bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increasing footprint of climate warming on flash droughts occurrence in Europe
Authors: Shah Jignesh , Hari Vittal , Rakovec Oldrich , Markonis Yannis , Samaniego Luis , Mishra Vimal , Hanel Martin , Hinz Christoph , Kumar Rohini
Published: April 2022

Flash droughts are caused by a rapid depletion of soil moisture, and they severely affect vegetation growth and agricultural production. Notwithstanding the growing importance of flash droughts under the warming climate, drivers of flash droughts across the Europe are not well understood. Here we estimate the changes in flash droughts characteristics across Europe using the ERA5 reanalysis dataset for 1950–2019 period. We find a substantial increase in the frequency and spatial extent of flash droughts across Europe (with 79% of the total area) during the growing season with at-least one fourth of domain showing two-fold increase in the recent decades. Increased occurrence of flash drought is largely attributed to frequent occurrence of warmer and drier compound extremes, with a sharp gradient of changes being noticed in Mediterranean and Central European regions. Compound meteorological extremes causing the flash drought events across Europe are pre-dominantly driven by the recent climate warming. With unabated greenhouse gas emissions and current pace of climate warming, Europe is likely to face an increased occurrence of flash droughts, requiring prompt response for effective drought adaptation and management strategies.
Crystal structure of glycoside hydrolase family 31 α-xylosidase from a soil metagenome
Authors: Nakamichi Yusuke , Matsuzawa Tomohiko , Watanabe Masahiro , Yaoi Katsuro
Published: April 2022

MeXyl31, a member of glycoside hydrolase family 31 (GH31), is the α-xylosidase isolated from a soil metagenomic library. The enzyme degrades α-xylosyl substrate such as isoprimeverose, α-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-glucopyranose. The crystal structure of MeXyl31 was determined at 1.80 Å resolution. MeXyl31 forms the tetrameric state. The complexed structure with a xylose in the − 1 subsite (α-xylose binding site) shows that the enzyme strictly recognizes α-xylose. Structural comparison between MeXyl31 and its homologue, Aspergillus niger α-xylosidase in GH31, gave insights into the positive subsite of MeXyl31. Firstly, in the tetrameric enzyme, two monomers (a catalytic monomer and the adjacent monomer), are involved in substrate recognition. Secondly, the adjacent monomer composes a part of positive subsites in MeXyl31. Docking simulation and site-directed mutagenesis suggested that the Arg100 from the adjacent monomer is partially involved in the recognizing of a glucopyranose of isoprimeverose.
Imaging the seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle in the northern East African Rift using Rayleigh wave tomography
Authors: Chambers Emma L , Harmon Nicholas , Rychert Catherine A , Gallacher Ryan J , Keir Derek
Published: April 2022

Understanding the dynamics and evolution of continental rifting is broadly important for our understanding of plate tectonics. The northern East African Rift offers an excellent opportunity to study these processes at an active rift that was initiated by a large magmatic event. Multiple seismic models have been produced to understand the evolution of magmatism which image punctuated slow velocity zones in the asthenosphere. However, the depth extent of the slow velocity bodies has been less well constrained leading to much debate regarding the primary controls on melt generation. Variations between methods, resolution and scale of the seismic models make direct quantitative comparisons challenging. The lack of instrumentation off-rift further limits our understanding of the spatial extent of tectonic and magmatic processes, which is crucial to understanding magmatic continental rifting. In this paper, we jointly invert Rayleigh wave dispersion curves from ambient noise and teleseisms to obtain absolute shear velocity maps at 10–150 km depth. This includes data from a new seismic network located on the Ethiopian Plateau and enhanced resolution at Moho and upper-mantle depths from the joint inversion. At crustal depths, velocities are slowest beneath the Main Ethiopian Rift and the off-rift Ethiopian Plateau (<3.00–3.75 ± 0.04 km s−1, 10–40 km depth) and ongoing magmatic emplacement is required. At 60–80 km depth off-rift, we observe a fast velocity lid (>0.1 km s−1 faster than surroundings), in agreement with previous estimates of lithospheric thickness from receiver functions. The fast lid is not observed within the Main Ethiopian Rift or central Afar which instead are underlain by asthenospheric slow velocity anomalies (<4.05 ± 0.04 km s−1 at 60–120 km depth). This suggests melt is infiltrating the lithosphere within the rift. Furthermore, punctuated asthenospheric slow velocity anomalies (∼110 × 80 km wide) exist in areas that have not undergone significant crustal and plate thinning, potentially indicating melt infiltration may start prior to significant plate deformation. Finally, the punctuated asthenospheric slow velocity zones are not located directly beneath melt-rich crustal regions including those off-rift, suggesting melt migration processes are dynamic and/or may occur laterally.
Structural controls on coseismic rupture revealed by the 2020Mw 6.0 Jiashi earthquake (Kepingtag belt, SW Tian Shan, China)
Authors: Wang Siyu , Nissen Edwin , Pousse-Beltran Léa , Craig Timothy J , Jiao Ruohong , Bergman Eric A
Published: April 2022

