bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lipid Priming of Adipose Mesenchymal Stromal Cells with Docosahexaenoic Acid: Impact on Cell Differentiation, Senescence and the Secretome Neuroregulatory Profile
Authors: Campos Jonas , Sampaio-Marques Belém , Santos Diogo , Barata-Antunes Sandra , Ribeiro Miguel , Serra Sofia C. , Pinho Tiffany S. , Canto-Gomes João , Marote Ana , Cortez Margarida , Silva Nuno A. , Michael-Titus Adina T. , Salgado António J.
Published: November 2024

Background:

Priming strategies that improve the functionality of MSCs may be required to address issues limiting successful clinical translation of MSC therapies. For conditions requiring high trophic support such as brain and spinal cord injuries, priming MSCs to produce higher levels of trophic factors may be instrumental to facilitate translation of current MSC therapies. We developed and tested a novel molecular priming paradigm using docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to prime adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ASCs) to enhance the secretome neuroregulatory potential.

Methods:

Comprehensive dose–response and time-course assays were carried to determine an optimal priming protocol. Secretome total protein measurements were taken in association with cell viability, density and morphometric assessments. Cell identity and differentiation capacity were studied by flow cytometry and lineage-specific markers. Cell growth was assessed by trypan-blue exclusion and senescence was probed over time using SA-β-gal, morphometry and gene expression. Secretomes were tested for their ability to support differentiation and neurite outgrowth of human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs). Neuroregulatory proteins in the secretome were identified using multiplex membrane arrays.

Results:

Priming with 40 µM DHA for 72 h significantly enhanced the biosynthetic capacity of ASCs, producing a secretome with higher protein levels and increased metabolic viability. DHA priming enhanced ASCs adipogenic differentiation and adapted their responses to replicative senescence induction. Furthermore, priming increased concentrations of neurotrophic factors in the secretome promoting neurite outgrowth and modulating the differentiation of hNPCs.

Conclusions:

These results provide proof-of-concept evidence that DHA priming is a viable strategy to improve the neuroregulatory profile of ASCs.
Hybrid heating in the fused filament fabrication process
Authors: Savu Ionel Danut , Savu Sorin Vasile , Sirbu Nicusor-Alin
Published: November 2024

Altering the heating regime of the polymer during the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process can lead to changes in both the behaviour of the polymer and the characteristics of the printed product. This study proposes replacing the traditional resistive heating system with two hybrid systems that introduce an additional temperature of 120–160 °C: one combining resistive and hot air jet heating, and the other combining resistive and infrared radiation heating. The samples printed using these hybrid systems were analysed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and visually inspected. Commercial ABS and PLA filaments were used in the experimental programme. A model to evaluate the polymer’s melting during the printing process was proposed and experimentally validated. Visual testing revealed that the printed lattice structure had smaller voids, characterised by depositions that were flattened rather than circular in cross-section due to the extended time in a viscous/partially molten state. The elongation viscosity and storage modulus decreased by approximately 10%, with a slightly smaller decrease observed for the infrared radiation heat source. The glass transition temperature remained unchanged, and the molecular mobility was not affected by the additional heat. Similarly, the energy required for crystal formation was unaffected by the supplementary heat. The mechanical behaviour of the printed pieces during compression tests was also influenced by the addition of a second heat source. For both materials, a decrease in deformability was observed as the temperature of the hot air jet increased.
Defect Engineering with Rational Dopants Modulation for High-Temperature Energy Harvesting in Lead-Free Piezoceramics
Authors: Xi Kaibiao , Guo Jianzhe , Zheng Mupeng , Zhu Mankang , Hou Yudong
Published: November 2024

High temperature piezoelectric energy harvester (HT-PEH) is an important solution to replace chemical battery to achieve independent power supply of HT wireless sensors. However, simultaneously excellent performances, including high figure of merit (FOM), insulation resistivity (ρ) and depolarization temperature (Td) are indispensable but hard to achieve in lead-free piezoceramics, especially operating at 250 °C has not been reported before. Herein, well-balanced performances are achieved in BiFeO3–BaTiO3 ceramics via innovative defect engineering with respect to delicate manganese doping. Due to the synergistic effect of enhancing electrostrictive coefficient by polarization configuration optimization, regulating iron ion oxidation state by high valence manganese ion and stabilizing domain orientation by defect dipole, comprehensive excellent electrical performances (Td = 340 °C, ρ250 °C > 107 Ω cm and FOM250 °C = 4905 × 10–15 m2 N−1) are realized at the solid solubility limit of manganese ions. The HT-PEHs assembled using the rationally designed piezoceramic can allow for fast charging of commercial electrolytic capacitor at 250 °C with high energy conversion efficiency (η = 11.43%). These characteristics demonstrate that defect engineering tailored BF-BT can satisfy high-end HT-PEHs requirements, paving a new way in developing self-powered wireless sensors working in HT environments.
Rechtsradikale Literaturpolitik als metapolitische Praxis in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren
Authors: Müller Yves , Müller-Zetzsche Marie
Published: November 2024

