bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
We need to talk: an observational study of the impact of electronic medical record implementation on hospital communication
Authors: Taylor Stephanie Parks , Ledford Robert , Palmer Victoria , Abel Erika
Published: February 2014

Background

Increasing attention is being given to the importance of communication in the delivery of high-quality healthcare. We sought to determine whether communication improved in a hospital setting following the introduction of an electronic medical record (EMR).

Methods

This pre-post cohort design enrolled 75 patient-nurse-physician triads prior to the introduction of EMR, and 123 triads after the introduction of EMR. Nurses and patients reported whether they communicated with the physician that day. Patients, nurses and physicians answered several questions about the plan of care for the day. Responses were scored for degree of agreement and compared between pre-EMR and post-EMR cohorts. The primary outcome was Total Agreement Score, calculated as the sum of the agreement responses. Chart review was performed to determine patients’ actual length of stay.

Results

Although there was no difference between the frequency of nurses reporting communication with physicians before and after EMR, face-to-face communication was significantly reduced (67% vs 51%, p=0.03). Total Agreement Score was significantly lower after the implementation of EMR (p=0.03). Additionally, fewer patients accurately predicted their expected length of stay after EMR (34% vs 26%, p=0.001).

Conclusions

The implementation of EMR was associated with a decrease in face-to-face communication between physicians and nurses, and worsened overall agreement about the plan of care.
A just culture after Mid Staffordshire
Authors: Dekker Sidney W A , Hugh Thomas B
Published: February 2014

There has been much public and media outrage in the wake of the scandal about the standard of healthcare delivered at Stafford Hospital. Using published evidence in the safety literature, we examine the distinction between our need to understand what happened, the practical need for preventing recurrence, and the age-old philosophical need to explain suffering. Investigations of what happened can identify the many detailed explanatory factors behind a particular outcome—including the actions and assessments of individual caregivers. These, however, do not necessarily constitute the change variables for preventing recurrence, as those might lie elsewhere in the governance of a complex system. And neither says much about the nature and apparent randomness of suffering in the particular circumstances of individual patients, even if that might be a most pressing question people want answers to in the wake of such a scandal. To promote safety and quality, we encourage a sensitivity to the differences between understanding, satisfying demands for justice, and avoiding recurrence. This might help a just culture in the wake of Mid Staffordshire, as it avoids expectations of an inquiry—independent or public—to do triple duty.
Comments on the dilemma in the January issue: ‘Dealing with dark desires’
Authors: Mullan Siobhan
Published: February 2014

The dilemma in the January issue concerned a vet who was woken in the middle of the night to treat a cat that had been involved in a road traffic accident. It dealt with the question of whether it was wrong for the vet to have secretly hoped that the cat might die before reaching the surgery, in order to get some rest (In Practice, January 2014, volume 36, pages 54‐55). Andrew Knight argued that, on the face of it, such thoughts seemed reprehensible; however, he also noted that vets were only human and worked within a profession with unusually high rates of suicide and mental disorders, and that these were exacerbated by burnout, exhaustion and stress. He emphasised that vets have a primary duty to their patients and that, above all, such thoughts should not be allowed to impact on the care provided. Stress and burnout could result in suboptimal performance and, in order to best care for their pets, vets should not neglect to look after themselves as well.
Video coaching in practice
Authors: Grosdidier Sheila
Published: February 2014

Video coaching can be a useful tool for identifying strengths and weaknesses in the consulting room. Sheila Grosdidier explains the benefits of this style of training, what to consider when implementing it, and what results to expect.
How lack of clarity in regulation is stifling veterinary research
Authors: Jeffery Nick
Published: February 2014

Veterinary practice and research are regulated through legislation, but current interpretation of this is threatening the advantages this research could bring for animals and the profession, says Nick Jeffery
Beyond muscle hypertrophy: why dietary protein is important for endurance athletes
Authors: Moore Daniel R. , Camera Donny M. , Areta Jose L. , Hawley John A.
Published: February 2014

Recovery from the demands of daily training is an essential element of a scientifically based periodized program whose twin goals are to maximize training adaptation and enhance performance. Prolonged endurance training sessions induce substantial metabolic perturbations in skeletal muscle, including the depletion of endogenous fuels and damage/disruption to muscle and body proteins. Therefore, increasing nutrient availability (i.e., carbohydrate and protein) in the post-training recovery period is important to replenish substrate stores and facilitate repair and remodelling of skeletal muscle. It is well accepted that protein ingestion following resistance-based exercise increases rates of skeletal muscle protein synthesis and potentiates gains in muscle mass and strength. To date, however, little attention has focused on the ability of dietary protein to enhance skeletal muscle remodelling and stimulate adaptations that promote an endurance phenotype. The purpose of this review is to critically discuss the results of recent studies that have examined the role of dietary protein for the endurance athlete. Our primary aim is to consider the results from contemporary investigations that have advanced our knowledge of how the manipulation of dietary protein (i.e., amount, type, and timing of ingestion) can facilitate muscle remodelling by promoting muscle protein synthesis. We focus on the role of protein in facilitating optimal recovery from, and promoting adaptations to strenuous endurance-based training.
Waves in deep water based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with variable coefficients
Authors: Abdel-Gawad H.I.
Published: February 2014

