bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘Not a literary man, though very devoted to the Old Testament’
Authors: Holter Knut
Published: July 2024

With current Old Testament studies perspectives—the quest for interpretive consequences of context and the difference between ‘ordinary’ and ‘professional’ readers of the Bible—the article analyses two sets of colonial Old Testament interpretation vis-à-vis Africa. One set is cases of the ‘travel report’ genre with cases letting adventurers and colonialists read their African experiences in light of Old Testament texts (‘ordinary’ readers). The other set is cases of the ‘commentary’ genre, that is interpretive studies on Old Testament texts with cases letting scholars read texts in light of concepts of Africa (‘professional’ readers). Both sets demonstrate the crucial role played by the interpreter and her/his interpretive concerns.
The Place of Place in Contextual Readings of the Bible
Authors: Marzouk Safwat
Published: July 2024

This chapter will focus on the place of place in reading biblical texts, both how a place is constructed and represented in the biblical traditions, and how this place is interpreted or received by the readers of the Bible. Using how Egypt is represented in the Pentateuchal traditions, the chapter argues that the representation of a place like Egypt in the Bible is diverse. The way this represented Egypt is interpreted depends on the readers’ socio-political location. The chapter first offers some brief theoretical remarks on the relationship between place and hermeneutics, before turning to how Egypt is represented in the Pentateuchal traditions (of Exodus, Hagar, and Joseph), and finally, how these representations of Egypt have been engaged from the cultural place of African American interpreters of the Bible.
One Text to Rule Them All?
Authors: Yi An-Ting
Published: July 2024

This chapter aims to initiate a conversation between New Testament textual criticism and contextual biblical interpretation, two seemingly separate fields. The chapter first points to the contexts and positionality of researchers. Then it outlines the major developments in the history of New Testament textual criticism by focusing on the dominant notion of the one and authoritative text. Next follows a summary of three current trends, which illustrate the awareness of plurality, contextuality, and materiality in contemporary textual scholarship, before demonstrating a new approach towards manuscripts. The famous Codex Vaticanus is used as a case study to show its heterogeneous and multifaceted reception. By way of conclusion, the contribution envisions perspectives for further explorations. On the one hand, contextuality requires epistemological reconsideration of fundamental text-critical notions and issues, and on the other hand the conversation also invites critical reflection and hermeneutical experiments on contextual biblical scholarship.
Contextual Biblical Interpretation and Theories of Masculinity
Authors: Punt Jeremy
Published: July 2024

Theories of masculinity are resources for contextual biblical interpretation, particularly as this approach to the Bible moves beyond associations with the exotic. Notwithstanding impactful and wide-ranging theories of masculinity, exnomination continues to be a major factor in the neglect and disregard of masculinity (theory) in biblical studies, too. Reducing masculinity to its hegemonic version often entails a failure to interpret the extent, tenacity, and embeddedness of masculinity in various social practices. Ironically, an over-emphasis on hegemonic masculinity has even entrenched its exnomination in other forms. When the exnomination of masculinity (-ies) is curtailed or at least challenged, the contextuality of masculinity theory as well as the explicit theorization of masculinity in contextual biblical interpretation practices are enabled by constructive-critical hermeneutics.
Biblical Ecological Trauma Hermeneutics in a Post-Haiyan Context
Authors: Ibita Ma. Marilou S , Ibita Ma. Maricel S
Published: July 2024

This chapter posits that a contextual biblical hermeneutics that incorporates both ecological hermeneutics and trauma theory together is needed for the engagement of how biblical passages were recontextualized and used in ministry in the aftermath of the 2013 super typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines. This paper analyses the ways in which biblical texts were used in pastoral ministry in a post-natural disaster setting like Haiyan to help in the stress-debriefing, to promote coping strategies for the survivors, and to assist in the meaning-making in this context. The chapter examines the hermeneutical issues in need of critical attention and provides suggestions for a better recontextualization of the Bible in a post-natural disaster setting where issues of ecology and trauma combine.
Contextual Biblical Interpretation
Authors: Black Fiona C
Published: July 2024

Affect theory offers an opportunity to further develop the already influential field of contextual biblical interpretation by considering what the place of the body’s inner registers, its emotions, its impulses, and energies in the practice of interpretation is. For affect theorists, these add complexity to our understanding of the subjectivities of textual characters and events, and their interpreters. Where proponents of contextual biblical interpretation astutely unpack the ideological and material conditions that influence interpretation and often function to exclude certain voices, the interplay between those conditions and the resulting impact on the body’s interior aspects—and indeed how they in turn impact others—would add further nuance in the framing of context. Through such readings, we not only gain insight into the unspoken or unwritten conditions that influence interpretive decisions, we also create space for other and non-typical ways of representation in the process.
Capitalism, Class, and the Bible
Authors: Crossley James
Published: July 2024

