bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hilary’s Commentary on Psalm 118
Authors: Image Isabella
Published: August 2017

This chapter examines the textual background to Hilary’s commentary on Psalm 118. It is known from Jerome that this commentary was a loose translation of Origen’s commentary on Psalm 118, so three key texts derived from Origen’s work are compared: (a) Hilary’s own commentary; (b) Ambrose’s commentary on Ps. 118, also known to rely heavily on Origen; (c) the fragments of Origen’s text preserved in the Palestinian Catena. An example of the comparison is given in Appendix 2. Ambrose’s text is shown to be independent from Hilary’s. By comparing these texts, it can be shown that Hilary remains fairly close to his source in terms of arrangement and exegesis. However, he also corrects or omits any theology he feels is inappropriate, for example rejecting Origen’s apparent idea of souls falling into bodies.
Hilary between Origen and Augustine
Authors: Image Isabella
Published: August 2017

Many features of Hilary’s anthropology appear only in his Psalms commentaries which are known to come from Origen. At the same time, Hilary rewrites Origen when he finds the latter doctrinally questionable; this reflects fourth-century suspicions of Origen’s orthodoxy. In particular, Hilary appears to use Origen’s ideas in terms of the will/human constraint, and fits in with Origen’s views of original sin; he does, however, complement these with his own thought. Finally, it is now possible to assess Augustine’s use of Hilary. Against Julian, Augustine claims that original sin is not a new doctrine, but is found in earlier writers such as Hilary. Although Augustine’s doctrine of original sin differs a little from Hilary’s, his claim is found to be essentially true. Hilary thus provides a stepping-stone between Origen and Augustine and shows continuity in the development of the doctrines of will and original sin.
Shakespeare and the ‘Military Revolution’
Authors: Pugliatti Paola
Published: August 2017

This chapter recounts how developments in the technology of battle had by Shakespeare’s time caught up with even the relatively resistant, cavalry-oriented English nobility. Outlining these technical advances, it discovers numerous moments in Shakespeare indicative of popular responsiveness to war and its new face. Alone among English writers, it was Shakespeare who (repeatedly) termed cannon-fire ‘devilish’; and the chapter demonstrates how different characters in 1Henry IV are on the turn in the long evolution from (equestrian) medieval chivalry, through (treacherous, infantry-deployed) gunpowder weapons, to the perfumed post-militarist courtier. It notes Shakespeare’s staged presentation of conscription as farcically at odds with the official theory of a voluntarism for able-bodied adults. Two soldiers miserably questioning the ethics of war the night before Agincourt prove well apprised of the Christian just war theory—yet Williams shrewdly contests its exculpation of royal leaders from responsibility for their subjects’ deaths.
The Calender’s Visions of Beauty
Authors: Borris Kenneth
Published: August 2017

By reconsidering the main female exemplars of beauty in Spenser’s Shepheardes Calender, this chapter shows that the admiration of beauty is central there, as it is also in early modern Platonic poetics. As in the Phaedrus, beauty for Spenser inspires visionary apprehension; yet unlike Plato the poet links this stimulus to literary pursuit of the sublime. Platonism associated genuine beauty with truth and goodness, and Spenser likewise assumes that his Calender’s esthetic disclosures foster wisdom and virtue in at least some readers, and hence in the nation. However, whereas Plato valorizes philosophy for illuminating truth, Spenser advocates the enraptured poetic imagination endued with learning. In doing so, he seeks to circumvent, insofar as possible, the intrinsic limitations of words, images, and written discourse, such as those that Plato had identified in the Phaedrus. This reading newly illuminates the strategies of Spenser’s visionary poetics.
Fooled by Cognitive Artifacts
Authors: Machery Edouard
Published: August 2017

Chapter 3 examines one of the two concerns often brought up against the method of cases: The judgments elicited by cases seem epistemically deficient. This concern is captured by the first argument against the method of cases, which I call “Unreliability”: Cases currently used in philosophy as well as those cases that would be particularly useful for some central philosophical purposes are likely to elicit unreliable judgments. Judgments elicited by typical philosophical cases are similar to experimental artifacts—outcomes of experimental manipulations that are not due to the phenomena experimentally investigated, but to the (often otherwise reliable) experimental tools used to investigate them. That is, they often are “cognitive artifacts.” Chapter 3 concludes that we ought to suspend judgment when confronted with a philosophical case.
Enshrining Our Prejudices
Authors: Machery Edouard
Published: August 2017

Chapter 4 builds upon the second concern often brought against the method of cases: People make different judgments in response to cases. Chapter 4 develops a dilemma against the method of cases: If people are genuinely disagreeing, then according to the most important views in the epistemological literature on disagreement we ought to suspend judgment in response to cases; if people are in fact talking at cross purposes, then we should reorient our research priorities; instead of theorizing about what our judgments refer to, we should first decide what is worth theorizing about—the objects of our judgments or the objects of their judgments. Both arguments lead to the same conclusion: We should shelve the method of cases.
Framework
Authors: Homburg Stefan
Published: August 2017

