bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Methodology for ranking internal corrosion-induced leakage susceptibility in oilfield pipelines
Authors: Olabisi Olagoke , Jarragh Amer
Published: August 2023

This investigation focuses on the ranking of pipeline leakage susceptibility of two categories of pipeline systems. One consists of three oilfield water-handling pipeline systems and the other consists of five dry crude systems. Online corrosion monitoring (OCM) method was used for both systems, forthermore, in-line inspection (ILI) method, with Magnetic Flux leakage (MFL) tool, was also used for the dry crude systems. The OCM leakage susceptibility potential is derived from the combined severity of general corrosion, pitting corrosion, fluid corrosivity and sessile bacteria population density in the process streams. The ILI leakage susceptibility potential is derived from the average number of corrosion anomalies greater than 10% of the wall thickness and the maximum depth of the anomalies (as percentage of the wall thickness). In spite of such distinctions, the ranking of pipeline leakage susceptibility for the five dry crude pipeline segments turned out to be identical for the two methodologies.
Monnina (Polygalaceae), a New World monophyletic genus full of contrasts
Authors: Freire-Fierro Alina , Forest Felix , Devey Dion S , Pastore José Floriano Barea , Horn James W , Ge Xue-Jun , Wang Zhengyang , Xiao Tian-Wen , Bien Walter F
Published: August 2023

Endemic to the Neotropics, Monnina is the second largest genus of Polygalaceae, yet little is known about its phylogenetic history, biogeography, and morphological character evolution. To address these knowledge gaps, we conducted Bayesian and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of nuclear ITS and plastid trnL–F regions to test the monophyly of Monnina s.l. We used this phylogenetic framework to (i) infer divergence time estimates of lineages within the genus and reconstruct their historical biogeography; (ii) reconstruct the evolution of morphological characters of putative ecological and evolutionary importance in Monnina; and (iii) test for correlations between our phylogenetic hypothesis and environmental data. Our results reveal that Monnina is monophyletic with an indehiscent, 1–2-seeded fruit as a synapomorphy for the genus. We identify six clades within Monnina based on our combined phylogenetic results: Clades A, B, and D are primarily distributed in southern and eastern South America, Clades C and E are primarily Central Andean, and Clade F is chiefly distributed in the Northern Andes and Central America. The ancestor of the Monnina stem lineage dispersed from Australia/Africa to South America during the late Eocene to early Oligocene. The divergences of major lineages within the genus began in the early Miocene. We inferred the most recent common ancestor of Monnina to be an herbaceous plant with one-seeded samaroid fruits. The origins of fleshy fruits and shrubby habits are phylogenetically correlated within Monnina, and their concerted convergent evolution may have promoted increased net diversification rates in the two most species-rich subclades of the genus.
Contrasting response of microeukaryotic and bacterial communities to the interplay of seasonality and local stressors in shallow soda lakes
Authors: Márton Zsuzsanna , Csitári Bianka , Felföldi Tamás , Hidas András , Jordán Ferenc , Szabó Attila , Székely Anna J
Published: August 2023

Seasonal environmental variation is a leading driver of microbial planktonic community assembly and interactions. However, departures from usual seasonal trends are often reported. To understand the role of local stressors in modifying seasonal succession, we sampled fortnightly, throughout three seasons, five nearby shallow soda lakes exposed to identical seasonal and meteorological changes. We characterised their microeukaryotic and bacterial communities by amplicon sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA gene, respectively. Biological interactions were inferred by analyses of synchronous and time-shifted interaction networks, and the keystone taxa of the communities were topologically identified. The lakes showed similar succession patterns during the study period with spring being characterised by the relevance of trophic interactions and a certain level of community stability followed by a more dynamic and variable summer-autumn period. Adaptation to general seasonal changes happened through shared core microbiome of the lakes. Stochastic events such as desiccation disrupted common network attributes and introduced shifts from the prevalent seasonal trajectory. Our results demonstrated that, despite being extreme and highly variable habitats, shallow soda lakes exhibit certain similarities in the seasonality of their planktonic communities, yet local stressors such as droughts instigate deviations from prevalent trends to a greater extent for microeukaryotic than for bacterial communities.
Brief exposure to captivity in a songbird is associated with reduced diversity and altered composition of the gut microbiome
Authors: Florkowski Melanie R , Hamer Sarah A , Yorzinski Jessica L
Published: August 2023

