bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ppd-H1integrates drought stress signals to control spike development and flowering time in barley
Authors: Gol Leonard , Haraldsson Einar B , von Korff Maria
Published: May 2020

Drought impairs growth and spike development, and is therefore a major cause of yield losses in the temperate cereals barley and wheat. Here, we show that the photoperiod response gene PHOTOPERIOD-H1 (Ppd-H1) interacts with drought stress signals to modulate spike development. We tested the effects of a continuous mild and a transient severe drought stress on developmental timing and spike development in spring barley cultivars with a natural mutation in ppd-H1 and derived introgression lines carrying the wild-type Ppd-H1 allele from wild barley. Mild drought reduced the spikelet number and delayed floral development in spring cultivars but not in the introgression lines with a wild-type Ppd-H1 allele. Similarly, drought-triggered reductions in plant height, and tiller and spike number were more pronounced in the parental lines compared with the introgression lines. Transient severe stress halted growth and floral development; upon rewatering, introgression lines, but not the spring cultivars, accelerated development so that control and stressed plants flowered almost simultaneously. These genetic differences in development were correlated with a differential down-regulation of the flowering promotors FLOWERING LOCUS T1 and the BARLEY MADS-box genes BM3 and BM8. Our findings therefore demonstrate that Ppd-H1 affects developmental plasticity in response to drought in barley.
Hard-X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei – I. A radio view at high frequencies
Authors: Chiaraluce E , Panessa F , Bruni G , Baldi R D , Behar E , Vagnetti F , Tombesi F , McHardy I
Published: May 2020

A thorough study of radio emission in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is of fundamental importance to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the emission and the interplay between accretion and ejection processes. High-frequency radio observations can target the nuclear contribution of smaller emitting regions and are less affected by absorption. We present JVLA 22 and 45 GHz observations of 16 nearby (0.003 ≤ z ≤ 0.3) hard-X-ray-selected AGNs at the (sub)-kpc scale with tens μJy beam−1 sensitivity. We detected 15/16 sources, with flux densities ranging from hundreds μJy to tens Jy (specific luminosities from ∼1020 to ${\sim}10^{25}\, \mathrm{ W}\, \mathrm{ Hz}^{-1}$ at 22 GHz). All detected sources host a compact core, with eight being core-dominated at either frequencies, the others exhibiting also extended structures. Spectral indices range from steep to flat/inverted. We interpret this evidence as either due to a core+jet system (6/15), a core accompanied by surrounding star formation (1/15), to a jet oriented close to the line of sight (3/15), to emission from a corona or the base of a jet (1/15), although there might be degeneracies between different processes. Four sources require more data to shed light on their nature. We conclude that, at these frequencies, extended, optically thin components are present together with the flat-spectrum core. The LR/LX ∼ 10−5 relation is roughly followed, indicating a possible contribution to radio emission from a hot corona. A weakly significant correlation between radio core (22 and 45 GHz) and X-ray luminosities is discussed in the light of an accretion–ejection framework.
Fitting formulae for evolution tracks of massive stars under extreme metal-poor environments for population synthesis calculations and star cluster simulations
Authors: Tanikawa Ataru , Yoshida Takashi , Kinugawa Tomoya , Takahashi Koh , Umeda Hideyuki
Published: May 2020

We have devised fitting formulae for evolution tracks of massive stars with 8 ≲ M/M⊙ ≲ 160 under extreme metal-poor (EMP) environments for log (Z/Z⊙) = −2, −4, −5, −6, and −8, where M⊙ and Z⊙ are the solar mass and metallicity, respectively. Our fitting formulae are based on reference stellar models which we have newly obtained by simulating the time evolutions of EMP stars. Our fitting formulae take into account stars ending with blue supergiant (BSG) stars, and stars skipping Hertzsprung gap phases and blue loops, which are characteristics of massive EMP stars. In our fitting formulae, stars may remain BSG stars when they finish their core Helium burning phases. Our fitting formulae are in good agreement with our stellar evolution models. We can use these fitting formulae on the sse, bse, nbody4, and nbody6 codes, which are widely used for population synthesis calculations and star cluster simulations. These fitting formulae should be useful to make theoretical templates of binary black holes formed under EMP environments.
K-CLASH: spatially resolving star-forming galaxies in field and cluster environments at z ≈ 0.2–0.6
Authors: Tiley Alfred L , Vaughan Sam P , Stott John P , Davies Roger L , Prichard Laura J , Bunker Andrew , Bureau Martin , Cappellari Michele , Jarvis Matt , Robotham Aaron , Cortese Luca , Bellstedt Sabine , Ansarinejad Behzad
Published: May 2020

