bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Calculation Method
Authors: Secomb Matthew
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on the method used to calculate interest. This is effectively a choice between simple and compound interest. Simple interest can be defined as ‘interest paid on the principal only and not on accumulated interest’. By contrast, compound interest can be defined as ‘interest paid on both the principal and the previously accumulated interest’. When compound interest is granted, the compounding ‘rests’ need to be determined. The rests are the time intervals after which accrued interest is calculated and then interest is calculated on the accrued interest. The chapter suggest that the choice between simple and compound interest is probably the thorniest issue when it comes to interest in international arbitration. No uniform approach has been established on this question. This lack of uniformity could be for any number of reasons. The chapter describes the traditional approaches to determining the calculation method for interest in international arbitration. It then critiques some of those approaches and sets out a possible uniform approach to determine the calculation method. Finally, it considers a possible limitation to this uniform approach, namely, mandatory laws.
The Methodology for Interpretation of the CISG
Authors: Zeller Bruno
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the methodology for interpreting the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Before any attempt is made to comment on and interpret the method of awarding damages under the CISG, the interpretive model must be understood. The CISG, in article 7, makes it clear that interpretation must be within the ‘four corners’ of the convention, without recourse to domestic law; that is, interpretation cannot rely on methods or processes that are not contained within the CISG. Thus, article 7 regulates the method by which the CISG is applied internationally. It is the reason domestic courts are interpreting the CISG uniformly and without recourse to domestic law and its methodology.
Fundamental Breach and the CISG
Authors: Zeller Bruno
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses the concept of fundamental breach. In brief, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) offers two different approaches to a breach of contract. If the breach is ‘minor’, the aggrieved party simply concludes the contract and asks for damages. If the breach is ‘major’, the contract can be avoided, or terminated, and remedies for breach of contract can be sought. Damages are among the most important remedies any legal system can award to restore financial equilibrium. However, in certain circumstances damages are not the remedy that is envisaged or practical. It should be noted that a breach of a contract gives rise to secondary rights and obligations. Fundamental breach is one of the secondary rights and must be read within the remedial framework of the CISG.
Remuneration
Authors: Jensen J Ole
Published: August 2024

This chapter considers the tribunal secretary's right to receive remuneration in return for the discharge of his/her mandate. In particular, it examines the conflicting goal of the tribunal secretary's appointment to reduce the costs of the arbitration and his/her legitimate interest to be remunerated. To find out whether the perceived increase in costs is one of the main reasons for parties to reject the appointment of a tribunal secretary, the chapter examines the secretary's original claim for remuneration on the basis of contact law against the appointing arbitrator and to whom the secretary's costs may be re-allocated. More specifically, it discusses allocation of costs if the arbitral tribunal is remunerated per hour and ad valorem, along with allocation of costs independent of the arbitrator's remuneration. Finally, it explains how the secretary's fees should be determined, highlighting the proper balance of decreasing the parties' costs without unduly decreasing the arbitrators' fees.
Complex Arbitrations (Articles 27–30)
Authors: Moser Michael , Bao Chiann
Published: August 2024

Chapter 10 discusses all relevant aspects of complex arbitrations under the 2018 HKIAC Rules. This includes Joinder of Additional Partices (Article 27), Consolidation of Arbitrations (Article 28), Single arbitration under Multiple Contracts (Article 29), and Concurrent arbitrations (Article 30).
Prior Control of New Notified Aid
Authors: Kapenne Jean Paul , Caviedes Carlos Urraca
Published: August 2024

abstracts and keywords to be supplied.
Landscape and impact of mind-body, cognitive-behavioral, and physical activity interventions in adolescent and adult brain tumor patients: A systematic review
Authors: Wollet Alex R , Rogers James L , Berhanu Sefanit , Locke Ciara , Managoli Madhura , Wu Emily , Cooper I Diane , Armstrong Terri S , King Amanda L
Published: August 2024

Background

The use of mind-body, cognitive-behavioral, and physical activity interventions have shown efficacy for improving symptom burden and functional limitations in other cancers; however, these strategies have not been widely implemented within neuro-oncology. This systematic review describes the current landscape and the impact of these interventions on adolescent and adult patients with brain tumors, which may guide the development of future interventions.

Methods

A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science was performed using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines with predefined eligibility criteria. Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were selected for review.