The gut microbiome is important for host fitness and is influenced by many factors including the host’s environment. Captive environments could potentially influence the richness and composition of the microbiome and understanding these effects could be useful information for the care and study of millions of animals in captivity. While previous studies have found that the microbiome often changes due to captivity, they have not examined how quickly these changes can occur. We predicted that the richness of the gut microbiome of wild-caught birds would decrease with brief exposure to captivity and that their microbiome communities would become more homogeneous. To test these predictions, we captured wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and collected fecal samples to measure their gut microbiomes immediately after capture (“wild sample”) and again 5–10 days after capture (“captive sample”). There were significant differences in beta diversity between the wild and captive samples, and captive microbiome communities were more homogenous but only when using nonphylogenetic measures. Alpha diversity of the birds’ microbiomes also decreased in captivity. The functional profiles of the microbiome changed, possibly reflecting differences in stress or the birds’ diets before and during captivity. Overall, we found significant changes in the richness and composition of the microbiome after only a short exposure to captivity. These findings highlight the necessity of considering microbiome changes in captive animals for research and conservation purposes.
Bacteria and microalgae associations in periphyton—mechanisms and biotechnological opportunities
Authors: Vale Francisca , Sousa Cátia A , Sousa Henrique , Simões Lúcia C , McBain Andrew J , Simões Manuel
Published: August 2023

Phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms coexist in complex and dynamic structures called periphyton. These structures shape the biogeochemistry and biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. In particular, microalgae–bacteria interactions are a prominent focus of study by microbial ecologists and can provide biotechnological opportunities for numerous applications (i.e. microalgal bloom control, aquaculture, biorefinery, and wastewater bioremediation). In this review, we analyze the species dynamics (i.e. periphyton formation and factors determining the prevalence of one species over another), coexisting communities, exchange of resources, and communication mechanisms of periphytic microalgae and bacteria. We extend periphyton mathematical modelling as a tool to comprehend complex interactions. This review is expected to boost the applicability of microalgae–bacteria consortia, by drawing out knowledge from natural periphyton.
ARA: a flexible pipeline for automated exploration of NCBI SRA datasets
Authors: Maurya Anand , Szymanski Maciej , Karlowski Wojciech M
Published: August 2023

Background

One of the most effective and useful methods to explore the content of biological databases is searching with nucleotide or protein sequences as a query. However, especially in the case of nucleic acids, due to the large volume of data generated by the next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, this approach is often not available. The hierarchical organization of the NGS records is primarily designed for browsing or text-based searches of the information provided in metadata-related keywords, limiting the efficiency of database exploration.

Findings

We developed an automated pipeline that incorporates the well-established NGS data-processing tools and procedures to allow easy and effective sampling of the NCBI SRA database records. Given a file with query nucleotide sequences, our tool estimates the matching content of SRA accessions by probing only a user-defined fraction of a record's sequences. Based on the selected parameters, it allows performing a full mapping experiment with records that meet the required criteria. The pipeline is designed to be easy to operate—it offers a fully automatic setup procedure and is fixed on tested supporting tools. The modular design and implemented usage modes allow a user to scale up the analyses into complex computational infrastructure.

Conclusions

We present an easy-to-operate and automated tool that expands the way a user can access and explore the information contained within the records deposited in the NCBI SRA database.
Bronchial branching patterns and volumetry in the right upper lobe: impact on segmentectomy planning
Authors: Miura Kentaro , Eguchi Takashi , Ide Shogo , Mishima Shuji , Matsuoka Shunichiro , Takeda Tetsu , Hamanaka Kazutoshi , Shimizu Kimihiro
Published: August 2023

OBJECTIVES

The use of segmentectomy is expected to increase. However, understanding of the segmental bronchial branching is limited. Herein, we aimed to investigate bronchial branching pattern complexity and segmental volumetry of the right upper lung lobe to develop an accurate understanding of segmental anatomy and contribute to the advancement of safe and efficient lung segmentectomy.

METHODS

We evaluated chest computed tomography scans of 303 patients and categorized the branching of segmental bronchi (segment 1, apical; segment 2, posterior; and segment 3, anterior) into 4 major types (typical trifurcated, bifurcated non-defective, bifurcated defective and atypical trifurcated) and 11 subtypes. Segmental volumetry was performed to determine the predominant segment in each case (volume difference <5% was considered equal). Branching complexity was evaluated separately for volumetry-predominant and volumetry-non-predominant segments.

RESULTS

Trifurcated non-defective was the most frequent branching type (64.4%), followed by bifurcated non-defective (22.1%), bifurcated defective (8.6%) and trifurcated half-defective (4.0%). In terms of segmental volumetry, most cases had a one-segment-predominant distribution (71%) and only 5% of cases had equal distribution (segment 1 = segment 2 = segment 3). More than half of the cases had a segment 3-predominant distribution (52%). Branching complexity analysis revealed that the volumetry-non-predominant segment was associated with a higher risk of complex branching patterns compared with the volumetry-predominant segment (37% vs 19%, respectively; P < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

Volumetric assessment of the right upper lobe showed a heterogeneous segmental volume distribution. Care should be taken during lung segmentectomy of the volumetry-non-predominant segments because of the high risk associated with complex bronchial branching patterns.

