bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Temperature variation in nest boxes occupied by arboreal mammals during winter in southern Australia
Authors: Goldingay Ross L. , Thomas Karen J.
Published: May 2022

We investigated nest temperatures in nest boxes occupied by single lactating brush-tailed phascogales (n = 8 boxes) and 1–3 adult sugar gliders (n = 7 boxes) when overnight ambient temperature dropped to <5°C. Temperature in the nest decreased or increased rapidly as animals vacated or re-occupied their nests. In the hour following first night-time departure, temperatures in sugar glider nests dropped by 9°C but only by 4°C in phascogale nests. The slower rate in phascogale nests was due to the presence of nestlings. Phascogales returned repeatedly to the nest during the night, resulting in an average 15°C differential above ambient over the night (2200–0500 h). Gliders returned infrequently during the night, resulting in an average nest-ambient differential of 3–5°C. After departure some glider nests tracked ambient to <0°C. The ability of nests to insulate and moderate temperature fluctuations requires further study. Our study highlights that we have incomplete knowledge of many aspects of the nesting ecology of cavity-using Australian mammals.
A comparative study on friction stir welding of tailor weld blanks
Authors: Majeed Tanveer , Noor Siddiquee Arshad , Mehta Yashwant , Ansari Nooruddin , Nadeem Alam Md , Fayaz Lone Nadeem
Published: May 2022

The effect of single-pass (SP) and double-pass (DP) friction stir welding (FSW) on metallographic and mechanical properties of joints was investigated in this study. Uniform temperature distribution across the weld cross-section was obtained during double-pass FSW (DP-FSW). SEM and EDS analyses showed an increase in the fraction of second phase particles (SPPs) and the formation of new SPPs by DP-FSW. An increase in hardness values by 13.3% and a severe decrease in joint efficiency by 46.7% were observed by DP-FSW. Fractography examination of fractured surfaces of welded specimens showed a quasi-cleavage and ductile mode of failure in SP and DP joints, respectively. The potentiodynamic polarisation test of base metal and welded specimens indicated the high corrosion resistance of welded specimens.
Diffuse Interstellar Bands λ6379, λ6614, and λ6660 in the LAMOST-MRS Spectra
Authors: Wu Ke-Fei , Luo A-Li , Chen Jian-Jun , Hou Wen , Zhao Yong-Heng
Published: May 2022

Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) have always been a mysterious existence in astronomical research. In this work, we provide more DIB samples to slightly uncover this mystery. With the LAMOST medium-resolution survey (MRS) spectra, we detected three DIBs λ6379, λ6614, and λ6660, obviously superimposed on the spectra of 11,003 stars. These spectra cover spectral types from O to K, which can provide a large number of candidates for further research on DIBs. The sample shows a clear positive correlation between the strength of DIBs and extinction, which agrees with the result in the literature. In addition, there exist two peaks in each of the velocity distribution of these three DIBs, and the velocity differences between two peaks of each pair are consistent. The reason for the two velocity components is due to the Galactic rotation.
Multifunctional neurosynaptic devices for human perception systems
Authors: Wen Wei , Guo Yunlong , Liu Yunqi
Published: May 2022

The traditional Von Neumann architecture for processing information is difficult to meet the needs of the big data era, while low-power, small-sized neurosynaptic devices can operate and store information, so that they have received extensive attention. Due to the development of artificial intelligence and robotics, neurosynaptic devices have been given high expectations and requirements. The trend of functionalization, intelligence, and integration of computing and storage is obvious. In this review, the basic principles and types of neurosynaptic devices are summarized, the achievements of neurosynaptic devices for human perception systems are discussed and a prospect on the development trend is also given.
Characterization of interfaces: Lessons from the past for the future of perovskite solar cells
Authors: Wang Wanlong , Zhang Dongyang , Liu Rong , Gangadharan Deepak Thrithamarassery , Tan Furui , Saidaminov Makhsud I.
Published: May 2022

A photovoltaic technology historically goes through two major steps to evolve into a mature technology. The first step involves advances in materials and is usually accompanied by the rapid improvement of power conversion efficiency. The second step focuses on interfaces and is usually accompanied by significant stability improvement. As an emerging generation of photovoltaic technology, perovskite solar cells are transitioning to the second step of their development when a significant focus shifts toward interface studies and engineering. While various interface engineering strategies have been developed, interfacial characterization is crucial to show the effectiveness of interfacial modification. Here, we review the characterization techniques that have been utilized in studying interface properties in perovskite solar cells. We first summarize the main roles of interfaces in perovskite solar cells, and then we discuss some typical characterization methodologies for morphological, optical, and electrical studies of interfaces. Successful experiences and existing problems are analyzed when discussing some commonly used methods. We then analyze the challenges and provide an outlook for further development of interfacial characterizations. This review aims to evoke strengthened research devotion on novel and persuasive interfacial engineering.
Central Java regional geochemistry: influence of environmental geology and mineral occurrences
Authors: Sendjaja P , Kusniadi A , Setiawan V E
Published: May 2022

