bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intersectionality and gender: community practice with low-income migrant women
Authors: Hung Suet-lin , Fung Kwok-kin , Lau Siu-mei
Published: October 2019

Echoing the call to incorporate the intersectionality framework into studies of gender structure, this paper applied the framework to re-analyse the quantitative and qualitative findings of an evaluation study on a women empowerment community project in Hong Kong. This effort revealed the importance of the gender structure’s dimension of sexual division of labour and the intersectional effects of gender, race and class in explaining the mixed traditional and progressive views in different items within a domain and across different domains of the gender division of labour, specifically the marital, parental, employment, social activities and education domains. The low-income migrant women have upheld different traditional ideas in these domains. However, in contrast with the richer and local women who also shared these traditional views, low-income migrant women in this study questioned some prevailing ideas in these domains, due to their need to survive the conditions defined by the intersection of gender, race and class. The findings of this study, despite being preliminary and limited, demonstrate the significance and feasibility of studying gender structure adopting the perspective of intersectionality. Arguably, this lack of understanding of the intersectional effects diminishes the effectiveness of community intervention. In light of the paucity of research adopting the intersectionality framework in the community development field in general, and a similar deficit in the feminist and community development fields in Hong Kong in particular, the failure to adopt the intersectionality framework by the community project under consideration is understandable. It is likely that as this framework becomes more prominent in the future, given its potential to offer deeper insight into the dynamics of gender structure, community interventions for women of different identities could be strengthened.
Comparative Genomics Analysis Reveals High Levels of Differential Retrotransposition among Primates from the Hominidae and the Cercopithecidae Families
Authors: Tang Wanxiangfu , Liang Ping
Published: October 2019

Mobile elements (MEs), making ∼50% of primate genomes, are known to be responsible for generating inter- and intra-species genomic variations and play important roles in genome evolution and gene function. Using a bioinformatics comparative genomics approach, we performed analyses of species-specific MEs (SS-MEs) in eight primate genomes from the families of Hominidae and Cercopithecidae, focusing on retrotransposons. We identified a total of 230,855 SS-MEs, with which we performed normalization based on evolutionary distances, and we also analyzed the most recent SS-MEs in these genomes. Comparative analysis of SS-MEs reveals striking differences in ME transposition among these primate genomes. Interesting highlights of our results include: 1) the baboon genome has the highest number of SS-MEs with a strong bias for SINEs, while the crab-eating macaque genome has a sustained extremely low transposition for all ME classes, suggesting the existence of a genome-wide mechanism suppressing ME transposition; 2) while SS-SINEs represent the dominant class in general, the orangutan genome stands out by having SS-LINEs as the dominant class; 3) the human genome stands out among the eight genomes by having the largest number of recent highly active ME subfamilies, suggesting a greater impact of ME transposition on its recent evolution; and 4) at least 33% of the SS-MEs locate to genic regions, including protein coding regions, presenting significant potentials for impacting gene function. Our study, as the first of its kind, demonstrates that mobile elements evolve quite differently among these primates, suggesting differential ME transposition as an important mechanism in primate evolution.
Negative Regulator of Ubiquitin-Like Protein 1 modulates the autophagy–lysosomal pathway via p62 to facilitate the extracellular release of tau following proteasome impairment
Authors: Guarascio Rosellina , Salih Dervis , Yasvoina Marina , Edwards Frances A , Cheetham Michael E , van der Spuy Jacqueline
Published: October 2019

Negative regulator of ubiquitin-like protein 1 (NUB1) and its longer isoform NUB1L are ubiquitin-like (UBL)/ubiquitin-associated (UBA) proteins that facilitate the targeting of proteasomal substrates, including tau, synphilin-1 and huntingtin. Previous data revealed that NUB1 also mediated a reduction in tau phosphorylation and aggregation following proteasome inhibition, suggesting a switch in NUB1 function from targeted proteasomal degradation to a role in autophagy. Here, we delineate the mechanisms of this switch and show that NUB1 interacted specifically with p62 and induced an increase in p62 levels in a manner facilitated by inhibition of the proteasome. NUB1 moreover increased autophagosomes and the recruitment of lysosomes to aggresomes following proteasome inhibition. Autophagy flux assays revealed that NUB1 affected the autophagy–lysosomal pathway primarily via the UBA domain. NUB1 localized to cytosolic inclusions with pathological forms of tau, as well as LAMP1 and p62 in the hippocampal neurons of tauopathy mice. Finally, NUB1 facilitated the extracellular release of tau following proteasome inhibition. This study thus shows that NUB1 plays a role in regulating the autophagy–lysosomal pathway when the ubiquitin proteasome system is compromised, thus contributing to the mechanisms targeting the removal of aggregation-prone proteins upon proteasomal impairment.
Mosquito Exposure and Malaria Morbidity: A Microlevel Analysis of Household Mosquito Populations and Malaria in a Population-Based Longitudinal Cohort in Western Kenya
Authors: O’Meara Wendy Prudhomme , Simmons Ryan , Bullins Paige , Freedman Betsy , Abel Lucy , Mangeni Judith , Taylor Steve M , Obala Andrew A
Published: October 2019

Background

Malaria morbidity is highly overdispersed in the population. Fine-scale differences in mosquito exposure may partially explain this heterogeneity in individual malaria outcomes.

