bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Zealand
Authors: Hook Maria
Published: May 2021

This chapter examines the choice of law rules that determine the law applicable to international contracts in New Zealand, comparing them to the Hague Principles. Private international law in New Zealand is still largely a common law subject, and the choice of law rules on international commercial contracts are no exception. The general position, which has been inherited from English common law, is that parties may choose the law applicable to their contract, and that the law with the closest and most real connection applies in the absence of choice. There are currently no plans in New Zealand for legislative reform, so the task of interpreting and developing the choice of law rules continues to fall to the courts. When performing this task, New Zealand courts have traditionally turned to English case law for assistance. But they may be willing, in future, to widen their scope of inquiry, given that the English rules have long since been Europeanized. It is conceivable, in this context, that the Hague Principles may be treated as a source of persuasive authority, provided they are consistent with the general principles or policies underlying the New Zealand rules.
Norway
Authors: Cordero-Moss Giuditta
Published: May 2021

This chapter assesses Norwegian perspectives on the Hague Principles. To understand the significance in Norway of the Hague Principles, it is necessary to explain the Norwegian system of private international law and its sources. Historically, conflict rules in Norway were not codified. Nowadays, private international law, at least as far as civil obligations are concerned, is undergoing a process of codification. A proposal for a statute on the law applicable to obligations has been released for public consultation, which has been concluded, and the Ministry is expected to draft a Proposition on that basis. The proposal is largely based on the EU regulations Rome I and Rome II. The Norwegian system of private international law may therefore be said to have turned into a system that is de facto parallel to EU Private International Law. Should the proposed statute be enacted, the system will also formally, albeit unilaterally, be parallel to Rome I and Rome II. Generally, therefore, it can be assumed that conflict rules will coincide with the rules contained in Rome I. In such a picture, the role that the Hague Principles may play for the Norwegian regime of party autonomy is quite restricted, as Norwegian courts generally use sources of soft law as a corroboration of Norwegian law, but not as a correction.
Western Balkans
Authors: Qerimi Donikë
Published: May 2021

This chapter presents Western Balkans perspectives on the Hague Principles. The term ‘Western Balkans’ is used to denominate the countries of the Balkan peninsula which are not member of the European Union: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Serbia. The countries of the Western Balkans have had a rather troubled past and the beginning of this century found them (re)building their countries, including their legislation. Given the urgency of other areas of law, Private International Law (PIL) was not in the focus of most of these countries’ reforms, academia, or court practice until recently. Unlike the EU regulations and Hague Conventions, the Hague Principles are not listed among the ‘inspirations’ of any of the current draft laws in the region. Experts who helped in drafting the ongoing reforms, however, have testified to the vast collection of international instruments and PIL codifications of other European countries that were used as inspiration when preparing these drafts. These preparations might have included the Hague Principles as well.
Costa Rica
Authors: Chan Anayansy Rojas , París Mauricio
Published: May 2021

This chapter assesses Costa Rican perspectives on the Hague Principles. Costa Rica does not have a systematic and codified system that regulates conflicts of law, usually known in Costa Rica as private international law (PIL). Instead, the main sources of PIL in Costa Rica are: (i) international treaties; (ii) the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedures, and other domestic laws; and (iii) the Law on International Commercial Arbitration. In general, Costa Rica’s private international law regime, applicable to international commercial contracts, allows for parties to select the law of their choice as long as it does not breach public policy or harm a third party’s interest. According to Article 5 of the Organizational Law of the Judiciary, courts cannot excuse themselves from exercising their authority or from ruling in matters of their competence for lack of a rule to apply and they must do so in accordance with the written and unwritten rules. Unwritten rules refer to the general principles of law, usages and practices, and case law, according to the hierarchical order of their legal sources. Such rules serve to interpret, integrate, and delimit the field of application of law. Therefore, the local courts have limited themselves to only apply domestic law and have consequently restrained themselves from applying the Hague Principles or other soft law instruments as a persuasive authority source.
Mexico
Authors: Albornoz María Mercedes , Martín Nuria González
Published: May 2021

This chapter explores Mexican perspectives on the Hague Principles. The Inter-American Convention on the Law Applicable to International Contracts (the Mexico Convention) includes party autonomy in Article 7, according to which ‘the contract shall be governed by the law chosen by the parties’. This rule admits express and also tacit choice of law, provided the latter is ‘evident from the parties’ behaviour and the clauses of the contract, considered as a whole’. Following this provision, the parties to the international contract can select the law applicable to the entire contract or to a part of it. Moreover, Article 8 establishes that the parties can at any time make or modify their choice, but such new choice ‘shall not affect the formal validity of the contract nor the right of third parties’. The chapter then considers the existence of a Project of Private International Law Act for Mexico, developed within the Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law (AMEDIP). For the topic of international contracts, the project literally incorporates the provisions of the Mexico Convention. Here, the Hague Principles could bring enhanced precision on the lex mercatoria as the object of the parties’ choice.
Paraguay
Authors: Rodríguez José Antonio Moreno
Published: May 2021

