bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Recalibrational Theory
Authors: Sell Aaron , Sznycer Daniel
Published: May 2024

This chapter uses the adaptationist program to predict and explain the major features of anger. According to this approach, anger evolved by natural selection to bargain for better treatment. Thus, the major triggers of anger (e.g., cost impositions, cues of disrespect) all indicate an increased willingness (on the part of the offender) to impose costs on the angry individual. Once triggered, the anger system bargains using the two primary incentives: the imposition of costs and the denial of benefits. This simple functional sketch of anger is then supplemented with additional considerations needed to address the resultant selection pressures created by bargaining. This process offers functionally sound and theoretically justified explanations for the following: anger in aggressive and cooperative contexts, the role of apologies and their sincerity, the content of sex-specific insults, the computational structure of “intentionality” in the context of anger, and the origin of the implicit rules of combat.
Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Authors: Z. Czarna Anna , Wróbel Monika , F. Folger Logan , Holtzman Nicholas S. , Daley Jennifer R. , D. Foster Joshua
Published: May 2024

This chapter introduces the construct of narcissism, reviews its evolutionary origins, and explores its relationship with emotions. Narcissism is presented as a personality trait with grandiose and vulnerable expressions, as well as a personality disorder characterized by extreme levels of narcissism combined with impairment. Some discussion surrounds whether grandiose and vulnerable expressions of narcissism should be conceptualized as distinct, stable traits versus oscillating narcissistic states. Evolutionary topics include the heritability of narcissism, the genetic foundations of narcissism, evolutionarily grounded strategies, including mating and survival strategies, that may have facilitated sexual and natural selection of narcissistic traits, as well as critiques of existing theory in this literature. The emotion section focuses on the emotional experiences of narcissists, paying particular attention to how these experiences contrast, depending on whether narcissism is more grandiose or vulnerable. Attempts are made throughout the chapter to identify connections between the conceptual, evolutionary, and emotion literatures.
An Evolutionary Perspective on Psychopathy
Authors: Zeigler-Hill Virgil , R. Young Gracynn
Published: May 2024

Psychopathy refers to a constellation of personality traits that includes a willingness to deceive or manipulate others, impulsiveness, and a lack of empathy and guilt. Further, psychopathy is characterized by the tendency to violate basic social norms by engaging in behaviors that are selfish, aggressive, and harmful to others. There has been considerable debate in the literature concerning whether psychopathy represents a form of psychopathology or if it is better conceptualized as part of an alternative life-history strategy that is evolutionarily adaptive. The purpose of this chapter is to review the evidence and arguments regarding both of these perspectives, and to attempt to integrate these perspectives whenever it is possible to do so. The chapter will conclude with suggestions for future research that may help to resolve this debate.
The Evolved Nature of Pride
Authors: L. Tracy Jessica , Mercadante Eric , Witkower Zachary
Published: May 2024

A large body of research suggests that the self-conscious emotion of pride is a universal and evolved part of human nature, which functions to help individuals navigate their social hierarchies, motivating them to engage in behaviors that allow them to attain and maintain social rank, and communicating to others which group members are deserving of rank attainment and should be targets of social learning. Studies also suggest that there are two distinct facets of pride: authentic and hubristic, associated with distinct forms of self-favorability—self-esteem and narcissism, respectively. Furthermore, each pride facet may function to facilitate the attainment of a distinct form of social rank—prestige or dominance—both of which are viable and likely evolved pathways to rank, power, and social influence.
To Wear, or Not to Wear
Authors: LaTosky Shauna , de Robert Pascale
Published: May 2024

This chapter looks at the labret-wearing practices of two very different peoples, the Mebêngôkre (Brazil) and Mun (Ethiopia). It emphasizes how lip plates are made, worn, valued, and evaluated at a normative level, considering how the Mun and Mebêngôkre understand these practices, how their views clash with those of outsiders, and how the symbolic significance and the ancient practice of labret-wearing are changing. Drawing on interviews conducted in Southern Ethiopia and Central Brazil, and a literature review, it provides an insightful examination of the traditional and evolving modern practice. Freedom, speech, beauty, and strength are recurring themes when the Mebêngôkre and Mun discuss their labrets in connection with contemporary issues of gender (labrets are worn only by men in Mebêngôkre and by women in Mun), identity (the forms and materials of labrets mark belonging), and as an enduring part of their cultural heritage.
Amuletic Tattooing among Central and Eastern Inuit Tribes from an Inuit Perspective
Authors: Sialuk Jacobsen Maya
Published: May 2024

