bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urologic Trauma Management for Military Providers
Authors: Kronstedt Shane , Wahlstedt Eric , Blacker Mason , Saffati Gal , Hinojosa-Gonzalez David E , Wilbert Hance , Fetherston Thomas , Friedman Jonathan , Mucher Zachary R
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Genitourinary (GU) trauma resulting from combat and the treatment of these injuries is an inadequately explored subject. While historically accounting for 2 to 5% of combat-related injuries, GU-related injuries escalated considerably during U.S. involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan due to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Advanced body armor increased survivability while altering injury patterns, with a shift toward bladder and external genitalia injuries. Forward-deployed surgeons and military medics manage treatment, with Role 2 facilities addressing damage control resuscitation and surgery, including GU-specific procedures. The review aims to provide an overview of GU trauma and enhance medical readiness for battlefield scenarios.

Materials and Methods

This review examined urologic trauma management in combat, searching PubMed, Cochrane Central, Scopus, and Web of Science databases with search terms “wounds” OR “injuries” OR “hemorrhage” AND “trauma” AND “penile” OR “genital” AND “combat.” Records were then screened for inclusion of combat-related urologic trauma in conflicts after 2001 and which were English-based publications. No limits based on year of publication, study design, or additional patient-specific demographics were implemented in this review.

Results

Ultimately, 33 articles that met the inclusion criteria were included. Included texts were narrowed to focus on the management of renal injuries, ureteral trauma, bladder injuries, penile amputations, urethral injuries, testicular trauma, Central nervous system (CNS) injuries, and female GU injuries.

Conclusions

In modern conflicts, treatment of GU trauma at the point of injury should be secondary to Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) care in addition to competing non-medical priorities. This review highlights the increasing severity of GU trauma due to explosive use, especially dismounted IEDs. Concealed morbidity and fertility issues underscore the importance of protection measures. Military medics play a crucial role in evaluating and managing GU injuries. Adherence to tactical guidelines and trained personnel is vital for effective management, and GU trauma’s integration into broader polytrauma care is essential. Adequate preparation should address challenges for deploying health care providers, prioritizing lifesaving and quality-of-life care for casualties affected by GU injuries.
Evaluating the Phenotypic Patterns of Post-Traumatic Headache: A Systematic Review of Military Personnel
Authors: Lyons Hannah S , Sassani Matilde , Thaller Mark , Yiangou Andreas , Grech Olivia , Mollan Susan P , Wilson Duncan R , Lucas Samuel J E , Mitchell James L , Hill Lisa J , Sinclair Alexandra J
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects a significant number of military personnel, primarily because of physical impact, vehicle incidents, and blast exposure. Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is the most common symptom reported following mild TBI and can persist for several years. However, the current International Classification of Headache Disorders lacks phenotypic characterization for this specific headache disorder. It is important to appropriately classify the headache sub-phenotypes as it may enable more targeted management approaches. This systematic review seeks to identify the most common sub-phenotype of headaches in military personnel with PTH attributed to mild TBI.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines, focusing on the military population. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched. Abstracts and full texts were independently reviewed by two authors using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extraction was performed using a standardized form. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Results

Eight papers related to the military population were included in this review. Migraine was the most commonly reported headache sub-phenotype, with a prevalence ranging from 33 to 92%. Additionally, one military study identified tension-type headaches as the most prevalent headache phenotype. Although not the primary phenotype, one military cohort reported that approximately one-third of their cohort experienced trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, which were associated with exposure to blast injuries and prior concussions.

Conclusion

This systematic review demonstrated that PTH in the military population frequently exhibit migraine-like features. Tension-type headache and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias also occur, although less commonly reported. Sub-phenotyping PTH may be important for initiating effective treatment since different phenotypes may respond differently to medications. The study populations analyzed in this systematic review display heterogeneity, underscoring the necessity for additional research features, more stringent criteria and comprehensive recording of baseline characteristics. Characterizing headaches following injury is crucial for an accurate diagnosis to enable effective management and rehabilitation planning for our armed forces.
Does a Standardized Load Carriage Increase Spatiotemporal Gait Asymmetries in Police Recruits? A Population-based Study
Authors: Štefan Andro , Kasović Mario , Štefan Lovro
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Although the effects of carrying loads on gait biomechanics have been well-documented, to date, little evidence has been provided whether such loads may impact spatial and temporal gait asymmetries under the different foot regions. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to examine the effects of carrying a standardized police equipment on spatiotemporal gait parameters.

Materials and Methods

In this population-based study, participants were 845 first-year police recruits (age: 21.2 ± 2.3 years; height: 178.1 ± 10.2 cm; weight: 78.4 ± 11.3 kg; body mass index: 24.7 ± 3.2 kg/m2; 609 men and 236 women; 72.1% men and 27.9% women) measured in 2 conditions: (i) “no load” and (ii) “a 3.5 kg load.” Spatiotemporal gait parameters were derived from the FDM Zebris pressure platform. Asymmetry was calculated as (xright—xleft)/0.5*(xright + xleft)*100%, where “x” represented a given parameter being calculated and a value closer to 0 denoted greater symmetry.

