This case series reports two independent cases of Exophiala spinifera infection in adult male neutered domestic cats, both referred following misdiagnosis. To date, only six cases associated with this organism have been reported in domestic cats, excluding those described herein. These also represent the first documented cases of E. spinifera infection in cats in the United States. In both cases, a definitive etiologic diagnosis could not be made by cytology, histology, or fungal culture. Moreover, histologic features did not allow for clear classification of the lesions as phaeohyphomycosis or chromoblastomycosis. Ultimately, accurate identification of the fungal pathogen was achieved through molecular diagnostic testing, rather than conventional mycologic or microscopic methods. These cases underscore the importance of molecular diagnostics and inter‐institutional collaboration in the accurate identification of dematiaceous fungi, such as E. spinifera, particularly given their variable clinical and pathological presentations.

Assessing the impact of grade retention: A cautionary tale of exclusion restriction violations

Ban Cookie Banners: A Case Study in Tech Regulation

In recent years, there has been an explosion of research looking at the relationship between Big Five personality traits and political behavior. This boom has been driven by the development of brief inventories that can assess subjects’ traits in as few as ten questions. Despite these developments, subjects’ own propensity to complete the surveys may be driven by their personality traits. As a result, key findings in this literature may be plagued by selection bias. Using a new data collection effort, I show that subjects who are more Agreeable or Neurotic have systematically different propensities to complete surveys. This result in hand, I show how relationships between the Big Five and political behavior may change estimated relationships between the traits and behavior. These findings are a significant caution to scholars examining the Big Five and their effects on a variety of phenomena.

Liu Cixin’s Supernova Era presents a profound allegory of societal transformation through gamification. This article argues that the novel, depicting a world where children inherit the Earth after a supernova kills all adults, anticipates contemporary trends of gamification while critically examining its potential and perils. The article employs game studies and science fiction studies to examine four core games—leader selection, territorial simulation, Antarctic wargame, and territory exchange in the novel. It explores how the novel envisions the collapse of the centralized, adult-imposed industrial order and its replacement by a decentralized, play-driven society, facilitated by information technology and mass participation. It further dissects the Antarctic “wargame” as a cautionary tale, revealing the inherent dangers of violence, ethical erosion, and global conflict escalation when gamification loses control. Finally, the paper contextualizes Liu's vision within Chinese science fiction history and contemporary literature, highlighting his distinct “posthuman” perspective that challenges anthropocentric humanism. Combining discussions about the potentials and risks of a gamified society, Supernova Era thus serves as a prescient and critical commentary on the logic and consequences of societal gamification. Liu’s science fiction imagination can therefore provide inspiration and broaden perspectives on the future direction of post-Cold War social structures.

Dance is the physical expression of what our lives look like – they include a combination of steps, a rhythm of patterns, connections with people and a series of emotions. As educators, we are teaching students how to navigate adolescence and, by extension, how to live in the world. Dancer and religious scholar, Kimerer LaMothe stresses that there “is a dancer in each of us and a dance in everything we do” (LaMothe, 2015, p. 15). There is a crisis in dance education, as evidenced by the diminishing importance of programs in public education systems. This issue is not new, as Shirley Hoad posits how dance in provinces across Canada had been pushed aside and/or lumped together with physical education courses (Hoad, p. 46; 1990). Ann Dils (2007) reflected on a similar issue, questioning why dance was absent from schooling when there was significant evidence that children were better able to express themselves through movement than through traditional literacy instruction (Dils, 2007). Focusing on Hannah Arendt’s (1958a) theory of ‘worldlessness’, tells a cautionary tale of the potential dangers a loss of dance education would bring. This paper will conclude with Maxine Greene’s (1995) Releasing the Imagination and Arendt’s The Crisis in Education (1958b) to pose hope for the future of dance.

