bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abstract B64: Characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment of metastatic and nonmetastatic renal clear cell carcinomas and colorectal carcinomas using computational methods
Authors: Kamal Yasmin , Varn Frederick S. , Chen Chao , Frost Hildreth Robert , Amos Christopher I.
Published: February 2019

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide with most cancer-related deaths attributed to metastatic disease progression. Engaging the immune system to fight cancer has several advantageous features, particularly given the unique role the immune system plays in initiating, maintaining, and fighting tumor metastasis. Here, we examine the tumor immune microenvironment in metastatic (primary stage IV -M1) and non-metastatic (primary stage I/II- M0) tumors in renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC) and colorectal carcinoma (CRC) through the application of deconvolution algorithms and pathway analyses. Preliminary data suggests the tumor microenvironment varies based on cancer type as well as metastatic disease status, and these differences in immune infiltration significantly affect survival outcomes. The prevailing belief of the association of CD8+ T cells with a positive survival outcome did not hold true for renal clear cell carcinoma in our analysis. We further characterized the heterogeneity of the microenvironments in CRC and RCCC. Specific immune cell types consistently and differentially infiltrate tumors (NK and CD4+ T cells in particular), albeit their cellular status and influences on survival vastly differ based on the tumor type, suggesting each tumor type uniquely evades the immune system to promote metastasis.

Citation Format: Yasmin Kamal, Frederick S. Varn, Jr., Chao Chen, Hildreth Robert Frost, Christopher I. Amos. Characterizing the tumor immune microenvironment of metastatic and nonmetastatic renal clear cell carcinomas and colorectal carcinomas using computational methods [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2017 Oct 1-4; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2018;6(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B64.
Abstract B79: Identification and analysis of tumor-reactive CTLs in ovarian and cervical cancer tissues for developing a personalized immunotherapy
Authors: Nosaka Kazuto , Yoshikawa Yoshiaki , Suzuki Toshihiro , Saito Keigo , Shimomura Manami , Mizuno Shoichi , Suzuki Shiro , Kikkawa Fumitaka , Nakatsura Tetsuya
Published: February 2019

Cancer immunotherapy that target individual mutated neoantigens can mediate tumor regression. Ovarian cancer and cervical cancer are known to have relatively many somatic mutations and are considered to be good indications for immunotherapy. In order to develop personalized immunotherapy, we aimed to clarify the mutated neoantigens of individual patients with these cancers and to characterize the tumor antigen specific CTLs infiltrating into the tumor tissues.

We obtained resected tumor tissues and normal tissues from about 30 patients with ovarian cancer or cervical cancer. In ex vivo assay, we investigated the cell surface markers of CD8+ T cell in tumor and normal tissues and identified that the expression of CD107a or co-inhibitory molecules on CD8+ T cells in tumor tissues was higher than that in normal tissues. These tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were cultured for 14 days and we could expand the numbers of TILs from all patients’ tumors. At the same time, we tried to establish patient derived xenografts (PDX) mouse model or generate tumor cell lines from these patients. In cases where we could obtain tumor cells by these ways, TILs and autologous tumor cells were co-cultured and we evaluated the tumor reactive CTLs by CD107a assay. Tumor reactive CTLs were enriched by sorting for CD107a+ PD-1+ CD8+ T cells and expanded in vitro. The expanded CD 107a+ PD-1+ CD8+ T cells were co-cultured with autologous tumor cells and expression of CD 107a was analyzed. As a result, the proportion of CD 107a+ cells increased after expansion. Therefore, we could prove that many tumor-reactive CTLs are contained in population of CD107a+ PD-1+ CD8+ T cells.

These results may provide the marker to isolate tumor reactive TILs ex vivo. We will identify candidates of mutated neoantigens by the next generation sequencing combined with bioinformatics prediction and will find the tumor reactive CTLs and these TCRs that recognize these mutated neoantigens.

Citation Format: Kazuto Nosaka, Yoshiaki Yoshikawa, Toshihiro Suzuki, Keigo Saito, Manami Shimomura, Shoichi Mizuno, Shiro Suzuki, Fumitaka Kikkawa, Tetsuya Nakatsura. Identification and analysis of tumor-reactive CTLs in ovarian and cervical cancer tissues for developing a personalized immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2017 Oct 1-4; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2018;6(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B79.
Abstract IA19: New directions in T cell therapies for cancer
Authors: Maus Marcela
Published: February 2019

Engineering T cells with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has shown great promise in the clinical setting for B-cell malignancies such as adult and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This therapy is so effective in ALL that based on relatively small numbers of patients, multiple academic centers and their industry partners have received Breakthrough Designation from the FDA to commercialize CAR T cell products. However, successful application of this form of therapy to other cancers is likely to require refinements in the molecular and clinical technologies. Our laboratory is focused on generating next-generation CAR T cells that overcome some of the main barriers for their widespread use: (1) cytokine release syndrome, (2) antigen escape, and (3) susceptibility to immunosuppression. We will discuss our ongoing work in these areas, including some of the successes and obstacles to modeling these systems in the preclinical setting.