Stream sediments geochemical surveys were undertaken in Central Java, Indonesia as a part of the Geological Agency’s geochemical mapping project with support from several universities. A total of 1583 stream sediment samples were collected from Central Java and analyzed using X-Ray Fluoresces for 29 elements. Geochemical maps were processed by the GIS software. Based on the overlay between geological and geochemical maps, there are several elemental anomalies, for example, the ultramafic formation from Kebumen showing distinctive Chromium (Cr), Cobalt (Co), and Magnesium (Mg) anomalies. Meanwhile, the potassic igneous rocks from Muria Mountain have Cerium (Ce), Lanthanum (La), and Zirconium (Zr) anomalies. Elemental anomalies related to mineral resources and mining areas such as Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu), and Lead (Pb) are found in Trenggalek, Pacitan, and Kebumen; while Barium (Ba), Iron (Fe), and Manganese (Mn) are scattered along the southern coast of Central Java. Anthropogenic elements (Chlorine (Cl), Ce, and As) spread along the north coast of Central Java probably because of pollution by industrial, farming, and urban areas. Heavy metals pollutions that were identified previously in the Bengawan Solo River flow can be seen on this geochemical map which can convincingly delineate elements anomalies due to geological and environmental conditions.
The Role of Crystal Fraction to Relative Magma Viscosity: An Approach to Understand the Explosive Caldera-Forming Volcanism of Raung Volcano
Authors: Sauqi Firman , Abdurrachman Mirzam , Kurniawan Idham Andri
Published: May 2022

Explosive volcanism is one of the deadliest volcanic hazards. The characteristics of the magma chamber that cause explosive eruptions need to be studied more deeply. Raung Volcano in East Java is an example of volcano that has a history of explosive eruptions that marked by a 2 km wide caldera. Petrographic analysis was carried out on selected 4 basaltic lava samples to determine the composition and proportion of minerals. Then, an analysis of the viscosity of the magma was carried out in relative terms using the shape and size configuration of the crystals. The comparison between the percentage of crystals and the relative viscosity value shows a positive correlation which indicates that there is an effect of the number of crystals on the viscosity of the magma. The increase in the viscosity of magma that occurred in the pre-caldera lava eruption of Raung Volcano indicates an intensive crystallization. This is supported by petrographic data which shows a porphyritic texture with a phenocryst of more than 40%. Plagioclase crystals become quite dominant crystals (> 30%). Based on this, it can be interpreted that the crystallization process occurred intensively in the shallow magma pocket of Raung Volcano.
Building blocks of a flip-chip integrated superconducting quantum processor
Authors: Kosen Sandoko , Li Hang-Xi , Rommel Marcus , Shiri Daryoush , Warren Christopher , Grönberg Leif , Salonen Jaakko , Abad Tahereh , Biznárová Janka , Caputo Marco , Chen Liangyu , Grigoras Kestutis , Johansson Göran , Kockum Anton Frisk , Križan Christian , Lozano Daniel Pérez , Norris Graham J , Osman Amr , Fernández-Pendás Jorge , Ronzani Alberto , Roudsari Anita Fadavi , Simbierowicz Slawomir , Tancredi Giovanna , Wallraff Andreas , Eichler Christopher , Govenius Joonas , Bylander Jonas
Published: May 2022

We have integrated single and coupled superconducting transmon qubits into flip-chip modules. Each module consists of two chips—one quantum chip and one control chip—that are bump-bonded together. We demonstrate time-averaged coherence times exceeding 90 μs, single-qubit gate fidelities exceeding 99.9%, and two-qubit gate fidelities above 98.6%. We also present device design methods and discuss the sensitivity of device parameters to variation in interchip spacing. Notably, the additional flip-chip fabrication steps do not degrade the qubit performance compared to our baseline state-of-the-art in single-chip, planar circuits. This integration technique can be extended to the realisation of quantum processors accommodating hundreds of qubits in one module as it offers adequate input/output wiring access to all qubits and couplers.
Deafness
Authors: Bonds Mark Evan
Published: May 2022

‘Deafness’ traces the progression and effects of Beethoven’s growing deafness, which he first noticed sometime around 1798. His pain was both physical and emotional and came to a head in the fall of 1802 toward the end of a months-long stay in the spa village of Heiligenstadt, where he wrote the so-called Heiligenstadt Testament, an extraordinary verbal outpouring of both frustration and resolve. Beethoven eventually had to give up performing in public, both as a pianist and conductor, but the malady did not prevent him from pursuing composition to the very end of his life.
Money
Authors: Bonds Mark Evan
Published: May 2022

