bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
European Integration and Economic Models for Emerging Economies
Authors: Csaba László
Published: October 2024

This chapter elaborates on how first the perspective, then later accession, and finally actual membership in the European Union (EU) has contributed to shaping the economic order. This issue is broader than that of quantitative growth performance in the formerly socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The chapter posits that though the process of becoming an EU member has been helpful, the value of actual membership has proven to be more ambiguous in terms of achieving the developmental objectives of growth, freedom, and prosperity. At the same time, the chapter finds that nonmembership, whatever its causes might be, has invariably proven inferior across many measures, including growth, quality of life, attainment of political and economic freedoms, and life satisfaction, as recorded in opinion surveys. Therefore, delaying full membership in the EU, or aiming for an in-between solution, as is proposed in a considerable portion of the contemporary literature, is a dead end. By the same token, the very real difficulties of and from EU membership cannot be remedied by an exit option modeled on the UK experience.
The Role of the Police around Public Assemblies
Authors: Probert Thomas
Published: October 2024

The police are often the most visible part of a state’s response to a contentious gathering and an often-overlooked part of facilitating less-contentious gatherings. This chapter reviews the challenges confronting police departments as they endeavour to apply a human rights-based approach during three phases of an assembly. In doing so, it moves beyond an array of grand theories of ‘protest policing’ (escalated force, negotiated management, strategic incapacitation), noting that they all share the characteristic of implicitly sanctioning the choreographing, rather than facilitating, of peaceful assembly, creating the impression that it is always the responsibility of the police to ‘manage’ assemblies. Instead, existing human rights law suggests that the police should leave assemblies alone, to the greatest extent possible, interfering with them only when necessary and only in a content-neutral fashion. Thus, rather than offering an alternative totalizing framework of management, and drawing upon one of the most recent normative statements, General Comment 37, this chapter focuses on the series of existing tactics that police use to respond and argues that those are only appropriate to the extent necessary.
Emotions and Response in a Contingent World
Authors: Stein Janice Gross
Published: October 2024

This chapter draws attention to the variation in individual and collective decisions in international politics. It traces the variation to evolutionary psychology, to the neurobiology and psychology of emotions, to group dynamics, and to the broader processes of social identity that are central to the understanding of collective emotion. The chapter also connects emotion more closely to decision-making processes. Finally, it pays special attention to the close connections between evolutionary psychology and processes of decision-making that are informed by pragmatism. These different processes are treated not as alternatives but as sequenced complementarities that are contingent. Just as there is no binary between reason and emotion and no single level of analysis, no one connection between emotion and decision processes can explain the broad range of decisions and action in international politics.
Power and Emotion in International Relations
Authors: Hall Todd H.
Published: October 2024

This chapter offers an overview of the complex interrelationships between emotions, affective dynamics, and power in international relations—what it terms the “power–emotion nexus.” This nexus has three dimensions. The first dimension involves power as it operates between potentially conflicting positions or actors, in which actors seek to prevail over one another. The second involves regimes of norms and diffuse social rules that encourage certain political expressions and experiences of emotion, devalue others, and render certain emotions as unacceptable or invisible. The third concerns the ways in which the structure of distributed affective dispositions toward feeling and emotion itself becomes a target of intervention.
Collective Emotions Beyond the State in Global Politics
Authors: Solomon Ty
Published: October 2024

While the first wave of emotions studies in international relations (IR) often focused on state-level emotions, more recent work has expanded to analyze collective emotions uncoupled from official state structures. This work explores emotions at a range of scales and spaces, from the everyday and micropolitical spaces to cultural and transnational affects. Across a range of empirical cases, this work demonstrates the power and importance of collective emotions in excess of state-level emotions and how they shape broader narratives and subjectivities. This chapter surveys IR work analyzing emotions and affects beyond state and non-state actors along three general themes: micropolitical and everyday spaces and emotions, transnational and online emotions, and diffuse affects, public moods, and affective atmospheres. The chapter concludes with a recognition that these themes represent a continuing trend of researching non-state collective emotions but also an emerging research agenda on the more diffuse aspects of affective experiences in global politics.
Cisheteronormativity and Transitional Justice
Authors: Bueno-Hansen Pascha
Published: October 2024

The emerging visibility of violence against people of non-normative genders and sexualities challenges the field and practice of transitional justice to go beyond the limits of cis and heteronormativity. This chapter proposes a queer, intersectional, decolonial, and transfeminist analytical lens that underscores the relevance of regional and global politics, and critiques transitional justice foundational assumptions regarding binary logics and linear temporality. Such an approach grasps the connections across historic and contemporary cis and heteronormative violence, unearths the deep roots of this violence and its related impunity, and addresses the grand challenges of the contemporary moment, including a mounting conservative religious and political backlash. The chapter highlights the collaborative transfeminist praxis of LGBTI activists and advocates from Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia to enhance the capacity to imagine other ways of knowing and being in the world.
Editing Byron and Digital Futures
Authors: Curtis Paul M.
Published: October 2024

