bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Quicker Way to Solve Series-Parallel Circuits
Authors: Keller Philip
Published: March 2019

Before students learn Kirchhoff’s rules, they are typically taught how to solve “combined series-parallel” circuits. The method presented in many textbooks begins by drawing a series of simplified circuits, replacing series and/or parallel elements with their equivalent resistances, eventually reducing the circuit to a voltage source and a single resistor. If we are only looking for the source current, then all is well. But to find the currents and voltage drops for the individual components of the circuit, students are expected to work backwards through their series of diagrams, “un-simplifying” at each step, until they are back to the original circuit. Alas, all is no longer well: students often get bogged down in this lengthy process. However, there is an alternative method that is quicker and uses a single diagram. My students make fewer mistakes with this approach, obtaining results that they can check in a manner that foreshadows what they will learn about Kirchhoff’s rules.
Robust estimation of sediment sound speed from the group speed of the critical mode
Authors: Zeng Juan , Zhao Z. D. , Peng D. Y. , Ma Li , Shang E. C. , Chapman N. Ross
Published: March 2019

In the ocean waveguide, the sediment sound speed has a simple relationship with the group speed of the highest order mode that propagates close to the critical angle. The paper shows that robust estimates of the sound speed are obtained from estimates of the “critical” mode group speed determined from analysis of the energy distribution of the time-warped spectrum of a broadband signal. The method is applied to experimental data collected in the Yellow Sea of China. Estimated sound speeds agreed closely with expected values for clayey slit (1531 m/s) and sandy silt (1593 m/s) sediment at the sites.
High-Resolution Melting Assay for Genotyping Variants of the CYP2C19 Enzyme and Predicting Voriconazole Effectiveness
Authors: Bernal-Martínez L. , Alcazar Fuoli L. , Miguel-Revilla B. , Carvalho A. , Cuétara Garcia M. S. , Garcia-Rodriguez J. , Cunha C. , Gómez-García de la Pedrosa E. , Gomez-Lopez A.
Published: March 2019

Voriconazole is a triazole antifungal agent recommended as primary treatment for invasive aspergillosis, as well as some other mold infections. However, it presents some pharmacokinetic singularities that lead to a great variability intra- and interindividually, nonlinear pharmacokinetics, and a narrow therapeutic range.
Methodology for Whole-Genome Sequencing of Methicillin-Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
Isolates in a Routine Hospital Microbiology Laboratory
Authors: Raven Kathy E. , Blane Beth , Leek Danielle , Churcher Carol , Kokko-Gonzales Paula , Pugazhendhi Dhamayanthi , Fraser Louise , Betley Jason , Parkhill Julian , Peacock Sharon J.
Published: March 2019

There is growing evidence for the value of bacterial whole-genome sequencing in hospital outbreak investigations. Our aim was to develop methods that support efficient and accurate low-throughput clinical sequencing of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) isolates.
Conformational Engineering of HIV-1 Env Based on Mutational Tolerance in the CD4 and PG16 Bound States
Authors: Heredia Jeremiah D. , Park Jihye , Choi Hannah , Gill Kevin S. , Procko Erik
Published: March 2019

HIV-1 Env is dynamic and undergoes large conformational changes that drive fusion of virus and host cell membranes. Three Env proteins in a trimer contact each other at their apical tips to form a closed conformation that presents epitopes recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies. The apical tips separate, among other changes, to form an open conformation that binds tightly to host receptors. Understanding how Env sequence facilitates these structural changes can inform the biophysical mechanism and aid immunogen design. Using deep mutational scans decoupled from virus replication, we report mutational landscapes for Env from two strains interacting with conformation-dependent binding proteins. Residues in the Env trimer interface and apical domains are preferentially conserved in the closed conformation, and conformational diversity is facilitated by electrostatic repulsion and an underpacked core between domains. Specific mutations are described that enhance presentation of the trimeric closed conformation across diverse HIV-1 strains.
Antibiotics and probiotics in inflammatory bowel disease: when to use them?
Authors: Abraham Bincy , Quigley Eamonn M M
Published: March 2019

Antibiotics and probiotics are often used as adjunctive therapy in inflammatory bowel disease. However, data are limited and randomised controlled trials are too inconsistent to provide generalised recommendations for their use in all patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. Antibiotics are best used in the management of infectious complications and fistulas in Crohn’s disease and, perhaps, in reducing the intensity of inflammation in luminal disease. Ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and rifaximin have been most widely used and studied. On the other hand, there appears to be a limited role for antibiotics in ulcerative colitis (UC). Probiotics are most effective in pouchitis, and may have a role in the initial therapy and maintenance of remission in mild UC; the probiotic cocktail VSL#3 has been the most widely studied. There is scant evidence of efficacy for probiotics in Crohn’s disease.
Socioeconomic trajectories across the life course and risk of total and cause-specific mortality: prospective findings from the Moli-sani Study
Authors: Bonaccio Marialaura , Di Castelnuovo Augusto , Costanzo Simona , De Curtis Amalia , Persichillo Mariarosaria , Cerletti Chiara , Donati Maria Benedetta , de Gaetano Giovanni , Iacoviello Licia
Published: March 2019

Background

A life course approach has been suggested as the most appropriate to establish the total impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on adult health outcomes; however, such an approach has been poorly used within Mediterranean populations. We aimed to examine the SES trajectories from childhood to adulthood associated with mortality risk in a large general population-based cohort and to test potential pathways (eg, inflammation) underlying such associations.

