bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of the alpha-1 antagonist prazosin on KOR agonist-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking
Authors: Funk Douglas , Coen Kathleen , Tamadon Sahar , Lê A D
Published: September 2019

Background

Stress is associated with relapse to alcohol seeking during abstinence, but the processes underlying this relationship are poorly understood. Noradrenaline is a key transmitter in stress responses and in stress-induced drug seeking. The alpha-1 adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin has been investigated as a treatment for alcoholism and for chronic stress disorders that are frequently comorbid with alcoholism. In rats, we previously showed that prazosin blocks reinstatement of alcohol seeking induced by footshock and yohimbine stressors, and reduces yohimbine-induced brain activation. The role of alpha-1 adrenoceptors in reinstatement induced by other stressors is not known. Our most recent work is on the role of kappa opioid receptors (KOR) in stress-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking and have reported that the selective KOR agonist U50,488 induces reinstatement and neuronal activation in stress- and relapse-related brain regions. Here we determine the involvement of alpha-1 receptors in reinstatement and brain activation induced by U50,488.

Methods

We trained male Long-Evans rats to self-administer alcohol (12% w/v), extinguished alcohol-reinforced responding and then determined the effects of prazosin (1 mg/kg) on U50,488 (2.5 mg/kg)-induced reinstatement and regional Fos expression.

Results

Prazosin blocked U50,488-induced reinstatement and decreased U50,488-induced Fos expression in the OFC, NAC core, ventral BNST, CeA, BLA and VTA.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that prazosin may reduce U50,488-induced relapse by inhibiting activity in one or more of these brain areas.
Sociability in International Politics: Golf and ASEAN's Cold War Diplomacy
Authors: Nair Deepak
Published: September 2019

Sociability or “the play form of association” appears in a range of interactions in world politics sited at banquets, drinking gatherings, golf courses, and even the sauna. Notwithstanding this salience, the form and effects of sociability are poorly understood in International Relations. This article fills this gap. It conceptualizes sociability—its distinct sociological structure; its variations along class, race, and gender; its effects on social interaction—and argues that sociability matters in world politics. Specifically, sociability contributes to identity formation and community maintenance, enables learning, produces social capital, and generates a “backstage” where actors can manage disagreement. I substantiate this argument by examining the sociability fostered from playing golf in the diplomacy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). I explain why golf emerged as a sociable practice in capitalist ASEAN's diplomacy in contrast to socialist and nonaligned circuits of Cold War Southeast Asia; examine the elite and male-homosocial character of this sociability; suggest how it influenced the Associations’ diplomacy; and outline the structural shifts that have led to its post–Cold War decline. This article contributes to the study of sociability in world politics, international practice theory, the political sociology of leisure, and the international politics of Southeast Asia.
Exploring the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for common respiratory tract infections in UK primary care
Authors: Stuart Beth , Brotherwood Hannah , Van’t Hoff Catherine , Brown Alastair , van den Bruel Ann , Hay Alastair D , Moore Michael , Little Paul
Published: September 2019

Objectives

To use illness severity scores to evaluate the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing in UK general practice.

Methods

We describe variations in practice prescribing rates, taking account of illness severity. We used three scores in three studies to measure severity: ‘FeverPAIN’ in an adult acute sore throat cohort (n = 12 829), the ‘3C score’ in an adult acute lower respiratory tract infection cohort (n = 28 883) and the STARWAVe score in an acute cough and respiratory infection children’s cohort (n = 8394). We calculated median ORs to quantify practice-level variation in prescribing rates, adjusted for illness severity.

Results

There was substantial variability in practice prescribing rates (ranges of 0%–97%, 7%–100% and 0%–75% in the three cohorts, respectively). There was evidence that higher prescribing practices saw a higher proportion of unwell patients. At the individual level, patients who were more unwell were more likely to receive a prescription, but prescribing levels for those with low scores were still high. The median OR was 2.5 (95% credible interval = 2.2–2.9) in the sore throat data set, 2.9 (95% credible interval = 2.6–3.2) in the adult cough data set and 2.1 (95% credible interval = 1.8–2.4) in the children’s cough data set.

Conclusions

Higher prescribing practices may see more unwell patients with high illness severity scores, but the differences in scores account for a minority of between-practice prescribing variation. There is likely to be scope for further reductions in antibiotic prescribing among patients with low illness severity scores. Further research is needed to explore the additional factors that account for variation in prescribing levels.
Human carriage of cefotaxime-resistant Escherichia coli in North-East India: an analysis of STs and associated resistance mechanisms
Authors: Paul Deepjyoti , Babenko Dmitriy , Toleman Mark A
Published: September 2019

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of Escherichia coli STs and associated resistance mechanisms carried by the community in North-East India.

