bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Missteps, flaws and morphings in children’s musical play: Snapshots from school playgrounds
Authors: Countryman June
Published: March 2014

This article, drawing upon fieldwork from a larger project investigating the nature of children’s self-chosen musical play, explores instances of play that stumble and either morph into something else or are abandoned altogether. Four vignettes of musical play are described, documented during recess observations at several Canadian elementary school playgrounds. Each of the play episodes is analyzed in terms of how the play malfunctions musically and socially, from an adult observer’s viewpoint. Self-determination theory is employed as a tool for analyzing these apparent gaps in proficiencies. Recognizing children as agentive and creative social actors, the author argues for the importance of protecting their free play time at school, where they are uniquely able to practice communicative (including musical) and social skills within a complex and constantly changing social setting. The separation of younger and older children on the playground is identified as one impediment to the apprenticeship learning system through which playground games have long been ‘caught’. From the examination of instances of ‘unsuccessful’ musical play the author suggests implications for elementary music education pedagogy.
Thermal modeling of a grease lubricated thrust ball bearing
Authors: Neurouth A , Changenet C , Ville F , Arnaudon A
Published: March 2014

The aim of this study is to develop a thermal modeling of a grease lubricated rolling bearing in order to analyze the heat evacuated through its solid parts and the lubricant. The system under consideration in this study is a clutch thrust bearing and more precisely a sealed single row angular contact ball bearing. To analyze heat transfer inside the bearing, two models have been developed using the thermal network method. These models have been compared to measurements performed on a specific test rig. As some heat transfers appear to be negligible, in the end a simplified model is proposed.
Experimental assessment of friction coefficient between polypropylene and human skin using instrumented sclerometer
Authors: Ramírez Juan F , Pavón Juan J , Toro Alejandro
Published: March 2014

Prosthetic devices are used to restore as much as possible not only the functionality, but also the self-esteem of patients who have been submitted to amputation surgeries. Typically, lower limb prostheses need a socket to act as a link with the human stump, so the contact stresses at the socket–stump interface are critical for the recovery process and the subsequent comfort perception of the patient as well. In this work, a broad experimentation to establish the coefficient of friction (COF) between socket material (polypropylene) and human skin was developed with the aid of an instrumented sclerometer, which was adapted to put in contact a polypropylene probe with human forearms. Seven factors were considered, but only sweat and hair skin were found to have a significant effect on COF, which varied from 0.22 to 0.45 in the tests. Lower values of COF were obtained when sweat was present at the interface, while the absence of both sweat and hair skin led to the highest value. The results are believed to be relevant for developing reliable finite element (FE) models for socket–stump interaction since the relation between normal and shear stresses at the interface of two interacting bodies is strongly determined by the COF.
The micro and the macro: How discourse of control maintains HIV-related stigma
Authors: Ranjbar Vania , McKinlay Andy , McVittie Chris
Published: March 2014

In this article, we examine how HIV/AIDS caregivers negotiate stigma in their discourse of providing care to HIV-positive individuals. Using interview data, we demonstrate how participants employed discourse of control in attempting to avoid and counter HIV-related stigma: participants rejected fear of associating with HIV-positive individuals by drawing on their knowledge of HIV transmission and their ability to control and avoid infection. Such discourses backfire, however, as the concept of HIV infection being controllable and thus avoidable maintains accountability for the disease. Thus, participants’ micro discourse of control can maintain the macro discourse that produces HIV-related stigma.
Risk and Protective Factors for Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents in Africa
Authors: Meinck Franziska , Cluver Lucie D. , Boyes Mark E. , Mhlongo Elsinah L.
Published: March 2014

There is now conclusive evidence of the major and long-lasting negative effects of physical and sexual abuse on children. Within Africa, studies consistently report high rates of child abuse, with prevalence as high as 64%. However, to date, there has been no review of factors associated with physical and sexual child abuse and polyvictimization in Africa. This review identified 23 quantitative studies, all of which showed high levels of child abuse in varying samples of children and adults. Although studies were very heterogeneous, a range of correlates of abuse at different levels of the Model of Ecologic Development were identified. These included community-level factors (exposure to bullying, sexual violence, and rural/urban location), household-level factors (poverty, household violence, and non-nuclear family), caregiver-level factors (caregiver illness in particular AIDS and mental health problems, caregiver changes, family functioning, parenting, caregiver-child relationship, and substance abuse), and child-level factors (age, disability, physical health, behavior, and gender). These findings identify key associated factors that are potential foci of child abuse prevention interventions. In addition, there is a clear need for further rigorous longitudinal research into predictive factors and culturally relevant interventions.
A Methodological Review of Intimate Partner Violence in the Military
Authors: Rodrigues Amy E. , Funderburk Jennifer S. , Keating Niki L. , Maisto Stephen A.
Published: March 2014

