bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Closed to Oriental Heroines: Ethos of the Colonial Text
Authors: Driss Hager Ben
Published: March 2016

The publication of Edward Said's seminal investigation of Orientalism as a discursive construction of the Other has triggered an interrogative move towards a re-reading of Western representations of Eastern peoples and geographies. Almost forlorn now is the practice of reading literary productions within an exclusively aesthetic framework of poetic tradition. Anything one writes is already a production – a representation marked by what Derrida calls “violence of the letter.” It is a violence “of difference, of classification, and of the system of appellations” (1976, p. 110).
The Silk Road Wends its Way to Washington
Authors: Slobin Mark
Published: March 2016

In the summer of 2002, more Americans – 1.3 million – heard the music of Central Asia in just a few days than in the entire previous history of the United States. Some 370,000 of them picked up the extensive, well-documented guidebook to the 36th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which broke all attendance records. As they traipsed through the humid haze of the Washington Mall, staggering into the sun baked tents to see crafts and hear music, this crowd was in a good mood. Kids asked to see the Bactrian camels, who, like their handlers, were Texans. People crowded the sprawling crafts exhibits to watch artisans, then jammed the sales pavilions to scoop up gifts and albums, also at unprecedented levels. The surging spectators jammed the tents for most of the shows on the two days I was there. The reception was rousing. The organizers had brought not just “classic” performers, but contemporary musicians, like the Kazakh rock band Roksonaki. The small stock of their CDs sold out on the first day, and their performances regularly received standing ovations.
“Opening the Doors” One Year Later: Reflections on the Iraq War and the Middle East Studies Community
Authors: Watenpaugh Keith
Published: March 2016

Word began to trickle out of Baghdad in mid-April 2003 that the Iraqi National Library and Archives and the library of the Ministry of Holy Endowments and Religious Affairs (al-Awqaf) had been burned and looted during the paroxysm of aggravated mayhem that followed the collapse of the Baathist regime. Soon, it became clear that in addition to the damage to those libraries, universities, research centers and private institutions had also been harmed or destroyed, and that additional elements of Iraq's rich cultural heritage in the form of historic buildings, musical archives and contemporary art were at risk. These were moments of deep and profound sadness that ultimately gave way to conversations about ways to work to assess, rebuild and restore what had been lost.
Iraqi Universities and Libraries: One Year After the Occupation
Authors: Fattah Hala
Published: March 2016

In March 2004, I sat in the refurbished office of Ms. Juwan Mahmoud, the Chief Librarian of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences (in Arabic, al-majma' al-ilmi) in the Al-Waziriyya section of Baghdad. The Iraqi Academy had been looted of its first-rate collection of manuscripts in Arabic, Farsi, Turkish and other languages immediately after the war. When I had first met Juwan, it was in the ruins of the library. I remember the rooms piled high with trashed documents and manuscripts haphazardly strewn around the place, and rows upon rows of gutted library shelves. I had gone to Baghdad in June 2003 with three colleagues – Jens Hanssen, Edouard Méténier and Keith Watenpaugh – to investigate the burning and pillaging of university and research libraries. One member of the group, Jens Hanssen, made a short documentary of the wrecked library premises, in which Juwan played a starring role. In the spirit of an Iraqi passionara, she forcefully called upon the conscience of the world to restore the Iraqi Academy's collections immediately.
Middle Eastern Studies in Finland
Authors: Hämeen-Anttila Jaakko
Published: March 2016

The tradition of Middle Eastern studies in Finland is long but rather thin. The chair for Oriental Languages (mainly Hebrew and Aramaic) was established at Turku University in 1640, changing its name (Linguarum Orientalium Professio) several times over the years before becoming Semitic Languages. After the great fire destroyed almost the whole city of Turku, the university was relocated to Helsinki in 1828. In the mid-19th century, the chair was held by G.A. Wallin (d. 1852), an explorer of the Arabian Peninsula (and a visitor to the holy city of Mecca) and one of the first scholars, worldwide, to study Arabic dialects. In the latter part of the 19th century, Assyriology became the most flourishing field of Middle Eastern Studies in Finland, several great Assyriologists, such as Knut Tallqvist (d. 1949), holding the chair of Oriental Languages. Though concentrating on Assyriology, Assyriologists also kept alive Arabic philological studies, which gained additional weight in the 1960s when the Assyriologist and Comparative Semitist Jussi Aro (d. 1983) was appointed as professor. He retrained himself as a dialectologist, working with Lebanese dialects. It was only in 1980 that a chair for Arabic Language was established and another dialectologist, Heikki Palva, was appointed to it in 1982. After the retirement of Professor Palva in 1998, the chair was renamed Arabic and Islamic Studies. The chair, at the Institute for Asian and African Studies (IAAS, University of Helsinki), has been held by the present writer, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, since 2000.
Arabic Windows: Arabicizing Windows Applications to Read and Write Arabic
Authors: Madhany al-Husein N.
Published: March 2016