Das Konzept der Metapolitik, das den Handlungsspielraum der radikalen Rechten erweitern soll, wird der Neuen Rechten zugeschrieben. Metapolitische Strategien entwickelten Akteure wie Hans Grimm, Arthur Ehrhardt und Herbert Böhme allerdings schon in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren. Sie schufen eine alternative Publikationslandschaft und förderten rechtsradikale Netzwerke, die mehrere Generationen prägten.
Dispute Prevention Mechanisms as Legal Enclaves
Authors: Sattorova Mavluda
Published: November 2024

This contribution examines the role of dispute prevention mechanisms (DPMs) in domesticating and broadening foreign investor privileges. Although conceived as a means of responding to the backlash against investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), dispute prevention mechanisms are likely to produce legal enclaves whereby a privileged group of actors are afforded special treatment, and their interests are elevated into policy priorities. As currently conceived, DPMs are expected to operate as a regime embedded in domestic law, but replicating and amplifying investment law's emphasis on the exclusivity of foreign investor rights. Thus, the effect of DPMs is to anchor and extend foreign investor rights to a pre-dispute stage. By analyzing the premises and core features of the emerging DPMs, this contribution argues that, rather than addressing the systemic issues underpinning international investment law, the dispute prevention agenda will further expand and entrench foreign investor privileges.
Productivity Loss Associated with Disability from Migraine: A Canada-Wide Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Naik Hiten , Tam Alexander C.T. , Trenaman Logan , Lynd Larry , Zhang Wei
Published: November 2024

Background:

Migraine can affect adults during their most productive years, yet few studies in Canada have examined the relationship between migraine-related disability and productivity loss. In particular, the impact of migraine on unpaid productivity loss has not been quantified.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional study, employed adults living with migraine were recruited from across Canada to complete a web-based questionnaire. Migraine-related disability was assessed using the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire, and productivity loss was evaluated using the Valuation of Lost Productivity questionnaire. Multiple regression models were used to quantify the association between migraine-related disability level and productivity loss after adjusting for relevant clinical, occupational and sociodemographic covariates.

Results:

There were 441 participants, of which 60.1% were female, and the mean (SD) age was 37.7 (10.9). Compared to participants with little to no migraine-related disability, hours of total productivity loss were higher among those with moderate disability (54.1 [95% CI: 10.2–98.1] adjusted hours per 3 months) and severe disability (110.5 [95% CI: 65.5–155.6] adjusted hours per 3 months); paid productivity loss was higher among participants with moderate disability (32.4 [95% CI: 3.1–61.8] adjusted hours per 3 months) and severe disability (61.6 [95% CI: 31.5–91.7] adjusted hours per 3 months); and unpaid productivity loss was greater in those with severe disability (43.5 [95% CI: 12.7–74.3] adjusted hours per 3 months).

Conclusions:

Greater migraine-related disability was associated with more total, paid and unpaid productivity loss among employed adults. These data will be valuable when evaluating the cost-effectiveness of emerging migraine therapies.
A multi-task deep reinforcement learning-based recommender system for co-optimizing energy, comfort, and air quality in commercial buildings with humans-in-the-loop
Authors: Xia Stephen , Wei Peter , Liu Yanchen , Sonta Andrew , Jiang Xiaofan
Published: November 2024

We introduce a novel human-centric deep reinforcement learning recommender system designed to co-optimize energy consumption, thermal comfort, and air quality in commercial buildings. Existing approaches typically optimize these objectives separately or focus solely on controlling energy-consuming building resources without directly engaging occupants. We develop a deep reinforcement learning architecture based on multitask learning with humans-in-the-loop and demonstrate how it can jointly learn energy savings, comfort, and air quality improvements for different building and occupant actions. In addition to controlling typical building resources (e.g., thermostat setpoint), our system provides real-time actionable recommendations that occupants can take (e.g., move to a new location) to co-optimize energy, comfort, and air quality. Through real deployments across multiple commercial buildings, we show that our multitask deep reinforcement learning recommender system has the potential to reduce energy consumption by up to 8% in energy-focused optimization, improve all objectives by 5–10% in joint optimization, and improve thermal comfort by up to 21% in comfort and air quality-focused optimization compared to existing solutions.
Evaluation of Nurses’ Competency, Motivation, and Stress Levels in Disaster Management
Authors: Kula Şahin Sennur , Aydin Zehra
Published: November 2024

Objectives

This study was conducted to determine the relationships between nurses’ competency, motivation, and stress levels in disaster management, as well as to shed light on the establishment of effective disaster management programs.