Results

When compared to “no load” condition, a standardized 3.5 kg/7.7 lb load significantly increased asymmetries in spatial gait parameters as follows: gait phases of stance (mean diff. = 1.05), load response (mean diff. = 0.31), single limb support (mean diff. = 0.56), pre-swing (mean diff. = 0.22), and swing (mean diff. = 0.90) phase, while no significant asymmetries in foot rotation, step, and stride length were observed. For temporal gait parameters, we observed significant asymmetries in step time (mean diff. = –0.01), while no differences in cadence and gait speed were shown.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that the additional load of 3.5 kg/7.7 lb is more likely to increase asymmetries in spatial gait cycle components, opposed to temporal parameters. Thus, external police load may have hazardous effects in increasing overall body asymmetry, which may lead to a higher injury risk and a decreased performance for completing specific everyday tasks.
LeMMINGs. Multiwavelength constraints on the co-existence of nuclear star clusters and AGN in nucleated galaxies
Authors: Dullo B T , Knapen J H , Baldi R D , Williams D R A , Beswick R J , McHardy I M , Green D A , Gil de Paz A , Aalto S , Alberdi A , Argo M K , Gallagher J S , Klöckner H -R , Marcaide J M , Mutie I M , Saikia D J , Saikia P , Stevens I R , Torrejón S
Published: July 2024

The relation between nuclear star clusters (NSCs) and the growth of the central supermassive black holes (SMBHs), as well as their connection to the properties of the host galaxies, is crucial for understanding the evolution of galaxies. Recent observations have revealed that about 10 per cent of nucleated galaxies host hybrid nuclei, consisting of both NSCs and accreting SMBHs that power active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Motivated by the potential of the recently published multiwavelength data sets from LeMMINGs survey, here we present the most thorough investigation to date of the incidence of hybrid nuclei in a large sample of 100 nearby nucleated galaxies (10 E, 25 S0, 63 S, and 2 Irr), covering a wide range in stellar mass ($M_{*,\rm gal} \sim 10^{8.7}-10^{12}~\rm M_{\odot }$). We identify the nuclei and derive their properties by performing detailed 1D and 2D multicomponent decompositions of the optical and near-infrared HST stellar light distributions of the galaxies using Sérsic and core-Sérsic models. Our AGN diagnostics are based on homogeneously derived nuclear 1.5 GHz e-MERLIN radio, Chandra X-ray (0.3–10 keV), and optical emission-line data. We determine the nucleation fraction ($f_{\rm nuc}$) as the relative incidence of nuclei across the LeMMINGs HST sample and find $f_{\rm nuc} =~$100/149 (= 67 $\pm$ 7 per cent), confirming previous work, with a peak value of $49/56~(= 88 \pm 13$ per cent) at bulge masses $M_{*,\rm bulge}\sim 10^{9.4}- 10^{10.8}~ \rm M_{\odot }$. We identify 30 nucleated LeMMINGs galaxies that are optically active, radio-detected, and X-ray luminous ($L_\textnormal {X} \gt 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$). This indicates that our nucleated sample has a lower limit $\sim$ 30 per cent occupancy of hybrid nuclei, which is a function of $M_{*,\rm bulge}$ and $M_{*,\rm gal}$. We find that hybrid nuclei have a number density of $(1.5 \pm 0.4)\times 10^{-5}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, are more common at $M_{*,\rm gal}\sim 10^{10.6}- 10^{11.8}~\rm M_{\odot }$ and occur, at least, three times more frequently than previously reported.
Age and metal gradients in massive quiescent galaxies at 0.6 ≲ z ≲ 1.0: implications for quenching and assembly histories
Authors: Cheng Chloe M , Kriek Mariska , Beverage Aliza G , van der Wel Arjen , Bezanson Rachel , D’Eugenio Francesco , Franx Marijn , Mancera Piña Pavel E , Nersesian Angelos , Slob Martje , Suess Katherine A , van Dokkum Pieter G , Wu Po-Feng , Gallazzi Anna , Zibetti Stefano
Published: July 2024

We present spatially resolved, simple stellar population equivalent ages, stellar metallicities, and abundance ratios for 456 massive ($10.3\lesssim \log (\mathrm{M}_*/\mathrm{M}_\odot)\lesssim 11.8$) quiescent galaxies at $0.6\lesssim z\lesssim 1.0$ from the Large Early Galaxy Astrophysics Census, derived using full-spectrum models. Typically, we find flat age and [Mg/Fe] gradients, and negative [Fe/H] gradients, implying iron-rich cores. We also estimate intrinsic [Fe/H] gradients via forward modelling. We examine the observed gradients in three age bins. Younger quiescent galaxies typically have negative [Fe/H] gradients and positive age gradients, possibly indicating a recent central starburst. Additionally, this finding suggests that photometrically measured flat colour gradients in young quiescent galaxies are the result of the positive age and negative metallicity gradients cancelling each other. For older quiescent galaxies, the age gradients become flat and [Fe/H] gradients weaken, though remain negative. Thus, negative colour gradients at older ages are likely driven by metallicity gradients. The diminishing age gradient may result from the starburst fading. Furthermore, the persistence of the [Fe/H] gradients may suggest that the outskirts are simultaneously built up by mergers with lower metallicity satellites. On the other hand, the gradients could be inherited from the star-forming phase, in which case mergers may not be needed to explain our findings. This work illustrates the need for resolved spectroscopy, instead of just photometry, to measure stellar population gradients. Extending these measurements to higher redshift is imperative for understanding how stellar populations in quiescent galaxies are assembled over cosmic time.
Systematic errors in searches for nanohertz gravitational waves
Authors: Di Marco Valentina , Zic Andrew , Shannon Ryan M , Thrane Eric
Published: July 2024

