bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Closing the gap in Race-based Inequities for Seasonal Influenza Hospitalizations: A Modeling Study
Authors: Stafford Erin , Dimitrov Dobromir , Trinidad Susan Brown , Matrajt Laura
Published: November 2024

Background

Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) communities bear a disproportional burden of seasonal influenza hospitalizations in the United States.

Methods

We developed a race-stratified (5 racial-ethnic groups) agent-based model of seasonal influenza transmission and quantify the effects of 5 idealized interventions aimed at reducing inequities in symptomatic infections and hospitalizations. The interventions assumed (1) equalized vaccination rates, (2) equalized comorbidities, (3) work-risk distribution proportional to the distribution of the population, (4) reduced work contacts for all, or (5) a combination of equalizing vaccination rates and comorbidities and reducing work contacts.

Results

Our analysis suggests that symptomatic infections could be greatly reduced (by up to 17% in BIPOC adults aged 18–49 years) by strategies reducing work contacts or equalizing vaccination rates. All tested interventions reduced the inequity in influenza hospitalizations in all racial-ethnic groups, but interventions equalizing comorbidities were the most effective, with more than 40% less hospitalizations in BIPOC groups. Inequities in hospitalizations in different racial-ethnic groups responded differently to interventions, pointing to the need of tailored interventions for different populations. Notably, these interventions resulted in better outcomes across all racial-ethnic groups, not only those prioritized by the interventions.

Conclusions

In this simulation modeling study, equalizing vaccination rates and reducing number of work contacts (eg, improving air filtration systems, tailored vaccination campaigns) reduced both inequity and the total number of symptomatic infections and hospitalizations in all age and racial-ethnic groups. Reducing inequity in influenza hospitalizations requires different interventions for different groups.
Delphi definition of general practice/family medicine specialty for a post-COVID world: in-person and remote care delivery
Authors: Prazeres Filipe , Jamoulle Marc , Kareli Ana , Collins Claire , Móczár Csaba , Wong Martin C S , Bhattacharya Sudip , Vinker Shlomo , Low L Leng , Abdul-Razak Suraya , Brooke Joanne , Verjee Mohamud A , Yaman Hakan , Prasad Pramendra , Søndergaard Jens , Pond Dimity , Hughes Lloyd , Cihan Fatma Goksin , Tsimtsiou Zoi , Harrison Christopher , Albarqouni Loai , Yuan Beibei , Lee Y Kong , Van Royen Paul , Govender Indiran , Arnetz Bengt B , O’Donnell Catherine A
Published: November 2024

Introduction

The evolving landscape of general practice (GP)/family medicine (FM) in the post-COVID-19 era, focussing on integrating telemedicine and remote consultations requires a new definition for this specialty. Hence, a broader consensus-based definition of post-COVID-19 GP/FM is warranted.

Methods

This study involved a modified electronic Delphi technique involving 27 specialists working in primary care recruited via convenient and snowball sampling. The Delphi survey was conducted online between August 2022 and April 2023, utilizing the Google Forms platform. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse consensus across Delphi rounds.

Results

Twenty-six international experts participated in the survey. The retention rate through the second and third Delphi rounds was 96.2% (n = 25). The broader consensus definition emphasizes person-centred care, collaborative patient-physician partnerships, and a holistic approach to health, including managing acute and chronic conditions through in-person or remote access based on patient preferences, medical needs, and local health system organization.

Conclusion

The study highlights the importance of continuity of care, prevention, and coordination with other healthcare professionals as core values of primary care. It also reflects the role of GP/FM in addressing new challenges post-pandemic, such as healthcare delivery beyond standard face-to-face care (e.g. remote consultations) and an increasingly important role in the prevention of infectious diseases. This underscores the need for ongoing research and patient involvement to continually refine and improve primary healthcare delivery in response to changing healthcare landscapes.
MiR-124-3p/EIF3B Regulates Host Cell Apoptosis Induced by Chlamydia psittaci Through PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway
Authors: Tong Ting , Li Yunfei , Zhou You , Zeng Xindian , Xiao Cui , Cao Saihong , Wang Chuan , Li Zhongyu , Zhou Zhou , Bai Qinqin , Chen Shenghua , Yan Shuwu , Chen Lili
Published: November 2024

Chlamydia psittaci is a zoonotic pathogen known to cause respiratory diseases in humans. Chlamydia infections are closely associated with apoptosis, in which microRNAs (miRNAs) play regulatory roles. Herein, we demonstrated that C. psittaci infection induces apoptosis in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells and investigated regulatory mechanism involving miR-124-3p and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Following C. psittaci infection in HBE cells, we observed an elevated HBE cell apoptosis, accompanied by upregulation of miR-124-3p levels. Mechanistically, we identified EIF3B as a novel target gene of miR-124-3p, supported by the inverse correlation of their mRNA expressions. MiR-124-3p inhibitor reduced apoptosis induced by C. psittaci, increased the replication of C. psittaci, and inhibited PI3K/AKT activation, whereas miR-124-3p mimic produced opposite effects, and transfection with EIF3B siRNA reversed the effects of miR-124-3p inhibitor. Our findings suggest that miR-124-3p targeting EIF3B promotes apoptosis in C. psittaci-infected HBE cells through activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
Does periphyton turn less palatable under grazing pressure?
Authors: Zhu Feng , Tan Xiang , Wang Xingzhong , Zhang Quanfa
Published: November 2024

