bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Too few data and not enough time: approaches to detecting Allee effects in threatened species
Authors: Gilroy James J. , Virzi Thomas , Boulton Rebecca L. , Lockwood Julie L.
Published: April 2012

The detection of Allee effects is critical in assessing extinction risk, but is extremely difficult when sampling small, low‐density populations. Failure to detect true Allee effects could lead to overoptimistic assessments of threat status, as well as the development of inappropriate species recovery plans. We outline a broadly applicable approach for evaluating Allee effect likelihood in analyses of sparse demographic data, explicitly acknowledging the uncertainties associated with detecting subtle Allee effects among the suite of factors that can influence demographic variability. Detailed information on the probability of Allee effects will empower conservation decision makers to balance extinction risks against the political and economic costs associated with management action. We use an illustrative case study involving demographic analyses of the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow, highlighting the value of information on Allee effect likelihood for the development of restoration measures within species recovery plans.
Influence of patient characteristics on survival following treatment with helical stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in stage I non‐small‐cell lung cancer
Authors: Fischer‐Valuck Benjamin W. , Durci Michael , Katz Sanford R. , Wu Hsinshun Terry , Syh Joseph , Syh Jarron , Patel Bijal , Rosen Lane R.
Published: April 2012

Background:  To determine the influence of patient and tumor characteristics on clinical outcomes in patients with early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with helical intensity modulated stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).

Methods:  From March 2005 to August 2010 a total of 62 patients with biopsy proven Stage I NSCLC underwent helical SBRT with 48 Gy in 4 fractions or 60 Gy in 5 fractions. Patient and tumor characteristics including tumor stage, age, sex, tumor histology, maximal tumor diameter, and smoking history, were evaluated in regard to local control and overall survival using Kaplan‐Meier survival curves and the Cox proportional hazard method. Treatment related toxicity in the patient subgroups was evaluated.

Results:  The median follow‐up was 28 months. Total cohort local control was 93.55% and 3‐year overall survival (OS) was 53.4%. Those patients with Stage IA disease had a 3‐year OS of 64.4% versus 32.1% for Stage IB disease (P = 0.042). Tumors classified as T1a (≤20 mm) and T1b (20–30 mm) had significantly increased overall survival compared to T2 (>30 mm) tumors (P = 0.046). There was a slight survival advantage in those patients with adenocarcinoma. No correlation between age, gender or smoking history, and overall survival was found. Nine patients had radiation related toxicity, which was increasingly more common with advancing age.

Conclusion:  Helical SBRT is an effective method to treat NSCLC and the most significant prognostic factors were tumor stage and size. There was no correlation between age, gender, and smoking history.
Claiming and displaying national identity: Irish Travellers’ and students’ strategic use of ‘banal’ and ‘hot’ national identity in talk
Authors: Joyce Carmel , Stevenson Clifford , Muldoon Orla
Published: April 2012

Two complementary explanations have been offered by social psychologists to account for the universal hold of national identity, first that national identity is ideologically assumed, as it forms the ‘banal’ background of everyday life, and second that national identity is ‘hotly’ constructed and contested in political and everyday settings to great effect. However, ‘banal’ and ‘hot’ aspects of national identity have been found to be distributed unevenly across national and subnational groups and banality itself can be strategically used to distinguish between different groups. The present paper develops these ideas by examining possible reasons for these different modes and strategies of identity expression. Drawing upon intergroup theories of minority and majority relations, we examine how a group who see themselves unequivocally as a minority, Irish Travellers, talk about their national identity in comparison to an age and gender‐matched sample of Irish students. We find that Travellers proactively display and claim ‘hot’ national identity in order to establish their Irishness. Irish students ‘do banality’, police the boundaries and reputation of Irishness, and actively reject and disparage proactive displays of Irishness. The implications for discursive understandings of identity, the study of intra‐national group relations and policies of minority inclusion are discussed.
Analysis of the efficiency with which geometrically asymmetric metal–vacuum–metal junctions can be used for the rectification of infrared and optical radiations
Authors: Mayer Alexandre , Chung Moon S. , Lerner Peter B. , Weiss Brock L. , Miskovsky Nicholas M. , Cutler Paul H.
Published: April 2012

The authors simulate the rectification properties of geometrically asymmetric metal–vacuum–metal junctions in which one of the metals is flat while the other is extended by a sharp tip. The authors analyze, in particular, the efficiency with which the energy of incident radiations, with frequencies in the infrared through the visible, is transferred to the electrons that cross the junction. This time-dependent electronic scattering problem is solved by using a transfer-matrix methodology. In order to validate this technique, the results achieved by using this quantum-mechanical scheme are compared with those provided by models that are based on extrapolations of static current–voltage data. The authors then discuss concepts that are relevant to the efficiency with which energy is converted in these junctions. The authors finally analyze how this efficiency is affected by the amplitude and the angular frequency of the potentials that are induced in these junctions, the work function of the metallic contacts and the spacing between these contacts.
Electron-beam lithography for photonic waveguide fabrication: Measurement of the effect of field stitching errors on optical performance and evaluation of a new compensation method
Authors: Bogdanov Alexei L. , Lapointe Jean , Schmid Jens H.
Published: April 2012

