bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fine structure of the age–chromospheric activity relation in solar-type stars: II. Hα line
Authors: Souza dos Santos P V , Porto de Mello G F , Costa-Bhering E , Lorenzo-Oliveira D , Almeida-Fernandes F , Dutra-Ferreira L , Ribas I
Published: June 2024

Excess chromospheric emissions within deep photospheric lines are effective proxies of stellar magnetism for FGK stars. This emission decays with stellar age and is a potential determinant of this important stellar quantity. We report absolutely calibrated H $\alpha$ chromospheric fluxes for 511 solar-type stars in a wide interval of precisely determined masses, [Fe/H], ages, and evolution states from high S/N, moderately high$-$resolution spectra. The comparison of H $\alpha$ and H + K chromospheric fluxes reveals a metallicity bias (absent from H $\alpha$) affecting Ca ii H + K fluxes thereby metal-rich stars with deep line profiles mimic low chromospheric flux levels, and vice versa for metal-poor stars. This bias blurs the age–activity relation, precluding age determinations for old, inactive stars unless mass and [Fe/H] are calibrated into the relation. The H + K lines being the most widely studied tool to quantify magnetic activity in FGK stars, care should be exercised in its use whenever wide ranges of mass and [Fe/H] are involved. The H $\alpha$ age–activity–mass–metallicity calibration appears to be in line with the theoretical expectation that (other parameters being equal) more massive stars possess narrower convective zones and are less active than less massive stars, while more metal-rich stars have deeper convective zones and appear more active than metal-poorer stars. If regarded statistically in tandem with other age diagnostics, H $\alpha$ chromospheric fluxes may be suitable to constrain ages for FGK stars with acceptable precision.
The Difference of Addictive Behavior of Free-Base Nicotine and Nicotine Salts in Mice Base on an Aerosol Self-Administration Model
Authors: Zhang Hao , Han Shulei , Fan Lei , Liu Guanglin , Zhang Yuan , Chen Huan , Hou Hongwei , Hu Qingyuan
Published: June 2024

Introduction

The distinctions in the biological impacts of distinct forms of nicotine have become a prominent subject of current research. However, relatively little research has been done on the addictive effects of different forms of nicotine.

Aims and Methods

The aerosol self-administration device was briefly characterized by determining aerosol concentration, particle size, and distributional diffusion of the aerosol. And the aerosol self-administration model was constructed at 1, 5, and 10 mg/mL of nicotine to select the appropriate nicotine concentration. Subsequently, the model was used to explore the differences in aerosol self-administration behavior of free-base nicotine and nicotine salts and the behavioral differences after withdrawal.

Results

We successfully constructed mouse aerosol self-administration models at 1, 5, and 10 mg/mL nicotine concentrations. In the study of the difference in addictive behaviors between free-base nicotine and nicotine salts, mice with free-base nicotine and different nicotine salts showed varying degrees of drug-seeking behavior, with nicotine benzoate showing the strongest reinforcement. In post-withdrawal behavioral experiments, nicotine salts mice showed more robust anxiety-like behaviors.

Conclusions

These results confirm the successful development and stability of the nicotine aerosol self-administration model. Furthermore, they demonstrated that nicotine salts enhance drug-seeking behavior to a greater extent than free-base nicotine, with nicotine benzoate exhibiting the most significant effects.

Implications

In this study, an aerosol self-administered model of mice was constructed, which can be used not only for comparing the effects of free-base nicotine and nicotine salts on the behavior but also for other addictive drugs, such as fentanyl and cannabis. In addition, this study shows that nicotine salts may be more addictive compared to free-base nicotine, which is a reference for the future use of nicotine salts in tobacco products such as e-cigarettes.
Insanity, Disability and Responsibility: Rethinking Autonomy to Challenge Structural Inequality
Authors: Richards Jane
Published: June 2024

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) operates as a lens of analysis to show that the insanity doctrine and its dispositions discriminate against the category of people with mental disabilities to whom the defence applies. However, while identifying the discrimination perpetuated by the insanity doctrine, this article argues that the CRPD Committee has failed to uncover the ultimate source of disadvantage of which the doctrine is merely symptomatic. Instead, it is argued that the criminal justice system entrenches a notion of ‘capacity-responsibility’ which situates the mentally disabled defendant as the ‘other’. In an attempt to challenge this embedded structural injustice, the article thus calls on the CRPD Committee for a more holistic application of the CRPD, to provide the tools to challenge that will move towards greater equality for people with mental disabilities.
Introduction
Authors: Snow Nancy E.
Published: June 2024

