bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gender and socioeconomic disparities in reasons for not smoking cigarettes among Danish adolescents
Authors: Kjeld Simone Gad , Glenstrup Stine , Bast Lotus Sofie
Published: January 2021

Objective

To examine gender and socioeconomic differences in adolescents’ reasons for not smoking cigarettes using self-reported data from Danish 14-year-olds (N = 1,559) collected in 2018. χ2-tests were used to assess whether the proportion of students who rated 12 statements as important reasons for not smoking cigarettes differed according to gender and family occupational social class (OSC).

Results

More girls than boys stated that thinking the taste of cigarettes is disgusting, not being allowed to smoke by parents, knowing smoking is dangerous, not being allowed to smoke before the age of 18, not wanting to be addicted to smoking, and that smoking makes you smell bad were important reasons for choosing not to smoke cigarettes. More boys than girls reported exercising a lot and having a partner that does not smoke as important reasons for not smoking cigarettes. More students with a high OSC compared with a low OSC stated exercising a lot and that smoking makes you smell bad were important reasons. In conclusion, reasons for not smoking cigarettes differed substantially across gender and less according to socioeconomic position.
Faecopneumothorax due to missing diaphragmatic hernia: a case report
Authors: Nusretoğlu Resul , Dönder Yunus
Published: January 2021

Background

Diaphragmatic hernias may occur as either congenital or acquired. The most important cause of acquired diaphragmatic hernias is trauma, and the trauma can be due to blunt or penetrating injury. Diaphragmatic hernia may rarely be seen after thoracoabdominal trauma.

Case presentation

A 54-year-old Turkish male patient admitted to the emergency department with abdominal pain and dyspnea ongoing for 2 days. He had general abdominal tenderness in all quadrants. He had a history of a stabbing incident in his left subcostal region 3 months ago without any pathological findings in thoracoabdominal computed tomography scan. New thoracoabdominal computed tomography showed a diaphragmatic hernia and fluid in the hernia sac. Due to respiratory distress and general abdominal tenderness, the decision to perform an emergency laparotomy was made. There was a 6 cm defect in the diaphragm. There were also necrotic fluids and stool in the hernia sac in the thorax colon resection, and an anastomosis was performed. The defect in the diaphragm was sutured. The oral regimen was started, and when it was tolerated, the regimen was gradually increased. The patient was discharged on the postoperative 11th day.

Conclusions

Acquired diaphragmatic hernia may be asymptomatic or may present with complications leading to sepsis. In this report, acquired diaphragmatic hernia and associated colonic perforation of a patient with a history of stab wounds was presented.
Construction and analysis of unified 4-point interpolating nonstationary subdivision surfaces
Authors: Bari Mehwish , Mustafa Ghulam , Ghaffar Abdul , Nisar Kottakkaran Sooppy , Baleanu Dumitru
Published: January 2021

Subdivision schemes (SSs) have been the heart of computer-aided geometric design almost from its origin, and several unifications of SSs have been established. SSs are commonly used in computer graphics, and several ways were discovered to connect smooth curves/surfaces generated by SSs to applied geometry. To construct the link between nonstationary SSs and applied geometry, in this paper, we unify the interpolating nonstationary subdivision scheme (INSS) with a tension control parameter, which is considered as a generalization of 4-point binary nonstationary SSs. The proposed scheme produces a limit surface having $C^{1}$

C
1

smoothness. It generates circular images, spirals, or parts of conics, which are important requirements for practical applications in computer graphics and geometric modeling. We also establish the rules for arbitrary topology for extraordinary vertices (valence ≥3). The well-known subdivision Kobbelt scheme (Kobbelt in Comput. Graph. Forum 15(3):409–420, 1996) is a particular case. We can visualize the performance of the unified scheme by taking different values of the tension parameter. It provides an exact reproduction of parametric surfaces and is used in the processing of free-form surfaces in engineering.
Backward-forward linear-quadratic mean-field Stackelberg games
Authors: Si Kehan , Wu Zhen
Published: January 2021

This paper studies a controlled backward-forward linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) large population system in Stackelberg games. The leader agent is ofbackwardstate and follower agents are offorwardstate. The leader agent is dominating as its state enters those of follower agents. On the other hand, the state-average of all follower agents affects the cost functional of the leader agent. In reality, the leader and the followers may represent two typical types of participants involved in market price formation: the supplier and producers. This differs from standard MFG literature and is mainly due to the Stackelberg structure here. By variational analysis, the consistency condition system can be represented by some fully-coupled backward-forward stochastic differential equations (BFSDEs) with high dimensional block structure in an open-loop sense. Next, we discuss the well-posedness of such a BFSDE system by virtue of the contraction mapping method. Consequently, we obtain the decentralized strategies for the leader and follower agents which are proved to satisfy theε-Nash equilibrium property.
Seasonal shifts in the gut microbiome indicate plastic responses to diet in wild geladas
Authors: Baniel Alice , Amato Katherine R. , Beehner Jacinta C. , Bergman Thore J. , Mercer Arianne , Perlman Rachel F. , Petrullo Lauren , Reitsema Laurie , Sams Sierra , Lu Amy , Snyder-Mackler Noah
Published: January 2021

Background

Adaptive shifts in gut microbiome composition are one route by which animals adapt to seasonal changes in food availability and diet. However, outside of dietary shifts, other potential environmental drivers of gut microbial composition have rarely been investigated, particularly in organisms living in their natural environments.

