bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Climatic Resilience of the Sasanian Empire
Authors: Jacobson Matthew J. , Gascoigne Alison L. , Fleitmann Dominik
Published: January 2025

The Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE) has been given relatively little attention in research on climate-society interactions when compared to the neighboring Byzantine Empire, despite evidence of changing conditions and an agricultural economy that is theoretically vulnerable to droughts due to low annual precipitation. We review the available historical, archaeological, paleo-environmental, and paleo-climatic evidence to assess whether climatic conditions factored into periods of Sasanian growth and decline. We find evidence for drier conditions across Sasanian territories at the turn of the sixth century, a pattern that extends to the Aegean, Anatolia, and Central Asia. These same conditions contributed to a significant decline for the nearby Kingdom of Himyar but occurred alongside a period of expansion and intensification for the Sasanian Empire. We suggest that a combination of careful management of water infrastructure, including qanats, which can conserve water resources during dry periods, and land-use strategies that are both diverse and flexible, may have mitigated the worst impacts of this dry period. However, we note several weaknesses in the available data that still hinder confident interpretations of the potential impacts of climate change in the Sasanian Empire. Notably, there are gaps in the coverage of paleo-hydrological records and a complete lack of terrestrial paleo-temperature records in the region, as well as low resolution and high chronological uncertainties in the archaeological and paleo-environmental evidence.
Edge Laplacians and Edge Poisson Transforms for Graphs
Authors: Arends Christian , Frahm Jan , Hilgert Joachim
Published: January 2025

For a finite graph, we establish natural isomorphisms between eigenspaces of a Laplace operator acting on functions on the edges and eigenspaces of a transfer operator acting on functions on one-sided infinite non-backtracking paths. Interpreting the transfer operator as a classical dynamical system and the Laplace operator as its quantization, this result can be viewed as a quantum-classical correspondence. In contrast to previously established quantum-classical correspondences for the vertex Laplacian which exclude certain exceptional spectral parameters, our correspondence is valid for all parameters. This allows us to relate certain spectral quantities to topological properties of the graph such as the cyclomatic number and the 2-colorability. The quantum-classical correspondence for the edge Laplacian is induced by an edge Poisson transform on the universal covering of the graph which is a tree of bounded degree. In the special case of regular trees, we relate both the vertex and the edge Poisson transform to the representation theory of the automorphism group of the tree and study associated operator valued Hecke algebras.
Race Differences in the Loneliness of Older Adults: Evidence from South Africa
Authors: Posel Dorrit
Published: January 2025

Although the correlates of loneliness among older adults are very well explored in developed countries, there has been far less quantitative research in developing country contexts. This study helps to redress this research lacuna by investigating the loneliness reports of older adults (> 59 years) in South Africa. The analysis focuses on the considerable variation by race in how adults grow old, including in their living arrangements and socio-economic status. Using national micro-data collected in five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study, the study shows that older white adults report significantly fewer episodes of loneliness than other older adults, although they are far more likely to live alone. The gap in loneliness is greatest between older white and older African adults (who are the most likely to live with others), and it persists in multivariate regressions that control for a range of other differences in their individual and household characteristics. One possible explanation for these persistent race differences, which requires further examination, is that they reflect the importance of cultural factors, which are not adequately modelled, and which influence expectations of social interaction.
Enhancing emergency care for older persons: the role and impact of the electronic Frailty Index
Authors: Shiffer Dana , Desai Antonio , Cesari Matteo , Generali Elena , Greco Massimiliano , Savioli Gabriele , Giordano Mauro , Voza Antonio
Published: January 2025

As the elderly population expands, enhancing emergency department (ED) care by assessing frailty becomes increasingly vital. To address this, we developed a novel electronic Frailty Index (eFI) from ED health records, specifically designed to assess frailty and predict hospitalization, in-hospital mortality, ICU admissions, and 30-day ED readmissions. This retrospective, single-center study included patients 65 years old or older who presented to the ED of IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan, Italy, between January 2015 and December 2019. Frailty was assessed using a novel electronic Frailty Index (eFI), based on the cumulative deficit model, incorporating 45 health deficits to quantify frailty. Patients were divided into four quartiles based on eFI scores to explore the association between frailty levels and adverse outcomes, including hospitalization, in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and 30-day ED readmission. The study included 21,537 patients (mean age 77.4, 50.7% males). The median eFI score was 0.16. Hospitalization rates rose significantly with frailty, from 20% in the least frail quartile to 43% in the most frail. Similarly, in-hospital mortality and ICU admissions increased markedly with higher eFI scores, with mortality rates climbing from 0.44 to 5.0% across quartiles. The 30-day ED readmission rates significantly rose from 9.9 to 19.8%. For every 0.01 increase in eFI score, the odds of hospitalization, in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and 30-day ED readmission significantly increased (P < 0.0001). Specifically, the adjusted odds ratios (OR) for hospitalization, in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and ED readmission rose to 3.55, 14.15, 4.70, and 2.22, respectively (P < 0.0001), in the most frail compared to the least frail quartile. The integration of the eFI into ED settings can enable more precise risk stratification and resource allocation, significantly improving patient management and healthcare delivery for older persons in these urgent care contexts.
EduStudio: towards a unified library for student cognitive modeling
Authors: Wu Le , Chen Xiangzhi , Liu Fei , Xie Junsong , Xia Chenao , Tan Zhengtao , Tian Mi , Li Jinglong , Zhang Kun , Lian Defu , Hong Richang , Wang Meng
Published: January 2025