A method for stitching error compensation in electron beam lithography by multipass writing of the pattern in the areas spanning the field boundaries is described. This method does not require reducing the write current or changing beam dwell time and was used to correct artificial stitching errors which were deliberately introduced in a layout. SOI-based photonic waveguides with intentional stitching errors of predefined amplitudes and orientation were fabricated. The number of the errors along the waveguides was chosen to produce a measurable optical effect. A corrected version of the same layout was fabricated on the same chip. The optical losses were measured for both the TE and TM polarizations and compared to the results of finite difference time domain simulations. Measurements of optical losses for the waveguides after correction show a clear improvement.
Sparse and optimal acquisition design for diffusion MRI and beyond
Authors: Koay Cheng Guan , Özarslan Evren , Johnson Kevin M. , Meyerand M. Elizabeth
Published: April 2012

Purpose

: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with functional MRI promises a whole new vista for scientists to investigate noninvasively the structural and functional connectivity of the human brain—the human connectome, which had heretofore been out of reach. As with other imaging modalities, diffusion MRI data are inherently noisy and its acquisition time‐consuming. Further, a faithful representation of the human connectome that can serve as a predictive model requires a robust and accurate data‐analytic pipeline. The focus of this paper is on one of the key segments of this pipeline—in particular, the development of a sparse and optimal acquisition (SOA) design for diffusion MRI multiple‐shell acquisition and beyond.

Methods

: The authors propose a novel optimality criterion for sparse multiple‐shell acquisition and quasimultiple‐shell designs in diffusion MRI and a novel and effective semistochastic and moderately greedy combinatorial search strategy with simulated annealing to locate the optimum design or configuration. The goal of the optimality criteria is threefold: first, to maximize uniformity of the diffusion measurements in each shell, which is equivalent to maximal incoherence in angular measurements; second, to maximize coverage of the diffusion measurements around each radial line to achieve maximal incoherence in radial measurements for multiple‐shell acquisition; and finally, to ensure maximum uniformity of diffusion measurement directions in the limiting case when all the shells are coincidental as in the case of a single‐shell acquisition. The approach taken in evaluating the stability of various acquisition designs is based on the condition number and the A‐optimal measure of the design matrix.

Results

: Even though the number of distinct configurations for a given set of diffusion gradient directions is very large in general—e.g., in the order of 10232for a set of 144 diffusion gradient directions, the proposed search strategy was found to be effective in finding the optimum configuration. It was found that the square design is the most robust (i.e., with stable condition numbers and A‐optimal measures under varying experimental conditions) among many other possible designs of the same sample size. Under the same performance evaluation, the square design was found to be more robust than the widely used sampling schemes similar to that of 3D radial MRI and of diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI).

Conclusions

: A novel optimality criterion for sparse multiple‐shell acquisition and quasimultiple‐shell designs in diffusion MRI and an effective search strategy for finding the best configuration have been developed. The results are very promising, interesting, and practical for diffusion MRI acquisitions.
Photoacoustic tomography and fluorescence molecular tomography: A comparative study based on indocyanine green
Authors: Wang Bo , Zhao Qing , Barkey Natalie M. , Morse David L. , Jiang Huabei
Published: April 2012

Purpose:

Both photoacoustic tomography (PAT) and fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) can be used for molecular imaging when contrast agents are administrated. The goal of this work is to comparatively evaluate the performance of reflection‐mode PAT and FMT in common phantom when indocyanine green (ICG) was used as a contrast agent.

Methods:

Reflection‐mode PAT and FMT systems were developed. Target embedded in a background phantom with different ICG concentration, size, and depth location was examined. Comparisons were made in terms of target morphology, spatial resolution, and sensitivity between the two modalities.

Results:

Phantom results showed that PAT and FMT gave different image morphology. PAT offered higher spatial resolution, while FMT provided higher sensitivity. Thus, improved target detection could be achieved by correlating the complementary information obtained from the two modalities.

