bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The World of Constitutionalism is Not Flat
Authors: Bassok Or 
Published: June 2023

AbstractIn recent years, the emerging field of comparative constitutional law has been swept by a new approach with a scientific allure known as the Large-N approach. The methodology of this approach requires flattening the world of constitutional law by reducing the meaning of constitutional determinations into countable data. One of the difficulties in resisting this trend is that while many constitutional scholars have offered accounts that do not flatten the world of constitutional law, their methodology remains unarticulated and rarely discussed. Paul Kahn is one of the few scholars who offered an account of how to conduct non-doctrinal research of constitutional law. This Article aims to distil several principles of Kahn’s methodology, discuss its limitations, and demonstrate why it is superior to the Large-N approach. To achieve these goals, I chose to focus on three books on the German constitutional system that are based on dissertations written at Yale University, where Kahn teaches. Based on my discussion of these three books, I argue that Kahn’s methodology offers an approach which I dub the “Rich Picture” approach (or Rich-P). The Rich-P approach exposes that participants in a constitutional discourses understand constitutional materials, such as constitutional documents or judicial opinions, through a conceptual array that varies between legal orders. Without acknowledging the conceptual “eyeglasses” we wear when investigating constitutional determinations, measurements of the entire world of constitutionalism may lead to catchy soundbites and tweets, but to conclusions that are misleading at best.
A Late Holocene climate reconstruction from the high-altitude Lake Gölcük sedimentary records, Isparta (SW Anatolia)
Authors: Danladi Iliya Bauchi , Akçer-Ön Sena , Litt Thomas , Ön Z. Bora , Wacker Lukas 
Published: June 2023

AbstractA high-resolution multiproxy lake sediment dataset, comprising lithology, radiography, μXRF elemental, magnetic susceptibility (MS), δ13C, and δ18O measurements since ca. AD 400 is presented in this study. Changes in lithology, radiography, magnetic susceptibility (MS), δ13C, and δ18O reflect wet/dry climate periods, whereas variability in log(Ca/K) can reflect warm/cold climate periods. Analyses of the multiproxy results allow the distinction of several climate periods, which may be associated with climatic phenomena such as changes in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and/or solar activity. The influence of NAO−/NAO+ (negative/positive) is suggested to be related with the southward/northward displacement of the storm tracks resulting from the NAO−/NAO+ phases. For solar activity, the influence is explained through a direct increase in solar heating leading to calcite precipitation. The Dark Ages Cold Period (DACP, AD 450–750) reflects cold-dry climate conditions at this site, indicative of a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO+) and low solar activity. The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, AD 950–1250) exhibits wet-dry-wet and warm-cold-warm climate conditions. The wet/dry periods likely are associated with NAO−/NAO+, respectively, and the warm/cold period may reflect relatively high/low solar activity. The Little Ice Age (LIA, AD 1400–1850) is characterized by dry and cold climate conditions, suggesting the influence of NAO+ and low solar activity. Comparison of the results of this study with local and regional results suggests a generally similar climate pattern, which is indicative of similar climate mechanisms. The contradictions can be associated with age-related uncertainties, orographic differences, and/or other regional teleconnections.
Sustainability analysis of the Mediterranean diet: results from the French NutriNet-Santé study
Authors: Baudry Julia , Neves Floriane , Lairon Denis , Allès Benjamin , Langevin Brigitte , Brunin Joséphine , Berthy Florine , Danquah Ina , Touvier Mathilde , Hercberg Serge , Amiot Marie-Josèphe , Pointereau Philippe , Kesse-Guyot Emmanuelle 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe Mediterranean diet is often proposed as a sustainable diet model. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and sustainability domains in a cohort of French adults, using multiple criteria including nutritional quality, environmental pressures, monetary cost and dietary pesticide exposure. Food intakes of 29 210 NutriNet-Santé volunteers were assessed in 2014 using a semi-quantitative FFQ. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the validated literature-based adherence score (MEDI-LITE). The associations between the MEDI-LITE and various sustainability indicators were examined using ANCOVA models, adjusted for sex, age and energy intake. Higher adherence to the MEDI-LITE was associated with higher nutritional quality scores, better overall nutrient profile as well as reduced environmental impact (land occupation: Q5 v. Q1: −35 %, greenhouse gas emissions: −40 % and cumulative energy demand: −17 %). In turn, monetary cost increased with increasing adherence to the Mediterranean diet (Q5 v. Q1: +15 %), while higher adherents to the Mediterranean diet had overall higher pesticide exposure due to their high plant-based food consumption. In this large cohort of French adults, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with nutritional and environmental benefits, but also with higher monetary cost and greater exposure to pesticides, illustrating the necessity to develop large-scale strategies for healthy, safe (pesticide- and contaminant-free) and environmentally sustainable diets for all.
Clerical Child Sexual Abuse and the Culture Wars in France, 1891–1913
Authors: Verhoeven Timothy 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis article investigates clerical child sexual abuse in the first decades of the French Third Republic. Thanks in large part to the difficulty of accessing relevant archival records, we know very little about this crime or how it was investigated by judicial officials. This study addresses this gap by drawing on a rich and untapped collection of correspondence between local prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice in Paris. The files reveal the process for investigating and prosecuting abusive priests, as well as the reverberations within local communities. Though generated by the state rather than the church, they offer an insight as well into the response of ecclesiastical authorities. Finally, they shed light on the relationship between clerical crime and the culture wars pitting French republicans against Catholics, a conflict that was reaching a peak of intensity in this period. What emerges from this study is an appreciation of the personal toll and political impact of clerical sexual abuse, as well as a new perspective on the recent scandals which have engulfed the Catholic church in a range of nations.
Mining and the scalar transformations of the state in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Rubbers Benjamin 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThis article reflects on the effects of the recent mining boom on the (trans-)formation of the state in D.R. Congo. To do so, it proposes to integrate macro- and micro- approaches to the political economy of mining into a broader analysis of the power practices of actors at different levels of the state apparatus. Taking the copper mining sector as a case study, it explores the various means by which the presidency, provincial authorities and customary chiefs have drawn resources from mining in the period from the early 2000s to the present. This analysis highlights the various resources that state actors at different levels use to assert their authority over foreign mining companies. From a broader perspective, it shows that, although the liberalisation of the mining sector has opened up new revenue opportunities for all these actors, it has not resulted in a significant power redistribution between them.
Conservancies, rainfall anomalies and communal violence: subnational evidence from East Africa
Authors: Sánchez Alfonso , Fernandez Alvaro , González Juan B. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractAre conservancies hotspots for communal violence and if so, do rainfall anomalies increase the likelihood of violence? The consensus from a rich number of case studies suggests that conservancies (e.g. national parks, game reserves) increase tensions between communities, which often lead to violent conflicts. Yet, these insights remain to be empirically tested using a large-N study. We examine this claim and explore if rainfall anomalies have an amplifying effect on violent conflicts. We contend that the spatial convergence between conservancies and rainfall variability can spark conflicts over access to resources in times of scarcity and create strategic opportunities to satisfy secondary goals in times of abundance. To test our expectations, we use sub-national data from East Africa between 1990 and 2018. Our results suggest that regions with conservancies are somewhat more prone to communal violence and find strong evidence that positive rainfall anomalies increase the likelihood of violent communal conflicts in regions with a conservancy.
African regionalism, economic nationalism and the contested politics of social purpose: the East African Community and the ‘new developmentalism’
Authors: O'Reilly Peter 
Published: June 2023

