bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Yield of molecular autopsy in sudden cardiac death in athletes: data from a large registry in the UK
Authors: Finocchiaro Gherardo , Radaelli Davide , Johnson David , Bhatia Raghav T , Westaby Joseph , D’Errico Stefano , Papadakis Michael , Sharma Sanjay , Sheppard Mary N , Behr Elijah R
Published: January 2024

Aims

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) may occur in apparently healthy individuals, including athletes. The aim was to investigate the diagnostic role of post-mortem genetic testing, molecular autopsy (MA), in elucidating the cause of SCD in athletes.

Methods and results

We reviewed a database of 6860 consecutive cases of SCD referred to our specialist cardiac pathology centre. All cases underwent detailed cardiac autopsy, and 748 were deemed to be athletes. Of these, 42 (6%) were investigated with MA (28 using a targeted sequencing, 14 exome sequencing). Variants were classified as pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or variant of unknown significance using international guidelines. Clinical information was obtained from referring coroners who completed a detailed health questionnaire. Out of the 42 decedents (average age 35 years old, 98% males) who were investigated with MA, the autopsy was in keeping with a structurally normal heart [sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS)] in n = 33 (78%) cases, followed by arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) in eight (19%) individuals and idiopathic left ventricular fibrosis in one (2%). Death occurred during exercise and at rest in 26 (62%) and 16 (38%) individuals, respectively. Variants that were adjudicated clinically actionable were present in seven cases (17%). There was concordance between the genetic and phenotypic findings in two cases of ACM (in FLNC and TMEM43 genes). None of the variants identified in SADS cases were previously linked to channelopathies. Clinically actionable variants in cardiomyopathy-associated genes were found in five cases of SADS.

Conclusion

The yield of MA in athletes who died suddenly is 17%. In SADS cases, clinically actionable variants were found in cardiomyopathy-associated genes and not in channelopathy-associated genes. Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is a common cause of SCD in athletes, and one in four decedents with this condition had a clinically actionable variant in FLNC and TMEM43 genes.
Economic analyses in cardiac electrophysiology: from clinical efficacy to cost utility
Authors: Frausing Maria Hee Jung Park , Nielsen Jens Cosedis , Westergaard Caroline Louise , Gerdes Christian , Kjellberg Jakob , Boriani Giuseppe , Kronborg Mads Brix
Published: January 2024

Cardiac electrophysiology is an evolving field that relies heavily on costly device- and catheter-based technologies. An increasing number of patients with heart rhythm disorders are becoming eligible for cardiac interventions, not least due to the rising prevalence of atrial fibrillation and increased longevity in the population. Meanwhile, the expansive costs of healthcare face finite societal resources, and a cost-conscious approach to new technologies is critical. Cost-effectiveness analyses support rational decision-making in healthcare by evaluating the ratio of healthcare costs to health benefits for competing therapies. They may, however, be subject to significant uncertainty and bias. This paper aims to introduce the basic concepts, framework, and limitations of cost-effectiveness analyses to clinicians including recent examples from clinical electrophysiology and device therapy.
Practical Guide on Left Atrial Appendage Closure for the Non-implanting Physician. An International Consensus Paper
Authors: Potpara Tatjana , Grygier Marek , Haeusler Karl Georg , Nielsen-Kudsk Jens Erik , Berti Sergio , Genovesi Simonetta , Marijon Eloi , Boveda Serge , Tzikas Apostolos , Boriani Giuseppe , Boersma Lucas V A , Tondo Claudio , De Potter Tom , Lip Gregory Y H , Schnabel Renate B , Bauersachs Rupert , Senzolo Marco , Basile Carlo , Bianchi Stefano , Osmancik Pavel , Schmidt Boris , Landmesser Ulf , Doehner Wolfram , Hindricks Gerhard , Kovac Jan , Camm A John
Published: January 2024

A significant proportion of patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation and are in need of thromboembolic protection are not treated with oral anticoagulation or discontinue this treatment shortly after its initiation. This undertreatment has not improved sufficiently despite the availability of direct oral anticoagulants which are associated with less major bleeding than vitamin K antagonists. Multiple reasons account for this, including bleeding events or ischaemic strokes whilst on anticoagulation, a serious risk of bleeding events, poor treatment compliance despite best educational attempts or aversion to drug therapy.

An alternative interventional therapy, which is not associated with long-term bleeding and is as effective as vitamin K anticoagulation, was introduced over 20 years ago. Because of significant improvements in procedural safety over the years left atrial appendage closure, predominantly achieved using a catheter-based, device implantation approach, is increasingly favoured for the prevention of thromboembolic events in patients who cannot achieve effective anticoagulation.

This management strategy is well-known to the interventional cardiologist/electrophysiologist but is not more widely appreciated within cardiology or internal medicine. This article introduces the devices and briefly explains the implantation technique. The indications and device follow-up are more comprehensively described.

