bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A209 ROLE OF SEROTONIN-AUTOPHAGY AXIS IN REGULATION OF EPITHELIAL CELL FUNCTION AND MICROBIOTA COMPOSITION IN GUT
Authors: Haq S , Wang H , Kim J J , Kwon E Y , Banskota S , Grondin J , Hassan N , Brumell J , Philpott D , Khan W I
Published: February 2020

Background

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT), an enteric signalling molecule mainly produced by the enterochromaffin (EC) cells of the intestinal epithelium regulates various processes of the gut. Tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph1) is the rate-limiting enzyme of 5-HT biosynthesis in EC cells. In inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and experimental colitis, there are alterations in 5-HT content and microbiota composition in the gut. Previously we reported, Tph1-deficient (Tph1-/-) mice with reduced 5-HT in the gut exhibit reduced susceptibility to colitis. The mechanism by which 5-HT regulates colitis is unknown. Autophagy, a catabolic process regulates the function of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), gut microbiota, and protects against intestinal inflammation. Both aberrant 5-HT signalling and autophagy is implicated in colitis. It is unclear whether they interact in regulation of production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from IECs and gut microbiota composition in relation to colitis. Our hypothesis is, an increase in 5-HT signalling inhibits autophagy in the IECs, which results in up-regulation of colitis by increasing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and by selection for a more colitogenic microbiota.

Aims

To define the role of 5-HT-autophagy axis in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from IECs and gut microbiota composition in intestinal inflammation.

Methods

We investigated level of autophagy with or without 5% dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) in colons, mucosal scraping and IECs of Tph1-/- and their wild-type (WT) littermates. In addition, autophagy and proinflammatory cytokine production were investigated in human colonic epithelial cells (HT-29) following stimulation by 5-HT. We evaluated colitis and gut microbiota composition in WT, Tph1-/-, epithelial-specific autophagy gene Atg7 deficient (Atg7ΔIEC), and Atg7ΔIECTph1-/- (double knock out; DKO) mice.

Results

Tph1 -/- mice, with less 5-HT in the gut than WT mice following DSS administration exhibited an up-regulation of autophagy markers in the colon, mucosal scraping and IECs along with reduction of colitis severity. 5-HT treatment of HT-29 cells resulted in down-regulation of autophagy and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-8. DKO mice exhibited increased severity of DSS-colitis, and altered microbiota composition compared to Tph1-/- mice.

Conclusions

These findings suggest, an increase in 5-HT in colitis inhibits autophagy in the IECs that contribute to alteration of the gut microbiota and disease severity. Blocking 5-HT signalling may promote autophagy in the IECs and alleviate the severity of colitis. Understanding the contribution of 5-HT in autophagy may identify new therapeutic target in IBD and other intestinal inflammatory conditions that exhibit dysregulated autophagy.

Funding Agencies

CAG, CIHR
A210
ADLERCREUTZIA IS DEPLETED IN UC PATIENTS, EVEN BEFORE CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS, AND INVERSELY CORRELATES WITH FECAL ELASTOLYTIC ACTIVITY
Authors: Santiago Badenas A , Libertucci J , Turpin W , Galipeau H J , Croitoru K , Caminero Fernandez A , Verdu E
Published: February 2020

Background

A combination of genetics, environmental, and immune factors contribute to the development of ulcerative colitis (UC). Host proteolytic imbalance has been reported in active UC. Preliminary results from our lab suggest microbial proteolytic activity is increased before as well as after onset of UC, and transfer of this activity to mice contributes to inflammation.

Aims

Our aim was to correlate the elastolytic activity of fecal samples from individuals at risk for IBD, before and after onset of ulcerative colitis, with their fecal microbiota profiles

Methods

We first investigated proteolytic activity in fecal samples from individuals at risk to develop UC (pre-UC, n=12) prior to disease onset and after UC diagnosis (post-UC, n=7) and matched healthy controls (n=66). Microbial community analysis was performed by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene region using Illumina MiSeq platform. Sequences were analyzed with QIIMEv1.9.0. We measured bacterial proteolytic activity, using a FITC-elastin assay.

Results

Microbial community analysis revealed that the overall diversity (both richness and evenness) in UC patients was decreased compared to healthy controls as well as pre-UC patients. The relative abundance of the genus Adlercreutzia was decreased by 3.1 fold in pre-UC patients compared to healthy controls and was further decreased in post-UC (3.8 fold). The presence of Adlercreutzia was also found to be negatively correlated (r=-0.47, p<0.0001) with elastolytic activity in stool supernatant, suggesting a possible protective role in the disease.

Conclusions

We found novel potentially protective bacteria, Adlercreutzia, which was depleted in UC patients, even before clinical diagnosis and correlated negatively with proinflammatory elastolytic activity described previously in IBD. The protective mechanisms are under investigation.