Chapter 2 sets out the basic framework. It considers an economy evolving indefinitely in discrete time, with producers, consumers, and a central bank as principal actors. Individuals plan over finite horizons and form expectations according to what they see. Money is conceived of as a commodity that is produced through credit creation rather than distributed by a fancy helicopter. This natural way to represent money is rarely followed in the literature and differs sharply from the usual helicopter drops because it ties money creation to credit creation. The chapter’s upshot is a system of simultaneous equations determining prices, wages, and the nominal interest rate. Using this solution, individuals revise their expectations, and the economy proceeds to the next period. The chapter concludes with functional and numerical specifications for later simulations, the purpose of which is to analyze key economic processes and to derive meaningful results.
Prologue
Authors: Martin Philip
Published: August 2017

Mohammed, a 30-year-old Pakistani farmer with a primary school education, paid $4,000 to get a construction job in Saudi Arabia that paid $400 a month. Mohammed did not have the $4,000 to buy a work visa and pay agent fees and transportation costs, so he mortgaged his land, hoping to repay the loan with some of the $9,600 he expected to earn in Saudi Arabia over two years. With uncertain Pakistani earnings of $100 a month and a wife and four children to support, working abroad seemed the fastest way to achieve upward mobility at home, even if half of the expected extra income from working abroad went to recruiters and other components of the migration infrastructure....
Forming Form through Force
Authors: Cecchi Alessandro
Published: August 2017

This chapter identifies connections between the formal strategies used in both Bruckner’s and Mahler’s symphonies. Its point of departure is the ‘energetic’ theory of musical form developed by Ernst Kurth in his monograph on Bruckner (1925), particularly the idea of the ‘intensifying wave’. On that basis it confronts the formal strategies of the first movements of Bruckner’s Ninth and Mahler’s First symphonies, focusing on the relationship between the structural disposition of ‘intensification processes’ and the deliberate blurrings of traditional formal boundaries based on ‘sonata form’. In the mentioned symphonies of Mahler and Bruckner, composition emerges as a ‘force field’ where sonata form does have a role to play, provided it is viewed not as an abstract scheme but as a concrete spectrum of compositional choices in continuous interaction with other instances, particularly a structural principle based on the disposition of intensification processes and the reaching of climaxes.
Die Meistersinger in Mahler’s Seventh Symphony
Authors: Knecht Anna Stoll
Published: August 2017

The Seventh Symphony has a particular way of alluding to the past, and the reminiscence of Wagner’s Meistersinger in its Finale—noted by many commentators—is the clearest sign of this. This chapter interrogates the function of this and other references from the opera in the context of the Seventh and its impact on the interpretation of the symphony as a whole. The Seventh Symphony’s pervasive use of melodic and harmonic fourths echoes Wagner’s structural use of fourths in Meistersinger. The harmonic progression of Mahler’s symphony from E minor to C major plays a crucial role in Wagner’s opera. The two works share a connection at a deep level, for they are built on similar sets of oppositions: tradition versus innovation, night versus day, ‘meaningful’ versus ‘meaningless’ art. The question of Mahler’s relationship with Beckmesser’s character is further elaborated.
Decadent Transitions
Authors: Roman Zoltan
Published: August 2017

Not unlike Jugendstil, ‘decadence’ has had a difficult time establishing itself in musical scholarship. In both cases, concept and label originated and were used chiefly in other fields: the former in the visual arts, the latter in literature. Moreover, both had been entrenched in specific cultures: German(ic) in the one case, French in the other. Yet another impediment to an objective application of ‘decadence’ in musical discourse arises from the contradictions, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations that span the term’s history in all disciplines. Finally, for a broadly interdisciplinary examination of Mahler’s life and music under the convolute concept of decadence, transition, and modernism (the purpose of this chapter), the historian must take into account Vienna’s unique social, political, and artistic complexion around 1900.
Justine Mahler’s Faust Notebook
Authors: Hefling Stephen E.
Published: August 2017

This chapter examines a little-known item called ‘Justine Mahler’s Faust Notebook’ located in the Mahler-Rosé Room at the University of Western Ontario. This document, entirely in Justine’s hand, is a commentary on only the second part of Goethe’s Faust. There is persuasive evidence that the notebook is a copy of Siegfried Lipiner’s observations about Faust that were recorded by Natalie Bauer-Lechner in the early to mid-1880s. The most interesting entry in Justine’s Faust Notebook is the interpretation of ‘Das Ewig-Weibliche,’ which is remarkably similar to the commentary Mahler wrote to his wife Alma in a well-known letter from the summer of 1909, which has played a large role in interpretive discussions of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony. Mahler’s interpretation of Faust may well date back as far as the mid-1870s, to his earliest encounters with Lipiner in the Pernerstorfer circle.
Socialism and the Experience of Time
Authors: Wright Julian
Published: August 2017