Conclusions:

The combination of high resolution PAT and high sensitivity FMT will provide a more complete range of pathology spectra for more reliable target detection, suggesting a potentially better diagnostic tool when this combination coupled with the administration of ICG as contrast agent is applied to clinical problems in the future.
Comments on the dilemma in the March issue: ‘Genetic testing for coat colour in cats’
Authors: Mullan Siobhan
Published: April 2012

The dilemma in the March issue concerned whether it was ethically acceptable for genetic testing to be carried out to determine coat colour in cats (In Practice, March 2012, volume 34, pages 174–175). Sean Wensley noted that some people were uncomfortable with the use of genetic testing to select for aesthetic preferences, but that, in effect, it merely accelerated the process of selective breeding to comply with phenotypic requirements, which had been carried out for many years. Just because someone selected for aesthetics did not mean that they would be unable to provide positive welfare outcomes for the animal. In fact, it could also be argued that selecting for phenotype would mean that those who were tempted to disregard kittens that did not meet their approval would euthanase fewer animals. On the other hand, the cat genome had been sequenced to facilitate research into inherited diseases – not for the purpose of selecting for aesthetics. Selective breeding had also been linked to welfare problems in some companion species, including cats. Selecting for coat colour would be less ethically justifiable if it was found to be associated with deleterious mutations, and it might distract breeders from health testing. Diagnostic laboratories could help by using market strategies to raise awareness of the availability of DNA tests to screen for diseases.
Feline cardiomyopathy
Authors: Ferasin Luca
Published: April 2012

Cardiomyopathy is the most common form of heart disease observed in cats and patients present with a wide spectrum of structural and functional cardiac abnormalities. Although several attempts have been made to standardise the classification of the various forms of cardiomyopathy, substantial disagreement still exists among cardiologists since classification criteria are often subjective and are continuously evolving as the aetiology of myocardial disease becomes better understood. This article describes the current classification of cardiomyopathies, as well as the pathophysiology, clinical findings and treatment of the disease in feline patients.
Preparation and characterization of SDS-stabilized hydrophobic porphyrinic nanoaggregates in water
Authors: Maqueira L. , Iribarren A. , Valdés A. C. , de Meloc Celso P. , dos Santos Clécio G.
Published: April 2012

Porphyrin nanoaggregates formed in the interior of colloidal suspensions can be considered as examples of supramolecular systems with self-organized architecture. Due to their peculiar optical and electrochemical properties such as decrease of fluorescence, increase of conductivity and possible electron transfer, these aggregates can be used in the design and fabrication of optoelectronic devices, such as organic solar cells and optical and electrochemical sensors. In this paper, we first describe the synthesis of a series of hydrophobic tetraphenylporphyrins by a change in the order of reagents addition that results in high yields of the desired products. These products were then employed to obtain stable suspensions of porphyrinic nanoaggregates in aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The aggregates resulting of the encapsulation of the tetraphenylporphyrins into the micelles of the surfactant were studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. The results indicate that the nanoggregates have a spherical morphology with particles whose average size ranges between 46–78 nm and ζ-potential values (higher than 55 mV), indicative of excellent stability. Optical characterization was used to determine the classification of nanoaggregates, according to the observed shifts on the absorption spectra.
INT6/EIF3E Interacts with ATM and Is Required for Proper Execution of the DNA Damage Response in Human Cells
Authors: Morris Christelle , Tomimatsu Nozomi , Richard Derek J. , Cluet David , Burma Sandeep , Khanna Kum Kum , Jalinot Pierre
Published: April 2012

Altered expression of the INT6 gene, encoding the e subunit of the translational initiation factor eIF3, occurs in human breast cancers, but how INT6 relates to carcinogenesis remains unestablished. Here, we show that INT6 is involved in the DNA damage response. INT6 was required for cell survival following γ-irradiation and G2–M checkpoint control. RNA interference–mediated silencing of INT6 reduced phosphorylation of the checkpoint kinases CHK1 and CHK2 after DNA damage. In addition, INT6 silencing prevented sustained accumulation of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) at DNA damage sites in cells treated with γ-radiation or the radiomimetic drug neocarzinostatin. Mechanistically, this result could be explained by interaction of INT6 with ATM, which together with INT6 was recruited to the sites of DNA damage. Finally, INT6 silencing also reduced ubiquitylation events that promote retention of repair proteins at DNA lesions. Accordingly, accumulation of the repair factor BRCA1 was defective in the absence of INT6. Our findings reveal unexpected and striking connections of INT6 with ATM and BRCA1 and suggest that the protective action of INT6 in the onset of breast cancers relies on its involvement in the DNA damage response. Cancer Res; 72(8); 2006–16. ©2012 AACR.
The Etymology of the Avestan Hapax bix∂δra - and the Exegesis of Vidēvdād 19.21
Authors: Milizia Paolo
Published: April 2012