This chapter highlights Paraguayan perspectives on the Hague Principles. Paraguay does not have a law dealing comprehensively and organically with Private International Law. The Civil and Commercial Code of 1987 contains the basic regulation on conflict of laws, and other provisions on the field can be found scattered in several special laws dealing with specific matters. Paraguay adhered, as a Member State, to the Hague Conference on Private International Law via Law 2555 of 2005. It is the first country in the world to legislate on international contracts heavily influenced by the Hague Principles. The Paraguayan law on international contracts drawn upon the Hague Principles openly allows the application of non-State law, and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) Principles clearly qualify as such.
Species distribution and antifungal susceptibility patterns of Aspergillus isolates from clinical specimens and soil samples in Mexico
Authors: Treviño-Rangel Rogelio de J , Villanueva-Lozano Hiram , Bonifaz Alexandro , Castañón-Olivares Laura R , Andrade Angel , Becerril-García Miguel A , Martínez-Reséndez Michel F , Ayala-Gaytán Jacobo , Montoya Alexandra M , González Gloria M
Published: May 2021

This study aimed to assess the species distribution and antifungal susceptibility patterns of 200 strains of Aspergillus isolated from clinical specimens (n = 146) and soil samples (n = 54) in Mexico. ITS, β-tubulin, and calmodulin DNA sequencing was performed for species identification. Broth microdilution susceptibility testing for amphotericin B, voriconazole, posaconazole, itraconazole, isavuconazole, anidulafungin, caspofungin, and micafungin was done according to CLSI for all strains. A. fumigatus was most frequently recovered from clinical specimens, while A. niger was commonly encountered in soil, both followed by A. flavus in the second place. A total of 60 (30%) cryptic species were identified, with A. tubingensis and A. tamarii being the most commonly found. The decreased susceptibility to amphotericin B and azoles was 32% for both, and were mainly led by A. fumigatus, whereas this percentage decreased to 9% for caspofungin, particularly in A. terreus. More than 75% of cryptic species were susceptible in vitro to all antifungals. Multi-azole decreased susceptibility was detected only in seven isolates. Given that antifungal resistance in Aspergillus spp. is an increasing worldwide threat that causes major challenges in the clinical management of aspergillosis, these data highlight the need for continuous epidemiological surveillance of these pathogens for the implementation of locally adequate treatment strategies.

Lay summary

This is an epidemiological study in Mexico. A. fumigatus was most frequent in clinical specimens and A. niger in soil samples. A. tubingensis and A. tamarii were the most common cryptic species. Resistance to amphotericin B and azoles was 32% each, and 9% for caspofungin.
Observability of inflated companion stars after supernovae in massive binaries
Authors: Ogata Misa , Hirai Ryosuke , Hijikawa Kotaro
Published: May 2021

We carry out a systematic study of the response of companion stars in massive binaries after being impacted by supernova (SN) ejecta. A total of 720 1D stellar evolution calculations are performed to follow the inflation and contraction of the star in response to the energy injection and how it depends on various parameters. We find that the maximum luminosity achieved during the inflated phase is only dependent on the stellar mass and we derive an analytic formula to describe the relation. There is also a tight correlation between the duration of expansion and the intersected energy. These correlations will be useful to constrain pre-SN binary parameters from future detections of inflated companions. We also discuss the possible outcomes of the binary system when the companion inflation is taken into account. Based on simple binary population synthesis, we estimate that ∼1–3 per cent of stripped-envelope SNe may have observable inflated companions. Finally, we apply our models to the observed companion of SN 2006jc and place strong constraints on the possible pre-SN binary parameters.
The effects of binary stars on galaxies and metal-enriched gas during reionization
Authors: Doughty Caitlin , Finlator Kristian
Published: May 2021

Binary stars are abundant in nearby galaxies, but are typically unaccounted for in simulations of the high-redshift Universe. Stellar population synthesis models that include the effects of binary evolution result in greater relative abundances of ionizing photons that could significantly affect the ambient ionizing background during the epoch of hydrogen reionization, additionally leading to differences in galaxy gas content and star formation. We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations including in situ multifrequency radiative transfer to evaluate the effects of a high binary fraction in reionization-era galaxies on traits of the early intergalactic medium and the abundance of H i and He ii ionizing photons. We further extend this to analyse the traits of enriched gas. In comparing metrics generated using a fiducial simulation assuming single stars with one incorporating a high binary fraction, we find that binary stars cause H i reionization to complete earlier and at an accelerated pace, while also increasing the abundances of high-ionization metals (C iv and Si iv) in simulated absorption spectra while reducing the abundance of low-ionization states (O i, Si ii, and C ii). However, through increased photoheating of galactic and circumgalactic gas, they simultaneously reduce the rate of star formation in low-mass galaxies, slowing the ongoing process of enrichment and suppressing their own ionizing background. This potentially contributes to a slower He ii reionization process at $z\ge 5$, and further indicates that self-regulation of galaxies could be underestimated when neglecting binary stellar evolution.
Bayesian noise wave calibration for 21-cm global experiments
Authors: Roque I L V , Handley W J , Razavi-Ghods N
Published: May 2021

