bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cooperative multinetworks semi-supervised pre-stack seismic inversion
Authors: Song Lei , Yin Xingyao , Zong Zhaoyun , Feng Yanwen
Published: April 2022

The elastic properties of the subsurface, such as density, P-velocity and S-velocity, can be estimated in pre-stack seismic inversion. In recent research, the deep neural network is widely used in pre-stack seismic inversion for its strong non-linear fitting and feature extraction ability. However, the label data is generally inadequate due to high drilling costs and strong data-sharing barriers in the field of exploration geophysics. In order to reduce the dependence of network performance on label data and ensure the accuracy of inversion mostly, semi-supervised learning is adopted. Here, we develop a cooperative multinetworks semi-supervised pre-stack seismic inversion method. In the cooperative multinetworks inversion framework, the inversion network, mapping network, and modification network are adopted to complete the inversion task cooperatively. A forward network is constructed to automatically generate seismic data from density, P-velocity and S-velocity, which can assist the above networks to complete semi-supervised learning. Compared with some published deep learning pre-stack inversion methods, the spatio-temporal correlation of data can be fully mined, the prior geological structure and low-frequency information can be utilized effectively, and reflectivity is adopted as an intermediate output parameter to improve the robustness of the method. The experiments on the Marmousi2 model demonstrate that cooperative multinetworks semi-supervised inversion strategy is superior to conventional semi-supervised inversion methods in both inversion accuracy and antinoise performance. In addition, the susceptibility experiments of the initial model indicate that the proposed method can maintain a high inversion accuracy with little effective information in the initial model. Finally, the proposed method is successfully applied to the field data and obtains a high-resolution inversion result.
Genomics Reveals Exceptional Phylogenetic Diversity Within a Narrow-Range Flightless Insect
Authors: McCulloch Graham A , Dutoit Ludovic , Craw David , Kroos Gracie C , Waters Jonathan M
Published: April 2022

Range-restricted upland taxa are prone to population bottlenecks and thus typically have low genetic diversity, making them particularly vulnerable to environmental change. In this study, we used a combination of genotyping-by-sequencing (10,419 SNPs) and mitochondrial COI sequencing to test for population genetic structure within the narrow-range flightless sub-alpine stonefly Zelandoperla maungatuaensis Foster. This species is restricted to only a handful of upland streams along a 4 km stretch of the isolated Maungatua range in southeast New Zealand. We identified striking genetic structure across the narrow range of Z. maungatuaensis, with three deeply divergent allopatric lineages detected. These distinct lineages likely diverged in the early-mid Pleistocene, apparently persisting in separate microrefugia throughout subsequent glacial cycles. Our results illustrate how secondary flight loss can facilitate insect diversification across fine spatial scales, and demonstrate that intraspecific phylogenetic diversity cannot necessarily be predicted from range-size alone. Additional demographic analyses are required to better understand the conservation status of these divergent Z. maungatuaensis lineages, and to assess their potential susceptibility to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts.
HFMOEA: a hybrid framework for multi-objective feature selection
Authors: Kundu Rohit , Mallipeddi Rammohan
Published: April 2022

In this data-driven era, where a large number of attributes are often publicly available, redundancy becomes a major problem, which leads to large storage and computational resource requirement. Feature selection is a method for reducing the dimensionality of the data by removing such redundant or misleading attributes. This leads to a selection of optimal feature subsets that can be used for further computation like the classification of data. Learning algorithms, when fitted on such optimal subsets of reduced dimensions, perform more efficiently and storing data also becomes easier. However, there exists a trade-off between the number of features selected and the accuracy obtained and the requirement for different tasks may vary. Thus, in this paper, a hybrid filter multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (HFMOEA) has been proposed based on the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) coupled with filter-based feature ranking methods for population initialization to obtain an optimal trade-off solution set to the problem. The two competing objectives for the algorithm are the minimization of the number of selected features and the maximization of the classification accuracy. The filter ranking methods used for population initialization help in faster convergence of the NSGA-II algorithm to the PF. The proposed HFMOEA method has been evaluated on 18 UCI datasets and 2 deep feature sets (features extracted from image datasets using deep learning models) to justify the viability of the approach with respect to the state-of-the-art. The relevant codes of the proposed approach are available at https://github.com/Rohit-Kundu/HFMOEA.
Evidence for a cloud–cloud collision in Sh2-233 triggering the formation of the high-mass protostar object IRAS 05358+3543
Authors: Yamada Rin I , Fukui Yasuo , Sano Hidetoshi , Tachihara Kengo , Bieging John H , Enokiya Rei , Nishimura Atsushi , Fujita Shinij , Kohno Mikito , Tsuge Kisetsu
Published: April 2022