Almost all physicians who care for adult patients will have many with atrial fibrillation. This practical guide, written within guideline/guidance boundaries, is aimed at those non-implanting physicians who may need to refer patients for consideration of this new therapy, which is becoming increasingly popular.
Transitional Justice and Redress for Racial Injustices against Marginalized Minorities: Lessons from Indigenous Twa People in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Authors: Sentama Ezechiel
Published: January 2024

ABSTRACT∞

This article addresses the question of how countries respond to racial injustices through transitional justice. It draws on the case of Rwanda and explores the experiences of the marginalized indigenous Twa minorities with transitional justice implemented after the 1994 genocide through the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission and Gacaca courts. The lessons from Rwanda highlight the limitations of transitional justice in providing redress for racial injustices of marginalized minorities when it is practised within an authoritarian political context. The article discusses how the transitional justice approach in Rwanda contributed to the construction of a flawed record of the past and marginalized the racial realities of Rwandans by imposing an official historical narrative. It was also used as a tool of the government to negate racial injustices against the most marginalized communities of Twa people but also to preserve racial injustices and human rights violations against them by denying their ethnic identity and indigenous way of life.
YTHDC1 inhibits osteoclast differentiation to alleviate osteoporosis by enhancing PTPN6 messenger RNA stability in an m6A-hUR–dependent manner
Authors: Zhang Meijie , Guan Jiaxin , Yu Simiao , Zhang Yimeng , Cheng Luyang , Zhang Yina
Published: January 2024

YTHDC1 has been confirmed to mediate osteoporosis (OP) progression by regulating osteogenic differentiation. However, whether YTHDC1 mediates osteoclast differentiation and its molecular mechanism remains unclear. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were performed to detect the levels of YTHDC1, PTPN6, NFATc1, TRAP, RUNX2, alkaline phosphatase, and HUR. YTHDC1 knockout mice was constructed by CRISPR/Cas9 system, and the OP mice model was established by ovariectomy. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and micro-computed tomography were used to evaluate bone formation and bone mass. Mouse primary bone marrow macrophage cells were isolated and induced into osteoclasts. TRAP-positive cells were detected using TRAP staining. MeRIP-qPCR, RIP-qPCR assay, RNA affinity isolation assay, and co-immunoprecipitation assay were used to confirm the interactions among YTHDC1, PTPN6, and HUR. YTHDC1 expression was reduced and positively correlated with lumbar bone mineral density in OP patients. In the ovariectomy model of YTHDC1 knockout mice, bone formation was reduced, bone histomorphology was changed, and osteoclastic-related factor (NFATc1 and TRAP) levels were enhanced. Overexpression YTHDC1 inhibited osteoclast differentiation. YTHDC1 increased PTPN6 messenger RNA stability in an m6A-dependent manner. Moreover, YTHDC1 interacted with HUR to positively regulate PTPN6 expression. PTPN6 knockdown promoted osteoclast differentiation, and this effect was reversed by overexpressing HUR or YTHDC1. YTHDC1 was involved in regulating OP progression through inhibiting osteoclast differentiation by enhancing PTPN6 messenger RNA stability in an m6A-HUR–dependent manner.
Advanced Practice Providers in Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Authors: Toia Jacquie , Murtagh Katie , Heald Lynn , Leake Katelyn , Jhaveri Ravi
Published: January 2024

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) are a rapidly growing segment of the pediatric infectious diseases workforce. APPs offer many advantages to divisions that are struggling to counter a smaller fellowship applicant pool and faculty workforce transitions as a result of the pandemic. Many divisions still have yet to incorporate APPs into their inpatient or outpatient teams. This review will discuss the diverse pool of APPs, summarize how APPs are currently being used in the field, discuss the financial considerations of hiring APPs, and highlight future needs for embracing APPs as critical members of the pediatric ID workforce.
A biomarker framework for liver aging: the Aging Biomarker Consortium consensus statement
Authors:   Aging Biomarker Consortium, Jiang Mengmeng , Zheng Zhuozhao , Wang Xuan , Chen Yanhao , Qu Jing , Ding Qiurong , Zhang Weiqi , Liu You-Shuo , Yang Jichun , Tang Weiqing , Hou Yunlong , He Jinhan , Wang Lin , Huang Pengyu , Li Lin-Chen , He Zhiying , Gao Qiang , Lu Qian , Wei Lai , Wang Yan-Jiang , Ju Zhenyu , Fan Jian-Gao , Ruan Xiong Zhong , Guan Youfei , Liu Guang-Hui , Pei Gang , Li Jian , Wang Yunfang
Published: January 2024

