bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oxidative Stress in IgA Nephropathy
Authors: Coppo R. , Camilla R. , Amore A. , Peruzzi L.
Published: July 2010

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is characterized by mesangial deposits of IgA1, likely due to accumulation of IgA immune complexes. The activation of intracellular signaling mostly results in oxidative stress, as detected in mesangial cells cultured with aberrantly glycosylated IgA or IgA aggregates and in renal biopsies of patients with IgAN. Signs of altered oxidation/antioxidation balance have been detected in sera and/or in erythrocytes of patients with IgAN, including increased levels of lipoperoxide or malondialdehyde and reduced activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Moreover, increased levels of a marker of oxidative stress, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), have been reported to be significantly associated with proteinuria and disease progression in patients with IgAN. AOPPs are often carried by albumin and can in turn enhance the oxidative stress in the circulation. Recent research suggests that the nephrotoxicity of aberrantly glycosylated IgA1 in IgAN is enhanced in the presence of systemic signs of oxidative stress, and it is tempting to hypothesize that the level of the oxidative milieu conditions the different expression and progression of IgAN.
N-Acetylcysteine for the Management of Anemia and Oxidative Stress in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Hsu Shih-Ping , Chiang Chih-Kang , Yang Shao-Yu , Chien Chiang-Ting
Published: July 2010

Background/Aims: To explore the efficacy of oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplementation for anemia and oxidative stress in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: Of the eligible patients (n = 325) in an outpatient HD unit, 49 received NAC 200 mg orally thrice a day during the first 3 months, while the other 276 patients not receiving NAC were observed. Results: During the 4-month study, 11 patients receiving NAC withdrew but had no severe adverse effects, while 49 patients not receiving NAC had negative confounding events. Thus only the data of the remaining patients, 38 taking NAC and 227 not taking NAC, were analyzed for efficacy. The demographic and laboratory data of both groups were similar at baseline. When the erythropoietin dosage was stable throughout, only the NAC group had a significant increase in hematocrit, accompanied with a decrease in plasma levels of 8-isoprostane and oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Analyzed as a nested case-control study, NAC supplementation was also found to be a significant predictor of positive outcomes in uremic anemia. Conclusions: Oral NAC supplementation may be a promising therapy for uremic anemia and oxidative stress in HD patients.
Alcohol Dependence Figures in the Swiss General Population: A Sisyphean Challenge for Epidemiologists
Authors: Kuendig Hervé
Published: July 2010

Background: Research in Switzerland and elsewhere calls for valid estimations of alcohol dependence figures at the population level. As none of the methodologies developed for this purpose has proven to possess higher validity over others, this study follows the idea of methodological triangulation and compares estimates to assess their convergence. Methods: This study considers 6 standard methodological approaches to derive 17 estimates for alcohol dependence in the Swiss general population. Results: Estimates from statistics on cirrhosis mortality and from the application of external pool estimates agree with the central tendency of adjusted estimates derived using standard alcohol-related screening tools in population surveys. The number of alcohol-dependent individuals living in Switzerland is expected to be close to 250,000 (i.e. approximately 3.9% of the population aged 15 or older). Conclusion: Due to variations in estimates, it is difficult to report consistent figures for alcohol dependence at the general population level in Switzerland. Nonetheless, observation of an unambiguous central tendency and the convergence of estimates support their validity.
A Rapid Microscopic Method for the Confirmation of Rhinoviruses in Cell Culture
Authors: Leonardi Gary P. , Desormeaux Marie-Laure
Published: July 2010

Objective: Culture-confirmation of rhinovirus is done using acid lability testing, a laborious and time-consuming method which delays the reporting of patient results by 1–2 days. A fluorescent monoclonal antibody pool (Light Diagnostics Pan-Enterovirus Blend; Millipore Inc., Temecula, Calif., USA) developed to identify various enterovirus isolates in culture was recently reported to also cross-react with rhinoviruses. We evaluated the use of this cross-reacting antibody, used in tandem with non-cross-reacting enterovirus antibodies (D3 IFA; Diagnostic Hybrids Inc., Athens, Ohio, USA) to rapidly identify rhinoviruses in cell culture. Methods: Microscope slides were prepared from cell cultures of 11 rhinovirus clinical isolates and a variety of other respiratory viruses. Slides were stained using both enterovirus antibody pools and examined for fluorescent activity. Results: Positive fluorescence was observed in all the rhinovirus isolates tested using the pan-enterovirus antibody blend, but yielded negative results when stained using the D3 antibodies. Both antibody products produced positive fluorescence for enterovirus isolates and produced negative results when a variety of other respiratory viruses were examined. Conclusion: Staining suspected rhinovirus isolates with each antibody pool affords a rapid means of identifying rhinoviruses and distinguishing them from enteroviruses, without the need for acid lability testing.
Maternal Protein Restriction Reduces Angiotensin II AT1 and AT2 Receptor Expression in the Fetal Rat Kidney
Authors: Alwasel Saleh H. , Kaleem Irram , Sahajpal Vandana , Ashton Nick
Published: July 2010

