bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A New Discovered Motion
Authors: Fisher John
Published: December 2023

There was an extensive history of claims for annual parallax from studies of repeated annual motions of the stars including Robert Hooke’s observations of Eltanin in 1669 and his claims that were soon abandoned. Repeated observations of annual motions of thirty or more seconds of arc led to the general belief that the observation of annual parallax was ascertainable. Other authorities believed the annual parallax of the stars too small to be observed with current technology. The Kew experiment was initiated by Samuel Molyneux and both James Bradley and George Graham were recruited for their technical skills. The two main hypotheses of the observed annual motion were annual nutation and atmospheric refraction, both with null results and both with a noticeable anti-Newtonian bias.
Fundamenta Astronomiæ
Authors: Fisher John
Published: December 2023

Bradley remained dissatisfied with his ad hoc methods of reduction, particularly those concerned with atmospheric refraction. There is an implicit assumption that these problems would be resolved at the Royal Observatory by his successors, but his executors thought otherwise for they only conceived of a monetary value for Bradley’s observations, denying public access for fourteen years. The huge data banks left by Bradley and his assistants were not published in a reduced form until 1818 in the Fundamenta Astronomiæ by Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Even more important than the publication of a catalogue of 3,222 stars was Bessel’s development of new methodologies in the reduction of multiple constants and variables.
Channelling the Sun
Authors: Jha Vyoma
Published: December 2023

This chapter lays the groundwork for understanding the creation of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) as a new international organization. It traces the evolution of climate policymaking in India, with a particular focus on the interweaving of energy security and climate change concerns. By providing a detailed look at the significant markers of domestic climate policy, this chapter goes on to describe the role of solar energy within India’s efforts to combat climate change. Against the backdrop of India’s ambitious solar targets, the chapter also explores the long-standing solar trade dispute between India and the United States and its impact on the governance of solar energy in India. Ultimately, this chapter explains the Indian government’s solar policy pivot from mid-2014, both at the national and international levels.
Politics
Authors: Jha Vyoma
Published: December 2023

Domestic politics has typically not been a powerful driver of India’s global stance, and domestic climate policy is mostly shaped by international pressure before key multilateral events. This chapter focuses on the spoken word of two Prime Ministers of India—Dr Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi—to highlight the role of political leadership in bringing about a change in the direction of domestic climate policy and India’s external engagement on the issue of climate change. An analysis of the Prime Ministers’ speeches, over two significant periods of climate policymaking in India, suggests a clear shift in the narrative around solar energy. In particular, this chapter illustrates that Prime Minister Modi’s speeches had a stronger emphasis on solar energy and exhibited his personal ambition to lead on the issue of climate change, both in the country and abroad. Ultimately, this chapter argues that Prime Minister Modi’s leadership marks the first instance of India’s domestic politics shaping its position in multilateral climate negotiations. His vision for a new, India-led global effort on solar energy was the primary driver behind the creation of the ISA, and underscores the importance of the political leadership in empowering an international rule-making stance.
Particle Quantum Statistics
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

We introduce the idea of the path integral and use it to study the properties of identical particles under exhange. We explain why the topology of paths through space-time, the fundamental group of the configuration space (the braid group in 2+1 dimensions and the permutation group in 3+1 dimensions) determines the possible particle types. We argue that in 3+1 dimensions one only has bosons and fermions but in 2+1 dimensions other particles, known as anyons, can exist. We describe both the abelian and nonabelian type of anyon and argue why nonabelian anyons could be useful for quantum computation. We introduce the notion of the “quantum dimension” of an anyon which describes the size of the many anyon Hilbert space.
Computing with Anyons
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

We introduce some basic ideas of quantum computing including the idea of a quantum circuit model and the idea of a universal quantum computer — implementing arbitrary gates arbitrarily accurately. We discuss how braiding of certain anyons can be used as a universal quantum computer, and we illustrate this using Fibonacci anyons as an example. We then turn to the task of designing braids to perform particular computations, which is known as Topological Quantum compiling.
Bosons and Fermions from Group Representations: Rep(G)
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

We consider building planar diagram algebras by labeling edges with group representations and vertices follow the fusion rules of the group representations. We review using character tables to deduce fusion rules and quantum dimensions. The groups S3 and Q8 (quaternions) are used as simple examples. We show how F-matrices can be constructed using generalized Clebsch-Gordan coefficients. We deduce the possible braidings for such theories and conclude that only bosons or fermions are possible. We reconsider the possibility of parastatistics and argue why, given the structure of diagram algebras, only bosons and fermions are possible in 3+1 dimensions.
Quantum Groups (in Brief)
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

The mathematical structure known as a Quantum Group can be thought of as a deformation of a classical Lie group. The (deformed) representation theory of quantum groups gives a natural way to generate data (F-matrices, and R-matrices) for anyon theories. In many cases, this approach gives data equivalent to Chern-Simons theory based on the corresponding Lie group.
Robustness of Topologically Ordered Matter
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

