bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lipid peroxidation and stress-induced signalling molecules in systemic resistance mediated by azelaic acid/AZELAIC ACID INDUCED1: signal initiation and propagation
Authors: Priya Reddy Y. N. , Oelmüller Ralf
Published: March 2024

Systemic acquired resistance protects plants against a broad spectrum of secondary infections by pathogens. A crucial compound involved in the systemic spread of the threat information after primary pathogen infection is the C9 oxylipin azelaic acid (AZA), a breakdown product of unsaturated C18 fatty acids. AZA is generated during lipid peroxidation in the plastids and accumulates in response to various abiotic and biotic stresses. AZA stimulates the expression of AZELAIC ACID INDUCED1 (AZI1), and a pool of AZI1 accumulates in the plastid envelope in association with AZA. AZA and AZI1 utilize the symplastic pathway to travel through the plasmodesmata to neighbouring cells to induce systemic stress resistance responses in distal tissues. Here, we describe the synthesis, travel and function of AZA and AZI1 and discuss open questions of signal initiation and propagation.
Adsorption of stable and labile emerging pollutants on activated carbon: degradation and mass transfer kinetic study
Authors: Díaz Eva , García Laura , Ordóñez Salvador
Published: March 2024

The design of adsorption processes for pharmaceuticals removal depends not only on the adsorption equilibrium but also on the mass transfer and adsorbate stability, being a problem still not solved the case of degradation products. By selecting different stable (amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, carbamazepine and ibuprofen) and labile micropollutants (omeprazole) as case studies emerging pollutants, we have quantitatively analysed these effects on activated carbon. For stable compounds, the experimental data were fitted to equilibrium models to obtain information about the different adsorption mechanism depending on the characteristics of the molecules. Mass transfer effects were analysed for all the adsorbates, observing the control of intraparticle pore diffusion mechanism, since the effective pore diffusion coefficient is in the range from 10–8 to 10–10 cm2 h−1. As far as omeprazole is concerned, a kinetic model is proposed for predicting its degradation, identifying the reversibility of several degradation steps. The overall adsorption of OMP and derivates is calculated, observing the pore diffusion is considered as the rate-limiting step. For the first time, a combined model considering the chemical degradation and the adsorption of the degradation products is proposed and experimentally validated. This represents an important step in the modelling of processes leading to the purification of water from this type of pollutant.
Get out from my field! The role of agricultural crops in shaping the habitat selection by and suitability for the crested porcupine in Central Italy
Authors: Franchini Marcello , Frangini Lorenzo , Viviano Andrea , Filacorda Stefano , Stokel Giacomo , Mori Emiliano
Published: March 2024

‘Agricultural pests’ is a locution used to indicate those wild species considered as dangerous to crops. The crested porcupine Hystrix cristata is a semi–fossorial rodent considered as one of the main agricultural pests by farmers in Italy. Assessing the role of agriculture in shaping the porcupine’s space use is of great importance to develop proper management and conservation strategies. The goal of this study was to quantify the degree of habitat selection by and suitability for porcupines in Central Italy to assess the potential influence of agricultural fields on the ecology of this rodent. The habitat suitability analysis was realized using presence–only data implemented in the MAXENT Software, while the habitat selection analysis was carried out using the Jacobs’ selectivity index. Our research revealed that croplands have an important role in the overall habitat suitability for porcupines. However, during the warm period, all habitats were used according to their availability. Conversely, orchards, vineyards, and olive groves were preferred during the cold period. Our findings suggest that the use of agricultural crops in accordance with their availability during the warm season and the preference shown for orchards, vineyards, and olive groves during the cold one, highlight that porcupine–famer negative interactions may occur in the area. The implementation of proper prevention measures is therefore strongly suggested, especially during the cold period, to reduce the potential impacts on agriculture.
Diagnosis and treatment of Paget’s disease of bone: position paper from the Italian Society of Osteoporosis, Mineral Metabolism and Skeletal Diseases (SIOMMMS)
Authors: Rendina D. , Falchetti A. , Diacinti D. , Bertoldo F. , Merlotti D. , Giannini S. , Cianferotti L. , Girasole G. , Di Monaco M. , Gonnelli S. , Malavolta N. , Minisola S. , Vescini F. , Rossini M. , Frediani B. , Chiodini I. , Asciutti F. , Gennari L.
Published: March 2024

Introduction

Paget’s disease of bone is a focal skeletal disorder causing bone deformities and impairing bone quality. Despite the prevalence of asymptomatic cases is increasing, the progression of the disease can lead to invalidating complications that compromise the quality of life. Doubts on clinical and therapeutic management aspects exist, although beneficial effects of antiresorptive drugs, particularly bisphosphonates are known. However, limited information is available from randomized controlled trials on the prevention of disease complications so that somewhat contrasting positions about treatment indications between expert panels from the main scientific societies of metabolic bone diseases exist. This task force, composed by expert representatives appointed by the Italian Society of Osteoporosis, Mineral Metabolism and Skeletal Diseases and members of the Italian Association of Paget’s disease of bone, felt the necessity for more specific and up to date indications for an early diagnosis and clinical management.

