bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A generic parallel framework for inferring large-scale gene regulatory networks from expression profiles: application to Alzheimer’s disease network
Authors: Sebastian Softya , Roy Swarup , Kalita Jugal
Published: December 2022

The inference of large-scale gene regulatory networks is essential for understanding comprehensive interactions among genes. Most existing methods are limited to reconstructing networks with a few hundred nodes. Therefore, parallel computing paradigms must be leveraged to construct large networks. We propose a generic parallel framework that enables any existing method, without re-engineering, to infer large networks in parallel, guaranteeing quality output. The framework is tested on 15 inference methods (not limited to) employing in silico benchmarks and real-world large expression matrices, followed by qualitative and speedup assessment. The framework does not compromise the quality of the base serial inference method. We rank the candidate methods and use the top-performing method to infer an Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) affected network from large expression profiles of a triple transgenic mouse model consisting of 45,101 genes. The resultant network is further explored to obtain hub genes that emerge functionally related to the disease. We partition the network into 41 modules and conduct pathway enrichment analysis, revealing that a good number of participating genes are collectively responsible for several brain disorders, including AD. Finally, we extract the interactions of a few known AD genes and observe that they are periphery genes connected to the network's hub genes. Availability: The R implementation of the framework is downloadable from https://github.com/Netralab/GenericParallelFramework.
Brain volumes, thicknesses, and surface areas as mediators of genetic factors and childhood adversity on intelligence
Authors: Williams Camille M , Peyre Hugo , Ramus Franck
Published: December 2022

Although genetic and environmental factors influence general intelligence (g-factor), few studies examined the neuroanatomical measures mediating environmental and genetic effects on intelligence. Here, we investigate the brain volumes, cortical mean thicknesses, and cortical surface areas mediating the effects of the g-factor polygenic score (gPGS) and childhood adversity on the g-factor in the UK Biobank. We first examined the global and regional brain measures that contribute to the g-factor. Most regions contributed to the g-factor through global brain size. Parieto-frontal integration theory (P-FIT) regions were not more associated with the g-factor than non-PFIT regions. After adjusting for global brain size and regional associations, only a few regions predicted intelligence and were included in the mediation analyses. We conducted mediation analyses on global measures, regional volumes, mean thicknesses, and surface areas, separately. Total brain volume mediated 7.04% of the gPGS’ effect on the g-factor and 2.50% of childhood adversity’s effect on the g-factor. In comparison, the fraction of the gPGS and childhood adversity’s effects mediated by individual regional volumes, surfaces, and mean thicknesses was 10–15 times smaller. Therefore, genetic and environmental effects on intelligence may be mediated to a larger extent by other brain properties.
Heart–kidney transplant versus heart transplant in the obese: a propensity-matched analysis
Authors: Weingarten Noah , Iyengar Amit , Herbst David Alan , Helmers Mark , Rekhtman David , Song Cindy , Kim Samuel T , Atluri Pavan
Published: December 2022

OBJECTIVES

The decision to perform simultaneous heart–kidney transplant (HKT) rather than isolated heart transplant (IHT) for patients with advanced kidney disease is challenging. Limited data exist to guide this decision in obese patients. We sought to compare mortality after HKT and IHT in obese patients with non-dialysis-dependent kidney disease.

METHODS

The United Network for Organ Sharing was queried for data on adult heart transplant recipients from 2000 to 2022. Inclusion criteria were obesity, estimated glomerular filtration rate <45 ml/min/1.73 m2 and no pretransplant dialysis. HKT and IHT recipients were propensity matched. Morbidity was compared using chi-squared, Fisher’s exact and McNemar’s tests. Survival was assessed with Kaplan–Meier estimation. Risk factors for mortality were examined with Cox regression.

RESULTS

A total of 289 HKT and 1920 IHT recipients met inclusion criteria. Heart–kidney recipients had higher baseline creatinine and rates of intensive care unit disposition than IHT recipients (both standardized mean differences >0.10). Propensity matching resulted in 239 pairs of HKT and IHT recipients with minimal differences in baseline characteristics. Heart–kidney recipients had higher 5- and 10-year survival than IHT recipients on unmatched (77% vs 69%, P = 0.011 and 58% vs 48%, P = 0.008) and propensity matched analyses (77% vs 68%, P = 0.026 and 57% vs 39%, P = 0.007). Heart–kidney transplantation was protective against 10-year mortality on multivariable regression (hazard ratio 0.585, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

In obese patients with non-dialysis-dependent kidney disease, HKT may decrease long-term mortality relative to IHT and should be strongly considered as a preferred treatment.
Postoperative hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure after neoadjuvant treatment for lung cancer: radiologic findings and risk factors
Authors: Mammana Marco , Sella Nicolò , Giraudo Chiara , Verzeletti Vincenzo , Carere Anna , Bonis Alessandro , Silvestrin Stefano , Pacchiarini Giorgia , Pettenuzzo Tommaso , Monaco Eleonora , Lorenzoni Giulia , Navalesi Paolo , Rea Federico
Published: December 2022

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the rate of hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure (hARF) on patients undergoing surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to describe clinical and radiological findings and to explore potential risk factors for this complication.