‘Money’ argues that money was a source of constant anxiety for Beethoven, and understandably so, for when it came to making a living as an independent composer, his ideals collided with reality in ways that were brutal at times. Throughout his career he sought a fixed court position that would assure him a steady and reliable source of income. He failed at every turn. Bad timing played a major role: two decades of war and inflation had drained the coffers of those aristocratic families that had grown accustomed to employing their own private orchestras and the directors to lead them. Beethoven was compelled to cobble together income from a variety of sources: performing (as pianist and as a conductor), teaching piano and composition (neither of which he enjoyed), and the sale of his published works. By his own admission, the composer had to be careful about which genres might succeed in the marketplace. A substantial annuity from three patrons in 1809, granted on the condition that Beethoven remain in Vienna, provided a temporary source of steady income, but it never amounted to what the composer had been promised.
Politics
Authors: Bonds Mark Evan
Published: May 2022

‘Politics’ explains that Beethoven was born into a world of strict social hierarchies and as an artist occupied something of a middle ground between nobility and commoners. He was eighteen years old when the French Revolution broke out, and he witnessed changes that transformed not only the map of Europe but its mind as well. Small wonder, then, that his own political views so often seem contradictory. He at times admired Napoleon and at times despised him. He professed sympathy for commoners but did not want to be treated like one and never corrected those who mistook in the “van” in his name—a common surname prefix in the Low Countries—for “von,” an indicator of nobility in German-speaking lands.
“Beethoven”
Authors: Bonds Mark Evan
Published: May 2022

‘Beethoven’ asks why Beethoven’s contemporaries knew relatively little about him as an individual. It was only after his death that an image of him began to emerge, fuelled by the discovery and publication of the Heiligenstadt Testament, the letter to the Immortal Beloved, and a series of reminiscences and biographies. More and more, the public came to hear Beethoven’s music as a form of sonic autobiography, and critics went to great lengths to associate specific events in his life with specific compositions. Beethoven’s reputation as the most consequential composer in the history of Western music grew exponentially in the century after his death. The many monuments and statues erected in his honour bear witness to a sense of intense national and cultural pride on the part of Germans, who regarded him as the musical counterpart to Goethe. Over time, political parties from the far left to the far right would co-opt Beethoven’s music to serve their various causes. His hold on popular culture continues unabated, having found its way into disco, rap, and popular song, and his life has been the subject of multiple feature-length films.
Modern challenges
Authors: Stackhouse John G.
Published: May 2022

‘Modern challenges’ evaluates how modernity poses several key challenges to evangelical religion. These include Biblical criticism and liberal theology; science and secularism; imperialism and social justice; and other religious alternatives. As evangelicalism expanded, it did not always and everywhere thrive. Within Christian circles, in Western cultures at large, and in engagement with other societies around the world, evangelicalism faced indifference, resistance, persecution, and even the subversion of its most fundamental convictions. However, evangelicalism generally flourished as modernity advanced because its fundamental traits both reinforce and are reinforced by the fundamental traits of modernity. Modernity has nonetheless exacted a toll on evangelicalism and may yet co-opt or conquer it.
7. The later reception of Sparta
Authors: Bayliss Andrew J.
Published: May 2022

‘The later reception of Sparta’ addresses the ‘reception’ of Sparta in modern culture. This includes the ways in which the ancient testimony about the Spartans has been transmitted, interpreted, represented, and reimagined by later societies. Many Enlightenment-period thinkers stressed their admiration for the Spartans and their way of life. But other Enlightenment-era commentators were less convinced, and many of the Founding Fathers of the USA were critical of Sparta. Meanwhile, the dark ends to which admiration of Sparta can lead are best seen in Nazi Germany where Spartophilia was linked to official policy. The image of Sparta in films and fiction is an interesting area to examine as well. Also, it is a fact that sporting teams around the globe have invoked the Spartan legend to promote team spirit.
Genetically predicted on-statin LDL response is associated with higher intracerebral haemorrhage risk
Authors: Mayerhofer Ernst , Malik Rainer , Parodi Livia , Burgess Stephen , Harloff Andreas , Dichgans Martin , Rosand Jonathan , Anderson Christopher D , Georgakis Marios K
Published: May 2022

