bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trends in Biosensors for HPV: Identification and Diagnosis
Authors: Frías Isaac A. M. , Avelino Karen Y. P. S. , Silva Rafael R. , Andrade César A. S. , Oliveira Maria D. L.
Published: September 2015

The conventional methodologies used for the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) present actually robust and reproducible advantages. However, at the same time, they involve complex protocols that sometimes are difficult to popularize. Over the first half of XX century, the adequate treatment of complex and delicate processes from a simple instrumental base seemed a fundamental and intrinsic contradiction. However, interdisciplinary trends have allowed the manipulation of tissues, proteins, and nucleic acids through innovative increasingly smaller devices. The proper diagnosis of HPV has seen great advances since biosensor researchers are employing its virus strains as models to study the interactions between the biorecognition element and the transducer. Additionally, all recent improvements and trends that material sciences, biotechnology, and data processing scientists excel for biosensors can be applied for the HPV detection platforms. In this review, we highlight the recent trends on materials, nanomaterials, and transducers for the specific detection and differentiation of HPV strains. The most influential methods for the detection and identification of these papillomaviruses include optical, electrochemical, and piezoelectric transducers; we will visit their sensibility and advantages. Additionally, we highlight the factors that contributed to the increasing importance of these biodevices as potential substitutes to conventional diagnostic methods.
The Relationship between Metabolic Control and Growth in Children with Type I Diabetes Mellitus in Southwest of Iran
Authors: Assar Shide , Riahi Koroush , Bashirnezhad Shiva , Yazdanpanah Leila , Latifi Seyed Mahmoud
Published: September 2015

Background. Metabolic control is an important factor in growth of children with type I diabetes. This study assessed the relationship between growth and metabolic control in such children.Materials and Methods. 83 children with diabetes were studied. They were examined for weight and height gain and HbA1C was quantified every 3 months for one year. The growth process was studied in patients who were divided into 3 groups according to their HbA1C amounts, consisting of good, intermediate, and poor metabolic control.Results. Mean age of cases was 7.6 ± 2. The presenting sign at the onset of disease was diabetic ketoacidosis in 44.6%. The average HbA1C amount was 8.89%. The average weight SDS at diagnosis was −0.18 and at the end of the study was 0.45 (P<0.001). The average height SDS at diagnosis was −0.04 and at the end of the study was −0.07 (P=0.64). A significant difference in weight SDS changes was only seen between patients with good and poor metabolic control (P=0.04).Conclusion. Poor metabolic control can decrease height growth but has minimal influence on weight. Metabolic control was not the only predictive factor of physical growth in children with diabetes.
Combined Vascular and Orthopaedic Approach for a Pseudotumor Causing Deep Vein Thrombosis after Metal-on-Metal Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasty
Authors: Abdel-Hamid Hossam , Miles Jonathan , Carrington Richard W. J. , Hart Alister , Loh Alex , Skinner John A.
Published: September 2015

Introduction. Metal-on-metal (MoM) hip resurfacings have been associated with a variety of complications resulting from adverse reaction to metal debris. Pseudotumors have rarely been reported to cause deep venous thrombosis (DVT).Study Design. A case report and a review of the literature.Case Presentation. A 75-year-old female who had left metal-on-metal hip resurfacing 6 years ago presented with left groin pain associated with unilateral lower limb edema and swelling. By duplex and MRI studies, our patient had an extensive soft tissue necrosis associated with a large pelvic mass causing extensive DVT of the lower limb secondary to mechanical compression of the left iliac vein.Results. Our case was initially treated for DVT followed by dual surgical approach. The pseudotumor was excised through a separate iliofemoral approach and revision of the hip implant was undertaken through a posterior approach in the same setting. An inferior vena cava (IVC) filter was inserted to minimise the perioperative risks of handling the iliac veins.Conclusion. A combined approach with vascular surgeons is required. Combined resection of the pseudotumor and revision of the metal bearing surfaces is essential, in order to achieve a good surgical outcome in this rare complication.
Optimal Design for One-Dimensional ALOHA Ad Hoc Networks Based on Stochastic Geometry
Authors: Lee Seunghee , Hwang Ganguk
Published: September 2015

The aims of this paper are to analyze the performance of a one-dimensional ALOHA ad hoc network and to investigate the impact of the access probability of the ALOHA protocol on the network performance. As a performance metric we consider the average number of nodes that successfully receive a packet from an arbitrary node. To mathematically model the random locations of nodes and the interference in the ad hoc network, we use stochastic geometry theory. With the help of stochastic geometry theory, we model the ad hoc network, derive an analytic form of the performance metric, and finally obtain the optimal access probability that maximizes the performance metric. Numerical examples are provided to validate our analysis and to investigate the performance behavior.
Tropospheric NO2Trends over South Asia during the Last Decade (2004–2014) Using OMI Data
Authors: ul-Haq Zia , Tariq Salman , Ali Muhammad
Published: September 2015

