bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynasties past and present
Authors: Duindam Jeroen
Published: October 2019

Dynasties enjoy a mixed reputation. Enlightened opinion associates traditional royalty with militant triumphalism, despotism, pomp, squandering, ineptitude, and corruption. Yet at the same time, there is a continuing fascination with royalty. This is not surprising: royal dynasties magnify common tribulations of family life; they present all human appetites, weaknesses, and strengths in overstated form. Numerous books have been written about kings and queens, yet the collective history of kingship and dynasty has remained a terra incognita. ‘Dynasties past and present’ discusses the close connections between kingship and dynasty, and explains how this VSI weaves together different threads of scholarship.
Depression and Incident HIV in Adolescent Girls and Young Women in HIV Prevention Trials Network 068: Targets for Prevention and Mediating Factors
Authors: Goin Dana E , Pearson Rebecca M , Craske Michelle G , Stein Alan , Pettifor Audrey , Lippman Sheri A , Kahn Kathleen , Neilands Torsten B , Hamilton Erica L , Selin Amanda , MacPhail Catherine , Wagner Ryan G , Gomez-Olive F Xavier , Twine Rhian , Hughes James P , Agyei Yaw , Laeyendecker Oliver , Tollman Stephen , Ahern Jennifer
Published: October 2019

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in sub-Saharan Africa is a critical public health problem. We assessed whether depressive symptoms in AGYW were longitudinally associated with incident HIV, and identified potential social and behavioral mediators. Data came from a randomized trial of a cash transfer conditional on school attendance among AGYW (ages 13–21 years) in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, during 2011–2017. We estimated the relationship between depressive symptoms and cumulative HIV incidence using a linear probability model, and we assessed mediation using inverse odds ratio weighting. Inference was calculated using the nonparametric bootstrap. AGYW with depressive symptoms had higher cumulative incidence of HIV compared with those without (risk difference = 3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1, 7.0). The strongest individual mediators of this association were parental monitoring and involvement (indirect effect = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.0, 3.3) and reporting a partner would hit her if she asked him to wear a condom (indirect effect = 1.5, 95% CI: –0.3, 3.3). All mediators jointly explained two-thirds (indirect effect = 2.4, 95% CI: 0.2, 4.5) of the association between depressive symptoms and HIV incidence. Interventions addressing mental health might reduce risk of acquiring HIV among AGYW.
Cancer stem cells enrichment with surface markers CD271 and CD44 in human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas
Authors: Elkashty Osama A , Abu Elghanam Ghada , Su Xinyun , Liu Younan , Chauvin Peter J , Tran Simon D
Published: October 2019

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has a poor 5-year survival rate of 50%. One potential reason for treatment failure is the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Several cell markers, particularly CD44, have been used to isolate CSCs. However, isolating a pure population of CSC in HNSCC still remains a challenging task. Recent findings show that normal oral stem cells were isolated using CD271 as a marker. Thus, we investigated the combined use of CD271 and CD44 to isolate an enriched subpopulation of CSCs, followed by their characterization in vitro, in vivo, and in patients’ tissue samples. Fluorescent-activated cell sorting was used to isolate CD44+/CD271+ and CD44+/CD271− from two human HNSCC cell lines. Cell growth and self-renewal were measured with MTT and sphere/colony formation assays. Treatment-resistance was tested against chemotherapy (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) and ionizing radiation. Self-renewal, resistance, and stemness-related genes expression were measured with qRT-PCR. In vivo tumorigenicity was tested with an orthotopic immunodeficient mouse model of oral cancer. Finally, we examined the co-localization of CD44+/CD271+ in patients’ tissue samples. We found that CD271+ cells were a subpopulation of CD44+ cells in human HNSCC cell lines and tissues. CD44+/CD271+ cells exhibited higher cell proliferation, sphere/colony formation, chemo- and radio-resistance, upregulation of CSCs-related genes, and in vivo tumorigenicity when compared to CD44+/CD271− or the parental cell line. These cell markers showed increased expression in patients with the increase of the tumor stage. In conclusion, using both CD44 and CD271 allowed the isolation of CSCs from HNSCC. These enriched CSCs will be more relevant in future treatment and HNSCC progression studies.
A comparison of contemporary versus older studies of aspirin for primary prevention
Authors: Moriarty Frank , Ebell Mark H
Published: October 2019

Background

Recent aspirin trials have not shown similar benefits for primary prevention as older studies.

Objective

To compare benefits and harms of aspirin for primary prevention before and after widespread use of statins and colorectal cancer screening.

Methods

We compared studies of aspirin for primary prevention that recruited patients from 2005 onward with previous individual patient data (IPD) meta-analyses that recruited patients from 1978 to 2002. Data for contemporary studies were synthesized using random-effects models. We report vascular [major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke], bleeding, cancer and mortality outcomes.