Concepts of ‘class’ have had, at most, a spectral presence in mainstream, critical biblical scholarship. But there are some signs of the return of ‘class’ as an analytical concept and this chapter follows such leads. By using the example of the Bible in English social contexts, this chapter looks at some of the uses of the Bible in relation to the capitalist mode of production and competing class interests. This involves examining working-class assumptions about the Bible and how the Bible has long lost its historic rhetorical power, as well as the construction of a ‘cultured’ middle-class understanding of the Bible where it still holds some rhetorical power to support middle-class material interests, not least in universities. The chapter makes further suggestions about future ethnographic projects involving class-based studies of the Bible and the importance of contextualizing local examples (e.g., England) in the wider context of global capitalism.
The Absent Bible
Authors: Pyper Hugh S
Published: July 2024

This chapter arises out of my observations of pictures of two similar but contrasting events: Donald Trump taking the oath of office as 45th President of the United States of America and the swearing in of the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. In the first event, considerable coverage was given to the two Bibles on which the President laid his hand as he swore the oath. In the second, no Bible was used. The contrast intrigued me. What transpires from further investigation is that these events provide a noteworthy example of the Bible functioning as a material object which carries a symbolic significance that does not depend on its contents. Furthermore, they illustrate the way that the absence of the material Bible can at times be a powerful indicator, not of indifference to the biblical tradition, but of its continuing and potentially disruptive influence.
Division of Empire
Authors: Lewis William
Published: July 2024

Constantine the Great died on 22 May ad 337. He left behind three sons, Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans, to face the challenge of how to rule the Roman empire, and how to divide it between them. This book follows the lives of the sons from the death of their father and traces how they first shared the empire as a triarchy, until Constantine II was killed by his brother Constans in the civil war of 340, and after that as a diarchy, until Constans was murdered by a usurper in 350. It also tackles the question of division. It is well known that the Roman empire came to be divided into eastern and western halves in 395; what is less known is that this was the culmination of a great series of divisions and reunifications stretching across the fourth century. Division was a process, rather than an event, and it is a process that has received little attention in scholarship. This book uses the power-sharing of the sons of Constantine as a case study for division, and how it worked in practice. Constantius was the last man standing of Constantine’s sons, and reunified the empire under the rule of a sole Augustus, like his father. However, the cracks were already starting to show. The reunification of the empire proved to be a failure, and this book traces the threads of Constantinian division as the empire ossified into separate halves.
Constantius, Divider of Empires?
Authors: Lewis William
Published: July 2024

On 22 May 337, Constantine the Great died, leaving an imperial college of four Caesars. Constantine no doubt had some idea of how he wanted to be succeeded, and his appointment of Caesars to the imperial college gives us some insight into how he was preparing for this. But whatever Constantine’s plans were, they were usurped by his son. Within a matter of months, Constantius had taken control of the succession, murdered one of his fellow Caesars, and conducted a purge of his rivals. This chapter analyses Constantine’s succession plans and traces how they came apart, and how the power dynamics of 337 determined the accession of Constantine II, Constantius, and Constans as co-Augusti.
The Constantinian Triarchy
Authors: Lewis William
Published: July 2024

The period between the accession of the sons in 337 and the death of Constantine II in early 340 should be seen as its own distinct period, and assumptions about its character should not be retrojected from the 340s. This chapter attempts to reconstruct the constitutional character of the period with a careful analysis of the limited evidence which survives from it. Looking at coins, inscriptions, and laws, this chapter will argue that it is wrong to assume the empire was as divided as it was in the 340s, and the government of the sons may have been more flexible and integrated than has previously been thought.
Ulpius Limenius and the West
Authors: Lewis William
Published: July 2024

The political environment of the 340s was very different to the years that preceded it. Whereas before there had been an empire governed by three Augusti in relatively equal portions, now the senior emperor held around a third while the junior emperor held two-thirds. The power imbalance caused by the sudden enlargement of Constans’ revenues and military establishment meant that the young emperor was able to throw his weight around, and the senior Augustus was in no position to impose unity. The result was a division of the Roman state. Focusing on the west, this chapter will analyse how this worked in practice, by looking closely at the administration of the empire, how the praetorian prefecture began to evolve into a regional office, and how shared offices like the consulship were negotiated between the emperors.
Constantius’ Failure and the End of Unity
Authors: Lewis William
Published: July 2024

Against the odds, Constantius was able to subdue his rivals and reunify the empire. However, his plan to reshape the administration under the rule of a single Augustus and Caesar failed on both attempts, and Constantius died at the outset of yet another civil war. His successors, Julian and Jovian, attempted to rule as sole emperors, and neither lasted long. Learning from the lessons of the past, Valentinian divided the empire on the model of the 340s. This chapter follows the threads of Constantinian division through this period, from Constantius’ attempts at reunification through to the final division of the empire in the fourth century.
An Analytic of Eeriness
Authors: Stopford Richard
Published: July 2024