It has been shown that progression of waves in deep water is described by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with time-dependent diffraction and nonlinearity coefficients. Investigation of the solutions is done here in the two cases when the coefficients are proportional or otherwise. In the first case, it is shown that the water waves are traveling at time-dependent speed and are periodic waves, which are coupled to solitons or elliptic waves seen in the noninertial frames. In the inertial frames wave modulation instability is visualized. In the second case, and when the diffraction coefficient dominates the nonlinearity, water waves collapse with unbounded amplitude at finite time. Exact solutions are found here by using the extended unified method together, while presenting a new algorithm for treating nonlinear coupled partial differential equations.
Lossy to lossless image coding based on wavelets using a complex allpass filter
Authors: Zhang Xi , Fukuda Noriaki
Published: February 2014

Wavelet-based image coding has been adopted in the international standard JPEG 2000 for its efficiency. It is well-known that the orthogonality and symmetry of wavelets are two important properties for many applications of signal processing and image processing. Both can be simultaneously realized by the wavelet filter banks composed of a complex allpass filter, thus, it is expected to get a better coding performance than the conventional biorthogonal wavelets. This paper proposes an effective implementation of orthonormal symmetric wavelet filter banks composed of a complex allpass filter for lossy to lossless image compression. First, irreversible real-to-real wavelet transforms are realized by implementing a complex allpass filter for lossy image coding. Next, reversible integer-to-integer wavelet transforms are proposed by incorporating the rounding operation into the filtering processing to obtain an invertible complex allpass filter for lossless image coding. Finally, the coding performance of the proposed orthonormal symmetric wavelets is evaluated and compared with the D-9/7 and D-5/3 biorthogonal wavelets. It is shown from the experimental results that the proposed allpass-based orthonormal symmetric wavelets can achieve a better coding performance than the conventional D-9/7 and D-5/3 biorthogonal wavelets both in lossy and lossless coding.
Bianchi type VI0 cosmology with purely magnetic and purely electric space time
Authors: Kumar Rajesh , Srivastava S. K.
Published: February 2014

In General Relativity, the electric (Eαβ) and magnetic (Hαβ) parts of Weyl tensor are the gravitational quantities that play an analogous role to the electric and magnetic fields in classical electromagnetism. The present study deals with Bianchi type VI0 cosmological model with purely magnetic (PM) and purely electric (PE) space time. Conditions of PM (PE) solutions satisfy Eαβ = 0, Hαβ ≠ 0 (Hαβ = 0, Eαβ≠ 0). We present a new class of cosmological model with PM and PE solutions when the source of gravitation is perfectly fluid. Some physical and geometrical properties of the models are also discussed.
Digit systems over commutative rings
Authors: Scheicher Klaus , Surer Paul , Thuswaldner Jörg M. , Van de Woestijne Christiaan E.
Published: February 2014

Let [Formula: see text] be a commutative ring with identity and [Formula: see text] be a polynomial. In the present paper we consider digit representations in the residue class ring [Formula: see text]. In particular, we are interested in the question whether each [Formula: see text] can be represented modulo P in the form e0+ e1x + ⋯ + ehxh, where the [Formula: see text] are taken from a fixed finite set of digits. This general concept generalizes both canonical number systems and digit systems over finite fields. Due to the fact that we do not assume that 0 is an element of the digit set and that P need not be monic, several new phenomena occur in this context.
Geophysical characterization of the upper crust in the transitional zone between the Pampean flat slab and the normal subduction segment to the south (32–34°S): Andes of the Frontal Cordillera to the Sierras Pampeanas
Authors: Sánchez M. , Lince Klinger F. , Martinez M. P. , Alvarez O. , Ruiz F. , Weidmann C. , Folguera A.
Published: February 2014

The Nazca Plate subducting beneath the South American Plate has strongly influenced Cenozoic mountain growth in western Argentina and Chile sectors (32–34°S; 70–66°W). At these latitudes, the Pampean flat slab has induced the development of prominent mountain systems such as the Frontal Cordillera, the Precordillera, and the associated Sierras Pampeanas in the eastwards foreland region. Through a gravity study from the Frontal Cordillera to the Sierras Pampeanas region between 32 and 34°S, we delimit a series of geological structures that are accommodating shortening in the upper crust and others of regional and subsurface development, without any clearly defined mechanics of deformation. Additionally, through an isostatic residual anomaly map based on the Airy-Heiskanen local compensation model, we obtain a decompensative gravity anomaly map that highlights anomalous gravity sources emplaced in the upper crust, related to known geological structures. In particular, by applying the Tilt method which enhances the gravity anomalies, the NW-trending Tunuyan Lineament is depicted south of 33.4°S following previous proposals. Using the decompensative gravity anomaly, two profiles were modelled through the northern sector of the study area using deep seismic refraction lines, borehole data and geological information as constraints. These density models of the upper crust of this structurally complex area accurately represent basin geometries and basement topography and constitute a framework for future geological analysis.
γδ T-cell-deficient mice show alterations in mucin expression, glycosylation, and goblet cells but maintain an intact mucus layer
Authors: Kober Olivia I. , Ahl David , Pin Carmen , Holm Lena , Carding Simon R. , Juge Nathalie
Published: February 2014