The focus of this study is to assess spatiotemporal variability of tropospheric NO2over South Asia using data from spaceborne OMI during the past decade (2004–2015). We find an average value of NO21.0 ± 0.05 × 1015 molec/cm2and a significant decadal increase of 14%. The elevating NO2pollution over the region is linked to rise in motor vehicles and industrial and agricultural activities and increase in biomass fuel usage. The observed seasonality of NO2is associated with change in meteorological conditions and seasonal cycles of anthropogenic emissions. OMI data reveal a seasonal peak in spring followed by winter largely linked to metrological conditions and anthropogenic emissions from crop residue and biomass burning for heating purpose, and low concentration in summer is mostly attributed to meteorological conditions. Significant increase, up to 42%, in NO2concentrations over northwestern IGB, is observed connected to large scale postmonsoon crop residue events of 2010 and 2012. It is seen that NO2is mounting over all the hotspot locations and most of the cities. Dhaka shows the highest increase of 77% followed by Islamabad (69%), Kabul (68%), Korba (64%), Bardhaman (47%), and Lahore (40%). On the contrary, DG Khan has shown negative trend of −11%.
Production of Verb Tense in Agrammatic Aphasia: A Meta-Analysis and Further Data
Authors: Faroqi-Shah Yasmeen , Friedman Laura
Published: September 2015

In a majority of languages, the time of an event is expressed by marking tense on the verb. There is substantial evidence that the production of verb tense in sentences is more severely impaired than other functional categories in persons with agrammatic aphasia. The underlying source of this verb tense impairment is less clear, particularly in terms of the relative contribution of conceptual-semantic and processing demands. This study aimed to provide a more precise characterization of verb tense impairment by examining if there is dissociationwithintenses (due to conceptual-semantic differences) and an effect of experimental task (mediated by processing limitations). Two sources of data were used: a meta-analysis of published research (which yielded 143 datasets) and new data from 16 persons with agrammatic aphasia. Tensed verbs were significantly more impaired than neutral (nonfinite) verbs, but there were no consistent differences between past, present, and future tenses. Overall, tense accuracy was mediated by task, such that picture description task was the most challenging, relative to sentence completion, sentence production priming, and grammaticality judgment. An interaction between task and tense revealed a past tense disadvantage for a sentence production priming task. These findings indicate that verb tense impairment is exacerbated by processing demands of the elicitation task and the conceptual-semantic differences between tenses are too subtle to show differential performance in agrammatism.
Robust Bayesian Regularized Estimation Based ontRegression Model
Authors: Li Zean , Zhao Weihua
Published: September 2015

Thetdistribution is a useful extension of the normal distribution, which can be used for statistical modeling of data sets with heavy tails, and provides robust estimation. In this paper, in view of the advantages of Bayesian analysis, we propose a new robust coefficient estimation and variable selection method based on Bayesian adaptive Lassotregression. A Gibbs sampler is developed based on the Bayesian hierarchical model framework, where we treat thetdistribution as a mixture of normal and gamma distributions and put different penalization parameters for different regression coefficients. We also consider the Bayesiantregression with adaptive group Lasso and obtain the Gibbs sampler from the posterior distributions. Both simulation studies and real data example show that our method performs well compared with other existing methods when the error distribution has heavy tails and/or outliers.
Bryophyte flora of Western Melanesia
Authors: Koponen Timo
Published: September 2015

A project dealing with the hepatic and moss floras of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands has proceeded more than halfway. The revision of the flora is based on the study of ca 17000 specimens collected in 1981. Two new genera and ca 50 new species have been described in 33 published papers and seven manuscripts. Many families, genera and species not previously recorded for the area have been added to the flora. More than 300 names have been reduced to synonyms. The percentage of endemic species of liverworts (40 %) is higher than that of mosses (18 %). Most of the endemic species occur at elevations above 1700 m. The geological history of New Guinea suggests that these high altitude endemics may be relatively young, i.e. less than 10 million years old. The moss flora is more closely related to the floras of Indonesia and the Philippines and continental Asia than to that of Australia. This can be explained by plate tectonics. The altitudinal distribution of hepatic and moss floras partly coincides with the zonation of vegetation proposed earlier. Human influence on bryophyte floras is devastating but a part of the flora may survive in gardens and plantations.
Biogeography of the Greater Antillean Mosses
Authors: Buck William R.
Published: September 2015

The distinctions between dispersal and vicariance are discussed and shown how they relate to geological history. Postulated theories on the tectonic origins and history of the Greater Antilles are reviewed, as well as possible climatic events that would affect biogeography. Numerous zoological examples are presented to argue both dispersalist and vicariance viewpoints. It is proposed that the modern moss flora of the Greater Antilles is best explained primarily by dispersal events. Post-vicariant events, such as Pleistocene climate changes, would have extirpated the vast majority of mosses from the islands and even among those taxa that survived, disperal by the same taxa would have obscured their origins. It is assumed that many of the North American elements in the high elevations of Hispaniola are a result of invasions during the Pleistocene. The Andean elements are considered relatively recent dispersally derived taxa that have successfully colonized the Antilles because of ecologically compatible habitats.
Species richness and phytogeography of the Bryophyte flora of the Guianas, with special reference to the lowland forest