This chapter presents an introduction to a research methodology of evaluating Inuit immaterial and material culture focusing on Inuttut Kakiuineq, the tattooing practice of central and eastern Inuit tribes, and aspects surrounding the practice in both precolonial religion and daily life. This effort is grounded in the perspective of a member of the culture with long experience as a tattoo artist, who, after a decade as a Western commercial tattooer, shifted in 2010 to pre-electric tattooing tools as a traditional practitioner of Inuttut Kakiuineq. The research draws on this cultural anchorage and language, as well as on academic literature, ethnography, anthropological descriptions, and archaeological objects, to focus on Inuit tribes who use a specific form of tattooing that uses amuletic, hunting-related patterns. Through pattern collection and analysis and demographic genealogy, the chapter interrogates the original purpose and language surrounding Inuttut Kakiuineq. It highlights the amuletic purpose of Inuit tattooing from the eastern half of Inuit Nunaat—the Inuit lands—by introducing patterns and their connection to the all-encompassing hunting of wildlife for food and materials that ensured survival in the coldest and harshest environment in the world.
Nlaka’pamux Skin Markings (British Columbia, Canada)
Authors: Kaszas Dion
Published: May 2024

The skin markings of the Nlaka’pamux people (also known as Thompson River Salish) from British Columbia, Canada, are an ancestral embodied knowledge system conveying information about lineage, skills, aspirations, life story, and status. This chapter is written by a member of the Nlaka’pamux, who, as a professional tattooer and independent scholar, is engaged in reviving, maintaining, and updating this body language. The wearing of ancestral marks is seen as an assertion of rights, responsibilities, and relationship to the earth and all that is. Because it roots the revitalization effort in the prayers, ceremonies, and suffering of the ancestors, the current tattooing practice is seen as an authentic way to adhere to Nlaka’pamux Indigenous scholarship and beliefs. This is a powerful declaration of continued existence, resilience, pride, and struggle that goes beyond scholarly studies and stands as a necessary, unfiltered testimony to the vital spirit of body modification as a whole.
Shaping the Landscape, Preserving the Knowledge
Authors: Montanari Bernadette
Published: May 2024

Terraces stand out of the landscape in mountain environments throughout the world. Built over centuries, agricultural terraces have evolved to accommodate human needs, including food security for millions living in a subsistence economy and in changing climatic conditions. Much research on terraces has been conducted, scrutinizing the factors pertaining to soil properties for implementing various conservation and management programs, the value of intercrop planting, the cultural maintenance of terrace structures, and social cohesion that sustains the effective functioning and conservation of terraces, as well as the factors that contribute to terrace abandonment. However, fewer studies have looked at the role of terraces as a vector for the retention of traditional ecological knowledge. This chapter illustrates how traditional ecological knowledge shapes and maintains the terraced landscape in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It describes the traditional skills employed for the management of terraces and water, the cultivated crops that sustain the communities, and other activities like the collection of medicinal plants during gardening activities, which facilitates and maintains the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and its transmission to younger generations. It also argues that not only terraces are important to maintain the livelihood of local communities, but in addition, they contribute to the retention of traditional ecological knowledge.
Narrative Realism and Television
Authors: Jacobson Lisa W. , Kitzinger Chloë
Published: May 2024

This chapter links nineteenth-century serial novels like Fedor Dostoevskii’s Crime and Punishment (1866) to twenty-first-century television serials like David Simon’s The Wire (2002–2008) and Donald Glover’s Atlanta (2016–2022). In each of these examples, the chapter authors focus on the collaborative tension between realism and melodrama, as tools for both revealing and resisting the structural dynamics of a given historical moment. Where Simon continues in Dostoevskii’s tradition—using serial narrative to make a claim about the true inner nature of reality and the social, spiritual, and political forces that threaten to mask it—Glover destabilizes and shifts this realist project. By highlighting the surreal aspects of the everyday experience of Black Americans, Atlanta interrogates the boundaries of a stable, shared reality in the post-2016 era. Taken together, these three texts thus contribute to a corrective (and evolving) notion of plurality: realisms and modes of reality alike.
Capitalist Realism and the Arabic Novel
Authors: Alraddadi Raya
Published: May 2024

This chapter traces the development of realism in Arabic literature by exploring the relationship between literary aesthetics and politics. It emphasizes the persistence of the realist form and challenges the view that realism is inadequate or bound to a specific period in Arabic literature. It presents two focuses, theoretical and literary. The former seeks to develop a broader critical perspective to address the impact of global power on Arabic realist fiction through addressing the relationship between the literary form and sociopolitical upheavals in the Arab world. It also examines the aesthetic shift after the military defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War, challenging the perceived narrative of the dissolution of realism into modernism. Subsequently, the latter focus examines two Arabic novels by prominent authors who responded to the defeat in 1967 by reasserting realism as the best-suited tool to address social transformation, political oppression, and global capitalism.
Caribbean Diasporic Marvelous Realism
Authors: Alonso Alonso María
Published: May 2024