We present the KMOS-CLASH (K-CLASH) survey, a K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS) survey, of the spatially resolved gas properties and kinematics of 191 (pre-dominantly blue) H α-detected galaxies at 0.2 ≲ z ≲ 0.6 in field and cluster environments. K-CLASH targets galaxies in four Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) fields in the KMOS IZ-band, over 7 arcmin radius (≈2–3 Mpc) fields of view. K-CLASH aims to study the transition of star-forming galaxies from turbulent, highly star-forming disc-like and peculiar systems at z ≈ 1–3, to the comparatively quiescent, ordered late-type galaxies at z ≈ 0, and to examine the role of clusters in the build-up of the red sequence since z ≈ 1. In this paper, we describe the K-CLASH survey, present the sample, and provide an overview of the K-CLASH galaxy properties. We demonstrate that our sample comprises star-forming galaxies typical of their stellar masses and epochs, residing both in field and cluster environments. We conclude K-CLASH provides an ideal sample to bridge the gap between existing large integral-field spectroscopy surveys at higher and lower redshifts. We find that star-forming K-CLASH cluster galaxies at intermediate redshifts have systematically lower stellar masses than their star-forming counterparts in the field, hinting at possible ‘downsizing’ scenarios of galaxy growth in clusters at these epochs. We measure no difference between the star formation rates of H α-detected, star-forming galaxies in either environment after accounting for stellar mass, suggesting that cluster quenching occurs very rapidly during the epochs probed by K-CLASH, or that star-forming K-CLASH galaxies in clusters have only recently arrived there, with insufficient time elapsed for quenching to have occurred.
Detection of a variable ultrafast outflow in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PG 1448+273
Authors: Kosec P , Zoghbi A , Walton D J , Pinto C , Fabian A C , Parker M L , Reynolds C S
Published: May 2020

Relativistically blueshifted absorption features of highly ionized ions, the so-called ultrafast outflows (UFOs), have been detected in the X-ray spectra of a number of accreting supermassive black holes. If these features truly originate from accretion disc winds accelerated to more than 10 per cent of the speed of light, their energy budget is very significant and they can contribute to or even drive galaxy-scale feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, the UFO spectral features are often weak due to high ionization of the outflowing material, and the inference of the wind physical properties can be complicated by other spectral features in AGNs such as relativistic reflection. Here we study a highly accreting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy PG 1448+273. We apply an automated, systematic routine for detecting outflows in accreting systems and achieve an unambiguous detection of a UFO in this AGN. The UFO absorption is observed in both soft and hard X-ray bands with the XMM–Newton observatory. The velocity of the outflow is (26 900 ± 600) km s−1 (∼0.09c), with an ionization parameter of $\log (\xi / \textrm {erg~cm~s}^{-1})=4.03_{-0.08}^{+0.10}$ and a column density above 1023 cm−2. At the same time, we detect weak warm absorption features in the spectrum of the object. Our systematic outflow search suggests the presence of further multiphase wind structure, but we cannot claim a significant detection considering the present data quality. The UFO is not detected in a second, shorter observation with XMM–Newton, indicating variability in time, observed also in other similar AGNs.
Improved model-independent constraints on the recombination era and development of a direct projection method
Authors: Hart Luke , Chluba Jens
Published: May 2020

The unparalleled precision of recent experiments such as Planck have allowed us to constrain standard and non-standard physics (e.g. due to dark matter annihilation or varying fundamental constants) during the recombination epoch. However, we can also probe this era of cosmic history using model-independent variations of the free electron fraction, Xe, which, in turn, affects the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background. In this paper, we improve on the previous efforts to construct and constrain these generalized perturbations in the ionization history, deriving new optimized eigenmodes based on the full Planck  2015 likelihood data, introducing the new module Fearec++. We develop a direct likelihood sampling method for attaining the numerical derivatives of the standard and non-standard parameters, and discuss complications arising from the stability of the likelihood code. We improve the amplitude constraints of the Planck 2015 principal components constructed here, μ1 = −0.09 ± 0.12, μ2 = −0.17 ± 0.20, and μ3 = −0.30 ± 0.35, finding no indication for departures from the standard recombination scenario. The error constraint on the third mode has been improved by a factor of 2.5. We utilize an efficient eigenanalyser that keeps the cross-correlations of the first three eigenmodes to ${\rm Corr\left(\mu \, \mu ^{\prime }\right)}\lt 0.1$ per cent after marginalization for all the considered data combinations. We also propose a new projection method for estimating constraints on the parameters of non-standard recombination scenarios. As an example, using our eigenmode measurements, this allows us to recreate the Planck constraint on the two-photon decay rate, A2s1s = 7.60 ± 0.64, giving an error estimate to within ≃ 0.05σ of the full MCMC result. The improvements on the eigenmode analysis using the Planck data will allow us to implement this new method for analysis with fundamental constant variations in the future.
ALMA reveals the coherence of the magnetic field geometry in OH 231.8+4.2
Authors: Sabin L , Sahai R , Vlemmings W H T , Zhang Q , Zijlstra A A , Gledhill T , Huarte-Espinosa M , Pérez Sánchez A F , Lagadec E , Navarro S G
Published: May 2020

