bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effect of Chinese Jinzhida recipe on the hippocampus in a rat model of diabetes-associated cognitive decline
Authors: Chang Xiao-Hui , Liang Li-Na , Zhan Li-Bin , Lu Xiao-Guang , Shi Xiang , Qi Xin , Feng Zhao-Lan , Wu Mei-Juan , Sui Hua , Zheng Lu-Ping , Zhang Fu-Liang , Sun Jie , Bai Chang-Chuan , Li Nan , Han Guo-Zhu
Published: July 2013

Background

To investigate the effects of treatment with Multi component Chinese Medicine Jinzhida (JZD) on behavioral deficits in diabetes-associated cognitive decline (DACD) rats and verify our hypothesis that JZD treatment improves cognitive function by suppressing the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and improving insulin signaling transduction in the rats’ hippocampus.

Methods

A rat model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was established using high fat diet and streptozotocin (30 mg/kg, ip). Insulin sensitivity was evaluated by the oral glucose tolerance test and the insulin tolerance test. After 7 weeks, the T2DM rats were treated with JZD. The step-down test and Morris water maze were used to evaluate behavior in T2DM rats after 5 weeks of treatment with JZD. Levels of phosphorylated proteins involved in the ERS and in insulin signaling transduction pathways were assessed by Western blot for T2DM rats’ hippocampus.

Results

Compared to healthy control rats, T2DM rats initially showed insulin resistance and had declines in acquisition and retrieval processes in the step-down test and in spatial memory in the Morris water maze after 12 weeks. Performance on both the step-down test and Morris water maze tasks improved after JZD treatment. In T2DM rats, the ERS was activated, and then inhibited the insulin signal transduction pathways through the Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNK) mediated. JZD treatment suppressed the ERS, increased insulin signal transduction, and improved insulin resistance in the rats’ hippocampus.

Conclusions

Treatment with JZD improved cognitive function in the T2DM rat model. The possible mechanism for DACD was related with ERS inducing the insulin signal transduction dysfunction in T2DM rats’ hippocampus. The JZD could reduce ERS and improve insulin signal transduction and insulin resistance in T2DM rats’ hippocampus and as a result improved the cognitive function.
Induction of an EMT-like transformation and MET in vitro
Authors: Ding Songming , Zhang Wu , Xu Zhiyuan , Xing Chunyang , Xie Haiyang , Guo Haijun , Chen Kanjie , Song Penghong , Gu Yu , Xiao Fengqiang , Zhou Lin , Zheng Shusen
Published: July 2013

Background

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) play pivotal roles in metastasis of epithelial cancers. The distinction between them has shed new light on the molecular mechanisms of tumor metastasis. Recently, tumor microenvironment (TM) has been identified as one of the most potent inducers of EMT and MET. TM is characterized by its complexity and flexibility. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the exact effect of each distinct TM component on the evolution hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis.

Methods

Two different cell culture models were used. The HCC cell line Bel-7402 was co-cultured with the normal liver cell line HL-7702 or with the retinal vascular endothelial cell line RF/6A in double-layer six-well plates, imitating the direct interaction between tumor-host cells and tumor cells. Bel-7402 was also cultured in the conditioned medium (CM) of the human lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5, HL-7702 or RF/6A, imitating an indirect interaction. Integrin β1, β3, β4, β7, laminin β3, E-cadherin and Snail levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR in tumor sepecimens from 42 resected HCC.

Results

We found that Bel-7402 cells co-cultured with HL-7702 or RF/6A cells were induced to undergo MET. The expression of E-cadherin, α-catenin and β-catenin was up-regulated, accompanied with a strengthened E-cadherin/catenin complex on the membrane of co-cultured Bel-7402 cells. Consequently, the invasion and migration ability of cells was declined. Conversely, Bel-7402 cells cultured in conditioned medium from MRC-5 cells underwent an EMT-like transformation as the cells became elongated with increased invasion and migration ability. Furthermore, we demonstrated that HL-7702 cells could generally inhibit the tumorigenicity and viability of Bel-7402 cells. We also found that integrin β1 expression was negatively associated with capsular formation, and that integrin β4 expression was negatively associated with CK19 expression.

Conclusion

Our findings highlight the strong influences exerted by TM on tumor progression through EMT and MET by impacting the expression of adhesion molecules, including the E-cadherin/catenin complex, laminins and integrins.
Wild mushroom- an underutilized healthy food resource and income generator: experience from Tanzania rural areas
Authors: Tibuhwa Donatha D
Published: July 2013

Background

This study documents the use of a wild edible mushroom (WEM) in Tanzania rural areas and assesses its significance as a source of healthy food and income for the disadvantaged rural dwellers.

Methodology

The data was gathered through local market surveys in order to conventionally identify different common WEM taxa using a semi-structured interview and it involved 160 people comprised of WEM hunters, traders and consumers. The collected data covered the information on where, how, when and who was the principal transmitter of the mycological knowledge learned and the general information on their market and values.