On behalf of the CCC-GEM Project consortiumand Supported by a CCC GIA to EFV

Funding Agencies

CCC
A222 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL, PHENOTYPIC AND CLINICAL PATTERNS OF EXTRAINTESTINAL MANIFESTATIONS IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
Authors: Lytvyak E , Halloran B , Kroeker K , Peerani F , Wong K , Mason A , Montano-Loza A J , Baumgart D , Dieleman L A
Published: February 2020

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), may affect multiple organ systems. The extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) occur frequently, considerably increase morbidity and mortality, and strongly influence the quality of life in IBD patients.

Aims

To establish the all-time prevalence of EIMs in a large cohort of IBD patients and assess risk factors contributing to their development.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of IBD patients followed at the Division of Gastroenterology, University of Alberta, diagnosed between 1954 and 2019. We recorded demographic, clinical, and biochemical data. The EIMs included dermatological, musculoskeletal, ophthalmological, hepatobiliary, urogenital, and pulmonary manifestations. The chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests (median, IQR) were used to evaluate differences. Univariate logistic regression was used to determine the association of EIMs with demographic and disease-specific variables across CD and UC, with predictors (p≤0.05) further incorporated into multivariate regression models.

Results

We analyzed data of 4493 IBD patients: 2354 with CD and 2139 – with UC, aged 18–96 years. Males were underrepresented in the CD cohort compared to the UC (47.8% vs 52.8%; p=0.001), with longer disease duration (16.3, IQR 16.1 vs 12.3, IQR 12.4 years; p≤0.001). The EIMs were slightly more prevalent in the CD group compared to UC (22.2% vs 20.4%; p=0.134), along with a significantly higher proportion of patients with over two EIMs (4.1% vs 1.7%; p≤0.001). The EIMs’ pattern varied substantially between the IBD subtypes (Figure). In the CD cohort, the most common EIM was peripheral arthropathy (4.1%), followed by ankylosing spondylitis (4.0%) and nephrolithiasis (3.6%). Among CD patients, disease duration ≥20 years (OR 1.70, 95% CI 1.17–2.48; p=0.006), iron (OR 1.54, 95%CI 1.13–2.09; p=0.006) and calcium (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.21–4.27; p=0.010) deficiencies were identified as risk factors for EIMs. The UC patients most frequently had primary sclerosing cholangitis (9.6%) with peripheral arthropathy and nephrolithiasis each being present in 2.2% of patients. In the UC cohort, three variables demonstrated the most significant associations with EIMs: male sex (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.32–2.32; p≤0.001), disease duration ≥20 years (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.35–2.74; p≤0.001), and pan-colonic disease extent (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.03–4.36; p=0.041) (Table).

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate that over one-fifth of IBD patients had at least one EIM over the course of the disease and the EIMs pattern varies substantially across CD and UC. Identification of risk factors allowing prediction of EIMs would increase awareness, assist in their early recognition, and tailor further management.

Funding Agencies

AbbVie
A247 VIRAL LOAD OF EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH NEW ONSET IBD AT DIAGNOSIS AND ON FOLLOW UP: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY
Authors: Kornitzer G A , Rosenstein M , Groleau V , Jantchou P , Touzot F , Godin D , Renaud C , Ovetchkine P , Deslandres C
Published: February 2020

Background

Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease are at increased risk for complications associated with Epstein-Barr Virus, such as uncontrolled infection, colitis mimicking IBD, and lymphoproliferative disease. These complications may be due to inherent immune dysfunction or effects of immunomodulating therapies used. We have previously identified that the seroprevalence of EBV in our cohort of IBD patients at time of diagnosis was 44.2%, with prevalence stratified by age as follows: 0 to <10 years 36%, 10 to <17 years 46%, and 17 + years 50%.

Aims

Our objective is to assess the risk of EBV reactivation in this population, to determine whether patients treated with immunomodulators should be more closely monitored for EBV viral load.

Methods

Retrospective chart review was done for all patients with new-onset IBD diagnosed at CHU Sainte-Justine over a two-year period, from Jan. 2016 to Dec. 2017. Serum from time of diagnosis was retrieved from the microbiology laboratory for patients with positive EBV serology, and quantitative PCR was performed to assess viral load at diagnosis. 47 of 53 seropositive patients had available serum at time of retrieval. EBV PCR was subsequently performed on serum drawn one to two years after start of immunosuppressants.

Results

53 patients were EBV positive at time of diagnosis (EBNA/VCA IgG). Two patients were IgM positive, suggesting recent or active infection. The viral load as measured by quantitative PCR on serum drawn at diagnosis was negative in all retroactively tested patients. Of the two IgM-positive patients, one had known positive quantitative PCR at time of diagnosis. PCR previously tested in clinical follow-up of two seropositive, PCR-negative patients became positive at 7 and 17 months from diagnosis, suggesting viral reactivation. Both patients had received anti-TNF’s and systemic corticosteroids. Viral loads on follow-up are to be assessed for the rest of the cohort. Overall, therapies started within 6 months of diagnosis were similar in the seropositive and seronegative groups, the majority receiving some form of immunosuppression. Within the seropositive group: 66% received corticosteroids, 32.1% Infliximab, 5.7% Adalimumab, and 5.7% Azathioprine.

