bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the unicity of the theory of higher categories
Authors: Barwick Clark , Schommer-Pries Christopher
Published: February 2021

We axiomatise the theory of

(
∞
,
n
)

(\infty ,n)

-categories. We prove that the space of theories of

(
∞
,
n
)

(\infty ,n)

-categories is a

B
(

Z

/

2

)
n

B(\mathbb {Z}/2)^n

. We prove that Rezk’s complete Segal

Θ
n

\Theta _n

spaces, Simpson and Tamsamani’s Segal

n
n

-categories, the first author’s

n
n

-fold complete Segal spaces, Kan and the first author’s

n
n

-relative categories, and complete Segal space objects in any model of

(
∞
,
n
−
1
)

(\infty , n-1)

-categories all satisfy our axioms. Consequently, these theories are all equivalent in a manner that is unique up to the action of

(

Z

/

2

)
n

(\mathbb {Z}/2)^n

.
The ER protein Ema19 facilitates the degradation of nonimported mitochondrial precursor proteins
Authors: Laborenz Janina , Bykov Yury S. , Knöringer Katharina , Räschle Markus , Filker Sabine , Prescianotto-Baschong Cristina , Spang Anne , Tatsuta Takashi , Langer Thomas , Storchová Zuzana , Schuldiner Maya , Herrmann Johannes M.
Published: February 2021

Ema19 is an integral endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein with relevance for mitochondrial biogenesis. This yeast, representative of the TMEM97/sigma 2 receptor family, serves as quality control factor which supports the degradation of nonimported mitochondrial proteins. This study again demonstrates the important role of the ER in mitochondrial protein targeting.
Mechanisms that ensure monogamous mating inSaccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Robertson Corrina G. , Clark-Cotton Manuella R. , Lew Daniel J.
Published: February 2021

Yeast cells of different sexes mate by fusing with each other. This Brief Report addresses why a cell surrounded by multiple potential partners only mates with one. By identifying mutants capable of mating with multiple partners, we reveal mechanisms that ensure monogamous mating.
Revising The Scarlet Letter: Race and Motherhood in In the Blood and Little Fires Everywhere
Authors: Williams Susan S
Published: February 2021

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter has generated numerous adaptations. Its depiction of race has made it a problematic ‘master text’, however, especially since it was published in the same year as the US Fugitive Slave Act. This essay examines three recent adaptations across a variety of media that focus on the relationship between race and motherhood, revealing the ways in which Hester Prynne can be integrated into society as a single mother in ways that non-white mothers cannot. Suzan-Lori Parks’ 1998 play In the Blood stages ‘Hester, La Negrita’ as a homeless mother of five who cannot escape the ‘hand of fate’ of racial oppression. Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel Little Fires Everywhere reinvents Hester as a surrogate mother whose efforts on behalf of a birth mother in a trans-racial adoption dispute highlight how race differentially impacts maternal rights. The 2020 Hulu television adaptation of Ng’s novel casts the Hester and Pearl figures, along with an artist named Hawthorne, as black women whose activism forces the Richardson family to acknowledge their white privilege. Together, these adaptations examine how the ‘monstrous birth’ of slavery that Hawthorne only belatedly acknowledged has had a lingering afterlife in constructions of race and motherhood.
L-amino acid oxidase 1 in sperm is associated with reproductive performance in male mice and bulls
Authors: Zhang Haolin , Liu Hong , Kataoka Sachi , Kinukawa Masashi , Uchiyama Kyoko , Kambe Jun , Watanabe Gen , Jin Wanzhu , Nagaoka Kentaro
Published: February 2021

Sperm quality is an important indicator of male fertility, and a suitable biomarker enables the selection of high-quality spermatozoa. We previously found that L-amino acid oxidase encoded by the L-amino acid oxidase 1 (Lao1) gene exerts biological roles in the mammary gland and brain by converting specific L-amino acids into keto acids, ammonia, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Here, we describe the role of Lao1 in male reproduction. Lao1-deficient (Lao1−/−) male mice generated fewer pregnant embryos and pups as well as lower ratios of fertilized oocytes and even ovulated number was not different, suggesting that male subfertility caused the smaller litters. We found that LAO1 expressed in acrosomes is associated with high malformation ratios and low viability of Lao1−/− sperm. Wild-type (WT) sperm produced more H2O2 than Lao1−/− sperm, and 10 μM H2O2 restored knockout (KO) sperm viability in vitro. In addition, the sperm ratio of induced acrosome reaction was higher in WT than in Lao1−/− sperm incubated with the calcium ionophore A23187. Moreover, LAO1 expression was abundant in bovine sperm with high fertilization ratios. We concluded that LAO1 localized in the sperm acrosome influences sperm viability and morphology as well as the acrosome reaction, and that LAO1-deficient sperm might cause male subfertility. Thus, LAO1 might serve as a novel marker for selecting high-quality spermatozoa, especially for livestock reproduction.
Progress Report: Next-Generation Sequencing, Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction, and Broad-Range Molecular Assays as Diagnostic Tools for Fever of Unknown Origin Investigations in Adults
Authors: Wright William F , Simner Patricia J , Carroll Karen C , Auwaerter Paul G
Published: February 2021

