bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of an artificial intelligence-based decision support for the detection of cutaneous melanoma in primary care: a prospective real-life clinical trial
Authors: Papachristou Panagiotis , Söderholm My , Pallon Jon , Taloyan Marina , Polesie Sam , Paoli John , Anderson Chris D , Falk Magnus
Published: January 2024

Background

Use of artificial intelligence (AI), or machine learning, to assess dermoscopic images of skin lesions to detect melanoma has, in several retrospective studies, shown high levels of diagnostic accuracy on par with – or even outperforming – experienced dermatologists. However, the enthusiasm around these algorithms has not yet been matched by prospective clinical trials performed in authentic clinical settings. In several European countries, including Sweden, the initial clinical assessment of suspected skin cancer is principally conducted in the primary healthcare setting by primary care physicians, with or without access to teledermoscopic support from dermatology clinics.

Objectives

To determine the diagnostic performance of an AI-based clinical decision support tool for cutaneous melanoma detection, operated by a smartphone application (app), when used prospectively by primary care physicians to assess skin lesions of concern due to some degree of melanoma suspicion.

Methods

This prospective multicentre clinical trial was conducted at 36 primary care centres in Sweden. Physicians used the smartphone app on skin lesions of concern by photographing them dermoscopically, which resulted in a dichotomous decision support text regarding evidence for melanoma. Regardless of the app outcome, all lesions underwent standard diagnostic procedures (surgical excision or referral to a dermatologist). After investigations were complete, lesion diagnoses were collected from the patients’ medical records and compared with the app’s outcome and other lesion data.

Results

In total, 253 lesions of concern in 228 patients were included, of which 21 proved to be melanomas, with 11 thin invasive melanomas and 10 melanomas in situ. The app’s accuracy in identifying melanomas was reflected in an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve of 0.960 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.928–0.980], corresponding to a maximum sensitivity and specificity of 95.2% and 84.5%, respectively. For invasive melanomas alone, the AUROC was 0.988 (95% CI 0.965–0.997), corresponding to a maximum sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 92.6%, respectively.

Conclusions

The clinical decision support tool evaluated in this investigation showed high diagnostic accuracy when used prospectively in primary care patients, which could add significant clinical value for primary care physicians assessing skin lesions for melanoma.
Alzheimer proteopathic tau seeds are biochemically a forme fruste of mature paired helical filaments
Authors: Kumar Mukesh , Quittot Noé , Dujardin Simon , Schlaffner Christoph N , Viode Arthur , Wiedmer Anne , Beerepoot Pieter , Chun Joshua E , Glynn Calina , Fernandes Analiese R , Donahue Cameron , Steen Judith A , Hyman Bradley T
Published: January 2024

Aggregation prone molecules, such as tau, form both historically well characterized fibrillar deposits (neurofibrillary tangles) and recently identified phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) extract species called proteopathic seeds. Both can cause normal endogenous tau to undergo templated misfolding. The relationship of these seeds to the fibrils that define tau-related diseases is unknown. We characterized the aqueous extractable and sarkosyl insoluble fibrillar tau species derived from human Alzheimer brain using mass spectrometry and in vitro bioassays. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) including phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitination are identified in both preparations. PBS extract seed competent tau can be distinguished from sarkosyl insoluble tau by the presence of overlapping, but less abundant, PTMs and an absence of some PTMs unique to the latter. The presence of ubiquitin and other PTMs on the PBS-extracted tau species correlates with the amount of tau in the seed competent size exclusion fractions, with the bioactivity and with the aggressiveness of clinical disease. These results demonstrate that the PTMs present on bioactive, seed competent PBS extract tau species are closely related to, but distinct from, the PTMs of mature paired helical filaments, consistent with the idea that they are a forme fruste of tau species that ultimately form fibrils.
Extensive red papules and plaques on the left arm of a woman
Authors: Gu An Kang , Zhang Yu , Wang Hong Mei
Published: January 2024

We report the case of a patient with chronic lymphoedema who presented with extensive red papules and plaques on the left arm for 3 months. This patient achieved good therapeutic effects from monotherapy with clarithromycin.
A framework to improve the alignment of individual cytoarchitectonic maps of the Julich-Brain atlas using cortical folding landmarks
Authors: Wang Xiaoyu , Leprince Yann , Lebenberg Jessica , Langlet Clement , Mohlberg Hartmut , Rivière Denis , Auzias Guillaume , Dickscheid Timo , Amunts Katrin , Mangin Jean-François
Published: January 2024

