bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assembly mechanism is the key determinant of the dosage sensitivity of a phage structural protein
Authors: Cardarelli Lia , Maxwell Karen L. , Davidson Alan R.
Published: June 2011

Altering the expression level of proteins that are subunits of complexes has been proposed to be particularly detrimental because the resulting stoichiometric imbalance among components would lead to misassembly of the complex. Here we show that assembly of the phage HK97 connector complex is severely inhibited by the overexpression of one of its component proteins, gp6. However, this effect is a result of the unusual mechanism by which the oligomerization and assembly of gp6 are controlled. Alteration of this mechanism by single amino acid substitutions leads to a reversal of the response to gp6 overexpression. Surprisingly, the binding partner of gp6 within the phage particle is expressed at a 500-fold higher concentration despite their identical stoichiometry within the complex. Our data emphasize that a generalized prediction of the effects of changes in the expression level of protein complex subunits is very difficult because these effects are dependent upon assembly mechanism.
Mimivirus shows dramatic genome reduction after intraamoebal culture
Authors: Boyer Mickaël , Azza Saïd , Barrassi Lina , Klose Thomas , Campocasso Angélique , Pagnier Isabelle , Fournous Ghislain , Borg Audrey , Robert Catherine , Zhang Xinzheng , Desnues Christelle , Henrissat Bernard , Rossmann Michael G. , La Scola Bernard , Raoult Didier
Published: June 2011

Most phagocytic protist viruses have large particles and genomes as well as many laterally acquired genes that may be associated with a sympatric intracellular life (a community-associated lifestyle with viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotes) and the presence of virophages. By subculturing Mimivirus 150 times in a germ-free amoebal host, we observed the emergence of a bald form of the virus that lacked surface fibers and replicated in a morphologically different type of viral factory. When studying a 0.40-μm filtered cloned particle, we found that its genome size shifted from 1.2 (M1) to 0.993 Mb (M4), mainly due to large deletions occurring at both ends of the genome. Some of the lost genes are encoding enzymes required for posttranslational modification of the structural viral proteins, such as glycosyltransferases and ankyrin repeat proteins. Proteomic analysis allowed identification of three proteins, probably required for the assembly of virus fibers. The genes for two of these were found to be deleted from the M4 virus genome. The proteins associated with fibers are highly antigenic and can be recognized by mouse and human antimimivirus antibodies. In addition, the bald strain (M4) was not able to propagate the sputnik virophage. Overall, the Mimivirus transition from a sympatric to an allopatric lifestyle was associated with a stepwise genome reduction and the production of a predominantly bald virophage resistant strain. The new axenic ecosystem allowed the allopatric Mimivirus to lose unnecessary genes that might be involved in the control of competitors.
Isolation of an activator-dependent, promoter-specific chromatin remodeling factor
Authors: Ehrensberger Andreas H. , Kornberg Roger D.
Published: June 2011

Repressed
PHO5
gene chromatin, isolated from yeast in the native state, was remodeled by yeast extract in a gene activator-dependent, ATP-dependent manner. The product of the reaction bore the hallmark of the process in vivo, the selective removal of promoter nucleosomes, without effect on open reading frame nucleosomes. Fractionation of the extract identified a single protein, chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 1 (Chd1), capable of the remodeling activity. Deletion of the
CHD1
gene in an
isw1Δ pho80Δ
strain abolished
PHO5
gene expression, demonstrating the relevance of the remodeling reaction in vitro to the process in vivo.
Evolution of the mitochondrial fusion–fission cycle and its role in aging
Authors: Kowald Axel , Kirkwood Tom B. L.
Published: June 2011

Mitochondria are organelles of eukaryotic cells that contain their own genetic material and evolved from prokaryotic ancestors some 2 billion years ago. They are the main source of the cell's energy supply and are involved in such important processes as apoptosis, mitochondrial diseases, and aging. During recent years it also became apparent that mitochondria display a complex dynamical behavior of fission and fusion, the function of which is as yet unknown. In this paper we develop a concise theory that explains why fusion and fission have evolved, how these processes are related to the accumulation of mitochondrial mutants during aging, why the mitochondrial DNA has to be located close to the respiration complexes where most radicals are generated, and what selection pressures shaped the slightly different structure of animal and plant mitochondria. We believe that this “organelle control” theory will help in understanding key processes involved in the evolution of the mitochondrial genome and the aging process.
Tubular network formation protects mitochondria from autophagosomal degradation during nutrient starvation
Authors: Rambold Angelika S. , Kostelecky Brenda , Elia Natalie , Lippincott-Schwartz Jennifer
Published: June 2011

Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that mediate essential cell functions such as apoptosis and cell-cycle control in addition to their role as efficient ATP generators. Mitochondrial morphology changes are tightly regulated, and their shape can shift between small, fragmented units and larger networks of elongated mitochondria. We demonstrate that mitochondrial elements become significantly elongated and interconnected shortly after nutrient depletion. This mitochondrial morphological shift depends on the type of starvation, with an additive effect observed when multiple nutrients are depleted simultaneously. We further show that starvation-induced mitochondrial elongation is mediated by down-regulation of dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) through modulation of two Drp1 phosphorylation sites, leading to unopposed mitochondrial fusion. Finally, we establish that mitochondrial tubulation upon nutrient deprivation protects mitochondria from autophagosomal degradation, which could permit mitochondria to maximize energy production and supply autophagosomal membranes during starvation.
You Don't Act like you Trust Me: Dissociations between Behavioural and Explicit Measures of Source Credibility Judgement
Authors: Gordon Ruthanna , Spears Kristin
Published: June 2011

This study compared explicit and behavioural measures of source credibility judgements based on two factors: a source's past record of accuracy and its production of predictions that participants would like to believe. The former is considered to be a rational factor for judging credibility, while the latter is considered nonrational (i.e., it does not predict actual credibility). In Experiments 1 and 2, participants saw an equal number of predictions from two sources, one of which was either highly or slightly more accurate/desirable than the other. In Experiment 3, either one source was high accuracy and the other high desirability, or one source was higher on both measures. For all experiments, participants then saw new accurate and inaccurate predictions and said which source they thought was most likely to produce each (behavioural task). Participants then gave a percentage rating for each source's perceived accuracy (explicit judgement task). Participants showed sensitivity to past accuracy differences using both tasks, but not to the size of the differences. Desirability influenced performance only on the behavioural task. However, when the two factors conflicted, participants responded solely using past accuracy information. Behaviours reflect source credibility judgements based on both rational and irrational factors, but participants appear to be both more strongly influenced by the rational factor and more aware of that influence.
Direct regulation of Treslin by cyclin-dependent kinase is essential for the onset of DNA replication
Authors: Kumagai Akiko , Shevchenko Anna , Shevchenko Andrej , Dunphy William G.
Published: June 2011

Treslin, a TopBP1-interacting protein, is necessary for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication in vertebrates. Association between Treslin and TopBP1 requires cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) activity in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. We investigated the mechanism and functional importance of Cdk for this interaction using both X. laevis egg extracts and human cells. We found that Treslin also associated with TopBP1 in a Cdk-regulated manner in human cells and that Treslin was phosphorylated within a conserved Cdk consensus target sequence (on S976 in X. laevis and S1000 in humans). Recombinant human Cdk2–cyclin E also phosphorylated this residue of Treslin in vitro very effectively. Moreover, a mutant of Treslin that cannot undergo phosphorylation on this site showed significantly diminished binding to TopBP1. Finally, human cells harboring this mutant were severely deficient in DNA replication. Collectively, these results indicate that Cdk-mediated phosphorylation of Treslin during S phase is necessary for both its effective association with TopBP1 and its ability to promote DNA replication in human cells.
Destruction of tumor vasculature and abated tumor growth upon VEGF blockade is driven by proapoptotic protein Bim in endothelial cells
Authors: Naik Edwina , O'Reilly Lorraine A. , Asselin-Labat Marie-Liesse , Merino Delphine , Lin Ann , Cook Michele , Coultas Leigh , Bouillet Philippe , Adams Jerry M. , Strasser Andreas
Published: June 2011

For malignant growth, solid cancers must stimulate the formation of new blood vessels by producing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), which is required for the survival of tumor-associated vessels. Novel anticancer agents that block VEGF-A signaling trigger endothelial cell (EC) apoptosis and vascular regression preferentially within tumors, but how the ECs die is not understood. In this study, we demonstrate that VEGF-A deprivation, provoked either by drug-induced tumor shrinkage or direct VEGF-A blockade, up-regulates the proapoptotic BH3 (Bcl-2 homology 3)-only Bcl-2 family member Bim in ECs. Importantly, the tumor growth inhibitory activity of a VEGF-A antagonist required Bim-induced apoptosis of ECs. These findings thus reveal the mechanism by which VEGF-A blockade induces EC apoptosis and impairs tumor growth. They also indicate that drugs mimicking BH3-only proteins may be exploited to kill tumor cells not only directly but also indirectly by ablating the tumor vasculature.
Interaction of the gp120 V1V2 loop with a neighboring gp120 unit shields the HIV envelope trimer against cross-neutralizing antibodies
Authors: Rusert Peter , Krarup Anders , Magnus Carsten , Brandenberg Oliver F. , Weber Jacqueline , Ehlert Anna-Katharina , Regoes Roland R. , Günthard Huldrych F. , Trkola Alexandra
Published: June 2011