Results

There was promising evidence for the feasibility and efficacy of mind-body and physical activity interventions for improving mood and quality of life, as well as enhanced physical functioning following aerobic and strength-based interventions. Results were mixed for cognitive-behavioral interventions, likely due to underpowered analyses. Interventions tested in pediatric patients also showed improvements in fatigue, mood, and quality of life, though these individuals represented a small proportion of the pooled sample.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that mind-body and physical activity interventions can improve both physical and psychological health for patients with brain tumors, though additional well-designed clinical trials are needed to better establish efficacy.
Time
Authors: Heath Iona
Published: August 2024

An exploration of the contested nature of time within healthcare in general and general practice in particular.
Memory
Authors: Heath Iona
Published: August 2024

An account of the failures and the false certainties of memory alongside the role of stories in connecting there to here, both for patients and for doctors.
Violence
Authors: Heath Iona
Published: August 2024

An exploration of the extent to which all modalities of violence wound and scar body and mind simultaneously, and so underlie so many presentations of illness.
Introduction
Authors: Green Jeffrey Edward
Published: August 2024

The Introduction defends the premise of the book: that Bob Dylan ought to be considered in prophetic terms. It details the sociological, formalistic, and substantive features of the Dylan phenomenon that make the prophetic label credible. Against interpretations of Dylan that insist that he be read only as a musician or poet, the introduction explains the overlap, especially pronounced in Dylan’s case, between music and prophecy and between poetry and prophecy. The introduction also summarizes the book’s overarching argument that Dylan be understood as a highly unusual kind of prophet: a prophet of diremption (or “prophet without God”), rather than the more customary prophet of salvation.
Strengthen the Things that Remain
Authors: Green Jeffrey Edward
Published: August 2024

Part III examines Bob Dylan’s pessimism. In contradistinction to dominant trends in philosophy and the broader culture, Dylan contemplates that the so-called arc of the moral universe either does not exist or bends toward injustice; predicts that the world forever will be mired in violence, oppression, and plutocracy; and thus asserts that only partial and local acts of repair are possible, not overarching progress. Dylan’s pessimism is close to the tradition of political realism—exemplified by such figures as Thucydides, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Weber, Morgenthau, and Kissinger—which itself sees the world as permanently fallen. Yet Dylan offers a distinct perspective, articulating a political realism that is realer in being targeted toward ordinary people rather than elite statesmen. The message of Dylan’s realer realism is not the traditional realist concern with how to achieve political mastery, but rather the call to “wake up and strengthen the things that remain.”
Keyboard Playing in the Beatles’ Abbey Road
Authors: Koozin Timothy
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on keyboard playing in the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, exploring keyboard-idiomatic gestures in songs that project musical topics and implications of virtual agency. The study shows how the large-scale trajectory of the album is organized through guitar-oriented and piano keyboard–oriented gestural oppositions. Shaping gestural constraints in a virtual environment, the Beatles leverage the communicative power of embodied musical gestures to create their fantastic musical worlds. The important contributions of Billy Preston are also considered in this study. The interplay of musical topics provides a dramatic medium for social-political commentary, as social relations are implied in musical relationships. In musically staging a psychedelic tuning out from the meanness of society, the Beatles open a fictive expressive space to regain contact with a redemptive childlike innocence.
Voice in Hip Hop
Authors: Koozin Timothy
Published: August 2024

This chapter focuses on voice in hip hop. In examining songs by the Notorious B.I.G., OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kendrick Lamar, the study explains how the feel of a musical groove indexes to the body through the rapper’s rhythmic delivery of the text: flow. Then turning to songs by Queen Latifah and TLC, the study demonstrates how timing, vocal articulation, and phonetics in flow contribute to the artists’ embodied projections of female empowerment. Tracing connections between earlier rap music and later R&B, the study explores how songs by Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, and Noname leverage the potential for marked expression by shifting dynamically in speaking, singing, and rapping a text.
The Complex Tapestry of Free Will
Authors: Kane Robert
Published: August 2024

It is now more than half a century since the author first began thinking about issues of free will. The libertarian views of free will developed over this long period have been much debated and have been refined and further developed in response to the critical literature. The goal of this book is to provide an overview of recent developments of the author’s views along with responses to the latest critical literature on them over the past twenty-five years since the publication of The Significance of Free Will (1996). Chapters 1–5 present an overview of the author’s current view with the recent additions and alterations to it defended in greater detail. Chapters 6–10 include critical examinations of influential views of many philosophers in the past twenty-five years who have defended alternative views of free will and moral responsibility, including prominent defenders of competing libertarian views, prominent defenders of compatibilist views, free will skeptical views, revisionist views, illusionist views, and others. The goal of these chapters is not merely to criticize these views, but to show what they get right and what aspects of many of them can be accommodated in the libertarian view of free will defended here. The final chapter relates the view of free will of earlier chapters to ethical views the author has developed in other works over this same period and to the philosophy of religion, including Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) as well as theistic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
The Libertarian Spectrum (Part III) Agent-Causal and Noncausal Views
Authors: Kane Robert
Published: August 2024

This chapter discusses contemporary agent-causal (AC) and noncausal (NC) libertarian views, comparing them to the view of this book. Once again, as in the previous two chapters, rather than focusing merely on criticisms of these libertarian views, the chapter also looks for convergences between them and the AC/EC view defended here. In doing so, the chapter discusses the views of a variety of traditional and contemporary philosophers who have defended libertarian views of an agent-causal kind. Noncausalist libertarian views have not been as popular as agent-causal views among libertarians. But the chapter argues that while they also fall short of giving adequate accounts of libertarian free will, much can also be learned by considering the motivations and arguments for such noncausalist views. Considering such views throws further light on the role of complex dynamical systems, teleological guidance control, and plural voluntary control in making sense of libertarian free will.
The Supreme Guide to Writing
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

