bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reading Monstrous Peoples in Ancient Greece and Rome
Authors: Friedman John B. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
In his 1580 essay ‘D’un enfant monstreux’, Michel de Montaigne discussed an infant paraded by its parents for profit as a freak, even if the infant was ‘monstrous’ only in that Montaigne described conjoined twins. Exhibiting so-called freaks of nature for profit was nothing new; such a trade had existed in ancient Rome, as Plutarch notes, describing a ‘monster-market’ at which buyers could shop for people exhibiting unusual physical deformities. Montaigne was clearly aware of classical precedents, and his essay illustrates a line of thought about monstrosity extending from classical antiquity to the Renaissance. This chapter looks back at the influential ‘monstrous’ ethnographies of ancient Greece and Rome, particularly those of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, to consider the origins of ‘monstrous peoples’ and their characteristics, including not only their geographical and physical differences but also aspects of their customs that lead the Greeks and Romans to view them as ‘Other’.
Cryptids in Greek Art
Authors: Murace Andrea 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Through the analysis of Greek vases (sixth to fourth centuries bce), it is possible to recognize monsters and various hybrid creatures, even if they are not always easily identifiable. This shows that, at multiple levels, such beings permeated the life of the ancients and played a relevant role in their culture. The aim of this chapter is to focus on such artistic representations, trying not only to interpret them, but also to find connections with other traces and mythological sources, either material or written. In particular, the chapter outlines the state of investigation of some of these vases, adding new personal readings and impressions, in order to delineate an overview about monsters in antiquity and to offer original points for reflection. The practical functions of the vases have been kept in mind as possible clues to their meaning.
Beyond ‘Othering’
Authors: Zajko Vanda 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The interest of feminism in the configurations and epistemologies of monstrosity arises from the recognition that monsters challenge conventional models of human experience, including gender identities. The often-misogynistic cultural work of maintaining the status quo is partially sustained by the construction of figures whose threats might bring it all crashing down: although these disorderly bodies and aberrant behaviours articulate all that a society most fears (and perhaps desires), once imagined they can be relegated to the margins. The structuralist predilection for the mapping of binaries resulted in the dominance of the metaphor of otherness to describe characteristics of these counter-normative figures, such as the unnatural and the bestial. But the process of defining through opposition fails to do justice to the capacity of monsters to evade categorizations designed to control them. Various modes of contemporary feminist, queer, decolonial, and crip theory are finding ways to celebrate the non-human and the post-natural. Where does this leave the classical monster?
Pearls from a Dark Cloud
Authors: Behravesh Peter Adrian 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
This chapter discusses monsters from the Persian mythological tradition, drawing on sacred and cosmogonic texts such as the Avesta and the Bundahishn, and fictional (or loosely historical) stories and epics such as the Shāhnāmeh, with particular emphasis on works written in the tenth to fourteenth centuries ce. The focus is on five categories of Persian monsters: avian monsters, such as the Simorgh; ophidian monsters, such as azhdahās (dragons); terrestrial monsters, such as kargs; aquatic monsters, such as the Gandarewa; and demonic monsters, such as divs, paris, ghuls, and jinn. The chapter also examines how these monsters influenced or were influenced by other mythological traditions, such as the Greek, Chinese, and Arabo-Islamic mythoi.
Plinian Monsters in Old Norse Encyclopaedic Literature
Authors: Vídalín Arngrímur 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Iceland’s manuscript tradition grew directly out of the introduction of the Latin alphabet after its conversion to Christianity; the first Old Norse works were translations of saints’ lives, and Icelandic sagas are invariably grounded in a Christian essence. Moreover, Latin scholarly works like those of Pliny the Elder, St Augustine, and St Isidore made their way to Iceland, and medieval Icelandic teratology was rooted in their thought. This chapter examines three prominent fourteenth-century Icelandic works: Hauksbók, Stjórn, and Narfeyrarbók. The first is a compilation of sagas and treatises on various topics. The second is a radical biblical translation. The third, on geographical and spiritual matters, includes an itinerary from Iceland to Rome and Jerusalem. All three exhibit a tremendous interest in Plinian teratology combined with an Isidorian understanding of the Christian world view. Their monster theory greatly interested Icelandic scholars, and its influence on Icelandic saga literature has been vastly underrated.
Classical Monsters in Latin American Cultures
Authors: Braham Persephone 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The passage of monsters from classical mythology to Latin America began with Christopher Columbus’s first account of man-eaters and warrior women among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. These became a mainstay of New World iconography and a justification for conquest. Ferdinand Magellan reportedly encountered giants, which he called Patagoni, in the southernmost part of South America. In addition to Columbus’s cannibals and Amazons, this chapter looks at giants, lycanthropes, and sirens whose connection with the ancient Mediterranean by way of the Iberian Peninsula can be documented. Classical monsters syncretized with indigenous and African beliefs, inspiring the modern-day Andean pishtaco or fat-eater, the Amazonian Mapinguarí, the Andean sirena and Amazonian Yara, and the lobizón or wolf-man of the Southern Cone.