A number of pulsar timing arrays have recently reported preliminary evidence for the existence of a nanohertz frequency gravitational wave background. These analyses rely on noise analyses, which are inherently complex due to the many astrophysical and instrumental factors. We investigate whether realistic systematic errors, stemming from misspecified noise models that fail to capture salient features of the pulsar timing noise, could bias the evidence for gravitational waves. We consider two plausible forms of misspecification: small instrumental pulse arrival time offsets and radio-frequency-dependent time-correlated noise. Using simulated data, we calculate the distribution of the commonly used optimal statistic with no signal present and using plausibly misspecified noise models. By comparing the optimal statistic distribution with the distribution created using “quasi-resampling” techniques (such as sky scrambles and phase shifts), we endeavour to determine the extent to which plausible misspecification might lead to a false positive. The results are reassuring: we find that quasi-resampling techniques tend to underestimate the significance of pure-noise data sets. We conclude that recent reported evidence for a nanohertz gravitational wave background is likely robust to the most obvious sources of systematic errors; if anything, the significance of the signal is potentially underestimated.
Eccentric orbits may enhance the habitability of Earth-like exoplanets
Authors: Liu Binghan , Marsh Daniel R , Walsh Catherine , Cooke Greg , Sainsbury-Martinez Felix
Published: July 2024

The detection and characterization of Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars is an important goal of exoplanetary research, given their promise for hosting potentially habitable conditions. Key orbital parameters, such as eccentricity, can influence a planet’s climate response and, as a consequence, affect its potential habitability. Utilizing the Earth System Model – the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM6), we simulated Earth-like exoplanets with two different orbital parameters: one circular ($e = 0$) and another highly eccentric ($e = 0.4$), both with zero obliquity but fixing the annual mean insolation. The highly eccentric case exhibits a 1.9 K warmer surface temperature due to lower surface and cloud albedo and a weaker longwave cloud forcing. Exploring the annual global mean climate difference, we analysed latitudinal and seasonal variations in hydrological cycle variables, such as sea ice, land snow, and clouds. Land habitability metrics based on temperature and precipitation reveal that the $e=0.4$ case has over 25 per cent more habitable land area for more than 80 per cent of its orbit, compared with the $e=0$ case. Additionally, the global circulation pattern shifts from a three-cell to a two-cell system in the $e=0.4$ case, expanding the Hadley cell to higher latitudes, enhancing meridional latent heat transport, and improving land habitability at higher latitudes. Our study suggests that Earth-like exoplanets with high eccentricity orbiting Sun-like stars may have greater land habitability than their circular counterparts, due to seasonally warmer surface temperatures and more evenly distributed precipitation over land.
Proton pump inhibitor use and bone fractures in patients with chronic kidney disease
Authors: Kommer Andreas , Kostev Karel , Schleicher Eva Maria , Weinmann-Menke Julia , Labenz Christian
Published: July 2024

Background

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at high risk for bone fractures, which are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been linked to an increased risk for fractures in the general population as well as in patients with need for hemodialysis, but studies in patients with CKD are currently missing.

Methods

We performed a population-based observational case–control study exploring a sample of patients with CKD derived from the IQVIATM Disease Analyzer database. Patients with and without fractures were matched using the 1:1 nearest neighbor propensity score matching method. To investigate the association between PPI use and fractures, multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed adjusting for confounding factors.

Results

In total, 6076 patients with and 6076 patients without fractures were matched and subsequently available for analyses. In the total cohort, PPI use was associated with an increased risk for fractures [odds ratio (OR) 1.68; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.55–1.83]. This association was noted for nearly all types of fractures. The strongest association between PPI use and fractures was found in patients below the age of 60 years with a PPI prescription for longer than 2 years (OR 6.85; 95% CI 1.85–25.38). The same was true when analyzing cumulative PPI doses. Here, patients below the age of 60 years with a cumulative PPI dose above 16 000 mg (highest quartile) had the highest risk for fractures (OR 4.62; 95% CI 1.87–11.44). There was no difference between men or women regarding the association between PPI use and fractures.