METHODS

Retrospective review of medical records of all patients who underwent surgery for NSCLC after neoadjuvant chemotherapy at a single centre between 2014 and 2021. Computed tomography scans of patients who developed hARF were reviewed by an experienced radiologist to provide a quantitative assessment of radiologic alterations.

RESULTS

The final cohort consisted of 211 patients. Major morbidity was 13.3% (28/211) and hARF was the most common major complication (n = 11, 5.2%). Postoperative mortality was 1.9% (4/211) and occurred only in patients who experienced hARF. Most patients who experienced hARF underwent major procedures, including pneumonectomy (n = 3), lobectomy with chest wall resection (n = 3), bronchial or vascular reconstructions (n = 3) and extended or bilateral resections (n = 2). Analysis of computed tomography findings revealed that crazy paving and ground glass were the most common alterations and were more represented in the non-operated lung. Male gender, current smoking status, pathologic stage III–IV and operative time resulted significant risk factors for hARF at univariable analysis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

hARF is the main cause of major morbidity and mortality after neoadjuvant therapy and surgery for NSCLC and occurs more frequently after complex and lengthier surgical procedures. Overall, our findings suggest that operative time may represent the most important risk factor for hARF.
The logic of relative frustration revisited: theoretical revision of Boudon’s competition model and experimental evidence
Authors: Otten Kasper
Published: December 2022

It is commonly believed that improvements in social opportunities can paradoxically lead to a larger share of frustrated individuals. This paradox has been studied in the field of analytical sociology through a competition model proposed by Raymond Boudon. So far, analyses of the model suggest that the paradox indeed occurs, especially when opportunities improve from a low to medium level and acting on these opportunities carries relatively low costs. However, these analyses are based on the premise that actors care about their absolute payoffs and not their relative payoffs. We extend this premise such that actors care both about their absolute and relative payoffs, by incorporating a form of inequity aversion that we call relative deprivation aversion (RDA). Through game-theoretic analyses, we show that the paradoxical relationship is strongly attenuated when incorporating RDA. Using data from several experiments, we show also empirically that there is no significant increase in relative deprivation under improving opportunities. We conclude that the paradox is theoretically and empirically not likely in the situations captured in Boudon’s competition model. We discuss the implications this has for the paradox in general and provide suggestions for situations under which the paradox may be more likely.
Aiming at harmony. Comparing and contrasting International HFrEF Guidelines
Authors: Tomasoni Daniela , Adamo Marianna , Bozkurt Biykem , Heidenreich Paul , McDonagh Theresa , Rosano Giuseppe M C , Virani Sean A , Zieroth Shelley , Metra Marco
Published: December 2022

Large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have led to major changes in the treatment of patients with heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) and these advances are included in the recent European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/Heart Failure Society of America (ACC/AHA/HFSA) guidelines issued in 2021 and 2022, respectively. According to both guidelines, treatment of patients with HFrEF is based on the administration of four classes of drugs that reduce the primary endpoint of cardiovascular death and HF hospitalizations in RCTs: angiotensin-converting enzyme or angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors, beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, and sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors. Specific sequences of treatment are not recommended but emphasis is given to reaching treatment with all four drugs as early as possible. Further treatments are considered in selected patients including ivabradine, hydralazine nitrates, digoxin, and the new agent vericiguat. Specific treatments, mostly new, for cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular comorbidities are also given. The aim of this article is to compare the two recent guidelines issued by the ESC and ACC/AHA/HFSA and show the few differences and the many consistent recommendations, now more numerous given the evidence available for many new treatments.
Crown Lifting of Low-Density Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) Plantations on Nonindustrial Private Forest Lands
Authors: Collins Darcey , Granger Joshua J , Dicke Stephen , Poudel Krishna P , Polinko Adam , Willis John L
Published: December 2022

Pruning or the physical removal of lower branches, in combination with wider tree spacing, offers an alternative management scheme for small nonindustrial private forest landowners in areas lacking markets for small diameter wood. A 5-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation was thinned to 495 trees/ha (200 trees/ac). Four crown-lifting treatments of 35%, 40%, 45%, and 50% live crown ratio (LCR) were then implemented. An additional unmanaged plot was established in an unthinned, unpruned area. Two replications were established for all pruning treatments. The target LCR was maintained throughout the study with the additional crown-lifting activities in 2003, 2004, and 2008. At age 8, the average diameter of the unmanaged plot was 13.5 cm (5.3 in), and the diameter of the 50% LCR treatment, which had the greatest diameter growth of all the treatments, was 20.8 cm (8.2 in). The highest mortality rate (22%) was observed in the unmanaged plot, but it was not significantly greater than the other treatments. Low density plantings maintained with pruning could allow small nonindustrial private landowners to obtain a high value sawtimber product while eliminating the need for thinning practices commonly used in traditional pine plantation management.
Transcriptome-wide analysis of pseudouridylation in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Song Wan , Podicheti Ram , Rusch Douglas B , Tracey William Daniel
Published: December 2022

