bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficient simulation of near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) in density-functional theory: Comparison of core-level constraining approaches
Authors: Michelitsch Georg S. , Reuter Karsten
Published: February 2019

Widely employed Near-Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy probes a system by excitation of core electrons to unoccupied states. A variety of different methodologies are available to simulate corresponding spectra from first-principles. Core-level occupation constraints within ground-state Density-Functional Theory represent a numerically most efficient means to this end that provides access to large systems, examples being surface adsorption, proteins, polymers, liquids, and buried, condensed phase interfaces (e.g., solid-liquid and solid-solid). Here, we systematically investigate the performance of different realizations of this approximate approach through the simulation of K-edge NEXAFS-spectra of a set of carbon and nitrogen-containing organic molecules. Variational collapse to the ground state and oscillatory convergence are the major complications of these approximate computational protocols. We present a modified version of the maximum-overlap method to achieve a self-consistent inclusion of electrons in virtual states for systems where convergence is hampered due to degeneracies. Our results demonstrate that reliable spectra allowing for a semi-quantitative analysis of experimental data are already obtained at the semi-local level of density functionals and with standard numeric atomic orbital basis sets.
Size-selected anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory study of MnCn−/0 (n = 3-10): Odd-even alternation and linear-cyclic structure competition
Authors: Xu Xi-Ling , Yang Bin , Zhang Chao-Jiang , Xu Hong-Guang , Zheng Wei-Jun
Published: February 2019

The structural and electronic properties of MnCn− (n = 3-10) clusters have been investigated using size-selected photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. The vertical detachment energies of MnCn− exhibit a strong odd-even alternation with increasing number of carbon atoms: the vertical detachment energies of MnCn− containing even number of carbon atoms are higher than those of adjacent ones containing odd number of carbon atoms. The theoretical analyses indicate that the spin multiplicities and relative stabilities of MnCn−/0 also exhibit odd-even alternations. It is found that MnC3− has three degenerate isomers with two linear structures in different electronic states and one fanlike structure. For n = 4-6, 8, and 10, the ground state structures are all linear with the Mn atom at one end. MnC7− and MnC9− have cyclic structures. As for the neutral species, MnC3 and MnC4 adopt fan-shaped structures, MnC5 has a linear structure, and MnC6-10 have cyclic configurations. The atomic dipole moment corrected Hirshfeld population analysis shows that the electrons transfer from the Mn atom to the Cn units. The total spin magnetic moments of MnCn−/0 (n = 3-10) clusters are mainly contributed by the local magnetic moments on the Mn atom.
Use of Cernox thermometers in AC specific heat measurements under pressure
Authors: Gati Elena , Drachuck Gil , Xiang Li , Wang Lin-Lin , Bud’ko Sergey L. , Canfield Paul C.
Published: February 2019

We report on the resistance behavior of bare-chip Cernox thermometers under pressures up to 2 GPa, generated in a piston-cylinder pressure cell. Our results clearly show that Cernox thermometers, frequently used in low-temperature experiments due to their high sensitivity, remain highly sensitive even under applied pressure. We show that these thermometers are therefore ideally suited for measurements of heat capacity under pressure utilizing an ac oscillation technique up to at least 150 K. Our Cernox-based system is very accurate in determining changes in the specific heat as a function of pressure as demonstrated by measurements of the heat capacity on three different test cases: (i) the superconducting transition in elemental Pb (Tc = 7.2 K), (ii) the antiferromagnetic transition in the rare-earth compound GdNiGe3 (TN = 26 K), and (iii) the structural/magnetic transition in the iron-pnictide BaFe2As2 (Ts,N = 130 K). The chosen examples demonstrate the versatility of our technique for measuring the specific heat under the pressure of various condensed-matter systems with very different transition temperatures as well as amounts of removed entropy.
First principles study of the electronic and magnetic properties of (Co,Ga) co-doped LiNbO3
Authors: Lin Long , Huang Jingtao , Yu Weiyang , Zhu Linghao , Wang Pengtao , Xu Yonghao , Tao Hualong , Zhang Zhanying
Published: February 2019

Based on the density functional theory first-principles method, we have investigated the electronic structures and magnetic properties of Co mono-doped and (Co,Ga) co-doped LiNbO3 systems. The results demonstrate that Co mono-doped LiNbO3 favors a spin-polarized state. The total magnetic moment is 2.04μB, and the doped Co atom provides magnetic moments of 1.05μB. It is found that the 2Co doped LiNbO3 system is ferromagnetic at room temperature with ΔEFM of −34.6meV. Furthermore, for the (Co,Ga) co-doped LiNbO3 system, the ferromagnetic state is more stable than the anti-ferromagnetic state with ΔEFM of −172.4meV. It is intriguing that the ferromagnetic stability is increased significantly. Although Ga itself has no contribution to the magnetic moments, (Co,Ga) co-doped LiNbO3 can induce spin-polarization. These results provide a new route for the potential applications of dilute magnetic semiconductors in spintronic devices by employing (Co,Ga) co-doped LiNbO3.
Fabrication of L1-FeNi by pulsed-laser deposition
Authors: Saito Masahiro , Ito Hisaaki , Suzuki Yuta , Mizuguchi Masaki , Koganezawa Tomoyuki , Miyamachi Toshio , Komori Fumio , Takanashi Koki , Kotsugi Masato
Published: February 2019