Methods

E. coli (108) were isolated from sewage collected from 19 sites across the city of Silchar by plating on MacConkey agar with/without selection (50 mg/L cefotaxime). Species identification was confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS for 82 isolates. Common resistance mechanisms were determined by WGS of pooled E. coli isolates. PFGE combined with specific probes determined the presence of common resistance mechanisms in all isolates. Phylotypes, multilocus STs, core-genome multilocus STs, resistance genes and virulence genes were determined by in silico analysis of 38 genomes.

Results and conclusions

Analysis of isolates collected without selection (n = 33) indicated that cefotaxime resistance in E. coli was 42% (14/33) and estimated meropenem resistance at 9%. The remaining 58% (19/33) were additionally susceptible to ampicillin, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin and aminoglycosides. The most common ST among the cefotaxime-resistant E. coli was ST167 (29%), followed by ST410 (17%) and ST648 (10%). E. coli ST131 was absent from the collection. Sixty-three isolates were resistant to cefotaxime and harboured blaCTX-M-15 [54% (34/63)] or blaCMY-42 [46% (29/63)], of which 10% (6/63) harboured both genes. Carbapenem resistance was due to blaNDM-5, found in 10/63 cefotaxime-resistant isolates, and/or blaOXA-181, found in 4/63 isolates. NDM-5 was encoded by IncX3 and/or IncFII plasmids and CMY-42 was mostly encoded by IncI plasmids. NDM-5 appears to have replaced NDM-1 in this region and CMY-42 appears to be in the process of replacing CTX-M-15.
GRWD1 directly interacts with p53 and negatively regulates p53 transcriptional activity
Authors: Fujiyama Hiroki , Tsuji Takahiro , Hironaka Kensuke , Yoshida Kazumasa , Sugimoto Nozomi , Fujita Masatoshi
Published: September 2019

Glutamate-rich WD40 repeat containing 1 (GRWD1) functions as a histone chaperone to promote loading of the MCM replication helicase at replication origins. GRWD1 is overexpressed in several cancer cell lines, and GRWD1 overexpression confers tumorigenic potential in human cells. However, less is known concerning its oncogenic activity. Our previous analysis showed that GRWD1 negatively regulates the tumour suppressor p53 via the RPL11-MDM2-p53 and RPL23-MDM2-p53 axes. Here, we demonstrate that GRWD1 directly interacts with p53 via the p53 DNA-binding domain. Upon DNA damage, GRWD1 downregulation resulted in increased p21 expression. Conversely, GRWD1 co-expression suppressed several p53-regulated promoters. GRWD1 interacted with the p21 and MDM2 promoters, and these interactions required p53. By using the Human Cancer Genome Atlas database, we found that GRWD1 expression levels are inversely correlated with the expression levels of some p53-target genes. Interestingly, high GRWD1 expression in combination with low expression levels of some p53-target genes was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in skin melanoma patients with wild-type p53. Taken together, our findings suggest a novel oncogenic function of GRWD1 as a transcriptional regulator of p53 and that GRWD1 might be an attractive therapeutic target and prognostic marker in cancer therapy.
Assessing Soybean Genotypes for Resistance to Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Authors: Coelho M , Godoy A F , Baptista Y A , Bentivenha J P F , Lourenção A L , Baldin E L L , Catchot A L
Published: September 2019

Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest capable of colonizing several species of cultivated plants, including soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]. The primary management strategy for this insect is chemical control and adoption of Bt plants. However, alternative environmentally friendly strategies should be investigated and adopted as available for sustainable management of this insect pest. One potential underutilized method for insect control is plant resistance. The objective of this study was to categorize resistance (antixenosis and antibiosis) of 22 soybean genotypes on H. armigera in a laboratory setting. A preliminary experiment was conducted using soybean leaves and pods to determine the most promising genotypes for resistance. For each selected genotype, we collected biological parameters, leaf intake, and performed confinement tests. The genotypes PI 227687, PI 274453, PI 274454, PI 229358, PI 171451, ‘IAC 17’, and ‘IAC 19’ expressed resistance against H. armigera. Each genotype lowered larval survivorship. The genotypes PI 229358, PI 227687, PI 274453, and PI 274454 expressed resistance by prolonging larval development and reducing fifth-instar larvae weight. ‘IAC 19’ reduced leaf consumption and lowered the weight of fifth-instar larvae. Antixenosis was found in genotypes PI 227687, PI 274454, and ‘IAC 19’. These genotypes might be used in breeding programs focusing on soybean resistance to lepidopterans.
Functional Justiciability and the Existence of a Dispute: A Means of Jurisdictional Avoidance?
Authors: Casas Manuel
Published: September 2019

In the recent Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament string of cases the International Court of Justice declined jurisdiction by holding that there was no dispute between the parties. This Article examines the Court’s treatment of the existence of a dispute (‘EoD’) jurisdictional objection; it does not purport to analyze the Court’s broader reliance on jurisdictional doctrines as a general means of avoiding cases.