Pseudouridine (Psi) is one of the most frequent post-transcriptional modification of RNA. Enzymatic Psi modification occurs on rRNA, snRNA, snoRNA, tRNA, and non-coding RNA and has recently been discovered on mRNA. Transcriptome-wide detection of Psi (Psi-seq) has yet to be performed for the widely studied model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we optimized Psi-seq analysis for this species and have identified thousands of Psi modifications throughout the female fly head transcriptome. We find that Psi is widespread on both cellular and mitochondrial rRNAs. In addition, more than a thousand Psi sites were found on mRNAs. When pseudouridylated, mRNAs frequently had many Psi sites. Many mRNA Psi sites are present in genes encoding for ribosomal proteins, and many are found in mitochondrial encoded RNAs, further implicating the importance of pseudouridylation for ribosome and mitochondrial function. The 7SLRNA of the signal recognition particle is the non-coding RNA most enriched for Psi. The 3 mRNAs most enriched for Psi encode highly expressed yolk proteins (Yp1, Yp2, and Yp3). By comparing the pseudouridine profiles in the RluA-2 mutant and the w1118 control genotype, we identified Psi sites that were missing in the mutant RNA as potential RluA-2 targets. Finally, differential gene expression analysis of the mutant transcriptome indicates a major impact of loss of RluA-2 on the ribosome and translational machinery.
Mega-scale Bayesian regression methods for genome-wide prediction and association studies with thousands of traits
Authors: Qu Jiayi , Runcie Daniel , Cheng Hao
Published: December 2022

Large-scale phenotype data are expected to increase the accuracy of genome-wide prediction and the power of genome-wide association analyses. However, genomic analyses of high-dimensional, highly correlated traits are challenging. We developed a method for implementing high-dimensional Bayesian multivariate regression to simultaneously analyze genetic variants underlying thousands of traits. As a demonstration, we implemented the BayesC prior in the R package MegaLMM. Applied to Genomic Prediction, MegaBayesC effectively integrated hyperspectral reflectance data from 620 hyperspectral wavelengths to improve the accuracy of genetic value prediction on grain yield in a wheat dataset. Applied to Genome-Wide Association Studies, we used simulations to show that MegaBayesC can accurately estimate the effect sizes of QTL across a range of genetic architectures and causes of correlations among traits. To apply MegaBayesC to a realistic scenario involving whole-genome marker data, we developed a 2-stage procedure involving a preliminary step of candidate marker selection prior to multivariate regression. We then used MegaBayesC to identify genetic associations with flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana, leveraging expression data from 20,843 genes. MegaBayesC selected 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms as important for flowering time, with 13 located within 100 kb of known flowering-time related genes, a higher validation rate than achieved by a single-stage analysis using only the flowering time data itself. These results demonstrate that MegaBayesC can efficiently and effectively leverage high-dimensional phenotypes in genetic analyses.
Quantifying the impact of COVID-19 on essential health services: a comparison of interrupted time series analysis using Prophet and Poisson regression models
Authors: Ogallo William , Wanyana Irene , Tadesse Girmaw Abebe , Wanjiru Catherine , Akinwande Victor , Kabwama Steven , Remy Sekou Lionel , Wachira Charles , Okwako Sharon , Kizito Susan , Wanyenze Rhoda , Kiwanuka Suzanne , Walcott-Bryant Aisha
Published: December 2022

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) altered healthcare utilization patterns. However, there is a dearth of literature comparing methods for quantifying the extent to which the pandemic disrupted healthcare service provision in sub-Saharan African countries.

Objective

To compare interrupted time series analysis using Prophet and Poisson regression models in evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on essential health services.

Methods

We used reported data from Uganda’s Health Management Information System from February 2018 to December 2020. We compared Prophet and Poisson models in evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on new clinic visits, diabetes clinic visits, and in-hospital deliveries between March 2020 to December 2020 and across the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Western regions of Uganda.

Results

The models generated similar estimates of the impact of COVID-19 in 10 of the 12 outcome-region pairs evaluated. Both models estimated declines in new clinic visits in the Central, Northern, and Western regions, and an increase in the Eastern Region. Both models estimated declines in diabetes clinic visits in the Central and Western regions, with no significant changes in the Eastern and Northern regions. For in-hospital deliveries, the models estimated a decline in the Western Region, no changes in the Central Region, and had different estimates in the Eastern and Northern regions.