The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, imposed by British colonial authorities in India, was a draconian law that branded entire communities as “hereditary criminals,” enforcing systematic surveillance, forced settlement, and social ostracization. This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the Act’s origins, implementation, and enduring legacy. It begins by contextualizing the Act within India’s caste system, tracing how ancient religious codifications – from the Rigveda to the Manusmriti – established and justified a rigid hierarchy that colonial policies later exploited. We analyze the language and intent of the Act, illustrating how the British administration wielded it as an instrument to control nomadic and marginalized groups by presuming criminality by birth. The short-term impacts on Dalits (formerly “Untouchables”), Adivasis (indigenous tribes), and other minorities were severe: communities faced loss of land, curtailed freedoms, and state-sanctioned stigma, with an estimated thirteen million people across 127 communities directly affected by Independence. The Act’s long-term repercussions persisted well beyond its repeal in 1949, as independent India’s Habitual Offenders Act (1952) continued to profile and police these denotified tribes, entrenching cycles of poverty and prejudice. Crucially, this paper situates the Criminal Tribes Act in a comparative global context. Parallels are drawn to other systems of institutionalized oppression: the Jim Crow laws in the United States, which enforced a codified racial apartheid and denied African Americans basic rights; the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, whereby ~120,000 people (two-thirds U.S. citizens) were incarcerated without cause; and South Africa’s apartheid regime, which legally classified citizens by race to maintain white supremacy. These comparisons reveal common patterns of using the law to strip targeted groups of rights under the guise of “social order” or “national security.” The paper also examines modern surveillance measures – from preventive detention of Muslims under anti-terror laws to predictive policing technologies – arguing that the underlying logic of collective suspicion echoes the legacy of the 1871 Act in contemporary forms. Through extensive use of scholarly sources, including archival colonial reports and the writings of historians and anthropologists, as well as eyewitness accounts and recent news reports, we highlight how the narrative of “born criminals” created by the Act remains etched in societal attitudes. We incorporate historical data (caste-based census records, crime statistics) and present-day metrics (crime rates against Dalits, wealth and education disparities by caste) to visualize the enduring impact. Graphs and charts are used to illustrate trends such as the economic marginalization of Dalits and the racial disparities in incarceration that mirror caste inequalities. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that while the Criminal Tribes Act was repealed, its spirit survives in prejudices and legal practices worldwide. It calls for a critical re-examination of laws and social structures that continue to otherize and criminalize marginalized communities, advocating for reforms grounded in equality, restorative justice, and the protection of fundamental rights. The global legacy of the Criminal Tribes Act serves as a cautionary tale of how state power can perpetuate social stratification – and a reminder of the ongoing struggle to dismantle such oppressive systems.

This essay reads Grant Allen’s “Pallinghurst Barrow” as folk horror about the late-Victorian spiritualist debates. We read Allen’s story as not only sympathetic to spiritualism, but also as critical of the gendered and genred politics of fin-de-siècle scientific materialism which would preclude such occult experiences—or what we frame as feminine ways of knowing. In both form and content, “Pallinghurst Barrow” challenges masculine science by foregrounding the powerful influence (on Rudolph, the protagonist) of the Gothic ghost story (“gipsy” Rachel’s cautionary tale, repeated by young Joyce). Allen’s interest in the folkloric origins of religion can be traced back to Herbert Spencer’s “Ghost Theory,” a proto-sociological explanation for the cultural construction and transmission of myth (or spirits). A lifelong friend and devotee of Spencer, Allen employs his mentor’s sociology as a way to make sense of non-material forces, including the ghost story circle and its production of Gothic awe or wonder (the wonder tale). Ultimately, then, Allen’s infamous folk horror reads as an allegory of late-Victorian spiritualist debates and, more importantly, as a defence of feminine modes of knowledge and myth-making through collective story-telling.

Between 1957 and 1974, a small professional theater company in Washington, D.C. staged ninety Equity (union) productions and ten non-Equity shows, including ten world premieres, four American premieres, thirty Washington premieres, and works by sixty-four writers whose works had not been performed previously in the Washington region. The Washington Theater Club staged new works by several of the era’s leading English-language playwrights. The club also served as a proving ground for actors starting out their careers, including several who would come to dominate the American stage and screen. By the time the club closed, it had played a far more important role in the evolution of American regional theater than its diminutive size might suggest. Theater enthusiasts Hazel and John Wentworth opened the Washington Theater Club during the late 1950s. Hazel and John were hungry for innovative drama of a sort absent in Washington. They established their group to promote fresh dramatic forms, to present new ideas, and to support novice playwrights and their works. They nurtured a slightly bohemian tone, often presenting non-mainstream works. The Wentworths viewed their theater’s mission to rise above artistic achievement to embrace social activism. They sought to present quality productions performed and enjoyed by diverse casts and audiences outside the restrictions of Washington’s racial segregation of the period. From the beginning, the Club promoted Black theater and Black writers and artists. The club’s story also is one highlighting the destructive power of bureaucratic and political petty tutelage. Washington remained under the direct control of the U.S. Congress throughout this period. The commissioners and bureaucrats charged by Congress to run the city remained unaccountable to the city’s residents. In the end, a tax code unfavorable to cultural institutions undermined the club’s survivability. Various courts ruled against the Club, leaving the club with an expensive property tax bill that it could not cover. Bankers foreclosed on their loans. The rise and fall of the Washington Theater Club offers a cautionary tale of what can happen when a community’s fate is left in the hands of those who have little connection to it. This loss of accountability can breed oppression, servility, cruelty, and loathsome in its own way, idiocy.

Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand

Ancient texts like the Book of Rites, Rites of Zhou, and The Book of Lord Shang provide crucial references for modern scholars studying traditional legal thought led by the political ideologies of Confucianism and Legalism. Meanwhile, the Ming-Qing period novel Awakening of the World's Marriages exposes the absurdities of judicial practices during that era, offering profound insights and serving as a cautionary tale for future generations to avoid repeating historical mistakes.