In human aging, liver aging per se not only increases susceptibility to liver diseases but also increases vulnerability of other organs given its central role in regulating metabolism. Total liver function tends to be well maintained in the healthy elderly, so liver aging is generally difficult to identify early. In response to this critical challenge, the Aging Biomarker Consortium of China has formulated an expert consensus on biomarkers of liver aging by synthesizing the latest scientific literature, comprising insights from both scientists and clinicians. This consensus provides a comprehensive assessment of biomarkers associated with liver aging and presents a systematic framework to characterize these into three dimensions: functional, imaging, and humoral. For the functional domain, we highlight biomarkers associated with cholesterol metabolism and liver-related coagulation function. For the imaging domain, we note that hepatic steatosis and liver blood flow can serve as measurable biomarkers for liver aging. Finally, in the humoral domain, we pinpoint hepatokines and enzymatic alterations worthy of attention. The aim of this expert consensus is to establish a foundation for assessing the extent of liver aging and identify early signs of liver aging-related diseases, thereby improving liver health and the healthy life expectancy of the elderly population.
The density of the Milky Way’s corona atz≈ 1.6 through ram pressure stripping of the Draco dSph galaxy
Authors: Grønnow Asger , Fraternali Filippo , Marinacci Federico , Pezzulli Gabriele , Tolstoy Eline , Helmi Amina , Brown Anthony G A
Published: January 2024

Satellite galaxies within the Milky Way’s (MW's) virial radius Rvir are typically devoid of cold gas due to ram pressure stripping by the MW’s corona. The density of this corona is poorly constrained today and essentially unconstrained in the past, but can be estimated using ram pressure stripping. In this paper, we probe the MW's corona at z ≈ 1.6 using the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We assume that (i) Draco’s orbit is determined by its interaction with the MW, whose dark matter halo we evolve in time following cosmologically motivated prescriptions, (ii) Draco’s star formation was quenched by ram pressure stripping and (iii) the MW’s corona is approximately smooth, spherical, and in hydrostatic equilibrium. We used Gaia proper motions to set the initial conditions and Draco’s star formation history to estimate its past gas content. We found indications that Draco was stripped of its gas during the first pericentric passage. Using 3D hydrodynamical simulations at a resolution that enables us to resolve individual supernovae and assuming no tidal stripping, which we estimate to be a minor effect, we find a density of the MW corona ≥8 × 10−4 cm−3 at a radius ≈0.72Rvir. This provides evidence that the MW’s corona was already in place at z ≈ 1.6 and with a higher density than today. If isothermal, this corona would have contained all the baryons expected by the cosmological baryon fraction. Extrapolating to today shows good agreement with literature constraints if feedback has removed ≲30 per cent of baryons accreted on to the halo.
The ORFIUS complex regulates ORC2 localization at replication origins
Authors: Yang Zelei , Mogre Saie , He Ruiyang , Berdan Emma L , Ho Sui Shannan J , Hill Sarah J
Published: January 2024

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) is a lethal malignancy with elevated replication stress (RS) levels and defective RS and RS-associated DNA damage responses. Here we demonstrate that the bromodomain-containing protein BRD1 is a RS suppressing protein that forms a replication origin regulatory complex with the histone acetyltransferase HBO1, the BRCA1 tumor suppressor, and BARD1, ORigin FIring Under Stress (ORFIUS). BRD1 and HBO1 promote eventual origin firing by supporting localization of the origin licensing protein ORC2 at origins. In the absence of BRD1 and/or HBO1, both origin firing and nuclei with ORC2 foci are reduced. BRCA1 regulates BRD1, HBO1, and ORC2 localization at replication origins. In the absence of BRCA1, both origin firing and nuclei with BRD1, HBO1, and ORC2 foci are increased. In normal and non-HGSC ovarian cancer cells, the ORFIUS complex responds to ATR and CDC7 origin regulatory signaling and disengages from origins during RS. In BRCA1-mutant and sporadic HGSC cells, BRD1, HBO1, and ORC2 remain associated with replication origins, and unresponsive to RS, DNA damage, or origin regulatory kinase inhibition. ORFIUS complex dysregulation may promote HGSC cell survival by allowing for upregulated origin firing and cell cycle progression despite accumulating DNA damage, and may be a RS target.
Audiovisual interactions outside of visual awareness during motion adaptation
Authors: Park Minsun , Blake Randolph , Kim Chai-Youn
Published: January 2024

Motion aftereffects (MAEs), illusory motion experienced in a direction opposed to real motion experienced during prior adaptation, have been used to assess audiovisual interactions. In a previous study from our laboratory, we demonstrated that a congruent direction of auditory motion presented concurrently with visual motion during adaptation strengthened the consequent visual MAE, compared to when auditory motion was incongruent in direction. Those judgments of MAE strength, however, could have been influenced by expectations or response bias from mere knowledge of the state of audiovisual congruity during adaptation. To prevent such knowledge, we now employed continuous flash suppression to render visual motion perceptually invisible during adaptation, ensuring that observers were completely unaware of visual adapting motion and only aware of the motion direction of the sound they were hearing. We found a small but statistically significant congruence effect of sound on adaptation strength produced by invisible adaptation motion. After considering alternative explanations for this finding, we conclude that auditory motion can impact the strength of visual processing produced by translational visual motion even when that motion transpires outside of awareness.
Loneliness in the workplace: a mixed-method systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Bryan B T , Andrews G , Thompson K N , Qualter P , Matthews T , Arseneault L
Published: January 2024

Background

Loneliness is a risk factor for a range of mental and physical health problems and has gained increasing interest from policy-makers and researchers in recent years. However, little attention has been paid to loneliness at work and its implications for workers and employers.