Citation Format: Marcela Maus. New directions in T cell therapies for cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2017 Oct 1-4; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2018;6(9 Suppl):Abstract nr IA19.
Immunologic Biomarkers and Biomarkers for Immunotherapies in Gastrointestinal Cancer
Authors: Martin Benedikt , Märkl Bruno
Published: February 2019

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers contribute significantly to the worldwide cancer burden. Pathologic evaluation is indispensable for the estimation of prognosis and therapeutic strategy. At present, immunotherapies are evolving into efficient therapeutic approaches, which are accompanied by the need for biomarkers to predict therapy response. In colorectal cancers, the only predictive biomarker for Food and Drug Administration-approved immunotherapy is the mismatch repair status. Besides, pathogenic polymerase epsilon mutations, tumor mutational burden, neoantigen load, and features of the immune contexture could soon find their way into clinical routine. Furthermore, in colorectal cancer, the Immunoscore, which is defined by the amount of CD3+ and CD8+ T-cells in the tumor center as well as at the infiltrative margin, might supplement the TNM system in the future (as TNM-Immune). This immunologic biomarker was shown to be impressively prognostic and predictive in colorectal cancer. In conclusion, there is increasing evidence of immunologic as well as predictive biomarkers for immunotherapies in GI cancers. Nevertheless, future progress is necessary for the variety of current advances to be implemented in clinical care.
Neuro-Immune Networks in Gastrointestinal Disorders
Authors: Khalil Mohammad , Zhang Zehua , Engel Matthias A.
Published: February 2019

Tissue homeostasis is controlled by multilateral cell interactions. Established in autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system, growing evidence shows a fundamental role of bidirectional communication between the nervous and immune systems in various gastrointestinal disorders. Primarily the primary sensory nervous system seems to play an important role in this cross talk because of its ability for transducing inflammatory signals and to convey them to the central nervous system, which in turn responds in an efferent manner (gut-brain axis vs. brain-gut axis). Moreover, sensory neurons that play a central role in pain processing immediately respond to inflammatory stimuli through releasing a myriad of immunomodulatory neuropeptides and neurotransmitters whose receptors are expressed in different immune cell populations. Thus, a better understanding of neuro-immune networks will pave the way to novel therapeutic strategies in inflammatory as well as functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Glomerular Filtration Rate as a Prognostic Factor for Long-Term Mortality after Acute Pulmonary Embolism
Authors: Ģībietis Valdis , Kigitoviča Dana , Vītola Barbara , Strautmane Sintija , Skride Andris
Published: February 2019

Background: In-hospital mortality for patients presenting with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) has been reported to be up to 7 times higher for patients with decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). However, few studies have assessed its effect on long-term mortality. Objective: To determine the impact of eGFR and creatinine clearance (CrCl) on long-term all-cause mortality following acute PE in association with other routine laboratory analyses and comorbidities. Patients/Methods: The prospective study enrolled 141 consecutive patients presenting with objectively confirmed acute PE. Demographic, clinical data, comorbidities, and laboratory values were recorded. CrCl and GFR were estimated using the Cockcroft-Gault, MDRD, and chronic kidney disease (CKD)-EPI equations. Patients were followed up at 90 days and 1 year after the event. Results: In univariate analyses, age, active cancer, PE severity index (PESI), CrCl and eGFR, D-dimer value, and high-density lipoprotein level were found to be significantly associated with mortality in 90 days and 1 year. Additionally, body mass index was significant in the 1-year follow-up. CrCl by Cockcroft-Gault (90-day: area under the curve [AUC] 0.763; 1-year: AUC 0.718) demonstrated higher discriminatory power for predicting mortality than eGFR by the MDRD (AUC 0.686; AUC 0.609) and CKD-EPI (AUC 0.697; AUC 0.630) equations. In multivariate analyses, active cancer, CrCl by Cockcroft-Gault (90-day: hazard ratio [HR] 0.948, 95% CI 0.919–0.979; 1-year: HR 0.967, 95% CI 0.943–0.991), eGFR by CKD-EPI (90-day: HR 0.948, 95% CI 0.915–0.983; 1-year: HR 0.971, 95% CI 0.945–0.998) were found to be independent predictors of mortality. eGFR by MDRD, D-dimer, and PESI value were significant prognostic factors for 90-day mortality. Conclusion: Decreased renal function is a prognostic factor for increased all-cause mortality 90 days and 1 year after acute PE.
Orthodontically Relevant Manifestations in People with Rare Diseases
Authors: Hanisch Marcel , Hanisch Lale , Kleinheinz Johannes , Danesh Gholamreza , Benz Korbinian , Jackowski Joachim
Published: February 2019