Results

Results show that mushroom gathering is gender oriented, dominated by women (76.25%) whereas men account for 23.75%. Women possess vast knowledge of mushroom folk taxonomy, biology and ecology and are therefore the principal knowledge transmitters. It was also found that learning about WEM began at an early age and is family tradition based. The knowledge is acquired and imparted by practices and is mostly transmitted vertically through family dissemination. The results also revealed that 75 WEM species belong to 14 families sold in fresh or dry form. The common sold species belonged to the family Cantharellaceae (19) followed by Rusullaceae (16) and Lyophyllaceae (13), respectively. Collectors residing near miombo woodland may harvest 20–30 buckets (capacity 20 liters) and the business may earn a person about $400–900 annually.

Conclusion

This finding envisages the purposeful strengthening of WEM exploitation, which would contribute significantly in boosting the rural income/economy and reduce conflicts between community and forest conservers. The activity would also provide alternative employment, improve food security to rural disadvantaged groups especially women and old people hence improve their livelihood.
Improved longitudinal length accuracy of gross tumor volume delineation with diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Hou Dong-Liang , Shi Gao-Feng , Gao Xian-Shu , Asaumi Junichi , Li Xue-Ying , Liu Hui , Yao Chen , Chang Joe Y
Published: July 2013

Background

To analyze the longitudinal length accuracy of gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation with diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methods

Forty-two patients from December 2011 to June 2012 with esophageal SCC who underwent radical surgery were analyzed. Routine computed tomography (CT) scan, T2-weighted MRI and diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) were employed before surgery. Diffusion-sensitive gradient b-values were taken at 400, 600, and 800 s/mm2. Gross tumor volumes (GTV) were delineated using CT, T2-weighted MRI and DWI on different b-value images. GTV longitude length measured using the imaging modalities listed above was compared with pathologic lesion length to determine the most accurate imaging modality. CMS Xio radiotherapy planning system was used to fuse DWI scans and CT images to investigate the possibility of delineating GTV on fused images.

Results

The differences between the GTV length according to CT, T2-weighted MRI and pathology were 3.63 ± 12.06 mm and 3.46 ± 11.41 mm, respectively. When the diffusion-sensitive gradient b-value was 400, 600, and 800 s/mm2, the differences between the GTV length using DWI and pathology were 0.73 ± 6.09 mm, -0.54 ± 6.03 mm and −1.58 ± 5.71 mm, respectively. DWI scans and CT images were fused accurately using the radiotherapy planning system. GTV margins were depicted clearly on fused images.

Conclusions

DWI displays esophageal SCC lengths most precisely when compared with CT or regular MRI. DWI scans fused with CT images can be used to improve accuracy to delineate GTV in esophageal SCC.
A virus-induced gene silencing method to study soybean cyst nematode parasitism in Glycine max
Authors: Kandoth Pramod K , Heinz Robert , Yeckel Greg , Gross Nathan W , Juvale Parijat S , Hill John , Whitham Steven A , Baum Thomas J , Mitchum Melissa G
Published: July 2013

Background

Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) based virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) vectors have been developed and used in soybean for the functional analysis of genes involved in disease resistance to foliar pathogens. However, BPMV-VIGS protocols for studying genes involved in disease resistance or symbiotic associations with root microbes have not been developed.

Findings

Here we describe a BPMV-VIGS protocol suitable for reverse genetic studies in soybean roots. We use this method for analyzing soybean genes involved in resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN). A detailed SCN screening pipeline is described.

Conclusions

The VIGS method described here provides a new tool to identify genes involved in soybean-nematode interactions. This method could be adapted to study genes associated with any root pathogenic or symbiotic associations.
The prevalence and characteristics of microalbuminuria in the general population: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Tanaka Satoru , Takase Hiroyuki , Dohi Yasuaki , Kimura Genjiro
Published: July 2013

Background

Microalbuminuria is a marker of cardiovascular events. This study investigated the prevalence of microalbuminuria in the general population and the factors that can affect urinary excretion of albumin.

Methods

Apparently healthy subjects who participated in a health checkup at our hospital were enrolled in this study (n = 7963, male 64.0%, 56.2 ± 11.8 years old) Urine samples were collected for the measurement of albumin concentrations, which were expressed as the ratio of urinary albumin to creatinine concentrations (UACR [mg/g Cr]). Individual salt intake was assessed by estimating the 24-hour urinary salt excretion of subjects.

Results

The mean blood pressure was 124 ± 15/76 ± 10 mmHg and 31.6%, 7.4%, and 44.1% of subjects had hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia, respectively. Urinary albumin was detected in 7265 subjects (91.2%: UACR ≥ 300 mg/g Cr, 0.5%; 300 > UACR ≥ 30 mg/g Cr, 4.6%; 30 > UACR ≥ 20 mg/g Cr, 2.4%; 20 > UACR ≥ 10 mg/g Cr, 8.7%; 10 > UACR ≥ 5 mg/g Cr, 21.8%; UACR < 5 mg/g Cr, 53.2%). In subjects with detectable albuminuria, UACR was independently correlated with age, systolic blood pressure, serum creatinine, fasting plasma glucose, and salt intake after adjustment for possible factors (P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

The prevalence of microalbuminuria was found to be 4.6% in the general population. The urinary excretion of albumin was closely associated with blood pressure and salt intake. These data indicated the importance of salt restriction for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and end-stage renal disease.
Post-transcriptional regulation of GABAB receptor and GIRK1 channels by Nogo receptor 1
Authors: Murthy Rachana , Kim Jeeyong , Sun Xiankui , Giger Roman J , Fink David J , Mata Marina
Published: July 2013

Background

Type B GABA receptors (GABA Rs) play a critical role in synaptic transmission. We carried out studies to determine whether neuronal cell surface expression of GABAB-Rs might be regulated by the Nogo receptor 1 (NgR1).

