bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The preanalytical stability of emerging cannabinoid analogs (delta-8 THC and its metabolites, delta-10 THC and carboxy-HHC) in urine
Authors: Pokhai Ashley A , Poklis Justin L , Williams Grace R , Wolf Carl E
Published: August 2023

There has been a surge in the presence and use of cannabinoids since the federal legalization of hemp (Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018). This increase is attributed not only to the use of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9-THC) and cannabidiol, the most abundant phytocannabinoid components of cannabis and hemp, respectively, but also to the use of many other emerging THC analogs. Structurally, these analogs are similar to ∆9-THC. Urine specimens for drug analysis are often collected offsite and transported to a laboratory for analysis. Screening assays are usually the first step in urine drug testing. These assays are usually qualitative and automated, which for negative specimens, reduce cost and reporting time. The stability of ∆9-THC and its metabolites has been known for some time; however, the stability of emerging analogs has not been elucidated, and therefore, assuming equivalent storage stability can be erroneous. Previous work assessed the cross-reactivity of ∆8-THC and its major metabolites, the ∆10-THC chiral analogs and the chiral 11-COOH-hexahydrocannabinol analogs. Stability was assessed for each analyte at a concentration two times greater than the analytes’ determined decision point. Samples were prepared in drug-free urine at three different pHs (4.5, 7 and 9) and stored at three different temperatures (4°C, 20°C and 45°C) in triplicate. Samples were analyzed utilizing the Lin-Zhi International Cannabinoids Enzyme Immunoassay cannabinoid screening kit calibrated at the 25 ng/mL cut-off. Overall, the cannabinoid analogs produced diminishing instrument responses depending on pH and temperature. The parent analogs were not detected after a single day at 45°C regardless of pH. In general, carboxylic acid analogs at the acidic pH (4.5) produced diminished instrument responses when compared to their counterparts stored at neutral (7) and basic (9) pH. The time, storage temperature and pH of urine specimens may affect the screening results of specimens collected for cannabinoid drug screening.
Burn size and environmental conditions modify thermoregulatory responses to exercise in burn survivors
Authors: Belval Luke N , Cramer Matthew N , Moralez Gilbert , Huang DPT Mu , Watso Joseph C , Fischer Mads , Crandall Craig G
Published: August 2023

This project tested the hypothesis that burn survivors can perform mild/moderate-intensity exercise in temperate and hot environments without excessive elevations in core body temperature. Burn survivors with low (23 ± 5%TBSA; N = 11), moderate (40 ± 5%TBSA; N = 9), and high (60 ± 8%TBSA; N = 9) burn injuries performed 60 minutes of cycle ergometry exercise (72 ± 15 watts) in a 25°C and 23% relative humidity environment (ie, temperate) and in a 40°C and 21% relative humidity environment (ie, hot). Absolute gastrointestinal temperatures (TGI) and changes in TGI (ΔTGI) were obtained. Participants with an absolute TGI of >38.5°C and/or a ΔTGI of >1.5°C were categorized as being at risk for hyperthermia. For the temperate environment, exercise increased ΔTGI in all groups (low: 0.72 ± 0.21°C, moderate: 0.42 ± 0.22°C, and high: 0.77 ± 0.25°C; all P < .01 from pre-exercise baselines), resulting in similar absolute end-exercise TGI values (P = .19). Importantly, no participant was categorized as being at risk for hyperthermia, based upon the aforementioned criteria. For the hot environment, ΔTGI at the end of the exercise bout was greater for the high group when compared to the low group (P = .049). Notably, 33% of the moderate cohort and 56% of the high cohort reached or exceeded a core temperature of 38.5°C, while none in the low cohort exceeded this threshold. These data suggest that individuals with a substantial %TBSA burned can perform mild/moderate intensity exercise for 60 minutes in temperate environmental conditions without risk of excessive elevations in TGI. Conversely, the risk of excessive elevations in TGI during mild/moderate intensity exercise in a hot environment increases with the %TBSA burned.
Management of gastropleural leak by video-assisted thoracoscopy after sleeve gastrectomy
Authors: Ortiz Gómez Jesús Elías , Toledo Barranco Mario , Medina Aguirre Willberto , Guzmán Barba José Aldo , Esparza Estrada Isaac , Ruiz Cota Patricia , Orozco Álvarez Malo José Oscar
Published: August 2023

Obesity is a major public health issue with various comorbidities. Sleeve gastrectomy has become a popular treatment for obesity, but it carries the risk of complications, particularly staple line leakage. This case study focused on a 32-year-old woman with grade II obesity and hiatal hernia who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Four days after surgery, she presented with abdominal pain, revealing leakage from the gastric sleeve into the thoracic cavity. Diagnostic procedures and interventions were performed, including cavity lavage, drainage placement, and stent placement. The patient showed clinical improvement after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and a multidisciplinary approach involving nutrition support and antibiotics. Despite the challenges, the patient’s clinical course improved, leading to discharge with no evidence of leakage on follow-up endoscopy. Careful monitoring and timely interventions are essential to manage complications in sleeve gastrectomy procedures and ensure optimal patient outcomes.
Fine-tuning the activities of β-KETOACYL-COA SYNTHASE 3 (KCS3) and KCS12 in Arabidopsis is essential for maintaining cuticle integrity
Authors: Huang Haodong , Yang Xianpeng , Zheng Minglü , Lü Shiyou , Zhao Huayan
Published: August 2023