The HIV-1 envelope trimer adopts a quaternary conformation that effectively shields neutralization-sensitive domains and thus represents a major obstacle for natural and vaccine-elicited antibody responses. By using a structure–function analysis based on a specifically devised mathematical model, we demonstrate in this study that protection from neutralization is enforced by intersubunit contact between the variable loops 1 and 2 (V1V2) and domains of neighboring gp120 subunits in the trimer encompassing the V3 loop. Our data are consistent with an interaction of the V1V2 and V3 loop at the spike apex as proposed by cryoelectron tomography experiments. By defining the orientation of the V1V2 loop within the trimer toward the neighboring gp120 subunit’s V3 loop, our data close an important gap in the understanding of the architecture of the trimeric spike. Knowledge on how the V1V2 barrier functions in the context of the trimer to mask conserved epitopes on gp120 may aid future vaccine design.
Enough is enough
Authors: Borowski Christine
Published: June 2011

Complaints about the overabundance of supplementary information in primary research articles have increased in decibel and frequency in the past several years and are now at cacophonous levels. Reviewers and editors warn that they do not have time to scrutinize it. Authors contend that the effort and money needed to produce it exceeds that reasonably spent on a single publication. How often readers actually look at supplemental information is unclear, and most journal websites offer the supplement as an optional download.
Real quadratic function fields of Richaud-Degert type with ideal class number one
Authors: Bae Sunghan
Published: June 2011

We determine all real quadratic function fields of Richaud-Degert type with ideal class number one.
Roman History: Imperial, 31 BCE–284 CE
Authors: Potter David
Published: June 2011

The history of the Roman Empire is the history of one of the largest and most enduring multiethnic states in the history of the world, making it an area of study that continues to have great relevance to the modern world. Principal areas of investigation for those drawn to the study of the Roman Empire include the development of institutions needed to govern such a state, the behavior of those institutions, the dialogue of cultures within the empire (especially issues of assimilation, resistance, and evolution between dominant and subaltern groups), and the relationship between Rome and its neighbors. It is also a period that saw significant developments in art, literature, and the history of thought, shaping the heritage of classical Antiquity that has survived through the Middle Ages to help shape the Western tradition of rational thought. It is also a very colorful period, whose leading figures, ranging from Marcus Aurelius and Jesus of Nazareth to Nero and Commodus, continue to excite great interest for their own sake.
Latin Lexicography
Authors: Coleman Kathleen M.
Published: June 2011

Study of the lexicon of the Latin language has been pursued since at least the late Republic, but the modern scientific footing on which it rests is largely the product of 19th-century advances in the stemmatic method of textual criticism and the emergent understanding of the relationships among the Indo-European languages. Arguments about linguistic change and especially etymology and synonymity were vigorously pursued by Roman scholars such as Varro (Marcus Terentius Varro) and Verrius Flaccus (Marcus Verrius Flaccus), who were heirs to Greek philosophical theories about the relative influence of anomaly and analogy as catalysts for linguistic change. From the Antonine period onward, antiquarian impulses combined with notions of linguistic purity to prompt the collection and explication of rare or obsolete words. Collections of etymologies, many of them fanciful, and the didactic habit of compiling glosses to aid first- or second-language learners monopolized lexicographical study into the High Middle Ages. The gradual adoption of alphabetical order made it possible to treat dictionaries as works of reference. In the Renaissance the study of ancient texts was established on a more substantial foundation, and lexicography began to shed its reliance on etymology and glosses. The Early Modern period saw the development of the notion that a dictionary of classical Latin should be based on the entire range of sources, both literary and epigraphic. Such a project is finally being attempted by the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Project. Lexicographical method continues to evolve, as is evident from a comparison of earlier and later fascicles of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL), and so does our appreciation of what a really comprehensive dictionary enables us to do with Latin texts.
Herculaneum (Modern Ercolano)
Authors: Mattusch Carol C.
Published: June 2011

Herculaneum, named after the mythical hero Hercules, was a town of perhaps five thousand inhabitants, alongside of which were vacation homes situated on a promontory that, according to Strabo (Geography 5.4.8), caught the sea-breezes and made Herculaneum a desirable place to live. Today Herculaneum is not nearly as well known as Pompeii and is far less frequently visited, even though Herculaneum was the first Roman site on the Bay of Naples to be officially excavated. The discovery of the theater and the identification of the site sparked a great deal of public interest, and the 18th-century catalogue of finds from all of the sites around the Bay of Naples bore its name, Delle antichità di Ercolano. Buildings of particular interest on the site are the Suburban Baths, recently restored, the House of the Relief of Telephus, House of the Stags, the Samnite House, the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, several shops and tavernae, the College of the Augustales near the northwest corner of the site, and beyond it the Porticus (formerly known as the Basilica and currently under excavation) and the magnificent northeastern palaestra, much of which is still beneath modern Ercolano. Perhaps the most important building that has been found on the site is the huge Villa dei Papiri, which was built to the west of the town proper. A sprawling two- to three-story complex, the villa was situated 36 feet (11 meters) above the ancient coastline. What has so far been mapped, including an enclosed colonnaded garden with a pool 217 feet (66 meters) long, covers about 65,000 square feet (6,000 square meters). From 1750 to 1761, more than 1000 papyrus book rolls and 85 bronze and marble statues and busts were found there. Check the website for its opening times. Today Pompeii is a far more familiar name than Herculaneum, and its name may appear instead of Herculaneum in titles of books, exhibitions, or films that contain material about Herculaneum.
Aratus
Authors: Van Noorden Helen
Published: June 2011