Maternal dietary protein restriction during pregnancy results in an increase in offspring blood pressure in the rat. The kidneys of the low protein (LP) rat have fewer nephrons, increased hemodynamic sensitivity to angiotensin II and lower glomerular filtration rate, suggesting altered activity of the renin-angiotensin system. Angiotensin II plays a role in nephrogenesis through the AT1 and AT2 receptor subtypes. The aim of this study was to determine expression levels of both subtypes during nephrogenesis. Pregnant Wistar rats were fed either a control 18% protein diet or a low 9% protein (LP) diet. A 35% reduction in nephron number (p < 0.05) associated with a 50% reduction in total glomerular volume (p < 0.001) was seen in LP rats. Renal AT1 (p < 0.0001) and AT2 (p < 0.0001) receptor protein expression were significantly lower in LP rats from E18 to day 10. AT1 expression in LP rat kidneys tended to increase over time while AT2 expression declined until day 10, when it began to increase again. Angiotensin II-regulated cell proliferation may be perturbed in the LP rat kidney during nephrogenesis which could contribute to the reduction in nephron number and the elevation in blood pressure observed in this model of programmed hypertension.
Activation of PKN Mediates Survival of Cardiac Myocytes in the Heart During Ischemia/Reperfusion
Authors: Takagi Hiromitsu , Hsu Chiao-Po , Kajimoto Katsuya , Shao Dan , Yang Yanfei , Maejima Yasuhiro , Zhai Peiyong , Yehia Ghassan , Yamada Chikaomi , Zablocki Daniela , Sadoshima Junichi
Published: July 2010

Rationale:

The function of PKN, a stress-activated protein kinase, in the heart is poorly understood.

Objective:

We investigated the functional role of PKN during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R).

Methods and Results:

PKN is phosphorylated at Thr774 in hearts subjected to ischemia and reperfusion. Myocardial infarction/area at risk (MI/AAR) produced by 45 minutes of ischemia and 24 hours of reperfusion was significantly smaller in transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of constitutively active (CA) PKN (Tg-CAPKN) than in nontransgenic (NTg) mice (15±5 versus 38±5%,
P
<0.01). The number of TUNEL-positive nuclei was significantly lower in Tg-CAPKN (0.3±0.2 versus 1.0±0.2%,
P
<0.05). Both MI/AAR (63±9 versus 45±8%,
P
<0.05) and the number of TUNEL-positive cells (7.9±1.0 versus 1.3±0.9%,
P
<0.05) were greater in transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of dominant negative PKN (Tg-DNPKN) than in NTg mice. Thr774 phosphorylation of PKN was also observed in response to H
2
O
2
in cultured cardiac myocytes. Stimulation of PKN prevented, whereas inhibition of PKN aggravated, cell death induced by H
2
O
2
, suggesting that the cell-protective effect of PKN is cell-autonomous in cardiac myocytes. PKN induced phosphorylation of α B crystallin and increased cardiac proteasome activity. The infarct reducing effect in Tg-CAPKN mice was partially inhibited by epoxomicin, a proteasome inhibitor.

Conclusions:

PKN is activated by I/R and inhibits apoptosis of cardiac myocytes, thereby protecting the heart from I/R injury. PKN mediates phosphorylation of α B crystallin and stimulation of proteasome activity, which, in part, mediates the protective effect of PKN in the heart.
Stroke Subtype Classification to Mechanism-Specific and Undetermined Categories by TOAST, A-S-C-O, and Causative Classification System
Authors: Marnane Michael , Duggan Caroline A. , Sheehan Orla C. , Merwick Aine , Hannon Niamh , Curtin Denis , Harris Dawn , Williams Emma B. , Horgan Gillian , Kyne Lorraine , McCormack Patricia M.E. , Duggan Joseph , Moore Alan , Crispino-O'Connell Gloria , Kelly Peter J.
Published: July 2010

Background and Purpose—

Reliable etiologic classification of ischemic stroke may enhance clinical trial design and identification of subtype-specific environmental and genetic risk factors. Although new classification systems (Causative Classification System [CCS] and ASCO [A for atherosclerosis, S for small vessel disease, C for cardiac source, O for other cause]) have been developed to improve subtype assignment, few comparative data exist from large studies. We hypothesized that both CCS and ASCO would reduce the proportion of patients classified as cause undetermined compared with the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) scheme in a large population-based stroke study.

Methods—

A single rater classified all first-ever ischemic strokes in the North Dublin Population Stroke Study, a population-based study of 294 529 North Dublin residents. Published algorithms for TOAST, CCS, and ASCO were applied.

