bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polar ionospheric currents and high temporal resolution geomagnetic field models
Authors: Kloss Clemens , Finlay Christopher C , Laundal Karl M , Olsen Nils
Published: August 2023

Estimating high resolution models of the Earth’s core magnetic field and its time variation in the polar regions requires that one can adequately account for magnetic signals produced by polar ionospheric currents, which vary on a wide range of time and length scales. Limitations of existing ionospheric field models in the challenging polar regions can adversely affect core field models, which in turn has important implications for studies of the core flow dynamics in those regions. Here we implement a new approach to co-estimate a climatological model of the ionospheric field together with a model of the internal and magnetospheric fields within the CHAOS geomagnetic field modelling framework. The parametrization of the ionospheric field exploits non-orthogonal magnetic coordinates to efficiently account for the geometry of the Earth’s magnetic field and scales linearly with external driving parameters related to the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. Using this approach we derive a new geomagnetic field model from measurements of the magnetic field collected by low Earth orbit satellites, which in addition to the internal field provides estimates of the typical current system in the polar ionosphere and successfully accounts for previously unmodelled ionospheric signals in field model residuals. To resolve the ambiguity between the internal and ionospheric fields when using satellite data alone, we impose regularization. We find that the time derivative of the estimated internal field is less contaminated by the polar currents, which is mostly visible in the zonal and near-zonal terms at high spherical harmonic degrees. Distinctive patches of strong secular variation at the core–mantle boundary, which have important implications for core dynamics, persist. Relaxing the temporal regularization reveals annual oscillations, which could indicate remaining ionospheric field or related induced signals in the internal field model. Using principal component analysis we find that the annual oscillations mostly affect the zonal low-degree spherical harmonics of the internal field.
Automatic determination of focal depth with the optimal period of Rayleigh wave amplitude spectra at local distances
Authors: He Xiaohui , Zhang Peizhen , Ni Sidao , Chu Risheng , Wu Wenbo , Zheng Kaiyue
Published: August 2023

Focal depth of earthquakes is essential for studies of seismogenic processes and seismic hazards. In regions with dense seismic networks, focal depth can be resolved precisely based on the traveltime of P and S, which is less feasible in case of sparse networks. Instead, surface waves are usually the strongest seismic phases at local and regional distances, and its excitation is sensitive to source depth, thus theoretically important for estimating focal depth even with a limited number of seismic stations. In this study, short-period (0.5–20 s) Rayleigh waves are explored to constrain focal depths. We observe that the optimal period (the period corresponding to the maximum amplitude) of Rayleigh waves at local distances (≤200 km) shows an almost linear correlation with focal depth. Based on this finding, we propose an automated method for resolving the focal depth of local earthquakes using the linear regression relation between the optimal period of Rayleigh wave amplitude spectra and focal depth. Synthetic tests indicate the robustness of this method against source parameters (focal mechanism, source duration and non-double-couple component) and crustal velocity structure. Although the attenuation (Q factor) of shallow crust can introduce complexities in determining focal depth, it can be simultaneously estimated if a sufficient number of stations are available. The proposed method is applied to tens of small-to-moderate earthquakes (Mw 3.5–5.0) in diverse tectonic settings, including locations in the United States (Oklahoma, South Carolina, California, Utah, etc.) and China (Sichuan, Shandong). Results demonstrate that reliable focal depth, with uncertainty of 1–2 km, can be determined even with one or a few seismic stations. This highlights the applicability of the method in scenarios characterized by sparse network coverage or historical events.
Role of surgical embolectomy in the management of acute massive and submassive pulmonary embolism in the setting of a small island developing state
Authors: Forter-Chee-A-Tow Ninon , Smith Alan
Published: August 2023

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains a life-threatening condition despite advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Treatment modalities include systemic thrombolysis, catheter-based therapies and surgical embolectomy. This case report describes the first recorded surgical embolectomy for acute PE in Barbados, a small island developing state.
Beyond skin-deep: targeting the plant surface for crop improvement
Authors: Jolliffe Jenna Bryanne , Pilati Stefania , Moser Claudio , Lashbrooke Justin Graham
Published: August 2023

The above-ground plant surface is a well-adapted tissue layer that acts as an interface between the plant and its surrounding environment. As such, its primary role is to protect against desiccation and maintain the gaseous exchange required for photosynthesis. Further, this surface layer provides a barrier against pathogens and herbivory, while attracting pollinators and agents of seed dispersal. In the context of agriculture, the plant surface is strongly linked to post-harvest crop quality and yield. The epidermal layer contains several unique cell types adapted for these functions, while the non-lignified above-ground plant organs are covered by a hydrophobic cuticular membrane. This review aims to provide an overview of the latest understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying crop cuticle and epidermal cell formation, with focus placed on genetic elements contributing towards quality, yield, drought tolerance, herbivory defence, pathogen resistance, pollinator attraction, and sterility, while highlighting the inter-relatedness of plant surface development and traits. Potential crop improvement strategies utilizing this knowledge are outlined in the context of the recent development of new breeding techniques.
A dependence of binary and planetary system destruction on subtle variations in the substructure in young star-forming regions
Authors: Parker Richard J
Published: August 2023