We have carried out a new kinematical analysis of the molecular gas in the Sh2-233 region by using the CO J = 2–1 data taken at ∼0.5 pc resolution. The molecular gas consists of a filamentary cloud of 5-pc length with 1.5-pc width where two dense cloud cores are embedded. The filament lies between two clouds, which have a velocity difference of 2.7 km s−1 and are extended over ∼5 pc. We frame a scenario that the two clouds are colliding with each other and compressed the gas between them to form the filament in ∼0.5 Myr which is perpendicular to the collision. It is likely that the collision formed not only the filamentary cloud but also the two dense cores. One of the dense cores is associated with the high-mass protostellar candidate IRAS 05358+3543, a representative high-mass protostar. In the monolithic collapse scheme of high mass star formation, a compact dense core of 100 M⊙ within a volume of 0.1 pc radius is assumed as the initial condition, whereas the formation of such a core remained unexplained in the previous works. We argue that the proposed collision is a step which efficiently collects the gas of 100 M⊙ into 0.1 pc radius. This lends support for that the cloud–cloud collision is an essential process in forming the compact high-mass dense core, IRAS 05358+3543.
Constraining energy-dependent emissivity profiles of AGN inflows
Authors: Ashton Dominic I , Middleton Matthew J
Published: April 2022

The emissivity of the accretion flow is a key parameter affecting the shape of both the energy and variability power spectrum of AGN. We explore the energy-dependence of the power spectrum for five AGN, across the XMM-Newton bandpass, and across the 0.01-1 mHz frequency range, finding a ubiquitous flattening of the power spectrum towards higher energies. We develop a framework to explore this behaviour and thereby extract the energy dependence of the emissivity assuming a simple disc-like geometry for the inflow. We find that the emissivity ranges from  R−2 at energies around the soft excess and increases to  R−4 or steeper above 4-6 keV. We describe the changing emissivity index with a linear function in energy, finding the best-fitting slopes to vary between AGN. We attempt to correlate the slope of the linear function against key AGN parameters but, as yet, the sample size is too small to confirm hints of a correlation with Eddington ratio.
Radial distributions of globular clusters trace their host dark matter halo: insights from the E-MOSAICS simulations
Authors: Reina-Campos Marta , Trujillo-Gomez Sebastian , Deason Alis J , Kruijssen J M Diederik , Pfeffer Joel L , Crain Robert A , Bastian Nate , Hughes Meghan E
Published: April 2022

Globular clusters (GCs) are bright objects that span a wide range of galactocentric distances, and can therefore probe the structure of dark matter (DM) haloes. In this work, we explore whether the projected number density radial profiles of GCs can be used to infer the structural properties of their host DM haloes. We use the simulated GC populations in a sample of 166 central galaxies from the $(34.4~\rm cMpc)^3$ periodic volume of the E-MOSAICS project. We find that more massive galaxies host stellar and GC populations with shallower density profiles that are more radially extended. In addition, metal-poor GC subpopulations tend to have shallower and more extended profiles than metal-rich subsamples, which we relate to the preferentially accreted origin of metal-poor GCs. We find strong correlations between the power-law slopes and effective radii of the radial profiles of the GC populations and the structural properties of the DM haloes, such as their power-law slopes, Navarro–Frenk–White scale radii, and concentration parameters. Accounting for a dependence on the galaxy stellar mass decreases the scatter of the two-dimensional relations. This suggests that the projected number counts of GCs, combined with their galaxy mass, trace the density profile of the DM halo of their host galaxy. When applied to extragalactic GC systems, we recover the scale radii and the extent of the DM haloes of a sample of early-type galaxies with uncertainties smaller than $0.2~\rm dex$. Thus, extragalactic GC systems provide a novel avenue to explore the structure of DM haloes beyond the Local Group.
Thermal and non-thermal X-ray emission from the rotation-powered radio/γ-ray pulsar PSR J1740+1000
Authors: Rigoselli Michela , Mereghetti Sandro , Anzuinelli Sara , Keith Michael , Taverna Roberto , Turolla Roberto , Zane Silvia
Published: April 2022

We report the results of new XMM-Newton observations of the middle-aged (τc = 1.1 × 105 yr) radio pulsar PSR J1740+1000 carried out in 2017–2018. These long pointings (∼530 ks) show that the non-thermal emission, well described by a power-law spectrum with photon index Γ = 1.80 ± 0.17, is pulsed with a ∼30 per cent pulsed fraction above 2 keV. The thermal emission can be well-fit with the sum of two blackbodies of temperatures kT1 = 70 ± 4 eV and kT2 = 137 ± 7 eV, and emitting radii $R_1=5.4_{-0.9}^{+1.3}$ km and $R_2=0.70_{-0.13}^{+0.15}$ km (for a distance of 1.2 kpc). We found no evidence for absorption lines as those observed in the shorter XMM-Newton observations (∼67 ks) of this pulsar carried out in 2006. The X-ray thermal and non-thermal components peak in antiphase and none of them is seen to coincide in phase with the radio pulse. This, coupled with the small difference in the emission radii of the two thermal components, disfavours an interpretation in which the dipolar polar cap is heated by magnetospheric backward-accelerated particles. Comparison with the other thermally emitting isolated neutron stars with spectra well described by the sum of two components at different temperatures shows that the ratios T2/T1 and R2/R1 are similar for objects of different classes. The observed values cannot be reproduced with simple temperature distributions, such as those caused by a dipolar field, indicating the presence of more complicated thermal maps.
Cosmology and neutrino mass with the minimum spanning tree
Authors: Naidoo Krishna , Massara Elena , Lahav Ofer
Published: April 2022