Results—

In 381 first-ever ischemic stroke patients, CCS assigned fewer patients as cause undetermined (26.2% versus 39.4%;
P
<0.000001), with increased assignment of cardio-aortic embolism (relative increase 6.9%;
P
=0.004), large artery atherosclerosis (relative increase 44.1%;
P
=0.00006), small artery occlusion (relative increase 27.3%;
P
=0.00006), and other causes (relative increase 91.7%;
P
=0.001) compared with TOAST. When ASCO grade 1 evidence was applied, fewer patients were classified as small artery disease (relative decrease 29.1%;
P
=0.007) and more as large artery/atherothrombotic (relative increase 17.6%;
P
=0.03). ASCO grade 1 did not reduce the proportion of cause undetermined cases compared with TOAST (42.3% versus 39.4%;
P
=0.2). Agreement between systems ranged from good (κ=0.61 for TOAST/ASCO grade 1 small artery category) to excellent (κ=0.95 for TOAST/CCS and ASCO grade 1/CCS cardio/aorto-embolism category). Application of ASCO grades 1 to 3 indicated evidence of large artery/atherosclerosis (73.3%), cardio-embolism (31.3%), small artery (64.7%), and other cause (12%) in TOAST-undetermined cases.

Conclusion—

Both CCS and ASCO schemes showed good-to-excellent agreement with TOAST, but each had specific characteristics compared with TOAST for subtype assignment and data retention. The feasibility of a single combined classification system should be considered.
Cost-Effectiveness of Magnetic Resonance Angiography Versus Intra-arterial Digital Subtraction Angiography to Follow-Up Patients With Coiled Intracranial Aneurysms
Authors: Schaafsma Joanna D. , Koffijberg Hendrik , Buskens Erik , Velthuis Birgitta K. , van der Graaf Yolanda , Rinkel Gabriël J.E.
Published: July 2010

Background and Purpose—

To follow up patients with coiled intracranial aneurysms, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is a promising noninvasive alternative to current standard intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (IA-DSA). MRA test results do not always concord with those of IA-DSA, and the impact of discrepancies on health benefits and costs is unknown. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of follow-up with MRA vs IA-DSA to assess whether in this setting MRA may replace IA-DSA.

Methods—

We studied aneurysm occlusion on MRA in addition to follow-up IA-DSA in 310 patients with 341 coiled intracranial aneurysms. The observed sensitivity (82%) and specificity (89%) of MRA for detection of reopening with IA-DSA as a reference were used as input for a Markov decision-analytic model. Other determinants were derived from the literature. We compared life expectancy, quality-adjusted life-years (QALY), costs, and expected number of events for the two strategies.

Results—

Follow-up with MRA yielded similar life expectancy (MRA, 26.66 years; IA-DSA, 26.63 years; difference, 0.03 years; 95% CI, −0.17–0.23) and QALY (MRA, 10.96; IA-DSA, 10.95; difference, 0.01 QALY; 95% CI, −0.05–0.08) at lower costs (MRA, $7003; IA-DSA, $8241 per patient; difference, −$1238; 95% CI, −2617-−36). The expected number of events was comparable except for complications from IA-DSA.

Conclusion—

MRA provided equivalent health benefits as IA-DSA and was cost-saving. MRA dominates and should replace routine IA-DSA to follow-up patients with coiled aneurysms.
Differential Effects of Chromosome 9p21 Variation on Subphenotypes of Intracranial Aneurysm
Authors: Nakaoka Hirofumi , Takahashi Tomoko , Akiyama Koichi , Cui Tailin , Tajima Atsushi , Krischek Boris , Kasuya Hidetoshi , Hata Akira , Inoue Ituro
Published: July 2010

Background and Purpose—

Recently, a genome-wide association study identified associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 9p21 and risk of harboring intracranial aneurysm (IA). Aneurysm characteristics or subphenotypes of IAs, such as history of subarachnoid hemorrhage, presence of multiple IAs and location of IAs, are clinically important. We investigated whether the association between 9p21 variation and risk of IA varied among these subphenotypes.

Methods—

We conducted a case-control study of 981 cases and 699 controls in Japanese. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms tagging the 9p21 risk locus were genotyped. The OR and 95% CI were estimated using logistic regression analyses.

Results—

Among the 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs1333040 showed the strongest evidence of association with IA (
P
=1.5×10
−6
; per allele OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.24–1.66). None of the patient characteristics (gender, age, smoking, and hypertension) was a significant confounder or effect modifier of the association. Subgroup analyses of IA subphenotypes showed that among the most common sites of IAs, the association was strongest for IAs of the posterior communicating artery (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.26–2.26) and not significant for IAs in the anterior communicating artery (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.96–1.57). When dichotomizing IA sites, the association was stronger for IAs of the posterior circulation–posterior communicating artery group (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.32–2.26) vs the anterior circulation group (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.07–1.53). Heterogeneity in these ORs was significant (
P
=0.032). The associations did not vary when stratifying by history of subarachnoid hemorrhage (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.18–1.71 for ruptured IA; OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.00–1.62 for unruptured IA) or by multiplicity of IA (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.21–2.03 for multiple IAs; OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.15–1.61 for single IA).