We demonstrated the fabrication of a rare-earth-free ferromagnetic L10-type Fe–Ni alloy (L10-FeNi) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). We deposited Fe and Ni on Cu(001) by alternating monoatomic deposition via automatically stabilized laser ablation. We examined the structural properties, magnetic properties, and surface morphology of the alloy specimens as the growth temperature (Ts) was varied. We adequately confirmed the construction of the most prominent L10-FeNi phase at 300 °C, which is significantly higher than previously reported growth temperatures, indicating that PLD followed by thermal treatment promoted two-dimensional growth of the adsorbent. The formation process of L10-FeNi was investigated from the standpoint of surface thermodynamics, and the results suggest that the surface free energy of PLD and its highly instantaneous deposition process by PLD played key roles. Our findings are expected to lead to advanced methods for the fabrication of L10-FeNi.
Wavefunction of plasmon excitations with space charge effects
Authors: Akbari-Moghanjoughi M.
Published: February 2019

The one dimensional (1D) driven quantum coupled pseudoforce system governing the dynamics of collective Langmuir electron oscillations is used in order to investigate the effects of variety of space charge distributions on plasmon excitations of a nearly free electron gas with an arbitrary degree of degeneracy and electron fluid temperature. A generalized closed form analytic expression for the grand wavefunction of collective excitations in the presence of an arbitrary space charge distribution is presented based on the stationary solutions of the driven coupled pseudoforce system which has been derived from the Schrödinger-Poisson model. The wavefunction and electrostatic potential profiles for some special cases such as the Heaviside charge distribution, Dirac charge sheet, impurity charge sheet in the 1D plasmonic lattice, and the Kroning-Penney Dirac charge distributions with particular applications in plasmonics and condensed matter physics are investigated in this paper. It is remarkably found that two parallel Dirac charged sheets completely shield all interior plasmon excitations with any given energy value from outside electrostatic fields and charge densities. It is also found that the presence of even a weakly charged impurity layer within a perfect 1D plasmonic crystal profoundly alters the periodic electrostatic field of the crystal lattice, and hence, the Bloch character of the wavefunction is considered in the bandgap theory of solids. The current investigation of electron excitations in arbitrary degenerate electron gas in the presence of static charge distributions may be used to develop analytic models for a variety of real physical situations. It also helps in further developments of the rapidly growing fields of nanotechnology and plasmonics.
Role of epithelial–mesenchymal transition regulated by twist basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 2 (Twist2) in embryo implantation in mice
Authors: Gou Jinhai , Hu Tingwenyi , Li Lin , Xue Luqi , Zhao Xia , Yi Tao , Li Zhengyu
Published: February 2019

In a previous study we found the expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarkers, including E-cadherin and N-cadherin, was significantly altered in uterine endometrium during embryo implantation via regulation by microRNA (miRNA)-429 and protocadherin-8 (Pcdh8). As a natural continuation of the previous study, the aim of the present study was to explore the role of EMT during embryo implantation and the potential activity of twist basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 2 (Twist2) in regulating embryo implantation. A pregnancy model was established by naturally mating adult female ICR mice with fertile males. A pseudopregnancy model was established by mating fertile female ICR mice with vasectomised males. An invitro model of embryo implantation was established by the coculture of Ishikawa and JAR spheroids. Endometrial tissue during the peri-implantation period was collected, as were Ishikawa cells, JAR cells and cocultured cells. The expression of EMT markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin and cytokeratin) and Twist2 was detected invivo and invitro using the western blot analysis during embryo implantation. The expression of N-cadherin and vimentin (mesenchymal markers) was upregulated in the invitro implantation model, with downregulation of E-cadherin and cytokeratin (epithelial markers) expression. The expression of N-cadherin, vimentin and Twist2 increased significantly at the implantation sites at the time of implantation (Day 5), whereas the expression of E-cadherin and cytokeratin decreased. Location of Twist2 during embryo implantation was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), which revealed that it was extensively expressed in endometrial glandular epithelium and luminal epithelium at implantation sites on Day 5. The effect of the expression of Twist2 on embryo implantation was evaluated by suppressing Twist2 using Twist2-short interference (si) RNA in invivo and invitro models. The numbers of implanted embryos and the implantation rate were compared invivo and invitro. Western blot analysis showed that suppression of Twist2 led to upregulation of E-cadherin and cytokeratin, accompanied by downregulation of N-cadherin and vimentin (P<0.05). The number of implanted embryos after Twist2-siRNA interference was lower than in normal pregnancy (mean (±s.d.) 2.4±0.5 vs 6.8±1.3 respectively; P<0.05). These findings suggest the involvement of EMT in embryo implantation. The suppression of Twist2 could suppress embryo implantation by regulating EMT.
Dislocation densities in cold worked copper by electron and X-ray diffraction methods
Authors: Berecz Tibor
Published: February 2019