Even well into the 21st century, infectious diseases still account for most causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO). Advances in molecular technologies, including broad-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene followed by Sanger sequencing, multiplex PCR assays, and more recently, next-generation sequencing applications, have transitioned from research methods to more commonplace in some clinical microbiology laboratories. They have the potential to supplant traditional microbial identification methods and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Despite the remaining challenges with these technologies, publications in the past decade justify excitement about the potential to transform FUO investigations. We discuss available evidence using these molecular methods for FUO evaluations, including potential cost-benefits and future directions.
Gender Differences in Negotiation: Evidence from Real Estate Transactions
Authors: Andersen Steffen , Marx Julie , Nielsen Kasper Meisner , Vesterlund Lise
Published: February 2021

Negotiations over real estate show that men secure better prices than women. However, gender differences decrease when improving controls for the property's value, and is eliminated when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity in a repeated-sales sample. Rather than evidence of differences in negotiation, price differences result from men and women demanding different properties. Consistently, we find no gender difference in sales prices secured for inherited property. Provided appropriate controls, men and women fare equally well when negotiating over real estate. Our study demonstrates that inference on gender differences in negotiation relies critically on controlling for the value of the negotiated item.
Evidence for radial anisotropy in the lower crust of the Apennines from Bayesian ambient noise tomography in Europe
Authors: Alder C , Debayle E , Bodin T , Paul A , Stehly L , Pedersen H ,   the AlpArray Working Group
Published: February 2021

Probing seismic anisotropy of the lithosphere provides valuable clues on the fabric of rocks. We present a 3-D probabilistic model of shear wave velocity and radial anisotropy of the crust and uppermost mantle of Europe, focusing on the mountain belts of the Alps and Apennines. The model is built from Love and Rayleigh dispersion curves in the period range 5–149 s. Data are extracted from seismic ambient noise recorded at 1521 broad-band stations, including the AlpArray network. The dispersion curves are first combined in a linearized least squares inversion to obtain 2-D maps of group velocity at each period. Love and Rayleigh maps are then jointly inverted at depth for shear wave velocity and radial anisotropy using a Bayesian Monte Carlo scheme that accounts for the trade-off between radial anisotropy and horizontal layering. The isotropic part of our model is consistent with previous studies. However, our anisotropy maps differ from previous large scale studies that suggested the presence of significant radial anisotropy everywhere in the European crust and shallow upper mantle. We observe instead that radial anisotropy is mostly localized beneath the Apennines while most of the remaining European crust and shallow upper mantle is isotropic. We attribute this difference to trade-offs between radial anisotropy and thin (hectometric) layering in previous studies based on least-squares inversions and long period data (>30 s). In contrast, our approach involves a massive data set of short period measurements and a Bayesian inversion that accounts for thin layering. The positive radial anisotropy (VSH > VSV) observed in the lower crust of the Apennines cannot result from thin layering. We rather attribute it to ductile horizontal flow in response to the recent and present-day extension in the region.
Low-latitude reduction-to-the-pole and upward continuation between arbitrary surfaces based on the partial differential equation framework
Authors: Zuo Boxin , Hu Xiangyun , Leão-Santos Marcelo , Cai Yi , Kass Mason Andy , Wang Lizhe , Liu Shuang
Published: February 2021

Magnetic surveys conducted in complex conditions, such as low magnetic latitudes, uneven observation surfaces, or above high-susceptibility sources, pose significant challenges for obtaining stable solutions for reduction-to-the-pole (RTP) and upward-continuation processing on arbitrary surfaces. To tackle these challenges, in this study, we propose constructing an equivalent-susceptibility model based on the partial differential equation (PDE) framework in the space domain. A multilayer equivalent-susceptibility method was used for RTP and upward-continuation operations, thus allowing for application on undulating observation surfaces and strong self-demagnetization effect in a non-uniform mesh. A novel positivity constraint is introduced to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the inversion. We analysed the effect of the depth-weighting function in the inversion of equivalent susceptibility for RTP and upward-continuation reproduction. Iterative and direct solvers were utilized and compared in solving the large, sparse, non-symmetric and ill-conditioned system of linear equations produced by PDE-based equivalent-source construction. Two synthetic models were used to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method in processing both ground and airborne magnetic data. Aeromagnetic and ground data collected in Brazil at a low magnetic latitude region were used to validate the proposed method for processing RTP and upward-continuation operations on magnetic data sets with strong self-demagnetization.
Rare and interesting case of solitary peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm
Authors: Narayana Madhusudana , Basavaraj Nagesh , Nagaraju Smitha , Venkataramanappa Jagmohan Sugnyanasagar
Published: February 2021