In a continuing effort to investigate the role of magnetic fields in evolved low- and intermediate-mass stars (principally regarding the shaping of their envelopes), we present new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high-resolution polarization data obtained for the nebula OH 231.8+4.2. We found that the polarized emission likely arises from aligned grains in the presence of magnetic fields rather than radiative alignment and self-scattering. The ALMA data show well organized electric field orientations in most of the nebula and the inferred magnetic field vectors (rotated by 90°) trace an hourglass morphology centred on the central system of the nebula. One region in the southern part of OH 231.8+4.2 shows a less organized distribution probably due to the shocked environment. These findings, in conjunction with earlier investigations (maser studies and dust emission analysis at other scales and wavelengths) suggest an overall magnetic hourglass located inside a toroidal field. We propose the idea that the magnetic field structure is closely related to the architecture of a magnetic tower and that the outflows were therefore magnetically launched. While the current dynamical effect of the fields might be weak in the equatorial plane principally due to the evolution of the envelope, it would still be affecting the outflows. In that regard, the measurement of the magnetic field at the stellar surface, which is still missing, combined with a full magnetohydrodynamic treatment are required to better understand and constrain the events occurring in OH 231.8+4.2.
mirnaQC: a webserver for comparative quality control of miRNA-seq data
Authors: Aparicio-Puerta Ernesto , Gómez-Martín Cristina , Giannoukakos Stavros , Medina José María , Marchal Juan Antonio , Hackenberg Michael
Published: May 2020

Although miRNA-seq is extensively used in many different fields, its quality control is frequently restricted to a PhredScore-based filter. Other important quality related aspects like microRNA yield, the fraction of putative degradation products (such as rRNA fragments) or the percentage of adapter-dimers are hard to assess using absolute thresholds. Here we present mirnaQC, a webserver that relies on 34 quality parameters to assist in miRNA-seq quality control. To improve their interpretability, quality attributes are ranked using a reference distribution obtained from over 36 000 publicly available miRNA-seq datasets. Accepted input formats include FASTQ and SRA accessions. The results page contains several sections that deal with putative technical artefacts related to library preparation, sequencing, contamination or yield. Different visualisations, including PCA and heatmaps, are available to help users identify underlying issues. Finally, we show the usefulness of this approach by analysing two publicly available datasets and discussing the different quality issues that can be detected using mirnaQC.
Comprehensive database and evolutionary dynamics of U12-type introns
Authors: Moyer Devlin C , Larue Graham E , Hershberger Courtney E , Roy Scott W , Padgett Richard A
Published: May 2020

During nuclear maturation of most eukaryotic pre-messenger RNAs and long non-coding RNAs, introns are removed through the process of RNA splicing. Different classes of introns are excised by the U2-type or the U12-type spliceosomes, large complexes of small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles and associated proteins. We created intronIC, a program for assigning intron class to all introns in a given genome, and used it on 24 eukaryotic genomes to create the Intron Annotation and Orthology Database (IAOD). We then used the data in the IAOD to revisit several hypotheses concerning the evolution of the two classes of spliceosomal introns, finding support for the class conversion model explaining the low abundance of U12-type introns in modern genomes.
Deregulated expression of the imprinted DLK1-DIO3 region in glioblastoma stemlike cells: tumor suppressor role of lncRNA MEG3
Authors: Buccarelli Mariachiara , Lulli Valentina , Giuliani Alessandro , Signore Michele , Martini Maurizio , D’Alessandris Quintino G , Giannetti Stefano , Novelli Agnese , Ilari Ramona , Giurato Giorgio , Boe Alessandra , Castellani Giorgia , Spartano Serena , Marangi Giuseppe , Biffoni Mauro , Genuardi Maurizio , Pallini Roberto , Marziali Giovanna , Ricci-Vitiani Lucia
Published: May 2020

Background

Glioblastoma (GBM) stemlike cells (GSCs) are thought to be responsible for the maintenance and aggressiveness of GBM, the most common primary brain tumor in adults. This study aims at elucidating the involvement of deregulations within the imprinted delta-like homolog 1 gene‒type III iodothyronine deiodinase gene (DLK-DIO3) region on chromosome 14q32 in GBM pathogenesis.

Methods

Real-time PCR analyses were performed on GSCs and GBM tissues. Methylation analyses, gene expression, and reverse-phase protein array profiles were used to investigate the tumor suppressor function of the maternally expressed 3 gene (MEG3).

Results

Loss of expression of genes and noncoding RNAs within the DLK1-DIO3 region was observed in GSCs and GBM tissues compared with normal brain. This downregulation is mainly mediated by epigenetic silencing. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that low expression of MEG3 and MEG8 long noncoding (lnc)RNAs significantly correlated with short survival in GBM patients. MEG3 restoration impairs tumorigenic abilities of GSCs in vitro by inhibiting cell growth, migration, and colony formation and decreases in vivo tumor growth, reducing infiltrative growth. These effects were associated with modulation of genes involved in cell adhesion and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

Conclusion

In GBM, MEG3 acts as a tumor suppressor mainly regulating cell adhesion, EMT, and cell proliferation, thus providing a potential candidate for novel GBM therapies.
Impact of Dominant Symptom on 12-Month Patient-Reported Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Lumbar Spine Surgery
Authors: Devin Clinton J , Asher Anthony L , Archer Kristin R , Goyal Anshit , Khan Inamullah , Kerezoudis Panagiotis , Alvi Mohammed Ali , Pennings Jacquelyn S , Karacay Bernes , Shaffrey Christopher I , Bisson Erica F , Knightly John J , Mummaneni Praveen V , Foley Kevin T , Bydon Mohamad
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND

The impact of symptom characteristics on outcomes of spine surgery remains elusive.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of symptom location, severity, and duration on outcomes following lumbar spine surgery.

