bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nasal Trigeminal Inputs Release the A5 Inhibition Received by the Respiratory Rhythm Generator of the Mouse Neonate
Authors: Viemari Jean-Charles , Bévengut Michelle , Coulon Patrice , Hilaire Gérard
Published: February 2004

Experiments were performed on neonatal mice to analyze why, in vitro, the respiratory rhythm generator (RRG) was silent and how it could be activated. We demonstrated that in vitro the RRG in intact brain stems is silenced by a powerful inhibition arising from the pontine A5 neurons through medullary α2adrenoceptors and that in vivo nasal trigeminal inputs facilitate the RRG as nasal continuous positive airway pressure increases the breathing frequency, whereas nasal occlusion and nasal afferent anesthesia depress it. Because nasal trigeminal afferents project to the A5 nuclei, we applied single trains of negative electric shocks to the trigeminal nerve in inactive ponto-medullary preparations. They induced rhythmic phrenic bursts during the stimulation and for 2–3 min afterward, whereas repetitive trains produced on-going rhythmic activity up to the end of the experiments. Electrolytic lesion or pharmacological inactivation of the ipsilateral A5 neurons altered both the phrenic burst frequency and occurrence after the stimulation. Extracellular unitary recordings and trans-neuronal tracing experiments with the rabies virus show that the medullary lateral reticular area contains respiratory-modulated neurons, not necessary for respiratory rhythmogenesis, but that may provide an excitatory pathway from the trigeminal inputs to the RRG as their electrolytic lesion suppresses any phrenic activity induced by the trigeminal nerve stimulation. The results lead to the hypothesis that the trigeminal afferents in the mouse neonate involve at least two pathways to activate the RRG, one that may act through the medullary lateral reticular area and one that releases the A5 inhibition received by the RRG.
Analyzing Neural Responses to Natural Signals: Maximally Informative Dimensions
Authors: Sharpee Tatyana , Rust Nicole C. , Bialek William
Published: February 2004

We propose a method that allows for a rigorous statistical analysis of neural responses to natural stimuli that are nongaussian and exhibit strong correlations. We have in mind a model in which neurons are selective for a small number of stimulus dimensions out of a high-dimensional stimulus space, but within this subspace the responses can be arbitrarily nonlinear. Existing analysis methods are based on correlation functions between stimuli and responses, but these methods are guaranteed to work only in the case of gaussian stimulus ensembles. As an alternative to correlation functions, we maximize the mutual information between the neural responses and projections of the stimulus onto low-dimensional subspaces. The procedure can be done iteratively by increasing the dimensionality of this subspace. Those dimensions that allow the recovery of all of the information between spikes and the full unprojected stimuli describe the relevant subspace. If the dimensionality of the relevant subspace indeed is small, it becomes feasible to map the neuron's input-output function even under fully natural stimulus conditions. These ideas are illustrated in simulations on model visual and auditory neurons responding to natural scenes and sounds, respectively.
Dynamic Analyses of Information Encoding in Neural Ensembles
Authors: Barbieri Riccardo , Frank Loren M. , Nguyen David P. , Quirk Michael C. , Solo Victor , Wilson Matthew A. , Brown Emery N.
Published: February 2004

Neural spike train decoding algorithms and techniques to compute Shan-non mutual information are important methods for analyzing how neural systems represent biological signals. Decoding algorithms are also one of several strategies being used to design controls for brain-machine inter-faces. Developing optimal strategies to desig n decoding algorithms and compute mutual information are therefore important problems in com-putational neuroscience. We present a general recursive filter decoding algorithm based on a point process model of individual neuron spiking activity and a linear stochastic state-space model of the biological signal. We derive from the algorithm new instantaneous estimates of the en-tropy, entropy rate, and the mutual information between the signal and the ensemble spiking activity. We assess the accuracy of the algorithm by computing, along with the decoding error, the true coverage probabil-ity of the approximate 0.95 confidence regions for the individual signal estimates. We illustrate the new algorithm by reanalyzing the position and ensemble neural spiking activity of CA1 hippocampal neurons from two rats foraging in an open circular environment. We compare the per-formance of this algorithm with a linear filter constructed by the widely used reverse correlation method. The median decoding error for Animal 1 (2) during 10 minutes of open foraging was 5.9 (5.5) cm, the median entropy was 6.9 (7.0) bits, the median information was 9.4 (9.4) bits, and the true coverage probability for 0.95 confidence regions was 0.67 (0.75) using 34 (32) neurons. These findings improve significantly on our pre-vious results and suggest an integrated approach to dynamically reading neural codes, measuring their properties, and quantifying the accuracy with which encoded information is extracted.
Improving Generalization Performance of Natural Gradient Learning Using Optimized Regularization by NIC
Authors: Park Hyeyoung , Murata Noboru , Amari Shun-ichi
Published: February 2004

