bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of breathable silicone technology in an ostomy appliance flange
Authors: Lager Peta , Loxdale Lisa
Published: September 2023

Leaks and peristomal skin complications are highly prevalent among people with a stoma, reported by over 80% of ostomates within 2 years of surgery. This suggests that there is room for improvement in ostomy appliances, particularly in their hydrocolloid-based adhesive flanges. Hydrocolloid has an absorptive method of moisture management that, over time, risks maceration and skin stripping, potentially leading to moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) and medical adhesive-related skin injury (MARSI). The newly developed Genii ostomy appliances (Trio Healthcare) use novel Sil2 Breathable Silicone Technology to provide secure, effective adhesion and manage moisture levels by replicating natural transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This has the potential to increase appliance wear time, reduce incidence of MASD and permit atraumatic removal without adhesive remover, reducing the risks of MARSI, as well as time burdens on the user and economic burdens on the healthcare system. Meanwhile, the silicone flanges and water-resistant sports fabric pouches are lightweight, flexible and unobtrusive, and they are the first appliances to be available in colours to match different skin tones, all of which provides security, comfort, confidence and discretion. This article explores the features of Sil2 and Genii ostomy appliances, with reference to preliminary data from a user evaluation.
Developments in silicone technology for use in stoma care
Authors: Swift Thomas , Westgate Gillian , Van Onselen Julie , Lee Stewart
Published: September 2023

Soft silicone's flexibility, adhesive capacity and non-toxic, non-odourous and hypoallergenic nature have made it an established material for adhesive and protective therapeutic devices. In wound care, silicone is a component of contact layer dressings for superficial wounds and silicone gel sheeting for reducing the risk of scarring, as well as of barriers for incontinence-associated dermatitis. Regarding stoma accessories, silicone is established in barrier films to prevent contact dermatitis, adhesive removers to prevent skin stripping and filler gels to prevent appliance leaks. Until recently, silicone has not been used in stoma appliances flanges, as its hydrophobic nature has not allowed for moisture management to permit transepidermal water loss and prevent maceration. Traditional hydrocolloid appliances manage moisture by absorbing water, but this can lead to saturation and moisture-associated skin damage (MASD), as well as increased adhesion and resultant skin tears on removal, known as medical adhesive-related skin injury (MARSI). However, novel silicone compounds have been developed with a distinct evaporation-based mechanism of moisture management. This uses colloidal separation to allow the passage of water vapour at a rate equivalent to normal transepidermal water loss. It has been shown to minimise MASD, increase wear time and permit atraumatic removal without the use of adhesive solvents. Trio Healthcare has introduced this technology with a range of silicone-based flange extenders and is working with the University of Bradford Centre for Skin Sciences on prototype silicone-based stoma appliance flanges designed to significantly reduce the incidence of peristomal skin complications, such as MARSI and MASD. It is hoped that this will also increase appliance wear time, reduce costs and improve patient quality of life.
Results of a national survey of IBD nurses reported barriers and facilitators towards providing care to patients with microscopic colitis
Authors: Avery Pearl , Campbell Rachel
Published: September 2023

Objective

The authors developed a survey to understand the barriers and facilitators that might be present in providing care for patients with microscopic colitis (MC) in existing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) nurse-led services.

Methods

A survey was developed using Google Forms to collect anonymous responses from IBD nurses across all four nations of the UK. Twitter and the IBD Royal College of Nurses IBD network Facebook page and email group were used to disseminate the survey. Analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics.

Results

Of the n=102, responses received showed that 89.2% (n=91) consider MC when they see patients with watery diarrhoea. No training had been received about MC by 58.8% (n=60) of the n=102, while 52% (n=53) of the same cohort felt they had enough knowledge/confidence to manage a patient diagnosed with microscopic colitis.

Conclusions

The survey results also indicate an interest among the IBD nursing community in MC and a desire to learn more about MC to support patients living with this condition.
Journal Scan
Authors: Welyczko Nikki
Published: September 2023

A brief overview of recently published articles on gastroenterology, hepatology and stoma care
Appraising causal risk and protective factors for rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Gu Peng , Pu Bin , Liu Teng , Yue Dan , Xin Qiao , Li Hai-Shan , Yang Bai-Lin , Ke Dao-Ze , Zheng Xiao-Hui , Zeng Zhan-Peng , Zhang Zhi-Qiang
Published: September 2023

Aims

Mendelian randomization (MR) is considered to overcome the bias of observational studies, but there is no current meta-analysis of MR studies on rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of this study was to summarize the relationship between potential pathogenic factors and RA risk based on existing MR studies.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for MR studies on influencing factors in relation to RA up to October 2022. Meta-analyses of MR studies assessing correlations between various potential pathogenic factors and RA were conducted. Random-effect and fixed-effect models were used to synthesize the odds ratios of various pathogenic factors and RA. The quality of the study was assessed using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology using Mendelian Randomization (STROBE-MR) guidelines.