An analysis of Vidēvdād 19.21 based on comparison with other Avestan passages allows the conclusion to be drawn that the hapax bix∂δ ra - is used as a designation for the gōmēz, the cow's urine employed as a means of purification in the cleansing rite of the barašnom. Accordingly, a new etymological hypothesis is proposed: the noun bix∂δra- is the reflex of a PIE *bhik-tro- 'instrument of purification' (derived from a root *bheig- 'to purify') which can be directly compared with the derivational base of the Greek adjective α&phis;ıκτ&ogr;&ogr;ς'impure' recorded by Hesychius. As suggested by Eric P. Hamp, Greek α&phis;&ogr;ıβαντ&ogr;ς “impure,” and φ&ogr;îβ&ogr;ς, epithet of Apollo, can be traced back to the same root by positing that these forms contain a suffix with initial -u-.
The Rebellion of 1416: Recontextualizing an Ottoman Social Movement
Authors: Salgırlı Saygın
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This paper reconsiders the Rebellion of 1416, formerly known as Sheikh Bedreddin’s Rebellion. The rebellion, probably the largest in Ottoman history, began in 1416 and took place on two fronts—the western coast of Anatolia and the Zagora region of Bulgaria. This paper departs from the common approaches to the rebellion, which have focused on the persona of Sheikh Bedreddin and the impact of his heterodox formulation of Islam. It reexamines the rebellion in relation to the material conditions of the period, in the search for a clearer picture, albeit perhaps not a definitive one.
Financial Development of the Waqfs in Konya and the Agricultural Economy in the Central Anatolia (Late Sixteenth-Early Seventeenth Centuries)
Authors: Orbay Kayhan
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This study examines the financial history of threewaqfs (those of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî, Sadreddîn-i Konevî, and Selîm II) in Konya through their account records covering the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. These waqfs (charitable foundations) had large agricultural holdings, and their financial developments consequently reflect the local agricultural conditions in central Anatolia. This analysis of the waqf account books deals with the short-term financial difficulties resulting from harvest failures and increasing grain prices. The widespread Celâlî rebellions seem to have caused agricultural crisis and the financial decline of waqfs in the early seventeenth century.
Cultural and Conceptual Contributions of Beiruti Merchants to the Nahḍa
Authors: Zachs Fruma
Published: April 2012

Abstract

The contention of this article is that some cultural emphases shift in response to changing socio-economic realities, in order to serve specific socio-economic interests. This paper examines, through the prism of the cultural activities and ideologies of some Beiruti merchants, their contribution to the process of the Arabicnahḍa, enlarging on their conceptual endowment to the process of modernization. The paper sheds new light on several aspects of the merchants’ cultural contribution by emphasizing the strong link they forged between culture and economy, focusing on the merchants’ activities and writings, especially those of Salīm Bustrus, here presented as a case study.
Hindutva, Mythistory, and Pseudoarchaeology
Authors: Humes Cynthia Ann
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This essay elucidates ideologically-inspired interpretations of the South Asian archeological record, particularly by those calledHindutvādins, and those who write about (and against) them. I first survey briefly the chief points in the history of archaeology in examining the Indus Valley Civilization. Next, I describe some of the major controversies that reflect claims of Hindutva pseudoarchaeology in the South Asian context. Throughout, I illustrate the increasingly virulent interactions between Hindutva proponents, indigenist theorists, and academic interpreters, and what these debates foretell of the future of Indus Valley studies.
Grounding Faith at Glastonbury: Episodes in the Early History of Alternative Archaeology
Authors: Stout Adam
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Alternative archaeology is often treated as a very modern phenomenon, but a great deal depends on what is meant by “alternative.” New research into the post-Reformation history of one small Somerset town suggests that the symbolic freight attached to the idea of Glastonbury shifted dramatically several times, reflecting changing frameworks of belief in the wider world and their relationship to political realities. “Alternative” and “mainstream” swapped places several times, and each time their narratives were played out in the physical remains of the Abbey.
A Late Medieval Reaction to Thierry of Chartres’s (d. 1157) Philosophy: The Anti-Platonist Argument of the Anonymous Fundamentum Naturae
Authors: Albertson David
Published: April 2012

Abstract

An anonymous manuscript from the fourteenth or early fifteenth century, recently discovered, apparently transmitted Thierry of Chartres’s philosophical theology to Nicholas of Cusa around 1440. Yet the author of the treatise is not endorsing Thierry’s views, as both Cusanus and modern readers have assumed, but in fact is writing in order to refute them. Curiously the author never mentions Thierry’s best known triad of unitas, aequalitas and conexio. But a careful comparison of the structure of the author’s argument to Thierry’s extant works shows that the author was nevertheless quite familiar with the Breton master’s writings. The reatise’s author offers an incisive critique of Thierry’s theory of “four modes of being” and rejects two of the modes in particular. From this new perspective, the manuscript can be valued as the first known evidence of Thierry of Chartres’s late medieval reception.
Duns Scotus on the Natural Will
Authors: González-Ayesta Cruz
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Does Duns Scotus identify the natural will with the affectio commodi? This identification has become the standard view. In this paper, I will challenge this view through an analysis of some key texts. The main thesis of the paper is that Scotus allows for two scenarios related to the will’s dual affections. The first is the real situation of the created will: the will is a free potency and possesses two affections. The second is a hypothetical case; Scotus suggests the fictive case of a will that only possesses the affectio commodi. Accordingly, it can be concluded that: (i) when considering the will in its real condition, both affections belong to the will’s free appetite; (ii) in the hypothetical case the natural will, the intellectual appetite and the affectio commodi are all identified; (iii) in the real condition of the will, the natural will is a passive inclination to receive perfection.
Discerning an African Post-colonial Governance Imbroglio: Colonialism, Underdevelopment and Violent Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone
Authors: Wong Pak Nung
Published: April 2012