In this paper, I analyse the phenomenon of eeriness as a kind of strange aesthetic experience. Beginning with Fisher’s insight (The Weird and the Eerie, 2017) that we can distinguish weirdness and eeriness from uncanniness, I offer an original account of eeriness. I argue that eeriness is the appearance of an underdetermination in the spatio-temporal location of objects of experience, relative to experiencing agent; this underdetermination results in a destabilisation of the “horizon of object-ivity” within which we make sense of the objects of appearance. This has the existential consequence of destabilising the subject’s sense of being-in-the world. I ground the analysis in examples from both fictional and non-fictional contexts to indicate the generality of the analysis.
Evaluating pathologist practices in peripheral blood smear review: A comprehensive practice survey
Authors: Moore Margaret , Chen Xueyan , Sadigh Sam , Seifert Robert , Mindiola Romero Andres E , Pozdnyakova Olga , Courville Elizabeth L
Published: July 2024

Objectives

Widely accepted standardized criteria for peripheral blood (PB) smear review do not exist. The aim of this study was to collect data regarding PB smear review practices across multiple institutions, with a focus on pathologist review.

Methods

A 23-question survey was developed by members of the Society for Hematopathology (SH) Education Committee and distributed to SH members. The survey included questions on practice environment and PB smear review practices, including trainee involvement.

Results

Of 725 members contacted, 137 (19%) completed the entire survey. Over half of practices examined 5 to 20 smears a day. All respondents reported using complete blood count/differential leukocyte count data and clinical history as part of smear review. The reported proportion of laboratory-initiated vs clinician-requested reviews varied across respondents. Clinician-requested smear reviews were more likely to be billed and issued as a separate pathology report. Glass slide review (as opposed to digital microscopy) was used by most respondents. All respondents affirmed that PB smear review is an essential component of pathology training programs. Numerous free-text comments were submitted by respondents regarding their own experiences with PB smear review and suggested improvements.

Conclusions

This survey elucidated the spectrum of practice patterns for pathologist review of blood smears and identified potential areas for process improvement.
Melodia: a Python library for protein structure analysis
Authors: Montalvão Rinaldo W , Pitt William R , Pinheiro Vitor B , Blundell Tom L
Published: July 2024

Analysing protein structure similarities is an important step in protein engineering and drug discovery. Methodologies that are more advanced than simple RMSD are available but often require extensive mathematical or computational knowledge for implementation. Grouping and optimizing such tools in an efficient open-source library increases accessibility and encourages the adoption of more advanced metrics. Melodia is a Python library with a complete set of components devised for describing, comparing and analysing the shape of protein structures using differential geometry of 3D curves and knot theory. It can generate robust geometric descriptors for thousands of shapes in just a few minutes. Those descriptors are more sensitive to structural feature variation than RMSD deviation. Melodia also incorporates sequence structural annotation and 3D visualizations.

Availability and implementation

Melodia is an open-source Python library freely available on https://github.com/rwmontalvao/Melodia_py, along with interactive Jupyter Notebook tutorials.
A Gaussian-process approximation to a spatial SIR process using moment closures and emulators
Authors: Trostle Parker , Guinness Joseph , Reich Brian J
Published: July 2024

The dynamics that govern disease spread are hard to model because infections are functions of both the underlying pathogen as well as human or animal behavior. This challenge is increased when modeling how diseases spread between different spatial locations. Many proposed spatial epidemiological models require trade-offs to fit, either by abstracting away theoretical spread dynamics, fitting a deterministic model, or by requiring large computational resources for many simulations. We propose an approach that approximates the complex spatial spread dynamics with a Gaussian process. We first propose a flexible spatial extension to the well-known SIR stochastic process, and then we derive a moment-closure approximation to this stochastic process. This moment-closure approximation yields ordinary differential equations for the evolution of the means and covariances of the susceptibles and infectious through time. Because these ODEs are a bottleneck to fitting our model by MCMC, we approximate them using a low-rank emulator. This approximation serves as the basis for our hierarchical model for noisy, underreported counts of new infections by spatial location and time. We demonstrate using our model to conduct inference on simulated infections from the underlying, true spatial SIR jump process. We then apply our method to model counts of new Zika infections in Brazil from late 2015 through early 2016.
A generalized outcome-adaptive sequential multiple assignment randomized trial design
Authors: Yang Xue , Cheng Yu , Thall Peter F , Wahed Abdus S
Published: July 2024