We report a rare case of solitary peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm in a patient who was evaluated for haemoptysis. Incidentally, his total antibodies were positive for Coronavirus 2019 infection. Patient underwent right lower lobectomy uneventfully. Peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysms arising from segmental or intrapulmonary branches are extremely rare. Untreated, the majority end fatally due to sudden rupture and exsanguination. The purpose of this article is to report our rare case and review the pertinent literature.
Antiviral activity and mechanism of ESC-1GN from skin secretion of Hylarana guentheri against influenza A virus
Authors: Yang Jie , Zhang Bei , Huang Yingna , Liu Teng , Zeng Baishuang , Chai Jinwei , Wu Jiena , Xu Xueqing
Published: February 2021

Development of new and effective antiinfluenza drugs is critical for prophylaxis and treatment of influenza A virus (IAV) infection. A wide range of amphibian skin secretions have been identified to show antiviral activity. Our previously reported ESC-1GN, a peptide from the skin secretion of Hylarana guentheri, displayed good antimicrobial and antiinflammatory effects. Here, we found that ESC-1GN possessed significant antiviral effects against IAVs. Moreover, ESC-1GN could inhibit the entry of divergent H5N1 and H1N1 virus strains with the IC50 values from 1.29 to 4.59 μM. Mechanism studies demonstrated that ESC-1GN disrupted membrane fusion activity of IAVs by interaction with HA2 subunit. The results of site-directed mutant assay and molecular docking revealed that E105, N50 and the residues around them on HA2 subunit could form hydrogen bonds with amino acid on ESC-1GN, which were critical for ESC-1GN binding to HA2 and inhibiting the entry of IAVs. Altogether, these not only suggest that ESC-1GN maybe represent a new type of excellent template designing drugs against IAVs, but also it may shed light on the immune mechanism and survival strategy of H.guentheri against viral pathogens.
Environmental toxicants, oxidative stress and health adversities: interventions of phytochemicals
Authors: Dwivedi Shiwangi , Kushalan Sharanya , Paithankar Jagdish Gopal , D’Souza Leonard Clinton , Hegde Smitha , Sharma Anurag
Published: February 2021

Objectives

Oxidative stress is the most common factor mediating environmental chemical-induced health adversities. Recently, an exponential rise in the use of phytochemicals as an alternative therapeutics against oxidative stress-mediated diseases has been documented. Due to their free radical quenching property, plant-derived natural products have gained substantial attention as a therapeutic agent in environmental toxicology. The present review aimed to describe the therapeutic role of phytochemicals in mitigating environmental toxicant-mediated sub-cellular and organ toxicities via controlling cellular antioxidant response.

Methods

The present review has covered the recently related studies, mainly focussing on the free radical scavenging role of phytochemicals in environmental toxicology.

Key findings

In vitro and in vivo studies have reported that supplementation of antioxidant-rich compounds can ameliorate the toxicant-induced oxidative stress, thereby improving the health conditions. Improving the cellular antioxidant pool has been considered as a mode of action of phytochemicals. However, the other cellular targets of phytochemicals remain uncertain.

Conclusions

Knowing the therapeutic value of phytochemicals to mitigate the chemical-induced toxicity is an initial stage; mechanistic understanding needs to decipher for development as therapeutics. Moreover, examining the efficacy of phytochemicals against mixer toxicity and identifying the bioactive molecule are major challenges in the field.
Seroprevalence of vaccine-preventable and non-vaccine-preventable infections in migrants in Spain
Authors: Norman Francesca F , Comeche Belén , Martínez-Lacalzada Miguel , Pérez-Molina José-Antonio , Gullón Beatriz , Monge-Maillo Begoña , Chamorro Sandra , López-Vélez Rogelio
Published: February 2021

Background

Updated seroprevalence studies of infections in migrants may aid the design of tailored vaccination and prevention programmes. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence rates for potentially transmissible viral infections in migrants attended at a referral centre in a major European city.

Methods

Descriptive analysis of seroprevalence of vaccine-preventable and non-vaccine-preventable infections in migrants attended at a centre in Madrid, Spain (2018–19). Recorded variables included age, gender, country of birth/continent of origin, time from arrival to Spain until first clinic visit, rubella, measles, mumps, varicella (VZV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV serology.

Results

In total, 468 patients were included, 135 females (28.8%) and 333 males (71.2%), mean age 30.4 years. The majority of patients were from Africa (52.5%, of which 88.2% from sub-Saharan Africa), followed by Latin America (38.5%) and other areas (9%). Seroprevalence for tested migrants for rubella, measles and mumps was < 95% in the group overall (91% rubella, 88% measles, 83% mumps) and lower rates were observed in migrants >20 years (compared with those ≤ 20 years). Over 10% of females were potentially susceptible (negative/indeterminate serology) to rubella (11.4%), measles (12.7%) or mumps (10.3%). Lowest rates of rubella seropositivity were in Latin American migrants (over 12% potentially susceptible); measles and mumps seropositivity was lowest in migrants from areas other than Africa/Latin America (74% and 68%, respectively). Seroprevalence rates were 91% for VZV, 90% overall for HAV, ~6% for HBV chronic infection (~50% of migrants tested susceptible), 2% for HCV and 6% for HIV.

