bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Talking about something no one wants to talk about”—navigating hepatitis B-related work in remote Australian Aboriginal communities: a decade of learning and growth
Authors: Binks Paula , Gurruwiwi George Garambaka , Dhurrkay Roslyn Gundjirryirr , Bukulatjpi Sarah Mariyalawuy , Ross Cheryl , Hosking Kelly , Tate-Baker Jaclyn , Marshall Catherine , McKinnon Melita , Vintour-Cesar Emily , Sullivan Richard P. , Davis Joshua S. , Hefler Marita , Davies Jane
Published: April 2024

Background

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer globally. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the Northern Territory (NT) have the highest prevalence of CHB (6%) and are six times more likely than non-Aboriginal people to be diagnosed with liver cancer. In 2010, a “liver one-stop shop” model of specialised care and research was initiated to address this disparity. Despite many challenges, the program was accepted in NT Aboriginal communities. This study aimed to identify the key elements linked to this success.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective case study using Stake’s methodology to understand the hepatitis B phenomenon. A constructivist approach allowed a holistic understanding from the real-life perspectives of those involved in the hepatitis B work. Information was sourced from the Aboriginal workforce, patients of remote clinics, interested community members and service providers.

Results

We identified six elements critical to the successful conduct of our hepatitis B program, which included the essential role of the local Aboriginal workforce, providing health education in a patient’s preferred language, addressing shame and stigma, respecting culture, taking time, and building trust in the community.

Conclusions

Commitment over the long term was crucial for the success of our hepatitis B program. Adhering to the identified elements was essential to create a culturally safe environment and engage more Aboriginal people in clinical care and research. This study provides powerful lessons and insights that can be applied to other programs and comparable settings worldwide.
Diagnostic error during antenatal care visit in selected health facilities of Ethiopia: a survey
Authors: Gebremariam Birhan Meskelu , Aboye Genet Tadese , Dessalegn Abebaw Aynewa , Simegn Gizeaddis Lamesgin
Published: April 2024

Diagnostic error in antenatal care is a critical concern within the broader challenge of diagnostic errors in healthcare. Antenatal care plays a crucial role in ensuring the well-being of both the mother and the developing fetus during pregnancy. As a result, missed or delayed antenatal care visits or diagnosis errors of maternity complications affect both the mother and the baby. Diagnostic errors in this context refer to mistakes or inaccuracies in identifying and interpreting medical conditions, risks, or abnormalities related to the pregnancy. Several factors contribute to diagnostic errors in antenatal care, and understanding these challenges is essential for improving the overall quality of maternal and fetal healthcare. Delivering an improved approach to underrating diagnostic error requires the combined usage of non-technological and technological solutions. Identifying the factors contributing to diagnostic errors among healthcare professionals can lead to targeted interventions, training programs, and system level changes to prevent or minimize such errors. In this study, the prevalence of DE among health care professionals, pregnant women, and their relatives, and the frequency of occurrence of DE among health workers in selected health facilities in Ethiopia has been assessed. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The assessment results show that the major causes of diagnostic errors (mainly incorrect diagnosis) are identified as loss of patient records (36.4%), lack of proper laboratory (22.7%), and an insufficient number of health care professionals (13.6%). The leading effects of diagnostic error recognized are disease aggravation (58.3%) and permanent disability (25.0%). The research shows that providing an accurate diagnosis is crucial for avoiding risky obstetric outcomes and, as a result, reducing morbidity and mortality due to complications of pregnancy.
Diffusion capability of Cs-137 in compacted soil and bentonite under groundwater-saturated condition
Authors: Salma Sufi Adzkia , Ekaningrum Nurul Efri , Pratama Hendra Adhi , Setiawan Budi
Published: April 2024

Several researches have been studied the diffusion coefficient (Da) of radionuclide in soil samples in varies location around the world; however, the effect of cations in groundwater as a medium of saturation for Cs-137 diffusion in soil and bentonite remains to be accomplished. Compacted soil and bentonite layers are utilized in the construction of radioactive waste disposal sites, which serve to prevent the release of Cs-137 from the repository to the unsaturated zone. The samples used were soil from the prospective disposal site in SP4—Serpong Nuclear Center (SNC) and bentonite taken from Santrijaya, Tasikmalaya. The diffusion coefficient (Da) is used as indicator of Cesium-137 diffusion in the samples. Experimental measurements were conducted on a diffusion column unit that varied in diffusion time and density conditions to determine diffusion coefficients. The samples were cut into slices and analyzed using Multichannel Analyzer (MCA) unit to measure Cs-137 radioactivity. The measurement results were then incorporated into Fick's Law equation to obtain the value of the diffusion coefficient (Da) of Cs-137 in soil and bentonite. The experimental results showed that the diffusion coefficients of samples with groundwater simulation are in the range of 10–12 m2 s−1 for the local soil and bentonite samples, respectively. Compare to the similar experiment that was conducted previously, the results indicated that the groundwater content could slightly impact the increase in the diffusion coefficient value of Cs-137.
On the effects of the timing of an intense cyclone on summertime sea-ice evolution in the Arctic
Authors: Tian Zhongxiang , Liang Xi , Zhao Fu , Liu Na , Li Ming , Li Chunhua
Published: April 2024