Aratus of Soli (3rd century bce) is the author of the Phaenomena, a hexameter poem of just over one thousand lines on constellations and weather signs, presented as clues to the will of Zeus. This work, combining interpretations of Hesiodic poetry with the material of astronomical and meteorological treatises, prompted numerous translations and commentaries within Antiquity and is a prominent model for didactic literature such as Virgil’s Georgics, Book 2 and Manilius’s Astronomica Book 1. Aratus’s acquaintance with Stoic ideas is apparent particularly in the Phaenomena’s introduction, which takes the form of a hymn to Zeus. The astronomical part of the poem may be subdivided into a map of the constellations followed by a description of star belts and how to estimate time from risings and settings; the second part, titled Diosemeiae in some manuscripts, is concerned with weather signs in nature and in animal behavior. Aratus was much praised by his contemporaries, but nothing survives of his other works, which included encomia, an anthology of “light verse,” didactic letters, and works on planets.
Marcus Manilius
Authors: Volk Katharina
Published: June 2011

Marcus Manilius was a Roman poet who in the second decade of the 1st century ce wrote Astronomica, a hexameter poem in five books on the topic of astrology. Nothing is known about his person or life. His highly self-reflexive work belongs to the genre of ancient didactic poetry and is greatly indebted to Lucretius, while also showing the influence of such Augustan poets as Vergil and Ovid. Manilius describes and celebrates the workings of fate and the beauty and order of the divine universe, presenting a view of the world that is typical of cosmological ideas of his period and particularly close to Stoicism. At the same time, the poet’s subject matter carries political significance: astrology had grown popular at Rome in the late Republic and had become a tool of propaganda in the reign of Augustus, who is praised and associated with the heavens at numerous points in Manilius’s poem.
Pausanias
Authors: Hutton William
Published: June 2011

Pausanias was a Greek author of the second century ce (b. c. 115–d. c. 180), whose only known work is the Periegesis Hellados (variously translated as “Description of Greece,” “Guide to Greece,” etc.). The Periegesis is a ten-volume, topographically organized account of the heart of mainland Greece, covering Attica, the Peloponnesus, and central Greece as far west as Delphi and a bit beyond, and comprising descriptions of sites and monuments, local and regional histories, mythical and folkloric traditions, and accounts of religious customs and rituals. Although there was some doubt about this in previous centuries, it is now generally accepted that the work is based on Pausanias’s own travels and investigations in the region, and that it provides a unique and valuable eyewitness account of the state of Greece in the author’s own time. Pausanias presents the information that he gathers in an orderly and interconnected series of itineraries. This has fooled more than one reader into treating the text as a sequential account of a single tour that Pausanias took through Greece. In reality, Pausanias was at work on the Periegesis for a number of decades and probably made several visits to many of the sites he describes. The structure of his itineraries is thus a deliberate organizational construct rather than a record of his movements. Pausanias frequently tells the reader that his account is extremely selective. He aims to record only the most noteworthy of Greece’s cities, shrines, and monuments, and the most important historical and mythical traditions associated with them. What he chooses to include and exclude reflects a preference for the ancient over the contemporary and the religious over the secular. Despite these limitations, his account has served as an invaluable source of information for archaeologists, historians, art historians, and a wide variety of scholars in other disciplines. In recent years, Pausanias has also received recognition as an interesting representative of 2nd-century mentalities and ideologies.
Propertius
Authors: Günther Hans-Christian
Published: June 2011