Detection of millikelvin-level signals from the ‘Cosmic Dawn’ requires an unprecedented level of sensitivity and systematic calibration. We report the theory behind a novel calibration algorithm developed from the formalism introduced by the EDGES collaboration for use in 21-cm experiments. Improvements over previous approaches are provided through the incorporation of a Bayesian framework and machine learning techniques such as the use of Bayesian evidence to determine the level of frequency variation of calibration parameters that is supported by the data, the consideration of correlation between calibration parameters when determining their values, and the use of a conjugate-prior based approach that results in a fast algorithm for application in the field. In self-consistency tests using empirical data models of varying complexity, our methodology is used to calibrate a 50 Ω ambient-temperature load. The RMS error between the calibration solution and the measured temperature of the load is 8 mK, well within the 1 σ noise level. Whilst the methods described here are more applicable to global 21-cm experiments, they can easily be adapted and applied to other applications, including telescopes such as HERA and the SKA.
In situ formation of hot Jupiters with companion super-Earths
Authors: Poon Sanson T S , Nelson Richard P , Coleman Gavin A L
Published: May 2021

Observations have confirmed the existence of multiple-planet systems containing a hot Jupiter and smaller planetary companions. Examples include WASP-47, Kepler-730, and TOI-1130. We examine the plausibility of forming such systems in situ using N-body simulations that include a realistic treatment of collisions, an evolving protoplanetary disc, and eccentricity/inclination damping of planetary embryos. Initial conditions are constructed using two different models for the core of the giant planet: a ‘seed-model’ and an ‘equal-mass-model’. The former has a more massive protoplanet placed among multiple small embryos in a compact configuration. The latter consists only of equal-mass embryos. Simulations of the seed-model lead to the formation of systems containing a hot Jupiter and super-Earths. The evolution consistently follows four distinct phases: early giant impacts; runaway gas accretion on to the seed protoplanet; disc damping-dominated evolution of the embryos orbiting exterior to the giant; a late chaotic phase after dispersal of the gas disc. Approximately 1 per cent of the equal-mass simulations form a giant and follow the same four-phase evolution. Synthetic transit observations of the equal-mass simulations provide an occurrence rate of 0.26 per cent for systems containing a hot Jupiter and an inner super-Earth, similar to the 0.2 per cent occurrence rate from actual transit surveys, but simulated hot Jupiters are rarely detected as single transiting planets, in disagreement with observations. A subset of our simulations form two close-in giants, similar to the WASP-148 system. The scenario explored here provides a viable pathway for forming systems with unusual architectures, but does not apply to the majority of hot Jupiters.
Gaia EDR3 view on galactic globular clusters
Authors: Vasiliev Eugene , Baumgardt Holger
Published: May 2021

We use the data from Gaia  Early Data Release 3 (EDR3) to study the kinematic properties of Milky Way globular clusters. We measure the mean parallaxes and proper motions (PM) for 170 clusters, determine the PM dispersion profiles for more than 100 clusters, uncover rotation signatures in more than 20 objects, and find evidence for radial or tangential PM anisotropy in a dozen richest clusters. At the same time, we use the selection of cluster members to explore the reliability and limitations of the Gaia catalogue itself. We find that the formal uncertainties on parallax and PM are underestimated by $10{-}20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ in dense central regions even for stars that pass numerous quality filters. We explore the spatial covariance function of systematic errors, and determine a lower limit on the uncertainty of average parallaxes and PM at the level 0.01 mas and 0.025 mas yr$^{-1}$ , respectively. Finally, a comparison of mean parallaxes of clusters with distances from various literature sources suggests that the parallaxes for stars with $G>13$ (after applying the zero-point correction suggested by Lindegren et al.) are overestimated by $\sim 0.01\pm 0.003$ mas. Despite these caveats, the quality of Gaia  astrometry has been significantly improved in EDR3 and provides valuable insights into the properties of star clusters.
smORFer: a modular algorithm to detect small ORFs in prokaryotes
Authors: Bartholomäus Alexander , Kolte Baban , Mustafayeva Ayten , Goebel Ingrid , Fuchs Stephan , Benndorf Dirk , Engelmann Susanne , Ignatova Zoya
Published: May 2021