The Kepingtag (Kalpin) fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Chinese Tian Shan is characterized by active shortening and intense seismic activity. Geological cross-sections and seismic reflection profiles suggest thin-skinned, northward-dipping thrust sheets detached in an Upper Cambrian décollement. The 2020 January 19 Mw 6.0 Jiashi earthquake provides an opportunity to investigate how coseismic deformation is accommodated in this structural setting. Coseismic surface deformation resolved with Sentinel-1 Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is centred on the back limb of the frontal Kepingtag anticline. Elastic dislocation modelling suggests that the causative fault is located at ∼7 km depth and dips ∼7° northward, consistent with the inferred position of the décollement. Our calibrated relocation of the main shock hypocentre is consistent with eastward, unilateral rupture of this fault. The narrow slip pattern (length ∼37 km but width only ∼9 km) implies that there is a strong structural or lithological control on the rupture extent, with updip slip propagation possibly halted by an abrupt change in dip angle where the Kepingtag thrust is inferred to branch off the décollement. A depth discrepancy between main shock slip constrained by InSAR and teleseismic waveform modelling (∼7 km) and well-relocated aftershocks (∼10–20 km) may suggest that faults within sediments above the décollement exhibit velocity-strengthening friction.
3-D spatial cluster analysis of seismic sequences through density-based algorithms
Authors: Piegari Ester , Herrmann Marcus , Marzocchi Warner
Published: April 2022

With seismic catalogues becoming progressively larger, extracting information becomes challenging and calls upon using sophisticated statistical analysis. Data are typically clustered by machine learning algorithms to find patterns or identify regions of interest that require further exploration. Here, we investigate two density-based clustering algorithms, DBSCAN and OPTICS, for their capability to analyse the spatial distribution of seismicity and their effectiveness in discovering highly active seismic volumes of arbitrary shapes in large data sets. In particular, we study the influence of varying input parameters on the cluster solutions. By exploring the parameter space, we identify a crossover region with optimal solutions in between two phases with opposite behaviours (i.e. only clustered and only unclustered data points). Using a synthetic case with various geometric structures, we find that solutions in the crossover region consistently have the largest clusters and best represent the individual structures. For identifying strong anisotropic structures, we illustrate the usefulness of data rescaling. Applying the clustering algorithms to seismic catalogues of recent earthquake sequences (2016 Central Italy and 2016 Kumamoto) confirms that cluster solutions in the crossover region are the best candidates to identify 3-D features of tectonic structures that were activated in a seismic sequence. Finally, we propose a list of recipes that generalizes our analyses to obtain such solutions for other seismic sequences.
The metabolic and proteomic repertoires of periderm tissue in skin of the reticulated Sikkim cucumber fruit
Authors: Arya Gulab Chand , Dong Yonghui , Heinig Uwe , Shahaf Nir , Kazachkova Yana , Aviv-Sharon Elinor , Nomberg Gal , Marinov Ofir , Manasherova Ekaterina , Aharoni Asaph , Cohen Hagai
Published: April 2022

Suberized and/or lignified (i.e. lignosuberized) periderm tissue appears often on surface of fleshy fruit skin by mechanical damage caused following environmental cues or developmental programs. The mechanisms underlying lignosuberization remain largely unknown to date. Here, we combined an assortment of microscopical techniques with an integrative multi-omics approach comprising proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics to identify novel molecular components involved in fruit skin lignosuberization. We chose to investigate the corky Sikkim cucumber (Cucumis sativus var. sikkimensis) fruit. During development, the skin of this unique species undergoes massive cracking and is coated with a thick corky layer, making it an excellent model system for revealing fundamental cellular machineries involved in fruit skin lignosuberization. The large-scale data generated provides a significant source for the field of skin periderm tissue formation in fleshy fruit and suberin metabolism.
Using the theoretical domains framework to explore behavioural determinants for medication taking in patients following percutaneous coronary intervention
Authors: Cunningham Scott , Jebara Tesnime , Stewart Derek , Smith Jamie , Leslie Stephen J , Rushworth Gordon F
Published: April 2022

Objectives

To investigate relationships between factors influencing medication taking and behavioural determinants in patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods

A cross-sectional survey using a postal questionnaire distributed to PCI patients. The questionnaire was iteratively developed by the research team with reference to the theoretical domains framework (TDF) of behavioural determinants, reviewed for face and content validity and piloted. Data were analysed using descriptive and principal component analysis (PCA). Inferential analysis explored relationships between PCA component scores and factors influencing medicating taking behaviour.

Key findings

Adjusted response rate was 62.4% (325/521). PCA gave three components: (C1) Self-perceptions of knowledge and abilities in relation to medication taking; (C2) Aspects relating to activities and support in medication taking; (C3) Emotional aspects in taking medication. Generally, respondents held very positive views. Statistically significant relationships between all three components and self-reported chest pain/discomfort indicated patients with ongoing chest pain/discomfort post-PCI are more likely to have behavioural determinants and beliefs which make medication taking challenging. Respondents who were on 10 or more medications had lower levels of agreement with the C2 and C3 statements indicating challenges associated with their activities/support and anxieties in medication taking.