Authors: Gradstein S. R. , Montfoort D. , Cornelissen J. H.C.
Published: September 2015

The Guianas (French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana) are probably one of the last areas of the world covered largely by virgin lowland rain forest. Species diversity of epiphytic bryophytes was investigated in dry evergreen forest and mixed forest using mountaineering techniques to ascend into the canopy. The results indicate that the lowland rain forest is richer in species than previously believed due to neglect of the canopy flora, which may hold more than 50% of the local species. The mixed forest holds the richest flora and on one single forest tree up to 67 bryophyte species were found (50 on average); 28 trees yielded 154 species. A species/area curve indicates that epiphytic bryophyte species are usually commonly distributed in the forest and a few trees may yield much of the local flora. A recent checklist of the Guianas includes over 600 species of bryophytes: 375 Hepaticae and 234 Musci. As the region lacks in altitude (except on Mt. Roraima) the general character of the bryophyte flora of the Guianas is typically lowland neotropical. Over 80% of the species are rather widespread in tropical America (Amazonian species included), and the remaining are Guayana Highlands, northern Amazonian or Caribbean elements. Endemism is very low: 2.5 %.
Geographic Variation of Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Canada
Authors: Rudmik Luke , Bird Ceris , Dean Stafford , Dort Joseph C. , Schorn Richard , Kukec Edward
Published: September 2015

Objective

With an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) cases performed in Canada each year, identifying potential unwarranted practice patterns is important. The objective of this study is to examine the rates and geographic variation of ESS in the province of Alberta, Canada.

Study Design

Small area variation analysis.

Setting

Province of Alberta, Canada.

Subjects and Methods

The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System database was searched to identify all patients who received ESS between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2013, in Alberta, Canada. The annual adjusted rates of ESS per 1000 people were calculated for each Alberta health zone and health status area. Geographic variations were evaluated with the extremal quotient, weighted coefficient of variation, and systematic component of variance. Chi‐squared‐test was used to quantify the significance of variation of the adjusted ESS rates across regions.

Results

The annual adjusted rate of ESS was 0.33 per 1000 people in Alberta, Canada. The mean extremal quotient for health status areas was 6.9, indicating a 7‐fold difference between the highest and lowest regions. The mean coefficient of variation was 41.0, and the mean systematic component of variance was 10.5, which demonstrates “very high” variation.

Conclusion

This study observed very high geographic variation in the rates of ESS across the province of Alberta. Given the negative impact of unwarranted surgical variation on quality of care, outcomes from this study indicate a need to further evaluate the delivery of care for ESS in Canada to improve overall health system performance.
Pringle’s Maneuver With a Releasable Insulok Band
Authors: Chang Yu-Chung
Published: September 2015

Background. Currently, there are many conventional instruments being applied to perform hepatic inflow control, the Pringle’s maneuver, distal to the hepatic hilum during hepatic resections. We wondered if a commonly used Insulok band can be added. Materials and Methods. Insulok band is a plastic tying device molded in one piece with an excellent cam-lock mechanism. We have applied releasable Insulok band to the Pringle’s maneuver in 10 partial hepatectomy cases, which are not suitable for application of Chang’s needle. After opening the lesser omentum, the band was passed through the Winslow foramen to the lesser sac, and the portal triad was occluded by locking the band. During the intermittent reperfusion period, this Insulok band allowed easy and fast control of hepatic inflow with its simple releasable locking device. Results. Single inflow block was used on 6 cases while repeated block on 4 cases for partial hepatectomy. The average ischemic time was 15.2 ± 8.2 minutes with an interval of 5 minutes. There was neither procedure-related morbidity nor mortality. No patient had developed postoperative hepatic failure or prolonged liver dysfunction. The efficacy of bleeding control was excellent and the average blood loss during Pringle’s maneuver was 6 ± 12.6 mL. Furthermore, locking and unlocking of the Insulok band each took only 5 seconds. Conclusion. Releasable Insulok band is a simpler, faster, cheaper, and safe alternative to the conventional methods for blocking hepatic inflow in Pringle’s maneuver, especially in those cases not suitable for using the Chang’s needle.
Double-difference waveform inversion: Feasibility and robustness study with pressure data
Authors: Yang Di , Meadows Mark , Inderwiesen Phil , Landa Jorge , Malcolm Alison , Fehler Michael
Published: September 2015