Methods

In 38 households we explored the effect of household-level mosquito exposure and individual insecticide-treated net (ITN) use on relative risk (RR) of confirmed malaria. We conducted monthly active surveillance (n = 254; 2624 person-months) and weekly mosquito collection (2092 household-days of collection), and used molecular techniques to confirm human blood feeding and exposure to infectious mosquitoes.

Results

Of 1494 female Anopheles (89.8% Anopheles gambiae sensu lato), 88.3% were fed, 51.9% had a human blood meal, and 9.2% were sporozoite infected. In total, 168 laboratory-confirmed malaria episodes were reported (incidence rate 0.064 episodes per person-month at risk; 95% confidence interval [CI], .055–.074). Malaria risk was directly associated with exposure to sporozoite-infected mosquitoes (RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.11–1.38). No direct effect was measured between ITN use and malaria morbidity; however, ITN use did moderate the effect of mosquito exposure on morbidity.

Conclusions

Malaria risk increases linearly with vector density and feeding success for persons with low ITN use. In contrast, malaria risk among high ITN users is consistently low and insensitive to variation in mosquito exposure.
Two-Locus Local Adaptation by Additive or Epistatic Gene Combinations in Autotetraploids Versus Diploids
Authors: Mostafaee Navid , Griswold Cortland K
Published: October 2019

In this article, we present a theoretical comparison of local adaptation between diploid and autotetraploid populations when fitness is determined by either additive or epistatic interactions between alleles at 2 loci. A continent-island model of local adaptation is derived, with 1-way migration from the continent to the island and distinct genotypes adaptive on the continent versus the island. The meiotic component of the model accounts for multivalent formation and the processes of chromosomal gametic disequilibrium and double reduction, which are unique to autotetraploids. Both the adaptability and efficiency of adaptation are investigated, where adaptability asks whether a population adapts and efficiency is the rate of adaptation. With an additive genetic basis to fitness, diploids experience better adaptability and efficiency than autotetraploids. With epistasis, our results indicate a limited parameter space in which autotetraploids have greater adaptability than diploids, but results indicate an interesting difference between adaptability and efficiency of adaptation. Oftentimes, diploids exhibit greater adaptability whereas autotetraploids exhibit greater efficiency of adaptation. These findings provide evidence for the advantage of epistasis within autotetraploids when efficiency of adaptation is of interest. Although autotetraploids are more efficient, under the same conditions and at equilibrium, diploid populations often have higher mean local fitness. Overall, the most ideal situation for autotetraploid local adaptation compared to diploids is when epistasis is strong, mutation is weak, recombination is high, selection is strong, deleterious selection is additive, chromosomal gametic disequilibrium is present, and double reduction is absent.
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Bevacizumab in First-Line Metastatic Breast Cancer: Lessons for Research and Regulatory Enterprises
Authors: Hey Spencer Phillips , Gyawali Bishal , D’Andrea Elvira , Kanagaraj Manoj , Franklin Jessica M , Kesselheim Aaron S
Published: October 2019

Background

The US Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval and later withdrawal of bevacizumab in patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC) is a seminal case for ongoing debates about the validity of using progression-free survival (PFS) as a surrogate measure for overall survival (OS) in cancer drug approvals. We systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the evidence around bevacizumab’s regulatory approval and withdrawal in mBC.

Methods

We searched for all published phase II or III clinical trials testing bevacizumab as a first-line therapy for patients with mBC. Data were extracted on trial demographics, interventions, and outcomes. Descriptive analysis was stratified by whether the trial was initiated before, during, or after the accelerated approval. We used a cumulative random-effects meta-analysis to assess the evolution of evidence of the effect of bevacizumab on PFS and OS. We estimated the association between the trial-level PFS and OS effect using a nonlinear mixed-regression model.

Results

Fifty-two studies were included. Trial activity dramatically dropped after the accelerated approval was withdrawn. Eight clinical trials reported hazard ratios (hazard ratios) and were meta-analyzed. The cumulative hazard ratio for PFS was 0.72 (95% CI = 0.65 to 0.79), and the cumulative hazard ratio for OS was 0.90 (95% CI = 0.80 to 1.01). The regression model showed a statistically nonsignificant association between PFS benefit and OS benefit (β = 0.43, SE = 0.81).