Conclusions

PCI patients show links between TDF behavioural determinants and factors influencing medication taking for those reporting chest pain or polypharmacy. Further research needs to explore the effective design and implementation of behavioural change interventions to reduce the challenge of medication taking.
The impact of death rattle on bereaved families: not the sound itself, but the resonance with their feelings
Authors: Yamaguchi Takashi , Mori Masanori , Maeda Isseki , Matsunuma Ryo , Tanaka-Yagi Yukako , Nishi Tomohiro , Kizawa Yoshiyuki , Tsuneto Satoru , Shima Yasuo , Masukawa Kento , Miyashita Mitsunori
Published: April 2022

Background

This study aimed to explore (i) the consistency between physician-rated and bereaved family-perceived intensity of death rattle, (ii) the relationship between intensity of death rattle and the bereaved family’s distress and (iii) the bereaved family’s experience and feelings related to suctioning for death rattle.

Methods

We used matched data for deceased patients from a prospective cohort study of cancer patients admitted to a palliative care unit, and their bereaved families from a nationwide questionnaire survey in Japan. The intensity of death rattle using Back’s score was evaluated prospectively by physicians and retrospectively by bereaved families.

Results

In total, 1122 bereaved families answered (response rate: 66.7%). Of these, 297 reported the development of death rattle. The maximum intensity of death rattle evaluated by physicians and perceived by bereaved families was poorly correlated (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.188, P = 0.082). The optimal cut-off point of Back’s score for detecting high-level distress was 1/2, with a low accuracy of prediction (area under the curve 0.62). More than 70% of bereaved families indicated suctioning reduced the intensity of death rattle, made patients comfortable and themselves relieved, whereas a similar proportion felt patients were in distress during suctioning. Families who felt suctioning was gently performed and discussed well whether to do suctioning with health care providers felt less needs for improvement.

Conclusions

Bereaved family-perceived intensity of death rattle did not correlate to physician-evaluated intensity, and the intensity of death rattle itself seemed to poorly correlate to family distress. Gently performed suctioning based on sufficient discussion with families can help reduce family-perceived patient discomfort.
An Evaluation of Sex- and Gender-Based Analyses in Oncology Clinical Trials
Authors: Hall Mathew , Krishnanandan Vaishali A , Cheung Matthew C , Coburn Natalie G , Haas Barbara , Chan Kelvin K W , Raphael Michael J
Published: April 2022

Background

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether sex- and gender-based analyses and proper sex and gender terminology were used in oncology trials leading to regulatory drug approval.

Methods

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Hematology/Oncology Approvals and Safety Notifications page was used to identify all anticancer therapies that received FDA approval between 2012 and 2019. The trials used to support FDA drug approval were collected along with all available supplemental tables and study protocols. Documents were reviewed to determine if there was a plan to analyze results according to sex and gender and to determine if consistent sex and gender terminology were used.

Results

We identified 128 randomized, controlled trials corresponding to a cancer medicine, which received FDA approval. No study specified how sex and gender were collected or analyzed. No study reported any information on the gender of participants. Sex and gender terminology were used inconsistently at least once in 76% (97 of 128) of studies. Among the 102 trials for nonsex-specific cancer sites, 89% (91 of 102) presented disaggregated survival outcome data by sex. No study presented disaggregated toxicity data by sex or gender.

Conclusion

The majority of pivotal clinical trials in oncology fail to account for the important distinction between sex and gender and conflate sex and gender terminology. More rigor in designing clinical trials to include sex- and gender-based analyses and more care in using sex and gender terms in the cancer literature are needed. These efforts are essential to improve the reproducibility, generalizability, and inclusiveness of cancer research.
On the potential of faraday tomography to identify shock structures in supernova remnants
Authors: Ideguchi Shinsuke , Inoue Tsuyoshi , Akahori Takuya , Takahashi Keitaro
Published: April 2022

Knowledge about the magnetic fields in supernova remnants (SNRs) is of paramount importance for constraining Galactic cosmic ray acceleration models. It could also indirectly provide information on the interstellar magnetic fields. In this paper, we predict the Faraday dispersion functions (FDFs) of SNRs for the first time. For this study, we use the results of three dimensional (3D) ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of SNRs expanding into a weak, regular magnetic field. We present the intrinsic FDFs of the shocked region of SNRs for different viewing angles. We find that the FDFs are generally Faraday complex, which implies that conventional rotation measure study is not sufficient to obtain the information on the magnetic fields in the shocked region and Faraday tomography is necessary. We also show that the FDF allows to derive the physical-depth distribution of polarization intensity when the line of sight is parallel to the initial magnetic field orientation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the location of contact discontinuity can be identified from the radial profile of the width of the FDF with the accuracy of 0.1–0.2 pc.
Rapidly rotating stars and their transiting planets: KELT-17b, KELT-19Ab, and KELT-21b in the CHEOPS and TESS era
Authors: Garai Z , Pribulla T , Kovács J , Szabó Gy M , Claret A , Komžík R , Kundra E
Published: April 2022