Conclusions—

Our results suggest that genetic influence on formation may vary between IA subphenotypes.
"Om Alle Menschen Wel Te Leren Sterven"
Authors: Lips E.J.G.
Published: July 2010

The genre of the Ars moriendi is by no means a homogeneous one. Indeed, the great textual diversity has more than once attracted the attention. This diversity, caused by various omissions and, more often, extensions in the original text-types, is often considered as the decay of an originally orthodox theological genre. In this essay, manuscripts and printed versions of the Ars moriendi in the Dutch language ( ± 1450-1530) are studied. Instead of considering the omissions and extensions meant above as a decline of the genre, the author attempts to regard them, as the medieval writers may have done, as means to make the texts find their way to the public more easily. Various methods used by the authors of these Artes to reach their public, are examined and their presumable succes is evaluated. It seems that, whereas particularly the older literature assumes an almost infinite public, recent research does not confirm this point of view. For, in spite of explicit remarks addressed to all christians, commerce dictated to the printers a more or less wealthy public. As for the manuscripts, these seem mainly to have had a public of clergy and (female) religious communities. However, considering the existence of a public of listeners, both manuscripts and printed versions had, in an indirect way, their impact on the masses of the christians.
The Fiction of the 'Three Quests': An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Historiographical Paradigm
Authors: Rubio Fernando Bermejo
Published: July 2010

Understanding the history of Jesus research through the 'Three Quests' paradigm ('Old Quest', 'New Quest' and 'Third Quest') has become widespread—and even taken for granted—in the guild of New Testament scholars. In recent years, however, that taxonomy has raised several cogent criticisms. Nonetheless, there are apologists who keep this interpretive paradigm alive and well. This article aims at revisiting the Three Quests typology in order to assess its explanatory value. It identifies the assertions and assumptions (and even implicit value judgments) of this typology, arguing that not one of them withstands critical examination because they are all built on arbitrary grounds and are refuted by literary evidence or by sound reasoning. Furthermore, the article contains an argument suggesting that this historiographical construct could serve certain ideological (more specifically, theological) interests.
Christ Images in Contemporary Czech Film
Authors: Noble Ivana , Noble Tim
Published: July 2010

An analysis of two important Czech films dealing, hesitantly, with Christological themes enables an engagement with contemporary Czech society. The two films,

Forgotten Light

and

Divided We Fall

occasion reflections on Christ's triple office of Priest, Prophet and King and the continuing power of the Christ story in popular Czech culture. This leads to an interpretation of the films and their messages, set against the backdrop of religious life in the Czech Republic as demonstrated in sociological research. Theologians can learn with the filmmakers how to address the new religiosity present in the society, post-ecclesial but not post-belief.
Every Foreign Land is Their Native Country, and Every Land of Birth is a Land of Strangers
Authors: van de Beek Abraham
Published: July 2010

The author compares three models of the relation of church and state. The Hungarian king Stephen(± 1000 AD) pleads for a plural society with different cultural and ethnic traditions. Different religious traditions easily fit into this model. The model of the Roman Emperor Constantine (beginning of the 4th century) provides an intertwining of church and state. The unknown author of the epistle to Diognetus (± 200 AD) describes a church that is spread among the nations and does not identify itself with any one nation. The first and the last model are compatible while both exclude Constantine's. The difference with the modern idea of religious freedom is that this idea deals with individual believers while the model of Stephen and Diognetus speaks of a plurality of communities. That is a more solid base for human dignity because the community provides people a place to be at home.
A Shared Story for Reconciliation—Which Story? Conclusive Reflections
Authors: van de Beek Abraham
Published: July 2010

In cases of severe conflicts, e.g. in South-Africa during the time of apartheid or in Indonesia during the war of Independence, people are deeply wounded. Both victims and perpetrators bear memories of the past as heavy burdens that close the future for them. They keep their stories silent in order to not be confronted with the past. Telling the story seems to open up the future, but, in the end, it turns out that victims and perpetrators cannot develop a shared story. Only death can deliver them from the past. Christian faith proclaims the death of human beings in the death of Christ. It opens a new future in the resurrection of a new being.
The Confession of Belhar 1986: A Guide for Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity
Authors: Koopman Nico
Published: July 2010

This paper argues that the Confession of Belhar 1986 articulates the story of the Triune God's work of justice, reconciliation, and unity. That story redeems the human stories of injustice, alienation, and division in South Africa. It transforms us into people who make new stories of justice, reconciliation, and unity. The story of Belhar serves as a staff for justice, reconciliation, and unity. The cry for justice, reconciliation, and unity is first outlined (1). Thereafter, Belhar's understanding of justice as compassionate justice (2), reconciliation as the overcoming of alienation between humans and God, and as the overcoming of estrangement among human beings, and reconciliation as embrace (3), and unity as unity in proximity (4) is discussed. Last, an appeal is made for the continued confession and embodiment of justice, reconciliation, and unity in and through churches as spaces of hope (5).
Shared Stories for the Future? Theological Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa
Authors: Smit Dirkie , Mouton Elna
Published: July 2010

For South Africa, both the 20th and 21st centuries began with facing a painful past while searching for a shared future: the experiences of the war (1899-1902) between the colonial British Empire and the two Boer Republics, and the legacy of official apartheid (1948-1990), respectively. According to many, these histories are deeply inter-related in that the sufferings which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission faced were partly caused by the inadequate handling of the sufferings of the war. From a Christian perspective, focusing on stories of women, the essay considers three such issues; namely, questions of truth and suffering, guilt and responsibility, and reconciliation and justice—while reflecting on the tension between forgiving and forgetting.
Sharing a Common Story for an Indonesian Context
Authors: Pakpahan Binsar
Published: July 2010