Methods

Longitudinal analyses on 22 194 subjects recruited in the Moli-sani Study, Italy (2005–2010). Low and high SES in childhood, educational attainment (low/high) and SES during adulthood (measured by a score including material resources and dichotomised as low/high) were used to define overall trajectories.

Results

Over 8.3 years of follow-up, 1155 deaths occurred. In the group with poor childhood SES, an upward trajectory in both educational and material circumstances was associated with lower risk of all-cause death (HR=0.64; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.87), as opposed to subjects who remained stably low (low education and adulthood SES). Subjects with high childhood SES, but not educational achievement, were at increased risk of total and cardiovascular disease (CVD) death, although reporting higher material SES in adult life, as compared with the stably high SES group (HR=1.44; 1.02 to 2.02 and HR=1.90; 1.10 to 3.28, respectively). Inflammatory markers marginally accounted for such associations.

Conclusion

For individuals with low SES in early life, an educational and material upward trajectory over the life course was associated with lower mortality risk. In the high SES childhood group, lack of a higher educational attainment appeared to be unfavourably associated with survival.
Occupation and motor neuron disease: a New Zealand case–control study
Authors: Chen Grace Xia , ’t Mannetje Andrea Martine , Douwes Jeroen , van den Berg Leonard , Pearce Neil , Kromhout Hans , D’Souza Wendyl , McConnell Melanie , Glass Bill , Brewer Naomi , McLean David J
Published: March 2019

Objectives

To assess associations between occupation and motor neuron disease (MND).

Methods

We conducted a population-based case–control study with cases (n=321) recruited through the New Zealand Motor Neurone Disease Association and hospital discharge data. Controls (n=605) were recruited from the Electoral Roll. Information on personal and demographic details, lifestyle factors and a full occupational history was collected using questionnaires and interviews. Associations with ever/never employed and employment duration were estimated using logistic regression stratified by sex and adjusted for age, ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation, education and smoking.

Results

Elevated risks were observed for field crop and vegetable growers (OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.10 to 7.77); fruit growers (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.78); gardeners and nursery growers (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.82); crop and livestock producers (OR 3.61, 95% CI 1.44 to 9.02); fishery workers, hunters and trappers (OR 5.62, 95% CI 1.27 to 24.97); builders (OR 2.90, 95% CI 1.41 to 5.96); electricians (OR 3.61, 95% CI 1.34 to 9.74); caregivers (OR 2.65, 95% CI 1.04 to 6.79); forecourt attendants (OR 8.31, 95% CI 1.79 to 38.54); plant and machine operators and assemblers (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.01); telecommunications technicians (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.20 to 14.64); and draughting technicians (OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.07 to 8.53). Industries with increased risks were agriculture (particularly horticulture and fruit growing), construction, non-residential care services, motor vehicle retailing, and sport and recreation. Positive associations between employment duration and MND were shown for the occupations fruit growers, gardeners and nursery growers, and crop and livestock producers, and for the horticulture and fruit growing industry.

Conclusions

This study suggests associations between MND and occupations in agriculture and several other occupations.
Focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) for the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialist
Authors: Manson William Clark , Kirksey Meghan , Boublik Jan , Wu Christopher L , Haskins Stephen C
Published: March 2019

This article in our point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) series is dedicated to the role the focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) exam plays for the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialists in the perioperative setting. The FAST exam is a well-established and extensively studied PoCUS exam in both surgical and emergency medicine literature with over 20 years demonstrating its benefit in identifying the presence of free fluid in the abdomen following trauma. However, only recently has the FAST exam been shown to be beneficial to the anesthesiologist in the perioperative setting as a means to identify the extravasation of free fluid into the abdomen from the hip joint following hip arthroscopy. In this article, we will describe how to obtain the basic FAST views (subcostal four-chamber view, perihepatic right upper quadrant view, perisplenic left upper quadrant view, and pelvic view in the longitudinal and short axis) as well as cover the relevant sonoanatomy. We will describe pathological findings seen with the FAST exam, primarily free fluid in the peritoneal space as well as in the pericardial sac. As is the case with any PoCUS skill, the application evolves with understanding and utilization by new clinical specialties. Although this article will provide clinical examples of where the FAST exam is beneficial to the regional anesthesiologist and pain specialist, it also serves as an introduction to this powerful PoCUS skill in order to encourage clinical practitioners to expand the application of the FAST exam within the scope of regional anesthesia and pain management practice.
Decision support method for estimating monetary value of post-renovation office buildings
Authors: Cho Kyuman , Kim Jungwoo , Kim Taehoon
Published: March 2019