Clinical trial registration

No. 4840.
Clonal dissemination of Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to cefiderocol, ceftazidime/avibactam, meropenem/vaborbactam and imipenem/relebactam co-producing KPC and OXA-181 carbapenemase
Authors: Bovo Federica , Amadesi Stefano , Palombo Marta , Lazzarotto Tiziana , Ambretti Simone , Gaibani Paolo
Published: August 2023

Objectives

Herein, we describe the epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we report the emergence of an outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains co-producing KPC and OXA-181 carbapenemase, resistant to novel β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors (βL-βLICs) and cefiderocol.

Methods

CPE were collected during a period of 3 years from 2019 to 2021. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for novel βL-βLICs and cefiderocol was performed by MIC test strips and microdilution with iron-depleted broth. WGS was performed on 10 selected isolates using the Illumina platform, and resistome analysis was carried out by a web-based pipeline.

Results

Between January 2019 and December 2021, we collected 1430 carbapenemase producers from 957 patients with infections due to CPE. KPC was the most common carbapenemase, followed by VIM, OXA-48 and NDM. During 2021, we identified 78 K. pneumoniae co-producing KPC and OXA-181 carbapenemases in 60 patients, resistant to meropenem/vaborbactam and imipenem/relebactam. Resistance to ceftazidime/avibactam and cefiderocol was observed respectively in 7 and 8 out of the 10 sequenced K. pneumoniae. Genome analysis showed that all isolates were clonally related, shared a common porin and plasmid content, and carried blaOXA-181 and blaKPC carbapenemases. Specifically, 4 out of 10 isolates carried blaKPC-3, while 6 harboured mutated blaKPC. Of note, KPC producers resistant to ceftazidime/avibactam and harbouring mutated blaKPC exhibited higher MICs of cefiderocol (median MIC 16 mg/L, IQR 16–16) than strains harbouring WT blaKPC-3 (cefiderocol 9 mg/L, IQR 1.5–16).

Conclusions

Our results highlight the need for continuous monitoring of CPE to limit widespread MDR pathogens carrying multiple mechanisms conferring resistance to novel antimicrobial molecules.
Generalization of finetuned transformer language models to new clinical contexts
Authors: Xie Kevin , Terman Samuel W , Gallagher Ryan S , Hill Chloe E , Davis Kathryn A , Litt Brian , Roth Dan , Ellis Colin A
Published: August 2023

Objective

We have previously developed a natural language processing pipeline using clinical notes written by epilepsy specialists to extract seizure freedom, seizure frequency text, and date of last seizure text for patients with epilepsy. It is important to understand how our methods generalize to new care contexts.

Materials and methods

We evaluated our pipeline on unseen notes from nonepilepsy-specialist neurologists and non-neurologists without any additional algorithm training. We tested the pipeline out-of-institution using epilepsy specialist notes from an outside medical center with only minor preprocessing adaptations. We examined reasons for discrepancies in performance in new contexts by measuring physical and semantic similarities between documents.

Results

Our ability to classify patient seizure freedom decreased by at least 0.12 agreement when moving from epilepsy specialists to nonspecialists or other institutions. On notes from our institution, textual overlap between the extracted outcomes and the gold standard annotations attained from manual chart review decreased by at least 0.11 F1 when an answer existed but did not change when no answer existed; here our models generalized on notes from the outside institution, losing at most 0.02 agreement. We analyzed textual differences and found that syntactic and semantic differences in both clinically relevant sentences and surrounding contexts significantly influenced model performance.

Discussion and conclusion

Model generalization performance decreased on notes from nonspecialists; out-of-institution generalization on epilepsy specialist notes required small changes to preprocessing but was especially good for seizure frequency text and date of last seizure text, opening opportunities for multicenter collaborations using these outcomes.
Introduction
Authors: Tolin David F.
Published: August 2023

The second edition of The Oxford Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders focuses on the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), newly described in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The OCRDs include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), and excoriation (skin-picking) disorder. In the handbook, leading experts review current evidence on the phenomenology, epidemiology, assessment, and treatment of the OCRDs, as well as the presentation of the conditions in special populations. The introductory chapter provides a brief history of OCD, an account of its role in the DSM, and an overview of the chapters to follow.
Behavioral Conceptualizations of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
Authors: Cassin Stephanie E. , Regev Rotem , Fournier Sandra , Rector Neil A.
Published: August 2023

