bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Riddle, Interpretation, and Dialectical Image
Authors: Paddison Max
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines Adorno’s concepts of riddle-character and dialectical image in relation to the development of his “interpretive philosophy” (later known as negative dialectics) and his theory of musical interpretation as performance. It draws on the early essay “Die Aktualität der Philosophie” (“The Actuality of Philosophy,” delivered as a lecture to the Kantgesellschaft in Frankfurt in 1931 and published posthumously in 1973), as well as his two most important late works, Negative Dialectics (1966) and the unfinished Aesthetic Theory (1970). His conception of interpretive philosophy is also considered in relation to the case of musical performance, drawing on the fragmentary notes collected by Henri Lonitz from Adorno’s unfinished project, Zu einer Theorie der musikalischen Reproduktion (Towards a Theory of Musical Reproduction), which was published posthumously in 2001. In brief, the intention is to show that it is musical interpretation as performance that provides the model for Adorno’s conception of philosophical interpretation as the construction of “interpretive images.” At the same time, it becomes clear that this also carries with it implications for musical listening as a mode of interpretive experience.
The Logicality of Language, Meaning-Driven Unacceptability, and Modulated Logical Forms
Authors: Del Pinal Guillermo
Published: January 2025

According to the ‘logicality of language’ hypothesis, the human language system includes not just a recursive syntax and compositional semantics but also a computational system that identifies and filters out expressions that are informationally trivial. This view is motivated by the discovery of a class of trivial expressions which are syntactically well formed, have no semantic type mismatches, and are not complex in ways that should affect processing, yet feel unacceptable in ways that are indistinguishable from typical ungrammaticality judgments. This class of informationally trivial expressions restricts the distribution of major kinds of logical/functional terms. A challenge for proponents of logicality is to implement this hypothesis in a way that doesn’t over-generate strict unacceptability assignments for various kinds of superficial contradictions and tautologies. This chapter presents a solution to this problem based on the proposal that, at the level of logical form, content-based/open-class terms—but not logical/functional terms—are subject to systematic meaning modulation operations.
Semantic Non-Reductionism
Authors: Verheggen Claudine
Published: January 2025

It is argued that the foundational or metasemantic question of what it is for words to mean what they do cannot be answered in reductive terms, that is, in terms that do not presuppose meaning; yet a constructive, non-quietist answer can be provided. Specifically, a non-reductionist account of meaning can meet the demand, articulated by Saul Kripke, that two distinctions be accounted, or at least made room, for: the distinction between correct and incorrect uses of expressions and the distinction between intelligent and robotic linguistic behavior. Building on Donald Davidson’s work on triangulation, a non-reductionist account is developed that meets the demand and reveals meaning to be normative in two important ways. Thus, the widely accepted connection between non-reductionism and normativity is acknowledged but, contra the received view, it is because meaning cannot be reduced to anything non-semantic that it is essentially normative, not the other way around.
Indefinites
Authors: Collins John
Published: January 2025

This chapter does not offer a complete survey of indefinites (determiner phrases (DPs) such as a boy, some girls, three women, etc.). Rather, it offers a selective discussion pivoted on the peculiar wide-scope properties of indefinites and also a seminal proposal for the explanation of such idiosyncrasy, which is that a choice function is essentially involved in the interpretation of the indefinite. The chapter will argue that the choice function analysis is not only empirically adequate but also fits with general theoretical demands on the relation between syntax and semantics and the role of context in determining the content expressed.
Ritual Speech and Text in Early Cherokee Christianity
Authors: Bender Margaret , Belt Thomas N.
Published: January 2025

Out of the Euro-American missionary encounter with Cherokee communities and its concomitant meeting of literate and oral cultures emerged a range of new sacred texts and linguistic practices. This chapter will explore the ways in which this encounter can be understood by studying such practices from the early nineteenth century. Of particular importance is the way in which these texts and associated practices allowed for and articulated with culturally specific forms of sacred voice—that is, the personae that are indexed by the text as sacred authors, narrators, or interlocutors. For example, the new sacred language indexed a shift toward personal commitment rather than community standing and group representation, and it enabled the emergence of new social boundaries.
Drinking, Talking, and Ritual Action
Authors: Manning Paul
Published: January 2025