The construction industry engages in renovation work to improve the physical, economic, and environmental aspects of office buildings. During consideration of renovation of deteriorated office buildings, it is critical for project owners to estimate the change in monetary value of the office buildings due to the completed renovation work. Nevertheless, related research and methods for predicting this value remain insufficient. In this study, the monetary value prediction model for post-renovation office buildings was developed by using artificial intelligence techniques and multivariate data analysis techniques based on 90 actual cases of renovated office buildings. The model application results showed (i) relatively high prediction performance (average error rate of 14.12%) and (ii) advantages in various aspects compared to existing approaches. It is expected that project owners considering office building renovations can be supported in decision-making by the developed proposed model. Furthermore, this research will contribute to promoting the office building renovation market.
Roller–rail parameters on the transverse vibration characteristics of super-high-speed elevators
Authors: Cao Shunxin , Zhang Ruijun , Zhang Shuohua , Qiao Shuai , Cong Dongsheng , Dong Mingxiao
Published: March 2019

Interaction and wear between wheel and rail become increasingly serious with the increase in elevator speed and load. Uneven roller surface, eccentricity of rollers, and the looseness of rail brackets result in serious vibration problems of high-speed and super-high-speed elevators. Therefore, the forced vibration differential equation representing elevator guide rails is established based on Bernoulli–Euler theory, and the vibration equation of the elevator guide shoes and the car is constructed using the Darren Bell principle. Then, the coupled vibration model of guide rail, guide shoes, and car can be obtained using the relationship of force and relative displacement among these components. The roller–rail parameters are introduced into the established coupled vibration model using the model equivalent method. Then, the influence of roller–rail parameters on the horizontal vibration of super-high-speed elevator cars is investigated. Roller eccentricity and the vibration acceleration of the car present a linear correlation, with the amplitude of the car vibration acceleration increasing with the eccentricity of the roller. A nonlinear relationship exists between the surface roughness of the roller and the vibration acceleration of the car. Increased continuous loosening of the guide rail results in severe vibration of the car at the loose position of the support.
GUP deformed phase-space and axiomatic thermodynamic self-consistency
Authors: Shalaby Asmaa G.
Published: March 2019

Based on the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) with a deformation of the phase-space, the partition function has recently been modified. In the present work, we analyze the self-consistency of the axiomatic thermodynamics derived from the deformed partition function. First, we set up the thermodynamic quantities such as pressure, energy density, entropy and number density, then we extend the study for testing the approval of consistency. We found that the deformed phase-space satisfies the axiomatic self-consistency of thermodynamics. We would expect the effects of GUP to be more pronounced at high frequencies, but the used deformed phase-space factor would still diverge as [Formula: see text] approaches [Formula: see text].
Cyclic voltammetry of samarium ions in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic for diffusion coefficient analysis
Authors: Singh Vickram , Bruneau Christopher , Chidambaram Dev
Published: March 2019

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of SmCl3 when it is solvated in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic at 773 K. An experimental method obtained from the literature was adjusted to produce repeatable current responses attributed to the Sm3+/Sm2+ reaction couple and to determine working electrode surface area. The effect of solvating SmCl3 at high concentration was investigated as it relates to electrochemical reversibility and diffusion coefficient analysis. An electrochemically reversible region was identified using correlations between the current response and the scan rate along with peak current ratio measurements. In these, the reversibility was unaffected by increasing concentration. The correlation between current response and concentration was less linear than expected, suggesting the effects of additional modes of diffusion, solution resistance, and charge transfer kinetics may be contributing more at high concentrations. The measurement errors associated with peak current response, working electrode surface area, and melt temperature were used to estimate the associated uncertainties of the reported diffusion coefficients of Sm3+ in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. These diffusion coefficient values were found to be relatively consistent with values for Sm3+ reported in the literature for lower concentrations.
Squamate Chromosome Size and GC Content Assessed by Flow Karyotyping
Authors: Kasai Fumio , O'Brien Patricia C.M. , Ferguson-Smith Malcolm A.
Published: March 2019

Chromosome homologies in reptiles have been investigated extensively by gene mapping and chromosome painting. Relative chromosome size can be estimated roughly from conventional karyotypes, but chromosome GC content cannot be evaluated by any of these approaches. However, GC content can be obtained by whole-genome sequencing, although complete data are available only for a limited number of reptilian species. Chromosomes can be characterized by size and GC content in bivariate flow karyotypes, in which the distribution of peaks represents the differences. We have analysed flow karyotypes from 9 representative squamate species and show chromosome profiles for each species based on the relationship between size and GC content. Our results reveal that the GC content of macrochromosomes is invariable in the 9 species. A higher GC content was found in microchromosomes, similar to profiles previously determined in crocodile, turtle, and chicken. The findings suggest that karyotype evolution in reptiles is characterized by unique features of chromosome GC content.
Uma (in)versão da história do brasil:
Authors: Honorato Suene
Published: March 2019