People tend to forget their past hurt because it is too much pain to bear. Forgive and forget is a saying that is imposed on victims about their traumatic past. This saying is not entirely wrong, but before we get to that point, we need to remember our hurt in order to forgive. The remembrance of the past is, in fact, needed to be able to forgive and reconcile. This is not an easy thing to do, especially when the role of victim and perpetrator is not clearly defined. However, it is still a better option for achieving real forgiveness and reconciliation than forgetting.
Sharing the Story of the Cross in Western Culture
Authors: Roest Gert-Jan
Published: July 2010

Communicating the story of the cross in Western culture should consider modern rationalism, the ideal of authenticity, secular eschatology, and the pressures to privatize faith. Western culture offers a positive challenge to the penal-substitutionary view of the atonement, which is in danger of responding poorly to these challenges. But even when our view of the atonement takes these positive challenges into account, there is still an urgent need to expose illusions in the thinking of people influenced by Western culture. Only in this way can the beautiful and strange story of the cross truly be heard.
Strangers in the Light: The Challenges of Being a (Christian) Minority in an Islamic Context
Authors: Reitsma Bernhard
Published: July 2010

In this article, the author describes how Christians tend to respond to the fear of becoming a minority (dhimmis) in the context of Islam. It seems that there are only two options—fight (if necessary with weapons) or flight (literally or mentally). Several questions can be raised about either approach and neither guarantees survival. The question is whether an alternative approach can be outlined. The author takes his starting point for such an approach in the strength of the Christian community, and he describes a number of characteristics of such a community.
Church, Sacrament, and Society: Abraham Kuyper's Early Baptismal Theology, 1859-1874
Authors: Wood John Halsey
Published: July 2010

This article considers the development of Abraham Kuyper's theology of baptism during his early life, from 1859 as a theology student at Leiden University through 1874, the conclusion of his pastoral career in the Netherlands Reformed Church. After initially rejecting the institutional church, Kuyper began to develop a theology for a free church in order to bring Calvinism into rapport with modern times. This paper argues that Kuyper's theology of baptism developed as part of this vision of a modern Calvinist church, one that was both a voluntary institution and an objective, divinely sanctioned institution. The fluctuations of Kuyper's early baptismal theology reflect the tensions of this proposal for a modern church, but by the end or his pastoral career Kuyper had settled on the primacy of the institutional church in baptism.
The Prohibition of Oaths and Contra-scriptural Halakhot: A Response to John P. Meier
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: July 2010

The following response to John Meier's article begins by raising initial questions concerning the relationship between oaths and vows, and the criterion of double dissimilarity. The focus then turns to the complicated relationship between the Pentateuch and Jewish legal sources of the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods. It will be suggested that demonstrating Jesus' legal disagreement with either the plain meaning of scripture or other first-century Jewish legal sources does not yield sufficient evidence to claim that Jesus clearly and unambiguously abrogated a matter of Jewish Law. It will also be argued that, in the case of oaths, it is particularly difficult to demonstrate either a contradiction with the Pentateuch or a complete disagreement with the preponderance of contemporary legal sources. Therefore, while Jesus may indeed have prohibited all oaths, this ought not be taken as clear evidence of an abrogation of a matter of Jewish Law.
Can You Trust a Gospel? A Review of Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
Authors: Patterson Stephen
Published: July 2010

In spite of the fact that Richard Bauckham has produced a very learned and well-stated argument, his case for the Gospels as eye-witness testimony is unconvincing. If one assumes the two-source hypothesis, as Bauckham does, there is no point in arguing over Matthew and Luke: their sources (Mark and Q) are clear, and clearly not living eye-witnesses but written sources. Bauckham's arguments that would convince one that at least Mark and John rely upon eye-witnesses ultimately succumb to strong counter indications. The pattern of naming names in the synoptics offers no peculiarities necessitating Bauckham's assertion that they are actually the names of eye-witnesses. The theory of an inclusio of eyewitness testimony falters against the fact that Bauckham's eyewitnesses (Peter for Mark and the Beloved Disciple for John) are not actually present for the crucial events they are to have witnessed. And the shift from plural to singular third person voices would be more convincing if any of our Gospels used a consistent first person voice, singular or plural. Finally, Bauckham's appeal to Gerhardsson's model of a Jerusalem school from which Paul learned to memorize Jesus traditions exposes him to all the objections raised against that earlier argument, for which Bauckham offers no remedy.
Jesus' Messianic Self-Consciousness Revisited: Christology and Community in Context
Authors: Henderson Suzanne Watts
Published: July 2010

This study reconsiders the question of Jesus' messianic self-consciousness in light of his proclamation of God's coming kingdom and its backdrop within Jewish texts that likely influenced or paralleled his own apocalyptic worldview (Second Isaiah, Daniel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Similitudes of Enoch). Evidence mined from Gospel sources suggests that the historical Jesus' mission was both broadly 'messianic'—that is, as one closely associated with God's coming reign—and corporate in thrust—that is, involving others as active participants in that reign. Further, the communal dimension of Jesus' messianic role coheres with the Jewish writings explored here, which consistently situate individual messianic figures in dynamic relationship with the faithful, serving to bridge the chasm between the divine and human realms.
De Predikanten in Holland in 1566
Authors: Vis G.N.M. , Woltjer J.J.
Published: July 2010