Conclusions

The Prophet and Poisson models are useful in quantifying the impact of interruptions on essential health services during pandemics but may result in different measures of effect. Rigor and multimethod triangulation are necessary to study the true effect of pandemics on essential health services.
Two conflicting guidelines on prostate specific antigen screening in Japan
Authors: Takahashi Takeshi
Published: December 2022

Japanese urologists need to listen seriously to the opinions of public health physicians and it is necessary to properly inform people of prostate specific antigen screening.
Dose optimization during drug development: whether and when to optimize
Authors: Korn Edward L , Moscow Jeffrey A , Freidlin Boris
Published: December 2022

The goal of dose optimization during drug development is to identify a dose that preserves clinical benefit with optimal tolerability. Traditionally, the maximum tolerated dose in a small phase I dose escalation study is used in the phase II trial assessing clinical activity of the agent. Although it is possible that this dose level could be altered in the phase II trial if an unexpected level of toxicity is seen, no formal dose optimization has routinely been incorporated into later stages of drug development. Recently it has been suggested that formal dose optimization (involving randomly assigning patients between 2 or more dose levels) be routinely performed early in drug development, even before it is known that the experimental therapy has any clinical activity at any dose level. We consider the relative merits of performing dose optimization earlier vs later in the drug development process and demonstrate that a considerable number of patients may be exposed to ineffective therapies unless dose optimization is delayed until after clinical activity or benefit of the new agent has been established. We conclude that patient and public health interests may be better served by conducting dose optimization after (or during) phase III evaluation, with some exceptions when dose optimization should be performed after activity shown in phase II evaluation.
Likelihood calculations for reconstructed lacunae and Papyrus 46’s text of Ephesians 6:19
Authors: McCollum Joey
Published: December 2022

This article presents an approach to quantify the likelihood of a given reconstruction of lacunose text in a manuscript using statistics on line lengths (in letters), information about the line-breaking conventions and scribal habits of the scribe who copied the manuscript, and the well-known computational technique of dynamic programming. The approach and its value are illustrated with an application to a textual contest between the readings τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ εὐαγγελίου and τὸ μυστήριον in Ephesians 6:19, where the early papyrus witness P. Chester Beatty II/P. Mich. Inv. 6238 (Gregory–Aland P46) is lacunose. The study shows that under reasonable assumptions, P46 is over fifty times more likely to have read τὸ μυστήριον.
Pif1 family helicases promote mutation avoidance during DNA replication
Authors: Zhou Zhi-Xiong , Follonier Cindy , Lujan Scott A , Burkholder Adam B , Zakian Virginia A , Kunkel Thomas A
Published: December 2022

Pif1 family 5′ → 3′ DNA helicases are important for replication fork progression and genome stability. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes two Pif1 family helicases, Rrm3 and Pif1, both of which are multi-functional. Here we describe novel functions for Rrm3 in promoting mutation avoidance during DNA replication. We show that loss of RRM3 results in elevated spontaneous mutations made by DNA polymerases Pols ϵ and δ, which are subject to DNA mismatch repair. The absence of RRM3 also causes higher mutagenesis by the fourth B-family DNA polymerase Pol ζ. By genome-wide analysis, we show that the mutational consequences due to loss of RRM3 vary depending on the genomic locus. Rrm3 promotes the accuracy of DNA replication by Pols ϵ and δ across the genome, and it is particularly important for preventing Pol ζ-dependent mutagenesis at tRNA genes. In addition, mutation avoidance by Rrm3 depends on its helicase activity, and Pif1 serves as a backup for Rrm3 in suppressing mutagenesis. We present evidence that the sole human Pif1 family helicase in human cells likely also promotes replication fidelity, suggesting that a role for Pif1 family helicases in mutation avoidance may be evolutionarily conserved, a possible underlying mechanism for its potential tumor-suppressor function.
Monitoring translation in all reading frames downstream of weak stop codons provides mechanistic insights into the impact of nucleotide and cellular contexts
Authors: Loughran Gary , Li Xiang , O’Loughlin Sinead , Atkins John F , Baranov Pavel V
Published: December 2022

A stop codon entering the ribosome A-site is normally decoded by release factors that induce release of the polypeptide. Certain factors influence the efficiency of the termination which is in competition with elongation in either the same (readthrough) or an alternative (frameshifting) reading frame. To gain insight into the competition between these processes, we monitored translation in parallel from all three reading frames downstream of stop codons while changing the nucleotide context of termination sites or altering cellular conditions (polyamine levels). We found that P-site codon identity can have a major impact on the termination efficiency of the OPRL1 stop signal, whereas for the OAZ1 ORF1 stop signal, the P-site codon mainly influences the reading frame of non-terminating ribosomes. Changes to polyamine levels predominantly influence the termination efficiency of the OAZ1 ORF1 stop signal. In contrast, increasing polyamine levels stimulate readthrough of the OPRL1 stop signal by enhancing near-cognate decoding rather than by decreasing termination efficiency. Thus, by monitoring the four competing processes occurring at stop codons we were able to determine which is the most significantly affected upon perturbation. This approach may be useful for the interrogation of other recoding phenomena where alternative decoding processes compete with standard decoding.
The Sociology of Race
Authors: Roberts Dorothy E.
Published: December 2022