A significant number of military personnel report engaging in or experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). To advance current research and understanding of this behavior, we conducted a methodological review of the literature on IPV in military personnel and veterans. Research from 1980 to the present, which consisted of 63 empirical studies, was objectively coded by two independent raters on a number of variables important to the methodological quality of research on IPV in the military. In addition, areas of importance to the future of IPV research are presented.
A Digital Juggling Act
Authors: Adornato Anthony C.
Published: March 2014

Budding journalists entering the field, or those trying to stay relevant in their jobs, will have to be able to assume a range of job responsibilities in the evolving media landscape. This case study explores the dramatic transformation new media is having on the daily job responsibilities of local television journalists. Through in-depth interviews with reporters and direct observation at a television station in a medium-sized market, the research reveals reporters’ tasks and work routines are evolving in three areas: dissemination, newsgathering, and the relationship with the audience. Study participants expected new media to impact their dissemination process, ramping up job demands as they produce content for multiple platforms. However, they never anticipated new media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, would be so useful in the newsgathering process. In addition, the research details how the shifting relationship with audience has affected reporters’ responsibilities. Lessons learned from this research are helpful to others in the industry and journalism educators.
The Minority Spotlight Effect
Authors: Crosby Jennifer Randall , King Madeline , Savitsky Kenneth
Published: March 2014

Across three studies, members of underrepresented groups felt that they were the center of others’ attention when topics related to their group were discussed, and this experience was accompanied by negative emotions. Black participants reported that they would feel most “in the spotlight” when they were the only Black individual in a class in which the professor drew attention to their group with a provocative comment (Study 1). Black and Latino/Latina (Study 2) and female (Study 3) participants likewise reported that two confederates looked at them more when they heard (and believed the confederates had also heard) a recording that pertained to their group than when they heard a recording on a neutral topic—despite the fact that the confederates’ gaze did not differ across conditions. We discuss these results in light of research on solo status and targeted social referencing.
On the Other Hand
Authors: Damen Tom G. E. , Dijksterhuis Ap , Baaren Rick B. van
Published: March 2014

In two studies, we investigated the influence of hand dominance on the sense of self-causation or agency. Participants alternately used their dominant or nondominant hand to cause the occurrence of an effect (a tone) in a task in which agency was made ambiguous. Participants were subsequently asked to indicate the degree to which they felt they had caused that tone to occur. Results showed that the sense of agency was increased when individuals used their nondominant hand prior to the onset of the tone, compared to when they used their dominant hand. Furthermore, the degree of experienced agency was moderated by perceived effort. The difference in agency levels occurred independently of experimentally induced or naturally occurring differences in response latencies and even occurred in the absence of (major) arm movement.
Gene polymorphism analysis of Yersinia enterocoliticaouter membrane protein A and putative outer membrane protein A family protein
Authors: Li Kewei , Gu Wenpeng , Liang Junrong , Xiao Yuchun , Qiu Haiyan , Yang Haoshu , Wang Xin , Jing Huaiqi
Published: March 2014

Background

Yersinia enterocolitica outer membrane protein A (OmpA) is one of the major outer membrane proteins with high immunogenicity. We performed the polymorphism analysis for the outer membrane protein A and putative outer membrane protein A (p-ompA) family protein gene of 318 Y. enterocolitica strains.

Results

The data showed all the pathogenic strains and biotype 1A strains harboring ystB gene carried both ompA and p-ompA genes; parts of the biotype 1A strains not harboring ystB gene carried either ompA or p-ompA gene. In non-pathogenic strains (biotype 1A), distribution of the two genes and ystB were highly correlated, showing genetic polymorphism. The pathogenic and non-pathogenic, highly and weakly pathogenic strains were divided into different groups based on sequence analysis of two genes. Although the variations of the sequences, the translated proteins and predicted secondary or tertiary structures of OmpA and P-OmpA were similar.

Conclusions

OmpA and p-ompA gene were highly conserved for pathogenic Y. enterocolitica. The distributions of two genes were correlated with ystB for biotype 1A strains. The polymorphism analysis results of the two genes probably due to different bio-serotypes of the strains, and reflected the dissemination of different bio-serotype clones of Y. enterocolitica.
pZMO7-Derived shuttle vectors for heterologous protein expression and proteomic applications in the ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis
Authors: So Lok Yan , Chen Wen-yang , Lacap-Bugler Donnabella C , Seemann Myriam , Watt Rory M
Published: March 2014

Background

The ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis has attracted considerable scientific and commercial interest due to its exceptional physiological properties. Shuttle vectors derived from native plasmids have previously been successfully used for heterologous gene expression in this bacterium for a variety of purposes, most notably for metabolic engineering applications.