Aims

Identify workplace, health and personal factors associated with workplace loneliness.

Methods

We searched five databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and EBSCO Business Source Complete) for relevant articles published from 1 January 2000 to 23 February 2023. Quantitative data were synthesized using narrative synthesis and random-effects meta-analysis of correlation coefficients. Qualitative data were synthesized using thematic synthesis. Evidence quality was appraised using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results

We identified 49 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Pooled results indicate that workplace loneliness was associated with lower job performance (r = −0.35, 95% CI −0.49, −0.21), reduced job satisfaction (r = −0.34, 95% CI −0.44, −0.24), worse worker–manager relationship (r = −0.31, 95% CI −0.38, −0.24) and elevated burnout (r = 0.39, 95% CI 0.25, 0.51). Qualitative results suggest links between loneliness and inadequate workplace social interactions and mental health problems. As most studies used cross-sectional data and few adjusted for potential confounders, the direction and robustness of the associations remain untested.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that loneliness is associated with poor occupational functioning and well-being among workers. Results also show that loneliness is associated with modifiable aspects of the work environment, suggesting that the workplace may offer a fruitful avenue for interventions targeting loneliness.
Knowledge and Attitudes on Contraception and Reproductive Health in Women With HIV
Authors: Henricks Anna , Singal Samantha , Hughes Dana , Kelly Sean , Castilho Jessica L , Norwood Jamison
Published: January 2024

Background

For reasons not fully explained to date, contraception usage among women with HIV remains low. The aim of our study was to understand attitudes toward and lifetime use of contraception among women with HIV.

Methods

We administered an anonymous, community-informed, voluntary survey to cisgender, English-speaking women with HIV (≥18 years of age) at a Southern urban HIV clinic. It included multiple choice and Likert-scale questions on reproductive health. Participants reported contraception use, recollection of provider conversations about contraception, and perceived empowerment and knowledge regarding reproductive health. We used chi-square and Fisher exact tests to compare attitudes and prior conversations about contraception by age (< vs ≥45 years), race (Black vs non-Black), and lifetime contraception use.

Results

The median age of the 114 participants was 52 years, and 62% of the women identified as Black and 31% as White. Women reported a median of 2 unique family planning methods used throughout life, with oral contraceptive pills being most the common (59%). Only 20% of women reported having ever used long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Only 56% of women recalled talking with a provider about contraception. Women of non-Black race and those who had used LARC were more likely to remember (72 vs 52%; P = .035; 87 vs 56%; P = .022; respectively). When asked about preferences, 82% of women age <45 years wanted a nondaily method, and 60% felt uncomfortable with device insertion.

Conclusions

Throughout life, participants reported using a diversity of contraceptives. Only half of women remembered a provider conversation about contraception. Understanding women's preferences regarding contraception should guide counseling.
Uncommon presentation of cutaneous leishmaniasis: late-onset facial involvement after a decade—a rare case report
Authors: Shrestha Amrita , Mishra Aman , Mishra Aakash , Shrestha Rojina , Shrestha Rabina
Published: January 2024

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that can involve the skin, mucosal membranes, and internal organs. It is endemic to the tropics. A forty-three-year-old male, diagnosed and treated for visceral leishmaniasis 15 years ago, presented with a complaint of a progressively growing lesion on his face for five years. A detailed history, clinical examination, and histopathological examination were done to reach a diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Treatment with oral fluconazole 300 mg daily for six months, followed by 50 mg miltefosine three times a day for another two months, led to complete resolution of symptoms, and the lesion on the face was cured. Early diagnosis is crucial to averting unwarranted treatment and potential complications. This case aims to inform clinicians of the high index of suspicion when diagnosing CL; given the delayed presentation, the previous medical history and the natural course of the lesion are of utmost importance.
Gait and cognitive disorders revealing massive neurocysticercosis: a case report
Authors: Rabearisoa Parany Haja , Rasaholiarison Nomena Finiavana , Razafimahefa Julien , Tehindrazanarivelo Alain Djacoba
Published: January 2024

Neurocysticercosis is frequent in Madagascar. Its clinical presentations depends on the topography of the lesions. We report a case with gait and cognitive disorders. A 49-year-old man, right-handed, with progressive gait disorders (small steps with magnetization). On examination, he had gait disorders, associated with frontal syndrome with Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) scale of 10/18, a Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scale of 24/30, a constructive apraxia and a clock test disturbance. The brain CT scan showed massive lesions of fronto-parietal and temporal neurocysticercosis, meningeal neurocysticercosis with racemose forms. Lesions had different ages associated with a communicating hydrocephalus. Gait disturbance and cognitive function were improved after an evacuating lumbar puncture and cysticidal treatments. This case illustrate the importance of neurological examination in a patient with neurocysticercosis. Neurocysticercosis could be a curable cause of dementia.
Magic in Hungary
Authors: Bárth Dániel
Published: January 2024