Results

A total of 517 potentially relevant articles were screened, 35 studies were included in the systematic review, and 19 studies were eligible to be included in the meta-analysis. Pooled estimates of 19 included studies (causality between 15 different risk factors and RA) revealed that obesity, smoking, coffee intake, lower education attainment, and Graves’ disease (GD) were related to the increased risk of RA. In contrast, the causality contribution from serum mineral levels (calcium, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, selenium), alcohol intake, and chronic periodontitis to RA is not significant.

Conclusion

Obesity, smoking, education attainment, and GD have real causal effects on the occurrence and development of RA. These results may provide insights into the genetic susceptibility and potential biological pathways of RA.

Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2023;12(9):601–614.
A AÇÃO DO GOVERNO DO ESTADO NO PROCESSO DE INTERIORIZAÇÃO DO ENSINO SUPERIOR NA BAHIA
Authors: Fagundes Neves Erivaldo
Published: September 2023

A intervenção direta do Estado da Bahia, no ensino superior, teve início na década de sessenta, Antes, esse empreendimento era realizado apenas pela Universidade Federal da Bahia e pela iniciativa privada. Em 1968, as instituições de ensino superior existentes na Bahia concentravam-se quase todas em Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia, Universidade Católica do Salvador, Escola Baiana de Medicina, Faculdade de Educação da Bahia, Escola de Administração de Empresas da Bahia e Fundação Visconde de Cairu, todas, exceto a Universidade Federal da Bahia, de iniciativa privada.
É A LUTA FINAL! 1987: CENTENÁRIO DA INTERNACIONAL
Authors: Parisse Lucien Maurice
Published: September 2023

Para celebrar o duplo Centenário da Internacional e da morte de seu autor, Eugêne Pottier, estabelecemos, a partir do texto original, uma tradução, procurando a maior fidelidade possível. Analisamos o texto, para descobrir a própria mensagem de Pottier, anarquista-comunista e Conselheiro da Comuna de Paris. Esta volta à fonte leva a despir a Internacional de roupagens ideológicas alheias, O hino afirma o papel profético da tradição anarquista e anuncia a última aurora: “uma dessas manhãs, ... o sol brilhará para sempre”.
NATUREZA DA LÍRICA
Authors: Alves Pereira Roberval
Published: September 2023

Considerações em torno de traços básicos da natureza da lírica, a partir de elementos constitutivos da linguagem poética, tais como, o ritmo (impulso primordial) e a imagem (encarnação do ritmo; reconciliação de opostos: sujeito/objeto, ser/não-ser, etc.) Os argumentos se articularão de modo a evidenciar o caráter ontológico da poesia lírica.
PARA LER EURICO ALVES BOAVENTURA
Authors: Olivieri Rita
Published: September 2023

Este trabalho pretende ser uma primeira leitura da obra poética de Eurico Alves, dando destaque às preferências temáticas, ao contexto poético que exerceu influência sobre sua obra e à forma de captar e dar expressão aos elementos do real. Essas anotações são precedidas de algumas colocações, visando a situar o poeta no Movimento Modernista na Bahia.
Reablement as an evolution in home care: a comparison of implementation across five countries
Authors: Parsons John , Burton Elissa , Graff Lea , Metzelthin Silke , O’Connell Hilary , Tuntland Hanne
Published: September 2023

Numerous countries have been developing a reablement approach for several years. However, the stage of implementation, as well as the scaling up, differs across each country. The aim of this chapter is to consider key issues relating to the implementation of reablement to determine the shared issues for development, refinement, and spread. The chapter is informed by i-PAHRIS and Context and Implementation of Complex Interventions (CICI) implementation frameworks. Issues relating to the history and current status of reablement, target groups, characteristics, and key contextual factors at a participant, local, and national level are considered across New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. This allows for consideration of the key common features in the composition of reablement across the five countries/regions together with an illustration of differences in structuring reablement.
Does reablement improve client-level outcomes of participants? An investigation of the current evidence
Authors: Lewin Gill , Parsons John , O’Connell Hilary , Metzelthin Silke
Published: September 2023

This chapter looks at the evidence regarding the effectiveness of reablement for older people themselves. The most commonly examined client-level outcomes are daily functioning, physical function and quality of life. The evidence relating to each of these is described in separate sections, while that pertaining to less commonly used measures is described together. When assessing the evidence, most weight is given to studies with more rigorous research methodologies which are considered to be higher on the evidence hierarchy. Overall, the evidence that reablement enables older adults to have better personal outcomes than if they had received conventional home care, was found to be relatively weak, although in relation to outcomes such as quality of life or wellbeing, perhaps promising. On the other hand, there is little evidence that the outcomes for reablement participants are any worse than for non-participants and service evaluations found that the majority were satisfied with the service and what they felt they had achieved.
Survivor support: how a values-based service can enhance access to psychological capital
Authors: Murphy Carole , Anstiss Karen
Published: September 2023