Conclusion

The US Food and Drug Administration’s decision-making in this case was consistent with the evolving state of evidence. However, the fact that seven clinical trials are insufficient to conclude validity (or lack thereof) for a trial-level surrogate suggests that it would be more efficient to conduct trials using the more clinically meaningful endpoints.
Differential diagnosis for a ring-enhancing lesion on CT/MRI brain: retained cotton ball pledget
Authors: Hughes Luke D
Published: October 2019

New or persisting symptoms require careful evaluation and investigation. We present a case report of a 58-year-old man who underwent a craniotomy for a subdural haematoma and presented a decade later with worsening neurological symptoms. Investigation revealed the cause to be a delayed foreign body reaction to a retained cotton wool pledget.
Antibiotic resistance patterns of Escherichia coli in migrants vs non-migrants: a study of 14 561 urine samples
Authors: Sloth Louise B , Nielsen Rikke T , Østergaard Christian , Nellums Laura B , Hargreaves Sally , Friedland Jon S , Norredam Marie
Published: October 2019

Background

To investigate the distribution of urine isolates and antibiotic resistance patterns in the predominant uropathogen Escherichia coli in migrant and non-migrant individuals.

Methods

We linked a cohort consisting of all migrants obtaining residence as refugees or family-reunited migrants in Denmark between January 1993 and December 2015 to hospital urine samples examined from January 2000 to December 2015 at the Department of Microbiology, University Hospital Hvidovre, Denmark. Samples from non-migrant individuals, Danish-born from Danish parents, were included as comparison. Analysis was carried out using multivariate logistic regression.

Results

There were 14 561 first-time urine samples included, with E. coli being the most prevalent bacterial pathogen. Of the identified isolates, 4686/11 737 were E. coli among non-migrants and 1032/2824 among migrants.

Sulfamethoxazol–Trimethoprim (SXT) resistance was found in 34.3% (350/1020) of E. coli isolates among migrants and 23.2% (1070/4619) among non-migrant patients [odds ratio (OR) 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.47–2.03]. Ciprofloxacin resistance was found in 5.8% (36/618) of isolates among migrants and 2.2% (67/3092) among non-migrants (OR 2.20, 95% CI: 1.37–3.53). Gentamicin (GEN) resistance was seen in 10.8% (61/565) and 4.7% (110/2328) of isolates (OR 2.33, 95% CI:1.63–3.34), Cefuroxime resistance in 8.5% (87/1019) and 3.4% (158/4618) (OR 2.40, 95% CI:1.77–3.24), Ampicillin (AMP) resistance in 51.4% and 40.8% (OR 1.65, 95% CI: 1.42–1.92) and Piperacillin–Tazobactam resistance in 6.9% (30/432) and 4.2% (65/1532) for migrant and non-migrant patients, respectively. When stratifying according to migrant status, family-reunited had higher odds of resistance than refugees for SXT, GEN and AMP.

Conclusions

Prevalence of antibiotic resistance was significantly higher in E. coli isolates among migrants, both refugees and family-reunited, than non-migrant patients. Differences could not be explained by comorbidity or income. The results emphasize the importance of urine sample testing in both local-born and migrants before antibiotic start-up and point to the benefit of considering migration to secure individual treatment and equal health outcomes.
Urinary myiasis: not your typical urinary tract infection
Authors: Geremy-Depatureaux Agnes , Rouleau Danielle , Thivierge Karine , Cecan Alexandra , Levesque-Beaudin Valerie , Libman Michael , Giroux Marjolaine , Luong Me-Linh
Published: October 2019

A Canadian traveler returns from Irak and Afghanistan reporting larvae expulsion during micturition. We report the first case of urinary myiasis in Canada and discuss the differential diagnosis and clinical approach to this rare disease.
Colourful cones: how did flower colour first evolve?
Authors: Rudall Paula J
Published: October 2019

Angiosperms that are biotically pollinated typically produce flowers with bright and contrasting colours that help to attract pollinators and hence contribute to the reproductive success of the species. This colourful array contrasts with the much less multicoloured reproductive structures of the four living gymnosperm lineages, which are mostly wind pollinated, though cycads and Gnetales are predominantly pollinated by insects that feed on surface fluids from the pollination drops. This review examines the possible evolutionary pathways and cryptic clues for flower colour in both living and fossil seed plants. It investigates how the ancestral flowering plants could have overcome the inevitable trade-off that exists between attracting pollinators and minimizing herbivory, and explores the possible evolutionary and biological inferences from the colours that occur in some living gymnosperms. The red colours present in the seed-cone bracts of some living conifers result from accumulation of anthocyanin pigments; their likely primary function is to help protect the growing plant tissues under particular environmental conditions. Thus, the visual cue provided by colour in flower petals could have first evolved as a secondary effect, probably post-dating the evolution of bee colour vision but occurring before the subsequent functional accumulation of a range of different flower pigments.
H i observations of IC 10 with the DRAO synthesis telescope
Authors: Namumba B , Carignan C , Foster T , Deg N
Published: October 2019