Intestinal homeostasis is maintained by a hierarchy of immune defenses acting in concert to minimize contact between luminal microorganisms and the intestinal epithelial cell surface. The intestinal mucus layer, covering the gastrointestinal tract epithelial cells, contributes to mucosal homeostasis by limiting bacterial invasion. In this study, we used γδ T-cell-deficient (TCRδ−/−) mice to examine whether and how γδ T-cells modulate the properties of the intestinal mucus layer. Increased susceptibility of TCRδ−/−mice to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis is associated with a reduced number of goblet cells. Alterations in the number of goblet cells and crypt lengths were observed in the small intestine and colon of TCRδ−/−mice compared with C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice. Addition of keratinocyte growth factor to small intestinal organoid cultures from TCRδ−/−mice showed a marked increase in crypt growth and in both goblet cell number and redistribution along the crypts. There was no apparent difference in the thickness or organization of the mucus layer between TCRδ−/−and WT mice, as measured in vivo. However, γδ T-cell deficiency led to reduced sialylated mucins in association with increased gene expression of gel-secreting Muc2 and membrane-bound mucins, including Muc13 and Muc17. Collectively, these data provide evidence that γδ T cells play an important role in the maintenance of mucosal homeostasis by regulating mucin expression and promoting goblet cell function in the small intestine.
Helicobacter pylori-induced posttranscriptional regulation of H-K-ATPase α-subunit gene expression by miRNA
Authors: Zhang Yong-Mei , Noto Jennifer M. , Hammond Charles E. , Barth Jeremy L. , Argraves W. Scott , Backert Steffen , Peek Richard M. , Smolka Adam J.
Published: February 2014

Acute Helicobacter pylori infection of gastric epithelial cells induces CagA oncoprotein- and peptidoglycan (SLT)-dependent mobilization of NF-κB p50 homodimers that bind to H-K-ATPase α-subunit (HKα) promoter and repress HKα gene transcription. This process may facilitate gastric H. pylori colonization by induction of transient hypochlorhydria. We hypothesized that H. pylori also regulates HKα expression posttranscriptionally by miRNA interaction with HKα mRNA. In silico analysis of the HKα 3′ untranslated region (UTR) identified miR-1289 as a highly conserved putative HKα-regulatory miRNA. H. pylori infection of AGS cells transfected with HKα 3′ UTR- Luc reporter construct repressed luciferase activity by 70%, whereas Δ cagA or Δ slt H. pylori infections partially abrogated repression. Transfection of AGS cells expressing HKα 3′ UTR- Luc construct with an oligoribonucleotide mimetic of miR-1289 induced maximal repression (54%) of UTR activity within 30 min; UTR activity was unchanged by nontargeting siRNA transfection. Gastric biopsies from patients infected with cagA+ H. pylori showed a significant increase in miR-1289 expression compared with uninfected patients or those infected with cagA− H. pylori. Finally, miR-1289 expression was necessary and sufficient to attenuate biopsy HKα protein expression in the absence of infection. Taken together, these data indicate that miR-1289 is upregulated by H. pylori in a CagA- and SLT-dependent manner and targets HKα 3′ UTR, affecting HKα mRNA translation. The sensitivity of HKα mRNA 3′ UTR to binding of miR-1289 identifies a novel regulatory mechanism of gastric acid secretion and offers new insights into mechanisms underlying transient H. pylori-induced hypochlorhydria.
Combination of Imatinib with CXCR4 Antagonist BKT140 Overcomes the Protective Effect of Stroma and Targets CML In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Beider Katia , Darash-Yahana Merav , Blaier Orly , Koren-Michowitz Maya , Abraham Michal , Wald Hanna , Wald Ori , Galun Eithan , Eizenberg Orly , Peled Amnon , Nagler Arnon
Published: February 2014