From a doctrinal perspective, this Article argues that the Court's interpretation of the EoD objection in those cases is unpersuasive. Instead, the Article contends that the Court has relied on the existence of a dispute objection as a covert or functional justiciability doctrine. That is, as a ground for discretionarily declining jurisdiction or, to borrow a term from private international law, as an escape device. The Article considers that such jurisdictional avoidance may be normatively justified as a form of principled avoidance. Normatively, the decision to rely on a procedural technicality to avoid going into the merits of a potentially explosive case may be seen as a valid exercise of judicial self-restraint—something that can aid the Court navigate the tensions created by increased skepticism of international adjudication. And policy-wise, avoiding a case on a sensible subject-matter, that touches on core aspects of defense and national security, could be accepted as a way of side-stepping potential backlash.
Possibility and Peril: Trade Unionism, African Cold War, and the Global Strands of Kenyan Decolonization
Authors: McCann Gerard
Published: September 2019

Trade unionism was at the leading edge of African freedom struggle in the 1940s and 1950s. It was an incubator where different visions of decolonized futures vied for ascendency after WWII. This article analyzes international labor networks and trade union activism in Kenya to explore the entanglements of decolonization and Cold War from Africa in the 1940s to 1960s, an era when competing modes of anticolonial internationalism laid paths to independence. This story is told in two phases. Through Makhan Singh, the article assesses the influence of Indo-African connection, Marxism and the radical left on labor organization over the 1940s. Then, through Tom Mboya, the article charts Kenyan affiliation to the anticommunist International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) from the early 1950s. It shows how this internationalist volte-face transformed Kenya’s trade union landscape, propelled anticolonial agitation and, by the late 1950s, wrought irreparable fractures in fledgling pan-African institutions over the very nature of postcolonialism. The article argues that mobile African labor leaders coproduced, domesticated, and molded Cold War networks—that the conduits of early global Cold War agency ran both ways. Singh and Mboya were interlocutors in pluripotent world conversations marshaled for African decolonization. They also helped delineate the terms of global dialogue at a moment of neocolonial peril and decolonizing opportunity. This calls on historians to define alternative chronologies of globalist possibility masked by the tighter constraints placed on African states in the later twentieth century.
A Predictive Model for the Identification of Cardiac Effusions Misclassified by Light’s Criteria
Authors: Bai Wenjing , Chen Jiangnan , Mao Yijian , Wang Zhihui , Qian Xiaohong , Hu Xingzhong , Xu Ke , Pan Yong
Published: September 2019

Objectives

The application of Light’s criteria misidentifies approximately 30% of transudates as exudates, particularly in patients on diuretics with cardiac effusions. The purpose of this study was to establish a predictive model to effectively identify cardiac effusions misclassified by Light’s criteria.

Methods

We retrospectively studied 675 consecutive patients with pleural effusion diagnosed by Light’s criteria as exudates, of which 43 were heart failure patients. A multivariate logistic model was developed to predict cardiac effusions. The performance of the predictive model was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, as well as by examining the calibration.

Results

It was found that protein gradient of >23 g/L, pleural fluid lactate dehydrogenase (PF-LDH) levels, ratio of pleural fluid LDH to serum LDH level (P/S LDH), pleural fluid adenosine deaminase (PF-ADA) levels, and N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) levels had a significant impact on the identification of cardiac effusions, and those were simultaneously analyzed by multivariate regression analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) value of the model was 0.953. The model also had higher discriminatory properties than protein gradients (AUC, 0.760) and NT-pro-BNP (AUC, 0.906), all at a P value of <.01.

Conclusion

In cases of suspected cardiac effusion, or where clinicians cannot identify the cause of an exudative effusion, this model may assist in the correct identification of exudative effusions as cardiac effusions.
English Editions and Works by English-Speaking Authors in Sigismund Zois’s Library
Authors: Svoljšak Sonja
Published: September 2019

Baron Sigismund Zois of Ljubljana (1747–1819), who played a key role in the cultural and scientific advancement of the Enlightenment in Carniola, acquired an extensive book collection. Most of this collection, comprising 2,295 titles in approximately 5,000 volumes is now kept at the National and University Library in Ljubljana. This paper analyses a less known segment of Zois’s library, the English editions and works by English-speaking authors that make up more than ten per cent of his collection, in relation to his scientific interests and to other specific circumstances. An attempt is made to reconstruct the acquisition channels for these English editions, based on Zois’s remaining personal documents and correspondence. The collection was dispersed through the stacks during the 1820s and 1830s, and is currently being reconstructed as a part of the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Zois’s death.
Optimization of MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry for yeast identification: a multicenter study
Authors: Normand Anne-Cécile , Gabriel Frédéric , Riat Arnaud , Cassagne Carole , Bourgeois Nathalie , Huguenin Antoine , Chauvin Pamela , De Geyter Deborah , Bexkens Michiel , Rubio Elisa , Hendrickx Marijke , Ranque Stéphane , Piarroux Renaud
Published: September 2019