The segregation of the cortical mantle into cytoarchitectonic areas provides a structural basis for the specialization of different brain regions. In vivo neuroimaging experiments can be linked to this postmortem cytoarchitectonic parcellation via Julich-Brain. This atlas embeds probabilistic maps that account for inter-individual variability in the localization of cytoarchitectonic areas in the reference spaces targeted by spatial normalization. We built a framework to improve the alignment of architectural areas across brains using cortical folding landmarks. This framework, initially designed for in vivo imaging, was adapted to postmortem histological data. We applied this to the first 14 brains used to establish the Julich-Brain atlas to infer a refined atlas with more focal probabilistic maps. The improvement achieved is significant in the primary regions and some of the associative areas. This framework also provides a tool for exploring the relationship between cortical folding patterns and cytoarchitectonic areas in different cortical regions to establish new landmarks in the remainder of the cortex.
The Business Process Management for Healthcare (BPM+ Health) Consortium: motivation, methodology, and deliverables for enabling clinical knowledge interoperability (CKI)
Authors: Lario Robert , Soley Richard , White Stephen , Butler John , Del Fiol Guilherme , Eilbeck Karen , Huff Stanley , Kawamoto Kensaku
Published: January 2024

Objectives

To enhance the Business Process Management (BPM)+ Healthcare language portfolio by incorporating knowledge types not previously covered and to improve the overall effectiveness and expressiveness of the suite to improve Clinical Knowledge Interoperability.

Methods

We used the BPM+ Health and Object Management Group (OMG) standards development methodology to develop new languages, following a gap analysis between existing BPM+ Health languages and clinical practice guideline knowledge types. Proposal requests were developed based on these requirements, and submission teams were formed to respond to them. The resulting proposals were submitted to OMG for ratification.

Results

The BPM+ Health family of languages, which initially consisted of the Business Process Model and Notation, Decision Model and Notation, and Case Model and Notation, was expanded by adding 5 new language standards through the OMG. These include Pedigree and Provenance Model and Notation for expressing epistemic knowledge, Knowledge Package Model and Notation for supporting packaging knowledge, Shared Data Model and Notation for expressing ontic knowledge, Party Model and Notation for representing entities and organizations, and Specification Common Elements, a language providing a standard abstract and reusable library that underpins the 4 new languages.

Discussion and conclusion

In this effort, we adopted a strategy of separation of concerns to promote a portfolio of domain-agnostic, independent, but integrated domain-specific languages for authoring medical knowledge. This strategy is a practical and effective approach to expressing complex medical knowledge. These new domain-specific languages offer various knowledge-type options for clinical knowledge authors to choose from without potentially adding unnecessary overhead or complexity.
Protection against unfair competition in the European Union: from divergent national approaches to harmonized rules on search result rankings, influencers and greenwashing
Authors: Senftleben Martin
Published: January 2024

This article provides an overview of the complex interplay between harmonized rules of unfair competition law at EU level and national approaches in the Member States. It discusses case law, sheds light on the objectives underlying protection against unfair competition and describes intersections with intellectual property rights. The analysis addresses general clauses that allow unfair competition law in the EU to keep pace with constantly changing marketing practices. It discusses the concept of confusion from a comparative trademark and unfair competition law perspective. Moreover, misleading practices, discrediting and denigrating allegations, slavish imitation, unfair free-riding, trade secret rules and transparency obligations will be explored. The analysis includes recent extensions of the canon of unfair competition rules, in particular in the field of product rankings within search results, influencer marketing and greenwashing. Particular attention will also be devoted to the growing body of transparency obligations in online marketing contexts, including obligations in the area of targeted behavioural advertising that follow from the Digital Services Act.
Latrine site selection by African clawless otters, Aonyx capensis, and their behavior during latrine visitations
Authors: Nicolaides Stephanie G , Mostert Theodorus H C , McIntyre Trevor
Published: January 2024

Latrine sites are used as areas for the deposition of scent-containing excretions and play important roles in intraspecific olfactory communication, territoriality, sexual attraction, and defense behaviors of many mammals. African clawless otters (Aonyx capensis) likely use latrine sites as primary areas for scent marking and scent communication but no studies to date have investigated their potential role or site selection. We assessed latrine site selection at 2 spatial scales (micro- and macroscale) and recorded behaviors via camera trap recordings. Thirty-eight latrine sites were identified and assessed at 2 locations in Mtunzini on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (uMlalazi Nature Reserve and Zini Fish Farm) during the months of August to November 2021. Latrine sites were identified through several intensive surveys, while we characterized nonselected sites through a systematic sampling approach. Latrine and control sites were inventoried along a 52-m buffer around all water bodies in both study areas. At each site we measured a series of potential environmental predictors, including horizontal and vertical vegetation cover, surface slope, and averaged wind speeds for days classified as relatively wind-still and relatively windy. To assess the relative role of various environmental predictors, we used a binomial generalized linear model resource selection function to model both spatial scales of latrine site selection. The majority of latrine sites were located at the ecotone between 2 vegetation units or between a vegetation unit and a water source. At a macroscale, latrine sites were associated with areas containing little vegetative substrate cover and minimal canopy cover. The top-ranked models at the microscale also indicated that latrine sites were characterized as occurring in open areas with less canopy and horizontal cover and on flatter areas that are relatively protected against wind. The most common behaviors recorded at 3 latrine sites were the “jiggle dance” (42%) and sniffing (29%). We hypothesize that otters evaluate numerous environmental parameters to enhance the functionality of latrine sites. For example, sites with little vegetative cover may increase the conspicuousness of latrines to conspecifics, while areas exposed to less wind likely aid in the retention of scent. Ongoing research is characterizing the behaviors of otters around latrines and chemical signatures of latrine sites in an effort to facilitate interpretation of their social function to African clawless otters.
Comparative assessment of a novel fan box trap for collecting Anopheles farauti and culicine mosquitoes alive in tropical north Queensland, Australia
Authors: Chow Weng K , Cooper Robert D , Lokhorst Matthew , Zalucki Myron P , Ambrose Luke , Beebe Nigel W
Published: January 2024

