Decisive Event Research Articles

The Swedish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 1961–1967: Political Time Orientation and Worldview

ABSTRACT The Swedish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND) fought the military’s plans to acquire Swedish nuclear weapons and protested the nuclear arms race, 1961–1967. This article presents SCND’s ideological orientation by focusing on temporalities. SCND saw the Second World War as a decisive event and tried to avert a crisis and a dystopia by manifesting remembrance of past nuclear detonations, and by representing a ‘desperate man’ who needed to act directly against nuclear weapons testing and research. As an opinion-forming force, SCND advocated international negotiations and rejected political initiatives regarding disarmament. Furthermore, SCND refused to take a position between West and East in the Cold War and SCND did not strive for a fundamental change of society, a utopia, which can be explained by SCND’s critique of ideology and from its temporal orientation rooted in the present. Nevertheless, the rise of imperialist-critical internationalism led to internal ideological conflicts, and the Swedish Campaign dissolved when only one of the goals was achieved: when Sweden abandoned the plans for nuclear weapons. Some members insisted on continuing the campaign to fight against not least imperialism, and SCND’s downfall in 1967 can be explained by its challenge to navigate an ideologically multifaceted landscape.

Impact of adding eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid-rich fish oil in sow and piglet diets on blood oxylipins and immune indicators of weaned piglets

Weaning is a decisive event in piglets’ life. This study aimed to evaluate whether the inclusion of fish oil, rich in eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids (EPA and DHA), in sow and piglet diets, increased the concentration of anti-inflammatory molecules in the blood of weaned piglets and whether the effect was dependent on the pigs being born with either low or a high birth BW (bBW). Thirty-six sows in four consecutive batches were randomly distributed between a control diet with animal fat (15 g/kg in gestation and 30 g/kg in lactation) or a n-3 long-chain fatty acid diet (LCFA; totally or half replacing animal fat by fish oil during gestation and lactation, respectively) from service until weaning (ca. 28 days). At birth, the two lightest (LBW) and the two heaviest (HBW) piglets in each litter were identified and, at weaning, grouped in pens by pairs prioritising their bBW. Pens were further distributed into a control (30 g/kg animal fat) or n-3 LCFA diet (totally replacing animal fat by fish oil) for 28 days. At the end of the trial, blood was collected from piglets in the first batch (n = 48). Serum fatty acids (FAs) were quantified by GC, plasma oxylipins by ultra-HPLC-MS, and plasma immune indicators by ELISA. An interaction between piglet diet and bBW for average daily gain (P = 0.020) and average daily feed intake (P = 0.014) during the whole postweaning indicated that dietary n-3 LCFA−promoted LBW piglets to have a similar growth and intake than HBW piglets reaching 1.5 kg average BW more at the end of the postweaning period than LBW control piglets. Fish oil in piglet diets also increased the concentrations of total n-3 FA, EPA and DHA (all P < 0.001), their resultant oxylipins, particularly their hydroxy derivatives from lipoxygenase enzymatic pathway (all P < 0.001) and tended to increase immunoglobulin M (P = 0.067) in blood. Regarding the bBW category, LBW piglets tend to increase tumour necrosis factor α in plasma (P = 0.083) compared to HBW. It is concluded that fish oil in postweaning diets could enhance the daily gain and feed intake of LBW piglets, increasing the concentration of serum n-3 FAs and their derived oxylipins in plasma.

Certolizumab pegol effectiveness, survival and safety in patients with psoriasis: A multicenter retrospective analysis in daily clinical practice by the Spanish Psoriasis Group.

