bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘Would you take a drug for this?’: attitudes by individuals with traumatic brain injury towards medication to improve social functioning
Authors: Reeder Sandra , Sewell Katherine , Lannin Natasha A. , Smith Madeleine J. , Semple Bridgette D.
Published: January 2025

Background Many people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) report problems with social functioning that can have immediate and enduring impacts. We aimed to explore perceptions of social functioning after TBI and understand attitudes towards medication that could improve long-term social outcomes. Method A qualitative descriptive approach using interview methods was conducted in Victoria, Australia. Using purposive sampling we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with people with moderate to severe TBI between July and September 2021. Results Using a framework approach, we thematically identified three themes: (1) impacts of TBI on social roles and activities, including changes in recreational activities and role changes in family units; (2) change in social networks, resulting from shifts in attitudes to social activities and mental health issues; and (3) openness to novel treatments to improve social functioning – willingness to take potential medication to improve social functioning and the factors that have an impact on decision making. Conclusion Our results highlight that people with TBI experience a range of changes in social participation post-TBI, and that they have a strong interest in improving their social functioning. Such insights provide opportunities to tailor patient-centric treatments and circumnavigate barriers in the early stages of medication development for successful translation into practice in this population.
The gonorrhoea care cascade in general practice: a descriptive study to explore gonorrhoea management utilising electronic medical records
Authors: Jung J. , Goller J. L. , Chondros P. , Ong J. , Biezen R. , Pires D. , Capurro D. , Faux N. , Manski-Nankervis J. A.
Published: January 2025

Background Gonorrhoea notification rates in Australia have more than doubled between 2014 and 2019. We explored gonorrhoea testing patterns and management of gonorrhoea infection in general practice. Methods We analysed de-identified electronic medical record data for individuals who attended 73 Australian general practices (72 in the state of Victoria) between January 2018 and December 2020. The ‘care cascade’ model was utilised to explore gonorrhoea detection and management. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were used to investigate factors associated with gonorrhoea testing, treatment and retesting. Results During the study period, there were a total of 1,027,337 clinical episodes. Of these, 5.6% (n = 57,847, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.5–6.7) involved a gonorrhoea test and 1.1% (n = 637, 95% CI 0.8–1.4) tested positive. Of the 637 gonorrhoea cases, 48.4% (n = 308, 95% CI 29.8–67.0) had an Australian guideline-recommended dual antibiotic prescription (ceftriaxone and azithromycin) recorded. Of 329 cases without a dual antibiotic prescription, 84.2% (n = 277, 95% CI 77.5–90.9) had reattended the clinic. Among the 206 gonorrhoea cases with dual antibiotic prescription recorded in 2018 and 2019, 32.0% (n = 66, 95% CI 25.3–38.8) were retested from 6 weeks to 6 months post-treatment. Of the 140 gonorrhoea cases that were not retested, 54.3% (n = 76, 95% CI 46.8–61.8) reattended the clinic within 6 months of treatment. Conclusion The low proportion of gonorrhoea cases prescribed recommended antibiotics and retested within recommended timeframes suggests opportunities for integrating Australian STI guidelines into primary care. Further exploration of care pathways is warranted to determine if care was provided but not recorded, provided elsewhere or not provided.
Characteristics and determinants of quality non-directive pregnancy options counselling: a scoping review
Authors: Vallury Kari Dee , Asher Amanda , Sarri Olivia , Sheeran Nicola
Published: January 2025

Non-directive pregnancy options counselling (POC) is a core component of comprehensive reproductive health care for pregnant people wanting support in making a pregnancy outcome decision. Approximately one quarter of people with unintended pregnancies and people seeking abortion care seek POC. This study synthesises global evidence on access to and characteristics of quality non-directive POC. We searched five health databases in line with PRISMA guidelines. Primary research articles (published in English, 2011–2023) were included if they addressed provision, experiences, or characteristics of non-directive POC. Data were synthesised and organised thematically. Twelve of the 4021 unique citations identified were included in the review. Four themes were generated: (1) characteristics of quality non-directive POC; (2) provider-level determinants of care quality and provision; (3) patient level factors impacting the desire for and receipt of care; and (4) organisational setting and legal determinants of provision and quality of care. Abortion-related values and policies at the provider, organisational and legislative levels were the most common and salient determinants of POC access and quality. Quality POC includes non-directive, empathetic, compassionate discussions about all pregnancy options that convey non-judgement and respect. However, we identified provider, organisational setting, and legal level determinants that disproportionately impact access to POC for marginalised pregnant people. Research regarding POC access and quality outside of the USA is needed. Upskilling primary care and other health professionals in POC and embedding referral pathways to non-directive POC and abortion care will support Australia to achieve its commitment to universal access to reproductive health care by 2030.
Toxoplasma
chitinase-like protein orchestrates cyst wall glycosylation to facilitate effector export and cyst turnover
Authors: Fu Yong , Tomita Tadakimi , Weiss Louis M. , West Christopher M. , Sibley L. David
Published: January 2025