Conclusions

Differences in seroprevalence for vaccine-preventable and transmissible infections according to gender, age range and area of origin were observed. Tailored screening, vaccination and prevention strategies in potentially vulnerable migrant groups should be designed.
Mythimna separata herbivory primes maize resistance in systemic leaves
Authors: Malook Saif ul , Xu Yuxing , Qi Jinfeng , Li Jing , Wang Lei , Wu Jianqiang
Published: February 2021

Biotic and abiotic cues can trigger priming in plants, which enables plants to respond to subsequent challenge with stronger and/or faster responses. It is well known that herbivory activates defense-related responses in systemic leaves. However, little is known about whether insect feeding activates priming in systemic leaves. To determine whether and how herbivory induces priming in maize systemic leaves, a combination of insect bioassays, phytohormone and defense metabolite quantification, and genetic and transcriptome analyses were performed. Actual and simulated Mythimna separata herbivory in maize local leaves primed the systemic leaves for enhanced accumulation of jasmonic acid and benzoxazinoids and increased resistance to M. separata. Activation of priming in maize systemic leaves depends on both the duration of simulated herbivory and perception of M. separata oral secretions in the local leaves, and genetic analysis indicated that jasmonic acid and benzoxazinoids mediate the primed defenses in systemic leaves. Consistently, in response to simulated herbivory, the primed systemic leaves exhibited a large number of genes that were uniquely regulated or showed further up- or down-regulation compared with the non-primed systemic leaves. This study provides new insight into the regulation and ecological function of priming in maize.
Hunting for intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters: an astrometric study of NGC 6441
Authors: Häberle Maximilian , Libralato Mattia , Bellini Andrea , Watkins Laura L , Pott Jörg-Uwe , Neumayer Nadine , van der Marel Roeland P , Piotto Giampaolo , Nardiello Domenico
Published: February 2021

We present an astrometric study of the proper motions (PMs) in the core of the globular cluster NGC 6441. The core of this cluster has a high density and observations with current instrumentation are very challenging. We combine ground-based, high-angular-resolution NACO@VLT images with Hubble Space Telescope ACS/HRC data and measure PMs with a temporal baseline of 15 yr for about 1400 stars in the centremost 15 arcsec of the cluster. We reach a PM precision of ∼30 µas yr−1 for bright, well-measured stars. Our results for the velocity dispersion are in good agreement with other studies and extend already existing analyses of the stellar kinematics of NGC 6441 to its centremost region never probed before. In the innermost arcsecond of the cluster, we measure a velocity dispersion of (19.1 ± 2.0) km s−1 for evolved stars. Because of its high mass, NGC 6441 is a promising candidate for harbouring an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). We combine our measurements with additional data from the literature and compute dynamical models of the cluster. We find an upper limit of $M_{\rm IMBH} \lt 1.32 \times 10^4\, \textrm{M}_\odot$ but we can neither confirm nor rule out its presence. We also refine the dynamical distance of the cluster to $12.74^{+0.16}_{-0.15}$ kpc. Although the hunt for an IMBH in NGC 6441 is not yet concluded, our results show how future observations with extremely large telescopes will benefit from the long temporal baseline offered by existing high-angular-resolution data.
On the dynamical interaction between overshooting convection and an underlying dipole magnetic field – I. The non-dynamo regime
Authors: Korre L , Brummell NH , Garaud P , Guervilly C
Published: February 2021

Motivated by the dynamics in the deep interiors of many stars, we study the interaction between overshooting convection and the large-scale poloidal fields residing in radiative zones. We have run a suite of 3D Boussinesq numerical calculations in a spherical shell that consists of a convection zone with an underlying stable region that initially compactly contains a dipole field. By varying the strength of the convective driving, we find that, in the less turbulent regime, convection acts as turbulent diffusion that removes the field faster than solely molecular diffusion would do. However, in the more turbulent regime, turbulent pumping becomes more efficient and partially counteracts turbulent diffusion, leading to a local accumulation of the field below the overshoot region. These simulations suggest that dipole fields might be confined in underlying stable regions by highly turbulent convective motions at stellar parameters. The confinement is of large-scale field in an average sense and we show that it is reasonably modelled by mean-field ideas. Our findings are particularly interesting for certain models of the Sun, which require a large-scale, poloidal magnetic field to be confined in the solar radiative zone in order to explain simultaneously the uniform rotation of the latter and the thinness of the solar tachocline.
Compensatory renal hypertrophy in reflux nephropathy presenting as hypertensive emergency
Authors: Othman Tan Suria Emilia Suhana , Mohamad Siti Dayana , Ahmad Muhamad Zabidi
Published: February 2021