Certolizumab is an Fc-free PEGylated tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) inhibitor recently approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, although there is limited real-world evidence on the effectiveness and safety in patients with plaque psoriasis treated with certolizumab. The objective of this article is to determine the effectiveness, drug survival, and safety, including pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation, of certolizumab in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis under real-world conditions. This is a retrospective, multicenter, observational study performed in 15 hospitals in Spain. It evaluates the effectiveness and safety of certolizumab in plaque psoriasis in the clinical practice setting. A total of 67 patients (73% female) were evaluated with a mean baseline Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) of 8.9. At Week 12, the mean PASI was 2.3 (n = 67), 1.3 (n = 57) at Week 24 and 1.3 at Week 52 (n = 34). Absolute PASI < 3 was achieved in 69, 86, and 92% of patients at Weeks 12, 24, and 52, respectively, as observed. For its part, using the under-response imputation analysis, PASI < 3 at Weeks 12, 24, and 52 were achieved by 69, 73, and 49% of the patients, respectively. A total of 35 patients (52%) had concomitant psoriatic arthritis, and, in 24 of them, Disease Activity in Psoriatic Arthritis Score (DAPSA) was recorded at baseline, with a mean value of 17.9 which decreased to 8.2 at Week 12 (n = 22) and to 3.6 at Week 24 (n = 18). Certolizumab treatment was discontinued in 14 out of 67 patients (21%), due to lack/loss of cutaneous or articular effectiveness (n = 11) or patient decision (n = 2) or adverse event in only one patient who developed active tuberculosis. A lower baseline PASI [hazard ratio (HR): 1.12 (1.02-1.23); P = 0.023] and a more significant reduction in PASI at Week 12 [HR: 1.16 (1.07-1.27); P < 0.001] and Week 52 [HR: 1.47 (1.11-1.96); P = 0.007] was shown to be significantly related with better survival for the entire follow-up period. Fourteen patients were treated during pregnancy and/or lactation without reporting adverse events in either the patient or the newborn. Certolizumab consistently showed high effectiveness and drug survival rates in this real-life cohort. The safety demonstrated in clinical trials during pregnancy and lactation seems to be confirmed in clinical practice.

Possible beings: Deaf children and linguistic justice

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the case of Carter Churchill v. Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and analyses legal documents as they illuminate current understanding of linguistic justice and relational ethics. This case is a test case for the standard of education provided to deaf learners in Canada who benefit from sign language. Linguistic justice considers language issues as they are relevant to social justice. The paper first discusses the linguistic justice framework in relation to deaf children’s right to sign language, then analyses legal documents from the case for what they reveal about patterns of inaction on the part of senior educational administrators and deficiency views of American Sign Language (ASL) that are pervasive in Canadian early intervention and education systems for deaf children. While the 2023 Human Rights Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Board of Inquiry decision found the school district failed to provide reasonable accommodation and discriminated against Carter during the first four years of his education, this decision and related events stop short of ordering linguistic justice for deaf children in the form of sign language policy and planning that fulfils a society’s ethical responsibilities to deaf people.

Regulation of carbohydrate metabolism during anther development in a thermo-sensitive genic male-sterile wheat line.

Bainong sterility (BNS) is a thermo-sensitive genic male sterile wheat line, characterised by anther fertility transformation in response to low temperature (LT) stress during meiosis, the failure of vacuole decomposition and the absence of starch accumulation in sterile bicellular pollen. Our study demonstrates that the late microspore (LM) stage marks the transition from the anther growth to anther maturation phase, characterised by the changes in anther structure, carbohydrate metabolism and the main transport pathway of sucrose (Suc). Fructan is a main storage polysaccharide in wheat anther, and its synthesis and remobilisation are crucial for anther development. Moreover, the process of pollen amylogenesis and the fate of the large vacuole in pollen are closely intertwined with fructan synthesis and remobilisation. LT disrupts the normal physiological metabolism of BNS anthers during meiosis, particularly affecting carbohydrate metabolism, thus determining the fate of male gametophytes and pollen abortion. Disruption of fructan synthesis and remobilisation regulation serves as a decisive event that results in anther abortion. Sterile pollen exhibits common traits of pollen starvation and impaired starch accumulation due to the inhibition of apoplastic transport starting from the LM stage, which is regulated by cell wall invertase TaIVR1 and Suc transporter TaSUT1.

DeepVelo: deep learning extends RNA velocity to multi-lineage systems with cell-specific kinetics

Existing RNA velocity estimation methods strongly rely on predefined dynamics and cell-agnostic constant transcriptional kinetic rates, assumptions often violated in complex and heterogeneous single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. Using a graph convolution network, DeepVelo overcomes these limitations by generalizing RNA velocity to cell populations containing time-dependent kinetics and multiple lineages. DeepVelo infers time-varying cellular rates of transcription, splicing, and degradation, recovers each cell’s stage in the differentiation process, and detects functionally relevant driver genes regulating these processes. Application to various developmental and pathogenic processes demonstrates DeepVelo’s capacity to study complex differentiation and lineage decision events in heterogeneous scRNA-seq data.