The Supreme Guide to Writing cuts through competing advice to detail definitive grammar rules based on the nation’s unequivocal authority: the U.S. Supreme Court. The book details a revolution in legal writing, with the justices progressing beyond the drab and technical for the deft and lyrical. With the first-ever analysis of 10,000 pages of Court opinions, the book pinpoints grammar and style rules that the justices follow—and describes the outdated rules they leave behind. Today’s Court casts aside formality in favor of pop-culture references, contractions, and approachable language. In addition to establishing grammar and style rules, The Supreme Guide to Writing illustrates best practices with hundreds of examples of the justices’ most brilliant sentences from the past several years. With step-by-step instructions, the book describes how to emulate the justices’ writing styles by breaking down their strategies and techniques. It shows how Justice Elena Kagan lands amusing quips and weaves together down-to-earth analogies, how Justice Neil Gorsuch executes witty retorts, and how Chief Justice John Roberts pens unforgettable lines with understated style and humor. The best writing appears effortless, but it also takes tremendous effort. Legal writing even more so. The Supreme Guide to Writing provides a nonpartisan look at how the justices present their words to the world.
Em-dash
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

The em-dash is a powerful punctuation mark used liberally by the justices. Writers scold the em-dash as an “embarrassing best friend,” a “crutch for scatterbrained writers,” and a sign of “a profusion of overstuffed and loosely constructed sentences, bulging with parenthetical additions and asides.” Given this distaste, a cautious writer might be wise to avoid them, but the justices are more adventurous. They drop hundreds of these powerful punctuation marks in their opinions each term. This long dash offers a punchy alternative to the formal colon, the deemphasizing parentheses, and the more casual comma. Use two em-dashes to surround information in the middle of a sentence, or one to underscore details at the beginning or end of a sentence. Style here matters: the justices and lawyers everywhere avoid adding spaces before or after an em-dash, unlike what is seen in journalism or publishing.
Exclamation Marks
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

The exclamation mark is the one character on every keyboard with the power to shout, gesticulate wildly, and bark. But it is practically forbidden in the civilized world of the law. Exclamation marks in Supreme Court opinions are so rare it is as if the justices are following writer Elmore Leonard’s advice: “You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.” While the justices nearly unanimously avoid the uncivilized exclamation, some fulfill a rare need to raise the volume. Four justices have used an exclamation mark to express extreme sarcasm or frustration in five recent years—but just ten times in over ten thousand pages. So it is wise to follow the Court’s lead and (nearly always) skip this loud punctuation mark.
Semicolons
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

The semicolon takes the formal colon and the casual comma and creates a hybrid; it offers another way to break up a sentence or a series. One story places its birth in Venice in 1494, at a time of punctuation “tinkering” and “writerly experimentation and invention.” This combo of a swoosh and a dot does two things for the legal writer: it breaks up a complicated series or string citation, and it combines two sentences into one—in two different ways. While all the justices use semicolons to write combine sentences, they do so rarely. One common use for semicolons is separating items in a complicated list. That is, a list with items containing commas within or especially lengthy clauses. The serial semicolon separates items in the same way as a serial comma. It helps the writer avoid a messy soup of commas or a confusing sequence.
Spaces
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

Spacing after sentences has divided and vexed writers for decades. Should writers put one space or two after a period? Both answers run afoul of the Court’s standard. For published opinions in United States Reports, the justices use an em-space after each sentence. That is just an extra-large space, like an em-dash is an extra-large dash. In typography, it is a space the size of a capital M.
Relative Pronouns
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

The relative pronouns—when, where, who, whom, and whose—pose a thorny question. A misplaced comma with a relative pronoun can change the intended meaning of a sentence. This chapter illustrates why and when clauses with these relative pronouns get commas. For example, these sentences are correct, even though one skips the comma before the word who: “Consider initially a person who cannot remember his crime because of a mental disorder, but who otherwise has full cognitive function.” “Residents of those areas include many of Alaska’s poorest citizens, who rely on rivers for access to necessities like food and fuel.” The trick is figuring out whether the relative clause is essential or not. That is, if you cut the clause, would the sentence still work? If yes, then it needs commas to offset the non-essential detail. If no, then the clause is essential, so skip the commas.
Closing
Authors: Barton Jill
Published: August 2024

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Genre and Empire
Authors: Loewy Shacham Ilanit
Published: August 2024