Natural gradient learning is known to be efficient in escaping plateau, which is a main cause of the slow learning speed of neural networks. The adaptive natural gradient learning method for practical implementation also has been developed, and its advantage in real-world problems has been confirmed. In this letter, we deal with the generalization performances of the natural gradient method. Since natural gradient learning makes parameters fit to training data quickly, the overfitting phenomenon may easily occur, which results in poor generalization performance. To solve the problem, we introduce the regularization term in natural gradient learning and propose an efficient optimizing method for the scale of regularization by using a generalized Akaike information criterion (network information criterion). We discuss the properties of the optimized regularization strength by NIC through theoretical analysis as well as computer simulations. We confirm the computational efficiency and generalization performance of the proposed method in real-world applications through computational experiments on benchmark problems.
Navigation of trochlear motor axons along the midbrain-hindbrain boundary by neuropilin 2
Authors: Watanabe Yuji , Toyoda Reiko , Nakamura Harukazu
Published: January 2004

Trochlear motor axons project dorsally along the midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) to decussate at the dorsal midline. We report on the roles of neuropilin 2 and its ligands in the molecular mechanisms controlling this trajectory. In chick embryos, neuropilin 2 was expressed in the neuroepithelium of the dorsal isthmus in addition to the trochlear neurons,and Sema3F transcripts were localized along the caudal margin of the midbrain. Misexpression of Sema3F demonstrated that Sema3F displays repulsive activity in vivo that guides the trochlear motor axons along the MHB. An unexpected result was that misexpression of neuropilin 2 canceled the midbrain-evoked repulsion, allowing trochlear motor axons to cross the MHB and invade the tectum. A binding assay with neuropilin 2 ectodomain revealed the existence of neuropilin 2 ligands in the midbrain, which were masked by ectopic neuropilin 2. We therefore propose that neuropilin 2 neutralizes the repulsive activity in order to steer trochlear motor axons towards the dorsal decussation point. Taken together, our results suggest that the interaction of neuropilin 2 with its ligands has crucial roles for establishing trochlear trajectory along the MHB.
Model organisms lead the way to protein palmitoyltransferases
Authors: Linder Maurine E. , Deschenes Robert J.
Published: January 2004

The acylation of proteins with palmitate and related fatty acids has been known for over 30 years, but the molecular machinery that carries out palmitoylation has only recently emerged from studies in the model organisms Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Drosophila. Two classes of protein acyltransferases (PATs) have been proposed. In yeast, members of a family of integral membrane proteins harboring a cysteine-rich domain (CRD) containing a conserved DHHC (Asp-His-His-Cys) motif are PATs for cytoplasmic signaling molecules. The DHHC-CRD protein Erf2p, together with an associated subunit Erf4p, palmitoylates yeast Ras proteins, and Akr1p catalyzes the palmitoylation of the yeast casein kinase Yck2p. The existence of a second class of PATs that modify secreted signaling proteins has been suggested from work in Drosophila. Rasp is required in vivo for the production of functional Hedgehog and shares sequence identity with membrane-bound O-acyltransferases, which suggests that it catalyzes the palmitoylation of Hedgehog. With the identification of PATs in model genetic organisms, the field is now poised to uncover their mammalian counterparts and to understand the enzymology of protein palmitoylation.
Fast Remapping of Sensory Stimuli onto Motor Actions on the Basis of Contextual Modulation
Authors: Salinas Emilio
Published: February 2004

Higher organisms can establish complex associations between sensory events and motor responses. More remarkable than their complexity, however, is that the resulting sensory-motor maps can be selectively interchanged. For example, a person who speaks English and Spanish can read aloud “con once, sin once,” going effortlessly from one language to the other. What is the neural basis of this capacity? Here, a network model is presented in which multiple maps between sensory stimuli and motor actions are possible, but only one of them, depending on behavioral context, is implemented at any given time. The key is a nonlinear representation in which the gain of sensory responses is regulated by context information. Neuronal responses can indeed show variations in gain, as has been documented in the case of proprioceptive signals such as eye and head position, which can modulate visually triggered activity. However, in contrast to these, the contextual cues used here need not bear any relationship to the physical attributes of the stimuli; in particular, spatial location is irrelevant. The model thus postulates the existence of sensory neurons that are nonlinearly modulated by arbitrary context signals, a plausible and testable prediction. The proposed mechanism allows a network of neurons to effectively change the functional connectivity between its inputs and outputs and may partially explain how animals can quickly adapt their behavior to varying environmental conditions.
Thailand in 2002: Political Consolidation amid Economic Uncertainties
Authors: Mutebi Alex M.
Published: February 2004

This article surveys the key political and economic highlights of Thailand in 2002. The party of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra consolidated its power by absorbing several opposition parties, thus cementing its unassailable hold on the House of Representatives. This, in turn, gave the party the ability to legislate virtually unopposed while guaranteeing both political stability and policy continuity for the rest of the prime minister's term. Meanwhile, the Thai economy, though still saddled with massive debt, rebounded strongly, led by robust private consumption and bolstered by loose monetary and fiscal conditions.
Indonesia in 2002: The Rising Cost of Inaction
Authors: Malley Michael S.
Published: February 2004