Simulations of the effects of stellar fly-bys on planetary systems in star-forming regions show a strong dependence on subtle variations in the initial spatial and kinematic substructure of the regions. For similar stellar densities, the more substructured star-forming regions disrupt up to a factor of 2 more planetary systems. We extend this work to look at the effects of substructure on stellar binary populations. We present N-body simulations of substructured, and non-substructured (smooth) star-forming regions in which we place different populations of stellar binaries. We find that for binary populations that are dominated by close (<100 au) systems, a higher proportion are destroyed in substructured regions. However, for wider systems (>100 au), a higher proportion are destroyed in smooth regions. The difference is likely due to the hard–soft or fast–slow boundary for binary destruction. Hard (fast/close) binaries are more likely to be destroyed in environments with a small velocity dispersion (kinematically substructured regions), whereas soft (slow/wide) binaries are more likely to be destroyed in environments with higher velocity dispersions (non-kinematically substructured regions). Due to the vast range of stellar binary semimajor axes in star-forming regions (10−2 to 104 au), these differences are small and hence unlikely to be observable. However, planetary systems have a much smaller initial semimajor axis range (likely ∼1–100 au for gas giants) and here the difference in the fraction of companions due to substructure could be observed if the star-forming regions that disrupt planetary systems formed with similar stellar densities.
A mineralogical reason why all exoplanets cannot be equally oxidizing
Authors: Guimond Claire Marie , Shorttle Oliver , Jordan Sean , Rudge John F
Published: August 2023

From core to atmosphere, the oxidation states of elements in a planet shape its character. Oxygen fugacity ($f_{\rm O_2}$) is one parameter indicating these likely oxidation states. The ongoing search for atmospheres on rocky exoplanets benefits from understanding the plausible variety of their compositions, which depends strongly on their oxidation states – and if derived from interior outgassing, on the $f_{\rm O_2}$ at the top of their silicate mantles. This $f_{\rm O_2}$ must vary across compositionally diverse exoplanets, but for a given planet, its value is unconstrained insofar as it depends on how iron (the dominant multivalent element) is partitioned between its 2+ and 3+ oxidation states. Here, we focus on another factor influencing how oxidizing a mantle is – a factor modulating $f_{\rm O_2}$ even at fixed Fe3+/Fe2+ – the planet’s mineralogy. Only certain minerals (e.g. pyroxenes) incorporate Fe3+. Having such minerals in smaller mantle proportions concentrates Fe3+, increasing $f_{\rm O_2}$. Mineral proportions change within planets according to pressure, and between planets according to bulk composition. Constrained by observed host star refractory abundances, we calculate a minimum $f_{\rm O_2}$ variability across exoplanet mantles, of at least two orders of magnitude, due to mineralogy alone. This variability is enough to alter by a hundredfold the mixing ratio of SO2 directly outgassed from these mantles. We further predict that planets orbiting high-Mg/Si stars are more likely to outgas detectable amounts of SO2 and H2O; and for low-Mg/Si stars, detectable CH4, all else equal. Even absent predictions of Fe3+ budgets, general insights can be obtained into how oxidizing an exoplanet’s mantle is.
Inhibitory mechanism of CRISPR-Cas9 by AcrIIC4
Authors: Li Xuzichao , Liao Fumeng , Gao Jiaqi , Song Guangyong , Zhang Chendi , Ji Nan , Wang Xiaoshen , Wen Jing , He Jia , Wei Yong , Zhang Heng , Li Zhuang , Yu Guimei , Yin Hang
Published: August 2023

CRISPR-Cas systems act as the adaptive immune systems of bacteria and archaea, targeting and destroying invading foreign mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as phages. MGEs have also evolved anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins to inactivate the CRISPR-Cas systems. Recently, AcrIIC4, identified from Haemophilus parainfluenzae phage, has been reported to inhibit the endonuclease activity of Cas9 from Neisseria meningitidis (NmeCas9), but the inhibition mechanism is not clear. Here, we biochemically and structurally investigated the anti-CRISPR activity of AcrIIC4. AcrIIC4 folds into a helix bundle composed of three helices, which associates with the REC lobe of NmeCas9 and sgRNA. The REC2 domain of NmeCas9 is locked by AcrIIC4, perturbing the conformational dynamics required for the target DNA binding and cleavage. Furthermore, mutation of the key residues in the AcrIIC4-NmeCas9 and AcrIIC4-sgRNA interfaces largely abolishes the inhibitory effects of AcrIIC4. Our study offers new insights into the mechanism of AcrIIC4-mediated suppression of NmeCas9 and provides guidelines for the design of regulatory tools for Cas9-based gene editing applications.
Burden and quality of care index of chronic kidney disease: Global Burden of Disease analysis for 1990–2019
Authors: Rashidi Mohammad-Mahdi , Saeedi Moghaddam Sahar , Azadnajafabad Sina , Heidari-Foroozan Mahsa , Haddadi Mohammad , Sharifnejad Tehrani Yeganeh , Keykhaei Mohammad , Ghasemi Erfan , Mohammadi Esmaeil , Ahmadi Naser , Malekpour Mohammad-Reza , Mohammadi Fateh Sahar , Rezaei Negar , Mehrazma Mitra , Larijani Bagher , Farzadfar Farshad
Published: August 2023

