bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An observational study comparing the effect of sphenopalatine artery block on bleeding in endoscopic sinus surgery
Authors: Shankar M. N. , Selvan V. Saravana , Sreedharan Nigil
Published: September 2017

Background: The use of the sphenopalatine artery block to reduce bleeding during FESS, has been a debatable issue. This cross sectional observational study aims to study whether sphenopalatine artery block has any significant effect on bleeding.

Methods: 55 patients coming to the ENT department of Stanley Medical College from 2015–2016 were included in this study. All patients had bilateral nasal sinus disease and endoscopic sinus surgery was performed on both sides. 20 minutes prior to surgery one side was chosen randomly and sphenopalatine artery block was administered via the greater palatine canal approach. A mixture of lignocaine (2%) and adrenaline (1:80000) was used for infiltration. The surgery was done in an alternating fashion where the surgeon would operate for 15 minutes on one side and then moved onto the other side. The field was graded using the Wormald Grading at 30 minute intervals. The results were tabulated and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was done at each time interval to see if there was a statistically significant difference in the grades of bleeding on both sides at each time interval. SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyse the data. Significance level was fixed as 5% (α=0.05).  

Results: It was found that for each time interval up to 120 minutes there was a significant decrease in the bleeding on the blocked side. However after 120 minutes the bleeding on both sides appeared to be same.

Conclusions: Sphenopalatine artery block given prior to surgery will be effective in reducing bleeding in FESS for the first 2 hours after which the effect of the block wears away.
Hadad-Bassagasteguy flap in reconstruction of skull base defects after endonasal skull base surgery
Authors: Singh Chandra Veer , Shah Nishit J.
Published: September 2017

Background: To study the clinical outcomes of Hadad-Bassagasteguy flap (HBF) in endonasal reconstruction of anterior skull base defects.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed the demographic data & the outcome results particularly Post-operative CSF leak in 53 patients who underwent HBF in our hospital from February 2013 to June 2014. The early harvested flap was used to reconstruct anterior skull base defects among patients with high-flow on-table CSF leak. Post-operatively the patients were analyzed for CSF leak and bleeding.  

Results: Most of the study subjects were between21-50 years of age (73.6%). The mean age of the study subjects was 41.8±13.8 years. Male/female ratio of the study sample was 1.2 with 29 males and 24 females. Of the total 53 patients 46 (86.8%) has macro defects while 7 (13.2%) had micro defects. Non-secretary lesions were present in 60.4% (32/53) patients while secretary were present in 39.6% (21/53) patients. Cerebrospinal fluid leak was present in all the patients undergoing surgery and majority of them were put on lumbar drain, while bleeding was present in 49.1% patients. Of the total 53 patients only 2 had post-operative cerebrospinal fluid leak (2/53; 3.8%).

Conclusions: Use of HB posterior nasal septal flap for reconstruction of anterior skull base among patients with high-flow intra-operative CSF leak has a remarkable impact in preventing post-operative CSF leak. Its applicability to wide patient-profiles with respect to age, size of defect, diagnosis is making it a versatile choice of reconstruction after endonasal anterior skull base surgeries.
A study on clinical profile of non otogenic otalgia
Authors: Rajasekaran Valli , B. V. Sharath Kumar
Published: September 2017

Background: Ear pain can be because of pathologies in the ear or in the surrounding head and neck region. This is because of rich innervations of the ear. Sometimes it poses a diagnostic challenge.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in our institute where patients with ear pain were evaluated. Those with non otogenic causes were included in the study. 59 patients were identified and studied for the underlying cause. The sociodemographic profiles of the patients with varying etiologies were studied.  

Results: The most common cause for referred pain was temporomandibular joint dysfunction. This was more common in 15-45 years and in older age group cervical spondylosis was more common. There was no significant sex predominance.

Conclusions: Careful detailed evaluation of the patient should be done to identify the exact underlying cause and treat effectively.
Alterations of serum lipid profile in oral submucous fibrosis
Authors: Mallikarjuna Swamy K. , Ganiger Arati
Published: September 2017

Background: Oral cancer is one of the most common form of malignancies in India. In many cases it develops at the site of premalignant lesion. Of all oral premalignant conditions, oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is of greater concern because of its disabling nature and relative greater chances of malignant transformation. This study is aimed to evaluate the serum lipid profile in OSMF patients as the change in lipid levels may have a diagnostic and prognostic role in the potentially malignant lesions. The present study aimed to evaluate the alteration in serum lipid profile in OSMF and to compare them with healthy controls and to correlate the relationship between pathogenesis of OSMF and lipid profile.

Methods: It is a case control study. The study included 50 diagnosed cases of OSMF and 50 matched healthy controls. Fasting venous blood of 3 ml was collected in both cases and controls and serum was separate. Fasting serum lipid profile including total cholesterol (TC), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL) and triglycerides (TG) were measured using automatic analyser. Statistical analysis was done using student 't' test .Pearson's correlation  was performed to establish the relationship between study variables.  