During 2002, communal conflicts abated in Indonesia, the government and rebels in Aceh signed a ceasefire agreement, major economic indicators improved, and a four-year-long constitutional reform process came to a successful conclusion. Yet, serious challenges remain for the country, including rampant corruption, economic weakness, and terrorism. Weak leadership and the fragmentation of political power make concerted action to resolve these problems unlikely before a new government is elected in 2004.
Malaysia in 2002: Political Consolidation amid Change?
Authors: Ganesan N.
Published: February 2004

In 2002, the Malaysian government underwent significant political consolidation. Despite Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's sudden announcement in June of his resignation, he will remain in office until October 2003, after which Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will replace him as prime minister. The government's political consolidation derived partly from its war on terrorism, which allowed it to marginalize the mainstream opposition. Additionally, opposition parties themselves are in disarray. Economically, the country performed well, and unorthodox measures introduced after the Asian financial crisis have begun to pay off. In foreign affairs, Malaysia achieved good accommodation with the U.S. but suffered from hiccups in its bilateral relations with regional neighbors.
Sri Lanka in 2002: Turning the Corner?
Authors: Shastri Amita
Published: February 2004

Embroiled in a civil war for two decades, a peace process was reinitiated in Sri Lanka with international support. Has Sri Lanka finally turned the corner from war? This article argues that major progress has been made by the United National Front government in opening a dialogue with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Yet, major hurdles remain: support by the Tigers for a political solution remains conditional, they have not laid down their arms, and negotiating an agreement about the prospective political structure promises to be problematic.
Timor-Leste: Divided Leadership in a Semi-Presidential System
Authors: Shoesmith Dennis
Published: February 2004

The semi-presidential system in the new state of Timor-Leste has institutionalized a political struggle between the president, Xanana Gusmão, and the prime minister, Marí Alkatiri. This has polarized political alliances and threatens the viability of the new state. This paper explains the ideological divisions and the history of rivalry between these two key political actors. The adoption of Marxism by Fretilin in 1977 led to Gusmão's repudiation of the party in the 1980s and his decision to remove Falintil, the guerrilla movement, from Fretilin control. The power struggle between the two leaders is then examined in the transition to independence. This includes an account of the politicization of the defense and police forces and attempts by Minister of Internal Administration Rogério Lobato to use disaffected Falintil veterans as a counterforce to the Gusmão loyalists in the army. The December 4, 2002, Dili riots are explained in the context of this political struggle.
Racing from The Bottom in South Korea?: The Nexus Between Civil Society and Transnational Migrants
Authors: Lim Timothy C.
Published: February 2004

This article examines the role that "civil society" in South Korea has played in promoting the rights of transnational migrant workers in an era of globalization. The analysis concludes that the nexus between the country's civil society and transnational workers has been critical in the process of slowing the "race to the bottom."
Foreigners' Rights in Japan: Beneficiaries to Participants
Authors: Takao Yasuo
Published: February 2004

This article examines the impact of Japanese local government's initiatives for promoting the protection of foreigners' rights. Evident in this study is the premise that local government is the single most important factor for promoting foreigners' rights in Japan.
NEO-LEFT AND NEO-RIGHT IN POST-TIANANMEN CHINA
Authors: Misra Kalpana
Published: February 2004

Post-Tiananmen neo-left and neo-right theorizing is characterized by a new emphasis on central power and normative legitimacy to redress the problems of ideological and political fragmentation associated with reform. This development has strengthened the Chinese government but also undermined the Communist Party's role as the fount of ideological authority.
FACING CITIZEN COMPLAINTS IN CHINA, 1951–1996
Authors: Luehrmann Laura M.
Published: February 2004

This article examines Chinese institutions designed to funnel citizen opinions to leaders. It argues that the dynamic between individuals hoping to solve grievances and officials hoping to scout out problems strengthens higher-level control over subordinates. The process, when done well, may promote regime legitimacy.
Myth and Genre on Athenian Vases
Authors: Ferrari Gloria
Published: February 2004

With the notable exceptions of Jan Bazˇant and Paul Harvey, most scholars subscribe to the idea that the representational scenes on Greek vases fall into one of two main categories: either myth (including epic subjects) or "genre," whose frame of reference is everyday life. This article challenges this distinction and makes a plea for its abandonment.
The Organization of Roman Religious Beliefs
Authors: KING CHARLES
Published: February 2004