How do we make social democracy? Should we seize the unknown possibilities offered by the future, or does lasting change really occur when we focus our attention on the immediate present in which we live? These arguments are fundamental to the divisions within left-wing politics in particular. The modernist vision of revolution suggests that the present is precisely the time that needs to be surpassed. But can society change without putting today’s experience of social injustice at the heart of our programme?This book asks how, from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, socialists in France tried to follow a democratic commitment to political voices in the present. The debate about time and modernity that emerged in French socialism sat beneath the surface of political arguments within the left. Socialists reflected on how political programmes of change connected with social experience. But how did this focus on the present relate to the tradition of revolution in France? And in particular, what did socialism have to say about the human experience of the present?The book examines French socialism’s fascination with modern history, through a new reading of the multi-authored project to write a ‘socialist history’ of France since 1789, led by Jean Jaurès. Then, in four interlocking biographical essays, it analyses the search for a new timeframe of social transformation, by uncovering the reformist and idealist socialism of the Third Republic, long side-lined in the historical literature. With an intimate and emotional focus on the present-times of Benoit Malon, Georges Renard, Marcel Sembat and Léon Blum, a personal history of socialist thought emerges that allows us to revisit the story of left-wing intellectual life and modern socialism through the ‘human scale’ of time—that of the present.
Benoît Malon and André Léo
Authors: Wright Julian
Published: August 2017

This chapter focuses on ideas of human relationships in the present through a biographical study of Benoît Malon, an self-taught socialist intellectual who had wide influence in reformism and idealism in the late nineteenth century. It emphasizes the contingent and emotional context of his work, particularly his role in the Paris Commune and his relationship with the writer André Léo, whose own socialist engagement is explored in depth. By examining the networks and activity of Malon from the 1860s to the 1890s, especially his arguments against the ‘orthodox Marxists’ in France, as well as his leadership of the Revue socialiste, we understand how the experience of time in an individual life, which Malon reflected on in his writing, could shape the idea of socialism as the time of a harmonious, united social transformation.
Statistical processes
Authors: Wright A. G.
Published: August 2017

Two statistical processes affect performance: one concerns photon detection at the photocathode (binomial); and the other, gain at each dynode (Poisson). The combined statistical processes dictate resolution, both timing and pulse height. They are best examined using generating functions that are both elegant and capable of providing answers more efficiently than traditional approaches. The requirement for steady and pulsed light sources is an important one for testing and setting up procedures. The use of moments to test the quality of performance is illustrated for a steady DC light source. Amplification provided by a dynode stack is a cascade process, leading to dispersion in gain, and is also ideally handled with generating functions. Theory is developed for essentially continuous pulse height distributions, such as those produced by a multichannel analyser. Arrival time statistics for scintillators are investigated analytically and by Monte Carlo simulation. Treatment is given for dead time and scaling.
Timing with PMTs
Authors: Wright A. G.
Published: August 2017

The timing capability of photomultipliers (PMTs) can be inferred from the basic laws of electron motion. The relationships between time dispersion and field strength, initial electron energy, angle of emission, and electrode spacing follow from these laws. For conventional PMTs, the major contribution to dispersion arises from the cathode-to-first-dynode region. The field gradient at the cathode primarily determines the timing. This is verified by examining the electron motion in non-uniform electric fields. The contribution from interdynode transitions is small for linear focussed PMTs. Monte Carlo simulations of output waveforms from scintillators agree with measurements. The performance of threshold, zero crossing, and constant fraction (CF) discriminators is examined, revealing the superiority of the CF types. Two organizations have made detailed timing measurements, some of which show sub-nanosecond jitter. Proximity focussed PMTs from Hamamatsu confirm time dispersion measured in picoseconds.
Coalitions and Compliance
Authors: Shadlen Kenneth C.
Published: August 2017

This book shows how international changes can reconfigure domestic politics. Since the late 1980s, developing countries have come under considerable pressure to revise their intellectual property policies and practices. One area where pressures have been exceptionally controversial is in pharmaceuticals: historically, developing countries did not grant patents to drugs. Now they must do so. This book analyses different forms of compliance with this new imperative in Latin America, comparing the political economy of pharmaceutical patents in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. The book focuses on two periods of politics: initial conflicts over how to introduce drug patents, and subsequent conflicts over how countries’ new patent systems should function. In contrast to explanations of national policy based on external pressures, domestic institutions, or ideologies, this book attributes cross-national and longitudinal variation in patent policy to the ways that changing social structures affect political leaders’ abilities to construct and sustain supportive coalitions. The analysis begins with the relative resources and capabilities of national and transnational pharmaceutical sectors, and these rival actors’ strategies for attracting allies. From this starting point, emphasis is placed on two ways that social structures are transformed so as to affect coalition-building possibilities: how exporters may be converted into allies of transnational drug firms, and the differential patterns of adjustment among state and societal actors that are inspired by the introduction of new policies. It is within the changing structural conditions produced by these processes that political leaders build coalitions in support of different forms of compliance.
Not If but How
Authors: Shadlen Kenneth C.
Published: August 2017