Methods

In our research we used a correlational, descriptive, cross-sectional design. The sample of the study was composed of 498 nurses working in Turkey. The “Descriptive and Professional Characteristics and Disaster Experiences of Nurses” form, the “Competencies for Disaster Nursing Management Questionnaire,” the “Perceived Stress Scale,” and the “Nurses Job Motivation Scale” were used in data collection.

Results

Nurses’ disaster management competency and motivation levels were found to be adequate, and their stress levels were found to be moderate. A weak positive correlation was found between disaster management competency and motivation, but a weak negative correlation was found between stress levels. Age, education level, experience level, training in disaster nursing, and knowledge of duties and responsibilities in disasters were associated with significant differences in terms of disaster competency and its dimensions, motivation, and stress levels.

Conclusions

The study found that nurses’ disaster experiences impacted their competency, feeling of preparedness, and stress and motivation levels, and motivation was found to be a predictor of increasing competency.
All Pandemics are Local: The Importance of a Culture-Centered Approach to Risk and Crisis Communication for Laboratory Research on Zoonotic Diseases
Authors: Rascon Natasha , Myers Nathan , Johnson Malynnda
Published: November 2024

Continuing laboratory research into zoonotic diseases is necessary for public health preparedness. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has elevated existing concerns about the risks BSL-4 research facilities can pose to the surrounding community. This study places such concerns in the context of previous research regarding the construction of biosafety labs, as well as policy discussions related to other scientific controversies like gain of function research. Building on this prior knowledge as well as established theories in the field of communication, we propose using a Culture-Centered Approach paired with a Communication Complex approach to facilitate more meaningful and effective communication between researchers and community members, particularly those who tend to be marginalized in such conversations. The commentary concludes by outlining a risk assessment process using the CCA-Communication Complex Approach.
National Disaster Medical System- Modernizing the NDMS Program in a Changing World
Authors: Scharf-Bell Helga M
Published: November 2024

Presentation on what the National Disaster Medical System is and how the program of the system looked internally to modernize to meet challenges.

Learning Objectives

Describe the National Disaster Medical System.

Define specifically what the NDMS program is.

Discuss challenges that response teams face in a changing landscape of response.

Discuss the changes and modifications of roles and responsibilities to meet response capabilities.
Factors underlying the association between Streptococcus gallolyticus, subspecies gallolyticus infection and colorectal cancer: a mini review
Authors: Warner David Michael , Mehta Arunab Harish
Published: November 2024

Streptococcus gallolyticus, subspecies gallolyticus (Sgg) is a gram-positive bacterium associated with infective endocarditis and colorectal cancer (CRC). Sgg has features that allow the bacterium to thrive in the colorectal tumor microenvironment and further progress the development of CRC to facilitate its survival. Sgg contains 3 pili that facilitate colonic cell adhesion and translocation through phase variation. Sgg also contains bile salt hydrolase and a bacteriocin called gallocin with substantially increased activity in bile acids, which facilitates its growth in the bile acid-rich adenomatous colorectal microenvironment. Sgg also uses tumor metabolites as an energy source. Sgg also possesses tannase, which metabolizes gallotannin to be used as a carbon source and reduces the anti-apoptotic effects of tannins, driving CRC progression. Sgg also interferes with a variety of oncogenic cell signaling pathways, including the Wnt/β-catenin pathway through mechanisms that are not fully elucidated. Increased β-catenin signaling also enhances adhesion via increased expression of the extracellular matrix and increases bile acid concentrations in the lumen through downregulation of an apical bile acid transporter. Finally, Sgg induces biotransformation of toxic substrates in CRC cells, which leads to formation of toxic intermediates and DNA adducts, promoting further progression of CRC.
Hydrodynamic theory of premixed flames propagating in closed vessels: flame speed and Markstein lengths
Authors: Bechtold John K. , Krishnan Gautham , Matalon Moshe
Published: November 2024

A hydrodynamic theory of premixed flame propagation within closed vessels is developed assuming the flame is much thinner than all other fluid dynamic lengths. In this limit, the flame is confined to a surface separating the unburned mixture from burned combustion products, and propagates at a speed determined from the analysis of its internal structure. Unlike freely propagating flames that propagate under nearly isobaric conditions, combustion in a closed vessel results in continuous increases in pressure, burning rate and flame temperature, and a progressive decrease in flame thickness. The flame speed is shown to depend on the voluminal stretch rate, which measures the deformation of a volume element of the flame zone, and on the rate of pressure rise. Both effects are modulated by pressure-dependent Markstein numbers that depend on heat release and mixture properties while capturing the effects of temperature-dependent transport and stoichiometry. The model applies to flames of arbitrary shape propagating in general flows, laminar or turbulent, within vessels of general configurations. The main limitation of hydrodynamic flame theories is the assumption that variations inside the flame zone due to chemistry or turbulence, which could potentially alter its internal structure, are physically unresolved. Nonetheless, the theory, deduced from physical first principles, identifies the various mechanisms involved in the combustion process as demonstrated in detailed discussions of planar flames propagating in rectangular channels and spherically expanding flames in spherical vessels. It also enables the construction of instructive models to numerically simulate the evolution of multi-dimensional and corrugated flames under confinement.
City-Text as Mapping a Territory: “Polish” Streets in Berlin
Authors: Walkowiak Justyna B.
Published: November 2024