AbstractOver the last decade, a new developmentalism has taken root across Africa, centred on promoting local production and industrialisation. One unintended consequence of this has been the proliferation of economically nationalist policy measures that have increasingly come into tension with the aims of regional integration in Africa. This article sets out to offer insights as to why these tensions are emerging by focusing on the East African Community (EAC) and the growing trend of economic nationalism among its members. Contrary to what rationalist and structuralist accounts might presume, this article argues that this rise in economic nationalism is instead reflective of a weakening of the discursive imperative – or social purpose – that had initially converged various actors around the EAC's integration agenda when revived in 2000. While drawing from the EAC's experience, it concludes by highlighting a broader legitimacy dilemma facing African regional organisations within this ‘new developmentalism’.
Equality, Proportionality and Statistics: Political Representation from the English to the French and American Revolutions
Authors: Behrisch Lars 
Published: June 2023

AbstractDebates on the proportionality of political representation surfaced repeatedly, and in similar forms, from the English to the American and French Revolutions. They contributed to shaping those revolutions’ outcomes and, through them, to the emergence of modern democracy – especially so as they were linked up with voting rights: demands to make seats in assemblies more numerically proportionate to electorates – in other words, to weigh all votes equally – implied the equal weight of individual votes and thus also entailed calls for more equal standards regarding the right to vote. This did not yet signify voting rights for all: only specific categories of individuals – as a rule, male and propertied – were considered, even by the most ‘enlightened’ writers, to be politically entitled. Nevertheless, it was only one step from here to envisage voting rights for all individuals – or at least, for the time being, for all male individuals – as can also be seen in all three revolutions. If claims for more proportional and equal representation showed their full impact only on the American and French Revolutions, finally, this was due to the intervening emergence of statistics (or ‘political arithmetic’) as a tool of reflection and debate that gave numbers and calculations increasing persuasive power.
A 94.1 g scissors-type dual-arm cooperative manipulator for plant sampling by an ornithopter using a vision detection system
Authors: Rafee Nekoo Saeed , Feliu-Talegon Daniel , Tapia Raul , Satue Alvaro C. , Martínez-de Dios Jose Ramiro , Ollero Anibal 
Published: June 2023