Results

siRNA knock-down of NgR1 resulted in a selective increase of GABAB R1 and GABAB R2 protein without altering the expression of GABAA receptor or GAD65. The increase in GABAB receptor subunits was unaccompanied by a change in mRNA, but inhibition of mTOR by rapamycin blocked the increase in GABAB protein. NgR1 siRNA also caused an increase in G protein coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channel (GIRK1). The increase in GABAB receptor and GIRK1 channel proteins was in the plasma membrane, determined by cell surface biotinylation. In NgR1 knockout mice, the amount of GABAB R2 and GIRK1 in hippocampus-derived synaptosomes was increased.

Conclusions

Together these findings suggest that NgR1 mediated modulation of synaptic transmission may be accomplished, at least in part, through modulation of G protein coupled receptors and channels.
MicroRNA expression in Epstein-Barr virus-associated post-transplant smooth muscle tumours is related to leiomyomatous phenotype
Authors: Jonigk Danny , Izykowski Nicole , Maegel Lavinia , Schormann Eileen , Maecker-Kolhoff Britta , Laenger Florian , Kreipe Hans , Hussein Kais
Published: July 2013

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated post-transplant smooth muscle tumours (PTSMT) are rare complications. In our previous molecular analysis, we have evaluated the expression of regulatory microRNA which are known to be EBV-related (miR-146a and miR-155) but found no deregulation in PTSMT. In this current analysis, we aimed to characterize the expression profiles of several hundred microRNA. Tissue samples from PTSMT and uterine leiomyomas were analysed by quantitative real-time PCR for the expression of 365 mature microRNA. PTSMT and leiomyomas share a highly similar microRNA profile, e.g. strong expression of miR-143/miR-145 cluster and low expression of miR-200c. Among EBV-related microRNA (miR-10b, miR-21, miR-29b, miR-34a, miR-127, miR-146a, miR-155, miR-200b, miR-203 and miR-429) only miR-10b and miR-203 were significantly deregulated. The expression pattern of microRNA in PTSMT is not associated with EBV infection but reflects the leiomyomatous differentiation of the tumour cells.
Inhibition of Cisplatin-Induced Lipid Catabolism and Weight Loss by Ghrelin in Male Mice
Authors: Garcia Jose M. , Scherer Thomas , Chen Ji-an , Guillory Bobby , Nassif Anriada , Papusha Victor , Smiechowska Joanna , Asnicar Mark , Buettner Christoph , Smith Roy G.
Published: July 2013

Cachexia, defined as an involuntary weight loss ≥5%, is a serious and dose-limiting side effect of chemotherapy that decreases survival in cancer patients. Alterations in lipid metabolism are thought to cause the lipodystrophy commonly associated with cachexia. Ghrelin has been proposed to ameliorate the alterations in lipid metabolism due to its orexigenic and anabolic properties. However, the mechanisms of action through which ghrelin could potentially ameliorate chemotherapy-associated cachexia have not been elucidated. The objectives of this study were to identify mechanisms by which the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin alters lipid metabolism and to establish the role of ghrelin in reversing cachexia. Cisplatin-induced weight and fat loss were prevented by ghrelin. Cisplatin increased markers of lipolysis in white adipose tissue (WAT) and of β-oxidation in liver and WAT and suppressed lipogenesis in liver, WAT, and muscle. Ghrelin prevented the imbalance between lipolysis, β-oxidation, and lipogenesis in WAT and muscle. Pair-feeding experiments demonstrated that the effects of cisplatin and ghrelin on lipogenesis, but not on lipolysis and β-oxidation, were due to a reduction in food intake. Thus, ghrelin prevents cisplatin-induced weight and fat loss by restoring adipose tissue functionality. An increase in caloric intake further enhances the anabolic effects of ghrelin.
Frequent Somatic TERT Promoter Mutations in Thyroid Cancer: Higher Prevalence in Advanced Forms of the Disease
Authors: Landa Iñigo , Ganly Ian , Chan Timothy A. , Mitsutake Norisato , Matsuse Michiko , Ibrahimpasic Tihana , Ghossein Ronald A. , Fagin James A.
Published: July 2013

Background:

TERT encodes the reverse transcriptase component of telomerase, which adds telomere repeats to chromosome ends, thus enabling cell replication. Telomerase activity is required for cell immortalization. Somatic TERT promoter mutations modifying key transcriptional response elements were recently reported in several cancers, such as melanomas and gliomas.

Objectives:

The objectives of the study were: 1) to determine the prevalence of TERT promoter mutations C228T and C250T in different thyroid cancer histological types and cell lines; and 2) to establish the possible association of TERT mutations with mutations of BRAF, RAS, or RET/PTC.