Background: Approximately 15% of all rare diseases occur with orofacial manifestations. Symptoms and manifestations of relevance to orthodontists represent a considerable proportion of these diseases and require appropriate strategies for their treatment. This article provides an overview of the orthodontically relevant manifestations of rare diseases. Material and Methods: Overall, 3,639 rare diseases listed at the Orphanet, OMIM or Pubmed database were evaluated for orofacial manifestations. All rare diseases which were indicated with at least one orofacial manifestation were recorded in a database for rare diseases with orofacial manifestations called “ROMSE,” which was developed by the authors. All the rare diseases were analysed with regard to orthodontically relevant orofacial manifestations, such as dysgnathia, changes in the number of teeth, failures of eruption, pathologies of bone metabolism or orofacial clefts. For all rare diseases with orthodontic relevance, an exact analysis was undertaken. Results: The orthodontically relevant orofacial manifestation termed dysgnathia is described in 151 of 535 identified rare diseases (28.2%). In these 151 rare diseases, 15 different subforms of dysgnathia, in the sense of skeletal misdevelopments of the jaws but without dental abnormalities, were described. Also changes in the number of teeth (17.9%), orofacial clefts (27.6%), failures of eruption (8.4%) and pathologies of the bone (2.1%) were described. Conclusions: Orthodontics play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of orofacial manifestations in rare diseases. Databases such as ROMSE are a first step toward providing valid information in publicly accessible databases.
Avaliação da média de ressangramento em pacientes pediátricos com trombose da veia porta que fizeram uso de profilaxia endoscópica e/ou medicamentosa
Authors: Éboli Lígia Patrícia e Carvalho Batista , Matias Maria Carolina Amando do Nascimento , Cordeiro Raquel Nogueira , Araújo Gabriela Maria Carvalho , Souza Emanuel  Alexandre Amando , Lima Diego Laurentino
Published: February 2019

Introdução: A hipertensão portal (HP) resulta da obstrução venosa portal extra-hepática cuja principal etiologia na faixa etária pediátrica é a trombose da veia porta. A complicação mais temida da HP é a hemorragia digestiva alta decorrente da ruptura das varizes esofágicas. Estima-se que cerca de 70-79% das crianças com Trombose de veia prota (TVP) apresentarão pelo menos um episódio de hemorragia digestiva alta durante sua vida. A abordagem é dividida da seguinte forma: profilaxia primária, tratamento de episódios hemorrágicos agudos e profilaxia secundária. Os métodos profiláticos disponíveis englobam modalidades farmacológica, terapia endoscópica e cirurgia. Objetivos: avaliar a taxa de ressangramento por ruptura de varizes esofágicas e/ou gástricas em pacientes que utilizam profilaxia secundária com propranolol e/ou procedimentos endoscópicos, acompanhados no ambulatório de hepatologia pediátrica do IMIP. Método: Estudo analítico, retrospectivo, realizado por meio da análise do prontuário do paciente. O programa utilizado para análise estatística foi o software “R” versão 3.3.1 Resultados: A taxa global de ressangramento independente do tipo de profilaxia utilizada foi de 1,5 vezes. Os procedimentos mais utilizados para controle de sangramento foram o tratamento endoscópico com escleroterapia e ligadura elástica (n=10), seguidos do uso de tratamento endoscópico e medicamentoso com propranolol (n=9). Ao avaliar a frequência de ressangramento observa-se que os pacientes que realizaram apenas escleroterapia (n=6) apresentaram média de ressangramento de 2,16 vezes. Os pacientes que realizaram apenas ligadura elástica (n=2) ou propranolol (n=3) não apresentaram novos sangramentos. Conclusões: O presente estudo mostra uma menor média de ressangramento naqueles pacientes que fizeram uso de ligadura elástica ou propranolol isoladamente. No entanto, novos estudos na faixa etária pediátrica, são necessários para avaliação da real eficácia e segurança de cada método especificamente.
Espondilite anquilosante no sexo feminino associado à hipermobilidade articular e HLA-B27 negativo
Authors: Leite Bárbara Cristina dos Santos Ribeiro , Coelho Júnior Luilson Geraldo , Cabrobó Bárbara Keroleny Viana , Figueiredo Estevão Tavares de , Oliveira Hosana Vidica
Published: February 2019

A espondilite anquilosante (EA) é uma espondiloartropatia inflamatória soronegativa crônica, sistêmica, que na maioria das vezes apresenta um marcador HLA-B27 positivo. A EA cursa com alterações inflamatória, traumáticas e degenerativas, podendo levar a redução da flexibilidade da coluna, perda completa de mobilidade da coluna vertebral, destruição e anquilose das articulações da coluna vertebral e sacro-ilíacas. A síndrome de hipermobilidade articular é um distúrbio no qual a dor musculoesquelética ocorre em um substrato de hipermobilidade articular generalizada. A associação entre espondilite anquilosante e síndrome da hipermobilidade articular é rara. Relatamos um caso em que uma paciente apresentou espondilite anquilosante e síndrome da hipermobilidade articular.
Predictive Model for High-Risk Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Jang James J. , Bhapkar Manjushri , Coles Adrian , Vemulapalli Sreekanth , Fordyce Christopher B. , Lee Kerry L. , Udelson James E. , Hoffmann Udo , Tardif Jean-Claude , Jones W. Schuyler , Mark Daniel B. , Sorrell Vincent L. , Espinoza Andrey , Douglas Pamela S. , Patel Manesh R. ,   on behalf of the PROMISE Investigators
Published: February 2019

Background:

Patients with high-risk coronary artery disease (CAD) may be difficult to identify.