Statins lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and are widely used for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Whether statin-induced low-density lipoprotein reduction increases risk of intracerebral haemorrhage has been debated for almost two decades. Here, we explored whether genetically predicted on-statin low-density lipoprotein response is associated with intracerebral haemorrhage risk using Mendelian randomization. Using genomic data from randomized trials, we derived a polygenic score from 35 single nucleotide polymorphisms of on-statin low-density lipoprotein response and tested it in the population-based UK Biobank. We extracted statin drug and dose information from primary care data on a subset of 225 195 UK Biobank participants covering a period of 29 years. We validated the effects of the genetic score on longitudinal low-density lipoprotein measurements with generalized mixed models and explored associations with incident intracerebral haemorrhage using Cox regression analysis. Statins were prescribed at least once to 75 973 (31%) of the study participants (mean 57 years, 55% females). Among statin users, mean low-density lipoprotein decreased by 3.45 mg/dl per year [95% confidence interval (CI): (−3.47, −3.42)] over follow-up. A higher genetic score of statin response [1 standard deviation (SD) increment] was associated with significant additional reductions in low-density lipoprotein levels [−0.05 mg/dl per year, (−0.07, −0.02)], showed concordant lipidomic effects on other lipid traits as statin use and was associated with a lower risk for incident myocardial infarction [hazard ratio per SD increment 0.98 95% CI (0.96, 0.99)] and peripheral artery disease [hazard ratio per SD increment 0.93 95% CI (0.87, 0.99)]. Over a 11-year follow-up period, a higher genetically predicted statin response among statin users was associated with higher intracerebral haemorrhage risk in a model adjusting for statin dose [hazard ratio per SD increment 1.16, 95% CI (1.05, 1.28)]. On the contrary, there was no association with intracerebral haemorrhage risk among statin non-users (P = 0.89). These results provide further support for the hypothesis that statin-induced low-density lipoprotein reduction may be causally associated with intracerebral haemorrhage risk. While the net benefit of statins for preventing vascular disease is well-established, these results provide insights about the personalized response to statin intake and the role of pharmacological low-density lipoprotein lowering in the pathogenesis of intracerebral haemorrhage.
Medullary kappa-opioid receptor neurons inhibit pain and itch through a descending circuit
Authors: Nguyen Eileen , Smith Kelly M , Cramer Nathan , Holland Ruby A , Bleimeister Isabel H , Flores-Felix Krystal , Silberberg Hanna , Keller Asaf , Le Pichon Claire E , Ross Sarah E
Published: May 2022

In perilous and stressful situations, the ability to suppress pain can be critical for survival. The rostral ventromedial medulla contains neurons that robustly inhibit nocioception at the level of the spinal cord through a top-down modulatory pathway. Although much is known about the role of the rostral ventromedial medulla in the inhibition of pain, the precise ability to directly manipulate pain-inhibitory neurons in the rostral ventromedial medulla has never been achieved. We now expose a cellular circuit that inhibits nocioception and itch in mice.

Through a combination of molecular, tracing and behavioural approaches, we found that rostral ventromedial medulla neurons containing the kappa-opioid receptor inhibit itch and nocioception. With chemogenetic inhibition, we uncovered that these neurons are required for stress-induced analgesia. Using intersectional chemogenetic and pharmacological approaches, we determined that rostral ventromedial medulla kappa-opioid receptor neurons inhibit nocioception and itch through a descending circuit. Lastly, we identified a dynorphinergic pathway arising from the periaqueductal grey that modulates nociception within the rostral ventromedial medulla. These discoveries highlight a distinct population of rostral ventromedial medulla neurons capable of broadly and robustly inhibiting itch and nocioception.
Surface C, N, O, and Na abundances of RR Lyrae variables implying the nature of internal mixing in low-mass stars
Authors: Takeda Yoichi
Published: May 2022

Photospheric abundances of C, N, O, and Na were determined by applying the synthetic spectrum-fitting technique to 34 snap-shot high-dispersion spectra of 22 RR Lyr stars covering a metallicity range of $-1.8 \lesssim$ [Fe/H] $\lesssim 0.0$, with an aim of investigating the mixing mechanism in the interior of low-mass giant stars by examining the abundance anomalies of these elements possibly affected by the evolution-induced dredge-up of nuclear burning products. Special attention was paid to check the recent theoretical stellar evolution simulations indicating the importance of thermohaline mixing in low-mass stars ($M \lesssim$ 1 M⊙), which is expected to be more significant as the metallicity is lowered. By inspecting the resulting abundances in comparison with those of unevolved metal-poor dwarfs at the same metallicity, the deficiency in C as well as enrichment in N was confirmed (while O is almost unchanged), the extent of peculiarities tending to increase with a decrease in [Fe/H]. Accordingly, the [C/N] ratio turned out to progressively decrease towards lower metallicity from ∼0 ([Fe/H] ∼0) to ∼−1 ([Fe/H] ∼−1.5), which is reasonably consistent with the theoretical prediction in the presence of thermohaline mixing. However, these RR Lyr stars do not show any apparent Na anomaly (i.e. essentially the same [Na/Fe] versus [Fe/H] trends as those of dwarfs), despite that metallicity-dependent overabundance in Na is theoretically expected for the case of non-canonical mixing. This inconsistency between C/N and Na may suggest a necessity of further improvement in the current theory.
FuzDrop on AlphaFold: visualizing the sequence-dependent propensity of liquid–liquid phase separation and aggregation of proteins
Authors: Hatos Andras , Tosatto Silvio C E , Vendruscolo Michele , Fuxreiter Monika
Published: May 2022