Research examining the support needs of victims/survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking have focused on various aspects of the victim ‘journey’, both in terms of understanding recovery trajectories and in proposing a variety of solutions. Despite this corpus of evidence, little is known about interventions in supporting survivors in residential safe house settings towards recovery and reintegration. Drawing on interviews with staff, volunteers and survivors, this chapter will examine the practice of support in a safe house for women in the UK, which is rooted in the values of love, respect, community and spirituality. The chapter then makes the case for the benefits of applying the theoretical concept of psychological capital, and its key features of hope, resilience, optimism and self-efficacy, to understand survivor experiences of this values-based support. Bringing academic knowledge and conceptual frameworks to practitioners’ attention can be useful in making explicit underlying assumptions about survivors’ needs, best practice interventions and how to improve support as new findings emerge. The significance and benefits of values-based models of support demonstrate the potential to improve access to psychological capital for survivors, incorporating hope, resilience, self-efficacy and optimism, in turn improving positive outcomes.
Case study: Racism and xenophobia – America’s deadly pre-existing conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year
Authors: Sharpless Joanna , Dell Annie , Smith Richard
Published: September 2023

The United States’ long history of structural racism, permeating all aspects of life including housing, employment and healthcare, placed American minorities at disproportionate danger from COVID-19. The combination of American racism and COVID-19 resulted not only in spikes in hate crimes and discrimination, but also the avoidable deaths of thousands of Americans. This case study reviews structural racism’s mounting death toll and culture wars and clashes in the context of the US political landscape during COVID-19.
While some individuals and non-governmental organisations moved to fill voids left by government inaction on racism and xenophobia, others actively sought to escalate racial tensions. The structural racism and social determinants of health that set the stage for the harm American minority communities endured in the pandemic’s first year and beyond remain deeply ingrained in the American cultural, political and social systems.
The effect of COVID-19 on the financial sustainability of local government
Authors: Murphie Aileen , Smith Richard
Published: September 2023

Local government, weakened by ten years of funding reductions, was significantly financially challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic; the financial effect is estimated at £10 billion for 2020–2021 (or 20 per cent of net revenue expenditure). The consequences of the pandemic comprise reduced income, increased costs from supporting local recovery, and potentially, systemic financial failure, challenging the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as steward of the local government finance system.
Economic development as a local function has seen major funding reductions and the local growth landscape is complex, with government continuing to announce new funding streams to support business and to ‘level up’.
The overarching question is whether the local government finance system is itself still viable with its weaknesses exposed by the pandemic and how far it is enabling local government merely to survive.
Introduction: Feelings and Migrants Come and Go, and some Stay/Stick
Authors: Khorana Sukhmani
Published: September 2023

This introductory chapter explains the book’s use of ‘emotion’, ‘affect’, ‘migration’ and ‘mediation’, unpacks the ‘affective turn’ in migration studies and provides an overview of the work that has been done so far, particularly in immigrant societies in the Global North. It then uses Sara Ahmed’s conceptualisation of feelings that stick to bodies (2004) to lay out the negative affects that are attributed to migrants and how they are used to sentimentalise public discourse and justify a global rise in xenophobia and populism. At the same time, it argues that the contribution of the chapters of this book is to identify other kinds of feelings about migration, and feelings that centre the experiences of migrants and refugees that still have transformational potential as emotions of social change.
Why ‘Torture and Torturous Violence’?
Authors: Canning Victoria
Published: September 2023

Torture is simultaneously a silenced entity and an overused term – something we often shy away from in serious discussion, but a word we might use flippantly. It is not uncommon to use the term ‘torture’ to describe mild displeasures: sitting through a poorly written play, listening to a song we don’t like, spending time with an odious relative. Meanwhile, debates about what torture actually is continue across the social and political sciences, law courts and military tribunals. In the aftermath of 9/11 in particular, whether violations should be deemed torture or cruel and inhuman treatment or indeed – as the Bush administration rolled out as a means to ‘interrogate’ potential terrorists – Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, continue. Meanwhile, violations which may amount to torture continue globally – daily and routinely. This book stems from a long-term grappling with this concept: torture. Since the mid-2000s I have worked with and researched various forms of violence – some over long periods of time, others (such as childhood abuse) over shorter periods. Research and activism have focused on sexualized violence, trafficking, domestic abuse, conflict-related rape, and torture with women seeking asylum in Northern Europe. There have been many times that I have spoken with women who have survived various and often multiple abuses, never to refer to them as torture. And yet the forms of violence they are subject to, as this book will highlight, are no less impactful in their inflictions of harm than that which we might recognize as torture.
Disrupted Urbanism
Authors: Odendaal Nancy
Published: September 2023