This study investigates the impacts of the timing of an extreme cyclone that occurred in August 2012 on the sea-ice volume evolution based on the Arctic Ice Ocean Prediction System (ArcIOPS). By applying a novel cyclone removal algorithm to the atmospheric forcing during 4–12 August 2012, we superimpose the derived cyclone component onto the atmospheric forcing one month later or earlier. This study finds that although the extreme cyclone leads to strong sea-ice volume loss in all runs, large divergence occurs in sea-ice melting mechanism in response to various timing of the cyclone. The extreme cyclone occurred in August, when enhanced ice volume loss is attributed to ice bottom melt primarily and ice surface melt secondarily. If the cyclone occurs one month earlier, ice surface melt dominates ice volume loss, and earlier appearance of open water within the ice zone initiates positive ice-albedo feedback, leading to a long lasting of the cyclone-induced impacts for approximately one month, and eventually a lower September ice volume. In contrast, if the cyclone occurs one month later, ice bottom melt entirely dominates ice volume loss, and the air-open water heat flux in the ice zone tends to offset ice volume loss.
Utilization of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in an Inner-City Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Mangano James , Middleton Bradley , Wojcik Susan
Published: April 2024

Objective:

To evaluate the effect of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in an inner-city emergency department during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods:

Data were abstracted from individual emergency department encounters over 6 weeks. The study compared left without being seen (LWBS) percentage, door-to-provider, and door-to-disposition times for 2 weeks before, during, and after the DMAT.

Results:

The LWBS percentages for the 2 weeks before and after the DMAT were 16.2% and 11.6%, respectively. The LWBS percentage during the DMAT was 8.1%. Door-to-disposition times for the 2 weeks before and after the DMAT were 7.36 hours and 8.53 hours, respectively. The door-to-disposition during the DMAT was 7.33 hours. Door-to-disposition was statistically significant during the 2 weeks of the DMAT compared to the 2 weeks after the DMAT (7.33 vs 8.53, P < 0.05) but not statistically significant when compared to the period before the DMAT (7.36 vs 7.33, P = 1.00). Door-to-provider time was the longest during the DMAT (122.5 minutes [2.04 hours]) when compared to the time frame before the DMAT (114.54 minutes [1.91 hours]) and after the DMAT (102.84 minutes [1.71 hours]).

Conclusion:

The DMAT had the most positive impact on LWBS percentages. The DMAT showed no improvement in door-to-provider times in the study and only in door-to-disposition times when comparing the time the DMAT was present to after the DMAT departed.
‘We’ instead of ‘me’: How Buen Vivir Indigenous cosmopraxes allow us to conceive security differently and face insecurities together
Authors: Cortinhas Juliano , Martinelli Yara , Barbosa Ricardo
Published: April 2024

Although Critical Security Studies (CSS) has done much to advance security debates, some shortcomings remain. Its excessive focus on the individual – which we term ‘me’ – reduces CSS' capacity to propose solutions to current global security problems such as pandemics and climate change. This paper contributes to the emerging scholarship on the potential of relational ontologies in Security Studies by introducing Buen Vivir Indigenous cosmopraxes into the debate. Indigenous cosmopraxes such as Sumak Kawsay, Suma Qamaña, and Teko Kavi, we argue, can inform CSS by providing alternative considerations to the pluriverse of ideas that address security crises. These cosmopraxes, which make up the broad notion of Buen Vivir, provide a way to think and enact security from a collective perspective, one that emphasises ‘we’ instead of the liberal self. In that sense, these cosmopraxes allow us to conceive security differently and face insecurities together.
Dynamics of a lipid vesicle across a microfluidic constriction: how do its membrane properties and microenvironment matter?
Authors: Kahali Tanoy , Panigrahi Devi Prasad , Chakraborty Suman
Published: April 2024

Constriction in the flow passage of the physiological circulatory system is central to the occurrence of several diseased conditions such as thrombosis and is also pivotal towards the understanding of several regulatory processes in the human microvasculature. It is, therefore, imperative to advance a mechanistic insight into the dynamics of lipid vesicles, cell mimicking, fluid-filled compartments, through a physiologically relevant microconfinement, with particular focus on deciphering the role of its mechanophysical properties. Here we bring out the role of membrane bending rigidity and the initial deflation (deviation in shape from sphericity) on the transient shape evolution of a lipid vesicle as it migrates through a microfluidic constriction, a paradigm that is unexplored thus far. Based on our experimental observations as well as theoretical insights, we construct a regime map to elucidate the range of the key dimensionless parameters orchestrating this dynamical transition. Furthermore, our observations on the vesicle's stretching dynamics emerging from selective mapping with viscosity contrast between the encapsulated and the suspending fluid medium offer potential physiologically relevant cues on the impact of cell aging on its deformability across a constricted path. Such mechanistic insights may help in establishing quantitative correlations between the dynamical transition of a lipid vesicle and its membrane mechanics, which may in turn have decisive implications in health and disease while circulating across microvascular fluidic pathways.
A psychological model of collective risk perceptions
Authors: Pirla Sergio
Published: April 2024

