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This introduction aims to present the main contributions of the two parts of the special section – titled “Thinking through ruination: theoretical and empirical approaches to the ruins of the Anthropocene”. The focus of this special section is to explore the anthropogenic ruins of our recent past within the current context of environmental challenges and threats. The compiled articles exemplify the significance of examining these ruins, highlighting their richness and cross-disciplinary nature. Additionally, the introduction underscores the fertile intersections between the articles and discusses their common motifs in addressing the ecological crisis through the lens of ruins and ruination processes.

Aquesta introducció presenta les principals aportacions de les dues parts que configuren la secció especial titulada «Pensar a través de la ruïna: aproximacions teòriques i empíriques a les ruïnes de l’antropocè». L’objectiu d’aquesta secció especial és submergir-se des d’una perspectiva interdisciplinària en l’exploració i estudi de les ruïnes antropogèniques del nostre passat recent en un context de reptes i amenaces ambientals. Els articles compilats il·lustren la importància d’examinar aquestes ruïnes, destacant la seva riquesa així com la seva naturalesa complexa, fragmentària i paradoxal. Així mateix, la present introducció subratlla les interseccions fèrtils entre els articles i ressegueix els diferents elements que conflueixen en l’abordatge de la crisi ecològica a través de la perspectiva de les ruïnes i els processos de ruïna.

La present ressenya posa en relació la lectura dos llibres sobre els paisatges de l’abandó contemporanis, on diferents tipus ruïnes proliferen, resten i s’acumulen. D’una banda, el llibre de Cal Flyn Islas del Abandono. La vida en los paisajes posthumanos (2022) i, d’una altra, el llibre de Jaume Corominas Fígols les Mines. Esplendor i decadència d’una colònia minera (2019). Flyn i Corominas furguen des de diferents geografies, mirades i escriptures les presències i absències que configuren aquests paisatges, que a voltes ens atreuen i a voltes ens desolen. Ambdós autors ens conviden a través dels seus treballs a mirar de cara aquestes indrets i les seves ruïnes en comptes de girar-nos-hi d’esquena, per copsar com creació i destrucció esdevenen un binomi difícil de destriar.

Hemoglobin C (HbC) disease is an uncommon disease that is generally considered benign, causing only occasionally painless hematuria, osteomyelitis, and dental abnormalities. Ocular manifestations have rarely been described in these patients. Here we report a novel ophthalmological manifestation of the disease. A 20-year-old woman presented with progressive visual loss in her right eye due to tractional retinal detachment. The left eye was apparently normal, but wide-field fluorescence angiography showed mild peripheral ischemia with multiple vascular abnormalities. Vitrectomy was performed and the systemic workup revealed the presence of hemoglobinopathy C in heterozygous form. HbC disease can be sight-threating due to retinal proliferation, similar to sickle cell retinopathy. Patients affected with this disease should undergo regular surveillance. Ultra-wide angiography is a helpful examination to detect peripheral ischemia in the earlier stages.

Macular dystrophies (MDs) constitute a collection of hereditary retina disorders leading to notable visual impairment, primarily due to progressive macular atrophy. These conditions are distinguished by bilateral and relatively symmetrical abnormalities in the macula that significantly impair central visual function. Recent strides in fundus imaging, especially optical coherence tomography (OCT), have enhanced our comprehension and diagnostic capabilities for MD. OCT enables the identification of neurosensory retinal disorganization patterns and the extent of damage to retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor cells in the dystrophies before visible macular pathology appears on fundus examinations. It not only helps us in diagnostic retinal and choroidal pathologies but also guides us in monitoring the progression of, staging of, and response to treatment. In this review, we summarize the key findings on OCT in some of the most common MD.

The advancement of underrepresented minority and women PhD students to elite postdoctoral and faculty positions in the STEM fields continues to lag that of majority males, despite decades of efforts to mitigate bias and increase opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds. In 2015, the National Science Foundation Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NSF AGEP) California Alliance (Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, UCLA) conducted a wide-ranging survey of graduate students across the mathematical, physical, engineering, and computer sciences in order to identify levers to improve the success of PhD students, and, in time, improve diversity in STEM leadership positions, especially the professoriate. The survey data were interpreted via path analysis, a method that identifies significant relationships, both direct and indirect, among various factors and outcomes of interest. We investigated two important outcomes: publication rates, which largely determine a new PhD students competitiveness in the academic marketplace, and subjective well-being. Women and minority students who perceived that they were well-prepared for their graduate courses and accepted by their colleagues (faculty and fellow students), and who experienced well-articulated and structured PhD programs, were most likely to publish at rates comparable to their male majority peers. Women PhD students experienced significantly higher levels of distress than their male peers, both majority and minority, while both women and minority student distress levels were mitigated by clearly-articulated expectations, perceiving that they were well-prepared for graduate level courses, and feeling accepted by their colleagues. It is unclear whether higher levels of distress in women students is related directly to their experiences in their STEM PhD programs. The findings suggest that mitigating factors that negatively affect diversity should not, in principle, require the investment of large resources, but rather requires attention to the local culture and structure of individual STEM PhD programs.