Hypertensive emergency in the paediatric population is not uncommon. However, due to its numerous etiologies, care should be taken in determining the approach of management. We report a case of a child who presented with double vision, giddiness and elevated blood pressure. Blood investigations were normal. Renal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen were performed which both showed findings suspicious of a large heterogeneous mass at the lower pole of the left kidney with dysplastic right kidney. A final diagnosis of bilateral vesicoureteric reflux with left compensatory hypertrophy was made based upon micturating cystourethrography findings and was later confirmed by 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) study. The objective of this case is to share the importance of the appropriate choice of radiological examinations, not only in achieving an accurate diagnosis but to ensure that unnecessary investigations are avoided.
Cocaine-induced midline destruction
Authors: Ide Veerle , Henckaerts Liesbet , Vanbrabant Peter , Vanderschueren Steven
Published: February 2021

In patients presenting with nasal septum perforation, the differential diagnosis between ANCA-associated vasculitis and cocaine-induced midline destruction (CIMD) can be challenging. We describe the case of a 28-year old man who presented with a nasal septum perforation. He admitted the use of cocaine and showed no other symptoms of systemic inflammation. Perinuclear anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmatic antibodies (p-ANCAs) came back positive, as did anti-proteinase 3-antibodies. Further testing revealed antibodies to human neutrophil elastase (HNE), typically found in CIMD but rarely in ANCA-associated vasculitis. The combination of an atypical ANCA-pattern and the detection of HNE-antibodies led to the diagnosis of CIMD. In conclusion, HNE antibodies can be used to distinguish between CIMD and ANCA-associated vasculitis.
Supracerebellar Infratentorial Infratrochlear Trans-Quadrangular Lobule Approach to Pontine Cavernous Malformations
Authors: Rutledge Caleb , Raper Daniel M S , Rodriguez Rubio Roberto , Winkler Ethan A , Abla Adib A
Published: February 2021

BACKGROUND

Brainstem cavernous malformations with symptomatic hemorrhage have a poor natural history. Those without a pial or ependymal presentation are often observed given the morbidity of resection. Surgical removal is considered only in patients with accessible lesions that have repeated symptomatic hemorrhagic.

OBJECTIVE

To describe a novel supracerebellar infratentorial infratrochlear trans-quadrangular lobule approach to safely resect lesions in the upper pons.

METHODS

We use a hybrid paramedian/lateral suboccipital craniotomy in the gravity-dependent supine position. Opening the cerebellomesencephalic fissure over the tentorial surface of the cerebellum brings the trochlear nerve, branches of the superior cerebellar artery, and the quadrangular lobule of the cerebellum into view. Removal of small a portion of the quadrangular lobule defines an entry point on the superomedial aspect of the middle cerebellar peduncle, and a surgical trajectory aimed superior to inferior.

RESULTS

A total of 6 patients underwent this approach. All presented with symptomatic hemorrhage and all cavernous malformations were completely resected. Five patients were improved or unchanged with modified Rankin scale scores of 1 or 2.

CONCLUSION

The trans-quadrangular lobule approach allows safe resection of upper pontine cavernous malformations along a superior to inferior trajectory.
Cyberwar
Authors: Jamieson Kathleen Hall
Published: February 2021

Cyberwar examines the ways in which Russian interventions not only affected the behaviors of key players but altered the 2016 presidential campaign’s media and social media landscape. After laying out a theory of influence that explains how Russian activities could have produced effects, Jamieson documents the hackers and trolls’ influence on the topics in the news, the questions in the presidential debates, and the social media stream. Drawing on her analysis of messages crafted and amplified by Russian operatives, changes that Russian-hacked content elicited in news and the debates, the scholarly work of other researchers, and Annenberg surveys, she concludes that it is plausible to believe that Russian machinations helped elect Donald J. Trump the 45th president of the United States.
Trauma and the Family
Authors: Grove David R. , Greene Gilbert J. , Lee Mo Yee
Published: February 2021

An analysis of family support or lack of family support as key protective and risk factors is reviewed. Specific aspects of family support is defined and research on how it impacts trauma as both a preventative measure and a central component of the healing process is provided. Research regarding lack of family support and the consequences to the trauma survivor is offered. A description of numerous types of family interactional patterns and they interfere with family support is outlined. Cross-cultural issues related to trauma and trauma treatment are addressed.
Overview of Integrative Family and Systems Treatment (I-FAST)
Authors: Grove David R. , Greene Gilbert J. , Lee Mo Yee
Published: February 2021

This chapter outlines integrative family and systems treatment (I-FAST). Theoretical and philosophical perspectives in which I-FAST is organized around are described. Treatment steps are outlined. Family assessment and goal setting procedures are described. How these procedures are used for in-session and between-session tasks, framing and reframing, and the use of questions as intervention procedures within I-FAST are described. The chapter also discusses how to integrate intervention procedures from any evidence-based trauma treatment into I-FAST and how I-FAST is culturally competent and consistent with trauma-informed care is discussed. Finally, a detailed case example showing the application of I-FAST is offered.
Outcomes and Outlooks
Authors: Smil Vaclav
Published: February 2021

