Search

Disappointment and bitterness, mixed with envy and a desperate hope for a better future, are the night soil in which demagogues are hatched. But despite their populist bluster, demagogues are saboteurs of democracy, driven by an urge to ditch and destroy the checks and balances vital to restraining abuses of power. Unless checked, demagogues are the harbingers of a new, 21st-century form of despotism: a corrupted, phantom democracy in which periodic elections are held but the rich become super-rich and omnipotent—while most of the populace is gripped by feelings of powerlessness when it comes to the big decisions shaping everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to leading asset pricing theories, recent empirical evidence indicates that financial markets compensate only short-term equity variance risk. An equilibrium model with generalized disappointment aversion risk preferences and rare events reconciles salient features of the variance term structure. In addition, a calibration explains the variance and skew risk premiums in equity returns and the implied volatility skew of index options while capturing standard moments of fundamentals, equity returns, and the risk-free rate. The key intuition for the results stems from substantial countercyclical risk aversion induced by endogenous variation in the probability of disappointing events in consumption growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his hopeful defense of poetry, poet Ben Lerner confesses his contempt for the artform as a kind of bulwark against the disappointment inherent in the writing and reading of poetry. Actual poems never do justice to the "transcendent impulse" that drives the poet to language, he argues, but that fact ought not provoke a rejection of Poetry. Instead, he advocates for approaching poetry with, borrowing a phrase from Marianne Moore, a "perfect contempt for it" that creates spaces of possibility for the absent perfection of a poem. In this inquiry, we consider how Lerner's description of poetry resonates with the experience of teachers and education researchers. We have, each of us, been disappointed by our pedagogy: by lessons gone awry, teaching contexts that yoke us to neoliberal methods, encounters with students that make us feel like failures. Inspired by Lerner, we wondered how we might theoretically reframe this disappointment by channeling it into a perfect contempt for teaching. To do so, we turn to the literature on so-called negative affects (e.g., the work of Sara Ahmed) and an assortment of texts—from teaching journals and email correspondence to poetry and plays—to qualitatively explore two questions: What does it mean to perfect a contempt for teaching? and How might a perfect contempt for teaching function as an affective resource for teachers suffering the sting of disappointment? In inquiring into these we hope, following Lerner, to generate places of possibility in teaching and education research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publicly available trial matching tools can improve the access to therapeutic innovations, but errors may expose to over-solicitation and disappointment. We performed a pragmatic non-interventional prospective evaluation on sequential patients at the Molecular Tumor Board of Centre Leon Berard. During 10 weeks in 2024, we analysed 157 patients with four clinical trial matching tools from the 19 screened: Klineo, ScreenAct, Trialing and DigitalECMT. Each patient had 2.19 trials proposed on average, and 38% had no trials suggested. The mean performances were precision = 0.33, recall = 0.32, AP@3 = 0.45, and NDCG@3 = 0.34. Using all the tools can increase to 26% the clinical trial options. The most frequent error concerned the type of gene variants required by the selection criteria. We showed that using a Large Language Model on the patients' molecular reports could improve the performance by up to 5%. We recommend that experts supervise the results and we advocate for improved technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, a group Khoisan activists began occupying state-owned land near Grabouw, South Africa. Knoflokskraal has since attracted thousands of residents against the backdrop of widespread disappointment with land reform, heritage policies, and various forms of socio-economic marginalisation. The common labelling of Knoflokskraal as a “land invasion” overlooks the unique features of this self-styled “reclaim”, not least the agency that its residents embody in asserting a sense of indigenous visual sovereignty. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2022 among residents and community representatives, we highlight instances of interlocutors refusing to go along with mainstream research practices and conforming to widely held expectations surrounding Khoisan representation, but instead imprinting their presence on the landscape in unique ways. Knoflokskraal offers a rare glimpse into self-representation through land reform beyond the purview of the government. Read through the lens of refusal, this case study also prompts researchers to grapple with broader issues relating to research practices, indigenous agency, and visual sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poor performance of some smart beta strategies in recent years should not be surprising. After all, the standard factor pricing models from which the strategies draw their well-known factors inevitably include factors that may fall out of favor, sometimes for extended periods, as market conditions change. Some smart beta providers are exploring factor timing and multifactor portfolios in an effort to provide more consistent return premiums and assuage investor disappointment. Despite