Classical Monsters in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Authors: Marciniak Katarzyna 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
This chapter offers a succinct survey of the reception of classical monsters in children’s and young adult literature with the aim of indicating the main ways in which this kind of content is adapted to the needs of the young public. The focus is on presenting the monsters’ reception as a key for understanding the transformations underway in societal sensitivity, as well as one for enabling intergenerational communication and fostering psychological and intellectual maturation in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The basic theoretical remarks are exemplified by a choice of case studies along with an outline of the major methodological challenges intrinsic to research into this aspect of the reception of classical antiquity.
The Giants
Authors: Salowey Christina A. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The Giants, a race of violent and arrogant monsters, were born from Gaea, the earth goddess, when drops of blood from the severed testicles of her consort, Uranus, the god of heaven, fell and soaked into the ground. The creatures, sometimes depicted as armed warriors, sometimes as hybrid beings with snaky appendages or animal heads, are most remembered for their attack on the Olympian divinities, a struggle that became known as the Gigantomachy. The Olympians prevailed and this battle was abundantly represented in art and recounted in literature, often as a metaphor for the conquest of antagonists who arrogantly overreached in an attempt to overthrow an established cosmic order. The Giants, born from the earth and thus immortal, are controlled by imprisoning them underground again, a mythical tale that connects them to the volcanic and earthquake-prone character of several mountainous Mediterranean regions.
Dragons
Authors: Ogden Daniel 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The classical drakōn or draco is defined as ‘a large snake and something more’, the ‘more’ being a supernatural or sacred quality or affinity, and often too additional or exceptional physical or behavioural attributes. The traditions of the principal great drakontes of Panhellenic myth are reviewed and consideration is given to the distribution of leading motifs across them. The tendency of drakontes to constitute proportionately small but nonetheless fundamentally characterizing parts of hybrid monsters is noted. The physical evolution of the classical drakōn into the Christian wyvern, the starting point of the dragon form familiar to the modern West, is traced, with attention to the contributions made by the sea monster and the winged demon to this process. Similarly, consideration is given to the transformation of the drakōn’s story type in the vast, long-enduring but intensely conservative tradition of hagiography, in the context of which the well-known story of St George is relatively anomalous.
Preposterous Realism and Posthuman Aesthetics
Authors: Cox Christoph 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Recent theoretical discourses and artistic practices have sought to decenter the human subject, exploring the ontology and creative capacities of the nonhuman. Prominent among these are theoretical and artistic projects often gathered under the banner of “new materialism.” In their explorations of the nonhuman, however, neo-materialist projects are often implicitly humanist, conceiving all of nature in the image of the thinking, sensing, and acting human subject. In this essay, the author examines this neo-humanism (or “subjectalism”) within the context of earlier debates about humanism and antihumanism and considers what a genuinely posthumanist materialism might look (and sound) like. Such a materialism must be grounded in an ontological realism attentive to the world before and after the existence of humans. The author suggests that much of the history of sound art can be construed as the exploration of a natural flux that precedes and exceeds the human. Drawing from photography and phonography, the chapter considers the nonhuman operations that register or capture these natural flows. Throughout, the author argues that materialism must, as Friedrich Nietzsche put it, “translate humanity back into nature” rather than humanize or vitalize matter.
Intermedial Projections from Realism to Naturalism
Authors: Singer Robert 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
This chapter explores the implicit, intermedial anthropology of the naturalist subject as complex, scrutinized cinematic spectacle. In naturalist cinema, the viewer-clinician witnesses the scientific-social experiment of the “wounded” human as they work, exist, and strive to survive in reel space and time. Although frequently associated with realist cinema’s mimetic capacity to conceive narrative causalities and closure, international naturalist cinema has a divergent cultural and critical history emanating from foundational philosophical, scientific, social, and artistic sources. From naturalist cinema’s early appearance in films such as French director Ferdinand Zecca’s L’Assommoir (1902), the silent adaptation of French naturalist Émile Zola’s eponymous novel (1876) of social decline and alcoholism; American director Barbara Loden’s Wanda (1970) and its feminist focus on grinding, gendered poverty and loneliness; and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui’s Ghosts (Ashbah, 2014), the contemporized adaptation of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts (Gengangere, 1881) and its examination of corrupt middle-class society and venereal disease, naturalist cinema, whether avant-garde or commercial production, encompasses international film history, traversing language, movement, genre, and ideology. In international naturalist cinema, subjects are observed experiments—surveyed specimen—in which an indifferent world and immediate society reveal themselves via templated images of human imperfection and social decline in recurring sociobiological tropes involving race, gender, and class.