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray diffraction line profile analysis (XLPA) methods are suitable to determine dislocation densities within crystalline structures. A software was developed to obtain dislocation density from misorientations measured between the adjacent points by EBSD. However, this EBSD-based method can estimate only the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND), while XLPA method can give the total dislocation (TD) density. In this paper, GND densities are determined and compared them to the TD densities in as-received and severe plastic deformed copper samples. Based on these results, estimations are tested to provide reliable GND densities and to appreciate the applicability of this calculation method. Furthermore, correlations are found between TD densities and yield strengths estimated by hardness tests.
Martensitic transformation, crystal structure and shape memory effect in Ni55−xMn25Ga20Cox alloys
Authors: Brzoza A. , Sumara S. , Wierzbicka-Miernik A. , Maziarz W. , Szczerba M. J.
Published: February 2019

The effect of cobalt addition instead of nickel on the crystal structure, martensitic transformation behaviour and shape memory effect were investigated. Within the analysed range of chemical composition, a single non-modulated martensite was detected at ambient temperature. Cobalt addition modified the lattice parameters and, thus, affected the tetragonality of the martensite unit cell. The hysteresis of martensitic transformation was differently affected by the type of heat treatment applied. For furnace cooled samples, the hysteresis decreased from 50°C to 30°C; in the case of water quenched samples, the hysteresis sharply increased up to 60°C. The shape memory effect, measured as the recoverable strain upon annealing after compression tests, reached a fully recoverable deformation at 10 at.-% of cobalt.

This paper is part of a Thematic Issue on The Crystallographic Aspects of Metallic Alloys.
Identifying membrane-bound quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase from acetic acid bacteria that produce lactobionic and cellobionic acids
Authors: Kiryu Takaaki , Kiso Taro , Koma Daisuke , Tanaka Shigemitsu , Murakami Hiromi
Published: February 2019

Acetic acid bacteria are used in the commercial production of lactobionic acid (LacA). However, the lactose-oxidizing enzyme of these bacteria remains unidentified. Lactose-oxidizing activity has been detected in bacterial membrane fractions and is strongly inhibited by d-glucose, suggesting that the enzyme was a membrane-bound quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase, but these dehydrogenases have been reported to be incapable of oxidizing lactose. Thus, we generated m-GDH-overexpressing and -deficient strains of Komagataeibacter medellinensis NBRC3288 and investigated their lactose-oxidizing activities. Whereas the overexpressing variants produced ~2–5-fold higher amounts of LacA than the wild-type strains, the deficient variant produced no LacA or d-gluconic acid. Our results indicate that the lactose-oxidizing enzyme from acetic acid bacteria is membrane-bound quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase.

Abbreviations: LacA: lactobionic acid; AAB: acetic acid bacterium; m-GDH: membrane-bound quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase; DCIP: 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol; HPAEC-PAD: high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection
Novel tool to quantify cell wall porosity relates wall structure to cell growth and drug uptake
Authors: Liu Xiaohui , Li Jiazhou , Zhao Heyu , Liu Boyang , Günther-Pomorski Thomas , Chen Shaolin , Liesche Johannes
Published: February 2019

Even though cell walls have essential functions for bacteria, fungi, and plants, tools to investigate their dynamic structure in living cells have been missing. Here, it is shown that changes in the intensity of the plasma membrane dye FM4-64 in response to extracellular quenchers depend on the nano-scale porosity of cell walls. The correlation of quenching efficiency and cell wall porosity is supported by tests on various cell types, application of differently sized quenchers, and comparison of results with confocal, electron, and atomic force microscopy images. The quenching assay was used to investigate how changes in cell wall porosity affect the capability for extension growth in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Results suggest that increased porosity is not a precondition but a result of cell extension, thereby providing new insight on the mechanism plant organ growth. Furthermore, it was shown that higher cell wall porosity can facilitate the action of antifungal drugs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, presumably by facilitating uptake.
Unraveling the mechanisms of calcium-dependent secretion
Authors: Anantharam Arun , Kreutzberger Alex J.B.
Published: February 2019

Ca2+-dependent secretion is a process by which important signaling molecules that are produced within a cell—including proteins and neurotransmitters—are expelled to the extracellular environment. The cellular mechanism that underlies secretion is referred to as exocytosis. Many years of work have revealed that exocytosis in neurons and neuroendocrine cells is tightly coupled to Ca2+ and orchestrated by a series of protein–protein/protein–lipid interactions. Here, we highlight landmark discoveries that have informed our current understanding of the process. We focus principally on reductionist studies performed using powerful model secretory systems and cell-free reconstitution assays. In recent years, molecular cloning and genetics have implicated the involvement of a sizeable number of proteins in exocytosis. We expect reductionist approaches will be central to attempts to resolve their roles. The Journal of General Physiology will continue to be an outlet for much of this work, befitting its tradition of publishing strongly mechanistic, basic research.
Low-dose Methotrexate has Similar Outcomes to High-dose Methotrexate in Combination with Anti-TNF Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Authors: Borren Nienke Z , Luther Jay , Colizzo Francis P , Garber John G , Khalili Hamed , Ananthakrishnan Ashwin N
Published: February 2019

Background and Aims

Methotrexate [MTX] is a well-known immunomodulator in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] and is often combined with biologic agents. The ideal MTX dose for combination therapy has not been determined. This study aimed to investigate the effect of varying doses of MTX on efficacy and safety outcomes when used with anti-TNF agents in IBD.