Conclusions

Only one patient had active EBV infection with positive PCR at time of diagnosis. All other patients had no sign of active infection based on retroactive PCR’s. While a majority of patients, regardless of EBV serology, receive immunomodulating agents, we currently do not routinely screen for seroconversion in seronegative patients, or for viral load in seropositive patients. We will be assessing viral loads after start of immunomodulation to better understand the potential impact of these agents on disease progression.

Funding Agencies

None
A258 ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SYMPTOMS AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE ACTIVITY USING INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE SYMPTOM INVENTORY – A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS FROM THE MANITOBA LIVING WITH IBD STUDY
Authors: Kulyk A , Stone J , Bernstein C N
Published: February 2020

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gut and includes predominantly Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Symptom Inventory (IBDSI), developed at the University of Manitoba is a validated patient self-report symptom inventory which has shown to demonstrate good validity to accepted clinician-based assessments of disease activity. The IBDSI focuses of 5 main symptom clusters: bowel symptoms, abdominal discomfort, fatigue, bowel complications, and systemic complications. While there is good evidence for the presence of these symptoms in IBD, there has yet to be an analysis of the correlation between specific symptom clusters and active IBD.

Aims

Our aim is to identify symptoms experienced by patients with IBD being followed prospectively over one year and further analyze which of these symptoms are correlated with disease activity.

Methods

155 patients enrolled in the Manitoba Living with IBD Study were eligible for the current study. Bi-weekly IBDSI short-form survey results were analyzed to determine which IBD-related symptoms were experienced by each patient over the study period (1 year). Descriptive data for symptoms will be reported, and will then be compared to disease activity (defined in Crohn’s disease as an IBDSI score >14 and in UC>13 and fecal calprotectin level (FCAL) >250 ug/g) to determine which symptoms most correlate with active IBD.

Results

The study population ranged from ages 18–70, with a mean age of 43 years. 30.3% (47) of the population were male. 65.8% (102) of the population consisted of CD, 31.0% (48) had UC, the remaining 3.2% (5) had IBD-type unclassified. Some of the symptoms for analysis will include abdominal pain, frequency and consistency of bowel movements, blood within the stool, and other associated symptoms such as nausea and loss of appetite. The results for the frequency of symptoms reported and which are most correlated with disease activity is still under analysis.

Conclusions

This will be the first study assessing the association between symptoms experienced by subjects contrasted to disease activity using the self-reported measurement IBDSI and FCAL.

Funding Agencies

None
A274 EARLY SINGLE-OPERATOR CHOLANGIOSCOPY ASSISTED ELECTROHYDRAULIC LITHOTRIPSY (SOC-EHL) IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DIFFICULT BILIARY STONES IS COST-EFFECTIVE WHEN COMPARED TO A DELAYED STEP-UP APPROACH TO LATER SOC-EHL
Authors: Alrajhi S , Barkun A N , Adam V , Callichurn K , Martel M , Brewer O , Khashab M , Forbes N , Chen Y
Published: February 2020

Background

Single-operator cholangioscopy assisted electrohydraulic lithotripsy is the standard of care for difficult common bile duct (CBD) stones with failed clearance using standard ERCP. This technology is expensive and optimal timing of its use in terms of cost-effectiveness in the management algorithm of patients with difficult CBD stones remains unclear

Aims

To determine the cost-effective timing of SOC-EHL utilization in the management of difficult CBD stones

Methods

A decision model was developed assessing 4 strategies and progressively delayed introduction of SOC-EHL in relation to ERCP over 6-months. Difficult stones were defined as having failed CBD clearance via standard ERCP. Probability estimates for each health state were obtained from a literature systematic review. For each strategy, outpatients undergoing ERCP underwent different timings of SOC-EHL introduction from the first to the fourth ERCP and were followed for subsequent need for re-intervention, adverse events, need for surgery, and/or successful endoscopic CBD clearance. The unit of effectiveness was complete CBD clearance without need for surgery. Deterministic sensitivity analyses were performed varying all 50 model variables across ranges spanning 30% of their respective values. Costs are in 2018US$ based on US data.

Results

Performing SOC-EHL immediately during the first ERCP is the least expensive approach when compared to delaying SOC-EHL. This strategy costs $15,528 on average per patient with CBD clearance avoiding surgery and can save between $260 to $720 compared to the 3 other strategies, which introduce SOC-EHL during the second to the fourth ERCP. Effectiveness is clinically comparable between the four strategies ranging from 97–99%. Deterministic sensitivity analysis shows changes in the results when the ERCP complication rate (baseline probability of 6%) decreases to 4.5%, when the SOC-EHL (baseline costs of $2,450) costs more than $2,670, or when the ERCP facility fees (baseline costs of $4,292) are less than $3,425. In all 3 scenarios, delaying the first SOC-EHL use to the fourth procedural attempt becomes the dominant strategy. Variations of the other 47 variables did not alter results.