Abstract: This study will focus on the differences in the way that Roman Paganism and Christianity organize systems of beliefs. It rejects the theory that “beliefs” have no place in the Roman religion, but stresses the differences between Christian orthodoxy, in which mandatory dogmas define group identity, and the essentially polythetic nature of Roman religious organization, in which incompatible beliefs could exist simultaneously in the community without conflict. In explaining how such beliefs could coexist in Rome, the study emphasizes three main conceptual mechanisms: (1) polymorphism, the idea that gods could have multiple identities with incompatible attributes, (2) orthopraxy, the focus upon standardized ritual rather than standardized belief, and (3) pietas, the Roman ideal of reciprocal obligation, which was flexible enough to allow Romans to maintain relationships simultaneously with multiple gods at varying levels of personal commitment.
Magic in Roman Law: The Reconstruction of a Crime
Authors: RIVES JAMES B.
Published: February 2004

In this paper I reconsider the Roman law on magic through an examination of three key “moments”: the Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficiis; the trial of Apuleius as known from his Apology; and a passage from The Opinions of Paulus. I argue that the Roman law on magic grounded in the Lex Cornelia gradually shifted from a focus on harmful and uncanny actions to a concern with religious deviance. This shift was already underway at the time of Apuleius' trial, if only on an ad hoc basis, and was firmly established in the formal discourse of Roman law by ca. 300 CE, the date of The Opinions of Paulus. I argue for the importance of retaining “magic” as a heuristic category, since it is the only term fluid enough to function as an inclusive rubric for this shifting set of concerns.
Abiding Faith
Authors: Chaves Mark , Hagaman Dianne
Published: February 2004

Contrary to the popular impression that Americans have become more secular, in some ways they are as religious as ever. But organized religion occupies less of Americans' time, and exerts less influence on society as a whole than in the past.
Sense and Nonsense about Surveys
Authors: Schuman Howard
Published: February 2004

Understanding surveys is critical to being an informed citizen, but popular media often report surveys without any guidance on how to interpret and evaluate the results. Some basic guidelines can promote more sophisticated readings of survey results and help teach when to trust the polls.
Evolutionary Psychology: New Science or the Same Old Storytelling?
Authors: Freese Jeremy
Published: February 2004

While skeptics dismiss Darwinian approaches to behavior, some social scientists hail evolutionary psychology as a “new science” that will revolutionize how we understand behavior and society. What is the promise and pretense in this new phase in the evolution of sociobiology?
High-Tech Communities: Better Work or Just More Work?
Authors: Riain Seán Ó
Published: February 2004

High-tech workers are creating communities that offer flexibility, creativity and independence at work. But the jury is still out on whether such communities can overcome the problems of insecurity, long work hours, and exclusion created by the fierce individualism of high-tech careers.
The Digital World Picture
Authors: Geuens Jean-Pierre
Published: February 2004

For the Hollywood industry, the move from film to digital merely involves the replacement of one medium by another. However, this technological shift potentially changes cinema as we know it. Not only do digital cameras allow for an unprecedented ease in capturing content, but digital nonlinear editing systems make it possible to manipulate the footage retroactively. A vast array of special effects can transform the nature of the image in that each frame can be individually modified. The ability to master every pixel undoubtedly seduces filmmakers to exert absolute and perfectionist control. Yet digital filmmaking also opens up avenues for visual and narrative innovations.
The Death of an Animal
Authors: Lippit Akira Mizuta
Published: February 2004

This essay looks at the representation of animal death in cinema, beginning with some of the earliest recorded killings of animals, such as Thomas Edison's Electrocuting an Elephant (1903), to contemporary feature films and documentaries that depict scenes of violence toward animals. At stake in this essay is a challenge to the philosophical axiom that animals cannot die: that because animals lack language, they are incapable of knowing death, and thus of experiencing it as such. In cinema, the paradox takes on an added complexity, which arises from the nature of visual representation and photographic media. If animals do not die, then why do so many animals appear to die in films? Why do so many (important) films feature the slaughter of animals? What is the relationship between animal death and film?
Robbie Robertson's Big Break: A Reevaluation of Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz
Authors: Severn Stephen E.
Published: February 2004

Although The Last Waltz has long been recognized as the "finest of all rock and roll movies," Martin Scorsese's chronicle of The Band's final concert is much more than a simple "rockumentary." It is a calculated document that deserves to occupy a far more prominent place in the director's filmography. Through careful deconstruction of the film's images and structure, this essay demonstrates that the film's real focus is guitarist Robbie Robertson and not The Band as a whole. The Last Waltz stands as a complex exercise in image-making designed to elevate Robertson's reputation above the other members of the group.
Those Who Love Me Can Take theTrain
Authors: Ehrenstein David
Published: February 2004

A high-intensity ensemble piece centered on a manipulative, sexually voracious gay artist whose passing leaves a "family" both sanguinary and sentimental in its wake, Those Who Love Me... is a key work of our age. Celebrated stage and opera director Patrice Chéreau throws the viewer into a whirlwind of character and incident charting a railway journey to a tumultuous funeral in which everything—from heterosexual marriage, heroin addiction, father/son relations, transsexuality, and HIV infection—is dealt with in ways both moving and comic. In constant sound-and-image motion, Those Who Love Me is a daunting cinematic object that strongly resists conventional analysis.
Uncanny Visions of History: Two Experimental Documentaries from Transnational Spain—Asaltar los cielos and Tren de sombras
Authors: Kinder Marsha
Published: February 2004

