bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Habitat use, reproductive traits and social interactions in a stream-dweller treefrog endemic to the Brazilian Cerrado
Authors: Nali Renato C. , Prado Cynthia P.A.
Published: November 2012

The richest anuran fauna is found in the Neotropics, but the natural history of most species is unknown. Bokermannohyla ibitiguara is a stream-dweller treefrog endemic to the Brazilian Cerrado and classified as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN. Herein we describe the species’ reproductive biology. Fieldwork was conducted from August 2010 to July 2011. Reproductive activity occurred from October to June and was positively correlated with air temperature, humidity, and monthly rainfall. Individuals were observed only in gallery forests at the margins of streams and males used various kinds of substrates as calling sites. Males did not aggregate in specific parts of the streams and spatial distance between males was higher in the dry season. Males and females did not differ in length, but females without mature oocytes were lighter than males. The reproductive investment (gonad mass/body mass) of males was 0.29% and that of females was 20.26%. Female ovaries contained a mean of 202 ± 75 mature oocytes with a mean diameter of 1.96 ± 0.16 mm. We describe, for the first time for the genus, a complex courtship behaviour and also male-male fight and satellite behaviour. The Cerrado is probably the most threatened savanna in the world, having been intensively modified over the last decades. Endemic species associated to gallery forests, such as B. ibitiguara, are highly vulnerable to habitat alterations. Thus, our study provides important data on the species’ biology, which might be useful for conservation practices, but also to investigate taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships in this genus.
Do researchers impact their study populations? Assessing the effect of field procedures in a long term population monitoring of sea kraits
Authors: Fauvel Thomas , Brischoux François , Briand Marine Jeanne , Bonnet Xavier
Published: November 2012

Long term population monitoring is essential to ecological studies; however, field procedures may disturb individuals. Assessing this topic is important in worldwide declining taxa such as reptiles. Previous studies focussed on animal welfare issues and examined short-term effects (e.g. increase of stress hormones due to handling). Long-term effects with possible consequences at the population level remain poorly investigated. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of widely used field procedures (e.g. handling, marking, forced regurgitation) both on short-term (hormonal stress response) and on long-term (changes in body condition, survival) scales in two intensively monitored populations of sea kraits (Laticauda spp.) in New Caledonia. Focusing on the most intensively monitored sites, from 2002 to 2012, we gathered approximately 11 200 captures/recaptures on 4500 individuals. Each snake was individually marked (scale clipping + branding) and subjected to various measurements (e.g. body size, head morphology, palpation). In addition, a subsample of more than 500 snakes was forced to regurgitate their prey for dietary analyses. Handling caused a significant stress hormonal response, however we found no detrimental long-term effect on body condition. Forced regurgitation did not cause any significant effect on both body condition one year later and survival. These results suggest that the strong short-term stress provoked by field procedures did not translate into negative effects on the population. Although similar analyses are required to test the validity of our conclusions in other species, our results suggest distinguishing welfare and population issues to evaluate the potential impact of population surveys.
Estimating the snake species richness of the Santubong Peninsula (Borneo): a computer-simulation
Authors: van Rooijen Johan
Published: November 2012

The snake species richness of the Santubong Peninsula, Sarawak, Borneo, has been estimated previously by fitting a Weibull model to the rarefied species accumulation curve. In the present study, the estimation procedure was simulated in order to shed more light on its validity, i.e. its accuracy and precision. First, the estimate was updated on the basis of an additional, small-scale, survey carried out in 2011. Subsequently, survey-data were used to construct a simulation database. Twenty samples were randomly drawn from this database. Each sample was transformed into a rarefied species accumulation curve to which a Weibull model was fitted. For comparison, various related models were fitted as well. All applied models resulted in a downwardly biased estimate. The Weibull model performed best, providing the estimate of species richness with the smallest bias and thus highest accuracy. As for the precision of the estimate, a rather wide confidence interval was established.
Fossil turtles of Slovakia: New material and a review of the previous record
Authors: Danilov Igor G. , Čerňanský Andrej , Syromyatnikova Elena V. , Joniak Peter
Published: November 2012

This paper presents the first review of the fauna of fossil turtles of Slovakia. It is focused on the turtle assemblages from 11 localities (Sandberg Hill, Waitov Lom, Borský Svätý Jur, Kamenica nad Hronom, Ivanovce, Hajnáčka, Žiar nad Hronom, Bojnice, Dreveník, Gánovce, and Levice) dated from the Middle Miocene to the Pleistocene. In addition, we describe new turtle material from the Hajnáčka and Sandberg Hill localities and, for the first time, from the Borský Svätý Jur locality. This new data expands our knowledge of the composition of the fossil turtle fauna of Slovakia and the morphology of its representatives. It also enables a more detailed comparison of this fauna with the contemporaneous turtle faunas of Central and Eastern Europe.
Sexual dimorphism in size and shell shape, and dichromatism of spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) in Southwestern Michigan
Authors: Rowe John W. , Gradel Jessica R. , Bunce Charles F. , Clark David L.
Published: November 2012