Topologically ordered matter is famously robust to small perturbations. If a Hamiltonian has a topologically ordered (TQFT) ground state with a gap, then adding a small pertrubation (on the scale of the gap) to the Hamiltonian cannot change its TQFT properties. We explore this robustness with the example of the toric code. We show that the robustness is guaranteed by the fact that the toric code has a protected code space. We further discuss how the properties of the quasiparticles are also unchanged under perturbations of the Hamiltonian. These properties might be unsurprising, given the rigidity of the properties of TQFTs. We define the notion of topological order and give a definition of a topological phase of matter.
Final Comments
Authors: Simon Steven H.
Published: December 2023

We give a brief discussion of some things that have been left out of the book. In particular this includes detailed theory of fractional quantum Hall effect, connection to conformal field theory, tensor networks, and topological insulators.
Legislative Assemblies
Authors: Martin Shane , Strøm Kaare
Published: December 2023

By whatever name they are known (parliaments, legislatures, or assemblies, to name but three) legislative assemblies in democratic societies face the twin challenges of institutional capacity and accountability to their citizens. In addressing these challenges, assemblies vary in the extent to which they serve the respective interests of three critical sets of actors: their members, party leaders, and voters. We identify three ideal types of democratic assemblies: the members’ assembly, the leaders’ assembly, and the voters’ assembly. This book analyzes national legislative assemblies in the world’s 68 most populous democracies, from Finland to Papua New Guinea, in light of these models. Based on extensive new cross-national data, the authors trace the implications of the three assembly types for the design, internal organization, resources, and powers of democratic national assemblies, develop indices of each assembly type, and score each of the 68 legislative assemblies on these indices. In an analysis of legislative re-election rates in these countries, the authors show that the fate of incumbents depend on member resources as well as on leadership control but is ultimately constrained by voter confidence. In conclusion, the authors discuss the past and future trajectories of legislative assemblies including their susceptibility to democratic backsliding.
Organization and Leadership
Authors: Martin Shane , Strøm Kaare W.
Published: December 2023

To help us understand better the challenges of legislative capacity and accountability within the three ideal-typical models of legislative assemblies developed in Chapter 1 (the members’ assembly, the leaders’ assembly, and the voters’ assembly), this chapter focuses on organization and leadership. We explore variation in organizational and leadership structures across legislative assemblies. In particular, we focus on four questions. First, we explore assembly size as reflected in the number of members. Legislatures have evolved from the legislative state of nature often because too many members were chasing too little plenary time, which raises the question of whether chambers have an optimal size. Second, we explore the sources of rules and organizational structures. Who decides what the rules are? Third, we look in closer detail at authoritative legislative offices and in particular the office of presiding officer. Whose interests do such leaders represent? At one end of the spectrum, the office of presiding officer can be a tool for party leaders—at the other end of the spectrum it can be designed to serve the interest of ordinary members. Finally, we examine the resources available to members (both collectively and individually) to perform their duties and ensure legislative capacity.
Persuasion, Talk, and New Ideas
Authors: Bourne Angela K.
Published: December 2023

Chapter 6, Persuasion, Talk, and New Ideas examines how initiatives opposing populist parties (IoPPs) may affect populist parties by reducing or increasing their support, diminishing or boosting their resources, inducing moderation or radicalization, and/or curbing their ability to implement illiberal or anti-democratic policies. Political protests, public critique, and denigration may stigmatize or shame populist party leaders and their supporters and ‘reframe’ terms of debate. Demonization of populists as fascists, communists, or racists, may ‘contaminate’ party identities. National and international initiatives monitoring, publicizing, and entering into dialogue with populist parties about inconsistencies in what they say and do may shame them into changing their ways. Nevertheless, talk and new ideas can fall flat, dismissed as ‘fake news’. If it deepens suspicion of fellow citizens or foreign detractors, denigration or critique may simply increase support for populist parties or boost internal solidarity. Examples taken from a wide range of European populist parties illustrate these processes.
Introduction
Authors: Baines Robert
Published: December 2023

Finnegans Wake contains more philosophical allusions than any of James Joyce’s other works. The introduction opens by offering a brief history of the most important studies of those allusions. It then demonstrates the multiple challenges involved in elucidating the Wake’s philosophical allusions and shows that this book responds to those challenges by carefully explaining how Joyce constructed the philosophical allusions of his last work. The introduction also describes the innovative manner in which this book reads the Wake. Rather than selecting particular words and phrases from across the novel, it explores significant sections of text in their entirety. This approach allows the Wake’s philosophical allusions to be considered within their contexts.
World War II Memory and Contested Commemorations in Europe and Russia
Authors: Yoder Jennifer A.
Published: December 2023