Methods:

Using the PROMISE (Prospective Multicenter Imaging Study for Evaluation of Chest Pain) cohort randomized to coronary computed tomographic angiography (n=4589), 2 predictive models were developed for high-risk CAD, defined as left main stenosis (≥50% stenosis) or either (1) ≥50% stenosis [50] or (2) ≥70% stenosis [70] of 3 vessels or 2-vessel CAD involving the proximal left anterior descending artery. Pretest predictors were examined using stepwise logistic regression and assessed for discrimination and calibration.

Results:

High-risk CAD was identified in 6.6% [50] and 2.4% [70] of patients. Models developed to predict high-risk CAD discriminated well: [50], bias-corrected C statistic=0.73 (95% CI, 0.71−0.76); [70], bias-corrected C statistic=0.73 (95% CI, 0.68−0.77). Variables predictive of CAD in both models included family history of premature CAD, age, male sex, lower glomerular filtration rate, diabetes mellitus, elevated systolic blood pressure, and angina. Additionally, smoking history was predictive of [50] CAD and sedentary lifestyle of [70] CAD. Both models characterized high-risk CAD better than the Pooled Cohort Equation (area under the curve=0.70 and 0.71 for [50] and [70], respectively) and Diamond-Forrester risk scores (area under the curve=0.68 and 0.71, respectively). Both [50] and [70] CAD was associated with more frequent invasive interventions and adverse events than non-high-risk CAD (all
P
<0.0001).

Conclusions:

In contemporary practice, 2.4% to 6.6% of stable, symptomatic patients requiring noninvasive testing have high-risk CAD. A simple combination of pretest clinical variables improves prediction of high-risk CAD over traditional risk assessments.

Clinical Trial Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT01174550.
Extra-Judicial Khulʿ Divorce in India’s Muslim Personal Law
Authors: Vatuk Sylvia
Published: February 2019

This essay examines khulʿ divorce as it is interpreted, understood, and practiced in India by Sunni Hanafi Muslims. My research was part of a broadly focused investigation of the impact of India’s Muslim Personal Law upon women’s well-being, begun in 1998 and on-going. I draw upon ethnographic and archival data collected between 1998 and 2001, as well as a recent review of the relevant case law. Widespread stereotypes represent Indian Muslim women as powerless to free themselves from unhappy marriages. However, they do have several legal options. One is to offer the husband a consideration for granting an extra-judicial divorce by khulʿ. This has distinct advantages over filing for divorce in a court of law. But its downside is that the husband must agree to release his wife from the marriage. Many refuse, others drive hard bargains or create other difficulties for the wife that are discussed in the essay.
Educated with Distinction
Authors: Sassmannshausen Christian
Published: February 2019

Beginning in the 1850s, the Ottoman Empire’s educational landscape expanded and diversified. During this era of imperial reforms, discourses around education increasingly focused on the importance of female education. This article uses census material from Tripoli in today’s Lebanon to explore the experiences of students in the wake of these shifts. It examines literacy rates across different social and religious groups and the extent to which educational decisions parents made were biased by gender and class. The analysis reveals that the rate of Muslim boys’ literacy was high even before new schools opened starting in the 1850s. As for the post-reform developments, it shows that although around a quarter of propertied families decided to send their sons and daughters to school, a considerable proportion of Muslim and Christian families privileged sons alone. Still, reforms allowed a number of groups in the generations between 1860 and 1910 to achieve higher rates of literacy, including Muslim and Christian girls as well as the children of artisans.
Empress Dowager Cixi’s Imperial Pedagogy: The School for Female Nobles and New Visions of Authority in Early Twentieth Century China
Authors: Barish Daniel
Published: February 2019

After the 1861 coup that brought her to power, Empress Dowager Cixi mobilized a variety of traditions of imperial education to cultivate the persona of a classical ruler and cement her place at the center of Qing governance. At the turn of the twentieth century, however, her enemies launched a propaganda campaign that portrayed Cixi not as a legitimate ruler but as the enemy of progress. In response, Cixi herself began a project to refashion the Qing throne, placing new institutions of imperial education for women at the center of efforts to reestablish her domestic authority and reclaim the Qing’s international standing. After reviewing Cixi’s strategies of legitimation from 1861 to 1898, this paper focuses on the Empress’s twentieth-century attempt to construct an educational apparatus to invent and train a group of female nobles who were intended to play a leading role in reforms around the country. In advocating for the role of these women and institutions, Cixi placed herself and a cosmopolitan cohort of women at the center of plans for China’s future. This future was predicated on a refashioned Qing imperial ideology that grounded the legitimacy of the state in part in its participation in global norms and practices of governance. Although the future Cixi imagined for herself and the Qing never materialized, an examination of the project helps shed new light on the politics and culture of the late Qing and beyond.
Intrinsic Valuing and the Limits of Justice: Why the Ring of Gyges Matters
Authors: Paytas Tyler , Baima Nicholas R.
Published: February 2019

Commentators such as Terence Irwin and Christopher Shields claim that the Ring of Gyges argument in Republic 2 cannot demonstrate that justice is chosen only for its consequences. This is because valuing justice for its own sake is compatible with judging its value to be overridable. Through examination of the rational commitments involved in valuing normative ideals such as justice, we aim to show that this analysis is mistaken. If Glaucon is right that everyone would endorse Gyges’ behavior, it follows that nobody values justice intrinsically. Hence, the Gyges story constitutes a more serious challenge than critics maintain.
Adaptation of the Pet Attitude Scale to German
Authors: Römpke Anne-Kristin
Published: February 2019