Dynamics of myelin deficits in the 5xFAD mouse model for Alzheimer's disease and the protective role of BDNF.

Recent findings highlight myelin breakdown as a decisive early event in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) acting as aggravating factor of its progression. However, it is still unclear whether myelin loss is attributed to increased oligodendrocyte vulnerability, reduced repairing capacity or toxic stimuli. In the present study, we sought to clarify the starting point of myelin disruption accompanied with Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell (OPC) elimination in the brain of the 5xFAD mouse model of AD at 6 months of age in Dentate Gyrus of the hippocampus in relation to neurotrophin system. Prominent inflammation presence was detected since the age of 6 months playing a key role in myelin disturbance and AD progression. Expression analysis of neurotrophin receptors in OPCs was performed to identify new targets that could increase myelination in health and disease. OPCs in both control and 5xFAD mice express TrkB, TrkC and p75 receptors but not TrkA. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that binds to TrkB receptor is well-known about its pro-myelination effect, promoting oligodendrocytes proliferation and differentiation, so we focused our investigation on its effects in OPCs under neurodegenerative conditions. Our in vitro results showed that BDNF rescues OPCs from death and promotes their proliferation and differentiation in presence of the toxic Amyloid-β 1-42. Collectively, our results indicate that BDNF possess an additional neuroprotective role through its actions on oligodendrocytic component and its use could be proposed as a drug-based myelin-enhancing strategy, complementary to amyloid and tau centered therapies in AD.

ABORTION AROUND THE WORLD- LOOKING FOR THE GOLDEN MEAN

The tendency towards the radicalization of abortion law is observed in numerous countries, including Poland. Even in a predominantly liberal country like the United States, some of the individual 50 states have banned terminations. Equal access restrictions are also associated with financial issues–the procedure is paid for out-of-pocket in many countries and otherwise might be very expensive and unaffordable. Nevertheless, the main problems associated with the contemporary policy of birth regulation include: no possibility of undergoing a termination because of the conscience clause invoked by the medical personnel, restrictive abortion law, and lack of sexual education. Fetal and maternal autonomies remain in opposition in the event of a termination decision. In most countries, the fetus has no legal personhood before birth and the mother is the primary decision-maker. Our studies in Poland, Italy, USA, and experience from the Middle East suggest minimal changes that are needed: improved sex education and the availability of contraception, free access to abortion-inducing drugs with adequate information provided by qualified medical personnel in countries with a conscience clause invoked by the personnel, and the development of an international network that would facilitate undergoing a pregnancy termination abroad to provide women with access to legal abortion assisted by professional medical personnel. Moreover, the moral status of the fetus and the moment at which we recognize the fetus as a living being will remain a contentious and intractable issue. Therefore, it seems reasonable to base decision enforcement on the law of the country, however, the law is often conditioned by religious aspects.

THE CULTURE OF DELIBERATION IN MUSLIM SOCIETY AND THE CHALLENGE OF MUTUAL RESPECT AMONG CULTURES: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES

The paper makes a brief account of what H.A.R. Gibb said was the historic and decisive event in achieving consensus —the classical practice used in deciding the succession of the Prophet (×aÌrat Muhammad RasËlullah KhÉtam un NabiyyÊn Øallallahu ‘alaihi wa ‘alÉ Ólihi wa AÎÍÉbihi wa Øallam) employing the procedure of al-ShËra or deliberation or consultation in the seventh century CE, the success of democratically electing the leader of the new emerging Muslim society. The paper explores several further cases of the more institutionalized culture of deliberation among the (Sunni) Muslim society across the socio-cultural changes from the medieval centuries up to the present day world, in multi-cultural societies. Deliberation is roughly of two types—democratic and undemocratic as in the Chinese political system. The concepts used include Al-Mawardi’s Ahl ×all Wal ‘Aqd (AHWA) —first suggested in the 10th century CE and fully developed some three hundred years later. The concept emerged in connection with the mechanism of electing the chief executive officer (CEO) in state governments which needed deliberation of AHWA’s members (those who are qualified to act on behalf of the Muslim community in electing a caliph). The study is based on secondary data gathered from books and articles. The paper aims to contribute to “re-inventing democratic deliberation” in the past for better understanding the contemporary trend to move towards deliberation in democratic politics—which also gives positive impact to develop mutual respect among multi-cultural societies. The main finding of the study is that there is a significant spread of deliberation in politics and governments among Muslims societies in the countries under study. Deliberation is roughly of two types—democratic and un-democratic as in the context of Chinese political system. The concepts used include Al-Mawardi’s Ahl Hall Wal Aqd (AHWA) —developed in the 10th century or three hundred years after that. The concept is a mechanism to elect chief executive officer (CEO) in state governments which conveys the need for having capacity to deliberate of AHWA’s members. The study employs qualitative method, with secondary data gathered from books and articles, especially those that are made available electronically. The study is expected to contribute to the re-invention of the democratic deliberation in the past for better understanding of contemporary move towards deliberative turn in democratic politics—which eventually give positive impact on development of mutual respect among multi-cultural societies. The finding of the study is significant spread of the deliberation in politics and governments among Muslims societies in the cases of the countries and has impacted on customs of deliberation in a given society, including in multi-cultural societies.

A matrix technique‐based numerical treatment of a nonlocal singular boundary value problems

The mathematical modeling of the decisive event of astrophysics, physiology, and many other areas of science and technology witness the involvement of singular boundary value problems. The nonlocal boundary conditions are more informative than local boundary conditions (initial conditions and two‐point boundary conditions) to evaluate some mathematical models. This article presents a collocation approach‐based matrix technique to approximate the solution of the fusion of a class of singular differential equations subject to nonlocal three‐point boundary conditions. The proposed strategy utilizes the truncation of the series expansion of a function belonging to in terms of Bernoulli polynomials. It transforms the singular boundary value problems into a set of nonlinear algebraic equations, which can be dealt with by any mathematical software. The Lipschitz condition on an equivalent completely continuous nonlinear operator has been used to prove the convergence analysis of the scheme. Some extremely nonlinear test examples are solved and provided in contrast with the exact solution. These numerical results are also examined against some existing numerical techniques to verify the applicability and significance of the proposed methodology. There are a few numerical examples that are application based but do not have exact solutions. In such cases, residual error norm is employed to measure the accuracy of the numerical strategies. The computational data demonstrate the superiority and validity of the proposed technique over existing numerical approaches.

Heart failure early post-discharge appointment: a 1.5-year single-centre experience

Abstract Background According to Heart Failure (HF) guidelines, a follow-up visit should be conducted within 1 to 2 weeks after hospital discharge to monitor signs and symptoms of HF, optimize therapy, and evaluate treatment side effects. Retrospective studies have shown that this approach is associated with lower 30-day readmission rates. Purpose Our aim is to describe the role of early post-discharge appointment in the management of HF patients and to evaluate prognostic factors after HF hospitalization. Methods We conducted a single-centre prospective registry of consecutive patients evaluated in the early post-discharge appointment at our centre, from March 2021 to September 2022. HF symptoms, vital signs, blood test results, treatment decision, and 90-day HF events were recorded. Results Overall, 153 patients were included (mean age 65.7 ± 13.0 years, 63.4% male). The mean time from hospital discharge to post-discharge appointment was 13.4 ± 5.7 days. Left ventricle ejection fraction was reduced in 83.6% (n = 127) of patients. Guideline-directed medical treatment prescribed at discharge, as well as up-titration and withdrawal patterns at the post-discharge appointment, are presented in Table 1. At the post-discharge appointment, 34.3% of patients (n = 35) presented with drug adverse effects, most often including hyperkalemia (17.5%, n = 22), acute kidney injury (9.9%, n = 12), and hypotension (3.9%, n = 6). Of those evaluated at the post-discharge appointment, 11.2% (n = 17) were scheduled to another appointment one week later, for early re-evaluation, 90.1% (n = 137) were followed-up in the standard HF ambulatory program, and 2.6% (n = 4) were hospitalized. The serum creatinine (1.10 [0.87 – 1.36] mg/dL vs 1.40 [1.09 – 1.95] mg/dL, p&amp;lt;0.001), the serum C cystatin (1.50 [1.25 – 1.98] mg/dL vs 1.97 [1.54 – 2.46] mg/dL, p = 0.007) and the NT-proBNP levels (1859 [977 – 4877] mg/dL vs 5928 [2817 – 11957] mg/dL, p = 0.013), measured at the time of the post-discharge appointment, were found to be associated with HF events within 90 days (urgent HF visit or HF hospitalization). An NT-proBNP level above 2400 pg/mL adjusted to C cystatin was found to be a strong predictor of 90-day HF events (OR 9.855, 95% CI 2.657 – 36.550, p = 0.001). This model yielded a good prognostic performance (AUC 0.790, CI 95% 0.689-0.890, p&amp;lt;0.001). Conclusions Early evaluation of HF patients after hospital discharge allows for guideline-directed medical therapy up-titration and early detection of drug adverse effects. The NTproBNP level and kidney function, assessed early after discharge, have been found to be strong predictors of 90-day HF events, indicating which patients would benefit most from a stricter follow-up program. Table 1 – Guideline-directed medical therapy patterns of prescription both at hospital discharge and during the early post-discharge appointment. ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; ARA, aldosterone receptor antagonist, MRA, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist.