Differences in pigmentation, morphometry, and body size between sexes within populations can imply inter-sexual differences in reproductive biology. We assessed variation in body size, morphometrics, and pigmentation in Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata) in a southwestern Michigan population.Clemmys guttatawas not sexually dimorphic in body size but when compared to males, positive allometric increases in shell height resulted in relatively domed shells in females. Integumental reflectance was mostly limited to the visual spectrum 400-700 nm with little to no reflectance in the UV spectrum (340-700 nm). We found no intersexual differences in the intensity (brightness) of yellow spots or black ground color of the head and carapace, perhaps suggesting that such markings are involved in cryptic coloration. The orange-red stripes of the head and forelimbs, that were similar in intensity between the sexes, would look conspicuous in the full spectrum light of the shallow aquatic habitats ofC. guttataand thus could be involved in mate recognition. Chins of males were darker than those of females suggesting that chin color is a sexually selected trait.
Embryonic development of the monitor lizard, Varanus indicus
Authors: Gregorovicova Martina , Zahradnicek Oldrich , Tucker Abigail S. , Velensky Petr , Horacek Ivan
Published: November 2012

Describing the stages of normal development ofVaranus indicus, the present paper provides the first developmental data on Varanidae. The incubation period is relatively long (180 days at 28°C) and without any diapause. The development is rather slow during the first 50 days, after which a considerable acceleration can be observed. The stage of accelerated growth terminates at app. 100 days when all essential specificities of adult organisation (prolonged narial region with vomeronasal organ, eyes, claws, large heart and robust body and limbs) are established. The remaining period of the embryonic development is characterized by continuation of the respective trends, i.e., enlarging body, prolongation of rostrum, enlarging teeth and claws, keratinisation of claws and scales etc. In short, the second half of the embryonic development ofVaranusis devoted to refining the structures supporting its adaptations for active predation.
Spatial analysis of amphibian road mortality levels in northern Portugal country roads
Authors: Matos Cátia , Sillero Neftalí , Argaña Elena
Published: November 2012

Animal mortality caused by vehicle collisions is one of the main ecological impacts of roads. Amphibians are the most affected group and road fatalities have a significant impact on population dynamics and viability. Several studies on Iberian amphibians have shown the importance of country roads on amphibian road mortality, but still, little is known about the situation in northern Portugal. By being more permeable to amphibian passage, country roads represent a greater source of mortality than highways, which act as barriers. Thus, mitigation measures should be applied, but due to the extensive road network, the identification of precise locations (hotspots) and variables related to animal-vehicle collision is needed to plan these measures successfully. The aim of the study was to analyse the spatial occurrence and related factors linked to amphibian mortality on a number of country roads in northern Portugal, using spatial statistics implemented in GIS and applying a binary logistical regression. We surveyed 631 km of road corresponding to seven transects, and observed 404 individual amphibians: 74 (18.3%) alive and 330 (81.7%) road-killed. Bufo bufo represented 80% of the mortality records. Three transects showed clustered distribution of road-kills, and broadleaved forests and road ditches were the most important factors associated with hotspots of road-kill. Logistic regression models showed that habitat quality, Bufo bufo’s habitat preferences, and road ditches are positively associated with amphibians’ road mortality in northern Portugal, whereas average altitude and length of walls were negatively associated. This study is a useful tool to understand spatial occurrence of amphibian road-kills in the face of applying mitigation measures on country roads from northern Portugal. This study also considers the necessity of assessing the condition of amphibian local populations to understand their road-kills spatial patterns and the urgency to apply mitigation measures on country roads.
The amphibian chytrid fungus in Bavarian populations of Alytes obstetricans: past absence, current presence, and metamorph mortality
Authors: Böll Susanne , Tobler Ursina , Geiger Corina C. , Hansbauer Günter , Schmidt Benedikt R.
Published: November 2012

In three Bavarian populations of Alytes obstetricans that were studied for the occurrence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the pathogen was detected. This is the first account of chytridiomycosis in Bavaria, Germany. Infected tadpoles had low infection loads mostly of 101 to 102 genome equivalents. Under high-density rearing conditions in the laboratory mortality rates were high after metamorphosis. Some individuals, however, showed no infection with Bd, while others survived metamorphosis in spite of low Bd loads. A new approach was chosen to get historical data on Bd occurrence in one of these populations: skeletochronological phalanx cross sections of 248 individuals that had been collected in the late 1980s were used to analyse the epidermis for chytrid sporangia. No sporangia were detected, thus we conclude that this population was not affected by Bd in the past.
The scent of stress: Pintado catfish differentially respond to chemical cues from stressed conspecifics
Authors: Giaquinto Percília C. , Hoffmann Anette
Published: November 2012