Methods

This study included patients with Crohn’s disease [CD] or ulcerative colitis [UC] receiving care between January 2005 and June 2018. Low-dose MTX was defined as ≤12.5 mg/week and high-dose as >12.5 mg/week. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of need for IBD-related hospitalization or surgery, steroid initiation, or change of biologic agent within 1 year. Safety outcomes included side effects related to MTX, serious infections, malignancy, and need to discontinue MTX therapy within 1 year. Multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for relevant covariates were used to assess independent association between MTX dose and outcomes.

Results

Our study included 222 patients with IBD [163 CD, 59 UC]. Just under a third were receiving low-dose MTX [28%]. The primary efficacy composite outcome was noted in 75 patients [47%] in the high-dose MTX group compared with 23 patients [37%] in the low-dose MTX group [p = 0.15]. We found no significant associations between MTX dose and any side effect [odds ratio 1.59, 95% confidence interval 0.77–3.31, p = 0.21] or development of serious infections [odds ratio 1.19, 95% confidence interval 0.41–3.45, p = 0.76].

Conclusions

Low-dose and high-dose MTX combination therapy were equally effective, and no difference in infection or malignancy rates was observed.
Perceived Quality of Care is Associated with Disease Activity, Quality of Life, Work Productivity, and Gender, but not Disease Phenotype: A Prospective Study in a High-volume IBD Centre
Authors: Gonczi Lorant , Kurti Zsuzsanna , Verdon Christine , Reinglas Jason , Kohen Rita , Morin Isabelle , Chavez Kelly , Bessissow Talat , Afif Waqqas , Wild Gary , Seidman Ernest , Bitton Alain , Lakatos Peter L
Published: February 2019

Background and Aims

Measuring quality of care [QoC] in inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD] has become increasingly important, yet complex assessment of QoC from the patients’ perspective is rare. We evaluated perceived QoC using the Quality of Care Through the Patient’s Eyes—IBD [QUOTE-IBD] questionnaire, and investigated associations between QoC, disease phenotype, work productivity, and health-related quality of life [HRQoL] in a high-volume IBD centre.

Methods

Consecutive patients attending McGill University Health Centre [MUHC]–IBD Centre completed the QUOTE-IBD, Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire [SIBDQ], IBD-Control, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment [WPAI] questionnaires. The QUOTE-IBD comprises 23 questions, each rated by a quality impact [QI] score. QI scores were calculated for the evaluation of IBD specialists, general practitioners [GPs], and hospital care.

Results

In all, 525 patients completed the questionnaire. Total QI scores for IBD specialists, GPs, and hospital care were 8.57, 8.70, and 8.33, respectively. The lowest QI scores were related to ‘accessibility’ for both IBD specialists and GPs. Female gender, current disease activity, poor HRQoL [SIBDQ score ≤50], and poor disease control [IBD-Control score <13] were associated with lower mean QI scores [p <0.001 for all]. Disease phenotype was not associated with QI scores in either Crohn’s disease [CD] or ulcerative colitis [UC] [p = 0.69, p = 0.791, respectively]. An inverse correlation was found between total QI scores and work productivity loss [IBD specialist: p <0.001; GP: p = 0.004].

Conclusions

Overall patient satisfaction with QoC was good; however, improving patient accessibility to care is warranted. Disease phenotype was not associated with patient satisfaction, whereas female gender, current disease activity, HRQoL, and work productivity loss were associated with patients’ quality assessment, underlining that perceived QoC could be partly subjective regarding disease control and quality of life.
Associations between adolescent social phobia, sickness absence and unemployment: a prospective study of twins in Sweden
Authors: Amin Ridwanul , Svedberg Pia , Narusyte Jurgita
Published: February 2019

Background

Little is known about adolescent mental health problems, including social phobia, as risk factors for future work incapacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between social phobia in adolescence and unemployment and sickness absence (SA) in early adulthood, also evaluating the role of familial factors (genetics and shared environment).

Methods

A sample of 2845 Swedish twins born in 1985–86 in Sweden was followed longitudinally in the population-based and prospective Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development. Information on twins’ social phobia was collected at ages 13–4, 16–7 and 19–20 years. Logistic regression providing odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was used to analyze the associations between social phobia, unemployment and SA during the follow-up 2006–12. The influence of familial factors was evaluated by conditional logistic regression.