Time-lapse seismic data are widely used to monitor reservoir changes. Qualitative comparisons between baseline and monitor data sets or image volumes provide information about fluid and pressure effects within the reservoir during production. However, to perform real quantitative analysis of such reservoir changes, quantitative estimates of the elastic parameters are required as input parameters to rock-physics-based reservoir models. Full-waveform inversion has been proposed as a potential tool for retrieving subsurface properties, such as P- and S-wave velocities and density by fitting simulated waveforms to seismic data. An extension of this method to time-lapse applications seems straightforward, but, in fact, it requires more tailored processes such as double-difference waveform inversion (DDWI). We used realistic 2D synthetic pressure data examples to compare the performance of DDWI with that of two other inversion schemes: one using the same starting model for both inversions and the other starting the monitor inversion with the final baseline inversion model. The data simulation and inversion were based on acoustic theory. Although P-wave velocity changes were reliably recovered by each inversion method, DDWI was found to deliver the best results when perfectly repeated surveys were used. However, differencing the baseline and monitor data sets, as required by DDWI, could be found to be sensitive to the presence of survey nonrepeatability. To investigate the feasibility of using DDWI in practice, the dependence of DDWI on the quality of the baseline models and its robustness to survey nonrepeatability were studied with numerical tests. Various types of nonrepeatability were considered separately in the synthetic tests, including random noise, acquisition geometry mismatch, source wavelet discrepancy, and overburden velocity changes. A study of the correlation between the levels and types of nonrepeatability and the resulting contamination of the inversion results found that, for pressure data, DDWI was capable of inverting reliably for P-wave velocity changes under realistic survey nonrepeatability conditions.
Disruption of the ERK/MAPK pathway in neural crest cells as a potential cause of Pierre Robin sequence
Authors: Parada Carolina , Han Dong , Grimaldi Alexandre , Sarrión Patricia , Park Shery S. , Pelikan Richard , Sanchez-Lara Pedro A. , Chai Yang
Published: September 2015

Disrupted ERK1/2 signaling is associated with several developmental syndromes in humans. To understand the function of Erk2 in the postmigratory neural crest populating the craniofacial region, we studied two mouse models: Wnt1-Cre;Erk2fl/fl and Osr2-Cre;Erk2fl/fl. Wnt1-Cre;Erk2fl/fl mice exhibited cleft palate, malformed tongue, micrognathia and mandibular asymmetry. Cleft palate in these mice was associated with delay/failure of palatal shelf elevation, caused by tongue malposition and micrognathia. Osr2-Cre;Erk2fl/fl mice, in which the Erk2 deletion is restricted to the palatal mesenchyme, did not display cleft palate, suggesting that palatal clefting in Wnt1-Cre;Erk2fl/fl mice is a secondary defect. Tongues in Wnt1-Cre;Erk2fl/fl mice exhibited microglossia, malposition, disruption of the muscle patterning, and compromised tendon development. The tongue phenotype was extensively rescued after culture in isolation, indicating that it might also be a secondary defect. The primary malformations in Wnt1-Cre;Erk2fl/fl mice, micrognathia and mandibular asymmetry, are linked to an early osteogenic differentiation defect. Collectively, our study demonstrates that mutation of Erk2 in neural crest derivatives phenocopies the human Pierre Robin sequence and highlights the interconnection of palate, tongue, and mandible development. Because the ERK pathway serves as a crucial point of convergence for multiple signaling pathways, our study will facilitate a better understanding of the molecular regulatory mechanisms of craniofacial development.
Mcidas and GemC1/Lynkeas are key regulators for the generation of multiciliated ependymal cells in the adult neurogenic niche
Authors: Kyrousi Christina , Arbi Marina , Pilz Gregor-Alexander , Pefani Dafni-Eleftheria , Lalioti Maria-Eleni , Ninkovic Jovica , Götz Magdalena , Lygerou Zoi , Taraviras Stavros
Published: September 2015

Multiciliated cells are abundant in the epithelial surface of different tissues, including cells lining the walls of the lateral ventricles in the brain and the airway epithelium. Their main role is to control fluid flow and thus defects in their differentiation were implicated in many human disorders such as hydrocephalus, accompanied by defects in adult neurogenesis and mucociliary disorder in the airway system. Here we show that Mcidas, which was mutated in human mucociliary clearance disorder and GemC1/Lynkeas, previously implicated in cell cycle progression, are key regulators of multiciliated ependymal cells generation in the brain. Overexpression and knock down experiments show that Mcidas and GemC1/Lynkeas are sufficient and necessary for cell fate commitment and differentiation of radial glial cells to multiciliated ependymal cells. Furthermore, we show that GemC1/Lynkeas and Mcidas operate in hierarchical order, upstream of Foxj1 and c-Myb transcription factors, known regulators of ependymal cell generation, while Notch signaling is inhibiting their function. Our results suggest that Mcidas and GemC1/Lynkeas are key players for the generation of multiciliated ependymal cells of the adult neurogenic niche.
Wettability of Binary Solid-Supported Films of Zwitterionic/Anionic Phospholipids
Authors: Jurak Małgorzata
Published: September 2015