Instrumentalization of the wartime past for political gain is the subject of this study of eleven World War II commemorations. Using a comparative, conceptually original approach, the book identifies the actors who manipulate memory surrounding wartime anniversaries, such as the bombing of Dresden and ceremonies to honor fallen soldiers and fascist collaborators. The cases of memory contestation span three geographic regions, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia, recognizing that each developed distinctive interpretations of the war and different patterns of memory politics. This empirically rich study reveals the grievances that motivate memory challengers and their strategies for shaping the commemoration discourses and rituals. The memory challengers’ toolkit includes varieties of emotional manipulation, subtle distortion, revisionism, and full-scale denial. The study finds that, while there are differences in context and strategy across cases and regions, there are also areas of convergence. Moreover, a memory challenge in one country can spill over into others with serious consequences for foreign relations. While Contested Commemorations deals with debates and narratives about events in the last century, its focus is on power, persuasion, and identity in the present.
Introduction to the Politicization of World War II in Europe and Russia
Authors: Yoder Jennifer A.
Published: December 2023

This chapter introduces a framework for examining the manipulation of the wartime past within and between countries. The challengers of established interpretations of World War II are typically right-wing and sometimes far-right actors who seek to redefine national identity in exclusionary ways. The range of approaches and mechanisms used to oppose or revise the dominant wartime memory includes the manipulation of emotions through symbols and rituals, obfuscation, construction of binaries, comparison and false equivalence, revisionism, and denialism. The chapter introduces a comparative approach to examining recent memory challenges at wartime commemorations in three mnemonic regions: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia.
Commemoration of Victory Day
Authors: Yoder Jennifer A.
Published: December 2023

The commemoration of Victory-Europe Day highlights the persistence of three distinctive strands of memory. While Western and Eastern Europeans and Russians agree that VE marked the end of military conflict, there remains strong disagreement about whether the date marks the liberation from fascism and the beginning of democratic renewal or the colonization of Eastern Europe and another prolonged period of oppression. Should the event be commemorated as heroic or tragic? Efforts to deflect from the complexities of the war and to defend either a purely heroic or tragic narrative have provoked reactions from domestic actors and, especially, from other countries, serving to further divide the European mnemonic space. The Russian president’s invocation of his country’s heroic fight against Nazism to justify “doing it again” in Ukraine has further troubled the mnemonic landscape.
Introduction
Authors: Taylor Colleen
Published: December 2023

This book claims that in the absence of written documents, the colonial past can be retrieved, piecemeal, through material objects. Using new materialist theory, I approach eighteenth-century everyday Irish objects as resources of narrativity, as holding, via their unique material processes and properties, stories and ideas that can illustrate the peasant Irish who handled and interacted with them. Coins, flax, spinning wheels, mud, and pigs impacted both imperial and nationalist ways of writing about Ireland and Irish character. Theories accounting for the material roots of metaphoric thought evince how these objects formulated both Irish stereotypes and nationalist ideas of resistance. Together, these five objects broaden and add complexity to our portrait of Irish tenant life in the eighteenth century. This book’s integration of new materialist theory and postcolonial cultural analysis is a previously under-explored interdisciplinary approach; as such, it models and invites further postcolonial new materialisms in other fields.
Spinning Wheels
Authors: Taylor Colleen
Published: December 2023

Throughout the eighteenth century, the spinning wheel’s motion facilitated the metaphor of an invisible, active spinning wheel inside the human mind. The spinning wheel’s resonance in Irish oral poetry, song, and printed literature shows the object’s particular affordance for feminist readings of Irish literature. The communal and widespread tradition of spinning songs gave Irish spinners the opportunity to voice subversive concepts that challenged social gender norms. Similarly, eighteenth-century Ulster poetry invokes the spinning wheel as an extension of the female spinner’s sexualized body and contemplative mind. Sarah Leech’s Poems on Various Subjects (1828) documents a real spinner-poet who used her wheel to justify the publication of her own inner musings. This chapter also uses the feminist materiality of spinning in Sydney Owenson’s Florence Macarthy (1818) to defend Owenson’s underappreciated style as a novelist. The Banim Brothers’ novel The Croppy builds on Owenson’s model by literalizing the significance of Irish material subversion and female agency.
Principals and Agents: How Trusted do Politicians Feel?
Authors: Weinberg James
Published: December 2023

This chapter introduces a new survey measure of felt trust, distrust, and mistrust that was fielded to politicians in three democracies. The data provide a stark picture of politicians’ misperceptions of public opinion. Put another way, politicians feel considerably more trusted and less distrusted, and slightly more mistrusted, than is actually the case, and these trends hold across countries. Going beyond comparisons with third-party polling statistics, this chapter also combines survey data collected from UK politicians and voters at the same time, using versions of the same measurement instrument, to provide the first concrete evidence of a ‘trust gap’ between elected representatives and those they are tasked with representing.
Conclusion
Authors: Weinberg James
Published: December 2023