The literature on hope in philosophy is extensive. After a brief foray into some temporal aspects of hope, the introduction offers a selective review of work on hope from the history of philosophy with an eye to highlighting those theories that have influenced contemporary accounts. Following that, it turns to a brief review of work on hope in the pragmatist tradition. Finally, it traces the main lines of contemporary debates about hope in analytic philosophy. The backbone of these debates is the “standard” account, offered by J. P. Day, according to which a desire for an end and the belief that it is probable are both necessary and sufficient for hope. Most contemporary philosophers argue that the standard account is necessary, but not sufficient for hope, and add sufficiency conditions. These lively discussions are in full force, and promise to continue.
Lost Worlds
Authors: Wills Christopher
Published: June 2024

We look at two examples of how humans have degraded our planet’s ecosystems: the first drawn from the author’s direct experience growing up in the rapidly changing world of British Columbia forest and marine ecosystems, and the second from the very earliest days of human arrivals in Australia. The ecological world of the author’s childhood has undergone huge, and largely negative, changes during his lifetime. And environmental degradation has had a long history. The arrival of the first humans in Australia, about 50,000 years ago, has now been shown to coincide precisely with the disappearance of all Australia’s large marsupials and many of its large reptiles and birds. This chapter explores the ecological and evolutionary reasons for these disappearances, and suggests how the limited genetic resources of Australia’s ecosystems may have made them especially vulnerable.
The Evolution of a Vermont Country Doctor
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

This chapter presents the tale of George Brooks, a Vermont country doctor who lived in a small village observing kids who were disabled and disadvantaged. He grew up in the pre-World War II era and became a physician during the war and a psychiatrist afterward. The chapter describes the growth of all the caring professions during this time, emphasizing to readers just how recently was this period and the advances that occurred. The impact of World War II, with the return of physically and mentally/emotionally damaged soldiers is discussed, as is the emergence and growth of the field of physical rehabilitation. This confluence of events sets the scene for Dr. Brooks to emerge as a leader in his field of psychiatric rehabilitation, and it paved the way for Bill Anthony.
A Puzzled Psychiatrist Became a Revolutionary With the Help of His Patients
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

Extreme overcrowding at state hospitals and political battles marked the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Brooks considered himself a biological psychiatrist and participated in one of the first SmithKline & French research studies of the new drug Thorazine. Many patients responded well and were discharged, but many did not. Brooks attempts to help these nonresponders led to a successful rehabilitation program. It was based on an outpatient model for the inpatient group who were considered to be both “untreatable and unemployable.” This therapeutic community program had a horizontal approach not a hierarchical structure; focused on education and work; used shared decision-making, with interdependence prioritized over independence; encouraged ex-patient clubs; and presented living-learning opportunities at every social interaction and crisis. These strategies were copies of the work done by Maxwell Jones in England, which was published in 1953.
The Implausibility of Becoming a Phase III NIMH Principal Investigator
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

This chapter focuses on how the author, as a newly single mother and a student nurse, met psychiatric patients at Vermont State Hospital (VSH) and what they taught her. The chapter begins by detailing how the author found herself being guided away from her first career goal as a nurse and into educational channels that would lead her to become a psychology major. The author describes her interest in research and the guidance she received from several mentors. The chapter details her initial exposure to the VSH cohort study records. The comprehensive nature of these records and the fact that she was able to find 87% of the original cohort with a single letter led to suggestions that she conduct a follow-up study. The chapter describes the National Institute of Mental Health grant application process for the follow-up study and the site visit that led to the study being funded.
White Supremacy and the Sex Industry
Authors: Farvid Panteá , Epstein Sarah , Lumpkin Leigh , Canton Thyme , King Michelle
Published: June 2024

The commercial sex industry stratifies people, desires, bodies, income, and access to sex. Racialization is a key part of how sex work is stratified but is often overlooked in research and other sociocultural or political discussions. This chapter examines how proximity to whiteness, patriarchy, cisgenderedness, heterosexuality, and citizenship shape the hierarchies of desirability within the sex industries of four Anglo-legal contexts: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. These contexts have long and violent colonial histories, and as case studies reveal how sexual racism continues to shape legal, social, and cultural regulation of sex work. Using an intersectional lens, this chapter examines these contexts to critique the hierarchies of desire in sex work and illuminate how they create material realities of inequality, which ultimately uphold white supremacy. Strategies for challenging such inequalities are discussed, including the continued need for a truly intersectional approach to sex work decriminalization and advocacy.
The Efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Authors: Weissman Myrna M. , Mootz Jennifer J.
Published: June 2024

This chapter provides an overview of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). It defines IPT as an evidence-based, manualized psychotherapy tested in numerous clinical trials. Regardless of whether depression and other psychiatric disorders have an environmental, familial, or biological basis, the disorders still occur in line with a social and interpersonal context, and understanding them will help find better ways of handling them or relieving symptoms. The chapter then elaborates on the 3 phases of treatment—initiation, middle, and termination—which would vary depending on the setting and resources. It looks into various IPT techniques, such as communication analysis, decision analysis, and role play.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy Training in Switzerland
Authors: Hovaguimian Theodore , Omay Oguz
Published: June 2024