Byron and his works have given rise to a society of editors, some contemporary to each other, the others united through time by a common purpose. From Thomas Moore, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, Rowland Prothero, and Leslie Marchand to Andrew Nicholson, Peter Cochran, and Jerome McGann, this chapter surveys the publication history of Byron’s poetry, prose, and correspondence. It proceeds chronologically from the first posthumous print edition of 1832 to the online Wordpress edition of the letters, works, and critical essays. It also explores the principles employed by the society of editors who have shaped the reception of the poet’s unique biography and have pondered the genius of his oeuvre. The chapter then discusses the nascent and ever-evolving field of the Digital Humanities as it applies to the pedagogical and interpretative challenges posed by Byron and his works.
Byron and the Lake Poets
Authors: Bainbridge Simon
Published: October 2024

This essay examines Lord Byron’s response to the poetry, politics, and personas of the Lake Poets: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey. It explores Byron’s career-long sense of rivalry, admiration, and opposition towards the Lakers and how these responses influenced his own works and his poetic identity. It argues that Byron sought to define himself and his poetry against this trio of poets, presenting himself as a poet of oceans rather than lakes, as a man of the world, and as a writer of global subject matter and importance. It discusses Byron’s critique of the Lakers for misdirecting their poetic talents through their chosen subject and styles of writing, as well as for betraying the liberal causes they had espoused in their early careers. It concludes with discussions of Don Juan and The Vision of Judgment as the brilliant culminations of Byron’s complex engagement with the Lake Poets.
Byron’s Works in Visual Art
Authors: Kenyon Jones Christine
Published: October 2024

Byron was by far the most heavily illustrated poet of his day, and this chapter studies the cultural contexts for both the illustrations made and printed during Byron’s lifetime and the visual response to his work in the decades after his death. It demonstrates the illustrations’ (not always positive) effect on the reception of Byron’s work. It shows how the subjects chosen by the first illustrators were reiterated by successive generations of artists, narrowing viewers’ perceptions of the range and depth of the poetry. It also demonstrates the way in which illustrations which made his protagonists look like Byron himself contributed to the way in which Byron was identified with the creations of his imagination. It pays particular attention to the illustrations commissioned by John Murray during Byron’s lifetime from Thomas Stothard and Richard Westall, and to the later work of J. M. W. Turner, Ford Madox Brown, and Eugène Delacroix.
Byronle diableThe Byronic Hero and the Demonic in Music from Berlioz to Tchaikovsky
Authors: Pal-Lapinski Piya
Published: October 2024

Byron’s influence on nineteenth- and twentieth-century European composers was considerable. Byron’s works not only influenced opera, but also important symphonic works and lieder. Works shaped particularly by Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Manfred were composed against the background of revolutionary upheavals in Europe, as the absolutist vision of the Vienna Congress (which had suppressed nationalist struggles) began to fragment. This chapter looks at ways in which musical transformations of Byronic texts, and the persona of the Byronic Hero, particularly as manifested in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Manfred, expressed ideas that significantly shaped the intersecting convergences of Romanticism, aesthetics, and the post-Napoleonic historical moment. It argues that Berlioz, Schumann, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Anton Rubinstein reconstructed Byronism as an element of ‘demonic’ contingency that disrupts narratives of identity and history.
Byron and Nationalism
Authors: Procházka Martin
Published: October 2024

Byron’s poetry, drama, and thought differ widely from the ideologies of ethnic or ethnocultural nationalism that emerged during his lifetime and culminated before the mid-nineteenth century. In spite of this, Byron’s work was appropriated by a number of nationalist movements in nineteenth-century Europe. This contradiction is traced to the paradoxical relationship between poetry and politics in his life and work. This chapter focuses first on the contrasting representations of Scotland and England in Byron’s early poems in Hours of Idleness. The second part analyses the representations of Greece in Canto II of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and The Giaour, demonstrating how they subvert Greek nationalist imagery. The third part discusses the dilemma of Byron’s ‘national identity’ as presented in Canto X of Don Juan (1823), which incorporated a satirical image of contemporary Britain. The chapter’s epilogue presents an example of the nationalist reception of Byron in the nineteenth-century Czech emancipation movement, showing how the image of the poet as an alien intruder in the Czech national community connects local ethnocentric nationalism with its other far more violent and extreme manifestations.
Byron’s ‘Dramatic Monologues’The Prisoner of Chillon,Mazeppa, ‘The Lament of Tasso’, andThe Prophecy of Dante
Authors: Beatty Bernard
Published: October 2024

This chapter considers a new grouping of Byron’s works under the theme of the ‘dramatic monologue’. It tackles four poems in pairs: The Prisoner of Chillon and Mazeppa, which follow ostensibly ordinary characters placed in extreme circumstances, enacting a fundamental change of consciousness; ‘The Lament of Tasso’ and The Prophecy of Dante that explore the imprisonment of two poets and their claims to outwit their present humiliating moment through creative acts. Despite the differences in the two pairings, the chapter argues that the group can be considered together because they are united by Byron’s interrogation of the idea that long experience of any sort, without necessarily our seeking or an exertion of will, can make us what we are. In the process, the chapter argues, the characters of the four monologues gain a new receptivity beyond the constrictions of personal will. Their commonality is found in seeing the four poems as sustained enquiries into the relationship of human life with non-human life and the relationship between the time-bound person and his unbound creative powers of mind.
Byron and the Theatre Conjuring the Amphitheatre of Poetry, Press, and Provocation
Authors: Simpson Michael
Published: October 2024