Abstract Background To determine the percentage of patients who have silicone droplets in the vitreous after treatment with different anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (anti-VEGF) intravitreal injections (IVI) and how symptomatic they are. Methods One hundred fifty-two eyes of 140 patients who had at least received an IVI were recruited for this study. Data collection included the number and type of IVI (aflibercept, ranibizumab and bevacizumab) and the follow-up time. A complete ophthalmologic examination was carried out and patients were classified in four groups according to the amount of silicone droplets found in dilated fundoscopy (nonexistent, scarce, moderate and abundant). Measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) was also carried out. An interview was conducted to report the presence and intensity of the symptomatology. Results Silicone oil droplets were reported in 109 eyes (71.7%). A positive correlation was found between the number of IVIs received and the quantity of droplets found, especially when aflibercept was used. Posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) was present in 65.8% of the patients, showing a positive correlation with the number of bubbles. Regarding the symptomatology, 60 eyes (39.5%) had floaters and the disturbance was reported to be 4 out of 10. The group with a moderate amount of silicone droplets had the highest percentage of floaters (60%). No statistical differences in the IOP were found between groups, although the group with abundant droplets had a higher mean IOP. Conclusion A high prevalence of silicone droplets in vitreous of patients who undergo IVI treatment was found. It appears to have little impact on symptomatology and rise of IOP.

Sociological debates on the mobilising force of imagined futures are particularly relevant in our present context of climate emergency, where the claim-making of a 'threatened future' has come to the fore in civic mobilisations worldwide. This article addresses these debates by empirically examining how adverse views of the future underpinning present thematisations of climate change as an emergency shape collective action. Based upon qualitative research conducted in Barcelona on new climate movements, I analyse the content and form of two imagined futures ('catastrophe' and 'collapse') that emerge from the ways in which participants of Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future engage with the future and climate. This analysis shows how these imagined futures are reflected in individual imaginations and processed by these movements, infusing different forms of agency and impacting trajectories of action in the present. This empirically grounded focus on imagined climate futures reveals that not only are cognitions of climate risks crucial, but so are the emotions that these produce in configuring collective action. Likewise, this study highlights how even disastrous imagined climate futures include utopian impulses for sustainable futures as both a driver and result of collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially aware robot navigation is gaining popularity with the increase in delivery and assistive robots. The research is further fueled by a need for socially aware navigation skills in autonomous vehicles to move safely and appropriately in spaces shared with humans. Although most of these are ground robots, drones are also entering the field. In this paper, we present a literature survey of the works on socially aware robot navigation in the past 10 years. We propose four different faceted taxonomies to navigate the literature and examine the field from four different perspectives. Through the taxonomic review, we discuss the current research directions and the extending scope of applications in various domains. Further, we put forward a list of current research opportunities and present a discussion on possible future challenges that are likely to emerge in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a growing world population and increasing frequency of climate disturbance events, we are in dire need of methods to improve plant productivity, resilience, and resistance to both abiotic and biotic stressors, both for agriculture and conservation efforts. Microorganisms play an essential role in supporting plant growth, environmental response, and susceptibility to disease. However, understanding the specific mechanisms by which microbes interact with each other and with plants to influence plant phenotypes is a major challenge due to the complexity of natural communities, simultaneous competition and cooperation effects, signalling interactions, and environmental impacts. Synthetic communities are a major asset in reducing the complexity of these systems by simplifying to dominant components and isolating specific variables for controlled experiments, yet there still remains a large gap in our understanding of plant microbiome interactions. This perspectives article presents a brief review discussing ways in which metabolic modelling can be used in combination with synthetic communities to continue progress toward understanding the complexity of plant-microbe-environment interactions. We highlight the utility of metabolic models as applied to a community setting, identify different applications for both flux balance and elementary flux mode simulation approaches, emphasize the importance of ecological theory in guiding data interpretation, and provide ideas for how the integration of metabolic modelling techniques with big data may bridge the gap between simplified synthetic communities and the complexity of natural plant-microbe systems.

Geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration is a common cause of blindness worldwide. Given the recent approval of the first therapy for GA, pegcetacoplan, we critically appraise methodological aspects of the phase 3 clinical trials published so far in this disease in relation to their design, analysis and interpretation. We reviewed some of the key attributes of all phase 3 clinical trials in GA available in the main public registry of clinical trials as of 20 May 2023. The topics discussed included types of endpoints, eligibility criteria, p-value and effect size, study power and sample size, the intention to treat principle, missing data, consistency of results, efficacy–safety balance and application of results. Five phase 3 clinical trials have reported results, either partially or completely: GATHER1, DERBY/OAKS, CHROMA/SPECTRI, SEATTLE and GATE. Although there are many similarities between these trials in terms of endpoints or broad eligibility criteria, they differ in several aspects (metric of the primary endpoint, sample size, type of adverse events, etc.) that can influence the results, which are discussed. Readers should understand key methodological aspects of clinical trials to improve their interpretation. On the other hand, authors should adhere to clinical trial reporting guidelines to communicate what was done and how it was done.