H i observations of the nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy IC 10 obtained with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory synthesis telescope, for a total integration of ∼1000 h, are presented. We confirm the NW faint 21 cm H i emission feature discovered in Green Bank Telescope (GBT) observations. The H i feature has an H i mass of 4.7 × 105 M⊙, which is only ∼0.6 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the total H i mass of the galaxy (7.8 × 107 M⊙). In the inner disc, the rotation curve of IC 10 rises steeply, then flattens until the last point where it rises again, with a maximum velocity of 30 km s−1. Based on our mass models, the kinematics of the inner disc of IC 10 can be described without the need of a dark matter halo. However, this does not exclude the possible presence of dark matter on a larger scale. It is unlikely that the disturbed features seen in the outer H i disc of IC 10 are caused by an interaction with M 31. Features seen from our simulations are larger and at lower surface density than can be reached by current observations. The higher velocity dispersions seen in regions where several distinct H i features meet with the main core of IC 10 suggest that there is ongoing accretion.
Clustering clusters: unsupervised machine learning on globular cluster structural parameters
Authors: Pasquato Mario , Chung Chul
Published: October 2019

Globular clusters (GCs) have historically been subdivided in either two (disc/halo) or three (disc/inner-halo/outer-halo) groups based on their orbital, chemical, and internal physical properties. The qualitative nature of this subdivision makes it impossible to determine whether the natural number of groups is actually two, three, or more. In this paper we use cluster analysis on the (log M, log σ0, log Re, [Fe/H], log |Z|) space to show that the intrinsic number of GC groups is actually either k = 2 or k = 3, with the latter being favoured albeit non-significantly. In the k = 2 case, the Partitioning Around Medoids (PAM) clustering algorithm recovers a metal-poor halo GC group and a metal-rich disc GC group. With k = 3 the three groups can be interpreted as disc/inner-halo/outer-halo families. For each group we obtain a medoid, i.e. a representative element (NGC 6352, NGC 5986, and NGC 5466 for the disc, inner halo, and outer halo, respectively), and a measure of how strongly each GC is associated with its group, the so-called silhouette width. Using the latter, we find a correlation with age for both disc and outer halo GCs where the stronger the association of a GC with the disc (outer halo) group, the younger (older) it is. Our findings are aligned with previous work based on very different approaches, such as cladistic analysis, suggesting that the grouping we obtain is quite robust and represents some genuine underlying physical subdivision of GCs. We provide a catalogue where we list the assigned group for each GC.
Magnification, dust and time-delay constraints from the first resolved strongly lensed Type Ia supernova iPTF16geu
Authors: Dhawan S , Johansson J , Goobar A , Amanullah R , Mörtsell E , Cenko S B , Cooray A , Fox O , Goldstein D , Kalender R , Kasliwal M , Kulkarni S R , Lee W H , Nayyeri H , Nugent P , Ofek E , Quimby R
Published: October 2019

We report lensing magnifications, extinction, and time-delay estimates for the first resolved, multiply-imaged Type Ia supernova iPTF16geu, at z = 0.409, using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations in combination with supporting ground-based data. Multi-band photometry of the resolved images provides unique information about the differential dimming due to dust in the lensing galaxy. Using HST and Keck AO reference images taken after the SN faded, we obtain a total lensing magnification for iPTF16geu of $\mu = 67.8^{+2.6}_{-2.9}$, accounting for extinction in the host and lensing galaxy. As expected from the symmetry of the system, we measure very short time-delays for the three fainter images with respect to the brightest one: -0.23 ± 0.99, -1.43 ± 0.74 and 1.36 ± 1.07 days. Interestingly, we find large differences between the magnifications of the four supernova images, even after accounting for uncertainties in the extinction corrections: $\Delta m_1 = -3.88^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$, $\Delta m_2 = -2.99^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$, $\Delta m_3 = -2.19^{+0.14}_{-0.15}$ and $\Delta m_4 = -2.40^{+0.14}_{-0.12}$ mag, discrepant with model predictions suggesting similar image brightnesses. A possible explanation for the large differences is gravitational lensing by substructures, micro- or millilensing, in addition to the large scale lens causing the image separations. We find that the inferred magnification is insensitive to the assumptions about the dust properties in the host and lens galaxy.
Radio spectral properties of cores and extended regions in blazars in the MHz regime
Authors: d’Antonio D , Giroletti M , Giovannini G , Maini A
Published: October 2019