A dynamic treatment regime (DTR) is a mathematical representation of a multistage decision process. When applied to sequential treatment selection in medical settings, DTRs are useful for identifying optimal therapies for chronic diseases such as AIDs, mental illnesses, substance abuse, and many cancers. Sequential multiple assignment randomized trials (SMARTs) provide a useful framework for constructing DTRs and providing unbiased between-DTR comparisons. A limitation of SMARTs is that they ignore data from past patients that may be useful for reducing the probability of exposing new patients to inferior treatments. In practice, this may result in decreased treatment adherence or dropouts. To address this problem, we propose a generalized outcome-adaptive (GO) SMART design that adaptively unbalances stage-specific randomization probabilities in favor of treatments observed to be more effective in previous patients. To correct for bias induced by outcome adaptive randomization, we propose G-estimators and inverse-probability-weighted estimators of DTR effects embedded in a GO-SMART and show analytically that they are consistent. We report simulation results showing that, compared to a SMART, Response-Adaptive SMART and SMART with adaptive randomization, a GO-SMART design treats significantly more patients with the optimal DTR and achieves a larger number of total responses while maintaining similar or better statistical power.
The Evolving Workplace: The Possible Impacts of Hybrid Working and Hotdesking on Retention of Social Workers
Authors: Pulman Andy , Fenge Lee-Ann
Published: July 2024

Challenges with the retention of social workers have increased over the past ten years with links made to higher caseloads, increased stress, shrinking office space and hybridisation of work roles driven by both austerity and changes resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article reports on findings from a study developed with two local authorities exploring retention in adult social care from the perspective of practitioners working in the South of England. A mixed methods approach was taken. A group of (n = 57) social workers at two local authorities completed an online survey and (n = 13) were interviewed in depth. A semi-structured interview schedule was constructed to collect expanded reflections on issues affecting retention. Several themes emerged concerning the differential impacts of the changing workplace post-COVID-19. These include increased stress and high caseloads and the potential negative impact of hotdesking and hybrid working on supervision and well-being. We discuss areas where changes might address some of the current concerns highlighted by participants, which may in turn exert a positive impact on retention.
The classification of the fern family Gleicheniaceae, with the description of a new genus, segregated from Sticherus
Authors: Lima Lucas Vieira , Almeida Thaís Elias , Kessler Michael , Rouhan Germinal , Tagane Shuichiro , Dittrich Vinícius Antonio de Oliveira , Salino Alexandre
Published: July 2024

Gleicheniaceae is an early diverging lineage of leptosporangiate ferns. Although the family can be readily recognized by the pseudodichotomous branching pattern of its fronds, generic circumscription has long been debated. Phylogenetic analyses based on genomic data supported the monophyly of six genera (Dicranopteris, Diplopterygium, Gleichenella, Gleichenia, Rouxopteris, and Stromatopteris) but indicate the paraphyly of Sticherus. To accommodate this latter result, we describe a new genus, Sticheropsis, gen. nov., segregated from Sticherus. We provide a new taxonomic treatment of Gleicheniaceae, including an identification key to all eight genera, descriptions of the genera with comments and notes concerning geographic distributions and phylogenetic affinities, as well as an overview of the morphology of the family with a revised and unified terminology for the fronds. We recognize 149 species plus two hybrids for the family, distributed into eight genera, and propose six new combinations.
Investigating immune profile by CyTOF in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis after treatment with orodispersible budesonide
Authors: Plate John , Albinsson Högberg Sofie , Rabe Hardis , Larsson Helen , Lingblom Christine
Published: July 2024

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic Th2-mediated inflammatory disease of the esophagus driven by dietary or inhalant allergens which if left untreated, leads to fibrosis and poor esophageal function. Although the inflammation in the esophagus is dominated by eosinophils, there are also elevated levels of T and B cells. Blood samples from ten patients with EoE before and after treatment with orodispersible budesonide and 10 healthy controls were compared using cytometry by time-of-flight. An antibody panel was designed that covers the major immunological cell populations with a particular focus on eosinophils. The data was analyzed with multivariate methods and cluster analysis. Correlation analysis was done between immune markers and endoscopic, histological, and symptomatologic assessments. Our analysis revealed that patients with EoE had lower levels of effector memory T cells after treatment with orodispersible budesonide to the same level as healthy subjects. In addition, more suppressive eosinophils were present in the circulation of EoE patients before treatment and more immature eosinophils were present after treatment. Furthermore, levels of galectin-10+ eosinophils correlated with histological findings in esophageal tissue from EoE patients. In all patients, the peak eosinophils were decreased after treatment with orodispersible budesonide. Intriguingly, 90% of the patients had remission in the histological assessment and 50% improved in the endoscopic assessment. This study reports a detailed immune profile in patients with EoE before and after treatment with orodispersible budesonide and it is a step toward finding blood-based immune parameters that could be useful to monitor response to treatment.
Effects of Semaglutide on Muscle Structure and Function in the SLIM LIVER Study
Authors: Ditzenberger Grace L , Lake Jordan E , Kitch Douglas W , Kantor Amy , Muthupillai Raja , Moser Carlee , Belaunzaran-Zamudio Pablo F , Brown Todd T , Corey Kathleen , Landay Alan L , Avihingsanon Anchalee , Sattler Fred R , Erlandson Kristine M
Published: July 2024

Background

Semaglutide is highly effective for decreasing weight. Concomitant loss of muscle mass often accompanies weight loss and may have consequences on muscle function.