This paper is technical in nature. It provides detailed instructions for enabling Arabic reading and writing capabilities in most Microsoft Windows versions, the major word-processing applications, and the major Internet web browsers. This paper also discusses useful, time-tested hints and resources for using Arabic with Windows including enabling the Arabic Proofing Tools, enabling the On Screen Arabic Keyboard, typing right-to-left, typing Hindi numerals, defining Arabic romanization keyboards, and finding Arabic fonts, English/Arabic keyboards, Arabic QWERTY keyboards, and Arabic keytop labels. This paper has been adapted from a manuscript the author is currently writing on resources for Arabic language study in America and on the Internet.
Al-Ghazali’s Method of Doubt
Authors: Rayan Sobhi
Published: March 2016

Al-Ghazali introduces the issue of doubt in his book al-Munqidh min al-Dalal [Deliverance from Error]. The book can be considered an intellectual autobiography of this philosopher. Here al-Ghazali describes his intellectual development and the method of his search for truth. He also discusses the ideas of various doctrines that were present in Islamic society in his period, including the philosophers, al-Mutakallimun (scholastics), al-Batiniyya (interiority), and Sufism. The book is a concise exposition of al-Ghazali’s experience in the field of research and epistemological criticism.
Scholarship in the Shadow of Empire (2004 Presidential Address)
Authors: Brand Laurie A.
Published: March 2016

As a colleague of mine has recently written, a term that was slanderous a mere decade ago—empire—has now become a cliché in discussing the United States. Indeed,

what word but ‘empire’ describes the awesome thing that America is becoming? It is the only nation that polices the world through five global military commands; maintains more than a million men and women at arms on four continents; deploys carrier battle groups on watch in every ocean; guarantees the survival of countries from Israel to South Korea; drives the wheels of global trade and commerce...
Ottoman and French Mandate Land Registers for the Region of Damascus
Authors: Provence Michael
Published: March 2016

In late October 1999 I visited the third annual Syrian National Documentation Festival in the Damascus fairgrounds. Syrian ministry employees and Ba'th Party officials have organized the ten-day long annual Documentation Festival since the mid-1990s. Its stated purpose is to preserve and celebrate the heritage of the nation. In 1999 the exhibition was separated into four large halls devoted to different documents and art. The most prominent hall was devoted to heroic paintings, photos, and videotaped speeches of then Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad. Other halls were devoted to popular art, family, local, and municipal histories and documents, and selections from the archives of various departments and ministries. The final hall contained the ministry of education, ministry of antiquities, including the national archives, the ministry of the interior including the departments of awqâf (sing, waqf), Damascus municipal police, and the ministry of agriculture.
Cairo Notes
Authors: Gran Peter
Published: March 2016

Many American scholars work in Cairo these days. For this reason, we pay more attention to Egyptian history-writing, to the situation of the archives as well as to newly discovered textual sources. I have compiled here a few notes along these lines.

Published in late 2004, Mashayna khatti-sirah dhatiyah [Going My Way], (Cairo: Dar al-Hilal, 336 pp.), is an unusual work by the well-known Egyptian historian Raouf Abbas, which sold several thousand copies in days and elicited a number of reviews. The wide interest in this autobiographical work doubtless lies in the controversial subjects it raises and the names it names.
What Works in the Language Classroom: The 2005 Western Consortium Multi-Language Conference
Authors: Askildson Lance , Meadows Bryan
Published: March 2016

The 2005 Western Consortium Multi-Language Conference was hosted by the University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies. The theme and focus of this year conference proceedings was titled, hat Works in the Language Classroom. The conference thus aimed to bring together teachers and scholars of Middle Eastern languages in order to elucidate relevant pedagogical trends and techniques in the field of language instruction. Moreover, the conference served as a valuable venue for the exchange of pedagogically grounded scholarly material that provided for demonstrated classroom application. Conference participants and session presenters represented a diversity of institutions from around the country. The following provides a brief summary of the featured conference presentations and participant reactions.
Extending the Campus: Al-Musharaka and Technology-Assisted Collaboration
Authors: Toler Michael A.
Published: March 2016

As a scholar of North Africa and the Middle East, I get very excited about the possibilities internet technologies open up for me and other scholars who are concerned with regions of the globe outside our national borders. The internet brings a wealth of information to my computer on a daily basis. It is true that in the early years of its development the overwhelming majority of content on the internet was American and in English, but as the rest of the world has come online in greater numbers, the internet has increasingly allowed us to transcend international borders. To cite just one example, for decades English was overwhelmingly the language of the internet. While English remains the most common language on the web, it is no longer the majority language. For several years now, there has been more non-English content on the internet than content in English. I can now read newspapers and listen to news broadcasts from North Africa at the click of a mouse button. I can even communicate easily with colleagues overseas via email, chat or, increasingly, voice over IP at very little cost.
Modern Turkish Studies
Authors: Weiker Walter F.
Published: March 2016