Trade-Offs between Vaccine Effectiveness and Vaccine Safety: Personal versus Policy Decisions.

We aimed to investigate whether individuals' trade-offs between vaccine effectiveness and vaccine safety vary if they are asked to consider the perspective of a policymaker making decisions for others compared with the decisions they would make for themselves. A web-enabled discrete choice experiment survey was administered between 1 April and 1 May 2022 to participants recruited from the general population of two Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia and Vietnam). In each country, 500 participants were randomly assigned to make decisions regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines for others as a policymaker or in a personal capacity for their own use. Vaccines were characterized by three attributes: (1) effectiveness of the vaccine in reducing infection rate; (2) effectiveness of the vaccine in reducing hospitalization among those infected; and (3) risk of death from vaccine-related serious adverse events. A mixed logit model was utilized for analyses. Based on the attributes and levels used in this study, the most important vaccine attribute was the risk of death from vaccine-related adverse events, followed by effectiveness in reducing infection rate and hospitalizations. Compared with personal decisions, the mean probability of choosing a vaccine was (1) lower, and (2) more sensitive to the changes in risk of death from adverse events in policy decisions (p≤0.01). Our results suggest that, in the face of an infectious disease pandemic, individuals are likely to be more risk-averse to vaccine-related deaths when making decisions for others as a policymaker than they would for themselves.

Emergence and institutionalization of interorganizational coordination structures in crises

AbstractCrises often reveal a mismatch between organizational and problem structures, demanding interorganizational coordination or new organizational solutions. Much is known about functions and roles of such organizational solutions, but less about the processes underlying them. This study investigates the processes behind the emergence and institutionalization of organizational solutions to meet new coordination needs in crises, using the Swedish County Administrative Boards' coordination offices for Covid‐19 and Ukraine as a case. Based on 94 interviews across political‐administrative levels, this study reveals that the coordination office emerged as an interorganizational coordination structure during Covid‐19 but is now institutionalized and central to the crisis management system. The institutionalization began during the 2018 wildfires, demonstrating the importance of a decisive event in initiating and shaping organizational adaptation to crises. Thereafter, practices were institutionalized through increasing returns connected to incentives, commitments to norms and identities and objectification of shared ideas and routines. The findings motivate consideration of criteria for evaluating new coordination structures that may become permanent. Contingently evolving practices, often taken for granted and embedded in professional norms and identities, calls for explicit consideration of alternative practices. Last, this study illustrates the importance of appreciating the past when understanding present and future coordination structures.

An Extended TODIM Method and Applications for Multi-Attribute Group Decision-Making Based on Bonferroni Mean Operators under Probabilistic Linguistic Term Sets