Italy’s Nobel Laureates
Authors: Subialka Michael 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The six Italians to win the Nobel Prize in Literature represent a variety of styles, time periods, themes, and political stances. This chapter interrogates what it means to look at them comparatively, ultimately arguing that despite these differences, tracking their path to the Nobel Prize and their fortunes afterward provides insight into the cultural politics of the literary establishment as well as shifting conceptions of what constitutes “Italianness” in the broader field of European and global literary production and circulation. Taking a distanced approach to reading these authors, the chapter establishes networks of readership and influence while underlining the historical specificities and complexities of these varied figures, all of whom came to represent Italy on the international stage and thus participated in the historical rearticulation of the category of “Italianness.”
Mary Magdalene in Theological Perspective across Gospel Texts
Authors: Lee Dorothy A. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Mary Magdalene is a figure of significance for Christianity in the first centuries of its life. She is associated closely with Jesus’s ministry as a faithful disciple and apostolic leader within the community of faith. Subsequent church history, especially in the West, has muted if not distorted her significance, but the more we perceive her role across varying gospel texts, the more we grasp her prominence in the earliest communities and the reasons for it. This study explores Mary Magdalene in several gospels of the first three centuries: the four canonical gospels, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Philip. The focus is on Mary’s identity in these texts, particularly her discipleship and ministry, alongside the theological framework of the gospels in which she appears. These gospels point to a woman of outstanding faith and eminent leadership across diverse theological traditions. The apocryphal gospels also have a role in the interpretation of the canonical gospels, giving an emphasis to Mary often omitted in the Christian tradition through their vibrant depiction of Mary’s discipleship and ministry. Whether included or excluded from the canon, these gospels provide valuable insights for understanding Mary Magdalene and the significant role played by women in the emerging diversities of Christian faith.
Screening doctors in training for dyslexia: the benefits of an inclusive screening approach
Authors: O’Dwyer Sadhbh , Lavington Glynis , Miller Jane , Elfes Chris , Calogeras Antonia , El-Bakri Fatima 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
There is a lack of suitable screeners for dyslexia for doctors in training, as the typical adult screeners do not cater for the needs of capable medical graduates. The aim of this research is to create an inclusive screening and training process for doctors with undiagnosed dyslexia. This involved working with doctors to co-create a new dyslexia screener tool. We designed an innovative holistic dyslexia screening, assessment, and support system as part of a 3-year longitudinal study. Qualitative data was collected through the use of a dyslexia screener and case-study interviews with trainees in general practice and psychiatry. Interviews were thematically analyzed to explore dyslexic trainees’ experiences of an inclusive approach to dyslexia screening and assessment. Out of the 103 trainees that were screened, 10 were found to have dyslexia, one dyspraxia, and another ADHD trait. Dyslexia-specific coaching, exam, and workplace accommodations were beneficial in dispelling stigma about dyslexia as well as supporting examination success. International Medical Graduate (IMG) trainees were also supported in this process. The case study participants’ progression was tracked over 3 years, and all subsequently passed their examinations. We recommend that all trainees are given access to this inclusive, holistic, medical-focused dyslexia screening process. Specifically, this can enable newly diagnosed trainees to access support and exam accommodation. In particular, greater understanding of dyslexia helps dispel stigma and enable better support, which has a positive impact on trainee well-being as well as progression.
Artificial intelligence & Trusts and Trustees: a new dawn of investment opportunities and risks?
Authors: Brown Lloyd A 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
This article examines the opportunities and risks that can be created for trusts by generative artificial intelligence. In particular, the work is concerned with how AI investment tools may affect trusts, given their growing use in investment management. It is argued that trusts can be exposed to the risks and opportunities that this technology may create through the trustees’ general investment power. However, currently, trustees can undertake appropriate risk management by exercising their section 4 and 5 duties relating to investment. The work ends by suggesting that targeted statutory reform and guidance is needed to deal with AI risks.