This chapter explains early and extreme over-compliance in Mexico. In the 1980s, even while transforming much of the country’s economic strategy, the Executive remained cautious with regard to pharmaceutical patenting. Yet by the end of the decade, external pressures and the promise of a bilateral trade agreement with the United States transformed the Executive’s preferences. The analysis reveals how economic liberalization in the late 1980s and the process of negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement weakened the national pharmaceutical sector both economically and politically, and how Mexico’s export profile and the opportunities presented by a new trade agreement with the United States helped the transnational sector widen the coalition for over-compliance. Examination of the legislative process by which Mexico adopted pharmaceutical patents in 1991 illustrates these stark coalitional asymmetries; we observe a defensive coalition stripped of the will to fight and an expansive and energized coalition for over-compliance.
Studying Resurrection Today
Authors: Elledge C. D.
Published: August 2017

This chapter defines the parameters of the concept of resurrection in early Judaism and charts its reception within various literary genres. Within a diverse conceptual environment of attitudes toward death and human existence, resurrection made bold and selective claims about divine agency, the characteristics of embodied life, and the location of human existence within the larger spatial arena of the cosmos. The representation of resurrection in early Jewish literature is increasingly strong across a variety of literary genres and works of regionally diverse origins. The chapter criticizes the myth, however, that it was somehow dominant within early Judaism. Instead, resurrection emerged as a controversial theodicy within a larger conceptual arena in which attitudes toward death and the body became matters of intense dispute among competing scribal circles within the Hellenistic era.
Origins, Contexts
Authors: Elledge C. D.
Published: August 2017

Inquiries into the emergence of resurrection have traditionally been dichotomized into those that emphasize either “external influence” or an “internal development” within Israel’s own theology. Some explanations evade the dichotomy in favor of a more nuanced synthesis. The present chapter evaluates these approaches in light of Jewish literature from the Hellenistic and Roman eras. While the literary evidence does not resolve the question of origins, it does point to the significance of a larger framework in which Hellenistic empire brought to the Near East a reorientation of traditional values, including attitudes toward death. Within this disruptive context, scribal circles undertook an urgent reinterpretation of earlier traditions; they further produced a variety of diverse theodicies, some of which came to rely increasingly on the hope of human revivification. Resurrection equipped particular movements within Judaism to legitimate their own identities within the vast Hellenistic empire and across the threatening chasm of death.
The International IP System: From Continuity to Resilience
Authors: Grosse Ruse-Khan Henning
Published: August 2017

This chapter looks at how rule-relations within the international intellectual property (IP) system have developed from continuity (in constantly raising minimum standards) to resilience (against certain forms of increasing protection). It considers the evolution of the international IP system from the nineteenth century onwards, examining how each succeeding changes and additions to the system had established a relationship of continuity which integrates existing standards and adds new ones. The chapter then turns to the emergence of another revolutionary change. The integral nature of the common goals established in TRIPS’ object and purpose creates a form of ‘resilience’ of the multilateral system over attempts for inter-se modifications. Moreover, international law has appropriate tools so that those charged with applying, implementing, and interpreting multilateral IP norms can give effect to this resilience both in relations of interpretation and relations of conflict.
Manuals of Procedures and Incantations
Authors: de Bruyn Theodore
Published: August 2017

Manuals that have survived from Graeco-Roman Egypt, such as the ‘Theban Magical Library’, are one of the main sources of information about customary ways of formulating incantations and writing amulets in antiquity. This chapter discusses a number of recipes in manuals and fragments of manuals in which Christian elements are present. The relatively few Greek manuals in which Christian elements appear are supplemented by a select number of Coptic manuals. While the types of incantations with Christian elements found in these manuals are limited and the origin of some of the Christian material remains enigmatic, the evidence from manuals is helpful in that it offers glimpses of how scribes gathered and reproduced incantations.
Scribal Features of Scriptural Amulets
Authors: de Bruyn Theodore
Published: August 2017

This chapter compares, in groups, the formulation and writing of amulets that draw on Christian scriptures: titles and opening words from the gospels and LXX Psalm 90; a short text from a gospel; Jesus’ correspondence with Abgar; the Lord’s Prayer; LXX Psalm 90; other psalms and biblical passages. Differences in formulation suggest that some of these amulets issued from different types of motivation: whereas opening words or similar short scriptural passages often end in mid-sentence, verses from the Lord’s Prayer or a psalm are typically recited in full. The latter would have been known from their use in communal worship and private prayer. Amulets citing the Lord’s Prayer or LXX Psalm 90 display a fairly wide range of hands, a reflection of how accessible these protective texts were. They are the products of an oral-scribal culture.
The basic features of the history of rhetoric
Authors: Meyer Michel
Published: August 2017