Os livros de história do Brasil se iniciam com a narrativa do descobrimento, seguida do genocídio cometido contra populações indígenas. Tal sequência indica o apego à força da escrita em oposição à oralidade e legitima a posse da terra pelo colonizador. Conhecendo a primazia da escrita no mundo dos brancos, Davi Kopenawa solicita que suas palavras sejam registradas pelo antropólogo Bruce Albert, processo que resultou no livro A queda do céu. Embora, para o xamã, a escrita seja a prova de que o pensamento do branco é “cheio de esquecimento”, por meio dela Kopenawa alerta para o direito à existência da cultura e modos de vida do seu povo. Se lermos o livro como versão possível da história do Brasil, em que o índio é sujeito e não vítima do processo histórico, talvez possamos inverter certos pressupostos da cultura escrita e impedir que a História, com H maiúsculo, continue se repetindo.
Paródia, memória e sujeito político no conto “Memorias de la Tierra”, de Reinaldo Arenas
Authors: Mubarack Chayenne Orru
Published: March 2019

Este artigo analisa o conto “Memorias de la Tierra”, do escritor cubano Reinaldo Arenas, a partir de uma perspectiva emancipadora, conforme proposta por Jacques Rancière em seu livro O desentendimento (RANCIÈRE, 1996). Verifica-se a emergência de um sujeito político no conto, composto pela voz do desacordo dos que eram considerados como a escória da sociedade cubana revolucionária em decorrência de sua homossexualidade. Tal subjetivação se dá por meio do uso da paródia (HUTCHEON, 1985) e pelo exercício da crítica da memória (RICHARD, 2010).
Carolina Maria de Jesus e Clarice Lispector: dois olhares sobre a mulher, a maternidade e a família
Authors: Macena Fabiana Souza Valadão de Castro
Published: March 2019

Este estudo pretende iluminar a representação do feminino a partir da ótica daquela que está consagrada pelo cânone, Clarice Lispector (1920-1977), e também daquela que ainda sofre o preconceito acadêmico por exemplificar a tripla subalternidade: mulher, negra, pobre, Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977). Nesse intento, nos propusemos a analisar, da primeira, o romance Perto do Coração Selvagem (LISPECTOR, 1998), e da segunda, o diário Quarto de Despejo (1960). Metodologicamente, amparado pelos estudos comparados (CARVALHAL, 2006), bem como os estudos feministas (SCOTT, 1995), este artigo objetiva contemplar o modo como essas duas autoras, tão díspares, representam a mulher e sua relação com a maternidade e a família.
A capital antifuturista
Authors: Silva Gabriel Provinzano Gonçalves da
Published: March 2019

O artigo procura, a partir da análise de um poema menos comentado de Alguma poesia, “Belo Horizonte”, e de um ensaio praticamente esquecido, “Ta'i!”, discutir como em cada um se configura a convivência entre o tradicional e o moderno que marca o primeiro livro de Drummond. Por caminhos diferentes mas com o mesmo sentido, em ambos o Autor se desdobra para adaptar as conquistas modernistas a uma modernização incipiente, o que resulta num processo de requalificação recíproca.
A escrita empolada em O nome do bispo: representação da elite ou contradição no discurso?
Authors: Castanho Renata Manoni de Mello
Published: March 2019

O presente artigo busca pensar criticamente a linguagem rebuscada do narrador de O nome do bispo (1985), romance de Zulmira Ribeiro Tavares. O encontro de Heládio — protagonista e representante de uma elite brasileira decadente — com a pobreza é ridicularizado pelo narrador no plano do enredo. No entanto, observa-se certo excesso na linguagem, que destoa da matéria tratada e pode ser pensado, nos movimentos de aproximação e distanciamento do narrador com seu protagonista e com outros personagens, em certos momentos como mimetismo de uma classe e, em outros, como discurso ornamental e, portanto, contraditório.
"Dois poemas"
Authors: Cricelli Francesca
Published: March 2019

Poemas de Francesca Cricelli:

DE TUDO QUE AMEI (Para Edith Södergran)

FLUXO
Devemos continuar a escrever histórias da literatura?
Authors: Gumbrecht Hans Ulrich , Souza Caio César Esteves de
Published: March 2019

Neste ensaio, Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht busca responder à questão proposta no título por meio de cinco passos. Primeiramente, ele apresenta uma breve história do surgimento dos estudos literários como um campo do saber. Em seguida, descreve o aparecimento da história literária como uma possibilidade discursiva. No terceiro passo, demonstra de que maneira a era de ouro da história literária, em fins do século XIX, coincide com o surgimento da teoria literária como uma subárea acadêmica. No quarto passo, demonstra como as últimas décadas do século XX colocaram em xeque o tipo de historicidade que estava na base das histórias literárias produzidas até então, o que nos leva de volta, na última parte deste ensaio, à questão: nesse contexto, devemos continuar a escrever histórias da literatura?
"às vezes caio em dores imensas"
Authors: Benassi Isabela
Published: March 2019

Um poema de Isabela Benassi
Heterocellular Contact Can Dictate Arterial Function
Authors: Shu Xiaohong , Ruddiman Claire A. , Keller T.C. Stevenson , Keller Alexander S. , Yang Yang , Good Miranda E. , Best Angela K. , Columbus Linda , Isakson Brant E.
Published: March 2019

Rationale:

Resistance arteries and conduit arteries rely on different relative contributions of endothelial-derived hyperpolarization versus nitric oxide to achieve dilatory heterocellular signaling. Anatomically, resistance arteries use myoendothelial junctions (MEJs), endothelial cell projections that make contact with smooth muscle cells. Conduit arteries have very few to no MEJs.