Toxoplasma
bradyzoites reside in tissue cysts that undergo cycles of expansion, rupture, and release to foster chronic infection. The glycosylated cyst wall acts as a protective barrier, although the processes responsible for formation, remodeling, and turnover are not understood. Herein, we identify a noncanonical chitinase-like enzyme TgCLP1 that localizes to micronemes and is targeted to the cyst wall after secretion. Genetic deletion of TgCLP1 resulted in a thickened cyst wall that decreased cyst turnover, blocked the export of virulence effectors into host cells, and resulted in failure to persist during chronic infection. Genetic complementation with a series of mutants revealed that the GH19 glycosidase domain was crucial for regulating glycosylation of several glycoproteins in the cyst wall. Overall, our findings reveal that TgCLP1 is a multifunctional survival factor that modifies glycoproteins within the cyst wall to modulate export of virulence effectors and regulate turnover of tissue cysts.
Subunit-specific conductance of single homomeric and heteromeric HCN pacemaker channels at femtosiemens resolution
Authors: Benndorf Klaus , Enke Uta , Tewari Debanjan , Kusch Jana , Liu Haoran , Sun Han , Schmauder Ralf , Sattler Christian
Published: January 2025

In mammals, the four subunit isoforms HCN1–4 assemble to form functional homotetrameric and heterotetrameric hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-modulated (HCN) ion channels. Despite the outstanding relevance of HCN channels for organisms, including generating electrical rhythmicity in cardiac pacemaker cells and diverse types of brain neurons, key channel properties are still elusive. In particular, the unitary conductance,
γ,
of HCN channels is highly controversial. We analyzed the unitary conductance at femtosiemens resolution of all four homotetrameric channels of the mouse, mHCN1–4. All conductance values are in the range of 1 pS which is exceptionally small compared to most other ion channels. Surprisingly, the conductance among the isoforms differs up to threefold (γ
mHCN2
= 1.54 pS > γ
mHCN1
= 0.84 pS > γ
mHCN3
= 0.54 pS ≈ γ
mHCN4
= 0.51 pS) though the residues in the two narrow parts of the pore, the selectivity filter and the inner gate, are conserved. Mutagenesis and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the differences in the conductance are generated by different amounts of negative charges in the outer channel vestibule, which control ion accumulation. In line with these results, heterotetrameric channels exhibit intermediate unitary conductance values with respect to the homotetrameric channels. Our approach demonstrates how HCN channels can be functionally differentiated at the single-channel level, paving the way to target specific channels with selective drugs.
Hsp90, DnaK, and ClpB collaborate in protein reactivation
Authors: Hoskins Joel R. , Wickramaratne Anushka C. , Jewell Connor P. , Jenkins Lisa M. , Wickner Sue
Published: January 2025

Hsp70, Hsp90, and ClpB/Hsp100 are molecular chaperones that help regulate proteostasis. Bacterial and yeast Hsp70s and their cochaperones function synergistically with Hsp90s to reactivate inactive and aggregated proteins by a mechanism that requires a direct interaction between Hsp90 and Hsp70 both in vitro and in vivo.
Escherichia coli
and yeast Hsp70s also collaborate in bichaperone systems with ClpB and Hsp104, respectively, to disaggregate and reactivate aggregated proteins and amyloids such as prions. These collaborations are dependent on direct interactions between ClpB/Hsp104 and Hsp70. We explored the possibility that
E. coli
homologs of Hsp70, Hsp90, and ClpB, referred to as DnaK, Hsp90
Ec
, and ClpB, respectively, in combination with two DnaK cochaperones, DnaJ and GrpE, could promote protein disaggregation and reactivation under conditions where bichaperone systems are ineffective. Our results show that Hsp90
Ec
is able to overcome the inhibition of protein disaggregation and reactivation observed when the concentration of DnaK is approaching physiological concentrations. We found that ATP hydrolysis and substrate binding by all three chaperones are essential for the collaborative function. The work further shows that ClpB acts early in protein reactivation with DnaK and its cochaperones;
E. coli
Hsp90 acts at a later stage after ClpB. The results highlight the collaboration among chaperones to regulate and maintain proteostasis.
Measuring Pain in Insects
Authors: Gibbons Matilda
Published: January 2025

Pain is an aversive subjective experience that is consciously experienced as unpleasant. Causing unnecessary pain to animals is ethically wrong because pain is intrinsically aversive. Trillions of insects are used, harmed and killed per year, but they are excluded from animal welfare legislation because they have not yet been tested for their capacity for pain. Therefore, the evaluation of whether insects can feel pain is a necessity. This case describes potential ways to measure pain in an animal for which there is currently little or no published research about which behaviours might indicate pain.