Results

The IPD analyses of older studies included 95 456 patients for CV prevention and 25 270 for cancer mortality, while the four newer studies had 61 604 patients. Relative risks for vascular outcomes for older versus newer studies follow: MACE: 0.89 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83–0.95] versus 0.93 (0.86–0.99); fatal haemorrhagic stroke: 1.73 (1.11–2.72) versus 1.06 (0.66–1.70); any ischaemic stroke: 0.86 (0.74–1.00) versus 0.86 (0.75–0.98); any MI: 0.84 (0.77–0.92) versus 0.88 (0.77–1.00); and non-fatal MI: 0.79 (0.71–0.88) versus 0.94 (0.83–1.08). Cancer death was not significantly decreased in newer studies (1.11, 0.92–1.34). Major haemorrhage was significantly increased (older studies RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.25–1.76 versus newer studies RR 1.37, 1.24–1.53). There was no effect on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, fatal stroke or fatal MI.

Conclusions

Per 1200 persons taking aspirin for primary prevention for 5 years, there will be 4 fewer MACEs, 3 fewer ischaemic strokes, 3 more intracranial haemorrhages and 8 more major bleeding events. Aspirin should no longer be recommended for primary prevention.
Key challenges facing data-driven multicellular systems biology
Authors: Macklin Paul
Published: October 2019

Increasingly sophisticated experiments, coupled with large-scale computational models, have the potential to systematically test biological hypotheses to drive our understanding of multicellular systems. In this short review, we explore key challenges that must be overcome to achieve robust, repeatable data-driven multicellular systems biology. If these challenges can be solved, we can grow beyond the current state of isolated tools and datasets to a community-driven ecosystem of interoperable data, software utilities, and computational modeling platforms. Progress is within our grasp, but it will take community (and financial) commitment.
Real- time interaction analysis of Shiga toxins and membrane microdomains of primary human brain microvascular endothelial cells
Authors: Detzner Johanna , Steil Daniel , Pohlentz Gottfried , Legros Nadine , Humpf Hans-Ulrich , Mellmann Alexander , Karch Helge , Müthing Johannes
Published: October 2019

Infections of the human intestinal tract with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) result in massive extraintestinal complications due to translocation of EHEC-released Shiga toxins (Stxs) from the gut into the circulation. Stx-mediated damage of the cerebral microvasculature raises serious brain dysfunction being the most frequent cause of acute mortality in patients suffering from severe EHEC infections. Stx2a and Stx2e are associated with heavy and mild course of infection, respectively. Stx2a preferentially binds to globotriaosylceramide (Gb3Cer, Galα1-4Galβ1-4Glcβ1-1Cer), while Stx2e prefers globotetraosylceramide (Gb4Cer, GalNAcβ1-3Galα1-4Galβ1-4Glcβ1-1Cer). Both glycosphingolipids (GSLs) were detected in detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) of primary human brain microvascular endothelial cells (pHBMECs) resembling microdomains of the plasma membrane. In this study we show that Gb3Cer and Gb4Cer of pHBMECs with saturated C16:0, C22:0, and C24:0 fatty acids dominated in DRMs, corresponding to the liquid-ordered membrane phase, whereas lipoforms carrying unsaturated C24:1 and C24:2 fatty acids prevailed in the nonDRM fractions, which correspond to the liquid-disordered membrane phase. Similarly, a shift of the phospholipids from saturated lipoforms in the DRM to unsaturated species in the nonDRM fractions was observed. Real-time biomolecular interaction analysis using affinity-purified Stx2a and Stx2e, recorded with a surface acoustic wave (SAW) biosensor, evidenced high binding strength of both toxins towards DRMs and failure in interaction with nonDRMs. These results support the hypothesis of preferential binding of Stxs towards microdomains harbouring GSL receptors carrying saturated fatty acids in their lipid anchors. Collectively, unravelling the precise mechanisms of Stx-microdomain interaction may help to develop antiadhesive compounds to combat Stx-mediated cellular injury.
Crystal structure of the complex of the interaction domains of Escherichia coli DnaB helicase and DnaC helicase loader: structural basis implying a distortion-accumulation mechanism for the DnaB ring opening caused by DnaC binding
Authors: Nagata Koji , Okada Akitoshi , Ohtsuka Jun , Ohkuri Takatoshi , Akama Yusuke , Sakiyama Yukari , Miyazaki Erika , Horita Shoichiro , Katayama Tsutomu , Ueda Tadashi , Tanokura Masaru
Published: October 2019

Loading the bacterial replicative helicase DnaB onto DNA requires a specific loader protein, DnaC/DnaI, which creates the loading-competent state by opening the DnaB hexameric ring. To understand the molecular mechanism by which DnaC/DnaI opens the DnaB ring, we solved 3.1-Å co-crystal structure of the interaction domains of Escherichia coli DnaB–DnaC. The structure reveals that one N-terminal domain (NTD) of DnaC interacts with both the linker helix of a DnaB molecule and the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the adjacent DnaB molecule by forming a three α-helix bundle, which fixes the relative orientation of the two adjacent DnaB CTDs. The importance of the intermolecular interface in the crystal structure was supported by the mutational data of DnaB and DnaC. Based on the crystal structure and other available information on DnaB–DnaC structures, we constructed a molecular model of the hexameric DnaB CTDs bound by six DnaC NTDs. This model suggested that the binding of a DnaC would cause a distortion in the hexameric ring of DnaB. This distortion of the DnaB ring might accumulate by the binding of up to six DnaC molecules, resulting in the DnaB ring to open.
A novel technique for fabricating antibiotic-coated intramedullary nails using an antibiotic-loaded calcium sulphate hydroxyapatite bio-composite, Cerament-V
Authors: Anugraha Anoop , Hughes Luke D , Pillai Anand
Published: October 2019