During preliminary mosquito surveys at Cowley Beach Training Area in north Queensland, Australia, it was found that the utility of the standard encephalitis virus surveillance (EVS) trap for collecting the malaria vector Anopheles farauti (Laveran) adults was compromised by the harsh tropical conditions. With the aim of increasing the survival rate of mosquitoes, we designed a downdraft fan box trap (FBT) that incorporated a screened fan at the bottom of the trap, so mosquitoes did not have to pass through a fan. The FBT was tested against the EVS and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, where mosquitoes do pass through a fan, and a nonpowered passive box trap (PBT). We conducted 4 trials to compare the quantity and survival of An. farauti and culicine mosquitoes were collected in these traps. Although not significant, the FBT collected more An. farauti than the EVS trap and PBT and significantly less An. farauti than the CDC light trap. However, the FBT improved on the CDC light trap in terms of the survival of An. farauti adults collected, with a significantly higher percentage alive in the FBT (74.6%) than in the CDC light trap (27.5%). Thus, although the FBT did not collect as many anophelines as the CDC, it proved to be superior to current trap systems for collecting large numbers of live and relatively undamaged mosquitoes. Therefore, it is recommended that FBTs be used for collecting An. farauti adults in northern Australia, especially when high survival and sample quality are important.
Detection of imported clinical strain of bla
NDM-1-harbouring ST147 Klebsiella pneumoniae from a Ukrainian immigrant
Authors: Fukushima Shinnosuke , Hagiya Hideharu , Gotoh Kazuyoshi , Tsuji Shuma , Iio Koji , Matsushita Osamu
Published: January 2024

We have isolated a blaNDM-1-harbouring ST147 Klebsiella pneumoniae strain from a Ukrainian immigrant hospitalized at a Japanese hospital, which was genetically corroborated to be highly identical to a Russian-derived isolate. This case highlights that the geopolitical risk potentially increases the global dissemination of antimicrobial resistance pathogens.
The evolutionary path of void galaxies in TNG300 simulation
Authors: Rodríguez-Medrano Agustín M , Springel Volker , Stasyszyn Federico A , Paz Dante J
Published: January 2024

The properties of galaxies in low-density regions of the universe suggest an interplay between galaxy formation and environment. However, the specific reason why this particular large-scale environment influences the evolution of galaxies remains unclear. This paper examines the properties and evolutionary paths of galaxies within cosmic voids using the Illustris TNG300 simulation. The population of void galaxies at z = 0 has a higher star formation rate, a smaller stellar-to-halo-mass ratio, higher gas metallicity, and lower stellar metallicity in comparison with non-void galaxies at fixed stellar mass. Our analysis shows that these differences are mainly due to the characteristics of galaxies classified as satellites, for which the largest differences between void and non-void samples are found. Although the mean number of mergers is similar between void and non-void samples at a fixed stellar mass, void galaxies tend to experience mergers at later times, resulting in a more recent accumulation of accreted stellar mass. While the mean net accreted mass is comparable for high-mass galaxies, low-mass void galaxies tend to exhibit higher fractions of accreted stars than non-void galaxies. This finding challenges the common notion that void galaxies predominantly experience growth with infrequent mergers or interactions. With this paper, we also publicly release our void catalogue as part of the IllustrisTNG project.
Outcomes for clinical trials involving adults with chronic kidney disease: a multinational Delphi survey involving patients, caregivers and health professionals
Authors: Matus Gonzalez Andrea , Evangelidis Nicole , Howell Martin , Jaure Allison , Sautenet Benedicte , Madero Magdalena , Ashuntantang Gloria , Anumudu Samaya , Bernier-Jean Amelie , Dunn Louese , Cho Yeoungjee , Cortes Sanabria Laura , de Boer Ian H , Fung Samuel , Gallego Daniel , Guha Chandana , Levey Andrew S , Levin Adeera , Lorca Eduardo , Okpechi Ikechi G , Rossignol Patrick , Scholes-Robertson Nicole , Sola Laura , Teixeira-Pinto Armando , Usherwood Tim , Viecelli Andrea K , Wheeler David C , Widders Katherine , Wilkie Martin , Craig Jonathan C
Published: January 2024

Background

Many outcomes of high priority to patients and clinicians are infrequently and inconsistently reported across trials in chronic kidney disease (CKD), which generates research waste and limits evidence-informed decision making. We aimed to generate consensus among patients/caregivers and health professionals on critically important outcomes for trials in CKD prior to kidney failure and the need for kidney replacement therapy, and to describe the reasons for their choices.