Information

© The Author 2025
Exploring the moiré effect of graphene structure through optical diffraction experiments
Authors: Fei Ying , Liu Ruiyang , Zhou Yiquan , Gao Yingying , Tang Binxuan , Zheng Yuan
Published: January 2025

Moiré effect is a common phenomenon that arises from a slight mismatch in the period of two structures. A prominent example in the microscopic world is magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG). In this work, to enhance undergraduate students’ advanced learning of interference and diffraction, we reproduced the microscopic structure of MATBG on a macroscopic scale by creating hexagonal structured masks. By designing a suitable optical path, we were able to realize the optical diffraction of this macrostructure. The results revealed two additional periodic diffraction patterns in the twisted double-layer masks, which are relevant to the moiré effect. Through theoretical derivation and computer simulation, we explained the observed diffraction patterns, which matched well with the experiments. This designed project not only improves students’ knowledge in optics and laboratory operation skills, but also deepens their comprehension of moiré effect and crystal diffraction, showcasing its potential for further expansion and application in undergraduate physics education.
Revisiting the Laplace transform in quantum mechanics: correcting a flawed approach for the stationary Schrödinger equation
Authors: Báez Luis M , Santos Andrés
Published: January 2025

The Laplace transform is a valuable tool in physics, particularly in solving differential equations with initial or boundary conditions. A 2014 study by Tsaur and Wang (2014 Eur. J. Phys.
35 015006) introduced a Laplace-transform-based method to solve the stationary Schrödinger equation for various potentials. However, their approach contains critical methodological flaws: the authors disregard essential boundary conditions and apply the residue theorem incorrectly in the inverse transformation process. These errors ultimately cancel out, leading to correct results despite a flawed derivation. In this paper, we revisit the use of the Laplace transform for the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation, clarifying correct practices in handling boundary conditions and singularities. This analysis offers a sound and consistent framework for the application of Laplace transforms in stationary quantum mechanics, underscoring their educational utility in quantum mechanics coursework.
Single photon emitters in van der Waals solids for quantum photonics: materials, theory and molecular-scale characterization probes
Authors: Kaul Anupama B , Wang Yuanxi , Li An-Ping , Li Xinxin , Ma Xuedan
Published: January 2025

Strong light–matter interactions in two-dimensional layered materials (2D materials) have attracted the interest of researchers from interdisciplinary fields for more than a decade now. A unique phenomenon in some 2D materials is their large exciton binding energies (BEs), increasing the likelihood of exciton survival at room temperature. It is this large BE that mediates the intense light–matter interactions of many of the 2D materials, particularly in their monolayer limit, where the interplay of excitonic phenomena poses a wealth of opportunities for high-performance optoelectronics and quantum photonics. Within quantum photonics, quantum information science (QIS) is growing rapidly, where photons are a promising platform for information processing due to their low-noise properties, excellent modal control, and long-distance propagation. A central element for QIS applications is a single photon emitter (SPE) source, where an ideal on-demand SPE emits exactly one photon at a time into a given spatiotemporal mode. Recently, 2D materials have shown practical appeal for QIS which is directly driven from their unique layered crystalline structure. This structural attribute of 2D materials facilitates their integration with optical elements more easily than the SPEs in conventional three-dimensional solid state materials, such as diamond and SiC. In this review article, we will discuss recent advances made with 2D materials towards their use as quantum emitters, where the SPE emission properties maybe modulated deterministically. The use of unique scanning tunneling microscopy tools for the in-situ generation and characterization of defects is presented, along with theoretical first-principles frameworks and machine learning approaches to model the structure-property relationship of exciton–defect interactions within the lattice towards SPEs. Given the rapid progress made in this area, the SPEs in 2D materials are emerging as promising sources of nonclassical light emitters, well-poised to advance quantum photonics in the future.
Transition metal-doped ZrS2 monolayer as potential gas sensor for CO2, SO2, and NO2: density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green’s functions’ analysis
Authors: Zhu Min-Qi , Wang Xue-Feng , Vasilopoulos P
Published: January 2025

Density functional theory combined with the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) is used to systematically analyze the adsorption and sensing properties of a pristine ZrS2 monolayer doped with transition metals (TMs) Ni, Pd, or Pt, for three target gases CO2, SO2, and NO2. Our findings reveal that the pristine ZrS2 monolayer exhibits only a weak physical adsorption, whereas TM-doped monolayers show significantly enhanced sensing capabilities. The Ni–ZrS2 monolayer increases the charge transfer for NO2 by a factor of 6.75, while the Pd–ZrS2 monolayer shows an eightfold improvement for SO2. Notably, the adsorption of NO2 leads to substantial modifications in the band structure of the ZrS2 monolayer, suggesting its use as a resistive NO2 sensor. The Pd–ZrS2 and Pt–ZrS2 monolayers exhibit shorter recovery times at temperatures of 348 K and 398 K after adsorbing SO2 and NO2, highlighting their suitability for repeated detection. Additionally, the transport properties of TM-ZrS2-based devices are analyzed by NEGF. For CO2, SO2, and NO2, sensitivities of up to 1.53, 4.60, and 2.01 are observed for the Pd–ZrS2, Pt–ZrS2, and Ni–ZrS2-based devices, respectively, under specific bias. This study demonstrates that TM-ZrS2-based devices can realize repetitive and sensitive detection of specific target gases at different temperatures and biases, revealing their potential applications.
High-field electron transport and current saturation mechanism of open region channel in submicron split-gate AlGaN/GaN HFETs
Authors: Zhou Heng , Zhama Tuofu , Wang Mingyan , Lin Zhaojun , Zeng Yuping , Cui Peng
Published: January 2025