this move away from largely passive management and toward more active management, smart beta strategies remain subject to limitations imposed by the standard factor models underpinning them, including a relatively narrow focus on a handful of generic factors and a failure to take into account correlations between factors. Overcoming these limitations requires further steps toward a fully active, dynamic, multifactor approach (aka "smart alpha"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Extant research on corruption has uncovered the important role of norms. Yet, little is known about how people view specific acts of corruption in countries that differ in the prevalence of corruption. The present research examines moral judgements of four different types of corrupt acts in a high‐ versus low‐corruption country, thereby providing a critical test of two opposing hypotheses. The descriptive norms approach predicts that citizens of a high‐corruption country will be morally more lenient than citizens of a low‐corruption country. The relative deprivation approach predicts the opposite, that citizens of a high‐corruption country will morally condemn corrupt acts stronger than citizens of a low‐corruption country. Drawing samples from the Netherlands and Indonesia (a low‐ vs. high‐corruption country), two experiments (total N = 477) show that Dutch participants are often more morally permissive towards corruption than Indonesians, although specific results varied for the four types of corruption. This largely supported the relative deprivation approach. In addition, Indonesian participants expressed more disappointment and anger towards corruption than Dutch participants. This research suggests that feeling deprived through regular corruption experiences leads people to condemn corrupt acts more strongly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how welp , a phonetic variant of the discourse particle well that has achieved recognition through its proliferation online, functions within talk-in-interaction. Its usage is identified in two positions: 1) prefacing a sequence-closing assessment produced in reaction to a publicly available gap between expectations and the result of some interactional enterprise, and 2) produced solitarily in the same context in order to close a sequence and move on to the next. Solitary welp is then compared with oh well in order to distinguish between their orientations, and evidence supports the conclusion that whereas oh well surrenders an ongoing project, welp orients to an already concluded matter. • "Welp" differs from "oh well" in that it orients to a concluded result. • "Welp" appears at the beginning of sequence-closing assessments. • "Welp" can stand alone in a turn of talk and ends the sequence. • Phonetic variation of discourse particles can have an impact on pragmatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes is the property of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

AIn the winter of 2010, on the two-year anniversary of the first major series of civic protests that followed the end of the Bosnian war, a group of Sarajevan activists put together a curious live sculpture meant as a reenactment—and reinterpretation—of Delacroix’ famous nineteenth-century painting Liberty Leading the People. This public performance represented an ironic play on both the socialist past and the promised democratic, European future. This paper considers how this particular satirical intervention can help us understand the pervasive popular disappointment with the fragmented, internationally managed post-war state, by developing the concept of metapolitical critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life is a sign between two darknesses in this infinite and inexhaustible world. The spark ignites, burns, and finally goes out. It is simply not possible for it to burn all the time. First of all, no man is happy, people chase after an imaginary happiness until they die, they rarely get it, and even if they get it, nothing will be left behind but mistakes and disappointment. In the end, all his hopes will fall into the water, he will enter the port in a broken state. Therefore, there is no difference between happiness and unhappiness in a life that changes every moment, consists of now and ends now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on theories from the sociology of work and organizations, such as Leiter and Maslach's concept of burnout and Siegrist's model of effort–reward imbalance, this paper argues that burnout symptoms in elite sport are related to a mismatch of investment and gratification. Building on data from a sample of German elite athletes (N = 312), findings show that high time investments for training and competitions, the experience of time and role conflicts and negative emotions related to daily training are associated with more burnout symptoms, while sporting success, social support and training-related positive emotions are associated with lower burnout scores. Vulnerability to burnout is increased in situations that qualify as gratification crises, in which athletes perceive that high time commitment does not pay off in terms of sporting success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The issue of mutual references, relationships and their quality is the centre of studies dealing with marriage and family. Fertility decline, increased number of divorces, increased expectations related to interpersonal relationships and at the same time a decline in the ability to establish and maintain such have been observed over the years by experts in various disciplines. Numerous attempts are made to define aspects of a successful relationship as one of the criteria for a