Many proteins perform their functions within membraneless organelles, where they form a liquid-like condensed state, also known as droplet state. The FuzDrop method predicts the probability of spontaneous liquid–liquid phase separation of proteins and provides a sequence-based score to identify the regions that promote this process. Furthermore, the FuzDrop method estimates the propensity of conversion of proteins to the amyloid state, and identifies aggregation hot-spots, which can drive the irreversible maturation of the liquid-like droplet state. These predictions can also identify mutations that can induce formation of amyloid aggregates, including those implicated in human diseases. To facilitate the interpretation of the predictions, the droplet-promoting and aggregation-promoting regions can be visualized on protein structures generated by AlphaFold. The FuzDrop server (https://fuzdrop.bio.unipd.it) thus offers insights into the complex behavior of proteins in their condensed states and facilitates the understanding of the functional relationships of proteins.
Metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease predicts new onset of chronic kidney disease better than fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Tanaka Marenao , Mori Kazuma , Takahashi Satoko , Higashiura Yukimura , Ohnishi Hirofumi , Hanawa Nagisa , Furuhashi Masato
Published: May 2022

Background

Possible associations of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with fatty liver (FL) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have recently been focused on. Metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), defined as FL with overweight/obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus or metabolic abnormalities, has been proposed as a new feature of chronic liver disease. However, the relationship between MAFLD and new onset of CKD has not been fully addressed.

Methods

We investigated the associations of FL, NAFLD and MAFLD with the development of CKD, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or positive for urinary protein, over a 10-year period in 28 890 Japanese subjects who received annual health examinations. After exclusion of subjects with no data for abdominal ultrasonography and subjects with CKD at baseline, a total of 13 159 subjects (men 8581, women 4578; mean age 48 years) were recruited.

Results

The prevalence of FL, NAFLD and MAFLD was 34.6% (men 45.1%, women 15.1%), 32.8% (men 42.7%, women 14.5%) and 32.3% (men 42.4%, women 13.4%), respectively. During the 10-year follow-up period, 2163 subjects (men 1475, women 688) had new onset of CKD. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards model analyses showed that MAFLD [hazard ratio 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.02–1.26); P = .027] but not FL or NAFLD was an independent risk factor for new onset of CKD after adjustment of age, sex, eGFR, current smoking habit, ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, overweight/obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia. The addition of MAFLD [continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) 0.154, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) 0.0024] to traditional risk factors without metabolic abnormalities significantly improved the discriminatory capacity better than did the addition of FL (NRI 0.138, IDI 0.0018) or NAFLD (NRI 0.132, IDI 0.0017).

Conclusions

MAFLD is modestly and independently associated with new onset of CKD and predicts the risk for development of CKD better than FL or NAFLD.
Competition and Goal Pursuit: A Temporally Dynamic Model
Authors: Huang Szu-chi , Lin Stephanie
Published: May 2022

Competition is prevalent in goal pursuit. These goals may explicitly include outperforming others in a competition, or they can be implicit, such that people internally compare and compete with peers during the pursuit of their own individual goals. In this chapter, we examine competitions from the perspective of goal pursuit theories and answer the critical question of when each driver of motivation should exert the most impact in explicit and implicit competitions. We present a temporally dynamic goal pursuit model that explains how people’s motivation and effort exertion evolve over the course of explicit competition, as well as how, and when, people may implicitly compete and even sabotage others who are pursuing an individual goal alongside them.
Culture as the Configuration and Condensation of Experience
Authors: Lipsitz George
Published: May 2022

In his cultural criticism and creative works, Du Bois followed premises and principles central to his social science scholarship, devoting special attention to the particular and specific uses and effects of culture in concrete social and historical circumstances. As both a creative artist and cultural critic, Du Bois put to use what he had learned about the ontology of Black life from direct empirical study of it, and he gave back to Black people works of scholarship, art, and activism that mirrored their own dignity and worth. From his perspective, works of art functioned as configurations and condensations of social experience that produced political effects and served political purposes. One principle that remained constant in his oeuvre was the conviction that creating music, literature, theatre, and visual art cannot be separated from social practice; that regardless of the intent of its auteurs, art inevitably serves political ends.
What Went Wrong?
Authors: Salvatore Armando , Obuse Kieko
Published: May 2022

This introductory chapter raises the questions of how and why sociology has contributed to the construction of the “Middle East” as an area of study through a process of geocultural mapping—but also, and conversely, how this fiction has influenced the formation of key coordinates within the dominant paradigms of Western sociology. It explores how the Euro-American fiction of the Middle East (often supported by the Western orientalist essentialization of Islam) has led, through various twists and turns, from the late 19th century to the beginning of the 21st, to the portrayal of the Middle East in a contrasting chiaroscuro to the Western self-image as the harbinger of social progress and secular culture. The chapter argues that the Middle East provides a theoretical borderland in the history of sociological thought, given that the Western fiction of the Middle East as a region is integral to the historical role that sociology has played in the Western construction of modernity. It concludes by suggesting that the sociology of the Middle East needs to deepen its critical examination of its relations with the legacy of Western colonialism and the new dynamics of global power. This step requires an integration of the study of “South-South” and “East-East” connectedness and circulation in history and the present—all while resisting the temptation of a full “indigenization” of sociological knowledge, which risks reproducing the false binaries of modernity/progress versus authenticity/tradition: epistemic ghosts that the Western sociological canon has conjured up in order to perpetuate the West’s own intellectual hegemony.
Middle East or “Middle Earth”?
Authors: Obuse Kieko , Salvatore Armando
Published: May 2022