Results

Presence of social phobia during adolescence was associated with increased odds for unemployment and SA in young adulthood. For unemployment, the highest OR was at the age of 13–4 years (1.58 [95% CI: 1.22–2.06]), and the associations became null after adjusting for familial factors. For SA, the highest OR was at the age of 19–20 years (1.73 [95% CI: 1.13–2.65]), and the estimates changed slightly after adjusting for familial factors.

Conclusions

: Results suggest that social phobia experienced in adolescence contribute to early adulthood unemployment and SA. Familial factors seemed to explain the association between social phobia and unemployment.
Glucose causes primary necrosis in exponentially grown yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Valiakhmetov A Ya , Kuchin A V , Suzina N E , Zvonarev A N , Shepelyakovskaya A O
Published: February 2019

In this paper, we present data on sugar-induced cell death (SICD) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the exponential phase of growth. We suggest that the nature of SICD in exponentially grown yeast is primary necrosis, in contrast to cells in the stationary growth phase, which exhibit apoptotic SICD. The following findings confirm this conclusion: (i) the process rate; (ii) the impairments of plasma membrane integrity; (iii) the drastic morphological changes in the intracellular content; (iv) the absence of chromatin condensation; (v) the absence of externalization of phosphotidylserine (PS) on the outer leaflet of plasma membrane and (vi) the insensitivity of the SICD process to cycloheximide (CHX). Research shows that SICD occurs in a subpopulation of cells in the S-phase.
Enhancing healthy eating patterns among Hong Kong young adults
Authors: Kwok Sin Tung , Capra Sandra , Leveritt Michael
Published: February 2019

Every year, the majority of Hong Kong young adults who graduate from secondary school progress onto tertiary education. Poor eating patterns among young adults could lead to long-term health implications associated with overweight and obesity. Using the socio-ecological model as a theoretical framework, this paper reviews the current food-related policies in Hong Kong and proposes a comprehensive policy approach relevant to a variety of organizational contexts that has the potential to support positive eating patterns among young adults by enhancing the local food environment. Hong Kong has an unusual food supply in that more than 95% of food is imported, making it vulnerable to food insecurity. Education interventions commonly conducted in Hong Kong are unlikely to be helpful because young adults acquire nutrition-related knowledge when they attend secondary school. There is a need to change the food environment in Hong Kong so that young adults can easily translate their nutrition knowledge into making healthy food choices. Policy approaches might be among the most effective strategies for bringing positive changes in eating patterns because they have the potential to directly influence the food environment and context where an individual lives. A comprehensive suite of approaches that fill the policy gaps, remove barriers of healthy food consumption and create more healthy food choices is required to improve diet and health.
A new fast radio burst in the data sets containing the Lorimer burst
Authors: Zhang S-B , Hobbs G , Dai S , Toomey L , Staveley-Smith L , Russell C J , Wu X-F
Published: February 2019

We report the discovery of a new fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 010312, in archival data from a 1.4 GHz survey of the Magellanic Clouds using the multibeam receiver on the Parkes 64-m-diameter radio telescope. These data sets include the Lorimer burst (FRB 010724), which it pre-dates and which we also re-detect. The new burst has a much higher dispersion measure of 1187 cm−3 pc. The burst is one of the broadest found to date, the second earliest FRB known, and the ninth FRB discovered with a dispersion measure larger than 1000 cm$^{-3}\,$ pc. Our discovery indicates that there are likely to be more burst events still to be found in the existing Parkes data archive.
The Fight For Time
Authors: Apostolidis Paul
Published: February 2019

In today’s precarious world, working people’s experiences are becoming more alike even as their disparities sharpen. This book unfolds a critique of the precarity phenomenon by setting Latino day laborers’ commentaries in dialogue with critical social theory. The Fight for Time shows how migrant labor on society’s jagged edges relates to encompassing syndromes of precarity as both exception and synecdoche. Subjected to especially harsh treatment as unauthorized migrants, these workers also epitomize struggles that apply throughout the economy. Juxtaposing day laborers’ accounts of their desperate circumstances, dangerous jobs, and informal job-seeking with theoretical accounts of the forces fueling precaritization, The Fight for Time illuminates a schema of precarity defined by temporal contradiction. This “critical-popular” approach, informed by Paulo Freire’s popular-education theory, elicits resonances and dissonances between day laborers’ themes and scholars’ analyses of neoliberal crisis, the postindustrial work ethic, affective and digital labor, the racial governance of public spaces, occupational safety and health hazards, and self-undermining patterns of desire and personal responsibility among precaritized subjects. Day laborers offer language redolent with potential to catalyze social critique among migrant workers. They also clarify the terms of mass-scale opposition to precarity. Such a politics would demand restoration of workers’ stolen time, engage a fight for the city, challenge the conversion of capital risk into workers’ bodily vulnerability, and foment the refusal of work. Day laborers’ convivial politics through self-organized worker centers, furthermore, offers a powerful basis for renewing radical democratic theory and imagining a key practical innovation: worker centers for all working people.
Generative Themes
Authors: Apostolidis Paul
Published: February 2019