Drinking and talking are physiologically complementary activities, that, though impossible to do simultaneously, are often brought into closer or looser relation in rituals. One place to look to explore the ritualized linkage of drinking and speaking is to explore what kinds of metricalized calibrations exist between the obviously semiotic order of speaking and the material order of drinks. When drinking is embedded in a ritual action, accompanied by a performative utterance such as a toast, drinking is closely calibrated to talk and foregrounded as being in itself a performative act as important as speaking the toast. But in many ritual events, drinks are more loosely calibrated to ritual talk which verges on the phatic function, the drink serving as a kind of seen but unnoticed, mute material, infrastructural backdrop to a ritual event, as in informal sociable drinking. Drawing from comparative ethnographic examples, including those from the author’s fieldwork in the country of Georgia, this chapter explores the varied ritual indexical calibrations of drink to talk.
Rituals of Mourning and the Poetics of Papiamentu Talk Radio
Authors: Römer Louis
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines a Curaçaoan political talk radio segment in Papiamentu to show that the poetics of Ananse stories, known in Papiamentu as Kuenta di Nanzi rituals, have become models for narrating political situations and current events. The poetics of the Kuenta, due to their use in a mourning ritual known as Ocho Dia, infuses political discourses wherein they are recontextualized with the affective stances, attitudes, and ethical perspectives associated with death and bereavement. The journey of Kuenta di Nanzi’s poetics from mourning ritual to political discourse illustrates that ritual language is a crucial mediator between “micro” everyday interaction contexts and “macro” discourses about ethics, metaphysics, and political aspirations unfolding over a longer durée. Far from practices that merely cultivate obedience and foreclose the imagination, the recontextualization of the Kuenta in political talk radio underlines the ongoing efficacy of ritual language as a resource for political creativity.
Heritage Tourism and Sustainable Development
Authors: Sumi Alino , Kumar Kanungo Alok , Smith Claire
Published: January 2025

Heritage tourism has become one way for Indigenous communities to carve out new economic opportunities in support of sustainable development. To date, this has focused on the development of cultural tourism opportunities based on cultural landscapes and ecotourism. Death heritage, one aspect of Indigenous heritage tourism, has rarely been explored, but has great potential due to the emotional impact of material culture such as graves and gravestones. There are benefits to participating in this spectrum of tourism, but there are also risks to those taking part and to the nonrenewable cultural heritage upon which these activities are based. This study explores the potential of Indigenous heritage tourism in relation to the Nagas’ connection to their land and to “remembering the dead.” Like Indigenous peoples around the world, the Nagas consider graves and burial sites to be emblematic of ancestral history. The study investigates the possibility of integrating graves, cemeteries, and aspects of burial rites with heritage tourism. The study also opens up avenues for further research into the “everyday and natural reality of death” aspect of necro-heritage rather than on tragic phenomena. Emphasis is placed on sustainable development goals (SDG): SDG 1 End Poverty in All Its Forms; SDG 5 Gender Equality; SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth; and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, to respect cultural values and involve community control. This study also advocates for Indigenous communities to lead the projects, ultimately prioritizing Indigenous voices and reinforcing cultural identities, which can be overlooked in Indigenous archaeology.
Possible Morphosyntactic Markers of Specific Language Impairment in Kannada
Authors: Tiwari Shivani , Karanth Prathibha , Amritavalli R.
Published: January 2025

This chapter considers tense agreement and case morphology in Kannada spontaneous speech elicited by a picture-narration task from 60 children (6–14-year-olds). Agreement in Kannada is four-dimensional, encoding tense and person-number-gender. It marks finiteness in (nonmodal) affirmative clauses; negative clauses have matrix nonfinite verbs and a finite neg. Tense-agreement inflection was accurate and appropriate in 94.29% of 438 affirmative utterances, omitted in 4.56%, and erroneous in 0.45% (excluding honorificity-agreement errors). The omissions and errors are not analysed as failures of finiteness-marking, but traced to alternate finiteness-marking strategies to compensate for incomplete acquisition of the tense-agreement paradigm. Overt case use shows case avoidance and ubiquitousness (inappropriate overuse of a single case). The few errors and omissions occur in the dative (the most frequent case) in semantically abstract or morphosyntactically complex uses. Two novel aspects of the ‘dative subject’ are observed: its use with ‘adversative’ predicates and as an impersonal construction in lieu of thematic nominative subjects by subjects whose tense-agreement paradigm is severely truncated.
Magic Realism in the African Novel
Authors: Ngom Ousmane
Published: January 2025

The introduction of the genre of magic realism in the African novel can be traced back as early as the 1950s. In early writings of African literature (from the 1950s to the 1960s), magic realism manifests as the expression of a reality shared in society as natural or as the everyday life of African people. So much so that scholars have been very careful with the use of the expression, often preferring alternative terms like “trans-realism,” “spiritual realism,” or “animist realism” to avoid confusion with the description of fantastic or marvelous situations and to emphasize a co-presence of a material reality and a spiritual one which is part of the African experience, identity, and culture. However, if the early use of the genre of magic realism translated an expression of culture, in the 1970s, some African writers saw in the device a metaphorical tool to describe the political unrest prevailing in most parts of the continent. Thus, the study of the genre of magic realism in the African novel is of particular interest as it allows us to discover the transgenic richness of this novel. The genre mix of magic and realism makes the African novel a novel characterized by stylistic and political hybridity, in which grass-roots culture and beliefs blend with a form of struggle against neocolonial powers. Drawing on a vast range of novels but also plays and poems, this chapter follows the thematic and esthetic mutations of the genre of magic realism in the African novel.
The Ambivalences of Pan-Asianism
Authors: Watson Jini Kim
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the checkered career of pan-Asianist thought, made controversial by the early twentieth-century Japanese imperialist use of the concept, as well as the challenges presented by the enormously diverse and geographically contested region of “Asia.” Arguing that the concept is characterized by the simultaneous effort to theorize Asian solidarity and to work out definitions of Asia itself, this chapter explores several stages of pan-Asianist thought. First, it traces some of the early currents of pan-Asianism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to elucidate its ambivalences, especially with regard to the role of Japan as most “advanced” Asian nation. The following two sections then turn to constellations of Asian and Afro-Asian solidarity during the postwar period of decolonization—examining the discourse of solidarity at the Bandung Conference of 1955—and, finally, to more recent retheorizations of Asia and Asian collectivity via thinkers such as Wang Hui, Chen Kuan-hsing, and Ayşa Zarakol.
Circulation
Authors: Keymer Thomas
Published: January 2025