Methods

This is a secondary analysis from the SLIM LIVER (Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally for HIV/AIDS and Other Infections, ACTG A5371) study, a single-arm study of semaglutide in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, PWH) with metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver diseases (MASLD). Participants received subcutaneous semaglutide for 24 weeks (titrated to 1 mg/week by week 4). Psoas volume and fat fraction were assessed from liver magnetic resonance imaging, and physical function was assessed by 10-time chair rise test and 4 m gait speed. Mean change from baseline to week 24 was estimated with linear regression modeling.

Results

Fifty-one PWH were enrolled (muscle measures n = 46). The mean age was 50 years (standard deviation, 11), body mass index was 35.5 kg/m2 (5.6), 43% were women, 33% Black, and 39% Hispanic/Latino. Psoas muscle volume decreased by 9.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: −13.4 to −5.2; P < .001) over 24 weeks, but psoas muscle fat did not significantly change (−0.42%; 95% CI: −1.00 to .17; P = .16). Chair rise and gait speed showed nonsignificant improvements of 1.27 seconds (95% CI: −2.7 to .10) and 0.05 m/sec (95% CI: −.01 to .10), respectively (both P > .07). The prevalence of slow gait speed (<1 m/sec) decreased from 63% to 46% (P = .029).

Conclusions

In PWH receiving semaglutide for MASLD, despite decreased psoas muscle volume, there was no significant change in physical function, suggesting function was maintained despite significant loss of muscle.

Clinical Trials Registration

NCT04216589.
Asymmetrical, symmetrical and artifactual man: group size and cooperation in James Buchanan’s constitutional economics
Authors: Marciano Alain , Meadowcroft John
Published: July 2024

Economics is frequently criticised for relying on a narrow and limited view of human beings. This may be particularly true of economic analyses of non-market decisions in which individuals often appear reduced to self-interested automata who maximise a given objective function. In this article, we show that the approach of one of the founders of public choice and constitutional political economy, James Buchanan, contradicts this view. Even though he assumed individuals were rational and self-interested, Buchanan nevertheless had a sophisticated view of human nature. He distinguished between a natural and artifactual man, but also between (what we term) symmetrical and asymmetrical man. This is not only important to demonstrate the richness of the ontology of an influential economist, but also because, we also show, Buchanan’s public choice and constitutional economics cannot be understood without a reference to this ontology.
DRL-Tomo: a deep reinforcement learning-based approach to augmented data generation for network tomography
Authors: Hou Changsheng , Hou Bingnan , Li Xionglve , Zhou Tongqing , Chen Yingwen , Cai Zhiping
Published: July 2024

Accurate and current comprehension of network status is crucial for efficient network management. Nevertheless, direct network measurement strategies entail substantial traffic overhead and demand intricate coordination among network entities, making them impractical. Network tomography, an indirect measurement approach, utilizes insights garnered from measured parts to deduce characteristics of the entire network. Past studies frequently depend on acquiring challenging-to-access information, such as the complete network topology or support from specialized protocols. Unfortunately, these constraints pose challenges in non-cooperative scenarios where obtaining such information is difficult. Recent endeavors pursue emancipating tomography from dependence on copious information, striving to predict unmeasured path performance using limited data. Nevertheless, the disparity between the measured data and actual performance has hindered the accuracy. In response, we introduce an innovative tomography framework named DRL-Tomo, designed to alleviate potential biases. DRL-Tomo initiates by generating augmented data through deep reinforcement learning, gradually approximating the genuine performance of unmeasured paths. Subsequently, a neural network model is trained using this augmented data, enabling precise inferences. Our experiments, encompassing both real-world and synthetic datasets, vividly demonstrate DRL-Tomo’s remarkable enhancement. Specifically, it achieves a substantial 10%–67% improvement in path delay prediction and an impressive 30%–98% enhancement in path loss rate prediction.
Revisiting Thomas De Quincey’s Aesthetics of Murder: Irony and Sensation in the Periodical Press
Authors: Duan Yingjie , Tian Junwu
Published: July 2024