Methods

Through selected key questions, we propose evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. In the lack of good evidence to support clear recommendations, available information from the literature together with expert opinion of the panel was used to provide suggestions for the clinical practice.

Results and conclusion

Description of the evidence quality and support of the strength of the statements was provided on each of the selected key questions. The diagnosis of PDB should be mainly based on symptoms and the typical biochemical and radiological features. While treatment is mandatory to all the symptomatic cases at diagnosis, less evidence is available on treatment indications in asymptomatic as well as in previously treated patients in the presence of biochemical recurrence. However, given the safety and long-term efficacy of potent intravenous bisphosphonates such as zoledronate, a suggestion to treat most if not all cases at the time of diagnosis was released.
Psychological symptoms and brain activity alterations in women with PCOS and their relation to the reduced quality of life: a narrative review
Authors: Pinto J. , Cera N. , Pignatelli D.
Published: March 2024

Background

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common feminine endocrine disorder, characterized by androgen excess, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology. The negative impact of symptoms on the quality of life (QoL) of patients is still not clear.

Purpose

The present review aimed at studying the impact of the symptoms, the psychological symptoms, and brain alterations in women with PCOS.

Methods

A systematic search was undertaken for studies that assessed the impact of PCOS symptoms on QoL, psychological symptoms, and brain alterations in PCOS patients.

Results

Most of the information about QoL came from psychometric studies, which used culture-based questionnaires. Alterations of sleep quality, body image, and mood disorders can negatively affect the QoL of the patients. Sexual satisfaction and desire were affected by PCOS. Brain imaging studies showed functional alterations that are associated with impairments of visuospatial working memory, episodic and verbal memory, attention, and executive function.

Conclusions

Several factors can negatively influence the quality of life of the patients, and they are directly related to hyperandrogenism and the risk of infertility. In particular, obesity, hirsutism, acne, and the fear of infertility can have a direct impact on self-esteem and sexual function. Metabolic and psychiatric comorbidities, such as mood, anxiety, and eating disorders, can affect the well-being of the patients. Moreover, specific cognitive alterations, such as impairments in attention and memory, can limit PCOS patients in a series of aspects of daily life.
Program Evaluation of the radKIDS® Youth Personal Empowerment Safety Education Program
Authors: Johnson-Shelton Deborah , Daley Stephen M. , Gau Jeff , Canavan Naomi , Kress Victoria E.
Published: March 2024

Developing sound evidence of program effectiveness can be difficult for many programs initiated by schools and communities, and impedes many beneficial programs from broader dissemination. This paper shares results of an evaluation approach used with a bullying and victimization prevention program with elementary school children called the radKIDS® Personal Empowerment and Safety Education Program. The purpose of this study was to examine indicators of initial effectiveness of the radKIDS® program for elementary school child safety skill development and instructor training to reduce child victimization and associated trauma and empower healthy psychosocial child development. The study involved 330 active radKIDS® instructors surveyed during two separate two-week periods, resulting in 148 completed questionnaires (45%). Instructors rated their perceptions of what children effectively learned in radKIDS®, the effectiveness of instructor training, and on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies addressed in the program. Evaluation findings confirmed the theoretical model of the program, and that the developmental safety domains impacting children in radKIDS® differs from those in other bullying prevention interventions focused on SEL and other competencies. Recommended areas of improvement for the program included making training less time consuming and more flexible in delivery, provide more practice opportunities and time on skill acquisition during training, and increase supervision and guidance during program implementation.
Erfahrungen mit arbeitsphysiologischen Untersuchungen unter Bedingungen der COVID-19-Pandemie
Authors: Steinhilber Benjamin , Thielmann Beatrice , Böckelmann Irina , Klussmann André , Rieger Monika A. , Liebers Falk
Published: March 2024