In his satire A Tale of a Tub, Swift’s hack persona celebrates ‘so blessed an Age for the mutual Felicity of Booksellers and Authors’. This chapter asks: was this indeed such an age? Unambiguous production data are hard to establish, and the jagged uptrend seen in annual totals of surviving books must be interpreted with care. The commercialized print culture for which Swift’s hack speaks was in the ascendant, but scribal publication also flourished, alongside a manuscript culture of amateur authorship and coterie transmission. Legislative landmarks such as the abolition of Star Chamber (1641) and the lapse of the Licensing Act (1695) suggest that official censorship was in slow retreat. Yet press control was ferociously enforced by Roger L’Estrange during the Restoration era, and Defoe’s 1703 pillorying for seditious libel brought home to him that the end of pre-publication censorship made authorship no less hazardous now than before.
Letters
Authors: Gordon Andrew
Published: January 2025

Sidney’s letters showcase his abilities in one of the most diverse, vital, and socially operative forms of writing. Sociable reading, or copying in manuscript and print, contextualises letters’ design and reception, in relation to epistolary genres such as letters of advice. Absences and asymmetries in the corpus invite interrogation, including the gendered politics of archival survival. Examining phatic features in Sidney’s letters, demonstrates rhetorical and material strategies for managing a correspondence. Exploring the letter bearer, through Sidney’s scripting and commentary upon the role, shows their paratextual functions, from framing reception, to being the subject of its recommendation. Sidney’s letter traffic reveals his personal and political investment in colonial expansion, connected to an undercurrent of violence in the management of relations with social inferiors. The stylistic self-consciousness of his Latin correspondence is present in the forceful brevity of threatening letters that demonstrate another aspect to the affective power of Sidney’s writing.
Manuscript Circulation
Authors: Eckhardt Joshua
Published: January 2025

Philip Sidney’s literary works were not published in print during in his lifetime but instead circulated in manuscript as continued to be the norm in courtly circles at the time. This chapter surveys the manuscript copies of these works and the way in which some of them might be described as ‘scribally-published’. It offers readers a concise summary of which works by Sidney survive in rather high numbers of manuscript copies; which of those manuscripts provide the texts for standard editions; and where these and other manuscripts can be consulted, in person and, if applicable, in facsimile. Taken together, these manuscripts provide the strongest available evidence for the broad manuscript circulation, if not scribal publication, of Sidney’s writing—a phenomenon that persisted several decades beyond his death.
Sidney and His Friends
Authors: Olmsted Wendy
Published: January 2025

Sidney’s friendships arose in part from his sympathy with members of the forward Protestant party. Through his connection to Francis Walsingham, Sidney shared allegiances with Hubert Languet, his humanist mentor, and with Fulke Greville and Edward Dyer. Drawing on Cicero’s practice of writing intimate letters to absent friends, Sidney and Languet’s letters define a friendship in which each can find company, for, as Aristotle writes, ‘the friend is another self’. When Sidney returns to England, he celebrates his reunion with two worthy poets, Fulke Greville and Edward Dyer: ‘Join hearts and hands, so let it be / Make but one mind in bodies three’. Now the friend is not just another self, but ‘a happy blessed trinity’. Whereas Sidney’s friendship with Languet was dialogic and reflective, his friendships with Dyer and Greville were lyrical and expressive. This chapter examines how these models of friendship inform Sidney’s life and literary works.
European Union Politics in the Netherlands
Authors: van der Veer Reinout , van Esch Femke
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the evolving relationship between Dutch politics and the European Union (EU). It investigates how the role of the Netherlands in the EU has transformed and explores the impact of the EU on Dutch politics. As a founding member, the Dutch state actively shaped the process of European integration, leaving its mark on key EU elements such as the European single market, Economic and Monetary Union, and the Common Agricultural Policy. However, as one of the smaller and more trade-minded EU member states, Dutch politics has also displayed resistance to integration. Simultaneously, European integration has profoundly shaped the politics of the Netherlands. The growing influence of EU institutions, perceived encroachment on sovereignty and national identity, and EU crises have politicized the EU to an unprecedented degree. This has led to the rise of both Eurosceptic and pro-European parties, establishing a new ‘transnational’ cleavage in the Dutch political landscape. The chapter surveys existing research on the dynamics between Dutch politics and the EU, covering topics such as the influence of small states in European politics, mainstream party responses to Euroscepticism, and the attitudes of Dutch voters towards European integration. By tracing the historical development of the Netherlands–EU relationship and the research on this relationship in political science, the chapter provides a comprehensive overview while also outlining an agenda for future research.
Political Relations in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Authors: Oostindie Gert , Veenendaal Wouter
Published: January 2025