On November 8, 1930, Gérard Fleury, an amateur cinematographer in Normandy, went out at dawn to film Lake Thuit. He was never seen or heard from again. On August 20, 1940,Barcelona-born Stalinist Ramón Mercader assassinated Leon Trotsky in Mexico. After spending 20 years in prison, he was buried in Russia under a tombstone marked Ramón Ivanovich López. Fleury and Mercader are "uncanny" protagonists of two fascinating Spanish documentaries that explore transnational identity. Functioning as database narratives whose search engines generate a unique network of stories, they excavate lost histories that could potentially change our understanding of the transnational 1990s.
Bound Together
Authors: Kessler Kelly
Published: February 2004

While many recent male-directed lesbian-couplefocused films contain murdering or violent lesbians, the dyke mob thriller Bound stands apart. This study analyzes the film in terms of three issues—the presentation of the female body and lesbian sex, stereotyping, and a caricature of the gangster genre—and shows how Bound avoids selling out to or alienating the mass audience while successfully providing a needed space for polyvalent identification and pleasure.
Consider the Eel
Authors: Schweid Richard
Published: February 2004

The eel seems a prosaic animal lurking at the bottom of bodies of fresh water, but it has a most marvelous and surprising life cycle. Born in the Sargasso Sea, a vast sea in the Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the Azores, eel larvae may drift thousands of miles before entering fresh water rivers in Europe and North America. Here, they spend their adult lives until they return down river to the ocean, and the Sargasso, to mate and die. Conjecture about this life cycle has occupied naturalists since Aristotle, just as the eel has occupied cooks since Greek times. It has played an important role in the cuisines of cultures around the world. Although it has recently fallen from favor in the U.S. and the U.K., it commonly graced both English and North American tables for centuries. It provided protein for London's poor during the Middle Ages and was a primary food source for the Mayflower pilgrims and other early European settlers in the United States, where it had long been much appreciated by native American peoples.
A la recherche de la tomate perdue: The First French Tomato Recipe?
Authors: Santich Barbara
Published: February 2004

While tomatoes featured in numerous recipes in Italian and Spanish cookbooks of the eighteenth century, they were curiously absent from French cookbooks, although by the end of the eighteenth century tomatoes were certainly available in southern France. In the Archives Departementales de Vaucluse a handwritten recipe for a highly concentrated tomato puree, dated 1795, possibly represents the earliest French tomato recipe.
Mikhail Larionov's Still Life with Crayfish
Authors: Bekkerman Sonya
Published: February 2004

Mikhail Larionov's Still-Life with Crayfish is a result of the artist sintense engagement with Russian folk art traditions. In attempting to liberate Russian art from the influence of the West, Larionov discovered new formal languages by looking to his heritage and bringing into his paintings images derived from icons, lubki (popular prints) as well as painted shop signs and children sart. Although Larionov did not spearhead the Russian crafts revival, his participation became critical for its dissemination.

Still-Life with Crayfish exemplifies Larionov's insistence on russifying Western forms. The lessons of Czanne and the bold experiments of the Fauves figure prominently;however, the artist's conception of line, depth and color is a clear reference to lubki. The strident palette reflects Eastern influences, and the feast itself conveys an essentially Russian character. Larionov spassionate interest in creating new art forms inclined him to draw upon a diversity of sources. His admiration for the stability and timelessness of Russian peasant culture, life and art played a critical role in developing his oeuvre and allowed him to create a distinctive style independent of the West without wholly rejecting it.
Weight Watchers at Forty: A Celebration
Authors: Hendley Joyce
Published: February 2004

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Weight Watchers International, Inc., and while the program has changed considerably since its origins in the living room of its founder, Jean Nidetch, its essential core remains the same. Group support-encouragement, not judgment, from peers who have also known the shame and isolation of being fatremains key to its success. From its origins, the Weight Watchers program allayed itself with the weight loss and nutrition research community, evolving to include the latest knowledge in these burgeoning fields. Even as weight loss programs fell out of favor in the last two decades, with some researchers becoming disenchanted with the concept of restricted diets, the Weight Watchers programwith its emphasis on being a lifestyle, not a dietsurvived and thrived by continuing to reinvent itself. The food plan, which began as a fairly rigid diet couched in terms suggestive of law enforcement, has evolved into today's much more flexible POINTS system. Weight Watchers recipes-once appreciated only by fellow dietershave become mainstream fare meant to be shared, unapologetically, by all. The current program is multifaceted, incorporating exercise strategies and principles of neuro-linguistic programming along with the traditional focus on group support and eating guidelines. But the Weight Watchers philosophy (epitomized by its spokespeople, from Nidetch to the current Sarah Ferguson) remains constant, espousing that anyone, no matter how far from grace they have fallen, can start over.
Stalin and Wheat: Collective Farms and Composite Portraits
Authors: Margolin Victor
Published: February 2004