This chapter analyzes the “marvelous realism” found in contemporary Caribbean literature written in English by diasporic authors. It applies postcolonial theory to selected novels by writers including David Chariandy, Nalo Hopkinson, Cyril Dabydeen, and Kei Miller. These works accentuate how authors of Caribbean origin normalize the more fantastic elements of their cultures by utilizing influences and imagery while resident in Western lands. The Caribbean diaspora encompasses an amalgam of geographic, historical, social, and cultural issues, which showcase the impact of transterritorialization and hybridity in contemporary literature. The featured novels illustrate this evolution from “magical” to “marvelous” realism in first- and second-generation Caribbean diasporic writing. These novels contemplate the myths and legends that have emanated from their respective authors’ cultures of origin and highlight the social, political, and cultural ramifications of their westernized depictions of the supernatural.
Beyond the Dichotomy of Secular and Religious
Authors: Zengin Arslan Berna
Published: May 2024

This chapter evaluates the early development of Turkish secularism and the political ideology of Kemalism, with a discussion of the establishment and significance of the Diyanet. The chapter challenges the “exceptionalism” of Turkish secularism and the argument that Kemalism “instrumentalized” Islam to control the Muslim majority. Moving away from the secular versus religious dichotomy, or the oppression versus liberation of Islam paradigm, the chapter explains the advancement of Kemalism as integral to Islamic culture in Turkey. It argues Kemalism was a productive discourse that constructed not only secular citizens and institutions, but also modern Islam and its subjects in Turkey. Kemalism sought to form a modern Islam—as rational, moderate, and individualized—that is compatible with the values of secularism and modernity. The chapter also argues that Kemalism was a situated discourse that evolved in relation to the historical trajectories of Islam and secularism in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere.
Estimating Social Influence Using Machine Learning and Digital Trace Data
Authors: Arvidsson Martin , Keuschnigg Marc
Published: May 2024

The digital and computational revolutions have improved the prospects for analyzing the dynamics of large groups of interacting individuals. Digital trace data provide the type of large-scale, time-stamped, and granular information on social interactions that is needed to feasibly conduct research on social influence in non-experimental settings and to distinguish social influence effects from the confounding effects of homophily. This chapter reviews three concrete ways in which machine learning can improve the estimation of social influence effects from observational digital trace data. These computational approaches (a) make high-dimensional information about individuals accessible for analysis, (b) infer latent confounders from the structure of large-scale social networks, and (c) facilitate large-scale annotation of measures that can serve as instruments for causal identification.
Chinese Computational Sociology
Authors: Hong Cheng Linda , Lu Yao
Published: May 2024

While applications of machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) methods have grown in the social sciences within diverse international contexts, these methods remain inherently Eurocentric and strikingly challenging to apply to non-European languages. There is an urgent need for decolonial reconstructions of ML and NLP applications within the social sciences, particularly in meaningfully reconfigured applications of ML and NLP to non-Western contexts. Endeavoring to answer such a cogent calling, this chapter reviews the existing literature that applies machine learning and NLP methods to sociological analyses of Chinese-language contexts. Synthesizing existing research, the authors introduce and establish a new and cutting-edge subfield situated at the intersections of China studies, computer science, and sociology: ‘Chinese computational sociology.’ Contributing the first review of the state of Chinese computational sociology, this chapter outlines the various challenges facing applications of ML and NLP methods for studying social issues in Chinese-language contexts, and suggests possible solutions to such limitations. Beyond existing challenges and solutions, this chapter critically considers future trajectories for Chinese computational sociology as a subfield in its own right.
Epistemic Infrastructures of Moral Decision-Making in the Ethics of Autonomous Driving
Authors: Indira Ganesh Maya
Published: May 2024

How should an autonomous vehicle be programmed to make decisions in the case of a crash that potentially jeopardizes multiple human lives? Can these human lives be considered equally worthy of saving? These questions have animated a recently popular academic field of inquiry, the ethics of autonomous driving. The adoption of customer-driven autonomous vehicles is concentrated in certain geographical areas and industrial sectors, yet ethics and moral decision-making in highly automated, algorithmically shaped social environments is a compelling site of social inquiry. This chapter is a case study about the epistemic and discursive transformations in ethics anchored to the trolley problem, a popular thought experiment, and to the Moral Machine project, which reframes the ethical in statistical and game-theoretical terms. Central to this shift is a reinvestment in utilitarianism to reframe ethics and morality through modes of gamification and algorithmic decision-making. This chapter takes an epistemic-infrastructural perspective and demonstrates how various intellectual genealogies eventually advance ethics, morality, and humanity to center computation rather than the social, infrastructural, and relational dimensions of automobility.
Burmese American Youth Experiences with Theravada Buddhism in the San Francisco Bay Area
Authors: Saruya Rachelle
Published: May 2024

