bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interlude: Four Practices of Making Information Matter
Authors: Kaufmann Mareile
Published: January 2024

Making information matter is a ‘spiral dance’ (Haraway, 1991: 181). It is an ongoing process involving many lives that make, break, and remake what matters in this world. As researchers, we are part of this dance. The central concern is thus no longer that information, tools, infrastructures, and our own selves matter, but how. This is why the next chapters provide analyses of four different practices that are maybe not all equally prevalent in societies today, but equally relevant. All of them are enacted in the larger arena of surveillance, capture, and control, which is where information matters centrally. The first one, association, is a defining information practice in today’s societies. Often, but not always, association is practiced in digital, information-heavy environments where algorithms and other forms of analyses are used to identify connections, relationships, and patterns. In most cases, association is used for capture and control and it has potentially become the most prevalent form of governance in densely digitized environments. That is why it is all the more important to render associative practices more accessible by tracing each step, each turn at which information comes to matter. There is awareness about associative practices and how much they influence us. Their formative powers are recognized and discomfort about being subjected to them, or participating in their making is increasingly expressed. Critical voices from mainstream public discourses include those of Eli Pariser (The Filter Bubble, 2011), Yuval Harari (Homo Deus, 2017), Shoshana Zuboff (The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2019), and Farhad Manjoo (journalist, The New York Times), to name a few. What mainstream discourses do not (yet) do sufficiently is to acknowledge alternative ways of making information matter – whether these are spectacular or everyday activities.
Introduction: Reparation, Reintegration and Transformation
Authors: Weber Sanne
Published: January 2024

The introduction lays out the book’s conceptual and theoretical framework, giving the reader an overview of the main fields and debates that the book engages with. It briefly describes the developments in thinking about transitional justice and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and the connections and tensions between reparations and reintegration, which are crucial elements of the broader peacebuilding paradigm. The chapter then offers a gendered analysis of these fields, and introduces the connection with the concept of citizenship as a way of making often vague approaches to gender justice more transformative and practically feasible. It describes Nancy Fraser’s model of trivalent justice as an approach to connect citizenship with gender justice, which enables gendered transformation in post-conflict contexts.
Gender, Violence and Reconciliation in Colombia
Authors: Weber Sanne
Published: January 2024

This chapter contextually situates the research in this book. It identifies the root causes and main (gendered) effects of the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia and gives a historical overview of transitional justice and DDR processes in the country, and how these have come to be seen as global examples of how to ‘do’ peacebuilding. A gendered analysis is given of these processes, and particularly of the 2016 peace process between the Colombian government and the FARC. The chapter also introduces the locations on Colombia’s Caribbean coast where the research took place, describing the ethnographic and participatory methodology used and some of the ethical challenges encountered in the research process.
Conclusion: From Victimhood to Citizenship
Authors: Weber Sanne
Published: January 2024

The Conclusion discusses how reparations and reintegration, as part of wider peacebuilding approaches, can fare better at promoting post-conflict gender equality by redefining an active and gender-equal practice of post-conflict citizenship for both men and women. It draws on Nancy Fraser’s model of trivalent justice to map out how, instead of ‘adding women’, the building of a practice of active citizenship could be more effective in transforming gendered inequalities at different levels. Citizenship should therefore be central to gender justice. The chapter finishes with some practical recommendations for policymakers to implement this gendered citizenship perspective into transitional justice.
En/forcing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics: The Racialization of Digital Engagement and Digital Solutionism
Authors: Miyake Esperanza
Published: January 2024

This chapter problematizes the racialization of digital engagement and digital solutionism, and how they reinforce dominant ideologies of power, race and digitality. I examine how Tokyo Olympics 2020 was promoted and ultimately realized during a global pandemic, despite mass protests and the tremendous human and financial costs incurred by Japan. I propose the double notion of both forcing and enforcing digitality. In the context of Tokyo 2020, not only was opt-out not a viable option, but one that actively carried a financial penalty, thus making compliance necessary. As such, I critique how the forcing and enforcing of Tokyo 2020 was grounded upon geopolitical inequalities of engagement and disengagement. In the process, I explore the naturalization of digital, social and economic dis/engagement as situated within a pandemic time–space that brought together the need for material labour, digital productivity and consumption. Ultimately, I argue that Tokyo 2020 represents a moment when digitality – presented as the ‘safe’ revolutionary solution – was weaponized, commodified and exploited by both the International Olympic Committee and Japan, as inter-related and mutually complicit forms of racialized digital engagement, both serving their own ‘project’ of economic, political and socio-cultural dominance.
Digital Engagements and Work–Life Balance in Creative Labour
Authors: Sezgin Serra
Published: January 2024