Periphyton acts as an important primary producer in stream food webs with bottom-up grazing pressure and is also subject to effects of top-down grazing pressure. However, the underlying mechanisms of these interactions remain unclear. In this study we conducted a mesocosm experiment to explore the periphyton response to grazing pressure by the freshwater snail Bellamya aeruginosa in relation to food quality indicated by polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biomarkers, including eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n3) and the 22C fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n3), which are essential for cell growth and reproduction and cannot be synthesized by most consumers of periphyton. Results indicated that periphyton grazing pressure led to a decrease in Bacillariophyta, which contain high-quality PUFAs such as eicsapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, and an increase in Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta, which are rich in 18C PUFAs such as linoleic acid (18:2n6) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n3). We observed upregulation of genes that participate in lipid metabolism promoting unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, and glycerophospholipid metabolism, which are related to the carbohydrate and energy metabolism maintaining the energy stability of periphyton. These results demonstrate that the food quality of periphyton decreased under grazing pressure and also elucidate the compositional, chemical, and molecular perspectives of the interactive bottom-up and top-down effects on structuring stream food webs.
Improved Three-Dimensional Reconstructions in Electron Ptychography through Defocus Series Measurements
Authors: Schloz Marcel , Pekin Thomas C , Brown Hamish G , Byrne Dana O , Esser Bryan D , Terzoudis-Lumsden Emmanuel , Taniguchi Takashi , Watanabe Kenji , Findlay Scott D , Haas Benedikt , Ciston Jim , Koch Christoph T
Published: November 2024

A detailed analysis of ptychography for three-dimensional (3D) phase reconstructions of thick specimens is performed. We introduce multi-focus ptychography, which incorporates a 4D-STEM defocus series to enhance the quality of 3D reconstructions along the beam direction through a higher overdetermination ratio. This method is compared with established multi-slice ptychography techniques, such as conventional ptychography, regularized ptychography, and multi-mode ptychography. Additionally, we contrast multi-focus ptychography with an alternative method that uses virtual optical sectioning through a reconstructed scattering matrix (S-matrix), which offers more precise 3D structure information compared to conventional ptychography. Our findings from multiple 3D reconstructions based on simulated and experimental data demonstrate that multi-focus ptychography surpasses other techniques, particularly in accurately reconstructing the surfaces and interface regions of thick specimens.
Profiling of i-motif-binding proteins reveals functional roles of nucleolin in regulation of high-order DNA structures
Authors: Ban Yuki , Ando Yuka , Terai Yuma , Matsumura Risa , Nakane Keita , Iwai Shigenori , Sato Shinichi , Yamamoto Junpei
Published: November 2024

Non-canonical DNA structures, such as the G-quadruplex (G4) and i-motif (iM), are formed at guanine- and cytosine-rich sequences, respectively, in living cells and involved in regulating various biological processes during the cell cycle. Therefore, the formation and resolution of these non-canonical structures must be dynamically regulated by physiological conditions or factors that can bind G4 and iM structures. Although many G4 binding proteins responsible for tuning the G4 structure have been discovered, the structural regulation of iM by iM-binding proteins remains enigmatic. In this study, we developed a protein-labeling DNA probe bearing an alkyne moiety through a reactive linker, for proximity-labeling of nucleic acid-binding proteins, and searched for new iM-binding proteins. Alkyne-modified proteins in the nuclear extract of HeLa cells were labeled with biotin via a click reaction and then captured with streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. This fingerprint-targeting enrichment, followed by proteome analyses, identified new candidate proteins that potentially bind to the iM structure, in addition to the reported iM-binding proteins. Among the newly identified candidates, we characterized a nucleolar protein, nucleolin, that binds to the iM structure and relaxes it, while nucleolin stabilizes the G4 structure.
The rice genome annotation project: an updated database for mining the rice genome
Authors: Hamilton John P , Li Chenxin , Buell C Robin
Published: November 2024