Rapidly rotating early-type main-sequence stars with transiting planets are interesting in many aspects. Unfortunately, several astrophysical effects in such systems are not well understood yet. Therefore, we performed a photometric mini-survey of three rapidly rotating stars with transiting planets, namely KELT-17b, KELT-19Ab, and KELT-21b, using the Characterising Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS), complemented with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data, and spectroscopic data. We aimed at investigating the spin-orbit misalignment and its photometrical signs, therefore the high-quality light curves of the selected objects were tested for transit asymmetry, transit duration variations, and orbital precession. In addition, we performed transit time variation analyses, obtained new stellar parameters, and refined the system parameters. For KELT-17b and KELT-19Ab, we obtained significantly smaller planet radius as found before. The gravity-darkening effect is very small compared to the precision of CHEOPS data. We can report only on a tentative detection of the stellar inclination of KELT-21, which is about 60 deg. In KELT-17b and KELT-19Ab, we were able to exclude long-term transit duration variations causing orbital precession. The shorter transit duration of KELT-19Ab compared to the discovery paper is probably a consequence of a smaller planet radius. KELT-21b is promising from this viewpoint, but further precise observations are needed. We did not find any convincing evidence for additional objects in the systems.
The origin of UV/optical emission in the black hole low-mass X-ray binary Swift J1753.5–0127
Authors: Yang Pengcheng , Zhang Guobao , Russell David M , Gelfand Joseph D , Méndez Mariano , Wang Jiancheng , Lyu Ming
Published: April 2022

The emission from the accreting black holes (BHs) in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) covers a broad energy band from radio to X-rays. Studying the correlations between emission in different energy bands during outbursts can provide valuable information about the accretion process. We analyse the simultaneous optical, ultraviolet (UV), and X-ray data of the BH-LMXB Swift J1753.5–0127 during its ∼12-yr long outburst with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. We find that the UV/optical and X-ray emission are strongly correlated during the hard states of the outburst. We fit the relation with a power-law function $F_{\rm {UV/optical}} \propto F_{X}^{\beta }$ and find that the power-law index β increases from ∼0.24 to ∼0.33 as the UV/optical wavelength decreases from ∼5402 Å (V) to ∼2030 Å (UVW2). We explore the possible reasons for this and suggest that in Swift J1753.5–0127 the UV/optical emission is dominated by a viscously heated accretion disc at large radii. We find that the data that deviate from the correlation correspond to the low-intensity peaks appeared in the X-ray band during the outburst, and suggest that these deviations are driven by the emission from the inner part of the accretion disc.
The host galaxy and persistent radio counterpart of FRB 20201124A
Authors: Ravi Vikram , Law Casey J , Li Dongzi , Aggarwal Kshitij , Bhardwaj Mohit , Burke-Spolaor Sarah , Connor Liam , Lazio T Joseph W , Simard Dana , Somalwar Jean , Tendulkar Shriharsh P
Published: April 2022

The physical properties of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies provide important clues towards the nature of FRB sources. The 16 FRB hosts identified thus far span three orders of magnitude in mass and specific star formation rate, implicating a ubiquitously occurring progenitor object. FRBs localized with ∼arcsecond accuracy also enable effective searches for associated multiwavelength and multi-time-scale counterparts, such as the persistent radio source associated with FRB 20121102A. Here we present a localization of the repeating source FRB 20201124A, and its association with a host galaxy (SDSS J050803.48+260338.0, z = 0.098) and persistent radio source. The galaxy is massive (${\sim}3\times 10^{10}\, \text{M}_{\odot }$), star-forming (few solar masses per year), and dusty. Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array observations of the persistent radio source measure a luminosity of 1.2 × 1029 erg s−1 Hz−1, and show that is extended on scales ≳50 mas. We associate this radio emission with the ongoing star formation activity in SDSS J050803.48+260338.0. Deeper, high-resolution optical observations are required to better utilize the milliarcsecond-scale localization of FRB 20201124A and determine the origin of the large dispersion measure (150–220 pc cm−3) contributed by the host. SDSS J050803.48+260338.0 is an order of magnitude more massive than any galaxy or stellar system previously associated with a repeating FRB source, but is comparable to the hosts of so far non-repeating FRBs, further building the link between the two apparent populations.
scIMC: a platform for benchmarking comparison and visualization analysis of scRNA-seq data imputation methods
Authors: Dai Chichi , Jiang Yi , Yin Chenglin , Su Ran , Zeng Xiangxiang , Zou Quan , Nakai Kenta , Wei Leyi
Published: April 2022