The change in the level and forms of digital engagement under pandemic conditions relates to transformation of the work–life balance in terms of organization of daily life – especially in creative labour, in which the distinctions between leisure and work are already blurred. This study aims to understand the transformation in the daily life of creative workers through the ‘new’ forms that digital engagement took during the pandemic. In this research, I took a self-reflective approach and used an autoethnographic method to understand the effects of digital engagement and its indicators in daily life as triggered by COVID-19, focusing on work–life balance. Reflecting on the impossibility of digital unavailability and work–life balance during the pandemic, this study frames a critical discussion on the viability of opting out of digital technologies/networks as a right that should be defended especially by creative workers against flexible capitalist exploitation in every aspect of our lives.
Precision evaluation of Raman densimetry for carbon dioxide: improvement by correction for the drift effect
Authors: Yamamoto Junji , Hagiwara Yuuki
Published: January 2024

To evaluate the precision of the wavenumber difference between the two main Raman bands of CO2 (designated as Δ, an index of CO2 density), we performed theoretical calculations for the uncertainties of the peak positions of the CO2 Raman bands, and measured Raman spectra of CO2 under the conditions used for the calculations. The Δ precision improves with increased peak intensity, but the peak intensity–precision relation does not hold beyond an intensity threshold corresponding to the measurement time of 1–2 min. Correction for temporal variation of Δ by fitting a linear function to the data distribution improved the Δ precision to ±0.0005cm−1 at best, corresponding to CO2 density precision as ±0.00015g/cm3.
Design methodology for catadioptric zoom panoramic optical systems based on image plane bending matched correction
Authors: Liu ZhiYing , Jin ShaoKang , Huang YunHan , Liu SongKun
Published: January 2024

Zoom panoramic optical systems incorporate a panoramic peripheral vision zoom imaging function, enabling swift wide-area coarse and localized precise detection. These systems find applicability in examining pipes and other internal structures. This study centers on the catadioptric zoom panoramic optical system and its associated optical design method. A mathematical model of the front mirror was formulated based on the imaging relationship. Subsequently, the bending of the image plane of the front mirror was computed and simplified through curve fitting. The object surface bending of the zoom subsystem was established correspondingly, leveraging the solution for the mirror bending curve matched correction, culminating in deriving the initial structure of the zoom. Integrating the front mirror and zoom subsystems facilitated the comprehensive design realization of the catadioptric zoom panoramic optical system. A catadioptric zoom panoramic optical system was designed to validate the proposed design method. This study introduces a novel, to the best of our knowledge, conceptual approach to crafting catadioptric zoom panoramic optical systems.
Interactive four-level tripod configuration in Zeeman sublevels of 87Rb leads to power broadening immune electromagnetically induced transparency
Authors: Seth Priyabrata , Bhattacharyya Dipankar , Mallick Nawaz Sarif , De Sankar
Published: January 2024

We experimentally demonstrate double EIT resonances in a four-level tripod system, formed within the Zeeman sublevels of the F=2→F′=1 transition of 87Rb with co-propagating, phase coherent pump and probe beams. We observe two EIT peaks with unequal peak heights in the probe transmission signal. The larger peak exhibits linear power broadening with varying pump power and longitudinal magnetic field, while the smaller EIT peak, influenced by the earth’s non-zero transverse magnetic field, maintains a constant linewidth with power variation and shows mixed behavior with longitudinal magnetic field variation. Our analysis involves decomposing the tripod into two interacting Λ systems, highlighting the impact of this interaction on the weaker Λ system and its resulting immunity to power broadening. Theoretical simulations, based on steady-state solutions of density matrix equations, align well with experimental observations. We reveal that, in higher magnetic fields, the stronger Λ system dominates the weaker one, affecting its normal behavior, while in lower magnetic fields, power broadening is observed. This study has important applications in atom-based magnetometry and precision measurement. Further, the narrower linewidth of the smaller EIT peak can help with longer storage times in an atomic medium compared to the usual stronger Λ system.
Simplified expression for transverse mode instability threshold in high power fiber lasers
Authors: Li Haobo , Huang Liangjin , Wu Hanshuo , Wang Xiaolin , Zhou Pu
Published: January 2024

In this work, we propose an analytical expression for calculating the transverse mode instability (TMI) threshold power, which clearly shows the role of various fiber parameters and system parameters. The TMI threshold expression is obtained by solving the heat conduction equation and the nonlinear coupling equation using the fundamental mode fitted by Gaussian functions. The calculation results of the proposed TMI threshold expression are consistent with the experimental phenomena and simulation results from the well-recognized theoretical model. The influence of some special parameters on the TMI threshold and the power scaling is also investigated. This work will be helpful for fiber design and TMI mitigation of high-power fiber lasers.
On the imaging depth limit of photoacoustic tomography in the visible and first near-infrared windows
Authors: Liu Songde , Wang Tong , Zheng Xinye , Zhu Yunhao , Tian Chao
Published: January 2024

It is well known that photoacoustic tomography (PAT) can circumvent the photon scattering problem in optical imaging and achieve high-contrast and high-resolution imaging at centimeter depths. However, after two decades of development, the long-standing question of the imaging depth limit of PAT in biological tissues remains unclear. Here we propose a numerical framework for evaluating the imaging depth limit of PAT in the visible and the first near-infrared windows. The established framework simulates the physical process of PAT and consists of seven modules, including tissue modelling, photon transportation, photon to ultrasound conversion, sound field propagation, signal reception, image reconstruction, and imaging depth evaluation. The framework can simulate the imaging depth limits in general tissues, such as the human breast, the human abdomen-liver tissues, and the rodent whole body and provide accurate evaluation results. The study elucidates the fundamental imaging depth limit of PAT in biological tissues and can provide useful guidance for practical experiments.
Probing cell metabolism using the two-photon excitation autofluorescence lifetime of tryptophan
Authors: Wu Ting , Liao Jiuling , Xiang Feng , Yu Jia , Huo Yinwen , Gao Yufeng , Li Hui , Zheng Wei
Published: January 2024