. Capitalizing on the ructions prompted by his ceremonial address at Drury Lane Theatre in October 1812, Byron wrote ‘Parenthetical Address, by Dr Plagiary’. This essay will argue that this rapidly published parody projects an encompassing poetic amphitheatre, wherein every related action and publication that led to its composition is framed as part of a rolling show. It will also argue that these quick, tense, hilarious dynamics between theatre and press might be read retrospectively as an early model for how Byron’s later epic satire Don Juan ‘amphitheatrically’ provokes, anticipates, and masters the responses of reviewers and readers. As instalments of Don Juan are published serially between 1819 and 1824, they accumulate critical responses to earlier instalments and selectively answer them, reducing interlocutors to silence or more noise. Parody at Drury Lane replays as parody compounded in Don Juan.
Don Juan, Cantos I–IV
Authors: Bone Drummond
Published: October 2024

This chapter introduces Byron’s masterpiece Don Juan by way of exploring the visibility of the mode of narration alongside the plot and digressions it carries. The ottava rima stanza and epic underpinnings carry episodes which contrast innocence and worldliness, and random and more considered violence, and set up patterns which recur during the cantos which follow. The chapter explores the poem’s equation of social values with poetic artifice in its treatment of Donna Julia, Haidée, and Lambro. It thereby argues that inclusion of widely different content – ranging from love story to shipwreck and cannibalism – is justified by the verbal texture which carries it.
Tongue-Root Harmony and Vowel Inventory Structure
Authors: Casali Roderic F.
Published: October 2024

Common in languages of the Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan phyla are vowel systems (termed /2IU/ systems) that have a tongue-root contrast in high vowels, as in the very widespread nine-vowel /iɪeɛaɔoʊu/ system (e.g., Akan, Maasai). Also common are systems (/1IU/ systems) that have such a contrast only in non-high vowels, as in the seven-vowel /ieɛaɔou/ system of Yoruba. Surprisingly, the two system types exhibit very different characteristic patterns. Assimilatory dominance of [+ATR] vowels is highly typical of /2IU/ languages, as is restricted distributional patterning of the same vowels. In /1IU/ languages, [+ATR] quality is typically inert, with [–ATR] more typically patterning as the marked and dominant value. This paper summarizes assimilatory and markedness-related differences that correlate with the two inventory types in Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan. It also briefly examines the extent to which vowel systems in other phyla show similar tendencies and notes proposed explanations for the observed correlations.
Vowel Harmony and Coda, Moraic, or Geminate Consonants
Authors: Odden David
Published: October 2024

This chapter addresses cases where mere presence of a consonant appears affect vowel harmony (VH). Javanese, Assamese, and Logoori provide some for consonant prosody affecting VH. Javanese and Assamese data are equivocal, though Logoori evidence is probative. Kera is also considered, where codas seem to be required for harmony to apply in certain cases—because the domain of harmony in Kera is the foot, and coda consonants affect footing. While there is a colorable claim for consonantal relevance in these languages, we cannot definitively say what specific property controls the apparent blockage. Many plausible analyses are available for these languages—for example, a two-factor analysis of Javanese where closed-syllable laxing overrides harmony, or an empty-syllable analysis where the halves of a geminate are separated by an empty vowel. The existing evidence argues that the consonant-prosodic effect is epiphenomenal and does not have a unified theoretical account.
Nasal Harmony
Authors: Botma Bert
Published: October 2024

This chapter is concerned with nasal harmony, the cover term for processes involving long-distance assimilation of nasality. Nasal harmony is similar to vowel harmony in several respects. Languages may differ in the domain, the direction and the trigger of nasal harmony, and in the behavior of sounds that do not participate in the harmony; like vowel harmony, nasal harmony may involve opaque segments (which block nasalization) and transparent segments (which are skipped by nasalization). The focus of the chapter is on cross-linguistic variation in nasal harmony patterns, especially with regard to the nasalizability of segments and the issue of segmental transparency.
An Exemplar-Based Approach to Vowel Harmony
Authors: van de Weijer Jeroen
Published: October 2024

This chapter describes an approach to the acquisition, status, and usage of vowel harmony, based on Exemplar Theory. This approach assumes that knowledge of linguistic patterns in a language is solely based on the data a language learner is exposed to, without any a priori specifically linguistic assumptions. That is, an Exemplar approach is strictly usage-based, and tries to limit assumptions about the nature of the object that is described (i.e., the ‘grammar’ of the language that is acquired, or its ‘rules’) to a strict minimum: No assumptions of any content in an alleged ‘Universal Grammar’ are made. What do speakers know when they acquire a language that is said to ‘have vowel harmony’? How will they learn this? What do such patterns consist of, when linguists characterize them as part of the ‘knowledge of the native speaker’?
Vowel Harmony in Non-Bantu Niger-Congo Languages
Authors: Rolle Nicholas , Orie Ọlanikẹ Ọla
Published: October 2024