Results

Here, we generated the largest wild nonhuman primate gut microbiome dataset to date to identify the environmental drivers of gut microbial diversity and function in 758 samples collected from wild Ethiopian geladas (Theropithecus gelada). Because geladas live in a cold, high-altitude environment and have a low-quality grass-based diet, they face extreme thermoregulatory and energetic constraints. We tested how proxies of food availability (rainfall) and thermoregulatory stress (temperature) predicted gut microbiome composition of geladas. The gelada gut microbiome composition covaried with rainfall and temperature in a pattern that suggests distinct responses to dietary and thermoregulatory challenges. Microbial changes were driven by differences in the main components of the diet across seasons: in rainier periods, the gut was dominated by cellulolytic/fermentative bacteria that specialized in digesting grass, while during dry periods the gut was dominated by bacteria that break down starches found in underground plant parts. Temperature had a comparatively smaller, but detectable, effect on the gut microbiome. During cold and dry periods, bacterial genes involved in energy, amino acid, and lipid metabolism increased, suggesting a stimulation of fermentation activity in the gut when thermoregulatory and nutritional stress co-occurred, and potentially helping geladas to maintain energy balance during challenging periods.

Conclusion

Together, these results shed light on the extent to which gut microbiota plasticity provides dietary and metabolic flexibility to the host, and might be a key factor to thriving in changing environments. On a longer evolutionary timescale, such metabolic flexibility provided by the gut microbiome may have also allowed members of Theropithecus to adopt a specialized diet, and colonize new high-altitude grassland habitats in East Africa.
Systematic Quantification of Neurotrophic Adipokines RBP4, PEDF, and Clusterin in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid and Serum
Authors: Höpfinger Alexandra , Berghoff Martin , Karrasch Thomas , Schmid Andreas , Schäffler Andreas
Published: January 2021

Context

Data on the presence/quantification of the neurotrophic adipokines retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP4), clusterin, and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are scarce and migration of these adipokines across of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is uncertain.

Objective

This work aimed to quantify RBP4, PEDF, and clusterin in paired serum and CSF samples of patients undergoing neurological evaluation.

Methods

A total of 268 patients (109 male, 159 female) were included. Adipokine serum and CSF concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in duplicate.

Results

RBP4 was abundant in serum (mean, 31.9 ± 24.2 μg/mL). The serum concentrations were approximately 145 times higher than in CSF (CSF to serum RBP4 ratio, 8.2 ± 4.3 × 10–3). PEDF was detectable in serum (mean, 30.2 ± 11.7 μg/mL) and concentrations were approximately 25 times higher than in CSF (CSF to serum PEDF ratio, 42.3 ± 15.6 × 10–3). Clusterin serum concentrations were abundant with mean levels of 346.0 ± 114.6 μg/mL, which were approximately 40 times higher than CSF levels (CSF to serum clusterin ratio, 29.6 ± 23.4 × 10–3). RBP4 and PEDF serum levels correlated positively with CSF levels, which were increased in overweight/obese patients and in type 2 diabetic patients. The CSF concentrations of all 3 adipokines increased with BBB dysfunction. RBP4 in CSF correlated positively with inflammatory parameters. In detail, only RBP4 showed the kinetics and associations that are mandatory for a putative mediator of the fat-brain axis.

Conclusion

RBP4, PEDF, and clusterin are permeable to the BBB and increase with the measure of BBB dysfunction. RBP4 represents an inflammatory neurotrophic adipokine and is a promising mediator of the fat-brain axis.
Glucose Metabolism After Pancreatectomy: Opposite Extremes Between Pancreaticoduodenectomy and Distal Pancreatectomy
Authors: Niwano Fumimaru , Babaya Naru , Hiromine Yoshihisa , Matsumoto Ippei , Kamei Keiko , Noso Shinsuke , Taketomo Yasunori , Takeyama Yoshifumi , Kawabata Yumiko , Ikegami Hiroshi
Published: January 2021

Context

The rate of glucose metabolism changes drastically after partial pancreatectomy.

Objective

This work aims to analyze changes in patients’ glucose metabolism and endocrine and exocrine function before and after partial pancreatectomy relative to different resection types (Kindai Prospective Study on Metabolism and Endocrinology after Pancreatectomy: KIP-MEP study).

Methods

A series of 278 consecutive patients with scheduled pancreatectomy were enrolled into our prospective study. Of them, 109 individuals without diabetes, who underwent partial pancreatectomy, were investigated. Data were compared between patients with pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD, n = 73) and those with distal pancreatectomy (DP, n = 36).