In modern histories, Kṛṣṇadevarāya is described as the patron of a bustling Telugu literary court, from which he led a literary movement that ushered in the golden age of Telugu literature. The texts produced in this context, including the Āmuktamālyada, are understood as the Telugu equivalent of the prestigious Sanskrit court poem (mahākāvya). Examining the reception history of the Āmuktamālyada along with various histories of Vijayanagara and of Telugu literature, this chapter argues that the image of Kṛṣṇadevarāya’s Telugu literary court and the Āmuktamālyada reflect a modern construction of Kṛṣṇadevarāya and Vijayanagara as Hindu, Telugu icons, a premodern southern parallel to the Sanskrit golden age of the Gupta Empire. This has led to exaggerated emphasis on identifying the generic markers of court poetry in the Āmuktamālyada, which has, in turn, led to reductive readings of the text and, paradoxically, to ignoring the actual imperial worldview of the Āmuktamālyada.
Margins as Center
Authors: Loewy Shacham Ilanit
Published: August 2024

Examining the military and religious conquests in the text, and juxtaposing these with the history of the Vijayanagara Empire during Kṛṣṇadevarāya’s reign, the chapter contends that the Āmuktamālyada’s view of imperial space and its source of power is radically different from modern historical accounts. It argues that the Āmuktamālyada locates the center of power not in the royal capital, Vijayanagara (in the northwest), nor in any royal capital for that matter, but in the Śrīvaiṣṇava centers of the deep Tamil south. From these, Śrīvaiṣṇavism expands north into Andhra, and from the village/temple settings into the royal courts. The chapter further argues that the text brings together religious and military trajectories by connecting the god Viṣṇu with Kṛṣṇadevarāya and by articulating a political theology that makes room for kingship as an institution while offering kings, as individuals, refuge from their troubles through the Śrīvaiṣṇava concept of surrender (prapatti).
Focus structure and assertion in relative clauses
Authors: Leonetti Manuel , Escandell-Vidal Victoria
Published: August 2024

This chapter offers new data supporting the idea that displaying a focus/background articulation is an inherent property of not necessarily syntactic structures per se, but rather of asserted content (Roberts 1996/2012; Simons et al. 2010, 2016). The behavior of restrictive relative clauses and appositive relative clauses is examined with respect to focus structure. The emerging generalization is that only appositive relative clauses can have focus/background articulation because they assert new information, whereas restrictive relative clauses lack information structure as a natural consequence of conveying presupposed content. Syntactic configurations, then, do not establish information structure in a blind, automatic way; rather they introduce conditions on possible informational articulations.
Focalization in situ vs. focus projection
Authors: Samek-Lodovici Vieri
Published: August 2024

This chapter examines aspects of the distribution of contrastive focalization in Italian that are not captured by any analysis maintaining that contrastive foci must raise to a fixed left-peripheral FocP focus projection. From an empirical perspective, it shows that contrastive focalization also successfully applies to constituent classes inherently unable to move to FocP and seldom discussed in the focalization literature such as hanging topics (particularly interesting because requiring clitic doubling even when focused), interrogative clauses, and verbal heads. The chapter also examines instances of multiple foci, nested foci, or involving co-occurring focus and wh-phrases that are incompatible with the assumed uniqueness of FocP. Based on these data, the chapter argues that FocP should be dispensed with and that focalization in situ, coupled with the right dislocation analysis of focus fronting, provides a better model for the full distribution of contrastive focalization in Italian.
Pliny and Pacatus
Authors: Kelly Christopher
Published: August 2024

In June 388, the eastern emperor Theodosius I finally moved his armies westward to confront the usurper Magnus Maximus. Maximus had first challenged the established pattern of imperial power when five years earlier, in summer 383, he had crossed from Britain into Gaul and defeated the western emperor Gratian, who was hunted down and killed. Theodosius had been selected by Gratian in 379 to rule the eastern half of the empire; his immediate task had been to secure the Danube provinces after the Gothic invasion and humiliating defeat of the Roman army at Adrianople. Even though a treaty conceding Gothic settlement in Thrace had been concluded in late 382, there must still have been concerns about the stability of the northern frontier and an understandable reluctance to compromise troop strength by sending a major expeditionary force to the West. There was also always the possibility that continuing disagreements over the control of Armenia might lead to renewed conflict with Persia. While Theodosius initially seems to have planned to intervene, he shifted ground as the extent of Maximus’ support in Gaul became clear.
Performing Justice
Authors: Reitzenstein-Ronning Christian
Published: August 2024

A penal code is one of the most sensitive points of interaction between the political system, legal system, and mentality of a society. Its catalogue of punishable offenses, the character of the punishments to be imposed, and not least the textual legitimation strategies of this sphere of state authority give us insight into the self-understanding of a society and its prevailing anxieties and traumas. Thanks to comparatively good source material, this is also true for the Imperium Romanum in the fourth century after Christ, the penal legislation of which can be traced under the relevant tituli of the late-antique law codes—in particular, Book IX of the Codex Theodosianus. It is more difficult, however, to penetrate through the normative rhetoric in which the subject matter is typically embedded to an empirical understanding of the actual degree and frequency of violence in late-antique society. We often lack reliable evidence for the nature and the prevalence of criminal activity in this period, as well as for actual penal practice, while such evidence as we do possess is extremely difficult to interpret:
Speaking of Power
Authors: Drake Harold
Published: August 2024