Functional role of CXCR4 in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) progression was evaluated. Elevated CXCR4 significantly increased the in vitro survival and proliferation in response to CXCL12. CXCR4 stimulation resulted in activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk)-1/2, Akt, S6K, STAT3, and STAT5 prosurvival signaling pathways. In accordance, we found that in vitro treatment with CXCR4 antagonist BKT140 directly inhibited the cell growth and induced cell death of CML cells. Combination of BKT140 with suboptimal concentrations of imatinib significantly increased the anti-CML effect. BKT140 induced apoptotic cell death, decreasing the levels of HSP70 and HSP90 chaperones and antiapoptotic proteins BCL-2 and BCL-XL, subsequently promoting the release of mitochondrial factors cytochrome c and SMAC/Diablo. Bone marrow (BM) stromal cells (BMSC) markedly increased the proliferation of CML cells and protected them from imatinib-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, BMSCs elevated proto-oncogene BCL6 expression in the CML cells in response to imatinib treatment, suggesting the possible role of BCL6 in stroma-mediated TKI resistance. BKT140 reversed the protective effect of the stroma, effectively promoted apoptosis, and decreased BCL6 levels in CML cells cocultured with BMSCs. BKT140 administration in vivo effectively reduced the growth of subcutaneous K562-produced xenografts. Moreover, the combination of BKT140 with low-dose imatinib markedly inhibited tumor growth, achieving 95% suppression. Taken together, our data indicate the importance of CXCR4/CXCL12 axis in CML growth and CML–BM stroma interaction. CXCR4 inhibition with BKT140 antagonist efficiently cooperated with imatinib in vitro and in vivo. These results provide the rational basis for CXCR4-targeted therapy in combination with TKI to override drug resistance and suppress residual disease. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(5); 1155–69. ©2014 AACR.
Asparagine Depletion Potentiates the Cytotoxic Effect of Chemotherapy against Brain Tumors
Authors: Panosyan Eduard H. , Wang Yuntao , Xia Peng , Lee Wai-Nang Paul , Pak Youngju , Laks Dan R. , Lin Henry J. , Moore Theodore B. , Cloughesy Timothy F. , Kornblum Harley I. , Lasky Joseph L.
Published: February 2014

Targeting amino acid metabolism has therapeutic implications for aggressive brain tumors. Asparagine is an amino acid that is synthesized by normal cells. However, some cancer cells lack asparagine synthetase (ASNS), the key enzyme for asparagine synthesis. Asparaginase (ASNase) contributes to eradication of acute leukemia by decreasing asparagine levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. However, leukemic cells may become ASNase-resistant by upregulating ASNS. High expression of ASNS has also been associated with biologic aggressiveness of other cancers, including gliomas. Here, the impact of enzymatic depletion of asparagine on proliferation of brain tumor cells was determined. ASNase was used as monotherapy or in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic agents. Viability assays for ASNase-treated cells demonstrated significant growth reduction in multiple cell lines. This effect was reversed by glutamine in a dose-dependent manner—as expected, because glutamine is the main amino group donor for asparagine synthesis. ASNase treatment also reduced sphere formation by medulloblastoma and primary glioblastoma cells. ASNase-resistant glioblastoma cells exhibited elevated levels of ASNS mRNA. ASNase cotreatment significantly enhanced gemcitabine or etoposide cytotoxicity against glioblastoma cells. Xenograft tumors in vivo showed no significant response to ASNase monotherapy and little response to temozolomide alone. However, combinatorial therapy with ASNase and temozolomide resulted in significant growth suppression for an extended duration of time. Taken together, these findings indicate that amino acid depletion warrants further investigation as adjunctive therapy for brain tumors.

Implications: Findings have potential impact for providing adjuvant means to enhance brain tumor chemotherapy. Mol Cancer Res; 12(5); 694–702. ©2014 AACR.
Platelet Glycoprotein Ib-IX as a Regulator of Systemic Inflammation
Authors: Corken Adam , Russell Susan , Dent Judith , Post Steven R. , Ware Jerry
Published: February 2014

Objective—

The platelet glycoprotein Ib-IX (GP Ib-IX) receptor is a well-characterized adhesion receptor supporting hemostasis and thrombosis via interactions with von Willebrand factor. We examine the GP Ib-IX/von Willebrand factor axis in murine polymicrobial sepsis, as modeled by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP).

Approach and Results—

Genetic absence of the GP Ib-IX ligand, von Willebrand factor, prolongs survival after CLP, but absence of the receptor, GP Ib-IX, does not. Because absence of either von Willebrand factor or GP Ib-IX significantly impairs hemostasis and thrombosis, we sought to define additional GP Ib-IX–dependent pathways impacting survival in the CLP model. We document that the absence of GP Ib-IX leads to reduced platelet–neutrophil and platelet–monocyte interactions. Twenty-four hours after CLP, absence of GP Ib-IX coincides with an alteration in cytokine levels, such as tumor necrosis factor-α secreted by monocytes, and increased macrophage-1 antigen expression by neutrophils.

Conclusions—

In contrast to the well-characterized proinflammatory properties of platelets, we describe in the CLP model an anti-inflammatory property associated with platelet GP Ib-IX. Thus, a single platelet receptor displays a dual modulatory role in both the thrombotic and inflammatory pathways associated with polymicrobial sepsis. In sharing leucine-rich motifs with toll-like receptors, platelet GP Ib-IX can be considered a multifunctional participant in hemostasis, thrombosis, and the inflammatory cascade. The results highlight a dynamic role for platelets in systemic inflammation and add to the complex pathophysiologic events that occur during the dysregulated coagulation and inflammation associated with sepsis.
Aberrant Chloride Intracellular Channel 4 Expression Contributes to Endothelial Dysfunction in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Authors: Wojciak-Stothard Beata , Abdul-Salam Vahitha B. , Lao Ka Hou , Tsang Hilda , Irwin David C. , Lisk Christina , Loomis Zoe , Stenmark Kurt R. , Edwards John C. , Yuspa Stuart H. , Howard Luke S. , Edwards Robert J. , Rhodes Christopher J. , Gibbs J. Simon R. , Wharton John , Zhao Lan , Wilkins Martin R.
Published: February 2014

