bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Virtual Functional Medicine-Based Interdisciplinary and Integrative Intervention for Gulf War Illness
Authors: Haws Kari , Mak Selene , Greer Steven , Kussin Clarissa A , Sacra Elijah , Carlson Carrie J , McManus Pauline , Varon Samantha , Chandler Helena , Osinubi Omowunmi
Published: August 2024

Introduction

The War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center at the VA New Jersey Health Care System (WRIISC-VANJ) serves as one of the three tertiary referral centers for combat deployed Veterans of all eras with medically unexplained or difficult-to-diagnose conditions that may be related to deployment-related exposures. Many of the Veterans seen at the WRIISC experience chronic multisymptom illness (CMI), also known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Given the complexity and interconnectedness of symptoms, Veterans with GWI are often unlikely to produce meaningful results when addressing single symptoms. Further, Veterans with GWI often have co-morbid cognitive and behavioral health conditions (e.g., TBI, PTSD, Depression), which further compromise their self-efficacy in following treatment recommendations. Thus, the WRIISC-NJ, in collaboration with Wellness Solutions Group, developed a virtual Functional Medicine-based Interdisciplinary and Integrative Intervention to improve the health of Veterans by assisting them in implementing lifestyle changes.

Methods

The 6-month telehealth program included functional medicine assessments, nutrition and adaptive exercise coaching, mindfulness meditation and yoga, guest health lectures, character strength coaching, and targeted nutritional supplements. Aspects of the program were tailored to the unique clinical needs of each Veteran. Participants completed baseline and 6 month follow-up assessments of physical and emotional symptoms and overall functioning. Follow-up scores were compared with baseline data.

Results

The program was well received by Veterans with attendance across all offered sessions ranging from 70 to 100%. Further, at the end of the clinical pilot program, improvements were demonstrated in physical and mental health symptoms, intentional weight loss/gain, functional movement, and sleep quality.

Conclusions

These preliminary results demonstrate the possibility of creating positive health outcomes across multiple health indicators in medically complex combat-deployed Veterans. Our early success and participant enthusiasm for this clinical pilot program also illustrate an opportunity to provide individualized, innovative solutions for the evaluation and treatment of Veterans with GWI.
Selenium Bandages and Cotton Cloth That Kill Microorganisms in Wounds
Authors: Tran Phat , Abidi Noureddine , Bergfeld Nicholas , Shashtri Mayank , Reid Ted W
Published: August 2024

Introduction

The material of a bandage plays an important role in wound management. Microorganisms can colonize the dressing and release toxins, which create dead cells in the wound. This allows the microorganisms to bind the dead cells and infect the wound. Thus, a dressing is needed that kills bacteria in the bandage. To combat health care–associated infections, antimicrobial treatment of medical textiles, such as gauze, uniforms, curtains, bed sheets, gowns, and masks, is required. Besides, antimicrobial resistance is another major problem of this century. Antibacterial overuse has contributed to drug-resistant bacteria. To combat these two problems, we synthesized new organo-selenium compounds that can be attached to the cotton of the dressing. We then used an in vivo wound model, which allowed us to measure the effectiveness of selenium attached to a cotton dressing, to prevent bacteria from infecting a wound.

Materials and Methods

Organo-selenium was attached to cotton fabric, resulting in a fabric with 0.1% selenium covalently attached to it. Staphylococcus aureus (as well as methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA]), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were chosen for the wound infection study. All the bacteria were enumerated in the wound dressing and in the wound tissue under the dressing. Wounds were made on the backs of mice. The material was used as a bandage over the wound. Bacteria were injected into the wound under the bandage. The amount of bacteria in the wound after 5 days was determined. A similar study was performed using dressing material that was soaked in phosphate buffered saline at 37 °C for 3 months before use.

Results

Cotton dressing with selenium attached showed complete inhibition (7 logs, as compared with control dressing) of different bacterial strains, in both the dressing and “the tissue” of the wound. Similar results were obtained using selenium cotton dressing that was soaked for 3 months before use. Control cotton with no selenium showed complete infiltration of bacteria into the wound and the dressing. In addition, a study was performed under Food and Drug Administration standard methods to show the ability of the selenium to kill bacteria in the fabric, using material that was washed 5 times in detergent. This also showed complete killing of bacteria in the fabric.

Conclusions

The results show that the selenium remains in the dressing after washing and is able to completely protect the wound from bacterial infection. In the selenium bandage, no bacteria were found in the bandage or the wound after 5 days.
Therapeutic Function of Liraglutide for Mitigation of Blast-Induced Hearing Damage: An Initial Investigation in Animal Model of Chinchilla
Authors: Jiang Shangyuan , Sanders Sarah , Welch Paige , Gan Rong Z
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Auditory injuries induced by repeated exposures to blasts reduce the operational performance capability and the life quality of military personnel. The treatment for blast-induced progressive hearing damage is lacking. We have recently investigated the therapeutic function of liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, to mitigate blast-induced hearing damage in the animal model of chinchilla, under different blast intensities, wearing earplugs (EPs) or not during blasts, and drug-treatment plan. The goal of this study was to investigate the therapeutical function of liraglutide by comparing the results obtained under different conditions.