We examined whether pintado catfish (Pseudoplatystoma
corruscans) can discriminate between scents of non-injured conspecifics
stressed by a predator or by confinement and how fish use this information in
the trade-off between feeding and predator avoidance. In the confinement stress
condition, fish ingested the food, whereas in the predator stress condition,
fish did not eat. This finding and comparisons of the latency to food ingestion
and the time spent swimming between the confinement and predator-stress
conditions indicated that pintado catfish can discriminate between conspecifics
stressed by a predator or confinement using chemical cues, and use this
information for adjusting the trade-off between food intake and predator
avoidance.
Schistonchus (Aphelenchoididae) from Ficus benjamina in Australia, with description of S. benjamina sp. n.
Authors: Bartholomaeus Faerlie , Davies Kerrie A. , Ye Weimin , Giblin-Davis Robin M.
Published: November 2012

Ficus benjamina (Moracaeae subfamily Urostigma, section Conosycea) grows naturally in tropical Asia and in Australia in the north of the Northern Territory and the Cairns region of Queensland. It is widely grown as an ornamental in more temperate regions of Australia. Schistonchus benjamina sp. n. is described from sycones of F. benjamina in Brisbane, and is differentiated from other species of Schistonchus by a combination of morphological characters including having the excretory pore opening near the head, a short post-vulval uterine sac, rose thorn-shaped spicule, lightly sclerotised stylet and spicule, and three pairs of subventral papillae on the tail (one adcloacal, one at mid-tail length and one near the tail tip); and apparent biogeographical range. Phylogenetic analyses based on D3 sequences from collections from both northern and southern Queensland suggest that S. benjamina sp. n. is a species complex, but specimens from the different locations cannot be separated on morphological or morphometric data. Schistonchus benjamina sp. n. is closest to S. microcarpus from F. microcarpa (Urostigma, section Urostigma) in China.
From a Phenomenology of the Subject to a Phenomenology of the Event: Reconstructing the Ontological Basis for a Phenomenological Psychology
Authors: Mølbak Rune L.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In this paper I make the argument that being phenomenologically faithful to human experience means broadening the scope of the phenomenological method to not only include subjective experiences. Instead of reducing the psychological study of phenomena to the subject who ‘has’ an experience and who makes sense of this experience according to his or her own goal-directed plans, I will introduce the idea of starting our research from an understanding of an experience that is more original than the subject who ‘has’ it, since it both happens to this subject and transforms this subject in the process of happening to it. This understanding of experience, which is based in part on insights from the later Heidegger and the work of Jean-Luc Marion, takes the phenomenological reduction beyond what this or that experience meant to a particular subject (a psychological reduction) and looks instead at how this particular subject came into being as part of an experiential event that allowed it to become the subject that it is. I will call this new phenomenology a ‘phenomenology of the event’ and will seek to develop the implications of situating the study of psychological phenomena within such a paradigm.
On Figal’s Heidegger-Critique in Gegenständlichkeit
Authors: Freydberg Bernard
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The paper is divided into four brief but related sections: (I) a description of Figal’s resuscitation and reinterpretation of the word that informs the title of his book, the word “Gegenstand,” and his Heidegger-critique regarding this resuscitation; (II) an examination of an important strain of the aforementioned lineage, namely, the role of Wilhelm von Humboldt as source for Heidegger’s and his own Sprachdenken; (III) an account of the Figal-Heidegger encounter with respect to the speaking of language; and (IV) the culmination of the “Sprache” chapter and some comments upon the outcome with regard to philosophy of language.
Bolivia’s Radical Tradition: Permanent Revolution in the Andes, S. Sándor John, Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2009 ‘I Sweat the Flavor of Tin’: Labor Activism in Early Twentieth-Century Bolivia, Robert L. Smale, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010
Authors: Choonara Joseph
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Robert L. Smale’s work looks in detail at the origins of Bolivia’s labour movement in the tin mines of the early twentieth century. This provides a good starting point for an account of the rapid rise of Trotskyism in the period leading up to the national revolution of 1952, a phenomenon described in detail in S. Sándor John’s book. Sándor John’s work in particular is important in understanding both the strengths and limitations of the Trotskyist POR, which was not able to displace rival nationalist organisations to achieve political hegemony in the struggles of the second half of the twentieth century.
Political Economy: History with the Politics Left Out?
Authors: Backhouse Roger
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This paper argues that Milonakis and Fine, in their bookFrom Political Economy to Economics, offer an account of history that systematically omits discussion of how economics has been shaped by the political and social context in which it developed. This contrasts with work by intellectual historians who have argued that such factors were crucial to understanding the history of economic ideas. It is ironic given that Milonakis and Fine are criticising economists for excluding the political and the social from economics.
Why We Need to Understand Derivatives in Relation to Money: A Reply to Tony Norfield
Authors: Bryan Dick , Rafferty Michael