This concluding chapter extends the historical sociology of knowledge of the Middle East introduced at the beginning of the volume through a shift of perspective, from Western fictions of the region to alternative constructions developed within the purported East. This perspective links the Ottoman Empire and its legacy with pre–World War II and postwar Japan. The chapter challenges the idea that the West has held a monopoly in demarcating and sectioning the East by exploring the Japanese transgression and, later, integration of the West’s Middle East into a more comprehensive “Middle Earth” partly overlapping with the Islamosphere, reckoned as a transregional force. By unraveling some of the historic “East-East” involvements that decenter the genealogy of the Middle East from the Western hegemonic fiction, the chapter illustrates how the Middle East of Western hegemony could be deconstructed, provincialized, and recontextualized by disentangling and complexifying the univocal (and power-laden) East-West, Far-Near coordinates dictated by Western Orientalism and imperialism.
Buddhism and the “Natural” Environment
Authors: Shaw Julia
Published: May 2022

This chapter explores archaeology’s contribution to scholarly understandings of Buddhist attitudes toward the “natural” environment and the relevance of such material for global discourse on the contemporary climate-change and biodiversity crises. It draws on evidence from central India for monastic engagement with food production, land and water use in lowland zones, as well as attitudes toward, and engagement with, upland forested areas, including the monastic occupation of prehistoric rock-shelters clustered around hilltops that were developed into architectural monastery complexes during the late centuries bce. Both sets of evidence need to be viewed together in order to address critically text-based discourse on Buddhist environmental ethics with its predominant focus on Buddhist attitudes toward the suffering of animals and the “beauty” of “nature,” over and above human-centric variables, and to reassess art-historical discourse on monastic gardens as arenas for transcending and viewing “nature” from a distance. Such an approach also helps to break down socially constructed polarizations between “peripheral” forests and “productive” lowland agriculture that have long since shaped discourse on India’s religious, political, and environmental history.
Buddhist Healing Practices
Authors: Craig Sienna R.
Published: May 2022

This chapter discusses Buddhist approaches to healing, health, and illness within the context of Himalayan and Tibetan communities. It is framed around an ethnographic exploration of how practitioners of Sowa Rigpa (gso ba rig pa), the Tibetan “science of healing,” responded to the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal. By highlighting the roles of these practitioners—at once doctors and monks or tantric ritual specialists—in responding to individual and collective suffering, this chapter discusses the relationship between medical and Buddhist practice. In describing Sowa Rigpa as a major Asian healing tradition, this chapter explores the causes and conditions of human suffering, and the possibilities to respond to that suffering. It also sheds light on the similarities and differences between conventional humanitarianism and a Buddhist response to crisis.
Pilgrimage
Authors: Reader Ian
Published: May 2022

Pilgrimage in Buddhism derives from the roots of the historical tradition. Initially ascetic, it expresses core doctrines and has played a role in the spread of Buddhism. Asceticism, however, is not essential to Buddhist pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is often associated with expressions of worldly practical needs and benefits, along with the pragmatic use of ways to make travel easier and allow more people to make pilgrimages. Buddhism has produced multiple pilgrimage sites from the transnational to the local. Many such sites are expressions of particular cultural and ethnic identities, as much or more than they are specifically Buddhist. Moreover, there is little (if anything) specifically “Buddhist” about Buddhist pilgrimages; pilgrimage is a virtually universal phenomenon and whatever practices and concepts one finds in Buddhist pilgrimage can be readily found in other (non-Buddhist) contexts.
Aural Practices of Chanting and Protection
Authors: Deegalle Mahinda
Published: May 2022

This chapter examines the power and associated practices of the recited word in Theravada Buddhist traditions. It highlights Sri Lankan Buddhist recitation practices, considering a variety of recitations and their ritually performed contexts across several historical and literary periods. It examines the rhythmic chanting of Buddhist “discourses” (suttas) as paritta (recitation for protection) as the foremost chanting practice, as well as other chanting practices such as recitations of prose Pali texts, specific verse (gāthā) texts of the Dhammapada, as well as popular recitations of Sinhala poems (kavi). Vernacular chantings used during the pilgrimage to Śrī Pāda are also examined.
Practices of Veneration and Offering
Authors: Samuels Jeffrey
Published: May 2022

This chapter explores Buddhist practices of veneration and offerings. In focusing on the three jewels or gems, the author looks at how the Buddha, the teachings (Dharma), and the monastic community (sangha) are venerated across multiple traditions in Asia through practices of giving and paying homage. It also explores pilgrimage as a form of veneration, as well as the role that emotions and aesthetics play in the process. Finally, drawing on his own research on Malaysian Buddhism, the author uses the Buddhist celebration of Vesak to examine how practices of veneration and offerings may be used as a process of identity formation in a globalized, modern nation-state.
Monastic Authority in Medieval Japan
Authors: Meeks Lori
Published: May 2022