It has been eighty years since Norman Baynes called attention to parallels between certain Hellenistic theories of kingship and the ideas and language of Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, one of the most influential writers of the fourth century. Eusebius’ essay on Constantine, De vita Constantini (hereafter VC), shaped our view of the first Christian emperor for centuries, and despite long-overdue hermeneutical studies that have given us a much better understanding of that work’s tendentious nature, it remains the inevitable starting point for any study of this emperor’s reign. Baynes was not thinking of the VC but of another work, the Tricennial Oration that Eusebius delivered in Constantinople in the summer of 336 as part of the closing ceremonies of Constantine’s Thirtieth Jubilee. In this work, Eusebius depicted the empire as a mimesis of the heavenly kingdom and extolled the emperor as an earthly counterpart to the Logos, a “friend of God” (φίλος θεοῦ) whose piety manifests itself in the priority he gives to divine service and to teaching his subjects to recognize God.
The Classical Era
Authors: Shrock Dennis
Published: August 2024

Achieved is the glorious work
Associative Olfactory Learning and Its Selective Suppression by Honey Bee Royalty
Authors: Mercer Alison R.
Published: August 2024

Queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) suppresses aversive learning in young worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), but leaves their appetitive learning intact. Evidence suggests that dopamine signaling in the brain is targeted by this pheromone, but, if so, how does QMP modulate pathways that support aversive learning without interfering with dopamine’s many other essential brain functions? In addition to suggesting a solution to this conundrum, recent insights identify candidate targets of dopamine modulation in the brain. In the hope that this review will encourage others to explore this fascinating area of neuroethology, the chapter highlights some of the many fascinating questions that remain unresolved.
The Contractual Lens
Authors: Langille Brian
Published: August 2024

The Law of Work (LoW) begins with, and is built upon, the legal grammar and moral controversies of contract. The idea of the LoW as a necessary expression of limits upon contractual ordering is a very powerful lens through which we see and understand the LoW. While it is true that the LoW requires a structure of intertwined legal grammar and moral narrative, the view through our familiar contractual lens is problematic and limiting in the world as we now find it. Liberation from the vision provided by the contractual lens requires articulation of a broader normative purpose which will support that broader domain of the LoW made possible by escaping the contractual lens. Some legal evidence shows that such liberation and articulation are possible and underway.
Building Less Precarious Futures for Non-Citizen Workers
Authors: Dias-Abey Manoj
Published: August 2024

This chapter provides a critical overview of the labour law scholarship on non-citizen workers in the global north. Although scholars from a number of other disciplines write about the situation of non-citizen workers in the labour markets of receiving states, labour lawyers make an important and distinct contribution. Chief amongst these is conceptualizing how precarious migration status makes the claiming of employment law standards more difficult. Although initially, the labour law scholarship focused on the plight of temporary labour migrants, more recent scholarship has expanded its view to analyse the plight of international students, ‘modern slaves’, and those working without authorization. This chapter also considers how reforming employment and labour law, and revitalizing labour institutions such as trade unions and enforcement agencies, can contribute to the reduction in the precarity experienced by non-citizen workers.
Six Paths for the ‘Future of Work’ Labour Law
Authors: Mundlak Guy
Published: August 2024

The analysis of the ‘future of work’ highlights the impact of new technology, raising two main concerns regarding the disruption of work as we know it: the possibility of a jobless future and the changing nature of waged work. Considering the expected scope of change, it is expected that as long as the existing body of labour law remains stable, there will be a gradual erosion of labour law’s telos and its effects. This chapter draws on the political economy of incremental change, outlining alternative paths for labour law—ranging from layering of existing norms and institutions, constantly tracking changes in the labour market; a conversion of labour law to the law that configures the market itself; or a conversion to public law—separating public income assurance and a guarantee of security from having a job; and far-reaching attempts to rethink the structure of markets altogether.
Traditional Justifications of Labour Law
Authors: Cabrelli David
Published: August 2024

The idea of ‘inequality of bargaining power’ has traditionally functioned as the primary justification for the law of work. There have been numerous interpretations of this concept, but little consensus on a clear-cut definition. In recent times, its ascendancy has become open to question, with other theories and values increasingly jostling for supremacy as the foundation for labour law. This chapter considers the function and potential scope of a justificatory concept for the law of work within the context of the discussion on ‘inequality of bargaining power’. Finally, it reaches the conclusion that the time has now come for the formulation of a plural patchwork for the law of work, encompassing a diverse range of justifications for the discipline.
Dignity in the Republic
Authors: Mahlmann Matthias
Published: August 2024