Methods

This was an online two-round international Delphi survey. Adult patients with CKD (all stages and diagnoses), caregivers and health professionals who could read English, Spanish or French were eligible. Participants rated the importance of outcomes using a Likert scale (7–9 indicating critical importance) and a Best–Worst Scale. The scores for the two groups were assessed to determine absolute and relative importance. Comments were analysed thematically.

Results

In total, 1399 participants from 73 countries completed Round 1 of the Delphi survey, including 628 (45%) patients/caregivers and 771 (55%) health professionals. In Round 2, 790 participants (56% response rate) from 63 countries completed the survey including 383 (48%) patients/caregivers and 407 (52%) health professionals. The overall top five outcomes were: kidney function, need for dialysis/transplant, life participation, cardiovascular disease and death. In the final round, patients/caregivers indicated higher scores for most outcomes (17/22 outcomes), and health professionals gave higher priority to mortality, hospitalization and cardiovascular disease (mean difference >0.3). Consensus was based upon the two groups yielding median scores of ≥7 and mean scores >7, and the proportions of both groups rating the outcome as ‘critically important’ being >50%. Four themes reflected the reasons for their priorities: imminent threat of a health catastrophe, signifying diminishing capacities, ability to self-manage and cope, and tangible and direct consequences.

Conclusion

Across trials in CKD, the outcomes of highest priority to patients, caregivers and health professionals were kidney function, need for dialysis/transplant, life participation, cardiovascular disease and death.
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) regulates phagocytosis in glioblastoma
Authors: Peshoff Mekenzie M , Gupta Pravesh , Oberai Shivangi , Trivedi Rakesh , Katayama Hiroshi , Chakrapani Prashanth , Dang Minghao , Migliozzi Simona , Gumin Joy , Kadri Divya B , Lin Jessica K , Milam Nancy K , Maynard Mark E , Vaillant Brian D , Parker-Kerrigan Brittany , Lang Frederick F , Huse Jason T , Iavarone Antonio , Wang Linghua , Clise-Dwyer Karen , Bhat Krishna P
Published: January 2024

Background

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are central nervous system tumors that resist standard-of-care interventions and even immune checkpoint blockade. Myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment can contribute to GBM progression; therefore, emerging immunotherapeutic approaches include reprogramming these cells to achieve desirable antitumor activity. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a myeloid signaling regulator that has been implicated in a variety of cancers and neurological diseases with contrasting functions, but its role in GBM immunopathology and progression is still under investigation.

Methods

Our reverse translational investigations leveraged single-cell RNA sequencing and cytometry of human gliomas to characterize TREM2 expression across myeloid subpopulations. Using 2 distinct murine glioma models, we examined the role of Trem2 on tumor progression and immune modulation of myeloid cells. Furthermore, we designed a method of tracking phagocytosis of glioma cells in vivo and employed in vitro assays to mechanistically understand the influence of TREM2 signaling on tumor uptake.

Results

We discovered that TREM2 expression does not correlate with immunosuppressive pathways, but rather showed strong a positive association with the canonical phagocytosis markers lysozyme (LYZ) and macrophage scavenger receptor (CD163) in gliomas. While Trem2 deficiency was found to be dispensable for gliomagenesis, Trem2+ myeloid cells display enhanced tumor uptake compared to Trem2- cells. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that TREM2 mediates phagocytosis via Syk signaling.

Conclusions

These results indicate that TREM2 is not associated with immunosuppression in gliomas. Instead, TREM2 is an important regulator of phagocytosis that may be exploited as a potential therapeutic strategy for brain tumors.
Tribum que non abhorruit/Quoniam secta latronum/Merito hec patimurand its ‘Quotations’, andGarrit gallus/In nova
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

These two motets are analysed, with full transcriptions of texts and music. The verbal ‘quotations’ in Tribum are shown to be as foundational as the chant tenor; the motet was planned on these twin pillars, neither being completed before the other. Devices such as repeated words, puns, vowel rhyme and word painting unifying the voices are as carefully placed as the musical counterpoint. Garrit gallus uses comparable verbal and musical strategies. Minim stems in later sources of both motets confirm the presumed default reading of the semibreve forms in Fauvel. Continuing the argument of Chapter 3, the three Marigny motets (these two, with Aman novi, Chapter 5) may be by Vitry; they were planned together, with musical citations and textual reference between them, notably their evocation of Ovid and other Classical and biblical texts.
Vos quid admiramini/Gratissima virginis species/Gaude gloriosa
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