Results

A quantitative PCR (qPCR) approach was used to determine the copy numbers of two endogenous double stranded DNA plasmids: pZMO1A (1,647 bp) and pZMO7 (pZA1003; 4,551 bp) within the NCIMB 11163 strain of Z. mobilis. Data indicated pZMO1A and pZMO7 were present at ca. 3-5 and ca. 1-2 copies per cell, respectively. A ca. 1,900 bp fragment from plasmid pZMO7 was used to construct two Escherichia coli – Z. mobilis shuttle vectors (pZ7C and pZ7-184). The intracellular stabilities and copy numbers of pZ7C and pZ7-184 were characterized within the NCIMB 11163, ATCC 29191 and (ATCC 10988-derived) CU1 Rif2 strains of Z. mobilis. Both shuttle vectors could be stably maintained within the ATCC 29191 strain (ca. 20-40 copies per cell), and the CU1 Rif2 strain (ca. 2-3 copies per cell), for more than 50 generations in the absence of an antibiotic selectable marker. A selectable marker was required for shuttle vector maintenance in the parental NCIMB 11163 strain; most probably due to competition for replication with the endogenous pZMO7 plasmid molecules. N-terminal glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fusions of four endogenous proteins, namely the acyl-carrier protein (AcpP); 2-dehydro-3-deoxyphosphooctonate aldolase (KdsA); DNA polymerase III chi subunit (HolC); and the RNA chaperone protein Hfq; were successfully expressed from pZ7C-derived shuttle vectors, and their protein-protein binding interactions were analyzed in Z. mobilis ATCC 29191. Using this approach, proteins that co-purified with AcpP and KdsA were identified.

Conclusions

We show that a shuttle vector-based protein affinity ‘pull-down’ approach can be used to probe protein interaction networks in Z. mobilis cells. Our results demonstrate that protein expression plasmids derived from pZMO7 have significant potential for use in future biological or biotechnological applications within Z. mobilis.
Exploring Australian Aboriginal Women’s experiences of menopause: a descriptive study
Authors: Jurgenson Janelle R , Jones Emma K , Haynes Emma , Green Charmaine , Thompson Sandra C
Published: March 2014

Abstract

Background

Despite extensive literature demonstrating differing experiences in menopause around the world, documentation of the experience of menopause in Australian Aboriginal women is scarce, and thus their menopausal experience is relatively unknown. This study aimed to understand Australian Aboriginal women’s understanding and experience of menopause and its impact on their lives.

Methods

The study was an exploratory qualitative study. Twenty-five Aboriginal women were recruited from a regional centre in the Mid-West region of Western Australia using opportunistic and snowballing sampling. Interviews and focus group discussions were undertaken from February 2011 to February 2012 using open-ended questioning with a yarning technique. Thematic analysis was undertaken of the transcribed interviews.

Results

A number of themes were revealed. These related to the language used, meanings and attitudes to menopause, symptoms experienced, the role of men, a lack of understanding, coping mechanisms and the attribution of menopausal changes to something else. The term “change of life” was more widely recognised and signified the process of ageing, and an associated gain of respect in the local community. A fear of menopausal symptoms or uncertainty about their origin was also common. Overall, many women reported insufficient understanding and a lack of available information to assist them and their family to understand the transition.

Conclusion

There are similarities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal experiences of menopause, including similar symptom profiles. The current language used within mainstream health settings may not be appropriate to this population if it fails to recognise the importance of language and reflect the attributed meaning of menopause. The fear of symptoms and uncertainty of their relationship to menopause demonstrated a need for more information which has not adequately been supplied to Australian Aboriginal women through current services. While this study is with a select population of Aboriginal Australian women, it reveals the importance of acknowledging differences, particularly in use of language to convey ideas and support Aboriginal women experiencing menopause.
An approximate solution of fractional cable equation by homotopy analysis method
Authors: Inc Mustafa , Cavlak Ebru , Bayram Mustafa
Published: March 2014

In this article, the homotopy analysis method (HAM) is applied to solve the fractional cable equation by the Riemann-Liouville fractional partial derivative. This method includes an auxiliary parameter h which provides a convenient way of adjusting and controlling the convergence region of the series solution. In this study, approximate solutions of the fractional cable equation are obtained by HAM. We also give a convergence theorem for this equation. A suitable value for the auxiliary parameter h is determined and results obtained are presented by tables and figures.
Development of flagella bio-templated nanomaterials for electronics
Authors: Jo Wonjin , Cheang U Kei , Kim Min Jun
Published: March 2014

Bacterial flagella with their unique structural properties have proven to be promising bio-templates and can be exploited for the creation of nanomaterial with very high aspect ratio and surface area. Their chemically modifiable surfaces allow the flagella be modified to possess electrical/electronic properties. Their extraordinary physical properties along with the many possibilities for manipulation make them ideal systems to study for the purpose of developing nanoelectronics. First, this article reviews the characteristics of bacterial flagella and their utilization as biologically inspired templates. Next, the use of bio-templates for electronic systems such as dye-sensitized solar cell and lithium ion battery is discussed. Finally, we show the future directions for the use of flagella biotemplatednanomaterials for applications in electrical engineering fields.
Translation of the human erythropoietin transcript is regulated by an upstream open reading frame in response to hypoxia
Authors: Barbosa Cristina , Romão Luísa
Published: March 2014