Results

Blood glucose levels during the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (75gOGTT) significantly decreased after pancreatectomy in the PD group (area under the curve [AUC] –9.3%, P < .01), and significantly increased in the DP population (AUC + 16.8%, P < .01). Insulin secretion rate during the 75gOGTT and glucagon stimulation test significantly decreased after pancreatectomy both in the PD and DP groups (P < .001). Both groups showed similar homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) values after pancreatectomy. Decrease in exocrine function quality after pancreatectomy was more marked in association with PD than DP (P < .01). Multiple regression analysis indicated that resection type and preoperative HOMA-IR independently influenced glucose tolerance-related postoperative outcomes.

Conclusions

Blood glucose levels after the OGTT differed markedly between PD and DP populations. The observed differences between PD and DP suggest the importance of individualization in the management of metabolism and nutrition after partial pancreatectomy.
Preoperative Vitamin D Deficiency is a Risk Factor for Postthyroidectomy Hypoparathyroidism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
Authors: Vaitsi Konstantina D , Anagnostis Panagiotis , Veneti Stavroula , Papavramidis Theodosios S , Goulis Dimitrios G
Published: January 2021

Context

Whether preoperative vitamin D deficiency (VDD) contributes to postoperative hypoparathyroidism (hypoPT) risk is unknown.

Objective

This work aimed to meta-analyze the best available evidence regarding the association between preoperative vitamin D status and hypoPT risk.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, CENTRAL, and Scopus databases, up to October 31, 2020. Study selection included patients undergoing thyroidectomy with preoperative vitamin D status and postoperative hypoPT data. Two researchers independently extracted data from eligible studies. Data were expressed as risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI. The I2 index was employed for heterogeneity.

Results

Thirty-nine studies were included in the quantitative analysis (61 915 cases with transient and 5712 with permanent hypoPT). Patients with VDD demonstrated a higher risk for transient hypoPT compared with those with preoperative vitamin D sufficiency (RR 1.92, 95% CI, 1.50-2.45, I2 = 85%). These results remained significant for patients with preoperative 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations less than or equal to 20 ng/mL (mild VDD; RR 1.46, 95% CI, 1.10-1.94, I2 = 88%) and less than or equal to 10 ng/mL (severe VDD; RR 1.98, 95% CI 1.42-2.76, I2 = 85%). The risk of permanent hypoPT was increased only in cases with severe VDD (RR 2.45, 95% CI, 1.30-4.63, I2 = 45%). No difference was evident in subgroup analysis according to study design or quality.

Conclusion

Patients with preoperative VDD are at increased risk of transient hypoPT following thyroidectomy. The risk for permanent hypoPT is increased only for those with severe VDD.
Hormonal Therapy for Prostate Cancer
Authors: Desai Kunal , McManus Jeffrey M , Sharifi Nima
Published: January 2021

Huggins and Hodges demonstrated the therapeutic effect of gonadal testosterone deprivation in the 1940s and therefore firmly established the concept that prostate cancer is a highly androgen-dependent disease. Since that time, hormonal therapy has undergone iterative advancement, from the types of gonadal testosterone deprivation to modalities that block the generation of adrenal and other extragonadal androgens, to those that directly bind and inhibit the androgen receptor (AR). The clinical states of prostate cancer are the product of a superimposition of these therapies with nonmetastatic advanced prostate cancer, as well as frankly metastatic disease. Today’s standard of care for advanced prostate cancer includes gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (e.g., leuprolide), second-generation nonsteroidal AR antagonists (enzalutamide, apalutamide, and darolutamide) and the androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone. The purpose of this review is to provide an assessment of hormonal therapies for the various clinical states of prostate cancer. The advancement of today’s standard of care will require an accounting of an individual’s androgen physiology that also has recently recognized germline determinants of peripheral androgen metabolism, which include HSD3B1 inheritance.
The Opioid Epidemic and Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States, 2000–2016
Authors: Caudillo Mónica L. , Villarreal Andrés
Published: January 2021

The United States has experienced a dramatic rise in opioid addiction and opioid overdose deaths in recent years. We investigate the effect of the opioid epidemic at the local level on nonmarital fertility using aggregate- and individual-level analyses. Opioid overdose death rates and prescriptions per capita are used as indicators of the intensity of the opioid epidemic. We estimate area fixed-effects models to test the effect of the opioid epidemic on nonmarital birth rates obtained from vital statistics for 2000–2016. We find an increase in nonmarital birth rates in communities that experienced a rise in opioid overdose deaths and higher prescription rates. Our analyses also show that the local effect of the opioid epidemic is not driven by a reduction in marriage rates and that marital birth rates are unaffected. Individual-level data from the ACS 2008–2016 are then used to further assess the potential causal mechanisms and to test heterogeneous effects by education and race/ethnicity. Our findings suggest that the opioid epidemic increased nonmarital birth rates through social disruptions primarily affecting unmarried women but not through changes in their economic condition.
Old Age and Radical History
Authors: Ciafone Amanda , McGeehan Muchmore Devin
Published: January 2021