The plant cuticle, consisting of wax and cutin, is involved in adaptations to various environments. β-Ketoacyl-CoA synthases (KCSs) usually serve as a component of the fatty acid elongation complex that participates in the production of very long-chain fatty acids and provides precursors for the synthesis of various lipids, including wax; however, we recently reported that KCS3 and KCS12 negatively regulate wax biosynthesis. In this current study, we observed that unlike KCS3-overexpressing (OE) lines, KCS12-OE lines had fused floral organs because of abnormal cuticle biosynthesis. This prompted us to compare the functions of KCS3 and KCS12 during cuticle formation. Mutation of KCS3 caused greater effects on wax production, whereas mutation of KCS12 exerted more severe effects on cutin synthesis. The double-mutant kcs3 kcs12 had significantly increased wax and cutin contents compared to either single-mutant, suggesting that KCS12 and KCS3 have additive effects on cuticle biosynthesis. Cuticle permeability was greater for the double-mutant than for the single mutants, which ultimately led to increased susceptibility to drought stress and floral-organ fusion. Taken together, our results demonstrate the regulatory roles of KCS3 and KCS12 during cuticle biosynthesis, and show that maintaining KCS3 and KCS12 expression at certain levels is essential for the formation of a functional cuticle layer.
An egocentric logic of de dicto and de re knowing who
Authors: Epstein Sophia , Naumov Pavel , Tao Jia
Published: August 2023

The article proposes de dicto and de re versions of ‘knowing-who’ modalities as well as studies the interplay between them and modalities ‘knows’ and ‘for all agents’. It shows that neither of these four modalities is definable through a combination of the three others. In addition, a sound and complete logical system describing the properties of de dicto ‘knows who’, ‘knows’ and ‘for all agents’ modalities is presented.
Development of motor control
Authors: Utley Andrea
Published: August 2023

This chapter provides an overview of the development of motor control. It begins with descriptions of the theoretical foundation that underpin the understanding of development. A dynamical systems approach is favoured with the interaction between the task, the individual, and the environment seen as a key concept. The emphasis is on the early stages of development when the most rapid and significant changes take place. Key areas such as spontaneous movements, postural control, and perception–action coupling are also considered. In the final section, the development of fundamental movement skills including walking, reaching and grasping, catching, and throwing are explored. The importance of ‘moving to learn and learning to move’ is stressed as imperative to ensuring that children develop appropriate movement skills.
Physical activity, exercise, and asthma
Authors: Hebestreit Helge , Kriemler Susi , Radtke Thomas
Published: August 2023

The incidence of asthma in children varies among countries and is estimated to range between 5% and 20%. Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is common in patients with asthma, but can also occur in some children without asthma. Typical symptoms of EIA include cough, chest tightness, and shortness of breath shortly after exercise. The pathophysiology of EIA is not completely understood. It has been shown that airway cooling and drying with increased ventilation during exercise plays a pivotal role, as well as airway rewarming after exercise. In addition, a lack of physical activity may also contribute to EIA. Regular exercise may increase fitness and psychological well-being, but also positively influences airway inflammation in children with asthma. The diagnosis of EIA is based on the typical history and may be verified by an exercise challenge test. Every child with asthma should be able to engage in all type of physical activities.
Physical activity, exercise, and cerebral palsy
Authors: Verschuren Olaf , Bolster Eline AM
Published: August 2023

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) experience difficulties in performing activities of daily living, including sports and exercise activities. As a result, most individuals with CP lead an inactive and sedentary lifestyle that leads to reduced fitness and decreased health benefits. The reduced aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels of children with CP, as well as their muscle weakness, warrants specialised testing and training programmes for this vulnerable population. Both laboratory and field aerobic and anaerobic fitness tests, and strength tests, are available for children with CP. The exercise tests need to be selected based on the physical ability of the child with CP and the goal of the assessment. Several training interventions have been developed to improve fitness and muscle strength in children with CP. Exercise participation can be undertaken with a high level of safety for individuals with CP. Therefore, fitness training of sufficient frequency, intensity, and duration is recommended, or even required, to maintain and optimise health and functional ability in children with CP.
Markers of training stress and overtraining
Authors: Jürimäe Jaak
Published: August 2023