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is not exclusively located in Europe. Six small Caribbean islands have been connected to the European Netherlands for almost four centuries, and remain part of the transatlantic Kingdom today. This chapter first discusses the historical origins of these Kingdom relationships, and the ways in which historical legacies of colonialism and slavery continue to influence contemporary Kingdom relations. Then, it pays attention to the peculiar institutional structure of the Kingdom as laid down in the 1954 Kingdom Charter (Statuut). Despite the persistent ambiguities and conflicts that the Charter has created, it remarkably still continues to structure Kingdom relations, even though the membership of the Kingdom has changed drastically. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the perspectives and policies regarding Kingdom relations in both the European Netherlands and the Caribbean islands. It shows that while Kingdom relations play a very marginal role in Dutch politics and society, the populations of the Dutch Caribbean islands have deeply ambivalent attitudes towards the Kingdom, resulting in what can be called a head-versus-heart dilemma. The chapter then looks at the international context of Kingdom relations, and provides a comparative perspective by examining the political status of other non-sovereign territories in the Caribbean and beyond. It finishes with a conclusion in which four potential avenues for future research on Kingdom relations are outlined.
The Rise and Fall of Dutch Consociationalism
Authors: Andeweg Rudy B.
Published: January 2025

Consociationalism is a theoretical construct combining intense social segmentation, putting political stability at risk, with elite cooperation, mitigating that risk. This perspective has long dominated the study of Dutch politics, particularly through the work of Arend Lijphart. This chapter revisits that perspective, critically reviewing (1) the extent to which divisions in Dutch society threatened political stability, (2) the extent to which elite cooperation arose as a response to that threat, (3) the erosion of social segmentation (depillarization) and its causes, as well as (4) its consequences for elite cooperation. While Dutch politics can no longer be described as consociational, the process of deconsociationalization raises new questions about the relationship between elite cooperation and the rise of populism.
Judicial Politics in the Netherlands
Authors: Zouridis Stavros
Published: January 2025

In the Dutch constitutional tradition, political and judicial institutions are separated. Mutual respect for each other’s constitutional roles have characterized the relationship between parliament and government on the one hand and the judiciary on the other. Recently, this relationship has become distressed. Politicians nowadays openly criticize both court decisions and the performance of individual judges. Courts have shaken off their natural reservations about interfering with political processes. At least three forms of judicial politics seem on the rise. With their decisions, judges sometimes intervene directly in political processes such as the formation of groups in parliament. Judges also do not hesitate to rule on highly controversial political issues with high-impact judgments. As an institution, the judiciary has also been granted a right to advise on draft legislation. This new power further draws the judiciary into the political arena. This chapter sketches some research directions on the rise of judicial politics in the Netherlands. It appears that the rise of judicial politics is reshuffling the constitutional ensemble in the Netherlands, which, in turn, may affect the legitimacy of both politics and the judiciary.
Digital Constitutionalism and Copyright
Authors: Geiger Christophe , Jütte Bernd Justin
Published: January 2025

The process of copyright’s constitutionalization significantly contributed to constitutionalizing digital spaces. Copyright had to adapt to digital technologies and changing creative, artistic, and informational processes. Renegotiating the social contract underpinning copyright and its enforcement were supported by a fundamental rights framework that helped to interpret and apply ‘old’ copyright rules against the background of new digital environments. In particular, the right to freedom of expression reshaped the interplay of exclusive rights and exceptions but more crucially the balance between enforcement interest of right-holders and the freedom to receive and impart information on the Internet. Other fundamental rights have contributed to design a more inclusive and innovation-geared copyright framework. Looking ahead, EU constitutional norms other than fundamental rights can play an important role in the reshaping of copyright. Broadening the constitutional lens beyond fundamental rights, a full (digital) constitutionalization of copyright can serve as an example of sound substantive and procedural adoption of law and policy in the digital era. This process must be accompanied with an institutionalization of important public functions to guarantee accountability of private actors fulfilling quasi-public tasks, and to ensure the respect for normative systems (such as copyright) when adopting new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
Perceived self and social relevance of content motivates news sharing across cultures and topics
Authors: Cosme Danielle , Chan Hang-Yee , Sinclair Alyssa H , Benitez Christian , Lydic Kirsten , Martin Rebecca E , Resnick Anthony , Carreras-Tartak José , Cooper Nicole , Paul Alexandra M , Koelle David , McVay Jennifer , Falk Emily B , Scholz Christin
Published: January 2025