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS) is routinely used in mycology laboratories to rapidly identify pathogenic yeasts. Various methods have been proposed to perform routine MS-based identification of clinically relevant species. In this study, we focused on Bruker technology and assessed the identification performance of three protocols: two pretreatment methods (rapid formic acid extraction directly performed on targets and full extraction using formic acid/acetonitrile in tubes) and a direct deposit protocol that omits the extraction step. We also examined identification performance using three target types (ground-steel, polished-steel, and biotargets) and two databases (Bruker and online MSI [biological-mass-spectrometry-identification application]) in a multicenter manner. Ten European centers participated in the study, in which a total of 1511 yeast isolates were analyzed. The 10 centers prospectively performed the three protocols on approximately 150 yeast isolates each, and the corresponding spectra were then assessed against two reference spectra databases (MSI and Bruker), with appropriate thresholds. Three centers evaluated the impact of the targets. Scores were compared between the various combinations, and identification accuracy was assessed. The protocol omitting the extraction step was inappropriate for yeast identification, while the full extraction method yielded far better results. Rapid formic acid extraction yielded variable results depending on the target, database and threshold. Selecting the optimal extraction method in combination with the appropriate target, database and threshold may enable simple and accurate identification of clinically relevant yeast samples. Concerning the widely used polished-steel targets, the full extraction method still ensured better scores and better identification rates.
Massive spheroids can form in single minor mergers
Authors: Jackson R A , Martin G , Kaviraj S , Laigle C , Devriendt J E G , Dubois Y , Pichon C
Published: September 2019

Understanding how rotationally supported discs transform into dispersion-dominated spheroids is central to our comprehension of galaxy evolution. Morphological transformation is largely merger-driven. While major mergers can efficiently create spheroids, recent work has highlighted the significant role of other processes, like minor mergers, in driving morphological change. Given their rich merger histories, spheroids typically exhibit large fractions of ‘ex situ’ stellar mass, i.e. mass that is accreted, via mergers, from external objects. This is particularly true for the most massive galaxies, whose stellar masses typically cannot be attained without a large number of mergers. Here, we explore an unusual population of extremely massive (M* > 1011M⊙) spheroids, in the Horizon-AGN simulation, which exhibit anomalously low ex situ mass fractions, indicating that they form without recourse to significant merging. These systems form in a single minor-merger event (with typical merger mass ratios of 0.11–0.33), with a specific orbital configuration, where the satellite orbit is virtually co-planar with the disc of the massive galaxy. The merger triggers a catastrophic change in morphology, over only a few hundred Myr, coupled with strong in situ star formation. While this channel produces a minority (∼5 per cent) of such galaxies, our study demonstrates that the formation of at least some of the most massive spheroids need not involve major mergers – or any significant merging at all – contrary to what is classically believed.
Dwarf galaxies in CDM, WDM, and SIDM: disentangling baryons and dark matter physics
Authors: Fitts Alex , Boylan-Kolchin Michael , Bozek Brandon , Bullock James S , Graus Andrew , Robles Victor , Hopkins Philip F , El-Badry Kareem , Garrison-Kimmel Shea , Faucher-Giguère Claude-André , Wetzel Andrew , Kereš Dušan
Published: September 2019

We present a suite of FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated field dwarf galaxies, all with masses of $M_{\rm halo} \approx 10^{10}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ at z = 0, across a range of dark matter models. For the first time, we compare how both self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and/or warm dark matter (WDM) models affect the assembly histories as well as the central density structure in fully hydrodynamical simulations of dwarfs. Dwarfs with smaller stellar half-mass radii (r1/2 < 500 pc) have lower σ⋆/Vmax ratios, reinforcing the idea that smaller dwarfs may reside in haloes that are more massive than is naively expected. The majority of dwarfs simulated with self-interactions actually experience contraction of their inner density profiles with the addition of baryons relative to the cores produced in dark-matter-only runs, though the simulated dwarfs are always less centrally dense than in ΛCDM. The V1/2–r1/2 relation across all simulations is generally consistent with observations of Local Field dwarfs, though compact objects such as Tucana provide a unique challenge. Overall, the inclusion of baryons substantially reduces any distinct signatures of dark matter physics in the observable properties of dwarf galaxies. Spatially resolved rotation curves in the central regions (<400 pc) of small dwarfs could provide a way to distinguish between CDM, WDM, and SIDM, however: at the masses probed in this simulation suite, cored density profiles in dwarfs with small r1/2 values can only originate from dark matter self-interactions.
Evolving neutron star+helium star systems to intermediate-mass binary pulsars
Authors: Tang W , Liu D , Wang B
Published: September 2019