Decades of research seek to understand how people form perceptions of risk by modeling either individual-level psychological processes or broader social and organizational mechanisms. Yet, little formal theoretical work has focused on the interaction of these 2 sets of factors. In this paper, I contribute to closing this gap by modifying a psychologically rich individual model of probabilistic reasoning to account for the transmission and collective emergence of risk perceptions. Using data from 357 individuals, I present experimental evidence in support of my main building assumptions and demonstrate the empirical validity of my model. Incorporating these results into an agent-based setting, I simulate over 1.5 billion social interactions to analyze the emergence of risk perceptions within organizations under different information frictions (i.e., limits on the availability and precision of social information). My results show that by focusing on information quality (rather than availability), groups and organizations can more effectively boost the accuracy of their emergent risk perceptions. This work offers researchers a formal framework to analyze the relationship between psychological and organizational factors in shaping risk perceptions.
Aeroacoustics of a ducted fan ingesting an adverse pressure gradient boundary layer
Authors: Ahmed Feroz , Zaman Ismaeel , Rezgui Djamel , Azarpeyvand Mahdi
Published: April 2024

The aeroacoustics of a boundary layer ingesting (BLI) ducted fan is investigated experimentally. The study examines a ducted fan immersed in an adverse streamwise pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer developed over a curved wall. Aeroacoustics measurements indicate that the noise from the BLI ducted fan results from a complex interaction among the fan, duct and the incoming boundary layer. The fundamental mechanisms of noise generation are explained using a general source separation strategy. A detailed noise comparison is made at varying fan rotational speeds and across a wide range of axial inflow velocities. In a low thrust regime, the noise is found to be driven by the fan loading, coupled with duct acoustics and the haystacking phenomenon. In a high thrust regime, the contribution from duct acoustics diminishes, and the noise is predominantly driven by the fan loading coupled with the haystacking phenomenon.
On the dynamics and wakes of a freely settling Platonic polyhedron in a quiescent Newtonian fluid
Authors: Gai Guodong , Wachs Anthony
Published: April 2024

We investigate systematically the free settling of a single Platonic polyhedron in an unbounded domain filled with an otherwise quiescent Newtonian fluid. We consider a particle–fluid density mimicking a rock in water. Five Platonic polyhedrons of increasing sphericity are studied for a range of Galileo numbers

$10 \leqslant \mathcal {G}a \leqslant 300$

. We construct a regime map in the parameter space of Galileo number and particle volume fraction (

$\mathcal {G}a, \phi$

), highlighting how the angularity of the Platonic polyhedron impacts its settling path and the onset of instabilities. We find that the initial angular position solely affects the transient settling process. All the Platonic polyhedrons maintain a stable settling angular position at low

$\mathcal {G}a$

. Higher angularity leads to path unsteadiness at lower

$\mathcal {G}a$

. Path instability progresses from steady vertical to unsteady vertical, followed by oblique settling observed for highly spherical particles, but helical settling (HS) for more angular particles. The particle autorotation is found to be the pivotal factor influencing path instability and the regime transition of angular particles. Beginning in the unsteady oblique and helical regimes, particle autorotation becomes more prevalent, escalating further in the chaotic regime as

$\mathcal {G}a$

increases. The particle angular velocity vector is shown to be predominantly situated in the horizontal plane. A thorough force balance in the horizontal plane reveals that the Magnus force is the primary driving force of the HS regime. Additionally, we establish two new empirical correlations to predict the particle settling velocity and the disturbed wake length that solely require the physical properties of the system (

$\mathcal {G}a$

and

$\phi$

). Our numerical results suggest that an increase of the density ratio from

$2$

to

$3$

exerts only a marginal impact on the path instability of the most angular particle, the settling tetrahedron.
THE DEFINABILITY OF THE EXTENDER SEQUENCE FROM IN
Authors: SCHLUTZENBERG FARMER
Published: April 2024

Let M be a short extender mouse. We prove that if
$E\in M$
and
$M\models $
“E is a countably complete short extender whose support is a cardinal
$\theta $
and
$\mathcal {H}_\theta \subseteq \mathrm {Ult}(V,E)$
”, then E is in the extender sequence
$\mathbb {E}^M$
of M. We also prove other related facts, and use them to establish that if
$\kappa $
is an uncountable cardinal of M and
$\kappa ^{+M}$
exists in M then
$(\mathcal {H}_{\kappa ^+})^M$
satisfies the Axiom of Global Choice. We prove that if M satisfies the Power Set Axiom then
$\mathbb {E}^M$
is definable over the universe of M from the parameter
$X=\mathbb {E}^M\!\upharpoonright \!\aleph _1^M$
, and M satisfies “Every set is
$\mathrm {OD}_{\{X\}}$
”. We also prove various local versions of this fact in which M has a largest cardinal, and a version for generic extensions of M. As a consequence, for example, the minimal proper class mouse with a Woodin limit of Woodin cardinals models “
$V=\mathrm {HOD}$
”. This adapts to many other similar examples. We also describe a simplified approach to Mitchell–Steel fine structure, which does away with the parameters
$u_n$
.
Was Carlo Gesualdo’s Honour Killing Liturgical?
Authors: LEVENBERG JEFFREY
Published: April 2024