The current chapter provides a selective overview of behavioral theories of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) and reviews the empirical support for these theories. Behavioral theories revolutionized the psychological conceptualization and treatment of the OCRDs, and there is strong evidence accumulated over the past 50 years demonstrating the seminal role of learning processes in the maintenance of the conditions. The evidence supporting the role of learning factors in the development of the OCRDs is somewhat less clear. In the past decade, there has been renewed interest in modeling the full range of learning factors related to fear extinction in the context of exposure-based therapy, and the principles and empirical evidence for the role of inhibitory learning are addressed in the chapter.
Assessing Comorbidity, Insight, Family, and Functioning
Authors: Merritt Olivia A. , Purdon Christine
Published: August 2023

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex and debilitating disorder that has a high degree of comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders. Strategies for differential diagnosis of OCD and these disorders, as well as the interactions of the diagnoses in treatment settings, are discussed. The chapter also explores the relationships between OCD and personality disorders, as well as between OCD and the OCD-related disorders. OCD is also characterized by impaired quality of life, family involvement, and varying insight. The presence of OCD is associated with high levels of functional impairment, especially in the social and emotional domains. Relationships with important others can be affected by the disorder. Family members are often involved in OCD symptoms, and family variables like symptom accommodation and hostility are related to poorer treatment outcomes. Treatment outcomes can also be influenced by level of insight held by the individual with OCD; those with poor insight into the irrationality of their symptoms often face challenges with treatment engagement. The chapter aims to provide a brief overview of comorbidity, family, insight, and quality-of-life issues and to review assessment and treatment implications of those issues. Measures for assessing relevant constructs are described.
Exposure-Based Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Abramowitz Jonathan S. , Taylor Steven , McKay Dean
Published: August 2023

Exposure and response prevention (E/RP) is one of the oldest and most effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The present chapter describes the empirical foundations, development, delivery, and latest research on E/RP. Commonly used methods and procedural variants of E/RP are described, along with the underlying mechanisms of action. The efficacy of E/RP in relation to other treatments is discussed, in addition to research on the long-term effects of E/RP and its effects in non-research settings. Pretreatment predictors of the outcome of using E/RP are also considered. Efforts to improve treatment outcome are discussed, such as research into the benefits of including a spouse or partner in E/RP. The chapter concludes by considering important future research directions for improving the outcome of treatment packages that include E/RP.
Treatment of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Authors: Summers Berta J. , Laky Zoë E. , Greenberg Jennifer L. , Chosak Anne , Fang Angela , Wilhelm Sabine
Published: August 2023

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterized by an excessive preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance. BDD is a severe and common disorder associated with high levels of functional impairment and high rates of suicidality. Interventions, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy, are effective for BDD. This chapter outlines the cognitive-behavioral model and therapy of BDD. The chapter reviews pharmacotherapy of BDD and discusses the role of combination therapy. The chapter also addresses ineffective approaches for the treatment of BDD, including the role of cosmetic procedures. Early recognition and intervention are critical, as they limit the disorder’s chronicity and subsequent morbidity.
The Rise and Decline of the European Struggle against Social Exclusion
Authors: Atkinson Rob
Published: August 2023

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, addressing social exclusion and achieving greater social inclusion figured prominently in the “social policy” discourse of the European Union and of many national governments within it. This chapter discusses social exclusion and why it came to largely replace, or subsume, poverty and associated notions such as the “slum” in the EU and wider European debates. However, despite its apparent recent prominence, social exclusion has always been subordinate, to a greater or lesser degree, to the enhancement of economic competitiveness through the pursuit of a neoliberal policy agenda. Since the crash of 2007–2008 and the prolonged subsequent period of austerity and welfare state restructuring/retrenchment, social exclusion has been further downgraded in pursuit of the “holy grail” of economic competitiveness.
NGO Representation of Informal Settlements
Authors: Huchzermeyer Marie
Published: August 2023

Slum/Shack Dwellers International or SDI is an international NGO with grassroots and NGO affiliates in twenty-three countries in 2018, the vast majority of these on the African continent. Its governance incorporates selected and remunerated grassroots representatives, and until 2019 was intertwined with that of global agencies. While framing itself as being made up of grassroots savings collectives engaging in a set of non-confrontational approaches based on self-reliance and exchanges, SDI increasingly purported to represent and chart solutions for the urban poor globally. The organization’s savings-based structure of grassroots representation also sits at odds with an expansion drive, which had led to an uneven loosening of the methodological orthodoxy and therefore a diversification across the network. At the time of research in 2018, tensions existed between SDI’s representational procedures, the de facto nature of the network and its global narrative. This chapter combines a review of the extensive published and grey literature on SDI with selected interviews at the height of the organization’s global legitimacy.
Popular Housing Processes in Caribbean Colombia
Authors: Kellett Peter
Published: August 2023