The concluding chapter revisits the core questions that guided this book and the research underpinning it. For example, do politicians make accurate appraisals of the trust placed in them? When does this matter for politicians’ behaviour in office? And how do politicians cope as the targets of a high-distrust civic culture? The chapter summarizes the answers provided by the qualitative and quantitative analyses conducted for this book before reflecting on the gaps that still need to be addressed by future research. It also outlines what this new area of trust research might look like and why it deserves more attention.
Revolution and Terror
Authors: Gill Graeme
Published: December 2023

This book is a study of the relationship between revolution and terror. Historically, many have claimed that revolution inevitably devolves into terror, best reflected in the way in which after coming to power the revolutionary elite turns on itself and one section of it uses terrorist means to eliminate another section. This thesis originally stemmed from the French revolution but, more recently, has been applied to the Russian and the Chinese revolutions. The book argues that, in order to understand the relationship between revolution and terror, it is necessary to distinguish between different types of terror. There are three such types: revolutionary terror in which the aim is to destroy enemies and thereby consolidate the regime, transformational terror designed to drive the politico-socio-economic transformation of society that is the purpose of the ‘great’ revolutions, and inverted terror which is when terror is turned against part of the elite and regime more broadly. The analysis explains how these different types of terror are related to the revolutionary seizure of power, showing that revolutionary and transformational terror are organically connected to revolution while, for inverted terror, the connection is mediated through the leader. The argument is prosecuted through detailed analysis of the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions. The study ends by assessing the contemporary salience of the lessons of the ‘great’ revolutions in the light of the low level of violence in the negotiated revolutions of 1989.
The Russian Revolution
Authors: Gill Graeme
Published: December 2023

This chapter explains the course of the unrolling of the three types of terror in Russia and then the Soviet Union from 1917 until 1938. In the sequence of terror, the types of terror were much more distinct and less overlapping temporally than they were in France; the Red Terror (revolutionary terror) had ended before collectivization (transformational terror) began, which in turn had ended by the time of the Great Terror (inverted terror). The role of the elite in driving the terror is clear, with the masses playing a less independent and important role than they did in France. When it came to inverted terror, Stalin’s personal responsibility was crucial.
Revolutions Compared
Authors: Gill Graeme
Published: December 2023

After recapitulating the explanation for the different types of terror, the chapter proceeds to compare the three revolutions in terms of the role of terror in them. By so doing, it shows that there were different patterns at work in each case. It then argues that the experience of the so-called negotiated revolutions of 1989, in which large-scale violence and terror were not present, is probably unique. This means that they are unlikely to be the normal model of revolution, and that the lessons derived from the experience with terror of the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions are likely to remain salient into the future.
Introduction
Authors: Rahim Sana
Published: December 2023

This book investigates how the international community problematizes Pakistan’s nuclear ownership and excludes it from the mainstream logics and understandings of nuclear management. I draw upon Western security discourse and the experiences of the Pakistani nuclear community and analyse these as part of the wider context of a centuries’ old pattern of latent Orientalism. Thus, the book has two key aims: firstly, to explore the ways in which the international community understands Pakistan’s possession of nuclear weapons. In this way, I look at these dominant discourses and the way in which I can understand their dominance. I aim to identify the powerful ways in which exclusion from the dominant discourses of international politics happens, establishing how ‘Pakistan’ is ‘fixed’ in particular imaginaries and depictions. Secondly, I investigate what this means for its nuclear community: Pakistani students, physicists, and academics, and how framing can informally permit strictures that can shape the lived realities and the everyday lives of those within this community. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) and in-depth interviews, I show that Orientalism permeates the fabric of culture and continues to be a key driving force within nuclear politics.
Conclusion
Authors: Rahim Sana
Published: December 2023

Chapter 6 concludes that within the dominant discourses’ pictures of reason, Pakistan and its nuclear weapons are excluded from these logics. What is more is that these theories are unable to account for why Pakistan falls outside of the pictures of reason. The excess of meaning that falls outside of these theories is purely related to strategic or technical visions. These excesses are the cultural grids of intelligibility through which Pakistan is rendered visible. Postcolonial approaches are needed to identify Orientalism and put to use a combination of critical and interpretive methods to understand this puzzle. Within this contribution, the researcher assumes a reflexive position.
Mughal Cities
Authors: Shankar Pratyush
Published: December 2023

The capital cities established by Mughal rulers were a distinct departure in many ways. At one level they aspired to establish a new relationship with the nature. To treat the landscape as a picturesque setting, affording views and deploying the same in form of gardens and water structures to create a make it available for purpose of recreation and pleasure. The indulgence of the royal elites with their private gardens and suburban retreats also meant that the city was practically left to its own device. The mobile nature of the Mughal king led to creation of an unsettled city and at the other end meant the ‘Tent Cities’ became far more legible and well-formed than the real city.
Cities of Princely States
Authors: Shankar Pratyush
Published: December 2023