In recent years, musicologists have dropped the murder charges against Carlo Gesualdo because criminal law in Renaissance Italy permitted cuckolds to execute their unfaithful wives. As Annibale Cogliano has expounded, Gesualdo had the right to perform an ‘honour killing’. Still, the known facts of this case are few, and the extent to which Gesualdo premeditated his attack has remained a mystery. Through a new investigation of the surviving sources, this study proposes that Gesualdo coordinated his honour killing with the church liturgy: fearful of breaking the fifth commandment, Gesualdo attacked on a day when the Bible lesson sanctioned vendetta killing.
Biocultural and social determinants of ill health and early mortality in a New Mexican paediatric autopsy sample
Authors: O’Donnell Lexi , Green John J. , Hill Ethan C. , O’Donnell Michael J.
Published: April 2024

Illness and mortality have social origins, and infants and children are especially susceptible to the impacts of adverse social experiences. Early-life stress (ELS) – physiological disruptions suffered by a developing organism – is incorporated into human biology through embodiment. This paper examines whether children who lived and died in New Mexico (2011–2019) embodied social determinants of health. Data were collected from 780 postmortem computed tomography scans in conjunction with data from field notes and autopsy reports for individuals aged 0.5–20.99 years from New Mexico. Variables included in linear/logistic regressions are the per cent of families in poverty by ZIP code and year, housing type (trailer/mobile home, apartment, house), rural/urban residence areas, and race/ethnicity. Health outcome variables are age at death, respiratory conditions, growth stunting and arrest, and porous cranial lesions. Intersections of poverty, housing disparities, and race/ethnicity are examined to understand whether children from New Mexico incorporated ELS into their biology.

Results

Hispanic children have higher odds of growth stunting than non-Hispanic White children. Native American children die younger and have higher odds of respiratory diseases and porous lesions than Hispanic and non-Hispanic Whites. Rural/urban location does not significantly impact age at death, but housing type does. Individuals who lived in trailers/mobile homes had earlier ages at death. When intersections between housing type and housing location are considered, children who were poor and from impoverished areas lived longer than those who were poor from relatively well-off areas.

Conclusions

Children’s health is shaped by factors outside their control. The children included in this study embodied experiences of social and ELS and did not survive to adulthood. They provide the most sobering example of the harm that social factors (structural racism/discrimination, socioeconomic, and political structures) can inflict.
COVID-19 Vaccinations, Business Activity, and Firm Value
Authors: Bizjak John M. , Kalpathy Swaminathan L. , Mihov Vassil T. , Ren Jue
Published: April 2024

Using establishment-level data, we show that COVID-19 vaccinations boost business activity and firm performance in the United States. A 10-percent increase in vaccination rates results in a 4-percent to 6-percent increase in customer visits. We document the channels through which vaccinations increase store visits and the limits to the effect of vaccines on business activity. At the firm level, vaccinations increase sales and earnings, impact expansion decisions, and decrease probability of default, but the benefits vary across businesses. Vaccinations create private economic benefits to firms, shareholders, and employees, in addition to their intended public health benefits.
Assessment of the global population size of the Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa
Authors: Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar , Strindberg Samantha , Ariunbaatar Barkhasbaatar , Batdorj Sodnompil , Batzaya Tsogt , Dashpurev Tserendeleg , Dejid Nandintsetseg , Kirilyuk Vadim E. , Mueller Thomas , Naranbaatar Galsandorj , Otgonbayar Baatargal , Shiilegdamba Enkhtuvshin , Tsolmon Jambalsuren , Usukhjargal Dorj , Uuganbayar Ganbold , Olson Kirk A.
Published: April 2024

The Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa is a wild ungulate ubiquitous across the largest remaining temperate grasslands of Mongolia, Russia and China. The species is nomadic and ranges over long distances, resulting in widely fluctuating abundance in any given location. Therefore, a comprehensive and range-wide survey is required to accurately estimate its global population size, but challenges are posed by the expansive geographical distribution and the political boundaries across the species’ vast range. To obtain an estimate of the total population, we compiled data from recent range-wide surveys. During 2019–2020, we estimated the population size in Mongolia by conducting line transect distance surveys and total counts, and by deriving numerical predictions for unsurveyed areas through data analysis. The gazelle's population in Russia was surveyed in 2020 across its summer range using simultaneous counts, transect surveys and expert knowledge. The distance sampling surveys in Mongolia revealed that slightly more than half of the gazelles along the transects were detected. Our assessment of the gazelle population, although probably an underestimate, suggests there are c. 2.14 million individuals in Mongolia and c. 30,000 in Russia. These results confirm that the Mongolian gazelle is the most abundant nomadic ungulate in the open plains across its range. However, to obtain more accurate estimates across all range states and effectively monitor the gazelle's population status, it is essential to implement standardized survey protocols that correct for imperfect detection. At present, the management of the Mongolian gazelle is inadequate, as there is a lack of regular monitoring to identify any adverse population changes that could necessitate conservation interventions.
Nesting of the Critically Endangered gharial Gavialis gangeticus in Bardia National Park, Nepal
Authors: Bashyal Ashish , Shrestha Nischal , Thapa Rosy , Shrestha Sandeep , Sanjel Makunda , Densmore Llewellyn D. , Khadka Bed
Published: April 2024