Chapter 1 considers the essential reference points in the history of rhetoric. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, as well as the main transformations of rhetoric up to the twentieth century, are considered in detail. Plato based his theory of rhetoric on pathos or the manipulation of the audience through its emotions. Aristotle provided a theory of logos which allows rigorous science as well as rhetorical inference (enthymeme). Cicero grounded his new approach to rhetoric by giving a privileged role to the speaker or ethos. In its various revivals in the twentieth century, rhetoric continued this practice of granting primacy to either ethos, pathos, or logos; the various authors who participated in this renewal in the last century therefore followed in the footsteps of either Plato, Aristotle, or Cicero. It is now time for a synthesis with a new starting point: questioning.
The question-view of logos
Authors: Meyer Michel
Published: August 2017

Chapter 2 redefines the three basic concepts of any rhetoric: ethos, logos, and pathos. It relates these elements to the questioning process by which they are rhetorically linked. Special attention is given to logos as a way of answering and expressing questions. This leads to the development of a radically new view of language and the principles of thought. The passage of a propositionalist view of language and reason, indifferent to questioning, to a problematological one, based on questioning is studied through examples of sentences. This leads to an integrative view, in which texts are also seen as answers to questions taken up (partially, i.e. as points of view) by the audience or the reader. The chapter ends with a reformulation of the basic principles of thought (identity, sufficient reason, and non-contradiction) as the three principles necessary to deal with questions, answers, and their relationship.
The argumentative structures
Authors: Meyer Michel
Published: August 2017

Chapter 5 develops the workings of the four basic rhetorical operators in argumentation and in logic, which give rise to the basic logical connectives we recognize from logic textbooks. Argumentation can deal with questions (ad rem) or bear on the questioners themselves (ad hominem). Four basic classes of arguments are sufficient to encompass all further internal differentiation and subcategories of arguments. Argumentative responses by any audience are also fourfold, from acceptance to rejection, with modalities of increased differentiations in-between. The interest of stressing the fundamental aspect of those four operators is that they underlie the four basic connectors in logic, from which they probably stem.
The role of ethos: the voice of values
Authors: Meyer Michel
Published: August 2017

Chapter 9 shows how values are both structured by ethos and also structure ethos, i.e. in cases where the speaker wishes to please or convince a particular audience. A table of values is necessary and is established here as the key to rhetorical inference as well as to rhetorical conflicts. Ethos is thus not only the speaker, but a set of values about which the speaker argues or with which he argues (or, if the rhetoric of figures is used, purports to please and move the audience). Collective values and individuals are always mixed along lines of identity and difference. The whole chapter is dedicated to the explication of each value that can be put in play by the speaker as well as by the responding audience.
Toward Resolving the Liar Paradox
Authors: Harman Gilbert
Published: August 2017

This chapter asks whether there is a notion of truth that applies to nonindexical sentences of English and, if there is, how that is to be explained. After showing that the liar paradox casts doubt on an attempt at capturing the meaning of ‘true’, the chapter proposes a novel notion that does seem to apply to nonindexical sentences of English—that of what the author calls default implication. Using this notion of default implication, the chapter recasts the initial attempt at capturing the meaning of ‘true’ and shows that this is not plagued by the consequences of the liar paradox.
Microlanguages, Vagueness, and Paradox
Authors: Ludlow Peter , Armour-Garb Bradley
Published: August 2017

This chapter follows recent work in philosophy, linguistics, and psychology, which rejects the standard, static picture of languages and highlights its context sensitivity—a dynamic theory of the nature of language. On the view advocated, human languages are things that we build on a conversation-by-conversation basis. The author calls such languages microlanguages. The chapter argues that thinking of languages in terms of microlanguages yields interesting consequences for how we should think about the liar paradox. In particular, we will see that microlanguages have admissible conditions that preclude liar-like sentences. On the view presented in the chapter, liar sentences are not even sentences of any microlanguage that we might construct (or assertorically utter). Accordingly, the proper approach to such a paradoxical sentence is to withhold the sentence—not permitting it to be admitted into our microlanguage unless, or until, certain sharpening occurs.
The Liar without Truth
Authors: Rumfitt Ian , Armour-Garb Bradley
Published: August 2017

Liar sentences say nothing, according to this chapter—which, it claims, we can, in effect, prove. But extending the proof as the chapter does appears to result in revenge. The solution to this problem is to restrict the laws of logic by distinguishing expressing a falsehood from failing to express a truth. But the question that presses is how we can signify that a given sentence—a liar sentence, for example—fails to express a truth without being mired in paradox. To this end, the chapter revisits the sort of bilateral system that Rumfitt (2000) has discussed. The chapter shows that there is a way of developing Aristotle’s conception of truth into a definition of truth that does not yield a contradiction, even when applied to a semantically closed language. If successful, the proposal will enable us to reject a Strengthened Liar as untrue without asserting its negation.
Truth, Hierarchy, and Incoherence
Authors: Whittle Bruno , Armour-Garb Bradley , Armour-Garb Bradley
Published: August 2017