De Quincey’s mischievous, parodical play with Kant’s aesthetic absolutism and Aristotle’s theory of tragedy reveals an ironical tone of his aesthetics of murder. It suggests that what he surveys in earnest is not the aestheticization of murder but the aestheticiability of murder. The facile treatment of murder in aesthetic terms conveys more satirical overtones when we associate it with the periodical press in which it was produced and read. To be specific, De Quincey draws upon an autobiographical mode to ironize his own contribution to magazine sensationalism. While he is highly capable of tapping into the commercially popular modes of sensational writing about criminality, violence, and transgression, he implicitly and ironically shows his reluctance to merge himself with the literary market. De Quincey’s fear to the overwhelming periodical press may conclude the self-reflexive irony of his aesthetics of murder.
Place of Birth and Cognitive Function Among Older Americans: Findings From the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol
Authors: Lin Zhuoer , Chen Xi
Published: July 2024

Objectives

Growing evidence suggests that place of birth (PoB) and related circumstances may have long-lasting and multiplicative contributions to various later-life outcomes. However, the specific contributions to different domains of cognitive function in late life remain less understood. This study investigated the extent to which state of birth contributes to a wide range of domains of later-life cognitive function.

Methods

A nationally representative sample of Americans aged 65 and older (N = 3,333) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) was utilized. Cognitive function was assessed in HCAP and linked to HRS state of birth data to explore the contribution of PoB to later-life cognitive disparities. Regression-based Shapley decompositions were employed to quantify this contribution.

Results

PoB significantly contributed to all assessed cognitive domains including memory, executive function, language and fluency, visuospatial function, orientation, and general cognitive function. Geographic disparities in cognitive function were evident across PoB, with individuals born in U.S. southern states and foreign-born individuals performing worse than those born in other states. Overall, state of birth accounted for 2.2%–9.7% of the total variance in cognition after adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. This contribution declined to 2.0%–7.0% after further adjusting for comprehensive socioeconomic and health factors over the life course, and was robust to the control of current state of residence.

Discussion

PoB has lasting contributions to later-life cognition, with significant geographic disparities observed. Addressing these disparities requires more equalized place-based policies, resources, and early-life environments to promote health equity over the life course.
Omega-3 fatty acids-critical for the marine food web and for seabird productivity
Authors: Baird Pat
Published: July 2024

Seabird reproductive success in northern latitudes is often linked with prey abundance, availability, size, or species. Causes are often broadly explained as changes in ocean currents/temperatures, or diets. Few studies trace diets down the food web to primary producers, thus missing what I propose as an underlying cause of seabird colony failure, dietary abundance of essential omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA differ from other nutrients because they are, in part, ligands—critical for reproduction and other physiological processes for the entire marine food web, not just for seabirds. Diatoms are one of the few life forms that can produce PUFA de novo, and a lack of PUFA in zooplankton and fish reduces their abundance and productivity, with consequences up the food web. Since the mid-1980s, historical prey of breeding seabirds has decreased, and frequency of colony failures has increased. In years of failure, prey often had less fat than historically preferred species. Likewise, proportions of alternate species’ PUFA, from published papers, show lower values than in historical prey. Production of PUFA by diatoms is depressed in warmer and more acidic environments, and I hypothesize that these warmer and more acidic seas have affected production of PUFA over the past 3–4 decades. Assuming this is true, I propose that these lower amounts of PUFA have negatively impacted the breeding success of all members of the marine food web, not just seabirds.
Feasibility of aligning creatine kinase MB activity and mass data in multicentre trials using generalized additive modelling
Authors: Hoenicka Markus , Vokshi Arbresha , Zhou Shaoxia , Liebold Andreas , Mayer Benjamin
Published: July 2024

OBJECTIVES

Elevated serum creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) levels indicate myocardial ischaemia and periprocedural myocardial injury during treatment of heart diseases. We established a method to predict CK-MB mass from activity data based on a prospective pilot study in order to simplify multicentre trials.

METHODS

38 elective cardiac surgery patients without acute myocardial ischaemia and terminal renal failure were recruited. CK-MB mass and activity were determined in venous blood samples drawn preoperatively, postoperatively, 6 h post-op, and 12 h post-op. Linear regression and generalized additive models (GAMs) were applied to describe the relationship of mass and activity. Influences of demographic and perioperative factors on the fit of GAMs was evaluated. The agreement of predicted and measured CK-MB masses was assessed by Bland–Altman analyses.

RESULTS

Linear regression provided an acceptable overall fit (r2 = 0.834) but showed deviances at low CK-MB levels. GAMs did not benefit from the inclusion of age, body mass index and surgical times. The minimal adequate model predicted CK-MB masses from activities, sex and sampling time with an r2 of 0.981. Bland–Altman analyses confirmed narrow limits of agreement (spread: 8.87 µg/l) and the absence of fixed (P = 0.41) and proportional (P = 0.21) biases.