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) imposes a heavy obscure burden on individuals and health systems. Besides its burden, the quality of care of CKD is less well investigated. In this study, we aimed to explore the global, regional and national trends of CKD burden and quality of care.

Methods

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 data were used. Trends of incidence, prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life years were studied for the 1990–2019 period in the global aspect. By generating four secondary indices to assess different aspects of quality of care the quality of care index (QCI) was developed to explore the care provided for CKD. Inequities and disparities between various geographic, socio-demographic and age stratifications, and sex were studied using the QCI values.

Results

In 2019, there were 18 986 903 (95% uncertainty interval 17 556 535 to 20 518 156) incident cases of CKD, globally. The overall global QCI score had increased slightly from 78.4 in 1990 to 81.6 in 2019, and it was marginally better in males (QCI score 83.5) than in females (80.3). The highest QCI score was observed in the European region with a score of 92.5, while the African region displayed the lowest QCI with 61.7. Among the age groups, the highest QCI was for children aged between 5 and 9 years old (92.0), and the lowest was in the age group of 20–24 year olds (65.5).

Conclusions

This study revealed that significant disparities remain regarding the quality of care of CKD, and to reach better care for CKD, attention to and care of minorities should be reconsidered. The evidence presented in this study would benefit health policymakers toward better and more efficient control of CKD burden alongside improving the care of this condition.
Pathogenic/Likely Pathogenic Somatic CDK12 Mutations in Black Men With Prostate Cancer
Authors: Sartor Oliver , Jang Albert , Ledet Elisa
Published: August 2023

Considering recently published data, this letter to the editor highlights the clinical relevance of CDK12 pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations, noting that Black men have prostate cancers with increased rates of this pathologic alteration. Practitioners should be made aware of recent findings, given that CDK12 mutations are known to be associated with aggressive variants of prostate cancer and that they may confer susceptibility to PD-1 antagonists.
Cognitive Approaches to Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
Authors: Taylor Steven , Abramowitz Jonathan S. , McKay Dean , Minaya Charlene
Published: August 2023

This chapter focuses on cognitive models (also known as cognitive-behavioral models) of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. The models posit that appraisals, dysfunctional beliefs, and maladaptive behaviors play important roles in the etiology and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs). The chapter begins with an historical perspective in which the antecedents of the models are described. Contemporary cognitive models of OCD are described, and their empirical support is reviewed. This is followed by a review of cognitive models of four OCRDs: hoarding disorder, skin-picking disorder (excoriation), body dysmorphic disorder, and hair-pulling disorder (trichotillomania). Conceptual strengths and weaknesses of OCD and OCD-related cognitive models are identified, areas for improvement are identified, and potentially fruitful directions for future research are proposed.
Phenomenology and Epidemiology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Authors: Calamari John E. , Dams Gregory M.
Published: August 2023

The phenomenology and epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are reviewed. Early observers of human behavior identified core OCD phenomenology, the experience of intrusive negative thoughts, and the related repetitive and compulsive behaviors. The evolution of the understanding of OCD is reflected in the psychiatric disorder taxonomy. Both the evolution and how the changes led to the condition’s current conceptualization and definition are evaluated, along with the new obsessive-compulsive and related disorders category. Comorbidity is the rule, not the exception, with OCD. We summarize which conditions co-occur with OCD and how often comorbidity happens. OCD epidemiology is reviewed including the condition’s prevalence, age at onset, and the significant associated disability and high levels of suicidality. OCD heterogeneity is seen in the many types of obsessions and compulsion symptoms observed, the variability in the age of onset, and the different comorbid conditions and the frequency of their comorbidity. Significant heterogeneity across multiple domains is a continuing challenge to the clinician attempting to identify or treat OCD, and to researchers working to better understand the disorder. Significant gains have been made in understanding OCD, but many challenges remain.
Treatment of Hoarding Disorder
Authors: Grisham Jessica R. , Norberg Melissa M. , Yap Keong
Published: August 2023