Results: It was observed that there was statistically significant decrease in serum total cholesterol, TG, LDL, VLDL and HDL observed in patients with OSMF  as compared to the control group (p<0.005).

Conclusions: The low lipid levels associated with OSMF indicates that there is inverse relationship between oral cancer and serum lipid profile. Decrease in the lipid levels may be considered as a valuable biochemical marker in the early diagnosis and prognosis of oral malignancy. 
Compare the role of positron emission tomography scan to conventional imaging in the evaluation of advanced head and neck cancers
Authors: Dutta Angshuman , Chaitra B. G. , Singh Harkirat
Published: September 2017

Background: Advanced stages of head and neck cancers need careful evaluation by imaging to rule out multiple nodal and distant metastasis which might influence management and prognosis. The aim of the study was to compare the role of PETCT scan to MRI in the initial evaluation in advanced cancers of head and neck.

Methods: The study included 46 patients having advanced stages of head and neck squamous cancers. The patients underwent clinical examination, endoscopy, an initial CT/MRI of the disease site and conventional metastatic workup with an X-ray Chest and USG abdomen. The patients then underwent PET/CT. Tumor restaging was done after the PETCT and the results of CT/ MRI to PETCT were compared.  

Results: There was upstaging of disease in patients with identification of multiple/ bilateral nodes and distant metastasis following PETCT.
Conclusions:PETCT scan has an impact on the initial upstaging staging of disease compared to conventional imaging. 
 
Primary and secondary atrophic rhinitis: a microbiological and histopathological study
Authors: Keshanagari Parameshwar , Noel Rhesa
Published: September 2017

Background: Atrophic rhinitis is a distressing chronic nasal pathology characterized by progressive nasal mucosal atrophy, formation of thick crusts and a distinct foul odor. The etiology of this condition is still controvertible. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the microbiological flora and histopathological changes in primary and secondary atrophic rhinitis patients.

Methods: A total 50 atrophic rhinitis patients (15 males & 35 females) were considered, all patients were undergone for complete haemogram, microbiological examination of nasal pus and histopathological examination for biopsied material.  

Results: A total 82% patients were shown primary atrophic rhinitis and 18% cases were secondary atrophic rhinitis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was commonly isolated bacteria in 72%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (12%) and other bacteria were E. coli (8%) and Proteus mirabilus (6%) and sterile swab in 2% cases. Squamous metaplasia was found in 78% cases, while transitional metaplasia in 16% cases. The incidence of dilated blood vessels, endarteritis, and periarteritis in lamina propria is 44%, 30% and 16% respectively.

Conclusions: Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most commonly isolated bacteria. The most important pathological change is squamous cell metaplasia in atrophic rhinitis patients.
Cochlear implant in patients with incomplete partition type II: surgical considerations
Authors: Takhellambam Biram Singh , Venkataramani Nithya , Natarajan Kiran , Lairellakpam Umalakshmi , Kumari Abha , Arumugam Senthil Vadivu , Kameswaran Mohan
Published: September 2017

Background: This study presents our experience on surgical aspects, complications and outcome of cochlear implants in incomplete partition type II patients.

Methods: 7 children in the age group of 1 to 5 years with incomplete partition type II, 5 females and 2 males were studied retrospectively from the database of tertiary care centre from February 2015 to December 2016.  

Results: 5 patients had conventional transmastoid facial recess approach of which one patient had removal of incudal buttress, incus and stapes suprastructure to facilitate middle turn cochleostomy. 2 patients had subtotal petrosectomy. Complete insertion of electrode was achieved in all patients; by middle turn cochleostomy in 1 patient, cochleostomy in another patient, extended round window in 3 patients and round window in 2 patients. Med-el Synchrony + Form 19 were used in all patients and complete insertion was achieved in all. 4 patients had CSF leak which was sealed with soft tissue. One patient had device failure. 5 children show improvement in CAP and SIR score. One had device failure and was subsequently explanted and re-implanted.

Conclusions: Cochlear implantation in patients with incomplete partition type II is challenging and thorough knowledge of anatomy is essential. One must be competent enough to expedite different surgical approaches and manage the associated complications. Prior counselling for guarded outcome and eventualities are necessary in such patients.
Clinico-pathological and radiological assessment of benign nasal masses
Authors: Sharma Akash , Garg L. N. , Baisakhiya Nitish
Published: September 2017

Background: Sinonasal masses are uni or bilateral with variable and with multiple etiological factors. Benign masses are common in comparison to malignant in this region. Some of the benign masses e.g. juvenile angiofibroma and inverted papilloma cause local bony destruction. Preoperative radiological assessment is desirable for proper surgical Management. The purpose of the study was to assess the clinical and radiological findings of sinonasal masses and the correlation of the clinical and radiological findings with the histopathology.