The list of accomplishments resulting from the five grand transitions is both long and impressive. Unprecedented rates and scales of change multiplied population numbers, changed population dynamics; eliminated famines and improved nutrition; raised energy consumption to levels assuring high quality of life, high mobility, and mass-scale instant communication; nearly ended hard physical labor; significantly accelerated economic growth; transformed economic structure; and made material abundance affordable. But there has been a significant cost in terms of many impacts on the biosphere. The coming transition will be challenging not only because of the still-growing global population, significant economic inequalities, and the need to extend the benefits of modern civilization to more than five billion people, but also because of the urgent need to transform our energy structure and to avoid the worst consequences of global climate change. Realistic assessment must see these coming transitions as protracted, multi-decade tasks.
How to Dispel Magic
Authors: Natale Simone
Published: February 2021

This chapter shows that the problem of the observer—that is, the question of how humans respond to witnessing machines that exhibit intelligence—was the subject of substantial reflections in the field of AI in the 1950s and 1960s. As AI developed as a heterogeneous milieu, bringing together multiple disciplinary perspectives and approaches, many acknowledged that users might be deceived in interactions with “intelligent” machines. Most members of the AI community were confident that the deceptive character of AI would be dispelled, similarly to a magic trick, by providing users with a better understanding of computer systems. This approach, however, did not take it into account that deception is not a transitional but a structural component of people’s interactions with computers. The chapter argues that the dream of dispelling the magic aura of computers was superseded by the realization that users’ perceptions of AI systems can be manipulated in order to improve interactions between humans and machines.
Money Doctor in Latin America
Authors: Maes Ivo
Published: February 2021

Robert Triffin started working at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1942. He worked mainly on Latin America and participated in several missions on monetary and banking reforms. They were part of the Roosevelt administration’s Good Neighbor Policy and imbued by New Deal values. Triffin was an open and multicultural person, with both his Belgian and American background. Moreover, as a progressive Catholic with a strong grounding in economics, he was the ideal person for this new type of monetary reform mission. Triffin emphasized that the aim was to put monetary and banking policy at the service of development objectives previously ignored in central bank legislations. This also reflected a change in economic paradigms, from classical economics to Keynesian economics. During this period Triffin wrote a first important essay on the international monetary system, putting global liquidity at the core of the international monetary system.
The Muhammad Avatāra
Authors: Irani Ayesha A.
Published: February 2021

The Muhammad Avatāra: Salvation History, Translation, and the Making of Bengali Islam reveals the powerful role of vernacular translation in the Islamization of Bengal. Its focus is on the magnificent seventeenth-century Nabīvaṃśa of Saiyad Sultān, who lived in Arakanese-controlled Chittagong. Drawing upon the Arabo-Persian Tales of the Prophets genre, the Nabīvaṃśa (“Lineage of the Prophet”) retells the life of the Prophet Muhammad for the first time to Bengalis in their mother-tongue. This book delineates the challenges faced by the author in articulating the pre-eminence of Islam and its Arabian prophet in a land where multiple religious affiliations were common, and when Gauṛīya Vaiṣṇava missionary activity was at its zenith. Sultān played a pioneering role in setting into motion various lexical, literary, performative, theological, and, ultimately, ideological processes that led to the establishment of a distinctively Bengali Islam in east Bengal. At the heart of this transformation lay the persuasiveness of translation on a new Islamic frontier. The Nabīvaṃśa not only kindled a veritable translation movement of Arabo-Persian Islamic literature into Bangla, but established the grammar of creative translation that was to become canonical for this regional tradition. This text-critical study lays bare the sophisticated strategies of translation used by a prominent early modern Muslim Bengali intellectual to invite others to his faith.
The Changing Energy Mix
Authors: Meier Paul F.
Published: February 2021

The energy mix is changing, and renewable energy is growing in importance. If you were born before 1989, you lived in a United States where no electricity was generated from either wind or solar power and very little from geothermal and biomass. By 2018, the combined generation from wind and solar had surpassed hydroelectricity. Fourteen states generated more than 10% of their electricity from wind and three generated more than 30%. And bioethanol, produced from corn grain, made up 10% of the US gasoline market. Changes have also occurred in the nonrenewable energy mix. Coal, which was responsible for 53% of the US electricity generation in 1998 is now only 28%, as natural gas has taken the leadership role, surpassing coal in 2015 as the primary energy for producing electricity. Similarly, the world did not see any electricity generation from wind until 1985 and none from solar until 1989. Now solar plus wind generate 7% of the worldwide electricity. The worldwide demand for all energy types is also increasing rapidly, as energy usage has increased 84% over the last twenty years. This book makes a systematic comparison of twelve different energy types to help understand the driving forces for this changing energy mix. Twelve common criteria are used to provide tools to make these comparisons, such as proven reserves, the levelized cost for each energy type, energy balances, environmental issues, and the energy footprint. Proven reserves are also projected for each renewable energy type.
Resonant Recoveries
Authors: Rogers Jillian C.
Published: February 2021