Voor 1566 vinden we in Holland slechts weinig sporen van een georganiseerde min of meer reformatorische protestantse beweging. Toch ontplooide deze laatste zich in 1566 verrassend snel. Om iets meer van deze beweging te weten te komen, willen wij nagaan welke predikanten er een rol in speelden. Ter inleiding sprokkelen we de schaarse gegevens over protestantse activiteiten in de eerste helft van de jaren zestig bijeen. Omdat binnen Holland het noorden duidelijk een eigen patroon vertoont, behandelen we dit eerst.1 Naast de min of meer reformatorische protestanten waren er ook de doperse protestanten, die al vele jaren georganiseerde gemeenten kenden. Eigenlijk zouden wij dus steeds over 'niet-doperse protestanten' moeten schrijven, maar om stilistische redenen doen wij dat niet en- met excuses aan de doopsgezinden - noemen we deze 'niet-doperse protestanten' protestanten zonder meer.
The Second Diasporist Manifesto: Selections
Authors:   Kitaj
Published: July 2010

Selections from R.B. Kitaj's forthcoming The Second Diasporist Manifesto (Yale University Press) are provided with a brief contextual introduction emphasizing his conception of the role for Jews and Jewish art within the diverse world of the Diaspora.
Border Crossings: Two Installations by Chantal Akerman
Authors: Jenkins Bruce
Published: July 2010

Bruce Jenkins' essay examines the critical and theoretical grounds for artist and filmmaker Chantal Akerman's interventions both within the cinema and within the space of the gallery. The curatorial perspective posed by Documenta 11 and its focus on "diasporic consciousness" forms the basis for examining Akerman's work through the lens of her experience as the daughter of Holocaust survivors—displaced Polish Jews who ended up in Belgium. Part of what she has called the generation for which the repressed returns, Akerman began to focus on this past in her 1989 feature film Histoires d'Amérique, a loose adaptation of the stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer.Central to the analysis is her 1995 installation Bordering on Fiction, a work noted for its distinctive mode of interdisciplinary practice bridging film and video, projection and monitor display, the darkened hall of the cinema and the white cube of the gallery. Akerman's concerns with finding "other strategies" for dealing with the Holocaust are examined, as is the lucid analysis of her work by the artist Christian Boltanski.The essay lastly examines Akerman's recent film and installation From the Other Side (shown at Documenta 11), which represents a significant shift in perspective and tense. While Bordering on Fiction was a retrospective work searching for a lost past that could be captured only through absences and silence, From the Other Side, by contrast, focuses on the present and unfolds in a manner bordering on reportage.
On the Master-Disciple Relationship in Hasidic Visual Culture: The Life and Afterlife of Rebbe Portraits in Habad, 1798–2006
Authors: Katz Maya Balakirsky
Published: July 2010

Scholarship on Hasidism typically utilizes literary source material of the dynastic leaders and their top disciples, while the more typical master/disciple relationship has escaped attention. Hasidic movements have produced, distributed, and voraciously consumed visual portraits of their leaders throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The most visually productive Hasidic community is the Belarusian HabadLubavitch, which has produced images of five of its seven generations of leaders. Indeed, portraits of its leaders have been integral to the development of Habad both in Eastern Europe and its post-Shoah rejuvination in the United States. This paper begins with Habad's visual history from the 1880s release of portrait paintings of the first and third Habad leaders in the effort to establish a unified group identity at a time of factionalism. The survey then moves to Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the sixth Rebbe of Habad, who rallied his followers with the medium of photography. Photography became a central component of his leadership in the 1930s and 1940s. The study then moves to the seventh and last Habad leader, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who expanded the use of visual culture in Habad and used his own image to forge a post-Shoah group identity around a distinctly American leader who was also the spiritual repository of the six preceding Russian leaders. Schneerson's image production and reproduction began to model American celebrity culture in the early 1970s as part of a public campaign to inaugurate the Messianic Age. This broad dissemination of Schneerson's image inadvertantly created an elastic Schneerson portrait, whose reflexivness, in some respects, transcended its subject.
Towards a Post-Disciplinary Jewish Subject
Authors: Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara
Published: July 2010

By inviting contributions dealing with any kind of visual material from any disciplinary perspective, Images opens up the possibility that art might be studied from any disciplinary perspective and that visual culture might be studied from an art historical point of view. Given the orphan status of Jewish art and visual culture as an object of study, how might the study of Jewish visual culture alter the fields brought to bear on it? Herein lays the opportunity to generate something new with respect both to Jewish visual culture and to visual studies more generally.
The Draft Nordic Saami Convention: Nations Working Together
Authors: Koivurova Timo
Published: July 2010