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major cereal crop that provides calories across the world. With a small genome, rice has been used extensively as a model for genetic and genomic studies in the Poaceae. Since the release of the first rice genome sequence in 2002, an improved reference genome assembly, multiple whole genome assemblies, extensive gene expression profiles, and resequencing data from over 3000 rice accessions have been generated. To facilitate access to the rice genome for plant biologists, we updated the Rice Genome Annotation Project database (RGAP; https://rice.uga.edu) with new datasets including 16 whole genome rice assemblies and sequence variants generated from multiple rice pan-genome projects including the 3000 Rice Genomes Project. We updated gene expression abundance data with 80 RNA-sequencing datasets and to facilitate gene function discovery, performed gene coexpression resulting in 39 coexpression modules that capture highly connected sets of co-regulated genes. To facilitate comparative genome analyses, 32 335 syntelogs were identified between the Nipponbare reference genome and other rice genomes and 19 371 syntelogs were identified between Nipponbare and four other Poaceae genomes. Infrastructure improvements to the RGAP database include an upgraded genome browser and data access portals, enhanced website security and increased performance of the website.
GPCRdb in 2025: adding odorant receptors, data mapper, structure similarity search and models of physiological ligand complexes
Authors: Herrera Luis P Taracena , Andreassen Søren N , Caroli Jimmy , Rodríguez-Espigares Ismael , Kermani Ali A , Keserű György M , Kooistra Albert J , Pándy-Szekeres Gáspár , Gloriam David E
Published: November 2024

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane-spanning transducers mediating the actions of numerous physiological ligands and drugs. The GPCR database GPCRdb supports a large global research community with reference data, analysis, visualization, experiment design and dissemination. Here, we describe our sixth major GPCRdb release starting with an overview of all resources for receptors and ligands. As a major addition, all ∼400 human odorant receptors and their orthologs in major model organisms can now be studied across the various data and tool resources. For the first time, a Data mapper page enables users to map their own data onto receptors visualized as a GPCRome wheel, tree, clusters, list or heatmap. The structure model data have been expanded with models of physiological ligand complexes and updated with new state-specific structure models of all human GPCRs (built using AlphaFold, RoseTTAFold and AlphaFold-Multistate). Furthermore, a structure or model (pdb file) can now be queried against GPCRdb’s entire structure/model collection through a Structuresimilarity search page implementing FoldSeek. Finally, for ligands, new search tools can query names, database identifiers, similarities or substructures against integrated entries from the ChEMBL, Guide to Pharmacology, PDSP Ki, PubChem, DrugCentral and DrugBank databases. GPCRdb is available at https://gpcrdb.org.
NASA open science data repository: open science for life in space
Authors: Gebre Samrawit G , Scott Ryan T , Saravia-Butler Amanda M , Lopez Danielle K , Sanders Lauren M , Costes Sylvain V
Published: November 2024

Space biology and health data are critical for the success of deep space missions and sustainable human presence off-world. At the core of effectively managing biomedical risks is the commitment to open science principles, which ensure that data are findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable, reproducible and maximally open. The 2021 integration of the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive with GeneLab to establish the NASA Open Science Data Repository significantly enhanced access to a wide range of life sciences, biomedical-clinical and mission telemetry data alongside existing ‘omics data from GeneLab. This paper describes the new database, its architecture and new data streams supporting diverse data types and enhancing data submission, retrieval and analysis. Features include the biological data management environment for improved data submission, a new user interface, controlled data access, an enhanced API and comprehensive public visualization tools for environmental telemetry, radiation dosimetry data and ‘omics analyses. By fostering global collaboration through its analysis working groups and training programs, the open science data repository promotes widespread engagement in space biology, ensuring transparency and inclusivity in research. It supports the global scientific community in advancing our understanding of spaceflight's impact on biological systems, ensuring humans will thrive in future deep space missions.
The European Nucleotide Archive in 2024
Authors: O’Cathail Colman , Ahamed Alisha , Burgin Josephine , Cummins Carla , Devaraj Rajkumar , Gueye Khadim , Gupta Dipayan , Gupta Vikas , Haseeb Muhammad , Ihsan Maira , Ivanov Eugene , Jayathilaka Suran , Kadhirvelu Vishnukumar , Kumar Manish , Lathi Ankur , Leinonen Rasko , McKinnon Jasmine , Meszaros Lili , Pauperio Joana , Pesant Stephane , Rahman Nadim , Rinck Gabriele , Selvakumar Sandeep , Suman Swati , Sunthornyotin Yanisa , Ventouratou Marianna , Waheed Zahra , Woollard Peter , Yuan David , Zyoud Ahmad , Burdett Tony , Cochrane Guy
Published: November 2024

The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA, https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena), maintained at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) provides freely accessible services, both for deposition of, and access to, open nucleotide sequencing data. Open scientific data are of paramount importance to the scientific community and contribute daily to the acceleration of scientific advance. Outlined here are changes to and updates on the ENA service in 2024, aligning with the broad goals of enhancing interoperability, globalisation of the service and scaling the platform to meet current and future needs.
Stratigraphy in the History of Archaeology
Authors: Tarantini Massimo
Published: November 2024