This chapter examines vowel harmony (VH) in non-Bantu Niger-Congo phonology, focusing on advanced tongue root (ATR) harmony, whereby vowels (all being either [+ATR] or [–ATR]) harmonize for tongue-root position. One subtype is cross-height ATR harmony, which has constraints like */i … ɛ/ or */ʊ … o/ banning mixed ATR values across distinct heights. This is compared with mid-height ATR harmony, where only the mid series participates in ATR harmony (as there is no [–ATR] high series), having constraints such as */e … ɛ/ or /ɔ … o/. Other types of VH, such as rounding, height, and identical-vowel harmony, occur less frequently in non-Bantu Niger-Congo than ATR harmony. This chapter highlights issues raised by these data, including directionality of harmony, ATR dominance, the domain of VH, and ATR’s antagonistic relationship with interior vowels (e.g., ɨ y ʉ ɯ ə ʌ).
Kant on Sex and Gender
Authors: Hay Carol
Published: October 2024

Kant’s views on the differences between men and women, and his related views on sexual morality, are often taken to be some of the most misguided, parochial, and outdated elements of his philosophical system. His biography as a committed bachelor is frequently mined to paint a picture of a boring, asexual nerd, feeding a caricature whose enduring popularity is likely not unconnected to its ability to bolster the familiar critical rejection of the Kantian moral framework as impersonal, hyper-rationalist, and hostile to both the body and the emotions. However, untangling what Kant’s views on sex and gender actually are—from both the ad hominem caricatures of the man, and from how his work has (sometimes mistakenly) been taken up by others—yields a discussion that sheds new light on Kant’s views on human nature in general and his practical philosophy in particular. I’ll argue that while Kant’s views on sex and gender are not unproblematic, Kant’s influence on contemporary understandings of sexual morality—particularly his views on the potential moral pitfalls of sexual objectification, and on the moral importance of sexual consent—deserves recognition.
Cognitive effort increases the intensity of rewards
Authors: Wahab Mejda , Mead Nicole L , Desmercieres Stevenson , Lardeux Virginie , Dugast Emilie , Baumeister Roy F , Solinas Marcello
Published: October 2024

An important body of literature suggests that exerting intense cognitive effort causes mental fatigue and can lead to unhealthy behaviors such as indulging in high-calorie food and taking drugs. Whereas this effect has been mostly explained in terms of weakening cognitive control, cognitive effort may also bias behavioral choices by amplifying the hedonic and emotional impact of rewards. We report parallel findings with animals and humans supporting this hypothesis. In rats, exerting cognitive effort immediately before access to cocaine self-administration significantly increased drug intake. In addition, exerting cognitive effort increased the psychostimulant effect of cocaine. The effects of cognitive effort on addiction-related behaviors were eliminated and even reversed when animals could rest in their home-cage for 2–4 h before access to cocaine self-administration. Among humans, we found that expending cognitive effort increased consumption of tasty (but unhealthy) food by increasing the hedonic enjoyment of consuming the food. In addition, the effects were specific for emotionally relevant stimuli (i.e. food rewards) and did not generalize to judgment about neutral objects. Altogether these data suggest that intense cognitive effort can increase the perceived intensity of rewards and lead to their overconsumption. This effect may contribute to bad decision making induced by excessive cognitive effort and make people more vulnerable to indulge in unhealthy behaviors such as use of addictive drugs.
Agricultural plastic pollution reduces soil function even under best management practices
Authors: Tiwari Ekta , Sistla Seeta
Published: October 2024

Soil plastic contamination is considered a threat to environmental health and food security. Plastic films—which are widely used as soil mulches—are the largest single source of agricultural plastic pollution. Growing evidence indicates that high concentrations of plastic negatively affect critical soil functions. However, the relationships between agricultural plastic accumulation and its biogeochemical consequences in regions with relatively low levels of soil plastic pollution remain poorly characterized. We sampled farms across the California Central Coast (a region of global agricultural importance with extensive plastic mulch-based production) to assess the degree and biogeochemical consequences of plastic pollution in fields subject to “best practice” plastic mulching application and removal practices over multiple years. All farms exhibited surface soil plastic contamination, macroplastic positively correlated with microplastic contamination levels, and macroplastic accumulation was negatively correlated with soil moisture, microbial activity, available phosphate, and soil carbon pool size. These effects occurred at less than 10% of the contamination levels reported to degrade field soils, but were relatively subtle, with no detectable relationship to microplastic concentration. Identifying declines in soil quality with low levels of macroplastic fragment accumulation suggests that we must improve best management plasticulture practices to limit the threat to soil health and agricultural productivity of unabated plastic accumulation.
Computational elucidation of nonverbal behavior and body language in music therapy
Authors: Sandak Billie , Gilboa Avi , Harel David
Published: October 2024