Abstract

By attributing recent violent conflicts in Africa to decades of underdevelopment which can be traced back to the colonial times, there is scholarly consent among pan-African scholars that the present African state is a neo-colonial construct and must be democratically reconstituted. In response to the pan-African intellectual-political project, this paper will provide a comparative historical-structural analysis of the post-colonial state formation processes in D. R. Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There will be a discussion in the conclusion on the confrontation of the sub-Saharan African states with post-colonial governance imbroglio.
The Role of Creation in Enūma eliš
Authors: Seri Andrea
Published: April 2012

Abstract

The seven tablets of Enūma eliš, “The Chaldean Genesis,” contain multiple creations artfully woven in a story that has the god Marduk as the hero. Most creation accounts found in Enūma eliš are reminiscent of earlier traditions. Former narratives as well as related themes and motives are adopted and adapted by means of intentional alterations to suit the purpose of the new text. In this paper I study the ways in which various creations are included, tailored, and arranged to promote Marduk’s position as the head of the Babylonian pantheon.
From (Theogonic) Mythos to (Poetic) Logos: Reading Pindar’s Genealogical Metaphors after Freidenberg
Authors: Maslov Boris
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This paper analyzes the use of kinship categories to refer to personified (hypostasized) concepts in Ancient Greek literature, with particular emphasis on Pindar. This device serves to include an abstract concept within a genealogy that is dominated by divinities or quasi-religious entities. Comparing the use of this device in Hesiod, Plato, and Pindar, I suggest that, before the emergence of properly analytic categories within the philosophical discourse, genealogical metaphor served as the most important means of concept formation available to Ancient Greeks. In particular, Pindar’s use of genealogical metaphors points to a productive encounter between image and concept. In this context, I review the neglected work of the Soviet Classicist Olga Freidenberg, who put forward a theory of poetic metaphor as a transitional phenomenon between mythological image and philosophical concept, and discuss the differences between the method of historical poetics employed by Freidenberg and the idealist paradigm that informs the better known work by Hermann Fränkel, Bruno Snell, and Wilhelm Nestle on the shift from “mythos” to “logos” in early Greek thought and literature.
From “Kingship in Heaven” to King Lists: Syro-Anatolian Courts and the History of the World
Authors: Bachvarova Mary R.
Published: April 2012

Abstract

I examine the literary and conceptual background of a Hurro-Hittite ritual calling on divinized royal ancestors (dšarrena), characters from Hurro-Hittite song, members of the Sargonic dynasty, a variety of kings from far-off lands, and the “lord of Hatti” (KUB 27.38). I show that the ritual provides a unique glimpse of the complex Near Eastern tradition telling the history of the world from its beginning. The ritual also helps us to understand how historical memory informed ritual behaviors that legitimated the kingship of regional rulers, allowing them access to the distant past and connecting them to world events. Overall, thešarrenaritual suggests that the histories of the divine and human worlds were linked into a single master narrative by the middle of the second millennium BCE.
“Born from the Earth”: The Political Uses of an Athenian Myth
Authors: Forsdyke Sara L.
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This paper analyzes the evolution of Athenian myths of their origins from the eighth century to the fourth century BCE. The analysis shows that Athenian myths of origins changed in emphasis and significance according to political needs. In the earliest period (c.800–480 BCE), the Athenians emphasized their descent from earthborn kings who were nurtured by Athena. In this way, the Athenians laid claim to the territory of Attica and to a place in the panhellenic cultural landscape through their connection to Athena. By the mid-fifth century, Athenian myths of origins shifted emphasis in order to stress Athenian superiority over the other Greeks, especially their chief rivals, the Spartans. At this time, the Athenians adopted a new term to describe their origins, namely autochthony. Through this term, the Athenians emphasized their continuous habitation of the territory of Attica, in opposition to those cities (especially Sparta) whose population had emigrated from elsewhere. By the fourth century BCE, the myth changed emphasis again. At this time the Athenians focused on their common birth from the same mother (earth) as a way of affirming the principle of political equality among citizens following the restoration of democracy after the bloody oligarchic revolutions of the late fifth century.
Passage to India: Jesuit Spiritual Economy between Martyrdom and Profit in the Seventeenth Century
Authors: Županov Ines G.
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Historians today seem to agree that passions for spices and for acquisition of objects and territories from the late fifteenth century fuelled the “mercantile revolution” on a global scale. This article will argue that spirituality and commercial enterprise worked together to produce material objects, some of exceptional artistry. These artifacts, books, sculptures, paintings, and the attractive narratives written about or around them sparked spiritual enthusiasm wherever they reached their audience and became fundraising tools for further spiritual conquest and for creation of new material objects. In this case, I will trace the career of one particular Jesuit missionary, Marcello Mastrilli, who invented his own life and future martyrdom with a series of printed books and works of art, all marked by Mastrilli’s spiritual energy and his ability to fill the Jesuit purse.
The Adaptability of Pentecostalism: The Fit between Prosperity Theology and Globalized Individualization in a Los Angeles Church
Authors: Marti Gerardo
Published: April 2012