The thirteenth-century revival of the ancient convent Hokkeji is a useful case study for thinking about monastic authority in pre-modern Japanese Buddhism. By this time the dominant schools of Japanese Buddhism had excluded women from formal monastic training, and yet a group of nuns at Hokkeji managed to establish and maintain a formidable sense of monastic authority. This chapter explores the means by which they did so. In particular, it examines the following: how Hokkeji nuns drew on the legacy of their convent’s founder, Queen-Consort Kōmyō, and the courtly culture she represented; the role of precept-taking and doctrinal training in the nuns’ establishment of authority; and the ritual programs in place at Hokkeji and how they further bolstered the authenticity and authority of the convent’s monastic women.
Nation-State and Monastic Identity
Authors: Borchert Thomas
Published: May 2022

Buddhist monastics embody two very different identities: they are citizens of nation-states, and they are also ordained as members of institutions that require them to follow rules distinct from ordinary Buddhists. At the same time, because religions are often important within ideologies of national belonging, Buddhism has become entangled with the politics of the nation-states of Asia. While present across Asia, the role of Buddhism varies within the nation-states of the continent, ranging from a close link between Buddhism and the nation to virtually no formal recognition of Buddhism. As a result, some monastics face tensions between their religious and political identities, while for others the relationship is easier. This chapter examines the tension between Buddhist and national practices for monastics. While superficially Buddhist practices, such as monastic education and sermons, and national practices, such as elections and military participation, seem distinct from one another, this chapter shows that Buddhist practices can be reframed by nationalist ideologies, and monks and nuns often participate in the practices of the nation.
An Embodied Dharma of Race, Gender, and Sexuality
Authors: Syedullah Jasmine
Published: May 2022

Some may resist the inclusion of conversations about race, gender, and sexuality in a discussion of the dharma, but they are precisely why we, queers and folks of color, are seeding a dharma for the world as it is right now, one that cuts through the heart of how we are sitting with and suffering separation in these times. A brief sketch of a gathering of black largely US-based dharma teachers and practice communities in October 2019, this chapter argues that there are new waves of insight and awareness turning the wheel, bringing with them new kinds of teachers and more fugitive formations of practice. Reflecting on practice as a way of telling time, this chapter traces an emergent virtual network of sangha practitioners based in the Buddha’s teachings, but fugitive from traditional practice paths, who collectively remix contemplative practices into protocols for embodied social change and political organizing. An embodied reading of the break-away lineage of Radical Dharma, this chapter centers the leadership of Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Lama Rod Owens with whom the author co-wrote the book Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation released the summer before the 2016 Presidential Election. This chapter considers how practice is political, not just for the queer-of-color practitioners, but for everyone, and considers what place their experiences and insights have within the global landscape of Dharma practice. In short, how might embodied approaches to the first noble truth have to reckon with the presence of white supremacy.
Buddhist Practice in Europe and North America
Authors: Mitchell Scott A.
Published: May 2022

This chapter contextualizes Buddhist practice in North America and Europe, paying particular attention to the historical development of a diversity of traditions; adaptation of practice to new cultural contexts; and the intersection of embodied practices and embodied identities. The chapter focuses on developments in the Hawai‘ian context, Chinese and Japanese immigrants to the mainland of North America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the intellectual interest in Buddhism. The chapter clarifies the themes of adaptation, language, sociopolitical structures, and identity through a series of case studies on Zen, meditation, Buddhist sites, and social engagements. The chapter points to several lacunae in the field that represent future research vistas.
Introduction: Embodiment and Sense Experience
Authors: Arai Paula , Trainor Kevin
Published: May 2022

Embodiment, materiality, emotion, and gender shape the way most Buddhists engage with their traditions, in contrast to popular representations of Buddhism as spiritual, disembodied, and largely devoid of ritual. This volume highlights how practice often represents a fluid, dynamic, and strategic means of defining identity and negotiating the challenges of everyday life. Highlighted, as well, are the multiplicity of methods and theoretical perspectives that scholars of Buddhism use in their research and writing, including field-based, textual, and historical approaches. The essays also push beyond traditional representations of Buddhism as divided into static schools and traditions, highlighting instead the contested and negotiated character of individual and group identities.
Buddhist Practice in Central Asia/Himalayas
Authors: Lewis Todd
Published: May 2022

This chapter summarizes the history of Buddhism across the arc of territory defined by the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges. It surveys the earliest sources and accounts of the tradition entering the small communities that formed in this frontier region between the Tibetan plateau and the Indus-Gangetic plains. The importance of the Kashmir Valley and the Kathmandu Valley is highlighted, including recent developments in the latter, where Indic-style Buddhism exists until the present day. Special attention is also devoted to Buddhism among the Tibeto-Burman peoples of the mid-montane and highland regions, where the farthest extensions of Tibetan Buddhism have existed for centuries. The introduction of Theravadin modernist traditions in Nepal is covered, as are the ways that Buddhism has coexisted with various deity cults and shamanism.
Relics and Images
Authors: Strong John S.
Published: May 2022