The information content of the minimum spanning tree (MST), used to capture higher order statistics and information from the cosmic web, is compared to that of the power spectrum for a νΛCDM model. The measurements are made in redshift space using haloes from the Quijote simulation of mass $\ge 3.2\times 10^{13}\, h^{-1}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ in a box of length $L_{\rm box}=1\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Gpc}$. The power spectrum multipoles (monopole and quadrupole) are computed for Fourier modes in the range $0.006\, h{\rm Mpc}^{-1} \lt k \lt 0.5\, h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. For comparison the MST is measured with a minimum length-scale of $l_{\min }\simeq 13\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$. Combining the MST and power spectrum allows for many of the individual degeneracies to be broken; on its own the MST provides tighter constraints on the sum of neutrino masses Mν and cosmological parameters h, ns, and Ωb but the power spectrum alone provides tighter constraints on Ωm and σ8. Combined we find constraints that are a factor of two (or greater) on all parameters with respect to the power spectrum (for Mν there is a factor of four improvement). These improvements appear to be driven by the MST’s sensitivity to small scale clustering, where the effect of neutrino free-streaming becomes relevant, and high-order statistical information in the cosmic web. The MST is shown to be a powerful tool for cosmology and neutrino mass studies, and therefore could play a pivotal role in ongoing and future galaxy redshift surveys (such as DES, DESI, Euclid, and Rubin-LSST).
Red supergiant stars in binary systems. I. Identification and characterisation in the small magellanic cloud from the UVIT ultraviolet imaging survey
Authors: Patrick L R , Thilker D , Lennon D J , Bianchi L , Schootemeijer A , Dorda R , Langer N , Negueruela I
Published: April 2022

We aim to identify and characterise binary systems containing red supergiant (RSG) stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using a newly available ultraviolet (UV) point source catalogue obtained using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on board AstroSat. We select a sample of 560 SMC RSGs based on photometric and spectroscopic observations at optical wavelengths and cross-match this with the far-UV point source catalogue using the UVIT F172M filter, finding 88 matches down to mF172M = 20.3 ABmag, which we interpret as hot companions to the RSGs. Stellar parameters (luminosities, effective temperatures and masses) for both components in all 88 binary systems are determined and we find mass distributions in the ranges 6.1 < M/M⊙ < 22.3 for RSGs and 3.7 <M/M⊙ < 15.6 for their companions. The most massive RSG binary system in the SMC has a combined mass of 32 ± 4 M⊙, with a mass ratio (q) of 0.92. By simulating observing biases, we find an intrinsic multipliciy fraction of $18.8\, \pm \, 1.5\, {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for mass ratios in the range 0.3 < q < 1.0 and orbital periods approximately in the range $3 < \log P [\rm days] < 8$. By comparing our results with those of a similar mass on the main-sequence, we determine the fraction of single stars to be ∼20 per cent and argue that the orbital period distribution declines rapidly beyond log P ∼ 3.5. We study the mass-ratio distribution of RSG binary systems and find that a uniform distribution best describes the data below 14 M⊙. Above 15 M⊙, we find a lack of high mass-ratio systems.
Definition of germ layer cell lineage alternative splicing programs reveals a critical role for Quaking in specifying cardiac cell fate
Authors: Fagg W Samuel , Liu Naiyou , Braunschweig Ulrich , Pereira de Castro Karen Larissa , Chen Xiaoting , Ditmars Frederick S , Widen Steven G , Donohue John Paul , Modis Katalin , Russell William K , Fair Jeffrey H , Weirauch Matthew T , Blencowe Benjamin J , Garcia-Blanco Mariano A
Published: April 2022

Alternative splicing is critical for development; however, its role in the specification of the three embryonic germ layers is poorly understood. By performing RNA-Seq on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and derived definitive endoderm, cardiac mesoderm, and ectoderm cell lineages, we detect distinct alternative splicing programs associated with each lineage. The most prominent splicing program differences are observed between definitive endoderm and cardiac mesoderm. Integrative multi-omics analyses link each program with lineage-enriched RNA binding protein regulators, and further suggest a widespread role for Quaking (QKI) in the specification of cardiac mesoderm. Remarkably, knockout of QKI disrupts the cardiac mesoderm-associated alternative splicing program and formation of myocytes. These changes arise in part through reduced expression of BIN1 splice variants linked to cardiac development. Mechanistically, we find that QKI represses inclusion of exon 7 in BIN1 pre-mRNA via an exonic ACUAA motif, and this is concomitant with intron removal and cleavage from chromatin. Collectively, our results uncover alternative splicing programs associated with the three germ lineages and demonstrate an important role for QKI in the formation of cardiac mesoderm.
Factors correlating with survival following adjuvant or definitive radiosurgery for large brain metastases
Authors: Gutiérrez-Valencia Enrique , Kalyvas Aristotelis , Villafuerte Conrad J , Millar Barbara-Ann , Laperriere Normand , Conrad Tatiana , Berlin Alejandro , Weiss Jessica , Zadeh Gelareh , Bernstein Mark , Kongkham Paul , Shultz David B
Published: April 2022

Background

We sought to identify variates correlating with overall survival (OS) in patients treated with surgery (S) plus adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) versus definitive SRS for large (>4 cc) brain metastases (BrM).