The republican form of government is a central political aspiration of Modernity. The idea of republicanism implies the promise of egalitarian freedom and institutionalized autonomy of all human beings. What are the reasons for this promise being made? Why must it be kept? What are the reasons to put—as the idea of republicanism implies—individuals at the axiological centre stage of the political order? In current national, supranational, and international law, the ethical idea and legal concept of human dignity has gained a prominent position. Given this state of affairs, is it correct to conclude that dignity is key if one aims to understand the normative foundations of the republican idea? If so—in which sense is the political philosophy of republics intertwined with the normative concept of dignity? And: What is the content and justification of this for some commentators' particularly elusive idea? The chapter will argue that the challenges of concretization of the meaning of dignity and its justification in ethics and law can be met. This is an important finding for the defence of the republican form of human association as a political, legal, and ethical project.
Motivated Social Cognition About Social Justice
Authors: Hennes Erin P. , Dang Layla , Jost John T.
Published: August 2024

Barriers to veridical perceptions of the surrounding world threaten the foundations of democratic participation. In response to evidence of increasing divergence in information processing across ideological groups, scholarship on motivated social cognition has increasingly sought to tackle problems that are sociopolitical in nature. This chapter supplements and complements the review of “hot” political cognition published in the first edition of this handbook by synthesizing important advances of the past decade. The chapter draws from several disciplines, focusing on findings that clearly (a) indicate the presence of motivation and (b) demonstrate an impact on information processing. To continue advancing basic psychological science—and contribute to a more just society—the chapter makes recommendations for moving beyond mere documentation of these phenomena to (a) distinguishing underlying cognitive mechanisms, (b) identifying fundamental dispositional and situational moderators, (c), interrogating effect magnitude and generalizability, and, most importantly, (d) grounding these findings in overarching theoretical frameworks.
The Indebtedness of the Spanish Regions in the Context of Fiscal Consolidation
Authors: Marín-González Carmen , Martínez-López Diego
Published: August 2024

The Spanish regional public debt-to-GDP ratio is the highest in Europe. In this article, we study the evolution of the factors explaining the recent changes in this ratio from 2015 to 2023. Moreover, we estimate the fiscal consolidation efforts needed to achieve a determined level of public debt. Likewise, a macroeconomic model is calibrated to simulate the future evolution of regional public debt under different consolidation strategies. Our main conclusion shows that the most indebted regions should address a significant (and likely unfeasible) deleveraging process over the next years in the context of the new European fiscal rules.
Effect of Temperature on the Development of Fruiting Bodies of Phaeoacremonium minimum and Phaeomoniella chlamydospora on Grapevine Cuttings In Vitro and Survival of Both Pathogens in Vineyards
Authors: Berbegal Mónica , González-Domínguez Elisa , Armengol Josep
Published: August 2024

In this study, isolates of Phaeoacremonium minimum and Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, fungal pathogens associated with Petri and esca diseases of grapevine, were used to determine the effect of temperature on the development of their fruiting bodies in vitro. Perithecia of Pm. minimum and pycnidia of Pa. chlamydospora were induced at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30°C on pieces of 1-year-old grapevine cuttings of 110 Richter rootstock, which were incubated for 45 days under continuous white light. Both species were able to produce abundant fruiting bodies at temperatures ranging from 15 to 25°C, but Pm. minimum produced more perithecia at 25°C and Pm. chlamydospora produced more pycnidia at 20°C. At 30°C, only very few reproductive structures were observed. Calculated optimal temperatures ranged from 23.3 to 25.6°C, and equations providing a proper description of temperature effect on Pm. minimum and Pa. chlamydospora fruiting body development were obtained. Moreover, the development of fruiting bodies and the survival of both pathogens on artificially inoculated grapevine cuttings were investigated in two vineyards. No fruiting bodies were observed during the vineyard experiments, but both fungal species were systematically recovered by fungal isolation from the cuttings. Differences in pathogen survival based on incidence data were observed relative to the species, location, and time of exposure, and generalized linear mixed-models analysis showed a progressive reduction of inoculum viability with time. The present research increases our knowledge about the biology and epidemiology of Pm. minimum and Pa. chlamydospora, being particularly useful to improve epidemiological models that could be developed for the prediction of Petri and esca diseases.
Combined Median, Ulnar, and Radial Nerve Injury after a Spiral Humeral Shaft Fracture
Authors: Choi Melinda J. , Murgai Rajan R. , Jose Jean , Hernandez Giselle M. , Hui-Chou Helen G.
Published: August 2024

We report the case of a 43-year-old woman who presented with combined radial, median, and ulnar nerve palsies and a spiral humeral shaft fracture after falling down stairs. Postinjury, the patient did not recover full median, ulnar, and radial nerve function despite aggressive hand therapy. Electrodiagnostic studies and imaging findings were concerning for traction neuropraxia or transection, radial nerve neuroma, and scar encasement of the radial, median, and ulnar nerves. The patient underwent radial, median, ulnar, and musculocutaneous nerve neuroplasty, nerve wrap application, nerve stimulation and laser angiography. Surgical exploration revealed no transection injuries to the median, ulnar, or musculocutaneous nerves. The radial nerve was tethered to the fracture site and enlarged, but no neuroma was observed. Laser angiography demonstrated intact perfusion to all nerves. The patient went on to recover full nerve function. Although isolated radial nerve palsies associated with closed humeral shaft fractures are typically observed initially, management of combined nerve palsies is controversial. This case serves to caution surgeons to perform a thorough neurovascular examination on patients with humeral shaft fractures to identify combined nerve palsies.
Carotid Plaque Types and Their Correlations with Risk Factors for Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Yuan Rong , Yuan Yahui , Xin Qiqi , Miao Yu , Guan Jingbo , Cong Weihong
Published: August 2024

Objective:

The aim of this study was to investigate different carotid plaque types and their correlations with the risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with carotid atherosclerosis (CA).