Music therapy has shown efficacy in serious and chronic conditions, mental disorders, and disabilities. However, there is still much to explore regarding the mechanisms through which music interventions exert their effects. A typical session involves interactions between the therapist, the client, and the musical work itself, and to help address the challenges of capturing and comprehending its dynamics, we extend our general computational paradigm (CP) for analyzing the expressive and social behavioral processes in arts therapies. The extension includes bodily and nonverbal aspects of the behavior, offering additional insights into the client's emotional states and engagement. We have used this version of the CP, which employs AI pose estimation technology, image processing, and audio analysis, to capture therapy-related psychometrics and their intra- and inter-session analysis. The CP is applied in a real-world proof-of-concept study, and the results enable us to pinpoint meaningful events and emergent properties not captured by the human eye, complementing the therapist's interpretations. The resulting data may also be useful in other scientific and clinical areas.
Could've known better
Authors: Greenberg Alexander
Published: October 2024

Could you have taken precautions against a risk you were unaware of? This question lies at the heart of debates in ethics and legal philosophy concerning whether it's justifiable to blame or punish those who cause harm inadvertently or out of ignorance. But the question is crucially ambiguous, depending on what is understood to be inside or outside the scope of the ‘could’. And this ambiguity undermines a number of arguments purporting to show that inadvertent wrongdoers cannot justifiably be blamed or punished. While not all opposition to blaming or punishing inadvertent wrongdoers rests on this ambiguity, some certainly does. And getting clear on this ambiguity is important if we're to sort good arguments against blaming and punishing inadvertent wrongdoers—if there are any—from bad ones.
Multi-domain effectiveness of guselkumab evaluated via composite indices through 1 year in patients with PsA and inadequate response to TNFi: post hoc analysis of COSMOS
Authors: Gossec Laure , Baraliakos Xenofon , Aletaha Daniel , Sharaf Mohamed , Rampakakis Emmanouil , Lavie Frédéric , López-Medina Clementina , Selmi Carlo , Coates Laura C
Published: October 2024

Objective

Evaluate guselkumab efficacy, an anti-interleukin-23p19-subunit antibody, in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and inadequate response to 1 or 2 tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi-IR), utilizing composite indices assessing disease activity across disease domains.

Methods

In the Phase IIIb COSMOS trial, 285 adults with TNFi-IR PsA were randomized (2:1) to receive guselkumab 100 mg or placebo at Week (W)0, W4, then every 8 weeks through W44. Patients receiving placebo crossed over to guselkumab at W24. In this post hoc analysis, composite indices evaluated included the Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA), Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), Psoriatic Arthritis Response Criteria (PsARC), Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Score (PASDAS), GRAPPA Composite score (GRACE), modified Composite Psoriatic Disease Activity Index (mCPDAI), minimal disease activity (MDA), and very low disease activity (VLDA). Through W24, treatment failure rules were applied. Through W48, non-responder imputation was used for missing data.

Results

Greater proportions of guselkumab- than placebo-randomized patients achieved composite index endpoints relating to low disease activity (LDA; 14.8–52.4% vs 3.1–28.1%) or remission (3.7–5.3% vs 0.0–2.1%) at W24. Among guselkumab-randomized patients, LDA rates increased to W48 (DAPSA, 44.4%; DAS28, 47.8%; PASDAS, 34.4%; GRACE, 33.3%; mCPDAI, 40.2%), and 27.0% and 64.0% achieved MDA and a PsARC response, respectively. In the placebo→guselkumab crossover group, W48 response rates were similar to the guselkumab-randomized group.

Conclusion

Guselkumab treatment provided substantial benefits across multiple disease domains, with increasing proportions of patients achieving LDA/remission over 1 year, highlighting the effectiveness of guselkumab despite previous inadequate response to TNFi.
Arthroscopy has a higher discriminative capacity than MRI in detecting mild cartilage lesions
Authors: Sánchez-Platero Irene , Fernández-Jara Javier , Herencia Carmen , Llorca Javier , Mediero Aránzazu , Calvo Emilio , Largo Raquel , Herrero-Beaumont Gabriel
Published: October 2024

Objectives

To determine whether current MRI could detect superficial cartilage lesions that are observed in patients with knee pain for whom arthroscopy was indicated for therapeutic reasons or when the cause of pain was unclear.

Methods

Adult patients with knee pain lasting more than 3 months, scheduled for a therapeutic/diagnostic arthroscopy, were recruited. Demographic and clinical data, pain assessment, MRI imaging and observations of cartilage damage in the medial femoral condyle during arthroscopic procedure were documented. Patients were categorized based on the presence of cartilage damage assessed via MRI and/or direct visualization. Concordance between these assessments and its variation with age and patient-reported pain were examined.

Results

Out of the 95 patients recruited, 48 exhibited lesions in the medial femoral condyle (MFC) during arthroscopic examination, while only 24 of them showed lesions on the MRI scans. The thickness of the cartilage in the MFC was significantly lower in patients with cartilage damage detected by MRI compared with those without. Among patients with cartilage lesions identified during arthroscopy, those also showing lesions on the MRI had lower cartilage thickness and higher Outerbridge score than those without lesions on the MRI. Patients with detectable cartilage damage on the MRI were significantly older and reported higher levels of pain than those with damage detected only by arthroscopic examination.