CONCLUSIONS

GAM-based modelling of CK-MB data in a representative patient cohort allowed to predict CK-MB masses from activities, sex and sampling time. This approach simplifies the integration of study centres with incompatible CK-MB data into multicentre trials in order to facilitate inclusion of CK-MB levels in statistical models.
Uniquely Realisable Graphs in Analytic Normed Planes
Authors: Dewar Sean , Hewetson John , Nixon Anthony
Published: July 2024

A framework $(G,p)$ in Euclidean space $\mathbb{E}^{d}$ is globally rigid if it is the unique realisation, up to rigid congruences, of $G$ with the edge lengths of $(G,p)$. Building on key results of Hendrickson [28] and Connelly [14], Jackson and Jordán [29] gave a complete combinatorial characterisation of when a generic framework is global rigidity in $\mathbb{E}^{2}$. We prove an analogous result when the Euclidean norm is replaced by any norm that is analytic on $\mathbb{R}^{2} \setminus \{0\}$. Specifically, we show that a graph $G=(V,E)$ has an open set of globally rigid realisations in a non-Euclidean analytic normed plane if and only if $G$ is 2-connected and $G-e$ contains 2 edge-disjoint spanning trees for all $e\in E$. We also prove that the analogous necessary conditions hold in $d$-dimensional normed spaces.
The Problems and Paradoxes with the EU’s Regulation of Traineeships: A Way Forward
Authors: Helme Joanna
Published: July 2024

Traineeships are becoming too big an issue to ignore: over half of all young Europeans now complete one. This article provides the first comprehensive critique of EU-level regulation on traineeships, uncovering the problems and paradoxes within the existing regime and offering solutions. Part I examines the problems with the current patchwork of regulation, comprised of the Quality Framework on Traineeships, Court of Justice case-law and European Committee of Social Rights’ decision in YFJ v Belgium on unpaid internships. Challenges include the ‘hollow’ status of a trainee, the paradoxical requirements for employers to provide ‘solid and meaningful’ learning content without offering ‘real or genuine’ work and the incoherence of the ‘bogus’ traineeship approach, which is dependent upon a ‘non-bogus’ traineeship that does not exist. Part II then outlines three criteria for future regulation with a view to resolving the problems of the existing regime. Part III then evaluates the new regulatory proposals of the European Parliament and the Commission against these criteria. It is ultimately argued that the European Parliament’s approach is preferable to the Commission’s ‘disguised employee’ approach, since it fundamentally re-envisions trainees as workers with additional rights, reversing the current negative trainee status as those without working rights.
Evaluating User Engagement and Preference in Virtual Reality and Augmented Virtuality for Interactive Storytelling
Authors: Jin Yunshui , Ma Minhua , Liu Zhejun
Published: July 2024

Technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented virtuality (AV) based on head-mounted display (HMD) have made immersive interactive narrative experience possible. To investigate the differences between HMD VR and HMD AV for interactive storytelling, an app entitled the Extended Journey has been designed, developed and deployed on both VR headsets and optical see-through (OST) mixed reality (MR) headsets. Subsequently, a within-subjects design experiment with sixty participants was conducted to measure different factors of user experience in HMD VR and HMD AV conditions. Additionally, a between-subjects design experiment with 62 participants was conducted to evaluate narrative immersion and presence. Quantitative results from the experiments reveal that HMD VR narrative had statistically significantly better narrative immersion, presence, enjoyment and perceived affinity of computer-generated (CG) characters compared with HMD AV narrative in the context of galleries and museums. Based on Sundar's Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability (MAIN) model, we proposed and validated that sense of being-there and interaction mediated the relationship between immersive media modality and narrative immersion as well as empathy. Qualitative data and behavioral tests showed that young people have a higher preference for HMD VR over HMD AV, but for specific use scenarios, there is still a certain possibility of choosing HMD AV due to security and space limitations. These findings have theoretical implications for the psychology of VR and AV, and practical applications for HMD-based immersive narrative in general.
Held v State of Montana: A Constitutional Rights Turn in Climate Change Litigation?
Authors: Ferguson Erin C
Published: July 2024

This analysis examines the decision in Held v State of Montana by the Montana First Judicial District Court, in which 16 youth plaintiffs successfully argued that provisions within the state energy policy and the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) violate their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. As the first climate case in the USA to be brought based on a constitutional right to a healthy environment, it has received considerable attention and is being hailed as a landmark victory. This analysis examines the case in the context of recent trends in climate change litigation and argues that whilst the decision is indeed noteworthy, the circumstances that led to the decision make it unlikely that a wave of similarly successful claims will follow in the USA. Nevertheless, the case could mark a so-called ‘constitutional rights turn’ in climate litigation, as the case bolsters support for stronger protections for environmental rights.
Genetic ablation of myeloid integrin α9 attenuates early atherosclerosis
Authors: Barbhuyan Tarun , Patel Rakesh B , Budnik Ivan , Chauhan Anil K
Published: July 2024