Materials and Methods

Previous studies on chinchillas from two under-blast ear conditions (EP/open), two blast plans (G1: 6 blasts at 3–5 psi or G2:3 blasts at 15–25 psi), and three treatment plans (blast control, pre-blast drug treatment, and post-blast drug treatment) were summarized. The auditory brainstem response (ABR), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), and middle latency response (MLR) recorded within 14 days after the blasts were used. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of liraglutide under different conditions

Results

ABR threshold shifts indicated that the conditions of the EP and open ears were substantially different. Results from EP chinchillas indicated that the pre-blast treatment reduced the acute ABR threshold elevation on the day of blasts, and the significance of such an effect increased with the blast level. Liraglutide-treated open chinchillas showed lower ABR threshold shifts at the later stage of the experiment regardless of the blast levels. The DPOAE was less damaged after G2 blasts compared to G1 when pre-blast liraglutide was administrated. Lower post-blast MLR amplitudes were observed in the pre-blast treatment groups.

Conclusions

This study indicated that the liraglutide mitigated the blast-induced auditory injuries. In EP ears, the pre-blast administration of liraglutide reduced the severity of blast-induced acute damage in ears with EP protection, especially under G2. In animals with open ears, the effect of liraglutide on the restoration of hearing increased with time. The liraglutide potentially benefits post-blast hearing through multiple approaches with different mechanics.
BIO 300: A Prophylactic Radiation Countermeasure for Acute Radiation Syndrome
Authors: Singh Vijay K , Serebrenik Artur A , Wise Stephen Y , Petrus Sarah A , Fatanmi Oluseyi O , Kaytor Michael D
Published: August 2024

Introduction

Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation can result in hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome. Currently, there is no radiation medical countermeasure approved by the U.S. FDA which can be used before radiation exposure to protect exposed individuals. Here we aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of an aqueous suspension of synthetic genistein nanoparticles (BIO 300) as a radioprotectant in a pilot efficacy study using a nonhuman primate model of total body irradiation.

Materials and Methods

Eight rhesus macaques were divided into two groups; four received vehicle and four received BIO 300 Injectable Suspension 24 h before 5.8 Gy total-body irradiation. Survival, blood cell counts, blood chemistry, and clinical parameters were monitored over the 60 days of the study. Tissues were collected at necropsy 60 days post-irradiation or from animals that met unscheduled euthanasia criteria and subjected to histopathological analysis. Tissues analyzed included the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, sternum, lung, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, gut-associated lymphoid tissue, and urinary bladder.

Results

In this pilot study, all BIO 300 Injectable Suspension treated animals survived to day 60, while only 50% of the vehicle-treated animals survived. We found that BIO 300 Injectable Suspension did not mediate an improvement in blood cell counts (e.g., neutrophils, platelets, white blood cells). However, BIO 300 Injectable Suspension treated animals had a lower incidence of fever and febrile neutropenia, were able to better maintain their body weight post radiation exposure, and exhibited less anemia and faster recovery from anemia. Histopathological analysis revealed that BIO 300-treated animals had less irradiation-induced damage to the sternum and other tissues compared to vehicle controls.

Conclusions

BIO 300’s mechanism of action is complex and protection against irradiation is attainable without much improvement in the complete blood count (CBC) profile. BIO 300’s mechanism for radioprotection involves multiple biological pathways and systems.
Standardizing Attention Process Training-III for a Multisite Clinical Trial of Neuromodulation
Authors: Richardson Jessica D , Hubbard Honey I , Dalton Sarah Grace , Davidson Sloan , Maple Tiana , Smith Tyler B , Chen Mo , Hiltner Rebecca , Jones Thomas , Mayer Andrew R , Myers Orrin , Nelson Cassandra , Pirio-Richardson Sarah , Robertson-Benta Cidney , Sponheim Scott , Upston Joel , Worth Lindsay , Davenport Nicholas , Quinn Davin K
Published: August 2024

Introduction

The Control Network Neuromodulation to Enhance Cognitive Training in Complex Traumatic Brain Injury (CONNECT-TBI) study is an ongoing randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled multisite clinical trial to determine the enhancing effects of noninvasive neuromodulation when paired with cognitive training in military participants (Veterans and active duty) with mild TBI. Attention Process Training-III (APT-III) was selected for its strong evidence base, manualized procedures, and computerized program. However, many aspects of APT-III that make it ideal for personalization make it less ideal for reliable implementation across participants, clinicians/technicians, and sites. The purpose of this feature article is to highlight APT-III procedures that require additional standardization for reliable administration across participants and sites.