This chapter crafts a vision for social research that provokes critical opposition to the forces driving precaritization by drawing on popular education. Freire suggests that researchers should listen methodically for the “generative themes”—characteristic uses of language—through which oppressed people name their daily struggles. Folding such thematic inquiry into a broader approach called “critical-popular research” opens two complementary trajectories of social critique and political activation. As focal points for local popular-educational dialogues, such themes can spark critical awareness and practical resolve among the poor and excluded. A theme’s generative potential also springs from its resonances with existing critical-theoretical accounts of general social tendencies that affect certain groups especially harshly but also implicate working people at large. In association with a politics of the “demand,” critical-popular research can invite affective, reflective, and practical responses that combine militancy with receptivity and challenge precarity on multiple levels.
Fighting for the Job
Authors: Apostolidis Paul
Published: February 2019

Day laborers describe their experiences seeking work on street corners through the theme of “fighting for the job.” This theme encodes a contradictory sense of embodied time: workers wait for long stretches while their weariness and anxiety mount, but burst into combat at moments when employers appear. Imagining the corner as a venue for initiating steady upward mobility, even as power dynamics there negate basic premises of market contracting, workers exacerbate this temporal contradiction. Hagar Kotef’s analysis of corporeal mobility-governance under liberalism suggests that under legal and economic imperatives, day laborers inevitably violate (neo)liberal norms for bodily movement in public spaces and invite exceptionalizing punishment. Meanwhile, workers’ dreams of material progress follow the self-defeating pattern of “cruel optimism” that Lauren Berlant identifies with precarity culture at large. Nevertheless, “fighting for the job” evokes a militancy that can fuel antideportation politics and a refusal of work, as Voz’s documentary Jornaleros suggests.
Health and Well-Being
Authors: Christens Brian D.
Published: February 2019

Chapter 7 distinguishes multiple hypothesized pathways through which empowerment processes produce impacts on health and well-being. The most direct outcome of empowerment processes is that social power is built and exercised. When this occurs, there are benefits for the participants in those processes, who often experience reduced stress and isolation. Empowerment processes also often lead to changes in policies and systems, thereby addressing systemic inequities and contributing to community well-being. Moreover, since empowerment processes can alter community power structures and make them more egalitarian, this may in itself lead to reduced vulnerability and insecurity and greater trust and cohesion. This chapter delineates multiple pathways—participant, ecological, and pluralist—through which empowerment processes can promote health, well-being, and health equity.
The Aguarico Martyrs
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter highlights two Catholic missionaries, Bishop Alejandro Labaca Ugarte and Sister Inés Arango Velásquez, who sought to contact an isolated and still violent splinter group of Waorani known as the Tagæidi. The Tagæidi had killed several oil workers during the 1970s, and in the 1980s Labaca was concerned that they would be shot by agents of Ecuador’s state-run petroleum company, including the controversial Julio Enrique Vela, so that oil exploration on their lands would not be disrupted. Ordained bishop of Aguarico in 1984, Labaca had emerged as a vocal defender of Wao rights. In late March 1987 a Tagæidi longhouse was located, and in July Labaca and Arango were flown to the site by helicopter. A flight the next day revealed that they had been speared. Catholics in Ecuador, Colombia, and Spain honored the two as martyrs. In the English-speaking world, few people have ever heard of them.
David and Goliath
Authors: Long Kathryn T.
Published: February 2019

This chapter explores changes in Amazonian Ecuador during the late 1980s and early 1990s as oil companies and environmentalists, not missionaries, exercised increasing influence over the Waorani. In 1987 the Ecuadorian government awarded an oil concession on ancestral Wao territory to Houston-based Conoco, a decision that mobilized environmentalists and raised awareness of earlier pollution. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund argued that a small group of indigenous people, the Waorani, were threatened by “Big Oil” in the Amazon. Conoco left Ecuador, selling its concession to Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corporation. Three new voices that would oppose Maxus and introduce the Waorani story to academic and popular audiences beyond the evangelical world were Judith Kimerling, author of Amazon Crude; the anthropologist Laura Rival; and the journalist Joe Kane. All three criticized SIL, reinvigorating the idea that missions damaged native cultures, especially Wao culture.
Health and Disease
Authors: Broadbent Alex
Published: February 2019

There has been considerable philosophical literature on the nature of health, which is briefly reviewed in this chapter. A distinction is drawn between two dimensions of disagreement in that literature: the objectivity dimension and the normativity dimension. With these distinctions in play, the positions traditionally considered poles of the debate, naturalism and normativism, are seen as diagonal opposites on a 2×2 matrix of possible positions, being Value-Independent Realism and Value-Dependent Anti-Realism respectively. Further support for this classification comes from a position in the bioethical literature, overlooked by philosophers of medicine, called Value-Dependent Realism (developed by Stempsey). The fourth quadrant, Value-Independent Anti-Realism, is unexplored, and the chapter proposes a theory of health in this quadrant, by arguing that health is a secondary property, akin to color, or possibly causation. This view is used to ground an evolutionary account of the health concept (quite distinct from previous evolutionary accounts of natural function).
Medical Cosmopolitanism
Authors: Broadbent Alex
Published: February 2019