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a key mediator hormone for hypoxic induction of erythropoiesis that also plays important nonhematopoietic functions. It has been shown that EPO gene expression regulation occurs at different levels, including transcription and mRNA stabilization. In this report, we show that expression of EPO is also regulated at the translational level by an upstream open reading frame (uORF) of 14 codons. As judged by comparisons of protein and mRNA levels, the uORF acts as a cis-acting element that represses translation of the main EPO ORF in unstressed HEK293, HepG2, and HeLa cells. However, in response to hypoxia, this repression is significantly released, specifically in HeLa cells, through a mechanism that involves processive scanning of ribosomes from the 5′ end of the EPO transcript and enhanced ribosome bypass of the uORF. In addition, we demonstrate that in HeLa cells, hypoxia induces the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) concomitantly with a significant increase of EPO protein synthesis. These findings provide a framework for understanding that production of high levels of EPO induced by hypoxia also involves regulation at the translational level.
Technology Intervention Research With Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners: Levels of Evidence
Authors: Beal-Alvarez Jennifer , Cannon Joanna E.
Published: March 2014

T he authors evaluated the research base relative to technology use with deaf and hard of hearing students, examining 29 peer-reviewed studies published January 2000–August 2013 that used technology-based intervention (multimedia instructional applications/software) and investigating its effects on academic variables (academic skills used in instructional settings). They then evaluated the studies according to quality indicators for evidence-based research, both individually and as a body of evidence supporting intervention for deaf and hard of hearing students (Gersten et al., 2005; Horner et al., 2005; Institute of Education Sciences, 2013; Kratochwill et al., 2010, 2013). One of 24 group design studies met all Essential Quality Indicators; 3 of 5 single-case design studies did (Horner et al., 2005). No reviewed technology intervention met criteria for an established evidence base. Interventions are presented across technology types and academic areas to facilitate discussion of implications for researchers and practitioners.
Using Functional Assessment to Treat Behavior Problems of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Zane Thomas , Carlson Mark , Estep David , Quinn Mike
Published: March 2014

A defining feature of autism spectrum disorders is atypical behaviors, e.g., stereotypy, noncompliance, rituals, and aggression. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals with autism present a greater challenge because of additional issues related to their hearing status. One conceptualization of problem behavior is that it serves a communication function, i.e., the person has learned that certain misbehaviors may be reinforced in some way. The present article describes “functional behavior assessment,” a group of state-of-the-art methodologies that allow a caregiver to determine the cause of the behavior, so that treatment—based on that cause—will be more effective. Different methods of functional assessment are described, along with a step-by-step implementation sequence. The results of a functional assessment should lead to more effective programming, resulting in quicker elimination of the behavioral concerns, and allow the person to gain access to greater independence and more reinforcement.
Sexual Slipstreams and the Limits of Magic Realism: Why a Bisexual Cinderella May Not Be All That “Queer”
Authors: Wargo Jon Michael
Published: March 2014

Critics and readers alike praise Malinda Lo for her novel, Ash, a contemporary Cinderella story and a queer variation of the ash girl tale. Despite its potential as a landmark variation in same-sex romance, this paper suggests that Lo’s queer approach is undercut by heteronormative rebounds into sexualized payment. Ultimately, Lo confines her slipstream variation to rigid boundaries of gender and sexuality, rendering the lesbian narrative invisible to hauntings of bisexual shame and compulsory heterosexuality.
“A girl. A machine. A freak”: A Consideration of Contemporary Queer Composites
Authors: Mitchell Jennifer
Published: March 2014

Approaching queerness as intrinsically tied to the rejection of notions of the self as fixed, stable, and monolithic, I argue that contemporary young adult literature that incorporates inter-species romances is a site of new queer possibilities. I read Marissa Meyer’s Cinder and the first two novels in Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series as broadening current metaphors for queerness.
The Biggest Loser: Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter Series, the Queer Art of Failure, and the American Obsession with Achievement
Authors: Abate Michelle Ann
Published: March 2014

This essay spotlights the many mistakes, setbacks, and blunders that Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter experiences in various narratives throughout the series. Drawing on Judith Halberstam’s notion of “the queer art of failure,” it argues that these disappointments can paradoxically be seen as successes. The errors that Little Critter makes routinely lead him to new discoveries and accomplishments, many of which are even more fulfilling than his initial goal. In so doing, Mayer’s series offers a compelling critique of the American obsession with achievement.
Hey, I Still Can’t See Myself!: The Difficult Positioning of Two-Spirit Identities in YA Literature
Authors: Bittner Robert
Published: March 2014