Low-frequency radio surveys allow in-depth studies and new analyses of classes of sources that were previously known and characterized only in other bands. In recent years, low radio frequency observations of blazars have become available as a result of new surveys, such as the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) survey (GLEAM). We search for gamma-ray blazars in a low-frequency (ν < 240 MHz) survey, to characterize the spectral properties of the spatial components. We cross-correlate GLEAM with the fourth catalogue of active galactic nuclei (4LAC) detected by the Fermi satellite. This improves on previous works by using a low-frequency catalogue that is wider and deeper, with a better spectral coverage and the latest and most sensitive gamma-ray source list. Compared with a previous study based on the commissioning survey, the detection rate increased from 35 to 70 per cent. We include data from the Australia Telescope 20-GHz (AT20G) survey in order to extract high-frequency high-angular resolution information about the radio cores of blazars. We find low radio frequency counterparts for 1274 out of 1827 blazars in the range of 72–231 MHz. Blazars have flat spectra at the ∼100-MHz regime, with a mean spectral index α = −0.44 ± 0.01 (assuming Sν ∝ να). Low synchrotron peaked objects have a flatter spectrum than high synchrotron peaked objects. Low frequency radio and gamma-ray emissions show a significant but scattered correlation. The ratio between lobe and core radio emission in gamma-ray blazars is smaller than previously estimated.
Differential rotation in convective envelopes: constraints from eclipsing binaries
Authors: Jermyn Adam S , Tayar Jamie , Fuller Jim
Published: October 2019

Over time, tides synchronize the rotation periods of stars in a binary system to the orbital period. However, if the star exhibits differential rotation, then only a portion of it can rotate at the orbital period, so the rotation period at the surface may not match the orbital period. The difference between the rotation and orbital periods can therefore be used to infer the extent of the differential rotation. We use a simple parametrization of differential rotation in stars with convective envelopes in circular orbits to predict the difference between the surface rotation period and the orbital period. Comparing this parametrization to observed eclipsing binary systems, we find that in the surface convection zones of stars in short-period binaries there is very little radial differential rotation, with |r∂rln Ω| < 0.02. This holds even for longer orbital periods, though it is harder to say which systems are synchronized at long periods, and larger differential rotation is degenerate with asynchronous rotation.
Weak lensing shear estimation beyond the shape-noise limit: a machine learning approach
Authors: Springer Ofer M , Ofek Eran O , Weiss Yair , Merten Julian
Published: October 2019

Weak lensing shear estimation typically results in per galaxy statistical errors significantly larger than the sought after gravitational signal of only a few percent. These statistical errors are mostly a result of shape-noise — an estimation error due to the diverse (and a-priori unknown) morphology of individual background galaxies. These errors are inversely proportional to the limiting angular resolution at which localized objects, such as galaxy clusters, can be probed with weak lensing shear. In this work we report on our initial attempt to reduce statistical errors in weak lensing shear estimation using a machine learning approach — training a multi-layered convolutional neural network to directly estimate the shear given an observed background galaxy image. We train, calibrate and evaluate the performance and stability of our estimator using simulated galaxy images designed to mimic the distribution of HST observations of lensed background sources in the CLASH galaxy cluster survey. Using the trained estimator, we produce weak lensing shear maps of the cores of 20 galaxy clusters in the CLASH survey, demonstrating an RMS scatter reduced by approximately 26% when compared to maps produced with a commonly used shape estimator. This is equivalent to a survey speed enhancement of approximately 60%. However, given the non-transparent nature of the machine learning approach, this result requires further testing and validation. We provide python code to train and test this estimator on both simulated and real galaxy cluster observations. We also provide updated weak lensing catalogues for the 20 CLASH galaxy clusters studied.
Searching for eccentricity: signatures of dynamical formation in the first gravitational-wave transient catalogue of LIGO and Virgo
Authors: Romero-Shaw Isobel M , Lasky Paul D , Thrane Eric
Published: October 2019

Binary black holes are thought to form primarily via two channels: isolated evolution and dynamical formation. The component masses, spins, and eccentricity of a binary black hole system provide clues to its formation history. We focus on eccentricity, which can be a signature of dynamical formation. Employing the spin-aligned eccentric waveform model seobnre, we perform Bayesian inference to measure the eccentricity of binary black hole merger events in the first gravitational-wave transient catalogue of LIGO and Virgo. We find that all of these events are consistent with zero eccentricity. We set upper limits on eccentricity ranging from 0.02 to 0.05 with 90  per cent confidence at a reference frequency of $10\, {\rm Hz}$. These upper limits do not significantly constrain the fraction of LIGO–Virgo events formed dynamically in globular clusters, because only $\sim 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ are expected to merge with measurable eccentricity. However, with the gravitational-wave transient catalogue set to expand dramatically over the coming months, it may soon be possible to significantly constrain the fraction of mergers taking place in globular clusters using eccentricity measurements.
Probing cosmology and cluster astrophysics with multiwavelength surveys – I. Correlation statistics
Authors: Shirasaki Masato , Lau Erwin T , Nagai Daisuke
Published: October 2019