Objective:

Determine if the presence of MEJs in conduit arteries can alter heterocellular signaling.

Methods and Results:

We previously demonstrated that PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) can regulate formation of MEJs. Thus, we applied pluronic gel containing PAI-1 directly to conduit arteries (carotid arteries) to determine if this could induce formation of MEJs. We found a significant increase in endothelial cell projections resembling MEJs that correlated with increased biocytin dye transfer from endothelial cells to smooth muscle cells. Next, we used pressure myography to investigate whether these structural changes were accompanied by a functional change in vasodilatory signaling. Interestingly, PAI-1-treated carotids underwent a switch from a conduit to resistance artery vasodilatory profile via diminished nitric oxide signaling and increased endothelial-derived hyperpolarization signaling in response to the endothelium-dependent agonists acetylcholine and NS309. After PAI-1 application, we also found a significant increase in carotid expression of endothelial alpha globin, a protein predominantly expressed in resistance arteries. Carotids from mice with PAI-1, but lacking alpha globin (Hba1
−
/−
), demonstrated that
l
-nitro-arginine methyl ester, an inhibitor of nitric oxide signaling, was able to prevent arterial relaxation.

Conclusions:

The presence or absence of MEJs is an important determinant for influencing heterocellular communication in the arterial wall. In particular, alpha globin expression, induced within newly formed endothelial cell projections, may influence the balance between endothelial-derived hyperpolarization and nitric oxide–mediated vasodilation.
John Heskett's Industrial Design: An Interview at Middlesex Polytechnic, 1981: Part Two: The Emergence of the Role of the Design and the Designer in the Industrial Economy
Authors: Dilnot Clive , Sánchez-Moreno Lilián
Published: March 2019

An edited presentation of an extended interview with the design historian John Heskett undertaken a few months after the publication of Heskett's Industrial Design (Thames and Hudson, 1980). Part One explores the genesis and structure of Industrial Design, as well as wider problems in the writing of histories of design. Part Two examines circumstances and tensions in regard to understanding the roles of design and the designer in the processes of industrialization especially with regard to emerging tensions between “production” and “consumption” and “industry” and “craft” in design historical understanding in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Evolution of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks Using Cartesian Genetic
Programming
Authors: Suganuma Masanori , Kobayashi Masayuki , Shirakawa Shinichi , Nagao Tomoharu
Published: March 2019

The convolutional neural network (CNN), one of the deep learning models, has demonstrated outstanding performance in a variety of computer vision tasks. However, as the network architectures become deeper and more complex, designing CNN architectures requires more expert knowledge and trial and error. In this article, we attempt to automatically construct high-performing CNN architectures for a given task. Our method uses Cartesian genetic programming (CGP) to encode the CNN architectures, adopting highly functional modules such as a convolutional block and tensor concatenation, as the node functions in CGP. The CNN structure and connectivity, represented by the CGP, are optimized to maximize accuracy using the evolutionary algorithm. We also introduce simple techniques to accelerate the architecture search: rich initialization and early network training termination. We evaluated our method on the CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets, achieving competitive performance with state-of-the-art models. Remarkably, our method can find competitive architectures with a reasonable computational cost compared to other automatic design methods that require considerably more computational time and machine resources.
Divine Violence and Divine Presence: Reading the Story of Uzzah and the Ark in 2 Samuel 6 with Slavoj Žižek
Authors: Gilmour Rachelle
Published: March 2019

This article interprets the story of the outbreak of God against Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 as an act of “divine violence,” a concept described by Slavoj Žižek in his book Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. In previous interpretations of 2 Samuel 6, the violence against Uzzah has been understood either as a punishment for a transgression, or as a capricious act of God’s power. Slavoj Žižek describes “divine violence” as violence, which is not a means to an end, and which irrupts from a position of vulnerability and impotence. By looking at the details of the Masoretic Text of 2 Samuel 6, it will be argued that the violence of God in this story should also be interpreted as divine violence: it lacks meaning as a punishment for transgression, and it stems from the vulnerability of God’s presence in the ark rather than from God’s transcendent power.
Lyrical Slippage, Meaning-Making, and Proximity in Song 2:10-13
Authors: Zhang Sarah
Published: March 2019