The effect of different amounts of anionic phosphatidylglycerol in the zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine monolayers on their properties was quantitatively described in terms of the interactions between these two compounds as well as the changes of mixed monolayers' apparent surface free energy and its components. For all Langmuir films, surface pressure–area per molecule (π–A) isotherms were used to monitor the surface thermodynamics (i.e. the excess area and excess free enthalpy of mixing). This allowed to evaluate the kind and magnitude of interactions that have an influence on the phase behaviour and structural properties of the monolayers. Then, assuming that the molecular properties of Langmuir films are preserved upon transfer to a solid support, further characterizations were accomplished with advancing and receding contact angle measurements on the Langmuir–Blodgett films deposited at 35 mN/m on mica. These enabled the possibility to track changes in the wettability of the tightly packed or phase-separated phospholipid films and their surface free energy as a function of the monolayer composition. It is believed that these results throw a light on better understanding of the organizational structure of lipid films and their interactions with the surrounding environment. Moreover, the obtained results can be also helpful to identify the optimal lipid composition in the production of more effective therapeutic surfactants.
Adsorption of V(V), Mo(VI) and Cr(VI) Oxoanions by Chitosan–Silica Composite Synthesized by Mannich Reaction
Authors: Budnyak T.M. , Tertykh V.A. , Yanovska E.S. , Kołodyńska D. , Bartyzel A.
Published: September 2015

Immobilization of chitosan on modified silica surface has been carried out by aminomethylation (Mannich reaction). The obtained chitosan–silica (CSS) composite was characterized by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface area and pore diameter. The concentration of chitosan in the composite was determined by the thermogravimetric method. The effects of various parameters, such as pH, contact time, initial concentration of the metal on the adsorption of V(V), Mo(VI) and Cr(VI) oxoanions by the CSS composite were investigated in comparison with the initial components: chitosan, amino-containing silica and silica. The maximum adsorption capacities of composite with respect to V(V) and Mo(VI) oxoanions at pH 2.5 were 1.6 and 1.5 mmol/g, respectively, and 0.5 mmol/g towards Cr(VI) in the neutral medium.
Effect of the Synthesis Methods on Hydrophobic Properties of Modified Silicas
Authors: Goncharuk Olena V. , Sulym Iryna Ya. , Terpilowski Konrad , Pakhlov Evgeniy M.
Published: September 2015

Composites based on fumed silica with surface hydrophobic groups were synthesized by chemical substitution of silanol groups' proton for trimethylsilyl (TMS) groups, adsorption of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and combined chemical-adsorption methods. Microcalorimetry measurements and values of the wetting contact angle with water (Θ) were obtained to investigate the hydrophobic properties of prepared materials. The hydrophilicity indexes (Kh) were determined from the relationship of heat of immersion in water Qw to non-polar decane Qd. The Θ and Qw demonstrated changes with increase of modification degree (dm) for composites containing a monolayer of PDMS. All samples with excess of PDMS had high Θ (>110°) and relatively low Qw and Kh. Composites modified with TMS groups demonstrated hydrophobic properties in accordance with Kh at dm 0.7, whereas Θ > 90° is observed only for those samples with dm = 1.0. The different methods of synthesis may be applied based on the morphological characteristics and hydrophobicity of the samples.
Observed Variability of Near-Surface Salinity Field on Seasonal and Interannual Time Scales and Its Impact on the Evolution of Sea Surface Temperature of the Tropical Indian Ocean
Authors: Rao R. R.
Published: September 2015

A subset of the newly published salinity and temperature climatologies of the global ocean is assembled to examine the observed seasonal variability of the near-surface salinity field of the tropical Indian Ocean. The role of vertical haline stratification in the near-surface layers on the manifestation of the barrier layer thickness in the new climatology is addressed. The warm pool of the tropical Indian Ocean is characterized to identify the geographic regions where the near-surface haline stratification and the warm pool core co-exist. Among the three regions within the warm pool of the tropical Indian Ocean, viz., southeastern Arabian Sea, southwestern Bay of Bengal and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, a strong coupling between the near-surface haline stratification and the subsequent evolution of the warm pool core is most prominently seen only in the southeastern Arabian Sea. The observed year to year co-variability of the near-surface low salinity pool and the warm pool core in the southeastern Arabian Sea is examined.
Twenty Years of Suasana: Producing Malay Dance-Drama
Authors: Mohamad Zukifli
Published: September 2015

The article discusses two decades of Suasana Dance Company (1978–1998) with a short explanation of eight major productions, noting the personnel involved and the artistic style of the group. It assesses why this important company is no longer active and documents the company’s contributions to Malaysian theatre during its productive years.
Taiwanese Jingju Performances Featuring Women’s Writing: Meng Xiaodong and The Ghostdom River
Authors: Tuan Iris H.
Published: September 2015

This essay examines the ways in which two Taiwanese women playwrights used jingju in their recent works. Wang An-Chi’s Meng Xiaodong featured actress Wei Hai-Ming (魏海敏) telling the autobiography of the eponymous twentieth-century actress. Wu Ming-Lun’s The Ghostdom River adapted the traditional story of Yin Yang River, exploring the female character’s complex personal situation. These projects demonstrate the significant contributions made by the two women playwrights to the twenty-first-century jingju .
Lokhon Luang , the Cambodian Court Theatre: Toward a Decline of Women’s Supremacy?
Authors: Nut Suppya Hélène
Published: September 2015