In late 1939, USSR in Construction, the Soviet propaganda magazine, published a special issue on the Stalin Collective Farm in the Ukraine. The inside front cover of the magazine contained an anonymous paean to socialist farming, attributing its success to the foresight and support of Joseph Stalin, the nation's leader. On the page flanking the euphoric opening text was a near full-page portrait of Comrade Stalin composed of multi-hued grains including millet, alfalfa, and poppy. Grain, or the absence thereof, was fundamental to the development of collective farms in the Soviet Union. By early 1929, government pressure to form large state-run farms had increased and Stalin declared war on the kulaks, or rich peasants. The kulaks responded by killing their livestock, destroying their crops, and demolishing their homesteads. Nonetheless, collectivization, backed by the Party apparatus, continued relentlessly. Needless to say, none of the resistance to collectivized agriculture was evident in USSR in Construction's depiction of life on the Stalin Collective Farm. At the end of the issue, the apparent happiness and prosperity of the workers were attributed to the virtues of socialism. In the later 1930s, with the inauguration of Stalin's "cult of personality," the nation was consistently equated with Stalin himself, hence the choice of his profile for the composite grain portrait. The seamlessness with which a multitude of grains could become a composite portrait of the nation's leader shows how successfully the Soviet government was able to rewrite the history of agricultural collectivization. The pain, loss, and resistance of the small landowners was successfully obliterated and replaced by a new narrative in which collective farm workers prospered and found happiness within a political system that was now synonymous with the beneficence of a single individual, Joseph Stalin.
Colony in a Cup
Authors: Dicum Gregory
Published: February 2004

Originating in East Africa, coffee was one of the first internationally traded commodities. An Arab monopoly on the bean was broken by the development of tropical European colonies. Coffee was the ideal colonial crop, but its cultivation relied upon widespread slavery and abusive economic relationships between regions. Many of these institutionalized inequities remain embedded in post-colonial coffee trading patterns. Rich coffee-consuming nations and the multinational trading and roasting companies that service their demand enjoy neocolonial dominance of growers around the world, many of whom are small landowners and family farmers in poor countries. At the same time, developed-world governmental interest in producing countries has waned, leaving multinationals free to pursue their own policies in large parts of the world. At present, there is a worldwide slump in coffee prices that is devastating economies throughout the developing world without translating into meaningfully lower prices for coffee consumers. One of the few programs to step into this political void is Fair Trade. By reconfiguring the trading relationship between coffee producers and consumers to emphasize a more direct relationship, Fair Trade appropriates globalized trading networks for the benefit of both coffee growers and coffee drinkers.
David Bohm and collective movement
Authors: Kojevnikov Alexei
Published: February 2004

Collectivist philosophy inspired David Bohm's research program in physics in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which laid foundations for the modern theory of plasma and for a new stage in the development of the quantum theory of metals. Bohm saw electrons in plasma and in metals as capable of combining collective action with individual freedom, a combination that he pursued in his personal and political life. Mathematical models of such complex states of freedom, developed by Bohm and other socialist-minded physicists (Yakov Frenkel, Lev Landau, Igor Tamm), transformed the physics of condensed matter and led to the introduction of a new fundamental physical concept, collective excitations or quasiparticles. Together, these contributions illustrate the impact of socialist thought on the development of physics during the last century.
The Quadrille as Embodied Musical Experience in 19th-Century Paris
Authors: Clark Maribeth
Published: February 2004

During the 1830s in Paris the quadrille, a five-movement figure dance, became musically omnipresent to the distress of many critics, who saw the genre as detrimental to French music and musical taste. Discussions of the dance in journalism and literature associate bourgeois women and girls and working-class men with promotion of the genre. As a figure dance with walking steps, the quadrille was enjoyed by respectable women who experienced it as a safe frame for civilized social interaction, although their male counterparts found the dance boring and uninviting. In contrast, working-class men were known for their engaging and energetic performances as cancanneurs, improvisatory dancers exhibiting a lack of control associated with political instability and revolution. Quadrilles were perceived to have a negative influence on musical education for girls, who resembled the cancanneurs in their mechanical and animalistic qualities, and who preferred quadrilles over more ambitious pieces for piano. More serious was the perceived damage that arrangements of operas as quadrilles inflicted on the original, reducing great works to the banal through simplification. By serving as an example of all that stands in opposition to art in French music, the quadrille contributed to the formulation of the concept of music as art.
Brahms's Opus 45 and German Protestant Funeral Music
Authors: Leaver Robin A.
Published: February 2004