Well-informed individual and collective decision-making is aided by access to high-quality, factual information. What motivates people to share high-quality news, and how can these motives be leveraged to promote news sharing? Based on the theory that self-related and social motives encourage sharing behavior, we designed and tested interventions to increase news sharing. In the interventions, individuals were exposed to actual news stories and were prompted to identify why the content was relevant to themselves (self-relevance) or people they know (social relevance). Across four studies (Nparticipants = 2,559, Nobservations = 18,780), we systematically examined the effectiveness of these interventions, their generalizability across news topics (climate change and health) and cultures (the United States of America and the Netherlands), their translation to more naturalistic contexts, and their underlying neuropsychological mechanisms. In all studies, we observed expected positive correlations among perceived self and social relevance and sharing intentions. In a neuroimaging study, we also observed corresponding increases in activity in self-referential and social cognitive brain regions. Using the content-framing interventions to test causal relationships, we found that the interventions increased sharing intentions and behavior. Furthermore, we observed generalizability across news topics and cultural contexts and translation to an ecologically valid news exposure context. These findings advance theory by adding neural and behavioral evidence that self-related and social motives prompt people to share information, and demonstrate the ability of content-framing interventions to harness these motives to encourage high-quality news sharing.
Financial accumulation in non-financial corporations: a firm-level assessment for the OECD
Authors: Pedrazzoli Agustin , Alvarez Peralta Ignacio , Ruesga Benito Santos M
Published: January 2025

This article analyzes the determinants of financial accumulation in non-financial corporations (NFCs) at the firm level for OECD economies from 1994 to 2021. We estimate firm-level regression models contrasting hypotheses traditionally found in the literature on financialization (that firms turn to financial incomes in response to weakened profitability or shareholder-value orientation) with more recent alternative explanations (that point toward other independent processes such as monetary policy rates or corporate internationalization). Our results show that changes in monetary policy and stock-market capitalization are more relevant drivers of financial income accumulation overall, whereas the traditional explanations appear to be significant only for firms in the USA, particularly for highly financialized firms. Additionally, corporate internationalization also appears to be strongly related to financial incomes in NFCs. These results, thus, support recent calls for a revision of the traditional narrative regarding financial accumulation in advanced economies and its relation to other general economic processes.
Bioactivity of the ubiquitous tire preservative 6PPD and degradant, 6PPD-quinone in fish- and mammalian-based assays
Authors: Jankowski Mark D , Carpenter Amy F , Harrill Joshua A , Harris Felix R , Hill Bridgett , Labiosa Rochelle , Makarov Sergei S , Martinović-Weigelt Dalma , Nyffeler Jo , Padilla Stephanie , Shafer Timothy J , Smeltz Marci G , Villeneuve Daniel L
Published: January 2025

6PPD-quinone (N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine quinone), a transformation product of the antiozonant 6PPD (N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine) is a likely causative agent of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) pre-spawn mortality. Stormwater runoff transports 6PPD-quinone into freshwater streams, rapidly leading to neurobehavioral, respiratory distress, and rapid mortality in laboratory-exposed coho salmon, but causing no mortality in many laboratory-tested species. Given this identified hazard, and potential for environmental exposure, we evaluated a set of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s high-throughput assays for their capability to detect the large potency difference between 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone observed in coho salmon and screen for bioactivities of concern. Assays included transcriptomics in larval fathead minnow (FHM), developmental and behavioral toxicity in larval zebrafish, phenotypic profiling in a rainbow trout gill cell line, acute and developmental neurotoxicity in mammalian cells, and reporter transcription factor activity in HepG2 cells. 6PPD was more consistently bioactive across assays, with distinct activity in the developmental neurotoxicity assay (mean 50th centile activity concentration = 0.91 µM). Although 6PPD-quinone was less potent in FHM and zebrafish, and displayed minimal neurotoxic activity in mammalian cells, it was highly potent in altering organelle morphology in RTgill-W1 cells (phenotype-altering concentration = 0.024 µM compared with 0.96 µM for 6PPD). Although in vitro sensitivity of RTgill-W1 cells may not be as sensitive as intact Coho salmon, the assay may be a promising approach to test chemicals for 6PPD-quinone-like activities. The other assays each identified unique bioactivities of 6PPD, with neurobehavioral and developmental neurotoxicity being most affected, indicating a need for further assessment of this chemical.