Due to the complexity and uncertainty of decision-making, probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) are currently important tools for qualitative evaluation of decision-makers. The asymmetry of evaluation information can easily lead to the loss of subjective preference information for decision-makers, and the existing operation of decision-maker evaluation information fusion operators is difficult to solve this problem. To solve such problems, this paper proposes some new operational methods for PLTSs based on Dombi T-conorm and T-norm. Considering the interrelationships between the input independent variables of PLTSs, the probabilistic linguistic weighted Dombi Bonferroni mean Power average (PLWDBMPA) operators are extended and the properties of these aggregation operators are proposed. Secondly, the PLWDBMPA operator is used to fuse the evaluation information of decision-makers, avoiding the loss of decision information as much as possible. This paper uses social media platforms and web crawler technology to obtain online comments from users on decision-making to obtain the public’s attitude towards decision events. TF-IDF and Word2Vec are used to calculate the weight of alternatives on each attribute. Under traditional group decision-making methods and integrating the wisdom of the public, a novel multi-attribute group decision-making method based on TODIM method is proposed. Finally, the case study of Turkey earthquake shelter selection proves this method is scientific and effective. Meanwhile, the superiority of this method was further verified through comparisons with the PL-TOPSIS, PLWA, SPOTIS and PROMETHEE method.

Yeast Bax Inhibitor (Bxi1p/Ybh3p) Is Not Required for the Action of Bcl-2 Family Proteins on Cell Viability.

Permeabilization of mitochondrial membrane by proteins of the BCL-2 family is a key decisive event in the induction of apoptosis in mammalian cells. Although yeast does not have homologs of the BCL-2 family, when these are expressed in yeast, they modulate the survival of cells in a way that corresponds to their activity in mammalian cells. The yeast gene, alternatively referred to as BXI1 or YBH3, encodes for membrane protein in the endoplasmic reticulum that was, contradictorily, shown to either inhibit Bax or to be required for Bax activity. We have tested the effect of the deletion of this gene on the pro-apoptotic activity of Bax and Bak and the anti-apoptotic activity of Bcl-XL and Bcl-2, as well on survival after treatment with inducers of regulated cell death in yeast, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid. While deletion resulted in increased sensitivity to acetic acid, it did not affect the sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide nor to BCL-2 family members. Thus, our results do not support any model in which the activity of BCL-2 family members is directly affected by BXI1 but rather indicate that it may participate in modulating survival in response to some specific forms of stress.

Update on the United States Nuclear Strategy: from NPR 2018 to NPR 2022

The article follows the author's comparative analysis of American and Russian nuclear doctrines and armaments from the fall of 2021. It presents the current nuclear strategy of the United States of America based on a content analysis of three specific areas of the updated version of the Nuclear Posture Review. Applying interpretive analysis and a rich secondary sources apparatus, the author also reflects on his 2021-formulated assumptions and expectations about the further development of American nuclear strategy under President Joe Biden. The author analyzes the influence of the presidential administration's ideological and political ambitions together with the decisive geopolitical events of 2022 and concludes that mainly due to the second factor, the current shape of American nuclear strategy has not undergone any revolutionary changes and continues to maintain a long-standing continuity and consensus about its basic principles.

The Extent of the Application of English Laws in the Cameroonian Legal System

The decisive events which made the introduction of English laws possible in Cameroon were the arrival of European traders, the activities of European missionaries and the introduction of the English legal system by the British Government. The arrival of these Europeans introduced certain new practices and institutions which the traditional laws of the country, particularly customary law could not cope with. Besides, the Europeans themselves were not prepared to be bound by tribal laws since the type of society to which the law and custom was appropriate was totally different from the type of society in which they (Europeans) had been brought up. After the 1st World War, Cameroon ceased to be a German Protectorate following her defeat and was thus administered by Great Britain and France under the League of Nations Mandate and subsequently under the United Nations Trusteeship Agreement. By Article 9 of the Mandate Agreement, the laws of the administering authorities were to be transplanted into Cameroon. Article 9 thus provided the basis and officially marked the beginning of the duality of Western legal systems which the people of Cameroon have since experienced and to which they remain subject to till this day. The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890 was also very important and served as the enabling statute that led to the introduction and observance of English law in Southern Cameroons. The English common law, the doctrines of equity and the statutes of general application which were in force in England on the 1st day of January 1900 were then transplanted in Anglophone Cameroon viz s. 11 of the Southern Cameroons High Court Law, 1955. However, neither the statutes in England on the 1st day of January 1900, nor common law and the doctrines of equity apply in Cameroon without limitations. They are subject to local limits and circumstances. In this 21st Century, the laws of a colonial power particularly the statutes of general application should not apply again to an independent nation like Cameroon and thus should be repealed and replaced with local legislation. The Executive and Legislature should thus ensure compliance while the Government is called upon to hasten and complete the harmonization process of the common law and the civil law in a bid to give the country a unified/uniform legal system.