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The issue of the relation between financial derivatives, money and crisis remains one of on-going debate within Marxism. This paper takes issue with a recent contribution to this debate by Tony Norfield. We contend that the relationship between financial derivatives and the concept of ‘money’ needs to be framed in the context of a changing understanding of liquidity, and that issues of crisis and renewed accumulation are better understood though this path than via debates about speculative versus real investment and productive versus unproductive capital. Indeed these latter taxonomies are being superseded by current developments within finance, and Marxian analysis needs to be attuned to these current developments.
Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, Volume 1: The False Messiah, Alan Hart, Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2009; Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, Volume 2: David Becomes Goliath, Alan Hart, Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2009; Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, Volume 3: Conflict Without End, Alan Hart, Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2010
Authors: Ajl Max
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This review-essay looks at a recent trilogy of works on Israeli history, the political history of the relationship between the United States and Israel, and the effect of the Israel lobby on the relationship between the two states. While the books attempt to construct a narrative that essentially blame the lobby for close to one hundred years of American malfeasance in the Middle East, they falter due to their idealism, their weak grasp of regional political economy and American capital accumulation, and their conspiracism. Instead, this review proposes a reinterpretation of regional political economy, materially grounding the lobby and the Special Relationship while situating the two within the patterns of accumulation pushed by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler’s ‘weapondollar-petrodollar coalition’, the main determinant of American foreign policy in the Middle East.
Islam’s Marriage with Neoliberalism: State Transformation in Turkey, Yıldız Atasoy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
Authors: Duzgun Eren
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Yıldız Atasoy’s recent survey of state transformation in Turkey reiterates some of the most typical shortcomings of Marxian approaches to the Ottoman/Turkish modernisation. This involves an ahistorical conception of capitalism reduced to commercial expansion and a structuralist method that transhistoricises the historical differentiation of the economic from the political. Combined together in Atasoy’s book, capitalism no longer exists in the shape of specific social relations and particular juridical/political forms, but rather it precedes and determines them. Consequently, social struggles over production and reproduction are separated from and no longer implicated within struggles over the redefinition of citizenship, secularism and democracy. An implicit economic determinism eventually prevails, reproducing functionalist modes of argumentation. Based on a theoretical and historical critique of Atasoy’s argument, this review seeks to provide new insights into Ottoman/Turkish modernity from a Political Marxist perspective.
Politics and Time in the Baal Cycle
Authors: Tugendhaft Aaron
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This essay considers the Ugaritic Baal Cycle in light of Mircea Eliade’s ideas about history and primordial archetypes. Unlike the Babylonian poem Enuma elish with which it is so often compared, the Baal Cycle does not depict a primordial combat and so does not root the political rule of today in the overcoming of a prior chaos. The Ugaritic poem adopts an attitude towards politics that is at odds with the one taken by the Babylonian creation narrative and championed by Eliade in his celebration of what he called “archaic ontology.” Instead of providing a means to overcome the contingency of historical becoming, the Baal Cycle embraces the historical aspect of political rule.
The Flood Motif as a Stylistic and Temporal Device in Sumerian Literary Traditions
Authors: Chen Y. S.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Recent scholarship suggests the Flood motif and its literary representations may have emerged and developed relatively late in Sumerian literary traditions. To investigate how the Flood motif gained its entry in the literary traditions, the current study traces the dissemination of the temporal expression eĝir a-ma-ru ba-ur3-ra-ta “After the Flood had swept over . . .” and its variants in Sumerian mythological and chronographic sources during the Old Babylonian period. This study seeks to demonstrate that when the Flood motif first emerged explicitly in Sumerian literary traditions it manifested as an innovative stylistic and temporal device for introducing the primeval time of origins as well as for marking the (re-)beginning of time. Coming to grips with this initial stage of development of the Flood motif will shed important light on some key conceptual and literary processes through which the Flood motif and its mythological and chronographic representations formed and evolved during the Old Babylonian period.
Christianity, Islam, and ‘The Religion of Pouring’: Non-linear Conversion in a Gambia/Casamance Borderland
Authors: Thomson Steven K.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The twentieth-century religious history of the Kalorn (Karon Jolas) in the Alahein River Valley of the Gambia/Casamance border cannot be reduced to a single narrative. Today extended families include Muslims, Christians, and practitioners of the traditionalAwasena‘religion of pouring’. A body of funeral songs highlights the views of those who resisted pressure toward conversion to Islam through the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. The introduction of a Roman Catholic mission in the early 1960s created new social and economic possibilities that consolidated an identity that stood as an alternative to the Muslim-Mandinka model. This analysis emphasizes the equal importance of both macropolitical and economic factors and the more proximal effects of reference groups in understanding religious conversion. Finally, this discussion of the origins of religious pluralism within a community grants insight into how conflicts along religious lines have been defused.