Deformity correction in the setting of osteomyelitis is a challenge for any orthopaedic surgeon. Principles of management are well described and include staged debridement, stable fixation and a combination of local and systemic antibiotic therapy. An antibiotic-coated nail (ACN) can prove a useful tool—stabilizing bone, whilst allowing for local antibiotic elution. Typically, the surgeon will prepare these implants in the operating room using materials that are routinely at hand. Most frequently, this will involve the use of antibiotic-loaded poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA). This method of ACN fabrication has several disadvantages. PMMA is non-degradable and can be difficult to remove surgically. There are limitations with regard to antibiotic suitability, antibiotic release as well as toxicity effects. In this case report, we present a novel technique for the preparation of ACNs for use in hindfoot surgery, using a calcium sulphate/hydroxyapatite-based bio-composite—Cerament-V.
Dodder-transmitted mobile signals prime host plants for enhanced salt tolerance
Authors: Li Shalan , Zhang Jingxiong , Liu Hui , Liu Nian , Shen Guojing , Zhuang Huifu , Wu Jianqiang
Published: October 2019

The dodders (Cuscuta spp.) are a genus of shoot parasites. In nature, a dodder often simultaneously parasitizes two or more neighboring hosts. Salt stress is a common abiotic stress for plants. It is unclear whether dodder transmits physiologically relevant salt stress-induced systemic signals among its hosts and whether these systemic signals affect the hosts’ tolerance to salt stress. Here, we simultaneously parasitized two or more cucumber plants with dodder. We found that salt treatment of one host highly primed the connected host, which showed strong decreases in the extent of leaf withering and cell death in response to subsequent salt stress. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that 24 h after salt treatment of one cucumber, the transcriptome of the other dodder-connected cucumber largely resembled that of the salt-treated one, indicating that inter-plant systemic signals primed these dodder-connected cucumbers at least partly through transcriptomic reconfiguration. Furthermore, salt treatment of one of the cucumbers induced physiological changes, including altered proline contents, stomatal conductance, and photosynthetic rates, in both of the dodder-connected cucumbers. This study reveals a role of dodder in mediating salt-induced inter-plant signaling among dodder-connected hosts and highlights the physiological function of these mobile signals in plant–plant interactions under salt stress.
Signal transduction networks during stress combination
Authors: Zandalinas Sara I , Fritschi Felix B , Mittler Ron
Published: October 2019

Episodes of heat waves combined with drought can have a devastating impact on agricultural production worldwide. These conditions, as well as many other types of stress combinations, impose unique physiological and developmental demands on plants and require the activation of dedicated pathways. Here, we review recent RNA sequencing studies of stress combination in plants, and conduct a meta-analysis of the transcriptome response of plants to different types of stress combination. Our analysis reveals that each different stress combination is accompanied by its own set of stress combination-specific transcripts, and that the response of different transcription factor families is unique to each stress combination. The alarming rate of increase in global temperatures, coupled with the predicted increase in future episodes of extreme weather, highlight an urgent need to develop crop plants with enhanced tolerance to stress combination. The uniqueness and complexity of the physiological and molecular response of plants to each different stress combination, highlighted here, demonstrate the daunting challenge we face in accomplishing this goal. Dedicated efforts combining field experimentation, omics, and network analyses, coupled with advanced phenotyping and breeding methods, will be needed to address specific crops and particular stress combinations relevant to maintaining our future food chain secured.
DNA Methylation Profiles Suggest Intergenerational Transfer of Maternal Effects
Authors: Venney Clare J , Love Oliver P , Drown Ellen Jane , Heath Daniel D
Published: October 2019

The view of maternal effects (nongenetic maternal environmental influence on offspring phenotype) has changed from one of distracting complications in evolutionary genetics to an important evolutionary mechanism for improving offspring fitness. Recent studies have shown that maternal effects act as an adaptive mechanism to prepare offspring for stressful environments. Although research into the magnitude of maternal effects is abundant, the molecular mechanisms of maternal influences on offspring phenotypic variation are not fully understood. Despite recent work identifying DNA methylation as a potential mechanism of nongenetic inheritance, currently proposed links between DNA methylation and parental effects are indirect and primarily involve genomic imprinting. We combined a factorial breeding design and gene-targeted sequencing methods to assess inheritance of methylation during early life stages at 14 genes involved in growth, development, metabolism, stress response, and immune function of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). We found little evidence for additive or nonadditive genetic effects acting on methylation levels during early development; however, we detected significant maternal effects. Consistent with conventional maternal effect data, maternal effects on methylation declined through development and were replaced with nonadditive effects when offspring began exogenous feeding. We mapped methylation at individual CpG sites across the selected candidate genes to test for variation in site-specific methylation profiles and found significant maternal effects at selected CpG sites that also declined with development stage. While intergenerational inheritance of methylated DNA is controversial, we show that CpG-specific methylation may function as an underlying molecular mechanism for maternal effects, with important implications for offspring fitness.
A Bayesian Framework for Inferring the Influence of Sequence Context on Point Mutations
Authors: Ling Guy , Miller Danielle , Nielsen Rasmus , Stern Adi
Published: October 2019