Intermediate-mass binary pulsars (IMBPs) are composed of neutron stars (NSs) and CO/ONe white dwarfs (WDs). It is generally suggested that IMBPs evolve from intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (IMXBs). However, this scenario is difficult to explain the formation of IMBPs with orbital periods (Porb) less than 3 d. It has recently been proposed that a system consisting of an NS and a helium (He) star can form IMBPs with Porb less than 3 d (known as the NS+He star scenario), but previous works can only cover a few observed sources with short orbital periods. We aim to investigate the NS+He star scenario by adopting different descriptions of the Eddington accretion rate ($\skew4\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$) for NSs and different NS masses (MNS) varying from $1.10$ to $1.80\, \rm M_{\odot }$. Our results can cover most of the observed IMBPs with short orbital periods and almost half of the observed IMBPs with long orbital periods. We found that $\skew4\dot{M}_{\rm Edd}$ ∝ MNS−1/3 could match the observations better than a specific value for all NSs. We also found that the final spin periods of NSs slightly decrease with the initial MNS. The observed parameters of PSR J0621+1002, which is one of the well-observed IMBPs whose pulsar mass has been precisely measured, can be reproduced by this work.
On the frequency correlations of low-frequency QPOs with kilohertz QPOs in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars
Authors: van Doesburgh Marieke , van der Klis Michiel
Published: September 2019

We investigate frequency correlations of low frequency (LF, <80 Hz) and kHz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) using the complete RXTE data sets on six accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMXPs) and compare them to those of non-pulsating neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries with known spin. For the AMXPs SAX J1808.4−3658 and XTE J1807−294, we find frequency-correlation power-law indices that, surprisingly, are significantly lower than in the non-pulsars, and consistent with the relativistic precession model (RPM) prediction of 2.0 appropriate to test-particle orbital and Lense–Thirring precession frequencies. As previously reported, power-law normalizations are significantly higher in these AMXPs than in the non-pulsating sources, leading to requirements on the NS specific moment of inertia in this model that cannot be satisfied with realistic equations of state. At least two other AMXPs show frequency correlations inconsistent with those of SAX J1808.4−3658 and XTE J1807−294, and possibly similar to those of the non-pulsating sources; for two AMXPs no conclusions could be drawn. We discuss these results in the context of a model that has had success in black hole (BH) systems involving a torus-like hot inner flow precessing due to (prograde) frame dragging, and a scenario in which additional (retrograde) magnetic and classical precession torques not present in BH systems are also considered. We show that a combination of these interpretations may accommodate our results.
Discovery of s-process enhanced stars in the LAMOST survey
Authors: Norfolk Brodie J , Casey Andrew R , Karakas Amanda I , Miles Matthew T , Kemp Alex J , Schlaufman Kevin C , Ness Melissa , Ho Anna Y Q , Lattanzio John C , Ji Alexander P
Published: September 2019

Here we present the discovery of 895 s-process-rich candidates from 454 180 giant stars observed by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) using a data-driven approach. This sample constitutes the largest number of s-process enhanced stars ever discovered. Our sample includes 187 s-process-rich candidates that are enhanced in both barium and strontium, 49 stars with significant barium enhancement only and 659 stars that show only a strontium enhancement. Most of the stars in our sample are in the range of effective temperature and log g typical of red giant branch (RGB) populations, which is consistent with our observational selection bias towards finding RGB stars. We estimate that only a small fraction (∼0.5 per cent) of binary configurations are favourable for s-process enriched stars. The majority of our s-process-rich candidates (95 per cent) show strong carbon enhancements, whereas only five candidates (<3  per cent) show evidence of sodium enhancement. Our kinematic analysis reveals that 97 per cent of our sample are disc stars, with the other 3 per cent showing velocities consistent with the Galactic halo. The scaleheight of the disc is estimated to be $z_{\rm h}=0.634 \pm {0.063}\, \mathrm{kpc}$, comparable with values in the literature. A comparison with yields from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models suggests that the main neutron source responsible for the Ba and Sr enhancements is the 13C(α,n)16O reaction. We conclude that s-process-rich candidates may have received their overabundances via mass transfer from a previous AGB companion with an initial mass in the range $1\!-\!3\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$.
Investigating the complex velocity structures within dense molecular cloud cores with GBT-Argus
Authors: Chen Che-Yu , Storm Shaye , Li Zhi-Yun , Mundy Lee G , Frayer David , Li Jialu , Church Sarah , Friesen Rachel , Harris Andrew I , Looney Leslie W , Offner Stella , Ostriker Eve C , Pineda Jaime E , Tobin John , Chen Hope H-H
Published: September 2019

We present the first results of high-spectral resolution (0.023 km s−1) N2H+ observations of dense gas dynamics at core scales (∼0.01 pc) using the recently commissioned Argus instrument on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). While the fitted linear velocity gradients across the cores measured in our targets nicely agree with the well-known power-law correlation between the specific angular momentum and core size, it is unclear if the observed gradients represent core-scale rotation. In addition, our Argus data reveal detailed and intriguing gas structures in position–velocity (PV) space for all five targets studied in this project, which could suggest that the velocity gradients previously observed in many dense cores actually originate from large-scale turbulence or convergent flow compression instead of rigid-body rotation. We also note that there are targets in this study with their star-forming discs nearly perpendicular to the local velocity gradients, which, assuming the velocity gradient represents the direction of rotation, is opposite to what is described by the classical theory of star formation. This provides important insight on the transport of angular momentum within star-forming cores, which is a critical topic on studying protostellar disc formation.
G4.8+6.2, a possible kilonova remnant?
Authors: Liu Yu , Zou Yuan-Chuan , Jiang Bing , Gao He , Ma Shuai-Bing , Liao Bin
Published: September 2019