Monitoring training is important in order to follow normal growth and maturation and to avoid possible overtraining in youth athletes. Overtraining is not a single condition but rather a continuum of related factors such as functional overreaching, non-functional overreaching, and overtraining syndrome. The monitoring process should follow a multilevel approach and include specific psychometric and hormonal markers in addition to performance assessment on a regular basis in growing athletes. In psychometric monitoring, stress and recovery should be measured simultaneously, and monitoring should not be restricted to the stress component alone. Endocrine mechanisms that participate in the response to high training stress are the growth hormone (GH)–insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal, and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axes, and peripheral factors of energy homeostasis that also include specific adipose, muscle, and bone tissue markers. The function of the GH–IGF-1 axis is suppressed during high training stress demonstrating a catabolic hormonal environment, which is attributed to low energy availability. In female athletes, low energy availability is the major factor that alters reproductive hormone secretion, rather than high training stress or an increase in exercise energy expenditure. Circulating ghrelin and irisin may also be used as indicators of energy balance in female athletes after menarche, while increased cortisol level indicates possible overreaching/overtraining syndrome. In certain circumstances, leptin, ghrelin, and irisin concentrations can be used to characterise low energy availability and consequently high training stress in growing athletes.
The youth athlete in hot and cold environments
Authors: Falk Bareket , Dotan Raffy
Published: August 2023

Children and adults employ different thermoregulatory strategies. Under heat stress, children rely more on non-evaporative heat exchange, while sweating is adults’ foremost heat-dissipation process. Several anatomical, physiological, and psychological factors can affect differential risk of thermal injury in the child versus the adult athlete. Children have greater surface-area-to-mass ratio, lower sweating rate, higher peripheral blood flow in the heat, and a greater extent of vasoconstriction in the cold. They can acclimatise to a similar extent but do so at a lower rate than adults. Differences in perceived exertion and thermal strain, cumulative experience, cognitive development, and decision-making capacity may negatively affect the youth athlete’s behaviour under competitive and other situations, possibly subjecting him or her to sub-par performance or to greater risk of thermal injury. However, except for limited environmental conditions, children in general, and youth athletes in particular, are physiologically capable of handling environmental challenges as effectively as adults.
Epidemiology and prevention of injuries in competitive contact and collision sports
Authors: Nauta Joske , Sewry Nicola , Verhagen Evert ALM
Published: August 2023

Contact and collision sports are those sports in which contact with the opponent is common or intentional. This chapter systematically presents current knowledge regarding sports-related injuries within three contact sports (basketball, handball, and football) and three collision sports (rugby, ice hockey, and martial arts). Each sport is covered systematically by describing practical information concerning the particular sport, the epidemiology, and aetiology of the sport-specific injury spectrum, and summarising prevention strategies. Where possible, trends that can be drawn from the literature are provided to give a reasonable basis on which to develop and promote prevention strategies.
Head and cervical spine injuries
Authors: Cantu Robert V , Cantu Robert C
Published: August 2023

Head and neck injuries in youth athletes range from concussion and cervical strain to intracranial haemorrhage and quadriplegia. Concussion is a common head injury and can occur without loss of consciousness. Post-concussion syndrome can occur after a single concussion or may develop after multiple concussions. Any athlete who remains symptomatic after a concussion or is suffering from post-concussion syndrome should not return to athletic competition. Multiple head injuries, even sub-concussive blows, may lead to the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy which currently can only conclusively be diagnosed on pathological examination. Youth athletes who are suspected to have sustained a cervical spine injury should be immobilised, typically with both shoulder pads and helmet on unless the helmet needs to be removed for airway access, in which case both should be removed. Several studies have shown the improved sensitivity of computed tomography imaging compared to plain radiography in diagnosing cervical spine injuries in youth athletes and measures can be taken to minimise the effective radiation received.
Cardiovascular
Authors: Molloy Phillip
Published: August 2023

This chapter explores the fundamentals underpinning the cardiovascular system. Here you will learn how to draw the major vessels, branches and valves found in the cardiovascular system. While tricky to draw the coronary vascular system initially, it will not only impress your peers and lecturers but it will also provide an excellent three-dimensional image in your head which can be used while interpreting electrocardiograms and when exploring real-life cardiac anatomy.
Neurology
Authors: Molloy Phillip
Published: August 2023

This chapter examines common neurological structures such as the brain and spinal cord. The chapter focuses on the spinal tracts, a bread-and-butter topic which needs to be understood by all clinicians. In addition to this it also examines the blood supply to the brain and its drainage.
Respiratory Histology
Authors: Molloy Phillip
Published: August 2023

This chapter demonstrates the different histological layers of the trachea. The two differing cross sections allow you to recognize the difference between the muscular and cartilaginous components of the trachea.
Gastrointestinal Tract Histology
Authors: Molloy Phillip
Published: August 2023

This chapter explores the layers of the gastrointestinal tract. We break down the different tissues found in the gastrointestinal tract and create a simple template. Once learnt, you will be able to draw but also identify different gastrointestinal tissues under the microscope—again another common exam question.
Renal Histology
Authors: Molloy Phillip
Published: August 2023

This chapter offers a simple histological diagram of the kidney and adrenal systems. Some useful hot tips will help you to additionally remember different chemicals secreted by the layers of the adrenal gland.
Devices for Sensory Stimulation and Behavioral Monitoring
Authors: Hari Riitta , Puce Aina
Published: August 2023