The increasing emphasis on research productivity in ophthalmology residency applications reflects broader shifts in medical education and raises important questions about equity, authenticity, and holistic evaluation. As grading systems and standardized examinations move toward pass/fail formats, research has become one a principal way for applicants to distinguish themselves from other applicants. While this shift has increased scholarly output, it has also exacerbated disparities in access to mentoring, encouraged superficial research engagement, and may undermine diversity within the field. Evidence consistently shows that diversity among physicians improves patient outcomes and promotes equitable care, underscoring the need for the residency selection process to holistic evaluate applicants beyond publications. Programs should balance research achievements with other qualities, such as clinical acumen, leadership, service, and commitment to patient-centered care, ensuring that the next generation of ophthalmologists reflect both excellence and inclusivity.

A Cautionary Tale: Balloon Postdilatation of Balloon-Expandable Valve to Treat a Degenerated Self-Expanding Valve Resulting in VSD.

Misinterpreting gene function due to unintended genetic effects is a recurring challenge in knockout model research.In this issue of Cardiovascular Research, Zhang et al. report that cardiac defects observed in cardiac-specific ATF4 knockout mice actually arise from transcriptional readthrough at the Atf4 locus, caused by deletion of its polyadenylation signal, which suppresses the neighboring gene Rps19bp1 and impairs heart development.Conditional gene targeting has revolutionized developmental biology, yet unintended genomic effects can confound interpretation of gene function.Deleting regions that include transcriptional termination or polyadenylation (polyA) signals can permit readthrough transcription into adjacent loci, generating fusion transcripts and altering neighboring gene expression.Zhang et al. 1 address this underappreciated problem by revisiting the role of Atf4 in cardiac development.Their study demonstrates that the cardiac malformations observed in cardiac-specific ATF4 knockout mice are not due to loss of ATF4 in cardiomyocytes (CMs) but instead result from transcriptional readthrough at the Atf4 locus, which suppresses the neighboring gene Rps19bp1, activates p53, and impairs myocardial growth.

Mathematical models are routinely applied to interpret biological data, with common goals that include both prediction and parameter estimation. A challenge in mathematical biology, in particular, is that models are often complex and non-identifiable, while data are limited. Rectifying identifiability through simplification can seemingly yield more precise parameter estimates, albeit, as we explore in this perspective, at the potentially catastrophic cost of introducing model misspecification and poor accuracy. We demonstrate how uncertainty in model structure can be propagated through to uncertainty in parameter estimates using a semi-parametric Gaussian process approach that delineates parameters of interest from uncertainty in model terms. Specifically, we study generalised logistic growth with an unknown crowding function, and a spatially resolved process described by a partial differential equation with a time-dependent diffusivity parameter. Allowing for structural model uncertainty yields more robust and accurate parameter estimates, and a better quantification of remaining uncertainty. We conclude our perspective by discussing the connections between identifiability and model misspecification, and alternative approaches to dealing with model misspecification in mathematical biology.

Delineating and identifying species from mitochondrial DNA only: a cautionary tale from bats

The Challenge of Sustainability: A Cautionary Tale from Amana

This case study examines the protracted struggle and systemic failures in converting Kidney Hill, a 62-acre amenity plot in Karachi, into a functional public park after a landmark Supreme Court order. Historically reserved for a park in 1966, the land was largely taken over by a land mafia, illegal housing, and various criminal and vested interests over decades. The Supreme Court's 2019 directive aimed to restore the land’s original grandeur as part of a wider anti-encroachment drive. Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was tasked with this ambitious project despite its institutional weakness and a critical lack of funds, forcing it to rely entirely on private philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. The initial success in clearing the land was quickly followed by an anticlimax, as KMC faced internal bureaucratic inertia, political rivalry between ruling parties, and a vigorous "Counter-Offensive" from the ousted elite and criminal elements. The project was further marred by questionable conduct from 'self-proclaimed' civil society organizations and severe operational challenges, including unsustainable water management, rampant vandalism, and the site's transformation into a crime hub. Ultimately, the attempt to create a "bona fide paradise" resulted in the park deteriorating from utopia to dystopia. The combination of donor fatigue, fiscal mismanagement, and the failure to secure the site led to the project's failure, offering a cautionary tale about the systemic obstacles—including lack of political will, corruption, and administrative inefficiency—that plague public mega-projects in Karachi. The study concludes that crucial legal, institutional, and human resource reforms are necessary to prevent the repetition of these poor actions.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41649-025-00382-0.

Abstract This paper examines the environmental impact of green assets using machine learning and impulse responses by local projections. A series of 87 green assets from various classes are considered, namely firms providing renewable energy and carbon offset solutions, carbon and sustainable investing ETFs and green cryptocurrencies. The dataset spans the period from 2015 to 2022 and comprises globally sourced environmental and financial data. The current study examines whether asset prices, returns and trading volumes have an impact on environmental indicators such as temperature (global mean and anomalies) and greenhouse gas concentration. The results indicate that adoption of these green assets does not have a significant environmental impact, suggesting that they should not be used as substitutes for real climate action. This work serves as a cautionary tale on the nexus between green assets and environmental indicators and the results can be used by governments and corporations when formulating climate and ESG strategies.