Hoarding disorder (HD) is a chronic and debilitating psychological disorder with wide ranging negative effects on individuals, their families, and the community. In this chapter we review the current evidence for the use of pharmacological and psychological interventions in HD. Our review showed that cognitive-behavioral interventions are efficacious. However, many gaps and issues exist. In particular, research has not evaluated the efficacy of pharmacological treatments in comparison to control treatments. Furthermore, psychological treatment outcomes are modest and treatment effectiveness is further reduced by high dropout rates. Recent studies evaluating modifications to cognitive-behavioral interventions such as incorporating cognitive rehabilitation and exposure/sorting therapy, contingency management, community services such as a local fire officer, and the inclusion of student-facilitated in-home sessions show that improvements to outcomes are possible and provide an impetus for large scale clinical trials. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of the challenges that affect treatment outcomes for HD and provide suggestions for future directions in research.
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders in Older Adults
Authors: Calamari John E. , Carmin Cheryl N. , Messerlie Amanda , Sarac Sibel
Published: August 2023

While the population ages, the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) remain understudied in older adults. Several OCRDs occur regularly in late life and are highly debilitating for older people. Other OCRDs have not been studied in older adults. This chapter summarizes the important emotional changes that are now known to characterize late life as a context for understanding older adults’ mental health. The chapter reviews estimates of late-life OCRD prevalence and whether the symptoms experienced by older people differ from symptoms in other age groups. The chapter examines age at onset and life course as important factors for understanding how the conditions come to affect older people. Studies on the life course of hoarding disorder (HD) suggest that while the condition begins early in life, the disorder is both chronic and progressive. Older adults often experience HD in severe form. Emerging information on the developmental course of HD and its prevalence in older adults has precipitated increased research and refinements in treatment. In contrast, late-life obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) remains neglected, and controlled treatment outcome studies have not occurred with older people. While most patients’ OCD begins early in life, evidence suggests that there is a subgroup who experience the disorder for the first time in late life. To better understand late-life OCRDs, new models test whether the important changes occurring in late life might interact with disorder risk factors to precipitate late-life obsessional disorders. The results of initial tests of these models are encouraging.
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Lee Scott M. , Liu Gary , Meinert Allison , Manis Jamie , Guzick Andrew G. , Schneider Sophie C. , Goodman Wayne K. , Storch Eric A.
Published: August 2023

This chapter discusses obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, trichotillomania, and skin-picking disorder, among children and adolescents. For each disorder, the phenomenology, assessment, comorbidity, etiology, and extant treatment data are reviewed. While much of the knowledge is derived from literature and clinical expertise regarding obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in the adult population, it is hoped that that the synthesis of information presented will contribute to optimal care of pediatric patients with these disorders. Furthermore, it is hoped that this review will foster additional scholarship and understanding of the conditions towards improved care and new innovations in this population.
Phenomenology and Epidemiology of Trichotillomania and Skin-Picking Disorder
Authors: Ricketts Emily J. , Stiede Jordan T. , Woods Douglas W. , Antinoro Diana , Franklin Martin E.
Published: August 2023

This chapter highlights the diagnostic features and clinical characteristics of trichotillomania, skin-picking, and nail-biting and their diagnostic distinction from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other conditions. Nonclinical forms of these disorders are described. Information on the prevalence and limitations of epidemiologic research is discussed. The gender ratio, age of onset, longitudinal course, functional impairment, and healthcare utilization are described for each disorder. The cross-cultural features of the disorders are highlighted, and patterns of psychiatric comorbidity are discussed. Additionally, the chapter briefly discusses the relationship between the disorders and psychotic conditions.
Information Processing in Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
Authors: Alcolado Gillian M. , Giraldo-O’Meara Martha , Krause Sandra C. , Leonhart Mark W. , Radomsky Adam S.
Published: August 2023

Information-processing (IP) is increasingly understood to be closely related to the cognitions and behaviors symptomatic of a wide range of disorders. This chapter covers key research on the state of IP differences (whether they be biases and/or deficits) seen in the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. These disorders include obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), and excoriation (skin-picking disorder). The chapter elucidates how each IP phenomenon appears to be related to its associated disorder. Conclusions are drawn about the relatedness of the disorders based on IP similarities and differences. Remaining uncertainties and gaps in the literature are identified and recommendations for future research that would clarify such questions are discussed.
The Historic Fires of Singapore
Authors: Loh Kah Seng
Published: August 2023

Few fires in slums and squatter areas have been studied. One documented case on the crucial relationship between urban fires and housing is the 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee fire in the city-state of Singapore. The inferno was historic in precipitating an expansive public housing program and forging a public housing state in Singapore. It transformed the physical and socioeconomic landscape and the role and identity of the people as model citizen-workers. But the inferno also generated an archival record and triggered oral history testimonies that can be used to tease out the intricacies of local life within the city’s maligned kampong districts.
The Bustos Domecq Cycle
Authors: García Mariano
Published: August 2023