The growing body of research on human-animal bonds highlights the need of common methods and research designs to facilitate comparisons. A well-evaluated and widely used instrument for measuring subjective attitude towards house pets (companion animals) is the Pet Attitude Scale (PAS). The objective of the present study was to develop and validate a cross-cultural version of the PAS for use in German-speaking countries. The scale was translated and back-translated, pre-tested, and tested for reliability and factor structure. Results indicated the German adaptation showed reliability measures comparable to the original version. The factor structure resembled the results of a reevaluation of the PAS. Prediction of companion animal ownership showed good results. The German adaptation of the PAS appears to be reliable and valid for the assessment of the attitude towards companion animals in German-speaking countries.
What the Holy Seed Defiled: The Textual Problem of Genesis 49:4
Authors: Albanese Matthew James
Published: February 2019

The preservation of Gen 49:4c in the Masoretic Text presents readers with a notoriously difficult textual problem. Both ancient and contemporary interpreters disagree widely about its meaning. In this article, I summarize the lexical-syntactical difficulties of Gen 49:4c and survey its diverse interpretations throughout history. I then propose that the grammatical and hermeneutical difficulties of the phrase may be resolved in two steps. We should first modify the vocalization of the suffixed noun yeṣū‛î in order to create the construct form yeṣū‛ê. This suggestion only requires the addition of a single vocalic dot. Second, we must understand the construct form yeṣū‛ê as the head noun of an unmarked relative clause which embeds the following verb ‛ālāh. This proposal creates a precise parallel with the previous line and is corroborated by the genealogical summary in 1 Chron 5:1.
Aesop and Jotham’s Parable of the Trees (Judges 9:8-15)
Authors: Margulies Zachary
Published: February 2019

Recent scholarship has entertained the possibility that Jotham’s Parable of the Trees (Judg 9:8-15) is derived from the Greek text of one of Aesop’s Fables (Perry 262). This article refutes this notion, tracing the dependence of Aesop’s fable on one Septuagint tradition, which itself is a translation of the Hebrew. The article goes on to propose a pre-exilic setting for the biblical fable, based not on its foregrounded opinion of monarchy, but on its background assumptions of deity.
“Fasting,” “Sackcloth,” and “Ashes”—From Nineveh to Shushan
Authors: Seidler Ayelet
Published: February 2019

Many scholars have noted the linguistic links and similarities in content between the books of Esther and Jonah, and other biblical books. Some scholars have raised the possibility of a connection between Jonah and Esther themselves. This article will focus on establishing some further points of contact between these two books by comparing the descriptions of the fasting and mourning in Shushan (Esther 4) and Nineveh (Jonah 3). The mourning depicted in both Esther and Jonah should be understood as a petitionary mourning. As I shall demonstrate, there are many points of contact in plot, content and language related to the expressions of mourning in both texts. I will suggest that by creating links between these descriptions, the author of the book of Esther hints at some theological and moral implications that lack in its explicit text.
Explicit and Embedded Environmentalism
Authors: Baugh Amanda J.
Published: February 2019

The precise influence that religious outlooks have on environmental attitudes and behaviors is a matter of debate among scholars of religion and ecology. While some studies suggest that emergent ecofriendly interpretations of traditional religions offer a promising path for addressing the world’s ecological crisis, others advance more skeptical evaluations about institutional religions’ efficacy in advancing sustainability efforts. In this article I seek to shift the terms of this debate. Whether scholars suggest there is a correlation or insist there is not, these arguments envision environmentalism based on the model of the mainstream, white American environmental movement, assuming that religious environmentalism must entail explicit, concerted efforts to protect the earth. This assumption has led scholars to overlook embedded environmental expressions that are conveyed theologically rather than politically, especially among communities that do not identify with mainstream American environmentalism. By interrogating the assumption that religious environmentalism must involve concerted, political efforts, scholars of religion and ecology can better account for the ways religion influences environmental attitudes and behaviors among religious communities who are not affluent and white.
Michel Onfray’s Decentered, Ecocentric, Atheistic Philosophy
Authors: Moser Keith
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this exploration is to probe the more sustainable type of thinking promoted by the oft-neglected French philosopher Michel Onfray in his latest work Cosmos. Attempting to resuscitate the long tradition of philosophical hedonism and materialism in Western civilization, Onfray proposes a different, sensual way of being in the world that he persuasively contends is paramount to the continued existence of the human race. As the philosopher himself candidly admits, Cosmos is a practical guide that could be used as a starting point for changing the way we think and live in the Anthropocene epoch.
Questioning Divine δεῖ
Authors: Smit Peter-Ben
Published: February 2019