Kilonova explosions typically release ∼1050–51 erg in kinetic energy, which is sufficient to constitute a kilonova remnant (KNR); however, it has not yet been confirmed. In this work, we investigate the probable association between G4.8+6.2 and the guest star of AD 1163, which is recorded by the Korean ancient astronomers. Although the evidence available is insufficient to draw a definite conclusion, it is at least theoretically self-consistent that the guest star of AD 1163 was a historical kilonova associated with G4.8+6.2, considering the possible short visible timescale of AD 1163, the relatively high Galactic latitude of G4.8+6.2, and that G4.8+6.2 is spatially coincident with the guest star of AD 1163. Further observation of G4.8+6.2 is needed to test our hypothesis. If our interpretation is correct, our results indicate that young KNRs should have a large diameter and low surface brightness, unlike other young supernova remnants.
The nephrology crystal ball: the medium-term future
Authors: Zoccali Carmine , Blankestijn Peter J , Bruchfeld Annette , Capasso Giovambattista , Fliser Danilo , Fouque Denis , Goumenos Dimitrios , Massy Ziad , Rychlık Ivan , Soler Maria J , Stevens Kate , Spasovski Goce , Wanner Christoph
Published: September 2019

In January 2019, the ERA-EDTA surveyed nephrologists with questions on kidney care and kidney research designed to explore comprehension of the impact of alterations to organization of renal care and of advancements in technology and knowledge of kidney disease. Eight hundred and twenty-five ERA-EDTA members, ∼13% of the whole ERA-EDTA membership, replied to an ad hoc questionnaire. More than half of the respondents argued that kidney centres will be increasingly owned by large dialysis providers, nearly a quarter of respondents felt that many medical aspects of dialysis will be increasingly overseen by non-nephrologists and a quarter (24%) also believed that the care and long-term follow-up of kidney transplant patients will be increasingly under the responsibility of transplant physicians caring for patients with any organ transplant. Nearly half of the participants (45%, n = 367) use fully electronic clinical files integrating the clinical ward, the outpatient clinics, the haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis units, as well as transplantation. Smartphone-based self-management programmes for the care of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are scarcely applied (only 11% of surveyed nephrologists), but a substantial proportion of respondents (74%) are eager to know more about the potential usefulness of these apps. Finally, European nephrologists expressed a cautious optimism about the application of omic sciences to nephrology and on wearable and implantable kidneys, but their expectations for the medium term are limited.
Systematic Injustice and the Scale of Wrong-doing
Authors: Donahue-Ochoa Thomas J.
Published: September 2019

Chapter 4 begins the defense of Unfreedom for All by laying out its theory of the nature of systematic injustice and of the harm it does its victims. The theory maintains that systematic injustice can be either the political subjugation described by the received view or structural injustice. Structural injustice is an institutional arrangement in which one group is unjustly privileged and another unjustly harmed by centering or marginalizing of the group’s political voice, exploitation of the victims that benefits the privileged, systematic violence done the victims but not the privileged, and society’s having dominant norms that unjustly favor the privileged and harm the victims. The chapter then offers an account of how systematic injustices compare to other injustices in what it calls “the scale of wrong-doing” and then argues that the harm oppression does its victims is that it sets back one of their fundamental welfare interests.
Global Poverty’s Harm
Authors: Donahue-Ochoa Thomas J.
Published: September 2019

What is the severest harm suffered by the global poor? Against theories saying that it is social exclusion, corrosive disadvantage, or humiliating personal failure, chapter 8 argues that the harm is that such poverty entangles the poor in a web of crises. The poor are caught up in a spider’s web of agonizing decisions and moral dilemmas, brought on by their poverty. Day in and day out, they face these crises. If they make good decisions, it is probable that their only reward is to continue in their deprived state. If they make poor decisions, then disaster will likely strike. And they know that the next day will bring more crises, and the next yet more. It is this, along with knowing that there are many others in the world who are not so entangled, because they are not poor, that is the severest harm of the injustice of global poverty. The chapter then shows how that injustice suppresses everyone’s potential resistance to it, and thus makes all unfree.
Disenfranchised
Authors: Andreas Joel
Published: September 2019