How do children and young people in the Burmese diaspora learn Buddhism? What strategies do teachers use? And how do the students themselves view their experiences? This chapter attempts to answer these questions through the cases of two young lay females who both had short-term but highly impactful experiences: one as a temporary nun, and the other as a repeat attendee at a Buddhist youth camp. These experiences are contextualized, in the first instance with descriptions of the monastic space and the Burmese-language classes that prompted the subject’s choice of monastery, and in the second, with the history of the camp and exploration of its monastic spaces. In both these cases, Buddhism was not always taught directly by monks; that is, while they physically recalled the Buddha and Buddhism in terms of aesthetics, comportment, and the practice of sīla or “morality,” they were not usually the ones teaching Buddhism in the strictest sense. Thus, this research demonstrates the importance of studying lived Buddhism and how the laity—and especially the female laity—serve as active agents in the maintenance of Burmese Buddhism, and of Burmese culture more generally.
Eison, Preaching, and Performance in Medieval Japan
Authors: Quinter David
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines Eison’s (1201–1290) linked teaching, ritual, and cultic activities. Eison’s Shingon Ritsu movement spread broadly in medieval Japan, as he and disciples restored temples across the archipelago and conferred the precepts on male and female monastics, lay elites, and commoners alike. Venues for Eison’s activities ranged from small gatherings of monastics in temples and convents; to offering ceremonies at prisons, marketplaces, and outcast communities; to mass assemblies of monastics and laypeople and more private precept conferrals for court and warrior rulers. The chapter uses the diversity of venues and audiences for Eison’s early precepts-spreading activities to argue for the value of understanding both “preaching as performance” and performance as preaching in lived Buddhism. In so doing, this chapter underscores how greater attention to the performative dimensions of official religious leaders can nuance common portrayals of doctrine versus practice, elite versus popular, and institutional versus “everyday” religion.
The Fictional and Gnostic Mary Magdalene
Authors: Beavis Mary Ann
Published: May 2024

Although ancient Gnosticism and modern fiction seem to be worlds apart, recent novels featuring Mary Magdalene as protagonist have taken advantage of the easy availability of English translations of ancient esoteric documents in their portrayals of her character. The chapter first provides a brief introduction to the portrayal of Mary Magdalene in noncanonical early Christian writings. This research is used in three well-known contemporary Mary Magdalene novels: Elizabeth George, Mary, Called the Magdalene; Ki Longfellow, The Secret Magdalene; and Kathleen McGowan, The Expected One. The tradition of the Magdalene as repentant prostitute is replaced by her portrayal as enlightened woman, albeit with a past that includes demonic possession. The conclusion considers the presentation of Gnosticism in these novels and the influence of popular culture on the public perception of biblical scholarship.
Mary Magdalene as a Social/Cultural/Political Model for Women
Authors: Valerio Adriana
Published: May 2024

This chapter looks into the figure of Mary Magdalene as a social, cultural, and political model for women. It starts with the key concept of feminist theology that aims to challenge ambiguities and false images formed around the female gender. Magdalene the apostle becomes a model for the promotion of the female role, as her being the protagonist of apostolate and missionary vocation begins to emerge. Erasing her role as an apostle blocked the ministerial roles of women for centuries, so her rediscovery can only favor a profound rethinking of the institution and ecclesial identity. Thus, the reconstruction of Magdalene’s history and representation represents a political operation and triggers a dynamics of change within the Church regarding the valorization of women’s roles.
Mary Magdalene in the Synoptic Gospel Narratives
Authors: Howard Melanie A.
Published: May 2024

Mary Magdalene appears in all three Synoptic Gospels as a witness to the final events of the gospel narratives, including the crucifixion, burial, tomb, and resurrection of Jesus. The chapter explores her characterization in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke as well as scholarly treatments of her in these texts. This exploration reveals that in Mark, Mary Magdalene serves to make a connection to the Gospel’s audience. Scholars of Matthew suggest that portrayals of Mary Magdalene differ from Mark’s, though there is no clear consensus for defining this difference. Luke’s depiction further marginalizes Mary Magdalene compared to Mark and Matthew. The chapter concludes by suggesting future directions for research on Mary Magdalene within and beyond the Synoptic Gospels, including opportunities for further examination of how she serves as a bridge character who helps to connect the events of the gospel narratives to the lives of the gospels’ audiences.
Refugees
Authors: Costa M. Victoria
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines the impact of states’ sovereign power to restrict movement of refugees across borders from a republican perspective that understands freedom as non-domination. It argues that freedom of movement across borders should be recognized as a very significant liberty, and that its protection is essential to living as a free person. It examines the current powers of states to interfere with the travels of refugees, and how these powers are not checked to protect the rights of refugees. It concludes that refugees are dominated by any state that enforces border controls designed to stop them from travelling to its territory. This is true even if we grant that states are particularistic agents with a primary responsibility to protect the interests of their own citizens and residents, and that there are important international norms that help advocate for and protect the rights of refugees.
Courts in the United States
Authors: Resnik Judith
Published: May 2024