This chapter examines the history of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) training in Switzerland. Although the quality of life has declined in recent years, Geneva remains in the top 10 of the most pleasant cities in the world despite its rate of depression being higher compared to most Swiss cantons. The chapter explains how psychiatrist Theodore Hovaguimian imported the practice of IPT in Geneva, which resulted in Geneva’s university Hospitals becoming among the first European centers to teach IPT. Additionally, the World Health Organization's promotion of mental health and health policy was another factor in IPT in the country. The chapter considers the factors of training in IPT in Switzerland.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy Training in the Veterans Health Administration in the United States
Authors: Clougherty Kathleen F. , Steele Jennifer L. , Croswell Kevin
Published: June 2024

This chapter covers interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) training in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in the United States. It explains that the VHA's evidence-based provider psychotherapy training program is among the largest competency-based IPT training programs in the United States. The VHA’s handbook required that veterans have access to evidence-based psychotherapies shown to be effective for specific mental health or behavioral health conditions. The chapter details the development of the IPT training program, therapist training, and external consultants’ training, and the changes to the IPT training program. It then explains that the 2 aspects of IPT that needed adaptation were the sick role and the conceptualization and interpersonal deficits.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Japan
Authors: Mizushima Hiroko
Published: June 2024

This chapter discusses interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in Japan. It follows how Dr. Hiroko Mizushima published the Japanese translation of the first manual to Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression. After establishing an IPT study group, Dr. Mizushima built the Japan chapter of the International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT). The chapter then details the adaptations to IPT before considering its subsequent barriers and facilitators of implementations, which references the National Health Insurance Plan not covering IPT. It mentions the plans to make IPT-JAPAN an official academic society composed of clinicians and researchers, which can give points to maintain professional qualifications after the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the plan.
Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents in Nepal
Authors: Pradhan Indira , Rose-Clarke Kelly , Verdeli Helen , Shrestha Pragya
Published: June 2024

This chapter looks into group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for adolescents in Nepal. Guided by the ecological validity framework, adaptations were made related to the domains of context, persons, treatment goals, methods, concepts, language, metaphors, content, and developmental stage. The major barriers and facilitators of IPT’s implementation range among caregivers, stigma, managing child protection issues and suicidality, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter then considers a case example that illustrates how group IPT was used to address grief in an adolescent boy with depression. It suggests school-based psychoeducation as one of the key recommendations for future work in Nepal.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Germany
Authors: Brakemeier Eva-Lotta
Published: June 2024

This chapter focuses on the establishment of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) in Germany. The implementation and dissemination of IPT in Germany consists of 3 steps: the publication of the first German book on IPT, the foundation of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wissenschaftliche Psychotherapie (AWP), and training in IPT stimulated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interpersonelle Psychotherapie (DG-IPT). The chapter then discusses IPT in special settings and for specific problems, such as IPT inpatient programs and IPT group treatment. Meanwhile, all global crises directly affect the interpersonal context, so IPT is particularly suited for short-term and specific support to people affected by crises. The chapter acknowledges IPT as a practice-oriented therapy that can help narrow the gap between research and practice.
Internet-Delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy (i-IPT) in the Netherlands
Authors: Dozeman Els , Donker Tara , Schotanus Amrah Y. , van Schaik Anneke
Published: June 2024

This chapter evaluates Internet-delivered interpersonal psychotherapy (i-IPT) in the Netherlands. In specialized mental health care, psychotherapy for depression mainly consists of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and, to a lesser extent, IPT, but these psychotherapies are difficult to access due to long waiting lists caused by a short supply of mental health care professionals. Internet-delivered formats may help to reduce waiting lists given less therapist time is needed. Indeed, over the past 2 decades, Internet-delivered therapy programs have been designed to improve access to healthcare. Unrestricted by time and place, electronic health (eHealth) may provide personalized treatment, increase patient empowerment, and contribute to accessible and affordable treatment. Especially for depression, electronic interventions have been well researched and successfully launched. The chapter then looks at the training of therapists in i-IPT, as well as the future of i-IPT.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Older Adults With Major Depression
Authors: Reynolds Charles F.
Published: June 2024

This chapter recounts randomized clinical trials that started in 1989 using interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for the treatment of older adults living with major depression. It discusses the use of maintenance treatment with IPT for depression in primary care settings and treatment of bereavement-related depression. It also looks at the combination of pharmacotherapy and IPT, which was superior to monotherapy in maintaining social adjustment and health-related quality of life over 1 year. The chapter examines the merging of IPT with antidepressant pharmacotherapy that is superior to care in bringing about a response of major depression and in more quickly reducing suicidal ideation. It highlights the major strength of IPT in late-life depression, which is fostering the personalization of treatment at a deep, existential level that allows patient and therapist to engage in problem-solving where patients are suffering the most.
Reflection
Authors: Weissman Myrna M. , Mootz Jennifer J.
Published: June 2024