The scarce information we possess of Propertius’s life must be deduced almost completely from what the poet himself tells us in his works. His praenomen Sextus is attested by Suetonius in his vita of Virgil (31.3 Brugnoli/Stok). The date of his birth (50 bce, or rather some years before) can be deduced mainly from the fact that the poet tells us (4.1.131) that he received the toga virilis soon (mox) after he lost part of his family’s property in the land distributions of 41 bce. He himself names Umbria as his birthplace (1.22.9 and 4.1.63, 121ff.) and Assisi as his hometown, though the latter in a verse of doubtful authenticity (4.1.125). Yet there is epigraphic evidence that his family ranked among the local aristocracy of the city. He lost his father at an early age (4.1.127ff.). Though obviously destined from his family background for a political career, he chose to become a poet, and although his family fortunes were seriously impaired by the redistribution of land, he appears to have been able to lead a comfortable life among the jeunesse dorée of Rome. His first collection of poems appears to have been published in 29 bce and is dedicated to a certain Tullus, the nephew of L. Voilcatius Tullus, consul in 33 bce and proconsul in Asia in 30/29 bce. He later joined the circle of Maecenas, to whom Books 2 and 3 are dedicated. What is transmitted as Book 2 is probably a conflation of fragments from what were originally two books, published in the years 27 and 26 bce. Whereas Books 1 and 2 are almost exclusively dominated by love poetry dedicated to a pseudonymous women Cynthia (referring to the epithet Cynthius of Apollo; according to Apuleius’s Apologia 10, her real name was Hostia). Book 3, published not before 23 bce, opens up to a wider spectrum of topics—in particular, reference to Hellenistic models such as Callimachus and Philetas becomes more explicit. A profound influence of Horace’s Odes is also apparent. Propertius’s last book (4) must have been published after a considerable lapse of time. It contains poems composed probably between 20 and 16 bce. The poet announces in the introductory elegy that he is entering new terrain by composing etiological poetry and, in fact, the book—at first sight, a curious but well-arranged mixture of love poems and poems on Roman mythology and national topics.
Etruscan Sculpture
Authors: Warden P. Gregory
Published: June 2011

The primary focus of Etruscan sculpture was the human body. In this sense, the main interest of Etruscan sculptors was similar to that of their Greek neighbors, but the result was often strikingly different. Etruscan sculptural display, at least as it has been preserved, was closely connected to religious observance, to funerary ritual, and to votive religion and thus has been found almost exclusively in either mortuary or sanctuary contexts. Etruscan art as a whole is remarkably varied, and sculpture is no less heterogeneous, thus defying easy taxonomy and any single chronological developmental organization. There are indeed great differences over time, as one might expect of artistic traditions that lasted almost a millennium, but there is no sense of a single stylistic development except in cases of works that are strongly influenced by Greek art. There are great regional differences as well, with dramatic differences of both style and form from one urban center to another. One of the defining characteristics of Etruscan sculpture is in fact the strength of regional traditions, which may be connected to Etruscan urbanism as well as remarkably different regional reactions to external influences from the Near East in the late 8th and 7th centuries bce and from Greece from the 6th century onward.
Pompeii
Authors: Gregg Christopher A.
Published: June 2011

Founded around the 6th century bce, perhaps by the Italic Ausonian tribe, Pompeii rests on a plateau overlooking both the Sarno River and the Mediterranean, a site ideal for regional trade. The rich volcanic soil and lucrative location encouraged the city’s growth. The first few centuries of the city’s life are still obscured, but Greek influence from nearby Hellenic colonies is apparent in the public and private architecture of Pompeii, as typified by the Large Theater. Engulfed by Roman expansion, Pompeii became an ally of Rome but participated in the socii rebellion known as the Social Wars (89–80 bce), resulting initially in “soft Romanization” where Pompeii appears to have willingly adopted certain culturally Roman structures and ideas. Although besieged in the Social War, Pompeii was left relatively unscathed. Despite its physical safety, Pompeii was punished by Rome at the conclusion of the conflict: legionary veterans were settled in the community and Pompeii’s civic status was reduced to that of a colony (Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum). The full social impact of the veterans and subsequent “hard” Romanization are subjects of continuing scholarly debate. In the archaeological record, however, the results are easily discernible through structures associated with Roman cities, such as the amphitheater. The bulk of the archaeological material, however, dates from the Imperial period: agriculture and trade were augmented by the area’s attraction as a resort destination for elite Romans. This seemingly idyllic life was interrupted in 62 ce when an earthquake struck the region, substantially damaging Pompeii. A swarm of seismic disruptions preceded the subsequent eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 ce. This eruption entombed the city in ash and lapilli (small pieces of volcanic debris) that preserved it with stunning efficiency. Although evidence exists that survivors or treasure seekers returned to the devastated city to dig out valuables, the site itself was not reoccupied. Textual references kept the memory of Pompeii alive, but it was not until the 18th century ce that the site was correctly identified as Pompeii with formal excavations following. It is significant to note that Pompeii’s archaeological and art historical importance is inversely proportional to its historical importance. Its exceptional preservation has encouraged generalizing results of Pompeian scholarship to the Roman world at large. The trend to see Pompeii as the Roman world in microcosm has been criticized as the “Pompeii problem”; that said, nowhere else in the classical world do we find such depth and variety of information on nearly every aspect of ancient life.
Transdisciplinary Science
Authors: Gehlert Sarah
Published: June 2011