Materials and Methods

Ten studies using APT-III were reviewed for methodology of APT-III administration. The manual was also scrutinized; aspects of administration that involved clinical decision-making, subjectivity, flexibility, and/or that were identified by the APT-III developers as areas in need of “empirical evaluation” were flagged by clinicians. Literature and manual review findings were presented to the team for discussion and solution-finding. The authors created and refined a standardized process that would allow participants to move through APT-III training, including task movement algorithms and new materials drafts. Refining of algorithms and drafts continued until there was a consensus from team members.

Results

Many gray areas were identified, but we will limit our reporting to focus on (1) dosage, (2) adaptation, (3) metacognitive strategy instruction, and (4) goal attainment scaling. We present APT-III manual details, literature review findings, and CONNECT-TBI decisions and materials for each of these areas of focus.

Conclusions

We have highlighted some of the major gray areas of APT-III administration so that fellow researchers can understand the need to take similar steps in clinical trials using APT-III. We provide examples of our standardization process and resultant rules and materials. Our algorithm, based on prior studies using the APT-III and our own iterative adjustments, allows for adjustment of the difficulty and speed of the training tasks (but within certain parameters) in order to achieve the best balance between individualization and consistency across participants and sites. We provide an example of a workflow and reporting process for future studies.
Behind Armor Blunt Trauma: Liver Injuries Using a Live Animal Model
Authors: Yoganandan Narayan , Shah Alok , Koser Jared , Stemper Brian D , Somberg Lewis , Chancey Valeta Carol , McEntire Joseph
Published: August 2024

Introduction

While the 44-mm clay penetration criterion was developed in the 1970s for soft body armor applications, and the researchers acknowledged the need to conduct additional tests, the same behind the armor blunt trauma displacement limit is used for both soft and hard body armor evaluations and design considerations. Because the human thoraco-abdominal contents are heterogeneous, have different skeletal coverage, and have different functional requirements, the same level of penetration limit does not imply the same level of protection. It is important to determine the regional responses of different thoraco-abdominal organs to better describe human tolerance and improve the current behind armor blunt trauma standard. The purpose of this study was to report on the methods, procedures, and data collected from swine.

Materials and Methods

Live swine tests were conducted after obtaining approvals from the local institution and the Army Care and Use Review Office of the U.S. Department of Defense. Trachea tubes and an intravenous line were introduced before administering anesthesia. Pressure transducers were inserted into the lungs and aorta. An indenter simulating the backface deformation profiles produced by body armor from military-relevant ballistics to human cadavers was used to deliver impact loading to the liver region. A triaxial accelerometer was included in the indenter design. The animals were monitored for 6 hours, necropsies were performed, and injuries were identified. Biomechanical data of the energy, velocity, deflection, viscous criterion, force, and impulse variables were obtained for each test.

Results

Peak accelerations, velocities, deflections, forces, impulse, and energies ranged from 897 to 5,808 g, 21 to 59 m/s, 1.96 to 8.87 cm, 2.3 to 13.1 kN, 1.1 to 7.1 Ns, and 58 to 387 J, respectively. The peak viscous criterion ranged from 0.8 to 5.8 m/s. All animals survived the 6-hour survival period. Three animals responded with liver lacerations while the remaining 4 did not have any injuries.

Conclusion

The experimental design based on parallel tests with whole body human cadavers and cadaver swine was found to be successful in delivering controlled impacts to the liver region of live swine and reproducing liver injuries. Previously used biomechanical measures as potential candidates for injury criteria development were obtained. Using this proven model, tests with additional samples are needed to develop injury risk curves for liver impacts and obtain regional (liver) injury criteria.
Assessment of Navy Provider Knowledge of Women’s Mental Health Services, Treatment Practices, and Training
Authors: Segovia Francine , Jewell Jennifer A , Marcinak Jaquelyn , Russin Hannah , Cazares Paulette
Published: August 2024

Introduction

As female active duty populations increase in all military environments, it is critical that women’s health be addressed in a comprehensive manner. The study’s results will be utilized to assist Navy health care leaders in addressing female force readiness policies, treatment gaps, and training specific to women’s mental health.

Materials and Methods

In total, 212 active duty participants were recruited from the Navy’s mental health specialties. The survey was hosted on the U.S. Government’s MAX.gov survey website and received Institutional Review Board and Survey Review Board approval per Navy and Defense Health Agency requirements. Participants recorded their experiences with various patient presentations using Likert scale assessments, indicated their comfort in prescribing medication to patients with 11 distinct presenting concerns, and responded to six questions regarding their training and clinical experience in the field of women’s mental health.