Methods: This prospective study was carried out on 50 cases if intra nasal masses. After clinical examination, these patients were subjected to radiology. The parameters assessed were the origin, extension, involvement of adjacent structure. Subsequently, all the cases were subjected to surgery i.e. polypectomy, medial maxillectomy, excision with the help of nasal endoscope. Thereafter, the histopathological findings were correlated with clinical and radiological findings.  

Results: Total 50 cases of intra nasal benign masses were included in the study. Among them 36 (72%) cases were of nasal polyps, out of which 29 (80.5%) were inflammatory polyps and 7 (19.4%) were allergic polyps. Among inflammatory polyps, 23 (79.3%) were males and 6 (20.69%) were females. Among allergic polyps 4 (57.14%) were males and 3 (42.85%) were females. The other findings were 5 (10%) cases of angiofibroma, 5 (10%) cases on inverted papilloma, 3 (6%) cases of haemangioma and 1 (2%) cases of chondrosarcoma.

Conclusions: Considering the result obtained, the most common sinonasal lesions were inflammatory polyps. Others in order in order of frequency were allergic polyp, angiofibroma, inverted papilloma, haemangioma and chondrosarcoma.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the palatine tonsil: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Karkuzhali Ponnuswamy , Sahoo Bijayalaxmi
Published: September 2017

Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma is the most common malignant salivary gland neoplasm. It is seen in both the adults and children and shows a slight female predilection. It presents, usually, as a painless, slow-growing, firm mass, with varied clinical behaviour depending on its clinical stage and histological grade. The majority of the cases occur in the major salivary glands, though it can also arise from minor salivary glands. It occurs, most commonly, in the buccal mucosa and palate in the oral cavity. Other sites, in which it has been reported, include maxilla, mandible, breast tissue, skin and thymus. To our knowledge, only three cases, have been reported in tonsils so far, and hence we report an uncommon case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the Palatine tonsil.
Tubercular lymphadenitis presenting with facial palsy: a rare case report
Authors: Munjal Manish , Arora Archana , Singh Amanjeet , Munjal Vineeta
Published: September 2017

India has a very high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB). Incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is on the rise and at times it presents with uncommon features. We reported a case of 27 year old female presented with an irregular scar mark in the submandibular region along with an asymmetric smile. She was on treatment for tuberculosis as diagnosed by an earlier aspiration cytology report. Examination showed irregular non tender scar along with an underlying 2×2 cms swelling. Repeat fine needle aspiration was inconclusive and the patient was thus taken up for excision biopsy. Final report turned out to be tubercular lymphadenopathy and treatment was thus started accordingly. We conclude that tubercular lymph nodes presenting with facial nerve paresis are extremely rare entity. A high degree of suspicion should be maintained in a country like India where prevalence of TB is significantly high.

 
Hearing assessment in a rare case of Hajdu Cheney syndrome
Authors: . Priyanka , . Shiffali , Singh Manpreet , Singh Jagdeepak
Published: September 2017

Hajdu Cheney syndrome is extremely rare autosomal dominant congenital disorder of connective tissue. It may occur due to spontaneous de novo mutation and mutation in NOTCH-2 gene identified recently. Most characteristic features include aero-osteolysis involving phalanges of both hands and feet, osteoporosis, deformities of skull, mandible, spine and other bones, kyphoscoliosis and bone fractures. Rarely in some affected individuals, it causes joint hypermobility, dental problems, hearing loss, heart defects, kidney abnormality like polycystic kidneys, excess body hair and recurrent infections in childhood. It affects many parts of body particularly bones. Treatment is symptomatic. In this case report, we present a case of 14 years male child with features of Hajdu Cheney syndrome with genetic predisposition. Patient presented to ENT clinic with complaint of hearing loss.
Measuring Employability for Disadvantaged Unemployed People? Evidence from Survey and Register Data
Authors: Dencker-Larsen Sofie
Published: September 2017

Disadvantaged unemployed Danes do not easily become re-employed. Previous literature has focused on unemployment versus employment. Expanding on this, the present article is a proposal to assess disadvantaged unemployed people’s employability. On the basis of the literature, I investigate whether variables measuring health, well-being, self-efficacy, alcohol use, and drug use can be included into this measure of employability measured as subsequent re-employment. Data are on disadvantaged unemployment cash benefit recipients from the Copenhagen Unemployment and Well-Being Panel Survey (2013, 2014, N = 2400, analytical sample N = 956) and detailed register data on employment status measured weekly. The results from the analysis reveal that only parts of the proposed indicator are linked with subsequent re-employment, and comprehensive robustness checks reveal that the indicator lacks stability. However, the findings from the study can inform future studies aiming at developing an indicator of employability for disadvantaged unemployed people in Denmark and the other Nordic countries.
Technological progress in Croatian perennial agriculture
Authors: Herceg Tomislav , Vuksanovic Iva
Published: September 2017