Conclusions

This study provides evidence that PPI use is associated with fractures in patients with CKD. Deprescription of PPI in patients without an indication for treatment could be a modifiable risk factor to reduce fracture risk in this high-risk group.
Insights from GoFundMe posts: Analyzing GoFundMe financial aid requests from brain tumor patients in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Devaraja Kaviya , Avery Jonathan , Iyengar Yajur , Zhang Yunyi , Climans Seth A
Published: July 2024

Background

Primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors significantly affect individuals globally, with patients in Ontario, Canada, often bearing financial burdens for treatments such as oral chemotherapy due to insufficient coverage, resulting in complex insurance processes or out-of-pocket payments. However, limited understanding exists regarding other direct and indirect financial implications of their diagnosis. This study examines the financial strains, unmet needs, and overarching challenges encountered by Ontario’s brain tumor patients, utilizing GoFundMe posts as a unique data source to explore additional financial costs linked to CNS tumor diagnoses in the region.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive design employing thematic analysis analyzed GoFundMe posts supporting CNS tumor patients in Ontario from 2014 to 2021. A search strategy targeted posts featuring primary CNS tumor keywords, with NVivo 10 software facilitating post organization and coding.

Results

Focused on Ontario, the study yielded a final dataset of 154 posts from an initial pool of 9025, revealing further financial strain due to income loss among patients and caregivers. Posts highlighted various concerns: (1) navigating the complexities of accessing support services, (2) worries about family’s long-term financial and overall well-being, (3) insufficient public awareness about the financial and emotional burden on those affected, and (4) seeking emotional support, hope, and encouragement from the community.

Conclusions

These GoFundMe posts highlight a connection between financial burden, emotional distress, and the need for improved access to financial and emotional support services. The results emphasize distinct financial challenges faced by CNS tumor patients within Ontario’s healthcare system.
Tree cavity density is a limiting factor for a secondary cavity nester in second-growth Andean temperate rainforests
Authors: Altamirano Tomás A , Novoa Fernando , Ibarra José Tomás , Navarrete Sergio A , Bonacic Cristián , Martin Kathy
Published: July 2024

Cavity-nesting bird populations are most frequently limited by the number of tree cavities available in second-growth forests. However, this possible limitation of a key resource is less clear in old-growth forests. We compared forest attributes (i.e., basal area, density of larger trees, density of dead trees, and tree cavity density) in second-growth and old-growth stands in Andean temperate rainforests in southern Chile. To examine the role of nest-site availability in limiting the populations of Aphrastura spinicauda (Thorn-Tailed Rayadito), we monitored their populations in both forest types during a 5-year period (2008-2013), while we conducted an experiment in which nest boxes were added and then, after two years, removed by blocking cavity entrances. In old-growth forests, as compared to second-growth forests, we found a more than double basal area (99.6 vs. 43.7 m2 ha−1), a 3 times higher density of larger trees (88.2 vs. 36.4 trees ha−1), and a 1.5 times higher number of small cavities (25.9 vs. 10.3 cavities ha−1). The density of cavities also strongly increased with tree diameter and basal area. In second-growth forests, A. spinicauda showed a strong response to the addition, and later to the removal of nest boxes, with population abundance increasing by 13% and then decreasing by 50%, respectively. In contrast, we found no impact on old-growth stands. Our experiment emphasizes the importance of maintaining large and dead trees in second-growth, disturbed, and managed forests. These trees provide suitable cavities for A. spinicauda, and likely many other secondary cavity nesters, increasing their abundance in a Globally significant Biodiversity Hotspot in southern South America. A Spanish translation of this manuscript is available as Supplementary Material.
Nonbreeding distributions of four declining Nearctic–Neotropical migrants are predicted to contract under future climate and socioeconomic scenarios
Authors: Brodie Ryan E , Bayly Nicholas J , González Ana M , Hightower Jessica , Larkin Jeffery L , Stewart Rebecca L M , Wilson Scott , Roth Amber M
Published: July 2024

Climate and land use/land cover change are expected to influence the stationary nonbreeding distributions of 4 Nearctic–Neotropical migrant bird species experiencing population declines: Cardellina canadensis (Canada Warbler), Setophaga cerulea (Cerulean Warbler), Vermivora chrysoptera (Golden-winged Warbler), and Hylocichla mustelina (Wood Thrush). Understanding how and where these species’ distributions shift in response to environmental drivers is critical to inform conservation planning in the Neotropics. For each species, we quantified current (2012 to 2021) and projected future (2050) suitable climatic and land use/land cover conditions as components of stationary nonbreeding distributions. Multi-source occurrence data were used in an ensemble modeling approach with covariates from 3 global coupled climate models (CMCC-ESM2, FIO-ESM-2-0, MIROC-ES2L) and 2 shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP2-RCP4.5, SSP5-RCP8.5) to predict distributions in response to varying climatic and land use/land cover conditions. Our findings suggest that distribution contraction, upslope elevational shifts in suitable conditions, and limited shifts in latitude and longitude will occur in 3 of 4 species. Cardellina canadensis and S. cerulea are expected to experience a moderate distribution contraction (7% to 29% and 19% to 43%, respectively), primarily in response to expected temperature changes. The V. chrysoptera distribution was modeled by sex, and females and males were projected to experience a major distribution contraction (56% to 79% loss in suitable conditions for females, 46% to 65% for males), accompanied by shifts in peak densities to higher elevations with minimal changes in the upper elevation limit. Expected changes in precipitation had the greatest effect on V. chrysoptera. Hylocichla mustelina experienced the smallest distribution change, consistent with the species’ flexibility in habitat selection and broader elevational range. We recommend defining priority areas for conservation as those where suitable conditions are expected to remain or arise in the next 25 years. For V. chrysoptera in particular, it is urgent to ensure that mid-elevation forests in Costa Rica and Honduras are adequately managed and protected.
Care of Patients and Families at the End of Life
Authors: Conceicao Susan , Swenson Ginny
Published: July 2024