Frequently, δεῖ is associated with salvation history and the exercise of divine will and identified as “theological δεῖ” or “divine δεῖ”. In the history of scholarship, there is an increasing emphasis on interpreting δεῖ along these lines, thereby marginalizing other shades of meaning that this verb may have. The question is whether this course of interpretative action is justified. This will be tested in this article. In order to do so, first a brief overview of the possible shades of meaning of δεῖ will be provided; second, the occurrences of δεῖ in the Gospel of Mark are systematically reviewed; third and finally, concluding reflections will be offered, including a word of caution when it comes to deifying δεῖ. In this manner, the current study seeks to contribute to the undoing of the theosis of this particular part of early Christian vocabulary.
The Body as Metaphor
Authors: Sterling Gregory E.
Published: February 2019

This essay considers Philo of Alexandria’s metaphor in which he used the dual nature of embodied existence (body and soul) to argue that both literal and allegorical readings are legitimate. It examines the metaphor in the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CTM) developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson that argues that experience is the key to meaning. A metaphor occurs when we apply a pattern that we have observed in one setting (gestalt) to another. In this case, Philo has drawn on a Platonic/Stoic understanding of being human and applied it to contested hermeneutics within the Alexandrian Jewish community in an effort to maintain a sense of unity among two groups. The metaphorical experience is the recognition that Scripture is polyvalent in the same way that being human is.
Are nest defense behaviours and fitness components linked in white-rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa)?
Authors: Wischhoff Uschi , Marques-Santos Fernando , Bonetti Giselle , Manica Lilian T. , Roper James J. , Rodrigues Marcos
Published: February 2019

How are personalities maintained in wild animal populations? A possible mechanism is the existence of trade-offs between fitness components (survival and reproductive success) among behavioural types. We investigated this trade-off in white-rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) by capturing adults and monitoring their reproduction over time. We focused on the personality trait of nest defence against a human. We found that swallows with different levels of nest defence had similar probability to return from migration between two years (a proxy for survival). In one year, swallows that defended their nests more boldly were also more likely to succeed. However, nest defence was not linked to nestling weight or number of fledglings. Thus, we found no evidence of a trade-off between fitness components. It is possible that the investigated relationships become relevant only in extreme years that severely alter the costs and benefits of this behaviour.
Using behaviour observations to study personality in a group of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in captivity
Authors: Brandão Angela , Costa Raquel , Rodrigues Evelina , Vicente Luis
Published: February 2019

This article presents a novel approach to the study of primate personality and illustrates it with a study of capuchin monkeys. While most personality studies with capuchin monkeys have used rating questionnaires, the research method of this study relies instead on direct behaviour observations. In an effort to capitalize on the full richness of behavioural observation data, we used both statistical and non-statistical methods to analyse data from behavioural observations of a group of capuchin monkeys in captivity. Interest in capuchin monkeys as a species has increased due to their cognitive capacities, behavioural flexibility and complex social structure, as well as many similarities with great apes in dimensions of personality. In this study we focus in three aspects of personality: diversity, flexibility and complexity. Our results provide a detailed picture of these aspects of capuchins’ personality, including the degree of “predictability” and “unusualness” of individual capuchins’ behaviour.
Explaining Social Capital Formation in a Hinterlands Context: The Case of Carriacou, Grenada
Authors: Jicha Karl , Kick Edward , Fulkerson Gregory , Thompson Gretchen
Published: February 2019

Strong supportive organizations and interpersonal networks are taken to be instrumental for increasing social groups’ ability to actuate collective interests and build problem-solving capacity. Primary survey data from the island hinterlands area of Carriacou, Grenada, are used to test how key determinants of social capital in developed nations – supportive organizational efficacy, civic organization participation, social interaction, and socio-demographic characteristics – influence the normative dimension of social capital in a developing setting. Results indicate that perceptions of government efficacy and education enhance both measures of social capital in this island hinterland, while different indicators of social interaction display independent influences on each. This study concludes that hinterland settings such as Carriacou exhibit significantly different causes of social capital formation than found in other sectors of the world system.
Proteomic identification of an alpha class glutathione S-transferase in freshwater snails (Bulinus globosus)
Authors: Ayinuola Yetunde A. , Adewale Isaac O.
Published: February 2019

Bulinus globosus is a freshwater snail that serves as intermediate host for Schistosoma haematobium and is known to be drought-tolerant. A previous report on the alteration in the status of glutathione S-transferase (GST) in B. globosus during aestivation and recovery, suggested that GST might be involved in the adaptation of the organism to drought. Therefore, the present study aims to characterize GST isoforms that are displayed in snails under drought stress, sampled during the dry season, and those under recovery, sampled during the rainy season. Our data show that the hepatopancreas contained the highest level of GST compared to foot muscle, hemolymph, and visceral mass. GST activity in the hepatopancreas of snails under drought stress was about 2-3 times higher than that of the recovered snails. Activity staining of a polyacrylamide gel revealed that B. globosus both in the active and inactive state has at least three forms of GST. Based on SDS-PAGE, the multiplicity of the main GSTs in the hepatopancreas of B. globosus (BgGSTs) was further revealed by the presence of five protein bands. In addition, LC-MS/MS analysis of BgGST 2, 3 and 4 revealed the expression of alpha GST. In conclusion, B. globosus exhibits tissue-specific expression of multiple GSTs with elevated activities when the organism is under stress. Elevated activities coupled with an alpha GST class expression accentuate the role of BgGSTs as an antioxidant defense system, in particular under stress conditions.
The Strengths and Limitations of the Inclusion of Religious Actors in Peace Processes in Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Authors: Kmec Vladimir , Ganiel Gladys
Published: February 2019