The smart city discourse tends to ignore the cultural and spatial characteristics that define African cities. This book explores the notion of technology disruption through discussion of a series of urban practices in Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar and South Africa that use digital platforms to address socio-spatial challenges. Four themes are focused upon here: mobility, food security, social mobilization and public culture. By considering how the appropriation of digital platforms potentially enables more inclusive and efficient cities, the book engages debates on African urbanism and platform urbanism through a relational lens. The book concludes on situated smart initiatives in these five countries by surfacing the dimensions of the current socio-technical evolutions of African cities. Central to the relationship between material and human agency are flow and connection, as well as the functioning of trust and continuity in enabling these dynamics. The digitization of city processes raises tensions between traditional governance frames and emerging regimes, and the hybrid nature of the African ‘smart city’.
Introduction: Setting the Scene of the Law School and the Discipline
Authors: Adébísí Folúké
Published: September 2023

This chapter discusses the current state of the law school in the UK and explains why decolonisation has been suggested as a response to that state. This summary includes a description of the qualifying law degree, the composition of the canon, the composition of law schools across the UK, as well as an examination of experiences of marginalised students and staff. This includes a critique of the uses of diversity to remedy those experiences. This critique extends to the work of law schools … what is taught and researched, as well as their structures. Therefore, this chapter provides the contextual background against which the chapters that follow are set. It also introduces the main arguments of the book – that any effective work on decolonisation in law schools must trouble the fundamental concepts of the discipline, as well as the position of the law school within the neoliberal university and enmeshed in a world driven by racialised capital.
Conclusion: Another University Is Necessary to Take Us towards Pluriversal Worlds
Authors: Adébísí Folúké
Published: September 2023

This chapter concludes the book by reflecting on the context of the overarching structures within which law schools find themselves – the university and the world. This chapter grapples with the impossibility of effectively ‘decolonising’ if this ambition fails to acknowledge how colonial logics have ordered the university sector and the world in which we live. Understanding the limitations of the structures within which we work allows us to be simultaneously intentional and honest about our endeavours. So, we must ask ourselves from within the law school, what outcomes we want our actions in decolonisation to produce, not just in our law schools, but in the university and the world beyond. We must ask what it means to work in a university and live in a world where colonial logics are ceased.
The Puʻu We Planted: (Re)birthing Refuge at Mauna Kea 1
Authors: Ahia Māhealani , Johnson Kahala
Published: September 2023

On 12 July 2019, Kanaka Maoli collectively birthed Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu on Mauna Kea, a refuge raised to provide shelter for Hawaiians as we defended the mountain from the Thirty Meter Telescope project. While Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu was a site for Hawaiian self-determination in the face of US settler colonial violence, a direct-action analysis by activists from the sanctuary has yet to be offered regarding issues of gendered and sexual harm experienced in camp. In this chapter, we tell our stories as Indigenous, feminist, abolitionist organisers from the Hale Mauna Wahine, the Hale Mauna Māhū, and the ʻAha Kiaʻi Aloha who struggled against cisheteropatriarchy at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu. Refusing colonial cultures of silence that pressure survivors into conformity, we argue that honest confrontations with gendered and sexual violence in our movements is vital to cultivating trauma-informed cultures of care that can prefigure our collective healing and liberation.
Island Criminology
Authors: Scott John , Staines Zoe
Published: September 2023

Ten per cent of the world’s population lives on islands, but until now the place and space characteristics of islands in criminological theory have not been deeply considered. This book moves beyond the question of whether islands have more or less crime than other places, and instead addresses issues of how, and by whom, crime is defined in island settings, which crimes are policed and visible, and who is (or is not) subject to regulation. These questions are informed by a ‘politics of place and belonging’ and the distinctive social networks and normative structures of island communities.
At the crux of these projects is an understanding of power structures, both within island communities and at a broader geo-political level. Drawing widely on diverse sociological and criminological literatures, including decolonial and post-colonial critiques, this book explores deviance and crime on islands as sites of production (agriculture, industry), consumption (tourism, extractivism), exploitation (invasion, colonization), and exclusion (detention centres, prisons). As the book conveys, islands are complex and interesting localities, situated on the periphery of peripheries and regularly overlooked in criminological theorizing. They are sometimes akin to ‘hyperreal’ versions of containment that enable non-island spaces to be understood as ‘free’, while at other times becoming enclaves for resistance and protection from the mainstream/mainland. Drawing on diverse cases and examples, this book re-examines how fundamental concepts for understanding crime and regulation, such as social integration, community and belonging, as well as exclusion and Othering, are practised in the often closed and bounded networks of island ecologies.
Navigating the Local
Authors: Leonardsson Hanna
Published: September 2023