The article examines the rationale underlying the Draft Nordic Saami Convention submitted by an expert committee to the Nordic governments and the Saami Parliaments in October 2005. The Draft Convention represents an innovative possibility to grow beyond the state-centred paradigm in international relations in a realistic way and thus deserves to be studied even before negotiations on the Convention proper commence. The particular focus of the article is on how the Draft tries to ensure a position that is as equitable as possible for the Saami in relation to the Nordic states.
Law as the Interplay of Ideas, Institutions, and Interests: Using Polyani (and Foucault) to ask TWAIL Questions
Authors: Fakhri Michael
Published: July 2010

This paper sketches out some preliminary thoughts on political economy that stem from problematics that emerge from TWAIL. The TWAIL story of international law is one of frustration and disappointment because of the constant exploitation of the Third World despite all the historic changes in international legal ideas and institutions, but it also a story of hope in the moments of resistance. In order to better debate how particular international institutions should be changed or whether particular international institutions should be renounced, I suggest that we need to explicate the theories of political economy embedded within these institutions. Drawing from Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation, bringing alongside the work of Michel Foucault, I sketch out one way of conducting a study of international political economy by suggesting that we can think of law as the interplay of ideas, institutions, and interests.
Sacrificing the Effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights on the Altar of the Effective Functioning of Peace Support Operations: A Critique of Behrami & Saramati and Al Jedda
Authors: Breitegger Alexander
Published: July 2010

The European Convention of Human Rights is unlikely to be an effective remedy for local individuals alleging human rights violations by European states participating in peace support operations abroad in the future. This conclusion is substantiated by analysing the restrictive and legally flawed stance taken by the European Court of Human Rights in the joint cases of Behrami and Saramati which had not only a precedential effect on this court's own jurisprudence but also on the case of Al Jedda v. UK Secretary of Defence before the UK House of Lords. Ultimately, the decisions in these cases may be understood by the choice to let the rationale of effective functioning of peace support operations prevail over the effectiveness of human rights protection of local individuals.
Sovereign Insolvency and International Legal Order
Authors: Malaguti Maria Chiara
Published: July 2010

The rescue of States in a financial crises has been classically managed by way of official lending, mainly managed by the IMF, where international law played the major role. In most recent cases, to the contrary, this has mainly become a private law issue: since debtors, including sovereign, undertake exposure on a contractual basis, repayment or negotiation of the debt is governed by such same contract. These present a number of pitfalls and shortcomings which have been tried to be solved by a number of solutions. Each of them, however, not only is not fully satisfactory, but cannot take into account all interests at stake. To this end, a number of projects have been elaborated, to regulate the matter at the international level, starting from the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism of the IMF to other proposals of international bankruptcy codes, none of which has been adopted. The present contribution analyses the consequences of these proposals on sovereignty and how alternative approaches could better respond to international stances while respecting private tools.
Debating the Ouroboros of International Law: The Drafting History of Article 31(3)(c)
Authors: Merkouris Panos
Published: July 2010

The Diversification and expansion of International Law has sparked a series of debates on the present status and future of International Law; even more so, since the ILC decided to tackle the issue of fragmentation. One of the areas of research and controversy has been Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which, arguably, enshrines the principle of systemic integration. The aim of this article is to explore the evolution of Article 31(3)(c) from its first inception by the forefathers of international law up to the finalization of the text of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. By mapping the critical arguments in the three main fora of debate (i.e the Institut de Droit International, the International Law Commission and the Vienna Conference on the Law of treaties) what arises is a series of conclusions with respect to certain aspects of Article 31(3)(c) as well as certain recurring themes in the nature and progress of the discussions. All of the above will show that the drafting history of Article 31(3)(c) seems to suggest that the relevant provision was meant to serve a purpose expressed more concisely by the symbol of Ouroboros rather than of a mere "master-key" to the house of International Law.
The Gastronomics of TWAIL's Feminist Flavourings: Some Lunch-Time Offerings
Authors: Otto Dianne
Published: July 2010

This paper was prepared as a lunch-time key-note address on the relationship(s) between Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) and feminism(s). It reflects on the author's experience, at the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995, of seeking support from the African Caucus of nongovernmental representatives for the inclusion of references to 'sexual orientation' in the Beijing Platform for Action. The work of Janet Halley is drawn on to formulate a multiple choice 'lunch-time quiz', which sets out possible relationships between feminism and TWAIL. It is argued that although commensurabilities between these two bodies of thought are often difficult to discern, there are other alternatives to 'taking a break' from one in order to engage with the other. The author urges courage to pursue critical insights by interrogating the certainties of both sets of ideas, in order to develop 'a brief' that is powerful enough to challenge the hierarchies and injustices that are taken for granted by so many in the discipline of international law.
The Promise of Solid Ground: Arab Territorial Disputes and the Discourse of International Law
Authors: Burgis Michelle
Published: July 2010

Why have Arab states chosen to solidify their boundaries through International Court of Justice (ICJ) adjudication? What patterns of discourse emerge in reading the pleadings and what can we conclude more broadly about international law's legitimacy in this 'post' colonial era? The following article demonstrates the value of applying critical methodologies to territorial adjudication. In particular, the article reveals how the dichotomy between law and politics is the central linguistic device structuring both legal speech and its silences. Discursive strategies are highlighted to show the extent to which Third World – and especially Arab – experiences continue to be silenced by the conventions of ICJ speech.
Historical Interpretation, Intentionalism and Philosophy of Mind
Authors: Brown Vivienne
Published: July 2010