Emerging evidence places small proteins (≤50 amino acids) more centrally in physiological processes. Yet, their functional identification and the systematic genome annotation of their cognate small open-reading frames (smORFs) remains challenging both experimentally and computationally. Ribosome profiling or Ribo-Seq (that is a deep sequencing of ribosome-protected fragments) enables detecting of actively translated open-reading frames (ORFs) and empirical annotation of coding sequences (CDSs) using the in-register translation pattern that is characteristic for genuinely translating ribosomes. Multiple identifiers of ORFs that use the 3-nt periodicity in Ribo-Seq data sets have been successful in eukaryotic smORF annotation. They have difficulties evaluating prokaryotic genomes due to the unique architecture (e.g. polycistronic messages, overlapping ORFs, leaderless translation, non-canonical initiation etc.). Here, we present a new algorithm, smORFer, which performs with high accuracy in prokaryotic organisms in detecting putative smORFs. The unique feature of smORFer is that it uses an integrated approach and considers structural features of the genetic sequence along with in-frame translation and uses Fourier transform to convert these parameters into a measurable score to faithfully select smORFs. The algorithm is executed in a modular way, and dependent on the data available for a particular organism, different modules can be selected for smORF search.
Broken symmetry between RNA enantiomers in a crystal lattice
Authors: Kiliszek Agnieszka , Błaszczyk Leszek , Bejger Magdalena , Rypniewski Wojciech
Published: May 2021

Explaining the origin of the homochirality of biological molecules requires a mechanism of disrupting the natural equilibrium between enantiomers and amplifying the initial imbalance to significant levels. Authors of existing models have sought an explanation in the parity-breaking weak nuclear force, in some selectively acting external factor, or in random fluctuations that subsequently became amplified by an autocatalytic process. We have obtained crystals in which l- and d-enantiomers of short RNA duplexes assemble in an asymmetric manner. These enantiomers make different lattice contacts and have different exposures to water and metal ions present in the crystal. Apparently, asymmetry between enantiomers can arise upon their mutual interactions and then propagate via crystallization. Asymmetric racemic compounds are worth considering as possible factors in symmetry breaking and enantioenrichment that took place in the early biosphere.
Introduction
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

A disarming personality and Quaker morality camouflaged Drew Pearson’s relentless, crusading journalism. His style set him apart from other Waeshington columnists. Rather than offer an informed interpretation of news that others had reported, his column generated its own news, well ahead of others. Unlike an investigative reporter, at the mercy of a single editor, Pearson’s syndicated column ran in so many newspapers that no editor could curtail him. Instead, if his accusations proved worrisome, editors would trim out its most troublesome passages. To gather news, Pearson employed a squad of reporters who served as his “private FBI,” cultivating sources at every level of government. Pearson’s exposés attracted readers but also made him powerful enemies in the White House and the Capitol. Breaking news also won the begrudging respect of other Washington reporters, whenever he had the nerve to write what they could not hope to get printed.
Drew Pearson’s Leg Men
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

Filling a daily column that mixed breaking news with opinion required more news gathering than Drew Pearson could handle on his own. He augmented his reporting with “leg men,” a team of able news hunters. They lacked a byline but were compensated by their association with the nation’s most famous muckraking columnist, whose clout made them respected and feared. Operating out of half of Pearson’s Georgetown home, the leg men produced copy, scored scoops, and occasionally came under fire for questionable tactics. Among his top staff, David Karr prompted his boss to take progressive stands, but also came under fire for having Communist sympathies. Jack Anderson, who later shared the byline with Pearson and succeeded him, was more neutral in his politics but even more aggressive in digging up government secrets.
Just Mild about Harry
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

Harry Truman had a dim view of newspaper pundits, especially Drew Pearson. Although Pearson supported Truman’s Fair Deal, he got on the president’s wrong side by publishing perceived slights of his wife and daughter. Truman fired some of his best sources in the cabinet, but leaks continued, leading Truman to have the FBI investigate Pearson and tap his phones. Pearson regretted the collapse of the alliance with the Soviet Union but supported American foreign policy during the Cold War. In 1947 he sponsored the Freedom Train to collect food and supplies for Western Europe. Holding Defense Secretary James Forrestal responsible for the deepening Cold War, Pearson conducted a sustained attack on him. Blame for Forrestal’s suicide later fell on the columnist. Pearson also targeted Truman’s aide, General Harry Vaughn, for influence peddling and called for his dismissal. Truman responded that he would not let “any S.O.B.” dictate whom he fired.
Between Kennedy and Khrushchev
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

During the 1960 election, the “Merry-Go-Round” ’s revelation of a suspicious loan from billionaire Howard Hughes helped to defeat Richard Nixon. Nevertheless, Drew Pearson remained an outsider in John Kennedy’s New Frontier, having accused Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book, Profiles in Courage, of having been ghost-written, and painted Joseph P. Kennedy as being sympathetic to Nazi Germany before World War II. Being a generation older than Kennedy, Pearson found himself more comfortable with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and scored a rare interview with him. Khrushchev insisted that he sought peace, which Pearson communicated to Kennedy and to his readers. Consequently, anti-communist groups assailed the column and picketed Pearson. At the same time, Pearson grew more appreciative of the civil rights movement. The column attacked the Ku Klux Klan and encouraged Kennedy to speak out more forcefully against racial segregation and inequality.
Lyndon’s Lackey?
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