Our results demonstrate that the common tire additive, 6PPD, is bioactive in a broader set of assays than the environmental transformation product 6PPD-quinone and that it may be a developmental neurotoxicant in mammals, whereas 6PPD-quinone was much more potent than 6PPD in altering the intracellular phenotype of rainbow trout gill cells. Application of the set of high-throughput and high-content bioassays to test the bioactivity of this emerging pollutant has provided data to inform both ecological and human health assessments.
A review of Prader-Willi syndrome
Authors: Metzler Seth , Brown Gina R.
Published: January 2025

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare and complex genetic disorder with multiple physical and behavioral characteristics, affecting endocrine, metabolic, and neurologic systems and producing a plethora of medical complications. Early identification and diagnosis are paramount to providing timely and appropriate interventions to improve patient outcomes. Treatment should focus on neonatal feeding and growth, followed by hormonal therapy for hypothalamic dysfunction, and should then be directed at the prevention and treatment of obesity and obesity-related complications. Effective treatment requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach.
Prescribing Psychostimulants for the Treatment of Stimulant Use Disorder: Navigating the Federal Legal Landscape
Authors: Suen Leslie W. , Coffin Phillip O. , Boulton Kathryn E. , Carr Derek H. , Davis Corey S.
Published: January 2025

Stimulant use disorder (StUD) is a rapidly growing concern in the United States, with escalating rates of death attributed to amphetamines and cocaine. No medications are currently approved for StUD treatment, leaving clinicians to navigate off-label medication options. Recent studies suggest that controlled prescription psychostimulants such as dextroamphetamine, methylphenidate, and modafinil are associated with reductions in self-reported stimulant use, craving, and depressive symptoms. Despite this positive initial evidence, prescribing rates of these medications for StUD treatment remain low, possibly because some clinicians believe that they are subject to the restrictions federal law imposes on medications for opioid use disorder. This is not the case. Rather, at the federal level, these medications are subject only to the general requirement that prescriptions be issued for a legitimate medical purpose within the usual course of professional practice, criteria that are buttressed by recent national guidelines that include controlled prescription psychostimulants as an option within a comprehensive treatment plan for StUD. In this commentary, we review the federal legal landscape regarding the prescription of psychostimulants for StUD and recommend strategies for increasing the utilization of this promising approach. Professional organizations, addiction clinicians, and researchers can reinforce this practice through publishing expert recommendations, developing clinician education materials, and disseminating their real-world experiences and well-documented treatment plans.
Interest in Injectable and Oral PrEP for HIV Prevention Among Women and Men Who Inject Drugs
Authors: Bhatraju Elenore P. , Tsui Judith I. , Heo Moonseong , Sivaraj Laksika B. , Lopes Snehal S. , Mehta Shruti , Lum Paula , Taylor Lynn E. , Feinberg Judith , Kim Arthur , Norton Brianna , Pericot-Valverde Irene , Page Kimberly A. , Litwin Alain H.
Published: January 2025

Background:

People who inject drugs (PWID) are at increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Women who inject are a particularly vulnerable group. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective, but access and uptake has been limited. This study evaluated interest and concerns around oral and injectable PrEP among PWID based on gender.

Methods:

This cross-sectional analysis of survey data from 8 sites in the United States (n = 284) assessed attitudes and interest in PrEP. Demographics, HIV risk behaviors, and attitudes toward PrEP were described overall and by self-identified gender (female vs male).

Results:

Participants completed the PrEP survey between 2019 and 2021. The mean (standard deviation) age was 44.6 (11.4) years, 29% female, and 66% White. Mean self-perceived HIV risk score (0–10) was 2.3 (standard deviation 2.0). Interest in injectable PrEP (49.5%) was significantly higher than interest in daily oral PrEP (20.1%) (P ≤ 0.001). The most cited concerns were medication side effects (53%) and medication interactions (39.2%). Perceived HIV risk and PrEP concerns were not significantly different between genders.

Conclusions:

There was high interest in injectable PrEP, particularly among females. The top concerns were medication side effects and medication interactions. These results suggest high acceptability of injectable PrEP among PWID. Future research could explore the advantages identified by female participants as well as implementation strategies for access and uptake among this vulnerable population.
Comparison of Temporal Artery and Rectal Temperature Measurement During Cooling and Rewarming in Neonates Treated for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
Authors: LaBella Michelle , Kelly Karen , Carlin Kristen , Walsh Elaine
Published: January 2025

Background:

Finding an accurate and simple method of thermometry in the neonatal intensive care unit is important. The temporal artery thermometer (TAT) has been recommended for all ages by the manufacturer; however, there is insufficient evidence for the use of TAT in infants, especially to detect hypothermia.

Purpose:

To assess the accuracy of the TAT in hypothermic neonates in comparison to a rectal thermometer.

Methods:

This study was a naturalistic, quantitative, and observational study. Temporal artery temperatures (using Exergen TemporalScanner 5000) were compared to rectal temperatures in critically ill infants in the neonatal intensive care unit undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Temperatures were taken during a 72-hour cooling period at 33.5 °C and a 6-hour rewarming period to normothermia of 36.5 °C. Nineteen patients and 1280 temperature measurements were included in this study.

Results:

During the cooling period, TAT and rectal temperatures had a weak correlation (r = 0.34, P < .001). The correlation during the rewarming period was much stronger (r = 0.70, P < .001), indicating less variability in measures, but not agreement. On average, regardless of period, the TAT temperatures read 0.43 °C (95% confidence interval, 0.37-0.49, P < .001) warmer than the rectal temperatures. The cooling or warming period had no effect on this difference between temperatures.