This essay introduces readers to key themes in critical gerontology and age studies and asserts their centrality to contemporary history and politics. Age scholars and critical gerontologists push back against perspectives that individualize and medicalize old age as a natural or universal stage in a singular life course explained solely by biology, psychology, or personal choices. Instead, they challenge us to see contemporary life stages and even chronological age itself as historically and culturally specific structures. The contributions in this issue demonstrate the power of this approach, exploring histories of later life in the context of slave societies, retirement, social movements, and gendered embodiment. Together, contributors model a radical history of old age that centers power, historical struggle, and linked lives.
Negotiating Care
Authors: Sandler Maya C.
Published: January 2021

This article explores the creation of the Over 60 Health Clinic in Berkeley, California, during the mid-1970s. Developed by a local network of the activist group Gray Panthers, the clinic offered screening and preventive care to elderly clients and was intended to serve as a catalyst for broader health reform. Drawing on the proposals, contracts, and reports that structured the clinic’s early operations, the article traces the clinic’s efforts to imagine new modes of care, even within the constraints of collaboration with bureaucratic public agencies. In so doing, the East Bay Gray Panthers articulated a distinct understanding of “healthy aging” as relational and contingent on the maintenance of existing intergenerational communities.
Revelation and Prophecy
Authors: Halbertal Moshe
Published: January 2021

This chapter clarifies Nahmanides's theories of revelation and prophecy, his concept of history, and his reasons for the commandments. It discusses the religious drama of Nahmanides's esoteric commentary on the Torah that revolves around the variable and dynamic relationship between Tif 'eret and Shekhinah. It also describes the other components of the sefirotic structure: Keter, Hokhmah, and Binah, which have brief mentions in the very first lines of Nahmanides's Torah commentary on Genesis and in his fragmentary commentary on Sefer Yetzirah. The chapter talks about the sefirah of Binah and its connection to the doctrine of cosmic cycles. It describes the postlapsarian world where Shekhinah assumes its position at the lowest level of the Godhead.
Esotericism and Tradition
Authors: Halbertal Moshe
Published: January 2021

This chapter clarifies how Nahmanides understands the esoteric medium itself, a medium that wrought profound changes to the meaning of Judaism in the Middle Ages. It talks about the esoteric side of Nahmanides's oeuvre that resembles the ones found in the works of Ibn Ezra and Maimonides. It also analyzes esotericism that alters the meaning of religious life, in terms of both its foundational concepts and beliefs and the structuring of the religious praxis. The chapter looks into the rise of esotericism in the twelfth century, which appeared as a prominent feature in writings as diverse as Ezra's commentaries on the Torah and Maimonides's philosophical treatise “The Guide of the Perplexed.” It also discusses Nahmanides's esoteric component, which concerns biblical secrets and so is written in esoteric code, also merited independent treatment.
Conclusion
Authors: Halbertal Moshe
Published: January 2021

This chapter reviews the complicated interrelationship between Franco-German and Andalusian sources of influence that has preoccupied various scholars who have tried to situate Nahmanides along the axis between Ashkenaz and Sepharad. It analyzes Nahmanides's position in the controversy over Maimonides's writings. It also explains the nature of the kabbalistic stratum within Nahmanides's thought and its relationship to the exoteric that reveals a deep tension within his personality and approach. The chapter points out how Nahmanides introduced a radical dimension into his thought that he anchored in kabbalah and tradition through the medium of secrecy and esotericism. It also summarizes Nahmanides's achievements as the supreme halakhist of the thirteenth century and as one of the most creative commentators of the Torah, making him a medieval luminary of the revealed aspects of the Jewish tradition.
Constitutional Emergencies Inside and Out
Authors: Crocker Thomas P.
Published: January 2021

This chapter considers a family of constitutional theories that advocate for an internal principle of necessity. It looks at factors that argue constitutional constraints that can become a “suicide pact” or promote acting illegally first then asking forgiveness later. It also explains why the constitutional theories fail both as interpretations of the American Constitution and as pragmatic solutions to a paradox of constitutionalism. The chapter discusses justifications for emergency measures that often rely on extreme cases of potential “ticking bombs” in order to justify the use of torture. It argues that constitutional theories cannot justify torture while remaining theories of constitutionalism. It also talks about a key feature of American constitutionalism that includes the existence of limits to the means available to achieve security ends.
Dashed Hopes
Authors: Austin Kenneth
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores the radical dimension to the Protestant Reformation. It talks about Andreas Karlstadt, who took over the direction of the Reformation in Wittenberg and introduced a range of reforms after Martin Luther went into hiding between 1521 and 1522. It analyzes Karlstadt's written text on the main issues relating to Sabbatarian belief. The chapter looks at the Peasants' War that provided a different form of radicalism in the early stages of the Reformation. It explains that the Peasants' War was a series of partly coordinated uprisings that took place from 1524 to 1525 across central Europe among the lower orders, which constituted the largest popular uprising before the French Revolution.
People of the Book
Authors: Austin Kenneth
Published: January 2021