Conclusion

Despite significant technological advancements in MRI, arthroscopy still proves superior in identifying mild structural cartilage lesions that are not identifiable by this technique.
Using the Capture–Recapture Technique to Supplement a Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Adults in Kittitas County, Washington
Authors: Domitz Ryan E , Gabriel Kara I , Linhart Jean Marie
Published: October 2024

Capture–recapture (CRC) is a method of population estimation pioneered in biology that allows the surveyor to approximate the proportion of individuals who evaded sampling efforts (i.e., captures) based on repeated samples from the same population. The current national standard for estimating homelessness is a single-day enumeration called the point-in-time (PIT) count. By using a local community action agency’s homeless outreach program and a cold weather shelter as two distinct sampling sources to capture data using CRC methodology, the current study sought to estimate the homeless population in Kittitas County, Washington, and compare CRC with PIT count estimates. Four months of data collection for the two sampling sources yielded an estimate of 115 (95% CI [93, 137]) homeless individuals in the county using CRC methodology. The PIT count conducted in the same year sampled 61 individuals, supporting the idea that cross-sectional enumeration (i.e., PIT counts) underestimate the homeless population and could be supplemented by CRC methods, particularly in rural areas where resources to conduct PIT counts may be limited. Greater accuracy in homelessness enumeration may aid in advocacy efforts, provide baseline data for researching interventions designed to reduce homelessness, and yield statistics to better guide legislative and policy initiatives.
Phenazine-1-Carboxamide Regulates Pyruvate Dehydrogenase of Phytopathogenic Fungi to Control Tea Leaf Spot Caused by Didymella segeticola
Authors: Qi Zeqi , Liu Fenghua , Li Dongxue , Yin Jiayu , Wang Delu , Ahmed Nazeer , Ma Yue , Zhou Jing-Jiang , Chen Zhuo
Published: October 2024

Due to a lack of understanding of the disease epidemiology and comprehensive control measures, tea leaf spot caused by Didymella segeticola has a significant negative impact on tea yield and quality in the tea plantations of Southwest China. Phenazine-1-carboxamide (PCN) is a phenazine compound derived from Pseudomonas species that exhibits antimicrobial activity against various pathogens. However, its inhibitory mechanism is not yet clear. The current study evaluated the inhibitory activity of PCN against various phytopathogenic fungi and found that PCN has inhibitory activity against multiple pathogens, with a half-maximal effective concentration value for D. segeticola of 16.11 μg/ml in vitro and a maximum in-vivo curative activity of 72.28% toward tea leaf spot. Morphological changes in the hyphae after exposure to PCN were observed through microstructure and ultrastructure analysis and indicated that PCN causes abnormalities in the hyphae, such as cytoplasmic coagulation, shortened hyphal inter-septum distances, and unclear boundaries of organelles. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that PCN upregulated the expression of genes related to energy metabolism. PCN significantly reduced the ATP concentration in the hyphae and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. Molecular docking analysis indicated that PCN binds to one of the candidate target proteins, pyruvate dehydrogenase, with lower free energy of −10.7 kcal/mol. This study indicated that PCN can interfere with energy metabolism, reducing ATP generation and ultimately affecting hyphal growth. Overall, PCN shows potential for future application in the control of tea leaf spot due to its excellent antifungal activity and unique mode of action.
Long-term Associations Between Time-varying Exposure to Ambient PM2.5 and Mortality: An Analysis of the UK Biobank
Authors: Vanoli Jacopo , de la Cruz Libardi Arturo , Sera Francesco , Stafoggia Massimo , Masselot Pierre , Mistry Malcolm N. , Rajagopalan Sanjay , Quint Jennifer K. , Ng Chris Fook Sheng , Madaniyazi Lina , Gasparrini Antonio
Published: October 2024

Background:

Evidence for long-term mortality risks of PM2.5 comes mostly from large administrative studies with incomplete individual information and limited exposure definitions. Here we assess PM2.5–mortality associations in the UK Biobank cohort using detailed information on confounders and exposure.

Methods:

We reconstructed detailed exposure histories for 498,090 subjects by linking residential data with high-resolution PM2.5 concentrations from spatiotemporal machine-learning models. We split the time-to-event data and assigned yearly exposures over a lag window of 8 years. We fitted Cox proportional hazard models with time-varying exposure controlling for contextual- and individual-level factors, as well as trends. In secondary analyses, we inspected the lag structure using distributed lag models and compared results with alternative exposure sources and definitions.

Results:

In fully adjusted models, an increase of 10 μg/m³ in PM2.5 was associated with hazard ratios of 1.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.53) for all-cause, 1.24 (1.03, 1.50) for nonaccidental, 2.07 (1.04, 4.10) for respiratory, and 1.66 (0.86, 3.19) for lung cancer mortality. We found no evidence of association with cardiovascular deaths (hazard ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval: 0.59, 1.31). We identified strong confounding by both contextual- and individual-level lifestyle factors. The distributed lag analysis suggested differences in relevant exposure windows across mortality causes. Using more informative exposure summaries and sources resulted in higher risk estimates.