Informal settlements are characterized by incremental change, often over long periods. This chapter draws on an ongoing longitudinal ethnographic study over a thirty-year period in informal settlements in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia. It explores the diverging trajectories of households as they attempt to build new lives through the generations. Contrasting cases demonstrate different strategies and levels of achievement and explain how the construction of owner-built dwellings is a powerfully symbolic process in which the physical construction of the dwelling parallels more fundamental transformations of social relationships and personal identity. The chapter draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of social and cultural capital, and theories of asset accumulation and exchange, to help explain the observed phenomena. Analysis of building and dwelling practices reconfirms the central role of the house in multiple aspects of life and in the realization of ambitious social aspirations.
Living at the Center, Pushed to the Edge
Authors: Sharma Kalpana
Published: August 2023

Informal urban settlements, often referred to pejoratively as “slums,” cover just 10 percent of Mumbai, India’s financial capital, and yet make up almost 50 percent of its population. Strategies to move these settlements or redevelop them have usually failed to appreciate the survival strategies that people inhabiting such spaces have developed over time. This chapter looks closely at Dharavi, a large disadvantaged settlement in Mumbai that the state has attempted to redevelop, to illustrate how the urban poor negotiate such urban development plans. It describes the history and inhabitants of the area before analyzing several failed redevelopment efforts: the Prime Minister’s Grant Project (PMGP) of the 1980s, the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) of the 1990s, and the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) that began in 2005.
Introduction
Authors: Mayne Alan
Published: August 2023

This historiographical overview of slums in the modern world discusses the key texts that have shaped this research field since the social history revolution of the 1960s. It provides context, drawing attention to the urban transformation of human society in the modern era, and the entrenching of social disadvantage and poverty as cities grew ever larger. And it introduces a puzzle: is “slum” an unproblematic term to describe poor places and social life within them, or is it a loaded word that distorts the essential characteristics of poor communities and skews efforts to address urban social problems? It asks the question: can an historical perspective help us to resolve that puzzle?
Slums
Authors: Mitullah Winnie V.
Published: August 2023

Slum development interventions are often off-target, taking a “basic needs” welfare approach that has neither benefited the poor nor solved the problem of proliferating slums. This chapter uses political economy analysis to examine institutional and governance issues that play a central role in the development and persistence of slums. The chapter contextualizes slums using dignity and “right to the city” perspectives in order to explore slums as an element in urban development, and governance deficits in addressing slum problems. The chapter argues that slum development is a political economy issue that must be addressed by considering deep-rooted institutional and governance issues which create deficits in both economic development and slum interventions.
The Spatial Politics of US Homelessness
Authors: Howard Ella
Published: August 2023

The term “slum” has fallen out of fashion in discussions of contemporary American cities. Yet, over the course of the twentieth century, federal, state, and local forces have increasingly divided American cities along lines of race and socioeconomic class. Throughout the century, homeless people, the most vulnerable of all in this polarizing process, congregated on “skid rows.” Many of these were subsequently flattened by “urban renewal” projects, and their inhabitants were dispersed to new poverty districts. This chapter uses nineteenth- through twenty-first-century Boston as a case study to explore these themes, focusing on the spaces occupied by the city’s most destitute residents.
Painting
Authors: Schellekens Elisabeth
Published: August 2023

Painting has largely been absent from the forefront of morally provocative and politicized art of late. Nonetheless, painting has a long and rich history of representing moral content by depicting moral dilemmas, deliberations, actions, attitudes, and more. Distinguishing between internal/external and general/specific ethical issues in painting, the main aim of this chapter is to shed light on what it means for a painting to have moral content and how such content influences the value we accord the work as a painting. Painting can have several kinds of moral content which one can relate to in rich and varied ways. Where there are ethical dimensions to painting, engaging with the moral content of a painting is inseparable from engaging with the artwork as such, as is the possibility of learning from it.
Ethics and Literature
Authors: Lamarque Peter
Published: August 2023

Narratives where even remotely human-like characters and actions are depicted will elicit from readers reflections grounded in an ethical vocabulary: for example, actions conceived as selfish, kind, mean-spirited, generous, cruel. In this sense, narratives, including most literary narratives, can be spoken of as having an ethical content. However, literary readers will ask what functions, within an artistic design, are served by actions so characterized. Is the cruelty gratuitous or meaningfully integrated? Is the kindness subtly displayed or merely sentimental? On such issues are literary judgments grounded. But these judgments must be sharply distinguished from instrumental values: whether, for example, reflecting on work content in these ways can encourage empathy in readers, or enrich their understanding of moral behavior. These are no doubt benefits of some literary narratives, but they are not, this chapter argues, at the core of where narrative content manifests its ethical dimension.
Monuments and Memorials
Authors: Bicknell Jeanette , Judkins Jennifer , Korsmeyer Carolyn
Published: August 2023