This chapter is devoted to stimulation and monitoring devices needed to run MEG and EEG experiments. The MEG environment is very challenging for various sensory stimulators because any moving magnetic or magnetized materials near the subject will cause serious artifacts. The devices introduced in this chapter include auditory, visual, and tactile stimulators, stimulators to trigger acute pain, devices to produce passive movements to activate proprioceptors, and olfactory and gustatory stimulators. The operating principles of the stimulators are described in a concise manner. Some devices for monitoring a subject’s behavior are briefly mentioned. The chapter ends with a section on phantoms for MEG/EEG systems as aids to understand source analysis and artifact removal.
Practicalities of Data Collection
Authors: Hari Riitta , Puce Aina
Published: August 2023

This chapter deals with optimizing MEG and EEG data recording sessions for best signal quality. The chapter begins with principles of good experimentation, including reproducibility checks and subject preparation for MEG and EEG studies, followed by specific parts of experimental practice. For EEG studies, preparation of skin, electrode application, and impedance measurement are described. For MEG studies, the issues related to metallic materials on clothing or on/in the body are discussed. The use of additional electrodes for measuring eye artifacts and attachment of head position indicator coils to monitor subject position during MEG recording is noted. The chapter continues with description of various measurement methods for MEG sensor and EEG electrode digitization, as well as acquisition of structural MRIs for obtaining head anatomy, finally rounding out with infection control for EEG and MEG studies and electrical safety.
Evoked and Event-Related Responses
Authors: Hari Riitta , Puce Aina
Published: August 2023

This chapter introduces task-related activity, known as evoked and event-related responses. These responses can be elicited by any sudden changes, such as brief transient stimuli, long stimuli, or by “steady-state” stimuli presented in quick succession. Different stimulation setups often require different filter settings for obtaining optimum MEG/EEG signals. The typically recorded signals include transient on- and off-responses, sustained responses during long stimuli, and steady-state responses, and each response can comprise multiple deflections. The commonly used nomenclature of the various types of evoked responses is presented. The chapter closes by examining how evoked responses can be modulated by interstimulus interval, stimulus timing, as well as other stimulus-related parameters.
Brain Signals Related to Change Detection
Authors: Hari Riitta , Puce Aina
Published: August 2023

This chapter examines neurophysiological responses related to various cognitive processes, expectation of stimuli and events, and stimulus probability. The responses include the contingent negative variation, the electric and magnetic mismatch responses, P300, the N400 family of responses typically occurring during processing of speech and language, and the error-related negativity that arises when subjects commit an error. The attributes of these responses, the variables that modulate them, and their likely neural generators are discussed. Although these responses have been known for many decades, here they are discussed within the same predictive coding framework as they seem to be related to complex and goal-directed human behavior that unfolds in uncertain and surprising environments.
MEG/EEG Combined with Other Brain Imaging Methods
Authors: Hari Riitta , Puce Aina
Published: August 2023

This chapter examines the advantages, disadvantages, and pitfalls of multimodal assessment of brain function. Studies combining MEG/EEG with fMRI in similar setups have resulted in seemingly conflicting findings regarding the time courses of hemodynamic and neurophysiological responses. Two simple models are presented for explaining these conflicting observations in terms of the hemodynamic delay and white-matter transmission times. It is proposed that fMRI signals are dominated by activation transmitted via dense and thin neuronal fibers, whereas MEG/EEG signals likely reflect the most synchronously active neural populations connected by thick, fast-conducting fibers. The chapter closes with some exciting new EEG literature describing noninvasive brain stimulation with TMS, tDCS, tACS, and focused ultrasound, and it also introduces the developing hybrid MEG–MRI. Finally, it is posited that using multiple methods in systems and cognitive/social neuroscience is the new normal in the 21st century.
Multivalency of nucleosome recognition by LEDGF
Authors: Koutná Eliška , Lux Vanda , Kouba Tomáš , Škerlová Jana , Nováček Jiří , Srb Pavel , Hexnerová Rozálie , Šváchová Hana , Kukačka Zdeněk , Novák Petr , Fábry Milan , Poepsel Simon , Veverka Václav
Published: August 2023

Eukaryotic transcription is dependent on specific histone modifications. Their recognition by chromatin readers triggers complex processes relying on the coordinated association of transcription regulatory factors. Although various modification states of a particular histone residue often lead to differential outcomes, it is not entirely clear how they are discriminated. Moreover, the contribution of intrinsically disordered regions outside of the specialized reader domains to nucleosome binding remains unexplored. Here, we report the structures of a PWWP domain from transcriptional coactivator LEDGF in complex with the H3K36 di- and trimethylated nucleosome, indicating that both methylation marks are recognized by PWWP in a highly conserved manner. We identify a unique secondary interaction site for the PWWP domain at the interface between the acidic patch and nucleosomal DNA that might contribute to an H3K36-methylation independent role of LEDGF. We reveal DNA interacting motifs in the intrinsically disordered region of LEDGF that discriminate between the intra- or extranucleosomal DNA but remain dynamic in the context of dinucleosomes. The interplay between the LEDGF H3K36-methylation reader and protein binding module mediated by multivalent interactions of the intrinsically disordered linker with chromatin might help direct the elongation machinery to the vicinity of RNA polymerase II, thereby facilitating productive elongation.
Yeast transcription factor Msn2 binds to G4 DNA
Authors: Duy Duong Long , Kim Nayun
Published: August 2023