This bibliography identifies resources relevant to the adaptation of social work to participating on transdisciplinary teams whose members span a range of other academic disciplines, in a variety of research and practice settings. Transdisciplinarity refers to an approach to research and practice in which persons from a range of disciplines attempt to work on shared projects from outside their own separate disciplinary spaces. The approach is inherently holistic and is thus congruent with social work values. It is distinguished from interdisciplinarity, in which persons from one discipline step outside their own discipline to acquire knowledge, but return to their home discipline to apply that knowledge. It likewise is distinguished from multidisciplinarity, in which scholars from a variety of disciplines work together at some point, but approach issues through separate disciplinary lenses. References fall into two groups. The vast majority have to do with health research and practice. A smaller body of work, however, comes from education and the humanities. Areas of potential relevance to social work include child welfare, aging and elderly affairs, death and dying, criminal and juvenile justice, and community development. While most references focus exclusively on transdisciplinarity, some references on interdisciplinarity are included if, though limited in scope, they provide information pertinent to transdisciplinarity. While a few references relate to social work, relevant references that originate in other disciplines predominate, because the field of social work has yet to produce a significant body of information on the topic.
Systematic Review Methods
Authors: Saini Michael
Published: June 2011

A systematic review is a comprehensive, transparent, and systematic literature review method for preparing, maintaining, and disseminating high-quality evidence. In contrast to narrative reviews, systematic reviews follow standard protocols for locating, retrieving, screening, and synthesizing studies to answer questions relevant to practitioners, researchers, and policy makers. Systematic reviews are usually prepared by a team of reviewers, who together have a thorough understanding of both the content area and review methodology. Systematic reviews have largely focused on effectiveness questions of specific interventions. Recent attention has also focused on developing guidelines for systematic reviews of qualitative studies, diagnostic and prognostic tests, and observational studies.
Family Services
Authors: Naccarato Toni , Briar-Lawson Katharine , Roland Brian D.
Published: June 2011

Encompassing a broad range of programs, practices, and strategies, family services address individual family members and include children, parents, and elders as well as the entire family system. Services may include resources, such as income supports, counseling, and psychoeducational programs, as well as caregiving, such as child or elder care. Some services are provided by social workers and allied professionals, such as marriage and family therapists, while others are provided by peers or paraprofessional staff. Family services tend to be focused on one or two generational supports and strategies, such as a parent and a child or an elder and an adult child caregiver. Intergenerational services that mobilize all generations to solve problems together or to receive services simultaneously are less frequently employed. The emergence of family therapy models has added to the diversity in approaches to family services. Family services vary depending on whether the issue is alcohol and substance abuse, mental health, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, delinquency, disabilities, school performance, poverty, parent-child conflict, marital conflict, or caregiving stress. Whether services are covered by publicly provided funds versus private insurance also determines the type and range of supports offered. Given the vast literature and diverse fields of practice, such as addictions, juvenile delinquency, mental health, schools, and aging, this entry focuses many of the selections on public sector families and often those involved with the child welfare system. Diversity and the changing composition of families add to the complexity in services and challenge practitioners, policy makers, and researchers to address their unique needs.
Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practice
Authors: Fong Rowena
Published: June 2011

Immigrants and refugees are an integral part of American society and the rest of the world. Immigration status has differentiated immigrants to be persons who, with or without legal documentation, leave their homes of origin to seek employment, family reunification, education, or new beginnings in another country. Immigrants have the option of returning to their homelands. Refugees, on the other hand, leave their countries of origin seeking refugee status because of political or religious oppression, and flee persecution and torture without the option of returning to their home countries for safety reasons. Asylees are also persons who leave their homelands because of persecution and torture, and seek refugee status after they have arrived in new countries.
Ibn Rushd (Averroës)
Authors: Leaman Oliver
Published: June 2011

Ibn Rushd is considered by many to be the greatest of the Islamic philosophers within the Peripatetic tradition, and has come to represent the role of reason in the Islamic world in popular culture. He energetically defended philosophy at a time when it was under significant threat. His commentaries went on to have great influence in the Jewish and Christian worlds, where his status as the chief interpreter of Aristotle persisted for a long time. A particular development of his thought in Christian Europe went on to have a radical effect on subsequent culture, and it is no exaggeration to suggest that Ibn Rushd played an important role in what became the European Renaissance and eventually the Enlightenment. He came to play a role eventually in the Nahda, the Arab Renaissance, in the 19th century as a Muslim who combined a commitment to religion with an enthusiasm for reason.
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Authors: deSilva David A.
Published: June 2011

Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are terms used to label a large body of early Jewish and early Christian literature written between the 3rd century bce and the first centuries of the common era. The Apocrypha, or Deuterocanonical Books (a term referring to the collection’s canonical status within certain Christian bodies), exists as a collection because of the reading practices of early Christians, who placed an especially high value on these texts and often included them in codices of their Scriptures (the Septuagint), and by ongoing canonical debates about the extent of the “Old Testament” within the Christian Church. Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches include these books as part of the Old Testament; Protestant Christians, following the Jewish canon of Scriptures, do not. The Pseudepigrapha is a much broader collection of extrabiblical literature. “Pseudepigrapha” refers technically to texts with a false attribution of authorship, though the collection has come to include several anonymous texts as well. The scope of texts included in the collection varies from edition to edition. Generally, the collection contains at a minimum pseudonymous Jewish extrabiblical writings from about 200 bce to 200 ce. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha are of immense value as windows into the development of biblical interpretation, theology, ethics, and liturgy in Early Judaism and Christianity, as well as into the sociocultural and historical contexts within which these developments occurred.
Book of the Twelve Prophets
Authors: Sweeney Marvin A.
Published: June 2011

The book of the Twelve Prophets is the fourth of the major prophetic books of the Tanakh (the canonical Jewish version of the Hebrew Bible [b. Baba Batra 14b]). It is a hybrid composition insofar as it consists of twelve individual prophetic compositions that are identified as discrete prophetic books within the book of the Twelve. The Talmud identifies the book of the Twelve as a single prophetic book called Tĕrê ‛āśār, Aramaic for “the Twelve,” although the Talmud calls for scribes to leave three blank lines between each of the individual twelve prophetic books (instead of the four lines normally prescribed for separating biblical books) to signal their distinctive characters (b. Baba Batra 13b). Christianity counts the Twelve Prophets as twelve individual prophetic books, and refers to them as the Dodekapropheton (Greek for “twelve prophets”) or simply as “the Minor Prophets,” indicating their relative length when compared to the Major Prophets. Most contemporary Bibles follow the order of the Jewish Masoretic traditions: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Current printed editions of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible from the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce, present a different order that follows the Codex Vaticanus: Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Ancient Greek manuscripts and canon lists, however, display a variety of orders for the Twelve Prophets.
Catholic Epistles
Authors: Davids Peter H. , Lockett Darian R.
Published: June 2011

Alongside the four Gospels, Acts, the Pauline letters (which often included Hebrews), and the Apocalypse, the Catholic Epistles (James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude) form a discrete collection of works the New Testament. While 1 Peter, 1 John, and Jude were all known and used at an early period in the history of the Christian Church, all seven of these letters entered the New Testament canon as a group. Eusebius of Caesarea (Historia Ecclesiastica 2.23.25, in the early 4th century ce) was the first to explicitly list these seven letters as “the Epistles called Catholic” or Catholic Epistles. Whereas Eusebius is clearly depending upon earlier tradition, it is unclear when exactly these seven letters were first viewed as the collection called the Catholic Epistles. He grouped them since none of them is addressed to a single named church and so they are catholic (in the sense of “universal”) or general. About the same time, the great 4th-century codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus featured the seven in the same order as they are found in most New Testaments today. This collection of seven disparate works from multiple authors became a standard part of the New Testament canon, grouping, as it does (if one accepts the traditional attribution of the works), two of Jesus’ apostles (Peter and John); James, the brother or relative of Jesus (whom later tradition also identified as one of the Twelve); and his brother Jude (called “the brother of James”). The order of the books deliberately brackets Peter and John between the bookends of the third “pillar” of the Jerusalem Church (Gal 2:9) and his brother. This article will be broken down into treatments of multiple works and then treatments of each work or group of works.
Book of Genesis
Authors: Matthews Victor H.
Published: June 2011

Genesis, the first book in the Pentateuch, was shaped by a variety of editors over a long period of time from original oral tradition, folklore, compilations of genealogies, and tales about eponymous heroes as a means of providing a literary and political foundation for events in the monarchic era. The book recounts etiological stories of the creation, Eden, the generations prior to the flood, an epic flood narrative, the establishment of the covenant with Abraham, and stories about his descendants as they establish a claim to the Promised Land. A wide range of methodologies have been employed in the study of these materials. Much of this discussion has centered on the identification and role of editorial groups known as the Yahwist, the Elohist, and the Priestly source. The formation history and historicity of the ancestral narratives, in particular, have come under scrutiny in recent years. A good deal of attention has been paid to gender-related readings and reconstruction of the social world of ancient Israel.
Hellenistic Judaism
Authors: Grabbe Lester L.
Published: June 2011