Während der COVID-19-Pandemie kam es zu weitreichenden Einschränkungen in der arbeitsphysiologischen Forschung. Laufende Studien wurden eingestellt oder konnten nur unter strengen Hygienemaßnahmen fortgeführt werden. Dies gefährdete sowohl die Qualität der Forschungsergebnisse als auch damit verbundene akademische Qualifikationsarbeiten. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden daher die Erfahrungen von Wissenschaftler*innen aus vier wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen zur Umsetzung arbeitsphysiologischer Forschung und Lehre während der Pandemie geschildert, die unter verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen, institutionellen und infrastrukturellen Rahmenbedingungen abliefen. Die Autorengruppe hat auf dieser Basis eine Checkliste erarbeitet, mit der eine Gefährdungsbeurteilung für die Durchführung arbeitsphysiologischer Labor- und Feldforschung unter erhöhtem infektiösem Gefährdungspotenzial, wie z. B. während einer erneuten Pandemie- oder Grippewelle, durchgeführt werden kann. In der Zusammenführung der Erfahrungen zeigte sich, dass die entwickelten Arbeitsschutzkonzepte ständig überprüft und gemäß gesetzlichen Vorgaben, der Infektionslage sowie des Impfstatus innerhalb der Bevölkerung angepasst werden müssen. Auch die Schulung der Studienteams zur richtigen Anwendung der eingesetzten Schutzmaßnahmen wurde als wichtig erachtet, ebenso wie die Kommunikation mit den Studienteilnehmenden zu den ergriffenen Schutzmaßnahmen. Darüber hinaus ist es empfehlenswert, das Arbeitsschutzkonzept (inkl. Hygienekonzept) mit der beratenden Ethikkommission und dem Betriebsärztlichen Dienst der jeweiligen Forschungseinrichtung abzustimmen. In der Checkliste selbst werden die wesentlichen Gefährdungen mit passenden Schutzmaßnahmen beschrieben, so dass Gefährdungen erkannt und angemessene Maßnahmen abgeleitet werden können. Obwohl an den vier Standorten keine SARS-CoV-2-Infektionen aufgrund der Forschungsaktivitäten bekannt wurden, muss eingeräumt werden, dass die Wirksamkeit der eingesetzten Maßnahmen nicht aktiv überprüft wurde. Dennoch legen aktuelle Studien zur Wirksamkeit unterschiedlicher Schutzmaßnahmen nahe, dass die entwickelte Checkliste wichtige und wirkungsvolle Maßnahmen enthält. Eine Wichtung der Maßnahmen wurde nicht vorgenommen, jedoch wurden sie entsprechend dem T‑O-P-Prinzip charakterisiert.
A multi-intent-aware recommendation algorithm based on interactive graph convolutional networks
Authors: Zhang Junsan , Gao Hui , Xiao Sen , Zhu Jie , Wang Jian
Published: March 2024

In recent years, graph neural networks (GNNs) have been widely applied in recommender systems. However, existing recommendation algorithms based on GNNs still face challenges in node aggregation and feature extraction processes because they often lack the ability to capture the interactions between users and items, as well as users’ multiple intentions. This hinders accurate understanding of users’ needs. To address the aforementioned issues, we propose a recommendation model called multi-intent-aware interactive graph convolutional network (Multi-IAIGCN). This model is capable of integrating multiple user intents and adopts an interactive convolution approach to better capture the information on the interaction between users and items. First, before the interaction between users and items begins, user intents are divided and mapped into a graph. Next, interactive convolutions are applied to the user and item trees. Finally, by aggregating different features of user intents, predictions of user preferences are made. Extensive experiments on three publicly available datasets demonstrate that Multi-IAIGCN outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods or can achieve results comparable to those of existing state-of-the-art methods in terms of recall and NDCG, thus verifying the effectiveness of Multi-IAIGCN.
IgA Nephropathy and Remitting Seronegative Symmetrical Synovitis with Pitting Edema (RS3PE): A Case Report
Authors: Damas Juliana , Marouço Catarina , Barata Rui , Pereira Tiago Assis , Fonseca Nuno Moreira , Navarro David , Góis Mário , Viana Helena , Sousa João , Gruner Heidi , Jorge Cristina
Published: March 2024

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) remains the most frequent glomerular disease worldwide, with a broad spectrum of clinical and histological presentations. It has been associated with many secondary causes. The remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema (RS3PE) syndrome is an autoimmune disorder characterized by swelling in the extremities and negative autoimmune serological tests. The primary treatment for this condition involves the use of immunosuppressive therapy. Although several triggers have been identified, the exact cause of this condition is still unknown. We report a case of a 53-year-old man who presented with acute exacerbation of chronic kidney disease, whose etiological study revealed advanced IgAN, associated with pleural and pericardial effusions. Even with volume optimization and dialysis intensification, the pericardial effusion worsened, despite the resolving pleural effusion. Upper arm arthralgias were developed afterward. An extensive study ruled out other causes and the hypothesis of RS3PE syndrome was considered. Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy was instituted for 6 months with clinical improvement and no recurrence at 2 years follow-up. The complexity of this case shows the importance of considering a wider diagnosis for the complaints of arthralgias and volume overload, reinforcing the importance of clinical awareness for other concurrent conditions, whose treatment may be lifesaving.
Building a Competency Framework to Integrate Inter-disciplinary Precision Medicine Capabilities into the Medical Technology and Pharmaceutical Industry
Authors: Conway Nicholette , Chisholm Orin
Published: March 2024

Introduction

Integration of precision medicine (PM) competencies across the Medical Technology and Pharmaceutical industry is critical to enable industry professionals to understand and develop the skills needed to navigate the opportunities arising from rapid scientific and technological innovation in PM. Our objective was to identify the key competency domains required by industry professionals to enable them to upskill themselves in PM-related aspects of their roles.