Turkey has long been a fertile field for social scientists (in the broadest sense of the term) and for commentators on the socio-political scene. Travelogues and analyses of the society by westerners or the Ottoman Empire include such well-known authors as Ubicini, Jorga, Vamberi, Engelhardt, Mortmann, Zinkeisen and Hammer-Purgstall. As western penetration into the area increased in the 19th and early 20th centuries there emerged numerous accounts of Turkish life and public affairs by diplomats (e.g., Sir Edwin Pears, Turkey and Its People, 1912), educators and missionaries (e.g., Caleb Gates, Not to Me Only, 1940), soldiers (e.g., Liman von Sanders, Five Years in Turkey, 1928). By 1908, their ranks were augmented by a few Turks such as Ahmet Emin Yalman and Halide Edib. But it was only with the great reforms of AtatUrk that western social scientists began to come to Turkey in any significant numbers, and not until after World War II did modern Turkish studies come into full flower both in terms of quality and quantity. In the last two decades or so there has emerged a very considerable volume of studies by both Turks and others, in Turkish as well as German, French and primarily English. American social scientists have in recent years begun to dominate the field which earlier had been largely the province of Europeans.
The “Dodgy Dossier:” The Academic Implications of the British Government's Plagiarism Incident
Authors: Al-Marashi Ibrahim
Published: March 2016

In September 2002, an article I had authored, “Iraq's Security and Intelligence Network: A Guide and Analysis,” was published in the September 2002 issue of the journal, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA). On February 6, 2003 a UK news report revealed that entire sections of a British government dossier entitled “Iraq-Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation” were copied from three published sources, with the bulk of the plagiarized material coming from the article I had written. I was a twenty-nine year old doctoral student when the media frenzy that surrounded this incident erupted, six weeks prior to the 2003 Iraq War. I, as an Iraqi-American, had to watch as both sides opposite my hyphen waged a war against each other that I had an indirect role in justifying.
Photographic Resources Documenting the Middle East at the Library of Congress
Authors: Alexander Arden
Published: March 2016

Images of the Middle East form an important part of the 14 million items in the Prints and Photographs Division (P&P) of the Library of Congress (LC). The Middle East designation covers a broad geographical region stretching from Algiers in North Africa, to Samarqand in present day Uzbekistan. Most of the photographs, negatives, book illustrations, posters, albums, stereographs, and prints date from between 1840 to the present and document people, archaeological sites, buildings, important events, and everyday life. The photographers include resident foreigners such as Rudolf Lehnert and Ernst Landrock (generally known by their corporate name Lehnert & Landrock), travelers to the region like Francis Frith, local photographers such as Ottoman military photographer Ali Riza Pasha, and most recently LC staff members who visited war-torn Baghdad. The Middle East holdings total about 50,000 items, received through copyright deposit, gift and purchase.
Information Fluency, Technology Application, and Teaching a Middle East Politics Course
Authors: Sadri Houman A.
Published: March 2016

In teaching Middle East Politics (MEP) courses, instructors speak of many challenges, particularly students' typical uninformed and misleading preconceived notions about the region. Based on extensive experience in teaching MEP classes, my observations suggest that using Information Fluency (IF) principles, along with the application of internet technology, significantly improves course effectiveness for both students and faculty. The following essay is based on a study of the results of teaching MEP using an IF-inspired assignment in both the face-to-face and on-line course formats. To enhance the classroom environment, I use WebCT technology to deliver, supplement, and assess my MEP classes. Along with this discussion, I have appended relevant information from the syllabus for my course, CPO 3403 Politics of the Middle East. The complete syllabus can be accessed from my website: http://www.cas.ucf.edu/politicalscience/main.php?URL=sadri.
Producing the Local: The Visual Arts in Beirut
Authors: Rogers Sarah
Published: March 2016

In a 2002 lecture at Home Works, Beirut’s contemporary art festival, writer and cultural critic Abbas Beydoun claimed that Lebanon’s internationalism had led to derivative cultural production. The well known critic’s comments evoked an angry outburst from members of his predominantly Lebanese audience of young artists and cultural workers. To varying degrees, however, this characterization of Beiruti culture repeats and prefigures descriptions of the city as a meeting point between East and West. Indeed, Beirut’s reputation as a multi-linguistic and cross-cultural Mediterranean port is traced to the latter half of the nineteenth century when the city became the capital of an Ottoman province and followed as a regional center for missionary, political, and cultural activities. Moreover, Beydoun’s characterization did not always carry such a negative connotation. This paper begins to trace the ways in which the visual arts is a field for producing, rather than reflecting, Beirut’s cosmopolitanism. To do so, I look at two historical moments pivotal in the institutionalization of the visual arts. The first is that of Daoud Corm (1852-1930), the city’s first professional easel painter whose career ran from the Ottoman period through the French Mandate (1920-1943). The second is the decades of the 1960s and 70s, the city’s heyday as a regional cultural capital when a number of artists and activists established a gallery system, further expanding the private sector’s consumption of painting and sculpture.
Modernity and its Posts in Constructing an Arab Capital: Baghdad’s Urban Space and Architecture
Authors: Pieri Caecilia
Published: March 2016

This paper examines several historical and political contexts in which connections have been forged between modernity and identity in the field of Baghdad’s twentieth century architecture and urban space. Given that for some Iraqi critics, historians, or professionals, “westernization” is embedded in “modernization” and even to a certain extent in modernity, I’ll attempt to define the ways and the limits within which architecture and urban planning or urban space in Baghdad have been deployed in the different narratives of affirmation of an “Arab” or “Iraqi” identity.
Arab Art Institutions and Their Audiences
Authors: Mikdadi Salwa
Published: March 2016