W. E. B. Du Bois was the first scholar to develop a sociology of race—a social science based on scientific principles and methods that could analyze the social causes of differences between the well-being and status of Black people versus white people in America. Defining race as a social category, he refuted the dominant claim that Black people’s subordinate social position stemmed naturally from innate biological traits. His writings promoting a “talented tenth” of Black people as a strategy for political advancement has sparked disagreement among scholars of Du Bois over whether he completely renounced a biological definition of race. Examining the Du Boisian sociology of race helps to clarify Du Bois’s insights on the distinction between a biological and constructionist definition of race, his rejection of eugenics, and his pathbreaking understanding of the relationship between race and racism more broadly.
The Making of Black Marxism
Authors: Burawoy Michael
Published: December 2022

The well-known shortcomings of the writings of Marx and Engels have given rise to the Marxist tradition that continually reconstructs itself to accommodate the challenges it meets in different places at different times. Thus the Marxist tradition has sprouted a succession of branches. One of the most enduring is Black Marxism, a Marxism that adopts the standpoint of racially subjugated populations. This essay considers W. E. B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon as representative of this tradition. Despite their divergent biographies, they share important features and objects of analysis. Both made a radical shift from a phenomenology of racism to Black Marxism, which is represented by their iconic works Black Reconstruction in America and The Wretched of the Earth. Moreover, both systematically incorporated “race” into their accounts of the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of revolution. Yet they also diverge in key respects: Fanon focused on class struggle on the dark side of the color line while Du Bois focused on the class struggle on the white side of the color line; and while Fanon tended to homogenize the forces of colonial domination, Du Bois tended to homogenize the agency of the racially subjugated. Comparing these two Black Marxists highlights the strengths and limitations of each, while at the same time underlining the vitality of their shared Black Marxism as a truly global project.
The Global Music Business, and the Globalization of Culture
Authors: Gebesmair Andreas
Published: December 2022

The global music business is without a doubt one of the main drivers of cultural globalization. In many countries of the world, a handful of global superstars dominate the music charts. Nevertheless, a closer look at the statistics shows that the assumption of a constant increase of homogenization is misleading. Firstly, there are some countries which resist international trends; secondly, the degree of homogenization has been stable for decades with some fluctuation but no serious increase; thirdly, global homogenization does not contradict the increase of local diversity, and sometimes even a kind of counterflow from the peripheries to the center can be observed. Furthermore, the music business itself has substantially changed in recent decades. While the major labels continue to dominate the business, new players have entered the global music market. In this article, the globalization of culture is evaluated from an economic perspective, using data on the global flow of musical goods.
Queer Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous Language Revitalization
Authors: Pyle Kai
Published: December 2022

The status of Indigenous languages and queer, trans, and Two-Spirit Indigenous people in North America are closely linked. As colonial policies of forced assimilation reduced the number of speakers of Indigenous languages, once highly visible roles for Two-Spirit people were likewise eroded. Since the 1970s, movements of language revitalization have also been intertwined with movements to reclaim Two-Spirit roles in Indigenous communities. This chapter uses examples from Anishinaabe communities to examine language usage of Two-Spirit people as a form of linguistic creativity. This creativity, which is more complex than simply recovering words used in the past, indicates the centrality of gender and sexuality to practices of language revitalization.
Battles and Ballets
Authors: Shapiro Roberta
Published: December 2022

Breakdancing arrived in France from the United States in 1982. Many of the initial practitioners were boys from working-class immigrant families. In France, the youngsters worked with professional concert dancers very early on, and were introduced to the aesthetics of classical dance and modern dance, as well as to a key facet of collective organization: the troupe. Public authorities also granted perdurable support to Hip Hop companies and to festivals. The development of formal training, critical discourse, and the intellectualization of the discipline also contributed to its artification. Thus, it was Hip Hop ballets and dance companies, essentially in the not-for-profit sector, and not, as in other countries, battles, that spearheaded enthusiasm and the process of institutionalization of this form. Battles did not develop decisively until after 2000. This, in turn, triggered an expansion of the dance in the commercial sector. Recruitment has also expanded to include more women and middle-class people. There is a paradoxical relation between the various scenes of Hip Hop practice, from battles and television to theatrical art venues. Persons, aesthetics, and values circulate among these scenes. All are intertwined in a dynamic interdependence.
What Makes a Man Break?
Authors: Fogarty Mary
Published: December 2022