METHODS

We queried the Quality Outcomes Database (QOD) for patients undergoing elective lumbar spine surgery for lumbar degenerative spine disease. Multivariable regression was utilized to determine the impact of preoperative symptom characteristics (location, severity, and duration) on improvement in disability, quality of life, return to work, and patient satisfaction at 1 yr. Relative predictor importance was determined using an importance metric defined as Wald χ2 penalized by degrees of freedom.

RESULTS

A total of 22 022 subjects were analyzed. On adjusted analysis, we found patients with predominant leg pain were more likely to be satisfied (P < .0001), achieve minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) (P = .002), and return to work (P = .03) at 1 yr following surgery without significant difference in Euro-QoL-5D (EQ-5D) (P = .09) [ref = predominant back pain]. Patients with equal leg and back pain were more likely to be satisfied (P < .0001), but showed no significant difference in achieving MCID (P = .22) or return to work (P = .07). Baseline numeric rating scale-leg pain and symptom duration were most important predictors of achieving MCID and change in EQ-5D. Predominant symptom was not found to be an important determinant of return to work. Worker's compensation was found to be most important determinant of satisfaction and return to work.

CONCLUSION

Predominant symptom location is a significant determinant of functional outcomes following spine surgery. However, pain severity and duration have higher predictive importance. Return to work is more dependent on sociodemographic features as compared to symptom characteristics.
Theory
Authors: Bracic Ana
Published: May 2020

Chapter 2 uses the examples of Batwa in Uganda, black and Latino boys in Oakland, Muslim immigrants in France, and Jews in Vienna to present and develop the theory of the exclusion cycle. The exclusion cycle results when behaviors of the majority and the marginalized minority interact and feed into one another. The cycle starts with anti-minority culture, which gives rise to discrimination against the minority. As members of the majority discriminate, members of the marginalized minority develop survival strategies. Members of the majority often dislike survival strategies used by the minority, ethnicize them, and incorrectly attribute them to the minority as such, and not the discrimination. Such attribution errors feed the already existing anti-minority culture and the cycle continues. After presenting the theory, the Chapter offers a brief overview of the literature on prejudice, discrimination, and intergroup contact, and discusses how positive intergroup contact might help break they cyclical dynamic.
Full Circle
Authors: Bracic Ana
Published: May 2020

Chapter 7, the concluding chapter, underscores the book’s central finding on Roma/non- Roma cooperation using evidence from experiments in two Slovene towns. Roma and non-Roma behaviors from Novo mesto illustrate an exclusion cycle. Non-Roma there discriminate against the Roma and Roma engage in survival strategies; as a result, members of the two groups cannot sustain equal levels of cooperation. By contrast, Roma and non-Roma from Murska Sobota cooperate at equal levels in a tower-building videogame. This finding is linked to the presence of a contact-promoting NGO there, suggesting that intergroup contact may reduce discrimination against the Roma and help break the exclusion cycle. The chapter also cautions against generalizations, discusses open questions, and concludes.
History of a Heel
Authors: Lindberg Julianne
Published: May 2020

This chapter traces the history of the 1952 revival of Pal Joey, from the Starlight Operetta production in Dallas (1949), to a successful summer-stock tour, to the revival. Particular attention will be paid to records, recording technology, and the works-oriented model in cast recordings, which helped make these stage productions viable. The main creative forces behind the revival, in addition to Rodgers and O’Hara, were Jule Styne, producer, and Robert Alton, who supervised the production, as well as the boyish Harold Lang, who danced in the shadow of Gene Kelly as Joey. The critical reaction to the revival was, arguably, what made Pal Joey a subsequently canonic show. It also revealed a good deal about the current fidelities of the musical theater, and how the discourse surrounding it reflected larger concerns about art during the period.
Conclusion
Authors: Lindberg Julianne
Published: May 2020

This chapter considers the afterlife of Pal Joey, exploring the reasons for the success of some productions, and for the failure of a host of others. More recent critiques of Pal Joey of the script, and the use of slang, in particular—frequently point out how dated the show is. John O’Hara’s writing is so specific to time and place that it can appear outmoded, or, to use a term supplied by a number of critics, tacky. This particular face of American identity has also been copied, parodied, and overplayed in both foreign and domestic film and theater. Joey has a slippery character, beguiling and bewildering producers and directors since its premiere.
Religion as Unreality
Authors: Howell Charlotte E.
Published: May 2020