Compared to intensity detection, fluorescence lifetime has the advantage of being unaffected by variations in excitation intensity, fluorophore concentration, or attenuation due to biological absorption and scattering. In this Letter, to the best of our knowledge, we present the use of the two-photon excitation autofluorescence lifetime imaging of tryptophan (TRP) to probe cell metabolism for the first time. Tests of pure chemical samples showed that the fluorescence lifetime of TRP was highly sensitive to changes in molecular conformation and the environment. In in vitro cell experiments, we successfully utilized the fluorescence lifetime of TRP to distinguish tumor cells from healthy cells, track the therapeutic effect of the tumor immunotherapy drug 1-MT for HeLa cells, and monitor cells in response to carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP)-induced cell apoptosis. These results reveal that the two-photon excitation autofluorescence lifetime of TRP could be a sensitive natural probe of cell metabolism in living cells.
Reduction of the two-photon temporal distinguishability for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution
Authors: Ge Haobo , Tomita Akihisa , Okamoto Atsushi , Ogawa Kazuhisa
Published: January 2024

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) has been proven to protect legitimate users from attacks against measurement devices. The MDI-QKD requires that the two photons arriving at the instrument be indistinguishable. Precise time control is required to eliminate the distinguishability due to differences in photon arrival times. In the conventional methods, the time difference between photons is measured at a measuring instrument (Charlie), and a control signal is transmitted to the users (Alice and Bob). However, this method requires a long feedback loop, and the control may become unstable for long-distance transmission. This article proposes a method in which the photon arrival time difference is detected and controlled at Charlie. The reference signal for the time control is generated by an optical frequency comb in synchronization with the quantum signal. Therefore, the quantum signal photons can also be synchronized by synchronizing the reference signal pulses. A proof-of-principle experiment confirmed that the time synchronization accuracy required for protocol execution could be obtained. This proposal simplifies the implementation of the MDI-QKD.
Vortex ring reconnections in elliptic Gaussian beams
Authors: Kulchukova Zhamila , Desyatnikov Anton S.
Published: January 2024

We study theoretically accessible optical vortex rings and their topological transformations in superpositions of elliptic and astigmatic Gaussian beams with a plane wave. We demonstrate the birth and death of vortex rings at isolated points on and off the optical axis and their pairwise and higher-order three- and four-ring reconnections.
Supercharged two-dimensional tweezer array with more than 1000 atomic qubits
Authors: Pause Lars , Sturm Lukas , Mittenbühler Marcel , Amann Stephan , Preuschoff Tilman , Schäffner Dominik , Schlosser Malte , Birkl Gerhard
Published: January 2024

We report on the realization of a large-scale quantum-processing architecture surpassing the tier of 1000 atomic qubits. By tiling multiple microlens-generated tweezer arrays, each operated by an independent laser source, we can eliminate laser-power limitations in the number of allocatable qubits. Already with two separate arrays, we implement combined 2D configurations of 3000 qubit sites with a mean number of 1167(46) single-atom quantum systems. The transfer of atoms between the two arrays is achieved with high efficiency. Thus, supercharging one array designated as the quantum processing unit with atoms from the secondary array significantly increases the number of qubits and the initial filling fraction. This drastically enlarges attainable qubit cluster sizes and success probabilities allowing us to demonstrate the defect-free assembly of clusters of up to 441 qubits with persistent stabilization at a near-unity filling fraction over tens of detection cycles. The presented method substantiates neutral atom quantum information science by facilitating configurable geometries of highly scalable quantum registers with immediate application in Rydberg-state-mediated quantum simulation, fault-tolerant universal quantum computation, quantum sensing, and quantum metrology.
Tailoring upconversion fluorescence of lanthanide doped nanocrystals by coupling to single microcavity mode with specific symmetry
Authors: Zeng Jiujie , Wu Chuangxin , Zhan Shipin , Liu Yunxin
Published: January 2024

Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles have unique optical properties that can absorb low-energy infrared photons and then emit higher-energy visible ones, which have been widely used for advanced optical sensors and fluorescent probes. Efficiently tailoring the upconversion emission is desirable for meeting the wavelength requirement in various application fields. However, up to now, optimizing the composition combining with core/shell structure is still the predominant way to reach this goal. Here, we show that the relative intensities of the emission peaks of upconverting nanoparticles can be tuned by coupling to single microcavity mode with specific symmetry. Theoretical calculation based on the finite-difference method in time-domain (FDTD) indicates that the symmetries of the microcavity modes dominate their resonant absorption properties in the visible region. As a result, the upconversion emission peaks vary in these microcavities with different symmetries. This route can be developed for tailoring the emission spectra of other luminescent materials, such as quantum dots and fluorescent dyes.
A systematic scoping review of latent class analysis applied to accelerometry-assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior
Authors: Kebede Michael , Howard Annie Green , Ren Yumeng , Anuskiewicz Blake , Di Chongzhi , Troester Melissa A. , Evenson Kelly R.
Published: January 2024

Background

Latent class analysis (LCA) identifies distinct groups within a heterogeneous population, but its application to accelerometry-assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior has not been systematically explored. We conducted a systematic scoping review to describe the application of LCA to accelerometry.