After criticizing Lyndon Johnson as a Senate leader, Drew Pearson became a strong supporter of his presidency, remaining sufficiently close to be jeered as “Lyndon’s lackey.” Access to the president provided a fountain of information but complicated his efforts to report candidly. If he wrote anything complimentary, critics charged that LBJ had dog-collared him. If he wrote anything unfavorable, Johnson protested bitterly. Although Pearson encouraged Johnson to withdraw American troops from South Vietnam, he supported the widening war. Anti-war activists accused him of selling out to Johnson, and his own wife picketed the White House. Pearson held his dissent until 1968, shortly before Johnson announced he would not run for reelection. The column assailed Robert F. Kennedy for approving the wiretapping of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It also conducted an extensive anti-corruption campaign against Senator Thomas Dodd, which resulted in Dodd’s censure by the Senate.
Prisoner of the “Merry-Go-Round”
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

President Richard Nixon barred his staff from talking to Drew Pearson, while the columnist’s own staff thought he was being too easy on Nixon. Aging and in ill health, Pearson had mellowed but could not afford to stop working—although he began sharing a byline with Jack Anderson. Rather than retire, Pearson bought his newspaper syndicate and sought to buy a radio station. While he still earned a great deal, he needed to pay staff salaries and maintain his revenue-losing farms in Maryland. What saved him from financial disaster were lucrative book contracts and the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan that made it harder for public officials to win libel suits. Yet when he died in 1969, his financial estate was in disarray.
Epilogue
Authors: Ritchie Donald A.
Published: May 2021

Drew Pearson died just before the scandals of the 1970s elevated and bestowed honors on those who followed him. His long career linked the old-time muckrakers and the Watergate-spawned investigative reporters. Jack Anderson carried on the “Washington Merry-Go-Round” and won a Pulitzer Prize for revealing secrets—a recognition that had always eluded Pearson. Lacking Pearson as an anchor, however, Anderson drifted and made some appalling mistakes. As his ethics came under fire, Anderson compared himself favorably to his mentor, portraying Pearson as a knee-jerk liberal whose penchant for making a better world led him to lobby politicians for his favorite causes and treat them kindly in return for their support. But Pearson is better remembered for his admonition to reporters to serve as a watchdog and be ruthless in exposing any betrayal of public trust.
Introduction
Authors: Kromhout Melle Jan
Published: May 2021

The introduction discusses the tightly interwoven relation between noise, sound, and media and explains why studying the noise of sound media from a media theoretical perspective offers novel ways to rethink the “sound” specific to sound media. After briefly assessing some relevant recent literature, it describes three distinct but historically interrelated concepts of noise: the sonic, physical, and communicational concepts that developed in the context of, respectively, sound and music, physics and engineering, and information and communication theory. By subsequently introducing the book’s main concepts—the myth of perfect fidelity, the logic of noise reduction, the noise resonance of sound media, and the logic of filtering—the introduction explains how a media archaeology analysis of noise can enrich the understanding of the ways in which sound technologies over the past one hundred forty years have shaped the sound of music.
The Logic of Noise Reduction
Authors: Kromhout Melle Jan
Published: May 2021

Chapter 2 explores the conceptual implications of the myth of perfect fidelity by further analyzing the two case studies introduced in chapter 1. While analog noise reduction and the addition of “dither”-noise in the digital domain at first seem diametrically opposed (reducing and adding noise, respectively), closer analysis shows that they both serve to conceal the physical influence of the medium on the reproduced sound. Following a conceptual logic of noise reduction, they strive to achieve the most accurate copy of the “original” sound. Information theory has shown, however, that this influence of media technological transmission channels on the output signal is inevitable, because the physical limitations of the medium cannot be fully overcome. The chapter therefore suggests replacing the myth of perfect fidelity with the competing concept of a noise resonance of sound media, to account for the fact that noise, distortion, and randomness unavoidably shape all reproduced sound.
Time and Transience
Authors: Kromhout Melle Jan
Published: May 2021

Chapter 4 develops a detailed conceptual analysis of the interrelation between noise and time, to better grasp what it would mean to replace the myth of perfect fidelity with the idea of a noise resonance of sound media. It does so on the basis of a more philosophical reading of the contrast between ideal filters, exemplified by the timeless figure of the sine wave, and the inherently temporal nature of all technological filters. The chapter thereby shows that, contrary to the timeless clarity and purity assumed by the myth of perfect fidelity, the noise resonance of sound media acknowledges the inherently temporal nature of technological operations and the inevitable introduction of noise. As it shapes all recorded sound and music, noise thereby defines the listener’s experience of the multilayered temporality of technologically reproduced sound, emphasizing both its inherent pastness and its continuous flow through the present.
“This Isn’t Some TV Show, Okay?”
Authors: Richards Rashna Wadia
Published: May 2021