Methods

A desktop research review of current literature, curriculum, and healthcare trends identified a core set of domains and subdomains related to PM competencies that were consistent across multiple disciplines and competency frameworks. A survey was used to confirm the applicability of these domains to the cross-functional and multi-disciplinary work practices of industry professionals. Companies were requested to trial the domains to determine their relevance in practice and feedback was obtained.

Results

Four PM-relevant domains were identified from the literature review: medical science and technology; translational and clinical application; governance and regulation and professional practice. Survey results refined these domains, and case studies within companies confirmed the potential for this framework to be used as an adjunct to current role specific competency frameworks to provide a specific focus on needed PM capabilities.

Conclusion

The framework was well accepted by local industry as a supplement to role specific competency frameworks to provide a structure on how to integrate new and evolving technologies into their current workforce development planning and build a continuous learning and cross-disciplinary mindset.
Vertical distribution and phylogenetic characterization of marine Archaea in the western subarctic Pacific
Authors: Chen Gang , Satake Takaaki , Sugiura Norio , Utsumi Motoo
Published: March 2024

Archaea represent a prevalent and abundant microbial group and are believed to play a crucial role in marine ecosystems. Archaeal distribution remains poorly resolved in the western subarctic Pacific (WSP). We investigated the relative abundance, vertical distribution, and phylogenetic composition of Archaea in WSP. The abundance of Euryarchaeota marine group II (Poseidoniales) was the highest (> 77%) in the epipelagic layer and decreased with depth, the abundance of Thaumarchaeota increased with depth, and Euryarchaeota marine group III (Pontarchaea) was absent in the epipelagic layer but was highly abundant in mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers. Based on phylogenic analyses of archaeal 16S rRNA gene partial sequences, we noted that archaeal phylotypes in the epipelagic layer were different from those in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers. The phylogenetic composition in the archaeal community was strongly segregated along a depth gradient. The Shannon index and the richness values revealed that the mesopelagic layer was the most diverse habitat of the archaeal community. Additionally, the trends of the vertical distribution of Archaea and Thaumarchaeota, elucidated through the qPCR assay, at station K2 were similar to those documented in other ocean regions, although their absolute quantity was low. Moreover, the unexpected bias in qPCR was noted to be caused by the commonly used Thaumarchaeota-specific primer MCGI391F, which mismatched some sequences derived from the epipelagic water.
Medieval Riverscapes
Authors: Arnold Ellen F.
Published: March 2024

Fishermen, monks, saints, and dragons met in medieval riverscapes; their interactions reveal a rich and complex world. Using religious narrative sources to evaluate the environmental mentalities of medieval communities, Ellen F. Arnold explores the cultural meanings applied to rivers over a broad span of time, ca. 300-1100 CE. Hagiographical material, poetry, charters, chronicles, and historiographical works are explored to examine the medieval environmental imaginations about rivers, and how storytelling and memory are connected to lived experiences in riverscapes. She argues that rivers provided unique opportunities for medieval communities to understand and respond to ecological and socio-cultural transformations, and to connect their ideas about the shared religious past to hopes about the future.
Applied Science
Authors: Bud Robert
Published: March 2024

For almost two centuries, the category of 'applied science' was widely taken to be both real and important. Then, its use faded. How could an entire category of science appear and disappear? By taking a longue durée approach to British attitudes across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Robert Bud explores the scientific and cultural trends that led to such a dramatic rise and fall. He traces the prospects and consequences that gave the term meaning, from its origins to its heyday as an elixir to cure many of the economic, cultural, and political ills of the UK, eventually overtaken by its competitor, 'technology'. Bud examines how 'applied science' was shaped by educational and research institutions, sociotechnical imaginaries, and political ideologies and explores the extent to which non-scientific lay opinion, mediated by politicians and newspapers, could become a driver in the classification of science.
Entering the Moral Middle Ground
Authors: Hermans Hubert J. M.
Published: March 2024

Many social and political groups consider each other as enemies rather than opponents with whom one can openly disagree. By introducing the concept of a moral middle ground, this book aims to overcome the perceived separation between good and bad, highlighting the possibility that human actions are permissible, understandable, and even valuable. To elucidate the nature of the moral middle ground and its psychological potentials, the author uses his theoretical framework, Dialogical Self Theory (DST). On the basis of these ideas, he portrays a variety of phenomena, including healthy selfishness, black humor, white lies, hypocrisy and the world views of some historical figures. He then demonstrates how the moral middle ground contributes to the development of a human and ecological identity. As a result, students and researchers in various disciplines, including psychology, literary studies, moral philosophy, political science, history, sociology, theology and cultural anthropology, will benefit from this book.
Cultural Psychology and Acculturation
Authors: Boski Pawel
Published: March 2024

This Element offers a new theoretical model of acculturation within the general framework of cultural psychology. It is divided into four sections. First, cross-cultural and cultural orientations are contrasted. The psychology of economic migration (EARN), separate from the psychology of acculturation (LEARN), is the theme of the next section. Berry's model of acculturation preferences is discussed in section three. It serves as a contrasting reference point for the tripartite model of bicultural competencies, developed in the final section. The three interconnected components are symbols, language, and values/practices characterize both enculturation and acculturation. As a second culture learning process, acculturation is not restricted to immigration. It may take a vicarious (remote) shape in the home country. Reaching bicultural competencies and identities, in the long run, is the proposed outcome of acculturation.
Numerical Cognition and the Epistemology of Arithmetic
Authors: Pantsar Markus
Published: March 2024