Although the Crónicas de Bustos Domecq reveal a shared disdain for modern art in general and thus a shared reactionary stance, the collaborative writing between Borges and Bioy Casares was not always or necessarily the product of a “friendship to the death” spurred by unalterable affinities; rather, it progressed on the basis of mutual concessions, both thematic and aesthetic. Borges, after his detour into realism with El informe de Brodie, continuously moved toward the allegorical, as seen with El libro de arena. Bioy Casares, on the contrary, stayed within the vaguely fantastic costumbrismo initially seen in his book El sueño de los héroes, which constituted a complex operation of distancing his work from a certain Borgesian repertoire. In particular, Seis problemas para don Isidro Parodi, Dos fantasías memorables, and Un modelo para la muerte, in their baroqueness through accretion, demonstrate aesthetic interests stemming from opposite directions.
Borges, Gender, and Sexuality
Authors: Kaminsky Amy
Published: August 2023

This chapter addresses feminist and queer analyses of Borges’s narrative, especially “La intrusa” [The Intruder] and “Emma Zunz,” including Jewish feminist approaches. It discusses biographical criticism, particularly concerning Borges’s own sexuality. It considers how Borges’s writing relates to conflicts between nonessentialists and deconstructionist feminists, looking at both women’s subjectivity and a symbolic system rooted in gender difference. It proposes a new reading of “El duelo” [The Duel] that troubles the view of Borges as simply a cheerleader for patriarchal heteronormativity and proposes a new term, “the Borges impediment,” where the author opens up a space for women to establish relationships only to foreclose on them. The chapter turns to a discussion of queer critical concerns, including signs of homoeroticism and homophobia, and it looks at the occasional convergences of Borges scholarship and LGBTQ studies among scholars who do both, but often not at the same time. It concludes with a consideration of art in a range of genres that both renders homage to Borges and challenges the heteronormative, patriarchal world he reflects and produces.
Harlem Renaissance
Authors: Carter Jacoby Adeshi , Mason Sheena Michele
Published: August 2023

The Harlem Renaissance has been unquestioningly regarded by many of its interpreters as a profound period for the creation of racialized Black art. Undeniably, this was a very productive movement that birthed a plethora of aesthetic creations across a vast array of artistic mediums. This chapter argues that the existence of racialized Black art was itself a contested notion in and underlying the work of many of its most influential figures. The philosophical underpinnings of various positionalities related to racialization (i.e., philosophies of race) remain to be mined in the literature and other artistic output, but can reveal just how complex the creation and interpretation of racialized Black art from the Harlem Renaissance remains. Some problems germane to the New Negro movement concern ethical questions of an artist’s supposed obligation to be racially representative, or the responsibility of artist racialized as white toward subjects and subject matter of those racialized as Black and cultural appropriation.
Distinguishing between Ethics and Aesthetics
Authors: Song Moonyoung
Published: August 2023

Recent discussion of the relationship between the aesthetic and the ethical has focused on whether and how the two realms interact with one another. Behind this value interaction debate lies the implicit assumption that the aesthetic and the ethical are distinct. But are the two realms indeed distinct and, if so, in what ways? This chapter surveys existing discussions related to this question and explores the implications that they might have for the value interaction debate. In doing so, the chapter focuses on three specific questions that correspond to three ways in which the aesthetics and the ethical may not be fully distinct: (1) Are the aesthetic and the ethical identical? (2) Do they partly overlap? (3) Is one of them part of the other?
Virtue Aesthetics, Art, and Ethics
Authors: Snow Nancy E.
Published: August 2023

This chapter offers a brief overview of virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, and then surveys work by Peter Goldie, Dominic McIver Lopes, David Woodruff, Tom Roberts, and Matthew Kieran and raises critical questions. For example, what is the role of phronēsis or practical wisdom in an Aristotelian-inspired account of aesthetic virtue? How does appropriate motivation come into play? Can a virtue consequentialist perspective explain why art matters, as Goldie’s account purports to do? Those who draw on virtue epistemology for inspiration allow for two types of aesthetic virtues: traits and faculties. The inclusion of faculties raises questions several questions. Is artistic talent a virtue? If so, the spectre of elitism arises, as the aesthetic virtues of production would not be attributable to those lacking artistic talent. The second part of the chapter draws on Woodruff, Roberts, and Kieran to explore in greater depth individual virtues and vices of production and appreciation. The author also raise other questions of ethics and art, for example, how the moral or immoral character of artwork affects our responses. Finally, the chapter outlines an approach to virtue aesthetics that answers questions raised in earlier parts of the chapter and contributes to the ongoing development of virtue aesthetics.
Ancient Greek Philosophers on Art and Ethics
Authors: Destrée Pierre
Published: August 2023