This chapter provides a summary and reflection on the global reach of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and interpersonal counseling (IPC) in diverse settings and populations. It talks about the acceptance of problem areas and common recommendations for improvement, such as adapting language related to assigning the sick role. It also covers the duration and dose of treatment, therapist level of training and training methods, and delivery of IPT with telephone, video, games, and other digitized methods. The chapter highlights the future that involves the expansion of services for the underserved globally, expansion of technology, certification, cost-effective training, reduction of stigma, a better understanding of susceptibility, and a focus on prevention. It looks at the importance of human attachments, which reflects common humanity.
Swinglines
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

Rhythms traditionally framed as “deviations” have their own identities. They are coherent products of precise musical thought and action. Rather than situating them in the neither-here-nor-there, Swinglines takes an inclusive view where meter and isochrony are particular cases within the broader universe of musical time. This book flips the frame from what rhythm is not to what rhythm is. As conceptualized here, swing flattens the temporal field to consider how note values relate to one another by any magnitude, not just the simple ratios of traditional theory. At its core, Swinglines is a nuts-and-bolts study of durational comparisons in the context of creative expression. It encourages readers to experience what it is like to forget the metric hierarchy and instead approach rhythms as freewheeling affairs rather than by pointing to where they sit on the isochrony scale. Transcriptions and timing-data visualizations illustrate how variation, tuplets, polymeter, displacement, phrase structure, rhythmic counterpoint, parallel tempos, cyclical patterns, and time signatures draw their contours from the swing continuum.
Voice and Beat
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

This chapter delves into the rhythmic interplay between vocal melody and instrumental background. Excerpts from European opera, Brazilian bossa nova, and American R&B and hip-hop demonstrate some ways in which singers weave their lines around the accompaniment’s beat, tempo, and accents. Such phrasing creates rich composite textures that can be understood as co-occurring layers rather than in a figure/ground, meter-centric conception. Particular attention is paid to the contrapuntal relationship between the voice and the snare drum backbeat. The ratios and note values introduced in Chapter 1 are shown to shape these musical lines in combination with the stress properties of speech rhythm.
Hybrids
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

This chapter explores rhythmic similarity through the concept of analogues—similar sets of ordered durations across the same span of time—that form a hybrid. Hybrids expose structural similarities between rhythms hailing from unrelated signatures. For example, a four-onset cycle may be heard in 3$ as two quarter-notes plus two eighth-notes or in 7* as three quarter-notes plus one eighth-note. Various time signatures are staked in three-onset space and shown to be proximal to each other as well as approximations of differently timed rhythms. Examples from Moroccan Houariyat songs illustrate hybridity between 7* and 10/8. A concluding compositional exercise connects hybrids to an expanded conception of swing sixteenth-notes.
When Polymeters Attack
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

Continuing the trend from previous chapters, this chapter draws attention to rhythm within and beyond the concavities of metered time by pointing to three types of polymetric scenarios. (1) Variable polymeter features cycled rhythms that change across repetitions and recur periodically but not strictly so. (2) Attack matrices display how the accents of strictly periodic cycles change their metric status with each repetition; the process is illustrated with Hindustani tabla tihais. (3) Self-same polymeter refers to the accenting of every other note of a (shorter) cycled rhythm to get a different (second-order) rhythm that cycles twice as slowly; the recursive process is mapped in three-onset space.
Priority Monism in Schelling’s 1801–1802 Writings
Authors: Fisher Naomi
Published: June 2024

This chapter articulates the features of Schelling’s monism as presented in 1801–1802, arguing that it is a priority monism inspired by a certain strand of Platonism. Schelling’s monism is a priority monism, rather than a Spinozistic or substance monism, in that it allows finite things to have a measure of independence and self-determination. Yet it is a monism insofar as things exist in and through a certain kind of relative identity with the absolute. This chapter defends Schelling’s identity philosophy against the charge that the unity it achieves is merely stipulative and vacuous by detailing the ways in which unity is operative in the structure of Schelling’s theoretical systems. One example of this is Schelling’s 1802 dialogue Bruno, which crucially invokes the metaphysics of Plato’s Philebus. This chapter concludes with a summary of how Schelling, in drawing on Platonism, advances the post-Kantian tradition in a distinctive way.
Introduction
Authors: Brafman Yonatan Y.
Published: June 2024

The introduction motivates a critique of halakhic reason in view of contemporary discussions of religion and long-standing questions in the Jewish tradition. It suggests that though norms and obligations are central components of many religions, they have often been neglected as objects of reflection. It also argues that overly generalized discussion of religious belief or practice in epistemology and political theory leads to a search for specifically “religious reasons,” which are then subtly characterized by a Protestant conception of faith. This “multicultural perspective” neglects the normative claim, deliberative context, and diversity of reasons that characterize reasoning about practices in religious communities and traditions. This is illustrated through a case study of a contested Jewish practice: metzizah be-peh (oral-genital suction following circumcision). It also introduces the relation between the justification and jurisprudence of the commandments as well as their source of normativity as central topics in the Jewish tradition.
Radicalisation as Identity Reconfiguration and Narrative Resonance
Authors: Awan Akil N.
Published: June 2024