Conclusions

Although SOC-EHL is expensive, this analysis demonstrates that among patients who have failed a prior attempt at stone extraction, utilization of SOC-EHL at the next (first subsequent) ERCP is less costly when compared to its delayed introduction. However, postponing the use of SOC-EHL to the fourth ERCP could be identified as the most cost-effective strategy when facility fees or ERCP complications rates are below certain thresholds, or when the costs of SOC-EHL extend beyond a defined threshold.

Funding Agencies

None
Burrowing-site selection by the soldier crab Mictyris guinotae Davie, Shih & Chan, 2010 (Decapoda: Brachyura: Mictyridae)
Authors: Takeda Satoshi
Published: February 2020

The soldier crab Mictyris guinotae Davie, Shih & Chan, 2010 inhabiting sandy tidal flats in the Ryukyu Is., Japan, are deposit feeders in two regions: its upper habitat where it burrows and the shoreline. The crabs usually migrate between these two regions during the period of emergence at the daytime and night-time low tide. The aim of this study was to determine which kind of sediments are chosen by the crabs when burrowing. Experiments designed to investigate burrowing-site selection revealed that the crabs preferably burrowed in sediment that had been conditioned through feeding by conspecific crabs, but not in sediment that had been conditioned by conspecific crabs walking on its surface. Moreover, the crabs never showed any preference for burrowing in sediment that had been conditioned through feeding by the competitor fiddler crab Austruca perplexa (H. Milne Edwards, 1852); both soldier (prey) and fiddler (predator) crabs sympatrically inhabit the tidal flat, but segregate their habitats with a transition area. These results suggest that chemical cues in sediment conditioned through feeding by conspecific soldier crabs affect where crabs burrow.
Detection of Wolbachia (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) and Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Rhizobiales: Rhizobiaceae) Associated With Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) Collected From Citrus reticulata (Sapindales: Rutaceae) and Alternate Host, Cordia myxa (Boraginales: Boraginaceae)
Authors: Guz Nurper , Arshad Muhammad , Cagatay Naciye Sena , Dageri Asli , Ullah Muhammad Irfan
Published: February 2020

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is an important insect pest of the citrus crop worldwide. It vectors the pathogen ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas) that causes a serious disease known as citrus greening. Here, we tested the infection frequency of Wolbachia and CLas from 100 D. citri individuals collected from two host plants belonging to families Rutaceae (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and Boraginaceae (Cordia myxa L.) using molecular methods. The following trend of endosymbionts infection in adult D. citri was found; 85.4% (35/41) by Wolbachia, and 19.5% (8/41) by CLas collected from C. reticulata plants and 65.4% (17/26) by Wolbachia, and 15.4% (4/26) by CLas in case of C. myxa plant. However, 61.5% (8/13) nymphs collected from C. reticulata and 20.0% (4/20) collected from C. myxa plants were infected by Wolbachia, while no nymph was infected by CLas collected from either host plants. Findings from this work represent the first report of CLas presence in D. citri feeding on C. myxa plants. By studying the presence of CLas with other endosymbiotic bacteria, future basic and applied research to develop control strategies can be prioritized.
The Illicit Benefits of Local Party Alignment in National Elections
Authors: Borcan Oana
Published: February 2020

How do central politicians in young democracies secure electoral support at grassroots level? I show that alignment with local governments is instrumental in swaying national elections through, inter alia, electoral fraud. A regression discontinuity design with Romanian local elections and a president impeachment referendum in 2012 uncovers higher referendum turnouts in localities aligned with the government coalition—the impeachment initiators. Electoral forensics tests present abnormal vote count distributions across polling stations, consistent with ballot stuffing. The alignment effect, driven by rural localities, may explain the clientelistic government transfers found in this context and documented worldwide. (JEL D72, D73, H77)
A two-state model for galaxy bias
Authors: Repp Andrew , Szapudi István
Published: February 2020

A reliable model of galaxy bias is necessary for interpreting data from future dense galaxy surveys. Conventional linear and quadratic bias models are unphysical, often predicting negative galaxy densities (δg < −1) in voids, which potentially contain half of a survey’s available cosmological information. Here we present a physically motivated alternative by assuming two energetically distinct subhalo states. Our approximations – namely, local galaxy formation, rough equivalence of galaxy-hosting subhaloes, and universal energetic favourability for the galaxy-hosting state – result in a bias model with only two free parameters; mathematically, the model (in the correct variables) yields a Fermi–Dirac distribution or (equivalently) an interactionless Ising model with an external field. The model yields sensible (and physical) predictions for both high- and low-density regions. We test the model using a catalogue of Millennium Simulation galaxies in cubical survey pixels with side lengths from 2 h−1–31 h−1 Mpc, at redshifts from 0 to 2. We find the two-state model markedly superior to linear and quadratic bias models on scales smaller than 10 h−1 Mpc, while those conventional models fare better on scales larger than 30 h−1 Mpc. Though the largest scale of applicability is likely to depend on the galaxy catalogue employed, the two-state model should be superior on any scale with a non-negligible fraction of cells devoid of galaxies.
A new white dwarf companion around the Δμ star GJ 3346
Authors: Bonavita M , Fontanive C , Desidera S , D’Orazi V , Zurlo A , Mužić K , Biller B , Gratton R , Mesa D , Sozzetti A
Published: February 2020