Methods:

TERT promoter was PCR-amplified and sequenced in 42 thyroid cancer cell lines and 183 tumors: 80 papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs), 58 poorly differentiated thyroid cancers (PDTCs), 20 anaplastic thyroid cancers (ATCs), and 25 Hurthle cell cancers (HCCs).

Results:

TERT promoter mutations were found in 98 of 225 (44%) specimens. TERT promoters C228T and C250T were mutually exclusive. Mutations were present in 18 of 80 PTCs (22.5%), in 40 of 78 (51%) advanced thyroid cancers (ATC + PDTC) (P = 3 × 10−4 vs PTC), and in widely invasive HCCs (4 of 17), but not in minimally invasive HCCs (0 of 8). TERT promoter mutations were seen more frequently in advanced cancers with BRAF/RAS mutations compared to those that were BRAF/RAS wild-type (ATC + PDTC, 67.3 vs 24.1%; P < 10−4), whereas BRAF-mutant PTCs were less likely to have TERT promoter mutations than BRAF wild-type tumors (11.8 vs 50.0%; P = .04).

Conclusions:

TERT promoter mutations are highly prevalent in advanced thyroid cancers, particularly those harboring BRAF or RAS mutations, whereas PTCs with BRAF or RAS mutations are most often TERT promoter wild type. Acquisition of a TERT promoter mutation could extend survival of BRAF- or RAS-driven clones and enable accumulation of additional genetic defects leading to disease progression.
Rash Associated with Dabigatran; Skin Necrosis Induced by Generic Enoxaparin; Serotonin Syndrome with Concomitant Use of Tapentadol and Venlafaxine; Etanercept-Induced Henoch-Schönlein Purpura; Vemurafenib-Associated Pancreatitis
Authors: Mancano Michael A.
Published: July 2013

The purpose of this feature is to heighten awareness of specific adverse drug reactions (ADRs), discuss methods of prevention, and promote reporting of ADRs to the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) MedWatch program (800-FDA-1088). If you have reported an interesting, preventable ADR to MedWatch, please consider sharing the account with our readers.
Approvals, Submission, and Important Labeling Changes for US Marketed Pharmaceuticals
Authors: Baker Danial E.
Published: July 2013

This monthly feature will help readers keep current on new drugs, new indications, dosage forms, and safety-related changes in labeling or use. Efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information; however, if there are any questions, please let me know at bakerdan@wsu.edu .
Making the Most of a Professional Meeting
Authors: Naseman Ryan , Weber Robert J.
Published: July 2013

The Director's Forum series is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. During the early winter months, pharmacists will converge upon a major city and participate in the Midyear Clinical Meeting (“Midyear”) of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. This meeting involves almost 21,000 students, residents, and new and seasoned professionals catching up with colleagues and classmates, networking for better practice solutions, and presenting their organization's successes. In this era of fiscal restraint, many hospitals are reducing travel expenses and limiting the participation of their staff in professional meetings. In the past, professional meetings may have been seen as a boondoggle, but they can benefit individuals at all stages of their career (student, mid-level, and late careers). Students can make vital career decisions through information received at professional meetings, mid-level career individuals will gain valuable ideas for practice model enhancement, and late career individuals can provide mentoring for younger and mid-level career professionals. If properly managed, attendance at a professional meeting can have very positive benefits on the career growth of pharmacy staff and help in the pharmacy department's development of effective patient-centered services.
Anger response style as it relates to gaining and retaining employment in a chronically poor population
Authors: Katcher Elizabeth , Wright A. Jordan
Published: July 2013

This study examined anger response style in a chronically poor, unemployed population, and its effects on job employment and six-month job retention. Three hundred and forty-one clients from a comprehensive career development programme for low-income adults in Brooklyn, New York, participated in the study. Participants completed structured clinical interviews and assessments on emotional and occupational functioning. Results suggested that the way in which individuals respond to feelings of anger did not significantly affect the acquisition of jobs. However, the results indicated that those who utilise suppressive (passive) anger response strategies were much more likely to retain jobs for six-months. Additionally, there was no difference in job retention at the six-month period for those who expressed anger assertively and respectfully compared to those who expressed anger in an aggressive verbal or physical manner, suggesting that for this population, it is more beneficial to suppress one's anger than to respectfully express one's anger, in order to retain employment.
Fuel poverty and high-rise living: using community-based interviewers to investigate tenants’ inability to keep warm in their homes
Authors: De Haro Maria Teresa , Koslowski Alison
Published: July 2013

The number of households living in fuel poverty across the UK is on the increase. This paper explores the experiences of those living in fuel poverty, and seeks to understand the reasons for lack of warmth in homes. Using a case study approach, 101 face-to-face interviews with residents of a high-rise block of flats in Edinburgh were conducted by trained community-based interviewers, many of whom had experience of fuel poverty themselves. As such, this research contributes to our understanding of fuel poverty by giving a voice to those directly affected.
Differences in attitudes toward social justice: a comparison between Hispanic women and other ethnic groups in the United States
Authors: Rafi Aline Jesus , Baunach Dawn Michelle
Published: July 2013