Electron transport was studied at low and high electric fields, alongside current saturation mechanisms, within the open region channel of submicron split-gate AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (SG HFETs). By calculating the low-field electron mobility, it is found that the gate voltage-dependent polarization Coulomb field (PCF) scattering played a dominant role in the various scattering mechanisms. A coupled Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation method was adopted in the analysis of the high-field electron transport. When the gate–source voltage is −4 V and the drain–source voltage is 10 V, the momentum relaxation effect caused by PCF scattering reduces the peak electron velocity in the open region channel from 3 × 107 cm s−1 to 1.2 × 107 cm s−1. The presence of the virtual gate effect in the TCAD leads to a decrease in electron density within the open region channel, creating a localized high-resistance region and consequently a local high electric field. In this high-field region, electrons attain their saturation drift velocity, resulting in current saturation. Combining the virtual gate effect and the velocity-field relationship obtained by MC simulation, the simulation results of the output characteristics at V
GS ⩽ −4 V are in good agreement with the experimental results. This work extends the analysis of electron transport and PCF scattering theory in SG HFETs from low-field conditions to high-field conditions. The effect of the virtual gate effect on the channel current saturation in the open region is quantitatively revealed.
Online lane mapping based on multi-sensor SLAM and Catmull–Rom splines
Authors: Gao Tianmu , Zou Danping , Chen Chao Ping , Wu Xiaojun , Hu Haiyang
Published: January 2025

Traditional offline high-definition maps have significant limitations owing to their high cost and difficulty in updating. Online vector maps represent a new trend in the development of autonomous driving. In this paper, we propose an online lane mapping system, which leverages both multi-sensor simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and Catmull–Rom splines. The map is constructed in real-time through the localization provided by SLAM and the fitting of splines. Existing SLAM algorithms perform poorly in complex urban environments, a deep learning network is incorporated into the visual front-end of our system to improve stability. Deep learning can extract and study deeper and less observable features, so that the system enhances the accuracy of visual tracking in scenarios characterized by low texture, lighting variations, and rapid motion. The system state is optimized by a factor graph framework to achieve precise localization. To construct continuous and consistent online lane maps, our system combines SLAM localization results with spline curves to achieve lane connection. Additionally, we develop a convenient method for initializing, extending, and optimizing the control points of splines to obtain more precise results. Our method combines the geometric characteristics with historical observations of lanes, enhancing the association and consistency of maps. Experiments conducted on the mainstream datasets demonstrate that our system exhibits greater robustness and improves the accuracy of localization and mapping across diverse environments.
Oscillatory soliton pairs in spin-orbit coupled spin-1/2 Bose–Einstein condensates
Authors: Liu Fei-Yan , Zhou Qin
Published: January 2025

We investigate oscillatory soliton pairs including the bright–bright solitons, dark–dark solitons, bright–dark solitons and beating solitons (beating soliton refers to a type of soliton characterized by components that are each composed of both bright and dark solitons, and the overall density is equivalent to that of a single soliton) in the spin-orbit coupled spin-1/2 Bose–Einstein condensates. Two important effects that are the spin orbit coupling (SOC) and Raman detuning resonance on these solitons are studied. The results show that the intensity of SOC affects the spatial oscillation of solitons, while Raman detuning resonance affects the temporal oscillation of solitons. Moreover, the oscillatory soliton pairs and their background are affected by gain/loss. Under different gain/loss modulator, the periodic, parabolic, dromion type and line solitons are constructed for bright–bright pairs, and the periodic and parabolic background planes are presented for dark–dark soliton pairs, as well as the bound state solitons on periodic and kink type background planes are obtained for bright–dark soliton pairs. For one-beating soliton pairs, two types of beating solitons including the petal and breather-like are discovered by adjusting the wave number. For two-beating soliton pairs, the interaction between different combinations of the two types of beating solitons mentioned above, especially the X- and Y-type beating solitons, are presented by controlling two wave numbers. Furthermore, we verify the stability of soliton pairs through numerical simulation and the physics-informed neural network methods.
The instability prediction of non-resonant energetic particle modes based on machine learning algorithms
Authors: Liu Sheng , Ren Zhenzhen , Wang Weihua , Yang Jinhong , Ning Hongwei , Zhong Kai
Published: January 2025