According to this chapter, approaches to truth and to the liar paradox appear to face a dilemma, as they must, it seems, appeal to some sort of hierarchy or contend that a putatively coherent concept is actually incoherent, either of which results in expressive limitations. The chapter proposes a new approach to the liar paradox that avoids such expressive limitations. This approach countenances classical semantic values while advocating a revision to how we think about compositional rules. The idea is that there are exceptions to the compositional rules associated with a language. To this end, the chapter adverts to theories that respect the “Chrysippus intuition,” which captures the idea that different tokens of the same type can have divergent semantic statuses. Such theories yield models of languages whose semantic values are classical but where the compositional rules associated with these languages have exceptions.
Pluralism and the Liar
Authors: Wright Cory , Armour-Garb Bradley
Published: August 2017

Pluralists maintain that there is more than one truth property in virtue of which bearers are true. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear how they diagnose the liar paradox or what resources they have available to treat it. This chapter considers one recent attempt by Cotnoir (2013b) to treat the Liar. It argues that pluralists should reject the version of pluralism that Cotnoir assumes, discourse pluralism, in favor of a more naturalized approach to truth predication in real languages, which should be a desideratum on any successful pluralist conception. Appealing to determination pluralism instead, which focuses on truth properties, it then proposes an alternative treatment to the Liar that shows liar sentences to be undecidable.
Secondary amenorrhea
Authors: Pereira Katherine , Brown Ann J.
Published: August 2017

Disruptions in the menstrual cycle are a common complaint in primary care and women's health. Irregular or absent menstrual periods should trigger an evaluation to identify the root cause. This article discusses secondary amenorrhea and provides a systematic approach to its diagnostic evaluation, with referral considerations.
Bacterial sepsis in the neonate
Authors: Rubarth Lori Baas , Christensen Carla M. , Riley Cheryl
Published: August 2017

Neonatal bacterial infections leading to sepsis occur frequently in the first few days or weeks of life. NPs must be able to recognize the early signs of sepsis and understand the need for rapid evaluation and treatment. This article discusses antibiotic treatments for various types and locations of bacterial infections and sepsis in the neonate.
Operative Versus Nonoperative Management of Acute High-Grade Acromioclavicular Dislocations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Chang Nicholas , Furey Andrew , Kurdin Anton
Published: August 2017

Objectives:

Management of high-grade acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocations has been controversial. Recent studies suggest no difference in outcomes between operative and nonoperative management of Rockwood types III–V injuries. The objective of this meta-analysis is to compare outcomes between operative and nonoperative management of high-grade AC joint dislocations.

Data Sources:

Search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases through October 2016. A broad search strategy was used to identify English, comparative studies of AC joint dislocations.

Study Selection:

Inclusion criteria included comparative studies of AC joint dislocations in adult patients with acute, high-grade AC dislocations.

Data Extraction:

Two authors independently reviewed and assessed for bias according to the U.S. Preventative Task Force Quality Rating Criteria. Data were extracted for validated functional scores, clinical and radiographic outcomes, and complications.

Data Synthesis:

Nineteen studies (n = 954) were included in the meta-analysis. Operative group had better cosmetic outcome (odds ratio [OR] = 0.05; P < 0.00001) and radiographic reduction (OR = 24.94; P < 0.0001). Constant scores favored the operative group, although the difference may not be clinically significant (MD = 3.14; P = 0.03). Nonoperative treatment was associated with faster return to work (MD = 4.17, P < 0.0001), lower implant complications (OR = 7.19, P < 0.0001), and reduced infection rate (OR = 3.65, P = 0.007). No difference was found for DASH Score, return to sport, radiologic evidence of osteoarthritis, and need for surgery after failed management.

Conclusions:

No clinical difference in functional outcome scores was detected between operative and nonoperative management of high-grade AC joint dislocations. Patients in the nonoperative cohort had a more rapid return to work, but were associated with a poorer cosmetic outcome.

Level of Evidence:

Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Hexapod Stacked Transport for Tibial Infected Nonunions With Bone Loss: Long-Term Functional Outcomes
Authors: Napora Joshua K. , Weinberg Douglas S. , Eagle Blake A. , Kaufman Bram R. , Sontich John K.
Published: August 2017

Objectives:

To analyze long-term functional outcomes in patients with posttraumatic infected tibial nonunions having undergone bone transport with hexapod external fixator.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting:

Level 1 trauma center.

Patients/Participants:

Thirty-eight patients with infected nonunions of the tibia.

Intervention:

Resection of nonunion with application of stacked hexapod external fixator for bone transport.

Main Outcome Measurements:

Functional outcome was measured using the short Musculoskeletal Functional Assessment (sMFA). Parameters measured included age, sex, presence of diabetes, smoking, use of a free flap, bone defect size, length in frame, external fixation index, and direction of lengthening.

Results:

The mean sMFA score for the entire group was 27.1. Average patient age was 46.8 ± 12.7 years, 74% patients were male, 8% were diabetic, and 29% were smokers. Seventeen patients had soft-tissue defects that required a free flap. Smokers had higher degrees of disability compared with nonsmokers (39 ± 16 vs. 22 ± 14, P = 0.011). Patients requiring adjunctive stabilization had worse functional scores compared with those who did not receive adjunctive stabilization (33 ± 17 vs. 22 ± 15, P = 0.049). Sixteen patients returned 2 sMFA surveys at different time points after completion of bone transport. Initial average sMFA score was 26.5 at a mean of 25.3 months; subsequent sMFA scores averaged 19.4 at a mean of 98.8 months.