One of the lessons that little boys learn is that the worst thing that can happen is to lose to a girl. This chapter questions how this sort of lesson impacts a culture like Hip Hop and, more specifically, breaking culture. I examine how breaking culture grew up over decades and how some of the B-Boys and B-Girls who started as children continued into adulthood and middle age. The goal is to think through how the culture itself can experience a metamorphosis, transforming gender relationships and evolving towards a futurity that also pushes society at large to challenge its deeply entrenched rituals that re-enact gender inequity.
Framing Hip Hop Dance as an Object of Sociological and Cultural Research
Authors: Bennett Andy
Published: December 2022

The longevity of Hip Hop dance has generated a rich cultural legacy that links it with music, spoken word, art, writing, and photography. Another important feature of Hip Hop dance is the way it situates the body in space and place. Although Hip Hop dance is a global form, it retains strong ties to the “local,” a quality that reflects Hip Hop’s origins as a street culture. This chapter provides a series of conceptual and theoretical tools with which to contextualize and think about Hip Hop dance. Drawing on contemporary sociological and cultural theories of key themes, including the body, space and place, and cultural scenes, as well as work around identity and belonging, the chapter will equip readers with the necessary conceptual and analytical skills to begin to think critically about Hip Hop dance and its significance as a contemporary cultural practice.
Breaking in My House
Authors: DeFrantz Thomas F.
Published: December 2022

Does breaking belong within the forms of dance recognized as “house”? How did Hip Hop and house emerge as separate sorts of dance cultures among African Americans, Latinx folx, Asians, Native, and others, and how have they reconciled in contemporary global circumstances? What are some of the ways that gender and racial identities still function in considerations of Hip Hop and house dance? What are some of the important interstices of Hip Hop and house in academic discourses? What are some implications of race in the articulations of popular dance cultures and their circulations? Constructed as a listing of themes elaborated to performative effect, this chapter wonders at the possibilities to write into Black social dance as a rhythmic playing through words; words that might represent thinking-through-dancing as the source of a communal activity.
Staging Hip Hop Dance
Authors: McKesey Leah “McFly” , Reyes Diana “Fly Lady Di” , Fogarty Mary
Published: December 2022

This chapter analyzes the legacy of the dancers, known as the Fly Girls, who appeared on the American television show In Living Color. The Fly Girls’ performances, fashion, and choreographies circulated through mass media, and inspired future generations of dancers. The chapter recounts the impact the Fly Girls had on the development of professional choreographic practice, sense of self, and fashion sense in Hip Hop dance, from the unique perspectives and experiences of three dancers in particular: Leah “McFly” McKesey, Diana “Fly Lady Di” Reyes, and Mary “MJ” Fogarty. Because their memories of the Fly Girls are woven throughout a social history that focuses on the childhood and coming of age of these three dancers, they are presented here as testament to the Fly Girls formative contributions. Both Leah “McFly” McKesey and Diana “Fly Lady Di” Reyes met one of their inspirations live, the original Fly Girl, Jossie Harris, in New York City, and the chapter concludes with an interview and exchange between her and the authors.
Afterword
Authors: Schloss Joseph
Published: December 2022

This afterword explores ways that the study of Hip-Hop dance - as exemplified by the essays contained in The Oxford Handbook of Hip-Hop Dance - can provide a platform for critical interventions in the field of Hip-Hop Studies. How might the theoretical, methodological, political and cultural perspectives of hip-hop dance studies be integrated into the larger discipline of Hip-Hop Studies and what would we gain by doing so?
The Politicization of the Harp through Moore’s Irish Melodies
Authors: Hunt Una
Published: December 2022

This chapter examines the richly varied representation of the harp within Thomas Moore’s drawing-room songs, the Irish Melodies, focusing, in particular, on the instrument’s increasing politicization throughout the cycle. Moore was one of the most famous Irishmen of his day and through his celebrated cycle of songs, he propagated the harp music of Ireland to a new and much larger audience and increased interest in the ancient art of harping as well as adding to the instrument’s already-established symbolic significance. By the time of Moore, the harp had become deeply politicized through the symbolism of political groups such as the Volunteers and the United Irishmen; both movements recognized music in general, and the harp in particular, as important conduits for their ideology. The impact of these groups is examined along with the contribution of figures such as the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the writer and harpist Sydney Owenson. By elevating the harp to the status of a living entity, Moore imbued it with eloquence, potency, and magical qualities, thereby setting it apart from other cultural tropes. The harp embodies Ireland itself, acting as a touchstone for tradition at a pivotal point in history when the ancient art of harping was dying out. Moore continuously celebrates this extraordinary legacy by linking harps, harpers, and harp music in a chronicle of extinction and rebirth. Thus, his songs are multi-layered and complex in their recognition of the harp’s rich symbolism—musical, cultural, and political.
Stretch Goals as a Method for Leveraging Opportunities Created by Uncertainty
Authors: See Kelly E. , Anisman-Razin Moran , Miller C. Chet , Sitkin Sim B.
Published: December 2022