Non-resonant energetic particle modes (EPMs) are extremely common in tokamak experimental phenomenon, which can disrupt the plasma balance, subsequently reducing the device confinement performance. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that the hybrid simulation of EPMs requires considerable time and computational resources in the study of such phenomena. To solve this issue, this research proposes the Machine Learning (ML) approaches to predict the linear instability of non-resonant EPMs. Here, the current study compares four single model algorithms in order to select the optimal one for predicting the non-resonant EPMs instability, including the Decision Tree Regression (DT), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) regression, Support vector Regression (SVR) and Multilayer perceptron (MLP). By optimizing the hyper-parameters for these models, the final evaluation results reveal quite high accuracy and R2 values, all around 0.9. Moreover, this work examines the influence of missing different feature variables on the model evaluation. Through this comparison, the study analyzes the degree of importance of various factors in forecasting the instability of high-energy particle modes.
A numerical approach to model and analyse geometric characteristics of a grey-headed albatross aerofoil in flight
Authors: Winter Alexander Ernest , Schoombie Janine , Smith Lelanie
Published: January 2025

Limited research exists on the 3D geometric models and as a consequence the aerodynamic characteristics of the grey-headed albatross (GHA). Despite existing methods for extracting bird wing cross-sections, few studies consider deflections due to aerodynamic pressure. With the GHA known for its exceptional flight speed and purported wing-lock mechanism, it offers a valuable subject for studying fixed-wing aerodynamics in nature. This study aims to develop and validate a numerical approach to estimate the GHA’s wing cross-section in flight. The PARSEC method is combined with a scanned 3D point cloud of a dried GHA wing to create a 3D model and analyse an averaged aerofoil section. Using a pseudo-2D computational fluid dynamics model, the study explores passive morphing of bird wings due to aerodynamic pressure. Results show that the aerofoil morphs to achieve maximum potential aerodynamic efficiency at a Reynolds number of

2
×

10
5

, decreasing in camber. The maximum lift-to-drag ratio (

(

C

L

/

C

D

)

max

) increases from 3 to 44, primarily due to pressure drag reduction. However, the lack of comparison to true bird geometry in flight remains a limitation. Future research should compare the predicted morphing with actual bird specimens in flight.
Physics with non-unital algebras? An invitation to the Okubo algebra
Authors: Marrani Alessio , Corradetti Daniele , Zucconi Francesco
Published: January 2025

This paper presents some preliminary discussion on the possible relevance of the Okubonions, i.e. the real Okubo algebra

O

, in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The Okubo algebra lacks a unit element and sits in the adjoint representation of its automorphism group

SU

O

, thus being fundamentally different from the better-known octonions

O

. While these latter may represent quarks (and color singlets), the Okubonions are conjectured to represent the gluons, i.e. the gauge bosons of the QCD

SU
(
3
)

color symmetry. However, it is shown that the

SU
(
3
)

groups pertaining to Okubonions and octonions are distinct and inequivalent subgroups of Spin(8) that share no common

SU
(
2
)

subgroup. The unusual properties of Okubonions may be related to peculiar QCD phenomena like asymptotic freedom and color confinement, though the actual mechanisms remain to be investigated.
Inception networks, data augmentation and transfer learning in EEG-based photosensitivity diagnosis
Authors: Moncada Martins Fernando , González Víctor M , Villar José R , García López Beatriz , Isabel Gómez-Menéndez Ana
Published: January 2025

Photosensitivity refers to a neurophysiological condition in which the brain generates epileptic discharges known as Photoparoxysmal Responses (PPR) in response to light flashes. In severe cases, these PPR can lead to epileptic seizures. The standardized diagnostic procedure for this condition is called Intermittent Photic Stimulation. During this procedure, the patient is exposed to a flashing light, aiming to trigger these epileptic reactions while preventing their full development. Meanwhile, brain activity is monitored using Electroencephalography, which is visually analyzed by clinical staff to identify these responses. Hence, the automatic detection of PPR becomes a highly unbalanced problem that has been barely studied in the literature due to photosensitivity’s low prevalence. This research tackles this problem and proposes using Inception-based deep learning (DL) neural networks that, together with transfer learning, are trained in epilepsy seizure detection and tuned in the PPR automatic detection task. A data augmentation (DA) technique is also applied to balance the available data set, evaluating its effects on the DL models. The proposal outperformed state-of-the-art solutions in the literature, achieving higher ratios on standard performance metrics, and with DA significantly improving the Sensitivity without affecting Accuracy and Specificity. This project is currently being developed with patients from Burgos University Hospital, Spain.
Non-existence of phantoms on some non-generic blowups of the projective plane
Authors: Borisov Lev , Kemboi Kimoi
Published: January 2025

We show that blowups of the projective plane at points lying on a smooth cubic curve do not contain phantoms, provided the points are chosen in very general position on this curve.
Adaptive protein synthesis in genetic models of copper deficiency and childhood neurodegeneration
Authors: Lane Alicia R. , Scher Noah E. , Bhattacharjee Shatabdi , Zlatic Stephanie A. , Roberts Anne M. , Gokhale Avanti , Singleton Kaela S. , Duong Duc M. , McKenna Mike , Liu William L. , Baiju Alina , Moctezuma Felix G Rivera , Tran Tommy , Patel Atit A. , Clayton Lauren B. , Petris Michael J. , Wood Levi B. , Patgiri Anupam , Vrailas-Mortimer Alysia D. , Cox Daniel N. , Roberts Blaine R. , Werner Erica , Faundez Victor
Published: January 2025