This article compares how the attitudes of Hispanic women compare with those of other ethnic groups in the United States (US). Data from the General Social Survey are used to construct three distinct indices of attitudes toward social welfare programmes, toward reproductive rights, and the rights of sexual minorities. While the results of multivariate regression analysis confirm that women demonstrate more progressive social attitudes, the effect of a Hispanic identification is inconsistent across the three indices. Nevertheless, as the Hispanic population of the US continues to grow, its influence on public policies is bound to increase. Consequently, additional research of this subpopulation is recommended.
Welfare reform, increased conditionality and discretion: Jobcentre Plus advisers’ experiences of targets and sanctions
Authors: Grant Aimee
Published: July 2013

This article presents empirical findings from part of a larger study on welfare reform conducted between 2007 and 2009. Semi-structured in-depth interviews occurred with eight Incapacity Benefit personal advisers, and Work Focused Interviews conducted by advisers with Incapacity Benefit claimants were observed. Two areas of advisers’ experience will be discussed. First, how advisers were subjected to the need to comply with directives, and how their performance was monitored via targets. Second, the article will examine advisers’ attitudes and behaviours towards sanctions, which were primarily used against those who did not attend compulsory Work Focused Interviews (DWP, 2002).
Water poverty in England and Wales
Authors: Bradshaw Jonathan , Huby Meg
Published: July 2013

Water poverty is conventionally defined as households spending more than 3% and 5% of their net income after housing costs on water. Water bills have risen faster than general prices and faster than earnings since privatisation. In 2009/10, 23.6% of households paying for water in England and Wales were spending more than 3% of their income on water and sewerage and 11.5% were spending more than 5% of their income. The article explores variation in water poverty and prospects for the future. If water bills rise 1% per year faster than household income, water poverty will increase to 35% by 2033 based on a 3% definition. Policy options are discussed.
The Gorgons’ Lament: Auletics, Poetics, and Chorality in Pindar’s Pythian 12
Authors: Steiner Deborah
Published: July 2013

This article offers a fresh reading of Pindar’s Pythian 12, an ode composed for a victorious aulete, which demonstrates its engagement in current musicological debates concerning innovations in instrumentation, relations between the musical and vocal elements in choreia , and the status of the pipes. In ways that intersect with these issues, Pindar anticipates a motif that resurfaces in later Attic drama and other texts concerning the origins of choral lyric and that identifies women’s lament as the prototypical form of song.
Empedocles and the Muse of the Agathos Logos
Authors: Hardie Alex
Published: July 2013

This article offers a new reading of the Muse in Empedocles’ Physica . I aim to show that she is integrated into the poet’s physiological conception of the cosmos and that she also plays a central role in the furtherance of his eschatological purposes. Empedocles, it will be suggested, first put the Muse at the service of the philosophical logos , and in taking that step, he embraced and transcended the conventions of Muse-invocation not only in epic-didactic poetry but in the lyric and elegiac traditions as well. On this reading, the “Muse of the agathos logos ” will emerge as a strikingly innovative creation, one that was to exercise a powerful and enduring influence on Greek and Roman conceptions of the goddess Muse in relation to the mind of the poet.
War Losses and Worldview: Re-Viewing the Roman Funerary Altar at Adamclisi
Authors: Turner Brian
Published: July 2013

This article examines the purpose and meaning of the so-called Roman Funerary Altar from Adamclisi, Romania ( CIL III 14214). Although very little of the altar remains, the severely fragmented inscription with which it was decorated confirms that it once listed the names and abbreviated origins of nearly four-thousand Roman legionaries and auxiliaries. Rather than concentrate on the role of the altar as a memorial to the war dead, this article thoroughly examines the inclusion of the abbreviated origins and demonstrates how the decision to include them ultimately led to the altar serving as an illustration of the vast extent of the Roman Empire.
Claudian’s Britain and Empire, 395–402 c.e .
Authors: Carlson David R
Published: July 2013

At its dissolution, the western empire of the Romans found a non-Roman poet to eulogise the empire’s power: Claudius Claudianus (d. 404). In Claudian’s representations of the empire, Britain had a special place, a comprehensive survey shows, as the exotic edge of Rome’s dominion, at once the end of earth as well as beyond it, another world altogether. Although unconcerned with historical veracity, evidently, Claudian’s characterisations of Britain had this literary-symbolic value: in Claudian, Britain’s conquest stood for the boundlessness of the Roman imperial compulsion to dominate. The poet goes so far as to represent Britain as imprecating Rome to maintain its mastery, though in fact the western empire’s dominion could no longer extend so far.
“Transmission” Accomplished?: Latin’s Alimentary Metaphors of Communication
Authors: Short William Michael
Published: July 2013

Whereas communication is today conceived as the “transmission” of “signals” along a “conduit,” Latin speakers’ understanding of this concept was delivered by a system of metaphors recruiting images of cooking, serving, eating, and digesting food. More than providing simply colorful ways of speaking about thought and speech, however, these alimentary metaphors functioned together to deliver a coherent overall model of how mental representations come to be verbally shared among individuals. While it is not the only metaphorical model available to Latin speakers in conceptualizing communication, the alimentary model also represents a privileged model that informs scholarly and philosophical theorizing.
Code-Switching in Multilingual Picturebooks
Authors: Kümmerling-Meibauer Bettina
Published: July 2013