This chapter moves courts from a backdrop to center stage in analyses of transitional justice. Often forgotten is courts’ history as institutions of exclusion in which persons were far from welcome. Transnational political movements succeeded in rendering courts inclusive, seen as venues open to the marginalized seeking to obtain some of what transitional justice aims for—legitimatization of past wrongs and paths forward. Moreover, social movements revamped metrics of courts’ legitimacy: women and men of all colors could be litigants, lawyers, judges, juries, and employees, and constitutional interpretation and statutes obliged governments to subsidize subsets of litigants lacking resources. These ambitious political-sociological aspirations have, of course, never been complete. Moreover, the egalitarian and redistributive potential of courts has been undermined by efforts to push cases out and by some localities using courts as sources of revenue through imposing fines and fees. Privatizing processes through law include reconfiguring decision-making in courts to push for alternative non-public resolutions, and legal doctrines cutting off legal claims or outsourcing resolution to private sector providers empowered to render final decisions. In the United States, the aegis of courts is thus narrowing and opportunities for state-based public accounting eroding. Remedies associated with ordinary justice go by the boards, along with healing, apology, new forms of relief, and public narratives of past wrongdoings that are hallmarks of transitional justice’s goals.
Haunted by Three Spirits
Authors: Zunino Marcos
Published: May 2024

What ghosts haunt transitional justice? This chapter examines the complex relationship of transitional justice with time through its spectral apparitions, omissions, and undertones. For that purpose, it relies on the imagery and narrative structure of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to engage with the current discourse and practice of transitional justiceIn this manner, the ghost of the past reveals a transitional justice with a selective history where some episodes and practices are highlighted while others are occluded and glossed over. The ghost of the present shows how current transitional justice processes marginalize certain victims and neglect certain experiences of violence. The ghost of the future gestures towards self-reflective anxieties and disquiet about what lies ahead for the field of transitional justice that are at odds with the optimism of some transitional justice institutions. These afterlives of transitional justice showcase a discourse and practice inextricably linked with temporality and ghosts. The ghost of the present shows how official transitional justice processes marginalize certain victims, ignore experiences of violence and push civil society organizations to carry out practices invoking uncertain presences.
LGBT People, the Council of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights
Authors: Johnson Paul
Published: May 2024

A principal aim of the Council of Europe is the maintenance and further realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive but condensed assessment of the history and the contemporary state of human rights protection offered to LGBT people by the Council of Europe and, importantly, identify the gaps that currently exist in that protection. The chapter examines the work of the statutory organs of the Council of Europe—the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly—as well as the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on a wide range of issues relating to LGBT people.
Conformist Transmission
Authors: Morgan Thomas J. H. , van Leeuwen Edwin J. C.
Published: May 2024

Conformist transmission is a transmission bias, or social learning strategy, that disproportionately favours popular cultural variants. Over the past 40 years it has received a great deal of attention, both theoretical and empirical. Here the authors provide an overview of the current state of this literature, including what conformist transmission is; how it relates to other similar terms; how it can be operationalized mathematically; its adaptive value; the impact it has upon cultural evolutionary dynamics; and the evidence for and against it in humans and other species. The authors conclude by identifying gaps in current theory and limitations of experimental work. In particular, the authors emphasize the need for theory that accounts for demonstrators with inconsistent preferences and the need for empirical work to carefully distinguish between conformist tendencies and conformist evolutionary dynamics.
Authoritarian Practices
Authors: Glasius Marlies
Published: May 2024

The use of the phrase “authoritarian practices” by political scientists is generally a response to the limitations of classifying regimes as either democratic or authoritarian. It seeks to remedy (a) the binary nature of the distinction, which by definition provides no space to detect “authoritarianness” in democracies, (b) the residual and passive nature of the concept of “authoritarian regimes” in such regime classification, (c) its focus on central state institutions, which likewise provides no space to detect “authoritarianness” in institutions or processes below, above, or beyond the state, or (d) a combination of these shortcomings. The chapter discusses four distinct but overlapping uses of “authoritarian practices,” and the conceptualizations and empirical studies that they have spawned, as well as some critiques. The final section will discuss recent convergence between these strands of literature, as well as drawing attention to avenues of research yet to be further pursued.
Normality analysis of numeric rating scale scores in patients with chronic axial spine pain before and after medial branch blocks: a multicenter study
Authors: Ehsanian Reza , Buttner Jordan A , Rivers W Evan , Nagpal Ameet , Patel Jaymin , Zheng Patricia , McCormick Zachary , Schneider Byron J
Published: May 2024

Objective

The statistical analysis typically used to compare pain before and after interventions assumes that scores are normally distributed. The present study evaluates whether numeric rating scale (NRS) scores, specifically NRS-11 scores, are indeed normally distributed in a clinically relevant cohort of adults with chronic axial spine pain before and after analgesic intervention.

Methods

Retrospective review from 4 academic medical centers of prospectively collected data from a uniform pain diary administered to consecutive patients after they had undergone medial branch blocks. The pain diary assessed NRS-11 scores immediately before injection and at 12 different time points after injection up to 48 hours. D’Agostino–Pearson tests were used to test normality at all time points.

Results

One hundred fifty pain diaries were reviewed, and despite normally distributed pre-injection NRS-11 scores (K2 = 0.655, P = .72), all post-injection NRS-11 data were not normally distributed (K2 = 9.70– 17.62, P = .0001–.008).