When the human dimension of dying is nurtured, for many, the transition from life can become as profound, intimate, and precious as the moment of birth.
Seeing Movement in Cinema
Authors: Oyallon-Koloski Jenny
Published: July 2024

Chapter 2 provides a videographic introduction to Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies and the taxonomic principles that guide Laban Movement Analysis. Through an explanatory approach to videographic form, this chapter uses voiceover, graphic and written annotations, and carefully chosen examples from the figure movement of these films to walk the viewer through the fundamentals of this movement system. Using examples from Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, Top Hat, Stormy Weather, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Meet Me in St. Louis, this chapter breaks down the core categories of this movement system: Body, Effort, Space, and Shape. After discussing each category individually, it explains the intersections between elements through specific examples that illustrate how the performers in these films deliberately combine and isolate aspects of figure movement to convey their characters’ intentions.
Agency, Control, and Space
Authors: Oyallon-Koloski Jenny
Published: July 2024

West Side Story (1961) is a pivotal example of film musical form. Codirectors Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise use cinematic choreography and dance as powerful storytelling tools to illustrate the differences and similarities between the gangs of Sharks and Jets that fuel their escalating conflict. Despite a desire for narrative realism in portraying the tensions between the white and Latinx/o/a teenagers, West Side Story’s producers did not prioritize inclusive hiring practices in casting its Puerto Rican characters, and the film remains a multifaceted emblem of Hollywood’s patterns of cultural exclusion and essentialism. Those patterns of exclusion are also central to the narrative’s cinematic choreography. Emphasizing both the characters’ individuality and the importance of a collective cohesion, West Side Story uses cinematic choreography to show the Sharks’ and Jets’ mutual desire for their own space, while the Jets’ entitled dominance of their unwillingly shared environment demonstrates their violent resistance to change.
Endless Conversations
Authors: Oyallon-Koloski Jenny
Published: July 2024

This chapter draws attention to the inherent ways that genres create meaning by recycling, repeating, and engaging with figure movement material from their predecessors. Framing the inherent reflexivity of genre cinema and the citational practices of many genre films as a kind of conversation, this chapter draws attention to the stylistic and narrative conventions of musical films’ cinematic choreography. This videographic work develops in a poetic fashion, playfully using a cyclical approach, multiscreen audiovisual juxtapositions, and the epigraphic video essay genre to convey varied instances of intertextual connections between the films analyzed in this book and those that inspired them, leading us to the more fantastical diegetic departures the genre is known for.
The Pakaiviṭai Īśvaragṛhattu Mahādeva temple (PIM) and the Tiruttōṟṟamuṭaiyār of Maṉṉupperumpaḻuvūr
Authors: Gillet Valérie
Published: July 2024

The third chapter is devoted to the Pakaiviṭai Īśvaragṛhattu Mahādeva temple (PIM), about 275 metres to the west of the AIM. Data on this shrine are more difficult to interpret, due to their poor state and incompleteness. The Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars do not appear much in the epigraphy of this shrine, but the community of the tēvaṉar makaḷs (daughters of god, who are temple servants and often dancers) attached to this temple is significantly involved in the donations. The chapter discusses another Śaiva shrine in this complex, the Tiruttōṟṟamuṭaiyār, now converted into a goddess’s shrine, that was built by the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyar king Kaṇṭaṉ Maṟavaṉ in the second half of the 10th century in the precincts of the PIM. This may indicate an attempt to integrate the PIM into the sphere of the little kings.
The Tiruvālantuṟai Mahādeva temple of Ciṟupaḻuvūr
Authors: Gillet Valérie
Published: July 2024

With the fourth chapter, we shift to the east, in the modern Kīḻappaḻuvūr, to look at the Tiruvālantuṟai Mahādeva temple. The context significantly changes: we are now in a village temple with a Tamil name, located in a village of Brahmins, administered by the local Brahmin assembly, which attracts devotees from far away. The reconstruction in stone of this shrine is outlined: in the second half of the 10th century, the Śrīkāryam, an officer under the authority of the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyar, reconstructed the temple in stone, creating an elaborate and unique iconographical programme. Moreover, this is the only temple of the little kingdom where the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars themselves, kings and queens, are involved in the donations to this god, suggesting that they intend to tie themselves to this god who seems to be a powerful entity, for personal merit as well as for “local political” reasons.
Conclusion
Authors: Gillet Valérie
Published: July 2024