Student cognitive modeling is a fundamental task in the intelligence education field. It serves as the basis for various downstream applications, such as student profiling, personalized educational content recommendation, and adaptive testing. Cognitive Diagnosis (CD) and Knowledge Tracing (KT) are two mainstream categories for student cognitive modeling, which measure the cognitive ability from a limited time (e.g., an exam) and the learning ability dynamics over a long period (e.g., learning records from a year), respectively. Recent efforts have been dedicated to the development of open-source code libraries for student cognitive modeling. However, existing libraries often focus on a particular category and overlook the relationships between them. Additionally, these libraries lack sufficient modularization, which hinders reusability. To address these limitations, we have developed a unified PyTorch-based library EduStudio, which unifies CD and KT for student cognitive modeling. The design philosophy of EduStudio is from two folds. From a horizontal perspective, EduStudio employs the modularization that separates the main step pipeline of each algorithm. From a vertical perspective, we use templates with the inheritance style to implement each module. We also provide eco-services of EduStudio, such as the repository that collects resources about student cognitive modeling and the leaderboard that demonstrates comparison among models. Our open-source project is available at the website of edustudio.ai.
The Effects of International Technology Spillover Channels on Innovation Performance: An Application on Turkish Manufacturing Industry
Authors: Bostan Fikret , Karadağ Metin
Published: January 2025

The increasing pressure of competition in a globalizing world forces the countries to strengthen their market shares in order to grow rapidly. This requires to have technological innovation, and scientific knowledge, as the primary sources. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of international technology spillover channels on the innovation performance of firms operating in the Turkish manufacturing industry. For the aim of the study, the System Generalized Moments Method (SGMM) was used for the estimation of the models. Micro data of the 311 firms covering the period of 2011–2015 were obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT). The results of the study show that domestic R&D stock and especially technology absorptive capacity have significant and strong positive effects on the new product sales of the firms. Also, the findings indicate that the international technology spillover channels which have the most important impact on the innovation performance is foreign direct investments (FDI), and this is followed by the export channel. Depending on the conditional values of technology absorptive capacity in the manufacturing industry, the marginal effects of international technology spillover channels on new product sales differ. As a matter of the fact, when the share of technology absorptive capacity increases, the marginal effects of FDI on new product sales decrease, while the marginal effects of export and technology transfer expenditures increase. As a result, the government should increase the sales of new products of firms by encouraging domestic R&D activities and FDI, thus laying the groundwork for the high and stable economic growth rates.
The positioning of quality and expertise in initial teacher education: policy enactment in the Australian context
Authors: Ryan Mary , Van Bergen Penny , Adlington Rachael , Maurice Olivia
Published: January 2025

Teacher quality and teacher education improvement have been central discourses for at least two decades in global education. In Australia, despite the pervasive nature of these discussions, there is a lack of substantial evidence indicating the existence of a problem in this regard. Policies aimed at enhancing the ‘preparedness’ of teacher graduates and elevating the ‘quality’ of ITE programs have nonetheless emerged as prevalent solutions over the past decade. The latest enactment of reforms in the policy chain is the Strong Beginnings report from the Teacher Education Expert Panel. In this paper, we align with Ball’s perspective that policy should be viewed as a dynamic process rather than a presumed, ready-made solution to a problem. We utilise systematic conceptual coding using Leximancer to enable a nuanced exploration of the understandings, practices, and conditions of influence for the policy actors inscribed in the TEEP report. We also analyse concept frequency and collocation in the final Strong Beginnings report, noting two main propositions: first, that there is a problem with quality in ITE; and second, that practice is foregrounded in professionalisation. We highlight the consistencies and contradictions within the discourses of the final report and the submissions from policy actors that contributed to this policy enactment process. We suggest that evidence is used when it suits a policy position, but ignored if it disrupts the platform position. We conclude by arguing that the policy actors in this policy enactment process should be afforded the professional authority to continue a well-established process of continual improvement.
The effect of the synthesis temperature and time on the formation of boron suboxide
Authors: Karamete Tuba , Biçer Hülya , İyi Çağan Berker , Tuncer Mustafa , Göçmez Hasan
Published: January 2025