Conclusions

Although the results of parametric analyses of NRS-11 scores are commonly reported in pain research, some properties of the NRS-11 do not satisfy the assumptions required for these analyses. The data demonstrate non-normal distributions in post-intervention NRS-11 scores, thereby violating a key requisite for parametric analysis. We urge pain researchers to consider appropriate statistical analysis and reporting for non-normally distributed NRS-11 scores to ensure accurate interpretation and communication of these data. Practicing pain physicians should similarly recognize that parametric post-intervention pain score statistics might not accurately describe the data and should expect articles to utilize measures of normality to justify the selected statistical methods.
Determinants of tofacitinib discontinuation in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis during long-term extension studies up to 9.5 years
Authors: Curtis Jeffrey R , Wollenhaupt Jürgen , Tas Sander W , Chatzidionysiou Katerina , Wang Lisy , Roberts Kevin , Tsekouras Vassilis
Published: May 2024

Objectives

To examine determinants of tofacitinib discontinuation due to voluntary (i.e. patient-driven) or involuntary reasons (i.e. protocol mandated) in long-term extension (LTE) studies of patients with RA to inform clinical practice, clinical study execution and data capture.

Methods

This post hoc analysis used pooled data from patients receiving tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg twice daily (BID) in LTE studies. Outcomes included time to voluntary/involuntary discontinuation (and baseline predictors), including by geographic region. Exposure-adjusted event rates (EAERs) were calculated for adverse events (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs) and discontinuations due to AEs/SAEs.

Results

Of 4967 patients, 2463 (49.6%) discontinued [1552/4967 (31.2%) voluntarily, 911/4967 (18.3%) involuntarily] and 55 (1.1%) died over the course of 9.5 years. When involuntary discontinuation was present as a competing risk for voluntary discontinuation, patients who stayed on combination therapy and with higher patient-assessed pain were significantly more likely to discontinue for voluntary reasons (P < 0.05). Older patients, those enrolled in Asia, Europe or Latin America (vs USA or Canada) or with RF+/anti-CCP+ status were significantly less likely to discontinue for voluntary reasons (P < 0.05). Small numeric differences in disease activity were observed between geographic regions in patients who discontinued or completed the studies. EAERs were generally higher for tofacitinib 10 vs 5 mg BID, irrespective of discontinuation reason.

Conclusion

The factors associated with voluntary/involuntary discontinuation of tofacitinib suggest that treatment persistence in RA studies is partly predictable, which may be reflected in clinical practice. Applying these results may improve our understanding of attrition and inform future study design/execution.

Trial registrations

ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov): NCT00413699 and NCT00661661.
Comparing clinical profiles in spondyloarthritis with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis: insights from the ASAS-PerSpA study
Authors: Rios Rodriguez Valeria , Duran Tugba Izci , Torgutalp Murat , López-Medina Clementina , Dougados Maxime , Kishimoto Mitsumasa , Ono Keisuke , Protopopov Mikhail , Haibel Hildrun , Rademacher Judith , Poddubnyy Denis , Proft Fabian
Published: May 2024

Objectives

Assuming SpA manifestations may vary among patients with different inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) subtypes, we explored the clinical characteristics associated with the presence of Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA).

Methods

We included 3152 patients of ASAS-PerSpA study diagnosed with either axial SpA or peripheral SpA, according to their treating rheumatologist. Of these, 146 (4.6%) had confirmed IBD by endoscopy and were categorized into CD or UC groups. Demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments and patient-reported outcomes were compared between the two subgroups.

Results

From 146 patients included in the current analysis, 87 (59.6%) had CD [75 (86.2%) axial SpA and 12 (13.8%) peripheral SpA], and 39 (26.7%) had UC [34 (87.2%) axial SpA and 5 (12.8%) peripheral SpA]. CD and UC groups had similar age with average of 44.9 (13.5) vs 44.0 (13.0) years, respectively, and a slight male predominance in CD (63.2%) compared with UC (51.3%). Diagnostic delay for SpA was 7.0 (6.9) years for CD and 8.8 (8.1) years for UC. Chronic back pain was the most reported symptom present in 95.4% of CD patients and 89.7% of UC patients. Both groups had similar musculoskeletal phenotyping, with higher frequency of psoriasis (15.4%) and uveitis 28.2% in UC; and higher tendency to be HLA-B27 positive in CD (51.9% in CD vs.s 39.4% in UC).

Conclusion

In our analysis patients with SpA and concurrent CD or UC had mainly similar musculoskeletal phenotypes. However, they differ slightly in extra-musculoskeletal manifestations and HLA-B27 prevalence.
Mobile phone thermography of the toes in patients with systemic sclerosis—a pilot study
Authors: Lim Ruey , Dinsdale Graham , Manning Joanne , Heal Calvin , Murray Andrea , Herrick Ariane L
Published: May 2024

Objectives

To investigate the hypotheses that in patients with SSc, the temperature gradient between the dorsum of the foot and toes (distal–dorsal difference [DDD]) is ‘more negative’ (toes cooler) than in healthy controls, is greatest along the first (great) toe and that the severities of thermographic abnormalities in the feet and hands are correlated.