The establishment of Islamic State’s “caliphate” in 2014 led to a small number of European Muslims to flock to its banner. This chapter attempts to understand the appeal IS held for them, by detailing IS’ sophisticated, multi-media propaganda campaigns, which provided compelling meta-narratives aimed specifically at these young Western Muslims. The chapter focuses on the two central themes that Islamic State’s grand caliphate project was predicated upon—themes that are ubiquitous to virtually all extremists’ rhetoric and propaganda: the construction of a highly tendentious, but nevertheless persuasive, grand narrative in order to support and legitimize their ideology and worldview; and the construction of a distinctive and radically exclusive transnational religious in-group identity that could mobilize audiences globally. The chapter goes on to argue that ISIS’ narratives only resonate and possess potency, when they intersect with the very particular lived experiences of some young Muslims in the West. A heady mix of Islamophobia, xenophobia, alterity, cultural dislocation, socio-economic marginalization, and pervasive narratives of failed integration and multiculturalism within popular discourse can lead individuals to feel alienated in their own country, to take solace in an alternative identity narrative which might appear more appealing than a tainted national one.
The Problem of Pseudoscience
Authors: Pigliucci Massimo
Published: June 2024

In the Charmides, Plato presents us with one of the first known instances of what is nowadays called the demarcation problem in philosophy of science: how do we tell science from bunk? Socrates asks the question in the specific case of medical expertise, and concludes that the only way to adjudicate between a real doctor and a quack is to become doctors ourselves, obviously not a practical solution for most people. Modern scholarship on expertise offers a wider range of tools to help us navigate an increasingly complex world in which everyone seems to have strong opinions, but most turn out to have little knowledge or understanding. This chapter explores three issues related to trust and pseudoscience: the empirical evidence on the nature of expertise; Alvin Goldman’s five-point solution to Socrates’ problem; and Moberger’s pertinent application of Frankfurt’s generalized concept of bullshit.
Institutionalized Expertise
Authors: DeNicola Daniel R.
Published: June 2024

The problematic of this article is the apparently oppositional interaction of two contemporary social trends: (1) the expansion, institutionalization, and specialization of expertise; and (2) rising public distrust and rejection of expert authority and the institutions that create and certify it. Among various forms of expertise, it is those that are normative-regulative (not merely descriptive), those that advise clients, those I call open-loop professions, for which the two trends are most acute. The erosion of public trust in advisory experts (health officials, economists, environmentalists, educators, etc.) is widely documented for the USA and the UK. I offer an analysis of forces propelling this disrespect and argue that, ironically, aspects of the first trend—the evolution of the professions—are implicated. I conclude with suggestions for coping with the epistemic asymmetry of client and expert advisor.
Affective, Cognitive, and Ecological Components of Joint Expertise in Collaborative Embodied Skills
Authors: Sutton John
Published: June 2024

To better understand the nature of joint expertise and its underlying processes, we need not only analyses of the general conditions for skilled group action, but also descriptive accounts of the features and dimensions that vary across distinct performances and contexts, such as sport and the arts. And in addition to positioning our accounts against current models of individual skill, we need concepts and lessons from work on collaborative processes in other cognitive domains. This paper examines ecological or situational components of expert joint action in practice, then offers a selective survey of some key cognitive and affective resources that shape and transform group performance.
Expert Judgement without Values
Authors: Hatchwell Rivkah
Published: June 2024

Many contemporary philosophers of science think that it is proper for ethical considerations to play a role in deciding scientific claims. We disagree, not least because this is likely to bring science into disrepute. The paper offers a sustained case for this claim. The paper is organised into the following twelve sections: initial meta-ethical observations; evidence not expedience; Rudner and ‘inductive risk;’ whose values?; which choices?; the current debate; credences versus significance tests; Rudnerian calculations; higher-order judgements; the problem of the priors; against categorical beliefs; and racing to the bottom.
Decolonising Experts
Authors: Mitova Veli
Published: June 2024

What would happen to our notion of expertise if we took decolonial theorists’ insight that former colonial subjects continue to be epistemically marginalised? We should revise our accounts of expertise, I argue in this paper. The argument has three steps. First, I show that the experts of the epistemically marginalised (e.g. traditional healers) are indeed experts: they meet core conditions for responsibly placed trust in scientific experts. Second, I argue that existing accounts of expertise cannot accommodate this claim. Finally, I sketch a view of expertise (‘communitarian functionalism’) that can. If the argument works, it helps us make progress both in the epistemology of expertise and with the project of epistemic decolonisation.
Bounded rationality revisited
Authors: Thorstad David
Published: June 2024