We present the discovery of a white dwarf companion at ∼3.6 arcsec from GJ 3346, a nearby (π ∼ 42 mas) K star observed with SPHERE@VLT as part of an open time survey for faint companions to objects with significant proper motion discrepancies (Δμ) between Gaia DR1 and Tycho-2. Syrius-like systems like GJ 3346 AB, which include a main-sequence star and a white dwarf, can be difficult to detect because of the intrinsic faintness of the latter. They have, however, been found to be common contaminants for direct imaging (DI) searches. White dwarfs have in fact similar brightness to substellar companions in the infrared, while being much brighter in the visible bands like those used by Gaia. Combining our observations with Gaia DR2 and with several additional archival data sets, we were able to fully constrain the physical properties of GJ 3346 B, such as its effective temperature (11 × 103 ± 500 K) as well as the cooling age of the system (648 ± 58 Myr). This allowed us to better understand the system history and to partially explain the discrepancies previously noted in the age indicators for this object. Although further investigation is still needed, it seems that GJ 3346, which was previously classified as young, is in fact most likely to be older than 4 Gyr. Finally, given that the mass (0.58 ± 0.01 M⊙) and separation (85 au) of GJ 3346 B are compatible with the observed Δμ, this discovery represents a further confirmation of the potential of this kind of dynamical signatures as selection methods for DI surveys targeting faint, substellar companions.
A systematic review of economic evaluations of antenatal nutrition and alcohol interventions and their associated implementation interventions
Authors: Szewczyk Zoe , Holliday Elizabeth , Dean Brittany , Collins Clare , Reeves Penny
Published: February 2020

Context

Improving maternal nutrition and promoting alcohol abstinence during pregnancy are key to reducing subsequent economic and social impacts. However, antenatal nutrition and alcohol interventions are underused, partly because economic evidence to support investment is limited.

Objective

The purpose of this systematic literature review was to assess the extent to which economic evaluations have been applied to antenatal public health interventions, and implementation strategies addressing maternal nutrition and alcohol intake.

Data Sources

Two separate systematic reviews were conducted to address the 2 stated aims. Both reviews adhered to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The searches were conducted using the following databases: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, EconLit, CINAHL, and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, accompanied by a handsearch of gray literature.

Data Extraction

Review 1 returned 9599 records after duplicates were removed, from which 12 economic evaluations were included. Review 2 returned 136 records after duplicates were removed, with none eligible for inclusion. The articles included in review 1 comprised 10 economic evaluations of nutrition interventions and 2 evaluations of alcohol interventions.

Data Analysis

Methodological quality was assessed using the Drummond 10-point quality checklist. Methodological quality was high, with variation in reporting practices and predominance of modeled evaluations.

Results

Antenatal nutrition and alcohol interventions offer value for money and have potential to considerably reduce healthcare costs. No evidence regarding intervention implementation cost was identified.

Conclusion

The current evidence base has important gaps that limit its value to decision makers. Incorporating health economic principles and methods into health promotion interventions will inform decisions about how to derive value from investment in healthcare.
Underground Railroad
Authors: Schweninger Loren
Published: February 2020

The Underground Railroad refers to efforts of “conductors” and “station masters” assisting slave “passengers” to escape from bondage. The term itself was not used until the late 1830s, although Runaways had plagued the South’s peculiar institution from its beginning. In theory, the escaping slaves were helped from one point to another point until they reached their final destination in the North or Canada. By the 1840s the term was used often. In 1842, an Albany, New York abolitionist newspaper reported that twenty-six fugitives had passed through the city, and that “all went by the underground railroad.” During the 1850s, the term came into general use as newspapers in the North, including the New York Times, described the Underground Railroad as “organized arrangements made in various sections of the county, to aid fugitives from slavery.” Some of the accounts tell of secret passageways, sliding wall panels, hidden rooms in “safe houses,” and dramatic escapes, as men, women, and children made their way to freedom. Although estimates vary, during the thirty years prior to the Civil War probably fewer than one or two thousand slaves escaped from the South to the North each year, through their own efforts or with the assistance of sympathetic whites and/or free blacks. If they were fortunate enough to cross the Mason-Dixon Line they were helped by free blacks and antislavery or abolitionist whites. It is clear that the Underground Railroad was neither a highly organized system with visibly defined routes and stations to assist escaping slaves, nor a system that remained in place over many years. Instead, it was a loose collection of local efforts, mostly in the North, to help fugitive blacks who began the journey from slavery to freedom. Vigilance committees thrived and then disintegrated only to be reconstituted in succeeding years. Tens of thousands of slaves each year ran away for various reasons but only a relative few were successful in securing freedom, and even then, many did so by their own individual efforts. Assistance offered to them was often brief and sporadic and the whites and blacks who did provide support many times feared possible discovery and realized they were indeed lawbreakers and subject to severe punishment.
AME Church
Authors: Dodson Jualynne Elizabeth
Published: February 2020

Organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the last decade of the 18th century by free African Americans, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is one of the oldest, centrally organized, Christian communions in the world founded and led by US African descendants. Independent-minded free Blacks chose separate Christian worship rather than suffer discriminating racist restrictions to their chosen worship practices. The entire number of African American members “walked out,” of Philadelphia’s white St. George Methodist Episcopal congregation, including the several women members. Richard Allen is the declared “iconic founder” of the denomination, though an original female member provided space for the earliest organizing meetings of what would become the AME Church. In 1816 the Pennsylvania court authorized the emerging group’s legal social status as a denomination. Earlier, a large congregation of African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, had joined the evolving AME Church, and the denomination continued to grow and expand for more than 200 years, almost equal the age of the United States of America itself. In the first half of the 19th century, a considerable number of AME congregations served as way-stations for self-liberated enslaved persons on the Underground Railroad, and the Church participated in conversations with and about “African Colonization of Free People of Color.” The denomination declined colonization and kept “African” in its name. During the US Civil War, as the Northern military freed Confederate territories, AME Church leaders were allowed to accept recently freed African descendants into the denomination. This brought into the Church the largest numbers of new members and resources ever seen. Currently, there are some 2,510,000 AME members; 3,817 pastors, and 7,000 congregations, and the denomination has belonged to the World Council of Churches since that body organized in 1948. The AME Church is an integral and essential component of US society and has a presence in nineteen African nations, in many countries of the Caribbean islands, and in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Guyana in South America. For more than two centuries, it has published hymnals, Sunday School literature, newspapers, periodical journals, histories of individuals, places and events, a wide variety of local memorabilia, and much more. The keeping of AME records has continued throughout its history and can serve as a great reservoir for future scholarship.
Negro League Baseball
Authors: Heaphy Leslie
Published: February 2020

The history of the Negro Leagues has been studied and written about by those in academia but also by many outside the academic world. Journalists, in particular, have contributed greatly to the study of the Negro Leagues. When one studies the Negro Leagues (in existence 1920–1960) it becomes apparent quite quickly that the broader idea of black baseball goes hand in hand with understanding the long and detailed history of African Americans’ participation in America’s national pastime. Much of the scholarship started after 1970 following the publication of the seminal work, Only the Ball Was White (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). Prior to 1970 most of the scholarship surrounding black baseball and the Negro Leagues came primarily from journalists writing about the individual players or teams. One exception to this would be some of the early works written about Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, focusing on their efforts to integrate Major League baseball. Another flurry of materials came out coinciding with the death of Robinson and the early election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for Robinson and Satchel Paige, the legendary pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs. The literature that exists today comes from a variety of academic disciplines and is not limited to historians. Articles and books are coming from history, journalism, economics, sports-related fields, sociology, English, and art history. What is lacking are primary source materials and journals devoted exclusively to the Negro Leagues.
Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims
Authors: Wu Nancy
Published: February 2020

The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims is one of the most important masterpieces in the history of architecture. Considered a paradigm of the French Gothic style, it is an immense structure designed with a sophisticated vision and constructed with innovative techniques. Traditionally believed to have begun in 1211, a year after a documented fire destroyed the previous cathedral (these dates have been challenged recently, see Prache 2005, cited under the 13th-Century Structure), the building is known for its stylistic uniformity and spacious compactness. Four architects, whose names are famously inscribed in the now-destroyed labyrinth (itself now serves as the logo of the monuments historiques), guided the construction through the 1290s. Views of the cathedral, still under construction, were included in Villard de Honnecourt’s drawings. A number of architectural elements associated with the French Gothic originated at Reims (bar tracery and wall passages), and the cathedral’s imposing west facade is decorated with such iconic images as the Visitation Group and the Smiling Angel. The mid-1230s work stoppage caused by civil unrest forced the workshops to seek employment elsewhere, thereby dispersing the rémois sculptural style especially in German-speaking lands. Much of the 13th-century stained glass on the upper levels has survived, decorated with complex ecclesiastical and royal iconography; similar narratives also appear in sculptures. The cathedral stands at the center of an elaborate archiepiscopal complex, with the archbishop’s palace (now the museum Palais du Tau) to its south and the claustral complex (demolished) to its north and east. In 496, according to Gregory of Tours, the Merovingian king Clovis was baptized by bishop Remi at the cathedral, an event that would lead to the privilege bestowed exclusively on archbishops of Reims to anoint and crown French kings. The historical and political significance of Reims Cathedral, especially its association with French identity both as a quintessential French Gothic building and as the coronation cathedral, was held hostage during World War I when German bombardment caused serious, often irreparable damage. Repair beginning at the end of World War I accidentally exposed foundations of earlier, pre-13th-century structures. The ensuing excavation and restoration work, meticulously documented, uncovered hitherto unknown archaeological information about pre-13th-century cathedrals. More than a century after the start of World War I, gestures of Franco-German reconciliation continue to unfold at Reims.
Vernacular Architecture
Authors: Falk Cynthia
Published: February 2020