The conclusion wraps up the study of each temple and proposes an overview of the Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyar kingdom between the 9th and the 11th centuries. The little kingdom was divided into two quarters, the big Paḻuvūr, a devadāna where the little kings resided, and the small Paḻuvūr, which was a brahmadeya. Each quarter had its temples, patronized by various communities. This study revealed the significant role played by merchants and little kings in the AIM, administered by a specific set of Seven Brahmins; the ambiguous status of the PIM, where a little king constructs a shrine; a village temple, the Tiruvālantuṟai Mahādeva temple, administered by the Sabhā, deeply rooted in the local devotion; and a small shrine built in stone by the little kings next to it, perhaps contributing to the glory of their lineage.
‘Why Are We Waging Jihad?’
Authors: Fair C. Christine , Ustaad Safina
Published: July 2024

This chapter presents the authors’ translation of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s foundational document ‘Hum Kyon Jihad Kar Rahen Hain’ (‘Why Are We Waging Jihad?’) by Bin Mohammad, which lays out the parameters of the organization’s commitment to violence and to domestic tranquillity within Pakistan. Written in a Socratic style, the narrator answers a quester’s queries, by recounting events in the Quran, Sunnat, and Hadees, as well as historical and contemporary events. The pamphlet addresses so-called pious Muslims who refute the necessity of waging jihad. Bin Muhammad identifies who should be the object of jihad outside of Pakistan and why. He argues that if an individual is kalima-go (i.e. has uttered the affirmation that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad are his prophets), they should not be killed, but should be rehabilitated through dawah. This puts the organization in direct opposition to the Deobandi groups and Islamic State which practise takfir.
‘In Defence of Jihad’ by Ubaidurrahman Muhammadi
Authors: Fair C. Christine , Ustaad Safina
Published: July 2024

This chapter features the authors’ translation of the 1998 treatise, Difa-i-Jihad (‘In Defence of Jihad’) by Ubaidurrahman Muhammadi. This book also contains a publisher’s note from the then-editor of Dar-ul-Andlus, Muhammad Saifullah Khalid, as well as a foreword by Hafiz Saeed himself. Saeed’s imprimatur upon this volume is extremely important because it demonstrates his linkages to LeT’s violent mission even though he and Pakistani authorities deny these connections. This volume resembles Hum Kyon Jihad Kar Rahen Hain in that it is generally structured around questions posed by an anonymous inquirer and the answers to those questions are ventriloquized through a posited, learned mujahid. While there is considerable overlap between the texts, they both have distinct foci. Hum Kyon Jihad Kar Rahen Hain ultimately advances an argument that a good Muslim should abjure violence within Pakistan against anyone who recognizes the ultimate sovereignty of Allah and instead should wage jihad on Pakistan’s external enemies. The reason for this is straightforward: when Pakistanis stop fighting their external enemies, they will turn their guns upon Pakistan and Pakistanis. This text specifically focuses upon jihad, who must wage it, under what circumstances and for what reasons, while also maintaining the argument that any problem within Pakistan should be handled through education and proselytization (dawah), tasks which LeT under its various guises have long undertaken.
‘The Mujahid’s Call’ by Naveed Qamar
Authors: Fair C. Christine , Ustaad Safina
Published: July 2024

This chapter features the author’s translation of Naveed Qamar’s 2001 pamphlet titled Mujahid ki Azaan (‘The Mujahid’s Call’). Qamar is the former spokesperson for the student wing of Markaz-ud-Dawah-wal-Irshad Pakistan, which were published in Zarb-e-Tayyaba. The various essays in this pamphlet inveigh upon numerous issues in the Pakistani education system which have served collectively to lead Muslims astray. This pamphlet targets college students who are attending secular schools, and their parents. ‘The Mujahid’s Call’ draws a direct link between a student, who might be ostracized for a sanctimonious attitude, and the persecution Muhammad had to deal with in Mecca, according to the traditional accounts. This pamphlet directly addresses college students who are attending secular schools, and their parents. Whereas many of the organization’s publications are proselytization tools, this pamphlet assumes that the consumer of the text is a committed proselytizer himself. This allows the author to dispense with efforts at conversion and instead exposits how the aspiring jihadi acolyte should organize his daily life.
Fighter Biographies
Authors: Fair C. Christine , Ustaad Safina
Published: July 2024

This chapter features translations of an illustrative sample of so-called shaheed biographies, or accounts of the lives of those fighters who died in the service of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) from the organization’s varied periodicals. Until 2007, the organization published these biographies in various print sources which were available in LeT’s bookstores and other stores which sold their publications. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the organization has discontinued publishing these sources because it has learned that scholars are using them as sources and because such biographies make it difficult for the Pakistani state to argue that the organization does not engage in jihad. This chapter furnishes translations from several such sources with an intent to provide variation across time (from the early 1990s to 2007) and across source type while also seeking to provide examples of biographies that exhibit an array of fighter motivations as well as motivations in the families who support them.
Special Immigration Appeals Commission
Authors: Tam Robin , Hays William
Published: July 2024