The aim of the article is to analyse, in a diachronic perspective, the street names in today’s Berlin whose bases are geographical names referring to places in contemporary Poland. The analysis reveals a purposeful city-text that supports the nation-building narrative: either by mapping the state’s actual geography at the moment of the name’s bestowal, or by including the territories claimed (literally or metaphorically), beyond the current borders at the time of the naming. However, the degree to which these street names and the intention behind them are decipherable today remains questionable. Once meaningful for their original creators, today they are partly or completely semantically oblique to the general public, as evidenced by their contemporary reception.
How can governance mechanisms, policies and legislation effectively support the implementation of a One Health approach to managing complex health threats (including the health of the environment) at the global, regional and national levels?
Authors: Bullón Caro Carmen , Coli Francesca
Published: November 2024

This research question seeks to explore the role of governance and legislation in fostering an enabling environment for the effective implementation of a One Health approach to complex challenges at the human–animal–environment interface. It calls for the identification of legal entry points for integrating One Health into international, regional and national legal frameworks and governance mechanisms governing global sustainability and complex health challenges (including pandemic preparedness and response, food system transformation and climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental protection and pollution control). Additionally, it invites to analyse the alignment of international, regional and national legal instruments with the demand for One Health implementation.
What Is Public Humanities?
Authors: Wilson Jeffrey R. , Bulaitis Zoe Hope
Published: November 2024

Public humanities happens whenever humanities scholarship interacts with public life. Providing a 10-point typology of public humanities, this article explains why we need the humanities – as individuals and as societies – and narrates some moments when the humanities have changed the world. We discuss the rise of “public humanities,” some critiques of the field, and a vision for its future.
Teaching the Humanities for the Future Public
Authors: Bate Jonathan
Published: November 2024

This manifesto is a case study of a new method of configuring Humanities wisdom. Following the 2008 financial crisis, students and parents questioned the value of Humanities disciplines in relation to debt and future employment prospects. The experiment described here is an attempt at Arizona State University to reinvigorate humanistic pedagogy by means of an entirely new transdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree that abandons the disciplinary nomenclature that goes back to Aristotle and was instantiated, then ossified, in the twentieth-century university. The problem, it is argued, is not in the content, but in the naming: History, Literature, Philosophy, Language, and Religion. The experiment is to begin not with these discrete and seemingly moribund bodies of knowledge, but with the most pressing concerns of present and future publics. We name these, and so we name the new degree, Culture–Technology–Environment. The manifesto describes the design and content of the degree and raises the hope that curricular innovations of this kind will create Humanities-wise citizens for the future.
Is an antioxidant-rich or a pro-inflammatory diet during pregnancy associated with allergic and respiratory multimorbidity in children from the ELFE birth cohort?
Authors: Delvert Rosalie , Dow Courtney , Charles Marie-Aline , Adel-Patient Karine , Divaret-Chauveau Amandine , Dufourg Marie-Noëlle , Leynaert Bénédicte , Raherison Chantal , Varraso Raphaëlle , de Lauzon-Guillain Blandine , Bédard Annabelle
Published: November 2024

The antioxidant capacity and the inflammatory potential of diet during pregnancy may represent a prevention opportunity for allergic and respiratory diseases. We aimed to investigate the associations between the antioxidant and the inflammatory potential of maternal diet in the last 3 months of pregnancy with allergic and respiratory diseases in children. Analyses were performed on 9679 mother–child pairs from the ELFE birth cohort. The dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC), without coffee, was estimated with the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), the total radical trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) and the ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP). The inflammatory potential of the maternal diet was assessed by the energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (E-DII). Allergic and respiratory diseases in children up to 5·5 years were considered jointly through five allergic and respiratory multimorbidity clusters (‘asymptomatic’ - reference, ‘early wheeze without asthma’, ‘asthma only’, ‘allergies without asthma’ and ‘multi-allergic’). Multinomial logistic regressions were performed and adjusted for main confounders. A diet with a higher antioxidant potential was associated with a lower risk of belonging to the ‘early wheeze without asthma’ cluster (aOR (95 % CI) = 0·95 (0·90, 0·99) per sd of TEAC score). A higher E-DII was associated with a higher risk of belonging to the ‘asthma only’ cluster (aOR (95 % CI) = 1·09 (1·00, 1·19) per sd). No association was found with the ‘allergies without asthma’ or ‘multi-allergic’ clusters. An antioxidant-rich diet during pregnancy was associated with better respiratory health, while a pro-inflammatory diet was associated with poorer respiratory health in children up to 5·5 years, though the associations were weak.
Making Saints, Making Selves: Narrative, Rhetoric, and Agency in the Diocesan Inquest into Jeanne-Marie de Maillé (1414–1415)
Authors: van der Molen Edmund
Published: November 2024