Conclusion: The Mendicants as a Mediterranean Phenomenon
Authors: García-Serrano Francisco
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The medieval Mediterranean was an environment in which mendicant friars were able to thrive, attending to the spiritual needs of the populace and benefitting from the support of the urban classes, especially merchants, with whom they established close relationships. The examples of the convents of Barcelona, Ciutat de Mallorca and Florence presented in this volume clearly elucidate the association between the friars, the merchants and the urban aristocracy. Although the friars did not restrict their activities to the Mediterranean world and quickly expanded into other European kingdoms and remote lands, it was in the dense urban setting of this region where they first conducted their preaching and established their roles as active social agents.
The Study of Islam Before and After September 11: A Provocation
Authors: Hughes Aaron W.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In the aftermath of September 11, the academic study of Islam has been one of the most sought-after areas of academic expertise throughout North America. The result is that many departments of Religious Studies have been eager either to develop or increase existing offerings in all things Islamic and Arabic. This strikes me as a good a time as any to reflect upon the nature of the relationship between Religious Studies and Islamic Studies. This article assumes that the integration of the latter into the former has not been easy or even successful. It provocatively argues that some of the manifold reasons behind such tensions emerge from the apologetics—found among both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars—inherent to the study of Islam. This confessionalism is the result of a complex amalgam of academic and non-academic forces.
A Materialist Theory of Religion: The Latin American Frame
Authors: Hughes Jennifer Scheper
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This review essay engages Manuel Vásquez’s new book, More than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion, from the perspective of Latin American religious practice and thought. Vásquez’s materialist theory of religion is shaped by Latin American intellectual strands, including liberationist intellectual concerns and commitments. While Vásquez’s focus remains primarily on the body, his work allows for and invites a more extended theorization of material religion (or material culture)—bringing new attention to the “objects,” the “things,” that so often anchor and define religious practice in Latin America and across the globe.
The Uses and Abuses of Criticism in the Study of Islam: A Response to Aaron Hughes
Authors: Martin Richard C.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Aaron Hughes offers a challenging critique of contemporary Islamic Studies scholarship, particularly among members of the Study of Islam Section (SIS) of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). A call for a more rigorous scholarship based on historical and textual criticism is issued as ‘provocation’ to the group. In my reply, I suggest that his essay is indeed a provocation, although not always helpfully or accurately, despite an attempt to end on a non-polemical, constructive note in the last couple of pages, where there is not enough substance on which to build a useful dialogue. Hughes argues that contemporary Islamicists have tended to become defensive of Islam in the face of growing Islamophobia in the public sphere. This essay in reply accepts some of Hughes’s critique, disagrees with some of the substance of it, including the pugnacious tone, and suggests ways to improve the chances of a meaningful dialogue
The State of Islamic Studies in the Study of Religion: An Introduction
Authors: McCutcheon Russell T.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This is an introduction to the commissioned set of papers in reply to Aaron Hughes’s assessment of the current state of Islamic studies within the academic study of religion.
Work at the Limits: A Response to My Critics
Authors: Vásquez Manuel A.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This essay is a response to Paul Harvey’s, Sylvester Johnson’s, Kathryn Lofton’s, and Jennifer Scheper Hughes’s readings of More than Belief (2011).
Why Critique?
Authors: Mas Ruth
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This paper examines the stakes in disentangling critique from its Western operation in order to locate a position of political freedom for the critical study of the Islamic tradition. It considers how the question of the critical study of Islam is a question about the political significance of the concept of critique, and the challenge that the study of the Islamic tradition poses to the discriminating operation of Western criticism. It argues that critique espouses the very philosophical ethos of the Enlightenment itself that challenges us to adopt the “a limit-attitude” of analyzing and reflecting on the limits of the Enlightenment and the political and governmental apparatus that accompanied it.
Provocation and Its Responses
Authors: Rippin Andrew
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The discussions of textbooks, academics’ various roles, and the changes to the study of Islam over the past thirty years found in the essays in this special issue display the full range of concerns common to Religious Studies and also bring a welcome dialogue on the issues, a phenomenon that is not common within Islamic Studies.
Alexander of Alexandria and the Homoousion
Authors: Edwards Mark
Published: November 2012