This chapter seeks an attitude to medicine that does not commit the error of EBM in committing to an unjustifiably rigid notion of evidence, nor the reaction of Medical Nihilism of adopting EBM’s standards of evidence and then raising the bar even higher. Cosmopolitanism is a position developed by Appiah in the context of ethical disagreement, designed to facilitate conversation without falling into epistemic relativism. The chapter unpacks Cosmopolitanism into four stances: metaphysical, epistemic, moral, and practical. It applies these stances to medicine to yield Medical Cosmopolitanism. On this realist view, medical facts (e.g., whether an intervention works, whether someone is sick) are not dependent on the perceiver. Nonetheless Cosmopolitanism promotes epistemic humility: the attitude that one has limited confidence in one’s medical beliefs (both of efficacy and of the inefficacy of someone else’s favored intervention). And it promotes Primacy of Practice: settle cases first, principles later.
Decolonizing Medicine
Authors: Broadbent Alex
Published: February 2019

The phrase “traditional medicine” is commonly used to refer to medical traditions originating outside the West, and still practiced either as alternatives to or alongside Mainstream Medicine. Hard and dismissive attitudes to traditions with non-Western origins are obviously insensitive. It is clear that power and knowledge are intertwined. What counts as knowledge is partly determined by who has power. Moreover, medicine is clearly imbued with cultural influence. Yet if we reject medical relativism, we cannot accept that medicine is simply a cultural expression. We must consider which of two conflicting traditions, or two incompatible prescriptions, is correct (if either is). Medical Cosmopolitanism is a tool for negotiating the opposing temptations of excessive tolerance and dogmatism, and for understanding how one might “decolonize” medical knowledge. The chapter suggests that developments of the notion of decolonization can prevent a collapse into medical relativism, espousing “critical decolonization.”
Mighty Warriors?
Authors: Murphy Kelly J.
Published: February 2019

Chapter 2 focuses on how the construction of masculinity is created through comparisons of men, including within the biblical texts and in later interpretations of these texts. First, the chapter introduces key ideas including hegemonic masculinity and multiple masculinities. Second, the chapter traces how Gideon is introduced as a “mighty warrior,” though later readers often find such a title ironic. Third, the chapter examines clues left in the texts of Judg 6:11–24, 25–32, and 33–35 that indicate these passages were rewritten by various editors, whose ideas of how a divinely appointed “mighty warrior” might act differed from the hegemonic fighting male of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, the chapter examines how select Jewish interpretations rewrote Gideon to align him with their own understanding of the ideal man as moderate, family oriented, and focused on serving God.
Conclusion
Authors: Murphy Kelly J.
Published: February 2019

The conclusion summarizes the findings of the previous chapters, focusing on how we can now see three different masculinities inscribed in the narrative about Gideon. First, there is an early, pre-Judges story about a warrior who worked on a local scale, who lived up to many of the ideals of the ancient Near Eastern hegemonic warrior. Second, a later Deuteronomistically inspired update places traditions about Gideon into the larger framework of the book of Judges, broadening the scale of Gideon’s army, adding significant theological framing to the stories, and portraying Gideon as a faithful, if hesitant, Yahwist. Third, further updates change the nature of the ephod story by adding v. 27b, thereby rewriting Gideon as an idolater and casting aspersions on his role as Abimelech’s father. The conclusion also briefly traces the ways that later readers have rewritten Gideon to fit their own constructions of masculinity.
Military Decision-Making
Authors: Shortland Neil D. , Alison Laurence J. , Moran Joseph M.
Published: February 2019

This chapter discusses three broad approaches to understanding how military decisions are made: (1) the military decision-making process (MDMP), based largely on historical experience and, arguably, best described as the nearest thing to a doctrine-based approach; (2) rational–cognitive approaches and the literature on heuristics and biases and the means to try to optimize decision-making; and (3) so-called “naturalistic decision-making” approaches based largely on observations of decision-making in the field and thus perhaps best considered as a descriptive observation-based framework. The chapter discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches and notes that each weakness reveals considerable gaps in knowledge about the specific nature of the impossible decisions that soldiers face.
Situation Awareness
Authors: Shortland Neil D. , Alison Laurence J. , Moran Joseph M.
Published: February 2019

This chapter explores the process of sense-making in combat. It presents cases of sense-making from those involved in offensive operations in the field as well as those involved in more remote operations whose sense-making is solely reliant upon small snippets of the scene that they can observe through the technology they have deployed at that time. The chapter discusses the limitations (cognitive and situational) in trying to gain an accurate picture of what is happening on the ground and the implications of this for the ensuing stages of the decision-making process. Special attention is paid to the role of cultural differences and the difficulties in making sense and “storytelling” in environments that have little in common with one’s own. Finally, with reference to a real case of mission planning in Afghanistan, the fine balance between acting too soon and becoming inert is discussed.
Team Learning
Authors: Shortland Neil D. , Alison Laurence J. , Moran Joseph M.
Published: February 2019