Boron suboxide (B6O), offering a good balance between abundance of its constituents and promising tribological performance, is intriguing. Applications such as cutting tools, high-wear resistant coatings, and ballistics would benefit from such properties, however a feasible synthesis method is yet to be realized. The synthesis of B6O under atmospheric pressure is a challenging pursuit, and there is insufficient thermodynamic data for the formation of boron suboxide in the literature. In this study, boron suboxide powder was synthesized by reducing B2O3 by amorphous boron. Phase analysis of the formation of boron suboxide was demonstrated within the temperature range of 1200–1350 °C. The amorphous phase beside boron suboxide is present for all temperature treatments, but the best fitting crystalline phase was observed of the powder synthesized at 1300 °C. The powder was also heat treated at 1300 °C for various hours (2–6 h), and the crystalline phase was only observed for the powder heat treated for 4 h. The morphology of synthesized powder exhibited a star-like morphology. The production of B6O-TiB2 composite powder by reduction of TiO2 by amorphous boron with the excess addition of boron is also reported in this study.
Optimization of laser process parameters and improved corrosion behaviour of LZ/YSZ thermal barrier coating
Authors: Avcı Ali , Karabaş Muhammet , Eker Ayşegül Akdoğan , Akman Erhan
Published: January 2025

Laser processing the surfaces of plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings is one of the methods used to improve the corrosion resistance of the coatings. However, laser glazing alone is not sufficient to fully protect coatings from corrosion. In this study, optimum laser surface modification parameters were determined for plasma-sprayed LZ/YSZ double-layer thermal barrier coatings. The coating surface, whose entire surface was scanned with optimum parameters, was modified with nano YSZ using the electrophoretic deposition technique. Thus, the network cracks formed during laser glazing were filled with nano YSZ. The coating modified by laser and electrophoretic deposition processes was subjected to corrosion tests. As a result of the characterizations, it was determined that the optimum laser surface modification parameters for LZ/YSZ thermal barrier coatings were 200 mm laser distance, 120 scan speed, and 28w laser power. With these parameters, discontinuities on the as-sprayed coating surface were eliminated. A dense layer was successfully created on the LZ layer. As a result of the corrosion tests, it was determined that modifying the laser-glazed surface with nano YSZ reduced the penetration depth of corrosive contaminants. Thus, the glassy melt and hot corrosion resistance of LZ/YSZ thermal barrier coatings was increased.
Comparative economic analysis of batch vs. continuous manufacturing in catalytic heterogeneous processes: impact of catalyst activity maintenance and materials costs on total costs of manufacturing in the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Authors: Mendoza Suarez F. , Tatarchuk B.
Published: January 2025

To evaluate the feasibility of transforming batch manufacturing processes in the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries to continuous synthesis, Capex, Opex and the total cost of manufacturing are estimated for production facilities for the hydrogenation of a nitro compound to its final amino counterpart. Two cases are evaluated: First, a high annual production dedicated plant, designed on the basis of processing 100,000 kg of the principal raw material per year, where raw materials cost, catalyst cost, and catalyst activity maintenance are varied over a broad range for typical industrial cases. Second, a “short campaign” model for a small volume production trial setup designed for the manufacture of only 100 kg of the final product, as a way to evaluate relevant industrial scenarios of scale-up and process development. A comparison is made between slurry batch, catalyst basket batch reactor and fixed bed continuous reactor manufacturing facilities. The hydrogenation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene was chosen as a probe reaction for the development of the manufacturing processes, with costs of the key raw material varying between $5 and $100 per kilogram, costs of catalyst varying between $100 and $1,500 per kilogram, and catalyst activity maintenances varying between 1,000 and 2,000,000 total turnovers before a change in catalyst load is necessary. For low catalyst activity maintenance, the total manufacturing costs for the fixed bed reactor process were always found to be higher than those of the two other alternatives. As catalyst activity maintenance increases, the manufacturing costs for the continuous alternative rapidly fall, reaching savings between 37 and 75% compared to the base batch reactor case, depending on the combination of costs of the key raw material and catalyst used.

Graphical Abstract
What Musicking Affords
Authors: Duby Marc
Published: January 2025

The last three decades of work in cognitive science have challenged the idea that thinking occurs entirely in the head, claiming instead that cognition is embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive. The claims of 4E cognition challenge the dominance of computational approaches to cognition, and music scholars have explored Gibson's notion of affordances to propose a new understanding of musical performance as primarily grounded in action. This Element draws from paradigms such as enactive cognition, cybernetic and systems-theoretical approaches, phenomenological perspectives on practice, Gibson's theory of affordances, and aspects of the author's own practice as a multi-instrumentalist to consider cases of how the interface between musician and instrument influences performance.
Social Behavioral Statistics
Authors: Heredia Roberto R. , Hartley Richard D.
Published: January 2025