This article demonstrates that multilingual picturebooks demand sophisticated visual and linguistic skills from the reader. Based on a close investigation of two bilingual picturebooks from Korea and Iran: Lee Tae-Jun/Kim Dong-Seong: Waiting for Mama (2007) and Farideh Chalatabarie/Scharareh Chosrawami: The Wrong Bus (2012), I argue that the intense preoccupation with pictures and text in multilingual picturebooks requires a specific capacity that complies with the linguistic model of code-switching.
Reading Multilingual Literature: The Bilingual Brain and Literacy Education
Authors: Kokkola Lydia
Published: July 2013

This paper focuses on the child reading the literatures discussed in the other articles in this special issue of Bookbird . More specifically, it focuses on how the bilingual brain differs from the monolingual brain, and provides a general overview of those areas of difference that relate to reading. I conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these differences for literacy development and education, paying particular attention to the place for multilingual literatures within literacy development.
Exploring Written Systems in Early Childhood Education
Authors: Teruggi Lilia Andrea
Published: July 2013

The increasing presence of children who speak other languages in Italian classrooms is a major didactic challenge for teachers. Teacher awareness of the importance of genuine cultural and linguistic integration and the necessity to improve language competences in every child confers particular significance to activities developed in multilingual contexts. This study shows that these educational contexts offer invaluable opportunities for enhancing language learning in three- to six-year-old children.
Ideologies of Language and Identity in U.S.Children's Literature
Authors: Ghiso María Paula , Campano Gerald
Published: July 2013

Language learning, bilingualism, and immigration have become more prevalent topics in children's literature. The manner in which these subjects are taken up and engaged across texts, however, is hardly uniform. This article examines the range and variation of how multilingualism is represented in U.S. children's literature. We bring together an array of texts that reflect a continuum of ideological stances and language formats to argue that issues of language must be situated within social, cultural, and political contexts.
Celebrating and Revitalizing Language: Indigenous Bilingual Children's Books
Authors: Hadaway Nancy L. , Young Terrell A.
Published: July 2013

Children's literature is a powerful means of connecting children and adults in language and literacy development, potentially contributing to multilingualism and indigeneity. This article considers how indigenous bilingual children's books from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand can be part of language revitalization by applying three emphases of ideological theory—awareness, positionality, and multiple perspectives—in order to better understand the issues and increase the likelihood that indigenous bilingual books can be used in language revitalization efforts.
Multilingual Robinson: Imagining Modern Communities for Middle-Class Children
Authors: von Merveldt Nikola
Published: July 2013

Drawing on sociocultural approaches to language learning, this article investigates how the new linguistic practices of the European Enlightenment shaped the identity of the emerging middle-class. Using the example of Joachim Heinrich Campe's Robinson the Younger (1779), I will show how this archetypal tale of the self-made man helped imagine new communities and linguistic identities for German middle-class children at the beginning of the modern era.
Cheerleaders for Anarchism
Authors: Saval Nikil
Published: July 2013

But it appears as if the more recent anarchist movements are beginning to leave their mark, with a spate of books that attempt to consolidate what may be a kind of anarchist theory for the twenty-first century. Like Marxist analysis, which often seeks to unmask the real tendencies of history beneath the surface of the quotidian, anarchist theory, too, has an unmasking strategy: it sees fervent activity where one might be tempted to see stasis and homogeneity. What looks like consent is actually resistance; what looks like capitalism's domination over everything actually conceals systems of mutual aid. Anarchist theory doesn't just advocate anarchism; it rather reveals that, beneath everything, we're more anarchist than we thought.
A Radical Approach to the Climate Crisis
Authors: Parenti Christian
Published: July 2013

Several strands of green thinking maintain that capitalism is incapable of a sustainable relationship with non-human nature because, as an economic system, capitalism has a growth imperative while the earth is finite. One finds versions of this argument in the literature of eco-socialism, deep ecology, ecoanarchism, and even among many mainstream greens who, though typically declining to actually name the economic system, are fixated on the dangers of "growth."
Mississippi Fever
Authors: Blackburn Robin
Published: July 2013

This most impressive piece of history writing will be a source of inspiration and debate for many years to come. It demonstrates the national significance of regional history and the transnational scope of "slave holding agrocapitalism." It has an overarching story to tell and argument to make, but many of its meaty chapters take a vital area of research and decisively reorder it. The "dark river" of the title is the Mississippi, and the chapter on the "steamboat sublime" furnishes a compelling account of the role of steam—and slavery—in the rapid opening up of the Mississippi Valley, making it, within a few years, "the leading edge of the greatest economic boom the world had ever seen."
Parker Posey: Film Economics and Funny Girls
Authors: Greenwood Elizabeth
Published: July 2013

When the audio book of Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique was to be recorded back in 2009, producers approached Parker Posey to voice the canonical feminist text. Most known for her portrayal of lovable slacker ditzes such as the soft-serve-wielding Libby Mae in Waiting for Guffman; Darla, the sadistic freshman hazer in Dazed and Confused; and of course Mary, the Gaultier-obsessed ersatz club promoter in Party Girl, Posey might, at first glance, seem an odd choice. How would the so-called "queen of the indies," synonymous with nineties froth, imbue the requisite gravitas into women's mid-century domestic oppression of matching slipcover fabric and chauffeuring the children to Cub Scouts and Brownies?
Firestorm: Napalm and the American Century
Authors: Jones Thai
Published: July 2013