Abstract

A main theme in the study of global Pentecostalism is its adaptability to the modern world system; yet, the way in which adaptability “works” is not well theorized. Hannah Arendt’s analysis of “the private and public realm” and Ulrich Beck’s description of “individualization and self-culture” offer heuristic frameworks for understanding how prosperity theology is well-suited to macro-historical patterns that address the growing individualization of everyday life, especially in relation to uncertain career paths and risk-oriented work structures. Arendt’s and Beck’s theoretical conceptualizations move away from sect-like notions of Pentecostals cultivating a bounded system among the non-Spirit-filled natives. Instead, their theoretical conceptualizations reveal Pentecostalism — especially in its prosperity orientation — to be fully compatible with individualization processes experienced by and demanded from today’s workers. A case study of the ministry of Oasis Christian Center to Hollywood entertainment industry workers illustrates connections between the Prosperity/Word of Faith orientation of the congregation and overarching processes of individualization.
Religion, Law, and Pentecostalism in Indonesia
Authors: Gudorf Christine E.
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Since Indonesian independence the state has attempted to protect freedom of religious practice by managing religions, and has enacted many religious regulations. Three of those regulations which especially impact the work of Pentecostals are the limits on financial aid from abroad, the ban on proselyzation, and the requirement for FKUB permits for building houses of worship. Because of these regulations, Pentecostal spread in Indonesia is both generally suspect, and a further problem for the state Ministry of Religion, charged with maintaining religious stability.
Ecumenical Connections across Time: Medieval Franciscans as a Proto-Pentecostal Movement?
Authors: Gros Jeffrey
Published: April 2012

Abstract

In the long course of Christian history there have been many expressions of the action of the Holy Spirit in renewing the Christian Church through a variety of renewal movements. Two such movements are the twentieth-century Pentecostal movement and the thirteenth-century Franciscan movement. While there is no specific historical link one with the other, there are resources in the older movement, with its concern for direct human experience of Christ, its return to biblical poverty, a hope of renewing the church by a restoration of biblical holiness, its experience of gradually integrating its radical view of the end of time with the institutional church, and its impulsive missionary outreach, that offer many lessons for the newer movement as it serves worldwide Christianity.
Turning Points in Multilateral Trade Negotiations on Intellectual Property1
Authors: Crump Larry , Druckman Daniel
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Application of a turning points analysis to detailed chronologies of events that transpired prior to and during two matched cases of multilateral intellectual property rights (TRIPS) negotiations yields useful lessons for understanding negotiation process and effective negotiator behavior. The unfolding negotiation process is traced in the GATT Uruguay Round and prior to and during the WTO Doha Ministerial. Departures from earlier trends in the chronologies merit special attention. A departure is defined as a clear and self-evident change from earlier events or patterns in the form of an impactful decision taken by one or more parties. By coding the causes (precipitants) and effects (consequences) of the departures, we perform a turning points analysis. The turning points analysis, composed of three-part sequences, reveals the triggers and impacts of departures during the extended TRIPS negotiation process. The analyses will allow a comparison of the patterns that unfolded during the two phases of TRIPS negotiations, which will highlight the breakthroughs that occurred during the Uruguay Round and the crises that emerged later, prior to and during the Doha Ministerial. Improving the effectiveness of multilateral trade negotiations depends in part on understanding how critical turning points emerge.
Improving the Effectiveness of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: A Practitioner’s Perspective on the 2008 WTO Ministerial Meeting
Authors: Ahnlid Anders
Published: April 2012

Abstract

The informal WTO ministerial meeting in July 2008 brought the long stalled Doha Round to the verge of a breakthrough. The reason for its final failure was substantive and not related to the negotiating procedures, which previously had contributed to meager results and failures in the round. The meeting was conducted using procedures that ensured a considerable amount of trustworthiness, transparency and legitimacy, which in turn contributed to effectiveness in the process. Thus, the meeting solved many, albeit not all, outstanding issues on the path towards agreement on so-called modalities for agriculture and industrial products, which in turn would have been necessary for a final successful conclusion of the Round. The 2008 July negotiations demonstrated that complex large-scale multilateral negotiations can be handled procedurally in an acceptable and successful way. The article advances a neglected interpretation of the July meeting, and provides lessons for both future WTO negotiations and multilateral negotiations in other policy areas.
Strategies and Success in Litigation and Negotiation in the WTO
Authors: Agius Maria F.
Published: April 2012