This chapter deals with the history of stratigraphy in archaeology in the last two centuries. It focuses on some key moments and issues: the origin of the principles of stratigraphy; the debate on the antiquity of man and the Three-Age System; the difficulties and specificities of classical archaeology; the relations between typology, stratigraphy, and chronological sequences; the contrast between (and the combination of) the vertical and horizontal dimensions; as well as the debate on formation processes and the new perspectives opened by soil micromorphology. The chapter aims to overcome a view focused on the role of individual precursors by analyzing methodological and conceptual innovations in their historical context and in relation to intellectual networks. It highlights how stratigraphy changes its meaning according to the perspectives, issues, and tools applied to it. Special attention is given to interdisciplinarity, in particular to the role of geologists and architects.
From Stunning Solitaires to Creative Clusters
Authors: Arwill-Nordbladh Elisabeth
Published: November 2024

Based on the assumption that archaeological knowledge and the subject of knowledge production is inextricably bound to the period of history within which it was generated, this chapter discusses some of the conditions surrounding women in early European antiquarianism and early archaeology. It is proposed that the historiography of antiquarianism has underestimated the role of women within the discipline, in part because historiographers have neglected some sources that in their historical era of creation fell, and indeed continue to fall today, outside the commonly accepted and gendered definitions of what constitutes the practice of antiquarianism or archaeology. Many women actively participated in, and contributed significantly to, the transition from antiquarianism to the discipline of professional archaeology during the nineteenth century, even though their professional conditions were very different to those of men. In particular, these women’s paths were full of obstacles that men did not encounter. This essay examines lives and circumstances of a few of these women, as well as their impact on the practice of antiquarianism, archaeological scholarship, and the road towards emancipation.
The History of Public Archaeology
Authors: Moshenska Gabriel
Published: November 2024

This chapter provides an outline of the development of public archaeology, focusing primarily on the Anglophone world. The history of public archaeology is a dynamic and significant strand within the history of the discipline. Like public science, public archaeology is a field of both practice and scholarship, touching upon many other aspects of the wider discipline. The chapter considers the historiography of public archaeology, examines some of the main themes and milestones in its development, and sets out a provisional agenda for future studies. In surveying this rich and complicated history, the chapter draws on case studies from nineteenth-century Britain and twentieth-century Japan—as well as on a wealth of international research—to illuminate the key themes and events in the emergence of public archaeology as a global discipline.
Violence, Armies, and Archaeological Research from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Gracia Alonso Francisco
Published: November 2024

This chapter analyzes the profound relationship between armies and archaeological research from the mid-nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Among other questions, it examines the development and technical advances of aerial and underwater archaeology; the protection of historical and archaeological heritage in wartime since the mid-twentieth century, including the utilization of prisoners of war; the links between the army, political systems, and archaeology in the definition of the state’s historical narratives; the development of conflict archaeology as a basis for the reassessment of armed conflicts, with special emphasis on the excavation and study of mass graves from prehistory to the present day; the recovery of movable and immovable heritage related to conflicts; and the study of the archaeologies of genocide and the Holocaust.
Amateur Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Authors: Richard Nathalie
Published: November 2024

This chapter demonstrates that amateurs have played and continue to play a significant role in the development of archaeology. It challenges the idea that the professionalization of archaeology has led to the demise or marginalization of amateurs. The chapter highlights the role they played in collecting data on the field, in carrying out inventories, and, more generally, in the production and circulation of knowledge. Analyzing the process that rendered amateurs almost invisible in the general histories of archaeology, this chapter also suggests that taking them into account could enrich our view of the past of the discipline and help us better understand its present state.
“Governed by Legislation”
Authors: Carman John
Published: November 2024

This chapter charts the development of laws, with a view to understanding why archaeologists rely so heavily upon them and what having those laws in place means for us. The chapter raises questions as to why we have laws at all and how the idea of legal regulation of our material and our practices spread across the globe. The connection between ancient material and legal regulation begins in the distant past, long before the emergence of anything we can identify as “archaeology.” In more recent times, that body of regulation has grown to encompass the practices of archaeology as well as the material with which we deal. It is a global phenomenon which differs in form and specifics from place to place and context to context; and yet the theme of legal regulation of archaeology is common to every nation of the world.
Race, Racialism, and Racism in European Archaeology, 1800–1960
Authors: Link Fabian
Published: November 2024

This chapter explores racial thinking and racism in German and European archaeology from 1800 to 1960, discussing several archaeological subfields, such as classical archaeology, national archaeology, Near Eastern archaeology, colonial archaeology, and prehistory. It will be argued that a distinction is needed between racial thinking and racism. Racial thinking was widely established in archaeology and was reinforced by the rise of racial anthropology and evolutionary theory during the nineteenth century. In contrast, racism developed from racial interpretations through their connection with nationalism and chauvinism. This was the case in many European countries in the late nineteenth century, but most prominently in those that became nation-states at a very late date, such as Germany and Italy. Notions of race in archaeology were strongly radicalized in Nazi Germany and in other fascist countries during the 1930s and ’40s. The chapter ends in the early 1960s, when archaeologists increasingly dismissed racial interpretations.
Photo Archives and the History of Archaeology
Authors: Mallart Lucila
Published: November 2024