Sequences capable of forming quadruplex or G4 DNA are prevalent in the promoter regions. The transformation from canonical to non-canonical secondary structure apparently regulates transcription of a number of human genes. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we identified 37 genes with a G4 motif in the promoters including 20 genes that contain stress response element (STRE) overlapping a G4 motif. STRE is the binding site of stress response regulators Msn2 and Msn4, transcription factors belonging to the C2H2 zinc-finger protein family. We show here that Msn2 binds directly to the G4 DNA structure through its zinc-finger domain with a dissociation constant similar to that of STRE-binding and that, in a stress condition, Msn2 is enriched at G4 DNA-forming loci in the yeast genome. For a large fraction of genes with G4/STRE-containing promoters, treating with G4-ligands led to significant elevations in transcription levels. Such transcriptional elevation was greatly diminished in a msn2Δ msn4Δ background and was partly muted when the G4 motif was disrupted. Taken together, our data suggest that G4 DNA could be an alternative binding site of Msn2 in addition to STRE, and that G4 DNA formation could be an important element of transcriptional regulation in yeast.
IQGAP1 mediates the communication between the nucleus and the mitochondria via NDUFS4 alternative splicing
Authors: Papadaki Vasiliki , Erpapazoglou Zoi , Kokkori Maria , Rogalska Malgorzata Ewa , Potiri Myrto , Birladeanu Andrada , Tsakiri Eleni N , Ashktorab Hassan , Smoot Duane T , Papanikolopoulou Katerina , Samiotaki Martina , Kafasla Panagiota
Published: August 2023

Constant communication between mitochondria and nucleus ensures cellular homeostasis and adaptation to mitochondrial stress. Anterograde regulatory pathways involving a large number of nuclear-encoded proteins control mitochondrial biogenesis and functions. Such functions are deregulated in cancer cells, resulting in proliferative advantages, aggressive disease and therapeutic resistance. Transcriptional networks controlling the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes are known, however alternative splicing (AS) regulation has not been implicated in this communication. Here, we show that IQGAP1, a scaffold protein regulating AS of distinct gene subsets in gastric cancer cells, participates in AS regulation that strongly affects mitochondrial respiration. Combined proteomic and RNA-seq analyses of IQGAP1KO and parental cells show that IQGAP1KO alters an AS event of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I (CI) subunit NDUFS4 and downregulates a subset of CI subunits. In IQGAP1KO cells, CI intermediates accumulate, resembling assembly deficiencies observed in patients with Leigh syndrome bearing NDUFS4 mutations. Mitochondrial CI activity is significantly lower in KO compared to parental cells, while exogenous expression of IQGAP1 reverses mitochondrial defects of IQGAP1KO cells. Our work sheds light to a novel facet of IQGAP1 in mitochondrial quality control that involves fine-tuning of CI activity through AS regulation in gastric cancer cells relying highly on mitochondrial respiration.
Prediction of G4 formation in live cells with epigenetic data: a deep learning approach
Authors: Korsakova Anna , Phan Anh Tuân
Published: August 2023

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are secondary structures abundant in DNA that may play regulatory roles in cells. Despite the ubiquity of the putative G-quadruplex-forming sequences (PQS) in the human genome, only a small fraction forms G4 structures in cells. Folded G4, histone methylation and chromatin accessibility are all parts of the complex cis regulatory landscape. We propose an approach for prediction of G4 formation in cells that incorporates epigenetic and chromatin accessibility data. The novel approach termed epiG4NN efficiently predicts cell-specific G4 formation in live cells based on a local epigenomic snapshot. Our results confirm the close relationship between H3K4me3 histone methylation, chromatin accessibility and G4 structure formation. Trained on A549 cell data, epiG4NN was then able to predict G4 formation in HEK293T and K562 cell lines. We observe the dependency of model performance with different epigenetic features on the underlying experimental condition of G4 detection. We expect that this approach will contribute to the systematic understanding of correlations between structural and epigenomic feature landscape.
Introduction
Authors: Reside Douglas L.
Published: August 2023

Many fans of musical theatre first encounter musicals not via live stage performances but through cast recordings, published scripts, and video recordings. These media shape the musical theatre repertory and fix audience expectations of the titles in the repertory. Those elements of a musical that are most fluid are often those not fully documented in the most popular recording or recordings of the title. This introduction first attempts to define the repertory of musical theatre in the early 21st century by surveying the titles that are most frequently produced at resident theatres across the country and then summarizes the ways in which the various elements of musicals have been seen as fixed or fluid by previous editors and scholars.
Printing the Musical
Authors: Reside Douglas L.
Published: August 2023