Methods

We used univariate (UVA) and multivariate analyses (MVA) to identify survival correlates among eligible patients identified from a prospective registry and compared definitive SRS to S+ adjuvant SRS cohorts using propensity score-matched analysis (PSMA). Secondary outcomes were measured using the cumulative incidence (CI) method.

Results

We identified 364 patients; 127 and 237 were treated with S+SRS and definitive SRS, respectively. On UVA, SRS alone [HR1.73 (1.35,2.22) P < .001), BrM quantity [HR 1.13 (1.06–1.22) (P < .001)]; performance status (PS) [HR 2.78 (1.73–4.46) (P < .001)]; extracranial disease (ECD) [HR 1.82 (1.37,2.40) (P < .001)]; and receipt of systemic treatment after BrM therapy, [HR 0.58 (0.46–073) (P < .001)] correlated with OS. On MVA, SRS alone [HR 1.81 (1.19,2.74) (P < .0054)], SRS target volume [HR 1.03 (1.01,1.06) (P < .0042)], and receipt of systemic treatment [HR 0.68 (0.50,0.93) (P < .015)] correlated with OS. When PSMA was used to balance ECD, BrM quantity, PS, and SRS target volume, SRS alone remained correlated with worsened OS [HR 1.62 (1.20–2.19) (P = 0.0015)]. CI of local failure requiring resection at 12 months was 3% versus 7% for S+SRS and SRS cohorts, respectively [(HR 2.04 (0.89–4.69) (P = .091)]. CI of pachymeningeal failure at 12 months was 16% versus 0% for S+SRS and SRS.

Conclusion

SRS target volume, receipt of systemic therapies, and treatment with S+SRS instead of definitive SRS correlated with improved survival in patients with large BrM.
Birth Outcomes Associated With E-Cigarette and Non–E-Cigarette Tobacco Product Use During Pregnancy: An Examination of PATH Data Waves 1–5
Authors: Cohn Amy M , Elmasry Hoda , Wild Robert C , Johnson Amanda L , Abudayyeh Haneen , Kurti Allison , Coleman-Cowger Victoria H
Published: April 2022

Objectives

To examine associations of prenatal e-cigarette use to pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Methods

Currently pregnant women (n = 1 037) from Waves 1 through 4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study who had pregnancy or live birth outcome data in a subsequent wave (Waves 2–5; 2013 to 2019). Weighted bivariate and multivariable models\ examined associations between past 30-day tobacco use assessed during pregnancy (any past 30-day e-cigarette use, any past 30-day non–e-cigarette tobacco use, or no past 30-day tobacco use) with adverse pregnancy (miscarriage, abortion, ectopic or tubal pregnancy, stillbirth) and birth outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight, birth defect, placenta previa, placental abruption, pre-eclampsia) reported in the subsequent wave.

Results

Approximately 1% of pregnant women reported past 30-day exclusive e-cigarette use and 3.2% used e-cigarettes and one other tobacco product. Compared to no tobacco use, past 30-day e-cigarette use (exclusive or use with another tobacco product) during pregnancy was not associated with increased odds of an adverse pregnancy or birth outcome in bivariate or multivariable models. Past 30-day non–e-cigarette tobacco use was associated with increased odds of an adverse pregnancy outcome in multivariable models, but not an adverse live birth outcome. Compared to past 30-day cigarette use, past 30-day e-cigarette use during pregnancy was not associated with lowered odds of a birth or pregnancy outcome.

Conclusions

E-cigarette use during pregnancy is rare. Understanding the positive and negative impacts of pre–natal e-cigarette use on women’s health may guide public health messaging campaigns.

Implications

Results showed that past 30-day e-cigarette use during pregnancy was low, with cigarette smoking remaining the most prevalent form of tobacco use during pregnancy. Current e-cigarette use during pregnancy used either exclusively or with another tobacco product, was not associated with increased risk of an adverse pregnancy, or birth outcome. A small sample size of e-cigarette users and limited information on quantity and frequency of e-cigarette use before and during pregnancy may limit conclusions. Healthcare providers may use this information when discussing the harms and consequences associated with e-cigarette and tobacco use during pregnancy.
Stress, effort, and incentives at work
Authors: Cottini Elena , Ghinetti Paolo , Iossa Elisabetta , Sacco Pierluigi
Published: April 2022