This book explores how local peace is built and performed in Lebanon through empirical material from the municipalities of Tyre, Bourj Hammoud and Saida. The book highlights three key points brought forward in the local peacebuilding literature: that peace needs to respond to local needs, that the people living the peace built must be included in building it, and, that peacebuilding in the local space is connected to actors and activities on the national and international level. From these key points, the book explains how local service delivery, local interactions and vertical relationships matter for building peace. Through the stories of municipal councillors, municipal employees, and civil society actors active in the three local spaces, the book demonstrates that local governments hold peacebuilding potential by implementing, for example, waste management, infrastructural developments and social services. At the same time, how local activities and agencies are performed relates to the local context and its relationship to other actors and levels of government. Thus, illustrating how local governments navigate local, national and international spaces to implement local peacebuilding activities, the book argues that politics and societal divides impact how local peacebuilding is performed and what kind of peace(s) is built. Taken together, the book finds that in Lebanon, local peacebuilding is performed through politicized local governance, upholding peace, and conflict, sometimes at the same time.
The EU Migrant Generation in Asia
Authors: Hof Helena
Published: September 2023

Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study with young Europeans who migrated to Singapore and Tokyo in the 2010s, this book sheds light on the life course effects of early-career migration and on the changing outlook of the immigrant receiving countries of Singapore and Japan. The book demonstrates how migration to Asian business centres has become a way of distinction and an alternative way of middle-class reproduction for young Europeans during that period. It also reveals how the perceived insecurities of life in the crisis-ridden EU result in these migrants’ onward migration or prolonged stays in Asia. Capturing the changing roles of Singapore and Japan as migration destinations, this pioneering work makes the case for EU citizens’ aspired lifestyles and professional employment that is no longer only attainable in Europe or the West. After years of working experience and of building a life and networks in the two cities, Singapore and Tokyo – and for some migrants, other Asian hubs – have become temporary homes. Having spent the crucial first life stage of ‘full’ adulthood and economic independence in Asia, the migrants have established grounds for a middle-class lifestyle that they might not be able to replicate easily in their home countries or elsewhere. Singapore’s and Japan’s changing migration regimes, however, pose different barriers to the migrants, which results in the Europeans’ ambiguous feelings towards their differentiated embedding in the host societies.
Alternative Societies
Authors: Martell Luke
Published: September 2023

The book goes beyond analysis and critique of current society to look at alternative societies – in theory and practice, internationally, what they could be, and their real possibilities. It looks at a wide range of alternatives from communism to co-ops and participatory communities, a slower society with less work, eco-localism, digital alternatives, alternative education, communal alternatives to the family, food counterculture and freeganism, alternative social centres, alternatives to prison, social democracy and the welfare state, and decolonial and Global South alternatives. It covers Left-wing, Right-wing, Marxist, ecological, anti-racist and feminist perspectives. The book analyses particular themes that arise from these alternatives: utopianism, pluralist socialism, democratizing the economy, and alternative globalization. The book argues against dichotomies and polarizations that often characterize perspectives in this area and argues for a pluralist multilevel approach to alternatives – local, bottom-up, national, international, and global – and the combining of often counterposed alternatives – utopian and materialist, socialist and liberal, particular and general. The book is unique in the range and internationalism of alternatives it covers, and it advocates a distinctive pluralist and open approach. It argues for a pluralist democratic socialism. It is written in an accessible and readable way for students, experts, activists, and lay readers.
The Immobility Turn
Authors: Cairns David , Clemente Mara
Published: September 2023

The Immobility Turn explores changes that have taken place in various forms of mobility and migration since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This turn follows a long period during which the popularity of various forms of human circulation expanded to an unprecedented degree, reflected in the theoretical idea of a ‘mobility turn’. The pandemic temporarily put this expansion into reverse, creating an imperative to rethink the place of mobility in our lives and its social, economic and political value. In addition to exploring this change at a theoretical level, the authors illustrate some of the dilemmas that have arisen for international travellers, using evidence drawn from empirical research conducted in Portugal, a country that was a centre of mobility expansionism until early 2020, especially in regard to international tourism, student mobility and labour migration.
“Located on Land in Nova Scotia”: British Soldier Settlement after the Napoleonic Wars
Authors: Miles William R. , Vance Michael E.
Published: September 2023