Upcoming multiwavelength astronomical surveys will soon discover all massive galaxy clusters and provide unprecedented constraints on cosmology and cluster astrophysics. In this paper, we investigate the constraining power of the multiband cluster surveys, through a joint analysis of three observables associated with clusters of galaxies, including thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (tSZ) effect in cosmic microwave background (CMB), X-ray emission of ionized gas, and gravitational weak lensing effect of background galaxies by the cluster’s gravitational potential. We develop a theoretical framework to predict and interpret two-point correlation statistics among the three observables using a semi-analytic model of intracluster medium (ICM) and halo-based approach. In this work, we show that the auto- and cross-angular power spectra in tSZ, X-ray, and lensing statistics from upcoming missions (eROSITA, CMB-S4, and LSST) can help break the degeneracy between cosmology and ICM physics. These correlation statistics are less sensitive to selection biases, and are able to probe ICM physics in distant, faint, and small clusters that are otherwise difficult to be detected individually. We show that the correlation statistics are able to provide cosmological constraints comparable to the conventional cluster abundance measurements, while constraining cluster astrophysics at the same time. Our results indicate that the correlation statistics can significantly enhance the scientific returns of upcoming multiwavelength cluster surveys.
Challenges and opportunities facing game theory and control: an interview with Tamer Başar
Authors: Zhang By Ji-Feng
Published: October 2019

The Control community has recently witnessed an almost exponentially growing interest in the application of game-theoretic concepts and tools in research on control, multi-agent systems, and networks. In an interview with NSR, Professor Tamer Başar, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, Swanlund Endowed Chair and CAS Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director of the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the USA, former president of both the IEEE Control Systems Society and the American Automatic Control Council, and the founding president of the International Society of Dynamic Games, talked about the recently emerging role of game theory in control and networking research, how it broadens the territorial boundaries of control into disciplines outside engineering, and opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Are hyoliths Palaeozoic lophophorates?
Authors: Liu Fan , Skovsted Christian B , Topper Timothy P , Zhang Zhifei , Shu Degan
Published: October 2019

The phylogenetic position of hyoliths has long been unsettled, with recent discoveries of a tentaculate feeding apparatus (‘lophophore’) and fleshy apical extensions from the shell (‘pedicle’) suggesting a lophophorate affinity. Here, we describe the first soft parts associated with the feeding apparatus of an orthothecid hyolith, Triplicatella opimus from the Chengjiang biota of South China. The tuft-like arrangement of the tentacles of T. opimus differs from that of hyolithids, suggesting they collected food directly from the substrate. A reassessment of the feeding organ in hyolithids indicates that it does not represent a lophophore and our analysis of the apical structures associated with some orthothecids show that these represent crushed portions of the shell and are not comparable to the brachiopod pedicle. The new information suggests that hyoliths are more likely to be basal members of the lophotrochozoans rather than lophophorates closely linked with the Phylum Brachiopoda.
Optimal taxation with externalities of consumption and education spending
Authors: Zhang Jie
Published: October 2019

We investigate optimal taxation when a person’s utility decreases in others’ consumption and school quality increases in others’ education spending. Education externalities reduce education spending and schooling time from optimal levels, whereas consumption externalities cause high consumption relative to leisure and public goods. Internalizing education externalities supports education subsidies but opposite taxes on consumption and labour income. Internalizing consumption externalities supports consumption taxes but equal rates of labour income taxes and education subsidies. Internalizing both externalities justifies higher education subsidies than labour income taxes and positive taxes on labour income and consumption. We also investigate quantitative implications for tax reform and government debt sustainability.
Affective Rationalism and Religious Insight
Authors: Pittard John
Published: October 2019

This chapter considers further what implications rationalist weak conciliationism has for religious belief. Rationalist weak conciliationism may seem to imply that justified religious belief is a philosophical accomplishment reserved only for the analytically sophisticated and that personal religious experience plays at best a minor role in accounting for the rationality of religious belief. Resisting these alleged implications, the chapter argues against an “austere rationalism” that sees all rational insight as a product of dispassionate analytical faculties. A case is made for an “affective rationalism” that emphasizes the essential role played by the emotions in facilitating insights into evaluative questions, including evaluative questions that bear significantly on the plausibility of competing religious and irreligious outlooks. The chapter concludes with a discussion of examples that illustrate more concretely how rationalist weak conciliationism applies to situations of religious disagreement.
Missionary Calculus
Authors: Belvadi Anilkumar
Published: October 2019

Missionary Calculus tells the story for the first time of the making of the Sunday school in Victorian India (1858–1901), focusing on American missionaries, its most active promoters. Unlike other mission histories, this book studies the means missionaries adopted in building this institution rather than on their evangelical ends. Based on extensive archival research, it addresses the question: How did the process of building institutions affect the Christian values to establish which they were built? The book provides a richly detailed account of Indian colonial educational history, discussing the Christian pedagogical encounter with a non-Christian learning environment. It tells of lavish missionary lifestyles in a land frequently stricken by famine, and of missionary solidarity with British colonial authorities, accompanied though by Christian caritative commitment for the plight of the colonized. Missionaries resolved these contradictions by telling their audiences that becoming Christian would lead them to prosperity, while telling themselves that they needed to work out a plan for civilizational correction. Sunday schools began to be seen as at once the instrument of evangelization as of reschooling India. American missionaries brought with them Sunday school curricula and organizational methods from back home, and tried to customize them to Indian conditions. But this meant having to compromise with hiring heathen teachers, allowing heathen students to wear their caste-marks, commissioning a heathen-style hymnody, and paying money to key people to fill the classrooms with heathens. Could such a hybrid institution be Christian? And whom could it serve? Here is an East Indian tale.
Introduction
Authors: Belvadi Anilkumar
Published: October 2019