This chapter explores the role of photo archives in the making of archaeological knowledge from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. It discusses, among other topics, their role in the pursuit of objectivity, their connections to nation-building processes, and the challenges and opportunities posed by the digital age. To do so, the chapter draws on a series of conceptual tools developed by several scholars, such as the notion of the “total photo archive,” the “documentary impulse” prompted by the emergence of photography, the conceptualization of photographs as “facts,” and the understanding of archival practices as “collective undertakings.” The chapter analyzes archaeological photo archives in Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world.
The History of Gender Archaeology
Authors: Díaz-Andreu Margarita , Pope Rachel
Published: November 2024

In this chapter, the history of gender archaeology is traced, focusing primarily on Western academia. A clear link is demonstrated with waves of feminist action. We begin with the antecedents, the first studies on women undertaken amid first-wave feminism by nineteenth-century women travelers and Egyptologists, alongside considerations of the changing social role of prehistoric women in Victorian evolutionary perspectives, until these were superseded by culture-historical perspectives in the 1920s. In the second period, we recognize the impact of 1960s–1970s social movements that developed feminist theory, to the early years of gender archaeology in the 1980s, with an apex of interest in the early 1990s. In the final section, we discuss a move from theory to practice and the application of contextual method and scientific techniques to large data sets, the recognition of the possibility of different genders in the archaeological record, and new feminist archaeologies.
The History of Commercial Archaeology
Authors: Aitchison Kenneth
Published: November 2024

The majority of archaeological investigations in the Global North are undertaken as commercial, development-led archaeology that is facilitating the requirements of construction or other development. This chapter describes how this is undertaken in Europe, where a major driver has been the Council of Europe’s 1992 Valletta Convention, which established the requirement for archaeology to be undertaken ahead of development. In most, but not all, of these countries such investigations are undertaken commercially, by private enterprises being paid by commercial clients for these services. The chapter discusses how, elsewhere in the world, commercial archaeology is either also an established or an emerging practice that has become increasingly common in Global North countries, with regional differences in terms of delivery and funding norms. The chapter examines the different nature of practice in developing countries, where this is not widely practiced, except when required by the World Bank or other development finance institutions as conditions on funding of major projects.
Writing the History of Archaeology
Authors: Díaz-Andreu Margarita
Published: November 2024

This article offers a review of how the history of archaeology has been written. The earliest accounts are found at the time of the institutionalization of archaeology by intellectuals and professional archaeologists connected to any of the first institutions dealing with archaeology in western Europe and North America. After World War II, there was a marked increase in the number and depth of publications and a widening of the number of countries in which the history of archaeology became a research topic. In the 1970s, interest in the subject led to the establishment of a specialist commission, the organization of conferences, and edited books. There were also new generations who paid attention to the effects of previously unheeded external factors in the history of archaeology, with special consideration given to politics, and in particular to totalitarianism of the 1930s and 1940s. The last section is a brief overview of how the history of archaeology has been written in the last two decades.
Fakes in the History of Archaeology
Authors: Podgorny Irina
Published: November 2024

Proliferation of forgeries is part of the history of archaeology and archaeological methods. Archaeologists have always been attentive to questions of provenance, and they learned from forgers (i.e., expert and knowledgeable artisans). From this point of view, archaeological fakes acted as catalyzers of new methods and provided heuristics for modern archaeology, just as they were pieces in the games of wealth and prestige. Counterfeits also illustrate the process of “scientific acculturation,” namely how lay people acquired the skills and knowledge for evaluating objects presented to them by archaeologists, museum curators, and collectors. Fakes reveal the porosity of boundaries between the true and the false, and especially how these borders relate to the fears of the deceived.
Introduction
Authors: Topper Keith
Published: November 2024

The resurgence of interest in rhetoric among political theorists is one of the more remarkable developments in the field over the past few decades. The publication of this Handbook, which constitutes the most ambitious effort to date to display the range and vitality of work that encompasses the “rhetorical turn” in political theory, represents a landmark in the development of this branch of inquiry. The following introduction provides a brief genealogy of the changing status of rhetoric in political theory and philosophy, exploring disputes that emerged in ancient Athens and have continued to the present day. It also explicates the different understandings of rhetoric that have animated recent scholarship and identifies key issues and approaches that have fueled the multidisciplinary renaissance of interest in rhetoric and political thought. Finally, it sketches the structure and aims of this Handbook. Having been maligned since the term “rhetoric” was first coined, this Handbook demonstrates that an adequate understanding of political affairs cannot be attained without taking account of the impact of rhetoric on political thought and conduct.
Sirens and Harpies
Authors: Denson Ryan
Published: November 2024