This chapter takes up the remaining four normative claims about bounded rationality made in Chapter 2. I show how the reason-responsive consequentialist view makes space for the claim that bounds matter by telling a principled story about how and why bounds matter to rational cognition. I use the global consequentialist commitments of the view to interpret and defend the claim that rationality should be process-focused. I show how the reason-responsive consequentialist view grounds the rationality of paradigmatic cognitive heuristics and sheds light on the factors guiding rational choice among heuristic strategies. And I use the reason-responsive consequentialist view to defend an interpretation of ecological rationality.
Debt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India
Authors: Dwivedi Hari Krishna
Published: June 2024

In 2020, for the first time in history, the world’s debt as a percentage of its GDP exceeded 100 per cent. Although it has since come down slightly, there are concerns about where the next debt crisis will happen, given that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have already found themselves in debt crises. Although India’s overall fiscal health and macroeconomic conditions remain stable, the same may not be completely true when the discussion shifts to India’s subnational entities. This book attempts to answer this question by analysing the debt sustainability of states in the context of many emerging issues and challenges to the states’ fiscal health. The focus of the book remains providing usable and practical recommendations that can ensure the fiscal health of the subnational governments in India and in other federal countries across the world.
Conclusion
Authors: Dwivedi Hari Krishna
Published: June 2024

This concluding chapter attempts to summarize the motivation for the book, the theoretical arguments for and against public debt, the subnational government (SNG) borrowing arrangements in India, debt position of Indian states, challenges to debt sustainability in Indian states, and the strategies and policy recommendation for Indian states to avoid debt crisis. The policy interventions encompass a wide gamut of reforms including revenue augmentation through extending GST to excluded items, expenditure rationalization through curtailing inefficient subsidies, strengthening of local body finances and restructuring of state-level public enterprises. The policy recommendations also include leveraging e-initiatives and utilizing innovating financing and monetization methods.
PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B Regulate Flower Number and the Lip Symmetry of Phalaenopsis
Authors: Hsu Hsing-Fun , Li Ya-Chun , Shen Yi-Hsuan , Yang Chang-Hsien
Published: June 2024

The standout characteristic of the orchid perianth is the transformation of the upper median petal into a distinctively formed lip, which gives orchid flowers their typically zygomorphic symmetry and makes them the most popular ornamental plants worldwide. To study orchid flower development, two WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes, PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B, were identified in Phalaenopsis. PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B mRNAs accumulate abundantly during early reproductive development and perianths of young buds, significantly decreasing in mature flowers and absent in vegetative leaves and roots. PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) knockdown in Phalaenopsis significantly reduces floral bud numbers, suggesting that PaWOX3/PaWOX3B may be involved in flower initiation. Transgenic Arabidopsis ectopically expressing repressor forms of PaWOX3/PaWOX3B and their Oncidium ortholog, OnPRS, exhibit lateral organ development defects, implicating these genes likely have function in regulating growth and differentiation for lateral organs. Neither PaWOX3, PaWOX3B single nor PaWOX3/PaWOX3B double VIGS Phalaenopsis altered the flower morphology. Interestingly, double silencing of PaWOX3 or PaWOX3B with OAGL6-2, which controlled the identity/formation of lips, altered the symmetry of ‘BigLip’ produced in OAGL6-2 VIGS. This result indicated that the levels of PaWOX3/PaWOX3B are still sufficient to maintain the symmetry for the OAGL6-2 VIGS ‘BigLip’. However, the symmetry of the OAGL6-2 VIGS ‘BigLip’ cannot be maintained once the expression of PaWOX3 or PaWOX3B is further reduced. Thus, in addition to controlling lip identity, this study further found that OAGL6-2 could cooperate with functionally redundant PaWOX3/PaWOX3B in maintaining the symmetric axis of lip.
Histological Properties of Adipose Tissue as an Autologous Tissue Filler Harvested from Different Donor Areas and Impact of Centrifugation
Authors: Szychta Pawel , Kuczynski Maciej , Dzieniecka Monika
Published: June 2024

Background:

As a burgeoning technique in reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, lipofilling’s success is hindered by the unpredictability of graft integrity and quality. This study addresses the critical need to enhance consistency and reproducibility by exploring the clinical utility of adipose tissue from specific body areas, considering the influence of patient-specific factors and mechanical processing on fat graft integrity and morphology.

Methods:

In a prospective, randomized, single-blind study, 52 patients undergoing surgical reconstruction due to significant deformities were enrolled. Lipoaspiration from four areas was performed. Adipose tissue was compared using five parameters of tissue damage and 10 parameters of graft integrity, assessed immediately postcollection and after centrifugation. The study aimed to evaluate the structural integrity and clinical applicability of adipocytes.

Results:

Morphological assessment revealed no significant differences in adipose tissue quality across donor sites, suggesting consistent graft quality regardless of the harvesting location. Centrifugation induced more morphological damage than noncentrifuged samples, but the overall graft integrity was maintained due to increased cell density. Higher graft acceptance parameters were noted in noncentrifuged samples compared with centrifuged ones.