Abstract: Des soldats britanniques démobilisés s’établirent dans tout l’empire britannique après les guerres napoléoniennes, y compris en Nouvelle-Écosse. À la suite de la guerre de 1812, un groupe d’anciens militaires furent établis le long de la route d’Annapolis pour assurer une voie terrestre entre Halifax et Annapolis Royal. Malgré l’échec global du projet de colonisation, les anciens soldats restés sur leurs concessions purent le faire grâce à leurs liens avec le régiment, à leurs relations familiales et confessionnelles et au soutien de l’État par l’entremise des pensions de retraite de l’armée britannique. En permettant la réalisation des revendications impériales, ces colons soldats contribuèrent à la perturbations des collectivités mi’kmaq de l’intérieur de la colonie. Abstract: Demobilized British soldiers settled throughout the British Empire after the Napoleonic Wars, including Nova Scotia. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, a group of veterans were located along the Annapolis Road to provide a land route between Halifax and Annapolis Royal. Despite the overall failure of the settlement scheme, the veterans who remained on their land grants were able to do so because of regimental links, family and denominational ties, and state support through British Army pensions. In realizing imperial claims, these soldier settlers contributed to the disruption of Mi’kmaw communities in the interior of the colony.
“I am the first of my kind to see it”: Observation and Authorship in Mina Hubbard’s Performance as Labrador Explorer, 1905–1908
Authors: Crooks Katherine
Published: September 2023

Abstract: Cet article porte sur l’expédition réalisée en 1905 par la Canadienne Mina Hubbard à travers le Labrador et la péninsule d’Ungava. Ce faisant, il examine la notion d’explorateur/voyageur nordique non autochtone en tant que témoin. Il considère deux pratiques qui furent essentielles à Hubbard dans la construction et la mise en scène de son identité en tant qu’exploratrice : l’observation empirique et la publication de ses travaux. Les efforts de Hubbard pour se présenter comme une personne digne de témoigner des régions nordiques, en compétition avec ses guides des régions sauvages, mettent aussi en relief les types d’identités de race, de classes sociales et de genre qui étaient exclus de l’entreprise d’exploration des régions nordiques au tournant du siècle. Abstract: This article focuses on Canadian Mina Hubbard’s expedition through the Labrador-Ungava Peninsula in 1905. In so doing, it examines the notion of the northern non-Indigenous explorer/traveller as witness. It considers two practices that were essential to Hubbard in the construction and performance of her identity as an explorer: empirical observation and authorship. Hubbard’s efforts to present herself as a reliable northern witness, in contest with her wilderness guides, also highlight the kinds of racialized, classed, and gendered identities that were excluded from the work of northern exploration around the turn of the century.
“Our Story is Your Story”: Examining Recent Scholarship on Indigenous and Black Commemorations with a Nova Scotian Focus
Authors: Parker Susan
Published: September 2023

Abstract: Depuis les années 1960, les études muséales et commémoratives ont délaissé les récits axés uniquement sur la colonisation pour favoriser l’inclusion des points de vue des Autochtones et des Noirs. Bien que certains critiques aient condamné l’utilisation abusive que des institutions font de la décolonisation et de la diversité comme des mots à la mode au lieu d’entretenir un dialogue avec les créateurs et leurs communautés, on a observé en Nouvelle-Écosse des progrès considérables au sein des institutions et dans les espaces publics de la province, comme en font foi l’embauche de spécialistes de la commémoration issus des communautés noires et autochtones, la création d’expositions et de musées ou de centres axés sur les perspectives de celles-ci, et la réappropriation d’espaces publics tels que des parcs, des rues et des édifices. Abstract: Since the 1960s, there has been a shift in commemoration and museum studies away from settler-only narratives and towards institutional inclusion of Indigenous and Black perspectives. While some critics have condemned institutional misuse of decolonization and diversity, in Nova Scotia there has been meaningful engagement with Black and Indigenous creators and their communities in the province’s institutions and public spaces. This is evidenced by the hiring of Indigenous and Black commemoration professionals, the creation of exhibits and museums/centres that focus on these perspectives, and the ongoing reclamation of public spaces such as parks, streets, and buildings.
"Anyone Can Wear the Mask": The Marginalization of Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Authors: Jeffries Dru
Published: September 2023

abstract: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, 2018) marks the film debut of biracial Spider-Man Miles Morales, with the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, playing a supporting role. Despite Miles's centrality in the film, a confluence of narrative, industrial, and stylistic factors work together to reinforce his secondary status compared to Parker, who remains the franchise's ideal of the real Spider-Man. In an echo of the reactionary backlash to the #BlackLivesMatter movement embodied in the hashtag #AllLivesMatter, the film's explicit theme—that "anyone can wear the mask"—functions less to legitimize Miles as Spider-Man than to ensure his continued subordination in the broader franchise.
The Rise of Theocratic Democracy
Authors: Saiya Nilay
Published: September 2023

Abstract: Many scholars and prodemocracy organizations have documented a global democratic recession that has been occurring since the mid-2000s. Yet the reason for this democratic decay remains disputed. This article argues that the global democratic recession has coincided with, and can be largely attributed to, the emergence of an antidemocratic form of religious majoritarianism that has swept across the world since the turn of the century. The author calls this development "theocratic democracy." Theocratic democracy results when religious groups and holders of state power strike an unspoken grand bargain: Political leaders back majoritarian religious groups, and these groups in return use their spiritual authority to back the political leaders. The rise of theocratic democracy has had devastating consequences for democracy.
How Financial Secrecy Undermines Democracy
Authors: Davidson Charles , Judah Ben
Published: September 2023