Background—

Chloride intracellular channel 4 (CLIC4) is highly expressed in the endothelium of remodeled pulmonary vessels and plexiform lesions of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. CLIC4 regulates vasculogenesis through endothelial tube formation. Aberrant CLIC4 expression may contribute to the vascular pathology of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Methods and Results—

CLIC4 protein expression was increased in plasma and blood-derived endothelial cells from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and in the pulmonary vascular endothelium of 3 rat models of pulmonary hypertension. CLIC4 gene deletion markedly attenuated the development of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice. Adenoviral overexpression of CLIC4 in cultured human pulmonary artery endothelial cells compromised pulmonary endothelial barrier function and enhanced their survival and angiogenic capacity, whereas CLIC4 shRNA had an inhibitory effect. Similarly, inhibition of CLIC4 expression in blood-derived endothelial cells from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension attenuated the abnormal angiogenic behavior that characterizes these cells. The mechanism of CLIC4 effects involves p65-mediated activation of nuclear factor-κB, followed by stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and increased downstream production of vascular endothelial growth factor and endothelin-1.

Conclusion—

Increased CLIC4 expression is an early manifestation and mediator of endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary hypertension.
More to the Eye than Meets the Eye
Authors: Kim Uriah Y.
Published: February 2014

The patriarchal authority is undermined from the beginning of Samson’s story when Manoah is depicted as playing no role in Samson’s birth. The erosion of patriarchal authority is augmented by an assault on male identity when Samson is forced to play the role of a woman, or rather to become one. Samson’s story thus far may reflect anxiety and fear among men who have lost their male identity and authority in the exile. But the story takes an intriguing and unexpected turn when it questions whether it is fair for the Philistines to gauge both of Samson’s eyes. Perhaps the Philistines meted out more than what Samson deserves. If so, how do we account for the extra suffering he endured? The unnecessary violence to Samson’s other eye attests to the empire’s cruelty and abuse. In Samson’s death, the victims have their say. The people acknowledge their sins but also protest against the collective violence of empire.
From the Book of Jeremiah to the Qumranic Apocryphon of Jeremiah
Authors: Dimant Devorah
Published: February 2014

Abstract

The article shows that the two narrative fragments of the Qumran second century B.C.E. Apocryphon of Jeremiah C (4Q385a 18 and 4Q389 1) elaborate traditions of the prophet Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch. The juxtaposition of the two types of traditions in a single work attests to its early date. Such an early period, and perhaps even earlier one, is also reflected by the Hebrew Vorlage of the book of Jeremiah. Like the Greek translation this Hebrew Vorlage probably juxtaposed as appendix the book of Baruch 1:1–3:8 to the book of Jeremiah.
Attitudes to Gentiles in the Minor Prophets and in Corresponding Pesharim
Authors: Hagedorn Anselm C. , Tzoref Shani
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This essay surveys the attitudes towards gentiles/foreign nations in constructions of the “other” in the Minor Prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and examines how the biblical trajectories are continued and reshaped in the corresponding pesharim from Qumran. The development of the biblical texts is examined from historical, literary, and theological perspectives. Thus, for example, the concrete historical encounter with Assyria shaped the original prophecies of the last three pre-exilic prophets (Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah), while later redactional layers transform these texts by incorporating the experience of the Babylonian conquest. Literarily and theologically, the initial texts focus upon individual judgement against a concrete people, and the divine salvation of Israel from this threat. In the Persian period, there is an initial expansion of the focus to universal judgment, highlighting the special status of Israel vis-à-vis other nations. This is followed by a narrowing of the group selected for salvation, so that only the righteous of Judah will survive the final judgment. In the pesharim, there is further narrowing of the discourse of alterity for internal identity formation, as the biblical prophecies against foreign enemies are applied to the group’s contemporary antagonists, including rival Jewish groups. Pesher Habakkuk closely follows the book of Habakkuk in depicting Gentiles as idolators, and in portraying foreign nations as both instruments and objects of divine retribution. The references to the Babylonians (termed “Chaldeans”) in Habakkuk are applied in the pesher to the “Kittim,” understood by modern scholars to stand for Rome. This view of Rome as a significant existential and eschatological enemy reflects a profound theological and psychological development in sectarian thought. Pesher Nahum interprets the prophecies against Gentiles in Nahum primarily as condemnation of Jewish enemies.
Sophistische Satyrn
Authors: Bernhardt Jan
Published: February 2014

Abstract

Since the discovery of the so-called Oineus fragment, which can with some certainty be attributed to Sophocles, it has been believed that the appearing Satyrs are a parody of the Sophists. This supposition has consequences for our understanding of the Satyr play: Usually, only Euripides᾿ Cyclops is believed to include contemporary allusions, but a closer examination of further fragments besides the Oineus fragment yields the conclusion that comic effects based on similar allusions might have been a common and regular feature of Satyr plays. So my aim is firstly, after a brief discussion of the fragment, to prove that the Satyrs are in fact a parody of the Sophists; in a second step I will analyze the Cyclops and some further fragments for contemporary allusions and then compare them with the Oineus fragment, until I finally draw my conclusion with regard to the appropriate interpretation of the Satyr play.
Women Rulers in Imperial China
Authors: McMahon Keith
Published: February 2014