This article uses a comparative approach to analyze the strengths and limitations of the inclusion of religious actors in peace and transition processes. It compares the theoretical frameworks of Bercovitch and Kadayifci-Orellana, and Brewer, demonstrating how the first helps us understand the strengths of religious actors, while the second sheds more light on their limitations. An analysis of the involvement of religious actors in the peace processes in Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina supports the argument that religious actors are more likely to contribute to peace when they are excluded from Track One negotiations and are active in other modalities of participation: in wider social peace processes at national or grass-roots levels. Religious actors can contribute to peace processes especially if they choose to exclude themselves from Track One negotiations in order to avoid the pitfalls of becoming too closely associated with political power.
Engaging the Next Generation: A Field Perspective of Youth Inclusion in Myanmar’s Peace Negotiations
Authors: Grizelj Irena
Published: February 2019

Literature examining the participation of youth during peace processes is limited. Previous work has often focused on youth as “peacebuilders” and agents of change or threats to peace in the post-accord period, with little emphasis on how young people participate during the negotiation phase. This article seeks to fill this gap by assessing youth inclusion and participation in Myanmar’s ongoing peace negotiations. The study finds that, while youth have not had formal inclusion avenues in the peace negotiations, there are cohorts of young people who perceive themselves to be legitimate stakeholders in the peace process, who have attempted to gain access to decision-making in the peace negotiations, and have played active roles in supporting the process. It is argued that recognizing youth as key stakeholders in the peace accord will play a vital role in building sustainable peace within Myanmar’s nascent democracy.
Economic Cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Turkey: Legal and Policy Considerations
Authors: Nsour Mohammad
Published: February 2019

This article provides an analysis of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) trends from Turkey in light of the UAE’s interests. The key objective is to present a concise picture of Turkish FDI and of the opportunities within selected sectors in the UAE. Pursuant to this analysis, the article enumerates various challenges the UAE legal system poses to foreign investment. It then offers recommendations for how the UAE can mitigate these challenges without compromising its legal and economic regimes.
Acts, Events, and Stories. On the History of Danto’s Compatibilist Narrativism
Authors: Uebel Thomas
Published: February 2019

The response given to C.G. Hempel’s well-known challenge by Arthur Danto in his Analytical Philosophy of History of 1965 – that deductive-nomological and narrative explanations are logically compatible yet employ incommensurable schemata – is here investigated from a historical perspective. It is shown that the developmental trajectory that emerges from an analysis of Danto’s previous writings – including not only a forgotten paper of 1958 but also his PhD dissertation of 1952 – contains distinctive step-changes with publications of 1953 and 1956 still prior to that of 1958–59 which enabled his subsequent discovery of narrative sentences. It is also argued that Danto’s developmental trajectory runs contrary to that presumed by some prominent commentators. Analytical History of Philosophy was not the midpoint of his ascent from mainstream philosopher of science to high priest of postmodern aesthetics, but represents a reasoned retreat from his early historical idealism.
Coping with the Tiny: Measures, Computations, and Reasoning with Small Amounts in Jean des Murs’s Quadrivial Works
Authors: Husson Matthieu
Published: February 2019

This paper aims at complementing the cross-disciplinary intellectual portrait of Jean des Murs presented in this special issue from the particular perspective of his arithmetical and geometrical works. If looked at from this angle, the general question immediately implies new ones: what are the connections between Jean’s arithmetical or geometrical works and those in the other fields of the quadrivium? What is their importance in the global intellectual picture of Jean des Murs as a quadrivial author of the fourteenth century? In order to explore these different issues, I have chosen to focus on a specific question: to what extent do Jean des Murs’s mathematical works reflect a persistent effort throughout his career to address the various issues related to small amounts? Focusing on this particularly significant problem will give me the opportunity to cover a representative sample of Jean des Murs’s quadrivial works from a specific perspective. Music and astronomy address small amounts in different contexts and with different mathematical tools. However, some deeper similarities appear. They concern mainly the question of measure and incommensurability as well as the relation between mathematical and physical reasoning. Overall, they reflect the intellectual coherence between quadrivial sciences as attested by Jean des Murs’s works.
Principles of Evidence in Public International Law as Applied by Investor-State Tribunals: Burden and Standards of Proof
Authors: Duggal Kabir , Cai Wendy W.
Published: February 2019

Principles of Evidence in Public International Law as Applied by Investor-State Tribunalsexplores the fundamental principles of evidence and how these principles relating to burden of proof and standards of proof are derived.