Drawing on the witness statements compiled as part of the fifteenth-century diocesan inquest petitioning for the canonization of Jeanne-Marie de Maillé (1331–1414), a French holy woman and mystic, this paper argues that the inquisitorial process of saint-making offered an opportunity for deponents to make use of authoritative legal spaces for their own social and religious ends, and that through their use of rhetorical and narrative devices, deponents could use this contact with institutional mechanisms to perform acts of self-construction and self-authorization, over and above the formal requirements of the process. Through an examination the statements of two witnesses – one a canon of the Basilica of St Martin, and the other a bourgeoise laywoman – this paper illustrates that deponents could make use of a wide range of narrative strategies, from deploying the evidence of gossip to negotiate their own social position, to rhetorically crafting their own experiences in order to comment on and establish their own piety and devotion. The use of these strategies highlights the complexity of the interaction between individuals and institutions, and the multiple possibilities that were enabled by engagement with the machinery of the cult of saints.
“The Deeds You Do. . .”: The Worker Priest Movement in France, 1946–1954
Authors: Farrugia Peter
Published: November 2024

The worker priest movement in France between 1946 and 1954 was a significant attempt by the Catholic Church to reach out to the increasingly alienated working class. It foundered on the rocks of elite opposition, worker priest embracing of class conflict, Cold War currents of thought, and government willingness to sacrifice the movement in the name of collaboration with Rome on a suite of issues, most notably free education. The historiography of the movement has proven similarly complex, with observers allowing contemporary trends and values to color their perception of this unique moment in French history and remembering and forgetting both playing a role in the image of the worker priests handed down to future generations.
Preaching in Melbourne 1913–1918: What a Difference a War Makes
Authors: Reynaud Daniel
Published: November 2024

When evaluating factors shaping the Australian home front during World War I, the impact of preaching is generally overlooked, though historians have identified it as one of the most influential sources of public speech. This paper examines preaching in Melbourne just before and during the war, as reported in the influential Melbourne Herald. It asks how preaching was affected by the outbreak of war, and explores its developments, its reporting and its impacts. It points to conclusions about the nature and place of religion in the life of the city, and the interplay of preaching and war that highlight gaps in our understanding of the interaction of religion and war in Australia at that time. It challenges notions about Australian secularity, the degree of sectarianism, and the place of religion in our understanding of the war in both Australia and the wider British world.
Soil fertility indices in cocoa agroforests under organic and conventional management in Suhum, Eastern Region of Ghana
Authors: Agbotui Deogratias Kofi , Ingold Mariko , Joergensen Rainer Georg , Buerkert Andreas
Published: November 2024

Deforestation and declining soil fertility are major obstacles for productive cocoa production in West Africa. To improve sustainability of this production system, countries like Ghana promoted agroforestry technologies and introduced organic certification of cocoa agroforests. However, for West Africa, which produces 70% of the world’s cocoa, studies comparing soil fertility under conventional and organic management, which is an important factor for sustainable cocoa production, are rare. Hence this study aimed at investigating differences in soil physico-chemical and microbial properties at 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm depth of traditional cocoa agroforests under organic versus conventional management in four villages with each three farms in Suhum Municipality, Eastern Region of Ghana. Electrical conductivity, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), SOC/total N, and extractable potassium (K) in the topsoil were 51%, 35%, 30%, 11%, and 47% respectively, lower (p < 0.05) under conventional than under organic management. On average, topsoil under conventional management recorded 29% higher NH4+-N concentration and 27% lower NO3−-N concentrations than topsoil under organic management. Microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in the topsoil of farms under organic management were 48% and 57%, respectively, greater than under conventional management. Contrarily, conventional management significantly increased the metabolic quotient (qCO2) in topsoil compared with organic management, indicating a higher demand of soil micro-organisms for maintenance energy due to the use of herbicides and pesticides. In cocoa agroforests, conventional management has adverse effects on soil chemical and microbial properties. Hence transitioning from conventional management to organic management is beneficial to maintain soil fertility.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECONOMY: A CASE STUDY ON THE AFRICAN DIGITAL TRADE FRAMEWORK
Authors: Mishra Neha , Kugler Kholofelo
Published: November 2024