AbstractThe sampling and monitoring of nature have become an important subject due to the rapid loss of green areas. This work proposes a possible solution for a sampling method of the leaves using an ornithopter robot equipped with an onboard 94.1 g dual-arm cooperative manipulator. One hand of the robot is a scissors-type arm and the other one is a gripper to perform the collection, approximately similar to an operation by human fingers. In the move toward autonomy, a stereo camera has been added to the ornithopter to provide visual feedback for the stem, which reports the position of the cutting and grasping. The position of the stem is detected by a stereo vision processing system and the inverse kinematics of the dual-arm commands both gripper and scissors to the right position. Those trajectories are smooth and avoid any damage to the actuators. The real-time execution of the vision algorithm takes place in the lightweight main processor of the ornithopter which sends the estimated stem localization to a microcontroller board that controls the arms. The experimental results both indoors and outdoors confirmed the feasibility of this sampling method. The operation of the dual-arm manipulator is done after the perching of the system on a stem. The topic of perching has been presented in previous works and here we focus on the sampling procedure and vision/manipulator design. The flight experimentation also approves the weight of the dual-arm system for installation on the flapping-wing flying robot.
The Illusion of Merit in Political Leadership Selection in China
Authors: Zhao Mengxue , Ma Liang , Chan Hon S. 
Published: June 2023

AbstractIn China, government at all levels relies on the specially selected graduates (SSG) scheme to recruit elite university students as future political leaders. This article examines the mechanism of the SSG scheme and the relationship between elite university education and political selection in China. We show that elite education is increasingly stratified, such that graduates from top elite universities have significant selection advantages in the SSG competition and are more likely to be offered incentives and preferences. We argue that taking elite university education as a hard eligibility criterion reinforces the homophily effects in selection of future political elites and strengthens the political influence of top elite universities on China's politics. Further, because poor and lower-class students have little chance of entering elite universities, the SSG does not provide an effective route of upward mobility for non-elite classes. Merit-based political recruitment as a channel of upward mobility for non-elite classes is largely an illusion.
Striking distance: Investigating the epigraphy and geography of a Late Classic Maya war
Authors: Carter Nicholas P. , Krause Samantha , Lozano Jacob 
Published: June 2023

AbstractWe present a photogrammetric model and new line drawing of Sacul Stela 3 at the ancient Maya site of Sacul 1, Guatemala. Although virtually illegible in person and from photographs, the inscription on the eroded stela can largely be read or reconstructed in the 3D model. Our reading confirms a previous argument that the kingdom based at Sacul 1 was attacked in A.D. 779 by forces from the site of Ucanal. Traveling by night, warriors from Sacul retaliated with a raid at dawn next day on an unidentified site and, months later, followed up with an attack on Ucanal itself. The same narrative appears substantially on a well-known monument, Ixkun Stela 2, but there are differences between the two texts which suggest that Sacul and Ixkun had their own sculptors and record-keepers and which offer insights into the implications of verbs (pul, “to burn” and ch'ak, “to chop”) commonly attested in Classic Maya accounts of war. We then present the results of GIS analysis which suggests that the site area of El Rosario (between Sacul 1 and Ucanal) is an appealing candidate for the unidentified site mentioned in the stela text.
Parental communication satisfaction with the clinical team in the paediatric cardiac ICU
Authors: Walter Jennifer K. , Feudtner Chris , Cetin Arzu , DeWitt Aaron G. , Zhou Michelle , Montoya-Williams Diana , Olsen Rob , Griffis Heather , Williams Catherine , Costarino Andrew 
Published: June 2023

AbstractIntroductionUnderstanding parents’ communication preferences and how parental and child characteristics impact satisfaction with communication is vital to mitigate communication challenges in the cardiac ICU.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey was conducted from January 2019 to March 2020 in a paediatric cardiac ICU with parents of patients admitted for at least two weeks. Family satisfaction with communication with the medical team was measured using the Communication Assessment Tool for Team settings. Clinical characteristics were collected via Epic, Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium local entry and Society for Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Databases. Associations between communication score and parental mood, stress, perceptions of clinical care, and demographic characteristics along with patient demographic and clinical characteristics were examined. Multivariable ordinal models were conducted with characteristics significant in bivariate analysis.ResultsIn total, 93 parents of 84 patients (86% of approached) completed surveys. Parents were 63% female and 70% White. Seventy per cent of patients were <6 months old at admission, 25% had an extracardiac abnormality, and 80% had a cardiac surgery this admission. Parents of children with higher pre-surgical risk of mortality scores (OR 2.875; 95%CI 1.076–7.678), presence of surgical complications (72 [63.0, 75.0] vs. 64 [95%CI 54.6, 73] (p = 0.0247)), and greater satisfaction with care in the ICU (r = 0.93922; p < 0.0001) had significantly higher communication scores.ConclusionThese findings can prepare providers for scenarios with higher risk for communication challenges and demonstrate the need for further investigation into interventions that reduce parental anxiety and improve communication for patients with unexpected clinical trajectories
Hospital, hospice, or home: A scoping review of the importance of place in pediatric palliative care
Authors: Walker Meaghan , Nicolardi Danielle , Christopoulos Téa , Ross Timothy 
Published: June 2023