The partial autonomy that was enjoyed by many Indian states as part of the indirect rule during the British colonial rule, led to some interesting experiments in city development. Cities such as Hyderabad, Gwalior, Mysore, and Baroda managed to create new urban patterns that were a result of larger concerns of social welfare, education reforms apart from symbolism that enhanced the prestige of the state. The role played by freelance professionals such as architects, urban planners, gardeners, and librarian is also discussed in this chapter. These cities and its spaces represent a kind of indigenous modernity that was not only rooted in the context of the society but also managed to create a counter colonial narrative while being connected with similar initiatives across the globe
The 4-Stage Model of Socratic Dialogue
Authors: Padesky Christine A.
Published: December 2023

Chapter 2, “The 4-Stage Model of Socratic Dialogue,” illustrates Padesky’s model in detail. The best informational questions (Stage 1) are specific, begin with enquiries about information consistent with existing client beliefs, and rely on relevant curiosity to gather information to broaden a client’s perspective. Empathic listening (Stage 2) strengthens the therapy alliance, identifies fruitful paths for Socratic enquires, develops language resonant with the client, alerts therapists to missing content, and contributes to an understanding of client culture and diversity. Making frequent, written summaries (Stage 3) facilitates client awareness and learning, provides an opportunity for new client discovery, and offers a platform that clients can use to review the information that will help them answer analytical and synthesizing questions (Stage 4). Five common traps encountered during use of Socratic questioning are addressed. Clear guidelines are offered for necessary verbal and nonverbal adaptations required when Socratic dialogue is used in Strengths-Based CBT.
Imagery: The Language of Emotion
Authors: Padesky Christine A. , Holmes Emily A.
Published: December 2023

Chapter 5, “Imagery: The Language of Emotion,” reminds us that mental imagery fills a significant portion of thought processes. Intrusive mental imagery plays a central role in most psychological disorders and has a stronger emotional impact than verbal thought processes. Even so, many therapists neglect to actively assess and work with imagery in psychotherapy. Socratic dialogue is ideally suited to help therapists identify and address client imagery. Therapist–client dialogues illustrate the use of Socratic dialogue to identify imagery when clients report they don’t have images, assess the importance of the varieties of imagery reported, and work with imagery as part of evidence-based psychotherapy practice. Socratic dialogue, behavioral experiments, thought records, and other methods of guided discovery are demonstrated as applied to imagery that involves sound, smells, and touch; auditory hallucinations; distorted traumatic images; nightmares; and imagery related to events that didn’t really happen. Clinical examples address imagery as part of collaborative case conceptualization, imaginal rehearsal as a means to improve adherence with learning assignments, and the roles positive imagery can play in developing resilience and working toward other constructive therapy goals.
Guided Discovery with Adversity
Authors: Moorey Stirling
Published: December 2023

Chapter 8, “Guided Discovery with Adversity,” illustrates how helping clients cope with life adversity involves supporting them with decision making about what to accept and what to change in their lives, finding ways to exert control over seemingly uncontrollable situations, and acceptance that life circumstances can be filled with uncertainty and uncontrollability. A variety of Socratic dialogue questions are proposed to help clients appraise their problems realistically and helpfully, build strengths in problem-focused, life-focused, and internal-focused coping, and find a balance in their coping responses. This chapter identifies six traps that can interfere with progress in these areas, two that are client-based, two therapist-based, and two that stem from environmental constraints. Each of these traps can be avoided or resolved through use of Socratic dialogue and other guided discovery methods that are described within relevant case examples.
The Rhetoric and Politics of de lege agraria I & II
Authors: Krostenko Brian A.
Published: December 2023

This chapter describes the chief claim of the book: that Cicero in de lege agraria I and II lays out two distinctive visions of dignitas and libertas, the cardinal values of the respective audiences, the senate and the people. That was an appropriate ideological exercise for a new consul delivering his first two speeches. This chapter also derives some of the principles of reading that make those distinctive visions apparent: they appear for the most part not in direct discussion of the ideals but are implicit in and govern Cicero’s choices of word, phrase, and image. Last, the chapter describes the ostensible topic of the speeches, an agrarian bill proposed by a tribune of the plebs—a thoughtful bill with worthy aims but also with some dubious or audacious features. Cicero exploits those features as points of departure for his reflections on the proper form of government.
Dignitas
Authors: Krostenko Brian A.
Published: December 2023

This chapter probes the ideology of LA 1. The senate speech continually prompts senators to prune back boldness, individualism, and partisanship in favor of principled collectivism. The bill attached conquered properties (LA 1.5–6, 2.50–51). The senate version makes the senate the guardians of sacred tradition, among which are conquests—including Pompey’s. The bill attached various military monies (LA 1.11–13, 2.59). The senate version uses Faustus Sulla, the dictator’s son, to symbolize the dangers of partisan lawcraft. Cicero imagines the bill’s loose language would allow a colony right on the Janiculum hill (LA 1.16, 2.74). The senate version makes political perceptiveness the token of shared identity. All these accents reach their culmination in the peroration: its distinct philosophical and even protreptic cast draws on elite intellectual culture and turns equanimity into a political watchword. A disciplined senate, unified behind Cicero, can thus return to its past glory.
Strong Dialectic, Neurathian Reflection, and the Ascent of Desire
Authors: Whiting Jennifer
Published: December 2023