Abstract: The expansion and sheer enormity of the financial-secrecy system is undermining democracy to an alarming extent. This system has distorted capitalism and its elites' relationship to taxation and the public realm to such an extent that powerful vested interests are now attached to a financial system that a) conceals kleptocracy, crime, and foreign interference, and b) exacerbates inequality to a degree unrecognized precisely because of the system's secrecy. The state of the public realm shows that capitalism with a secrecy system has become increasingly hard for a democratic polity to hold accountable. Understanding the architecture of the financial-secrecy system, one can identify how to conduct its deconstruction.
AI's Economic Peril
Authors: Bell Stephanie A. , Korinek Anton
Published: September 2023

Abstract: As artificial-intelligence (AI) systems become more capable, their potential labor-market effects may aggravate inequality and by extension undermine democratic governance. Moreover, the interrelationship between democracy and inequality may trigger a feedback loop, whereby increases in inequality undermine democracy, which in turn lead to policies that further increase inequality, giving rise to multiplier effects. In the short term, policies to mitigate AI-induced inequality include steering the direction of advances in AI to enhance human-AI collaboration, strengthening worker power and agency, and adjusting tax codes to not incentivize automating human labor. In the longer term, these policies include distributing the surplus generated by AI and taking measures against the adverse effects of market concentration in the AI industry. Moreover, policies that protect and strengthen democratic processes may lead to virtuous multiplier effects by reducing inequality. We hope that with thoughtful governance societies can harness AI's benefits while ensuring broadly shared prosperity. However, policymakers must act swiftly given AI's rapid development.
My Wife
Authors: Doosti Nayereh
Published: September 2023

Abstract: The narrator, mesmerized by the stories weaved by a woman he had a casual sexual encounter with, agrees to marry her when they meet again years later.
Structured-light displacement detection method using split-waveplate for dual-beam optical tweezers
Authors: Li Guofeng , Kuang Tengfang , Xiong Wei , Han Xiang , Chen Xinlin , Xiao Guangzong , Tan Zhongqi , Luo Hui
Published: September 2023

Structured-light displacement detection method is an innovative approach with extremely high sensitivity for measuring the displacement of a levitated particle. This scheme includes two key components, a split-waveplate (SWP) and a single-mode fiber. In this work, we further investigated the influence of SWP installation on this method regarding the sensitivity of displacement detection. The results indicate that the sensitivity increases with the expanding of SWP offset in the effective range. In addition, we found this method has a significant tolerance rate, with an extensive SWP offset effective range of 5%-25%. However, an excessive offset can render this method ineffective. More interestingly, we demonstrated the feasibility of rotating the SWP to detect displacement in different directions. Our research contributes to guiding the structured-light detection methods in practical applications and expanding their applications in fundamental physics.
Enhanced Photon Number Resolving Detection with High-Efficient InGaAs/InAlAs Single Photon Avalanche Diode
Authors: Lee Queena , Chen Tzu-Yang , Chen Yu-Ju , Kan Wei-Hong , Liu Xue-Wen , Shi Jin-Wei
Published: September 2023

Photon number-resolving detectors are in high demand for applications in photonic quantum technology. In this study, we demonstrate the enhanced capabilities of our self-developed high-efficient InGaAs/InAlAs single-photon avalanche diode for photon number-resolving applications. These capabilities are achieved by harnessing the high multiplication gain generated through an avalanche process in the InAlAs multiplication layer. Significantly, this marks the first instance of intrinsic photon-number resolving using an InGaAs/InAlAs single-photon avalanche diode without multiplexed schemes. We have unambiguously distinguished photon number states up to 5 and achieved the figure of merit of 0.99 by increasing single photon detection efficiency to the maximum value of 46 % while avoiding avalanche saturation that might limit photon number-resolving capabilities.
Fourteen quick tips for crowdsourcing geographically linked data for public health advocacy
Authors: Atienza Joshua , Benedict Anjalee , Stein Lincoln D. , Pirzada Kashif , White Cheryl , Pai Shraddha
Published: September 2023

This article presents 14 quick tips to build a team to crowdsource data for public health advocacy. It includes tips around team building and logistics, infrastructure setup, media and industry outreach, and project wrap-up and archival for posterity.
Analysing urban and peri-urban youth employment in agribusiness in Malawi
Authors: Mkandawire Dingase , Gbegbelegbe Sika , Nsenga Justus V. , Yami Mastewal , Kenamu Edwin
Published: September 2023