fulfilling life. This study aims to explore the correlates of disappointment in a relationship among people from different generations (X, Y and Z). Method: 595 people participated in the research, including 102 born between 1960 and 1975; 273 born between 1976 and 1996 and 220 born between 1997 and 2012. The correlates of relationship disappointment included temperamental ones, measured by the IPIP BIS/BAS questionnaire, and those related to life orientation, measured with the SOC-29 scale. The Good Marriage Questionnaire (KDM-2) was used to measure the quality of the relationship and assess the variable analysed. Results: In terms of the analysed variables, people from generations X Y and Z differ. Generation Z has the lowest tendency to work on and care for the relationship, the least close bond between partners and the lowest belief in mutual love, as well as the highest anxiety and the lowest sense of coherence. Conclusions: Disappointment with the relationship of members of the youngest generation is not related to their temperamental traits. The sense of coherence acts as a factor that protects relationships in each generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Julia Watts Belser's Loving Our Own Bones is a vital contribution to disability theology, biblical hermeneutics, and more. This response explores Watts Belser's critiques of beauty and of the desire to "rescue" texts, pairing them with the book's reflections on disappointment. It also questions the role of love and eros, directing attention to the Song of Songs as a possible resource for the larger project imagined by the book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The significance of the psychotherapeutic relationship in promoting psychotherapeutic change is widely recognized. In this paper, we contribute to the relational orientation of psychotherapy through a transtheoretical exploration of safety. We aimed to identify and integrate those relational and change-promoting principles and aspects of safety that are school-independent. Method: We conducted an overview and synthesis of the clinical-theoretical and empirical literature that we believe has significantly addressed the role of safety in regulating change-promoting therapeutic relationships. Results: The relational and change-promoting aspects of safety form a dynamic system involving the therapist, the client, and the relationship. These interact, influence each other, and perform multiple homeostatic functions: they allow to resist change, assimilate small changes that do not disrupt the client's way of functioning, regulate major changes that disrupt and alter the client's way of functioning, and regulate adjustments in the way the therapist and client work together. From an integrative-relational perspective, a safe therapist is a precondition for co-creating a safe environment. This establishes trust and fosters an affective bond that provides additional sources of safety for the therapeutic relationship and the client. To promote change, however, the relational aspects of safety need to be fine-tuned (calibrated and personalized) for each therapy in terms of intensity, duration, timing, scope, and sources, accommodating developmental, individual, and situational differences. Crucially, the safety of the therapist, the client, and the relationship must be neither perfect, steady, or static, but rather safe enough, adaptive, and dynamic, leaving space not only for self-discovery and selfawareness but also for the co-regulation of tolerable frustrations, disappointments, and insecurities that facilitate the client's resilience and adaptation. Conclusions: Focusing on school-independent, safety-based relational principles and understanding how they evolve and adapt over time and across circumstances can make a significant contribution to the current relational orientation in psychotherapy. This has important implications for psychotherapy practice, training, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of De Familias y Terapias is the property of Instituto Chileno de Terapia Familiar and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The influence of the controversial theatre director and writer Jouko Turkka on Finnish theatre and academic theatre training in the 1980s was particularly significant, as many documentary and autofictional texts, among them, Anna-Leena Härkönen’s novel Sotilaan tarina (The Soldier’s Story) shows us. Härkönen’s work reflects her experiences as a student at the Finnish Theatre Academy, criticizing the authoritarian and often abusive methods associated with Turkka’s teaching. The novel portrays a mentor figure who employs brutal and dehumanizing techniques to push students beyond their limits, a practice Turkka was known for. His methods aimed to strip actors of personal identity, creating emotionally raw performances. While Turkka’s legacy remains polarizing, his influence on Finnish theatre is undeniable, attracting both admiration for his intensity and criticism of his extreme practices, which were tackled with reflection and self-irony even in his own texts, most playfully in the absurd comedy Cherished Disappointments in Love. His impact continues to resonate in modern theatre pedagogy, Turkka embodying both the creative potential and dangers of pushing boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of the democratic movement during 2014–2020 prompted tens of thousands of Hongkongers (~40,000) to reluctantly leave their hometown and migrate to Taiwan to seek a freer future. Taiwan's cultural similarity to Hong Kong, together with Taiwan's democracy and geographic proximity, are commonly recognized as pull factors of migration. However, the intensifying cross-strait