“Women Rulers in Imperial China”is about the history and characteristics of rule by women in China from the Han dynasty to the Qing, especially focusing on the Tang dynasty ruler Wu Zetian (625-705) and the Song dynasty Empress Liu. The usual reason that allowed a woman to rule was the illness, incapacity, or death of her emperor-husband and the extreme youth of his son the successor. In such situations, the precedent was for a woman to govern temporarily as regent and, when the heir apparent became old enough, hand power to him. But many women ruled without being recognized as regent, and many did not hand power to the son once he was old enough, or even if they did, still continued to exert power. In the most extreme case, Wu Zetian declared herself emperor of her own dynasty. She was the climax of the long history of women rulers. Women after her avoided being compared to her but retained many of her methods of legitimization, such as the patronage of art and religion, the use of cosmic titles and vocabulary, and occasional gestures of impersonating a male emperor. When women ruled, it was an in-between time when notions and language about something that was not supposed to be nevertheless took shape and tested the limits of what could be made acceptable.
Picturing Men and Women in the Chinese 1911 Revolution
Authors: Laing Ellen Johnston
Published: February 2014

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many Han Chinese, under the leadership of Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) and others sought to overthrow the Manchu Qing dynasty. This movement culminated in the Revolution which began in October 1911 and ultimately deposed the Qing imperial household, permitting the establishment of a republican government. As the Revolution progressed, the commercial popular print business, through inexpensive lithographs and woodblock prints, provided citizens with illustrations of important events in the Revolution, as well as portraits of male and female participants. Modern commentary on these prints identifies the subjects depicted, but neglects the artistic elements. To fill this gap, this study examines the artistic aspects of these prints and reveals that the source of the compositional formats lies in well-established formulae, some of which go back to the eighteenth century. For specific portraits of male participants in particular, print designers often relied on current photographs, thus melding old and new. For representations of female military participants, print designers, mostly eschewing photographs of them, provided imaginary portraits, some of which are based on depictions of anonymous women, again, already a part of the print legacy. The prints frequently feature two military women famous at the time, one real (Cao Daoxin) and one fictional (Xu Wuying); this essay explains how and why images of them were so widespread in the popular print media.
Irrational Animals in Porphyry’s Logical Works: A Problem for the Consensus Interpretation of On Abstinence
Authors: Edwards G. Fay
Published: February 2014

Abstract

In book 3 of On Abstinence from Animal Food, Porphyry is traditionally taken to argue that animals are rational and that it is, therefore, unjust to kill them for food. Since the vast majority of scholars endorse this interpretation, I call it ‘the consensus interpretation’. Yet, strangely enough, elsewhere in his corpus Porphyry claims that the non-human animals are irrational. Jonathan Barnes notices this discrepancy and suggests that an appeal to the distinction between specific and non-specific predication can resolve the problem. This paper explains Barnes’ solution, but argues that it must ultimately be rejected. It concludes with a brief survey of other approaches to the problem, and with an outline of the proposed solution, in which the consensus interpretation of On Abstinence is rejected in favour of a dialectical reading of Book 3. Porphyry, this piece suggests, may not have believed that animals were rational after all.
Open Completeness: Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time”
Authors: Greene David
Published: February 2014

Abstract

Several of Messiaen’s compositional techniques are designed, he says, to “eliminate temporality.” They succeed. Still, in a variety of highly original and interesting ways, the piece also sustains temporality. Joining the elimination of temporality with its opposite in each movement puts listeners onto the infinitesimal interface of the temporal and the eternal. The undoing and the redoing of temporality happen so differently in the various movements, however, that no procession from one movement to the next takes place. This absence of temporal coherence in the Quartet as a whole is an additional mode of eliminating temporality, but one that is, in Messiaen’s hands, joined to a strange and new kind of completeness. The salient characteristic of the latter is that while the completeness is authentic, and brings the satisfaction that is a quality of completions, it is radically open to further, though not necessarily surpassing, completions.
Entanglements—Intimacy and Nonhuman Ethics
Authors: Reinert Hugo
Published: February 2014