Leaders of Arab art institutions are negotiating new grounds for the arts with new money, new audiences, and—in the case of the Gulf countries—also new locations. They are playing a key role in devising alternate strategies to reach audiences and create civic dialogue through the arts, while negotiating economic, political, and artistic concerns that are helping to shape future cultural policies in the region. This paper explores the institutionalization of Arab art practices in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and the United Arab Emirates, and the relationship of these arts organizations to their audiences. The reasons for selecting these four countries is that compared to other Arab countries, they have a large number of individual art initiatives, as well as new and diverse types of institutions. Each country has a specific context in which the art organizations were established and function. However, the focus of this paper is the relationship of the art institutions to their audiences and the strategies they use to encourage discourse on art and its content in the public sphere. The paper is based on discussions with twenty-one art professionals who represent almost all leading art institutions in the Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Arab Brain Drain
Authors: Zahlan A.B.
Published: March 2016

The Arab World numbering an estimated 130 million inhabitants (1972) has produced—through its own college and university system (40 institutions in 1971 and 400,000 college students)—some 560,000 graduates; see Table I. Study abroad has been at a high level ever since the early fifties. During the past two decades it has increased from about 10,000 to 40,000.
Research Facilities in Lebanon
Authors: Hudson Michael C.
Published: March 2016

Research facilities in Lebanon are excellent and the research climate, as of June 1972, was fairly good. Lebanon continues to fulfill its historic function as a meeting place for Western and Arab culture. But the same political factors that are alienating the Arab world as a whole from the Anglo-Saxon community, notably the Arab-Israeli conflict, inevitably threaten this liberal research climate. There are vocal and influential elements of Lebanese opinion which feel that American imperialism harnesses even the scholarly community for its exploitative ends. Lebanon has had no Camelot scandal so far, but the American University of Beirut was once forced to cancel a project supported by the U.S. Department of Defense. Under these circumstances it is always possible that an innocent researcher could accidentally create a crisis that would jeopardize research conditions. Thus, it may not be out of place to suggest that visiting scholars should make special efforts to be prudent, candid, courteous and patient in their research work. It is desirable to have at least one reputable Lebanese friend who will be willing to advise and if necessary endorse the research project. It is not necessary that a local institution formally sponsor a project, but some kind of local association can be useful both in assisting the research itself and in avoiding troubles. Graduate students doing field research should definitely have some local advisor or patron.
Egypt in American Primary and Secondary School Literature: A Summary of the Final Report Submitted to the United States Office of Education
Authors: Allen Calvin J. , Ziadeh Farhat J.
Published: March 2016

The social studies teacher in today’s elementary and secondary school is faced with a serious problem in attempting to determine the curriculum for a geography, cultures or history course: does one discuss each of the 145 or so independent states in the world, allowing only one hour of class period per country, or should particular attention be directed to certain nations? Of course, the latter is the only logical alternative. The problem remains, however, of how to select those states that will be examined in detail.
Report on the Pre-Collegiate Activities of Federally Funded Middle East Language and Area Centers
Authors: Ek Barbro M.
Published: March 2016

This Report was prepared under the auspices of the MESA Committee on Pre-Collegiate Education, Michael W. Suleiman, Chairperson; Barbro M. Ek, Marvin Fricklas, Mounir Farah, Glenn Perry, Juanita Will Soghikian and Don Peretz, Members.

There are presently twelve regional centers for the study of the Middle East receiving operational grants from the Office of Education under its language and area centers program. These grants range In amounts from $50,000 to $114,000 per year with the average falling somewhere around $92,000 yearly. Although there is a yearly competition, most centers receive funding for a minimum of three years. Of the presently funded centers, two (University of Arizona and Portland State) are funded as undergraduate programs, with the remainder serving the graduate sector as well. Government guidelines stipulate that 15% of the total grant must be spent in the area of “outreach” services to agencies, organizations and individuals outside the university interested in the resources of the center. Funding criteria for fiscal 1976 published in the Federal Register (Vol. 41, No. 20, Feb. 9, 1976) further specifies that “Centers shall provide such “outreach activities” in two or more of the following areas, at least one of which shall be either (1) or (2) below:(1) Assistance to other institutions of higher education including public and private four-year colleges, particularly those with teacher education programs, and two year colleges (such as sharing of library resources, faculty workshops, and cross-registration of students); (2) assistance to state and local elementary and secondary educational agencies (such as in-service teacher training, bibliographic assistance, textbook evaluation, curriculum development, and direct instructional services; (3) assistance to the business community (such as workshops and special courses) and (4) sharing of resources (such as general lectures, films and book and art exhibits) with the community at large.”
Crisis, Values, and the Purpose of Science: Hans Morgenthau in Europe
Authors: Rösch Felix
Published: March 2016