Conclusions:

We found associations of long-term PM2.5 exposure with all-cause, nonaccidental, respiratory, and lung cancer mortality, but not with cardiovascular mortality. This study benefits from finely reconstructed time-varying exposures and extensive control for confounding, further supporting a plausible causal link between long-term PM2.5 and mortality.
Rethinking atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease prevention in the era of expanding therapies: could plaque stabilization reduce the need for lifelong treatments and polypharmacy?
Authors: Bruun Kathrine , Mortensen Martin Bødtker
Published: October 2024

Purpose of review

This review examines current evidence on pharmacologically induced plaque stabilization in the context of a growing range of new therapies. It explores the potential for a paradigm shift in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) prevention, where treatments may not need to be lifelong to achieve lasting benefits.

Recent findings

Since 2015, over 14 novel therapies have been introduced, each shown to reduce ASCVD risk when added to standard care with statins and aspirin. More than 80% of ischemic heart disease patients are now eligible for one or more of these treatments, increasing the risk of polypharmacy, treatment burden, and adverse side effects. As more therapies become available, this challenge is expected to grow. Many of these treatments have demonstrated plaque regression and stabilization, as evidenced by both intravascular ultrasound and computed tomography angiography, which likely explains much of their efficacy.

The increasing number of novel therapies presents challenges in preventing ASCVD without leading to lifelong polypharmacy and increased patient burden. Since many of these drugs act through plaque stabilization, a new approach may be feasible – using these treatments for shorter durations to induce plaque regression, followed by less intensive maintenance therapies to preserve stability. This approach warrants further investigation in future studies.
RAS, BRAF, and MMR system mutations in metastatic colorectal cancers: an observational study
Authors: Khoshnoudi Hojatolah , Yaghobi Joybari Ali , Naeemi Sanatdoost Pouia , Haghbin Toutounchi Alireza , Adinevand Ehsan , Nematihonar Behzad
Published: October 2024

Introduction:

Colorectal cancers (CRCs) are the second cause of malignancy-related deaths and over half of CRCs become metastatic. Genetics plays a critical role in understanding metastatic colorectal cancers (MCRCs), as various genetic mutations influence progression and treatment responses. While there exists plenty of research on genetic mutations in CRCs, few studies have focused on mutations in MCRC patients. The present study aims to provide an overview of the prevalence of KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and MMR mutations in Iranian MCRC patients.

Methods:

The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study on patients with MCRCs referred to a tertiary medical center in Iran from March 2015 to March 2022. Ethics approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the University of Medical Sciences. The patient’s MCRC was confirmed by pathology and Genotyping Assessments of tissue for KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and MMR mutations.

Results:

A total of 136 MCRC patients were included in this study; 44 patients (40.7%) had KRAS mutations in their lesions. KRAS mutation status was not significantly related to age or gender (P > 0.05). Only one NRAS mutation was found in one patient. There were no cases of BRAF mutation identified. Among 48 patients assessed for MMRs deficiency, 8 cases (16.7%) were positive, 7 cases (14.6%) were MSI-H, and 1 case (2.1%) was MSI-L.

Conclusion:

Although no significant relation was found between the KRAS mutation pattern and gender, age, or tumor primary location, the MSI-H mutation-positive tumors were significantly more prevalent in younger patients.
Correlation between dental age and chronological age of Taiwanese children on panoramic X-ray images by different evaluation methods
Authors: Sun Kuo-Ting , Wu Yun-Zhen , Hsu Jui-Ting , Huang Heng-Li
Published: October 2024

Background:

Accurate age estimation is vital in forensic medicine and clinical dentistry. The Demirjian method is commonly used for this purpose, but its applicability to Asian individuals is understudied. The present study evaluated the accuracy of dental age (DA) estimation for Taiwanese children by using the Demirjian, Willems, and modified Demirjian methods, comparing these estimates to those of chronological age (CA) based on panoramic X-ray images.

Methods:

A total of 232 Taiwanese children aged between 5 and 12 years underwent panoramic X-ray scans. Their permanent teeth were assessed using the Demirjian, Willems, and modified Demirjian methods to estimate DA. Regression analysis was used to determine the correlation between CA and DA, with linear regression equations established using SPSS statistics software to identify differences.

Results:

The Willems method had the lowest mean absolute error and the smallest mean difference between DA and CA among the 3 age estimation methods analyzed (p < 0.001). The R
2 value for the difference between DA and CA was 0.831 for the Willems method, 0.813 for the Demirjian method, and 0.782 for the modified Demirjian method (p < 0.001). The Willems method had the highest correlation with CA, with the linear equation for Taiwanese children being CA = 0.822 × DA + 1.093. For comparison, for the Demirjian method, the equation was CA = 0.894 × DA + 0.165.