Results

Differences were noted for provider gender, treatment setting, patient sex, provider rank, and years of independent practice. Female providers were more likely than males to report that their female patients presented with 15 of the 21 measured issues. Providers located at MTFs were significantly more likely than providers in operational billets to report female patients presenting with certain conditions and reported being more comfortable prescribing medication. Eighty percent of respondents authorized to prescribe medicine rated themselves as very or extremely comfortable prescribing medications to their patients for all specified conditions except two: women who are breastfeeding and women who are pregnant. Senior officers reported the most comfort prescribing medication to women who are planning to become pregnant and women who have experienced perinatal loss. Only a minority of providers (20%, female; 33%, males) reported receiving women’s mental health education during their training. Of those who did receive training, it was limited to post-partum and pregnancy. Most participants (93%) agreed that women’s mental health should be incorporated into training programs for military providers.

Conclusions

This exploratory study highlights that provider variables impact assessment and treatment of and for patients. The study highlights the interplay of gender, treatment setting, experiences, and level of comfort are associated with provider assessment of presenting concerns. The authors hope this study will help in prioritizing women’s mental health practices, mental health training, and research, and in informing policy and decision-making.
Quackery as a Public Health Problem
Authors: London William M.
Published: August 2024

Quackery is the deceptive promotion of health products, services, or regimens to consumers for financial gain using unsubstantiated claims of safety and effectiveness. The products include tens of thousands of dietary supplements, herbal products, and homeopathic products that are useless or unnecessary. Promoters can be either health professionals or laypersons. They can be either dishonest people who purposely mislead consumers with disinformation or sincere people who truly believe in what they sell but nevertheless misinform consumers. Some of them use buzzwords or euphemisms such as natural, holistic, alternative, functional, integrative, indigenous, advanced, or innovative to give the impression that their offerings are special and worthwhile. They hype their offerings via personal selling, or through either print or electronic mass media. Personal selling involves sales pitches to consumers through direct interpersonal communications rather than via mass media. It includes sales seminars, telemarketing appeals, and pitches by distributors in multilevel marketing businesses to potential customers who are then recruited to be distributors. Promoters often pay mass media outlets to advertise their offerings to consumers. News and entertainment media outlets are often interested in publicizing the kind of extraordinary healing claims made by many quacks. Promoters also use social media to spread false or misleading information to give their offerings the appearance of legitimacy. Terms such as health fraud and health scams have been used instead of quackery by some anti-quackery activists. While these terms may better connote the seriousness of quackery as a public health problem, they can be easily confused with the problem of health insurance fraud (sometimes called health-care fraud). Although quacks sometimes defraud insurance companies, health insurance fraud or abuse typically involves activities other than quackery, such as billing for services not rendered or billing for medically unnecessary services. Quackery is a matter of deceptive promotional claims. It is not a matter of unethical billing practices or of merely providing health care with modalities of unproven value. Quackery is a largely neglected social pathology and public health menace. The harm to consumers can include: (1) direct harm when treatments provided are toxic, (2) indirect harm when consumers are diverted from or delay seeking responsible care, (3) financial harm because of wasted expenditures of time and money, (4) psychological harm due to manipulation of expectations and emotions, promoting self-defeating sickness behavior and somatization, and by the burdens of complying with requirements some quacks falsely claim are necessary to avoid health harms and for healing, (5) social harm, such as when friends and family see exploitation of unwitting victims of quackery, and (6) societal harm, such as undermining public trust in modern medicine and science-based public health practices.
Warfare in Qing China
Authors: Theobald Ulrich
Published: August 2024

The topic of warfare in Qing China (1644–1912) can be approached from two different angles, namely event history, and the military system in a wider sense. The great wars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have been analyzed in numerous studies with regard to their origins, course, and consequences. In addition, there is research on rebellions and uprisings which, although they provoked military action, these events were not usually perceived as “war,” as such. In addition, there were several conflicts with foreign powers that only led to a few short battles, but they must be placed in the wider context of imperialism. In addition to the history of events, the organizational apparatus of the military system with the transition from a traditional military to modern armies has also been studied for some time. In addition, the modernization of armaments, logistics, and war financing as well as the field of military culture have also been examined.
Battle of Bannockburn: 1314
Authors: Brown Michael
Published: August 2024