Vernacular architecture refers to both a subject of study and a way of approaching that subject. Vernacular architecture studies emphasize the connections between the built environment and the people who interact with it, reflecting on the two-way nature of those relationships. People, sometimes known by name and sometimes anonymous, plan and erect buildings, but physical spaces also influence how groups and individuals use them. With this in mind, students of vernacular architecture often ask “why” questions, and they are likely to be interested in the entire life cycle of a building, its surroundings, and its interiors rather than just the moment of creation and exterior appearance. The scholarship on vernacular architecture contrasts with more typical architectural history in that it is concerned with the everyday. Ordinary buildings, landscapes, and interiors—the type of things that don’t often attract much attention—are its primary focus. The formal study of vernacular architecture is a relatively new pursuit. While interest in old buildings goes back centuries, it was really in the 1970s that the field developed its current trajectory. In the works that follow, architect-designed buildings are the exception rather than the rule. In terms of methodology, the unifying approach—regardless of type, date, or construction—involves fieldwork, which can mean documenting buildings and spaces through photography and the creation of measured drawings, as well as documenting the human experience through oral history and ethnographic methods. Documentary sources also play an important role in the study of vernacular architecture, especially when the subject involves the more distant past. The study of vernacular architecture is multidisciplinary. The authors of the following books, articles, and websites come from a variety of academic backgrounds, including art history, history, folklore, anthropology, archaeology, cultural geography, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, among others. Some teach in the academy, but others work at museums and historic sites, cultural resource management firms, historic preservation offices, and other governmental entities. In North America, the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) is the preeminent organization for the study of vernacular architecture. The VAF traces its roots, in part, to a similar organization, the Vernacular Architecture Group (VAG), which was established in England in 1952 with a focus on the British Isles.
Alhambra
Authors: Ruggles Fairchild D.
Published: February 2020

The Alhambra (from al-hamra, meaning “red”) is a complex of palaces and gardens that stands on the Sabika Hill overlooking the city of Granada, in southern Spain (the last remnant of the larger Muslim-ruled territory known as al-Andalus). The original palace was built to serve as the seat of the Zirid dynasty (r. 1012–1090), on even older Roman remains, but little remains of the ancient and Zirid phases. Most of the standing architecture dates to the 13th and 14th centuries and was built under the patronage of the Nasrid dynasty (1232–1492). The patrons who made the biggest impact on the palace-city were the Nasrid sultans Muhammad III (r. 1302–1309), Ismaʾil I (r. 1314–1325), Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354) and Muhammad V (r. 1354–1359 and 1362–1391). Built in phases by them, the Alhambra consists of not one but many palaces, including the so-called Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, the Partal, and others of which only archaeological traces remain, all enclosed by a great wall. The Alhambra’s various structures included massive gates, formal reception halls, less formal halls for entertainment, residential rooms and towers, a congregational mosque and smaller oratories, multiple bathhouses, courtyards with central fountains and pools, an aqueduct, gardens, service buildings, and a highly fortified area for the military. Across a ravine stands the Generalife (built between 1302 and 1319), a pleasure palace for the Nasrid sultan and his family. When Granada was conquered by the Catholic Monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492, the Nasrids were sent into exile and the Alhambra and Generalife became property of the Crown. But, aside from brief visits, the Spanish rulers did not reside at the palace and made few changes to it, with the exception of the enormous palace added by Charles V in 1533. In the 19th century, as the complex attracted more visitors, the government began to restore the crumbling fabric. By 1870 the Alhambra was declared a Monumento Histórico Artístico Nacional and placed under the protection of the state. The complex became a UNESCO World Heritage monument in 1984.
Garden City
Authors: Banerji Shiben
Published: February 2020

The garden city is notoriously difficult to define. The sheer variety of forms, social goals, and institutional arrangements associated with the garden city since its inception at the close of the 19th century invalidate any attempt to fix its physical attributes, class character, or political meanings. The proliferation of terms such as garden suburb, garden village, Faubourg-jardin, Gartensiedlung, tuinstadt, and den-entoshi further complicates the subject. The uses and meanings of these terms are integral to the history of the transnational routes of the garden city. The heterogeneity of the garden city cannot be explained away as the inevitable evolution of an idea as it came to be applied in different societies. Instead, each invocation, incarnation, and translation of the garden city should be analyzed as a distinct act of inscribing new spatial, social, economic, and political relations. Although this vein of criticism is gaining currency, notably in recent histories of the garden city in the ex-colonial world, earlier scholarship tends to presuppose the existence of a unitary garden city movement. Attending to the garden city as if it were a text would allow for careful analysis of the different meanings of the garden city among real estate developers, architects, planners, organized labor, and New Age religious movements. Recovering the texture of garden city projects would reveal their work in producing new economic and political contexts. It would also uncover the place of the garden city as a physical and discursive site for delineating cultural difference within and across societies. Approaching the garden city as if it were a text would recuperate the pivotal role of books and journals in the transnational formation of the garden city. Conceptually and etymologically, a text is a weaving of different strands that is always susceptible to coming undone in its encounter with a reader. Moving beyond the stated intention of garden city pioneers and tracking the often-fraught encounter between competing ideas animating urban design and planning projects is essential for recovering the entanglement of the garden city in the globalization of capital, people, and ideas in the first half of the 20th century.
Gothic Revival/Gothick
Authors: Glaser Stephanie A.
Published: February 2020