Arithmetic is one of the foundations of our educational systems, but what exactly is it? Numbers are everywhere in our modern societies, but what is our knowledge of numbers really about? This book provides a philosophical account of arithmetical knowledge that is based on the state-of-the-art empirical studies of numerical cognition. It explains how humans have developed arithmetic from humble origins to its modern status as an almost universally possessed knowledge and skill. Central to the account is the realization that while arithmetic is a human creation, the development of arithmetic is constrained by our evolutionarily developed cognitive architecture. Arithmetic is a sophisticated cultural development, but it is ultimately based on abilities with numerosities that we already possess as infants and share with many non-human animals. Therefore, arithmetic is not purely conventional, an arbitrary game akin to chess. Instead, arithmetic is deeply connected to our basic cognitive capacities.
Intensifiers in Late Modern English
Authors: Claridge Claudia , Jonsson Ewa , Kytö Merja
Published: March 2024

The development of intensifiers has long been identified as an area of vibrant change in Late Modern English. This groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive study of intensifiers in this period, and shows how they have changed over time. It uses speech-based and interactive data from the Old Bailey courthouse in London, enriched by extralinguistic information in the Old Bailey Corpus, to investigate an unprecedented range of intensifiers, including downtoners, boosters, and maximizers. The courtroom acts as a social microcosm of the period, providing unique insights on gender, class, and courtroom roles, and their effects on language use. The usage of intensifiers is illuminated from a lexico-grammatical angle, focusing on their formal and semantic features, as well as those of the items they modify. These perspectives are linked to temporal developments from 1720 to 1913, to offer a complete picture of variation and change in the intensifier area.
Popular Culture and the End of Antiquity in Southern Gaul, c. 400–550
Authors: Grig Lucy
Published: March 2024

This book offers a new look at the transformation of the classical world in Late Antiquity. It focuses on a particular region, rich in both archaeological and literary evidence, and examines the social, cultural and religious history of late antique southern Gaul through the lens of popular culture. Using material culture, comparative and theoretical material alongside the often dominant normative and prescriptive texts produced by the late antique church, Lucy Grig shines a fresh light on the period. She explores city and countryside alike as contexts for late antique popular culture, and consider a range of case-studies, including the vibrant late antique festival of the Kalends of January. In this way important questions of continuity, change and historical agency are brought to the fore. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.
Judging Refugees
Authors: Vogl Anthea
Published: March 2024

To access state-based refugee protection regimes, refugee applicants must speak. They must narrate the basis of their claims in person, often before a single decision-maker, repeatedly and at length. In Judging Refugees Anthea Vogl investigates the black box of the refugee oral hearing and the politics of narrative within individualised processes for refugee status determination (RSD). Drawing on a rich archive of administrative oral hearings in Australia and Canada, Vogl sets global trends of diminished and fast-tracked RSD against the critical role played by the discretionary spaces of refugee decision-making, and the gate-keeping functions of credibility assessment. Judging Refugees explores the disciplining role of 'good refugee' stories within RSD and demonstrates that refugee applicants must be able to present their evidence in model Anglo-European narrative forms to be judged as authentic, credible and ultimately, to be granted access to protection.
Merchant Crusaders in the Aegean, 1291-1352
Authors: Carr Mike
Published: March 2024

The period from the fall of Acre until the end of the Crusade of Smyrna signified a dramatic shift in crusade impetus, as expeditions to liberate the Holy Land were superseded by those aimed at reducing the maritime power of the Turks in the Aegean. With this shift in impetus came a change in participation, as the members of the merchant republics of Venice and Genoa, together with the Frankish states in the Aegean, began slowly to replace the chivalry of western Europe as the most suitable leaders of a crusade. This resulted in a subtle alteration in how the papacy aimed to justify a crusade and encourage involvement from the merchant crusaders who were vital for its success.
 Drawing on a wealth of previously unexplored sources, including those related to crusading and also those recording trade between Christians and Muslims in the eastern Mediterranean, this book analyses the changing Latin perceptions of the Greeks and Turks during the period, the nature of the military response to the threat posed by the Turks in the Aegean and the relationship between the papacy and the merchant crusaders. In its investigation of the complex interplay between mercantile objectives and crusading ideals, it sheds revealing insights into the complexities of crusading in the later Middle Ages. Mike Carr is Lecturer in Late Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh.
Cuerpos plegables
Authors: Pueyo Víctor
Published: March 2024