The agricultural sector in Croatia has declined or stagnated since the 1980s. Despite the high subsidies and EU accession, it failed to improve its production level, but the underlying causes of the subsidy inefficiency remain unclear. Trade liberalization and bear prices of agricultural products in the EU are some of the frequently cited arguments. On the other hand, government interventions in the form of direct subsidies have always been significant. Following the prevailing theoretical body of literature, we assumed that these interventions were at least in part aimed at achieving sustainable competitive position of the agriculture sector vis-à-vis foreign markets. Therefore, this paper analyzes Croatian perennial agriculture in detail with the aim to reveal whether subsidies in this sector led to technological progress and productivity increase. A panel data set for all Croatian legal entities doing business in the field of perennial agriculture in the 2008-2014 period was used to construct a production function in order to extract the total factor productivity and determine whether the K/L ratio is properly set. It is shown that the K/L ratio is entirely inadequate, while also indicating the decreasing returns to scale which should have been overcome with technological progress (TFP). The TFP in perennial agriculture remained constant throughout the period despite the changes in subsidies. Moreover, the majority of perennial subsectors have displayed significant decrease in the TFP. Finally, a TFP model was built to determine the factors that affect the TFP growth. By employing a set of 301 variables which describe the companies’ internal and external properties, only two remained significant: export and subsidies, but with almost inexistent effect, revealing that exports and current subsidy distribution cannot be a drive for perennial or for non-perennial agriculture growth in Croatia.
intereset Rate Uncertainty and FDI Pre-Globalisation
Authors: vukson william
Published: September 2017

Exchange Rate uncertainty prior to the Euro were deemed an important impediment to Foreign Direct Investment Flows. This paper confirms that they were the main cause preventing optimal Private Corporate Sustainability during this era. This paper was researched with several industries in mind; automotive; textile and manufacturing sectors. It continues to serve as a key pillar for private sustainability goals in the automotive sector. Exchange Rate Uncertainty supercedes the effects of tax rate differentials and real wage rate differentials. The methodology used was OLS econometric techniques and the data was transformed into annual growth rates in order to achieve scientific compatibilities in my research methodology.
A Comparison of the Inherent Adaptivity Perspective and Functionalist Perspective on Guilt and Shame
Authors: Dempsey Heidi L.
Published: September 2017

Within the field of guilt and shame, two competing perspectives have been advanced. The first, the inherent adaptivity perspective, has been primarily advanced by Tangney and colleagues. This position advocates that guilt is an inherently adaptive emotion and shame is an inherently maladaptive emotion; thus, those interested in moral character development and psychopathology should work to increase an individual’s guilt-proneness and decrease an individual’s shame-proneness.  The functionalist perspective, in contrast, has advocated that both guilt and shame can serve a person adaptively and maladaptively—depending on the situational appropriateness, duration, intensity, and so forth. This paper reviews the research conducted supporting both positions, critiques some issues with the most widely used guilt- and shame-proneness measure in the inherent adaptivity research (the TOSCA), and discusses the differences in results found when assessing guilt and shame at the state versus trait level.  The conclusion drawn is that although there is broad support for the functionalist perspective across a wide variety of state and trait guilt/shame studies, the functionalist perspective does not yet have the wealth of data supporting it that has been generated by the inherent adaptivity perspective using the TOSCA.  Thus, before a dominant perspective can be identified, researchers need to (1) do more research assessing how the inherent adaptivity perspective compares to the functionalist perspective at the state level, and (2) do more trait research within the functionalist perspective to compare functionalist-generated guilt- and shame-proneness measures with the TOSCA.
Effect of Microstructure on the Thermal Conductivity of Plasma Sprayed Y2O3 Stabilized Zirconia (8 %YSZ)
Authors: Hu Ningning , Khan Matiullah , Wang Yongzhe , Song Xuemei , Zeng Yi
Published: September 2017

In this paper, the effect of microstructure on the thermal conductivity of plasma-sprayed Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) is investigated. Nine freestanding samples deposited on aluminum-base superalloy are studied. Cross-section morphology such as pores, cracks, m-phase content, grain boundary density of the coated samples are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). Multiple linear regressions are used to develop quantitative models which describe the relationship between the particle parameters, m-phase content and the microstructure such as porosity, crack-porosity, the length density of small-angle-crack and the length density of big-angle-crack. Moreover, the relationship between microstructure and thermal conductivity is investigated. Results reveal that the thermal conductivity of the coating is mainly determined by the microstructure and grain boundary density at room temperature (25 ℃) and by the length density of big-angle-crack, monoclinic phase content and grain boundary density at high temperature (1200 ℃).
Moisture Content Measurement of Broadleaf Litters using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Technique
Authors: Kim Ghiseok , Hong Suk-Ju , Lee Ah-Yeong , Lee Ye-Eun , Im Sangjun
Published: September 2017