The study aims to analyse key determinants of urban and peri-urban youth employment in agribusiness in Malawi to support youth policies. A mixed-methods approach is used, which combines both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative method involved a Bivariate Logit Model and Multinomial Logit Model to analyse nationally representative survey data from the Fourth Integrated Household Survey in 2016–2017. The qualitative method employed thematic analysis to data generated through Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews for key stakeholders involved in agri-business in Lilongwe district. The qualitative analysis, which focuses on a case study for urban and peri-urban youth in agribusiness, was used to validate, and provide context for the quantitative analysis. The results revealed that a majority of the urban and peri-urban youth engaged in agribusiness across Malawi work in sole farming (family farms or ganyu); in addition, women outnumber men in terms of engagement in agribusiness, and this stems from tradition. In addition, the determinants that affect youth’s engagement in agribusiness consist of demographic factors, institutional support, assets, and shocks. It was also shown that men were more likely than women to be engaged in sole farming, but they were as likely as women to be engaged in other forms of agribusiness. The policy recommendation from this study is that programs aimed at supporting youth engagement in agribusiness should consider a variety of factors; If resources are limited, the programs should ensure that they offer capacity strengthening for the youth in the form of extension services and practical training in agribusiness.
Controlled and customizable baculovirus NOS3 gene delivery using PVA-based hydrogel systems
Authors: Schaly Sabrina , Islam Paromita , Boyajian Jacqueline L. , Thareja Rahul , Abosalha Ahmed , Arora Karan , Shum-Tim Dominique , Prakash Satya
Published: September 2023

Nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) eluting polyvinyl alcohol-based hydrogels have a large potential in medical applications and device coatings. NOS3 promotes nitric oxide and nitrate production and can effectively be delivered using insect cell viruses, termed baculoviruses. Nitric oxide is known for regulating cell proliferation, promoting blood vessel vasodilation, and inhibiting bacterial growth. The polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels investigated here sustained baculovirus elution from five to 25 days, depending on the hydrogel composition. The quantity of viable baculovirus loaded significantly declined with each freeze-thaw from one to four (15.3 ± 2.9% vs. 0.9 ± 0.5%, respectively). The addition of gelatin to the hydrogels protected baculovirus viability during the freeze-thaw cycles, resulting in a loading capacity of 94.6 ± 1.2% with sustained elution over 23 days. Adding chitosan, PEG-8000, and gelatin to the hydrogels altered the properties of the hydrogel, including swelling, blood coagulation, and antimicrobial effects, beneficial for different therapeutic applications. Passive absorption of the baculovirus into PVA hydrogels exhibited the highest baculovirus loading (96.4 ± 0.6%) with elution over 25 days. The baculovirus-eluting hydrogels were hemocompatible and non-cytotoxic, with no cell proliferation or viability reduction after incubation. This PVA delivery system provides a method for high loading and sustained release of baculoviruses, sustaining nitric oxide gene delivery. This proof of concept has clinical applications as a medical device or stent coating by delivering therapeutic genes, improving blood compatibility, preventing thrombosis, and preventing infection.
Whole-genome resequencing-based characterization of a durum wheat landrace showing similarity to ‘Senatore Cappelli’
Authors: Tateo Fernando , Bononi Monica , Castorina Giulia , Colecchia Salvatore Antonio , De Benedetti Stefano , Consonni Gabriella , Geuna Filippo
Published: September 2023

Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum) is a major cereal adopted since antiquity to feed humans. Due to its use, dating back several millennia, this species features a wide genetic diversity and landraces are considered important repositories of gene pools which constitute invaluable tools for breeders. The aim of this work is to provide a first characterization of a wheat landrace, referred to as ‘TB2018’, that was collected in the Apulia region (Southern Italy). ‘TB2018’ revealed, through visual inspection, characters reminiscent of the traditional variety ‘Senatore Cappelli’, while exhibiting a distinctive trait, i.e., reduced stature. Indeed, the comparison with a set of Italian durum wheat cultivars conducted in this study, in which 24 CPVO plant descriptors were adopted, placed the ‘TB2018’ landrace in proximity to the ‘Senatore Cappelli’ cultivar. In addition, the close similarity between the two genotypes was confirmed by the analysis of the seed protein pattern. A relative reduction was detected for ‘TB2018’ root elongation in the early stages of plant growth. The ‘TB2018’ genome sequence, obtained through low-coverage resequencing and comparison to the reference ‘Svevo’ cultivar is also reported in this study, followed by a genome-wide comparison against 259 durum wheat accessions that placed ‘TB2018’ close to the ‘Cappelli’ reference. Hundreds of genes putatively affected by variants that possess Gene Ontology descriptors were detected, among which some were shown to be putatively linked to the morphological traits that distinguish ’TB2018’ from ’Senatore Cappelli’, Overall, this study poses the basis for a possible exploitation of ’TB2018’ per se in cultivation or as a source of alternative alleles in the breeding of traditional cultivars. This work also presents a genomic methodology that exploits the information contained in a low-depth, whole-genome sequence to derive genotypic data useful for cross-platform (chip data) comparisons.