Conclusions:

Stacked hexapod external fixator bone transport is a reliable technique for infected nonunion of the tibia with bone loss. Improved sMFA scores can be expected from 2 to 8 years, suggesting full recovery takes longer than previously anticipated. Limb salvage with hexapod bone transport is justified over time.

Level of Evidence:

Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Pharmaceutical Cost Savings in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Pennell Benjamin T. , Murphy Claire V. , Byrd Cindy , Tubbs Crystal
Published: August 2017

Health care costs are rising in the United States with a significant amount of this spend attributed to pharmaceutical costs. The reasons for rising pharmaceutical costs are multifactorial and may include the increase in single source manufacturers of generic medications, drug shortages, the Food and Drug Administration's unapproved drug approval initiative, and generic rebranding. Many of these factors impact the intensive care unit directly creating the need to implement cost-savings strategies to ensure the financial health of an organization and reduce the financial burden for patients. To mitigate rising costs, we have outlined a number of both operational and clinical cost-savings measures derived from the literature and from institutional experience. Engaging the multidisciplinary team in the development and implementation of these initiatives will ensure their success and will maximize their impact.
IDENTIFYING FEATURES OF EARLY AND LATE AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION
Authors: Graham Katie W. , Chakravarthy Usha , Hogg Ruth E. , Muldrew K. Alyson , Young Ian S. , Kee Frank
Published: August 2017

Purpose:

To compare multicolor (MC) and traditional color fundus photography (CFP) in their ability to detect features of early and late age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods:

Study design: Observational case series. Participants: fundus images captured using standard CFP and MC imaging from 33 patients attending hospital clinics and 26 participants from the pilot phase of the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA). Systematic grading of early and late AMD features; (hard drusen, soft drusen, reticular pseudodrusen, pigment clumping, non–geographic atrophy hypopigmentation, atrophy, hemorrhage, and fibrosis) on CFP and MC.

Results:

There were 105 eyes with gradable images for comparison. Using CFP as the gold standard, sensitivity values for MC ranged from 100% for atrophy, non–geographic atrophy hypopigmentation, and fibrosis to 69.7% for pigment clumping. Specificity values were high: >80% for all features. On using MC as the comparator, CFP had lower sensitivity for the detection of early AMD features (27.8% for reticular drusen to 77.8% for non–geographic atrophy hypopigmention). Analysis of OCT in discrepant cases showed better agreement with MC for all AMD lesions, except hemorrhage and non–geographic atrophy hypopigmentation. For pigment clumping, CFP and MC were in equal agreement with OCT.

Conclusion:

Multicolor retinal imaging allowed for improved detection and definition of AMD features.
OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANALYSIS OF OUTER RETINAL TUBULATIONS
Authors: Preti Rony C. , Govetto Andrea , Filho Richard Geraldo Aqueta , Cabral Zacharias Leandro , Gianotti Pimentel Sergio , Takahashi Walter Y. , Monteiro Mario L. R. , Hubschman Jean Pierre , Sarraf David
Published: August 2017

Purpose:

To describe the sequential evolution of outer retinal tubulations (ORTs) in patients diagnosed with choroidal neovascularization and/or retinal pigment epithelium atrophy.

Methods:

Retrospective evaluation of spectral domain optical coherence tomography of a consecutive cohort of patients with various retinal conditions.

Results:

We reviewed the clinical findings of 238 eyes of 119 consecutive patients (54 men and 65 women) with a mean age of 76.2 ± 14.2 years (range: 57–90) and a mean follow-up of 3 ± 1.6 years (range 1–7). Over the follow-up period, ORTs were diagnosed in 67 of 238 eyes (28.1%), 9 of which were imaged with sequential, eye-tracked spectral domain optical coherence tomography dating from the beginning of ORT formation. The presence of geographic atrophy and subretinal hyperreflective material at baseline were found to be risk factors for ORT development (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Outer retinal tubulations were divided into forming versus formed morphologies. The latter was comprised open and closed ORTs of which the open subtype was the most common. The formation of ORTs was significantly associated with microcystic macular lesions in the inner nuclear layer and the downward displacement of the outer plexiform layer, referred to as the outer plexiform layer subsidence sign (P < 0.001).

Conclusion:

Outer retinal tubulation is a frequent optical coherence tomography finding in eyes with choroidal neovascularization and geographic atrophy. Open ORTs with progressive scrolled edges and shortened diameter were significantly associated with microcystic macular lesions in the inner nuclear layer and the outer plexiform layer subsidence sign.
Alkali Burn Induced Corneal Spontaneous Pain and Activated Neuropathic Pain Matrix in the Central Nervous System in Mice
Authors: Xiang Yan , Zhou Wenchang , Wang Ping , Yang Hui , Gao Feng , Xiang Hongbin , Manyande Anne , Tian Yuke , Tian Xuebi
Published: August 2017

Purpose:

To explore whether alkali burn causes corneal neuropathic pain and activates the neuropathic pain matrix in the central nervous system in mice.