Chapter 1 introduces the central argument of the book, namely, that the means Christian missionaries adopted in building certain evangelical institutions in colonial India modified the ends they sought to achieve through building them. Observing that there are no studies on colonial Sunday schools, the chapter notes that the relevant missionary archives have fewer records of doctrinal debates between Christians and non-Christians than of missionary concerns over the means required for institution-building. Consequently, in keeping with the data, the chapter proposes employing a methodology that entails studying “means” over “ends.” To do this, it proposes adopting the theoretical framework of sociologist Max Weber, which draws a distinction between “substantive” and “instrumental” rationality. In the present study, this pair of concepts is taken to denote the distinction between missionaries’ beliefs and worldview or values or “ends,” and the material and symbolic resources or “means” they deployed in building Sunday schools. Further, applying the theory of institution-formation presented by sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, it proposes that Sunday schools were atypical institutions. Yet, such schools were built on compromise, with American Protestant missionaries taking the lead, and with different Indian social groups also taking an active part. The chapter foreshadows how the book presents the ends/means conflict among Sunday school builders throughout the Victorian colonial period (1858–1901), and how the compromises they reached signify universal values that transcended sectarian and national boundaries. The chapter situates the book among other approaches to colonial studies, and makes a case for its novelty.
The Creators of Sunday Schools
Authors: Belvadi Anilkumar
Published: October 2019

Chapter 3 situates American missionaries in the colonial Indian context. When they arrived in India (legally after 1833), annual missionary salaries, as early as in the 1840s, were in the range of $700 to $1,000, or thirty-five times average Indian earnings. They wrote of their large personal household establishments, which included spacious villas, retinues of several categories of servants, and transportation by way of palanquins or horses. Further, they socialized with British officers and their families. The chapter shows that missionaries were a part of the powerful ruling colonial elite, their caritative commitments and message of Christian humility notwithstanding. They reconciled these contradictions by offering their listeners the rationale that Christianity led to prosperity and a higher state of civilization. They observed the simultaneous existence of agricultural productivity and peasant poverty, and were unable to provide for themselves an explanation for the starkness of the contrast. As the evidence shows, missionaries attributed to the material depredations of the Indians their moral failures rather than the rapacious logic of colonial rule. This causal analysis provided missionaries with the justification for extending their evangelical message to a broader program of civilizational reform. Every element of their interaction with the poverty-stricken population around them began to be seen as an opportunity for moral and spiritual correction. Missionaries began to look upon themselves as builders and transformers of society rather than as mere carriers of a personal, religious message. The chapter ends with an American missionary’s reflections on finding systematic ways of educating Indians on the need for civilizational change.
The Wealth and Poverty of Cities
Authors: Polèse Mario
Published: October 2019

Much has been written about cities as engines of growth and prosperity. Cities have been centers of civilization since the beginning of history. A rich nation without cities is an impossibility. Yet, as this book explains, the central foundations of wealth and economic well-being are rooted in the attributes of nations and actions of national governments. If the nation does not work, nor will its cities. This book looks at the economy of cities through the lens of “The Ten Pillars of Urban Success,” covering a full range of policy concerns from top (i.e., sound macroeconomic management) to bottom (i.e., safe neighborhoods). Cities rich and poor around the world that are as different as New York, Vienna, Buenos Aires, and Port au Prince are examined. Urban success or failure almost always takes us back to the wise or unwise decisions of national and/or state governments. Urban success is about more than economics. Cities that have managed to produce livable urban environments for the majority of their citizens mirror the societies that spawned them. Similarly, cities that have failed are almost always signs of more deep-rooted failures. A socially cohesive city in a divided nation is an oxymoron. In the final chapter, the book proposes a critical look at America’s urban failures, its declining Rustbelt cities, and inner-city ghettos. Such failures should not have happened in the world’s richest nation. That they did is not only the sign of a deeper malaise, but also a warning to the wealthy urbanizing societies of tomorrow.
Conclusion
Authors: Polèse Mario
Published: October 2019

Why has the richest nation in the world produced dismal urban failures: stagnating Rustbelt cities and inner-city ghettos, breeding grounds for poverty and violence? At the same time, America has produced great urban success stories, generating unparalleled wealth. This concluding chapter examines the roots of America’s unequal urban landscape, going back to the ideals of the American Revolution and the institutional legacy it spawned, and which some two centuries later would leave their mark on America’s cities. In the face of America’s urban challenges, the temptation is strong to revert to local solutions. Strong mayors and dedicated community leaders are needed. However, ultimately, fixing America’s urban failures will require leadership at the top. A socially cohesive city in a divided nation is an oxymoron. By the same token, America’s story is a warning for the wealthy urbanizing societies of tomorrow.
Build
Authors: Katz Mark
Published: October 2019