Muscle type‐specific effects of bilateral abobotulinumtoxinA injection on muscle growth and contractile function in spastic mice
Authors: Rivares Cintia , Vignaud Alban , Noort Wendy , Baan Guus , Koopmans Bastijn , Loos Maarten , Wüst Rob C. I. , Kalinichev Mikhail , Jaspers Richard T. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractIntramuscular injection of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT‐A) is commonly used to improve or maintain the joint range of motion in young children with spasticity. However, the effectiveness of BoNT‐A treatment is variable and movement limitations are recurrent. Here we show long‐term effects of a single, bilateral abobotulinumtoxinA (aboBoNT‐A) injection in the gastrocnemius medialis and soleus muscles of wild‐type and spastic (B6.Cg‐Glrbspa/J with a mutation in the glycine receptor) mice at a young age (6–7 days). Specifically, we evaluated the impact of aboBoNT‐A‐A on gait, physical performance, and spontaneous physical behavior, as well as on contractile force characteristics, morphology, and histological phenotype of soleus and gastrocnemius muscles by comparing their results to those of saline‐injected controls up to 9 weeks after the injection. The detailed time course of the study specifies the timing of the aboBoNT‐A injection at 1 week, the period of behavioral studies from 4–9 weeks, and the age of the mice (10 weeks) at the time of contractile force characteristics and histology assessments. In spastic mice, aboBoNT‐A injection had a minor and very specific effect on physical performance, by only modestly increasing stride length as a function of age. aboBoNT‐A injection caused a reduction in the force‐generating capacity and a slightly smaller physiological cross‐sectional area in gastrocnemius medialis, but not in soleus. Reduced physiological cross‐sectional area in aboBoNT‐A‐injected muscles was due to a lower number of muscle fibers, rather than reduced muscle fiber cross‐sectional area. The percentage of slow‐type muscle fibers and mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase activity were increased, which was associated with an improved muscle endurance capacity. In conclusion, aboBoNT‐A injection reduced the number of muscle fibers, causing muscle hypertrophy in remaining fibers and a shift towards more oxidative fibers, resulting in an improved endurance capacity and gait. This study proposed potential cellular mechanisms for the therapeutic efficacy of aboBoNT‐A in spasticity.
Maternal Mortality in the United States: Are the High and Rising Rates Due to Changes in Obstetrical Factors, Maternal Medical Conditions, or Maternal Mortality Surveillance?
Authors: Joseph K.S. , Lisonkova S. , Boutin A. , Muraca G.M. , Razaz N. , John S. , Sabr Y. , Chan W.S. , Mehrabadi A. , Brandt J.S. , Schisterman E.F. , Ananth C.V. 
Published: November 2024

(Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024;230:440.e1–440.e13. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2023.12.038)
Maternal health concerns in the United States have intensified due to rising maternal mortality rates (MMR). However, there is skepticism about the accuracy of these estimates. Maternal mortality is often underreported, even in countries with reliable vital registration systems, as pregnancy status at the time of death can be overlooked. In 2003, adding a pregnancy checkbox to death certificates was recommended by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Although this led to an apparent increase in MMRs from 2003 to 2017, further analysis revealed that the increase was an artifact, with errors such as older women being incorrectly certified as pregnant at the time of death. Subsequently, NCHS introduced new guidelines restricting the use of the pregnancy checkbox to deaths among women aged 15 to 44 years to minimize errors.
Overcoming Obstacles: The Legacy of Fidel Pagés, Founder of the Epidural, 100 Years After His Passing
Authors: Chinn G.A. , Gray A.T. , Larson M.D. 
Published: November 2024

(Anesth Analg. 2024;138(2):475–479. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006706)
Fidel Pagés, a pioneer in segmental anesthesia, revolutionized the field by accessing the epidural space over a century ago, laying the groundwork for modern neuraxial techniques. This year commemorates the centennial of his premature death. Despite his early passing and subsequent challenges, the high-quality anesthesia he introduced propelled epidural anesthesia into routine clinical practice.
Social Determinants of Health and Obstetric Outcomes: A Report and Recommendations of the Workshop of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Authors:   Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Grobman W.A. , Entringer S. , Headen I. , Janevic T. , Kahn R.S. , Simhan H. , Yee L.M. , Howell E.A. 
Published: November 2024

(Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024;230(2):B2–B16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2023.10.013)
Addressing adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) caused by structural racism is crucial to improving obstetrical outcomes and eliminating health disparities. Obstetrical outcomes include those identified before or during pregnancy, affecting individuals and their children throughout life. Although SDOH can be positive and negative, the focus here is on adverse effects. Structural racism encompasses systemic racial discrimination in societies through housing, education, employment, health care, and criminal justice, fundamentally causing health disparities.
Postdural Puncture Headache After Intentional or Unintentional Dural Punctures: Time to Think About Risk Reduction and Acknowledge the Burden of Sequelae
Authors: Landau R. , Weiniger C.F. 
Published: November 2024

(Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2024;49:1–3. doi:10.1136/rapm-2023-104945)
Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is a complication arising from either intentional or accidental dural puncture (DP) during neuraxial procedures. The annual global incidence of DP is unknown, but they impact a wide range of individuals undergoing diagnostic, therapeutic, or analgesic procedures. Many patients experience PDPH, and increasingly, more serious long-term consequences are being reported. Despite this, the global health burden of PDPH remains under described.