Shortly after finishing his Habilitation at the University of Geneva in 1934, Hans Morgenthau typed a lengthy manuscript entitled Über den Sinn der Wissenschaft in dieser Zeit und über die Bestimmung des Menschen (On the Purpose of Science in These Times and on Human Destiny). Underappreciated and little known in the ever-growing literature on Morgenthau and classical realism at large, this manuscript provided the foundation for a series of publications throughout his life in which he ferociously and even polemically defended a normative role for “science” (Wissenschaft) in modern societies against the backdrop of the rise of behavioralism. Most famous among them is certainly Morgenthau's first book in the United States, Scientific Man vs. Power Politics (see Hartmut Behr in this forum). Indeed, forty years after Morgenthau had penned this manuscript in Geneva, he based the first part of Science: Servant or Master on it, indicating that he “never went much beyond what he had basically said and formulated” during his time in Europe.
Scientific Man vs. Power Politics: A Pamphlet and Its Author between Two Academic Cultures
Authors: Behr Hartmut
Published: March 2016

Hans Morgenthau's Scientific Man vs. Power Politics appeared in 1946, one year after he received tenure at the University of Chicago. Thus, the monograph demarcates the beginning of Morgenthau's career in the United States, to which he had emigrated nine years earlier. Three main aspects seem important for understanding this work. The first is Morgenthau's bewilderment about American political culture and, as he perceived it, its cheerful optimism about the betterment of politics, society, and humanity in general. The second aspect is the nature of the argument: Scientific Man is a dogmatic tract, an attempt to hammer home certain philosophical positions—positions that were largely unpopular in the U.S. social sciences in the 1940s (and later)—rather than a reflective scholarly elaboration of certain philosophical commitments. The third is Morgenthau's place between two academic cultures: Morgenthau's language in his American writings partly stems from, but also tries to leave behind, his European academic socialization. The monograph thus reflects the author's peculiar situation, as he inhabits two sometimes crucially different semantic and cultural contexts, but fails to bridge or broker them.
Hans Morgenthau and the National Interest
Authors: Navari Cornelia
Published: March 2016

Hans Morgenthau's concept of “the national interest” first appeared, somewhat like thunder out of China, in the essay “The Primacy of the National Interest” as part of a forum in the Spring 1949 issue of The American Scholar titled “The National Interest and Moral Principles in Foreign Policy.” As William Scheuerman observes, “The concept of the ‘national interest’ first takes on a special analytic status in this essay.” In the essay, the national interest is first presented as a necessary corrective to what Morgenthau had already characterized in Scientific Man vs. Power Politics as legalism, moralism, and sentimentalism in American politics, and as a more effective guide to foreign policy than the American tradition seemed able to provide.
Hans Morgenthau and The Purpose of American Politics
Authors: Ned Lebow Richard
Published: March 2016

Hans Morgenthau's The Purpose of American Politics was published in 1960, at the end of the Eisenhower administration and on the eve of the civil rights movement and military intervention in Vietnam. It is Morgenthau's first attempt to author a book primarily about the United States, exploring opposing American political traditions and their implications for foreign policy. In the process, he comments on past and present domestic and foreign crises and the ways they are refracted by Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian understandings of the national purpose. Morgenthau is drawn to the Hamiltonian approach, which is realist in its assumptions; but he is nevertheless sympathetic to the Jeffersonian emphasis on freedom, which differentiates America, in his view, from other countries. The book represents Morgenthau's coming to terms with America, lauding the purposes for which the country was founded, but the overall argument is pessimistic. Morgenthau contends that America has lost its sense of purpose, on the home front and abroad. When read next to his Scientific Man vs. Power Politics, published in 1946, the book reveals a significant shift in his intellectual and political orientations.
Efficiency of lambda-encodings in total type theory
Authors: STUMP AARON , FU PENG
Published: March 2016

This paper proposes a new typed lambda-encoding for inductive types which, for Peano numerals, has the expected time complexities for basic operations like addition and multiplication, has a constant-time predecessor function, and requires only quadratic space to encode a numeral. This improves on the exponential space required by the Parigot encoding. Like the Parigot encoding, the new encoding is typable in System F-omega plus positive-recursive type definitions, a total type theory. The new encoding is compared with previous ones through a significant case study: mergesort using Braun trees. The practical runtime efficiency of the new encoding, and the Church and Parigot encodings, are compared by two translations, one to Racket and one to Haskell, on a small suite of benchmarks.
Seed longevity and dormancy state in a disturbance-dependent forest herb, Ageratina altissima
Authors: Redwood Mame E. , Matlack Glenn R. , Huebner Cynthia D.
Published: March 2016