Abstract

This article analyzes linkages between litigation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) and negotiation in multilateral trade rounds and develops a typology of links that can occur between the two processes. These include creating conditions where bargaining is informed by law, influencing the agenda-setting and creating momentum for negotiation on key issues, and affecting the status quo from which negotiations proceed by influencing interpretation of trade rules in the DSB. The purpose is to test whether poor and inexperienced states that are disadvantaged in negotiations can improve their bargaining power in negotiation rounds by pursuing legal proceedings, to see whether links can be exploited for strategy-making to promote the interests of these states, and to discuss how the WTO as an international organization benefits from their empowerment. The strategies suggested in this article could improve the commitment and active participation of relatively non-influential member states. This could be conducive to perceptions of the WTO as a legitimate organization and to a more constructive climate for effective negotiations.
Privatized Military Firms’ Impunity in Cases of Torture: A Crime of Humanity?
Authors: Serralvo Jose
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Over the past few years privatized military firms (PMFs) have allegedly committed all kind of war crimes, including torture. Prisoners’ abuses at Abu Ghraib or indiscriminate firing against civilian vehicles to the rhythm of Elvis Presley’s “Runaway Train” are but a couple of examples of the excesses revealed by the public media. Nonetheless, members of PMFs have hardly been held accountable. “Lawlessness” and “weak laws” have been blamed for these striking cases of impunity. Emphasizing the crime of torture, this article explores the legal framework applicable to PMFs, both from a domestic and an international perspective, and sheds light on ways in which these alleged crimes could be investigated, prosecuted, and tried. The article concludes by questioning the reasons behind the impunity of members of a PMF, even in cases in which their military counterparts were tried and condemned.
Access to Justice in Environmental Matters: Recent Developments
Authors: Poncelet Charles
Published: April 2012

Abstract

The right of access to justice in environmental matters constitutes one of the three pillars enshrined by the Århus Convention to which the European Union is a Party. This article will examine a recent judgment of the European Court of Justice. Indeed, the latter appears to play an important role in the implementation of this procedural right.
Making Social Worlds
Authors: Gališanka Andrius
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Making the Social World is John Searle’s latest statement on social ontology. His argument is clarified and expanded, but, despite various objections, it remains largely unchanged. In this review, I want to present Searle’s new book in light of these objections, explain why he has rejected the more important among them, and ask whether his reasons for doing so are defensible. I first present arguments that Searle’s naturalism – his broader philosophical project – does not have a definite shape in the social realm. I argue that this view is largely right because Searle allows for two seemingly inconsistent approaches: historical narratives and generalized explanations. I then introduce objections from historicists, who argue that Searle’s theory is not in fact compatible with historical explanations. I explain why Searle rejects these objections, and suggest that his reasons for doing so cannot be defended against examples of conceptual incongruity. On the whole, I argue that Searle’s naturalism starts from stronger assumptions than argument allows.
‘History Man’. The First Biography on R.G. Collingwood
Authors: Vanheeswijck Guido
Published: April 2012

Abstract

Is ‘History Man’, Fred Inglis’ biography on R.G. Collingwood a successful biography? Inglis’ explicit ambition is to portray the concrete figure Collingwood by abducting him from what he calls the vacuum-packed academic world of scholars. But the best biographers look for a balanced equilibrium between rendering philosophical ideas and dramatizing a philosopher’s life. Put another way, they evoke the interweaving of a philosopher’s thought with the vicissitudes of his life. Despite the unmistakable qualities of this biography, Fred Inglis did not fully succeed in finding that very balance, mainly due to a lack of philosophical background. While Oxford University Press with the new edition of his works and manuscripts is thoroughly reorienting the traditional view of Collingwood, Inglis’ fluently written but rather biased portrayal does no full justice to the heart of his fascinating philosophy and personality.
Nil’s and Iosif’s Rhetoric of Starchestvo
Authors: Goldfrank David
Published: April 2012