Este libro explora la atracción de los "Siglos de oro" por lo monstruoso. Varios trabajos recientes ya han arrojado luz sobre la abundante representación de cuerpos excesivos que afloran en los siglosXVI y XVI y que parecen, acaso, reflejar el lenguaje inflado y deformado a través del cual son descritos en la literatura de la época. Sin obviar sus logros, el libro intenta ir más allá para mostrar que lo más sorprendente de la monstruosidad en este periodo no es la manera en que representa un exceso barroco, sino la forma en que el exceso mismo está estructurado en una imagen dual. Muchos deestos "monstruos" (hermafroditas, bicéfalos o licántropos) ostentan un diseño geminado que permanece, de hecho, inexplicado. Qué explica tal anomalía? Cómo contribuirá esta excepción a modelar la imagen misma de lo normal? Qué tiene que ver con la configuración del nuevo cuerpo político a través del cual las relaciones sociales iban a ser imaginadas, a partir de entonces, en el mundo occidental? Víctor M. Pueyo es profesor titular en el Departamento de Español y Portugués de Temple University. This is a book about the obsession of the Spanish "Golden Age" with the monstrous. Recent research has begun to cast light upon the abundant representation of excessive bodies that mirrors the swelled and deformed language through which they are depicted in early modern literature. Without disregarding its representational approach, the book goes beyond this body of research by arguing that the most surprising element about monstrosity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is not the way it represents Baroque excess, but the way excess itself is structured into a dual image. Most of these "monsters" (hermaphrodites, lycanthropes, two-headed creatures) have a geminated form that remains, indeed, largely unaccounted. What explains such an anomaly? How will it shape the rule? What does it have to do with the configuration of the new body politic through which social relations were going to be imagined in the Western World? Víctor Pueyo is associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Temple University.
New York
Authors: Gross Jill S. , Savitch Hank V.
Published: March 2024

New York became the world's first megacity in the 1930s. Since then it has remained the largest city in North America but, globally, it has been surpassed in size by the younger cities of Asia. Nevertheless its metropolitan area is home to 20 million people and it continues to be America's premier city.

The authors examine the New York metropolis through the lens of a series of twenty-first century pressures related to demography, economic growth, urban development, governance, immigration, leadership and globalization. How New York's institutions and policies have either risen to meet these challenges, stagnated in the face of them, or simply failed to resolve them is the focus of the book. In particular, the authors examine the municipality of New York City and how it navigates the increasingly complex battles with higher levels of government over rights to the city and resource needs.

The book examines the shifting tides of corporate centered development, particularly the vibrant financial sector, and how it has leveraged its powerful geopolitical position in the global economy to continue to grow. The question of governance is explored along with the growing reliance on public-private partnerships to manage megacity problems. Mayoral control and leadership are fundamental to meeting the needs of the residential population along with the demands of business. With over three million immigrants, New York is the most diverse city in North America, but it is also among the most segregated. The authors investigate the positive and negative outcomes that such diversity brings.
Idleness
Authors: Jones Katy , Kumar Ashwin
Published: March 2024

UK workers are stuck in a low-pay, low-productivity rut, with far too many people working in poor quality, insecure jobs, with little training or chance of getting on. Katy Jones and Ashwin Kumar question the mantra that 'work is the best way out of poverty' and examine the in-work poverty that now defines employment for many.

The state's engagement with people out of work is shown to ignore the needs of lone parents and disabled people, and has little concern for skills and career progression. When coupled with the degradation of social infrastructure, such as child care and transport, the barriers to quality work can become insurmountable. Jones and Kumar's insightful analysis reveals the need to move away from positioning unemployment as a 'behavioural problem' to be corrected by coercive labour market policies to one that considers the wider obstacles to better paid, quality jobs.
Resilient Welfare States in the European Union
Authors: Hemerijck Anton , Huguenot-Noël Robin
Published: March 2024

The European welfare systems, established after the Second World War, have been under sustained attack since the late 1970s from the neoliberal drive towards a small state and from the market as the foremost instrument for the efficient allocation of scarce resources. After the 2008 financial crash, Europe's high tax and generous benefits welfare states were, once again, blamed for economic stagnation and political immobilism. If anything, however, the long decade of the Great Recession proved that the welfare state remained a fundamental asset in hard times, stabilizing the economy, protecting households and individuals from poverty, reconciling gendered work and family life, while improving the skills and competences needed in Europe's knowledge economy and ageing society. Finally, the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has, unsurprisingly, brought back into the limelight the productive role of welfare systems in guaranteeing basic security, human capabilities, economic opportunities, and democratic freedoms.

In this important contribution, Anton Hemerijck and Robin Huguenot-Noël examine the nature of European welfare provision and the untruths that surround it. They evaluate the impact of the austerity measures that followed the Great Recession, and consider its future design to better equip European societies to face social change, from global competition to accelerated demographic ageing, the digitalization of work and climate change.
Pursuing the Knowledge Economy
Authors: O'Donovan Nick
Published: March 2024

In the 1990s, the 'knowledge economy' was hailed by policy-makers in developed democracies as an antidote to the anxieties arising from the era of market liberalization - an era characterized by the decline of skilled blue-collar work, increasing levels of social exclusion and widening regional inequality. The shift to knowledge-driven growth appeared to offer policymakers a way of harnessing technological progress and global economic integration for progressive purposes, and justifying progressive policies in terms of the economic benefits that they would produce.