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic material from the Norwegian Arctic, this article explores issues of specificity, encounter, and emplacement in human-animal relations through the lens of modernizing indigenous reindeer pastoralism in the region. In turn, the main sections of the argument examine three things: first, the changing technological context of indigenous herding practice, focusing on the impact of mechanization and the emergence of “roundup corrals” in the second half of the twentieth century; second, the distinct modalities of specificity at work in human-reindeer relations, exemplified particularly in practices of enumeration; and third, how ongoing controversies over supplementary feeding bring into view a herding ethic of “liminality” that cultivates distance as a precondition for maintaining the autonomy and independence of the “semi-domesticated” reindeer—opening up the possibility of reframing apparent neglect (at least partially) as a practice of care. In closing, some questions are raised concerning nonhuman ethics at the intersection between visibility, presence, and encounter.
Between “Wild” and “Tame”: Placing Encounters with Sirocco the Kakapo Parrot in Aotearoa/New Zealand
Authors: Chambers Charlotte N. L. , Main Michelle E.
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This article explores different dynamics and spatialities of nonhuman animal encounters to illuminate important intersections between place and human-animal relations. The article focuses on Sirocco the Kakapo, an endangered New Zealand parrot, who due to illness as a chick was hand-reared in isolation from other Kakapo. Informed by qualitative research, data was gathered through interviewing those involved in the Kakapo Recovery Programme and from Internet websites and publications featuring Sirocco. Based on this research, it can be demonstrated how Sirocco, unlike his fellow Kakapo, is a bird who can traverse the seemingly clear-cut and spatially inscribed boundaries between “wild” and “tame,” between “human” and “animal,” and between “wild” and “domestic” places. Drawing upon relational theories of space and place in human geography, the case of Sirocco is used to interrogate and inform theorizations concerning the place of nonhuman animals in both spatial and conceptual terms. Sirocco’s story illuminates the complex and heterogeneous relations of encounter that stretch between New Zealand’s wild and domestic places, which in turn rely upon particular notions of wild and tame and prescribed relations between humans and “wild animals” that inhere in conservation practice more broadly.
How Wild Do We Want It? “Wiley” Coyote Versus Fluffy
Authors: Plevin Arlene
Published: February 2014

Abstract

Human relationships with companion animals (cats) and nondomestic, wilder animals (coyotes) are explored in terms of domestic and nondomestic spaces in urban and nonurban settings. What companion animals contribute to and mean to human well-being is considered alongside the perceived need to protect companion animals from wilder animals while allowing them to live naturally, a contested category. Questions related to companion animal/human relationships are explored: do humans romanticize their relationships with their companion animals? Is that to the detriment of other animals’ well-being?
China and the WTO into the Next Decade: Probing the Past and Present as a Path to Understand the Future
Authors: Blanchard Jean-Marc F.
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This article surveys the literature on China and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and provides background information on China and the WTO. It also identifies some future research directions for those studying China and the WTO. Other important purposes are to summarise the articles in this special issue and to highlight some of the answers they offer to a variety of question. As useful as it is, the extant literature has various deficiencies. First, it is narrowly focused, emphasising topics such as China’s WTO accession, rather than China’s compliance and participation record. Second, a large proportion is becoming dated. Third, it is largely descriptive. The contributions to this special issue address some of these problems by supplying us with contemporary information about a number of WTO topics, such as China’s fulfilment of its WTO obligations in regards to trading and distribution rights, and the evolution of its intellectual property rights protection regime. They make a significant conceptual contribution by showing that a cost/benefit framework can illuminate a wide variety of China-WTO-related phenomenon ranging from China’s acceptance of highly demanding WTO accession terms to China’s interactions with Taiwan prior to and after the two party’s respective entry into the WTO.
The New Intellectual Property Rights Environment in China: Impact of WTO Membership and China’s “Innovation Society” Makeover
Authors: Paradise James F.
Published: February 2014

Abstract

New incentives are emerging for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China. This is happening as the Chinese central government tries to make China into a more innovation-oriented society. This is contributing to the creation of more intellectual property by Chinese entities and also giving rise to a new set of conflicts with foreigners because of the preferential and discriminatory industrial policies on which they say it is based. This paper considers these issues against the backdrop of China’s membership in the World Trade Organization. Its purpose is to understand why there has been as much change as there has been on the IP front in China and why there has not been more. It does this by considering the different and sometimes conflicting currents that are shaping China’s IP environment. These include the quest to harmonise domestic standards with WTO rules, the emergence of new IP stakeholders, the widespread existence of “shanzhai” behaviour, enforcement challenges stemming from the fragmentation of political power, and the spread of ideas about the developmental benefits of IPR protection.
High Stakes: US-China Trade Disputes under the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Authors: Zeng Ka
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This paper examines US-China trade disputes under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and argues that Chinese leaders are increasingly resorting to the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism to target issues of most critical concern to domestic constituencies. The following overview of the WTO disputes initiated by China suggests that China’s WTO disputes tend to be dominated by cases involving anti-dumping duties (ADs) and countervailing duties (CVDs). The disproportionate share of such trade remedy cases in China’s WTO cases needs to be viewed in light of the fact that China has become the leading target of such cases worldwide in the past decades. The above pattern of China’s WTO initiation is explicable within the leader cost-benefit analysis, which would lead us to expect Chinese leaders to use the WTO DSM either to open foreign markets for Chinese businesses or to shield domestic firms from perceived unfair foreign trade practices. This paper further argues that the significant expansion of bilateral trade relations in the past decades has provided opportunities for Chinese leaders to identify or threaten retaliation against anti-protectionist groups in the other country in order to mobilise them against the disputed measure.
What Happens in a Hindi Film?
Authors: Inden Ronald
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This paper looks at the popular Hindi film and its treatment in film and media studies. It criticises the assumption that “entertainment” is a simple universal, arguing that it needs to be seen rather as a problematic, historic institution. The author attempts a preliminary reconstruction of Indian discourse on film and entertainment, a discourse marginalised or ignored by Eurocentric scholarship on film in South Asia. Central to the Indian discourse are historically situated notions of extravaganza, of spectacle (tamasha) in a paradise setting, and a focus on emotional experiences, those of wonder and of ecstasy and despair. The articulation of these elements has changed but continue to be constitutive of the popular Hindi film.
When is Indonesia?
Authors: Hobart Mark
Published: February 2014