Within the production culture for fantastic series, religion is acknowledged but contained. The fantastic genre context allows for distancing content from traditional religious narratives and distancing characters’ beliefs from specific religious creed, labeling religion as spirituality. The quality fantastic shows Battlestar Galactica (SciFi, 2003–2009), Lost (ABC, 2004–2011), The Leftovers (HBO, 2014–2017) and Preacher (AMC, 2016–2019) do not represent religion as traditional religion within our familiar culture, but rather they present recognizably Christian elements in the functioning of belief systems with deep meaning for characters. But because of their quality framing and the genre containment, religious content in these fantastic series—albeit as abstracted spirituality—is acknowledged in their production cultures.
Conclusion
Authors: Norris Kristopher
Published: May 2020

The Conclusion begins by asking whether there is any hope in and for our whiteness. It argues that the answer must be no. The no that we must utter to our whiteness is the only sign of hope to which we can cling. It is a hope that emerges from the painful practices of remembrance, repentance, and reparation, but it is the only hope capable of challenging our bondage to white supremacy. It concludes by briefly analyzing biblical language of the church and demonstrating the ways these metaphors push white Christians to do the difficult work of taking responsibility for our white supremacy.
The Dawn of Language
Authors: Berent Iris
Published: May 2020

Language is a quintessential human capacity. In this chapter, we ask whether the human capacity for language relies on innate knowledge. As a case study, we examine the rules of phonology. This, seems like a curious choice. Most people believe they know how phonology works, and in their naïve theory, phonology requires no knowledge at all. Phonological patterns, people believe, are simply governed by the constraints of their ears, lips, and tongues. But a careful analysis of the anatomy of a syllable suggests this theory might be misinformed. These conclusions receive further support from an unexpected source—the phonology of sign languages. All these results suggest that our capacity for language could well be due to innate knowledge of abstract rules.
Mental Disorders
Authors: Berent Iris
Published: May 2020

At the “age of the brain,” one would expect the public to view psychiatric disorders as “diseases like all others.” But mental illness still carries a significant social stigma that deprives them of employment, housing, and social opportunities. Invoking the brain as the source of disease helps reduce stigma, but it elicits curious fatalistic reactions. People believe that if the disease is “in the brain,” then it is more severe, incurable, and resistant to psychotherapy. And it is not only the general public that is taken by such misconceptions. Patients believe the same, and so do even trained clinicians. Why do psychiatric disorders elicit such persistent misconceptions? No one would shun a cancer patient because she has a tumor in her breast. Why shun the sufferer of a disorder that ravages the brain? And why believe brain diseases are incurable? This chapter traces the misconceptions of brain disorders to the core knowledge of Dualism and Essentialism. Dualism prompts us to presume that the mind and matter don’t mix and match; if the disease is “in your brain matter,” then, in our intuitive psychology, ephemeral “talk therapy” won’t do. Essentialism further compels us to believe that what’s “in” our material body is innate, hence, immutable, so biology is truly destiny. Thus, the same core knowledge principles that plague our self-understanding in health also derail our reasoning about psychiatric disease.
Once We’re No More
Authors: Berent Iris
Published: May 2020

Woody Allen has famously said he is not afraid of dying; he just doesn’t want to be there when it happens. It’s no wonder his words struck a chord—“not being” is a scary proposition. Yet many Americans believe that their psyches will persist after the demise of their bodies. And it’s not only religious devotees who believe in the afterlife; young children say the same, and so do adults and children in other societies, including even those who are self-described “extinctivists.” Our afterlife beliefs, however, are remarkably inconsistent. On the one hand, we state that some aspects of our minds are immaterial, inasmuch as they survive our bodies. But on the other hand, we believe that some of these seemingly immaterial properties of the dead act like matter; for example, they are contagious, much like germs or excrement. Chapter 14 considers our views of what happens once we are no more. We will see that the collision between Dualism and Essentialism—the twin forces that stir up our misconceptions about our origins—are also responsible for these mistaken beliefs about our demise.
Why It All Matters
Authors: Berent Iris
Published: May 2020

It appears that the Ancient Greeks were right in their fear of blindness, caves, and shadows. We are indeed blind, or at the very least, seriously nearsighted. And all these errors in our understanding of human nature emerge from a single source—human nature itself. Although we cannot entirely shed off our biological shackles, recognizing these constraints matters. First, blindness interferes with reasoning about topics that are at the heart of our social and political life, and it derails scholarly discussion of some of the key questions in the history of ideas. Blindness is also in the air. In an era of “fake news,” the systematic spreading of misinformation, and the denial of science, there is no better place to start clearing the public sphere than from within. The third, and most important reason to face our blindness is that we, as the storytellers, care about our stories—they define who we are, personally and collectively, and blindness is our way. While we are bound to think in the shadows of core knowledge, we are not necessarily doomed to utter darkness. Core knowledge is only one component in the rich suite of mechanisms that comprise human cognition; other rational capacities exist, and they allow us to look within, recognize the conspiracy, and begin to counteract it. Our path out of the cave begins with careful self-inspection. Perhaps this book could be a guide.
The Irish Buddhist
Authors: Turner Alicia , Cox Laurence , Bocking Brian
Published: May 2020