This article explores the difficulties of presenting two-spirited individuals in textual form due to the amount of political, social, and spiritual complexity associated with this particular identity category. Utilizing personal statements from aboriginal and two-spirit-identified individuals as well as secondary sources from well-known academics, this essay interrogates two novels in its focus on the deconstruction of identity categories to better understand the two-spirit identity within each text.
In Their Own Voices: Contemporary Native Hawaiian and Archaeological Narratives about Hawaiian Archaeology
Authors: Kawelu Kathleen
Published: March 2014

Archaeology in Hawai‘i has reached the century mark, and public perception of the discipline as a marginal esoteric pursuit has changed to one that associates the practice with land development and colonialism. The sociopolitical climate surrounding archaeology in the Hawaiian Islands is charged, and controversial events have contributed to present-day tensions. However, to understand these tensions we must go beyond anecdotes. This article presents narratives about the sociopolitical history of Hawaiian archaeology as conveyed in ethnographic interviews with Native Hawaiians and archaeologists. Themes brought forth in these narratives include discussion about the persistence of a living Hawaiian culture and the varying degrees of archaeological commitment to that culture. Ultimately an approach is sought that emphasizes Native Hawaiian people and culture and reframes archaeology in a supporting role. Through such reframing, issues of the practical application of archaeologically constructed knowledge for descendant communities are addressed, and the capacity of the discipline to advocate for Native Hawaiian communities is increased. Changing the current trajectory of historic preservation in Hawai‘i to encompass a collaborative approach to cultural stewardship is necessary for the viability of the discipline as well as for the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture.
Is Genetic Labeling of “Risk” Related to Obesity Contributing to Resistance and Fatalism in Polynesian Communities?
Authors: Rodriguez Lena , George James Rimumutu
Published: March 2014

For Western health professionals, obesity and related illnesses are viewed as preventable and arising from lifestyle choices; however, for Polynesians and many other Indigenous peoples, these same diseases are regarded as genetically determined. This article examines this contradiction and questions whether high clusters of these illnesses are evidence of “faulty genes” or are a product of other socioeconomic and cultural influences related to postcolonial marginalization. We suggest that both the ways genetic findings are disseminated and a limited understanding of their predictive capacity may in fact contribute to certain fatalistic attitudes within these populations. Labeling Polynesians “at risk” can engender fear in the community, arguably leading to a greater reluctance of people to be tested. In turn, this leads to more Polynesians presenting late for treatment as well as to poorer outcomes. Our article focuses on the results of qualitative interviews with sixty-seven Polynesian migrants to Australia.
Oceanic Historicities
Authors: Ballard Chris
Published: March 2014

“We need a word that includes memory but embraces all the other ways of knowing a past,” wrote Greg Dening, in advocating the notion of a “poetic for histories”: culturally specific forms of knowledge of the past that embrace “reminiscence, gossip, anecdote, rumour, parable, report, tradition, myth … saga, legend, epic, ballad, folklore, annal, chronicle” (1991, 348–349). To this list we might want to add a range of other performative and sensory modes of engaging—consciously or unconsciously—with the past, including dancing, gardening, carving, smell, sound, and touch. Drawing on a large but diffuse body of global literature, and illustrating my argument with material from local historians, I consider how we might set about describing these historicities, or cultural logics of temporal process, in an Oceanic setting: how are they expressed, how might we come to understand them, and how are they transformed over time and through encounter with other historicities?
Being “Nesian”: Pacific Islander Identity in Australia
Authors: McGavin Kirsten
Published: March 2014

Pacific Islanders in Australia use the terms “Islander” and “Pacific Islander” in many ways and in different circumstances to define themselves and others. Through invoking discourses including these terms, Pacific Islanders both consciously draw on “panethnicity” and subconsciously strengthen and support their localized identities. In this way, Pacific Islanders blur the ethno-cultural and sociopolitical boundaries that traditionally separate groups with connections across a diverse range of countries. Indeed, diasporic settings give rise to transnationalist sentiment and actions and serve to strengthen panethnic identity. Using insider and auto-anthropology and ethnographic research techniques, I draw on my experiences as an Australian of Pacific Islander descent and use examples drawn from my involvement in formalized community groups, cultural events, and social functions. In doing so, I argue that the expression of Islander and Pacific Islander identity is entwined with ideas about “race,” place, stereotypes, and behavior that highlight the dynamic ethnogenesis of this group.
Climate-Change Migration in the Pacific
Authors: Campbell John R.
Published: March 2014