This chapter examines relationships between magic and religion primarily through texts (verbal charms, benedictions, and exorcisms) and the practices associated with them, using historical and contemporary data from the Hungarian-language area. The main purpose of the study is to analyze how religious-magical texts and practices at the local level can in fact only be fully appreciated within a syncretic interconnectedness. Observations from the analysis reveal, first, that an understanding of the contemporary phenomena of folk/popular religion and belief necessitates knowledge of historical processes. Second, separations between the phenomena of magic and religion are really only viable from an external (ecclesiastical, elite, research) point of view. Finally, especially in the case of illnesses, the needs of healing are constantly activated regardless of historical periods, and believers seek immediate, direct, and effective solutions within the current dominant religious field (e.g., paganism, Christianity, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism).
Geostatistical Analysis in Space and Time
Authors: Stundal Logan , Bagozzi Benjamin E. , Freeman John R.
Published: January 2024

Spatial-temporal data are ubiquitous in political science. While political methodologists have made a number of advancements in spatial modeling, comparable advancements in spatial-temporal modeling have been relatively more limited. As a result, political scientists continue to primarily model spatial-temporal dynamics (if at all) via techniques such as two-way fixed effects and/or clustered standard errors. The localization assumptions that such modeling choices entail ignore important patterns of spatial-temporal persistence and can produce biased inferences. This chapter addresses this challenge by presenting a popular geostatistical approach for spatial-temporal modeling, which it conceptually and empirically compares to two-way fixed effects and spatial neighborhood modeling approaches. Rather than prespecifying a connectivity matrix, this model estimates the extent of spatial interdependence between units and allows for unit variant temporal evolution of causal mechanisms like diffusion. The chapter applies this approach to data on spatial-temporal insurgent violence in Iraq and obtain strong evidence to suggest that our geostatistical (and neighborhood) spatial-temporal models are superior to two-way fixed effects for the modeling of space and time. This reanalysis suggests that past work exaggerates the effect of compensation spending on insurgent violence and that some forms of compensation have no impact at all. The chapter thereby demonstrates the benefit of incorporating dynamics into spatial-temporal analyses of political processes—either with neighborhood models of spatial-temporal processes or through novel geostatistical frameworks which treat spatial-temporal mechanisms as latent processes.
Bayesian Spatial Methods and Public Opinion of Geographical Areas
Authors: Bao Le , Carson Jamie L. , Gill Jeff
Published: January 2024

Studying subnational public opinion is often impeded by the limited sample size of survey data. This chapter provides an overview of the issues and methodology involved in estimating public opinion of geographical areas and an introduction of the Bayesian spatial methods. The work focuses in particular on the Bayesian kriging model, which provides a cohesive framework for incorporating different information and for measuring area-level public opinion. The chapter introduces its technical details and related advantages. It then illustrates the method through an example of constituency ideology and concludes with views on the importance of applying various methods to appropriate situations.
Reflexive Methodologies and Methods
Authors: Glas Aarie , Soedirgo Jessica
Published: January 2024

Both qualitative and quantitative scholars are increasingly attentive to the importance of reflexivity in research. This chapter highlights the varied ways reflexivity is defined and practiced in political science over three parts. First, it surveys varied understandings of reflexivity from interpretive and positivist corners of the discipline. It highlights conceptions of reflexivity as 1) critical self-reflection on the role and effects of the individual researcher or 2) a broader and critical appraisal of ontological and epistemological suppositions. Second, it argues that engaging reflexivity helps researchers build rapport and working relationships; pursue safe and ethical research; develop fuller accounts of the social world; and facilitate and assess the trustworthiness of research. Third, it surveys scholarship that provides models for reflexivity in interviewing, ethnography, and archival research.
Observational Databases
Authors: Engst Benjamin G. , Gschwend Thomas
Published: January 2024

Why do we need databases in research on comparative judicial behaviour? This chapter argues that comprehensive assessments of common models on judicial behaviour require data on decisions, judges, and environmental characteristics. An expert survey shows that data on these characteristics was often published in rectangular datasets focusing on courts in the United States or specific International Courts mostly allowing assessments of the attitudinal model of judicial behaviour. Databases on courts in other regions that allow the assessment of judicial behaviour have been published more recently. They allow for the modelling of different entities—such as information on decisions and information on judges—and establishing the relationships between them; for example, linking specific judges to specific decision outcomes. The advantage of designing databases is to summarize clearly specified concepts in parsimonious and flexible ways without producing redundancies when collecting data. Comparative judicial databases including information on the action of multiple courts are scarce. However, scholars of judicial politics can learn from existing comparative projects such as the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) to design a Comparative Study of Judicial Behaviour (CSJB).
Experiments
Authors: Engel Christoph
Published: January 2024