With the advent of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), one major challenging is the so-called ‘dropout’ events that distort gene expression and remarkably influence downstream analysis in single-cell transcriptome. To address this issue, much effort has been done and several scRNA-seq imputation methods were developed with two categories: model-based and deep learning-based. However, comprehensively and systematically comparing existing methods are still lacking. In this work, we use six simulated and two real scRNA-seq datasets to comprehensively evaluate and compare a total of 12 available imputation methods from the following four aspects: (i) gene expression recovering, (ii) cell clustering, (iii) gene differential expression, and (iv) cellular trajectory reconstruction. We demonstrate that deep learning-based approaches generally exhibit better overall performance than model-based approaches under major benchmarking comparison, indicating the power of deep learning for imputation. Importantly, we built scIMC (single-cell Imputation Methods Comparison platform), the first online platform that integrates all available state-of-the-art imputation methods for benchmarking comparison and visualization analysis, which is expected to be a convenient and useful tool for researchers of interest. It is now freely accessible via https://server.wei-group.net/scIMC/.
Oligo targeting for profiling drug resistance mutations in the parasitic trypanosomatids
Authors: Altmann Simone , Rico Eva , Carvalho Sandra , Ridgway Melanie , Trenaman Anna , Donnelly Hannah , Tinti Michele , Wyllie Susan , Horn David
Published: April 2022

Trypanosomatids cause the neglected tropical diseases, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and the leishmaniases. Studies on these lethal parasites would be further facilitated by new and improved genetic technologies. Scalable precision editing methods, for example, could be used to improve our understanding of potential mutations associated with drug resistance, a current priority given that several new anti-trypanosomal drugs, with known targets, are currently in clinical development. We report the development of a simple oligo targeting method for rapid and precise editing of priority drug targets in otherwise wild type trypanosomatids. In Trypanosoma brucei, approx. 50-b single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides were optimal, multiple base edits could be incorporated, and editing efficiency was substantially increased when mismatch repair was suppressed. Resistance-associated edits were introduced in T. brucei cyclin dependent kinase 12 (CRK12, L482F) or cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 3 (N232H), in the Trypanosoma cruzi proteasome β5 subunit (G208S), or in Leishmania donovani CRK12 (G572D). We further implemented oligo targeting for site saturation mutagenesis, targeting codon G492 in T. brucei CRK12. This approach, combined with amplicon sequencing for codon variant scoring, revealed fourteen resistance conferring G492 edits encoding six distinct amino acids. The outputs confirm on-target drug activity, reveal a variety of resistance-associated mutations, and facilitate rapid assessment of potential impacts on drug efficacy.
The American Form of Democracy, 1796–1836
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R.
Published: April 2022

Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were bookends in the development of a distinctively American form of democracy during the first third of the 19th century. The chapter looks into the ways in which their personal demeanors and backgrounds differed and the impacts they both had on the shaping of current American democracy. The chapter looks at the legacies they left. The dual legacies of Jefferson and Jackson included to elicit the mass democracy that the Constitution's framers feared. They were also instrumental in designing would become enduring forms of representative politics: political party organizations and its national nominating convention.
Progressive Frustrations: Institutional Limits and Reform Prophesies, 1880s–1920s
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R.
Published: April 2022

This chapter turns to the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century to analyse how this era affected modern-day democracy in the American system. The chapter examines the origins of the presidential primary, its adoption, and stalling out by the 1920s. The origins and development of America's elaborate candidate selection process was shaped by sustained conflict, defeat, and, decades later, unexpected revival. The chapter situates the push for direct primaries within the broader progressive agenda to mitigate monopolies and trusts. Contemporary observers often mistakenly blame the prevalence of presidential primaries today with their launching by Progressives a century ago. The reality, however, as this chapter shows, is that the reform was opposed and stopped in the early 20th century. Established party organizations effectively resisted primaries to preserve their institutional position and political power. The opposition, as the chapter argues, was broader and more compelling.
Renewing American Democracy and Restraining Political Elites
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R.
Published: April 2022

This chapter turns to the current situation in the American democratic system as we know it. It identifies the strains and breakdowns in the current political system that create opportunities to stabilize and invigorate American democracy. It begins by linking reform strategies to political and institutional constraints. It then identifies two imperatives for a strategically-guided effort at reform — restraining elites and designing in broader and more inclusive citizen participation.
Country case study 5: Russia
Authors: Som Lalita
Published: April 2022

The predominance of large enterprises in a natural resource dominated economy has posed a significant challenge to market entry and competition and has preserved protected pockets of inefficiency, irrespective of ownership. The post-2004 Russian State has opted to reassert direct control and ownership of these assets, instead of regulating private owners. Extensive State ownership and interference have led to regulatory uncertainty and a business climate that is not conducive to fair competition nor effective market functioning. Continuing state presence and influence in many sectors, the misuse of resource rents, and the widespread presence of one-company towns, and the high-volume state procurement have locked in a pattern of sub-optimal resource allocation. But this Russian version of capitalism has succeeded in maintaining both the interests of the state and public officials.
Adbhutam Clusters in the Mahābhārata
Authors: Hiltebeitel Alf
Published: April 2022