Ancient Greek art of which Homer’s epic poems were paradigmatic was not morally uplifting. And yet as Homer conveys in the iconic episode of the Sirens, art is a source of great pleasures that no average morally good person would want to miss. Philosophers tried to find a way out of this paradox, which Plato reformulated as the challenge of reconciling pleasure and (moral) usefulness of (immoral) art. This chapter first reviews Plato’s banishment of the poets, which is to be read as a kind of provocation addressed to the reader, urging them to find a response to that challenge. It then presents four such responses. Plato himself suggests the idea of a detached contemplation of art, while Plutarch proposes that consuming art safely must be critical. Taking the concept of ethically useful in a very general sense, Aristotle put forward the connoisseur’s appreciation of art, while the Epicureans are adamant that art offers harmless sensuous pleasures.
Aestheticism
Authors: Rothfeld Becca
Published: August 2023

This chapter treats aestheticism, according to which moral evaluations sometimes depend wholly or partially on aesthetic evaluations. Because the view does not yet have many self-professed adherents, much of the taxonomizing in this chapter is somewhat speculative. The chapter classifies existing and possible variants of the view with reference to two questions: the relation question, which asks after the nature of the relation between the moral and the aesthetic, and the relata question, which asks after the nature of the entities in the relevant relation. While strong aestheticists answer the relation question by maintaining that aesthetic value gives rise to ethical value, weak aestheticists hold that aesthetic evaluations imply ethical evaluations. When it comes to the relata question, though aestheticism is most often formulated as a thesis about the aesthetic and ethical value of artworks in particular, it is sometimes formulated as a thesis about aesthetic value and ethical value more generally.
Film
Authors: Plantinga Carl
Published: August 2023

Narrative films have long been thought to have the capacity to affect human action and understanding. This chapter examines five major strains of thought, in film theory and philosophy, about the relationship between film spectatorship and ethics. The first section describes early film theories which argue that the medium itself has the capacity to enlarge human understanding of the world and other people. The second section is about apparatus and critical theory in film studies, tracing the major strains of this Marxist-influenced theory and its interest in the ethics implications of immersion, estrangement, and reflexivity in narrative film. The third section discusses the burden of representation by which representations of individual characters may harmfully be taken to be representative of types or groups. The next section describes the film-as-philosophy movement in relation to ethics. The final section covers cognitive and analytical approaches to ethics in relation to the capacity of films to engender moral learning, moral persuasion, sympathy, empathy, character engagement, and emotional response.
Dance Ethics
Authors: Whalen Aili
Published: August 2023

The primary goal in this chapter is to focus on some of the special responsibilities that the embodied nature of dance can bring into ethical relationships, honing in on the idea of dancers as ethical agents and actors who must navigate issues of personal space, touch, consent, closeness, and care for those who are sharing a professional, social, or community dance space. The author begins with a discussion of the personal nature of embodiment, moving out from there to a discussion of one-on-one connections with another person that are illustrated in dance, comparing these to romantic entanglements. Next, the chapter expands outward from on-one-one dancing to ethics writ large—what some might call social and political philosophy—and briefly touches on some research being done on dance-specific cultural appropriation, authorship, copyright, personal identity discrimination and exclusion, and decolonization. Finally, the chapter provides a conclusion and coda that discusses issues for dance ethics that arise during times of public health crises, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a paradigm example.
Immoral Artists
Authors: Matthes Erich Hatala
Published: August 2023

This chapter offers an overview of issues posed by the problem of immoral artists, artists who in word or deed violate commonly held moral principles. It briefly considers the question of whether the immorality of an artist can render their work aesthetically worse (making connections to chapters in the Theory section of the Handbook), and then turns to questions about what the audience should do and feel in response to knowledge of these moral failings. The author discusses questions such as whether audiences have reason not to purchase or consume work by these artists, whether their shows and exhibitions should be canceled, and how fans might grapple with the emotional turmoil they feel when artists whom they love act or speak in ways that are morally condemnable.
The Ethically Grounded Nature of Japanese Aesthetic Sensibility
Authors: Saito Yuriko
Published: August 2023

In the Japanese tradition, aesthetic engagement is considered a means of cultivating other-regarding moral virtues. Whether in art-making or gaining an aesthetic experience, one is encouraged to transcend one’s own perspective by listening to the other with a respectful attitude and an open-minded appreciation. Despite this ethically grounded nature of aesthetics, an indiscriminate appreciation of the difficult-to-accept and an exclusive focus on self-cultivation can be exploited to promote a problematic sociopolitical agenda, most notably seen in the aesthetic exceptionalism constructed as a reaction to the process of late nineteenth-century Westernization. The role that Japanese aesthetics played in supporting the colonization project in Asia and the military aggression during the World War II, however, should not eclipse the contribution it can make today, particularly in light of consumerism and disposable culture that compromise our relationship with the material world.
Victoria Lady Welby
Authors: Petrilli Susan
Published: August 2023