Methods

Comprehensive searches in PubMed, Web of Science, CINHAL, SPORTDiscus, and Embase identified studies published through December 31, 2021. Using Covidence, two researchers independently evaluated inclusion criteria and discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Studies with LCA applied to accelerometry or combined accelerometry/self-reported measures were selected. Data extracted included study characteristics and both accelerometry and LCA methods.

Results

Of 2555 papers found, 66 full-text papers were screened, and 12 papers (11 cross-sectional, 1 cohort) from 8 unique studies were included. Study sample sizes ranged from 217–7931 (mean 2249, standard deviation 2780). Across 8 unique studies, latent class variables included measures of physical activity (100%) and sedentary behavior (75%). About two-thirds (63%) of the studies used accelerometry only and 38% combined accelerometry and self-report to derive latent classes. The accelerometer-based variables in the LCA model included measures by day of the week (38%), weekday vs. weekend (13%), weekly average (13%), dichotomized minutes/day (13%), sex specific z-scores (13%), and hour-by-hour (13%). The criteria to guide the selection of the final number of classes and model fit varied across studies, including Bayesian Information Criterion (63%), substantive knowledge (63%), entropy (50%), Akaike information criterion (50%), sample size (50%), Bootstrap likelihood ratio test (38%), and visual inspection (38%). The studies explored up to 5 (25%), 6 (38%), or 7+ (38%) classes, ending with 3 (50%), 4 (13%), or 5 (38%) final classes.

Conclusions

This review explored the application of LCA to physical activity and sedentary behavior and identified areas of improvement for future studies leveraging LCA. LCA was used to identify unique groupings as a data reduction tool, to combine self-report and accelerometry, and to combine different physical activity intensities and sedentary behavior in one LCA model or separate models.
Host-defense piscidin peptides as antibiotic adjuvants against Clostridioides difficile
Authors: Oludiran Adenrele , Malik Areej , Zourou Andriana C. , Wu Yonghan , Gross Steven P. , Siryapon Albert , Poudel Asia , Alleyne Kwincy , Adams Savion , Courson David S. , Cotten Myriam L. , Purcell Erin B.
Published: January 2024

The spore-forming intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile causes multidrug resistant infection with a high rate of recurrence after treatment. Piscidins 1 (p1) and 3 (p3), cationic host defense peptides with micromolar cytotoxicity against C. difficile, sensitize C. difficile to clinically relevant antibiotics tested at sublethal concentrations. Both peptides bind to Cu2+ using an amino terminal copper and nickel binding motif. Here, we investigate the two peptides in the apo and holo states as antibiotic adjuvants against an epidemic strain of C. difficile. We find that the presence of the peptides leads to lower doses of metronidazole, vancomycin, and fidaxomicin to kill C. difficile. The activity of metronidazole, which targets DNA, is enhanced by a factor of 32 when combined with p3, previously shown to bind and condense DNA. Conversely, the activity of vancomycin, which acts at bacterial cell walls, is enhanced 64-fold when combined with membrane-active p1-Cu2+. As shown through microscopy monitoring the permeabilization of membranes of C. difficile cells and vesicle mimics of their membranes, the adjuvant effect of p1 and p3 in the apo and holo states is consistent with a mechanism of action where the peptides enable greater antibiotic penetration through the cell membrane to increase their bioavailability. The variations in effects obtained with the different forms of the peptides reveal that while all piscidins generally sensitize C. difficile to antibiotics, co-treatments can be optimized in accordance with the underlying mechanism of action of the peptides and antibiotics. Overall, this study highlights the potential of antimicrobial peptides as antibiotic adjuvants to increase the lethality of currently approved antibiotic dosages, reducing the risk of incomplete treatments and ensuing drug resistance.
A scoping review on the use of different blood sources and components in the artificial membrane feeding system and its effects on blood-feeding and fecundity rate of Aedes aegypti
Authors: Suresh Yuvaraahnee , Azil Aishah Hani , Abdullah Syamsa Rizal
Published: January 2024