Although printing in the West developed in the fifteenth century, new printing technologies perfected in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries meant that texts and music could be printed more rapidly and cheaply. This led to an increased willingness of publishers to experiment with printing for niche markets (such as readers of musical theatre libretti). As the printing of libretti became more common in the early twentieth century, the musical theatre libretto, often little more than a functional and disposable scaffolding in the nineteenth century, became respected enough to be considered “drama” and win Pulitzer Prizes in the twentieth. As a result, the libretto became part of what was signified by the title of a musical and could not be dramatically changed without subverting audience expectation.
Recording the Musical
Authors: Reside Douglas L.
Published: August 2023

Audio recording, reproduction, and distribution technologies developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries worked to “fix” the program of a musical from a relatively fluid set of interchangeable songs into an increasingly stable score. As new audio technologies emerged, the market for re-releases of content available on earlier formats helped to establish a musical theatre repertory as the titles that were considered most “important” were converted to the new formats most quickly. As the commercial market for recorded music grew, musicals that could be easily appreciated on the basis of the recording alone entered the repertory more quickly than those that depended on the unrecorded or visual elements of a production.
The Musical as Moving Image
Authors: Reside Douglas L.
Published: August 2023

As with audio recordings, musicals that could be appreciated on film quickly entered the repertory. Further, changes made for filmed versions became part of audience expectations even when these changes were not incorporated into the texts licensed for stage performance. Starting in the mid-1970s, growing interest in recording and broadcasting recorded theatre on cable and on Public Television led to broadcast of several of the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. These recordings helped to establish Sondheim as a master artist, and the appearance of musical theatre on PBS alongside broadcasts of opera and serious non-musical theatre helped to establish the musical as an important American art form worthy of critical attention.
Licensing the Musical
Authors: Reside Douglas L.
Published: August 2023

Since the late nineteenth century, commercial enterprises have managed the legal licensing of musicals for new amateur and regional productions. These companies work with the artists they represent to create materials designed to support new productions in environments that may be very unlike the stage on which the musical first premiered. To support new, low-budget productions, licensing houses once rented costumes and set pieces along with scripts and scores. Although this practice was largely abandoned by the mid-twentieth century, some companies now provide access to digital files that include projection designs, video choreography instruction, and even orchestral backing tracks that can be dynamically controlled by a music director. Current technology has made it possible to fix nearly every element of a production except the performances of the amateur actors.
Rom com Revamped
Authors: Rao Maithili
Published: August 2023

Romance, the essence of Sringara rules in popular cinema but finds new expression in the Bollywood romcom of the new millennium. It released the love story from the suffocating grip of conservatism and turned it into a caper about relationships, successfully Indianizing a winning Hollywood formula that was petering out. It has come a long way since the first commercial success (Hum Tum, 2004 inspired by When Harry Met Sally, 1989) and continues to be rewritten for the millennial generation with large production houses to back it. Unlike love stories of the 1990s (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Hota Hai, and others) which tried to depict romance in a globalized India and appease ‘traditional values’, the romcom broke with conservative norms about love, marriage, gender, and relationships. It foregrounded the female protagonist as a woman with agency and substance and not merely an object of male desire. The genre relied on the female star (Kareena Kapoor, Dipika Padukone, Anushka Sharma) and has accorded her space in a male dominated Bollywood pantheon. Though notable romcoms have been written and directed by men, heroes are aware of their flaws and emotional vulnerabilities while heroines are self-aware and confident. Contemporary attitudes to love, friendship, premarital sex, and live-in relationships are explored from the point of view of women.
Non-conformists Are the New Cool
Authors: Rao Maithili
Published: August 2023

The millennial woman is a non-conformist who charts her path and refuses to play out conventional scripts assigned by society and its institutions, including the family. Films portray a slew of expressions of defiance from diverse social settings. Actors like Vidya Balan, Kangana Raunat, Taapsee Panu, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechelin, Alia Bhatt have all broken stereotypes with elan. Post globalization, authoritarian families continued to shelter women from new social norms. Bollywood non-conformists upset conventions around marriage, sex, and relationships be it in the neighbourhoods of Delhi or in the Haryana heartlands or Chennai. These leading ladies surprise us with their choices. Margarita with a Straw (2014) debunks the myth that a physically challenged woman feels no sexual desire. Safeena (Gully Boy, 2019) a fiery young woman defies the constraints imposed by her family and embarks on a journey of self-determination. Amu (Thappad, 2020) calmly decides to withstand family and societal pressure to end her marriage over a ‘mere’ slap from her husband. Non-conformism doesn’t only mean defiance. Vidya Balan, with her easy manner and self-confidence, has portrayed characters that are celebrated for their unapologetic use of the body and sexuality as a means of achieving power and self- definition within a patriarchal framework (The Dirty Picture, 2011; Ishqiya, 2010). Unlike the gritty Parallel Cinema of the 70s/80s, the new non-conformism adheres to a mainstream format that relies on the ‘right’ actress to deliver its punch and engage the audience. As post-feminist portrayals they foreground individual choices rather than larger ideologies.
The Subversives
Authors: Rao Maithili
Published: August 2023

Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s iconoclastic remakes of classics Dev Das and Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam (Dev D, 2009; Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster, 2011) gesture to the past but are edgy stories that capture the zeitgeist of the millennium. Both narratives relocate from colonial Bengal to contemporary Punjab and rural UP which allows for a subversion of plot and characters. In Dev D the angst-ridden hero of the classic is recast as a self-destructive egoist with a sense of entitlement. Unlike the coy Paro of the classic, Kashyap’s heroine (Mahi Gill) is a passionate woman who owns her desire and need for sexual gratification. The women (Paro and Chanda) in Dev D are centred and practical in contrast to the escapist Dev (Abhay Deol) who is lost in his addictions. Chandramukhi the lovelorn tawaif of the older versions is discarded and Chanda (Kalki Koechlin) is a determined young woman planning for a better future. Unlike the tragic ending of the classic, the film ends on a note of hope. In Guru Dutt’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) Meena Kumari created the unforgettable tragic heroine Choti Bahu who longs for intimacy with her pleasure-seeking Zamindar husband. Dhulia subverts this character to create Choti Rani in rural UP. Drink and cigarette in hand, she charts her course in a power game where men are pawns. Unlike Choti Bahu, Choti Rani refuses victimhood and instead uses her position to avenge humiliations. These millennial versions make space for dynamic women who express themselves fearlessly.
Unparalleled Poetry
Authors: Grosser Emmylou J.
Published: August 2023

This book disentangles biblical Hebrew poetry from more than 250 years of scholarship dominated by metrical assumptions and the problematic notion of parallelism; the cognitive approach offered in replacement provides an account of the free-rhythm versification system of biblical poetry that is oriented toward how poetic structure can be heard and perceived. Drawing from the cognitive poetics work of Reuven Tsur, the book argues that the poetic line emerges in the cognitive experience of the listener/reader. The “lines” of biblical poetry are reconceptualized not as linear and parallel but as diverse segments that make up shapes or figures, the line-groupings of biblical poetry. The line emerges in biblical poetry in the part-whole mental organization of the line in relation to the line-grouping, which is accounted for through the Gestalt principles of perception. The Gestalt principles provide the structural potential of biblical Hebrew poetry, which is distinct from any particular aspect of language but potentially draws from any aspect of it. Additionally, the Gestalt principles account for how the lines and line-groupings come together to form larger integrated wholes of stanzas and poems. This cognitive approach to biblical poetry accounts for the wide diversity of lines and poems in the Hebrew Bible and illuminates both the structures of biblical poetry and the artistry of potential effects. It also addresses the issues of rhythm and the so-called qinah meter, line lengths and the immediate memory constraint, and the relationship between prose and poetry in the Hebrew Bible.
Conclusion: Unparalleled Poetry
Authors: Grosser Emmylou J.
Published: August 2023

Chapter 9 revisits Psalm 23 and the two problems it raised at the beginning of this book: What are the lines of biblical poetry, and why does it even matter? This chapter walks through the line structure of Psalm 23 and establishes that the psalm is a composition in verse. It then demonstrates how the mental organization of the lines affects how the message of the work is heard and experienced. The chapter summarizes what this book has contributed to replace parallelism and metrical approaches: a coherent and unified free-rhythm versification system of lines fitting to lines that is theoretically plausible and simple, though contextually complex. This cognitive approach accounts for the wide diversity of biblical lines and poems and illuminates not just the structures of biblical poetry, but also the artistry of potential effects. It has implications for further research in Ugaritic as well as comparative literature approaches to parallelism.
Beazley, Daubert, and the Burden of Proof
Authors: Stewart Peter
Published: August 2023

This chapter deals with the relationship between art history and a form of forensic “connoisseurship.” The discussion deals with the so-called Morellian analysis used for over a century to attribute anonymous paintings to the hands of particular artists. The focus here is especially on the career of Professor Sir John Beazley (1885–1970), who dedicated his life to attributing ancient Athenian pot-paintings in this way. The method has long been associated with forensic approaches which emerged at around the same time in the late nineteenth century. These are still in use today alongside more modern (and often equally controversial) techniques. In contrast to art history, the forensic application of connoisseurship carries very high stakes. The chapter examines the ways in which the courts in the UK and United States, motivated by the imperative to rely on reasonable levels of confidence rather than scientific proof, seek to contain uncertainty arising from subjective connoisseurship.
The Frontiers of Corporate Food in Egypt
Authors: Dixon Marion W.
Published: August 2023