Memorials and monuments are typically works of public art with a deliberate social function: to honor persons and events considered important to remember by a community, whether local or global. Their subjects may be triumphant or catastrophic, individual or collective. Because of their central purpose, the ethical character of such works is as significant as their aesthetic success. Indeed, it can be hard to separate the two realms. However, when social and political values shift and those honored are no longer considered worthy, the ethical and the aesthetic aspects of monuments can come into intense conflict. This chapter offers a general definition of monuments and memorials, discusses their shared features, and considers the ethical and aesthetic assessments that they invite.
Art and Ethics in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Authors: Bhushan Nalini , Mehrotra Arvind Krishna
Published: August 2023

In Indian modernity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in the context of colonialism, the link between arts and ethics was contested for artists. Traditional ethical preoccupations with good and evil, with right and wrong action, and, with the scope of one’s duties, expanded to include different kinds of ethical choices for members of Indian society. Practitioners of the arts were presented with new dilemmas connected to the more individual and situational ethics of identity, authenticity, and creativity. This chapter analyzes the creative ferment generated by these ethical dilemmas for artists in this period. It uses four case studies drawn from painting and poetry to make its argument for an ethics of integrity arising from artistic self-awareness: the painters Amrita Sher-Gil and Bhupen Khakhar, and the poets Rabindranath Tagore and Arun Kolatkar.
Ethical Issues in Internet Culture and New Media
Authors: Cross Anthony
Published: August 2023

The omnipresence of the internet in the twenty-first century has brought with it an explosion of new artistic media, including memes, viral videos, social media posts, and other distinctive manifestations of internet culture. These new media are largely participatory, ephemeral, and even anonymous, yet they offer important new opportunities for artistic expression. This chapter highlights their ethical significance along three main dimensions. First, the chapter focuses on how the everyday aesthetic choices afforded by online curation, filters, and internet aesthetics provide new opportunities for the expression and creation of individual identities. Second, the chapter surveys the ways that internet memes and other participatory media contribute to the formation and expression of communities with shared values. Third, the chapter discusses ethical challenges associated with ownership and attribution of instances of these media: Can anyone claim ownership of a meme? And what might such ownership consist in?
Caring with the Earth, Community, and Co-Learners for the Health of Biological, Social, and Musical Ecosystems
Authors: Smith Tawnya D.
Published: August 2023

In times of environmental crisis, it is critical that humans learn to stop living on the planet and start living with the earth. Such an evolution of worldview is critical to human survival and has profound implications for education. This chapter draws on Hendricks’s (2021) conceptions of “caring with” to consider ways music education might contribute to fostering a sustainable worldview. Given that the same ideologies that exploit the earth also exploit humans, I argue that music education pedagogies that are mindful of caring with the earth are perhaps the most profound and powerful place to attend our energies if our goal is to address systemic barriers to equity and to confront and transform the unsustainable thinking that negatively impacts our social relations and personal wellbeing.
Empathy and Deep Listening in Jazz Improvisation
Authors: Davis Troy
Published: August 2023

In this chapter, I explore empathy and deep listening as potential strategies to support the musical growth of developing musicians. Specifically, I explore ways that jazz educators might model empathy through perspective-taking, flow, deep listening, and empathetic attunement to create the conditions for empathy and relational trust among students. These strategies can be implemented into curriculum and instruction by jazz educators using mentorship, engaging in open-ended dialogue, considering place-based pedagogy, and integrating musical empathy. Additionally, I contemplate ways that jazz educators might encourage students to interpret the nonverbal communication of other musicians, as this practice may enhance deep listening skills, which help to strengthen personal connections and build community.
Singing and Caring
Authors: Parker Elizabeth Cassidy , Hutton Jennifer C.
Published: August 2023

This chapter suggests that the human voice—specifically the singing voice, represents an important way for individuals to care for one another in the world, a care desperately needed as discord appears more prevalent than consonance. It proposes singing and caring connections through a developmental lens and explore how singing interactions within oneself and with others embody singing-caring relations. Using Miller’s holistic approach to education, it anchors singing-caring relations with inclusion, balance, and connection. Lastly, it offers practice examples from public school and youth community choral settings as possibilities for educators to build singing-caring relations with singers.
Music’s Relational Imperative
Authors: Mitchell Elizabeth
Published: August 2023

This chapter explores music therapy and music education as interconnected musical-relational practices and presents these fields as lying on a continuum. With the foundational assumption that an ethic of care is an integral element of therapeutic process, the author examines points of relevance for music educators from the theories and practices of music-centered music therapists. Research surrounding the therapeutic relationship, along with practices from creative music therapy and community music therapy, are considered with respect to their intersections with music education practice. That the work of music educators is relevant for music therapists is also noted, highlighting the significance of transdisciplinary collaboration between these related disciplines.
Love, Care, Revolution, and Justice
Authors: Smith Gareth Dylan , Waller-Pace Brandi , Urbach Martin , Powell Bryan
Published: August 2023