Focusing on practical application, this textbook provides clear and concise explanations of statistical tests and techniques that students can apply in real-world situations. It has a dual emphasis: firstly, on doing statistics, and secondly, on understanding statistics, to do away with the mindset that statistics is difficult. Procedural explanations are provided so students know how to apply particular statistical tests and techniques in practical research situations. Conceptual understanding is encouraged to ensure students know not only when and how to apply appropriate techniques, but also why they are using them. Ancillary resources are available including sample answers to exercises, PowerPoint teaching slides, instructor manual, and a test bank. Illustrative figures, real-world data, practice exercises, and software instruction make this an essential resource for mastering statistics for undergraduate and graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences.
Cybersecurity investments and cyber insurance purchases in a non-cooperative game
Authors: Boonen Tim J. , Feng Yang , Tong Zhiwei
Published: January 2025

The growing concern over cyber risk has become a pivotal issue in the business world. Firms can mitigate this risk through two primary strategies: investing in cybersecurity practices and purchasing cyber insurance. Cybersecurity investments reduce the compromise probability, while cyber insurance transfers potential losses to insurers. This study employs a network model for the spread of infection among interconnected firms and investigates how each firm’s decisions impact each other. We analyze a non-cooperative game in which each firm aims to optimize its objective function through choices of cybersecurity level and insurance coverage ratio. We find that each firm’s cybersecurity investment and insurance purchase are strategic complements. Within this game, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibrium and demonstrate its inefficiency. These theoretical results form the foundation for our numerical studies, allowing us compute firms’ equilibrium decisions on cybersecurity investments and insurance purchases across various network structures. The numerical results shed light on the impact of network structure on equilibrium decisions and explore how varying insurance premiums influence firms’ cybersecurity investments.
Reparations for Corporate Involvement in War Crimes: The Lundin Trial and Prospects for Victims’ Justice
Authors: Holm Fanny
Published: January 2025

In September 2023, the trial at Stockholm District Court against Orrön Energy (previously Lundin Energy) and two corporate directors for complicity in war crimes in Sudan between 1999 and 2003, started. The Lundin case is part of a trend of attempts to hold corporations criminally accountable for their alleged involvement in serious human rights abuses and provides a unique opportunity to assess the possibilities of such attempts in relation to the rights of the victims. This article analyzes how human rights obligations and the objectives of reparations for victims are satisfied by Swedish law and practice in the Lundin trial. It shows that while the law allows victims participating in trial to put forward civil claims, it denies this right to the large number of victims not participating, and the decision early in the Lundin proceedings to separate damage claims from the criminal trial has left the participating victims effectively denied reparations.
Marital Status and Parkinson Disease in Eastern Compared to Western Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Chua Wei Yu , Chan Claire Kar Min , Wang Jia Dong James , Chan Ling-Ling , Tan Eng-King
Published: January 2025

Background:

Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurological disorder that affects more than 10 million people worldwide, impacting both quality of life and marital relationships. Divorce rates are higher in Western compared to Eastern countries. However, it is unclear if there are differences in marital status after PD onset between the two regions.

Methods:

We searched MEDLINE and Embase from inception to March 31, 2024. Original studies discussing marital status in participants with PD were included. An unmarried status includes single, widowed, divorced or separated. Outcomes included the prevalence of being unmarried, measured as proportions, and the risk ratio (RR) of being unmarried in participants with PD relative to controls.

Results:

Out of 567 studies screened initially, 55 studies involving 3,723,966 participants were included. The prevalence of being unmarried was evaluated in 55 studies (25.16%; 95% CI: 21.52–29.18). The prevalence of being unmarried was significantly higher in countries in the West compared to the East (28.83%; 95% CI: 25.09–32.89 vs 17.47%; 95% CI: 12.10–24.57, p < 0.01). Compared to controls, the risk of being unmarried in PD participants after the onset of PD was significantly higher in the East (RR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.91–1.60) compared to the West (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.65–1.15).

Conclusions:

Our meta-analysis showed significantly higher rates of being unmarried in Western compared to Eastern countries. After PD onset, participants in the East were at significantly higher risk of being unmarried compared to participants in the West, suggesting that differences in cultural practices, societal norms and healthcare systems may affect marital status outcomes in PD participants.
A scaling law for the lift of a bio-inspired wing hovering in low-density compressible flows
Authors: Widdup Nathan , Wang Li , Young John , Daria Vincent , Liu Hao , Tian Fang-Bao
Published: January 2025

Aircraft with bio-inspired flapping wings that are operated in low-density atmospheric environments encounter unique challenges associated with the low density. The low density results in the requirement of high operating velocities of aircraft to generate sufficient lift resulting in significant compressibility effects. Here, we perform numerical simulations to investigate the compressibility effects on the lift generation of a bio-inspired wing during hovering flight using an immersed boundary method. The aim of this study is to develop a scaling law to understand how the lift is influenced by the Reynolds and Mach numbers, and the associated flow physics. Our simulations have identified a critical Mach number of approximately