Global digital integration is desirable and perhaps even inevitable for most States. However, there is currently no systematic framework or narrative to drive such integration in trade agreements. This article evaluates whether community values can offer a normative foundation for rules governing digital trade. It uses the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade Protocol as a case study and argues that identifying and solidifying the collective needs of the African region through this instrument will be key to shaping an inclusive and holistic regional framework. These arguments are substantiated by analysis of the regulation of cross-border data flows, privacy and cybersecurity.
Pronouns beyond phi-features: the speaker–addressee relation in Japanese pronouns and its implications for formal pronouns
Authors: Ritter Elizabeth , Wiltschko Martina
Published: November 2024

Greenberg’s Universal 42 states that all languages have pronominal categories involving at least three persons and two numbers. However, this characterization fails to capture the properties of pronouns in Japanese, which are not bundles of person, number and gender features (so-called phi-features); rather, they contain sociolinguistic information about the interlocutors. We propose that these properties are structurally determined. Following Ritter and Wiltschko, we assume that the highest layer of structure in nominals is interactional structure. As for phi-features, we adopt the standard assumption that they are represented internal to the determiner phrase (DP). We propose that the distinctive properties of Japanese pronouns follow from the hypothesis that they spell out elements of the interactional structure and not the DP. We show that the lack of phi-features in Japanese pronouns correlates with other properties of this language’s grammar. Support for this analysis comes from languages where pronouns with phi-features can optionally be used to encode formality (e.g. German and French). We propose that in these languages, formal pronouns originate within the DP but are interpreted in the interactional structure. Finally, we suggest that this analysis may extend to imposters and vocatives in that they may also be interpreted in the interactional structure.
John Hick and Candomblé: The concept of religion and the experience of evil
Authors: Portugal Agnaldo Cuoco
Published: November 2024

The article takes as point of departure the influential book An Interpretation of Religion by John Hick both to understand an Afro-Brazilian religion called Candomblé and to suggest a way to define this human activity as a whole. After a description of Hick’s proposal, his ideas will be applied to Candomblé to see what kind of religion it is. From the problems raised in this classification, the article puts forward two formal refinements in Hick’s proposal, which can increase its internal coherence as well. In addition, in view of a salient feature of Candomblé, it is argued that the concept of religion should include the experience of evil as an essential element. The resulting definition is justified by its explanatory power, amplitude and fruitfulness.
When education is positional: higher education expansion, welfare regimes and income inequality
Authors: Jang Eunjeong
Published: November 2024

Rectifying the imbalance of theorisation of education expansion focusing on its benefits, this study examines the relationship between education expansion and income inequality by turning our attention to its risky aspects. We investigate how expanding education might not effectively mitigate income inequality, because it brings about costly and risky competition for the positional value of education. We consider welfare regimes as relevant institutional factors associated with educational positionality based on the similarities between two environmental conditions that make education positional and two underlying dimensions of welfare regimes (de-stratification and commodification). We analysed higher education cases in twenty-four to twenty-five developed countries from 2000 to 2020. Our results show that higher education expansion initially reduced income inequality, but the reducing effect was attenuated, and eventually, it increased income inequality when higher education was positional, corresponding to the countries with a liberal regime and two East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea.
‘Homes for Ukraine’ and the politics of private humanitarian hospitality
Authors: Daoust Gabrielle , Dyvik Synne
Published: November 2024

Within weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, millions of people had fled to neighbouring countries and across Europe. People throughout Europe were mobilised into action, and from the outset, the response to the unfolding humanitarian emergency in Ukraine was a complex and often messy web of private and public initiatives. In this article, we focus on the unique British humanitarian response to the greatest movement of refugees in Europe since the Second World War, known as ‘Homes for Ukraine’ (HfU). We develop our argument in three steps. First, we situate HfU within existing scholarship on ‘everyday humanitarianism’ and private refugee hosting in Europe, locating these within longer histories of private humanitarian action. Secondly, we show how HfU shifts the humanitarian space into the private and domestic sphere, a move reliant on particular conceptions of the ‘home’ as a space of sanctuary and safety. Finally, we unpack the gendered and racialised conceptions of the home and humanitarian hospitality more broadly, and how HfU sits within and outside of the broader bordering practices of the United Kingdom’s refugee response.
Nuclear existentialism: On the philosophical response to life and death under the bomb
Authors: Bousquet Antoine
Published: November 2024

In the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and under the growing threat of planetary cataclysm, an array of prominent intellectuals grappled with the significance of nuclear war for the human condition and reflected upon the possibilities of escaping its peril. Following on the early interventions of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, the collected thoughts of Karl Jaspers, Hans Morgenthau, and Günther Anders outline a philosophical current of ‘nuclear existentialism’ preoccupied with the nihilistic ‘being-towards-species-death’ entailed by the advent of the Bomb. Faced with the apparent negation of reason in bringing about the means of its own destruction through the scientific piercing of nature’s innermost workings, the nuclear existentialists end up reaffirming, however precariously, a teleological conception of history in which the apocalyptic fear of the Bomb figures as the necessary condition for the ultimate realisation of human freedom. In the light of the contemporary resurgence of nuclear anxiety, this article surveys and critically assesses the corpus of nuclear existentialism, drawing upon the distinctive existential phenomenology of Emmanuel Levinas to trace a potential alternative for thinking life and death under the Bomb.
The effects of enhancing L2 multiword items in captions: An approximate replication of Majuddin, Siyanova-Chanturia, and Boers (2021)
Authors: Majuddin Elvenna , Boers Frank , Siyanova-Chanturia Anna
Published: November 2024