The probability of point mutations is expected to be highly influenced by the flanking nucleotides that surround them, known as the sequence context. This phenomenon may be mainly attributed to the enzyme that modifies or mutates the genetic material, because most enzymes tend to have specific sequence contexts that dictate their activity. Here, we develop a statistical model that allows for the detection and evaluation of the effects of different sequence contexts on mutation rates from deep population sequencing data. This task is computationally challenging, as the complexity of the model increases exponentially as the context size increases. We established our novel Bayesian method based on sparse model selection methods, with the leading assumption that the number of actual sequence contexts that directly influence mutation rates is minuscule compared with the number of possible sequence contexts. We show that our method is highly accurate on simulated data using pentanucleotide contexts, even when accounting for noisy data. We next analyze empirical population sequencing data from polioviruses and HIV-1 and detect a significant enrichment in sequence contexts associated with deamination by the cellular deaminases ADAR 1/2 and APOBEC3G, respectively. In the current era, where next-generation sequencing data are highly abundant, our approach can be used on any population sequencing data to reveal context-dependent base alterations and may assist in the discovery of novel mutable sites or editing sites.
Incorporation and influence of Leishmania histone H3 in chromatin
Authors: Dacher Mariko , Tachiwana Hiroaki , Horikoshi Naoki , Kujirai Tomoya , Taguchi Hiroyuki , Kimura Hiroshi , Kurumizaka Hitoshi
Published: October 2019

Immunopathologies caused by Leishmania cause severe human morbidity and mortality. This protozoan parasite invades and persists inside host cells, resulting in disease development. Leishmania modifies the epigenomic status of the host cells, thus probably averting the host cell defense mechanism. To accomplish this, Leishmania may change the host cell chromatin structure. However, the mechanism by which the parasite changes the host cell chromatin has not been characterized. In the present study, we found that ectopically produced Leishmania histone H3, LmaH3, which mimics the secreted LmaH3 in infected cells, is incorporated into chromatin in human cells. A crystallographic analysis revealed that LmaH3 forms nucleosomes with human histones H2A, H2B and H4. We found that LmaH3 was less stably incorporated into the nucleosome, as compared to human H3.1. Consistently, we observed that LmaH3–H4 association was remarkably weakened. Mutational analyses revealed that the specific LmaH3 Trp35, Gln57 and Met98 residues, which correspond to the H3.1 Tyr41, Arg63 and Phe104 residues, might be responsible for the instability of the LmaH3 nucleosome. Nucleosomes containing LmaH3 resisted the Mg2+-mediated compaction of the chromatin fiber. These distinct physical characteristics of LmaH3 support the possibility that histones secreted by parasites during infection may modulate the host chromatin structure.
Evolution-guided engineering of small-molecule biosensors
Authors: Snoek Tim , Chaberski Evan K , Ambri Francesca , Kol Stefan , Bjørn Sara P , Pang Bo , Barajas Jesus F , Welner Ditte H , Jensen Michael K , Keasling Jay D
Published: October 2019

Allosteric transcription factors (aTFs) have proven widely applicable for biotechnology and synthetic biology as ligand-specific biosensors enabling real-time monitoring, selection and regulation of cellular metabolism. However, both the biosensor specificity and the correlation between ligand concentration and biosensor output signal, also known as the transfer function, often needs to be optimized before meeting application needs. Here, we present a versatile and high-throughput method to evolve prokaryotic aTF specificity and transfer functions in a eukaryote chassis, namely baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. From a single round of mutagenesis of the effector-binding domain (EBD) coupled with various toggled selection regimes, we robustly select aTF variants of the cis,cis-muconic acid-inducible transcription factor BenM evolved for change in ligand specificity, increased dynamic output range, shifts in operational range, and a complete inversion-of-function from activation to repression. Importantly, by targeting only the EBD, the evolved biosensors display DNA-binding affinities similar to BenM, and are functional when ported back into a prokaryotic chassis. The developed platform technology thus leverages aTF evolvability for the development of new host-agnostic biosensors with user-defined small-molecule specificities and transfer functions.
Localization of Drosophila CENP-A to non-centromeric sites depends on the NuRD complex
Authors: Demirdizen Engin , Spiller-Becker Matthias , Förtsch Arion , Wilhelm Alexander , Corless Samuel , Bade Debora , Bergner Andrea , Hessling Bernd , Erhardt Sylvia
Published: October 2019