Historiographic debates keep returning to issues of authorial intention in the interpretation of texts. This paper offers a response to these debates by differentiating between two versions of intentionalism, termed 'substantive intentionalism' and 'formal intentionalism', according to two different senses of 'identity' in the thesis that assigned meaning is identified with authorial intention, such that these two versions of intentionalism imply different ontological commitments to what are construed as the relevant authorial intentions. These distinctions and arguments are then related to the 'historical intentionalism' of Quentin Skinner and Mark Bevir. The paper argues that in practice historical intentionalism ends up reproducing the arguments of formal intentionalism, and it concludes by raising questions about the value of intentionalism for historians.
Dead Questions and Vicarious Understandings: Questioning Gadamer's Genealogy
Authors: Jardine Nicholas
Published: July 2010

Gadamer's Truth and Method emphasises the priority of engagement with questions in the process of interpretation; however, there are passages which appear dismissive of concerns with 'dead' scientific and philosophical questions. Here I argue that Gadamer's work is nevertheless an important resource for the historical study of the genesis and dissolution of questions. This type of study can overcome the divide between internal history of contents and external history of contexts. In both philosophy and the sciences, reflection on the genealogy of questions is, I suggest, crucial for our critical awareness of current methods and agendas.
The Musicality of the Past: Sehnsucht, Trauma, and the Sublime
Authors: Wurth Kiene Brillenburg
Published: July 2010

This paper argues that the sublime feeling can only announce itself as a paradoxical mixture of pain and pleasure in an experience of a lost or irrevocable past. Presenting the typical evanescence and inevitable deferral of the past in musical terms, this paper rewrites the sublime feeling as a musical feeling: a suspended feeling wavering in-between apparently opposite intensities of tension and respite. This suspended feeling is analyzed through a juxtaposition of the sublime with Sehnsucht, or the potentially endless longing for an irretrievable past, and trauma, or the potentially endless rehearsal of an unforgettable past.
The Disappearance of the Empirical: Some Reflections on Contemporary Culture Theory and Historiography
Authors: Roth Paul
Published: July 2010

This paper surveys the parallel fates of the notion of the empirical in philosophy of science in the 20th century and the notion of experience as evidence in one important line of debate in historiography/philosophy of history. The focus concerns the presumably crucial role some notion of the empirical plays in the assessment of knowledge claims. The significance of 'the empirical' disappears on the assumption that theories either determine what counts as experience or explain away any apparently discordant evidence. One consequence of this has been the suggestion that the analysis of meaning somehow replaces or supplants that played by evidence qua fact. This dispute impacts in parallel ways the turf wars between philosophers of science and practitioners of science studies as well as disputes in historiography between literary theorists and those not so kindly disposed. The parallels suggest why historiographic debate has stalled for three decades.
Ideal Types as Hermeneutic Concepts
Authors: Kedar Asaf
Published: July 2010

My paper sets out to demonstrate that Weber's ideal-typical theory of concept formation, subject to certain modifications, is compatible with the principles of philosophical hermeneutics and is therefore a valuable strategy of concept formation for interpretive historical inquiry. The essay begins with a brief recapitulation of the philosophical-hermeneutic approach to the human sciences. I then chart out the affinities as well as the discrepancies between philosophical hermeneutics and Weber's theory of the ideal type. Against this backdrop, I proceed to offer a number of correctives and additions to Weber's theory so as to tighten its fit with philosophical hermeneutics. First, I argue that the ideal type's proper logic of concept formation is a logic of significance rather than a logic of commonality. Second, I claim that the relationship between the various empirical cases to which a given ideal type is (or can be) applied is a Wittgensteinian relationship of family resemblance. Finally, I present two main kinds of epistemological functions that ideal types can fulfill within the framework of historical inquiry: argumentative and orientational-clarificatory.
Interpretivism in Jurisprudence: What Difference Does the Philosophy of History Make to the Philosophy of Law?
Authors: Choi Naomi
Published: July 2010

To answer the question of what difference the philosophy of history makes to the philosophy of law this paper begins by calling attention to the way that Ronald Dworkin's interpretive theory of law is supposed to upend legal positivism. My analysis shows how divergent theories about what law and the basis of legal authority is are supported by divergent points of view about what concepts are, how they operate within social practices, and how we might best give account of such meanings. Such issues are widely debated in the philosophy of history but are often overlooked in jurisprudential circles. When the legal positivist approach to meanings is contrasted with Dworkin's interpretivism it is clear that what is needed is an alternative to both, in the form of what we might call "historical meanings" and "historical interpretation". While Dworkin's interpretivism gets it right that legal positivism is an inadequate philosophy of law to the extent that it is committed to a "criterial semantics" view of concepts, this paper argues that post-positivism in the philosophy of law need not entail a normative jurisprudence, as Dworkin would have it.