The ideal master-disciple relationship or starchestvo associated with Paisii Velichkovskii (1722-92) and his epigones rests on a complex monastic legacy stretching back to Christian Antiquity and includes early Russia’s two greatest native writing elders, Nil Sorskii (1433/4-1508) and Iosif Volotskii (1439/40-1515). Pedagogical networks, circulation of texts, structural continuities, and workings of the hierarchy’s nomenklatura system in the 16th century contributed to the solidification of Nil’s and Iosif’s literary and institutional legacy in which this rhetoric was embedded and expressed. Their genres and sub-genres combine testament, regulation, sermon, systematic exposition, polemic, hagiography, and epistle, all freely utilizing maxims, enthymemes (rhetorical syllogisms, sometimes as questions), emotional appeals, scare stories, and insults, as well as poetic imagery. Both recognize the disciples’ active role in master’s success, as they address a variety of audiences. Nil’s spiritual treatise discusses the need for the “reliable” teacher, while his epistles place each recipient in his proper relationship to authority. Iosif directly speaks in turn to the pastor and the senior elders and officials of their responsibilities; he shows the multiplicity of authority lines within the large cenobium; and he polemically defends formal structures and discipline. His hagiography depicts the ideal elder as advising hesychast-hermit, community disciplinarian, and politically indispensible supplicant to God. Crucial for our overall sense of starchestvo, Iosif’s applies the New Testament maxims concerning “binding” and “loosing” to the teacher as teacher, while Nil’s Tradition/Instruction, specifying that only those qualified to listen and speak guide others, bridges to the modern era.
Semibalance Model in Terrain-Following Coordinates
Authors: Xu Qin , Cao Jie
Published: April 2012

By partitioning the hydrostatically balanced flow into a nonlinearly balanced primary-flow part and a remaining secondary-flow part and then truncating the secondary-flow vorticity advection and stretching–tilting terms in the vector vorticity equation, the previous semibalance model (SBM) in pseudoheight coordinates is rederived in terrain-following pressure coordinates, called η coordinates. The involved truncation is topologically the same as that in pseudoheight coordinates but the truncated terms in η coordinates are not equivalent to those in pseudoheight coordinates. Because its potential vorticity (PV) is conserved and invertible, the rederived SBM is suitable for studying balanced dynamics via “PV thinking” in real weather events, such as slowly varying vortices and curved fronts in which the primary-flow velocity and secondary-flow vorticity are nearly parallel in η coordinates.
Modulation of Tropical Cyclones over the Eastern Pacific by the Intraseasonal Variability Simulated in an AGCM
Authors: Jiang Xianan , Zhao Ming , Waliser Duane E.
Published: April 2012

This study illustrates that observed modulations of tropical cyclone (TC) genesis over the eastern Pacific (EPAC) by large-scale intraseasonal variability (ISV) are well represented in a recently developed high-resolution atmospheric model (HiRAM) at the NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) with a horizontal resolution of about 50 km. Considering the intrinsic predictability of the ISV of 2–4 weeks, this analysis thus has significant implications for dynamically based TC predictions on intraseasonal time scales. Analysis indicates that the genesis potential index (GPI) anomalies associated with the ISV can generally well depict ISV modulations of EPAC TC genesis in both observations and HiRAM simulations. Further investigation is conducted to explore the key factors associated with ISV modulation of TC activity based on an analysis of budget terms of the observed GPI during the ISV life cycle. It is found that, while relative roles of GPI factors are dependent on ISV phase and location, lower-level cyclonic vorticity, enhanced midlevel relative humidity, and reduced vertical wind shear can all contribute to the observed active TC genesis over the EPAC during particular ISV phases. In general, the observed anomalous ISV patterns of these large-scale GPI factors are well represented in HiRAM. Model deficiencies are also noted particularly in the anomalous midlevel relative humidity patterns and amplitude of vertical wind shear associated with the EPAC ISV.
Modeling the Response of Marine Boundary Layer Clouds to Global Warming: The Impact of Subgrid-Scale Precipitation Formation
Authors: Lauer Axel , Bennartz Ralf , Hamilton Kevin , Wang Yuqing
Published: April 2012

An important parameter often adjusted to achieve agreement between simulated and observed radiative fluxes in climate models is the rain formation efficiency. This adjustment has been justified as accounting for the effects of subgrid-scale variability in cloud properties, but this tuning approach is rather arbitrary. This study examines results from a regional climate model with precipitation formation schemes that have been conventionally tuned, and it compares them with simulations employing a recently developed scheme that uses satellite observations to explicitly account for the subgrid-scale variability of clouds (“integral constraint method”). Simulations with the International Pacific Research Center’s Regional Atmospheric Model (iRAM) show that the integral constraint method is capable of simulating cloud fields over the eastern Pacific that are in good agreement with observations, without requiring model tuning. A series of global warming simulations for late twenty-first-century conditions is performed to investigate the impact of the treatment of the precipitation formation efficiency on modeled cloud–climate feedbacks. The results with the integral constraint method show that the simulated cloud feedbacks have similar patterns at all the model resolutions considered (grid spacings of 50, 100, and 200 km), but there are some quantitative differences (with smaller feedbacks at finer resolution). The cloud responses to global warming in simulations with a conventionally tuned autoconversion scheme and with the integral constraint method were found to be quite consistent, although differences in individual regions of ~10%–30% are evident. No conclusions can be drawn from this study on the validity of model tuning for thick clouds and mixed phase or ice clouds, however.