Abstract

This paper responds to recent publications which play down the role of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria in securing the adoption of the term homoousion at the Nicene Council of 325. It argues that, while the term is not employed in any surviving work from his hand, there is some reason to believe that he sanctioned the use of it by his colleagues. There is no doubt that before the Council he had already declared the Son to be “from the Father’s essence”, and it is all but certain that when this phrase was challenged, together with the homoousion at Nicaea, it was he who produced a conciliatory exegesis of both innovations, relying on the theology that had already been expounded in his letters Philostorgius’ story that he and Hosius of Cordoba had concerted a plan to introduce the homoousion is not implausible, and it should not be assumed that the author of an anonymous life of Constantine, which corroborates this narrative, is merely paraphrasing Philostorgius. Their testimony is consistent with that of Ambrose of Milan, who can be shown to have been acquainted both with documents and with witnesses of the proceedings at the Council.
The Unreliability of Irenaeus’s Reference to Syneisaktism (Adversus Haereses 1,6,3)
Authors: Van der Sypt Liesbeth
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In modern scholarly research there seems to be a consensus that Irenaeus’s Adversus Haereses 1,6,3 should be interpreted in connection with the ascetic practice of syneis­aktism (“spiritual marriage”). Irenaeus writes that some Valentinians who “pretend at first to live in chastity with them as with sisters, have been proved in the course of time to be in the wrong, when the sister gives birth to a child of her brother”. At first sight this sentence indeed seems to describe a practice in which the living together in chastity is the central focus and a link with syneisaktism is therefore not far-fetched. In this article, however, I present another interpretation. By looking to the content of the text and its context, it will be possible to prove that the paragraph in question is a polemical reproach that does not find any firm ground in the range of thoughts really held by this particular Gnostic movement.
Outlook 2020: Results from a Real-Time Delphi Survey of Global Pentecostal Leaders
Authors: Gary Jay E.
Published: November 2012

Abstract

In the fall of 2011 a Real-time Delphi survey was conducted with members of Empowered21, entitled: “Outlook 2020: The future of Spirit-empowered Christianity.” The survey consisted of thirteen projections for the year 2020, ranging from positive statements, such as “The church will experience a fresh, historic outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” to negative ones, such as “There will be an increase of public moral failures among Spirit-empowered leaders.” Of the 132 members invited, 29 percent, or 38 participants completed the survey. Participants reached a consensus on eight of thirteen projections. The results show that Empowered21 leaders have high expectations for 2020 — that the church would experience a historic outpouring of the Holy Spirit, sustained by new leadership. Yet, this would be accompanied by an increasing divide between how emerging and established generations express their Spirit-empowered faith.
Heart and Reason: Using Pascal to Clarify Smith’s Ambiguity
Authors: Bom Klaas
Published: November 2012

Abstract

Like other Pentecostal scholars, James Smith highlights the anti-rationalist feature of Pentecostalism and stresses the priority of (faith) experiences. In his sketch of a Pentecostal contribution to epistemology, however, this stance leads to an ambiguous appreciation of the role of human reasoning in the process of knowing. I will address some consequences of this position and show that Blaise Pascal’s work provides clarification. Like Smith, Pascal gives priority to the heart, but rational and sensorial knowledge are both explicitly highly valued. The shared priority of the knowledge of the heart is the starting point to understand the possible contribution of Pascal to Smith’s Pentecostal quest for an adequate perspective on epistemology. I will argue that the most challenging points of Pascal’s possible contribution are the proper place of reasoning, the crucial function of willing and love, and the elaboration within a broader theological perspective.
Calcium mobilization from the avian eggshell during embryonic development
Authors: Österström Ola , Holm Lena , Lilja Clas
Published: November 2012

The avian eggshell acts as the major source of calcium for embryogenesis in bird. Using scanning electron microscopy, the inner eggshell surface was analysed before and after embryonic development and its accompanying calcium removal. This was done in eggs from two bird species with different growth rates and modes of development, the precocial Japanese quail Coturnix japonica and the altricial starling Sturnus vulgaris. Next, enzyme histochemistry was used to localize carbonic anhydrase in the extra-embryonic chorioallantoic membrane to provide support for the hypothesis that calcium may be released from the eggshell by means of acidification through the action of carbonic anhydrase. However, neither in the precocial quail nor in the altricial starling could any staining for carbonic anhydrase be detected. These results lead us to the conclusion that the role of carbonic anhydrase in embryonic calcium mobilization from the avian eggshell remains unclear.
Effects of photoperiod on body mass, thermogenesis and serum leptin in Apodemus draco during cold exposure
Authors: Zhu Wan-long , Zhang Hao , Meng Lihua , Wang Zheng-kun
Published: November 2012