Implications for Practice and Research:

This study found that temperatures obtained with a TAT are generally warmer than the accepted standard core rectal temperature in hypothermic neonates, and we do not recommend its use in critically ill neonates who require accurate temperature readings.
Utilization of Interphalangeal Joint Arthroplasty and Arthrodesis in the United States From 2010 to 2019
Authors: Smearman Erica L. , Karzon Anthony L. , Cooke Hayden L. , Hussain Zaamin B. , Gulzar Musab , Suh Nina , Gottschalk Michael B. , Wagner Eric R.
Published: January 2025

Background:

Interphalangeal joint (IPJ) arthrodesis and arthroplasty are mainstay treatments for IPJ arthritis with conflicting evidence about the most efficacious choice. Our study describes case volume and incidence over the last decade (2010–2019).

Methods:

The IBM MarketScan database was queried using Current Procedural Terminology codes for IPJ arthrodesis and arthroplasty from January 2010 to December 2019. Volume and incidence were estimated annually and according to sex, age, and US geographical region for 2010 and 2019.

Results:

Annual volume and incidence of IPJ arthrodesis increased slightly from 2010 to 2019, though with overlapping confidence intervals for incidence. Arthrodesis tended to be higher in women versus men, especially with increasing age. When considering age, the most substantial increase in rates over increasing age was moving from the 40s to 50s age brackets. Across US regions, arthrodesis was higher in the northeast and midwest in 2010, though other rates rose and regions were similar by 2019. For IPJ arthroplasty, there was a 25%–30% decrease in case volume and incidence over the decade. Incidence was generally higher among women, with a similar jump in incidence from 40s to 50s among women, whereas men showed a more gradual rate increase with age. Regionally, arthroplasty was highest in the northeast and midwest in 2010, though it was similar across regions in 2019.

Conclusions:

Although IPJ arthrodesis levels have stayed relatively stable, IPJ arthroplasty showed a general decline over the decade. Incidence of both were higher among women, and despite initial regional differences, rates became more similar by 2019.
Transtemporal Endoscopic Deep Plane Face Lift
Authors: Kul Zekeriya , Eryilmaz Erhan , Özer Emre
Published: January 2025

Background:

Facial aging involves multifactorial changes affecting the bone, superficial musculoaponeurotic system, fat pads, and skin, primarily manifesting as the downward displacement of these structures. The transtemporal endoscopic deep plane face lift (TEDPF) suggests a vertical lifting method, targeting these issues without a preauricular incision.

Methods:

A retrospective study was conducted on 140 patients (133 women and 7 men) 33–67 years of age who underwent TEDPF from February 2020 to March 2023. Of these, 42 patients also received a neck lift. The surgical technique involved endoscopic dissection and vertical lifting and fixation of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system layer using specific suture points. An objective photographic analysis was performed by measuring preoperative and postoperative lower eyelid lengths to assess aesthetic outcomes.

Results:

The follow-up period ranged from 18 to 36 months. Temporary frontal neuropraxia occurred in 5 patients, resolving within 3 weeks to 3 months. Revision surgery was required for 6 patients due to excess preauricular skin or temporal skin accumulation malar dimpling. Significant improvements were observed, especially in periorbital, nasolabial, and jowl areas, enhancing eye shape and reducing the need for lower blepharoplasty. Objective photographic analysis showed a significant reduction in lower eyelid length postoperatively, with a mean percentage reduction of 22.45% in eyelid length (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

TEDPF achieves effective vertical lifting for facial rejuvenation, minimizes scarring, and reduces surgery time. It provides notable aesthetic improvements with manageable complications, suitable for patients prone to keloids or seeking less invasive options.
Multidetector-row Computed Tomography Analysis of the Radial Midpalmar Flap: A Retrospective Anatomical Study
Authors: Nguyen Doan Tien Linh , Ono Shimpei , Akiyama Goh , Cho Hoyu , Hayashi Hiromitsu , Ogawa Rei
Published: January 2025

Background:

Soft tissue defects on the palm side of the thumb can be effectively covered by using the radial midpalmar (RMP) flap, which is usually harvested as a pedicled flap. However, previous anatomical studies on this flap are limited. We analyzed multidetector-row computed tomography angiograms of the radial midpalm of hands to more precisely characterize the 3-dimensional anatomical structure of the perforators in living patients.

Methods:

This retrospective cross-sectional study included all eligible patients from 2014 to 2019. All Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data were analyzed by the DICOM viewer. RMP area vascularization pattern and cutaneous perforator number, location, origin, internal diameters, and bifurcation-to-dermis lengths were recorded.