Resonant Recoveries: French Music and Trauma Between the World Wars illustrates that coping with trauma was a central concern for French musicians active after World War I. The losses and violent warfare of World War I shaped how interwar French musicians—from those fighting in the trenches and working in military hospitals to more well-known musicians—engaged with music. Situated at the intersections of musicology, history, sound and performance studies, and psychology and trauma studies, Resonant Recoveries argues that modernists’ compositions and musical activities were sonorous locations for managing and performing trauma. Through analysis of archival materials, French medical, philosophical, and literary texts, and the music produced between the wars, this book illuminates how music emerged during World War I as an embodied technology of consolation. Resonant Recoveries demonstrates that music making came to be understood by French interwar musicians as a consolatory practice that enhanced their abilities to remember lost loved ones, gave them opportunities to perform their grief publicly and privately, allowed them to create healing bonds of friendship, and soothed them with sonic vibrations and the rhythmically regular bodily movements required in order to perform many French neoclassical compositions. In revealing the importance that music making held for interwar French musicians, this book refigures French modernist music as a therapeutic medium for creators, performers, and audiences, while also underlining the importance of addressing trauma, mourning, and people’s emotional lives in music scholarship.
Introduction
Authors: Rogers Jillian C.
Published: February 2021

This introductory chapter outlines the aims of Resonant Recoveries as well as the book’s theoretical and methodological apparatuses. In introducing one of the central arguments of this book—that music came to operate as a corporeal technology of consolation in interwar France—the introduction provides an overview of how late nineteenth- through mid-twentieth-century French artistic, psychological, sociological, and philosophical discourse framed the body as a privileged site for the production and development of knowledge about oneself and the world. In so doing, this introduction provides the socio-historical background for the historical and musical analysis that follows in subsequent chapters while also advocating a specific mode of interdisciplinary research that investigates how music has historically been conceived as a therapeutic, corporeal medium.
Caught in the Cultural Preference Net
Authors: Camasso Michael J. , Jagannathan Radha
Published: February 2021

In this book, the authors focus their attention on the role that culture, that collection of values, beliefs, attitudes, and preferences responsible for creating national identities, has played and continues to play on individuals’ decisions when they are in or about to enter the labor market. At a time when millennials face many employment challenges and Generation Z can be expected to encounter even more, a clearer understanding of the ways cultural transmission could facilitate or hinder productive and rewarding work would appear to be both useful and well-timed. The book’s title—Caught in the Cultural Preference Net: Three Generations of Employment Choices in Six Capitalist Democracies—conveys the authors’ aim to determine if work-related beliefs, attitudes, and preferences have remained stable across generations or if they have become pliant under changing economic conditions. And while millennials serve as the anchoring point for much of our discussion, they do not neglect the significance that their parents from Generation X (b. 1965–1982) and their baby boomer parents (b. 1945–1964) may have had on their socialization into the world of work. The book is organized around three lines of inquiry: (a) Do some national cultures possess value orientations that are more successful than others in promoting economic opportunity? (b) Does the transmission of these value orientations demonstrate persistence irrespective of economic conditions or are they simply the result of these conditions? (c) If a nation’s beliefs and attitudes do indeed impact opportunity, do they do so by influencing an individual’s preferences and behavioral intentions? The authors’ principal method for isolating the employment effects of cultural transmission is what is referred to as a stated preference experiment. They replicate this experiment in six countries—Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy, India, and the United States—countries that have historically adopted significantly different forms of capitalism. They not only find some strong evidence for cultural stability across countries but also observe an erosion in this stability among millennials.
Not on Holiday: Making Money and Building Dreams
Authors: Woldoff Rachael A. , Litchfield Robert C.
Published: February 2021

Digital nomads have come to Bali to work. Chapter 4 unpacks nomads’ sources of earned income through entrepreneurship, freelancing, and full-time employment. It also details their occupations, which tend to cluster in marketing, e-commerce, coaching, and technology. It then explains the role of coworking spaces in the digital nomad ecosystem and the processes through which digital nomads build and sustain their work-centric community. Many of the more successful nomads continue to work side-by-side with those who are just starting out in this lifestyle. The informal social environment of coworking is supplemented by formal skill share events on topics like quitting one’s job, blogging, coding, podcasting, social media, outsourcing, team-building, partnering, getting investors, and finance that give nascent entrepreneurs opportunities to learn from the community. Bali is a place where people easily find cheerleaders, advisors, and helpers as they pursue their professional dreams.
Interrupted Time Series Analysis
Authors: McDowall David , McCleary Richard , Bartos Bradley J.
Published: February 2021

Interrupted Time Series Analysis develops a comprehensive set of models and methods for drawing causal inferences from time series. Example analyses of social, behavioural, and biomedical time series illustrate a general strategy for building AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) impact models. The classic Box-Jenkins-Tiao model-building strategy is supplemented with recent auxiliary tests for transformation, differencing and model selection. New developments, including Bayesian hypothesis testing and synthetic control group designs are described and their prospects for widespread adoption are discussed. Example analyses make optimal use of graphical illustrations. Mathematical methods used in the example analyses are explicated assuming only exposure to an introductory statistics course. Design and Analysis of Time Series Experiments (DATSE) and other appropriate authorities are cited for formal proofs. Forty completed example analyses are used to demonstrate the implications of model properties. The example analyses are suitable for use as problem sets for classrooms, workshops, and short-courses.
Editor’s Introduction
Authors: Bell Adam Patrick
Published: February 2021