$0.6$

defined by the average wing-tip velocity. When the Mach number is lower than 0.6, compressibility does not have significant effects on the lift or flow fields, while when the Mach number is greater than

$0.6$

, the lift coefficient decreases linearly with increasing Mach number, due to the drastic change in the pressure on the wing surface caused by unsteady shock waves. Moreover, the decay rate is dependent on the Reynolds number and the angle of attack. Based on these observations, we propose a scaling law for the lift of a hovering flapping wing by considering compressible and viscous effects, with the scaled lift showing excellent collapse.
La accidentada gestión de sonidos auténticos: Agendas intelectuales, desafíos institucionales y conexiones transnacionales en el Archivo Musical Folklórico del Perú, 1949–1952
Authors: Chocano Rodrigo , La Serna Juan Carlos , Roel Pedro
Published: January 2025

Entre 1949 y 1952, funcionarios del Ministerio de Educación Pública del Perú, encabezados por el intelectual peruano José María Arguedas, grabaron alrededor de doscientas piezas musicales vernáculas con miras a formar el primer archivo peruano de música tradicional. Esta iniciativa no logró sobrevivir a las adversas condiciones materiales e institucionales del sector cultural público a pesar de los esfuerzos de sus gestores. Este artículo estudia el proceso a través del cual folkloristas adscritos al Ministerio de Educación Pública construyeron el primer archivo nacional sonoro en el contexto de la temprana gestión cultural pública en el Perú. Tales esfuerzos incluyeron intercambios transnacionales de alto nivel y cooperación entre diversas instituciones culturales peruanas. Nuestro análisis abarca el periodo de 1945 a 1952 y se basa en fuentes administrativas, epistolares y hemerográficas revisadas en archivos institucionales del Perú y Estados Unidos. Argumentamos que la constitución de este archivo musical folklórico estuvo marcada por la precariedad del sector cultural estatal y por el anhelo de los folkloristas/funcionarios del ministerio por construir un repositorio sonoro a pesar de las condiciones adversas. Esta investigación ofrece significativos hallazgos históricos sobre las tempranas iniciativas oficiales de registro de música tradicional y sobre la gestión pública del folklore en el Perú de mediados del siglo XX.
The Three Hundred project: The relationship between the shock and splashback radii of simulated galaxy clusters
Authors: Zhang Ming , Walker Kris , Sullivan Andrew , Power Chris , Cui Weiguang , Li Yichao , Zhang Xin
Published: January 2025

Observations of the intracluster medium (ICM) in the outskirts of galaxy clusters reveal shocks associated with gas accretion from the cosmic web. Previous work based on non-radiative cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have defined the shock radius,

$r_{\text{shock}}$

, using the ICM entropy,

$K \propto T/{n_\mathrm{e}}^{2/3}$

, where T and

$n_{\text{e}}$

are the ICM temperature and electron density, respectively; the

$r_{\text{shock}}$

is identified with either the radius at which K is a maximum or at which its logarithmic slope is a minimum. We investigate the relationship between

$r_{\text{shock}}$

, which is driven by gravitational hydrodynamics and shocks, and the splashback radius,

$r_{\text{splash}}$

, which is driven by the gravitational dynamics of cluster stars and dark matter and is measured from their mass profile. Using 324 clusters from The Three Hundred project of cosmological galaxy formation simulations, we quantify statistically how

$r_{\text{shock}}$

relates to

$r_{\text{splash}}$

. Depending on our definition, we find that the median

$r_{\text{shock}} \simeq 1.38 r_{\text{splash}} (2.58 R_{200})$

when K reaches its maximum and

$r_{\text{shock}} \simeq 1.91 r_{\text{splash}} (3.54 R_{200})$

when its logarithmic slope is a minimum; the best-fit linear relation increases as

$r_{\text{shock}} \propto 0.65 r_{\text{splash}}$

. We find that

$r_{\text{shock}}/R_{200}$

and

$r_{\text{splash}}/R_{200}$

anti-correlate with virial mass,

$M_{200}$

, and recent mass accretion history, and

$r_{\text{shock}}/r_{\text{splash}}$

tends to be larger for clusters with higher recent accretion rates. We discuss prospects for measuring

$r_{\text{shock}}$

observationally and how the relationship between

$r_{\text{shock}}$

and

$r_{\text{splash}}$

can be used to improve constraints from radio, X-ray, and thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich surveys that target the interface between the cosmic web and clusters.
National Insecurity: Race, Racism, and Public Support for Militarized Foreign Policy in the United States (1986–2020)
Authors: Ebner David B.
Published: January 2025