This article examines the evolution of Cambodian court theatre, lokhon luang , from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day through three prominent patronesses, Queen Khun Than, Queen Sisowath Kossomak, and Princess Norodom Buppha Devi. It aims to question the authority of female artists who dominated all fields, from dancers and singers to instrumentalists, upon male artists, who had been introduced in the early twentieth century.
Women in Balinese Topeng : Voices, Reflections, and Interactions
Authors: Coldiron Margaret , Palermo Carmencita , Strawson Tiffany
Published: September 2015

This article charts the increasing involvement of women performers in Balinese topeng (mask dance) and emerged from discussions and emails among the authors. Following an overview explaining women’s traditional absence from this form and noting the pioneering women who have been at the forefront of change, the authors discuss how, as non-Balinese female performers and researchers, they discovered that they shared many similar stories, curiosities, and challenges relating to their training and experiences. Their insights provide a detailed picture of some important issues for women in Asian theatre.
Masks of Sumatra
Authors: Thomas Karen Kartomi
Published: September 2015

In this article I focus on the performance practices of one of Sumatra’s little-known mask varieties, that of sakura theatre, performed in the southernmost province of Lampung. I also draw attention to four other Sumatran mask types, namely, those used in funeral ceremonies of the Karo Batak in North Sumatra, mak yong theatre of Bintan, gobang ritual of the Anambas islands, and mendu theatre of Natuna. In order to gain a greater understanding of the Sumatran mask images and to illuminate their use in performance, I first trace the history of Sumatran mask design, sourcing relevant iconographical and archeological data dating back to the migrations to the island in the Dongson era (500–1000 bce ) and the subsequent Hindu-Buddhist period (first to fourteenth centuries ce ). The masks’ facial features and their functions in Lampung personify animals, gods, demons, and humans and resemble carvings of supernatural beings on Buddhist temple remains throughout Sumatra. The ancestors are believed to have traveled along South Sumatra’s and Lampung’s extensive river system to Skala Brak in West Lampung along the southwestern Bukit Barisan mountain range, bringing with them their cultures and artistic skills. Moreover, the later interethnic contact between southern Sumatrans and the Benanek Dayak community in Kalimantan may have influenced the designs of the masks, given the similarities between them in the two areas. Today Lampung sakura masking in its various forms, dating back to the pre–Hindu-Buddhist period in Skala Brak, takes place in mystical healing and village cleansing ceremonies, at pole-climbing festivals, and in street processions on the Muslim feast day of Idul Fitri. As an indirect means of affecting the people’s mindset, sakura processional performance practices and their allure affirm the Lampung worldview.
Women in Indian Puppetry: Negotiating Traditional Roles and New Possibilities
Authors: Orenstein Claudia
Published: September 2015

As new possibilities open up to women in India’s changing economy, women puppeteers are transforming the face of both traditional and contemporary forms of Indian puppetry. An investigation into the work of several prominent women puppeteers, from rural and urban settings, shows the range of challenges these women artists face as well as the important contributions they are making to grow and sustain India’s puppetry arts.
Introduction: Women in Asian Theatre: Conceptual, Political, and Aesthetic Paradigms
Authors: Madhavan Arya
Published: September 2015

A conference titled Women in Asian Theatre was held at the University of Lincoln in September 2013, and papers from that gathering form the core of this issue. The rationale in organizing the conference was to explore differences across Asia and note that theories from Western feminists do not necessarily transfer to Asian models. This conference was a first step toward mapping histories of the female in Asian theatre, and this is a line of inquiry that deserves more attention.
Not-Feminism: A Discourse on the Politics of a Term in Modern Indian Theatre
Authors: Lieder K. Frances
Published: September 2015

When speaking and writing about their theatrical practice, many women working in modern Indian theatre reject the terminology and teleology of what they see as neoliberal feminism. Taking my cue from the thoughts and writings of the most well-known female directors, actors, and playwrights of post-independence Indian theatre, I argue that theatrical performance in modern India offers a unique vehicle for agency, authorship, and engaging with the challenging task of creating a discourse of women and women’s rights. Significantly, this discourse is formulated around the decolonial notion of not-feminism, rejecting Western feminism and in the very action of rejection creating its own space of future-oriented aesthetic articulation.
The Ronggeng , the Wayang , the Wali , and Islam: Female or Transvestite Male Dancers-Singers-Performers and Evolving Islam in West Java
Authors: Foley Kathy
Published: September 2015