Victoria Welby’s theory of meaning, significs, is a philosophy of significance, interpretation, translation. What is its relationship to other language sciences, particularly philosophy of language and semiotics? Significs is philosophy of language where “language” is not limited to verbal language. What contribution does significs make to sign, language, and communication studies? In addition to its interest in the history of ideas, is significs still valid in theoretical terms? Is it still topical? With “significs,” Welby differentiates her approach from others developing under such denominations as “semantics,” “sematology,” “semiology,” and “sem(e)iotic.” Significs transcends strictly linguistic and gnoseological-cognitive boundaries to study signs and language at the crossroads where signs, language and values, ultimately signification and behavior, unite and are scrutinized at the margins of different disciplines. The question, “What is meaning?” gave Welby’s 1903 book its title and inspired all her research.
The Aesthetics of the Romantic Period and Women’s Writing
Authors: Price Fiona
Published: August 2023

While the aesthetics of the Romantic period are commonly associated with the work of a limited number of male poets, the gendered nature of such thought in the era ensured that women writers commented extensively and in unprecedented numbers on matters of taste. In her polemical works, the radical Mary Wollstonecraft argued that the philosopher Edmund Burke had created an aesthetic that was not only gendered but fundamentally inegalitarian. In response, she proposed a retreat from the social to the natural and a rejection of convention in favor of originality. But other women writers, while also rejecting Burke’s gendering of the sublime and the beautiful, were suspicious of Wollstonecraft’s account of originality. As they reassessed how accurate aesthetic judgments could be made within the social space, they reshaped Romantic aesthetics and created the conditions for realism.
Positivism
Authors: Wilson Matthew
Published: August 2023

Auguste Comte’s atheistic philosophy of Positivism meshed science, government, art, economics, and religion into a utopian vision of modernity. This chapter investigates how Victorian women philosophers played a significant but overlooked role in the creation of worlds of Comtean Positivism in Britain. It reveals strands of Positivist thinking in the feminist sociology of Harriet Martineau, the literary realism of George Eliot, the humanist artworks of Jane Style, and the communitarian efforts of Sybella Gurney Branford. The chapter demonstrates how these four Victorian women of the Positivist persuasion reparticularized, applied, and built on Comte’s principles. They did so in such ways as to suit their own vocations, beliefs, talents, and social agendas. Positivism helped these women to negotiate the politics, economy, and social power of Victorian men.
The Trajectory of Tamil in Cinema
Authors: Eswaran Swarnavel
Published: August 2023

This chapter focuses on the centrality of the Tamil language for populist mobilization through cinema by a political party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), in the 1950s. It traces the journey of Tamil in cinema from its initial entry as song in the multilingual ‘Tamil talkies’ of the 1930s, through a transition to spoken language and realistic dialogue in the 1940s, to the post-Independence era starting in 1949, and concludes with a discussion of post-millennial Dalit cinema. In the 1950s, the golden era of Tamil cinema, film was the vehicle for Dravidian ideology, challenging irrational and exploitative structures in society, politics, and religion. The protagonist often addressed the audience to disseminate the ideology of the writers and directors in provocatively relevant narrative sequences, using ornate and florid language that privileged alliteration. The Tamil language in cinema was enriched by eminent poets and writers who drew on both its long and rich classical tradition and contemporaneous public political discourse.
A Roadmap Overview of the Research Domain Criteria
Authors: Bastiaens Tim , Claes Laurence
Published: August 2023

In this chapter, the authors familiarize the reader with the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the paradigm shift it represents towards a new conceptualization of psychopathology. The authors first provide an overview of the problems currently encountered in the present classification systems of mental disorders, advocated by either the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) or the International Classification of Diseases, 11th edition (ICD-11). The authors discuss the RDoC matrix as the transdiagnostic framework from which a future, neurobiologically grounded, diagnostic system might arise. The authors introduce the reader to the rows of the matrix, representing of the RDoC domains and underlying constructs. They then discuss the seven columns of the matrix, representing the different levels of analysis at which each domain/construct can be investigated. Afterward, the authors first address RDoC’s general implications using a clinical case example and subsequently focus on the promising intersection between RDoC and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). The authors finish by discussing three of RDoC’s current limitations, which can subsequently be addressed to advance future research. Notwithstanding its exciting prospects, acknowledging RDoC’s current limitations can help avoid future obstacles not unlike the current hampering publication requirement of DSM/ICD categorical delineation of research groups the RDoC approach sets out to overcome.
The Role of Self and Blood in Ritual and Nonritual Self-Injury
Authors: Hornbacher Annette , Sax William , Naoum Janina , Schmahl Christian
Published: August 2023