Rare inherited diseases caused by mutations in the copper transporters SLC31A1 (CTR1) or ATP7A induce copper deficiency in the brain, causing seizures and neurodegeneration in infancy through poorly understood mechanisms. Here, we used multiple model systems to characterize the molecular mechanisms by which neuronal cells respond to copper deficiency. Targeted deletion of CTR1 in neuroblastoma cells produced copper deficiency that produced a metabolic shift favoring glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation. Proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of CTR1 KO cells revealed simultaneous upregulation of mTORC1 and S6K signaling and reduced PERK signaling. Patterns of gene and protein expression and pharmacogenomics show increased activation of the mTORC1-S6K pathway as a pro-survival mechanism, ultimately resulting in increased protein synthesis. Spatial transcriptomic profiling of Atp7aflx/Y:: Vil1Cre/+ mice identified upregulated protein synthesis machinery and mTORC1-S6K pathway genes in copper-deficient Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum. Genetic epistasis experiments in Drosophila demonstrated that copper deficiency dendritic phenotypes in class IV neurons are improved or rescued by increased S6k expression or 4E-BP1 (Thor) RNAi, while epidermis phenotypes are exacerbated by Akt, S6k, or raptor RNAi. Overall, we demonstrate that increased mTORC1-S6K pathway activation and protein synthesis is an adaptive mechanism by which neuronal cells respond to copper deficiency.
The Gist of the Journey
Authors: Gentilini Ugo
Published: January 2025

Almost 1.4 billion people recently received cash payments from the state, the largest scale ever reached. An astounding 1.4 million papers have been written on the subject in the past few decades. And there is some magic happening: for every dollar provided as cash transfers, nearly 1.4 dollars are generated in local economies. In short, cash transfers are popular among many practitioners, academics, and communities. However, they are often considered a relatively recent phenomenon, and their presence in “bc” periods may sound counterintuitive. The chapter charts the journey offered to the reader over the ensuing six chapters, including delineating the ancestors of cash transfer programs, the variety of goals they pursued over time, and the recurrent patterns of reforms.
Building State Capabilities
Authors: Gentilini Ugo
Published: January 2025

This chapter adopts a vignette-based approach to illustrate three ways in which cash transfers support state capabilities. First, it examines the place for cash transfers within larger efforts of state (or empire) administrations to attain food security. The initial section provides a brief exploration of experiences from ancient India, China, and Rome. Second, the chapter investigates how crises may offer an opportunity to introduce state-provided cash transfers on a pilot or permanent basis. In doing so, it traces cases where schemes evolved from crisis response interventions to more comprehensive programs. The United States is the main focal point for such illustrations, with a rapid reference to more recent instances of crises-born cash transfers globally. Finally, the third section discusses cash transfers in the context of protracted adversity in select low- and middle-income countries, especially in India and Africa. This includes a review of experiences across pre-colonial, colonial, and post-independence periods.
The Informatized Body
Authors: Albrecht Eduardo
Published: January 2025

This chapter describes programs that collect data about the physical body, providing biometric, medical, and genetic information. It traces the history of such data collection beginning in late nineteenth-century France, with Bertillonage, before examining the rise of fingerprinting as an identification method. We review how biometric monitoring grew into, and alongside, the eugenics movement, which in turn has ties to modern methods of biodata collection. Contemporary programs surveyed include facial recognition technology (FRT), originally a US military tool now ubiquitous worldwide—particularly in China where advancements in FRT led to the development of the Skynet program. Future trends in biometric technologies look at the expansion of the wearables market beyond the smartwatch to, for example, smart clothing and jewelry. These technological developments are discussed within the framework of their potential use by government authorities and the implications for citizenship. The concept of the “informatized body” is used to better understand the increasingly blurred boundary between a person’s physical body and the reams of information collected about it.
Europe
Authors: Albrecht Eduardo
Published: January 2025

This chapter includes interviews with Sarah Chander, Senior Policy Advisor with European digital rights organization EDRi, and Caterina Rodelli, EU Policy Analyst for the digital rights nonprofit organization Access Now. The chapter looks at the role and activities of these organizations, including their work on the EU’s AI Act—which regulates certain uses of AI in government, for example banning social scoring. In Chander’s interview she discusses the threat to privacy stemming from certain technical details in the EU’s new regulation. Rodelli explains the purpose of the #ProtectNotSurveil campaign, which is calling for a ban on the use of automated risk assessments for asylum seekers in the EU. She also explains how information derived from different databases is used for migration forecasting and the potential civil rights implications of this.
Africa
Authors: Albrecht Eduardo
Published: January 2025