This chapter presents a duoethnographic discussion between four authors, where they converse and critique scholarship and practice around care in music education. The authors present overlapping and juxtaposed perspectives on how educators might support students’ identity expressions, in particular those of Black students and students from diverse backgrounds. The authors seek to share and promote critical consciousness in relation to efforts toward anti-oppressive practice, by considering love as integral to care. In doing this, they draw on scholarship from Paulo Freire and bell hooks in addition to work by Karin Hendricks. Part of the discussion is rooted in experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and ways in which this presented challenges for music educators to care.
Music-Making in Prisons and Schools
Authors: Swanson Rebecca D. , Cohen Mary L.
Published: August 2023

Performative art-making programs have the potential to counter the punitive structures of carceral systems. This chapter presents a three-part case study of music-making in a prison, using Frank Rogers’s framework of compassion-based activism to describe the experiences in this program. In particular, it explores self-compassion as a type of compassion that is essential to the abolition of oppressive structures because it builds resilient interior strength and freedom. It argues that musical learning settings can be opportune environments for cultivating compassion for oneself and others. In discussing pedagogical practices that foster compassion-based activism, it challenges readers to think about oppressive systems that might block self-compassion and relationship-building among students and teachers in music classrooms.
Popular Music Education, Aesthetic Judgment, and Gender Relations in Hungary
Authors: Barna Emília
Published: August 2023

The chapter is an inquiry into sociocultural reproduction through popular music education in formalized settings, with a focus on gender relations. Looking at the experience of Hungarian musicians, active in a variety of music genres, of engaging in popular music education, it explores, first, how the relationship between genre conventions and values and the musical education experiences of girls and women can be described. Second, it looks at how a patriarchal order is maintained, reproduced, and reinforced through these conventions in popular music schools. Third, it identifies strategies and practices of care and (female) solidarity, both individual and collective, that respond to or question the patriarchal structure of music worlds. With the help of interview data, I reveal ways in which symbolic violence is used in Hungarian popular music education to keep women in a subordinate position, and highlight the connection between acts of symbolic violence and locally embedded genre conventions. In addition, I argue that even well-meaning acts of care may contribute to the reinforcing of the gender order.
Convivencias and a Web of Care
Authors: Shorner-Johnson Kevin , Gonzalez Martha , Shevock Daniel J.
Published: August 2023

Researchers such as Gilligan and Noddings study the abstraction, care, as linear and didactic. Linear acts of caring are problematized when they are contextualized within histories of colonization, white supremacy, and forms of anthropocentric domination. However, diverse musics and ecology invite us to reconsider, reshape, and reform abstractions of care into reciprocal relations. We draw upon convivencia in fandango to illustrate how rooted traditions may be grounded within a web of relationships. When music is enacted on local soils, the ever-present gift of Mother Earth, traditions embody the community and relationality necessary to break the hold of subject-object relations. The authors propose a musical countermelody of care as living-with where carers are always the one-caring and the cared-for at the same time.
Early monocular deprivation reduces the capacity for neural plasticity in the cat visual system
Authors: Henneberry Jonathon Mark , Elgallad Joseph , Smith Seth , Duffy Kevin R
Published: August 2023

Obstruction of vision to one eye during early postnatal development elicits neural modifications in the visual system that can last a lifetime. Research in rodents has revealed that an early and transient monocular deprivation (MD) can produce an enduring alteration to the framework of neural connections within visual cortex. This lasting trace of early MD enables an enhanced effect of a second MD imposed on the same eye in adulthood. In the current study, we examined whether the modification of plasticity potential was bidirectional by assessing whether the effect of early and brief MD attenuated the impact of a subsequent MD when applied to the fellow eye. Results were clear in showing that animals with an early MD exhibited a smaller response to later visual deprivation of the fellow eye. Compared to controls, animals with a history of MD exhibited less atrophy of neurons, and a smaller loss of neurofilament labeling within the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. The shift in cortical ocular dominance elicited by MD was also smaller in animals with a prior MD. These results indicate that early MD elicits abiding and eye-specific neural modifications that can selectively alter plasticity potential in the visual system.
The Tech4Rest Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Olson Ryan , Johnson Peter W. , Shea Steven A. , Marino Miguel , Springer Rachel , Rice Sean P.M. , Rimby Jarred , Donovan Courtney
Published: August 2023

Objective

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to improve sleep, reduce fatigue, and advance the well-being of team truck drivers.