Methods:

A total of 557 CA patients were enrolled, and information on general data, carotid artery plaque types, and their combinations, risk factors, and disease diagnoses were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the risk factors.

Results:

Hard plaque was closely related to B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and triiodothyronine 3 (FT3); soft plaque to prothrombin time (PT) and PT ratio (PTR); mixed plaque to blood urea nitrogen (BUN), FT3, and cardiac troponin T (cTnT); two coexisting types of plaque (hard plaque and soft plaque, hard plaque and mixed plaque, and soft plaque and mixed plaque) to FT3 and C-reactive protein (CRP); and three coexisting types of plaque (hard plaque, soft plaque, and mixed plaque) to BUN, FT3, BNP, cTnT, D-dimer (D-D), neutrophil count (NEUT), monocyte count (MONO), PT, and PTR. Logistic regression analysis revealed that male sex, soft plaque, and three coexisting types of plaque were possible risk factors for MI.

Conclusion:

Various risk factors increase when plaque types become complicated. The three coexisting types of plaque were associated with various risk factors (increased BUN, PT, PTR, NEUT, MONO, BNP, cTnT, and D-D, and decreased FT3) for MI. Male sex, soft plaque, and three coexisting types of plaque were possible risk factors for MI, which may be beneficial for early risk stratification and MI prediction.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability-high advanced cancers: a meta-analysis of phase I–III clinical trials
Authors: Wang Wei , Mei Zubing , Chen Yajie , Jiang Jian , Qu Yanli , Saifuding Keyoumu , Zhou Ning , Bulibu Gilisihan , Tang Yong , Zhai Xinyu , Jiang Zhi
Published: August 2024

Background:

Mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) and microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) cancers are associated with an increased number of somatic mutations, which can render tumors more susceptible to immune checkpoint blockade. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the efficacy profile of immune checkpoint inhibitors in this patient population across multiple cancer types is lacking. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by synthesizing data from phase I–III clinical trials.

Methods:

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar from inception until June 2024. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), nonrandomized comparative studies, and single-arm trials investigating immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with dMMR/MSI-H advanced cancers. The primary outcome was objective response rate (ORR), and the secondary outcomes included disease control rate (DCR), 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates. Subgroup analyses were conducted for the primary outcome stratified by major study characteristics.

Results:

Of the 10 802 identified studies, 19 trials in 25 studies totaling 2052 participants met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled ORR was 41.7% (95% CI, 35.7–47.7%). The pooled DCR was 68.9% (95% CI, 62.2–75.7%). The pooled 12-month, 24-month, and 36-month OS rates were 29.1% (95% CI, 19.9–38.3%), 35.8% (95% CI, 23.6–48.0%), and 35.8% (95% CI, 23.6–48.0%), respectively. The pooled 12-month, 24-month, and 36-month PFS rates were 46.4% (95% CI, 39.1–53.8%), 67.0% (95% CI, 55.2–78.8%), and 63.1% (95% CI, 37.3–88.9%), respectively.

Conclusions:

The study establishes the therapeutic potential of immune checkpoint inhibitors in dMMR/MSI-H advanced cancers, highlighting the importance of MSI status in this context. Further, head-to-head comparisons are needed to conclusively determine MSI’s predictive power relative to proficient mismatch repair/microsatellite stable (pMMR/MSS) tumors.
Abdominal perfusion pressure is critical for survival analysis in patients with intra-abdominal hypertension: mortality prediction using incomplete data
Authors: Xu Liang , Zhao Weijie , He Jiao , Hou Siyu , He Jialin , Zhuang Yan , Wang Ying , Yang Hua , Xiao Jingjing , Qiu Yuan
Published: August 2024

Background:

Abdominal perfusion pressure (APP) is a salient feature in the design of a prognostic model for patients with intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH). However, incomplete data significantly limits the size of the beneficiary patient population in clinical practice. Using advanced artificial intelligence methods, the authors developed a robust mortality prediction model with APP from incomplete data.

Methods:

The authors retrospectively evaluated the patients with IAH from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. Incomplete data were filled in using generative adversarial imputation nets (GAIN). Lastly, demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings were combined to build a 7-day mortality prediction model.