Despite considerable debate about whether or not climate change will cause large numbers of people to migrate, there has been little consideration of how such displacement might be caused. Three effects of climate change are identified as possible drivers of migration: loss of or reduction in land security, livelihood security, and habitat security. Where these are destroyed by climate change, migration will be forced and would require the abandonment of some locations. Such community relocation is likely to be a disruptive form of climate-change migration, and past experience indicates that there are numerous social, cultural, emotional, and economic costs associated with such moves, even at relatively small distances. Where the loss of security is partial, voluntary or induced migration may be a practical adaptive response, reducing pressure on declining local life-support systems and providing remittances to supplement declining livelihoods. Most attention has been focused on atoll communities, but most Pacific communities (with the exception of Papua New Guinea) are coastal, and the security of some inland areas may be threatened by increasing magnitude and frequency of droughts. Destinations for climate-change migrants may range from locations within customary lands to foreign countries within and beyond the region. A key issue is the essential link between Pacific Islands people and their land, which poses major problems not only for those forced to leave but also for communities within the region that may be required to give up land for relocatees.
“Hair!”: Remnants of Ascetic Exegesis in Augustine of Hippo’s De Opere Monachorum
Authors: Doerfler Maria E.
Published: March 2014

Augustine of Hippo’s De opere monachorum directs itself against itinerant ascetics who, in emulation of the apostolic ideal, sought to support themselves by begging rather than manual labor. The treatise attests to a struggle not only over the legitimacy of different forms of ascetic practice, but over matters of exegesis. The latter is evident particularly in Augustine’s emphatic assertion that the wandering monks’ long hair, intended to identify its bearers as having embraced sexual continence, reflected misguided scriptural reading practices. This essay explores Augustine’s and his opponents’ approaches to biblical interpretation, its deployment to construct and deconstruct different visions of ascetic formation, and the conflicting theories of sexuality and eschatology reflected therein.
Compunction and Compassion: Two Overlooked Virtues in Evagrius of Pontus
Authors: Corrigan Kevin , Glazov Gregory Yuri
Published: March 2014

Instead of an extreme asceticism characterized by imperturbability, Evagrius’s thinking should rather be characterized by two often overlooked virtues, compunction and compassion, that, together with the other virtues and imperturbability, form the systole and diastole of the monk’s life. These make it possible for the call of the Prophets and the words of the Psalmist to take up personal residence in each individual, on behalf of others, in the gentle sympathy of divine love. Divine sympathy is, in fact, the model for understanding the range and root of compassion, for it is present in a remarkable way in both piercing repentance for our weakness and loving mercy for others.
Literate Media in Early Christ Groups: The Creation of a Christian Book Culture
Authors: Kloppenborg John S.
Published: March 2014

The full emergence of Christian book culture in the fourth century was anticipated and prepared for by a series of developments in the second century: by presenting (anachronistically) the early heroes of the Jesus movement as skilled literate communicators; by the emergence of “textual communities” formed around the reading, study, and preservation of books; by valorizing literate culture through the embedding of allusions to books and book culture in Christian documents; and in the very construction of early Christian scriptural documents so as to render them more easily accessible to sub-elite readers.
2013 NAPS Presidential Address From Russia with Love: Deciphering Augustine’s Code
Authors: Steinhauser Kenneth B.
Published: March 2014

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia Q. v. I. 3 is the oldest extant manuscript containing works of Augustine. Since it is the only manuscript that transmits De doctrina Christiana in its earlier shorter version, it may be dated between 397 and 427. Written in North Africa, the codex was sent by Augustine to his mentor and colleague Simplician, bishop of Milan. The code for understanding the manuscript is found in Augustine’s rare use of an imperfect subjunctive to express future meaning in his Epistula 37 to Simplician, where he asks Simplician to read the works that he is sending him. This grammatical characteristic demonstrates that Augustine himself planned the production of the codex, which he specifically intended to send to Simplician. Some scholars believe that the manuscript contains an autograph of Augustine. Following its production in Africa, the codex was sent to Italy and then after an obscure journey found its way to Corbie and finally to Saint Petersburg, where it rests today.
The Effects of Oil Price Volatility on the Sudanese Economy
Authors: Ebaidalla Ebaidalla Mahjoub
Published: March 2014

After the oil exploitation in 1999, Sudan has relied primarily on oil revenues, which rendered its economy highly vulnerable to the international oil price shocks. This study examines the dynamic impact of crude oil price fluctuations on the key macroeconomic variables in Sudan, using quarterly data over 1999:Q4–2009:Q4. The study employs impulse response functions and variance decompositions techniques based on unrestricted the vector autoregressive approach. The empirical results reveal that oil price shocks have significant effects on the main macroeconomic variables such as, real GDP, inflation and exchange rate. Moreover, the study found an evidence of asymmetry relationship between oil prices changes and macro variables.
Effects of Socio-Economic Status and Food Consumption Pattern on Household Energy uses: Implications for Forest Resource Degradation and Reforestation around Wondo Genet Catchments, South-Central Ethiopia
Authors: Negash Mesele , Kelboro Girma
Published: March 2014