The Irish Buddhist tells the story of a poor Irishman who worked his way across America as a migrant worker, became one of the very first Western Buddhist monks, and traveled the length and breadth of Asia, from Burma and present-day Thailand to China and Japan, and from India and Sri Lanka to Singapore and Australia. Defying racial boundaries, he scandalized the colonial establishment of the 1900s. As a Buddhist monk, he energetically challenged the values and power of the British empire. U Dhammaloka was a radical celebrity who rallied Buddhists across Asia, set up schools, and argued down Christian missionaries—often using Western atheist arguments. He was tried for sedition, tracked by police and intelligence services, and “died” at least twice. His early years and final days are shrouded in mystery, despite his adept use of mass media. His story illuminates the forgotten margins and interstices of imperial power, the complexities of class, ethnicity, and religious belonging in colonial Asia, and the fluidity of identity in the high Victorian period. Too often, the story of the pan-Asian Buddhist revival movement and Buddhism’s remaking as a world religion has been told “from above,” highlighting scholarly writers, middle-class reformers, and ecclesiastical hierarchies. By contrast, Dhammaloka’s adventures “from below” highlight the changing and contested meanings of Buddhism in colonial Asia. They offer a window into the worlds of ethnic minorities and diasporas, transnational networks, poor whites, and social movements, all developing different visions of Buddhist and post-imperial modernities.
The Irish Buddhist Wins Burmese Hearts
Authors: Turner Alicia
Published: May 2020

This chapter deals with the period 1900–2, discussing the ordination and early Burmese career as a monk of the Irish Buddhist U Dhammaloka. It addresses the religious politics of his higher ordination, offers a detailed account of his prestigious ordination ceremony and examines the meaning of his monastic name “Dhammaloka.” During successful tours of rural Burma in the two years after his ordination Dhammaloka rapidly became a celebrity monk, drawing audiences of thousands with his call to revitalize Buddhism and his challenges to Christian missionaries. The chapter sets Dhammaloka in the wider context of the Burmese Buddhist politics of the day and assesses the extent to which he became a characteristic Theravada monk despite his Irish origins.
Trampling on Our Religion
Authors: Turner Alicia
Published: May 2020

In 1901, within a year of his ordination and appearance on the public stage, the Irish Buddhist monk U Dhammaloka initiated conflict around an issue that would become central to Burmese nationalism in subsequent years. Europeans wearing shoes on Buddhist pagodas was both a sign of disrespect from a Burmese point of view, and fundamental to preserving racial hierarchies from a colonial point of view. Dhammaloka’s successful thematizing of the issue gave rise to a very public conflict with the authorities, and helped to make him a celebrity monk. The chapter examines how the conflict developed, explores the colonial and racial politics of footwear, and notes its wider impact.
Dhammaloka’s Last Years and a Mysterious Death
Authors: Turner Alicia
Published: May 2020

This chapter discusses the radical Irish Buddhist monk U Dhammaloka’s trial for sedition in Moulmein and subsequent court appeal in Rangoon, setting these in the wider context of Burmese, Indian, and imperial politics. It explores the reasons for his apparent flight to Australia after his binding-over was completed, attempts by the Burmese police to pursue him there, and the report of his death in Melbourne. It also explores his connections with Australian Theosophy and temperance and a possible link to Thursday Island. The chapter reflects on Dhammaloka’s significance in terms of his personal consistency as a Buddhist, the challenge social movements in his time faced in trying to see beyond the horizon of colonialism, and the plebeian cosmopolitanism exemplified by Dhammaloka himself, which would soon become forgotten with the rise of ethnically based nation-states.
Polish Ham and the Southern Strategy
Authors: Matzko Paul
Published: May 2020

Rapid growth of right-wing radio in the early 1960s sparked a wave of grassroots activism. One such example is the Polish ham boycott of 1962, in which a Miami chiropractor’s protest was amplified by the Radio Right until it became a nationwide movement dominated by suburban housewife protestors. Their boycott “card parties” convinced the biggest retailers in the country to stop selling goods imported from Communist countries in Eastern Europe, giving a black eye to the John F. Kennedy administration, which had organized the trade deal. The stories of some of the individual women involved epitomize the power of housewife populism in post–World War II consumer culture and show the mobilizing power of radio. In addition, while the Radio Right had an audience among suburbanites across the nation, it grew most rapidly in the Deep South, playing an important role in convincing white segregationists to switch parties from Democrat to Republican.
Russia, the Rent-Seeking Revisionist
Authors: Markowitz Jonathan N.
Published: May 2020