Centromere function requires the presence of the histone H3 variant CENP-A in most eukaryotes. The precise localization and protein amount of CENP-A are crucial for correct chromosome segregation, and misregulation can lead to aneuploidy. To characterize the loading of CENP-A to non-centromeric chromatin, we utilized different truncation- and localization-deficient CENP-A mutant constructs in Drosophila melanogaster cultured cells, and show that the N-terminus of Drosophila melanogaster CENP-A is required for nuclear localization and protein stability, and that CENP-A associated proteins, rather than CENP-A itself, determine its localization. Co-expression of mutant CENP-A with its loading factor CAL1 leads to exclusive centromere loading of CENP-A whereas co-expression with the histone-binding protein RbAp48 leads to exclusive non-centromeric CENP-A incorporation. Mass spectrometry analysis of non-centromeric CENP-A interacting partners identified the RbAp48-containing NuRD chromatin remodeling complex. Further analysis confirmed that NuRD is required for ectopic CENP-A incorporation, and RbAp48 and MTA1-like subunits of NuRD together with the N-terminal tail of CENP-A mediate the interaction. In summary, our data show that Drosophila CENP-A has no intrinsic specificity for centromeric chromatin and utilizes separate loading mechanisms for its incorporation into centromeric and ectopic sites. This suggests that the specific association and availability of CENP-A interacting factors are the major determinants of CENP-A loading specificity.
Elusive Impartiality
Authors: Pittard John
Published: October 2019

This chapter considers what implications a commitment to rigorous epistemic impartiality has for one’s religious beliefs and credences. It is argued that epistemic impartiality in the religious domain proves to be elusive for two reasons. First, a commitment to epistemic impartiality appears to be self-undermining, and arguably the best response to this self-undermining problem is incompatible with an unqualified commitment to epistemic impartiality in the religious domain. Second, the most plausible methods for identifying an impartial doxastic stance on religious matters require that one settle various questions that are themselves implicated in religious controversy. In particular, one must take a stand on questions concerning rational bias on religious matters, and these questions cannot be settled in a religiously impartial way. In light of this problem, it is far from obvious that religious skepticism is the attitude that best comports with a commitment to epistemic impartiality.
Mimicry as Rivalry
Authors: Belvadi Anilkumar
Published: October 2019

Chapter 6 is a detailed study of Sunday schools as sites of pedagogical practice in India. Guided by “tact” as a principle of conducting their work, Anglo-American Protestant missionaries, in order to secure and retain enrollment in their Sunday schools, jettisoned or substantially modified a number of clearly held Christian principles. They denounced racism, but closely allied themselves with a colonial militarist power that would not brook racial integration, and correspondingly instituted racial segregation in their Sunday schools. A second manifestation of “tact” was their borrowing of a number of schooling and cultural practices of the “idolatrous” Hindus, resulting in a type of Christian institution that began to look casteized even to Christian observers. Highly Sanskritized Sunday school hymns, Hindu religious musical forms, visual arts, and festive observances were made a part of the Christian Sunday school. All this benefited a number of Christian converts from the “lower castes” of Hindu society, inasmuch as they were able to acquire those symbolic resources traditionally denied them by the “upper castes.” But at the same time, the mimicking of such practices by Christian institutions underscored the prestige that certain Hindu traditions enjoyed. Also, and worryingly for missionaries, the “upper castes” began to organize their own Sunday schools without Christian doctrine, but mimicking elements of Anglicized, Christian Sunday schools that had seemed attractive to them to begin with. Further, to counter competition, missionaries expanded the Sunday school curriculum, but in the process mimicked secular institutions and undermined the evangelical thrust of their program. And finally, to solicit funds back home, missionaries sensationalized accounts of their work in India. Instrumental reasoning pervaded all aspects of their management of Sunday schools.
From Lists to Literature
Authors: Schniedewind William M.
Published: October 2019

Spelling and vocabulary were taught though lexical lists. Fragments of at least two, perhaps three, of these lists are present at Kuntillet ʿAjrud. The standardization of spelling reflects the growth and centralization in government and bureaucracy, which were the primary consumers of writing. Fragments of cuneiform lists found in Israel dating to the Late Bronze Age give direct evidence of a vector of transmission for the cuneiform lexical tradition into early Israel. In fact, they provide a key for interpreting the Gezer Calendar as well as biblical texts. Lexical lists taught standardized spelling, but they also classified knowledge. In everyday commerce, lists were critical to administration and bureaucracy. In biblical literature, lists were adapted in a number of ways and incorporated into biblical literature.
Proverbial Sayings
Authors: Schniedewind William M.
Published: October 2019