Nick O'Donovan tells the story of how the techno-optimism once associated with the rise of the knowledge economy came to be supplanted by widespread anxiety about technological progress, and how the political consensus that formed around a knowledge-driven growth agenda has unravelled, paving the way for the electoral upheavals experienced by many developed democracies in recent years. By examining the rhetoric and reality of knowledge-driven growth over the last three decades, the book highlights the flawed assumptions underpinning this policy agenda, showing how its economic shortcomings map on to patterns of political discontent evident today. It assesses whether there is scope for rebooting this policy agenda in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, or whether politicians will need to reach beyond it if they are to deliver inclusive prosperity and equitable growth in the future.
Use of an expert elicitation methodology to compare welfare impacts of two approaches for blood sampling European badgers (Meles meles) in the field
Authors: Colloff Adrian , Baker Sandra E , Beausoleil Ngaio J , Sharp Trudy , Golledge Huw , Lane Julie , Cox Ruth , Siwonia Michal , Delahay Richard
Published: March 2024

In the UK and Republic of Ireland, the European badger (Meles meles) is considered the most significant wildlife reservoir of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis, the cause of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). To expand options for bTB surveillance and disease control, the Animal and Plant Health Agency developed a bespoke physical restraint cage to facilitate collection of a small blood sample from a restrained, conscious badger in the field. A key step, prior to pursuing operational deployment of the novel restraint cage, was an assessment of the relative welfare impacts of the approach. We used an established welfare assessment model to elicit expert opinion during two workshops to compare the impacts of the restraint cage approach with the only current alternative for obtaining blood samples from badgers in the field, which involves administration of a general anaesthetic. Eleven panellists participated in the workshops, comprising experts in the fields of wildlife biology, animal welfare science, badger capture and sampling, and veterinary science. Both approaches were assessed to have negative welfare impacts, although in neither case were overall welfare scores higher than intermediate, never exceeding 5–6 out of a possible 8. Based on our assessments, the restraint cage approach is no worse for welfare compared to using general anaesthesia and possibly has a lower overall negative impact on badger welfare. Our results can be used to integrate consideration of badger welfare alongside other factors, including financial cost and efficiency, when selecting a field method for blood sampling free-living badgers.
A LOPEZ-ESCOBAR THEOREM FOR CONTINUOUS DOMAINS
Authors: BAZHENOV NIKOLAY , FOKINA EKATERINA , ROSSEGGER DINO , SOSKOVA ALEXANDRA , VATEV STEFAN
Published: March 2024

We prove an effective version of the Lopez-Escobar theorem for continuous domains. Let

$Mod(\tau )$

be the set of countable structures with universe

$\omega $

in vocabulary

$\tau $

topologized by the Scott topology. We show that an invariant set

$X\subseteq Mod(\tau )$

is

$\Pi ^0_\alpha $

in the Borel hierarchy of this topology if and only if it is definable by a

$\Pi ^p_\alpha $

-formula, a positive

$\Pi ^0_\alpha $

formula in the infinitary logic

$L_{\omega _1\omega }$

. As a corollary of this result we obtain a new pullback theorem for positive computable embeddings: Let

$\mathcal {K}$

be positively computably embeddable in

$\mathcal {K}'$

by

$\Phi $

, then for every

$\Pi ^p_\alpha $

formula

$\xi $

in the vocabulary of

$\mathcal {K}'$

there is a

$\Pi ^p_\alpha $

formula

$\xi ^{*}$

in the vocabulary of

$\mathcal {K}$

such that for all

$\mathcal {A}\in \mathcal {K}$

,

$\mathcal {A}\models \xi ^{*}$

if and only if

$\Phi (\mathcal {A})\models \xi $

. We use this to obtain new results on the possibility of positive computable embeddings into the class of linear orderings.
The influences of narrative perspective shift and scene detail on narrative semantic processing
Authors: Jin Jian , Liu Siyun
Published: March 2024

The embodied view of semantic processing holds that readers achieve reading comprehension through mental simulation of the objects and events described in the narrative. However, it remains unclear whether and how the encoding of linguistic factors in narrative descriptions impacts narrative semantic processing. This study aims to explore this issue under the narrative context with and without perspective shift, which is an important and common linguistic factor in narratives. A sentence-picture verification paradigm combined with eye-tracking measures was used to explore the issue. The results showed that (1) the inter-role perspective shift made the participants’ to evenly allocate their first fixation to different elements in the scene following the new perspective; (2) the internal–external perspective shift increased the participants’ total fixation count when they read the sentence with the perspective shift; (3) the scene detail depicted in the picture did not influence the process of narrative semantic processing. These results suggest that perspective shift can disrupt the coherence of situation model and increase the cognitive load of readers during reading. Moreover, scene detail could not be constructed by readers in natural narrative reading.
Collaborative Research in Imperial Vienna: Science Organization, Statehood, and Civil Society, 1848–1914
Authors: Mattes Johannes
Published: March 2024