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was implemented to monitor the moisture content of broadleaf litters. Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) models, incorporating optimal wavelength selection techniques, have been proposed to better predict the litter moisture of forest floor. Three broadleaf litters were used to sample the reflection spectra corresponding the different degrees of litter moisture. Maximum normalization preprocessing technique was successfully applied to remove unwanted noise from the reflectance spectra of litters. Four variable selection methods were also employed to extract the optimal subset of measured spectra for establishing the best prediction model. The results showed that the PLSR model with the peak of beta coefficients method was the best predictor among all candidate models. The proposed NIRS procedure is thought to be a suitable technique for on-the-spot evaluation of litter moisture.
THE BALANCE OF LEARNING MODEL DEVELOPMENT AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGE
Authors: Widiastuti Widiastuti , Ariyanto Tomy
Published: September 2017

This research aims to produce a balance learning model for elementary school age. This study used Research & Development (R&D) method. Instrument used in this research is balance a Modified Test of Dynamic Balance applied to collect data in children of elementary school age. Those step are: (1) need analysis, (2) expert justment; (3) limited trial (small group trial); and (4) main trial (field testing). Effectiveness of implementation of balance learning model in children of elementary school age using sample of 70 students by "t-test” techniqe. Pre test and post test were obtained the average result of pre test of 39,85 and average post test 68,42. The total of pre test and post test was 28,57 with deviation standard of 8,89 and t value pf 26,88 so the data is declared significant. It means balance model in children at elementary school age is effective to improve elementary school balance. Based on results of research it is concluded that the balance model in children at elementary school age being developed has a significant effectiveness.
Cross-National Fragmentation, 1945–1964
Authors: Saito Hiro
Published: September 2017

Between 1945 and 1964, the history problem did not yet exist because Japan had no diplomatic relations with South Korea and China. In the meantime, the Tokyo Trial prosecuted Japanese leaders for waging an aggressive war against the Allied Powers. But conservative politicians in power openly rejected the trial as invalid and instead justified the Asia-Pacific War as an act of self-defense and honored Japanese war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine. After the conservative LDP came to dominate the government in 1955, it promoted nationalism in Japan’s official commemoration. In contrast, the Japan Socialist Party and the Japan Communist Party actively commemorated Japan’s past wrongdoings against Korea and China. Moreover, A-bomb victims and affiliated NGOs began to adopt cosmopolitanism to commemorate all war victims irrespective of nationality. Since these political parties and NGOs were outnumbered by the LDP and its supporters, however, they did not influence Japan’s official commemoration.
The Growth of Transnational Interactions, 1965–1988
Authors: Saito Hiro
Published: September 2017

Between 1965 and 1988, the history problem emerged after Japan normalized its diplomatic relations with South Korea and China. After normalization, Japanese A-bomb victims and affiliated NGOs began to commemorate foreign victims of Japan’s past wrongdoings. The South Korean and Chinese governments also pressed the Japanese government over history textbooks and prime ministers’ visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. In response, the LDP government incorporated cosmopolitanism in Japan’s official commemoration, though the LDP continued to defend nationalism. At the same time, in South Korea, ethnic nationalism was energized by the country’s economic success and the democratization movement, and in China, the communist party began to promote patriotic education to manage social instabilities created by economic reforms. Hence, nationalist commemorations in the three countries were set on a collision course.
The Legacy of the Tokyo Trial
Authors: Saito Hiro
Published: September 2017

Since relevant political actors used the Tokyo Trial as a reference point, a critical reassessment of the trial holds the key to resolving the history problem. First, elements of victor’s justice in the trial need to be critiqued in light of the world-historical context of imperialism and colonialism. This critique will decrease ambivalence that many Japanese citizens feel toward the trial and help them accept Japan’s war crimes decisively. Second, Japan’s victimhood vis-à-vis war crimes of the Allied Powers need to be recognized. Such recognition will allow Japanese citizens to draw on their own victimhood to fully empathize with South Korean and Chinese victims and, in turn, help South Korean and Chinese citizens better understand Japan’s war commemorations. Third, the trial’s government-centered view on Japan’s past aggression needs to be challenged to clarify each Japanese citizen’s share of war responsibility and allow cosmopolitan contrition to become truly nationwide.
The Role of Historians in the History Problem
Authors: Saito Hiro
Published: September 2017

Historians’ critical reflections are indispensable for reassessing the Tokyo Trial and resolving the history problem. Recently, these critical reflections have multiplied in East Asia through joint historical research and education projects. Nevertheless, historians have been unable to effectively intervene in the history problem because no adequate mechanisms are institutionalized through which their criticism of nationalism can move official and public commemorations in a more cosmopolitan direction. This situation is largely engineered by the governments of Japan, South Korea, and China that control history education through curricular guidelines and textbook inspection. The governments also maintain the education systems that force students to memorize “historical facts” for examinations instead of cultivating skills to critically evaluate historical materials and interpretations – the very skills necessary for resolving the history problem. Thus, the cosmopolitan potential of historians, to help citizens to critically reflect on their nationalist commemorations, has not been fully realized.
Conclusion
Authors: Saito Hiro
Published: September 2017