A date in the late 1320s is proposed for the masterpiece Vos quid admiramini/Gratissima virginis species/Gaude gloriosa, securely attributed to Vitry. Its musical connections to other motets are reported, with commentary on variants between its musical sources. A musical analysis demonstrates the complementary relationship between the tenor and the essential contratenor, both contrapuntally and in the arrangement of their respective syncopations. The texts are carefully counted and structured for music, with chiasms, recapitulations, purposeful distinction between singular and plural forms, and striking juxtapositions of heavenly and erotic references. They are intricately patterned with rich opportunities for both symbolic and depictive musical setting, uncovering a resourceful palette of word painting. Rhythmic motives are associated with some of the key words, and there are significant deviations from a base rhythmic vocabulary.
Alma polis religio/Axe poli cum artica/ [Et] in ore eorumand its Named Musicians
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

Like Musicalis and Musicorum, Alma polis is a unicum, in four parts, with a contrapuntally essential contratenor. It is mensurally much more complex than its three predecessors, with mensural transformation and simultaneously different signatures in the top parts; it probably dates closer to 1400. Like Musicalis, it celebrates twenty musicians, evidently all Augustinians (hence excluding Vitry, Muris and Machaut who were named in Apollinis and Musicalis), and names the composers of the words and the music separately. Only a few of the named musicians can be identified with any confidence, either from other musical activity or from dated documents; possible candidates for the musicians named are reviewed.
Fragmentary Motets and Other Possibly Linked Compositions
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

The incomplete motet Arta/Musicus est ille survives in an English fragment which also contains one of the versions of Apollinis with added parts (see Ch. 16). Motetus and tenor of Non eclipsis atra ferrugine are on the other side of an Apollinis fragment. Their extant motetus texts resonate with the other musician motets, but it is not known whether the missing tripla listed musicians. Other fragments that might belong to the group likewise contain no names. Eight further song-like compositions with suggestive celebration of music or musicians are listed, but they stand outside the generic tradition to which the chapters of Part IV are devoted.
The Fourteenth-Century Italian Motet
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

The retrospective anthologies of Italian trecento repertory are dominated by the madrigal, ballata and caccia. Due to its absence from these manuscripts, the Italian motet had not been recognised as a distinctive genre until this essay (originally given at a conference in 1984 and here heavily revised since its delayed 1992 publication) reinstated its tradition on the basis of often fragmentary sources. That tradition is traced here, starting with Marchetto’s motet Ave regina celorum/Mater innocencie. Twenty-nine motets are listed with their characteristics, culminating in the motets of Ciconia, mostly composed in Padua c. 1400–1411, and for which earlier motets provide precedents and context. Several of the texts embed names of dedicatees or composers. The many similarly formed compositions in the ensuing generation are not addressed here, except that a more recently discovered (later) motet O Antoni is included.
Early Papal Motets
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

This chapter reviews the texts, contexts and dating of twenty-four late-medieval motets and mass movements and eight Latin and vernacular songs that celebrate popes, not necessarily for their coronations. Most date from the Avignon papacy and the Great Schism, with interesting and specific textual references, ending with motets composed by Du Fay for Eugenius IV. The chapter has been reworked to take account of subsequent writings and discoveries, including an extended discussion of the earliest of these motets, the incomplete Per grama protho paret, and whether it is more likely to have been written for Clement VI or his predecessor but one, John XXII. Petre clemens, for Clement VI, is datable to about seven months after his inauguration, and it is likely that other papal motets, especially where the texts seem more reflective than celebratory, were likewise not inaugural.
Some Aspects of the Cyprus Manuscript and its Motets
Authors: Bent Margaret
Published: January 2024

This revision of an earlier paper on the motets of the manuscript Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria J.II.9 (Cyprus) is here extended with a survey of the probable origins of the repertory and the manuscript at the court of Cyprus, taking account of more recent work. Most important is Karl Kügle’s identification of Jean Hanelle as a musician from Cambrai who, together with the composer Gilet Velut, accompanied Charlotte of Bourbon to Cyprus in 1411 when she became the queen of King Janus. He accompanied their daughter Anne to Savoy for her marriage to Duke Louis in 1434; the continuity from Hanelle’s earlier arrival in Cyprus suggests a role for him in the compilation of this enormous and isolated repertory. Questions raised recently about the manuscript’s origins must be considered work in progress.
The Perils of Occam’s Razor
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

This chapter introduces the purpose of the book: outlining two major accounts of the decline of religion in the Western world. The first is the Enlightenment myth, represented in the ideology of scientific atheism promoted by “new atheists” like Richard Dawkins. The second is the sociological theory of secularization, which ties religious decline to modernization and socioeconomic development. The chapter argues that the reductionism of scientific atheism—which suggests that religion is an outdated superstition and that its decline is due to advancements and education in science—is insufficient to account for the “death of God” in the Western world, while social science provides empirically supported theoretical frameworks that understand secularization in relation to advances in socioeconomic equality, higher standards of living, and changing moral standards.
A Science of Everything
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