Chapter 4 seems like an ostensible contradiction of all that has come before it, as it zooms in on parody. In common parlance, parody is regarded narrowly as a sendup or a spoof. But this chapter repurposes the concept as a displacement paradigm, rethinking parody as a deceptive double that furtively displaces the authority of the original. Playing on eminent existing terrain and interrogating cinematic tradition make parody particularly effective for an analysis of Dear White People (Netflix, 2017–present), a web series that demonstrates how parody works to undermine the cultural authority and assumed whiteness of mainstream American as well as European art cinema.
Introduction
Authors: Graybill Rhiannon
Published: May 2021

The Hebrew Bible contains many accounts of rape and sexual violence. Feminist approaches to these stories remain dominated by Phyllis Trible’s 1984 book Texts of Terror. This chapter and book offer a new approach, drawing on feminist, queer, and affect theory and offering new readings of biblical rape stories, including Dinah (Gen 34), Tamar (2 Sam 13), Lot’s daughters (Gen 19), Bathsheba (2 Sam 11), Hagar (Gen 16 and 21), Daughter Zion (Lam 1 and 2), and the Levite’s concubine (Judg 19). In place of “texts of terror,” this chapter opens the possibility of reading after terror. The approach offered here also engages contemporary activism against sexual violence and rape culture, bringing them to bear on biblical studies.
Building Democracy in Late Archaic Athens
Authors: Paga Jessica
Published: May 2021

In 508/7 B.C.E., after years of stasis and uncertainty, the city of Athens was rocked by a momentous occurrence: the passage of a series of reforms that resulted in the creation of what has come to be known as the world’s first democracy. Exactly how the Athenians did this is still a fundamental question 2,500 years later. This book provides a novel answer to these questions by considering the built environment broadly and monumental architecture specifically. The reforms transformed the very nature of what it meant to be Athenian and their far-reaching effects would come to leave their mark on nearly every aspect of society, including the structures at which they prayed and in which they debated legislation. This book investigates the built environment of ancient Athens precisely during this time, the Late Archaic period (ca. 514/13–480/79 B.C.E.). It was in these decades, filled with transition and disorder, that the Athenians transformed their political system from a tyranny to a democracy. Amidst concurrent sociopolitical changes, they altered the physical landscape and undertook the monumental articulation of the city and countryside. Interpreting the nature of the fledgling democracy from a material standpoint, this book approaches the questions and problems of the early political system through the lens of buildings. It draws attention to a pivotal period in Athenian political history through the built environment, thereby exposing the richness of the material record and illustrating how it participated in the creation of a new demotic Athenian identity.
The Akropolis
Authors: Paga Jessica
Published: May 2021

This chapter focuses on the buildings of the Athenian Akropolis. A brief survey of earlier building activity is provided in order to consider how the Akropolis looked at the time of the Kleisthenic reforms and to highlight some of the problems and controversies in the architectural material. The issue of the “H-Architecture” (the Bluebeard Temple or Hekatompedon) is fully considered, including the ongoing controversy regarding its appearance and location. An account of the Akropolis at the end of the sixth and beginning of the fifth centuries then follows. The chapter closes with two sections that place these buildings within their broader topographical and historical context, including a calculation of the financial cost of the Old Athena Temple and a suggestion for how it might have been funded.
TheAstuof Athens
Authors: Paga Jessica
Published: May 2021

This chapter evaluates buildings in the astu (city center) of Athens, excluding the Akropolis and Agora. Buildings and monuments within distinct areas are treated together in order to consider the broader impact of discrete sectors of the city. The chapter concludes with an examination of the sight lines and viewing axes that crisscross the city, connected to and independent of the roadways and paths. These sight lines, axes, and roads link various parts of the city together via the built environment, thereby underscoring relationships in both architectural form and function. The chapter emphasizes how the changes to the built environment in the late sixth and early fifth centuries also transformed the ritual landscape and lived experience of the astu.
The Rise of Philo-Semitic Attitudes and Zionist Discourses in Christianity
Authors: Carpenedo Manoela
Published: May 2021

This chapter explores the rise of philo-Semitic attitudes and Zionist discourses in World Christianity. By comparing the similarities and the differences between different Christian Philo-Semitic attitudes, it provides a categorization of Messianic Judaism, Christian Zionism, and Judaizing Evangelicalism. An overview of the Brazilian religious field is also offered, where particular focus is given to the growth of Charismatic Evangelicalism in the country. The chapter also investigates background information including the social structuration and the origins of “Judaizing Evangelical revival” within the community under study. The chapter concludes by situating the Judaizing Evangelical community within the emerging philo-Semitic attitudes and Zionist tendencies in World Christianities.
A Preliminary Case for Wave Function Realism
Authors: Ney Alyssa
Published: May 2021