In some laboratories, mosquitoes’ direct blood-feeding on live animals has been replaced with various membrane blood-feeding systems. The selection of blood meal sources used in membrane feeding is crucial in vector mass rearing as it influences the mosquitoes’ development and reproductive fitness. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to evaluate the existing literature on the use of different blood sources and components in artificial membrane feeding systems and their effects on blood-feeding and the fecundity rate of Ae. aegypti. A literature review search was conducted by using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-ScR). The EndNote version 20 software was used to import all searched articles. Relevant information was retrieved for analysis into a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. A total of 104 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility criteria, whereby the articles should include the comparison between different types of blood source by using the membrane feeding systems. Only 16 articles were finally included in the analysis. Several studies had reported that human blood was superior in blood-feeding Ae. aegypti as compared to sheep blood which resulted in lower fecundity due to accumulation of free fatty acids (FFA) in the cuticles. In contrast, cattle whole blood and pig whole blood showed no significant differences in the blood-feeding and fecundity rate as compared to human blood. This review also indicated that bovine whole blood and pig whole blood enhanced Ae. aegypti’s vitellogenesis and egg production as compared to plasma and blood cells. In addition, human blood of up to 10 days after the expiration date could still be used to establish Ae. aegypti colonies with good blood-feeding rates and number of eggs produced. Thus, future studies must consider the importance of selecting suitable blood sources and components for membrane blood feeding especially in mosquito colonisation and control measure studies.
Investigation of the functional impact of CHED- and FECD4-associated SLC4A11 mutations in human corneal endothelial cells
Authors: Chung Doug D. , Chen Angela C. , Choo Charlene H. , Zhang Wenlin , Williams Dominic , Griffis Christopher G. , Bonezzi Paul , Jatavallabhula Kavya , Sampath Alapakkam P. , Aldave Anthony J.
Published: January 2024

Mutations in the solute linked carrier family 4 member 11 (SLC4A11) gene are associated with congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy (CHED) and Fuchs corneal endothelial dystrophy type 4 (FECD4), both characterized by corneal endothelial cell (CEnC) dysfunction and/or cell loss leading to corneal edema and visual impairment. In this study, we characterize the impact of CHED-/FECD4-associated SLC4A11 mutations on CEnC function and SLC4A11 protein localization by generating and comparing human CEnC (hCEnC) lines expressing wild type SLC4A11 (SLC4A11WT) or mutant SLC4A11 harboring CHED-/FECD4-associated SLC4A11 mutations (SLC4A11MU). SLC4A11WT and SLC4A11MU hCEnC lines were generated to express either SLC4A11 variant 2 (V2WT and V2MU) or variant 3 (V3WT and V3MU), the two major variants expressed in ex vivo hCEnC. Functional assays were performed to assess cell barrier, proliferation, viability, migration, and NH3-induced membrane conductance. We demonstrate SLC4A11-/- and SLC4A11MU hCEnC lines exhibited increased migration rates, altered proliferation and decreased cell viability compared to SLC4A11WT hCEnC. Additionally, SLC4A11-/- hCEnC demonstrated decreased cell-substrate adhesion and membrane capacitances compared to SLC4A11WT hCEnC. Induction with 10mM NH4Cl led SLC4A11WT hCEnC to depolarize; conversely, SLC4A11-/- hCEnC hyperpolarized and the majority of SLC4A11MU hCEnC either hyperpolarized or had minimal membrane potential changes following NH4Cl induction. Immunostaining of primary hCEnC and SLC4A11WT hCEnC lines for SLC4A11 demonstrated predominately plasma membrane staining with poor or partial colocalization with mitochondrial marker COX4 within a subset of punctate subcellular structures. Overall, our findings suggest CHED-associated SLC4A11 mutations likely lead to hCEnC dysfunction, and ultimately CHED, by interfering with cell migration, proliferation, viability, membrane conductance, barrier function, and/or cell surface localization of the SLC4A11 protein in hCEnC. Additionally, based on their similar subcellular localization and exhibiting similar cell functional profiles, protein isoforms encoded by SLC4A11 variant 2 and variant 3 likely have highly overlapping functional roles in hCEnC.
Comparing the performance of statistical, machine learning, and deep learning algorithms to predict time-to-event: A simulation study for conversion to mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Billichová Martina , Coan Lauren Joyce , Czanner Silvester , Kováčová Monika , Sharifian Fariba , Czanner Gabriela
Published: January 2024

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a condition characterized by a decline in cognitive abilities, specifically in memory, language, and attention, that is beyond what is expected due to normal aging. Detection of MCI is crucial for providing appropriate interventions and slowing down the progression of dementia. There are several automated predictive algorithms for prediction using time-to-event data, but it is not clear which is best to predict the time to conversion to MCI. There is also confusion if algorithms with fewer training weights are less accurate. We compared three algorithms, from smaller to large numbers of training weights: a statistical predictive model (Cox proportional hazards model, CoxPH), a machine learning model (Random Survival Forest, RSF), and a deep learning model (DeepSurv). To compare the algorithms under different scenarios, we created a simulated dataset based on the Alzheimer NACC dataset. We found that the CoxPH model was among the best-performing models, in all simulated scenarios. In a larger sample size (n = 6,000), the deep learning algorithm (DeepSurv) exhibited comparable accuracy (73.1%) to the CoxPH model (73%). In the past, ignoring heterogeneity in the CoxPH model led to the conclusion that deep learning methods are superior. We found that when using the CoxPH model with heterogeneity, its accuracy is comparable to that of DeepSurv and RSF. Furthermore, when unobserved heterogeneity is present, such as missing features in the training, all three models showed a similar drop in accuracy. This simulation study suggests that in some applications an algorithm with a smaller number of training weights is not disadvantaged in terms of accuracy. Since algorithms with fewer weights are inherently easier to explain, this study can help artificial intelligence research develop a principled approach to comparing statistical, machine learning, and deep learning algorithms for time-to-event predictions.
Characteristics and burden of acute COVID-19 and long-COVID: Demographic, physical, mental health, and economic perspectives
Authors: Leitner Manuel , Pötz Gloria , Berger Martin , Fellner Maria , Spat Stephan , Koini Marisa
Published: January 2024