Methods

In a randomized controlled trial (k = 24 teams; N = 49 drivers; 61.3% of planned sample), intervention teams were exposed to baseline (3–4 weeks), cab enhancements (active suspension seat, therapeutic mattress; 3–4 weeks), and cab enhancements plus a behavioral sleep-health program (1–2 months). Control teams worked as usual during the same period.

Results

Trends in sleep-related outcomes favored the intervention. Large and statistically significant intervention effects were observed for objectively measured physical activity (a behavioral program target). The discussion of results addresses effect sizes, statistical power, intervention exposure, and work organization.

Conclusions

Trends, effect sizes, and significant findings in this rare trial provide valuable guidance for future efforts to improve working conditions and outcomes for team drivers.
Prepared for Home-Based Telework? The Relation between Telework Experience and Successful Workplace Arrangements for Home-Based Telework During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Gerich Joachim
Published: August 2023

Objective

This article focuses on the perceived effects of home-based telework during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to five outcomes (job satisfaction, burnout, work-family conflicts, technostress, and social isolation) and how these are affected by workplace arrangements and telework experience.

Methods

Cross-sectional survey data from employees in the IT, finance, and insurance sector collected during the COVID-19 crisis (N = 808) were used for the study.

Results

Outcomes are most negatively affected by feelings of surveillance and most positively affected by suitably equipped offices. Organizational teleworker support is most strongly related to job satisfaction. Experienced teleworkers report better outcomes, because of improved support, less perceived surveillance, and better equipped home stations.

Conclusions

Adaptation of management strategies avoiding surveillance and suitable setups of home offices to reconcile work and private spheres are key to well-being of teleworkers.
Analytical sensitivity analysis and clinical impact modeling of Rapigen rapid diagnostics tests for malaria
Authors: Golden Allison , Slater Hannah C. , Jang Ihn Kyung , Walke Sayali , Phan Thanh T. , Bizilj Greg T. , Rashid Andy , Barney Becky , Domingo Gonzalo J
Published: August 2023

Analytical performance analysis through laboratory benchmarking can more objectively compare the performance of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). We present the analytical detection limits of the Rapigen BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH), the Rapigen BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRPII), and two best-in-class World Health Organization (WHO)-prequalified comparator RDTs, generated using standardized panels containing recombinant antigen, in vitro cultured parasites, international standards, and clinical samples. Detection limits of HRP2, PfLDH, and PvLDH were determined for the Rapigen and comparator RDTs as antigen concentration and in international units (IU)/mL. The Rapigen Ag Pf (pLDH/HRPII) detected 3.9 and 3.9 IU/mL for PfLDH and HRP2, respectively, while the Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) detected 3.9 and 5.0 IU/mL for PfLDH and PvLDH, respectively. The comparator HRP2/PfLDH and HRP2/PvLDH detected 15.6 and 31.3 IU/mL for HRP2 and PfLDH and 15.6 and 50.0 IU/mL for HRP2 and PvLDH, respectively. The RDT clinical sensitivity was predicted through application of analytical detection limits to antigen concentration distributions from clinical symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. Febrile cases would be detected in majority by both standard and Rapigen RDTs, though with increases in the Rapigen RDTs that may be important for clinical cases currently missed by microscopy. Rapigen RDTs were predicted to increase the detection of asymptomatic cases and improve the detection of hrp2 deletions through PfLDH detection. Through the benchmarking and simulation of clinical sensitivity, a method for rapidly assessing the ability of new RTDs to meet clinical needs using high-sensitivity antigen distribution data is presented.
Rare coding variants in schizophrenia-associated genes affect generalised cognition in the UK Biobank
Authors: Fenner Eilidh , Holmans Peter , O’Donovan Michael C , Owen Michael J , Walters James T R , Rees Elliott
Published: August 2023

Impairments in cognitive function are a feature of schizophrenia that strongly predict functional outcome and are generally not improved by current medications. However, the nature of the relationship between cognitive impairment and schizophrenia risk, and particularly the extent to which this reflects shared underlying biology, remains uncertain. We analysed exome-sequencing data from the UK Biobank to test for association between generalised cognition and damaging rare coding variation in genes and loci associated with schizophrenia in 30,487 people without the disorder. Rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) and damaging missense variants in loss-of-function intolerant (LoFi) genes were associated with lower generalised cognition. Moreover, we found significantly stronger effects for damaging missense variants in credible causal genes at schizophrenia GWAS loci and for rare PTVs affecting LoFi genes in regions defined by schizophrenia-enriched CNVs. This suggests shared underlying biology between schizophrenia risk and general cognitive function in the population, and that exploiting large population sequencing datasets to identify genes with shared effects on cognition and schizophrenia can provide a route towards determining biological processes underlying cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.