This chapter explains the use of wave functions in quantum mechanics in order to develop a preliminary argument for wave function realism, one that is commonly found in the physics and philosophy of physics literature. It distinguishes ontological questions about the status of the wave function from the more discussed measurement problem for quantum mechanics, and explains how wave function realism is an approach to ontology that is compatible with several rival solutions to the measurement problem. The chapter then presents an initial, but not ultimately decisive, argument for wave function realism based on the ubiquity of wave function representations in quantum physics.
Wave Function Realism in a Relativistic Setting
Authors: Ney Alyssa
Published: May 2021

This chapter considers and responds to criticism that wave function realism is only plausible as an approach to the interpretation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and not relativistic quantum theories and quantum field theories. This critique gains traction as wave function realism has until now been formulated and defended solely within the context of idealized, nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The chapter considers five such arguments and responds to each. An important lesson is that wave function realists should only adopt the wave-function-in-configuration-space picture as part of an interpretation of an idealized nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. More generally, the space the wave function inhabits will vary as the quantum theory the wave function realist is developing an interpretation of varies. The chapter develops a sketch of what wave function realism looks like in one relativistic context. It then discusses the issue of the interpretation of quantum theories in the limit of physical theorizing.
The Causal Role of Macroscopic Objects
Authors: Ney Alyssa
Published: May 2021

This chapter considers and critiques some strategies for solving the macro-object problem for wave function realism. This is the problem of how a wave function understood as a field on a high-dimensional space may come to make up or constitute the low-dimensional, macroscopic objects of our experience. It is first noted that simply invoking correspondences between particle configurations and states of the wave function will not suffice to solve the macro-object problem, following issues noted previously by Maudlin and Monton. More sophisticated strategies are considered that appeal to functionalism. It is argued that these functionalist strategies for recovering low-dimensional macroscopic objects from the wave function also do not succeed.
Finding the Macroworld
Authors: Ney Alyssa
Published: May 2021

This chapter proposes a solution to the macro-object problem for wave function realism. This is the problem of how a wave function in a high-dimensional space may come to constitute the low-dimensional, macroscopic objects of our experience. The solution takes place in several stages. First, it is argued that how the wave function’s being invariant under certain transformations may give us reason to regard three-dimensional configurations corresponding symmetries with ontological seriousness. Second it is shown how the wave function may decompose into low-dimensional microscopic parts. Interestingly, this reveals mereological relationships in which parts and wholes inhabit distinct spatial frameworks. Third, it is shown how these parts may come to compose macroscopic objects.
Environmental Conservation and Environmental Change
Authors: Perrings Charles
Published: May 2021

Chapter 1 introduces the content and structure of the book. It identifies the main characteristics of the Hotelling approach to conservation, and the nature of the conservation problems it can address. It summarizes the evidence for large-scale, systematic changes in biodiversity and ecological functioning across biomes. It identifies what elements of the biophysical system have and have not been conserved, how this differs from one society to the next, and what has been gained or lost in the process. Finally, the chapter also discusses the different ways in which the conservation problem has been analyzed by natural and social scientists.
Conservation in Protected Areas
Authors: Perrings Charles
Published: May 2021

Chapter 11 focuses on protected areas. It considers how the principles developed in earlier chapters inform protected area design—especially their size, shape, and expected duration—and management. It covers the ecological principles involved (threat, distinctness, and representativeness), and their connection to the theory of island biogeography. It then discusses how these are modified by economic principles requiring that the benefits of protection need to offset the opportunities forgone by committing resources to the acquisition of the necessary rights, the additional cost of conservation effort, and the net costs to those impacted by the change in rights. It is shown how evaluation of the trade-offs involved makes it possible to identify the optimal size of individual protected areas, or the optimal structure of a network of protected areas.
Conservation Beyond Protected Areas
Authors: Perrings Charles
Published: May 2021

Chapter 12 considers the conservation problem outside of protected areas, and how it reflects the principles described earlier. Topics addressed include the conservation of endangered wild species in unprotected areas and especially in agricultural areas; the in situ protection of the genetic diversity of livestock strains, crops, and crop wild relatives; and the ex situ protection of germ-plasm in zoos, arboreta, and seed banks. Protection of wild species on private lands covers the maintenance of habitat remnants important to the survival of endangered species, and the establishment and maintenance of biocorridors between habitats important to the survival of endangered species. Protection of domesticated species on agricultural and forestland covers the genetic erosion and genetic vulnerability of cultivated species that has followed the widespread adoption of high-yielding varieties.
Conservation at the National Level
Authors: Perrings Charles
Published: May 2021