Scribes learned many sayings, wisdom sayings and proverbial sayings, that could be used for and adapted to a variety of contexts. From the comparative cuneiform evidence in “lentil” texts, proverbs were copied and memorized individually. To be sure, there are also collections of proverbs, but the individual sayings were their primary context. We then have evidence that these individual sayings were employed in letters, narratives, and liturgy. All these literary contexts provide parallels for the one example of this is a reciprocity statement used at Kuntillet ʿAjrud. This one example finds parallels in Ugarit, the Amarna letters, Aramaic inscriptions, and even Papyrus Amherst 63. This variety is also paralleled in biblical literature where the reciprocality formula appears in both biblical narratives and liturgy. More generally, the concept of individual sayings (as opposed to larger collections) that were memorized and used by scribes in different contexts is also evident in biblical literature.
Creating Wealth
Authors: Polèse Mario
Published: October 2019

This chapter returns to the question at the heart of economics as a social science since Adam Smith and his seminal work on the origins of wealth. Why are some nations rich and others poor? The focus here is on the role of cities, on “agglomeration” in the jargon of economics. We find little evidence in support of Jane Jacobs’s thesis that agglomeration is sufficient to independently trigger economic growth. After explaining the concept of “agglomeration economies,” the gains from spatial concentration, various obstacles to their realization are examined: deficient urban transport; insecurity; arbitrary governance; informality; and so on. Their full realization requires solid institutions, which all too often are lacking. Starting with the origins of the Industrial Revolution, we conclude that the impact of urbanization (greater agglomeration) is essentially allocational, shifting labor to more productive endeavors. The roots of technological innovation, which is at the heart of economic progress, run much deeper, taking us back to national cultures and institutions.
Diverging Neighbors
Authors: Polèse Mario
Published: October 2019

This chapter compares Buffalo, New York, and Toronto, Ontario, two urban areas located on the Great Lakes with similar populations (one million) in 1950. Toronto has since passed the six million mark, while Buffalo seems trapped in a seemingly irreversible cycle of economic decline. The diverging destiny of the two cities has many roots (e.g., the St. Lawrence Seaway, the collapse of Big Steel) but invariably sends us back to the different political cultures of the United States and Canada. The government of Ontario stepped in early in the urbanization process to impose a model of metropolitan governance on the Toronto region, with the explicit aim of deterring the emergence of deep social divides, specifically between city and suburb, and ensuring the maintenance of a strong central core. The state of New York did no such thing in Buffalo, for which Buffalo continues to pay a price.
Speech on Campus
Authors: Baer Ulrich
Published: October 2019

How can we find rules that respect the university’s commitment to academic freedom while creating an environment where everyone can contribute to teaching and research in truly equal ways? A first step is to recognize that the campus controversies are not about offended feelings but about truth and equality in our democracy. A second step is not to overplay these controversies but realize the speakers are turned down routinely who lack qualifications or standing. The line can be drawn at speech that denies the humanity of some groups because it is non-scientific and advocates illegal actions under our nation’s laws.
Introduction
Authors: Katz Mark
Published: October 2019

The introduction explains why the partnership between hip hop diplomacy is unlikely and risky but also potentially productive. Hip hop is a powerful platform for US cultural diplomacy because it is globally popular, widely accessible, readily combined with a variety of artistic styles and practices, and immediately and positively associated with the United States. Hip hop diplomacy can serve US foreign policy objectives by enhancing the image of the United States and promoting US interests abroad. The introduction concludes with a reflection on the author’s identity as a white man and considers its implications for working in hip hop, a genre and culture that arose out of African American communities.
Non-Opioid Alternatives to Managing Chronic Pain
Authors: Singh Vanila , Katonak Rachel
Published: October 2019

While public health practitioners generally focus on the primary prevention of illness and disease by developing programs and policies that promote health and well-being, an understanding of chronic pain and its treatment is important for public health professionals working to address the opioid crisis. There are unintended consequences of well-intentioned policies that may restrict prescribing behavior or otherwise interrupt or change access to opioids. For example, one consequence of expanding state prescription drug monitoring programs has been concern by providers that “legitimate” pain patients may be subjected to increased suspicion and stigma and not able to obtain needed medications. State and federal efforts to shut down “pill mills” are vital to addressing diversion and criminal behavior, but pain patients who are also seen in these clinics may have an interruption in their treatment or access to medication. Understanding chronic pain treatment and non-opioid alternatives to pain management is an important part of developing sound public health policies to prevent opioid use disorder and its sequelae. This chapter presents these alternatives and the evidence base for each.
Redeeming Eden: A Priestly Dialogue in Genesis–Leviticus
Authors: Brett Mark G.
Published: October 2019

The Priestly compositions in Genesis–Leviticus turned away from the national vision, emphasizing wider filial connections with other kinship groups and, in effect, proposed that Eden could be redeemed as a sacred space. Yhwh is certainly the God of Israel, but the ancestors never knew that divine name. Combining an interpretation of Abraham as a non-Yahwist, a distinctive exodus account, cultic laws, and the social ethics of the Holiness Code, this paradigm provided hope for a renewed divine communion within which Yhwh may once again “walk about” among the people (Lev 26:11–12), even if the same Creator is known as Elohim or El by other nations. Instead of emerging from a royal court, the Priestly laws were promulgated by Moses in the desert, without the benefit of royal power or territory, and there is no conquest legislation in this material.
Heresies, Forgeries, Novelties
Authors: Klawans Jonathan
Published: October 2019