In conclusion, Japan, South Korea, and China have the best chance to resolve the history problem and move toward reconciliation if they reciprocate cosmopolitan commemoration. To this end, the three countries must first engage in mutual criticism of nationalist commemorations with the help of historians. Such criticism will prepare the ground for Japan to fully commemorate the suffering of South Korean and Chinese victims by confronting the real magnitude of its past wrongdoings, and for South Korea and China to reflect on their own nationalism and commemorate the war, including Japanese victimhood, from a more cosmopolitan perspective. This mutual cosmopolitan commemoration may sound too idealistic at first, but it has already emerged in East Asia through the transnational network of historians and educators. The question is whether the three countries are willing to further it.
The Land in Pure Land
Authors: Curley Melissa Anne-Marie
Published: September 2017

Polemical accounts suggest that the Western Paradise has traditionally been imagined as a strictly transcendent pocket universe, having no relation to this world. But medieval Pure Land believers sought the Pure Land in this world in a variety of ways, mapping it onto the landscape around them in order to rehearse the event of birth. Hōnen’s understanding of the Pure Land amplifies its supernatural character as a site within which the laws governing the real world do not apply. Shinran’s identification of himself as neither monk nor layman further knits together estrangement from the real world and birth in the Pure Land. Rennyo takes Shinran’s self-identification seriously, attempting to build a community based on the principle of mutual equality and organized according to seniority, reflecting the utopian values of the Warring States period. “Traditional” Pure Land does not begin to emerge until the early modern period.
Pure Land for the People
Authors: Curley Melissa Anne-Marie
Published: September 2017

Following the untimely death in prison of Kyoto School philosopher Miki Kiyoshi, his unfinished essay on Shinran was assembled for publication, serving as a kind of final testament. Early in his career, Miki had come into conflict with other Japanese Marxists over his contention that religion could play a positive role in the proletarian revolution. The Shinran essay picks up on this possibility, framing the Pure Land Buddhist view of the Dharma ages in terms of the historical dialectic. According to Miki, Shinran (like Marx) discerned that the trajectory of history points toward the establishment of a truly human society, or a buddha land built upon the earth, in which the full exercise of individual human capacity will be possible for the first time. Miki’s utopianism is complicated by his role in articulating a vision of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, relying on some of the same logic we see in the Shinran essay.
Epilogue
Authors: Curley Melissa Anne-Marie
Published: September 2017

A recent revival of interest in Marxism in contemporary Japan suggests new ways of thinking about Pure Land Buddhist utopianism as politically significant. Drawing on the work of Japanese Marxist Hiromatsu Wataru and Korean historian Baik Youngseo, Nakajima Takahirō makes an argument for rethinking East Asian relations from the periphery. Shinshū—with its emphasis on exile, marginal places, solidarity, and conviviality—has much to offer theorists interested in new ways of approaching social relations, as is already apparent in the work of Hishiki Masaharu and his understanding of the Pure Land as a principle of criticism. This way of imagining the Pure Land in a critical engagement with the real world should not be understood as brand new; on the contrary, it represents a return to the kind of critical hope that characterized medieval Pure Land.
Teika
Authors: Atkins Paul S.
Published: September 2017

The medieval Japanese courtier, poet, compiler, copyist, critic, and diarist Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) is one of the most influential writers in the history of Japanese literature. Descended from a lineage of courtier poets, Teika achieved early success through linguistic and conceptual innovation and is acknowledged as a virtuoso master of the thirty-one syllable waka form. His patrons included members of the regental, shogunal, and imperial families. Teika’s talents were much in demand as a tutor, judge of poetry contests, and compiler of imperial anthologies of waka. Much of his diary, Meigetsuki, survives today in Teika’s own hand, and samples of his distinctive calligraphy are coveted by collectors.
Teika, the first study of its kind in English, explores the most important and intriguing aspects of Teika’s life and literary works. Individual chapters examine his biography, early poetic style, poetics, understanding of classical Chinese and China, and a history of the reception of his life and works.
Introduction
Authors: Atkins Paul S.
Published: September 2017

The late medieval poet and monk Shōtetsu (1381–1459) deeply revered Teika. This chapter begins the study by seeking the reasons for Shōtetsu’s reverence, provides an overview of Teika’s life and oeuvre, and introduces the structure of the book.
Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine
Authors: Godart G. Clinton
Published: September 2017

Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine demonstrates that evolutionary theory was never passively accepted, but played active and controversial roles in modern Japanese thought. Evolutionary theory was controversial and of a major concern to Japanese Buddhist, Shintō, Confucian, and Christian thinkers, who actively debated and contested the theory. As the Japanese redefined their relation to the world, to nature, and built a modern nation-state, evolutionary theory also became an intellectual battleground, and Japanese state ideology became increasingly hostile to evolutionary theory. Japanese intellectuals and religious thinkers actively and constructively, and often critically, appropriated evolutionary theory for a wide variety of ends, but the religious reception of evolution in Japan was dominated by a long and continuous fear of the idea of nature and society as a cold, materialist, world, governed by a mindless “struggle for survival.” This aversion engendered many religious thinkers, philosophers, and biologists, to find goodness, beauty, and the divine within nature and evolution itself. It was this drive that shaped much of Japan’s modern intellectual history, and changed Japanese understandings of nature, society, and the sacred.
Introduction
Authors: Godart G. Clinton
Published: September 2017

In 1935, Nishida Kitarō, modern Japan’s most important philosopher and, at the time, also a well-known public intellectual, was invited to a government committee for the reform of education. Nishida was not too enthusiastic about it. After economic crises, attempted coup d’états, and political assassinations, Japanese society had been in turmoil for some years. Tensions with the West were rising and, under pressure within from military and right-wing movements, the country was steering away from democracy. Marxism enthralled many students and intellectuals, while government- and right-wing ideologues, alarmed as much by the rampant consumerism in the cities as by international communism, were calling for a spiritual mobilization and unity under the emperor, who was considered a descendant of the Shintō gods. At this committee, Kihira Tadayoshi, who is now forgotten but at the time was a well-known philosopher and professor working for the Ministry of Education, circulated a proposal. Nishida was aghast at its contents, but did not dare to protest openly. These were dangerous times. But Nishida did complain in private, writing to his friend, the philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō:...
The Religious Transmission of Evolutionary Theory in Meiji-Era Japan
Authors: Godart G. Clinton
Published: September 2017

Religion was a crucial mediating factor in the early transmission of evolutionary theory to Japan. Even before the Meiji period, certain evolutionary ideas appeared within a religious context. Evolutionary theory and Christianity arrived in Japan in the same period, and conflict ensued as the early conveyors of evolutionary theory, such as Edward S. Morse and Ernest Fenollosa presented the theory as one that delegitimized Christianity; simultaneously, several important Christian missionaries and Japanese Christian thinkers, presented science and Christian faith as part of one package necessary for the modernization of Japan.
The Buddha in Lanna
Authors: Chiu Angela S.
Published: September 2017

This work is the first in-depth historical study of the Thai tradition of donation of that most iconic of Thai art objects, the Buddha image. The book introduces stories from tamnan(chronicles), monastic histories and legends from the Lanna region centered in today’s northern Thailand. Examination of themes, structures and motifs illuminates the conceptual and material aspects of Buddha images that influenced their functions in Lanna society. As agents and mediators of social agency, Buddha images were focal points of pan-regional political-religious lineages and rivalries, indeed, the very generators of history itself. Statues also unified the Buddha with the northern Thai landscape, integrating Buddhist and local significances of place. The book also compares Thai statues with Sri Lankan and Burmese-Mon Buddha relics and images, contributing to broader understanding of how materially different types of Buddhist representations mediated the Buddha’s ‘presence.’ Moreover, the book considers fundamental yet rarely critically deliberated questions such as how particular statues were selected as models to be copied. This involves the image’s aspect as an exchange of financial outlay for merit, ‘commoditized’ even as it is ‘singularized’ through enshrinement. Throughout its ‘life,’ the Thai Buddha image is always a part of wider society beyond monastery walls.
Conclusion
Authors: Chiu Angela S.
Published: September 2017

This chapter summarizes the main findings of each chapter.
Women and Buddhist Philosophy
Authors: Park Jin Y.
Published: September 2017

How and why do women engage with Buddhist philosophy? This is the fundamental question that Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp proposes to answer through discussions of Kim Iryŏp’s (1896–1971) life and philosophy. With her Christian background and feminist activist perspective, Kim Iryŏp offers a creative interpretation of Buddhist philosophy as a system of thought that engages with lived experience. Continuing to focus on gender discrimination, suffering, and discontent in the secular world, Iryŏp explores the Buddhist teaching of absolute equality, in which individuals are conceived as free beings with infinite capability. She employs Buddhism to answer her existential questions, including the scope of identity, the meaning of being human, and the ultimate value of existence. Moving beyond current Buddhist scholarship on gender, Women and Buddhist Philosophy asks whether women’s way of engaging with Buddhist philosophy, in particular, and philosophy, in general, differs essentially from the familiar patriarchal mode of philosophizing. The author claims that in Iryŏp’s engagement with Buddhist philosophy, the difference is visible and can be identified with narrative philosophy and lived experience, as opposed to abstraction and theorization. This distinction, the author suggests, is also applicable to the difference between Asian and Western philosophies.
Poverty and Prosperity
Authors: Bulloch Hannah C. M.
Published: September 2017