An extensive medical and occupational-health literature finds that an imbalance between effort and reward is an important stressor which produces serious health consequences. We incorporate these effects in a simple agency model with moral hazard and limited liability and study the impact on agents’ effort and utility, as well as incentive pay provision, assuming agents differ in stress susceptibility. We test main model’s implications using the 2015 wave of the European Working Condition Survey. We find that individuals who are more susceptible to stress work harder and have lower subjective well-being. The likelihood of receiving incentive pay is not monotone in stress susceptibility.
Achievement and Meaning in Life
Authors: Bradford Gwen
Published: April 2022

Achievements play a key role in many accounts of meaning in life. What characterizes projects that are the best sources of objective worth and meaning? A natural thought is that the achievements that are the most objectively worthwhile and therefore the most significant for meaning are those that accomplish some great good, but John Stuart Mill’s crisis, recounted in his autobiography, casts doubt on this thought: imagining the completion of his life’s goals robs them of their meaningfulness to him. It has been suggested that the most meaningful projects have goals we cannot imagine completing. This chapter gives an account of the structure of the projects that can be the richest source of meaning, and explains why that is so: projects with self-propagating goals involve the pursuit of continued challenge, which activates the value-theoretic principle of recursion, yielding a rich and potentially unending source of value and meaning.
The Sunni Islamic Revival
Authors: Rock-Singer Aaron
Published: April 2022

Over the past century, waves of Sunni reformers from the Middle East to South Asia to central Asia have called for a return to Islam’s foundations by invoking well-established concepts in Islamic thought such as tajdid (renewal) and islah (reform). Yet, far from constituting a straightforward return to a well-established playbook, the revivalist movements of the 20th century have emerged at the intersection of longer Islamic theological and legal traditions, the ideological challenges of secular nationalism, and radical shifts in the nature of religious authority enabled by the linked spread of print and literacy. This chapter provides an overview of these movements, beginning in the late 19th century with the efforts of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad ‘Abduh, and Muhammad Rashid Rida, and then moving forward to varied revivalist trends, national and transnational, in the modern Middle East.
History and State Coercion in the Arab Spring
Authors: Said Atef
Published: April 2022

In this chapter, the author proposes the need to study the colonial and postcolonial nexus of coercion in Arab states in order to explore how the coercive apparatus in the region was tied to a colonial formation, through postcolonial configurations of states. In doing so, the author argues against the dominance of presentism and methodological nationalism in the study of Arab states. While focusing on the cases of Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, the author demonstrates that one cannot understand the role that coercion played in the Arab Spring and its trajectory or the new wave of repression after the Arab Spring as an insulated contemporary problem. The author interrogates the existence of paramilitary groups and the entanglements of coercion with regional and international postcolonial politics. The analysis reveals that understanding the central problems related to the coercive apparatus of Arab states necessitates situating them within their foundation—that is, within the colonial and postcolonial contexts out of which they emerged.
Key Issues in the Political Economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council States
Authors: Hanieh Adam
Published: April 2022

The six Gulf Cooperation Council monarchies—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman—hold a distinctive position in the Middle East. Located on the strategically significant Arabian Peninsula, they rank among the most important producers of oil and gas in the world. This chapter examines some of the key political economy issues in the Gulf, including the role of the region’s hydrocarbon production within global oil markets, debates around the nature of state and class in the Gulf, and the Gulf’s growing political and economic influence on the wider Middle East. The possible implications of these dynamics for the Gulf’s future trajectories—and those of the wider Middle East—are surveyed.
LGBTQI Rights in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Tolino Serena
Published: April 2022

This chapter presents an overview of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersexual) rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing in particular on three case studies: Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia. After a general introduction on LGBTQI rights in the MENA region, the chapter addresses the issue of Islamic law and homosexuality. It then focuses on anti-homosexuality laws in these three countries, their history and their implementation, showing how each country has a different approach to homosexuality. The Lebanese Penal Code, for example, has an article criminalizing “any sexual act against nature,” while the Tunisian Penal Code has an article criminalizing liwat (sodomy) and sihaq (tribadism). The Egyptian Penal Code does not criminalize specifically homosexuality. However, a law against “male prostitution” is applied to punish gay men. Finally, the chapter looks at LGBTQI organizations in these three countries.
For a Sociology of Sectarianism
Authors: Majed Rima
Published: April 2022

This chapter offers an overview of the study of sectarianism in the Middle East. It argues that, because it has often been treated as an area studies topic, the study of sectarianism has long been absent from mainstream sociological literature. By bridging between disciplinary knowledge production and the area-specific research agenda, this chapter proposes some conceptual and methodological notes to advance an understanding of the sectarian phenomenon in the Middle East. This chapter is a call for the development of a “sociology of sectarianism,” one that moves beyond Middle East exceptionalism to study the phenomenon of sectarianism in its complexity by locating it historically and analyzing it globally within the broader interlocking systems of social stratification.
The Place of Islam in the Foundation of Modern Social Theory
Authors: Sunar Lutfi
Published: April 2022