Does seed dormancy allow disturbance-oriented forest herbs such as Ageratina altissima to persist in heterogeneous natural communities? To document seed longevity and dormancy state, Ageratina seeds were buried in nylon mesh bags in second-growth forest stands in south-eastern Ohio, USA. Bags were recovered at 2-month intervals, and seeds were tested for viability and germinability in the lab. Live seed numbers declined rapidly, with seed banks exhausted in an estimated 33–37 months. Seeds showed a strong dormancy polymorphism, with 71–84% of live seeds germinable between March and July, the season of natural seedling emergence. At other dates, most seeds appeared to be in a state of induced dormancy, allowing little (0–21%) germination. The slope aspect of the burial site, an important factor controlling above-ground vegetation, had no effect on seed longevity or dormancy condition. Dormancy in Ageratina appears to be adapted to allow opportunistic germination in late spring–early summer, but to prevent germination in less benign periods. Seed longevity is shorter than the natural frequency of gaps in mesophytic forest. We conclude that a long-term dispersal/dormancy trade-off is probably an oversimplification of the spatial ecology of this species. The primary function of dormancy appears to be short-term tracking of seasonal variation.
Sickness certification for common mental disorders and GP return-to-work advice
Authors: Gabbay Mark , Shiels Chris , Hillage Jim
Published: March 2016

Aim

To report the types and duration of sickness certification for different common mental disorders (CMDs) and the prevalence of GP advice aimed at returning the patient to work.

Background

In the United Kingdom, common mental health problems, such and depression and stress, have become the main reasons for patients requesting a sickness certificate to abstain from usual employment. Increasing attention is being paid to mental health and its impact on employability and work capacity in all parts of the welfare system. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which different mental health diagnoses impact upon sickness certification outcomes, and how the GP has used the new fit note (introduced in 2010) to support a return to work for patients with mental health diagnoses.

Methods

Sickness certification data was collected from 68 UK-based general practices for a period of 12 months.

Findings

The study found a large part of all sickness absence certified by GPs was due to CMDs (29% of all sickness absence episodes). Females, younger patients and those living in deprived areas were more likely to receive a fit note for a CMD (compared with one for a physical health problem). The highest proportion of CMD fit notes were issued for ‘stress’. However, sickness certification for depression contributed nearly half of all weeks certified for mental health problems. Only 7% of CMD fit notes included any ‘may be fit’ advice from the GP, with type of advice varying by mental health diagnostic category. Patients living in the most socially deprived neighbourhoods were less likely to receive ‘may be fit’ advice on their CMD fit notes.
Power and Knowledge Revisited in Middle East Studies
Authors: Hatem Mervat
Published: March 2016

In thinking about a focus for the 2008 Presidential Address, I could not help but be influenced by the fact that this year marked the thirtieth anniversary of Edward Said’s seminal book on Orientalism. I chose to examine the connection between power and knowledge, central to his work, and how this has influenced not only the study of the Middle East, but how it has influenced the members and activities of the Middle East Studies Association, the largest North American professional association devoted to the study of the region, an organization whose influence sometimes extends beyond its territorial boundaries to other parts of the world.
Arbeitsmotivation und Interesse bei depressiven Störungen
Authors: Bönisch Rainer , Stock Gissendanner Scott , Schmid-Ott Gerhard , Petermann Franz
Published: March 2016

Zusammenfassung. Antriebslosigkeit und Motivationsdefizite im Beruf sind für viele Personen wichtige Aspekte bei depressiven Störungen. In der kognitiven Verhaltenstherapie (KVT) der Depression nach Beck ist die Förderung der berufsbezogenen Motivation bislang ein untergeordnetes Ziel. Dieser Beitrag stellt Aussagen und Wirkungen der kognitiven Verhaltenstherapie zum Thema Arbeitsmotivation dar und fragt nach ihren motivationalen Folgen. Es wird ein erwartungs-wert-bezogener Ansatz für Emotionen und Motivation nahegelegt. Um zu einer systematischeren Förderung der beruflichen Motivation in der KVT zu kommen, empfehlen wir, die Begriffe intrinsische Arbeitsmotivation und Interesse in Zukunft zu fokussieren und Förderstrategien aus der pädagogischen Psychologie zu übernehmen oder zu adaptieren.
Honoring Earth and Space Scientists
Authors:   AGU
Published: March 2016

AGU members and others in the news
Overcoming MITF-conferred drug resistance through dual AURKA/MAPK targeting in human melanoma cells
Authors: Pathria G , Garg B , Borgdorff V , Garg K , Wagner C , Superti-Furga G , Wagner S N
Published: March 2016

MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) is a frequently amplified lineage-specific oncogene in human melanoma, whose role in intrinsic drug resistance has not been systematically investigated. Utilizing chemical inhibitors for major signaling pathways/cellular processes, we witness MITF as an elicitor of intrinsic drug resistance. To search kinase(s) targets able to bypass MITF-conferred drug resistance, we employed a multi-kinase inhibitor-directed chemical proteomics-based differential affinity screen in human melanocytes carrying ectopic MITF overexpression. A subsequent methodical interrogation informed mitotic Ser/Thr kinase Aurora Kinase A (AURKA) as a crucial regulator of melanoma cell proliferation and migration, independent of the underlying molecular alterations, including TP53 functional status and MITF levels. Crucially, assessing the efficacy of investigational AURKA inhibitor MLN8237, we pre-emptively witness the procurement of a molecular program consistent with acquired drug resistance. This involved induction of multiple MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway components and their downstream proliferation effectors (Cyclin D1 and c-JUN) and apoptotic regulators (MITF and Bcl-2). A concomitant AURKA/BRAF and AURKA/MEK targeting overcame MAPK signaling activation-associated resistance signature in BRAF- and NRAS-mutated melanomas, respectively, and elicited heightened anti-proliferative activity and apoptotic cell death. These findings reveal a previously unreported MAPK signaling-mediated mechanism of immediate resistance to AURKA inhibitors. These findings could bear significant implications for the application and the success of anti-AURKA approaches that have already entered phase-II clinical trials for human melanoma.
MiR-125a-5p decreases after long non-coding RNA HOTAIR knockdown to promote cancer cell apoptosis by releasing caspase 2
Authors: Tang L , Shen H , Li X , Li Z , Liu Z , Xu J , Ma S , Zhao X , Bai X , Li M , Wang Q , Ji J
Published: March 2016