tensions since late 2021 have witnessed Taipei tighten its approval of Hongkongers' applications for permanent residency mainly in fear of the infiltration of Chinese agents. Based on mixed-methods in-depth interviews (N = 15) and an online survey (N = 147) with Hong Kong migrants, this paper reveals their complex experience in adapting to the Taiwan way of life, becoming frustrated by Taipei's attitudinal change, and contemplating onward migration. The findings reveal underlying cultural differences between Hong Kong and Taiwanese societies—manifesting as a cultural conflict—amid fears of an encroaching communist China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration has been integral to special education almost since its inception, a topic explored in a JEPC special issue in 2010. This introduction reprises the topic through the lens of 15 years gone by. The article briefly reviews collaboration essentials, analyzes its breakthroughs and advances, and explores its disappointments and setbacks, offering a perspective on the critical need for pre-professional and interprofessional learning and systemic change. Finally, it overviews the five articles in the special issue outlining contemporary applications and the future of collaboration in special education, along with the closing commentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychoanalysis involves studying how people maintain not knowing what they "know." As a result, how psychoanalytic psychotherapists orient toward what their patients may be experiencing but cannot say is at the core of psychoanalytic praxis. Jeremy Safran's unique psychoanalytic sensibilities were a model for how to yield to feeling states and relational dynamics that are at the heart of therapeutic action, but which all too frequently get bypassed. This brief recollection highlights how Safran's commitment to open inquiry and mutuality—not just with his patients but also with his students—continues to impact the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group-Analytic View on Processes of Institutionalization in Feminist Anti-Violence-Activities: The Stony Path of Implementing Ideals The aim of this paper is to analyze and reflect on paradox development processes in feminist anti-violence activities based on experiences as supervisor. Starting point is the relevance of founding ideals, connected hopes and disappointments and their conscious and unconscious effects. First the development of anti-violent projects will be sketched out as social framework, followed by structural challenges through institutionalization and professionalization, ambivalent effects of feminist principles and supra-individual splitting mechanisms as a way of coping. The summary looks at successes, dilemmas and resulting tasks for feminist anti-violence activities and for group-analytic supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes, behaviours and experiences of infertile women towards sexuality. Methods: This study was carried out in the infertility outpatient clinic of a state hospital in Istanbul of Turkey. Fifteen infertile women who had been receiving primary infertility treatment for at least two years and were actively continuing infertility treatment were included in the study. Data were collected by means of an detailed information form and a semi-structured interview. Content analysis was applied to the data obtained from semi-structured interviews. Consistency percentage calculation was made between the codes and themes determined by 4 researchers who are experts in their fields. Results: Results based on the interviews with the participants, 2 main themes, 6 sub-themes and 27 codes related to sub-themes were determined as 'Factors Affecting Sexual Life' and 'Overview of Sexual Health and Sexuality'. 'Disappointment' was determined as the most commonly defined code in the determined main theme and sub-themes. Conclusion: It was determined that the majority of infertile women base their sexual lives on reproductive functions, experience serious sexual health problems, feel worthless, and describe their sexual life as a great disappointment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia Regional is the property of Historia Regional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OVERVIEW: The metaverse is widely expected to become the next generation of the Internet and to have a comparable business impact. Thus far, however, many companies have experienced significant challenges and disappointments with the metaverse. This article introduces a method for companies to create a metaverse strategy and to ask the right managerial questions to move beyond the hype and derive tangible value from metaverse technologies. We also propose three alternative pathways for implementing a metaverse strategy in practice, thereby helping managers respond effectively to metaverse-related strategic questions. PRACTITIONER TAKEAWAYS: To achieve success in the metaverse, companies need to determine their "why," figure out their "what," and decide their "how." By pinpointing their "why," "what," and "how," companies can devise an actionable metaverse strategy that will allow them to capitalize on the potential of this emerging technology to realize competitive gains—without falling prey to the hype. Three alternative pathways exist—mission-driven, experimentation-driven, and synergy-driven—that companies can explore to achieve business impact and success in the metaverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The relevance of the work is due to insufficient knowledge of adolescents’ understanding disappointment, its causes and ways of its overcoming. Objective. The study had purpose to investigate into ideas about disappointment