Abstract

This paper argues that existing approaches to Indonesian media hypostatise what may be more imaginatively understood as a rapidly changing assemblage of arguments and practices. A series of intellectual manoeuvres creates the appearance of a relatively stable, knowable and measurable system. These include confusion over the precise object of study, omission of anything that does not fit the theory and rigid techniques of closure that prevent these weaknesses being evident. Critiques of Eurocentrism raise broader questions of processes of power/knowledge by which the discourse of Indonesians is culturally translated into the hegemonic language of an élite of experts, producers and politicians. The paper proposes instead to approach Indonesian media as assemblages of practices of production, distribution, engagement and use by different people in different situations. Such practices constitute performances, which may be differently articulated by different participants on different occasions. The paper concludes by rethinking key genres of Indonesian television broadcasting as performances. Indonesia emerges less as a stable, coherent entity than as the shifting object of antagonistic representations.
Welcome to the Occupation
Authors: Levine Ari Daniel
Published: February 2014

Aside from the few envoys dispatched to the Jin court in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Southern Song subjects seldom experienced the occupied north after the Jurchen conquest of 1127. Passing through the former Northern Song capital of Kaifeng, ambassadors found a neglected, depopulated, and impoverished city, and described its destroyed and reconstructed urban spaces as metaphors for the Jurchen occupation of the homeland. Their private travel records transposed their experiences of Jin Kaifeng into a pre-existing textual framework of Northern Song geographical knowledge. These authors shared a collective diasporic memory of Kaifeng’s lost spaces, recognizing its rebuilt cityscape and ruined sites from pre-conquest accounts rather than from direct experience. In their accounts, Kaifeng’s urban spaces became legible not only for their survival under Jurchen rule, but for how far they deviated from textual representations of the pre-conquest past, evoking homelessness and nostalgia for a lost time and place. 

En dehors des quelques ambassadeurs envoyés à la cour des Jin à la fin du xiie et au début du xiiie siècle, rares sont les sujets des Song du Sud ayant pu visiter le nord sous occupation depuis la conquête Jurchen en 1127. Lorsqu’ils traversaient Kaifeng, l’ancienne capitale des Song du Nord, les ambassadeurs trouvaient une ville négligée, dépeuplée et appauvrie ; les sites urbains démolis ou reconstruits qu’ils décrivent étaient comme une métaphore de l’occupation de leur patrie par les Jin. Les récits de voyage qu’ils ont laissés intègrent leur expérience de Kaifeng sous les Jin à un ensemble textuel de savoir géographique remontant aux Song du Nord. Participant de la mémoire collective d’une diaspora, ils identifient le cadre reconstruit de Kaifeng et ses sites en ruine à partir de récits antérieurs à la conquête plutôt que sur la base d’une expérience directe. L’espace urbain de Kaifeng devient lisible non seulement pour avoir survécu à la domination des Jin, mais aussi dans la mesure de ses déviations par rapport aux représentations écrites d’avant la conquête, d’où le sentiment de déracinement et la nostalgie pour une époque et un lieu disparus.
The Earliest Known Edition of The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain and the Connections Between Precious Scrolls and Buddhist Preaching
Authors: Berezkin Rostislav , Riftin †Boris L.
Published: February 2014

This article introduces a reprint made in Hanoi in 1772 of an undated Chinese edition, originally published in Nanjing, of The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain (Xiangshan baojuan). This edition, called the “Nanjing redaction” in the article, was preserved only partially as a ritual manual in China. Yet it provides important evidence for determining the early date of production of the text. By comparing certain features in the Nanjing redaction and in other redactions that circulated in China, it can be established that the Nanjing redaction is the earliest known to us. Its significance within the history of the baojuan genre is discussed, with special attention paid to the unique form and content of the text.  

Cet article présente la réimpression, réalisée à Hanoï en 1772, d’une édition chinoise non datée, originellement publiée à Nankin, du Rouleau précieux de la Montagne de l’Encens (Xiangshan baojuan). Appelée “version de Nankin” dans l’article, cette édition n’a survécu que partiellement en Chine comme manuel de rituel. Elle fournit pourtant d’importants indices sur l’ancienneté de la composition du texte. En comparant certains aspects de la version de Nankin et d’autres versions ayant circulé en Chine, il est possible d’établir que la version de Nankin et la plus ancienne qui nous soit parvenue. Son importance dans l’histoire du genre baojuan fait l’objet d’un examen dans lequel une attention particulière est accordée à l’originalité de la forme et du contenu du texte.