This chapter covers the role of self and blood in ritual and nonritual self-injury (SI). It considers a socioanthropological perspective to describe and compare ritualized SI in particular cultural settings in South and Southeast Asia with nonritualized SI. Individual agency is vital for both ritual and nonritual SI as it signifies a person’s self-control or faith. Generally, the interpretation of ritual SI depends largely on the sociocultural context. Even though SI is mostly regarded negatively in Europe or North America, certain ritual contexts in South and Southeast Asia view SI as examples of heroic devotion and manifestations of divine presence and bliss that miraculously protect the human body.
Novel Assessment Methods for Differentiating Those at Risk for Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors
Authors: Burke Taylor A. , Ammerman Brooke A. , Liu Richard T.
Published: August 2023

This chapter reviews novel assessment methods for differentiating risk for suicidal and nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors. An overview is provided of several prominent conceptualizations of how these distinct clinical phenomena interrelate. The chapter discusses the measurement of NSSI and related processes, with a focus on self-report questionnaires and interviews, as well as laboratory-based behavioral measures and neuroimaging paradigms that may inform our understanding of NSSI and its similarity to and distinction from suicidal behaviors. The chapter also presents emerging approaches that seem particularly promising for the purpose of differentiating risk for NSSI and suicidal behavior. It concludes with a review of the challenges and limitations of methodological paradigms aimed at differentiating risk for NSSI and suicidal behavior.
Promising Approaches in Prevention and Intervention in Secondary School Settings
Authors: Petrovic Julia , Bastien Laurianne , Mettler Jessica , Bloom Elana , Hamza Chloe A. , Heath Nancy
Published: August 2023

Self-injury is not an unusual occurrence in adolescence and thus arises in secondary school settings with some frequency. However, as discussed in this chapter, the complexity of the behavior and the importance of school involvement cannot be underestimated. This chapter begins with a brief overview of the occurrence of NSSI in secondary school students, contextualizing it in terms of its prevalence, functions, stigmatization, and risk and protective factors. The developmental and contextual significance of addressing NSSI in secondary schools will then be highlighted. Following this, a review of the literature surrounding NSSI prevention/intervention approaches within secondary school settings is discussed. Recommendations for NSSI prevention and intervention in secondary school settings will then be organized by level (i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary). Elements of both prevention and intervention are embedded within each level; specifically, (a) primary prevention/intervention aims to prevent the onset of a behavior through universal intervention; (b) secondary prevention/intervention aims to prevent the onset of a behavior in individuals at-risk; and (c) tertiary prevention/intervention aims to respond to a behavior once it has emerged to reduce its negative impacts. The chapter then concludes by discussing the challenges to NSSI prevention/intervention in secondary school settings, recommendations for navigating such challenges should they arise, and suggestions for future research in this area.
Overview and Epidemiology of NSSI in Clinical Samples
Authors: Muehlenkamp Jennifer J. , Tillotson Victoria
Published: August 2023

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the prevalence and characteristics of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) within clinical samples. To provide some depth to understanding the clinical epidemiology of NSSI, it presents the risk and protective factors that appear most salient to clinically significant manifestations of NSSI. The prevalent occurrence of NSSI across a wide variety of diagnostic categories supports the conclusion that NSSI is a transdiagnostic behavior. Thus, treatments targeting transdiagnostic features will likely be most effective in reducing both NSSI as well as any co-occurring psychopathology. The chapter then discusses NSSI typologies or subgroups with implications for treatment. Interventions may need to consider the general profile of NSSI that best represents each person's presentation, adapting treatment approaches to the self-injury in alignment with the profile patterns. Ultimately, the chapter calls for future research that can meaningfully advance the understanding of NSSI within clinical populations.
The Politics of Care in the Education of Children Gifted for Music
Authors: López-Íñiguez Guadalupe , Westerlund Heidi
Published: August 2023

In educational practice, children gifted for music often become showcases for enhancing institutional prestige, rather than being seen as thriving agents of their own lives. In this chapter, we approach the education of children gifted for music as a special case in terms of social justice and children’s rights, by calling for teachers and educational institutions to adopt a transformative politics of care in order to better recognize the moral space for these children to develop, as well as to expand the normative professional frames of entire music education institutions and society at large. By adopting an approach of ethics of care with systems reflexivity, the education of children gifted for music can become a healthy test for the whole educational system’s understanding of democracy, social justice, and fairness, and for the very purpose of music education in contemporary societies.
Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Gratitude in Music Teaching and Learning
Authors: Diaz Frank M.
Published: August 2023

Experiences of self-compassion and gratitude are associated with numerous mental and social benefits, including decreased feelings of psychological distress as well as increased empathy and generosity. To facilitate these experiences, some individuals turn to mindfulness, a practice characterized with enacting an open and curious attitude to present-moment experience. Through mindful self-compassion, we are able to view our failures and shortcomings with kindness and acceptance, while acknowledging that everyone experiences suffering. Moreover, gratitude allows us to direct our focus to aspects of our lives that we are thankful for. In this chapter, I will describe the effects of mindful self-compassion and gratitude on wellbeing and prosocial behavior, enhanced by narratives from teachers and students who have engaged in these kinds of practices through coursework and professional development programs.