Chapter 5 focuses on how Russia, the most land-oriented Arctic littoral state, responded to the shock. This chapter analyzes how Russia’s political economy has influenced its foreign policy preferences. Specifically, this chapter illuminates how Russia’s economy and ruling elites came to depend on income from natural resources. This dependence drove Russia’s rulers to have a stronger interest in securing control over resource-rich territory, which, in turn, explains why they dramatically increased their Arctic military presence following the shock. The chapter chronicles Russia’s dual-track policy of simultaneously pursuing its claims through international institutions and gunboat diplomacy. These findings reveal that Russia invested more in increasing its Arctic military activity and force structure than any other Arctic state. This chapter affirms the book’s core theoretical prediction: the more economically dependent states are on natural resources, the stronger their interest in securing control over additional resources.
God at War
Authors: Juergensmeyer Mark
Published: May 2020

This book explores the dark attraction between religion and warfare and explains why religion needs war and war needs religion. Virtually every religious tradition leaves behind it a bloody trail of stories, legends, and images of war, and most wars call upon the divine for blessings in battle. This book probes the remarkably similar alternative realities that are created in the human imagination by both religious ideas and images of war in response to crises both personal and social. Based on the author’s thirty years of fieldwork interviewing activists involved in religious-related terrorist movements around the world, this book explains why desperate social conflict and personal fears lead to extremes of both religion and war, and why invariably God is thought to be engaged in battle.
The Odd Appeal of War
Authors: Juergensmeyer Mark
Published: May 2020

Chapter 1 questions why we often think of war when confronted with an extreme social anomaly or some inexplicable crisis. The chapter begins with a discussion of the 9/11 attacks and the immediate response of many Americans (including President George W. Bush) that the country was at war. This began the idea of a war on terror, an idea that was similar to Al-Qaeda’s idea of war on America, as both born out of a sense of social chaos and a threatened conquering by a shadowy enemy. War is an imagined alternative reality. Examples in culture include computer games, novels, and religious mythology. The etymology of the word “war” is based on the old English werra, meaning “chaos,” “confusion.”
Can Religion Cure War?
Authors: Juergensmeyer Mark
Published: May 2020

Since war and religion are similar conceptual entities—imagined views of alternative reality—the question this chapter explores is whether either will ever wither away or cease interacting with the other. This chapter begins with the case of the Moro movement in the Philippines and how peace began to descend upon the region in part by transforming images of warfare into peaceful struggle and reverting religious images into the traditional mythology of religious activity. There are several ways that religion can play a positive role in lessening the violence of war: by limiting war as the ethical idea of a just war suggests; by treating war metaphorically, as in the war on poverty; or in the symbolic displacement of violence that war images provide. More likely images of war and religion will persist in our culture and in personal imaginations. As long as we understand that these are imagined constructs and contain them within our own imagination, and make a clear distinction between the mundane worlds and the alternatives, we will be able to abide the continuation of these two creative though potentially destructive ways of perceiving the world.
American Christianity, White Supremacy, and Racial Innocence
Authors: Brooks Joanna
Published: May 2020

Racism is not a simply a character flaw or extremist conduct; racism is the centuries-old system of social organization that has marked people with dark skin as available for exploitation—for advantage-taking of their lands, labor, bodies, cultures, and so forth. “White supremacy” refers not only to the grossest forms of racist terrorism but also to the entire system of ideas, beliefs, and practices that give white people better chances based on perceived skin color and ancestry. This chapter reviews American Christian theology, history, US law, and critical race theory to frame an assessment of white American Christianity’s failure to grapple with anti-Black racism as a moral issue.
Originalism, Infallibility, and the Institutionalization of White Supremacy
Authors: Brooks Joanna
Published: May 2020

When a predominantly white religious community casts its lots, chooses whiteness, and designates its Black scapegoats, history shows that it attributes these outcomes to the will of God. White Christians begin to tell themselves that although Black suffering is regrettable, it is inevitable. Predominantly white institutions assume the facade of inevitability and timelessness and the exclusion of Black people hardens into a self-perpetuating fact. This chapter examines how systematic theologies produced by American Protestant “fundamentalists” and Mormon theologians alike contributed to the erasure of histories of Black exclusion and normalized anti-Black racism as timeless, essential, and originating with God. This in turn contributed to the institutionalization of anti-Black segregation and discrimination in Church bureaucracies.
Empirical Shortcomings
Authors: Carlson Taylor N. , Abrajano Marisa , Bedolla Lisa García
Published: May 2020

This chapter reviews some of the empirical reasons why so little is known about non-white networks and describes the original survey designed by the authors to address this lacuna in research. The survey data on a diverse sample of California voters is the basis for most of the analyses presented in this book, supplemented by in-depth interviews with canvassers from three local grassroots organizations. Detailed descriptions of the methodological approach follow, including the sampling strategy, survey design, and respondent characteristics, as well as model selection and variable operationalization. Also covered is the qualitative interview protocol, which involves speaking with a diverse selection of canvassers about current political issues and events. Methods of measuring network characteristics, which include network size, partisan homogeneity, and discussion frequency, are explained in detail.
The Composition and Determinants of Political Discussion Networks
Authors: Carlson Taylor N. , Abrajano Marisa , Bedolla Lisa García
Published: May 2020