This chapter talks about identity as the heart of a fundamental issue associated with the Reformation. It recounts how the Protestants of Geneva and Rouen forced biblical names on children being baptized in order to make a bold and public statement of their intention to distance themselves from Catholicism. It explains how the use of names associated with the New and Old Testament not only embody the Protestants' great enthusiasm for the Bible, but how they also encouraged an identification specifically with the people of Israel. The chapter looks at John Calvin, who was a generation younger than Martin Luther and leader of the two largest movements associated with the Reformation. It compares Calvin and Luther's attitudes towards the Jews, in which Calvin has generally been considered the more sympathetic since he did not write anything that was as substantial and vicious as Luther's text.
Fault Lines
Authors: Austin Kenneth
Published: January 2021

This chapter talks about the various forms of Protestantism that had been accepted by large swathes of the population of many territories in Europe. It also mentions political leaders that had adopted the Reformation, whether out of genuine commitment or as a means to achieve personal goals. The chapter recounts the introduction of Reformation in England and Scotland that was achieved with relatively little bloodshed. It describes the minor impact of Protestantism in other European countries, such as Spain and Italy, where stability was largely maintained. It also highlights the Wars of Religion that dominated the political and religious landscape of France through the second half of the sixteenth century and into the early seventeenth.
Realästhetik
Authors: Dobrenko Evgeny
Published: January 2021

This chapter describes the effectiveness of politico-ideological transformations that is assured by the accessibility of propaganda. It talks about the “popular spirit” as a key category of Socialist Realism, which produces the image of the people as the Stalinist Regime wanted to see them. It also describes the popular spirit as a key characteristic of Socialist Realism that gained a new momentum in 1948 during the campaign against “formalism” in music. The chapter investigates the “realistic trend in music” that Andrei Zhdanov fought for in relation to extreme pragmatism and realism as the regime's aesthetic strategy for articulating the intentions of the masses. It assesses the Realästhetik campaign that focused on the popular spirit theme in music, theater, cinema, and literature.
The Power of Grammar and the Grammar of Power
Authors: Dobrenko Evgeny
Published: January 2021

This chapter looks into the political dimension of the “discussion about language.” It mentions Nikolai Marr's predominant theory in linguistics. It also compares the two major ideological campaigns in the late-Stalinism era in biology and linguistics, which indicates that realism and revolutionary romanticism remained a principal balancing element in the politico-ideological project of Stalinism. The chapter highlights Joseph Stalin's urgent political signals that speak out against the Marrist concept of “linguistic revolution.” It analyzes the arguments surrounding Marr in both the early 1930s and the early 1950s that revolved around Stalin's “Marxism.” It also discusses Stalin's “new theory of language” that was proclaimed at the cusp of the 1930s as a true embodiment of Marxism in linguistics.
Dominion
Authors: Licence Tom
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts how London had recovered its Roman pre-eminence as the principal city of the realm since the days of Edward the Confessor's father. It explains that for Æthelred, his son Edmund, and Cnut, defence had been the key to controlling both halves of England, the English territory, and the Danish territory. It also looks into Edward's decision to re-found Westminster abbey because it occupied a delightful spot near Westminster and lay near the main channel of the river. The chapter analyzes the work on Westminster as a way to improve Edward's secular residence, which is seen as a possible distraction from the spiritual edifice that manifested Edward's piety. It also points out that Westminster is the perfect location Edward could proclaim his status as a European monarch, commanding a global network that brought him Asian silks, Andalusi carpets, and spices from the Arabian Sea.
Betrayal
Authors: Licence Tom
Published: January 2021

This chapter begins by mentioning the Vita, which paints a picture of Edward the Confessor enjoying peaceful pursuits while delegating military tasks to his commanders Harold and Tostig. It analyzes how Edward liked to delegate in accordance with contemporary guidance on kingship with Harold and Tostig as his deputies. It talks about Edward's policy to let Harold and Tostig build their empires, so that they would take better care of his. The chapter looks into Tostig's dealings with the Scots that had been effective in the eight years he had occupied the northern earldom. It describes how Tostig negotiated a truce with Malcolm and brought him to submit to Edward with the aid of the northern bishops.
Surrealism and Faith 1934–1939
Authors: Nichols Roger
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts the first Bernac/Poulenc recital that took place at the École normale de musique after Francis Poulenc's North African tour with Maria Modrakowska in February 1935. It talks about Plume d'eau claire and Rodeuse au front de verre, which Poulenc thought belonged to his more familiar style of almost classical arrangement of harmonies spiced up with a few unimpeachable chromaticisms. It also describes Poulenc's compositions during the remainder of 1935 that turned their back temporarily on surrealism in favour of less demanding fare, including two pieces of incidental music. The chapter looks into Poulenc's devotion to film music and occasional collaborations with Georges Auric and Arthur Honegger, writing five scores between 1935 and 1951. It also assesses Poulenc's most interesting literary contributions that appeared during October 1935, Mes maîtres et mes amis, that was published in Conferencia.
‘Liberty, I Write Your Name’ 1944–1952
Authors: Nichols Roger
Published: January 2021