Background

COVID-19 infection and its associated consequence, known as long-COVID, lead to a significant burden on the global healthcare system and limitations in people’s personal and work lives. This study aims to provide further insight into the impact of acute and ongoing COVID-19 symptoms and investigates the role of patients’ gender and vaccination status.

Methods

416 individuals (73.9% female) between the ages of 16 and 80 years (M = 44.18, SD = 12.90) with self-reported symptoms of long-COVID participated in an online survey conducted between March and May 2022.

Results

6.0%, 74.3%, and 19.7% of all respondents reported having had an asymptomatic, mild, or severe acute illness, respectively. Out of all participants, 7.8% required hospitalization. The most prevalent symptoms during the acute infection (Mdn = 23.50 symptoms, IQR = 13–39) included fatigue, exhaustion, cough, brain fog, and memory problems. The median long-COVID disease duration was 12.10 months (IQR = 2.8–17.4). Among 64 inquired long-COVID symptoms (Mdn = 17.00 symptoms, IQR = 9–27), participants reported fatigue, exhaustion, memory problems, brain fog, and dyspnea as the most common ongoing symptoms, which were generally experienced as fluctuating and deteriorating after physical or cognitive activity. Common consequences of long-COVID included financial losses (40.5%), changes in the participants’ profession (41.0%), stress resistance (87.5%), sexual life (38.1%), and mood (72.1%), as well as breathing difficulties (41.3%), or an increased drug intake (e.g., medicine, alcohol; 44.6%). In addition, vaccinated individuals exhibited a shorter acute illness duration and an earlier onset of long-COVID symptoms. In general, women reported more long-COVID symptoms than men.

Conclusion

Long-COVID represents a heterogeneous disease and impacts multiple life aspects of those affected. Tailored rehabilitation programs targeting the plurality of physical and mental symptoms are needed.
La irrupción de la Guerra del Pacífico en El Comercio (La Paz, Bolivia, 1879)
Authors: Soto Lara José Julián , Villar Aguirre Brenda Melissa
Published: January 2024

Se analiza el discurso de El Comercio durante la Guerra del Pacífico. La premisa teórica del abordaje sugiere que este medio fue un actor político nacionalista que influyó en la representación de los acontecimientos. Para probar esta conjetura se configuró una muestra con las noticias publicadas entre enero y mayo de 1879. Los resultados permitieron concluir que El Comercio instituyó un imaginario anti-chileno total, envileciendo a la clase política y al pueblo chileno.
Un análisis integrado entre la calidad de vida y las necesidades de apoyo de personas adultas con discapacidad intelectual en Chile
Authors: Vega Córdova Vanessa , González-Carrasco Félix , Álvarez-Aguado Izaskun , Espinosa Parra Felipe , González-Yáñez Maite , Spencer González Herbert , Jarpa Azagra Marcela
Published: January 2024

El paradigma de apoyos y el de calidad de vida se han transformado en guías fundamentales para los avances en el ámbito de la discapacidad intelectual (DI). Con base en una muestra de 93 personas adultas con DI, se analiza, desde un enfoque cuantitativo no experimental, la relación entre la calidad de vida y las necesidades de apoyo, aplicando la escala INICO-FEAPS y la escala de Intensidad de Apoyos (SIS) para cada constructo. Los principales resultados evidencian que existe una relación fuerte e indirecta entre calidad de vida y necesidades de apoyos, y también la relevancia de analizar dichos resultados desde variables como grado de discapacidad, sexo o nivel socioeconómico. La discusión permite inferir la necesidad de discutir nuevas estrategias en torno a categorías como el grado de discapacidad, la autodeterminación e inclusión social, como elementos facilitadores de la calidad de vida y apoyos desde un enfoque integral que contribuya al desarrollo de estrategias de programas sociales para la población con DI.
Desarrollo de la comprensión emocional. ¿Qué tipo de tecnología para qué alumno con trastorno del espectro autista? Revisión sistemática
Authors: Gómez León M.ª Isabel
Published: January 2024