Many small mammals respond to seasonal changes in photoperiod by altering body mass and adiposity. These animals may provide valuable models for understanding the regulation of energy balance. In the present study, we examined the effect on body mass, resting metabolic rate, food intake and body composition in cold-acclimated Apodemus draco by transferring them from a short to long day photoperiod. During the first 4 weeks of exposure to short days, A. draco’s body mass decreased. After the next 4 weeks of exposure to long days, body mass increased in the long day group compared to the short day group. This increase in body mass reflected significant increases in absolute amounts of body components, including wet carcass mass, dry carcass mass and body fat mass. Liver, kidney, and small intestine were enlarged due to longer photoperiod during cold exposure. A. draco increased its resting metabolic rate and energy intake after exposure to long days. Serum leptin levels were positively correlated with body mass, body fat mass, resting metabolic rate as well as energy intake. All of the results indicate that A. draco may provide an attractive novel animal model for investigation of the regulation of body mass and energy balance at the organismal levels. Leptin is potentially involved in the photoperiod-induced body mass regulation and thermogenesis of A. draco during cold exposure.
Something gone awry: unsolved mysteries in the evolution of asymmetric animal genitalia
Authors: Schilthuizen Menno
Published: November 2012

The great diversity in genital shape and function across and within the animal phyla hamper the identification of specific evolutionary trends that stretch beyond the limits of the group under study. Asymmetry might be a trait in genital morphology that could play a unifying role in the evolutionary biology of genitalia. Here, I review the current knowledge on the taxonomic distribution, phylogenetic patterns, genetics, development, and ecology of asymmetric (chiral) genitalia. Asymmetric genitalia (male as well as female) have evolved from bilaterally symmetric ones (and sometimes vice versa), innumerous times in most animal taxa with internal fertilisation, and especially in Platyhelminthes, Arthropoda, Nematoda, and Chordata. In groups with asymmetric genitalia, chiral reversal (where species carry genitalia that are the mirror image of those in other, congeneric, species) is common, but antisymmetry (both mirror images present within a species) is rare. Although indications exist that, at least in insects, asymmetry evolves as a compensatory response to the evolution of male-dominant mating positions, many mysteries remain. Main questions are: (i) is genital asymmetry developmental-genetically linked with other (visceral, external) asymmetries? (ii) is genital asymmetry usually correlated with a change in mating position? (iii) is asymmetry more likely to evolve in response to cryptic female choice or sexually-antagonistic coevolution? (iv) why is antisymmetry so rare and how does chiral reversal evolve? Based on an overview of the taxonomic patterns, I advocate a research program that makes use of the simple, binary nature of left-right asymmetry to test hypotheses for its evolution with experimental and comparative methods. I also provide tables with full or summarised data on (a) genital asymmetry across all animal phyla with internal fertilisation; (b) genera with dextral as well as sinistral species; (c) species with dextral as well as sinistral individuals; (d) genera with symmetric as well as asymmetric species; (e) species with symmetric as well as asymmetric individuals.
Note on the Interim Measures in the Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration
Authors: Tanaka Yoshifumi
Published: November 2012

Abstract

On 17 May 2010, Pakistan initiated arbitration proceedings against India before a Court of Arbitration with regard to a dispute arising from the use of the river Kishenganga. The dispute involves the legality of India’s Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Project (KHEP) on the river Kishenganga/Neelam under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. In the Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration, Pakistan requested that the Court issue an order for interim measures, and, on 23 September 2011, the Court laid down certain interim measures on the basis of Article IX and Paragraph 28 of Annexure G to the Indus Waters Treaty. The Order of the Court of Arbitration addresses certain issues that need further consideration with regard to conditions and functions of provisional measures in the settlement of international water disputes. Thus, this article will seek to examine the Order of 2011 as a case study of interim measures in the settlement of international water disputes.
The Slide from Withdrawal to War: The UN Secretary General’s Failed Effort in Afghanistan, 1992
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Dipali
Published: November 2012

Abstract

The United Nations represented an organization of severely limited means during the Cold War. The Secretary-General’s office became one of the few instruments in the UN system with the power to influence international relations, albeit in limited ways. As Afghanistan emerged from one war in 1989, it risked falling into another involving the various Afghan stakeholders left to fight each other in the wake of their victory over the Soviets. The office of the Special Representative to the Secretary-General emerged as a key exponent of “quiet diplomacy,” as various emissaries shuttled across the globe working to prevent this fragile post-conflict state’s return to violent conflict. The operating environment was saturated with mistrust as a result of superpower tensions, regional agendas, ethno-religious differences, and a highly militarized landscape. This article considers the geopolitical, institutional, operational, and personal dimensions of this diplomatic campaign from the time of Soviet withdrawal until 1992. Ultimately, the campaign’s limitations overwhelmed its advantages and the Afghan state dissolved into a dark period of warlordism and violence. This article explores the reasons for the eventual failure of diplomacy and its implications for quiet diplomatic efforts that have resurfaced in Afghanistan since 2001.
The Function of Diplomatic Missions in Times of Armed Conflict or Foreign Armed Intervention
Authors: Barker J. Craig
Published: November 2012