This chapter looks into Francis Poulenc's performance of the Figure humaine after the liberation of France from the Second World War. It talks about Poulenc's Les Mamelles in which the BBC Director of Music, Victor Hely-Hutchinson, expressed gratitude for the chance to peruse the score and agreed enthusiastically to recordand perform it. It also recounts Poulenc's visit to London in 1945, where he gave recitals with Pierre Bernac at the Wigmore Hall and the National Gallery. The chapter looks into the event of Poulenc joining Benjamin Britten in a performance of the Two-Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Basil Cameron. It also describes the triumphant premier of Poulenc's concert called Un Soir de neige, which happened at the same time as Olivier Messiaen's Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence divine.
Authoritarian Checks and Balances
Authors: Gorlizki Yoram , Khlevniuk Oleg
Published: January 2021

This chapter shows how substate dictators did not always have things their own way despite their immense power. It assesses institutional constraints on the plane of authoritarian power sharing and authoritarian control that trace how substate dictators began to adapt their behavior. It also investigates Obkom first secretaries, the directors of large factories, and heads of regional state and security organizations that operated at the level of authoritarian power sharing. The chapter explains the limits of authoritarian control and looks at the variety of institutional checks by the statewide dictator to test the effectiveness of regional leaders. It also discusses the key function of elections, which conveys information on the ability of obkom secretaries in order to “lead the aktiv.”
Party Governors
Authors: Gorlizki Yoram , Khlevniuk Oleg
Published: January 2021

This chapter reviews how regional leaders had to find solutions to the problems of authoritarian control and authoritarian power sharing in the late 1940s. It recounts the original strategies of the classic substate dictator that had become harder to activate. It also points out how politically engaged rank-and-file members of the party or “regional aktivs” threw their weight behind a package of authority-enhancing norms that included public shows of deference, the hiding of policy differences, and a carefully calibrated system of seniority based on step-by-step promotions. The chapter traces Leonid Brezhnev's regime that made do with higher levels of economic and political freedom at the micro-level. It also analyzes how the Soviet economy had tacitly made use of the idea of trust (doverie) for over a generation in order to make the bloated and overcentralized economic system to work more effectively during the Brezhnev era.
Peak Pursuits
Authors: Schaumann Caroline
Published: January 2021

European forays to mountain summits began in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with the search for plants and minerals and the study of geology and glaciers. Yet scientists were soon captivated by the enterprise of climbing itself, enthralled with the views and the prospect of “conquering” alpine summits. Inspired by Romantic notions of nature, early mountaineers idealized their endeavors as sublime experiences, all the while deliberately measuring what they saw. As increased leisure time and advances in infrastructure and equipment opened up once formidable mountain regions to those seeking adventure and sport, new models of masculinity emerged that were fraught with tensions. This book examines how written and artistic depictions of nineteenth-century exploration and mountaineering in the Andes, the Alps, and the Sierra Nevada shaped cultural understandings of nature and wilderness in the Anthropocene.
Horace-Bénédict De Saussure’s Quest for Mont Blanc
Authors: Schaumann Caroline
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts the late eighteenth century to trace the steps of Conrad Gessner, the Swiss naturalist who is widely credited as the father of Alpinism. It analyzes Horace-Bénédict de Saussure's “Voyages dans les Alpes” that delineated scientific observations and ecstatic descriptions of Saussure's travels. It also explores Saussure's creation of an entirely new model of depicting a mountain's summit perspective, introduction of influential observations on glaciers and glacial movement, and obsession with climbing Mont Blanc. The chapter talks about how Alexander von Humboldt referenced Saussure in his own publications and credited Saussure's accomplishment whenever possible. It also mentions Swiss geologist and zoologist Louis Agassiz, who was among the first to publicly suggest that glaciers covered large parts of the earth during an “ice age.”
The Making of Modern Climbing
Authors: Schaumann Caroline
Published: January 2021

This chapter focuses on Leslie Stephen's seminal “The Playground of Europe” as a foundational text of modern climbing. It explains how Stephen's work grapples not only with the aftermath of the Matterhorn disaster but also with the fact that all major Alpine peaks had been scaled by 1865. It also investigates Stephen's philosophical and humorous reflections that move emphasis from a particular mountain to one's own faculties, finding challenge and pleasure in the activity of climbing rather than the conquest of first ascents. The chapter looks into the explosion of high-altitude mountaineering and growing popularity of rock climbing all over the world that lends contemporary currency to Stephen's thoughts. It analyzes Stephen's hints at a decisive future direction of climbing at a time when being the first on top of a major Alpine peak is no longer relevant, and scientific inquiry and romantic searching have faded into the background.
Essence and Peddlers
Authors: Allosso Dan
Published: January 2021

This chapter examines the history of Ashfield in Massachusetts and the essence-peddling business run by the Ranney family and their friends. It also looks into the development of a wholesale peppermint oil market and the expansion of the Ranney family across the western frontier. It also discusses how Ashfield's peppermint oil business grew rapidly from the time that Samuel Ranney first planted peppermint roots in the town around 1812. The chapter reviews the Yankee peddlers of Connecticut and the Jewish peddlers of the second half of the nineteenth century as the two well-documented groups of peddlers in most histories. It describes how essence peddlers became the subjects of songs, jokes, cartoons, and the source of a slang term for “skunk,” a contemporary search for the term “essence peddler” in historical writing.
Socialist Capitalist
Authors: Allosso Dan
Published: January 2021