The battle of Bannockburn was fought near Stirling in central Scotland on 23–24 June 1314. During these two days, the army led by Robert Bruce, king of Scots, decisively defeated the force the English king, Edward II, had brought to Scotland. Bannockburn occurred during the sequence of wars waged by the English Crown to establish sovereignty over the kingdom of Scotland. These had begun in 1296 and, with only brief interruptions, the state of war between the two kingdoms on the island of Britain would continue into the sixteenth century. Bannockburn has long been regarded as a pivotal moment in this Anglo-Scottish conflict. In the context of the war, and of later medieval warfare more generally, such a large-scale battle in the open field was highly unusual. It was also rare for the two armies to be led on the field by their respective rulers. The claims of Robert I and Edward II to be rulers of Scotland were in direct conflict, making their leadership a test of legal and moral right. These elements gave the Scottish king’s victory an immediate significance and would supply Bannockburn with a resonance to subsequent generations. By the later fourteenth century, the battle was regarded by Scottish writers as the key event in their struggle against the English. It has remained a symbolic touchstone for Scottish identity, providing a late medieval demonstration of martial nationhood in parallel with battles like Crecy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), Courtrai (1302), Orléans (1429), and Kosovo Polje (1389). This perceived historical importance has generated an exceptional level of interest in Bannockburn for over 150 years. In that time there have been over twenty books focused directly on the battle and many more studies that included extensive discussion of its events. These works also reflect the ongoing debates about Bannockburn that cross different fields and disciplines of enquiry. There remain questions about the reasons why the battle was fought at all, given the context of contemporary warfare. What Bannockburn reveals about the ability of an army of spear-armed foot soldiers to defeat heavy cavalry and archers has been related to wider tactical changes in late medieval Europe. The location of the field and its effect on the course of the battle remain a matter of dispute. Finally, the contribution of Bannockburn to concepts of Scottish identity continues to inspire analysis.
Taiwan's Miracle Development: Its Economy over a Century
Authors: Hsiao Frank S. T.
Published: August 2024

It is well known that, since World War II, Taiwan has achieved two miracles, an “economic miracle” and a “political miracle.” Economically, after Taiwan recovered from the destruction of its industrial agricultural bases, built by the Japanese before the war, and because of the impact of the influx of Chinese refugees from the mainland after 1947, Taiwan went through a government reorganization and economic reconstruction, the phases of sugar and rice primary export promotion, import substitution, and low-tech to high-tech exports promotion periods. It maintained a high growth rate with a low unemployment rate and low income inequality. Politically, Taiwan has transformed itself from one of the worst authoritarian regimes in the world, going through thirty-eight years of martial law and the era of “White Terror” from 1948 to 1987, to one of the most democratic and free countries in the world. Since 1987, the Taiwanese economy has continued growing, and democracy and freedom have been evolving. Unlike dire predictions in some quarters, the democratic turn from 1987 by no means put an end to Taiwan’s economic growth. While Taiwan has faced many economic problems over the years, domestically and internationally (e.g., the two oil crises and expulsion from the UN in the 1970s, and the Asian financial crisis in 1997), Taiwanese economy and society have been able to overcome the obstructions and the threat of recession and continued to survive and thrive. In 1997 the World Bank and the IMF listed Taiwan as an advanced economy, and in the 2010s Taiwan became one of the world’s high-income countries. According to IMF data, in terms of real per capital GDP in PPP, Taiwan surpassed Japan in 2007, the United Kingdom in 2009, France in 2010, and Germany in 2014, and it is poised to catch up with the United States. In 2018, Taiwan produced 72 percent of the world’s IC foundries, 49 percent of the world’s IC packaging and testing (both in value), and, if offshore production is included, 85 percent of the world’s computer motherboards (in value) and 79 percent of the world’s notebook computers (in volume). They were No. 1 to No. 3 in the World. Taiwan is a powerhouse in the world’s high-tech industry today. In this bibliography, Taiwan’s economic development miracle is reviewed. The literature on the political miracle has been ably covered elsewhere by Jonathan Sullivan in the Oxford Biographies article “Taiwan Democracy” Since economy and politics are often closely interwoven, readers are advised to refer to that article. Due to Taiwan’s unique historical background, the references include those in English, Chinese, and Japanese, and many are in edited books. For simplicity, we call the Japanese period (1895–1945) the “prewar period,” and the years after 1945 the “postwar period.”
Sharpnel splinter in the common bile duct
Authors: Abbas Ahmad , Al-theab Faiz
Published: August 2024

Foreign bodies are a rare cause of obstructive jaundice. In this case report, we present the case of a 59-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain and obstructive jaundice, which was later found out to be caused by an impacted shrapnel splinter in the common bile duct 7 years after a combat injury. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case from Syria. This case report is a reminder that impacted foreign bodies should be considered as a potential cause of obstructive jaundice in patients with previous combat injury.
Introduction
Authors: Howley Jessica
Published: August 2024

This chapter introduces the growing potential for overlapping individual and interstate claims to arise under international law, the consequent concerns that emerge, and the rules relating to State responsibility that might operate to preclude one or the other of such overlapping claims. It considers historical developments surrounding the place of the individual in international law, and the emergence of individual claims mechanisms. It outlines the consequent and growing potential for individuals to bring claims which overlap with those brought by States, in the sense that both may bring claims under international law arising from similar factual circumstances and against the same respondent State. The chapter underlines conflicting policy interests behind whether, and to what extent, international law should allow for such overlapping claims, and notes that, despite the important practical and theoretical implications of this overlap, it was largely omitted from consideration in the ILC’s Articles on State Responsibility. The chapter gives an overview of the contributions of the book as a whole in attempting to fill that gap, namely its provision of a comprehensive survey of the potential for individual and interstate claims to overlap, its exploration of how public international law regulates the bringing of such overlapping claims, and its suggestion of a human rights-oriented approach to resolving the complex policy considerations to which such claims give rise.
The Application of Diplomatic Protection-Based Rules
Authors: Howley Jessica
Published: August 2024