HOTAIR (homeobox transcript antisense RNA), one of the prototypical long non-coding RNAs, has been verified overexpressed in multiple carcinomas and has emerged as a promising novel anticancer target. Its well-established role is acting as a predictor of poor prognosis and promoting cancer cell metastasis. Recently, another important mission of HOTAIR was uncovered that targeting HOTAIR caused cancer cell apoptosis. Nevertheless, so far there is no published data elaborating the mechanism. Here, we report that microRNA miR-125a-5p decreases and releases caspase 2 to promote cancer cell apoptosis after HOTAIR knockdown. We applied siRNAs targeting HOTAIR to various cancer cells, and observed apoptosis in all of these cell lines. RNA sequencing detected that miR-125a-5p was decreased after HOTAIR knockdown and miR-125a-5p mimics could rescue the apoptosis induced by HOTAIR deficiency. Luciferase assays identified caspase 2, an initiator caspase, to be a new target of miR-125a-5p. Elevated expression and subsequent cleavage of caspase 2 was observed after HOTAIR knockdown or inhibition of miR-125a-5p. RNAi of caspase 2 could attenuate the apoptosis induced by HOTAIR knockdown. In 80 clinical colon cancer tissues, HOTAIR and miR-125a-5p levels were higher than adjacent tissues, whereas caspase 2 was lower. MiR-125a-5p expression level was significantly correlated with colon tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. These findings indicate that miR-125a-5p decreases after HOTAIR knockdown to promote cancer cell apoptosis by releasing caspase 2. Our work reveals a previously unidentified apoptotic mechanism, which might be exploitable in anticancer drug development.
Three mechanisms control E-cadherin localization to the zonula adherens
Authors: Woichansky Innokenty , Beretta Carlo Antonio , Berns Nicola , Riechmann Veit
Published: March 2016

E-cadherin localization to the zonula adherens is fundamental for epithelial differentiation but the mechanisms controlling localization are unclear. Using the Drosophila follicular epithelium we genetically dissect E-cadherin transport in an in vivo model. We distinguish three mechanisms mediating E-cadherin accumulation at the zonula adherens. Two membrane trafficking pathways deliver newly synthesized E-cadherin to the plasma membrane. One is Rab11 dependent and targets E-cadherin directly to the zonula adherens, while the other transports E-cadherin to the lateral membrane. Lateral E-cadherin reaches the zonula adherens by endocytosis and targeted recycling. We show that this pathway is dependent on RabX1, which provides a functional link between early and recycling endosomes. Moreover, we show that lateral E-cadherin is transported to the zonula adherens by an apically directed flow within the plasma membrane. Differential activation of these pathways could facilitate cell shape changes during morphogenesis, while their misregulation compromises cell adhesion and tissue architecture in differentiated epithelia.
Mobility overestimation due to gated contacts in organic field-effect transistors
Authors: Bittle Emily G. , Basham James I. , Jackson Thomas N. , Jurchescu Oana D. , Gundlach David J.
Published: March 2016

Parameters used to describe the electrical properties of organic field-effect transistors, such as mobility and threshold voltage, are commonly extracted from measured current–voltage characteristics and interpreted by using the classical metal oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor model. However, in recent reports of devices with ultra-high mobility (>40 cm2 V−1 s−1), the device characteristics deviate from this idealized model and show an abrupt turn-on in the drain current when measured as a function of gate voltage. In order to investigate this phenomenon, here we report on single crystal rubrene transistors intentionally fabricated to exhibit an abrupt turn-on. We disentangle the channel properties from the contact resistance by using impedance spectroscopy and show that the current in such devices is governed by a gate bias dependence of the contact resistance. As a result, extracted mobility values from d.c. current–voltage characterization are overestimated by one order of magnitude or more.
Interphase APC/C–Cdc20 inhibition by cyclin A2–Cdk2 ensures efficient mitotic entry
Authors: Hein Jamin B. , Nilsson Jakob
Published: March 2016