among the young people aged 17–25 years. Study Participants. The study involved 285 people (180 girls and 105 boys) aged 17–25 years. Methods. The study implemented content analysis of mini-essays on the topic: “My idea of disappointment” including answers to the following questions: “What is disappointment?”, “What feelings did you experience when disappointed?”, “The greatest disappointment in my life.” Results. The study allowed to analyze the concepts of disappointment among young people, to identify its different types and describe the specifics of experiencing disappointment in the selected age groups. All subjects understand disappointment as a manifestation of negative emotions in response to an expected result. The study has identified three types of disappointment: in oneself, in others, in activities. When describing feelings associated with disappointment, negative emotions predominated in the 17–20-year-old group. In the 21–25-year-old group, in addition to negative ones, there were also positive feelings as grounds for revising plans and their implementation. Conclusions. In the young people aged 17–25 experiencing disappointment, the negative emotions reinforce their negative self-affirmation and destroy their confidence in the truth of their feelings towards themselves and others. Only a small number of young people can see the possibility of positive changes in a situation of disappointment, which makes it difficult to correct behavior and attitudes towards others in the process of overcoming disappointment. The results obtained allow for introducing the concept of disappointment, which affects interpersonal relationships, into the social psychology. The proposed recommendations can be used by educators and psychologists practicing support to the people of different ages aimed at overcoming frustration of disappointments.

Awaiting news of uncertain outcomes is distressing because the news might be disappointing. To prevent such disappointments, people often "brace for the worst," pessimistically lowering expectations before news arrives to decrease the possibility of surprising disappointment (a negative prediction error, or PE). Computational decision-making research commonly assumes that expectations do not drift within trials, yet it is unclear whether expectations pessimistically drift in real-world, high-stakes settings, what factors influence expectation drift, and whether it effectively buffers emotional responses to goal-relevant outcomes. Moreover, individuals learn from PEs to accurately anticipate future outcomes, but it is unknown whether expectation drift also impedes PE-based learning. In a sample of students awaiting exam grades (N = 625), we found that expectations often drift and tend to drift pessimistically. We demonstrate that bracing is preferentially modulated by uncertainty; it transiently buffers the initial emotional impact of negative PEs but impairs PE-based learning, counterintuitively sustaining uncertainty into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay looks at Akhtaruzzaman Elias' modernist novel Khwabnama as the apex of a narrative arc of left utopia within the ruins of the present, distributed over multiple short stories and one earlier novel. The ennui that suffused this body of work emanated from the author's itinerant affiliation with organized socialist politics, and the sense of disappointment that surrounded the evisceration of that politics within the Pakistan (1947–1970) and Bangladesh (1971–) period of this geography. I explore how Elias developed a distinct literary strategy of resuscitating hope by traveling back to anticolonial uprisings to narrate a time of Hindu-Muslim unity along class solidarity alignments. I look at Elias' peers, who also wrote from within a landscape of postcolonial disappointment. I then spend time with four of Elias' short stories that present a post-independence Bangladesh in which, bereft of external enemies, fratricidal tendencies turn populations against each other. From these short stories, Elias moved to his first novel, Chilekothar Sepai, where he looked at the 1969 Pakistan uprising as a class revolution derailed by bourgeois nationalism. Finally, I look at Khwabnama and think through how Elias wanted to travel far away from the traditional focus of the Bangladeshi historical novel—the 1971 liberation war—to find an earlier anticolonial period where a politics of class solidarity across religious lines could find hopeful purchase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) operated by AI voice agents create a unique multi-user environment without a traditional driver, allowing users to engage in diverse activities such as entertainment and rest. In addition to the convenience of vehicle control, these agents face the challenge of resolving conflicts arising from multiple simultaneous user commands. This study investigates whether AI voice agents can effectively manage these command conflicts and enhance the multi-user experience (MUX). The research was conducted in two phases: In the preliminary study, online focus group interviews (FGIs) were conducted with 10 participants to explore their perceptions of using AI voice agents in FAVs. Participants shared their experiences and watched a concept video to discuss their expectations of FAV agents. Based on the FGI results, explainable AI voice agents were designed to prevent user conflicts between user commands, focusing on user tendencies and conflict contexts. In the main study, multi-user interactions with these agents were evaluated through online experiments with 89 participants. Two specific experiments were conducted based on the sources of conflict identified in the preliminary study: the