Methods

Thermographic images of the dorsum of each hand and foot were captured using a thermal camera attached to an iPhone in 40 patients with SSc and 20 healthy controls. DDDs along the fingers (index, middle, ring and little) and toes (great toe and ‘others’) were measured.

Results

There was a non-significant trend for the great toes to be colder in patients with SSc than in controls. The mean great toe DDD was more negative in patients (right: −2.89°C, left: −2.91°C, mean: −2.90°C) than in controls (right: −2.36°C, left: −2.42°C, mean: −2.39°C) (P = 0.37 for mean values). Patients’ great toes were colder than ‘other’ (lesser) toes (right: −2.58°C, left: −2.63°C), although not significantly. In patients with SSc, finger and great toe temperature gradients were correlated (r = 0.406, ρ = 0.01).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the great toe is the coldest in patients with SSc and that patients with the coldest fingers tend to have the coldest toes. Severe RP symptoms in the hands should prompt podiatry assessment and foot care education. Mobile phone thermography is a convenient tool for assessing the digital vasculature but first requires validation in larger studies with a longitudinal component.
Yolk-shelled silver nanowire@amorphous metal-organic framework for controlled drug delivery and light-promoting infected wound healing
Authors: Yang Yueyan , Sun Xu , Wang Shengyan , Tang Zhe , Luo Siyuan , Shi Jianjun , Zhuo Xiaolu , Zhu Jinjin , Zhang Han , Kong Xiangdong
Published: May 2024

Bacteria-infected wounds healing has been greatly hindered by antibiotic resistance and persistent inflammation. It is crucial to develop multifunctional nanocomposites that possess effective antibacterial properties and can simultaneously accelerate the wound healing process to overcome the above challenges. Herein, we prepared a yolk–shell structured Ag nanowires (NWs)@amorphous hollow ZIF-67 by etching ZIF-67 onto the Ag NWs for infected wound healing for the first time. The etched hollow structure of amorphous ZIF-67 in the nanocomposite makes it a promising platform for loading healing-promoting drugs. We extensively studied the antibacterial and healing-promoting properties of the curcumin (CCM)-loaded nanocomposite (Ag NWs@C-HZ67). Ag NWs, being noble metal materials with plasmonic effects, can absorb a broad range of natural light and convert it to thermal energy. This photothermal conversion further improves the release of antibacterial components and wound healing drugs when exposed to light. During the healing process of an infected wound, Ag and Co ions were released from Ag NWs@C-HZ67 upon direct contact with the wound exudate and under the influence of light irradiation. Simultaneously, the loaded CCM leaked out to repair the infected wound. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the Ag NWs@C-HZ67 groups against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria decreased to 3 and 3 μg ml−1 when exposed to white light. Furthermore, an in vivo assessment of infected wound healing demonstrated that combining Ag NWs@C-HZ67 with light significantly accelerated the wound healing process, achieving 70% healing by the 6th day and almost complete healing by the 8th day. This advanced nanocomposite, consisting of components that possess antibacterial and growth-promoting properties, offers a safe, effective and clinically-translatable solution for accelerating the healing process of infected wounds.
A review of calcium and phosphorus requirement estimates for gestating and lactating sows
Authors: Becker Larissa L , Gebhardt Jordan T , Tokach Mike D , Woodworth Jason C , Goodband Robert D , DeRouchey Joel M
Published: May 2024

Calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) are minerals involved in biological functions and essential structural components of the skeleton. The body tightly regulates Ca and P to maintain homeostasis. Maternal needs for Ca and P increase during gestation and lactation to support conceptus growth and milk synthesis. Litter size and litter average daily gain (ADG) have a large effect on Ca and P requirements for sows because as they increase, the requirements increase due to a greater need from the sow. The objective of this review was to summarize published literature on Ca and P requirements in gestating and lactating sows derived from empirical data and factorial models. A total of nine empirical studies and seven factorial models were reviewed for determining the Ca and P requirements in gestation. For lactation, there were six empirical studies and seven factorial models reviewed. Empirical studies determined requirements based on the observed effect of Ca and P on bone mineralization, sow and litter performance, and milk characteristics. Factorial models generated equations to estimate Ca and P requirements using the main components of maintenance, fetal and placental growth, and maternal retention in gestation. The main components for factorial equations in lactation include maintenance and milk production. In gestation, the standardized total tract digestible phosphorus (STTD P) requirement estimates from empirical studies range from 5.4 to 9.5 g/d with total Ca ranging from 12.9 to 18.6 g/d to maximize bone measurements or performance criteria. According to the factorial models, the requirements increase throughout gestation to meet the needs of the growing fetuses and range from 7.6 to 10.6 g/d and 18.4 to 38.2 g/d of STTD P and total Ca, respectively, on day 114 of gestation for parity 1 sows. During lactation, STTD P requirement estimates from empirical studies ranged from 8.5 to 22.1 g/d and total Ca ranged from 21.2 to 50.4 g/d. For the lactation factorial models, STTD P requirements ranged from 14.2 to 25.1 g/d for STTD P and 28.4 to 55.6 g/d for total Ca for parity 1 sows with a litter size of 15 pigs. The large variation in requirement estimates makes it difficult to define Ca and P requirements; however, a minimum level of 6.0 and 22.1 g/d of STTD P during gestation and lactation, respectively, appears to be adequate to meet basal requirements. The limited data and high variation indicate a need for future research evaluating Ca and P requirements for gestating and lactating sows.
Dihydroartemisinin alleviates doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity and ferroptosis by activating Nrf2 and regulating autophagy
Authors: Lin Zhi‐Hui , Xiang Hua‐Qiang , Yu Yong‐Wei , Xue Yang‐Jing , Wu Chang , Lin Cong , Ji Kang‐Ting
Published: May 2024