The relation between Islam and the West has a long history, full of confrontation. Islam always represents the closest “other” for the West, and being otherized is not only a cultural but also a strategic matter. Controlling and shaping the perceptions of Islam are essential for continuing the political hegemony of the West. On this basis, the 19th century witnessed the spread of Western hegemony throughout the world, including the Middle East. In this period, although Western expansion faced considerable resistance in Muslim societies, the political, economic, military, scientific, intellectual, and cultural influence of modernity spread all over the world. The encounter between Muslim societies and the West went beyond the sheer geographical dimension. The Western vision, founded and reinforced by orientalism, considers Islam as a suppressed enemy who may make a comeback. This chapter will question the place of Islam in modern social theory. The central thesis is on Islam being not only the other of the modern Western identity, but also a founder of the modern world. By discussing the central place of Islam in the debates of social theory’s founders such as Tocqueville, Marx, and Weber, Islam as part and parcel of the modern world will become apparent.
The Battle for the Soul of Islam
Authors: Dorsey James M.
Published: April 2022

The battle for the soul of Islam is about much more than countering political violence and suppressing political Islam. It is a long-drawn-out, decades-long battle for religious soft power in which multiple Middle Eastern and Asian states compete for recognition as leader of the Muslim world and to be drivers of a largely undefined “moderate,” tolerant, and pluralistic interpretation of an Islam that at a minimum engages in interfaith dialogue. The rivals employ religion to garner favor, empathy, and goodwill in the corridors of power in the United States and Europe, as well as among influential Jewish and Christian communities. At the same time, the battle for the soul of Islam is also a struggle to redefine what Islam represents in a 21st-century world.
Relational Inequality and the Structures that
Disadvantage
Authors: Maroto Michelle , Pettinicchio David
Published: April 2022

This chapter reviews the different dimensions of disadvantage associated with disability while emphasizing the social structures that create and maintain such disadvantages. It reviews quantitative research demonstrating disadvantage in education, employment, income, wealth, and economic security, while noting the drawbacks of deficit accounts that fail to consider the structural dimensions of inequality. Drawing on relational inequality theory, the chapter discusses how ableism, as an institution, supports the unequal distribution of status, resources, and opportunities around disability. It then provides examples of how ableism leads to disparities in higher education, employment, and wealth among people with disabilities, while also emphasizing potential paths for change within these organizations.
Prioritarianism and Population Ethics
Authors: Holtug Nils
Published: April 2022

Roughly stated, prioritarianism is the view that we should give priority to the worse off in the distribution of welfare. Like other distributive principles, it struggles with coming up with plausible judgments in the sphere of population ethics. Thus, prioritarians may either hold that prioritarianism applies to different-number comparisons of outcomes or that it does not. If the former, this has various counterintuitive implications, not least that prioritarianism implies not only the Repugnant Conclusion, but also what has been labeled the Super-Repugnant Conclusion, according to which an outcome, A, may be better than another, B, even though people have excellent lives in B and lives only barely worth living in A and B hold a higher total of benefits. If the latter, prioritarianism is a seriously incomplete distributive principle. In this chapter, these implications are considered as well as various ways in which prioritarians may attempt to avoid problematic conclusions in population ethics. These attempts include adopting a person-affecting account of morality, adopting an average or critical-level prioritarian function, and appealing to value incomparability. Finally, it is considered whether prioritarianism is less plausible than, for example, total utilitarianism in the sphere of population ethics. Thus while, unlike utilitarianism, prioritarianism may imply the Super-Repugnant Conclusion, it may seem more plausible than the former principle when it comes to, for example, the negative Repugnant Conclusion (which deals with negative welfare) and the so-called asymmetry.
Overpopulation and Individual Responsibility
Authors: Conly Sarah
Published: April 2022

The world is threatened by overpopulation. Current predictions are for a population rise within a hundred years that seems radically unsustainable on this planet. However, some people oppose controls on how many children people have. I argue that one reason for that is that no individual child will itself cause the environmental havoc that overpopulation will wreak. While we are willing to interfere with the use of the body to prevent a great harm—we can arrest you if you are trying to assault someone—we think we should respect people’s bodily autonomy if the threat they pose is small. I argue that while it is true that each increment of population in itself does no harm, we, as individuals, are nonetheless morally responsible for overpopulation if we have too many children. The fact that we share moral responsibility for the damage caused by overpopulation does not mean that each of us then bears less: moral responsibility does not “divide” according to the number of perpetrators. Since overpopulation constitutes a great harm, interference with the individual is then warranted and states can use certain forms of coercion to stop people from reproducing unsustainably.
Our Intuitive Grasp of the Repugnant Conclusion
Authors: Gustafsson Johan E.
Published: April 2022

According to Total Utilitarianism, a first outcome is at least as good as a second outcome if and only if the sum total of well-being in the first is at least as great as the sum total of well-being in the second. Total Utilitarianism implies the Repugnant Conclusion, which says that, for every population consisting of ten billion people with very high well-being, there is a population consisting of a very large number of people whose existence would be better even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. The Repugnant Conclusion is counter-intuitive. But is this intuition reliable as evidence against Total Utilitarianism? A potential defense of Total Utilitarianism is that our intuition is unreliable in this case because the Repugnant Conclusion involves very large numbers. This chapter considers some earlier proposals of this kind and proposes a variation based on the idea that the unreliability of our intuition about the Repugnant Conclusion is due to a slight insensitivity in our intuitive grasp of the morally relevant factors.
Climate Change and Population Ethics
Authors: Broome John
Published: April 2022