After a short introduction, this chapter considers relics and images in the light of two sets of polarities: (1) wholeness and fragmentation (or oneness and multiplicity), where the Buddhist view of relics and images is seen to oscillate between affirming that the body of the Buddha is singular or that it is multiple; and (2) aversions and advocacies, where the questions of impurity and purity, as well as iconophobia and “iconophilia” in Buddhism are dealt with. In both cases, the emphasis is on ambiguities and paradoxes (as well as attitudinal shifts) in the Buddhist tradition vis-à-vis its relics and images. A brief conclusion sums up the chapter’s findings.
Irreversible Loss
Authors: Spiekermann Kai
Published: May 2022

This chapter offers three reasons for trying to avoid some irreversible losses. First, there is a prudential reason for avoiding irreversible loss in order to keep options open in the future in the face of uncertainty. Second, humans have reasons to care about the preservation of some goods, even beyond their own life. Third, present generations may have duties toward future generations to avoid some irreversible losses, though spelling out such theories of intergenerational ethics or justice is challenging. Finally, the chapter responds to the objection that, in a certain sense, all processes are irreversible and the notion therefore is empty. A sensible conception of irreversibility is offered that avoids this concern.
Human Rights and Intergenerational Ethics
Authors: Düwell Marcus
Published: May 2022

Do future generations have (human) rights? A lot of philosophers have doubted that one can meaningfully ascribe “rights” to people who do not exist (yet) and whose existence depends on decisions current generations have to make. The human rights regime is, however, based on the assumption that all human beings have dignity. This entails the duty of human beings to ensure the necessary condition of future people to live an autonomous life. The chapter will deal with those questions in three steps. First, it will sketch what an ethics of human rights in an intergenerational perspective would look like. Second, it will discuss under which philosophical assumptions such an ethics is legitimate. Third, the chapter will briefly outline some implications of such an ethics of human rights.
For a Care-Based Intergenerational Ethic
Authors: Makoff Ruth , Read Rupert
Published: May 2022

Discourses of distributive and procedural justice tend to distort the fundamental structure of intergenerational moral relationships: their constant becomingness and two of its central structural properties, commonly known as non-reciprocity and non-identity. These are two well-recognized fundamental issues in the literature. However, where addressed, these are not typically presented as centrally defining features of intergenerational relationships but are rather sidelined as “challenges” which any “theory” can “deal with.” The authors also suggest a motivation gap: that justice-based approaches further obscure the extent to which they already rely on an attitude of care toward recipients of justice. The authors set out how care-based metaphors are better placed to express this underlying motivational attitude and to more fully capture the structural features of intergenerational relationships. This is not to propose care ethics as an alternative theory to replace justice in intergenerational ethics. Rather, the authors advocate drawing on a different range of moral metaphors to guide ethical reflection on intergenerational cases, recognizing the limitations of the (currently dominant) justice metaphors, and giving more prominence to metaphors of care. The authors first provide a brief overview of care ethics and then outline possibilities for care metaphors that might be mobilized for intergenerational ethics. They finish by considering some challenges faced by a care-based approach and sketching ways such challenges might be answered.
The Emergence of Biblical Canons in Orthodox Christianity
Authors: McDonald Lee Martin
Published: May 2022

This chapter focuses on the factors that led to the emergence of both Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT) canons in early Christianity. This begins with the recognition of the authority of Jesus, followed by the not-yet-formed Jewish scriptures largely from the Septuagint (LXX) and the emerging apostolic tradition. The limited evidence is derived from early church father citations, ancient canon lists, surviving biblical manuscripts, early translations, and local council decisions. Orthodox Christianity gave priority to the Hebrew scriptures in their OT canons, but welcomed for teaching and liturgical use the additional books in the LXX. Most OT/NT books were widely welcomed, but some books took longer.
Anti-Jewish Sentiments in Liturgical and Patristic Biblical Interpretations
Authors: Bucur Bogdan G.
Published: May 2022

The gradual transformation of the Jesus movement from an ethnically Jewish to an overwhelmingly Gentile community was coextensive with a shift from intracommunitarian polemics within the boundaries of Second Temple Judaism to acrimonious relations between two religions competing for the inheritance of biblical Israel. Although anti-Jewish rhetoric colors early Christian references to contemporary Jews and Judaism, it also constitutes a topos of intra-Christian heresiology; these two spheres of use sometimes overlap. Among the various exegetical strategies used by the early Church, “Christophanic exegesis” is the most ancient, adaptable, and widespread; it also entailed sometime strident anti-Jewish polemics. Special attention should be given to hymnography, as the performative character and liturgical embeddedness of this veritable distillate of patristic thought have ensured its enormous influence across time and space. The centrality of Christophanic exegesis in Byzantine festal hymns and the absence, in most of these hymns, of anti-Jewish polemics, indicates that, although present and strident, anti-Judaism sentiments are not an essential feature of patristic and hymnographic exegesis.