Past studies on household energy use paid less attention to the effect of socio-economic status and food consumption pattern on household energy consumption. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of socio-economic status and food consumption on households’ fuel energy consumption, and implications on forest resource depletion. Household interview and detailed energy consumption measurement were carried out. Four top end use types – consuming more wood fuel equivalent energy in their order of importance included: Qocho -bread (food prepared from Ensete ventricosum ) > bread (Maize) > roasting grain ( Qolo ) > local cabbage. The amount of wood equivalent energy needed per household per year was highest for rich households, followed by middle and poor households. The majority of rich households preferred wood and BLT (branch, leaves, twigs) whereas poor households prioritized BLT and cow dung as major sources of energy. The forest in the nearby catchments has served as the source of fuel wood across all wealth categories. Ninety per cent of the wood collectors, in particular the poor, were also dependent on the forest catchments as a source of income. The study concluded that household energy consumption pattern is affected by socio-economic status, type of food, fuel, stoves, and amount and frequency of baking and cooking. Hence, these factors should be considered in household energy saving interventions and in efforts to reduce its impact on forest degradation.
South-South Versus North-South Trade Linkages: A Case Study of Ethiopia and Implications for the Country’s Industrial Development
Authors: Mutambara Tsitsi Effie , Hess Richard
Published: March 2014

This article examines Ethiopia’s trade with the North versus the South and uses the trade patterns that emerge to derive policy implications for the country’s industrial development. Descriptive statistics in the form of tables and figures are used to reflect the emerging trade patterns. Grubel-Lloyd intra-industry trade indices are calculated for high technology manufactured goods so as to examine intra-industry trade opportunities between Ethiopia and its major trading partners. The Heckscher-Ohlin model, post-Heckscher-Ohlin models, as well as, tariff and non-tariff barriers currently in place are used to try and explain the trade patterns that emerge. The research finds that Ethiopia trades relatively more intensively with Asia and the Middle East than with countries in the North, thus depicting a “look East strategy”. This is despite both the EU and the USA levying much lower applied tariffs on most of Ethiopia’s exports. The geographical nearness of Asian and Middle East markets makes them more attractive, whilst non-tariff barriers like phytosanitary regulations, packaging and quality standards in markets in the North and the geographic distance make Ethiopia’s exports less competitive. Ethiopia’s intra-industry trade opportunities in high technology products lie mainly with countries in the North, especially Italy. Pursuing such trade opportunities with countries with well developed industrial bases would help Ethiopia to build a stronger manufacturing sector through an interchange of knowledge, skills and advanced up-to-date technology.
Regional Peace and Security Co-Operation Under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development: Development and Challenges
Authors: Berhe Mulugeta Gebrehiwot
Published: March 2014

This article is an attempt to contribute to the debate related to the effectiveness of regional organizations as forums of security cooperation. Realists argue that there is no substantive role for regional organizations in conflict prevention in a world characterised by anarchy and relentless competitions for power and security among states. On the other hand, the United Nations and other international bodies believe regional organisations can play significant role in conflict prevention by building trust among states through the provision of local forums for frequent interaction among states. The article discusses the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in three of its periods: 1) the period with no mandate on security; 2) the period of its renewed mandate for security cooperation and its limited success; and 3) the present period of impasse in implementing its mandate. Three main factors are discussed: 1) domestic politics of the member countries influencing the posture, policies and decisions of member states in relation to regional politics and the regional organization; 2) intra state conflicts of member states and absence of a common ground among them on the regional cooperation; and 3) the support of a favourable international political environment for such a regional security co-operation. The paper concludes that shared interests and problems among member states drive effective regional cooperation in conflict prevention. Regional mechanism in the absence of such a commonality is only limited to providing a platform for dialogue rather than effective security cooperation.
Democracy, Democratic Institutions and Good Governance in Nigeria
Authors: Gberevbie Daniel Eseme
Published: March 2014

Scholars such as Badru (2005), Im (2005), Babawale (2006), Mimiko (2007), and Oddih (2007) have argued that democracy is required in a society because it enhances good governance and development. With the analysis of secondary data, the paper examines democracy, democratic institutions and good governance in Nigeria. It identified the problems that have militated against Nigeria’s democratic sustainability in the past to include lack of proper democratic institutions. The paper concludes that for democracy to achieve its goals there is the need for the government to put in place measures to strengthen the nation’s democratic institutions and intensify political education amongst politicians and citizens as precursor to good governance and development in Nigeria.
Sexual Arithmetic: Appetite and Consumption in The Way of the World
Authors: MacKenzie Scott R.
Published: March 2014

In Congreve’s The Way of the World , Millamant’s self-assertion rebukes masculine libertine avidity and in doing so advocates a reconception of desire, which has recognizable connections to what we now call consumer desire, distinct from aristocratic and rakish forms of appetite . Millamant elaborates a sophisticated figuration of the love game in economic terms that rejects Mirabell’s implied position—as the prince who determines her intrinsic value—in favor of an extrinsic-value model that allows her to bargain up her own worth in the libidinal marketplace. Her prenuptial stipulations imply self-perpetuating forms of desire, reciprocally beneficial increase, and inexhaustible productive resources.
British Conservatism, the Illuminati, and the Conspiracy Theory of the French Revolution, 1797–1802
Authors: Taylor Michael
Published: March 2014