Integrin α9β1 is known to stabilize leukocyte adhesion to the activated endothelium. We determined the role of myeloid cell α9β1 in early atherosclerosis in two models: α9Mye-KOApoe−/− or the Ldlr−/− mice transplanted with bone marrow (BM) from α9Mye-KO mice fed a high-fat “Western” diet for 4 wk. α9Mye-KOApoe−/− mice exhibited reduced early lesions in the aortae and aortic sinuses (P < 0.05 vs α9WT Apoe−/− mice). Similar results were obtained in α9Mye-KO BM→Ldlr−/− mice (P < 0.05 vs α9WT BM→Ldlr−/− mice). Reduced early atherosclerosis in α9Mye-KOApoe−/− mice was associated with decreased neutrophil and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) content in the aortic lesions (P < 0.05 vs α9WTApoe−/−). Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1-stimulated neutrophils from α9Mye-KO mice exhibited reduced adhesion, transmigration, and NETs formation (NETosis) (P < 0.05 vs α9WT neutrophils). Reduced NETosis was associated with decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation, peptidyl arginine deiminase 4, and citrullinated histone H3 expression. In summary, genetic ablation of myeloid cell-specific α9 reduces early atherosclerosis, most likely by reducing neutrophil adhesion, transmigration, and NETosis.
An adapted white-coat and warm-heart intervention on nurses’ knowledge, general stigmatizing attitudes, and work avoidance behaviors towards HIV: a quasi-experimental study
Authors: Yang Ming , Zhang Ling , Jiang Ying , Liu Peng , Liu Wanli , Cao Xiaoxia , Luo Qin , Fu Cangmei , He Lianxiang
Published: July 2024

Objectives

To determine the effect of an adapted white-coat and warm-heart intervention (AWWI) among nurses.

Background

HIV discrimination among medical staff hinders progress in HIV prevention.

Methods

A total of 779 nurses were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was provided with AWWI training. The control group did not receive AWWI training. HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of participants were assessed.

Results

Participants in the intervention group had better HIV-related knowledge and less stigmatizing attitudes and work avoidance behavior levels than participants in the control group after the 1-, 3-, and 6-month interventions (P < .05). The main effects of group and time factors were highly significant in the intervention group. There were significant interaction effects in group and time factors.

Conclusions

AWWI effectively improved the level of HIV-related knowledge and reduced general stigmatizing attitudes and work avoidance behaviors among nurses based on self-reported data in a tertiary hospital in China during a 6-month period.
A longitudinal study of rotating shift type and attention performance of acute and critical care nurses with chronotype as moderator variable
Authors: Lee Ai , Lin Yen-Kuang , Lin Yu-Huei , Chang Wen-Pei
Published: July 2024

Objectives

To investigate whether chronotype is a moderator variable that also interacts with shift type and whether they jointly influence the attention performance of nurses working in acute and critical care units.

Methods

We adopted a longitudinal research design focusing on nurses working rotating shifts in the emergency room and intensive care units at a medical center. A total of 40 complete samples were obtained. Data analysis was conducted using the generalized estimating equations in SAS 9.4.

Results

The mean (SD) age of the participants was 26.35 (2.12) years. After controlling for age, gender, and sleep duration, an interaction effect was discovered between a specific chronotype and shift type; that is, the interaction effect between chronotype and shift type was only significant when comparing late-types working the night shift with early- and intermediate-types working the night shift (B = −18.81, P = .011). The least squares means of the mean reaction time of the interaction effects between the 2 chronotype groups and the 3 shift types found that the mean reaction time of late-types working the night shift was 11.31 ms (P = .044) slower compared with working the day shift.

Conclusions

The chronotype is a moderator variable between shift type and mean reaction time, such that matching the chronotype of nurses in acute and critical care units with the appropriate shift type improved their mean reaction time. It is hoped that the results of this study could serve as a reference for acute and critical care nurses when scheduling their shifts.
Liminality and transactional sex among queer refugees: Insights from Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland
Authors: Heidari Shirin , Whitacre Ryan , Usta Jinan , Caglar Meric , Tyrovolas Thanasis , Rajan Aesha , Onyango Monica A
Published: July 2024

People of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions who have been forcibly displaced (hereafter referred to as ‘queer refugees’) encounter liminal conditions along their displacement journeys that reinforce their marginalization. We conducted interviews with 46 queer refugees in four countries: Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, and Switzerland. We found that restrictive border controls, migration and refugee policies, asylum processes, and integration efforts structured queer refugees’ liminalities. In turn, they employed survival strategies, including engaging in transactional sexual practices, to meet their basic needs; however, these practices introduced health challenges for which they had limited access to services. In many instances, queer refugees engaged in transactional sex under exploitative and abusive conditions that heightened the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Thus, we conclude that forced displacement emplaced queer refugees in states of multidimensional liminality that reinforced their marginalization.