This chapter seeks to find the elements of truth in each of two prominent and explicitly opposed readings of Aristotle’s ethics: the “rationalist” and “non-rationalist” readings offered, respectively, by Terence Irwin and John McDowell. Focusing especially on the relation between Aristotle’s methods and his substantive views, the chapter argues that Aristotle is reasonably read as employing something like what Irwin calls “strong dialectic” to support the substantive account of moral psychology that McDowell sees in Aristotle’s ethical works. McDowell in fact recognizes something like this when he allows that Aristotle’s virtuous agent may seek “reflective reassurance” by engaging in Neurathian reflection on her ethical outlook. What matters is that the reflection be in some sense internal to that outlook and play no direct role in the motivational economy of the agent. Irwin, however, resists this proposed reconciliation, perhaps because he tends to see eudaimonism as a form of rational egoism.
A Somewhat Peaceful Phase
Authors: Quraishi Humra
Published: December 2023

Gull Mohammad and several other boys were shifted to the Centre for Islamic Studies situated in Lucknow. Details of the daily routine and living with the basics were provided. Only fans, no coolers, even as the temperatures soar. No walking alone beyond the boundary walls. . . . Gull Mohammad makes friends with several of his classmates who hail from several other states of the country . . . They love to hear him telling about the details of Kashmir. And after the night namaaz/Isha namaaz, he would talk to the boys about his Kashmir home and also about his parents and brother. Day after day, the routine is the same. He asks his friend Shaaz, if he could spend Eid with him and his family in Lucknow’s Golaganj locality.
Emotions and Anchorage
Authors: Quraishi Humra
Published: December 2023

The few days he spent with Shaaz’s family in Lucknow carry the details of this young Kashmiri boy’s discussions with the local Muslims . . . And though men sat in one corner of the courtyard, by evening they shift to the inner covered veranda. No, not adequate for all the men of the household. With that, Gull Mohammad and Shaaz shifted to the inner room, which is connected to another side room, where the women and girls sleep on the floor covered with mats/mattresses. And lying there he’d gaped at Shaaz’s sister—Zebunnisa. Hormonal turbulence hitting, though he didn’t quite realize the changes coming about . . . And though there was tension around in the locality where Shaaz’s family resided, he was at ease living with this family.
Better Times ... but Not for Too Long!
Authors: Quraishi Humra
Published: December 2023

He finds himself in a well-managed ‘home’ situated in Kerala’s Calicut . . . Though it is run by a Muslim Trust, Hindu and Christian children are also housed in there. Living happily, on par. One evening the local television channels come up with the breaking news—busloads of Muslims from Lucknow at the Calicut bus stop, seeking refuge in North Kerala. He rushes out, running towards the main bus stop. Nah, Shaaz nor Zebunissa or their family spotted amongst the ‘refugee’ lot. Though he did get to hear that, that family was hounded out of their Golaganj home . . . killed by unknown killers! He cries out Sabr! On the last page of his diary, he scribbles—sabr, sabr, sabr—patience with hope. His mother would often cry out ‘sabr’, when situations became difficult to handle.
UMAMIT44 is a key player in glutamate export from Arabidopsis chloroplasts
Authors: The Samantha Vivia , Santiago James P , Pappenberger Clara , Hammes Ulrich Z , Tegeder Mechthild
Published: December 2023

Selective partitioning of amino acids among organelles, cells, tissues, and organs is essential for cellular metabolism and plant growth. Nitrogen assimilation into glutamine and glutamate and de novo biosynthesis of most protein amino acids occur in chloroplasts; therefore, various transport mechanisms must exist to accommodate their directional efflux from the stroma to the cytosol and feed the amino acids into the extraplastidial metabolic and long-distance transport pathways. Yet, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transporters functioning in plastidial export of amino acids remained undiscovered. Here, USUALLY MULTIPLE ACIDS MOVE IN AND OUT TRANSPORTER 44 (UMAMIT44) was identified and shown to function in glutamate export from Arabidopsis chloroplasts. UMAMIT44 controls glutamate homeostasis within and outside of chloroplasts and influences nitrogen partitioning from leaves to sinks. Glutamate imbalances in chloroplasts and leaves of umamit44 mutants impact cellular redox state, nitrogen and carbon metabolism, and amino acid (AA) and sucrose supply of growing sinks, leading to negative effects on plant growth. Nonetheless, the mutant lines adjust to some extent by upregulating alternative pathways for glutamate synthesis outside the plastids and by mitigating oxidative stress through the production of other amino acids and antioxidants. Overall, this study establishes that the role of UMAMIT44 in glutamate export from chloroplasts is vital for controlling nitrogen availability within source leaf cells and for sink nutrition, with an impact on growth and seed yield.
The MBD–ACD DNA methylation reader complex recruits MICRORCHIDIA6 to regulate ribosomal RNA gene expression in Arabidopsis
Authors: Ren Zhitong , Gou Runyu , Zhuo Wanqing , Chen Zhiyu , Yin Xiaochang , Cao Yuxin , Wang Yue , Mi Yingjie , Liu Yannan , Wang Yingxiang , Fan Liu-Min , Deng Xing Wang , Qian Weiqiang
Published: December 2023