We currently face serious societal problems that involve high levels of uncertainty, ranging from apocalyptic famine to environmental degradation, the spread of previously unimaginable pandemic illness, and extremely risky financial practices. At the same time, there are significant opportunities involving similar levels of uncertainty, such as revolutionary medical advances and space exploration. Organizations of all types have struggled to address crucial large-scale, uncertain societal issues, and in many instances have given up or at least lowered their sights and scope. Some organizational leaders simply do not know what questions to ask or how to ask them in order to “stretch” and dedicate themselves every day to aspirations that are seemingly impossible. In this chapter, the authors consider how organizations might successfully utilize stretch goals to address seemingly impossible challenges. The authors assert that stretch goals can be a tool to manage and leverage external uncertainty that demands exploration and bold new directions, as well as generate productive uncertainty from inside the organization. The authors discuss the inertial tendencies of the organizations that are best positioned to pursue stretch goals, and how to overcome those tendencies. Integrating recent theoretical and empirical work in the areas of stretch goals and workplace courage, the authors assert that the courage of organizational leaders and decision makers is a potentially critical factor that alters stretch goal pursuit, despite courage being overlooked or left implicit in existing research on organization-level stretch goals.
Religious Authority and Participatory Social Action in Indian Networks
Authors: Rajan Benson
Published: December 2022

Since the late 2000s, the religious landscape in India has witnessed a marked shift with several religious bodies adopting and adapting to an online mode of worship. Digital platforms have allowed churches to not only foster immersive religious participation but also to redefine the notion of “congregating.” Churches have incorporated intensive technocentric modes—such as Zoom call prayers, online Bible studies, virtual confessions, faith tweets, meme ministry, devotional Insta stories, and more—to sustain their sociocultural fabric in a digital India. This chapter explores the negotiations and participations that have emerged in India’s growing digital religious environment. While in the initial days, religious authorities struggled to navigate the digital matrix of religion: today, they seem to be moving toward a symbiotic exchange, a transition that has encouraged more emphatic participation from the Indian Christian networks.
Challenges in Jewish Communities Online
Authors: Sabag-Ben Porat Chen , Rosenberg Hananel , Blondheim Menahem
Published: December 2022

This chapter charts the response of Jewish groups to encounters with digital networks. It outlines the development of Jewish communities online, surveying their characteristics and varieties. Highlighting the divides between Jewish denominations, as well as between Israel and the Diaspora, the chapter traces the evolution of online Jewish communities diachronically, from the emergence of the World Wide Web to the dominance of social media in the digital environment. First, it maps contemporary Jews and Judaism in their quest for community, and in their attitudes toward the use of digital technologies as a way of achieving this goal. Then it surveys aspects of the theoretical study of both online religion and religion online, as they relate to the Jewish case. It continues with a review of the literature on digital Judaism, dividing it into two research phases corresponding to the following platforms: (a) internet sites and forums, and (b) social media, maintaining in both phases a dominant emphasis on ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) groups. A secondary emphasis is on the role of women and their online presence, in Haredi and other communities.
Death, Religion, and Digital Media
Authors: Savin-Baden Maggi
Published: December 2022

This chapter presents up-to-date research on death, religion, and digital media, covering areas such as digital theologies; theologies of death, religion, and media; digital legacy; and the death-tech industry. The central argument of the chapter is that the impact of digital media in the context of death and dying needs to be examined and engaged with in-depth by those working in practical religion, death studies, and theology. The chapter also suggests that the area of digital afterlife needs to be considered and wrestled with in depth since this area is having an impact on people’s lives and yet remains an area barely discussed in faith settings.
Pocket Memorials
Authors: Cann Candi K.
Published: December 2022

This chapter examines digital media’s intersection with death, dying, and memorialization through the lens of smartphone technology. Drawing on earlier work on the role of social media, the Internet, and forms of memorializing the dead online, the chapter examines how digital spaces for the dead expand, contract, and shift through the technology of the smartphone. In 2019, with more than three quarters of Americans and Britons and two thirds of Chinese citizens owning and using a smartphone, smartphone technology and its applications are shifting the ways we think about and interact with death, such as relates to holding funerals, mourning losses, and planning for dying. Last, the chapter examines the ways in which COVID-19 has fast-forwarded both the adoption and utilization of digital tools in deathspaces.
Mosques, Churches, and Technology in Southeast Asia
Authors: Meng Yoe Tan
Published: December 2022