In this paper, I examine the factors associated with public attitudes toward foreign policy among white Americans and argue that racial attitudes play an important role. To test this hypothesis, I perform quantitative studies across four iterations of the American National Election Survey (ANES)—(1) 2012, (2) 2016, (3) 2020, and (4) the Cumulative Survey (1986–2020). While the results include white public opinion across several different areas of foreign policy across several decades of data, the findings are consistent: American foreign policy opinion among white Americans is highly racialized—meaning that their views on foreign policy are strongly associated with their views on race and racism. This study contributes to our knowledge of a relatively poorly understood phenomenon in American politics: how the American public forms their attitudes on foreign policy. Overall, I find strong evidence that racial attitudes play an important yet understudied role in the foreign policy attitudes of white Americans. This study also extends our knowledge of the role of racialization in public opinion and reminds us that while racism is one of the most central problems for U.S. domestic politics, we should also be wary of how these hierarchies of domination extend beyond our borders through its foreign relations.
Micronutrients or processing? An analysis of food and drink items from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey based on micronutrient content, the Nova classification and front-of-package traffic light labelling
Authors: Dicken Samuel J. , Batterham Rachel L. , Brown Adrian
Published: January 2025

Increased ultra-processed food (UPF) is associated with adverse health outcomes. However, with limitations in UPF evidence, and partial overlap between UK front-of-package labelling (FOPL) and degree of food processing, the value of food processing within dietary guidance is unclear. This study compared food and drink from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) database based on micronutrient content, Nova classification and FOPL. The aim was to examine the micronutrient contributions of UK food and drink to UK government dietary micronutrient recommendations for adult females and males, aged 19–64 years, based on the degree of food processing and FOPL. NDNS items were coded into minimally processed food (MPF), processed culinary ingredients, processed food (PF) and UPF, and FOPL traffic lights. MPF, PF and UPF provided similar average contributions per 100 g to micronutrient recommendations. Per 100 kcal, MPF provided the greatest average contribution (14·4 % (interquartile range (IQR): 8·2–28·1)), followed by PF (7·7 % (IQR: 4·6–10·9) and then UPF (5·8 % (IQR: 3·1–9·7)). After adjusting for healthy/unhealthy items (presence of 1+ red FOPL), MPF had higher odds of an above-average micronutrient contribution per 100 kcal than UPF (OR: 5·9 (95 % CI 4·9–7·2)) and PF (OR: 3·2 (95 % CI 2·4–4·2)). MPF were more likely to provide greater contributions to micronutrient recommendations than PF or UPF per 100 kcal. These findings suggest that UPF or PF diets are less likely to meet micronutrient recommendations than an energy-matched MPF diet. The results are important for understanding how consumers perceive the healthiness of products based on FOPL.
Trichuris infection in captive non-human primates in zoological gardens in Spain
Authors: Rivero J. , Callejón R. , García-Sánchez A. M.
Published: January 2025

Currently, there is limited available information on the epidemiology of parasitic infections in captive non-human primates (NHPs) and their zoonotic potential. However, numerous cases of helminth infections in NHPs have been documented in several zoos around the world, with one of the most prevalent being those of the genus Trichuris. The main objective of this study is to investigate the occurrence of infection by Trichuris spp. in primates from zoological gardens in Spain and to ascertain, at the species level, the specific Trichuris species harbored by these hosts by using mitochondrial and ribosomal markers. A total of 315 stools collected from NPHs (n = 47) in the 13 zoological gardens analyzed yielded a prevalence rate of 19.05%. Nevertheless, not all the zoos exhibited parasitic infections; this was observed in only 53.85% of the zoos. Moreover, 15 host groups of 12 different species were found to be infected by Trichuris species, among which the identified species included Trichuris trichiura, Trichuris colobae, and Trichuris sp. Our findings suggest a substantial exposure of primates to zoonotic Trichuris species, suggesting that NHPs could potentially act as reservoirs capable of transmitting this parasite to humans. Hence, it is crucial to implement additional control and prevention measures and explore ways to eradicate parasitic infections in these areas. Further examination is warranted to minimize the risk of spreading drug-resistant parasite strains.
First insights into the ectoparasitic helminth fauna of freshwater fish on an Adriatic island
Authors: Škugor T. , Hahn C. , Schlagbauer J. , Koblmüller S.
Published: January 2025

Surface flow of freshwater on Adriatic islands is rare due to the extreme permeability of the karst terrain. Hence, most helminthological studies of freshwater fishes in the Adriatic drainage have focused on mainland freshwater systems, while data from islands are scarce. We collected minnow, Phoxinus lumaireul (Schinz, 1840), specimens in the Suha Ričina stream on Krk Island and screened them for helminth ectoparasites. Identification of metacercariae cysts (black spots) was carried out by sequencing part of the 28S rDNA gene, and a single monogenean worm was identified by sequencing part of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2). To estimate the level of infection, the number of black spots was counted to calculate prevalence, mean abundance, and mean intensity. Phylogenetic inference based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference revealed a rare black spot disease taxon, genus Uvulifer, which represents one of the first records in Europe on fish (second intermediate host), a first record from a Phoxinus host, a first record for the Adriatic drainage and Croatia, and a first record for Southern Europe in general. Furthermore, the monogenean was identified as Gyrodactylus sp., potentially representing a new species.
Intentional Menstrual Suppression in Imperial Rome
Authors: Miller Kassandra
Published: January 2025