Judicial decision-making has attracted a lot of interest in the experimental community. Over decades, a rich literature has emerged. It has investigated to what degree judicial decision-making is affected by the same heuristics and biases that have been observed in laypersons; in which ways personal or political attitudes affect decisions; how decision-makers dissolve the characteristic ambiguity of both the facts and normative standards; how decisions made by multi-person panels differ from decisions made by single judges; how error sneaks in when assessing the available evidence; which elements of the rich institutional setting of judicial decision-making have which behavioural effects; what is the impact of the parties, witnesses, or experts, on the disposition of the case; how judicial decision-making is perceived by the general public; and in what ways the anticipation of this perception affects decision-making. The power of the behavioural economics paradigm has rarely been marshalled, nor has the research been related to experimental political science. Most experimental research studies judicial decision-making in the abstract and does not pay much attention to characteristic institutional or cultural differences between jurisdictions. Hence there is still a lot of room for new experimental research.
Dissents and Other Separate Opinions
Authors: Kelemen Katalin
Published: January 2024

Disagreement among judges has always existed, even though not all courts have been allowed to reveal it. Disagreements between the members of a judicial panel regarding the resolution of a case is referred to as dissent. Such disagreements may be reflected in one or more separate opinions written by the members who remain in the minority with their views. This chapter offers a comparative analysis of the phenomenon of judicial dissent, outlines the existing literature, and highlights areas and questions that require further research. To this end, the chapter first offers a definition of the terminology and then addresses the primary methodological challenges. Subsequently, it examines the main research questions that have captivated scholars studying judicial dissent. In legal research, separate opinions can be in and of themselves the object of research aiming to analyse court practice, and for researchers who study any legal problem, they may serve as a useful source of arguments and possible solutions. The primary research question regarding the practice of judicial dissent is the extent to which judges are influenced by their own political views when making decisions. Finally, the chapter takes a comparative approach, presenting several studies conducted in relation to various jurisdictions, to shed light on dissent and other separate opinions.
The Theology of Classical Jewish Law
Authors: Lifshitz Berachyahu
Published: January 2024

This chapter examines the theological aspects of Classical Jewish Law, focusing on the Written Torah (WT) and the Oral Torah (OT). The WT, Pentateuch, was initially transmitted orally and later written down. In contrast, the definition and content of the OT are less clear. This chapter explores different aspects of the OT, including the prohibition of writing it down andits role as an interpretative background for the WT and as an expression of rabbinic. The chapter delves into the historical origins of the OT, which emerged as a rabbinic response to challenges regarding their authority to interpret the WT. The theological tensions surrounding the divine revelation, prophecy, and the authority to interpret the WT are also explored. The Sages’ claim that the OT was given simultaneously with the WT at Sinai is presented, along with the notion that the OT was gradually revealed through prophets and sages over time. The debate surrounding the need for a hidden and revealed Torah is discussed, along with the Sages’ defense against external and internal criticisms. The chapter concludes by highlighting the Geonim and Maimonides’ differing views on the extent of the OT’s transmission from Sinai and its role in Jewish law. This study sheds light on the theology and authority underlying Classical Jewish Law, contributing to a deeper understanding of the Written and Oral Torahs’ interplay in Jewish tradition.
Talmud Torah
Authors: Hoffmann Libson Ayelet
Published: January 2024

This chapter discusses the tension between theoretical study and practical law within the Jewish legal tradition. From the earliest sources in the rabbinic period, Torah was regarded not only as a guide to practical law but rather as a formative document attesting to the relationship between God and his people. As such, Torah was understood as a system of law not only to be performed but also to be intensively studied. Indeed, study, or Talmud Torah, came to be viewed as a value of paramount significance, independent of the resulting performance of the commandments. Over time, Talmud Torah was directed not only toward the application of law but rather also toward understanding the law in its own right through theoretical and even hypothetical study of non-applied law. This tension between functional regulation and theoretical analysis of the law produced varying modes of study among Jewish scholars, who were divided between those who sought out the practical application of the law and those who pursued the scholarly quest of study for its own sake.
From Berlin to New York
Authors: MacGregor Emily
Published: January 2024

Now widely acknowledged, although still casting shadows, the most pernicious myth to plague the historiography of Kurt Weill is the idea that in Germany and in American exile he was in effect two entirely different composers. The years he spent in Paris (1933–1935) between Berlin and New York put pressure on the geographically determinist “two Weills” construct. Tracing Weill’s esthetic philosophy over that period, and spotlighting the transatlantic reception of his Fantaisie Symphonique (1932–1934) this chapter considers how the middlebrow, a critical apparatus becoming increasingly robust in music studies, might illuminate the geopolitical and assimilationist discourses buried within this historiographical rift. A symphonic work from a composer known for his popular theater music catalyzed middlebrow anxieties about modernism, mass publics, class, and commercialism. To close, I suggest Weill’s historiography prompts more searching questions about the relationship between exile, immigrant narratives, and international mobility in theories of middlebrow culture.
Borges and the Crucible of Aesthetic Autonomy in Latin America
Authors: Hoyos Héctor
Published: January 2024