Where does lyric significance happen? With recent interdisciplinary studies from the fields of aesthetics and neuroscience offering support to Emmanuel Levinas’s idea of proximity, I propose that proximity is the maternal body of lyrical meaning. In this paper, I will illustrate the case by unpacking the mental processing of the lyrical imageries in Song 2:10–13, and highlight two aspects of proximity along the way. First, the perception of lyrical imagery is more complex than a representational correspondence between the word and the world. It covers the stages from the verbal cues to multisensory imageries, to evoked synaesthetic experiences, to accompanied feelings and provoked actions. Cognitively it is best described as one’s approximation toward the core semantic sense of the verbal cues, which is diversified by the reader’s embodied minds. Second, at the root of the aesthetic experience is one’s sense of self, which is susceptible to the intrigue of alterity. One’s reception of lyrical imageries in Song 2:10–13 can be characterized as an over-abundant synaesthetic experience. It directs one’s attention to an anterior receptivity embedded in subjectivity by way of the excess of the sensing over the semantic, and the sensed over the sensing. This reduction to the baseline level of function, or the sheer sensation of oneself, beckons the lyrical subject to become aware of one’s a prior proximity to alterity. In brief, while the readers’ individualized approximations preclude a verifiable universal reception, they do not warrant the kind of hermeneutic violence that overrides the text with the readers’ contexts. Rather, by being awakened to one’s susceptibility to the otherness of the poem, the lyrical subject realizes that proximity is the ethical precondition in making sense of the poem and oneself.
Masculinities of the Husbands in the Genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:2-16)
Authors: Doane Sébastien
Published: March 2019

From a narrative approach, and through the lens of masculinity studies, this article examines a particular group in the genealogy of Jesus: the men associated with a woman in their “begetting”: Judah with Tamar, Salmon with Rahab, Boaz with Ruth, and David with the wife of Uriah. What traits characterize this specific group of biblical men put forth as Jesus’s ancestors? What kind of husbands and fathers are they? What is the effect on readers as they peruse this list of masculine prototypes? These male figures are then compared to Joseph and to Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew does not present the masculinities of Joseph and Jesus in the same way as it portrays those of others in the genealogy. Basically, the genealogy supports and subverts ancient hegemonic constructions of masculinity, by proposing a reversal of the values associated with masculinity.
Promiscuous πόρναι, Bad Bitches, and Misogynistic Masculinities: A Queer, Imperial-Critical Analysis of Revelation and Rap
Authors: Van Horn O’neil
Published: March 2019

If the Book of Revelation is anti-imperial resistance literature of the first order, hip-hop music is its contemporary equivalent – with Kendrick Lamar as one of its most politically sensitized “prophets.” I will explore the intersections, commonalities, and divergences between Revelation 17-18 and rapper Kendrick’s “For Sale? (Interlude),” especially regarding notions of empire, gender, and sexuality. I will draw connections between the characters of “For Sale” – Kendrick and Lucy – and those of Revelation 17-18 – John of Patmos and Babylon. This analysis will reveal the relationship between anti-imperial rhetoric and the troubling “effemination” of empire. I contend that Babylon and Lucy are both figures “in drag,” dis/closing the prevailing imperial and misogynistic forces of their respective cultures. This queer interpretation, playing off Catherine Keller’s and Stephen D. Moore’s reading of the text and J. Jack Halberstam’s study of drag kings, seeks to unveil the hypermasculine performances in both Revelation and contemporary hip-hop culture.
Bursaphelenchus pterocarpi n. sp. (Tylenchina: Aphelenchoididae) found in Pterocarpus sp. imported into China from Ghana
Authors: Gu Jianfeng , Fang Yiwu , Liu Lele , Pedram Majid , Li Hongmei
Published: March 2019

Bursaphelenchus pterocarpi n. sp. isolated from Pterocarpus sp. logs imported from Ghana to Ningbo, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterised by a female body length of 630-946 μm, lateral field with four lines, a short 12.6-13.9 μm long stylet with small basal swellings, excretory pore located posterior to nerve ring, outstretched reproductive system with amoeboid sperm inside the spermatheca, a well-developed vulval flap, tail conical and straight with a 1.9-4.8 μm long mucron at the tip, and lacking males in both the wild type and fungal-cultured populations. In a concatenated tree, reconstructed on the basis of the partial 18S, full length ITS and partial 28S rDNA D2-D3 sequences, the new species occupied a basal placement to the clade of xylophilus-group and africanus-group species.
ʿĀmir b. ʿĀmir al-Baṣrī: Ismāʿīlī or Unorthodox Twelver Šīʿī-Ṣūfī?
Authors: Poonawala Ismail K.
Published: March 2019