This chapter introduces the new atheism, a group of intellectuals who rose to prominence for their aggressive attack on religious belief, represented most famously by Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. Their ideas about the nature of religious belief are a product of scientism—a belief that the theories and methods of the natural sciences can account for virtually all phenomena, including human cultures. Drawing on evolutionary biology and neuroscience, the new atheists argue that religion is hardwired into the human brain, but also that the rise of modern science has made religious belief increasingly untenable. Their “scientific atheism” is an ideology that involves not only a science-based critique of religious belief, but also the view that the social sciences and humanities have been made redundant by Darwinism, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology.
Rationally Right
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

This chapter argues that the new atheism is the mirror image of the Christian Right: inverted on the question of God, but otherwise locked in step on issues like economics, immigration, gender, and the impending “clash of civilizations,” which it addresses through a critique of multiculturalism. Despite claiming to be spokesmen for liberalism, many popular atheists are better described as conservatives or libertarians, and they have become increasingly intertwined with other public figures claiming to represent a return to rationalism (e.g., Steven Pinker, Jordan Peterson) who advance a right-wing agenda. A close examination of the political implications of the ideology of scientific atheism reveals that it is out of step with a traditional conception of humanism and, as will be argued in subsequent chapters, it is an impediment to the cause of secularism.
Four More Horsemen
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

Popular atheism today is historically selective and wilfully ignorant of major streams of atheist thought because it doesn’t match their ideological vision of religion as the antithesis of scientific modernity. This chapter highlights a “lost tradition” of atheism, focusing mainly on four figures: Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Friedrich Nietzsche. These are disparate thinkers who represent several fields (social science, psychology, and philosophy), but all their critiques of religion involve a critique of society—indeed, the two are inseparable in this “anthropological” form of atheism. While they all differed in the specifics of how religion functions, they all believed that it supports existing systems of power and oppression while providing the powerless with a means for coping with it and making sense of their condition.
A Godless World?
Authors: LeDrew Stephen
Published: January 2024

This concluding chapter argues that, given what we know about secularization, there is a clear course of action available to people who are concerned about religion’s influence in public affairs. The new atheism’s approach of science-based criticism is not likely to change many minds—rather, the social sciences tell us that the way to temper religion’s power is to promote greater social and economic security and equality. It is important to not become complacent and believe that religion will continue to fade away. Even if traditional theistic faiths decline, religion threatens to reappear in other forms, most obviously in political religions, nationalism, and conspiracy theories. Ensuring that all people receive the same rights and opportunities is critical to preventing a resurgence of religion or its evolution into forms that may be even more harmful than what came before.
Modality in 20th-Century Philosophy
Authors: McDaniel Kris
Published: January 2024

This chapter covers some of the major highlights of the metaphysics of modality in the 20th century. It first traces how Kant’s views became a foil both for the phenomenological tradition in Husserl and Heidegger and for the analytic tradition in Russell and Quine. It then turns to the resurgence of modal theorizing in the second half of the 20th century, most especially through the contributions of Barcan Marcus in modal logic and the Barcan formulas, Kripke in modal semantics and the necessary a priori, and David Lewis in modal metaphysics and modal realism.
Renal Bone Disease and Renal Anemia
Authors: Malik Shafi
Published: January 2024

Two of the most important chronic kidney disease (CKD) complications are anaemia and mineral bone disease. Erythropoietin is a haematopoietic factor produced by the renal peritubular cells. Its relatively low level in CKD is the main factor for the development of renal anaemia. Renal anaemia is more evident in patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of <30 mL/min. Anaemia in patients with mild to moderate CKD should be investigated for other causes of anaemia. The combined use of iron infusion and recombinant erythropoietin therapy has improved renal anaemia management and significantly reduced the need for repeated blood transfusions. Chronic kidney disease–mineral bone disease (CKD-MBD) entails abnormal biochemical changes and abnormal bone turnover, alongside vascular and tissue calcification. Deficiency of alpha-1 hydroxylase leads to deficiency of activated vitamin D. The primary biochemical findings are hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia, and raised parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, resulting in secondary hyperparathyroidism. If left untreated, hyperparathyroidism leads to high bone turnover. Conversely, patients with severe CKD and low PTH secretion can have adynamic bone disease with low bone turnover. Poorly managed hyperparathyroidism increases the risk of fractures. In addition, vascular calcification leads to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Cardiovascular Disease, Hypertension, and Diabetes (Part B)
Authors: Malik Shafi
Published: January 2024