In many military and critical incident situations, teams operate as part of a coalition or collective of other organizations. Interoperation adds complexity to the decision-making process because it brings together organizations with (potentially) disparate (and competing) values, priorities, and organizational practices. This chapter examines the issues of value congruence between the person and the organization. Specifically, it discusses value congruence at a situation-specific level (i.e., how does organizational/personal value congruence affect least-worst decision-making in operation) and also the factors within the organization that can facilitate or hinder effective decision-making. Finally, value congruence is extrapolated to examine the overall effects of “person–organization” fit, especially as it pertains to moral behavior and issues of retention.
Least-Worst Decision-Making “in Extremis”
Authors: Shortland Neil D. , Alison Laurence J. , Moran Joseph M.
Published: February 2019

Given the immense physiological effect of being at war, and the unique effect this has on the physiology and psychology of the soldier, this chapter examines decisions implemented at the tactical level. It presents a dynamic, slow-burn operation to show the complicated process of implementing a least-worst decision on the ground and, importantly, how soldiers react when a plan does not work. The chapter also presents the decision-making in this case and other cases of operations on the ground to examine the psychological factors associated with successfully (and unsuccessfully) making military decisions in extremis. In many cases we examine the psychology of decision-making without referencing, or considering, the physiology of decision-making. These two are in fact intertwined and we attempt to bridge the two in this chapter.
From “Gangbangers and Hoes” to “Young Latino Professionals”
Authors: Rosa Jonathan
Published: February 2019

Chapter 1 focuses on the school administration’s overarching goal of transforming students. It analyzes the contradictions teachers and administrators face as they simultaneously work to validate and transform students’ modes of self-making. The chapter begins by describing the intersectional anxieties surrounding violence, pregnancy, and poverty that are associated with Latinx youth socialization in the Chicago context. It goes on to show how these anxieties are heightened within the context of an open-enrollment neighborhood high school. The chapter argues that the transformation of students into “Young Latino Professionals,” which is formulated as an intersectional mobility project, becomes an ambivalent negotiation that alternately locates the “problem” within the students themselves and outsiders’ perceptions of them.
“Latino Flavors”
Authors: Rosa Jonathan
Published: February 2019

Shifting from the previous chapter’s analysis of the contested construction of a Latinx ethnoracial category, Chapter 3 demonstrates how emblems of Latinx identity are made recognizable in everyday life. In particular, it focuses on the ways in which qualities attributed to objects, practices, and bodies are mapped onto one another in the contemporary fashioning of a Latinx US ethnoracial category. By analyzing interrelations among forms of emblematicity associated with a range of cultural concepts, from hairstyles, clothing, and language, to food, dance, and music, the chapter tracks the complex semiotic operations that connect the creation Latinx things to the embodiment of Latinx people. These processes allow actors within New Northwest High School to experience and enact Latinx identities. The chapter concludes by pointing to the close relationship between conceptions of Latinx identity and “Spanishness” as a cultural and linguistic quality, laying the groundwork for the second half of the book.
Conclusion
Authors: Rosa Jonathan
Published: February 2019

The detailed engagement with the relationship between linguistic and ethnoracial category-making that develops throughout the manuscript seeks to provoke broader discussions about the sociolinguistic, historical, political, and economic assemblages through which people come to look like a language and sound like a race in societies throughout the world. The conclusion articulates questions for future research focused on identity formation in other predominantly Latinx US cities, negotiations of raciolinguistic identities in differing institutional frameworks, and intersections among ethnoracial and linguistic categories in relation to linked axes of difference. By analyzing the construction of Latinx raciolinguistic identities in this Chicago high school and its surrounding communities, it becomes possible to reimagine the ways that race, ethnicity, and language structure everyday life across cultural contexts.
Depression Days
Authors: Van Leuven Holly
Published: February 2019

Chapter 4 focuses on the societal and cultural impetus for the creation of Radio City Music Hall, which would resurrect vaudeville by hosting two eight-act shows daily; it was part of Rockefeller Center, a fifteen-building campus enshrining media, big business, and modern architecture in the heart of Manhattan. Bolger served as the master of ceremonies for Radio City Music Hall’s opening performances. The chapter also examines Bolger’s brief stint in Earl Carroll’s Vanities as well as his career development thanks to his agent, Abe Lastfogel, of the William Morris Agency. Included is information on Bolger’s Broadway show Life Begins at 8:40 and the importance of his signing his first film contract for a major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Sacrifice
Authors: Konstam Varda
Published: February 2019

Sacrifice has been linked to many positive results for both individuals and couples. The relationship between commitment and sacrifice is explored. The findings of Kogan et al. with regard to sacrifice and how it relates to both communal and exchange relationships are presented. Adopting a communal attitude requires shifting from an I orientation to a we orientation. Emerging adults’ understanding of, and approach to, sacrifice often changes over the course of their 20s. This change is reflected in the experiences of many of the 29 emerging adults who were interviewed. For these emerging adults in challenging economic/cultural conditions, who are under financial and social stress and have not seen the benefits of sacrifice in their lives, the idea of giving up something concrete and hard-won for the abstract possibility of gaining a vague reward has limited appeal and practicality.