This article examines Raoul Wallenberg’s work as a diplomat in Budapest between June 1944 and January 1945. It suggests that Wallenberg’s legacy was initially very limited as a result of the state-centric approach to the codification of diplomatic law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961. Nevertheless, it is argued that the emergence of the so-called “new” diplomacy, coupled with the developing notion of “responsibility to protect” in the face of gross violations of human rights, such as those faced by Wallenberg, have opened up the possibility for diplomats to engage in the process of protecting civilian populations in times of internal strife
Overcoming Dilemmas of Democratisation: Protecting Civil Liberties and the Right to Democracy
Authors: Siegle Joseph
Published: November 2012

The on-going global shift toward democratic government, vividly joined in recent years by the Arab World, is tempered by the many challenges of democratic transitions. The toppling of an autocratic leader does not automatically mean the rise of democracy. Elections do not guarantee the protection of civil liberties. And democratic leaders are not immune from the seductions of power and the incentives of dismantling democracy’s institutional checks and balances. The costs to a society and the international community for democratic reversals are high in terms of civil liberties, human rights, human development and political instability. Strengthening international legal instruments including mechanisms to enhance accountability for violence against journalists and proscribe the subversion of democratic institutions as a crime against democracy can help overcome these conundrums.
Current Developments
Authors: Arnt Nielsen Peter
Published: November 2012

The most important elements of the Commission’s Proposal of 14 December 2010 for a new Brussels I Regulation presently under negotiation are discussed. The negotiations are likely to end during the second half of 2012. The Commission focuses on four subjects. First, the Commission proposes that Brussels I should also apply to cases where the defendant is domiciled outside Europe. Second, it proposes to abolish exequatur. Third, the Commission proposes to make jurisdiction agreements more efficient in order to avoid ‘Italian Torpedoes’, and fourthly, it also proposes provisions enhancing the efficiency of arbitration agreements where a party is trying to avoid arbitration.
Symbolic Equality: Law and National Symbols in Northern Ireland
Authors: Schwartz Alex
Published: November 2012

The way in which the law regulates the display of national symbols has important consequences for minority national groups. If the majority is allowed to monopolise the official display of national symbols, members of the minority may be further alienated and discouraged from participating in public life. In contrast, a more even-handed approach to national symbols has the potential to foster an inclusive and pluri-national public culture. This article evaluates the regulation of national symbols in Northern Ireland. It contrasts the relative success of legislation regulating the display of symbols in the workplace with the latest equality litigation under Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement of 1998 (‘the Agreement’). With respect to the latter, it is argued that the case-law suffers from a general failure to apreciate the implications of the Agreement for the display of national symbols. The article goes on to explain how equality with respect to the display of national symbols – or ‘symbolic equality’ – should be understood as an extension of the Agreement’s commitment to the more general principle of ‘parity of esteem’.
Including Minority Rights in Peace Agreements: A Benefit or Obstacle to Peace Processes after Ethnic Conflicts?
Authors: Kempin Reuter Tina
Published: November 2012

Dealing effectively and efficiently with minorities and minority problems in the aftermath of ethnic conflict is central to durable and stable peace. The inclusion of minority rights in peace agreements is seen as a mandatory step in the resolution of the conflict and political stability. While references to human rights and minority rights are common, it is the implementation process that often lacks clarity and thoroughness. On the basis of three case studies, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo, this study examines how human rights and minority rights provisions are put into practice and how they impact the peace process. Findings suggest that the inclusion of minority rights is only beneficial in cases in which relevant institutions and adequate political and civil society support were established to implement the provisions. Formal reference to ethnic problems or minority rights is not sufficient.
Maintaining Ethnic Ties in the Process of EU Enlargement: The Relationship between Kin-Minority Laws, EU Anti-Discrimination Law and the Schengen Acquis
Authors: Wiesbrock Anja , Gajda Anna
Published: November 2012

Within the course of the 1990s, several European Union (EU) Member States have adopted so-called “kin-minority laws”, granting preferential entry and residence rights to their co-ethnics abroad. This paper investigates the relationship between such kin-minority legislation and the Union acquis, in particular the prohibition of nationality discrimination and the Schengen rules. It provides for a comprehensive overview of kin-minority laws in Europe, comparing their scope of application, eligibility requirements and benefits granted. We argue that in the absence of Union competence in the area of minority protection, kin-minority laws provide crucial instruments in protecting ethnic minorities. At the same time, legislation granting favourable treatment to co-ethnics may be at odds with the strict Schengen regime and the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality and/or ethnic origin. Even though EU law allows for positive discrimination under certain circumstances, a strict proportionality test applies. We argue that kin-minority provisions enacted by several Member States are questionable from an EU law perspective, illustrating the challenge to allow for the protection of ethnic minorities on the basis of national law whilst ensuring the coherency of the EU legal order.