The reception and acceptance by British conservatives of the conspiracy theory of the French Revolution, as propounded by the Abbé Augustin de Barruel and Professor John Robison, has often been underplayed. This article seeks to correct that historiographical oversight by demonstrating the remarkable and unremarked extent to which the conspiracy theory of the Illuminati and the philosophes took root in the 1790s, then to explain that popularity, and finally to examine how acceptance of the conspiracy theory encouraged the development of an intellectual exceptionalism which had significant consequences for British attitudes towards continental philosophy, particularly that of Immanuel Kant.
The Landlord’s Tale (1708): An Introduction and Contextualization
Authors: Sales Barry
Published: March 2014

The Landlord’s Tale is a rare, little-known translation from Ariosto, published in 1708. It is written in the style of John Dryden with asides relating to topical events and issues, such as the Collier controversy. I give reasons for dating the writing of the poem to 1704 and for considering the most likely author to be the dramatist George Farquhar.
History, Historicism, and Agency at Byron's Ismail
Authors: Borushko Matthew C.
Published: March 2014

This essay examines the representation of historical agency in the "Ismail cantos" of Lord Byron's Don Juan . While agency has been an abiding concern of scholarship on Don Juan , this essay argues that existing models – articulated by Jerome McGann, Jerome Christensen, and James Chandler – do not offer a sufficient account of Juan's actions in the Siege of Ismail. When viewed next to Byron's portrait of General Suvarov and in the context of the various media of war to which Byron alludes, Juan's agency emerges as radically variable and fundamentally resistant to any predetermined models of writing about history – thus revealing the truly liberal and liberating vision of Byron's antiwar cantos.
Frankenstein ; or, the Modern Protagonist
Authors: Clark Anna E.
Published: March 2014

While readings of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein often consider the creature's thematic centrality and sympathetic appeal, I argue that the creature's exceptional status is due largely to his prowess as a narrator of other characters' points of view. All three of Frankenstein's first-person narrators present characters' biographies and focalized perspectives in their narrative frames, yet it is only the creature whose sustains an intimate, internally focalized engagement with another character's interiority. Frankenstein's interest in this comparative identification is indicative of a larger approach to characterization that I call protagonism, a term that describes novels' impulse to distribute the kinds of deep interiority and intimate identification we often associate with one or two privileged heroes among many textually and thematically marginalized figures.
Donne's Biathanatos and the Public Sphere's Vexing Freedom
Authors: Kuzner James
Published: March 2014

With focus on Donne's Biathanatos, this essay examines relationships between self-killing, the public sphere, and personal freedom in the seventeenth century and in the present. Specifically, the essay explores how debates about the ethics of self-killing—and about whether publics are competent to decide those ethics—open onto debates about the kind of freedom that public life is thought to confer. Numerous scholars describe the histories of self-killing and of the early modern public sphere with emphasis on enabling, empowering escapes from authoritarian overdetermination. This essay, by contrast, argues that Biathanatos defends a freedom—both to debate suicide publicly and to decide about suicide privately—that is vexing, not enabling, and that induces a hobbling, yet salutary epistemological humility.
Dramatizing Intimacy: Confessions and Free Indirect Discourse in Sense and Sensibility
Authors: Richardson Rebecca
Published: March 2014

This essay investigates the unique place Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility occupies in her development of free indirect discourse. The novel reworks the original epistolary design of Elinor and Marianne into third-person narration, and it contains extended passages of direct discourse. Characters make these extended speeches when they confess their pasts to Elinor, who then repackages their stories for others. This essay argues that the confession scenes in Sense and Sensibility not only reveal the back-stories of the novel, but also dramatize the interplay between voices that characterizes Austen's development of free indirect discourse.
The Dream of a Literal World: Wilkins, Hobbes, Marvell
Authors: Hequembourg Stephen
Published: March 2014

This article explores one aspect of the linguistic utopianism of the seventeenth century, what I call "the dream of a literal world." Thomas Hobbes and John Wilkins both offer distinct versions of what a world without metaphor would look like—a world wherein each object has a precise literal name unsusceptible to the vagaries of history and the eccentric inflections of individual speakers. The different proposals of Hobbes and Wilkins are held up to brilliant satire by Andrew Marvell. Marvell directly engages with their theories in his prose, countering their topdown model of linguistic control with his own vision of a world in which metaphors are constantly created and submitted "for trial" to a community of speakers. Finally his poetic practice reflects the theory of his prose, revealing metaphor not simply as a linguistic practice but as our basic mode of orienting ourselves in the world.