first focused on control authority and the second on speech overlap. Participants watched scenario videos and assessed five variables, including sense of agency, trust, problem-solving ability, disappointment, and safety. The findings suggest that explanations provided by AI voice agents can effectively mitigate conflicts and improve MUX in FAVs. However, the effectiveness of these explanations varied across different contexts, indicating the need for alternative approaches. This research provides valuable insights for designing MUXs that prevent multi-user conflicts and meet user expectations in FAV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal affective computing is an emerging new field, which has so far mainly focused on pain, while other emotional states remain uncharted territories, especially in horses. This study is the first to develop AI models to automatically recognize horse emotional states from facial expressions using data collected in a controlled experiment. We explore two types of pipelines: a deep learning one which takes as input video footage, and a machine learning one which takes as input EquiFACS annotations. The former outperforms the latter, with 76% accuracy in separating between four emotional states: baseline, positive anticipation, disappointment and frustration. Anticipation and frustration were difficult to separate, with only 61% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An idea called prescient upkeep (PdM) is utilized to oversee support plans for resources by predicting their disappointments utilizing information driven strategies. In these cases, data is accumulated over the long haul to follow the state of the gear. The objective is to distinguish specific connections and examples that can be utilized to figure issues and eventually forestall them. In the assembling area, hardware is oftentimes utilized without a characterized upkeep procedure. Because of a couple of unexpected disappointments, such practice typically causes unforeseen margin time. To forestall spontaneous hardware closures, booked upkeep includes checking the creation gear's condition at foreordained stretches and supplanting any deficient parts. Electric engine condition checking and prescient support assist the business with keeping away from critical monetary misfortunes welcomed on by unexpected engine breakdowns and essentially increment framework unwavering quality. This study depicts an Irregular Timberland based Machine Learning engineering for Prescient Support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1974, Iraqi-born Ghāʾib Ṭuʿmah Farmān (1927–1990) published his novel al-Makhāḍ (Labor Pains. Baghdad: Maktabat al-Taḥrīr, 1974). Farmān had subscribed to Communist ideas since his youth, a leaning for which he was also arrested, yet in this novel, he bluntly expresses his disappointment with the 1958 Iraqi revolution's consequences and his doubts about the concept of revolution itself. In this study, Farmān's novel will be placed within the broader historical and cultural context in which Leftist Arab intellectuals became critical of the Iraqi revolutions of 1958, 1963 and 1968 alike. A close reading of the novel, published six years after the Baʿth revolution of 1968 and the rise of Saddam Hussein to power, reveals admonitions on possible future turns of events. To wit, the concentration of power in the hands of the state and the regime, persecution of political rivals, favoring regime allies, economic disparities, as well as the discord between the noble goals of the revolution and its contradictions in the preservation of the post-revolutionary order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of a definitive cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) emphasizes the crucial need to explore new and improved treatment approaches for this fatal, progressive, and disabling neurodegenerative disorder. As at the end of 2023, five treatments – riluzole, edaravone, dextromethorphan hydrobromide + quinidine sulfate (DHQ), tofersen, and sodium phenylbutyrate-tauroursodeoxycholic acid (PB-TUDCA) – were FDA approved for the treatment of patients with ALS. Among them PB-TUDCA has been shown to impact DNA processing impairments, mitochondria dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative stress, and pathologic folded protein agglomeration defects, which have been associated with ALS pathophysiology. The Phase 2 CENTAUR trial demonstrated significant impact of PB-TUDCA on the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) risk of death, hospitalization, and the need for tracheostomy or permanent assisted ventilation in patients with ALS based on post hoc analyses. More recently, contrasting with the CENTAUR trial results, results from the Phase 3 PHOENIX trial (NCT05021536) showed no change in ALSFRS-R total score at 48 weeks. Consequently, the sponsor company initiated the process with the US FDA and Health Canada to voluntarily withdraw the marketing authorizations for PB-TUDCA. In the present article, we review ALS pathophysiology, with a focus on PB-TUDCA's proposed mechanisms of action and recent clinical trial results and discuss the implications of conflicting trial data for ALS and other neurological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ricoeur Studies / Etudes Ricoeuriennes is the property of University of Pittsburgh, University Library System and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Babylon Center for Humanities Studies is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cities, Communities & Territories / Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios is the property of Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, DINAMIA-CET and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the support of the Ukrainian PEN scholarship program, and implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation and the New Democracy Fund (Denmark) as part of the Rapid Response Fund. On the basis of real-life stories and the classics of world philosophy and literature, the author examines the different meanings and connotations that accompany the use of the words hope, disappointment, desire, expect, win, believe, and act in Ukraine today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Moore v. United States was a disappointment. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the so-called mandatory repatriation tax, a result that may or may not be defensible. But the Court didn’t resolve what was supposed to be the “question presented” in the case: “Whether the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.” As a result, more than a century after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, we still don’t know whether realization of some sort is necessary to have income within the meaning of the Amendment. This article describes and criticizes the decision in Moore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental decision makers lament instances in which the lack of actionable science limits confident decision-making. Their reaction when the needed scientific information is of poor quality, uninformative, unintelligible, or altogether absent is often to criticize scientists, their work, or science in general. The considerations offered here encourage decision makers to explore alternative approaches to alleviate their disappointment. Ironically, many researchers lament the lack of support for the science they wish to deliver and accuse decision makers of failing to realize the value of the scientific studies they propose. Both communities would benefit by remembering that producing actionable science for a pending decision requires knowing the context for that decision beforehand. They may also look inward. Only then will they find answers to the question: What can I do within my own capacity to ensure that the necessary actionable science becomes available and facilitate its use to inform decisions? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bakker and Lelkes (2024) point at a critical gap in research on affective polarisation: the limited understanding of its affective components, mainly due to the reliance on a unidimensional operationalisation of affect in affective polarisation. They advocate for a broader approach to study affect, integrating explicit and implicit measures, and call on emotion specialists to address this gap. Acknowledging the complexity of affect in the ideological divide, we argue that the lack of a thorough examination of the distinct role of discrete emotions constitutes the primary "affective gap". Drawing from studies on the relationship between ideological groups and utilising a discrete emotions approach, we contest the prevailing assumption that hatred predominantly underlies affective polarisation. Instead, we propose that disappointment, better captures the intricate dynamics between ideological groups. We argue that such nuanced approach, regarding the affective component of affective polarisation enhances our understanding of the phenomenon and shed light on its implications for societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Political Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the book "Letters from Russia: Russia in 1839" by Marquis de Custine, a French aristocrat who visited Russia in 1839 to understand its political system. Custine's analysis highlighted the lack of freedom, lies, and violence in Russian society, which he found shocking. The book remains banned in Russia, as it presents a critical view of the country. Custine's observations provide insight into Russian society and its historical aggressiveness, as well as the challenges faced by researchers in interpreting national history objectively. [Extracted from the article]

The formation of an "intimate resistance" in the work of the Chilean poet Jorge Teillier (1935-1996) operates from the speaker's nostalgic unfolding in the face of modern uprooting within a ruinous environment. This entails articulating the paradox between the speaker's intimate everyday life experience and the sense of orphanhood caused by his current precarious existence, which encourages him to resignify the present and expand into the future. In this way, a pendular game of antagonisms arises in Tellier's poetics: life and death, happiness and disappointment, rootedness and uprooting; a vital tendency of the speaker to disintegrate, counteracted with the intimate resistance from the ruins of his memory where he persists in his alterity and finitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final episode of the Anabasis dismays many readers: Xenophon takes a small group of associates to kidnap the household of the wealthy Persian, Asidates. Thereby he himself becomes wealthy. This paper examines several details of the account of that episode. The mature author gives us the unvarnished facts straightforwardly, through the uncritical perspective of the youthful agent. From these brute facts the reader may infer that the mature writer intends a negative judgement about the final episode. The mature Xenophon thus presents some self-criticism. That capacity for self-criticism may come from the influence of Socrates. There are reasons, however, to make a further judgement that Xenophon's admirable capacity for self-criticism was sadly limited. One cannot escape deep disappointment after reflecting on the final episode of the Anabasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]