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark implicated in selective rRNA gene expression, but the DNA methylation readers and effectors remain largely unknown. Here, we report a protein complex that reads DNA methylation to regulate variant-specific 45S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The complex, consisting of METHYL-CpG-BINDING DOMAIN PROTEIN5 (MBD5), MBD6, ALPHA-CRYSTALLIN DOMAIN PROTEIN15.5 (ACD15.5), and ACD21.4, directly binds to 45S rDNA. While MBD5 and MBD6 function redundantly, ACD15.5 and ACD21.4 are indispensable for variant-specific rRNA gene expression. These 4 proteins undergo phase separation in vitro and in vivo and are interdependent for their phase separation. The α-crystallin domain of ACD15.5 and ACD21.4, which is essential for their function, enables phase separation of the complex, likely by mediating multivalent protein interactions. The effector MICRORCHIDIA6 directly interacts with ACD15.5 and ACD21.4, but not with MBD5 and MBD6, and is recruited to 45S rDNA by the MBD–ACD complex to regulate variant-specific 45S rRNA expression. Our study reveals a pathway in Arabidopsis through which certain 45S rRNA gene variants are silenced, while others are activated.
The Effect of SkQ1 on the Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Responses in Corneal Endothelial Cells During Ex Vivo Expansion
Authors: Choo Charlene H. , Chung Doug D. , Aldave Anthony J.
Published: December 2023

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to characterize the oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in ex vivo corneal endothelial cells (evCEnC) during expansion and assess the impact of SkQ1, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound, on measures of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Methods:

A CEnC line (HCEnC-21T) was cultured in media supplemented with varying SkQ1 concentrations to determine the optimal SkQ1 dose range of toxicity and protective effect on CEnC exposed to acute oxidative stress. The impact of SkQ1 treatment on intracellular free radical (IFR) levels, NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response, and NFkB-mediated inflammatory response was determined at each passage of evCEnC isolated from donor corneas and cultured in SkQ1-supplemented and untreated media.

Results:

HCEnC-21T cultured in media supplemented with ≤250 nM SkQ1 retained over 95% cell viability compared with untreated cells. SkQ1 provided oxidative stress protection to HCEnC-21T in a dose-dependent manner up to 500 nM. In evCEnC, 50 nM and 250 nM SkQ1 supplementation significantly reduced IFR levels across passages 0 to 3 (P-values of 0.015 and 0.023, respectively) and 50 nM SkQ1 supplementation led to decreased levels of active NRF2 in evCEnC at passage 2. However, media supplementation with SkQ1 (50 nM and 250 nM) did not alter NFkB activation at any passage.

Conclusions:

SkQ1 media supplementation provides oxidative stress protection to HCEnC-21T in a dose-dependent manner and decreases IFR levels and NRF2 activation in evCEnC during expansion at concentrations that do not negatively affect CEnC viability. These findings indicate that SkQ1 supplementation may increase the expansion potential of evCEnC.
Pregnancy outcomes of 4 endometrial preparation protocols in adenomyosis patients with thin endometrium during frozen embryo transfer: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Yu Yi , Zhang Xi , Xu Xinxin , Yan Lei , Zhang Ya-nan
Published: December 2023

Introduction:

This study aimed to compare the pregnancy outcomes of different endometrial preparation protocols in patients with adenomyosis and thin endometrium during frozen embryo transfer.

Methods:

The study, which was conducted at the Reproductive Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, included 236 patients with adenomyosis and thin endometrium who underwent frozen embryo transfer between January 1, 2011, and December 12, 2022. The pregnancy outcomes and maternal and infant complications among the 4 groups were further compared.

Results:

These patients with adenomyosis and thin endometrium were divided into 4 groups based on the endometrial preparation protocols used: natural cycle treatment (n=53), hormone replacement therapy group (n=73), gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists + hormone replacement therapy group (n=49), and ovarian induction group (n=61). The demographic, cycle, and embryologic characteristics were similar between groups. The livebirth rates (P=0.29), full-term pregnancy rates (P=0.55), preterm pregnancy rates (P=0.33), clinical pregnancy rates (P=0.77), biochemical pregnancy miscarriage rates (P=0.28), early miscarriage rates (P=0.16), and late miscarriage rates (P=0.69) were comparable among 4 groups. In addition, there were no significant differences in maternal and infant complications.