Corporations have had a growing role in agriculture and food around the world. The Frontiers of Corporate Food in Egypt details the development and growth of a corporate agri-food system in Egypt. This system includes food processing and an animal protein complex largely for corporate consumer markets in the country—from street kiosks to fast food outlets to hypermarkets—and fresh fruits and vegetables largely for export. The book demonstrates the importance of reclaimed lands, or frontiers, for the development and growth of the corporate agri-food system from the 1980s through the 2011 popular uprising. Various forces, including multiple threats from plant and animal diseases (the Avian flu, especially) have pushed and pulled agribusiness to new lands. This system’s growth has also rested on imports and contract farming. As a result, dependence on food imports has grown. What agriculturalists grow has changed toward processing vegetables and animal protein, and what Egyptians eat has changed toward foods/drinks high in unhealthy fats, sugars, and sodium. Through mixed-methods research in Egypt between 2008 and 2012, this book shows how the growth of corporate food has contributed to growing food insecurity and to multiplying threats to public health from chronic and infectious diseases.
Food Crises and Revolt
Authors: Dixon Marion W.
Published: August 2023

Chapter 2 details the causes of the twin crises of 2007–08 and 2011, when world food prices rose sharply. It shows how the growth of a corporate agri-food system in Egypt contributed to the vulnerabilities of population groups within the country to the price shocks. Instead of addressing the causes of world price volatility, multilateral organizations, think tanks, corporate media, scholars, and government agencies alike began to wrongly blame the resulting food insecurity on consumer food subsidies in Egypt and elsewhere. Food (and other) subsidies have long been the ire of neoliberals, and they gained renewed attention in the intercrisis period (2008–2011). By 2011, following the uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, the neoliberal consensus changed from reforming subsidies to replacing them with cash transfers.
The Frontier and Export Plantation Economy of the Long Nineteenth Century
Authors: Dixon Marion W.
Published: August 2023

Chapter 5 introduces food regime analysis and details the colonial-era food regime of the long nineteenth century (c. 1780s–1914). European imperial states extended colonial rule to offshore production of foodstuffs and industrial inputs (e.g., cotton, indigo) in peripheral states, which also became markets for European finished imports. The chapter situates commodity frontiers in food regime analysis, and the argument is that a frontier of reclaimed lands in the Egyptian state was a condition for participation in the colonial-era food regime. Land reclamation provided the initial conditions for capital formation and development in land. So significant was land reclamation in Egypt, under the Ottomans and then the British, that the Nile Delta itself greatly expanded. A typology of frontiers in Egypt, from the long nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century, is also introduced.
Post-Colonial Frontier Making?
Authors: Dixon Marion W.
Published: August 2023

Chapter 6 details the second of three frontiers in modern Egypt: state land reclamation, or the state frontier. This frontier began to develop in post-1922 Egypt and under the food aid regime, which replaced the colonial-era food regime in the interwar period. The state frontier was devoted to land redistribution and state collective farming, both for subsistence and national urban markets. The chapter shows how state land reclamation under the Nasser administration informed the character of the third type of frontier, the desert frontier, beginning in the 1970s. Land reclamation developed a distinct character that remains; that is, land reclamation became a way for society and polity to solve a host of social problems from capitalist development. Also, when state reclaimed lands were sold to investors, agribusiness came to rely on state reclamation communities (of smallholders). One such community and its relationship to the corporate agri-food system today are highlighted.
Democracy’s Interwar Crisis as Learning Experience
Authors: Corduwener Pepijn
Published: August 2023

If we want to understand why the people’s party could resurface as the hegemonic political model for postwar Western Europe, the period between the mid-1930s and mid-1940s is essential. This chapter turns to this decade and shows how the experiences with both the failures of the mass party in the Interwar era and with authoritarian one-party regimes contributed to an unexpected revival and re-evaluation of the idea of the people’s party. For many leading politicians, both experiences were learning experiences on how to rethink and reform party politics in the future. They often concluded that democracy required people’s parties in order to be sustained. This chapter tracks the writings and experiences of some of these key politicians like Alcide de Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer, Hendrik de Man, and Léon Blum and shows how they lived through this transformative period that led to a rethinking of the role and responsibilities of parties in modern democracy.
The Challenge of 1973 and Governability as Leading Purpose
Authors: Corduwener Pepijn
Published: August 2023

The challenge of 1968 did not stand on itself. It was soon followed by another major blow to the postwar model of democracy, one that targeted in particular its material base and the social and economic paradigms which had sustained it: the 1973 Oil Crisis. This chapter shows how party leaders sought to confront the economic crisis that followed it and shows how it affected their understanding of the function of the people’s parties in the democratic system. Sometimes motivated by the memories of the 1930s, party leaders felt that the people’s parties could distinguish themselves most of all in these uncertain times by providing good and efficient government. They could provide, in the catchword of the time, governability of what seemed to them unruly societies and an ungovernable state. This growing emphasis on governability implied a rather radical change of direction for the people’s parties, which upset some of the careful balances on which they had based their success. By the end of the 1980s, many people inside and outside the people’s parties started to criticize this turn of people’s parties as the gap between their electorate and those in power seemed to become ever wider.