Studies investigating the acquisition of multiword items (MWIs) from reading have furnished evidence that the likelihood of acquisition improves considerably if such items are typographically enhanced (e.g., bolded or underlined) in the texts. In the case of captioned audio-visual materials, however, an earlier study by the authors did not find such compelling evidence. In that study, indications of an effect emerged only when the same video was watched twice. Arguably, for learners to benefit more immediately from typographic enhancement in captions, they may need to be made aware of its purpose beforehand. The present article therefore reports an approximate replication of Majuddin et al. (2021), but this time the students were informed about the MWI-learning purpose of watching the video. As in the original study, the learners watched a video once or twice with standard captions, with captions in which MWIs were enhanced, or without captions. The positive effect of enhancement for MWI learning was clearer than in the original study, and it already emerged after a single viewing. On the downside, enhancement was found to have a negative effect on lower-proficiency learners' comprehension of the content of the video.
Designing collaborations involving health technology assessment: discussions and recommendations from the 2024 health technology assessment international global policy forum
Authors: Trowman Rebecca , Migliore Antonio , Ollendorf Daniel A.
Published: November 2024

Although collaboration is an intensive way of working together, it is essential for such efforts to achieve shared goals. Health technology assessment (HTA) is transdisciplinary and has an important history of collaboration, with collaboration featuring increasingly in the strategic plans of HTA bodies and stakeholders. Collaboration can be between HTA bodies and between HTA bodies and other stakeholders—most notably regulators but increasingly payers, patient and caregiver organizations, clinicians–clinical societies, and academia. The 2024 HTAi Global Policy Forum (GPF) discussed collaborations involving HTA bodies, reviewing existing and previous collaborations to see what has worked and what can be learned. Core discussion themes included: (i) determining the collaboration purpose is essential but may be dynamic, changing over time; (ii) choosing the collaboration topic takes time, requiring upfront investment and stakeholder mapping; (iii) inviting the right participants and treating them equally is important, including those who can impact HTA, those who will be impacted by HTA and those who bring new information; (iv) collaborations need clear governance, defined roles, responsibilities, metrics, and case study–pilots can be a useful operational model; (v) resourcing collaborations sustainably is a challenge—the time, people, and money required are often under-estimated; (vi) undertaking continual, iterative learning reviews ensures ongoing value and impact of collaborations. Recommendations for future work include the development of a “go/no-go” checklist to determine when collaboration is needed, supplemented with a set of “best practice” principles for establishing and working in collaborations involving HTA bodies.
Value-driven Contention in China: Forms, Tactics and State Responses
Authors: Steinhardt H. Christoph , Yang Kai
Published: November 2024

This research challenges the conventional wisdom that value-driven protests in China are exceedingly rare and face harsh state repression. Drawing on a hand-coded, multi-source dataset of over 3,100 protests in three Chinese megacities from 2014 to 2016, we identify 67 protests that reveal a hitherto unknown underbelly of everyday, value-driven contention. Qualitatively, we identify three main forms of contentious performances. Quantitatively, we show how value-driven protesters combine non-disruptive tactics with ambitious targets and virtually never extract concessions. Surprisingly, we find that such protests are less often policed and repressed than other protests. They are also never met with violence from non-state actors. We provide three interpretations for the counter-intuitive finding on repression. This study shows that the Chinese state coexists with a non-negligible amount of explicitly regime-critical contention. It adopts a containment strategy, tolerating a certain extent of value-driven performances when the risk of spill-over into wider society is limited.
A panel network approach of internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood: Evidence from American and Chinese preschoolers
Authors: Chen Hongting , Wang Yiji
Published: November 2024

Internalizing and externalizing problems tend to co-occur beginning in early childhood. However, the dynamic interplay of symptom-level internalizing and externalizing problems that may drive their co-occurrence is poorly understood. Within the frameworks of the Network Approaches to Psychopathology and the Developmental Cascade Perspective, this study used a panel network approach to examine how symptoms of internalizing and externalizing problems are related in early childhood both concurrently and longitudinally and whether the pattern may differ in American (N = 1,202) and Chinese (N = 180) preschoolers. Internalizing and externalizing problems were rated by mothers in two waves. Results from cross-sectional networks showed that the bridge symptoms underlying the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems were largely consistent in American and Chinese preschoolers (e.g., withdrawal, aggressive behavior, anxiety and depressive moods). Results from cross-lagged panel networks further showed that the co-occurrence was manifested by unidirectional relations from internalizing to subsequent externalizing symptoms in both American and Chinese preschoolers. The findings contribute needed cross-cultural evidence to better understand the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems and highlight the temporal heterogeneity of the symptom networks of internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood.
Beyond Urban Hinterlands. Political Ecology, Urban Metabolism and Extended Urbanization in Medieval England
Authors: Jervis Ben
Published: November 2024