Digital religion in Southeast Asia is a rapidly growing field of practice, but it remains an understudied one, with limited research documenting and analyzing the phenomenon across the region. The rapid increase of internet connectivity in many parts of the region, coupled with the great diversity of cultures, will cause many forms of digital religion to emerge as a response to local customs and needs. One of the challenges of building a research strength in this region is its cultural diversity, making generalizations difficult. Yet it is necessary to develop a practical model for researching digital religion in Southeast Asia. Using Christianity and Islam as a focal point, this chapter attempts to provide a survey of the different types of research that have been done on Christianity and Islam and their intersections with digital technology in Southeast Asia, and how cultural complexities allow for a range of expressions of digital religion. In addition, the circuit of culture model of communication is proffered as a theoretical tool to systematically catalogue and analyze how digital technologies play a part in the continuously evolving field of digital religion in Southeast Asia.
Victor Zuckerkandl’s Writings for the Mid-Century American Listener
Authors: Tan Daphne
Published: December 2022

Music theorist and philosopher Victor Zuckerkandl (1896–1965) produced several pedagogical writings in the 1940s and 1950s, a period in which there was no shortage of materials in the marketplace aimed at a general audience. Zuckerkandl’s contributions are neither intended for “the professional disciplines” nor are they in the vein of the numerous “music appreciation” texts of the time, for he believed that there should be little distinction between the attitudes and perspectives that specialists and non-specialists brought to the study of music. Through a discussion of several unpublished and published sources, including The Sense of Music (1959), a treatise based on Zuckerkandl’s teaching experiences in the American liberal arts classroom, this chapter demonstrates the primacy of immersive and reflective listening in Zuckerkandl’s approach—one focused less on the technical aspects of music and more on its dynamic forces.
AI, the International Balance of Power, and National Security Strategy
Authors: Horowitz Michael C. , Pindyck Shira , Mahoney Casey
Published: December 2022

Military applications of artificial intelligence (AI) will impact how states exert power in global politics—and how much power they have. In light of the increasing investment in potentially transformative AI technologies by militaries around the world, how will states respond? For scholars and practitioners to answer this question, it is necessary to understand how AI is likely to affect, first, the national power of individual states and, second, features of the international system. This chapter sheds light on both these issues by applying foundational concepts from the field of international relations to identify the theoretical pathways by which the global diffusion of AI may change the opportunities and vulnerabilities for how states exert influence in international politics. The chapter considers in turn how AI can affect both military and non-military dimensions of national power, and how it can affect international systemic features including the stability of the balance of power, international institutional order, and international norms. It concludes with a discussion of what current trends in state efforts related to AI suggest about the future of national security strategy and identify avenues for related research.
Policy Transfer
Authors: Legrand Timothy , Stone Diane
Published: December 2022

The modern epoch of public policy is increasingly susceptible to the influence of social, economic, and political pathologies beyond national borders. Responding to these dynamics, Public Policy scholars have turned their attention to their common theoretical and empirical footing they share with their International Political Economy (IPE) cousins. These relatively young scholarly fields of study—some say disciplines—have developed in parallel with few intersections. This chapter reviews the key theoretical and methodological concerns that have separated the two fields from theoretical and conceptual collaboration, cross-fertilization, and exchange. It commences by reviewing the genesis and evolution of the fields, before turning to their overlaps, “trespasses,” and tensions. Especially important here have been explanations of policy transfer processes. The chapter goes on to prescribe ways to reconcile or alleviate these tensions via the shared interest of IPE and public policy in the emergence of global administrations, administrators, and administrative spaces. This important new arena of global and state decision-making presents new conceptual space to reconcile IPE/Public Policy approaches that potentially enhance theoretical and substantive insights into the transnationalizing political world.
French Connections
Authors: Cottegnies Line
Published: December 2022

After historicising the cultural, political, and social importance of French and French literature for early modern English women, this chapter argues that by engaging with French literature and culture, women from the middle and upper echelons were able to transcend the limitations imposed on their gender, and were thus empowered as readers, translators, and authors, patrons, book owners, or social movers. To illustrate this idea, it explores the influence of the woman-friendly multifaceted movement of French préciosité on several English women authors including Lady Mary Wroth, Katherine Philips, Margaret Cavendish, and Aphra Behn, from Honoré d’Urfé’s Astrea to the French romance of the 1650s, and the collective miscellanies of the 1680s.
Political Theory across Borders
Authors: Suzuki Mihoko
Published: December 2022

This chapter suggests that Elizabeth Cary, Margaret Cavendish, and Anne Clifford engaged with political theory from beyond the borders of England in their works, focusing on the importance of Christine de Pizan and Machiavelli for Cary and Cavendish, and on the more oblique engagement with Jean Bodin by Cavendish and Clifford. Acknowledging their engagement with Continental political theorists such as Christine de Pizan and Machiavelli gives proper due to Cary’s and Cavendish’s serious interest in contributing to the political discourse of their time, as well as to their understanding of themselves not simply as political thinkers but also as political counsellors through their writings, following the examples of Christine and Machiavelli. Moreover, Cavendish’s oblique engagement with Bodin and Clifford’s silent rejection of his promotion of Salic law exemplifies the revisionary and creative challenge early modern women writers posed to canonical male political thinkers.