Chapter 9 provides a detailed examination of the work of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). It begins with an examination of its history and establishment as a response to the seminal judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Chahal v United Kingdom. The authors highlight the need for a specialist forum that was capable of combining protection of individual human rights and fundamental freedoms with the need to safeguard sensitive national security material. This is followed by a description of the constitution and key features of SIAC. The authors consider the Closed material procedure used in SIAC (which became a model for that introduced more generally in civil proceedings by the Justice and Security Act 2013) before examining the jurisdiction of SIAC in detail. The authors then provide a detailed and valuable analysis of procedure in SIAC, considering such matters as how to start proceedings, bail applications, directions, the Open/Closed evidential divide, communications with special advocates, reverse Closed procedures, the hearing, and the determination. Finally, they describe the framework for onward appeals and challenges.
Civil Claims
Authors: Ventham Charlotte , Wolfe Georgina
Published: July 2024

Chapter 17 aims to signpost the main types of civil claim commonly encountered by, and of relevance to, practitioners in the national security field. After an introduction to the topic in section A, section B considers the commonly pleaded causes of action in tort: false imprisonment, misfeasance in public office, conspiracy to injure, negligence, and assault and battery. It also addresses the more modern, statutory tort of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and its potentially limited relevance in the national security field. It concludes by considering defences to these actions. Section C provides an overview of limitation. Section D discusses issues of applicable law, often arising in claims against the UK government for alleged complicity in unlawful conduct by foreign states, for example, unlawful detention, rendition, and/or mistreatment overseas. Section E covers private law claims for damages arising from alleged European Convention on Human Rights breaches. Section F contains a summary of the types of damages that may be awarded in the claims discussed in the chapter. It also considers the new provisions of the National Security Act 2023 requiring a court on application by the Crown to consider reducing a damages award to reflect a claimant’s related terrorist activities; and empowering a court to freeze and ultimately order the forfeiture of damages at risk of being used to fund terrorism. Finally, section G deals with practical difficulties in conducting private law claims in the national security context, from pleading through to final judgment or settlement.
State Threat Activity
Authors: Ward Robert
Published: July 2024

Chapter 19 examines the new offence provisions in Part 1 of the National Security Act 2023. It begins by examining the previous law contained in the Official Secrets Acts 1911-39 and why this had become unfit for modern conditions. The author then considers the Part 1 offences, starting with the ‘foreign power condition’ and then looking at the offences of obtaining or disclosing protected information (s. 1), obtaining or disclosing trade secrets (s. 2), assisting a foreign intelligence service (s. 3), entering etc prohibited places (ss 4, 5), sabotage (s. 12), foreign interference (s. 13), foreign interference in elections (s. 16) and preparatory conduct (s. 19). The author then considers aggravation of sentence where an ‘ordinary’ crime is committed for or on behalf of a foreign power; powers of investigation; offences by bodies corporate; extra-territoriality; consents to prosecutions, and the power of the courts to exclude the public from proceedings for a Part 1 offence where necessary in the interests of national security. The chapter also gives an overview of the new regime for registering foreign activity arrangements and political influence activity.
Official Secrets—Unauthorised Disclosure
Authors: Ward Robert
Published: July 2024

Chapter 20 deals with the offences in the Official Secrets Act 1989 relating to the unauthorised disclosure of information that is sensitive for reasons of national security. The chapter begins by considering the background to the Act and recent proposals for reform. The author then proceeds to consider the principal offences established by the Act and their specific requirements. The chapter examines in detail the concept of authorised disclosures before reviewing the approach to proof of damage and the issue of ‘neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND). It then discusses the mental element of the offences before going on to consider the offences relating to safeguarding of information. Further topics considered in the chapter include the territorial extent of the offences, consent to prosecute, the difficult issues raised by access to legal advice, and the topic of public interest disclosures. The defences of necessity and duress of circumstances are considered before the chapter concludes by reviewing matters relating to sentence.
Employment and National Security
Authors: Bryant Keith , Green Mark
Published: July 2024

Chapter 24 is one of two chapters in Part VI dealing with national security and employment law. It focuses on national security issues as they arise in the context of Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings. The chapter begins with an overview of the different ways in which employment disputes may result in litigation. It then introduces the key legislation in the employment field and particular procedural issues to which it gives rise, as well as examining the special procedural provision which is made in the Employment Tribunal Rules for national security cases. The authors examine in detail the practicalities of making and responding to national security claims. This includes difficulties in securing representation; the use of special advocates; Closed matters; powers to make special arrangements for hearings such as cyphering, screening, and restricted reporting; the Open/Closed divide; and the interaction with other jurisdictions (the High Court, County Court, Security Vetting Appeals Panel, and Investigatory Powers Tribunal).
Adorno and the Frankfurt School
Authors: Oberle Eric
Published: July 2024