This article discusses the relationship of Islam, female performance, wayang/topeng , and transvestite practices in the performing arts of West Java, giving a very brief overview of three periods: the mytho-historic moment of the wali (saints), who used arts, including ronggeng (female-style singing-dancing) as a tool of conversion; the colonial era, when the palaces that were fonts of religious wisdom and colonial resistance became major centers that hired and influenced ronggeng arts, which dispersed through the Sundanese area of West Java, further developing genres like tayuban (dance parties of the aristocracy) and ketuk tilu (Sundanese popular dance performance); and the contemporary period, when the art has been devalued, noting that anti-pornography legislation enacted in 2008 is, in part, aimed at eliminating remnants of these long-existing female-singer-dancer and transvestite male performance practices, which are mentioned in literature of the colonial period and linked in oral histories with the advent of Islam. Through changing assumptions about ronggeng and the arts we see shifts in attitudes toward performance, sexuality, and religious discourse in local Islam.
Longitude and Simultaneity in Philosophy, Physics, and Empires
Authors: Siegert Bernhard
Published: September 2015

The finding of longitude on the oceans was considered the greatest scientific challenge between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. This essay sketches its impact on the establishment of the British Empire, Victorian physics, and the early philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Against the backdrop of this history, a historical ontology of the clock is developed. While the clock was a machine during the Middle Ages, it turned into an instrument in early modern times, and into a medium during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a medium for the Dasein , the clock is not only an ontic measuring instrument, but also an ontological thing, which for the Dasein makes accessible the technicality of its own being.
Difference Machines: Time in Experimental Systems
Authors: Rheinberger Hans-Jörg
Published: September 2015

For a long time, identity and contradiction were the categories in which historical trajectories were conceptualized. Following Gilles Deleuze, this essay uses the categories of reproduction and difference instead to convey an idea of how the sciences develop on the basis of experimentation—a development that does not rest on anticipation, as is usually thought, but reveals itself as a process “driven from behind,” as Thomas Kuhn once put it. The essay exposes the temporal structure characteristic of experimental systems on the basis of an example from the recent history of the life sciences.
The Outmodedness of Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Authors: Vasiliauskas Emily
Published: September 2015

This essay proposes that Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence, parts of which were written after the vogue for amorous sonnet sequences had passed, makes programmatic use of its own outmodedness. Style in the period operated as a technique of class consolidation among the elite and, therefore, as a site of class struggle. But by abandoning the ambition either for timeliness or timelessness, the sonnets encounter a kind of benevolent neglect, where love can develop apart from the timely pressures of social climbing, fashion, and the imperative to procreate. The plural temporality of outmodedness--the way it situates a persistent form of the past within the present--also forces style to confront the arbitrariness of its own procedures.
Reparative Pater: Retreat, Ecstasy, and Reparation in the Writings of Walter Pater
Authors: O’Connell Rachel
Published: September 2015

This article explores what I call Pater’s “retreat”: his withdrawal, after 1873, into a mode of bland, polite, and very private conventionalism and his many acts of self-effacement and self-concealment. I argue that while we can read this retreat as a response to social marginalization (Pater’s withdrawal was partly motivated by forms of homosexual scandal), in reading Pater we do not encounter an authentic subject panting for expression and freedom. Rather, we discover the culture of a complex, multi-layered subject formed in fundamental ways by its intimate and invested relationship with the very suppressions by which it is beset--a subject that sometimes relishes and relies upon the position of retreat, finding within it sources of comfort and sustenance. I suggest that Pater seems to move in a confusing and little-known territory that lies somewhere between abjection and subversion, and thus his life and writings demand that we, as critics, develop ways of speaking about the lived experience of marginalized subjects that neither turn that experience into a triumphant narrative of political resistance nor read it as a tragic narrative of political oppression. I argue that Pater’s complex and invested management of his position of retreat constitutes one event in a non-operatic strand of queer history, the history of those subjects that are neither heroic nor abject, but something in between, knee-deep in the tough and compelling work of survival, and drawing heavily on their resources of reparation and healing in order to continue to move through the world.
Rhyme’s Crimes
Authors: Cohen-Vrignaud Gerard
Published: September 2015

This article shows how rhyme came to be devalued critically. It argues that formalist methodologies alone cannot explain why rhyme once dominated and then fell in importance. Nor can formalism save rhyme by pointing to the reasons why humans enjoy it or by showing how it adds to poetry’s value. Instead, in historicist fashion, I focus on how political factors have determined the meaning of rhyme in the last three hundred years. I link rhyme’s fall to a series of ideological disavowals that tied the technique to subject positions deemed unfree. From political conservatism and aristocracy to femininity, childishness, and popular vulgarity, rhyme was positioned in aesthetic discourse as a device not fit for liberal professors of poetry. The case of rhyme illustrates that literary form can never be abstracted from the political contests by which culture is riven.
“I tell you what mine author says”: A Brief History of Stylometrics
Authors: Kahan Jeffrey
Published: September 2015

It’s been over 230 years since William Richardson first dreamed of identifying Shakespeare scientifically. Since then, we’ve had countless counters, new methods, and endless errors. Cardenio and other hitherto Apocryphal plays may be in part or in full by Shakespeare, but this essay argues that any reliance on mathematics concerning such questions should be deeply sounded.
“The Force of my Narrative”: Persuasion, Nation, and Paratext in Walter Scott’s Early Waverley Novels
Authors: Adams Maeve
Published: September 2015