Chapter 3 follows up on the Parvasaṃgraha’s mention of parvans and other units as wondrous. It thus treats the Pañcendra-Upākhyāna (“Five Indras Side Tale”), which culminates Draupadi’s wedding, and the wondrous Udyogaparvan, with Kṛṣṇa’s “peace mission” to the Kuru court and his first theophany there (his Bhagavad Gītā theophany in Book 6 is also covered). The Karṇaparvan, “full of wonders and meanings,” tells the harsh duel between Karṇa and Arjuna seen by gods and men as if they were onlookers at a play. The chapter’s end is designed to show how south Indian vernacular Mahābhāratas had veered from the Sanskrit epic with their shortened vīrarasic accounts that ended with the celebration of the Pāccavas’ victory and Yudhiṣṭhira’s coronation. On the contrary, nothing wondrous is celebrated in the long buildup to the coronation. Yudhiṣṭhira is filled with guilt for his part in killing Karṇa, his older brother. Any pretense to vīrarasa has vanished in a war-ending scene with a universally seen gender reversal that “embarrassed” Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, and Bhima after they felled Duryodhana with an unwarlike (“effeminate”) low blow. Addendum 3 discusses how the “three Kṛṣṇas” (Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, and Kṛṣṇ Draupadī) take turns motivating the protagonists and antagonists from parvan to parvan throughout the epic. Technically, they are the Mahābhārata’s joint āśraya who make the stable emotion (surprise) known to others.
Adbhutarasa and Hyperbole
Authors: Hiltebeitel Alf
Published: April 2022

Chapter 4 discusses the two long postwar books, 12 and 13, that contain the battlefield oration by the patriarch Bhīṣma on his heroic bed of arrows. Vīrarasic activity remains at a standstill as all the war’s survivors of any standing gather around Bhīṣma to hear his “didactic” four-phased dialogue with Yudhiṣṭhira, who is now reluctantly king. For much of his sermon, Bhīṣma uses adbhutam-cluster language sparingly, usually just one word at a time, except in certain units that feature his versatility with it, among them, the Uñchavrtti-Upākhyāna (“Gleaner’s Side Tale”) and the Umā-Maheśvara Saṃvāda, which also commends gleaning. These units and the Kuṇḍadhāra-Upākhyāna, named after a kindly cloud, introduce an interplay between gleaning, hyperbole (atiśayukti), and bhakti, and affect a contrast between gleaners and ahiṃsakas, who may eat meat at ancestral śrāddha ceremonies. Addendum 4 presents Bhīṣma’s last speech and describes his last wonder: the yogic feat of removing all wounds from his body while freeing it from the mesh of arrows as he ascends to heaven.
Memory
Authors: Stallard Katie
Published: April 2022

This chapter covers Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization campaign in the USSR following the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956, followed by Khrushchev’s ouster and Leonid Brezhnev’s attempts to shore up public support by appealing to the memory of World War II, or the Great Patriotic War. It covers the Thaw period under Khrushchev that allowed greater discussion of the complexities of the conflict and the subsequent return to strict censorship and a simplified, glorious narrative of the Great Patriotic War under Brezhnev. It includes the reintroduction of the Victory Day holiday in 1965 and the new Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow in 1967. This chapter covers the period 1956–1976.
Truth
Authors: Stallard Katie
Published: April 2022

This chapter covers the role of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms in the collapse of the USSR and his decision to allow greater freedom to research past atrocities carried out under Stalin and to fill in the blank spots of history. It examines Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and his efforts to consolidate his own rule through appeals to the history of the Great Patriotic War and increased commemoration of wartime anniversaries, such as the annual Victory Day commemorations on May 9, as well as renewed efforts at patriotic education and patriotic youth initiatives. It covers the period 1990–2008.
Qurʾānic Others
Authors: Hughes Aaron W.
Published: April 2022

This chapter examines the problems associated with our earliest sources. Rather than maintain that these sources (e.g., Qurʾān; biography of Muhammad) provide eyewitness or historical accounts, this chapter argues that they are, in part, comprised of a set of malleable literary motifs that helped later generations make sense of the ambiguities associated with the earliest period. This led to the creation of a set of indigenous categories that facilitated the imposition of order on what was undoubtedly a very messy social situation. Such categories provided the categories into which could be placed the various social groups that those who followed the early Muhammadan message encountered. Fluid, imprecise, and ambiguous, such categories nevertheless created a map upon which self and others could be conveniently plotted and subsequently located.
Shīʿa
Authors: Hughes Aaron W.
Published: April 2022

This chapter examines the Shīʿa, the internal other par excellence in mainstream Sunnism. Once again, we witness a series of tensions as real-life groups had to be reduced to arbitrary paradigms. If “the Jew” functioned as the quintessential other without, “the Shīʿī” necessarily becomes the other within. Both subsequently take up their respective places as the disembodied denizens of heresiographical lists and other texts that function as the catalyst for establishment of so-called correct belief. Shīʿī and Jew thus both become inextricably linked in their marginalization, even though such marginalization is paradoxically responsible for the very articulation of orthodoxy. Orthodoxy, in other words, demands heterodoxy for its own clarification. Indeed, the former could not exist without the latter, and vice versa. In medieval Islam, heresiography functioned as the primary vehicle for Sunnī theologians to define who they were and what they believed by using what they imagined to be the incorrect beliefs of those who rejected them.
The Amorphous Zindīq
Authors: Hughes Aaron W.
Published: April 2022