AbstractBackgroundPalliative care necessitates questions about the preferred place for delivering care and location of death. Place is integral to palliative care, as it can impact proximity to family, available resources/support, and patient comfort. Despite the importance of place, there is remarkably little literature exploring its role in pediatric palliative care (PPC).ObjectivesTo understand the importance and meaning of place in PPC.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review to understand the importance of place in PPC. Five databases were searched using keywords related to “pediatric,” “palliative,” and “place.” Two reviewers screened results, extracted data, and analyzed emergent themes pertaining to place.ResultsFrom 3076 search results, we identified and reviewed 25 articles. The literature highlights hospital, home, and hospice as 3 distinct PPC places. Children and their families have place preferences for PPC and place of death, and a growing number prefer death to occur at home. Results also indicate numerous factors influence place preferences (e.g., comfort, grief, cultural/spiritual practices, and socioeconomic status).Significance of resultsPlace influences families’ PPC decisions and experiences and thus warrants further study. Greater understanding of the importance and roles of place in PPC could enhance PPC policy and practice, as well as PPC environments.
Metamaterial-based electromagnetically induced transparency-like sensor design with low-volume sliding dielectric loadings
Authors: Cetin Hasan , Ekmekci Evren 
Published: June 2023

AbstractIn this study, tunability of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like transmission window by low-volume dielectric loadings is presented both numerically and experimentally in S-band. The EIT-like transmission behavior is obtained by a metamaterial, composed of an electric resonator and a closed-ring resonator patterned on a dielectric substrate. The frequency tuning is obtained by two applications called horizontal sliding application (HSA) and vertical sliding application based on sliding of the low-volume loadings from the edges to geometric center (i.e., inward). For both applications, the frequency tuning has been investigated for dielectric loadings which have relative permittivity of 2.2, 3, 4.5, and 6.15. The results reveal that the proposed sliding applications are effective on tuning the transmission peak frequency. An achieved 1136 and 971 MHz absolute spectral shifts and corresponding 6.34% and 5.41% absolute sensitivities by simulations and measurements, respectively, are the best results which are obtained for HSA at 5 mm shift value. Moreover, 14.67% sensitivity is obtained in simulations for the complete dielectric loading on the resonator in response to the increase in refractive index from 1 to 1.5. It is believed that the proposed applications will contribute to the existent sensing studies.
Using soybean chaff lining to manage waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) in a soybean–corn rotation
Authors: Bennett Avery J. , Yadav Ramawatar , Jha Prashant 
Published: June 2023

AbstractWaterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus[Moq.] Sauer) escapes are common in midwestern U.S. soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.] fields due to the continued rise in herbicide-resistant (HR) populations. In a conventional harvesting system, weed seeds are harvested with the crop grain and spread back on to the field. Harvest weed seed control methods such as chaff lining concentrate weed seed-bearing crop and weed chaff into a narrow row (chaff line). These chaff lines (30- to 50-cm wide) are undisturbed the following growing seasons, under the assumption that the chaff line creates an environment less favorable for weed seed germination and survival. Field experiments were conducted in a soybean–corn (Zea maysL.) rotation in 2020 and 2021 in Ames, IA, and Roland, IA, to quantify the effectiveness of chaff lining for managingA. tuberculatusseeds. About 70% of theA. tuberculatusseeds were retained on the mother plant at soybean harvest in 2020. The chaff lining system concentrated more than 99% of theA. tuberculatusseeds exiting the combine into the chaff line. AlthoughA. tuberculatuspopulation density in 2021 was 76% higher inside the chaff line than outside the chaff line,A. tuberculatusaboveground biomass was 63% lower inside the chaff line than outside the chaff line at 12 wk after corn planting. Similarly,A. tuberculatusinside the chaff line had delayed emergence compared withA. tuberculatusoutside the chaff line. Application of preemergence herbicides in corn inside the chaff line delayedA. tuberculatusemergence by more than 2 wk compared withA. tuberculatusoutside the chaff line. Additionally, a follow-up postemergence herbicide application in corn was needed only inside the chaff line to manageA. tuberculatus, suggesting the possibility of lower overall herbicide use. These results support implementing chaff lining in soybean-based crop systems of the U.S. Midwest to help manage HRA. tuberculatusseedbanks.