This chapter examines the conflicted relationship of the region’s writers with the author’s political legacy during the Cold War and its aftermath. Taking exception from readings that cast Borges as either class enemy or role model, it examines the ways in which Borges does not so much weigh in favor or against the autonomy of art in Latin America but serves as a lightning rod for its debate across several nations and epochs. The backbone of the contribution is a discussion of the essayistic views of Roberto Fernández Retamar in “Calibán” (1971) and the turn of the twenty-first-century reappropriations of the trope of infamy in Roberto Bolaño and his contemporaries. Topics include a historicization of the leftist animus against Borges, an appraisal of his role brokering ideas of Latin American cosmopolitanism, and a study of his oeuvre’s generative power.
Borges’s Lectures
Authors: Blanco Mariela
Published: January 2024

This chapter analyzes Borges’s lecturing work between 1949 and 1955, focusing on his travels to the interior of Argentina and to the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. First are described the personal obstacles that Borges had to face to take on this new challenge, based on information recovered from biographies and testimonies. Then, the political context is analyzed with respect to how Perón’s rise to power played a decisive role in Borges’s career change. Finally, the chapter reviews the numbers that reveal a significant change in his income and how those figures impacted his subjectivity. Borges’s name is thus included among the great orators of Argentine literature, while at the same time scholars can reflect on the magnitude and the particularities of this orality as it related to the rest of his literary production with the goal of attaining a more nuanced vision of his complete works.
Changes in the Living Standards of Transition Economies and Determinants of Poverty
Authors: Kumo Kazuhiro
Published: January 2024

Research on the increase in poverty in the transitional economies affected by the collapse of socialism began soon after the transition to capitalism began. However, the nature of the poverty in the former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe differs; two phases have been observed: a phase of increasing and stabilizing poverty in the 1990s and a phase of declining poverty in the 2000s. Previous studies took into account the possibility that the impact of household size, education level, and urban domicile, factors that are employed in traditional poverty research, may affect poverty in the target regions. The results generally supported this hypothesis. In the 1990s, there was no difference between urban populations and rural populations in probability of falling into poverty. After 2000, however, urban domicile became a significant factor in reducing the probability of falling into poverty. Differences were also observed between the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe in the factors affecting the poverty situation. This chapter identifies differences in the transformation of poverty dynamics between the 1990s and the 2000s and between the former Soviet Union and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe by applying a meta-analysis. Furthermore, the trend change in poverty dynamics between the 1990s and the 2000s, which showed that residence matters, as seen here can be regarded as indicating steady progress in “transition.”
Illiberalism and Conservatism
Authors: Fawcett Edmund
Published: January 2024

Must conservatives be illiberal? If they must, can liberal democracies be conservative and stay healthy? As a retreat from liberal democracy, illiberalism may disavow liberalism, democracy, or both. Disavowal can be a rejection (by countries never liberal or democratic), a deflection (by countries aiming to become liberal democracies), or a defection (from the liberal-democratic core). The focus here is on right-wing or conservative defection—the two labels, for reasons explained, being used interchangeably. Intellectually, defections involve original conservative objections to liberalism and present-day criticism of liberal thought; politically, they reflect popular discontents with actual liberal democracy. Defection has undermined the liberal center right and strengthened an illiberal hard right. Fresh as it seems, their contest is endemic to conservatism and unlikely to bring final victory for either. Conservatives are often, but need not be, illiberal. Liberal democracies can stay healthy only if conservatives are liberal, not if they are illiberal.
Illiberalism of Their Own Making?
Authors: Lottholz Philipp
Published: January 2024

Illiberalism research has helped unpack the exclusion and violence wrought by regressive regimes across the world, but faces contradictions regarding the liberal-democratic ideal against which illiberal politics are analyzed and regarding its theoretical and historical grounding. This chapter elaborates these lines of critique and indicates how a post-liberal framework can better capture and reconcile the complexity of globally entangled political rule. It starts by engaging with recent illiberalism research, pointing to the risk of overlooking regressive and violent forms of ordering in liberal-democratic countries. The next section unpacks these coercive, identitarian, and authoritarian workings of post-World War II liberal democracy, complicating the prevalent narrative that illiberal politics are merely aberrations of otherwise liberal-democratic systems. The fourth section engages with the imperial and (de-)colonial critique of liberal democracy that reveal the racialized nature of the current capitalist order. The conclusion offers reflections on dialogue and analysis needed to consolidate these perspectives.
Green, Red
Authors: Bahl Aditya
Published: January 2024