This chapter includes interviews with Patricia Boshe, co-founder and co-director of the African Law and Technology Institute, a research institute that studies the nexus between law, technology, and society in Africa, and Kwami Ahiabenu II, director of Penplusbytes, a nonprofit promoting innovation and good governance across Africa through the effective use of information communication technologies. In Boshe’s interview, she discusses the ease with which governments in Africa can use surveillance and data collection technologies without transparency, and describes governments’ use of social media platforms to monitor citizens’ speech. Ahiabenu II discusses the use of private surveillance tools by governments, and the potential impact of emerging technologies, like central bank digital currencies (the eNaira in Nigeria and eCedi in Ghana), on civil liberties in Africa.
Communism, Confucianism, Cultural Values, and Survey Challenges for Understanding Abortion Attitudes
Authors: Adamczyk Amy
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on the remaining macro-level factors that contribute to cross-national abortion disapproval. Communist history and Confucian culture are especially important. Even though the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, the political system left an indelible mark on abortion attitudes and behaviors. Likewise, countries with Chinese or Confucian histories are unique from others in shaping residents’ disapproval. The many reasons for these differences are discussed. The chapter also shows that personal values related to the family, sexual morality, and ending life are essential for understanding individual differences. But they do not contribute to cultural effects that influence most residents’ abortion views over and above their personal values. Next I examine over two dozen additional country characteristics that would logically seem related to abortion disapproval but do not have a statistical relationship. Finally, I discuss the different dimensions of the abortion debate and how question wording can affect survey findings.
Introduction
Authors: Kirchin Simon
Published: January 2025

Abstract

There has been a great deal written about normativity in recent years by philosophers, with a range of accounts developed and questions raised. Various normative notions (or seemingly normative notions) have all attracted a great deal of attention; notions such as reason, duty, ought, obligation, value, standard and norm, and the notion of fittingness. We find discussions of normativity, and perhaps the normative itself, in many domains of philosophical enquiry: ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, logic, and more. Similarly, many figures from the history of philosophy have their thoughts cast in a normative manner. There has been so much written recently about the very idea of normativity that we need to take stock of where we are and think about how present work might point to future thought. This Introduction summarizes various trends of thought, questions, and ideas that philosophers have recently discussed and uses these as a platform to speculate about what directions there might be for future work about normativity. The chapter ends by summarizing the chapters in this volume whilst tying them to the author’s previous thoughts.
Choosing the Right Companion
Authors: Lord Errol
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Norms come cheap. Many have thought that, while this is of course true, there are some domains of normativity that have special authority. Norms of Victorian etiquette are one thing; morality is another. This chapter is about authority (or robust normativity). It focuses on two overlapping topics. First, companions in virtue arguments. These are arguments that attempt to show that one domain is authoritative because it is structurally similar to an authoritative domain. The chapter explores some instances of this argument that treat the epistemic as authoritative and attempt to derive the authority of companion domains from the epistemic. The second topic is the structure of three (going on four) normative domains. The chapter starts with the epistemic and then expands to the aesthetic and the moral. One surprising conclusion is that while the aesthetic is a good companion to the epistemic, the moral is not (or not fully). This will lead to discussion of a fourth domain—the practical— which promises to be a better companion with the epistemic, but only by being much more expansive than the moral.
Normative Indispensability
Authors: Roberts Debbie
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Platonism in philosophy of mathematics and non-naturalist realism in metanormative theory seem to share key features. This chapter argues that the Quine–Putnam indispensability argument made by Platonists in philosophy of maths can be fruitfully pursued by non-reductive realists in metaethics. Thick evaluative concepts, and their role in scientific theories, play a key role in the normative version of the indispensability argument. The chapter makes the case that this strategy can deliver much of what the robust realist non-naturalist wishes to hold, including the sui generis nature of normative properties. However, the resulting view, like that of Platonists who pursue the analogous strategy, is naturalist rather than non-naturalist.
Normative-to-Normative Reductionism and the Case of Aesthetics
Authors: King Alex
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Reductionisms are everywhere in philosophy, but surprisingly little has been said in any systematic way about reductions of some normative phenomena to other normative phenomena. This chapter aims to make some headway on that project. I call such reductions normative-to-normative reductions, and Iassess some of the prospects and problems for those normative-to-normative reductions that aim to reduce an entire domain of normativity to some other domain. In doing so, the chapter argues against views that reduce the aesthetic to some other domain, including pleasure, prudence, desire, and social practices. This chapter also examines and classifies the argumentative strategies deployed and compares those to existing debates about other normative-to-normative reductionisms, including epistemic instrumentalism. It ends with an extended discussion of whether the reductionist view loses the distinctiveness of the reduced domain. This raises larger questions about what’s at stake in choosing between reductionism and eliminativism and how we individuate normative domains.
On the Normativity of Fit
Authors: Kirchin Simon
Published: January 2025