The gharial Gavialis gangeticus is a Critically Endangered crocodilian currently known from only 14 disjunct locations in Nepal and India. The protected stretch of the Babai River in Bardia National Park, Nepal, is home to one of the six subpopulations of gharials that have exhibited recent evidence of reproduction. However, there is limited information available on the gharial population in this region. We conducted surveys during the breeding, nesting and hatching seasons of gharials during 2020–2022 to study the gharial population in the Babai River in Bardia National Park. We located one breeding group of gharials in Soth Khola (2–3 individuals) and one in Dhanuse (5–6 individuals), and we observed pre-mating or mating behaviours in all 3 years. We identified potential nesting areas on sand banks of 19–175 m in length. During nesting seasons we found abundant signs of nesting only in Dhanuse, including entry and exit trails of female gharials to and from the water and trial nests. In 2020 and 2021 we did not find any signs of hatching, probably because of flooding. In 2022 we recorded two gharial nests, producing c. 60 hatchlings, in Dhanuse. Our findings indicate that the gharial population in the Babai River is probably nesting annually. We recommend various conservation actions for this gharial population.
True ‘contradictions’ and conflicts in the Talmud
Authors: Hulatt Owen , Oro Hershtein Lucas
Published: April 2024

In this article, we consider the presence of what appear to be true contradictions in the Talmud. We consider and reject a glut-theoretic response. We argue these apparently contradictory Talmudic passages should be understood not as ordinary propositions, but as being given under an operator. This allows us to understand these rulings as genuinely conflicting, but not genuinely contradictory. We illustrate the broad shape of such a view through consideration of Hans Kelsen's late-period philosophy of law. We also consider and reject responses to this issue given by Rashi, R. Kook, and R. Feinstein. We close by considering why a system of Jewish law which allows for jointly affirmed conflicting propositions is desirable. We claim that if, as Maimonides suggests, the fundamental project of Jewish law is the eradication of idolatry, then the law itself should remind us that God's ways are higher than our ways. One way of doing so is to resist capture by a transparent set of principles, by allowing for conflicting rulings to be affirmed. This article does not presuppose familiarity with the Talmudic corpus or Jewish tradition.
Learning biases in proper nouns
Authors: Tanaka Yu
Published: April 2024

It has been proposed that there are cognitive biases in language learning that favour certain patterns over others. This study examines the effects of such bias factors on the learning of the phonology of proper nouns. I take up the phenomenon of compound voicing in Japanese surnames. The results of two judgment experiments show that, while Japanese speakers replicate various kinds of statistical regularities in existing names, they tend to extend only phonologically motivated patterns to novel names. This suggests that phonological naturalness plays a role even in the learning of a highly faithful category of words, namely proper nouns, and provides evidence for the relevance of learning biases in synchronic grammar.
Object Biographies, Object Agency and a Local Community's Encounter with and Response to Foreign Commodities: The Pithoi from LB Tel Burna as a Case Study
Authors: Susnow Matthew , McKinny Chris , Shai Itzhaq
Published: April 2024

This study investigates the effects that an encounter with a foreign object can have on local traditions. Notions of object agency and object biographies will be utilized to address what happens when people become entangled with new things: the new context can have an impact on the newly introduced object, and those newly introduced objects can similarly impact locals and their traditions. The Late Bronze Age southern Levantine site of Tel Burna will serve as a case study, where a number of imported Cypriot pithoi were found alongside locally produced pithoi. It will be demonstrated that in their new context, the Cypriot pithoi were given new meaning and function. At the same time, the imported pithoi played active roles in the local potters of Tel Burna making pithoi. However, the local pithoi resemble local storage jars, so while the potters mimicked the concept of the Cypriot pithoi, they did so according to local normative forms.
The Queen's Urdu: Translating Colonial Secularity in Victoria's 1858 Proclamation
Authors: Ingram Brannon D.
Published: April 2024

This article argues that Queen Victoria's Proclamation of 1858, marking the transfer of power from the East India Company to the crown, ushered in a new era of colonial secularity. “Colonial secularity” refers to the myriad ways that normative distinctions between religion and not-religion emerged and proliferated in colonial contexts. The proclamation committed not to interfere in religion, but “religion” is circumscribed, reconceptualized largely as a matter of private conscience set against the purview of the state. As this article explores, it is according to this logic that the abolition of Islamic criminal law after the proclamation could register as noninterference in native religion. At the same time, Christian missionaries contested the proclamation's notions of neutrality to carve out a space in which they might operate.
The Impress of the Empress: Provincializing the Queen in the Telugu Desa
Authors: Tadakamalla Vijay Kumar
Published: April 2024