This chapter considers how regime-specific treaty provisions precluding overlapping individual and interstate claims under ICSID and the CARICOM Treaty, as well as the rule on the exhaustion of local remedies, all of which apply where an overlapping interstate claim is one of diplomatic protection, play a role in regulating overlapping individual and interstate claims. In doing so, it gives extensive consideration to the nature of diplomatic protection and how it can be distinguished from other interstate claims. It systematically breaks down confusion surrounding the distinction, highlighting that diplomatic protection claims are brought for breach of interstate obligations but for damage suffered by an individual national. The chapter provides examples to demonstrate the application of the proposed approach to situations in which the distinction has proved problematic in practice. While it concludes that the rules being considered in this chapter are of limited utility in precluding overlapping individual and interstate claims from arising across the board, the rigorous analysis provides essential insights for the consideration of other rules in later chapters.
The Early Care and Education of Deaf Children in Ghana
Authors: Nyadu Offei Yaw , Amanvida Gibbah Linda
Published: August 2024

In this chapter the authors outline the legislative and historical context of early childhood care and education in Ghana. They describe how early education is provided in Ghana acknowledging how practices have been influenced by rapid development and change in terms of urbanization, cultural values, understandings, and behaviours. A description is given of what the early support of deaf children and their caregivers looks like in this context and the challenges and opportunities for policy and programme development for young Ghanaian deaf children and their families are explained. The chapter prepares the ground for the next section of the book that discusses the ethical, methodological, and empirical aspects of the early childhood care and education research conducted in Ghana by the project team.
History of a Text
Authors: Bangha Imre
Published: August 2024

The Rāmcarit-mānas (1572), the most successful work produced in an Indian vernacular, has had a rich print publishing history over the past two hundred years and was edited again and again by some of the greatest scholars of Hindi. Modern publishing eventually goes back to texts transmitted in handwritten sources. After a survey of the manuscripts that were used for the print editions, the chapter examines the publishing history of the epic with special focus on the mid-twentieth century critical or semi-critical editions. It also looks at evolving scholarly attitudes to methodology of editing texts, the major debates that surrounded the editions, and eventually the role of Mānas-editing in the Indian national movement.
Yoga and Bhakti
Authors: Horstmann Monika
Published: August 2024

The Nāth Siddha tradition as it is transmitted in Hindi starts appearing at the beginning of the seventeenth century in Dādūpanthī, that is, Sant codices. This tradition belongs to a milieu which can best be described as a proto-Nirañjanī and Dādūpanthī aggregate with its epicentre in Marwar. The Nāth Siddhas were critics of the established religion and its representatives, these including to some extent hatha yoga. In the seventeenth century, Prithīnāth (fl. before or around 1580) was recognized as the last productive Nāth Siddha. His oeuvre displays the amalgamation of yoga with bhakti, featuring a yoga resembling in some of his writings that of the Laghu-Yogavāsiṣṭha. The contribution lays out his thought on the basis of the treatise Manasthaṃbha-sarīrāsādhāra, here first edited and translated.
Contour and Classify
Authors: Wigh Sonia
Published: August 2024

This chapter looks at the interconnected journeys of the thirteenth-century Sanskrit Kokaśāstra, its sixteenth-century Braj translation, and their purported Persian translation Laẕẕat al-nisā’ (‘Pleasures of Women’). This process of translation was not only the site of encounter for multiple languages, but the contents were constantly modified and dialogues with other disciplinary fileds emerged, such as court poetry, didactic texts, and medical treatises. Hence, in Laẕẕat al-nisā’, we see the evidence of multiple, dissimilar, and transforming discourses about sex and masculinities. Furthermore, this tradition was based on regulating sexual lives through a series of idealizations, especially of sexual partners, to achieve pleasure. By critically examining these idealizations, this chapter explores the interconnections between ideas about how individuals should behave in their sexual lives and how these related to early modern socio-political realities. It also traces the dynamics of the transmission of erotological knowledge in relation to their evolving audiences.
Some Preliminary Remarks on the Prabodhcandroday Nāṭak by Nanddās
Authors: Cavaliere Stefania
Published: August 2024

This chapter offers a preliminary study on the Brajbhāṣā rendering of the Prabodhacandrodaya by the poet Nanddās (1570). This version may have been an ‘intermediary’ between the Sanskrit allegorical drama by Kr̥ṣṇamiśra (11th century) and the Persian by Balīrām entitled Gulzār-i ḥāl (1662–3). This text is presently unedited and raises several issues connected to his authorship and transmission. After pointing out how Nanddās adapts the Advaita Vedanta standpoint of the original to his doctrinal and linguistic perspective, we will focus on some innovations in his text, aiming at understanding the dynamics of its creation and circulation in the sectarian devotional context. Along with the stress on Krishna Bhakti, the dominion of the senses acquires crucial importance to proceed on the path of self-awareness represented by Yoga. This allows postulating a pedagogical function of the text and, consequently, its employment as a didactic tool for the devotees.
The Fourth Tale
Authors: Bitel Lisa M.
Published: August 2024