Brahms's German Requiem stands at the end of a long line of Lutheran funerary music. Luther reworked funeral responsories into a new, totally Biblical form, and later Lutherans collected anthologies of Biblical texts on death and dying. Such sources were used by later composers, including Schütz and Bach, to compose funeral pieces on Biblical texts together with appropriate chorales. Brahms's opus 45 is similar in that its text is made up of Biblical verses assembled by the composer, and connections may be drawn between chorale usage in this work and the composer's Protestant upbringing in Hamburg on one hand, and in his knowledge of two cantatas by Bach (BWV 21 and 27), on the other. The text and structure of the work accord with general, north German Protestantism, and the famous letter to Reinthaler, which many have taken as a demonstration of Brahms's general humanistic tendencies, shows Brahms to be standing aloof from the theological controversies of his day in favor of a basic understanding of Biblical authors. Part of the problem was that the first performance was scheduled for Good Friday in Bremen cathedral; Reinthaler, the organist, and the cathedral clergy would have preferred passion music of some kind and what Brahms gave them was something different. Brahms surely knew of the distinctive Lutheran observance of "Totensonntag," the commemoration of the dead on the last Sunday in the church year (the Sunday before Advent). There are many similarities between Brahms's Requiem and Friedrich Wilhelm Markull's Das Gedächtnis der Entschlafen (The Remembrance of those Who Sleep) of ca. 1847. Since Markull's work is subtitled Oratorium für die Todtenfeier am letzten Sonntage des Kirchenjahres (Oratorio for the Celebration of the Dead on the Last Sunday of the Church Year), it is possible that Brahms had the same occasion in mind when composing his German Requiem.
Motivic Structure and the Perception of Similarity
Authors: Lamont Alexandra , Dibben Nicola
Published: February 2004

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical investigation into the ways in which different listeners perceive similarity relationships in different kinds of music. We first extend the current understanding of similarity relations in music by drawing together theory and evidence from general cognitive psychology, cognitive psychology of music, and music theory. In the empirical study, trained musicians and nonmusicians rated the similarity of pairs of extracts from piano pieces by Beethoven (Sonata op. 10, no. 1, first movement) and Schoenberg (Klavierstück op. 33a) and provided adjective ratings for each extract. Similarity judgments were found to be context-specific and roughly equivalent for both types of listener, and were primarily based on more "surface" features such as dynamics, articulation, texture, and contour rather than on "deeper" features such as motivic or harmonic relationships. The implications for music-theoretic views of similarity are discussed.
Statistical Features and Perceived Similarity of Folk Melodies
Authors: Eerola Tuomas , Järvinen Topi , Louhivuori Jukka , Toiviainen Petri
Published: February 2004

Listeners are sensitive to pitch distributional information in music (N. Oram & L. L. Cuddy, 1995; C. L. Krumhansl, J. Louhivuori, P.Toiviainen, T. Järvinen, & T. Eerola, 1999). However, it is uncertain whether frequency-based musical features are sufficient to explain the similarity judgments that underlie listeners' classification processes. A similarity rating experiment was designed to determine the effectiveness of these features in predicting listeners' similarity ratings. The material consisted of 15 melodies representing five folk music styles. A multiple regression analysis showed that the similarity of frequency-based musical properties could account for a moderate amount (40%) of listeners' similarity ratings. A slightly better predictive rate (55%) was achieved by using descriptive variables such as number of tones, rhythmic variability, and melodic predictability. The results suggest that both measures were able to capture some aspects of the structures that portray common salient dimensions to which listeners pay attention while categorizing melodies.

Aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa on osoitettu, että musiikin tilastollisilla tapahtumilla, kuten sävelten määrillä ja tyypillisillä intervalleilla, on merkitystä, kun kuulijat muodostavat käsityksiään musiikin rakenteesta (N. Oram & L. L. Cuddy, 1995; C. L. Krumhansl, J. Louhivuori, P. Toiviainen, T. Järvinen, & T. Eerola, 1999). Näiden piirteiden voidaan olettaa olevan tärkeitä myös musiikin luokittelussa. Toistaiseksi ei kuitenkaan tiedetä, miten hyvin tilastollisilla piirteillä voitaisiin musiikin luokittelua selittää. Tätä testattiin kuulijoille järjestetyn samanlaisuusarviointitehtävän avulla. Tutkimuksen materiaali koostui 15 melodiasta, jotka edustivat viittä eri kansanmusiikkityyliä. Regressioanalyysi paljasti, että musiikin tilastollisten piirteiden samanlaisuus pystyi selittämään kohtuullisen määrän (40%) kuulijoiden antamista samanlaisuusarvioista. Hieman parempi selitysaste (55%) saavutettiin kuvaavilla muuttujilla, joita olivat melodian laajuus ja ennakoitavuus sekä rytmin vaihtelevuus. Näin ollen tulokset antavat aiheen olettaa, että musiikin tilastolliset piirteet ja kuvailevat muuttujat vaikuttavat kuulijoiden luokittelupäätöksiin.
Musical Soundtracks as a Schematic Influence on the Cognitive Processing of Filmed Events
Authors: Boltz Marilyn G.
Published: February 2004