The fundamental goal of this chapter is to present the dynamic to be explored in this book, relating heresy, forgery, and novelty. In its first sections, this chapter probes the contestability of religious novelty and the roles that condemnations of novelty played in Christian heresiological discourse. Then the chapter examines and also chips away at the various perspectives and biases that have prevented exploring the Jewish origins of Christian heresiology. The chapter next considers the extent to which second temple period Jewish writers went to conceal innovations, often by deceitfully disguising recent writings as much more ancient ones. The threads tie together with a restatement of the key dynamic at play: Heresy involves the condemnation of novelty; forgery entails the feigning of antiquity. Novelty ensues with the valorization of innovation, which can harden into supersessionism—the inverse of heresy.
In the Shadow of Trump
Authors: Boatright Robert G. , Sperling Valerie
Published: October 2019

This chapter explores the impact of presidential primary campaigns on House and Senate primary races, looking at the relationship between presidential and nonpresidential primaries, and evaluating the effect Donald Trump had on candidate emergence and strategy. Few candidates wished to associate themselves with Trump, yet the Republican presidential primary so dominated media and public attention that Republican primary candidates who might have flourished in any other year, such as conservative, Tea Party–style candidates, were unable to garner attention or raise as much money as they might otherwise have. Moreover, even in the handful of primary races featuring so-called “mini-Trumps,” there were few in which attention to gender issues or misogynist rhetoric played a role. The chapter documents these findings by comparing 2016 to prior election years with regard to primary competition, turnout, and spending, and examining congressional primaries in which Republican candidates were overtly compared to or endorsed Donald Trump.
Being a Good Samaritan Requires You to Vote
Authors: Maskivker Julia
Published: October 2019

This chapter expands on the notion of a Samaritan duty of justice to aid society. It dispels the possible objection that only physical emergencies can count as the object of Samaritan assistance, and it explains why a natural duty of justice to help others can be discharged via elections—as elections are the only method to install governments, which affect the quality of governance nontrivially. The chapter proceeds to explain why justice and the erection of governments are uniquely related, which makes voting morally special, and morally mandated if not unduly burdensome for the citizen. The chapter elaborates on the idea that the duty to aid society via the vote is a duty to engage in cooperation with others, by participating in elections. Voting is, then, an instance of collectively rational Samaritanism.
The Old Man in the Sky?
Authors: Stevenson Leslie
Published: October 2019

Some Western art, notably by Michelangelo and William Blake, has represented God as an elderly male bearded figure. But despite biblical texts that suggest that God is embodied, no serious theology takes this literally. Art can express the glory of God’s creation without depicting God himself.
The God Who Changes and Acts
Authors: Stevenson Leslie
Published: October 2019

Some biblical texts represent God as unchanging, but many represent him as acting in the world. If human free will is real, it seems that God must acquire new knowledge and decide on new actions as history goes on, perhaps in response to prayer. This raises the notorious problem of evil: If God can intervene to prevent suffering, why does he not do so?
Postmodernism
Authors: Stevenson Leslie
Published: October 2019

The later work of Cupitt presents a postmodernist challenge to extra-linguistic reference in all language, not only in religion. But this extreme position overreaches itself and reduces to absurdity. The possibility remains that God-language has its own kind of reference and truth.
Is Proportionality in Punishment Possible, and Achievable?
Authors: Tonry Michael
Published: October 2019