Drawing on insights from contemporary urban theory, this contribution questions where medieval urbanization took place. It is proposed that urbanization is a process which extends beyond towns and cities, which are merely a representation of a more expansive and transformative process. Through discussion of building stone, grain production, salt extraction, woodland management and mineral exploitation, it is argued that medieval urbanization was generative of political ecological relations which challenge prevailing understandings of the rural/urban divide and re-frame urbanization as a metabolic process. The discussion utilizes contemporary concepts of ‘extended urbanization’, ‘urban metabolism’ and ‘political ecology’ to re-frame perceptions of medieval–urban relations and the notion of urban hinterland.
Water Regimes and Infrastructures: A Transhistorical Archaeology of the Desaguadero River, Bolivia
Authors: Smith Scott C. , Pérez Arias Maribel
Published: November 2024

This article uses tensions over the construction of a flow-regulation infrastructure built to control outflow from Lake Titicaca into the Desaguadero River, on the border between Peru and Bolivia, as a case study to explore the ways that relationships to water emerge and are contested. We argue that a nuanced understanding of tensions arising from this infrastructure requires us to recognize the long-term history of how the river accumulated practices, meanings and materials. Adapting the work of Arturo Escobar, we use the concept of ‘water regime’ to think about how engagements with the river are based in different spatiotemporal frameworks that have developed transhistorically and come into tension around the materiality and dynamism of the river itself.
(De)Polarization Entrepreneurs? Think Tanks and Pernicious Polarization in Central Europe
Authors: Jezierska Katarzyna , Krizsán Andrea , Sörbom Adrienne
Published: November 2024

Pernicious polarization is an antagonistic Us versus Them division, where the other group is perceived as an existential threat. It is often intertwined with the erosion of democratic norms and institutions. Although studies on polarization abound, there are still some blind spots to be filled. Our contribution is the focus on the mesolevel of civil society and the theoretical development of (de)polarization mechanisms at this level. Empirically, we study think tanks, a special type of civil society organization, in the context of democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland. The analysis is based on 53 interviews with Hungarian and Polish think tankers conducted between 2020 and 2022. We contend that through a shift in perceptions of Us, Them, and the middle ground, think tanks contribute to both polarization and depolarization. Rather than being passive receptors of polarization dynamics, we showcase think tanks’ agentic roles as they emerge through these three mechanisms and through think tanks resorting to specific patterns of discourse and interactions.
Racial Capitalism in an Ethnic Minority Border Region
Authors: Qu Yao
Published: November 2024

In the social, historical, and political context of Xi Jinping’s China, particular forms of racialization and racial capitalism have emerged in Altay Prefecture, the homeland of ethnic Kazakhs on China’s northwest border. This study examines the husbandry industry in Altay Prefecture to elucidate how Xi’s China has built a mode of racial capitalism through the management of Kazakh land, ethnicity, and culture. Within the framework of a case study, I employ document collection and participant observation methods to gather data that are then interpreted through critical policy analysis. The research shows that Kazakhs have been racialized based on their mobile pastoral traditions, enslaved in the “debt economy,” and exploited through husbandry policies and programs. The particular ways in which husbandry has been restructured and assimilated into Chinese industrial production chains exploit and reproduce the Kazakh-Han hierarchy and segregation. This close look at racial capitalism in Altay sheds light on the operations of Xi’s ecological civilization and war on poverty policies in an ethnic minority border region and discusses how they align with the broader geopolitics of the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Ultracompact isolated multilayer broadside-coupled balun with arbitrary isolation bandwidth
Authors: Farhadinia Masoud , Karimian Shokrollah , Mehrshahi Esfandiar
Published: November 2024

An isolated low-profile multilayer all-ports-matched broadside-coupled balun (BCB) with arbitrary isolation bandwidth is presented. Analytical relations are derived and provided for the isolation circuit (IC) design in terms of electrical and physical parameters. Accordingly, instructions are given on obtaining optimum bandwidth and isolation responses for the IC. Design procedure for the BCB is presented together with a case study for power amplifier application. The BCB is validated theoretically, analytically, and experimentally, and results are in good agreement. The fabricated balun has insertion loss of 0.27 dB, input and output return losses of 19 dB, isolation of 20 dB at fc, and phase and magnitude imbalance better than 2° and 0.2 dB across the Bandwidth (BW), respectively. The realized isolated balun has dimensions of 0.06λg × 0.03λg.