The history of intentional menstrual suppression is often assumed to begin in the 1960s, with the advent of effective oral contraception. This article, however, demonstrates that in the Roman Imperial period, despite widespread belief in the importance of menstruation for maintaining female reproductive health, there was already a diverse marketplace for menstrual suppression techniques. By reading sources against the grain and engaging in critical speculation, this study investigates the available methods, who may have sought them and why, and how their use might reinforce or challenge gendered norms and power dynamics. This study focuses primarily on three sets of sources: Galen's medical treatises on bloodletting, the pharmacological compendia of Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, and body amulets to regulate vaginal blood flow. It proposes that individuals engaged with these technologies not only to normalise excessive periods, but also to delay, minimise or eliminate menstruation for convenience.
Indian Ocean Trade in the First Millennium c.e.: Taking the Romans out of Indo-Roman?
Authors: Darley Rebecca
Published: January 2025

The study of the Western Indian Ocean in the first millennium is a dynamic and exciting field, in which scholarship, especially from within the Indian Ocean region itself, is expanding rapidly. It is experiencing a period of major, but not necessarily disruptive, change, to its core questions, terminology and periodisation. This article offers an overview of the study of Roman trade with the Western Indian Ocean (sometimes termed ‘Indo-Roman studies’) from the early 2000s to the present. It examines key developments in the field, including the changing scope of analysis in terms of period, region and evidence; the impact in the field of an increasingly global focus and efforts to decolonise a subject historically deeply rooted in colonial processes; and specifically the effort to provincialise or decentre Rome in historical narratives. It then suggests directions in which the field appears to be developing and makes tentative suggestions for future work.
The Problem(s) of Empire
Authors: Noreña Carlos F.
Published: January 2025

Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It has been in continuous operation since 1586, making it the second oldest university press after Cambridge University Press (1534). From its imposing complex in Jericho, the stylish suburb of Oxford, and its many satellite offices around the world, including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Karachi, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Melbourne, Toronto and New York — the overlap with former territories of the British Empire is conspicuous — it produces an unparalleled number of academic publications every year and occupies a dominant position in the authentication of knowledge and its dissemination across the globe. In 2022–23, for example, the press published no fewer than 1,777 new academic titles, available in 193 countries and translated into 45 languages (including Somali and Quechua, as the press's 2022–23 Annual Report breathlessly announces). And revenues are substantial: £825,000,000 in sales last year alone. A bastion of prestige, global in reach but with a clear centre, and sitting comfortably within the inner citadel of a hierarchical, worldwide ecosystem of knowledge-making, Oxford University Press can be seen as a quasi-imperial operation in its own right.
Modulating motion event categorization through brief training: Meaning-focused versus form-focused instructional conditions
Authors: Xue Yuyan , Williams John N.
Published: January 2025

There is evidence that learning a second language (L2) can shift cognition toward that predicted for the L2 and that this effect might vary with L2 proficiency, age of acquisition, length of immersion, etc. Here we explore the previously neglected variable of language instructional conditions. Participants categorized motion events in a triads-matching task after being trained on two novel linguistic labels highlighting (in)transitivity through one of three instructional conditions. Participants who learned the relevant knowledge under a meaning-focused instructional condition (memorizing meanings of exemplar sentences) showed a higher likelihood of categorizing based on motion (in)transitivity immediately after training than a control group; those who learned under a required rule search instructional condition showed this effect only after additional practice; while those who learned through another type of form-focused instructional condition (direct metalinguistic explanation) did not show this effect even after such practice. These differences were obtained despite the fact that the three groups were matched on awareness of the target system at the level of understanding and near-perfect performance on a grammaticality judgment task. The findings are discussed in terms of the depth of processing in instructed SLA and models of language–cognition interactions.
New information on the breeding and moulting ecology of the Eastern population of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus from GPS/GSM tracking data
Authors: Solovyeva Diana , Lei Jialin , Tian Haitao , Fan Rong , Vartanyan Sergey , Danilov Gleb , Barykina Daria , Meng Fanjuan , Lu Cai , Zeng Qing , Lei Guangchun
Published: January 2025

The Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (EPLWFG) Anser erythropus is shared between Russia and China. The summer range of the EPLWFG has been recognised as a continuous area extending from the Olenyok River in the west to the Anadyr River in the east and northwards from 64°N. The aim of this study was to provide information on breeding behaviour; nest-sites, nesting habitats, and time of nesting; nesting success; timing of summer movements including moult migration; moult timing, duration, and moulting habitats; site fidelity; and the effect of human presence. To accomplish this, we combined the results from field surveys with GPS/GSM tracking. A total of 30 summer tracks from 19 individual EPLWFG were analysed. We estimated breeding propensity in 93.8% of adult LWFG, and this factor did not seem to depend on breeding success in the previous season. Reproductive success was 13.3% in all nesting attempts. Non-breeders arrived three-week later and departed a week earlier. The EPLWFG are highly mobile during the summer. The core moulting site for the entire EPLWFG was discovered by this study and is located along the lower reaches of the San-Yuryakh and Kyuanekhtyakh rivers flowing towards the Omulyakhskaya Bay of the East Siberian Sea. The EPLWFG flightless period was 24.8 ± 2.8 days. A part of failured EPLWFG (43.7 %) migrated back to its early summer breeding/staging site after having completed moult. The strong site fidelity (100%) of adult birds to both nesting and moulting sites promotes the formation of local breeding populations, which could be considered conservation units if genetic studies support this differentiation. The EPLWFG selects the remotest and least human-accessible area for their remigial moult, and the main site was discovered with the help of tracking.
Development, validity and reliability of the street food and beverage tool
Authors: López Uzzi , Aburto Tania C , González Citlali , Barranco Vanesa , Chavira Julissa , Hernandez-Barrera Lucia , Olvera Armando G , Nieto Claudia , Romero-Martínez Martín , Medina Catalina , Barquera Simón
Published: January 2025

Objective:

To develop and evaluate the validity and reliability of the Street Food and Beverage Tool (SFBT).

Design:

This methodological study contains two phases: (a) tool development, which involves conducting a systematic review followed by expert evaluation of the items, the creation of a nutritional healthfulness index (NH), and pilot testing; and (b) evaluation of the Tool’s Validity and Reliability. Content validity was judged by an external technical group, which evaluated the adequacy and pertinence of each tool item. Construct validity was evaluated around schools by testing the hypothesis: In high-income areas, there will be greater availability of healthy food and beverages at street food outlets (SFO), as measured by the NH index. Inter-rater and test–retest reliabilities were assessed outside subway stations. Pearson’s correlation, Cohen’s kappa and Content validity Indexes were used for reliability and validation. A multinomial regression model was used to estimate construct validity.

Setting:

Mexico City, Mexico.

Participants:

80 SFO at subway station exits and 1066 around schools from diverse income areas.

Results:

The SFBT content validity index was satisfactory. The construct validity of the NH index indicated higher values in higher-Social Development Index areas. The NH index showed a positive linear correlation between raters and across the first and second evaluations. The majority of item availability (>60 %) showed moderate to strong kappa values for inter-rater and test–retest reliability.

Conclusions:

The SFBT is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the availability of foods and beverages. Compared to other tools, it can measure the nutritional quality of SFO expressed as an NH index.
A Domestic Political Economy of Package Treaties
Authors: Mosley Layna , Rosendorff B. Peter
Published: January 2025

The post-World War II liberal international order coupled trade liberalization with a range of flanking measures, both outward-looking and inward-looking. This system, coupling domestic-level compensation with international-level flexibility, no longer functions as effectively as it once did. To consider how a renewed set of flanking policies might address, or even prevent, a backlash against trade liberalization, we explore why the earlier system (embedded liberalism plus temporarily tolerated relief) did not always function effectively. We note the challenges associated with generous domestic compensation schemes, especially in the face of capital mobility and fiscal pressures. We discuss the interstate tensions generated by the use of temporary relief measures, such as escape clauses and safeguards, and we also discuss how the expansion in membership of the multilateral trade system (and particularly the inclusion of countries with a greater array of economic institutions and factor endowments) exacerbates these challenges. Finally, we consider how the domestic politics of flanking policies could differ from those used in an earlier era.
Second-Generation Flanking Policies: Addressing Extraterritorial and Non-Economic Costs of Trade Liberalization
Authors: Meyer Timothy
Published: January 2025

Flanking policies – policies that aim to address potential negative effects of trade liberalization, and/or the concerns of domestic stakeholders regarding those negative effects, and that are either legally or factually linked to trade liberalization – have been a critical component of international trade policy since at least 1962. Over the years, however, flanking policies have changed. This Article argues that there is a heretofore unnoticed distinction between what I term first-generation flanking policies and second-generation flanking policies. Specifically, first-generation flanking policies target negative economic effects, or costs, of trade liberalization experienced within the enacting country. Trade adjustment assistance is the paradigmatic example. By contrast, second-generation flanking policies target non-economic costs that arise outside of the enacting country. Examples include the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, Deforestation-free Products Regulation, and the United States' Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Because second-generation flanking policies directly target foreign activity, they often employ more trade-distorting policies – tariffs, imports bans, and associated administrative hurdles for imports – than first-generation flanking policies, which more often relied on domestic subsidies. Moreover, they reflect a significant reorientation of the limits of state authority in international trade law. Whereas authority to tax and regulate production in international economic law has historically been based primarily on a territorial link to productive activity, second-generation flanking policies target production but rely on a territorial nexus with consumption of goods and services.