Climate change will certainly alter the world’s future people. Moreover, the alteration may be very large. There is even a slight possibility that it will cause the extinction of humanity, so that after some future date there will be no more people ever. A correct assessment of the harm done by climate change or of the benefit of policies aimed at controlling climate change must take account of the resulting change of population. Yet in the practice of policy no assessment ever does so. This practice of policy-makers concerned with climate change simply continues the common practice of policy-makers in general. It is very rare for policy-makers to take account of the effects of their policies on population. Why? Because they assume, in common with most people, that changes in population are in themselves ethically neutral: they do not make the world either better or worse. This “intuition of neutrality” seems a good reason for ignoring changes in population when making evaluations. But actually, it is not a good reason. I shall explain that, even to the extent that the intuition is true, it does not mean that changes in population can be ignored in making assessments. Changes in population must be taken into account. Yet is difficult to do so, given that the theory of population ethics is in disarray.
Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Cross-Cultural Corpus Studies
Authors: London Justin , Jacoby Nori , Polak Rainer
Published: April 2022

Corpus-based research has historically consisted primarily of data that can best be represented in Western musical notation, often with an American/Eurocentric bias. In this chapter, the authors present a corpus of live performances of jembe-drum ensemble music from Mali and two analytical studies that make use of it. These studies help us to understand and appreciate a musical style of considerable rhythmic subtlety and complexity, and, because they shed additional light on issues of rhythm perception and performance, they also increase the cultural diversity of empirical musicological research. The authors’ findings demonstrate the usefulness of a cross-cultural perspective for both general, scientifically informed theories of rhythm and meter and for ethnomusicologically informed theories of rhythm and meter in African (sub-Saharan) music-cultural contexts.
Innovation in the Study of Superdiversity
Authors: Negrón Rosalyn
Published: April 2022

Empirically, superdiversity, which has to do with the social organization of difference in complex urban settings, has characteristics that challenge ethnographic observation and interviewing research methods that have been traditionally employed in urban, migration, and transnational studies. Instead, Vertovec (2020), Blommaert (2015) and others challenge scholars to think about superdiversity in terms of complexity. How do we translate complexity thinking into research practice? The answer is innovative methods. This chapter first provides a framework for thinking about methodological innovation in the study of complex social environments in urban settings. It then outlines innovative methods to meet the challenges of research on urban social complexity, matching different methods with features of complexity that have special relevance for superdiversity. These include multiplicity of agents or variables; diversity in agents’ or variables’ characteristics; interdependence of agents and variables; high outcome-contingency; unpredictable, nonlinear, multicausal trajectories; emergent conditions, systems, and dynamics; and self-organizing dynamical systems.
Identity Politics in Contexts of Superdiversity
Authors: Geldof Dirk
Published: April 2022

The process of normalization of superdiversity in Western European countries goes together with a rising interest for identity politics—ranging from nationalist and populist counterreactions against increasing diversity and the fear of losing the national identity, to debates over decolonization and the search for identity in contexts of diaspora or majority-minority cities. This chapter explores in which ways superdiversity challenges monolithic and static approaches to identity, and contributes to understanding complex and multiple identities, as well as (competing) claims for recognition.
Human Rights, Intersectionality, and Superdiversity
Authors: Henrard Kristin
Published: April 2022

Investigations of how a superdiversity angle might lead to changed interpretations of legal concepts could be undertaken in various fields of law. This chapter zooms in on “intersectional discrimination” because the prohibition of discrimination is an essential tool for (analyzing) legal approaches to population diversity and because intersectionality is conceptually aligned with superdiversity. Indeed, both concepts alert us to the lack of homogeneity of ethnic groups and the multiple axes of differentiation within these groups. This chapter proceeds along three themes. First, it highlights the importance of intersectional discrimination for a richer nondiscrimination analysis. Second, it explores what a proper (explicit or implicit) identification of intersectional discrimination and a suitable assessment thereof would be. Third, it highlights the hesitation, even reluctance, of a range of international courts and quasi-courts to actually proceed as necessary. The analysis shows obvious differences of degree concerning the extent to which the United Nations treaty bodies, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the European Union are even willing to identify intersectional discrimination, let alone properly evaluate it. By way of conclusion, the chapter identifies an urgent need to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing instances of intersectional discrimination. The latter methodology is essential to develop nondiscrimination laws and policies that are suitable for superdiverse societies.
The Polls—Trends
Authors: Jardina Ashley , Ollerenshaw Trent
Published: April 2022