Conclusions:

Despite centrifugation-induced morphological changes, adipose tissue integrity remains relatively unaffected, supporting a flexible approach to donor site selection. The consistent quality of adipose tissue underscores the potential for autologous fat transplantation across various clinical scenarios. Optimizing graft processing techniques is crucial for enhancing the predictability and efficacy of lipofilling.
Simplified Fabrication of a Lingual Splint for Management of Mandibular Fractures
Authors: Wang Yu-Chi , Wu Yi-Chia , Chen Rong-Fu , Cheng Nai-Chen , Lee Su-Shin
Published: June 2024

Lingual splints have been used to treat mandibular fractures, particularly in cases of complicated mandibular fractures, and serve as a noninvasive adjunctive procedure for reduction and fixation. Furthermore, when used in conjunction with open reduction and internal fixation, the lingual splint provides feasible external fixation against displacing forces exerted by the robust musculature of the mandible. However, the conventional method for lingual splint fabrication is performed preoperatively, and the procedure is time-consuming. This technical note describes a simplified and efficient technique for the intraoperative manufacture of a lingual splint for mandibular fractures using a thermoplastic material, polycaprolactone. Our results demonstrated satisfactory fixation outcomes, reduced lingual splint fabrication time, and superior cost-effectiveness, offering an alternative option for adjunctive external fixation of mandibular fractures.
Development and validation of a biomarker index for HCC treatment response
Authors: Liang Jeff , Li Po-Yi , Norman Joshua , Lauzon Marie , Yeo Yee Hui , Trivedi Hirsh , Ayoub Walid S. , Kuo Alexander , Friedman Marc L. , Sankar Kamya , Gong Jun , Osipov Arsen , Hendifar Andrew , Todo Tsuyoshi , Kim Irene , Voidonikolas Georgios , Brennan Todd V. , Wisel Steven A. , Steggarda Justin , Kosari Kambiz , Saouaf Rola , Nissen Nicholas , Yao Francis , Mehta Neil , Yang Ju Dong
Published: June 2024

Background:

Serum AFP-L3%, AFP, and DCP are useful biomarkers for HCC detection, but their utility in assessing treatment response remains unknown. We aim to evaluate the accuracy of a biomarker model in the detection of posttreatment viable tumors.

Methods:

For model derivation, recipients with HCC undergoing liver transplant from 2018 to 2022 who had biomarkers collected within 3 months before transplant were included. We developed a generalized linear model for detecting posttreatment viable tumors with the 3 biomarkers as covariates, which we termed the “LAD Score.” An independent cohort of 117 patients with HCC was used for external validation.

Results:

Among 205 recipients of transplant, 70.2% had evidence of viable tumor on explant. The median LAD score was higher among patients with viable versus nonviable tumors (1.06 vs. 0.465, p < 0.001). The LAD score had a sensitivity of 55.6% and a specificity of 85.1% at the cutoff of 0.927, which was more accurate than imaging for detecting posttreatment viable tumors (AUROC 0.736 vs. 0.643, respectively; p = 0.045). The superior performance of the LAD score over imaging is primarily driven by its greater accuracy in detecting tumors <2 cm in diameter (AUROC of the LAD score 0.721 vs. imaging 0.595, p = 0.02). In the validation data set, the LAD score had an AUROC of 0.832 (95% CI: 0.753, 0.911) with a sensitivity of 72.5% and a specificity of 89.4% at the cutoff of 0.927.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest the utility of LAD score in treatment response assessment after locoregional therapy for HCC, particularly in detecting small tumors. A larger prospective study is in progress to validate its accuracy and evaluate its performance in recurrence monitoring.
Validating new coding algorithms to improve identification of alcohol-associated and nonalcohol-associated cirrhosis hospitalizations in administrative databases
Authors: Swain Liam A. , Godley Jenny , Brahmania Mayur , Abraldes Juan G. , Tang Karen L. , Flemming Jennifer , Shaheen Abdel Aziz
Published: June 2024

Background:

Alcohol (AC) and nonalcohol-associated cirrhosis (NAC) epidemiology studies are limited by available case definitions. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of previous and newly developed case definitions to identify AC and NAC hospitalizations.

Methods:

We randomly selected 700 hospitalizations from the 2008 to 2022 Canadian Discharge Abstract Database with alcohol-associated and cirrhosis-related International Classification of Diseases 10th revision codes. We compared standard approaches for AC (ie, AC code alone and alcohol use disorder and nonspecific cirrhosis codes together) and NAC (ie, NAC codes alone) case identification to newly developed approaches that combine standard approaches with new code combinations. Using electronic medical record review as the reference standard, we calculated case definition positive and negative predictive values, sensitivity, specificity, and AUROC.