This chapter provides an updated, case-based resource which aims to illustrate the approaches to diagnose and manage complex and special populations with hypertension. It discusses the use of ambulatory or home blood pressure monitoring to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension. The importance of adherence testing is emphasized in patients suspected of treatment-resistant hypertension. Renovascular and endocrine causes of hypertension are described, and their investigations and management are discussed. Treatment targets from updated hypertension guidelines in the wake of recent landmark trials in hypertension are reviewed, which highlight the importance of measuring a standardized blood pressure. Finally approaches to reduce the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease are discussed.
Inherited and Rarer Diseases
Authors: Malik Shafi
Published: January 2024

This chapter provides a clinical and pathological overview of inherited and rare renal disorders. Inherited renal diseases account for approximately 10% of all adults receiving renal replacement therapy, yet are rare as individual entities. It is important that the clinician has a broad knowledge of these conditions and is able to diagnose them in patients with uncharacterized renal disease. The chapter uses ‘real-life’ patient cases to highlight important diagnostic features and management decisions, and includes recent developments in the understanding and pathogenesis of inherited and rare diseases. It also provides practical tips for investigating patients with complex acid–base disturbances and tubular disorders. An excellent source of information for the conditions discussed in this chapter is the Renal Association Rare Disease website (available from: https://renal.org/rare-renal/clinician-information).
Resisting State Capture as a Democratic Ideal
Authors: Bagg Samuel Ely
Published: January 2024

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the ideal of resisting state capture. The need for such an overview arises from previous chapters, which have emphasized that state capture takes many diverse forms, and outlined six principles for resisting capture whose recommendations may come into conflict. In response, this chapter clarifies the overall priorities of resisting state capture in three ways. It first explores the utopian horizon suggested by that ideal, by comparing it to those most commonly suggested by ideals of collective self-rule: full socialization and ideal deliberation. These horizons aim to scale up collaboration—aiming, respectively, to make more decisions collectively, and to make decisions more collectively. By contrast, the ideal of resisting state capture suggests a utopian horizon that is still characterized by significant competition in political, social, and economic spheres, but aims to make that competition maximally egalitarian. The chapter then turns to the sort of medium-term political orientation implied by that ideal, again by way of a comparison. This time, the contrast cases are its closest neighbors and allies—including agonism, republicanism, and pluralism. Though it shares a great deal with all three, the ideal of resisting state capture is importantly distinct from them as well. Finally, the chapter addresses dilemmas that pit democratic demands against one another—especially those of militant democracy and what it calls “redistributive populism.” Engaging theoretical scholarship alongside historical and contemporary case studies, it reaches some firm conclusions, while maintaining that other cases properly demand further contextual inquiry and judgment.
Conclusion
Authors: Bagg Samuel Ely
Published: January 2024

This brief conclusion addresses the most acute challenges facing contemporary democracies, which have not been directly addressed at length in earlier parts of the book. After briefly acknowledging the severity and importance of these challenges, it explains why they have not received extended treatment. One reason is because they are already widely discussed, and another is because the book aims to speak beyond the present moment. Most important, though, is the substantive claim it makes about these challenges: namely, that they are often caused or at least exacerbated by elite capture and underlying imbalances of power. And if that is right, then the book’s diagnoses and solutions are highly relevant to contemporary challenges after all. Because they address the underlying causes of more acute challenges, indeed, this level of analysis is indispensable to any comprehensive, long-term attempt to grapple with them. The chapter closes with a brief reflection on the overall outlook offered in the book, inviting readers to let go of the dream of legitimizing power through collective self-rule, and accept the ideal of resisting state capture instead as a response to a fallen world.
Robust Causal Realism
Authors: Fales Evan
Published: January 2024

This chapter defends a variety of causal primitivism: causal relations are basic and in some instances directly perceived; they cannot be analyzed by way of subjunctives, dispositions, regularities, or the like. The author takes causal relations to be grounded in a second-order non-contingent relation between the fundamental properties that ground (many) laws of nature. Two (related) issues are examined here, one concerning the epistemological implications of the view (specifically, its support for inductive inferences), and the other ontological; viz. exploring the nature of the basis for the relationship between a universal’s nature and the causal relations it bears to other universals.
The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Causal Production
Authors: Illari Phyllis , Russo Federica
Published: January 2024

In the sciences and in everyday talk, language is replete with cases in which we, epistemic agents, are interested in how causes produce effects, in a variety of contexts and situations. In this chapter, the authors develop the account of causal production as information transmission which they initially presented in previous work. Specifically, in this contribution they explain the role of causal production within the ‘mosaic’ of causal theory, and how a metaphysics for causal production as information transmission is in need of a set of epistemological strategies to trace whether information is transmitted or not; such epistemological strategies can be in terms of ‘variation’ as well as ‘information transmission’. The authors explain the ‘ontoepistemological’ combination of information transmission and of variation with the aid of four episodes of causal production.
Epistemic Causality and its Application to the Social and Cognitive Sciences
Authors: Shan Yafeng , Taylor Samuel D. , Williamson Jon
Published: January 2024