The term “Hellenistic Judaism” is a conventional one, long used, but a misnomer according to many contemporary scholars. Traditionally, “Hellenistic Judaism” was a designation for Judaism in the Greek-speaking world, including those Jews who spoke Greek and adopted (to some extent) a Greek way of life. It has been argued, however, that all Judaism after the conquests of Alexander was Hellenistic Judaism. The Hellenistic period begins with the conquests of Alexander, but when did it end? In one sense, it continued under the Romans and even encompassed the Byzantine period, ending only with the Islamic conquest. For practical purposes, however, the bibliography given here covers primarily the period from Alexander to the Roman conquest under Pompey, circa 335 to 65 bce, a period of almost three centuries. From the point of view of the region or province of Judah, it takes in first Ptolemaic, then Seleucid, and finally Hasmonean rule. The last is very important as almost a century of rule by a native Jewish dynasty of priest-kings. Although many have seen the Maccabean revolt as opposing Hellenistic culture, this is to be very much doubted. Hellenistic Judaism is part of a wider historical period and phenomenon known as “Second Temple Judaism,” which refers to Judaism from Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon to the fall of the Jerusalem temple in 70 ce, or the Persian, Greek, and early Roman periods. Many of the major developments of Judaism during this time actually began in the Persian period, but they sometimes accelerated under Greek rule, and Greek rule brought its own influences and contributions to the Jewish people. This has been most discussed with regard to Hellenization and the so-called Hellenistic reform preceding the Maccabean revolt. See Hellenism and Hellenization and Maccabean Revolt and Hasmonean Rule.
Scriptures
Authors: Wimbush Vincent L.
Published: June 2011

Used interchangeably with Sacred Book, “Scriptures” is the English-language term that is still popularly used to refer to a text or collection of texts deemed to be of special if not unique origins, authority, and power. Users of the term in the Western world tend to assume that “the Bible” of the Jewish and Christian traditions represents either the only instance of such or the example par excellence among some others. A popular linguistic and rhetorical placeholder among cultures of Indo-European origins, the English term originally simply meant (from the Greek hē graphē/hai graphai, ta biblia; Latin, scriptura/-ae; Hebrew, ketav/-uvim) and continues to mean “writing” or “writings” (German, Schrift; Italian, scrittura; French, écriture). But precisely because it is a baseline reference to a collection of writings, or a book, the term is reference to nothing basic or simple; rather, it is freighted shorthand for the most significant site around which turn questions and issues having to do with things that are understood or assumed to matter most and are society-ordering and culture-determining. Wider experiences and perspectives and more information about other scriptures have stimulated questions about, or outright rejection of, some of the narrow notions and assumptions. Segments of both popular and critical scholarly discourses have come to recognize the cross-cultural, if not near-universal, representation of scriptures. Scholarship is still largely focused on particular books and their content and their place within a particular tradition. Only very slowly have a few critics come to engage and wrestle with scriptures as a general social-cultural category and phenomenon and as part of comparative social-historical analysis. So the history of critical thinking about scriptures must be understood as a journey from the scandal of particularity, exclusion, and denial of the others, to the challenge of responding to the reality of multiplicity and difference, with special concerns about the ethic of comparison and the ever-present threat of falling back into different forms of co-optation, hierarchy, and dominance.
Isaiah
Authors: Sweeney Marvin A. , Tolley Kevin
Published: June 2011

The book of Isaiah is the first of the major prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible, although rabbinic tradition sometimes places it third, following Jeremiah and Ezekiel, because of its thematic content (b. Baba Batra 14b–15a). It presents the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, who lived in Jerusalem during the late eighth century bce in the reigns of the Judean kings Uzziah (r. 783–742 bce), Jotham (r. 742–735 bce), Ahaz (r. 735–715 bce), and Hezekiah (r. 715–687/6 bce), a period of Assyrian aggression. Isaiah interpreted the theological significance of the contemporary Assyrian invasions of Israel and Judah as an act of YHWH to bring divine judgment upon the two biblical kingdoms, although he also anticipated the restoration of Judah and Israel once the punishment was complete. Modern scholarship identifies Isaiah 40–55 as the work of an anonymous prophet (or prophetic school), known simply as Second or Deutero-Isaiah, who spoke at the close of the Babylonian exile concerning the restoration of the exiles of Judah to Jerusalem when King Cyrus of Persia ascended to the throne of Babylon (c. 545–539 bce). (Expansions from Second Isaiah and the Isaiah school may also be present in Isaiah 1–39.) Isaiah 56–66 is generally identified as the work of anonymous prophets, known collectively as Third or Trito-Isaiah, from the early Persian period of Judean restoration (c. 520–400 bce). The book of Isaiah plays an important role in both Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism, Isaiah is the most widely read book among the Haftarot, the synagogue lectionary cycle of prophetic texts that are read following the Torah portions of the Jewish worship service. In Christianity, Isaiah is one of the most widely quoted books in the New Testament, where it plays an important role in defining Christian views of Jesus as the Messiah. The scholarship dictates that sources on this subject be separated into commentaries, textual studies, and critical/theological studies; certain sections of Isaiah are represented under two or three of these categories.