Results:

Electronic medical records were available for 671 admissions; 252 had confirmed AC and 195 NAC. Compared to previous AC definitions, the newly developed algorithm selecting for the AC code, alcohol-associated hepatic failure code, or alcohol use disorder code with a decompensated cirrhosis-related condition or NAC code provided the best overall positive predictive value (91%, 95% CI: 87–95), negative predictive value (89%, CI: 86–92), sensitivity (81%, CI: 76–86), specificity (96%, CI: 93–97), and AUROC (0.88, CI: 0.85–0.91). Comparing all evaluated NAC definitions, high sensitivity (92%, CI: 87–95), specificity (82%, CI: 79–86), negative predictive value (96%, CI: 94–98), AUROC (0.87, CI: 0.84–0.90), but relatively low positive predictive value (68%, CI: 62–74) were obtained by excluding alcohol use disorder codes and using either a NAC code in any diagnostic position or a primary diagnostic code for HCC, unspecified/chronic hepatic failure, esophageal varices without bleeding, or hepatorenal syndrome.

Conclusions:

New case definitions show enhanced accuracy for identifying hospitalizations for AC and NAC compared to previously used approaches.
Establishing Diagnostic Reference Levels and Radiation Dose for Pediatric Head Age-Based Using Computed Tomography in Khartoum State
Authors: Mohammed Mohammed Hussein Abdullah , Hamza Alnazier O. , Barakat Hana M. , Khider Mohamed O. , Elnour Hanan A.
Published: June 2024

Computed tomography (CT) is a powerful clinical tool for the diagnosis and management of patients, enabling faster and more accurate diagnosis and the avoidance of interventional surgical techniques. A diagnostic reference level (DRL) is a tool used to aid in optimization of protection in the medical exposure of patients for diagnostic and interventional procedures. It is used in medical imaging with ionizing radiation to indicate whether, in routine conditions, the patient dose or administered activity (amount of radioactive material) from a specified procedure is unusually high or low for that procedure. Radiation dosage variance is one of the topics that arise when dealing with CT devices within medical imaging centers. Diagnostic reference levels have not been established in Sudan. The aim of this study is to propose DRLs for CT of the head for 4 pediatric age groups. The 2 levels that this study covers are volume CT dose index based on a 16-cm phantom (CTDIvol [mGy]) and the dose-length products (DLPs [mGy • cm]). These levels were investigated by conducting a survey to 6 healthcare facilities. The survey consists of questions focused on pediatric exposure parameters, CT protocols, and radiation doses for pediatric age groups <1, 1-5, 5-10, and 10-16 years. For the 4 age groups in the 6 facilities that responded, the mean, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values of CTDIvol (mGy) for head CT were for infants (<1 year), 21.2, 14.4, 17.6, and 27.0, respectively; for 1-5 years, 36.5, 15.7, 34.5, and 38.1, respectively; for 5- to 10-year group, the CTDIvol was found to be 40, 15.7, 33.5, and 47.6, respectively, and for the last group of 10-16 years, 41.6, 15.7, 37.4, and 58.3, respectively. The corresponding DLP (mGy • cm) for head CT, the mean, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values were as follows: for infants (<1 year), 472.9, 326.9, 385.3, and 545.5, respectively; for 1-5 years, 742.9, 509.1, 689.3, and 902.9, respectively; for 5-10 years, 1,130.4, 501.7, 924.2, and 1,667.4, respectively; for 10-16 years, 1,226.4, 595.4, 870.1, and 1,255.3, respectively. The total mean CTDIvol (mGy) was 38.0, and the total mean DLP (mGy · cm) was 1,001.6. These values have been compared with other values from other similar studies; the summary for these comparisons concluded that the majority of CTDIvol 16-cm phantom and DLP 16-cm phantom values for the head were higher than DRLs reported from other studies in other countries. Therefore, for risk reduction, it is necessary to establish DRLs for pediatric CT in Sudan.
The Importance of Reporting Recurring Medical Device Issues
Authors: Holtan Isabel
Published: June 2024

Medical device reporting provides critical safety information that assists the US Food and Drug Administration in its mission to protect and promote the public health. Reporting device–associated events each time they happen can give insight to the severity of device-related issues and help ensure that medical devices are safe and effective. This case study examines how detailed and frequent medical device reports submitted to the Food and Drug Administration can provide key context regarding device malfunctions. The frequency of reported events from the hospital in the case study described in this article helped initiate an investigation that ultimately contributed to a class II recall for the medical device.
Safety Verification Procedure in the Implementation of Alternative Equipment Maintenance at The Ottawa Hospital
Authors: Sangargir Maryam , Brose Joël
Published: June 2024

This article explores safety verifications in The Ottawa Hospital’s alternative Equipment Management (AEM) project, focusing on optimizing resource use and maintaining patient safety. This methodology includes integrating World Health Organization guidelines, establishing a dedicated AEM Committee, and a safety verification process using failure codes. The article consists of a case study on The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus Floor Scales to further illustrate the AEM safety verification process.