Disenfranchised recounts the tumultuous events that have shaped and reshaped factory politics in China since the 1949 Revolution. The book develops a theoretical framework consisting of two dimensions—industrial citizenship and autonomy—to explain changing authority relations in workplaces and uses interviews with workers and managers to provide a shop-floor perspective. Under the work unit system, in place from the 1950s to the 1980s, lifetime job tenure and participatory institutions gave workers a strong form of industrial citizenship, but constraints on autonomous collective action made the system more paternalistic than democratic. Called “masters of the factory,” workers were pressed to participate actively in self-managing teams and employee congresses but only under the all-encompassing control of the factory party committee. Concerned that party cadres were becoming a “bureaucratic class,” Mao experimented with means to mobilize criticism from below, even inciting—during the Cultural Revolution—a worker insurgency that overthrew factory party committees. Unwilling to allow workers to establish permanent autonomous organizations, however, Mao never came up with institutionalized means of making factory leaders accountable to their subordinates. The final chapters recount the process of industrial restructuring, which has transformed work units into profit-oriented enterprises, eliminating industrial citizenship and reducing workers to hired hands dependent on precarious employment and subject to highly coercive discipline. The book closes with an overview of parallel developments around the globe, chronicling the rise and fall of an era of industrial citizenship.
The Ruling Family’s Hegemony
Authors: Hassan Islam
Published: September 2019

This chapter examines the question of how the ruling family proactively continues to consolidate its own position within Qatari society. The state adopts three primary means to reproduce and stimulate the existing inclusion and exclusion schemes in Qatari society. First, it promotes the dominant Arab social values, culture, traditions, and customs that perpetuate a scheme of inclusion and exclusion and secure the position of the ruling family and Arab tribal social actors at the apex of the social hierarchy of the state. Second, it narrows down the definition of national identity in order to limit vertical social mobility in society only to certain tribal families. Third, through articles of the Constitution, the legal system and implicit family policies related to marriage and nationality, the state has been influencing individuals, insofar as marriage choices are concerned, as a further means of preventing social mobility to wider strata of society.
The Shi‘i State and the Socioeconomic Challenges of the Sunni Communities in Iran
Authors: Shahi Afshin , Abdoh-Tabrizi Ehsan
Published: September 2019

Although Iran is one of the most diverse nations in the Middle East, the state historically has been reluctant to adapt a pluralistic approach to both socio-political and economic development. This chapter focuses on the Sunni population in Iran, which is often overlooked in studies dealing with state-minority relations in Iran. It examines the socio-economic challenges of the Sunni population under both the Pahlavi dynasty and the Islamic Republic. Although the Islamic Republic based its ideology both on redistribution of wealth and empowerment of the impoverished, the ethnic Sunni Iranians who lived in the most impoverished regions of the country received very little attention from the new post-revolutionary order.
Colorblind or Blinded by Color?
Authors: Kashani-Sabet Firoozeh
Published: September 2019

This chapter considers issues of race and ethnicity in Iran, as well as in its borderlands with Iraq and the Persian Gulf. It interrogates the concepts of "Arabness" and "Persianness" as espoused by both indigenous and Western writers, especially in the nineteenth century when the academic interest in race and language gained popularity. The chapter parses anthropological assumptions about the differences in the racial and ethnic communities of southern Iran, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf and traces the ways in which these ideas gained fluency in political tracts and state-building efforts. Finally, the chapter argues that racism remained problematic in Iranian popular culture despite the country's solidarity with many Afro-Asian liberation movements in the second half of the twentieth century.
Cultural Cleansing and Iconoclasm Under the Islamic State
Authors: Isakhan Benjamin , Zarandona José Antonio González , Jamal Al-Deen Taghreed
Published: September 2019