The epistemic theory of causality views causality as a tool that helps us to predict, explain, and control our world, rather than as a relation that exists independently of our epistemic practices. In this chapter, the authors first provide an introduction to the epistemic theory of causality. They then outline four considerations that motivate the epistemic theory: the failure of standard theories of causality; parsimony; the epistemology of causality; and neutrality. These four considerations are illustrated in the contexts of the social sciences and the cognitive sciences. The authors argue that the epistemic theory provides a very natural account of causality across these contexts.
Urban population
Authors: Barthelemy Marc , Verbavatz Vincent
Published: January 2024

In this chapter, we will see what we mean by urban population and the limitations that are brought to this measure by the problem of defining cities. We illustrate this problem on the historical case of the city of Paris from the fourth century to nowadays. We then discuss two types of definitions of cities that are either morphological or functional. This allows us to introduce define and discuss the most used definitions of cities (the FUA – functional urban area used by the OECD and the LUZ -larger urban zones used in Europe). Finally, we discuss an important source of data which is the Gridded Population of the World (GPW) project. This GPW provides a spatially disaggregated population layer that is compatible with other datasets from social, economic, earth sciences disciplines or from remote sensing. This spatially explicit data is a necessary ingredient for a consistent approach in empirical analysis, and policy-making.
Cortical comparisons
Authors: Wise Steven P.
Published: January 2024

Fossils tell us about the timing of cortical expansion but reveal almost nothing about the evolution of cortical maps, which requires comparative research on living species. Maps from many mammals would be ideal, but the field relies instead on data from a few, reasonably well-studied species. Tree shrews and galagos, because of their places on the Euarchontan evolutionary tree, are especially important for understanding cortical evolution in primates. It is also essential to dispel some misconceptions. For instance, neuroscientists sometimes treat broad regions of cortex, such as the prefrontal cortex or the posterior parietal cortex, as a single thing. Consequently, small and relatively simple cortical regions in rodents are wrongly equated with large, complex suites of areas in primates. Other discredited ideas include replica-in-miniature-, amalgam-, triune-brain-, and dual-origin theories.
Testifying to the Troubles
Authors: Hamilton Tom
Published: January 2024

In the criminal chamber of the Parlement of Paris, magistrates sought to determine not only whether the acts Mathurin Delacanche allegedly committed took place, but also whether they occurred as part of the troubles, whether they responded to his own private initiative, and whether they were sufficiently severe to constitute what the Edict of Nantes (1598) defined in its article 86 as ‘execrable crimes’. The terms of that article made a significant contribution to the laws of war in pre-modern Europe, but it has been overlooked by historians. This chapter shows how Renée Chevalier’s prosecution of Delacanche reveals the significance of this provision in the Edict of Nantes concerning the laws of war, a provision that did not depend on the published theoretical works of major jurists, but instead relied on the sophisticated practice of criminal justice in French courts.
The Individualization of IHL Rules through Criminalization for War Crimes
Authors: Gaeta Paola , Jain Abhimanyu George
Published: January 2024

In this chapter, Paola Gaeta and Abhimanyu George Jain highlight a prioritization of individual criminal responsibility for war crimes over the enforcement of collective responsibility upon states and armed groups under IHL, and frame this prioritization as a form of individualization of IHL rules. They trace the origins and acceleration of this phenomenon and outline its processes, before turning to consider its possibly unintended and undesirable consequences for the underlying IHL norms. In the process of interpretation of IHL rules within the institutional frameworks and requirements of individual criminal responsibility, IHL norms are distorted, and IHL norms which are amenable to individualization are prioritized over those which are not. Ultimately Gaeta and George Jain argue that the prioritization of individual criminal over collective responsibility—individualization—while understandable, demands caution, in part because of the risk of abandoning the project of resuscitating and enhancing prospects for collective responsibility, and in part because of the challenges and limitations of individual criminal responsibility.
Developing a Conceptual Framework for Global South ComparisonsColombian and South African Contributions
Authors: Bilchitz David , Cachalia Raisa
Published: January 2024

This introductory chapter develops the conceptual framework of the book which focuses on three ideas and the relationship between them: transitional justice, distributive justice, and transformative constitutionalism. It seeks to highlight the relevance and importance of these concepts to comparisons of Global South societies and then explain why this framework is particularly apposite to comparing Colombia and South Africa. This is followed by a discussion of the book’s approach to addressing the challenges of conducting Global South comparisons, which naturally leads to an explanation and justification for the specific methodology adopted in the book. That methodology involves the identification of specific themes on which authors write chapters about Colombia or South Africa and then a joint reflection on what emerges from considering the comparison between them. Finally, this chapter outlines the different segments of the book and the themes around which the chapters are organised, and provides a brief outline of the key arguments made by the authors.