Since the 1993 Convention on Biological Diversity, nation-states have asserted sovereign rights over all biological resources within their boundaries. Chapter 13 reviews the policies and instruments applied by governments to the conservation of natural capital in areas of national jurisdiction. Measures addressed include the assignment of property rights in biological resources; protective legislation; environmental offsets; incentive systems including taxes, subsidies, and payments for ecosystem services; and penalties. Particular attention is paid to common pool resource management regimes, legal restrictions on land use such as the US Endangered Species Act, biodiversity offsets, and payment systems such as the EU and US agri-environment schemes.
Sosipatra as a Theurgist and Oracle
Authors: Marx Heidi
Published: May 2021

Sosipatra’s story is punctuated by a number of marvelous events, in particular, prophetic moments where she relates either knowledge at a distance or of future happenings. This chapter situates these moments in the larger frame of late ancient theurgy and “magic.” To explain Sosipatra’s identity as a divine woman and the relationship of her status to various kinds of religious activity or ritual in addition to philosophical expertise and aptitude, this chapter discusses the variety of ritual expertise represented among holy men and women in antiquity in general and among various figures in Eunapius’s narrative in particular. This will illuminate the relationship between theurgy and philosophy for Eunapius. Ritual activities and practices, divination being the most important of these, were not considered irrational or at odds with philosophical forms of reasoning. Rather they were understood in the Iamblichean milieu to be by their very nature complementary to reason, and the culmination and transcendence of rationality.
Why Nations Rise . . . or Remain Reticent
Authors: Miller Manjari Chatterjee
Published: May 2021

What is known of rising powers is both sparse and contentious. This chapter discusses the assumptions of rising powers and puts forward an alternate way of understanding them. It shows that all rising powers are not the same, even if their military and economic power is increasing relative to the status quo, and argues that narratives about becoming a great power are an additional element that needs to be considered. It also discusses what great power meant in the late 19th century, during the Cold War, and in post–Cold War eras, and lays out the map of the book. Topics covered in this chapter include the power transition and rising power literature, the role of ideas in foreign policy, and an overview of the perceptions of great power.
Meiji Japan and Cold War Japan
Authors: Miller Manjari Chatterjee
Published: May 2021

Japan was considered a rising power in the late 19th century and again during the Cold War. But it rose to become a great power in only the former period. This chapter examines the rise of Meiji Japan and Cold War Japan to show how, despite growing military and economic power in both eras, Japan’s behavior was different—Meiji Japan was active and Cold War Japan was reticent. Examining the narratives in both periods, it finds that in the former it had narratives about how to become a colonial great power, and in the latter it lacked narratives of great power.
Thoughts on Power Transitions, Past and Future
Authors: Miller Manjari Chatterjee
Published: May 2021

This chapter reviews the patterns found in the book and draws conclusions about the rise of China and India today. It argues that economic power, military power, and narratives about becoming a great power are all essential elements that rising powers which became great powers possessed, and in order to actively rise, these countries recognized the current norms of great power and initially played by the rules of the international order. Those that did not possess all those elements stayed reticent. Particularly, the absence of narratives about how to become a great power stymied these countries from active behavior on the world stage even when they possessed important elements of material power. This difference between active and reticent powers helps us understand why some nations rise to become great powers, as well as the differences between China and India today.
Introduction
Authors: Rank Mark Robert , Eppard Lawrence M. , Bullock Heather E.
Published: May 2021

Chapter 1 introduces the major themes of the book. The topic of poverty has many myths, stereotypes, and misperceptions surrounding it. The purpose of this book is to confront and address these myths with facts and evidence. The book is divided into six sections. Section I looks at the characteristics of those experiencing poverty. Section II explores why poverty exists. The costs of poverty are addressed in Section III. Section IV examines the issue of welfare and the social safety net. Section V turns to the wider context of inequality. And finally, Section VI pulls together the arguments made throughout the book in order to provide a pathway for moving forward in the future.
The Poor Tend to Live Outside of Impoverished Inner-City Neighborhoods
Authors: Rank Mark Robert , Eppard Lawrence M. , Bullock Heather E.
Published: May 2021

Chapter 3 confronts the myth that most of the poor live in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods. In reality, only approximately 10 to 15 percent of America’s poor people reside in high-poverty neighborhoods. Furthermore, the numbers of poor people in suburban areas now outnumber those in central-city areas. Finally, high levels of poverty can be found in rural America, including Appalachia, the Mississippi delta, the Texas–Mexico border, the Southwest and Northern Plains, and the central corridor of California. Thus, the myth that poverty is confined to a particular group of Americans, in very specific locations, is corrosive because it encourages the belief that poverty is an issue of “them” rather than “us.” Poverty strikes a wide swath of the population, and it touches Americans in cities, suburbs, and rural communities.