Robert M. Neer's clear-eyed and harrowing new account surveys this infamous technology from both perspectives. This is history, in a literal sense, from above and below. Using napalm as a symbol for American global influence acutely demonstrates the political trajectory of a superpower, from impetuous upstart to tortured giant to—finally—chastened hegemon. "Its history illuminates America's story," Neer writes, "from victory in World War II, through defeat in Vietnam, to its current position in a globalizing world."
Gloves Off in British Energy Battles
Authors: Forrester Katrina
Published: July 2013

Last year, the British chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, announced that a "dash for gas" was the solution to British energy needs. In late October, twenty-one activists calling themselves "No Dash for Gas" scrambled up a power station to hold a sit-in three hundred feet up in the sky. The targeted plant, West Burton, a combined cycle gas turbine under construction in Nottinghamshire, is owned by the British energy provider EDF Energy (subsidiary of the French energy giant Électricité de France, the world's largest producer of energy). It is one of the first of twenty new gas-fired power stations planned to be built in the United Kingdom by 2030. At full capacity, it will emit approximately 4.5 million tons of CO2 annually, more than the annual emissions of Paraguay. Like many new gas stations, it will be exempt from British emissions regulations.
Gun Control in America: An Autopsy Report
Authors: Collier Charles W.
Published: July 2013

Last year came news about the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, at the hands of a nervous neighborhood vigilante. More recently, a graduate student in neuroscience named James Holmes opened fire in a Colorado theater with an array of advanced weaponry, killing twelve and wounding fifty-eight. And on a cold and clear December morning in Connecticut, a former high school honors student methodically executed twenty unsuspecting schoolchildren and seven adults with "a semiautomatic rifle that is similar to weapons used by troops in Afghanistan." These events have been described as "tragic"—and so they are, though not in the sense usually meant. The tragedy is not that something awful and terrible happened that should never have happened. The tragedy is that something awful and terrible happened that was, and is, supposed to happen. This is in keeping with the original Greek meaning; in Whitehead's gloss, "the essence of dramatic tragedy . . . resides in . . . the remorseless working of things . . .[the] inevitableness of destiny." Usually, this tragedy goes unremarked until it is too late; so in this essay I try to render it blindingly salient.
Reality Pawns: The New Money TV
Authors: Serpe Nick
Published: July 2013

One of the vilest reality shows in the history of American television, Repo Games, premiered on Spike in 2011 with no fanfare and a simple premise, delivered in a voiceover intro: "Nobody wants to meet the repo man. But when this repo man comes, you'll get the chance to ditch those late notices for good." A little more than a minute later, we see a man built like a professional wrestler pull up in front a woman's house, along with a camera crew that rushes into her driveway like a SWAT team. The owner's "REPO REPORT" then flashes across the screen: "Name: Wallace. Age: 44. Vehicle: '96 Dodge Caravan. Intel: Her weave alone will whoop your ass." Heavy metal plays in the background. A tow truck backs in under the van, which Wallace does not appreciate, and then the wrestler, co-host Tom DeTone, proceeds to describe the situation in which Wallace now finds herself.
Of Loopholes and Black Holes
Authors: Ruby Ryan
Published: July 2013

Early critics of A Naked Singularity have accurately, if superficially, compared it to works by postmodernist heavyweights such as William Gaddis, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Wallace himself. True, the novel bears many of the hallmarks of postmodern fiction. Into his loose and baggy monster, De La Pava has stuffed a zany heist plot, mockuments and fictional transcripts, obscure references to philosophy and theoretical physics, his mother's recipe for empanadas, a critique of Television capital T, a hallucinated Uncle Sam and his chimpanzee partner, and an inset biography of the career of the boxer Wilfred Benitez that parallels but does not intersect with the development of the novel's protagonist.
Climate of Change: What Does an Inside-Outside Strategy Mean?
Authors: Engler Mark , Engler Paul
Published: July 2013

For those who believe that the arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice, it is comforting to see that bend reflected in the polls. Over time, as public awareness of an outrage increases, tolerance for the status quo should diminish while the percentage of the population demanding change creeps up. With steady persistence, popular support for detrimental views will recede, ignorance will be undermined, and consensus around truth will solidify.
Defending Public Education: An Interview with Karen Lewis of the Chicago Teachers Union
Authors: Eidelson Josh , Jaffe Sarah
Published: July 2013

For the inaugural episode of Dissent magazine's podcast series, labor journalists Josh Eidelson and Sarah Jaffe sat down with Karen Lewis to discuss teaching and gender discrimination, professionalism and solidarity, unions and the Democratic Party. An edited version of the transcript appears below. The full interview can be heard on the Dissent website. The interview was conducted in April, before the Board of Education voted to close fifty public schools in Chicago.
Back to the Future: The Up Series
Authors: Davies Sally
Published: July 2013