This chapter talks about Albert May Todd as a technological innovator and the leader of a corporation with an international clientele that was occasionally suspected of seeking to monopolize the essential oil business. It describes Albert's populism that was not characterized by rural anxiety over the baffling complexity of new urban commercial and financial centers. It also points out why Albert was one of the populists who sought to reshape the government as an agency of the majority rather than of the corporate and wealthy minority. The chapter explains how Albert supported socialists and their organizations throughout his life but never advocated the elimination of capitalist competition and collective ownership. It also analyzes Albert's insistence for public ownership of natural monopolies and government action to break trusts and combinations that prevented competition.
Global Peppermint
Authors: Allosso Dan
Published: January 2021

This chapter reviews how peppermint began its history in North America when roots of the recently discovered hybrid were imported to newly independent British colonies at the start of the nineteenth century. It recounts the Ranney family that concentrated on bringing medicinal peppermint essence to American consumers, as well as the Hotchkiss brothers and Albert May Todd that exported large quantities of peppermint oil back to Great Britain and to Europe. The chapter examines the national and international scope of the peppermint oil industry in the recent past. It reviews the significance pf growing peppermint and distilling oil as a personal, day-to-day activity that changed the lives of many individual American farmers. It also mentions Mary Clark of Galien from Michigan as one of the farmers whose personal stories included peppermint oil.
The Regime of Peter Des Roches 1232–1234
Authors: Carpenter David
Published: January 2021

This chapter evaluates the regime of Peter des Roches. As Henry III journeyed back from Painscastle to Windsor and Westminster, he was about to enter the most traumatic political period of his life, barring the later years of reform, rebellion, and civil war. Henry would be pulled one way and another by the struggle for power between Hubert de Burgh and Peter des Roches. With de Burgh gone, he would be driven by Bishop Peter into a series of lawless acts and an unsuccessful war against Richard Marshal. In the end, he would be reined in by a great council and forced to admit his faults. The principles of Magna Carta would be vindicated and the difficulty of returning to anything like the rule of King John exposed.
Years of Division 1243–1250
Authors: Carpenter David
Published: January 2021

This chapter addresses the years between Henry III's return from Gascony in 1243 and his departure again for the duchy ten years later, which form a discrete period in his personal rule, although one separated by his decision in 1250 to take the cross. Henry could claim many positive achievements. The most visible, of course, was the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. Very hands on when it came to money, Henry managed in these years to keep going by cash or credit and in the early 1250s to save up a considerable treasure. Unfortunately, this is far from the whole picture. These were years of increasing tension and division. Henry suffered a series of bruising defeats over episcopal elections and had a bishop of Winchester forced on him by the pope. The establishment of his Lusignan half-brothers proved far more disruptive than that of the Savoyards, partly because of their own behaviour, partly because they seemed to suck up far too much from a diminishing pool of royal patronage. One result was factional struggles at court which sometimes pitched Henry against his queen. Another was the growing perception that England was being tyrannized by greedy and lawless foreigners. Ultimately, this was a decisive period in the development of parliament.
Gascony and the International Context 1243–1252
Authors: Carpenter David
Published: January 2021

This chapter describes how, before his departure from Gascony in the autumn of 1243, Henry III had worked hard to set the province to rights. He had toured the duchy, reconciled competing factions, maintained his rights, and bolstered the defences against external attack, or at least tried to do so. But, as a would-be conqueror of Gascony had once said, it was like trying to plough the seashore. For the next ten years, Henry was never free from Gascon worries. They led him in 1248 to place the duchy under Simon de Montfort and, when that ended in disaster, they forced him in 1253 to go there himself, despite being now pledged to go on crusade. Henry's concentration on Gascony and commitment to the crusade reflected the more general international situation, which left him with little else to do. There was no chance of attempting to recover the lost continental empire. Indeed, the ten years between Henry's two sojourns in Gascony in 1243 and 1253 saw a significant shift in the European balance of power towards the Capetian kings of France.
The Gascon Expedition and the Beginnings of the Sicilian Affair 1253–1254
Authors: Carpenter David
Published: January 2021

This chapter explores the Gascon expedition and the beginnings of the Sicilian affair. After the great parliament of May 1253, Henry III knew there was no escaping Gascony. His letters now spoke of ‘the war and great disturbance’ and the fear that Gascony, ‘unless it is quickly succoured, may soon be lost forever’. On May 25, Henry formally told the Gascons he was coming. By this time Henry was already assembling the ships for his passage. As for men, Henry called on his tenants-in-chief. Henry paid close attention to the government of England in his absence, placing the queen at the summit of his plans. But there was no Gascon victory, or not immediately. In December of 1254, Henry's own fear of a Castilian invasion reached a peak. In February of 1254, at the very time that he was agreeing the Castilian terms, Henry accepted a papal offer to put Edmund, his second son, on the throne of Sicily.
Conclusion
Authors: Carpenter David
Published: January 2021