This article deals with the goals, practices, and transformations of collaborative research that emerged between and within bureaucratic and bourgeois models of science organization in the late Habsburg monarchy. It offers novel insights into the political, social, and epistemic dimensions of public engagement in research, and evaluates the frameworks, profit expectations, and challenges involved. As will be exemplified by joint undertakings in the High Alps, the “Orient,” and the Adriatic Sea, private-public partnerships in the form of scientific societies or institutional alliances assumed vital functions. Their stakeholders volunteered for large-scale research projects, coordinated and funded infrastructure such as field stations, research vessels, or collecting expeditions, and became driving forces in establishing new forms of intra-imperial and cross-border collaboration. As such, scientific societies are useful indicators for understanding science-related developments and for illuminating the tensions between imperialism, (inter)national aspirations, and civil-society building. Based on sources from the archives of the k.k. Meteorological Society, the Natural Scientific Oriental Society, and the Adriatic Society, this article will analyze scientific collaboration as a purposeful and power-related interaction process, oriented toward mutual benefits, that took place on three levels: between state-owned research facilities and private societies, between bureaucrats and bourgeois, and between scientists and “non-professionals.”
An experimental evaluation of robot-stopping approaches for improving fluency in collaborative robotics
Authors: Scalera Lorenzo , Lozer Federico , Giusti Andrea , Gasparetto Alessandro
Published: March 2024

This paper explores and experimentally compares the effectiveness of robot-stopping approaches based on the speed and separation monitoring for improving fluency in collaborative robotics. In the compared approaches, a supervisory controller checks the distance between the bounding volumes enclosing human operator and robot and prevents potential collisions by determining the robot’s stop time and triggering a stop trajectory if necessary. The methods are tested on a Franka Emika robot with 7 degrees of freedom, involving 27 volunteer participants, who are asked to walk along assigned paths to cyclically intrude the robot workspace, while the manipulator is working. The experimental results show that scaling online the dynamic safety zones is beneficial for improving fluency of human-robot collaboration, showing significant statistical differences with respect to alternative approaches.
Heavy-duty hexapod robot sideline tipping judgment and recovery
Authors: Zhang Lianzhao , Zha Fusheng , Guo Wei , Chen Chen , Sun Lining , Wang Pengfei
Published: March 2024

Heavy-duty hexapod robots are well-suited for physical transportation, disaster relief, and resource exploration. The immense locomotion capabilities conferred by the six appendages of these systems enable traversal over unstructured and challenging terrain. However, tipping can be a serious concern when moving with a tripod gait in these challenging environments, which may cause irreversible consequences such as compromised movement control and potential damage. In this paper, we focus on heavy-duty hexapod robot sideline tipping judgment and recovery during tripod gait motion, and a novel sideline tipping judgment and recovery method is proposed by adjusting an optimal swinging leg to the stance state. Considering the locomotion environments, motion mode, and tipping analysis, the robot’s stability margin is quantified, and the tipping event is evaluated by the Force Angle Stability Measure (FASM). The recovery method is initiated upon detecting that the robot is tipping, which involves the selection of an adjustment leg and the determination of an optimal foothold. Since the FASM is based on the foot force and robot center of gravity (CoG), the stability margin quantification expression is reformulated to the constraint form of quadratic programming (QP). Furthermore, a foot force distribution method, integrating stability margin considerations into the QP model, has been devised to ensure post-adjustment stability of the landing leg. Experiments on tipping judgment and recovery demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches on tipping judgment and recovery.
Research methods for IDs and TBLT: A substantive and methodological review
Authors: Bryfonski Lara , Ku Yunjung (Yunie) , Mackey Alison
Published: March 2024

As part of ongoing efforts to characterize the extent to which tasks and interaction-driven language learning are influenced by individual differences (IDs), task-based researchers have thus far examined variables like learners’ levels of L2 anxiety, motivation, cognitive creativity, working memory capacity, and aptitude. Building on a tradition of prior syntheses in task-based language teaching (TBLT, e.g., Plonsky & Kim, 2016), we carried out a methodological review of the practices used by researchers who have examined learners’ IDs in task-based language learning. We searched journal articles published between 2000 and 2023 and identified 135 unique samples for analysis. Each empirical study was coded for relevant contextual and demographic variables as well as for methodological features related to the investigation of individual differences. We observed that of 30 individual differences investigated in TBLT research over the last two decades, the top five most common were motivation, working memory, L2 proficiency, anxiety, and aptitude. Interesting patterns related to operationalizations, instruments, coding, analyses, and reporting practices. In this paper, we report these results and summarize the most and least common methodological practices, also pointing out gaps and possibilities for future directions. We conclude with recommendations for researchers interested in embarking on empirical investigations of individual differences and TBLT based on best practices.