In late nineteenth-century Telugu desa, “Victoria” was more than the name of the queen of Great Britain. It was, in Homi Bhabha's famous formulation, a “sign taken for wonder” the signification of which, however, remained ambivalent. As soon as she was proclaimed the empress of India, the queen's name acquired emblematic connotations that were exploited in both reform and counterreform discourses. Treating Queen Victoria not as a person but as a personification, the present essay reads some of the fetishized signs of the queen in the spatial, print, and literary cultures and notes how the colonial engines of modernity were appropriated, provincialized, and subverted in the domestic sphere.
Songs for the Empress: Queen Victoria in the Music History of Colonial Bengal
Authors: Tagore Pramantha
Published: April 2024

In the final decades of the nineteenth century, music significantly occupied the cultural and social life of the Bengali people. As the epicenter of British political and economic influence in the subcontinent, Calcutta witnessed the emergence of schools offering instruction in Indian and Western art music. The flourishing city housed private and public printing presses, which ensured the circulation and distribution of large numbers of songbooks, manuals, and theoretical treatises on music. The city was also home to a diverse assortment of hereditary music practitioners and occupational specialists illustrative of a variety of musical traditions spread across Bengal and North India. Around the 1870s, Bengali musicians, patrons, and connoisseurs began to take up music as an intellectual activity, examine its history as a source for social and political substance, and view musical instruments as material objects for disciplinary study. This emerging interest in musicology, broadly conceived, coincided with the proclamation of Victoria as queen and empress of India, considerably transforming Bengal's political fabric and cultural worldview. The pioneering musicologist Sourindro Mohun Tagore (1840–1914) was among the many authors who published works celebrating Queen Victoria's ascension as empress of India. In this article, I examine Tagore's songbooks dedicated to the queen, reading them as cultural artifacts representing a richly nuanced historical and musical legacy: a textual and aural archive demonstrating how Bengali musicians used sound to mediate the effects of colonization.
Victoria Maharani: Queen Victoria and the Princely State of Travancore
Authors: Ambrosone Ellen A.
Published: April 2024

This article surveys works from Kerala related to Queen Victoria and situates M. R. Madhava Warrier's (1893–1952) biography, Victoria Maharani (1931), against the backdrop of early twentieth-century Travancore. It draws on threads related to the position of women on the Malabar coast, the actions of the maharani regent at the time, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (r. 1924–31), and the political and social climate at the time of her reign. It also considers the relationship between the qualities of Queen Victoria praised in Victoria Maharani, reforms instituted by Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, and the reputation of both in Travancore.
Fiscal policy and inequality in middle- and high-income countries: redistributive effects of tax and spending shocks
Authors: Isiaka Abdulaleem , Mihailov Alexander , Razzu Giovanni
Published: April 2024

Motivated by the sharp increases in public spending following the global financial crisis, we employ the GMM Panel VAR approach at annual frequency between 2004 and 2014 to investigate the dynamic response of alternative income distribution variables to shocks imposed on tax revenues and three key components of social expenditures: social protection, health, and education. We confirm the potential of fiscal policy to reduce income inequality in the medium to longer run, but point to the differential approaches to pursue such a goal in middle- versus high-income countries. We find that the particular expenditure component under consideration matters in terms of the dynamic effect on inequality and on different parts of the income distribution, as well as in terms of the implied time profile. In middle-income countries, positive education spending shocks are the most effective in achieving better distributional outcomes over a medium run of several years. By contrast, in high-income countries, positive health spending and tax shocks have a more pronounced favorable dynamic distributional effect.
The equitable impact of sugary drink taxation structures on sugary drink consumption among Canadians: a modelling study using the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition
Authors: Smith Brendan T , Warren Christine M , Anderson Laura N , Hammond David , Manuel Douglas G , Li Ye , Andreacchi Alessandra T , Rosella Laura C , Fu Sze Hang , Hobin Erin
Published: April 2024

Objective:

Estimate the impact of 20 % flat-rate and tiered sugary drink tax structures on the consumption of sugary drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 % juice by age, sex and socio-economic position.

Design:

We modelled the impact of price changes – for each tax structure – on the demand for sugary drinks by applying own- and cross-price elasticities to self-report sugary drink consumption measured using single-day 24-h dietary recalls from the cross-sectional, nationally representative 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. For both 20 % flat-rate and tiered sugary drink tax scenarios, we used linear regression to estimate differences in mean energy intake and proportion of energy intake from sugary drinks by age, sex, education, food security and income.

Setting:

Canada.

Participants:

19 742 respondents aged 2 and over.

Results:

In the 20 % flat-rate scenario, we estimated mean energy intake and proportion of daily energy intake from sugary drinks on a given day would be reduced by 29 kcal/d (95 % UI: 18, 41) and 1·3 % (95 % UI: 0·8, 1·8), respectively. Similarly, in the tiered tax scenario, additional small, but meaningful reductions were estimated in mean energy intake (40 kcal/d, 95 % UI: 24, 55) and proportion of daily energy intake (1·8 %, 95 % UI: 1·1, 2·5). Both tax structures reduced, but did not eliminate, inequities in mean energy intake from sugary drinks despite larger consumption reductions in children/adolescents, males and individuals with lower education, food security and income.

