorrhage group (H, n = 5) or nonhemorrhage group (NH, n = 5). Three experiments were completed after Zone I placement of a REBOA catheter. Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta was deployed for 30 minutes in all animals followed by randomized continued deployment versus sham in both light and blackout conditions. Forward-looking infrared images and hemodynamic data were obtained. Images were presented to 62 blinded observers for assessment of REBOA inflation status.

RESULTS

There was no difference in hemodynamic or laboratory values at baseline. The H group was significantly more hypotensive (mean arterial pressure 44 vs. 60 mm Hg, p < 0.01), vasodilated (systemic vascular resistance 634 vs. 938dyn·s/cm5, p = 0.02), and anemic (hematocrit 12 vs. 23.2%, p < 0.01). Hemorrhage group animals remained more hypotensive, anemic, and acidotic throughout all three experiments. There was a significant difference in the temperature change (ΔTemp) measured by FLIR between animals with REBOA inflated versus not inflated (5.7°C vs. 0.7°C, p < 0.01). The H and NH animals exhibited equal magnitudes of ΔTemp in both inflated and deflated states. Blinded observer analysis of FLIR images correctly identified adequate REBOA inflation and aortic occlusion 95.4% at 5 minutes and 98.8% at 10 minutes (positive predictive value at 5 minutes = 99% and positive predictive value at 10 minutes = 100%).

CONCLUSIONS

Mobile thermal imaging is an easy, rapid, and reliable method for assessing distal perfusion after occlusion by REBOA. Smartphone-based FLIR technology allows for confirmation of adequate REBOA placement at the point of care, and performance was not degraded in the setting of major hemorrhage or blackout conditions.