Abstract

The notions of fitting and fittingness are assumed to be normative notions in much of modern academic philosophy. These notions appear when thinking about the relations between valuable objects and the responses that should or should not fit such objects because of their value. (These notions are also considered in relation to normative notions such as reasons, oughts, and standards.) In contrast, it is also very common to assume in modern academic philosophy that the different notions of fit and fitness—those that appear in cases such as shoes fitting feet and keys fitting locks—are nonnormative notions. This chapter draws attention to these assumptions and (a) puts forward the case for thinking that the notions of fit, fitness, fitting, and fittingness are very alike such that if some should be considered to be normative, then they all should be; and (b) argues that there is independently good reason to think that fit and fitness are normative notions. Towards the end, I consider an objection against my suggestion that fit and fitness are normative. This allows me to suggest one question for future work on normativity: how sharply different are the broad categories of the normative and the nonnormative in the first place?
The Supervenience of the Normative and the Autonomy of Essence
Authors: McPherson Tristram , Plunkett David
Published: January 2025

Abstract

This chapter evaluates Stephanie Leary’s philosophically rich reply to the supervenience challenge facing non-naturalistic realist views in metaethics (and metanormative inquiry more broadly). Her proposal relies on a novel idea of “hybrid” normative properties, which are properties with a distinctive kind of essence. Through the course of engaging her argument, this chapter argues for revising a central principle in the epistemology of metaphysics—namely, “Modest Humean” —that one of the authors (McPherson) used in previous work to regiment the supervenience challenge. This chapter deploys the revised principle to clarify the resulting dialectic. It argues that the revised principle allows us to see clearly why we ought to be skeptical of Leary’s strategy (as a way of defending the credibility of non-naturalism). It then argues that clarifying the dialectic facing Leary’s strategy has a host of broader payoffs. First, it allows us to clearly spell out what the non-naturalist would need to do in order to develop a more promising version of Leary’s strategy. Second, it allows us to better understand how intimately connected the supervenience challenge is to the task of offering a metaphysically illuminating formulation of the non-naturalist’s view. Third, it allows us to see why it makes sense that contemporary non-naturalists are increasingly rejecting the supervenience thesis that generates the challenge in the first place. And, finally, it allows us to clearly see why it is of paramount importance that we are clear and explicit about the epistemic goals of our metaphysical theorizing.
Metanormative Constructivism as Non-Reductive Perspectivalism
Authors: Paakkunainen Hille
Published: January 2025

Abstract

This chapter critiques extant attempts to clearly distinguish metanormative constructivism from reductive response-dependence views. It proposes a new interpretation of metanormative constructivism as non-reductive perspectivalism, a style of view that is clearly distinct from reductionism. According to non-reductive perspectivalism, normative facts and properties have an irreducibly normative character, yet they ontologically depend upon precisely the sorts of psychological facts that, for the reductive realist, form the reduction base for normativity. This dependence is partly a matter of their “way of being” or mode of existence: specifically, the authority or bindingness of normative properties and facts exists only within an evaluative perspective partly constituted by the attitudes of the agent(s) whom they bind. In articulating the view, the chapter draws upon Kris McDaniel’s recent work in metaphysics and explains how the view provides a way of fleshing out some key emphases of leading constructivists Sharon Street and Christine Korsgaard that otherwise look difficult to understand. The chapter also argues that non-reductive perspectivalism isn’t significantly less plausible than either reductive response-dependence views or typical non-reductive realist views. Indeed, non-reductive perspectivalism has the explanatory advantage of uniquely accounting for a third-/first-person asymmetry in access to normative bindingness. While non-reductive perspectivalism and its component idea of perspectival existence of normativity also raise some new puzzles, the chapter makes a start at developing answers.
Aesthetic Obligation
Authors: Hills Alison
Published: January 2025

Abstract

The normativity of morality and the normativity of aesthetics are often contrasted. Morality is typically regarded as a domain of value but also of obligation, of normative requirements (that is, reasons that require us to act, whose violation is associated with reactive attitudes such as blame). Aesthetics, by contrast, is often taken to be a domain of value but not of obligation, of reasons that are merely enticing: there are no normative requirements in aesthetics and no aesthetic blame. I argue that this “default” view of aesthetic normativity is a mistake. There are aesthetic obligations of a similar type to moral obligations. I give two examples of such obligations. I then draw out some implications about the relationship between aesthetic and moral obligations, and argue that aesthetics can attain a similar normative authority as morality, finishing with some remarks about the future of aesthetic and moral normativity.
The Disguise of the Good
Authors: Thi Nguyen C , Ridge Michael
Published: January 2025

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that a specific form of play we call “striving play” puts a surprising amount of pressure on familiar and influential versions of the ancient “guise of the good” doctrine and standard takes on the “wrong kind of reasons” problem. Striving play highlights the fluidity of our agency in ways that refute standard doctrines in both cases. If our argument is right, then defenders of the guise of the good should focus on the idea that the agent must take the activity they intend to be valuable in some way, rather than the idea that the end they will must be good in some way, and the idea that the rationality of a desire to pursue an object can be grounded only in the value of the object itself should simply be abandoned. The broader methodological lesson is that work at the intersection of normativity and action theory should pay more attention to work in the philosophy of play and games.