Public opinion research has long demonstrated that white Americans are generally resistant to racially egalitarian policies. Using decades of national public opinion data, we re-examine opinion on race policy in the wake of considerable polarization and shifts in racial attitudes across white partisans. We find that white Democrats have in recent years shown both increasingly liberal racial attitudes and a marked increase in support for policies promoting racial equality that at times rivals the levels of support expressed by Black Americans. We also find, however, that these trends among white Democrats are tempered by heightened levels of racial resentment and continued opposition to racially egalitarian policies among white Republicans. Today, partisans appear to be far more polarized on matters of race and racism than at any point in the last three decades.
OA21 Continuing specialist care beyond age 16 in young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a descriptive study using electronic health records in England
Authors: Costello Ruth E , Kearsley-Fleet Lianne , McDonagh Janet E , Hyrich Kimme , Humphreys Jenny H
Published: April 2022

Background/Aims

It is estimated that juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) persists into adulthood in at least one-third of patients, but it is unclear how frequently hospital services are used beyond age 16. This study aimed to describe characteristics related to continued specialist care in young people (YP) with JIA using electronic health records (EHR) in England.

Methods

YP with JIA were identified from primary care EHR (Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and Aurum databases combined) between 2003 and 2018. JIA was identified if they had a Read code for JIA and either > =3 Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) outpatient specialist care (rheumatology/ophthalmology) appointments or a HES inpatient admission coded with JIA, prior to age 16. Further, cases needed to have linkage to HES data, registration at the same GP for >1 year beyond age 16. Cases were followed from the earliest of first Read code or first HES outpatient appointment until leaving their GP or end of 2018. YP with > =1 specialist care outpatient appointment beyond age 16 were identified. YP were considered discharged from specialist care (a proxy for disease remission) if they had > =1 year between the last appointment and end of study follow-up. Patient characteristics and characteristics of discharged are presented, stratified by continued specialist care.

Results

Of 1095 YP eligible for the study, followed for a median of 12 years beyond 16, 774 (70.7%) continued specialist care beyond age 16. These patients were older at first JIA code and more likely to be female (Table 1). Overall, 543 (51.9%) continued in specialist care beyond age 18. The median age of the last visit was 14 for those not continuing specialist care and 18 for those discharged after the age of 16. Disease duration was longer in those discharged after age 16.

Conclusion

Over two-third of patients with JIA continue to have hospital visits beyond age 16. Of those, however, approximately one-third were discharged from specialist care by the age of 18. These data provide important information for YP with JIA and their families, as well as clinicians running, developing and planning young adult services in paediatric and adult rheumatology.

Disclosure

R.E. Costello: None. L. Kearsley-Fleet: None. J.E. McDonagh: None. K. Hyrich: None. J.H. Humphreys: None.
OA40 How ethnicity influences outcomes in early inflammatory arthritis - equality but not equity: findings from a national cohort
Authors: Adas Maryam , Balachandran Sathiyaa , Esterine Thomas , Amlani-Hatcher Paul , Oyebanjo Sarah , Lempp Heidi , Ledingham Joanna , Galloway James , Kumar Kanta , Dubey Shirish
Published: April 2022

Background/Aims

Patients of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are more likely to report poorer health and low life expectancy. Focusing on patients with early inflammatory arthritis (EIA), we used the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA) to evaluate the relationship between ethnicity, clinician and patient reported outcomes against the seven quality metrics set out in NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) quality standard QS33.

Methods

The study is an observational cohort design. Data were from adult patients newly diagnosed with EIA first seen within rheumatology services in England and Wales between May 2018 and March 2020. Ethnicity was grouped into the following binary categories of ethnic minority groups: BAME (including Black British/African/Caribbean, Asian/Asian British, mixed, other) and White. Analyses were performed on sociodemographic, quality metrics, clinical and patient reported outcomes at baseline and three months follow up. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds of disease remission and meeting quality metrics by ethnicity. Models were adjusted for age, gender, smoking, comorbidity, deprivation, and disease factors (seropositivity, disease severity [DAS28]).

Results

A total of 35,807 patients were included in the analyses. The BAME cohort accounted for 14% of patients and had proportionately more females. Smoking and comorbidity levels were lower. BAME patients were younger and more likely to be seropositive for rheumatoid factor or CCP antibodies. Compared to White patients, BAME patients were more likely to be referred within 3 days of suspicion of EIA and start treatment within 6 weeks. However, BAME patients had lower odds of disease remission at 3 months follow up despite multilevel adjustments and reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety. Detailed data on clinical and patient reported outcomes after 3 months of specialist care are presented in the table below.

Conclusion

Although there is parity between care delivery for BAME and White patients, BAME patients had worse outcomes in this large multinational cohort. Urgent attention needs to be paid to further investigating the reasons for this and redesigning care pathways to address this inequity.

Disclosure

M. Adas: None. S. Balachandran: None. T. Esterine: None. P. Amlani-Hatcher: None. S. Oyebanjo: None. H. Lempp: Other; HL is the coordinator of the Patient Panel of the NEIAA. J. Ledingham: Other; is a BSR trustee. J. Galloway: Honoraria; has received honoraria from AbbVie, Celgene, Chugai, Gilead, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche and UCB. K. Kumar: None. S. Dubey: Other; has been paid financial compensation for educational meeting on impact of ethnicity sponsored by Janssen.