ʿĀmir b. ʿĀmir al-Baṣrī, according to evidence in his tāʾiyya, composed this long didactic mystical poem either in 700/1300-1301 or 731/1330-1331, while he was exiled to Sīwās in Anatolia. The object of this paper is fourfold. First, to give a brief sketch of his life gleaned from the extant Sunnī sources and determine the date of al-tāʾiyya’s composition or completion. Second, to review critically all the three editions of his al-tāʾiyya. Third, to scrutinize the contents of his poem, generally known as al-tāʾiyya l-ṣuġrā in contradistinction to al-tāʾiyya l-kubrā of Ibn al-Fāriḍ (d. 632/1235). This Ode is crucial in establishing an unequivocal argument that the poet was an unorthodox Imāmī (Twelver) Šīʿī-Ṣūfī. Fourth, to refute the claims of ʿĀrif Tāmir, Muṣṭafā Ġālib and Yves Marquet that al-Baṣrī was an Ismāʿīlī. The first two scholars do not present any tangible evidence to support their contention except the fact that copies of his tāʾiyya are to be found among the Syrian Ismāʿīlī-Nizārī communities. Yves Marquet, on the other hand, argues and speculates on the basis of his [mis]reading of certain internal and external evidences that the author was a high ranking Ismāʿīlī missionary. Unable to support his contention Marquet as a final point of defense opines that al-Baṣrī was probably affiliated with the Nizārī branch; however, he says this without any substantial internal or external verification. Contrarily, al-Baṣrī is not known at all in the Ismāʿīlī sources, either those of the Mustaʿlī-Ṭayyibīs in the Yemeni era, or of the Nizārīs during the post-Alamūt period.
The Urartian Site of Garibin Tepe/Alaköy, Van, Turkey
Authors: Dan Roberto
Published: March 2019

This article describes an interesting archaeological site located in the Van region, Turkey, called Garibin Tepe or Alaköy fortress. It is located not far from the important Ayanis fortress, an Urartian site that dates to the 7th century B.C. Illegal excavations have brought to light remnants of unique andesite sculptures and diagnostic pottery, which allow it to be dated with certainty to Urartian times. The site stood on the main road which joined the capital of Urartu, Van fortress, with the Muradiye plain and the Ararat valley.
Armenian Churches in the Province of Gaziantep, Turkey
Authors: Dağtekin Emine , Hillez Semra
Published: March 2019

Southeast Anatolia in Turkey is a region where important centres of early Christianity could be found. In Gaziantep, which was named “Little Bukhara” during the reign of Egyptian Mamluks, many Armenian churches have been documented. However, most of them have been destroyed or used for different purposes. The paper is dedicated to the study of three Armenian churches in Gaziantep where Armenians lived until the early 20th century. The history, the plan and frontal structures, ornaments of these churches are presented for the first time.
Swāt Hydronymy at the Border between Iranian and Indo-Aryan Languages
Authors: De Chiara Matteo
Published: March 2019

Swāt valley, located in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KPK) province of the northern part of Pakistan, was known since the antiquity with the names of Uḍḍyāna (‘the garden’) and Suvāstu (‘the place of fine dwellings’). The Yusufuzai Pashtuns, whose penetration in the valley begun towards the 16th century, little by little replaced the probably autochthon Dardic populations who are actually confined in the northern mountainous part of the district, i.e. the Tehsils of Bahrain and Kalam. This article focuses on hydronymy and presents the first results of the toponymic project of the Swāt valley, held with the support of the Italian archaeological mission, working in Swāt since 1956 and continuing its researches under the direction of Luca Olivieri and the auspices of the ISMEO of Rome. As it is known, hydronymy is one of the most conservative branches of the toponymy: in the Swāt context, nearly all stream names are of Indo-Aryan (Dardic) origin, except names derived from the denomination of the Pashtun villages: this confirms all data provided by the archaeological excavations. This article will also provide some specific etymologies, aimed at showing the frontier position of Swāt at the border between Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages and cultures.
The Exceptio Non Adimpleti Contractus in Public International Law
Authors: Xiouri Maria
Published: March 2019

The position of the exceptio non adimpleti contractus in public international law as a response to the breach of a treaty is surrounded by uncertainty. This article offers an analytical examination of: i) the notion of the exceptio and its relationship to other responses to the breach of a treaty; ii) the question of its conditions of application; and iii) its character as a rule of international law. It argues that the exceptio is distinct both from responses pursuant to Article 60 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and from countermeasures; however, there is uncertainty with regard to its conditions of application. The exceptio can be considered as a general principle of law and, as such, can fill gaps in the regulation of responses to the breach of a treaty. However, it remains unclear whether the exceptio constitutes a rule of customary international law.
Principled Noncompliance
Authors: Haase Heather J
Published: March 2019

Compliance with international law is highly valued, almost to the point of being sacrosanct. At the same time temporary treaty noncompliance in the midst of changing domestic laws and practice is a fairly common feature of regime modernisation, particularly in treaty regimes that are resistant to needed change. This article, utilising examples from various treaty regimes, will examine the concept of noncompliance as playing a functional, and even essential, role in the evolution of international law to address inefficiencies or bridge ‘operational’ gaps. It will consider whether states that wish to proceed with legal regulation of cannabis can take a stance of ‘principled noncompliance’, rather than resorting to a legally questionable denial of any compliance problem with the international drug control treaties. The paper presents six considerations states must take into account in choosing the path of principled noncompliance.
The Interactions of Function and Aesthetic Value in Artifacts
Authors: Stecker Robert
Published: March 2019