This chapter focuses on yet another ambiguous term, that of the zindīq (pl. zanādiqa). This was a category used to refer to those individuals, and rarely communities, who were believed to be nominally Muslim but who subscribed to what were increasingly becoming nonorthodox practices or beliefs. It was a catch-all phrase that could be used to describe everything from Manicheans to libertines, and from court secretaries to one’s theological opponents. Like the others discussed in this study, they further aided in the construction of what would become Islamic orthodoxy by providing a representation of what heresy (as opposed to just heterodoxy) and nonbelief looked like. Unlike those religious others (ahl al-kitāb) who were tolerated, zindīqs in the early ʿAbbāsid period were sought out, tried for their “crime,” and even executed. Indeed, the caliph al-Mahdī (r. 158/775–169/785) went so far as to set up an “inquisition” (miḥna) responsible for weeding them out. This chapter argues, among other things, that such a political act was heavily invested in further establishing religious orthodoxy at a formative moment in Islam’s development.
The Emergence of the Social Subject
Authors: Fujiki Hideaki
Published: April 2022

This chapter, the only one in Part I, first shows how the discourse of both bureaucrats and intellectuals began to recognize “the people” (minshū) as a “social problem” in connection with the rise of capitalism, riots, social movements, and the ideas of “democracy” and “socialism” in the 1910s. It then describes how subsequent discourses promoted the idea of educating “the people” through cinema and other media into a subject that could serve the community, as envisioned in the 1920s by the term “society” (shakai). Here, the idea of “the people” marked the emergence of the social subject in two senses: first, they were “discovered” as an agent exerting an influence on society and afterward were discursively constructed as a subject that was expected to serve “society” or the state: “discussions of popular entertainment” (minshū goraku ron) and “discussions of social education” (shakai kyōiku ron) flourished during this period, promoting a normative concept of the social subject. These discourses saw cinema as a kind of popular entertainment located in the exhibition district rather than as a mechanical medium of reproduction and modeled the view of cinema audiences on idealized images of self-disciplinary male factory workers whose lifestyle consisted of three activities—work, leisure, and sleep—while also feeling that female consumers threatened this norm of spectatorship.
Inventing “the East Asian Race”
Authors: Fujiki Hideaki
Published: April 2022

This chapter illuminates ways in which a kind of fantasy similar to that of “the national populace” was created for the whole of the Japanese empire through the circulation of the term “East Asian Race” (“tōa minzoku”). Critics, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurs discussed the improvement of film viewing practices, the infrastructure of cinema, and filmic representation as tools by which to build the residents of the empire into their idealized social subjects. However, as this chapter will also show, the concept of the empire itself contained numerous contradictions and conflicts, both between the “inland” (naichi) and the “outland” (gaichi) and within each of these categories, which the imperial discourses like those on the cinema worked to disavow through an ostensible orientation toward “good will” and through the idealization of the “East Asian Race.” This fantasy, the chapter further argues, has remained in right-wing thought and even in other strands of postwar thought after the war and has arguably functioned to make the empire a “good memory” for rightists and others, despite the aggression that characterizes its actual historical legacy.
“The Masses” as Democratic Subjects
Authors: Fujiki Hideaki
Published: April 2022

This chapter examines how discourses on television and film became intertwined with the three afore-mentioned theories in the context of a major reassemblage of transmedia consumer culture driven by the diffusion of television. In so doing, it illuminates how discourses on the two media defined television viewers as the subjects of “consumer life democracy” and cinema audiences as the subjects of “modern political democracy”—a concept related to the work of Maruyama Masao, Ōtsuka Hisao, and other influential intellectuals of so-called postwar democracy (sengo minshu-shugi) in the 1950s. These subjects can be seen as different and contested forms of “the masses” in the postwar Japanese context in which public antipathy to war and systemic power—typically articulated in discussion of mass society, mass culture, and mass communication—coexisted with Japan’s remarkable economic growth, itself sustained by the unbalanced division of labor between the male-centered workplace and the female-and-television-centered home. As these configurations were taking place, the diffusion of television and other new forms of leisure precipitated a reassembling of transmedia consumer culture, which significantly altered cinema’s position within the whole of the media ecology. This chapter also foregrounds how throughout this period of change regional and gender issues contained the potential to unsettle the existing social norms.
Conclusion
Authors: Fujiki Hideaki
Published: April 2022

This chapter concludes the book concludes with a re-examination of five overarching issues—the social subject, media ecology, the relation between media and place, the effect of media, and historiography—illustrating their similarities and differences, delineating how cinema has changed its position and formed transmedia relations as it evolved, and explaining how this changing constellation has linked itself with larger political, economic, and social components. It shows how cinema has maintained its connection with site-specific live performances and events and clarifies how the numerous discourses concerning “the people,” “national populace,” and “the East Asian race” have all persistently emphasized film’s affective power on the audiences as a tool for rendering them into the self-disciplinary subjects of “society,” “state,” or the Japanese empire. Finally, the chapter elucidates the complex interconnections of shift and continuity in the three widely recognized epochs of modern Japanese history, throughout which cinema audiences have continued to be both the subjects woven together by the forces of history and the agents who have woven that very history itself. It is from this key perspective that this book offers a lucid account of the hundred-year Japanese history of cinema, media, and social subjects.
Signs of Hope
Authors: Stucke Maurice E.
Published: April 2022