Conclusions:

Sugary drink taxation, including the additional benefit of taxing 100 % juice, could reduce overall and inequities in mean energy intake from sugary drinks in Canada.
Explaining the distinction between religious and political activism in Islamism: evidence from the Tunisian case
Authors: Merone Fabio , McCarthy Rory
Published: April 2024

Tunisia's Islamist movement Ennahda has announced a separation of political and religious work, apparently reinforcing a “post-Islamist” argument that Islamic parties have left behind religious mobilization. However, the boundary between religious and political fields is highly porous. We ask why the distinction between religious and political activism remains a point of ambiguity within Islamism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 48 men and women who participated in the movement in the 1970s and 1980s in Tunis and Sousse, we develop a microlevel explanation of Islamist mobilization. We argue that religious and social Islamist activism is replete with political intent, which worked through three mechanisms: a counter-hegemonic ideology, an activist engagement in social transformation, and a formal organization. These findings add empirical insights to the case of Ennahda, provide leverage in explaining the politicization of Salafist movements, and underscore the legacy of asymmetric party capacities in shaping outcomes in a democratic transition.
Rituelle sexuelle Gewalt
Authors: Mokros Andreas , Schemmel Jonas , Körner André , Oeberst Aileen , Imhoff Roland , Suchotzki Kristina , Oberlader Verena , Banse Rainer , Kannegießer Anja , Gubi-Kelm Silvia , Lehmann Robert , Volbert Renate
Published: April 2024

Zusammenfassung: Unter ritueller sexueller Gewalt werden Formen organisierten sexuellen Missbrauchs verstanden, die ideologisch geprägt sind und von mehreren Täter_innen über längere Zeiträume ausgeübt werden. Üblicherweise wird in Verbindung mit dem Phänomen von Prozessen absichtlicher Persönlichkeitsspaltung, induzierten Amnesien und Instruierbarkeit der Opfer ausgegangen. Im Zuge eines Projekts, das durch die Unabhängige Kommission zur Aufarbeitung sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs aus Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend gefördert worden ist, wurden mehrere Veröffentlichungen erstellt, darunter eine Online-Umfrage an 165 selbst-definierten Betroffenen ( Nick et al., 2018 ; https://doi.org/10.21706/TG-12-3-244 ). Der vorliegende Beitrag setzt sich insbesondere mit der Ergebnisinterpretation der Studie von Nick et al. kritisch auseinander. Angesichts umfangreicher empirischer und theoretischer Literatur sind drei Punkte festzuhalten: 1) Sowohl die Angaben zu Amnesie als auch zum Wiedererinnern erscheinen gedächtnispsychologisch unplausibel. 2) Die Angaben über erlittenen rituellen sexuellen Missbrauch sind alternativ durch suggestive Prozesse erklärbar. 3) Es liegen keine belastbaren Belege für Phänomene wie die intentionale Persönlichkeitsspaltung vor. Angesichts der möglichen Gefahren für Betroffene (Bestärkung suggerierter Scheinerinnerungen, nicht-hilfreiche Therapie / Beratung) ist ein vorsichtiger Umgang mit Behauptungen über die Existenz von ritueller sexueller Gewalt geboten, auch im Rahmen öffentlich geförderter Projekte.
Constraints on the Timing and Lower Crustal Accretion at the Schulz Massif, Mohns Ridge, Arctic Mid Ocean Ridges
Authors: Bjerga A. , Stubseid H. H. , Pedersen L. E. R. , Corfu F. , Whitehouse M. , Pedersen R. B.
Published: April 2024

The ultraslow‐spreading Mohns Ridge is a key supersegment of the Arctic Mid‐Ocean system, where it represents a boundary between the Jan Mayen hotspot in the south and the highly anomalous Knipovich Ridge to the north. Understanding the timing and mode of Plio‐Pleistocene seafloor spreading along this ridge segment is critical for establishing the recent geodynamic evolution of the Norwegian‐Greenland Sea. To investigate magmatic accretion at this ultraslow spreading ridge, we collected samples from the Schulz Massif, which is located off‐axis at 73.4°N and exposes gabbroic intrusives and mantle peridotite. The petrology and petrography of these samples indicate that the exposed crustal section underwent multiple episodes of magmatism, which are characterized by distinct crystal sizes and geochemistry. To calibrate the age of the seafloor, we combined high‐resolution and high‐precision single zircon U‐Pb geochronology. Our data suggest that seafloor spreading has been nearly symmetrical for the last ∼4.6 Myr with a time‐averaged half‐spreading rate of ∼7.4 mm yr−1. Crystal size analysis of olivine in porphyric intrusions suggests that the crustal section was fed crystal‐laden melts with recurrence rates predicted to stabilize fault‐dominated seafloor spreading. Our combined geochronological and crystal size approach gives a critical perspective on the mode of seafloor spreading in the Mohns Ridge and allows insights into accretionary mechanisms and crustal structures during symmetric seafloor spreading.
Strong Green‐Up of Tropical Asia During the 2015/16 El Niño
Authors: Satriawan T. W. , Luo X. , Tian J. , Ichii K. , Juneng L. , Kondo M.
Published: April 2024