This concluding chapter outlines the considerable achievements of Henry III's personal rule. Within England, Henry's personal rule was a period of domestic peace. That created favourable conditions for the building of churches, the work of the friars and pastoral-minded bishops, the explosion of the money supply, and the development of a new network of markets and fairs. It provided the conditions too for the expansion of the common law. If Henry had achievements to his credit, he had also clearly failed. He had not recovered the continental empire and acknowledged his condition would be ‘worsened’ by the forthcoming peace with France. Within England itself, Henry faced vehement criticisms of his rule in parliament and demands for reforms which would virtually strip him of power. The feeling that Henry was handing England over to grasping and lawless foreigners was a major factor separating him from his people. Up to a point Henry here, in his generous way, was simply trying to do his best for his foreign relations without any wider strategic purpose. To set in the balance against his failings, Henry had one golden weight; it was, of course, his piety.
An Imposter in the Family
Authors: Weightman Gavin
Published: January 2021

This chapter studies how, asserting his right to be regarded as the chief of the dynasty, 63-year-old Robert Sutton put an advertisement in the London Evening Post on May 9, 1771, to complain of 'many imposters who have assumed the Suttonian art of inoculation, and likewise my name'. He felt he was 'under the necessity of informing the public where my sons and partners reside to practise inoculation'. A lengthy list included accredited Suttonians not only in Britain, but in France, America, and the Caribbean. Top of the list were all family: seven sons and two sons-in-law. A tenth family member might have been included: Daniel Sutton's father-in-law Simeon Worlock. He had been practising as a Suttonian since 1769, but he was not on the list. He was, in fact, the most blatant imposter ever to usurp the name of Sutton, safe in the knowledge that he could not be brought to book because he had quietly slipped across the Channel to Paris where, for several years, he enjoyed considerable celebrity.
Sutton’s Swan Song
Authors: Weightman Gavin
Published: January 2021

This chapter recounts how, once he had moved out of Sutton House, Daniel Sutton became itinerant, moving from one West End street to another in quick succession. In 1779, he announced that he had been 'engaged by the Governors of the General Inoculation Dispensary' and he had moved nearby to Southampton Street in Bloomsbury. Although he was still inoculating on his own account on his usual terms of 10 guineas, to have any kind of official post was out of character. Times had changed and he made it clear in yet another newspaper advertisement that he was well aware of the waning of his celebrity. Announcing his appointment to the dispensary, he felt it necessary to plead that he was the 'identical person who, in 1767 (by royal approbation) was complimented with a grant of the following honorary Patent for his singular and new method of inoculation'. This method, he claimed, was now 'very materially improved'. Once again the family coat of arms awarded to himself and his family was evoked. The chapter then looks at the publication in 1796 of Daniel's account of his discoveries as an inoculator.
Introduction
Authors: Pucci Molly
Published: January 2021

This chapter introduces the arguments and case studies examined in the book. It explains the social and political context in which the Polish, Czechoslovak, and East German secret police forces were created, the common experiences of the officer corps of these institutions in the Comintern and Second World War, and the training of the rank-and-file during the Stalinist terror in each country. It argues that the transfer of secret police institutions from the Soviet Union to the countries of East Europe should be understood as a process of translation that considers not only ideology, but also language, political culture, laws, and methods of policing.
Toward a Sertanejan Church
Authors: Helgen Erika
Published: January 2021

This chapter analyzes the changing face of Protestantism in the Brazilian Northeast that spread to the rural interior and came to be led by a diverse group of Brazilian pastors. It examines the rise of Pentecostalism and its impact on interreligious relations in rural areas. The chapter talks about the Integralist priest João Passos Cabral who published an article that appeared on the front page of the Rio-based Catholic newspaper titled “The Protestant Invasion” on June 25, 1939. It analyzes how Padre Cabral's article issued a strident warning to Catholics in the southeastern region of Brazil about the true invasion of Protestant pastors. It also highlights how Protestants fundamentally altered the way they interacted with the Catholic community in the Brazilian Northeast, which caused fear, hostility, and intensification of anti-Protestant campaigns.
Fire, Brimstone, and the War against the Heretics
Authors: Helgen Erika
Published: January 2021

This chapter deals with the relationship between Protestants and santas missões populares. It explains that the missões were a key means by which anti-Protestantism became embedded within the Catholic religious culture of the Northeast. The chapter looks into the conflict between Capuchins and Protestants that had a long history in both Brazil and the wider world. It discusses the Capuchin Order the was founded in the midst of the Protestant Reformation, and one of the order's most important initial activities was seeking to reconvert individuals and families who had turned away from the Catholic Church. It also talks about the re-emergence of Italian Capuchins in the Northeast that paved the way for the ascension of one of the most famous Brazilian Capuchins of all time, Dom Frei Vital Maria Gonçalves de Oliveira.