This chapter analyzes the destruction of heritage perpetrated by the "Islamic State" (IS) in Iraq and Syria. It takes as its empirical focus the targeting of both Yezidi and Christians and their heritage in Iraq and Syria. To date, little attention has been paid to the intersection between the human suffering and the heritage destruction undertaken by the IS. This chapter also examines the cultural cleansing undertaken by the IS against these two fragile minorities by also looking at the iconoclastic acts against the tangible representations of their heritage. This chapter situates the discussion within the conceptual framework of heritage, community, and violence, by arguing that attacks on heritage sites in conjunction with genocidal pogroms or ethno/religious conflict occur precisely because heritage plays such a critical role as the tangible manifestation of the community.
Introduction
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter provides an overview of some of the distinctive features of the theory of structural injustice developed in this book, and it concludes with a brief outline of the key topics and arguments presented in subsequent chapters. Among the distinctive features are the important links the theory forges between human rights norms and fairness norms and its intended application to circumstances in which structurally unfair patterns of power and advantage and human rights violations are routinely intertwined. These circumstances are found within different kinds of nation-states and in interactions across national boundaries. In addition, the theory is distinctive in its reliance on examples that illustrate the insights and perspectives of participants in social movements around the world, as well as its emphasis on justifiable forms of resistance in circumstances in which institutions are unwilling or unable to address pressing issues of injustice.
Well-Being
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter defends a conception of well-being that underpins the theory of structural injustice. The core elements are health; knowledge and understanding; personal security; personal attachments; equal respect; and self-determination. The chapter points out the distinct ways that the conception of human well-being grounds human rights, explains the depth of unfairness of systematic patterns of disadvantage, and locates the fundamental unfairness of power relations in several forms of control some groups have over the most vital well-being interests of other groups. The conception is developed by way of a series of arguments that supports the selection of the core elements, and it offers a defense against a variety of objections to the inclusion of some elements on the list. The way in which the theory rests on a conception of well-being is distinguished from some other ways well-being informs other moral norms and other theories of justice.
What Structural Injustice Is
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter examines what makes a theory of justice a structural theory. Four key features of structural theories are surveyed in order to show what is distinctive about our theory. First, structural theories differ in their inventory of unjust impacts traceable to structural influences. Second, they vary in their understanding of the primary structural components having the relevant impact. Third, they diverge in the social groups selected for special scrutiny. Fourth, they differ in background assumptions regarding the circumstances to which they apply. Our theory applies to social arrangements that have a profound, pervasive, asymmetric, and near-inescapable impact on core elements of well-being of social groups. Social groups are defined by their relative position within the nexus of power and advantage. This nexus occurs in circumstances involving identifiable agents of injustice whose wrongful conduct is manifested in their roles in creating or sustaining injustices.
Well-Being and Human Rights
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter demonstrates how the conception of well-being developed in this book is a crucial part of the rationale for human rights. A variant of interest-based theories of human rights is defended against a number of objections. These objections include criticisms raised by proponents of control theories, dignity-based theories, and critics who maintain that the function of human rights is not limited to considerations of how human rights matter to the right-holder. The argument builds on an account of the contingent, but widespread linkage between structural unfairness and human rights violations to defend a pragmatic approach to problems of assigning responsibility for human rights. It addresses the specification of counterpart duties that correlate with human rights claims, and it offers guidance on questions pertaining to the more general responsibilities of institutional agents, paradigmatically nation-states, for maintaining background conditions of structural fairness.
Real-World Examples
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter utilizes four examples to highlight the characteristic features of structural injustice in a variety of settings around the world. The first section examines how structural injustice operates in environmental “sacrifice zones” both in the US and in low- and middle-income countries. The primary focus of this discussion is the impact on children and future generations. The second section provides a portrait of the kinds of mutually reinforcing mechanisms of structural injustice at work both in US cities and in the rapidly growing urban centers of low- and middle-income countries. The US urban context is examined primarily through the experience of communities of color, especially in areas of concentrated poverty. The experience of women is the centerpiece of the discussion of the slums of low- and middle-income countries. Each example emphasizes experiences and insights of social movement activists, investigative journalists, and non-governmental organizations.
Resistance to Injustice
Authors: Powers Madison
Published: September 2019

This chapter examines forms of justified resistance and other remedial strategies available directly to the aggrieved in circumstances in which states are unwilling or unable to secure human rights and address patterns of structural unfairness so often at the root of human rights violations. Forms of resistance involving direct action designed to halt unjust activities or force the divestment of undeserved benefits are central to the discussion. Several counterarguments are explored, including the contention that familiar forms of direct action constitute morally impermissible vigilantism or indiscriminately affect innocent beneficiaries. The chapter concludes with thoughts about how direct action, while far from the comprehensive kind of prevention and remedy that structural injustice demands, nevertheless can have value by enhancing the well-being of those who are deeply disadvantaged and relatively powerless.
Switched On Pop
Authors: Sloan Nate , Harding Charlie
Published: September 2019

Switched On Pop: How Pop Music Works, and Why It Matters illuminates the essential musical concepts behind two decades of chart-topping songs. The book moves through close studies of sixteen modern pop classics by artists from Beyoncé to Zedd, each chapter bringing out key aspects of a particular song as well as introducing core concepts such as rhythm, melody, harmony, form, and timbre. As the book progresses, more complex concepts such as syncopation, counterpoint, rhyme, and modulation are covered, culminating in an examination of genre, identity, and musical meaning. Accessible prose and engaging illustrations break down pop hits and musical ideas in clear, jargon-free language, and point toward a new way of listening to the modern soundtrack of pop.
Science Denial
Authors: Bardon Adrian
Published: September 2019

This chapter discusses different interpretations of the denial of science consensus, with a focus on climate science denialism. It investigates whether, in addition to elite manipulation of public opinion, the system justification, personality, and identity-protective cognition approaches to understanding science denial may all have a role to play in understanding the phenomenon. Asymmetry Theory says that there are facts about political conservatives in particular that might make them more susceptible to ideological denialism. Arguments for and against this thesis are examined. The conclusion is that it is the nature of the topic of climate change—and potential solutions—that instigates denial in some groups more than others.
Religion
Authors: Bardon Adrian
Published: September 2019

This chapter critically examines key historical and contemporary justifications for religious literalism. Reasons to believe in the literal truth of certain religious texts are divided into historical and contemporary evidence of miracles, the sensus divinitatis (or sense of God), and cosmological and teleological “proofs” of the existence of God. It finds that literalist religious belief is the product of motivated cognition, and can only be sustained by rationalization and denial. It further investigates ideas about how religious ideology may have originated, as well as how religious literalism can persist in the face of scientific advancements and cosmopolitan knowledge of other cultures.