In this paper, I ask: what is the role of function in appreciating artifacts? I will argue that several distinguishable functions are relevant to the aesthetic appreciation of artifacts, and sometimes more than one of these must be taken into account to adequately appreciate these objects. Second, I will claim that, while we can identify something we might call functional aesthetic value or functional beauty, the aesthetic properties that contribute to this value neither need to enhance the object’s performance of its primary function nor manifest that function. There are broader criteria for what properties are relevant to functional beauty. Finally, I suggest that the aesthetic appreciation of artifacts may contribute to a larger appreciative project: the understanding and evaluation of a way of life, or social or cultural practices in which the artifact plays a role.
Function Is Not Enough
Authors: Olivero Irene
Published: March 2019

The “nature” of an artifact is often equated with its function. Clearly, an artifactual function must be an extrinsic property. This feature of functions has important implications on the semantics of artifactual kind terms: it enables us to vindicate that artifactual kind terms have an externalist semantics. Any alleged externalist theory, indeed, must show that the referents of the considered terms share a common nature (i.e., an extrinsic property), whether we know or could possibly ever know what that nature is. However, the state of the art shows that function is not enough to represent such “nature”: function does not exhaustively account for important phenomena that characterize artifacts and artifactual kinds, nor does it thoroughly define what they are. Thus, extending the scope of externalism to artifactual kind terms seems doomed to fail. Pace opposite views, it could even be argued that artifacts are a sub-class of social kinds. If so, not only social but also artifactual kind terms cannot refer externalistically, since their referents constitutively depend on human intentions and norms. Either way, externalism fails to apply to those kinds of terms.
An Introduction to the Smaller Bodies of Water in Hugo Grotius’s Legal Theory
Authors: Middelkoop Laurelin
Published: March 2019

Around the same time as his writing of De iure belli ac pacis, Hugo Grotius wrote a short tract: Introduction to the jurisprudence of Holland. He was the first to offer a systematic account of the substantive law of Holland, with a specific focus on rights over laws. I propose that by drawing a comparison between the Introduction and his other major law treatises, the key elements and differences of his argument in Mare liberum become clearer. Secondly, it shows a different side of Grotius as a legal theorist, one concerned with smaller legal issues surrounding property relations in Holland, where potential conflicts stemming from water damage are particularly common and likely. By focusing on how Grotius handles categories of smaller bodies of water, in Introduction but also in
ibp
and De iure praedae, his understanding of what makes some water susceptible to ownership is drawn out.
Premodern Island-Southeast-Asian History in the Digital Age
Authors: Heng Derek
Published: March 2019

Premodern Southeast Asian history has primarily been predicated upon the exploitation of Chinese written documents. Reliance has been placed on several texts that detail Southeast Asian polities, products, and their respective societies. As indigenously generated sources of data have become available, primarily through archaeology, the trend has been to seek convergence between these two bodies of information. The availability of searchable digital databases has rendered Chinese documents to be open to the discoveries of new information previously unknown to historians of premodern Southeast Asia. This unutilized information has the potential of throwing new light on previously held conclusions. This article seeks to make an argument for the exploitation and potential of digitized Chinese textual databases, through keyword search methodologies, in expanding our understanding of Southeast Asia’s past, as well as the potential challenges that need to be addressed so that this new source base can be made sufficiently utilizable for Southeast Asian studies.
The Sweat of the King
Authors: Ricklefs M.C.
Published: March 2019

Eighteenth-century Javanese sources indicate that in pre-colonial Javanese kingdoms, a distinction was drawn between the monarch’s personal wealth—called monies that were ‘pure in intent, from the sweat of the king’—and the revenues of the kingdom as an institution. The distinction was probably of Islamic origin. It seems probable that only such personal royal wealth was acceptable for funding acts of personal religious merit.
The Role of Binocular Vision in Driving Pseudoneglect in Visual and Haptic Bisection: Evidence From Strabismic and Monocular Blind Individuals
Authors: Ciricugno Andrea , Rinaldi Luca , Vecchi Tomaso , Merabet Lotfi B. , Cattaneo Zaira
Published: March 2019

Prior studies have shown that strabismic amblyopes do not exhibit pseudoneglect in visual line bisection, suggesting that the right-hemisphere dominance in the control of spatial attention may depend on a normally developing binocular vision. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether an abnormal binocular childhood experience also affects spatial attention in the haptic modality, thus reflecting a supramodal effect. To this aim, we compared the performance of normally sighted, strabismic and early monocular blind participants in a visual and a haptic line bisection task. In visual line bisection, strabismic individuals tended to err to the right of the veridical midpoint, in contrast with normally sighted participants who showed pseudoneglect. Monocular blind participants exhibited high variability in their visual performance, with a tendency to bisect toward the direction of the functioning eye. In turn, in haptic bisection, all participants consistently erred towards the left of the veridical midpoint. Taken together, our findings support the view that pseudoneglect in the visual and haptic modality relies on different functional and neural mechanisms.