Although the use of Doxorubicin (Dox) is extensive in the treatment of malignant tumor, the toxic effects of Dox on the heart can cause myocardial injury. Therefore, it is necessary to find an alternative drug to alleviate the Dox‐induced cardiotoxicity. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is a semisynthetic derivative of artemisinin, which is an active ingredient of Artemisia annua. The study investigates the effects of DHA on doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity and ferroptosis, which are related to the activation of Nrf2 and the regulation of autophagy. Different concentrations of DHA were administered by gavage for 4 weeks in mice. H9c2 cells were pretreated with different concentrations of DHA for 24 h in vitro. The mechanism of DHA treatment was explored through echocardiography, biochemical analysis, real‐time quantitative PCR, western blotting analysis, ROS/DHE staining, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. In vivo, DHA markedly relieved Dox‐induced cardiac dysfunction, attenuated oxidative stress, alleviated cardiomyocyte ferroptosis, activated Nrf2, promoted autophagy, and improved the function of lysosomes. In vitro, DHA attenuated oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte ferroptosis, activated Nrf2, promoted clearance of autophagosomes, and reduced lysosomal destruction. The changes of ferroptosis and Nrf2 depend on selective degradation of keap1 and recovery of lysosome. We found for the first time that DHA could protect the heart from the toxic effects of Dox‐induced cardiotoxicity. In addition, DHA significantly alleviates Dox‐induced ferroptosis through the clearance of autophagosomes, including the selective degradation of keap1 and the recovery of lysosomes.
Exploring mitochondrial DNA copy number in circulating cell‐free DNA and extracellular vesicles across cardiovascular health status: A prospective case–control pilot study
Authors: Rucci Chiara , de Simone Gaia , Salathia Saniya , Casadidio Cristina , Censi Roberta , Bordoni Laura
Published: May 2024

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of mortality, difficult to predict in advance. Evidence indicates that the copy number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNAcn) in blood is altered in individuals with CVD. MtDNA released into circulation may act as a mediator of inflammation, a recognized factor in the development of CVD, in the long distance. This pilot study aims to test if levels of mtDNAcn in buffy coat DNA (BC‐mtDNA), in circulating cellfree DNA (cf‐mtDNA), or in DNA extracted from plasma extracellular vesicles (EV‐mtDNA) are altered in CVD patients and if they can predict heart attack in advance. A group of 144 people with different CVD statuses (50 that had CVD, 94 healthy) was selected from the LifeLines Biobank according to the incidence of new cardiovascular event monitored in 6 years (50 among controls had heart attack after the basal assessment). MtDNAcn was quantified in total cf‐DNA and EV‐DNA from plasma as well as in buffy coat. EVs have been characterized by their size, polydispersity index, count rate, and zeta potential, by Dynamic Light Scattering. BC‐mtDNAcn and cf‐mtDNAcn were not different between CVD patients and healthy subjects. EVs carried higher mtDNAcn in subject with a previous history of CVD than controls, also adjusting the analysis for the EVs derived count rate. Despite mtDNAcn was not able to predict CVD in advance, the detection of increased EV‐mtDNAcn in CVD patients in this pilot study suggests the need for further investigations to determine its pathophysiological role in inflammation.
Storage of Emergency Airway Equipment on Labor and Delivery Units
Authors: Riley E.T. , Carvalho B. , Abir G.
Published: May 2024

(J Clin Anesth. 2022;80:110886 | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2022.110886)

The imperative need for an operational and prepared environment in labor and delivery (L&D) units, particularly for emergency cesarean delivery (CD), underscores the requirement for a readily available operating room. This preparedness extends to having emergency airway equipment in a state of readiness for immediate use. In an academic tertiary referral institution, which handles ~4600 deliveries annually (with 70% classified as high-risk patients), emergency airway equipment was initially stored preprepared beneath a towel on the front shelf of each anesthesia machine.