Proper cell-cycle progression requires tight temporal control of the Anaphase Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C), a large ubiquitin ligase that is activated by one of two co-activators, Cdh1 or Cdc20. APC/C and Cdc20 are already present during interphase but APC/C–Cdc20 regulation during this window of the cell cycle, if any, is unknown. Here we show that cyclin A2–Cdk2 binds and phosphorylates Cdc20 in interphase and this inhibits APC/C–Cdc20 activity. Preventing Cdc20 phosphorylation results in pre-mature activation of the APC/C–Cdc20 and several substrates, including cyclin B1 and A2, are destabilized which lengthens G2 and slows mitotic entry. Expressing non-degradable cyclin A2 but not cyclin B1 restores mitotic entry in these cells. We have thus uncovered a novel positive feedback loop centred on cyclin A2–Cdk2 inhibition of interphase APC/C–Cdc20 to allow further cyclin A2 accumulation and mitotic entry.
A glimpse at the aging eye
Authors: Lin Jonathan B , Tsubota Kazuo , Apte Rajendra S
Published: March 2016

Extensive investigations have demonstrated that organismal aging is associated with tissue dysfunction in many organs. The eye is no exception to this rule. Under healthy conditions, the eye is designed like an advanced camera with the central role of translating light from the external world into a coherent neural signal that can be transmitted to the brain for processing into a precise visual image. This complex process requires precisely maintained machinery. At the front of the eye, the transparency of both the cornea and the lens are crucial to allow passage of photons to the light-sensitive portion of the eye. Similarly, the highly organized structure of the retina located at the back of the eye is indispensable to allow for effective signal transduction and efficient signal transmission. Aging affects ocular structures in various ways, and these sequelae have been well defined as distinct clinical entities. In many instances, aging leads to ocular tissue dysfunction and disease. Nonetheless, despite clear evidence that age-associated visual impairment has significant psychosocial consequences, current treatment paradigms for many of these conditions are inadequate. In addition, strategies to decelerate or reverse age-associated deterioration in ocular function are still in their infancy. This review focuses on the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of the aging eye. Ultimately, we hope that a refined understanding of the aging eye can guide targeted therapies against cellular aging and disease.
Enhancing the use of Asthma and COPD Assessment Tools in Balearic Primary Care (ACATIB): a region-wide cluster-controlled implementation trial
Authors: Román-Rodríguez Miguel , Pardo Marina Garcia , López Lucia Gorreto , Ruiz Ana Uréndez , van Boven Job FM
Published: March 2016

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) health status assessment tools have demonstrated their value in guiding clinical management. Their use in primary care is still suboptimal. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of an educational intervention programme on the use of the Asthma Control Test (ACT), modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) and COPD Assessment Test (CAT) among primary care settings of the Balearic Islands, Spain. In this region-wide cluster-controlled implementation study, an educational intervention on the use of respiratory health status tools was provided to primary care practices in Mallorca (intervention group). Practices in Ibiza and Menorca functioned as control practices. Written and multimedia materials were provided to all participants to educate their colleagues. Primary outcome was the difference between intervention and control practices in the percentage of practices that increased the use—and recording—of ACT, CAT and mMRC tests between the 6-month period before intervention and the 6-month period after intervention. In the intervention group, 32 out of 45 (71%) centres enhanced the total number of tests, compared with 4 out of 12 (33%) in the non-intervention group (χ2; P=0.02). Before intervention, 399 test scores were recorded in 88,194 patients (asthma: 57,339; COPD: 30,855). After intervention, 1,576 test scores were recorded in 92,714 patients (asthma: 61,841; COPD: 30,873). An educational intervention programme targeted on primary care physicians enhances the use of respiratory health status tools and promotes behavioural changes. However, the effect is very low and difficult to measure in clinical terms.
Correction: Corrigendum: X-ray Scatter Imaging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Mouse Model Using Nanoparticle Contrast Agents
Authors: Rand Danielle , Derdak Zoltan , Carlson Rolf , Wands Jack R. , Rose-Petruck Christoph
Published: March 2016

Scientific Reports 5: Article number: 15673; published online 29 October 2015; updated: 10 March 2016 The Acknowledgements section is incomplete. “C.R.P. acknowledges financial support for the development of the X-ray imaging modality by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG02-08ER15937. J.R.
Effects of Nosema apis, N. ceranae, and coinfections on honey bee (Apis mellifera) learning and memory
Authors: Charbonneau Lise R. , Hillier Neil Kirk , Rogers Richard E. L. , Williams Geoffrey R. , Shutler Dave
Published: March 2016

Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) face an increasing number of challenges that in recent years have led to significant economic effects on apiculture, with attendant consequences for agriculture. Nosemosis is a fungal infection of honey bees caused by either Nosema apis or N. ceranae. The putative greater virulence of N. ceranae has spurred interest in understanding how it differs from N. apis. Little is known of effects of N. apis or N. ceranae on honey bee learning and memory. Following a Pavlovian model that relies on the proboscis extension reflex, we compared acquisition learning and long-term memory recall of uninfected (control) honey bees versus those inoculated with N. apis, N. ceranae, or both. We also tested whether spore intensity was associated with variation in learning and memory. Neither learning nor memory differed among treatments. There was no evidence of a relationship between spore intensity and learning, and only limited evidence of a negative effect on memory; this occurred only in the co-inoculation treatment. Our results suggest that if Nosema spp. are contributing to unusually high colony losses in recent years, the mechanism by which they may affect honey bees is probably not related to effects on learning or memory, at least as assessed by the proboscis extension reflex.