This chapter introduces Siquijor Island and sketches the socio-economic terrain of the village. It then considers key material markers of development—such as infant formula and concrete block houses—and how these are deployed by individuals and families as they compete for status. While this aspect of the local concept of development emphasizes social mobility anchored in conspicuous consumption, it sits in tension with a contending local ideal of how one should live. Ang simpul nga kinabuhi, the simple life, involves contentment in an austere lifestyle and attention to personal relationships. These ideals respectively embrace and reject liberal norms of enterprise, individual accumulation, competition and the defining of identity in terms of consumer goods. The chapter shows that even within individuals, notions of development are not necessarily singular or fully coherent and these tensions are tied to ambivalent assumptions concerning what constitutes “proper” social and economic relations.
Haunted by Demons, Watched by Kings
Authors: Lowe Bryan D.
Published: September 2017

Chapter six uses a case study of the transcription of three texts sponsored by Queen Consort Kōmyōshi in 748—the Scripture on Saving and Protecting Body and Life, Golden Light Sutra, and Scripture on Brahma’s Spirit Tablets—to reevaluate the political nature of ritual in ancient Japan. By emplacing kings and queens in a world in which they were haunted by ghastly attacks and answered to celestial kings who threated to punish the impious, it suggests that rulers were compelled to cultivate virtuous conduct or risk punishment in accord with the cosmological schemes they themselves promoted. It argues that Buddhist ideas were an authoritative force that structured ethical codes of conduct in ancient Japan. It outlines the processes through which these texts were copied, provides an overview of succession disputes in the eighth century, and interprets the content of the scriptures within the political world and the context at the scriptorium.
Epilogue
Authors: Lowe Bryan D.
Published: September 2017

The epilogue synthesizes the previous chapters. It focuses first on arguments about ritual, scriptural cultures, and Buddhist practice. It then turns to the historiographical concerns regarding Nara Buddhism.
Ecumenical Parks and Cosmological Gardens
Authors: McDaniel Justin Thomas
Published: September 2017

Lek and Braphai Wiriyaphan were married Sino-Thai entrepreneurs that became some of the greatest builders of Buddhist theme parks and ecumenical memorials in Asia. They designed parks and museums including the largest wooden temple and the largest metal animal statue in the world. This chapter compares their sites to others the Haw Par Villa in Singapore, the Wat Muang “Hell Park” in Thailand, the Centro Ecuménico Khun Iam in Macau, Chan-soo Park’s Moga-A Sculpture Garden in South Korea, the Sala Keaoku sculpture garden in Laos, as well as modern Buddhist temples and art galleries designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat, Thawan Duchanee, Tadao Ando, Takashi Yamaguchi, Shin Takamatsu, among others. These sites are a mixture of religious buildings, leisure and tourist sites, and spectacle sites (J. misemono). They overwhelm instead of instruct. They encourage distraction, not focus. They are an important part of carnival culture that link the spectacular, grotesque, the absurd, and the comedic.
Japanese Industrial Pollution and Environmental Injustice
Authors: Avenell Simon
Published: September 2017

The chapter explores the roots of Japanese activists’ environmental injustice paradigm in the country’s industrial pollution crisis of the 1960s and early 1970s. The chapter pays particular attention to the Research Committee on Pollution, a group of leading antipollution advocates whose involvement in the domestic movement as scientific and professional specialists deeply shaped their approach to environmental problems and nurtured a desire to communicate Japan’s traumatic experience to the world. The chapter shows how their experiences with local industrial pollution victims combined with their scientific training had the capacity to stimulate transnational activism.
Pollution Export and Victimhood
Authors: Avenell Simon
Published: September 2017

This chapter explores Japanese transnational movements opposing the relocation of polluting Japanese industries to countries throughout East Asia. The chapter begins with an analysis of the important Conference of Asians in 1974 which brought together Asian activists in Tokyo to discuss instances of environmental pollution and violations of human rights throughout East Asia. The chapter then explores four case studies involving transnational movements opposing so-called “pollution export” to South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. Although these movements met with mixed success, the attention they brought to Japanese corporate transgressions abroad meant that relocation of polluting industries became more and more difficult thereafter. These transnational mobilizations also offered Japanese activists a unique opportunity to put their domestic struggles in context and to question their sense of victimhood.
Globality through Local Eyes
Authors: Avenell Simon
Published: September 2017

This chapter explores Japanese groups’ involvement at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Responding to debates over global environmental problems such as climate change, Japanese activists argued that the rights of marginalized groups needed to be recognized when formulating countermeasures. They sympathized with advocates from developing countries who argued that it was unfair to demand restraint now when the advanced countries had developed without consideration for resource usage or environmental destruction for hundreds of years. Japanese activists pointed to the violation of the rights of marginalized groups in Japan as a result of industrial pollution. They suggested that similar patterns of discrimination were at work between rich and poor countries and hence, any solutions to global environmental problems needed to consider the situation of these disadvantaged groups. The chapter argues that the experience of environmental injustices in Japan deeply shaped this perspective among some Japanese activists.