This chapter examines the de-identification of personal data as a possible way forward, considering whether recent legislation might increase the demand for better ways to anonymize personal data. It refers to policymakers that are keen to address the privacy and competition issues involving data-opolies. It also confirms the possibility of promoting competition through the free flow of personal data while adequately safeguarding privacy, such as requiring the personal data to be aggregated and anonymized. The chapter discusses identified data, which is defined as being unambiguously associated with a specific person, and its key issue on whether personal data can be successfully anonymized. It explains whether data, once de-identified, can remain so without the risk of later being associated with a particular person or household. The chapter ends with signs of hope—with desire for reform within the data-opolies.
Traditional and Legal Constraints on Warfare
Authors: Heuser Beatrice
Published: April 2022

Paradoxically, norms have been developed over time to contain the suffering and destruction caused by war, even though it is the most deliberately destructive activity of humanity. Such constraints did not always aim to protect civilians, however. The Assyrians, Hebrews, and Ancient Greeks lacked compassion with civilians, whether they be the enemy’s or their own. The Romans, famous for their the juridicization of war (including concepts such as that treaties must be honoured; or that military necessity could suspend rules), devised rules of conduct even towards enemies, as long as those enemies were proper polities. Moreover, they had elaborate legislation to protect their own civilians from the ravages that their armies might cause if they lived off the land. Medieval polities, by contrast, could not keep up these high standards, and the return to them was slow and halting. The Catholic Church tried to mitigate the effects of warfare through concepts such as the Truce and Peace of God. Secular powers adopted ordinances of war which aimed to protect, first their own civilians, and later, almost grudgingly, also the civilians on an adversary’s side. In the nineteenth century, these were transformed into the international laws of armed conflict. Certain weapons have been prohibited by international law, but not ruses and stratagems.
SQUINT Positively Regulates Resistance to the Pathogen Botrytis cinerea via miR156–SPL9 Module in Arabidopsis
Authors: Sun Ting , Zhou Qi , Zhou Zhou , Song Yuxiao , Li You , Wang Hong-Bin , Liu Bing
Published: April 2022

SQUINT (SQN) regulates plant maturation by promoting the activity of miR156, which functions primarily in the miR156–SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE9 (SPL9) module regulating plant growth and development. Here, we show that SQN acts in the jasmonate (JA) pathway, a major signaling pathway regulating plant responses to insect herbivory and pathogen infection. Arabidopsis thaliana sqn mutants showed elevated sensitivity to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea compared with wild type. However, SQN is not involved in the early pattern-triggered immunity response often triggered by fungal attack. Rather, SQN positively regulates the JA pathway, as sqn loss-of-function mutants treated with B. cinerea showed reduced JA accumulation, JA response and sensitivity to JA. Furthermore, the miR156–SPL9 module regulates plant resistance to B. cinerea: mir156 mutant, and SPL9 overexpression plants displayed elevated sensitivity to B. cinerea. Moreover, constitutively expressing miR156a or reducing SPL9 expression in the sqn-1 mutant restored the sensitivity of Arabidopsis to B. cinerea and JA responses. These results suggest that SQN positively modulates plant resistance to B. cinerea through the JA pathway, and the miR156–SPL9 module functions as a bridge between SQN and JA to mediate plant resistance to this pathogen.
A. thaliana Hybrids Develop Growth Abnormalities through Integration of Stress, Hormone and Growth Signaling
Authors: Sageman-Furnas Katelyn , Nurmi Markus , Contag Meike , Plötner Björn , Alseekh Saleh , Wiszniewski Andrew , Fernie Alisdair R , Smith Lisa M , Laitinen Roosa A E
Published: April 2022

Hybrids between Arabidopsis thaliana accessions are important in revealing the consequences of epistatic interactions in plants. F1 hybrids between the A. thaliana accessions displaying either defense or developmental phenotypes have been revealing the roles of the underlying epistatic genes. The interaction of two naturally occurring alleles of the OUTGROWTH-ASSOCIATED KINASE (OAK) gene in Sha and Lag2-2, previously shown to cause a similar phenotype in a different allelic combination in A. thaliana, was required for the hybrid phenotype. Outgrowth formation in the hybrids was associated with reduced levels of salicylic acid, jasmonic acid and abscisic acid in petioles and the application of these hormones mitigated the formation of the outgrowths. Moreover, different abiotic stresses were found to mitigate the outgrowth phenotype. The involvement of stress and hormone signaling in outgrowth formation was supported by a global transcriptome analysis, which additionally revealed that TCP1, a transcription factor known to regulate leaf growth and symmetry, was downregulated in the outgrowth tissue. These results demonstrate that a combination of natural alleles of OAK regulates growth and development through the integration of hormone and stress signals and highlight the importance of natural variation as a resource to discover the function of gene variants that are not present in the most studied accessions of A. thaliana.