La falta de información sobre el uso de la tecnología en niños con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) de diferentes perfiles puede dificultar que docentes y alumnos se estén beneficiando del apoyo tecnológico más eficaz y ajustado a sus necesidades. El objetivo de esta revisión fue analizar y sintetizar la evidencia científica sobre la eficacia de los recursos tecnológicos en la mejora de la comprensión emocional de estudiantes con TEA con perfiles de alto y bajo funcionamiento. Para ello se realizó una revisión sistemática de las publicaciones científicas indexadas en algunas de las bases de datos de mayor relevancia siguiendo los criterios establecidos en la declaración PRISMA. En total se analizaron 38 artículos que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión preestablecidos. Los resultados muestran la importancia de diseñar sistemas versátiles que puedan personalizarse y adaptarse en tiempo real y en contextos naturales con un enfoque claramente inclusivo. Pero también sugieren que la tecnología puede no ser una herramienta de intervención complementaria adecuada para todos los niños con TEA. Lo que subraya la necesidad de ensayos adicionales bien controlados sobre las características que permitan identificar qué estudiantes podrían o no beneficiarse de diferentes modalidades de tecnología.
The Varieties of Ostensive Experience
Authors: Debies-Carl Jeffrey S.
Published: January 2024

This chapter establishes the conceptual groundwork for understanding legend trips. In doing so, it outlines how legends can become reality through ostension: influencing people’s behaviors and society itself. It first introduces “ostension” as a framework through which to understand legend trips and then examines the various forms ostension takes, drawing on examples ranging from the Satanic Panic to the Chupacabra. Next, it considers how researchers often compare legend trips to rites of passage or pilgrimages, presents shortcomings with this approach, and suggests modifications to this perspective. It argues that legend tripping does not fit a single mode of ostension. Moreover, although conceptualizing legend trips as rites of passage is useful, it is also problematic. Unravelling these problems provides insights into legend tripping in the modern world. The chapter concludes by presenting a revised model for the stages that comprise legend trips, around which the remainder of the book is organized.
The Return
Authors: Debies-Carl Jeffrey S.
Published: January 2024

Following an apparently paranormal encounter during a legend trip, participants typically become unsettled and flee. This chapter explores how this process is consistent across accounts and investigates why and how it occurs. First, it reexamines the role of crossing liminal boundaries and considers how the overall process is a mirror image of the preparatory activities and mobilities that precede arrival at legend sites. Then, it analyzes the subjective nature of anomalous experiences and how, because of their disorienting characteristics, legend trippers flee from these encounters across that boundary. Simultaneously, the experience is not entirely negative, but can even present a sense of quasi-religious profundity. Many things that can go wrong during this stage are also considered, such as how rituals meant to dispel supernatural threats might instead exacerbate them. These problems reveal how the place of legend trips in modern society might differ from traditional rites of passage.
The Past and Future of Legend Tripping
Authors: Debies-Carl Jeffrey S.
Published: January 2024

This chapter concludes by answering several questions about legend trips and offering new ones: What exactly is legend tripping all about? Why has this interest in the paranormal become so popular? Given the effort involved and the uncertain award that awaits at the end of it, why would anyone bother going on one? Additionally, it considers the bigger picture of why confusion and debate surrounding legend trips is so prevalent and why the fundamental meaning of the endeavor itself is so unclear. It will also explain why the popularity of this activity has grown and why this growth is related to legend tripping’s imperfect approximation of a rite of passage. These patterns reveal not only the significance of legend tripping to the modern age, but also reflect important social changes that have occurred in society itself, such as an emphasis on individualism and fascination with contemporary legends like conspiracy theories.
Early Modern Special Snowflakes
Authors: Hoffmann Christine
Published: January 2024

This chapter attempts to reclaim the snowflake definition as a character trait and a constructive, critically posthumanist ethos. It examines the snowflake insult as the tentative embrace of a subject position disencumbered by the privileges assumed to cooperate with cultural hegemony. The fleeting popularity of the snowflake insult is connected to the apprehension of unlearning the normative expectation of self-worth. The chapter cites that survival narratives are often more concerned with defining zones of interest in life that preserve the hierarchies of values in which humans are presently invested. It mentions the limitations of parochial narratives that imagine survival from a strictly human point of view.
Mothering the Storm
Authors: Morrison Jennifer , Ingram Shelley
Published: January 2024

This chapter looks into the key concepts of black girlhood and communal care within the literature of Hurricane Katrina narratives. According to Carl Lindahl, trauma survivors place great importance on their ownership of their own stories. The chapter cites that the country had to grapple with images of Black despair because of the extensive tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Since Hurricane Katrina was an event that exposed the most vulnerable citizens of the Gulf South, Black writers used the symbolic power of the hurricane to explore both the tension and the profound affinity between Black girlhood, mothering, and community. The chapter explains the mythic, metaphorical power of storms to posit a future of power agency and resistance to white supremacy.
“You Don’t Need a Weatherman”
Authors: Deutsch James I.
Published: January 2024

This chapter provides an overview of the notion of Bob Dylan's windlore. It explains how Dylan repeatedly used the imagery of wind and weather for the lyrics of his song. Thus, the wind in Dylan's lyrics becomes a metaphorical commentary on his life, his art, and his identity. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Dylan pointed out that the themes of Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Odyssey have made their way into many of his songs. The chapter argues that people do not need to be a weatherman to appreciate and understand the literary prose of windlore within Dylan's best and most enduring work.
Language, Authenticity, and Representation in Dutch Caribbean Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Authors: Cornet Florencia V.
Published: January 2024