Previous research has demonstrated that the accompanying music of a film can influence both the affective impact of a scene as well as its subsequent remembering. The intent here was to investigate whether the affect of music can also contribute to a story's comprehension by guiding the course of selective attending and providing a more elaborative encoding of characters' actions, motivations, and inherent temperament. These ideas were examined by presenting participants with three ambiguous film clips accompanied by positive, negative, and no music. Immediately after viewing each clip, some participants were asked to extrapolate the film's ending, evaluate the personality and motivations of the main character(s), and complete a series of bipolar adjective ratings about the film's actions. In addition, other participants returned a week later for a surprise recognition test that assessed their memory for certain objects within each film. Results revealed that relative to the control group of no music, positive and negative music significantly biased viewers' interpretation and subsequent remembering of a film in a mood-congruent fashion. These findings are discussed in terms of the schematic influences of music upon the cognitive processing of visual scenes.
Tracking Performance Correlates of Changes in Perceived Intensity of Emotion During Different Interpretations of a Chopin Piano Prelude
Authors: Sloboda John A. , Lehmann Andreas C.
Published: February 2004

This study demonstrates a comprehensive method for linking expert musicians' interpretive choices and associated performances to listeners' perceptions of emotionality. In Phase 1 of the study, 10 expert pianists recorded their prepared interpretations of a highly emotional piece of music (F. Chopin's Prelude op. 28, no. 4). They were also interviewed about their deliberate interpretive choices. In Phase 2, 28 musicians listened to the interpretations and provided postperformance ratings of expressivity and other performance aspects. During listening, subjects moved a mouse pointer on a continuous response computer interface, rating the moment-to-moment (concurrent) level of perceived emotionality. The correlation between postperformance ratings of expressivity and mean concurrent ratings was moderate (.50). In general, musical structure and the trajectory (trace) of concurrent emotionality ratings corresponded strongly. Statistically reliable trace divergences between individual performances and the grand mean performance demonstrated systematic relationships between emotionality ratings and performance data (loudness, timing). Increases in emotionality appear to be caused by specific local deviations from the performance characteristics of an average performance. Interpretive choices clustered at musical phrase boundaries. Many of the analyzed divergences were reflected in performers' interpretive intentions as revealed in interview data.
Perceptual Mechanisms in Music Processing
Authors: Povel Dirk-Jan , Jansen Erik
Published: February 2004

To gain a better understanding of the processes by which human listeners construct musical percepts within the Western tonal system, we conducted two experiments in which the perception of brief tone series was studied. The tone series consisted of (fragments from) different orderings of the collection C4 E4 F#4 G4 Bþ4 and were preceded by two chords to induce a key. Two different tasks were used: (1) rating the melodic "goodness" of the tone series and (2) playing a few tones that complete the tone series. In Experiment 1, tone series of different lengths were presented in blocks. In Experiments 2a and 2b, increasing fragments of tone series were presented to examine the development of musical percepts. The majority of the data can be explained by two perceptual mechanisms: chord recognition and anchoring. Chord recognition is the mechanism that describes a series of tones in terms of a chord, a mental unit stored in long-term memory. Anchoring is the mechanism by which a tone is linked to a tone occurring later in the series. The paradigm appears to be a powerful tool for tracing perceptual mechanisms at work in the on-line processing of music.
Black Atlantic Rhythm: Its Computational and Transcultural Foundations
Authors: Pressing Jeff
Published: February 2004

The "Black Atlantic" rhythmic diaspora, be it realized in jazz, blues, gospel, reggae, rock, candomblé, cumbia, hip-hop or whatever, seems to have widespread capacity to facilitate dance, engagement, social interaction, expression and catharsis. This article examines the reasons for this. Black Atlantic rhythm is founded on the idea of groove or feel, which forms a kinetic framework for reliable prediction of events and time pattern communication, its power cemented by repetition and engendered movement. Overlaid on this are characteristic devices that include syncopation, overlay,displacement, off-beat phrasing, polyrhythm/polymeter, hocketing, heterophony, swing, speech-based rhythms, and call-and-response. Using an evolutionary argument, I point out here that nearly all of these have at their heart the establishment of perceptual multiplicity or rivalry, affecting expectation, which acts as either a message or a message enhancement technique (via increased engagement and focusing of attention), or both. The causal path for the remaining devices is based on adopting structures shared with speech, notably prosody, conversational interaction, and narrative. Several examples illustrate how, particularly in jazz and jazz-related forms, extensions and relatively complex creative adaptations of traditional African and African diasporic rhythmic techniques are a natural consequence of a culture of questioning and reflection that encompasses maintenance of historical reference and accommodation to innovation.