This tale defies genres and cycles. It is a literary shape-shifter. It begins with another bold beauty who brazenly courts a great king from history, named Diarmait son of Áed Sláine. Diarmait’s reign was long and busy as he fought off contenders for Temair. One by one, he lost his sons to battle and disease before he, too, succumbed to buide Chonaill, “Conaill’s plague,” in 665. This tale is set in the seventh century, rather than the shadowy Iron Age of other stories. It rushes from one peculiar turn of events to the next, leading readers out of a tochmarc in the direction of a tragedy of passions, which could easily have led to an aided. The story then transforms itself into an échtrae or adventure story, and next a battle story, until finally a saint invades the tale and calms everyone down. Also, the tale contains more than one courtship.
The Fifth Tale
Authors: Bitel Lisa M.
Published: August 2024

Nera was no hero. He was not a king, a king’s son, or a renowned warrior. He was merely one spear-carrier among many in the household of Connacht royalty, namely, the inimitable Queen Medb and her husband, Ailill Mac Máta. Nera happened to be among the men sheltering at Ráth Crúachan on one eventful Samain eve. Samain marked the passing of autumn into winter when the sun retreated and nights lengthened. No one wanted to be out at Samain eve, when the veils between worlds fell away and doors to unseen halls swung wide. One reality spilled into another. Once the portals to the síd blew open, a soul caught outside could meet his worst dreams. You might be striding along and suddenly find yourself in an unfamiliar land, with no clue about the way home. Some adventurers could not resist a quick peek at the Otherworld, to their lasting regret. Nera was not one of them. The night he entered the síd, he was too busy to wonder which world contained him.
2010, Act II
Authors: Young Michael P.
Published: August 2024

Chapter 5 presents an empirical analysis of DREAMer activism in the second half of 2010. It documents a series of protests leading to the passage of the DREAM Act in the House. It explores the growing split between moderate and radical DREAMers within United We Dream. It explains the increasingly contentious interactions between radical DREAMers and their former allies in the nonprofit organizations aligned with Reform Immigration for America, showing how the latter sought to use the reifications of the DREAMer and the immigration reform movement to discipline the increasingly contentious actions of undocumented youth. The chapter culminates with the failed vote on the DREAM Act in the Senate and the splintering of United We Dream.
Of Judgments
Authors: Franz Timothy
Published: August 2024

Chapter 4 then classifies all forms of judgment. Judgments differ from concepts in that they produce concepts and set them in relations to each other, whether positively or negatively. Judgments are objective if they result in new cognition. They are subjective if, like infinite judgments that say what something is not, they are only on the way to new cognition. Importantly, the chapter diverges from Aristotelian logic, which grounds the quantity and quality on the copula in judgment, by deriving them from the relation of determinability. In “a is b,” the determinable “a” is reflexively predicated of itself: “a” determined in all possible ways is “a.” This means that “b,” determined in all possible ways, is always “b” and “a.” These relations constitute this judgment as the universal affirmative judgment “all b is a.” Related arguments justify the other traditional forms of judgment. Maimon also outlines his logical symbolism.
Of Compound Inferences
Authors: Franz Timothy
Published: August 2024

Chapter 7 extends the argument of the previous chapters to inferences joined together in sorites. Maimon discusses them in Kantian terms (familiar from the latter’s Transcendental Dialectic) of prosyllogism and episyllogism. He also discusses orderly and Goclenian sorites. Maimon ends the chapter with a characteristically self-effacing remark about the unfruitfulness of his argument, even though he has done much to ascertain the a priori unity of formal and transcendental logic based on a reflection on cognition.
[Derivation of the Categories]
Authors: Franz Timothy
Published: August 2024

Chapter 10 makes Maimon’s problem with Kant explicit. Kant argued that the basic forms of human thought imply categories, and that everything we can experience must fall under these categories. Maimon agrees but argues that Kant did not develop the logical forms of judgment sufficiently a priori, which means that Kant’s categories are tainted with an a posteriori description of experience. Maimon instead begins by reflecting on the possibility of valid cognition, so to derive not just formal logic but also (in Chapters 8 and 9) the systematic schematism of empirical, pure mathematical, and natural scientific cognition from that reflection. In Chapter 10 Maimon derives the categories from that system. They fall under the headings of quality, quantity, relation, and modality. At each step, he argues that the real existence of objects according to each category is a progressively deeper condition for the possibility of objective experience.
Deception and Clandestine Ministry
Authors: Balserak Jon
Published: August 2024