This chapter provides a brief overview of children’s and young adult literature from the Dutch Caribbean. The focus is primarily on literature from Curaçao but extends into works produced by writers from Aruba, Bonaire, and Sint Maarten. The intention is to capture an “authentic” ontology in Dutch Caribbean children’s and young adult literature by tracing the past and present cultural aesthetics presented in the works by writers who originate from these islands. Ultimately, the chapter introduces the aesthetic consciousness of a postcolonial people still grappling with a linguistic and cultural identity tacitly still informed by “the gaze” of the metropolis. Dutch Caribbean writers of children’s and young adult literature negotiate the coloniality of power and seek to introduce a subjectivity and “living culture” sensed and authorized on Dutch Caribbean soil. Authors covered include Miep Diekmann, Diana Lebacs, and Loekie Morales. Literary languages of books covered Papiamentu/o, Spanish, Dutch, and English.
Children’s Literature and the Theme of Childhood in the Francophone Caribbean An Overview
Authors: Hardwick Louise
Published: January 2024

This chapter discusses the Francophone Caribbean—Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti – focusing on the 1990s onwards. It contextualizes the emergence of children’s literature in this region and identifies major themes such as race, identity, diaspora, immigration, gender, in addition to the style and aesthetics of publications for children and young adults. It also argues that in the Francophone Caribbean, there is a remarkable slippage between children’s literature and literature about childhood written in the genre of the récit d’enfance, or childhood memoir: almost every prominent contemporary Francophone Caribbean novelist has engaged with childhood. After establishing the significance of Zobel’s foundational childhood memoir La Rue Cases-Nègres (Black Shack Alley, 1950) for this modern trend, the essay explores “major” contemporary authors such as Maryse Condé, Gisèle Pineau, Patrick Chamoiseau, and Dany Laferrière, while also devoting space to local authors and grassroots initiatives of relevance for the circulation and consolidation of Francophone Caribbean cultural responses to childhood.
Before and After the Revolution An Exploration of the Trajectory of Cuban Children’s Literature
Authors: Frade Zeila
Published: January 2024

The abrupt transition from the Republic (1902-1958) to the Revolution in 1959 caused cultural, social, and political changes in Cuba that shaped and affected the literary production for children. Through a chronological approach, this chapter explores the drastic shift of themes, tone, and narrative styles among the different generations of authors who write children’s literature in pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba. This text analyzes how sociological and cultural factors directly affected the representation and creation of national identity and the function of ideology in the writing of the most significant authors of children’s literature of each period in relation to their particular social and political circumstances.
Blackness, Imperialism, and Nationalism in Dominican Children’s Literature
Authors: Creech Stacy Ann
Published: January 2024

From pre-Columbian times through to the twentieth century, Dominican children’s literature has struggled to define itself due to pressures from outside forces such as imperialism and colonialism. This paper examines the socio-political contexts within Dominican history, including the impact of Spanish colonization, US intervention, the reign of Rafael Trujillo, and anti-Haitian racism, that determined the kind of literature available to children; it almost exclusively depicted representations of children with indigenous, European, and Anglo-American roots, ignoring then the nation’s African-informed heritage. After the Educational Reform of 1993 was instituted, however, there has been a promising change in the field, as Dominican writers are engaged in producing literature for young people that includes more accurate representations of blackness and multiculturalism. Native Dominican folktales, short stories, and novellas that include diverse representations of the nation’s African ancestry. Contemporary writers addressed include Eleanor Grimaldi Silié and Rafael Peralta Romero.
A Brief History of Costa Rican Children’s Literature
Authors: Gonz Ann
Published: January 2024

The essay provides a chronology for the development of children’s literature in Costa Rica. In addition, it argues that this body of texts subtly resists the popular notion of Costa Rican identity as a homogeneous population of simple white farmers descended from European colonists by including characters of indigenous and African descent. Costa Rican children’s literature has flourished over the last half century and continues to broaden the spectrum of inclusion in the national self-image by confronting gender issues, sexist stereotypes, ableist expectations, and colonial paradigms. Authors of Caribbean ancestry living on the Atlantic Coast, such as Quince Duncan, have made significant contributions to its literary history.
Tradition and Modernity
Authors: Sands-O’Connor Karen
Published: January 2024

This chapter examines the life and work of Trinidadian-born Black British librarian Grace Hallworth. Hallworth, who turned from librarianship and storytelling to writing and publishing folk rhymes, stories and singing games for children, attempted to bring the oral tradition of the Caribbean to Black children growing up in Britain through children’s literature. In doing so, she valued the many languages and heritages of the Caribbean, particularly her home country of Trinidad. At the same time, Hallworth presents a vision of the Caribbean that is distinctly modern in order to erase stereotypes of the Caribbean as underdeveloped or uncivilized, and thereby welcome the Black British reader into the world of books. Books covered include Listen to This Story: Tales from the West Indies (1977); Buy a Penny Ginger (1994); Cric Crac: A Collection of West Indian Stories (1990); and Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games and Songs for Children(1996).