The final word in 56 Up—the latest installment in director Michael Apted's longrunning documentary series that follows the lives of a group of Britons—belongs to Tony. A gamesome cab driver and former trainee jockey, Tony operates as a stand-in for "new Britain," with a holiday home in Spain, a rowdy bonhomie, and an up-by-the-bootstraps biography in keeping with the optimism of East London's much-touted "regeneration." With the air of a practiced showman, he takes the viewer to the places that were important to him as a child growing up in London's East End forty-nine years before.
Citizens, Denaturalization, and Assassination
Authors: Abrahamian Atossa Araxia
Published: July 2013

Every living person is entitled to a nationality, says the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right is granted not by a benevolent international body but by individual nations. And every day, governments all around the world wield this power: naturalizing new citizens; denying citizenship to others who apply; and occasionally, revoking the citizenship of a select few. To be stripped of one's citizenship rights is to be consigned to a ghetto of one: the most complete form of exclusion, short of death or solitary confinement. The exclusion of Jews from German society or the denaturalization of more than a million Soviet citizens are obvious examples of this form of social control. But it's not just Nazis, fascists, and dictators from another century who engage in such practices.
Climate Debt Denial
Authors: Ross Andrew
Published: July 2013

At the height of the Washington feeding frenzy about the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling, and sequestration, austerity hawks coined a new label to denigrate lawmakers who were opposed to cutbacks brought on by the cynical manipulation of national debt: "debt deniers." It was a savvy way of turning the tables on those who had gotten traction out of depicting the GOP as hopelessly affl icted by "climate denial." Not that there was any real equivalence between the two charges. After all, economics, unlike climatology, is not a science, and there is nothing approaching a consensus about the fiscal wisdom of running large government debts, especially if they are U.S. debts, backed by the still almighty dollar.
The Inner Life of the Poor
Authors: Rose Mike
Published: July 2013

In general, the poor are invisible and silent. Because of the various layers of segregation in our society—from work to schools to places of worship—few of us reading this have opportunities to live and work closely with people who are at the bottom of the income ladder. We don't know them. And because we don't know their values and aspirations, the particulars of their daily decisions, and the economic and psychological boundaries within which those decision are made, they easily become psychologically one-dimensional: intellectually, emotionally, and volitionally simplified, not quite like us. This fact has huge implications for public policy, education and work, and civic life.
Starchitects in Spain Left on the Plain
Authors: Holleran Max
Published: July 2013

For almost twenty years the phrase "Spanish architecture" was spoken in hushed and reverent tones. It evoked not just Gaudí and his perpetually unfinished spires, but a new breed of visionaries who were reinventing the profession and doing wonders for the Spanish economy while they did it. Now, the days of international recognition seem far away. With home evictions soaring, joblessness endemic, and both the Socialists and the center-right People's Party (PP) willing to implement austerity measures in the face of suffering, Spain has gone from architectural bon enfant to real estate bubble bête noire.
The Mirage of Neo-Communism
Authors: Isaac Jeffrey C.
Published: July 2013

Jodi Dean's The Communist Horizon comes with the following boldface recommendation from Slavoj Žižek on its back cover: "This is what everyone engaged in today's struggles for emancipation needs: a unique combination of theoretical stringency and a realistic assessment of our predicament." The book is part of the Verso "Pocket Communism" series. As explained on the Verso website, "Since Alain Badiou first formulated the 'communist hypothesis' . . . it has become a concept that has acted as a reorienting focus for the Left." Verso has published many books by Žižek (including his 2002 Revolution at the Gates: Selected Writings of Lenin from 1917, the 2011 edition of which is now tellingly billed not as "The Essential Lenin" but "The Essential Žižek"); and a paperback series seeking to revive interest in a far left canon that has fallen out of favor after 1989 (Slavoj Žižek Presents Leon Trotsky: Terrorism and Communism; Slavoj Žižek Presents Mao: On Practice and Contradiction; and, most invitingly, Slavoj Žižek Presents Robespierre: Virtue and Terror). Together these volumes constitute a discussion, on one part of the Left—not the Dissent part—about the desirability of "revitalizing communism."
Introduction: The Politics of Climate Change
Authors: Serpe Nick
Published: July 2013

The bright promises of modern life have long had a dark side. Science and technology aren't innately good or evil, but they are marshaled to the purposes of their sponsors, whose intentions are often far from benign. While the nuclear age, for instance, promised abundant energy, it was given shape by military concerns, and the weapons it made possible put the destruction of the planet within human reach for the first time. But at least we knew what those weapons were for.
Green Energy Bust in Germany
Authors: Boisvert Will
Published: July 2013

Through much of 2012, the Energiewende, Germany's pioneering effort to construct an energy system around renewables while simultaneously phasing out nuclear power and cutting carbon emissions, was on a roll. Plunging prices and eye-popping production figures for wind and solar power seemed to fulfill all the visionary prognostications. Germany shrugged off the shuttering of nearly half its nuclear plants without a backward glance: not only did it not suffer the predicted power shortages, it boosted electricity exports. Renewable power pushed market prices down and threatened to drive gas- and coalburning power plants into bankruptcy. The press and the green blogosphere celebrated passed benchmark after shattered milepost, including the day in May when, according to Treehugger.com's headline, "Half of Germany Was Running on Solar Power."