Associated through a similar blend of human women and avian bodies, the Sirens and Harpies were two classical monsters whose physical forms were closely related. Yet despite their corporeal similarities, these monsters had distinct traditions in the ancient world, each with their own traits and roles within the narratives they inhabit. The Sirens, songstresses known for the enchanting quality of their words and the potential danger associated therein, were most famously tied to Odysseus’ voyage. Meanwhile, the Harpies, did not typically exhibit such an alluring nature, and were prominently attached to the myth of Phineus as the creatures that perpetually snatch away and befoul his food as part of his divine punishment. This chapter sets forth the major literary instances and iconographic repertoires of these classical monsters, while also underscoring the dominant attributes of each in the ancient imagination.
Monstrous Metamorphoses
Authors: Liveley Genevieve
Published: November 2024

Ovid’s Metamorphoses represents a virtual bestiary of narratives about ancient monsters, hybrids, and uncanny creatures of all kinds. Indeed, the poem itself is a monstrous chimera, fusing different genres and confusing different aesthetics—in direct transgression of the poetic precepts set out in the Ars Poetica of Ovid’s Augustan near contemporary, Horace. As this chapter sets out to explore, Ovid is particularly interested in the making of monsters—not only in their backstories but also in their transformations and deformations. Focusing upon the metamorphoses of some of Ovid’s most memorable monsters—Scylla, Glaucus, and Lycaon—this chapter examines the troubling mixture of narrative bathos and pathos employed in his reworking of these myths. Drawing upon some of the insights of both ancient and modern narratology, it shows how the Ovidian transformations of these stories are carefully plotted so as to elicit not only pity and fear but also horror and humour.
Reading Monstrous Peoples in Ancient Greece and Rome
Authors: Friedman John B.
Published: November 2024

In his 1580 essay ‘D’un enfant monstreux’, Michel de Montaigne discussed an infant paraded by its parents for profit as a freak, even if the infant was ‘monstrous’ only in that Montaigne described conjoined twins. Exhibiting so-called freaks of nature for profit was nothing new; such a trade had existed in ancient Rome, as Plutarch notes, describing a ‘monster-market’ at which buyers could shop for people exhibiting unusual physical deformities. Montaigne was clearly aware of classical precedents, and his essay illustrates a line of thought about monstrosity extending from classical antiquity to the Renaissance. This chapter looks back at the influential ‘monstrous’ ethnographies of ancient Greece and Rome, particularly those of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, to consider the origins of ‘monstrous peoples’ and their characteristics, including not only their geographical and physical differences but also aspects of their customs that lead the Greeks and Romans to view them as ‘Other’.
Cryptids in Greek Art
Authors: Murace Andrea
Published: November 2024

Through the analysis of Greek vases (sixth to fourth centuries bce), it is possible to recognize monsters and various hybrid creatures, even if they are not always easily identifiable. This shows that, at multiple levels, such beings permeated the life of the ancients and played a relevant role in their culture. The aim of this chapter is to focus on such artistic representations, trying not only to interpret them, but also to find connections with other traces and mythological sources, either material or written. In particular, the chapter outlines the state of investigation of some of these vases, adding new personal readings and impressions, in order to delineate an overview about monsters in antiquity and to offer original points for reflection. The practical functions of the vases have been kept in mind as possible clues to their meaning.
Beyond ‘Othering’
Authors: Zajko Vanda
Published: November 2024

The interest of feminism in the configurations and epistemologies of monstrosity arises from the recognition that monsters challenge conventional models of human experience, including gender identities. The often-misogynistic cultural work of maintaining the status quo is partially sustained by the construction of figures whose threats might bring it all crashing down: although these disorderly bodies and aberrant behaviours articulate all that a society most fears (and perhaps desires), once imagined they can be relegated to the margins. The structuralist predilection for the mapping of binaries resulted in the dominance of the metaphor of otherness to describe characteristics of these counter-normative figures, such as the unnatural and the bestial. But the process of defining through opposition fails to do justice to the capacity of monsters to evade categorizations designed to control them. Various modes of contemporary feminist, queer, decolonial, and crip theory are finding ways to celebrate the non-human and the post-natural. Where does this leave the classical monster?
Pearls from a Dark Cloud
Authors: Behravesh Peter Adrian
Published: November 2024

This chapter discusses monsters from the Persian mythological tradition, drawing on sacred and cosmogonic texts such as the Avesta and the Bundahishn, and fictional (or loosely historical) stories and epics such as the Shāhnāmeh, with particular emphasis on works written in the tenth to fourteenth centuries ce. The focus is on five categories of Persian monsters: avian monsters, such as the Simorgh; ophidian monsters, such as azhdahās (dragons); terrestrial monsters, such as kargs; aquatic monsters, such as the Gandarewa; and demonic monsters, such as divs, paris, ghuls, and jinn. The chapter also examines how these monsters influenced or were influenced by other mythological traditions, such as the Greek, Chinese, and Arabo-Islamic mythoi.
Plinian Monsters in Old Norse Encyclopaedic Literature
Authors: Vídalín Arngrímur
Published: November 2024