Methods:

A corneal alkali burn mouse model (grade II) was used. The mechanical threshold in the cauterized area was tested using Von Frey hairs. Spontaneous pain behavior was investigated with conditioned place preference. Phosphor extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK), which is a marker for neuronal activation in chronic pain processing, was investigated in several representative areas of the neuropathic pain matrix: the 2 regions of the spinal trigeminal nucleus (subnucleus interpolaris/caudalis, Vi/Vc; subnucleus caudalis/upper cervical cord, Vc/C1), insular cortex, anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), and the rostroventral medulla (RVM). Furthermore, pharmacologically blocking pERK activation in the ACC of alkali burn mice was performed in a separate study.

Results:

Corneal alkali burn caused long-lasting damage to the corneal subbasal nerve fibers, and mice exhibited spontaneous pain behavior. By testing in several representative areas of the neuropathic pain matrix in the higher nervous system, phosphor ERK was significantly activated in Vc/C1, but not in Vi/Vc. Also, ERK was activated in the insular cortex, ACC, and RVM. Furthermore, pharmacologically blocking ERK activation in the ACC abolished alkali burn induced corneal spontaneous pain.

Conclusions:

Alkali burn could cause corneal spontaneous pain and activate the neuropathic pain matrix in the central nervous system. Furthermore, activation of ERK in the ACC is required for alkali burn induced corneal spontaneous pain.
Simulated Keratometry Versus Total Corneal Power by Ray Tracing: A Comparison in Prediction Accuracy of Intraocular Lens Power
Authors: Savini Giacomo , Hoffer Kenneth J. , Lomoriello Domenico Schiano , Ducoli Pietro
Published: August 2017

Purpose:

To investigate the relationship between corneal powers measured by simulated keratometry (Sim-K) and ray tracing and understand whether their difference influences intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation.

Methods:

In a first sample of healthy eyes, corneal curvature was measured using a rotating Scheimpflug camera (Sirius, CSO). Sim-K was obtained from anterior corneal curvature using the 1.3375 keratometric index. Ray tracing was performed through both corneal surfaces to calculate the total corneal power (TCP). The difference between Sim-K and TCP was correlated with various parameters. In a second sample of patients undergoing cataract surgery, IOL power was subsequently calculated using both Sim-K and TCP.

Results:

In the first sample (114 eyes), Sim-K (43.64 ± 1.44 D) was higher than TCP (43.07 ± 1.41 D, P < 0.0001); the difference ranged between 0.07 and 1.95 D and correlated with the anterior/posterior (A/P) ratio (r = 0.7292, P < 0.0001), which ranged between 1.10 and 1.30. In the second sample (107 eyes), the A/P ratio influenced the outcomes of the Holladay 1 and SRK/T, but not Haigis and Hoffer Q formulas. However, using TCP, which takes the A/P ratio into account, did not improve the prediction error of any formula.

Conclusions:

Sim-K provides a higher corneal power compared with TCP. This difference is not constant but depends on the A/P ratio and can influence the refractive outcome of IOL power calculation by theoretical formulas. However, TCP values do not improve the results of these formulas, as they were developed for keratometric values such as Sim-K.
Therapeutic potential for leukocyte elastase in chronic pain states harboring a neuropathic component
Authors: Bali Kiran Kumar , Kuner Rohini
Published: August 2017

Neuropathic pain is an integral component of several chronic pain conditions and poses a major health problem worldwide. Despite emerging understanding of mechanisms behind neuropathic pain, the available treatment options are still limited in efficacy or associated with side effects, therefore making it necessary to find viable alternatives. In a genetic screen, we recently identified SerpinA3N, a serine protease inhibitor secreted in response to nerve damage by the dorsal root ganglion neurons and we showed that SerpinA3N acts against induction of neuropathic pain by inhibiting the T-cell- and neutrophil-derived protease, leucocyte elastase (LE). In the current study, via detailed in vivo pharmacology combined with analyses of evoked- and spontaneous pain-related behaviors in mice, we report that on systemic delivery, a single dose of 3 independent LE inhibitors can block established nociceptive hypersensitivity in early and late phases in the spared nerve injury model of traumatic neuropathic pain in mice. We further report the strong efficacy of systemic LE inhibitors in reversing ongoing pain in 2 other clinically relevant mouse models—painful diabetic neuropathy and cancer pain. Detailed immunohistochemical analyses on the peripheral tissue samples revealed that both T-Lymphocytes and neutrophils are the sources of LE on peripheral nerve injury, whereas neutrophils are the primary source of LE in diabetic neuropathic conditions. In summary, our results provide compelling evidence for a strong therapeutic potential of generic LE inhibitors for the treatment of neuropathic pain and other chronic pain conditions harboring a neuropathic pain component.