Hip hop and diplomacy are unlikely partners. And yet, since 2001 the US Department of State has been sending hip hop artists to perform and teach around the world. The government has good reason to be interested in hip hop: it is known and loved across the globe, readily acknowledged as a product of American culture. Moreover, hip hop has long been a means of fostering community through creative collaboration—what hip hop artists call building—and can thus facilitate mutual respect and cooperation among people of different nations, a key objective of diplomacy. At heart, Build is about the intersection of art and power. It reveals the power of art to bridge cultural divides, facilitate understanding, and express and heal trauma. Yet power is always double-edged, and the story of hip hop diplomacy is deeply fraught. Build explores the inescapable tensions and ambiguities in the relationship between art and the state, revealing the ethical complexities that lurk behind what might seem mere goodwill tours. In the end, however, Build makes the case that hip hop can be a valuable, positive, and effective means to promote meaningful and productive relations between people and nations. Hip hop, a US-born art form that has become a voice of struggle and celebration worldwide, has the power to build global community at time when it is so desperately needed.
Early Childhood Trauma and Substance Misuse and Addiction
Authors: Merrick Melissa T. , Ford Derek C. , Houry Debra E.
Published: October 2019

This chapter examines the complex relationship between childhood trauma and substance use. Not all children who experience childhood trauma will go on to use substances, and persons with no childhood trauma may develop substance use disorders. However, trauma has been found to greatly increase the risk of later substance use. Further, research suggests that individuals with histories of childhood trauma are more likely to report chronic pain symptoms that interfere with daily activities and are also more likely to be prescribed multiple prescription medications. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been directly associated with substance misuse and substance use disorders in adulthood, including illicit drug use, with a dose–response relationship such that the more ACEs children experience, the more likely they are to have such substance use problems as adults. Implications for prevention of opioid use disorder in particular, and substance misuse and addiction more generally, are discussed.
Heresy without Orthodoxy
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: October 2019

This chapter probes heresiological tendencies in the works of the first-century ce Jewish historian Josephus. Josephus hones in on what he considers dangerous beliefs, such as the denial of providence or renunciation of punishments after death. Josephus’s works prove even more important when considering how he constructs what he calls the “Fourth Philosophy”—rebels whose philosophy is not only dangerous but new. Using many strategies adopted by later Christian heresiologists, Josephus describes this group as recently created, by a named founder, whose distinctive and dangerous ideas are entirely novel, unjustified by scripture or tradition. Examining Josephus as well as some later rabbinic works illustrates the need to separate out heresy from orthodoxy, for in both bodies of literature one can find evidence for heresy without evidence of orthodoxy. Rather, in both Josephus and the rabbis, beliefs deemed dangerous are set against a looser notion of consensus.
Secret Supersessionism?
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: October 2019

This chapter examines the clearest evidence of an ancient Jewish embrace of innovation: the scattered references to a “new covenant” preserved in various Dead Sea Scrolls. While the term “new” does appear a few fleeting times in this body of literature, this chapter explores how any intimations of innovation at Qumran are gradually buried beneath alternate discourses, such as covenant renewal, the discovery of hidden meanings, and the fundamentally dualistic (and nonchronological) “Two Ways.” The question of Qumranic secrecy is also explored. An excursus to this chapter reconsiders Hazon Gabriel, the so-called Dead Sea Scroll in stone, which may, by some readings, also refer to a “new covenant.” Reasons for doubting the authenticity of this unprovenanced artifact are considered.
Innovation Asserted
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: October 2019

This chapter traces the trajectory of early Christianity’s eventual embrace of the new, as articulated in the New Testament. Early sections probe the Gospels, illustrating how difficult it is to trace the word “new” back to the sayings of Jesus himself. Clearer evidence emerges in Paul, though he balances assertions of innovation with appeals to a prior covenant of faith. Other gospel traditions—above all, the Sermon on the Mount—seek to establish the novelty of Jesus’s teaching, a claim that sometimes entails denying earlier precedents for Jesus’s instruction. Going one important step further, the Letter to the Hebrews provides the earliest evidence for supersessionism, when the valorization of innovation is undergirded by a condemnation of the old. But an alternate discourse is also in evidence in texts like the Didache, which speak not of an old/new contrast but a timeless duality between good and evil.
Emergence of the Isolated Household
Authors: Bromley Daniel W.
Published: October 2019

We here explore the gradual emasculation of the household as the basic unit of provisioning during the four evolutionary phases of capitalism. This economic history reveals a gradual redefinition of the purpose of the household from the center of entrepreneurial initiative to a besieged and insecure provider of inconvenient and unwanted labor to managerial capitalism whose central imperative is to reduce labor costs in the service of greater net returns to owners of capital. This evolutionary pathway will reveal the household to be an increasingly precarious and politically vexing participant in global capitalism.