Iceland’s manuscript tradition grew directly out of the introduction of the Latin alphabet after its conversion to Christianity; the first Old Norse works were translations of saints’ lives, and Icelandic sagas are invariably grounded in a Christian essence. Moreover, Latin scholarly works like those of Pliny the Elder, St Augustine, and St Isidore made their way to Iceland, and medieval Icelandic teratology was rooted in their thought. This chapter examines three prominent fourteenth-century Icelandic works: Hauksbók, Stjórn, and Narfeyrarbók. The first is a compilation of sagas and treatises on various topics. The second is a radical biblical translation. The third, on geographical and spiritual matters, includes an itinerary from Iceland to Rome and Jerusalem. All three exhibit a tremendous interest in Plinian teratology combined with an Isidorian understanding of the Christian world view. Their monster theory greatly interested Icelandic scholars, and its influence on Icelandic saga literature has been vastly underrated.
Classical Monsters in Latin American Cultures
Authors: Braham Persephone
Published: November 2024

The passage of monsters from classical mythology to Latin America began with Christopher Columbus’s first account of man-eaters and warrior women among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. These became a mainstay of New World iconography and a justification for conquest. Ferdinand Magellan reportedly encountered giants, which he called Patagoni, in the southernmost part of South America. In addition to Columbus’s cannibals and Amazons, this chapter looks at giants, lycanthropes, and sirens whose connection with the ancient Mediterranean by way of the Iberian Peninsula can be documented. Classical monsters syncretized with indigenous and African beliefs, inspiring the modern-day Andean pishtaco or fat-eater, the Amazonian Mapinguarí, the Andean sirena and Amazonian Yara, and the lobizón or wolf-man of the Southern Cone.
Classical Monsters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Authors: Marciniak Katarzyna
Published: November 2024

This chapter offers a succinct survey of the reception of classical monsters in children’s and young adult literature with the aim of indicating the main ways in which this kind of content is adapted to the needs of the young public. The focus is on presenting the monsters’ reception as a key for understanding the transformations underway in societal sensitivity, as well as one for enabling intergenerational communication and fostering psychological and intellectual maturation in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The basic theoretical remarks are exemplified by a choice of case studies along with an outline of the major methodological challenges intrinsic to research into this aspect of the reception of classical antiquity.
The Giants
Authors: Salowey Christina A.
Published: November 2024

The Giants, a race of violent and arrogant monsters, were born from Gaea, the earth goddess, when drops of blood from the severed testicles of her consort, Uranus, the god of heaven, fell and soaked into the ground. The creatures, sometimes depicted as armed warriors, sometimes as hybrid beings with snaky appendages or animal heads, are most remembered for their attack on the Olympian divinities, a struggle that became known as the Gigantomachy. The Olympians prevailed and this battle was abundantly represented in art and recounted in literature, often as a metaphor for the conquest of antagonists who arrogantly overreached in an attempt to overthrow an established cosmic order. The Giants, born from the earth and thus immortal, are controlled by imprisoning them underground again, a mythical tale that connects them to the volcanic and earthquake-prone character of several mountainous Mediterranean regions.
Dragons
Authors: Ogden Daniel
Published: November 2024

The classical drakōn or draco is defined as ‘a large snake and something more’, the ‘more’ being a supernatural or sacred quality or affinity, and often too additional or exceptional physical or behavioural attributes. The traditions of the principal great drakontes of Panhellenic myth are reviewed and consideration is given to the distribution of leading motifs across them. The tendency of drakontes to constitute proportionately small but nonetheless fundamentally characterizing parts of hybrid monsters is noted. The physical evolution of the classical drakōn into the Christian wyvern, the starting point of the dragon form familiar to the modern West, is traced, with attention to the contributions made by the sea monster and the winged demon to this process. Similarly, consideration is given to the transformation of the drakōn’s story type in the vast, long-enduring but intensely conservative tradition of hagiography, in the context of which the well-known story of St George is relatively anomalous.
Preposterous Realism and Posthuman Aesthetics
Authors: Cox Christoph
Published: November 2024

Recent theoretical discourses and artistic practices have sought to decenter the human subject, exploring the ontology and creative capacities of the nonhuman. Prominent among these are theoretical and artistic projects often gathered under the banner of “new materialism.” In their explorations of the nonhuman, however, neo-materialist projects are often implicitly humanist, conceiving all of nature in the image of the thinking, sensing, and acting human subject. In this essay, the author examines this neo-humanism (or “subjectalism”) within the context of earlier debates about humanism and antihumanism and considers what a genuinely posthumanist materialism might look (and sound) like. Such a materialism must be grounded in an ontological realism attentive to the world before and after the existence of humans. The author suggests that much of the history of sound art can be construed as the exploration of a natural flux that precedes and exceeds the human. Drawing from photography and phonography, the chapter considers the nonhuman operations that register or capture these natural flows. Throughout, the author argues that materialism must, as Friedrich Nietzsche put it, “translate humanity back into nature” rather than humanize or vitalize matter.
Intermedial Projections from Realism to Naturalism
Authors: Singer Robert
Published: November 2024