Proportionality theory’s influence is waning. It is beset by challenges. Some, such as difficulties in scaling crime seriousness and punishment severity, and linking them, are primarily analytical and of interest mostly to theorists. Others, such as trade-offs between proportionality and crime prevention, relate to real world applications. The big question is whether the challenges are epiphenomenal and portend displacement of retribution as the most intellectually influential normative frame of reference for thinking about punishment. My best guess is yes. The lesser question is whether proportionality theory can provide satisfactory answers to core questions about crime seriousness, punishment severity, and links between them. Alas, it cannot. Proportionality theory does, however, support two injunctions with which most people, citizens, scholars, and professionals alike, would say they agree. First, no one should be punished more severely than he or she deserves. Second, all else being equal, people who commit more serious crimes should be punished more severely than people who commit less serious ones, and vice versa. Converting that principled agreement into real-world policies and practices is not easy. The post-Enlightenment values of fairness, equality, justice, and parsimony, however, that underlie proportionality theory, are widely accepted and are likely to remain influential even if punishment paradigms once again shift. Proportionality theory is likely to be eclipsed but not to disappear.
Outposts of the Law: The Frontier and the Civil-Law Fringe
Authors: Friedman Lawrence M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the history of American frontier law. The new nation faced the problem of how to deal with the western lands. Some of the states had huge, vague, and vast claims to chunks of western land, stretching out far beyond the pale of settlement; other states did not. The Ordinance of 1787 dealt with the issue of governance and the future of the western lands. It set basic law for a huge area of forest and plain that became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The Ordinance of 1790 extended the influence of the Northwest Ordinance into what became the state of Tennessee.
Blood and Gold: Some Main Themes in the Law in the Last Half of the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Friedman Lawrence M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses changes in American law during the second half of the nineteenth century, covering organic law, state constitutions, and the West. The last half of the nineteenth century was crowded with events and evolutions, the most dramatic of which was the great Civil War. In many ways, wars fundamentally disrupt the operation of the legal system. The Civil War was unusually violent, and it did unusual violence to the ordinary course of justice. It was also a constitutional crisis: the Confederate states had renounced the union, declared themselves independent, and drafted their own constitution. But the war was, in a way, only an interlude. Underneath and around it and before it and after it, vast processes were changing society in fundamental ways. Changes in American law, between 1850 and 1900, were little short of revolutionary. In many fields, the law or the practice looked very different at the end of this period, compared to the beginning.
The Land and Other Property
Authors: Friedman Lawrence M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the development of property law in the second half of the nineteenth century covering land law, public land, dynasts landlord and tenant, mortgages, titles, and intellectual property. One dominant theme of American property law was the idea that land should be marketable; that people should be able to buy and sell land freely. This was a big, open country, a land of abundance, a land with land for everybody, huge tracts of vacant land. For the settlers, land promised a better life, a life of rising expectations; land was mother of resources and development. As the frontier moved West, land law followed at a respectable distance. Land law was not uniform. Conditions in New York were not the same as conditions in Wyoming. However, overall trends were quite similar and old doctrines were reshaped to suit American conditions.
The Underdogs: 1850–1900
Authors: Friedman Lawrence M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses laws covering the poor, women, family, and races in the second half of the nineteenth century. The American system provided a voice, and a share in the economy to more people, and to a greater percentage of the population, than most of the Old World countries did. But decisively not everybody. Women lacked rights and were definitely the weaker sex, socially speaking. For blacks, for Native Americans, for the Chinese, for the unorganized and the powerless in general, this great democracy had little enough to offer. However, there were some changes in the late nineteenth century. A movement, staffed by volunteers, arose to make charity more “scientific,” and to bring some sort of order out of chaos. In addition, a small but enthusiastic band of people, inside and outside of government, worked hard to improve the lot of the poor and the institutions that served them.
The Law of Corporations
Authors: Friedman Lawrence M.
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the development of corporate law in the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1800, corporation law was a torpid backwater of law, mostly a matter of municipalities, charities, and churches. Only a bridge or two, a handful of manufacturing enterprises, a few banks, a few insurance companies, disturbed its quiet. The nineteenth century, however, was the age of the business corporation. By 1870, corporations had a commanding position in the economy. Private practice and legislation made the law of corporations. The courts played a minor role. No constitutional convention met, between 1860 and 1900, without considering the problem of the corporation. This was a nineteenth-century constant; it changed form, format, and its cast of characters, but there was a numbing sameness of theme.
Two Paradigmatic Tales, between Genres and Genders
Authors: Sheppard W. Anthony
Published: October 2019

This chapter focuses on multiple versions of the Madame Butterfly narrative in Hollywood film and on multiple versions of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1915 silent film The Cheat. One focus is on the relationship between music in these films and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and on how the Butterfly narrative was reworked to project developing perceptions of race and gender. The relationship between operatic and cinematic Orientalist representation is explored in the 1932 Madame Butterfly and the 1962 My Geisha. DeMille’s “The Cheat” inspired works stoking fears of the “Yellow Peril.” The story was transformed into a play (1918). Camille Erlanger’s “Forfaiture,” the first opera to be based on a film, premiered in Paris (1921). A silent film was released in 1923 and a sound film in 1931. In 1937, a French film starred Sessue Hayakawa, the Japanese actor who played the “villain” in 1915. This offers an opportunity to compare the role of music and realization of Orientalism in four genres.
Regimes
Authors: Cai Congyan
Published: October 2019

This chapter examines China’s engagement with international regimes from perspectives of both norm compliance, which is the focus of China as a rule-taker, and norm entrepreneurship, which represents a major ambition of a rising China. It does not debate too much the status quo of China’s norm compliance or norm entrepreneurship. Instead, it focuses on what methodologies China adopts to comply with its international obligations and achieves its norm entrepreneurship. In doing so, this chapter examines how China engages the regimes in relation to peace, development, human rights, and new areas as well. This chapter informs people how international law enables the rise of China, how international law contains or fails to contain the rise of China, and how China seeks to reshape international law, thereby illustrating the multiplities of interactions between international law and the rise of China.
A Free and Independent Press
Authors: Zick Timothy
Published: October 2019

This chapter discusses the fragility and necessity of a free and independent press. It places the Press Clause of the First Amendment in a historical and constitutional perspective, and considers both the core functions and the occasional excesses of the institutional press. President Trump is not the first chief executive to attack and challenge the institutional press. However, his attacks have been uniquely pervasive and public. The president’s “war” on the press has raised serious questions about the prospect for preserving a free and independent press. The chapter argues that despite its excesses, the institutional press is both necessary to a functioning democracy and, for a number of reasons, precariously positioned to fail.