Gothic Revival designates a key moment in architectural history. It also refers to the use of Gothic forms and motifs in furniture, design, and the decorative arts. It is inextricably connected to the reawakened interest in medieval architecture that began in the 18th century and that provided both its scholarly basis and intellectual context. Thus, Gothic Revival comprises neo-Gothic artifacts as well as the antiquarian, scholarly, and literary texts that fueled it. Scholars distinguish between Gothic Revival and Survival. “Survival” refers to the continued use of the Gothic style in post-medieval building, whereas “Revival” describes the reuse of Gothic details. As an aesthetic term, in 16th-century Italy “Gothic” was associated with the “barbaric” medieval style and by the 18th-century it was equated with bad taste. “Gothick” was used for 18th-century garden architecture, design, and buildings, such as Walpole’s villa at Strawberry Hill or the Gothic House at Wörlitz, both playful amalgamations of Gothic motifs. Lenoir followed a similar aesthetic when he created monuments from the rubble of the French Revolution. With the rise of antiquarian studies and a growing number of architects schooled in the Gothic style, the Revival grew in impetus and importance through the 19th century. Frivolous Gothick gave way to an archeologically informed style that characterized the work of Pugin and Viollet-le-Duc. Neo-Gothic was adopted by Catholics and Protestants alike and promoted by local and national governments. Monumental restoration and completion of edifices such as Notre-Dame de Paris and Cologne Cathedral also played an important role. Significantly, Gothic Revival reflected each nation’s understanding of its history: in England it was nostalgic, looking back to a lost golden age; in France, Gothic forged a continuity with a past irreparably severed by the French Revolution; in the German-speaking lands Gothic was considered to symbolize the lost unity of the medieval German Empire, which meant that the German Revival was forward looking toward future political and religious unity. Creativity and eclecticism characterized the later Gothic Revival, with Romanesque, Byzantine, and Rundbogen styles becoming viable alternatives to Gothic. Scholarship on Gothic Revival dates to the late 19th century, when Eastlake set the pattern for the scholarly discourse. In the early 20th century, Clark and Abraham negatively appraised the Revival, a stance that English architectural historians began to revise in the 1940s. By the 1970s, England, France, and Germany were considered the center of Gothic Revival. In the 1990s Gothic Revival was recognized to be a pan-European phenomenon, and in the 21st century scholars have assiduously explored Gothic’s worldwide spread. This article reflects these scholarly developments.
Architecture of Japan - Middle (Kofun-Nara)
Authors: Walley Akiko
Published: February 2020

In present Japanese periodization, the Kofun to Nara periods are bookended by the emergence of monumental tumuli across the Japanese archipelago in the 4th century and the abandonment of the short-lived “permanent” capital, Nagaoka-kyō, to the newly established Heian-kyō (present day Kyoto) in 794. The period generally corresponds to the rise of the Yamato polity in the 4th and 5th centuries. The “Great Kings” of Yamato amassed allies and campaigned to subjugate the “barbarians” to the north and south of the archipelago, while organizing diplomatic missions to the kingdoms and dynasties on the Korean peninsula and China. In 663, it dispatched the first organized military expedition across the sea to fight alongside Baekje against the combined forces of Silla and Tang, suffering a monumental loss. Since then, Yamato spearheaded active adoption and implementation of Chinese-style polity, eventually succeeding in establishing a planned city and administrative structure in Heijō-kyō (710–784). Through the latter half of the 7th into early 8th centuries, the educated elites increasingly gained proficiency in the Chinese writing system, as the first phonetic system of representing Japanese developed. The period was also when Buddhism was embraced and disseminated, and the mythological origins of the Great Kings (later “emperors”) and their powerful allies were established, providing new philosophical foundations that defined and legitimized their political authority. In short, Kofun-Nara was a dynamic incipient period of state formation, which required massive construction projects from tombs, temples, and shrines, to gridded cities. What remains still standing, however, are just a handful of examples. The scholarship on architectural history of this period, thus, inevitably overlaps with archaeology. Due to ongoing robust excavation projects and advancement in scientific technology, any study of this period is now quickly surpassed by new research. Unfortunately, there are not enough scholars working in this field outside of Japan to keep up with the rate of new discoveries published each year in Japanese. Ancient Japanese art and architectural history remains one of the fields with the greatest gap between what research is available in Japanese and any Western language. The intent of this list is to introduce a selection of foundational studies in English (with few accessible Japanese works to supplement), which can serve as a springboard for future research in other languages for interested students and scholars.