Results:

In total, 41 perforators were found in 30 patients: 21 patients had 1 perforator, 7 had 2, and 2 had 3 perforators. All were located inside a 23.2-mm diameter circle with an origin on the second metacarpal bone axis approximately 10 mm distally from the Kaplan cardinal line. Their origins were the superficial palmar arch system (61%), palmar arteries of the thumb (24%), and radialis indicis artery (15%). The mean perforator diameter and length were 0.61 and 8.48 mm, respectively.

Conclusions:

All patients had at least 1 reliable perforator in the radial midpalm. Our results suggest that plastic surgeons can easily and safely plan the RMP flap design, potentially without preoperative perforator mapping. Guidelines for this flap are proposed.
Evidence-based Diagnosis and Treatment of Vasa Previa
Authors: Ross Naima , Roman Ashley S.
Published: January 2025

Vasa previa is an abnormality of the umbilical cord and fetal membranes that affects ∼1 in 1300 pregnancies. The diagnosis is made by visualization of velamentous fetal vessels coursing within the membranes over the cervix unprotected by Wharton jelly or placenta. When it is not diagnosed prenatally, it is associated with a high risk of fetal death. Prenatal diagnosis of vasa previa using ultrasound, followed by close surveillance, and appropriately timed late preterm delivery by cesarean is associated with intact survival in >95% of cases. In this review, we review epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis, and management of patients with vasa previa.
Central or Peripheral Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Pediatric Sepsis: Outcomes Comparison in the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Dataset, 2000–2021
Authors: Totapally Abhinav , Stark Ryan , Danko Melissa , Chen Heidi , Altheimer Alyssa , Hardison Daphne , Malone Matthew P. , Zivick Elizabeth , Bridges Brian
Published: January 2025

Objectives:

Small studies of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support for children with refractory septic shock (RSS) suggest that high-flow (≥ 150 mL/kg/min) venoarterial ECMO and a central cannulation strategy may be associated with lower odds of mortality. We therefore aimed to examine a large, international dataset of venoarterial ECMO patients for pediatric sepsis to identify outcomes associated with flow and cannulation site.

Design:

Retrospective analysis of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) database from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2021.

Setting:

International pediatric ECMO centers.

Patients:

Patients 18 years old young or younger without congenital heart disease (CHD) cannulated to venoarterial ECMO primarily for a diagnosis of sepsis, septicemia, or septic shock.

Interventions:

None.

Measurements and Main Results:

Of 1242 pediatric patients undergoing venoarterial ECMO runs in the ELSO dataset, overall mortality was 55.6%. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to evaluate explanatory factors associated with adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% CI of mortality. In the regression analysis of data 4 hours after ECMO initiation, logarithm of the aOR, plotted against ECMO flow as a continuous variable, showed that higher flow was associated with lower aOR of mortality (p = 0.03). However, at 24 hours, we failed to find such a relationship. Finally, peripheral cannulation, as opposed to central cannulation, was independently associated with greater odds of mortality (odds ratio, 1.7 [95% CI, 1.1–2.6]).

Conclusions:

In this 2000–2021 international cohort of venoarterial ECMO for non-CHD children with sepsis, we have found that higher ECMO flow at 4 hours after support initiation, and central- rather than peripheral-cannulation, were both independently associated with lower odds of mortality. Therefore, flow early in the ECMO run and cannula location are two important factors to consider in future research in pediatric patients requiring cannulation to venoarterial ECMO for RSS.
Leveraging Quality Improvement Tools to Improve Administration of First-line Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Patients Labeled as Penicillin Allergic
Authors: Mock Madeline , Morris David , Foley Jessica , Mahabee Mellissa , Klatte J. Michael , Williams Beth , Robie Daniel
Published: January 2025

Introduction:

A reported penicillin allergy reduces the likelihood that the patient will receive first-line surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP), which can increase the risk of developing a surgical site infection (SSI). This project aimed to increase the use of first-line SAP agents in orthopedic and pediatric surgery patients with a reported penicillin allergy.

Methods:

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement quality improvement methodology was followed. Key drivers included patient and family awareness of true penicillin allergies, standardization for ordering antibiotics, staff buy-in, electronic medical record utilization, and staff comfort with ordering first-line SAP. Initial plan-do-study-act cycles focused on provider education. Subsequent plan-do-study-act cycles focused on the antibiotic delivery process, antibiotic selection, screening tool development for severe delayed hypersensitivity reactions, education, and data transparency. The outcome measure was the percentage of orthopedic and pediatric surgery patients with a reported penicillin allergy that received first-line SAP per month.

Results:

Since the start of the project in December 2022, there were 2 statistically significant changes in the outcome measure’s mean, shifting the mean from 25% to 84% in orthopedic and pediatric surgery patients with a reported penicillin allergy who received first-line SAP. There were no adverse medication reactions and no statistically significant change in SSIs.

Conclusions:

The mean has been at 84% for 9 months showing a sustainable process and culture change regarding first-line SAP usage for orthopedic and pediatric surgery patients. This was achieved through targeting the antibiotic delivery processes without relying on hard stops within the medical record.