This chapter examines a little-known archive of small and underground magazines that were published in Punjab during the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, Punjab’s agrarian society was radically transformed by successive confrontations between Indo-Soviet diplomacy, the US-funded Green Revolution, and the Mao-inspired Naxalite insurgency. While tracking the international flows of the US-sponsored agrarian technology and the Soviet-sponsored literary circuits, this chapter narrates how a young generation of jujharvadi writers inaugurated a homespun cultural revolution in the rural periphery of Punjab. Many of these magazines were outlawed and destroyed by the police. Reassembling the surviving fragments, this chapter presents an archive that is at once hyper-peripheral and hyper-international, hyper-medieval and hyper-modern. Offering a new periodization of postcolonial Punjabi literature, it theorizes how Cold War geopolitics mediate the interlinked frames of regional, national, and world literature.
‘I Can’t Breathe’
Authors: Pita Loor Karen J.
Published: January 2024

This chapter surveys law enforcement’s response to protests on the streets of Minneapolis in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. It demonstrates the expansive tools and discretion available to law enforcement officials in the United States and how they are used to respond violently to city residents and racial justice activists and thereby stop their protest activity in its tracks. Considering this example, this chapter argues for the need to rein in police powers, particularly in the context of protests where excessive use of force and arrest powers infringe not only upon an individual’s bodily integrity, but also upon their expressive freedom.
Italian Republicanism
Authors: Zanetti Gianfrancesco
Published: January 2024

The tradition of classic Italian republicanism is not described in this chapter by conjuring up any graspable set of shared and organic doctrines but by pointing out some salient main themes that play a role in republican authors. These themes include the care for the common good, some kind of rule of law as a way to secure self-government from aspiring tyrants, a civic virtue that takes pride in its own political independence. Part of this complexity has to do with the possible performative value of some republican texts. Italian republicanism was not the deliberate brainchild of a cluster of well-known political thinkers; it was more the result of the contingent actions of a host of Italian political figures. Finally, it is precisely this loose doctrinal structure that makes it possible to draw a comparison between classic Italian republicanism and Risorgimento republicanism.
The Business of Transnational Justice
Authors: Payne Leigh A. , Pereira Gabriel , Bernal-Bermúdez Laura
Published: January 2024

Scholars and practitioners have referred to corporate accountability as the missing piece of the transitional justice puzzle. This chapter suggests that is not entirely the case. Truth commissions and human rights judicial processes have held economic actors accountable for complicity in violations during authoritarian rule and armed conflicts around the world. What is missing, however, is the visibility of these processes, an understanding of how they have occurred from below in the global south, and against the strong veto power by business. This chapter fills in that missing puzzle piece using analysis of an original Corporate Accountability and Transitional Justice (CATJ) data base. It uses the analogy of Archimedes’ Lever to reveal how weak actors (victims in the global south) with the right tool (institutional innovation in blending domestic and international human rights norms) can lift up the weight of corporate accountability, from under the powerful pressure from economic veto players, particularly in favorable political environments.
Myanmar
Authors: Crouch Melissa
Published: January 2024

This chapter considers the structural characteristics of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar and demonstrates that the military is central to the constitutional order. It offers an overview of the major institutions of Myanmar’s constitutional system, beginning with the most important institution, the military, and then explaining the Basic Principles of the Constitution. The chapter explains the role of the legislature, the importance of political representation, and the centralization of power in the executive. It discusses how the peace process and formal constitutional amendment efforts failed to lead to substantive reform. The chapter concludes with a postscript on how the coup of 2021 has rendered the military’s 2008 Constitution meaningless.
Caste Among Muslims in North India and Pakistan
Authors: Levesque Julien
Published: January 2024

From colonial census administrators to social scientists, scholars have debated whether Muslims in the subcontinent can be said to have castes. In recent decades, the discussion also entered the political arena over the issue of reservations in India. In order to offer an overview of the debates concerning caste among Muslims, mainly in North India and Pakistan, this article first shows that colonial scholars and administrators tended to understand the phenomenon as the product of a history of conquest and miscegenation. I then turn to socio-anthropological debates of the second half of the twentieth century that opposed scholars on whether a caste system existed among Muslims. Finally, I explore how new legal conceptions of caste among Indian Muslims became a stepping stone for political mobilization from the 1990s.
Caste in Punjab
Authors: Jodhka Surinder S.
Published: January 2024

In the literature and imaginations of caste in India, Punjab has been an interesting kind of outlier. It has not been a land of Brahmanical Hinduism, a religion that supposedly sanctifies the practice of caste, the fountainhead of its ideology. However, like most other parts of India, caste remains quite central to the social, spatial, and political life of Punjab. The region has also been important in the modern or contemporary history of caste and caste-based identity politics and has witnessed some of the most influential Dalit mobilizations, which have been important markers in the history of Dalit politics, nationally and globally. Given its social and political history and religious demographics on the one hand and the reality of persistent hierarchies of caste on the other, the present-day Indian Punjab, which is the focus of this chapter, provides an interesting case that raises several compelling questions, which have important implications for the popular theoretical understanding of caste.