Epistemic (dis)belief and (dis)obedience: Zakes Mda s The Heart of Redness and the decolonial ecological turn

The Heart of Redness (2000) by Zakes Mda deals with an epistemological conflict and exposes the hideousness of colonial epistemology in dismantling indigenous belief systems and commodifying South African land and ecology. The novel revisits the decisive event of cattle killing in 1856–57, following Nongqawuse’s prophecy, and juxtaposes it with the cultural and epistemic clash of two factions, Believers and Unbelievers, in the post-apartheid era. The present article analyses the unresolved breach between the Believers and the Unbelievers and notes how the latter’s appropriation of Western modernity’s notion of progress and civilization perpetuates the interventions of capitalist forces, aggravating serious threats to land protection and indigenous ecology. The article focuses on Mda’s critique of the South Africans’ compliance with the colonial models of civilization and probes how the novel emphasizes delinking and repudiating the patterns and perceptions of development normalized by Western modernity. In so doing, Mda’s novel foregrounds the necessity of indulging in what Mignolo (2009) terms “epistemic disobedience” and endorses critical decolonial thinking and praxis to counter covert forms of colonial oppression and capitalist objectification. The article extends the notion of “decolonial turn” (Maldonado-Torres, 2008; Grosfoguel, 2007) by arguing that the novel elucidates a “decolonial ecological turn” to combat extractivist agendas and exploitative policies, preserve indigenous ecology, and foster alternative ways of sustainable collective living.

The moral economy of diversity: How the epistemic value of diversity transforms late modern knowledge cultures

We may well be witnessing a decisive event in the history of knowledge as diversity is becoming one of the premier values of late modern societies. We seek to preserve and foster biodiversity, neurodiversity, racial diversity, ethnic diversity, gender diversity, linguistic diversity, cultural diversity, and perspectival diversity. Perspectival diversity has become the passage point through which other forms of diversity must pass to become epistemically consequential. This article examines how two of its varieties, viewpoint diversity and educational diversity, have come to transform the moral economy of science. Both aim at multiplying perspectives on a given subject, but their political subtexts differ markedly. The valorization of educational diversity followed a US Supreme Court decision in 1978 that enabled universities to advance social justice, if they justified race-conscious admissions in terms of the pedagogic benefits of a more diverse student body for all. By contrast, the proponents of viewpoint diversity aim at the reform of scientific knowledge production and distribution rather than the reallocation of status and power among different social groups. We examine the political epistemology of viewpoint diversity by analyzing a controversy between social psychologists who, amid the American culture wars of the 2010s, debated how to rein in their political biases in a scientific field supposedly lacking political diversity. Out of this scientific controversy grew Heterodox Academy, an activist organization promoting viewpoint diversity in higher education. By relating and comparing viewpoint and educational diversity, we clarify what is at stake epistemically in the US-centric moral economy of diversity.

Risk-Based Active Distribution System Planning for Resilience Against Extreme Weather Events

Enhancing the resilience of power distribution systems to extreme weather events is of critical concern. Upgrading the distribution system infrastructure by system hardening and investing in smart grid technologies effectively enhances grid resilience. Existing distribution system planning methods primarily consider the persistent cost of the expected events (such as faults and outages likely to occur) and aim at improving system reliability. The resilience to extreme weather events requires reducing the impacts of the high impact low probability (HILP) events that are characterized by the tail probability of the event impact distribution. Thus, the resilience-oriented system upgrades solutions need to be driven by the risks imposed by extreme weather events on the power grid infrastructure rather than persistent costs. This paper aims to develop a risk-based approach for the long-term resilience planning of active power distribution systems against extreme weather events. The proposed approach explicitly models (1) the impacts of HILP events using a two-stage risk-averse stochastic optimization framework, thus, explicitly incorporating the risks of HILP events in long-term planning decisions, and (2) the advanced distribution grid operations (in the aftermath of the event) such as intentional islanding into infrastructure planning problem. The inclusion of risk in the planning objective provides additional flexibility to the grid planners to analyze the trade-off between risk-neutral and risk-averse planning strategies.