This chapter explores the implicit, intermedial anthropology of the naturalist subject as complex, scrutinized cinematic spectacle. In naturalist cinema, the viewer-clinician witnesses the scientific-social experiment of the “wounded” human as they work, exist, and strive to survive in reel space and time. Although frequently associated with realist cinema’s mimetic capacity to conceive narrative causalities and closure, international naturalist cinema has a divergent cultural and critical history emanating from foundational philosophical, scientific, social, and artistic sources. From naturalist cinema’s early appearance in films such as French director Ferdinand Zecca’s L’Assommoir (1902), the silent adaptation of French naturalist Émile Zola’s eponymous novel (1876) of social decline and alcoholism; American director Barbara Loden’s Wanda (1970) and its feminist focus on grinding, gendered poverty and loneliness; and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui’s Ghosts (Ashbah, 2014), the contemporized adaptation of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts (Gengangere, 1881) and its examination of corrupt middle-class society and venereal disease, naturalist cinema, whether avant-garde or commercial production, encompasses international film history, traversing language, movement, genre, and ideology. In international naturalist cinema, subjects are observed experiments—surveyed specimen—in which an indifferent world and immediate society reveal themselves via templated images of human imperfection and social decline in recurring sociobiological tropes involving race, gender, and class.
Italy’s Nobel Laureates
Authors: Subialka Michael
Published: November 2024

The six Italians to win the Nobel Prize in Literature represent a variety of styles, time periods, themes, and political stances. This chapter interrogates what it means to look at them comparatively, ultimately arguing that despite these differences, tracking their path to the Nobel Prize and their fortunes afterward provides insight into the cultural politics of the literary establishment as well as shifting conceptions of what constitutes “Italianness” in the broader field of European and global literary production and circulation. Taking a distanced approach to reading these authors, the chapter establishes networks of readership and influence while underlining the historical specificities and complexities of these varied figures, all of whom came to represent Italy on the international stage and thus participated in the historical rearticulation of the category of “Italianness.”
Mary Magdalene in Theological Perspective across Gospel Texts
Authors: Lee Dorothy A.
Published: November 2024

Mary Magdalene is a figure of significance for Christianity in the first centuries of its life. She is associated closely with Jesus’s ministry as a faithful disciple and apostolic leader within the community of faith. Subsequent church history, especially in the West, has muted if not distorted her significance, but the more we perceive her role across varying gospel texts, the more we grasp her prominence in the earliest communities and the reasons for it. This study explores Mary Magdalene in several gospels of the first three centuries: the four canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Philip. The focus is on Mary’s identity in these texts, particularly her discipleship and ministry, alongside the theological framework of the gospels in which she appears. These gospels point to a woman of outstanding faith and eminent leadership across diverse theological traditions. The apocryphal gospels also have a role in the interpretation of the canonical gospels, giving an emphasis to Mary often omitted in the Christian tradition through their vibrant depiction of Mary’s discipleship and ministry. Whether included or excluded from the canon, these gospels provide valuable insights for understanding Mary Magdalene and the significant role played by women in the emerging diversities of Christian faith.
Screening doctors in training for dyslexia: the benefits of an inclusive screening approach
Authors: O’Dwyer Sadhbh , Lavington Glynis , Miller Jane , Elfes Chris , Calogeras Antonia , El-Bakri Fatima
Published: November 2024

There is a lack of suitable screeners for dyslexia for doctors in training, as the typical adult screeners do not cater for the needs of capable medical graduates. The aim of this research is to create an inclusive screening and training process for doctors with undiagnosed dyslexia. This involved working with doctors to co-create a new dyslexia screener tool. We designed an innovative holistic dyslexia screening, assessment, and support system as part of a 3-year longitudinal study. Qualitative data was collected through the use of a dyslexia screener and case-study interviews with trainees in general practice and psychiatry. Interviews were thematically analyzed to explore dyslexic trainees’ experiences of an inclusive approach to dyslexia screening and assessment. Out of the 103 trainees that were screened, 10 were found to have dyslexia, one dyspraxia, and another ADHD trait. Dyslexia-specific coaching, exam, and workplace accommodations were beneficial in dispelling stigma about dyslexia as well as supporting examination success. International Medical Graduate (IMG) trainees were also supported in this process. The case study participants’ progression was tracked over 3 years, and all subsequently passed their examinations. We recommend that all trainees are given access to this inclusive, holistic, medical-focused dyslexia screening process. Specifically, this can enable newly diagnosed trainees to access support and exam accommodation. In particular, greater understanding of dyslexia helps dispel stigma and enable better support, which has a positive impact on trainee well-being as well as progression.