Conclusion:

The pregnancy outcomes of frozen-embryo transfer among 4 endometrial preparation protocols in patients with adenomyosis and thin endometrium were comparable, indicating no significant disparities. In addition, no noteworthy variations were observed in terms of maternal and infant complications in these patients.
The role of postoperative piriformis fossa and greater trochanter tubercle distance to predict cutout failure after cephalomedullary nail fixation
Authors: Tien Derming , Chang Wen-Chieh , Cheng Ming-Fai , Hsu Kuei-Hsiang , Su Yu-Ping
Published: December 2023

Background:

This study investigated the association between postoperative piriformis fossa and greater trochanter tubercle distance (distance from the deepest point of piriformis fossa to the most lateral greater trochanter tubercle [PG]) and cutout failure after cephalomedullary nail (CMN) osteosynthesis for intertrochanter fracture (ITF). A rotating femur model was designed to analyze PG variation during femur rotation.

Methods:

From 2005 to 2010, 311 patients diagnosed of ITF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen/Orthopaedic Trauma Association [AO/OTA] 31-A2 and A3) underwent CMN fixation at our institute were reviewed. Of these, 281 (90.3%) patients achieved union without complication, 21 (6.8%) had cutout failure, six (1.9%) had femoral head osteonecrosis, and three (1%) had nonunion during postoperative 2-year follow-up. The side difference of postoperative PG compared to contralateral uninjured hip (dPG) was analyzed between patients who had cutout failure and those who did not. In the rotating femur model, the PG was measured for every 2.5° increments of internal and external rotation from 0° to 50°.

Results:

The dPG was significantly higher in the failure group (10.2 ± 4.2 vs 6.6 ± 3.5 mm, p <0.001). The odds ratio for lag screw cutout was 6.35 (95% CI, 1.10-11.6, p =0.003) for every 1 mm dPG increment. dPG exhibited high diagnostic performance in predicting cutout failure according to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The area under the curve was 0.774 (95% CI, 0.711-0.837). dPG yielded the greatest sensitivity (78.4%) and specificity (78.4%) to predict lag screw cutout when cutoff value being 8.65 mm. In rotating femur model, PG change from baseline demonstrated significant (p <0.001) positive and negative correlation with increased external and internal rotation, respectively.

Conclusion:

Increased dPG is a risk factor of cutout failure for ITF osteosynthesis with CMN. In conjunction with tip-apex distance, fracture displacement, and reduction quality; dPG can help surgeons interpret postoperative radiograph and predict failure. However, it should be noticed that a proper and standard patient positioning is critical for accurate dPG measurement.
The percentage of unnecessary mastectomy due to false size prediction using preoperative ultrasonography and MRI in breast cancer patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Han Yireh , Jung Ji Gwang , Kim Jang-il , Lim Changjin , Kim Hong-Kyu , Lee Han-Byoel , Moon Hyeong-Gon , Han Wonshik
Published: December 2023

Background:

Imaging-estimated tumour extent after neoadjuvant chemotherapy tends to be discordant with the pathological extent. The authors aimed to prospectively determine the proportion of decisions regarding total mastectomy for potential breast-conserving surgery candidates owing to false size prediction with imaging in neoadjuvant chemotherapy and non-neoadjuvant chemotherapy patients.

Materials and methods:

The authors prospectively enroled clinical stage II or III breast cancer patients who are scheduled for total mastectomy between 2018 and 2021. This study was conducted at Seoul National University Hospital at South Korea. Before surgery, each surgeon recorded the hypothetical maximum tumour size at which the surgeon would have been able to attempt breast-conserving surgery if the patient had actually less than the size of the tumour at that location in the breast. After surgery, the hypothetical maximum tumour size was compared with the final pathologic total extent of the tumour, including invasive and in situ cancers.

Results:

Among the 360 enroled patients, 130 underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and 230 did not undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Of the total of each group, 47.7% in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and 21.3% in the non-neoadjuvant chemotherapy group had a smaller pathologic tumour extent than the pre-recorded hypothetical maximum tumour size (P<0.001). Further analyses were conducted for the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. The proportions of total mastectomy with false size prediction were higher in HER2-positive (63.3%) and triple-negative (57.6%) patients compared with ER-positive/HER2-negative (25.0%) patients (P<0.001). Both magnetic resonance imaging-pathology and ultrasonography-pathology size discrepancies were significantly associated with false decisions for total mastectomy (both P<0.001). Without magnetic resonance imaging, the false decision may be reduced by 21.5%.

Conclusion:

A total of 47.7% of patients who received total mastectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were breast-conserving surgery eligible, which was significantly higher than that of non-neoadjuvant chemotherapy patients. Magnetic resonance imaging contributed the most to false size predictions.