This essay revisits Scott’s theory of “the force of…narrative” and argues that the elaborate paratexts of his early Waverley novels constitute an expression of (and experiment in) that theory. In his early Waverley novels and book review essays, Scott joined his contemporaries in grappling with the demise of classical rhetoric, elaborating a theory of narrative force by rethinking the two dominant Romantic conceptions of force: military force and rhetorical force. This essay thus reveals some overlooked origins of Scott’s innovative form of historical fiction and his theory of the novel.
Sovereignty and Justice: Introduction to the Forum
Authors: Klumbytė Neringa
Published: September 2015

SUMMARY: Guest editor of the forum “Sovereign Futures: Politics of Justice and Governance in Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia,” Neringa Klumbytė, introduces the articles that it features. She invites readers to look at sovereignty and justice as a historical, political, and cultural process involving multiple political actors, from the government to citizens to mafia groups. Dedicated to differing scenarios of sovereignty and varying understandings of justice after 1991, the materials of the forum reveal the contextuality of these key categories of social cohesion in post-Soviet societies. В своем введении приглашенный редактор форума “Разное суверен-ное будущее: политика правосудия и управления в Литве, Кыргызстане и России” Неринга Клумбите представляет вошедшие в него матери-алы. Она призывает читателей взглянуть на феномен суверенитета и правосудия как на исторический, политический и культурный про-цесс, в котором участвуют множественные политические агенты, в диапазоне от правительств до граждан и до мафиозных объединений. Материалы форума, посвященные альтернативным сценариям сувере-нитета и разным пониманиям справедливости после 1991 г., вскрывают контекстуальность этих ключевых категорий социальной организации в постсоветских обществах.
О Борисе Васильевиче Ананьиче (1931−2015)
Authors: Лебедев Сергей , Петров Юрий
Published: September 2015

Sergei Lebedev and Yuri Petrov reconstruct Boris Anan’ich’s professional biography, revisit his main works, describe his research interests and work ethic, and his participation in multiple international projects. They offer a general assessment of Anan’ich’s contribution to the sociopolitical and economic history of the late Russian Empire.
Commemorating the “Living Torch of Freedom”: Searching for a Usable Past in Romas Kalanta’s 1972 Self-Immolation
Authors: Swain Amanda
Published: September 2015

SUMMARY: In 1972, nineteen-year-old Romas Kalanta set himself on fire in Soviet Lithuania leaving a note saying, “only the system is responsible for my death.” Kalanta’s “dead body” was employed by the Lithuanian popular front Sąjūdis in 1989 as a powerful symbol of the nation’s oppression and suffering under Soviet rule. Just over a decade later, however, Kalanta was no longer useful as a national symbol, primarily due to the manner of his death. By 2002, Kalanta’s act of suicide discouraged rather than encouraged identification with him, and the issue of mental illness continued to taint his potential as a national hero. Instead, emphasis shifted to the street demonstrations by young people that followed his funeral. In this case, the live bodies of young people engaged in popular protest became a more powerful symbol than Kalanta, as Lithuanians claimed the moral value of civil resistance and a “Sixties” youth culture with the West. В 1972 г. девятнадцатилетний Ромас Каланта, житель советской Лит-вы, совершил самосожжение. В оставленной им записке говорилось: “Только систему следует винить в моей смерти”. В 1989 г. литовский народный фронт “Саюдис” превратил “мертвое тело” Каланты в важ-ный символ национального притеснения и страданий при советской власти. Однако уже через десять лет фигура Каланты потеряла значи-мость национального символа. К 2002 г. факт самоубийства осложнял идентификацию с ним, а подозрения в психическом расстройстве Ка-ланты бросали пятно на его потенциал национального героя. Теперь акцент делался на уличных демонстрациях, организованных молодыми людьми после похорон Каланты. По мере того, как литовцы осозна-вали моральную ценность гражданского сопротивления и начинали ассоциировать молодежную культуру 1960-х с “Западом”, живые тела молодых людей, участвовавших в протестах, приобретали большую символическую значимость, чем мертвое тело Каланты.
Памяти Бориса Васильевича Ананьича
Authors: Витухновская Марина
Published: September 2015

Marina Vitukhnovskaia shares with readers her recollections of four decades of communicating with Boris Anan’ich, beginning from her student years. In her account, Anan’ich’s professional qualities were but a continuation of his personal character.
Boris Vasil’evich Anan’ich: A Personal Reflection
Authors: Gatrell Peter
Published: September 2015

SUMMARY: Peter Gatrell got to know Boris Anan’ich as a graduate student back in the 1970s, and met him in person for the first time in 1982. Subsequently, they developed a professional collaboration, and together penned an important text on the Russian imperial economic system. Питер Гетрелл познакомился с работами Б. В. Ананьича еще в 1970-х гг. будучи аспирантом, а впервые они встретились в 1982 г. Впоследствии они стали профессионально сотрудничать, в том числе написав совместно важный текст по истории экономической системы Российской империи.