Chapter 5 examines in detail the ideas and plans Calvin crafted in order to establish Christ’s kingdom in his French homeland. It shows how these plans incorporate mendacity of various kinds with the aim of evading French Catholic authorities, who despised Calvinism and sought vigorously to extricate it from the country. It details the character of Calvin’s plans and also examines his establishing of the Venerable Company of Pastors and the Bourse française, which he established, in part (I contend), to aid him in accomplishing his evangelistic aspirations for France. It demonstrates, as well, how Calvin’s plans sought to address the problem that Nicodemites presented given their presence in France.
You Are Nepantla
Authors: Sánchez Carlos Alberto
Published: August 2024

I consider nepantla to be one of four important or major themes in Mexican philosophy, the others being accidentality, circumstantialism, and anti-essentialism. I begin the chapter with an anecdote relating the time my mother tried to cure one of my childhood fevers with potato slices, to the anger and confusion of my doctor. The chapter then engages the literature on nepantla on three fronts. The colonial narrative of Diego Durán includes his encounter with cultural in-betweenness in the celebration of a wedding. The modern philosophers Emilio Uranga and Elsa Cecilia Frost suggest that the experience of nepantla inevitably affected the Spanish colonists in their new surroundings just as it did the Mexican natives. I conclude by suggesting that nepantla is a condition that can unsettle us all from time to time as we make our way through life, and that to know this can be liberating.
You Are a Singularity
Authors: Sánchez Carlos Alberto
Published: August 2024

I consider anti-essentialism to be one of four important or major themes in Mexican philosophy, the others being circumstantialism, nepantla, and accidentality. We begin with a reflection on the authenticity of my mother’s delicious mole, which leads me to reflect on Mexican philosophy’s relationship to the Western philosophical tradition. Emilio Uranga argues against the essentialism of the European notion of humanity, suggesting that, within its framework, we Mexicans will always come up short. Jorge Portilla locates this essentialism in US culture and the US way of life. Finally, Leopoldo Zea talks about Mexican philosophy as a “bad copy” of Western philosophy, while suggesting that even a “bad copy” is valuable. I end by suggesting that the authenticity of our existence should not be bound up with essentialist notions of what is right or perfect, but rather that existence itself, like mole, cannot be judged by the ideal.
The Way of Dignified Cynicism
Authors: Sánchez Carlos Alberto
Published: August 2024

In this chapter we think about “cynicism.” A distinction is made between “First World” cynicism, which is self-interested and egocentric, and “dignified” cynicism, a cynicism that is other-directed and interested only in exposing the truth of things. Cynicism is a key concept in Emilio Uranga’s Analysis of Mexican Being, where the author proposes that true philosophers will always be cynics. I begin the chapter with a story that highlights what dignified cynicism looks like in the real world, and close it by suggesting that what we are calling “dignified cynicism” is an approach to the world that we can all adopt.
Beginner Cover Song Seeds
Authors: Randles Clint
Published: August 2024

This chapter contains example lesson plan seeds for beginner cover song lessons. It leverages concepts from across the chapters of the book. It centers on the creative practices and processes of professional songwriters, performing musicians, recording musicians, and scholars of songwriting. It provides the reader with resources for further growth and exploration. It leverages the musicianship that can be developed in small student-centered ensembles where the teacher functions like a music producer in the classroom. Lesson seeds include sections on lesson time, modifications for special learners, formal and informal assessment strategies and rubrics, and learning outcomes. The reader is urged to start thinking of ways of developing their own ideas for seeds.
What Free Will Feels Like
Authors: Baumeister Roy F.
Published: August 2024

Another way to study free will is to have people make decisions and then ask them how free they felt while choosing. A well-designed set of experiments did precisely that, and yielded some surprising results. Many things that should in theory increase freedom failed to affect people’s feelings of freedom. These included having more options, having multiple reasons to make different choices, not having an obvious best choice, and not having a deadline. Instead, people reported feeling freest when they got a good result, and when it was easy. Choosing between two good job candidates felt freer than choosing between two bad ones, and choosing between a good one and a bad one felt freest of all. The conclusion was that people’s feelings of freedom do not come from the process of using free will. Rather, people associate freedom with getting what they want, and without a struggle.
What to Save and Why
Authors: Matthes Erich Hatala
Published: August 2024

This book is about the ethics of conserving and preserving things, from heirlooms to artworks, traditions to places. Each chapter discusses a different normative question that we face when we confront the challenge of saving things: What should we save? Why? From what should things be saved? How? By whom should they be saved? And for whom? The book argues that questions about what to save and why are inextricably bound up with the prospect of saving our sense of self. The role of identity in conservation points toward the importance of conservation practices that allow relevant people and communities to confront and manage change on terms that allow them to exercise their agency. After all, in managing the changes to things we care about, we are simultaneously shaping our understanding of who we are, both individually and collectively.