The field of music education has moved beyond the infancy stage with music technology and has taken many strides forward; however, with new growth comes a new challenge: how can a music educator stay current in the rushing river of technologically-churned change? The Music Technology Cookbook responds to this question with many answers from seasoned practitioners in the field. The primary contribution this edited book makes to the field of music education is its broad and diverse presentation of practice-based possibilities for making music with technology in the classroom. It was designed to provide teachers with new ideas and strategies for teaching music technology, and to extend conceptions of what constitutes “music technology.” Music educators are engaging with music technologies to make music with learners of all ages and abilities, and this compilation of lessons provides readers with a singular resource from which to update and expand their current teaching practices.
Seeded Composition (Advanced)
Authors: Adu-Gilmore Leila
Published: February 2021

This open electronic music compositional activity is designed as preparation for a university-level final assignment in any style, including electroacoustic music, electronic dance music, hip-hop, and song. Working with a seed requires discipline and creativity, and when used in the context of electronic music, it pushes composers to learn the ins and outs of the platform they are using. In addition, there is also a reflective written element (scratchpad) embedded in this activity, which is intended to percolate students’ creative goals. Finally, this activity is designed to induce a rigorous, fulfilling, and well-paced compositional process for an autonomous yet supported final piece.
Expanding Your DAW
Authors: Warrington Miles
Published: February 2021

The activity described in this chapter is designed for teenage students and older, using free and open source software called Pure Data (Pd). This activity outlines how to connect a DAW to an open-source object-oriented program, which enables the user to control any function of the external object-oriented program (e.g., Pure Data) with a DAW via MIDI. It must be noted that the method of controlling Pure Data with a DAW outlined in this chapter is but one possible means of achieving this end. With further exploration and study, many alternative and interesting ways to perform a range of exciting and highly imaginative tasks not mentioned here become achievable.
Hybrid Acoustic and Electronic Band Collaboration with Visual Artists (Intermediate)
Authors: Emo Martin
Published: February 2021

This chapter outlines a project involving a performance of a hybrid band (electronic and traditional band instruments) in collaboration with visual arts students. For music educators, authentic performance opportunities are essential for student growth as musicians. This performance project has two aspects: first, it combines traditional acoustic band instruments with computer-based electronic instruments; second, it includes a collaboration with visual arts students. The project can accommodate students with varying levels of experience playing music as well as diverse instrumentation and musical styles. By engaging with interdisciplinary performance, students can appreciate and experience the interconnectedness of different styles and genres of art.
Designing Contour in Music with Minecraft (Intermediate)
Authors: Abrahams Daniel
Published: February 2021

In what ways do composers generate ideas for creating music? Melodies are a succession of tones that move in purposeful ways by step and by leap. In this activity we will investigate how contour helps show how melodies move. In this lesson designed for young children in Grades 3 to 5, students will use Minecraft with the CompositionCraft Modification to create their own topography which will include a variety of elevations that shape their Minecraft worlds. Understanding topographic contours in the environment serves as a helpful analogy to discuss and understand musical contours. Using the CompositionCraft Modification in Minecraft, students can build contours that can also be heard as notes in the musical staff.
Survival Governance
Authors: Drahos Peter
Published: February 2021

The climate and energy crisis requires a strong state to change the direction, speed, scale, and financing of innovation in world capitalism in order to create a bio-digital energy paradigm. Four states are possible contenders for catalyzing this survival governance: China, the European Union, India, and the United States. China is an improbable leader, but less improbable than the other three. No US president can close down the fossil fuel industry in time. The US state, worried about the slippage of its technological superiority, is turning to regulatory mechanisms like intellectual property to slow China’s technological development. China will have to manage the risk of a United States bent on military primacy. China is urbanizing innovation on a historically unprecedented scale. Lying at the heart of the bio-digital energy paradigm is a global city-based network of innovation. China, more than the other three states, is scaling technology innovation through the building of experimental cities such as eco-cities, hydrogen cities, forest cities, and sponge cities. The Belt and Road Initiative will take this innovation well outside of China’s borders. China could help to place cities into a new relationship with their surrounding ecosystems. Drawing on more than 250 interviews, carried out in 17 countries, including the world’s four largest carbon emitters, the book shows how cities and their networks represent the best chance for growing climate survival governance for the 21st century.
Conclusion
Authors: Vatter Miguel
Published: February 2021

The Conclusion discusses the symbol of the empty Throne, understood as an image for the connection between theocracy and anarchy. The chapter contrasts Giorgio Agamben’s hypothesis that anarchy is the secret engine of liberal government with the central hypothesis of this book, namely, that Jewish political theology thematizes the paradoxical unity of rule of law and anarchic democracy. The argument is carried out, first, in relation to the idea of a “principle of anarchy” proposed by Reiner Schürmann. The chapter ends by discussing Simone Weil’s hypothesis on the unity between Pythagoreanism and the book of Job and proposing her meditation as an apt interpretation of the meaning of the empty Throne.