This chapter represents one of the core contributions of this book. In this chapter, we present extensive descriptive statistics on how political discussion networks vary by ethnorace, nativity, and gender. We examine variation in the social composition of the networks (e.g., whether individuals report discussing politics with family members, friends, coworkers, etc.), the partisan composition and extent of partisan homophily in the networks, the size of the discussion networks, and the frequency of discussion in the networks. We conclude by examining which individual-level characteristics are most strongly associated with discussion network attributes, and how these relationships vary across the groups. We uncover several important patterns, such as U.S.-born respondents having larger and more homogeneous discussion networks than foreign-born respondents, Whites being least likely to report that they did not know their discussants’ partisanship, and non-whites discussing politics less frequently than do Whites.
Precursors to Political Engagement
Authors: Carlson Taylor N. , Abrajano Marisa , Bedolla Lisa García
Published: May 2020

In this chapter, we investigate the extent to which discussion network characteristics are associated with feelings of political efficacy and trust, which are essential precursors to political participation. We explore these factors by of ethnorace, nativity, and gender. We compare levels of trust and efficacy across these groups descriptively, then use ordinary least squares reg ression models to examine how network characteristics are associated with efficacy and trust. We supplement these empirical findings with evidence from our qualitative interviews. We find that network characteristics do not influence political trust and political efficacy among the foreign born as much as they do among the U.S. born. We observe limited differences in these relationships between men and women. We also find substantial variation among ethnoracial groups; for example, we find that partisan homogeneity is positively associated with political trust for Blacks and Latinos, but not for Whites or Asian Americans.
The Impact of Political Discussion Networks on Civic and Political Engagement
Authors: Carlson Taylor N. , Abrajano Marisa , Bedolla Lisa García
Published: May 2020

Chapter 6 examines the association among our network characteristics - partisan homogeneity, discussion frequency, and network size - and, civic engagement, self-reported political engagement, and validated voter turnout across our various social groups. Of course, we cannot causally distinguish between selection and social influence with our data. However, we uncover important associations nonetheless. We find that regardless of social position, across all groups, those who discuss politics more frequently are more politically engaged, but network size and partisan homogeneity are not uniformly associated with engagement. With regards to validated turnout, we observe that network size and discussion frequency are positively associated with voting for U.S.-born respondents, but none of the network characteristics are associated with voting among our foreign-born respondents.
Refusing Conformity through Creativity in Nietzsche
Authors: Ikuta Jennie C.
Published: May 2020

While Tocqueville and Mill show us the value of fostering nonconformity within democratic societies, Nietzsche reminds us that there is nothing inherently democratic about nonconformity. According to Nietzsche, creativity and democracy are underwritten by distinct subjectivities—radical uniqueness and moral equality, respectively—that point to distinct sources of authority. While creativity centers on individual authority, democracy consists in collective authority. Thus divergent subjectivities underwrite creativity and democracy, and Nietzsche sees that these subjectivities inevitably conflict with one another. His rejection of democracy for the sake of creativity therefore reveals an irreducible tension between democracy and creativity, emphasizing the indispensability of moral and political equality to democracy. To the extent that we are committed to democracy, the ideal of nonconformity cannot be absolute.
Scrupulosity, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Ritual
Authors: McCauley Robert N. , Graham George
Published: May 2020

Scrupulosity is a form of OCD involving hyperconscientiousness about moral and religious obligations. Scrupulous individuals accord their thoughts great moral and causal significance. They agonize about their inability to control problematic, intrusive, obsessive thoughts, especially about hazards. Thoughts about hazards are not dysfunctional. They arise in the general population at reproductively significant stages in life. The inability to control such thoughts, however, is dysfunctional. The scrupulous compulsively perform rituals and pursue reassurance, which are always undone by their intolerance of uncertainty and the impossibility of definitively establishing the absence of dangers empirically. The “Protestant order of salvation” is but one example of how religions can domesticate scrupulosity. Some religions’ doctrines about moral thought-action fusion and all religious rituals constitute representations and forms of behavior that temporarily evoke strikingly similar obsessions and compulsions in normal religious participants that deplete their cognitive resources, rendering them susceptible to the imposition of conventional interpretations.
Performing a Renunciative Unity
Authors: French Nathan S.
Published: May 2020

For Jihadi-Salafi jurists and authors, the contemporary global system of nation-states and those Muslim-majority governments and nations supporting its continuance bear responsibility for the suffering and oppression faced by contemporary Muslim communities. This chapter argues that Jihadi-Salafi debates on creed (ʿaqīda) and methodology (minhāj) provide an interpretation of the causes of suffering and evil in the world—a theodicy—and contend that these are best addressed through a mode of self-renunciation patterned on the beliefs and practices of the earliest communities of Muslim faith (the Salaf). Traditions of self-renunciation (zuhd) are not unique to Jihadi-Salafis and have long been present in discussions of jihad—dating to the Kitab al-Jihad of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Mubarak (d. 797). Framing this discussion are the anthropological, sociological, and philosophical theories of religion offered by Richard Valantasis, Peter Berger, Michel Foucault, and Gavin Flood.