Results:

The authors included 1354 patients in this study, of which 63 features were extracted. Data imputation with GAIN achieved the best performance. Patients with an APP <60 mmHg had significantly higher all-cause mortality within 7–90 days. The difference remained significant in long-term survival even after propensity score matching (PSM) eliminated other mortality risks between groups. Lastly, the built machine learning model for 7-day modality prediction achieved the best results with an AUC of 0.80 in patients with confirmed IAH outperforming the other four traditional clinical scoring systems.

Conclusions:

APP reduction is an important survival predictor affecting the survival prognosis of patients with IAH. The authors constructed a robust model to predict the 7-day mortality probability of patients with IAH, which is superior to the commonly used clinical scoring systems.
Prevalence and Clinical Implications of Autoantibodies in Juvenile Dermatomyositis
Authors: Joseph Alen Joe , Dhakal Baehat , Erla Sathvik Reddy , Singh Yogendra , Singh Lata , Upadhyay Ashish D. , Bagri Narendra Kumar , Lodha Rakesh , Kabra S. K.
Published: August 2024

Objective

​​This study aimed to characterize the profile of myositis-specific and myositis-associated autoantibodies (MSAs/MAAs) in an Indian cohort of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) patients and correlate them with clinical features and outcomes.

Methods

Forty-three children diagnosed with JDM were enrolled for this observational study. Clinical details (presentation, course, and outcome) were noted in a predesigned proforma. Serum samples were tested for 16 MSAs/MAAs by line immunoassay. MSAs/MAAs were correlated with clinical features and outcome (defined as a complete clinical response [≥6 months' disease inactivity on medication] or complete remission [≥6 months' inactivity off all drugs]).

Results

Thirty-five subjects (81.4%) had at least 1 MSA/MAA detected. The most common antibodies were anti-NXP2 (n = 13, 30.2%), anti-TIF1γ (n = 10, 23.2%), and anti–MDA-5 (n = 8, 18.6%). No patient had anti-Ku, anti-Pm Scl-100, anti–PL-12, anti-EJ, anti-OJ, or anti-Ro52. Thirty-two patients (74.4%) attained a complete clinical response over a median follow-up duration of 14 months, among which 6 (13.9%) achieved complete remission over a median follow-up duration of 30 months. Anti-TIF1γ was associated with younger age at onset (≤3 years) (odds ratio [OR], 6.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15–34.12; p = 0.034) and disease flares after attaining complete response (OR, 10.18; 95% CI, 1.64–70.93; p = 0.013). Patients with anti-NXP2 had higher odds of severe muscular weakness (OR, 3.73; 95% CI, 0.95–14.59; p = 0.058) and truncal weakness (OR, 3.89; 95% CI, 0.97–15.64; p = 0.056). One child with anti–MDA-5 positivity had interstitial lung disease. We found no association between the MSA/MAA profile and the achievement of complete clinical response or remission.

Conclusions

MSAs/MAAs were identified in 81% of children with JDM in our study, which is higher than most other studies. The most frequently observed antibodies displayed a pattern consistent with other studies. Anti-TIF1γ was associated with a younger age at onset and disease flares even after attaining a complete clinical response. Anti-NXP2 had higher odds of severe muscular weakness. These observations suggest consistency in certain phenotypic associations observed across geographic boundaries.
Investigating the effect of reduced temperatures on the efficacy of rhabdovirus-based viral vector platforms
Authors: Kakish Julia E. , Mehrani Yeganeh , Kodeeswaran Arthane , Geronimo Katrina , Clark Mary Ellen , van Vloten Jacob P. , Karimi Khalil , Mallard Bonnie A. , Meng Baozhong , Bridle Byram W. , Knapp Jason P.
Published: August 2024

Rhabdoviral vectors can induce lysis of cancer cells. While studied almost exclusively at 37 °C, viruses are subject to a range of temperatures in vivo, including temperatures ≤31 °C. Despite potential implications, the effect of temperatures <37 °C on the performance of rhabdoviral vectors is unknown. We investigated the effect of low anatomical temperatures on two rhabdoviruses, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and Maraba virus (MG1). Using a metabolic resazurin assay, VSV- and MG1-mediated oncolysis was characterized in a panel of cell lines at 28, 31, 34 and 37 °C. The oncolytic ability of both viruses was hindered at 31 and 28 °C. Cold adaptation of both viruses was attempted as a mitigation strategy. Viruses were serially passaged at decreasing temperatures in an attempt to induce mutations. Unfortunately, the cold-adaptation strategies failed to potentiate the oncolytic activity of the viruses at temperatures <37 °C. Interestingly, we discovered that viral replication was unaffected at low temperatures despite the abrogation of oncolytic activity. In contrast, the proliferation of cancer cells was reduced at low temperatures. Equivalent oncolytic effects could be achieved if cells at low temperatures were treated with viruses for longer times. This suggests that rhabdovirus-mediated oncolysis could be compromised at low temperatures in vivo where therapeutic windows are limited.