Surveying the history of “Frankfurt school” critical theory in relation to the life and work of Theodor W. Adorno, this chapter focuses on Adorno’s theory of social non-identity and argues for the insights that this Hegelianism granted for theories of empirical science and problems of scientific method. Paying special attention to the intellectual exchanges between Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Jürgen Habermas surrounding the 1961 positivism dispute, it argues that the recent “ethical turn” in critical theory illuminates why Adorno believed that a negative Hegelianism rooted in interdisciplinary empirical analysis must stand at the center of Frankfurt critical theory. These arguments about interdisciplinary research’s ability to diagnose social irrationality were central to forming and sustaining the institute throughout its history, important to the critique of science in western Germany, and definitional to the post–World War II concept of the public sphere. They remain relevant to discussions of disciplinary knowledge and public rationality today. Considering Adorno’s idea of the non-identical in relation to his critiques of Erich Fromm’s ego-psychology and of Talcott Parsons’ theory of social action helps clarify what was at stake in the positivism dispute and what is at stake in critical theory’s present interests in ethics and its relation to theories of rationalization and social conflict.
Electrophysiological Investigations of Sentence Processing in Tamil
Authors: Muralikrishnan R.
Published: July 2024

This chapter reviews a series of electrophysiological studies conducted on the online processing of Tamil sentences. The only such studies to date on this Dravidian language, these experiments address two broad themes, namely, (a) the processing of animacy information of the subject and object arguments and the relationship between the arguments based on their animacy alone, prior to the availability of verb information, and (b) the processing of dative-subject constructions involving stative verbs. Results suggest that features at the syntax–semantics interface such as animacy are cross-linguistically important for sentence processing, and that dative nominals that play a more subject-like role are processed differently from dative indirect objects in Tamil.
The Seven Years’ War in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires
Authors: Flannery Kristie Patricia
Published: July 2024

Although Spain and Portugal were late entrants to the Seven Years’ War, the conflict had a transformative impact on these European monarchies and their empires. Focusing on four world regions where Spain and Portugal claimed sovereignty—the Iberian Peninsula, the Rio de la Plata in South America, the Caribbean island of Cuba, and Luzon in the Philippines—this chapter centers on the men who were mobilized to fight. It examines who joined the armed forces in these theatres, highlighting the critical roles played by enslaved and free Afrodescendant and Indigenous fighters beyond Europe. Moreover, it analyzes the factors that motivated diverse men to go into battle, and those that led soldiers and communities to resist their monarch’s requests that they go to war. The Seven Years’ War brought about significant reforms that addressed weaknesses in colonial economies and societies, strengthening the Iberian empires and paving the way for further imperial expansion.
The Seven Years’ War in West Africa
Authors: Røge Pernille
Published: July 2024

The Seven Years’ War in West Africa was a minor sideshow in a globe-spanning military conflict. Only French and British forces fought in Africa, confining their armed battle to the French-ruled island of Saint-Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River and Gorée Island, both of which the British occupied in 1758–1759. This chapter explores the immediate and long-term impacts of this conflict on the French and British colonial empires and African and Eurafrican communities in Senegambia. It discusses British ambitions to capture the European trade in gum arabic and to destroy France’s transatlantic slave trade. It also examines French and British aspirations to turn African land into new sites of cash crop production. The chapter contends that although Africa rarely gains attention in studies of the history of the Seven Years’ War, it was the pivot around which the battle for the future of European empires turned.
Africans, Slavery, and the Slave Trade
Authors: Bollettino Maria Alessandra
Published: July 2024

The Seven Years’ War offered opportunities for some African-descended people to engage in imperial warfare and earn recognition and perquisites, or to abscond from or engage in their own wars against their owners. But for most people of African descent, the war years exacerbated the privation, violence, and dislocation that already characterized their lives. Postwar territorial acquisitions, liberalizations of the slave trade, and military reforms that undermined the rights of Black soldiers led to an unprecedented expansion of the slave trade and plantation slavery in the British, French, and Spanish Atlantic, and the reconfiguration of racial regimes in the Caribbean in particular. While they lost ground in the Americas, in Senegambia free Africans succeeded in manipulating the British conquest to serve their economic and political interests. Moreover, the territorial and racial reconfigurations born of the global conflict laid the groundwork for an upsurge of abolitionism in its wake.
Maritime Law and Neutrality in the Seven Years’ War
Authors: Müller Leos
Published: July 2024

The Seven Years’ War at sea, perhaps more than any other earlier great power war, was a trade war. The British navy and privateers targeted French colonial goods from the West Indies to harm French overseas trade. The French answered by employing neutral flags to carry on colonial trade. The neutral Dutch, Danes, Spaniards, and Swedes took over much French colonial trade in order to mitigate the damage done by British actions. The conditions of neutral trade were outlined in the early modern version of the international law of the sea: maritime powers acknowledged the freedom of the sea and neutral rights to trade and sail in agreement with bilateral commercial treaties. The British circumvented the rights of neutral trade with the Rule of the War 1756 and the Doctrine of Continuous Voyage. Nevertheless, neutral trade continued, mainly because the employment of neutral flags moderated wartime damage on global trade.