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main climate mode that drives the interannual variability in climate and consequently vegetation greenness. While widespread green‐up has been reported and examined in tropical America during El Niño, it remains unclear how vegetation in tropical Asia changes during the period. Here, we used four remote sensing‐based leaf area index (LAI) products to investigate changes in vegetation greenness during the 2015/16 El Niño in tropical Asia. We found a strong green‐up during the 2015/16 El Niño in tropical Asia, with its regional average LAI stronger than that of tropical America. The drivers for the green‐up vary across the region, with radiation being the main driver for continental tropical Asia, and temperature and soil water anomalies in the west and east parts of maritime tropical Asia, respectively. These findings provide important insights into the response of tropical Asia's vegetation to extreme climate anomalies.
Bayesian History Matching Applied to the Calibration of a Gravity Wave Parameterization
Authors: King Robert C. , Mansfield Laura A. , Sheshadri Aditi
Published: April 2024

Breaking atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) in the tropical stratosphere are essential in driving the roughly 2‐year oscillation of zonal winds in this region known as the Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO). As Global Climate Models (GCM)s are not typically able to directly resolve the spectrum of waves required to drive the QBO, parameterizations are necessary. Such parameterizations often require knowledge of poorly constrained physical parameters. In the case of the spectral gravity parameterization used in this work, these parameters are the total equatorial GW stress and the half width of phase speed distribution. Radiosonde observations are used to obtain the period and amplitude of the QBO, which are compared against values obtained from a GCM. We utilize two established calibration techniques to obtain estimates of the range of plausible parameter values: History matching & Ensemble Kalman Inversion (EKI). History matching is found to reduce the size of the initial range of plausible parameters by a factor of 98%, requiring only 60 model integrations. EKI cannot natively provide any uncertainty quantification but is able to produce a single best estimate of the calibrated values in 25 integrations. When directly comparing the approaches using the Calibrate, Emulate, Sample method to produce a posterior estimate from EKI, history matching produces more compact posteriors with fewer model integrations at lower ensemble sizes compared to EKI; however, these differences become less apparent at higher ensemble sizes.
Bed Shear Stress and Near‐Bed Flow Through Sparse Arrays of Rigid Emergent Vegetation
Authors: Aliaga J. , Aberle J.
Published: April 2024

Vegetation is an essential component of natural rivers and has significant effects on flow and morphodynamic processes. Although progress has been made in characterizing flow resistance in vegetated flows, the impact of vegetation on bed shear stress, a key driver of sediment transport, still needs better characterization and understanding. This research, explores bed shear stress and near‐bed flow characteristics in sparse arrays of rigid emergent cylinders mimicking vegetation over a rough bed. For this purpose, a novel adaptation of a shear plate was used to measure bed shear stress at the canopy scale. These measurements were analyzed in relation to spatially averaged near‐bed flow quantities for different array densities. The results show that, for a constant water depth, the investigated cylinder canopy enhances the ratio between bed shear stress and bulk flow velocity (i.e., Darcy‐Weisbach bed friction factor) compared to unobstructed open‐channel flows, and that this ratio increases with array density. Moreover, higher near‐bed velocities were observed for higher array densities. On the other hand, no influence of the cylinder array on near‐bed values of turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent stresses was observed. Finally, it is shown that the thickness of the near‐bed layer is a suitable parameter to scale the ratio between bed shear stress and bulk flow velocity in vegetated rough bed flows.
Seismic Constraints on Hydrothermal Circulation and Magmato‐Tectonic Interactions Beneath Lucky Strike Volcano, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge
Authors: Bohidar S. , Crawford W. C. , Cannat M.
Published: April 2024

The Lucky Strike volcano is the central edifice of the Lucky Strike segment on the slow spreading Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. The volcano summit hosts one of the largest known deep‐sea hydrothermal fields, and overlies an axial magma chamber (AMC) whose summit reflector lies 3–3.8 km beneath the seafloor. We present a 12‐year microearthquake catalog beneath the volcano, which we constructed using data collected from 2007 to 2019 as part of the EMSO‐Azores observatory. The catalog reveals continuous low magnitude seismicity (85% with ML < 0), focused mainly north‐northwest of the hydrothermal field and 0–2 km above the AMC reflector. Focal mechanisms estimated only from the 2010–2011 deployment show a mixture of thrust, normal and strike/slip faulting mechanisms. We propose that the observed microearthquake activity is due to thermal cracking, tectonic cracking, and possible small dike injections occurring at the base of hydrothermal downflow zones. We document a ∼800 m eastward shift of the seismicity sometime during a catalog gap from June 2013 to April 2015, accompanied by a change in the seismicity pattern from a patch just above the AMC to a more vertically aligned structure. We also identify several higher seismicity periods, often including relatively large magnitude events (ML > 0.8). We interpret the spatio‐temporal variations in seismicity patterns and the correlation between larger magnitude events and higher seismicity periods to indicate that the hydrothermal domain is a dynamic interface, where the variations are caused by changes in permeability and/or temperature induced by tectonic and small episodic melt injections.