Conclusion:

The effectiveness of predictive methods varies across ethnicities, and therefore, region-specific formulas are required. For Taiwanese children, the Willems method predicts CA most accurately. This study contributes to the fields of legal medicine and clinical dentistry by demonstrating the accuracy of DA in predicting CA.
High-intensity interval training attenuates renal injury induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion in rats
Authors: Lai Chang‑Chi , Tang Chia‑Yu , Fu Szu‑Kai , Tseng Kuo‑Wei , Yu Chia-Hsien , Wang Chien-Ying
Published: October 2024

Background:

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been recognized as an effective form of short-duration exercise. The purpose of this study was to assess whether HIIT could reduce renal injury induced by myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MIR) in rats.

Methods:

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the Sham (SHAM), coronary artery occlusion (CAO), HIIT, and ischemic precondition (IPC) groups. Rats underwent 40 minutes of left anterior descending CAO under anesthesia, followed by 3 hours of reperfusion, to induce MIR. Postsurgery, rats were sacrificed, and their blood, heart, and kidney tissues were examined. The HIIT group underwent 4 weeks of HIIT training before surgery.

Results:

HIIT intervention significantly reduced renal injury after MIR and the concentrations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CRE) in the serum. Moreover, proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and IL-6, were significantly decreased, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly increased in the serum. Additionally, HIIT intervention suppressed the expression of FoxO1, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, TNF-α, and cleaved-caspase-3/caspase-3 ratio in kidney tissues, ultimately reducing renal cell apoptosis.

Conclusion:

This study is the first to demonstrate that HIIT has effects similar to IPC, significantly reducing renal injury after MIR. HIIT regulates the production of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and inhibits renal cell apoptosis, thereby reducing the occurrence of cardiorenal syndrome.
Validation of the TMB-2296-BT blood pressure monitor in adults according to the ISO 81060-2:2018 + Amd.1:2020
Authors: Xie Zijian , Zhu Li , Zheng Xiao , Li Chaoya , Hu Jia , Wang Xinda , Deng Hua , Du Xiaoqin , Liang Jiahui , Peng Bin
Published: October 2024

This study aimed to validate the accuracy of the test device (TMB-2296-BT) blood pressure (BP) monitor in adults according to International Standard Organization (ISO) 81060-2:2018 + Amd.1:2020 universal standard protocol, which is a digital monitor. Three trained observers used the same arm sequential method to compare the SBPs and DBPs measured by the test device with those measured by the reference device (mercury sphygmomanometer). For the test device with cuff ranging from 22 to 32 cm, there are 88 adults, with a male-to-female ratio of 35 : 53. The mean difference and SD between reference BPs and test device BPs readings were (0.21 ± 2.59)/(0.66 ± 2.12) mmHg for SBP/DBP for criterion 1, and (0.21 ± 2.07)/(0.66 ± 1.76) mmHg for SBP/DBP for criterion 2. For the test device with cuffs ranging from 22 to 42 cm, there are 87 adults, with a male-to-female ratio of 49 : 38. The mean difference and SD between reference BPs and test device BPs readings were (−1.62 ± 2.80)/(0.12 ± 3.01) mmHg for SBP/DBP for criterion 1, and (−1.62 ± 2.35)/(0.12 ± 2.60) mmHg for SBP/ DBP for criterion 2. And for the test device with cuff arm circumference sizes of 22–32 cm and 22–42 cm fulfilled both validation criterion 1 and 2 of the ISO 81060-2:2018 + Amd.1:2020 standard and can be recommended for both clinical and self/home BP measurement in adults.
Effect of wearing N95 masks for 10 hours on ambulatory blood pressure in healthy adults
Authors: Zeigler Zachary , Acevedo Anthony , Mews Isiaha , Lesser Dalton , Koornneef Abby
Published: October 2024

The impact of wearing a face mask for an extended duration is unknown. This study aimed to determine if wearing a face mask for 10 h impacts blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness. Subjects received an ambulatory blood pressure cuff and were asked to wear it for 10 h while readings were taken every 15 min. During the face mask trial, subjects wore an N95 mask for 10 h. During the control, subjects did not wear a mask. Subjects were randomized to start their trial. An accelerometer was given to ensure no physical activity differences. Linear mixed models were used to determine group differences, and McNemar test was used to assess frequency differences when determining BP load. Twelve college-aged (20.5 ± 1.5 years) male (n = 5) and female (n = 7) individuals with normal BP participated in this study. There were no differences in time spent in any physical activity domain (all P > 0.05). There was no difference in brachial SBP (P = 0.688), brachial DBP (P = 0.063), central SBP (P = 0.875), central DBP (P = 0.246), heart rate (P = 0.125), and augmentation pressure (P = 0.158) between conditions. During mask condition, augmentation pressure was reduced by 5.2 ± 3.1% compared to control (P < 0.001). There were no frequency differences in the number of BP readings above 140 mmHg for SBP (P = 0.479) and >90 mmHg for DBP (P = 0.212). The current study found that wearing an N95 mask for 10 h did not affect brachial or central BP but significantly decreased augmentation pressure.