By tracing the applications of major principles recognized by the International Court of Justice and applied by investor-state tribunal jurisprudence, the authors offer valuable insight into the interpretation, understanding, and nuances of indispensable principles of evidence, an area that has been ignored in both investor-state arbitration and public international law more generally. Each principle is analyzed through historical and modern lenses to provide clarity and cohesion in understanding how fundamental principles of evidence will affect evidentiary dispositions of parties in investment arbitration and public international law cases.
In/Visible Peoples, In/Visible Lands: Overlapping Histories in Wang Chia-hsiang’s Historical Fantasy
Authors: Payne Christopher N.
Published: February 2019

This essay considers two narrative texts by the nature essayist and fiction writer Wang Chia-hsiang (Wang Jiaxiang); namely, the short story ‘On Lamatasinsin and Dahu Ali’ (1995), and the short novel Mystery of the Little People (1996). Structured around ethnographic journeys into the Taiwanese mountainous hinterland, the texts concern the main protagonists, two earnest (Han) Taiwanese ethnographers, who narrate stories that traverse the island’s histories, lands, and written remnants. The paper argues that the two stories purposefully overlap multiple historical, colonial, and environmental encounters and temporal moments as a means to fictionalise the past as inherently heterarchical. The tales thus fabulise new literary spaces in which the Taiwanese relationship to yesteryear—the peoples, the lands—can be cognised alternatively.
‘Praising Righteous Fan’: pla Air Force Commander Fan Yuanyan’s 1977 Defection to Taiwan
Authors: Morris Andrew D.
Published: February 2019

People’s Liberation Army Air Force Squadron Commander Fan Yuanyan flew his MiG-19 from Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China (prc) to the Republic of China (roc) on Taiwan on 7 July 1977. The timing of this defection, which came as u.s. President Jimmy Carter was moving decisively towards normalisation of relations with the prc, made Fan an anticommunist star. Fan spoke for years afterwards on behalf of the ‘800 million mainland compatriots’ who he felt wanted the roc to retake the mainland, even as he also became more critical of the excesses of capitalism and liberalism in Taiwan. Much of the Kuomintang’s propaganda use of Fan was related to ways in which Nationalist and Communist ideologies about authoritarian and antibourgeois values overlapped. Fan thus represents the ways in which Nationalist and Communist ideologies and societies were mutually constitutive and constructed with the other clearly in mind during the Cold War.
Companion Animals Welfare in Non-Epidemic Emergencies: The Case of Central Italy, Post-Earthquake 2016/2017
Authors: Dalla Villa P. , Migliaccio P. , Innocenti I. , Nardoia M. , Lafiandra D.C.
Published: February 2019

Among the several factors affecting animal welfare, non-epidemic emergencies are very stressful events. In the aftermath of earthquakes or during flooding, snowstorms and wildfires, companion animals are subject to injuries and deep stress, abandonment or loss resulting in the overcrowding of animal shelters, or in emergent free-roaming populations representing a potential public health threat to the affected communities. The loss of animals often also results in significant psychological trauma for their guardians. For these reasons in all phases of calamities, the care of companion animals becomes essential. This paper describes the activities that were carried out for the veterinary care of dogs and cats affected by the earthquakes that occurred in central Italy from August 2016 to January 2017. These disasters provided an opportunity to test an integrated emergency management system in which several actors participated to aid, assist and accommodate the companion animals, whether owned or strays, affected by the catastrophic events.
A new species and new record of the leafhopper genus Balclutha (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from China with key to species
Authors: SUN JING , ZHANG YALIN , LU LIN , WEBB M. D.
Published: February 2019

A new species, Balclutha longispina sp. nov. from Yunnan Province of China, is described and Balclutha sinuata Webb & Vilbaste is recored from China (Tibet) for the first time. A key to males of Chinese Balclutha species is provided.
A new species of Hypsohapsis (Heteroptera: Schizopteridae: Hypselosomatinae) from the Brazilian Amazon
Authors: ALMEIDA FLAVIO ROBERTO DE ALBUQUERQUE , CARVALHO-FILHO FERNANDO DA SILVA , FERNANDES JOSE ANTONIO MARIN
Published: February 2019

The genus Hypsohapsis Hoey-Chamberlain & Weirauch was erected based on only one male specimen from southern Brazil (São Paulo). Hypsohapsis amazonica sp.n., described herein from the Brazilian Amazon, is based on a male and two females collected in pristine tropical forest. The female of Hypsohapsis is described for the first time. In addition, an updated key to the genera of Hypselosomatinae is provided.
The formerly enigmatic Unidentiidae in the limelight again: a new species of the genus Unidentia from Thailand (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia)
Authors: KORSHUNOVA TATIANA , MEHROTRA RAHUL , ARNOLD SPENCER , LUNDIN KENNET , PICTON BERNARD , MARTYNOV ALEXANDER
Published: February 2019

An integrative molecular and morphological study is presented for the family Unidentiidae. Molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted with the inclusion of all previous and newly obtained molecular data for the family Unidentiidae Millen & Hermosillo 2012. A new species of the genus Unidentia Millen & Hermosillo 2012, U. aliciae sp. nov., is described from Thailand as part of an inventory of sea slugs at Koh Tao. All up-to-date available morphological data for the species of the genus Unidentia is for the first time summarized. Morphological differences among the different species of Unidentia are clarified showing that every species has its own distinguishable morphological traits. According to the new molecular and morphological data, the family Unidentiidae is re-confirmed as a well-supported taxon of the aeolidacean nudibranchs. The taxonomy and phylogeny of the Aeolidacea in the light of the family Unidentiidae is briefly discussed and necessity of a fine-scale and narrowly-defined taxa approach instead of a ‘‘superlumping’’ one is highlighted.